Moving!

We moved!! Even though we only moved upstairs in our little fourplex, it was a huge effort. Just as if we were moving to california or the east coast!! We packed our little one bedroom apartment into our front room and were ready to go. This move was a little different than others since we were switching apartments with the elderly couple who lived upstairs. Have you ever SWITCHED apartments with someone? It's kinda hard...because there is no where to put all your crap....

We did it though, thanks to our nice neighbors Mike and Kira letting us stick some stuff in their apartment until we could get the Harris' moved out upstairs. We definitely could not have done it without all the help from family, amazing friends, wonderful ward members, and our great landlords.  Man, I don't ever want to "switch" apartments again! But....we love our new home and the extra bedroom we acquired in the move. It's slowly coming together and life is almost back to normal!

My first bridal shoot!

So, while Mac and I were on vacation in St. George my childhood friend Sarah (Davis) Hatch, emailed me and needed some help with a bridal shoot. I was super excited and felt as giddy as a school girl the whole time. So here are a few of my favorites!

Photographic Adventures

Well, since my dear sweet husband encouraged me to get a nice camera a little while ago, he has also been encouraging me to get out and use it! We had so much fun a couple weeks ago when we decided to head up Big Cottonwood Canyon to see what beauties of nature awaited my camera! We had so much fun and Mac definitely saved my life about 30 times on the slippery wet rocks.

We came upon some wood...a lot of cut up trees, and you know mac couldn't resist seeing if he could lift a huge chunk of it....

And then chucking it across the path. I was pretty impressed by his brute strength, and it was just plain funny to watch.

Here are some pretty shots from the day.

I’m becoming a real live homemaker…..

Believe it or not, we have learned a few things in our almost five months of marriage! Here are just a few of them:

1. Cooking is fun!! Even though I feel like I am always busy and cooking is the last thing I want to do after a long day at work, it is so rewarding to be able to show Mac how much I love him by making a nice dinner. I love that time when we can sit down and enjoy some quiet time together.

2. The house will never stay clean. Hehehe We try so hard to keep our little apartment clean, but as busy as we are it just has a way of getting hit by a tornado every couple of days! We are getting better at keeping it clean….Mac’s favorite phrase of mine is when I look at the apartment and say “The house is a disaster!” I say it often….

3. Pet peeves can be quite funny. I don’t think there is any way around it. As a newlywed couple, you learn things about each other—little things—that just bug you! Mac likes to put his dirty clothes on the bed before he showers (even though he walks past the hamper on the way to the bathroom) and I leave the lights on and leave hair in the sink. We like to make a joke out of it and all of a sudden they aren’t so much pet peeves as they are funny things. I laugh every time I hear mac call “Light Leaver-On-er” from down the hall. Those are the memories that are worth a million dollars.

4. You have to be selfless. I think there are only a few things that can damage a marriage more than one or both partners being selfish. Whether it involves money, time, or anything else, selfishness is destructive. We are learning to put each other first and we know that if we take care of each other, then we are both taken care of. That is the important thing. As long as you think of the other persons needs first, you can make it through anything!

Anyway, enough of things we have learned/are learning. I wanted to share a few pictures of my week of homemaking during conference weekend. My mom and I went over to Aunt Jill’s house during the Priesthood session. We painted picture frames and did a Halloween stitchery. It was so much fun and I want to find more fun activities like that to do. I made a new meal—Chicken Cutlets—and they were delicious! And lastly, I made homemade twix bars! I got the wrong pretzels (I was supposed to get the big thick ones) but they actually were still really tasty!

St. George, Here we come!

Mac and I were lucky enough to spend a few days in St. George this weekend. Mac had Fall break this week and I took Friday off work, and we were off! This was really our first real vacation as a married couple (other than our honeymoon) and we had so much fun! We visited my grandparents and explored the wonders of beautiful St. George! Mac and I decided we are ready to retire next year and when we do we’re going to move to the Temple View RV Park where my grandparents spend the winter months. Seriously, they are living the life!!

We drove down Thursday after work and spent the night. We woke up bright and early on Friday and drove through Zions National Park. I can’t even describe the absolute beauty of the red rock and the Cottonwood trees changing leaves. I took about 400 pictures over two days—yeah, I have a problem! We stopped at The Watchman and Checkerboard Mesa.

The Watchman

This is my favorite shot of the whole trip. I love pathways and streams. And yellow. LOVE.

The Grand-Parentals! These two are so much fun and I could totally see Mac and I being like them when we are older. Thanks for such a fun trip!!

After our drive through Zions we went to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab. The Sanctuary spans 3800 acres and is home to countless dogs, cats, horses, pigs, bunnies, and birds. Michael Vicks fighting dogs were adopted by the sanctuary instead of just having them put to sleep. All of the animals have some sickness or injuries that make them less than ideal pets. Some of the horses are unable to be ridden, some of the dogs, cats, and pigs were beaten by their owners and now they are disabled because their bones didn’t heal right. (Yeah, sounds like a social workers dream…right?) I don’t consider myself to be a huge animal lover. I didn’t grow up with dogs or cats, only bunnies and a goldfish here and there, but it made me sick to think of how evil and cruel people can be. I loved seeing how the sanctuary depended heavily on volunteers and donations and how people would come and spend a month there volunteering and helping the abused animals. It was a really cool experience and if you are ever near Kanab you should go visit the Animal Sanctuary.

Horses!

