Christmas

Well, December has flown by, and Christmas parties have come and gone. Both Cambria and I have had work parties which were fun. Hers was at a little mexican restaurant where we had dinner then did a white elephant gift exchange. Mine was at my work. There was nobody else from graveyard shifts there, so I knew almost nobody. We had another party with our friends Stuart and Maria where we did a white elephant exchange as well.

I have been working with my dad on building a gift for Cambria. It's a wooden board that she can stand on that opens up to stretch her calves, which are tight from running. I stained it once it was done and it ended up looking really good. She said she loves it, and is using it often in front of the bathroom mirror. At times there aren't a lot of things I can work on with my dad because of school, and other things that make life busy. I had a great time with my dad, working late in the garage a few nights. the next thing we need to work on together is getting the go-kart finished. I'm looking forward to that time with him.

Christmas this year was with my family. The first activity was making gingerbread houses about a week before Christmas. My mom has all the grandkids over, and each gets their own house to work on. Cambria and I got one to work on together. I was way too focused on our house and probably should have helped my nieces and nephews. I guess with things like that I think I need to make the perfect house. It was really fun, however it was stressful for my mom this year. I felt really bad that it didn't go exactly how she had planned. She is too hard on herself at times but when one grandkid is complaining about how ugly their house is, and another is bored and another just wants to play on the computer and in the end nobody, not even her own children thank her for putting together the activity for the day, I can understand where she is coming from. I felt really bad when my dad told me how she felt, and sent her a text thanking her, but it was too late. I didn't say sorry, or even give her a hug before I left. She is the most amazing mom, and tries so hard. For the rest of the Christmas activities I made sure to thank her for what she did. She deserves so so much more.

Well, the Wednesday before Christmas we had a Christmas activity for the young men/young women's group. They played games and had deserts. I made some cookies that Cambria had liked the last time I made them. They weren't as great but still really good.

Friday night was Christmas Eve, and we spent that at my parents house as well. My mom did the regular traditions that we had all growing up, but does some of them for her grandkids now. We read the Christmas book that she buys a copy of for each family. We read the story of 'the meaning of Christmas' as the littler grandkids pulled little trees, bows and presents out of the stocking and read what each symbolizes for Christmas. Of course Mrs. Santa brought pajamas. The kids went running outside when they heard the sleigh bells ringing outside. I remember always running outside when I was young while trying to see the sleigh as it sped off into the night sky.

I then headed off to finish Cambria's gift. Payton had fun helping me bring it in and upstairs without Cambria seeing. It was actually done, I just wanted to burn a picture into the wood with my leather burner. I ended up choosing a picture of a rose, and it turned out looking really good. Then I wrapped it and left it there for the morning. We stayed at Monty and Linda's house since they are up in Alaska visiting Tyler and Mindy. It was nice to not have to drive all the way home just to come down again in the morning.

Christmas morning I ended up driving home anyway to get my mom's Christmas present while Cambria stayed home and made baked french toast. It wasn't a white Christmas at all this year, but there was quite a bit of frost on the ground. It was nice to wake up and just drive all alone on Christmas morning. I turned on the radio to some Christmas music and there weren't many people on the roads. There was a bit of fog, but as I left the Layton area, it cleared away, and there were just low clouds that were filled with swirled pockets of what looked like dust. It was actually very beautiful and added to the feel of the morning. There was a tiny shimmer of blue between the clouds and the mountains. I think the higher clouds were white and the lower clouds is where the browner dirty clouds were held in. There were holes where the whiter clouds poked down which made a spectacular view across the whole valley. As I headed up the hill into Ogden, the sky was so clear there, and I could almost see straight across the top of all the clouds. I have never had such a calm and relaxing Christmas morning. The drive back was just as great.

Once I got home, we loaded up and went over to my parents house. My mom had made our traditional German pancakes which I was looking forward to. Cambria brought her baked french toast, and all in all we had a great breakfast. We stayed there as my sister Emilee and my parents opened gifts. Cambria and I gave each other one gift each. I gave her her calf stretch board which she loved, and she gave me a surround sound system. I was so surprised, and hooked it up today. It sounds great! I don't know how the neighbors will feel about it, but I love it. Cambria was on call at her work and had to leave for awhile when a patient passed away. She said it was a very spiritual experience. As they helped prepare the body for the morticians to come, the husband was playing beautiful church hymns on the piano. He had been waiting for her to pass, and was happy she was no longer in pain. Cambria mentioned that there isn't a better day to leave this world and go home. While she was gone, I took a nap on the couch with Seth's dog Maverick at her parents house. I turned on the fireplace and slept for about a half hour.

When she got back, we went down to my family's Christmas party. It was with my Mom's side of the family, the Worthens. They use this activity room at what I think is an assisted living place in Kaysville. They had food, and the Wii set up for the kids. We did gift opening games, watched a movie, and sat around and talked while other people slept. My dad didn't feel good, and stayed home. It wasn't the same without him. He is always upbeat and makes you smile when he's around. I loved being with Cambria all weekend. I didn't mind her leaving when she was on call. She enjoyed the opportunity to do service, and I had the rest of the evening with her.

Once we left there we went to my parents with all my siblings to open gifts to each other. It was great. Kyle gave me some awesome power tools that cost a ton of money, but he got them for free with his connections as a construction worker. Afterward Cambria and I headed home to Ogden where we did our own Christmas that evening. I turned on the Christmas tree, and we sat down to exchange presents. I had such a fun time, and really enjoyed the time with just her after the craziness of other parties. I was surprised by every present, even one that I bought and forgot about after she wrapped it. I actually forgot about it twice and this was the second time I was surprised to see it.

There was one thing that tied the whole day together for me. I had said that I wanted a picture of Christ for our house. We weren't able to get a large one, so Cambria got a few medium size ones with frames that look amazing. The time she put into finding the right frames and right pictures of Christ to fit in them meant a lot to me. I realized that in all the rush of Christmas, I didn't really stop to think of my Savior. They were the last gifts I opened. I cried as I hugged my wife, and thanked her for how thoughtful she is. The next day was Sunday and I gave a lesson in Church that was about Christmas, Gratitude, and goal making. One of the questions I asked was: What did you do on Christmas day to remember your Savior? The boys didn't have any answers, and the other teacher said that he didn't even stop to think of Him either. I am grateful for such an amazing wife.

At the end of a long but fun day full of parties, it was nice to go to bed. I don't know of a better Christmas ever in my life. I love my wife so much, and being with her and with my family are the best memories I could ever make.

The Holidays

Josh and I have been so busy and the holidays have been flying by. We have enjoyed seeing family and friends and we are looking forward for Christmas. Thanksgiving was fun and delightful.

Josh worked a graveyard the night before so he got home at 6:30 Thanksgiving morning and went to bed for a few hours while I got food ready for the big feast. We then went down to Mapleton to my uncle Dan's home (my mom's brother). We had a wonderful meal and enjoyed seeing cousins, aunts and uncles. There are new additions to our family and we got to know a lot of new faces. Josh said that it felt good to be a part of the family this year instead of just being the "boyfriend." The last time we had thanksgiving with my side of the family Josh and I were not even engaged.

