On our way to....

Arkansas!

Sorry, I had to... :)



I'll try to be better at taking pictures on this trip.

What the Heck?

An excerpt from a blog I had in High School (I was filling out a survey about myself):

42. Future son's name: Cayden, Hunter, Domenic, Tate.......one of those
43. Future daughter's name: Kyra, Erika, Veronica....one of those

"What the heck?" is all I have to say about that! The only name I'd still consider using on that list is Hunter.

I think I have a harder time picking names I like for girls rather than for boys. Although, I do have a name picked out that I LOVE for a girl, but Jon thinks I'm crazy. (At least I don't want to name a kid Festus. Sheesh!) I'm the one that gets to pick the name though, right? I mean, I did learn in Sunday School today that I'm the boss!

Of course, that is something we won't have to worry about for another year or two...

Air Show

I suppose it's probably about time for me to update since it's been a while. Our lives aren't that interesting, so I feel like I shouldn't bore everyone with how little we do each week.

Since Jon got that promotion, he was doing training for two weeks with a normal work schedule (M-F instead of F-T). So we had two weekends to finally go out and do something fun! Jon called up our friend, Joseph, and we planned a trip up to Layton his first weekend off. Joseph told us that he and Julieta were planning on attending the Air Show, and we were excited to attend! We didn't go on base because it was already packed, and Joseph wanted to take us to a different area where you could see the whole show just fine. So that's what we did! It was us and a few other people to begin with, but the spot became more and more popular throughout the day. Most of the beginning stuff was just airplanes flying around in circles and loops. There were a few parachuters, and then lastly were the jets. We waited most of the day for them. Unfortunately, they were taking wayyy too long, and we left before the really cool jets did their show. Here are a few pictures from that day, along with a few videos:

It's been really cloudy and rainy the last two weeks, and I haven't enjoyed it too much. The only thing I liked is that it was cool outside and kept our apartment cool inside. Otherwise, I have missed the sun so much! I simply cannot stand being without the sun for a week. However, there were a few times that there was a beautiful rainbow outside, so I snapped a picture of it! I'm always amazed with the beautiful things God has created in the world for us to enjoy.


Yesterday, Tara (my neighbor) and I beat our best 5K time thus far! It was a great achievement. We were both thrilled and both out of breath afterwards. Although, we definitely are not that fast AT ALL. At least we know we're improving! I'm getting some pretty awesome muscle definition in my calves, and I like it! :)


Things I'm looking forward to in the near future:
- Watching more 24 (Jon and I just recently got into it two days ago!)
- More Harry Potter movie nights at Gentri's
- The NEW Harry Potter movie premiere (7/15)
- Our trip to Arkansas and seeing Emily! (7/20-7/26)

See what I mean? It looks SO GOOD!

Canyon Fun!

So in the past two weeks:

1. I babysat my niece Tuesday of last week. Afterwards, my sister and brother-in-law took me to dinner at the Mayan Adventure. I had always wanted to go there because it looked like fun. There are several different levels of seating areas, all surrounding a big rock structure and waterfall/pool. While you're sitting, two guys come out and dive off the rock structure into the pool. It was interesting to watch them climb back up and dive right back in again. It seemed like each time, they topped the dive they did before... going higher and higher. We were seated right in front at the lowest level (those tables on the bottom-right side of the picture). It was a fun experience. Maybe I'll get Jon to go there with me someday.
   



2. On Wednesday, Jon and I were supposed to go into the Canyon to have a BBQ and hike, but he got called into work. So my sister called me up and asked if I wanted to go to Thanksgiving Point with her and my niece. I met up with them, and we walked around the museum for a while. We watched the 3-D dinosaur movie, which wasn't that great. My niece was really scared through half of the museum and most of the movie. I had always been curious to check out the museum, but now I realize that it is just really overpriced for what it was. Oh well, I guess...



3. Jon didn't get called back to work on Thursday, so we were able to do our BBQ and hiking then. It was so much fun! I love BBQing! We just went cheap and simple with hot dogs. We'll for sure have to do hamburgers next time though. Jon wants to start doing a BBQ once a week, but I don't know if that will actually happen yet. Maybe if we had our own BBQ grill.
   We were going to try to hike into Rock Canyon, but the road was closed. So instead we just found other little trails off of Squaw Peak Road to hike around on. This was a really neat area, where people obviously come to have bonfires on the mountainside.
   
   We found a little trail that took us to the top of a mountain!
   
   It was quite the view of Provo and Orem. It's too bad I did a terrible job with the panoramic on this picture. I usually don't do too bad. I guess I was just hurrying. Although, I don't really find the Utah Valley that impressive (really flat and wayyy too many buildings/people all in one place), it was nice to be up in the mountains away from all the busy people down below. The mountains are definitely my favorite place to be in Utah (except during the winter).
   
   We started driving back down the mountain after this, where we saw a wild turkey! It was the only animal we saw up there besides small birds you see everyday in the valley. It was neat because I had never seen a turkey in the wild before- only at the Hogle Zoo. He was kind of funny because he ran in front of us twice. We stopped at a overlook area on the way down, and we had just barely missed a guy take off paragliding. We got to watch him slowly float down to the ground. It was pretty crazy! I don't think I'd ever have the guts to do that!
4. Oh and the last exciting news is that Jon got the promotion we've been waiting for!!!! We're both so excited. He totally deserves it, and now he'll get paid better. So he starts training for that a week from tomorrow. Everything just seems to always work out for us even when we don't think it will. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father has blessed us so much this year!
   

