Tuesday, December 8, 2009

I forgot my camera.

I am so sad! I have either forgotten my camera, or my memory card for my camera the past three trips I have been on! Over Halloween, I went to Vegas to visit my mom, sister, and her two daughters. It was a lot of fun! I had fun seeing them, it had been awhile. But I forgot my camera! I didn't get to take pictures of the pumpkins the girls painted, or of them dressed up in their costumes. Or pictures of us at the Nevada day at the Old Mormon Fort. I missed so much that weekend!

Then, a couple of weeks later, Scott and I headed down to Vegas for Thanksgiving. Again, no pictures were taken :( We had fun too! We made pine cone turkeys and pilgrim and indian bookmarks. We saw Planet 51 (it was funny) and did a little shopping. And don't forget our delicious dinner, thanks to Michelle.

And this past weekend, I headed out to South Carolina to watch the kids while my parents were in Leavenworth, Washington. They are getting so big! I flew in Friday afternoon, and drove myself to my parents house, to find my little brother, James. Immediately he starting showing me the sweet new gun they just purchased. I have no idea what kind it is, but James explained every little detail to me and it seemed pretty neat. If only I knew what he was talking about:) A few minutes later, Sarah, William, and my cousin Megan got home. We all sat around and just chatted for a few hours, then headed to the high school to pick up some fruit that they had ordered through a fundraiser. From there, we headed to dinner and went home to watch 'The Day After Tomorrow'.

The next morning, we headed out to the shooting range to shoot some guns. One of the dogs snuck into the car and we couldn't get her out, so she tagged along. And boy, did she regret it! She hates loud noises, so we left her in the car, curled up under Williams sweatshirt under the front seat. Don't worry, she is fine. Somebody stayed with her at all times. But it was fun to shoot guns, even if the scopes weren't sited in yet. After that, we dropped James off at a birthday party and headed to Krogers to get gingerbread house kits! Plus some Blue Bell ice cream, but we forgot to eat the ice cream:( I'm bummed I missed out on that.

Then we got James from his party and raked a guys yard. It was freezing outside! But we got it done! Then we ate dinner and built these...








I know I forgot my own camera, I got these from James. But we worked on this for about four hours. They took forever! But they were so much fun to build! We loved it. Except that it made us extremely tired, and sad because I was leaving the next morning.

Which, speaking of morning, was very chaotic. The electricity shut off around 5:30 in the morning. When we tried to wake up at 7am to get ready for church/the airport, we had no light and no hot water. So I sent the kids back to bed, but let the three dogs outside. Then I head back to bed. At 8am, I wake up, get ready, and hear TONS of barking out back, so I go outside to find that one of the dogs had escaped from the backyard. Luckily she came back when she heard me calling her name, but a morning with no electricity and a missing dog? I was already exhausted. Good thing for long flights to sleep on:)

P.S. I even got to eat at Chipotle on my way home. It was delicious.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The Happiest Place on Earth

Check out the link below to an MSN article I found:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33830268/ns/health-mental_health/?GT1=43001

Just reading up on some news and discovered that Utah is ranked the happiest state in the USA. Sometimes it really does feel great to live in Utah. And yes, I just admitted that I enjoy living in Utah.

much needed MAN TRIP

Scott is a man. So he needs man time. I make him go:) This time around, he and his buddies, Nate, Ryan, and Steve, went down near Moab to do some repelling. They had tons of fun. Or at least that is what they tell me. Since I wasn't there, I can't give you too many details, so here are the pictures Scott took. Enjoy









Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Valley of Goblins

We were getting tired of the cold weather up north, so we headed down a few weeks ago to Goblin Valley State Park. We camped in our lovely Element. I love that car, it has been very good to us. I love being able to lay all of the seats down to make a giant bed inside the car. And I couldn't forget how much I love the moon roof so you can look at the stars as you fall asleep at night, all while inside the car...

