July is winding down, so is the summer...

So as I sit here at home, planning out our lives for the next few months and it hit me. School starts in one month.....yikes! This summer has flown by it seems like, and yet it feels like years since we were going to school and living in Cedar. We're both very excited to see what this new semester has in store for us at Utah State. I will begin the first of hopefully my last four semesters. I have a whopping 17 credit lineup and am ready to finish up my degree in Family and Consumer Science Education. Dallon will have his plate full as well with 15 credits studying Bio-Chemistry. Logan has been very good to us so far and we are excited to jump into the aggie lifestyle.

This summer has been full of road trips which mainly involve weddings. Dallon has been such a trooper through all of them. Every time we attend a wedding or reception it takes me back to our wedding and it makes me feel so grateful to have Dallon by my side. The most recent one we attended was my beautiful cousin Brittany's and her spouse Mark. She was such a gorgeous bride! I'm glad we got to spend their special day with them. It was fun catching up with the Idaho fam.

Just recently we were able to have my family come for a visit. They came to see our humble abode and we hosted our first birthday party in Logan. Akaydeh turned 10 this year so I made a cake for her party, then the next morning we had a grand breakfast party. It was fun having my family gather under our roof.

We also had the opportunity to take a couple of tours in Salt Lake. We went to the conference center and had a complete tour. It is such an amazing building!! All of the paintings, sculptures, architecture, landscape, fountains, and tour guides really made it quite the experience. We also had a tour of Brigham Young's house, where one of our tour guides was from Brazil so Dallon got to brush up on his Portuguese! I always love hearing him talk in Portuguese, it reminds me of his hard work and dedication he lived by while on the mish.

Other than that we're pretty much boring. However, I find it interesting that every day I go out to get the mail I swear to you that we get a wedding announcement every day, if not every other day. It seems crazy to me, but what can ya do?

Til next time.....

These are the days

First I want to put a disclaimer on this post, it is going to be long, full of pictures, and it might get a little lovey dove, so if you still want to hear about our adventures, continue reading.

With Dallon working long hours, I have a lot of time to myself, and I have not blogged about a lot of the activities we have experienced. My cousin actually got me thinking about posting pictures which were mistakeingly forgotten. I've been busily working on making collages for this post mainly because I love making collages.

This first collage depicts the first week of our new life in Logan. We tried to hit as many fishing spots as possible, and we just like to be out and about in the sunshine because we love summer! Dallon is a professional fisher and I love to just catch me some rays. We also saw this car on our way to one of the lakes and I just had to laugh.

Next are some candids of our trip to Wayne County. We had tons of fun and got to meet our new niece. She and her sister are absolutely gorgeous! Clayton and Shanda should have a hundred kids, because they are just so  cute! I wanted to do something special for Maddi and Luxi so I decided to make them hand tied blankets. I loved how cuddly Luxi was, it melted my heart. I also got to sneak away for a bit and help Nish coach in Piute. I am going to miss making random trips to see my sisters. I absolutely love coaching and can't wait to be able to do it again someday.

These next collages tell the story of one of the best days of my life, so far. It was the day that I was sealed for time and all eternity to my family. It was such a glorious day and I am so lucky to have such a wonderful family, that I now get to be with forever. We had a  lot of laughs, tears, hugs, and pictures. I am so grateful for my family and even more grateful that I get to keep them for time and all eternity.

Oh this next collage goes down in the books as depicting an epic night at Applebees with Nish, Jeep, and Kiana. We just happened to be lucky enough to hit bingo night! Lady luck definitely was present at our table because Dallon won regular bingo and then I won blackout, despite what Jeep thought! We won some cools prizes and I went home with a stomach ache as well as soar smiling muscles because I couldn't stop smiling or laughing.

Zoo collage! The park here in Cache Valley is definitely legitimate. We saw some pretty sweet animals. I have to admit I was a bit scared of the peacock, it just kept following us around and making this gosh awful noise! But other than that we loved it. Oh and we also found a pretty sweet bowling alley. Kudos to Logan Lanes, open til midnight!

