Anniversary Numero Uno

Well...it's official, Zach and I survived the first year of married life. Zach gave me a bouquet of flowers (below) when he came home from work and made dinner for me.  After days of thinking what I could do for him, I finally decided on writing him a letter about all experiences we've had since we first started dating and everything we've accomplished since then.  I wasn't sure if he'd like it or not, but he loved it!

The next weekend, we went down to Utah to celebrate this somewhat amazing feat.  We stayed at the Inn on the Hill in Salt Lake. It had one of the best views I've ever had in Salt Lake.  This is a picture of the daytime view from our room.

 After we got there on Saturday, we went to a Bee's game.  Zach told me beforehand that he was not a huge fan of watching baseball.  He loves playing it, but he compared going to one as watching golf on TV.  That is so not the case!  Anyway, towards the end of the game, there were a couple of college kids yelling out some ridiculously funny chants at the players.  When the opposing team was at bat, one of the guys began to say how terrible he was and the next pitch he hit a home run.  How ironic, right?  The best part was that this player's family was at the game and only two rows down from the kids.  They were disgusted at the puns belted out from these kids and their faces were priceless.  Thanks to these kids, Zach found a new love for the game, lol.  Here is a picture of us at the game.

When we got back from the game, our room was filled with lit candles and music.  So Romatic!  By the window was a bottle of sparkling cider and a little vase of flowers.  Sweetest thing ever!

On Sunday, we went to my Aunt's church and listened to her and her husband speak for their mission farewell.  They were called to serve as Mission Presidents in Mongolia.  When we got there, after getting lost due to a lack of memory on my part, we saw that Elder Hales and Elder Anderson were in attendance!  Crazy!!  Their talks were amazing and we'll miss them as they serve.

Later that day, we decided to walk around temple square.  It was a beautiful day and perfect for a stroll.  On our way back to our hotel, we found a park dedicated to Brigham Young.  It's small but cute.   There were a lot of pretty flowers around and was a nice change from the cooler weather back in Wyoming.  Here are a few pictures we took there...

We had a great anniversary and can't wait for the rest of forever!

Easter

As I was planning my Easter lesson for church, I came across a video based on Jeffrey R. Holland's April 2009 Conference address titled, "None Were With Him."  As I watched the video, I was touched and reminded of the love and sacrfices that Christ truly made on our behalf.  His willingness to suffer, bleed, and die so that we may return to our Heavenly Father is so great it is beyond comprehension.  His fulfillment of the Father's plan has brought so many blessings into the lives of others and me.  I cannot imagine living here without his wonderful sacrifice.  His willingness to stand alone and bear our burdens, sins, infirmities, and trials is more than I could bear.  No other man could have accomplished such a task.

The most moving portion of Holland's address is this, "Because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so.  His solitary journey brought great company to us, for our little version of that path...Trumpted from the summit of Calvary is the truth that we will never be left alone nor unaided, even if sometimes we may feel that we are.  Truly the Redeemer of us all said, 'I will not leave you comfortless.  My Father and I will come to you and abide with you.'  These scenes of Christ's lonely sacrifice...must never be reinacted by us.  He has walked alone once, now may I ask that never again may he have to confront sin without aid and assistance.  That he never agian will be found unresponsive or see unresponsive onlookers when he sees you and me along his via de la rosa in our present day."

Holland's plea is as mine when he said, "This Easter week and always may we stand by Jesus Christ at all times, and in all things, and in all places that we may be in even until death, for surely that is how he stood by us.  When it was unto death and when he had to stand entirely and utterly alone."  It is my hope that I may be able to prove myself a true disciple of Christ and show that I will stand by Christ in ALL things. 

Photography

Recently, I have acquired a lot of free time.  I decided I would take some pictures around the ranch.  I love the photographs Ansel Adams takes, so I attempted to recreate something of a similar nature.  My mom told me the other day that I should buy a nice camera and open up a photography business.  I'm not sure I'm even close enough to having the talent, but I do enjoy taking a picture every now and then.

Antique

Standing Alone

A reminder of the past

This is one of my favorites!

Fred, Stumps, and Cinnamon

Fence Line

Shopping Spree

This past Saturday Wild West Motorsports was having a going-out-of-business sale.  Zach and I decided to stop by and see what they had.  We wanted a Yamaha 500, but they had already sold all of them.  All they had left was a Yamaha Grizzly 700 that was fuel injected.  Zach wanted to test it out, so he and I took it for a ride near the store, and we absolutely LOVED it.  The price was at dealer's cost so neither he nor I could go home empty handed.  Needless to say we ended up taking it home. 

We had already planned on going 4-wheeling with Ben and Lacy that day so, an hour later we were getting mud on the tires.  Earlier that day it was pretty warm, but by the time we got out it had cooled off pretty well, so after driving around and getting stuck in the snow, we built a fire and roasted hot dogs. 

When we'd reached our freezing point, we came back home and warmed up to a move at our house.

It was definately a fun, expensive weekend, but it was well worth it.  The Grizz is Zach's little baby and he has every intention of treating it like one when it's not being ridden. 

Renting Rant

Last December my husband and I moved out of our apartment in Twin Falls and came to Wyoming. A month after we moved, we received a notice from the owner concerning our deposit refund stating we owed him an additional $100 for unpaid rent and cleaning charges, and if the amount wasn't paid in 10 days we would be sent to small claims.

Upon receiving the letter I was all but happy. Here I was expecting at least $300 from our $350 deposit and all I received was a vindictive letter requesting more money!! Not only had they stated we didn't pay our first month's rent, but that the deposit amount was $50 less than what we actually paid and signed upon in our contract.

Needless to say, I sent a letter back with a copy of checks showing what we had paid. A month went by and nothing; two months, nothing. Finally, I decided that if they weren't going to take me seriously I would sound pretty serious. I sent a second letter requesting our deposit money back and stated the Idaho Tenant Laws they had violated by not responding to my first letter and gave them 3 days to comply with my request as allowed by Idaho State Law. I sent the letter via certified mail to make sure they received it and to verify timely action.

Today I received their responce. I was half expecting another rebuttal, but to my amazement it was a check. When I looked at the amount, I noticed they pocketed $50 just because they thought they deserved it or something. They still had the original deposit amount $50 short. UGH!!

I am vowing from this day forward to never rent again. Trying to get your own money back from landlords is ridiculous. I would understand if we were horrible tenants, but that was far from the truth.