Jacie Saltzman

shmaterday

2012-02-12T15:31:00.000-07:00

guess where I spent my saturday? i'll give you a hint.

thats right. taking shane to the emergency room. if you look closely at that picture you can even see the extra blood that got on the bed and his gown from putting in the IV.

Around 6 AM on saturday morning, I noticed that Shane went out to the front room. I thought that was weird, because um... its saturday. i tried to shove it out of my head and get back to sleep because i was so excited it was just about the only day of the week i get to sleep in. then about 630 he came back into our room, woke me up, and explained he was in some pain. pretty intense pain. and in his lower right abdomen. i was pretty worried that it was his appendix. and i know enough about that useless body part to know that if it bursts and you dont get medical attention soon enough, you can be in some major trouble. Shane seemed to be in a manageable amount of pain, but i knew that his pain threshold is like 3 times mine, so i tried to hurry and get him to the hospital. And gooood thing!

The pain started to get much more intense. They took some blood and urine samples, and set him up for a CT scan. They were pretty sure it was his appendix as well, and I was preparing myself for a day at the hospital and an appendectomy. Good thing he was still willing to take some silly pictures to humor me.

there is another good pic, but i didnt get approval to put it on the blog. just trust me, its a good one. and im glad he still had it in him to make me laugh occasionally because i was on the brink of losing it watching him in all that pain. His body was shaking and I sat there completely useless. I couldnt do a thing and it was killing me! Crossing my fingers that this hospital thing is not a frequent occurrence in my life.

The results came back and the verdict? appendix was fine. but he diiiid have a 2mm kidney stone! alright! that means no surgery. just a heck of a lot of pain from a prickly little crystal that was stuck in his urethra and needed to eventually be peed out. they put him on lots of anti inflammatory meds, some zofran to stop the nausea and loooots of morphine. pretty soon he was a real happy boy. and then he was a tired boy. one minute he was shaking and moaning in pain and the next he was feeling great and just about zonked out.

i let him fall asleep, but it seemed like every time he started to get to sleep, his heart rate monitor would start freaking out and beeping and red lights flashing. no nurse came in and i was freaking out so i woke him up quick and told him what happened. it went away when he woke up, figured he was fine until it happened again when he fell asleep a moment later. this time the nurse came in and told him to take some deep breaths. she explained that when you are on lots of morphine, you can become so relaxed that your breathing slows so much that you are not getting the oxygen you need. in my mind this read- if he falls asleep he will die. so i tried my best to let him relax without letting him fall asleep and i watched that monitor like a hawk.

shane was saying the silliest things and i couldnt stop laughing. it helped that i was low on sleep and exhausted from worrying all morning that he would die (obviously an over reaction... my poor future children...). and eventually, the dr gave us the clear to go home. complete with some instructions on pain meds, ibuprofen, and a strainer to pee into to catch the stone.

aside from the vomiting and being completely zonked out from the morphine when we got home (which was an intense hour or so as i couldnt take my eyes off his chest while he slept to make sure he was still breathing the whole time) it was a good rest of the day. he was relatively pain free (you know, aside from the vomiting) and we anxiously awaited the arrival of his little stone. each pee, nothing came. until finally two little tiiiny specs came. and we honestly werent even sure that was it. pretty anti-climatic. but it must have been, because hes off the pain meds now and feels much better. such a little thing and causing so much damage. kind of crazy.

today he woke up with a nasty headache (my guess is a hangover from all the meds yesterday) and has been taking it pretty easy. now we wait for the hospital bill and pray it doesnt use up our entire tax return. hats off to all of you who have passed a kidney stone! i am certainly glad they arent somehow contagious. yikes.

Faaairview

2012-02-07T22:17:00.000-07:00

went to fairview again last friday. trying to get in as many fairview trips we can before i go back to work in like two weeks. so everyone do a snow dance to get it to snow this thursday night, so we can go again this week. Shane's brother Alan came with us, and it was exponentially more fun with 3 than 2, especially because our friends from last week werent there. it wasnt as powdery. much more icey. this makes it much easier to get up when i fall. it also makes it way more painful when i fall.

i wasnt expecting it my first run, and ate it pretty hard right onto my front. wind knocked out of me, my insides got all sorts of upset, and im pretty positive i got some nasty whiplash that tormented me for the next 3 days afterwards. i lay there in pain unmoving for a good 30 seconds trying to breathe again and assessing the damage. when i told shane at the bottom that i probably wouldnt go down again, he advised me that the solution was to simply not fall. good advice i guess. i maned up and went down many more times, trying harder to follow his advice.

hand stitched the crotch of my pants i blew out last time on our drive down. they held up like a champ, which was nice. shane was doubtful of my domestic hand stitching abilities, but has since asked me to stitch up quite a few spots in his pants as well. mom should be proud haha. certainly better than buying new snowboard pants that i can probably only use like once more this season (how depressing! curse you horrible utah winter!)

anyways, trip was awesome. i love you fairview.

we are totally preshy

Alan coming down the cabin run

Shane coming down the cabin run

Shane and Alan at the post

my hubs. who is slightly better than me at snowboarding. also he is much better than me at snowboarding. get it boyyyy

Blessed

2012-02-06T19:18:00.000-07:00

Today I heard back from the 2nd of 4 schools that I applied to for PT school. I was rejected. Rejection letters suck. any way you look at it. after I received my first rejection letter a few weeks ago i went straight to the gym. because the last thing i wanted was to feel like a loser at school AND a lazy fat fu sitting on the couch. today when i texted shane about my latest letter, the convo went like this:

me: letter from florida school. rejected. 2 down 2 to go.
Shane: o that sucks
me: yep
Shane: its cuz the dream home fairy wants us to stay and live in midway

haha and that honestly made me feel much better. and for whatever reason (mainly the reason is my grades suck, lets be honest), i havent been accepted anywhere yet im feeling some sort of ok. like things will end up working out as they should. which may mean i am applying again and again in the years to come. but still, i have 2 schools to still hear back from, and i am quite a bit more emotionally attached to wanting to go to those. so we will see how i take news then.

anyways, last night i was just thinking about all the little things that have happened with shane and i's educations in the past year that i am so thankful for. it has left me feeling pretty blessed.

-last semester shane had 3 classes left of his undergraduate. he had some sort of class like hotels 1 and hotels 2, obviously supposed to be taken in order. both of which were only offered in the fall semester. this is dumb. also, we should have known this before the last year of school. lets not talk about all the things both shane and i wish we could have done differently in our undergraduate degrees. he would have had to wait an extra year to graduate, as one class would be taken last fall and the next, next fall. does that make sense? probably not. anyways, he went and talked to the teacher to see if he could take them both at the same time. which of course the teacher said absolutely not. right then, one of shanes old professors walked in and overheard the situation, at which point he insisted that shane could handle taking both classes at once. teacher let him in, and we all did a celebratory dance. ok maybe i only danced when i heard about what happened.

-since shane and i are both approaching the end of our undergraduates its been a tricky situation getting everything in that we need to. this semester shane has one class left and an internship which needs to be completed in order to graduate. a counselor told him that he could not have his current job (at mr Mac) count as his internship, and we thus decided that he would wait, and do an internship over the summer. this has all been pretty nerve wracking for me since we have absolutely no idea if we will even be living here this summer, etc. then just last week, he found out from a different counselor (why do school counselors feel so completely useless to me always?!) that he indeed COULD use his current job as his internship. hallelujah! so now he will be able to graduate after this semester. i could just about pee my pants that he is graduating at all, so im pretty stoked. (probably more than he is)

-since just about every PT school requires something different in terms of what classes you need (awesome huh?), its been one mess of a time for me to figure out what i should and shouldnt take. turns out i needed at least another biology lab. since i took a molecular biology course last year, and it was one of the only biology courses i took which offered an accompanying lab, i decided i would try to add this course on the first week of classes. of course it was full. the TA told me that it was next to impossible to add the class. even more frustrated at myself that i obviously could have signed up for that lab when i first registered for classes months ago because my registration date is long before everyone elses since ive been at BYU for like a million years. I went to talk to the department head to try and get something figured out. at the last minute i randomly found an open spot in a cell biology lab. and even though i never took cell bio, the department head told me that i would be fine in that class. fast forward to a month into the semester now. i love cell bio lab. it is quite possibly the easiest class i have taken at BYU. and that is saying something, because BYU doesnt like to mess around with easy classes. especially anything science related. i cant believe how glad i am that i didnt get into the original lab i wanted, and was able to add this one instead. less time worried about cell bio lab = more time spent working on chemistry and physics. yahoo.

im still in such a question mark of a position right now with everything school related. but i should hear back from the other two schools probably within a month. for now, i focus and do my best during my (hopefully) last semester at BYU. 3 cheers that potentially/hopefully shane and i both will be graduating in 2 months. 2 months seriously?! feelin some sort of blessed right now. booyah!

dumpster diving

2012-02-04T16:01:00.000-07:00

today i went to a bridal fair with my engaged sister mainly for the free samples i knew would be there. i am not ashamed.

see two posts below at my sweet new glasses haha. not ashamed.

a couple months ago when shane and i saw a perfectly respectable snowboard with bindings in our dumpster, i didnt hesitate long before pulling that thing out. also not ashamed.

yes it had a pretty good gash on the bottom, but i knew i had plenty of room to stash it in the second bedroom with our other boards until snowboarding season came to fruition. finally, it started to snow, and i knew what had to be done. i took some pics, and listed that baby on ksl for 30 bucks. sold it within a week. done and done.

thats as good as finding $30 in the dumpster. one persons trash was ksl's (and subsequently my) treasure. hip hip hooray.

Ode to Fairview

2012-02-02T22:24:00.000-07:00

im convinced that snowboarding up Fairview canyon in one of Utah's best kept secrets. it seems like no one has ever heard of it or been there unless they a)grew up in san pete county b)went to snow college, or c)is married to a. or b. i feel pretty privelaged to know about this little gem of a spot, not to mention my bank account stays happy by saving the ridiculous amount of money spent on resorts.

things to know about snowboarding up Fairview:
-fairview is not a resort. the trails are not groomed
-it is back country snowboarding (but not really dangerous in the worried about being trapped by an avalanche kind of way)
-fairview is free! (remember, its not a resort)
-there are some rails and jumps made from other boarders (not that i could do any of them anyways, since i board worse than an 8 year old)

basically, its a spot up the canyon where the road wraps up and around the mountain. thus, a bunch of kids drive trucks, shuttle their friends to the top, drop them off and pick them up at the bottom. rinse and repeat. and the u switch drivers so everyone gets a chance to board down. does that make sense? doesnt matter, its a magical place.

shane and i hit it for the first time this season (since we basically have been gypped on winter this year) last friday and it was the best i've ever seen it. pure powder, nice and sunny, and hardly anyone there. in fact the first few runs shane and i did, it was just us two, and we had to ride down by ourselves. talk about serene. i might have been scared about abominable snowmen. and i may have laughed out loud at myself since no one else was around when i completely face-planted into waist deep pow pow.

then a group of young college kids showed up in a big truck, who we made friends with and used for rides up the mountain. theres something bonding about riding up a freezing mountain mexican style, crammed into the bed of a pickup truck, but they were cool about us crashing their party. and people usually are up there. we just make friends with whoever has a truck. about 5 bucks for gas, and we had a nearly free day of snowboarding. success.

car all packed on the way down there

road that wraps up and around the mountain

where you strap in and take off from

where you come out the bottom and get picked up

if you look closely at this photo, you can see the car waiting at the bottom to pick me up. you literally just ride up to the road. woot.

that chevy up front was the truck we were riding in.

also, as a side note- i may have split the crotch of my pants completely out after the first few runs from them being too tight (chubby much?). aint no thang. back to fairview tomorrow!

