DREAMS......

So I have so many dreams for my life here on earth!  At times I get super frustrated because my dreams can't come true when I want them too!   I can't wait till the day when I can become a mother....most of my thoughts are about having a baby! I use to never day dream about my children growing up but lately i almost look more forward to the days when I can just play and hang out with my kids.  When they have their own lives and their own opinions.  I'm sure when that day comes I will look back and think why did I look forward to this day again?!

My next big dream in life is to be a Photographer! I know I'm like every other Mormon girl out there. I have no idea if this is my true art in life but I can't wait to find out!  I have been dreaming about this for years now! I look at photographers for hours at a time. To me it is art and I can NEVER get enough!  I LOVE it!  I love the colors, the textures, the expressions on peoples faces, the stories that pictures tell, and how they make me feel something in side.  Its a passion that I have.  I look at Rebekah Westover Photography like everyday!  I LOVE HER!  I even got to watch her work atone  my besties weddings!  I told her how much I loved her work.....its like a have a crush on her cuz she is so FREAKIN good and i just love her style and crisp images.  I know this a random post but I just think about this all the time and its nice to put my thoughts on an empty canvas.  I dream of the day when we will be able to be out of debt and be able to buy THE camera I want! I know the day is coming soon and I get so excited/nerves just thinking about it.  Will I be good at this....will I really enjoy it or is just something that i dream about to fill my mind.  I really don't like to tell people I want to do Photography because I usually don't get the most positive response.  I understand that everyone wants to do it but that doesn't mean everyone is good at it and I really believe deep down that I may have a chance to be good at it!  Even if I'm not that good at it...I will love it and I know that I will have my supporters who like what I do because they LOVE ME!

The third thing i dream about all the time is traveling and seeing new places.  Oh how I love to TRAVEL!  I also found myself spending hours on the computer looking up places to go and cheap vacations.  I just can never get enough!  The other day Sterling and I were talking about how I have some money on my credit card that we are trying to pay off.  Well its from my trip to Europe.  When I bought my ticket i was still in school and of course i just didn't have 1,000 bucks laying around so naturally I used my credit card.  To me i can't put a price tag on the trip so i of course did it with out a 2nd thought.  Sterling asked me if I regretted that trip!  I told him I would have done it the same way every time.  That trip was  a once in a life time trip.  I had the time of my life and I will never forget that trip with Andrea.  Plus I told him it helped me realize that I was in LOVE with him!  Traveling is just one of my passions!  I love to look at all the different places and all the colors and people!  Uh I want to hop on a plane now!  Plus I want to travel so I can take a billion pictures of

new things and always have those pictures to look at forever!

I hope someday we will be able to go to Thai Land.  I want to go with Jedd/Katie, Sterlings parents plus any other siblings that would love to join.  Jedd and Morgan served their missions here.  It would be so fun to all go together.  Family trip! I was sad that we didn't get to go with Jedd and Katie when they went this last summer but it was just horrible timing for us. One day this trip WILL happen.

I want to go to NYC so bad.  Ok I have to confess.....I love Gossip Girl....yes trash i know.  But i can't help but want to put on my cutest coat, cloves, hat/head band (oh i love Blair's cute accessories), scarf and take in all the holiday spirit of NYC.  Oh and I'm dying to go to a Broadway show....WICKED!

Greence was the one place I was so sad that we didn't get to go here when we were Europe.  It was far and we just didn't have the time.  One day Ster and I will go here!

I will stay in one of these huts! I dream about Bora Bora all the time.  It didn't make life easier when they went here in the movie Couples Retreat and with the Bachelorette. I was drooling the entire time I watched these.....it was hard to focus on the show and not the gorgeous sites!

I would love to HIKE HIKE HIKE  and then HIKE some more in New Zealand.  The outdoors here just look amazing.  I would to take a back pack trip through the mountains with my hubby here.

I LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED ITALY.  I want to go back so Sterling can see how amazing it is for himself and not have to listen to me gab about it.  I know he would love it as much as I do.  It would be so fun to eat gelato and get lost together. Oh and maybe since i have more money i can eat more than just pizza and pizza and pizza and fruit.

