Weekend in Rexburg

A few weekends back, Preston and I made a quick trip up to Rexburg, ID for the homecoming of Preston's mission president. It was a quick trip, but we sure packed that day and a half that we were there chuck FULL of stuff.

I need to make a quick confession for my husband real quick just so that you are aware. He is extremely addicted to fishing. You know that Brad Paisley song that goes something like, "well I love her....but I love to fish...". Yeah, that's him to a "T". He would drop anything he is doing at any given time to throw a line out into the water. So naturally, when we were left with a little extra time in Rexburg, he immediately thought that the best way to spend that time would be to go fishing. It didn't help that the snake river was right around the corner that I've heard a hundred times is "world class fishing". I rolled my eyes and agreed. I'm not a huge fan of fishing but I do go because I know how much he loves it. I normally sit on the shore and read a book while he does his thing. But this time, I caught the bug and actually wanted to fish. And I caught one! But I can't take all of the credit for it. I do make Preston take it off the hook for me because I am not about to touch a fish! I just can't bring myself to do it. But we had fun and I might have to set my book down more often when we go. :)

We were pleasantly surprised with how beautiful Rexburg was. It really was a cute, quaint little city. Preston would move there in heartbeat to be that close to such an awesome river. I, on the other hand, need more convincing than a nice river to move somewhere. :)

Totally in the zone to try and catch a big one. :)

Not necessarily the big one I had in mind....but hey, we can at least say we caught one! :)

I was a little uneasy the whole time because of all of the birds that kept swarming above our heads. I think we had invaded their territory and they weren't too pleased with that. And now would be a good time to mention I'm not particularly fond of birds either. Not sure why, but they just creep me out. 

Later on in the day we met up with one of Preston's companions and his wife and checked out Bear World. It's a wildlife park that you drive through and the animals can literally walk right up to your car. As you can see, those animals can get pretty darn close to you. We were a little nervous that that buffalo would plow right into the side of our car. 

I can't imagine these animals live a very exciting life. They literally sit around all day long. It was my first time ever seeing an albino elk before though. Isn't it beautiful? 

My favorite part of the day by far is when my husband attempted to milk a deer in the petting zoo. We all got a good laugh about that one. :) The deer was not happy with that one bit. 

Our time in Rexburg was really just way too short. It was fun spending time with Preston's old companion, Steve, and his wife, Taryn. Steve was diagnosed with leukemia during the mission while he and Preston were companions and they have the neatest connection and friendship.It is really fun to see them together and to hear them talk about mission stories.

I loved meeting all of the people I heard about in the letters that Preston would write me. It was fun finally being able to put a face to so many names. Most of all, I loved hearing how great of a missionary Preston was. I already knew that but to hear other people say it just makes me proud. I guess I didn't distract him too much after all :)

I miss blogging so I'm starting up again.

*Me & The Hubby on the 4th of July*

It seems like it's the story of my life that I get really gung-ho (wow-never actually had to spell that before) on something and do it for a good month or so and then completely abandon it for months at a time. It happens with working out, writing in my journal, budgeting, and yes, you guessed it: blogging. I am always so frustrated when I give something up and when I come to the realization that I want to start again, I do it almost instantly.
So this is me starting over, AGAIN. I was just looking back over the past year of blog posts and my posts have been so few and far between that it makes me sad that I have let almost a whole year go by without documenting my life through blogging. Because truly, this acts as a little journal for me. It helps remind me what Preston and I did throughout the year when I have forgotten to actually write down those memories in a journal. (Like I said earlier, my journal is a lot like this blog: spurts of frequent updates and then months with NOTHING.)
We have been crazy busy this summer and I can't believe it is just about over. It has been a weird year being done with school and being totally immersed in the working world. Everything just kind of blends together and time flies by right before my eyes. It makes me sad but I am DETERMINED to make the most of every day. So stay tuned and I promise I will be back. Mostly just for my sake and for anyone else interested in our silly life. :)

it's been a while....

I don't even know how to make up for everything that has been going on in our life for the past 6 months, so I will just do some highlights.

We gained a new nephew, Mark, the end of November. He is Preston's older sister's little boy and he is such a sweetheart!

We had a wonderful Christmas and did the traditional visit to temple square and had lots of fun visitors come and stay with us throughout the month of December.

We spent Christmas Eve & Christmas Day in Moab with both of our families. It was a short, quick trip but we were very grateful to be there, even though it was only for a short time.

After Christmas it was straight back to work. Preston kept teaching snowboarding lessons up at Sundance and doing his best not to get hurt..... (he's a little accident prone). Clearly he wasn't successful.

As for myself, I've kept busy working at the GateHouse and doing some design on the side. I have been EXTREMELY busy but it really has been great. I absolutely love what I do.

Towards the end of January, I had a girl's trip to Vegas with two of my sisters and my Mom. We had a blast but we sure missed Miss Emily! :) While we were there we went to the Vegas Furniture Market. It was heaven! I absolutely loved it. If only I could convince Preston that we need all new furniture now....haha

Some of my design faves from the show: 

LOVE LOVE LOVE these poufs!!!!

I absolutely NEED a rug like this under my kitchen table. It's a must.

Sisters at Serendipity sharing a GIGANTIC frozen hot chocolate.

And this is my dream sofa. I realize it's white and I'm crazy for even considering putting that in my home but I absolutely love it! I'm saving my pennies for that beauty. :)

This post is "to be continued". It's late and I'm getting drowsy. Not a good combination for me! I promise I'll really be back soon this time!

Our Newest Addition

Welcome to the family Miss Milly! 

We love this little pup so much! She is the spunkiest but sweetest thing I have ever seen. Now, if we can just kick her biting habit she'll be perfect! :) 

Exhaustion.