This year Seth was the one that brought along his girlfriend. She was asked many questions by family and drilled quite a bit. She did a wonderful job and held her own, I was very impressed. Luckily Josh was never sent threw that gauntlet of questions.

I always enjoy time with the family. Getting together is a great time to catch up since life is so busy. We look forward to Christmas and getting together with friends and family for parties. We are having Christmas with Josh's family this year, which is always a fun time.

The Rest of Halloween

Ok, so my last entry was about what we had done for Halloween so far. This one is finishing up the Halloween weekend. I worked Friday night, so I slept in saturday morning. When I got up, we got ready, and went up to Angie and Rob's house to see Braxton, their new little boy. Somehow we haven't seen him for the last two weeks since he was born. He was way cute, and Angie put him in his little monkey costume. Cambria sat and talked to Rob and Angie, while I went downstairs with Brooke, and ambushed Braden and his friends with a little machine gun that made sounds and stuff. Braden eventually joined my team, and we set up a fort in his room under the bunk bed. I got up on the bunk bed and set up a turret from up there. I am way too much of a kid sometimes still. Cambria talks with people, and I run off and play gun wars for half an hour. I laughed so hard when Braden came running into the fort with the vacuum hose wrapped around his shoulder. I looked at him with a weird face, and he said, "I found a flame thrower!"

After we left their house, we did some shopping at Winco, then went to Monty and Linda's house where we had some dinner and got to see Rya and Aiden. Rya was a princess and Aiden was a cowboy. They looked really good. We went next door with them as they started Trick-or-treating, but it was way too windy and rainy, so we let the parents continue on with them.

We went to Kari and Kyle's house afterward, and watched Paige go around to some of her neighbor's houses. By then the rain had almost stopped. She was dressed as a devil. She was way cute with a little black tutu looking thing, red and black pants and sleeves, little horns, and a tail. We sat and talked to Kari while I held Khloe for a while. She was dressed in a little flower costume. I took it off and she had a little pink skeleton shirt on underneath. We left there and went home. We watched a movie, then went to sleep. It was a pretty good Hallowen altogether. I love being with family and especially seeing our nieces and nephews.

Halloween so far

Halloween has been fun this year. We have had ward parties, and Cambria went to a murder mystery party with Sharlyn. Her superhero she had to dress up as was the red rapper. She wore my red racing suit, and bandana. She put on some hoop earings, and a bling necklace we had in our costumes. she looked way good.

So, here I am at work again. I am frustrated with my bosses. I had told them I needed to go down to two days per week instead of three because I don't have enough time in the day to do homework, and they wouldn't give me the password for the wireless internet at work. So instead of giving me the password or talking to me about staying three days, they decided to take me off of the schedule completely, and to fill in the gaps, hire a full time CNA. So I am not on the schedule, and someone else is on there instead of me. My bosses don't think too straight. I told them that I would have appreciated a phone call, to talk about staying three shifts per week, or at least giving me the password so I could stay on. They work around behind your back and do whatever they want with the schedule. It really annoyed me. So now I am PRN, meaning that I can pick up whenever people can't work their shifts. So, I am going to be applying for a second job, and staying on as PRN here. The girl that they hired for the full time shift is here. I told her what they did, and to watch her back with the bosses. She felt bad for having taken my shifts, but I told her it wasn't her fault, and not to worry.

Cambria just came in to visit for a minute, and ended up sitting around the table with some of the little old ladies that were all awake. She is way cute with them. She was talking to them, and helping them with their food. Then she took one of her hospice patients back to her room. It was really nice to see my wife like that. She is so caring and will be a great mother one day. I am trying to talk myself into getting my chemistry done. I really should since I have the internet password now, and I won't have much time today.

Update

So here goes another update. I really should write in her more often, but any free time I get is when I sleep before a graveyard shift. I am now working at Chancellor Gardens, in the alzheimers unit. It's a pretty good job, and I get to do homework in my down time, which there is a lot of. Cambria works for South Davis Community Hospital at their rehab building. She is a transition intake coordinator, which means that she makes sure that patients have everything set up that they need so they receive the proper care when they get home. She is loving it, and doesn't mind the commute. I know I will get a bit more anxious about the roads when it gets into the winter more.

School is going well. Although my semester started out pretty rough, I held in there and have at least a B in all my classes. It's a tough semester especially since I am taking Chemistry online. I have never had an online class before, and this is a tough one to start out with. I only have till the first week in December, so I am looking forward to a small break before next semester.

We had a ward Halloween party last Friday night and it was really fun. We got there a little late but were still able to vote on best pumpkin and best dessert. Cambria won the "most creative" award for her "kitty litter dessert." It tasted really good, but some people wouldn't even try it because of the thought of it. It was probably the poop shaped fudge on top that turned them off to it. I enjoyed it, and there is still some left in the fridge at home. Now we have a kitty litter box and scoop and no kitty, although we have been taking care of a half siamese kitten that has been hanging around our condo building. I don't usually like cats, but this one is cool. We fed it chicken, and made a little bed outside for it with a towel. She is gone now for the last few days, and we're still not sure if someone owns it, or if someone lost it.

I can't think of much else that has been going on lately. Life lately is a monotony of getting through school and work with the perks of coming home to my amazing wife. I get about a half hour to hold her in the mornings when I come home from work before she gets up to go to work. I sleep for 2 hours, go to school, do homework, sleep, wake up to dinner with Cambria, then go to work again. I only work three days a week, so the other nights I am out cold all night, and then tired most of the day. Graveyard shifts really mess with your sleep pattern, especially when you don't work full time, and have to switch back and forth from days to nights.

Well, I am at work right now, and am about to go do rounds again to check on all the patients. As usual, I hope it goes fast so I can get back to working on my homework.

Short and sweet

Hey,

This is Cambria... so we are going to have a sleep over with our nieces, they are so cute!!! We are doing well and I need to write in here more often :)

Hey,

This is Josh, we are watching "All Dog's Go To Heaven" with Paige and Brooke. We played the Wii till dinner was ready, then ate dinner. After playing a video game in the loft, we ate Skookies. Now they are playing lincoln logs while we are all watching the movie. They are having a lot of fun, and so am I.

Nothing better than a Sunday pickin berries

Today was a great Sunday. Cambria and I both had lessons to teach in church. She teaches the young women, and I teach the young men. After church, we went down to Monty and Linda's house for dinner. I sure enjoyed my time there. I have always felt very accepted and welcome in their home, and have enjoyed becoming closer to each member of their family. We had agreat meal, and had a lot of good laughs. We ate some great cake that was made by the same lady that made our wedding cake. Cambria's brother Seth was there too. It was nice to see him since he wasn't able to make it to Alaska with us.

