FOR SALE!!!

I can't believe how bad I am at this whole blogging thing, but whatev. I'm a busy woman!! ha. So I intend for this to be a quick post because I'm getting ready to go out with my BFF Amy Call, but I just felt like giving a little update.
1. Moving to Alaska is official. We are stoked. I think I'm really starting to appreciate our winter's here because I know it is going to be colder in Alaska. Who would have ever thought I'd walk outside in January and think to myself, "20 degrees really isn't THAT cold." :)
2. Mac is starting his 2nd to last semester at the U of U! We are so excited, except that paying tuition makes me want to poke my eyes out. Seriously, am I the only one who thinks the U of U is Ridonculously over-priced? $3,900.00 later.......
3. Joe came home from his mission! My little bro is so funny. His new best friend is his Ipod touch that it took us 4 days to track down since they were sold out everywhere. He loves it, and I even had to tell him "no music at the breakfast table." I can't wait to be a mom and be able to tell that to my own kids!
4. We are selling some prized items in an effort to build up our savings for our Alaskan adventure. Check them out on KSL and spread the word around to your dirtbike riding/photography loving friends! Motorcycle: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=13799804&cat=650 and Nikon Lens: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=13926940&cat=659
5. Mac and I are getting into shape this year!! It may already be the 8th of January and we may not have started on this new years resolution yet, but the desire is there, and we are working on the follow through! Being healthy physically is so important and we really want to get into a regular work out routine (hopefully with our INSANITY work out program, it just scares me a little to think about....)
6. I got called to be a primary chorister with my good friend Lauren Mair!! It is actually a ton of fun and a good break from teaching primary. I love being in the Primary and can't wait to dust off my creative juices to use for my new calling.
7. Mac was called into the Young Men's Presidency (can't remember if I blogged about that earlier, but let's be honest, I rarely blog, so I probably didn't!) He loves it and is enjoying the challenge of getting through to those stubborn phone/Ipod loving young men of his.
8. We moved in with my parents (**SIGH**) We really miss our apartment and our parental independence, but it was a necessary sacrifice in order to be better off once we get to Alaska. It is actually really fun being so close to family and even though we have almost had a few fists flying during a few phase 10 games, we all still really love each other.
9. Mac and I adopted a new TV show to watch via Netflix (our BFF). We have been watching Castle and love it. We love the humor and are suckers for the Crime solving dramas.
10. I swear we really do live exciting lives but thinking of a #10 has proven more difficult than I imagined......Um....we're Pregnant!! No just kidding, we really aren't. We just get asked when we are going to have kids so often that I thought I'd give you all a little tease!! WE ARE NOT PREGNANT.....just wanted to clear that up! :) My real #10 would be that mac and I hit our 1 1/2 year anniversary in December. While we can't believe it has already been 1 1/2 years, at the same time, it feels like we have been married forever. I am so grateful for him. He is the most selfless, giving, loving, hardworking, funny, sweet man ever. I love you Honey!

We love all of you so much and appreciate all your love and support! We know it will be hard to be so far away from everyone and everything we have grown up around but can't wait for this new adventure to begin. Happy be-lated new year and here's to 2011!! It's going to have to step up it's game to be better than 2010!

Life just keeps on Changing!

Isn't life exciting? A big part of me loves the reliable...knowing what to expect and when...but another part of me lives for the excitement of life changes. A few months ago mac started looking at schools for Air Traffic Control and since there are only 29 in the country, our options were slightly limited. However, Mac knew in like .5 seconds after looking at the list of schools which one he wanted to go to. University of Alaska Anchorage. Booya! Hahaha, surprisingly that was not my initial reaction. After all, have you ever talked to someone who says "you know, one day I'd really love to live in Alaska." I sure haven't. Anyway, when I asked Mac why Alaska he simply said he thought it would be really cool to live there. So, after a few weeks I jumped on board and am actually pretty excited for this next adventure in our lives! We are still waiting for his official acceptance into the school but the admissions lady basically said he was a shoe in with his experience in the military, private pilots training, etc. So we wait.....she said we should know around the beginning of December so keep your fingers crossed for us!

On to other items, life is going well for us. Work is pretty crazy for me and there are a lot of changes going on there as well. Sometimes I come home at night and I am so mentally exhausted that all I want to do is eat dinner and go to bed. It is so rewarding though. There are always hard clients who I have to try really hard to "leave at work" and not take the worry home with me. But at the same time, there are clients who I am just so proud of. I had a client today who was given her trial home placement with her children and she has worked so hard to get to where she is. It somehow just makes it all worth it in that moment when you see the look on her face when she hears the news.