Whoops, sorry about that little rant. I just love my Honda Element. Back to Goblin Valley. For those who do not know, Goblin Valley is famous for the hoodoos filling the park. These are formations of mushroom-shaped rock pinnacles. If you have ever seen the movie Galaxy Quest, you have seen Goblin Valley. Galaxy Quest (and many other movies) have been filmed here because of the unearthly formations. The rocks are so much fun to play on!

Upon entering the park, we found a formation that looked like two fish kissing...


And then a HUGE wall to climb over. Good thing we like to climb!


This next picture looked like Mt. Rushmore (in person). So we tried to take a picture of us picking the nose of one of the people on the rock. This is the best picture we got:)


Then, we found a giant saddle! Scott loved climbing up so high!


This formation was difficult, or maybe easy because we both saw so many different things! I thought it looked like a venus fly trap at first. Scott thought it looked like a throne fit for a king.


As we moved further along the park, we found several little caves!



This picture shows the classic formations throughout the park. The mushroom shapes:)


Scott and I had a contest to see who could find the highest formation. I think he won.



We just wanted to take some pictures together.



Peek A Boo!



Another cave.


I felt like I was riding on a dinosaur.


Scott showing how strong he is.


And a picture to give you a small glimpse of the big picture.


We had so much fun! It really is a giant park. Hoodoos of all sizes for every member of the family. We would recommend a visit to Goblin Valley anytime you need a break. Maybe next time we will bring laser tag with us and go at night!

Seems like I forgot how to blog

Apparently I forgot how to blog, for those who might actually read it. So, I'll try to get caught up. We are extremely busy and stressed with full time jobs. Scott is also in school full time and I was getting tired of also working part time at Red Robin, so I went down to working two shifts a week there to working one shift a month:) It has been great. I actually have some time to breath! Barely. I still struggle staying on top of everything but oh well. So goes life. We have had some time over the weekends to head out on little adventures, so I will tell you ALL about them:)

Monday, September 14, 2009

WOW!!!

Incredible. It has been three and a half weeks since we have blogged. Whoops. We both got busy. I landed a second job at a company called Doba. We do online product sourcing. Now, I'm busy working there 40 hours a week while trying to manage the house and work a couple of nights a week at Red Robin. We'll see how it goes. This is week three for me, so I'm starting to get used to it, but it is still hard to wake up so early! Who ever said 'early to bed, early to wise' had it way wrong. I feel like it doesn't matter what time I go to bed at night, it is imPOSSIBLE to wake up early! I'm trying to get into a pattern, but I am still exhausted even if I go to bed at 10pm to wake up at 7am. Oh well. I'll keep trying.

Scott started school about the time I started my new job. Needless to say, he is now super busy as well. Working full time and attending classes tuesday and thursday nights is not easy. He is taking Anatomy this semester and boy, is it a doozy. He is putting alot of time into this class so he has a better chance of getting into nursing school. So far, it is paying off! He spends what seems like every spare minute of every day studying for this class. But it is worth it, he has actually gotten an A on every single test and quiz they have taken so far! Yay! I am so proud of him! And he is loving it too. Stressed, maybe. But enjoying what he is learning, definitely. I'm glad. He finally found something that he is loving.

Well, it's time for bed. Maybe we'll have something a little more interesting in the near future.

Friday, August 21, 2009

oops...

I was trying to switch backgrounds. I had success with that, but it made my gadgets disappear. If you want me to read your blog, you can leave a comment with your address and I'll add you in if I haven't already! Sorry guys:)

Love

I was so sad yesterday because I knew Scott was leaving for the weekend to go have "guy time".
Camping. Repelling. Hiking. Slot canyons. Cold water. 15 long miles in one day.
I'm glad he went. I really am. He's going to have a blast!
But I was still sad. And he knew it.
I got a text around 10:10 last night, asking how much longer I would be at work.
20 minutes? I was getting close, but a few things happened and I was there until 10:50.
No big deal, but I was tired. I called Scott on my way out to the car.
He made sure to tell me to make sure I check my review mirror so I don't run anything over.
What?
I was pulling forward:) Not reversing. Then he told me to check the back seat.
I turned around, and I see him, standing behind my car, holding a bouquet of gerbera daisies!
They were so fun! And what a great surprise! He really does love me:)




