So you have all heard enough about my NEW job that I... how should I put this.... LOVE! So I won't even go there... but just real quick, it's so fantastic. I love the people I work with AND (BIG AND!) we are going to the Dominican Republic next November for the "Give Kids Hope" foundation. We go for a week or so and donate our time and do dental work there! I AM SO EXCITED! I will finally get to use my passport!!!! And serve! I have ALWAYS wanted to participate in one of these types of service trips. I cannot wait. Oh something fun - we had a work party one night after work a couple weeks ago. We ordered dinner from Paradise Bakery (mmmmmmmm), went to Sugar House Park and played Croquet. It was a hoot! I haven't played since I was like 7! Well, I did pretty good. I got 2nd place, and Debbie the Hygienist was kind enough to award me this cute little trophy! It made my day. Have I mentioned I love my new job?
So now that I have gone off on a total tangent, let us re-route back to topic. New.
BIKES! We got new bikes and boy do we love them. Here's the story. So, sadly enough, our bikes got stolen out of the basement of our apartment. This makes me so very sad and a tab bit angry. Why in the world to people feel like they can just take other people's things and get away with it! This bothers me EXTENSIVELY! But alas, that's where our renter's insurance came into play. (So grateful to my Mom for suggesting we look into getting it! It sure paid off.) We made a claim on our bikes and had the money in about a week. It was such a blessing! BJ & I went and looked around some bike shops trying to decide what we wanted to get. We found some REALLY nice ones that we really liked but just didn't take the plunge that day. So, the next day I get home from work, I'm in the kitchen making dinner waiting for him to come home from work when I get a call from BJ telling me to come outside. I go outside and here he comes, driving around the corner with two brand new AWESOME mountain bikes on the back! BJ went after work that day and picked up the ones that we liked from the day before.
I was so excited! BJ is even MORE excited though. The next morning, he got up early before he had to go to work, put on his "attire" and headed out. I got a picture of him before I left for work - he just looked so cute.
Mountain biking is something I definitely want to get into. I can't wait to share that with BJ.
Actually, funny story....
So on Saturday we went out on our first mountain biking adventure together, EVER! I was pretty excited to try this out but had no idea what it would be like. Ha. No idea. Whatsoever. Sooooo, BJ had this trail picked out that he wanted to try. In his defense, he did say he had NO IDEA what kind of a trail it was and that it may be pretty rigorous for my first time mountain biking, ever. If that was the case, we had a plan B to go to another trail that he knew was "Becky Proof", so no worries. So we get there, hop on our bikes and start out on this trail. From the first minute we hit the trail it was nothing but uphill. Not only that, but uphill on DIRT. SO DIFFERENT from pavement I found out real quick. So we are going, I'm feeling pretty good, it hasn't even been 3 minutes when we come across 3 ladies walking up this trail. It's a really narrow trail so we then had this awkward encounter where they tried to move to the side but we had slowed down so much at this point, mind you, going up a hill that I just lost it. Pretty much fell off my bike. So here I am trying to get back on my bike to get out of these ladies way when the strangest thing happened. I COULD NOT do it! I could not, for the life of me, get back on my bike and get enough momentum to continue up this steep hill. That is definitely something that I had never encountered before... but so embarrassing! I just grabbed my bike and walked up the rest of the way. At the top, there was this little semi flat area where BJ was waiting for me. He hops on his bike no problem and starts up an even STEEPER hill. I try to do the same.... Over and over again and just can't get balanced enough to get going! BJ gave me a few pointers that helped a lot and I finally, FINALLY did it. Slowly but surely I start my way up this hill. I made it about 20 feet when the trail got soooo steep that I lost it again. At this point, I'm getting pretty frustrated, trying to laugh about it, but that's just not happening. I decided to walk the rest of the way up. We make it to the very top of this hill to find yet another one, even steeper. I threw in the towel. Made the executive decision that this was NOT the trail for a beginner. We decided to head back down which didn't go so well either. I had no idea mountain biking was so tricky! Scary narrow loose gravel trails along a steep drop off into a creek is not my cup of tea I decided. Not yet at least. So, I attempted to head down this MOUNTAIN after BJ but lost control pretty quickly. I learned really fast that braking on loose gravely dirt is so so SO much different than on pavement. After trying to stop and my foot slipping of the edge of the trail (which resulted in a mini-heart attack) I somehow stumbled off my bike without completely eating it and yet again, decided to walk it. At the very end, I tried again and did better - I actually made it back to the car! So, after all of this, I still reallllly want to do it again. I love the idea of me & the boy up in the mountains on adventures together... I just need to start out on some beginner trails. The next day we did another ride and that one was perfect. I could get the hang of this!
We got a new car! It's our first "big purchase" together... with a loan and the whole deal. It's been good for us to figure all of this stuff out. I'll be honest, BJ did most of the work... okay, all of it because this is kinda "his car". I bought "my car" while he was still on his mission and that's all we've had until Monday night. It served us both really well until I got my new job and then we had to get something else. We weren't in walking distance of everything anymore. So, we got a 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee and it's a great car. We are both really happy with it.... especially BJ. He loves Jeeps. Now him and his best buddy Derrik both have Jeeps. This is a very exciting time in their lives :)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Okay this blog post is about to get pretty random. In the last month, lots of fun things have happened so I'm just gonna hit some of the highlights.
We went home for a weekend and got to see both of our families! It was such a treat for us. The weekend was jam packed for me with one of my best friends, Amanda's wedding & Ella's birthday party. Both were amazing and we got to see so many wonderful people that I've missed so much! On Saturday, Amanda was a stunning bride and it was so much fun to stand as her Maid of Honor with all of the girls we have shared our lives with! Sunday was full of FAMILY! My cousin Alecia just got home from her mission to Colorado about a month ago and she came down for Ella's birthday party. It was so good to see her. Love her! Ella was a princess to say the least. The party was so much fun.... as you can see - us Lee girls just love to over-do it.
My sister is so crafty! She bought an old wedding dress at a thrift store and somehow made this adorable thing. Aww isn't it the cutest thing you have ever seen!? The dress or Ella, I can't decide!
The cupcakes and cake were so fun to make with Christina & Alecia.... at 6:00 am!
After the party, we went to Gardnerville for the night and got to see BJ's family. It was such a good chance for us to just catch up with Moms and Dads, Grandmas and Grandpas, brothers and sisters. We really had a wonderful time. Can't wait for the holidays so we can go back!
Living in Salt Lake is pretty great. There is so much to do here. This summer we enjoyed a couple outdoor movies & concerts. One of our favorites was Cherie Call & Tyler Castleton. Both BJ & I have spent lots of time listening to her on Sundays so it was fun to see her live. Here is a little movie clip I got of one of my favorites.
Oh good grief, this has turned into another novel. This blogging stuff has turned out to be extremely relaxing for me. Well, duty calls. I need to make dinner now... the husband is on his way home from work in a bit. Yay!
