Three Weddings!!!

This summer was pretty busy with three of my best friends getting married. Tara Johnson was married to David Nielsen on June 11, 2009 in the Mt Timpanogas Temple in American Fork, Utah. Sarah Russell was married to Evan Stout in the Seattle Temple in Bellevue, Washington on August 1, 2009 and Jamie Taylor was married to Chris Clark on August 8, 2009 in the Salt Lake Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah. I was fortunate to be in attendance at all three of these weddings. They were all beautiful brides and I honestly believe that it is nothing short of a miracle when two people fall in love and the connection happens. I am thrilled for all of them! The best part about it is that I love all three of the guys, too! I am now hoping that I get to follow in their footsteps someday! :)

A Trip to Mexico...

I have a good friend of mine, Tenille, who is not afraid to go exploring with me. We get in the car and just drive. We have had so much fun seeing what is around the area and also just having our girl bonding time. Some of the places that we have gone? Well, we have ended up at the Naval Base in Bremerton, the foothills of Mt. Rainier, the beach at Ocean Shores and you guessed it...we went and paid a visit to the troll that lives under the bridge in Fremont. We called this excursion "troll hunting." I thought it was very interesting how many comments I got on my facebook status when I posted that I was going "troll hunting." The dating scene at times might feel like that but I can assure you our troll hunting was a bit more adventurous this particular night. :) Not only did we find the troll, but we also found some other cement figures that were dressed up as if they were having a big celebration. We couldn't resist taking some pictures with our new found friends. :) (If you are interested in finding out more about the Fremont Troll visit this website: www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2236

So, why do we call our adventures, "Going to Mexico?" It all started when I told Tenille about an experience I had while I was living in Arizona. I lived there for only six months and was there just so that I could do my undergraduate internship. Anyways, one night while I was there I was hanging out with a couple of my friends. We had been to dinner, played games, watched movies, etc. It was midnight and none of us were tired. We were thinking about what we could do and were talking about how none of us had been to Mexico. Then one guy blurted out, "Let's go to Mexico." So, that's exactly what we did. We got in my car and drove down to Mexico. We even made it across the border without any problems. We got there around 4 AM and let me tell you...the only thing that is happening in Nogales at that time of night is the bar thing. We obviously didn't want this and so we took some pictures of our adventure, walked around for an hour and jumped back in the car and headed home. It was...and might still be...the most random thing that I have ever done. So, when I told Tenille about this, she drove to Ocean Shores on a whim and thus, we began our Mexico trips. :)

Spring Break...2009

Mom, Me, Adanna Walker and Diana Hughes at General Conference

before Adanna left for her mission to Baltimore...

too bad the picture is a bit blurry.

The Butela Family...Josh, Julia and Anderson

My cute cousin, Shauna, and her cute little baby girl, Elena.

Doesn't even look like she had a baby!!! What in the world?

Cute Baby Elena...such a sweetie!

Joaquin as the boat driver at the Aquarium.

One of the perks about being an educator is definitely the fact that we get breaks throughout the year. At the end of March, we had our Spring Break. This time, I decided to go back to Utah to visit my family and see some of my friends. Some of the people that I enjoyed most this Spring Break were my cousin, Shauna, and her cute kids. I actually got to meet my cute little Elena for the first time during this trip. I love these kids and although they are technically not my "niece and nephew", I have adopted them to be so. Joaquin knows that he has me wrapped around his little finger. Shauna's good friends from Spokane were also in town while I was there so I got to spend some time with them, too. Julia and Josh and their cute little Anderson actually live in the Tacoma area. It was fun to see them in Utah, too. They are an awesome little family! I also got to see my cute friend, Adanna Walker, before she left to serve an 18 month mission for our church in Baltimore, Maryland. We were lucky enough to get tickets to attend General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I love conference time and learning from the prophets and apostles. What a blessing!!! And, as always, I got to spend some quality time with my amazing family. And, I even squoze in an interview with the Granite School District during this week. The interview went extremely well. However, God has a different plan for my life right now and I need to be staying in Washington for a while longer. Time will tell why.

