Life Update

Life is crazy, there are always unexpected twists and turns, and thats to be expected. But it seems that this last month was full of more of those than ever before! Yes, it has been a month of homeless/vagabond-ness. We left our apartment in Denver on August 26 and have yet to move into an apartment (although we are scheduled to move into one tomorrow!) As this month of interesting adventures comes to a close, I began to look back and see if I would have predicted any of it. Jared seems to think our life could never be made into a movie. A phrase he often used to describe it "You couldn't write this stuff if you tried." And I have to say it is true. From our daily happenings to the month as a whole, no one could have guessed all the weird and random things that have presented themselves, and even to look beyond that, no one could have predicted the happenings of this year of marriage! But, thats what makes life fun! Our last month has been filled with staying with many different family members (and again, Thank You all so much for letting us invade your homes!!), looking at and debating taking jobs, searching out places to live (in various states), and just having fun and enjoying being together wherever we were! I love Jared and although at times I was sick of not being stationary, I have really enjoyed and am thankful for that time I got to spend with him! But I am also way excited to move into an apartment tomorrow and start another chapter in our lives! I think I'll title it 'Stationary Times' haha

We Are Pregnant!!

Yes, to most of you out there this is not new news, and to some this is a speculation, but I will confirm: I AM PREGNANT! I am seven weeks along, so not too far into it,but enough to feel pregnant. I have been feeling nauseous, but luckily I have not thrown up yet, and I can feel my stomach (uterous) growing, which can be less than pleasant sometimes. All in all I think I have been lucky to not have too bad of symptoms. And since I write about everything, I will tell how we found out this news.

On Labor day Jared had noticed that I was a little over a week late for my period. I knew that => I had just attributed it to our present state of flux and the stress I have felt from it. Jared did not write my excuse off so willingly. He wanted me to take a pregnacy test. I am pretty sure my exact words for a response were "I don't want to. They always say no. I don't want to waste another one, just be patient" Jared didn't settle for that either. => We had one 'First Response' test in our packed car so he went out and got it and I reluctantly took it. Not two seconds after I ran out of pittle did it say a bright and gleaming positive. Needless to say this took me by complete suprise, afterall these tests never say yes! I ran out to Jared, wanting to scream of joy and fright but I constrained myself, and brought him into the bathroom. He was about as shocked as I was. Then he thought the test could be wrong, because it had been sitting in the car, so we headed off to WalMart. There we bought four DIFFERENT brands of pregnacy tests. In Jared's mind they could not all have the same testing stuff so if one had a fault they would not all and we could get the most correct answer. So we get back to his parents house, there was a lot of pittle, and wala, EVERY test had a bright gleaming positive! We could definately not be uncertain now, we were pregnant. => (For some reason its not as beaming positive in the picture, but trust us, they are all positive =>)

We decided then to not tell anyone until we were 3 or 4 months along. That way we could have our life settled down with a little direction, and be certain that a miscarriage would not happen. Well about two hours later we had no idea what to do next, so we decided we could tell my mom so she could help and talk me thru those months and then tell everyone else later. We wanted to have a fun way of telling her (I have planned ways to tell everyone from family to friends, and all cute ways since we were first married!) We decided the cutest and fastest way to do it was thru text. I sent my mom a picture of all five pregnacy tests and wrote "Your 5 for 5 Grandma" and expected her to call me. Well, little did I know that she was in the middle of a big Walker family Labor day party, and that she would hand her phone to my dad who would then proceed to announce what I had sent to the whole family and then call me and ask me in front of them. Haha I guess thats the dangers of a big close family. Then my mom told my sister to call me, and she was at a big Pommerville family party in Utah so they all found out. Alas, my secret was out, and a total of 3 hours after Jared and I had originally found out. So I guess that took care of telling my family in a cute way, I didn't even need to tell them at all! Haha. And then the speculations came. My Mom was very excited about it, so naturally she would tell anyone who would listen, and my sister was so excited about it she told everyone and posted it on the internet (on facebook). This was definately not how I planned it all to get out, but its not bad, I don't have to do anything cute and cleaver, all I have to do is confirm what everyone is hearing => I guess thats just the lazy in me coming out. =>

