St. George Trip and the Solar Eclipse

A couple weeks ago, Dave and I were able to get away from normal life to relax and play in St. George and also watch the awesome solar eclipse from the "Sweet Spot" in Kanarraville, UT. Although it was only a Fri-Sun trip, it was the break we needed to get us through some stress of packing and getting ready to move to LA.

A few months ago, Dave started planning a motorcycle trip to go see the solar eclipse. He is really into out-of-the-ordinary things and is very adventurous to say the least (one of the many reasons why I love him). He invited many of his motorcycle buddies and asked me to ride on the back of the bike during the trip. Despite my fondness for his bikes and his love for them, I declined and opted to drive the car and meet the boys in southern Utah. I was even lucky enough to have my friend Katherine whose husband is a part of this "motorcycle gang" drive with me to that I wouldn't get lonely. She actually ended up driving most of the trip so I got spoiled cause I hate driving long distances.

We left on Friday after work and headed down to southern Utah taking the scenic route. We passed through many creepy little towns and I even got to see the Manti Temple for the first time which was gorgeous by the way. The boys (there were seven of them) were ahead of us so we just followed behind them until somewhere along the trip we got ahead and ended up waiting at the campsite for 45 mins for them to arrive and by then it was pretty late. I was happy that we had the dogs to keep us company because those kind of things scare me for some reason...I guess I've watched too many movies. When they finally showed up, I was ready to curl up in my sleeping bag and call it a night. When morning came and I stepped out of the tent to see the campsite in daylight, I was astonished by the beauty of the red cliffs in the distance. The campsite was near Bryce Canyon and seeing the red rock reminded me of how much I love southern Utah and it's majestic desert landscape.

Here are the boys on their hogs. The pic is missing the other two but shows the pretty cliffs in the background :)

We left around 9:30 to start heading towards St. George and to go find food. We stopped at the Thunderbird Restaurant (Home of the Ho-Made Pies) in Mt. Carmel and ate some yummy breakfast and I got to know the guys in the gang. I hadn't met them yet and it was great getting to know them individually. We also got to learn the back story of why it was called "Ho-Made Pies." You should google it ;) 

After breakfast, we headed up to Zions to stop there for a bit on our way to S.G. and got to get out and see the awesome sights. Since we had the dogs, we weren't allowed on the regular trails so Katherine and I let the boys go on a small hike while we stopped at a camping area to let the dogs play.

Our stop at the Thunderbird cafe, home of the "Ho-Made Pies"

Zions!

Dave posing all sexy...

Indy was having such a good time riding along :)

Our stop in Zions. 

After a little while resting and relaxing, we hopped back in the car (the boys back onto their bikes) and finished the last leg of the trip that ended in Washington which is near to S.G.  Paul, who is Katherine's husband, has a cousin who was SO KIND to let us stay at his house. When we got there feeling tired from the drive and heat, we had a air conditioned house with many rooms and a pool waiting for us. We wasted no time jumping into the cold water and even got the dogs to jump in and cool off. We ended up ordering pizza which was to perfect topper to our pool party. So much fun!

Pool party!

As evening wound things down, we took naps and woke up with cravings for something sweet. Neilson's Frozen Custard called our names so we jumped on the bikes (I got on the back of Dave's this time since we were just going to ride around town) and headed to St. George. But first we got a picture of the boys and their pride and joys...

The best part about this is that the pictures in the background are puzzles of various Disney characters. Went perfectly with the tough guys and their tough motorcycles ;)

When I tried the frozen custard for the first time, I was in heaven. It was soooooo goood! But like many unfair things in my life, it ended up making me sick and almost ruined the evening. But luckily I was able to quickly recover and enjoy the rest of the night which included riding around to 3 different Red Box's to look for the movie Bridesmaids. Unfortunately, we weren't able to find that gem but instead chose to rent "Tucker and Dale VS. Evil" which ended up being highly entertaining and may be up there on my list of great comedies now...

Yummy custard!

After the movie, we all passed out in our comfortable beds. The next day, a few of the boys left early to get an early start back to Salt Lake City and those who stayed behind went of Red Robin for lunch and swam a little more. At about 4:30, we headed for Kanarraville to watch the solar eclipse. Kanarraville is an extremely small town home to about a little over 300 people but when we got there, you wouldn't have been able to tell. The streets were jam packed with cars and people setting up their telescopes and camps and at first we were a little disappointed that we might not be able to find a good spot to see the eclipse. That's when Dave's knack for spontaneity came into play and he found an empty foreclosed house with an open drive way to park in . Was it legal for us to be there? Probably not, but we stayed out of trouble and enjoyed our prime location. However, I may or may not have checked out the inside of the house since the back door was unlocked. 

Before the eclipse began, we bought special glasses to be able to see the sun without hurting our eyes. The glasses were definitely over priced, but worth it because we were able to see everything and enjoy it as it happened. Adding to the fun, our friends Matt and Mere showed up withe their family and we had a BBQ in the backyard of the empty house. I love the funny memories we made that day. Another neat thing was to watch the shadows slowly turn into crescents and then finally into full circles and it was even more amazing to think that we were in the best place in the world to see the eclipse and the full ring of fire. 

