There's no place like HOME!

I can't believe that it's been so long since I've posted. My sister keeps on telling me that I have to update my blog cuz she's sick of seeing the "Dangers of Fishing". I've been so busy and feel like I've been in another world for awhile. It took me like several hours to get caught up on everyone's life as well :)
So, Em and I left for Florida a week and a half ago and had so much fun there! We had an interesting time traveling with some really different people on our flights. At one point Emily was crying. It was so funny! (that could be a post in itself :) While we were in Florida we basically just hung out, made dinner, cleaned the apartment, did laundry, and were there when Andrew and Trent got home. It was awesome! Em and I did try to run a couple of times, but it was not a good experience. They have a walking path that goes around all of the apartments with a big, huge pond in the middle and we figured one lap around is like a half a mile. It's big! So we were running and we felt like there was a warm, annoying humidifier following us the whole way. It was so HOT and this was at like 9:00 at night. We got into the apartment and I don't know what I swallowed, ran into, or breathed in, but my throat started swelling up on one side. It was so weird. So we had to go to Walgreens and get some allergy medicine. That did the trick, but I thought I was going to die :)
The next time I went running it was raining all day so I thought it would be nice, yeah the weather was nice, but not the scenery. I was making my way along the path and after 2 laps I happened upon a stupid, sneaky, black, snake! I am deathly afraid of snakes and so after that experience Em and I decided that we weren't supposed to work out. We had so much fun there minus the near death experiences that I had :) I get to go back in a couple more weeks and I can't wait! Here's some pictures of some of the fun we had.

We went to a cool miniature golf place

We carved our initials into the little hut there

We went to this little ice cream joint after

and this was painted on the outside

-notice Andrew's cheesy grin. I love it!-

Us at the beach. . .

. . . Andrew after. He's too cool for sunscreen!

Right after my trip I came home and went straight to playing mom. This family that I know asked me to watch their boys while they went out of town for 10 days. I've done it before and they're really good kids so it's not as bad as it sounds. However, it really wakes me up every time I do it to what it's going to be like when I finally have a family. I really appreciate the time I have to do what I want and when I want. It's been nice to be home for a little bit, but I'm getting ready again to go back to hot, humid, Florida and see my cute Andrew!

The dangers of fishing!

It's never good when I get a text from Andrew saying "call me as soon as you can I'm on my way to the hospital." That's what happened this morning. Andrew has been going fishing early in the morning before work and today he and Trent went out to the spot that he'd been going to. He's caught some really crazy fish. Like a blow fish that actually blew up when he was reeling it in and the other fish he's been catching is a lot of catfish. I don't know that much about catfish, but at least the ones in Florida have a really sharp spine. A couple days ago he caught one and got cut on his finger from the spine. I kept on telling him not to go because he's not a "seasoned fisherman" there and he didn't know all the different kinds that you can catch, but he asked his "fellow fisherman" that were there if their spines were poisonous and they said no. Well not even the outdoor channel could prepare him for today unfortunately.

He reeled a catfish in and while he was taking it off the hook it flipped or something and it's spine landed on Andrew's ankle. He said that it was the worst pain that he's ever been in and Andrew has had some pretty good accidents before (a lot just in the 4 years I've known him :) He said that the spine went into his foot about an inch. Trent tried to pull it out but it didn't budge. Trent gets really queasy around blood and stuff like that so it makes me laugh thinking about those two together. So Andrew ended up just prying it out bit by bit.

They went to the community care type of place and he got all fixed up. We should know better, but Andrew didn't have his insurance card out there so I had to fax it to the place. Later on I faxed him another copy to his office for the prescription that he has to get so he wont get an infection . On the cover sheet I wrote a note saying that "this should have been the first thing we packed." He agreed. He's doing good and I'm glad that Trent was there or he wouldn't have been able to drive because he said that he thought he was going to throw up because of the pain. I hope now after this little experience Andrew wont get mad at me for freaking out when he picks up a snake by the tail that he knows is poisonous. . . and yes he's already done that too. Gotta love him!

