Goings on

Whoops, I got caught up in reading others' posts, and haven't gotten a chance to update ours.
Since our honeymoon (see latest post) we began real life:
First of all, the place we were planning on living this summer fell through because Kevin and Chelsea were not able to go to China as they planned because of Visa problems. (not credit card Visa, the passport kind of visa). So our first week back we spent most evenings house hunting. We wanted a place with a yard, a pet tolerance, and hopefully one that we could work off rent by improving the property. We found such a place. It is a lot further away than we were hoping, a bit more expensive than we should afford, and a bit larger than we need. We are living in a basement of a house. There are TONS of improvements to be made, and a rather large yard. The first major improvement that is underway is the installment of the kitchen. We got our first month's rent free in order to put in the kitchen. That was May. In one of these posts, I will put up before and after pictures of the place, but I have to wait until there is an "after." So for the past two months we have been living off of a fridge, a microwave, and a skillet. We have graduated a little bit when we bought a toaster, and plugged in the stove in the unfinished kitchen. Now when I say unfinished, I mean, we moved in and there was a room with some plumbing, and some wiring (which all had to be redone) finished. It now has dry wall up and it has been mudded, textured, and as of yesterday, a layer of primer. Now all that needs to be done is paint, install cupboards, counters, and tile.
Yesterday I (Sarah) spent several hot and sweaty hours out in the yard attacking the weeds that have set up camp in our yard. This property has been a rental for many many many years and looks like it. I spent two hours digging out Rhubarb type weeds out of the middle of the lawn. Then I attacked the rose bush that looked like it belonged around sleeping beauty's castle (I hope it doesn't die, I hacked it down quite a bit), and then I pruned the large tree in the front yard so that the house is more visible from the street. Dave has been trying to get the lawn watered daily. There is a sprinkler system in, but it's not automated, and baboons must have set it up (yet another project).
We put in a 9'x13' vegetable garden in the back yard, and I planted gourds, pumpkins, cucumbers, and two types of peas. Now I need to plant the carrots and lettuce. A few days ago the gourds, pumpkins, and cucumbers popped their little leaves out of the ground. Now I need to build a fence to keep the upstairs neighbors' dog out. Does anyone have any ideas of how to train a dog to poop in a different part of the yard?
As far as work goes, I am still working at BYU Independent Study as a web editor. I applied for a different position, which would have been the supervisor of the web editors, and an assistant to my current supervisor. Alas, it was given to a co-worker instead of me. Now I am just waiting for other full time people to leave, so I can apply for their positions. (There are two more leaving this summer for grad school, and one in November because she's having a baby). So I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'm currently on "temporary staff" status because I graduated, and am no longer a student. Therefore, I can only work in a "student" position for 6 months, or 910 hours, whichever comes first.
Dave is still working for BYU as well as a computer support person. He also got a promotion to Director of Client Relations in another tech support business he works for. He will get his current wage for the current companies using this particular tech support business, but he will also get paid to promote the business, and will get a higher wage at those companies that he brings to the tech support business. We're both excited about that. Meanwhile he also plugs along with Primerica. He got a good recruit the other day that looks to be one that will stick around, work, and do well.
Besides getting by without a kitchen and without much money, not too much exciting is happening. We are going to Lake Tahoe next week, for the annual family trip to Lake Tahoe. It'll be a week of water skiing, hiking, playing on the beach, hanging out with extended family, and eating good food for free! Plus, it's the 4th of July weekend, which means patriotic as well as birthday celebrations. We're pretty excited!

Honeymoon - Mexico

So Dave planned the honeymoon all on his own and kept it a secret until after graduation. We went to a resort on the beach in Rosarito, Mexico, just south of Tijuana. It was quite the experience. We flew from Albuquerque to San Diego, where we rented a car and drove to Rosarito. If you have never experienced the driving in Mexico, I wouldn't recommend it. Shoot, I wouldn't recommend it even if you HAVE already experienced it. We almost got side swiped 3 times, the road signs are impossible to follow, and it's basically terrifying.

