Good Riddance Summer

Not going to lie, I am SO excited for September 1st. I wish to redact all kind words that I had to say about summertime, I know come tomorrow I will say not necessarily all of them, but for now I am bitter and against all things summer. Summers can be cruel and life changing and very unfun. Yes they can be quite the opposite, but for two years running, my summer falls into this category where some of the very worst things I have ever gone through are plagued by summertime woe. I was tempted to decorate for fall a week early to escape the darkness that the course of summer brought with it, but I decided against such actions for fear of tainting my favorite season with summer's memories.
Tomorrow I break out all the fake fall colored leaves, sunflowers, warm hued decorations and my Spiced Orange Harvest scentsy bar. I will bask in the beauty of autumn as I recover from the events of bygone days of the previous season. I will enjoy the cooler evenings and crispy mornings. Harvest salivation will be an every day occurence with peaches, and tomatoes, and corn, and all such delicious produce. I will wear long sleeved shirts and sweaters and hoodies. Colorful photos of changing leaves and delightful crunching of fallen leaves beneath my feet will bring a constant smile to my face.
Goodbye summer, you really stink.

The Shadow Proves the Sunshine

The Shadow Proves the Sunshine

It has been a very long and very hard week for us with multiple set backs and problems that culminated with the news we had been hoping to be different, being confirmed today. Despite all that has happened and is held in store with this trial, I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who knows what is best for me even when that means something that is terribly painful and hard to experience.
Doctrine and Covenants 98:1-3

1 Verily I say unto you my friends, fear not, let your hearts be comforted; yea rejoice evermore, and in everything give thanks;

2 Waiting patiently on the Lord, for your prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord of Saboath, and are recorded with this seal and testament-the Lord hath sworn and decreed that they shall be granted.

3 Therefore, he giveth this promise unto you, with an immutable covenant that they shall be fulfilled; and all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name's glory, saith the Lord.

I know that the shadow does prove the sunshine, and that sunny days are just around the corner.

Fare Thee Well Sweet Summer

The above picture is the "Last Day of Summer 2006" Event. My sisters and I will usually do something to commemorate the end of summer. Em was gone this year so the unofficial end consisted of pizza and a movie with Christie and Erin. Not quite as fancy as the Mardi Gras masks, boas, and 80's cabby hats of '06, but still nice. It has been a nice summer. Trips to Bear Lake, staycation, Organic Chemistry ENDING, archery, no pulmonary embolism. All in all I would say it has been quite pleasant. Last year I didn't finish my clinicals until July and was sentenced to recliner rest for basically 2 months in a basement so summer didn't really happen; I just reemerged into fall. So in blissful memory I will quote Sir John Lubbock:
Rest is not idlenss, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.

Stormy

That didn't take long. Oh well....hopefully sunshine again soon.

Background story on the picture: My best friend Erin and I were having fun in Yellowstone enjoying the sights when we saw a beautiful storm approaching us. So beautiful, we took a few pictures and then kept walking along; we turned around a few minutes later and realized this beautiful storm was moving very very fast and had lots and lots of rain in it. We had to run back to the car for safety wearing flip flops, along boardwalks, down hills, across a bridge, we were soaked by the time we made it to the car as in needing to use towels to dry off. We have matching hoodies that we had to buy that day as a result. Good memory. :)

Light and Airy

Have you ever had something happen in which stress that you didn't even know you had, and that was entirely consuming you is suddenly gone and you feel light and airy and happy and calm and peaceful? I have. It's nice. -I PASSED MY RADIATION THERAPY BOARDS!!!!

Salt Lake Day 2

Day 2 began with the Hogle Zoo. I will admit I have always hated this place; I thought the animals were sad. Feeling this way, I don't think I have been there since I was in junior high. It was SO much better! The animals weren't pacing, the compounds were nice, and the 'lands' were fantastic. It was a much better than expected stop.Red Butte gardens were beautiful! We had fun walking around the different themed gardens and enjoying the water features. We spent a lot more time there than what we planned on, and I wouldn't be surprised if we go back, even without a Connect Pass.

