2014 a review

2014 What a year!  So many exciting and fun and devastatingly sad things came to pass. 

January - We celebrated our 2nd anniversary!  I love him more than ever!

February - Paul and I went on a 7 day trip to beautiful Hawaii with our friends Tammy and Andrew Meyers.  We flew to Waikiki and found our funky but cool hotel was just a few blocks from the beach.  We had so many awesome adventures.  We climbed Diamond Head. We went on an underwater submarine tour and saw various fish and sealife.  We went on a dinner luau cruise with a fabulous buffet, where Paul and Andrew along with some other men were chosen to dance with the hula dancers at the end (it was very funny and they were good sports).  We visited the North Shore and saw some amazing, huge waves. We visited the Dole Pineapple plantation and tasted the famous Dole whip.  We attended an endowment session at the Honolulu Temple in Laie and then spent the day at the Polynesian Cultural Center and had a wonderful time.  We even renewed our marriage vows by saying, "No, we would never leave our loves side. " We visited Pearl Harbor and the Pacific Air Museum.  What an awesome reverence.  We finished our trip off by taking a jumper plane to The Big Island where Paul and I went on a zip line expedition as well as shopped.  We had a wonderful time.
March - pretty calm, nothing too crazy.

April - Paul and I rode took motor cycle rides and went Jeeping up by the Bountiful B. 
 I went to Las Vegas with my best friend Jenna on one last baseball trip.  I had so much fun playing with Milly and taking her to the pool to swim.  Jenna and I took Isaiah and a couple of his friends to Serendipity to eat this amazing ice cream creation  - it was delicious and crazy huge! I got to witness Jenna marry her new husband Chris!! This was an awesome day! 

May - was great! I spent as much time as I could with loved ones as we were preparing to move to Alaska.  Walks with Milly.  Went to Jade Allred's wedding reception and got to see some of my awesome cousins.  Memorial day weekend I visited all of the family graves with mom and dad, Gabby, Jenny and Shela.  I love that family tradition. 
Paul drove the Chief Cherokee up to Alaska.  Oh and Paul turned 40!

June - I work my last day at Comprehensive Orthopedics and Sports Medicine after working there for 5 years.  I loved my job and the people there.  I still miss my boss Bryce and my good friends Lauren and Lorrie.  I learned so much working there - I use so much of the knowledge I gained there at my current job.
I flew to Alaska for a week and Paul and I started to look at houses.  We also had fun at the Summer Solstice Festival in Anchorage, it rained alllllll day. We also enjoyed eating at some fun restaurants and taking walks by the water and enjoying some of the parks in Anchorage. 
We then flew to Arizona to pick up our motorhome! We had a wonderful adventure driving through AZ and then into Nevada.  We stopped in Vegas and had dinner with Rebecca and Marin.  We continued north to Utah to finish moving out of our apartment. 
We drove to Colorado to spend a week with Paul's parents. Paul's dad had an operation to remove a tumor from the side of his neck.  Luckily it was a benign tumor - no cancer, yay!! We then headed back to Utah for a night then on to Alaska - stopping in Idaho and Montana on the way to rest and spend the night.  Driving through Canada was so beautiful. That was a first for me.  I loved all of the bridges. We saw so much wild life.  After arriving we parked in Palmer, AK.  Palmer is a small town but very close to Wasilla.  We looked at more homes and rode around on the motorcycle.  It was awesome, exciting and exhausting.  We even put an offer in on a home that was not accepted.  I loved spending time with Paul.

July - I flew home the end of June and Paul went to work.  I finished cleaning our apartment and moved everything else out.  I spent the next few weeks at mom and dad's home.  I turned 38 and attended my 20 year high school reunion.  I went with my best amigas Fiona Wilhelm Ostler, Elizabeth Hopper Field and Katrina Clawson Saxton.  It was fun and strange all at the same time. Some people were just the same, others had totally changed.  I was glad I went.  We went to Hire's for a treat after and for old time sake.  
I also spent as much time as I could with my friends and family once again, the time was drawing nigh.

