Sea World pics (minus the underwater pics)

2007...what a great year!

I am still waiting to develop two waterproof cameras, and then I'll post about our great Christmas adventure and our New Year's festivities, but for now, I think I'll list some of our great moments in 2007, it was a great year for the Snyder Family!

1. Molly graduated from law school!!! HALLELUJAH!

2. Elliott graduated from undergrad!!! HALLELUJAH AGAIN!

3. Snyders safely moved from Las Vegas to Plantation, Florida. Whew! That was a project, but thanks to Mom, it went very smoothly. And thanks to the Garrard boys for doing the heavy lifting!

4. Elliott started Optometry school! (we knew he'd get in, but it's a relief for it to actually start)

5. Molly passed the Florida bar! HALLELUJAH WITH HEAVENLY CHOIRS!

6. Molly got a great job that she totally loves!

7. Molly and Elliott celebrated their 5 year anniversary!

8. Elliott got to finally quit working at Outback. He is very excited about that, but grateful that he had the job when we needed it.

9. Snyders have lots of new friends in Florida...and they are all couples! It makes a difference when you are married to have couple friends that you enjoy hanging out with. It's the best.

10. The Snyders don't have to deal with a cold winter! Yay for 85 degrees in December!

We have tons to be thankful for this year. We feel as though this year sparked a new beginning for us, and we are excited for the opportunity to grow together as we live far away from family. Here's to 2008, and may it also be great!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! (pics from our celebration in Key Largo to come)

Where does time go?

HELLO TO ALL MY BLOGGING FRIENDS!! Let me start off by apologizing profusely for my lack of blogging. I know you don't want to hear excuses, so I won't give you them all, except to say that time has officially hit the fast-forward button in the Snyder household! Deep breath........ok here's a look into what I've been doing for the past month and a half (and I am sorry there aren't pics):

1. The Job. The job could not be any better! I seriously, truly, honestly LOVE my job. Heavenly Father really blessed me and guided me to my place. My boss, Charlie, is such a smart and sweet guy. He's funny and is very encouraging. He has slowly let me do more and more. Actually, he tells me that he has let me do more and trusted me more than any other associate he's had in the past. He likes my work product and lets me send out letters/motions/discovery without him editing it now. I'm happy that I'm making my boss happy, b/c I want to stay here. Joe, the other attorney, is seriously one of the funniest people I have ever met. He makes me laugh everyday. For instance, he had to interview a doctor by the unfortunate name of Harry Hamburger. Afterwards, he asks me, "Do you think when he was playing football in high school, his coach would slap him on the back and say 'Well done, Hamburger?'" I died laughing. I love punny jokes. Both Charlie and Joe have been so great to work with. They are so willing to answer all of my questions and they always have teaching moments with me. They are very supportive, and they remember what it was like to be a first-year attorney.

I got to do my first deposition (questioning the plaintiff under oath). I was nervous at first, but then I calmed down and I think I did a good job. I also got MY FIRST business card! Haha...I was so excited when they arrived at my office. I also do doctor conferences now and am in charge of medical reports, which can be tedious, but interesting. I also do pre-trial hearings, which is kind of exciting. I have my first mediation scheduled on January 3, 2008, which I am stoked to try out.

Right now, my desk is in a sort of cubicle, but my boss is having an office built for me. We are just waiting on the official estimate and building permits now. I can't wait for my office; I'll feel so official! :)

I love my job, but I will say that working full-time is a definite adjustment from going to school. I remember being super busy in school, and I know school is hard. But, so is working. At least with school you don't necessarily HAVE to be there everyday from 8-5:30. I don't miss school by any means, but I am having a lifestyle adjustment with having to get up so early everyday. Plus, I have to find time to exercise. And then where does blogging come in!??


2. Mom, Papa, and Jamie....came to see us the week before Thanksgiving! It was just for a few days, and I had to work, which was a bit of a bummer, but we had fun anyways! They spoiled us rotten! We had good food, good company, and I got all sorts of gifts. They bought us a fancy new printer that does copying, faxing, scanning, pictures, um...you name it, it does it! My favorite was that they all took my diplomas and Bar Certificate and got them professionally framed, and they look amazing! I totally need to take pics to show them off! It was hard to say goodbye to them, but I really appreciated that they came to see us. I miss you guys!

3. Thanksgiving. We weren't able to come home for the big celebration my family was having. My family all went up to Brianhead and froze, while Elliott and I went 2 hours north and went surfing and basked in the sun! Of course, I forgot my camera, and my friend still hasn't emailed me the pictures. Naomi, a fellow optometry student, and her husband Marcos were going to Naomi's parent's home in Melbourne for Thanksgiving. Her mom invited all of us optometry couples for dinner, so me, Elliott, Jeremiah and Dano ended up going. We left Thanksgiving morning, and when we arrived, Naomi's mom had a hot breakfast ready for us. Then the parents sent all of us off to go surfing while they cooked the meal. We attempted to surf. I ended up being drug across the bottom of the Ocean by the force of a massive wave. Then when I came up from that, another wave hit me and once I regained my feet again, I tripped over my surfboard leash. I then decided I'd rather work on my tan! :) It was fun though, even though I got Ocean Bottom Burn. Then we came home, cleaned up and had a great dinner. Then we watched Shrek 3, had dessert, and just had a great time. Tinkerbelle was invited too, so she had fun with Naomi's doggie. Then we left. It was so nice to go somewhere that felt like home, even if it wasn't "home."

4. Elliott's School. Elliott FINISHED his first semester at optometry school! YAY!! He did really well, finishing with a 3.48 GPA. GO ELLIOTT! Finals time was really crazy with him studying 24/7. We celebrated him being done by going to PF Changs that just opened here. YUM! I'm so proud of Elliott, and it's nice that he's got one semester down!

