I love to see the temple

Jonathon and I decided to stop by the Portland, OR temple on our way home from his cousin Kendra's wedding reception. This is where we got married!

It was fun to be there together again. :)

Coming out of the temple doors...

It's crazy thinking about how different it is NOW compared to that day- August 4th, 2007.

We were so scared and nervous. We had no idea what to expect and how our future would work out. I had felt sick for two months before from all the nerves and couldn't even really ENJOY our wedding day because I was so young and scared!

We had no idea if Jonathon was going to get accepted to BYU or what his major would be if he did.

We had no idea if I'd make it into dental hygiene school.

No idea where we were going to live, where we were going to work, how we were going to be able to pay for LIFE and COLLEGE the next few years..

We had no idea what MARRIED LIFE was going to be like.

And now, four years later, it's all worked out perfectly. We've had so many fun memories and learned and grown together. We really lucked out to find each other so young.

I love Jonathon and I am grateful to have him as such a good friend, wonderful husband who makes me laugh every single day. He is caring and fun and sweet and knows me better than anyone else in the world. And he helps me be closer to who I WANT to be each day.

I'm so glad we made that choice to be married

and especially to be married HERE in this beautiful temple

for time and all eternity.

Pot-Luck Award

I won the Staff Meeting POTLUCK AWARD at the Gillespies office today for my Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars for:

"Participation, presentation, compliance, and excellence in being cool."

You could say they were a pretty big deal! So I decided I'd share the recipe with all four of my readers! :)

-Easy, yummy, all-American peanut butter and chocolate bars-

Ingredients:

-1 Cup butter, melted (I just used 1 1/2 sticks)

-2 Cups graham cracker crumbs

-2 Cups powdered sugar

-1 Cup peanut butter

-1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I love ghiradelli)

-4 tablespoons peanut butter (I used natural creamy from wal-mart, but any will do!)

DIRECTIONS:

1-In a medium bowl, mix together butter, graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter until well blended. Press evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan

-For best results, refrigerate for 15 mins

2- Microwave chocolate chips and peanut butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Smooth over prepared crust. Refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting into squares.

Perhaps someday YOU too could be the next Potluck Award winner with these delights!

Mid-life crisis

What is UP with me?

I feel so lame. And.. blah.

**I want to be working full time. I'm tired of working 1-2 days a week.

1) To get rid of all this boredom

2) I love being a hygienist! and

3) I NEED MONEY. Jeez louise- Our student loans are going to take FOR-EV-ER to pay back at this rate. :(

**I want to have my HOME. Jonathon and I are still living upstairs in a room at his parents place. Don't get me wrong, we are GRATEFUL to be here and have loved it. BUT, I am tired of having boxes all over the place and being surrounded by CLUTTER. I want a quiet place of my own to go. And my big comfy bed. The family downstairs bought a house and should be moving in September 8th so we'll be moving down to the basement sooner than later and I'll finally get to create my little home.

**I am in a spiritual RUT. I have this sense of WANTING to become more knowledgable in the Gospel and learn more about myself. I just haven't made any sort of plan to put it in action.

And I've learned the importance of reaching out to new people-- whether it is in your ward, neighborhood, whatever- WELCOME THEM! It is TOUGH to be the new person. I am the type of person where I feel okay to go introduce myself, but it would still be nice. It makes me wish I'd done a better job in the past for new-comers.

AND Jonathon and I want church callings! For some reason when we move into new wards, it takes forever for us to get callings. Our first ward, we set up THREE appointments with the bishop for this very purpose and Jonathon never got one before we moved a year later! We've been here 2 months now and I've asked twice but no news yet. :(

**I am also in a physical RUT. I'll preface by saying I know I'm not FAT, but my body just feels gross. I've eaten so much sugar and unhealthy foods and haven't been running and exercising like I got in the habit of the last 8 months while I trained for my marathon. I miss that happy, healthy feeling.

**I miss having friends. :( This one has been especially tough. I miss having friends nearby to call up to go to get ice cream with me or go shopping. I miss seeing my family at parties and KNOWING and recognizing faces when I go to the grocery store. I didn't realize how much I took this for granted in Utah.

My friend Brad Butler said the other day "Isn't that what your husband is there for?" which is true. And I LOVE Jonathon (I think everyone knows that by now, right??) and we've had a lot of fun but it's also important to have your own separate lives and some independence. I want a GIRL friend who is my age I can call up and hang out with. But.. where do I just FIND that? A friend website? The local friend pound? Puh.

Again, I LOVE it here in WA and don't want people to go around saying "Did you read how MISERABLE Nancy is up there? I can't believe Jonathon would drag her up there!" This is NOT the case!

I'm simply saying I am in that awkward growing stage.

I have had some AWESOME experiences so far in Washington and met some wonderful people. I know this is where we are supposed to be- no doubt about it. I just need to get some direction back in my life.

Jonathon's BYU graduation

Meet the newest BYU graduate! We traveled down to Utah last week for Jonathon's graduation. It was so fun to be part of this moment we've waited SO LONG for and worked so hard for.

