Out and About

So I'm terrible at upkeep on the blog but here are some pics of our most recent adventure. Colton, Walker, and I went sight seeing up the Boulder River. It was absolutely breathtaking and a much needed day out of the house/classroom....don't worry I took my books and studied on the way.

 He hates pictures...I take them anyways

 One of the stops we made was at "Natural bridge". The river eroded a hole in the rock and formed a rock bridge. This is where it disappears under the ground...

 My two favorite guys!

 And there's the river again 

This pond was absolutely perfect, had it not been raining I could have propped a chair right here and sat all day long.

 We weren't far from snow...Winter is coming too soon I fear

 We saw this beauty on our way back home. 

Information Overload... Week 1

Technically this is week 3 of the highly anticipated PA school but for all intents an purposes its week one - no offense genetics and biostats but a two week crash course was enough for my liking. Weeks 3-6 are the crash course in anatomy and physiology that seems to be laid out in a teach yourself kind of way. (wish me luck)
So week one - 4 hours of lecture and 1 1/2 hours of lab and I fear it's only the beginning.  The best way I can describe this week is as though information has been vomited on me... I'm now covered in information: some of it important, most of it nonsense and some of it missing and it's up to me to go through and put the pieces together and decipher which is which. Sounds rather simple really but on a day like today for example and the power point is 207 slides and the lecture was 4 hours long with a chapter thats about 50 pages it gets rather taxing. So there's my rant for the day.

All in all Montana is great! The weather is perfect (so far, and I don't want to hear anything about how cold it gets in the winter). The people are super nice. Campus is absolutely gorgeous even if there's grass on the sidewalks. I'll be sure to post pictures in all my spare time. Walker is really enjoying his job and seems to get along with the people he's working with. We have had some time to go exploring. Last weekend we went to Riverfront park and walked around the lake, it was all we could do to keep from getting eaten alive but it sure was pretty. Our little house is only about 3/4 mile away from the yellowstone river which has trails that run all up and down it and makes for the perfect run!  We still have three bunnies that live in our little culdesac: Howard Bernstein, Edward Hammerschmidt, and Steve; Walker and I have grown rather attached to our bunnies and look for them on our lawn in the evening. (I have no plants so I have no qualms, the neighbors may think differently)
The one complaint I do have is the restaurant selection; I'm determined to find a good pizza place (we've had some failed attempts) and I've heard the mexican food here is quite sub par. On the bright side they do have a Cafe' Rio which I count as a major food group.

The trip with no return!

After nine months of anticipation the big move came and went with only a few minor "bugs" along the road. Mom and Ray were so awesome and came up to help us. We loaded all our stuff up in our truck and car, their truck, and Grandpa Bob's moving trailer. We were quite the caravan.

Just over halfway here mom calls and says their truck died and they are pulling off the road.  Walker and I pulled off and we jetted back up in my car to see what the trouble was.  The truck would start but wouldn't stay running. They called a tow and we threw as much as we could in Walker's truck, the trailer and my car and Walker and I headed down the road.  We waited for them in Bozeman and after some rearranging were able to fit Mom, Ray, their stuff, and the rest of our stuff in our two vehicles and the trailer.  It was quite the squish. We left their truck at the Ford dealership in Bozeman.  Ray got a call Monday and the mechanic asked straight up if they had had the vehicle serviced recently. Apparently when they had the air filter changed before the trip the mechanic didn't ensure that the air box was completely clean; a bug had melted to the air flow sensor (or whatever it is) causing the truck to not run.  At least it wasn't the fuel pump.

Our new place is great! We live less than a mile from the Yellowstone river which makes for a great run and we're very close to Walker's new work. OH and we have bunnies that live in the field behind our house and they like to spend the evenings on our front lawn!

I realized on our way up that this is almost like a vacation, except we're not going home. It's strange being so far from home and family, it's definitely going to take some getting used to.

View from the old place

 Definitely going to miss these mountains

 Between Billings and Bozeman

 He hates pictures

 Our new place!!!

 I might be a little over excited that we have bunnies!

Bye Bye Buick

Walker bought the ol' Buick from Grandma about two years ago and has been using it as his commuter car. We decided that there was no use trying to get a third vehicle 600 miles when we didn't really need it, so we decided to say goodbye and sell it.

