Utah Vacation week 1

After a year of school and many hours of work, Jed and I took two weeks off to go visit family in Utah. We were so excited because it had been a year since we had last been there. We left Zoey with some friends and flew back west.
Just getting to Utah was an adventure in and of itself. On the flight to Denver a medical emergency happened where they were able to speed the flight up by 45 minutes and then the person had to be carted off the plan. Then we had a 6 hour layover in Denver. We passed the time by walking, three miles according to a pedometer. Then as we were hanging out, we saw a lady fall on the walking sidewalk and got her hair caught. It was so awful! Then we finally got to Salt Lake late Saturday night. Our bags never came through baggage claim so we had to ask someone where they were at. Because it was so late no one was there. We finally found someone and she seemed so annoyed like this was our fault. She told us that our bags were in the back room because they had been in Salt Lake for so long. She said it in a "well obviously" tone and by this point I was so ready to be done with traveling.
Jed's parents picked us up and we spent the first week in Brigham City. We had a great time visiting with the Harrison's.
 On Monday night we all went camping up the canyon to the Box Elder campsites. It was really nice not to worry about ticks and poison ivy! After a fun evening of hobo dinners and smores we all started to head to bed. Jed's sister Andrea and I heard rustling near the food. We asked Jed's mom if she needed a flashlight and help because it had gotten really dark. When Carol responded from a nearby tent and not by the food we began to panic. Jed and his dad quickly shone a light near the food to find the culprit already gone but we heard crashing in the nearby trees. Upon further investigation the bandit had stolen the 2.5 lb unopened bag of Swedish fish. I thought for sure it was a prankster seeing that nothing could grab something like that so quickly! In the end we figured out it was a raccoon as he tried to come back for more loot. The next morning I found the completely empty bag near the campsite. That thing must have had a serious stomach ache after that.

On Wednesday , Jed and I really wanted to go on a hike. We hiked up to the microwave towers on the mountains behind Brigham City. It ended up being a longer hike than we anticipated and a lot steeper but really fun. It was a beautiful view.

On Thursday we watched the Hartman kids and had did cupcake wars with them. It was boys vs. girls. The boys made chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes and the girls made raspberry lemonade cupcakes. It was a great time!

On Friday Jed and I took a trip down to Provo. It was such a fun time and felt so good being back. It truly was our first home for us and we have very fond memories. Our first stop was the Provo bakery of course. We couldn't pass up an opportunity to get the best donuts ever. Then we visited the Provo City Temple. This was really neat because I saw it burn down and then we had watched the construction of it for so long and just barely missed it's opening. It is so beautiful. Jed and I then had the opportunity to visit Jed's old boss Phil. He was recently diagnosed with bone cancer in his hip and has had surgery to remove it. The surgery went well but the recovery is long. It was really good to talk with him and see the faith and happiness that can come from a very hard trial. He really opened our eyes to the blessings that we have in our lives.

Then we met up with my old teammates Jenica and Kathryn and her husband Jake for lunch. It was so good to see and visit with them . It was also good to eat Cafe Rio again! I love the relationships that I created with running. They are friendships that will last forever. After that we went to campus. I finally got my Athlete of the Year plaque which was really exciting. We finished the evening with visiting Mary and Hunter Tolman. It was really good to see them an we are so excited for them and their move to North Carolina.

 Ice blocking with abandoned ice blocks at our favorite Provo park. Rock Canyon park

Saturday was our last day in Brigham. We went to the Zoo up in Logan. It is the cutest little zoo I have ever been to. That night we celebrated with some much needed Maddox take out. We had a fantastic time in Brigham City. It was so great seeing family and not worrying about school or work!

Tennis Ball Golf

Last year Jed and I learned a really fun game called Tennis Ball Gold from Natalie and Caleb. You have wedges and a tennis ball and you pick a random location and the first person to hit the target or hit through the target wins. It is so much fun. Saturday June 18th we played this game with the Shelby and Ryan Parrish. We played at the Greenbelt park on Mud Island along the Mississippi. It was a blast. Luckily it wasn't to hot either!

Jed and I recently got Zoo memberships! The Memphis Zoo is really neat.

This summer my work hours have increased a lot since the girls are out of school. We have had a really fun time though, when the girls are not at camp. We are trying really hard to take advantage of all the fun things in Memphis. This week Addie and I went to the Pink Palace Museum. Jed and I got a free summer pass. It's a really fun museum. There was a reenactment of a Civil War leg amputation. I found that a little life like for the younger crowd. But other than that it was good.

It was Izzie's birthday this weekend and she turned 11. Jed and I feel as if we can have a really deep impact on these girls and it showed when we gave her, her gift. She was really touched that we put a lot a thought into it. I gave her a journal so she can record the fun things we do together and with her family. She told me it was the best present ever and she will keep it forever. It's neat to see that I can have a positive influence on these girls.