Oh and how could I forget about Warped Tour?? We had so much fun at the State Fair Grounds watching some amazingly talented musicians. Dalaki did a pull up contest, Daezia met her most favorite band, we got to witness the wall of death, TWICE, and we hung out with Dallon's friends from high school. Oh and we got totally fried, but it was so worth it. We had a great time.

Next came the Relay for Life. I was able to make a quick trip home to show my support for this great cause. It always will mean so much to me after what our family has been through with our dear Tayleah. (Which by the way, she had her checkup today, TUMOR FREE) We got to stay up all night talking, walking, running, laughing, and just being awesome. My dad is a machine and goes nonstop, it is truly inspiring. Heidi also made quite a showing by going over 30 miles herself. Kam also was quite entertaining, he downed a whole bag of cheetos, it was awesome! Daezia was in rare form and I laughed out loud at her crazy doings all night. She is a hoot!

The next is a random collage that just shows some of the fun stuff that happens in our apartment. Dallon found 'the lost case' and I had to document it. I took a whole day and organized my bin of yarn, yes I am eighty, so sue me. We also got to have Kayda come stay with us, and I did her hair in a pretty sweet hairstyle I saw on pinterest.

Here we have a few random candids of our last weekend. My mom, Kiana, and Akaydeh came through on their way to Idaho for our cousin Brandi's wedding. We went to eat at Kneaders and were in heaven. The food is sooooo goooood! I've been watching Cake Boss and they always talk about cannolis. Once I saw them in the display case I wanted one so bad. So my mom, being the awesome mom she is bought us all a treat and I got a cannoli! It was delicious! I wonder how it compares to Buddy's?? When we got to Pocatello we went to eat at Red Lobster, a fist time for me. (We went after helping decorate the park for the reception.) It was entertaining to watch Kiana try to crack open the crab legs. 

Next is the Fourth of July!! I absolutely love celebrating this holiday and this time it came around it reminded me just how much I love traditions. Because of a crazy work schedule we decided to stay in Logan and celebrate. I thought of all the traditions that take place on this wonderful holiday and it made me look to the future and I got excited about implementing traditions when we have our own family.   We hit up the park in Hyrum and got us some cotton candy, yes we did stand in line with kids that were way younger than us but we didn't care. What is the fourth of July without cotton candy?? (I also want to buy our own cotton candy maker so we can take it to places and sell it, one could make a killing on the sales) Dallon was pretty tuckered out from being in the sun for so long so he took a nap while I began a new tradition, making funnel cakes! I found a recipe on pinterest and loved how simple it was to make. They were DELICIOUS! We also had an awesome barbecue. Dallon cooked us up some sensational steaks and squash while I made some mashed potatoes. In the middle of our bbq, a family van broke down right outside our apt, so Dallon and two other strangers helped push the van off to the side of the road so they could call a tow truck. People are so nice to just hop out of their cars, or out of their parking lot to help someone in need. We then went to Hyrum for the firework show.  ( fyi this would make firework show the second, because here in Logan they do Freedom Fire and have fireworks on the 3rd too! I got a front row seat to the show.) We sure love us some fireworks! It was so much fun sitting there with my husband, absolutely loving life. I thought about the last fourth of July and how I watched the fireworks alone (not alone alone, I was with my awesome family)  and I looked over and just smiled at Dallon. So much has changed in the last year but I couldn't have asked for anything better. I am married to the love of my life, I live in a beautiful town, and free country. I get to lie in bed at night hopeful for a new day, rather than living in fear for my safety. I get to walk down the street and feel safe.

I am so lucky to live the life I do. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I am so grateful to be married to my best friend. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't literally laugh out loud at something he does or says. It boggles my mind constantly just how witty he is, all the time. He is so good to me and I am so grateful for his unconditional love.
I want to finish this post by copying my sister Kiana,  she always makes her post relate to a song that is significant to something going on in her life. When I think of the line 'These are the days' I immediately think of two things, The O Town song that I absolutely love, even if she hates it, and I think of The Calling.

'Cause these are the days worth living

These are the years we're given

And these are the moments

These are the times

Let's make the best out of our lives

This chorus always meant so much to me, even as far back as the first time she made me listen to it. I've always wanted to live up to these lyrics, I've wanted to make the best out of our lives and I feel that I am doing just that.