Last Days of Summer

Since we've been back from Cali, I've put my life on hold and dove into the preparations for the start of school. I spent a week or so before we left but when we got back, I only had two weeks to get everything in order and prepared. One week until back to school night. I've spent numerous hours in my new classroom. The last teacher left a blank slate for me and I'm not so sure how much I liked that since it felt like I've put in many more hours than I did last year on the room organization and decoration. The classroom did get new carpet this summer so that is nice!

Back to school night went well. I took pictures of all the students that came and printed them off the other day and all my students are cutie-pa-tooties! I'm excited! School starts Monday. I took some pictures of my room before I left yesterday. I wish I would've taken befores because it's changed tons since I started.

This is where I'll be molding young minds this year

Our garden today
What I picked today...there are 2 orange bell peppers almost ready too!

San Diego Part II

I flew back to San Diego early Sunday morning after districts. The flight flew by because I sat next to a guy that loved to chat. He was from a military family and it seems like people who come from military families know how to keep a conversation going. He was nice and it seemed as if he'd seen and experienced a day or two in life. He told me all about his oldest son (in the Marines stationed in San Diego) and then his youngest son that was 4 as well as his job as a roofer and so forth. I was so happy to see Dave's stinking cute face and I know he was happy to have his audience back again. He couldn't hold back with his wittiness. We spent the afternoon and evening at my uncle's house.

Dave using his physics knowledge, air in the bucket under water , I tried it and swam under to get air and it really worked, it was freaky

Monday, I got to see a lot of my dad's family. My cousin Caroline, uncle Jim and Aunt Sharon came down from L.A. So I got to spend the day with Caroline and Kristen. Later that night we met up with other family, including my granpy at his favorite, Filippi's (Italian of course). Tuesday morning, Caroline and I went for a run along the marina, ate Belgium waffles, and then I took her to the train station so she could get back to her parents. Tuesday night we spent at the beach and then decided to head downtown to the Horton Plaza (an interesting, architecturally, mall) and Gaslamp District to gander and maybe find some grub. It was a fun experience. We finally settled on Chinese food for dinner and after walking up and down the streets full of happening bars, clubs and restaurants, we ended up at a little humble, hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant (see picture below). It ended up hitting the spot and we were happy with our decision and felt like we were helping out a restaurant.

Wednesday, we were able to go to the San Diego Temple. I love that temple! It became Dave's favorite modern temple (he still ranks Manti as #1 over all) after that night inside the celestial room and all. We then ate a picnic dinner overlooking the temple from La Jolla Scenic Drive. Then came Thursday and Dave had to have one go at boogie boarding before we took off so my cousin James tagged along and we headed to Del Mar Beach. The weather was a bit chilly the last week there so I ended up wearing a jacket and not getting in the water that week but I couldn't ask for anything more than a good book and a beautiful view with a giddy husband in the distance.

The drive home wasn't too bad. We left early afternoon Friday. The traffic wasn't as bad as on the way but we were worried because of the Las Vegas weekend goers. We stopped in St. George for the night. Woke up early the next morning to beat the heat and get a ride in. It was beautiful. Ate at Bear Paw for breakfast and then headed on the road. Dave and I have an enjoyable time together on the road. Even our little arguments are fun.

We're back and busy as ever. We haven't quite gotten back into the swing of things. We both feel a little overwhelmed plus under slept. Dave begins his H.E.double hockey sticks semester next week and he's been on this project at work that he got thrown back into this week and it's kept him tied up at work and then he comes home to a jumbled mess at the house that I'm trying to balance along with settling into a new school which is coming to be a lot of work but I am so so excited to have little munchkins around me again. One thing I've got to boast about is even with being on vacation and away from my home, my routine, my cooking and my salads (I got called the salad master or something last year because my salads always looked so yummy, and they were) for 3 weeks I was able to lose weight! I finally feel like I've got an understanding of my body and what I need and how to control what I really want. I weighed myself yesterday and I had to take a double take at the scale. I was ecstatic!

The Nasella girls, minus Kaitlin

This store held rows and rows of jewelry! A girls heaven!

Chinese Restaurant

Salt Lake Tennis Districts & Michael's Birthday

Wednesday, I flew home to Salt Lake because my mom's tennis team that I had been playing on this summer made it to districts and districts was August 4-6. Michael's birthday was on Thursday, the 4th, so I got to celebrate with the fam too. We went golfing at Willow Creek, I pretty much just drove the cart, went to lunch, and then after our match that night we ate at Spaghetti Factory.

