The Annual Christmas Tree Hunt

     It's tradition in my family to go to the mountains every year after Thanksgiving and cut down our own Christmas tree.  This was the first year in 22 years that I have gone that was unsucessful.  When we were driving out of Evanston there was a sign that said the road was closed 30 miles ahead.  We were pretty sure that was where we needed to go to get to the area where we usually hunt for our tree.  When we got to the Bear River Service to buy the passes we found out we couldn't get down the road that we usually go to get our trees.  The rangers were sending everyone up another road but warned that a lot of people had been getting stuck.  They said we could hike in but it was at least a 2 mile hike to get to an area that you could cut down a tree.  My dad and Mr. Green decided it wasn't worth the risk of getting stuck or trying to hike 2 miles in snow up to your knees.  Instead we decided to try and get to the cabin and roast hot dogs there.  Down the road we went to the gate for the cabin.  Unfortunately we couldn't get to the cabin either.  So once again we had to turn around.  We decided to go back to Evanston and get something to eat.   

Here is the 2010 Christmas Tree Hunt picture.  Outside the Evanston Subway.  We'll never forget this Christmas tree hunt. 

David, Sammy, and Josie

     When we finished eating we decided that we would stop in Mountain Green where they have a place that you can cut your own tree down.  David and I found the perfect tree but it was quite a bit more expensive than if we would have been able to cut one down in the Uintas.  We decided that it would be cheaper to get that one than buy one from a Christmas tree lot or buy an artificial one.  We drove almost 250 miles and ended up getting a tree that was only about 25 miles from home.  This was an expensive Christmas tree hunt this year but one we will always remember. 

Fun in the Fall Leaves

Josie

Sammy frantically searching for her tennis ball

Jo Beans swimming through the leaves

Thinking of her next sneaky way to escape from the yard

David and Sammy

Sammy playing with her favorite toy-the tennis ball.  She will

play fetch for hours if you will play with her.

    

Back to School

Yesterday it was back to school.  I haven't taken any classes for a year so this is a huge change for me.  Anyways, I have to keep a blog as part of my dental hygiene grade and the address is whitneeatwsu.blogspot.com if you are interested in reading all about my crazy life in the dental hygiene program. 

On To Bigger and Better Things

     Today was my last day working at Dr. Craven's office.  Yea!!!  I am so excited to be done working there and move on to a new adventure.  I have made a lot of fun memories while working there and have made some great friends that I hope to always stay close to.  I have learned so much about dentisty and I have had the opportunity to work with 5 different hygienists in the 3 years that I worked there.  Because of this opportunity I was able to see each one's style and learn how I want to act around patients.
     I really wasn't very sad to leave today.  All day my co-workers kept teasing me that I constantly had a smile on my face and a spring in my step.  I was just so excited to be done there because of some of the things that I have had to put up with.  This morning my mom called and was talking to me about how this was my last day and she asked me if I was sad.  I told her no and she was more sad that I was leaving there than I was.  Don't worry mom, now you will get to come to forever long appointments with me at Weber State and then if you like me I will clean your teeth where I work after school. 
     I still haven't found a part time job yet.  I don't know how many applications I have turned in and I have only received 3 calls.  I thought finding a part time job would be a lot easier than it has been.  One of David's friends is a manager at Office Depot and he is trying to help me get hired there.  Hopefully that will work out.         
     I still have one more week before school starts and I plan on relaxing and reading as many books as I can before I start school and can't read anything till next summer. 

I did it!

So I just want everyone to know that today I got one of these UGLY bugs at work and threw it in the garbage.  I had seen it crawling across the floor earlier in the morning but it crwaled under something and I hoped it would never come out again.  A few hours later I walked into the sterilization room at work and Dr. Craven was walking out and he asked me to get it.  Of course I told him no but I decided to be brave and try it.  I did it, not without some jumping up and down and squealing, but I did it!  This is a huge accomplishment for me.  I do not like bugs.  I always have David come in and get the bugs or I suck them up with the vacuum and let it run for a few minutes.  I was proud of myself but I don't plan on getting anymore bugs anytime soon. 

