1st Camping of 2011

It's officially over. Cody's spring semester of Dental School. I'd be completely lying if I didn't say that this was the semester from Hell. Needless to say both Cody and I are glad it is over with. But instead of a nice summer break, Cody is back to school on Tuesday next week for a 6 week post session. Lucky him. And as for me, work goes on regardless of summer or not.

But this weekend Cody had his heart set on camping. So Friday afternoon we headed down South to somewhere (I don't even know where we went), and camped for a night. Friday was fairly nice weather 70's when the sun was out definitely not too hot. Saturday morning was freezing! We only have 1 sleeping bag so Cody slept in it I tried to brave the night with just blankets. I was nice and toasty to go to sleep but I woke up in the middle of the night freezing. Cody got up to go to the bathroom and I stole the sleeping bag and made him use the blankets.

Cutting all the potatoes for our dutch oven dinner

Our friend Blake, was a little too small to wander so his dad used the back pack leash (I don't know what they are really called) to keep an eye on him.

Nothing Cody loves more than a heart attack cooking in a dutch oven. He insisted the potatoes get 2 packs of bacon this go round and lots and lots of cheese. Here he his cooking the bacon up.

And now he is enjoying the fruits of his labors.

Our friends John and Amy. Glad we have such awesome camping buddies to go with! It makes the car ride to and from home go by way faster than just traveling with Cody.

Thanks Amy for keeping me entertained, camping is a lot more enjoyable with you around!

I've Got the Best Mom

So far our Mothers Day has been low key. Thank goodness for skype! Today we got to talk with my little brother who is serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He only gets to call home twice a year. Mothers Day and Christmas. Since he is in Brazil instead of having to pay for a phone call he got to skype! Of course he talked with my parents for an hour. But while he did we got to chat back and forth. Then he called me for a couple of minutes to say hi. I sure love that kid.

I love my mom. No doubt about it. Here are just a few reasons why:

1. My mom always sides with me. Even if I am wrong she is able to see things from my point of view and agree with me. Whenever I need to talk she is always there for me.

2. I am nearly 27 and she still finds ways to spoil me. Whether it is sending me a card with money, or buying me a new dress or pair of jeans when I'm home.

3. She is the most talented pianist/organist I know. And thankfully, she's taught me all she knows. I am so lucky.

4. She supports and encourages me in every part of my life. I am grateful that we have such a close relationship.

5. She cooks the best Sunday dinners ever. I miss them desperately especially now that I don't live close.

In a nutshell my mom Rocks. I love ya Mom!

Recent Crafting

So I bought this chair at the local Goodwill. I forgot to take a true before picture with my camera. But the chair was oak and the fabric that you see on the bottom was the fabric that the pads were made out of. After sewing new cushions and giving the chair a paint job it turned into...
I really like it! However I am still debating on the brown bottom cushion. I feel like it kind of sticks out like a sore thumb. So when I get around to it I may decide to re sew the bottom cushion cover so that it matches the top one. I think that would look a little better.
The chair is definitely a hit with Cody. This has become his new Halo chair. He pulls it right up to the tv and then rests his legs on the tv stand.

I recently finished crocheting my second baby blanket. This one turned out so cute!! I absolutely love the finished product. I started working on this back in January and have just worked on it a little at a time each week.

Since I don't have any use for a cute girly baby blanket. I decided to give it to my good friend Laci who is having a baby girl next month. She will get more use out of it than I would.

I Should be DOING so many other things right now...

I started the weekend off right. Yup. At the pool. The weather this weekend here is AWESOME and after a busy day at work it felt wonderful to lay out by the pool.

So although my weekend started off right today seems to be another story....We woke up this morning about 8am. Cody was getting ready to head into school. There was no milk so he didn't get to eat breakfast. Then he couldn't find a pair of socks to save his life because of my recent neglect toward the laundry. I should be doing laundry, I should be cleaning, I should be preparing my Young Women lesson for church tomorrow. I should be doing a lot of things. Yet I am sitting here messing with my blog for almost 2 hours now!! So I guess I will get off my duff and take a shower and start doing something productive. I do have a few posts to get caught up on but those will have to wait for now.