What we'll do on a Saturday night

Emily and I have been trying to keep busy. After working all day we cleaned our houses (you'd think one person living there it wouldn't get messy, but it does) and then went grocery shopping. It was fun going together because we usually eat together anyways so we kind of combined our stuff and had ideas for each other. I love going shopping with Andrew, however it was good going with someone else besides someone that lives with you, cuz Em had tried different things and told me if they were good or not and vice versa. I think we were fairly productive. On our way home at like 10:00 or something I had said to Emily just in passing, not really meaning it too much, that it would be fun to go on a run. Since the weather was SO nice still! She laughed and said that she was thinking the same thing.

For those of you that don't know Em and I live directly across from each other. This is Em's view from her house. . .

My house

This is my view from my house. . . pretty close. It's fun living so close too because I had to borrow some mayo from Em today and I took this picture while I was over there. She was at church :) She had to borrow some powdered sugar from me this morning too and she just happen to time it just right because I was making breakfast and so we ate pancakes together.

Em's house

So anyways, we unloaded our groceries and then started running from our street to my parent's house that's just under 2 miles there and back. Not that far, but it was still so much fun! One reason being that it was one of the nicest nights that we've had so far. Since it was dark outside I found this glow stick that had been Andrew's from high school (GO GRIZZLIES ;) that he had made me save. He's a little bit of a pack rat, but I am thankful that we kept this. It came in handy so we didn't get hit by a car. I bet it looked funny seeing this floating glow stick bouncing around.

We kinda wish we would have taken this picture before we got the wild hair to go running, but we had to take it sweaty or not with our handy, life-saving, glow stick :)

The Journey!

I haven't written a post for awhile it seems like since Andrew left, but I guess it's only been a week. I really thought that I'd be on here like every waking minute of my day blogging about eating breakfast in the morning to brushing my teeth at night and everything in between. Not the case, however, with Andrew being gone it's really thrown my routine for a loop.

I did want to write about Andrew and Trent making it to Florida and their ups and downs. They headed out that Wednesday the 6th (not a fun day!) and got to Cheyenne so around 600 miles. Andrew sent me this picture along the way and this is what he said with it. It's pretty cute. "Here is a picture of a rainbow right by the road. We could see the bottom even. There wasn't any gold that we could tell." They stopped around 12 and slept in their cars and got up around 5 and started up again. That time they traveled around 1100 miles. Slept in their car once again and then finished the last leg of the race another 1100 miles or so. It was insane! It was weird that I went to work 3 days before they got there. They did have a lot of fun. Andrew took walkie talkies and when he handed it to Trent I guess the first thing Trent said was "Andrew, you're Foxtrot and I'm Whiskie River!" I died laughing when I heard that. Any time that I'd call him all of the sudden you'd here Trent talking in their code names. Another thing Andrew did was every time he got to a new state he'd text me and say "Welcome to Missouri, Welcome to Georgia." or whatever state he drove through. I felt like I was driving with him. . . yeah right.
They finally got there and had to start work the next day that Saturday. Sunday they had to check out the beach and make Emily and I totally jealous!


They found a live sand dollar and then chased a baby sting ray down the beach and was playing with it and picking it up. Yeah I didn't have flashes of Steve Irwin or anything. Andrew reassured me that the stinger was less than 2 inches and it wouldn't sing them. . . right. They've only been to the beach once since they got there and they're excited to go back.

Andrew has had some slight technical difficulties with his car Tilda. She made it to Florida, but it wasn't easy on her. When he woke up Monday, I think it was, she had a flat tire. She was pooped! Andrew put "new" tires on her. He found a discount tire place and got them put on. Then the very next day it had another flat. I think she was trying to tell him something :) But she's doing really good now. It was so funny Andrew compared Tilda to a 12 year old Husky dog trying to run the Ididorod (I have no idea how to spell that!) She's getting old and we're glad she made it there.
Em and I sure do miss these guys but they're going to have so much fun! They keep on telling us that when we come out to visit (2 weeks from today!) we're going to love it. We're excited!

This is by far the worst day of the summer!