We ate lunch at Crown Burger and then went back up to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. This activity was 'ok'. I actually do like going to art museums, this one just felt like it was trying too hard. There were a few pieces that stuck out and their current display was from an artist that had a lot of work in the Layton, Ogden, Huntsville areas circa the Great Depression, so that was kind of fun to see buildings I recognized in the art work. On a whole, I probably could have done without this attraction, but it was new and now we know.

Our day ended at the Gateway with a dome film in the Clark Planetarium and a quick walk through of the Discovery Gateway. Just a warning, if you don't have kids, they think you are a threat and you have to hand in your ID before entering. That was kind of strange.

Another fun day, but I am tired, we were going to try to add in a couple more things, but there was no way, maybe if the sun and heat were a little less intense. We did a lot of fun things and saw some fun stuff. The best part was being with JD and not having to worry about O Chem. Day 3 happens today so more to come of our vacation in Utah.

Salt Lake Day 1

Snowbird was beautiful! It was fun driving through Little Cottonwood Canyon, and the tram ride to Hidden Peak was fantastic!

The Connect Pass includes lunch at the Lion House. The food was delicious and as an added bonus I finally went upstairs, I had never toured the home before, just eaten in the basement.

JD loved Tracy Aviary. We had fun looking at all the birds and had a peacock friend that followed us the entire time we were there.

For day one, we went to an IMAX film at Clark Planetarium, Born to be Wild, it was really good. They are showing the last Harry Potter film on their IMAX screen so there were all kinds of Harry Potter stuff in the gift shop including the above Quidditch helmet.

Salt Lake City Vacation

JD and I had been hoping to go somewhere exotic for our vacation when we wrote off work back in April....somewhere like California or Colorado. Due to changes in events such as the new car and what not, we figured it may be a good idea to stick closer to home. We ended up doing some awesome things thanks to the Salt Lake Connect Pass. This gem is amazing. For a one day pass it is $24, for a two day pass it is $36. We got the 2 day pass and it more than paid for itself, we actually came out with a per person total of $75.50 so $39.50 in savings and times that by two. We have had many new adventures so far in our staycation with the bonus of sleeping in our own bed at night!

Goodbye O Chem

So JD is officially finished with organic chemistry and what a happy thing it is! He has been working so hard on these two-seven week courses and has done remarkably well. True, there are just a few weeks off at this point and true there will be more fun to come next semester, but this doesn't matter though because these classes are DONE, forever. We have a week planned for playing and spending time together; it has already been fun just going to bed at the same time, going on walks, and doing things other than study. HAPPY DAY!

Archery World Cup 2011 Part 2

Yesterday was the final day for the Archery World Cup. JD had fun taking pictures of the different countries during the compound final. I enjoy recurve more than the compound finals but it is still fun to go. Tonight was fun because we knew so many people who had come, both of our families, JD's coworker and family, and our upstairs neighbors as well. We would periodically change location to go and talk to so many friends. This put us by team India, France, the Netherlands, and the medals. For other insight into the tournament you should check out the past few posts by my sister: somemusingsofme.blogspot.com

Archery World Cup 2011

JD and I went to the Archery World Cup finals for Recurve tonight. It was fantastic as always. This year brought a lot more people with it. It was fun to see Brady Ellison and his pink bow shoot once again, he managed 3 gold medals tonight and is amazing to watch. India was also in most of the finals which made JD happy too. If you can, you should definately come out tomorrow night for the Compound events. Lindquist Field in Ogden, 6-10, free admission, free raffle entry with a chance to win a Disneyland vacation. We hope to see you there!

Of Cars and Such

July is the month of the car in the Speth home. Last year brought new tires and a pulmonary embolism with registration. This year was no less exciting, well maybe a little less since it didn't end with me in the hospital. It started with a windshield for the Civic, no biggie we were planning on that. The Taurus has been been very fussy and we were kind of dreading taking it in to get inspected. JD did, and surprisingly, it passed! We were joyous, but not for long. JD drove home and upon arriving home came to realize that the car was dumping large amounts of fluid all over the driveway. He drove back and unfortunately it wasn't a misplaced oil cap, but the transmission. The mechanic's ultimate bill of health was no driving over 40 miles per hour, no question; and the price tag to fix around $4700 since it is such an old car. Well, that isn't exactly worth it to us when he only paid $1000 for it in the first place. The pursuing weeks consisted of wonderful suggestions on facebook and the ultimate purchase of a 2007 Toyota Corrola from Kirsten Kemp, JD's childhood neighbor who was leaving for the MTC 3 days from when we decided to purchase it. So....we have a new car! We really love it, it was a good situation, and it is a good car so everyone won....except maybe our wallets. :)

