A Thankful Thanksgiving

I can't believe Thanksgiving has passed and it is almost December! Florida has me all confused what time of the year it is because the weather doesn't change! It was rainy before Thanksgiving though which I liked because it reminded me of Thanksgiving growing up in California. It was a different Thanksgiving though because it was my first in Florida and my first away from my family. It was still a wonderful Thanksgiving though and I have gained new family and it was great to spend it with them. Jeff and I couldn't go anywhere for Thanksgiving so Jeff's parents came down to us and we celebrated together! We cooked all the food in our apartment and then we took it down to Siesta Key where we ate with our little old lady friend, Jane. She is the sweetest lady you will ever meet! Her health is not very good and she was going to be all alone and we couldn't let that be so we went to her. I had never done a Thanksgiving meal before myself but thank goodness for Jeff's mom! She is a machine and knows how to get it done! I would have been lost without her!

The table

Did you ever make these? My mom used to make these little turkeys for us so I decided to do some!

Our spread of food

The gang!

It was a great Thanksgiving and as always on Thanksgiving, you have to say what you are thankful for! There are many, many things I am thankful for but the thing that I am most grateful for this year is the ability we have to communicate and travel. Being away from family has made me realize how grateful I am for cars, planes, phones, computers, even texting! I know it may sound silly but it wasn't too long ago that I wouldn't have been able to communicate with my family the way we can today. I can hop on a plane and see my family in a day if I wanted although they live thousand miles away! Jeff's parents were able to come down here and be with us and we were able to drive to be with Jane. It truly is a blessing in my life and I am grateful people are willing to come and visit us too! :)

I also learned something else this Thanksgiving. I was missing my family terribly and wanting to cry but as we were sitting at the dinner table and Jeff was next to me with his arm around me, a wave of comfort came over me and I realized that all I need is him. Although I wished my family could have been there and wanted to be with them so bad, I was ok because he was with me. I have always known you are to "cling unto your spouse" and that all I need is him but this was a true testament of that to me and I am so thankful I have him to "cling to." He is my rock!


Well, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and I guess it's time to pull out those Christmas decorations! Happy Holidays! :)

Company!

I don't know why I have the hardest time keeping up with blogging but back in October my mom and sis came to visit us here in Florida and it was so fun! It was good to have them here and for them to finally see where we are living and everything. I wish they could have stayed a little longer but we tried to squeeze in as much as we could! Here is a quick overview of what we did...

We went to a USF football game

We went to the beach. The first time we went it was a little too cold so we didn't stay very long but we went again and the weather was much better!

We took them to The Old Salty Dog of course...

We went to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. There were no lines so we were able to cover most of the rides and I was so proud of my mom. She went on every ride despite the outcome of her hairdo haha. I love her.

Some of my favorite pics :)

We ate tons! We tried some new restaurants and some Jeff and I had been to already. My mom loves key lime pie so we tried many different kinds of key lime pie, humongous cookies from Universal, multiple desserts from Berns Steakhouse dessert room (which were actually a disapointment), and fried chicken and pies from Yoder's (another restaurant from Man vs Food). My family has an incredible ability to eat haha and this doesn't even cover half of what we ate.

Dinner at one restaurant...

on to dessert at the next!

The time went all too quickly though and I had to say good-bye. It was so hard for me! It was almost harder saying good-bye then than when we moved! After I dropped them off at the airport, I literally cried all the way home. I felt like a part of me had been taken away and I haven't felt like that in a long time or not since Jeff and I had gone through our break-ups. I think I felt so sad because I have everything here in Florida I want except my family. It is easier for me to leave Utah because I am going back to Jeff but this time they were leaving me! To help ease my pain, Jeff told me to plan a trip home so I bought a ticket after they left and I'm going back in January! I wish Florida wasn't so far from them but I am thankful that they were able to come and that I was able to spend the time that I did with them! I love my family!

The Old Salty Dog

Jeff and I have been very busy exploring Florida and we have loved pretty much every spot we have gone! Recently, with the help of Man vs. Food, we found another great place! I don't know if you have ever watched Man vs. Food before but it's a show on the Travel Channel and we just randomly started watching it and love it. The host travels to places all over the country to try foods that have become "famous" in their area and also competes in different food challenges. It's crazy some of the things he eats. I don't know how he does it! Anyways, he went to Sarasota, Florida to try a few restaurants there and that is how we discovered the "salty dog." The salty dog can be found at the Old Salty Dog restaurant and it is a beer battered hot dog. Those of you who know Jeff know that he loves his hot dog so this added a whole new element to it! Sarasota is one of our favorite beach spots so after a great day at the beach, we headed to try this famous salty dog. I wasn't quite sure about it but it was actually pretty good! I have to admit though it's not the salty dog that will bring me back to this restaurant. It's a waterfront, literally on the water restaurant and the view is amazing! Florida has all these little restaurants on the water and I love them. It is the most relaxing thing to just sit and enjoy the beach while you eat. Yes, I am spoiled but very grateful to live in such a beautiful place!

