Okay so school started Monday.

It is my last semester of classes.

In the winter I start my student teaching.

Let me tell you this senioritis is KILLING me.

I have no motivation at all!!

I just want to start teaching.

Oh and Alex will be done in April as well.

But will just start back up in Fall for his masters.

Poor kid.

Other than that, summer was amazing.

We had the best summer traveling and spending time with each other and family.

I will update soon about our Boston trip.

But for now, just be jealous you're not in school

(and if you are we feel your pain)

This post is long overdue.
But since we aren't celebrating until Friday, because we've been out of town and Alex's has been working...I think it's okay that it's a little late!

Two years ago on August 14th, I married my best friend.

This year on that same day we had a family reunion and celebrated my grandparents 50th birthday.

It was a great way to spend it because I loved seeing the love my grandparents still have for eachother.

My grandpa still grabs my grandma's hand, and still hugs her all the time.

And today is my parents anniversary.

They have been together for 26 years.

My dad thinks my mom is the most amazing woman in the whole world.

I always wanted to find someone who loved me as much as my dad loves my mom.

I'm so lucky that I found someone who will want to hold my hand when I'm old.

And hug me all the time.

I'm also glad I found someone I can constantly have fun with all the time.

I'm glad I found someone my family absolutely adores and someone whose family I absolutely adore.

I'm glad I found someone who loves me like my dad loves my mom.

So here's to 2 years to my sweetheart!

Can't wait for our adventures ahead!

Spudman Triathlon:

Saturday we had the Spudman triathlon.

The night before I didn’t get a very goodnight sleep because I was so nervous.

We headed up to the race in the morning and we were running a little late, which was kind of good because I didn’t have time to get nervous.

Alex and Jared started in wave 2 and they were off!

Cecilie and I started in wave 3 and when they said go I just started to swim.
The race started with the swim in the Snake River.

It was so nice because the current helped push you along.

I got through the swim by doing the backstroke and the sidestroke.

One hundred strokes on the back and one hundred on the side, switching back and forth.

I saw the end of the swim and looked at the path by the bikes and saw Alex.

I called his name and said hi, and then was right out of the river.

Getting out of the river, I started taking off my wetsuit and ran by Alex.

I heard Alex say, “Babe I think someone stole my socks! I have no socks!”

He couldn’t find his socks so he did the bike and the run with no socks on.

Ouch!

I had my wetsuit off by the time I got to my bike and dried my feet off, threw on my shoes and ran out of the bike area.

I hopped on my bike and started biking.

The bike was horrible.

I didn’t train very well for the bike, which was a huge mistake.

I felt like I was pedaling like everyone else but like I wasn’t getting anywhere.

I would mess with my gears go up and down and just couldn’t get it.

I was getting really discouraged because I was just being passed and passed and I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong.

I beat Cecilie out of the river but both her and Cheryl passed me on the bike.

I got really discouraged and was having a hard time on the bike.
I kept talking to myself saying, “you’re doing awesome you’re doing great”

When I finally saw the bridge near where we started I wanted to cry I was so happy.

I could not wait to get off that stupid bike.

I got off the bike and my left foot was numb!

I hung my bike up and decided to eat one of the goo things that are supposed to give you energy.

Oh my goodness it was disgusting.

After that I headed out on my run.

The run felt like a complete relief from the bike.

I felt in my element and I knew I could finish it without stopping.

At around a mile and a half I was so sick.

My stomach was killing and the lady running next to me said I looked really pale.

At mile two I went to the side of the road and puked.

I’m pretty sure the stupid goo made me sick, but after I threw up I felt so much better.

I just ran and ran; finally I was the one passing people instead of getting passed like on the bike.

It was a great feeling passing people that had passed me on the bike.

The only time I had to stop on the run was to use the bathroom at about mile 4.

Other than that I ran the whole way.

My back did amazing.

The night before I made a deal with my back.

I said that if it would not hurt until the last mile, it would be perfect.

I knew I could bare the pain for about a mile but anything more than that wouldn’t be good

During the last half mile of the run it was almost instant.
My back just started to kill.

In my head I just thought, “You said it could hurt at this point just push through.”

Running and seeing that finish line was one of the best feelings ever.

I kicked it into high gear and ran past the finish line.

It was so good to see Alex.

So good.

