Floating

One of my favorite days on vacation was the trip to Lee’s Ferry & the Colorado River downstream from the Glen Canyon Dam. It was a beautiful day. The sun was out & the clouds were puffy, blocking the sun at times. When Troy & Brett’s grandfather passed away, Brett was given the fishing boat to take down and use on the river. Troy’s Grandpa & Grandma were very big into the outdoors and had an outboard fishing boat. I learned a little about motors during this trip. The most important thing I learned is in order for them to work, you have to swear at them. Then they start up but they are mad.. then the motor refuses to work ever again because someone got angry with it.

We launched at Lee’s Ferry, this is where River Tours & the Stark boys that are the river guides for the Wilderness River Adventures launch their rafts at the beginning of their 2-3 week river trips. It is the only place you can launch for the next 200 miles on the river. It was such a beautiful place. This is another company launching in this picture.

We backed into the water to launch the boat, and put the motor into the water, but it wouldn’t start. Brett is really good at small engine repair and he got it started after a few minutes of taking things apart. OK maybe more than a few minutes, but it started. We got the boat into the water and we set off at a rip roaring speed up towards the dam. After a few minutes the engine clunked out again & Brett took it apart while we floated in the water. We set off again. I was trying to take it all in but Brett was trying to get somewhere super fast & that boat was super loud. Brett was talking/yelling to us about the Native Americans that lived on the right side – their land (reservation) had horses that roamed free. He told us about the Lee’s Ferry connection to the Mountain Meadow Massacre. About 4 miles into our trip the boat gave up and we stalled. Then it became peaceful. There was no motor to impede our listening. The water was semi-clear due to a powerful rain storm the day before. I put my hand in the Colorado River. I had never done that before. It was awesome! We saw wildlife, blue herons dotted the shore line. They would not sit still for a picture. We saw horses grazing along the river. Fish were jumping in the deeper parts of the river. The water was calm and I was able to get some great photos & I realized just how beautiful our planet really is.

And the boys got to paddle in to the dock. It was a great day. I am glad that the engine wouldn't work. It was exactly what I needed.

I am not a happy camper- ever

To those people who know me, know I am not a camper. I don’t tent it, I don’t RV it, my idea of roughing it is a hotel room. A hotel room with a shower, a sink & the most important thing.. a toilet.

Before we went to Lake Powell, I went and saw my doctor for sever stomach pain. She said that I may have diverticulitis. She then prescribed an antibiotic, anti-nausea & a pain pill. I went to Lake Powell thinking all was well. This diverticulitis is a fancy name for infection in the bowels, or the bowels from hell. I was extremely nauseous all the way during the whole drive down. So to make this very long story shorter… the antibiotics did not work and I was not holding anything down. From Thursday night to Sunday I was completely miserable. I have never felt like this before. I was so incredibly lucky to be camped by my brother-in-laws friend’s house boat. Yay! Sunday came around & I was ready to call it – the vacation--- over. Sunday afternoon was particularly bad. Troy & I decided to pray about what to do, should he take me home? Should he get me to the ER? Or should we stay & I tough it out to see if I got better? I guess we were looking for a sign for what to do with my health. Troy & I don’t usually pray for signs or miracles, but I was in a very bad way. 2 minutes after we finished our prayer, I was laying on the house boat’s couch. (SUPER awesome couch that I was sure that I was going to die on.) . There was a sound from an approaching boat, I just layed there. A lady came on board, I said “Hi I am Tiffany and I am dying.” Then a few seconds later a guy came in with a huge medical bag & he started asking me all sorts of questions. Was I keeping anything down? How did I feel? He determined that I needed additional antibiotics & he gave me one then and there and told me to drink green tea. Right away after I drank the tea, I started to feel better. The antibiotic kicked in and I was able to eat a banana..and I kept it down. To me that was a miracle. I was so blessed to have a PA come right to the boat, at the exact time I needed one. The rest of the day I was able to get up and walk around and be among the land of the living. I am so grateful that we got our sign.

With the new antibiotics, I was able to do a little hiking during our trip. I went on two hikes. One to Antelope Pass- I was not dead. The pictures of me, in the pink skirt are in this canyon. It was a place we rode our wave runners into and hiked the rest. It was a beautiful slot canyon. Troy took about 1000 pictures in this canyon I think I even managed a smile or two.

The last day of our vacation, we walked to Horseshoe Bend. Now the miraculous thing about this was it was 1:00 pm and the temperature was 104 degrees. I still managed to walk down with Troy to get great pictures. Dogs were on the same walk as we were. Their owners had to carry them back up because their paws were burning. The walk/hike was worth it. We got to see a beautiful place in nature.

I am very grateful for a husband that understands that I am not superwoman. I am very grateful for friends that have a houseboat that were so very understanding. It was not the best way to meet them but I am so glad that they were there.

Life Changing Decisions

Troy and I decided at the end of June that he was through working for the company that he had worked for, for over 10 years. There are many reasons that we had come to this decision. We thought about it, prayed about it & argued about it. But, the time had come. I was going on vacation with or without him. If he continued to work for his boss, we never would have been able to go on vacation. His boss had taken all PTO (paid time off) away from his employees. Well.. not really... the boss had taken it away from non-related people that worked for him, so that included one other person besides Troy. There were so many other reasons to quit & I may get into that later- or I may not. (I am going to use this blog as my ranting/raving place for a while.) The time had come for Troy to part ways with this company. It was a great thing. There was a huge pressure that came off our shoulders. No more 12 hour days! Troy came home and we packed to go on our first vacation by ourselves, ever.

