Birthday Adventures

Yesterday was my 27th birthday.  Nathan and I had not planned anything very exciting to mark the occasion other than a trip out to dinner to the Texas Road House.  I was just expecting a very mellow day.  Let me explain why birthdays in my family were never a really big deal.  It was not because we weren't loved or nobody cared, it was just a matter of every ones birthdays falling in the same week. Birthday overload. We usually shared one cake and it felt more like a mini Christmas in May.   Here's the timeline we celebrate every year.

• May 24th My sister Sam's Birthday
• May 25th My parent's Anniversary
• May 26th My Birthday
• May 27th My Father's Birthday
• May 28th My Mother's Birthday and my Father-in-Law's Birthday

 Before you ask, No, none of this was planned.  My parents did not know each others birthdays at the time they picked May 25th to get married, and my sister and I both made our entrance's into the world slightly earlier than our expected due dates.  And thus we end up with mini Christmas in May.

Yesteray started off like most other days that Nathan and I are lucky enough to both be off work.  He got home from working the night shift and took my car to the tire store to have new tires put on.  In the mean time I went to the local high school to pick up our weekly delivery from Bountiful Baskets.  If you dont know what this is you should click the link to find out.  After these errends Nate took a  nap (remember he just worked the night shift) and I did alittle work around the house.  A little after three PM we headed over to his parents house for a visit before heading out to dinner.  They were not home when we got there so Nate decided to take his brothers new dump truck for a spin and took me along for the ride.  Nate's family owns several peices of large equipement to do odd jobs but I had never before ridden in any of it.  That was the first adventure/ or thing I had never done that I did on my birthday. 

Brian's new dump truck.  Just a little guy.

When Nates parents returned we had a nice visit than drove into the city for dinner. The resterant was crowded as to be expected on a Satureday night but we still enjoyed the time together.

On the drive home I decided that I wanted to do another thing that I had previously never done.  I have lived in Utah my entire life and near the Great Salt Lake for the last four year but I had never been to the lake shore or touched the water.  It was time for that to happen!  I asked Nate to take me out to a giant rock that stands on the southern corner of the GSL so that I could finally touch the water.    We had a good time even though a storm was blowing in and as Nate was saying in hes best pirate voice "the waters be angry, and the winds are fierce."

I'm finally at the Great Salt Lake.

Nathan at the Lake.

I told you the wind was blowing.  This was about the time that Nate was speaking like a Sailor.

Nathan climbing the giant rock.  I'm too afraid of hights to join him.

All in all it ended up as a very memorable day and a Happy Birthday. 

Happy Sunday Y'all 

Happy Birthday Dad.

Happy Mothers Day

To start off I would like to wish everyone who reads this post a Happy Mothers day.  I hope that you are all able to find a meaningful way to celebrate the important women in you life.
I would especially like to thank my own mother for being MY Mom.  She is one of my very best friends.  She is my example of how a wife and mother should be, she is one of my ultimate supporters and confidants.  She encourages the best in me and is honest to help me see when I am wrong.  She has sacrificed many of her own dreams so that she can help my siblings and I achieve our own.
It took me several years to realize how amazing my Mom really is.  In truth it was not until I moved out to go to college 90 minutes a way from home that I discovered how much I had come to rely on all that my Mother gave to me.   I can remember times in those first few weeks when I would have to run to Wal-mart to have more minutes put on my phone card so that I could dial the long distance number to ask my mom a simple question like how she cooked her chicken, or the best way to deal with a situation with my roommates or class assignments.  It was not until I was 'out of the nest' as you may say that I started to learn all the lessons that she had diligently tried to teach me over the years but that I chose not to pay attention to.  In my young mind I would think "why would I need to learn how to cook and clean or make a shopping list and budget money when she was always there to do it for me?"  She knew that she would not always be there.  I ended up learning many lessons the hard way.
Over the weeks and months our calls became a little less of my questions and more and more like two friends calling to check in on each other and see what we were up too.  Since that time our friendship has grown and matured.  We now speak at least a few times a week about all the big and little things going on in our lives. Thank you Mom for you constant love and support.  You are the best.  Someday I hope that I can be as great a Mother to my future children as you are to me.

I love you Mom

Happy Mothers Day! 

Happy Sunday Ya'll

Enjoy the Simple Things in Life

Nathan and I (my name is Jen by the way) enjoy living a simple/ quiet life. As this plaque that we received as wedding present states 'Life is beautiful in its simplicity.' We have found these words to be true.

In the over three and a half years that we have been married it has been the quiet times that we are able to spend together that have meant the most to us. We are not the type of people who go in search of a party or a crowd but more often we choose to stay home and watch a movie, laugh at the funny things our dog does, or cook dinner together.

  As the title to this blog says it’s a country life for us. That sums us up for many reasons.

• We choose to and LOVE living in a small town. (really it only has one stop light)
• We enjoy being outdoors. The closer to the mountains the better.
• We like to get away from the noise and the constant Go-Go-Go mentality of the city.
• All of Nathans family lives out here.
• Nathan has a horse and although we do not have room for him currently, someday our next home will have horse property and so Buck can stay with us.
•  Nathan is an avid hunter and we also enjoy fishing and horseback riding.
•  We dislike the traffic and the chaos of city driving.

I’m sure that the list could just go on and on if I really thought about it. But I do not feel the need to justify it. Pure and simple it is just the way we are.

Happy Tuesday Ya'll