End of Summer Festivitiessss

Things have seriously been so so busy!! This weekend we did not do a single thing because we felt like we had been going going going non-stop! Not that I am complaining cuz we have had a blast--just busy! Last weekend we had alot of fun. We decided to go on another hike! woo! We hiked up to timpanogas cave with Tiffany and Clint. It was a ton of fun, but unfortunately we weren't able to get the cave tour. It was sooo packed that day and by the time we got up there the cave tours were sold out!! It was definitely a bummer!---Yet, we still managed to have a great time!! We have a ton of fun hanging out with Tiffany and Clint. They are so crazy, but we love them anyway! The hike seemed SO much easier than when I hiked up the Y with Dustin. Maybe because it was like ten times hotter than minus shade period! There was a tonn of shade on this hike and we were at a much higher elevation so it definitely made a big difference! It was about time I got another work out! And well, Dustin I think has pretty much figured out that I am not yet ready to do the biggg mount timp hike so he is slowly, gradually trying to prep me! haha.

At my work they gave us Lagoon tickets where we can get 8 people into lagoon at the prive of 20 bucks per person. So, we decided to take advantage of that and take last Monday off so we could enjoy a day at Lagoon. It was definitely worth the trip! Me and Dustin decided to have Tiffany and Clint come along with us. However, Clint couldn't make it until a little later cuz he had to work--but we still managed to have a great time! We spent most of our time at Lagoon A Beach while the sun was still out. The lines were a little ridiculous--but I guess that is only expected. I have to say I have been to better water parks than that but then again that was more of a theme park than a water park. However, Dustin sure did loooove the water park. That boy would live on a water slide if he could! haha, he is like a little boy whenever there are any water slides in view. He absolutely LOVES them!! It makes me laugh. :) Then as the afternoon went on we decided to call it quits at the water park and go ride some real rides!! Tiffany was soo determined to ride all the roller coasters that she had us RUNNING from ride to ride! She was soo intent in getting them done! It was hilarious. Dustin was literally like, dragging me and Tiffany was literally, like, dragging Clint. It was quite the amusement. We decided to leave Wicked, the new Lagoon roller coaster for last...and we did...and it was definitely a GREAT way to end the night! But mannnn, the anticipation while waiting for that ride was intense!! There is a huuuge 90 degree angle of a drop and watching that was making all of us crazyyyy! And, the fact that the line was so outrageous did not help at all! We finally got there and holy crappp we were freaking out!! And then it doesn't just ride you slowly up the first big drop like most roller coasters do--it...shoots you up like a rocket!! It was sooo crazy! But soooo fun!! The most twisty coaster I have been on in forever! wow! it was grrreat!! Perfect way to end the night! (:

Sooo, I don't know if it was Lagoon, or just having a crazy busy outdoorsy weekend but mannn the rest of the week was exhausting! It was soo hard to make ourselves get up by 6am for the rest of the week. We managed. Mostly. hah. But yea things have been crazy busy but we have been enjoying every minute of it! Speaking of work, it is going pretty well. However, things are starting to look just a littttle sketchy. It's kinda scary with this job cuz you just really never know when we are going to finish a project...and if there will be another project waiting for us...Usually not the case. :-/ It tends to take a few days or maybe even weeks for them to find more work once one of the big major projects are finished. ANNND, it is getting to that point again. We are about done with the big project we have basically been working on all summer long and well after Labor Day weekend we just really do not know what to expect. SOO we are crossing out fingers!!

Well this weekend we just randomly decided to take a trip to Mesa, AZ for Labor Day. I know, it seems like we just left from Mesa, right? haha. Well, we did. Maybe a little over a month ago but we just really miss Dustin's sister! So, yesterday we just had a spur of the moment idea to go to Arizona for the weekendd!! Why not?? ha. SO, that is what we are doing for Labor Day. We are actually really excited! We had a ton of fun with Tricia while we lived down there so I guess we have just been having withdrawals from being away from them now. Ha, I must say I am pretty lucky! I have awwwwesome in-laws! I love them!! They are always so much fun! So we are wayyy excited! Thennn back to school for Dustin! He is actually really excited to get back into school. Probably because he is starting his Major courses. He is taking 2 Computer Science classes and very excited about them. However, he does know he most likely wont like them at first..but we is glad he is finally getting into it so he can get through the hardest part...LEARNING IT! But yea, he is realllly hoping for a good intern this Summer so he is ready to work his butt off this year! So, we are looking forward for this year and in the meantime, I am trying to find me a second job! Dustin and I get off of work at our current job at 2:30 every day so it gives us a whollee afternoon and evening to do whatever, well thus far it has been great having the rest of the afternoon off--but now as soon as he gets off he will be rushing off to classes for the rest of the evening. So, what am I gonna do?? Oh, that's right! Find another job! :) Plus, we could really use the extra money with everything we are paying for currently, so hopefully I will have success! Hopefully all this busy-ness I keep speaking of...will only continue!!

