Macro, what a Concept!

My little sister Chelsea (not by blood) turned 18 this weekend. I forgot I was going to make cupcakes for her so instead I made her a Birthday Banner! I'm still aching to be creative and domestic.
With Chels turning 18 it reminded me of the time I was at that age and the time I had no real responsibility. Wouldn't it be fun to go back in time with the knowledge I have now? I wondered how it would have changed my course in life. Then I quickly quite thinking about it because I don't regret one thing. (well except not finishing my degree). But I know Heavenly Father knew what kind of person I wanted to be, and that meant learning a valuable lesson early in life and in a way I never thought possible. Wow, talk about distraction..

Highlights of the weekend:
*Chelsea turning 18!
*We competed in the Georgia Games- I won 2 gold, Cony won gold & bronze
*I learned Macro on my camera!! Hello, why didn't I know about this sooner!!!???
Here are a few pictures with my new learning tool..

Happy Independence Day!

I had a few days off from work, so we decided to take a little road trip! We went to visit our good friends Nick & Lindsay in Newport Beach, VA. We were hoping to get there much earlier than we actually did, but I guess that's how road trips go. Thanks to a good book, an iTouch and our PSP to watch movies on, the time flew. Here are a few of our adventures...

Taken on a hidden pier near the Hansen's house.

Our friends with their darling boy, Gavin.

I LOVE barns. I can't wait to have one someday with horses, a cow, milking goats, and chickens.

We celebrated the 4th by going to Yorktown, VA. This was a really cool experience because this was the last battle during the Revolutionary War, where we won our Independence thanks to the French Navy that came at the last minute to save us. I imagined this was the place the soldiers saw the French Navy coming and knowing they were saved. I also love history, even if I have a hard time retaining all the information I learn.

The little band that played during a parade. I was a little surprised that the celebration at Yorktown of all places wasn't more dramatic. But Less is More and I really did think it was perfect.

After we toured Yorktown and the Riverwalk we sat down to watch fireworks, but it began to rain and thunder. Since we were allowed to park on the battlefield we had a ways to go, and I was wearing white shorts!! Not a great combination in the rain.

I had to take a picture of these..They were the perfect amount and I wish all candy came in small packages!

Our camping site on Cape Hatteras Beach. It was so fun to camp on the beach. Until of course it stormed ALL night! It rained so much our tent began to leak. So unfortunately we didn't get a lot of sleeping done. We just stayed one night and since it's a National Park it only cost $20 to stay. With that $20 you get a nice cold shower. I will say, it's better than nothing after you have spent the entire day in salt water.

After we set up camp, we went Jet Skiing!! Which was such a blast. We rented two for an hour, and I kinda wish that we just rented one so I could have the task of hanging on. Although it was fun to race and then win. Cony was doing all kinds of tricks I didn't know he had up his sleeve, but he also fell a few times and now has a bruise on his hinny.
Cape Hatteras is part of the Outer Banks, but we drove south from our camp site to a beautiful part of the beach. It wasn't as crowded, the sand was so soft and the weather was perfect. (Until the storms showed up later that night of course..)

This is what Cony did to keep himself entertained while I took a nap and later went running. Which by the way was one of the hardest runs I've been on.. running on soft sand is a great leg workout!

My steamy HOT husband. Later that night we found the Outer Banks Fudge Company. Well it's a tradition for us to buy fudge while we are on vacation, so we went in almost at closing time. The nice lady working was older and we started talking, making nice conversation, when she started to hit on my husband. She said "You sure do look like Ashton Kutcher!" (this is the 2nd time I've heard this) She blamed it on her age and she can get away with flirting with younger men... and continued to say "I may have white on the roof top but it doesn't mean there isn't fire in the furnace!!!"
We almost passed out. We paid and quickly ran out.

On our way out the next morning we stopped at one of the 3 lighthouses on the island. Lighthouses always make me think of Maine, which is a state that I have ALWAYS wanted to visit. Which is funny because Cony's ancestor's are from Maine. Apparently George Washington stayed with the Metcalf family for a night and I think the house is now a historical landmark. Not sure about that though... I should really get started on his family genealogy...just add it to the list of things to get done.

Achin' for some Bakin'

I'll start by saying I have been aching to be creative the last few weeks. I just want to get my hands on any medium, decorate cupcakes/cakes and even sew!
On Sunday we were invited to a little gathering to get to know some members of our new ward and was asked to bring a little treat. Finally an excuse to bake! Granted I thought they would have turned out much better, but it all comes with practice. These babies had instant pudding and sprite in the recipe and they were so delicious!

We had a Friday night date involving Johnny's pizza and miniature golf. We really wanted to do the go-carts but we both had the wrong shoes on and weren't allowed. (stupid insurance). We played one game of golf and had a blast. Cony lost one ball in the water and another in a pipe. I thought for sure he won, because I was getting nothing but the number 3, but we ended up with the same score! (how often does that happen?) And of course we had to go for Coldstone afterwards ... I mean really, what is a date without ice cream?!

