Well, Hello Stranger =]

Almost 2 months have gone by since my last post, oh dear!! Okay, so then I guess it's time for me to catch up! The summer is now gone and books and school bells are back in session.


We finished up summer with a great trip to California. We spent 8 days (2 of those were traveling days) with Brandon's mom. It was amazing! We had SO much fun and the weather was beautiful. We love getting to see a bunch of friends, especially Amy and her beautiful family! This was the best trip. It was so hard to leave and say goodbye but we know that we will be back (Christmas here we come!!)
We spent our time...

Playing on the freeway =]

It was a LONG car ride!

Playing with Max (and Shadow, Daisy and Shady too!)

Watching my first Major League Baseball game! The Angels won!

Boogie Boarding at the beach.

Practicing a little golf.

Riding bikes on the beach.

More time in the sun at the beach. 

Brandon is still working for the National Guard. Lot's of his weekends are taken up with recruiting events. And he always has lots of stories when he gets home from work. He is hoping to get another MOS (A specialty in the military, like his Medic status) sometime this winter and Is already set to go to a 2 week leadership school next March.


I am back up in Logan finishing up my schooling. I have one more semester on USU's campus and then I will be student teaching in the Alpine school district. This semester will be pretty easy, most of my classes are the general classes that I put off until now! I have 3 music classes, so hopefully, maybe I'll come out of this semester a little less tune def!


It's not to fun to be living 2 hours apart but I know that we'll make it and in December when we are living together again, life will be that much sweeter! We are strong and can make it through whatever life throws our way.


"Fear not, for I am with you. I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." -Isaiah 41:10

What a way to start July!

I sit here, on the couch in a VERY quiet house thinking to myself how lucky I am. I've been replaying the events of the last couple of weeks. Both myself and Brandon have been blessed to be working at great jobs. They might be frustrating at times, we both might think that it's not worth it, but honestly those times are pretty few compared to what our jobs give us. They give us peace of mind and the ability to save for our future. We also are so very fortunate to be surrounded by friends and family. It is so great to be around loved ones and get to share in their triumphs and downs. I've found that family and close friends are what make life so enjoyable! But honestly I'm most lucky to have married my best friend, and to know that I will be with him forever. I love Brandon so much, sometimes I can't believe that I was so blessed to have a soul mate this good. He works so hard for us, to make sure that we don't have to stress about how to pay the bills. He alway can make me laugh, even after coming home from a tough day at work knowing he has to be up at 4am the next morning for another long day. His love for me never falters and I know that we will be together forever. I can't wait to grow our family together!


So, we've been busy... like always! The first part of this month has been a whirlwind of events. We had a great 4th of July weekend. We had BBQ's with the family and lit off fireworks (Brandon's FAVORITE part!).

I made Red White and Blue cupcakes! They were delicious!

 We celebrated the 4th with Lindsay and Michael Ryan and of course their brand new bundle of joy Braden. (He's seriously the cutest little boys EVER!)

Our new little nephew Braden Michael Ryan <3

The next weekend we got to celebrate with my sister and my new brother-in-law. They got married on July 9, 2011. Really though, Akilah was already apart of the family. In my mind the only thing that REALLY changed was Holly's last name (its now Lacey). The wedding was beautiful and went so smoothly. Holly is a champ at party planning! We had tons of fun. It stunk that Brandon had to work late friday night and early Saturday morning so he had lots of late night driving and didn't get to hang out with the family much. I was a failure and didn't get good pictures but I can't wait to see the pictures from the photographer!

My bridal shower present to Holly

Brandon and I after the wedding (sorry its a little blurry!)

This last week has been much of a get back into the swing of things week. The reds are as crazy as ever and Brandon's work is full of up and downs too! I keep telling myself I need to update this more often, but life ALWAY has a way of getting in the way =] I'm leaving you with a couple lines from one of my new favorite songs. (I wouldn't mind being this kinda lady)


"He loves his wife and she’s that wife that decorates on the Fourth of July. But says every day's Independence Day. She's golden rule, teaches school, some folks say it isn't cool but she says the Pledge of Allegiance anyway."


-Toby Keith, Made in America

sweet summer time

I am completely in LOVE with summer, and it's in full swing here.

My nanny job is a tough one. The "reds" like to push the limits and it has been very interesting trying to set up a discipline system with a 7 and 8 year old! The girls are SO sweet but do not like to hear no! It is going to be an interesting rest of the summer and I'm sure everyday will be a new learning experience!

Brandon just started a job in recruiting with the National Guard on Wednesday. So far he's enjoyed getting back to work. I'm sure that (like with any job) there will be highs and lows but I know that there will be lots of fun times ahead for him.

We got a long weekend last weekend and had the opportunity to spend it with my parents in Lake Powell for a couple of days. We had SO much fun. I loved getting to show Brandon some of my favorite things since this was his first time ever.

Brandon flying the air chair

Trying to jump on the Air Chair

Mom wakeboarding

Boogie Boarding

Brandon skiing for the first time. 

Learning how to drop a ski his second time up

Brandon Slaloming  for the first time!

