new year

Wow...what a new year this has been so far. Already 15 days in the January and it feels like 6 months!!
Time at work is just flying. Last week I worked 4 hours of OT so that we can still pay off the wedding back in August. Can you believe it, I have been married for going on 5 moths. Where does the time go?

I am trying to train myself for management at work and its frustrating because I am impeding myself from doing it. I don't talk to a lot of people. I just do my work and go home. I work hard and use the people that I need to use to do well and thank them and keep working smart to get smarter. I'll do it...I'll make a huge effort to do my best though to get to know and talk to other people. That is my greatest weakness.

My final class of the masters program was canceled do to low enrollment. It makes me so angry because they guy who schedules me hasn't scheduled me for the next start date and all I get is a bunch of crappy lip service about them being busy and slammed. I don't care how slammed you are, you don't tell a customer that they are busy and can't do it. Well, dang it, if it wasn't for me and all the $$ I just paid your company, you wouldn't have a job so...suck it up...you can schedule for 45 seconds and put me in my last class. OOOOHHHH....wow...what a thought...45 seconds to get paid $33K annually. Wow...that is a concept. Break down the dollars and how much did you just get paid for that amount of time you just spent on 1 person.
Oh well, what crap and crap happens and if you leave it to Karen to tell people about it, um, she will.

Nathan and I are just plugging along. We have our up and down days. I'd like to say that we have more up days than down and he'll probably tell you the same thing. We know that it takes a lot of effort to lay the foundation for an awesome family and a good life and there are humps to get over to do that. The Salt Lake Temple was started and then stopped and the restarted so it took 40 years to build.

It is so funny how two different worlds can come together and make 1 awesome world. He has such a different background and I yearn for it and I come from a completely different background and he thinks to himself, "wow, my life wasn't that bad".

He wants to talk about everything and I don't want to talk about anything. Nobody listened to me before so why bother now...he says the exact same thing and says that he tried to talk to his family about stuff and they didn't want to listen but he kept trying anyways...its all good. We want to talk to each other but we just stare at each other like deer in bright headlights and don't know what to say without hurting each other or ourselves. We'll get over it. Even those that have been married for 50 years so have issues like this. I don't expect it to go away any time soon...that's for sure.

I love my calling as ward missionary. It seems like there is more talk than action though. Our last missionary correlation meeting we talked about setting a date for new members to go do baptisms for the dead and there was no action taken on that...I mean, nobody made an announcement in church, nobody called the temple about an appointment and nobody told anybody about it...so, I took it upon myself today to do it. I can't just let the new members come to church and be active and not do anything. I need to be apart of this work to so I made the appointment for the middle of February on the same day that the rest of the ward goes to do temple work. What a better opportunity for the new members to go...right along side of all the others. They'll feel like they are apart of the ward, feel the spirit and feel like they are getting closer to their goal...going through the temple for themselves.

Neither one of us have to work on Monday so we are going to go to Sedona, AZ and hang out. Neither one of us have never been before and we want to go. We'll probably go see a movie too. We both like movies and the only way that Nathan can get me to sit still is by taking me to a theater. We actually thought about driving to Las Cruces, NM but today we thought that it would be better to stay here and go somewhere local and hang out together. There i a lot here that neither one of us has seen so we want to go and hang out. We're big Costco fans so we'll probably end up there too.

I need to get to sleep. I get up at 4:15 in the morning and I like to be asleep by 9 and it is already 9:30.

Peace be to all...


Karen Nihipali-Wicke.

2008

Well friends & family,
What a life this is. Nathan and I have been married for 4.3 months and it has been a joy and a wild roller coaster ride. We are plowing through life and getting to know each others habits and trials. I don't mind taking on his trials because to me they look so easy and he says that he doesn't mind mine because they seem to be so easy...well then, we tell each other that we are here to bare each others burdens and make each others issues light.
We have communication issues because Karen doesn't want to talk about things that are important because she isn't used to it and honestly never really had to so, as you can guess, Karen does most of the changing here and is humbled by the sweet words of a loving spouse, and the humble feelings of her Savior to talk with her mate.

School is going well. I haven't had class the past 2 weeks because of the holiday break. Tuesday will begin my last week of my 12th class and I will finish this next week.

My last class will start next week and finish the end of February 2008. I'm having a HUGE graduation party!! The entire USA is invited.

Work is awesome. I have a great boss and I am in training for the next opportunity to interview for a managers position. I hope it comes soon. I have worked really hard to move up and over with UOP.

I'm tired and need to get some cleaning done as I am going to be working a lot of hours this week to make up for lost hours during the past couple of weeks.

Close for now...everyone be happy...take life slow...there is always tomorrow.

Karen Nihipali-Wicke