Arrgh! Finals!

So we were very busy these last few weeks. Finals just about killed us. Mitch was really worried about his math class because he wasn't doing as well as he'd hoped on most of his tests but we're happy to report he found out his grade for the class and its a C!!! Yay!
So now Mitch is working full time for SeekMobileInteractive, doing apps for the Iphone and planning a video game for it with his uncle Jeff and they are doing really well. I am working part time for TSA and it's pretty fun and I am really enjoying a little down time before the next semester of school. I am going to be going back full time and mitch will be taking two classes.
Mitch and I are getting sealed together in just a week and a half! It's crazy. I don't think I've really mentally prepared very much for it, life has been too crazy, but we are very excited.

A House becoming a Home

Okay so here are some pictures from about a month ago to now, the bottom picture is one I took this morning! It's coming along great!Footings
That's dad and my Uncle Gary doing the floor by hand.
Top flooring is laid

Walls are up for the upstairs and exterior sheet walls are going up

My Cakes so far

So I kinda got sidetracked on the cake deal....what with school and work and the internship and everything, but here are some pictures of the ones I did in the spring/summer.

Here is a clown cake we made for class... I went a little too crazy on it..lol

Here is a daisy, my mom did the middle and got sick of it so I did the rest
This is a rose bouquet cake we had to make for class, I made it for my mother in law for mothers day
Here is Ally's graduation day cake. My mom paid me handsomely in supplies for making it. :D
Here is a three tiered cake I made for my parents 25th Anniversary party Jana and I threw for them. That was a DAY of baking!

Underneath this photo is one of Cadens 1st Birthday cake. It did NOT turn out like the perfect picture on the wilton website :(. The problem was mostly that we couldn't get the brown sugar to stick to the castle pieces. But the white chocolate seashells were perfect!

Whew!

Hey all!
It's about time for an update isn't it?

So Mitch and I are busier than we have ever been in either of our lives. He is taking five classes and working for two companies, on very little pay or on equity in the company, who are trying to get investor money for their video games. The promising of the two is SeekMobile Interactive, which is making a video game for the Iphone. Oem is moving very quickly with their investors and we hope to have him working for money within a month or so.

I am working for the Post office for one more week and then it's on to TSA to be a Security Officer. The federal benefits are awesome. Health insurance here we come! I get sworn in as a federal employee on Sep. 29th. I am also taking 4 classes and one other class where I do 8 hours of internship a week. I intern with Tooele City Police department and I am having a blast there.

The house is coming along awesomely and my dad is doing amazing work for having a full time job and coming home and doing construction all by himself. Mitch and I owe him more than we can ever repay.

We are also going to Arizona next week after classes and between leaving my job and starting the new one. We are sooo excited to go see Lee and Jana and our neice and nephew. We miss them a lot.

I'll upload house progress pictures tonight or so. Latez!

Eternal Marriage

We are going to be sealed for time and all eternity on December 27th! We are so excited. We love studying the scriptures together and praying together, its so fun! How weird eh? When did it become fun to me? Lol. Well I know when, when I decided I wanted to do it instead of doing it because I "needed" to. We would love to have any of you family members with us at the temple! So please get ready for that if you feel you would like to be there.
Anyway, we are still in the process of finding mitch a self sustaining, weekday only, part time job for school this next year which is coming up quickly. I am almost through the process with TSA and they should be contacting me soon about when I will do training and such, so I am very excited about that. Yay!

Oregon Trip 2008

Okay so I've finally gotten around to posting about our Oregon trip. We went back in June, lol. It was great. We left on a thursday and stayed overnight in Boise, then went on up to Portland and stayed with my aunt and uncle. Saturday we fished on the Columbia river with my uncle Buck, for sturgeon. It was the funnest fishing trip I have ever been on. We first fished for shad. Shad were the biggest fish we (my brother Jeff, Mitch, and I) had ever caught. Jeff caught two, Mitch caught one, and I caught three! I laughed at them cause I caught my three in the last half hour of fishing after they had already got theirs.

So after we get six shad, thats how many we need, we move the boat downstream a bit and my uncle hooks one of these huge shad to a hook and ties the string around it and throws it in! Mitch was astonished. He thought my uncle was going to cut these fish up and use a peice of them for bait, lol. So I have my pole and I've been in for about 10 min when I get a bite. My dad steps in to help me set the hook and then I began my fight with the monster. I reeled every little bit of that fish in to the boat. It took half an hour and mitch helped me lift the pole every few seconds so that I could reel again as I let the pole drop. This fish would let me reel him in a little, mind you, I had to do it very quickly, before he took a bunch of line with him. I probably lost a little more than I gained there for a little while. It was honestly one of THE most EXHAUSTING things I have ever done in my life!!! I finally brought it up to the boat and Buck stuck his hand into its mouth (It has no teeth) and pulled it a little up out of the water so we could get pictures of it. He said it was between 7-8 feet long and weighed about 200-300 pounds. Can you imagine how that hurt my poor little arms?!? Haha. It did. Alot.