PROUD WIFE!

Proud Mom and Dad

Robby, Jonathon, and Jeremy

Getting his diploma

We were so grateful to everyone who came to support Jonathon on this great day:

Grandpa and Grandma Roush, Andy, Jeremy, Robby, Grandpa and Grandma Huckvale, Bob and Susie, Jon and Nancy (of course), Lisa, Grandma Richards, and Steven.

Grandpa and Grandma Huckvale

Andy Rafn

Jonathon's first room mate in college and our room mate again when we lived in our Murray apartment! He's been a great friend through the years.

Grandpa and Grandma Roush

Grandma Richards

Lisa

She bought some BYU swimming shorts for him and a fun card

Eating at Texas Roadhouse after Commencement

(We ate at IHOP the next day with everyone but I forgot to get a picture :( )

Jeremy the Entertainer

When we went back to the hotel and were pooped, he was telling all these fun stories and making funny faces making us all laugh. :)

WE DID IT!

Muh-nay

I just paid off ONE of my student loans. And was SO EXCITED...

Until...

Jonathon and I calculated we still owe a combined: $51,000

Yikes. Followed by a sigh.

:(

Visiting Seattle and my Dad

Robby went up to Seattle for work and took me and Jonathon along for the ride.

We hung out in downtown Seattle and went to the music museum. Then we went to the wharf and the Olde Little Shop of Curiousity. I love this place!

I slept over at my dad's that night and hung out and played games with him and his wife April. We went to the Federal Way beach and then out to lunch at Claim Jumper with Grandpa Timothy and Susan.

It was a lot of fun!

A 70's burg. HUGE burger Robby easily polished off.

So much fun seeing Grandpa Timothy and hearing all his stories of teaching choir.

I had a lot of fun seeing my dad and April. He beat me in Uno (You-know) that night and made me eggs and toast the next morning for breakfast like the old days. We had a good time. :)

Tunnel Falls

I'd never gone REAL camping before (I don't think Young Women's Camps count..) so I was so excited when we planned to hike/backpack up to Tunnel Falls near Eagle Creek in Oregon with Jonathon's family.

Jonathon couldn't come because he had to study and take a test to get his insurance license. :( We missed him! So Friday after I finished work at the Gillespies office, we were on our way to THIS:

Cool, huh??!

The trip had a great start on the car ride there with THIS:

Annie being a toothbrush

Nancy being.. I'm not quite sure what that is.

We also played "Find Dind" and the ABC game while stuck in traffic!

And I laughed so hard I cried

And Annie had a hairy eye

Before we started our big trek-

We had Bob, Susie, Robby, Nancy, and Annie to grace the mountain's presence that day.

(And those backpacks are WAY HEAVIER than they look!! I had bruises on my hips and shoulders for DAYS after!)

Happily hiking!

Mine and Annie's tent.

This is where we made up "Who sings songs about herself? Nancy does!" Repeat once.

We found shadows from a tree of a "Y'all don't know me!" girl.

And "Annie, who am I? " -Nancy

"Cosmo" -Annie

"Who am I? 'DYKE' (said in a deep voice)" -Annie

It was Josie, of course.

Hahaha! We laughed a lot this trip. And I love my little sister. :)

Demonstrating my dry shampoo in the morning- looking like a lioness

(Love this stuff!)

Bob being a good camper and starting up the fire

I took this picture to show just how STEEP the hike was if we were to fall down.. scary!

Me in front of Tunnel Falls!

Robby in front of Tunnel Falls! That little hole behind him is the reason for the name. It was really cool!

Inside the tunnel- the waterfall is to the right of me

Cute Susie in the tunnel. I thought her whole hiking outfit was just cute.

I think I need to invest in hiking boots someday.

Me and Annie in front of another waterfall on our way back down

We made it!

It was 7 miles up to the falls. We went about 5 1/2 the first night and camped.

The second day we hiked the rest then the 7 miles back down.

We had "one miracle" (We saw 17 Miracles the week before about the Pioneer trek so we kept relating our trip to them). It was starting to get pretty dark and we still hadn't found a place to camp. We FINALLY found a place at last minute as the sun went down. The next morning we realized we'd found the very last campsite before a really narrow scary part we would have had to do in the dark. It was our "one miracle."

It was a lot of fun and I'm excited for me and Jonno to do more of this in the future.

Washington

Here's a little glimpse of our lives the last two months:

The first text I received as the newest Washingtonian from Jonno:

"Welcome to Washington!

You are now an official Northwesterner!"

The BEAUTIFUL view of the lake and the cute red barn across it when you drive into our neighborhood

This is the trail around Lacamas Lake I run/walk on with Cosmo

Lacamas Lake, literally just down the street from our house. It's so gorgeous!!

Cosmo enjoying life as a Washington Husky!

Out on a walk

Sunset. Ahhh

Pictures never do justice. But we're loving this Northwest summer!