It made me so happy to be down and to have actually enjoyed myself.

I will participate in the Spudman again, probably next year!

But I will absolutely be working on my biking more because I could have been way faster if I would have just figured out that stupid bike!!

Washington Trip:

On Tuesday we headed up to Washington.

On the way up we stopped at Mount St. Helens because neither Alex nor I had ever been there.

While we were headed up Alex and I read all about Mount St. Helen’s on my phone.

It was so interesting because I didn’t know much about the 1980 eruption.

When we got to the Mountain it was kind of sad because they had pictures of the mountain before the eruption and it was so beautiful.

After the eruption the mountain looked completely different and didn’t even look like a mountain any more.

We ate at a little café on the way down, and then headed to Enumclaw.

We arrived in Enumclaw at Alex’s grandparents house.

We had dinner that night with his grandparents, his Aunt Gayle and Uncle Tracey and his cousin Rachel.

After dinner his cousins, Angie and Stacey, and their kids came over.

Alex’s Uncle Tracey took us in his plane on a ride.

It was so fun to fly in his plane!

We headed back to his grandparents and had a great night.

That next morning we woke up and did our run.

I got lost and Alex had to come find me.

His grandparents made us a great breakfast.

We then headed to Seattle with Gayle and Tracey.

They showed us around the city.

We went to see the Fremont Troll (which was shown in the movie 10 Things I Hate About You, my favorite movie).

We then went and saw the Locks which is were boats going from the lake into the Puget sound go in the lock and the water level changes so that the boats can enter or exit the sound!

We also saw the fish ladders and saw the salmon swimming upstream.

We then headed to Menchies frozen yogurt that Tracey partially owns.

It was perfect for me because I love some frozen yogurt!

We then went and walked around Pikes Place market.

There was so much fresh seafood and produce I would love to have a market like that around me in Provo.

We stuck gum on the gum wall, gross.

Then ate at Ivars.

It had great seafood and was fun to feed the seagulls.

After getting back from Seattle we went to Alex’s cousins Angies to chat and hang out with his cousins Stacey and Scott and Angie and their spouses.

It was fun to meet them and talk with them

We had such a fun night.

Thursday morning, we did our last run of the week, and no one got lost.

We enjoyed breakfast and then went to pick up Gayle and Rachel.

We spent the day at Mount Rainer.

We saw huge trees in the forests up the canyon and learned all about Mount Rainer.

I think Alex was fighting an urge to climb it.

That night we had dinner with everyone and got some good rest.

Friday we woke up early and headed out to Idaho.

We had so much fun in Washington with Alex’s family and definitely will have to make a trip back sometime soon.

Oregon Trip

On Wednesday, the 20^th, Alex and I headed off to Oregon to spend some time with Mabbie and John.

We decided about a year ago we would make the trip to the northwest coast because we both have family up there, plus I’d never been!

The trip from our sweet Provo apartment, to Mabbie's house, took us 13 hours. 
On the way up we stopped at Multnomah Falls.

The waterfall was gorgeous!

We arrived around 7 pm.

We chatted and ate some dinner and then headed to bed because we were leaving to go camping in the morning.

Thursday morning we got all packed up and headed to the Oregon coast.

When driving to the coast it was so cool, the forests were so different then I had ever seen.

They have moss all over them.

I kept telling Alex I thought trolls lived in the forests because they reminded me of the movie Enchanted.

We made it to the campground, which was just outside of a town called Nehalem, got all set up and walked down to the coast.

It was pretty chilly but we had to put our feet in the water.

The water was freezing!

But it was really beautiful.

After that we ate some dinner, and hung out.

The next morning, Alex and I got up and went for a run.

We were still in training for the triathlon.

We got back and had some breakfast.

After breakfast we got ready and headed to Tillamook.

We first stopped to at the Tillamook cheese factory.

We saw packaging cheese, we didn’t see them making it, but it was still really cool.

We tried all the different types of cheeses and Mabbie and John bought some cheese for us to enjoy while camping.

After eating some cheese we decided to have some Tillamook ice cream.

It was delicious!

After the cheese factory, we drove along to the coast to stop at a lighthouse.

It was beautiful, but sad because two boys had vandalized the windows at the lighthouse.

But the view was amazing.

On the way back to the campground we stopped and got some Tillamook beef jerky.

Delicious.

