Day 5: Coyote Buttes South

We did a guided hike through the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument on Day 5. We spent the first half of the day hiking through a place called Coyote Buttes South. This was probably my favorite day, and maybe Kolby’s too--- but he said that pretty much every day of the trip so it’s hard to know. There was a lot to see and a lot more exploring than hiking, which my legs were grateful for. Kolby climbed all over this place… ALL OVER IT. He was like a kid in a candy store. We had to buy permits for this area ahead of time and we didn’t see anyone the whole time we were there. They limit entrance to these places because the rocks are fragile and it would all get destroyed quickly if it ever got crowded. This place was so incredibly neat, I wish I would describe it better. Maybe I’ll just add in a few extra pictures.

Day 4: Bryce Canyon National Park

Our day at Bryce Canyon was definitely a highlight of the trip. The day started out rainy and foggy, but we just played cards in the car for about an hour and then the day turned out to be perfectly sunny and cool. We drove around to several scenic outlooks and then did a 5 mile hike that took us down into the canyon. It was all a lot of fun and Kolby got to do a lot of climbing, which is one of his favorite things to do.

Day 2 & Day 3: Zion National Park

We made it to Zion National Park fairly early on Day 2 and had planned to do a hike called The Narrows, but the trail was closed due to high water. Our Plan B was a series of smaller hikes, which turned out to be a really great way to ease into things and see a lot of the park. On our second day there we went on a 5-mile hike called Angel's Landing and a 4-mile hike to Echo Canyon. It was a lot of hiking, but everything we saw make the treks worth it.  These days seem like forever ago so I don’t have much to write about it, but here are some pictures.

Day 1: Las Vegas

I wouldn’t say that Vegas is our cup of tea. I guess it was about like I imagined it would be, but it was all still a bit overwhelming. We were just there for one night, and we stayed at the MGM Grand which was really nice. We arrived late in the evening so we took a stroll down “the strip” and did some sightseeing, including a stop to watch the fountain show outside the Bellagio that made an appearance in Ocean’s Eleven.

.

Then we headed back to our hotel for a delicious dinner at Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant and spent some time at the slot machines. I put $1 into a penny slot machine and within seconds I turned it into $4.30. Not a bad return for my first gambling experience. I cashed out and moved on to some other slot machines where I subsequently lost that $4.30 plus another $2 in a matter of minutes. And that’s how Vegas makes its money. Kolby followed a similar pattern, first doubling his money and then losing it all plus some more. I think we ended the night down $6 or so. What can I say, we’re not high rollers :)

We're Back

We’re back! We made it in late last night from our whirlwind tour of the great American southwest. It was such a fun vacation… definitely one of my all-time favorites. There’s a lot to share, especially pictures, but it’ll take me awhile to go through everything because I put my new camera to good use and filled up over 4GB of memory cards. That’s probably 1500+ pictures… yikes. I’m hoping to narrow them down to a top 10 from each destination (Vegas, Zion, Bryce, Coyote Buttes, Antelope Canyon, and Grand Canyon) and do one post for each place. Then I’ll make a flickr album and anyone who wants to see more pictures can browse that.

I don’t really know how to sum up our trip other than to say that we had an awesome time seeing some spectacular places with some really great friends. We did a little gambling, spent some good time on the road, hiked A LOT, saw some amazing sights, took way too many pictures, laughed until our stomachs hurt, played many hands of spades, hiked some more, invented the best game of all time, and made some really great memories. We really couldn’t have asked for a better trip. We’re very tired and very sore, but we’re just as pale as when we left thanks to some SPF 70 with zinc oxide :)

Great News!

Hey friends and fam,

Just wanted to share some great news... Kolby got a job!!!

It is a senior AP English position at a nearby high school. He'll also be teaching a creative writing class. It is his absolute dream job, and we are totally in awe of what a great opportunity this is for him!

The job is at a really unique school-- it follows a project-based learning model where things are done a bit differently, with a much stronger focus on technology and on independent and group learning, as opposed to lecturing. The campus is technology-rich, and all students have a laptop to use in classes. Although it is public, students must apply and only 100 or so students per grade are accepted. Kolby will be teaching their first senior class, so he'll have a LOT of flexibility with what he teaches. It will be a lot of work, but he is excited to be in a position that will require all that he has to offer. He is already hard at work thinking of summer reading.  Heaven help those kids.

We made our own great plan for Kolby to teach at our Alma Mater next year, but when that all fell through we knew God had something different in mind-- though we were devastated and really doubted that anything would work out at all. Why we let those doubts creep in when God has always, always taken care of us in one way or another this entire time is totally beyond me. I feel like an idiot for worrying so much, but I am so incredibly happy for Kolby and we are so grateful for this awesome opportunity. I’m proud of you, hubs!

Another One Bites the Dust

We had a whirlwind of a weekend around here. My best friend Laura got married, and her husband is one of Brad’s (my older bro) best friends.  We were all friends at Baylor, back before they started dating. Brad and I were both in the wedding and it was such a joy to see our friends so happy together and knowing we played a part in that.

Laura (center) was the 4th in our little group to get married.  We've all been best friends for over 10 years, and we've made some great memories being part of one another's weddings.  Katie (left) is getting married in November, and we'll officially be a group of 10!  I am so blessed to have these girls in my life.

