Straws are a Luxury: Fall '12 - Spring/Summer '13

Can you believe that for the past nine months I have not had one chance to update? It has been busy, busy for us. I know that I won’t remember everything that we’ve done in the past little while but I feel that something is better than nothing. At the beginning of November Joe and I moved out of his parents basement and into our first apartment. We found a little one bedroom place about two blocks from the school. It’s a hidden little gem above the office building that Joe works in with Dr. Wilson. We paid $425/month which for the location close to the university is a steal. I’m not sure why, but we moved in on a Monday. We split the moving up into big and small and I took the small after school before going to work and Joe and the boys brought in all the big stuff. This was our first time on our own since being married so we needed a quick midnight trip to Walmart to get some home necessities like toilet paper, trash cans and groceries! We really enjoyed living in that apartment. It was nice to finally be on our own and be a married couple. The location was perfect for us. We were both able to walk to classes and it was close enough that we could come home for lunch. Since I often worked at Winger’s most nights I didn’t get the chance to cook for Joe as much as I liked. He was a sweetheart and made do with what we had. He’s the better cook than me by far so he was probably better off anyway.
For Joe’s birthday he really wanted to do run a 5k. The Color Me Rad run was held in St. George a few days after his Birthday. Kyle ran with us too. It was surprisingly a really cold day in St. George and being up on the old airport made it very windy too. Running down the old airport strips was awesome, I thought the location was perfect. I’m not much of a runner but I tried to run most of it. Joe was sweet and walked with me whenever I needed too. Fiona also came down to support us and take pictures! It was a fun, fun time. Afterwards to celebrate we headed over to Red Robin and downed some delicious burgers for lunch! It was a really fun present for Joe.
We spent Thanksgiving with my family at the Clarks Cabin. Grandpa and Uncle Ray also came and it was a great time to spend with family. Janet made a delicious corn chowder that I dream about daily and Gary made a lionhouse baked apple recipe that was to die for! You know the food was good if 9 months later you can still remember it ;)
Finals week started off normal for us fall semester but I caught some stomach bug and ended up missing two finals while stuck puking my guts out. I was able to make-up one final easy but it took nearly the end of the next semester before I was able to pull a C out of a track and field class. Seriously. The lesson to be learned here is to not get sick during finals.
Christmas was spent doing a halfsies with both families. It’s both a blessing and a curse to have our families living in the same city. My parents took us for the weekend to Salt Lake City for some Christmas festivities. We stayed two nights in downtown SLC. The hotel was in walking distance to the Gateway and City Creek so we did our fair share of shopping! We also spent time at temple square seeing the lights. Dad got everyone tickets to see The Savior of the World which was a beautiful play of Christ. It really hit home to what Christmas is all about. Before leaving on Sunday we went to the Music and Spoken Word. This is my dad’s favorite thing in the world. It’s very sweet how much he enjoys it.
For New Year’s we flew out with Doug and Fiona to visit the Hatches in Dallas for about a week. We got to meet Briggs for the first time and just spend time with family.

Finishing off the last semester of school was tough for the both of us. I (more often than not) worked every night. I wasn’t able to work lunches with my school schedule so dinner shifts became the usual for me. It was hard for Joe and I, we didn’t get to see each other as often as we would’ve liked. We did have our hour lunch breaks with each other which usually consisted of a quick sandwich. We became really good at taking advantage of the time with each other when we did have it. Usually it meant a date night. Going to get some dinner and fro-yo from Krave or something along those lines. We also would hit up Doug and Fiona’s for some delicious free dinner and a movie often too. We spent a lot of time with them and it was actually really fun and something we really miss now that we are away.
