California

For most of our marriage, we had been saving little by little for a fun trip to go on after graduation. We had considered many different options but we decided we would like to spend some time in Southern California for a week. With school over and our move fast approaching we had one week at the beginning of May that we had set aside for our trip. We took advantage of the cheap travel prices just after Christmas and bought two plane tickets through Allegiant Air out of Provo (super cheap by the way!) and two tickets for three days at Disneyland! We planned our trip so that the first four days we would see the sights (particularly the beaches) then the last three days at Disneyland. After arriving in L.A. we drove to Rancho Santa Margarita where we stayed with the Smith family. Makenna Smith was a teammate of Andrea's who had extended the offer for us to stay at their place. They were extremely kind and I don't think we can say that we would have had the same experience without them. Not only did they house us but they insisted on feeding us and helping us experience California.

The first day we drove to San Clemente and used the Smith's boogie boards at the beach. It was perfect weather for us our entire stay and although the water was cold we really enjoyed riding around in the waves, walking the pier and watching the surfers. Andrea should be given recognition for her profound bravery in overcoming her fear of sharks and going out pretty far into the water.

Day two was one of our favorite days there. We had originally planned on going to one of the popular huge LA beaches like Newport or Huntington (which are great, don't get me wrong) but when Jessie (Makenna's sister) offered to take us surfing we couldn't resist. They provided the suits and boards and we followed Jessie to Doheny State Beach. Apparently since it has smaller waves it is a popular place to teach little kids how to surf... and a few untalented adults like us. We learned quickly what kind of waves to look for and after a few tries we were able to get up on the board and ride in the wave. It was absolutely exhausting and I wish I had the energy and arm strength to stay out much longer but we figured 2 hours was a good start to our professional surfing careers. We also learned the value of wet suits in cold water. While we didn't last much more than an hour in the water the previous day, we could have stayed out in the water for quite some time without feeling the least bit cold.

After a successful surfing session we went to the Dana Point tidepools. We got there just as the tide was beginning to go out and we had some fun finds including a huge sea hare (a crazy huge slug-looking thing). When the tides began to cover up the fun we hopped back in the car and drove north along Highway 1 to Laguna Beach. We grabbed dinner and a pizookie at BJ's (one of our favorites) with a view of the Pacific out the front window. We then went out and played on the beach until the sun set. It was perfect weather and a beautiful evening to finish off the day.

For the third day we decided on a whim to visit our friends Brock and Siera Butler in Carlsbad, about an hour south of where we were staying. After visiting with them for a few minutes (and eating some delicious home-grown loquats) we took a drive with them to San Diego where they showed us around. It turned out to be bad luck because there happened to be Cinco de Mayo celebrations going on everywhere which made it hard to see everything we wanted to. We did get a chance to walk around the San Diego temple grounds which is beautifully built. We also grabbed some lunch at a small taco shop in La Jolla and then stopped by Seal Beach. It was way more exciting watching seals than any of us originally expected and we ended up staying for a few hours watching the seals sunbathe, play in the water, and attempt to bite people's hands off when they tried to pet them. I guess it's not common knowledge that seals actually have teeth...

On day four we said goodbye to the Smith's and after catching church in a nearby building we drove north to the Disney half of our vacation. On the way we stopped by the beautiful Newport Beach Temple and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Our extended visit to Washington

After Jed and I spent time in Moab and California, we packed up our belongings and said goodbye to Provo. This was actually hard for us. Provo had been our home for five years and we had so many wonderful memories and friends there. It was also hard to leave our apartment as it had become our home. Our next stop was Spokane Washington. Because of how our summer was set up, we weren't sure how employment would work out. Jed and I both knew we needed jobs, but nobody wanted to hire someone for a month or two. Luckily for us there was work in Spokane. Though I never thought I would go back to Subway again, I found myself working there once again. Jed on the other was hired by my parents to paint there house. What was meant to be a one house job turned into a two house job as my parents neighbors hired him to paint their house as well. The list of clients rapidly grew but luckily for Jed's sake we weren't going to be there long enough. We were truly blessed though. Between Subway, painting and being with my parents our six weeks in Spokane went quickly. We were able to squeeze in some fun along the way though.