work and play all the time!

So, I keep telling myself I will write in this more each post I make--yet it just never happens! Life has been so great! I am having so much fun. Work is going well--just the same ole' crazy boring stuff everyday--but hey, it pays the bills! Other than work, we have been doing soo many fun things lately. I don't even know where to begin. Well, I must say that Dustin and I finally came around to hiking the Y. All winter long, I kept bugging Dustin about how I wanted to hike it so we finally did. However, it wasn't much a matter of convincing Dustin. As summer was here, and we could finally hike it, I became more hesitant to do it--But we finally did! It most definitely was not my favorite hike. It looks alot easier than it is. It is definitely a tough one and as out of shape as I am--it would difficult. I really need to get back into shape! We still had tons of fun though. I think next time I want to hike it at night--I just think it would be so much prettier at night and less hot.



We also went tubing down the Provo river a few weeks ago. Man--was that a BLAST! I looooved it. The water was absolutely freeeezing but totally made it worth while. It was so hot and sunny that day that the water was just perfect. We went with Tiffany and Clint and had so much fun! I did fall out of the tube--not far down the river--which is only typical of course...and well, that was just a little scary for me. We were all holding onto each other so when we would ram into the side by all the bushes and trees...pretty much all of us would get a piece of it. Well, unfortunately I ended up being the 'lucky' one that fell in. It was sooooo cold and I could NOT get back on my tube for the life of me!! AND somehow, dustin managed to catch my flip flops that did not want to stay on me feet after I feel in. At the time, I really didn't care about my flip flops but he still managed to save them! :) He probably knew how much I would complain about not having them had he not saved them. haha. It was just alot of fun. We definitely enjoyed our time--and the it took us about 2 hours to get down! Not baddd. And silly us--just so happened to forget sunscreen. Yea, I got burnt. No one else did, oh but I did. Typical, right? ha.

Anyway, we have just been doing a lot of fun things for the remainder of the summer before Dustin has to get back into school mode again. Utah is definitely alot more fun in the Summer than it is in the Winter. There is just so much more to do--So we have been taking full advantage of it. This weekend was really great too. On Sunday we went to Dustin's mission president's homecoming. It was really fun. He had a great time seeing all of his old mission buddies, and well--it was nice for me to see a few familiar faces as well! There was also a general authority who spoke in his sacrament meeting as well so we definitely came on the right Sunday!! Then there was a open house at the Mission President's house for everyone and oh my gosh! I have never seen so much food in my life!! There was soooo much!! It was so good! I swear, it felt like Thankgiving over there! SOO we definitely enjoyed that. It made Dustin want to live in Bountiful. (that's where it was). It is so pretty there! He loves it. Then we went and hung out with Tiffany and Clint since we were already in the area and we all decided to go take a random trip into her favorite spot in the canyons. We had lots of fun!! Now we just really want to go camping.! Which we will be doing next weekend! woot!

