Summer lessons: Sailing

I wanted to give an update about our Sailboat and some of the many adventures that we have been having this summer.  We have grown a lot since the last time that I wrote about our boat.  I remember quite a few terrifying times on the water, and I also remember quite a few times I was angry because Brent wanted to go around the lake one more time real quick before we were going in and then the wind would die and we would be stuck on the opposite side of the lake as the dock.  That seemed to happen on many different occasions unfortunately! I think we eventually learned our lesson and turned in before we were exhausted so it made for an easier time getting to the dock. 

Not only have I learned how to sail a boat (kinda) I also learned a great deal about communication.  I remember one experience in particular that I was so irritated with Brent.  As we were learning about sailing there were a few different times that I got yelled at, because there was no time to be a pansy when there were things that needed to be done.  I am not the best at raising and lowering the sails, but it seemed like that was always my job.  From my view Brent was just giving commands while I had to do everything.  He likes to call that skippering and steering :).  This is one of those times when we had a fantastic time sailing.  We were able to launch successfully and the wind was just perfect. When it came time to going back in to the dock we decided that we were going to sail into the dock.  Normally we take the sails down and row in, but we were feeling better about our skills and decided to sail in.  Well we missed the dock so in a panic I had to take the sails down, and catch the dock before we went past it with the wind.  I was not a fan of the situation at hand. I was so angry and ticked at Brent, because clearly he was playing the part of Skipper and he didn’t take my advice to take the sails down earlier and I had to correct our situation.  Blah blah blah drama drama drama.  I was pretty upset.  We got the boat out without too much trouble (thanks to my mad skills) and as we were driving back home Brent made a comment how that was our best sailing experience yet.  Hearing him say that made me stop and think. It really was our best sail, even if we had a bit of a mishap at the end.  It was up to me to be upset about the finish and let that ruin my whole trip or I could remember the awesome sailing trip that we had.  I chose to enjoy the whole trip instead of focus on how angry Brent made me.

 I have thought a lot about the different things that Brent and I do together.  We do challenging things; things that challenge us physically, but also things that challenge us together as a couple.  It is a great opportunity for us to grow and work together as a team. As I have thought about this, it seems like every summer is a new adventure and a new opportunity for growth.  Two years ago was rock climbing, last year was getting married and this year has been our sail boat.  I really have come to love sailing.  I am not a champ, by any stretch of the imagination, but I love to see how far we have come.  We have learned how to sail, but there is so much more than that.  We have learned to trust, communicate, and so much more. 

Back to Life!

There have been many things that I have wanted to blog about recently but two months ago my 3 year old, ghetto laptop made a weird clicking sound, went black and was not turned on again since…or at least that was until today.  It has been on its death bed for quite some time, so this came as no surprise to us. I asked Brent to look at it, but it fell in the same category as the broken car, dryer, and probably a few other things I have tried to put in the back of my mind. I finally got frustrated and tried to resurrect my computer today while I was listening to General Conference, because I miss my laptop.  Brent has an Ipad, but it is not the same, and you definitely cannot type on it to save your life!! We tried to turn it on before we opened it up, but nothing happened, so before Brent let me throw it off of the balcony he said we should open it because if might be a simple fix.  He did not think it would be, but it was worth a shot anyways.  Well we know the story ends well because here I am typing away on my long lost friend that is so slow and has a black blob of dead pixels that is slowly taking over the screen where Brent attempted to grab the laptop that he knocked off the table (didn’t work J). We opened up my laptop and didn’t see any burn marks.  That was the first thing we looked for because it often over heats, but there were no marks to be seen.  Everything looked okay so we re-hooked all the important parts (I call them parts because I don’t even know what they are…) and viola it worked! I have no idea what happened, but that doesn't matter anymore because I now have my laptop back and I have so many things to write about.

My personal roadtrip

In the beginning of June I had the opportunity to go to Utah to go with Dynae to the temple.  What a amazing weekend!! Unfortunately Brent was not able to come with me because I went down Thursday night.  I was sad he couldn't come, but jumped on the opportunity to do whatever I wanted for the whole weekend woot woot! I got to catch up with some friends that are still in Utah and it was nice to not have to worry about how incredibly bored Brent was while I was reminiscing with my friends.

I took Lizzie and Abby down with me and dropped them off at their Aunt Carrie's house and it was nice to have company in the car.  I always get a rental car if we are going on any trip over 4 hours because it saves on gas to get an economical car and it save on the wear and tear (and because my car is sick, that was my only option.) I got a brand new Hyundai accent that only had 8 miles on it when I got it. I don't know if I will ever drive that new of a car again so it was fun for the weekend.

