Thursdays are bitter sweet

I can not decide whether I like Thursdays anymore. My first thought when I woke up this morning was, "Only one more day until Jake comes home!!!", but by the end of the day when I'm sitting around with nothing to do for the fourth day in a row it turns into, " I haven't seen my husband in four days and it is making me really sad." So here we are at the end of the day when life has settled into it's Thursday evening state of sadness, and I'm wondering- why in the world is Taco Bell my comfort food?!?   It's 11:45 pm. I have to wake up at 6:30 and I am really going to regret eating that double decker taco when I'm tossing and turning all night from reflux. Darn you Thursdays- you are going to be the death of me...

On a brighter note, I did spend some time making a tree out of things I could find around the house. This is going to be Jake and I's first Christmas tree... made out of scarves, pushpins, tape, and paper. You might say it's ghetto- I prefer creative, but I can put presents under it and we're leaving for Virginia in 11 days where we will be surrounded by Christmas decorations so I don't care. Jake told me he would cut down a tree for me but it would be kinda pointless since we're only going to be home another week and a half. I was tired of my apartment looking anti-Christmas so here it is: (it even has a heart ornament that says J+D: Our first Christmas 2010)

I even stashed it in the corner of the room so it was out of the way of everything.. haha.

Bottom line: Sometimes all I want is a simple happy life full of simple happy things. 

Wilson Phillips says it best: 

Don't you know things can change
Things'll go your way
If you hold on for one more day
Can you hold on for one more day
Things'll go your way
Hold on for one more day...

If the words don't cheer you up the music video will because all 80s music videos are ridiculous. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIbXvaE39wM

Keep Moving, Keep living. Keep rejoicing.

"Our Father in Heaven expects you to have enough faith and determination, and enough trust in Him, to keep moving, keep living, keep rejoicing. In fact, He expects you not simply to face the future; He expects you to embrace and shape the future—to love it and rejoice in it and delight in your opportunities. God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has."
-Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

This quote was on a blog of a friend’s and it was just what I needed to read today. This week has been an emotional week for me even though it has been no different from others as of lately. Jake and I have had a crazy chain of events happen to us recently with no end in sight, and it isn’t always easy to step back and look at what is really happening. We are trying to take our trials and learn from them... so what am I learning from it all?

*Plans change.

*Goals change.

*Marriages can be strengthened through adversity.

*You can fall in love with your spouse all over again every week-or in our case every weekend.

*Families and friends are incredible support systems.

*Prayers are answered and Heavenly Father molds you into the person He knows you can be.

Jake and I have been given a chance to reevaluate our goals and dreams. We have been given the opportunity to see what is really important and realize there is absolutely no time to sweat the small stuff. I’m learning to not fret over things I can not change. As Jake always says, “There’s no point in getting mad about anything because it won’t change what is going on and it only makes things worse for everyone around.”

Thank you Dad for reminding me this week that I need to “focus on the positive and not-as your mother says- invite negativity into your life”. :)
My first thought was- you’re right.
My second thought was-Dad you’ve been around Mom too long.
And my third thought was- I have incredible parents. I love you both so much!

So here I go, these are some of my positive thoughts and pictures of things that have made me smile last month:

Our picture from the Superheroes 5k last year is the main picture on this year's registration page along with Brian and his girls on the front page.

Blaine and Jake still think one day I'll be a country girl.

 

Jake will always be a big kid and our lives will never be boring.

Compost/bark piles make great sledding hills.

We're in love

We can laugh at ourselves.

Christmas is in 21 days and I get to leave all this snow and enjoy time in VA & PA!

 

 

The Rowley's sure do live in the Real World

If you thought the hayride was adventure enough for yesterday-you were wrong....

read Chelsea's blog here if you would like to hear about our Midnight Madness.... oh i love my life!

A weekend away

Jake had an insane schedule this weekend where I wouldn't have been able to see him at all, so I packed up and came down to good 'ol Santaquin,Utah. I'm on vacation because the schools get out for Spud Harvest, so I'll go back up to Idaho on Wednesday. I miss Jake, but it's always fun to hang out with the Rowley bunch. Tonight we went to the Red Barn and went on a hayride. It got cold fast out there! But here are some pictures from our adventure:

I didn't want to upload all the pictures, but they were all really cute.

