Sometimes you can't get a break . . . .

 But if your Caleb you can get a break and a whole lot more.

Last week was long. Long because it was the first week of school and I was so exhausted. Every. Single. Day. You just forget how tiring it is to be on your feet all day long, oh and talking all day long. Then Wednesday night I get a call from Caleb, he asks if I can come pick him up, he says he broke his arm. What???? And so 1st we went to urgent care, luckily no one was there. They do x-rays and clean up all the road rash, which was terrible. But unfortunately the break had to be set so off to the emergency room they send us. An hour and a half later we see the doctor. More x-rays, and waiting, and the bone gets set (I watched and it looked super painful he was in pain even though he was unconscious, crazy right). I get to bed at 3:30am.

After getting to bed at 3:30am I was super cautious on Thursday at work. Three hours of sleep is not enough for me. Not even close. I got through the day but all I did Thursday and Friday after work was eat and sleep. I really didn't feel caught up until Sunday.

Meanwhile on Thursday Nancy was nice enough to come down and take Caleb to the doctor. I may have had an emotional break down on the phone Thursday morning. Three hours of sleep + not allowed to take the first five days off of work in our district + the orthopedic surgeon would only see him at 9am and it was a mandatory appointment (now that I think about it what could they have done if we didn't show up) = a little bit of stress and anxiety for me. But once Nancy could take him I was good, just embarrassed that I had to cry about it knowing it would all work out. Again I was super cautious at work especially after starting the morning off in tears, so not a good sign.

Week two has already been so much better for me. I took small naps the past two days but nothing crazy. Last night I had a really good workout. Now I have to take two days off because Caleb has surgery in the morning. I was planning on taking a half day. It is so hard to have a sub. Especially if you don't know them. My best sub could only do Thursday so Wednesday is a random person, YIKES! But back to only taking a half day off the doctor said no. Apparently he needs to be watched for the first two days. Um, ok well I can only have one day paid off and that sounds really boring. And so I take my first personal day of the year on the second week of school. I guess I will be reading, lots.

I just recently read two really good books:


















The English teachers and I always compare our summer book reading lists. Some of them read these two books over the summer. They are a hit among our students. I really enjoyed them. They are in a series together and the third book will come out next summer, dang I hate that. Super easy reading but a page turner. Reminded me of Hunger Games. Obviously a different story but so many of the elements were the same. But very very enjoyable. Another reason I didn't sleep enough last week. Well I need to bike and get some things done. Hopefully this week I take a few more pictures of all my activities.

staying busy

 Surprise to me Caleb moved in. He did ask me about 4 hours before I headed home from California. I guess I got more of a warning then my parents. One thing this generation is lacking is how to communicate. Love the kid, but seriously communication is so important to everything we do in life. It has not been bad. He sleeps on the luv sack, he has a job, he bikes there. We, meaning everyone that lives in my house, are trying to help him get on his mission. So he needs to earn some money and lose some weight. He can totally do it. Hopefully he wants it as bad as we want it for him. Does he read this? He might not approve. Love you Caleb!

How many Browns does it take to hang a ceiling fan? Three in this case. Dan to read directions, me and Caleb to do the work. I HATE reading directions, but Dan is really good at reading them and understanding them so it all works out. I love my new fan. It is white and it is silent. My old one rattled, a lot.

One of the things that was on my to-do list this summer was paint my bedroom. I have lived here four years and I have done nothing with that room. I will admit I had no desire to paint. I really wanted to hire someone, but in the end I am too cheap. I also wanted to add some furniture. It took a lot of time and I still hate painting but I like the results for the most part. Caleb had a week before he started work and so he helped me paint and put furniture together...oh the joys of living with your older sister.

My room before was tan. The whole thing was tan, ceiling included, except the white trim. Who paints all the ceilings the same color as the walls in the house. Lame, lazy people I tell you. I was so sick of not having a white ceiling.

I painted the ceiling white and the walls yellow. I replaced all the light maple furniture with white furniture. I actually bought a bed frame, head board, and dresser. Nothing too special, just IKEA, but I love how much nicer it looks. And seriously I love my treadmill but why did I buy the world's biggest treadmill. I didn't think that through all the way.

