An ode to Justin on his Birthday

This is the greatest, sweetest, most wonderful guy I know. He is my best friend. I am so lucky. Even when he's sick he is still so good to me. I hurt when he is sick. Pray that he gets better soon. I love him.

A Camping Adventure

This was about my reaction when a couple in our ward invited us to go camping with them a couple of weeks ago. You see, it's not that I don't like the great outdoors, because I do. It's just the whole part about sleeping on the hard ground that gives me that not overly excited face. Let's just say that I've had some bad experiences.

We did, however, end up going camping. We were able to borrow all of our gear (except a flashlight, pillows and bug repellent) from various people, and it wasn't that bad. I prepared some tin foil dinners before we left and we were also in charge of bringing stuff for s'mores. Dinner was great (the best Justin has ever had, I might add--thanks Tiff!), the company was fun, and the ground was tolerable.

In the morning we had some breakfast and then went on a little hike. I'm not a huge fan of hiking either while I'm doing it, but I do like getting to the top. Who doesn't, really?

Then we hiked down,

ate lunch,

went home.

The end.

Lucky Peak: Not so Lucky

Yesterday was an adventure.

I spent four hours of the day driving home home from Rexburg (I had a job interview and should hear back by Friday) and justin spent the day at work as usual. My drive wasn't bad at all, but Justin had a rough day at work. It was one of those days that when it is over you ask yourself, "What was the point of this day?" and you can't figure it out.

Meanwhile, our ward (the branch of our church that we attend) has been planning this big ward party at a nearby lake known as Lucky Peak.

http://www.sailidaho.com/lucky-peak/lucky-peak.shtml

There was to be a BBQ, boating, and other water related fun. We planned to go and signed up to bring a side dish and everything. They were counting on US.

The party was from 5:00-8:30. When I got home I did a little housework and made some pasta salad so we were all ready to go when Justin got off work at 5:00. Well 5:15 rolled around and still no Justin. He finally got home around 5:20 (with flowers for me), and we hurried off to our activity. It turns out he was stuck in a long meeting in which the topic of discussion did not pertain to him at all. That was the beginning of our frustrations:

Justin was starving.

We forgot the little map they gave us at church.

Forgot DVD to take back to RedBox on the way.

Tried going the quickest way. Construction. Road closed.

Went around the other way to come in from the freeway.

Picked up DVD to return along with a fork and a bowl so Justin could snack on the way.

Forgot directions. . . again.

Forgot to take back DVD.

Got to the park. Didn't know which way to go.

The one couple we know didn't answer their phone.

Tried one way. Nothing.

Tried the other way. The lake disappeared.

Tried the first way again. We were stumped.

Side dish was mostly eaten.

Decided to give up on the ward activity.

Wanted to check out the outlet mall on the way back.

Missed the turn.

Decided to go downtown instead.

Copyright: John T. Baker Photographer LLC, JayBee Stock.com

Took back the movie.

Walked downtown. I had to go to the bathroom. Food didn't sound good.

Stopped at Cold Stone to appease our hunger and sorrows with some comfort food.

The girl working asked us how our night was so far. We laughed.

Went home. Put our swimming suits on and played with the beach ball in the bath tub.

How embarrassing.

That excitement wore off real quick, so then we just got ready for bed and watched the rest of the Italian Job that we had started last week.

Even though we didn't go boating, which is probably my MOST favorite thing to do, it was still a fun night. Justin makes everything fun. I love.

Summer Fun with Tiff

We came to Boise knowing one person, and one person only. That person is Tiff. Now, Tiff is a very important person, and has much going on in her life right now (being an athletic trainer at a high school, serving as relief society president in her singles ward, and working toward a masters degree/teaching credential to name a few), but she still somehow finds time to hang out with us lowly newlyweds. What a friend.

Last month she went with us to a rodeo in Mountain Home (about a 45 min drive). I heard about in on the radio the day before, and Justin had never been to one, so I thought it was imperative that we went. Justin was a little reluctant, but I convinced him that it would be well worth it. So that fateful Saturday night after dinner, we put on our boots and belt buckles and were off to the Rodeo. It was all that we dreamed of and more. Justin even got told off by an old cowboy sitting in front of us for shaking his knee up and down. This man just couldn't wrap his mind around the concept of a nervous habit and just sat there, as non nervously as possible, with a look of utter amazement/disgust on his face. We still aren't sure if he was joking or not. One thing is for sure though. . . he knew how to make a California boy feel welcome.

Our next adventure took place last week as we celebrated our independence. . . We are so thankful for the freedom we have to do the things we love most, like go to the lake. About two hours north of Boise lies the beautiful Cascade Reservoir. Tiff invited us up for the day (July 3rd) to go boating with her family and another family that they were vacationing with. What a joy! I love, love love.

I'm realizing that I am kind of lame with the camera and I didn't get any pictures of us waterskiing. That is what is what I really love and do the most of. The wakeboarder in Justin thought he had to jump the wake while skiing. Needless to say he prefers wake boarding. And since we are from California, we had to do a little surfing here in Idaho as well:

Justin wakeboarding

Sorry, not much of an action shot.

It was the only non-blurry one.

Me flagging

. . . and us surfing