The Countdown Begins!

The countdown begins...for what? you may ask.  Well I only have eight more days left of work.  Earlier tonight I found myself saying that I didn't want to have to get up in the morning and go to work.  After I said this comment I reminded myself that I only have eight more days left with a job.  After that, as of right now, I have no other job.  SCARY!  Hopefully I will get some calls this week from businesses that I have turned my application and resume in to for some interviews.  I hope I can find a job before school starts.

The other part of my countdown is for the dental hygiene program to start.  I am so excited to go back to school and learn what I have wanted to know and do since I was five years old.  My dream is finally going to come true.  School starts in 22 more days.  I know it might sound crazy that I am excited to go to school but I really am excited to be in the dental hyiene program and make a bunch of new firends.  Just because I'm excited doesn't mean I'm not nervous...because I am.  I know that the next two years will be hard and challenging but I know with my Heavenly Father, David, and my family's help I will make it through.

A Weekend at the Cabin

This past weekend, July 16th and 17th, David and I went to the cabin. We were able to take my brother, Riley, with us. I didn't get a chance to take very many pictures on this trip but it was full of adventure and crazy happenings!!!

My little bro, Riley!

We didn't get to the cabin until about 9:30 Friday night. We hung out for a little while and played a few card games and went to bed. Very little excitement happened Friday. Saturday was the day for pain and stories.

We started Saturday morning off with a scrumptuous and VERY healthy (not) breakfast of scrambled eggs with spam on croissants. YUMMY!!!! We headed out for a ride on the motorcycles. It turned out to be a 4 1/2 hour ride with a few painful moments for me. This year has not been my year for motorcyle riding!

Everything was going good and we were having a good time. Then, I went through a puddle in the middle of the trail that apparently had a lot of sand in the bottom of it. So instead of going straight through the puddle the sand pulled my motorcycle to the right. Well, there just happened to be a huge pine tree there on the right. Now, remember, the finger that I smashed and broke in Moab just two months ago was on my right hand. The large pine tree and my broken, smashed finger met. OUCH!!! It didn't feel very good. Now I have a gross, ugly, blood blister under my new nail that is growing out. Hopefully the new nail won't fall off too.

Once most of the pain went away from my finger we were on the trail again. We rode for a little while and came to a spot in the trail where a stream runs across the trail. Someone thought they would help everyone out by putting small tree trunks across part of the stream to cross over on. Why? The stream was only about two feet across and four inches deep. Anyways, the wood was very slippery and covered with moss so when I tried to cross over it my back tire slipped and I hyperextended my left knee. OUCH again! By this time I had TBS (Tired Butt Syndrome) and I was ready to be done riding for a few hours but we were still miles away from the cabin. So again I got back on my motorcycle and started riding.

When we got back to the cabin we made lunch and relaxed for a little bit. We decided we would take the dogs for a run and go to a river that they could play in. I got on the back of David's motorcycle with him so I could carry Josie when she got tired of running. Sammy was so excited to go. She loves to chase the motorcycles. I think Josie really enjoyed it too. She ran a lot longer and faster than I thought she would with her little legs. When Josie got tired of running we picked her up and I held her while we went the rest of the way to the river.

Once we got to the river David decided that he was going to cross it...with me and Josie on the back. You might be thinking, "Whats wrong with crossing the river with a passenger and a small dog on the back?" Well, the part of the river David was going to cross was about 3 feet deep with a strong current. That didn't go so well. We're not really sure what happened but we ended up in the river with the motorcycle on its side. (You aren't suppossed to take motorcycles swimming.) Here's the funny part about this whole situation...I was wearing the backpack with our new camera, the GPS, and David's new phone in it, and we are in the river...I'm trying to get up but one of the straps on the backpack was caught on the back fender of the motorcycle...my right leg was on top of David's right leg keeping him down in the water...therefore he wasn't able to hurry and get the motorcycle out of the water...and I'm trying to keep Josie's head out of the water.

