Cincinnati, Ohio

A big thanks to Steve and Caroline Lanenga for welcoming us into Ohio! We arrived in Ohio Saturday night and stayed with my sister Ashley's in-laws. They let us go to church with them and join Sunday dinner with their friends  just like we were part of the family. The Lanenga's diversified us  by taking us to "Taste of Cincinnati." Here we are trying our first Greater's Ice Cream:

...and the city of Cincinnati behind us.

Nauvoo, Illinois

We loved our time in Nauvoo! Not only was it a nice break from driving in the car on our way to Ohio, but it is a place with great history and a wonderful spirit.  We spent a half day, a day, and another half day in Nauvoo and Carthage. By far my favorite part was the temple it is gorgeous inside and out! When I was younger I begged my parents to take me to Nauvoo but we never got to go so I figured driving across the country was a perfect time to go. I was able to enjoy it more than if I had gone when I was younger, since I am a little older and could go inside the temple.

Where they talk about the Nauvoo red bricks



Room above the Red Brick Store, where the Relief Society was organized

If you go to Nauvoo I would recommend including the tour by the Community of Christ. They own some neat building and have some neat facts and stories. It's not like the spirit in LDS owned sites but it was worth the time and money. One fact we didn't know was that Joseph and Hyrum's bodies were buried somewhere only Emma knew the markers were not where their bodies were but here is the true burial site now:

Our last stop before continuing on to Ohio was Carthage Jail

The picutre is blury but still like it. Another place with lots of history.

I am so grateful for Joseph Smith, his family, and all the early Latter-day Saint pioneers for the sacrifices they made to help restore the true chuch of God and begin to build up the kingdom here on earth.

We have lots of picutes that I wanted to share but this wasn't working so well for me on the blog so I figured the easiest way was facebook. There is an album with all our pictures from this protion of the trip there if you want to look at them.  



Missionary Dinner

The Barrett's have the missionaries over once a month for dinner and boy do they love the elders! Having a missionary of their own they try to be extra kind in hopes that others will be kind to their missionary son. Every missionary meal is the same so what is it they have? Baby back ribs!  Cassie buys the BEST ribs that are super meaty and cooks them Heavenly. Scott says they are better than any ribs he's ever had and I have to agree. You don't have to work hard to eat them because the meat just falls off.  I spent all day in the kitchen with Cassie to learn the techniques but I don't think I'll every be as successful at ribs as she is.

For dessert? Ohio's best, Graeter's black raspberry chip ice cream! Mmm mmm mmmm! It's like no ice cream I've ever had before: delightful, creamy, and full of yummy chocolate chunks that are soft despite being in frozen ice cream.

Let's just say Scott doesn't complain when the missionaries come over.

Here is Cassie making rib rub, sauce and cooking the ribs in her gorgeous kitchen.  She tried to refuse the picture because she hadn't done her hair or make up and was wearing work cloths but I told her the picture wouldn't be true the story if she had. I've always said that my dream would be to have a kitchen with everything in it. Right now I get to work in my dream kitchen. It is gorgeous, big, organized and well stocked, which makes it very fun to cook in.

Delaware, Ohio

Saturday, the 23rd, Kent, Cassie, Meara, Scott and I went to Delaware. Delaware is an old small Ohio city about 45 minutes from Upper Arlington. There were lots of cool buildings to see antique shops to look around and we got lucky with a car show also.  Mostly it was just fun to go out and see an little of Ohio rather than staying in the dungeon studying.



Our Ohio family: Cassie, Kent, Scott, Jenny and Meara

Skyline!

To celebrate our successful week Scott and I went to dinner to my dad’s all time favorite place, Skyline Chili! Skyline is a great little diner only located in 4 states- primarily Ohio. Ever since I remember it was a family favorite and a favorite of mine…even though I have never been to Skyline in my remembering years. I think it's in my blood. When Scott and I found out that we would be coming to Ohio I told him we had to make some Skyline trips.  He agreed but started to doubt how much he would enjoy it when many people currently living in the Ohio area said that they didn’t like the food.

Here we are enjoying the full Skyline experience bips and all. 

And the desicion is... Yum! Scott liked it, he really liked it and so did I.  It's hard not to when you've got a pile of cheese that big on top. He also agreed to go again before we left Ohio. The chili really is a different taste maybe more of an acquired taste but it is Good!

Passed

I took my national certification board exam on Monday, the 18th. The results are up... I passed my national certification exam! Hooray! It was a big week for Scott and I, gratefully we were blessed with success.

What have I been doing since I haven't had to study and Scotts at work?

• Cleaning the Barrett house, inside and out--it's nice to contribute a little more
• Making cinnamon rolls with Cassie. Since we missed out on Grandma Richens Lake Powell cinnamon rolls I told Scott I would make some for after the interview.
• Planning Ohio siteseeing for our few weeks left out here. Lots to do!

