I am grateful for...

Do you ever have those days where you just look around and think about how blessed you are? Well, I have been having a lot of those days/moments lately. These are some of the things I have to be grateful for today...

ROBERT, especially since he shaved the summer scruff
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Having the opportunity to work with the YOUTH at Church
My job
Robert's job
Our families
our comfy little house we call home
My kitty...and the barking dogs
modern medical technology
Cable Television (Jersey Shore)

Sometimes it seems that trials come relentlessly our way, but when I take a short moment to reflect, I realize that I have more than my share of blessings and I am so grateful for them.

Baby Quilt for Baby Niece

This is my first quilt

I made this for Lisa & Brian's baby girl that is due in August...

I am satisfied with the outcome,

but will definately allow myself more time to finish such a project in the future.

I got the fabric from Jo~Ann's, they have sooo many cute patterns to choose from.

Don't Worry, Be Happy!

"When LIFE gives you Lemons

make Lemonade"

"Crying is not going to change anything"

"Chear up Charlie!"

"Cry for me crybaby!"

"If you chance to meet a frown, turn it for a smile..."

Chears, to a better day! =)

Seasonal Satisfaction...or not

Is Summer OVER yet??

I am so ready for Fall!!!

I think I say that every Summer...

but then when Winter rolls around,

I'm ready for Spring...

...never satisfied : /

P90X

SOOOO, we are now P90X people! Just this week and we are incredibly sore, but Robert is going to have biceps like Arnold...

...and I'll have the beach body of Courtney Love...just sayin! I'll keep you posted...all 2 blog viewers =)

The Wild West

**WARNING** 384 pictures were taken on this trip, we only posted 17...You're Welcome!!!

Lots of the stuff we did on our summer adventure out west...

Robert & I conquered Ensign's Peak! =)


We checked out Kennecott Copper Mine...

visited the Heritage Pioneer Park (or whatever it is called)

The Christus in the North Visitor's Center at Temple Square

the gardens at Temple Square are beautiful!








A cute couple took our picture in front of the Salt Lake Temple
What a fantastic structure! Definitely the highlight of Salt Lake for me

After Salt Lake City we drove the rental car to Jackson Hole, WY. This was an incredible drive...the mountains, snow still on the mountains. The beauty of the West is breath-taking!

We had to stop and play in the snow and check out the view...I was changing from flip flops to tennis shoes...haha!

We went to a few shops that night and ate at a delicious restaurant.
Robert had the Elk Chops while I enjoyed the Trout. Yummy!

The next morning was rainy and freezing cold. We were not prepared for the weather at all. I only packed a thin fleece jacket and Robert had a long-sleeve t-shirt, so we spent the early part of the morning finding rain gear and sweaters! We ventured out in the rain (during a short break in the weather) and went horseback riding. I have always wanted to go horseback riding out west... It was everything I had hoped for...well, except for wearing rain gear. But the sky cleared up and we rode up the mountain and had a perfect view of the valley and the Snake River below.

Next was Robert's big thing for the trip, White Water Rafting in the Snake River. Did I mention it was cold & rainy?? Yeah, about that...so the water was super high and moving too fast for me, but that was not enough to convince the ol' husband of the dangers...so off we went to conquer the river! Thankfully we had wet suits, fleece jackets, "splash gear" and booties to keep us cozy...As soon as I got on the river I was alert and ready to paddle this raft like a little viking and paddle we did! the rapids were very strong in some areas, but because of the high water some didn't exist. To spite the rain, ice, wind, thunder and freezing temperature we successfully conquered the river without even flipping (unlike some of our fellow rafters). I'm glad Robert insisted because that was a big highlight of our trip. (We only have hard copies of these pictures and are yet to scan them)

The following day we were off to Yellowstone where we saw tons of buffalo and mule dear, a few grizzly bears, big horn sheep and who knows what else...but no elk :( North Yellowstone was my favorite, the mountains and wildlife are just beautiful. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to live is those temperatures, but beyond beautiful for sure!

We couldn't believe how close we were able to get to the animals

We were clearly in their territory...

Old Faithful was a must see...once. Being the brat that I am, we waited entirely too long for nature to do it's thing...I was entirely too cold and hungry, which made the wait even more dreadful... I'M JUST SAYIN'!

We flew home Monday and we were so ready! This vacation was fabulous and we have sooo many wonderful memories, BUT there's no place quite like home! I've never seen Robert as happy as he was when we stepped off the plane at the Atlanta Airport and the humidity nearly knocked him over! We are definitely southern folks!

This was taken near the West Entrance of Yellowstone. It was the only sunset we saw during our entire vacation. We were so exhausted (lame), by the 8pm we were out cold! But what a beautiful sunset it was =)

Spring is here and Summer is near

So I've pulled out all my summer clothes, some of which don't quite fit the same and I've turned to the tanning bed for some unnatural attention. This whole tanning bed thing is too much work for me. I think I'm pasty and always will be.

What I like about the tanning bed:
-feeling as though I am eventually going to have that healthy summer glow!
-Nothing else, that's the only good thing!

What I dislike about the tanning bed:
-smelling like burning flesh for several days. The scent I have after tanning literally makes me sick! I have to marinate in scented lotions just to be able to handle the odor...I can only imagine what others think about this lovely smell...
-Just KNOWING that I have about twice as many wrinkles everytime I open the toasty dome
-Taking the 10-15 minutes out of my evening to roast with less than satisfying results
-Having a nearly uncontrollable urge to scratch my gleaming red body
-Resulting in a crisp red for the first two days and then fading to paste all over again.

I want to say I'm smart enough to not put my body through such torment, but I'm not. I know I'll do it again...probably tonight actually...

What else...BEACH!
Melanie and I are venturing down to Panama City Beach for the weekend! I am beyond excited! We are ditching the husbands and soaking up the sun for the weekend. We'll be sure to get lots of pics and I'll do sme much needed updating next week. ahhh, I can hear the waves crashing now...oh wait, no waves in Panama City Beach =)

About the whole house thing, I was pretty pumped about putting it on the market and the whole deal but now not so much. I'm really having some ups and downs with this whole process. Everyone that knows me knows that I'm not much for change and just thinking about moving makes me so nervous...RGH! I don't want to dwell on my negative attitude =) Anyways, the plan is to put it on the market when we return from vacation in June. That's the plan... :/

Speaking of vacation, we have decided to stay at a Marriott Residence Inn in Utah, the whole vacation home search was just not working out for us and the travel time to downtown was not really worth it, so we opted for the hotel. This one is a bit more than I wanted to spend but its perfect because it has 2-bedrooms and a kitchen/livingroom space. We're still working on finding a hotel in Yellowstone...

Wow, this post is a bit longer than I had intended...