Oh man, I wish I had a video recording of this. We really weren't in the water for very long but the sequence of events to get up is quite funny now that we think about it. Riley hurried off of his motorcycle and helped David push his motorcycle to the other side of the river. Meanwhile, Sammy is playing in the river, having a great time. Good thing someone was having fun!

David took out his air filter and found it sopping wet. NOT GOOD! We sat there for a while and David decided to try and start it. Nothing...he couldn't even get the kick starter to move at all. Riley let David take his motorcycle back to the cabin to get the 4-Runner and trailer. While David was gone Riley and I were trying to keep the dogs entertained and within sight. David finally returned and we loaded his motorcycle and everything and headed back to the cabin. Good thing it was the end of the day.

We didn't get home until about 10:00 Saturday night. As soon as David got his motorcycle off the trailer he went to work to get the water out of it. He was up until about 1:00 am getting water out. Sunday afternoon he decided to hook the motorcycle to the back of the 4-Runner and have me pull him down the road. Finally we got enough water out of the motorcycle engine and the engine got warm enough that it started! It ended up not being an expensive fix that we were fearing it would be. We are so grateful for that.

By the way, the camera, GPS, and phone all ended up being ok also. Thank goodness!

A Much Needed Update

So my goal of trying to post at least once a week isn't happening. My life has been consumed with one thing, Girls Camp. Last November I was called as the Girls Camp Director for our ward and you would think that would give me plenty of time to get everything done. Well I kind of... maybe, procrastinated a little on a few things so the past month has been nothing but girls camp preparation. I have loved this calling but I'm excited for girls camp to come and go. We leave next Tuesday morning! Only 5 more days to get ready. Like I said, I'm really excited to go to camp and spend the week with the girls but it will be nice to come home from work each day and be able to do what I want to do. David has been busy this summer doing yard projects. He is building a pathway on the side of our house so we don't have to walk through the dirt all the time. He only has about six more feet to go. I'll have to make sure that is on his to-do list while I am at camp. He has also been busy replacing sprinklers that the dogs chew up and break. If they find one that is still sticking up out of the ground they will chew it off and then we have a geyser next time the sprinklers come on. So we decided to replace the broken ones with new metal sprinkler heads. Lets hope they can't chew these to pieces. Oh the joys of dogs!!

Josie-6 months old. I think she was getting ready to pounce on Sammy in this picture. Sammy posing for the camera. Sammy and Josie have become best friends and neither of them know what to do without each other.

Anyways, there is a quick update on our lives. I will post more after girls camp!

Moab 2010

May 13-16 David and I went to Moab with Doug and Pam and Bryce and Audrey. We had so much fun down there. We left Kaysville at about 6:30 pm on Thursday the 13th and arrived in Moab at about 11:30, waking everyone in the campground up with Doug's diesel truck. We got ready for bed and had a great night sleep and woke up Friday morning ready to go and explore!

This is where we slept. It was awesome. Every night we unloaded the motorcycles and four wheelers out of the snowmobile trailer and laid down carpet pad and carpet and set up our beds. It was just like a house. Everyone in the campground would walk by and try to look inside.

Friday May 14th

We woke up bright and early (we being Bryce, Audrey, David and I) and were ready to go for the day. We went outside and started cooking a scrumptous breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and fresh strawberries! After breakfast we packed up all our bedding, loaded the motorcycles and four wheelers and made sack lunches. We headed out to explore the Determination Towers and 7 Mile Rim trails.

This was the view from our campsite. I love Moab. It is so beautiful.

We didn't take too many photos of the scenery on Friday but I love this picture. These rock formations are called Determination Towers. I don't know why they have that name but they are so spectacular to see. Bryce and Audrey holding up the rock. I broke my finger! This was definitely the most exciting event of the day, possibly even the whole weekend. We came to a spot in the trail that was steep and had really big boulders on one side and big boulders on the other side. I obviously didn't pick the right side to go up. My motorcycle started to tip over and my finger got squished between the end of the handle bar and a rock. IT HURT!!! I walked up the hill while David and Doug got my motorcycle up the hill. When I took off my glove I found this. I didn't know it was broken until Monday morning at work when I took and x-ray of it so I had rode the rest of the weekend with a broken finger!

