Wednesday, October 22, 2008

5 Years!

This is super cheesy, but I am super cheesy, so it's ok. John and I "celebrated" the 5th anniversary of our 1st date over the weekend. Really I just had a gift certificate for a free night at the Park City Marriott that was going to expire soon, so I was looking for things to do in Park City since it's too cold to do much outside, yet no ski resorts are open yet. Then I got an email from warrenmiller.com reminding me that the film would be showing in my area.

Well, John and I went on our very first date to the Warren Miller ski movie back in Logan in October of 2003! Sometimes I can't believe it has been that long already. We have gone to the film together now 4 out of the last 5 years, so I guess it's the one tradition we have together. So I thought it would be fun to go to the film in Park City this year and get to use my gift certificate too.

We had a great time; it was nice to get away from the craziness that is our lives (or at least mine) right now. John and I don't really have a traditional relationship right now, but we are happy and things are going great at the super-slow pace we are taking things. :-) I do just want to say to all the blogger world that I am so thankful to have him in my life and am constantly impressed with what a great man he is. I am so proud of him for all his accomplishments and I appreciate his support and encouragement. He is truly my best friend!

So please enjoy the little slide show I made to highlight some fun times over the last 5 years. It is definitely not balanced though...there are far less pics from our early years, mostly due to me not having a digital camera back then and partly due to most pics I do have from back then probably stored away somewhere while I am between homes. Some of our best times have been over the last couple of years anyway though!


Saturday, October 18, 2008

big changes

I have definitely been a huge blogging slacker the past few weeks. To say life has been crazy and busy would be a huge understatement. A lot has been going on, and it took me 2 tries to write this blog, but I finally did it! :-)

So some pretty major events have taken place over the last 3-4 weeks. The first is that I finished my job at Lake Powell. This has been very bitter sweet, mostly because I was able to meet a lot of really cool people and I miss them way more than working. Most of these friendships came in my last 5-6 weeks once I started working at boat rentals on top of my rec coordinator responsibilities. I did love my job though (both of them in the end), and while I don't think I will go back, I am really glad that I had he experience and I think I am better for it. I learned to be more independent, to be ok hanging out with myself, to drive long distances without falling asleep (sunflower seeds!), to always wear sunscreen, and that its awesome to get paid for playing.

Merrianna, Maegan, and Me on my last weekend

Also, John was able to squeeze in one more visit my last weekend in Lake Powell, which was really fun. It ended up being a lot of driving for him, but I was really glad he got to come. We spent a day boating, which is always a good time.

John on his island :-)

I had my last day of work on Oct. 1 and that night Matt, Debi, and their girls arrived in Lake Powell. The next day we got up and were able to do a little boating before my mom, dad, Rachel, and Dan arrived. One of the great perks of working at Lake Powell is the access to powerboats...for free. We did have a some wind and it was cold and rainy by Saturday, but everyone got the chance to water ski and wakeboard and play on the beach. It was so fun to show part of my family where I had been living all summer. I am especially grateful for all of their help in my move home. For as often as I seem to move, I really hate moving. But I love my family and we had such a fun time!

Our boat, one of the sweet Bajas

Leah playing on the beach

Heidi loved the beach too!

Our sweet spot on the beach in Bullfrog Bay

Leah working the flag

Me water skiing. I'm old school. :-)

Swimming in Lake Powell with Leah


I finally got home a couple of weeks ago. Too bad I don't really have a "home." My awesome parents are letting me stay with them though, which is really great of them. I thought I was going to have a job when I got home because I was hired for a temporary nanny job more than 2 months ago. Well, the mom emailed me the day before I was supposed to start to tell me her sister had lost her job and moved in with them and so she was watching their daughter instead. I was pretty upset because I basically planned my whole life around the commitment I made to their family. It's not all bad though, because this way I am able to job search for something permanent instead. I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful, supportive family to help me out during this rough patch.

So the other big news is that I am officially job searching! As some of you know, my degree is in Parks and Recreation. I also have a lot of experience and interest in event programming/planning/management and I also have a lot of child care/nanny experience. I was hoping to combine it all and find a job in recreation or special event programming for youth, but I'm not really sure what I want to do. I may have an interview for a job at Deer Valley this week, I had one interview for a nanny position and should have another interview tomorrow. So hopefully I will have it narrowed down a little by the end of the week. The good (and maybe bad) thing is I think I could be happy doing any number of things. If anyone hears of something they think I would be interested in, feel free to contact me or pass on my info.

One bonus to being unemployed is I have been able to see my family a lot, especially my cute nieces. I have been a big slacker on taking pictures, but I did catch this gem of Leah and Izzy after their dance class the other day.

Leah and Izzy-sweet (and super cheesy) ballerinas

So yeah, life has been a little crazy right the last few weeks. I'm loving the fall weather though, even though I was freezing the first few days because all of my warm clothes were still in storage. I was driving around today and I love, love, all the fall colors.

Anyway, I'm worried I won't have anything to blog about now that I am done with my summer adventure at Lake Powell. Does a blog have to have a theme? I'm open to suggestions!