Goodbye September....Hello October!!

Where did September go?? Seriously, I can't believe I haven't blogged in a month. Bad. Courtney. Ah.. let's get started! School has been the majority of our life this past month. Joe literally spends anywhere from 4-9 hours a day just on homework! He studies while I'm in class in the morning, then he goes to class and then usually spends the rest of the day studying or doing homework. Poor thing right? He gets a little frustrated some days because he's really not even interested in Chemistry but he's so close and so dedicated... I love him a lot for that.
For my adaptive PE class we have to do 24 hours of service learning so twice a week I have been going out to 3 Peaks Elementary school and I watch/help/play with two students with two handicapped students. They are two really sweet kids and it's been really fun to get out into the school system and see how things work again. I also get to observe the PE class which has been interesting to see the things I like and don't like about how the class is run. I really think that one day I can be a great PE teacher. I'm not a super athlete in any sport but I feel like I am comfortable playing almost all sports especially lifetime sports. I feel that it is more important to be well rounded.
Joe has recently decided that he is probably going to apply to dental school again. The other options of trying to open a business were just not working out. He's so talented I feel that he can be a great dentist. The hard part will be getting through a couple more years of school but at least there is an end in sight, right? We're still just waiting to see what's in store for the rest of our life. It's a fun thought :)
We went to see Hairspray with my family at Tuachan a couple weeks ago. It was such a fantastic show!! I was really, really impressed with the whole thing. My parents are awesome and got us all tickets so we could spend some time with them,

The Big Sky Ultimate Frisbee at Utah State tournament was the weekend before last. We drove up with Kyle, Dallin and Cassidy Tait. They had one game on Friday night so we had to leave pretty early in the afternoon to get up to Logan in time. There was a fire somewhere up toward Oregon but the smoke had been blowing in the Logan valley so it was super smokey and windy that Friday night. Luckily, our team is pretty comfortable playing in the wind so they did great! Our friends Justin & Stephanie and Tanner & Anjalie have recently moved up to Logan so they all wanted to hang out on Friday night. The games got over pretty late so the only place that was open was IHOP... so the whole team headed over to IHOP for some after game fuel. That place is open all night! (I would seriously hate to be a waitress there...) Our car spend the night at Tanner's house and then we were up the next morning by 7 for a long day of games. The biggest game definitely being against Justin's USU game. So much trash talk about how they were going to win that our team definitely went into that game playing their best... and they won! It was a pretty intense game to say the least and of course the win came down to universe point. The team pulled out their best beat em' 15-14. MMmmmm victory. They still had two games after the throw down and boy was everyone tired!! Injuries started and even fatigue began to set in. Needless to say they put everything into the USU game that they were just completely wasted for the rest of the day. Kyle even got smacked in the head and I'm pretty sure had a mild concussion. After the tournament we drove down to the Orem area. We ate ice cream at Mckay and Ashley's place and then hit the sack at Cassidy's grandma's house. The next morning church was cancelled because of the Brigham City Temple Dedication. We went to a session with McKay and Ashley and then hit up Cafe Rio before heading home. (not the best Sunday meal but we didn't have any food to eat..) We switched up drivers and eventually made it home!
Joe and I had a date night last week. We had a Chili's gift card that still needed to be used and then we had a fun game to play at home! Oh we also went to a surplus sale earlier that day and got a ginormous whiteboard for 5 bucks... awesome. Last weekend was also SUU's homecoming so there was a lot of fun stuff going on on campus. We went to an outdoor concert Friday night where they served disgusting pretzel bites and we even saw a person get resuscitated... Saturday was a busy but super fun day. I opened that morning then got off in time to go to the football game and then worked again that night. WHew! My parents even got tickets to the game so I sat with them and Cassi. It was a great game... we lost... but still a great game.
This week Joe made a challenge for us to not spend ANY money. Goodness, I didn't think it would be quite so difficult but it was! It helped me realize that we need to be a little more conscious of how and where we spend our money. But I think today might be our last day because, well, we have no food... we packed cheese sandwiches for lunch today and we need cinnamon rolls for this weekend because it's Conference! Oh this weekend should be good! I'm an adult now and I am going to stay awake!
The end. Whew!
Oh and I got an Iphone. The Iphone 5 came out a few weeks ago and so the Iphone4 was free! hahaha. 













