Book Review: The Host

So just before the hunt I purchased The Host to read while on my trip. I know that I vowed never to buy another book until I read it first, but it was 14 something before tax and I obviously love the author. I had gotten mixed reviews from different family members and friends, but decided I wanted to make my own opinion about it. I read it and really liked it. The book was a little slower than other books I've read, but overall I would have to say it was good and worth reading if you like a little science fiction and a touch of romance. I think that she captures human emotions really well. I have heard that she is going to make a trilogy out of it by some and others think that there was enough closure on this book that a three book set wouldn't be necessary. Anyway I would give this book 3.5 out of 5

Roxy's Race.

Well, the end of May or the Beg. of June Roxy was in a Wiener dog race with a bunch of other dogs. The winner got a year supply of dog food an everyone else received a 5# bag of food. Roxy ran about 5 feet and turned around to go back to my friend who was holding her at the starting line. He is in the Blue hoodie.No Gold medal for her. O well she is a good dog so I guess we will keep her.

A Trip of Firsts

So as you can see from the last entry we posted, we went on vacation to southern Utah to go bow hunting. This is my take on the experience.
Anyone who knows me or my immediate family knows that hunting/camping is not on our priority list of "hot vacation destinations". We do like to camp every once and a while, but lets just say that many summers on the road to Utah staying in KOA campgrounds kinda wore out the camping spirit. (The bugs seemed to congregate in the showers so we joked that we gave the audience of the bug kingdom a little show. On top of that, there wasn't a single summer that my sister Rachel wouldn't throw up right outside our pop-up trailer at any(and almost every) location.) Anyway, I did have a blast on this trip. There were a lot of things that I had never done before.

I went to my grandmas house on Sunday to visit her for part of the week. I had a lot of fun and learned a valuable skill. I spent the greater part of my visit helping her bottle fruit and vegetables. We bottled apples, pickles, and tomatoes while I was there. Everything was done by hand. By the time we finished my hands were all brown and pruney and had cuts all over. While I was there, my grandma told me a couple times that she thought God had sent me to her to help her with the work. I think she was right. Canning/bottling your own food is hard work and I can't imagine doing it alone. The amazing part about it is my grandma is 73, I'm 22, and she came out of there with more energy than I did. She was telling me to go relax and read my book while she cleaned up dishes or made a meal for the two of us. I felt a little bad that I didn't help her more, but she seemed to enjoy my company just the same. Aside from bottling, we watched the Olympics, movies, and she drove me around town to show me the new changes. She also told me that she knew the ladies that started Stampin' Up!. They have a warehouse in Kanab, UT that was absolutely massive. Its funny to think that it started out of some lady's living room. I was also able to visit with my cousins and aunt. I didn't get to spend much time with them, but I was glad that I was able to see them.

Tony came to pick me up on Wednesday morning. We went out early as he said the next morning and shot his buck. While we were riding on the quad I realized how much I love the cold. There is a certain crispness about it that is comforting, reminds me of the holiday season, and doesn't threaten to melt my skin off or spontaneous combustion like heat does (at least for me because my skin is so fair). It was a fun trip because I had never really experienced hunting in its entirety, never drove or really sat on a quad before, and it was really nice to hang out and get to know his family a little better. I have had very limited chances to really hang out with his brother Travis and I am very glad that the opportunity came. I had so much fun talking and joking with him.

At the tail end of our trip we drove up to Tony's sisters house to visit her family and mom. We had a great time and Hilary is such a good hostess. She was very accommodating and her kids are a lot of fun. I really enjoy visiting the Martins. Chris reminds me a little of my family in ways that it kinda tricks me into thinking I'm back home. Their new baby is super cute and it was a good experience to see the home life part of having a baby. To wrap up the trip Tony's parents, Tony and I went to Tai Pan. I had never been before, but there were a lot of really nice things at great prices. I got a couple Halloween decorations, thanks to mom and pops, and just was in heaven dreaming of what my future home would look like. All in all the trip was a nice break to the normal routine and I'm looking forward to our next vacation. The only thing missing from the trip was the Days. We were bummed when they didn't come. Anyway, Sorry for the novel. I tried to summarize it as much as possible.