One of Jed's friends from High School, Shawn McRory, moved to Spokane and we were able to spend some time with him and his wife Morgan and their two boys. We went to Manito Park with them and they came with my parents and us to Bowl and Pitcher for cheap chicken in the park. It was really good to connect with Jed's great friend.

We spent some quality time with my parents playing games, going to the temple, and of course going to Fiesta Granda. It was good to see them so much before we moved so far away. It was also during the time when my dad was retiring so we were able to support him in the many parties and celebrations he had in his honor. It was really neat to see how adored my dad was as a teacher. We also went to a Indian's baseball game which was a blast. It was family dollar night so tickets, hot dogs, drinks, and ice cream were all a dollar! Jed had the idea to honor my dad over the loud speaker on his retirement. It was so fun to see how surprised he got!

 Retirement Party

I was really excited to have time to show Jed some of the best Spokane experiences. We enjoyed Carousel rides downtown, the two of us took the blue and white kayaks down the little Spokane, and we went mountain biking/riding on the centennial trail and seven mile. I actually had never biked the Seven Mile trails and both Jed and I feel in love. Jed and I also got to go to Coeur D'Alene Idaho and celebrate our  3rd anniversary where we had our honeymoon! We walked the boardwalk and went to the French Restaurant Fleur De Sel from our honeymoon. It was just as amazing as we remembered. 

Because David and Bridget Harrison, Jed's brother and sister-in-law, were so close, we took a weekend to visit them in Poulsbo Washington. It was a wonderful little trip. We had already gone to Seattle a couple years previous so we spent all of our time in Poulsbo. We walked the viking inspired downtown. We of course flipped over rocks on the low tide to watch the sea life. We found this really cool pocket in the sand that sucked the water down including a crab. We still don't know what happened to the crab. David and Bridget took us to Point No Point shore were we enjoyed the beautiful, very cold, ocean, and throwing rocks. It was so much fun to spend some time with the Harrison's. 

When our time was up in Spokane we were really sad to leave bu we were excited that we were that much closer to moving to Memphis. It was still sad to say goodbye to my parents and childhood home. I'm afraid we won't be back for a very long time!

Disney Land

After we spent a fantastic weekend at the beach and seeing friends we made our way to Anaheim for Disneyland and California Adventure fun. We were both so excited because both Jed and I hadn't been to Disneyland for a very long time. We spent three days at the park and because we didn't get park hoppers we had one day at DCA, one day at Disneyland, and the third day we would decide where to go based on what we hadn't done or wanted to do again. A bonus to our Disneyland trip was Cami and Ethan happen to be going to Disneyland at the same time. It made the trip extra special to spend two of the days with them. They also had a stroller so we got to go to the front on the line sometimes!
The first day it was just Jed and I and we went to DCA. We wanted to go on ever ride possible in order to make the most of the experience. We woke up super early only to find we got there a little too early. We waited in line to go into the park for an hour but in only built up our excitement. The first thing we did in the park was grab a fast pass for the new Cars ride because the line is always so long. Jed and I did an incredible job utilizing the fast pass and on our three day trip we never waited in a line longer than twenty minutes. That day we rode our favorite ride, California Scream-in, about 8 times. It was great. We watched the parades, played the 3D toy story game (which Jed and I got dangerously competitive at and very good at :))  rode the Cars ride, the Tower of Terror (which Jed had never been on so that was awesome) and rode ever little ride along the way. The night ended with the Wonderful World of Color water show which was INCREDIBLE. Jed and I got so emotional because it brought back so many childhood memories and how much Disney has been apart of our lives.
The second day we went to Disneyland. We had a magic morning so we got to go in the park an hour early.We rode in the very front row of space mountain. Let me tell you, that is an incredible sensation. We also did Star Tours which was way more fun than I thought it was going to be. It was fun to see how Star Wars really influenced Disneyland, it was great. That day we met up with the Wings. Man was it so fun to see Kelsey get so excited to see characters and ride rides. One ride she didn't like though was Pirates of the Caribbean. She started to get scared when it got dark and when the first big drop came, it sealed the deal. She screamed the rest of the way. I got to ride Splash Mountain for the first time and also Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Don't underestimate the childish lookingness of the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. That coaster rocked.
Jed and I had decided we would eat one meal in the park. After eating the same food every meal (peanut butter sandwich, clementines and fruit snacks) by day two we were ready for a real meal. Jed and I got sour dough bread bowls with gumbo. I don't know if it was actually good, but that night it  was the best meal I've ever had.
The third day we decided to go to DCA again. We really just wanted to ride California Screamin the whole time and that's where the Wings were going. All in all we went on California Screamin about 15 times. Because we had done a lot already we went to the Aladdin play. That was so much fun. One of my favorite memories from that day was when Ethan and Cami wanted to go on the water raft ride but didn't want to get wet and of course they got soaked. We were all laughing so hard. By the third day Jed and I were so tired we didn't stay until closing. Instead we went back to our hotel room, got a Little Cesears Pizza and watched a movie.
Our graduation trip had come to an end and we were satisfied with every moment.