Yes, its a miracle, I am updating the blog. Bet'cha thought that I had quit, huh? Well I pretty much have. Not by choice but its just the way it has to be for now. Blog posts will probably be few and far between for awhile. (For those of you who may actually be interested in what we are up to haha)

The reason for the lack of blogging is because I now work full time as a designer at the Gatehouse! I absolutely love my job! It really is my dream job and I am having an absolute blast! But man is it tiring working this many hours a week! My days consist of wake up, exercise(on occasion), go to work at 9am, get off around 7pm, come home, eat, sleep, repeat. I now know what its like to be an adult! haha.

Preston also is living the dream just a little bit. :) He is a snowboard instructor up at Sundance! He honestly can not think of a better way to make some extra money while going to school. He is absolutely loving it.

We are also busy trying to get everything ready for Christmas so maybe if you're real lucky we'll update you more on the fun things we've been up to lately. But don't hold your breath, I can't make any promises! :)

A piece of me.

Lately I have really been thinking about my life and why I am the way I am.  A lot of who I am today comes from having Emily as my little sister for the past 18 years of my life. I remember being very young when I first realized that my only little sister was not going to "be like everybody else". I hesitate to even use the phrase "be like everybody else" because I think what the world defines as "normal" and "acceptable" is distorted and wrong, but at a young age that was the phrase that came to my mind. I must have been only about seven or eight years old when I realized Emily had a disability. I remember being worried if she and I would ever be able to do things together like most sisters do. Would we hang out when we were teenagers? Do each others hair? Go shopping and help each other pick out clothes? Would we talk for hours on end late into the night? So many things went through my mind and I remember at that moment in my life being so worried what life would be like with her as my little sister.

But for those of you that know Emily and I, know that she and I have spent a lot of time together over the years. Thinking that we wouldn't be able to do sisterly things together was the silliest thing I ever could have imagined! We talk every single day, without fail. And if we happen to miss a day, which happens from time to time, you would think that her world would have ended. Isn't it hard to have her demanding so much of your time? What is she going to do once you get married? People have asked me those questions a few times and to be completely honest, no. Sometimes I'm busier than other times and can't talk for as long as she would like to but besides family, Emily doesn't have friends that call her and talk to her throughout the day. So when people question if it is hard for me to do each day, I can't help but feel my heart breaking for them. If we are only focusing on ourselves, we are missing out on doing so much good in the lives of others. For me, it's easy. Emily enjoys talking to me and I in turn enjoy talking to her and learn so much from her. She reminds me to find joy in simplicity. She teaches me to set goals and try hard to achieve the unimaginable. She encourages me to be outgoing with her confident, energetic and happy lifestyle. (If only I could be brave enough to bust a move in front of so many strangers at Five Guys or yell that loud at a BYU football game. haha) She has blessed my life in more ways than I can even begin to count.

And as for "what is she going to do once you get married?", that was a big adjustment for all of us. It definitely took some trial and error and adjusting. But lucky for me, I have THE BEST husband around. We just spent UEA weekend with Emily and he literally hung out with her more than I did. Every night while I was at work, they were playing - shopping, volleyball, cooking, you name it! He is honestly the best, hands down. I love him more than anything in this whole wide world!

Yes, at times having a sister like I do can be hard. But more often than not, it is so easy. She reminds me to be sensitive to the needs of others and not to judge others harshly. Emily has influenced so much of who I have become. One of my biggest desires is to have Emily bless other people's lives like she has blessed mine and my families. I am eternally grateful to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with Emily as my sister.

The Tiger.

Oh my husband, he is quite the little prankster. This past weekend I went to a flea market and some yard sales with some friends and Preston stayed home. Well, while I was gone Preston decided to do some yard sale hunting of his own. That is where he found that lovely Tiger you see up above. And fyi - I am not into Tigers or any other sort of animal for that matter hanging on my walls. Some people might be but its just not my thing. Not to mention that this Tiger looks like it belongs in Las Vegas or in Hugh Hefner's bedroom. haha. 

Anyways, when I got home, I mentioned to Preston that I just wasn't feeling well and he suggested that I go lay down on the bed. I didn't think too much of it except for "wow, he sure is being compassionate". lol. So I go into our bedroom and the first thing I notice is not the gargantuous new addition to our bedroom wall but the fact that Preston had made the bed so well. I proceeded to lay down on the bed and make a phone call while I rested. While I am laying there talking on the phone, Preston comes in with the camera and tells me how cute I look laying there on the bed and then he takes my picture. Again, I don't think much of it and think he is just being sweet. A little odd, but sweet. :) Ten minutes goes by and I decide to go see if I really looked as "cute" as he says. I can't imagine I looked that cute laying down but just wanted to check and see. haha. (I still haven't seen the Tiger by this point) 

I turn on the camera and see this picture. I look at it, think to myself: "I don't look cute at all! That's a terrible picture!", and then click to look at other pictures he has taken recently. And that's when I see the close up of the tiger painting. All I could think is, "what the heck is that??" "when did he take that picture?!?". Then I scroll back to the picture of me on the bed and cannot believe I did not even notice the Tiger hanging above my head!! All I could do was bust up laughing! Preston thought he was going to get this huge reaction out of me when I got home and it seriously took me forever to even see it! Haha I am so oblivious. He found it at a yard sale and just thought it would be the funniest thing to get to hang above our bed as a joke. We had been talking about getting something to hang above our bed, but that isn't exactly what I had in mind. I'm thinking I could keep the frame and paint it a cute color but as far as the Tiger painting goes, it's gotta go. Any animal lovers out there?? I have a Tiger here with your name written all over it. :-)