After we left their house, we went over to my parents house. My grandparents on my dad's side were there. We sat out on the patio and talked to them about our Alaska trip while they waited for my dad to finish cooking their dinner on the grill. We left when they went inside to starteating. Once home, Cambria noticed the blackberry bushes that are on a narrow stripof land between our condos and the hospital. She had the thought to go out and pick some. Nobody really claims them, or even picks them. We took stuff from the car inside, grabbed a tupperware, and headed out to pick some blackberries. Even with all the scratches and thorns in my hands from reaching through the bushes, I had a great time with my wife. The sun was setting, which cast an amazing sunset. I really am a lucky guy to be able to enjoy the little things like a Sunday evening sunset, picking blackberries with my wife.

Pineview and Alaska

So we have been away from home for quite about a week and a half. First of all we had a week at Pineview. My parents used their time share to get a place at WolfCreek which I think is in Eden. It was very nice and had space for the wholefamily. We weren’t far from the lake, and my parents brought their wave runners up. It was very fun, although Cambria wasn’t there half the time. She had to work still, and was driving back and forth each day. She would get up to the lake when she got off work with enough time to take the wave runner out and get some sun. Then she’d spend the night up there, and drive back to work the next day. We were there from Saturday through Thursday. I left Thursday morning to get our bags together for Alaska.

We left for Alaska that night. Our flight was leaving around 9:00. I was so luckyto get on the plane as a standby. It didn’t seem like there were enough available seats, but we all made it on, and got in to Alaska at about 3:00 a.m. The weirdest thing about the flightwas that instead of it getting darker as it got later, it got lighter. As we neared Alaska, we were at a better angle for the sun. In the summer it only gets dark up there for a couple of hours around 3 or so in the morning. It is still twilight outside at midnight. It’s really weird, and throws you off at first.

The next morning we saw everyone,Nathan, Sharlyn and the kids, and Tyler and Mindy and their kids. It was awesome to be there with them, and they were so nice to share theirhome with everybody. I know it is stressful to do that at times, and we really appreciated it. We slept on an inflatable queen mattress in the baby’s room. The baby (Coltyn) slept in a basinet in theirbathroom. Later that day we went on a hike to Matanuska glacier. It isn’t often that you get to see something so beautiful. I took tons of pictures, and had a great time there with everybody.

Saturday we went to the playground at the school that was behind theirhouse and played with the kids there. That was tons of fun. They drove their Barbie Jeep around, and swung on the swings and played on the slides. Papa showed Jocelyn how to throw a Frisbee. Nathan hadhisdaughter Rya climb the climbing wall. The first time she did just fine, the next time, she didn’t want to go up. It took her about ten minutes while crying the whole way to get to the top. Once at the top she laid there crying till Nathan climbed up the slide to get her. Later that night, wehad fish and chips for dinner that Mindy made, they were very good. I’d never ordered fish and chips anywhere and was pleasantly surprised at how good they were.

Cambria and I stayed up and played games one night with Nathan and Sharlyn. I told Nathan we should play till it got dark, and at about two a.m. we almost reached that goal before we went to bed. Sunday morning we got ready and headed out to church. We had the baby blessing for Coltyn that day. The blessing is really the reason for us to be there, although it may seem like fishing was the reason. I know my families hearts, and know that they cherish spiritual momentslike a baby’s blessing. When we were sitting around the house, Tyler had asked if Nathan and I were going to be in the circle. I didn’t even think about it before then, and it felt good that he invited me to be a part of that. Part of Mindy’s family was up there too,and we met some ofthem at church. When we got home, we had a really good lunch to celebrate. That night Tyler made a nice cake and we celebrated Linda’s birthday.

Monday morning we headed out to the Kenai Peninsula for fishing. Tyler, Nathan, Cambria, and I left really early to get started for the day, and everyone else came later. We had a motor home which was nice for the babies, kids, and parents. Cambriaand I had our air mattress and Monty and Linda had a mattress too. We were able to fit them side by side in a big tent Tyler brought.

We camped there from Monday through Thursday. Fishing there was great! We were there at a great time for the numbers of fish passing the fish counter. Since then, the numbers have only gone down. Monday was a great day of fishing. Tuesday we got upat 3:30 and headed out to a city called Homer, which is farther out on the peninsula. We took a charter boat out and went halibut fishing for half the day, and got back in at around noon. It was only Nathan, Sharlyn,Cambria and I. Everyone else met us there later and we walked around the shops that were out on the “spit.” That is what they call the man made piece of land that shoots out into the harbor. Later that night when we got back to Soldotna we went out to dinner for Linda’s birthday which was nice because it rained all evening.

Wednesday was another day of salmon fishing. That night most everyone went home. Monty, Nathan, Cambria and I stayed to fish on Thursday. We easily caught our limit, and then had fun catching and releasing while everyone fishing around us struggled to catch anything. When we got back to Tyler and Mindy’s house that night, we vacuum packed all of the fish, and put them in the freezer and the neighbor’s freezer.

Friday, we went to the nature center where the salmon spawn, that night we had fishtacos which were excellent. We then played Mario kart on the Wii then played card games till one in the morning. Tyler and Mindy were way tired since they have a wiser sleeping schedule than the rest of us. You do feel much better when you go to sleep and wake up early. I’m sure I will get back into the habit once school starts up again and I have early classes.

Saturday morning, Linda caught her flight home. She barely made it on, so we wouldn’t have made it on even if we tried. The rest of us went out to Elmendorf air force base and saw the F-22 which was way neat. We saw a bull moose on the base too. Tyler, Nathan and the little girls went trout fishing on base where it is all catch and release, while the rest of us went back to the house and lounged around. That night we watched a movie and ate skookies and were all in bed by ten.

Sunday morning we flew out, and luckily I made it on the plane again. Nathan had gotten on, and Cambria got on shortly after. I was waiting for the plane to leave with my legs up on my carry-on bag. They called a few more stand by people, then closed the door to the ramp. My plan was to wait till the plane left,then go back out to where Monty was waiting for me. Suddenly, they called my name, told me to run, opened the door, and I was on the plane. I was so glad I didn’t have to stay without my wife. I loved it up there, but I wanted to be with my wife. On the way home, I watched a movie, and played in flight trivia where you play against other people in the plane. I won a few rounds and got 4th highest all time score for that plane. Between the three of us we had 4 coolers full of fish we brought home. We put our fish in our freezer and in myparent’s freezer. There are still tons of fish left up in Alaska, which I’m sure Tyler will share with his neighbors. All in all, it was an amazing trip, but it is always good to be home.

Our First Anniversary

I really can't believe how fast time goes by. In two days, we will be married for one whole year. We decided to celebrate our anniversary this last weekend since Cambria is on call on the ninth. We were in Boise, Idaho for my cousins wedding, and decided to make a weekend out of it. I had driven up on Thursday before Cambria and she was going to fly up Friday. I stayed with my parents in a hotel and went to the wedding the next morning. It was a beautiful wedding. Throughout the day I kept receiving text messages from Cambria about how the loads on the flights were looking, and they weren't looking too good. After I went to the luncheon, Cambria and I finally decided that she should just drive up that night, and end up missing the reception. She was sad she missed it. We already had all our plans set out, and it's not too far, so we got to caravan around for the weekend with two cars from place to place. My parents weren't going to stay for the reception, but I wanted them to meet Cambria's Grandparents that live in Boise. So I went by with them and had a wonderful time talking. My parents loved them, and it really meant a lot to me that they got to meet them. The reception was great, and I definitely enjoyed the food, and talking with my family. It was a little more lonely without my wife there with me, but I survived. Cambria finally arrived at around 9:30, well after the reception was over, and we drove out to Eagle to stay the night with her cousin Jason and Wendy, his wife. They had a very neat house, but had a lot of work to do to get it all looking its best.

