Searching

Do you ever have those days where you feel like you are just looking for things all day? I had one of those a couple of days ago. I would set something down (like a spoon, or my lunch) and ten seconds later, I couldn't find it anywhere. But that's not too bad, right? It happens to the best of us.

As most of you know, I have been doing my first little round of student teaching. I had to leave to be to Park Elementary School by 11:15. By about 11:00 I started out the door, but realized I didn't have my keys... The only keys to our only car. I went in to grab them, and of course, they had gone missing. I had them in my pocket earlier, so they must have fallen out. I searched high and low, I searched in obvious places, and obscure places (like the fridge, and the toilet..).

Then I remembered- I had been outside playing fetch with the dogs, and running around the yard. I walked up and down our yard at least 50 times, kicking leaves up as I went. No keys.

The dogs had been really enjoying that leaf pile in our yard... but I only chased them through it once... So I started spreading the leaf pile back out across our yard. At about 1:00, my field partner offered to come pick me up, so I would be able to be there for our lesson- which went very well, by the way.

I got home at about 5. While I was waiting for Jake to get home, I searched and searched some more. I concluded that they HAD to be in the leaf pile. so I finally just got down on my hands and knees and started sifting through it. It was getting dark, and it was very cold. Charlie decided to prance through the leaves and knock my hand, and what happened? My wedding ring flew off into the leaves.

Jake got home a minute later. I didn't cry, but I wanted to as I showed him that I had now lost two very important things that we can't really afford to replace. He just laughed and got down with me to look. When it got too dark to see well, we brought some lights out and hung them on the tree. It was dark, cold, and raining, and we still had no luck. We finally got creative and brought the leaf-blower out. After a while of blowing leaves back across our yard, I caught sight of something shiny. I dove down and snatched it (I felt like Harry Potter, wining the quidditch game). We had found the ring.

Now for the keys. I was back down digging threw leaves (as Jake was putting my ring into his zip-up pocket). He then kicked a little pile of leaves, and up came the keys! It was a miracle. What did I get out of this? When you rake leaves, stuff them in bags, and get rid of them! Oh, and some other important lessons, too.

Fall Fun

This is the first Saturday in a long time that Jake didn't have to work, so we took advandage of it. We had a great morning up the canyon with the pups. When we got back, we decided something should be done about our leaf-covered yard.

Well.... I raked

Jake helped a little.

We put all of the leaves into one big pile

and had some fun...

A lot of fun!

Then we realized that we don't really know what to do with all of these leaves.

It has been a while since Jake and I last enjoyed a full day with just each other. We really needed it, and I loved every second of it.

Halloween

Jake's family really gets into Halloween. This year Aunt Jill and Uncle Matt (and Mimi) threw a great party. There was lots of food, lots of home-made root beer, and lots of awesome costumes. I don't really know what I was- I just threw on random stuff, which I think turned into 80's... of course. I did Jake's make up, and he wore a wig, and my clothes... I'll never dress him as a girl again, because first of all he was a lot prettier of a girl than me. Plus he kept looking at himself in the mirror and asking me, "are you sure I look ok?" It was pretty funny. It wasn't his idea by the way, I had to talk him into it. It was worth it though, becuase Jake won the "Scariest Costume" award. I was excited about it, but he was disappointed because he was sure he would win the "Prettiest Costume" award.

We had a blast, and here's some pictures to prove it!

