So, I just finished doing all my edits for my wedding photos. I decided to do them myself since I'm a perfectionist, but this way it's taken a lot longer to get done. But, I finally think I'm finished! I know it has almost been a year, but I still love them (obviously, they are about my wedding :). So, I figured for document sake I should put them on my blog. And being an amateur photoshopper, I figured I should get some feedback if anyone has any. Thanks!
So, the more I think about this the funnier it seems. I love Skyler and he is a great husband, but he's pretty clueless when it comes to women. :) He finally admitted the other day that he thinks I am the only woman who cries. I'm not offended, I think it's hilarious. It's not like I cry every day of course, but I'm a woman. If I get really mad about something, I usually cry. Obviously the same goes for when something makes me really sad or frustrated. Also, sometimes I randomly cry during movies, commercials, or reruns of Extreme Home Makeover. I thought this was a normal thing to do... but now he's got me thinking that maybe it isn't....??? When we were leaving Chris and Alisa's Saturday night I mentioned this idea to them and Chris said "Alisa cries all the time, especially when she's pregnant. Then it's at least every other day!" And Alisa thought that was understating it! So, in the car on the way home I asked Skyler if he was convinced that I was normal yet and he said "What if it just runs in the family?" So please, my lovely fellow women, can you tell me if I'm normal or are my crying ducts just way overactive?!
So, it has been a really, really long time since I last posted. Since then Skyler and I spent a wonderful, fun filled summer in Montana with Mom and Dad, and have moved back to Provo. This semester is just about half over already! Time flies. So, I'm terrible at keeping up on my blog at the moment. But I've been telling people about our new apartment and I'm not sure if they are catching on as to the size :). So, I'll post a tour of it here:
Baby Rachel is three weeks old now! A week after she was born, we all headed down for the blessing/baptism which was so much fun. She is adorable of course and Brooke was so beautiful. She, like Emma, wore my baptism dress afterward. How special for me! It's funny to think I was that little at one point.
Before I get to the Utah trip though, Aunt Lela and Whitney came up to visit for the weekend after Memorial Day. We rode horses and went down the slide in Anaconda and had ice cream! They did lots more fun stuff while we were working. We spent some time in Anaconda checking out the fish hatchery and the railroad museum. It's actually a pretty fun place! I have been surprised at how cool of a little town it is when I used to make fun of it in high school. I have been working hard weeding in the cold and rain lately at the parks, but hopefully soon it will pay off. I took my thermos full of hot cocoa one day, but then I couldn't get it open!
It's only been about two weeks but as usual, we've been going non-stop. Troy came that Monday and did our texturing upstairs. When he was finished we asked how long it would take to dry before we could paint and he said "By the time you go to town and come back with the paint, it will be dry enough". Woohoo! We were thinking a day or two maybe. So Mom went downstairs and found some primer that we had from a previous project and we got started that afternoon. Painting is my favorite part!! We finished priming Tuesday I think and then it took us two hours in WalMart to figure out what colors we were going to do. We decided on summer pecan and sky blue, with a darker brown to do the faux on the bottom. I'll put some pictures of it so you can just see. I'm painting clouds on the horizon line of the ceiling so there is a picture of that in progress also. We have had tons of fun and Mom and Dad can't believe that we've gotten so far up there! Now all they need is carpet and the master suite upstairs will be finished. Thursday I got a call for an interview in Anaconda for the Horticulturist position. I went and felt like it went terrible (They asked questions like, "What's the best way to take care of poppies", or "What maintenance is required for a flower bed"). My answer half the time was weed, water and fertilize. What else is there to do?! Anyway, he called me later that day and said they gave the position to someone else but wanted me to help him part-time with the flower beds and part-time as the Washoe Park Pool Manager. I accepted even though I'm not too excited about being in charge of the high school lifeguards, but it was a job after weeks of nothing! It was perfect timing because we had just finished the upstairs.