After I caught mine and we set it back into the water (It has to be between 4 to 6 feet to take home) my dad used my pole and hooked another. This one was really big! Mitch and Jeff stepped in to help after a few minutes and the three of them fought that sucker for an hour and fifteen minutes, in which they got it close twice and it surfaced (after surfacing it dove and took line with a hell like fury). My uncle estimated it to be 9-10 feet and 400-500 pounds. They gave up the fight and layed around completely wasted from the exertion. Ha, it was A LOT of fun!

After that day we (Dad&Mom, Jeff, and Mitch and I) rented a van and drove up to Seaside, which is in Northern Oregon on the coast. We did alot of stuff in our week there, including visiting a small aquarium with seals, hiking and finding some sea lions in the wild, beachcombing, visiting the cheese factory, and eating at Mos famous seafood.

Here are some pics

Updates!

Okay so lots of things have happened in our little two person family that are pretty cool.

-We are debt free, as of June, and are currently saving our three to six months of expenses emergency fund.

-Jeff, Jana, Mitch, and I threw a surprise party for my parents for their 25th anniversary. It was great. Lots of people showed up and my parents were in awe. We did a slideshow of them, with music, a cake, and appetizers.

-Our trip to Oregon was very fun, I caught a seven and a half foot fish, and we saw sea lions in the wild on a hike.

-We went to the bishop and started the process of getting ready to be sealed in the temple. We were incredibly happy before but are even happier now as we feel the Lord in our lives more these days.

-Mitch's job sounds as though it may take off in a matter of weeks. (Please pray for this one with us!)

-Mitch has been going to school continously and is doing wonderfully, he's only three semesters away from his Associate's and his transfer to UVU. I am starting in a few weeks, full time, at Weber to finish for my bachelors.

It has been forever!!!

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted. I have been doing all sorts of crazy stuff. Mitch is now taking three online classes and still working security, but looking to get a job with maybe UPS who has good incentives for students. I have decided to go to Weber State this fall and that should be a blast. I only have three more semesters until I get my Bachelor of Science so I am looking forward to that. Life is good. I'll write again later, gotta go run errands now!

Saying No to myself

So I am learning to say no to myself... It's not easy as I have always been impulsive with money I've made, lol, at least it wasn't with credit cards or something. But anyway, I still wanted to pay tribute to them. Lol.
Things I/We have given up or put on the waiting list in my/our dedication to our TMMO include;
a PS3 (We had specific money coming in for this, in full, but decided to put it towards our EF)
Lost game for PS3
Various movies on BlueRay
A two night anniversary trip to Park City
So many Restaraunts/Fast Food
So many impulse buys for kitchen goods from Walmart, Target, and Bed, Bath, & Beyond
A new bed frame/mattresses & sheet sets
A camping trip to somewhere nice
New shoes
A dress
Every cake decorating accessory under the sun
Gifts for people
Various video games mitch would love to have
Flying or even driving to see my sister and her kids at least once a month or once every two months... (This one is really hard not to do when I see the money we've built up)

When I want something, I have to tell myself "NO!" and "Live like no one else, so later you can live like no one else."
Sigh.

My First Character Cake!!!

Okay here it is, my first star-filled character cake! Get a gander. My mom and I are both doing the class together so I decided we should give one cake away each week instead of having TWO! I am going to be sending this one to my mother in laws house since she has a love of Hawaii lol.

I've Been Tagged...

10 Years Ago:

I was 11...Lol. That would mean I was in 5th grade. I was in Mrs. Nielsen's class. I was painfully shy and hung out with Jerica Dahlberg alot. I think I was in a dance class too. I also played Jr. Jazz. Life was very simple back then haha. Now wait a second, wouldn't that make you in 8th grade Jana? You weren't in high school you goof. Maybe 10 years ago in the fall...

5 Years Ago:

I was in high school, my sophmore year, a new driver with my '88 Chevy Porsica and new to official dating ;). I was having lots of goofy fun with friends and working at McDonalds with most of them. It was good times, except for the working part. That was lame.

