Video Games, Romance Novels, Argentinian, and Trifecta Club

 Well, January was an interesting month. We've been trying to make ends meet. In fact, today is the 6th and we're 3 days late on rent, soon to be 4. We're waiting for a $600 check that Sarah was promised in the mail and we're hoping and praying that it arrives any day now. Today, our power was shut off. We only payed the minimum amount, but still, we made a promise to pay by Friday. We are in debt to a lot of our bills right now. Kirsten and David helped us out last month, and Jacob and Rachel helped us out the previous month. Sarah has been working Uber. Funny story, Sarah wanted to work Uber on Saturday night last, but couldn't because on our way home from the grocery store, one of our 5 gallon water jug's tops fell on another and the lid broke the other 5-gallon jug, causing it to leak profusely. We stopped the car immediately in an alley way, and dumped the remainder of the liquid out, but it had left the backseat covered in water. Sarah had wanted to get a detailer to air dry it out, and tried numerous attempts to contact them, with no avail or takers. She also tried to get the fans to work by using an extension cable from our neighbor's outlet, but it was turned off. So no dice. I wasn't very helpful or supportive during this time and we got into a big fight about it, which we're laughing about now, but at the time it wasn't very funny. Sarah was afraid of mold, but in the end I caused us to give up, plus I had to go to work that evening. Needless to say, it was a tough night for both of us. But we got through, with a lot of love and a lot of talking.

We invited Spencer over the next night and played a lot of games and ate some good soup and root beer floats. with vanilla bean ice cream (which I had requested). Meg is in Japan, so we thought we'd be nice and invite him. We really enjoyed his company and while we played Ticket to Ride Asia expansion pack, he poured out his knowledge upon us of Asian history. It was actually quite enlightening.

The last three weeks have been crazy. We don't know if we're going to have rent tomorrow so we're trusting in God to provide for us.

But otherwise, we've had some great days. Sarah and I have been reading romantic novels by Debbie Macomber, and the last one we read, was actually quite intense, not with the love, but actually with the malarkey that happened in it. We laugh about how these guys react to being in love, but sometimes it is just that way and we gotta watch ourselves. I've actually been reading a lot of books myself, such as The Life of Pi (which turned out to be very sad), Beezus and Ramona (which was funny), and right now I'm ready How Music Works. I made a goal to do so at the beginning of the year and I am trying to become an avid reader, having downloaded Libby, the digital library app, to get all my books. Briana has been my companion when it comes to discussing books we're reading because she is a voracious reader and I follow her on the Goodreads social media app. It's a lot of fun looking for books and becoming more well rounded.

Sarah and I have also been playing an N64 emulator on the computer, and specifically Super Mario 64 and Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It has become quite tough not to become too addicted, which is what I become when I play video games. We've even talked about getting a retro gaming console when we have money again. Super Mario 64 and Zelda are both really great games and it leaves me wondering where they are going to go. It also stresses me out playing these games, but I'm excited for the opportunity to grow closer to Sarah as we play together. Both these games are 1-player games, but Sarah likes to watch me play, because it brings nostalgia to her about when her brothers played as a young adult. I'm excited to play the Playstation games that are on the gaming console when we do finally get it, plus actually doing two player games with Sarah, like fighting and racing.

My coworker, Chase Benham, is Argentinian. He has been planning a trip to Argentina for a long trip and this week will be the start of that vacation. Well, we've become pretty chummy talking about Latin countries in South America, and I told him I have an Argentina jersey. I told him I would bring it to work one day when he was working and I finally did and he was so delighted. I was happy to make him happy. I found out the cities that he is going to in Argentina and turns out he's going to one of the cities that Briana served in, Bariloche, so I had to connect them, and that was fun.

Sarah and I have been watching Season 3 of The Chosen, and tomorrow is the final episode. It is definitely getting intense. We'll see what happens.  It's tough because they are dealing with topics of fertility and child bearing, and that is a tough topic for us.

Sarah and I joined a club called The Trifecta Club. Sister Alison Fox is the founder of it. The purpose of the club is to inspire and help the members of the club reach their creative goals, specifically (but not exclusively) in the areas of music composing, book writing, and a work or works of art. The members that appeared at the first meeting were us, Alison, Sarah Jones, and Andrea Pratt, but our club has grown to include the Gippers, and Becca Heintz. The first thing that Sarah and I did was buy USB flash drives to hold our work on them. I have since put my works on the flash drive. The one that I have weakness in is book writing. But hopefully with the help of our friends, I will be able to accomplish it. It is one of the reasons I am reading the Ramona series by Beverly Cleary, because I think I would like to write children's fiction books akin to those books.

Sarah and I found a comedy that was originally British but has been Americanized (like The Office) called Ghosts. It's a funny show about ghosts that populate this mansion from different eras and times. This inheritor gets the house with her husband, falls down the stairs, has a near death accident, and because of it, she can see the ghosts in the house, in all over the place that there are ghosts. It is quite funny and we've been enjoying it. There are some times where it isn't very appropriate, though. The husband is so funny.

Arizona Saints Chorale has just started and there has been some recent developments. Kamryn, who is pregnant, left ASC because of differences in opinion over how the choir should be run regarding some things. I still love Kamryn though. She's such a good person and was always nice to me. Two practices at Gilbert has happened, and while I was a scared nervous mess with my piece, Supplication to the Lord, the second week was a lot better. I'm excited for what this semester will bring to my fulfillment as a choir director. And sometimes it is also scary, but it is still exciting. I do love Gilbert ASC though, and we have grown by a few there, so it's getting pretty great. And some people have said the like my music.

Sarah is taking an Astrology class though Naomi Fox. I'm excited to see where it goes.

She has also been doing Wednesday classes of her own. I can't wait for the day that she charges people for her services.