5. Our 5 Year Anniversary. I can't believe how fast 5 years has flown by for us! I still feel like it was yesterday that I saw this cute guy at Mormon Day at Wet N' Wild and I couldn't stop myself from flirting shamelessly with him. Elliott has been such a light in my life. He calms me down when I get too crazy. He makes me laugh everyday. He makes me want to be a better person. He appreciates everything I do, and tells me everyday that he is so lucky to have a wife like me. The truth is that I am lucky to have him. He's such a sweet and fun guy, and I'm so happy he's mine!

6. Christmas Plans. Well, we are not going to be able to come home this time. I didn't find out what days I could have off until airplane tickets were already like $1600. Plus, I only have 3 days off, so that doesn't leave much time for visiting with everyone since traveling back West takes a whole day. I was really sad about not coming home. I miss my friends and family. However, now I'm excited because Elliott and I planned a getaway for ourselves. At first we were going to go to Disney World, but the cheapest package we could find was $1300, and that didn't even include a great hotel. So, we started looking around for something else. Elliott found a part of Sea World called Discovery Cove. Discovery Cove is a more exclusive part where you have to have reservations to go and they only let in a maximum of 1000 people per day. It's an all day thing where you get (1) a 30 minute swim with the dolphins, (2) unlimited access to their snorkeling gear and coral reefs, (3) access to sting ray wading pools, (4) unlimited access to all of their pools, (5) food, drinks, and snacks, (6) showers/lockers, PLUS (7) a 7-day pass to regular Sea World....all for $250 a person! So, we are doing Discovery Cove and 2 days at regular Sea World. Plus, we made reservations at a really nice hotel....all for cheaper than Disney World OR coming home. We are so excited to go on our vacation. We haven't been on a vacation with just the two of us (and not going to see family as our destination) since our Honeymoon. It will be so much fun!!!


Man, so much has been going on, I can't even begin to write it all. I'm hoping to get in more of a routine with my new job and thus make more time for blogging (i'm way behind in reading them all too!). Life is great here in South Florida, and we sure love it. We do miss everyone though, and we hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! Love you!

I'm alive!

Yes, I am alive. I'm sorry that I haven't blogged in over a month. It's crazy. Stay tuned for the best blog ever....it'll take a while.

Oh Remember, Remember the 5th of November

Today was a good day. I GOT THE JOB TODAY!! Not "a" job, but "the" job! The job I've been praying for; the job I've been wanting; the job I've waited oh so patiently for (ok, maybe not that patiently, but still). I was supposed to find out if I got the job on Friday, so I called to hear my fate, but he hadn't made his decision yet and I was told "sometime early next week" the decision would be made. So, I didn't have much on my to-do list for today since I was just waiting to hear. So, I cleaned the house a bit this morning and then went to the gym and finally took a shower. When I got out, I had a message on my cell phone from Mr. Martinez asking me to come in for a second interview today. So, I immediately called the office and set up a four o'clock interview, which meant that I had to get crackin on prepping my lasagne and dessert b/c I was having the missionaries over for dinner at 6:30. So, I rushed to get all that done and managed to look decent for my meeting. I was so nervous because I REALLY, REALLY wanted this job. Here's how the meeting went:

Mr. Martinez: "Well, thanks for coming. This isn't really a 2nd interview; it's more like a job offer."

Me: "Great! (with a look of disbelief)

Mr. Martinez: "You had some tough competition though. I had it down to 5 people and then down to 3. For some reason though, I felt comfortable with you, so I picked you. You're the one."

Me: (huge grin coming across my face) "Thank you! I really, really wanted to be the one!"

Mr. Martinez: (chuckling) "I'm just going to give you the $60K you asked for. I was going to offer you less, but I decided to just give you what you wanted."

Me: (trying to contain my excitement and the cheesiest grin ever) "Thanks!"

Mr. Martinez: "You're benefits will kick in after 90 days, and we'll see how well you do and then we'll talk about bonuses."

Me: "ok."

Mr. Martinez: "You start next Monday, but in the meantime here's a research project for you....."

And thus, I was hired. OH HAPPY DAY!! I'm so excited to actually be a lawyer now. It's insane to think that I am one. It's unreal to me.

This firm is THE job for me because of several factors. First, it is a small firm. I'm the 3rd attorney. I love small firms because you get more hands on work and the atmosphere is more supporting instead of competitive. Second, I'll be working with the owner. He is my mentor. He wants me to pretty much be his shadow for the first few months I'm there. I really wanted someone to train me how to be a lawyer. In law school, you learn the law, but you really don't know anything about actually practicing law. He remembers that you need to be trained out of law school, and he wants me to learn from him. I'm stoked about that. Third, the office is not very far from me. It's about 20 minutes away (with good traffic...not so sure about rush hour morning traffic, but still). Also, it's not on the busiest highway here; it's on the nicer, wider, and less congested one. Fourth, the office is in a really nice neighborhood. There's golf courses around, an elementary school, and lots of other law offices. Fifth, it's civil litigation (they specialize in worker's compensation defense...we defend the companies...companies like PF Changs, The Cheesecake Factory, and Miami Dade School District, etc.). I'll be settling most of my cases, but some will go to trial. The trials, though, are just in front of a judge and not a jury. I'll also get to do a lot of depositions, mediations, negotiations, and hearings. I'm super excited for the experience. Sixth, it's everything I wanted including the salary!!!!!!!

The Lord has really blessed me with this job. I've been praying for a good job that will be a good learning experience for me and one that will help Elliott and I pay for his school. This job does just that. I love the Lord!

Happy Halloween!

Double YAHOO!!

I guess Jamie's husband decided he would take off work and be with his kids, so now my mom gets to come see me too!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!