Cruise

For graduation, my parents, Tyler's parents, Tiersh/Josh, Tanner & Allie, 2 other couples (friends of my parents), and Ty & Me went on a cruise to the Mexican Riveria.  It was Sunday to Sunday, and was filled with the sun, beach, the spa, snorkeling, parasailing, boat rides, etc.  It was a blast, and nobody wanted to get off the boat when it was done.

14 people's luggage

Getting ready for the Spa! (we spent at least an hour or 2 at the spa everyday)

At dinner

Trying on hats

First formal night

Tyler & Tanner parasailing

On the boat to go snorkeling/hiking

Snorkeling...it took me a while to get out there

On our hike to the waterfall

Eating "seveche"

Our boat tour guide, Sammy

2nd Formal Night

Cute Kids

 My students all drew pictures of me during their art class, and they were pretty funny.  Then, to make it better they put them all around the school (as well as every other teacher).  Next to the drawings, they put a real picture of me, with a short description of me (written by the kids).

This is at our "Wax Museum." Each kid dressed up as a different historical figure, and acted like them all day.

This was right after they "surprised" me for my birthday.

Summer of Moves

This summer has been full of goodbyes.  I've said goodbye to my students, teachers I work with, close friends, and family.  Saying goodbye to my students wasn't so difficult on the last day of school, but now 3 weeks later, I feel so empty without them.  They were my life for a whole year.  I felt like a mother to them, and it makes me sad to think that I won't see most of them ever again.  I promised I would visit if I'm ever in town during a school day, but it's just not the same as being them everyday.  Missing them also reminds me of how much I enjoyed teaching this year.  Teaching is a very satisfying and rewarding job.  I enjoyed watching my students grow each day, and learn new things.  I also enjoyed learning from my students.  I can't even tell you how many times I learned something from a student.  Who knew a 10 or 11 year old could teach you so much?  
Last night we said goodbye to some of our best friends, Michelle & Trevor.  We've known them through our dating and now through our entire marriage.  They've been such great friends, and have always been extremely easy to get along with, and share a lot of our same hobbies.  We will definitely miss being able to call them on a Friday night to play our favorite, "Hand and Foot," and more importantly seeing our "godson," Luke.
We're moving 2 weeks from Saturday, which means we will have to say goodbye to all of our family here in UT.  Tyler's family has been great to live by for the last 3 years, and we will definitely miss have immediate family so close.  It's also been a blessing to live by Tiersha & Josh and Tanner & Allie.  Luckily T&J will be by my parents so we'll see them often, but T&A are moving to the east coast for med school, which means we'll probably only see them during school breaks.  
I hope AZ has great friends in store for us b/c we're saying goodbye to so many wonderful people.  We're excited to start a new chapter, and have a change of scenery.  To all of our UT friends/family, stay in touch :) 

Arizona is becoming a reality

This past weekend, we went down to AZ with some friends (and their cute baby) to look for a place to live.  Well, we found one, and I LOVE it.  It's super nice, has 2 pools, covered parking, BIG bedrooms (and closets), a patio, more cupboard space then we had before, AND a jacuzzi tub :)  I am super excited about moving in.  Finding a place to live makes the move even more real.  We leave for AZ in about 6 weeks (maybe less???), and I'm sure the 6 weeks will fly by.  It's a little scary thinking of living somewhere other than UT, since I've been here for 5 years, but I'm sure I'll feel right at home in AZ in no time... especially in the winters when it's still in the 60's and 70's, and it's snowing in UT. 

We also took a tour of Tyler's school.  Tyler took a tour when he was there for his interview, but I had never seen the school.  It is extremely nice, and everything looks brand new.  I'm really excited for Tyler to start school, even if it means I won't see him a whole lot.  The best part about our apartment is that it's less than a mile away from Tyler's school.  We timed it, and it takes 2 minutes and 10 seconds from our parking lot. 

Lastly, only 9 more days of teaching!!  Holy cow, where did the time go??  And, even better then being done with school, we are going on a cruise with both of our families 2 days after school ends!  It's going to be a great week, and I can't wait!

All of our friends are having babies

It's true, almost every friend of ours is either pregnant, or already has a child...  We are officially the only married cousins on the Neilson side who is not pregnant or already parents.  This weekend, our very best friends, Michelle & Trevor had their baby, Luke.  We went to the hospital twice over the weekend to visit, and LOVED holding the little treasure.  Luke was 6 pounds 3 ounces, and 18 inches long... Just a little guy!  And, Michelle looked awesome, way too good for just having a baby :)