Pseudo Surgeon

Years ago my grandpa started writing down experiences he had while pursuing a career in surgical sales when it wasn't even a career. He introduced such things as surgical stapling to the Rocky Mountain states 30 years ago. As a new brand of salesman, there weren't laws and guidelines concerning what these individuals could do and my grandpa found himself scrubbing in and participating in surgeries as he trained and worked with different physicians from Nevada and Arizona to Montana and Idaho. All this despite never having a formal college education. A few years ago he gave my mom a fruit box that consisted of a stack of about 500 typewritten pages that has become the novel above. I read the novel out of the box and can't tell you how excited I am that it has been published. It is a fascinating story and a fun read. It is available at Barnes and Noble in book form and Amazon in e-book form. Check it out!

Ohana

This weekend was the Clarke Family Reunion up at the cabin in Bear Lake. It was SO much fun to be with every single one of my cousins. We were all trying to figure out the last time it happened and no one could even figure it out. Ages now go from myself at 24 down to 4. Ratio of girls to boys-11:3. The girls all watched Meet Me in St. Louis which is an "All American Classic" of craziness, and SO fun to watch in a room full of girls, some are ready to throw a themed party they were that inspired. Other activities included swimming at Ideal Beach, playing cards, Minute to Win It, lounging on the beach, reading books, take pictures of humming birds (JD), laughing and giggling girls, ukulele playing, singing, eating, talking, mingling, talk of fishing, golfing, and lots more fun. I love my family a ton and it was wonderful to all be together again. :)

Bem Vindo

Sye is home from his LDS mission in Sao Paulo Brazil! Sye definately ranks up there on my list of favorite people so it is super nice to have him back. It was so weird going out with the family and having SEVEN people instead of six like it has been the past while. He has worked super hard the past 2 years and it should be fun to finally hear about some of his experiences (he was definately not the best of writers).

Pulmonary Memories

The images above are of me. The image on the left shows the clot on the lower left side of the image (my right lung), the lighter image also shows the clot, but also shows all the fluid and dead tissue that resulted from the clot.

It has been one year since jdnatspeth.blogspot.com/2010/07/pulmonary-embolism.html whole fiasco occurred. Going around in my day to day to-do's I have been constantly reminded of the event this month. Registering the car was much more simple, and less painful this year. Costco's couches are out, displayed at the same place where I had to sit on one for over an hour because I felt too weak and the pain was too high to do my shopping while the tires were being replaced on the Taurus. Fruit is delicious this time of year, and it was also the only thing I felt like eating during and after my hospital stay. There are a ton of these daily reminders of just how blessed I am to be here. It is strange to think that this time last year, I couldn't lay down on a bed, walk around a coul-de-sac, eat real food, shower without someone around (or without pain medication), be alone at night because I couldn't get myself out of the recliner I was sleeping in, stay awake for a movie, work, or even breathe for that matter. Despite all of this, I am truly and honestly grateful for experiencing this. I have learned a ton in all kinds of ways, emotionally, spiritually, educationally, mentally, and so on. Many are things I wouldn't dream of trading for even a small reprieve from what I went through and the approx. 9 months of complications that resulted after being discharged and melingering issues the spring up occasionally even now.

I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who knows my limits, my needs, and the opportunity for growth that comes with trials. I know that he loves each of us and that events like this aren't meant to hurt us but to build and strengthen us. I am also very grateful for a loving, kind, and patient husband who has been nothing but supportive throughout all of the craziness this past year.

Employees Only

So this weekend was a ton of fun. JD and I get to work with the most amazing people....so amazing, that we wanted to go on a vacation with them. Friday morning consisted of driving up to Bear Lake. While there we had shakes, went swimming in the lake and in the pools, walked through Minnetonka Cave, ate delicious food, played fun games, searched for binkies, watched Ice Age Meltdown several times, and had a great time just hanging out. I work with Val at Herefordshire and JD works with Joe at South Ogden. Our pharmacies will help each other out fairly often so we have all worked together at the very least a few times. The upper right picture is of Val, Dustin, Xavier, Roman, and Avery enjoying their shakes. The bottom right is Joe and Jesse. Jesse is a master at spotting chipmunks and prairie dogs from the cabin porch. We both feel very blessed to have such great friends that we could do something like this with and have the joy of working with these awesome people each week, sometimes seeing them more than our own families. It was kind of funny packing up this morning and the goodbyes consisting of 'see ya tomorrow'.

