A Little Background (Part 1)

I'm still trying to figure out this whole blogging thing. I know there is a part where you can tell about yourself but until I find it I figured I could tell about us in a post.

A little background Part 1- How we met

Karl and I met our freshman year at BYU. It was the winter semester and Karl had moved in with one of my best friends from high school. Our beginning were a little violent. The first time I ever saw Karl I was cleaning his kitchen. Ok, freshmen dorms are disgusting. There were no clean dishes in the whole apartment and they were now eating out of tupperware to avoid doing dishes. It was time for intervention. So while Aurelia (one of my roommates and best friends) did dishes with Chris, I attempted to clean the oven. It was at that moment Karl entered the room. The only problem was that I was bent over by the door so he hit me in the head. He apparently didn't notice because he didn't say a word to me. He just got food and left. So I continued cleaning. I guess he forgot something because he came back, hit me in the head with the door again, and this time he spoke. But was is to say sorry? Nope. It was "You guys really shouldn't be cleaning for them." And that was my first encounter with Karl.

I guess you could say our relationship had a violent beginning. First he hits me twice with a door. The next example was while we were playing basketball. I played basketball in high school and have always been a bit aggressive. Guys tend to not play rough against girls, which I guess is a good thing, but I thought it was a little annoying because I wanted to play. During one play Karl was guarding me. I started pushing him and was pretty much shocked when he pushed me back. But I liked it a lot. He didn't let me walk all over him. I guess you could say it was love at first shove. :) After that we kept hanging out and talking and we got to be really good friends.
















Here we are as freshman. I never realized I had such chubby cheeks.















When I went home for the summer I had a huge crush on Karl and couldn't wait to get back to Utah to hang out with him. We convinced him to live at Raintree with us and it was great. He was just a few buildings over. We were still really good friends and kept hanging out until one day... Stay tuned for the rest of the story. (meaning, i have to go to class right now)

Suprise Dates Are Great

It's been pretty hard spending time with Karl because of our work schedules but Karl finally had a day off on Monday and I now work from 12-4 so we actually had an evening together! Karl came and picked me up from campus and then gave me about 20 minutes to get ready for a date. So here's the before we leave pic.


First stop, Olive Garden. I definitely recommend the unlimited pasta bowl with Creamy Florentine Sauce. It was amazing. But I ate way too much. Surprise dates are great but sometimes some advanced warning is a good thing.

Next stop was a long drive up the Spanish Fork canyon. We went on a gorgeous hike.


There was a river that followed the path the entire way with little waterfalls, lots of trees, it was one of the most beautiful hikes I've ever been on.


The higher we got the water started to look milky. It was really cool because it was getting dark and the water almost seemed to glow.


The hike alone would have been amazing but, as you might have guessed from my wearing a bathing suit there was more than just a hike. When we got to the top there was a big waterfall and two different sets of warm springs.

This is as close as we got to the top one. I didn't really feel like getting any closer to the nude man enjoying those ones. But that just means we'll have to go back again. Plus the lower pools were so pretty I was quite content to just stay there.






















The water was the perfect temperature. There were even a few really short natural slides between the pools.




So in summary. Karl is the master of surprise dates. One, he can keep them a surprise. And two, he can plan the best dates ever. So if you want to go on a gorgeous hike just let us know because we want to head up again sometime soon and it is worth the drive.

Oh and side note. We got to hike back to the car in the pitch black because we didn't have a flashlight but that just added to the adventure. :)

First Week of No School

This week did not go quite as planned. I was thinking that because I didn't have school anymore I would be able to see a lot more of Karl. False. I calculated it and of a roughly 144 possible hours I saw Karl for about 33 of those. I think it's retarded. I swear I saw more of him when we were dating than I do now that we are married.

But it has been a pretty good, pretty busy week. Here's the update.
Monday
I already gave a basic synopsis so after we got back we had lunch and then Karl left for work. Fun day. :)

Tuesday
At Thanksgiving Point they have Two-Buck Tuesdays during the month of August so we got up early and headed out for a morning date. Karl took me to the Gardens last year and I fell in love with them. There were lots of people so we didn't really get to take tons of pictures but here are a few.




