Anniversary and Wonder Woman

We had our 2nd Anniversary in August and we celebrated by having a couples massage in the morning and then we drove down to Salt Lake to do some shopping at the Gateway and go to dinner! It ended up being a really relaxing day but it was nice to have that!  I only got one picture of us at the Clark Planetarium.  We walked through that while we waited for dinner time!

In September, I completed my first road bike race!! My friend Kylee and I went down to Payson for the Wonder Woman ride and we never thought our day would turn out like it did but it was well worth it.  We started the race about 9:30 (we were supposed to start at 8:30) or so and we didn't finish till 4:00.  We rode 60 miles and had a lot of fun and troubles along the way.  First off, we knew they would have aid stations every so many miles but somehow we missed the first one so we went about 30 miles before coming to a station.  We were really unprepared for that.  We had ate that morning around 6:30 or 7:00 and we didn't have anything till 1:00 and when you are on a bike that it WAY too long.  Let's just say we were running out of energy! All we saw was more and more road and no signs.  Luckily there was this nice man on the side of the road that was in his car, he had all his cycling gear on so we thought we would ask him if he knew where the next aid station was.  He said just about 5 miles and I think he could tell we were exhausted so he gave us some energy bars to get us to the station.  He really saved us!! 

When we got to the rest stop and "scarfed" our food.  We took a good 20 minutes there getting our energy back.  We got a picture with the Wonder Woman, hoping she could get us through the race.  We were already so behind but we were determined to finish.  Right after we had some lunch it started to downpour and let me tell you riding in the rain on a bike is no fun.  Then, the hail came and luckily there was a lady waiting for her friends and offered to let us sit in her car to wait for the storm to pass.  Turns out this was the wife of the guy that had helped us with the energy bars earlier.  We waited for about 25 -30 minutes in the car and then started on our way again.  We had to get a picture with these lifesavers of ours! There was no way we could have done it without them.  

The last half of our ride we were pushing ourselves! We wanted to give up, it was cold and we still had so far to go but we kept with it!! We had the volunteers checking up on us every so often and had some aid stations with milk, cookies, fruit, drinks, etc. to help us make it through. About 5 miles to the end, I got a flat tire but those volunteers changed my tire and we were back on our way.  And we finally finished!! Oh man, the feeling I got when I crossed the finish line was relief and accomplishment that I actually finished. It was a great day, I was sore and tired but I would definitely do it again! It was great!

Star Valley

I know this is from JULY but I wanted to blog about it just for my sake! So bear with me, I'm going to do a little catch up! At the end of July, me and Kyle made our annual trip up to Star Valley, WY with my family.  It was a blast!! This year my parents rented a house that was right where we used to go all the time growing up, it was beautiful and so relaxing! We went up with my parents and then my brother and his girlfriend came up a day later and stayed for the weekend! It was so fun to have them there! We did a lot of fun things...we love going to this restaurant for breakfast in Afton, WY.  It's just a little restaurant but it has the BEST breakfast!

Then we spent a little bit of time fishing, unfortunately the first day we were there Kyle broke his fishing pole so he couldn't do all the fishing that he was hoping for! And that was okay by me...we couldn't really be by them when they fished so my mom and I just sat on the shore with all the bugs so I could do without that! I didn't get a picture of my dad and Kyle fly fishing but this was the pond that was out our back door. :)

Jack and Hank even had some fun in the pond...we would throw their toys in the pond and they would swim out and get them.  It was actually quite entertaining since Jack never has liked the water, he almost sank to the bottom cause he had never swam like that before! 

And of course, whenever we go to Star Valley we go on a bike ride! I was excited to go too because I just got a new road bike and it was so easy and fun to ride! We had a good time!

