I need help! I am blog stupid! I don't even know how to change my background. This could have something to do with the fact that I post on my blog annually. But, anyway, if somebody could enlighten me on how all of you find the cutest backgrounds... and know how to change them, that would be great! So, here's a quick update on what's been happening in our lives since the last post...
~Russell got a job in Salt Lake! He's a financial analyst for L-3. He's liking it a lot and doing a great job!
~Because of the new job we have sweet perks... Such as going to an occasional Jazz game in the company suite!!!! So much fun!
~We moved to salt lake. We are living in a little duplex in Cottonwood Heights. We love the new area especially because we are in Russell's aunt and uncle's ward! They are wonderful!
~Oh, and... yes! We're going to have a baby!!!!!!!
Isn't it the cutest little thing:) This is the baby last Friday (April 30th). I was 12 weeks along. It was moving all around. It was crazy. So much fun! Especially because I haven't been sick AT ALL!!! I know, I am very blessed! The due date is November 14th. The funniest parts about being pregnant: being exhausted all the time, a bit more emotional (ok... I'm really emotional), and the random food cravings that sometimes can't be satisfied! For example... right now I really, really want Taco Del Mar's fish tacos. The closest one is an hour away... What am I supposed to do? Another HUGE craving I had was for... Cheesecake! WOW! Where are you going to find cheesecake at 11:00 at night? Well, my amazing husband found some at the grocery store!!!! It was perfect!
So, I will post more pictures soon, but I just wanted to post what's happening!
Russell has really gotten into coupon shopping. He is so good at it! You know it's bad when the guy is looking up blogs about how to get good deals on groceries. We really need jobs! I went with him last week and this is how I felt when we left the store:
Here's what we got: 2 boxes of Kashi cereal, 2 boxes of Kashi granola bars, 1 box of Kashi waffles, plastic cups, and travel size lotion and band-aids. For a grand total of $1.45! We save $18.77 just in that shopping trip!
On our way back from Spokane for Christmas our flight was full and we volunteered to get bumped. It was great! The next flight was only a couple hours later but we still got food vouchers and free flights! So, we went to Cancun. It was so much fun! Right before we left there was a travel advisory for Mexico, everyone was saying not to go because it's too dangerous. So, I was a little nervous. But everything went great! It was wonderful. Nothing bad happened and we didn't get sick, which I was very happy about!
Our first night there we went straight to Chichen Itza and saw a light show at the ruins. It was really cool, but everything they were saying was in Spanish so I didn't understand anything.
The next day we went to the ruins again, seeing them in the daylight for the first time. It was so cool! They are huge!
After Chichen Itza we went to a cenote (which is kind of like a water hole) in this case it was in a cave. It's called Ditznup Cenote. It was really pretty, even though this picture's not great. Funny though, there are a ton of bats on the ceiling of the cave and we got in and swam in the water... bat poop was everywhere!!! It was so gross
Those of you who know the Patch family know how much fun they are. They love to have fun and don't want to miss out on anything. As a consequence they are ALWAYS on the go, at least Russell is. And, that's also how they vacation. So, Russell and I spent the first few days going non-stop from place to place. It was really fun and a new thing for me. Usually vacations for me are relaxing:) So, anyway, that same day we drove to Coba. Coba is famous for it's crocodiles, monkeys, and ruins. We didn't see or hear any monkeys but we definitely saw the crocodiles and ruins! These ruins were a lot of fun. We rented bikes and rode through the ancient village! It was so neat! And, unlike Chichen Itza we could climb to the top of the main ruin! It was so scary! I'm terrified of heights, so I was very nervous climbing up while the winds were doing everything they could to blow me off! It was beautiful at the top though!
The people who worked at the ruins would drive people around on their bikes. At the beginning of the trail not very many people were getting on the bike taxis. But there were plenty of people who changed their minds after climing the ruin! My favorite is the woman in the picture grabing her back! Climbing though really wansn't that bad, just scary and really hot!
On our way back from the ruins there were three little Mexican boys getting tourists to pull over to see the crocodiles! They had raw chicken on the end of a string and would feed it to them. Not really safe, but it was very entertaining. They were pretty big!
After hitting up those ruins we starting driving to Tulum. On the way, we went to several more Cenotes! They were beautiful.
This is Grande Cenote. It was the prettiest one we went to. There were stalagtites and stalagmites everywhere (even underwater). It was a really cool place to snorkel. We saw a turtle and some tropical fish. It was way fun!
When we got to Tulum we went to Sian Ka'an National Reserve. It was a pretty drive and I liked visiting the information center there. They had boat tours, and we went on one. We saw Manatees, a ruin, a cenote, lots of birds, and a crocodile.
