Good Weekend

This weekend was a lot of fun and very relaxing, for me anyway! On Saturday Matt went to Cheyenne with his brothers Kyle and Lane and his cousins Jared and Lucas. But they didn't drive... the biked. They didn't go on the interstate, they took some back roads and it was 54.5 miles total. I drove my in-laws truck and picked the guys up on the outskirts of Cheyenne. Here's a picture of them when they were done. They actually look better in this picture than they did in real life... ha ha
Then yesterday, Monday, Matt and I got some work done in the morning and then drove about 50 miles west to Elk Mountain and the Medicine Bow river. It was absolutely gorgeous. I can't even tell you! The weather was SO perfect with no wind, no rain, and it was the perfect temperature. We each caught a couple little rainbow trout which was good for me cause it had been a long time since I had caught any fish. :) We didn't get any pictures but it was a lot of fun. I can't stress enough that it was the perfect day.

School begins again

Well, school has officially started. I feel like Matt and I had kind of a lame summer but we got a lot accomplished. A couple weekends ago we went camping/fishing up in the snowy range just west of Laramie. It was a lot of fun but cold and rainy and there were a LOT of dead pine trees.

Matt has been working hard the past few weeks for his dad's business. This is what he looked like when he came home last Friday. haha

Matt started his second year of pharmacy school yesterday. It seems like it will be a tough semester but his schedule is kind of nice. He doesn't have class until 8:30 or 9:00 and is always done by 3:00.

I started my teaching job yesterday! Well, technically I started last week with orientations and staff development but yesterday the kids came. It has been a little overwhelming and at times I feel like I'm going crazy but I had one of those moments this afternoon where I felt really happy and I can honestly say that I love my job. My principal even came in while I was teaching a lesson today and I hardly skipped a beat! It helped that he was smiling. :)

On a totally random note, I have been wanting white cheddar cheese-its so I finally bought some last night. When we got home I realized that I had accidentally bought REDUCED FAT. How lame is that?? They taste like saltines... and saltines are lots cheaper!

Where has summer gone?!

I spent most of the day today out at Rock River where I'm going to be teaching starting in ONE WEEK. Saying that I'm overwhelmed is the understatement of the century but yet at the same time I think I will be able to figure everything out and that I'll do a good job! My classroom is really big and the previous teacher left a lot of materials for me to work with.

In my office sippin' a sonic slush. yummmmm

One view of my room and my office

View from the other corner

Because Matt spent lots of the summer on rotations we haven't been able to really do a whole lot but we've still had fun. During Matt's second week in Scottsbluff I decided to go visit my family in Lyman. It was fun and kept my mind off of missing Matt.

The kids playing "hot lava" around the fire pit

The lovely sisters: Christena, me, and April. Oh and those creepy eyeballs belong to my youngest brother, Kasey.

A couple weeks ago Matt and I went to fish on Rock Creek in the snowy range and we got rained on HARD and the lightning was very close to us and kinda scary (for me). This picture is of us huddling under a tree in the rain. It's blurry cause I tried to take it fast before the camera got too wet. I still like the picture, though.

This past weekend my parents came with my brother Kasey to bring me some stuff and we all went to Vedauwoo to climb the rocks and have a picnic lunch. It was a blast!

A friendly chipmunk eating a potato chip

The three of us climbed to the top of some rocks

Me climbing in a rock crevice

And this is a video of Matt attempting to scale a steep rock.

So summer is over. (not technically, but in terms of school it is!) Matt has a tough year of pharmacy school ahead of him and I will learn how to teach K-12 music! Wish us luck!

Oh and I almost forgot. Matt was released from his calling in the student ward bishopric last Sunday. He has been in that calling for 2 years and it is bittersweet that he's done. It will be nice to have him in the family ward with me but we will miss the student ward!

I'm a little bit pathetic.