The next morning we spent some time at their house, played with their puppies and watched their horses. It was a very enjoyable Saturday morning. We then went to visit Cambria's Grandparents since she wasn't there they day before. That was another very fun visit. We looked through an Ogden newspaper that someone sent them. It was full of old pictures of buildings and what they looked like restored today. They recognized the old ones, and we recognized the new ones. They were pointing out which ones they visited often, and told us stories. I crashed on the couch for a few minutes while we were there. When we left, we checked into our hotel in Boise for that night. We took a nap for a little over an hour. We were both very tired for some reason. The bed was so comfortable; I have never fallen asleep so fast. We woke up and went out to Mark and Nancy's house. (Cambria's aunt and uncle.) Everybody was there and they were having a barbecue and swimming in the pool. We didn't feel like swimming but enjoyed our time talkingand playing with all the kids. Another nights sleep was welcome as we went back to our hotel.

Sunday morning we got dressed and went to a 9:00 church in Don and Afton's (Cambria's Grandparents.) ward building. We changed at a gas station into more comfy driving clothes and headed toward Lava Hot Springs. It wasn't too long of a drive, and we stopped off in Twin Falls for breakfast/lunch at IHOP. When we arrived in Lava, we checked into our Bed and Breakfast, Lions Gate Manor. The whole house is amazing, and is furnished with hand carved, imported Indonesian furniture. They gave us a tour of all the rooms. There was a medieval room with a bed that they got from the same English company that makes beds for royalty. He had us lay in the bed so we could say we laid in a bed made for royalty. That was sort of weird, but oh well. Finally, he took us to our room which was by far the best. I had told him it was a surprise to Cambria, so he didn't give away the name until right before we got to our room. We were standing in the dining room on the first floor of the house and, next to an amazing table was a bookcase, behind which was the entrance to our basement room, The Phantom's Lair.

Once the bookcase had folded back, and the sliding door opened, we passed through a silk curtain, and down the candlelit spiral staircase, past a picture ofthe Phantom. It opened up into the darker half of the room where everything was painted black that they didn't want seen, and track lights highlighting the walking area. We then walked across a walkway made out of planks. We passed a mural that made it look like we were in an underground tunnel, and past the bathtub which filled in a stream from the ceiling like a dripping cavern. The bathtub was very fancy and had air bubbles and color changing lights. There was the sound of water echoing through the room as we entered, and we could hear the Phantom of the Opera theme coming from a distant room.

As we left the darker part of the room, we passed through two wide archways where the paint on the walls suddenly turned to white. The lights were turned down low, and candles all around the room added to the shine of the dark, hand carved furniture. One of the pieces of furniture was a mirror on the far wall, where, when we walked by it, the Phantom himself appeared.(It was actually a two way mirror with a mannequin behind it, but it looked very real.)

To the left of the mirror was another small room that was roped off with a sign hanging from the rope that read, Box 5, Reserved. It was a theatre room, with surround sound, and the Phantom's Organ. The walls were covered in curtains. This room is where the theme music was coming from. To the left of that room was the regular bathroom with shower and everything.

Once we checked in, we left, and went to the Hot Springs. It was still sunny outside, but the hot water still felt great! Before we went into the Hot Springs, we watched people floating the river there. It is set up extremely well for floating, with a few short but wide waterfalls and some small rapids. The town was full of people everywhere. Half of them carrying tubes or getting rides back up the hill to start down the river again. We decided we'll have to come back and float the river sometime since it is free if you have your own tubes. We spent quite a while in the Hot Springs, and tried out the different pools. It goes from 112 degrees where the spring starts, down to 104 where the water empties out of the pools. We grabbed some nice vinyl chairs to lay in as someone was leaving. We laid out in the sun and talked for a while before deciding to go to dinner. We ate at a little Thai food place at the top of the hill, and really enjoyed it. Then we went back to our room. We waited around for fireworks to start. The owner let us go through an unoccupied room to the front balcony, where he let us scoot the chairs together, and got us a blanket and some chocolates to share while we watched the fireworks. It was a really good show but from where we were we could not see the very end where they light a "waterfall" of a firework that zig-zags down the whole mountainside from where they light the fireworks. All in all, we had a great time. After Fireworks, we watched the Phantom of the Opera in the theatre, and the sound was amazing. We drank our sparkling cider I brought, then Cambria fell asleep as she usually does while I finished the movie.

Breakfast the next morning was amazing, and it seemed like there were more options than IHOP the day before. It was fun to come up through the bookcase while everyone was there starting their breakfast. There was another basement door we could have used and gone up the stairs, but the bookcase is more fun. The other couples there were enjoyable, and we had a great breakfast. The chairs of the dining room table were huge! They had lions heads carved into the arm rests, and other carvings all over them.

After breakfast, we cleaned up our stuff, and straightened up the room a bit since the other guests wanted to see it once we had left. We signed the guest book, returned our key ring that had a metal thing on it which looked like a ticket to the Phantom of the Opera, and left. He said that if we were ever in the area, to stop by and say hi. They are very nice there, and try to make you feel like family. We left for home, which is only an hour and a half away. Cambria said she had a wonderful time, and thought the room was really neat. We don't know if we would ever go back since one time is enough to have great memories, but would definitely recommend it to family and friends. We are going to go out for dinner this Friday on our actual anniversary. I had an amazing time, and look forward to an eternity of anniversaries with my wife.

Saturday at Pineview

Saturday, Cambria and I went to Pineview reservoir just to get away. It's really nice to be able to drive up the canyon and be at the lake. The sun was out and it was around 85 degrees but there was a very nice breeze that made it perfect for being in the sun. The water was really high, and didn't leave too much beach. The upside to high water is that when you step into the water, you still have sand for as far as you can touch so that you don't get the usual lake mud that comes at the end of the sand.

We laid in the sun and prepared our talks for church on Sunday, then just talked and enjoyed the sun. We went in the water and threw a water football around for a while. the breeze made it really cold to get out of the water once you were in, but it was nice after laying in the hot sun. There weren't too many people there, but once we put our towels down, a large family moved in next to us in the shade. They had a very obnoxious boy that kept literally running circles around their family, and because of the breeze, kept kicking sand on me. I wasn't sure what he thought he was doing, but he was making car racing noises and I started wondering who he thought was winning and if a sudden leg in the middle of his racetrack might bring the race to an abrupt end. Surprisingly, it was Cambria that finally told the kid not to run near us, and that ended his one man race, until later I saw him running sprints back and forth from the water to his family.