Is it over yet?

So is it strange that despite not actually taking the class that I am having a harder time getting through organic chemistry than JD is? This course is lovingly known as the 'weeder' course for all things pre-medical. You pass and you are set, you don't and you are tossed into an endless time warp of torture until you can claw your way out and move on to easier things such as medical or pharmacy school. JD had the joy of taking both parts of these fun courses back to back in 13 weeks rather than the usual alotted 30 weeks offered by the usual route year long plan. He has done amazingly well. This wasn't due to solely to his preexisting brilliance but to hours upon hours of study and stress. True we are on the downhill end with three weeks left to go, but seriously, is it over yet? I want my husband back!

The Best Two Years

Yesterday was our 2 year anniversary. Time has flown by in some ways and stood still in others. We had a great evening hanging out with no homework or studying and no regards to time it was wonderful. I was thinking about some of the things that have happened over the past couple of years and it is amazing how much has been crammed into such a short amount of time!

JD graduated with a psychology degree,

Nat graduated in radiology and radiation therapy,

Moved to Riverdale from South Ogden,

Pulmonary Embolism,

We both have gotten new jobs and kept the old ones,

Trips to: Yellowstone, California (3 times), Zions, St George,

Las Vegas, Colorado, Fish Lake, Bear Lake, etc,

Temples visited: Ogden, Salt Lake, Idaho Falls, Jordan River, Oquirrh, Rexburg, Draper, Bountiful, Logan, Denver, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, San Diego, Las Vegas, Redlands, St George, Manti, Vernal, Mount Timpanogos,

Fed stingrays, walked on beaches, hiked up mountains, gone to broadways (Wicked, Lion King, Phantom & Les Miserables), attended soccer games, taught 9, 10, and 7 year old primary classes, gone fishing, taken hundreds of pictures, worked hard, the list goes on and we have loved every minute of it.....

I'm so grateful for the blessing it is to be sealed to my very best friend forever. It is so fun to realize that this is just the beginning and to look forward to the adventures in store.

And the winner is....

So Monday morning at 6:15 AM the alarm went off signaling the necessity to roll out of bed and head to the starting line of the Old Glory Days Riverdale 5K. JD has never participated in such an event and was less than enthused over the whole event upon hearing the alarm. We like to joke about our differences when it comes to sleep case in point: Natalie: light sleeper JD: sleeps like a log

Natalie: early bird JD: night owl

Natalie: light switch JD: sunrise

This taken into account, the 5K was an interesting event all around. It was a beautiful course going along the river parkway for part of it (which I love). The day was nice, we had awesome friends to do it with and even a mascot practicing what JD would like to have been doing (Team Spencer!). We finished the walk and went straight to our car after saying goodbye to Megan and Scott. Turns out that both JD and I ended up placing. Go figure. Don't ask which is which because we don't know. JD's coworker accepted our ribbons for us or we wouldn't have had a clue that we even placed. Hopefully this makes it so this won't be JD's first and last 5k? :)

Happy Fourth of July

Fun day: Riverdale 5K, Miner Barbeque, and Fireworks. Happy Independence Day!

Sorry this isn't of the highest quality, but it is what makes me think of July 4th. I just hope one day I am in an old school neighborhood that sets up booths and food in the street.

Beluga

It is one of my dreams to one day swim with Belugas.....just sayin.

Summertime

Lights Out

Saturday was a fun day. Nothing super exciting happened except that I didn't have to work. I got to the clinic and all of the lights were out. I found this to be rather strange but proceded to enter. I tried flipping on the light and a thrill coursed through me....nothing was happening! Come to find out the entire grid in the area was out and would not be fixed any earlier than 2:00.....we close at 1:00. After making a cute sign to inform angry patients about our 'misfortune' we all skipped out of the building to enjoy a beautiful sunny day. I don't remember the last time I had a Saturday off just for the heck of it and not for an impending event or vacation or in last year's case a month of illness. I always work Saturdays and have done so since I was 14. Some of the events that preoccupied my entire day off included: deep cleaned the house, ran some errands, went to a reception, decorated some summer blocks that I have been meaning to get to forever, lunch and shopping with my sister, spending time with JD. My deep clean probably should have included the lightbulb in the picture, but the dust did give a fun textured effect to the photo don't you think? I have to admit I kind of like having Saturdays off.