You can't see the head board because my box spring is still on the bed, but it is cute. And there are little shelves on both sides of the headboard. Perfect for books, scriptures, and journals. I was very happy with my room until Dan walked in and said, "Happy Easter." He ruined my week of manual labor in seconds and now I think that every-time I walk in. But I love how bright it is, so whatever!

Does anyone else shop in stores and try things out, take a picture, and then go home and buy them online for cheaper? I don't do it a lot but seriously sometimes you can save so much money.

I got two new pairs of shoes for the school year. I always get two so I can rotate them. This year I went really really bright. I ran in them last night at 11:30pm and they were super comfy.

 And introducing the backpack that I researched for many many hours . . . . . . .

I rode 40 miles with it one day (20 miles each way to a meeting I had at the district office) and so far I am happy with it. We will see if it can fit all my junk in it for school. Meaning change of clothes, my lunch, and anything else I have to bring on any given day. All the reviews say you can fit a ton of stuff in it. I hope they weren't lying. I chose the bright colors and I quite enjoy them.

I got my hair colored and cut. It was way overdue. I had her cut a lot off. I have been swimming multiple times a week and long hair and swimming is a really bad combination. And I wanted something a little different. Nothing crazy but just a change. I have enjoyed it so far. Right after getting it cut.

And last night after running 3 miles on the treadmill.

Other highlights from the week: 7 peaks with Jana and kids, multiple nice bike rides, actually grocery shopped, cleaned the downstairs and cleaned out the fridge, worked at the temple, and worked four days (I am slowly getting back into it.)

The major downside of the week was soccer. We had a double header and lost both games. It is bad enough to lose one game in a night, but two. Well and then to get smoked by a bunch of 20 year olds. I was a little bitter. I kind of wanted to punch one of them just because they were fast and young and it seemed like it would make me feel better. I totally controlled myself though. Turns out there is a difference between 20 year olds and 30 year olds. Oh well I still love to play.

And my shoulder is jacked-up. Not my already bad shoulder but my right shoulder. Seriously so so frustrating. I can't wait to go to the doctor. Yeah, they could get me in August 27th. LAME! Meanwhile I am really limited as to what I can do. It has been bothering me all summer so I really rested it a ton. I didn't play basketball at all. No heavy lifting. No weights. But it is still hurt. The annoying thing is that I didn't do anything to it and I can't sleep on it. From all the research I have done I think it is the rotator cuff. And the options are all lame. We will see what the doctor says.

Is it a sign that you are old when you make notes on your phone of all the things you need to talk to your doctor about. I mean I have a physical once a year. I don't want to leave anything out. I wonder if I am an annoying patient. I read a book about how based on what class you grew up in it determines whether or not you are good at talking to your doctor. Apparently if you were upper class you communicate best with the doctor because you expect and demand that they answer you. Whatever, but it makes sense. I have watched my Dad just struggle to get answers and communicate with his doctor. So I am determined to break the cycle. It is hard to ask all the questions, I don't know why, but it is hard, so I am asking every question on my list and since I have two weeks I may have more when the time comes! Especially now that I have to start paying every month for my insurance, thank you Obama, I really want to get the most out of my appointment. So there you have it.

I LOVE TAHOE!!!!!

 I love Tahoe. I need a summer home there. The water is amazing. The temperature great. There are tons of outdoor activities. I love it.

Amber reserved an awesome campsite at Meeks bay for us. We were right on the beach which was great! We traveled slowly to Tahoe on Wednesday. We arrived, set up our tents, and went for a swim. The water is so clear. Here is the one thing I saw under water, well except for the fish by the rocks that was the size of my little finger.

The water is so clear that you think you should be able to touch. I was always surprised when I couldn't. You could see the bottom a really long ways out. That evening we biked 20 miles hard and went to bed.

Thursday we decided to bike the 72 miles around the lake. It is a gorgeous ride, but there are lots of hills. You work hard to see all that beauty. We stopped and ate or snacked every 25 miles. Don't want to over-do it. We are on vacation.

Pizza Hut for lunch. By mile 53 we were starving. We also knew we had the two really steep climbs left.

Bathroom break. Putting on my game face before the last haul.

 That pretty much took the majority of Thursday. We did enjoy some swimming and beach time after the ride. I swam a really long way and just loved the water. I think I stayed in too long though because I was freezing the rest of the night. The water feels good but it is a little cold to stay in too long. We finished the night by strolling through Tahoe City.

