Hello Everyone!
October has seemed to fly right by. I have been settling in to life back here in Provo (I must say I had definitely been missing this place) I have my room all organized...well it's actually kind of a mess right now, but at least it's unpacked. I started a job...I work at a call center called Response Marketing with Jacey and Sidney (it's quite fun since they work there). I wouldn't say that I LOVE my job, but it is a lot better than what I was anticipating, and hey it pays the bills :D haha I also started going to school. I am about half-way done with my program (midterm is this weekend) and I have been loving every minute of it. My teacher is phenomenal and the other students are lots of fun. I found out that one of the girls that was in my ward last year is in my class--seriously what are the odds of that? I just took my radiology exam this past weekend and passed with an 87%...hopefully I will do just as well or better with my midterm!
So it has been almost a month since I have seen Daniel, he is still down in St. George working on his car. We found out that he has a bone spur in his knee; Daniel is trying to decide if he is going to have the surgery or if he is going to see if he can tough it out/it will get better. We were happy to finally have some answers, however slightly disappointed with how long it took to actually find out. Meanwhile, as I said he has been working on his 4runner. From the sounds of it (and I don't know how accurate this is considering that I am a girl and have very basic knowledge of cars) all he has left to do is replace the transmission. He already has the new one ready to put in, but he is switching from an automatic transmission to a manual transmission...so I have no clue how that's going to work.
Other than that, life has been pretty quite. I joined an intramural volleyball team with some friends, so far we are 2-0 which is AWESOME! It has however made me realize that I need to build up a little muscle in my knee again (I got a little lax this summer) but other than that it's been great. Nic, Jacey, and I went to Color Me Mine last weekend and we each made a piece. I'll put pictures of that up in a different post, but it was a lot of fun! I had done it once before when I visited my cousin Chelsea before highschool, but I had forgotten how much fun it was!
Have a Happy Halloween!
Love,
Ashlyn
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Friday, October 5, 2012
St. George
Before I tell of my adventures in St. George, I just want to say thanks to Daniel and all of his family for being so gracious/accepting of me while I was there (they were awesome!) I had an amazing time getting to know them all!
After Daniel picked me up from the airport, we went over to his older sister and brother-in-law's, Lilia and Houston, house to meet everyone. I get introduced to adults and children alike and am plopped down in a chair so Lilia can do my hair for me. I got blonde highlights (starting to become a favorite of mine) and a slight trim to my hair; I LOVE IT! Meanwhile, Daniel's mom, Linda, is showing all the beautiful vintage clothing she picked up that day to sell on her Etsy store. We all chit chatted (only as women can) while the men went outside to look/talk about cars (I can only assume at least. . .I wasn't out there). Then Daniel's older brother and his wife came by, Chance and Meleah (I'm really sorry if I am butchering names here!) with their kids as well as his step-sister and her husband, Kerri and I actually didn't catch her husbands name. Seeing all the kids together reminded me what it was like when my cousins, siblings, and I are like when we got together (our poor parents), LOUD and FUN!
When the boys got back, we unloaded everything from Daniel's Subaru that he was selling to Chance and Meleah and packed it all in Kurt and Linda's car for the drive back to St. George. On the way we stopped at Yogurt Land (mmmmm, my FAVORITE!) and for the rest of the drive I pretty well slept. . .I was absolutely exhausted from all the traveling. But of course once we got to St. George I was wide a wake (at least for a little while) I got all set up in my room and then Daniel and I went out and watched some Once Upon a Time (yes, he started watching that. . .it about made my day when I found out!) and then he came and tucked me in to bed (seriously he can be the sweetest guy).
The next morning, I woke up the sounds of cooking, the smell of crepes, and a bloody nose! You know your back in Utah when you get three bloody noses in one day. I rushed into the bathroom to take care of it just as Daniel is getting out of bed, he asks if he can do anything in which I said no (again super sweet, but there's not much you can do to help with a bloody nose). Then we all got to enjoy delicious and healthy crepes for breakfast. Afterwards, Linda got a bunch of different outfits for her Etsy store and had Daniel and I model them for her (hee hee, Daniel kept making fun of me until he had to do it). It was a lot of fun, but it sure does make me happy not to be a model for a career, it was slightly exhausting! The boys then split as fast as they could to get things to fix the motorcycle that Daniel got from his twin, David, while Linda and I watched Vampire Diaries (wow, a lot happens in the third season!). When the boys came home we ate a Salad for dinner and Daniel made me a deal that if I would let him work on his motorcycle for a while that he would then take me around St. George. So I watched a couple more episodes, chatted with Linda and then we headed out.
