Month of thanks

So I've been inspired by all you people posting thanks every day. I'm not diligent enough to do it every day but here's a list of 22 things I'm thankful for:
1. My husband - this is a belly button answer but its true. Walker is the most amazing thing in my life. He's my rock, my inspiration, my best friend and my person. He tests my strengths and my weaknesses and always challenges me to be a better person

2. My family - all of my moms and all of my dads and everyone in between. I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful beautiful crazy large and expansive family and I would trade them for the world.

3. To be an American - the recent election has brought to my thoughts exactly what it means to be an American. And although the outcome is one I didn't support I'm thankful for the opportunity I had to vote and for the right to voice my opinions.

4. A warm car in the morning - this one kind of falls under husband. It's been cold out and my sweet husband starts my car for me so its warm when I drive to work.

5. My job - I absolutely love my job from what I do to the people I work with.

6. Our home - I love our home that we've made for ourselves and the shelter it provides from the world

7. My friends - I've never been one to have a big group of friends and prefer to get to know a few people really well than a lot of people not so well. For those friends in my life I am truly thankful.

8. Technology - It baffles me how people got along without technology and technology itself amazes me. I love all my gadgets and am thankful I am fortunate enough to have some.

9. My education - I love school and learning new things. And at this time I'm thankful to be able to continue my education with graduate school.

10. Hot tea/coffee - With the weather getting cold my all time favorite things are hot drinks to warm me up. I've taken a recent liking to green tea with honey.

11. Boots and other winter wear - winter is quickly approaching and it's currently snowing outside so it's time to bust out the boots and coats.

12. Books - I love love love to read pretty much anything. And am thankful for this escape from everyday life.

13. Health - knock on wood walker and I are very healthy and try to live healthy lifestyles to maintain that.

14. Grandparents - I already said family but I'm especially thankful for all my grandparents and the opportunity I've had to develop close relationships with all of them.

15. In laws - another family one but my in laws are awesome, I couldn't have found better people to marry into if I searched the whole world round.

16. Fiscal blessings - I'm truly thankful that walker and I are fortunate not to struggle financially.

17. Handy hubby - having a handyman around is awesome. Our bathroom sink had pretty much ceased its ability to drain and this weekend he cleaned out the drain. Made my whole day.

18. Sunday afternoons - my favorite time of the week. We generally spend this time relaxing and preparing for the week to come. I cherish this quality time with the hubby and recharging my mojo.

19. Jobs - for walker and I in general. I'm thankful we both have good jobs in a time when they are sparse.

20. Walker is thankful that I'm writing a thankful blog so he doesn't feel obligated to.

21. Health insurance - I took the big step and enrolled in an insurance plan today something I've been unable to do and have gone without for a few years.

22. Life in general - life is good and beautiful and messy and crazy and amazing. I love my life and wouldn't trade anything in it for the world!

Just a side note. This list was a little difficult and not because I'm not thankful for things but the opposite. I'm thankful for everything and everyone in my life. Happy thanksgiving everyone I hope your holidays are wonderful!

Summer Project

This summer I took on my first DIY project this summer and refinished my table... Now to be clear, I'm neither crafty nor very handy so it was very interesting and extremely educational experience.

Here she is and I love her:

Before

All sanded down

 Yellow Top

 Top Done

 All Done

 Back in the House!

Now if only I could get my ambition back up and finish my chairs.

My New Nemesis

Right Now:Let me introduce my new nemesis: "The quotient derivative": f '(x) = v(x) • u'(x) - u(x) • v'(x)/ v(x) • v(x).  yata yata yata you may say this sounds like nonsense...well to be quite honest it sounds like nonsense to me too. I have one class to take before grad school and it's calculus and the only way I could take it was online. Well I'm sitting here this fine Sunday afternoon (actually it's cloudy ergo not so fine day) And I can't seem to get through this (bad word) problem which might I add I've done about 15 times. The hubby is currently at work so I figured I'd take a minute and rant on the internet.

The news: It's been a while since I've updated the blog, mostly because I'll sit down to do it and the words just won't come out. But here's the news: I GOT INTO PA SCHOOL!!! Which I couldn't be more thrilled (or shocked) about.  I applied to two schools: Rocky Mountain College (Billings MT) and University of Utah (SLC UT). I was offered one interview and it just so happened I got in.

