Quick Update

Welp, it’s been a really long time since we’ve updated this blog. I guess you could say a lot has happened since the last post. I’m sure I’ll forget to mention something but here goes nothing.

The biggest thing that has happened is that I finally graduated from college. I ended up getting my degree in Exercise Physiology. Surprisingly it only took me about four years which is kind of amazing considering I had to start all over. Funny story about graduating, back in December when I applied for graduation my degree audit said I had fulfilled all my requirements except for the classes that I was taking during the semester.  In January when I was checking graduate school stuff I noticed that the schools hadn’t received my final transcript. So I did some digging and I found out that the school said I was still missing a class and therefore wasn’t actually able to graduate. Long story short, I figured it out and went in and got everything squared away. I ended up getting two copies of my diploma (see instragram or facebook).   Currently I am waiting to hear back from graduate schools. I plan on getting my Master’s in Athletic Training. 

Kylee got a job at Dominos which she absolutely loves. She was made an assistant manager about a month ago (maybe even longer, I don’t remember). She enjoys working there so much, that now whenever we go to any other pizza place she critiques the store and the pizza. She works full time so she’s constantly gone during the day and she gets home at random times during the night.

Currently were still living in Rexburg and we’re waiting to hear from grad schools before we decide to move somewhere. We should be finding out within the next couple of weeks if I was accepted anywhere. During the fall semester I took a golf class and absolutely fell in love with golf. There is just something about being out on the course playing a round. Recently (as in Monday) I was able to go play a round of 18 at the local golf course. So that’s what I do with me free time while Kylee works, is play a round. So if anybody is looking for a partner let me know I’d be more than happy to play. Warning: I’m not that good, but I’m getting better.

Overall, we both are doing well and are enjoying life as we’re playing the waiting game. I plan and hope to update this blog more often.

-N

It's All in the Past

I didn't even plan this post. I just wanted to acknowledge the fact that the 4th of July happened and that we spent it with family.

Enjoy my practice photography (I have no idea what I'm doing):

Happy fourth.

The Graduate (not a movie)

I guess it’s time I return to the world of family blogging and add my two cents to the blog. I thought it had disappeared, but apparently, Nate enjoys having his venting space. Which is good considering the lack of communication I have with the outside world. People will know that I still exist.

I guess too much has happened to try and update everyone, so let’s go with something random and slightly big that happened recently.

I may have graduated.

This entailed a whole lot of family and friends and love and happiness, at the risk of sounding utterly cliché. I got quite a few thoughtful gifts that have not only made my life easier but have brightened it considerably.

Gift from the in-laws, my family who couldn't make it. 

I'd removed all the foliage by this point to get rid of the styrofoam.  

The best part was all the family, though. Not only did I spend time with my darling sister . . .

But I spent some time with my grandparents . . .

And, most importantly (no offense to other family), I got to see my parents!

I was happy, at least. Nate, unfortunately, had to put up with family pictures in which he had to be a part of some of them against his will.

Spectating Family: That's cute. How about a smooch?

Spectating Family: Um... okay. That's close. How about that real kiss. 

Spectating Family: Wait, where are you going? We want a kiss picture. 

[The mature married couple, ladies and gents.]

Poor kid.

He survived, though. Managed to start his hardest semester yet just this past week. Meanwhile, I’m at home, trying to figure out what I’m supposed to do with my life. Wondering why I no longer have to go to bed at eight, while still celebrating the end of my job and schooling. It’s a bit empty. I’ve filled the day with job search, N64, and Doctor Who binging.

Time spent playing a kids game is always worth it.

 

What am I doing with my life?

Oh dang. 

We’ll see where my life goes from here, but really I just need money in order to, you know, survive. So here’s to hoping I’ll find a job fast. Plus, I'm beginning to come out of recharge mode. My apartment may suffer my sudden need to be productive. 

Unfortunately, this also might mean a lot of pictures like this:

Got to practice that creativity

And lonely dance parties to all the EPIC music I found recently from my high school days:

Shout out to that Within Temptation group.

And maybe some blog posts updated on my other blog. It's going to be a place where I talk about how I am an excellent author who makes a million mistakes. So, you know, go there if you're at all curious if I can actually write. 

This has been kceratops, signing out and good day. I'm going on a date with my husband. 