I wish I would have gotten some pictures but alas, I forgot. First he took me to this place where we hike a little ways up, and then had this AMAZING view of all of St. George. We could see Main St. (or the drag), the first Chapel, the Temple, and more. It was absolutely incredible, and it was great to share with him. Then we climbed back down, got in the car, and drove down to the temple so that we could walk around the grounds. They were pretty spectacular. . .it reminded me a lot of the Mesa, Arizona temple. I got even luckier because then we went to Cafe Rio (probably one of my most favorite restaurants ever) and split the Pulled Pork salad. Mmmmmmm!!!
When we got home, we watched the Avengers with his family (that movie seems to hold a special place in my heart right now). We even watched a little more Vampire Diaries (somehow I saw the season finale even though I was like ten or so episodes behind, meh whatev's). Again I was tucked into bed like a good little girl and I finished reading my book before going to bed.
Before heading out the next morning, I heated up left overs for the two of us, we headed picked up a couple more parts for his motorcycle. Then we had to scramble to find car keys because his Mom and Step-dad didn't get back before I left. I got there just in time, and this time I was able to keep it together (I might have cried a little bit when he left AK).
I absolutely loved my trip to St. George/Vegas, and I definitely cannot wait to go back soon. Love you!
After Daniel picked me up from the airport, we went over to his older sister and brother-in-law's, Lilia and Houston, house to meet everyone. I get introduced to adults and children alike and am plopped down in a chair so Lilia can do my hair for me. I got blonde highlights (starting to become a favorite of mine) and a slight trim to my hair; I LOVE IT! Meanwhile, Daniel's mom, Linda, is showing all the beautiful vintage clothing she picked up that day to sell on her Etsy store. We all chit chatted (only as women can) while the men went outside to look/talk about cars (I can only assume at least. . .I wasn't out there). Then Daniel's older brother and his wife came by, Chance and Meleah (I'm really sorry if I am butchering names here!) with their kids as well as his step-sister and her husband, Kerri and I actually didn't catch her husbands name. Seeing all the kids together reminded me what it was like when my cousins, siblings, and I are like when we got together (our poor parents), LOUD and FUN!
When the boys got back, we unloaded everything from Daniel's Subaru that he was selling to Chance and Meleah and packed it all in Kurt and Linda's car for the drive back to St. George. On the way we stopped at Yogurt Land (mmmmm, my FAVORITE!) and for the rest of the drive I pretty well slept. . .I was absolutely exhausted from all the traveling. But of course once we got to St. George I was wide a wake (at least for a little while) I got all set up in my room and then Daniel and I went out and watched some Once Upon a Time (yes, he started watching that. . .it about made my day when I found out!) and then he came and tucked me in to bed (seriously he can be the sweetest guy).
The next morning, I woke up the sounds of cooking, the smell of crepes, and a bloody nose! You know your back in Utah when you get three bloody noses in one day. I rushed into the bathroom to take care of it just as Daniel is getting out of bed, he asks if he can do anything in which I said no (again super sweet, but there's not much you can do to help with a bloody nose). Then we all got to enjoy delicious and healthy crepes for breakfast. Afterwards, Linda got a bunch of different outfits for her Etsy store and had Daniel and I model them for her (hee hee, Daniel kept making fun of me until he had to do it). It was a lot of fun, but it sure does make me happy not to be a model for a career, it was slightly exhausting! The boys then split as fast as they could to get things to fix the motorcycle that Daniel got from his twin, David, while Linda and I watched Vampire Diaries (wow, a lot happens in the third season!). When the boys came home we ate a Salad for dinner and Daniel made me a deal that if I would let him work on his motorcycle for a while that he would then take me around St. George. So I watched a couple more episodes, chatted with Linda and then we headed out.
I wish I would have gotten some pictures but alas, I forgot. First he took me to this place where we hike a little ways up, and then had this AMAZING view of all of St. George. We could see Main St. (or the drag), the first Chapel, the Temple, and more. It was absolutely incredible, and it was great to share with him. Then we climbed back down, got in the car, and drove down to the temple so that we could walk around the grounds. They were pretty spectacular. . .it reminded me a lot of the Mesa, Arizona temple. I got even luckier because then we went to Cafe Rio (probably one of my most favorite restaurants ever) and split the Pulled Pork salad. Mmmmmmm!!!
When we got home, we watched the Avengers with his family (that movie seems to hold a special place in my heart right now). We even watched a little more Vampire Diaries (somehow I saw the season finale even though I was like ten or so episodes behind, meh whatev's). Again I was tucked into bed like a good little girl and I finished reading my book before going to bed.
Before heading out the next morning, I heated up left overs for the two of us, we headed picked up a couple more parts for his motorcycle. Then we had to scramble to find car keys because his Mom and Step-dad didn't get back before I left. I got there just in time, and this time I was able to keep it together (I might have cried a little bit when he left AK).