When we got back to camp Friday evening we made dinner and had just finished cleaning up when it started to rain. We spent the rest of the evening in the trailer playing games and talking. Saturday May 15th We woke up, made breakfast, packed everything and loaded everything for another day of exploring. Today we rode the Poison Spider trail and Golden Spike trail. Very fun trail but extremely challenging. I'm glad we were on four wheelers today and not the motorcycles.

Cheek to Cheek! :)

Strike a pose

Who is that cute couple?

The four wheelers and the beautiful Moab rock

Overlooking Moab city. The city is the green valley. So pretty up here being able to look down on God's creations.

Don't lean over the edge too far!

Arches National Park in the distance.

Sunday May 16th Sunday morning we woke up, cooked breakfast, and loaded everything up to go home. On our way home we stopped at Dead Horse Point.

Too bad it was hazy. It is amazing that the Colorado River cut through these huge rocks. Now we have this beautiful landscape.

Whitnee, Audrey and Pam. "Audrey's Pixies"

Bryce, David and Doug. "The Manly Pose"

Just the girlies

The guys...sticking their hips out.

Doug and Pam with the Colorado River in the background.

Honey Buns David and Whitnee Cactus in blossom

View from Dead Horse Point Visitor Center

The blue ponds are used to mine some kind of mineral but I can't remember what it was. The torquoise blue water was so pretty against the red rock.

We all had so much fun on our weekend trip to Moab and can't wait to do it again next year. (Minus the broken finger)

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

Today is our 2nd Wedding Anniversary. I can't believe how the time has flown by during the past 2 years. Thanks for all the you do for me Honey Buns! I love you so much and look forward to many more years together.

Goodbye Butters

Today I came home from work and found that Buttercup had died sometime during the day. It's funny how attached you get to somthing, even if it is a rodent. I had known that this was going to be coming soon because she wasn't eating or drinking or doing anything but sleeping during the past couple days but it's still a shocker. Buttercup was one of my Christmas presents in 2008 so she lived for about a year and a half, which is a pretty normal life span for a hamster.

I will miss waking up in the middle of the night and hearing you running in your wheel as fast as you can. The nights will be pretty quiet now. I'm sure David will love that. Thanks for all the adventures you led us on when you found a way to escape out of your cage and were running around somewhere in our house. You will be missed Buttercup!

Buttercup was quite the acrobat. She was always climbing up her cage and hanging like this from the top. Goodbye Butters!

Welcome Celebration!

Monday evening, April 5, the Weber State Dental Hygiene department had their annual Welcome Celebration for the incoming students. While I was at the meeting they awarded scholarships to the incoming seniors, introduced the class officers, showed a fun video of "An Ordinary Day in the Clinic," and introduced us to our very own peer pal. After all of this we went upstairs to the dental hygiene department and had dinner and got to know our peer pals and the other girls in our class. My peer pal's name is Tiauna Bates and she is so much fun. I met her a few weeks earlier when I was at my interview and I thought she was a fun girl then so when I found out she was my pal I was very happy. I am super excited to have her help me out when needed. After dinner was finished and we had a chance to talk with the people at our table and get to know the professors a little bit we ordered our very own lab coats. I was super excited for this! (Except for the cost but I better get used to it after looking over the list of expenses) My dream is finally becoming a reality and I couldn't be happier!!!!! I've only waited for this since I was five years old. This morning I was able to register for my fall classes. I could not wait to see what my schedule was like. I'm so excited to be going back to school. We'll see what I say about this in about November!

