September 22, 2011 San Diego Trip!

Hello Everyone! The weeks have passed so quickly, I have a lot to catch up on! According to calendar dates, the Fall season has begun! It certainly is not reflected in the weather. Ridgecrest continues to experience alternating patterns of heat and humidity! Hopefully October will bring cooler weather. Nate and I have put out an array of decorative pumpkins in our house to celebrate the season. In October, our Halloween decorations can come out of hiding! I am pretty excited for the holiday season; the last three months of the year are my favorite time of the year.

Nate had the amazing privilege of spending 8 days in San Diego for work. He was placed in a hotel on the beach (close by the base he was assigned to work at) and was able to explore the sights and tastes of the San Diego beach. I would have joined him if I had been able to get away from my own job, but I am still in the training period-I can’t ask for time off unless it is for medical reasons. During that time, he was able to visit the San Diego Temple and the San Diego Zoo. He brought me back a pair of stuffed Giraffes :) 

San Diego Temple

Boarding the Vinson

Watching the jets take off from the deck of the carrier

Watching the jets land on the carrier

Getting ready to be catapulted off

Admiring the shiny toys

The neatest experience of Nate’s trip was a 2 day stay on the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), an aircraft carrier that made port in the San Diego Harbor. Nate and a few of his coworkers were chosen by a random lottery for this experience-what an amazing blessing! Nate told me this had always been a dream of his, and now it was coming true!! We are both so grateful this experience. He was treated as a distinguished guest-they were all given officer quarters to sleep in, treated to gourmet meals on plates that were cast in the 1800’s, and given a full tour of the ship. He was also given a crew member hat, which he is very proud of. Nate was then sent off the ship in a jet that was launched by a steam catapult on the ship’s deck. “Better than any roller coaster!” He told me when he came home. Like a kid in a candy shop :) We know it is an experience that may not come again, but will last a lifetime.

We do hope, however, there will not so much traveling in the coming months-he has been gone for one month out of the past two months. Hopefully with the holidays approaching, things will settle down a bit. Well, that is all of our adventures to report for now, thanks for reading!

-Nate & Steph

August 24, 2011

Wow! The past two weeks have gone by quickly, and school is already back in session. I always associate the start of school with the fall, so perhaps that is why I already feel like fall is gradually making its way to Ridgecrest. The summer definitely passed too quickly!
Nate was sent on travel for a week to do some specialized product testing in Colorado. That week felt so long! We have not been apart for that long before, so it was bit challenging for me. Luckily I was also kept busy with job training of my own. Leapin' Lizards, the program I work for, is an after school program that targets low income schools and children with less access to academic tutoring and extra curricular activities. We provide services such as free snacks, homework help, supervised physical activity, and additional academic oriented activities. Its actually pretty fun! This is the most difficult and most rewarding job I have had. The kids are so much fun! I worked for Social Services for a time when I was in college, which was also very difficult but not as rewarding. I suppose everyone has their agency, but sometimes those choices have heart breaking consequences. Not fun to watch.

Having fun with Coworkers before class starts

Nate eventually returned from Colorado, and we had the opportunity to celebrate my sister's 15th birthday. It was a blast! We had a small barbeque and water fight at the park. On our way home from the park, Nate asked if we could drive by my old high school-he wanted me to show him around. As we were entering the school, I recognized an art project that had been mounted on the side of the art building-my old senior project! We had been assigned to create a 12 piece tile project with a message for the community. I had decided to create a project that celebrated science. The pieces were to be donated to the community for beautification and enrichment. I had doubts they would make it out of the classroom, but I was wrong! Pretty neat, huh? Nate and I could not pass by without a picture.

4 years later and the tile project was still around!

The coming weeks are going to be pretty exciting! This weekend we are going to the Los Angeles Temple, and next weekend we are taking a trip to Six Flags. I can't wait for the adventures coming our way! Thanks for reading :)
-Nate & Steph

August 9, 2011

Any Portal fans out there?
"Here we are again, it's always such a pleasure.....Oh how we laughed and laughed, except I wasn't laughing..."

"I'm doing science and I'm still Alive! I feel fantastic and I'm still Alive!"

