Elizabeth Gaskell

For those of you who don't know, I'm a shameless Jane Austin fan. I love all of her books and every move ever made relating to them. That said, I have just discovered Elizabeth Gaskell who was a contemporary of Jane Austin. In the past few weeks I've watched the movies North and South and Wives and Daughters which were based on her novels. I loved them! Needless to say, as soon as I'm done with school (one more week!) I will be reading the books. If you haven't heard of her but love Jane Austin, check her out!
Also, I found this on a friend's blog. It's really fun. My scores say I'm Elizabeth Bennet. See which Jane Austin character you're the most like.
http://www.strangegirl.com/emma/quiz.php

New Glasses (finally)

Well, I finally got a new pair of glasses. Hope they look alright. Costco frames are cheap. Hehe...I can actually see clearly now. I haven't had new frames for about a year, boy did I need them. I never knew how bad my vision was until I put on my new set of eyeballs. :) Whadya think???

The other day, Justine was going through some stuff at the house in Provo and she found something of mine. Its actually too small for me, but I didn't care because, well, I didn't care. But now that I think about it, it looks 100 times better on my good looking best friend. :)

4th of July Weekend

What a great weekend! I got to see Justine this weekend :) She won't be officially moving back to Colorado until August 15th. She is just about done with school at BYU.

This weekend was wonderful! We lit fireworks and enjoyed each other's company. Tonight we went to a Rockies baseball game. The Rockies beat the Marlins 12-6. Lots of homeruns in this game. I am kind of adopting the Rockies, now that I am living in Colorado. Fun fact: July 5th, today, is the 17th birthday of the Rockies entering Major League Baseball. So today's win is a nice birthday present from the Marlins.

I am glad I got to see my beautiful wife this weekend. :) I drop her off at the airport tomorrow evening and I won't see her again until August. I want to use this space to tell her I love her! :) Kiara sure loves Justine as well :)

Utah's Newest Real Estate Agent!

Mike passed the state portion of his real estate test today! I'm so proud of him and all the hard work he's put in to this. Also, a special thanks to Mike Welker and his dad for all the help they have given Mike with studying and preparing for the test. They have really been wonderful!

Love you Mike! I knew you could do it:)

This post is for my bro DJ. Get well soon and take care! Just know that Justine and I love ya!

We went on our one year anniversary vacation this week. :) Actually, our one year anniversary is June 23rd, but Justine starts school again that day so we took our "anniversary" a little bit early this year. Maybe one of these years we'll get the right day. We went camping, not alone, but with our good friends, Josh and Lisa, to Maple Lake. Maple Lake is just south of Spanish Fork. It is a beautiful place. Private and relaxing. Although we only went for a day, it is amazing how much of a difference a day of peace and nature can make in this world.

Josh and Lisa are a great couple. They really are. We enjoy spending time with them every chance we get. With us moving to Colorado and them possibly moving to Oregon, this was a much needed get together. Everything was perfect. The girls, Kiara and Akhila (we don't have children yet), enjoyed the lake very much. They were infatuated with dead fish floating in the water. Yuck. But other than dead fish, the lake is gorgeous and calm. The lake is petite in size, yet it captures some of the most beautiful magic.

We took a hike before coming home. We were supposed to hike 1.75 miles to Red Lake. It is a mild hike and enjoyable. Once we figured things out, we've gone too far. We never made it to Red Lake because we got off path (sorta). We still were on the trail, but it didn't lead to Red Lake. It was too late to realize our mistakes and we headed back to our starting point. The river/stream/creek we crossed on our hike was COLD, yet refreshing since the temperature was in the high 90s.

All in all, our anniversary has been wonderful. A year went by fast and our marriage is great!

Kiara Climbs Trees!

Today is a good day! Well, it started off with myself taking the Real Estate exam. I passed the national exam, but didn't quite get the state exam. It's always, try, try, try again until you get it right. The same goes for me with the Real Estate tests. I am grateful for all of my studying and preparation to pass the test. I need to thank Mike Welker for that. :)

After taking the exam, I had Subway and went to the doggie park with Kiara. She had a blast! She got to play and play and play! Amazing somethings happen sometimes. After Kiara was done swimming in the Jordan River, I climbed a tree that was next to the water. Kiara climbed up after me! My good friend Tom, was with us and he took some pictures, so No Joke!


Here goes...!











































Thanks Tom for the pictures!!

Also, Thank you, thank you Justine for believing in me and supporting me while I study for my exams! You mean everything to me!

Time to support the Lake Show! Go Lakers!

Congrats Mike!

Mike didn't want to brag so I will for him....Mike got a promotion with Sorenson and a job in Colorado! Based on all his hard work, Mike's supervisor Kim recommended him for a training job in Denver. He met with the top manager of trainers who liked him so much that he was hired that day! For now it will be part time, about 30 hours a week in the Denver and Colorado Springs areas which will be good because it will still give Mike time to do real estate on the side. He starts July 1st:) We're all so proud of you!

We are really looking forward to the move and being close to family. However, we've made so many great friends here and we will miss them tons. Thanks to all of our friends who have been so supportive, and to the Salt Lake Valley Deaf 2nd ward where we have felt so loved and welcomed. We will miss you, but we will be sure to visit.