Confession Time

So I have a confession to make and don’t worry it’s not a super serious confession. But in high school I hated running long distance. What I shocker I know, you’d think that I would enjoy running since I love soccer. In Jr. High I ran cross country but I wasn’t the best at it. I just did it to be around my classmates and to be outdoors. But recently I have started to really enjoy running. I go in spurts of running. There will be weeks where I run quite often and then several weeks will pass and I won’t run at all. There is just something about running and having music playing in your ear that keeps you going. Also just the ability to think while running is quite amazing.

Last semester I took a health appraisal and prescription class and one of the requirements for the class was we had to run a 5k with our client at the end of the semester. Up to this point I don’t think I had ever run more than two miles in my life at once. But there is just something about a competition that excites you and keeps you motivated to keep going. The 5k was tough on me physically as well mentally, but I will say my body started to shut down before my mind did. It was at this point that I just had to push through the pain and my body screaming at me to slow down and walk. I believe to be a pretty mentally strong person when it comes to those things. I mean I did tear my ACL when I was 14 and I came back from that. But after the 5k I felt really good and decided that my next goal was going to be a half marathon. I felt really good but I was also extremely sore at the same time, it was one of those good sores though; know what I mean.

I also need to run more often so I can get in better shape in general but also for soccer season that is going to be upon was rather quickly. I also tell myself that I need to run to get in shape for soccer but it never happens. I mean I don’t play soccer a whole lot anymore but I ref instead and I think there’s more running in that than there is in playing. I also tell myself that I need to run more so I can improve my VO₂ max. But that hardly motivates me though as well.

When I do go running I tend to prefer to run outside because who doesn’t love fresh air and the scenery. In the winter months it’s rather hard because of all the snow and ice. I find that I actually run a lot slower when I run outside during the winter months. I don’t necessarily like to run the treadmills because you don’t go anywhere but BYU-Idaho has an indoor track which is nice because even though it’s inside you at least go in circles. When I do go for a run I usually take my phone and I listen to Itunes radio with it on the pure pop station. I don’t have a lot of music on my phone but I find that the pure pop station offers just enough variety of music with an upbeat to keep my pace up. I also use Nike+ to map my runs and to tell me how far I have ran. Recently I have tried to run for at least 30 minutes each time. Sometimes I accomplish that and sometimes I don’t. It depends on the day. I like the Nike+ app because you can add your friends and see how you’re doing compared to your friends which also adds an element of competition along with accountability. They recently, (not so recently about a month ago but I just found out about it today) that they have Coach+. Coach+ helps you with your training if you are going to run any type of race. They’ll tell you when to start and how far you should run each day all the way up to race day.

Today I decided that I was going to go play futsal up on campus and there were a lot of people there. I played several  games but towards the end the team I was play on would end up losing with five minutes so it wasn’t fun anymore. Plus I had already been there about two hours playing so I was getting tired of it. At this point I decided that I would go run to end my night. So I grabbed my headphones, my phone and my armband which holds the phone. I then decided that I was going to run for 30 minutes because then I would be meeting ACSM guidelines. It’s amazing the things you do once you learn them from class. Before I stared running I thought this isn’t going to be very pretty because I was already tired from playing two hours of futsal but I figured I could fight through the physical break down. About ten minutes into my run my calves and knees were beginning to hurt, along with my gut because I wasn’t well hydrated. But I just fought through it all, it’s all mental. Everything is a mental game. When I was coming up on my 30 minutes I was close to three miles. I was closing in on the 30 minutes, I decided that I would run just a little extra so I could complete another 5k.

With that being said, it was while I was sitting down putting on my stuff on that I thought about how good I felt overall after my run. So when I got home I was looking at my Nike+ of my most recent run and was making adjustments to it. Once I was finished with that I found out about the Coach+ and decided that I wanted to run a half marathon. In the app it asks you the name of the event and the date of the event. I realized I needed to find a marathon that I could participate in so I could have an attainable goal. It was then I remembered that Rexburg has a several race events in the summer. It’s called the Teton Dam race, they have a 5k, 10k half, full marathon and a relay marathon.

So my goal is to run in the Teton Dam half-marathon on June 14, 2014.

Does anybody want to run it with me? I think it’d be fun to have a group of us that runs it. Shan? I know you read this blog and you like to run, just think it could be a mini vacation for you and your family all the while doing something you enjoy? If anybody does want to run it with me, let me know. If no one wants to run it with me that is ok as well, I’m still going to do it. Here is the link to the Teton Dam website and all the information, Dam Marathon.

 Here is the map of the half marathon. 

