Friday, August 24, 2012

August

Well the summer is winding down out here, which is a good thing and a bad thing. It's a bad thing because I've really enjoyed having a relaxing summer to recover from my grad program, plus it's been nice having no obligations and being able to do whatever I want, when I want. It's a good thing because I'm ready for something new. I'm excited to start my job and to meet new students. I never thought I would admit this in a million years, but a bunch of friends have been talking about going back to school lately and it's really weird knowing that I'm not going back to BYU this semester, I might actually it miss it a little (other than the thesis writing, homework doing, finals studying etc.) Anyway, here's an update in pictures of this past month. 



Olympics. . . all day, everyday


I got my haircut again and the girl convinced me to grow out my bangs, something about longer "fringe" being better for my face shape, blah blah. I'm trying to decide what to do, they are kind of driving me crazy at the moment. This pic is on a great day, if my bangs looked like that everyday and stayed out of my eyes I'd be fine with it, but my hair skills are terrible, so I end up pulling them back 99% of the time. Okay I'm done with hair venting. . . 


We got "volunteered" to take the youth down to the Chicago Temple. I'd like to think it's because we are cool and the kids think we are awesome, but it's really because we are the only couple in our ward who don't have kids of our own! It was a fun trip though, we'd never been there before, so it was nice to get a chance to go.

Trek has a big trade show every year in Madison where they show off all of their new bikes. These are the spaces Jared designed for it. It's been a learning experience for Jared in how marketing and design functions from an organizational standpoint when working for a big company like Trek, but I think he was pretty happy with how this project turned out. He was able to push through more of his own ideas, and hopefully the higher ups are starting to realize he is capable of showcasing the brand effectively, and that he really knows what he's doing, even if he's only been out of school for a year.  







I've been hanging out with my friend Char and her kids quite a bit this summer, another perk of having so much free time. I told her I've adopted them as our nieces and nephews since ours are so far away. Her oldest son Tyler is obsessed with sports, my kind of kid. Jared and I played Bocce Ball with him and his little brother Jaden last week, and I went over and played basketball with him this week, good times! I found out that Jaden, is obsessed with all things Legos. I told him Jared has a box of old Legos (thank you Carolyn for forcing us to take those off your hands when we moved! haha) and that I'd take some over for him to play with. We have been BFFs ever since, and he affectionately calls me his "lego buddy" now haha. Then her youngest Kambree thinks I'm the greatest babysitter around because we make playdough, watercolor and do nail polish. Fun kids!



Jared was inspired by Jaden's Lego obsession one afternoon


We decided to brave the hoards of teenagers and go to the fair 
so I could get a funnel cake and corndog, definitely worth it!


Our nephew Cole had his birthday a few weeks ago, so Jared was able to hook his parents up with a good deal on a bike. This was the pic Heidi sent us, she said he was pretty excited about it! Jared is already corrupting the young minds, this will be our own kid in another ten years or so!


And this is an old random pic I found and posted it 1) because Jared is hot 
2) because it was taken in my friend Dana's neighborhood and I miss her and the twins!!


Overall, things out here are still good. Some days are better than others. Obviously we miss our family and friends and wish we didn't live so far away, but we are happy and just taking things day by day.