Thrifting

I never knew how much I enjoyed thrift shopping. Until yesterday that is. My good friend Amy invited me to go check out some garage sales early Saturday morning. I was not disappointed. Case in point...check out gem I found in the picture above. I mean who doesn't like Deal or No Deal?? And although you cannot see it, the shrink wrap is still on the box, so it is brand new. I picked this up and carried it around with me at the garage sale still debating if I really was going to by it. The price on the box said $3, but in reality everything was negotiable. After looking at all the stuff I decided I had better put it back. After all, I could only imagine Cody asking why on earth I bought that. So when I put it back on the table the guy running the sale said, "Why did you put that back?? I will sell it to you for a quarter". I looked at Amy and laughed, of course I would pay a quarter for this. I opened my wallet and discovered I didn't have a quarter (I only had a nickel and a few pennies) but I did have a page of stamps! So naturally I said, "Will you sell if for a stamp?!" He was like you bet I will!! So it was really funny, I paid my stamp and walked off with my "gem". And hey, if I only get one night of fun out of this deal...it will have been a stamp well spent!

After hitting up multiple garage sales we decided to stop by the Goodwill. I found an old rocking chair/glider. I have always wanted a glider chair. So I figured with the help of my friends I will be able to recover the cushions on the chair to make it look new again. I am so excited for the final product! So after that we ran over to the fabric store where I found some material that will really go well with my front room. Now that hard part begins.... actually sewing. I have not used a sewing machine since probably 7th grade but hopefully I have patient friends who can help! Stay tuned for a before and after picture!!

PS-Let me just say the biggest lesson I learned from this outing is that you should always take small bills and change when thrifting. I went with a $20 bill and a $50 bill. It makes it very difficult when you try and purchase something for .25 and ask them to make change from a $50.

New Swimsuit!

While in North Carolina I found such a cute swimming suit! I am one of those people who buys a swimming suit once every 5 years. And I desperately need a new one. I found this super cute one at Target. I can't wait to go swimming and try it out now. Good thing summer is right around the corner. I know I am looking forward to the heat that is inevitably coming!!

Vacation to the East Coast

This past week I was able to go visit my sister and her family as well as my parents on the East Coast. It was such an adventure! This is my niece that was just born in October. She is such a doll. I almost wish I could have taken her home with me...that is until she starts crying or gets hungry Friday we packed up and drove 3 hours to the beach. That evening my Dad couldn't resist getting in the water. This picture of my dad is hilarious! So I had to post it. Do you think his swimming shorts are high enough??? I managed to snap the picture right as the icy cold water washed on his feet!! I love my Dad.
Saturday morning we woke up to a freezing cold morning. The skies were overcast and it was really windy. My dad wanted to go on a 3 miles walk but the grandkids got tired after about 30 minutes in one direction. So we turned back.

We found this dry shrunken crab in the sand. It was tiny and could fit in the palm of your hand. My niece threw it in her seashell bag and decided it would be a great thing to take home....

There was an aquarium by the beach we were at so we headed over to go look around. They had a really neat place where you could touch hermit crabs, and pet sting rays. I found the perfect place to take a picture at as you can see.

Lunch time came and the sun decided to come out after all! We headed to the beach for a last adventure before driving back home. The temperature was only in the upper 60's with some wind, so it was perfect if you didn't get wet. I wasn't quite sure I wanted to get in the water, but I figured I didn't know the next time I would be at the ocean so I better take advantage.

My sister had some boogie boards that we could ride some waves out on. Please ignore my incredibly white legs...