Stephen and Cheyanne's Wedding

Stephen and Cheyanne had the cutest wedding, 50's theme and they pulled it off perfectly!

 The boys looked so sharp

 Stephen pushed their little girl down the isle!

 Walker and I probably drank 20 of these that night, cola overload

Wishing those two all the happiness in the world!!

Moving Jitters

T-minus 31 days til we set sail for big sky country! That means only 21 working days left! I can't believe it's come so fast.  Last weekend Carolyn and I headed north for an extended weekend to hunt for housing. It rained and rained and rained and rained some more, being from the high dessert area I can honestly say I don't think I've seen so much rain for so long...Overall it was a successful trip but I was so shocked at how hard it is to find decent rentals in the area. According to the locals because of the oil boom in North Dakota a lot of people are relocating to Billings which is one of the closest metropolitan cities. We made about 100 phone calls and drove up and down almost every street up there. Good news is I got a good feel for how to get around. We did find a place and I am super excited! It's a little duplex that is owned by Colton's secretary's mom...did you follow that?. Anyways super nice lady, super nice place and within the budget YAY!!! Our planned moving date is June 22 and I start school July 8. (again still in shock that it's so close). 

Good news #2: We are fairly certain Walker has a job working for a surveyor. So relieving to have this taken care of prior to moving. Billings is a little behind on the times and a lot of businesses up there don't have websites making it difficult to find places and work. 

So glad things are starting to fall into place. Currently we are just working on checking of items on our Utah county bucket list as well as wrapping up some ongoing projects!

I can't express how excited I am to be at the start of a new adventure and am just about ready for it to be here!! 

Happy 2013

Well the world didn't end and 2013 came without a hitch. We spent the long weekend at the Ray Ranch and were so grateful to have two four day weekends in a row.

It was freezing but a perfect day to shoot

 The Ray Men

 we were glad the sun was out

 That hill way out there that you can't even see, that's about 1000 yards and where the target is

 That's my man

 The Ray clan and our toys

The weekend was great other than being a frozen tundra. The boys went out two more times to go shooting...I opted out and went shoe hunting with my mother-in-law Carolyn instead.  

We rang in the new year pretty quietly. I slept til about 1145, woke up in time to see the clock change and then went to bed, what can I say we're an exciting bunch.

2012 In Review

Last year I decided to go back to school to finish up my prereqs for PA school. The two semesters were successful (now if I could only finish my calculus). I applied to two PA schools, U of U and Rocky Mountain College (Billings, MT). RMC offered me and interview and I was accepted into their 2015 class (I had to read the letter a few times and do some math). I start this coming July and couldn't be more excited. 

Walker and I moved out of our first apartment which was bitter sweet. It was our first home and treated us well but it was time for an upgrade. I love our new town home and have a beautiful view of Mount Timanogos along with three bed, three bath, a garage and a walk in closet :-). If we were planning on staying longer I would love to buy it. 

I decided to take a full time position at Utah Valley Orthopedics and not work at the High School. I love my job and the people I work with but I definitely miss working with the kids.

Walker got a new job working at Kindig-it Design up in Murray as a fabricator and he is without a doubt much happier there. 

I ran my first half marathon (in the dark) which was such an amazing experience. One of my goals for 2013 is to run at least one or two more. I definitely found a passion for running during my training and plan on continuing for years to come. 

2013 

I'm not big on resolutions because most of the time its a big craze for about 2 weeks and then it's back to eating chocolate cake and sitting on the couch. Mostly I just want to live happy and healthy and take what comes in stride.

Happy 2013 everyone!

Christmas Time

Walker and I spent Christmas with the Rays. It was an amazing four day weekend at the Ray Ranch.
Saturday I helped Grams wrap last minute presents, went to lunch with Sally and her little one, and was Return of the Guardian with Dad Lindy and Jaymie... I'd call that a successful day. Sunday we had dinner at Grams' with Dad, Lindy and the kids and exchanged early Christmas presents followed by Taboo and Mad Gab. We had a great time and were glad we got to spend some quality time with them. Monday we just hung out and watched it snow. Christmas morning was perfect and I introduced the Ray's to German Pancakes (my favorite)! We headed over the Grandmas Shirley's for lunch and reluctantly headed back home.

 Love That Smile

 JJ in Her Robe

 Thanks so much for the Lysol

 He's Special

 Updated Family Photo

 Ma and Pa Ray