So Matt left at 4:00 this morning to go to his pharmacy rotation in Scottsbluff, NE and I already miss him! :( He'll be gone for 4 weeks but will hopefully be able to come home every weekend. The longest we've been apart at a time so far had been 3 nights so even though I'll see him on the weekends, it will still be lonely! At the same time I'm excited for him and I hope he's having fun and learning a lot. He really seemed to enjoy his first rotation here at Express Pharmacy.

On a happier note, this past week has been a lot of fun. Matt's brother Lane arrived back home from his mission in Samara, Russia last Wednesday. It was a lot of fun to see him again and to hear him talk about his mission. I know it was really hard for him but I can tell that he has learned a lot and has really grown up. So because of that we have been spending more time than usual with Matt's family. Thursday night we had a steak dinner and then watched Gwen and Randy, my mom and dad in law (that sounds a little funny... ha ha) play soccer. On Friday Matt and his 3 older younger brothers (did that make sense?) went fishing and between the 4 of them they caught exactly 100 fish! Then on Saturday some more family came and we spent lots of the day at Vedauwoo and then stayed up late and talked and played around that night. On Sunday Lane spoke in church and it was SUCH a good talk. Matt, Kyle, and Nathan sang and Randy was called to be the 2nd counselor in the bishopric. Then we had dinner and talked with family some more. It was just a lot of fun to see everyone and to just relax with family.

I thought it would be fun to post the picture from 2 years ago when Kyle got back just before Lane left and then the picture from just last week when Lane got back. It's fun to see how people have changed, or not changed as the case may be. :)

The whole fam at the Laramie airport as Kyle arrived home in June 2007

All of us again at the same airport 2 years later to welcome Lane in July 2009.

I was talking with my cousin in-law in-law, Megan (she's married to Matt's cousin) the other day about how we are SO lucky and blessed to have such great in laws. I love my in laws so much and all of the extended family, too. There are a lot of cousins and aunts and uncles in Matt's family and it's a lot of fun. It's so great to be around so many people who can have intelligent (sometimes too intelligent...ha ha) conversations and who are all so spiritual and close to the Lord. Even though I'm bummed that Matt is gone, I have been feeling really blessed lately!

Little Things

The past little while I've been noticing a lot of silly little things in life that I enjoy. It helps me to think of these things so that I don't dwell on the negative too much. :) Here is a shortened list of the little things I appreciate.

*Watching the prairie dogs roam around in the fields outside our apartment

*My husband waking me up at 7am so that I can see the fox outside our window

*Eating frozen kool-aid (yes mom, I STILL do that and am doing so right now) :)

*Watching Matt spend hours enthralled in front of a map of Wyoming

*Listening to my newly returned missionary brother in law Lane talk about his mission in Russia (and his belly-button lint...)

*Having a shadow following my every footstep (in the form of my in laws dog Link) while I paint the house

*Link whining and frantically scratching at the screen door trying to get to me every morning as I walk across the lawn to go to work

*Being adored by said dog (Link). :)

*Looking through old pictures

*Hiding Matt's wallet and/or phone so that when he asks where they are I can tease him about always losing his things

*Playing old songs on the piano that I learned YEARS ago

*Learning new songs on the piano

*Sight singing random sheet music and all four voice parts to various hymns using solfege syllables (yes I am a nerd but it's fun and I like to practice!)

*My music calling in the primary and listening to the children sing my favorite primary songs. I get choked up almost every week. :)

*Taking walks and hiking/climbing with Matt

*The mountains

*Being outside

*Music

*Just being with our amazing families (I have SUCH a great family and SUCH great in laws!!!)

*Gummy worms

*And lastly, these two pictures (speaking of looking through old picrues...) The first one is a candid shot from when we took our engagements almost THREE years ago. I know I am biased, but every time I look at this one I think "man he is SO cute!" :) The next one my sister April sent to me of her youngest boy Ashton on his blessing day. I can NEVER look at it without cracking up. :)

That's not all, but I won't bore you with a longer list. :)