Rock Climbing + Winter Time = Ice Climbing

We spent our Valentine's Day/President's Day weekend
ice climbing in Bozeman, Montana with our friends Nate and Kim and their friend Scott. (Poor guy had to be surrounded by us two married couples on Valentine's Day. We gave him some grief about it in a joking way and he took it really well, but I do feel bad about that). We stayed with Nate's aunt and uncle who live there and between the 5 of us, we had enough gear so that no one had to rent stuff so it ended up being a pretty cheap trip. I had never been ice climbing before but I thought it looked pretty easy and fun. However, I was very wrong. It was extremely hard and painful- which made it not quite as fun as I would have hoped! I had a charley-horse in the palms of my hands the whole way up the wall from gripping the ice ax and my fingertips were frozen because all the blood rushed out of my fingers from having them above my head for so long. It was still a good time though- The scenery was gorgeous! And when we weren't climbing, we had some good times talking, watching movies, taking a walk around the town, and one day, the boys went and did their favorite thing- back country skiing (the mountain they climbed was HUGE- it took them 4 1/2 hours just to get to the top...). So overall, we had ourselves a great time and it was a nice break from everyday life!

Here's the ice wall we climbed from the left side (the easier side)the right (harder) sideOn our hike up to the ice wall, I saw these weird looking "hair trees." I think it was moss, but to me it looked like hair.Here's some more scenery pictures- sorry, I really like taking pretty scenery pictures.On Valentine's Day night, the 5 of us went out to eat at a really yummy pizza place and then rented the movie Horton Hears a Who (which I thought was funny) while we drank sparkling cider (that the boys so sweetly thought to buy). Scott was supposed to look bored and alone with his fake beer in this picture- it was a set up that we thought would make a funny picture.

The superbowl, a ghost and my wedding ring.

For Superbowl Sunday, Brody and I went to my grandma Freda's house along with other extended relatives (we missed you Tommy, Jessica and Avery!). We played some fun Superbowl related games and ate some really yummy food. The 3D commercials were fun and we had a great time with the glasses.My cousin Jaxon was especially funny to watch...

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The weekend after the Superbowl, we went with Nate and Kim to Ogden to look for a ghost named Flo that apparently haunts the cemetery there. We kind of thought it was a joke, but it still sounded like a fun thing to do. We ate dinner, played some games at the Nickel Cade, saw the movie Mall Cop (which I didn't love) and then went to the Cemetery. We didn't see any ghosts, but we still had a fun night.

On our way to the cemetery, we passed by this sign so I had to take a picture.-----------------------------

So about a week and a half ago, I lost my wedding ring. I'm so SAD about it because I loved that ring and unless Needham's keeps people's designed rings on file, I don't know if they'll be able to make the same ring again. :(

My new job!

Well, I finally found a job!! I've been looking since before Christmas. At first, I wanted something that had to do with my major (family life) and was full-time. Then, after almost two months of remaining job-less (working for dad is too fun to be considered a job :) and it only takes up about 5 hours a week), I decided I'd be fine with just anything. However, I ended up finding what I have now decided is my dream job!!! I'm working as a direct care staff at Avalon Hills, adult unit, which is a treatment facility for girls with eating disorders.

The place where these girls live used to be someone's house so obviously it's very home-y. They have 2 cats and a dog which adds more to the home-i-ness. So pretty much what I do all day is hang out at this house with 8 girls who are close to my own age and do whatever activity they have planned for the day. These activities can include things like eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner and snacks throughout the day, skiing, horseback riding, going into town for various reasons, watching movies and personal time- in which I get to read a book or do whatever I want. I do have to watch for certain behaviors and be careful of what I say around the girls, so it's not all fun and games, but for the most part, it is- I think. I can wear whatever I want (which I have always wanted in a job), it's full time and I love all the other people that work there! The hours are either 6am-2pm or 2pm-10pm which might be hard but it will also be nice to have a lot of the day to do other things. I've worked/been training for 5 days now and I absolutely love it!!

Fun time on the boat pt. 2 and end of trip.

The sunsets were so gorgeous!! I couldn't believe how fast the sun would disappear.
Here's some more random pictures of more of our fun times on the ship...
These were everywhere on the ship.
One night, there was a chocolate buffet... yum!Our boat...I LOVED looking out the window or on deck and seeing just water.These pictures are weird because they were both taken at exactly the same time, one with flash and one without, yet they look completely different- "like day and night."We had saw some of the coolest shows while on the trip including an awesome juggler who's dad was the fastest in the world, a two time world champion magician, some amazing Chinese acrobats and a few funny comedians. We usually went early to get a good seat, so sometimes it got boring waiting for the entertainment to start...
On the last night, they had a finale with tons of workers and confetti to say thanks.. it was cool.We played a lot of games in our spare time.
This is where mom was most of the trip...
In the elevator- but usually we took the stairs because it was faster.

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On our way home, we stopped in Provo and stayed the night with my aunt and uncle. The next day (Sunday) we went with them to church at the MTC where my uncle is a branch president. It was so cool to see how things work there after only hearing about. I thought I'd never be able to go there since I didn't go on a mission. Brody has never been there either since he went to the MTC in Brazil. We ran into a few people we knew which was weird because I felt like I shouldn't be allowed to see them. One of those people being one of my best friends Maryn. She is going on a mission to Mongolia and it was her last Sunday there so we were lucky!! I saw her at relief society (where Pres. Monson's daughter was the speaker) so we sat by each other and got to catch up on things. I heard her speak in Mongolian (which is insane!!) and heard all about her life there. She is loving it, which I knew she would. She'll be such a great missionary. We also saw Jessica's friend Heath from Arizona and a few other boys from the home ward. Thanks Romney's for letting us come to the MTC!