becoming culturally enlightened

i am behind in my blogging and i apologize.

just over a week ago, josh's parents came to logan and took us to the opera! i have never been to the opera before, and lucky for us, the utah opera festival is located here in good old logan. we went to dinner at the beehive grill before it started and dave game me the run-down on the storyline of carmen (i guess he has seen it numerous times and it is one of his favs) since the whole thing was performed in french (i'm pretty sure it was french??) minus a few subtitles shown on a screen above the stage. anyway, i loved it. i loved the music, the costumes, their voices, the story. i seriously loved all of it. i was sad to see it end. i hope the next opera that i see is just as entertaining as this one was. thanks again to josh's parents for helping me step out of the box.

last weekend we had a fun night hanging out with our friends at the demolitian derby. we went to the beehive grill for dinner with stacie, mckade, and his sister and her hubby before the derby (yes, 2 trips to the restaurant in 3 days. so what) and then met up with aubree, riley, mike, michelle, and baby ray at the derby. i love any excuse to sit outside, enjoy good company, and be thoroughly entertained by watching the people around us. even though i took quite a few pictures of random people committing social suicide with their choice of hair, clothes, and actions (demo derbies are definitely white trash. all the crazies come out of the woodworks to watch cars smash into each other), i am going to refrain from posting any of them for fear that someone might be insulted (you can look at my rodeo pictures if you need some reminding). so, instead, i'll post some pictures of my cute hubby and my fabulous friends. so sad that mike, michelle, and ray didn't make it into any pictures. they really were there, i promise. after dinner, we hit up caspers for some yummy banana splits and then came over to our place to play some games. we taught the gang how to play jungle speed (if you haven't played the game, a game night with us is a must. it's fab) and laughed so hard i had a serious side ache by the end of the night.
i wish i could explain how awesome the lady in this band "heywire" was. i guess you'd just have to be there....

nothing else really exciting has happened since the derby. i am still in school and only have 2 more weeks left of my summer semester. then i actually get to enjoy some free time for 3 weeks before the fall semester starts up again! also, josh left me on wednesday to go to cali with his family for a family reunion. i'm sad i couldn't go... stupid school ruining all my fun... but i know that hankins clan knows how to party-hardy so i hope they all have fun (well, as much fun as they could have without me). anyway, i'm excited to have josh back home tomorrow night because i've finally watched all the chick flicks and reality tv shows that have been building up on our dvr so he's cleared to come home for at least a week or so!

Just Charlie and me

Eating his first snow cone. My fav.

Hmmm

Seeing if this works...

god bless america!

*beware! long post ahead*

so, this summer has definitely been a busy one with me in school pretty much full time and working at nights and josh putting in over 40 hours a week at work. but we have definitely found some time here and there to play and have a little bit of fun. a week ago, josh's brother spencer and his dad came up to go rock climbing and shooting with us (poor kristi wasn't feeling well that day and missed out on the fun). but we did lunch and headed up logan canyon to scale some rocks.

exhibit one... the rock we climbed...

it was one hot day so we didn't climb too much, but we had a great time. josh and i have really enjoyed going climbing lately and will probably continue to make it our one hobby of the summer :) oh, and if anyone talks to dave about this climbing trip and he tries to tell you i pushed him down the mountain, don't believe him. don't you think i would have come up with a better way to take my father-in-law out??

josh climbing

spencer climbing. notice how he's using his knee to make his way up the rocks?

yeah, not the smartest idea. it wasn't that bad, but spence is a wuss :)

yep, that's me climbing. dave was kind enough to take a bunch of pictures while we were climbing (like 150), but the close up shots were just my big ol' booty and i'm sure you're not interested in seeing that.

after climbing (and after heading to the gas station for some large powerades and water), we headed up blacksmith fork canyon to go shooting. dave and spencer brought up a 30-30, a 12 gauge, 20 gauge, and a 9mm pistol and plenty of ammo to shoot.

this is me holding the 30-30. that thing was a beast to shoot, but i kinda liked it!

we also had a competition to see who could shoot the most discs with the shotguns... and guess who beat out all the boys?? that's right... i did! none of those guys had ever seen me shoot a gun and they clearly didn't know what i was capable of! we had a great time that day (and were absolutely exhausted by the end of the day) and look forward to them coming up again.