Some chocolate chip cookies Joe and I made... this is to show the difference a 1/2 c of flour will make!

School time

Nothing too exciting has happened since our last post. As I was sitting in class dosing off today I realized that  I haven't blogged in some time and since tonight is a slow night I will try to get this done! Joe and I wanted to do one last fun thing before summer ended so we were finally able to do an overnight camping trip up at Yankee Meadow. We packed up really quick and got a couple necessities at the grocery store and headed up the mountain. We set up camp and then we started cooking dinner. We cooked hot dogs over an open fire with some delicious buns from Lin's. That is my kind of camp-out meal! We roasted some marshmallows and then got ready for bed before the rain storm got bad.  Our power converter ended up not working so we weren't able to blow up the air mattresses... It was a long, long night. We both tossed and turned from the hard ground and somehow we managed to stay dry during a pretty intense thunder storm. We woke up pretty early and headed to the lake to do some fishing. After about an hour with not even a bite we left. We were both so tired and so we just headed home. I took a nap for another 3 hours because I was closing that night and needed to get some actual rest. Overall, it was a super fun trip and I loved being able to get away just me and Joe.
I've just been working a lot lately. I was able to have a couple good weekends which was much needed after purchasing textbooks for both Joe and I. We spend about $500 for the both of us this semester and we even rented ALL of our books! Boy, it's turning out to be harder and harder for us to make it on our own. Hopefully one day...
One of Joe's really good friends returned from his mission a few weeks back.. oh by the way it was Mack. It made for a super fun weekend with McKay and his wife Ashley coming down and we all just hung out. We really had a fun time. On the other hand Justin and Stephanie moved up north to go to school. I especially miss Steph... I'm working on being a little more social and outgoing with the girls at work, school, and church. I need some girl friends sometimes ;)
After meeting with my professor last Friday I found out some super news! I am going to graduate next semester (of course if I pass all classes) I decided to not complete the education portion of the physical education degree for a couple of reasons. 1. Since Joe and I will probably be moving next summer there would be reason to certify here in Utah because I would have to redo it anyway. 2. Getting the BA in PE will transfer much easier if I just finish the core options and then go back to school to certify to teach. All-in-all? Awesome. Both Joe and I will be graduating next semester... finger's crossed!!
School started on Monday. Joe's semester is absolutely ridiculous. His books alone would make a grown man cry at the sight! I just want to cry after spending 4 straight hours in same classroom for 4 different classes on MWF. It stinks... mucho. But heck, if I'm going to graduate I think I'll manage!
Joe has been training for his triathlon since summer started and has been researching road bikes for months. Today, he got an early birthday/Christmas present. We went 50/50 with his parents he had a band new bike waiting at home for him today. He's super excited to finally have his own bike!!

Joe's new bike! 

This is the aftermath of a volunteer event Joe attended with his work. All of that is chalk!

A family feast at Sonny Boy's with the gang!

This is cowboy AJ. He was Weston's toy that I found on my driveway.

I held him captive for Oreo's, pencil's and a water-gun.

Then Weston moved away. hahaha!

Don't those look tasty?

Mmmmm... He's tasty lookin' too!

It's sandy up in here!

