The Grand Desk
Oct. 12-14

My awesome husband is so good at pretty much everything...he knows how to cook, clean, sew, fix cars, and do everything construction related. He has helped the Bishop side fix many holes and has helped our Brother-in-law Brent build a cool basement. He has always talked about getting into building furniture and things for our future home. He has been using a very sad makeshift desk to do his homework (a clothes dryer and a piece of a shelf) so he finally decided he wanted to make a desk. He was so excited and we spent the weekend buying and building (well, I was there for moral support...but I did stain the first layer!) It turned out really good! It was his first big project but I have to say I am very impressed with his skills. Not to mention he now can really study in style!

He hasn't been able to finish it yet but here is the almost finished version....final product soon to come!

The Time Had Come....
Oct. 5-7

We decided to go back again to St. George to see Dan's family. There was a lot going on, it was his nephew McCoy's baby blessing, his niece and nephews birthday party and it was conference so we figured it would be the perfect weekend to go. On our way we stopped to say hi to my Mom then we also stopped at Jamie's to visit her and to see her new baby girl Eva Jill Ventura, born September 20, 2012 then it was off to St. George, a very familiar drive to us.

To begin this tale we must go back to Fall 2011. Fall 2011 had consisted of many adventures; bear country, reptile gardens, Mt. Rushmore, Devils tower, California, and Zions. After all those adventures the itch for more awesomeness was there. We needed more adventures! So, Dan and I decided we feed the beast and add a little more adventure in our lives, but the question arose, what to do? Should we, sky dive? No, that is for another time. Go diving with sharks? No sharks were available. Do the biggest adventure of all and have a kid? Yeeeeeaaaahhhh NO. We decided to flirt with death and conquer the cliffs of red in St George. We decided to climb a 400 foot cliff in Snow Canyon. So, Dan, Hector (Dan's brother), and I set off on the adventure to climb the mountains of high and attempt the 400 ft. multi-pitch climb known as Leopard Skin. We started the climb, the three of us climbed up the first hundred feet and the problems started. Most multi-pitches are done in pairs of two but with three of us there we went for it. We started the second part and we started having issues, so after a few nerve racking mishaps, I gave up on the climb. When I got to the ground I immediately regretted my decision to quit. I gave myself one year to finish the climb. I have done a little bit of climbing since then but nothing too big. Then I decided enough talking, it was time to do it. My year was almost up and I was feeling ready. We got into St. George around 1:30 a.m. Friday night and got up at 7:00 a.m. Saturday to get there before it got too hot. I was feeling ready. It took us a little bit longer than planned because of the St. George Marathon but we eventually made our way there. It was the perfect day, the weather was beautiful, nobody was around (unlike last year when there were a lot of climbers there puttin on the pressure) I was in my climbing gear as opposed to pajamas (I thought they would be comfy last year ha ha) and the camera was ready to go (or so I thought). I took a moment and sat, taking in the cool morning air, and said to myself, "self, you will not quit." I stood, took a deep breath and it began...

Dan was the lead and helped me through the first pitch which is the trickiest because it overhangs so you feel like you're gonna fall, but when you get over the hang it is a very secure ledge. That's when the go-pro died. We had left our phones and our video camera at the bottom and I lost our regular camera. It was too late to go back and I was seriously so bummed out because I now couldn't record my epic adventure.

Dan climbed to the second pitch which is a little tricky as well because you have to traverse (climb sideways) first then go up, you step off a very secure ledge onto the wall about 100 ft. up, it was about this time that I started to get nervous but Dan is a great sensai and I trust him and his wisdom completely. I stepped out off the ledge and that's when I got the feel of it, I felt like I was actually doing pretty well, not just clinging to the wall in sheer terror. On the other pitches you are anchored into the wall and you belay the person from that anchor, so I'm up a few hundred feet dangling on a wall with Dan's life in my hands....that made me sweat just a little bit but I tried to play it cool. After I really started climbing I wasn't nervous anymore (as long as I didn't get a good look below me). We reached the peak and it's not too big of a ledge so you don't unharness yourself but the view was beautiful and it was so quiet because it was just us two up so high. Then we had to rappel down which was actually a lot of fun, I even rappelled myself on the last one as opposed to Dan lowering me from up top. I felt so revitalized after that. I was outside in nature overcoming a fear. It was a great 3 hours.

