The Bucket List

So I've been adding to this list for awhile (and I will continue to do so). Some of the things I have been able to cross off my list and so I will give them an honorable mention ;) Adam has agreed to cross at least one of these off my list every year or every other year...... we'll see how things go ;) Some will be easier than others and I DO (hopefully) have several years to do all of these ;)

To Do: (In no particular order)

1. Tour the Parthenon in Greece (For that matter, MUCH of Greece ;)

2. Ski in the Alps

3. Walk in Stonehenge

4. Go to a taping of the Price is Right

5. Walk in the Garden of Gethsemane and visit the Tomb

6. View the Grand Canyon (Yes, I know it's ridiculous that I have not seen that yet when I grew up within hours of the place ;)

7. Tour a real Pirate ship.

8. Go sky diving (but the closest I will probably get is one of those vertical wind tunnels. I HATE heights!! ;)

9. View the blue, blue waters of the Caribbean

10. Ride in a Hot Air Balloon (Reference #8 and realize I will be doing this clinging to Adam ;)

11. Walk on, and hopefully camp on the Great Wall of China.

12. View and tour the Pyramids

13. Participate in a marathon

14. Adopt a child (And NOT because all the weird stars are doing it right now ;)

15. Paint a real landscape picture.



Been able to do: (These have all been on my list for awhile)

1. Married my best friend ;)

2. Touched an iceberg

3. Toured the real Disneyland Castle in Spain!

4. Been to the location of the "Birth of the Renaissance"

5. Been through the Nauvoo Temple

6. Gone rock climbing

7. Gone white water rafting

8. Toured a village from an ancient civilization (Nothing makes you feel younger ;)

9. Been in 4 states at once

10. Enjoyed the cramped quarters of a Submarine ;)

11. Got kicked off a train in France/Monaco (Well, that might not have been on my original list, but I did feel like a rebel ;)


Quite a list to get done, but it will be fun checking them off one-by-one ;)

10 years

Where does the time go? I don't feel like a teenager anymore, but I swear it has not been 10 years since we all graced the halls of Pahranagat Valley High School! Well, even if it seems crazy, we DID have our 10 year reunion this past weekend, and I had a really good time just chatting with everyone (I had been up until 3 in the morning the night before..... I hope I wasn't too delirious... I had helped my mom with Grad-night and I think I might have been a little punch drunk at the reunion ;) We were able to just relax and catch up a bit. Some of my classmates I hadn't seen since graduation, so it was pretty weird seeing them married with children! It was a great BBQ and I was very grateful every one took the time to put everything together and join the chaos ;)


It really does seem like the time has flown, but I have been grateful for the several experiences and blessings I have had the opportunity to go through in the past 10 years..... I don't know what my Heavenly Father has ever seen in me, but I truly feel grateful for the time he has spent on shaping me and trying to make me a better person. He truly loves each of us and I appreciate his constant guidance..... Where would we be without him?

Up!

Adam and I decided for our date this week to go and watch the new Pixar movie UP. I definitly have to give it 2 thumbs up! I was hesitant, because Wall E was just "okay". I wasn't sure how they could make a movie about a man and a million balloons floating around, but I have to tell ya, it made me double over, full-belly laugh more than once! It starts out with a couple of tear jerking moments, and then I couldn't help but join in with the little kids behind us and laugh my head off. Over all, I think ya'll will like it.

Not much....

Things have been fairly normal these past couple of weeks, but A LOT has been going on. Adam FINALLY finished his first year of his Master's Program and I couldn't be more proud. He got a 4.0 both semesters! So I'm hoping those brains will pass on to the next generation ;)

With Adam finishing his semester, it also means we have lived up here in Logan for a year. I can't believe how FAST this past year has gone! Have we REALLY been up here that long? Nah....

I have been getting my class through our end-of-year-testing.....those couple of words wrap up a CHUNK of emotions! As a teacher, these tests can be VERY frustrating! You know you have gone through all of this 3rd grade information a ZILLION times, and yet you just pray that they retain some of it ;) All of the testing is now done electronically, so I got some of the preliminary scores back within 24 hours. They did really well, but then they were a great class. I'm pretty proud of 'em.

This weekend, my mother-in-law Bev is coming into town, so we should have another action packed weekend ;) I really enjoy these weekends we have to visit with family and just relax... There's NOTHING better in life

Albuquerque

Well, we hadn't traveled in a couple of weeks, so we decided we needed to get away for awhile. ;) Albuquerque sounded like a fabulous destination, so that was the lucky town! Really, Adam's dad lives down there, and we hadn't been able to visit him for awhile. Easter Break was ideal, so we headed off.