We played games that night at the campground and just enjoyed relaxing.

Saturday morning we work up and ran again.

We had a tasty breakfast then headed into Cannon beach.

We stopped at a beach called haystack rock and looked at the tide pools.

It’s been such a long time that I’ve got to play in tide pools that it was so exciting.

After the tide pools we went to a city called Cannon beach.

It was the cutest little town.

We walked the downtown, got some taffy, and ate at a pizza parlor.

Another great day on the coast.

Sunday, we cleaned up, packed up and headed out.

When we got back we headed to my Uncle Lee’s and Aunt Linda’s to see them and my cousins who also live in Oregon.

We had dinner with them and had a great time reminiscing and laughing.

It was great to see all my cousins who I haven’t seen in years.

Also it was Alex’s first time to meet all the cousins!

I missed them!

Monday we went on a jog and learned how many hills were around Mabbie’s house.

It was killer!

After we headed to Portland with Mabbie.

We got some donuts from a famous donut placed called Voodoo donuts.

We walked around a little farmers market in the middle of Portland.

We also walked on the waterfront, and it was so cool to see the city built on the river.

After walking around, we stopped at John's office to see his company.

We had fun in Portland and loved how eccentric it was.

“Keep Portland Weird”

That night we had fun just hanging out with Mabbie and John and watching the Bachelorette.

Tuesday we packed up and headed to Washington!

We're spending sometime in Oregon visiting family.

We've been here since Wednesday and will stay until Tuesday.

On Tuesday we'll make our way up to Washington to visit more family.

We leave there Friday to go to Burley, Idaho for our triathlon.

I'll update more when the adventures are over!

For now, here we are on the coast!

I Survived Lake Powell, 2011

This weekend we headed to Lake Powell.

Alex and I went down on Thursday so we could get camp set up and have everything ready for people to come.

Let me tell you.

We had quite the adventure. 

Alex and I got to the lake later than expected.

Around 4 pm.

Kenny, Christina, and Jessika (Kenny's girlfriend) were coming that night so we wanted to have a beach ready for when they were there. 

We got out on the lake (I did awesome driving the boat by the way) and we headed to the first bay.

We started looking for a beach but since the lake rises about a foot a day there were no good beaches.

We looked all around that bay and by the time we decided to go to a different bay, a storm rolled in and the waves were huge.

I wish I would have taken a picture.

They were like ocean waves.

It was insane!

While driving, my pillow fell out. 

We went back and got it before it sunk but I cried.

I was so distressed.
I love my pillow! It helps me sleep so much better at night.

Plus I was a little stressed because we couldn't find a beach.

We get to the other bay and start looking.

We thought we found the perfect beach so we pull out our tent to start to set up.

Well, we try to drive a stake into the ground, and come to find out it was rock underneath the sand.

Horrible.

We threw the tent back in the boat and started to look again.

At that point, Kenny had called and said they were there.

But from the bay we were in it was about 45 minutes to the marina to pick them up so I hit panic mode.

We drove around for a second and found a camping spot that was pretty level.

It had weeds all over it but was the best we could find.

Alex and I unloaded the boat really fast and then he went to go pick up the siblings while I set up camp.

It was interesting. 

The wind was still blowing pretty strong, so as I got our tent up, it started to blow away.

I was running along the beach chasing our tent. 

People in the houseboats were staring at me.

Haha.

Wish it were video taped because I'm sure I looked like a fool.

Other than that I got the whole camp set up by the time they got back.

We had some hot dogs for dinner and just hung around.

We got up the next morning and Alex and I set up a shade for the beach.

After that, we headed to the marina to get Alex's parents.

After getting his parents, we got back and had some lunch.

We played on the jet skis and hung around the beach.

 

We were waiting until the evening to wakeboard, because the water wasn't very good.

We were also waiting for Cheryl, Jared, Cecilie, and the babies to come.

We got a call from Cheryl in the late afternoon that said they made it but the ranger wouldn't let them launch due to lightening and a storm that was coming. 

We could see the dark clouds around us but none of us got up or did anything.

We just sat under the shade chatting.

The wind started to blow, so Kenny, Jessika, Christina, Alex, Joyce and myself all had to stand up to hold onto the shade. 

It started to kind of move but we thought it would be okay because it had a cooler that probably weighed 150 pounds attached and rocks buried in the ground to help hold it.