I absolutely loved my trip to St. George/Vegas, and I definitely cannot wait to go back soon. Love you!
Alaska to Utah: The Journey
Who would have thought that trying to get packed up and ready to move from one state to the other could take so much time. . .THIS GIRL! But I didn't expect the actual travel from Alaska down to Utah to take quite so long. Had everything gone according to plan, I should have been in Provo on 30 September 2012, however I didn't end up getting here until 3 October 2012. I didn't have any clothes, make-up, etc. with me in between all this time as well. It was quite the experience, but in the end I made a surprise visit to Daniel (totally worth it).
The Journey
My boss was kind enough to let me off early on Friday, 28 September so that my mom, sister, and I could drive the 300+ miles down to Anchorage for me to catch my flight the following evening. We had a grand ole time driving through a snow storm that had snowflakes the size of quarters (and that is NOT an exaggeration), rain, and icy roads. My sister decided she would just read her book, while mom and I were forced to entertain ourselves. It was actually quite fun; we finally made it to Anchorage and drove over to the hotel. Well the Westmark Anchorage is in the middle of downtown, lots of one way streets and such, oh and did I mention NO PARKING. So we pull up, I go in to get us all checked in and find out that I seem to have misplaced my debit card (aka I left it in Fairbanks), I check through all of my bag and cannot find it. I ask my mom if she will kindly foot the bill (this was supposed to be her birthday present, can you imagine how embarrassed I felt?) and that I would write her a check as soon as we get upstairs. Leah and I bring in all of our luggage and have it on a cart to take up to the room while mom goes to park. . .except there are no spots left. She gets really, really frustrated and I finally tell her to just come back so that I can take the car over to where she is supposed to park it (she couldn't understand the poor ladies directions). She does so and I go park the car without a problem; we go upstairs to our room only to find out that there is no refrigerator for my mom to have a cold soda the next day (this is very depressing, I mean seriously what hotel doesn't have a mini-fridge in this day and age?!??!!) So I go find us some ice to put a soda in.
The next morning we do what girls do best. . .SHOP! Well actually first we mailed a couple of my Rubber-Maid totes to Utah and had lunch, then we SHOPPED! I was able to get a couple of adorable sweaters and a pair of boots that I have been looking for for ages. I wasn't able to get my leg warmers however like I was told by a vendor at the fair that I would be able to (very disappointed), but we did get to go to Olive Garden (what a mess that was). Unfortunately that was not a good experience, they took forever to bring out any of our food, my mother sat there for another 10-15 minutes without food before I finally got the attention of a waiter to ask where the heck her food was at. No discounts were offered for the horrible treatment/lack of any kind of service which was unfortunate. We had been looking forward to eating there for weeks (it's the only Olive Garden in Alaska at the moment).
Then it was time to go to the airport. I gave hugs and kisses to my mom, sister, and grandma and went it to check in, give them my luggage and begin my journey! Going through security was a dream, literally I walked right through the entire thing without really having to stop. I get to my gate and wait, and wait, and wait. . .and waited some more. Meanwhile all the other confirmed passengers get on and the flight takes off. . .without me. The ticket agent tells me that there isn't much room on the flight early the next morning to Minneapolis so we decide to put my name down for the same flight as this evening but for the next night (which had 45 seats available). I call my friend/her husband and tearily tell her I won't be coming in the next morning. Mom picks me up and we leave so we can get some sleep that night (by this time it's like 2:00 AM)
We go out to breakfast the next morning with my grandma, hit up Costco and then they dropped my Grandma and myself back off so they could drive back to North Pole. We kind of just lounged around and before we knew it, we needed to head over to the airport for round two. I get myself all checked in, go through security, and go wait at my gate. I wait, and I wait, and I wait, and I did some more waiting. Again, all confirmed passengers board, the door is locked, and the flight leaves. . .and again I am not on that flight. So I called my friend to let her know I wouldn't be coming, called my mom to tell her we needed to figure something else out in the morning (that was the last direct flight out of Anchorage to Salt Lake until the next weekend) and waited to be picked up by my Grandma. We headed over to her condo and got some beauty sleep.
I was abruptly awakened at 8:20ish by my mother who told me she could get me on a flight that evening to Las Vegas (where Daniel is) for a really good price, she told me to call Daniel and see what the possibilities were of someone driving me from Las Vegas up to Provo. Daniel told me that if I could get in that evening then I could ride back up to Provo with his twin brother and his girlfriend/fiance. Mom looked at that ticket (it ended up costing more) and booked me on the flight. Only thing was I had to be at the airport right then! So I wake up my Grandma, we rush over, I checked in my last remaining bag (I forgot to mention, on that first flight all my checked luggage was taken to SLC even though I was not on the flight, I had absolutely NOTHING with me) and rushed through security. Thankfully the line was not very long and I got right through and back to my gate just as they were boarding my flight.