Daddy-Daughter

Soo, I have always had this weird emotional thing towards a relationship between a Daddy and their daughter. Like, everytime I see a movie that shows this touching, emotional bond between the daughter and the dad just comes to me to be soo touching. I dunno, it's kinda strange. Me and my dad haven't always had the best relationship in the world--but it has been almost 100% rekindled within the last 6 months. It's amazing. It was like, from the time I had to tell him I was going to be getting married and having no clue as to what I was going say to him, to me knowing just how incredibly proud he was of me on the actual day I got married. It was like night and day. Throughout the past few years things have just been more difficult for the two of us. I just never used to feel like I could talk to him, and whenever I did talk to him--it would just never turn out the way I wanted it to. I just never felt as close to him as I am with my Mom. Maybe it's because 70% of my life I spent living with my mom and only seeing my Dad on occasion. Throughout that time, I never really realized just how important it is to have a close relationship with your dad. Especially if you are a girl. It's just like, having that relationship and bond with your Dad, makes things feel so much more secure. Makes you feel so much more loved. I was always so insecure about little petty things, and I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that I didn't have much of a relationship with my Dad. It is just so good to know that I have that relationship and bond with him back. I never realized just how much I missed him until everything came back together again. It is so great to just know and feel the love that a Father gives you. I am so grateful for the Father that I have. He has done so much for me and Dustin and has helped us in so many more ways than one. It is just so great to know that I can just call up my Dad to tell him hi, instead of just calling him whenever I needed to talk to him. Now, it's out of choice, and love. It just seems like life was so much harder not having him close to me. Made everything else in the world just seem so much worse than it really was. I am just so glad and grateful to have the Father in which I have. He is so great, and I was just so happy to see how proud he was of me on my wedding day. Having a relationship and a bond with your Dad, I think, is one of the most important things in this world, and I am so incredibly grateful that I have that relationship with him back.

Life is good, Life is Happy, Life is Content. :)

Ok so, I have been meaning to update this dang blog for forever now but never found the time to do it! Soo, I am finally MAKING the time to update! Well, ever since we have been back in Utah things have been great! We have been working since we got back, and both full time--which has been so so nice. We both worked over time a few weeks ago and have had really good hours so we are hoping we can definitely get back up on our feet very soon. (which is currently in progress). Dustin also decided that he was going to keep his full time schedule and rearrange his school schedule for the fall, so we will both still be able to work full time--which is so relieving! Now, I wont have to worry so much about how I am going to make all the money when school starts. So, financially things are looking so much better than they were, and we are so glad to be all settled in.

We absolutely love our apartment! Yea, so when I first walked into it I was just kinda like...ok, whoa...this is small. Alot smaller than I was expecting...but now that we have all of our stuff moved in it is definitely much more cozy. It fits all of our stuff perfectly...and has a TON of storage space...which is my favorite part about it. The closets are huge..and we have a huuge pantry!! Very nice to have pantry space for the first time in forever! ha. So, we are all settled in and unpacked. Dustin's parents came up with us and helped us get a ton of stuff for the apartment to help us get on our feet. Seriously, if it weren't for them we would have like nothing. So we are so so grateful for everything our parents helped us out with into getting to where we are now. I definitely find ourselves very lucky for the parents we are blessed with. :)

So, we have been to our new ward about 2 weeks now and I already love it. Everyone is so friendly! It's nice to have girls actually come up to you and talk to you if they notice a new face now that they know there is no competition. The girls hardly ever came up to a new face in any of the singles wards I lived in out here. So, that change is really nice. However, there are so so so many people with kids in my ward. It's insane! I have never seen so many babies in one ward...but then it makes me realize that I can wait. I can just play with everyone else's until we are ready. :) haha. But it's fun. I like it alot here, so we will see how long we end up staying. Hopefully for a while.

Ok, so enough about all the boring stuff. Other than work, life, and well the general stuff...things are going great! It's so fun to have friends again! And, actually get to see them and hang out with them. So, we have been doing alot of catching up with friends, and well catching up with some actual dates once again. This weekend was definitely a blast. Friday night we hung out with Alisha and watched the Guardian...might I add, the best move in the entire world!! If you have not seen it--you should definitely go watch it! So, that was good. I hadn't hung out with her in forever so it was really nice to catch up with her. Dustin and I went and hiked the Y for the first time this weekend. Oh my gosh, worst hike ever! It was soo steep. I was complaining the whole way up..however, I still managed to have a great time. It was nice to do it, just so I could say that I have hiked the Y! haha. After that, we went to the Veterans pool in Provo. Seriously, SO FUN. We got in for only 2 bucks and they had 2 huge waterslides...that were a ton faster than I thought they would be! It was soo fun!! We had a great time. We also got the fun opportunity to watch my nephew Jayden last weekend and keep him over night. Yea, you would think that would be hard work...but he is SO easy! Didn't whine or complain once. It was great!!...but now, I am having withdrawals and miss him again! haha Soo--ever since we got here we have just been having a great time. I can now honestly say--Life is good, life is happy, and life is content! :)

Next time I will try posting sooner so when I do update my blog wont be 10 miles long!

