Driving to Powell

Here are the few pictures I was able to take on my phone before it died.

Us driving to Lake Powell!

Husband listens to his audio book, while I work on my lesson plans.

We were so excited the whole drive down.

It felt like Christmas morning.

We miss it already. :(

In love with Lake Powell

Words cannot begin to describe the fun we had at Lake Powell.

A big thank you to the Preston family (who we love dearly) for inviting us.

Taylor and I got some nice sun and had such a relaxing time enjoying the water.

A few things I'll always remember from this trip:

Waverunners, wake-boarding, boating, swimming, bathing in a lake, cliff jumping, playing in the sand, playing board games, sleeping under the stars on the top of the houseboat, beautiful thunder and lightening storms over the lake, and laying in the hot hot sun.

Some memories in more detail:

I'll always remember being so scared to jump off of the cliff into the water.  It looked so scary from up on the top! Sweet Karlee Preston (who had already jumped once) told me she would jump and show me how easy it was.  So...she jumped.  But she came up sobbing.  She had smacked her tailbone right on the water.  That was great motivation for me. Haha  But then little eight-year-old Mark jumped like it was no big deal.  So I knew I had to go.  I took a deep breath, and just jumped.  It was so scary, so exhilarating, and so much FUN all compiled into one!  (minus the fact that my ear smacked the water, and I thought I had blown out my eardrum...ha).

I'll always remember sleeping under the stars and being shocked at how much the Preston littles knew about astronomy...they made fun of me for knowing so little.  ;)

I'll always remember sweet kisses and "I love yous" on the lake from my best friend and wonderful husband.

I'll always remember beating my husband at wake-boarding skills.  There are only two things that I can claim that I'm better at than him: wake-boarding and ultimate frisbee.  Although, he doesn't agree with the second one.  So I guess in his mind, up until this trip, he thought he was better at everything than me. ;)  At least I can claim wake-boarding now. I just wish he wasn't so dang good at everything.

I'll always remember tubing with little Brooke Preston.  We hit a pretty hard wave...and being as light as we were...we went flying.  I did a complete back flip into the water after being thrown into the air.  Poor Brooke had some small injuries, and wasn't so happy about that experience.  But after she got some Mom-loving, we laughed about how funny it really was.

As for pictures?  Well, I decided just to bring my phone for pictures.  But I didn't really think that through....because it died on the first night. Ha.

But I know there were lots of pictures taken from other people, so once those are up, I can steal some and post more about the trip :)

Here's the first stolen picture (taken by Kristen Preston):

Taylor and I made two decisions while we were in Lake Powell:

1. We will have a house-boat (our goal is in the next five years).

2. Our kids will learn to fall in love with Lake Powell just like we have.

A trip together :)

There is a houseboat in Lake Powell that is calling mine and Taylor's names.

So, off we go to answer that call!

We leave at 2pm today, and we could not be more excited!

Boating, jet-skis, water fun galore.

I am so ready to wake up to this for the next few days:

Taylor and I haven't had a vacation together this summer since our short one to Vegas/Arizona at the beginning of the summer.

Our other two "vacations" consisted of scouts camp/girls camp, in which we had to leave each other.

That being said, we are so excited to take this little adventure together. :)

Look forward to some awesome posts about our trip when we return on Saturday!

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!

Flagstaff, Part TWO

After a splendid night in Vegas, we were off to Flagstaff (the location of the Fun concert)!  On the drive down, Taylor turned to me and said, "I just had a sinking feeling that I scheduled our room in Flagstaff for the wrong night."  Taylor opened up his email...and, sure enough, he had scheduled our hotel room for the night before.  While Taylor sunk in despair, I couldn't help but laugh.  Come what may, and love it, right?

The part that made me laugh the most was that Taylor scheduled our hotel in Vegas and our hotel in Flagstaff in the same sitting!  How did he not notice that he scheduled two rooms for the SAME night!? It was just soooo funny. ;)

Seth and Jordan, were sleeping in the backseat during this discovery.  Taylor turned around and yelled, "Hope you like sleeping in a car...because that's where you'll be sleeping tonight!"  They were startled awake, and then we all had a good laugh about our current debacle.  What to do?  Pay for another night? Buy a tent at Walmart and sleep in the woods? Sleep in the car? Try to convince the hotel to let us stay for "free"?  I mean, we already paid for a room, right?  Then Seth had an idea: "Let's just drive the eight hours home after the concert.  We'll take shifts, and then have all of Wednesday to relax at home!"  We were sold.  Goodbye, $90 that paid for an empty hotel room!

Next up? Concert time.  I think I'll let the pictures tell the story.

First of all, we were shocked when our GPS led us here.  The concert was actually held in a stadium in the middle of the woods!  I felt like I was going to camp or something...haha. 

We were so excited!!

We couldn't believe how close we were!  (little did we know, we would
 be pushed up to the very FRONT row!!) 

Oh, baby! 

Look at how close we were! Amazing!

I love you, Nate! 