It's such a pretty place. I definitely recommend it.

After about an hour of the Gardens we had to head back because Karl was going in early to work. But we had a great time.





Wednesday
Karl Finally had a whole day off!!! It was great. We got to run errands. :) I got my official UVU id card. Hopefully I'll be using it in the winter. But the great thing about having it now is that it is also my buss pass and I only had to pay 20 dollars for it instead of the 65 bucks a month of 120 for a year discount from BYU. We also got a new toaster. My old one broke awhile ago and of course we accidentally returned the one we got for our wedding. Good thing for gift cards. I am rediscovering how much I love toast.

Then we went on a mid-day date to the dollar theater to se Angels and Demons (we both liked it) and then it was my turn to leave for work. Karl went fishing with his dad while I was gone. Neither one of them caught a fish but I'm glad they were able to spend time together.

After work it was time for another date. By the way, if you didn't know it, Karl has a sixth sense. He just knows things. It is impossible to suprise this kid. I said I wanted to take him on a suprise date and from that he knew we were going to the Nicklecade. I don't know how he does it. But it was a really fun day. I loved being able to be with Karl that much. If you haven't noticed we try to take advantage of the time we do get together. :)

Thursday
We made French Toast and watched the third Mummy movie before Karl left for work.

Friday
This was the first time I have slept on the couch during our marriage. Don't worry, we didn't get into a fight. I've been a little sick lately and it makes it hard to sleep. I have a cough and a runny nose and it just isn't very conducive to sleeping. So since Karl only had about 5 and a half hours between when he got home and when he left for work again I opted for the couch so he could actually get some sleep.

I went into Salt Lake to visit some friends from home. It was nice to not be alone. It was my last official day of my 4pm-8pm custodial job. I'm so excited. Starting Monday I will be in a new area, get done at 4, and I get paid more. Life is good.

Saturday
Didn't get to see him much Saturday either. Slept in til 10 and Karl had to be at work by 10:45. We had a ward activity up in Provo Canyon. It was a lot of fun but considering we are in a married ward and everybody had their spouse with them, it kind of rubbed in the fact that I was all alone. So as soon as it was done I went straight to Karl's work and hung out with him for the rest of the night.

That has pretty much been our week. When Karl isn't home I just do dishes, mope around missing him, or attempt to pack our apartment. I should do more of that considering we are moving next week. But we are doing good, surviving, and are excited for when Karl is done with that job so we can see more of each other. :)

All Dressed Up With No Where To Go

Monday was a little disappointing. I have discovered I love looking at free stuff on craigslist just to see what you could potentially get for nothing. One day there were free pictures. I emailed the girl just for fun and it turned out she really needed to take bridals to expand her portfolio. I though, "Sweet. I get to attempt to be pretty again in my wedding dress and take more pictures with Karl." I thought it sounded great. Karl on the other hand wasn't quite as excited as me, but he was willing to go along with it because he could tell I wanted to do it. Isn't he good to me?

Well, Monday rolled around and I got up really early to attempt to look cute. I have never really been into hair or make up. I spent most of High School with my hair in a pony tail and was introduced to eye liner and shadow during my second semester of college. So the task ahead seemed pretty daunting. But two and a half hours later I was pretty pleased with myself.














This was my first attempt EVER at trying to do an up-do ( or anything semi complicated for that matter) and I think it turned out rather well.















And my attempt at bridal make up. Still got a ways to go with that one. But still, it's pretty good for me.

Well we get all the way out to Santaquin where we are supposed to be taking pictures and the girl calls, says she just woke up, she'd been in the ER all night and she can't take picture today. So the morning that Karl has off was wasted driving to no where to not take pictures that he didn't want in the first place. I felt really bad but he was a good sport about it. She said she wanted to reschedule though because she needed bridals and none of her friends fit into their dresses anymore so we'll see if that ever happens. But looking on the brightside I discovered that there is truth in the saying "You can do anything if you put you mind to it." Who knew?

