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A Case of the Sniffles...

Today is one of those dreadfully uncomfortable days... What is it, you may ask? A sick day. Sick enough to take the day off of work even. :( I have just been watching the clock all day thinking of my darling 3rd graders and what they are doing. It's weird, because as much as I love a day off (minus the being sick part), I don't love knowing they are at school without me. Gosh, I love my job!

So this past Labor Day weekend, we must have partied just a little too hard because a nasty little cold has set in and completely stolen my voice. Literally. I no longer have one and what is left is really painful to use. Congestion is squeezing my head and I keep thinking of that gross little Mucinex goober man walking around my lungs. Sick. Ew! Anyway, you get the drift of what today is like for me. My sweet Eric has been so good to me though. Being sick with a husband to care for you is just about as good as being sick with your mom there to care for you. :)

I figured with this open day where moping around on the couch and watching TV is the only appealing thing to do, I could attempt being somewhat useful and pull out my computer. It has been a while since a good update from our little family of two, so here goes nothing...

On the 24th of July, Eric and I ran in our very first race. A long and rigorous 5K, baby! Haha. Okay, so it wasn't very long and miraculously wasn't too rigorous. Eric whizzed on by most of the runners and we met up at the finish line. We are so thankful for our dear friends Ross and Aly who we have played with a lot this summer. They are the greatest!

Eric's heaven.

Seriously, if Eric could live somewhere forever, it would be in the wilderness with a campfire, some fresh air, gorgeous stars, and bacon for breakfast. We decided one weekend to just pack up our goods and find a cozy little camp spot up Hobble Creek Canyon. It was delightful! Eric was sweet to camp my way. If we camped his way, we would hike up a random mountain and find an open area and set up camp. I like the designated camp areas with a fire pit and bathrooms. So he was a cutie to settle with how I liked it. :)

Ah, Pickleville. Our summer wouldn't have been complete without making a stop to the place where it all started. I have such a soft spot in my heart for Pickleville. Years of my life were spent in that little theater and then meeting my husband there sealed my love for the place. And look at our cute friends! They did such a great job. We had a blast spending the weekend up there and reliving those moments when we fell in love. Awww :)

Summer 2012

This was the summer of weddings. Sheesh. Well, actually I guess every summer could be considered that, in a way. But we had a lot of great friends get married this summer and had a blast going to so many of them. I didn't take near the amount of pictures as I should have. They were all such beautiful brides and handsome grooms. I love weddings. So so much!

So long summer! 

We finished our last big summer vacation with going to Arizona for Taylor and Bailee's wedding and to visit Eric's brother Mike and his family. We had the greatest time with them. Mike and Chels took us cliff jumping and believe it or not, we both did it. Eric is a man of no fear. I had honestly never seen him legitimately scared UNTIL he was standing on top of a 40 foot cliff. Then I saw a twinge of fear. But, he still did it. I kept it cool at the 25 foot cliffs, which is still way higher than it sounds. The trip to AZ was a wonderful way to wish our summer goodbye.

Perhaps the best thing about summer ending and reality starting is that I get to celebrate every year. By default. Why? Because it's my birthday. 22 years. Woo hoo! Once again, Eric won incredible husband points by treating me like a princess on my special day. Also, note the gorgeous pearl jewelry he brought from China. He is good at keeping secrets. I would have been dying to give him a gift from April. The decorations are compliments of Eric haha :) and the mega-massive balloon by my desk in my classroom is compliments of Avery, Kimball, Amy and Alan. I am so lucky!

Well, we are back into the swing of real life. Sicknesses and all. I am teaching a new crop of third graders and LOVE almost everything about it haha. Eric is back at BYU for another year. We are excited as ever to go to ALL of the home football games this year. And I will happily cheer on the Cougs until the night they play my Aggs. Utah State, hey! Aggies all the way! :)  When we have kids, we are going to have to teach them to be Couggies. Or Aggours. Ah, we'll see how that works out haha. So, we are still making time to have fun even with our busy lives starting up again. We feel so blessed to have wonderful families and friends.

The other night we had a chance to drive up to Logan and made a pit stop in Bountiful. We saw the most beautiful sunset as we left the temple. There are moments in life, like that, when I feel so overwhelmed with gratitude. Gratitude for a wonderful life that is not perfect, but is so good. Gratitude for a dear husband who I love like crazy. Gratitude for a Savior who I know lives and loves me. Gratitude for the opportunity to go to the temple of the Lord often. Gratitude for simple things, like sunsets, that bring such beauty to life. And even gratitude for a case of the sniffles... It could be so much worse. We are truly blessed. All of us. May we ever be thankful to Him who so freely provides those blessings.