Festivities in Kanarraville

Waiting for the ring of fire!

Once the eclipse was over, it was a bittersweet time for Dave and I because he was to leave on his own to head to California to find us an apartment in LA. I was nervous the whole trip thinking of him riding all the way to LA on his motorcycle by himself mostly through the desert. So when we said goodbye, it was difficult for me to see him riding away not knowing if he would get there safe. But God was merciful and answered my fretting wife's prayers by allowing him to reach his destination safely with only sunburns to show for the journey. But in true Dave fashion, he pretended to be a cowboy in the lonely west as he rode through the desert and camped out on the side of exit ZZXYXX when he got too tired to ride anymore. He heard coyotes at night and woke up in the morning to steal some continental breakfast at a local hotel. I love my riff raff!

All in all it was a great weekend with wonderful people and full of fun memories :)

LA Here We Come!

Come June 8th, it'll be goodbye Utah, hello Los Angeles! That's right, Dave and I are moving. He and his brother Joel are going to be working closely together on screenwriting projects and LA was the natural place to do it. It's a scary leap of faith but I know that as long as we work hard and believe that anything is possible, we will be blessed.

It seems that "jump into it and see what happens" is the theme of the last few years. One thing that this has taught me for sure is that many great and amazing things happen when I follow this. Moving to LA will be no exception. What I hope for is a learning experience. I know that things will be tough and life won't always go my way, but I know that Dave and I will become closer to one another and stronger for just jumping into this and seeing what happens. Who knows, someday you might be watching a movie or TV show that is wittingly written by the Ackerman Brother's ;)

Wish us luck!

Back to School...

After a 4 year long hiatus, I am back. And I am excited about it!

Classroom, handouts, quizzes, labs...BRING IT ON. I am now on my way to becoming a dental assistant.

I've been thinking for a while now about what I would like to do for a job long term. The job I have right now is great and I've really liked working there but since Dave's career path may put us all over the country, I've felt like I needed to find something that I can easily find a new job if need be. Since I couldn't take the time away from working full time to go be a full time student and going to school part time just seemed like it would take too long to get a degree, I thought about a trade school or something like that to get me in and out quick. Fate then found me...

 Recently I went and got my wisdom teeth pulled and sometime during my medicated stupor before conking out, I spoke to a sweet dental assistant about how she got certified and if she liked doing what she does. She said she loved it and told me how she did it which bring me to where I'm at today.

I just started a 10 week program to get my dental assisting certification. It is an accelerated course designed to give me hands-on experience in an actual office and gain as much knowledge as I would get from much longer and more expensive programs out there. I am really enjoying it and never knew how fascinating teeth could be to me! And since I am a weirdo who actually enjoyed school when I went, it feels great to be learning all kinds of new things again. So far I've learned that everything has about 5 different names, seeing blood doesn't make me squirm anymore, and taking an X-ray is harder than it looks. We'll see what I'll know by the end of the 10 weeks.

Wish me luck on this new adventure!

Mexico Cruise

In late February, while everyone here in Utah was freezing their butts off and praying for an early spring, Dave and I and some fun friends got to soak up the sun on a cruise to the Mexican riviera! 

Be jealous.

This vacation was long awaited for. I know, I know, we just got back from our honeymoon in Mexico in October, but we literally planned this cruise back in July so it's been a countdown since. The friends we got to go with were Mikkel and Ashley Chadburn, Jer and Julz Thorne, and Matt and Meredith Nickle. They boys are all old friends of David's and they just happen to have amazing, super cool wives so when we all come together, a good time is inevitable. It was actually the first meeting with all but the Chadburns for me when we decided that we liked each other enough to spend a week with eacho ther on a ship.

The cruise was awesome to say the least. We did so much and made so many memories that naturally, it was hard to get back to normal life afterwards. That and the ground felt like it was still moving... Anyway, here are some highlights from the trip that brings a smile to my face anytime I think about them:

* Us girls dancing on the empty dance club floor like maniacs while people looked on rather frightened and wondered what we had been drinking.

*Going to the comedy show expecting a few mediocre comedians and getting surprised by GEORGE LOPEZ!

*Playing 5 Crowns with the girls, trying to pry the boys away from their precious Mexican Train game, and learning how to play team Nertz but still getting whooped by Julz playing single. 

*Getting an excuse to dress up for the formals nights and wanting to kick off the heels after only an hour.

*Stuffing ourselves with delicious food and learning a hard lesson about gluttony. 

*Coming back to the room each night and finding a very obscure towel creature on our bed.

*Sunbathing on Lover's Beach in Cabo and almost getting killed by a giant wave because Dave just insisted on trying to get past some scary rocks to get to the other beach.

*Watching Ashley get hypnotized on stage and lead the rumba and hysterically  cry when she thought she saw a little dog get killed.