Photography is more fun than ever--I just wish I had more time!! After working a 40 hour week I'm pretty protective of my "free time" and have to really work my editing around Mac's schedule so we can actually have some time to hang out together. I've learned so much in this first year of Photography and I can't wait to upgrade my camera and equipment and increase my knowledge of the art. Thanks to all my amazing clients who gave me a shot before I really even knew what I was doing, and who came back again this season for more photos. You guys are great!

So anyway, I usually post images on my photography blog but I figure I'll post a few favorites from the fall season on here too. Enjoy!

I'm so crafty!

Look how crafty I am!! The Brady family has a tradition of doing a craft night during the priesthood session of general conference. It is so fun to get together with all the women and kids and eat yummy delicious scrumptrulescent food and make fun holiday decorations!

The MIGHTY Hunters

What an amazing week!!! We left early Tuesday afternoon for the beautiful mountains of Manti. The Muzzleloader hunt started on Wednesday and my dad, and macs dad and brother all got tags. I've only ever been bow hunting with Mac so I wasn't sure what to expect from this hunt, but it turned out to be one of the best yet. I've never been to Manti when the leaves were changing and it was absolutely breathtaking. I rode up to our camp on the 4 wheeler with my dad and mac rode the dirt bike. The quakies were unbelievable. They were orange and yellow and already starting to lose their leaves! We rode up right as the sun was setting and you could see the rays through the yellow leaves. BEAUTIFUL. It was also really cool to have my mom and dad with us to show them why Mac and I love Manti so much. We got to take them to the family cabin and show them all our favorite spots.

We did a few hunts each day and then spent a lot of time relaxing at camp and eating good food. We had the best tin foil dinners and Fajitas. Mac even asked if we could make tin foil dinners at home--that's how good they were! We didn't bring home any deer but we saw a lot of them. It's really cool to be out in the middle of the pines and have a deer run right past you. I'm also surprised by how good I am getting at spotting the deer. All in all, it was a great week and a much needed break from all the craziness of our everyday lives. Can't wait for next summer so we can go camping in Manti again!

The MIGHTY hunters

Mentoring

Wonder of wonders, Miracle of Miracles! I made a new post on my photography blog. Shocking, I know. I'm working on getting better at this whole blogging thing. I had an awesome mentoring session with Andee Tate of Crave My Photography. She is amazing and super talented. Check it out at Jaime Brady Photography!!

So many things to write about!!

I'm so far behind I honestly don't know where to start!! I feel bad that things get missed in between my months of not posting, but I guess I'll just start with some of the most recent happenings.

Mac is almost finished with his private pilots license! I am usually so busy and our schedules overlap so much that I haven't been able to go flying with him at all. On Saturday morning he and his flight instructor scheduled a flight at 4am and for some crazy reason I thought it would be fun to tag along! After going to bed at 11:00, getting a call from macs little brother at 11:30 for a ride home, and then finally getting to sleep around midnight, the alarm going off at 3:30 am was not a friendly sound! It was so awesome to fly with mac and watch him as he just flew the plane like it was no big deal. I'll be honest, I was a little nervous at take off because I have never been in such a small plane and wasn't sure what to expect, but it was amazing! Here are some pictures:

This first one is a corn field we flew over somewhere around brigham city I think. I was cracking up!! It is eclipse and had bella, edward and jacob. People must have a lot of time on their hands!!!













Next we have a beautiful sunrise!! It was really neat to watch the sun rise from the plane and to be able to take pictures. I had a lot of fun with my camera during the flight!

Don't I have the sweetest Husband EVER?

So I don't think I mentioned this in my other posts, but we had a bit of a scare with macs eyes this week. He has started working for his old boss and is setting tile again. On Saturday morning he went in to work for a few hours before we headed out to go to Stadium of Fire.  While we were at Stadium of Fire watching the spectacular Carrie Underwood perform, he kept mentioning that his eye was bothering him and it felt like he had something in his eye.  Sunday morning we paid a visit to the Instacare (our home away from home...good thing it is close!).  Mac saw the doctor and was told he had scratches all over his right eye, likely from the tile dust mac thought he had gotten in his eye.  We were scared there might have been permanent damage but at his follow up appointment two days later the doctor said his eye looked great.  Phew!

Anyway, while I was at work this week I got totally fed up that I didn't have a pencil holder.  My pens, pencils, and highlighters were scattered all about it I had had enough.  I texted mac (since he was at home because he couldn't work since his eye was still healing) and asked him to pick me up a pencil holder.  When I got home from work mac had this adorable pencil holder for me!  His mom gave him the idea but he made the whole thing!  He rolled up pages out of a readers digest and glued them to the can.  I seriously love it.  Thanks Babe!