The Interview: Walker and I drove up to Montana on Thurs Sept 27. We payed the $25 fee and drove through Yellowstone park. I've never been, and was blown away at how gorgeous it was. I highly recommend going for those who have never been. The trip took about 11 hours at a mosey pace. We spent the first night in Billings and my interview was Friday. The interview went "well". There was an individual interview, a group interview, lunch with the current students and a campus tour. I also got a chance to sit in on their current classes lecture and see how things were run.  I felt it went "well" but not great. There were some very competitive interviewees with me and I was quite intimidated, but on the other hand I didnt' think I completely bombed it. I really enjoyed the school. It's very small, the campus is old with only a few buildings, but the architecture was amazing. I was told I would hear back by the following Wednesday and recieved an e-mail on Tuesday. I held my breath as it opened and then held it some more as I waited for the attachment to download.  "Congratulations you've been accepted into the class of 2015" I then had to do some math and have a coworker re-read it to make sure I'd read it right. I'm so excited for so many reasons. I'm glad I got in and don't have to worry about it any more. I'm glad to moving on to somewhere different, I'm glad that I've accomplished a goal and built new ones on top of that.

The Montana Trip: Other than the interview we got to spend a weekend with Colton (Walker's brother) He drove us around the country side. I was amazed at how pretty everything was (on the ugly side of Montana) and how big it was. You can look out forever it seems.

I can't wait for this new chapter of our lives and to be advancing my career. Now if only I could pass this (bad word) calculus class.

Summer Time Festivities

Last weekend we floated the provo river with some friends. I had never been tubing down a river before and it was a blast. I wish I could've had my camera on the river it was so pretty and serene.

He Doesn't like pictures

Labor day weekend we went south to spend with family. It was so much fun just sitting and catching up with everyone. Sunday Ray took us fly fishing. It's the funnest most frustrating thing ever.  But I did catch some fish!!!

 We had a flock of pelicans fly over

 All ready for fishin

 Horny Toads: Walt and Wilamena

 We love the fishes cuz they're so delicious!

 My first fly fishing fish

 Catch and release fishermen are heartless weenies

 Up on the Mammoth, one of my favorite places in the world!

Catching Up

So I'm a bit behind on my blogging. Here's the summer in review...

Fourth of July

We didn't do much for the holiday but we both had the day off, for a Wednesday this is a rarity. Neither of us really enjoy fighting the crowds trying to get a good view of fireworks. We tried that last year and it took us an hour and a half trying to get home through traffic. So we kicked it on our balcony and enjoyed the locals setting off fireworks.

 We had a great view of the fire

Concert Time

Volbeat, one of Walker's favorite bands came back through town...so of course we had to go see them and we had a great time with his buddy Vic.

 Trying to get Walker to smile...

 And then Vic decided to go a little crazy with the camera...

There's a smile 

Race Day Aug. 3 2012

I did quite a bit of research on running a half marathon and one of my favorite lines a came across was "there's nothing half about it". This hit the nail on the head for me. There's nothing half about running 13.1 miles. 

I was ecstatic with how the race went. I felt great and was able to run the whole way which was my biggest goal. The only downfall was making the BIG mistake of eating goo as my before/durning race calories snack. It made my stomach a little woozey. I was able to finish strong, in fact I wish I could've kept going. Stopping was the hardest part and I may or may not have thrown up...no comment.

Start time 9:24, finish 12:02.....the goal was to be the first person after midnight to cross the finish line. I can't wait to do another one hopefully October.

 Race ready

 My ma came to watch my race!!!

 Off I go

At the finish line

Well I'm off to cook dinner for the hubby before he combusts...I'll finish catching up on our summer activities later.

Run Run Run

It's been awhile (as usual) since I've posted and I decided it's time to finally sit down and do it.  Every few days I think to myself "hmm I should blog about x,y,z..." but never find the ambition to actually sit down and do it.

