Invites

I am so proud of Logan for all his hard work! He commissions on October 1st. Then are excited to be moving to Vance Air Force Base for Pilot Training in January. It is in Enid, Oklahoma (I had to look that up too).

Below is a image of the invitation I made to send out to family.

So far we have learned that we will probably live on base in a three bedroom duplex, be in the Enid Ward and our new temple will be in Oklahoma City (about an hour away). Enid is not very big so I'm sure it won't take too long to find my way around. It will definitely be the smallest place I have lived so far but we are still excited to call it home!

Until then, we plan on keeping ourselves busy with work lots of fun things!

BYU Grads!

Logan got his Diploma in the mail and now we both have one!! 

Visit to Cedar City!

So this weekend Logan and me went to Cedar City to see Bren and Elise!! On our way there we hit 40,000 mile mark on our new car. Logan was very excited that we got to be in the car together when it happened. In the pic you can even see that he wasn't speeding. He is so good!

It was so great to see all of their family! It hadn't been a super long time because we got to see them at the family reunion but it was great seeing them at their new home. The first morning we were there, we played with the kids. Logan and Ez were so cute playing ball! Every time Logan would throw the ball he would just laugh and laugh! So Cute!

At this same time, Bren and Elise went on a 12 mile run!! Crazy! I was super impressed with their dedication and self control to do something like that. I have always been impressed with the Dixons and their running! You guys are amazing!

Then we got to go and see the new place Bren now works at! It is a really nice new office! If I was a kid, I would want my mom to take me there! My favorite was the waiting room had some play houses and one was called "The Dixon Hotel".

Bren fixing Logan's teeth. What a good brother! 

Fixing Logan's teeth was kinda the reason that we went, but it really was just a good excuse to see our family. It was really fun to get to watch Bren work too. For once it was nice to be on the other side and not in the chair. 

Then that afternoon,  Bren's work had a family-get-together that we tagged along to. It was up the canyon and over the mountain. 

 

On our way back the view was unbelievable! 

That night after the kids went to bed, we watched and movie and chatted. Elise even made us muddie buddies to snack on! It was a ton of fun to get to know them better. We are so glad that we have some family close to us again. We will probably go back down in September for a half marathon so we are looking forward to seeing them again soon.

Then, it was back home so we could both work on Monday. I wish I would have taken more pictures as always. Oh well. The drive back was pretty good and we had fun driving through some pretty good rain. We even saw this truck with HUGE tires on the back. What in the world could these be for?!

Thanks Bren and Elise for letting us stay with you! You have a beautiful home and we look forward to coming again soon!

Kara Anne

So this last weekend we were ready to go to Vernal, UT when my sister called around 6:30pm and said that they had gotten work off and were headed to the Cabin to see my family the next day!

My sister lives in Kansas City so this was the closest she was going to get to us in a long time. This is also the sister that I have not seen since she had her baby girl so I knew that I was going to have to change my plans!! I made a few calls and got ready to leave for Colorado (7 hour drive) the next day so I could meet my new niece! By 5:30am the next morning we were on the road.

Grandma and Grandpa Reeves' cabin

We got there a few hours before my sister and I couldn't wait for them to get there! When they did we ran out to the car and I got to meet Kara Anne for the first time! It was a little chilly from the rain so she got to wear her crazy monkey hat.

Me and Logan holding Kara Anne. Look at those chubby cheeks!

Kara and Uncle Mark with silly hats on and Kara and her daddy

It was a super quick trip and we were barely there for 24 hours but it was so worth it to see all my family and to get to meet my niece for the first time.

Weekends!

Logan started working at a new job this week! I am very proud of him for finding a full time job to replace working at BYU. We were worried for when he graduated because then he wouldn't be able to work for BYU anymore but have been very blessed to find this new Job. Logan now works at an upholstery company.

The crazy thing is that he still had work at BYU for one more week so he figured out how to work BOTH at the same time. It has been a crazy week and I am so glad that it is over, not that I did much more then my regular schedule. Logan on the other hand figured out that he worked more then 60 hours and this meant he was gone from 7am-11pm almost every day!