Catch My Breath

Have you ever felt like life sometimes sweeps you off of your feet and you just go and go and go? And then you go some more and the busyness never quite seems to end? Well, that has been our lives the last few months. We have had so many fun and exciting things happen, but finding a minute to sit down, relax, and blog about it has not been in the agenda. 

However, we are finally starting to slow down and catch our breath. Thank heavens for these laid-back, lazy summer days! We feel so fortunate to be able to have a fairly calm summer this year. But, we have done such lovely things, so here I go, catching my breath and sharing all of our fun!

1. Eric with the Young Ambassadors in China

Eric had the awesome opportunity to visit China in May with the Young Ambassadors. He is just becoming a little world traveler! So he left for a month and toured Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, and Hong Kong, plus a few more cities. And no, I did not get to go with him. Bummer, I know. Let's just say, I am very glad he is back home. And I think he is too, at least as far as the food goes. :) He had an incredible experience though! Who wouldn't? This is China we're talking about. If he ever gets to go back again one day, you bet I'm going to find a way to be there with him haha.

2. Megan's little life in Provo

Alright, alright, I know this doesn't sound near as appealing as being in China, but I did a few things to stay busy while my sweetheart was away. Luckily, I was still busy with school. The last two months of the school year are nuts! Between the testing, assemblies, field trips, parties, and good-byes, it literally goes in the blink of an eye. And before I knew it, my first "half-year" of teaching was over. There were some definite bitter-sweet feelings. I also got to go back to USU to walk for graduation. It was so awesome seeing old friends and being back in the town I love so much!

I also made a few goals while Eric was gone. One was to visit as many temples as I could. I wanted to do a little "traveling" of my own. I had the opportunity of going to three new ones, making it a total of 7 different temples I have visited now. I hope that number just gets bigger and bigger as I get older. Not to say I have been to a lot, but because I love the same feeling of peace and love felt in every single one. Another goal was to hike the Y, so my mama came down for a weekend to visit and we did it together. Good memories!

3. Together Again

What a good place to be....together. I just love spending every minute I can with my dear Eric. Whether we are visiting family, playing with friends, watching a movie, or heck, even doing the dishes... if I can be doing it with Eric, I love it! Here are a few of the things we have been doing since our summer began.

At a super rainy REAL game

Celebrating my dad's 50th birthday 

An evening in the park with Avery and Kimball

The first of many summer campfires 

Supporting our sweet friends Taylor and Bailee at Bay's half marathon. 

A day on the lake with our friends

4. Disneyland Adventuring

Okay, this could and probably should be a blog post all of its own. Yes, we went to DISNEYLAND! The Sackett's have a family trip each summer and this summer we were so lucky to get to go to the happiest place on earth. I have only been once before when I was 14, so it was a dream come true to go again. All of the siblings and spouses and nieces and nephews were there...which means complete crazy, non-stop fun! We went to St. George for a few days, then headed to Disneyland and California Adventure, went north to Universal Studios, and then headed south to San Diego for a day at SeaWorld. Ah, talk about a great vacation. It is nice to be back but I secretly wish we could do the whole thing over again. It was so fun!

 

5. The 4th of July 

I seriously love the 4th of July holiday. It ranks right up there next to Christmas, in my opinion. I LOVE the bbq's, the fireworks, the parades, the warm summer nights, the family....I just love it all! This year was the first 4th of July that I haven't been up at Pickleville in four years, so I think all of the fun seemed even more special since I hadn't done it for a while. On the 3rd, we had a neighborhood "Cul-de-sac of Fire." We had the grill out, lots and lots of treats and watermelon, and some sweet fireworks. Then on the 4th, we went to the Provo City Parade, had a family bbq (with more watermelon and some homemade ice cream), and then went to the Stadium of Fire. Let's just say, Kelly Clarkson is INSANELY talented! Gosh, she is just as good live as she is on her albums. And the fireworks were amazing. Wow. Such a memorable night. Here's to a successful celebration of our nation's birth!

Phewww.... It feels good to take a moment catch up... to relieve the memories we have had the last little while. Eric and I have been married for just over 6 months now. And they have been 6 of the greatest months I have lived. I like having that guy around. He makes life fun. Oh! Let me share an example. Lately, we have been having some great thunderstorms here in Provo. So, the other night we were driving home when a storm really started picking up. Eric was DYING to be out in the rain. He gets so giddy over summer rain storms. It is really funny. He would be right in the middle of saying something and stop with a "WOAH!" or a childish giggle. See for yourself....

Haha, life is pretty great. It isn't perfect by any means. But it's treating us well right now. We are so grateful for the things that we have and more importantly, the people that we have in our life. But no matter what happens in our lives, be that good or bad, the Lord is mindful and has promised blessings if we serve Him and do what is right. 

And knowing that, we can truly catch our breath.