Oh I dream about how beautiful and relaxing Hawaii is.  I want to go back so bad.  I'm pretty sure i have planned at least 10 different trips to go back but one day it will work out.  I will get to show Sterling why i fell in LOVE with Hawaii!

Paul is one lucky man...Andrea is the best travel companion ever! These video's show why we always had so much fun traveling together! I just love this girl! Plus when i decided to eat a snack bag of Oreo's for lunch that i stole from Lake Powell since i had no money.....Yes Andrea pulls out a can of Tuna which she too brought with her! We were meant to be friends for eternity!

For now I will just dream.  My day will come.  I just wounder what I will get first.....a camera or a baby in my belly? Um its fun to think about what is to come in my life but I also need to slow down and enjoy the life that I'm living now.  Heavenly Father has a plan for us and I know in due time if its right I will get to do all the things I dream about!  I just need to focus on my great life now!  I have a bad habit of looking forward to the future and not enjoying my life while I'm living it!  So i will enjoy my time here in Salmon and I will love every minute of it!

Fall Fall Fall

So I have been LOVING the weather this Fall! It's been so nice and way warmer here in Salmon then in Rexburg! So things have been great!  I got a job at the High School/Middle School.  I'm the Drug Free Coordinator for the district. Yes,  I will explain.  I do drug tests,  I plan events to keep the kids out of trouble, I have lunch duty everyday at the Middle School,  and I plan drug free assemblies and events through out the year.  That's pretty much what I do.  I don't mind the job...its not what I went to school for but I'm so thankful that I have something!!! Its so hard to find anything in this town!  Oh and I also have health insurance for the first time since college, that is a definite perk! Sterling said now he can sleep at night knowing that if something terrible happens to me we won't go thousands of dollars into debt. Sterling has been loving his job. He loves working in the OR. He has been going into surgerys the last few weeks and he's loving all the things that he's learning with the doctors.  He is also taking a course through the hospital that teaches about the OR and all the instruments he needs to know. He's hoping to move somewhere after this job and work in the OR as a first assistant nurse.  

This last weekend we went to Rexburg.  Now that we live in such a small town I have so much love for Rexburg! When we lived there I couldn't get out fast enough.  I was so ready to get out of the college scene and I just wanted something new.  I love Salmon it has its positives but it also has its negatives.  I mean living 150 miles from the nearest city/Walmart is a little far for me.  Since we have lived here we have left at least every other weekend.  Lately we have been staying home on weekends.  It gets old traveling and we have really enjoyed just hanging out together, relaxing at our house.  Don't get me wrong though I still love leaving our little town.  We love going out to eat and seeing a movie.  We also love going to Rexburg to hang out with Ster's sisters.  Its so fun having 3 of them living there.  It would be so fun to be living there now with all of them there.  I miss Rexburg now that I don't live there.  I have so many great memories in that town.  Some of the funniest moments in my life have been in that town.  I have such a special place in my heart for BYU-I.  It's such a special place! Every time we go to Rexburg I start telling stories to Ster and then I start dreaming about my life when I was a student! He always makes fun of me cuz I do it every time we go back there.  I also have such a love for the Rexburg temple! Its so beautiful and I just love that now that I'm married I get to go inside the most special places on earth!

So not much else is going on here in Salmon.  We are looking forward to the holidays and the SNOW!! Ah we both just got new gear for the snow season.  I got the coolest new board and I can't wait to take it down the mountain! Ster got new boots and powder skis.  I hope we get lots of good snow this year! We hope to go every weekend! Ah I never thought I would be one of those people who love it when it snows! What has Sterling's family done to me! I just can't wait for the snowboard season and those pow days!!!  

Saturday hike....such a pretty place....about an hour from our house.

On the bottom of the mountain....till this point easy hike...after this point straight up

 Family backpack trip...missing a few.  We went hiking at the Big Horn Crags.  
There were lakes everywhere.

This place was one of my favorite hikes I've been on.  The rocks were 
sweet and the land scape was so interesting!