Jed and I finally got our racket's restrung and played tennis twice this week! FINALLY! We have missed it so much. We had to play when the sun was down because this week was so hot. With heat index it was 120 degrees! Being outside was miserable this week. Luckily Jed got to work inside when it was too hot. He works for physical plant at SCO.

Hannah and Jenny visit 6/10-12

Jenny and Hannah came to visit for the weekend with Nora and Emma. We had a really great time with them. It was Hannah's first time here so we naturally had to take them to the Mississippi River and the Pyramid. It was so hot that weekend that we wanted to go Arkabutla Lake. It's only 30 minutes south of us and we heard it was really great. Well after driving to two different beaches we were sad to find out nobody was swimming that day. The water was too high from all the rain we were getting and they couldn't ensure that the water was safe. We were all really sad. We came home though and had a party in the backyard. We filled up the kiddie pool for the girls and played badminton and volleyball. That night we roasted hot dogs around the fire. Though it tasted delicious the experience wasn't super awesome because we all felt like we were melting away! It was really fun having them come and visit for the weekend.

Back Packing in Shawnee National Forest Illinois

Jed and I have wanted to go backpacking ever since Jed got a new backpack for graduation last year. We finally had some time off and decided to take advantage of it. We decided to go with some of our best friends the Fassmanns. They live in Indianapolis so we wanted to find a location in the middle. Exactly four hours from both of us is Shawnee National Forest in Illinois. In our four hour drive we covered five states; Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois. Jed planned out a three day route. It was a little ambitious but would  be fun. In total, had we done the whole thing, it would have been a 40 mile trip. As it was Maren was pregnant, and Jed and I had been really sick just days before so we only went about 25 miles. It was still really fun though.
The first day we went the longest. We had a slow start and stopped a lot but we were all newbie hikers. Looking back we would have packed very differently but that was because of our lack of experience. We had way to much food and clothes. Had we not had so much of that our packs would have been significantly lighter. We also didn't have the money to buy the ultra light backpacking gear, but that will come with time.
Zoey came with us and she was amazing. By the end of each day though she was so exhausted. We originally wanted her to sleep outside the tent but she was freaking out and so we let her in. As it turned out it was for the better. She was away from the ticks (and I probably picked off about 100 by the end of the three days), and she was so tired she just slept at the bottom of the tent. She loved being outside and climbing on the rock formations and running up and down the trail. She is a fantastic adventure buddy. We also all agreed that Zoey made us all feel a little bit safer.
The first night we camped by a small stream. It was really pretty. That night a coyote came into our camp sight and it was really scary. What was even scarier was that I had gone out of the tent to go to the bathroom and felt like something was watching me. I shined my flashlight into the forest and saw nothing, I got back in the tent and as soon as I zipped it up the coyote started howling not ten feet from our tent. Jed and I were terrified. Zoey got up but didn't make a noise. She just stood stiffly over us and then when she thought the threat was no more she relaxed and went back to bed. It wasn't so easy for Jed and I. We both were so worked up it took us awhile to calm down.
The second day we were delayed getting started because it was raining so hard. After the rain calmed down we had to decide how far we were going. This is when we decided our too heavy of packs, pregnancy, and sickness was going to cut our trip shorter than we expected. We still had a great time and camped a another beautiful spot. This time it was an overlook.
The next day we headed back to the cars. It was a really great time spent with really fun friends. Zoey was so tired that when we got home she slept for almost 24 hours.

Gone Fish'n

My cute husband LOVES fishing. It's funny because he wasn't even close to a fisherman when we met or got married but our great friend Wes Fassmann got Jed hooked. Wes is the husband of one my great friends and teammates Maren and so when we would go on trips the boys would stay behind and fish. A LOT! It was great for us because we would always come home from our trips with smoked fish and we couldn't complain one bit. The obsession has continued and Jed finally got a Mississippi fishing license. Jed loves take and hour and fishing in our lake behind our house and has already caught a couple Bream

Random firefly, they are out and so cool

Nashville May 14-15

Jed and I can't always get week days off of work but we still want to make the most of the summer vacation that we have. Each weekend we are going to try and do something exciting in order to fill our vacation needs. This past weekend we went to Nashville visit Josh and Jenny Ramsay. The Ramsay's actually live in Spring Hill just like we don't technically live in Memphis. We did take the time to walk around downtown Nashville and Jed and I were both very impressed by the city. We saw the Tennessee titans stadium, we walked across a beautiful foot bridge over the Cumberland River, and walked the very bust streets of Nashville. It was an experience hearing all the live music coming from the bars of people trying to make it big. When we were going over the bridge we saw an autocross show. This is where old muscle cars race a tight turned course for the fastest time. It was really fun and entertaining to watch especially since Jed loves cars.

We also stopped by the park that holds the replica of the Greek Parthenon. Super random that Nashville has it but it still was pretty cool to see. It was huge!

We had a great time just visiting with the Ramsay family and love that we can be only three hours from family.

Oh Zoey was 110% better in the car this time than the last time we went to Nashville. We might end up with a respectable hound after all.