December has been an interesting month to say the least. At the beginning of the month, Chouaib lost his job. Since my two esthetician jobs were bringing in about $.50/week combined, we both went into serious job searching mode. That means searching for a serious job and we were serious about it. That's what that means. I came out the big winner with a job offer from the University of Utah Orthopaedic center as an outpatient service specialist. I pretty much wet myself when they offered me the job because a) I was totally convinced I blew the interview when I made a snarky remark to a co-applicant in a group exercise (this story is an entire blog entry in itself) and b) I asked for much more than I thought they would offer me, just to give myself some negotiating space but they offered me almost $1 more than I requested. Pretty amazing. I start January 5. Chouaib is still looking, but I doubt he's going to find anything until he actually has his green card, which is in the application process. I wish he'd hurry up, because we really need to buy a king-sized bed.

In the meantime, we're dreaming and scheming and enjoying married life and good friends. We also resolved to go to the gym every day. Since we met, we have gained almost 50 lbs combined. It sucks to admit, but I'm at a weight I haven't seen in over 4 years. So, yeah, we're making changes.

Here is a recap of December in pictures:

We put up our first Christmas tree. My non-Christian husband didn't even try to set it on fire.

This is a view from the outside.

I went to Temple Square with Melissa to see the lights.

This would be a great picture if I had a decent camera. But I will be thankful for my cell phone camera.

A pretty decoration at Temple Square.

I changed my hair color and Chouaib learned to shovel snow.

Adam, Jake and Chouaib. He fit right in at the family Christmas party.

Here's a close-up of the tree on Christmas morning. We went easy on the gifts this year. That thing in the background on the left is not a gift, but a Christmas decoration. It's a freaky half-breed of a snowman and a Christmas tree. I won't even ask how that happened. If you get too close to him and he's turned on (if his switch is turned on, not the other way, perv) he will sing Christmas songs in a creepy loud and obnoxious voice. I keep him though because it's not like I can be picky about my decorations yet. So I keep dreaming and scheming.

Happy Holidays, everyone.