Changes

Many things have happened since I last wrote. I will attempt to bring you up to speed. October 31st, 2012 was mine and Jake's 2 year anniversary. We were living in Huntington Beach and we made the decision to get married on that day. We were married in the Old Orange County Courthouse and it was beautiful.

There was not a plan for any family to attend and we were looking forward to a ceremony that was all about us. Of course, our mothers came. And while we were looking forward to a private ceremony, we were very happy to have our mothers there.

On our wedding night, we stayed in a hotel suite where we danced to our wedding song, Stand By Me performed by John Lennon, and had wonderful conversations. The next day we got a couples massage and ate at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, which was heavenly.

After months of working seven days a week from 8-5 so we could afford to live in Southern California, we decided it may be time to go back to school. We moved back to Utah at the end of November. I am attending the University of Utah full time and heading towards a Computer Science degree. Jake is attending school part time and working on his Adventure and Outdoor Programs degree. He works as a Lift Operator at Park City Mountain Resort full time. Next season, if his knees allow, he is hoping to be able to get back into instructing. He is also teaching me how to snowboard this season. It has been really fun.

I am working part time as a host at Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar at the Gateway Mall. I have really enjoyed this. I am also doing data entry work for the company I worked for in California. They decided to keep me on, which is great. And, as my third job, I am working as a Social Media Specialist for [io]development. Four out of my six brothers work at this company, with Carl being the CEO. I am enjoying working with my brothers. It has been especially fun to work so closely with Kevin. I hope I can stay with this company for a while.

Our beautiful RV is currently in storage and we are living in an apartment in Salt Lake City. We love our RV but, unfortunately, it may be time to sell. We will miss the vehicle that has been our home for nearly a year.

New New New...

New location. New jobs. New schedules. Everything seems to be very different than ever before. Luckily, we live in an RV so our house is still exactly the same, even though the view out our front door is very different. Near the end of our stay at the beautiful Lake Powell, Jake and I were getting nervous about where we were going to go next. We had not made any decisions and didn't really have any idea of where to start looking. Then, one day, out of the blue, some of our Bulgarian co-workers offered to pay all of our gas if we would drive them to Los Angeles where they would catch a flight leaving the LAX back to Bulgaria. That's when Jake and I decided to move to Southern California.


On the way here, we stopped and spent the night in a place so affectionately known as Sin City, where Jake gambled for the first time, despite my protests. (He lost). I was in the casino long enough to take a picture of Jake at the Slot Machines before someone asked to see my ID and I turned around and walked away.

Luckily, we were able to rent a tow dolly so we could tow our van behind the RV rather than drive separately as we had to on the way to Lake Powell. For once, Jake and I were able to share the front seats while the RV was in motion. I am very impressed with Jake's driving skills. I would not have been able to do it. Especially when we arrived in Los Angeles with all of the traffic full of aggressive drivers with our 30 foot long RV towing an additional 15 feet. Needless to say, it was terrifying. The worst part was when we tried to pull into the parking lot of the hotel where the Bulgarians were staying. We were blocking off every single person from leaving or entering the parking lot while the Bulgarians unloaded their things from the RV. Then, as we were pulling out of the parking lot, the hitch holding the tow dolly jammed into the asphalt and we could go neither in forward nor in reverse. The RV was in the middle of a very busy street while we were still blocking off the exit of the parking lot as well. We got out, thought that if we took the van off of the dolly then it would be light enough to move. That did not work. So we tried to take the dolly off of the hitch. We were not able to do that. We searched around for a wrench for a little while and were finally able to get the dolly off. That didn't work. One man came to help us and just started chopping at the asphalt. I am very glad the owners of the hotel did not come out or we may have had to pay for property damage. We tried to dig the hitch out and it was not working. Eventually, (this description does not give it justice. It was a very long a grueling process) we were able to unscrew the ball from the hitch and drive the RV out leaving the nut in the asphalt. After this, we had to immediately pull into a gas station, which was nerve wracking.