The flights were pretty uneventful, I almost missed my flight from Seattle to Las Vegas because I lost track of time while getting some food. Then I get to Vegas and get my luggage while I wait for Daniel to pick me up. I wait, wait, wait, and again wait some more. We finally figure out that I am in the ONLY terminal that is not connected to the main terminal and that Daniel as to take an Airport shuttle over to pick me up. I was so incredibly excited to see him. . .I might have possibly jumped on him. .
Being the sweet boyfriend that he is, he grabs my bags and we rush over to catch the shuttle back to where he parked. Because of the delay in finding me, his brother ended up leaving without me and I was stuck in Vegas/St. George. Well stuck isn't the right word, because I had a blast while I was there (see St. George post). On 3 October I caught the St. George shuttle up to Springville where Jacey was waiting to pick me up/take me Salt Lake just so we could pick up my luggage (I have pretty awesome friends). During the car ride we were able to catch up on everything that happened while I was 3000+ miles away. We got back to Provo safely and that is the end of my 5 day journey to Provo, Utah from Alaska.
The Journey
My boss was kind enough to let me off early on Friday, 28 September so that my mom, sister, and I could drive the 300+ miles down to Anchorage for me to catch my flight the following evening. We had a grand ole time driving through a snow storm that had snowflakes the size of quarters (and that is NOT an exaggeration), rain, and icy roads. My sister decided she would just read her book, while mom and I were forced to entertain ourselves. It was actually quite fun; we finally made it to Anchorage and drove over to the hotel. Well the Westmark Anchorage is in the middle of downtown, lots of one way streets and such, oh and did I mention NO PARKING. So we pull up, I go in to get us all checked in and find out that I seem to have misplaced my debit card (aka I left it in Fairbanks), I check through all of my bag and cannot find it. I ask my mom if she will kindly foot the bill (this was supposed to be her birthday present, can you imagine how embarrassed I felt?) and that I would write her a check as soon as we get upstairs. Leah and I bring in all of our luggage and have it on a cart to take up to the room while mom goes to park. . .except there are no spots left. She gets really, really frustrated and I finally tell her to just come back so that I can take the car over to where she is supposed to park it (she couldn't understand the poor ladies directions). She does so and I go park the car without a problem; we go upstairs to our room only to find out that there is no refrigerator for my mom to have a cold soda the next day (this is very depressing, I mean seriously what hotel doesn't have a mini-fridge in this day and age?!??!!) So I go find us some ice to put a soda in.
The next morning we do what girls do best. . .SHOP! Well actually first we mailed a couple of my Rubber-Maid totes to Utah and had lunch, then we SHOPPED! I was able to get a couple of adorable sweaters and a pair of boots that I have been looking for for ages. I wasn't able to get my leg warmers however like I was told by a vendor at the fair that I would be able to (very disappointed), but we did get to go to Olive Garden (what a mess that was). Unfortunately that was not a good experience, they took forever to bring out any of our food, my mother sat there for another 10-15 minutes without food before I finally got the attention of a waiter to ask where the heck her food was at. No discounts were offered for the horrible treatment/lack of any kind of service which was unfortunate. We had been looking forward to eating there for weeks (it's the only Olive Garden in Alaska at the moment).
Then it was time to go to the airport. I gave hugs and kisses to my mom, sister, and grandma and went it to check in, give them my luggage and begin my journey! Going through security was a dream, literally I walked right through the entire thing without really having to stop. I get to my gate and wait, and wait, and wait. . .and waited some more. Meanwhile all the other confirmed passengers get on and the flight takes off. . .without me. The ticket agent tells me that there isn't much room on the flight early the next morning to Minneapolis so we decide to put my name down for the same flight as this evening but for the next night (which had 45 seats available). I call my friend/her husband and tearily tell her I won't be coming in the next morning. Mom picks me up and we leave so we can get some sleep that night (by this time it's like 2:00 AM)
We go out to breakfast the next morning with my grandma, hit up Costco and then they dropped my Grandma and myself back off so they could drive back to North Pole. We kind of just lounged around and before we knew it, we needed to head over to the airport for round two. I get myself all checked in, go through security, and go wait at my gate. I wait, and I wait, and I wait, and I did some more waiting. Again, all confirmed passengers board, the door is locked, and the flight leaves. . .and again I am not on that flight. So I called my friend to let her know I wouldn't be coming, called my mom to tell her we needed to figure something else out in the morning (that was the last direct flight out of Anchorage to Salt Lake until the next weekend) and waited to be picked up by my Grandma. We headed over to her condo and got some beauty sleep.