22 going on 73

2012-02-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

I recently welcomed these babies into my life.

and i really super love them.

i had wanted to get them last year when i first got glasses, but decided to get a more socially acceptable pair first. then this year while in california for christmas, i went to get a new pair, and i couldnt say no. last week they finally came in the mail.

i refer to them as my old man glasses or sometimes my grandpa glasses. they make me very happy. point is, they are super sturdy and thick, i dont have to tilt my head all over the place to look through them since the lenses are so big, and basically no one else has them (except maybe your grandpa).

$1 each

2012-01-26T14:26:00.001-07:00

if theres anything i learned growing up in southern california, its that old mexican women know how to make some dang good food. hence why when ive seen this little sweet old lady on the side of the road every once in a while the past few months, ive been wanting to stop and buy some tamales. finally today i did.

yes, she may look a little sketch, what with her home made wagon and food out of a cooler, but when it comes to mexican food, a little sketch is usually a good thing. trust me.

she spoke little to no english (a good sign of mexican food) and was already sold out of the cheese tamales (also a good sign). oh tamale lady, i will be back!

midway, UT

2012-01-24T22:17:00.000-07:00

this past sunday we finally got some snow around here. and all shane wanted to do was go snowboarding. ok, thats all i wanted to do too. (dont worry mom, we didnt- we went to church). but we convinced ourselves that all that snow would be a waste if we didnt get out in the mountains at least a little bit. so afternoon rolls around, pick up B and Court, and obviously we headed on a search for the HGTV dreamhome.

dont know about the dreamhome? dont worry about. its super lame, and u probably wouldnt like it anyways. im half way convinced that i deserve to win it for some reason, so actually seeing the place in person felt right. unfortunately there was a security guard protecting the property from hooligans like us, and even my attempt at making friends with him did not win me the opportunity of sticking my nose up against the window. and since shane's bright green hoodie didnt seem to camo well with the snow, we decided against arming crawling around the back to peek in. still cool none the less.

we spent the rest of our trip driving around looking at other cool houses we will probably never own and guessing their value. also we went to the homestead crater. (like a year round hot spring crater in a small mountain). haha because you know exactly what im talking about right? still not sure? it was also made famous by the bachelor on monday. we're pretty A-list now, i know.

cue a drive home filled with beautiful landscapes and one near death experience thanks to a reckless trucker in provo canyon, and we had a good sunday. (pretty sure the near death experience was because we even thought about snowboarding on sunday)

Dear snow,

please stick around. shane and i cant wait to snowboard on you. we are planning for friday. everyone is invited.

love, Jacie

rainy day

2012-01-21T17:38:00.002-07:00

nothing like a good rainy day to help you sleep in until 1030. i dont remember the last time i slept in that long, but it was next to magical. unfortunately the rain makes me want to sit on the couch all day and watch lifetime movies.

this past week i spent at least 4 hours ( no exaggeration) on the phone with way too many people at Century Link trying to get this whole interweb situation figured out. with a class this semester heavy in online assignments, I figured we better just go ahead and pay for some internet. this job was left up to me. which is mainly why for the last many months we just havent had internet at our house. it was actually kinda nice. especially for someone who is addicted to checking their email like i am. no internet at home and no internet on my phone = much more time wasted on tv instead. kind of refreshing for a while.

but now, i am back. it finally became up and running yesterday, and i feel like all ive done since then is just sit on the internet. wasting time. in shock that i can actually be on the internet while sitting from the comfort of my own couch.

you would think this post would be full of promises of frequent blog posting now that i have any-time-access to the world wide web, but lets be honest. i will spend most of my time on pinterest. and blog stalking people i dont know.

anyways, welcome back internet. you have been sorely missed. if anyone needs to contact me, i will now basically be on my email 24/7.

Catch up: Bennetts

2012-01-12T10:42:00.000-07:00

i love food. shane loves food. the bennetts love food. we are friends.

i met alyse my freshman year at BYU. we were roommates. and subsequently best friends.

i met chad my freshman year at BYU. he dated my roommate. also we have the same major, and take lots of classes together. and subsequently we are friends.

i met shane my sophomore year at BYU. alyse and chad set me up on a date with their friend (not shane). shane was there too, and i decided i wanted to marry him. subsequently we are friends too.

since shane and chad both work at mr mac, and had basically completely opposite schedules this past semester, we didnt see them as much as id like, but u can bet that when we did hang out? there was food.

we pretended like we were all normal college students and went to a BYU football game. sweet grown up seats compliments of mr mac.

pregame meal at firehouse subs

cougar tail = awkwardly long maple bar

plus we did christmas card photoshoots together.

and they invited us to go to the motab christmas concert up in salt lake. and obvi an in n out trip was involved.

plus all the many other times we have gotten together, where we have been too busy eating to take pictures. including last week's fondu night. (ull just have to trust me on how tasty it was).

so glad we can make so many food memories (heretofore referred to as foodories) together!

catch up: Eagle Mountain kids

2012-01-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

do u know how to make friends? i do, but i am lazy. therefore, a handy method of making friends for lazy people: establish a good group of friends during jr. high/high school. next, establish friendships with people u are forced to be around (like a freshmen year roommate). next, get married (or have a boyfriend or whatever). THEEEEN, you can just adopt (or steal... call it what u want) your friends' friends. lets pretend that all made sense yeah?

anyways, i've got this group of friends which i refer to as my "eagle mountain friends". lots of them dont live in eagle mountain. but they did at one point, or didnt, i dont remember. doesnt matter. thats who they are in my head. My friend Suzie moved to Utah about the same time I did, but moved to eagle mountain. She did a bunch of hard work, establishing friendships, and I was able to simply waltz in and tag along to social functions with her friends until people recognized my face enough to stop wondering who the random girl was. ie- we are now friends. 3 cheers for hanging out with my eagle mountain friends this past semester. (sorry about the proceeding marathon of pictures and stories... apparently I invite myself to functions often)

General Conference Fondu Night:
Because every 6 months we get together and celebrate all the men being gone, i mean, being spiritually uplifted, by stuffing our faces with cheese and bread. a lot of other things, but mainly cheese and bread. mmmm fondu.

officially my favorite tradition since coming to utah.

Corn Maze
Around halloween we all went to a corn maze. shane and i ran like mad men through the side of the corn maze so we could sneak in without paying. (cheap much?). I dyed my hair blond that day, and suzie became one year older and wiser too. since it was about the only fall related activity shane and i did the whole year, we will dub this a success.

Sleepover
November we did a girly sleepover. The kind where u all go out to diner, break into people's houses, do face masks, watch old movies, go to sleep by 10:30 pm, and wake up around 7 am. that's how how everyone's sleepovers go right? we must be getting a little older or something. all the same, a girly sleepover in some form is a must for all women at least once a year.

red carpet dinner: a la pizza pie cafe. fancy, i know.

want to go break into gregs house?

and thanks to B for sharing your bed, giggling, and telling secrets with me before we fall asleep before everyone else.

Christmas Dinner
the eagle mountain kids even threw together a fancy christmas dinner at gregs house. complete with sparkling cider, chicken cordon bleu, and green beans. plus shane put on jeans and his justin beiber shirt, so we will call this one as fancy as it gets for the saltzmans.

Dear Eagle Mountain Friends,
I am glad that this friends of friends thing has worked out so well the past 5 years that I feel comfortable enough to call you my regular friends. presh.

Love, Jacie

catch up: sheepies

2012-01-10T13:49:00.000-07:00

im seriously afraid of catching up on my blog. my apologies as i attempt to the next couple days. last semester seems to be a blur, but i ended up pulling out with fantastic grades and a lot of pictures, so i must have been busy.

anyways, the closer i get to potentially/possibly/maybe/probablynot moving away for grad school, the more aware i become that i am so lucky to live in an area near so many of my friends. and not just friends ive made since moving to utah in 2007 (yikes its really been that long...). friends from "home". friends from growing up. the ones that my mom forced me into friendship with through play dates, i went through puberty with (lets be honest im basically still going through puberty), and rode around on scooters with before we had our drivers licenses. obviously that qualifies us to be friends forever. anyways, thanks to Beth-Mo and Sushi for being my friends for a lifetime (and you thought u had a choice...). I'm glad amidst everyone's crazy lives, we were able to hang out this past semester.

lunch/movie dates where we talk about future children and spill water on our crotches.

and impromptu christmas get togethers where it has absolutely nothing to do with christmas.

Sheepie time soon?

yikas!

2012-01-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

new semester update soon, but first- yikas! remember this post? yeah...

i am retaking that same physics class this semester (you know, since the first time around I got a C-). today was the first day of class, and as i settled into my little chair, the boys in front of me yelled down the room to their friend. i look up, and guess who it is?! that same boy! in the same class! HAHA! i laughed so hard. then i realized i was the girl who was laughing out loud to herself uncontrollably about apparently nothing. aint no thang.

ive been at byu much too long. haha heres to a great last semester!

resolutions

2012-01-03T13:43:00.000-07:00

happy 2012! do u have resolutions this year? my friend Courtney asked me if I had any on new years eve, and i honestly hadnt even thought about it until then. do i have resolutions? no. no i dont. i dont like setting myself up for failure any more than i already have to. (you know, with my whole grades track record etc).

but alas, yesterday as i hit the gym around noon on monday, almost all the treadmills were being used. really?! noon on a monday?! it can only mean one thing- it is officially january. everyone has resolved to losing weight, and being on time to things. i had prepared myself most of december for the fact that come a few weeks and we hit january, the gym will suddenly be crowded and i will be annoyed at people who are only going to go to the gym until they get lazy and dont care about their resolutions in about march.

but come to think of it, i have spent the last 5 years at BYU studying exercise science. and i know more than the average person how important it is to exercise. and i guess i should be supportive of and happy for these people choosing to add quality to their life. at least this is what i will be reminding myself each time i have to wait for a cardio machine or have to cram into a corner of yoga class.

better yet, heres my two cents worth of support and motivation for people attempting to exercise more this 2012.

-try to find where your strange sweat spot is. i remember once going to an exercise class where the teacher told us her shins get very sweaty. and me? my elbows get way sweaty every time i run. one of my friends has pretty sweaty forearms. now go and find your own. if you are not sweating at the gym in some weird spot, then u are not working out hard enough.