This is going to be the post of all post's! So many crazy things have happened to Joe and I over the past couple of weeks... I just hope I can remember everything. Let's start with the beach! Joe and I drove our own car but caravan-ed down with Doug, Fiona and the Cash kids. We arrived at Cush's house in Corona later that evening and met up with Megan, Brady and little baby Jude! This was the first time all of us had seen Jude since his surgery earlier the week before to hopefully fix the nerve damage done when he was born. That poor kid was wrapped up in the most uncomfortable looking cast. We stayed the night at Grandma's and then Joe, Doug and I did a little sightseeing of Corona. We were able to walk through West Coast Customs and saw some pretty awesome cars just in the parking lot! The Hatch's met up with us and then we all headed out to Oceanside... but until we had lunch at Panera! Can you say YUM?! We had enough time to unload our car before Joe and I drove down to San Diego to pick Kathryn up from the airport. Joe and Kat were pretty hungry for dinner so we found the closest Rubio's and stopped for dinner. It just so happens that we managed to stop at the very first Rubio's ever! It was pretty awesome. We spent the next four days spending some quality time at the beach! It was a little chilly the first couple days but it started to warm up and made for some perfect beach weather! Day 2 at the beach ended with a bit of a scare. When Joe and I were walking down to the beach that day I noticed that I still had my wedding ring on.. I didn't want to loose it while we were soakin' up some sun so Joe and I put both our rings in the Zip Loc bag that was keeping his Iphone and keys safe. We were in charge of making dinner that night so left the beach a little bit early to get cleaned up. When we got back to the Condo I asked Joe to grab our rings and his response was priceless... "Um...I only have one ring..." I walked over to see which ring that would be and mine was not in his hand. Instant panic kicked in! I started looking anxiously through the beach bag, towels, whatever I could find. My only thought was that if it fell out at the beach we would never find it. We started to make the trip back down to the beach scanning and retracing our steps. Luckily the family was still at the beach so we instantly started sifting through sand. At this point I just starting crying. I headed back to the Condo because I just couldn't handle the fact that I had lost my ring. Poor Joe was looking so fervently trying to find that dang thing and felt that awful. He was all over the place trying to deal with an emotional "me" and creating a search party to find the ring.  Doug and Fiona were at the Condo searching when I got there and about 5 minutes later they got a call saying Brian found it! Relief. Brian was so sweet and said that he was NOT leaving that beach until they found my ring. I couldn't help but thank him by saying owe him the honor of naming our firstborn after him. Hahaha that may have been a mistake but he loved it! I think he told everyone within a matter of minutes.Joe and I were so grateful that we found my ring! I love my ring... a lot! Needless to say that made for a super eventful evening!
We ate some sort of mexican food practically every day... whether it be Rubio's, Jonhny Manana's, Cush's famous tacos, or homemade quessadilla's. It was soooo yummy but man I was missing the light food i'm used to eating. Oh! I got a slurpee one night too. I miss those tasty treats! Joe and I stashed some wedding money a while back and that's how we were able to pay for some of the fun. We each got a $100 to spend on whatever we wanted! I got a pair of new super comfy athletic shoes and Joe got a pair of super sweet Dragon sunglasses! The '12 Summer Olympics have started the weekend we got to California so when we weren't at the beach or pool we were inside watching some amazing Olympic events! We really had a great time at the beach. It was super fun to be able to spend time with all our family and just relax. We are so grateful for Doug and his love and ambition to have family get together's because we love them so much!
Joe and I left early Friday morning to get back to Cedar in time for my 6:00 shift. We made really good time switching off driving and resting. I worked the next three days straight and Joe worked Saturday morning too. We headed over to dinner at my parents after I got off work on Sunday. My mom can make a mean Costa Vida salad and boy was that super tasty. We played a couple games with them and even got to skype a little bit with Chad and kelly.
Starting off this week we went hiking early Monday morning with AJ, Weston, a girl named Amanda who has a crush on AJ and Matt. It was a new hike in the Kolob Canyon part of Zion's. It was nice to get out and be with our friends since we've dedicated most of our time to family the past month. I hadn't really had a chance to recuperate since the vacation so I came home and slept for quite a few hours because I was honestly exhausted on all accounts. Zoe decided to stay a couple extra days to get spoiled by her Nana and Papa so that night we all went to Tuachan to watch Aladdin!! It was a super awesome! I worked lunch on Tuesday and afterwards Joe and I ran errands in town. We sent a birthday present to Kathryn, shopped at Walmart and even got some hair dye for me! Joe played frisbee that night while I got called in to work for half an hour to help a little and get paid $6... whoopie. Afterwards all the guys came over to help move the huge big screen tv that has been taking up loads of room in the basement. It took 4 guys plus Justin to get that thing on the trailer to take to DI. AJ then invited all of us to go hot tubing in his apartment complex's clubhouse. Joe and I headed over a little late but got plenty of hot tub time in.
That next morning Joe noticed that he couldn't find his wallet... we figured it was just around the house and we'd find it eventually. NOT THE CASE. Thursday we found some lovely charges on Joe's Debit Card at a Shell gas station in town and on Saturday I found $500 worth of charges on his credit card. Luckily we had cancelled the credit card in time but we'll probably take the hit on the debit card charges. Joe rushed over to the our bank to figure out what to do and trying to tell the lady that his wife did in fact NOT have his card. We filed a police report since his wallet was stolen out of our car while we were at AJ's.  We're sorta just leaving it up to the police to see if they'll do anything about it... while is probably unlikely. We spent Friday trying to replace everything that we could like his school ID and driver's license. Poor Joe had a pretty rough week with all of this happening. I took him out on a little date on Thursday to help brighten up his day. We went to a new little restaurant in town and then to Krave afterwards. I'm pretty sure we could have skipped dinner and just went to Krave... man we love that place... a lot... hahah! We had our friends over that night to play some games and watch the Olympics too. OH! I forgot one super important event of the week!! I died my hair... brown!! Okay, it's more of an ashy brunette but I am no longer a blonde!! It's so different and the people at work keep thinking i'm Stephanie so it's taking some time getting used to. But Joe loves it! He loves it even more than my blonde hair. Did I mention Joe was the one who died my hair? Yeah, he's probably the most supportive and amazing husband. We ended the week just as we always do... working and hanging out with friends. I got this whole Sunday off and what a blessing it is to be able to spend some quality time with Joe. We're watching the RM while I blog this.... Ohhh what a great movie! 