Once we left, we went home and got cleaned up. We went to a wedding reception for one of Cambria's friends named Devin. I had sort of noticed that it was just his mom standing in the line with him but didn't think too much of it, until later someone had told us that his dad had passed away only a week earlier in his sleep. I don't remember the cause but it was very sudden. I can't imagine not having my father, mother, or even my in-laws at our wedding. It would forever feel that there was something missing on such a happy day. I feel so blessed for all the happiness I have surrounding me in my life.

All they had to eat at the reception was deserts, which I admit I had too many of. We went out to eat afterwards at Eastern Winds Chinese Restaurant and had a great Japanese server. Chinese is Cambria's favorite. There are so many Chinese places on Washington that it's hard to decide, but Cambria said that Linda had liked this one, so that is where we went. I trust Linda's judgement on restaurants.

Our talks went well, and both our parents came. My sister, Emilee came, and brought my cousin, Mindy, who is staying with my parents. I enjoyed hearing Cambria speak. She always has a great spirit about her, that shines even brighter when she talks about Gospel subjects. It was really a great weekend, and I got to spend all of it with my wife.

A Long Story About Sinks

So for the past two days I have been trying to get our sink fixed. It has been dripping steadily from the faucet. Cambria finds it hilarious, so here is my story. Monday morning I took apart the knobs that turn on our bathroom sink. Underneath are pieces that are crazy and have all sorts of rubber and plastic parts. I took it into Lowes and the teenage boy working there in plumbing looked at it and asked me what it was. I thought he should know but I explained it to him, and he sent me up the road to a plumbing specialist on Wall and 17th. I wait around for 20 minutes in line and when I get up to the desk, the "expert" there looks at it and says "what is it?" I kindly teach this expert a new class on sinks and where this came from in my sink. He proceeds to tell me he doesn't even know how to look it up, then tells me I may just have to buy a new faucet and handles just to start over with new parts. I leave, rather annoyed.

At home, I look up faucets that may look about the same since that is what Cambria wanted. After an hour or so online I find our faucet for $165.00. Then I found the model number and a parts list and called lowes and they told me they had a tool that could fix it easily. So that night I head down to Lowes again to find the guy that actually knew what the part was. I got there and he was wrong, but knew of a place that may know what to do.

The next day I head out to west Ogden on 24th street to the boondocks where I found Jerry's Plumbing Specialties. I walk in, hand the guy the part, he tells me the make and model just by looking at it, gets the parts, shows me how to fix it, i pay him, i walk out wishing this had happened on Monday so I didn't waste my whole day driving around finding a solution.

Once home, i fix it all, hook it up, and now a different part is slowly leaking water, so I use some teflon tape and seal off all the joints. Now it's not just leaking but shooting out little holes in my teflon tape. So i head out to the plumbing store again to get a replacement part that he showed me before. I get that part, come home, hook it up and it all works great, except for the leak that is pouring out of the water shut off valve. I decide to ignore it and leave the water off while I get the sink back together. I hooked up all the parts underneath, they worked fine, and I go to test them one last time before screwing on the handles to finish, and the handle gets stuck half way down for no apparent reason and is turning the wrong way. While attempting to pull off the now stuck handle, a bracket underneath the counter pops out of place, sending the handle and my arms flying upwards, breaking all the newly bought plastic parts underneath, and part of the old handle.

So after two days everything is ruined and my two days went to waste not to mention the parts that I bought that were now broken. I proceeded to take out my frustrations on the rest of the worthless faucet and handles which made me a bit happier for the time. Then I reverted to the new faucet I bought for $109.00 as a back up. in case all this happened.

I didn't have the right wrench for the new faucet so I headed down to Lowes AGAIN to get a set of wrenches. Buying new tools always makes me happy. Once home, the wrenches were still too small by what looked like thousandths of an inch! Well i decided i'd use what time I had left to take of the old drain and plug and replace it with the one that came with and matched the new faucet and handles. Our sink is mounted underneath the counter and is held up by four brackets. While trying to unscrew the old part, the sink proceeded to fall out of the bottom of our counter, hitting the water shut off valve, which turned it on and sprayed water all over me and the cabinet.

There I was, laying halfway in a bathroom cabinet, on my back holding up a falling sink with one hand and trying to reach the water shut off valve with the other. It was about then that I thought a plumber would have been a descent option considering the circumstances. Needless to say, I am a much humbler man.

Now our sink and bathroom are in disarray, Gary came by and glued some parts back up underneath so tomorrow we can put the sink back in place, removed all my old parts, and told me how to easily fix the shut off valve leak in two seconds. I admit that once the sink is in tomorrow, and once Gary leaves, I will be back underneath the sink, hooking up the new parts, trying not to break anything. I couldn't laugh at the time but I should have because I definitely can laugh at it now.

So the moral of the story: If you've never done it before, give yourself plenty of time and do it yourself if you want a good laugh.

Catching Up

Well, it's been a long time since I last wrote in here. Cambria and I have been very busy with life. Cambria is working full time and dealing with the "joys" of working out the kinks in a newer company to put it nicely. She has been stressed with it but has gotten to the point where she is dealing with work issues very well, not caring, and just getting her portion of the work done and then some.

I finished Spring semester at Weber with some of my best grades yet which made me pretty happy. On May 3rd I started a CNA program at the Ogden Weber Applied Tech College. I figured I should get out of the restaurant and get into the medical field especially since I am more than half way done with my Bachelors Degree. PA is still a ways off but it's flying by and it will be here soon enough. Since I have already taken medical and science classes at Weber, the CNA course flew by and I finished in half the time alloted. It is a work at your own pace class.

Today was my last day of doing clinicals. My first day was an in class "clinical" where I taught the students as they needed. The next day I went to a Psych Unit in North Ogden. It was really fun. There was some interesting people in there and it was actually very and entertaining. Today I was at a nursing home where I had to deal with the hands on work of bed baths and wiping bottoms. I got to do some other things that were really cool though like helping a patient with a recent hip replacement to get into her wheelchair. We used a mechanical lift that reminded me of machines we used in construction to move heavy materials around. After finishing at the nursing home I then headed off to work at the restaurant to spend another six hours standing on a tile floor. My feet are so dead tonight but it was a fun day. It was much more rewarding to help people with things that they actually needed than to help people who whine about whether or not they get a seat in a comfortable, well lit, not too cold, not too hot, nowhere near children, not close to a party, too loud, too close to the kitchen, want a bigger booth so their purse can fit next to them, place to eat. Anyway, enough complaining, Cambria is rolling over to go to sleep, and I should put the computer away.

A Great Sunday

Today was a great Sunday. I didn't have to work today and I got to spend the whole day with Cambria. Church was great today with some very good lessons. After church we had an amazing dinner. We are on a new diet that is pretty tough to stick to every meal. We do the best we can with its rules for the most part. We started one of out netflix movies and ate dinner.

We then headed out toward Kaysville to go get my hair cut by my mom. On our way we stopped at a park that had a monument dedicated to Cambria's 4th or 5th great grandfather Elias Adams I believe. The park has been closed, very unkept and there are "no trespassing" signs all over but we went in anyway to take pictures. We found the monument in a crumbled heap of rocks. It looks like a tractor took it down, and the plaque is missing that told about Elias Adams and his family. We really want to know where it went. I hope it went to the city somehow, because if it went to one of his descendants then there really isn't much chance of finding it.

