Dominican Republic

Our trip started off with us almost to the airport, then i realized i had forgotten my backpack with our passports and all of our electronics. Luckily we left enough time that we weren't to crunched. Our flight left salt lake city at 12 at night and this is a picture of us rolling into the JFK airport at about 6:00 a.m. to 18 degree weather! I love when you can see the moon and the sunrise!

We got to the Dominican republic at about 3 o'clock Sunday afternoon, to 86 degree weather. We were so exhausted, we checked into our room at the MTC not knowing what to expect, when we opened the door to our room all we could do was laugh!!!

Monday we went to the "conde" which is their version of our gateway. It was very crowded. We went into different shops, checkin out anything worth buying. While we were buying some jewelry the lady at the shop heard josh speaking spanish (incredibly well might i add) and she said "weren't you an LDS missionary here a while ago?" They went on to talk and they knew a lot of people in common. I though it was awesome Josh had already run into someone he had connections with. (notice the dog just lying there, there were dogs everywhere that no one took care of, it made me so sad)

Monday Night we got to visit a family Josh Baptized. They were so sweet, although the language barrier was a huge challenge between us. Josh Baptized the lady in white with her sister (not in pic) and got their mom (in blue) going back to church. She married her husband in December, he had a baptized a few months before, and their son will be baptized in a couple weeks. They are also expecting a baby. We ate dinner at their house, which was "spaghetti" that consisted of a can of milk, corn, raisins, ground beef, and noodles. I could tell how hard she was trying to impress us so i pretend that i loved ground beef, i usually don't eat beef at all. After dinner we had family night. They sang a song and josh read some scriptures. We gave their son a new book of Mormon and he was so excited he asked us to write our testimonies, he thought it was hilarious that i didn't speak Spanish. Everyone went around the table and bore their testimony. Although i couldn't understand everything they were saying, i felt the spirit so strongly. Their love for the gospel showed on their faces, also i could tell how much they loved Josh for introducing them into the church. It was so great to see my husband in his other element. He is amazing and i know he has touched so many peoples lives there.

We were able to attend the temple everyday. It was nice to get the peace and quiet and off the streets. The first night we went and did a session and I couldn't find anyone who could speak English to help me I got so lost I broke down crying. The next night we went back and I made sure josh found me someone before he went off to the locker rooms. I had never been in a session before with only four people. I wish I could've stayed longer to help them with the work, they are very much in need. The temple was gorgeous, as always. While we were doing work in the temple Josh saw a lady from across the room he knew from his mission. After lecturing him on not calling her to let her know we were coming she was so excited to see him. The next day while waiting for the elevator in the mtc josh struck up a conversation with a missionary asking him what mission he was from and where he was from. The guy asked josh what his name was and told josh he had ties from him. Josh was thinking he meant connections but he pointed to his tie and said no i have TIES from you. I guess on their missions they trade ties or give them away and they had Joshs name on them, they had been passed down for five years to this other guy. I thought that was hilarious, we forgot to take a picture with him though,

We were able to see a lot of the city, and we went to the beach one day. We went to a cool old catholic church, some ruins, a monument where they have Columbus' bones, and a house Columbus built his son. We saw a few more people josh knew, by chance. The environment is so different there. I wish that pictures could capture half as wonderful as it was. I have so many experiences and feelings from the trip that cannot be described on paper. I am so glad we were able to make it back. I hope we can take our kids back one day.

When we were planning our trip we were really struggling choosing the week we wanted to go. We finally chose a week according to our schedules and josh having to go out of town. When the earthquake hit Haiti I was really concerned that it would hit again while we were there, because they are on the same vault line. Every factor that played into the week we booked slowing started unraveling, but I felt like we were inspired to choose the week we did. Although no life changing things happened I felt like we kept seeing people we wouldn't have had we gone the week before. Seeing a different country has really opened my eyes to how blessed I really am. Not only did it change my perspective but it also gave me a new light to see Josh him. I feel like I understand him so much better now seeing how he lived for two years. My 850 square foot condo felt like a mansion when we got home. I hope we get to travel more before we start a family!! I have already started a list of places i want to go....Greece, Ireland, Spain, Paris, Australia, Egypt, and Alaska. ( Just to name a few) To view more pics check out my facebook page

Just one of those days

Today has been such a frustrating day! We leave on our trip this saturday, aka there is a lot to be done! So my only days off are wednesdays, they are my days to do all of the laundry, mop the floor, clean the toilet, wipe the counters, vacuum, and all the misc. things that have to be done. I LOVE these days, I love cleaning! I love the satisfaction of having my whole house perfect!! Usually I wake up around eightish and start my wednesdays! Today started off with Josh coming home at 10:30 wondering why my phone was off and why I was still in bed, my alarm on my phone didn't go off because somehow it didn't hold a charge last night. So got up frustrated that my day had started off that way, got my sticky pad I write my "to do" lists on and started scribbling. First I went to change the laundry and guess what? The load Josh started last night is soaking wet, my washer is not draining!! Then my dog starts to whine, he needs to go out! On our way back in he decides to try to bite the leash and bites my hand HARD! My phone rings, Josh needs me to bring him lunch. I took him lunch then stopped at 7-11 to get some cash back for the complex laundry mat, then drove around to find a quater machine. I lug all of the soaking wet clothes over to the laundry mat start the laundry and decide to just go clean something else. So i grab the vacuum plug it in and its not working right. Josh vacuumed the carpets why they were still damp from the carpet cleaner the other day. Perfect. So I scrubbed the tub instead, something that I can do and it can't break. My brothers come over after school every wednesday, and they could sense how stressed I was so they helped me transport laundry back and forth, unloaded the dishwasher, and made me an awesome smoothie, they are the best! They decided that Hendrix needed a bath so they helped me with that to, but then the tub wouldn't drain! Now it is eleven o'clock and i'm just thankful that this wednesday it over! The washer is fixed, thanks to Josh and Matts hard work for a few hours, the vacuum just needed a new filter, my laundry is done, the floor is mopped, the tub is snaked, all that is left to do is clean out the fridge! It's days like these that, at the end of the day, make me so grateful for so many things...A (most of the time) functioning home, a very handy helpful husband, extremely supportive family and friends, good health, functioning arms legs hands, and that I can get on my knees at night and tell the Lord my weaknesses and my blessings and know that with no matter my trials, big or small, he always listens to me and he always loves me.