About a week or two before our anniversary we decided that we were going to Disneyland. After a few weeks of trying to book hotels in different cities or trying to go certain places it just ended up being just as much money to go to Disney. So why not choose Disney? And of course it wouldn’t be a Disney trip without Kyle so he and Weston came along for our 4 day trip spring break trip to Anaheim. (drive day, Disney day, Disney day, drive day) We were able to afford a 2-day park hopper so we spent Monday at California Adventure and Tuesday at Disneyland. The highlights of that trip were. 1) The new Carsland at California Adventure 2) Watching Joe and Kyle eat a dozen churros a day 3) Watching Weston only eat Z-Bars the entire trip to cut on cost 3) Eating at the Blue Bayou (the ride inside Pirates of the Caribbean) as an anniversary present from the Tophams 4) Packing four PB&J’s each to eat throughout the day—to again cut on cost. We really had so much fun on that trip. Going with good friends who are equally as passionate about Disney makes a difference. We opened and closed the parks each day and maximized fast passes. It was and still is one of my favorite Disney trips we have been on. Having Cush’s home so close to Disney makes the Disney trip even more fun because we have somewhere close to stay. We left CA on Wednesday to get back in time for everyone to work for the rest of spring break.
For our actual anniversary Joe surprised me big time! He had been working for his parents and selling crochet hats to friends to earn some secret money. He bought me an Ipad!! He was so super sweet about it and gave me a card with pictures of people wearing the hats he had sold. I couldn't believe he had done so much for me! One of the most thoughtful and best gifts ever! I gave him the biggest waffle iron ever which he loved but his present was definitely the best :)
Over Easter break Doug and Fiona took us with them to Frisco for Brigg’s sealing. We spent the weekend with them and really took the time to see Frisco. After talking with Brian we had decided that after graduation we would move-in with them and Joe could work with Brian’s company. This trip was also an opportunity for Joe to interview and see if this was something he would be interested in.
While looking back through my agenda it seems that April was completely packed of school, work and about nothing else. We did go to the temple on a date night ( we usually tried to make it to the temple at least once a month if not twice.) Those last couple weeks of school were pretty brutal for Joe. He was scheduled to take the DAT less than a week after graduation which meant that he not only had finals to study for but also the biggest test of his life so far. Joe put in hours every day studying. He really is such a dedicated person and it something that I truly admire about him. We graduated on May 4, 2013. Joe received his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and I received mine in Physical Education. We were able to walk together which was pretty special. It was a pretty fun day for us. Both our parents were able to attend and even Grandma Thomas was there for the event. We went to breakfast after with Doug and Fiona and then my parents hosted a BBQ for everyone at their place. It was just a fun day spent with family.
The day finally came for Joe to take the Dat. It was scheduled in St. George and we headed down there early so that we could get a good power breakfast in beforehand. While Joe took the test I shopped around in St. George eagerly waiting for his phone call saying he was done. When he did the first thing he said when he got in the car was “I literally felt like I was cheating!” We bought a DAT study book about 3 weeks before the test and Joe studied that book religiously! And his score definitely showed all his hard work. He scored a 23- in the 90%. He rocked it that’s all there is to say. That day has meant so much to him because his opportunities for dental school are great needless to say. We quickly drove back to cedar and literally packed our bags in about 2 hours and headed up north to catch some flights. Joe was headed to the Dominican Republic for a whole week for a medical service trip. This would be the first time we would be apart for so long. Joe was so nice and sent me to North Carolina for the week to spend with Clint and Chad while he was gone. I don’t think I would have been able to handle being home in Cedar by myself for a whole week! It was a fun week for the both of us. Joe was able to receive some valuable hands on experience working with two dentists and getting to know some finer things of dentistry. I hate speaking for him but I think he really enjoyed playing with the kids and getting to see a beautiful country. I heard they played a lot of Jenga and ate tons of fresh fruits which he loved. He did have a little scare. He was pricked by a needle but after a series of tests he was clear of any diseases. Thank goodness! After that blew over I think he really enjoyed his trip. For me, North Carolina was a real