Our Week in Pictures

Jon worked at his security job and at the landscaping job.


Then he went shooting with his shotgun.


I watched the whole first season of Pushing Daisies (only 9 episodes). I SO wish this show was never cancelled!! I love it so much. I blame it on the writer's strike.


We saw the movie "Taken" at the cheap theater. It was pretty good!!! But it makes me sick that there are really people out there who kidnap girls to turn them into prostitutes.


We bought a much needed office chair at D.I. for $12.


I went on a trial walk/run to see if my ankle was all better, and it feels like it is!!!! I'm so excited to start running again!!! I'm going to really try to keep up on toning my body also on my own, so hopefully I won't have any more injuries running.

Stuff

It seems that since I started using this blog, I've updated every Saturday since then. So I guess I'll try to keep that up...

Nothing too exciting is going on here. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to go running with Tara since the 28th of April. I hurt my foot/ankle soon after our run. I don't know how it happened. I was just sitting on my couch, using the computer, then I stood up and it hurt. I was limping the rest of the day. I thought maybe it'd go away after a week, but it hasn't. It's not nearly as bad though. Sometimes I think it's all better, but if I walk or stand too much in the day, then I can start feeling it again. So every now and then I am limping a bit. So sad! We were supposed to do our very first official 5K race next weekend (the 16th) at Thanksgiving Point. I am so sad that I won't be able to do it. I will be even more sad if I can't start running with Tara again because I am really bad at working out on my own.

On the evening of the 29th, I was able to go hang out with some of my old Dear Lizzie Bistro friends at Gentri's house. It was a lot of fun to catch up with everyone. Gentri throws such cute parties (see picture that I stole from her blog below). I miss having girls to talk to all day long. Once you get married, you just sometimes need some girly time.


Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures of us girls! I even brought my camera, but it seems I always forget to take pictures when I'm hanging out with friends.

Then on this past Thursday, Jon and I were able to hang out with Brad and Marissa. We live only like 5 minutes away, but we hardly ever see each other! It's so sad. We went there to play some World Tour for a bit, and then we watched "What Happens In Vegas." It was so fun seeing them again. I hope that we'll be seeing more of them soon after Brad takes the MCAT.














Jon is really enjoying his landscaping/gardening/yard work job. He works for a lady in Orem and her Father in Pleasant Grove. So he's doing two houses, but the Father is the one that needs the most work done (he just purchased a new house without any landscaping done yet). Jon loves helping him out because he's a Retired Marine, who was a sniper in the Vietnam war and survived a grenade (he stepped on it). So Jon loves talking to him about all his old war stories, and he sounds like he may continue to be a good friend in the future. He wants Jon and I to go to his house for a BBQ someday soon. He sounds like a funny guy too. I'm so happy Jon has so much fun with this job. He just does not really enjoy his other job.

I miss....

the beautiful San Diego temple:


driving down Pacific Coast Highway:


fun times at the ocean/beach:






random trips to Disneyland/CA Adventure:












concerts on the beach (or concerts in general):


my natural sun-bleached blonde hair (it definitely has NOT been that light in a long time! thank you Idaho/Utah 6 month winters...):







I keep seeing pictures of people at the beach on Facebook, and it makes me miss San Diego. Maybe I can convince Jon that we have to live next to the ocean in the future!! :) It would be especially nice if it was near Disneyland/Disney World because I would love it even more.

Jon's Birthday Week!

This past week was a crazy one. First, my family came into town to take my younger brother, Roger, to the MTC. I went out to dinner with them at Texas Roadhouse Tuesday night before Rog went into the MTC the next day. Wednesday was pretty crazy because it was Rog's big day and Jon's 25th birthday! Sandra came down to take her sister into the MTC also, and I met with them along with Sarah to eat breakfast at IHOP. Then I hurried to the MTC to say goodbye to my brother for two years. Jon's brother, Derek, came to keep him company, while I was off with my family and friends. They went to breakfast at Einstein's and then went shooting. So sad that his brother forgot it was his birthday though! Haha. Oh well... I made Jon and Derek dinner. Then Jon and I celebrated his birthday with yummy cake and ice cream!

Here's a few pictures from Jon's birthday:




On Thursday, Jon wanted to go fishing. So I went with him to read my book, Marley and Me, and take a few pictures. I love this little town and the pond! I tried to stay out of the sun because I knew I would get sunburned. However, at one point I had to stand out in the sun (there was no shade nearby) at the top of a hill, while I directed Jon to the fish I could see in the pond. No luck though! I guess those ones are protected, and Jon would have had to throw them back anyways. Oh well.

Here's the pictures from the pond:

I loved the little duckies.






















My parents stayed with us that evening because they were going to my older brother, Scott's, graduation. My Mother took Jon and I out to dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. It was delicious! We said our goodbyes the next morning.

Oh, Jon also got a call on his birthday from a lady he had called a while back about doing some yard work for. She had posted a listing in the classifieds in the BYU newspaper. We didn't think we'd hear back from her though because that was several weeks before. Anyways, so he went to help her with her garden Thursday night, and he's going to be helping her a bit more and her Father's home in Pleasant Grove this summer. Hopefully, it'll be going on all summer long, but we'll see... So Jon has a second job now that he enjoys! Yay!