Pure Joy

Moab II

We have a lot of favorite places in Utah. However, when we realized that we had limited time in Utah left it wasn't too hard to choose Moab as one of our last Utah destinations before heading out to Memphis. We made a camping reservation at our go to place, the OK RV resort and made plans for a three day trip right after graduation. It turns out that we went during a perfect time; there had just been a strong rainstorm a couple days leading up and the weather was perfect in the 70's while there. 

The first day was spent in Arches where we hiked the Devils Garden. We were much better prepared with plenty of sun screen this time and it was great weather. We hiked out to Double-O arch and back and played around for a bit before heading back to camp. 

 Landscape Arch

 Devils Garden

 Back side of Double-O

Hot showers + grill + brats + Doritos = glamping

It was just as fun as the first time but in all honesty it was hard not to get excited about the next days activity. 

Andrea has been wanting to go mountain biking with me for a long time and we were finally able to go together on the second day. I had recently sold my mountain bike but we rented some from Chile Pepper Bikes on our second day. We arrived at 8 am and were fitted to their cheapest "standard" bike which was probably worth more than my car or my life for that matter. There were features on the bike I didn't even know existed but it made for one of the best rides I've been on.

With only 8 hours of rental time we took off to slickrock with intentions of doing the practice loop once or twice to get Andrea accustomed to things. It can be a bit intimidating riding on pure rock (it's not the most comfortable crash pad) but Andrea picked it up quickly during the second loop. I was a bit rusty myself but it became clear very quickly that the we could trust our bikes to handle even the trickiest of descents. Andrea was hooked and we finished our third loop in about 15 to 20 minutes. 

We loaded up the bikes again and started out toward the Bar M trail system north of Moab. This is my favorite area to bike because whether you are a beginner or advanced mountain biker there are trails galore to ride on. We picked out a nice 10 mile loop that went over all sorts of terrain and it made for a great day of biking. A few good memories include: suicidal lizards, a bee flying into Andrea's shirt, and flying over my handlebars into a bush. It was perfect weather and beautiful southern Utah scenery all day. We were exhausted by the time 4 oclock rolled around but it was a blast.

Trailhead at BarM

The third day we went back into Arches and spent the day in the Fiery Furnace which is a permit only portion of the park. There are no trails, tall cliff walls, narrow canyons and few visitors which makes it difficult to navigate but a must visit. We worked our way to the top of one of the tallest spines to look over the whole furnace. It was difficult getting up and terrifying looking over the cliff edge but it was a great view. Getting back down and out to the car was a whole adventure in itself but after scaling down a few walls, scrambling over boulders, and squeezing through tunnels and canyons we made it back.

We both agree that Moab was a good choice as one of our last activities in Utah and we know we will be back in years to come.