O Chem 1 Down....O Chem 2 to Go

JD has been taking Organic Chemistry this summer. It is very much like ripping off a bandaid doing the summer route because 1 year of a miserable class is crammed into 7 horrible weeks, twice. To celebrate the wonderous event of part one being done, we played in Salt Lake. JD took his final Saturday morning and when I got off work we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple, followed by Ganesh, and Real Salt Lake vs DC United to finish off the evening. It was so fun and nice to play for a night. At this point there are 6 weeks to go then the real celebration will begin! :)

Happy Dad's Day

This is one of my very favorite photos. It shows my dad and I getting 're'aquainted for the first time. I love my dad so much, he is one of the best people I know. He is so fun to do things with and I love just being around him. He taught me how to fish, and still cleans what I catch. He didn't yell at me when I backed into one of our other cars in our drive way, the first time, or the second time, or even the third time. I love going on walks with him and talking with him. My dad let me be a Webelo for 7 years and do all the stuff boys got to do. He has taken me on some amazing trips: Oregon, California, Florida, fishing locations all over the place, and elsewhere. He would always make us breakfast on Sundays and is the very best dipping egg chef. He is a really hard worker and knows how to do all sorts of things. In general my dad is pretty easy going, calm, and not one to meddle, but once I've asked, whenever I need anything whether it is help with something or advice on anything he will do whatever he can to solve my problems; I've always really appreciated that. He taught me how to dance, starting out on top of his feet and then to more advanced skills. He has shown me the importance of the Gospel and the blessings that come from his choice to have it be a priority in his life can be demonstrated in each one of his children today. I love my dad so much and I am so grateful to be his daughter.

Pharmacy Dayz

So I have worked in a pharmacy setting for 7 years and over the years I have heard just about everything. Today I got a new one to add to the list: cute little old man comes in asking for liquid Benadryl, not an uncommon request at a pharmacy as it is used for allergic reactions or with the allergies going on, it can help with the itchy runny eyes and nose so it is completely understandable to make such a request. The followup, however, is where things got interesting....As I am ringing the patient out I give the counsel that benadryl can make you really sleepy and to be careful when taking it during the day. The patient looks up at me with big eyes and says, "Oh, well that's good because that is why I am buying it, I am going to give a bunch to my cat so I can get her hairballs out.....I am thinking about doing the same thing to my wife to get the knots out of her birds nest as well." This was followed by the same laugh that Geri does after winning his game of chess against himself (Pixar Short).

I think this places up there with the lady who wanted to know if using a pregnancy test would tell her if her goat "went and got herself pregnant again".

Just Keep Swimmin

Emily and I had a fantastic day today. We both got off work at 12 and met at Cafe Rio for some delicious food. Afterwards we went to the Roy Aquatic Center. I have not been swimming FOREVER. Last summer just as I was finishing up my clinicals and getting set to play in the sun, my pulmonary embolism happened and I found myself in a recliner chair in a basement until mid-August, before leaving my doctor forbade any swimming activities. Winter came once more, followed by Sprinter, then Sprummer, now that it is finally summer I have gone about 1 1/2 years without going swimming. This saddens my heart, but all was made well when Emily agreed to go with me. I will admit we felt a little silly swimming with all of the 10 year olds, but it was well worth it. I have created a new stroke: The Dragon. My porcelin skin that has also seen very little sun for 1 1/2 years wasn't even deep fried, I am mildly burnt which is more than I was expecting despite the multiple administrations of sunscreen. To top it all off, we went to Jamba Juice after. My friends, this was a wonderful summer day!