-make exercise positive. there is always going to be someone with a way better body than you at the gym. so dont stare blatantly at them and self deprecate yourself. or else you will leave the gym feeling like crap. instead, try some positive mental exercises while working out. what do i do? often i listen to songs and pretend they are singing about me. i picture myself achieving the things i want to do. i picture myself having the life i want to have. in my exercise brain i am a brilliant, successful, perfect mom, with a perfect body. plus my house is spotless, huge, and new every year in the scenario. unrealistic? completely. but i picture such positive things and focus on those through the discomfort, that i leave feeling on top of the world. also sweaty.

anyways, school starts tomorrow and i couldnt be more excited -_- but that should mean at least im blogging more (you know, to put off actually doing things for school). hope everyone has had a wonderful vacation!

boyfriend

2011-12-19T20:52:00.002-07:00

i love my friends. but the best? thats hanging out with the shane man. or going on dates. or whatever u want to call it. heres a quick and half hearted attempt to fill u in on some of the one-on-ones shane and i have been on this past semester.

utah state fair
i guess i am just used to the LA fair, but the utah state fair seemed like a miniature version. with more hicks and less ethnicity. but all the essentials were there- buildings full of weird home made stuff (including an entire life sized family of cows made completely out of butter), livestock and cute baby piggies, rides that make you nauseated, and overpriced heart attacks. i mean food.

shane even had his first funnel cake there. it didnt disappoint, but we steered clear of the deep fried oreos.

Golfing
apparently now shanes into golfing. in a sort of into it way that hes only kinda into golfing. anyways, before it got too cold we headed to the driving range to practice. since neither of us know anything about golfing, its a good thing no one else was around. when other carts drove by, i pretended like i was taking a break. which in reality i was, since after 5 tries and not even hitting the stationary ball, it was time to give the driver a rest. fun in the laughatyourselfathowincrediblyincapableyouare kind of way.

homemade food
after often eating crappy dollar menu burgers all week, its sometimes nice for us to just make a meal at home on fridays.

like pazookie. while we watch our programs. im pretty sure we are not 50 yrs old, why?

or some spinach and artichoke pasta with garlic bread. you know, from the pinterest recipe. success.

but lets be honest. we're non-discriminatory. we like food made by not-us as well.

Magleby's Fresh
plus we are cheap. and we have this was good discount thing going on with maglebys. hence just about every saturday night you can find us here. que romantica!

shane in his justin beiber getup.

this semester was kind enough to not give us complete polar opposite schedules. which was a nice change from last year. and with all our extra time together, shane has kept me fed and entertained. i just dont know what else you want in a boyfriend. or hubbs. whatever.

brain mush

2011-12-15T16:31:00.002-07:00

you know its finals week when you go to your front door to leave the house and cant figure out why your car's keyfob "unlock" button isnt unlocking the dead bolt on the door.

you may have thought i fell into a well since i havent blogged in so long. at some points i was asking myself the same question. but the point is, finals are over. the semester is over. and my brain and body are now in "recovery" mode.

excuse me while i repeatedly work out, actually take showers, have the time to make my own food, and watch hours on end of reality tv.

i work out

2011-11-22T10:59:00.001-07:00

three flights of stairs. one trip.

yes, thats including the 3 two liters of soda, 5 bottles of martinellis, milk, 2 things of oil, 4 cans, bottle of syrup, and a bunch of other groceries.

you can just go ahead and start calling me superwoman.

tis the season

2011-11-16T19:42:00.001-07:00

you know what i love about right now?

TIS THE SEASON!! yep, you guessed it. for taking Christmas card pictures. and I don't want to spoil the surprise to any of you who might be getting these in the mail, but here a sneak peak at some that I allllmost put in as our picture.

(a big shout out to Chad and Alyse for the great times and switching off with us to take pictures for each other).

Although Shane might not be quite as "into" taking pictures as I am, I think he secretly may have loved it. or maybe not. the point is, we made it through. without further ado:

a great picture of chad and alyse. fortunately shane was able to creep in there.

*note the disgusting kiss shane made out of something innocent

hahaha i laugh so hard every time i see these pictures. merry early Christmas everyone!!

I'm on to you

2011-11-07T10:23:00.000-07:00

you know what i love about right now?

this serious cold weather. im convinced it makes my bed like 6 times comfier. also, it means more weekends spent cuddled up on the couch in a blanket next to the shane man, watching movies, eating cookies, and drinking hot chocolate.

dear shane,

i know that you pretend that you don't like to cuddle.

but im on to you. and ive got some proof. also, you still owe me a back rub. (i usually forget stuff like that, but i still remember this time).

love, Jacie

hope everyone else had a weekend that treated them as well as mine. happy monday!

November!!

2011-11-02T10:27:00.003-06:00

woah, see ya october. that was quick. october is famously known as not my favorite month of the year. for numerous reasons. but this past october wasnt too shabby. and boy do i have like a million things for us to play catch up with. another day.

anyways, inspired by this blog, ive decided for this november, i shall jump on that bandwagon. similar to what i was thankful for posts last november, this november will be full of "you know what i love about right now" posts. and maybe a few "what i dont love so much about right now" posts. depending on how it goes. anyways-

you know what i love about right now?

-being done with my midterms for the week, having no papers due, and time to actually get some substantial work done on my grad school apps
-fighting off this cold which i have been on the verge of for the past week successfully
-work only lasting about a week and a half more
-being le blonde
-shane and i deciding to make ourselves the honorary "yellow team" on the biggest loser this season, complete with weigh ins on tuesday nights
-having only like 5 weeks left of the semester (YAHOOOOO!!)
-actually enjoying my classes this semester
-the constant excitement and uncertainty shane and i are going through with this whole "dont know where ill be living/working/going to school 6 months from now" phase
-the cold weather and wearing boots almost every day

november will be a great month. i can feel it.

how to scrape by

2011-10-26T10:35:00.001-06:00

yeah yeah, i know its disgusting. but lets be honest. it takes me like over an hour to thoroughly shower, shave, dry my hair and put on clothes and makeup. yes i can do it faster, but if i want to look halfway decent then it takes some time. and time might not be a busy college students/moms/full time workers best friend. when im faced with the choice of waking up at 6 or 630, im usually gonna go with 630. just me? anyone? and usually when im deciding whether i should get out of bed or push the snooze button for the 5th time, my brain uses a sort of rationale that wouldnt make sense at any other time of the day. and hence- heres two tips on how to scrape by. u know, if u dont want to wake up and shower and do the works every. single. day. lets pretend this isnt gross.

1. baby powder. people say dry shampoo works, but i have yet to find one that does. u know what does work? baby powder. and therefore i dont have to wash my hair for like 3 days. and therefore i absolutely love baby power. you just literally take the bottle, and sprinkle baby powder into your hair. go in sections and get all of your roots a good cover. then shake. shake your hair out and rub the tips with your fingers to try and take away that white powder look. it absorbs all the oils or something. im not going to pretend i know how that magic works, it just does.
   day one: wash hair, dry, straighten, the works
   day two: baby powder
   day three: more baby powder if needed, and curl hair/hat/ponytail/messy bun
   day four: you are really pushing it, try not to go in public today for too long if not washing hair

see that? that was a day 3. and like the champ that is it, my hair pulled through.

side effects include husband not wanting to cuddle because your head smells like a baby. i tell him it is good practice for the distant future.

2. water in the mascara tube. i stole this tip from Bethany. but really? how many times can i go to the store and still forget to buy a new thing of mascara. then i am stuck in my bathroom in the morning applying like 6 coats for you to even tell i have eyelashes. BUT if you swipe your mascara wand under the faucet, then stick back in the tube and swish around, it will get you through until the next time you hit the store. like magic i tells ya! i dont know if there are bacterial risks involved with this, but if you are really worried i suppose you can use filtered water.

-side note: deodorant and brushing your teeth are not optional any day. even im not that gross.

hope this helps on a busy day!!

Dear NFL

2011-10-17T20:18:00.001-06:00

Dear NFL,

I was worried about our relationship at first. I foolishly compared you to the NBA in the beginning, but what I needed to realize is that you are good and different in your own way. You are not replacing the NBA for me, and i still have my fingers crossed they can come to some sort of an agreement, but you are doing a mighty fine job as a rebound. I realize that many girls have taken you for granted, but I won't. I will love and cherish you. You never judge me for coming to you when I simply cannot study any more, or are so stressed from grad school applications and what-ifs constantly running through my mind, that i look like a complete train wreck. And I really appreciate it. I know many (especially other girls) won't understand our relationship, but it doesn't matter. I hope this friendship can last a long time.

Love, Jacie

ps- if you could give shane and i some sort of random hookup for a free NFL game, I know we would both be really stoked.

Bridal Veil Falls

2011-10-11T10:00:00.000-06:00

on sunday Bridger and Courtney picked us up in their sweet rental car. We all went to bridal veil falls.

i realized that shane and i are outdoor-sy people. which kind of makes sense since im in to the whole ~~showering as little as possible~~ peace and love kind of thing.

even though we'd been there a million (ok about 6) times, we had never actually gone on the hike up to the falls. fortunately my slipper moccasins i wore held up reasonably well on the hike. i was a little worried when i saw bridge and court decked out in hiking shoes. i guess none of us knew what to expect.

a little muddy, but it turned out pretty sweet. much cooler (figuratively and literally) from up close than down at the bottom, and really not that long or strenuous of a hike at all. ok u got me, i still felt like chubby kid walking up the wrong side of the escalator.

the boys got a little crazy and ventured farther up. my anxiety got the best of me as i watched shane jump and slide down the slimy rocks to shortcut the way back down.

the leaves were all just starting to change colors, and utah was reminding us that even though there was snow on the mountain tops, it hadnt forgot about fall. hallelujah.

we ended up getting into the car and trying to drive the loop through the canyon up to american fork. id actually been trying to talk shane into doing this for the past few weeks, so the timing worked out perfectly. one wrong turn later, and we ended up in heber- courtney and i both completely car sick. 3 cheers for no one throwing up.

a dramamine and some soda later and i started to feel alright on the car ride home. just in time for me to pass out for a few hours and wake up to watch some football and kim kardashian's fairytale wedding.

thanks to B and C (haha i apparently get lazier and lazier as the post goes on and have subsequently appropriately abbreviated your names) for the invite and chauffeur service. lets all drive around and get not carsick soon!

friendlies

2011-10-10T10:00:00.000-06:00

even though shane and i both spend most of our time either at work, school, studying, or being reclusive in our house without anyone else, we have managed to keep a few good friends.

friends are a weird thing once u are married. with everyones busy lives, its next to impossible to find a time for 4 people to all hang out at once. let alone the fact that you have to find 4 people that actually want to hang out with each other. either the wives like each other and the husbands arent each other's first picks, or vice versa. its hard. add in the fact that im really lazy and would generally rather just hang out with shane than put in effort hanging out with other people, and we dont get out much. then lets not even bring in the difficulties in having friends with kids. completely other story.

but the closer that grad school (hopefully) comes, the more i realize how lucky we are that we have some really good friends here and know people. people where you dont have to put much effort in, everyone likes each other, and you can not worry and just have a good time. virtual hugs out to you all.

pool, dinner, movies, games, and late night shaved ice runs with bridger and courtney

birthday parties with bethany, maria, suzie, andrea, and the like

and lettuce wraps, shopping, and of course frozen yogurt with the Bennetts

im slightly convinced that shane and i will not have any friends once we move away from this little bubble. (not that im complaining cause im a little anti- social) happy to have u guys around for at least the next 6 months.

bring that back!

