Over 9 months since the Mission

Well, it has been years since the last time I blogged (is that a verb?)--partly because I was on a mission and partly because I'm a bit of a slacker.  Nevertheless, I am going to do it!

Starting today, from henceforth and forever, I will try to do better at attempting to be relatively consistent at regularly posting on this blog.  So feel free to stop by every so often and take a peak at what is, or is not, something you're interested in seeing.

Highlights from the last little while:

August 17: Returned home from my Mission in the Dominican Republic!
August 18: Went on a date with Alexis
August 19: Started my Sophomore year at ASU in Business Mgmt.
August 20: Talked with Alexis about Marriage
August 21: I had my answer
August 23: She got her answer
August 27: Officially engaged!

Skip a few months of school and engagement nonsense

December: Worked as a "Driver Helper" for UPS (a.k.a. Driver's "jumper" and/or lackey who runs all day)--it was a fun job and a great way to get out of the house and not sit worrying about the wedding.

December 29, 2010: Justin and Alexis Bates are sealed for time and all eternity!

Jumping for Joy!

January: Honeymoon in CA getting free lodgings at Grandma Carr's (Thank you!) while she was in AZ.  Setting up house and starting school.

February -- May: School, Newlywed life, getting fatter and fatter. =D

May 7: Alexis' Voice Recital--she was Awesome! (especially for having just gotten over being sick)
May 12: We're both done with school for the semester

May 12-25: Lexie working full-time while Justin is looking for a job anywhere he can find it.
Sometime this week: I got an internship at PoolCorp, Inc. for the Summer that pays much better than I was expecting and guarantees 40+ hours/ week!!

Needless to say, I am ready to do something besides sit around at home waiting for one of my potential employers to call me back.  The internship starts in June and is basically a "Management Training" kind of position where they have me work with a new area of the facility every week (i.e. one with the inventory, one with the sales, one with customer service, one with the delivery guys, etc.).  It should be pretty fun and they're really supportive of me going to school and making that my first priority if I decide to work there during the school year as well.

Alexis is working at the Reading Clinic again this summer tutoring kids on their reading (and math) skills.  Her sister just graduated from High School and is starting to work at the Clinic as well and since Lexie has over three years of experience, she gets to train her sister and two other kids on how to do the job.  So that's kind of fun.

In my off-time, which I seem to have a lot of these days, I am scouring books, talking to people and doing some "deep introspection" trying to figure out what it is that I want to do after I graduate from college.  And I'm dabbling with the idea of writing a book--just for fun, it probably wouldn't get published or anything.