Well there you have it, my world wide confirmation! We are going to have a baby! The due date is May 7, 2010 (but I am sure that will change when I get farther along) We are nervous and excited, stressed and happy. It is really a jumble of mixed emotions => And we do have tentative names picked out. (I have been making aa list since I was like 12, and Jared has narrowed it down haha) If it is a boy Jared loves the name Daxton (Dax for short), so that will most likely end up being his name. And for a girl Jared does not have as strong of an opinion, so we will just have to see. The top girl names are Callie, Miley, Loreli, Audra, oh and the list goes on and on => So we will see.
I think that answers about all the questions I have gotten. => We are going to have a baby! Holy cow that is weird!! haha

Jerome Homecoming Football Game

Jared and I went to the Jerome High School Homecoming game this Friday.It was fun to see where Jared wen to high school and to get to know his friends Cory and Tara better! And Jerome creamed the other team! Go Tigers! =>

Doughnut Taste Test

About three weeks before we left Denver I discovered a Krispy Kreme store less than 10 minutes from our apartments! How I had not known this before I do not know, but at least I found it! => I went and bought a dozen glazed doughnuts a couple times. Jared would happily eat them, and he does think they are good, but he always said that his moms are better. I could not believe it, Krispy Kremes are the best doughnuts int he world!! No homemade thing could beat them!! One of the days that we were staying with Jared's parents he and his mom decided to make their doughnuts for a taste test. The recipie they were doing made five dozen doughnuts! Thats a lot of doughnuts!! And it took them a good five to six hours from start to finish. See even on that level Krispy Kreme is better, it takes about fifteen minutes from when you get the idea for doughnuts in your mind until you are eating one =>
After the doughnuts were all finished and glazed Karen went to get a Krispy Kreme doughnut to compare. She heated both of the doughnuts for eight seconds in the microwave then cut them up in bite sized pieces. Jared's dad Drew, his sister Melissa and both of us were in on the taste test. Aaron was sick so he was put on picture duty, and Karen passed the doughnuts out. The verdict....I could not taste a differnce. I know, I know, I failed all the Krispy Kreme believers out there! But her doughnuts were very good, they melted in your mouth and everything! So as for mine and Jared's debate, yes his mom makes great doughnuts, but I would prefer Krispy Kreme purely for the instant satisfaction! =>

Cliff Jumping!

On Saturday Jared and I went with Tom and Lindsay to Dierkes Lake in the Snake River Canyon to go cliff jumping!! Again, this place is one where they went quite frequently in high school. There were countless numbers of cliffs to jump from, and they all had their own silly name. The ones they jumped off of were called "Hippie Head" which is 35-40ft high and "Chicken Poo" (i cleaned up the name for you) which is 15-20ft!

I took this picture right as we got off the hicking trail, you can see some of the places we jump from over Jared's left shoulder.
Tom and Jared are standing under the rock "Hippie Head" I told them to pretend like they are coming out its nose, like boogers....they are not so good at being boogers =>
I was planning on jumping a couple times, but when we got there the water was dirty and green and slimmy crap was all on the sides of the rocks. The boys said the water was fine and that its just natural minerals, but i was standing firm! When water is green in pools its bad to swim in, so in my mind, same with the lake =>
Jared did a warm up jump off "Chicken Poo" but I wasnt able to catch a picture of it, and here he is standing on top of "Hippie Head"
And here he goes!! He is so brave to jump off a 40ft cliff!!
Look at that entry!! What a pro!! =>
I was not nervous to jump, I was just nervous about the grotty water. => So finally right at the end I decided I would go off the "Chicken Poo" jump, if Jared would come with me! =>
Then when I got up there, the height started gettin to me => I know 20ft is not super high, but it is high enough to scare me! => But luckily I had my patient husband up there with me!
Also, since the cliff is a good couple feet from the water, Jared was coaching me on how I really needed to jump out and not just down, so I don't miss the water and hit the rocks..... yep, that didn't really help my nervousness =>
We couldn't really go at the same time. that would be too dangerous, so I had Jared go first so he could catch me => Ok not really catch me, but be there when I fall.
And after a couple minutes of Jared treading water waiting for me to jump, I finally took the leap! => And the fall was not that bad, it was the hitting the water! It was a LOT colder than I expected, it was 60 degrees!!! The water was so cold it took my breath away when I landed in it!! Dang cold Idaho water!!! =>
When I almost had my breath completely caught we began to swim back to the side where you get out. It was a nice little romantic swim in the grotty freezing Idaho water...ok so everything can't be perfect beaches, but I'll take what I can get =>
To end that fun little adventure it started sprinkling and a beautiful double rainbow appeared! I thought this picture was too good to pass up! How many times do you see a double rainbow perfectly fraiming the American flag in your friends driveway? I know => It was a fun cliff jumping adventure, and I am beginning to see how Idaho can be fun => hahaha