This is another Andrew post, so once again, it won't be fancy. But I just wanted to share what I am feeling right now. I just told Steph good bye before I leave. She had to go to work before I am actually leaving town. I hate her work... But that's another blog. Anyway, I think this may have been the hardest goodbye yet. For a minute after she left I was asking myself why is it harder this year. We have done this before. Last year was hard but I figured things would get easier. Well, they haven't. They have only got harder. But it didn't take me too long to put my finger on exactly why it is worse this year. It is because I love Stephanie even more now than I did a year ago. It is really amazing how that happens. How it is even possible. I never knew I was capable of loving someone so much. If I didn't love her so much, it would make make things so much easier. I could leave for the summer and never look back until it was time to go home. But I would never trade the love and friendship that we share for anything!
Steph, if you are reading this, I want you to know I love you and the next three weeks will go so fast, we won't even believe it. Then guess what? You will be lounging on the beaches of Florida with your husbee!
I love you. Take care
Andrew

Already missing you!!

Hello my lovin heart! This is Andrew! This is my very first blog so I may not be able to make it very cute and pretty but I just wanted to write a real quick note to Steph before a take off on my 4 month journey.
Steph, you are the love of my life! You have been so very supportive of the things that I have wanted to do. You have been so patient as I have been going through school. School is taking me at least twice as long as it should. I am really sorry for that. If I could have ever made up my mind earlier about what I wanted to do with my life, that would have helped. Thanks for being patient and always encouraging me forward.
Thank you for being my best friend in the whole world! We have done some very fun things in the short almost 4 years that we have known each other. I cannot imagine doing all those things with anyone else. It just wouldn’t be the same. Just thinking about you puts a great big smile on my face! I love spending time with you. We always laugh so much and find ourselves doing some crazy things. But you know what? Nothing seems that crazy while we are doing them together. To make the memories that we have, I would do about anything. The memories we have made are priceless! I am so excited to make many more memories with you!
Steph, to some people, 4 months seems to be a long time. And indeed it is. But we have experienced this before and we know the good that comes out of summers like this one. When we get to see each other during the summer, it is the happiest time of my whole life! I just want you to know that I love you more than anything in the whole world! I am so lucky to have you as my beautiful wife! You are the most beautiful woman in the whole world! I don’t deserve to have someone as great as you! I don’t know how I got so lucky. I love you! I will never stop loving you. You will be my love heart for ever and ever, and that still won’t be enough. I will be looking forward, every second of the day, to the time that I get to see you again. I will always be thinking about you! Have a good summer honey! I will see you very soon. I love your heart, might, mind, strength, spirit, and soul!

A handful of "lasts". . .

We had a very busy weekend! The reason why it was so busy is because it was Andrew's last weekend here for awhile (awhile meaning 4 months :( For those of you that don't know Andrew is going to be living in Florida for the summer. He is going to be installing security systems for APX again. So once again I will be a widow for awhile. I forget every time that he does this how hard it actually is for me when he leaves. My brother, Trent, is going to be going with him too and they will be living together. It will be really fun for them and Emily, his wife, and I are a little worried that they will have too much fun. Emily and I have been having a really hard time this passed week or so with what we call "break downs." We'll be driving or sitting there or doing nothing at all and just start crying. It has not been fun, but I just have to remember that it's the very hardest when he leaves and then after that I get over it and just try to stay busy.

Our weekend started with going to the temple on Friday. We went with my family (minus Kinz. She feels left out, but we were thinking of her :). It was really nice having everyone there together. We had ice cream afterwards. I think those two go together. Saturday after work we had a dinner with Andrew's family. It was really good. We kinda just sat around and talked and after awhile we were headed to our next get together. It was at Andrew's uncle Chad's house. We love to get together and play a group game called Curse of the Wolfen. I'm not even going to explain it because it sounds so retarded but it is so much fun and we are pretty much addicted to it.

On Sunday we went to a baby blessing. My cousins Kassie and Jeremy blessed their little baby Hope. Of course there was food involved as well. We ate and sat around. My mom said that we all looked like a pride of lions laying around. It's very true. In our down time we went over to my brother Trent's house and watched Marley and Me. It was pretty much a tear jerker and even Andrew got teary eyed, but he wont admit that to anyone. I think it gave me an excuse just to cry.

Then to round out our night we headed up to Andrew's brother Jarom's house to watch the Amazing Race. We don't have cable so whoever lets us come over and watch our shows we do it. We are addicted to the Amazing Race and even considered trying out for it when there was try outs in Idaho Falls, but we got some reasoning and decided against it.

Our weekend was really busy and I think we pretty much did as much as we could fit in one weekend. I guess you could say that Andrew filled his canteen :) I keep on saying that I feel like I'm sending him out on a mission or that he has only so much time to live. It's really bad. I would really hate to be in that situation for real.

