It seems that it always takes a while for me to write a post, so I might as well stop apologizing, as you are well used to it by now. Luckily, I have mono, and thus I have large amounts of time to spend doing nothing but updating this blog. Yay! Kudos to those of you who have read over the years, I used to be much better about posting. I guess I used to have more to say. Or just more that I thought was interesting. Anyhoo, here we go again.
Since the last time I posted, several months ago, Thomas and I have taken a couple of vacations, so we'll start there. In May we took a road trip out to California for almost two weeks. Thomas was excited to show me his mission and I was excited to show him the Bay Area and my Grandparents home in Morgan Hill. We drove out to the Bay Area first and spent four wonderful days with my Grandma and Grandpa Loutensock at their gorgeous home on a lake. We spent quite a bit of time with the Bassetts as well, my Aunt and Uncle and their five kids in San Jose. We saw the Muir Woods, the Warf, Boudin Sourdough factory, and Ghirardelli Square. It was a blast! After spending time there, we drove down to Santa Maria, stopping for a couple of hours at Solvang, the adorable little Ducth town. It was fun and reminded me of Germany a bit. In Santa Maria we had dinner with a friend of Thomas's and then continued down to Simi Valley in SoCal to see the Syewarts, some of Thomas's best mission friends. While there we went to Venice Beach, Ojai, Thousand Oaks for sushi with the Maynards (more mission friends), and Santa Monica with my best friend Casey and her adorable daughter Amelie, after which we ate some amazing authentic ramen at an asian food court. All in all, we had an awesome time and look forward to going every year we are in school, as it is close and we have friends and family who will graciously open their homes to us!
After we got home, it was business as usual. Both Thomas and I are working hard and enjoy spending time at the local rec center where we swim, work out, and play racquetball. Thomas has become quite the racquetball player, and luckily the Joe half of our friends Joe and Mindy loves to play and has an extra racket! Happy day! Mindy and I keep busy with Korean dramas while they are playing, and have a great time laughing at the absurd story lines and heartfelt musical numbers.
Last week Thomas's family went up to Yellowstone to camp and check out the park. We decided to join them. We drove up, stopping for a brief trip down memory lane as I showed him around my Alma mater in Rexburg. We camped just outside of West Yellowstone, a place I well remember visiting with Casey when we stayed at her Grandparent's cabin in Island Park during college. We toured the smelly pits of clay and the sulphuric glassine pools of Yellowstone, not forgetting to see 'Ol Faithful on the way. We even saw a bear and some deer!
It was a blast camping with The Tingey clan, and we were sad to leave them.
On Sunday of last week, tragedy struck. I came down with Mono. Ick. So for the foreseeable future I will be limiting my escapades severely, including work. Unfortunately, I got mono the week of my grandparent's 50th anniversary celebration here in Utah. I was supposed to spend as much time as possible gallivanting around with family I haven't seen in years and having a grand old time. Instead I did three small outings where all that was required was sitting in a chair and trying to stay awake. I was glad I got to do that much, as my Mom and youngest brother are leaving for Saudi Arabia in a week. We at least got to say goodbye and good luck. I love my all of my family so much, and I am very blessed to have gotten to see so much of them lately. I know as my parents start out on this new adventure that they will be a blessing to all that they meet, and that they will make that part of the world a brighter place.
That's it for the "what we've been up to" update! I will probably be writing again soon, as this is really all I have left after Hulu runs out of fun things to watch.
Since the last time I posted, several months ago, Thomas and I have taken a couple of vacations, so we'll start there. In May we took a road trip out to California for almost two weeks. Thomas was excited to show me his mission and I was excited to show him the Bay Area and my Grandparents home in Morgan Hill. We drove out to the Bay Area first and spent four wonderful days with my Grandma and Grandpa Loutensock at their gorgeous home on a lake. We spent quite a bit of time with the Bassetts as well, my Aunt and Uncle and their five kids in San Jose. We saw the Muir Woods, the Warf, Boudin Sourdough factory, and Ghirardelli Square. It was a blast! After spending time there, we drove down to Santa Maria, stopping for a couple of hours at Solvang, the adorable little Ducth town. It was fun and reminded me of Germany a bit. In Santa Maria we had dinner with a friend of Thomas's and then continued down to Simi Valley in SoCal to see the Syewarts, some of Thomas's best mission friends. While there we went to Venice Beach, Ojai, Thousand Oaks for sushi with the Maynards (more mission friends), and Santa Monica with my best friend Casey and her adorable daughter Amelie, after which we ate some amazing authentic ramen at an asian food court. All in all, we had an awesome time and look forward to going every year we are in school, as it is close and we have friends and family who will graciously open their homes to us!
After we got home, it was business as usual. Both Thomas and I are working hard and enjoy spending time at the local rec center where we swim, work out, and play racquetball. Thomas has become quite the racquetball player, and luckily the Joe half of our friends Joe and Mindy loves to play and has an extra racket! Happy day! Mindy and I keep busy with Korean dramas while they are playing, and have a great time laughing at the absurd story lines and heartfelt musical numbers.
Last week Thomas's family went up to Yellowstone to camp and check out the park. We decided to join them. We drove up, stopping for a brief trip down memory lane as I showed him around my Alma mater in Rexburg. We camped just outside of West Yellowstone, a place I well remember visiting with Casey when we stayed at her Grandparent's cabin in Island Park during college. We toured the smelly pits of clay and the sulphuric glassine pools of Yellowstone, not forgetting to see 'Ol Faithful on the way. We even saw a bear and some deer!
It was a blast camping with The Tingey clan, and we were sad to leave them.
On Sunday of last week, tragedy struck. I came down with Mono. Ick. So for the foreseeable future I will be limiting my escapades severely, including work. Unfortunately, I got mono the week of my grandparent's 50th anniversary celebration here in Utah. I was supposed to spend as much time as possible gallivanting around with family I haven't seen in years and having a grand old time. Instead I did three small outings where all that was required was sitting in a chair and trying to stay awake. I was glad I got to do that much, as my Mom and youngest brother are leaving for Saudi Arabia in a week. We at least got to say goodbye and good luck. I love my all of my family so much, and I am very blessed to have gotten to see so much of them lately. I know as my parents start out on this new adventure that they will be a blessing to all that they meet, and that they will make that part of the world a brighter place.
That's it for the "what we've been up to" update! I will probably be writing again soon, as this is really all I have left after Hulu runs out of fun things to watch.