Hidden Wall Rock Climbing!

On Friday Jared and I went rock climbing in the Snake River Canyon with two of his buddies and their girls. We went to a place called Hidden Wall, which is really a wall that is in the shade most of the day (the reason we went there)

The rock climbing gang! Brett and his wife Raini, Tom and his girlfriend Lindsay, and my handsome stud!We were going to climb top rope, but the routes needed to be lead-climbed to get the rope up there. Jared happily voulenteered! => My little adventurer haha. This is a picture of Jared's first quick-draw Jared is clipping!
Needless to say, I was nervous having his climb, and I voiced that opinion. But Jared, being the stud man he is, got to the top in no time and proudly posed for my picture =>
Later in the day Jared was fooling around on the rocks. He did a toe hook and just hung there by his feet, no rope support at all! I got some other pictures of it but this is the only one you can see what his feet are doing. => I think it looks way cool!
We were able to set up two routes next to eachother which proves very helpful. Jared was at a hard 'cave' part on his route but he was able to stop and help Tom's girlfriend Lindsay thru a tough spot on her route! What a nice husband I have!
When she got to the top Jared proceeded, and did some pretty tough moves to get over the little cave part! What a handome hunk!!
I did three climbs and then my arms were caput! But I could still belay. Jared and I belayed Brett and Tom at the same time! I couldn't resist taking a cute picture before we started! Too bad the rope is in the middle of Jared's face =>
The ropes we use are dirty and get your hands all balck (as seen in the picture when we went to GArden of the Gods) I like to be clean so I stuck some wet wipes in the climbing bag so we could wash off our hands after. And when I was washing my hands the boys had me hold some of the rope and later added quick-draws to it.....yep,, my hands got dirty again! => Serves me right for trying to be a clean girl while doing a boy sport =>
And after all our stuff was packed we were playing around waiting for the others to finish loading up. I LOVE Jared and I love playing with him!!

Jed and Marcee's Wedding!

On Thurseday Jared and I had the opportunity to attend his friend Jed's wedding. He married his sweetheart in the Twin Falls temple in Idaho. We were able to go to their sealing which was such a treat!

The 'old' married couples waiting for the new ones. => It is always fun to play with Jared's friends, but especially today because Brett, Tom and Jared all worked and built the Twin Falls temple!
All the married gang in front of 'their' temple! That temple is beautiful! Good job boys!
My lover and I loving eachother in front of his temple! =>
At the wedding reception. THey had a cool theme, my best guess at a title of it is 'Idaho Wedding" They had very tasteful bits of rustic beauty thrown here and there, very pretty!
And of course, the boys had to decorate the truck. I was actually really excited for this part this time! And it was so much fun, but we did tone it down from Bretts wedding (Jared did not feel the need to get revenge => )

This is the gist of the finished product! A lot more color this time, which I really like. And we did have other family members to help too, which is always fun to teach the youngins in the art of wedding car decorating. =>

Two of the masterminds behind the ordeal (Tom's girlfriend came and they left a little before the truck was done).