so, here's an update on josh's health. he has had a couple of dr appts in the past few weeks with his oncologist here in logan and his surgical oncologist in murray. here in logan they did a cbc and everything looked good and normal and the dr didn't have any concerns. awesome! josh got an ultra sound of his lymph nodes (where they initially found the cancer) and they all looked great and none of them had changed in size (which would indicate that cancer was still located there and was growing). more great news. josh's dr in murray also did a full body check on him and didn't find anything abnormal. the only weird thing is a cyst (or something like that, they're not sure what it is) that has grown between josh's eyebrows. he was concerned about it, showed it to the dr, and the dr decided to take a biopsy of it and send it in to be tested. i'll spare you the gross details, but in the process of sticking a needle in it, it popped everywhere (fluid went everywhere) and the dr is no longer concerned about it (it is clearly not a tumor). josh will need to go to huntsman sometime soon to get it removed, but hopefully it is just a cyst and not something we need to be worried about.

the friday before the 4th of july was a school holiday so i decided to do something... ANYTHING... but homework. so i made these little beauties...

cupcake hamburgers! aren't they adorable?! made with white cupcakes buns, sugar sesame seeds, brownie hamburger patties, colored frosting for the ketchup and mustard, and green coconut lettuce! i saw this idea on bakerella and let me just say, i was dang proud of how they turned out (my photo skills aren't quite up to par, but know they looked a lot better in person). and believe it or not, they were quite scrumptious too!
friday night i had to work and ended up working later than planned, so sadly enough we missed watching the logan fireworks with our friends (why do they do them on the 3rd of july?? it's a mystery). we decided to load up the car and head to murray that night and just catch a glimpse of the fireworks in the rear view mirror. early the next morning, we hit up the murray parade. what a classic. josh isn't a big fan of parades, but i enjoy them. and my sister was dancing in this one (and was at the very end of the parade) so we stayed for the whole thing so we could cheer her on. i'm excited to have kids one day and take them to parades. maybe then josh will have fun. maybe.

my little sister katie is on the first row, furthest to the left. we always hoot and holler and try to distract her and make her smile. that's a big no-no in the world of spartonians.
(i was terrible at taking pictures so most of my 4th of july will be documented by words only)

after the parade we went over to the sponbecks' house for some fabulous sour dough pancakes. kent has some sort of secret, special recipe and they are seriously amazing. especially with a little whipped cream and a whole lot of fresh raspberries. it was also fun to catch up with collie and see her stinkin cute boy easton.

after breakfast, we picked up our new car. i don't have any pictures of it, but it's a crv that we purchased off my parents because my mom is all sorts of worried about me driving around in logan in the winter on icy streets in my light-weight civic. and lucky for her, by selling us her crv, she was able to get a brand new one. everyone wins! but we're definitely grateful to have a new, bigger car and i'm excited to not have to drive a stick shift anymore!

we then met up with our friends brett and amber and spent the afternoon at the pool. it was so fun to catch up with them (and catch up on my sun) and it was a much needed lazy afternoon.

after swimming, josh and i headed jaynann and adam's 1 year birthday party for their daughter emma. oh my goodness, that girl is adorable and it was so fun hanging out with our friends and their fun family. the bbq was fabulous and look how cute her birthday cake was?? jaynann impressed me with her cupcake decorating skills.

after the party, we got back together with brett and amber and headed up little cottonwood canyon to have a fire and roast marshmallows. (again, we caught a glimpse of fireworks in the rearview mirror). it was a fun filled day and we crashed out as soon as we got home.

the next day we met up with lindsay, ryan and their cute little boy reagan (who also turned 1 this past week... same day as emma) at murray park. i feel like i never get to see the cute bailey family and it was great to catch up with them. well, as lindsay and i caught up, the boys caught up on their bocce ball skills. chana and megan also met up with us at the park and we talked about wedding plans and about megan's big move to washington dc (she moved today to be with her loverboy and who knows when we'll see her next!) i'm sure going to miss that girl but i wish her the best in her new adventure and starting a new life across the country.

we finally headed back to logan late sunday night and neither of us were looking forward to school and work early monday morning. but we survived (barely) and have spent the last 2 nights being lazy and taking naps to catch up on our sleep!