All of us were holding different posts.

A gust of wind came and we all held on, but Christina looked behind us and noticed that mine and Alex's tent had lifted out of the pegs and started to slide on the ground.

She ran and jumped on it to save it.

As she was on the tent, this crazy gust of wind came out of now where, lifted the shade off the ground while lifting the five people who were holding it.

We were all literally body slammed to the ground.

I landed right on my back (worst place for me to land).

All I remember from that gust of wind, was being lifted up and seeing the giant white cooler flying through the air.

After that moment, it was like panic mode to save everything.

We saved all the food and threw it back in the cooler.

Christina was still holding the tent and the other little 2 man tent we had up with Kenny's air mattress in it had flown into the lake and a houseboat had fished it out.

After that it started to rain and was still kind of windy so we hid under the rain fly of the tent and held onto it.

 

Kenny and Jessika after the storm.

 

Examining Kenny's lip.

This didn't happen at the Lake.

See previous post.

All shocked after the storm.

If you click to see it bigger you can see all the girls hair sticking up because lightening was in the area.

 Sisterly love after the storm.

After the storm had passed, we started to clean up.

The shade seemed completely ruined, all the poles were bent.

We were all bruised and exhausted but we cleaned up camp, picked up the tent and tried to reconstruct the shade.

Alex, Kenny, Jessika, and Mark did a really good job of making a new shade from the old one!

We still had a shade which was nice especially in the Lake Powell heat.

Cheryl, Jared, Ceci, and the babies ended up getting a motel room because they couldn't make it to the camp safely that night.

We set up Mark and Joyce's tent (which thankfully wasn't set up during the storm) and played some bocce.

After that, the water was perfect so we set out to wakeboard!

The night was pretty uneventful after that.

We all went to bed hoping there would be no more storms in the middle of the night.

In the morning, Christina, Joyce, and I slept in, while Kenny, Jessika, Alex and Mark wakeboarded.

They said the water was awesome and they were out for a while.

When they got back, we started breakfast, and Jared, Cheryl, Ceci, and the babies showed up.

It was gorgeous out.

We had breakfast, took the babies on jet ski rides, chatted and snacked.

We then went out on Cheryl and Jareds boat, and surfed.

I love surfing and Jared's boat throws off a great wake on the goofy side so I surfed forever.

So fun.

The babies fell asleep on the boat ride.

But woke up in time to play in the water.

 Joshie playing with his Mom in the water.

Tyler just hanging out.

After surfing and swimming, we came back to the camp for lunch.

We had lunch and hung around chatting.

We noticed clouds coming in again like they did the day before but figured it could never be as bad as it was the day before.

We were leaving that night but no one really was packing up.

Finally Christina grabbed her stuff and put it in the boat which got everyone moving.

I was in the tent folding sleeping bags and air mattresses. 

Jessika got all the dry stuff in the hull of the boat because it started to rain.

It started to rain harder and harder. 

I have no idea what was going on outside of the tent because I was still cleaning up.

Cheryl asked if she could bring the babies to our tent so we could clean the other one up.

A few seconds after they said that, my feet were swept out from under me because a big gust of wind blew the tent and caused it to start sliding.

The tent collapsed on me and I totally panicked.

I didn't know Alex was just outside of it at the time and in my head I was in total panic mode.

I also thought Cheryl was walking over with her babies which scared me!

When I finally got out of the tent, everything was fine.

Cheryl, the babies, and her mom were in the other tent which collapsed on them, but they stayed in their to keep the babies safe.

I saw Jared in the water holding his boat that had moved.

And Kenny was seeking shelter in Alex's parents boat.

Once again, panic mode.

We were being pelted by rain that killed when it hurt.

I freaked because my camera and Alex's (new) phone were in a chair.

We found them (put them in rice that night and now they work).

We were all done with the storms and started cleaning up.

The houseboat next to us, told Cheryl to bring the babies over while we cleaned up.

Super nice people.

Everything was soaking wet and sandy so we washed everything in the lake before putting it in the boat.

We got everything loaded up and we headed out.

It was the most insane trip I've ever had at Lake Powell.

Motto of the trip: I survived Lake Powell 2011.

But it was also so much fun.

Even with the crazy weather, we love Lake Powell and would go back every weekend if we could.

But a houseboat is sounding better every single day.