Fireworks and Helicopters

On the Tuesday before the fourth of July, we were hanging out after Jacob got home from work when we realized something important... We hadn't bought any fireworks for the weekend! Of course we didn't want just any fireworks, we wanted them to be great ones so we decided to make one of our spontaneous excursions. Around 8 or 9pm we got in the car and headed to Evanston, WY. The closest location where we could purchase the good stuff. Its a 1 hr 30 min drive so we arrived at about 10 pm. Luckily, firework stores stay open until midnight so we had plenty of time to check out the three different stores there and purchase a variety of fun fireworks. Then we headed back home to Alpine and went straight to sleep since Jacob had work the next day. We had such a good time I feel like we should make this a tradition, except maybe we can leave a little earlier in the day next time :)

On Wednesday we left for Idaho Falls as soon as Jacob got out of work. We encountered some heavy traffic on I-15 which we figured was being caused by an accident. But what we didn't expect to see was a helicopter landing on the other side of the freeway. It was scary to think about the need for a med-evac helicopter at an accident (I hope everyone ended up ok), but I have to admit it was kind of a cool experience to have it sitting right across the median from us. I think everyone around us felt the same way because there was no problem on our side of the freeway and traffic was moving at a crawl.

We arrived in Idaho Falls in time to host a firework show for my family that evening. Jacob did an awesome job at coordinating different fireworks to go off in a row and everyone had a blast watching. He helped my younger sibling to each take turns setting off some of the fireworks and we also had plenty of roman candles and sparklers for everyone in the group to enjoy. I would definitely say that our last minute shopping trip was well worth it!

A Favorite Pastime

One of our favorite things to do together as a couple is spend time outdoors. We love biking, swimming, and hiking. Luckily we live in an awesome place to do all of those things. Right up the road from where we live in Alpine is American Fork Canyon. The other day after Jacob got home from work we went hiking up in the canyon and had a great time. There were wild flowers everywhere, it was so gorgeous!

 

A Last Minute Father's Day Trip

On Fathers day we were planning on just staying at home in Alpine for the weekend but after our 9am Sacrament Meeting Jacob surprised me with one of his spontaneous plans that I love. He asked if I wanted to spend the day with my family, specifically my dad, and said we should just make a day trip out of it. I loved the idea and so we set off on our road trip. My family was actually spending the weekend in Twin Falls with my extended family so we met them up there. We were able to spend a few hours together talking and having fun. We also got to enjoy a delicious Sunday feast prepared at my Grandma's house. We had a great time and it was well worth the trip even though it was so short. Luckily Jacob and I both love spending time together in the car so we didn't mind traveling both ways in one day.

I forgot to take pictures so I got these off my Aunt Lisa's blog

A Week in Idaho

While Jacob was having his internship adventure in Connecticut, Cas Cas and I travelled up to Idaho Falls to spend the week with my family. Cas Cas was quick to make herself comfortable on Melanie's bed. She especially loved the giant stuffed gorilla!

During the week I decided to commit to a change in hairstyle that I had been thinking about for a while. I've gone dark before but this time I decided to add some red into the mix. I'm excited about how it turned out!

I got to spend some quality time with my mom since the kids were all still in school and my dad had work. I was also pretty busy finishing up some online assignments for my nursing study abroad classes. I did get to catch a few fun moments with my busy siblings though. Here's a picture of Spencer pretending to be the BYU version of Superman!

When I got back home Cas Cas decided to help me unpack...

She loves hiding in places. I found her kitty bed sliding around the kitchen floor one afternoon and was a bit confused for a second before I saw a little white paw stick out from under the edge :)

We both missed Jacob so much and were so happy when we were all reunited again at the end of the week!

Jacob's Travels

While I was gone in Arizona on my study abroad, Jacob made sure to fit in some travels of his own to keep from getting too bored or lonely.

First he headed up to Idaho Falls to visit my family for the weekend. He brought Cas Cas along so that she could stay with my family for the next few weeks. My two younger brothers, Nathan and Spencer, took the day off of school on Friday so that they could go backpacking. During the drive up they stopped for breakfast at a cute diner for their "last good meal," before setting out for their camping trip. They went on my favorite hike up by Palisades Reservoir. I think it is 7-8 miles to get to the upper lake there where they camped overnight. During the evening they made a fire and roasted hotdogs for dinner. Jacob had brought the small hatchet he got for his birthday with him so he taught the boys how to safely throw it at trees and get it to stick in the trunks. They had a lot of fun but unfortunately it ended up raining most of the night and then through out the morning. Because it was so wet outside when they woke up they packed up quickly and hurried back down the trail to the car. On the way back home they stopped to buy a box of yummy donuts for breakfast.

The next week Jacob went to Chicago to visit his sister Jessie, her husband Dustin, and their little daughter Clara. His mom was also there visiting for the week and his dad came for part of the week as well. While he was there they went on an architecture tour of downtown Chicago by boat. They also got to take a tour at Wrigley Field, which is located just down the street from Jessie and Dustin's apartment. He made sure to eat some good food while he was there too, including the famous, deep dish, Chicago style pizza. Jacob also took his family to a Ukrainian buffet so that they could all experience some of the dishes he ate on his mission. I was a little sad I wasn't there to experience the Ukrainian food too. Another place Jacob visited while there was the Chicago Art Institute, which he really enjoyed. He had a great trip and I know he was really happy to get to spend time with Jessie, Dustin, Clara, and his parents.

Wrigley Field

Jacob loves his niece!