An evening at the pier

Brian and Joe working on their sand sculpture of teeth!

Joe hanging at the beach!

"Sunscreen is a must! As everyone who as ever gone to a sunny place with me will say, I can be a little crazy about sunscreen." -Joe

Uncle Joe with little Lucy.

We tried to do something active every day. We ran to the pier one morning!

Joe and Ali making a sand sea turtle!

1st Rubio's EVER!! 

Doug and Joe at West Coasts Customs! 

Lovin' the beach... don't want to leave!

Sometimes I like to leave love notes for Joe when he leaves for work <3

Our little date night at Krave! 

The boys moving the TV!

At Tuachan watching Aladdin! There was a funky little 3D section where we got to wear these awesome glasses!

The Kolob hike had two of these cute little pioneer style cabins. 

The whole gang taking our picture by a rock.

Bolt! 

Family times

Since being back from the lake family time has been in full swing! Our nephew Wesley spent a week with his Nana and Papa and we got to join in some of that fun. We've been golfing, bowling, pickleballing and some other fun things to keep him entertained while he's been here in Cedar. Last weekend I worked all day Saturday so I was pretty beat when the rest of the Phillip's gang came. The Cash's were nice enough to drive Brad and Hayden down and Ali and Keegan drove all the way from Texas. So for the past week the house has been full of  family. It's been pretty fun for the most part. It gets a little difficult when it feels like all we do is try to entertain the young ones. But we've had some good times at pretty much every Cedar City business. I can tell Joe really loves having Brad around... they get along so well it cracks me up!
Joe and I have had some discussion on the prospect of moving out before the semester starts. We both have worked extremely hard this summer saving money and I feel like we are ready for this chapter in our life. Living with Joe's parents has been so amazing! They are so considerate and have let us live here rent free and even cook and pay for most of our food. It's been SOOOoo nice, but, it feels almost too easy. I feel like we are too dependent and to be honest that bothers me a little. And plus I would love to be close to campus this upcoming semester because of our one car situation with our school and work schedules. We are still considering our options and working out the numbers but we know that whatever happens we will make it work!
This past Thursday Joe and I went to the opening night of the Dark Night Rises. I got off work at 11:00pm and just walked across the street to meet up with my man who was waiting with a change of clothes and some cereal and milk for me to eat. He is such a thoughtful man. We walked in to a FULL theater with only the last row or the front two rows open. Luckily we found Kyle who managed to get us two extra seats near the middle. The movie was superb! I stayed awake the whole time... it was intense! It was unfortunate to wake up the next morning after a couple hours of sleep to find out there was a shooting during another premier in Colorado. It's shocking and horrific that someone could/would do something like that. It also slightly worries me for the future of our society... Will this continue? Will we be more cautious?
I've taken up a new hobby and have started scrapbooking! Mom somehow managed to buy a huge box of super cute scrapbook paper for cheaps and Joe let me buy a couple of necessary products too. I work on a page every once in a while and I am really starting to enjoy it :)