In districts we had 4 matches. The team decided to match each day by wearing the same colors. I played singles each match. Playing 4 singles matches in 3 days is quite hard on the body. It was great excercise though! I won two and lost two of my matches and the team ended up winning 3 out of the 4 matches. I'm so glad I got a chance to go back and play in districts. It was a lot of fun! I enjoyed playing on this team. The girls on the team were so amazing and fun!

Michael is 23

Thursday, the uniforms were black and white

It poured right before the match so we had to wait until it dried.

Friday was pink and white

Saturday was a white top and colorful skirt.

My mom wanted to look like a bunch of easter eggs.

Week 1 &2 in San Diego

San Diego has been great so far! The first few days the weather was quite humid but nothing too bad. The weather has been beautiful though! The fog along the coast burns off around noon sometimes a little later. Everyday you can expect the sun to come out, the temp to be around 70 degrees and a little breeze from the coast. It really is beautiful. While Dave goes to his class, I've been relaxing and working on making this blog into a book. It takes a lot of time so it's been good that I've had the time to do it. We've done a lot of fun things so far! The first week we hit up the beach a few times. We tried out a few different beaches. Ocean Beach is its own interesting place with interesting people. We ate at Hodads (definition: a surfer poser). I have been fantasizing about stuffing an amazing burger in my face for quite awhile and the burger did not dissappoint. It was called the Blue Jay Burger I think and it was loaded with blue cheese, blue cheese dressing, bacon, sauteed onions, and lettuce and tomatoes. The tomatoes were huge as well as the burgers! We hit up Mission Beach twice. Once just us and the other with Bridget and Ryan the next week. Dave and I had a picnic in Balboa Park and then walked around to see the cool architecture and gardens one night too. We also took our bikes over to Coronado and rode around and up and down the pennisula. Friday, we rode them up and down the coast through Del Mar. We decided we don't like California for the biking...it is quite dangerous. We both almost were hit while someone was parking and didn't see us.

Bridge and Ry arrived later Friday that first week. We stayed at my uncles in Rancho Santa Fe that weekend. Saturday, we spent the whole day at Del Mar Beach. The clouds never burnt off but we all were quite burnt and crispy by the end of the day. Overcast is always so deceiving! Sunday, we scored some free Padres tickets from my uncle. The seats were right above the visiting team's dugout. They played the Rockies and ended up winning after hitting a few doubles in the 8th inning. The Rockies couldn't stop them. All weekend we were fed like kings and queens. My aunt Joyce cooked all weekend long for us. Monday, we visited Old Town, the Sunset Cliffs and then went back to Old Town for dinner. Tuesday, Bridge, Ry and I went to Balboa Park to explore some more. When Dave got home we headed to Mission Beach. We played on boogie boards as well as some couples ultimate frisbee at the beach. We finished the night walking the beach in Coronado and eating.

Dave's burger from Hodads

The tomatoes alone filled me up

Balboa Park
Del Mar Beach
Padres game

Yankee Jim's gravesite in Old Town's cemetary. He was hung for taking a row boat...we didn't agree with his sentence.
Mormon Battalion building in Old Town
Sunset Cliffs

Onward to San Diego

We left Saturday for our three week San Diego expedition. Yes, 3 weeks in San Diego. Dave has work classes he has so I get a 3 week vacation in southern California. It took half the day to pack up and make sure everything was taken care of. We decided to drive so I would have a car and so we broke up the drive and stopped in St. George for a night. We arrived at the St. George house around 7 p.m. We were welcomed by a black widow mother watching over her 4 nests of eggs! Luckily they were in the garage and we also didn't find any scorpion friends inside the house this time. St. George was nice and hot. We were excited to hit up our favorite eating spot, Parrothead Island Broiler, but when we pulled up the lights weren't on like normal but there were people hanging out the door so we went to talk to them. Come to find out, they are remodeling and changing management back to the original owners which will be good, we think, but we were a little dissappointed. That night we stayed in St. George.

