A Big Announcement

Guess what?

Just kidding. We're not pregnant. Seriously, Mom, breathe, I AM JOKING. haha :)

But we do have some really big news for our family!!

We are moving to Arizona the first week of September! James has accepted a job working for Origami Owl near Phoenix, AZ so we will officially be Arizonians next month.

We are so excited for this new opportunity! It looks to be a wonderful job and a great start to a career for James. I am excited to get back into teaching as well. It's going to be a fun adventure!!

 

A Short Tribute...or a Long-ish One

My Dad is a Hero. Not many kids get to say that about their dads and mean it in a general, as well as personal, sense. My dad has saved lives, defended our country, protected our freedoms, and sacrificed much. I didn't really understand when I was a child, and I can't say I fully understand now, but I am so, so proud of my daddy.

I thought a lot about it this Independence Day. We are in a time of great turmoil in our nation, in many ways. As I sang the National Anthem and listened to patriotic songs, I realized that I have an abnormal amount of patriotism, despite all the issues we face today. I realized that I learned this love of country from my dad. Who loves their country more than the ones who go out and fight for it? That leave their families, wives, children, friends, and life for months at a time in order to defend and protect our liberties? He taught me about patriotism. About loyalty. And so many other things; I could go on and on.

Most importantly, my dad showed me what I should look for in a husband. He showed me how I should expect a man to treat me. Even as a tiny girl, I watched my parents. I saw how my dad respected my mom, and expected me to respect her. He always treated her (and us) with kindness and compassion and love. We used to tell them that they were gross for kissing in front of us, but there was no doubt in my mind how much my dad loved my mom. He taught me what love is.

My dad exemplifies all the qualities that are good in human nature. He has his faults, sure, but he really is one of my greatest heroes. He is the smartest man I know - he can do math problems in his head without thinking about them, he can land a plane with his eyes shut (though he doesn't!!), and he can teach a mean Sunday School lesson that doesn't even bore me - but he is the humblest man I know. He never speaks of the awards he's been given for saving people's lives and valor in combat. Mom told me he has been given several of those, and not once have I heard him talk about it. I would LOVE to hear his stories, but to him, he didn't do anything special. He was just being my dad, loving and compassionate and smart and kind and special.

My dad is an awesome man. He can throw a baseball, shoot a hoop, and do whatever other sports things he wants, but when he was around us, he could play dress up and barbies and was very sweet and playful. I never doubted that I was loved and wanted. We loved when dad would get down on the floor and just play.

My dad always had high expectations of me. It wasn't that he told me to do certain things,  it was that that was just expected of me in our house. I remember my first semester at BYU, my dad's voice was in my head a LOT. I knew I was expected to make good grades, make good choices, and make him proud.

And he has always been proud of me. He was there every time I needed him. He may not have made every dance or band recital, being in the military, but he was there in every way that counted. If I just needed a hug from him, he would wrap his arms around me and tell me he loved me. Even now, when James and I needed a place to stay, he opened his home up to us without even a question.

 And now, seeing the way he is so sweet with Mom in her time of need, I almost want to cry. He is so tender with her and I can see in his eyes how much he loves her.

My dad is a hero in every sense of the word. I love him more than I can say, and he has taught me so much about life. He has truly been the best father any girl could ask for, and I know that someday (in the far FUTURE) he will be a wonderful grandfather to my children.

I love you, Daddy.

Fossil Rim

When Jim & Tricia were here, we also headed over to Fossil Rim in Glen Rose, TX. It's kinda like a safari! You buy some food pellets and your tickets, then drive through the reserve, where animals roam free.

Except the cheetahs. They are caged. :)

We loved it! The animals, especially the European red deer (fondly known as "reindeer" in our car!), love the pellets and will come up very close to your car to eat them. The giraffes are supposed to be as friendly, but they were not interested in us this day.

It was SO neat to see these animals roaming free in their "natural" habitats - way cooler than the zoo. Although I do love me a good zoo. :)

We were the last car to enter the reserve that evening, and the caretaker followed us through to make sure everyone was out of the park. He acted as our unofficial tour guide. He made the cheetahs run fast, told us about how the reserve works and some of the animals they had there. He even let us hold a real ostrich egg!! And we learned that he and his wife are fellow BYU alums. Awesome.

You should really go here if you haven't before! It was a really neat, unique experience and we had a wonderful time here.

The Dallas World Aquarium

This past month, we visited the Dallas World Aquarium with Carl & Jen and Jim &Tricia. It was really neat! They have most of it set up like a rainforest that you explore, with monkeys and other animals swinging around and flying by. The sloth was even close enough to touch! (But we weren't allowed :( )

 

We saw a huge beluga whale, a lot of monkeys, walked through a shark tunnel, with sharks swimming all around, and watched crocodiles being fed. It was very entertaining and I learned a lot about different animals.

We watched the black jaguar for a while (from above). The trainers emptied the exhibit and one of them walked through leaving little bits of meat all around and spraying the exhibit with some sort of cheap perfume. Apparently, jaguars get bored and when the trainer sprays that perfume, they feel the need to re-mark their territory and it is more interesting to them. Didn't know that before!


Our favorite part was the Mayan dance that some of the workers did in the afternoon. It was really neat, and just what James had come specifically to see! :)

We loved visiting the DWA! I'd recommend it as a place to go see. It's a little pricey, but there were definitely a lot of cool animals and things to see. Thanks for taking us, Jim & Tricia!

A SHREDder

James and I are now SHREDders! Well, we are starting tomorrow. It's a diet/exercise program that our cousins have done and had success with and we wanted to try it out. Who doesn't want to be a little more in shape haha :)

It seems pretty easy to follow....hopefully we will stick with it!

I'm DETERMINED this time to do so....I want to see results at the end of my first 6 week cycle!!

I will keep updated here on my blog...I know no one reads this, but it'll be some way to hold myself accountable. :)

Some Goals

I was going to make a list of 24 things to do before I turn 24 this year, but I couldn't come up with that many doable things.

Maybe because it's 10:00 at night you know. I really need to start going to bed earlier probably.

1. I decided to start easy. Watch every episode left of Once Upon a Time. Because it's awesome. :)

2.Post on this here blog more often. Like once a week. It's been getting neglected and I know I need to keep myself updated on any happenings.

3. In the same train of thought, I need to take more picture of James and me. I've gotten lax about pulling my camera out for us, but we have hardly any pictures from the year and a half that we have been married. Which is just sad.

4.Start doing p90x again. I enjoyed it the first time I did it, and saw pretty good results. So I think it's time to start again. This might kill me, by the way. Please bring brownies to my funeral if it does. :)

5. Pack good lunches. I am TERRIBLE at packing healthy, delicious lunches that I actually want to eat. So I'm going to scour Pinterest and come up with better ideas than crackers, Cinnamon Apple Straws, and fruit cups.

6. Less screen time. More interactions with real people. I think it's really important to cultivate personal relationships, be it with a spouse or family or friends. I find that if my phone, tv, or computer are handy, it's easy to get caught up in my various screens. I want to make a concerted effort to put them down and enjoy my life.

7. Improve my photography. I would absolutely LOVE to be able to make photography my stay at home business slash income. To do this, I need to improve my skills, market my business, and obtain and please clients. Easy peasy. Just kidding.

8. Our office space is atrocious. Boxes everywhere. I can't do much about the boxes, but I can take all the Goodwill bags to Goodwill, organize the desk and desk space, etc.

9. Drink more water. I'm really bad about dehydrating my body during the day. I need to start taking a water bottle to work and actually drinking out of it! I'm pretty good about drinking just water or milk, and only every now and then a soda or juice. I'm just guilty of making my water into Crystal Light constantly. Time to break that habit.

10. Be a schoolteacher again. I miss teaching, so much.

11. Take the two tests I need to to stay Texas licensed.

12. Simple, but important. I want to remember to be happy. :)

13. I want to write in my journal more often. Last time I wrote was right after our wedding! Yikes, it's been a long time. I love going back and reading old journal entries, so I made a goal to write once a week. That's reasonable.

14. Eat more fruit. I'm pretty good at eating veggies. Time to start eating more fruit. Because it's delicious and nutritious. :)

15. A secret goal. (and no, Mom, I'm not pregnant :))

16. I'm learning, but at the moment I am nowhere near proficient at the organ. I'd love to learn to play really, really well.

17. Learn to sew. I would love to be able to make simple things like curtains, simple quilts, etc. I need to learn to use a machine. Mom, wanna teach me how to do it??

And that's it! Quite a list, but I think they are all pretty doable for now.

And now I feel very productive, even though I'll I've done is write this blog post. Haven't actually accomplished anything, but I feel like I have. :)