Camping with the 3 little Bares!

This weekend we had a good time with Chad and Amber's family.  The weather was nice with a few little drizzles, but we played lots of games and just relaxed the whole time.  It was fun to be with the little kids!  

Will had fun with his cousin Justin and we tried to teach him how to throw a Frisbee.  He was running around all over the place and was really good at getting really dirty!

Emelia is at a really cute and fun age.  She is really talkative and doesn't mind being cute and showing us all her tricks!
Chad and Amber brought their three little kittens, and Will, Eddie, and Emilia loved to play with them and those kittens are pretty tough now!  

We played a couple innings of baseball, and kick ball.  Emelia had a hard time holding the big heavy bat, so Chad was able to help swing!  They hit the ball and I led her to the bases!  She loved running and everyone cheering for her!

Emelia and Edison loved going on rides with anyone that would take them on the 4 wheeler.  They would just laugh and smile so big on each ride.

David and I learned how to drive the 4 wheeler and we took a couple of rides ourselves!  It was so pretty out there next to the river and in and out of the trees!  

On Saturday we couldn't forget the birthdays!  It was Amber and Tiffany's birthday!  Tiffany's parents brought up a princess ice cream cake and Amber got her favorite cherry chip cake.  There was lots of cake and it was all so good!  I think I had a couple of pieces of each! . . . and I can't forget that Amber and Tiffany had their very own princess tiaras that they got to wear.  I think Edison ended up wearing Amber's most of the time. . . surprise surprise!

All in all it was a great weekend of relaxing and games!  Can't wait to get back to school. . . . well I think we could, but we have no choice!

Super Long Weekend. . . coming right up!

For Memorial Weekend, David and I get Monday off of course, and the school let us have Tuesday off as well. . . and it happened to work our that David and I both have our classes today cancelled for today!  I think the teachers just wanted another day off, but they tried to convince me that they didn't even think about it being a holiday weekend when they had these meetings and conferences scheduled.  Oh well. . .I will take the day off, no worries!  

We are taking off this afternoon to go camping with Chad and Amber and who knows how much of Amber's family will be there!  It will be fun to just relax and enjoy the beautiful weather!  

Just to update everyone. . . We still do enjoy school!  Homework is getting repetitive so that isn't as much fun, but so far I am doing well in all of my classes.  Tests are turning out well!  

All of our sports are doing alright.  Our two Frisbee teams are winning, the ward soccer team is struggling pretty bad, and my competitive girls soccer team is doing really well.  We scrimmaged against the boys team and only lost 2-1 which they were probably a little embarrassed about.  It was fun and we were able to work on positioning a little more.  

Our sports classes are still fun.  David is learning all about volleyball and his teacher coached some for the Olympic girls and so she is pretty tough on his class.  It sounds like she has a hard time a little with David's beginning class since she isn't entirely sure how to work with the beginners, but David is learning a lot still and only has two more weeks of it before it is over and he starts up a soccer class in the morning.

I love having my basketball class.  It is a much needed break from the lectures of my other classes.  It is just a girls class so we have fun playing with each other.  My shooting has been on fire lately and it makes me look pretty good!!  It has been pretty surprising to me since I haven't really ever been a strong shooter from the far shots, but I got it now!  I have also been known for my rebounding and I love to just run in there when someone shoots and fight for the ball.  It catches people off guard because it is usually just the big tall girls standing under the basket waiting for it to fall into their arms. . .but then I come flying in and snatch it away and smile as I run away with it!

So needless to say, we have been just playing every night.  There is always a game for one team or another.  It is nice to play with our ward and get to know some people that way.  We will also get to know our ward a little better because David and I just got called to be Gospel Doctrine teachers.  We hope that it all goes well and that we can teach them something about church history that they can learn something new each week.  I have only taught first graders, so this could be fun!