Alright, this video has awful sound quality, and all of us in the audience sound awful. BUT it still gets me excited just watching it, and remembering how amazing this concert was! Watch how close Nate gets to us!  We were so dang close!

So, Taylor had a major stomachache all day before the concert.  He was downing Pepto-bismol.  Gross.  But he was such a champ, and survived the concert.  I had to take a picture of him with his Pepto ;)

After the concert, we were all so hyped up, that driving home seemed like a breeze!  Who could be tired after a concert like that?  After a stop for food, gas, and some treats, we were off!

A picture before the all-night drive!

We decided to drive in double shifts.  The passenger (and driver, of course) would stay awake, while the two people in the backseat would sleep.  While Seth and Jordan were driving (which meant Tay and I were sleeping), we were suddenly jolted awake by Seth screaming, "Oh my gosh!" Jordan slammed on the breaks, and then...BAM!

I woke up thinking, "This is it.  This is how I'm going to die." ...dramatic? Yes.  Because, folks, we did not die.
"What just happened!?"  Taylor asked frantically.
"We just hit a gigantic bird!" Jordan answered.  I think we were all a little shaky at this point.
Seth: "What the heck is a dumb bird doing up at four in the morning?  Doesn't he know it's time to be sleeping!? What a stupid bird!"  The funniest part of this statement is that Seth was legitimately upset that the bird was not sleeping at four AM.
Taylor: "Well, maybe it wasn't a bird..."
Seth: "What? Oh no...what if it was our guardian angel!"  He then bowed his head, "Dear God, if we just killed our guardian angel, can you send us another one?  And please send us one that is a little smarter and won't fly in front of the car and get killed.  Thank you for your consideration." I don't know how he does this all with a straight face.
We all couldn't help but laugh.  And we were all now fully awake at four in the morning.  We arrived home safely (but exhausted!).

Even though this trip was short, it was worth every minute (and every lost dollar!).  We had so much fun!


  

Vegas! Part ONE

Alrighty folks, we are back! And we had such a lovely time! Did I mention we had travel friends? We bought Fun tickets for Seth and a friend.  When Seth got home, we told him about the concert, and told him he could invite a friend to join.  Friend choice was a boy named Jordan Hall.  Wonderful choice, Seth.  We sure loved Jordan.

On the first night, we stayed in the New York New York in Vegas...beautiful room!  We spent the afternoon and evening walking the strip.  We went into a lot of stores (even the expensive ones that had socks more expensive than our rent).  Of course, we only shopped at the ones we could afford...like the world's largest H&M.  And that is NOT an exaggeration...it really is the world's largest H&M! It was a tad bit overwhelming. 

This mall was so cool!  Look at the whirlwind tornado things inside that glass tube!  Oh, p.s. if you look at the store names in the background, you can conclude this is one of the malls we didn't spend money at. ;)

Here are my two favorite items from our shopping trips:

Do you see the zebras on it?  It is even cuter on!
I will have to take a picture the first time I wear it just to prove it!

Alright, I am now a proud owner of this lovely Fossil bag. I almost died when I saw it.
And then really died when I actually BOUGHT it!! I love it so much! Between Taylor's watch fettish, and my...well, just everything fettish, we really love Fossil.

For lunch, we stopped at a Korean BBQ (all you can eat!).  Taylor ate for me and him.  The all-you-can-eat isn't the best deal for small people. ;)

Look at all of the food!

Seth and Jordo.  

We also watched the water show in Vegas.  That was splendid.

Me and my best friend :)

When the sun went down, we couldn't even tell.  Lights so bright.  Oh, how we love Vegas.  We spent the night watching people lose their money gambling, watching drunk people party, and strolling down the strip (whilst trying to avoid the many handouts).  We witnessed and overheard some humorous things, like:

Strippers and steak. Steak and strippers. Nothing better in the world than steak and strippers.

That one made us all chuckle. :)

Or how about:

I am so mad at myself. I am so drunk that I can't even see the other side of the street. ARGHHH! I am so stupid! I am so drunk! I am so drunk! AHHHHHH!!

(for the full effect, please insert random swear words about every other word).

While getting off of the elevator at the New York New York, the guy riding the elevator with us (obviously a little tipsy) gave Jordan's butt a nice smack.  That had us all laughing, too.

Oh, Vegas.  We do enjoy you.

This guy on the strip forced these wristbands on us.  He tried to convince us to go to a party held in the Monte Cristo.  But of course, none of us were interested since none of us drink.  I think he had a hard time conceiving how four people in their early twenties were not intrigued when he used his "very best lines" about drinks, girls, and dancing.  Sorry, worker man!

A little blurry, but here's me and TayRay on the strip!

Part 2, which includes the wonders of the Fun concert, and the drive home (funny stories go with this post) will be posted tomorrow! Look forward to it!

And we're off!

Tomorrow, Tay and I leave for Vegas!  We are staying in the New York New York for a night, and then off to Flagstaff, Arizona to see FUN in concert!! We can hardly wait!  We have been waiting for this trip for a very long time! If you live in Utah, you may be wondering, "Why on earth are they going all of the way to Arizona to see Fun in concert when Fun was just in Utah a month ago!?" Folks, let me tell you why.