This is a really long entry, so if you don't want to read it, I understand. Just look at the pictures, and you'll get the idea. When we are in school, our lives seem so boring. We hardly have time to do anything, let alone write about it. I suppose I could find some time during my week to write about what is going on, but it would look something like this: Well, this week, every day, Jake got up at 6:00 to go to work. I stayed home and cleaned, studied, walked the dogs, studied more, got ready for the day, and made lunch for when Jake came home. We usually eat in the car as Jake has to drop me off at school by 2:45 and get back to work. Jake comes back to the school for class at 5:00 and we are there till 8:30 or 9:00. We get home, eat, walk the dogs, study, and try to get to bed by a decent hour (which rarely happens for poor Jake). I could copy and paste this entry every week since we started school... which is why I haven't posted in a while. However, this past couple of weeks has been very eventful. It was Saturday, and Jake was at work. I was on the phone with him (luckily) when all of a sudden a noise came from our bathroom. It sounded like the tub and sink whad been turned on full blast. I was hesitant to look in to see what was happening, but as I did, steam came at my face, and water was flooding our bathroom. A pipe under our sink had broken and was quickly filling our tiny bathroom. I put towels down to keep it from getting our carpet, as Jake sped home to help. The water also started coming out of the kitchen and was reaching our living room carpet. We finally got the water turned off, but our carpets were ruined. Luckily it didn't ruin any of our personal belongings, but our house was wet and stinky. Finally, a week later we ripped out the carpet, and our landlords are now giving us all new tile in our kitchen, bathroom and living room, and new carpet in our bedrooms. We are still in the process, but it is looking great, and we are so excited. In the middle of all of this, Jake began talking about finding a new home for Timber. She is a great dog, and we loved her. She improved a lot since we had her. She was fun, friendly and happy-go-lucky, and had a lot of energy. We never felt connected with her, and we felt that she needed a home that better matched her personality. So after debating for several days, we decided to find her a new home. We found her a great couple, and although we were very sad to see her go, (I'll admit I cried..) we are excited for her to have a happier life in the mountains of Park City. Jake didn't waste any time once Timber was gone. No longer than 2 hours later, to Dixie's dismay, we came home with our new German Shepherd puppy. I know, we are a little crazy. We love her, and she is already a great dog. Jake bought a magazine about German Shepherds, and calls Petsmart every day about questions he has concerning training the pup. He is so excited and committed to turning her into the best and most loyal dog. So, we are missing Timber's crazy personality, but we are excited to introduce little Charlie into our family.

California

Last week Jake and I took a trip to good ol' California. We arrived at my sister Merica's house on Sunday. We had so much fun with her little family swimming, shopping, jumping on the trampoline, watching "Punky Brewster", etc. We even went to the Jelly Belly factory!
Wednesday Jake and I took off to our favorite theme park, Six Flags: Discovery Kingdom... We call it Marine World. There we rode on awesome roller coasters, but more importantly, watched the dolphin, whale, and tiger shows!
Thursday night Jake's brother Cody, his wife Hanna, and their baby Camdon came to join the fun. We spent the next day in San Francisco, walking along the piers, and watching the street performers. That evening we went to my very first pro baseball game! Now my life is complete... But wait, there's more!
Saturday was the perfect day to go to the beach! The water was so cold, but after a minute of being in the water, our skin became numb anyway, so we didn't even know how cold we were. I'm surprised Jake even set foot in the water with how terrified of sharks he is, and this area having the highest population of white sharks in the world during the fall months... After the beach, we returned to Merica's home where we got cleaned up and ready for the main event. The very reason we traveled so far: Wicked.... And it was. If you haven't seen this broadway show yet, you have to! It was so incredible. By intermission time, we started laughing at ourselves because we were all teary-eyed and our jaws were hanging open.
It was definitely a trip to remember! Thanks, Merica and Damian, for letting us crash at your place, and Thanks Cody and Hanna for coming! We enjoyed every second of it... Except the parts that we didn't.

Well, as much as Jake loves little Dixie, he says she doesn't fill his "dog love tank." She formed more of an attachment to me, which is understandable because I am the dog-lover, and she's my dog. I guess Jake was feeling like the third wheel, because he has decided he not only is now a dog person, but wants a big dog of his own. I would ask for suggestions to help me convince him this is irrational, but it's too late.
-Our new family member arrived June 24th. Timber is a one-year-old Siberian Husky. She is thin, lanky, and full of energy- just like Jake! She absolutely loves Dixie. Dixie was a little overwhelmed at first, but they are becoming best friends. So there you have it, our life just keeps getting more exciting, and our family keeps getting bigger. I told Jake that our next investment is going to be a horse, so don't be surprised when it happens.

This is our "High adventure" hike to Stuart Falls. We, of course, couldn't help but get as close to the water fall as we possibly could... in this case, we were in it. There was still some snow up there, and we saw people climbing up, throwing snowballs, and sliding down. So, of course, Jake wanted to join the fun. Dixie and I decided to sit this one out.