So pretty....after this a storm came in.  Wouldn't be a holiday weekend in Idaho without horrible weather.  It was hailing rocks and freezing!  Our trip got cut short cuz it was so COLD.

My first FISHY!!!!!  Yum I was so excited. I even cleaned out his guts.

Our camp site on harbor lake

Our house on Halloween...and the only picture I have of my brown hair.

On the lake in McCall.  We took some kids from the high school to a retreat.  What a beautiful town.  I loved it....it was like a small Sun Valley or Park City.  Way cool vibe town.

GlACIER NATIONAL PARK!

YEAH for fun little getaways! A few weeks ago Ster and I decided to go take a trip to Glacier in Montana. We both have never been and always wanted to go and now that we live in Salmon its only 300 miles away! So we left after I got off work Friday night.  We got to Glacier around 3am.  Woooww it was late and the Park was PACKED!

We looked for an hour before we finally found a camping place! Since we were so excited to be there we woke up before 9.  We ate breakfast and then cleaned up camp.  For not getting much sleep our spirits we pretty high.  I felt like a kid in a candy store! I just couldn't wait to see the park! The campground was so GREEN so I knew the rest of the park was going to be pretty awesome!  On Saturday we drove around most of the day just looking at the sites just off the road. There is so much to see! I have never seen so many waterfalls, weeping walls and water in one place. I was in heaven. The water in Glacier looks fake because it is so blue!  After driving around all day we went and set up camp on the other side of the park.  We got lucky and got the last camping spot! The park was packed the weekend we went!  The employees said that Glacier hit a record with the visitors this year. 

Plus the park was celebrating its 100th year anniversary!

After we set up camp we went to check out an old hotel and get a yummy treat.  The hotel is on a lake with super pretty mountains in the background.  We got yummy huckleberry soda and ice cream! Yummy! We LOVED the soda! We also made a yummy treat after dinner....SCONES! It was Sterling's idea and they turned out great! Sterling was very proud of his scone making skills.

This is the view from the Hotel

Such a cutie!

One of the many waterfalls along the road

The next morning we woke up early to go on a hike up to a glacier.  The hike was about 12 miles.  I was a little worried about getting eaten by a bear! Of course the girl from Ohio is worried about BEARS! We don't have to worry about bears in Ohio and sometimes I just get carried away in my mind! It wasn't good for me to hear about the lady in the news getting attacked in the middle of the night in her tent by a BEAR!  So yes, I was a little concerned about going on the hike.  Glacier is bear country.  At the beginning of our hike we came across a couple.  We started chatting with them and then they told us how they came across a bear on their last hike.  Of course their story brought me more fears and thoughts of getting eaten by a BEAR! After an hour though I forgot about the bears and focused on the beauty of the hike. The trail was so crowded that I wasn't too worried about coming across a bear.  The hike got prettier and prettier as we went deeper in to the mountains.  On the way up to the glacier there is a lake that you hike by.  Its in the valley but even from up high it is spectacular! I have never seen such a beautiful lake before.  I just couldn't stop staring at it! The color looked fake it was so blue!

 

It's even bluer in person!

Don't be jealous of my super cute outfit!

  Once we got to the glacier it was super cold! The view however was amazing! The mountains with the waterfall and lake were so pretty! We ate lunch on a rock by the water and took in the beauty.  When I go into nature I just don't understand how people can't see God's hand in all the beauty of this earth.  No one person in this world could create so much beauty as He has created for this earth.  I just love nature and I love exploring new places.  Ah I have such a travel bug.  Ster and I went on vacation only a few months ago and already I'm chomping at the bit to go on another one.  The small weekend trips really help though! I loved going on this trip with my hubby! He's so much fun to be around and we have so much fun together.  I just couldn't have gotten a better match for myself.  He is not only my husband but best friend as well.  I lurve him!

