It's that time again!

It was time for Shanam's monthly dose of medicine. This was a more spontaneous trip, as in a 5:00 Friday night text while he's at work, "Honey, why are we not driving to the mountains right now?" I knew that was a clue to how stressful his day had gone and how much he needed to get away. "Well, do you want to go?" I texted back. The answer, "Uh, yes?" It sounded like he didn't know how I was going to respond :) I'm up for fun adventures and a good road trip any day (just ask Bre or Anndalyn :), so I told him I'd pack and pick him up in an hour. We decided to go to a little town in the mountains of New Mexico called Cloudcroft. This place sits at 9000 ft, pretty much at the top of a mountain ridge. The drive through the mountains would have been gorgeous if we had left a little earlier, however, we managed to arrive right around midnight. After an hour of trying to find a perfect spot to pitch our tent for the night, we found a cop who was on bar duty to show us a little road tucked away in the forest that lead to some good areas. We thanked him and eventually got settled in to bed around 2 am. Fun stuff! The stars were absolutely breathtaking that night and we slept with our rain cover off so we could enjoy them. Only problem was, it got dreadfully cold in the morning and we made sure the next night to enjoy the stars before going to bed and slept with the cover on :)

Our first day was full of adventure! Of course we went mountain biking, and I must say, I was awesome!! LOL! I did a whole lot better and except for the high elevation "stop-I-can't-breath" parts, it was great!! Shanam said that his favorite part of the whole weekend was watching me push through the challenging parts. I told him that my favorite part was watching him ride in front of me. He's really good and he'll jump off things and hop over other things, but more than that, I just love taking in the whole picture. His home is in the mountains. That's what gives him life. So when I see him, racing through an open meadow, with the mountains and trees surrounding him, I know at those moments that there is no other place I would rather be than right there with him, feeling his joy and freedom :) No matter how hard I'm huffing and puffing :)

That's true love, right there, baby! LOL!

Questions

After 3 months of marriage, here's the most common question I get asked, "So, how's married life?" And it always begins with 'so', as if the answer is some hidden secret :) I usually respond with something short and sweet, which I'm sure they were expecting (they couldn't possibly think I'd tell them the secret! :) I answer with, "Great!" Or sometimes, "Amazing!" Or other times I get really detailed and I say, "It rocks!" LOL. But, honestly, how could I tell them the full answer? How could I explain the joy I feel when I wake up every morning next to a man who when he realizes I'm up, rolls over and draws me up into his arms to tell me good morning. How could I explain the love I feel as he serves me by doing the dishes after a long day at work and all he wants to do is relax. We eat together, we play together, we drive together, we talk together, we sit in silence together, we pray together, we laugh together, we set goals together. We are together in every sense of the word. There are no words to descibe how wonderful that feels. Man is not meant to be alone. God teaches us that, but it isn't until you enter into that marriage covenant that you finally gain an understanding as to why. And we're only at the beginning of that understanding :) To our single friends, keep becoming the best you you can be, for it will only make that beautiful relationship that much better when it happens! We are so grateful we married each other when we were a little older and knew ourselves a little better. We both agreed that if we had met in high school or college we would have wanted nothing to do with each other! LOL! God's timing is perfect :) It only took one time for our lives to cross, and that one time has turned into eternity :)

Disclaimer added!!

Please read added disclaimer on last post!! It's very important :)

Little Breath of Fresh Air

Another weekend spent in the mountains of New Mexico! This time with company! Shanam's parents from Utah, our good friend Sam and his fiance came up to enjoy some time together. We rented this cute cabin for the weekend and enjoyed making fires in the fireplace and breathing in the fresh mountain air. Highlight of the weekend? Mountain biking!!! This time, with my own bike and some miles of training back in Andrews, I did a little better :) Besides the fact that I threw up on the side of the trail and almost went into shock, it was great! LOL! It just shows I was pushing myself, and that's good, according to my coach :) Really, though, it wasn't that bad. I made it all the way up the mountain and it was a great feeling of accomplishment! I can't wait to go back and do another trail :) I'm going to get into shape, you just watch me!

***Disclaimer*** My husband is not trying to kill me, so don't worry Bre :) The throwing up and going into shock were two seperate events. I went into shock after I fell from trying to get on my bike (that's a whole nother embarassing story in itself) and I was dumb and didn't eat or drink anything that morning before going out, so my body was really not liking me at all. Shanam is still the sweetest most patient guy I know. :) And I AM going to get into shape!

Cornapalooza!

Shanam and I attended our first ever CORNAPALOOZA!! What is this you ask? Well, obviously it has to do with corn...a lot of corn! At a cornapalooza this is all you eat, but don't you dare forget about the all the fixin's!! According to some, the best way to dress up a cob is by adding the following layers. First comes the butter. Let it melt and ooze all over the cob. Then slather on the mayonnaise. ( I know, I know, sounds pretty interesting!) Now that it's nice and wet, not to mention fattening, start adding the Parmesan cheese, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper. Whew! Now it's ready!! I know I couldn't believe it either!! Any of ya'll ever had it like this? How do you dress your corn? I'm just a plain butter and salt girl myself, but it was fun trying something new :)

More presents!

Today, a huge box from home arrived with tons more wedding presents and gift cards and sweet notes and I sat on my couch opening and reading and crying. I was so touched that so many people would still make an effort to send something or write something. I'm still crying as I think about how many special people have been a part of my life. It brought back so many great memories of great times I've shared with amazing people, and made me so grateful for all that I've been able to experience before getting married. I just feel so grateful to have lived the life I've lived!!! We got a card from an amazing French family that helped me tremendously on my mission, a creative gift my favorite seminary teacher new I'd love, a funny card from an old Disney co-worker who never ceases to make me laugh, sweet notes full of love from distant family members I've only met once, a letter from an awesome college roommate who's serving as a missionary in Arizona. This is just to name a few. What wonderful people! We have received so much love and support all throughout our relationship, I don't think I could ever really say enough thank you's to cover it :)

As I go throughout my day, I have a lot of time to think and ponder, and my thoughts will often think about friends from the past. Wondering what they are up to, remembering good times we shared, and especially thinking about how they have influenced my life for the better.

You are not forgotton. Thank you for enhancing the beauty of my life. I feel truly blessed to know you!

4th of July Andrews Style

Turtle Races!!!!

This was so much fun to watch! All the kids start collecting turtles a month ahead then take them here to the city park on the 4th and race them. There were over 400 turtles entered into the race!! There were two circles with heats of ten turtles at a time. Some turtles were huge, some were babies, and some were even painted! 10 turtles are put in the middle, the barrel's lifted and the first to cross the outer circle wins. Pretty fun tradition :)

Here is the city of Andrews watching and cheering on turtles :)

Later on that night we went with some frinds to their family party. This was the garage band. It was actually the band the city wanted to hire for the town party but their family outbid the city. LOL!

We're looking a little ragged and warn out. Holidays can be like that :) Too much fun!

This is Jeffrey. These are his fireworks. $900 dollars worth. Let's just say he put on one heck of a firework show. With the live band in the backround and fireworks filling up the entire sky above us, we enjoyed every patriotic second.

And Shanam enjoyed dessert :)