I'm excited to do a little leisure reading out of the Barrett's library, play the piano more and maybe fiddle around on Meara's extra Violin.

It all started with a career fair

Last February Scott helped with a BYU career fair. While there he talked with recruiters from the United States Navy. The recruiters were looking for engineering majors, and chemical engineering was one at the top of the list. Well, they got him interested in the Navy nuclear engineering program and so Scott began the rigorous application process…he filled out several forms a week from February all the way until May. But to him he wanted it enough to work for it. I think Grandpa Richens got it into Scott’s heart that to work for the armed forces would be one of the coolest jobs ever. As Scott worked on the applications I asked him why he was willing to work so hard for it, why did he want to work for the Navy. Scott’s reply, to be part of something more, he said he wanted to help more than just an independent company, but to really make a difference. I continued to support him.  

Last May Scott visited Charleston, South Carolina on a Navy nuclear engineering VIP trip. There he learned more about the all the benefits under the Navy and about being an instructor at the power school there in Charleston. It all sounded great it made me interested and excited and Scott definitely was excited. So, I continued to support him. There are 3 basic options for engineers interested in the working for the Navy. 1) An operator on a submarine or aircraft carrier. To be deployed for several months at a time... not a very family friendly job. 2) Instructor located in Charleston…A family friendly job. 3) Engineer working in Washington DC… family friendly job, but maybe not area. The engineer is the hardest position to get, so, Scott always going after the best thought engineer would be his first choice with instructor a close second. Submariner? No chance.  After all I heard about his VIP trip my pick would have been to go to Charleston, but I’m not the one working the job s. We kept talking about what might happen and started to think more about living in the DC area. We felt really good about working in Navy.

This week, July 17-19, Scott was in Washington DC interviewing. Monday he studied with the 23ish other applicants, all of whom had a spot available in whichever job they preferred if they passed (so they weren’t competing against each other). Tuesday was filled with interviews. Scott had 4 technical interviews and a short interview with the admiral. In the end the Navy gave Scott a position as an instructor. Since going to the interviews in DC was the commitment to accept the job if he passed the interviews: Here we come South Carolina!

While talking with developmental engineers that work in DC Scott got the idea that the engineer position might be kind of boring. One person he spoke with was the head of valves and Scott being more of a people person didn’t think that sounded all that excited. Well to make a long story shorter, the Lord blessed us and guided us to the spot that would be right for us and in a job that would be more enjoyable to Scott. I hope all will continue to go well with this quest, but I know with the Lord’s help it will. He would not allow us to do anything that was not good.

We are now affiliated with the Navy, the insurance will be a great plus. Scott officially starts on June 10, 2012 at a 5 week “Officer Development School” where unfortunately I cannot follow him to. When the 5 weeks is up he will come back home and we will begin our journey to start a new home in South Carolina.

I here there are beautiful beaches there which means you will all come to visit us. J

Some details may be inaccurate since I wrote the story and not Scott for which I apologize.

July Fourth

It was weird not to be with family for Independence Day celebrations. No barbeque dinner and watching fireworks at Grandma and Grandpa Richens and no ultimate frisbee, volleyball, or fun in the park with the Baird’s all day starting with breakfast and going until late afternoon. What did we do? Study. I caught a lucky break and didn’t have to study as much. Instead I gave Cassie much needed company (since the youngest two kids are currently not home) while we cooked an adequate dinner to celebrate with. She made home fried chicken, and by all the work that went into it, I’m not sure I’ll ever make it on my own. It did however give me a piece of the Baird celebration that always had fried chicken and the soo good salads with the broccoli salad Cassie fixed and my embarrassing potato salad that doesn’t need duplicating.

Thankfully we did get to see a great firework show put on by Upper Arlington. We walked up “million dollar mile” (given the name by the all homes being worth one million+) and awed at the houses all the way to the park so we could ooo and awe at the fireworks. It was an impressive show that kept me grinning the whole time. It was more impressive than what Scott and I were used to from the Provo and North Salt Lake displays, even after we missed Columbus’ biggest firework show in the Midwest.

Even in Ohio the holiday was nice. It made me feel appreciative of Scott and grateful to be here with him. Being away for a holiday also gave me a feeling of growing up and that Scott and I are our own little family who can depend on each other.

Oh what do you do in the summer time?

STUDY!!!!

Yes, we are still Studying. Night after night it's the same routine, just two pictures doesn't seem to give justice to the monotonous evening schedule. We've grown such a great relationship with Study that I feel that to give full credit to the word it should begin capitalized. Maybe we’ll be able to enjoy the summer and the great Midwest Soon.  I'm all scheduled for my broad exam for Monday the 18th and Scott will be in DC that same week interviewing on the 19th. It'll be a big week of nerves and stress, hopefully it ends in success.