In January, Taylor and I learned that Fun was coming to Salt Lake City.  We were PUMPED!  We planned for it, talked about it, and even had sleepless excited nights about it.  We could not wait.  
Then, about two weeks before the concert, Taylor asked me, "Did you get the tickets in the mail?"
"No.  When did you purchase them?" I asked.
"Wait...I thought you purchased them...." Taylor said.
"You're kidding, right?"
Taylor turned to me with a look of despair across his face, "Oh, no. Oh, no. Are you telling me you didn't purchase the tickets?"
"I thought YOU were going to purchase the tickets!!"
Taylor ran to his laptop, pulled up the webpage to order tickets, and sure enough....SOLD OUT.
We looked around to find people selling their tickets, but they were selling for five to six times the original amount.
Needless to say, after learning that neither of us had bought the tickets, we sat in silence for a long time.  Don't tell Taylor I told you this...but he may or may not have had a few small tears over this incident.  When I saw his eyes filling with tears, I quickly said, "It's okay, Tay! There are other concerts!  I'm sure there's one in Vegas or something."  Wrong, again.  The closest one was in Flagstaff, Arizona...nine hours away.  But, we didn't even think twice.  We booked the tickets. Right then and there. Months in advance.

And now, here we are.  Another sleepless night...because we are too dang excited! But this time, we're really going!



I will try my hardest to blog while we are there.  But we all know how vacations go: we bring homework, books to study, promise ourselves we'll keep up on our email, maybe a few small things to do for work...and, of course, we never do any of that. Instead, we party and relax. Which is what vacation is for, right?  So, if blogging doesn't happen...look forward to an awesome post on Thursday!  Oh, and Part 2 of The Desired Forgettable, Yet Unforgettable Moments of Marriage is ready to be posted as well.  Look forward to that one! Coming soon.

Adios for now!

Keeping my promises

I promised to upload a few more pictures from our camping trip this last weekend.  So, here they are!

Here's Taylor during our blow-dart gun matches!

Blow dart game continued...Taylor in the trees

This game was so fun! We played for hours!

Me and my man by the campfire

Tom started blowing darts high into the air.  The game was to try to catch the dart in your hat before it fell into the fire.  I think Taylor's long arms were a large disadvantage to the rest of the crew! Ha

Bag-O tournament!  I wasn't very good at this...during the first round we had 3 losses, and zero wins.  But then we came back for a season and actually started winning just a little!

City or wilderness..I just love this boy!

Me and Marce 

On the hike!

I grew these things for this reason and this reason only.  A great and comfortable way to wear my backpack ;) Yes, I really did wear it like this during the hike.

All eight of us slept in one tent!

This trip was sososo fun!! I am pumped and ready to go camping again! I love Utah...and I love summer!

Weekend in the wilderness

Sorry for the lack of posts the past few days!  Here is a quick one for now, and then I will post a better one tomorrow!

This last weekend, Tay and I went on a camping trip with Marci&Tom, Ryan&Rachel, and Camden&Etta!  We had such a blast!  The weekend consisted of hikes, blow-dart gun games, campfires (of course!), bag-o tournaments, inside jokes, and so much more!

More pictures will follow tomorrow, but here are just a few!

Love this boy, love this picture.

The girls on the hike.  This is where we took a break and ate lunch.

My husband being normal.

My husband being weird.

And, Guess what tomorrow is?  Seth comes home!  We are so so so excited! More to come tomorrow!

Such a wonderful vacation!

We have been having SUCH a blast!!  Lots of beach trips, shopping trips, and yummy food trips.  Can life get better than that?  Plus, so many laughs, good times, and memories shared.

One funny story to share: Last night, we were trying to find a place to eat for dinner.  We got a late start, and didn't set out for dinner until about 8pm.  But EVERYTHING was closed!  Probably because it was Easter.  We were starving...and just wanted to eat!  Finally, we find the first open restaurant: TrueFoods.  None of us had heard of it before, and we decided to try it out.  As soon as we walked through the doors, we were a little skeptical: we heard strange indie music and saw lots of elderly...very pretentious looking elderly...but, we decided to check out the menu anyway.  Once we got a look at the menu, we realized it was a no-meat, gluten-free, good-food-free, quite expensive restaurant.  None of us wanted any of it.  We asked Dad if we could leave...but he was too embarrassed to get up and walk away since we had already been seated.  Dad finally relented as long as we let him leave first and get a head start before we all left.  So, he got up to leave...but we didn't really give him a head start.  So about 2 minutes after we were seated, we were bolting, and we were given the strangest looks.  We laughed all of the way back to the car.  Maybe you had to be there...but we enjoyed it immensely.  TrueFoods has become the joke of the trip.  We ended up having a very classy dinner at CoCos.  Yep...the only open place around.

Here are some pictures of our awesome trip so far: