Utah Lake

Since the weather has been AMAZING we went out with some of the Hamblins to Utah Lake last weekend. Everyone tried their hand at surfing...except for me. I was 1. on camera duty 2. based on everyone's reactions once they jumped in the water, it was FREEZING 3. Utah Lake kind of creeps me out, well most lakes, but...I am taking baby steps to get over my fears (just not this particular day)

Here's some pics of Jake surfing....

Hopefully the weather will stay this way for a little longer...I am NOT ready for winter!!! In the meantime we will be squeezing in as much fun in the sun while we can!

Meet Rue...

The newest addition to our little family....

Stir crazy....

Its 4:00 in the afternoon...I'm still in my pajamas. Vertigo, nausea, and a raging ear infection are to blame. I have a hard time being plastered to my bed. If it was easier for me to lay still and sleep for a couple days, I would probably be feeling better by now. But I had "things" to do, so I'm still feeling like crap. I'm praying these antibiotics knock this infection out soon.

In the meantime I have...

*an amazing thunderstorm

*Maya Angelou

*my journal

and last but certainly not least...

*Ben and Jerry

Those should keep me busy until the hubby gets home from work. Maybe I can even force a nap in there somewhere?

Lake Powell 2010

Once again our annual Lake Powell trip was a blast! One huge house, 6 large crazy families, plus 6 boats = an amazing, entertaining trip :) Me and Jake drove down with a couple of his sisters and spent the night in Paige, AZ. We made it down there kind of early, and for those of you that have been there, you know there is NOTHING to do....so we decided to go for a walk. Beautiful blue skies turned into this...

A wet t-shirt contest....sexy right?

The next day we headed out bright and early to meet up with the rest of the crew. Jake's parents went down a couple days early and found us a great place to park the house boat for a week.

We have a couple of traditions when we go...

The first is a trip to Labyrinth Canyon. This could be one of the coolest places I've been. It is a super narrow, windy canyon. To make it through with out totaling the boat we have everyone sit along the edge of the boat with their feet out and we basically "walk" the boat as far back as we can go. It opens up to a small pool where we tie up the boats and swim the rest of the way. There are some parts that are so narrow you can barely fit through. Next time we go I'm investing in a waterproof camera so I can get some shots of it. It's amazing.

We also hike to Rainbow Bridge. Its one of the biggest arches and sacred Indian ground.

(above are the Mom's...who seriously make this trip possible and delicious!)

Our last stop on the tradition train is at Dangling Rope. Everyone loves stopping here. We get ice cream, fill up on gas...and debate whether or not the cashier (who is always working there) is a man or a woman. This year we decided "man"

Jake and I have our own traditions. Every year we go on at least one major climb. Here we are at the top of one of the cliffs we climbed...

Of course the week went by too quick with way too many stories and pictures to share....and now we are back to the grind.

We love you Lake Powell...until next time :)

Its a CRAZY life....

Seriously, I have hardly had time to breathe let alone blog....because I FINALLY got a job!!!!! When we left California we decided to drive all night. Well, I drove...and Jake slept ;) but we made it home around 10 am. I had a message from my sister in law to call a good friend of the Hamblins because he needed some help in the office. I gave him a call when I got home and started the job AN HOUR later! It was exhausting and I was pretty much sleep walking through out the day. But worth it, I am in love with my new job. Its a breathe of fresh air to actually enjoy going to work. I feel really lucky. And on top of staying super busy there I am still working nights at Wingers. My poor husband, dog, and house have all been neglected this last little while but luckily we are off to Lake Powell in the morning for some much needed R&R! I seriously can't wait....I look forward to this trip all year. It could possibly be the best week out of the year...hands down.

See you when we get back!!

Apologies....

I'm not sure if anyone reads this anymore since I NEVER blog....I'm horrible at it. So I'm sorry if you do!! Here's a little update of the Hamblins....

We recently got home from a trip to California. It was amazing. We started off the trip in Monterey at the Hamblin beach house for a family reunion. It was fun for me to get to know a bunch of the Hamblins that I've never met before. We spent time at the Monterey Bay aquarium, the Warf, taking some cool hikes, and of course the beach! My camera was MIA for half the trip so I don't have any pictures of Monterey. I'm bummed. My most favorite part of Monterey was the awesome beach bonfire we had in Carmel. I love a good fire and smores!!!

The rest of the family headed home after a couple of days and me and Jake decided to head up to San Francisco. I had never been before and seriously could not wait!! We did and saw so many things so I won't bore you with details...but here are some pictures!

Wedding Pictures!!

These are a couple of my favorites. Our photographer Carrie did an AMAZING job! If you ever need a great photographer check her out.... www.carrieowensphotography.com

FINALLY!!

Cozumel

Our last stop was Cozumel....we love love loved this stop! It was by far our favorite. We went on an amazing snorkeling adventure out in the middle of the ocean. We saw everything from sea turtles and beautiful fish to jelly fish...which happened to sting both of us on several occasions..

After snorkeling we stopped at a little island for a Delicious lunch! We got to relax there for a while in some hammocks on the beach before heading back to the ship.

We are planning on getting scuba certified this year and would LOVE to go back and go scuba diving there!!

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Costa Maya

We did a lot of relaxing in Costa Maya. We managed to get away from the touristy cruise ship area and took a cab to down town. We hung out on the beach, had a fabulous lunch right next to the ocean, and Jake rounded up a guy to serenade me while we ate!

Belize

Despite the fact that it was FREEZING half the time, we had a blast on our honeymoon! We took a cruise and our first stop was BELIZE....

It was beautiful! We went on an amazing hike through the jungle and then tubed down a river through this HUGE cave. SO FUN! Our tour guide was hilarious and nick named me and Jake Little Jaguar and Big Jaguar. We would randomly hear him shout out our "names" to make sure we were doing ok in the cave. Its pitch black in the cave so you have to wear these sweet helmets with head lamps. We also were required to wear closed toe shoes...we both showed up in sandals so we had to rent these disgusting, USED, and still wet water socks....

This is one of the ferry boats that brought us into Belize from the ship.

We wish we could have stayed there longer and will definitely be planning a trip back!

Engagements

We had an amazing photographer! She was so much fun to work with and did a great job on our photos. Here are a couple of our favorites...enjoy :)

... and if you need a great photographer check Carrie Owens out at www.carrieowensphotography.com

Two become ONE....

well....we finally tied the knot!!! We couldn't have asked for a better day. It was perfect. I know if I was reading this I would be gagging, but it really was....everything went so smoothly. And even the minor details (like my zipper breaking) didn't even matter! It was so great to see our family and friends all gathered together so celebrate such a great moment in our lives. Thanks to everyone for coming and making it that much more special!