defying gravity

last weekend i got some free tickets to the logan rodeo. i love rodeos and was super excited to go. we had extra tickets so we invited the moss's to join us. and lucky for me, they brought their gorgeous little girl, rachel. we had a great time at dinner and watching the rodeo. however, i have to admit, i was highly distracted by the young girls sitting a few rows in front of us...

seriously, what kind of animal was nested in her hair??! it was absolutely ridiculous and i had to be sneaky and quick trying to get a picture of such a work of art (and i'm not sure if the picture even does the hairstyle any justice). i understand that we girls like a little volume... but come on! that must have taken an entire bottle of aerosol hairspray to create. and then her friend...
seriously, the earrings she was wearing were the size of watermelons (and yes, she has 2 separate pair of earrings separate holes)! here they are resting on her shoulder, but when she was looking forward, the earrings were so heavy that they pulled her earlobes down in a way that looked so painful! i was in awe at how she still had holes in her earlobes and shocked that her skin hadn't succumbed to gravity and let them slip right on through.

we made sure to get some pictures of rachel enjoying the rodeo. she was such a good baby and sat on my lap watching the whole rodeo without making a peep!

this is what we'll look like with a child in about.... 5 years....
the cute parents, mike and michelle
josh and i also got invited from some friends of ours to go rock climbing up in logan canyon. josh took a rock climbing class this past semester and loved it and has been itching to go ever since school got out. i on the other hand had never rock climbed outside and i was a little nervous about it- but once i got going, i loved it! it was fun (and a great workout) and we're excited to go again. josh is doing everything he can to convince me that we need to buy all of our own gear so we can go whenever we want. i think we're going again this saturday so we'll see if i still like it enough to let josh get his way!

calling all runners

ok, i know you're out there. you crazy people who run for fun. i'm talking those of you that get up at the crack of dawn to get your 8 mile run in before your day starts because you can't function otherwise. those of you who have run about a million 5k's (because they're pretty much a jog around the block), half marathons are a little more challenging (but you have completed 2 this year and are registered for 3 more), and a marathon was your lifelong dream (and you accomplished that when you were 15). yeah, all you crazies.

i am not one of you. i have never ran in a race before in my life. i do not run because i like it. i do not run because i think it's fun. i do not run because i get a high from it. i run because i have to. because i need to tone up. because i need to build some endurance. because i need to set a goal and stick to it. because my booty needs it. literally.

but this summer, i have started running. i'm still a little here and there in my running routine, but i'm getting there. i'm becoming more committed. i am jealous that there are people out there (you know who you are) who have hit that point where running is just part of your day. it doesn't even phase you to put in 4 miles. and a 7 mile run feels awesome. and you're not even winded. i am envious of you and i loathe you at the same time.

but like i said, i am trying. and i have promised my little sister, katie, that i would run the top of utah half marathon here in logan with her in august (what was i thinking?). so, i've gotta get cracking.

and i need your help.

i only run well when i have good, fun music that has a beat i can pace myself with. without music, i'm worthless. if i don't charge my ipod and it dies on my run, it's almost like torture to finish. pathetic, i know. the problem is, i am sick of the music i have on my ipod and find myself skipping every song on my 5 playlists.

so, let me know what songs get you moving. you fanatical runners, you know you have some favorites. like your power songs. i need numerous power songs. and any other songs that make you forget the blisters on your feet, the shin splints, and the tight lungs.

so please, help a girl out.

summer camp

wanna know what i have been doing the past few days? playing camp counselor with my fellow classmates to a bunch of kids who came to utah state with their families for a camp focusing on children with hearing loss. we entertained the children while their parents attended seminars focusing on early intervention, laws, technology, and other stuff. the theme for the children was pirates and we sure had a ton of fun with them. i was in charge of six 7 year old boys- 4 of which had bilateral cochlear implants. they were smart kids and kept me running and laughing the entire 3 days. a newspaper article written about our camp made the front page of the herald journal today and you can click here to read it (don't worry, it's not long). we had a designated photographer so as soon as i get those pictures i'll post some of the fun ones. despite the extreme amount of exhaustion i am feeling right now, i am looking forward to seeing many of my little pirates at next years camp!