2011-10-09T12:15:00.000-06:00

remember when birthdays were about begging for whatever crappy toy the commercials had brainwashed you into wanting? only for u to be completely over said toy like 3 weeks later? and when you had a major freak out if your older brother ate a piece of your birthday cake before you just to be funny (which obviously was NOT funny, since its YOUR birthday) ((alright i might still have the freak outs)). birthdays were so magical. like one year closer to being able to do something your parents told you that you weren't old enough to do. and then all of a sudden you grow up, make your own decisions, and birthdays are more about celebrating that you've lived another year without dying somehow. well i want the magic back!

last month my niece Avery celebrated her 6th birthday. on September 11th. A date which she proudly pronounces to anyone who asks when her birthday is. Cue the adult feeling awkward as she has no idea what that date means to most of the adult world. This year I was glad to be celebrating the day for her birthday with the rest of shane's side of the family. Remembering how grateful I am to have them all so close by. We partied. and celebrated life. and family. and a special 6 yr olds birthday.

Avery and I had a little photobooth photo session. she giggled uncontrollably. and i felt like a pretty good aunt.

we invited shane to our photobooth party, but he was kind of a pooper. hilarious.

we watched football. and felt all american.

chated, baked, and played with kids

and enjoyed some of the great remnants of summer by playing outside.

therefore ive decided that for my 23rd birthday coming this april i would like to receive new toys, a big family party, and lots of cake. also, im going to pretend that i am turning 9. im bringing the magic back.

So long summatime

2011-10-08T15:15:00.000-06:00

I guess summer is officially over. the calendar told me it was technically fall, but I'm not sure that Utah got the memo, as our weather has been in the 30's and 40's and theres snow pretty far down the mountain. that sounds more like winter to me. surprisingly im not super bitter. i'm way over summer. summer this year consisted of work and school. it was borderline lame. but now the change in the seasons signals one semester closer to graduation, and im all about that.

I was talking to shane last night about how comforting it is that he is still in school and he is waayyyyyyyyyy older than me (haha im so kind). then he mentioned how people his age are usually already doctors or lawyers or something. slightly depressing. im just glad we will both finish by april. the end is finally officially in sight and thats kind of a strange feeling.

anyways, i celebrated the cold weather by bringing back one of my freezing favorites- the circle scarf!!

after work i went back to campus to go study in the cadaver lab, and the snow was all the way down to the Y. crazy!

speaking of the cadaver lab? its kind of really awesome. BYU is one of the only places where you have two separate cadaver labs for undergraduates. I was talking to a PT friend the other day and he was saying that lots of people show up to PT school without ever having seen a cadaver. blows my mind. another reason I am glad I go to such a great university. i spend many hours a week in there studying. After finally heading home from the lab in the dark, I texted shane:

Me: I'm pretty sure that i spend more time around dead people than i do alive people
Shane: gross
Me: ehhh u get used to it

we decided to warm ourselves up with some potato cheese soup. which was delicious!! and has sustained us the rest of the this week. let me know if anyone wants the recipe.

shane was pretty excited. and creepy.

this week its supposed to warm back up again and start acting like an actual fall, but either way. it's safe to say it is no longer summer.

a-ok with me

Out there

2011-09-28T20:29:00.002-06:00

ok guys, i know i havent posted in forever days. and i know this post is boring. but im not known to be one to hide stuff from you guys. and we need to just get this stuff out on the table.

im kinda obsessed (was obsessed now that its over) with the show awkward. yes i know it is made for like 13 year olds. i like it ok?

monopoly is back at mcdonalds. which means shane and i ate there for dinner last night at like 830. which i deemed acceptable at the time because shane and the monopoly game is like a kid in a candy store. i cant deny him that happiness! plus i had just barely gotten home for the day after acing a test. i ate mcdonalds instead of going to the gym. its ok.

and while we're at it? my mom's birthday was last week, and so i made an honorary birthday cake. it was gone in like 3 days. and shane probably only had two pieces.

aaaaaaand my dirty little secret is that i havent cleaned my shower in far longer than i want to admit. (thats how embarrassingly long its been)

wow i feel a lot better. as for a catch up on life, i go to school, i go to work, i usually go back to school to study, i go to the gym (recent development- the cake thing pushed me over the chubby edge), and if we're all lucky i throw in a shower. i love student life.

actual picture from just now. sweet.

Day Four YNP

2011-09-14T20:31:00.001-06:00

ok ok, i get it. these posts about yellowstone are becoming incredibly drawn out. its painful even for me. ill try and wrap this all up here pretty quick. i blame school. learning is so distracting sometimes.

Our last full day of the park. we did what we were good at- drove around and pulled over when interested. it had worked thus far.

we were so intrigued by the upper and lower falls, that we decided to take a few more quick looks at them that we hadnt seen. theres like a million little hikes to see these babies from all different angles.

and checked out the grand canyon of yellowstone while we were there too.

we then went on another hike to another waterfall- Tower Falls. I was pretty excited about this one because i heard it was amazing (via book from callin). unfortunately when we got to the trailhead, it said that due to "major washouts" and "safety concerns" that the trail to the falls was closed. everyone was still walking down on open part though, so we went to take a look.

it led to this area (below), which didnt even look onto the waterfall. lame-o! we were pretty disappointed. who really believes in washouts and being concerned for your own safety anyways? we decided to venture on to the falls!!

this involved forging the river oregon trail style.

and then we went over some seriously sketchy terrain. the trail literally had been washed away at one point with cliffs on either side. we found another couple (who ended up being LDS too) who were determined to make it over there somehow, and we all climbed like spider monkeys through the wilderness to see Tower Falls. probably the coolest hike we did because it consisted of climbing through broken trees and shrubbery and hoping the ground beneath you didnt wash away at any second. plus i did it in flip flops, so that was pretty thrilling.

Tower Falls- Yellowstone National Park

we finally made it there relatively unharmed. and it was so worth it. such a cool waterfall, plus just an adventure to get there.

after Tower Falls we drove around trying to find something to look at. i started driving on a one way scenic road, but realized it would make us backtrack quite a bit and i also realized that our little mazda 3 isnt really meant for off-roading. i then reversed to drive the wrong way on said road, squeezing past all of the really pissed drivers coming the correct way. woops. we all ended up ok, calm your britches angry drivers.

we eventually found a the "Petrified Tree".

Petrified Tree- Yellowstone National Park

which was lame. or i guess way super cool if you are into old petrified tree stumps like you see in that picture.

we decided we better stick to waterfalls. This was on the short hike to Wraith Falls

the hike there was much cooler than the falls themselves. they don't even merit a picture on here. shane and i both peed on this trail. just a FYI

we drove over a way sweet bridge:

shortly after passing this, on our way towards mammoth hot springs hotel, we saw an abandoned car on the side of the road. a minute later we saw a girl walking along the side of the road, and we decided to pick her up! everybody loves a hitchhiker. turns out that wasnt her car. she was just walking on the side of the road. it was a girl probably around 17 yrs old from Norway. she was really skinny. and looked like a norwegian hippy model. i was super jealous. i asked her how many people she came with to visit from norway, and she said she just came by herself. o...k.... we dropped her off at the hotel where she said she was camping. and now im just sad i didnt get a picture with her. im also glad she wasnt psycho and ended up holding us hostage or something. i guess she was probably thinking the same thing about us though.

up at mammoth hot springs hotel. they had these sweet tour vehicles (above) and also a really cool U.S. map made out of different kinds of woods.

the best part? southern california. why? because look at what towns were featured!!

Claremont representing right there. heyoooo

we then went to see the actual mammoth hot springs. im not gonna lie here people, these were probably the lamest things we saw. neither shane nor i were impressed. the best part was the warning sign. hahaha i love it. because in case you dont read english, you can still figure out that stepping on steam vents equals public humiliation of an asian child.

some more cool roads we drove

and that pretty much made it a day. i was completely exhausted at this point. we were happy with all the nature and wildlife we saw, except we hadnt seen a moose or a bear (which we had been hoping to see). fortunately, a few miles away from our campsite, we saw a long line of cars on the road. i was partially annoyed. i vowed that if it were a buffalo or an elk, i would be pissed. (obviously i was becoming extremely hard to please after the magicalness of the trip). shane and i played the game of "guess whats on the side of the road that people are stopping to look at". and you wouldnt believe the things we could come up with for it.

turns out it was a bear!! a black bear. and we saw it for a few seconds. it was the icing on our yellowstone cake.

at this point in my head, as long as neither of us died from a middle of the night bear attack, drowning on the white water rafting the next day, or car accident on the drive home, this was a successful trip. yahoo for yellowstone.

Day Three YNP

2011-09-10T16:18:00.001-06:00

oh you thought that after that incredibly long post last time on day two, i was done with yellowstone posts right? NO!!! on the trip shane finally admitted that maybe he should buy me a nice camera since i love taking pictures so much. anyways, incredibly long and picture filled post for day three is here- enjoy!

we decided on day two to start driving the other direction on the main loop from our campsite to check out some new places. first stop- beach.

the only beach i've seen all summer. and although it wasnt nearly as warm, crowded, or polluted as the california beaches ive grown to love so much, it was a mediocre substitute. which will have to do.

Yellowstone Lake- Yellowstone National Park

this was a beach of yellowstone lake. which was a pretty huge lake if you ask me.

after the beach i was now fully awake and ready to get this show on the road. i read about Lake Lodge, and wanted to see it in person since Old Faithful Inn yesterday was so cool. Lake Lodge was a let down. but it did have bathrooms, and instead of trying to inconspicuously urinate on trails the rest of the day, we decided to get what we could out in the lodge bathrooms.

seeing as how im a girl and it always takes me 3 times as long to go to the bathroom as shane, i was a little suspicious when i came out to no shane in the lobby. instead i nestled up to the fireplace in a big comfy leather chair.

shane came out about 5 minutes later looking pretty smug. he didnt say anything, and so as we went around the lodge souvenir shop, i figured he simply was glad to be... relieved.

fortunately i got the real story when we went back to the comforts of our secluded car. (**warning, graphic story**) apparently shanes bathroom trip involved an overflowing toilet, but having to go so bad he couldnt wait. a man in the stall over having his shoes flooded by shane's urine water. fully submerged scrotum to get out a turd which rimmed the toilet seat, on the brink of overflow. he left before he found out what else would happen. hahahahah i laughed so hard i cried. almost as good as his story of pooping in a random buildings hallway janitor bucket on our way to the airport once. have i told that one? we have too many good stories. three cheers for shane for being my very best friend/partner in crime. i really believe we were made for each other. oh man i love him.

my sincere apologies to whoever the janitor in lake lodge was that day. hahahah

anyways, we travelled onward. our first hike for the day was at "Elephant Back Trail". after the previous day's mishap of getting lost thanks to some strangers, i was slightly apprehensive in starting off with a "moderately strenuous" 3 mile loop. plus there were signs at the trail head warning that this was "bear country". but we saw a few other cars parked at the trailhead, so figured we would risk it. the first half of the hike my eyes were like hawks looking for bears which might have thought that i was going to steal their baby or something. fortunately the only bear we met was friendly and offered to take our picture on the trail.

ho ho, okkkkk, we didnt see any bears. we did meet a nice older women from Oregon who was hiking by herself though. she even had a jingle bell to scare away bears/ make people wonder where santa was. did you know that if you encounter a bear which charges you, you are not supposed to run away? sometimes they are fake charging, just to test you. if attacked, you are supposed to lay face down and play dead, covering your neck. are you kidding me?! they have signs everywhere telling you thats what to do. and i believe them. but i really dont know if i could if it happened to me. instincts tell me to run screaming for help, fighting them off with a stick if necessary. and i learned yesterday that you should go with your instincts. or else you'll end up on the wrong trail hiking in a field for 5 miles.

we eventually made it to the top. there was a great overlook of yellowstone lake and the mountains across. even though visibility wasnt the greatest, it was still worth seeing.

