Spanish Fork Canyon

Finally a shooting day again because the weather is actually clear, though still a little chilly for my Vegas taste, seeing it is May (it should be pretty much in the 80-90s by now, come on!).  No pictures of shooting today, just pictures from our walk afterwards.

 Goodness, He's handsome isn't he?!

My Nathan is such a wonderful man!  I love spending time with him! Monday was my last day at Westside ES for the year.  I leave fairly early, especially when I ride my bike, to get to school.  With Nathan's new job he's home in the mornings and gone the entire afternoon.  I was gone in the morning and home in the afternoon.  Swapped schedules stink!  But these past few days have been so nice because we've had the mornings to spend together.  Which we have just been soaking up.  YAY for us time!!  

 Here's a picture of my short hair.  It feels so nice, though I have to admit my bangs made it hard while we were shooting because they kept falling in my face when I was aiming.

 We had fun walking around together in the hills, just exploring.  I love doing that.  I'm so glad Nathan does too.

One day we're going to be a Mommy and Daddy to little ones.  I was thinking of that today and how fun it will be to go on adventures like this with them :) Having kids is going to be a blast...when the time is right 

Yes, we did take one of the handguns on the walk with us.  I couldn't help but laughing as I was trying to get a shot of him while he was walking around with these ridiculous faces and strides looking for something to shoot.  His "I'm a wild, beast man hunter" posture was nothing like how you'd really look hunting...oh honey 

Turning 23

Saturday was Nathan's 23rd birthday!  He's getting old, but he'll never be quite as old and wise as me!  I got up early to decorate a bit and we got to spend the morning together before I had to send him off to work.  After work he picked me up and we went out to Sandy, Ut to have a Utopia company BBQ.  There Nathan was celebrated like a hero, not only because it was his birthday but because Friday he had signed 5 people up (3 was the highest anyone had ever done in the history of this company! Wow, he blew that record out of the water!), totally he had signed 9 people up that week and so he was also celebrated for being the sales rep. of the week!  Everyone was going crazy over him.  I just told his boss "Didn't I tell you he'd be the best?!" Haha!

Then we rushed home because I had invited Becca and Sydney's families, and Haley and Able over for cake and ice cream.  We got a call on the way home saying that they were all there waiting for us...no it wasn't a surprise party...we were just lame and running late!  We came home and the house was honestly a mess, papers everywhere, no furniture in the living room still from when we moved it to have the carpets clean, the cake not cut and frosted (you'll see my lovely scrambling work of art in the pictures...don't look too close please!)  The cake was yummy, the ice cream cold, the company was nice and low key.

We went on a little walk to pay the bishops son for mowing our lawn...so funny story.  You remember when you were a kid and you'd babysit or do a job for the neighbors and you were excited cause you knew they were going to pay you but then in walked your Mom/Dad.  They talked to you about serving and how the people would give you money but it would probably be too much and that we should offer to do it for free but you didn't want to say that.  Heck, you wanted to keep all the money; it was the only money you ever got...you know this too because I'm guessing that I'm not the only one who had that conversation with my parents..or maybe I am...  So that's what happen to the bishops kid.  Nathan went to hand him the money and  his eyes got all wide.  "No, no it's too much" he says as he's already quickly pocketing the cash
Haha- it made us laugh! 

*Someday I hope to be more organized.  The longer I am married the more I deeply appreciate and admire Mothers, especially my own!  They do/She did everything and I just took it all for granted.  The wonderful dinners, the birthday parties, fun and decorations, the clean house, the FHEs, the vacations, the listening time. How did she do it all!  I'm in awe!  Its because she is so selfless!

That night Nathan and I took some blankets outside along with the laptop and watched an episode of Psych, this TV show Nathan liked from when he was a teenager.  It was cool outside but Nathan helped keep me warm.  We laid on our backs and counted the stars.  What a beautiful night.  It was a nice birthday.  Nathan is such an incredible man!  I am so thankful to be married to him.  Sometimes I get what we've nick-named "heart swells," you know, when you just have this overwhelming sense of happiness and gratitude and it chokes you up.  There have been multiple times since we've been married that I've gotten these because of how utterly blessed and happy I feel.  I can't help the happy tears from leaking from my eyes and then I just start to laugh.  Laughing and Crying at the same time is an interesting feeling...what a lucky woman I am!  MY BIRTHDAY HUSBAND'S THE BEST!!

Okay, so tradition is that you have to take a double chin picture with your cake...as you can see Nathan had to work extremely hard to even get his double chin whereas some others have chins to spare.  