Bright fun summer colors that would make me smile while he is away.
To top it off, he even made a couple of calls and without my knowing.
I have been getting checked up on by different people, just to make sure I'm safe:)
I love him.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Manicotti

I love manicotti. It is delicious. So that is what we had for dinner last night. Scott was so sweet, he helped grill up some fresh squash and zucchini. It all turned out amazing. If only I had time to cook dinner EVERY day:)

Monday, August 17, 2009

One year, one week, and two days ago...

One year, one week, and two days ago, I married my best friend.

Ten Reasons we are still best friends today:)

1. Sweet cuddles when the thunder is rolling.
2. Reading books at Barnes and Noble while nibbling on coffee cake and cinnamon scones.
3. A goal to look good, working out together with a tan on the side.
4. He's patient when I take forever to get ready.
5. We love seeing movies together.
6. We love eating good food together.
7. And good laughs, comedy sportz!
8. Reese's Peanut Butter cups are a must.
9. Sleeping in together.
10. Rock Climbing and enjoying the great outdoors together.

This is what we did this weekend. It was great:)

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Meteor and Lightening

I just finished a post about our backpacking trip to Island Lake in the High Uintas, so make sure to scroll down and read that one, or at least look at the pictures:) But I want to tell you about our day yesterday. It was fun! Maybe not for everyone else, but we enjoyed ourselves. Scott and I both worked during the day, so when we got off, we headed to softball practice. We had a blast and we are actually getting better! Scott is our new pitcher and I'm your new second basemen:) Afterwards, we went to Terra Mia, this new Italian restaurant that also has gelato. We met Ryan and Rachelle there and ate some delicious gelato. A storm was coming on, lightening everywhere! And scott and I realized we were a bit hungry, so we grabbed some breadsticks from little ceasars and headed up to Squaw Peak to watch the storm. We turned on some Ben Harper, enjoying his soothing musical style, and watched the lightening and the city while we ate our breadsticks. Then...out of nowhere, we saw a meteor!!! It was so close! And we watched it for several several seconds. you could see the tail burning behind it. It was amazing! Turns out, there was a meteor shower last night:) Too bad it was so stormy or we would have seen more, but we had fun up there anyway:) Acting like a young dating couple, even though we are officially not newly weds anymore. We made it to a year! And what a great year it was:)

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Island Lake

Alright, I think I am finally ready to share some of our adventures from our backpacking excursion up in the High Uintas. As previously mentioned, we made a quick stop by the Provo River Falls on our drive up to the trail head which would eventually take us to Island Lake. We were with our buddies, Ryan and Rachelle Evans.

Then there was us, the Copelands. Scott and Emily:)

We began our hike at a lovely little sign that said, "Crystal Lake 1 mile. Long Lake 2 miles. Island Lake 3 miles." Only three miles? Easy! When we went to Coyote Gulch in March we packed 16 miles in two days. This was going to be a piece of cake. 6 miles in three days. Or at least that is what I thought. We were on our way and I realized we were at a much higher elevation, causing thinner air than I am used to and making me want to stop more frequently for breaks! :) So, we stopped and ate and enjoyed our time.


Along the way was a turnoff for Crystal lake, which we only got to catch a glimpse of since we didn't head that way. But we did see lots of mountain meadows with wildflowers.

And other beauties that reminded us that we were hiking at about 10,000 feet (hence the lovely tree line).

So we kept on hiking. Until we reached Long Lake! Which was two miles in, and a nice easy stroll in the mountains.




Long Lake was so beautiful, I just wanted to give Scott a kiss, but he got a little shy.

So Rachelle and I showed him how to be tough and love the camera.

We continued along and crossed a cool bridge.

