Visit to Wisconsin!!

Hello,

I have been so busy lately....and also a teensy bit lazy.  I've been meaning to post for months, but just hadn't gotten to it. I wanted to make a post about Wisconsin, although it was about 4 months ago.  Me and Jason enjoyed a trip back to Wisconsin to see my sweet sister, Lauren, one last time before she left for her mission to Iquitos, Peru.  It was a very enjoyable time and the weather was unseasonably warm for Wisconsin, we were lucky enough to enjoy 70s weather all week!  Although I don't miss the cold weather from Wisconsin, being in a desert really makes me long for the beautiful green grass and endless number of large, gorgeous trees. And this is also especially true for me as a runner. I love the trees and the shade and variety they provide on outdoor runs.  But here in the desert,  my runs are basically me vs. sun. There are definitely pros and cons to both areas, and as for now, I'm mostly in love with Arizona, but there's still those moments where I wish I could have the best of both worlds. 

One of the best parts of visiting was being able to be there for Lauren to get her endowment at the Chicago, IL temple. It was a very beautiful experience.

The beautiful future sister missionary! (at the time)

We found an authentic Peruvian restaurant while in Chicago. The food was delish and it was fun talking to our waiter because he was from Peru and had some cool things to tell us.

High Cliff Park, not only a beautiful view but a meaningful place for us because it's where Jason proposed to me almost 3 years ago.

The beautiful trees that I miss!! And an adorable little dog that I miss as well.

The subtle beginnings of autumn colored leaves. We left before the colors really became vibrant.

We decided to take a day and go up to sturgeon bay and admire the beautiful views and do some hiking. It was totally worth it.

Me and the hubby again :)

Alyssa and Jason so proud of their rock tower that clearly dwarfed all surrounding rock stacks.

**SiStErS**<3

Alyssa walking along the whitefish dunes shoreline

We  were so lucky to be able to visit with Celeste and finally got to meet cute little Jonah! Last time I saw her, he was still in her belly. :)

Marvel at our mad artistic skills (or tracing skills). Either way, they turned out awesome! :)

Overall, it was an awesome time. Can't wait to go back and visit again. :)

Jen<3

Anniversary and Labor Day

Hello!

So what's new for us?
Well, not lots BUT...we did have a couple fun experiences that we wanted to share.

August 20th was our 3 year anniversary already! Can you believe it's seriously already been 3 years since we were first married? Cause we can't! Time really flies when you're having fun...and yet at the same time, it almost feels like we've been married all along. It's starting to become difficult for me to remember what it was like before married life.  And it's funny to think that once we have kids, it will probably be difficult to remember how it is now. Or at least that's what our friends with kids tell us. I guess we'll just take their word for it. :)

So, to celebrate our anniversary, me and Jason wanted to do something new and fun. We knew that we hadn't really experienced much of Phoenix yet so there were plenty of options. So I went looking online and found a few things to do, but what really struck a chord with me was dinner and a show at the Arizona Broadway Theater. And just our luck, the show we would be seeing, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" still had about two more performances before it would leave!

Now you might not believe this, but Jason is secretly a bit of a theater nerd. And so am I. And we both LOVE that show.  So we got tickets for dinner and a show! It was a nice, somewhat fancy place.  And the food was delicious!

This is how close we were to the stage! We had a great view. 

Failed attempt to get a picture of ourselves and the poster...but
at least you can see most of it :)

So, shortly after celebrating our anniversary, we also both had labor day off.  We decided to try out one of many hiking spots in Arizona.  The particular place we hiked at was in the Superstition Mountains, on the hieroglyph trail.

It was pretty hot this morning. We left at about 6:45 am and got there around 7:30 and it was already toasty. We were both pretty hot right before we got to the edge of the mountain, but when we got within the shadow of the mountain, we were amazed at how cool and almost moist the air felt!

Hiding from the sun in the shadow of the mountain, it felt so good!

As we continued our hike, we soon learned why the air felt almost moist.  There was a waterfall/stream alongside the trail.  Now, in this case, I am using the term ''waterfall" quite liberally, but I guess for Arizona, the fact there is any naturally occurring water at all is a shocker on its own. So, yes, I will call it a waterfall, even if it is a pathetic one at that! 

AZ's version of a waterfall

Standing next to the top of the waterfall

At this point, Jason and I couldn't see any petroglyphs, so we decided to try climbing a few other spots to see if we could find anything.  What's kind of funny about this is if you look closer at this picture, you can actually see some of the petroglyphs in the background.  They just weren't as obvious on this hike as they had been at other places we had hiked to. 

The view from the top :)

Finally, after reexamining the area around the top of the waterfall, we found the petroglyphs! Jason took over my role and started taking pictures and I started running away from all the bees that were confusing my tye-dyed t-shirt for a bright colored flower. Man, we make a great team. 

