1st's

Here is yet another blanket post of some of the things that have happened in the not too distant past, specifically some firsts for Valerie and me.

1st 5K

Val decided to shock me once again with one of her spur-of-the-moment ideas. One day she told me that she was planning to run a 5k the next weekend and needed me to look it up and register her. I had no idea she had any interest in running, but she decided she wanted to do it (with a little help from her friend Melissa) and nothing was going to stop her. I know it doesn't require a lot of training like a marathon does, but she has been working out a lot lately and keeping herself in shape and it was just one more thing she did that made me proud of her. She has a way of doing little things like that all the time that inspire me to be a better person and to do more in my life, so thanks for that Val! I love you!!!

1st House

We finally decided we didn't want any money left over after paying our bills each month and buying a house seemed like a quick and easy way to take care of that. We are thankful to have a place of our own and to have enough space for all of our things now. So no worries family members who's homes have been acting as our personal storage units for several years now, we will finally be taking our stuff back, that's if you aren't already using it of course. Thanks to all those who have helped us out so much with the home-buying process and especially those who helped with the move. We can't thank you enough!

1st Project

Well as all the homeowners know, there is always a project to do, and we are glad to say that we have one of them out of the way. The one thing that we didn't know how to handle was the lack of closet space in the master bedroom. Yes, technically it is a walk-in, but it is taller than it is long or wide with 15 foot vaulted ceilings, and since you can't walk up the wall it wasn't really serving it's purpose. We didn't know what to do, but decided to just make a plan and go for it. We drew up a plan one night, and when we had it the way we wanted we called our GREAT friend Jared to see if he would bring his tools up and help us out. The next weekend he was here with his awesome wife and son and we went to work, well he and I anyway. Val and Brittany watched Parker and supervised the project. We built the whole thing in half a day, and Val and I caulked, puttied, and painted the next day, and by that night we were putting our clothes in. It was nice to see it come together just the way we had planned it and in such a short amount of time. It gives us hope that we can actually do some of the things we want to around here, but we couldn't have done it without Jared and his expertise and tools so once again, Thank you Jared! It is so nice to have our clothes on shelves instead of piles on the floor. Up was the only way we could go so we went up! The highest shelf is 9 1/2 feet tall, so needless to say a new step ladder was on the list of materials for this build.

1st Place Teacher!!!

Val has been loving her job, and I guess you can say she is doing pretty well at it too! If anyone has found there calling in life I think it is her. She, along with Rachel the other Special Ed teacher at A.F. Junior High have been doing some amazing things for the program there and they are starting to get recognition for it, which is pretty awesome when you consider that they both just finished their first full year of teaching. I won't go too much into detail about how it happened, you can talk to Val and I'm sure she would love to tell the story, but I will just say the parent of one of her students nominated her for the KSL Teacher Feature Teacher of the Week and she won. It was a big surprise to Val, so much so that when her principal pulled her aside to give her the heads-up that she had won she thought she was in trouble. Anyway, it was a great honor for her and it all came because of the love that she has for the work she does and for each one of her students! It was also a pretty sweet deal with all the prizes she got. Here is the link for the nomination letter and below are the details for all the goodies she got.

1. Free night at Anniversary Inn

2. A pair of season tickets to Hale Centre Theatre

3. $100 to La Caille (Plus the banquet for all this year's winners that was held at La Caille also)

4. $200 gift card to Smith's Market Place for class supplies

They also gave her a plaque and some other little things at the banquet along with the short feature on the Grant and Amanda show. All together it was pretty exciting for us. Thanks again Rachel for all of your help! You girls make a great team!

Arizona!

Ok, so I know that this was a long time ago, but let's just face it, I am so behind! For Thanksgiving we went to my parent's house in AZ. I loved eating and reading on their back patio. I would LOVE to make this a permanent tradition for Thanksgiving!

After we completely filled up our bellies and let it settle, we went on a hike and watched the sunset. It felt so good to do something active after eating so much!

I think palm trees are BEAUTIFUL! I wish that we could have them in Utah. But then that would mean that we would have to be hot all year round. NO THANK YOU then. I would prefer just visiting palm trees! See you again this coming November, I'm crossing my fingers!

The next day we all went to a ghost town where I attempted to take family photos of my sister and her husband and boys. With a lot of Kristina's help I was able to get a few good ones in. I should probably post some of those pictures. Well that will give you something to look forward to for later! This is me and my brother eating some ice cream.

1st Disney Experience!

I am 26 years old and this was my very first time I have ever been to DISNEYLAND. (Yes, I know that I was a deprived child.) For many years now I have had family and friends tell me everything about it, what to do when you are there, their favorite things there, etc. Since I am not a young (un-deprived) girl going for her first time, I thought that I could tell you what things I learned while at Disneyland.

#1. I learned that Sully is very nice in person!

#2. I learned that despite Captain Hook's huge friendly smile on his face, he may try to still your ring. Huh, Gentry!

#3. I learned that if you show your excitement to be at Disneyland people may take your picture and put it as a screen saver without your permission!

#4. I learned that Mallory is a little dare devil on Dumbo, going up and down with ease. I must say that I am really glad that her and I got to go on this for our 1st time together!

#5. I learned that my husband belongs to a secret club, so secret that I really shouldn't be posting this online. I retract statement #5 .

#6. I learned that the best time to be in the park is when it is raining. You can get on a ride without a wait and possibly get stuck on a ride!

#7. I learned that at the Happiest Place on Earth the signs really mean the opposite of what they say and that this particular ride you may walk off without your phone. Huh, Jannie!

#8. This one is for Sally! I learned that if one of your dear friends comes to visit you in Disneyland don't let them leave without taking a picture together. This was the best I could do. By the way Sally, I LOVED this drink right up to the last sip!

#9. I learned that when you buy a Dole Whip they make it to look like the Matterhorn. By "they," I really mean Brandt. The things you waste your time on.

#10. I learned that the LONG wait to get on this ride is very worth it! It was one of my top rides!

#11. I learned that I really like to take cheesy pictures!!! Look what might be a screen saver now. I just need to brake into your work now. Karma, karma, karma!

#12. I learned that when you go for your first time that they decorate it for your favorite holiday. Thanks you guys for calling them in advance for me. It really made it extra special!

#13. I learned that no matter what kind of shoes you bring, you will get bruises on your feet from walking like a pioneer walked, and walked, and walked, and walked. But worth every second.

#14. I learned that you can't control little kids that may at the last second decide to pop into your perfectly good picture. Some people's children. Oh look, her dad is doing it too. That's where she gets it from.