Elephant Back Trail- Yellowstone National Park

and our old lady friend even took pictures for us.

Elephant Back Trail- Yellowstone National Park

during the hike back down elephant back trail. we sang all the words to the pocahontas song that we knew. which wasnt many, but it was a good time.

a short drive later we were ready for hamburgers for lunch. i mean, i was ready for shane to make hamburgers for lunch. this ended up being my favorite meal of the the whole camp. mmmm homeboy knows how to make a burger.

a few miles up the road from lunch we saw a backup of cars. and a backup of cars in yellowstone means one thing- wildlife. we pulled over to see what the commotion was about (adding to the backup of cars and commotion) and found buffalos. we were pretty stoked. then i did what every warning sign tells you not to do and got too close to the bison for a cheesy picture. worth it. especially since i didnt get gored.

they were huuuuge! and everywhere. and i felt truly american.

lots of them just walk right up next to the road. i could have reach out of the window a few times and touched them, had i wanted to. i did not want to.

we got our fill of wildlife, and headed up to the falls. yellowstone has two major waterfalls- the lower falls and the upper falls. first stop was lower falls from Artist Point. to be completely honest, i expected slightly better. especially considering all the hype this place has. it was sweet, no doubt, but i guess i was becoming hard to please.

Artist Point- Yellowstone National Park

we opted to find some better views of it.

then we went and saw the upper falls. which was not as cool as the lower falls. but also, still good. its just that at this point, we need to get picky.

Upper Falls- Yellowstone National Park

we read up on a few trails to see another view of Lower Falls, and decided on Uncle Toms Trail. SO GLAD we did! it was one of my favorites of the trip. essentially a hike consisting of a few switchbacks leading to a sketchy metal staircase, bolted into the side of the mountain. around 300 stairs and it lead you to an amazing view of the Lower Falls.

Lower Falls from Uncle Tom's Trail- YNP

Uncle Tom's Trail

see how sketchy that thing looks?! i was terrified. and don't let this picture fool you, I was clutching onto the handrail the entire time, making small children go around me as i fought off an anxiety attack. worth it.

Uncle Tom's Trail- Yellowstone National Park

i guess this took most of the day, since the rest of my pictures are from the drive back.

we went back to a different beach to rest our feet from the days hikes.

que romantica!

we ended with a bonfire, hot dogs, and smores. and in this picture you can kind of see how incredibly burnt i was. hooray.

and we're still not done. dont worry, days 4 and 5 to come!

Day Two YNP

2011-09-06T22:17:00.001-06:00

Day two we quickly learned some Do's and Dont's for yellowstone national park.

DONT eat pancakes out of a cheese whiz can.

they are disgusting. but we did end up having pretty good eggs for breakfast each day.

DO have your husband make all meals.

because then i have more brain power left to complain about how cold it is and how many mosquitos are biting me. shout out to the shane man for keeping me fed and happy from delicious meals the whole week.

DO pull over whenever you want. as long as there is a spot to. Yellowstone is basically two big loops that you drive around, reading little signs as to what is at each pullout. if it looks/sounds interesting, just pull out, and explore. hence we didnt really have to plan each day, we just drove around and found stuff to do.

this was just some random pullout that we did because the view was too good to pass up. mmm yellowstone.

lilly pad swamp. it was sweet.

DO go to yellowstone if you are old and dont like hiking. why?! because they have tons of things right off the road with paved trails or short wooded bridges to see awesome crap.

like this one- kepler cascades. it was our first waterfall we saw, followed by many more throughout the trip.

DO have people take pictures for you. because honestly, theres gonna be like a million other tourists there when you are, so you might as well try to get a few pictures with both of you in it.

DO go explore (safely... geez im such a worry pants) on other less taken trails to get better views. plus there will be a lot less other tourists. plus its romantic. plus u might get eaten by a bear, and thats kind of exciting.

DO go see old faithful. its what everyone talks about, and it really was pretty cool. plus everyone is hanging around eating ice cream, sitting on all these benches waiting for the "show" to start. theres an excitement to it. we fortunately only had to wait about 10 minutes. then all around old faithful is all of this geothermal activity (which actually you see all over the park)- lots of geysers, hot springs, and mud pots. did you know that yellowstone is one of the most geothermally active spots on the entire earth?! and theres a whole load of it right in that one spot surrounding old faithful, so its worth a go round.

DONT forget to wear sunscreen. even when it is overcast (turns out moms are always right). especially when you have been in school and work indoors all summer and ur skin doesnt remember sunlight. walking around just for half an hour or so here i got BURNED and spent the rest of the trip trying to explain to strangers that yes, i now had sunscreen on, and yes i know that i look like a tomato. thank you.

DO go see the old faithful inn. it was by far the coolest of the lodges that we stopped at.

DO go on the one way Firehole Falls Drive. its just a little road off of the main loop that takes you next to a river for a few miles. it was one of the prettiest parts of our drive that first day.

DO go on the hike to see Fairy Falls. its easy terrain to get there, a decent length, and the waterfall is awesome. not very wide but impressively tall. we even saw a huge bull elk on the way.

Fairy Falls

then we made one of our biggest rookie mistakes of the trip-

DONT listen to strangers directions. especially when you know you are right. after we played at the falls for a while, we were ready to go back. there were a few different paths to chose, my own inclination pointing us towards taking the same trail we came on to go back on. but some people talked us into taking a different one back. they told us it led to the same parking lot and everything. which didnt make sense to me since it was heading in a completely opposite direction. but shane was all in. he even gave me multiple times to change my mind since i seemed so completely against taking this other trail, and he didnt want me to be pissed the whole time since i thought this was the wrong way. but i didnt want to be the party pooper, and we took the trail less traveled by. BIG MISTAKE. note to self- be a party pooper.

we ended up going in this field. farther and farther away from where we needed to end up. surely it would loop back around soon. but no. just farther into the middle of no where.

at least it was pretty.

DONT wait until you already have a blister to put moleskin on. shane learned his lesson. miraculously i did not blister. probably a heaven sent blessing, because im not sure if shane could have handled any more of my constant complaining and "i knew we shouldnt have gone this way" bitterness if i would have also had a blister.

i was pretty exhausted, as at this point we had already hiked around 10 miles for the day. and we were still a looong way from the car. the car was over by the smoke in the picture above. yippee. eventually we made it back, thankfully before dark, and thankfully without being attacked by wild animals. it was an adventure. and then i was officially "done" for the day.

we headed back to our campsite to make dinner and start a fire.

DONT buy firewood. just collect your own. isnt that illegal? thats what I thought too, but the park ranger told us that as long as the wood was dead and not connected to a living tree, we were good to go. which meant shane was free to use his kung fu to break off all pieces of wood he could from dead trees, while i got freaked out because i saw some big spiders. he's pretty manly i guess.

and thus, day one began my new love affair for yellowstone. it blew my mind in one day. and by 9:30 pm we were both so exhausted we were out for the count.

day one

2011-09-04T14:00:00.000-06:00

i was talking to willi the other day saying how hard it is to blog about big trips or fun things. its overwhelming. i think that was my downfall in attempting to keep a journal growing up. its like i got so far behind that it was just too much to take on to catch up. the only way to get through my yellowstone trip on here is to jump in, and thus- day one:

shane and i decided for vacation this summer we either wanted to go to Zions National Park or Yellowstone National Park. and since we had already been to Zions together about 2 yrs ago (i cant believe that was 2 yrs ago), and we live relatively close to yellowstone, we decided we better get our bootays over there and experience it! we knew nothing about yellowstone. we asked around, fortunately our good friend Callin lent us a helpful guide, we threw together some camping equipment (thanks to my bro brian), and headed out the door.

we drove and drove. actually shane drove the whole thing.

and we listened to music and sang along, played the hypothetical situation game we love, got frustrated with the GPS (ok just me), and saw some historical sights which we realized we recognized from playing oregon trail growing up. about 6 hours later we made it to jackson hole, wy. and it was lovely. we went straight to a BBQ joint recommended to us by Callin called Bubba's. which is ironically my nickname that my Dad called me all growing up.

shane was thrilled, dont let the picture fool you. it was delicious! with full tummys and high hopes for an adventure, we headed in to yellowstone. immediately you are driving in utterly gorgeous surroundings.

which my phone camera hardly does justice. i remember just thinking oh thats pretty, oh thats pretty, oh thats pretty!

we found our campsite, were sufficiently scared by the park ranger about bears, and got everything set up.

dont worry, shane didnt set the whole thing up by himself. im pretty handy when it comes to popping a tent. hahaha

by 930 it was dark, freezing (it got down to about 30 degrees each night) and we fell asleep pumped for our first days adventure in the park.

...sorry to spoil any surprises, but no, neither of us were eaten by a bear. i know u were wondering.

and so it begins... again

2011-09-03T15:04:00.002-06:00

yowza!! what a week! can i get an amen sista friend? the new school year started. which didnt really even end for me since i took both spring and summer classes. yes im still in school. i think im a lot more self conscious about it than i should be, and i play it off by joking around about it. in functional anatomy two days ago:

girl in my group: oh man, i havent taken regular anatomy in a year!!
me: ha! i havent taken it in 3 yrs, so dont feel bad
girl in my group: oh so u took anatomy as a freshmen?
me: ...no im just a super senior.

its just that it seems like everyone else my age has graduated, and is moving on, and yadda yadda yadda. and i am at school. again. stillllll working on my undergraduate. and it wasnt so bad when i thought i was done in december. but now that ive decided to re-take some classes and postpone until april, well now its slightly more depressing.

anyways, classes up for grabs for me this semester include "technical communications", where i will jump through the hoops necessary to achieve the desired grade. boo. also "functional anatomy" with accompanying lab. which is a lot like the first anatomy i took 3 years ago. except now i not only have to memorize the 150-200 terms/week, but also their origin, insertion, actions, and innervations. after 4 hours of it on thursday i thought i was gonna explode. at least its interesting and actually useful to my hopeful career. and then "orthopedic impairment and therapeutic exercise". which is like PT school in an undergraduate class. thank the heavens!! unfortunately, due to my little incident last march, I have (from what i head the other kids saying) the hardest teacher for this class.

isnt the first week of school supposed to be spent entirely on reading syllabi and people switching around classes? not quizzes and group projects and headaches and stress? stressing over the first week of school made me stress out more because surely the first week is the easiest. and im only taking three classes! what the heck. last night i fell asleep at 8pm on the couch. on a friday. yikes that was a week!

so this post was supposed to be mainly me talking about the first day of shane and i's trip to the yellowstone, but then i got a little carried away with the blog venting on school. aaaaand done. i feel much better now. heres to a successful (success being measured by getting at least B's and above) semester. i am STILL in college. viva BYU!

