Sunday, August 7, 2011

Recent Happenings

Well, it's obvious I've been a terrible blogger lately. So here is a "catch-up" post of what we've been up to.

July
  • After over a year of dreaming and talking about it, we bought ourselves a 4 wheeler. We have had a lot of fun on it so far, and enjoy going out and spending time on it together. And when I say "together" I mean, all 3 of us--including Charlie. He loves the 4 wheeler like you wouldn't believe. As soon as that thing starts up, Charlie is barking and crying in excitement. He may be a little obsessed. He LOVES to run while we ride it, and we were impressed at how well he did, we thought for sure he'd be all over off the trail and running off but we quickly found that once he got so far ahead of us to where we couldn't see him any more, he'd be stopped in the middle of the trail looking back and waiting til he could see us again. I think we were both amazed, and it really is cute to see him looking back every so often to see if we are still coming, with his big ol' tongue hanging out the side of his mouth and the happiest look you'd ever see on a dog's face
  • My parents also have a 4 wheeler, so we took a trip up to Fairview one weekend to camp and ride ATV trails. SO MUCH FUN. The weather was absolutely perfect, the scenery was beautiful and we rode over 70 miles on various trails that weekend. Luckily, for Chuck, we rigged up what is known to us as "Charlie's Hillbilly Box". It's a wooden "basket" of sorts for Charlie to ride in on long trail rides (while he loves running next to or a head of the wheeler, there is no way that big pooch could've survived running over 70 miles that weekend). He loves riding in the box, luckily and surprisingly, and it works out perfect for longer trips! (see photos below of this glorious invention).
  • We went to Arizona. Brad's brother, Steve, moved down to Glendale for dental school and so we traveled down with him to haul a U-haul trailer with our truck. Let me just tell you, the Phoenix/Glendale area is no where I would want to be for longer than 5 minutes. Talk about melting! (I really hope that Steve is surviving). It was such an intense heat! Of course, Charlie came along for the 13 hr drive and seriously slept in the backseat THE ENTIRE ride. Amazing! I thought for sure we'd have a stir-crazy 60lb dog on our hands, so I was happy about that! (I have some hilarious photos of Charlie's sleeping positions on the trip, but they aren't on my comp right now. I'll put them up sometime). Traveling home we took a different route, through Tuba City, AZ into Monument Valley and finally into Blanding to spend the night with my Aunt Kim and her family. (We were so thankful they were so willing to house us for the night on such short notice! Cutting our journey home into 2 days sure made it more tolerable.
  • Brad celebrated his 25th birthday the day after we returned from Arizona. We spent the day with a trip to Cabelas, went to the theater, and cooked up some awesome steaks (I am not a steak person, but I will say, these ones were delicious!) with garlic mashed potatoes, a caesar salad and finished it all up with some brownie cheesecake. Happy birthday to one the best guy's I know!
August (thus far):
  • Charlie survived to see his first birthday! What an accomplishment! If you know anything about Charlie, you know he's had one heck of a life. From being on his death bed as a tiny tiny puppy, to constant battles with stomach issues, and most recently a fall out of the 4 Runner--while MOVING-- followed by a dive into the creek while for a ride up Provo Canyon. Talk about an intense year! He has grown up A LOT over the past year though, and is turning into a really great dog. We love his guts. I don't think I have ever laughed as much as I do now---he is the ultimate goof with a ginormous personality.
  • I made one of the hardest decisions I have had to yet. I interviewed for, and was offered, a graphic design job for a publishing company in Springville. But, after much back-and-forth with myself, and a few tears I decided to turn the offer down. After weighing all pros and cons I just felt that this was not the right opportunity at the right time for me, even as difficult as it was because opportunities for junior designers are rare and I had been on the look out for such an opportunity for probably 6 months. But, as I said, I just didn't feel it was going to be the best fit for me right now---for numerous reasons---and so I am hopeful there is something else around the corner for me in terms of designing. I have been doing a lot of stuff, freelance, in the past month or two and have been really enjoying that. So we'll see where it leads!
Here are some photos of the "hillbilly box" on our Fairview camping trip.