This weekend was full of meetings for Dad, and a few for the rest of us, but it was great. Saturday we babysat Mark & Mary Hathaway's two oldest children so they could go to their training meetings (Skyler had a blast with them as usual). Then we headed into town to go to the adult meeting. Just before the meeting, we headed into my optometrist to pick out my NEW GLASSES!!
I finally broke down and went to the optometrist and decided I wasn't leaving until I had good answers. I have gone to two different doctors in the past two years and they never seem to listen and can't figure out my eye problems. I tried contact after contact with no success. They were always blurry and painful and dry and I ended up wearing my stupid glasses most of the time. So, I was dragging my feet to try out a doctor here in Montana because I figured he'd give me the same old thing of "just slowly get used to wearing contacts" or "put in eye drops more often". If I put in eye drops more often than I do now, I might as well not put the cap back on after each use. But, this guy was different. He wasn't exactly the most friendly doctor I've ever had, but he knew his stuff and wasn't afraid to tell me about it. So, verdict is I have Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis. Yeah. It's an infection that contact lens wearers can get from a build up of protein in the eyes. It blurs vision and makes the eyes dry and itchy as well as painful. Hmmm... well that makes sense! The only bummer part is the best way to cure it is to stop wearing contacts for a while. Hence, the reason why I got to pick out new glasses. I have some daily contacts I can wear for waterskiing and such but the fastest way to get better is to not wear them. So A+ that he "wasn't afraid to be the bad guy" and tell me the truth but D- that I have to wear glasses possibly forever. Note to everyone: CLEAN YOUR CONTACTS VERY WELL ALL THE TIME!! I did it to myself in high school because I thought I was invincible, you know how that goes.
Anyway, back to conference. The general authority who was supposed to come stay with us ended up changing assignments four days ago, so we had Elder Pace and Elder Seldon. They both stayed in hotel rooms and I only ended up meeting Elder Pace in person. But, they were great and we had a wonderful adult meeting and an equally great general session this morning. Dad was extremely stressed as always before the conference, so he was grateful to have it over with I think! He wore the tie with Orca whales that I gave him when I was in 8th grade :). He said "I wear this tie when I need comfort". That was good enough for me. It really was great and very spiritual. Dad gave a great talk first thing this morning, then had his new counselor speak and both general authorities spoke. Today, Skyler conducted his first FHE which was fun. We've been doing that since we were tiny, but his family wasn't quite as formal about it as we were. But, according to tradition, he stood in front of the TV to start the meeting. (There is a picture of me doing that when I was like 1, and it became Hogge Family Tradition).
Tomorrow, we are having Troy Jenrich come and texture the upstairs. Mom and I have spent days up there sanding and mudding to finish up the drywall, and now we can texture. After texturing is the best part of course... PAINT! That's our favorite. So, I've been quite motivated to get it all finished. It was quite the job and Dad always came home and said "You girls look terrible!" (we were white as ghosts with the sanding dust all over us!) But we had fun. 
Sky helped whenever he wasn't too tired from roofing. He is loving his job. Currently he is working on a home at Georgetown Lake which is a beautiful area and he likes that his muscles are getting big again. :) I'm still looking. I have a few prospects and hopefully something will work out soon. One is working in a youth residential treatment home which would be great experience for my major, but like mom says "If it's right, then it will work out". So, I guess I'll keep praying!
Can it really be that hard? I am having the most difficult time finding a blog template that I like and that is me and that isn't see-through! So, bear with me as I try to find something that works. If you have any recommendations for good places to look for templates, let me know. I really want a scenery one if possible. Wish me luck!
