Memorial Day Weekend

We went on a backpacking trip to Dark Canyon for the weekend. Everything we read about it said it was a strenuous hike, but it doesn't quite prepare one for the experience.
This is a picture of the canyon that we hiked into, it's in the middle. The trail starts right in front of us. It was pretty steep and the 40 lb backpack didn't help. There is a lightly traveled trail into the canyon. Very lightly traveled, in fact if it weren't for the little piles of rocks marking the trail (the piles are called cairns), it would be nearly impossible to pick out.
The side of the canyon is about a 45 degree angle, there are switchbacks, but the terrain is really rough. It reminded me of walking down a precarious staircase...for miles. My legs were shaking by the time we got to the bottom.
The hike it was worth it though, it was pretty and quiet. The hike in deters most people I'm sure, we only saw a few other hikers the whole time.
The first night was really windy and sand blew into our tent the whole night. We definitely didn't get much sleep that night.
Luckily the wind died down and it was really nice the rest of the time.


We had a few days to rest our legs before we hiked out again.

It was a great trip AND we actually took pictures.
This is a huge step for us. We usually don't take a camera anywhere and when we do we forget to take pictures. I actually have even more that are posted here, it's kind of amazing.

The last 2 years

I couldn't believe it had been two years since I posted on this blog last. So much has happened. Mostly good, some very trying. Here are a few of the events in my life that occurred during the last couple years.

1. Frank came home from Afghanistan :)
2. I got accepted to nursing school
3. Frank has been promoted twice
4. We have taken some fun trips to California
5. We hiked part of the narrows in Zion Canyon
6. Frank was really sick for 6 months
7. I lost a friend
8. I made wonderful new friends
9. Kirt (my brother) got married
10. I got 2 new nieces (they are so cute)
11. We celebrated our 4th and 5th anniversaries (6 is coming up next month)
12. I graduated from nursing school

Those are just a few highlights. I'm sure I am still missing some good ones. It really should say school and studying between each one of those things. It seems like school has consumed most of my life. I'm so happy it's over (for now).

Hello Again

I hadn't wrote in this blog in so long that I forgot I had it. Stay tuned and I will update some events that occurred over the past few years that I missed.

Freedom

Freedom has been on my mind today. No doubt because today we get to exercise our right to vote. I've been thinking about our freedom and the freedom of other countries.

Many people speak out against our involvement with Iraq and Afghanistan. They think that it is none of our business or that we should ignore what occurs in other countries. I believe these people are misinformed or worse without compassion for their fellow man.

We did not win our freedom from England without the help of other countries. The Jews did not gain freedom from Germany without help, in fact very few of them were able to fight at all. Throughout history the freedom of one people is often gained only with the help of another.

Why should we be the ones to help? Because we can. That should be all the reason that is needed. Freedom has no price. It is worth every sacrifice to achieve. It is hypocritical to claim to believe in freedom, yet do nothing when others do not have it.

Those soldiers that have died in these countries have not died in vain. We dishonor them by suggesting that this is the case. They died heroes, fighting for freedom. They died selfless, because it was not their own freedom they fought for. They died honorably, serving their country.

It is only because Americans were willing to die for freedom that we have the right to voice our opinions about government. That we had the right to vote today. That if we are unhappy with government we can change it.

I hope that one day all people will be able to say that they are free. We should be proud and honored to help bring that freedom to them.

A Suicide Bomber Hit into the Convoy Frank Was In

First I will say that the only person that got hurt was the suicide bomber. He got blown up, but the vehicle he hit only suffered a flat tire.
I am so thankful that all of the soldiers came out of that situation unscathed. Especially my Frankie.

4 months to go

Just four more months till Frank is home. It will be nice to have him home with out a chance of leaving for a while. In the past 2 years we have not seen alot of each other.
Frank left for boot camp in Feb of 2007 and he was in training till the end of June. When he got home we were told there was a fairly good chance of him going on this deployment to Afghanistan, which eventually turned into a sure thing that he was going. They began training for the deployment in January of this year. The training was at Camp Williams, which is not far from where we live, but there were nights that they would not let him come home. Then at the end of Febuary he left to go to Washington and from there to Afghanistan. So by the time he gets home, I will have only seen him for 7 months of the last 2 years.
We are lucky, we get to talk to each other alot and there are other families that are not able to, but it is still hard. It is a comfort to hear from him almost every day.
I miss his presence and his help around the house. I'm also not really looking forward to the Holidays without him. Although, he will be home for my Birthday and he has missed that the last two years.
I have included some of the most recent pictures I have recieved from him.