His job as a Building Coordinator at the Wilkinson center has been a blessing to have too while he was a student but I am excited for his new job because our schedules will be closer. Before, he usually worked from 4pm-11pm while I worked from 9am-5pm. He also had to work on the weekends.

Now, we both work 9-5pm and can come home together. I get to drop him off in the morning on my way to work and pick him up on my way home! This means we get to spend the evenings and weekends together!! This is a dream for me! I know that this schedule will not last very long so we are trying to make every second count before Pilot Training School (or whatever we end up doing with the Air Force).

This weekend we are driving to Vernal Utah to see my friend and go rafting! I have never been so I am super excited! The weekend after that, we will drive to Cedar City to see Logan's brother and his family! I am looking forward to both mini vacations!! Finally, I get to have a bit of summer fun before fall comes. The next blog will be about all the fun adventures we had on these weekends!

Family History

Last night my sister called to tell me about some family history information that she learned from the New Family Search website. Here are some of the highlights (the "greats" may be off one or two):

Through my grandpa Cluff's grandmother, we are direct descendants of Old King Cole (as in the nursery rhyme. he is my 52nd Grandpa) , King Lear (Shakespeare's play is based on) and the Pendragon Family (King Arthur). These lines also connect us to most of the Roman Emperors.

Through this same line you reach Anna of Arimathea (also the Queen of Wales) who was form Isreal (She is a direct Grandmother). When my sister clicked on her name it shows that she is the cousin of Mary Magdalene.

Some other fun facts:

We have many lines that have been in the Americas for a long time. The earliest one is when John Clough Sr. (My 10th Great Grandpa) come over from England in 1614. To reference this, Jamestown was the first successful English colony to be established in the Americas and was founded in 1607.

My other lines come to the United States in 1670 from England, 1687 from Ireland, 1701 from the Netherlands, 1845 from England and 1880 from England. The last two were converted by LDS missionaries and went to gather with the saints.

All my lines except one, were converted into the LDS church at the time of Joseph Smith.

I just think that this is all so amazing and it makes me want to learn even more!

pinterest.com

A few weeks ago my friend introduced me to pinterest.com and now I am addicted! It is so much fun to find all these great crafts, recipes and home ideas! When I started, I decided that if I "pinned" something, I wanted to actually make it! So here are My favorite things I have made so far!!

Below is a grocery bag holder. Super simple to sew and really works just as good as it looks!

These are called Lasagna Roll Ups and are about the easiest things that I have ever made! Traditional Lasagna is pretty intimidating to me and never looks that good but these were easy to make and look good even after you dish them out because they are already in single serving sizes.

I have linked these to their sites so you can make them too! Just Click on the pictures! Note: for the Lasagna, I put sauce on the top to keep the noodles more moist.

Logan's Surprise

A week or so ago Logan told me that he had a surprise for me!! This was really out of nowhere, so I was pretty excited on Tuesday when he picked me up and instead of going home we headed toward Salt Lake!

His surprise was that he was taking me to the Living Planet Aquarium!! If you know me, then you know that I LOVE aquariums and natural history museums!

Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera so here is just a pic I found of the front.

I had never been there and was pretty impressed with it. I thought that the cutest thing I saw were the baby sea horses.

They also had some Nurse Sharks that I thought were cool because they reminded me of the time that I saw a real wild one off the beach in Bonaire when I was snorkeling there last April!

My FAVORITE part was that Logan had remembered that I wanted to go there and planned it and took me!! He is the best Husband EVER!!

Catch-up on July

So I have definitely been up to a lot in the last few weeks! July came and passed in a blur! Here are several pictures to help show what happened!

On the third, it was my Mommy's Birthday!! I made here a long card with pics expressing some of the things that she has taught me!

Here is a short excerpt:

"I think that the most important thing I have learned from you is to love. To love our families, to love being a wife, to love being a daughter and sister. You taught me to love life and everything I choose to do. You taught me to love others when I serve them. You taught me to love the Lord and His Gospel. I can’t even come close to telling you all that you have taught me, but for all of that, I am forever grateful to you! I

love you so much! You are the best Mommy ever!"