Front of the restaurant

The Salty Dog (this is from the second time we went...we forgot to take a pic of it the first time!)

Isn't the water just amazing

Ahh...I love it

Stretch-n-Grow!

We stretch, stretch, and grow!

It's good for us we know.

We exercise, and eats what wise.

We stretch, stretch, and grow!

This is what I start most of my days out with now. I have started my new job as a children's fitness instructor! I am all done with training so I have the classes all to myself and wow it is exhausting haha. The classes are only 30 minutes long but kids tire you out! I wanted a job where I wasn't sitting and I could be more active and I got what I wished for haha. After this last week though, I have a much greater respect for teachers. I only work part time, and I am drained. I don't know how they do it all day! I am sure I will adjust to it, and hopefully my voice will adjust as well. It has been fun though and the kids are way cute. I basically do little activities with them to get them moving and we teach them about their bodies and being healthy. It really is a great program and I think it is good for kids to learn these things at a young age. I also teach cheer classes and get to add a little dance in there too, which I am excited about.

Overall, the job is going well except these little germ monsters have already managed to get me sick! I have tried to be careful because they all always have runny noses, or searching for treasures in their noses haha but I still got sick. I am hoping it goes away soon but it looks like I am going to have to get my first flu shot this year or maybe I will just wear a gas mask to work. :)

CTR 5

We got our callings a couple of weeks ago and yep, we are in Primary! In our ward in Provo, we were teaching the 10-11 year olds but we've jumped a few years back and we are teaching the 5 year olds now! Today was our first day teaching and I am excited about our new class of about 9 kids. It was funny today though seeing the difference between teaching the older and younger kids. We asked the kids to tell us their favorite candy bar and favorite thing to do and then we told them ours. Jeff was having them guess what his favorite thing to do and this is how the dialogue went:

Jeff: Ok, what do you think my favorite thing to do is?

Kid 1: Hide and go seek!

J: No...

Kid 2: Spies!

J: No...

Kid 3: Leap frog!

J: No, that is fun though. Sometimes I play that with her (meaning me haha)

Kid 4: Man hunter!

J: No, but I hunt her!

Haha finally, I acted out throwing a football and they guessed it but I was just laughing as they were guessing and Jeff was going along with them that he actually liked to do those things too. It was so cute and I am sure it is just the beginning of more cute things to come! After church we were just laughing though thinking the kids are probably going to go home and tell their parents, our teachers like to play leap frog! Haha, gotta love them kids.

Life in Florida

Well, once again it's been awhile since I have posted anything and I wish I had a good excuse but in all honesty, I don't. I definitely have had plenty of time and plenty to blog about but I just haven't been able to bring myself to do it! This is what we have been doing lately though and I will try to be better!

During the week, I am usually just doing whatever to keep myself busy but the weekends usually consist of either the beach, Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, or exploring other parts of Florida. There is just so much to do and every weekend we could do something new if we wanted. It's been hot though so if water isn't some how involved I die! I am actually excited for winter and I think that's a first for me!


We also went to Utah in August for Jeff's family reunion and it was really good to see his family. I also got to spend some time with my family and celebrate me and Tamree's birthdays as we always do! It was a good little trip and I am glad that we were able to go!

When I got back, Jeff took me out for my birthday and we went parasailing! It was amazing and so much fun! It was over Brandenton Beach, which is a beautiful area. We were so high up and I was a little nervous haha but I just couldn't think of everything that could go wrong. I would definitely do it again though! Jeff is saying we should now go skydiving but I think I might need to muster up some courage for that one! After we went parasailing, we spent the rest of the day on the beach and then went to a restaurant, The Sandbar, that is right on the beach. We were able to watch the sunset and had a great night. My actual birthday was the next day on Sunday and some new friends in our ward were so sweet and invited us over for dinner and made me cake! Overall, it was a great birthday and I can't believe I'm 23 now! I'm getting old! :)

Flyin!

The boat was very far away!

Taking a dip!

40 hours and 2300 miles later...

Friday, July 3rd we began our journey to Florida! Start: Provo, Utah

Our last picture before we hit the road!

We drove through Wyoming,

Colorado, where the rain hit and didn't stop until we arrived in Florida,
found a road named after us :), and drove through Nebraska,

then made it to Kansas where we spent the night in Junction City.

We were up the next morning and on our way to Missouri and saw the Arch in St. Louis

After that we drove through Illinios, Kentucky and then Tennessee, which I thought was beautiful and I loved their accents!

After Tennessee came Georgia and their peaches!