Lake time

Joe played in the Utah Summer Games with the SUU Malitia a couple weekends ago. Two full days of Ultimate Frisbee! There were 12 teams from all around the state that came down to play. I was able to watch them play all day on Friday during the seating portion of the tourney. They received the bronze medal in the advanced bracket which is really, really good! Joe was pretty beat after two days of bad bum ultimate!  That weekend was also Joe’s really good friends Caitlin and Brandon’s wedding reception. This was the first wedding I have been able to attend because I’m always working on the weekends. It was such a cute reception! They seriously pulled an ice cream truck in to the backyard of the reception area and served homemade cookie ice cream sandwiches! It was super legit. That Sunday was my dad’s birthday. We had a big family dinner with the Clark’s and Grandma. It was really fun to get together with the whole family and just have a good time. On Monday Joe filled in at the UPS store for the Topham’s. Bruce’s mother passed away and luckily Joe was able to step in. That night Joe and I drove to the St. George airport to pick up Fiona. We made a not so quick stop at Dick’s Sporting Goods… my new favorite store… seriously. And then finished the night off with some ice cream from Coldstone. I went visiting teaching for my first time ever and it was actually really fun. The sister we taught is super hilarious and made it really easy to talk to. Joe and I decided that we needed to attend the temple since we haven’t been in a couple weeks. We drove to St. George on a Wednesday afternoon after he was finished with work at the orthodontist. On our drive down we passed a small-ish fire starting in New Harmony. The temple was as amazing as ever. We stayed there for quite some time in hopes for answers to prayers.  Since this trip constituted as our date night we treated ourselves to Olive Garden for dinner! They had a 2 for $25 deal going on and boy was that worth it! We even got dessert; Italian donuts with warm chocolate sauce….mmmm….
I worked for the rest of the week and made some pretty decent money. Joe was able to drive up with Kyle to be a groomsman in McKay and Ashley’s wedding. They drove up Friday afternoon to get there for the reception which was the night before the sealing. They were sealed in the Timpanogos Temple and Joe came back with many awesome stories! It’s a really neat experience being able to attend the sealings of the people we love, it helps remind us of our special day and to keep in mind those covenants. 
Cassidy’s 16^th birthday started off last week with a little bit of girl time pamper. Mom took us to get our nails done and we had a fun time. Unfortunately I had to close that night so I missed her family birthday bbq.  Joe and I spent the rest of that Monday getting a lot of errands done and prepping for Lake Powell. We both bought really cute swim shorts for ourselves and helped Doug and Fiona do a massive Walmart shopping trip. Joe, Doug, Fiona, and Wesley left Tuesday morning for the Powell. I had to work Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon so it worked out really well to drive down with Megan and her kids. We got there on the 4th of July in time to see some fireworks just across the way. This was my first time to Powell and it was absolutely everything I hoped it would be! The landscape was beautiful and the water was pristine! We spent the next couple days playing and just having fun. I actually learned to wakeboard too! It was rough getting the hang of standing up on the board but I eventually got up and boy was it exhilarating! We also went jet skiing and tubing and swam in the glorious so much! Joe is a freakin’ monster in the water. He wake boards and single ski’s like nobody’s business. It’s rather attractive. The kid’s did really good too. Wes and Zoe both got up on the wakeboard and handled that like champions. Lucy was absolutely terrified of the power boat and was completely content with staying at the houseboat looking for “she-shells” and swimming her little heart out. Peyton had a pretty rough time while we were there. He practically cried and threw temper tantrums the whole time. It was a little bit bumsy and made me a little terrified to have kids. Joe and I have already decided that we want to wait until we are financially stable to provide for a family… but man I hope my kids are well behaved.
We drove home after getting the boats back in a super squal of a wind storm and played cash cab to help Wes survive the drive back to Cedar. We went to Church today and finished the night making some rather disgusting cake pops for a farewell get-together for our friends Tanner and Anjalee because they will be moving up North this next week. All in all I’d say we’ve had a pretty fun and eventful time. 