I was ready to be done driving, so we were not able to do any sight seeing in Los Angeles and drove immediately to a place in Newport Beach, where we would stay for the night because our reservation in Huntington Beach would not begin until the next day. During the drive from Newport Beach to Huntington Beach, I saw the ocean for the first time in a very long time. It took my breath away. It seemed as though I was looking at the end of the Earth. I could not see any of my Utah Mountains. My eye could not see as far as there was to see. I had never experienced that.

Once we were parked in our designated spot in Huntington Beach the next day, I could finally relax. Hwy 1 or Pacific Coast Highway is the crossroad to the street we live on. We are right on the corner. We cross Hwy 1 and we are on the sands of the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, this beach does not allow dogs, but there is another beach within walking distance that is called "Dog Beach." It is literally a dog park on the beach. Lucy loves it. She doesn't quite know what to think about the ocean but she is pretty open-minded.

It really is beautiful here. We miss our families very much and hope to be able to visit during the holidays.

Here we are making some music on our porch. (We only have each other to take our pictures since we haven't made friends yet. The quality is weird. When it is dark and you use a flash, you can see the moisture in the air.)

Attempt at an update

I've discovered that this blog thing is very difficult to keep up; especially with poor internet and no time.

Still at Lake Powell and still working hard. I went on a beautiful boat trip a couple of days ago, but forgot to take any pictures. It was amazing, though. I had only experienced Lake Powell on land up until now. Don't get me wrong, it is beautiful on land as well, but it doesn't even come close to actually being on the lake. I strongly encourage everyone to experience this. I consider myself fairly lucky to be able to call a place as beautiful as this my home.

In May, Jake and I made a plan to go backpacking in the back of this beautiful canyon called Moki Canyon. One of my bosses at the time, Captain Whitey, dropped us off to pick us up later the next day. We were able to enjoy this entire backpacking trip in our bare feet just walking through the river that flows at the back of this canyon. Lucy had the time of her life. Shortly after our arrival and setting up camp, Jake and I were sitting underneath ancient Anasazi ruins and taking all the beauty of our surroundings in. As Jake was sitting next to me, he rolled over on to his one knee and asked me to be his wife. With no hesitation, I accepted. I am very excited to spend the rest of my life with this wonderful man.

Since starting here, I have changed positions from Dockhand at Executive Services to Small Boat Coordinator at Boat Rentals. I now manage a small team of instructors and maintain our fleet of nearly 25 power boats, 12 kayaks, 15 wave runners and various water toys. It is hard work, which is rewarding.


Jake and I are currently trying to figure out what is next in this adventure. We would like to go somewhere warm for the Winter like Southern California or Florida. I am excited to see where life will take us.

The New Life

A few months ago, the decision was made that Jake and I would be spending the summer working in the Bullfrog Marina at Lake Powell. Jake will be working as the Dock Coordinator at Boat Rentals and I will be working as a Deckhand at Executive Services. With Jake's Coordinator position, we knew that he would qualify to live in a trailer instead of the employee dorms, which led us to believe that, as we would be able to live in a trailer, we would also be able to take our beautiful Boxer, Lucy, with us. We had also been taking care of Jake's family dog, Leesha, for some time and are, unfortunately, unable to take her with us.

Shortly after, we learned that, although Jake and I are in a relationship, I would not be able to live in the same trailer because my position does not qualify for a trailer. After constant communication with both of our bosses to see if there was a way around that, we found that, even if we got the trailer, they did not allow dogs.

We were devastated. Everything seemed to be going wrong and what was supposed to be a wonderful experience seemed more and more like it was impossible. We assumed that we would continue working mundane jobs in the middle of the city, which made both of us unhappy.

After looking into possibilities, we found that some employees live in an employee RV park and, as the RV is your property, you are able to have a dog. This was the opportunity we were looking for. After looking at various RV's and various conditions and for various prices, we found the perfect one.

And took it for a test drive.

So, we got a loan and got an RV. We took it for a test run by spending a night at Antelope Island. Everything went smoothly and we got to bring both Lucy and Leesha with us. They both loved it.

Within the next few days we quit our jobs, moved all of our belongings into our new home, and moved to the middle of nowhere. Lucy has never been happier. She is an extremely energetic dog and she finally has space to use up that energy. She gets pretty tuckered out.

All in all, we are very happy with our decision. Hello from Lake Powell!