I didn't take any pictures of our events but we did take a picture of an event that was pretty special. Andrew made this cake all by himself (with a little tutoring over the phone). It was really good and I'm really proud of him. That's what's great about Andrew, he tries things that maybe he's not that comfortable with doing. He is the best husband and I couldn't have asked for anyone better. I love him and I'm going to miss him really bad and I won't get used to him being gone. However, what we do like about this experience is that it strengthens our relationship and we realize how much we do for one another. If strengthening our realtionship is all we take away from this experience then it's worth it!

We're official

We finished our phlebotomy class and we can suck, or the correct term would be to "draw" blood from people. Andrew is so cute, after we took our last final and got our certificates he was like "now you'll have to blog about this." I totally didn't think about it so I'm glad that he's there to keep everyone informed on here through me. He will be making some guest appearance on here in the near future too. He wants me to teach him how to blog so he can write his own little posts as well. So I'll be looking forward to that.

Dinner at 2:00 a.m.!

The other night Andrew had to work nights at the hospital so he had the grand idea of asking me to come up and have dinner with him. The downside was that he usually takes his breaks at 2 in the morning. So I thought that it'd be fun and I agreed. I was going to just make something and bring it up for him but some sense came to me and I really didn't want to make anything that early in the morning. The alternative. . . Dennys. They're the only insane joint that stays open all night. I ordered my food ahead of time and then went and picked it up. It was so crazy in there! I couldn't believe that many people that were up let alone eating at that time of night. I said to the girl at the register how crazy it was and she replied this is what we call slow. I was blown away. There's all kinds of people in there from all walks of life to put it nicely. Some people even had infants with them. It was different. Anyway, I headed up to the hospital and I had to go in the emergency entrance and by the time I got to the right elevators in the dang hospital it was after two. It was kind of an ordeal. I thought I was going to be permanently lost in the hospital. Then me and Andrew ate in a waiting room that was obviously not occupied at that time in the morning and had an out of the ordinary dinner. The food was really gross, but I'm glad that I went up and I hope that it helped him get through the rest of his shift. It was a good memory!



This is very staged but very true! :)

Not just any easter egg hunt!

We had a lot of fun this year at Easter! First, we went to church and that is one of my favorite Sundays because of all of the cute outfits all of the kids wear. Andrew and I are in primary so we get to see them all. After church we went over to my Aunt Kay's and Uncle Kurt's house to have dinner and do the big "hunt". Every year my mom and her sisters do something different with the event. We usually have it at different places and have to do different things while hunting. Like last year we did it in the church gym and so it was a little easier finding the eggs. . . or so we thought it would. So they made us all crawl on our knees with the lights out and every so often they'd flick the lights on. I do need to make a very important note. The average age that participates in finding the eggs is probably around 18. We have some younger and a lot more older :) If you can imagine how ridiculous we all look. Another point is the eggs aren't filled with the traditional jelly beans, no they're loaded with money! So all of us will pretty much do whatever they tell us to. Like one year we were tied at the leg to our spouse or another cousin and had to run/fall trying to find the loot. Now that was crazy.
This year they added a few things (definitely to our benefit!) We had grand prize eggs and over $160 divided in the eggs. So all the "grown ups" aka our parents hid the eggs and then it was game time! I do have to say I don't think I've ever had a bad year. But this year on our first hunt I didn't get a single egg! However, the benefit of being married is there's two hunting at the same time so Andrew came through with 10 bucks and a 2nd choice grand prize egg. Everyone went back in the house and those that got the grand prize eggs were able to pick from the choices. Which included: a mystery wrapped present, $10 cash, $15 itunes card, an ipod home thingy, and a gift certificate for a one night stay at a hotel. We picked the hotel! It was awesome. Then we had one more hunt. They usually try to make it fair for everyone. The first hunt it went youngest to oldest that got out the door first and the second hunt, the unfortunate ones that didn't get a single egg, got to go out the door first. Which included me, my brother Bryan, and my cousin Lacey. The head start didn't make that much of a difference because Bryan was distracting us and holding back me and Lacey that we really didn't hear them say go. They hid the eggs in the yard across the street where no one lives right now so we had to book it across the yard. But I did better that time so maybe the head start helped us out. After it was all said and done Andrew and I came out with $20 and a hotel room. It's going to be a pretty fun date or trip. But the maniacs that dominated the whole hunt were my cousin Mindy and her husband Jon. They came away with $50! They did awesome. What was funny about it was all the married couples were saying "Yeah I'll be able to pay my power bill with this, or we can get gas, or go on a date now." All the others were like sweet extra money. The difference of being on your own.
After reflecting on this and the past years it's very obvious what a GREAT family I have. I couldn't tell you how much money I've got over the years or the prizes, but I can tell you how much fun we've had over these past few years and the moments we've had. That's what counts and I hope that I can learn from the great examples in my life and do fun things with my future kids. Thanks everyone for another great year!
Sorry this is sideways, but ya definitely get the idea!