August - Paul flew home and we one again, drove to Alaska.  We got here and continued the house search.  Finally we found the one.  Offer made...offer accepted.  But now we had to wait.  We were now staying in the motorhome at the Big Bear RV Park off the Parks Highway.  Paul went to work and I started to look for work.  I applied for about 5 different jobs and was called to interview by Patsy at Valley Eye Associates an optometry office.  I interviewed, and within 2 hours Patsy called me back and offered me the job.  I was so excited.  I started work the next day.

September - We finally got to close and move into our new home.  We were so excited!! We began to attend our new ward which we love.  We also explored Hatcher's Pass and went on a few hikes.  Oh! I experienced my first big earthquake, 6.1.  Pretty crazy!

October - Paul and I started painting our kitchen/living room.  I chose a pretty, sunny shade of yellow.  It got cold fast! And dark early!  We were invited to a Halloween party by Nate and Alicia Jones and we went dressed as a mad hatter (me) and Paul as a mime.  It was so fun! I got a lovely new coat from REI.com, my first down coat.  I love it!

November - Paul had to work for Thanksgiving so I spent it at the Johnson's home with Jennifer and Nick and Erika, Jen's cousin and his family and a young man that Taft is mentoring in a military program.  It was so nice to be taken in by some lovely people. 
 Jen, Erika and I went out on Black Friday and had fun but were so tired after.
I continued to paint and finish the project.  We did an accent wall of a vintage blue color and I love it.
I had a feeling I was pregnant and so I got a test and it was positive.  Of course I was elated but nervous because of the miscarriage I had last year. 

December - I started to bleed and bleed and cry and cry.  Paul took me to the ER because of abdominal pain.  He was so sweet and supportive.  I visited a nurse/midwife Ellen Palmer and had an exam and blood work done.  She was wonderful and made me feel so good.
I joined a choir for a special Christmas program.  I love singing in a choir again. 
Paul and I had an early Christmas together. I love him so. I drove Paul to the airport Tues. morning then Tara Styers and Shari Mason drove me and Luna in Christmas Eve morn to fly to SLC for Christmas.  I had a ball seeing family, Jenna, Milly and Fiona.
I started to bleed again after stopping for a week, so Paul came home for 2 days and we got to spend New Year's Eve together.  We were invited to the Griffin's with Guy family.  I just love them.  We had homemade pizza and played card games.

What a year! I pray 2015 brings us health and fertility! 







    

Picking up our MOTOR HOME in Mesa, AZ and our trek to Montrose, CO

Paul and I flew from Anchorage to Mesa to pick up our new motor home.  It was a loooooong flight.  We were picked up by a cute old guy from the RV dealership Always RV.  It was about a 30 min drive from the airport.

One of the things they required us to do was to stay the night in the motor home on their lot.  Paul met with a mechanic and walked around the motor home.  He explained how everything worked and functioned and then we took a ride.  Paul was in 7th heaven.  You'd have thought it was Christmas morning.

WE went to Wal-Mart to buy some basics and some food and then went back to the lot to spend the night.  The next morning Paul met with the mechanic again.  Paul asked a few dozen questions and we were good.  After signing all of the paperwork we were off into the desert in our home on wheels! WooT!

 So many cool cactus plants. BIG ones, small ones and medium sized ones too.  
And my favorite...the Joshua trees...yes partly because of the U2 album :)

We traveled from through Arizona, past the Hoover Dam and into Las Vegas.

Lucky us! We had the best home cooked meal by my sweet sister Rebecca.  It was awesome to visit for a few hours, show she and Marin the motor home and have a nice meal. I love her so much!

 We got back in the m.h. and drove until Paul could no longer keep his eyes open.  and that my friends is the coolest part of an RV...when you are tired, you pull over, park, and walk back to a bed and you go to sleep.  We slept somewhere near Cedar City, woke up the next morning and kept on trucking.  