Amy's Wedding

2011-08-27T09:10:00.000-06:00

even though the past month or so has been a circus of ridiculous drama in the saltzman family over Amy's wedding, I was glad to sit back through most of it, watch it unfurl, and be grateful that my own wedding a few years back was relatively drama free. fortunately everything came together and the day turned out beautiful! a big congrats to my SIL Amy, who is now Amy Chambers. the Saltzman name will miss you, but I guess Derrick is a good guy too.

plus the day was a good reason for me to buy new shoes and eat a lot of food.

hahaha shane. oh shane. ur such a cheeky monkey.

mmmm, chicken salad sandwich and chocolate covered strawberries. unfortunately it was the type of place where they served you, and i could only handle asking for 2nds about 3 times. then it was just embarrassing.

the night before the wedding they had a reception at the chantilly mansion up in layton. and it was gorgeous! inside and out. shane and i were of course looking awesome.

and my nieces were of course looking adorable

and shane and his brother were of course looking homosexual together.

dont worry, its just a food baby

the next day down in ephraim, we all got ready for the big day. including dana helping shane put on his makeup.

and we maaaay have snuck away at one point to go eat at fat jacks. (obviously)

plus i love getting to spend time with my SIL Kate, and her adorable sons since I dont see them as much.

congrats to amy! now lets get me some more nieces and nephews!! haha jk! kinda.

feliz cumpleanos

2011-08-26T09:15:00.002-06:00

a mis amiga Maria! i can say it in spanish because shes part mexican. anyways, im always blown away at how pasty i am when i am surrounded by a bunch of single people in the summer. dont you people have jobs? when do u go outside?! anyways, slip n slides, bbqs, volleyball, cake, and another Real Salt Lake game? its what im about. alright, mainly anything with food... happy belated birthday to maria! and thanks for the great partizzle for everyone involved in the planning. i merely got to show up. yippee!

and im happy to report that shane and i spent no money on overpriced food at the soccer game.

however, the strangers in front of us didnt finish their cheese sticks, and left early, which in my opinion is an invitation not to be wasteful. it was delicious! thank you strangers.

Aiiiiida

2011-08-25T09:00:00.001-06:00

shane and i are super cultured. and super cheap. so with free tickets to an outdoor theatre performing Aida, we jumped at the chance. ok i begged shane to finangal his way into getting the tickets from work and taking me. not to mention its a musical that i previously played on my ipod, which shane continuously told me to turn off. but guess who enjoyed the musical that much more since he recognized some of the songs? thats right, my subliminal brainwashing of musicals paid off.

it was a grand time. we ate junk food and i tried not to get eaten by mosquitos. mainly i was just really happy that they actually found a black person in utah to play aida.

summer 2011

2011-08-24T19:14:00.000-06:00

where did it goooo?! holy cow. sorry about the break from blogging. but ive been off pretending like i had a summer this year. you see, after my last post, there was a frenzy of activity, including my summer class final (and accompanying preparation), work, amy's wedding, vacation to yellowstone, and my mom in town, all of which prevented me from blogging. now we get to play some serious catchup! ketchup. catsup.

next monday i head back to school. and therefore the next few days on the blog will be a series of "and then i did this", with far too many pictures to go along. so i guess if you're not into that sort of thing then you might want to steer clear for few days until i get back to the good stuff. like "how much going to college and working part time is the greatest thing ever".

speaking of college, while my mom was in town this past weekend, i went with her and my sister out to dinner. we met some fun british people and talked to them. when i told them i was going to byu, this conversation ensued:

brit: oh so this will be your first year going to BYU?
me: oh no, its my fifth
brit: oh!....
me: yeaaahh we call ourselves the super seniors.

here's to a super senior year for me then. lets all cross our fingers that nothing crazy happens that prevents me from graduating. sheesh.

now onto the adventure tales.

Bridal Shower

2011-08-05T08:27:00.001-06:00

a week from today Shane's little sister Amy gets married. and the saltzman family will be complete (minus the children we all eventually have or whatever). so its a pretty big deal. and getting married means bridal showers. Cheryl and I pulled out all the stops and tried to see what we could make for her as a special momento for her wedding

of course- some recycled grocery bags fashioned into a bikini. two points from mother nature to me! dont worry, it will look much better on amy.

amy is on the far right. some of her mission companions and old friends were there, plus Cheryl and I. sorry if we were embarrassingly loud and obnoxious, Amy. ok, that was just me.

dont worry about the shower caps.

also dont worry about the giant cut-out of fabio

sexy outfit #1 that was made for amy.

and #2

amy and i. and people say we look alike or something. psh!

haha and i just love fabio creepin in the back of this picture.

anyways, congrats to Amy! and thanks for inviting us to something that had food. i guess it was fun regardless of the food too. you are going to be such a beautiful bride! can't wait for next friday!

RSL

2011-08-04T09:06:00.003-06:00

with shane off to "steak council" with the boys at Outback last weekend, i was left alone and hungry. no fear, i called up beth-mo and lived it up with her friends. ok i tagged along with a bunch of single people. sorry for acting like a leech all night bethany, being married and interacting with single men in utah is strange. its like they think i have some sort of venereal disease that can be transmitted to them by making eye contact. regardless, i made the most of it, and we went up for my first Real Salt Lake game. its soccer. im glad it didnt pour on us. im also glad that i got to see lots of ethnicities at the game. im also glad there is a band there that plays the same "song" over and over the ENTIRE game. (really though, im not being sarcastic, i loved the band and am impressed they can play music for 90 minutes straight)

with no NBA, i've really got to get into this whole soccer thing to tide me over between baseball games this summer before college football starts again. more RSL games to come this summer. viva Real!!

money and rocks

2011-08-03T11:30:00.005-06:00

ive been married for a super long time, and therefore am an expert on the subject. the only thing that is important in marriage is marrying someone with matching spending habits.

ok, so maybe theres a few other important things. and i havent really been married that long. and am far from an expert on it... unimportant!! what i do know, is im really glad that shane and i have similar spending habits. because then he doesnt have to get mad at me for spending hundreds of dollars on a purse, or shoes, and i dont have to get mad at him for buying fancy electronic equipment. (haha who are we kidding, shane doesnt know how to use electronics and i shop at target). we both are equally pretty cheap. its probably cause we both grew up fairly poor. (poor in the still have a house, food, and clothing way)

i remember when i was dating shane, and we talked about getting married. then we became engaged. and suddenly him spending money on me just wasnt the same as it used to be. suddenly it seemed much more like "our" money. and the cheapness in dating did wonders for our creativity.

cheap date of choice last week? hiking of course. followed by some 75 cent ice cream cones. success! we went up rock canyon this time, farther than we had ever been before. until i was tired of complaining and decided to call it good for the night.

coolest thing about rock canyon? the rocks. go figure. the namers of this place werent kidding around.

hikes with water are good too

and wooden bridges

in hindsight, maybe this wasnt the best hike to do since shane recently sprained his ankle. fortunately he complains about a fifth as much as i do. ok, maybe an eighth. the ground was completely lose rocks. i rolled my ankle a few times, but nothing serious. and shane didnt make his injured ankle any worse, so im dubbing this a good trip.

jacie's mosquito bite count: 4
Shane's mosquito bite count: 0
i dunno why they love my blood so much.

BFFFF's

2011-08-02T19:41:00.000-06:00

the extra F's are for profanity. seems like the older i get the more anti-social i become. or maybe the more lazy. or maybe the more married. or maybe life just gets busier. whatever the reason, good friends seem to be hard to come by. or make. or whatever. good thing ive got some kick-A friends already.

remember how in high school everyone would say how those are the worst years of your life and not to worry because life would certainly get better from there? iiiii dunno about everyone else, but my high school years rocked. i had top notch grades, i did fun activities like dancing and choir, i drove a kick-astro van, and had some pretty great friends. im so grateful that i was surrounded by good kids and i didnt end up being addicted to illegal drugs or pregnant as a teenager or something.

lucky for me, Bethany and Suzie both live in the utah lands, and i get to see them "often" (like once every month or so). the other day i got some texts while at work informing me another great friend was coming into town that night and to clear my schedule for some good times. My friend Zach and his wife were coming down for a Tally Hall concert in Provo, and fortunately for me, i ditched my studying i needed to do and went to frollick like the good old days. I hadnt seen Zach since before his mission. And i had never met his wife. anyways, we all ate food, went to the concert, and had some good laughs. one of the things i love most about good friends? you can not see each other for literally years and then when you get together its like nothing has changed. and you can pick right up where you left off.

suzie, me, bethany, and zach

ive been through a lot with those kids. in a sentimental, look back with a smiling heart kind of way. lets do it again soon. love you all!

Straight to my heart!

2011-07-30T16:48:00.000-06:00

when shane and i were dating, he quickly learned the fastest way to my heart. buying it through food. i wont lie, i went on more than one date simply to get the free meal. (sorry previous people who took me out).

one time in particular has stood out in my mind and will be a cherished memory of dating the shane man. he was up in salt lake with his boys for the night, and i was doing my own thing at my apartment. then late that night when he got back, he sent me a text that he was coming over to bring me a surprise. homeboy brought me a piece of cheesecake from the cheesecake factory. are you kidding me? and right then i knew it was love. alright, maybe not right then, but f'real- he scored some maaajor points.

anyways, fortunately since we've gotten married, the food surprises havent stopped, and the other night he brought me home some curry that someone at his work had made. perfect for me because then i dont have to make dinner. perfect for me because i love curry. perfect for him because a fed/happy jacie is a happy wife. and it was glorious. big thank you to shane for being such a peach and bringing me delicious foods all the days.