5 months Ago:

November I think? I was running every weekday and getting some serious shin splints. I was three days away from my test with Salt Lake County for a Deputy position, could run the mile and a half in a little less then the required time and was really nervous about making the pushups requirement. Little did I know I would do the pushups just fine but after all that hard work would end up being 30 seconds late on my run! That still hurts to think about to this day. Too soon :-S. I was also looking forward to being with my moms family for thanksgiving, and most importantly seeing my sister and her family after not seeing them since July or something sad.

5 Things on my To Do List Today:

(since its 10:30pm I will answer these for tomorrow)

1. clean out the family room of my boxes and finish dejunking the boxes from the hall and closets

2. spend some time with my husband (its been forever!)

3. sleep in

4. go to work
5. weekly check comes so I will do some weekly budgeting and cash distribution to envelopes

5 Snacks I enjoy:

1. Spicy Nacho doritos

2. Oreos with milk

3. Teddy Grahams

4. Cheesy Tots from Burger King!
5. Ice cream

5 Things I would do if I was suddenly a billionaire:

1. get mitch and myself personal trainers

2. 100% down on my dream home

3. 100% down on 3 year old dream cars for Mitch and I

4. Take my siblings from both sides and all parents to the Virgin Isles to stay at the Westin on St. John for two weeks and pay all travel expenses and take them all snorkelling in the amazing world beneath the waters surface I miss so much

5. Build a large cabin for my dad and mom (to pay them back for all the money and help they've loaned and given us this last year, and throughout life) and one for us on his idaho property complete with a large joint deck with hot tub, stock it with toys for all seasons, including a ski boat, jet skis, 4 wheelers, snow mobiles, and a horse stable for the horses with hired help to care for them and train them really well.

5 of my bad habits:

1. Procrastination

2. I'm terribly Lazy and its really hard to make myself exercise
3. Biting my lips and cheeks

4. No is a word I am in the process of training myself to live with, though it is still tough

5. I take too long to clean, and end up getting tired and abandoning it halfway for rest and not coming back to it right away which I should

5 Places I have lived:

1. Misawa, Japan

2.West Jordan, UT

3. Lake Point, UT

4. Logan, UT

5. Glendale, AZ

and Tooele, and Boise, ID and Sunset, UT. Too many?

5 Jobs I have had:

1. Crew at McDonalds

2. Security Officer at Alberstons Warehouse

3. Computer Programming Intern at Workers Comp

4. Data Conversion Operator for the USPS
5. Still waiting to fill this space...Oh wait! I had a job for a week as a Telemarketer for Trendwest

5 Things People don't know about me:

1. My feelings get hurt VERY easily, but I try not to ever show it. Lol

2. I'm scared that I will never have what it takes to get myself in shape enough and try again for a police job

3. I cry very easily at any touching movie or show, I can't stop and fake it even with my tough girl facade.

4. I am still insanely shy and am very uncomfortable around groups over 10 where I don't know everyone there really really well, though I also try not to show it.

5. I have always been a bit paranoid. My Criminal Justice classes only reinforced and worsened it. I always think I will be the victim of a crime. I think that if I leave something in the yard, it will get stolen. If I leave my car on outside, I expect to hear it driving away. Every time I leave

work, I stand far away from my door while unlocking it, so the guy underneath my car won't cut my achilles tendon. My imagination comes up with crazy scenes that "could" happen and I go check that they aren't happening or didn't. (Like someone breaking into the house and sneaking around trying to steal something and he might kill my family) Someone's a bit cuckoo aren't they? Lol

Oops I answered some of those WAY too long! haha. Sorry!

5 People to tag:

1. Jenny
2. Brittney

3. Mitch

4. Ally

5. Lee

The Total Money Makeover

Okay so this is our first post about our Total Money Makeover. If you have never heard of TMM or Dave Ramsey, then you are truly missing out. Dave has developed a process that is composed of very simple steps that anyone can do towards being financially healthy and getting more out of your money. The steps are simple, the short lifestyle to getting there is tough, but well worth it. "Live like no one else, so later you can live like no one else." The steps are very easy to understand; 1-Build a $1,000 Emergency Fund. 2-Pay all debts as quickly as you can, starting with the smallest and finishing with the biggest, if you have to work two jobs or sell stuff to do it, you do it! 3-Finish the Emergency Fund with 3-6 months of expenses. 4-Retirement Investment. 5-College funds for children. 6-Pay off mortgage early.
We are currently on the last part of Baby Step 1, which is saving a $1,000 Emergency Fund into a liquid account. We opened an account with INGDirect, who gives $25 to anyone who is referred to their savings accounts, and $10 for every person you referred. So if you are intersted in opening one, please email me and I will refer you. Everyone loves making a little free money! :) We had to do some major budgeting, but the software we have available to us on mytotalmoneymakeover.com allowed us to do it with ease. That did mean giving up some things we really wanted and want, but just dreaming about our future makes it all feel much better.