TONY-The Great White Hunter

The past week has been amazing. I got to do one of my favorite things in this world with the people that I love. Traci and I along with my Dad, Brother and his son, my brother-in-law and his two sons and my dads business partner and his son went hunting in southern Utah for a week. We were hunting right by Duck Creek Village. That's right between Ceder City and Kanab Utah. We rode quads for a week and Hunted for the elusive Mule Deer. We saw tons of does. The bucks were less in number but we still had some shots at some. Without writing a book on the trip I shot 7 times at 6 Bucks. The last day of the hunt Traci and I woke up early and took off into the woods. about 9am I saw a 2 point(2x2) 65 yards away. The deer was quartering towards me with his head bent towards his body. I pulled back and released the arrow. It went in and out of his neck and then into his chest. the arrow hit his wind pipe, his major arteries in his neck, his lungs, and liver. He rad 45 yards and then fell. I'm no robin hood but from the distance and how he was standing there wasn't a better way for me to hit him than the way I did. Sorry if this is a little graphic for you. Here are some pictures of the hunt. Ill post more in a bit.

Baby Hungry.... Finally

I have never really been one of those girls that has planned out every detail as far as my married life. I never was a big 'baby' type of girl when I was in YW. Every other girl in my ward would always swarm the new mothers while I hung out with the guys. There have been a couple turn of events that have changed my perspective on wanting a kid:
First off, when we moved to California Tony and I were able to hang out with the Days each Sunday and I grew rather attached to their kids, Harrison especially. Soon after we had moved there they called us to be Sunbeam teachers for the ward and we had the cutest kids in our class imaginable. They were soo precious and so much fun that it started to eat at my anti-kid shell. On top of that there were a lot of my friends that were having babies and I saw how happy they were and was able to interact with them and see them interact with them. The thing that pushed me over the edge of baby hunger was ironically while reading a particular book. I don't want to expose which book it is at the moment, but if you are interested in knowing which book it is just email me or text me and I'll let you know. I guess the whole reason why I am writing this post is because I need a little help. I don't feel that I need to finish school right away and I know that I'll never be financially stable (at least anytime soon), but I need to know how to prepare as much as possible. I have a couple pretty specific questions.
-Should I pay extra money to get maternity insurance or are their ways of getting the coverage without paying out the nose?
- What do I want to look for when choosing an OBGYN??

Any information you can give would really help me out. I'm not sure how soon we will start trying, but I thought I should be prepared so that when the day comes that we do get prego then I'm not super stressed about getting everything squared away.

AMAAAZING!!!

So I just finished Breaking Dawn last night at like 1:30a. Well I guess you could say this morning. It was soooo so good that I want to read it again just to catch all the details I might have missed. The only thing unpleasant about the experience was the part when my almost brother-in-law tried to spoil the ending with his false accusations through texts and "behind my back" comments. I really was getting annoyed. He is a huge tease, but if he knew me at all he would shy from ruining something that I am so passionate about. I hate when people ruin things because they think that it is funny. I left him a really nasty text because one of his accusations seemed like it was going to happen and then it didn't. I told him that if he had been right I would have made hungry grizzle bears look tame. He merely thought that this was funny, but little does he know that I can be rather frightening if my rage is tapped into too much. Anyway, again if you haven't read the book yet, you must because they are awesome and mildly addicting.

Do your remember when....?

Do You Remember When. . .Here is a fun little game I saw on my sister Amanda's blog. Here are the directions:1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. You can Post one about me (Tony) or Traci or Both. Enjoy, I know I will.

It's Here!

The new Stephenie Meyer book Breaking Dawn came out today! I had preordered it and it wasn't going to get to me until the 5th. This obviously was unexceptable, so I went to Wal*Mart this morning and picked up a copy which included a button and a sheet of stickers. I read the first three chapters before work this morning and am anxiously awaiting the rest. Meanwhile, Aubrey (my sister-in-law) texts me and wonders how far along I am in the book and it is driving us both Crazy! I love the book so far and am excited to have time to read it later. Again if you haven't read the series, read it! Twilight (the first book) is being made into a movie and is coming out in December!! Woot! Sorry if this is of little interest to you, but there really isn't anything going on right now. I will have more to post in a couple of weeks.