MICE

Yesterday I spent my afternoon cleaning out Grandma Ras's, which is now my food storage room down stairs in the basement.  It's been needing this time and attention for a while and I have given it a lot already but not like today.  I dusted, vacuumed (who knows how long it had been since the last time the carpet and shelves were vacuumed), totally organized, and had it looking great!  I was so proud of myself and am loving the way it looks, cause it really is so nice.  Nathan came home and I was all excited about how spiffy I had gotten the food storage room looking.  I pulled him down stairs after me and man, was he impressed!  He went around inspecting my lovely handy work.  He climbed up on a little stool..."Did you clean up here?" he asked.  Nope, I sure hadn't because if I had I would have found THIS

 Tail perfectly intact, all ribs still attached, fluffs and tuffs of hair around the complete rib cage, a full skull with the neck still so delicately placed under the metal guillotine of the mouse trap.  To make things better there was not only one but TWO  mouse traps, both filled with the dried up bones of its victims laying side by side on top of the shelf. 

The traps had suddenly been set off one day and simply left there, unnoticed until yesterday evening! 

How completely disgusting!! 

I can feel my throat tightening up even now as I type! 

Donating my hair to Locks for Love

Tera came over Thursday morning to Becca's house to cut our hair.  "Just getting the same cut as last time" I thought...until I saw this cute picture of Sandra Bullock.  The hair cut would be quite a bit shorter but then I thought "Hey, I could donate it again!"  This would be my second time.  Donating my hair helps me cope with the fact that I am chopping all my hair off because I know its going towards a great cause.  Also a short hair cut is the perfect summer thing.  Its light and so healthy...so with an instant decision I went forth and SNIP!

\

 "I didn't realize how long you hair really was Liz" was Becca's comment when we pulled it all back to measure.  Yea, its long and boring and unhealthy and I'm just sick of it...need I continue my reasons for wanting something new, fun, and cute

(*don't get me wrong. I have loved my hair long.  You can do so much with it but it was just plumb time for a change for this ragazza!)

 I was nervous but Tera is great!  That's why I came back to her.  I have never gone to just one person but she cut it so perfectly and just how I liked it last time that I'm gonna keep going to her as long as she'll let me.

 Here's the picture Sandra Bullock and what look we were going for...oh yea, and my pony tail ready for donating :)  I hope its enough...it kinda looks a little too short...Did you know that it takes 10 people to donate their hair for just 1 wig to be made!  That's incredible!  They need so much help to make this project possible.  Many hair places will even give you a free cut for donating your hair - of course they style it after they cut it...we are not in Tangled and there's no way one quick whack with a knife can get hair looking that good.

Right after the hair cut I went into work (I'm an elementary music teacher).  In my classroom I decided to start off my lessons "do you like my new hair cut?!" To which the kiddos enthusiastically cheered "YES!" then came the neat part.  I talked to my students about how some people are born without hair or become very sick and all their hair falls out and how hard that must be for them.  "Even girls?" asked a boy.  "Yes, even girls."   I told them about how they can get wigs to help them feel better and that I had cut off my hair so that I could help them make wigs for these people.  I told them how it takes 10 people to donate just to make 1 wig and they thought that was so much, which it is!  "That means 100 people need to cut off their hair to make 10 wigs!" A little boy said completely shocked (look at my little brilliant Math star).  One of the little girls in my class shared how her mom has cancer and has no hair. "My Mommy loves to play with my hair because she doesn't have any hair of her own to play with."  How neat to be able to talk about this with my classes and help them see just one little way that we can make an impact in someone else's life.

I found this statement on the Locks of Love webpage:

 Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. We meet a unique need for children by using donated hair to create the highest quality hair prosthetics. Most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure. The prostheses we provide help to restore their self-esteem and their confidence, enabling them to face the world and their peers

Our mission is to return a sense of self, confidence and normalcy to children suffering from hair loss by utilizing donated ponytails to provide the highest quality hair prosthetics to financially disadvantaged children. The children receive hair prostheses free of charge or on a sliding scale, based on financial need.

 And here it is, my locks for those sweet little children.  I taught a girl in Las Vegas during my student teaching whose hair started falling out.  It was so hard for her.  I am grateful that we have groups like these set up to help people feel confident and pretty again.  Cause we can't lie, how our hair looks makes such a huge difference to us!

Haha, I was fine up until Tera started texturing my hair and I saw all these tuffs of hair coming off my head...kinda freaked out on the inside...and a little on the outside too.  I reminded myself how amazing she is and the fear quickly went away.   

I went up stairs to style it, followed by Becca who helped teach me how to rat it a little...she's gonna have to teach me all her tricks because I'm a bit new at this.  But with Becca's help it came together nicely and I'm crazy about it.  I'll have to add a picture when it's all done and cutely styled.  I LOVE my new hair cut!  It feels so great!  I think the tiny little pony tail I have now is so stinkin' cute and I even like the bangs.