Thrice and the stomach flu!

Oh goodness, the past two weeks have been filled with quite some fun and excitement! Two Monday's ago Joe and I decided that we needed to take a little trip to St. George and spend a little of our Wedding Gift Card money. We both enjoyed our first time at Bed Bath & Beyond and bought a super cute photo album for our wedding pictures. After that we ventured to the Boulevard to see what we could spend our $150 on... and also to see Dad. We ate lunch at the diner and relieved some stress in some amazingly awesome massage chairs. Sadly we aren't really in the market for much of anything right now seeing as we live with Doug and Fiona and we only have one room to fit all our belongings in. We left the Boulevard empty handed this time but will have to go back soon! We got Joe some super cool shoes at Ross and got a couple wedding presents for some of our friends upcoming weddings. We got home in time for golf lessons with Doug and Fiona! They were an early Father's Day present for Doug and they were generous enough to invite us along. We're all pretty rusty but since then we've tried to go hit a bucket of balls around a couple times a week. That night we went to a bonfire and called it good. Unfortunately I woke up at 2am the next morning not feeling well... at all. I was puking about every hour and having some unwanted business out my other end. ewwwww! I felt like I was handling myself like a champ seeing as I haven't really thrown-up since oh, who knows, I was 5? It was not a fun night. I finally woke Joe up because I couldn't take care of myself anymore. He was such sweetheart the whole day. Cleaning up after me and driving to KB at 8am for Sprite. I seriously just laid on the couch all day and watched TV because that was about all I was up for. I started feeling better around 8pm that night and was able to sleep soundly. Sadly, Doug and Fiona both caught the stomach bug too within a couple hours of each other so they had a few more hours before relief came. Joe and Grandpa must have an insane immune system because neither of them caught it. Joe said this was just God's way of letting everyone know how he feels on a daily basis. Thursday was a big day. Our good friends Tanner and Anjalee were getting sealed and the Thrice concert was that night! We were able to drive down, attend their sealing, luncheon, and Menchies with the gang and get back in time to Cedar to pick up Kyle and Weston. The sealing was amazing. That was the first sealing I had attended since mine and Joe's  and to be honest our wedding day went by so quick  I really don't remember much of what was said in our sealing... except for something about a dream of cheerleaders! The sealer for the Trip's talked for quite some time and talked about the huge importance of marriage and the relationship between Man and Wife. A lot of beautiful and wonderful things were said during their sealing and I am so grateful they were because it brought back the sweet memories of our special day. We drove to Provo where we met up with Jarin and he hooked us up with some free and fresh Krispy Kreme donuts. (nothing compares) The concert was held at The Venue in Salt Lake City and it was packed by the time we got there. We bought our souvenir shirts early and were stoked for the concert to start. The concert was amazing. Thrice is Joe's all time favorite band and this is their last tour for probably forever. It was rather necessary that we were in attendance! I stayed closer to the back for majority of the concert while the boys ventured through the rowdy and rough crowd. I really think they all enjoyed theirselves to the fullest. We woke up early the next morning and drove back to Cedar before noon because Weston had to work. Joe and I napped for a good part of the day and then went to a neighborhood BBQ and had  a game night with our friends.

I've been working double shifts on Saturdays for the past 6-7 Saturdays... so I don't normally get to see Joe on those days. He's still working his two jobs so sometimes our work schedules don't quite line up and we don't see each other much on some days.. so we really try to make the most of the days we do! This past week I worked 6 shifts at the restaurant. I came home a few days making next to nothing which was really hard for me. Luckily the Summer Games officially started near the end of this week and things started to pick up! I came home working a double yesterday and I made out pret-ty good! If only every day was like that! 

