prepare to be shocked..

I don't know even where to begin. It's been so long!

First I'm finally posting. I know. Shocking!

Second. I am officially a Wildcat!

I got accepted into the Weber State Radiology Outreach program! WHOOO! It's about dang time, right? After waiting a year, feeling like a failure, and yelling at too many people I got my acceptance letter. I was so excited. Then I went to orientation the end of May and realized we are going to be poor. Well...more poor then we already are. Tuition isn't the problem. It's a heck of a lot cheaper than SUU. Thank heavens! But books (which is already a given), a background/immunization check (outrageous), scrubs,  and a membership to ASRT (why??). It will be TOTALLY worth it! I can't wait to start in August.


Third. Jake has decided he wants to join the Highway Patrol.

He is so excited about it that it puts me being excited about my program to shame. I'm excited for him too. It doesn't really bother me that he wants to do this as a career. I grew up with a dad who has done this my whole life. Instead of being the daughter, I'll be the wife. I really think Jake is going to love it. And with the way things have been working out, he's going to have no problem getting the job.




Honestly, that is really all that has happened in our lives since I last posted in October. How boring are we! I promise to try and keep it updated more often. Like at least once a month!

one year down...

Can you believe it's been a year since I was a twitterpaited bride? I can't! So much has happened since then. Here is a long, boring, and horrific  re-cap of whats happened.

After the wedding, we moved into a cute little one-bedroom apartment. It was the perfect size for us. Until we started unpacking!

We also adopted our first pet in this home. Pete!

Then came Jake's birthday. What an old man, he turns 23 next month! 

Jake's family is big on the hunting aspect of life. So up to the cabin we went. Looking like giant orange pumpkins. Awesome!

We spent Thanksgiving at the Mitchell home last year. All five of us! :) We thought it would be fun to take some more pictures, and this is what we came up with. After Erin yelled at us to stop smiling for at least 15 pictures, which only made it worse, this is the closest we got. Jake almost smiled!

If you've forgotten, let me remind you. Jake tried to sell me last year for Christmas. He said he would take $50. I ain't that cheap! :)

We spent Easter with the whole Barton clan down at Lake Powell. For those of you who are unaware, the water is like -50 degrees in April. Still, Jake dropped me in the lake. It took about 2 days to warm up. But I did come to forgive him.... Later. 

 After realizing that we had too much crap stuff and not enough space, we moved into a bigger place. This time it was a two-bedroom town home. So much nicer!

We could even buy our own washer and dryer. Not that we didn't like traveling to Paragonah every week. This is just so much more convenient! 

We added a new member to the family, and wouldn't trade her for the world. We love our Remey!

Well, there ya go. Our happenings in the last year that were important enough to make it on to the blog. If I missed anything, and you got offended, I'm sorry. But dude, this post is long enough already! 

So now on to the 1 year anniversary trip. Back in July we spent a weekend up in Salt Lake. We hit up the zoo:

I almost got licked by a giraffe. While Jake was taking the picture it pulled it's head back. So we didn't have any evidence that the thing almost tasted my make-up. 

Then we headed over to the temple. I had never seen the conference center before, so we had some sister missionaries give us a tour of it. I was in awe. That place doesn't seem as big as it really is. Sadly, the temple was closed. So I made Jake promise me that he would take me back over Christmas so we could see all the lights, and do a session. 

We also hit up Lagoon, the aquarium, and the planetarium. We had a lot of fun! But besides the amusement parks and places, we ate some really good food as well. Neither of us had been to Rodizio's Grill, so we decided to hit it up. After paying my left arm and our first child, we ate. It was delicious! But definitely one of those places you save up for, or only do on special occasions, like an anniversary, or my 21st birthday. (which is coming up.....cough, cough) Aaaanywho. We had fun. 

This last weekend, which was actually our anniversary, we went up to the cabin to spend some time together. It was just Jake, me, Remey, and the wide open spaces of Horse Valley..? King's Valley? Some Valley. We called for elk, and I heard, for the first time, an elk bugle. So cool! 

I still can't believe that it's been a year. And I'm sure this post feels like it's been going on for more than a year. I apologize. But let me get a little sappy for a moment. A year ago I married my best friend. Some people thought we were crazy because A) we were too young and B) we didn't know each other for very long. I wouldn't change how things happened for anything. I love this kid. We've had our ups and downs, but we have always had each other through all of it. I don't know how I got so lucky to be married to this guy for eternity. He's my best friend. My Gus! :) Love you Jakey, here's to eternity!

our summertime...