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The next thing that we celebrated is the 4th of July! I got to go to Stadium of Fire because Logan was in it! It was fun and of course the fire works were awesome! Then, that week was the beginning of the Dixon family reunion. It was up in Herriman, UT and had a great view out over the valley were we watched fire works!

Logan is holding the flag in the middle front slightly to the right.
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Our next adventure took us to Colorado for the weekend to see my family and hang out at my grandparent's cabin close to Vallicito Lake! Logan had never been, so it was a ton of fun reliving all my childhood memories with him! I was also grateful that a lot of my family was able to meet us there! The only scary thing that happened was the bear that was under the deck and Logan scared off but was only a few feet from it!

Here is us driving to Colorado. This was a pretty lake we randomly stopped by (McPhee Reservoir). We also got a good shot of our new car we were taking on a road trip for the first time!

Driving up to Middle Mountain with the family. Too bad the white car got a flat tire so we didn't stay very long but that didn't stop any of our fun!

Here is a panoramic view of the valley. This is the prettiest place in the whole world!
At the lake and the wildflower garden. Middle MountainFlowers and the river we had a picnic by.

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It was so much fun going to the cabin again but we had to eventually come back to real life. The next week we went and got some family pictures done by my good friend Paula and her friend. Here are some of my favorite!

Thanks Paula & Jenni! ----Here is a pic from the Shield's open house to see them off onto their new adventures in the Air Force! They will be greatly missed but me and Lauren and me already decided our children are going to get married someday :)
We have had the most fun getting to know them and lots of the other cadets at the ROTC program at BYU. No matter where we all end up we will always be great friends!
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Lastly, Logan left for a week to get his medical tests to become a pilot. While he was in Ohio for 5 days, my mommy came to visit me! We had a great time together and she kept me distracted (although, I still missed Logan).
We went shopping, watched movies, spent lots of time looking at fabric, went to Ikea, ate too much good food, got our hair cut and had just a ton of fun overall! She is my best friend and I love her so much!!
Logan is now home and things are back to normal! Whew! We expect to hear back in about 60 days from now whether he will be a pilot or not, so we are learning how to be patient and have fun with where we are at right now!

I'm still here!!

Lots of fun busy weeks lately! That is why I haven't really been writing! Things I plan (hope to) catch up on later: my mom's bday, family reunion, 4th of July, Colorado, family pics, Logan's trip to Ohio and my mom's visit here in Provo. With that list, I'm pretty sure you can see why I have not written much!

Here is something to think about for now.

I recently came across this quote and just love it! I really like who it is by too!

Slow Rides to the Airport

Last night Logan and me went up to the airport to pick his mom up! We both had a completely free night so we left early so we could make it a date! First we went to Cabela's because Logan wanted to look around for their 4th of July sale that he gets an extra military discount on everything. We didn't fall in love with anything so we just enjoyed the free fudge samples. yummy.

Next, we got dinner at Chipotle, one of our favs. It also reminds me of two other awesome things: my sister and her husband that would eat there everyday if they could (probably my mom too) and when we ate there in Washington DC with all of Logan's family. Good times! We both got chicken rice bowls and ate all of them! Even I did!

As we were walking out the sunset was beautiful! I loved how the sun was beaming light back up into the sky!

After that we thought about going to a movie but nothing started and ended that would work for us, so we headed back to the airport. In the place we were at, we both were not very familiar with all the streets, so we kinda just started to head in the direction of the airport. We got on an on-ramp and all the sudden we were pretty sure that we were getting lost. It was probably because I gave Logan directions based on not looking at any signs and instead just responded with the first answer that came to mind. We took some random exits and ended up on another on-ramp. All the sudden we were on the Belt Rout completely going in the right direction! It was the most awesome thing ever! Logan informed me he knew exactly where we were going the whole time (he didn't really, but it sure was funny!). We are such a good team!