My favorite part and probably the most eventful was the river rafting! We went up to Jackson Hole before the ride and had some lunch and did some shopping! We ate at this really good restaurant called the Merry Piglets. The eventful part was when we got to the river rafting place, it started to get really overcast and cold, even though right before it was sunny and warm.  And right as we were loading the raft into the water it started to downpour. We heard thunder and I was terrified.  Plus, we had just heard all of the stories about how high the water was and our tour guide actually said his last raft flipped completely over and everyone fell out except for him.  So..needless to say I was hanging on for dear life!  It was an adventure I'll tell you! We got soaked but it was fun!!

The last day we did some golfing, it was a great course but it was a little rainy and overcast but we had fun!

One of my favorite parts of Star Valley is coming home through Bear Lake and stopping for a raspberry shake.  We couldn't pass it up even though it was pouring and we wanted to get home fast we had to stop! (Note: don't drive through Logan canyon when its pouring rain, I thought we were going to die) We made it home and we had such a great time! Can't wait till next year!!

{Hank...}

We have a new addition to the Patterson family!! Meet Hank....

He is a cocker/springer spaniel mix and we got him around the first of June when he was about 8 weeks old so he is about 12 weeks old now! I knew the time would come to get a dog soon after we got into our house because Kyle loves dogs and couldn't wait to have a yard and a fence of our own so that we could finally have a dog! But, it has definitely been a change for us, a good change! We kinda feel like we got a good glimpse of what it would be like as parents (probably not at all the same but kind of right??!!) :) He has definitely been a fun new addition to the family! Kyle has been working his training skills and Hank can now do the basic tricks like sit, shake, lay down, and roll over.  We are still working on the biting and potty training but we will get there!! Hopefully! :) 

We've Moved!!!

That's right! We finally have a house of our own!!! We are so excited! We moved at the end of May, so we have been living in our house for about 3 weeks now!! Moving was a lot of work but I feel like we are finally settled in and I can't wait to start updates, decorating, etc.  Our house is in Clinton so we are a little far away from family and friends but it hasn't been too bad!! Here are a few pictures: 

Master Bedroom:

 Bedroom:

Master Bathroom:

Family Room:

Kitchen:

Living Room: (Don't mind our lack of furniture)

Downstairs Bathroom: 

Laundry Room:

Bedroom (maybe future TV room)

Office:

Backyard: 

Front:

We are excited to start some projects to hopefully make our house feel even more like home! Some of our projects are going to be: first, taking down the HUGE tree in the front yard.  It basically covers half of the house! ha! Then hopefully we can start updates on the bathroom and kitchen! :)  Anyway, we have loved our new neighborhood! Our neighbors are SO nice! I was a little nervous moving out to a new neighborhood, we  almost felt like tourist for a little bit, but they have made it so easy!  According to Kyle, all we need now is a dog!! I'll keep you updated!! :)

{Update..}

There has been a lot of good things that have happened lately!! We could not feel more blessed! It's just amazing how things always work out and there is really no reason to be as worried and stressed as we (maybe me mostly) are. Because everything will be okay!! We have been having problems with a car that we bought for Kyle. We bought the car in March and it was in the shop for a month, we just barely got it back last week.  We had to get a new engine and catalytic converter. Let's just say it was going to cost around $4000 - $5000 to fix.  I was stressed! We didn't have this kind of money, what were we going to do??  But luckily Kyle, with his selling abilities, got the dealership that we got the car from and Nissan to pay for the whole repair!! I could not have been happier!  Blessed! In other good news, I have been accepted to the Bachelor's nursing program at Weber State! I start in the fall!  I am nervous to go back to school but I am excited to keep learning more!! I love to learn and I just hope I can keep my motivation! But until I start school I am definitely looking forward to the spring (finally) and summer. All the camping, road trips, bbq's, warm nights, and tan lines...doesn't that sound nice??!! Now for the best news of all!!! Baby Dakota is here!!! He is such a cutie!!

