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. :)

Many Outdoor Adventures

First of all, I'm sorry about all the pictures! I could have put tons more on but I didn't. :)
Between Matt's pharamacy rotations and both of us working for Clark and Sons Lawncare, we have actually been able to spend some time outdoors. Toward the end of May we took an evening and visited Ames Monument and climbed around on Vedauwoo.

Matt next to Ames Monument

A flattering picture of Matt climbing the monument (anyone who knows him will not be surprised). :)

Matt on top of a rock at Vedauwoo

Me sitting on some rocks at Vedauwoo

A couple weeks later we decided to go camping in the same basic area. We wandered around and found a little campsite that I loved! It was surrounded by rocks and was really pretty and out of the way.

Our little campsite (and our bright orange tent)

Me on top of some rocks

ha ha we were exploring an unknown dirt road on the way out and discovered this beaver dam blocking the road. It was pretty cool but our little cavalier had to turn around. :)

This past weekend we decided to go to Laramie Peak. As part of my job at Rock River, I will drive every Wednesday with the art teacher out to two isolated schools that are about 40 miles north of Rock River. We decided to find those two schools as well. We found River Bridge School on Friday night and then made our way to a little campground near Laramie Peak. The next morning we woke up and climbed to the top of the peak! There wasn't a trail so we paved our way and man it was the hardest hike I've ever done but totally worth it! On our way back we found Cozy Hollow School. It was a very tiring but very fun weekend!

Me standing in front of River Bridge!

This is about half way through our climb. You can see the peak in the background and yes. We got to the top of that. No trail. Just huge rocks. And lots of trees.
And a view fro the top! Man pictures do not do it justice!

And another view. (too bad it was kinda a hazy day)
And finally, me in front of Cozy Hollow! Do I look tired? I totally AM!

Accomplishments Part II

I've been posting this everywhere but I'm super excited! I have a job! I'll be teaching K-12 music at Rock River, about 40 miles North of Laramie. I didn't think I would be able to get a music teaching job because I'm "stuck" in Laramie while Matt finishes pharmacy school so I'm way excited to have an opportunity to teach music! I'll be teaching general music K-8 plus a jr. high choir and a high school choir. There are also a couple of strings there. It is a tiny little 1A school but it will be really fun I think! Another part of the job is driving every Wednesday to 2 isolated schools. Each of these schools has only 2 students and are located 40 miles N. of Rock River so I'll be going a long way but I'm excited to do it and the scenery will be awesome! I will go with the art teacher and we'll drive a 4-wheel drive vehicle provided by the school district. YAY!

Accomplishments!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I graduated! I got my degree in Music Education, Vocal Emphasis. The graduation ceremony was pretty long (like 3 hours!) but I got to sit in the press box rather than with the graduates because I sang during the ceremony with the Vocal Jazz Ensemble. My entire family came to visit and it was so great to see all of them here. I'll post a couple pictures of the event.

My whole fam! (minus my sister's husband Rik and MY husband who was taking the pic)

I love this pic of me with my nephew Tanner! (mostly cause we're both just so cute.) ;)

My wonderful supportive husband Matt and me

Me in the arena right after the ceremony

The Monday after I graduated I went back to the Jr. High to conduct the 8th-9th grade choir at the anual Spring Sing. I was nervous because it's a performance including every elementary school, us, and the high school so I knew there would be lots of people there and it was only my second time conducting in front of an audience. It went pretty well, though, and Matt caught a couple pictures of me. He was up in the balcony so they're a little blurry but I was glad he thought to take them!

I look a little creepy with my eyes glowing...A shot of the back of the group and the audience behind me.

Speaking of thinking to take pictures.... I am terrible! About a month ago Matt had his white coat ceremony for pharmacy school. I had my camera but just didn't think to take pictures! I usually take tons so I felt really bad about it. Thankfully his advisor emailed him these pictures of the event. :) It was great to be there and to see Matt's acomplishments with pharmacy school. He is SO smart and I'm really proud of him.

Here are the P1's sitting down after being "coated." :)

Group picture of the class of 2012! Matt is on the very far right, second from the back.
And here's Matt shaking Dean Vandel's hand after being coated. This picture cracks me up! :)