so, i have tried to update this blog many times in the last week but for some reason, my drafts were never saved and everything was deleted (numerous times). so, this will probably be a condensed version of what has been going on just in case my computer deletes it once again. josh and i have had a busy month between homework, tests, reports, work, church meetings and activities, working out, running errands, traveling, etc. i'm going to try better to keep this blog updated because i dread catching up after an entire month.
*my parents came up a few weekends ago to play with us. my mom and i went to my womens conference while josh and my dad hit up all of the local establishments (cookies/crackers from pepperidge farm, cheese curds from gossners, and chips and salsa from cafe sabor). after our meeting, we did lunch and then a sealing session at the temple. i really liked doing sealings because i think it is a great reminder of the things that were said to us just under a year ago on our wedding day. after the temple, we headed to get some aggie ice cream (no trip to logan would be complete for my dad without some aggie ice cream). it was a great day and i am especially grateful for the loads and loads of groceries they brought us! it was a great surprise and i love that my parents know us well enough to bring us all the stuff that we love, but rarely buy for ourselves. i've also loved the fact that i haven't had to go to the grocery store since! thanks again!
*the next weekend, my little sisters laura and katie came to visit us. while josh was at work, we slept in, made breakfast, and then worked on crafts all day. it was a great way to spend our saturday afternoon and we definitely want to make it a tradition. we topped the day off by giving each other pedicures. laura always does my toes (i am obsessed with acrylic toes) and i decided to take a shot at doing hers. i didn't do as good of a job as she did, but for a first timer, i felt like they weren't too bad!
* speaking of that program at my school... i got the position! it's called sound beginnings and basically it is a 2 year program set up to help children with hearing loss develop spoken language at a young age. these little kids have hearing aids and cochlear implants. i'll be doing at home visits, toddler groups, preschool, and offering parental assistance and information. i'm really excited about this opportunity, i am fully aware that it is going to be a lot of work, but i'm hoping that this position will help me get some extra experience in being a pediatric audiologist!
* this last week i was in minneapolis and dallas for some school stuff. i will post later about those trips. 
* i survived my first month of booty camp, and am doing it again this month. i am excited that i am finally at the point where my entire body doesn't ache the day after and think that this month will be just the push i need to get my butt in gear. i'm thinking about running in a half marathon in august if anyone is feeling a bit ambitious and wants to join me!
*so last week nate dawg (josh's youngest brother) got his mission call. he's going to kennewick, washington, spanish speaking, leaving june 10th. we are super excited for nate and know he'll be one awesome missionary! while he's gone maybe we'll even learn a little spanish... i'll have to ask the cooks at my restaurant to give me some lessons....
*we had a ward pinewood derby last week and it was way fun! they passed out cars about a week ago and josh has been hard at work trying to decide exactly what to do to his car to make it extra fast and super cool. it was a "no rules" competition, just no combustibles, nothing taller than 6 inches, and nothing weighing more than 3 lbs. with those liberties, the boys in our ward went crazy. josh knew the competition would be fierce- mostly because we have quite a few engineers in our ward- so he worked hard on his little car and it paid off! he took 2nd place overall and had a great time doing it. his car had a few motors in it and was pretty sweet. the winning car was super sweet- it had a few motors plus it had gears and would shift gears as it went down the track. i don't know much about how it worked, but it was pretty dang cool. josh is excited to one day have a little boy that he can teach how to make super sweet racing cars.
*so last week nate dawg (josh's youngest brother) got his mission call. he's going to kennewick, washington, spanish speaking, leaving june 10th. we are super excited for nate and know he'll be one awesome missionary! while he's gone maybe we'll even learn a little spanish... i'll have to ask the cooks at my restaurant to give me some lessons....
* speaking of kennewick, washington... a good friend of ours, zach call, just got back from that same mission a few days before nate got his call. josh and i were able to meet up with him and catch up on the last 2 years. it was great to see him and we're hoping that he decides to come back to logan for school so josh can have another friend to play with :)
josh had one more surprise for me after dinner. he had gotten us tickets to see romeo and juliet at the pioneer theater company. it was a fabulous performance and i was excited that he thought of something that i would enjoy so much (even though i think he got a little bored at the end). it was great to spend the day with my hunky husband and it was nice to tell him over and over again how much i love him without him thinking i was a weirdo. 
