Pioneer Day

I'm not sure Parker and I would know what to do with ourselves were it not for his family. If you think about it, they've pretty much been our one-stop shop for fun this summer.

They invite us over for BBQs, tote us around on the boat, wow us with their moto-skills, play games with us 'til the wee hour of the morn, and have even taken the initiative to introduce me to the wonder that is Bob Ross. Before you know it they'll be buying us lil' critters, condos, and BMW's in Miami!

No, no. I'm just kidding. That'd be too much to ask. How 'bout Muncie, Indiana? hehehe...

But really. All jokes aside, we have been very blessed. Our family are our very best friends and I'm so happy for it. I wouldn't change a thing...

Now onto Pioneer Day. So I'm not certain that Parker and I really took the initiative to celebrate our ancestors like we should have. We did, however, reinforce the importance and value of family—in essence their legacy—by taking another day trip out to Yuba with the DeMilles.

I am 99.9% positive that the lake is our favorite place to be. We spend our days together, in the sun, on the water, with family who are our best friends. Add on the bursts of adrenaline and sense of accomplishment that comes from water sports and you have two little endorphin junkies ready for their next fix (Parker & Kaits are already planning a return trip J).

Despite our rollie-polie water, everything was perfect!

Mike played the positive-reinforcement coach and gave us tips as we watched our instant replays on his HD cam.

Kaitlin got bigger air on the wakeboard than the family's seen all year.

Parker went big and crashed hard—which only means he's that much closer to landing his air raley (I like to call it the superman).

baby you're so stinkin' cute!!! I mean tuff. Tuff with two f's tuff.

Tristan whipped the super-tubers around and even took it upon himself to personally finish the job when the ride failed to send them sprawling into the water...so funny!

Kristy took care of us all, as always, and has officially been appointed general of our up-and-coming photo war J

And me...I chirped my little head off and took care of my sweet husband like every good wife should (granted, I did suggest the trick that made the biggest impact of the night...sorry baby. And FYI...this is his I-love-my-wife-so-much-and-am-determined-to-rock-this-trick next time-to-show-her-how-much-I-care face. Not the get-off-me-you-little-barnacle grimace. I promise JJJ).

All in all, it was another perfect day on the lake. We sped from town to town under the glitter of fireworks on our way home grateful for the ancestors who sacrificed everything they had so we could have everything we could ever ask for out of life. I hope they know how much we love them...

God be with you

'til we meet again...

chasin' waterfalls

Yesterday Parker and I decided to break our routine and take a little adventure.

These boulders were the path...

After a few misdirections and hesitancies over the many forks along the way, we made it to our destination.

Hello Bells Canyon Falls!

It's amazing what an intuitive journey hiking can be. We took our best guess at nearly every intersection and still managed to find our way. Are we little trailblazers or what? J

I realize this is a rarity, but I am at a loss as to what else to say about this trip. I figure I can let the pictures tell the story. I apologize for the quality...despite my ruffled feathers every time Parker mentions it, the difference in quality between my little point-and-shoot camera and his beast of a machine is significant. So, take them for what they're worth.

I love my husband. I love that we can share adventures like this together. And I love that he's always pushing me to be better, go faster, and climb higher. There's so much to look forward to in our forever together.

I can't wait...JJJ

back at it again

So I've told myself from Day 1 that this blog is for the both of us. Parker insists that it is mine and mine alone, but when I see him sneaking a peak at what I've written I know deep down he loves it too.

So to dissuade him from making pinkbike (a biking website) his one stop shop for "remembering" this time of his life, I've decided to make it a habit of posting the pictures he's proudest of on our blog too.

I went up to I-Street to play photographer again and had the chance to watch Parker and his brother Chris. I love watching them fly. You think it'd scare me after seeing the guy before them do a triple-endo across the dirt after trying to show off for me & the camera, but for some reason it doesn't faze me. I always pray Parker will stay safe, but I trust him out there. He always seems in control to me.

Kristy did remind me though that the one time he lost control he did not come out in one piece. I suppose I just hope memories of that broken shoulder and his loving wife will be enough to keep him smart while on the trail.

So yes...here's my daring husband. He seems to improve each time I go to watch him and it never ceases to amaze me to see how easily he maneuvers that big hunk of metal. Like his wakeboard it seems just like an extension of himself. I'm very proud of him!

(Note to Parker: this post does not mean that your bike can live in the house. sorry. love you sweetheart!)

wet n' wild

This last Friday marked our very FIRST boating trip as husband and wife.

I'd been on the houseboat. Parker'd been out with Chris. Somehow we just couldn't find a way to make it a trip for two.