We have been hanging out with our neighbors a lot.  They have only been married for a month, so they think that David and I have been married for forever already and have all the married stuff worked out!!!  It is funny that here in Rexburg, being married for nearly a year is like eternity, but anywhere else, people still congratulate us on getting married since we are still newlyweds!  We just laugh at it as people ask us, "How do you like being married for so long?"  Some people here are so ignorant . . . and it is too much fun!

Our neighbors are related to all the Blodgetts in the tri-cities and we have game nights with them all the time.  They play on our Frisbee team with us and we invite each other over all the time too.  David has fun helping with beginning accounting homework and teaching the basic concepts to them.

So all in all, we are just plugging along and enjoying all that we can!

Thanks for the Tag

I was tagged by my sister, Tracie who is living in Germany right now. (. . . We are hoping to be able to come next summer, so you can't leave!) But anyways, I am supposed to list these eight things about me so here we go!!
Here's how to do this 8 THINGS thing: Mention the person who tagged you. Complete the lists of 8's. Tag 8 of your wonderful friends.
8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO:
David coming home from Boise on Friday night
Graduating in December
Student teaching
Having kids
Moving out of Rexburg before winter comes
Playing soccer this semester and winning the championship again
Getting groceries today so I can make something yummy for dinner tonight
Getting a couch . . . finally!

8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY:
Scrambled to get David ready and on his trip to Boise on time
Went to a morning full of great classes
Got a really painful papercut. . . it still hurts!
Got frustrated doing busy work again for one of my classes
Went to soccer practice and it was insanely windy. . . I was either tripping over the ball because the wind would blow it back at me, or I was chasing it since the wind would just carry it away!
Had pancakes, a carrot, and jell-o for dinner
Did homework with friends
Found out I got a scholarship this semester from the teaching department!

8 THINGS I WISH I COULD DO:
Travel everywhere. . . Australia, Germany, China, Hawaii, Home, anywhere with David
Not have to do the boring homework and only the assignments I liked and thought were important
Be in shape like I was when I was in high school
Enjoy running, just for fun
Be with kids more often
Take a Ceramics class
Be with my family more
Be able to cook like mom and not have to measure anything


8 SHOWS I WATCH:
The Biggest Loser
American Idol
24. . . but not by myself
Dancing with the Stars
So You Think You Can Dance
The Office
Full House
Monk

8 PEOPLE I TAG:
Anyone who reads this. . . I don't know who does
Mom
Dad
Rosie
Kelsie
Grandpa Bob
Crissa
. . .
. .

WE LOVE SCHOOL!!!

We are on our third week of the semester, and we are loving it! I love all my classes and my schedule even gives me time to play! I was able to take a basketball class, and I also get to play soccer again with the school. I joined my ward's soccer team for intramural and David, Nick and I put together an ultimate Frisbee team as well! So every night we should be playing something! . . . oh ya. . . David is on the ward softball team as well!
So back to classes. . . I am learning how to teach everything this semester. . . math, science, PE, reading, and then I have a couple classes on teaching students with disabilities and students from diverse cultures. So I have a good load of classes but I love them!
David's classes are challenging but interesting for him . . . including his basketball and volleyball classes. He is finishing up and graduating at the end of the semester and is enjoying being in the class and out of the office for now.

Adventures in Driving

David has really loved being out of Oregon for only one reason. . . he does not like that he has to have someone pump the gas into the car. . . so as we got to Idaho, he was pretty excited to get to a gas station.

Just as we crossed the border from Oregon to Idaho, we got to a gas station and were 100% sure we were back as we saw a glimpse of what we missed! It may be tough to see. . . or hard to believe, but this really is an honest picture of a lady with her cow in the back seat of her car. Not only that, but she does also have a window sticker that reads, "DON'T SQUAT WITH YOUR SPURS ON" I don't know if there could be any better "welcome back" signs than that!

So while we were in Texas staying with Rosie and Peter, we were able to really relax and enjoy our free time together since January since David was working 12 hour days at his accounting internship. So we were able to be lazy and do whatever we wanted, wake up when we felt like it, and anything we pleased. Rosie and Peter were at work and school during the days, but we would play with them at night.