The rest of the weekend was also great! We went to Dan's little brother Jethro's football game and to the birthday party, Dan took me shopping and we were able to watch conference and spend time with his family. It has been a while since we have used our drive to talk the whole way, usually I get really tired and sleep while Dan listens to his book on tape but we talked the whole way and 5 really fast hours later we pulled up to our apartment....Logan is freezing compared to St. George and after a hot shower, hot chocolate, sweats and two blankets later (not to mention the fight to who gets to have their feet warmed up by the other) we watched "The Middle" and went to bed, very content from another great weekend.

Family Fun
Sept 29

Both Dan and I have gone to Utah State for a few years now and we never did the best tradition that the Aggies have....True Aggie night. I had gone up a few times but kissing strangers was not my thing so I just watched. But we decided we have to at least once, at least to show a small amount of school spirit, so we went up and it was packed, made me realize I am definitely not a college girl anymore but we finally got to cross off becoming a True Aggie from our list.

My cute niece Alex is on a competition soccer team and I have been trying to find a time that my mom could come up and go rock climbing for a long time so since Alex had a game on Saturday my Mom, Dad, Staci and Brock all came up. We went to the soccer game which Alex rocked, then afterward we had a BBQ, who doesn't love a good BBQ? Then Dan took us all up the canyon to go rock climbing. It was my moms first officially time not on an indoor climb and she did awesome! She got a few scrapes and even a little blood but she rocked (pun intended) that climb! I was also very impressed with my Dad. He was sprawled on that rock and is tall and strong so he basically pulled himself up the whole way. Staci did a great job but Brock was the funniest...he is deathly afraid of heights and so he literally climbed that as fast as possible, he looked like he was in a sheer panic, especially on the rappel. Dan taught them all about climbing and took care of them all. We had a blast!

Brock

Papa Brent

Grandmaster

Sassy Pants

Hola Mexico!
Sept. 14-17

Dan got a call early Friday morning and was told that his grandpa had passed away. He lived in Mexico and Dan would tell me great stories about him. So we decided to go to the funeral. We both had to work so right after work we hurried and grabbed our stuff and headed out for a 18 hour drive one way to Mexico for a quick weekend. 10:30 a.m. Dan decided we're going to Mexico....5:00 p.m. We are on the road.
We drove Friday night to St George and then got up at 5:30 a.m. to continue driving. We were able to stop in San Diego and see Brandon, Chelsea and their little 2 month old Navy. Then we drove all Saturday to Mexico. It was cool, I have never driven there so it was fun to drive through all the towns and to see the pretty coastline.
Saturday night we got there a little late from stopping so much. We were able to see all of Dan's family and his Parent's community. I don't speak Spanish very well but everyone was so nice. Sunday we were able to go to church, eat at little taco stands, go to the beach (I went clam digging for the first time!) and then we went to the viewing which was a new experience, I was excited to see more of the Mexican culture and I told Dan that I want to go back for more cultural experiences.
Monday we had to be gone by 7:00 a.m. since we had to make it back to Logan that night. It is about an 18 hour drive but with stops and things it took us about 20 hours if not longer because there was a 2 hour wait just to get through the border. I had to go to the bathroom and we were almost to the official border but I ran anyway. I couldn't find the car again and wandered right up to where cars are supposed to stop to be searched and I told the guards I lost my car, it was actually really funny. Luckily as I was on my way to the walk through section I saw Dan, a little nervous that I had gotten lost in Mexico.
Dan drove to San Diego but the night before he had been throwing up and super sick, we later found out that a lot of people there had gotten sick. I gave him some Tylenol p.m. so he could get some sleep and he slept from San Diego to Logan, waking up on occasion to eat and go to the bathroom. I drank an energy drink and listened to about 4 hours of drive time Spanish until we finally pulled up to our apartment at 4:00 a.m. We both had to be up at 7:30 a.m. and we are both beat but man was it a great road-trip!

2 countries
4 states
over 2200 miles.....good weekend!

Finally home....

*pictures are scarce since I lost my camera but I have a few to post when I can get to it.