I was abruptly awakened at 8:20ish by my mother who told me she could get me on a flight that evening to Las Vegas (where Daniel is) for a really good price, she told me to call Daniel and see what the possibilities were of someone driving me from Las Vegas up to Provo. Daniel told me that if I could get in that evening then I could ride back up to Provo with his twin brother and his girlfriend/fiance. Mom looked at that ticket (it ended up costing more) and booked me on the flight. Only thing was I had to be at the airport right then! So I wake up my Grandma, we rush over, I checked in my last remaining bag (I forgot to mention, on that first flight all my checked luggage was taken to SLC even though I was not on the flight, I had absolutely NOTHING with me) and rushed through security. Thankfully the line was not very long and I got right through and back to my gate just as they were boarding my flight.
The flights were pretty uneventful, I almost missed my flight from Seattle to Las Vegas because I lost track of time while getting some food. Then I get to Vegas and get my luggage while I wait for Daniel to pick me up. I wait, wait, wait, and again wait some more. We finally figure out that I am in the ONLY terminal that is not connected to the main terminal and that Daniel as to take an Airport shuttle over to pick me up. I was so incredibly excited to see him. . .I might have possibly jumped on him. .
Being the sweet boyfriend that he is, he grabs my bags and we rush over to catch the shuttle back to where he parked. Because of the delay in finding me, his brother ended up leaving without me and I was stuck in Vegas/St. George. Well stuck isn't the right word, because I had a blast while I was there (see St. George post). On 3 October I caught the St. George shuttle up to Springville where Jacey was waiting to pick me up/take me Salt Lake just so we could pick up my luggage (I have pretty awesome friends). During the car ride we were able to catch up on everything that happened while I was 3000+ miles away. We got back to Provo safely and that is the end of my 5 day journey to Provo, Utah from Alaska.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Fall 2012
As I mentioned before, I am not attending BYU right now so many of you are probably wondering why I am heading back down to Utah. The answer is rather simple, it is home. I love Alaska and my family but I do not want to live in Alaska permanently; this was made more obvious when I came back this summer. I love Alaska, there are a lot of happy/fun memories here but it is about time for me to be moving on I think.
When I booked my return ticket to Utah, it was with the intention of just working while I tried to figure out what it was I wanted to do with my future. I had been toying with the idea of technical schools to become a Dental Assistant, however some were really expensive. I didn't want to spend all that money and decide that I still wanted to go back to school to get a bachelors in something else. So I decided that I would just take some time to contemplate what I wanted to do and in the meantime I would work.
I began looking for some jobs on KSL.com (classifieds for UT, ID, NV, AZ, etc.) when I stumbled across an ad for a Dental Assisting school. I began to look more into it and found out that they offered a 12 week course for Dental Assisting. By the end of the 12 week period you were state certified in Radiology, received a certificate of completetion, and they would try help you get a job with a dental office. The best part of this. . .the cost is $3000.00. I checked the schedule and realized that I would be missing part of this semester, so I sent an email to the school asking when their next available class was.
They emailed me back and stated they would be willing to help me catch up if I wanted to sign up for the class that starts the end of September, if not then I would have to wait until January for their next class; I decided to enroll in Fall semester. So I will be working part time and going to school for Dental Assisting as well.
I am very excited with this opportunity; the job market for Dental Assistants is really good, even in the Utah area. Next Fall, I am hoping to re-enroll at BYU to get my bachelors (in what I still am not sure) however I will be most likely be going part time and working full time as a Dental Assistant.
I have also applied for the Administrator over the Training Programs with HAP Alaska-Yukon in Provo, Utah. I will find out by the end of the month if I got the position; if I do, then I will have to re-evaluate what I want to do come winter for work. More to come on that! There are many more changes to come in my life, and I cannot wait to share them with you all.
Love,
Ashlyn
When I booked my return ticket to Utah, it was with the intention of just working while I tried to figure out what it was I wanted to do with my future. I had been toying with the idea of technical schools to become a Dental Assistant, however some were really expensive. I didn't want to spend all that money and decide that I still wanted to go back to school to get a bachelors in something else. So I decided that I would just take some time to contemplate what I wanted to do and in the meantime I would work.
I began looking for some jobs on KSL.com (classifieds for UT, ID, NV, AZ, etc.) when I stumbled across an ad for a Dental Assisting school. I began to look more into it and found out that they offered a 12 week course for Dental Assisting. By the end of the 12 week period you were state certified in Radiology, received a certificate of completetion, and they would try help you get a job with a dental office. The best part of this. . .the cost is $3000.00. I checked the schedule and realized that I would be missing part of this semester, so I sent an email to the school asking when their next available class was.
