Tagged

You have to stop what you are doing and take the following pictures NOW. No excuses! If you don't have time to blog just take the pictures NOW and blog when you can!! No cleaning, re-arranging, just have fun taking the pics!

1. Kitchen Sink 2. Favorite room 3. Fridge 4. Closet 5. Laundry room 6.Self Portrait 7. Kids are doing, or what you are doing 8. Dream Vacation 9.Favorite Shoes 10.bathroom And I tag, Erin, Chrissy, & Linsy!

1. Kitchen Sink - Hey there are actually no dishes in there, MIRACLE!

2. Favorite Room. I love being able to relax in our office. It is where my reading lamp, sewing machine, craft stash, and computer is. We even have a comfy couch to relax on, perfect. :)

3. Fridge - I know kinda pathetic how empty considering I only work part time and we both love to cook.

4. Closet - This closet actually is the length of the doors on either side, however it is not wide at all. Kinda a pain when it comes to storing things.

5. Laundry Room. I love love love having a washer and a dryer of my own. Might not choose stack able when we have our very own.

6. Self Portrait - I really am not very photogenic, sorry its not better.

7. Yep these are our kids. They do keep us busy.

8. Dream Vacation
So Travis has been in contact with one of his families that he taught in Brazil. Their son is planning on going on a mission in roughly 4 years and wants us to visit before he leaves. So we are trying to save enough to be able to go.

9. Favorite Shoes
- These are the boots that I bought as a prize for being released from the doctor after breaking my leg. I have been wanting a pair of these forever. :)

10. Bathroom

This tag was kind of fun, but took me awhile due to the fact that I get distracted too easily :) from Kamala

Week #4

This week has been tough for me. I am really struggling with figuring out what I need to do to feel like I am accomplishing something. Through out this week there have been three people that have really helped me feel loved. The first of course is my loving husband. Travis has always been there and really is supportive with all my silly ideas. And the last two are my other two heroes. My parents are the greatest examples of enduring life and still loving family.

My mom is the coolest mom ever, and I am totally serious. When I was in high school all my friends would want to hang out at my house. I always thought it was to be with me, I think they really wanted to be with her more. My mom has given up so much to truly live up to the calling of being a mother. She has and still is homeschooling her children. Yes we drive her crazy sometimes but I would never trade the years for anything. She has always reminded me of my dreams and has reminded me that they can happen. She really is the best.

My dad now is unbelievable. For those that didn't know my dad was in the military when I was really young. We were stationed in Kentucky and then when his enlistment ended that is when we moved to California. My dad has done so much in the medical field, medic in the army, EMT, nursing school, and finally a chiropractor. Sure it was rough growing up with a dad that was in med school but he always had time to spend with his girls. He truly is my best example of enduring. He has had many struggles in is life but shows such faith and commitment to the lord. Since the Sacramento temple is only a 20 min from his doctors office he goes at least 3 times a week if not more. He is always reminding me that the lord loves me and that the trials are given to me so I can learn from them. Sure it was hard to tell my very practical father that I wanted to go to school for Animal Science but he told me that as long as I am enjoying what I do in my life that is what is important. I have always appreciated how both parents have supported me with all my career and personal decisions. I could never ask for better parents, they really are wonderful. I love you both and can't wait to see you.

Week #3

These are the best pictures that I have taken in a long time. Ladies and Gentlemen I would like to introduce you to the men in my life. The little black dude on Travis' chest is Cancun, a new addition to our family who was a stray from work who no one wanted, in the back ground we have Morocco (aka Rocco) the lazy old man of the house, and then the handsome man in the middle is my dreamy husband (duh). These three always have me grinning for some reason whether they are playing together or separately. Each of them is a one of a kind. I am so grateful for each of them. 

The cats because they keep me sane until Travis and I are reunited when we are apart. And Travis because he keeps me sane when I feel the world has turned against me (which is everyday I swear). I love all three of them so much and for so many different reasons. What I would do with out them you ask? Well honestly I would be one really bored woman. Trust me these three are seriously entertaining.

Week #2

I will have to say this week was kinda hard to choose. There have been several things that I have blessed with. But I will have to say that with the things that have transpired this week I am really grateful for the friends that are here in Des Moines and the friends that are far away. My friends have been with me through the really tough times and through the really silly and fun times. I am so grateful that I have found friends that have been there for me and support Travis and I through school and all. Those of you that have helped me know who you are and I appreciate all your prayers and support. It has really been a tough year starting with the broken leg, Trav's training, the car accident and everything else that has gone on this year. So thank you to you all you mean the world to me. I love you all, your are all wonderful.