This past week Joe and I mainly worked a lot. We got to hit some golf balls around a bit and we even went to the city pool on Friday! Joe needed a workout since I had gone to the gym while he was at work and so I thought it might be fun to try and swim the lazy river backwards! Unfortunately there were too many kids at the pool so.... I got my sun on while Joe did some lap swimming in the other pool. Oh my goodness it was such a fun day! I told Joe that we've got to spend time at an outside pool at least once a week! I miss the sun and need to get prepared for our future summer vacations ;) The opening ceremonies were on Thursday night and they were outstanding! Nitro Circus was the entertainment for the event and they put on a great show. And of course the ceremony was followed by a spectacular firework show. It was an awesome night with the frisbee team and friends. Today we were lucky enough to speak in Sacrament meeting. I wrote about a five minute talk (if I talked slow enough) and Joe was prepared to speak for a half hour if needed! For those who don't know.... public speaking is probably the most traumatic event that can take place for me... that or having to call someone I don't talk to regularly on the phone. We spoke with another couple and they took up the majority of the time... Joe and I had about ten minutes total. So, I read my talk extra fast so Joe could have time to speak! It worked out splendid for me! Today is Father's Day too. Both my parents and Joe's came to listen to us and it was awesome. I of course got teary once I started talking about Dad and Joe and how I thankful I am for them being worthy priesthood holders. We did a double dinner Sunday starting with my parents and ending back at home with Doug and Fiona. Both delicious meals! 

Well until next time! Enjoy the pictures :)

Weston, Kyle, Dantly, Joe and Jarin waiting for Thrice!

Getting pumped!

Pure enjoyment

Thrice

Hittin' a bucket of balls at the driving range.

The gang at the USG Opening Ceremonies!

My manly man 

Soaking up some sun at the pool!

Toads

It feels like summer is officially in motion for Joe and I and we are really enjoying the time off from school. Joe was able to get a TA job with one of the chemistry professors at the college so he is gone every morning of the week working at the Orthodontist or for the class. He's awesome. The restaurant business in Cedar is struggling right now because SUU is out and the "festival" season has yet to pick up... so it's been a little on the slow side for me at work but should pick up within the next couple of weeks.  Last weekend was Memorial Day weekend and Brady, Megan, Lucy, and Jude came to visit Joe and I. Unfortunately I worked double shifts on Saturday, Sunday and lunch on Monday so I wasn't really able to hang out with them which was a bummer. I think they all had a good time relaxing for the weekend... Joe said they even watched 3 movies in one day! (not quite his ideal Saturday activity ;) We also spent last Friday night with my family in St. George with a trip to the temple. It was rather last minute but a super fun trip. We rode down with Mom and Cassi and met up with Dad and Grandpa. Cassidy was able to baptisms while did initiatory's. We ate at Kneaders Bakery afterwards and then Grandpa showed us all his new home is buying-it happens to be a block from the temple. His dedication to work at the temple is amazing. Oh! This is important. As a wedding gift, Grandpa commissioned Del Parsons to paint a portrait of me. I sat for Del a few days ago and he handed me the painting to take home. It will be a prized possession to me for my entire life. What an amazing and beautiful gift.

  Joe has been increasing his training schedule for his triathlon too. He even started a blog called "Clydesdale'd" where he records and talks about workouts. He's awesome! We gotta get him some tri-apparel so he can feel comfortable during the race too. 

Our first lake trip of the summer happened last week. We went with a fun group of people and had a blast! The water was still pretty chilly for my liking but we had a great time swimming to the island to cliff jump and hang-out. I'm pretty sure I caught some sort of virus from the lake. I have been a congested/nasally mess for the past week. We'll see, maybe it's just horrible allergies!  

