March 21, 2009: Me, Taisha, and Brandi at Taisha's Wedding in Tri-Cities. It was so neat, wished Brady could have been there, and we are so happy for Taisha and Tanner!!!
We enjoyed Temple Square and doing a session in the Salt Lake temple.
On our drive from Smithfield to Idaho Falls Brady had to stop at Preston High School for classic Napoleon Dynamite pictures!
Brady and I survived finals week and with a lot of time in the math lab Brady passed all his classes. I have yet again an easy quarter including an easy and my personal favorite American Literature class. Brady will have one of his hardest quarters yet with 2 math classes and a chemistry class (all in the same building). He plans to spend a lot of time studying in the lab which leaves me no excuse not to get a job in the afternoons which I am still working on (waiting to hear back from people).
My spring break started with a very entertaining day. I got up at 5 AM to take my best friend Kaitie to the airport in Spokane and was to drop her off and drive her car home. She was so sweet and even packed me snacks and a lunch for the drive... but... she forgot to fill her car with gas. Of course I'm not the smart kind of person to check those things and the car turned off on the side of the freeway as it was dead out of gas. I was 10 miles past the nearest town and 30 miles from home. Everyone I knew was at work or in finals so I waited about 10 minutes for a State Patrol to pass me and go turn around to come help. I had the embarrassing opportunity to get patted down before I could get seatbelted into the back of the patrol car as he gave me a ride back to Ritzville to buy 2 gallons of gas. I had called Brady both my fathers and scared them both when the patrol put my purse with my phone in it in the front seat and couldn't let anyone know what my status was and if I was dead or not for about 20 minutes. The patrol was very nice and helpful and when the gas was in and I went to leave and found the car battery dead as well. We had to wait another app. 40 minutes for another State patrol to come jump my car.
It was a long morning and only set me back about and hour and a half but I had nothing to hurry home too as all my finals were done. It makes for a great story and I just wish I had pictures.
That night, the weather was great so Brady and I went to a driving range with Ryan and I got to "golf" for the first time. I guess I was a typical first time golfer with a lot of whiffs and frustrated, inconstistent and unfundamental swings. Brady set up another perfect opportunity for me to embarrass myself when he told me to grip the club looser. I found this was a bad thing to focus on while swinging; I not only whiffed the ball but sent my club flying in the air higher and farther than almost every ball I had hit. After a day like this Brady had a hard time believing he had married such a "dumb blonde." I hope to get better at golfing and can't wait to go again!
Monday morning we drove down to Sandy, UT and stayed two nights at Brady's Aunt Sherri's house. We couldn't believe how much snow there was and wondered if we should have stayed in Boise where the weather was beautiful! Monday night we went to dinner to Citris Grill with one of Brady's friends from the mission, Mike, and his wife Abby. Brady and I spent Tuesday going to a session in the Salt Lake temple and really enjoyed the live session experience. As you can see we had fun taking some pictures of temple square afterwards. Aunt Sherri was so good to us and we really enjoyed her getting her whole family together Tuesday night for dinner so I could meet and visit with them all. After dinner we drove to Orem to visit with Kristi, Robyn and Chris, Erica, and Megan. It was great to see them and we're so glad they were able to make time in their busy schedules to visit! It was the first time Brady and I had met Chris and that any of them had met Brady. It was also the first and last time in a long time that I would see Erica and she's leaving for her mission very soon.
Wednesday morning Brady and I drove up to Logan and got to visit with Aunt Teresa for a bit afterwhich we met Grandma Lindley at the Logan temple where she was working in our session. Brady and I got to be the witness couple and really enjoyed it (it kept us awake more than anything!). That night we had an amazing dinner with Grandpa and Grandma at Hamilton's and really loved getting to spend time visiting! The next day, after our "farm breakfast," we visited Aunt Deanna while she was tending 4 kids during lunch hour (talk about a hectic that Brady and I are not used to!).
We spent the next couple of days in Idaho Falls; me playing in a basketball game with Susan and with my mom coaching, swimming in LoAnn and Evan Belnap's indoor pool, and walking Kia. We left Saturday morning and stopped in New Port to visit Grandma and Grandpa Coulston where Brady's family met us and we had dinner and enjoyed our last evening on vacation visiting.
It was a great, smooth trip and we really appreciate everyone's hospitality towards Brady and I. We were anxious and glad to get back home but not excited for school to start Monday. Brady spent Sunday being sick and I got to teach sharing time in primary.
We survived our first week of school and spent our day off today golfing. I golfed my very first round of 9 holes and did great for my first time. Although, I can't believe how tired my arms are! Brady and Ryan just think I'm a baby (which may be true) but either way, I won't be golfing with them tomorrow cuz I won't be able to move my arms.