On the other side of the bridge was a sign that read, "Island Lake, one mile this way!" So we followed the trail "this way" for awhile and took another break. This mile sure was taking forever! So we kept going until we came to a meadow and suddenly, there was no trail to be seen! We were a little lost. So, we turned around and followed the trail back to the sign by the bridge, which was probably .75 of a mile to a mile back, so lets make that one and a half to two miles out of our way...We looked at the sign again and still could not figure out where we went wrong. Until a lovely dog came trotting along from the opposite direction. His owner told us he had just come from Island Lake and that the trail was the other direction. We realized that the sign was loose and wobbling around, leading us to the wrong trail:) So we got back on track and we were very happy to be on our way again.

So we hiked on and saw more ponds and meadows along the way.


We were loving it, but our little detour made me a bit tired, especially since we hiked up to 11,500 feet and then back down to 10,000, then back up and down, up and down. I was getting so pooped! But I'm lucky to have Scott. He took my pack from me and carried it up the last little incline for me! What a sweetheart! Then, we saw this!

Yup! That's right. We FINALLY made it to Island Lake! So we set up camp and enjoyed a nice rest. And some MREs:)


We made a fire, and slept a good sleep that night. Until the deers started coming down to drink out of the lake. They were noisy! But the loudest noise we heard came from an elk that was in our camp! It was fun to see the animals so close up.

The next morning, I woke up with the sun. Everybody else was still asleep in the tent, so I decided to try to build a fire by myself. Scott usually builds it when we go out, but I wanted to surprise him. So, I gathered the kindling, and some small twigs to start. Then some bigger ones and eventually, I made a fire! I burnt my foot in the process, but I still made a fire! Scott was proud:) We ate some oatmeal and frozen breakfasts. The eggs were delicious! Then, next thing I know, the boys are all ready to jump in the water!

We all brought floaties and blew them up. Rachelle and I laid on our inflatable floaties and floated around the lake while we watched our husbands jump off of the 40 cliff. It was fun. Then they grabbed their round tubes and tried to float around, but they tipped over. We had a blast just hanging out on the lake.

After awhile, we took a lunch break and played some stick ball. I don't have pictures from those, but we had a fun with it anyway. Then, the boys decided they wanted to cliff jump again! Rachelle was floating around again, but I went to the top of the cliff with the men. And Scott and I took a few pictures together:)




Ryan was excited to get some action shots of Scott's cliff jumping skills, so he climbed down and got ready!

I apologize because to watch this video of Scott, you have to turn your head sideways:)

After his sweet jump, Scott got to use his sweet rock climbing skills to scale back up the cliff, rather than swimming and hiking around.


Then Ryan came up for a jump!

Jumping got tiring, so Scott and I went for a little walk. We came upon this pond full of lily pads and flowers!

We heard the fish jumping in the background, so Scott went for a fish!

I got bored, so I went for a hike on my own:) This was my view.




When I climbed back down, we went back to the pond with the lily pads with Ryan and Rachelle to play on the logs.

Scott got way down low...

And guess what he found...

A salamander! It was not happy:)
But we were!


We continued on our little nature walk to the other side of the lake and actually saw the island which gives this lake it's name!

It was beautiful! But the sun was beginning to set. So we hurried back to camp and found some firewood for the night. We built our fire and cooked up some dinner. Those Mountain House freezer dried entrees really are delicious. I recommend them to anyone and everyone. We finished off with a vanilla pound cake for dessert(MRE desserts are delicious as well), and some hot chocolate. I love drinking hot chocolate in the cool mountain weather. It was very warming and refreshing in the cool weather that comes along with being over 10,000 feet above sea level. I'm not going to lie, even in the summer time, it got pretty chilly up there. So, if you ever go, make sure to pack some layers to keep you warm!

After snuggling up in the tent in our sleeping bags one last time, we woke up to a lovely morning, ready to hike back to our car. But not before we ate some oatmeal one last time before we headed out.

We were very fortunate to know where the trail was on our way back, so we didn't get lost this time around. It only took half the time to get back. It was a nice quick hike and we're glad we went. We can't wait to go again sometime soon! Hopefully I can find a new job so I don't have to request off every weekend. Wish me luck:)