They emailed me back and stated they would be willing to help me catch up if I wanted to sign up for the class that starts the end of September, if not then I would have to wait until January for their next class; I decided to enroll in Fall semester. So I will be working part time and going to school for Dental Assisting as well.
I am very excited with this opportunity; the job market for Dental Assistants is really good, even in the Utah area. Next Fall, I am hoping to re-enroll at BYU to get my bachelors (in what I still am not sure) however I will be most likely be going part time and working full time as a Dental Assistant.
I have also applied for the Administrator over the Training Programs with HAP Alaska-Yukon in Provo, Utah. I will find out by the end of the month if I got the position; if I do, then I will have to re-evaluate what I want to do come winter for work. More to come on that! There are many more changes to come in my life, and I cannot wait to share them with you all.
Love,
Ashlyn
Fishing Trip
In June I took my annual trip to Homer to see my family, and Daniel tagged along too. We left early on Saturday morning so that we could have time to stop in Anchorage and do some shopping (yes, even Daniel needed to go shopping for some much needed things) and then get down to Homer. While we were in Homer, Daniel stayed in my grandparents mobile trailer (and threatened within an inch of his life if he even thought about sneaking into the house to have a little rendezvous with me) with my little brother.
We were able to go out fishing for halibut and we even caught a couple of cod. For Daniel, I think this was especially fun, because as far as I know, he hasn't ever been deep sea fishing (I could be wrong though). We had our lines set up so that we had two hooks; on Daniel's last cast he caught a halibut on each hook. When we got home Daniel helped Daddy and Grandpa skin the fish, while I helped Mom and Grandma package the fish.
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| Daniel with all the Fish we caught |
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| Seth's massive cod |
While at the Spit we just looked around all the different little shops that were there; laughing at some of the little tourist gimmicks for sale. We then went to the Visitors Center; if you are ever in Homer you really need to go see the Visitors Center, it was BEAUTIFUL and very informative!
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| Seth and Leah with Wilfred T. Walrus |
The Boyfriend
As I mentioned before, I have been seeing a boy for about 4 months. I could go on and on about how amazing he is, but I don't want to make you guys all sick. Instead I will tell you our story (no we aren't engaged or anything, but I've had a lot of people that have been asking me all kinds of questions about him).
I met Daniel very shortly having my knee surgery; he was roommates with a friend of mine that had worked in Alaska the previous summer. When I first met Daniel I thought he was a cocky jerk; I wasn't even planning on giving him the time of day. . .apparently my Heavenly Father had something else planned for me. Daniel and his roommate, Paul, tried to set me up on a date with one of our co-workers, Mitch (yes we ALL worked together). I thought he was a really nice guy, but I wasn't super interested. I had come up to Alaska to work, I was focused on preparing to serve a mission and had pretty much given up on guys all together. I began to spend a lot of time with Paul and therefore Daniel, they both kept pressuring me to go out with Mitch and I finally said yes.
Right before Mitch and I were to go out, my dad and I had gotten into a little bit of an arguement. Paul and Daniel knew something was bothering me and they both asked me what was going on. I broke down and told them both everything, about the fight, how frustrated I was with my knee, and how much I was struggling with decisions in my life. As I was getting out of the car to leave, Daniel told me that if I ever needed to talk, he was more than willing to listen; he felt that we had a lot more in common than either of us knew. It was then that I had realized that I had sorely misjudged Daniel and maybe needed to re-evaluate my opinion of him. As I thought back to all of our encounters I realized that he wasn't cocky (okay he is, but not as much as I had first thought), but rather just brutally honest. He does not care what other people think about him. I think that I liked Daniel from the beginning, I just didn't want to admit it.
By the time I went on the date with Mitch, I realized that I liked Daniel a lot more than as just a friend. To be honest, I didn't really even want to go on the date with Mitch, but I did anyways hoping that it might change my mind. Mitch and I did have fun, however I realized that I only liked him as a friend and wanted to leave it at that (thankfully he did too).
The next week we all went to see The Avengers (AMAZING). Before the movie, Daniel and I were waiting for some friends to come home so we could go inside, so we sat in the car and talked. I didn't feel like I had to guard myself from him, I could be open and honest with him. When I am with him, it becomes easier to not care what other people think, one of the many qualities that I love about him. Anyways, I opened up to him, and later on that evening he opened up to me. We knew that we like each other, but neither of us had come up here wanting to date; we planned on working and then going back to our lives in Utah. But as the days progressed we realized that we had to come to a decision. Our biggest concern was that if things did not work out between the two of us, we didn't want things to be awkward at work. We decided that we were going to go a whole week without any physical contact (no hugs, holding hands, cuddling, etc. We hadn't kissed yet). At the end of the week, if it felt right we decided we were going to jump in and give it a try.
