....back at the ranch....

Welcome to Dingle (Note the mosquitoes! Ha ha so funny!)
We played lots of scum....and I was the KING!

The "crew" minus Denise

My Friend Jason...Don't judge my looks- it was FREEZING!!

Better than any Disneyland ride?!?

Welcome to Dingle, Idaho! My friend Jason and his family have a ranch up in Dingle, they are so great and let me tag along with them. This past month I have made 3 trips with them to do a little work, play A LOT, relax, and spend some quality time with good friends! It is a great place to get away from everything! I never thought I would say this, but I LOVE it. I love how quiet and remote it is. It is about ten minutes from where my sister lives in Montpelier so I get to see her and my baby Kenlee when I go up as well. So much fun. I am going up in a week for a cattle drive. Should be fun, I will post pictures!

Surprise!!!

Well let me start this post by saying I have the sneakiest mom and friends....now let me tell you why.........

So I graduated a few weeks ago and I was feeling kind of down because it was on a Friday and my siblings couldn't make it because of work, and not all of my grandparents were going to be there. So I was bummed. When it came down to it was a wonderful day with my parents, grandma Nancy, and my wonderful aunt Cathy. After graduation we all went to dinner to my favorite place, PF Changs. After lunch we all went our separate ways. I went and did a little shopping and then headed for home to take a nap! My friend Denise had been staying with us because the owners of her house were in town. So I came home and chatted with her for a bit and I told her I wanted to go bowling. So I texted all of our friends and planned a bowling gathering! So then I took my nap, but Denise came in and woke me up and said she needed to run over to her house and grab some things quick and then we would come back to my house and get ready....in my mind I was thinking, why the heck would we go all the way to your house and then come back??? It didn't make sense, but I was too tired to care! So I rolled out of bed in my sweats mind you, and threw on my ugg boots and went over to her house. We took our sweet time and then headed back to my house. When I walked through the back door all of my friends and my cute parents were all there for a surprise party! I was so surprised! It was so fun! We never made it bowling but it was a wonderful night...thanks mom for being so great. :)

Graduation

My friend Teresa! I love her
My fabulous parents

My good friend Kyle

My biggest fan! Thanks for believing in my Larry.

I made it- I am now a college graduate! WOO HOO...Even though there were days, weeks, months, and possibly semesters I wasn't sure if I was going to make it. The last four years flew by. I am so happy I ended up at UVU. I couldn't have had a better experience in the education program anywhere else! Although I couldn't have done it without my amazing parents putting up with me when I was a stress case from all of the work (which lets face it...it was all the time) My amazing friends for always listening to me gripe about professors, homework, and all the fun that goes along with being a college student. And last but not least all of my wonderful teachers, and amazing cohort gals! I will never forget the countless hours spent together! Ready for the next chapter of my life...maybe a Masters Degree....we shall see! :)

Baby Chicks

Sleepy baby chicks....

Brookie and Mae Mae playing with the chicks!

I never thought the day would come when I would have chickens! My mom has always had this fear of birds, and so because of her fear I never really cared for them either. My dad is the USU county extension agent, and so he helped me get an incubator and some eggs to hatch. I got eight eggs and 6 out of the 8 eggs hatched. I fell in love with the baby chicks. It was so fun to watch the eggs hatch! I loved it as much as my students (if not a little bit more) :) Here are the oh so clever names my students came up with:

*Fluffers

*Bob-A-Doo

*Peep

*Jimmy

*Mr. Fluffy Pants

*Chickee

They were the hit of the school. We had all sorts of visitors coming to see these cute baby chicks. It is a miracle the chicks survived all of holding, and a few droppings by the kids! I have convinced my parents to let me keep the chicks here! They are getting so big- and unfortunately they are losing their "cuteness" It should be a fun adventure....

The not so "Spring" Break

Spring Break was a couple of weeks ago, however the weather wasn't so "Springy". I loved every minute that I had off! I was so ready for a break. I was supposed to head down south to Mesquite to stay with my family, but I was loving being in Heber and having some down time so much that I ended up staying home. Here are some of the fun things that I did:

*went to the movies (True Grit & Source Code)

*Played some serious skee-ball at Provo Beach Resort

*went to Texas Roadhouse with friends

* Played a TON of racquetball

*went on my first horse ride of the year- Dutch Hollow

*had our first and second bon fire of the summer!

* had a bbq with friends

*enjoyed sleeping in everyday

*shopping....a lot!

*wedding planning and crafting with Lana

It was a much needed break! Although I was happy to go back and see my second graders, I am so lucky to have an amazing job!

One long, but excellent movie...and a few other things

I can now say I have watched Lonesome Dove, start to finish....it only took us a month to finish it too! :) We started watching it a couple weeks after the super bowl. It was so much fun, watching it with the crew! Watching a movie with a lot of people isn't the easiest thing to do however, we were rewinding, and pausing A LOT!! It really is a great movie, I am not sure why I haven't watched the whole thing before, (maybe the fact that it is six hours) I will be watching it again that is for sure. Now we have a list of old westerns that we all want to watch. Good times. (thank you Denise for taking all the pictures! :))

Denise and I are suckers for Kohls 30% off sales. How can you pass that up? We made a quick trip one day after school, and we found LOTS of great deals! We also love to play games, being the competitive person I am it is always interesting. For FHE one week we played spoons. Jenn and I made it to the end! It was an interesting game.

Some things I look forward to....

I have been feeling really cooped up the last couple of weeks with all of this crappy weather. So my vote is, we skip spring and head straight for summer! I posted some pictures of the things I am looking forward to this summer. They all have something in common....all OUTDOORS. I am ready for some nice weather, and some down time. Here are some of the things I CAN'T wait for.....

I can't wait to head to the mountains in MY trailer, that's right I have a trailer. Since my parents got a new one, the old one is now mine! Only problem, no truck to pull it with! :)

Going to spend a lot of time with my dad fishing, I learned how to fish at the end of last summer, and have been dying to go back! If anyone knows all about fishing, it would be my dad.

Cruising the mountains or streets in my families ranger. Love this little truck.

Have a few fires with the crew! Love <3

Last but not least...spend lots of hours on back of a horse. Something I also started up again last summer. (thank you Lynsee!) Can't wait for our many adventures this summer.

A few other things I look forward too:

NO SCHOOL

Freedom

Seven Peaks, maybe even daily....

Some bean bags with family and friends

Hot Dogs, cooked over a fire

4-wheeling

swimming at the lake

Fireworks

Sunday BBQ's at Grandma Nancy's

AAHHHH....summer get here quick!