I have no idea where to begin. My last post was in March and we were just barely starting to think about what to do for the summer. Now, we are living in Fairmont, Montana with my parents. We looked unsuccessfully for a week for a job, (plus weeks and weeks of online and calling while still in school) and then at church on Sunday a friend told us that his employer (another LDS guy) was looking for some summer help. So, we went and talked to him and he said great! Especially to be able to work with someone LDS is great. Of course that's common in Utah which is wonderful, but quite rare around here. I think it all happened so fast and was so easy that it took us a while to take it in after being turned down so much. It seemed like everyone was firing their employees so obviously had no intention of hiring anyone new for the summer. Now, I just need to find one. I had an interview at the YMCA and it looked positive at first, but they decided they really didn't have enough money to hire me to help with programs and only had part time minimum wage swim lesson positions or lifeguarding. So, I'm still looking. It was great to drive around uptown Butte and remember all it's history. Skyler said "Why do people not like this place? It has so many cool buildings and actually has interesting history!!" I love him. I could have kissed him at that moment! I've spent all my life defending Butte and he (unlike so many others) is open minded enough to understand. We even saw the Pit!! Anyway, we plan on doing a lot of touring and museum visiting all over Montana this summer.
We've spent some afternoons and Saturdays working outside on "the ranch" as Dad likes to call it. So far we've built a huge bridge over the creek, pulled out fences, moved dirt with the skid steer and four wheeler, and planted trees. It's great! 
I've gotten WAY too "cityfied" though. I was quite sore after our first day of fencing and my nails look terrible. I'm sure I'll get over it soon. We've seen foxes, geese, hawks, bald eagles, antelope, cows (lots of cows), and of course tons of horses, sheep, and mules!! I love it.
***Popcorn & Shadow, our horses. Mom calls them dirt chickens because they've taken to rolling around in the mud :)
Mr. Fox who strolls by every once in a while. This happened during Sky's birthday dinner!
Mom and Dad gave Skyler a new hat to work outside in, since he loved the one he borrowed from Dad so much. Doesn't he look great?! He loves it!
My favorite are the rabbits that live in our yard. They are so cute! There two or three big rabbits and one new baby rabbit that is my friend. I've taken quite a few pictures of him and yesterday I was about three feet from him, and he came hopping towards me!! He could fit in my hand!
Mom and Skyler thinks "stash" is a good name because it looks like he has a mustache, but I think he's way too cute for that. I personally like "Fluffy" :).
Other than working outside and looking for jobs, I've been playing the piano again and we play lots of games (which Mom appreciates since Dad isn't too much of a game person). So, it should be a great summer!
p.s. here is just a glimpse of the new trees we planted. They look great and totally change the landscaping! I'll post more later. I love Montana...
WOOHOO!!! We have internet... well... we're borrowing mom and dad's. But at least now I can keep up a little better. I love being able to read everyone else's blogs to keep up on life a little more and in our last apartment we didn't have internet. So, now we are here in wonderful Montana for the summer and I'll try a little harder. We've been busy job searching and playing in the dirt and enjoying the general splendor that is living in the middle of nowhere!! I'll post some pictures soon. Have a wonderful day!
So, here we are again, end of semester (thank goodness!) and wondering what we should do for the summer. We would like to move out of Utah for a bit, but luck runs short quickly. We have looked everywhere. I know it's hard times for everyone, but I had no idea how much. I've never really had a super hard time finding a job, but we're getting a little worried. We've tried Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and a little in Utah. Skyler wants to do something outside, so we've been looking on the forest service website. I think that would be great for him! We'll work something out, but keep your ears out for us!
Other than that we have just been enjoying the sunny weather and plan on fishing and "dutch ovening" with our new dutch oven this weekend! Sky is on spring break, but BYU doesn't have spring break so I'm stuck at work and in class :(. But, we'll have fun anyway. It's just the same old thing every week! Luckily we have family to visit on the weekends to keep us sane. Have a great day everyone!!
So, while I have a few minutes (Sky has to do his accounting class online) I figured I'd better explain myself or lack thereof. We don't have internet at my house which has proved to be strange and frustrating! I feel like I am way behind with everyone's lives and acting like a newlywed hermit. Plus, I rarely get to post anything about my new life either. But, I still love you all and maybe eventually will have more time online. For now, I will just have to sneak in a few minutes here and there between work and school.