Friday I paddle boarded. I have heard about paddle boarding but had not seen it done before this trip. Tons of people were doing it in Monterey and even more in Tahoe. I wanted in on the action. I headed down early so I could do it while there was not a crowd, I mean I had no idea how it would go.

At first I was super tense and a little shaky. The girl coached me by saying start on your knees then stand up, she had never done it before. Um, when I teach a skill I give three verbal cues. I could have used some cues:)

 Luckily there was a lady on the beach that saw how tense I was and gave me some advice. After about 20 minutes I felt really good. It was super fun and I would love to do it again.

Don't worry down the beach a ways there was a group of about 20 women that paddlebarded for a while and then did yoga on their paddleboards. I am not quite comfortable enough to do that. I would have been in the water guarantee. 

After I paddleboarded we went kayaking. It was beautiful!

 And then the water started to get really choppy. This is the very beginning of the choppiness.

 The color contrast was amazing!

We wanted to kayak to an island but the water would have none of it. After 50 minutes of battling the waves we turned around. The water was seriously crazy. I have kayaked in the ocean multiple times and it was not as bad as this. My arms were killing me.

After the kayaking excursion we decided we needed more than peanut butter and jelly so we went to Rosie's a fun little cafe.

It was yummy!

Saturday we broke camp early and headed home. It was a long trip. I really don't like being gone that long but it was good. I am glad I did it and I had a lot of fun. There are still tons of things I would like to do in Tahoe: backpack, hike, and mountain bike just to name a few.

 Now I am in get ready for school mode. When I got back I had 21 hours to work on my own, 2 days to work with my department, dentist, doctor, painting my bedroom, hair, school shopping, and lots more. I have been on the go. Is it a bad thing that it took me a minimum of 10 hours online to buy a backpack for school? I have issues. It's in the mail and it better be awesome. My old one has holes in it. I have loved loved loved it, but it must be replaced. School starts in less then two weeks....sad and exciting!

Staying with Sariah

 Sariah, one of my best friends, happens to live in San Jose. It was really nice to get to stay with her. 1. She was an amazing host, 2. We haven't seen each other in forever, 3. It was really nice to have a break from camping, and 4. It was great to eat real food!

Sunday before dinner we went on a nice walk at a park and then just chilled. Monday Amber and I headed to Santa Cruz. I had never been. It was cool but I am not sure it lives up to all the hype.

We walked on the pier and walked the boardwalk. The weather was cloudy and chilly this day so not the best weather. There was a really nice area that would have been fun to kayak in but we were not feeling it. We ate fish and chips but they were mediocre at best.

 We went for a "hike," more like a walk, in one of the state parks. It was really pretty. There were lots of cliffs and lots of ocean.

I ditched Amber in the afternoon and biked a 29 mile out and back on highway 1. I have biked on various sections of highway one and I just love it. It is so fun to be next to the ocean the entire bike ride. I biked hard that day and slept really well that night. It felt great.

Tuesday we hung out in San Jose. We biked on the endless trail system, went to yogurt, and shopped. It was really nice to have a down day.

It was so great to catch up with Sariah. We spent one night Facebook stalking people from our mission. It was AWESOME! So fun to look up people we served with and see where they are in life. My patriarchal blessing talks about having opportunities to share the gospel and through those experiences making life long friends. Sariah has definitely been one of the people to bring to pass that promise. I love that we can catch up so easily. I love that we both know everyone individually in our families and so we can stay up to date on everyone's lives. I love that I realized San Jose really isn't that far from my parents house, I will definitely visit again. Good times.

Big Sur and Monterey

 Can I say BEATIFUL? I can because this is my blog but Big Sur was absolutely breath taking. Good thing to because it was quite the journey to get there!

Amber flew into Monterey at 8:30ish which meant I woke up at 3am at my parents to get there on time. I think I got to get up later than Amber though. The first thing on our to-do list was find a campsite. We tried to reserve one but the reservations were all filled so we had to take our chances and try to walk in. SCARY! We have both had very bad experiences with this. So we headed out on a mission to find a campsite. We drove down scenic highway 1.

