anniversary photo shoot

I just received my anniversary pictures from one of the most talented photographers I know.
Bre'an. Creator of the blog, ST8 OF MIND
The pictures turned out absolutely beautiful.

summer goals

Summer feels like it's already almost over and I've hardly accomplished anything! 

As a newly hired teacher, most of my summer will be spent getting my classroom together.

HOWEVER, there are still a bunch of things I want to start/do/finish. When it comes to goals, I'm much better at reaching them if I write them down. So here I go.

Here are the things that I am hoping to accomplish before August rolls around:

• Paint my classroom (pictures soon to come)
• Start writing the story of my Grandma and have at least most of it written down
• Run Ragnar
• Finish Scrapbooking 2012
• Finish the t-shirt quilt that I started back in 2011 (I will pay someone if I have to!)
• Find a 2-bedroom apartment in Orem
• Move into a 2-bedroom apartment in Orem
• Write a blog post consisting my testimony 
• Start & finish scrapbooking 2013
• Read Man's Search for Meaning
• Do a sprint triathlon
• Finish putting my classroom together and have the first week planned. 
• Buy a new car?

July is going to be a busy month but it's okay because I've learned that I prefer my life when it's busy. :)

day six and more. susanville with ammon's family.

Friday morning we woke up early, packed our bags and left for Susanville, California. 

After 30 minutes of driving, Ammon realized that he didn't have his phone!

So we turned around and went back to the hotel, waited in line to get our room keys, then searched the room high and low. After calling his phone with my phone, we finally found it hiding under the bed covers. 

Whew! We were so glad that turning around was worth it.

After checking one last time to make sure we had all the essentials, we left for Susanville one more time. Ammon drove the first 5 hours and I drove the last 5 hours. We only stopped for gas in between.

To kill time we listened to music, recorded ourselves singing along with 80s music, and played the alphabet game twice.

Only 7 more hours!

After what seemed like forever, we finally arrived in Susanville. 

Spending time with Ammon's family for a week was the highlight of our trip! I always love spending time with them. We played lots of games, watched home videos, ate really good food, and enjoyed the outdoors.

This is Ninja Evelyn. The whole week I was there, she loved being a ninja!

This trip was especially memorable because I finally went backpacking for the first time! 

Ammon loading up his pack

Emmalee with her slingshot.

All ready to go.

Scooby!!

The group minus dad (who took the picture)

Resting for a little

Setting up camp

Our little tent.

A lake and a campfire! My two favorite camping amenities.

Ammon trying to catch a fish.

Mom and Emmalee

I thoroughly enjoyed my first backpacking trip. It was rewarding and fun. It was really hard leaving Susanville-it always is. We left Thursday morning and then Ammon drove home the whole day. The only stops we made were to get gas.

To kill time we listened to Tennis shoes Among the Nephites-The feathered Serpent on CD.

Nephi was zonked out in the back of the car most of the way home.

We're back! 

The Salt Flats

Our disgusting bug collection!

Our trip ended with a beautiful sunset. 

The next day Ammon and I both worked which was probably good because it made adjusting to real life a lot easier. I substitute taught at Reagan Academy which is the school I will be teaching at come August. It was the last day of school so the kids were a little crazy-but nothing I couldn't handle. :)

day five. a little bit of everything.

For our last day in Anaheim, we did a little bit of everything.

We began the morning with California Adventure.

This is me, decked out in Disney souvenirs.

Disney shirt. Disney lanyard. Disney buttons.

We got there early so we could get in line for the Cars ride. There was a huge crowd!

This following pictures is a picture of us AT THE VERY FRONT of the line behind the escorts that take you to the ride. (Pretty crazy that they need those!)

But then it turned out that the ride was closed! 

So instead we went on Soarin again.

And then after that we noticed that the Cars ride was open again! So we waited in line for Fastpasses. 

Then we hopped over to Disneyland where we went on the Buzz Lightyear ride.

This time, Ammon dominated.

Then Space Mountain for the third time. Ammon's face CRACKS me up every time!!

We finally stopped to meet Goofy. He was my favorite! He pointed to each of our buttons and clapped for us.

THEN, goofy FARTED as we were getting our picture taken. That's why we're really smiling in this one:

haha! Makes me wonder who is really behind that costume. 

Then back to California Adventure to ride the Cars ride one last time.

Army Men!!

Then we went on Space Mountain one last time. We tried to do the kissy thing that some couples do, but we bonked our heads in the process. So instead, we hurried and grabbed hands and shouted for joy.

The couple behind us had the same idea. 

At about 3ish, we left Disneyland and headed for the beach. 

The weather was cloudy when we got there, but we were crossing our fingers because it was supposed to get sunny around four.

MAN they are good! As soon as it turned four, the clouds rolled away and we had straight sun for a couple hours.

Yay sun!

Our seashell collection

After the beach, we went to California Adventure one last time.

The only thing we brought with us was our wallets and our ponchos.

We were planning on buying a funnel cake and then watching World of Color on the front row.

Well... it turns out that they don't have funnel cakes anymore. :(

And... we didn't get there in time to snag the front row.

So instead we went to Ghiradelli square and got a delicious cookie dough sundae that we couldn't finish. 

Then we walked the empty park and stopped to watch World of Color from the back.

We danced during the love songs and then took the long way home.

Sometimes the best memories are made by avoiding the crowds and taking the path less traveled on.

Goodbye So Cal.

Until next time. Maybe when Ammon graduates and we have a little tike with us. :)