I thought I would take some time to document what we've been up to the past month.
1. Bike rides. Galore. Everywhere. Up and down and around. I love love love exploring the city and surrounding mountains/lakes by bike. One of my favorite things!!
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I really love Idaho! The wide open space, the cow fields, and the rolling country.
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wildflowers are ridiculous here
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| Bike selfie #58949 |
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| Ignore the grimaces. We were both super hungry at this moment. |
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| This is one of my favorite rides as of late. Takes you by a little lake and stream. |
2. Trail runs. Up and down and around. Everywhere. They are my time to de-stress, to enjoy the beauty of nature, to eat huckleberries, to soak in the sun, and to bond with my man (when he can join me). They remind me of all the times we dated/enjoyed nature and are some of my most fondest memories (past and current!) They open people up (I chat more on runs than I ever do on the couch) and open up opportunities for S and I to communicate and share. I love that we can share so many of the same hobbies, interests, and passions.
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| two month anniversary! we celebrated with a trail run and chocolate milk :) |
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| hottest man alive, amiright?? |
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This is one of my favorite spots as of late- overlooking the lake but surrounded by beautiful tall Ponderosas. Huckleberries not pictured ;)
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3. Homemaking (v)- creating a home out of a house; enjoying and improving your space and person. I've spent quite a bit of time cleaning, organizing the house, reorganizing the house, enjoying this hammock pictured below (ok let's be honest, I've only relaxed in it for a total of like 7 minutes. What is wrong with me?), cooking (sometimes) amazing food, weeding the lawn, mowing the lawn, financing. I've actually really enjoyed it for the most part. I've never had my "own space" because I've lived with roommates for so long. And even though S and I share this space, it feels more like a home than anything I've ever lived in. It's such a great feeling! I especially have loved having the time to experiment with cooking and organizing things. :) We've also been feeding someone new once a week in our home and that's been really fun (although no pictures) to establish relationships with friends and neighbors.
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| I have been mesmerized by the weeds around here. These were taller than me and had yellow blossoms at the top. I was so sad to pull them out. |
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| I made pizza and it was amazing. End of story. |
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| I've started making bread because the store-bought bread is naaaaassstttyyy and can I just say, my mom's bread recipe is BOMB. Everyone who tries it comments on how good it is. I'm so glad that my mom spent 30 years perfecting this recipe so all I have to do is follow it. :) Also, my biceps are getting so big from all the kneading! |
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| Shish kabobs have become a Saturday staple and personal favorite. I've never used a grill before but I'm all about it these days. Although I'm still always terrified that my eyebrows will somehow get fried off. Don't know where that fear came from! |
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| This is a selfie taken after we successfully organized our finances and budgets. Conversations like this can be tense and frustrating (at least for us at times!) and so this was a huge relief to be able to work TOGETHER and be UNIFIED. Can not even tell you how happy I feel as we make progress in this respect. Hence my expression :) |
4. Working- I don't have official pictures of this, but I want you to know that S and I do actually work, every once in a while. (just kidding, every day!) I've spent the last month doing trainings online for my online Chinese teaching job that have been quite extensive, frustrating at times, and challenging. Luckily I'm done with them and I have started to organize all of the things that online teaching entails (handbooks, five online platforms that are all different, different curriculums for five different courses, etc). It's been overwhelming. But it's so nice to have the extra income and I have a feeling that once the initial learning curve is done, this job will be a good part-time fit (10 hrs/wk). S has been working hard, as usual. It has been nice to have a few solid weeks of work to get caught up.
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| Here he is, at it! |
5. Date Nights- obviously the highlight of every week. Lately, about 1/3 of them have entailed some sort of biking/hiking/running, 1/3 have entailed watching 1-7 of the Star Wars movies (see previous post), and 1/3 have entailed some sort of other activity and pizza. Always pizza. Because, I mean, who doesn't love a good pizza? Here are a few of our date nights:
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This was our first time trying out the wetsuits. I swam drowned for about 1/2 a mile (so out of shape) but it was very enjoyable. S paddle boarded next to me and then I gave him a swim lesson. I'm teaching him strokes and breathing as of late. |
One of the families in the ward who has three teenage boys invited us on their sail boat they recently bought. Samuel was in heaven. He dreams of sail boats, I swear, all day every day.
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| obviously his happy place |
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| If I ever have boys, I want them to grow up to be like the teenage boys that S works with in the youth program at church. They are all absolute GEMS. These are the boys that took us out on the sail boat |
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| Enjoying the nice breeze & beautiful views |
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| This was a community play held at an outdoor amphitheater at the Park. It was amazing. I had like 6 of the free treats they brought. Literally. And the play was hilarious. Needless to say S and I spent the rest of the night speaking in Shakespearean accents/poems |
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| At half time (the play was "Midsummer Night's dream") |
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| S snapped this amazing(ly unattractive) photo of my glee as I consume a mouthful of huckleberries (and get bitten by a mosquito in the process- pictured here on my forehead..haha!) |
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| The huckleberry gold spot. Introduced and graciously shared with us by a dear friend/true outdoorsman. Can not tell you how much I love picking these suckers! |
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| The loot: this tupperware full of red/blue morsels of flavor. Note: do NOT drop the tupperware. I did that and it was devastating. |
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| Family council in the woods, followed promptly by five thousand mosquitos swarming us. Maybe not such a great idea!? :) |