The first night we stayed in a place that was in the center of town. It wasn't that nice and it was really noisy. But spending not that much money on our hotel the first night we were in Tulum really paid of because this is where we stayed our second night...It was a cute bungalow right on the beach! It was BEAUTIFUL!!!
We went to the ruins in Tulum. These were actually my favorite ruins that we saw. I think the pictures explain why. This is the village of ruins. It was so beautiful.
They were right on the beach. Who wouldn't want to live here!? It was amazing. After Tulum we went to Cozumel, an island great for SCUBA diving. We stayed in a hotel that was $25! And it was clean! Besides, we were so exhausted from running around we didn't care where we stayed. It was called Hotel Pepita and I would definitely recommend it. For being so cheap it was surprisingly comfortable too.
After all of the fun activities we did it was turn for my kind of vacation... BEACH DAYS!!! From this point on we just went to Cancun and relaxed on the beach. It was a perfect vacation. We were able to do everything we wanted to do and relax as well. We stayed at Hotel ME. It was so nice! The beach was right behind the hotel and it was a great beach. We didn't want to leave, we were having so much fun playing in the ocean! It really was a perfect trip!
This is the view from where we stayed in Cancun... so beautiful! And, the shower in the hotel had a rainwater focet! I have always wanted one of those. It was way cooler than I ever would have thought:)
Alright! So, after posting that I finally found a job in what I graduated in... I also lost the job! I got laid off! Bummer huh! I feel like I'm always job hunting! That's the only job I've held steadily in the last year! Oh well, though. I think it will be a good thing. And, now that I don't have a job, I should have more time to post on my blog! Ha! Who am I kidding, I'm not very good at keeping up on it! Sorry, be patient!
I finally found a job! And what's even better is that I'll be using my major (Humanities/Art History). So, even though it might take a while, you can still find a job with that major. Thanks to my brother, Eric, I got a job in an art gallery! He works for the gallery, making all the beautiful frames for the art. I'll be in the gallery doing sales. When Russell and I find out how long we will be in Utah, I'll become the buyer for the gallery. Which means traveling and searching for more art to sell in our gallery! I'm super excited and so, I thought I'd update you all once more.
Ok, ok! I'll update my blog already! According to our blog we're still in the middle of the U.S. driving back to Utah. No, it didn't take us four months to get back, I'm just really bad at posting on our blog! Sorry! So, since June we were able to go home to Spokane and live with my parents for a month! It was so much fun! Then, after a long time of searching and some nervous days, we found a great apartment in Orem. Now, Russell is working hard at school and at his job. He graduates in December! Other than that, you haven't missed much! I am still looking for a job and Russell is looking for one after he's done with school.
While we were in Spokane we...
Biked the Hiawatha Trail. It's so much fun! This trail used to be the path where trains would pass through. Now it's a beautiful bike trail. If you live in Washington or visit any time, I highly recommend doing this... It's worth it! At the very beginning of the 13 mile trail there is a tunnel that's almost two miles long! It was really dark... and FREEZING! But tons of fun and good memories. My favorite part is singing with my sister and embarrassing the boys when other bikers pass us:) Also, along the trail are really high bridges that we bike over.
And, it's beautiful! That's Washington for you;) Also, while we were in Washington we went to the Fairchild Air Force Base Air Show. It was so cool! The planes were amazing! This is the Raptor. This plane could actually hover in the air... Have you ever seen a plane do that?! It was fun to watch.
Since we've been back in Utah we've:
Gone swinging off of chairlifts at Brighton with Russell's family and Aunt and Uncle and their kids! It's crazy fun! We got so high!!!
And this is how it works...
We've also hiked the Uintah's with Russell's family. This was fun. It's kinda pathetic, but it was my very first time hiking! It was a new experience and I had a great time! Russell and me before the hike:)
This is Annie and Steve... Annie loves that hat and she insisted on wearing it the whole time!
We had a great summer! It was so much fun to spend time with our families... I'm sure more posts will come... Maybe in four months, but they'll come;)
The second apartment that we lived in was really dirty when we moved in and a lot smaller. Our kitchen would only allow one person to stand in it, as Russell is demonstrating. We weren't too sad to be leaving that apartment, just sad to leave the city.
Time to leave... We left New York City on Saturday and now, we're driving all the way back to Utah. We decided to stop at the church sites along the way though to make the drive easier. First, we went up to northern New York to some friend's house, Ryan and Becky Gleed. It's been so much fun. Northern NY is so beautiful and green.
We passed Scranton on the way up to Syracuse... We love The Office!
