Wow. It has been forever since I wrote anything on our blog. I'll just give a quick run down on the things that have happened this semester. So as layoffs started at work, it wasn't long before the entire department I worked for was shut down. A few fellow employees were transferred to other departments and the rest of us were laid off. It was a very trying time for me as I found myself without work. I didn't realize how much my job had begun to mean to me. It was what got me out of bed at a reasonable time and helped me be productive and useful. The change I experienced without my job was extremely difficult. Without my job, it felt like I had lost all motivation to do anything. Thank goodness it didn't last too long. Shortly after losing my job, applied for a position with Qwest in their customer service department. Dave and I were both pretty excited for this position. The benefits were going to be awesome (full medical insurance, pay was better, overtime encouraged, retirement fund, and they also would pay for my tuition for a few part-time classes). Not long after applying for the job at Qwest my old employers called me and wanted to re-hire me for a new position in the company. Qwest weren't going to be looking at application for another 3 weeks and I was going stir crazy at home so we decided to go ahead and take the position with Impact. About two weeks after I started with Impact again, Qwest called for an interview. The funny thing is that although Dave and I had been really excited and very hopeful about this job, neither of us had very good feelings about the interview. We prayed about it and surprisingly enough the next day after work, I stopped for a minute to ask my boss about some time off when my mom came up to visit, and before leaving my boss asked me to switch to another department which would be so much more enjoyable and a step up from where I was. It was the answer we needed to know that I was supposed to be at Impact. That's the wrap on work right now!

School is a very a different story however. As always I've procrastinated to the max and the next two weeks will probably the worst of my life. However, if I can make it past these next two weeks, I will graduate with my associates degree from Snow College. I still need to go and see an adviser at Utah State University to discuss classes for the fall semester but I'm thinking I need to be sure that I pass all of my classes so that I will be able to transfer to Utah State. Down to the Wire!!!

Family is great. Dave is a little worried at how baby hungry I've been but the good news I'm only baby hungry for all my friends babies. It's pretty crazy...the majority of people I see and talk to are pregnant now due in a month or two. Other than that, Dave and I are doing great. Next month we will be celebrating our first wedding anniversary. It's amazing that Dave hasn't mailed me back to my dad with a "Return To Sender" stamp across my forehead. I remember Dave sweeping me off my feet a month after our wedding when he told me that he thought that he had reached the peak of how much he could love anyone when he married me. Then he told me that he was wrong. His love for me increases everyday. I'll always remember that because it is exactly how I feel about him. We are celebrating our first anniversary and we've loved every minute of our life together!

My mom and sister had the chance to come up and see us and we had an absolute blast together! Loved having the girl time with them!!!!! We didn't have to do anything really fancy...we just loved talking and shopping together! It felt wonderful to spend the time together. Rachel, Rob, Dave, and I also traveled to New Mexico for Mom's birthday. Dad had called us way in advance and arranged for us to come down and surprise her. We had a wonderful time at home with everyone. Nick and his family are still as wonderful and fun as ever, and the time with everyone was perfect.

Dave and I also got to spend time with his parents over conference weekend. During the priesthood session of conference (which Dave and his dad went to), Mama Beth and I were able to enjoy plenty of shopping together and a wonderful dinner at the Cracker Barrel. We had such a good time together! Nothing like spending time with family for the perfect weekend.

Dave and I are currently ward missionaries in the ward. I have absolutely loved this calling. It's been neat to be a part of the ward. At first I struggled being in the ward because it changed every week -its a student ward where most people miss a lot of church as they visit family. Now being a ward missionary gives me the opportunity to enjoy being around people I don't very well and to step out of my comfort zone to make a new friend. Dave and I are quickly learning that although we'd really like to, we just can't have friends over every night of the week for dinner. We try to limit it to only 3 times a week but sometimes even that doesn't work. We thoroughly enjoy spending time with the friends we have here.

Well...I have work that will be calling my name long before I'm ready for it so I'm going to hit the hay. Love you all!

Sleep At the Cazier Residence: the Sleepless Slumber

There is a lot of change that a man must go through after he gets married. Weight gain, hair loss, chick flicks, feminine hygiene products in his bathroom, having to report of his whereabouts, emotions... these are all side-effects of that amazing promise and vow that thousands of couples make with each other each year. The most significant one, for me at least, has been getting used to sleeping in the same bed as another person.

I admit I was given a rude awakening to this change on the very first night after Em and I got married. I was sleeping soundly, grateful to have embarked on the next great stage of my life and dreaming about the eternity before me, when I was awakened by a sharp and nauseating feeling; Em's knee had quickly jerked (a result of her having one of those dreams where you're falling and one of your body parts moves) and collided with my... uh... lower abdominal region. Startled awake, I realized what had happened, and with anger I was about to shout when I looked over at my peacefully-sleeping wife, who--just like one of those Disney princess pictures--was innocently sound asleep, completely unaware of the chaos she had caused.

I rolled over, sighed painfully, and grasped reality: this is going to be a loooong eternity.

The next morning, I told Emily of the domestic violence that occurrd the night before, and after accepting her apology I said, "Ya know, it's a good thing I'm going into special education. The way you knee, our kids might have some disabilities."

Ok, so truth be known, it isn't really me that takes the abuse of having to sleep with another person. To face the facts, it's my poor dear wife that has the short-end of the deal. The other night, I awoke at around 2:30 AM standing in the closet. I heard this voice calling to me over and over: "Dave... Dave... what are you doing over there?"

You know that feeling of when you know you know you are losing cool and all that you can do is desperately claw at keeping your dignity? As Em called to me, I realized that I was indeed sleepwalking but for some unknown reason, I didn't want Em to know this. So, as smoothly as even possible, I replied: "I just... gotta see if they match... my shirt and pants..." I trailed off.

Yeah... she's sure to believe that one. After obeying Em's call for me to return to bed, I rolled over and went back to... or continued rather... my sleep. Needless to say, the next morning Em was all over the previous night's experience like white on rice. "You were soooo funny!" Em giggled over and over. "I don't know what you're talkin' about," I lied grumpily.

To make it worse for my dear wife, this definitely wasn't my first sleepwalk/sleeptalk experience nor shall it be my last. Besides attempting to teach an amazing lesson to a class of 251 students in my sleep, I have also searched for several random unidentified items under the bed, played a killer round of racquetball, and even attempted to romance Em.

Sleep at the Cazier residence is only sleepless slumber.