Our song is the way you laugh...

I thought it would be fun to put up my favorite "flashback" picture! This is Josh and I on our first date! For those of you who haven't heard the story here goes. I was tagging along with my friend ,Emily, one night and we went to a guy she had mets house to hangout, aka the "XI" house. There were so many people there, none that i knew, so i just stayed low key. There was a super cute guy sitting close by and we started talking about common friends and random things. Well a few days later my sister was begging me to find a date for our sorority barn dance. Emily, being the best friend she is, made a call and got this super cute guys number for me. I called him and asked him out (the night before the date) and was so excited when A: He remembered who I was and B: when he said he would go with me!! So this is us on our first date and the zeta barn dance!! We clicked from the beginning! It was so refreshing to date a guy who shared my standards and who was a complete gentleman! It didn't take him long to ask me out on our second date and now we have been married for almost a year and a half!! I love you Josh!!

PS The title of this post is taylor swifts our song lyrics, we sang this song twenty plus times on our first date!

Since the last time I blogged....

We got a new nephew, we booked our flight for our upcoming trip, we celebrated Christmas, and we celebrated New Years in bear lake! We have been so busy i think we are just barely catching out breath!!!

This is our new nephew Cash Johnson!! He was born on Dec. 1st at 5:15, here he is with his amazing parents Chas and Ashly Johnson!!! We are so excited to have a new baby in the family and continue to enjoy watching all of our other nieces and nephews grow up!!!

This is Josh on his mission in Dominican Republic!

We are so lucky to have the opportunity to go back

in February. I am so excited to see the place that

played a big part in making Josh who he is today!

I cant wait to share all of our pictures and experiences

with you!!!

For Christmas Eve this year we went to Mikado with

the Johnsons. It was so fun to spend time together

before all of the craziness!! We enjoyed just relaxing

and talking, with of course a game of

competitive wizard afterwards!

We went over to my parents house Christmas morning.

We had a delicious breakfast then opened up presents!!

I am so blessed for such an amazing family.

This is our other cute niece Ellie on new years.

Ellie and Jake gaveme a new years make-over

by going through

my purse and using everything i had in it on me!! It was so fun to ring in the new

year with family!

This is our cute niece Reina modeling the purse

we gave herfor Christmas!

I think I was most excited to give this present than any other one!

Every little girl loves having a purse

with her own essentials inside!

agradacida

This is not the BEST picture of us, but it was the only one josh was actually smiling in. For Thanksgiving we spent the day with the Browns. We had so much food and so much fun! We love spending time with our families and feel grateful to live so close to them and the strong relationships we have with the Brown's and the Johnson's. After dinner we played some cards with Gregg, Kris, and Lisa which is always interesting! This year we have so much to be grateful for. I am grateful that we both have jobs and have a steady income, i am grateful for our tiny condo that works for now, i am grateful that we have closets packed with clothes and a fridge packed with food! I am grateful for our crazy dog and how busy he keeps me. I am grateful for music in my life and how it influences my attitude. I am also grateful for Josh. We have had so much fun this past year adapting to married life and working through our pet peeves and deciding our goals in life. Josh is such a patient man, sometimes i can get so stressed out and so crazy and he knows exactly what to do and say to make everything better! I love him so much and can't imagine where i would be without him in my life!

Jimmy Hendrix the dog

This is our dog hendrix. He is adroable. We weren't really planning on getting him. I wanted a smaller dog, and josh wanted a bigger dog, but when he was offered to us by josh's brother and his wife we could not say no! When we went to pick him up last may he just laid there most of the night so lazy! He was such a sleepy dog all the time, in the mornings we would have to wake him up! A few months ago he started getting tons of energy and tons of personality! Sometimes its so hard to have him in our little condo, but it has been so worth it, he is our buddy. When we went to lake powell in June we boarded him at our vet, i didn't think it would bother me but as soon as we dropped him off i started balling!! It was the longest week of my summer, but our reunion was so sweet! Last week he started getting really sick and our vet was worried he had parvo (a very deadly disease dogs get.) Since we have found out he does not have it and he is doing much better, it has totally changed my attitude towards him, he really is mans best friend! I know this is super cheesy but we treat him like our baby and i can't imagine how boring our life would be with out his goofy personality! I took this picture of him tonight and it was so perfect! He always winks at us and this is the first time i have caught it on camera!

Hendrix and the zoo

The Hoogle Zoo with Charlie and Chambers.  It was so fun, we had the zoo to ourselves!

This is Hendrix, not at the zoo. This is the only picture i could find so he is still little here.  We love him so much!  He is such a good dog and he has the biggest personality!