I stayed with Michelle and Derrick while I was down there and we went to Lagoon.  I have never been to Lagoon before and Brent hates roller coasters and all sorts of rides so I had a blast without him!  So scary too!! I somehow managed to be in the front of every single rollercoaster/ride that I went on.  By the end of the night I was a little terrified, but at least I can say I have been to Lagoon.

Big Scary ride

My excited face (this was before any rides...it might have been different after my screaming)

I was able to see lots of people while I was away, but I had a few minutes of down time to myself too.  After going to the temple with Dynae I hung out for a while and took some pictures of the Timpanogos temple.  Michelle and Derrick live in Bountiful now so I stopped and took some pictures of the Bountiful temple too.  The last time I was there was for Jenn and Kasey's wedding but the weather was much better this time of year.

What a wonderful weekend to visit the temples!!

One heck of a woman (and I'm not speaking of myself :)

Once upon a time there was an amazing woman (I know there are many, but I am speaking of one in particular). I have known here since I was a little girl.  I have a picture of her with me at my baptism, random birthday parties, choir and band events all through school.  After high school I went to BYU for school and we barely saw each other and did not talk often, but I still loved her guts! Then she moves to Utah and what do I do??? I transfer to BYU-Idaho...then go on a mission...yada yada yada. Needless to say I see her about once a year- either I head up to Clarkston or she will stop by Boise on her way to Utah. I love that no matter what happens, we are still friends.  No matter how different our lives might seem, it don't matter, we are still friends. She just can't get rid of me!

Dynae called me a couple of months ago and let me know she would be going to the temple in Utah while she was there over her birthday, and I jumped all over the opportunity to be there with her.  Dynae is pretty much a rock star and I was so grateful that I was able to see her. I am so grateful that we share such a common bond that no matter how long it is between visits and phone calls, it doesn't matter.  Here's my shout out to my beautiful, amazing, strong friend!

Dynae and I at the Timpanogos Temple

We got ourselves a sail BO-AT

BO-AT (Pronounced: Bow-At) or Buoyancy Operated Aquatic Transport created by Dr. Doofenshmirtz from Phineous and Ferbs cartoon


Brent and I have been looking at sailboats for quite some time.  When Brent was in boy scouts he learned how to sail and I thought it sounded like some sort of fun adventure.  We have looked at a few different sailboats throughout the spring, but we could not find anything in our price range that wasn't too much of a project boat until just recently.  


About 3 weeks ago I was randomly checking out craigslist and we found a great looking 14 foot C-lark for only $700.  We checked it out and it was in pretty decent condition.  We thought about it and we decided to  go ahead and get it. My awesome husband even barter down to $600, I am way too scared to do stuff like that unfortunately.  


We had a heck of a time trying to get the boat register because the people we bought it from didn't register it, they only had the title and a bill of sale. If anyone has ever been to the DMV, you know what a wonderful experience that can be- NOT! Brent spent a few days there and after a few phone calls we got everything sorted out.  That is when we decided we could start fixing up our little sailboat.  It honestly didn't look too bad for being built in 1967, but why settle for mediocre right?   

It had been a while since I had seen or heard from Brent, so I come to check on him and this is what I see....My sweet boy sleeping.

This is the view from our balcony

Notice the sweet blue color

Here is the boat as we got it.  Can you tell that I have been replaced? 


After about two weeks of bad weather and a lot of TLC our boat was ready to be sailed. I can't really take a picture with the sales up because I am in the boat when that happens.  Considering the fact that we are beginners, there will be no electronics coming on our boat any time soon.

The boat in our garage while the paint is drying

Testing out the sail

We were trying to avoid the red boat being the same color as Brent's truck, but I don't think we won.

I think the red is a bit better than the blue, wouldn't you agree?

Ready to go in the water!!!

We had to make multiple attempts at launching before we finally succeeded.  We decided to stop working on the boat (we still had to sand and paint the floor) so we could take it out for a test run.  Last Saturday was the designated day.  The weather was absolutely beautiful, but it could not have been less cooperative for sailing!!  It has been breezy all spring, but of course, the day we want to go out there was absolutely no wind. We waited around out near lake Lowell all afternoon and evening and there was never any wind.  I wanted to cry because it was such a beautiful day and we were not on the water.