After we left the park, we went and watered the peas in Monty and Linda's garden. I played with Trinity for a while. She was chasing me all over while I held her bone. I jumped on top of the green electrical box and Trinity followed. She proceeded to jump at the bone, not realizing that the box wasn't going to be under her front feet any more. She landed head first on the ground and we think her chest hit the box. It was really sad to see and she is probably going to be sore. She immediately was up again wanting to go after the bone so we knew it wasn't anything serious.

After that we went and got my hair cut, and Cambria's bangs got trimmed too. When we came home we finished our movie while eating pineapple as a snack. Cambria went to bed while I shaved and showered. I just got out and now I am on my way to bed. What a great Sunday.

A Quick Note

I thought I would just write in here quickly as an update. School is almost out for me but my joy will be short lived since I am starting a CNA course at the Ogden ATC. It starts the beginning of May and only goes a month, so it won't be too bad. I am actually pretty excited about it. After taking Anatomy and Physiology at Weber I don't think I will have a hard time with the course at all. I have to go up to the school soon to take a reading comprehension test before they can enroll me in the class. It is going to be a breeze.

Cambria is at work right now. She is doing great. She got us going on a new diet that our Insurance guy told us about. It's called the Paleo diet. The best way I can explain it is that you only eat things that were around before agriculture started up. We have chicken, fish and tons of fruits and vegies. You aren't supposed to have any wheat, potatoes, rice, pasta, sugar, or "fake foods." I am actually really liking it. I don't feel the need to have sweets, and am starting to enjoy the sweetness that fruits give me. Vegies are tasting better too. Cambria is such a great cook as is, so i'm sure her cooking helps. It is Thursday which means that it's my night to cook. So with this new diet, we'll see how that goes.

Life is great. I am happy. I have a wonderful and beautiful wife. (both of those are talking about one wife, both wonderful and beautiful.) I guess it is about now in life when God gives your challenges... Like when you find out that the bowl of cereal you were about to eat is against your diet.

Cambria's (my) birthday

Well I promised Josh I would write in here about my birthday... so I am finally doing that :) I know, I am a little slow. So the night of my birthday we were not able to do much because I had to study for a test to be able to apply for nursing school. But Josh was very kind and gave me my birthday gifts. My first gift I got was a the Les Miserables CD and tickets to the high school version of the play. I was very excited about that because he had never seen Les Mis, and I am a big fan. The second gift he got me was a book that he made me of some of my bridals and our engagement pictures. That was very creative of him, and I was very surprised. My parents bought us a beautiful book of our wedding pictures, that I love, it is also nice to have some pictures of the engagements and bridals too.

The next night we went to a new Indian restaurant for dinner, and wow was it good!!! we plan on going back their soon. On Saturday we went pheasant hunting with my dad, my father-in-law and Josh and me, we enjoyed our time together. My parents took us out to dinner, and it is always fun to spend time with them, I am so grateful for my wonderful parents.

The following week Sharlyn made dinner for us, some yummy pork chops and vegetables. That week I received cards from Nathan and Sharlyn, Tyler and Mindy, and Seth. They all make me feel so loved, I don't know what I would do without my family. I know they are all always there for me. I was also grateful for all the birthday wishes I got on texts and facebook, thank you everyone. I think I enjoyed my birthday because I was busy all day with work and studying, and because of all the love everyone was sending my way. I know that might sound weird, but sometimes I think I am happiest when I can serve others, and I get to do that in my job.

So it is a little late, I have to wake up for work in the morning... working a full time job Monday to Friday seems to wear me out; but I love my job. Maybe I will write in here again in May :) if Josh keeps reminding me to do so. What a magnificent husband I have.

Moab Spring Break 2010

We left for Moab on thursday of spring break. We went another couple from the ward with us, Stuart and Maria Zuniga. They drove separate since they had to come home a day early. It wasn't too long of a drive down at about four hours total. When we got there, we got our tents set up. Our tent was one of our wedding gifts from my parents. It's supposed to be a five man tent and it was way huge for us. We were able to fit a lot of things from our car in it during the day so the Zunigas could fit in our car. That night all we did was drive through town and then took a short hike in Arches National Park to see all the stars. There were tons! We eventually couldn't find where the trail was supposed to go, so we turned around and came home. It wasn't too cold that night so we made dinner and then played some card games in our tent for a while and ate some cookies.

The next day we went back to Arches to go on a few hikes. It was a whole different experience in the day than it was the night before. Mountains were everywhere! And we started spotting arches in the distance all around us. Our first hike was to what they say is probably the longest arch in the world. There was a sign that talked about how a huge boulder fell from the under side of the arch while some hikers were there. Nobody was hurt, but a guy got a picture of the boulder breaking away from it. I believe that was in the early 90's. That was a very cold hike, with wind coming through some of the canyons we were walking through.

Our next hike was a longer 3 mile hike up to see the Delicate Arch. It was such an amazing place. Right before we rounded the bend to where the arch was, Stuart and I climbed a small incline to our right up to where there was an archway in the rock. I got up there first, not knowing what I would see. I was shocked as I immediately saw the delicate arch perched between a canyon and a huge bowl in the rock. I had never imagined what that would look like. It was beautiful. I was pretty tired because my foot had been bothering me all day, and Cambria pushed me up the hill for a little while on the hike. It was cold at times, but way worth the pain.

We had a really nice camera that we are going to buy from Angie, and I took a lot of pictures. We decided that it was too cold to stay at the campsite till bedtime so we went to the local library and played Settlers of Catan. Then we found a pizza hut and ate there while playing some card games on the table. We went home, took showers at the campsite building, then went to bed. Stuart thought it wasn't camping if we had showers. I guess I agree, but it was so warm and felt way good.

Saturday morning, Stuart and Maria left for home after we looked at a few shops in Moab. Cambria and I walked to the finish line of a half marathon that was going on in town to look around. There was nothing much to do there so we decided to go to Slick Rock. We didn't have any bikes or anything so we looked around at the other bikers then headed up the mountain. It got pretty hard to get up the dirt road at the muddy parts, but my car made it pretty well. I got quite a bit of red mud on my car, which made it look like it's supposed to be a 4-wheel drive. Once we came down from the mountain we went and checked out a Hostel that was in town for future reference. It was way disgusting and we decided that camping anywhere would be way better than staying there.

Well, at that point we had traveled North to Arches and South to Slick Rock, so we decided to go on a drive up the Colorado river canyon to the East. We saw a lot of campsites up there. The whole road was paved so it was a pretty quick drive compared to the Slick Rock mountain trail. It was pretty nice. There was a little place to fill our water bottles in a spring, so we stopped on the way out and did that too. Cambria had read that there was a bird refuge to the West of Moab so we headed out West. We Ended up covering every direction of the compass that we could possibly go from Moab without a Jeep.