Luckily Parker has the most amazing parents who graciously offered to take us out on the one day I had off. Parker had an "equipment rodeo" at work (I won't even comment) and had the freedom to leave his little fiesta early. Happy day!

And of course we couldn't leave Kaitlin! She ran through all her assistant duties like a pro and was in the car playing referee before she could even consider another option.

The lake started out a bit rough but by the end of the night its murky green waters were like crystal with the sun glimmering off its perfect surface (I know the typical boating term for good water is "glass," but I googled the difference between the two and discovered crystal sparkles more than glass...in case you wanted to add that to your random-fact-book).

I realized how much I'd missed seeing my Parker out there on his board! He is so talented and seems so at ease out on the water...like his board is just an extension of his body. It blows my mind! And did you know—he flies! He floats above the water whenever he jumps and 99.9% of the time it looks like he's investing zero effort into the tricks I pour my heart and soul into. It's ridiculous...but so cool.

Kristy leaned in to me during out little trip and said I must be so much prouder when I watch him now because he's my husband. Truth is, I think it's one of the many reasons I fell in love with him. His fearlessness was so attractive to me when we were dating, and I remember looking out there and watching him thinking I was so lucky to be "his" girl.

On the houseboat last year my friend Tiffany watched as he landed yet another tantrum. She asked, "Is that just so sexy to you?" My answer, "oh baby yes!" J

In addition to Kristy spoiling us with all the classic boat-dinner fix-ins and Tristan's seemingly endless patience as we all took "just one more run", the highlight of the night for me...my new board!

Parker won this board way back in February when he submitted an email for the Utah boat show's giveaway competition. He explained how much it hurt his little heart to see his fancée struggle to adjust from one board to another while he enjoyed the perfect water and that, as poor soon-to-be newlyweds, he knew he'd never be able to change that for me on his own.

Which brought us to today. I traded in the Frankenstein-size bindings we'd won and watched as my husband snapped the new perfectly matched pair into place. I'm so glad I have him to take care of me!! He took pictures like a proud parent as I readied myself for my very first run in the water and then, after an icy-cold plunge, I was off!

I couldn't stop smiling! Everything about this board fits me perfectly and as I rode out there I just couldn't get over the fact it was mine. Mine to keep an to love and to wreck on without any feelings of guilt. I love it! (Not to mention that it's PINK...that just screams Chelsey right there).

Needless to say it was a perfect night! Spending time in a place we love with people we love so much. I can't wait 'til we're back at it again.

Thank you Kristy and Tristan for always being so good to us and Kaitlin for putting up with our antics (and being my rebellious little reading buddy in the car J). We love you!

P.S. If we can still be this in love after 36 years—Parker holding me on his lap as we laugh at our inability to take a decent picture together—I will be forever happy!

your love is my drug

so naturally, this post should be about my husband. BUT...tonight it's not.

I'm an addictive reader. When I find a book, a good book, I read...and read...and read like reaching the end is my one reason for existing, my sole purpose in life.

I'm not sure if it's my innate distaste for secrets or my insatiable need to know the root cause and result of any mystery, but when I pick up a book like this I lose all control.

Luckily they're a quick read.

The Hunger Games.

For those of you who've read them...I know you understand. For those of you who haven't...DO IT!!! I'm honestly entertaining the idea that this could be my favorite reading series ever...right up there with Harry Potter. It's that good. And the beauty of it is, the third and final book comes out this August.

My only issue with this series...the dreaded Twilight Saga-esque love triangle.

Oh how indecisive girls plague me! Katniss is a BA (an adjective supplied by my dear friend Jill), but her beedin' Bella-heart drives me crazy. Maybe it's because I never questioned myself with Parker...never had any reason to. Maybe it's because it creates yet another unanswered mystery I have to wait to have resolved. Maybe it's because I spent the whole first book entirely sold on a relationship that's being threatened in the second. I don't know! All I know is that I want answers...quick.

With Bella we all knew it'd be Edward. Even the most devout Jacob fan knew it had to be. The Gale/Peeta battle has me at a loss though. I'm cheering Peeta all the way. My friends/sister-in-laws think I'm crazy to back anyone but Gale. And we all have different opinions as to the book's allusions to the end result.

I'm standing strong with my vote though.

The second book didn't change my mind.

And like I said, if you haven't read it, READ it! Because soon this post that means nothing will mean all sorts of something to you and I'll possibly have another Peeta pal to back me up (not that I'd ever recommend something on a such a selfish note J).