Fun collage to sum up our little hike trip

Overall, it was a pretty fun day! Later that day, Jason went golfing with our friend Adam and then later that night, we hit up IHOP for dinner with Adam and Kirsten and played some board games.  

We sure love it here in AZ and are looking forward to future adventures and our chance to share them with everyone! Peace.

J&J

Hello Everyone,

So this is my first (and hopefully not last!) attempt at creating and maintaining a blog!  I've always thought blogs were cute little things.  I enjoy reading everyone else's but I never gave much thought to creating one myself, until now!

I think it's such a cool idea to share your life story with others through blogging, especially with family and friends that you don't have the privilege of being around on a regular basis.  Since me and Jason are now living in Arizona and have too many miles between ourselves and our families/friends, I thought this would be a good time to start this new blog.  Me and Jason have new adventures on almost a daily basis, but if we don't write down these adventures, or share photos of our experiences how will we ever remember them all?  Exactly. I'm still trying to sell Jason on this idea, especially because he HATES taking pictures, but it's a work in progress.

So, let me begin by talking about all the new and exciting changes Jason and I have experienced in the past 2 months!

Jason and I graduated from BYU-Idaho, in Rexburg, ID this past April.  I graduated with my Bachelor's of Science in Nursing and Jason graduated with his Bachelor's of Arts in History Education, with a minor in Spanish Education. I was working at a wonderful little hospital in Rexburg for the past year at this time and truly loved my job and coworkers.  We had lived here together ever since we were married for 2 1/2 years and loved all the memories and especially our friends.  But as much as we loved our lives, we also knew that it was time to start a new chapter in our lives, we just didn't know exactly where/when this would be!

Graduating friends!!  Our tight knit group of friends while living in Rexburg (minus Sarah, Cory's wife, she was already graduated). We thought it was pretty cool that we all graduated at the same time together!

I think what was probably the most difficult for us in this big change of our lives was saying goodbye to our dearest friends, the Andersons and the Dolds.  We had sooooo many amazing memories with them and inside jokes. Pretty much ever since all of us were first married we became best friends.  And we stuck together up to this point, we even lived within walking distance of each other throughout our college years!

Yes, this is a group planking session.  Sorry you weren't invited. :)

This was our ward Halloween activity a few years back.  Jake and Megan weren't here yet because she was coming back from finishing her first 1/2 marathon! Too soon. 

Just some goofy, fun airborne pictures! :)

We surprised the Andersons with one last campfire dinner of hot dogs/smores a couple days before they would move to Texas. 

Our friends, the Dolds, moved away to Washington first and then our friends, the Andersons, moved to Texas shortly after.  What made it even more difficult for us was that after both set of friends had moved, we were still unsure of where we would be moving and Jason did not have a job offer at this time.  We felt left behind and forgotten.  And let me be the first to say that that is one of the saddest feelings ever.

At first, we were convinced we were moving to Texas.  They have many job openings for teachers and pay pretty well.  They also have lots of jobs for nurses.  So we went to work and applied for close to a hundred teaching jobs.  And we didn't hear a word!  Not one word.

At this time, we were already in the month of June, just a couple short months from the beginning of a new school year.  Feeling frustrated, Jason and I went to the temple and decided we would think and pray about what we needed to do.  Eventually, Jason told me that he felt that he needed to apply for more jobs in Utah, Nevada and Arizona and so he did.

Within days of applying for about 4 or 5 jobs in AZ, Jason had already received several responses from a few different schools!  And before we knew it, he was accepting a job offer in Queen Creek, AZ and we would need to move in 2 weeks!!

Jason's school where he is teaching middle school Spanish classes

The next couple of weeks were pretty chaotic and it was hard leaving my job in Rexburg, but once we arrived in AZ, found our apartment and got to know our ward, we just knew that this was the right place for us.  Within a month of moving here, I was also richly blessed to find a job with an incredible hospital and company, Mercy Gilbert Medical Center affiliated with Dignity Health.

My new workplace at Mercy Gilbert Medical Center.  Yes, I am very excited! 

Moving to Queen Creek, Arizona has been one of the best things that has ever happened to us and we are so excited for this new journey.  It's very humbling and inspiring when you realize that you are exactly where God wants you to be because everything just falls into place so perfectly and you just know that this is where you belong.

This is especially moving for me because just before Jason got a job, I was feeling out of place and a lack of purpose and it was really bringing me down.  However, the Lord has sweetly blessed me to find my purpose and help me find that sense of belonging here in Arizona.  I think part of the reason I was feeling that way was to prepare me to be ready for the big change. And with my new job AND my new calling at church in Young Women's as a leader, the Laurel's Advisor, I am getting right to work :)!

As far as the future goes, who knows how long we will be here.  I'm hoping to stay here for as long as possible, but only the Lord really knows where we are needed and where we can blossom and grow best.  But at the moment, I will just revel in the beauty of each new day in beautiful Arizona, embracing it with an enthusiastic welcome and with humble gratitude to our Heavenly Father. :)