That week was the hardest week of my life, and he knew it too. However, I made it pretty hard on him too (it's amazing the many ways girls can get a guys attention). But it quickly came to a close and we decided that we wanted to give this a try, so here we are four months later, happy as can be.
Now a little about Daniel:
Daniel is a twin; his favorite thing to tell people is that he has "An ugly looking clone running around" that looks just like him. He's about 6'3" with dark brown hair. He just turned 26 years old, is originally from Las Vegas, but lives in Provo right now while attending UVU. My mom joked with me that it's funny we both have been living in Provo for the past two years, but it took both of us working in Alaska to meet. I owe HAP Alaska-Yukon a lot! ;D Nothing is set in stone for the future, but we will see what it has to bring. Wish us luck!
P.S. Daniel can be an absolute sweetheart; he was originally supposed to be a highway driver (gone for a week or so at a time). He had overheard me telling my co-worker that I had always wanted a boyfriend to make me a Build-a-Bear, so when he was gone on a highway trip he went to the Anchorage 5th Ave. Mall and made me a Build-a-Bear. The bear's name is Daniel Jr. (Daniel dressed him in a little driver guide uniform too) and he even put a little voice box in it with him saying "I'm thinking about you and I'll be back soon." to make the separation a little easier. That ended up being his last highway trip of the season too, so now I have it for when he is in St. George and I am in Provo.
I met Daniel very shortly having my knee surgery; he was roommates with a friend of mine that had worked in Alaska the previous summer. When I first met Daniel I thought he was a cocky jerk; I wasn't even planning on giving him the time of day. . .apparently my Heavenly Father had something else planned for me. Daniel and his roommate, Paul, tried to set me up on a date with one of our co-workers, Mitch (yes we ALL worked together). I thought he was a really nice guy, but I wasn't super interested. I had come up to Alaska to work, I was focused on preparing to serve a mission and had pretty much given up on guys all together. I began to spend a lot of time with Paul and therefore Daniel, they both kept pressuring me to go out with Mitch and I finally said yes.
Right before Mitch and I were to go out, my dad and I had gotten into a little bit of an arguement. Paul and Daniel knew something was bothering me and they both asked me what was going on. I broke down and told them both everything, about the fight, how frustrated I was with my knee, and how much I was struggling with decisions in my life. As I was getting out of the car to leave, Daniel told me that if I ever needed to talk, he was more than willing to listen; he felt that we had a lot more in common than either of us knew. It was then that I had realized that I had sorely misjudged Daniel and maybe needed to re-evaluate my opinion of him. As I thought back to all of our encounters I realized that he wasn't cocky (okay he is, but not as much as I had first thought), but rather just brutally honest. He does not care what other people think about him. I think that I liked Daniel from the beginning, I just didn't want to admit it.
By the time I went on the date with Mitch, I realized that I liked Daniel a lot more than as just a friend. To be honest, I didn't really even want to go on the date with Mitch, but I did anyways hoping that it might change my mind. Mitch and I did have fun, however I realized that I only liked him as a friend and wanted to leave it at that (thankfully he did too).
The next week we all went to see The Avengers (AMAZING). Before the movie, Daniel and I were waiting for some friends to come home so we could go inside, so we sat in the car and talked. I didn't feel like I had to guard myself from him, I could be open and honest with him. When I am with him, it becomes easier to not care what other people think, one of the many qualities that I love about him. Anyways, I opened up to him, and later on that evening he opened up to me. We knew that we like each other, but neither of us had come up here wanting to date; we planned on working and then going back to our lives in Utah. But as the days progressed we realized that we had to come to a decision. Our biggest concern was that if things did not work out between the two of us, we didn't want things to be awkward at work. We decided that we were going to go a whole week without any physical contact (no hugs, holding hands, cuddling, etc. We hadn't kissed yet). At the end of the week, if it felt right we decided we were going to jump in and give it a try.
That week was the hardest week of my life, and he knew it too. However, I made it pretty hard on him too (it's amazing the many ways girls can get a guys attention). But it quickly came to a close and we decided that we wanted to give this a try, so here we are four months later, happy as can be.
Now a little about Daniel:
Daniel is a twin; his favorite thing to tell people is that he has "An ugly looking clone running around" that looks just like him. He's about 6'3" with dark brown hair. He just turned 26 years old, is originally from Las Vegas, but lives in Provo right now while attending UVU. My mom joked with me that it's funny we both have been living in Provo for the past two years, but it took both of us working in Alaska to meet. I owe HAP Alaska-Yukon a lot! ;D Nothing is set in stone for the future, but we will see what it has to bring. Wish us luck!