Now I'm ready for summer!

Shooting

As many of you know, my husband is a big fan of hunting and going out for shoots.  Something that some of you might not know about me is that I also have loved shooting for years, starting well before Nathan and I were ever anything.   Before my mission I had wanted to make two big purchases 1) a laptop (apple) computer and 2) a handgun.  So with that said going out shooting isn't twisting my arm, cause it is just plain fun!

Nathan had been working so hard on his school work at BYU. He was always at school or studying.  A few weeks ago he had finals and that kept him even more occupied and stressed.  Well finals week came and was completed and Nathan was just done with it all and wanted some relax time.  Well I, his cute little wife, had been scheming up a little surprise for my wonderfully amazing hubby...so I decided to plan a shooting day :)  Saturday morning he started prodding at what the surprise was and I couldn't contain the huge smile that burst across my face when he guessed right.  And good thing he now knew because he's the one who knows all the stuff that we needed to bring.  He was SO EXCITED!!

Saturday April 23, 2011 

 The day was overcast  but we got all ready to go...when we were getting in the car it started to rain.  We worried that it would be too wet but went forward hoping.  We drove out to Spanish Fork Canyon to find a suggested shooting spot.  The rain was coming down and clouds were hanging low and all misty, the colors in the canyon were so vivid - IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!  After driving around just looking at natures beauty we pulled off behind this corral and found our spot.  The rain had turned into a sprinkle and so out came to guns. It is so fun to aim, pull the trigger and see the object you were shooting at (in my case old shotgun shells) go bouncing off, or breaking a particle board in half with the shotgun.  I had such a good time but it was even better to just watch Nathan having such a blast doing what he has been missing and wanting to do for a few months now.

Nathan found some brand new skeet that had been left up there and we set them all up on this knarly tree.  We took a video of him shooting all of them, one right after the other but I couldn't figure out how to upload it to the blog.  That video and another one of me blasting a  particle board in half...I guess you'll just have to take my word on how cool it was.  The sun decided to come out right as we were finishing up.  For dinner we took a gift card that Allison Stewart gave us and we finished off the night with eats at Chili's - Yum! 

I love dating my husband still! We have so much fun together!

Laser Taggin'/Rock Climbing with the Laings & Whit

A few Monday nights ago for FHE the Laing family, Whitney (who was up here on her Spring break) and I drove up to Lehi to play laser tag at Trifalga! (the largest indoor laser tag set up in all of Utah) The Laings are fancy and have their Seven Peaks passes and can all get in free for as many times as they want to and were kind enough to offer 4 of their free guest passes to Whitney and I (THANK YOU LAINGS!).  

*We missed Nathan, who was studying like crazy for his final exams at BYU that week...he ended up doing great this first semester up here at BYU with such a heavy load.

 Coming straight to the Laings house from teaching I only had my dressy outfit but Whitney so kindly gave up some clothes that she had brought up with her.  Now I could go and really kick some trash...or try to at least.

 SISTERS!!!  Man I love these girls!

 We were team RED and would have won if they hadn't counted all of Whitney's points and given them to the other team!  What a rip!  Who knew she was going to end up being the star player for the enemy...

 After laser tag we wanted to try out their cool rock wall.  It had been such a long time since I'd being rock climbing!  I remember when I broke my elbow as an EFY counselor down in Arizona in '05.  It took a while for my arm to heal enough for me to climb again but I think I've only climbed 3 times since then...that is way too long!  Rock climbing is tough!  Your legs and arms shake (or maybe that's just what mine do!) and your finger struggle to find secure grips.  Hard but I totally love it!  If you've never been, GO TRY!!

 LeGrand and Whit looking nice in their harnesses!  We all got to climb up twice...I don't know if I could have climbed a third time anyways.  oh! and get ready cause there are some nasty pics in harnesses coming right up...just for the record we are trying to be funny, even though it looks like our goal was to look terrible!

Whitney and I debated about whether or not to actually put these pictures up on the blog but we thought the memory HAD to be preserved.  So here they are...

 I'm ready to climb!  Harnesses aren't the most flattering but then again, neither is this next picture...

 Oh My!  ...what's to say...

 So cute!!!

 ...Ooooooo, not so cute...

I love this little girl, who's really not little anymore.  I am always laughing when she's around and she so easily puts a smile on my face.  She's one of my very best friends!  And as you can clearly see, she's a doll and loves to have fun!  We all love her to pieces and were so glad that she was able to come up to Utah for a whole week!  if only we could do stuff like that all the time.

I love my family and feel like the happiest and luckiest girl in the world to be surrounded by some many loved ones who can be just as crazy as me!  That's what family is all about right?!