harvest

Fall break was way too short. Work made the supposed-to-be short week just like any other. However, we did manage to sneak up to Idaho for the weekend to see the harvest this year. I have been talking it up to Jared since who knows when and now he knows that I wasn't exaggerating. Jared and I both agree that it was not enough time for either of us but it will have to do. Mom offered to teach Jared how to drive the truck. Its pretty intimidating seeing how perfect you have to be while you drive so he declined. Maybe next year. We're still breaking him in to farm life. This year the harvest is going extremely well. They are ahead of schedule and raking in the dough. I forgot my camera when we went out to the field so these are last year's pictures. They still show how awesome it all is though.

How could you not love farmers? No one else pulls off overalls as well as my dad.


I like that you can see my dad's tractor in the mirror. Its like an "I-spy".


The rest of the weekend was full of food, games, and teasing Keegan. That boy has gotten so big and so sassy lately. I can't even imagine what Ali will teach him by Thanksgiving. I guess its just part of growing up and getting married but I feel like we don't go home enough.

run of death

Being a privileged grad student I get lots of tests done on me for classes and other students' thesis projects. The most recent was a test that I have avoided for 4 years and they finally got me. It is called the VO2max test and it tells you how efficient your body is at using oxygen. It is an extremely brutal test in which you are hooked up to tubes and monitors as you run until you can't run anymore. I lasted 7 minutes. And my numbers turned out pretty good. Not great, but then again I hardly ever do cardio so what can I expect. Tell me to leg press 300+ pounds, no problem. Run on a treadmill with a crazy incline and I tire easily. And it isn't easy to run when your nose is plugged and you can't swallow. My throat was so dry when I finished and just like everyone else in my group I had quite a lot of slobber on me when I took the mouthpiece out. But it was a great experience and I'm glad that I got to do it. Here's a picture of the head gear. No, this isn't me or anyone in my group. We didn't look as good all hooked up. Plus I didn't have my camera.

my craftiness

I finished all my homework and had absolutely nothing to do while Jared was at work last week so I decided to go down to Michael's and find something fun. I have become obsessed with all the fall foliage in that store and had to do something to spruce up the apartment. Plus I had 50% off coupons thanks to my mom. These were my projects and I made them BOTH for under $10. Bargain crafter? I think so.

the start of another academic year

School started last week and it came as quite a shock to me. I was not ready for the intensity. I am on the second semester of my master's work and it is time consuming. I'm working as a graduate teaching assistant, teaching the biomechanics' labs and I get to work on research with the faculty. Not to mention the 10 credits of class I'm taking. (which is a full load for a grad student) I also work at the wellness center getting hours for my internship. I am very blessed to get paid for this work. But after sitting in classrooms all day it is hard to sit behind a desk at a gym or think of good workouts for clients. The worst part is definitely not getting to see Jared as much as I am used to. His schedule is twice as full as mine. I don't know how we'll make it through school but I know we will.
Here are our back to school pictures. I wanted to take it back to elementary school when my mom would make me pose with my full backpack.

long overdue

It took a while to finally get this photo off Jared's phone. It is from my dad's birthday dinner at Chili's. I just thought they were super cute because Keegan was more than happy to share Grandpa's molten chocolate cake. Now I know just what to have on hand to bribe him.

one last hoo-rah

Our friends Erin and Alonzo were getting married in Manti so we decided to make an end-of-summer trip out of it. We woke up early to be at the temple in time and actually ended up beating the bride and groom there because they were running late. We walked around the temple (got lost trying to get back to our car) and then went inside. It was fun seeing someone else get married even if the room was really crowded and I couldn't technically see them. Curse the fact that I'm short, Jared saw everything. Erin has been telling me about her wedding since January so it was great to see her finally get there. When I hugged her in the temple all she said was "I'm married!" with a huge smile on her face. Congratulations Erin and AJ!


Then it was on to lunch at a fun little malt shop in Ephraim. I love finding places like that. We drove back to Provo and spent some time with Bethany. My feet were hurting from my shoes since I haven't worn anything but flip-flops or tennis shoes all summer. We had to stop at the mall and buy me some new shoes before my feet fell off. I am very happy with my purchase so I guess its okay.
After we had spent a few hours with Beth (Jared napped for about an hour at her apartment) we went to Tucanos for dinner. It had been about 5 years or more since I had been to a Brazilian place for the never-ending meat. It was so good and my favorite was definitely the pineapple. We stuffed ourselves as much as we could without going into a food coma and then headed home.

a fair bit of fat

My job is so interesting. Since I am the lowly intern I get all of the fun jobs. I sat at a fair booth at the Cache county fair promoting health for about 12 hours total. It wouldn't have been that bad if I didn't have two 10 pound slabs of fat on display. It always grossed people out rather than intrigue them to get their BMI measured. I did have a few takers wanting to know their body fat percentage but there's something about holding a fried oreo that makes someone avoid the health booth. I guess it was a good experience; I got to scare little kids into eating their vegetables.