Primary

JD and I have had Primary callings pretty much since we got married. We have taught 10 year olds, 9 year olds, and we are currently teaching the 7 year olds. Primary is definately one of my favorite places to be. This year particularly has been hilarious being with the junior primary classes. A few of the fun things that we have been taught lately or experienced with the kids include:
During an object lesson a presidency member had a candy bar and asked if she could just eat the candy (getting at the point you needed to open the wrapper first), a sunbeam piped up from the front row: Oh no! You have to ask your mom or dad first!
Same day, same sun beam: after singing a song the primary chorister asked if everyone had been singing, his response: I wasn't! I just don't know any of those words!
We asked our primary class what the Holy Ghost was a member of (getting at Godhead) the answer: Mormon Tabernacle Choir
While singing Follow the Prophet kids were called up to do something for kids to follow during the chorus (wave hands, clap, spin around etc). For Jonah one of our class members was called on, once the chorus started he bared his teeth made claw hands and started growling (to be the whale) we had a primary full of monsters throughout the chorus.
When an 8 year old was asked in a sharing time lesson how he felt after he repented: "Heartly.....it's a new emotion"

Sprummer?

Memorial Day Weekend

JD and I escaped last weekend up to Bear Lake when we were done with work on Saturday. Upon arriving, there was no snow and everything was green. Waking up on Saturday morning brought the surprise of about a foot of snow. I will admit that at first I was panicked not really knowing how our little Civic was going to get us home. Weather proved me wrong when the sun came out and the temperature rose resulting in what sounded like rain all day long as the snow drip drip dripped all over the place, off the cabin, off the trees, off the cars, off of everything. By the time we were leaving for church that foot of snow was practically gone. The next day we experienced something similar but only started with 4 inches, it was kind of cool to look down towards the lake and see snow turn to grass turn to blue water.

The weekend was filled with JD studying and sleeping and my opportunity to talk and hang out with my grandparents and the Reese's who I haven't played with for a long time. We are now semi-experts of the card game Rage, Haylie can kick butt at Phase 10. I finished a book and read an entire new one. It is kind of nice being trapped while snow is melting because it forces you to relax and enjoy not having to do anything. It was a much needed break from the 'fun' summer semester JD has been having with Organic Chemistry (part 1 complete in 2 weeks!). On our way home we stopped by to see how the Brigham City Temple was coming along. I was shocked to see just how much progress has been made. I loved being able to see through the temple. It will be fun to contrast with a finished building.

Do you hear the people sing?

I love music. There is just something about it that I have always been drawn to. This week has been full of musical experiences. The U2 360 concert with The Frey was amazing, so much so it is kind of hard to find words to describe it. JD and I had the great opportunity to go to Les Miserables as well; a timeless piece of work that I remember listening to before I was 5. The new Pirates of the Caribbean music was released; I am in love with Hans Zimmer. And then tonight I have been winding in and out of some of my favorite artists: Switchfoot, The Shins, Weepies, This Holiday Life, and so on; I love how a song can automatically bring back a memory or just make you feel good because you are listening to it.

U2 360

Emi, Chris, Erin and I all had a blast at the U2 360 Concert last night. The Fray was a great opener, but nothing compared with what U2 had in store for the 50,o00+ people in attendance. Great music, great band, fun venue, and overall just a good, fun, clean concert (clean in multiple senses of the word). Bono thanked Utah a few times for the patience of waiting for them to come back a year after his broken back surgery which was pretty cool. He also sang a few Bob Dylan songs to honor his 70th birthday. Some of my favs included: Walk On, City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, and All I Want is You; really the whole concert was amazing. I have seen U2 perform before, but this tour took the term concert to a whole new level.

Ogden 5K

I had a blast this morning participating in the Ogden 5K with my mom. We enjoyed the river walkway, the trees, the river, getting in front of pig tail girl (a girl who was 'run/walking' that we kept passing by just walking because she would run by us and then start walking slowly right in front of us and it was driving me crazy), and taking pictures all along the way. It was also a good revelation to my mom that I do not have a 'flat' lung anymore. What a great, fun, and beautiful way to start the day!

The Floods

I love going to the parkway in Riverdale to walk the path along the river. This time of year it is green and beautiful. In contrast to past experiences, however, there is also a noticable amount of water in the way of my beloved path. I love the water. It is so fun to watch and listen to (and as posted last week, throw rocks in). The problem with all of this water is that it has a tendancy to go everywhere, even where it isn't supposed to like houses. The black and white photo was taken of the Ogden River outside of the canyon and as you can see this water likes to bring a lot of stuff with it that blocks water and makes it go other places as well. I love the rivers but I hope that they calm down soon.

