It has been a couple months since I last blogged (not that I had done much before anyway), and I thought it was time I do it again. Since so much has happened in the past few months, I don't think I could catch up on all the little details. So, instead of little details, I am going to do a year-in-review and touch on all that has happened this past year and all the blessings that we have seen in our lives.
January
January brought the beginning of an adventure. For the last semester of graduate school, I was sent to the Texas School for the Deaf in Austin, Texas. Jared and I caravanned to Austin with my classmate and friend, Amy. It took us four days to get there (three after meeting Amy in Rock Springs, Wyoming to begin the trek) and stayed at her friends' houses along the way. It was a very long drive, but I was grateful to have Jared there with me to keep me company. We also had the chance to spend a lot of time talking and getting to know each other better. Though we had been dating almost a year by then, there was still so much to learn (and still is). We had a wonderful drive and I am grateful he was able to go with me. Once we got there, he helped me unload and move everything in, then he was off again to make the trek home. He spent the night in San Antonio with some friends that are more like family than anything, then he made the journey home the next day. How grateful I am for all he did for me at that time!! What an amazing man!
Sadly, I don't have any pictures of this. I don't know why, but I didn't take any.
February
My internship was in full swing by this time. Amy, Cristi, and I were the three from USU that went to TSD, and we were there with 7 other interns over the course of the 13 weeks. This brought a lot of fun! Austin is a very cool city. If I had the chance, and that's where the Lord wanted me to be, I would move back there in a heart beat. It is very chill and people are very active. I love how there is so much to do outside. We were right on the edge of downtown Austin, so we had great access to so many different places. We made it a goal to eat at a different restaurant every week, and I am pretty sure we accomplished our goal. Yes, we ate at some restaurants two or three times, but those were the ones that you just couldn't resist.
The view of Austin and the Texas Capitol from the front gates of TSD.
Welcome to TSD! (Me, Cristi, and Sara)
Austin is also famous for its trailer park eateries. No where else in the world would I ever eat from a trailer!!!! However, in Austin, that's just how things are done, and, in fact, they have some of the best food I've ever had...cupcakes, crepes, doughnuts, tacos, and so much more!
This would be a doughnut Amy and I had to share because it was HUGE!
Crepes for Cristi's birthday. This would be the mango and sticky rice...yum!
Cupcake trailer....very yummy!
February also brought a fun trip to San Antonio with the Keeners. Cristi and I served in Nauvoo with them and love them dearly. They picked us up early one Saturday morning and then took us for a surprise before we went to San Antonio. Another missionary friend-Sis. Arkell-was in town visiting her family, so Keeners surprised all of us. We didn't know she would be there, and she didn't know we would be there. It was so much fun!
We walked the river walk, which is beautiful!!! Then we walked to Market Square and looked at all the shops there. We also had lunch at Mi Tienda and it was delicious! Hands down, the best Mexican food I have ever had. Their quesadilla was to die for! Not to mention, Nancy Pelosi and Jill Biden walked right past us as they were leaving the restaurant. Not that I really care for them, but it goes to show you what a fabulous restaurant it was. We then walked back to the Alamo and toured it. That ended our wonderful day in San Antonio with dear people we love!
Mi Tienda!
The Alamo
Lastly, February brought the realization the Texans don't know how to drive in the snow. At the beginning of February school was cancelled because there was a skiff of snow on the ground. Most of us interns were from snowy places - Utah, Wyoming, New York, Wisconsin - so we weren't afraid of it, but we should have been. We didn't realize that Texans don't know how to drive in it. We learned our lesson quickly. While thinking we would be enjoying a day off of school, we actually ended up in a car accident. We were warned that Texans don't know how to drive in the snow, but we didn't heed the warnings. Cristi's poor car got a dent, but fortunately, everyone was fine.
March
Hm....March was full of a lot of the same things as February - restaurants, trailer park eateries, San Antonio, and hard work. Cristi's birthday kicked off Spring Break with a walk to the crepe trailer for breakfast, and then a trip to the famous Salt Lick for lunch. That was some pretty darn good BBQ! Thanks for having a birthday Cristi! We were happy to celebrate!
We spent a few days in San Antonio for Spring Break and it was wonderful! And then we went to the Austin Rodeo and Josh Turner concert the end of the week. It made for a very nice week off.
After Spring Break, we were rejuvenated and ready to get back to teaching. Most of us only had a month left, which was nice.
April
I was so ready to get home that I don't remember much of April, except that our student teaching advisor, Felicia Dixon, came to visit us. That was a much needed visit. Though we had friends there, it was good to have a familiar face from home come visit us.