It took me a solid 20 minutes to finally get my whole body wet. It was so cold!! Once I finally got used to the water temperature it wasn't too bad. This wave wasn't big enough for me so I was trying to stand my ground while letting it pass. Jumping waves in the ocean is so fun. I'm glad I didn't chicken out and not get in because it was a blast!!

My sister kept talking of all these turtles out in NC. We went for a Sunday afternoon walk at a lake. Sure enough all the turtles were out. There were tons of these guys around the lake. Some of them are pretty big too!

These are only a fraction of my pictures but it pretty well summarizes my 4 day vacation. On Monday evening when I went to the airport to go home I found out that my flight to Memphis (where I was laying over) had been delayed due to severe weather. This meant I would miss my connection to OKC. They said I could fly out the next morning at 6 and get to OKC at 9:30am but I didnt want to do that. They told me my only option for leaving that night was to try and get me to Minneapolis. From there they could get me to OKC that night. The only problem was that the Minneapolis flight was full and I would have to go stand by. ARGH. (I have had the worst luck flying through the Midwest with severe weather...it almost makes me never want to fly anywhere ever again). So I waited it out for 2 hrs. Luckily the airline got 3 people to get bumped to other flights and it made room for me to get on. I was so thankful. Especially because I was starting my new job the very next day and I really wanted to be there to do that. I finally made it home at 11:30pm instead of 9pm when my original flight would have gotten there.

Teeth and North Carolina

Teeth are soon going to become my new life. In preparation for starting my new job they asked me to learn the tooth numbers and surfaces. Of course I recruited Cody to help me learn them. He seemed above helping me and mentioned if I had only had more of an interest in helping him study 2 years ago I would already know all this!! After he gave me a 5 minute tutorial he quizzed me on the new information. Then he accused me of guessing at some of the answers! Well EXCUSE me I just learned them!!

Today has been lovely. I leave for North Carolina later this evening so I have had the whole day to get ready, pack, clean, exercise, and even watch a little tv. I love not feeling rushed. I am looking forward to visiting my sister and her family and also my parents who flew in to NC last night. It is going to be fun. Tomorrow we are packing up and heading out to the beach which is about a 3 hr drive. I can't wait to go for a walk on the beach (my dad says he wants to walk 2 hours in one direction..I'm fine with that). And most of all, I am excited to see my little niece Shayla who was born on Halloween last year. Stay tuned for some awesome pictures of the East Coast Beach.

Closing A Chapter

WOW. Where to start. Today I closed a chapter in my life. I have so many mixed feelings and emotions. I didn't think I would cry, but I am almost did. Today I quit my job and said goodbye to many friends. It was bittersweet. Let me take you back to the beginning of this story. Nearly two years ago (June 2009) Cody and I packed up our Uhaul, turned in keys to our apartment, said goodbye to our families, and drove 1200 miles to Oklahoma. While it was exciting to be moving away and being on our own I was scared and a little sad. For me, I new I was going back to Utah and soon because I had plane tickets already booked to go back. I had already worked out an arrangement with my employer in Utah to continue working for them. I would alternate one week working from home in Oklahoma, and then fly back to Utah and work one week in the office (which they agreed to pay for--I was lucky). I flew back and forth for over 3 months. It was hard and it got harder with each flight. I kept thinking how much I wanted to quit my job and be in Oklahoma with my husband. I hated saying goodbye every other Sunday night. Mid October I was finally able to quit and move to Oklahoma...for good. I said goodbye to a lot of friends that day with whom I had worked with for 3 years (some longer).

I wasn't quite sure what I would do in Oklahoma. Cody was busy with school and studying all the time. I didn't have any responsibility for the first time since probably highschool. I thought I was looking forward to doing...well...nothing. I found out that doing nothing was really, really boring. The days seemed to drag by. I casually looked for a job but never came across anything really promising. A friend of mine knew I was looking for a job and gave me the contact information for a lady in her parents ward who could possibly help me with finding a job. She contacted me for an interview and ended up offering me a position at her and her husbands medical practice as a receptionist. I was ecstatic. After 3 weeks of boredom I was thrilled at the prospect of having a reason to get out of bed again! After working a stressful job in Utah, I was looking forward to something lower key and relatively easy I guess you could say.