P.S. I'm doing great on my running.  I'm on my 5th week.  Last week I ran 7 miles for the first time in my life! Plus I ran 5 miles straight without stopping! That's hugh for me.  I'm also getting faster.  I'm running about 9 min miles....I get that time running up hills! I never run that fast!  So all the running is paying off and it feels great!  I have really been enjoying it and I love having a goal to work towards.  It just makes me feel like I have more purpose and I love to be successful!  I'm so competitive, even with myself!  I never give up and I will totally make this goal!

RUN RUN RUN

So for the last 2 weeks Ster and i have been running! We have decided to get into SHAPE! We made a goal to run 15 miles each week for the next 2 months.  We each want to lose a little weight TOO on this journey! If we complete our goals we each get $200 dollars to do as we wish.  I'm so going to do it! I want to buy some new clothes so bad! Since i have been married i never buy clothes! I feel like I wear the same thing everyday and i just feel so outdated! So each week so far i have been making my goal! I have started to look forward to my runs now. I like running.  I get to clear my head and think of creative ideas.  I do my best thinking when i'm running! It also makes me feel so so so good! I already feel a difference in my body.  It may just be in my head but either way i still feel great!  I never thought in a million years that i would ENJOY running!

Summer Summer Summer!

I have wanted to update our blog for weeks now.  I just always seem to find something else to do instead. Currently it is raining cats and dogs here in Salmon but earlier this afternoon it was sunny and hot so I decided to clean the Altima.  It took me about 2 hours with all the steps that Ster insists on doing.  My plan was to pick him up from work and have him be so excited/impressed that I did such a good job cleaning the car.  Now I'm stuck with no car because I refuse to take it out of the garage until this rain stops and Ster can see it.  Looks like he may be walking home from work!

Things are great here in Salmon.  We got a calling in our ward.  We team teach the 7 year old's in primary.  It's so much fun.  We have a set of twins and a set of triplets.  So funny and random!  We have been living up the life on the river.  Since the river is the main source of recreation around here we bought tubes went floating!  So relaxing but it turned out horrible when Ster got burnt.... he looked like a lobster I could have eaten for dinner he was so red.  He woke up every night in pain for like 3 days.  Never again will we float without sunscreen! We have also been able to go to the boyscout camp on the river where Sterling's sister Jess works.  Katie and Jedd came up from Rexburg over the 4th and we went rafting down the river 2 times that weekend.  It was super fun but a little traumatizing.  I have never been rafting before.  That weekend was my first time.  We rented a ducky (its a 2 man inflatable kayak).  The first day was so much fun.  I was in love with this new adventure and I wanted to do it all the time.  The 2nd day we started off fine and then we went into a hole.  A hole in the river forms after a large rock where the water moves backwards.  Well Sterling falls out of the boat and goes under.  I start screaming and I too fall into the water.  Sterling yells at me to hold onto the boat.  So I do but the boat stays in the hole!  So now I am stuck in the hole with the boat and screaming for help. Of course Ster gets washed out and drifts down the river and now I am alone in the hole! The water keeps trying to pull me under and since this is all very new and very terrifying I of course think this is it.  Katie and Jedd and Ster are all down stream and I'm going to drown.  I really believed that I wasn't going to live. The water was so powerful.  Maybe 10 secounds later Jedd gets close to me and tells me to let go of the boat.  So I just let go.  I went under for maybe a sec and then i started to float down stream.  Then i just started crying and shaking. 

I was so scared and i have never had an expreince were i thought my life was in danger.  It turns out my life wasn't in that much danger once i let go of the boat.  Everyone knew i was going to be fine and they knew alot about the river.  I on the other hand no nothing about the river so of course i went to the extremes in the situation.  Thats when it all began.  We went on a river trip this last week.  Of course all i could think about was that bad expreince that i had.  I have one good expreince on the river and one bad.  Not good odds when your going on a river trip for 7 days and covering 100 miles in 4 class rapids.  Within the first 10 mins of our trip down the middle fork river our ducky flipped over.  I went through rapids on my bum and i hit about 5 rocks and i couldn't get to the side.  Sterling pulled me over so i wouldn't go through another set of rapids.  Of course i stared crying out of control.  Ok, i never cry.  But for some reason when it comes the river i cry like crazy.  I was so scared that the whole trip was going to be like that and i just couldn't handle it.  I refused to get in the ducky.  I had to hike up a mt and back down to get to the rafts in our group.  i cryed on the raft for a good 15 mins.  I was scared and i was not experienced on the river.  So after that long long story.....sorry it was a big deal to me.  After that first day things were great. I rode in the raft which is much safer.  I got to know the river and i started to see that it wasn't that scary.  I got back in the ducky the 3rd day and i even hit some big rapids by the end of the trip.  I'm still a little afriad of the river but now i know its fun and not as deathly as i thought!