The end of Cathedral Canyon

It was a short trip but we packed a lot of fun into it! We got Brandon up on ski's for his first time. Sometimes it makes me sick how stinkin good he is at EVERYTHING! He got up on his first try and by the second time up, we had him dropping a ski to ride slalom. The next day he tried and got up on one ski. (Something that took me a whole summer to perfect!) I hope that our children get these amazing genes from him one day!! We saw Rainbow Bridge, and explored some really cool canyons. The best one we went through was Cathedral Canyon. The walls got so narrow that the boat barley squeezed through even though the depth was still 70 feet. The red rock in contrast with the warm green/blue water and the bright blue sky never  ceases to amaze me. This is honestly my favorite place on earth.

The rest of the summer has been filled with hanging out with friends and family. It's been a really relaxed summer and that's exactly how i like it!

Update on this crazy thing we like to call life!

Well....It's official. I stink at keeping our blog up-to-date! I was hoping that come summer, our lives would settle down and I'd get more time to do the things I've been wanting to do for a while... like gardening, blogging, getting more crafty, reading more than a book a month, just relaxing! I've kind of done all of those things but as I look back at the last two week I'm blown away at what's been going on!

I finished my finals week with flying colors! I aced my Praxis II test getting a 187/200, scoring above average in all but one section of the test. I aced my math final and my science final and came out with on top of this semester. All in all it was a very successful week! On Thursday after my math final we finished packing and cleaning up the house and moved down to Cedar Hills to live with Brandon's sister Jullienne for the summer. It will be so nice to be around family all summer and I know that there will never be a dull moment in this house!

For Easter, Brandon's mom gave us some tiny little pots for growing dwarf flowers. I was ECSTATIC! They were SO cute and such a good idea since we don't have a spot yet to have a real garden. (Notice how I said yet). As soon as we got moved in Brandon and I got the seeds planted and put out on the balcony. I haven't taken a picture yet but you better bet that as soon as they sprout you'll get to see! The last two days hasn't been good for the flowers, we've been getting freezing rain and I'm  praying they can survive all this moisture and when the sun comes out they will sprout.

This year for Mother's Day we decided to make some wreaths. We (all the kids) gave my mom a wreath with orange, yellow, red, and white flowers that I made out of fabric. Brandon and I gave his mom and mammaw wreaths that were made out of a pair of Brandon's ACU pants that he wore while in Basic Training and AIT (medic training). They all turned out SO cute and I love them. I can't wait to get the go ahead to make a wreath for us (well, and a door to hang it on!). [pictures are on the previous post!]

The past two weeks of being at Jullienne's house have been great! We've gotten to spend TONS of time with family and have gotten to hang out with friends too. It has been SO much fun. I know Brandon enjoy's being close with his siblings and cousins and I love it too! I think I've actually been getting an ab work out from laughing at Brandon and Troy (his brother).

This week I got hired for a nanny position for two little girls. They are DOLLS! They are very close in age and have beautiful red hair. They are honestly the most well behaved little girls I've ever met! When I ask if they will clean up their room they jump on it with out a sigh or grumble at all!

This summer is going to be the best!

Mother's Day Wreaths!

My mom's Mother's Day Wreath

Mammaw's Mother's Day Wreath

Rhonda's Mother's Day Wreath

Whats new with you?!

It's been a whirlwind this past 5 weeks. I can't believe that Brandon's already been home 5 weeks! It's amazing how quickly we were able to get back into a routine together. So what's been happening?

Nothing and everything! I've been crazy busy with the end of the semester nearing (only finals week is left! YAY!) and we have been trying to plan out our life. Brandon is preparing to go back to school at UVU this summer. We are moving to Cedar Hills for the summer. It will be interesting to see what's in store for our summer and beyond. Nothing is perfectly in place but I'm starting to be okay (well more okay) with that because that is how the Army works! 

It's not much, just a little update into our crazy lives!

oh happy happy day

Waking up next to your best friend in the entire world. There is no better feeling, especially after sleeping alone for the last 51/2 months. Yesterday was a roller coaster of emotion. I hate waiting, I'm not a very patient person so waiting all morning was almost so much to handle!

Brandon's mom and I tried to fill it as best we could, stretching out breakfast and walking around the Gateway mall. But there was good news! Brandon called about 12:30ish to let us know he was boarding the plane and would get home about 45 min. earlier than planned. I rushed and called everyone who was coming and let them know to get to our meeting spot asap! We all met up and made the short drive to the hanger where they would be flying into. My butterflies were going nuts! I was so nervous/excited. Finally, after what seemed like HOURS (which in reality was only about 30 min!) the plane landed. They passed, circled around and rolled through the water from the fire trucks to a stop right in front of where we were standing. The door opened and it felt like my stomach was in my throat! Brandon was about the 5th person off the plane. I was shaking I was SO excited! As he shook all of the important peoples hands I fought and squeezed my way to the front of the crowd and ran out to him. Being in his arms again was the most amazing feeling in the world. Words will never be able to explain what I felt. It was like falling in love all over again in those moments. All of that waiting, the tears and the fears all disappeared. Nothing that happened in those 5 long months mattered. All that mattered was that he was home safe and sound and I didn't have to let him go again. I get all teary eyed thinking about it! For most of the night it was almost not real. I keep thinking that I'm going to have to say goodbye again. I don't think it will be totally real until I get to bring him home for good!  All I can say is that it is the BEST feeling I've ever felt. My hero is finally home. 

This will be the last post for a while. I just want to enjoy my husband as much as I can!

Thank you for all of your continued support. It means more than you know!