Island Park Cabin

Last weekend Jake and I went with his family to their cabin in Island Park. I love going up there for multiple reasons: the first being that the cabin is special to me because that was where Jake took me on our first date. (Yes, I met the family on the first date!)  Second, I love going there because it's beautiful. Third, we get a chance to get away from EVERYTHING because we're away from school and work and we can barely even get cell phone service there. It was fun to get away for the weekend and just spend time with my husband. Don't get me wrong- it's awesome to spend time with the family, but my favorite part was just being with Jake. Things are so hectic during the week that some nights we barely get to see each other for an hour before we're both in bed asleep. People always say enjoy the present because you will never get it back, but sometimes I still wish is was July 2011 because Jake will be done with school! I used to look forward to the weekends, but even those are cut short most of the time now too.... ok, I'll quit complaining. Back to the cabin-

we brought the kayaks so naturally we spent time in them every day that we were up there. 

 

In this one we were sharing a kayak. 

and the next one is just Jake being Jake:

 

Yes, he did ride that down the dock and into the water... 

Anyways, on Saturday we went for a little drive and went fishing by a creek that Blaine used to camp at when he was logging up there as a teenager. I always like his stories... he told us about how everyone would make pancakes in the mornings and he would always clean out the batter bowl. After a week or so of doing that every morning, he noticed that the little fish (Brookies) would all gather a little downstream when he would walk up and eat the batter. It was a cute story. 

 

And here are the little fish that we caught

 

That may or may not be a face of pure fear and disgust. I do not like fish. They freak me out. They are slimy, floppy, it looks like they gasp for air with their nasty gills when you take them out of water, and they just creepily stare at you because they never blink. Ew. But I held it for Jake because I love him and he really wanted to take this picture. 

Bleh! It gives me the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it. 

And to make matters worse, Jake is a total country boy who has grown up outside his whole life, so where did he keep the fish that he caught and wanted to eat later? His pocket.The cut up worms are in there too. SICK!

Big Springs was the adventure for Sunday. Jake and I also went up there on our first date. The water is crystal clear there and everyone goes up there to feed the trout. Not too far away from there we went on a hike up to an old look-out tower. They took out the first flight of stairs to discourage anyone from going up there but it didn't work too well. 

 

It was a great weekend spent with good friends and a great family. The weather was perfect and I'm a little sad that it is going to start getting colder every day from here on out... but that's ok... I love being able to wear all my cute coats and scarves I've acquired over the years!

First Haircut

On Sundays Jake and I like to go out to his parent’s house and enjoy family dinner. Last Sunday we couldn’t stay very long because Jake had to work at the station that night, but we somehow found enough time to go on a walk before dinner. Jake rode the tandem bike up to the front door and told me my limo had arrived, so I jumped on and we rode down to the river. We started to walk through an obnoxious path of trees, vines, and weeds and for the life of me I could not figure out why Jake was making me walk that way. Finally he told me that he had seen some moose down the path we were walking so our walk quickly turned into a moose hunt. After 15 minutes we found some, but they were hiding and we scared them off. I’ll I got to see was a butt of a moose-RIPOFF! So kept walking and moved a motion sensor camera that Jake’s dad had set up so he could monitor the animals and figure out where the best place to hunt was, and on our way back I started to complain about how I was never going to see a boy moose with paddles. As soon as I said that, Jake stopped and told me to look to my side. To the right of me there was a family of moose; a dad, a mom, and a baby which was precious. I like to see them because they are incredible creatures, but I am scared to death of them. They are apparently very hostile animals-especially when there is a baby involved. So I watched them start to walk away and the hop the little creek. It was funny to watch them hop the creek one by one because the little baby went last and stopped because it had to think about how it was going to jump it for a few seconds before it would take the leap.