I sure do love my Hubby!

Cindy talking charge of the boat

Sterling and Sara loving the ducky

So pretty.....the water was so clear

We had so much fun on the river trip.  It was long days but so beautiful.  Every night we would camp somewhere new and unpack all our stuff.  We went cliff jumping and we also went through rapids in our life jackets.  It was so fun to be with family.  I love love love Sterling's family and i love spending time with them.  That to me was the best part of the trip.  Just hanging out with family.

Mike and Ella! They were so awesome and took me in when i refused to ride in the ducky.

Why doesn't planning in the sand ever get old?!

Thank you Katie for all the amusement!

When we got home from the Middle Fork we left that next weekend for Lagoon.  We went to Idaho Falls on our way and had a date night! It was so much fun! We went to the temple, Red Robin and then to a movie! That's our favorite date but now that we live in Salmon our choice's are limited to like 2 restaurants and only 2 movie options.  So when we get to go into town it makes it extra special.  Plus we don't have a temple! We went to Lagoon on Saturday and had a blast. Our favorite part was the water park.  We went down this one slide at-least 5 times! I could have done it like a million more but it started raining and got cold.  Sunday  after church we took a nap since we had such a long day at Lagoon, Then of course we finished the weekend off with a game of settlers.  Which i didn't win for like the first time in months! I always win but it was nice to have Sterling win for a change!  Oh and this weekend my sister had her baby.  Her name is Natalie. I want to meet her so so so bad1 She looks so sweet in all the pictures! Life is great and we are so happy!

Our New HOME

It's official we now live in Salmon, Idaho! Sterling got the job at the hospital and he's loving his job. He loves the people he works with and he was so excited to tell me yesterday that he started 2 IV's. We found a house to rent. It has 2 bedrooms...full bath....garage and yard! Oh we also have a deck and porch. The house needs some work. The backyard has weeds a mile high. The inside smelled like smoke/dirty...ster rented a carpet cleaner and that really helped with the smell. We want to do some painting to add some life and color to the house. Other than those things its great. We have so much room to spread out! We're not sure how we fit into our first little apartment. This house is atleast 2 times bigger! 

I also found a job in town. I'm working at the best fine dinning restaurant Salmon has to offer! I got the job like 3 days after we moved here. They just called and asked if i still wanted the job and then asked me to work that night. I'm still on the market for a day job but its so hard here to find a job. I thought Rexburg was hard....its like ten times harder here. In Rexburg you couldn't get your feet into any of the businesses but here in Salmon there are no businesses. There's nothing here but the river and some government jobs. Its a tough world and i pray that i will find something or else i will go crazy! I have a few leads so i hope one of them will work out!

Life is good though. We have a great ward. They are all so friendly and love us because we are young! Not to many young couples move here. I just can't image moving and not having the church to help you adjust to your new home. Just going to church each week has helped me so much in this town. Just knowing that i have people who believe what i believe, who have the same morals and who know life's purpose. It really helps. The Church is just so wonderful. My puppy has also helped me alot! Who knew a dog could keep you company. I love my dog and really when Ster is gone all day and i'm stuck at home Jackson makes me not lonely. Its weird! I never thought a dog could do that,but really he does. I love my pup! We are so happy to finally have a job and a home! Life is good!

We got a JOB!