We went out and played for his birthday and had fun bowling eating pizza and then delicious Coldstone ice cream! Peter won the first game, but David pulled it off the second game for the win and showed me how good he really is!
We pulled DDR out one night, and we got quite the workout. Then the rest of the time we were there, David and I would play for an hour or so as our daily workout each morning. We had fun with it and David would never give up and would try to dance his little heart away all the way to the end of the song!
We also went to a Rangers game. David used to go all the time when he was younger, so we had to relive that fun memory for him. We even got a lemon chill (it is like a mix between a Popsicle and ice cream) and they tasted just like he remembered!
David showed me around his home town where he mostly grew up and he showed me the places he lived and the schools he went to and the parks and fun places he played. I think I mostly just liked to hear how excited he would get to show me something that had memories to it and to tell me all about the little adventures of his childhood.
We also went to Braum's. . . David's favorite place for burgers, fries and an ice cream cone. He loves the waffle fries they have and of course a good scoop or two of cookies 'n cream on a waffle cone!
Rosie and Peter let us o some laundry while we were there and I managed to not only wash our clothes, but I include my cell phone in one of the loads as well! It was such a "great" feeling as I was transferring the wet clothes into the dryer and get to the end and see my phone just nestled in the bottom with the last bit of clothes! I don't think they will replace that one for me, so I am just using an old one for now. I heard that rice will suck the moisture out of it, so it is sitting in there still. . . It has been about a week . . . maybe two, and I check it every day, but it hasn't kicked into gear yet . . . maybe someday :)
We spent our last day there at Six Flags on the roller coasters! I absolutely love roller coasters and I was pretty sad when it almost didn't work out to go. But we made adjustments and we laughed and screamed our little brains out! We loved it and had a nice scratchy throat half-way through the day and all night!
Then we took off on our drive back across the country to Idaho. We took off after playing at Six Flags and got a good head start on the drive before we pulled out the pajamas, blankets and pillows and found a safe spot to park the car and sleep for the night. We had an empty car, and no idea how far we would be able to drive before we had to sleep, so we skipped the hotel and actually enjoyed sleeping in the car. We woke up the next morning and continued on our way through Oklahoma, Kansas, and then as we were getting into Colorado we blew out one of our back tires. I wasn't too big of a problem and just put the spare on there and headed on our way.
We drove about another 6-8 hours on the spare tire until it decided it was finished and it blew and quit on us. We had no idea what to do and we looked at each other thinking and David decides, "Let's call the cops." That kind of scared me at first, but then I realized we didn't do anything wrong and we just needed some help.
The cops were great. It was a Sunday afternoon in the middle of Wyoming and we had one come out and make sure everything was okay and just sat with us for a while, and another called the wrecking place. The wrecking place found out what size of tires we had, and then went and found a new tire and came out and put the new tire in place of the first blown tire. We just sat there and this all happened within an hour or so and we were back on the road. It wasn't too pricey for the convenience. We were just glad that we could keep on driving and make it back to Idaho!
So we made the trip and got back home at 2 am just in time to sleep for a few hours before getting up and ready for the First Day of School! Yes we are crazy, but Six Flags just had to be done, and we made it back in time for school and we didn't have to be coherent in class. . . well just enough to say, "Here!" when our names were called in class the first day!