We had wedding stuff going on Thursday through Saturday night, but I also had a work project going on that made me have to work all day on Thursday and on Friday morning, which was a bummer (grown-up life is a real drag sometimes!). Our college roommates flew in to town, our best friends from high school were here, other friends of ours from Baylor drove in… it was quite the party and we all had a blast.

Bride and groom at rehearsal:

Kolby and I had another wedding to attend on Sunday evening, and then we met up with Brad & Remy and drove down to Waco to help my parents move into their new house on Monday. 150+ boxes and a dozen mondo garbage bags of packing paper later, we had their new place completely unpacked. I wish I had taken some pictures, but I didn’t. Their place looks great and my dad started his new job yesterday. I think their new life will suit them well!

***

On the job front, Kolby now has three school districts interested in him, which is 2 more than last week. He had an interview that went really well yesterday, so we’re really hopeful that something great will come from it. We don't know when he'll hear back on anything. I wouldn’t say patience is either of our strong suits, but we’re working on it!

In other exciting news, we leave for our vacation pretty soon and we’re getting really excited. I’m taking off work for a full week, which will be my longest break (by far) since I started my job almost a year ago. I love my job, but I love vacation more!  We can’t wait!!!

Ode to my Canon 40D

My new used camera has arrived. I'm smitten. Surprisingly, so is Kolby. Who would have thought?!? I guess photography can be our new joint hobby.

Here are some pictures that I (or in some cases, Kolby) took this weekend. They aren't anything special, just some pictures from around the house so we could get in some practice with the camera before our trip. Yes, most of them are of Maya. What did you expect? These are all straight out of the camera. Someday I hope to purchase Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and learn how to edit pictures. That'll be awhile though, it's expensive.

Below is a series of pictures Kolby took around the kitchen and of clutter on our kitchen table (sparkling water, almonds, poetry books, chips... the usual!).
Back to Maya Take a guess at what that pile of fluff is. Yep, it's dog hair. Maya was way past due for her spring appointment with the furminator. And finally, a shout out to Maya's best friend (and aunt, I suppose), Muppet.

May

It’s finally May, which means a lot of fun things around here.

Most importantly, it means that Kolby only teaches SAT classes on Monday nights. He talked to his boss several weeks ago about the overscheduling, and they reached an agreement that he’d only work one day a week starting this month. It is such a relief to get to spend tons of time together again. I missed him!

It also means warm weather is becoming the norm again! The temperature has been so nice lately and we’ve enjoyed eating dinner on our back patio every night. We try to think of meals that require the grill because it makes for a fun evening outside together.

Maya has been experiencing some major spring fever these past few weeks. All she wants to do is be in the backyard chasing rabbits, eyeing the birds, or checking out all that’s going on in our neighborhood this time of year. We recently celebrated her birthday, which was fun as always. We gave her a birthday of April 22, since that is the day we brought her home 3 years ago. The pound thought she was 1 or 2, so she’s probably 4 or 5 now. As usual, we met up with some friends at the dog park to celebrate. I think everyone had a great time!

Although this isn’t specific to May, baseball season is in full swing now. If you’re not aware, Kolby LOVES baseball and is a huge Rangers fan. It’s a passion that’s always been there but has really been ramping up in the past few years. He watches or listens to almost every game. And they play 6 games a week! We went to a game a couple weeks ago with my parents and our seats were 9 rows behind home plate. At that proximity, even I can enjoy watching baseball! We had a great time and the Rangers won.
Speaking of Kolby, we were thrown quite a curveball last week when we found out a job opening that he was very hopeful about suddenly closed out of nowhere. It was his dream job and we’re really disappointed that it didn’t work out, but I guess it never hurts to be reminded that we are not in control. It is back to square one on the job front, but we are trusting that God will provide—even if it is not in the way we imagined.

Our summer vacation is now less than a month away and we’re getting really excited about it! I planned on asking for an SLR camera for my birthday/Christmas from my parents this year, and I somehow talked them into letting me get it early so I could use it on our trip. I wanted a Canon 40D, which is a really nice but also really expensive camera, so we turned to eBay and I found one that is a few years old but was in really good shape. It’s now in the mail to me and I can’t wait for it to get here! I guess I’ll have to practice by taking pictures of Maya… I’m sure she’ll be thrilled :)

Back to Baylor

Big news on the family front--- my parents are headed back to Baylor!

This is a really exciting move for my parents. They’ll get to head back to their alma mater and embark on a fun new phase in life. They have been talking for a long time about how they’d love to get back to Baylor at some point, but this was the first time that the timing worked out on Baylor’s end AND my parent’s end.

It’s a perfect position for my dad and it’s so great that it’s at Baylor (my parents dated at Baylor, got engaged at Baylor, got married at the chapel on Baylor’s campus, and my dad was a professor at Baylor for the first couple of years they were married). Oh--- this will be meaningless to anyone who didn’t go to Baylor, but to those who did--- his office will be in Pat Neff Hall! I think that’s the coolest part about the job. Pat Neff is the trademark building at Baylor; it’s in the center of campus and has the bell tower that lights up green when Baylor wins a sports game.

Russell still has two more years at Baylor, but I think he’s probably less worried about running in to mom & dad on campus and more excited about the free meals they’ll provide!

 We had the family over to celebrate the other day and I made this glorious concoction. I wish I could blame the tacky writing on the uneven surface of the Rice Krispie treats. I don’t think I’ll be getting any calls to decorate cakes anytime soon (can you even tell those are bear paws?).

Congratulations, Dad! I’m proud of you!