First off, I want to apologize for the last post. I guess some people assumed by the title that I was pregnant.  Boy, were they wrong! "Our baby is growing." Where did they come up with that?  So I just wanted to clear the air. No bun in the oven for us. 

Warning: there are going to be random pictures of Jake and I just to break up the long monotony of paragraphs. You're welcome:)

Over the 4th, we spent our time in Paragonah. Jake ate a ton of watermelon and I watched. We tossed eggs and water balloons. Sadly, there were no champions in our family this year. Unless you count Jake running a race against one other person. He came in second. Ha! Joke. He won. :)

Jake eating his watermelon. Yum. 

Jake and I have made it a goal to try to get to as many temples as we can while we are married. Because I mean, after we aren't married anymore we just can't go. Period. :) So far in the 10 months of our amazing adventures in marriage we have made it to 3. St. George. Draper. Manti. Next week we will make it four by going to Salt Lake. Maybe 5. We may or may not hit up Oquirrh Mountain. Yes, I did have to Google Oquirrh to see how to spell it. No, you cannot judge me, I bet you would have done the same. Anyways, the reason I bring this up is because I think everyone should make it a goal to see as many temples as they can in their lifetime. Even if you can't go inside, the grounds can have as big of an impact as going in. I love being anywhere around a temple. The more you are around the spirit that dwells at the temple, the happier and more Christ-like you become. 

up at the Draper Temple for our cousin's wedding.

Okay, off my soapbox. 

We have had a pretty fun summer. Even though we haven't done much, it's been fun. Next weekend we are celebrating our 1 year anniversary. I know it's a little too soon, but we are just so excited! Ha. The real reason for the early celebration is because we don't want to go in the middle of the school year. We were smart enough to get married in the middle of the semester, so we decided to be a little smarter by doing the anniversary trip before the semester. We're thinkers! But, we are going to go party it up in Northern Utah. The top partying spots are going to be Lagoon, the zoo, the Clark Planetarium, the aquarium, the new mall (City Creek? Salt Creek? Something Creek? Maybe not a Creek?), Temple Square, and some other awesome places. It's going to be pretty saweet!

the siblings. minus cody and leisha. we miss you guys! 

our baby is growing...

I can't believe how big Remey is getting. She turned 4 months yesterday. Time is sure flying by.

Jake and I took her to the city park a few Sundays ago. There is a large creek that goes through the middle. So we decided to see if Remey could swim. Between the three of us, I'm sure there was almost a casualty.

Here's my little family.

Here are some videos of that day. And I must apologize in advance for the videos.

First: The crotch shot.

Second: I do not, in any way, claim to be a professional video-er.

Third: My commentary. I sincerely apologize for that.

After trying to drown her, we let her run around on the grass and let her dry off before putting her back in the car. The grass, while she was wet, was a new phenomenon. We will usually give her a bath in the tub and dry her off with a towel. We have never let her dry off outside. I think she quite enjoyed it! It was like watching a six year old on Christmas. Or me, if you ask my parents. :)

Hope all is well on the home front. We are sure enjoying the summer. Just not the heat.

a working woman...

Get ready to have your socks shocked right off your feet. I got a job! We can now pause while you get your socks.



It's about dang time, right? For your information it has been 2 years since my last job. I started looking this time last year for a job, but found a husband instead. Fair trade, if you ask me. But just as much work! :) So to finally have a job, is a freaking miracle! I'm working as a Sandwich Artist at Subway. My position isn't really a "sandwich artist," but I think it sounds better than a food 'preparer'. I'm only working part-time which is nice, because that means I still get to spend time with the puppy....and Jake. Ha!

Did you eat fresh today? :)

Not much else is going on. Remey is good. She's still a little brat. If she wouldn't bite everything in her path, she would be the best dog ever. But I don't think my shoes and towels will ever look the same again. And don't even get me started on my shorts!

This is kinda a bad picture, but it's the most recent. Jake made a sweater for her and she loved it. She walked around like she was the queen of England.

Over Memorial Day weekend we went to go see my family. It was nice to spend the long 4-day weekend with them. We didn't really do much, but Jake said it was nice to just relax and eat! Which is exactly what we did. Too much.

Everything is well here. I hope all is well with everyone else!

kanarraville falls...

I have always been one that wants to travel. And I don't mean just to Vegas or Disney Land. I want to see the world. Paris. London. Egypt. Brazil. Africa. Rome. The list goes on and on. But I read a quote somewhere at some point in time, that said something to the effect of stop wishing to go to the other side of the world and take a look in your own backyard. And since I haven't been to Zion's since I was like knee-high to a grasshopper, (mom) Jake and I have made it a goal to go hike some of Zion's this summer.