Short summary of the past two months:
Pretty much amazing. I love it. I have gone to visit family, had a new niece that is adorable, only have to cook dinner half the time (if that), and easily keep the house clean! Sky cooks amazing food and helps around the house. We're both still working on school and figuring out jobs for the summer (any suggestions would be greatly appreciated). We'd love to go somewhere other than Utah, but we'll see! Jeff came to visit and we went to Ottavio's for dinner which we highly recommend. We have done some fun things with friends, but also love just staying home all day just because we can! We definitely keep busy and aren't home too much, but I enjoy every minute I can with Sky.
We live below an elderly couple who are really nice, but the other day I woke up and there were ambulances and fire trucks outside. Fred, the elderly gentleman had fallen a few days earlier and then gotten the flu and fallen again in the night (which we heard, very unnerving sound). So, it's been a little scary for them upstairs. I feel bad being down in their basement laughing and starting our lives when they are practically at the end of theirs! But, my wonderful mom said, they aren't angry or jealous because they have had their lives, but I still feel bad. We try to go up and visit.
p.s. addition to strange things, last night Skyler and I had watched Spiderman and were heading to bed around 11 when someone knocked very hard on our door. I was already in bed, so I asked Sky to get it. When we looked out, no one was there. But, we have a front door and also a door connecting our apt with the rest of the house, and we had no idea where it came from! So, I went to bed all freaked out (there was also a spider in my bed which helped immensely) and the next morning, Sky woke me up and said there were cookies on the porch! We had gotten ding dong ditched and didn't even know it! Life is funny. We still have no idea who did it.
Anyway, everything is wonderful. We both can't wait to be done with school and move on with our lives, but we are also enjoying our time here. Today we hiked up to the waterfalls where we got engaged just to get some fresh air. It's amazing how much life can change in 5 1/2 months. It's crazy and wonderful. And the best news ever, my mom will be down in Utah to help with Doug and Heather's new baby for a few days, and hopefully we'll all get to go to the open house together!! I can't wait. My mom and I are pretty much the exact same people (with some differences of course, but we are so alike sometimes it scares me :) Maybe I should post about that someday.
So, a couple funny and strange things have happened recently and I just had to write about them. The first happened last night on my walk back to my car. I got out of class around 6:40 p.m. and was walking past the west side of the library atrium and was talking to mom and dad on the phone. It was fairly dark out but there were still plenty of people around. All of the sudden I hear this guy run up behind me laughing and then he grabs me shoulders, turns me around, still laughing, and then I see his face drain... hehe. He stammered "I'm so sorry, I thought you were my sister. I'm so sorry!" Then he backed away. As funny as it is now to think about, I was a little shaken up. I'm sure he feels dumb! Mom and dad were like "what just happened?!?". It was funny.
The second thing happened Sunday while I was getting ready for church. Skyler had left to do his home teaching at 11 a.m. and I had visiting teaching at 12:00. So, a while after he left I was in the bathroom getting ready. I had figured that we wouldn't see each other, but I thought there was a slight chance. Now, if you know me or my mom at all, you know how jumpy and imaginative we are. I hate being home alone, so I usually have music playing or at least the dryer running to have some noise and the door is definitely locked. I was blow drying my hair, so I closed the door. Then, just as I opened it to walk out, Skyler was standing right there!!! I pretty much had a heart attack. He reassures me he wasn't trying to scare me and that he was reaching to open the door to tell me he was home, but I'm not sure :). It took me a good ten minutes to calm down. I didn't want to make him feel bad, but I totally cried! It startled me so much. We laugh about it now of course. But, it makes me worried because of the way I reacted! I have always imagined what I would do if someone came in my house, but I was practically paralyzed and couldn't even think! Now I understand a little more why people can't really defend themselves. Or, maybe I'm just crazy, but you can never be too safe!!
I've decided that since the wedding is pretty much over, I should change my blog back to private. I guess since I put so much information (names and places, etc.) that I would feel better if only a few people had access. So, unless anyone has major issues with that, I probably will change in a few days and I can send out invitations to anyone who still wants to read :) Love you all!
p.s. I did survive the weekend without sky, although about 30 seconds after getting on the interstate to head to Alisa's, my car died, I had to get it towed to the dealership, and by the time I had a friend come pick me up and take me to my house, it was too late to make it to Alisa's Extravaganza, meaning another night home alone that I hadn't prepared for. But I survived and cleaned the house all day and then went to Brooke and Evan's piano recital, and then Sky came back! And you were right Becky, I sure was glad to have him home!!