Good news! Ster got a job in Salmon, Idaho. For those who don't know where that is.....yes I'm one of them....its north of Rexburg about 2 hours. Its in a little valley and its proudly known for the Salmon river. So he got a job in the O.R. unit. Its a brand new super nice hospital and all the people seem so nice and way laid back which is a plus. The town is only a population of 3,000 and the closest city in any direction is about 150 miles which kinda freaks me OUT! I had a hard time living in Rexburg at first. We haven't decided if its the place we need to be but in the next few days we will know for sure. He has a few more jobs he needs to look into before we take the offer. I know anywhere we go will be happy, its just scary to move and to such a small place. There's lots of fun things to do outside and we still have family within a day drive. So were super excited!
 

For the last month we have done nothing but look and look for jobs...well shall i say Ster. I pretty much bug him and then find something to do with my time. I look on KSL like a thousand times a day and i have bought atleast 2 workout dvds to keep me entertained! I went to Ohio 2 weeks ago and played with my family. My cousin Shanny just had the cutest baby in the world, so i got to hold her lots. It was so nice to go home. I missed my family so much and my little niece is talking up a storm!

Homeless but Happy!

Yes, Ster and I have no home! We have been adopted by Sters parents thankfully! This last winter I worked at Grand Targhee and Ster drove bus up to the resort. We lived with Katie and Jedd in a house in Victor for the cold winter months. We had tons of fun and saved lots of money. During the winter we bought a PUPPY!!! His name is Jackson! We love love love him to death! When Ster told me we could buy him...yes I started crying because I was so excited! He has been the greatest little dog. He always wants to cuddle and loves to lay under the blanket. He also never barks which is a huge bonus!! (I will post some pics soon)We also bought a new car this winter!! We got a Nissan Altima! Its so pretty! Its black with black interior. Since we bought a new car we thought it would be a perfect time to go on a road trip!! We have been wanting to go on a trip for Sters graduation and for our anniversary. Of course we went to California. We started our trip in Reno. We stayed in a sweet hotel and we went skiing in Lake Tahoe. The snow at Tahoe wasn't as great as the Ghee but we still had tons of fun. Sadly we got the boot from the mountain because we ducked a rope and went to a closed area. Luckily it was the end of the day anyway. After Tahoe we headed to Sacramento to hang out with some friends. While we were there Sterling took his state boards for nursing. He PASSED!!! The greatest new ever!!! We were able to enjoy our trip once we found that out!

After a few days in Sacramento we headed down south. We took the 1, it was so beautiful. We loved that drive! We ate lunch on the side of the road....we ate the famous sourdough bread that I bought in San Fransisco! I still have dreams about that bread. We camped that night in Santa Barabra and got up the next morning and headed to the most Magical place in the world...DISNEYLAND!! We did the promotion "give a day, get a day". We had tons of fun but the park was packed for spring break! My favorite part was the parade...i loved the music.

Oh I loved these balloons....if only they hadn't coast $13!

That night we drove to San Diego. Our first day in San Diego we went to the ZOO! The Zoo was amazing... I have never seen so many animals in my life and they were all so different. We had a blast just observing all the animals and other creepy creatures. Sterling loved all the big monsters in the Zoo....here's his favorite. Its the weirdest Alligator we have ever seen!

The next day we went to sea world! More animals!! The weather was a little cooler when we went but we still had tons of fun. The last hour of the night we decided that it would be fun to ride the water rapids. Well we thought for sure we could get off the ride some what dry...Wrong we got SOAKED!! We went and watched the night show soaked! It was a good way to end a memorable day at Sea World.


Oh Happy DAY! On 10Th of April we had our first anniversary!! We have been married for a year! Time flew by! It was the best year of my life! We have so much fun together! For our big day we went to the San Diego temple. We did some sealings and then a session. Going to the temple was a perfect way to celebrate! After the temple we went to Outback and went all out! Oh so yummy! That night we stayed in the nicest hotel on the bay! We were happy to be sleeping on a bed and not in our tent!
San Diego was our favorite place in Cali. Its so pretty and so relaxed and we just had so much fun. We couldn't of planned a better trip to celebrate all the fun things that are going on in our life!