Eating Borscht at the Ukrainian restaurant

After I got back from my study abroad Jacob and I had a fun weekend together, including going to a Taylor Swift concert. But on Sunday Jacob left for his summer internship kickoff at his company's national headquarters in Connecticut. His company is called the Royal Bank of Scotland and his branch is in Salt Lake City but all the interns around the country got to be flown out to Connecticut for a week long orientation. While there he spent a couple days in Stamford, CT. We went to the Bloomberg office on Wall Street and got to attend finance training on Wall Street as well. He went to a rooftop social in New York City and he was able to visit central park and grand central station too. On his last day of the trip there were no plans so Jacob coordinated a day-trip to Boston with the other Salt Lake City interns. While in Boston, Jacob was also able to meet up with his good friend Roberto who lives there. Although it was a work trip, Jacob had a good time. We were both glad when he got home though that all of our time apart was finally over.

The Best Surprise!

As I said in my last post, after returning from Arizona, Jacob and I only had the weekend together before he left for a week in Connecticut for his internship. Little did I know,  Jacob had plans to make that weekend extra fun! When Jacob picked me up from my 3 week study abroad he had a surprise for me...
Tickets to see Taylor Swift's Red Tour concert in Salt Lake City that weekend!

I was shocked and so excited! I am not embarrassed to say that I am a big Taylor Swift fan! The concert was on Saturday evening. When we arrived there were a ton of people lining up to go inside. I really wanted to get a shirt and so we went straight to the merchandise line once we got inside of the arena. We ended up waiting for 45 minutes because the credit card reader wasn't functioning. But we finally got my shirt and I liked it so much that I didn't mind missing part of the opening act.

The opener was Ed Sheeran, he has some good music but I was really only there for Taylor so I didn't mind missing some of his set. We quickly found our seats, which were in a great spot. The crowd was probably 80% girls, many much younger than me. But surprisingly quite a few were college age too which made me feel a bit less dorky :)

The show was amazing! This was my first concert featuring a major performer and it was crazy to see how much they put into the set, costumes, and special effects; especially for her hit songs! I loved it and sang along with everyone till my voice got a bit hoarse. Even though Jacob was there mostly for me, I think he had a good time too!

I have the best husband ever, he knows me so well!

Navajo Nation

Almost as soon as we returned from our trip to Italy, I was out the door again leaving for my BYU nursing study abroad to Chinle, AZ. We had gotten home to Utah on Saturday and I was leaving on Monday so we had just enough time to do all our laundry, pack my bags, and go shopping for food. All of the participants were told we were responsible for our own meals and so I wanted to bring as much food with me as possible since I didn't know what kind of stores would be available on the Navajo reservation or how expensive food would be. Jacob is fully aware of my normal food anxiety problems and knew this trip was going to be particularly stressful in general so he helped me to get stocked up with everything I thought I might need. This included a hot plate and a pitcher that boils water since I would be in a hotel the whole time with only a mini fridge and a bathroom sink for food storing and preparation.

In the BYU nursing program everyone participates in a study abroad after the completion of their second year in the program. There are several locations to choose from, some in Utah, a couple in other states, and the rest international. All of the trips come with different price tags and time lines. The purpose of the study abroad is for nursing students to experience working with at-risk populations. I chose to go to the Navajo Nation because of the price (we had been saving up for our Italy trip), and because it was one of the shortest trip at 3 weeks. Also I knew I would have internet and cell phone coverage to stay in touch with my hubby! It still felt like much too along to be away from each other though.

Canyon De Chelly

White House Ruins 

Window Rock

All of my fellow nursing buddies!

Major highlights from the trip:

• Worked clinical shifts in the ER and on the medical floor of Chinle hospital
• Accompanied nurses on Public Health visits far out on the reservation
• Helped the Public Health Department host a health fair
• Ate Navajo tacos at one of the few restaurants in town
• Went jeeping in Canyon De Chelly (where part of the new "Lone Ranger" movie was filmed)
• Visited Meteor Crater and Native American ruins
• Bought souvenirs at the flea market, including a gorgeous handmade pot
• Snacked on fry bread and drank the best horchata I've ever had!
• Hiking through a part of the canyon you can only enter if you have a native resident with you
• Went on a tour to learn about the medicinal properties of local plants
• Running at the high school track right behind our hotel

Wild Horses

Our guide for the plant tour

Jeeping was my favorite activity of the whole trip!

This cool rock formation was just a short drive behind the hospital in Chinle, the views were so amazing pretty much everywhere we went there!

Meteor Crater

Paige, Me, and Erin spent the day sightseeing together while the other girls 

went to a family cabin nearby

Pottery pieces at the ruins

The Homolovi Ruins

Petrified wood, there is a whole forest of petrified tree trunks not far from Meteor crater, unfortunately we ran out of time and couldn't go see more.

Even though my reasons for choosing to go to Arizona over the other study abroads were about finding the cheapest, shortest trip that could get me back home with Jacob the soonest, I ended up being so glad for the experience! Believe me, it wasn't an easy trip, in fact I think that was what made it so great. Although it was only 3 weeks long, by the end I felt like I had really grown as a person. Since I haven't yet had the chance to go on a mission (I hope someday I will with Jacob), this felt kind of like my own mini mission. During our stay on the Navajo Reservation a lot of our time was spent doing service, whether working at the hospital, cleaning the church building, and cleaning houses while on public health visits. Most days we were even split into pairs and sent off to different places (just like companions). The reservation was like a third world country and it offered me my first true view of poverty. People were living in houses made of particle board without water and electricity. It is amazing how seeing things like that can so quickly change your perspective about life. I am so glad for all the lessons I learned while visiting the Navajo Nation, including the unique chance I had to meet the Navajo people and learn more about their amazing culture and history.

But lets just say that even with it being a great experience for me, I could not have been more excited to return home and see Jacob waiting there to pick me up at BYU campus! I had butterflies in my stomach and a huge grin on my face, I missed him soooo much! Sadly we only had the weekend together before he had to leave town himself, but I'll cover his adventure in the next post.