Summer Vacation At Last!!...Sort Of

School is finally done for the summer!!!... and it starts again in two weeks. But that is ok. That means two weeks without homework which means there is now time to pack, study for a nursing entrance exam, and my personal favorite...spend time with Karl.

These past few weeks have been a little crazy in that department. Karl has been pulling eight hour days every day in Spanish Fork Canyon. Last Sunday he had to work too and that was from 9 to 9. He does get Saturday's off but that is because he has his other job which goes from 11 am to roughly 11 pm. Let's couple that with my school schedule shall we. I would be out the door leaving for school at 7:30 am and wouldn't get home until about 2:10. To be at work on time Karl has to leave at 2 and doesn't get home until about midnight. That means very little time of being able to be together. So I have decided that even if break is only two weeks long it will be heaven. AND Karl get's Wednesday off this week. I'm so excited!

With the school year there are going to be some changes too. We currently live in Wymount Terrace. It has been such a great experience. We love our ward, the apartments are pretty nice (except the small factor of cinder block walls and no air conditioner but you learn to love it), and it's only about a 15 minute walk to school. At the end of the month we are going to be moving to Draper and living with Karl's sister Rachel. We are both really excited about that. Rachel just bought a house that is right off the freeway (which will be really nice since we will be commuting), it is brand new (still being built at the moment), and we get to live with her. This means game nights and I am really excited to watch those two watch football together. They are both HUGE fans. I've learned a lot about college football and the NBA from just sitting in the car with those two. Don't get me wrong, I like football too but more for the atmosphere that comes with it. It should be fun watching and listening to those two when the games are on. I'll keep you posted.

Like Mother Like Son

I have being trying to figure out what to do for Karl's birthday since the beginning of July. It's not til September 4th but I wanted to be prepared. I finally decided on a surprise camping trip. Then Karl's family invited us to go camping with them at a place called Moon Lake. Unfortunately we couldn't go because I had to work. Then inspiration stuck. I was going to take him before his birthday anyways, why not go somewhere nice that he really wants to go to?


So I devised a surprise. I got two days off of work, packed everything in the car while Karl was at work, got directions, made cupcakes, and thought I did a pretty good job keeping everything secret. Apparently I was wrong. Karl got suspicious somehow. I had been texting Tony to get things coordinated. He checked my phone, I'd erased everything but he knew something was up.



Apparently he gets it from Ann. I've heard stories that she is very good at figuring things out. Anyways. When it was time to leave I tried to trick him by running to the bank and library before he dropped me off for work. Then I insisted on driving and we went up the canyon instead. Karl was so happy. He said he had been excited about it all morning and was wondering when we were going to leave. Good thing we were really going or else he would have been really disappointed. I threw him off a little with the charade before work and he didn't know it was a birthday surprise but other than that he figured it all out. Lesson learned? Don't try and surprise Karl. It won't work.


But we had a really great time. We went fishing right when we got there. Alicia caught the first fish of the night and we were all lucky enough to catch something. My fish was tiny but hey, it was something. We had corn on the cob over the fire that night. I'd never had that before and it was AMAZING. It has become a new camp favorite.


We spent the next day on the beach. It was a little cold and only Karl was "brave" enough to get in. We went rafting, Alicia made a sand mountain, and we were able to just relax. Then came the fishing. Tony rented a motor boat and we went out again. It was a really beautiful area. It took us a really long time to catch the first fish but once again it was Alicia who got it. I guess she is just the best. She was the first both days. Tony and Karl caught a few as well. Then it was time to head back home. That was our big summer fun so far.

Fun with the Jepsons

One little thing about me. I have a tendency to procrastinate. So this happened awhile ago but the pictures are too cute to not post.

Cami and the kids were down one weekend and we all went to The Living Aquarium (Thanks Ann). If you haven't been I highly recommend it. They just added an amazon wing and it was amazing.






There was a really big octopus.












And in the picture with Karl is a turtle and a crocodile. They were little and so cute!








These are just a few more pictures from that trip.














Karl had a really fun time with the kids.







He kept trying to put them down the big tube.Our poor future kids. :)
Just kidding. He's great and helped them explore.