 We enjoyed the amazing views, but they were even more spectacular south of Carmel. (Pictures courtesy of Amber)

We were fortunate to get a campsite on try number 4. Yo yeah! We stayed at Pheiffer State Park in Big Sur. We were all set up by 11:30am. What a relief. Look at all that junk on my car, don't worry there was even more inside my car. It is really hard to pack for 3 weeks. But even harder when you need swimming, biking, hiking, church, work, and normal clothes. I am sure I could have packed less but I always error on the cautious side.

 After we set up camp we headed out for lunch and to explore.

Julia Burns State Park had some amazing views.

My only complaint was that you can't go on the beaches. LAME!

We attempted a little service on the way. Unfortunately this bike rider had a problem way outside of my skill set. I felt bad too because she was 100 miles away from a bike shop. Yikes! Reason 432,789 why I would not bike the coast by myself.

We ended the evening with a bike ride ourselves. We biked 17 mile drive in Monterey. It was really nice, especially along the beach. That was post 2 hour nap on the beach because I was super tired.

The next day we decided to hit up the aquarium. The aquarium was really fun and I am glad we went I just wished we would have gone on a day other than Saturday. That place was crazy.

 I love the jelly fish.

After the aquarium we enjoyed cannery row.

And this little gem was hanging in the Nestle store. A motto I would be more than happy to adopt!

We finished off the day kayaking and biking. Kayaking in the bay was amazing. The water was so calm and we were able to go a long ways. We saw sea lions, jelly fish, pelicans, and lots of kelp forests.

This picture does not show all the drama that occurred here. I wanted to get close for a picture and I wanted to be facing the camera so I started to back up towards the pier. Apparently I got too close because the sea lions all started to get up and they were barking like end of the world was coming and I couldn't get away soon enough.

 Lesson learned keep your distance. They are a little big to mess with. We finished the evening off with a nice 12 mile bike ride on a bike trail that parallels the coast.

Sunday morning after we packed up camp we went on a walk to the beach before church.

 We were along HWY 1 South of Carmel and the waves were huge. It was great weather for a walk.

 After church we headed to San Jose to stay with Sariah and Brett and explore a little different part of California. I really enjoyed this part of California and could definitely spend more time there.

Family Time

 Before the funeral my family took a day trip to Fort Bragg. Like everyone from Oroville we love Fort Bragg. We happened to be lucky and be there on a really sunny and nice day.

We did a little swimming. Best decision ever was to wear my swimsuit. I only wish I had put it on sooner. It is the first time in years I was actually able to swim in the freezing water. I was loving it.

 We went to sand dollar beach where we played Frisbee, searched for sand dollars, walked the beach, and played in the water.

 Someone got a hold of my camera and took close to 50 pictures of Anthony modeling in the sand. Oh my is all I can say to that. I will add that he looks so much nicer with the haircut my mom gave him!

 We played lots of games and Jan and Lou's. We love to play games. We played settlers, qwirkle, and telestrations.

Oh and ate lots of junk while we played the games. We were so grateful to Jan and Lou for being gracious enough to host us all.

 Sam is mocking Olivia.

 Me and Aaron before he had to head off to work. Love that kid.

My Dad's flowers. He has beautiful flowers in his garden. He grows them to bring in the bees which then pollinate his plants. So Smart! But they look really nice as well.

 Little Braxton looking so cute. I love his face in this picture.

Panda giving Olivia some loves.

 Love this little girly.

 She has to give everyone a hug anytime she leaves and it takes like 20 minutes. Meanwhile Ben stands by trying not to get annoyed.

 I think this picture of Olivia and Ben is super cute. Olivia was playing a game with Ben that Katie's mom taught her. It's a super cute game and Olivia knows all the words. So fun to watch!

We spent a lot of time traveling but it was great to be with family. Somehow I don't have any pictures of my Dad or Mom and probably others as well. It was a little crazy.

After all the Utah people left my Dad and I headed back to my grandma's to help clean up the yard. It was a really fun few days. I was able to do a 20 mile bike ride by myself which ended with 3 miles straight uphill to Jan and Lou's and then Lou and I did an amazing ride to the coast the next day. We started in Boonyville and rode through the wine country and into a little beach. It was a great ride, 57 miles of greatness. I love riding my bike in new places.

Then we spent 2 days working hard at my grandma's. She cooked us awesome food and it is always so fun to get to sit and visit with her. We played a lot of games there too, of which my Dad won like 9 games in a row. Only a little annoying, especially when he started doing victory dances. I was scared and angry.