now i can back-track to some of the other things we've been doing. the weekend before valentines day my sister laura and our good friend kevin came up to visit. we decided to take them to a usu game because, well, we're awesome, and it was a great game! laura and kevin were laughing so hard at the things our fans were yelling at the other team, however they didn't appreciate all the signing that went on throughout the game. i guess you just to be an 
as mentioned in my earlier post, i've been doing a fitness bootcamp (or as i like to call it, 
in other exciting news, one of my very best friends got engaged a few weeks ago. chana and zach have been dating for over a year and he finally popped the question on night while they were on a drive up the canyon. chana and i have been friends since our first day of college and were pretty much inseparable after that. we lived together for 4 years at usu, lived together for 2 summers in juneau alaska, co-managed the santa booth and easter bunny booth at the cache valley mall, co-managed del sol and alaska apparel in juneau, took a cross country road trip to tennessee, went on two cruises together (one to the mexican riviera, one to the western caribbean), been to vegas a few times, disneyland and six flags, took a fabulous trip to costa rica, been to all the surrounding states a few times (including our spring break trip to denver, and our exciting stop at bear world in idaho). she was the one i went to with all my guy problems and she even told me when josh and i weren't even talking to each other that i was going to marry him one day. she has been around me and my family so much that we pretty much consider her one of us. she is the one i share almost all of my crazy college stories and experiences with. we have done things together that most people only dream of- helicopter rides, dogsledding on glaciers, snorkeling in the caribbean, ziplining in through numerous rainforests in alaska and in costa rica, snowmobiling, white water rafting, 4 wheeling in mexico, visited buffalo bills' grave, and many more things that i don't have the time to mention. she has been a great example to me of what a loving and thoughtful friend should be and i'm grateful that she has finally met the man of her dreams and the guy she wants to spend her life with.
chana and zach are looking at getting married the end of the summer/early fall. we wish them the very best and are excited for them!
and to celebrate their engagement, our friends met at leatherby's in taylorsville for some fantastic ice cream (a favorite of mine and chana's). it's always fun to get together with our salt lake friends and catch up because we feel like we never see anyone anymore living up here in logan! if any of you haven't been to leatherby's, 
of course we still watch every jazz game. it's pretty much what we do. too bad the jazz are on a downward spiral and can't win games consistently. 
krissey and i threw a double baby shower for andrea and michelle. we went with a valentines theme because they were both having baby girls. we had donuts and a little hot chocolate bar set up. 
and yes, those are chocolate dipped spoons rolled in peppermint... not suckers (it's ok girls, you gave us a good laugh!)
these two girls got some fabulous stuff and we were grateful for everyone who came. michelle had her baby girl rachel 3 days later and she sure is a beauty. andrea is due in about 3 1/2 weeks and we can't wait to see that little one!
for a creative arts assignment, josh had to attend the art museum on campus. we turned it into a day date and i was kind of excited about it. then it turned out to be a pretty boring experience so we tried to get josh's assignment done and out of there asap. this painting was super random.
this was the best part of the museum. this was called a klompen... it is a massive musical instrument made out of clogs from holland. they were hooked together by these cables and had little magnetic devices inside of them that would produce sound when activated. that's a pretty dreadful explanation of what it is- but basically you put a quarter in the machine and played 1 of 20 compositions. i think i spent $2 worth of quarters on this gizmo. 
we were able to find a night to attend a usu basketball game. i love going to the games- the student fans are ruthless and definitely give the other team a hard time. it's hilarious to watch and it's fun to be a part of. our team is 21-1 this year which is pretty awesome.
besides those few things, josh and i have spent the rest of our time studying and working. i know... super exciting. 
we asked the hotel owner if he recommended a place for us to eat. he told us to go to the white wolf restaurant (for mexican food, but he didn't inform us of that). it was really good if you like soggy nachos, canned salsa, and cold refried beans. but the lack of tasty food didn't really matter to us. after dinner we headed back to the room to change into our swimwear. we headed to the hot springs and soaked there for hours. the boys enjoyed the hottest pool there while us girls chatted away in the cooler (kid-infested) pools. it was fun to just hang out, laugh, and soak outside in the natural hot springs. once our fingers and toes had turned into prunes, we ventured back to our place and busted out games galore. we started it off with pass the pigs (a hankins favorite), moved on to jungle speed (which was a fabulous game). we laughed till we cried while playing curses, and finished off with skipbo. throughout all of our game playing, we stuffed our faces with plenty of junk food to last the new year. when the clock struck midnight we did what any other mature adults would do... we grabbed pots, pans, and spoons and ran outside singing auld lang syne at the top of our lungs while banging on the pans like children. 
the next morning emily and i made waffles, eggs, and bacon for the gang. we then packed the car up and headed back to the hot springs for another round. everyone hopped in except for me- i was spoiled by my hubby with a fabulous 1 hour massage. it was exactly what i needed (and what i wanted, i've never had a massage before) to de-stress before school starts up again. we finished up our time in lava by taking pictures on the big bull that has a sign that says "do not climb on statue". we decided to cover the sign with snow and plead ignorance if busted. 