We expect to be done with Step 1 in May, (we currently have 432.00 and by the end of this month will add $300 more, we are going for as fast as we can!!) and have our debts paid off in June. August is our date for having our full EF saved. Things will be a lot different if Mitch gets the GivePlay full time schedule in June, which we are crossing our fingers for. Please pray for us! I have also applied for a higher paying job with benefits (We desperately need someone to give us health insurance benefits, I'm getting panicky with what if's! lol) at WCF and hope to get that job. So yeah, we need the prayers.

Anyway, thats what we have done so far. I will keep you posted on our process, so that if you are intrigued, maybe our experiences can help you decide you want to read the book.

WE LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Busy...Busy...

Hey guys! Sorry nothing has been written for a little while. Mitch and I have been crazy busy keeping up with everything as these last few weeks of school fly by!

Mitch is at any given time; either at school, work, on at the dining room table working on homework. He's a bit disappointed at the level of work he sometimes has to turn in to keep up with all his classes, but I think he's handling his first full semester of college pretty well.


Japanese class for me has been a little overwhelming, but I have learned a lot. I cannot speak or understand practically anything, but I can read and write the hiragana and katakana characters. So that means if it is written in the basic characters, I can pronounce the word, but that sure doesn't mean I can tell you what the word is!


Cake decorating class was postponed until this week so I haven't yet had the chance to go. Mom and I will be going tomorrow night and I can't wait! I will post pictures if I get to do anything remotely cool in the class on the first day.

We sold our car yesterday, our blue Altima, after listing it just two hours or so beforehand. We got a nice $700 for it so that will pay for our new car before parts. We are pretty excited about that.

Oh and I forgot! Mitch and I have started a Total Money Makeover. It's already been a blessing for us and we are excited to be smart with money. I will make another post dedicated to that.

Projects are fun!

I just installed new locks! Lol. I have never done anything by myself like this before so please excuse my excitement. We have some people living in the same place we are living...that have made me think we should probably have heavy duty locks on the doors to our bedrooms. We will also get one soon for our bathroom we share with my brother Jeff. While installing the locks, I got the bright idea that we should paint the doors. So I guess we will see if I ever get around to putting that into reality.

I went shopping today with a friend who is getting married soon. We visited Roberts and some place called the Hobby-Lobby. Man the stuff in there got me all excited to do lots of projects and get my home all decorated... Only one problem there! I don't really have a house at the moment, or any money for that matter! Oh well. Soon enough eh?


So that is my life. Interesting eh? No? Okay then.
-Tosh

EDIT: I couldn't quite wait for my class to start on Thursday so I made a cake for Brittney, the friend of mine who is getting married soon with a daisy on it (Her flower) and petals in her colors. So yeah...here it is. With practice I will be able to do some awesome stuff!

Starting out...

Alright friends and family. Here it is. The Tatafu family blog. I know you have all been waiting such a long time for this that you can hardly stand it. Well wait no longer.... Tadaa! :-S

As you probably all know, Mitch and I got married on April 27th, 2007. It was an amazing and wonderful day and we owe those facts to so many of you. Thank you so much. You made our day so very special, and we will never forget your love and kindness. Especially you;

Moms; Lori and Juli, and Dads; Tim and Folau. And our sisters and brothers; Jana & Lee, my big sister and her husband, Madelyn, their daughter (our little flower girl), Brian, Mitch's big brother, Nate and Cole, Mitch's younger brother and Nate's girlfriend/pretty much wife ;) , Nick and Liberty, Mitch's sister and her very nearly husband (June 28th, 2008), Andrew, Jeff, and Ally, Mitch's youngest brother and my younger brother and sister. Hopefully someday soon you all will have blogs as well, :) .

That pretty much sums up our family. We have one new addition, Caden, who is my sister Jana's second child, and first son.

Jana and Lee live in Maricopa, Arizona. It is a city, not the county. Their kids; Maddy and Caden are our little cuties, though they are not OUR children. :D We get the best parts of kids and then hand them off when the bad parts come. We adore them and miss them a lot. We have a constant prayer that Lee will somehow get a perfect job up here in Utah someday in the near future.

The rest of our siblings live here in Utah, all within the Salt Lake and Tooele Valley, which is very nice. Liberty and Nick almost moved to San Fran and we are SO GLAD that they didn't. Having one sister and brother so far away is hard enough.

Let's see... I will post pictures soon of our wedding and honeymoon and whatever else I can think of that anyone would like to see. I guess thats it for now..