Back in Provo :)

Well, this month has been pretty crazy! I know I say that about almost every month, but it's true! So actually I'm just going to write about everything that we have done since we got back from Charleston, so a little bit of August and all of September.

When we first got home we moved upstairs! I can't tell you how excited I was to move upstairs and be out of the basement. This is the first time in our married lives where we have not lived in a basement. And it is awesome. I love it up here; it's so nice and pretty. Pictures to come. :)

Honestly, August is all kind of a blur. I can't remember what we did but I do know that we went mountain biking and rock climbing which was awesome! We also had some BBQs with friends from the ward and went to some parties because friends were leaving (Michael Barney).

For Labor Day we went home to Boise. I had to work so we got there Friday night pretty late, but got to talk to my dad for a while. Saturday  morning we got up early and went and saw the Hot Air Balloons which was something I have always wanted to do! Boise does it every year, and for some reason I never made it there. After that we went to JB's for some delicious breakfast. It was so good. Then we went home and relaxed a little until it was time to go up to Starlight Mountain Theatre. For their birthday presents, Rusty and I bought them some tickets and we all went up together! It was Charlie Brown, and although I was a little skeptical at first, it was awesome. The girl that played Lucy was hilarious. It was fun to show Rusty that part of Idaho too and let him see up in the mountains. For the rest of the weekend we hung around and got some stuff done (like sewing things and going through some of my old stuff), and went and saw The Butler. We also celebrated Rusty's birthday with a delicious BBQ dinner of steaks and a birthday cake! It was so much fun to be home!

The fair was here and I REALLY wanted to go so we invited our friends Chelsea and Michael to come with us, and it was a BLAST! I loved it! We walked around and saw all of the animals, went to a cool art display, and then saw a Lumberjack show haha. Real classy. Obviously we ate all kinds of delicious fair foods and Michael bought a Turkey Leg and was nice enough to let me try it. I have always wanted one, and this one was delicious! Rusty said it was the best one he has ever had, probably because there were a bunch of Polynesians cooking them and they know how to cook meat. For sure. Anyways, it was so much fun. For some reason none of us really felt like riding any of the rides (maybe I'm getting old?) so we just walked around and people watched and enjoyed it. It was perfect.

We went trail riding (for my first time) and it was awesome! I was really surprised but I actually liked it a lot! And I only got psyched out a few times, which is pretty good. Pretty dang good. We went up Hobble Creek Canyon and it was beautiful. The loop took us around by the Spanish Fork Canyon entrance with the windmills and then to the front of the mountains where you could see Utah Lake. Eventually we got up to the top and were surrounded by mountains. Loved it. Also, funny side note. It rained the next weekend so we took the truck up and did the same thing and went the whole way across, coming out in a canyon in Provo (going in the canyon in Springville).

 Got my  new gear! Woo hoo!

Something else fun we did was that we hiked Mt. Timpanogos! This is something that I have wanted to do since I moved to Provo but with us being gone during the summers it has been difficult. Finally this year we decided to just plan it and then follow through, so we did. And Chelsea and Michael came with us (even though Chels is preggers) and brought their friend Carlos with them! It was a lot of fun, much more than I thought it would be and it sure was pretty! I guess it was fun until we crossed over the saddle... then it wasn't fun anymore. Then it was windy and freezing and I felt like I was going to be blown off the mountain. Needless to say we didn't stay up there very long.

Boeing invited all of their BYU interns to go to the site, and when Rusty talked to the head guy in Salt Lake about possibly getting in there he told Rusty to come to the event and to bring me. Little did we know that I would be the only wife there... but long story short, that guy told Rusty to bring me but he didn't talk to any one else, and the lady didn't mention that to the other interns. So, yeah. It was awkward at first but I know a lot of them so it was alright. We sat through a little presentation then got to tour the factory! It was cool to meet some of these guys and see the building because long term this is where we are aiming at coming. Rusty has already spent a lot of time talking to them and they are hoping to get him back here in the next couple of years... and so are we. Then we went down into Salt Lake and ate lunch in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building up at The Garden. The view there of the temple was amazing of course, and the food was delish too. And because we didn't pay for it, it was even better. :) After lunch Rusty and I walked around Temple Square a little bit before heading home.

I also rode for the first time at a Motocross track... something I swore I would never do. But I have to tell you, I LOVED it! It was so much fun! And, I even got air a few times over those jumps. I know, crazy right? I never thought I would do that. It wasn't a lot, but it was like 6 inches which is a lot to me! Crazy.

On The Road Again

So the time has come for our drive home. Once upon a time we were going to drive to San Diego for Rusty's best friend's wedding, but that got shot down because it would make our drive 50 hours. And it would require us to pay for 5 more nights of hotels that we really can't afford. We were also going to go North to visit some of our very best friends in Chicago, but that got shot down because we needed to visit Rusty's family in southern Colorado because we won't be there for Labor Day. So, with these things in mind we set our route.

Quite honestly, this trip was a lot less eventful than our trip out there. We were worn out and ready to be home, so instead of stopping at a lot of places and doing lots of things, we just kind of drove straight through. Our trip out there took 7 days, this one took 3 or 4... it's kind of complicated, you'll see why. Also, the places we went through just weren't as exciting haha. Little Rock and Oklahoma City aren't quite the same as St. Louis and Nashville. But we were happy and stayed in the car.