Running

I've registered for my first half marathon. As my disclaimer I'll state at one point in the not too distant past, I hated/despised/loathed running.  It's hard and it hurts, why would you do that to yourself? I ran my first 5k last year and did... not so great. Granted I didn't put in the training I ought to have and thought it would work out alright. When I began running I did it mostly because it's very exerting and burns a lot of calories; allowing me to keep my not so healthy diet. I'd run 1 - 2 - maybe 3 and call it good. Last winter when I was in school it was really hard for me to go to the gym. It required preparation, a drive, workout and fighting over equipment, followed by a drive and a shower. (aka a lot of time and effort that I just didn't have). So I started to enjoy running because all it required was my running shoes and a step out my front door. I ran with a friend a few times who was training for a half marathon and really enjoyed it. We ran the farthest I had ever gone which was not quite 4 miles. I was stoked, and beat. She ran her half and texted me saying "you could totally do it". I had a few friends at work who were also training for a half, so I decided what the heck and held my breath while I pushed that confirm button. Now being the procrastinator that I am I really didn't start training until about two weeks ago (five weeks pre-race). At that point I could run about 3 without stopping or feeling like I was going to die. Now I was getting to the point where I was starting to enjoy the runs and hitting 5-5.5 and being ok when I got home. I went for my first "long" run last saturday which was 7. It was the worst, most miserable thing I've done (I won't say ever but you get my point). It was all I could do to drag my feet and walk the last block home....ergo lesson # 1: be sure you fuel up before long runs.  I had gone to the gym and ran the day before and really didn't eat all that great, my body told me so.  My morale was shattered. I honestly was worried, if I can't do seven how am I going to do six more after that. Monday was the make it or break it moment. I did five and fought some serious mental demons the whole way but I did it and I felt good afterwards. This week I've eaten better and taken rest days. I did 8 this morning and felt amazing. I'm beginning to get to that point during the run when you think to yourself "wow, I'm beginning to understand why people do this." I'm now 3 weeks pre-race and am starting to think I can really do this.

New Shoes

New Beginnings

We are all moved in to the new place! I'm still in shock.  The new place is so much bigger than our other apartment with more storage than I'll ever know what to do with.  Walker is very excited that he now has a garage!
Dad, Lindy and the kids came up and helped us.  We were so thankful to have them here, the move would have been a much longer process without them.

Walker and I in our first home

Picture of our new place to come later.

Tomorrow is my first full day in the clinic and I'm really excited to start being there full time. It makes the job so much easier to be there on a regular basis.  This is Walker's last week at his current job, I think he's pretty stoked to be starting work at a new place. 

Life is changing so quickly I have a hard time wrapping my head around it. It feels good to have change though. I love new starts, they make life feel clean.

Life as we know it

So I'm really terrible at keeping up on my blog. This last semester kicked my butt and when I wasn't working, going to school, or studying you can pretty much bet I was crashed on the couch.  But I finished with a 3.7, which was just a little short of my goal but I'll take it.  Now just one class to go (which is halfway over already) and I'll be class free for the next little while.

I submitted my PA application last Wednesday, which was a huge relief to have completed. Now all I have to do is wait.  To clear up some confusion, the application process for all schools is open til early fall, at which time they pick people to interview and then choose their group based on those few people. So I won't know if I get in til next winter-ish and wouldn't start school until next July. So everyone cross your fingers, I'd rather not have to go through that again.

This is my last week working at the high school, and it's bitter sweet. I never thought I'd be sad to be leaving the long late hours and the crappy pay; but I'm really going to miss working with the kids.  Everyone told me the benefits of a job like this were way more than the pay, and they were right; I wouldn't change my experience there for anything.  On the bright side, I'll now be working full time at the doctors office with one of our orthopedic surgeons. I've been working with this particular doctor part time since March and he is amazing to work for.

Walker got a new job at Kindig-it design!! He's only been sending them resume's and pictures for a little over a year. He finally called up the owner a few weeks ago and had an interview last friday. In Walker's words "This is the major league of the car field". We're really excited, the only downside is he'll have to commute to Salt Lake but at least we're moving closer.

We're moving!! I can't believe it's here!! We're relocating to Pleasant Grove this weekend, and I couldn't be more excited. More space, nicer, newer, garage included (so i can kick my husband out of the house and not feel too bad :-)). I'm excited to have my dad and family come help us with the big change. We've been looking for a place for a few months and finally found the one. It was a little more than we were hoping for but if you've ever looked for residence in Utah county you know that even the slummiest places are pricey.