While the boys were out. . .

My sister-in-law and I were laughing the other day about how her kids now do things to try and make the recent posting of her blog. Well Saturday night I came over to my parent's house while the guys were at the priesthood session and I thought that I had walked in on a bunch of kids. My sister, Kinzie, and my mom had set up a homemade volleyball court in the front room. The net were pillows from the couch -and the best part- the ball was rolled up fuzzy socks. These kinds of activities are not new to our family, but it was just so funny to walk in and see the two of them laughing and carrying on. I have the best family! My mom is a kid at heart and I think that's what keeps her so young. She'll do anything you ask her to do. The crazier the better. Usually she's the one that comes up with the ideas and we go along with her. So this kind of thing is just classic of my mom. So of course being the competitive person I am, I played the winner of the two. After playing for awhile I thought back on what my sister-in-law and I were laughing about and I knew that this would have to "make the blog." Here are a few pictures and a video of the tournament!

Winter Flashback!

When I woke up this morning I saw that we were back in the dead of winter I got a little depressed. My whole day was kinda crappy too. But I decided to change my attitude and appreciate the "fun" things about winter. For anyone that knows me my idea of winter is on a sandy beach far, far, away from snow and cold weather! I don't know why I live in Idaho. So I decided to recap some of the fun things that happened this past winter. Winter to me really starts around Thanksgiving and should end right after Christmas but I'll go a little farther since winter still seems to be going on.
In January we went on a cruise to Baja Mexico with Andrew's family. It was really fun! We had some good times and great memories. Our ports were in Cabo and Ensenada. In Cabo we went on a zip line with the whole family (minus grandma and grandpa :).

The family in their gear!

In Ensenada at the famous blow hole

We had tons of fun and did a lot of stuff, but one of the highlights of the trip was when Andrew got hypnotized on stage at one of the shows. He was hypnotized when we went on our other cruise last year, but what was bad about that no one else but me got to see him and I thought it was pretty hilarious! This time was even better because his whole family saw him do moves that you don't see unless you're under :) He thought he was Michael Jackson for a short time. He danced like how Andrew thought Michael Jackson would dance. We still laugh about it with his family when we bring it up. It was such a fun way to start out the year!
Another thing that entertained me this past winter was ice fishing. Andrew introduced me to it this year and I really liked it. Maybe cuz you do nothing and then sometimes reap the rewards. I don't know. But it is cold sometimes. Unless. . .. you are wearing your husband's fashionable coveralls :)

Sometimes I get bored. . .

Fishing is something that Andrew loves to do and I'm starting to like a lot as well. He does lots of stuff with me that he really doesn't like, but is a good sport about it. So this is starting to be something that we can do more together.
Oh one more thing. . . On our way back from one of our fishing trips it was so bright that I asked him to get my sunglasses that are on the side of the door's cubby thingy. Well as he was driving he handed them to me not knowing the condition of the glasses. Andrew doesn't really pay attention to details all the time and it took him a few minutes to notice my glasses. . .

Maybe this will scare winter off for good!

We love blood!

