Update schmupdate.

For the lack of a better subject, and my energy to generate cute blog-worthy pictures, this is basically going to update you on all the crazy things that have been happening up in hurr (hurr = the Clark residence).

Kendall starts school tomorrow, and I start on Thursday. We just barely got our schedules worked out, but we also just barely were able to apply for financial aid...oops. It's really confusing when you're married, but hopefully all the hassle and extra paperwork will be worth it when we get that sweet cash money that pays for our torturous classes for the next few months.

On top of starting class tomorrow, Kendall also starts a new job...the night shift. Which means no more dinners together or anything. I'm pretty stressed out and sad about it, even though I'm so proud of him for taking responsibility to have a full time job, no matter what it takes. Any advise about how to keep sane during this would be much appreciated.

Also, the family that I work for is moving, and not just down the street. They're moving about 30 minutes away from where we are going to be living. I'm going to try to stay with them and still work with them everyday like I do now, but I don't know if it's going to take a toll on me and if I'll be able to keep up with it. But I also don't know if I could ever leave them. It's the best job I've ever had. I would work with them for the rest of my life if I could.

Oh, did I mention that Kendall and I are moving, too? In the midst of all this craziness, we're moving into my grandma's house because she's moving out and wants us to take it over. It's a beautiful house and way less for us to pay than our apartment, but it honestly came at the worst time ever. School, work, life, ward duties, etc. I'm a little overwhelmed, if you couldn't already tell. On top of that, I've been sick all week. Ha!

I guess I'm just sad that the best summer of my life is coming to an end.

Instabalance.

I don't know what it has been lately, but I have felt very 60s hippy-ish. Maybe it's the Olympics, rekindling my love for all things flower, peace, love, and Beatles. Maybe it's the fact that I'm starting school in a little over a week, Kendall's starting a new job, we're moving, and everything's changing, that makes me feel like I need a more chill, balanced life right now. Whatever it is, analyzing my Instagram tells the story.

1 & 2. Just spending time with my husband. Watching movies, hugging, cooking, going to Good Will and finding funny books or smelly curtains. I just have craved us time lately. Also, notice the hippy-natural-throwinabraid hair? Apparently I unknowingly boycotted products and heat in my hair for the last three weeks.
3 & 4. Homemade. I have always loved cooking, but I've been trying harder to think of interesting things to make using the food we have left at the end of the month. French bread grilled cheese and Oreo shakes.
5 & 6. Not-so-homemade. We've tried to balance homemade food out with actually going out to eat to treat ourselves. Red velvet pancakes (I DIE.) and the best pie ever (I guess you can call it Buttermilk pie, if you must).
7 & 8. Nature. What else does a hippy need besides fresh air, stars, and some tunes?

What's your instalife?

Back on my old stomping ground..

And by stomping ground, of course I mean Big Surf Waterpark, where I worked like a billion years ago.

And I did not get one good picture the whole time! Kendall looking away, Selah's glasses all askew...I'm so disappointed in myself.

Moving on. About a week ago, the Clark family decided to have a family day at Big Surf! Since me and Kendall are the only ones without kids, we adopted Selah for the day and let her tag along with all the little nieces and nephews. It was so fun to watch those little fish while I worked on my tan in the pool.

I think it's safe to say, I'm going to be sad when you're gone, Summer.

I shouldn't be alive.

The idea was an amazing idea. It was magical, actually. For a short drive down the way and an easy morning hike, we'd be frolicking in woodland flowers and crystal waters for the day. It seemed worth it to us on our vacation at the cabin, and we packed our small bags and headed out.

That was us excited and happy to be spending the day together doing two things we love: hiking and adventuring. Did you also catch somewhere in the middle of all those pictures a particular sign? The one that said "4 miles" and "4 quarts of water recommended?" Yeah...about that. We took this picture and neglected those teensy little facts. On our little trek, we only packed two water bottles, sunscreen, cell phones, and my inhaler. We figured that would be enough for our "short" hike. The last time I had been to Fossil Springs, I was able to drive down to the springs and play in the waters to my heart's content. Apparently they closed off the road and now the only way to get there was to hike the four miles. But that didn't stop me. I run 3 miles a day, what's an extra mile, right? Wrong.

We started the hike giddy as school girls, and though we got tired throughout, we knew that was just a symptom of hiking. Until about 3 and a half miles in, when we reached the dry riverbed. I could have cried. I sat down on a rock, after all my hard work, and couldn't move. How could we have gone all this way just to find a dry riverbed! Why didn't anyone tell us on their way back up? Oh, and we had just run out of water. Fabulous.

After sitting down for a few minutes, two ladies and their dogs passed by and asked if we had any duct tape for their dog's paws. We told them no, and asked what happened to his paws. They informed us that the pup had cut his paws in the water on the jagged rocks of the river. It was like the skies had parted -- there was a river! We promptly picked up all our gear and trudged on, hoping to find the river within the next half an hour; and, oh, did we.

I really wish I would have taken more pictures, these two do not do it justice. It was like an oasis in the desert, it was such a relief when we finally reached the water and I dipped my tired toes into it's cool springs. The waterfall was like something out of a movie. It was magical.