Anyways, back to the title of the blog “First haircut”. We ate dinner and only had about 40 minutes before we had to leave when Jake said “Hey want to give me a haircut?” I thought he was joking but he wasn’t. I have never given a haircut to anyone before so I was really nervous and really didn’t want to make my husband look like a moron. I learned how to use a taper and used three different sized clippers on Jake’s hair and it actually turned out ok. Everyone said it looked nice and Jake didn’t have to go straight to a barber after my attempt. He told me for a few days after that it looked good and I believe him because when he got his hair cut before our wedding he hated it and he complained about it for the next 2 weeks.

This is when I first started buzzing it off:

And this will be us in 25 years: (Jake’s Mom and Dad)

 

Kayaking Palisades

Adventure is our middle name. Well, we try to make it that anyways. Jake and I try to think of fun new things to do during the time that we actually get to see each other. We both have multiple jobs and Jake is in the Paramedic Program at school so we really only spend time together on the weekends IF he doesn’t have to cover a shift…. And there are plenty of Saturdays and Sundays where that is the case. So a few weekends ago when I got off of work we drove out to Palisades and went kayaking. Jake has been kayaking before, but I had not. Palisades is where he proposed, so I always love going back up there. It was a beautiful day, but it was a little chilly outside. In the pictures you can see snow on the tops of the mountains… and yes it is only September! Here are a few of the pictures from our trip. I didn’t flip and stayed pretty dry throughout the trip, so I think voyage number one was a success. 

2 more days and we've been married a month!

Click here to view this photo book larger

I really should post pictures but you can look at my shutterfly
book for a quick overview of wedding events or check out
pictures on my facebook if you would like!! 

Wedding pictures

Last week was busy, but the next two will be busier!

First things first- Jake and I started moving everything into our new apartment! Jake finished the middle piece of the bed frame and threw the twin mattress for our guest bed on top of it to text me a picture while I was napping last Saturday. This is what it looks like completely put together in our cozy new  home:

I'll post more pictures up when we've finished settling in. 

Also big news- we've found someone to make our wedding cake and we have both agreed on what it will look like. This is the cake that will be at the Idaho reception:

I found the perfect truck on Ebay to make this cake possible. It came in the mail last week and I found a  climbing fireman that should be in the mail today! This is the truck we will use:

It has lots of little lights and sounds to go with it :)

I spent weeks trying to find the perfect truck and firefighter and I'm relieved that everything is taken care of. All we need now is a little bride to stick on top! And while I was searching for all of these firefighting accessories I found this awesome shirt that I just had to have:

"The only thing tougher than a firefighter is a firefighter's wife"

Amen.

This is a sneak peek of what Jake will look like on our wedding day. He saw this tux and HAD to have it for the big day. 

We were in and out of the store in 15 minutes. Fastest decision for the wedding ever made. 

And speaking of weddings- Nadia got married on Friday! 

Nadia has been my roommate for the last 2 years and we have become very close friends. It has been a lot of fun watching her and Bryce go from friends to a relationship and now husband and wife. They are amazing friends and I am so glad that we are only going to live one street away from each other. She'll still be my best friend and neighbor... we just won't share a room anymore!   

Nadia and Bryce Woodhouse

I have more pictures, but I'm still living my nomad life right now so I can not locate my camera cord. I'll go to the apartment later today and try to find it because Nadia was looking gorgeous! I love ya girl! 

Jake and I are next! Only 11 days and 27 minutes to go!!

Using a shoe would be too easy...

Jake and I went on a walk the other day and when we got back Chuckie (Jake's little sister Carlie) was yelling for Jake to get upstairs. She found a gross albino spider crawling on the ceiling and the next thing I hear is get the Nerf gun! This is no regular Nerf gun i might add- it has a red "laser" so you know exactly where you are shooting. Yes, my fiance is 25 years old... and yes, I am still excited to marry him. Life will never be dull or boring.

It might have taken him a few shots to kill it, but it was entertaining none the less.

Now here's a gross update....
I took a few pictures on my phone of our beloved baby moose that died awhile back. It's gross- I know, but I've only seen images like this on horror movies...

After seeing this, I decided that if I ever get attacked by a moose and it tries to bite me that I will stick my arm in the huge gap of empty gums behind it's front teeth. Thank you baby moose, I've learned a hand full about wilderness safety on this walk.