Barrett's Birthday

We celebrated Barrett's 25th birthday last week.
He had a final the next day, so we kept the celebrations low key and stayed home for dinner, presents, and cake.

One of my not-so-brilliant ideas was the decorating of Barrett's cake. We didn't have icing for the writing, but I did have gel food coloring from work and thought that would work great for letters. First of all, it was hard to make the letters and by the time I was done all the food coloring was gone.

Then when we ate more of the cake the next day I realized the repercussion of my food coloring. I looked at Barrett and my dad as they ate and couldn't help but laugh at their blue mouths.

We were able to go the Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert the next day then celebrated again on the weekend with Barrett's family. I am so grateful to be married to Barrett and love having a day where we can celebrate him. I love you honey!

Wind storm

After being up a few hours in the middle of the night Wednesday Barrett and I woke up to find this as we left Thursday morning.

As I drove away everyone's yards looked clean... I think all their leaves ended up in front of our door.

You can see the path from the door opening.

Then I went to my car and saw the garbage and recycling cans all over.

I know it was a lot worse up north so I am grateful this is all that happened... but it's crazy to see how powerful weather can be in a short amount of time.

No more waiting...

Sometimes timing in our life doesn't come exactly how we expect it to. As you move forward and look back the timing actually seems perfect and you wouldn't have asked for it to be any other way. But when Barrett got a new calling that gives us the opportunity to be a Ma and Pa at pioneer trek in the summer, initially I was very excited, but then it sunk in that our plans of moving to a new place in the near future shifted. As most people, I like the idea of moving on, progressing, not feeling stagnant, or whatever you choose to call it. We both feel very blessed to live in our apartment for many reasons, however, we feel that we're growing out of it and want to move on to a new stage in our lives. Because of the size and me thinking we would not live in our basement apartment very long, I never really did too much to decorate because we have no place to store extra stuff. Once I realized that we were not moving anytime soon I wanted to buy autumn decorations so I could feel change. I finally thought "I am not waiting anymore". If I want change there are many options for creating it besides just moving. So here is my effort to make our apartment look like autumn. During my shopping I realized how much I really love Fall!

These flowers have been exactly like this since we got married.

To make it more fitting with the season I added these:

Barrett's mom gave me this fun face from The Art Garden, a cute place on Vine St. So I bought a pumpkin and had fun decorating it.
Target had some great candles! It even smells like autumn :)Found this great pumpkin at Taiwan Imports. Yellow adds a ton to all the reds and oranges.

Finished entertainment center.
You can't really see it because of the color, but that basket-weaved pumpkin on the bottom left was only $8 at Target.

I went all over looking for the perfect doormat and found this at my last stop: Bed, Bath & Beyond

I've had this for a few seasons but still wanted to show it

Lastly is the pumpkin I put together (yes I know, this is the last pumpkin I should purchase). I also found this at Taiwan Imports. It is darling alone, but I saw a cute display and wanted to spice up the decoration.

I found this Halloween-y ribbon and twisted it around the pumpkin.

Then put some decorative leaves in the middle. Just like my kind of craft: simple and fast

Adding just a few Fall decorations helped a lot! And we will figure out how to store the stuff later. Barrett and I both believe callings come for a reason and are happy for the opportunity Barrett has to work with the young men, especially since I am in young women's. We also are very excited to share an experience like pioneer trek together! Over the last few weeks I have also realized that our life is unique and different from any other family's experience. We are incredibly blessed to be able to save money, be in a great location for both of us, gain experiences in many callings, come in contact with great people in our neighborhood, and for me to be able to teach piano. God knows what timing is best for us and my faith in this has been strengthened.

Bahamas Cruise

It was Brittney and Ryan's 10 year anniversary this summer and they decided to take a cruise to celebrate, and invited us to come along! So in June we went on a Caribbean Cruise.

On the plane...
The view of Miami before we left.
Our first stop was the island of Nassau in the Bahamas. We rented scooters and drove to a more secluded beach.The rest of the cruisers:
Jeff

Ryan and Brittney

On our way snorkeling.
While we rode on the boat to get to the snorkeling destination we passed Mary Kay, Tiger Woods, Nicholas Cage, and other celebrities' houses. Their yachts were usually visible as well.

Formal night

We had a lot of fun with the activities on the cruise. One show we saw was the juggler Chuck Gunter. He was very talented and was funny as well! He also got a few audience members involved. His juggling is worth watching, so if you are interested watch the video on: www.chuckisfunny.com/

They show the act in this picture on the video

There was a rock climbing wall on the cruise. Since the cruise was short, we didn't get to spend much time using the wall, but at least we got to try it out.

Our second stop was the island of Cococay.
Around the time we were planning to go back to the ship we saw dark clouds rolling in and tried to clean up our stuff as fast as we could, but to no avail. We got soaked as we waited for the ferry to take us back to the ship. In a matter of minutes it was pointless to hold towels over our heads because they were so wet. I also decided to take off my cover up because it was like we were swimming anyway.

Jeff, Brittney, and Ryan also went parasailing on Cococay

Our last and favorite spot was Key West, Florida.
Jeff, Barrett, and I went on a kayaking tour through the mangroves. It was very cool to learn about how mangroves grow and to see the beautiful scenery. We held a sea cucumber and got to see rare colors of anemones.

A huge statue at their museum
We ate at a place called "Sloppy Joes" (as you can see in the background) and listened to music while eating great food.We were grateful for the awesome adventure to places we had never been and for spending time with family! Thank you Brittney and Ryan!

Ragnar 2011

I had a blast at Ragnar this year! I wasn't nearly as anxious as last year and the people in my van were fun. I was the second runner which was a total of 13.3 miles (Leg #1: 6.7, Leg #2: 3.0, Leg #3: 3.6), which is one of the shorter legs and probably another reason why I wasn't as nervous or sore.

This picture was taken at our office before we left for Logan.

Our start time was 5:00 a.m.! And it was freezing! These 2 pictures kind of show the 45 degree weather, but the wind was what made it so cold.
This is my first run and yes my eyes are closed. I do not have any good pictures of me running this year. Because of this I came up with 5 Fun Reasons that shows the Ragnar culture and what makes people run this crazy relay.

Fun Reason #1: It's a relay!
Relays are fun because you have people cheering you on during your whole run and you get a burst of excitement at the end of each run because you have finished another leg. The next two pictures are examples of what exchanges look like. There is a slap bracelet that is passed at each exchange before the next runner is sent off.

Fun Reason #2: The beautiful scenery

These pictures don't do it justice, but the views are amazing which always gives motivation while running.

Fun Reason #3: You get to know your vanmates (maybe too well)
As you sit in the van for two days it's hard to decide which bodily need supersedes the others: sleep, hunger, or going to the bathroom. Whichever it is, jokes are constant as you get to know each other.

This picture was taken the last day and you can start to see how worn out we are, ha ha.
Fun Reason #4: The costumes
These 2 pictures are just some of the many. Barrett saw a team where each runner represented different sporting events: one carrying a full surf board, another in a kayak jacket carrying a paddle, and another did all his runs on cross country skis!

Fun Reason #5: The sayings on the cars
(No explanation needed)

Sadly, Barrett did not take any pictures, but I did get a copy of one picture from someone else. Barrett ran the same leg that we did last year so he ran 18.1 miles.

And finally. For those who have run Ragnar, or for those who have time to watch a funny video, you will get a kick out of this: Do you want to run a relay race