Driving across the USA

It has been a long time since I have posted anything! We have been all over the place lately, that's for sure!
To start, David finished his accounting internship with Novogradac and was offered a job that would start in January after we both finish school. He will probably stick with the Portland job offer. We are looking at Boise jobs as well. . . so we'll just have to see!
So David finished on the 31st of March so we took off that evening hauling a trailer with all our stuff in it and drove to Mom and Dad's that night. Then the next morning, we took off with Mom and Dad and their crew (Matt, Abby, and Luke) and our trailer off to Idaho. We drove all day and got to Chad and Amber's that night and had fun with playing with their kids all night and we even got to have Will read his book, Bob at Bat to us. Their kids have learned and grown so much in the few months we were away! They are still fun and adorable of course!
We moved into our apartment the next couple days in Rexburg. We love it! It is just part of the college life . . . but we are very excited to now have a dishwasher and a washer and dryer in our apartment! Hooray! No more quarters and now we have a machine to do the dishes for us! We found a good deal on our apartment and we liked what we saw. We were there for a couple days and then we packed the car up with Rachel's stuff and some of our stuff and went down to Salt Lake with Mom and Dad and their crew to catch a few sessions of conference. We had some fun adventures getting tickets and spending some time with Ben and Elizabeth as well.
Then Mom and Dad took off and went home, and David, Rachel, and I took off from SLC on the road to Texas. We drove to Albuquerque and got a good nights rest there and then finished the drive to Dallas to move Rachel in and then to his sister, Rosie's where we have been staying. . . and playing! So there was a ton of driving, but we did the majority of it during the day so we were wide awake and were able to enjoy the drive.
This is my first time in Texas and we have been having a blast just hanging out and relaxing and enjoying Dallas! We will be on our way back to Idaho in just a bit to start a new semester of school on Monday!
I will have to write about our adventures while we have been here in a later post. Just know that we thoroughly enjoyed April 15 this year and we may never have a more relaxing April . . . since David wants to be an accountant so bad!

Tillamook Adventures

Last weekend Mom came and picked me up on her way out to Tillamook to go visit Grandma Honey and Grandpa Bob.  Mom and I had a good time out at the coast with them.  Grandpa Bob took us out to eat which was really nice of him. . . Grandma Honey just absolutely loved that she didn't have to cook or clean up the meal so she was happy.  We went on some nice walks down to the bridge at the end of their road and along different areas of the coast.  We had to dodge the potholes and the cow pies, but we caught some sunny times of the day and got outside.  

In one of the creeks down the hill from their house, there are some beavers that are building a little dam.  We never saw the beavers, but we could see a few tree stumps with their gnaw marks on them  and it was also neat to see a spot where the grass and mud was all slicked into a channel where the beavers would slide in and out of the water.  

When it was rainy, we stayed in.  One of Mom's reasons to go visit was that she wanted to deep clean clean some of their house as part of Grandma Honey's birthday present.  Grandma Honey was so tickled to see Mom scrubbing away.  I helped a little, but Mom did most of the tough work.  I always enjoy watching the raccoons come each night, but this time they came during the day!  It was so fun to watch them and they got pretty brave around me.  It is so fascinating to just sit and watch them every time I get to visit.  Here is a video of one of the little guys!  I got brave and stuck my hand out the window and I almost pulled away when he came up really close to the camera, but he was nice and I tried not to flinch.

The cheese factory is also high on the list of things to experience, but with Grandpa Bob feeding us so well, we only managed to get one ice cream cone while we were there. . . I promise!  I got peaches 'n cream this time, but it was a tough choice between Bubblegum and Chocolate Peanut Butter as runners up. . . . mmm!

For Grandma Honey's Birthday we went to a neat little restaurant in Garibaldi.  It sat right on the edge of a cliff or something that looked over the ocean. . . or it may have been the bay. . . but it was gorgeous.  Grandma Honey got her crab Louis that was huge, but she ate most of it.  She didn't want us to tell her how old she was and was just fine being spoiled and not knowing why!

She was so cute and perky. . . and she was very excited about her perm she was going to get the next day.  Grandpa Bob made sure that we knew that Grandma Honey was "way" older than him. . . but his birthday is in the middle of April so he is not too far behind!  For being 85, or almost there for Grandpa Bob, I have got some pretty neat grandparents!  

So another visit to Tillamook was a success.  Beautiful beaches, good conversations with Grandpa Bob, a yummy ice cream cone, spring cleaning, delicious food, daily raccoon visits, and I even got Mom and Grandpa Bob to watch American Idol with me. . . . well Mom dozed off half way through, but it still counts.  In case anyone was wondering, grandpa Bob's elephant socks are still flopping in great shape.