We couldn't find the refuge, so we just kept driving and driving following the river along Kane Springs Road. Eventually we went through a couple of streams and the road got pretty rough. There were some really narrow switch backs too that dropped a few hundred feet really fast and went through some narrow canyons. We came out in a very large valley. There was a sign that said it was some sort of state trust land. We decided to turn around before we got too far up a mountain to keep the car in somewhat of descent shape. I really enjoyed driving around with my wife. Just having the time alone reminded me of our honeymoon. After we got back into town we bought Cambria a blanket at the local ALCO, which is kind of like a Wal-Mart. She used it inside her sleeping bag since she was cold the night before and slept horribly. I ended up freezing that night and slept horribly so she drove home in the morning.

Saturday night we also went out to eat at the only Chinese food place in Moab. It ended up being pretty good although I was skeptical at first. Chinese is Cambria's favorite food and she really enjoyed it as well. None of the employees could understand much English, so you know it's somewhat authentic. On our way back to the campsite we saw a restaurant perched on a cliff so we decided to check it out. The road up to it was filled with pot holes, and was very long. We just got a desert and looked out over the city since we had already eaten dinner. We read on the back of the menu that it used to be a house that belonged to a guy who struck it rich off of natural Uranium in the 50's. He built himself a huge house on the mountain with Utah's biggest swimming pool (which was now gone, but we think we saw where it was, now filled in with dirt and grass.)

When we got back to camp we got all our stuff ready to leave the next morning except for the sleeping bags, pads, and the tent. Sunday morning we quickly folded them up and left for home so we could get back in time for church at 1:00. I poured us some cereal and we ate breakfast in the car on the way home. Last night I was actually able to fall asleep next to my wife in a warm bed, with no sleeping bags between us. We were both warm and fell right asleep. It was a wonderful vacation. Next time we want to rent some 4-wheelers for the trip, and take some bikes along.

Spring break day 2

Holy cow yesterday was crazy. I spent all day running around and calling all sorts of people for everything from roof inspection and gutter repairs to medical insurance and electrical work. I got a lot of things done that I have been needing to do. School has just been too busy to get anything else done. So now I am about to go to work for the only time this week. I wish I didn't work this morning because there is still so much to do before we go to Moab. I am so excited to go though.

After work today we are going on a double date with one of Cambria's friends she used to work with named Valerie. We're going to see the new Tim Burton movie, Alice in Wonderland. It is in 3D but I don't know if we will be going to it in 3D. I have still never seen a 3D movie, and would like to see it like that. So, it's another busy day. Cambria is at work right now. She is so amazing and such a hard worker.

Spring Break!

Spring break starts today. It was very nice to sleep in for a while. Sleeping in used to be that till around 11:00 for me when I was in high school, now it is till 9:00 and I don't have to wake up at 7:00 for classes. I have a lot planned for today, and hope to get most of it done. I may be overloading myself on the first day of break. This weekend we are going to Moab with some friends from the ward. They are Stuart and Maria Zuniga. I home teach them. When we decided that we were going to go to Moab, their names came to mind of someone we could have along. We're camping, and taking the dutch oven, and hiking. It is going to be a way good time. We'll be leaving thursday morning and we'll be back just in time to get ready for church Sunday morning.

Right now I am waiting around at home for some inspector to come look at the roof for someone who is selling their condo. I am the roof guy, and the only one who has a key to get up there, so I get to wait here till he comes before I can go finish my days plans. I am driving my dad's truck because I am going to go pick up Angie and Rob's old grill to put out on our deck. I love driving the truck. It is so huge. Cambria asked me if I have a little man complex when I told her that. At 6 feet tall, I'm pretty sure it's not a little man complex. If i were 4' 6" then maybe she would be onto something. In that case, I don't know if she would have ever dated me since she would have been so much taller than I would have been. She would have turned me down because I was so much younger and so much shorter. Boy am I glad I'm tall.

School will never end!

It feels like school is dragging on and on. Spring break will be so refreshing. I actually didn't have any homework today, and it was so nice. I got the house straightened up, and had a little "me" time. Right now I am just finishing up cleaning up some things on the computer before I go to bed. It was nice to see that Cambria had written in here too.

So yesterday, we went out to eat with Emilee and a boy that Cambria met at the bank. Cambria had told him that he should go on a date with Emilee, so he came with us to eat. He was a really cool guy. He's a returned missionary that wen to Alaska. It was a really nice night. I enjoyed spending some time with Emilee, especially since she has felt kind of down about her boyfriend leaving on a mission and there isn't much I can do to help her feel better. Cambria is so considerate of others. She thinks about Emilee and how she is doing probably more than I do. She is a very caring and loving wife. It's comforting to know that she cares about my family too.

Well, it's off to bed. I have chemistry to do all day tomorrow. Not fun, but oh well.

This is Cambria

Hi, This is Cambria... I thought it might be my turn to quickly right a note while Josh is doing his Chemistry homework. I have been trying to write in my journal once a week and I didn't get it done today, so I am taking my turn on our blog.

So tonight is my dads birthday, he is out of town... studying for his re-currant. He is a dedicated man. Tonight Josh and I were able to go and celebrate Rya Lynn's second birthday, which is tomorrow. That little angel brings so much joy into our lives. Her mom says that she has already hit the terrible twos, my mom said that is hard to believe. Tonight at the small celebration Jason, Elise and Carson were there (Sharlyn's brother and sister-in-law); my mom and Nathan and Sharlyn. We had a lot of fun, Rya was very interested in opening her presents. The poor little girl has a cold and she keeps coughing, her mom and dad have trained her to cover her mouth... she is so cute as she begins to cough because her tiny hand rushes up to cover her mouth. Most of the gifts she was given tonight Sharlyn made for her. My favorite gift is the apron that was sewed so it would fit her as she helps mommy cook in the kitchen.

So I have made a couple of goals this week, the first one is to get to work on time every day... so I have decided to prepare our lunches the night before, get my gym clothes ready and my work items in order. I am tired of having to rush every morning and then ending up being late. My second goal is to get to the gym EVERY day this week... Its hard to do when I know my husband is home and I want to go spend time with him. So I guess overall I need to "be prepared..." well that sounds familiar. I hope to make some good habits this week.

Well its time for bed, I need to wake up earlier than normal.

A long week

This last week has been a pretty long one. It just seemed to drag on, but at the same time, I was running all over and never stopping. Cambria has gotten used to her job and is really enjoying it. I am very used to my job after two years, and often leave exhausted from trying to keep all the other hosts in line. I am the lead host most of the time. I swear they should pay me more, but they don't. About half the other people I work with need to grow up and learn to do their job right. It feels like I'm a baby sitter for kids who have lost their short term memories.

Anyway, aside from that, School is going pretty well. It is still pretty busy, but I'm staying relatively on top of homework. I had a few quizzes in a row for multiple classes and they all came out as a 70% for each one I took, no matter how hard I studied. I thought I was stuck in some sort of rut, but have since broken my lame low grade rut with a 90% on my last Physiology test, and some high 80's on some Chemistry tests. Anything above a B- is good for me in Chemistry because I have always been horrible at it.