Sunday at noon, we headed for the road again. We were moving along at a great speed and then...we hit the Las Vegas traffic. And normally the Las Vegas traffic tapers off after the strip but not on Sunday...Arrrrgh! I can't believe I didn't realize and I can't believe my uncle from Cali didn't warn me! Las Vegas is a weekend hot spot for Southern Californians and so we hit the going home traffic. It was stop and go on and off for about 3 hours. We were ready to turn around and go home. It dampened our mood for the day and the outlook of the trip. We finally arrived at our hotel a little after 7, San Diego time so we had been on the road for 8 1/2 hours. As soon as we got some food in us, settled and unpacked we felt a little happier. Our hotel is just south of the airport, near Point Loma Naval Base. This morning we ran to the naval base entrance almost 2 miles away and then back. You wouldn't think there would be much out here but we're near many homes and right down the road are some of the best beaches so I'm excited.

Here we come beaches, sun and more fun!

FLOWRIDER

Dave and Jon used their Valentine's gift card for the Flowrider on Wednesday. They got a good hour in of boogie boarding and surfing indoors. The Flowrider is at the Solomon Center in downtown Ogden and it is a wave simulator for us in-landers, for those that haven't heard of it. Friday, they went rock climbing on the wall there to use up the last of the gift card. Happy Valentine's Day guys! :)

The Baby Question

People say that right after you get married the marriage questions disappear and are replaced with the baby question. Family, friends and even strangers begin to nag at you about when you're going to have a baby and don't give you the time to settle in your brand new marriage. It didn't really happen that way with us. I mean, we had the question asked by a few but it wasn't overbearing. The question has come up more recently I've noticed but it's mainly by friends. I think we scared off our families of asking or it could be they all just understand how we feel, I don't know but either way it has been nice to not have the nagging. Dave and I have a lot of the same feelings about having our own kids. When first married, the idea of kids was crazy to us. We were quite freaked out by the idea. Over the past four years it's kind of been the same thing. When it's mentioned we freak! Now, don't think I'm announcing anything like being or wanting to be pregnant because I'm still freaked about most of it! We still feel just as far away from it as four years ago. Lately, I have noticed a change...read on.

I have noticed a change in me and it just dawned on me this morning while getting ready that I totally got snuck-up-on (if that is even a phrase). I'll explain. The change I've noticed is the way I am and feel towards children. For all that know me know that I've always loved children, especially Kaitlin, my little sister. I've worshipped the ground that she's walked on since she was born. But there has been something different that has evolved, I guess we can say, and I think it's because of this last school year as well as my church calling in the primary. I've had a few people ask me if teaching has made me want to have kids less and my answer to them is the opposite of what they expect, no. It has actually opened up and softened my heart to the children of this world tenfold, and has given me a better understanding of them and so much more that is too hard to explain. I feel as if I'm starting to become an advocate for them. A lot of children aren't put into great situations but that doesn't mean they're goners. Adults and other children can have a great impact by actions and words (to a child, actions yell compared to words). Anywho, I don't want to get to far off from my point, but if people want a better world, make a difference in a child's life.

About the being snuck-up-on part, I feel like Heavenly Father has really snuck up on me with these feelings! HA! Over the four years of mine and Dave's marriage, I've had so many fears with the children aspect in my life and two of the biggest ones, among many others, has been bringing a child into this world and all the complications that could happen with and post pregnancy. And it kills me to say it but those fears are beginning to not matter as much as they once did. Yes, I still have a list of about 50 reasons and fears of why I haven't had a desire to rush into being a parent but I can tell ya, Heavenly Father is sneaky. He has His plan that I know I can't change but it is always a great feeling to have that "ah-ha" moment and know he's got a plan for me....

Happy Birthday David! and One Incident...