There was still the problem of having no water left to hike another 4 miles up the trail. Part of the reason I didn't take more pictures was that I was so stressed out that we were going to drop dead of dehydration and heat stroke. We spent about 2 hours at the falls, then decided it was time to hike back to the Jeep before the storm came through. As we hiked, we discussed how exactly we were going to get the water, not to mention food, in order to have enough energy to make it. 

A group in front of us stopped suddenly, and were talking about a spring that was high enough above the river to get water out of. Although it was high enough, the group was using chlorine and iodine tablets to purify their water. This made Kendall nervous, and he decided to keep looking for another area for water. I was TO'd, because I just freaking wanted water, whether it made me sick or not, but I followed him. I'm so glad we moved on. As we hiked up more, we came to a campsite. Kendall finally plucked up the courage to ask someone for a little bit of extra water. We asked the right person. He knew of a place just up the hike that had pure spring water, straight from the earth, no purification necessary.

Hallelujah!

It was the most delicious, magical, pure water. How amazing is Mother Earth? She sure saved our tushes. We sat drinking her water, Kendall even dunked his head in, for probably a half an hour before we could pull ourselves away to hike the rest of the way. Two women were sitting at the spring when we got there, and they just so happened to be Members too! They shared their food and some kind words before we headed off for the long trek to the Jeep.

The hike back up was brutal, but it was worth every minute. The experience made us so appreciative of each other, of the earth, and of the small blessings we receive everyday. Oh, and of not dying on our vacation weekend. That too. Not to mention the rain that fell on us as we reached the end of our hike, and the rainbow that towered over us like a gift for all that we had accomplished.

Kendall and I have always loved the show I Shouldn't Be Alive, but we never thought we'd come so close to being on it. I'm so grateful for that hike and for the lessons I learned; like reading signs and preparing for things so I don't die. So there you have it, the filling to our Oreo cookie of a cabin weekend.

The end.

Cabin fever.

This past weekend, we got some much needed R&R.

What does R&R mean in our case? Probably not what we thought it might, but we'll get to that later. For now, I'm going to tell you our weekend novel the same way I like to eat my Oreos, cookie first, and I'll save that sweet filling for later.

We took Friday afternoon off work to drive up to Kendall's family cabin in Strawberry, Arizona for a short weekend vay-cay. The weather was magical, and I could smell those pines from miles away. My dad even let us borrow his Jeep for our romping pleasures. When we arrived, we threw our stuff inside and headed down the road to Strawberry Lodge for dinner and the best pie of our lives. Seriously. If you've never had Buttermilk pie, you need to rethink what your life is coming to.

Let's not mention our Friday night spider hunting fiasco and skip forward to Saturday night. We get a text from our sister-in-law asking how long we were planning on staying and that her little family might want to come up. Once they listened to our coaxing to get their tushes up there, we spent the rest of our weekend watching movies, shooting into the wind, and eating more pie.

How cute is our family? How fun does this vacation look? Does that gun make my butt look big?

Kendall's going to have to put up with my whines and moans about going back soon. Very soon.

Girl's night.

Can I just say that I missed these girls way too much? These are who I like to call my music best friends, the girls I spend every day (and sometimes night) with during the school year. They are amazing, crazy, funny, weird, and we are perfect for each other. I was so happy when I got a text from Amber asking if I was free for a girl's night, and I immediately replied heck-to-the-yeah I am! We went to dinner and came back to Amber's to gossip and make cookies, and by make cookies I mean eat all the cookie dough and get salmonella...what?

We took approximately 47 pictures of us laughing and doing all sorts of nonsense, so I sorted through them to find you the most attractive of the bunch. Whenever I see that last picture of myself I think "he has crazy eyes." If you haven't watched Kid History on Youtube yet, go immediately and come back and tell me how awesome you have become. But seriously guys, this was much needed for a married lassie such as myself, and I recommend a healthy dose of girl's night to all you fellow matrons out there!

Also, did I mention I'm going to be a bridesmaid in my lovely Laurenface's wedding? How cute are these?!

Instalovely.

I haven't really been taking many pictures lately. I went three whole days without taking one picture...and that's a lot for someone as addicted to Instagram as I am. I found this week that I wanted to take pictures of light, girly, lovely things as opposed to anything else. So that's what I looked for when taking pictures throughout my day. Girl power!

1. Ever since we got back from Legoland I've been looking for this...and no not the grapes, although they were a delicious nutritious snack. Maybe I'll do a series for little Lego Harry's adventures...who knows?

2. A bouquet that one of my kids made for me at work, they're so talented.

3. Kendall blowing me kisses across the table on our date night.

4. I'm currently in a love/hate relationship with my mousse. Does anyone have a kind that they like that leaves your curls luscious and delicious? I don't know about you, but that's what I want in a mousse..

5 & 6. Why did it take so long for us to get mason jars in our lives? I am appalled at myself.

7. Decorating with decorations from our wedding is such a good reminder of why we love each other.

8. Well played, fortune cookie, well played.

My friends planned a girl's night tonight, and I'm flippin excited to say the least! I'm definitely in need of girl time, even if it means husband is going to see The Dark Knight Rises tonight without me. Oh, the sacrifices we make...

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