Some people may question our sanity to move away from two breadwinners to one.. Sometimes I question our sanity... But for the first time, we were on our way to our vacation away from kids, dogs, & worry. We spent 10 wonderful days at Lake Powell. I had never been to Lake Powell before so this was an awesome new experience for me. This first blog about our venture into unknown territory will only include pictures from our vacation.. It was a wonderful time. The water was warm, & our hosts were the best. Troy's brother lives in Page, AZ. He was our host and he made sure we had a great time. He took us to the most awesome beaches and the best touristy places. He was wonderful! The first day we got there we were immediately taken to a restaurant on the water.. Unfortunately it was closed. So we went to The Dam Bar. Named after the Glen Canyon Dam.. It was some good food and the weather was perfect.

The next day we went camping on a beach on the lake. We met some wonderful people. I loved the neighborly spirit that was there. I also loved their house boat.. see pictures.

The owner of the house boat happened to be a Green Bay Packer fan.. and I happened to be wearing my Green Bay T-shirt. So I liked him immediately. His girlfriend was super nice and they made me feel right at home. Here are the pictures from our first day.

My friend Jeannie

It has been a year since Troy and I have been married. I was going through pictures the other day, the ones that my friend Jeannie took. Two words about Jeannie- she is artistic and a lot eccentric. We have been friends for 10 years. She knows my "crazy" and I know hers.
She came to our wedding, which was awesome because she never goes anywhere out of her comfort zone. She took these pictures. She was so excited to give me the one of the two horses. She said it was a sign that we would be together forever. I didn't have the heart to tell her that they were two male horses. She was raised in NJ, she doesn't know farm animals like people from the country do or Springville for that matter. She is responsible for the two painting in my house that cause people to stare and just not "get it". These are her pictures. Black & white pictures are her medium for the most part. She has a great eye for catching the moments.

One thing I love about Troy is his love for music. I am so lucky that he loves to hear me sing and thinks I do wonderfully. I love that he plays the saxophone- although he has only played once for me. It was awesome!!! It is great that I found a partner in crime that will go to symphonies and the next night to a hard rock concert. We haven’t been to the symphony yet this year, but we will be going soon. Troy’s favorite composer is Mozart and when the Utah Symphony plays him we for sure get tickets.
For my birthday this year Troy bought me tickets to Nickelback, Three Days Grace & Buckcherry. I loved NIckelback and I was so excited to go. He bought general admission tickets thinking that there would be no assigned seating. What he didn’t know is that meant NO SEATING. He felt horrible, we did get to stand the whole entire 4 hour concert but we were so close to all the bands. It was awesome and we weren’t the oldest ones down there either. There were a whole bunch of older women trying to dress like teenagers. They scared me.
The next night we went to Collective Soul, one of Troy’s favorite bands. It was the last night of their 18 month tour. The concert was sold out within 10 minutes after they were released online. Thanks to my coworker that actually got in and purchased them for me. There were about 5 of us trying to get our tickets. CS put on a very good concert. Troy was MUCH happier at the Collective Soul concert. The Nickelback concert wasn’t as good as the Collective Soul. I left the Nickelback concert not much of a fan of their any longer. The Collective Soul concert was pretty good and we had seats…

How much I LOVE candy

The last 3 parties I have gone to- or helped at- or been in charge of, there has been a candy bar. Let me tell you why... I just love candy. It is my favorite thing. It is my comfort "food". I thought it would be interesting to show these different candy bars and the awesome days that each represent. My wedding celebration was in October and the candy bar represents the falls colors. It also represents the thoughtfulness of my mom in putting it together for Troy & I. We get comments to this day of how over-the-top it really was. But the kids loved it. When I say kids I mean anyone from 20 to 70 years old.
The second candy bar was at my dear father's birthday party/open house celebrating his 60 years on this earth. It was in July and how awesome my mom was again for putting this together for our family & friends. The kid's loved it and I got a kick out of the little ones stuffing their faces with as much candy as they could.
The third candy bar was at my littlest sister’s open house/baby shower. Once again my mom rocks! I bet you can't guess what is she having based on the color of the candy. It was wonderful seeing all our family and friends at each one of these gatherings. I am reminded on a daily basis, how incredibly blessed I am having the people in my life. I am also very happy that I have a much larger family to call my own. The merger between Troy and I has been a wonderful thing.
In hindsight I think I love our candy bar the most. It was an amazing day that we were able to share with our family. I would change only a few things, but NOT the candy bar. It was perfect.

Our Saturday in Tremonton

Last weekend one of Troy's good friends got married. I won her in the merge. She is awesome & has turned into one of my favorite people. She was so beautiful and she looked so happy. We went to Tremonton for this, so ya, it was a big deal.

When I met K*** she was going through a divorce and was pretty unhappy with the way that things had turned out. To look at her last Saturday was to see a whole different girl. When she looked at her husband there was such a soft look of love.

It reminds me of when I married Troy. How much I love him and his tenderness towards me. I would do anything for him. I can't believe we have been married a whole year now. It went so fast. Every day I fall more in love with him. I am going to post his proposal on this blog and pictures of that day. Shortly. It is amazing to me that I have finally found true love after really being on this earth 40 years.