Thunderstorms....

Have I ever mentioned just how much I absolutely love thunderstorms? Well, I do. I always have. They have always just really excited me. .... Except when I have to drive through them. We have been witnessing many many crazy thunderstorms out here in the desert for the past week. While we were driving back to New Mexico from Mesa, we drove through 4 severe thunderstorms. 4 thunderstorms in a 6 hour time span. I seriously thought I was gonna die. Let's just say I don't exactly like driving through them. I would much rather just watch them from inside of the garage. :) Then when we get to Las Cruces for a couple days there was nothing but thunderstorms that entire week. And when it rains in the desert...boy, does it RAIN. The morning before we left to drive back to Utah, Las Cruces was on a Flash Flood warning. Well to me, that sounded like no big deal. It rained all the time in Georgia, what was the big deal here? Ha, little did I know. It was raining all morning and we wanted to get out of the house by 8am. We got out by about 9:30 instead, only because the rain slowed us down. Dustin's family lives in a flood zone so whenever it rains like that....they have to watch it. There is an arroyo right outside his house to keep from all the flowing water to stream right down into his entire yard...however, the arroyo will only hold so much water. Once it gets too full it just starts flowing down his street!! So, his street literally looked like a flowing river!! So, we had to get out of there fast. It was so so crazy, I had never seen anything like it before! Kinda ironic? I am from Georgia...one of the rainiest places in the south--yet, never seen anything like that. Then of course we got to drive through even MORE rain the whole way up to utah--by the time we got to North New Mexico the rain finally stopped and we have seen clear skies since then, but man! That week was so crazy. Firstly, I have never seen New Mexico wet...and the next thing I know--Dustin's yard is filling up with huge water puddles! It was definitely a sight to see!I just thought this picture looked like a huge tornado from far away when it was really just rain so I had to take it! :)

Happy 4th of July

The 4th of July is just my favorite Holiday...

Every year on the 4th of July we have a family reunion type thing with my Dad's side of the family on Lake Lanier, and this is the first year we have gone without doing it because everyone saw eachother at my wedding in May. It's just weird not being around my family this year.



.and i just really miss my family.


Happy 4th of July everyone!

Finally, looking UP!

So, I can finally say things are starting to look up for us. Seems like this is the first time all summer something has actually decided to go our way. Well, unfortunately things never seemed to workout for us down here in Mesa. We looked for jobs everyday for a month. Well we couldn't just keep looking so we all had this grand idea that just decided to hit everyone of my family members at the same time. "Why not just go back to Utah?? You both have secure jobs, and that's where you will be staying all year anyways!" Yeah, why we didn't decide to do that in the first place...well, I guess we will never know. So, we started looking for apartments and as of two days ago, have an apartment signed and ready to go! It all just seemed to work out perfectly. Yea, so it sucks that this is our 3rd time moving this Summer--but it will be the last time for the next year. ANND, I get to have friends again! yeah! SOO, everything thus far is looking up for us. We are leaving Mesa with his parents after this weekend. They are coming out here for the 4th! Then we will head up to Utah by Thursday; so we will be working by Monday! Thank goodnessss! It will be so nice to get settled into one place that we know we wont be leaving, and to just get everything back to the norm. We are definitely much more positive and feel that this is what we should have done from the start. But hey, you live and you learn...

Aside from all that, we have enjoyed being in Mesa. However, I really do not know if I could handle the heat forever. It has been SOO hot. Like, no cooler than 110 degrees everyday. So, basically we have gone swimming in the pool every single afternoon. Only way to keep us from going insane from the heat. It's been a good time! We are excited for his parents to be coming tomorrow for the 4th of July...oh, how i looove the 4th of July! However, this is definitely my first year without being surrounded by my whole family. Every 4th of July usually everyone from my family flies out to Georgia and we spend 4th of July on Lake Lanier. So, it probably won't be quite so fun this year...but it will be a good time with Dustin's family. Had we still been in Sacramento we would be on our own with no family! That would have been a bummer. So we are definitely grateful for Dustin's family!