Camping Adventures

Finals are over, we had the weekend off from work, what else were we to do?  We went camping!  Hooray!!  Most of the up-the-canyon campsites are still closed due to the fact there is still snow on the ground, so we chose to go to Antelope Island which is conveniently open all year round.  We got all packed up, made sure we had everything we could possibly need, and took the drive up to Syracuse aka the gateway to the island.  What could go wrong?

We soon found out.  After getting there about 5:00, we found our campsite without a problem.  It was a great spot, right by the west beach.  Perfect for watching sunsets.  When we got out of the Jeep, however, we were attacked.  To put it lightly.  There were swarms of little biting brine flies everywhere!  We couldn't believe it!  And of course, after all our careful planning and organizing, neither of us thought to bring bug spray.  Uh-oh.  Well, we thought, they'll go away after a while.  Maybe a fire will help, to kind of smoke them out.  So before the tent is even up, we started a fire.  Didn't help.  And we're not talking a minor irritation here.  We're talking biting, crawling in your ears, nose, hair, etc, making you want to run away screaming little buggers.  We got the tent up and started getting all situated, putting up the air mattress, etc.  And we brought the air mattress with a hole.  Of course we did.  No bug spray and a faulty mattress can mean only one thing.  Emergency trip to Wal-Mart!  I'm pretty sure the guy at the gate was laughing at us as we drove by in a mad rush.  Anyways, we got what we needed, doused ourselves in bug spray (100% deet and everything) and headed back.  I'm pretty sure that the bug spray didn't really help, but luckily the sun was going down and that seemed to be the brine fly cure.  We spent that night playing Uno (which I dominated) and sitting by the fire watching our dutch oven season.

It wasn't too cold either, which I thought was a bonus.  After a very windy night, we woke up to a very cold and slightly rainy outside, but we got up and started to make the infamous mountain man breakfast in the dutch oven.
It turned out super yummy!  I was so proud.  My very first dutch oven meal.  True, all I had to do was throw everything in and stir, but still.  We ended up heading back in the tent after breakfast because it was rainy and cold, played more Uno and took a nap.  We then went in a search for things to do.  And that's when it happened.  The bugs came back.  We don't want to seem like camping wusses or anything, but you have no idea.  It was bad.  So what ended up happening was we took a short hike to the top of a little mountain....
.....saw some antelope (on Antelope Island?  No way.....)......

.....took some pictures, got eaten some more by the bugs, I felt like I had lice, realized we really just wanted to go to a movie, packed up, and went home.  But before you judge, you must understand.  I had little red dots all over my hairline on my forehead and Cory's legs look like he had the chicken pox.  After we went home and showered a few dozen times, we went to the Wolverine movie (which is excellent by the way) and spent the rest of our weekend bug free.  So our three day camping trip was really only one and a half, but we've learned our lesson.  Don't go to Antelope Island in the spring.  The brine flies will eat you.  Seriously.

Um....now what?

So.  I'm done with finals.  HOORAY!!!  However, now I am left with that ever burning question: what do I do now?  I'm taking the rest of my classes through Independent Study and should be done with them fairly quickly, so that leaves a lot of my time open.  I need a new job.  Really, I do.  I've been applying anywhere and everywhere, but so far......nothing......not good.  

So here is where you all come in.  If you know of anything (and I mean anything) that people will pay me to do, and let me do it full time for a while, and preferably give me benefits, let me know.  And if it's not in Provo, excellent.  I want to get out of here for a while anyway!  ;)  Anyhoo, that is my plight for the moment.  

Oh and by the way.  Reasons I love spring:

1. Its warm enough that we took the top off the jeep.  WOOT!

2. We've have our window open for the last week.  Its excellent.

3. Last month, our utility bill was $40 less than what it was in February.  Most excellent in my book.  Lets never turn the heat on again.

4. Class is finally over

5. We had a picnic in the grass today.  And I got a little sunburned.  Summer tan, here I come!

And Lyn,  I know we need pictures, but to post pictures, we need to take pictures.  And our life consists of work and school.  Not many photo ops there, but hopefully summer will bring more!  :)

The things that happen that early in the morning....

This morning, Cory and I got up at the crack of dawn (no really, it was about 5:45), went and picked up my brother Michael, went to the middle of nowhere (which takes longer to get there since all these people keep wanting to live where the middle of nowhere once was), and shot at stuff.  Okay, it was a little more planned out and sophisticated than that, but not much.  We pulled out some targets and some bottles/random beer cans we found and shot them.  We had a little 22, a 223, and of course Cory's ever favorite 30-06.  Yah, I'm good with the 223, mostly because I can stand up while shooting, but I still feel like I'm shooting something.  Although the 22 is quite fun in its own way.  Anyways, we shot for a few hours, and then Cory wanted to go "try out" the Jeep.  On hills.  That I'm pretty sure were so steep I wouldn't be able to walk up them.  I think I'm in trouble, because it was very scary!  And this is nothing compared to all the Moab stuff Cory wants to do.  I think from now on I'll close my eyes and hang on!  :)

Just a small update.....

It rained again.  And the ceiling leaked again.  Bummer.

Jeeps and Leaky Ceilings

Life is excellent.  Well, besides the fact that I have finals this week.  But other than that small detail, life just keeps getting better and better.  But we do have a funny story!

The other day, it started raining pretty hard here in Provo, like it has been on and off for the last few weeks.  Perfect setting for popcorn and a movie.  So we decided to hook up the laptop and watch a movie in bed, mostly just in case I fell asleep.  :)  About five minutes later, I heard a "plunk.......plunk......" in the popcorn bowl that was on my nightstand.  Uh oh.  We turned on the light and sure enough!  The ceiling was dripping.  A lot.  And the paint was bubbling around the leak.  Seriously?  So we call the emergency maintenance people (keep in mind this is all happening around 9:00) and they said they would be there in about 45 minutes.  First of all, what kind of "emergency" maintenance people are 45 minutes away?  Second of all.....they didn't show.  Well, we finally went to bed and after we were asleep, Cory got a call at about 11:30.  Yah, we didn't answer.  The next day, they called back and said they would be there 12:00-12:30.  Again, no show.  As of right now, we still have a leaky ceiling and I'm just hoping it doesn't rain again!!  :)  

Okay, now for even bigger news.  A couple weeks ago, Cory and I bought our first car.  More specifically, we bought a Jeep Wrangler.  And we don't even have a car payment.  HOORAY!!  The Jeep (affectionately known as Wally) is orange, but its a good orange.  We have lots of big plans for making it super fun to drive in Moab.  Tee hee!   

Katie's Moment

I.  Hate.  Snow.  

It should be spring.

That is all.

I need more time in my life.....

It is apparent that I have been WAY too busy to update, so let me do it now while I have a few minutes.  The last month has gone very well, considering some circumstances that have arisen.  Cory and I still like each other (whew! =) ) and are still just loving being married.  School has started to pile up, and the pressure to keep it all up is growing.  Midterm tests were all last week, and one this week, but at least that part of the semester is almost over!  Work for me is going well, besides that fact that I recently got kicked in the head repeatedly.  That was super fun.  =)  Cory's work is going well too, and it looks like we'll be able to pay bills again.  Which is so not as much fun as shopping, but I'm learning.  Tee hee.  We were able to go on a mini vacation a few weeks back to Reno of all places.  That is where my grandparents are, and we went out to visit them along with the rest of my family.  Cory and I got there a day before everyone else and had some time to go see the car museum and get a lot of starbucks frappachinos.  It was so much fun.  I love vacations.  March is going to be a month full of birthdays and birthday parties, so hopefully I'll have some more to say in the near future!