(unfortunately the curry wreaked havoc on our stomachs that night and we spent a few hours making exciting sprints to the bathroom... like a tornado with only one way out... haha and you thought this post was going to end without the mention of inappropriate toilet humor. anyone have a good curry recipe that wont make my insides backlash in fury?)

hope everyone has a good rest of the weekend! pictures and less poop humor to come next week :)

how i blog

2011-07-29T08:15:00.000-06:00

happy friday everyone. the day we show the highest hopes for the weekend. hopefully this weekend will be met with unplanned adventures and failure in boring to-do list check-offs.

anyways, just a few thoughts on how i blog. i know everyone does it differently. ok, im not talking about how i chose what to write about, blah blah blah. no one cares what i write about (except you because you are reading this). i mean, how i reeeead blogs. i follow my fair share of blogs, ranging from friends/family blogs, to inspirational get a good cry out blogs, to fashion blogs, to DIY, to people who i creepily stalk even though they have no idea who i am. isnt that the beauty of the internet? ok, just part of the beauty. but really, this connection with people that prevents me from having to call each person individually to see whats going on. and this place to meet (in the not actually meeting, but mainly just stalking) people i wouldnt have normally met.

anyways, heres my routine. my favorite way to go through the blogs? i pull them all up that i havent read, that have posted recently. like all 15 or so (depending on how long i havent read blogs). i pull them all up and open and then i decide which one i am least interested in and read in order of ascending interest. which changes depending on the day. sometimes i like reading wordy blogs. sometimes i like ones with pictures. sometimes its based off who i like the most in my own little judgmental popularity contest. i read each one from "worst" to "best" then make mental note of re-arrangements i shouldve had in the order.

is that horrible? its just how i blog. anyone? beuller? maybe i am the only one. haha anyone else have weird blog rituals?

brain mushing

2011-07-28T10:20:00.001-06:00

nothing better than to veg out my brain on cocaine. i mean television. when summer started shane and i were a little lost. how will we know what tv shows to watch when our normal programs have ended and we actually have some time to spend watching tv without feeling guilty? we needed guidance. a little direction in our lives. with summer about half over we've made our choices, and have been indulging in a bit more than the suggested amount of time on our couch in front of the tube. go ahead and judge. anyways, here the line-up. (warning, most shows lack class or intelligence)

-swamp people
-expedition impossible
-so you think you can dance
-challenge: rivals
-millionaire matchmaker
-house hunters international

and soon to come is the season premier of jersey shore.

any fans of any of the afore-mentioned shows need not publicly humiliate themselves by admitting to it, but are welcome over for food and brain mushing. viva summer!

Visitors Welcome

2011-07-27T09:00:00.002-06:00

well my mom was able to spend the weekend with Shane and I a week or so ago, and it was magical. Magical in the way that i bawled like baby for about 1/2 an hour the night before she left because i was missing her already. sometimes i think what it would be like if my mom were to have passed away instead of my dad back when i was in jr high. (haha morbidly depressing i know) i am just glad my mom is still around for me to enjoy. its funny how bittersweet having shane's family so close is to me. i see my in-laws all the time. i see my mom once or twice a year. and its easy to forget how much you miss someone in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, but having her here really gave me a kick in the pants of missing. you are welcome back anytime mom!

my homesick sadness aside, we made the most of the weekend. she arrived friday night in time for us to go out to dinner. where we had dinner conversations of the politically correct way of teaching children about gay families in california. oh it was just like home. our dinner conversations were always the most interesting, with a family split between democrats and republicans, and myself basically completely intentionally uninformed about everything political. after dinner i got to show off my skills of cutting hair.

no thats not a trash bag. im legit. i have a hair cutting cape thingy. and a fan to blow off excess hair. alright jk to the fan part, but f'reals- somebody tell shane they like his hair. its such a ego boost for me and my completely self taught hair skills.

saturday morning we juiced like a million lemons

drove around town doing errands (one of my favorite activities to do with my mom growing up- what a trooper for dragging me along throughout the years when it probably could have taken half as long without me).

and then went out to tooele utah for a little family reunion. has anyone from the provo/orem bubble actually been out to tooele before? i thought we were going to have the car break down and not have anyone find us for days. but we eventually made it. and the hilarity of my moms side of the family ensued. the sense of humor there. oh man, who knew it was so hereditary? i think the main thing is how easily we laugh. something is hardly funny, and yet we are all crying from laughter. so sorry all you guys i used to date who i laughed at your jokes. you're not funny, im just my mothers daughter and im easily entertained. but it was a good time listening to family stories and eating delicious food. thanks to Candy and her family for hosting!

my mom and i

three of my cousins wendy, candy, and megan

my cousin olivia and her husband (a brave man to sit there at that table full of women)

my mom, cousin candy, and my aunt carolyn

all cousins. and this is just a handful of us. i have a pretty big family. we missed all 124 of you who couldnt make it. more food for me

me and my first cousin once removed sarah. notice the family resemblance.

on sunday we went up to bridal veil falls up provo canyon. apparently a very popular spot for families on sundays. yikes. fun none the less.

and once it started to immediately pour on us we called it good and headed back to the car.

it was so nice to see my mom and have her here to visit for a few days. maybe if we see each other more often i wont resort to whining/crying/throwing a temper tantrum to try and keep her here. come back soon!!

boys are different than girls

2011-07-26T08:00:00.001-06:00

besides some obvious anatomical differences, turns out boys are different from girls. you see, most of the young children i am closely familiar with are girls. (being my two nieces i see regularly). the other day I was watching my 2nd cousins (who are two little boys) (i think they are my second cousins? what do you call your cousins child's kids?), and woah! night and day between the two! once i about had a heart attack from fear of them injuring themselves in my non child proof home, i decided it was time for the park.

boys jump off of high walls (relative to their little bodies) and girls think that scary. excuse me for my ignorant stereotyping, but its what i encountered. three cheers that we came away with only one minor scrape, minor amounts of dirt ingested, and smiles on everyone's face. (dont let the picture fool you, he was having a good time dangit)

being daring boys aside, they are pretty dang cute. glad shane was able to make it home in time for me to understand what they were saying when they asked for "ice and watermelon" (at least thats what he deciphered them to be saying). because it seemed to make them happy and i never would have figured it out on my own.

Swamp People

2011-07-23T14:50:00.000-06:00

wow. well with July more than half over, i better beg you guys to like me again by getting back on the blogging train. more posts to come for this week.

shane and i have really been capitalizing on the high water levels this year. what else to do on a friday night than to drive down to ephraim and go boating!

oh wait you thought i meant boating like with a big nice boat and wakeboards and classic rock playing anthems for our summer? haha no, we'll leave that to you rich people. we took out a family heirloom boat and spent our night pretending we could catch alligators like the people on swamp people (one of our favorite shows).

with the opportunity to go ride around in flooded farm fields, we couldnt say no.

and it really was beautiful out.

sometimes its the simple outdoor pleasures that i enjoy the most.

my favorite picture from the night. just beautiful

then shane's dad got out and we went for a romantic stroll for two. our speed went up from about 5 mph to maybe 15. we were cruisin.

and by romantic, i mean we watched for carp swimming around and tried to fight off mosquitos by thrashing our bodies around periodically.

i even wore my boat shoes... ok i wear them most days...

then just as we were finishing up, the sun came out and lit up the fields to be the most vibrant gold i could think of. i wanted to stay out there all night. except then the mosquitos continued to attack and i saw more than one big field like spider, and i was about done for the night.

we love ephraim. and we love boating (in all forms). and since our house isnt flooded, we love the high water levels this year. thanks to my pop-in-law Donny for the adventure! someday when shane and i get rich and buy a boat we will take you out with us. (contributions to shane and i's being-rich-fund are gladly accepted)

happy america day

2011-07-12T21:31:00.000-06:00

wow. its like July what now? 12th? pathetic. this summer is being sucked away by my nights spent in the UVU library. like right now. and yes, i should get back to some studying, so lets get this show on the road

-side note: I officially started my applications to PT schools through the little centralized system they have yesterday. i am le excited. now if only i could figure out how to juggle my time a little better between studying for current school work, and working on applications for future school work.

so america. had a birthday. and what better way to celebrate my independence than do whatever the heck i wanted, eat whatever i wanted, say whatever i wanted, believe in whatever i wanted, and the rest. we've got a pretty sweet deal going on over here in the USA. celebrations followed after our hike up Adam's canyon by going to "Casa De Infierno". a little celebratory BBQ i've gone to the past 3 years at our friend's house, the Bennetts. the night was spent with family and friends-as-close-as-family. perfection ensued. and the thought that Shane and I and the Bennetts might not even be around for Casa De Infierno next year is a weird thought. because this has been one of the greatest traditions we've got here in the utah lands.

anyways, explanatory pictures:

Shane, my SIL Cheryl, and my pseudo-SIL Chrisanne

My personal sidekick

Our sweet set up

Jammies I wish I could sport

Alyse and I

Shane being super awesome

Wheel-barrels

FOOD

new chairs compliments from my bro Brian...sorta

our entertainment for the evening (besides fireworks)

hahah i look so white im like translucent. awesome.

Needless to say (but I will anyways) Casa De Infierno round 3 was a success. fun was had by all. (Except maybe baby Everett who was emotional scared from the plane fly-by. better luck next year big guy!)

The next day Shane and I ventured down to Ephraim and spent the day with the fam.

Eric and Conner

Where I could obsess over my cute nephews.

and we could eat 7 lbs of smoked beef brisket. honestly the best i've ever had.

where you can have piggy back rides

eat lots of food

play hours of risk. i didnt play. i dont believe in strategy games. i dont want to have to "think" when im supposed to be having fun. ill leave the thinking/planning/stress for the other 15 hours of my day, thank you.

and clothing was optional. but not shoes. keep those on!

we came back to our place for the real 4th of july and we played real americans by shane working all day and me playing housewife and cleaning/cooking. a fantastic weekend. sorry about the just-now-blogging.

anyways, God Bless America!

Adam's Canyon

2011-07-02T15:21:00.000-06:00

I spent the first half of today at BYU studying. studying in a large empty (besides me) room. one of the janitors came through.

Janitor: studying on a saturday afternoon?!
me: yep, guess im the only one
Janitor: yeah you need to get a life!!

thank you for reminding me janitor. anyways, with a 98% on my test, i'll take a nerdy afternoon studying alone any saturday! needless to say, im pretty pumped. i havent seen that grade on the testing center screen in years.

but this weekend isnt going to just be spent studying, because its 4th of july weekend!! and here in utah it seems like they celebrate the. whole. weekend. long. i love it! so shane and i started off with a bang last night by driving up to Layton, UT and hiking "Adam's Canyon".

you start out going up some nasty switch backs in the sun.

with soft sandy paths and surrounded by nasty scrub oak. not my favorite part of the hike. but all those times hiking the Y really prepares you well for it.

and once you get to the top you have a pretty good view of Layton and surrounding cities, plus the Great Salt Lake, etc.

and then finally things start to level off, and you are ready to start the real hike by dropping down into Adam's Canyon.

sufficiently sweaty, we were excited to be done with switch backs.

and the hike started to get a bit prettier.

and most of the time you follow a trail alongside this river

and some of the time you go through the river.

three cheers for shane for letting me stop every two seconds to have some water. no one likes a dehydrated jacie. even i dont.

we crossed some sketchy bridges

and the hike really seemed to get more gorgeous the farther we went

and once i was at the point that i even i couldnt handle myself complaining like a 4 year old who needs a nap, we made it (thanks for hanging in there with me shane)

you reach a spot that looks super sketch, with a string tied across so you dont slip and fall into the river to your death. alright, it really wasnt that sketchy. a few more maneuvers, and you've got yourself a waterfall.

and it was well worth the climb

shane didnt really feel like getting wet.