We have a time share with Worldmark by Wyndham that allots us 6000 points a year to use throughout North America or to exchange for anywhere in the world through RCI. Basically it's a really cool timeshare. So we used some of our points for this year for our honeymoon. We stayed in a 2 bedroom condo at a resort on the beach. Most of the time we were there it was overcast and a little chilly, so we spent half the day watching TV. It was so relaxing! After all the stress of planning a wedding and graduation, it was the perfect week. The one day that it was sunny, we went out and enjoyed the sun, maybe a little too much. We were both sunburned to the gills. I was still peeling a month later.

We did all sorts of fun things on the beach. Our first day we rode horses for $10 each for half an hour. The horses even galloped! We were well prepared with our shorts and flip flops. We both had scrapes on the insides of our legs and dave's flip flops fell out of the saddle where he had tucked them, and we had to go searching for one. But it was well worth it.

We would also look at the tide pools in the rocks every day, hoping for new creatures. We saw plenty of sea anenomes, and even a tennis shoe! No hermit crabs or starfish though. There was an abandoned, beached boat on the beach that was pretty interesting. Every time we passed it, one of us had to say, "Here I am!" and the other had to reply, "There you are!" Hillarious, right?

Here I am!

There you are!

We found a rock on the beach, and thought it was an excellent perch, so we decided to do the karate kid pose on it.

Ironically, I don't think either of us has seen that movie. That just tells how much it is engrained into our culture. "Ahhh, yes, young grasshopper. Wax on, Wax off."

Wedding

• Who: Dave and Sarah
• When: May 2, 2008
• Where: Albuquerque, NM
• Why: Twuuue Love

coming out of the temple

classic fountain pose

bouquets by Sarah

bride with bridesmaids

groom with groomsmen

the happy couple

Background

Dave:

Dave was born in Germany and lived there until he was 9. He then moved to the Salt Lake area until he was 16, and then to Provo with a 2 year mission to Denmark. He is studying Electrical Engineering at BYU and has about 3 years left. Meanwhile he works as a technical support/IT services/system administration person at several places.

Sarah:

Sarah was born and raised in Los Alamos, New Mexico. She came out to Provo to attend BYU and graduated recently with a degree in German Linguistics (see post about graduation, to appear, for a few pictures). She works currently for BYU Independent Study Production as a Web Editor, but is applying for a more permanent position there this summer. I'm sure you'll hear about it if she gets the job! She also just began her own Mary Kay business (shameless plug: If anyone needs product or wants to host a party or pampering session, please let her know: sarah.franz@marykay.com)

Our Story:

We met, believe it or not, at the eggs section in Smith's. Dave's incredible pickup line: "gettin' eggs, eh?" After that fateful evening, we were pretty much inseparable as far as BYU Honor Code would allow. That was June 11, 2007. We dated for about 6 1/2 months and Dave proposed on Christmas eve morning after we watched the sunrise in 11 degree Fahrenheit weather at Overlook park in White Rock, New Mexico. It was very romantic. The local sewage plant was even kind enough to have the waterfall turned on.

We were married on May 2, 2008 in the Albuquerque, New Mexico temple with a reception in White Rock on the 3rd and one in Provo on the 10th. We've made it a month and a day quite happily.

Stay tuned for more fun stories

Blog Time!

Welcome to Dave & Sarah; Life of. Weird title, huh? We'll see if it sticks. We hope that our blog will be entertaining to all that read it. I (Sarah, who will be doing most of the blogging most likely) intend to include the funny, scary, sad, happy, and mediocre stories, so be officially warned.

Apparently blogging is the "married people" thing to do. Yes, we are going with the flow, taking the more traveled path, jumping off the bridge with everyone else, riding the band wagon, and blogging. Unfortunately we were terribly busy during the whole engagement and wedding time, so the subsequent posts are belated. Also, I would love to include images, videos, etc.

Enjoy! :)