Josh Made Operator!

After being at his new job for only a few weeks Josh got a promotion and is now an operator! The new responsibility comes with a pay raise and truck pay since he has to drive his truck onto the ROW everyday. It's a HUGE deal and I am so proud of him!

Getting truck pay was a fiasco though. 

First, we had to get Josh's insurance to put his company on their policy (thanks to Josh's mom, Suzi, for taking care of that!). 

Next, we had to get a truck. Luckily, there was one in Wisconsin that we could have so I drove the Suburban to Iowa (*Ugh!) where I met Josh's mom and grandpa. I traded the Suburban for a small Silverado, had lunch with Suzi and grandpa, and then headed to Ryan and Missy's place in Omaha. I spent the night in Omaha where I hung out with Missy and my adorable nephew! He is at such a fun age! The next morning I made the long drive back to Colorado with our "new" (it has almost 280,000 miles on it) truck. 

The final step was getting the truck ready for work. So, when I got back to town I met Josh at a local store where we had to spend a TON of money to buy a fuel tank and other supplies that Josh needs for the truck.

[Josh getting his supplies]

It cost a lot of money to get everything situated but it'll all be worth it!

 Here's some pictures of the UNEV pipeline in Utah/Nevada (where we met) and the pipeline that he is working on now:

[UNEV Valve Location]

[Josh had three different jobs on the UNEV line: swamper, operator, and X-Ray Tech. This is the X-Ray truck he worked in]

[UNEV Line]

[First day at work in Colorado]

[Army truck on the Colorado Line]

[Windmills!]

[Sidebooms on the Colorado Line]

[Pipe gang]

[Trencher]

[Trackhoes]

[Creature!]

[ROW]

[Sideboom - Josh's new machine]

*Nebraska is FLAT, long, boring, and smells like cows! AND the harvest was going on so by the time I reached Iowa my allergies were out of control!

#2 and #20 DONE

I accomplished 2 of my 30 goals already! Go me!

Josh and I moved to Colorado (Goal #2: Move to another state) because he got a great job opportunity. One of the perks to being on a job like this is that there are usually other guys that are Josh's age that have also brought their girlfriends/wives along with them. Josh has already made some friends and as a result I have too (Goal #20: Make new friends)! Yeah!

Even though I have accomplished these goals it doesn't mean I'm going to stop here. I'm going to continue to make new friends while keeping in contact with my current friends that I have left behind in Utah and California!

Also, my sister-in-law, Missy, posted a link on my wall this morning about how Groupon is offering the Rosetta Stone at a discounted price! I'm very tempted to get it so that I can start working on my #13 goal (start learning Spanish). I've heard that Rosetta Stone is one of the best ways to learn a new language. I am actually a little scared about this one though. Spanish was the only subject in High School that I didn't get an "A" in. Eek! I'm scared and excited at the same time!

Pizookies

My friends got me these little cast iron skillets for my birthday so Josh and I decided to make our own homemade Pizookies! 

Warm chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream?! Yes please!!

Delicious!

I MADE IT!!

After 3 weeks of packing and organizing, hours of loading the truck, and 11 hours of driving, I finally made it to Colorado!!

Here's how it all went down:

I spent a lot of time going through all of our things, putting items aside that I was going to donate, and packing the rest in totes. 

I stacked all of the totes in the front room so they would be easier to move when the time came. 

I then rented a 14 ft truck and trailer so that I could tow my XTerra while I moved.

Thanks to the help of my friends we were able to pack the truck full in no time at all!

The next morning I got up early, filled the truck with gas, and headed off.

 

I have to admit, I was nervous. Not only was I driving a huge truck with a trailer but I was driving on a highway that I was not familiar with. I was warned by a few people that the drive was beautiful but had a few steep and shady parts. I took their advice to heart and decided to give myself PLENTY of time to get to Colorado before the sun went down. 

Long story short, I made it! I drove slowly and took my time. My friends were right, the drive was beautiful and steep. At one point I was going 35 mph and getting passed by everyone, but I stayed in the right hand lane, put my flashers on, and kept chugging along.

When I finally arrived in Fort Morgan I was greeted by Josh and these beautiful flowers!

I'm pretty proud of myself. I can't believe that I went all that way by myself! Wahoo! 

The next day (Sunday), Josh and I unloaded the truck into our little storage unit. It took some real skills but we made it all fit into a 5 by 10 by 10 storage unit.

 

We then took the rest of the stuff back to the hotel and unpacked. 

We are currently staying at a hotel which has weekly rates and kitchens in the rooms. It's a little expensive but hopefully we will only be here for a few weeks.

It's been one heck of an adventure so far! Here's to many more!