Well, this morning around 9 a.m., I dropped Skyler off at UVU for him to head off to Southern Utah for three days. I've been dreading it since I knew he was going a few weeks ago, but I tried to hold it together. We decided it had been since last July that we had been apart for this long, and even then he could at least call me at night! It's crazy how alone I feel. Tonight will be the worst I'm sure, because I tend to be paraniod and think the worst, and sleeping in an empty apartment isn't my favorite. But, tomorrow I'm going to Alisa's to see her Extravaganza and spend some time with them, so that will help! But, I can't decide if I'm just wimpy and pathetic, or if I should really be this sad about being away from him! Anyway, I just can't wait until he gets back and I'm sure he is having a great time.
Also, tonight in my Psychology class we watched a movie called "In the Womb". As the title might suggest, it went through almost every week of pregnancy examining mostly the baby and some about the mother. Sometimes I found myself sick to my stomach in disgust and other times I was almost crying it was so precious! I am still unsure about the whole thing for me though... :) I guess we'll see in a few years.
Other than today's excitement, life has been wonderful. The reception in Butte was fantastic and I had such a great time! I loved it. It was great to see old friends and family. Skyler and I had to seriously talk ourselves out of quitting school and just staying in Montana. We both love it so much, so much quieter and more calm and beautiful. Maybe someday! We stayed as long as possible (we got to out house around 12:30 a.m. and still had to unpack loads of presents!) But, it is so wonderful having my own apartment. It is quiet and smells good. I clean and it stays that way. I have a washer and dryer!! And Skyler is a great roommate. He already knows to put his keys and things in the misc. drawer rather than on the counter! He really is wonderful to live with. I couldn't have asked for better!
Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well, and thanks so much for all your love and support you have showed the past month! I have the best family in the world!
The partying is half over! I can’t believe how long it took counting down to the day and how fast it has gone since. I just wanted to write a quick overview of everything for those who couldn’t make it. The week before was pretty calm surprisingly. I finished my last final that Tuesday evening, so I had three days to move into our apartment and get all the last minute stuff done. Alisa came down Thursday evening to help out, and we said goodbye to my old Park Plaza apartment Friday morning! Skyler had to pick up his parents from the SLC airport that morning also, so he came over for a few minutes just to say goodbye. Then, Alisa and I spent almost the whole day shopping and running errands. It was a great day! I had so much fun; it has been forever since we have done anything like that together. It was snowing quite a lot, so I was worried about everyone traveling, but luckily we all made it.
We stayed the night at Vince and Becky’s house with my parents, and I stayed up until 2 a.m. just doing last minute things! Then, surprisingly, I actually slept pretty well until my alarm went off at 5:45 a.m. Then I felt the nervousness and panic a little. We did everything to get ready, but my hair took forever, so everyone was sitting in the car waiting for us to finish!! We headed up to Salt Lake and only after a blessing from my Dad did I calm down and stop making myself sick. I do that for some reason when I get nervous. So grateful for the priesthood. The ride wasn’t too bad and I just tried to chat with my parents. We met everyone at the Chuck-a-Rama in SLC around 11, and once Sky finally got there, I felt great! Lots of people came and we had to overflow into the main area. It was great to see all our family and friends there supporting us. We did introductions and then ate. Surprisingly, I was hungry and ate some food! Everyone was a little surprised. Alisa had gotten a picture of the Salt Lake Temple with a mat that she was having everyone sign. It is a great keepsake. I really appreciate everything Alisa did for my wedding, and her biggest part is yet to come! (Montana Reception). After we all ate and chatted, it was time to leave. We took my bags over to the hotel and headed to the temple. We were running a little short on time, so I was getting a little panicky. Then, I called Sky and he was just barely walking from the hotel! I was definitely getting nervous at that point. But, of course we made it. It was so wonderful inside the temple with family and friends. The sealing was amazing! Then, my mom, Alisa and Skyler’s mom Sarah ran downstairs to get me into my dress to go outside!! It was crazy and we were all hurrying around. I was so flustered! Finally, we were ready and my escort took us to meet Sky. After all these weeks of having my dress, he finally got to see me. He looked so great in his tux! We came walking out the doors and everyone was there waiting for us and cheering! I couldn’t believe it was finally here and going so fast. We took some pictures on the steps and then everyone headed over to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It was sooo cold and the sun was just going down. At first I didn’t even care and didn’t need my cloak, but pretty soon I was shivering. We took some pictures of the two of us and then went inside to do more family pictures. Pretty soon we were done and jumping into a carriage to take us away to our hotel! The driver drove us around the west end of temple square and then back. It was so much fun! I’ve always secretly wanted to do that.