I met some of the most amazing people at my job. Friends that I will have for life! We worked, laughed, stressed, and joked together. We knew how to have fun and work at the same time. I will miss them terribly. I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to work with these ladies and become friends.

Now a year and half later I chose to quit and take another job. A job I am really excited about. A job that will provide me with invaluable experience as Cody finishes school and we move on with our lives. Tuesday next week I will start working in a Dental practice. Here I hope to learn anything and everything I can so that one day, when we own a practice ourselves, I will have an idea of how to run things. Although that day is nearly 7 years away (2 more school years, 1 yr residency Airforce, 4 years as dentist in Airforce to repay for school), I am sure it will come soon enough.

As a goodbye present my favorite co-workers decided I needed a little surprise for my last day with them. They were pretty darn sneaky. After I got back from lunch I was working like usual. Two of the other girls go to lunch right after I get back. Well they did some fine artwork on my car as displayed in the picture below! Of course I didn't know this yet because I was in working. Well one of the patients came to check in at the clinic and said, so whose car is getting toilet papered out there?? (I was oblivious to this all and didn't hear a thing). They quickly shushed the patient cause they didn't want me to find out. Then about 3pm I get a phone call from a patient who had just left our clinic. She said she couldn't find her prescriptions for her pain pills anywhere, I looked around and couldn't find them either. She suggested that maybe they blew out of her purse. So OF COURSE I run outside to see if I can see any prescriptions flying around. Only to find my trashed car!! We all had a pretty good laugh about it--even though I discovered it earlier than I should have due to the patient thinking her scripts might be blowing around outside!

Ashley and Jana do fine work!

After work I recruited Jana to help me take all the crap off my car so I could drive it home. So I stopped and posed for a picture. The girls were highly creative in this windshield design for the front of my car. I am not going to lie, I was embarrassed driving home!! I had my windows rolled down to hide some of the writing and a guy in a car next to me was starring at my car and smiling. It was weird.

Again I will miss all of my good friends I made, but am looking forward to the future and my new job!

Spring Break

Spring Break was a couple of weeks ago, I meant to post this sooner...but I am just getting around to it now. Instead of staying home all week, we decided to take a small trip with some friends to Branson, Missouri. I must admit, I wasn't really all that excited to go to Branson. After all...my whole life I thought only OLD people went there (and for the most part that is so true)... We left Thursday morning and arrived after about 5 hours.

Cody thought this mobile home(??) on a boat was pretty sweet. He had to have a picture.

We went to the fish hatchery and saw lots and lots and lots of fish. Nothing surprised me more than the fact that Branson has about 1,000 places to mini golf. Seriously they had way too many! But after careful selection (and by careful I mean we drove to at least 3 different courses and scoped them out before selecting the course we wanted to play on) we finally decided on one. Cody was adamant that the course have blue water in the water surrounding the course (that seemed to be a selling point for the more prestigious mini golf courses). We payed $10 bucks each to go into "Hannah's Maze of Mirrors" which was actually really fun. My only complaint was that it was way too short, we were only stuck inside for about 15 minutes before we found our way out. I learned really quickly that I had to walk with my hand out in front of me so I could tell the difference between a real play to walk through or a mirror. On the way home Cody decided it would be awesome to take the scenic route through Arkansas. About 2 hours in we all wondered who had the dumb idea of taking a longer way home!! But we got to stop at this little place a top the Ozarks and have an amazing view. I still don't think it was quite worth the longer drive.

All in all we had a great time with our friends and we were just glad we were able to get out of the house and do a little something fun. We already have plans in the making for a trip down to Broken Bow, Oklahoma to stay in a cabin over Thanksgiving this year!