Funny Moment

Remember how in my last post I was saying how our two dogs keep finding ways to get out of our yard? Well I have a funny moment to go along with that. The other night David was at a presentation at school to get extra credit for one of his classes. I was home alone enjoying myself and watching The Biggest Loser. During one of the commercials I decided I better check on the dogs and make sure they were still in the yard. I looked out the windows and couldn't see them anywhere so I hurried and put my shoes on and walked outside. They were still no where to be seen and they didn't come running to me like they usually do when they hear the back door open and close. I checked back behind the shed and still no dogs. "Oh crap. Why don't they just stay where we put them!" I walked back to the house and noticed that they were both in the neighbors yard sniffing around. Well as soon as Josie saw me (she is our cute little chiweiner) she ran back under the fence where they had escaped and tried to run past me. I caught her and then trying to get Sammy (the black lab) to come back home was the hard part. I called her name, told her to get back over here, go around the front yard and get back here, and I called her full name, Samantha, thats when she knows she is in trouble, but she still wouldn't come. Because of this I had to walk across the back yard, then across the front yard and into the neightbors yard to finally get her to listen to me and come home. I then put both of them into the dog run so that I wouldn't have to worry about them and I could finish watching The Biggest Loser. During the next commercial I went to the laundry room window and looked into the dog run and I could tell that Josie had climbed up the chicken wire and escaped out of the dog run. UGH!! I put my shoes back on, walked outside and Josie went running past me as fast as she could. I yelled "HEY" pretty loud and she turned around and came to me. I then picked her up and held her right in front of my face and told her "Stay where I put you!" I turned around to go back into the house and put Josie in the garage and there was our neighbor standing in his backyard with a horrified look on his face. I didn't think anything of the look on his face at the time and asked him if he had found her and put her back in our yard. He said "Yes, she was just right here in our yard. I'm not sure how she got over here." I showed him the hole that the dogs had found and mentioned that we will fix it this weekend, thanked him for getting Josie, and walked back into the house. Later that night I realized why our neighbor probably had a horrified look on his face when I turned around. I'm guessing that when he found her he picked her up and put her on our side of the fence but kind of had to drop her to get her on our side. Then, here I come outside, swinging the door open and closed and yelling HEY without knowing he was out there. He probably thought I was mad at him for touching my dog! Anyways, thats my funny moment. I have been laughing about it all week.

What's Been Happening Lately

So it's been a while since I updated our blog so I better catch up on whats been happening in our lives lately. We've both been busy with work, as usual, and David has been going crazy with school. He's counting down the days till this semester is over. Spring break was two weeks ago and we loved every minute of it. We were able to spend the evenings together, which right now with David's night classes we don't see each other till about eight o'clock. During spring break week we were finally able to get the gates put up on the east side of our yard to keep our two fun loving puppies inside the yard. Sammy loves to wonder off and meet new people and see new things so this new addition to the yard wasn't really welcomed by her and she found another way out of the yard within a few days. Gotta love the curiosity of a dog.

The next week it was back to school and our usual routines. Tuesday night we were invited to go snowmobiling with a group of friends and family on Saturday and we were both looking forward to that. Thursday David's boss came to him and of course, because we had something planned, he asked him to work on Saturday. I wasn't very happy to miss out on the snowmobiling day but by Friday afternoon David had talked me into going anyway and riding the snowmobile by myself. I was very excited to go snowmobiling for the first time this year but nervous at the same time to be maneuvering the big, heavy M8 on my own without David there to help me if I needed it. I knew that the other guys who were going would take good care of me so I figured I would be okay to go. I had so much fun and did a lot better on the snowmobile in the powder by myself than I thought I would. I was definitely sore afterwords! I thought I wouldn't be able to move my arms for a week but after a few days my arms and shoulders were back to normal. Thats a glimpse of our lives during the past few weeks and hopefully I will keep the blog more up to date now.

Acceptance Letter

Last Thursday (March 11) I finally received the letter that I have been waiting to receive for the past four years. I have been accepted to the Weber State University Dental Hygiene program! I am so excited to start school in August. I know it will be tough but I am ready for it. On April 5 they are having a welcome celebration and I can't wait to go and meet the students who I will basically be spending the next 2 years of my life with. Besides this news David and I haven't had too much else going on. David is on spring break this week and we have been enjoying the time that we are able to spend together after work.