Everything went great until about 2 a.m. when Sky started feeling sick. Then, the next morning he was throwing up and wanting to die as we headed to the airport. Great news was waiting for us that our flight was cancelled. We waiting in line for about 30 minutes to talk to an employee who said we had to call the company because she didn’t have time to help us. I was feeling extremely put out at this point. We had just gotten married! Everything was supposed to be happy and wonderful and we were stuck in the airport, sick and with not much hope of leaving to Oregon soon. Sky waited on hold for another 30 minutes and found out the next available flight was Wednesday. I couldn’t even believe it! I was looking forward to time alone and not talking to anybody, and then I’m having to call my dad to come pick me up. I was extremely stressed and emotional understandably! I felt like standing up and saying “I’m supposed to be on my Honeymoon people! Can you give me a break?!” Little did I know it wasn’t going to get better yet. So, Alisa and my family helped out by arranging a place for us to stay that night in a wonderful bed and breakfast castle!! We were in the King suite. It was amazing, but Sky was so sick he just laid in bed most of the time. We plan on going back to have a better time. The next two nights we spent in a hotel by the airport.
Monday was my birthday, and Skyler was feeling a little better and wanted to take me out for my birthday dinner. We went to the Red Rock Café and I had steak!! It was so good. But not long after, I started feeling sick. The next morning, I was definitely sick. So, I spent all that day in bed. Wednesday was terrible trying to fly and drive around being so sick, but eventually we made it out to Oceanside. We stayed in his Aunt’s rental for the first two nights and had a fun Christmas together. We bought each other the same movie; Stardust! We think too much alike. By Friday, I was feeling mostly better and then Sky started getting a head cold. Luckily, that Saturday we had a great reception at the community center on the beach! My parents had flown in Friday, so we toured a little with them. It was so great having them there with us. Sunday we went to church and walked on the beach together and Monday they went home. That afternoon, Skyler and I finally drove to our original honeymoon spot, feeling mostly well. The next few days we walked around the little coast towns and watched the ocean. Our bed and breakfast was called the Chanel House, and it was literally right on the ocean. We had a little porch with a Jacuzzi tub which was so much fun to soak and listen to the waves. That Tuesday and Wednesday were great. We felt almost normal and were finally alone! Thursday, we headed back to his parents rental and flew out the next morning. We were hoping for a smooth day and it mostly was, except Skyler’s bag was 15 pounds over and we had to open all our bags right there in the airport and switch things around. Compared to the beginning of our trip, that was nothing! We made it back to Provo after picking my car and presents up from Vince & Becky’s and went home to our little apartment! Skyler carried me through the doorway which was actually a lot of fun! It has been soooo great having my own place to organize and keep clean. I love it. We are working on finding places to put things since we have no closets or storage places. Other than being freezing, the toilet doesn’t work and we have no microwave, life is great here!! Since then, we’ve started school and went to our first Student Married ward (where I introduced myself as Shalon Hogge :). We had our open house in Provo which was a great success and tons of fun! We had lots of family and friends. We appreciate being healthy and happy. Now, we are looking forward to the Montana Reception!