haha and i busted up laughing watching him try to wiggle his way around on the rocks without submerging his feet. i threw dryness out the window when i starting sweating on the switchbacks.

and enjoyed the freezing water numbing the pain from the blisters i was accumulating.

the hike back down took a quarter of the time, and yet in my head i kept thinking about how this is the part of the hike that makes you sore. all the eccentric contractions producing the DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) we would surely feel a day or two later. and i felt pretty nerdy that physiology was constantly running through my mind and that i actually enjoyed it. still left some thinking room for enjoying how pretty the sunset was though.

with some gnarly dirty shoes (dont mind my really high tech fuzzy socks i got for christmas doubling as my hiking socks) and some even gnarly-er blisters

we called it good and dubbed this our new favorite hike we've done in northern utah.

and thats just the start of the weekend. tonight we celebrate our yearly "casa de infierno" over at the Bennetts. happy ~~4th~~ 2nd of july!!

this post is a love story

2011-06-28T21:54:00.000-06:00

happy 2 year anniversary to Shane and I. *insert all cliche sayings here* (like, "it feels like we just got married, but it feels like i've known him my whole life", "i didnt know I could love you more than the day I married you" blah blah blah) but f'reals- 2 years is worth a hoot and a holler. and im pretty dang grateful I'm where I'm at today with the kid.

you see, once upon a time I dated a boy other than Shane (shocking I know). Actually, I did quite a bit of dating. I looooved dating. what girl doesnt love the attention and free food? Then I started pretty seriously dating a guy, and long story short it wasnt right, and didnt work out. I. was. crushed. in the pathetic teenager way, where i cried every night and became pretty depressed. I didnt really understand at the time why or how things would work out right, but I knew they would. And now, years later, I can see that. Everything worked out right. and better.

I am so glad to have a husband who lets me focus on education and go for my goals. I know he has to sacrifice a lot for that. He has always supported me and had much more faith in me than I ever could. and i could write a lot more gushy stuff about why shane is so great. and i have a few times now and then decided to delete it. simply put, im just happy. really happy.

for big number 2 we decided to take off a weekend and party it up park city style! the place in utah that feels the least like utah.

shane really liked my gift- a new sweet blender to replace our crappy one we got as a wedding gift. i mean, our really awesome one- dont remember who got that for us.... woops.

and he gave me some sweet new vogue shades. now the bugs wont fly into my eyes when I ride the scoot. score

when we got up to park city, we checked into our romantic hotel- the holiday inn express, and got dressed up really fancy. meaning shane actually wore jeans instead of sweats, and i put on heels. we were excited to go eat at a nice italian restaurant. only to be met by some crazy outdoor eating event they had all up and down main street in park city. in retrospect, we maybe should have made reservations somewhere or looked up if there was going to be some sort of big event there that weekend. oh well. after 15 minutes of looking for parking, we found a spot a few blocks up the hill. and i only had to climb down one set of grate stairs that my heels sank into, and i only got mildly upset at the situation. success. after getting to main street and realizing that everywhere was completely booked, we settled in at a bar for dinner. a deserted bar, where it was just us two and the waitress/bartender. pretty romantic. we watched soccer and listened to country songs and had a good time laughing at ourselves. dont worry, we kept it classy enough to get the half priced $4 burgers from happy hour. success!

they were actually really good. our tummies were pleased and therefore we were too. after dinner we headed back to the hotel and had a nice round of hot tubbing before we headed out to the cluuuub. where we got our dance on. for someone like me who grew up dancing and likes doing that more than most things, its kinda pathetic this was our first time going dancing, but fun none the less. fortunately I did not bring my camera, and so i dont have pictures of us covered in sweat and nearby dancers spilt beer. around 1:30 we were out hours past our bedtime and called it a night.

the next morning we hit up the outlets and went shopping. i had to really have my game face on, because shopping with shane is much different than shopping with a girlfriend. i've gotta be ready to make a decision and not ask too many questions, but shane was pretty patient and we bought lots of things i already love.

shane showing off his sweet new shirt
after a delicious pizza lunch

we hit up a pretty hippy farmers market and i was in bliss.

so much sunshine, peace, and love. not to mention, locally produced ice cream

we listened to live music, and walked around until our feet hurt. then we headed over to park city mountain resort. which was huge. and much bigger than our usual spot for snowboarding down fairview canyon.

we had a romantic lift ride for two with only mild anxiety from me about the heights.

once we got to the top we were able to ride down this bad boy

the alpine slide. a park city favorite. i was pretty glad i didnt hit the 5 gofers i saw on the track on my way down. and i was pretty excited i forced myself to go fast enough so that the child behind me didnt catch up. im a rebel, i know.

after an exhausting day and a half, we called it good and drove back home.

2 years down. and id still rather hang out with him than anyone else. woot.

grad school

2011-06-23T19:30:00.000-06:00

this whole lack of interwebs thing really blows. I check my email while at work, and make lists of what I need to do online for when I drive over to UVU to use the internet there. I really wish shane and I werent so cheap. Shane has already given me the OK to purchase our very own internet, but I just cant make myself do it yet. because honestly, who really needs the internet? its like cell phones, they just make life much much MUCH more convenient. anyways, this battle of cheapness wages on, and therefore lack of posts. heres an uncreative update. sorry for the lack of wit and charm.

My new semester started on monday. so far so good. i am taking exercise physiology and the associated lab. fortunately this stuff is really super interesting to me. i am so so happy the days of chemistry are over. they were rough. now at least while these classes are challenging, they are still decently interesting for me. anyways, i have school three mornings a week and 1 night a week. do-able. this summer will be over before i know it.

Im working again at Stewarts this summer. I love that job. air conditioning, laid back atmosphere, and being well paid for a secretarial position makes me a happy camper. I work every weekday in the afternoons.

Evening are filled with trying to balance studying and remembering the sun is only out for so many months here in Utah. also intermittent efforts at grad school applications. I keep talking about those and I realize some of you dont know whats the deal there. heres where im at-

i am finishing up my bachelors degree at BYU in exercise science. i am planned to graduate in december. I have to finish this one summer class, then take 3 classes in the fall, and i will be done *fingers crossed*. I have loved my BYU experience and I am extremely grateful for the education I have received there. education is priceless. (even though i guess you could count tuition and books as a price). This summer I apply to grad schools. I am hoping to go into physical therapy. I have wanted to do this for years. Probably since jr high. the more I learn about it and get closer to it, the more I want to do it. PT school is 3 years long and you graduate as a DPT (doctor of physical therapy). Unfortunately, amidst my 4 1/2 years of hard work at BYU, I have received less than exemplary grades. Which I am realizing people I know find hard to believe. Yes, I had good grades in high school. High school was a joke compared to BYU. so of course I got good grades in high school. Unfortunately, as it stands, I probably will end with about a 3.2 or 3.3 overall GPA and a much lower science GPA. depending on how the grad school calculates it, maybe around a 2.75. Yeah, yikes. you're telling me. Anyways, apply anyways I will, limited to schools that have lower GPA requirements. and then I pray and hope for the best. and start thinking about back up plans of "what if" i dont get accepted anywhere. Number one scenario being, work on making my application look better and applying again the next year. To say the least, I am very emotionally attached and concerned about it, and will be heart broken if I am not accepted anywhere. Something I like to laugh off when talking to people, but have to be realistic and accept the possibility.

and so I apply. From the many PT schools that are accredited across the nation, I individually briefly looked at each school and cut it down to about 25 schools. At which point I started to look more in depth at those and decide which ones would be the best fit/ most realistic for me to get accepted to/ places I would want to live for 3 years. Anyways, my unofficially official decision has been made to these 7 schools:
   1. University of Utah- Salt Lake City, UT (obviously my #1 pick, but unfortunately the same goes for every other white and mormon applicant in the state... this is my one crazy application, because im 95% sure I would never be accepted there)
   2. Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions- Provo, UT (this school has recently become accredited, but has not officially become accredited by CAPTE. this makes them slightly sketchy. If the school you graduate from is not accredited, then you can not sit for the liscence exam, and therefore cannot really legally practice physical therapy. BUT, they are making significant progress being recognized by CAPTE which will hopefully give them accreditation in 2012 when their first class graduates)
   3. AT Still University of Health Science - Mesa, AZ
   4. Samuel Merritt University- Oakland, CA
   5. Nova Southeastern University- Ft Lauderdale, FL
   6. University of St Augustine for Health Sciences - St Augustine FL
   7. New York Medical College- Valhalla, NY

we will see. I feel a lot better now getting this all out on the blog. ive spent so many hours researching and reading about procedures and checklists and blah blah blah. its kinda a nightmare. but come next december, I will have a bachelors degree and submitted applications regardless. My goal is to have these all submitted and completely done by the end of August so I dont have to worry about it fall semester.

needless to say, this is shane and I's most awesome summer ever -_- But honestly, I am very grateful for where we are at and all of the opportunities that I have. Theres enough emotion there for a completely separate post. plus- things to look forward to include: shane and I's anniversary, 4th of july, and a two week break in school in august. yippee!!

out of commission

2011-06-15T20:08:00.000-06:00

i remember a time last summer when our interwebs didnt work. and i came to UVU daily for my online fix, and it threw my groove all out of whack. its been about a year. and for the past year we've enjoyed mysterious free internet. we may or may not have been stealing it from an unknown neighbor. but i figure, i know next to nothing about computers, and if I was able to figure out how to use their internet, it was mine for the taking. well, now it is gone again. i am back at UVU again. there is plenty i want to blog about and things to fill you in on, but its next to impossible to explain my life in this place. haha jk, i love the good old UVU library! we will be buddies again this summer.

ok ok, u got me, i dont really have much to fill you in on. why? because tomorrow I take my final. you know, for that class im re-taking and only doing slightly better the second time around (depressing i know). which means while everyone else has been galavanting around in the sunshine, i have been at school, work, or locked away in my second bedroom studying about hormones. good thing i really like this class, or this would totally suck instead of just semi-sucking.

anyways, back to studying. im out of commission for now. but who knows when mysterious free interwebs might show up again. not like i need it for grad school applications this summer or anything....

ps- yes i know this problem could be solved by shane and i not being completely cheap and just buying our own internet, but then again, UVU library is just so close and free. wow we're cheap haha

squito's

2011-06-07T17:44:00.000-06:00

i woke up yesterday morning with my first mosquito bite of the year. and it itches!! and im one of those people that cant stand not to scratch away at it. which makes it worse. and for some reason it itches really bad when i first wake up in the morning, and then as i start doing things and forget about it, it itches less. go figure. anyway, first of many to come. maybe its because shane and i have been obsessing over being outside? or maybe its because i live right next to a lake, which brings all the swamp bugs to my house. either way, "I am like sugar to them". (and 1 cool point if you know what that quote is from)

a recent hike up the canyon. shoot i dont even know where this was or what it was called. but i loved it

purely magical. the streams were overflowing, we hiked in mud, it rained on us, no one else was around, and we both peed in the wilderness. there just not much better.

now everyone excuse me for the next 8 days as i have a test, a final, the GRE, and finalizing grad school choices for applications. oh yeah and work. i will survive.