Yard Work

Here is the latest addition to my plant collection. Its much bigger than it looks in the picture. The biggest leaf is about 10 inches across.

Afghanistan

Here are some pictures from Frank

Whole wheat enchiladas?

I tried making enchiladas with whole wheat tortillas. I don't recommend it. Just incase any of you were trying to healthy up a recipe, skip the enchiladas. They are good just the way they are.

Frank's living quarters (rabbit hutch)

Here are some pictures of the little hut that Frank gets to live in while he is in Afghanistan. It looks kind of like a rabit hutch to me. I'm sure he's enjoying it, haha.

Home and gone again

Frank came home from training on Wednesday night and caught a plane back to Washington today. It was wonderful having him home for these few days. We didn't do anything spectacular, just enjoyed each others company. Though we did plant a tree together this morning. It is a Kadota fig, I am excited to see if it will produce any fruit this year. It was nice to do something like this together since we have not and will not get to do much together for a year. Now I will have a lovely reminder in my front yard of our time together.

Frank's Farewell

This post is a few months late, as this farwell for the soldiers going to Afghanistan was in February, but here it is anyway.
It was really nice, there were some great speeches by some of his leaders and by the Governor. Frank's unit here at Camp Williams gave him an award for the work he did for them. It was really nice, but it was heartbreaking to watch him walk away to catch his flight.

Pictures

Frank and I suck at remembering to take pictures. We have a camera, two in fact, but we forget to use them. Ususally we just forget to take them with us anywhere, but even if we do, it's likely we will for get to use them. The result of this is that we have very few pictures of ourselves. And as an example here is the only picture from our honeymoon.

Army Schedules

This month has been kinda busy for us, mostly for Frank.
I was in San Diego for work a few weekends ago, but I got alot of free time to spend with my family so that was nice.
Frank was enrolled in a Warrior Leadership course for the Army. It is a 2 week course on base learing how to lead troops. Most of the others in the course were already sargents and had been in the military for a few years. Frank didn't have as much experience and years in the Army as most of the people in the course but he did well and passed. They usually don't send soldiers with lower ranks like Frank's to these classes but Frank's leaders really think he has great potential. It's good to know that others see what I see, and it is great to have him back home.
Frank is getting deployed to Afghanistan this year. He is flying to Washington on the 22nd day of next month for a few months of training and then off to the other side of the world for a year. Untill then he will be in training here at Camp Williams 7 days a week.
We know our time is short together so we are going to spend as much together as possible and we are looking foward to a visit next week from Frank's Mom and sister.

Movies movies movies

We saw alot of movies over this past weekend.  

On friday we saw Beowulf in 3D and I am Legend

Then on Saturday we saw August Rush

They were all pretty good, but August Rush was my favorite.  It was a really good story and it  inspired Frank to play me songs on his guitar until I fell asleep, it was nice.  

How it all began and where we've been

Frank and I began our lives togther on June 11th of 2005. We were in love then and are even more so now.
Our first apartment was in Laguna Hills. We lived there for about a year before we decided to relocated to Utah. It was hard to leave family and friends but thought that our goal of home ownership would be more easily achieved there. And, we were right, about 7 months after we moved here we signed the papers for a lovely townhome.
We live near my brothers Branden and Jeremiah and thier wives Kami and Lidsey. It is nice to still have family nearby. Utah is a beautiful place to live, snuggled between mountiain ranges.
Frank joined the National Guard here in Utah in October of '06. He attented boot camp and advanced training from Feburary to June of '07 and will be deployed to Afghanistan in March of '08. It has been a struggle spending so much time away from each other so early in our marriage and having another year of each others absence looming before us. That will definitly be the biggest challenge we have had so far, but we will pray for each other and we'll make it through it. I tease Frank that he will have been gone for 1/2 of our marriage, but it is pretty close to the truth. By the time he returns we will have been married for almost 4 years and he will have been gone for about a year and a half including his training. This is definitley not what I expected in marriage, but after we make it through this, our marriage should be nearly bulletproof.
We are looking forward to the Holidays and getting to spend time with the family and friends that we don't see very often since we moved out of California. We will be spending Thanksgiving in California and we will be spending Chrismas Eve in Arizona with Frank's father and we will be back here for Christmas and my family will be coming here. These visits will also be extra special for Frank, as this will be the last time he sees most of our families for over a year.
We are thankful for each other and for our wonderful supportive families and feel truely blessed in our lives together.