On our way down, we really wanted to stop in at Mesa Verde. We had vistited once about 4 years ago and I had wanted to stop in again. I LOVE this place! It is one of the most beautiful places on earth and I can't help but be in awe at the structures that have survived since about 300 AD


Adam enjoying his time by the Long House village











We were able to spend a couple of hours in Mesa Verde, before we headed on down to Albuquerque. While we were there, we were able to relax and enjoy our time with Adam's dad. We went golfing and generally just had a good time.(Golfing was DANG hilarious and there is a VERY good reason why I DO NOT have pictures of that! I now have a huge admiration for Tiger Woods and his talent ;)

We had to leave Sunday morning, so that was our Easter Sunday..... driving for 12 hours. It was a doosie of a drive, but I did convince Adam to stop in at Four Corners. I'm not entirely sure why I really wanted to head there, but it was pretty cool to be in four states at once! ;)

It was so nice to have some time off to tour around and visit family. It was a needed break and I'm glad everything went so smoothly. Now to get through my class's end of year testing.....

The 28th B-day

Well, it's bound to happen to all of us..... yes, we all start to get old! :) I entered the day with some hesitancy, because I wasn't quite sure how my mental state would be when I realized that I was WAY too close to the big 30. But the day was a lot of fun! Adam went out of his way to make sure I wasn't too traumatized. ;)

The students were really great that day, AND it was only a half day of school so I was able to go home at 12:30! (PLUS, it was the beginning of Spring Break, so a full week off..... Heaven....)

That night Adam had put together a WONDERFUL dinner that we got to share with Tasha, Justin, and Mylah, and some great friends Colin and Michon. I had told Adam that I WAS NOT doing dished on my birthday, so I thought we would be going out for dinner. But he put together the most wonderful Garlic Sirloin and did EVERYTHING that day. He had made my cupcakes (I wanted those instead of a cake) had the dinner set to go, and I truly didn't have to wash one dish.... man I love this kid!

So to follow my dream dinner, we played my favorite game, which is Dominoes. I love that game! It was a ton of fun, and I appreciated the patience of friends and family while we played this long game! (I even think they let me win.... there is no way I could have beat everyone by 200 points! ;)

Then the guys wanted to bust out the Wii and have some fun with Rock Band. It ended the night with a bang, and helped me enter this 28th year... I look back on some of my crazy adventures, and I can only be grateful for the wonderful experiences and people I have come to know and love. Thank you for your friendship and love! I can't believe the blessings that keep coming....

Beautiful Nauvoo

"The Beautiful" is the translation for the Hebrew word Nauvoo, which is a small town on the edge of Iowa and Illinois. Now this little town of 1,000 people might not seem like a highly anticipated vacation destination for most people, but for members of the LDS church it is a wonderful place to stop and remember the sacrifices of the pioneers and first members of our church. It is ideally located on the Mississippi River and was the location of our church in 1840 before we moved out west past the Rockies. There are still several historical buildings that are amazing to see and right up my alley as a self proclaimed "history buff"!

We set out on our crazy excursion with a friend of mine from my mission, the one and only Tiffanie Player. Now, this was not the first time the three of us had headed out on a wild hair. We had been together on our European Adventures 2 years ago. This was the infamous tour that started in Spain, followed by France, and finishing in glorious Italy. We were ancient tour buddies, and we were excited to restart that travel bug ;) (And frankly, why not have some more fun?) Starting off in Kansas City early Thursday morning, found us broken down an hour later in Cameron, MO.... this was a little hiccup, but it did not stop us! Enterprise (the rental agency from Heaven!) brought us a car, and we were on our way again. However, I don't believe Adam saw this as quite the salvation. They brought us a PT Cruiser....I don't know how many of you know about my husband's intense hatred for that particular Chrysler model, but to say the least, he wasn't entirely ecstatic about our new "ride" ;)

But we were on our way again, and we arrived in good time. The next morning found us all over Nauvoo. We had such a relaxing time, but we were able to see everything. I was having the time of my life!



The beautiful temple rebuilt after a 160 years











I have been wanting one of these cool bricks for years!!!!

















The gang back together again on the banks of the Mississippi



The quarry where the original marble was taken for the 1840's temple







The Wilford Woodruff home that has been completely restored. After all their hard work, they were only able to stay in the home for 100 days. Even after they had crossed the Mississippi to head West, Wilford came back to patch a hole that was in the roof! They were such hard working people and you can tell how precious this place was for them





Adam and I dancing on the same ballroom floor that Joseph and Emma Smith danced.... Ahhh!!!! I know that was what you were thinking!! ;)
















I'm calling everybody to order in the 18th century school house!!! It's a talent that is ageless ;)














I'm not sure what this dude is doing in the "Hall of the Seventy" ;)












We then headed out to Carthage, IL to view the jail where Joseph Smith was martyred. It is a very simple set up, which basically outlines the couple of days leading up to the attack on the jail. It was a sweet reminder of the wonderful work Joseph did in his short life and the sacrifices they all made in restoring the gospel of Jesus Christ.











A window in the room where all of the men were held. (Same one Joseph fell out of when he was shot)





Adam had never been to any of these sites before and he made a really cool observation while we were there. He felt that the rebuilt temple and the surrounding area was a wonderful tribute to those hard-working pioneers that sacrificed so much.... they went through a lot to be able to worship freely. I loved this thought! It truly is a great place to see history and feel the power of our ancestors and the restored gospel.