This one takes the Cake

Cony is amazing. Point blank. He's done some pretty amazing things and taken me on some amazing dates like the helicopter tour of the city, day trip to Charleston, hockey game, mountain biking and ice skating. But yesterday we didn't get to spend a lot of time together because he worked in the morning while I went to the temple then I had to go to work after he came home. Today is our 6 month anniversary and I didn't expect anything from him, although he's really on top of knowing our specials dates. To my surprise when I got home last night just after 10:30 there are arrows drawn on index cards pointing me to our bedroom. There were also 5 sets of 2 roses with an index card and a date for each month we have been married.

At the end of this rose covered path, on our bed lay a stuffed bunny he got me for Easter a while a go with the 2 movies I mentioned to him I would love to own on DVD. I immediately jumped on him and didn't want to let go.. yes, I was in tears. I just got him a DVD at the church bookstore about temples. Nothing sentimental. I wasn't sure if he would even remember and felt like I shouldn't spend a lot of money. He really knows how to fill my love tank...he's one of those guys who just gets things done. I never have to ask him to help with the dishes or take out the garbage. He just sees that it needs to be done and does it. I couldn't have asked for someone better.



Side note: We watched P.S. I love you till the wee hours of the morning. We watched the first 8 minutes of the movie and started laughing because it's exactly how we argue. I loose my mind, he tries to reason with me and 30 seconds later we are over it... making up.

I also want to mention since today is Father's Day we headed up to my parents after Stake Conference for a really low key dinner. Which was fabulous. But I noticed after clean-up that there was a round spot on my dads dog. (Now keep in mind my parents live on 11 acres out in the middle of nowhere and the dogs just roam the property). So I asked Cony to come help me see what it was and sure enough it was a tick the size of a dime. I pulled it off and burned it. Along with some others that weren't as big. But I'm still itching and scratching all over. I can't stop thinking about it and want it to stop haunting me!!

No Vote from Me

I've been thinking for days what I could say next on our blog. None of which seems good enough to be posted. However, I have decided to write about me not voting. Cony and I have had some heavy discussions about the upcoming election and we aren't seeing eye to eye. Which doesn't sit well with me because I know I'm right. Personally, I just don't think any of the candidates are good enough to be the next president. Although I am interested to see who McCain puts as his vice-president..I might change my mind about voting depending on that situation.

If you hadn't noticed I'm reading President Hinckley's book Standing for Something. I loved reading the introduction where he talks about our country and how privileged we are to live here in a free state. It has also made me think how our country regards or disregards a higher being. We have forgotten God! It's so beautiful that the Founding Fathers established this country including Heavenly Father in every decision. The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence uses His name often, so why can't we use His name in the schoolroom? I'm really excited to read more of this book and learn what I can do to be a better citizen and Child of God.

Update: We have moved and are about 95% settled in and we are loving the new place. It's very private and so much bigger. It helps that it's updated with new appliances, cabinets, new carpet and counter tops. Once we get some things hung on the walls it will really seem like home. The best thing is the laundry room, because I can actually store the ironing board in there with no problem! It's those little things you learn to appreciate.

We are moving..

This may sound a little ridiculous but we are moving back to my old apartment that Cony and I lived in for a week. We were filling up his car one day and realized we were going to be spending over $400 a month on gas. And that's if the gas prices don't go up.

So I called the apartment the next day and they said we just had to pay a transfer fee because it's the same company. We put our money down on a one bedroom that would allow us to move at the end of June. However, Erica (the temp worker) said she didn't realize but that apartment had already been leased out. I was stressed because the only other one bedroom available made it so we would have to move next week. I said "I can't do that"! We had just given our 30 day notice and I didn't want to pay double rent. So after a slight melt down with Ariana on the phone she got our apartment manager (currently) to let us move next weekend without any penalties.

It's working out very lovely ... until of course we have to actually move all our stuff! I'll post pictures once we get settled in. :)

Memorial Day Weekend

I'll be honest, yesterday on Memorial Day I didn't give a lot of thought to the reason we have the holiday... until today. I'm so thankful I live in America and we have our freedom. I know the reason we have that freedom is because of the men and woman who have fought and still fighting for it! So THANK YOU to all you veterans!!!

Technically Cony is a veteran so I'm a little surprised that we didn't put much thought into this beautiful day. But we celebrated together by babysitting for the entire weekend in a home we both LOVE (we were living the high life) and swimming/barbecuing with friends.

Oh! We took the boys (we babysat) to see Indiana Jones movie and I didn't care for it.. I would have never put aliens in a Indiana film. Stephen Spielberg should have asked for my opinion before he wrapped up the production.