*ONE OF MY DREAMS CAME TRUE when I got to hold a baby tiger. We were walking around in Cabo and walked past a booth that was there to raise money for the wildlife reserve in Mexico city and had a baby tiger and jaguar. It caught me so off guard that I cried, wait sobbed when I saw the babies. Holding them was literally one of the best moment of my life which people may or may not make fun of me for. 

*The day the boys all accidentally matched wearing all red with similar print t shirts. Lets just say it was very easy to keep track of them that day.

*Watching the boys build a mote at the beach and having to remember that they were all 30 years old. 

*Hearing Dave sing "A Part of That World" at karaoke night and then getting voted to be Elton John at the Carnival Legends show.

*Celebrating Dave's 31st birthday by going to Puerto Vallarta and giving him his first pair of real Ray Ban sunglasses.

*Zip lining at the place where Predator was filmed and getting to see the actually helicopter from the movie.

*Eating GREAT authentic Mexican food and some whole in the wall restaurant in the city.

*Meeting a couple who had been married for 62 years talking to them for over an hour. They also ended up on the Newlywed Game on the Cruise too. Found out the the secret to a long happy marriage is actually liking each other. Who knew???

*Watching Dave Perform "Crocodile Rock" as Elton John at the Carnival Legends show which he was great and of course hilarious as usual.

There are so many more great memories but those snipits should do for now. I can't wait til we get to do something else big like this with the Crew as we call us and go crazy, be lazy, eat way too much and also just forget for a short while the life we left behind for the carefree days of a good ol vacation.

Here are some pics to look at too to help you be jealous if you aren't already:

INDY

On my 24th birthday, I got the best present I've ever gotten.

A DOG!!!

For anyone who knows me, I am an animal freak. From dogs to cats to lizards to horses, all animals seem to make me melt. I always grew up with animals in the house. We've had a dog, three cats, a bird, three snakes, two hamsters, two rats, and multiple fish. Not all at the same time of course! But since I was always surrounded by animals, the last few years living on my own has felt like I've been missing something. That hole is now filled!

Dave told me a couple of days before my birthday that he saw an ad on KSL for an eleven week old labradoodle puppy in Idaho. We had talked about getting a dog when we first got married and decided to hold off so that we can get used to married life before we bring in the madness of a puppy. That's what I thought that we agreed on anyway. When he brought it up during dinner, I couldn't help but get overjoyed by the idea of getting a dog so soon. The next day, my joy was crushed when Dave told me that the puppy had been sold. I was so bummed because I knew that that dog was a winner for Dave because he was a black labradoodle that has curly non-shedding hair and was also a great price which met all the criteria for him. I tried to convince him to look at other puppies since he had now gotten the idea seared in my mind but every dog I suggested wasn't what he wanted. So I finally accepted that I would be getting no furry friends anytime soon.

The morning of my birthday I was awoken with a bouncy, hairy, slobbery surprise! A beautiful black labradoodle puppy with a ribbon around his neck. He was absolutely perfect. The rest of the day was spent getting him his things, playing with him, and just enjoying the sweet little guy.

We named him Indy because Dave is completely obsessed with the character of Indiana Jones. And to avoid him wanting to name any of our future kids after him, I decided that naming the dog would be a way to do that and it totally suits him anyway. He has the best personality. He is playful yet not too hyper, loving but not too needy, and so smart. He got used to our apartment very quickly became house broken pretty quickly and already knows how to sit, stay, and fetch. We are having the best time with our puppy. The best part is the relationship that Dave has with him. I always imagined that since he never had a dog and never seemed to interested in animals that he would get me a puppy to make me happy but then just get bored of it and then ignore it for the rest of his life. Not so! They love each other so much. Indy follows Dave around everywhere (even the bathroom and needs to get shooed out) and he listens and obey him so well. When we are driving, Indy always goes and lays on Dave's lap and always seems to be looking for approval from him. I don't even mind that he likes him better because just seeing them together warms my heart.

We are both looking forward to many fun filled years with this faithful little companion by our sides.

Sandwich Maker

I've never doubted that I married the right person. But every once in a while, I get little reminders that I've got a keeper.

One of the many things that I love about David is that he is not a morning grump. Actually anytime he is even tired he just mostly gets quiet but never irritated or angry like I do. I love this about him because if I am ever tossing and turning at night and I accidentally wake him up or if I need him to get up and do something, he is always very sweet about it.

In the mornings, when I am in my usual hurry to get ready for work, lately I haven't been able to make myself a lunch before having to run out the door. I've been having to wake up my poor husband each day at around 7:00 to have him get up and make me a sandwich because of my bad habit of waking up late.(David works mostly from home so he doesn't have to wake up as early as the most of us.) Each time I wake him up, I expect him to react like I would but he always  surprises me by getting out of bed with no complaint and making my sandwich with a happy-sleepy attitude.

There are many things David does that I probably don't thank him for or recognize enough. And I know I need to get better because I am one lucky girl.

I love you babe!

My newest loves!

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