Labor Day Weekend

Travis here, it's been a while since I've done a post. Since this post is about my parents, I was put in charge of making it, and that's why it hasn't been put up for a couple of weeks. So, like I said, my parents came to visit for several days, including Labor Day. Kamala and I took off a couple days from school and work and toured church history sites and visitor centers with them. It was a pretty fun few days. Day One we went south, stopping and Adam-Ondi-Aman, Far West, and Independance.
Mom and Dad, standing in front of the valley. By the way, it was way cool driving around Dad's Hemi Magnum! :)
We hiked around a little bit at this site as well. (another side note: Kamala's homemade tie dye shirt from achievement days!)
The site of the Far West temple. The four corner stones are still there, and this plaque has some of the revelations in regard to Far West engraved on it.
I like to call this one 'Dishrag tower'.

The Christus in the Independence Visitor's Center. This was the coolest visitor's center I thought. They had some really cool replicas of printing presses (below), log cabins, and apparently all of the visitor centers are getting a special presentation on families that was really good.


The other great thing about the Independence center was that we had an awesome missionary guide. She was so inspiring and spiritual.

DAY 2: On day two, we drove East to Nauvoo, IL. We started the day with a session in the temple. That was very neat because it's the first time I've been in the temple with my parents since our wedding day. Then we wandered around Nauvoo a bit and saw some of the restored houses. The gunsmith's house was really neat. We did a quick trip over to Carthage, but it was closed by the time we got there, so we just walked around a bit. Then we zipped back to Nauvoo to watch the older couple missionaries do some skits in the historic civic hall. It made for a pretty long day, but it was very humbling to learn about all the saints went through, and their patience in dealing with adversity and trials.

DAY 3: On this day we just relaxed. We went to the park and played some frisbee, barbequed some steak, and Kamala made some of her favorite salads. We also played some tennis after. I didn't realize Dad was so good at tennis, he wore me out. And Kamala continues to get better at tennis each day. At the end of the day I pulled out the OMM table and gave everyone some treatments to fix everyone up after all the hours of sitting in the car and from playing hard. So, it was a really fun week, and I loved having my parents here. They continued their trek following the mormon trail all the way back to Utah, and then eventually got back to Montana.

Week #1

I am totally stealing my friends idea from her blog but felt like I needed this to help me realize all me blessings and to appreciate life right now. I am really struggling with that right now due to the fact of some of the trials I am going through. So here goes my new goal. Every monday I am going to write down one thing or person that I am grateful for and why. I truly believe it will help me and plus you will be able to give comments if you like and see pictures I don't normally post.

So here goes,week #1. I am incredibly thankful for my wonderful best friend and husband of 4 years, Travis. Where to start, he truly is my everything. Travis is the best and strongest supporter a girl could ask for. No matter what my new crazy idea is he always supports me. He always seems to find a way to look at things in a positive way. If only I could follow his example. I also could not ask for a better partner in all our adventures. Travis is always up for something new. We have driven big 40 foot buses together and that is just the beginning.

Travis has even joined me during some of my lessons that I taught in Rexburg. Now you must understand, Trav has been horseback riding maybe a handful of times. Of course I will follow him to do whatever he wants to do as well. From snorkeling in the freezing water in Alaska, to Halibut fishing to Mt biking. Our adventures never seem to end and that is just how I like it. So here is to my sweetheart, the best husband, best supporter, best singer, best adventurer, best dancer, and above all the best best friend a girl could ask for. I love you with all my heart honey. I look forward to all the adventures that lay in front of us.

The Iowa State Fair 2008

So as many of you know I was not impressed with the Iowa State fair last year. Of course I was comparing it to the California State fair but that is my only comparison. However I was willing to give Iowa a second chance and see if it is really not that bad. So what we did is actually print off an itinerary so that we could see everything that was free. 

We actually found this booth that actually that took our picture and sent it to us via email. No strings attached or anything. Kinda cool to have that souvenir.

 

Our first stop of the morning was the Demolition Derby and Stunt show. It wasn't bad, not quite what I remembered from my small town days at home, but fun. There was two heats small and large cars with the addition of Daredevil stunts in between. He found anyway to have himself on fire, exploding cars, or just being lit on fire. No pictures of those though.

We did actually see the butter cow this year. They even had a sculpture of Shawn Johnson as well. What will people think of next!

Now the most amusing and Travis' favorite thing of the whole day was the battling robots. These are really cool! They were tearing things up, catching things on fire, exploding toilets and battling each other. They even let audience members drive a couple of the robots and battle. Yes ladies and gentlemen that is my med student husband driving that red battle robot. He was so proud that he got chosen. He actually beat his opponent and won a medal (its plastic). He was pretty pleased with himself.

Well that is all for pictures that we took. We did also see livestock shows of course (mostly cattle) and even saw a draft horse show. I was a little disappointed in that we had to pay to see that show. That is pretty uncommon at home to have to pay to watch and not participate. Oh well it was amusing. We didn't want to go on any rides this year, plus it was way too expensive to try. That night Def Leopard was playing, we didn't go to the concert but you could hear some of the songs from the midway. I will spare everyone with anymore of ranting about how they like to charge you for everything at this state fair. We really did enjoy ourselves and were happy we decided to come again this year.