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| Daniel came with me to Homer in June to go fishing. |
Knee Surgery
When I first went down to Utah last Fall, my second day of classes I was walking around campus and experienced a sharp pain in my knee, it didn't not go a way and became progressively worse no matter what I did. I went home for Christmas and got it looked at and found out that I would most likely have to have knee surgery to fix it, but we decided to wait. While in DisneyWorld my mom noticed just how much pain my knee was actually causing me, so we talked about it and came to the decision that I needed to come home earlier than I had anticipated to have the surgery. So a week after coming back from my fun vacations I was packed up and beginning another adventure to Alaska. I called my boss to see if I would be able to begin work early and have a flexible schedule around me knee and was all set.
When we met with the doctor he reconfirmed that I would have to have surgergy; the good news was that it wasn't as bad as we had been anticipating. He told me that my injury was typical of tall, skinny people (lucky me) and it wouldn't surprise him if it occurred in my other knee in the future as well. So we scheduled my surgery for that Thursday (oh the surgery was a Lateral Release). I arranged with my boss to have Friday off with the hopes of being back to work on Monday (that was not the case).
This wasn't my first rodeo, I had shoulder surgery my senior year of high school so I knew what to expect. I was a little nervous because when I had surgery last time I had a REALLY hard time holding down food for the next day. When I mentioned this to the doctor they prescribed me with a little patch behind my ear that kept the nausea at bay for the first couple of days (worked like a charm!!!) The surgery went well (the doctor checked my meniscus and said it looked really good) and I went home and slept all weekend long. Mom had taken work on on Friday. I went to physical therapy the next day (yes we immediately started physical therapy to prevent loss of motion in my knee).
The recovery process went really well, however I did make a little mistake. I was feeling so well and had thought that I was farther along in my recovery process that I decided to go and play volleyball (very lightly, without any intention of getting into it) but I forgot my little bit of a competitive streak. Daniel, we weren't dating at this point, served the ball and I missed it. Being the cocky person that I am, I told him to serve it to the same spot, he did and I went down to get it. As I squatted down, I felt this pop and felt a pain like none I've ever felt before or after and collapsed. I promptly got up and pretended that nothing was wrong and let everyone play. Then I left the gym to go out and bawl my little eyes out. Daniel noticed that I had left and came out to see if I was okay and realized that it was a lot worse than I had let on earlier. He got me some ice and sat there with me until I was able to walk (very slowly and very painfully). I didn't tell my mom right off the bat, I had pt the next day and it wasn't until I talked to her and realized that I could have really screwed my knee up that I decided to tell my mom. We had to keep an eye on my knee and if it swelled up too much we would have had to go to the hospital to have another surgery (bleh) Thankfully that was not the case and my knee began to heal. After six weeks I was completely back to normal and enjoying life.
I hadn't realized just how badly my knee was holding me back until I had got it fixed. I am so grateful that I was able to get it fixed and can now lead the active life that I am accustomed too. I feel truly blessed!
When we met with the doctor he reconfirmed that I would have to have surgergy; the good news was that it wasn't as bad as we had been anticipating. He told me that my injury was typical of tall, skinny people (lucky me) and it wouldn't surprise him if it occurred in my other knee in the future as well. So we scheduled my surgery for that Thursday (oh the surgery was a Lateral Release). I arranged with my boss to have Friday off with the hopes of being back to work on Monday (that was not the case).
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| Week after they removed the bandage, I bruise really easy from surgery (at least that's what the Doctor said) |
The recovery process went really well, however I did make a little mistake. I was feeling so well and had thought that I was farther along in my recovery process that I decided to go and play volleyball (very lightly, without any intention of getting into it) but I forgot my little bit of a competitive streak. Daniel, we weren't dating at this point, served the ball and I missed it. Being the cocky person that I am, I told him to serve it to the same spot, he did and I went down to get it. As I squatted down, I felt this pop and felt a pain like none I've ever felt before or after and collapsed. I promptly got up and pretended that nothing was wrong and let everyone play. Then I left the gym to go out and bawl my little eyes out. Daniel noticed that I had left and came out to see if I was okay and realized that it was a lot worse than I had let on earlier. He got me some ice and sat there with me until I was able to walk (very slowly and very painfully). I didn't tell my mom right off the bat, I had pt the next day and it wasn't until I talked to her and realized that I could have really screwed my knee up that I decided to tell my mom. We had to keep an eye on my knee and if it swelled up too much we would have had to go to the hospital to have another surgery (bleh) Thankfully that was not the case and my knee began to heal. After six weeks I was completely back to normal and enjoying life.
I hadn't realized just how badly my knee was holding me back until I had got it fixed. I am so grateful that I was able to get it fixed and can now lead the active life that I am accustomed too. I feel truly blessed!
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