A real cute idea for 'thanks yous'. They had the candies on the table and a bag to fill with it. The wedding was very fun and we loved playing with Jared's friends again!

Fishing

On Wednesday we had a relaxing day around the house and then in the evening we went fishing in the Snake River! Idaho does get freezing but in the summer it is Gorgeous!
This is a spot that we finally settled on. Jared wanted to go to a spoot he fished at all the time in high school, but it was too difficult to get to in flip flops.
So we just pulled off to the side of the road and shimmied down the bank to this rock....sand suprisingly it fit both of us quite well.
We did not stay fishing for very long, it was hot and I am not very good at it so it gets boring quickly, but Jared did catch one fish! That was fun tot watch! But he calls it a 'trash fish' so we threw it back. But it was cool to watch him catch it, but nasty to touch, so i let him do all the hard work and I took pictures. =>
To get to the part of the Snake River we were at you have to drive down the canyon. All along the way there are beautiful waterfalls like this! And just right on the edge of the road too! Idaho really is a beautiful place when it is not a frozen waste land. hahaha =>

Beginning of the Idaho Adventure!

Jared has set out with a mission of showing me what a snow-less idaho is like, since I have only seen Idaho covered in snow or about to be covered in snow! After we found an apartment in Utah we headed up to Jerome to stay with his parents! On Tues we went to WalMart and got me a little fishing pole because he wanted to take me fishing!
But first, a momentous occasion took place....Jared drove his truck in the summer for the FIRST time! He got the truck the fall/winter we were dating and then it broke so we got the car. Then he decided to fix the truck and we got it back our first married winter. Then we went to Denver in the fall and stayed most of the summer and he left the truck with his parents in Jerome. So, this is his first time to drive his truck in the summer, and yes the air conditioning did work! hehe
We drove to Crystal Springs to fish! This place was beautiful, and it was my first time fishing!! Woo!!
Yep, that is a man who is excited to fish! => He and his buddies would come to this spot in high school quite frequentlyy. It was fun to be a part of those memories!
Look at that place! It is just breathtaking! And it certainly helps to have a handsome man in the picture! => We did not stay fishing very long, and we didn't cath any fish but we went back to his parents house and met up with Jared's dad and some of his friends to go shooting!
They were not shooting shot guns, they were shooting huge rifles so we had to wear these fashionable ear muffs =>
And the best part was that we got to shoot the cool guns too! While the older men were adjusting the scope on the big guns they let me shoot the pistols. Here I am shooting a 22 pistol, I call it a James Bond gun => It was way fun, and I shot the heck out of my target!
Jared takes after his dad and loves guns. It is fun to see him in his element! Here he is shooting his Russian SKS.
Then we got to shoot the big guns. I call them the 'firecracker' guns because they get right in your chest like the huge firecrackers do! In this picture I am shooting a 30-06 high power rifle. The scope on it was pretty amazing, and I got pretty dang close to the center of my target.
Jared is shooting a vintage WW1 bolt action rifle! I feel so smart being able to say all these names, but in reality Jared is sitting right next to me telling me what they are. But hey, a girl can dream =>
And then Jared was feeling manly so he shot the WW1 gun without the stand. And he is a dang good shot too!! =>
This was the loudest gun of all!! It kicks too hard for me to shoot it so I just got to enjoy the heart thumping sound when it goes off and watching other people get jolted back. This gun is called a 7mm Mag. It was so cool!!! =>
The boys continued to shoot guns, but I am a whimp and had to hide in the truck a few times to get away from all the bugs. Mostly the dang blasted knats that fly all around your eyes. But I would get out and shoot some stuff, get back in the truck and take a bug break, get back out...it really was a good system I had going =>
We stayed out shooting until dark, which here was 9:30 pm! I could not belive it was light so late! We had a good 3 1/2 hours of shooting and it was a blast!! I love playing with Jared but it is especially fun to see him in his 'natural habitat' => And I decided that I love shooting guns! I have to work on not closing my eyes when they go off tho, it kind of ruins the aim => I am excited for the other adventures he has in store fo us!