Dave turned the big 2 6 today! He past the quarter of a century mark. We were able to celebrate all day together because it was Dave's Friday off. He woke up to one of his favorites, chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream on top. He got to open his presents from me: all biking gear (pictured below). Thought it was time he didn't freeze out there in the chillier months- long sleeved jersey, new shorts and leg warmers. (You can tell by the flash that the logos are even reflective!)This afternoon we went and bought tubes with Allie and Jake and headed up Weber Canyon to float the Weber River. You start in Croydon and float to Taggart, two very small, small towns past Morgan. It was my very first time and Dave hadn't been on this part of the river so we relied on our trusty guide, Jake. Luckily, he had been quite a few times and he knew the route well. The water was higher, faster moving and chilly! We ended up going down two times because it normally takes over an hour to float down but since the water was moving so fast we got down in half the time. The first time down was fun. I got bumped off my tube at the beginning but after that I was able to stay on, even through some rough rapids and with a tube that was very lopsided. Well...then came the second round to go down and I wasn't quite feeling it and thought I should just wait but I went anyway. Bad idea. For some reason the water was a lot colder and this time I got the big tube. I had no control over the big tube. My arms could barely reach enough water to really paddle my way around which didn't go well when I was heading straight for a thick tree that had many branches hanging over and under the water. I tried my hardest to paddle and kept looking to Dave for anything he could do and he looked worried sick and helpless. I tried sticking my legs out to maybe somehow push out of it as I rammed into the mess of branches but the current was too strong. As I got thrown into and through the branches, the tube got stuck in some of the first branches behind me. Then, I had one of those split second decision moments. I had to decide to either stay where I was at and keep ramming into the branches or risk going under where I didn't know what could be under there. I chose the latter. Luckily, I didn't hit much. There was a thick branch right under the water but that was about it. Jake threw me his tube and went back for the other one. Dave was able to grab onto me and drag me over to the shore so we could regroup. I was a bit shaken up and Dave was almost pale from worry. I ended up with only scratches. Throughout the rest of the night Dave kept telling me that I'm not allowed to do anything fun again. The conversation on the drive home went something like this:

Dave: I'm having anxiety. You can't do anything fun ever again!

Me: Why? (with a good hearted laugh)

Dave: Have you ever thought I was going to die?

Me: You thought I was going to die?

Dave: Or something bad like that!

I felt like I was worth a billion bucks and very protected right there.

We went to eat at Taggart's Grill, that is right in Taggart, after. It was really good food. We celebrated Dave and Jake's (the 10th) Birthday with candles in their dessert.

It was a great day except for that one incident but it all turned out okay which we are grateful!

Happy #26 to my amazing hubby!

Independence Day 2011

Saturday, we went to the Stadium of Fire with some friends and family. It was a hot evening and we were packed in tight to our nose bleed seats but it was fun. We got to see Brad Paisley, well he looked like an ant but he still put on a good show, and the "Best Fireworks Show in the World" (it's what they claim). The finale was felt, yes I said felt, by anyone within 30 miles. Dave would've enjoyed it if they just did that for a straight minute. Monday, we enjoyed Riverdale's ginormous parade and then went to the park to check out the festivities. Dave participated in the "Minute to Win It" game of cookie on your face (he had to get the cookie from his forehead to his mouth without touching it) and he won a gift card to Target! Wahoo! Later we barbecued with the Price's and then enjoyed a good water balloon fight. Growing up, my street would hold an annual water balloon fight on the 4th so I suggested it to the fam and they jumped on board. It was a hit. We had a few tears with the kiddos but it was a blast! It resulted in quite a few welts for the adults. I think Sunny and Mike had the right idea to wear normal clothes...more protection. Dave and I decided to watch fireworks from our roof instead of going to one of the parks. We got about 10 shows in one. It was awesome! I was a little scared being up so high on such a steep roof. Legalizing the illegals has really awakened a beast in people. They're everywhere now!

It's hard to really see but these two got the worst of it.

Happy Independence Day! I am so grateful for this country and my freedoms!

Waterfall Canyon

Sunday we hiked Waterfall Canyon, in Ogden, with some friends. It was Dave's idea and I had never done it so I wasn't sure what the hike was like. I asked some friends come along, one of which is 6 months pregnant. I asked Dave the intensity level of it and after trying to come up with a good answer, he answered with, "I'm not sure, I just run up it and don't pay attention." Of course. One of the couples had done it and gave us a heads up about the difficulty yet we all, including Clar (pregnant friend), trudged on up the trail. I was super impressed with Clar! It got pretty tiring, there was a lot of climbing and my legs were feeling it. She was a trooper! We all had a blast though! It was a beautiful hike, every part of it, especially the waterfall.

This was taken near the bottom at the end. It was a perfect night!

Dave, me, Tracy, Clar, Allie and Jake

The waterfall was gorgeous! I thought we were somewhere tropical.

Dave loves to pull the moves out!

Heading back down the trail

Dave loves scenery shots and I hardly do much with them so I wanted to post and dedicate this picture for and to him