Andrew and I have been taking a phlebotomy class together that started in January. I really don't need to take it, but at the last minute he asked me if I would want to do it with him. It's on Monday nights and that's my day off so I said sure. It's been nice because Andrew had to have the class so it's fun to be with him! What's really weird is I don't like getting my blood drawn! Before I took the class I had only had my blood drawn a total of 2 times. So, if you have a hard time with that take this class and it'll clear it right up. For one you're getting your blood drawn from students that haven't done this ever, and two you get stuck a lot of times in one class. This last class I got stuck 6 times that I can count and Andrew was the only one that did it. We have "tracks" on our arms and hands, it's really attractive. But you'd be really surprised all the places that you can get blood. Andrew and I took our CNA class together a couple of summers a go and it was a really good experience. We have a lot of fun studying and learning together. I probably wont use either one of the classes but it's a nice backup and I love taking classes and being with Andrew!

History: Our wedding

I posted about our crazy engagement so next comes the worth-the-wait-wedding! (say that one 5 times fast)

We got married on September 16th 2006 in the Idaho Falls temple. It ended up being one year and a week from our first date by the time we were married. It was an awesome day that I will always remember but it ended up being like the coldest day ever! We thought that it was going to rain on us, but it held out until after we got our pictures taken outside. After I had changed out of my dress and was headed over to the church for our lunch . . . it started raining. I was so thankful that we got some good outside pictures. Another positive was there were lots of pretty flowers and really green grass so it ended up being ok. I just felt bad for the other brides. I guess it pays off to have an engagement that long where you can pick your temple time early!

There were lots of fun things about getting married and one of them was that I got another family. I'm so grateful that Andrew has been raised by such great parents and has really great and fun siblings. It really makes our marriage easier I believe, because we have both been brought up a lot alike. Andrew is the youngest in his family and so marrying the youngest can be a bit intimidating. There's more in the family that have to "pass you off" I guess you could say, but they were all really good about welcoming me into the family. Not everyone gets lucky to have good in-laws. I'm glad that I've got to know them and become close friends.

I also became an instant aunt! Which was a first for me. Easton and Paisley were the first two crazy monkeys! My other sister-in-law, Jackie was pregnant with her first, Dillon, which she had two weeks after we were married. Now there's a total of 5 neices and nephews. . . as of right now. Hopefully there will be plenty more. It's amazing how the time has flown by!

Off for the HONEYMOON! After our big day we wanted to wait a week and get settled in before we left. It was so nice and stress free. I would totally recommend that. We went to St. Maarten which is in the Caribbean for our honeymoon. It was our wedding presents from both our parents and we loved it! We used Andrew's parent's time share and stayed for a total of 8 days. We took a tour of the island, went on a snorkeling cruise to another part of the island, went canoeing, ate at some cool places, worked on our tan (a lot of the time), and even saw a movie there at their theatre. It only cost like 5 dollars each. When we found that out we were like "Oh my heck, that's awesome!" The girl at the cash register probably thought we were a bunch of idiots! But when you're on a tight budget every little bit helps.

The 8 days were really fun, but we were excited to get back home and start our life together! The whole experience was definitely one that we wont ever forget and that we still talk about. It was a good ending to a very eventful month. We are very blessed!

Things I would have blogged about. . .

I decided to post some of the highlights that happened when I wasn't a blogger :) This is probably going to have to be done over a period of time. Probably until something eventful happens ;) So this is the first!

Andrew and I were engaged for 6 months. Not by choice, but he was already committed to do APX ( a security system company) and he left to do that in May. I would not recommend doing that while you are engaged. It ended up being a crazy summer but it was fun when we look back.

He first went to Colorado Springs. . .

I drove out with him and got him settled in. . .but little did he know that he wasn't going to be settling too long there. . . a week.

Then to Fairfax, Virgina . . .

I flew out to Colorado and made the road trip across the country 2200 miles! We stopped along the way in a park and took this picture. I got him settled in Virginia. . . and three weeks later he was off again.

Then to San Antonio. . .

I got to visit and we walked down the river walk and went to the alimo. What was fun about that trip was I got to visit Andrew's mission in Houston as well. I got to meet some of his favorite families. This was his longest stay yet (just over 2 months) then he was off yet again.

To Idaho. . .

He drove home and surprised me and then flew out the next day to Washington D.C for a three week finale!

Over the whole summer Andrew put 15,000 miles on his car Rachel (he named her :). When we look back on the summer we're thankful for the time that we had a part because it really taught us how to communicate and we learned a lot about each other before we were married. I wish I could say that we haven't spent anymore summers apart but Andrew and I have only spent one summer together in Idaho since we were married (and it wont be the last unfortunately). But we have got to see some fun places together.