The majority of April was spent in the bulk of teaching and enjoying the last few attractions that we hadn't yet experienced. One such was the South Congress Bat Bridge. This was within walking distance of us, so Amy and I took the opportunity one night to walk down there. There are MILLIONS of bats that live under this bridge and at dusk they all fly out in search of food. We were there in the earlier part of the season, so my pictures don't have as many bats in them. We also were toward the end of the bridge, standing a distance from the bulk of the bats.
Amy and I at the Bat Bridge just before dusk.
For my last weekend in Austin, my friend Kortney came to visit. She and I went to high school and college together and she was currently living in Houston. We went shopping and to lunch with Geivey, a friend from my ward, which was a lot of fun! I was so happy to see her!
Kortney and I
Geivy and one HUGE piece of pizza!
My time with these two wonderful ladies was my last adventure in Texas. The next week I was packing and on a plane headed home. Although I absolutely loved my time in Austin and had made so many wonderful friends and memories, my time there was up and I was ready to be home with Jared and my family again.
Just before leaving Austin, I found out that my Uncle Al had passed away. I found out that his funeral was the day after I got home, and I was happy to hear that I would be there for it.
The trip home was definitely an adventurous one. Just after checking in my luggage, I was notified that my plane would be delayed a while. Then a half hour later I heard that it would be delayed three to four hours, causing me to miss my layover in Phoenix. I was a mess!! I was just itching to get home, I was exhausted, and I couldn't wait to see Jared. The poor lady at the counter had to deal with me because I was in tears. She was very nice though and helped me get everything arranged. Since the next flight out of Phoenix wouldn't be until early the next morning, they put me up in a hotel for a couple hours. So, I arrived in Phoenix extremely late (little did I know that this would be my new home just a few months later), slept for a couple of hours, and then jumped back on the plane to head home. All of this happened with only one pair of clothes and no toiletries. The hotel didn't even have any either...they were all out. Oh, poor people that I had to sit next to. :)
I was finally relieved to be home! And I was so anxious to see Jared that I practically ran from the gate to the baggage claim. The funny part is that he was in the wrong terminal, so he had to run to meet me. One lady started talking to me and when I could see him out of the corner of his eye, I got so anxious. Fortunately she didn't talk long and I was able to run up to him. I was so happy to see him!! He greeted me with a rose. :) Then, as we headed home, I got huge number balloons, starting from 1 in the back of his jeep, to 4 downstairs in my bedroom (1,2,3,4 has special meaning for us :). The final one was tied to a huge stuffed bunny that had a dozen white roses sitting next to it and a very sweet card. I was home!!
This was a few days later, so they were drooping a little.
After all the plane delays and what not, Jared and I barely made it to my Uncle's funeral. We ran home and I showered (heaven knows I needed that) and got ready. We walked in the door to find all of my nieces and nephews waiting for me right there. I loved it!!! I was so happy to see them. :) After a brief visit with all of my cousins, the funeral started. It was a beautiful service. Uncle Al was a very quiet man, so I didn't know much about him until his funeral. That makes me sad to say that. I've vowed to get to know my extended family better since then. Back to the funeral - it was beautiful. I loved to hear the stories about their adventures as a family - I learned a lot.
After the funeral and burial, we headed back to the church for a luncheon. That was the first time that Jared had met my Dad's side of the family, and little did they know that he would be part of the family soon. :) It was so good to see everyone and spend time with them since we don't get to very often.
The weekend I got home we celebrated Easter in a different way this year. Usually my family goes camping and four-wheeling the Thur, Fri, Sat before, but with the funeral and everything else that was happening, we cancelled that and started what we think will be a new tradition. We did a hunt down and the stake park and then played softball as an entire family. Almost everyone got involved and played, even the littlest ones. It was a blast!! We've done it one other time since then and we love it. I think it will become a tradition from now on.
Getting ready for the hunt
Checking out their loot.
She's out!
That last week in April brought a lot of emotions. I spent a few days in Logan because I was going to help one of my professors with a project. I worked with her on it the summer of 2010, so I was just going to continue it the summer 2011. She trained me for a day and then I was planning on working for a day before getting back to SLC for some stuff. I also had a job interview over VP, so I just did that while I was in Logan. Well, the interview went well, but the job thing didn't. It would have been great, but after she showed me everything I just didn't feel right about it. I couldn't figure out what was going on and why I was so emotional all of sudden, but after a long talk with my mom, I realized that I hadn't really prayed about the job. I thought that it would be okay and that I would go ahead with it, but I never asked Heavenly Father what He wanted me to do and if it was right. Come to find out, it wasn't the right thing to do. I felt bad telling my professor after she had shown me everything, but she understood, which I am very grateful for. Little did I know what the next two months of my life would be like. How grateful I am for a loving Heavenly Father who knows the big picture and guides us to where we need to be, even when we think we know what we are doing. :)
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