Since Joe and I still like eachother... a lot ( which we have come to find out that most people are surprised by?) we decided that we want to do date-nights every couple weeks when we can. Joe captained last week's date by taking me to the local restuarant/bar called Toads. I had purchased a Cedar Daily Deal a few days earlier so we could try it out for half the price. For a bar, it was surprisingly classy and nice. We ordered a virgin daiquiri, wings and Deseret to split. It was Kareoke night and we lasted about... oh... two county songs before we couldn't handle it anymore and left for a movie at home. We watched Ghost Protocol, it was pretty awesome. 

One of Joe's friends had his bachelor party this week too. Joe was sweet enough to leave after dinner and take me to Krave so I wasn't by myself the whole night. He has such a tender heart. 

Today we were able to attend our ward for church after two weeks of me having to miss because of work. A friend from high school just recently got married and moved in the ward so it was super nice having someone to talk to during Relief Society for once. Joe also got a calling today. He is the 1st counselor in the Sunday School Presidency. It was a new experience for the 2nd counselor in the bishopric to meet with both of us to give Joe his calling!  We were able to eat lunch with my family today. Mom had steak and salad for us. Dad got sick on Saturday and is still recovering from some food poisoning. Joe and I disovered I get my low tolerance for illness from my dad... He's sort-of a weenie ;) We came home to another delicious meal because Fiona thought today was Father's Day. It worked out to everyone's benefit with a delicious tri-fold for dessert. To finish this post off, today I gave my first haircut... and Joe was my tester! Fiona helped me 

but I think it turned out decent... we'll see what he thinks tomorrow. 

A picture from Toad's! 

This is just a funny picture from a while ago. I attempted banana bread and this is what happened when I flipped to cool! 

Krave... Seriously LOVE Krave. 

I get the same thing every time.

Frisbee fun at Sand Hallow

My husband is super impressive! He was able to stomp through the sand in no time :)

The lake gang!

Weston, me, Joe, AJ, Matt, Danny, Anjalee and Tanner

Solar Eclipse

I worked my first Sunday at Wingers today... I went almost two months without getting scheduled so it was bound to happen. Joe and I went to hear AJ talk at a 9:00am meeting so we could attend church together and take the Sacrament. We came home and I got ready for work. I "fueled up" so I could stay full the whole time while at work. To my surprise I opened today and they even had fresh baked cookies for us as a treat at work. I. LOVE. CHOCOLATE. CHIP. COOKIES. I can eat them like nobody's business. I had probably 2-3 large cookies at work and a another 3-4 brownies and cookies throughout the rest of the day. I wish eating sweets didn't make you feel like such a slob. Oh well, I can have an off day right?  Anyway, that was quite the passionate tangent! I got off from work in the early afternoon and trying to upkeep the reverent Sunday experience I turned on The Best Two Years while I waited for Joe to come home from Kyle's. I forgot how clever, cute and sweet that movie is. It was a great idea I thought. We ate dinner as a family and then started to prep for the solar eclipse. Doug and Joe have been looking forward to this for quite some time and the neatest part is that our area of Southern Utah was one of the best locations in the U.S. to view. Joe and I manned crazy Cedar City crowds on Friday to get the free solar glasses so we were ready to watch! Joe even managed to prep Fiona's camera with half of a pair of glasses so that they could capture a relapse of the eclipse. We had such an awesome time watching! It took about two hours for the entire eclipse to finish but man was it worth it! It was awesome. Such a fun night!

Joe and I watching the eclipse in our super cool free glasses

A picture from the "Trip to New York Date" I took Joe on this week. 

We visited the "Big Apple" starting with eating some faux deep-dish pizza by the Empire State Building/Lady Liberty. Joe then got $10 to purchase a souvenir to remind him of our trip. He bought an A&W rootbeer mug. He loves mugs fyi. Then we went to Central Park and played Scrabble! We finished the night with ritzy dessert at Krave.... because that is the most posh dessert place we have. The night was a success! 

Hanging out at the 1st annual Cedar City Soap Box Derby Race. Joe's boss Dr. Wilson entered a car and we went to support the cause!

Groomals!

These are a handful of my favorite from our Groomal session. Brad and Kathryn worked so well together and the results are obvious. Kathryn is awesome and has been editing these in her spare time. Seriously right?  They both are so talented and I could not be happier with how these turned out!