This little kitty loved mac, and I'm pretty sure he loved the kitty too (even though he says he's more of a dog lover.) The lady warned us that this cat liked to jump on people's shoulders, but unfortunately, he didn't perform for us. Oh well, he was still a pretty kitty!

The next day we drove through Snow Canyon and then visited Jacob Hamblin’s home in Santa Clara. I loved snow Canyon because the rock was just SOOOO RED!! I love colors. That is what I notice about pictures and places. The rock in Snow Canyon was so red and the trees were such rich shades of green and yellow. Mac and I climbed around on the rocks a bit, borrowed some lava rocks (don’t tell) and found a tiny lizard!

COLORS!! I love colors and this is one of my favorite pictures too because it is just sooo red! and so pretty.

For those of you who don’t know who Jacob Hamblin was, or what he did, I’ll fill you in with my newfound knowledge. Jacob Hamblin was an LDS Pioneer, missionary, and peacemaker. He was sent to Santa Clara to make peace with the Indians. He was a peaceful and likeable man who just had a way with people. President Brigham Young called Jacob to work with the Piute Indians of Southern Utah in 1854. He dealt honestly with the Indians and won their trust and respect. He was very influential and did a lot of good. It was cool to walk through the home and imagine what it would have been like to have lived back in that time. The tour guide told a story about Hamblin’s wife Rachel that I thought was quite funny. One day she was home alone with the children and an Indian walked right into her home. Rachel got a broom (or some object) and scared and shooed the Indian away. (Ah, beware the wrath of a woman!) Rachel described the Indian to Jacob and he instantly knew who had come to their home.

The next time Jacob saw the Indian he warned him not to come to his home. The Indian then replied “mean squa”, and Rachel never had a problem with him again.

The House

That night we played Pegs and Jokers with my grandparents and their friends Yvonne and Gerry. This game has quite a reputation in my family. EVERY time we play it, opposing teams yell at each other, people are accused of cheating, and each persons true competitive spirit comes out. Last night was no different. The men one a game and the women won a game and competition was thick in the air. We had a great time and can’t wait to play again!

Pretty sunset

New Toys!

We acquired a few new toys over the last month. Mac got his beloved 1971 Baja Beetle and I got my Nikon D3000 camera!

Since his boyhood, Mac has always wanted a beetle. I’m not sure what it is about them but I knew it was time for him to get one when I saw his eyes light up when he talked about getting one. We looked around on KSL and finally found “the one”. Mac has been fixing it up and doing the essentials like getting new seats, tuning up the engine, etc. I love to see how hard he researches and how hard he works on that car. He is learning so much and is doing a great job on his beloved car!

I have wanted a nice camera for a VERY long time. I loved my little digital camera, but it just isn’t the same. I’ve decided I want to take some photography classes and hopefully start a little side photography business and this is the first step! I had so much fun taking pictures in St. George and can’t wait to take many, many more! Thanks for buying me my camera Mac!! You are the best!

Mighty Hunters

In August we packed our bags and took off for the land of Manti to hunt deer! Mac looks forward to the deer hunt all year long and since he got a new bow this year, he was more than ready to put it to the test. But first I have to share the adventure that was the drive to Manti.

We left Centerville in the Trooper with Mac’s brother Eli and his cousin Ammon in the back seat. We hadn’t eaten dinner so we stopped at Mickey D’s to get some chicken nuggets. Ammon hadn’t been feeling well earlier in the day so after he finished eating, we gave him my special pillow and he fell asleep on the seat. We were just outside of Ephraim, (the city just before Manti) when Ammon woke up. He sat up, didn’t say a single work, and puked, right in the middle of the back seat and RIGHT on my special pillow!! We hurriedly pulled off to the side of the road but he threw up again before we could get him out of the car. It was sooo nasty and we just threw my pillow off the side of the road and stopped at Walmart to buy a new one. Luckily we had wet wipes in the car so we were able to clean it out okay, but that was just an awesome start to a great hunting season!

We got up to the cabin really late at night and planned to get up at 4:30 am to get ready and be in position for the hunt 30 minutes before sunrise. I slept HORRIBLY and am pretty sure I sleep walked outside to the truck when it was time to go. Mac’s cousin’s fiancée Jen and I hiked through the trees and banged big sticks on trees to push the deer to our mighty hunters. It was pretty fun, but by the third hunt of the day the novelty had worn off and I was tired. Each of the following mornings I got up with the men and drove in the truck to the location of the first hunt and then slept in the truck for a few hours until they came back. I wrote thank you cards from our wedding and listened to Harry Potter book 7 on the IPod. It was great fun! My favorite part though was laying out on the four wheelers while the men were hunting. I LOVE LOVE LOVE being in the mountains and it was so quiet and peaceful.

Mac didn’t get a deer this year, actually only one person in our group got one, but we both think that next year is the year! Good job guys and thanks for letting me tag along on the adventure!

The mighty hunters!! I'm a total wimp when it comes to ledges and heights. I hate them. With a passion. So, you can imagine my unrest when Mac and his cousin Chase decided to make their strategic deer shooting plans on this rock ledge. Even though I was freaked out, it was pretty cool.....

I have never seen so much Camoflauge in my life. Ever. I felt a little silly because the only camo I had was a kids t-shirt we bought from D.I. before the hunt, but it wasn't even the real thing!

We sure enjoyed the beautiful scenery and loved taking in the clean mountain air. I love Manti. If you haven't been there, you should go! :)