Come Monday we were determined to try again.  Right after work we headed out again.  This time it was really windy- I think it was 29mph.  We were so determined to go we didn't really look into the weather.  Before we get in the water we had to set up the mast, but the wind was too strong so we could not get it set up.  Talk about two disappointments in a row!! (I learned I had to stop telling people at work we were going sailing because everyone kept asking about it lol).

Tuesday was looking much better for us.  I was able to sneak away from work an hour early and we headed  back out to Lake Lowell and this time we were successful. The managed to get the boat in the water and it didn't sink.  

Talk about the scariest thing of my life...well...tied with climbing a multi-pitch wall in city of Rocks. I have some massive anxiety issues and some activities I choose to do in my life do not help my anxiety.  We did not go too fast, and we did not tip over, but considering I didn't really know what I was doing, and I was steering us, it was a little stressful.  After talking with Brent afterwords I think that it is so stressful because we are not in control of what is going on. There is no way to slam on the brakes.  You can't really change your mind if you don't like what you are doing. I can swim and we had life jackets so I wasn't worried about tipping, so I am not sure what my issue was.  There are things that we can do to lessen our speed and other things, but it is not an instantaneous change. Thankfully we were only out for 60-90 minutes, but that was definitely enough for me. I am excited to go again...or at least I tell myself that...so I can hopefully overcome some of my new found anxieties.

Our weekend with the Warner's

This weekend has been a pretty great weekend.  It has been so nice to stick around here for once.  Michelle and Derrick came up from Utah to spend the long weekend with us, and it was just wonderful to have them here with us.  Brent was supposed to have a whistle pig hunt/competition on Saturday, but unfortunately the weather was not cooperative at all.  It was pouring down rain for most of the morning and finally cleared up a little bit by the afternoon.  Michelle and I went shopping in the morning and did all the girly stuff that we wanted to do.  We expected the boys to be gone shooting but when we return home with Cafe Rio for a late lunch, they were still here.  They had been busy cleaning and modify their guns all afternoon while we were shopping.


I have gone shooting with Brent a lot this spring.  Where we live now we are pretty close to some BLM land south of Boise so we are able to go out in the middle of no where and shoot...and it's free...can't beat that! Shooting isn't my favorite thing to do, but I am quite content to sit in my lawn chair as I read a book and reload my little boy's gun magazine.  (Just in case you didn't know, my little boy is Brent.  He is the happiest little boy when he is out shooting things and I love to go out with him, just to see how excited he can be.)


Michelle and Derrick, on the other hand, are not as blessed as we are to go shooting every week.  The last time Derrick went shooting was when we were down in Utah visiting them.  Knowing that Derrick would not be able to convince Michelle to go shooting with him anytime soon, I suggested that we all go shooting.  Michelle and I could have girl talk out in the middle of no where just as easily as we could have girl talk at home.  Michelle reluctantly said yes, but in the end she had a good time.  Brent and Derrick paled around together and Michelle and I even shot a few rounds ourselves.  Unfortunately all good things are interrupted by rain, but we still had a blast.  Here are few pictures.

 Derrick- All cheese :)

My cute hubby 

 Ahh how sweet- look at them shooting together (I actually made them pose by the truck because it was starting to rain outside and I didn't want to get outside with my camera)

On the prowl

 Derrick helping Michelle aim

 Trying to aim with the 9mm. Not too shabby but I look extra special

I love this picture because it shows the case flying off to the side

Then we come home and make some delicious home made pizza.  What great helpers I have!!

 Chicken Garlic Pizza

BBQ Chicken Pizza

We just bought a new pizza stone and I was super excited to try it out.  I was not sure how to cook both pizza's at the same time and I was starving and didn't want to wait.  For some reason (which doesn't make sense now) I decided to put the stone on top and the regular pan on the bottom.  Note to self- not a good plan.  We came out with slightly burned BBQ chicken crust, and slightly under-cooked Chicken garlic pizza.  Such is the story of my life....but still quite tasty!

A weight lifted off your shoulders

Do you ever feel like a weight has just been lifted off your shoulders?


I just experienced that feeling once again on Thursday when I cut off 7 inches of hair.  If I would have known I was only 1 inch away from donating my hair I would have gone shorter but we didn't measure until after. Oh well, maybe I can grow out my hair again someday.  Until then I am loving my shorter hair!! I'll add better pictures later...all I have now is my little ponytail stub that I just love! (I wish I would have done before and after pictures!)

 My new stub

Sporting my camera and hair lol