Dental Hygiene Interview

At the end of January I turned in my application for the dental hygiene program at Weber State University for the fourth time. Since then I have been patiently waiting for the letter that tells me that I have been accepted for the graduating class of 2012. I thought that this would be easy this year and that I would be in the program for sure since I was an alternate for last year. At the end of February I received an email from the dental hygiene department that I had been selected to advance in the application process and that I needed to call and schedule an appointment for an interview on March 1, 3, or 5. I immediately had butterflies fill up my stomach. I didn't think that they still did interviews for applicants, I thought it was all based on points. I got on the phone and scheduled my interview for Wednesday March 3. I had a week and a half to wait and worry about it. The day finally came and as I got ready to leave work early for my interview I again got butterflies and I couldn't keep my hands still, they were shaking because I was nervous. By the time I had gotten home and changed my cloths and was backing out the driveway to go to my interview I had calmed down. I got to the school and had to walk what felt like five miles in high heels up hill to get to the dental hygiene department. When I went inside there were three girls there to greet me. They introduced themselves and told me that they were first year students in the dental hygiene program. They got me checked in and then took me on a tour. I have been wanting to see the dental hygiene area and the operatories for a long time and it was so much fun to see where I will be spending all my time for two years. When the tour was over they took me back to the area where they were having the interviews and I had to sit and wait for them to call my name. After a few mintues of sitting there trying to stay calm a lady came out and called my name. She took me into a room where there were three other people sitting at a table. They introduced themselves to me and told me what to expect during the interview. They each asked me one question, I only remember three of them but here is what they were and what I answered (the best that I can remember). Q. What has made you want to be a dental hygienist? A. I have wanted to go into dentistry since the first time I went to the dentist when I was little. Dental hygiene has always intrigued me and I enjoy helping people. Q. Why do you think that you would be a good addition to the dental hygiene program? A. Like I said earlier being a dental hygienist has always been a goal of mine and I feel that I am very motivated because of this desire. I have found that while working at a dental office for the past three years as the hygiene assistant I really do love the job and love helping people. Q. If I was asked to do something by a supervisor that wasn't the way I would do it what would I do? A. I face this kind of situation a lot in the office that I work in now. I always will go and try to accomplish the task the way that she has asked me but if I know of a way that is more efficient I will go to her and discuss why I think we should do it the other way and try to come to a compromise between the two of us. After I gave this answer the same lady asked me what would I do if I was asked to do something that was unethical. This is where I really got uncomfortable. I answered by saying I wouldn't even try and they all kind of snickered at me and the lady said "You wouldn't even try?!" like I was crazy. This is where I thought the interview went all down hill. I explained myself and told them that I want to always be ethical. I told them that I would go to that person and explain why I wouldn't do what they had asked me to do because I believed that it was unethical and try and find a way to complete the task in a way that is ethical. After this they asked if I had any questions for them and they told me that they will be sending out the final letters next week. When I walked out of the office and started making my way out of the building I was fighting back tears. When they laughed at me I was crushed. I thought that I had totally blown the interview. As I thought about the questions and how I answered later on through the night I started feeling better about the interview and I think that I did do a great job, I just hope that it was good enough. I can't wait another year to start the dental hygiene program. I want to get on with my life. Now I just need to wait another week and a half or two to find out. Wish me luck!!!

So I finally gave in and created a blog. I decided that I really wanted to start journaling and keeping track of all the crazy adventures in our lives. What a crazy time it is. I feel like I never have time anymore to just sit down and relax. Life is good though. David is in the middle of the spring semester at Weber State and is looking forward to when this semester is over. So am I so I can have my husband back. With his crazy school and work schedules and homework on top of all that I feel like we never see each other. On Saturdays this winter he has enjoyed going snowmobiling with his dad and bother and some friends. This helps him release all the stress from the week and he comes home much happier, except a few weeks ago when we blew up the engine in his snomobile. More money! It seems that no matter how hard we try to save our money something like this happens. I guess thats just the way life works. As for me I have been busy with my calling as the Girls Camp Director for our ward camp this summer. So far I have really enjoyed this calling and I look forward to camp in July. I loved going to girls camp when I was in Young Womens and now I get to go again, only I am in charge and that kind of scares me. Hopefully everything will work out. Besides that and my Primary Secretary calling I haven't really done too much this winter. I am definitely looking forward to spring and warmer weather so I can go outside.