Day #1: South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama

Friday Rusty got off work at noon and we packed everything in the car and took off. We made it to Birmingham that night after being stuck in some TERRIBLE traffic for 2 HOURS. I don't even know what happened but it was like the end of the world. Finally that night we made it to Birmingham, and it actually wasn't even that late because we hadn't factored in the time changes. On our drive home we gained two hours! That's the best! So we got to our hotel and hung out and relaxed. When we got there we noticed that the Statue of Liberty was also there. I had no idea we were in New York City. It was the funniest thing, but Rusty LOVED it. Like really loved it. Maybe it's because he hasn't seen the real one, but he just kept saying, "this is so cool!"

Day #2: Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma

Saturday we woke up pretty early (at like 6, but not on purpose. We are just so used to waking up at 7 that it just happened...) and started off on our journey again. This day we drove through Alabama and Mississippi and then stopped in Memphis. I was so excited about Memphis, and I don't really know why. I just loved Nashville so much (I would honestly move there in a heartbeat) that I think I held a similar belief about Memphis. Was I ever wrong. Memphis is the only place that we stopped and then left earlier than we planned on... ever. It was gross and dirty and old and run down. I only had a few things I wanted to do, one of which was to see the Elvis statue. And like a bonus, we also got to see a lot of homeless people sleeping around him. So, that was fun. 

We did eat somewhere pretty cool though. It was my first time having dry rub BBQ and it was this little hole in the wall place. Literally a hole in the wall. Back in an alley, after you go down the stairs. It was super creepy but it was actually pretty worth it. Not the best I've ever had, but I sure did like the dry rub more than I thought. Honestly if it was in a different city I probably would have liked it more. But as it is, I liked it and thought it was cool, but would never go back. I hated Memphis.

After Memphis we drove through Arkansas and into Oklahoma where we stayed close to Oklahoma City. I was actually really surprised at how beautiful Arkansas was! Everything was green and had lots of rivers. Definitely wouldn't mind going back to spend some time there, especially in the Ozarks. Oklahoma was also very beautiful which I wasn't expecting. Mostly I just sang "OKLAHOMA, where the wind comes sweeping down the plain!" like 50000000 times. 

Day #3: Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado

Well this day was Sunday so we found a ward to go to for first hour. This was the funniest, nicest, friendliest ward ever. We walked in the door and a man came up to us and asked if we were visiting or new. Rusty said that we were just passing through and his response was, "Oh. Are you coming from or going to Utah?" Hahaha. I have no idea how he knew; I didn't think I looked "Utahish" but apparently I do.

We drove to Amarillo and found ourselves on Route 66! I was so excited. We got to Amarillo and were looking for Cadillac Ranch and ended up in this sketchy area of town in front of some weird apartment complex. We were so confused so we went in to the gas station, and by we I mean Rusty, and when he walked in the lady said, "Have a quesiton?" When Rusty said yes she said, "Lookin for Cadillac Ranch?" Apparently that apartment complex is called Cadillac Ranch and people go there all the time haha. Eventually we found it, by pure luck. Bless the fact that everything is flat in Texas because that's the only reason we saw it. So, Cadillac Ranch is in the middle of a field in Amarillo. It is a bunch of cadillacs sticking up out of the ground... and people spray paint them. That's pretty much it. I don't know why, but it felt very... Texan.

After Amarillo we drove through the rest of Texas and New Mexico. And I was just shocked at how beautiful everything was! It honestly was surprising. Everything was green-ish, even in Texas. They had just been getting so much rain, but it was really pretty. And once we hit New Mexico you could see gorgeous mountains and there were huge fields full of sunflowers with little farm houses spread out. It was really cool.

Finally we made it to Colorado. I'm not from there and have never lived there, but honestly once I crossed that state line I felt like I was home. Maybe it's because it looks like Utah where I have been living for so long, but I don't think I've ever been happier to be in Colorado. We spent the evening and the next morning with Rusty's family and then set off to Ouray.

Days #4-6: Ouray, Provo

 Monday we left to go meet my sister and her boyfriend for some camping :) I just couldn't wait to be back in those mountains!! I wanted to go on some hikes and I wanted to breathe clean air and I wanted to have to wear a hoody at night because it was chilly. Well, I got all of those things, especially the hoody.

We started off that Monday and stopped along the way at a cool place in Colorado that Rusty has told me a lot about but we never stopped there. It was so cool! We hiked down into a gorge with a river.

Then we continued on our way and made it to Ouray! It's called the Switzerland of America. And for good reason.

We ate a Mexican restaurant where you can donate a dollar and they throw it up on the ceiling with a tack so it sticks. Then once a year they take them all down and donate them to charity.

The first morning. This was our camping spot!

And there we are!

The waterfall where we camped.

We spent the day hiking around. It was so beautiful! This was a waterfall on our hike!

More hiking.

So, I wanted to jump down and see the waterfall. I remember thinking, "It's probably wet and slippery" but I had no choice but to jump down or climb back up. And I really wanted to see it haha so I jumped... and slipped. And was hanging off the waterfall a little bit. But no big deal. Also, I was carrying our car keys and dropped them. SUPER lucky that they landed on dry ground and didn't fall down the waterfall.