Change must be in the air, but we're fully embracing it. Life couldn't be better, with the minor exception that I got summoned for jury duty this summer...ugh! Well that's all the news I've got for now. I'll try and keep more up-to-date entries.  TTFN

March Madness

March has been crazy! The last week in February/first week of march Orem High's boys basketball played in the state tournament which took up most of my days.  It was so much fun watching them play.  We ended up winning the tournament which is the first time the school has ever taken a State title for boys basketball in 56 years. It was a great experience to be a part of the team.

Spring break was last week and boy was it needed.  I've been getting overwhelmed with studying and homework and working that I was glad to have a week to just focus on work and get in some more hours in the doctors office.  I hadn't been there for a few weeks and it felt so nice to be back.

Speaking of doctors, I made my first trip to visit the doctor in over a year (sad face).  I've had this persistent cough that won't seem to go away.  I coughed so hard in class one day that I pulled a muscle in my ribs. At that point I said enough and caved in to seeing the doctor. I finished a round of antibiotics and it helped a little but the cough is still there ugh.  I also talked to him about some stomach issues I've been having and he suggested decreasing my dairy products and increasing my veggies.  I figured I'd give it a shot and it worked! So great to have a doctor focus on fixing the problem rather the prescribing a solution to the symptoms.  I am a little sad though, my favorite snacks are cheese and milk, but it's definitely been worth the change.

Last weekend we went home for Sally's baby shower.  I haven't seen her since August and was so excited to see her cute little baby bump.  It was so much fun to see people I don't see very often.  I can't wait for baby Almond to get here, Sally and Dyllan are going to make great parents.  I also go to try out my new shotgun while we were in southern utah. I'm in dire need of some practice but it was so much fun.

For St. Patty's day Walker and I went celebrated by looking at apartments. We've been in our current apartment for almost two years and the quirks are starting to get to us. Our dishwasher has been having issues leaving residues on the dishes, and it's just not ok to take out dishes dirtier than when you put them in. And our dryer requires 2-3 cycles until clothes get dry, and with my forgetfulness we end up washing things twice because they sit in our dryer still wet and smell really bad.  The apartments we saw were really nice, equip with a walk in closet a room for the washer and dryer (rather than a closet) and a pantry.  One doesn't realize how useful a pantry is until its lacking.  We're not planning on moving for a couple months but I'm definitely excited for a change.  Later that evening we went to dinner with some friends, and then came back to our place to watch a movie.  It felt so nice to have such a relaxing weekend.  Today we did what we do every Sunday which a blissful nothing!

The lovely life of husbands...

Story #1

For Valentines day Walker was so cute...last week I came home from work and there was a cute little tin on our shelf with some ribbon tied around it.  (It was pretty obvious it was a valentine) I went and got his gift on saturday.  I had to work on Valentine's day so I figured we could celebrate early. So I give him his gift and then I anxiously opened the cute little tin and inside is not quite what I was expecting: A key and an old ipod we've had lying around.  I was mildly confused.  He said I had to find what the key opened.  Well with some help I found a box hidden in our guest room and inside was an 870 remmington 20 gauge shotgun.  To top it all off it's PINK! We had been going back and forth about him getting me a pistol for Valentines and I said "babe if you really want a pistol, don't make it my valentine's when it'll end up being your gun anyways"

                                                           Isn't it pretty

Story #2

Walker is really good about helping around the house.  So the other day he did the dishes and started the dishwasher before we went out to run some errands.  We came home and he walks in the kitchen and all I here is "Uh Oh".... He had put dish soap in the dishwasher! I just started laughing because there was a bubbley mess all over our kitchen floor and bubbles were continuing to ooze from our dishwasher.... In case any one needs to know, if this happens scoop out as many bubbles and possible (I used a bowl), poor salt over the bubbles in the dishwasher and poor vinegar in the water in the bottom.  Continue to rinse your dishes watching to make sure bubbles don't start oozing (you may have to scoop out more bubbles).  I found this solution using the handy dandy internet and it worked like a charm.  

                                      I just had to document the evidence

I'm so excited for spring! I went and bought some new running clothes to wear in the cold because I just can't stand running on the treadmill anymore.  And after January and the new years resolutions my gym time has dwindled due to way too many people and not enough space.  

School has been keeping me busier than I remember! I forgot how much time goes into studying. So between two jobs and school I study and study some more.  Life is crazy, but it sure is fun!