Terra and Daniel are the best parents to this cute guy!!! I am so glad they let us come to the hospital and to their house so we can hold him and see him! They are such amazing friends, examples, and parents and we can't wait to see him grow up and see his personality!! There has been a lot of baby talk among my friends and family and I can't help but become a little baby hungry!! :) Don't worry I'm not pregnant! I need to get through school first but now I just can't help looking at the baby section when I go to the mall!  :)

Change is good...

Well I think???  So...I'm going to do a little venting today! Sorry!  Anyway...I have been working at a pediatric office for about a year and a half....I have learned SO much but to tell you the truth it hasn't been at all easy!!!  I came home many days in tears and feeling very down...I thought maybe I shouldn't be a nurse..maybe this isn't me! I wanted to help each patient the best that I could but I felt no matter how hard I worked or how hard I wanted to be good at something...I wasn't!! And as a result, it made it hard to go to work EVERYDAY!  With me getting a new job at Alpine Surgical Center, I was also working around 45 to 50 hours a week.  Needless to say...I was STRESSED!!  So after a few months of my busy schedule, I quit my job at the pediatric office!  Today was my last day! I can't say that I wanted to quit because I never have quit a job without having something else full time!  Also, I didn't want to feel defeated by this!  I knew I could do it but it was just taking a lot for me to feel comfortable doing my job..and I didn't like that..So, I hope that this new change will give me the confidence to continue working as a nurse.  I honestly can't see myself doing anything else!  I have always wanted to be in healthcare and hope that this new change brings some much needed happiness!  So I don't have another job yet, but I will be working at least 2 days at Alpine coming up when a nurse goes on maternity leave! I know this change was good and I hope that I can continue working on my career as a nurse with maybe just a little less stress!! :)

Have you ever???

Listened to the words of this song:

LOVE. it.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

I hope everyone had a great holiday season! I know we sure did! 
We love this time of year because we are surrounded by lots and lots of very wonderful people!  We are so blessed to have such fantastic friends and family, we don't know what we would do without them! We laughed SO much, I think we burned off a little of that holiday weight!  It was a blast!  With the annual cookie making, parties with friends and family, playing LOTS of games, and eating WAY too much food....I don't know what we are going to do with our time now that the holidays are over! It always goes by too fast! But it was great!
This year for Christmas, Kyle and I decided that we wouldn't do gifts for each other so we could spend more on the gifts for our families!! We had a lot of fun trying to find the perfect gift for everyone! I think we did a pretty good job and it was great to be able to give a little more this year!  Our Christmas celebrations started the Sunday before with Kyle's mom!  We always go up there for a yummy dinner and to exchange gifts.  We have a lot of family to visit on Christmas so it's nice to be able to spend the whole night with them rather than rushing from place to place on Christmas!  On Christmas Eve, we went to my family's party where we exchanged white elephant gifts and ate yummy food! Christmas Day Kyle and I woke up and opened our stockings, then headed over to my parent's house to open our gifts from them.  After that we went over to Kyle's dad's house and opened gifts with them. Then it was off to my Grandma's house for lunch!  It was nice this year because we had a little bit of time to take a nap before we went to Ky's Grandma's house!  Even though it is a little chaotic for us on Christmas we love all the time we had with our family!


New Year's Eve was another time for us to be with family and to laugh and play lots of fun games, which we LOVE to do!  We went up to Kyle's mom's house for the night! His mom and step-dad put on the best New Year's party!  They have tons of snacks and we play board games, poker, and other little games that you can even win money! It's SO much fun!
New Year's is always a great time to reflect on life and make goals to help us grow and I love that about this holiday!! I realize how blessed and grateful I am for all that has happened.  In 2010....

Kyle and I had our first wedding anniversary!
I graduated Nursing school!
We got to go back to the Philippines!
and have made new friends!

In 2011...I hope to..

Get our own house!  (and for Kyle that means getting a dog too!)
Go back to school for my Bachelor's Degree!
and Spend more time on others!


I can't wait for what this year is bringing!  New babies and new beginnings! Hope you all had a great 2010 but will have an even better 2011!!