Rewind...

Thanks to a fellow blogger friend, I've decided to post a few photos that were taken earlier this summer when my mom and dad from MINN (also known as in-laws) came to visit. We took a quick drive to Moab, then a fun but challenging hike up to Lake Blanche. Both amazing sites and within about a 5 hour drive of eachother..amazing..Utah is pretty!!

Jake at THE delicate arch

A view under the Broken arch

Cassie sitting on the edge of the world in Canyonlands

These are cairns, marking the paths back in Arches National Park...(that's the name of the city where the Great Barrier Reef is in Australia...Cairns..i never knew what it meant..it's amazing when you learn new things.

Mary wanting to touch the tree. The real story is she and Mike are quite nervous getting close to the edge. Way to face your fears Mary...we're proud of ya!..

In Canyonlands...both challenging fears and dominating!! It was soo beautiful down there..a bit warm, but worth it...right?...giggles

This speaks for itself.

Jake sitting looking at the aspens on our way down from the Lake Blanche hike. We were all quite exhausted.

At the top....what a view

again..this was on the way up...the waterfall...trickling all the way down...God's beauty is so awe inspiring...

Thanks for the awesome photo Mary

This mirror image was such a sight. I printed it out..and when I got it back from snapfish (a plug for such an awesome online printing company!!) I couldn't tell which side was up...So pretty..I love it when i stumble onto such beautiful places...doesn't really matter what kind of photographer I am...so pretty....We need to do at least one more hike before the craziness of the fall starts up.

Journey to the Center of the Earth

it's 3D and i thought quite enjoyable. Including Brenden Frasier spitting his toothpaste out and hitting us all in the face. I want to read the book now...the movie was well done ...although was it really necessary to pay an extra $2 per person because of the 3D? And it seems like this new phenomenon..or old one/refurbished won't be stopping anytime soon..their were previews for more to come...guess I should keep the plastic nerd looking glasses they gave us in the theater to reuse..not that that will give us any kind of discount on any future 3D film that we see...(says the sign hanging over the booth where you purchase your tix.) Marketing and money in this world...wow..can we ever get away from it? giggle.perhaps..then again..

maybe not.

the love of family

so...today is teusday ( i always have to consciously think how to spell that word....) normally i'd be working, jake'd be working...but not today. we were going to go to Lagoon with my godsisters kids --also known as my nieces and nephews...but after looking at the prices we decided to postpone that until labor day weekend....we'll see how busy it is when they offer tix at half price...

anyhoo...so instead my sister calls and says i should still come over and we'll hang with the mom and kids and see what happens.

part of me wanted to sleep in..(which i did after staying up till 2am playing pirates on facebook stealing all my husbands money...) and just lay around finishing harry potter and the half blood prince (my first time reading it...i'm on the edge of my seat)..but then i thought about how busy i'm going to be once the school year starts again...so it turns out jake got the day off and mom thought i'd be fun to go bowling and maybe take in a cheap movie with the kids...so here i am on the day two of my best friends will be leaving the north american continent to travel their brains out over seas and...practically around the world..(europe but still it's a long ways away and a different world of it's own.) checking their blogs, going to see Journey to the center of the earth with my loved ones and bowling. I think its fun when you can do something out of the norm with people you love and who love you...all while remembering to smile and fully enjoy the life i'm living.

God is awesome.

thanks for reading and remember to smile the rest of your day as well.

2 years and counting

July 24, 2006
My family and I and a couple of wonderful friends arrived into Beira, Mozambique to an orphanage called Kedesh. We set out on a view of the new property and was introduced to 5 other people who were there volunteering. One was a tall man marked with 2 months of African traveling facial hair wearing a red t-shirt. Somehow two weeks later I had fallen hard and fast in love with this man...and being of two minds....I think he felt the same. Needless to say 5 months later he joined me in Salt Lake City, 2 months after that confessed he loved me, 4 months after that he asked me to spend the rest of my life with him as his wife atop Sugarloaf mountain in Rio DeJaneiro, Brasil, and 4 months after that we were married. Now 9 months later we celebrate 2 years of knowing eachother. As much as I have enjoyed my life these some 27 years. I must say the last two have exceeded any expectation I have had about what life can really be like. I thank my husband for being the best he can be and for trying to be more everyday. and I want to thank God for smiling down on me that day in Africa and reassuring me that I would see Jake again and for being so faithful in everything!

I think i'm a freak...

I work a lot..some might say too much. Something that happens anytime I have a day off...or even a morning off...I get anxious that I will have nothing to do. I fee as if I am wasting my time. I know that relaxing is important, but when it comes to me sitting alone in my apartment...just tryig to figure out what I can do to get me to 3:00 without taking a nap....sigh. You'd think I'd embrace the quiet, read, put my laundry away and think....this is good for me. But my first thought always seems to be....what should I do today....what CAN i do today. It could have something to do with me not enjoying going places alone. I am a bit of a social person....Who knows.
I am reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. This is the first time I've read through the HP books. Jake is reading them as well. I consider it a bit of a race...but really I think his reading just keeps me motivated to not put it down...that competitor in me I guess..
I could go play pirates on facebook some more,but intead I suppose I'll get off this computer....and just read and enjoy my quiet morning to myself...
thanks for listening...

missing you already

Two of my dearests left early this morning for the first part of their 6 month long journey...the first stop New York. I'm happy that they have taken this opportunity to explore the world, I'm a bit sad that I was left behind. Don't get me wrong...if I had known two and a half years ago when we started planning this trip that I would be sitting here in the present with 9 months of marriage under my belt...well I don't know what I would have done at the time, but I'm glad I was at least apart of some of the planning and research that went into this jaunt half way across the world.
I look forward to my future...who knows what will happen...California? School? Antarctica..(well I do know that one will happen..smiles.) I embrace the path that God has planned for me and I pray that I will have a smile on my face through it's entirety. For my long, but not lost friends out there...be bold and brave and live it to the fullest for all of us that are...doing business back home.