Grandpa Wayne

My grandpa taking me for a ride when I was 2 1/2 at our cabin in Heber.

It was my Grandpa's birthday yesterday and I wanted to post at least a little something about him. He is one of the most amazing people I know, he is a pseudosurgeon, dog keeper, vending machine repair man, light installer, pilot, electrician, star gazer, hiker, runner, travelor, salesman, fisherman, and the list of skills and talents and interests goes on and on and on. He is one of those people where if you have a problem with anything, you just call and he will be there as soon as possible to help fix it, whether it is an appliance failure, car problems, teaching stars and constellations to scouts or young women, you name it. I lived with my grandparents for a summer during high school as I did a summer class at the U. My grandpa would always tell me to get my homework done and we would go adventuring, hiking in the canyon, swimming at the Cottonwood complex, or some other activity, always stopping for something to eat on the way home. He took Emi and I on a trip to California and walked us through the entire strip buying us the best treats and sticking us on every roller coaster on the way to California followed by Disneyland with my cousins. On top of that he let us listen to our music the ENTIRE time. He bought us those, now annoying noise making sticks, for us when he took us to Yellowstone and didn't mind us playing with them the whole time. (at least not out loud) He shared his love of Lake Powell and it's beauty with us, even stapled my hand shut when I sliced it open in the middle of no where there, who needs stitches when you have surgical staples? I love my grandpa and I am thankful for the example he is to not only me, but to my entire family. He is amazing and that is a word that doesn't even come close to doing him justice. Happy birthday grandpa!

Physical Therapy

Today I was fortunate enough to talk to some smart guys at the rehab center about my shoulder that has been causing me a lot of grief lately. I will be fine one day and the next I can't hold a phone to my ear or I find myself sleeping on the couch half way through the night because of the ache. My new friend, Nephi, was awesome in diagnosing me with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. What started as a 'just curious' question landed me in performing different exercises to help with my TOS which included lying on an exercise ball and letting my arms dangle. You feel kind of ridiculous lying on a fitness orb with a guy staring at me, arms crossed, telling me my technique for dangling my arms was a little bit 'off' and to maybe flex my wrist a bit more and I am thinking, oh I never knew until now how much work my arm dangling technique needs! In all seriousness though, proper fitness orb arm dangling and the other exercises helped a ton and I can already feel a big difference so yay for therapy!

Happy Mum's Day

Happy Mother's Day! I found it only suiting to honor my amazing mom on such a fun holiday. My mom is one of the coolest people I know. I don't know of many mothers who are willing to drive their kids to California for a surfing competition and rock concert on the beach-Switchfoot Bro-Am-, drive her daughters to the Rock Springs Wyoming Fair to see the same band play, and ask for the lead singer to put some sunscreen on her nose (pictured above, Jon Foreman of Switchfoot), go with us to competitions in Alaska, Portland, Florida, sponser Tennessee, and help with the projects that got us there. Take us on such trips as Fish Lake every year, California, Oregon (multiple times), Florida, Lake Powell, Wyoming, and the spontaneous state trips. Let me paint my wall green despite her fear of color on walls. I have learned much from my mom: never be late, always be on time, always take a water bottle with you even if you don't need it, don't be afraid to go somewhere new or try something new, learning is fun and important, go to college, math is hard even for adults, check the weather at least 10 times to be fully prepared (I have dubbed her the "Weathermom"), finish the jobs you agree to do, how to appropriately and satisfactorily clean a bathroom including a scrubbed sink/tub, how to make peach jam, service is important, fulfilling callings at 110%, don't get sick (and if you are try to hide it or she is freaked out), you have to learn to cook even if you hate it, make lists, and this list could go on for awhile. I love my mom so much, she is awesome, and I am super blessed to have her in my life.

I love my sisters

So yesterday was the magical day where Emi, Chris, and I all had the afternoon off. We had many adventures including:

going to Cafe Rio and not killing Christie was a fantastic discovery.....shopping.....Dilly Dally's.....river parkway and throwing rocks.....buying a bike that does not fit in my car at Costco.....I love my sisters.