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

One Month in Boise

One month ago today--it was a thursday--Justin took the MCAT (we are still waiting for his score). But that's not really what this post is about.

One month ago tomorrow--it was a Friday--I turned in my computer at work, and we hit the road bound for Idaho. Justin had the cars all packed up and we literally drove away right from my school on my last day of work. You see, he had to be up here to start his internship on Monday, so we had no time to spare.

After two days of driving we reached our dwelling place for the summer. Oregon Trail Village apartments. The OTV if you will.

It is an older place that has recently been remodeled. Our apartment is small and has cement floors, but the walls are newly painted and there is new furniture. (The main reason we chose this place was that they were willing to furnish it for us for the summer at a minimal cost.)

Here are a few pictures I took when we first moved in. I have since stuck a few pictures on the walls, but you get the idea.

Living Room (notice the puzzle)

Kitchen

There is only enough room for one

. . . so Justin has to do all of the cooking by himself :)

We had to buy a desk to set up my computer.

Vicki tells us the time every hour on the hour.

Our TV with surround sound complements of Mike, John, and Cody.

Justin's first day of work--it was a Monday--was also my birthday. Justin brought home these flowers. . . the ones in the spaghetti sauce jar. The love fern on the left is a plant that one of my students gave me on one of our last days of school.

A couple of days later we got around to making this birthday cake. Rainbow chip cake, with rainbow chip frosting. Justin made it actually and decorated it himself with sprinkles that I got for this very purpose. Yes that says Happy B-day with a 26 in the background. I'm old.

June 23, 2009

It's coming. 

Now? 

The baby's coming. 

And how! 

I see a nose. 

I see a curl. 

It's a healthy, perfect, 

lovely, little...

GIRL!

That's right folks, it really was a girl after all (some had their doubts). She was born the 23 day of June (the same day as Justin's sister, Rachel). Lets give a warm welcome to the newest member of our family...

Marlee Thomas

The Happy Family

Sister Shannon, Brother-in-law Darin, Niece Marlee

I was able to drive down to Salem, Utah to visit. This baby is even more precious in real life, but here are a few more pictures from her first days on Earth.

With Dad

Auntie Jam

Mom and Marlee

Sleeping like a baby

And of course, Marlee and me!

The ride home

Home with Auntie Crystal

The Big Island

I have a request to see more pictures of Hawaii, so this post is dedicated to the Big Island, or as Julia would say, Hawaiito. Thanks to Justin's parents, we were able to to spend a whole week there. It was amazing. The perfect honeymoon. Here are some pictures to highlight some of our adventures.

This was just after arriving at the Kona airport, which is completely outdoors. It was an evening flight, and we gained some hours so it felt much later than it was. If we look tired, that's why.

One of the first things we did after exploring the resort, was take a tour of the valley on horseback. Here we are on our horses GJ, or George of the Jungle (Justin's horse), and Macho Man (mine). Macho man had a listening disorder and wouldn't do a thing I said.

The next day we went to a nearby beach to have some fun in the sun. We weren't there very long, but it sure felt like we were. We got burnt pretty bad and felt it for a few days.

That night was the luau. Here we are waiting at our table for dinner to start. Our sunburns were much worse than they appear in this picture.

Here are a couple of Hawaiians digging our pig out of the ground where it had been cooking all day. It was pretty tasty.

We definitely got to admire a lot of beautiful scenery. This instance was while waiting for the show to start after eating the above mentioned pig.

The next morning we got up early to catch a morning snorkel. We took a boat ride to this protected cove where we snorkeled and had a great barbeque on the boat. Our disposable camera wasn't able to capture all of the colors that we saw underwater, but here are a few shots anyway. It was so cool to be swimming around down there. A huge pod of dolphins came to the cove while we were there as well and we got to see them from the boat pretty close up.

At the resort we stayed at, there is this lagoon fed by the ocean water that you can swim in. Since it is connected to the open ocean all kinds of sea life come in and out including sea turtles.

... and this puffer fish. We swam around with him and he didn't seem to mind one bit. I just kept waiting for it to get scared and puff up.

Taking a stroll around the resort. . .

After a long stay, we were still not ready to leave. It was such a happy getaway that whenever things get hard or boring or cold or unfavorable in any way we can just say, "think of Hawaii." Justin will then proceed to make Hawaiian music noises while I pretend to bask in the sun and we can't help but smile.

First Things First

Since we are living away from family and friends, I thought that this would be a good way to keep everyone informed about what we are doing. We are currently living in Boise, Idaho. Much has happened that has led up to this point, so I will try to explain what we have been up to for the past couple of months. No, there is too much, let me sum up.

1. We got married.

2. We went to Hawaii.

3. Justin Took the MCAT.

4. I finished teaching.

5. We moved to Boise.

Well, that about sums it up. There are still a few Bosie updates that need to take place, and those will be coming shortly. Until next time...