MEET TAZ AND STRUMMER

The cutest, sweetest, and most insane cat you'll ever meet. Sadly, I can't say he's mine. My mom had been wanting a mouser for awhile, and since Jacob Ross had a friend who was giving away free kittens, we got this hot shot. My parents had a crazy and playful cat when they were first married named Taz. And since the kitten reminded them so much of him, they decided Taz would fit him well.

Now let me tell you something. My dad has been spoiling this cat to no end. Neither of my parents are huge indoor animal lovers, but Taz has slept in their bed every night since we got him. But hey, I'm not complaining. I enjoy getting some animal time since I know Jake and I won't be able to get a dog or cat anytime soon.

And then there's Strummer! While we were in Idaho, Jake spotted a good deal on Craigslist. It's a 1999 Saturn SL. It's got less than 93,000 miles on it and gets 35mpg on the highway! Did I mention we only paid $1,340? It's not a looker, but I have loved having a great gas milage car again. But now we have two cars which mean two insurances. (Bleh.) Depending on what job I get in Torrington, we may be selling the Durango, but for now,

we'll keep it.

In other news, I had to say goodbye to two good friends. Laura and Jarrett came into Cheyenne for two weeks to work for Ross Construction. I was gone at a family reunion part of the time, but it was such a blast going on some double dates with them. Plus work wasn't so bad when you have good company.

We've still been pretty busy with work. We're both exhausted, but looking forward to our next Vacation to New Mexico which is in 2 weeks! And we cannot wait! :)

Advice | Peterson Update

It is amazing how the Lord puts people in your life at the right time, at the right place, and they say the right thing.
Last week I called my cousin Laura and we chit chatted about our lives. She was telling me about all the great things going on and then she said something that really caught me off guard. She said, "Jay, life really isn't that hard."
I busted up laughing. I really did. I couldn't believe she was saying that. But she went on.
"No, really. All you have to do is decide what you want, and go after it."
Laura was pretty much preaching the power of goal setting and visualization, which is something I tell everyone to do, and I was laughing at it…
This was kind of huge to me because of what had happened previously that week.

Jacob and I had just found out that there was a waiting list for the Welding Program at IT. Which meant he would have to do three years of school instead of two. Which meant an extra year of tuition, rent, and another year before being in a career.

So Jacob started to apply for Eastern Wyoming College, which was originally my first pick. I'll be honest, I wanted to be close to my family. I knew that the older we'd get, the busier we'd get. So I wanted to be close to them while I could. Especially since I'm gone 7 months out of year for College. But then I started researching.
Torrington's population is 6,800.
There is one skate park. (Thank goodness, because Jake would go insane if there wasn't)
One Elementary, Middle, and High School.
One Movie theater that shows one movie a night.
And if you do want to do anything, or want reasonably priced groceries, you have to drive to Scottsbluff, which is 45 minutes away, or Cheyenne, which is an hour and a half away.

I started stressing a bit. I was planning on running my photography business full time in the Fall, but how in the world would I do that with a population under 7,000? Many of those being college kids?
But Laura said exactly what I needed at that time. I had already decided I wanted to do my business full time. All I need to is make it happen. Obviously easier said than done, but I was thankful that Laura was there saying the words I needed to hear even if she didn't know it.

I still plan to do my photography business but I will most likely get a part time job so I don't go insane being home alone all day. Jacob is finishing up his application for Wyoming Eastern College where they currently have opening for their Welding Program. I am excited (and extremely nervous) for this adventure and to be close to my family for a couple years. Cheers to the next couple years!