I think poor Nate must have felt that way coming out of the GRE. Yay for Portal to narrate the unpleasant parts of our lives!
This past weekend has been extremely interesting. Thursday morning we received a phone call informing my family that Grandpa Uustalu had a silent heart attack and was in the hospital. Thankfully, Nate's boss graciously granted him the time off to come to the hospital and give Grandpa a blessing. Johnny Duncan, a friend of ours, was able to accompany Nate for the blessing. Grandpa was released later that evening with a heart monitor. After a visit on Monday morning with his cardiologist, we were thrilled to learn that Grandpa Uustalu will only need medication to manage a heart condition called Atrial Fibrillation. He will have to take it easy, but he's going to be around for a while longer! While this was a difficult experience, our family was united in prayer and fasting for Grandpa's health. We have been so blessed to feel the love of Heavenly Father and witness his tender mercies.
On a lighter note, the family reunion was a blast! We drove up to Lake Isabella Friday morning with everything we needed for the weekend. We also decided to bring my Mom's dog, Ben, who has never been camping. He swam and swam until he was too tired care for the water anymore. Its was so cute, and funny! He's such a good dog! Nate also made the most of the trip-he and I rode the SeaDoos for a while, until we were both burned to a crisp. I decided to sit out for a while and let my brother and his friend Ryan take Nate out on the SeaDoo for a while. They had a ton of fun as well. Nate dumped them off the SeaDoo several times doing water donuts, but don't feel bad for them. They threw him off intentionally as well and had the time of their lives doing it.
We drove to Camarillo that night to get a good night's sleep before the exam. Nate and I spent the next morning just wandering the city and sight seeing before the test. The GRE lasted for Four and a half hours-wow! During that time, I took the opportunity to see Harry Potter. But poor Nate worked so hard-he was so tired when he came out of the exam! But he came away with scores he wanted, so were both ecstatic. On the way out of the parking lot, we found our first treat for the evening: an Aston Martin parked close to our car, Wedgie! Nate was overjoyed. It actually really helped him unwind from the test. We could not help but take a picture with it. That evening we discovered another special treat: a Cafe Rio in Camarillo! We both thought that Cafe Rio was exclusively a Utah treat. Then we walked on the beach and enjoyed the sunset. It was a great way to end a busy day.
Needless to say, this past weekend was full of praying, fasting, tears, and laughter. It was a nice vacation away from the stress of everyday life. Even Grandma and Grandpa made the trip Sunday morning to Lake Isabella to catch the last day of festivities. It was nice to be all together again. Our next vacation won't be until Christmas, so we soaked up every moment! But fall is coming, and an end to the heat is in sight.....hurrah!
Our next battle will be college applications. Nate has selected Stanford University, University of Southern California (USC), University of Washington, and University of Utah as his potential schools for application. The hardest part is over, and we can only go up from here. As leaving for Grad school grows closer, we grow even more excited and nervous for the adventures that lie ahead. Wish us luck! Thanks for the love and support!
-Steph & Nate

First Post!

Well, I am entering the world of blogging. It seems to be a good way to stay connected to the people you are close to, without having to share information with everyone you know (like Facebook). I have never been much for journal writing or scrap booking, but hopefully this will be a good alternative. At first the blog script attempted to translate everything I wrote into "Hindi" so if that weird scribble that looks like Arabic does not disappear, I have not found out how to remove it yet. If it has, we can count that as my first blog success. Spell checker is nice too-I don't type as well as I write.
My hopes are that this blog will record some of the fun experiences Nate and I have together, as well as to share some of those experiences with our friends and family. Even if I am the only reader and publisher, it is kind of neat to create something like this! So here it goes.
July 26, 2011
Nate is preparing to take the GRE next weekend. We are so excited about taking the next step towards Grad school, (one of Nate's long held dreams), but a little bummed that the only test date available for the next 2 months in our region is next weekend. Next weekend is also the Helm Family Reunion, which we have been anticipating for a while. We will be going to Lake Isabella to enjoy jet skis, boating, wake boarding, and intertubing. Some of the men in our family like to go fishing , but I prefer not to-fish are friends, not food right? I am the only one in my family who believes that, but I don't feel that I am missing out on anything. We will only be able to stay for one day, then have to leave for the test that evening. But the GRE is extremely important, so we have to make some sacrifices to ensure Nate has the chance to take it.
Nate is interested in biomedical engineering-a branch of engineering that specializes in designing new medical equipment and tools. He has so many cool ideas! We started an idea board for him at home to record some of the cool things he comes up with so he can refer back to them. Love it! After the GRE we will be on to college applications. Hopefully by Christmas we will be through the application process and just waiting to hear back. That will probably be the hardest part.
The other hard part of this process is the debt limit debate going on right now-if for some reason an agreement is not reached in time, going back to school could suddenly become a much more expensive venture for us. Would we still go if that situation occurred? Of course! But it would be harder, and we would have to scrape more pennies together now. I believe everything will work out so that we can go, even if it is in a way we did not expect. Every twist in the plot of life is an adventure! Can't wait to see what the future holds for us.