And then finally.....FLORIDA!!!!!!! Finish: We actually arrived in Tampa around 8pm Sunday night. Jeff knows the mission president in Tampa, Pres Colton, and they were nice enough to let us stay with them for the night! We were exhausted and very ready to be done driving. We were thankful though that we were able to arrive safely in Florida and had no problems along the way. The drive really wasn't all that bad except for rain, and the last day I was very antsy and ready to be out of that truck! Jeff was amazing though and drove the whole time...he is a machine! :)

Monday we began the apartment search. We had been looking online before we moved and had two places picked out that we wanted to see and hopefully like one of the them. We immediately fell in love with the second apartments we looked at. They are brand new and just built in February. They are 100% smoke free and considered a "green" community. We were excited that we found ones we liked and we're thinking we could just move in haha but it was much more complicated. We had to do background checks, credit checks, set-up utilities and all this stuff but finally Tuesday afternoon we were able to move in. I was just praying that we would be able to because Jeff had to go to work on Wednesday and we wanted to get somewhat settled in before Wednesday. It all worked out and I was able to work on unpacking while he went to work. The website for the apartments is http://www.circleatcrosstown.com if you want to check them out but here are just a few pics off the website.

This is the pool and there is a gym and the front office in the buildingThis is off the website but this is the lay-out of our kitchen. I love it!


We got a two bedroom apartment so if you are ever in Tampa and need a place to stay let us know! We are pretty much all settled in now and I love our new little apartment! :)

Farewell

It has been over a month and I have much to make up for! I think I have been putting off blogging because there is so much to catch up on. It's time to get started though so I'll just do some quick updates over the next few days of what has been going on the past month of our life. I will start with our good bye party!

We had family pictures and then afterwards my family gave us a going away party. We went to The Pie for pizza which was perfect for a large group of people. I have never seen such big pizzas before! My family was really sweet though and they did a lot for us before we left. We were given gifts and cards but most importantly were all the words that were expressed. It made us feel very much loved! Sometimes I think we take for granted being so close to family and friends and when we take a step back from that we realize how much love is truly there and the difference family can make. My sister, Candice, made us an album where everyone in the family wrote notes to us and it is something I will treasure forever! It is a great keepsake and I am so thankful for it. We thought that night was going to be goodbye but everyone ended up coming and helping us pack up the truck the night before we moved! We truly appreciated everyone's help and they made the process so much easier. Here are just a few pictures of our last days in Provo.

Ryan, Justin, Jeff, Dallin, Me and Tyler after pics

My parents

They gave us some gifts for our future new home!

The boys playing around our house for the last time!

Our sturdy Budget truck! It was great except for a little small leak in the trailer that with all the rain some of the stuff got wet. No damage was done though so it was ok!

Just about all packed up!

All hitched-up and ready to go for early the next morning!

Primary days

Well, the good-byes have begun! Last Sunday was our last day at church so we had a little good bye party with our class. We have been teaching the the 10-11 year old class in Primary and what an adventure it has been! We have loved teaching these kids and we are really going to miss them! I feel bad that we have to leave but I am thankful for the opportunity that me and Jeff have had to teach together and to get to know these wonderful kids! I am going to miss Jonas' "inter-galactic" stories of what he did during the week, Bryce's crazy pudding eating, Nancy's incredible intelligence, Nikki's hugs and dancing, and seeing Haley at all of Jeff's games and her sweet smile.

I had let them make pudding one lesson and they loved it so I decided to do it again for our party and I have never seen anyone eat so much pudding! Bryce loved it....I will just let the pictures do the talking.

Our little class

Jonas, Bryce, Nancy, and Haley. We were missing Nikki but we love these kids and won't forget them!

One Year baby!

On Friday, Jeff and I celebrated our 1 Year Anniversary! It is crazy to think that it has already been a year! Time has gone by so fast but when I think about our wedding, I feel like it was so long ago. The past year has been absolutely wonderful though and I am excited for what all the many more years have to bring! We had a great day on Friday and here is a little recap of what we did.

I had a little lunch ready for Jeff when he got home from work in the afternoon and then we went and got massages. It was so nice and relaxing! The cake on the platter is the top of our cake from our wedding...I was impressed. It still tasted really good!

After our massages, we headed up to Park City for a little fun.

We were going to do the Alpine Slide but it was all stormy so they were closed down. We ended up going up where they do the Olmypic jumps and we discovered they had a zip line and it was open! They have a smaller and a larger one and we did the EXTREME one haha. It was so fun!!! This is us going up on the ski lift. You go up basically to the top of the mountain and then zip line all the way down. It was an amazing view!

We survived! This is at the bottom and the top was where you can barely see those little house things. (I don't know what they are called haha.) It was so fun though and I would definitely do it again! I'm glad the slides were closed down because this was totally worth spending the little extra money and we wouldn't have discovered them!

After the exhilirating ride, we were ready for some dinner! We went to Ruth's Chris and got some very yummy steak. I had never been there before but it was probably the best steak I have ever had. We headed back home after dinner and finished the night off with a movie!

Thanks sweetie for a wonderful day and I love you so much! :)