In the meantime, I just keep enjoying the journey! :)

It's True...I am back to Blogging! :)

After a several month sabbatical, I thought that it was time that I got back on the bandwagon and started blogging again. Lots has happened in the past five months...so, please be patient as I am updating this blog! :) It's going to be worth it! :)

Only in Kansas!

So, on my way home from Texas, I had a pit stop in the Kansas City Airport. It was the smallest airport that I have ever been in and I was there for three hours! Yikes! I saw a few things that helped me to pass the time and I thought they were pretty funny...check it out.... Apparently, Toto got sick of Oz and decided to go home to Kansas.

What the t-shirt actually says is, From the Desk of Toto: "Dear Dorothy, Hate Oz, took the shoes, find your own way home!"- Toto

And the other thing that I thought was interesting was this tornado shelter...

Looks like Dorothy was here! Only in Kansas! :)

Visit to Texas

I had a very enjoyable time in Texas during the month of February! I flew to Dallas, Texas on February 13th to see my cute brother Jeff and his darling little family. I was there just a short time but it was so well worth it! I got there on a Friday night and Jeff picked me up at the airport. Ashley greeted us when we got to their home and I was given a fun tour of their cute house. They seriously have it decorated so cute! I love the pictures that they got at the time of their wedding that they have on their walls. What a cute family! It was late and so we just went to bed. The next day we woke up bright and early and went and saw Ty and Charlie in their swimming lessons. Charlie was lucky and ended up being the only child in his class that day so he got the attention of his teacher all to himself. Can I even tell you how cute these little guys are? Love them! After swimming we went to lunch at a really yummy sushi place. It was delish! We then went back to their house and hung and out and played with the boys. We also got to go and see my cousin Dave's son, Austin, play in a basketball game. It was so fun to see Dave and Tiff and their cute family! They have been so good to Jeff and Ashley since they moved down to Texas. That night we had yummy subs from Firehouse Subs. They were also scrumptious! Once we got the boys to bed, Jeff, Ashley and I played some fun games of Clue and Skip Bo. In fact, they inspired me and when I returned to Washington I bought these games so that I can continue to have some fun. Especially with the "POISON" that is used in Clue. Thanks for the laughs, guys! On Sunday, we went to church and I was lucky enough to be at sacrament meeting when the Primary was singing. It was Charlie's first time ever to sing in sacrament meeting. It was neat to be there. Then, to top it all off, I got to be in Primary when Ty gave a talk on the importance of the priesthood in their family. It was very special to be there as Jeff helped his little boy give a talk...of course, Ashley deserves the props for preparing the talk and Ty for the big event. After church, we drove to the Dallas temple. It was neat to be able to see it. We then went to Dave and Tiff's for dinner and some good family bonding time. On Monday, I had to go home way too soon. Jeff took me and got some yummy BBQ on the way to the airport. I definitely was spoiled. A big shout out and thank you to Jeff, Ashley, Ty and Charlie! Love you!!!

Weekend in Westport

My friends and I had a total blast in Westport, Washington in the month of March. We drove down to the coast on a Friday night and then returned on Saturday night. It was a quickie but a goodie for sure!!! I drove down with Jessica, Bryan, Wayne and Rach. When we got to Westport we were shocked at how small the town was. It was crazy! We somehow managed to find a local diner still open and enjoyed some "Award Winning Chowder." Yum! We were also serenaded by Melina Kastle. She played the piano and sang for us. It felt like our own private concert! Later that night we hooked up with the rest of the gang- Lindsay, Wendy, Stephanie and Tyler. We rented a house that came straight out of the 70's. It was full of "disco fever." It was nice to be in a house, though, cause then we all got our own beds. We played a lot of games that night and just had a great time being together. The next day, our fearless surfers went to the Surf Shop and got all geared up for a day on the ocean. Lindsay, Wayne and Bryan all got in their body suits and waxed down their surfboards for a little "Surfin' USA." The rest of us watched for a little bit but it was way too cold for sunbathing that day. So, we went and explored Westport, Washington. It is SO small! We managed to come across a little museum...that was closed. We also enjoyed some homemade fish and chips. It was just nice to be together and to relax a bit! Loved it ! Thanks, team, for a fun time!