So yesterday, Jake had a day off. Since it was such a beautiful day, we went hiking. Neither of us had ever been on the Kanarraville Falls hike so we took a jaunt that way. It was wonderful! I couldn't believe that I had never been on this hike before. It was literally a 20 minute drive from where we live. Where have I been my whole life? Hiding under a rock? I think so.

To start things off though, we get there and find out that there is a $10 parking fee! 10 dollars! Lake Powell doesn't even cost that much. Well... it might, but who's counting? Anyways, after we got over the fact that we had to pay an arm and half of Jake's leg, we set off on our hike.

The scenery this time of year was amazing! 

The trees were vibrant green and the red rock was so gorgeous.

Just the beginning of getting wet:)

This is how wet I got, but Jake got a lot more wet than me.

I told Jake to take his shirt off, but he wouldn't listen to me:) haha isn't he sexy?! :) I think the farmers tan makes the picture.

There is a point among the hike where you go through slot canyons. It is amazing!

Yes, we climbed that ladder. 

So beautiful!

Another waterfall that we hiked up to and then decided not to go any further, because we were already soaking wet, and to get up it, you had to climb through the waterfall. We had also been hiking for about 3ish hours. We were getting tired and hot and hungry. So maybe next time we can make it over that and see what's on the other side. Over the waterfall. I almost broke out in song singing Some Where Over the Rainbow. Thankfully I didn't :)

a lot packed into a little...

Warning: This post is going to have so much packed into it. It may be appallingly long. 

Where to start.

Over Easter weekend, we went to Lake Powell with Jake's family. We made a SPLASH! haha ;)

His whole family was there. We stayed in 5th-wheels. We did some hunting of the easter eggs, roasting of the marshmallows, and swimming in the pools at the Lake Powell Resort because the water was like 40 degrees and the pool was 45. So HUGE difference...

Jake trying to throw me in to the freezing cold water!

...and in we went...

In the car, rocking the seat belts!

Us on the Glen Canyon Dam Bridge.

Then I found out that I didn't get accepted into Weber's Outreach Radiology program. Boo. I've only had a few meltdowns. No big deal. So now I am going to give you too much information about what I'm going to with the rest of my life. I honestly have no idea. But here is the plan: I am going to think about it some more, have a few more meltdowns, and pray like crazy. :)

Jake and I made a move. We upgraded from a cozy little 1-bed/1-bath apartment to a spacious 2-bed/1 1/2-bath. It is SO big! But we love it! We have a little backyard but we had to re-plant the grass, so don't judge our barren lawn.

The Upstairs:

A picture from the back of the house

From the front door

The 1/2 bath

The Kitchen

The Basement:

The Master Bath

The 2nd bedroom

The Master bedroom 

Our semi-grassed backyard. We do have a little bit of new grass. It stands about 1/2 inch tall. But it stands!

My most favorite part! A new washer and dryer!! YAY!! They are the Maytag Bravos XL and we love them. If we didn't have a shower, they would be big enough to wash me! The inside of the washer is HUGE!

See.. This post is super long. I warned you :)

Then we got a huge surprise. We added a new member to the family. She is cute, soft, and likes to bite, play, eat, and poop:) Her name is Remey. She is 9 weeks old and is half Border Collie-half German Shepard.

Her eyes are dark, dark brown and her ears are hilarious. When she looks at you they go to a point up at the top. We will have to get a picture of it!

Our friends, Tj and Cassidie moved back home last week. They had a cute little dog that liked to play with Remey. It was sad when they left. Now Remey has no one to play with. I have no one to play with. Jake has no one to play with.... Pity us. Hopefully, NO, WE WILL play with them this summer! Right? :)

This is Remey and Daisy. [thanks Cassidie for the photo!]

Just this last week Jake and I finished school for the semester! YAY! I now have my Associates Degree and Jake now has his freshman year done. Only 4 more years to go. That's depressing. Now I am working on finding a job. I have been offered a housekeeping job for the Anniversary House Bed & Breakfast. The only thing that is standing in my way for getting the job is whether or not the owner of the B&B likes the way I clean. I clean like a champ, so this is going to be as easy as spraying some Windex on a window! I will know for sure if I have the job by the end of next week. Wish me luck.

This post is now officially over, if you made it all the way to the end, I thank you. If not, well...I don't blame you! :)