good time. I was able to meet Nora and Lexington and they were as adorable as could be. I enjoyed playing and handing out with Skyler cause that kid is just too fun. Being able to spend time with my brothers was also a highlight of my trip because lets be honest I missed them! Joe and I met back up in Salt Lake and we drove straight to Cedar so we could pack and then hitch a ride with Doug and Fiona to Las Vegas. And just guess where we were going this time? Disneyworld!! Oh, yeah! Joe and I had been saving our FAFSA refund from after we got married for this trip! It was kinda a graduation gift to ourselves. The Hatches, Joes parents, Brian’s parents, and Brain’s sister and brother in law were all going too. We all rented a house in Kissimmee and split the cost of the rooms used. Geo (Brian’s brother in law) is a US Marine so he was able to score us discount tickets to Disney and our flights were paid for with our airline credit card miles. So, just for the record this trip ended up costing us less than probably 1,500. We were going to make this happen can you tell we were really excited? Being back in Florida was so hot! We were all dying of the heat and humidity. It was pretty fierce for those of us used to the dry heat. The water tasted like sewer water and I had a really hard time chugging it down. We usually bought about 10 bottles in the park plus a soda. It was definitely necessary. Everyone decided on a park a day and we would go together. Unfortunately, not everyone is as passionate about Disney as Joe and I and it was pretty hard to get people out of the house in the morning to get there for park opening. We were always ready to go and not so patiently waiting at the door for people. Since our group was rather big we tried to stay together but that was a near impossible feat. Joe and I are very quick moving so we definitely had to change our pace to be with everyone. Almost every day it rained around 3-4 and usually everyone else went home. This helped the weather cool down so we stuck through the rain and would either change parks or go ride more rides. We of course maximized our fast passes! We rode all the classics and enjoyed riding a few more. My favorite is always Animal Kingdom. I just love seeing exotic animals that I can’t see anywhere else! We did spend one day at Universal Studios so we could visit the new Harry Potter land! Boy, was that an experience. I honestly felt like I was in the movie! The castle was epic, the butterbeer was as tasty as can be and riding the most epic ride made this such an experience! Harry Potter land was Joe’s favorite part of the trip I think ;)
And since we were in Florida we of course had to squeeze in a beach day! Doug was so nice and was completely on board driving two hours to go the best beach in the entire world. Siesta Key! Man, I felt like I was in paradise being back home at Siesta Key. It was fantastic. The water was clear and the sand was as white as I remember. It was a great that we squeezed in the beach day in the middle of our park days to help rejuvenate and relax. Mmmm, I loved being there. We had such a fun time in Florida. It was fun to just play with Joe and see so many fun things and eat even more delicious foods. It was seriously a great trip! I’m already to go back.
When we finally got back to Cedar we packed up our apartment and spent one final weekend with family before heading to Texas. We towed our car behind a 20 footer uhaul and headed to Texas on June 5. Joe ended up driving the entire time because well I didn’t feel super confident driving that truck with the car and I also wasn’t insured on the truck. We drove for three days… we didn’t want to push it too much. We made a detour and visited the Grand Canyon which Joe had never seen! Crazy right? We would decide which city to make it to by about 3 and I would book a hotel. It was such a fun adventure for the both of us. I loved being able to be with Joe all day talking and laughing. Moments like those three days don’t come very often and I really cherished that drive. We got to Texas and unloaded the truck in a night. Ali and Brian had a room for us that luckily had an attic closet attached because most of our stuff won’t get used while staying here in Texas. We put up our bed, dressers, and bookcase and made our room up. Being back in one room is a little bit of a bummer but we are so grateful that Ali and Brian have opened up their home to us to help us save money and prepare for Dental School.
Joe was able to land a job as a ortho assistant with Pacific Dental. He travels quite a bit but he gets paid really well and even has benefits. I have a super part-time job working at a frozen yogurt stand. It works because it is close to our home and I can ride my bike since we have one car. We are excited for our many adventures in Texas and even more excited to see where we will be in a year when Joe heads off to dental school.
This was a choppy update I understand, but some information is better than none right?
Loves!

And a couple pictures of all the fun times we've been having