Happy reading!

creepy crawlies

I took a life tonight. I'm still a little shaken up over it, but not for the reasons you might think.

(I understand this spider is pretty cute and my story may lose its effect, but when I googled all the creepy little buggers I lost my appetite for their shock value and figure I'd spare you all.)

Someone told me once that you swallow, on average, seven spiders in your lifetime. I startled at the fact at first but then resigned myself to the fact that, if they were to invade my personal space so fully in the night, at least I'd have no idea. Ignorance is bliss right?

Well, just tonight, Parker & I killed the lights to snuggle up on the family room floor and relax after a long day.

Everything seemed so perfect there in his arms. He gave me a sweet kiss or two on the cheek and I lay there wondering how this could get any better. A warm summer night spent safe in his embrace, not giving a single thought of what might come tomorrow.

And then it happened.

I felt a little tickle run up my arm that lay tangled up in his.

At first I dismissed it as my hair...then realized the impossibility of it making such a reach.

Then I thought...maybe it's just the hair on Parker's arms...but he lay so still while the tickling pressed on.

After a few seconds more spent wondering what on earth it could be, I freaked, startling my sweet husband. He scrambled to his feet and flipped on the light to find...

nothing.

I knew what I felt. And it was not nothing. We sat there for a moment flipping up blankets and pillows and books to no avail, resigned to the fact that my supposed culprit had vanished.

A flash of movement—eight hairy legs spring from under the couch and make a dash for my pillow.

I screech like a broken record.

"I knew it! I knew it! Kill it! Kill it! Oh this is so beyond awful. It was on me! ON me!"

Parker flips up the pillow and karate chops the big black speck scuttling across the floor. He scoops it up in a piece of paper and crushes it out of its misery. I ask to look. I immediately wish I hadn't. Yet I feel no remorse.

I suppose my arm is better than my mouth, but I can't help but think that if those suckers are brave enough to roam over me while I'm awake, they'll roam wherever they please when unconscious with sleep. Parker said he'd felt a tickle on his thigh too.

The nerve—nasty, little, squash-ed bug.

May this be a lesson to all your little buddies who seek vengeance tonight. I'll be waiting...

my happy place

Parker and I are learning that grown-up summers are hard...well, respectively.

Last summer we played...lots.

We took boating trips to Shasta, Powell, Yuba, Pineview...you name it!

We watched pageants in Manti,

hiked through Zion's,

went on more 4-wheeler rides than I can remember or count, and survived my very first downhill biking adventures (i.e. me living and parker somehow keeping a full head of hair despite his worrying over me).

We froze our little toes off in Lake Tahoe,

took in every attraction Reno has to offer,

and enjoyed endless hours on the phone & the road (the two things that brought us closest together during those 4 months apart).

We know we're lucky. Not many people see summers like that ever. Even fewer get to see their little budding relationships blossom in such an ideal setting.

But we did.

We were spoiled.

And now we're paying for it.

The "downer days" set in about two weeks ago.

Every day seemed the same—work, work, work, work, with an occasional jaunt to the gym, the pool, or the mountains in search of the one thing we'd found to keep us sane...endorphins.

Unfortunately those wear off rather quickly and one day I just lost it. I felt caged in our little apartment...trapped by work...and helpless to stop each day that brought me closer to a frighteningly full fall semester that I have yet to figure out how to survive.

Don't get me wrong...we are SO happy! Our days are full with each other and we know how blessed we are to have these lazy summer days together before school starts up. But we are also both little bundles of energy that cannot be stilled. We have to keep busy and feel as though we're accomplishing things or else we go nuts! Hence my little "moment."

I expressed to Parker my distaste for "grown-up" summers. How I realized that we did need to grow up and accept the responsibility that comes with marriage but that, in my mind, that didn't necessarily mean we were condemned to live in monotony. Parker agreed 100%...told me how desperately he needed a vacation...a change of scenery...kind of like my little houseboat jaunt (how quickly I forgot these things J).

And that was that. With both our minds set to "mix things up," we started to plan.

To us, summer means sun, swimming, and spending time with people who mean more to you than the last days of freedom you have before reality sets in.

So we thought...where can we go to see the sun, cool off in the water, and escape reality with people we love?

The answer:

Sunny SoCal

Our justification for such a jaunt:

a best friends' wedding, vegas buddies, awesome cousins, my siblings, my parents, and the

happiest place on earth.

Now tack this on to a few spur of the moment boating trips, the possibility of a couple's trip to Lake Powell, Girls' Camp & all the i-street visits and Sunday game nights you could ask for and you have a SUMMER!

I can't wait for our August to unfold JJJ