We stayed  in SLC for a few days, showed the new rig to my parents Janet and Richard and got some errands done before heading now to Colorado.  Paul's dad, Bruce was having a surgery to have a tumor removed from his neck, so we had planned to go to keep Paul's sweet mother company and calm during the surgery.  Paul and his dad have this incredibly special bond and Paul really wanted to be there while he had this procedure. 

Here are some shots from our trip to Montrose, CO. 

 

the search begins and fun in Anchorage

It is always a joyful reunion for Paul and I at the end of a long 3 weeks apart.  I can honestly still say, I miss him like crazy when he is at work.  That my friends is part of the reason we have decided to move up north to Alaska.

June 20th I flew into Anchorage to meet Paul and begin the search for a house.  But let's face it, we

could only stand to look at 5-6 house a day.... and we weren't our realtors only clients.  So we played like kids in downtown Anchorage.

The Peanut Farm was a little hole in the wall restaurant that we found.  We sat on the back deck right next to a small river/creak. 

It was so peaceful and fun.  Only downside was the mosquitos.

The next day we went to the summer solstice festival in downtown Anchorage.  Hey when there is a free festival, why not go?!

I loved this cool totem carved from a tree showing some of the animals found her in AK.  The bottom is a moose, then a bear sitting on his head holding salmon with a bald eagle on his head.  So cool and creative. 

We went to Olive Garden to celebrate the beginning of summer!

 and our new beginning in Alaska.

 This photo was taken at 11:00pm after we had gone to see a movie.  

It was so cool to me that it was that light out that late at night. 

One of those summer things I will have to get used to, I guess. 

 

 I giggled at the skating rink in the middle of the shopping mall.

We literally drove South out of this rainstorm.

It was really beautiful. 

 

This was us wasting time on the beach before we caught our flight

to Arizona to pick up our MOTOR HOME!!

 

Going with the flow

Before we started this great adventure of moving to Alaska, I promised myself one thing, that I would go with the flow.  We had a plan, but hey things can happen.  So I made it my mantra, gonna GO WITH THE FLOW.  If plan A doesn't work our we are going with plan B.  If plan B starts to sink, we will form plan C and so on and so forth. 

The Lord must have prepared me for this incredible journey and given me some kind of foresight because there have been some twists and turns that's for sure.  One thing I k
new for certain was that Paul would take care of me and that in the end everything would be as it should.  Trusting the Lord and trusting Paul made things easier and calmed my heart and soul. 

I am also very grateful for family and friends that supported us and kept me sane during this whole process. I am so very fortunate to have such an amazing support system no matter the distance.

I am grateful I got to spend time with some people who mean so much to me before I left too.

Jenna and I went to Megan & Rafael's wedding reception and then to dinner. 

I will miss my Jenna so very much. She is a voice of reason for me.

My good friend Kristi.  We served together in the Venezuela, Valencia mission.  Such a loving, loyal friend.  So of course we had to go out to eat at La Andanita, our favorite Venezuelan place. 

 Me with my favorite, a patacon.  Like a sandwich but the bread is fried plantains.

 Hiking City Creek with my good friend Carrie Anne.  This lady is amazing.

 Craig and I on an adventure to the Gateway.  We had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and of course laughed ourselves silly.

 Breakfast the next morning at Eggs in the City, then shopping at 

Jolley's pharmacy and gifts.

 Father's day with my wonderful daddy! Man I am lucky!

Talk time and play time with my amiga Liz and her cute kiddos.  

She just moved to Chattanooga, TN with her husband and four children with one on the way.

 My darling friend and jeeping buddy Sarah and her baby Abby took me 

to have Nielsen's Frozen Custard a North Salt Lake classic.

This was all from June 5th - June 19th or thereabouts.  I flew to Anchorage to meet Paul on June 20th to start our search for homes. 

So grateful for so many friends and family. I am blessed. There is a popular saying that feels appropriate for this post,   

KEEP 

CALM

and

CARRY

ON  

 So I am.