Also let's be honest saying I ran a Dam Marathon is rather fun and you can get quite the looks from people. 

-N-

Happy New Year!

Want to wish everyone a Happy New Year! Hopefully you enjoyed the first day of the new year. Do anything fun? Kylee and I went over to our friends place last night to celebrate New Years Eve and the New Year. We played games and ate food, the typical activity. One of the games that we played was called Ticket to Train. At the end of the night, we had a blast playing the game that we had to borrow it from Jen and Adam. When we came home we ended up playing 4 more games, going bed about 4:30. Then we played several more times in the afternoon. In total we spent about 8 hours of ticket to ride. What a great way to spend the new year. It's rare for Kylee and I to find a game that we both really enjoy and can play several times.

Here are some pictures.

Also I started a photo a  day blog, it's one of our goals is to use our camera more often and do a photo a day. I'm not sure if Kylee will post photos on my new blog or if she'll start her own. But right now it's just me posting to that blog. Click the link.Nathan's photoblog and it will take you to the new blog.

Make 2014 your best year and best endeavors!

-N-

Quick Update

                So it’s been five months since we last updated. Needless to say it has been a long time! There is a lot to update on, but I’m sure I will miss a lot. Here goes nothing. Since Christmas just passed I’ll start from there and work backwards. Christmas was good for us. We ended up staying here in Rexburg and it was actually quite peaceful. Not having to travel during the holidays is rather nice. Being so far away from immediate family is hard because traveling is so expensive and stressful. We do have family here in Rexburg that we visit with frequently. Like today, we went over and helped them paint their living room and entrance way. This past weekend, we went down to Utah to drop off Caytee so she could fly home. We also visited family down there. Also on Christmas we got to Skype with Travis, Kylee’s brother. He is currently serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Costa Rica. It was good to listen to him tell stories and talk with the family.

                School ended last week and I am glad that it’s over. I only have 20 credits left which translates to two semesters left of my undergraduate but I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Kylee only has a semester left and she graduates in April. Also with school this semester I worked three different jobs, so it was an extremely busy semester for me. I took 14 credits as well. I reffed high school soccer this year, it was a different experience but I rather enjoyed it. I also was the Sports Official Coordinator for BYU-Idaho sports, and I was the substitute for the Sports First Aid program.  With the sports official coordinator, I was able to officiate flag football and basketball as well as soccer. Officiating flag football and basketball was different. I enjoyed officiating basketball. In doing basketball I only gave out two technical this semester, and both were on the same night.  

                In August we got to go back to Ohio for a week. My brother got married. It was nice to go back for a while. It was good to see my brother because it’d been several years since I got to spend some time with him. It had been a year since we were last in Ohio, since our wedding. Tyler and Maggie, are now in Provo so we see them whenever we go down to Utah.

                Overall Kylee and I are doing well. We’re just surviving the bubble of Rexburg. With me being off track next semester I hopefully will be able to update more often. I will be just as busy, not only am I working two jobs, but I also have an internship here in town. It’s only ten hours a week but I am super excited about it. I’ll be interning at Rehab Services of Idaho, where they physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech therapists. I’ll be working with the three types of therapists at some point which will be cool.

                Hope everyone had a good Christmas and Happy New Year!

-N-

Here's to Summer

I live!

That’s right.  We survived the semester.  Finals are over, and we have seven weeks spread out ahead of us just waiting for lazy summer days and adventure. 

So what have we doing for the past three months?  How about a PHOTO DUMP?

The semester began with a sudden desire to take care of something.  Before I knew it, I was the sudden owner of three plants.

While I love them a lot . . . finals week may have almost killed my toddler plants.  We'll see if something can't be done to save their lives.  (This is why I am definitely not a mother whilst still in school .) 

Nathan bought some tennis rackets.  We went out to Porter Park where I proceeded to demonstrate my baseball tendencies, and Nathan dutifully chased after more than half of them like the epic man that he is.  

Apparently, I made stupid faces the whole time too. 

At some point we went shopping in IF, only to find the most gorgeous sunset.  So we chased it. 

We burned some incense, giggled over bees, and ate some delicious strawberries.  

Overall, this was the hardest semester of our lives.  I nearly died.  Nathan acted the trooper in supporting me in weeks of projects and only three hours of sleep.  (He also managed to keep his grades up and succeed in all his classes.  That's m'boy!)  

Well, we're glad it's over, and we look forward to a couple days spent sleeping deeply and diving into laziness.  Here's to summer.