Tonight, Cambria called my sister Emilee and invited her and her friend Cecily over to play some games. It was a pretty fun time. We played Monopoly Deal, and Uno. I don't believe I won all night, but I still enjoyed spending time with my little sister. She has been having a hard time coping with the fact that her boyfriend just left on a mission a few weeks ago. She is doing pretty good now though, and just trying to stay busy. Cambria made some treats for tonight. She made some amazing no-bake cookies that I ate way too many of, and some popcorn. She got a call from work in the middle of us playing and had to run over to a patient's house that lives pretty close to us. She came back with tons of perfume on to cover up the cigarette smoke smell from the house she went to. The other night she came home and it was really bad. She wouldn't let me hug her because she hated the fact that she smelled that way.

When Emilee and Cecily left, we finished the last bit of our movie we were watching earlier, "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs." It was way good, and brought back some good memories of the book from when we were young. Those days seem to be getting farther and farther away, so it is nice to have a moment or two of nostalgia. Well Cambria has already fallen asleep like she usually does when I write in here. It is Sunday tomorrow and I don't work so I am excited to enjoy the day with my sweetheart.

Valentines Activities

We had our Valentines Day activities early this year since I have to work tomorrow on Valentines night. Thursday, Cambria and I went to the Texas Roadhouse and used some gift cards that I won at my work's Christmas party. It was 35 dollars, and we ended up spending almost nothing on our meal. That's an ideal meal, especially for us newlyweds. Tonight, when I got off work, we went out to the Institute Couples Ball. They had a dinner and a dance. It was catered by Javier's. It was alright food, what made it better was that I was way hungry after missing lunch because of work. It was a semi-formal dance, so we dressed up. I wore my same old clothes that I wore for our engagement photos because they are the only nice thing I own that isn't a white shirt and black slacks. Cambria wore a pink dress with a black sparkly top. She did her hair in a pony tail slightly to the side and pinned up a little with a flower in her hair. She looked gorgeous.

I really enjoyed being able to talk with people from our ward I had never gotten to know. They are some really awesome people. After a while, we made it to the dance floor. I really had a good time dancing. I have never been too comfortable dancing around other people. I guess it is probably the only thing I get shy about. I have a really hard time breaking out of my shell and being me. I don't know why. Cambria is exactly opposite. She is amazing, and got me pretty comfortable tonight. We started in with a line dance, and worked to some swing dancing. I actually took a swing dance class one day, so I am not too horrible at that. Dancing with her for really the first time being married was amazing. For some reason I couldn't help but love her more afterward. It was really a special night for me, and I hope it was for Cambria as well.

When we got home, we were too tired to watch a movie which was our plan, so we played Monopoly Deal, which is a card game that goes by really fast. We played three rounds and I won all three which made me really happy because last time we played, Cambria won five out of seven games. I think all five were in a row too. It was really fun. I love spending time with my wife while we are young and not extremely busy with kids yet. Tomorrow Cambria is going to make breakfast then I can give her my Valentines card I got her. That is the extent of our gifts this year we decided.

Interesting Dream

So this is kind of random. Last night, while still sleeping at Monty and Linda's house, I had the strangest most vivid dream. Have you ever had a dream that felt so real, that when you woke up you had to think for a second if what you dreamt was real? As if it were actual memories from the past day.

So in my dream, out of nowhere, I decided to get a tattoo. Cambria told me she didn't care, and so I went to the tattoo parlor. I told him to just put whatever he wanted somewhere around my shoulders, biceps and the back of my neck. I ended up with some green flames that came from right below my hairline on my neck and followed my hair up and around under my ears. I had some weird gang symbol on my left upper arm that signified I was suddenly a member of some biker gang, with my new gang member number (212) etched on it too. On the right upper arm I had some sort of family shield.

I remember going home and showing Cambria. She took one look at them and plainly said, "They're ugly," and walked away. I looked in the bathroom mirror and agreed, especially the flames that couldn't be hidden by a shirt. I then began to think of ways I could get them off and realized just how permanent they were. I realized what I had done and sank to the bathroom floor weeping for the next hour.

When I woke up from the dream, I actually thought I had cried myself to sleep and was waking up the night I got the tattoos. I felt so horrible yet so relieved when I realized it was all a dream. As I sat there in bed, all I could do was to pray. I guess in a way I felt the remorse of actually getting a tattoo and then regretting it afterwards. I promised God I would never disrespect my body by doing that. I don't know much about dreams, what they mean, or if God has much of a hand in them, but I felt like I learned a life lesson I would have never learned otherwise, since I would never get a tattoo.

I got up and got a drink, then went back to bed. It is always a comfort to see Cambria next to me as well. At that point I felt totally fine and relaxed. I fell right back to sleep with my arm around my sweetheart.

Superbowl Sunday

We just got back from Nathan and Sharlyn's house. We went over right after church to watch the Superbowl game. It was a pretty good game, especially for someone like me who doesn't ever watch sports. It is my one time a year game I will watch. Cambria really enjoyed it, and I enjoy spending the time with her and family. I hope I don't offend anybody, but when sports is all you can talk about when you get together with your friends, that is pretty lame. I was so annoyed by missionaries on my mission who would never talk about anything else. They knew the names of almost every player for every team. Maybe that is your interest, but there are other things in life, especially while on your mission. Oh well, i guess it's just not me in any way. If you are in to that, more power to you, but have some moderation. I loved how Nathan and Jason weren't way too into the game, and just had a good time watching it.

Now we are back and Cambria's parents house watching. Cambria is talking on the phone to her dad who went straight from California up to his parent's house in Idaho. Overall it was a really good Sunday. I didn't have to go to work, church was great, and I got to spend the whole day with my wife. I have some Chemistry homework to do and I still want to watch another part of Band of Brothers tonight, so I'm off to get my homework done.

Sleepin' in the guest bedroom

Tonight as well as last night, Cambria and I are staying at Monty and Linda's house, watching Trinity (their dog) while they are away at Palm Springs enjoying their anniversary. I came down yesterday after school and homework, and today I came down really late because I decided to at the last minute. I got here around nine. I thought I might as well be with my wife when she is so close anyway.

She has been begging me to let her just bring Trinity up to our house and I refused. I love Trinity to death, but would rather not have black dog hair all over our hairless house. The only hair I allow is Cambria's. There are also no dog's allowed in our building, even visitors for a few nights I believe. Cambria was telling me about a dog that a lady she works for has. It is called a soft haired wheaten terrier. It doesn't shed, and looks pretty good for a terrier. It's not as small as you would think a terrier would be. She thinks it is the perfect dog for us one day, I agree. It does look pretty cool.

Oh, Sunday we went down to my parent's house and spent the evening playing games with them, Emilee, and her boyfriend Byron, who leaves on his mission tomorrow morning. Emilee and my parent's were a big driving force behind him gaining the desire to go, and he is going to be a great missionary.

Well, getting tired was my main goal for doing this while laying in the guest bedroom at my in-laws, and it is working very well. I guess i'd better roll over and get some sleep, since I have early class all the way back up in Ogden again.