We still had about 2 hours to kill so we decided to take a bathroom break before waiting in the park and wait. We stopped at one of the coolest truck stops because it was the closest to the highway. It even had showers and all that cool stuff. Logan took longer then usual to come out and when he did there was a little bag in his hand. He showed it to me and it had two doughnuts in it! The cutest thing is that earlier that night, we passes a closed bakery and I commented how I was craving a doughnut and how odd it was because I probably only do that once every 10 years. It is always great to know that my husband is always listening and finding ways to surprise me! I love him!
We ate them and then took turns trying to take a picture in the car. The funny things is that we had to point it to the side for it to get far enough away to show us both but every time we did, the one closest to the camera looked so chubby! It may have been the doughnuts but I'm going to say it was probably the angle. Anyway, above it a chubby pic of Logan! He doesn't really look like that though!

We got to the airport and watched Starwars 1 on my ipod till the flight got in. I wished I hadn't been so tired because I really like talking with Logan's mom but I was kinda out of it considering it was late. It was great to see her though and I can't wait till the Dixon family reunion next week!

I ran another 2 miles tonight. yay!

Exercise Is Good For You, Or So They Say

It has been a while since I went on a good run but I went for 2 miles yesterday (that's a big deal for me) and then went back to my apartment to do sit ups. I finished 200 sit ups before Logan got home!

Here is a map via mapmyrun.com of my route
For those who are not familiar with Provo, my apartment complex is on a hill, so, if I want to go anywhere I have to go downhill and then run back up before I can get back. Going down 9th I felt so good and it was no problem. Then, I turned around and huffed and puffed my way back up the hill. Mostly, I'm just proud that I went. Logan ran 6 miles earlier that same day while I was at work.
I just got to keep working on it! The only way to get better is to keep going!

Saturdays

Saturdays are the best. Poor Logan had to get up early and go to work but I got to sleep in! It is what I live for all week. Maybe that is a little exaggerated but I really do like to sleep and one day out of the whole week can't be bad.

The best thing is that I woke up to a text from one of my best friends, Megan! She asked if I wanted to go to lunch with her and her husband because they were in town! We had a great time talking at Olive Garden and were there for about an hour and a half having a good time. Logan and me hope to take a little trip to see them in Vernal later this summer.

One of the things that they told me about was a book series they were reading. It was called The Great and Terrible by Chris Stuart. Logan and me are going to try them out. They sound pretty good!

Then, I went and visited Logan at work!! I don't always, especially when it is busy but there was basically nothing going on at the Wilkinson Center today so I followed him around as he checked doors to make sure they were locked. He also appreciated my left overs that I saved for him.

Tonight, Logan is working the men's soccer game and my goal is to make some progress on the office. It has become the black hole of our apartment. This is mostly my fault. It is the room that Logan keeps his clothes in so I pretty much only go in there to dump things that I don't want in the rest of the house. Out of sight out of mind. I thought about putting a picture of it up as it is now but I might just wait till you can see the before/after. I got some plastic tubs from the store to help me make progress and I will let you know when it gets better.

Very soon we hope to get a new car! One that has all the fancy things like air conditioning so that I get to drive home from work without dying. We also need a car that is more reliable so we can do some little trips this summer like camping, visiting Megan in Vernal and going to Colorado. Eventually, this car will also be moving us to our first base! I hope so at least!

The Nature of Work

A few weeks ago my office for work moved to American Fork. The drive home in a car with no AC is a beast but I now have a window to look out all day. When I walk in, I love to take a little time and to stop and smell the flowers. Today, I took a few seconds to take some pictures of them. Here are a few pictures of them.

Peony

Hosta

Honey Suckle

When I walked in this morning, I could smell the sweet honey suckles. During the day, bees and humming birds happily fly around them.

Another thing in nature I noticed the other day, was a hoard of ants on the sidewalk in front of my apartment. They spanned the entire width of it and then down the side next to the grass. I added two pictures below to show how oddly the clumped. They seem to do this every few weeks. I have never seen any food source or ant hill. This is when I am glad that they are very small and never enter my apartment.

Today Jimmy Johns had several eight inch subs for a dollar! So me and my friend Jennie from work, went and got in line! It only took about 20 minutes of waiting in line and to get our orders so we went back and did it again! Best lunch break ever!
One of the best parts of waiting in line is that Jennie is a great conversationalist and we have a fun time talking. It also helps work to never get boring and the day passes by fast. We help each other with tasks and tell stories all day as we work. Plus we are pretty much awesome, so we are all around a good team.