The Petersen Family

Valentine's Day Crafts

2012-02-08T10:24:00.000-08:00

So I have been extra crafty lately and I love it!!!

Here is what I made for Valentine's Day...

Thank you to my Mom, Stevie and Mandy for your help, supplies, ideas and good company :)

Christmas Crafts

2012-01-06T11:56:00.000-08:00

My friend Mandy and I have been crafting often. Here are some cute crafts we did for Christmas:

Disneyland

2012-01-04T21:24:00.000-08:00

Disney Treats

2012-01-04T21:02:00.000-08:00

So this year for Christmas my Parents decided to take everyone to Disneyland. Well in preparation I made some fun Mickey Mouse treats to take along.

I also made a cute headband:

Turkey Trot

2011-12-08T21:17:00.000-08:00

Michael and I decided to take up running. I know what was I thinking, I have always hated running, but it has been fun exercising with my hubby. Anyway, we ran our first race on Thanksgiving morning. In Mesa they have a 10k race called the turkey trot. Even though we weren't any where close to the front, it was still a huge accomplishment for me just to finish. Now we need to find the next race to keep us motivated to continue running.

Fall Crafts

2011-12-08T21:10:00.000-08:00

So I have been busy making all kind of fun crafts. But I only took pictures of a few.

For Fall my friend Mandy and I made these, aren't they cute! They were so easy. My mom got the kits off etsy. Here's the link if you are interested. She has really cute Christmas craft kits too. http://www.etsy.com/shop/wellgood?ref=ss_profile

Then I wanted to make a fall wreath. I barely got it done before Thanksgiving, but at least it was up for a few days.

Lake Powell 2011

2011-12-08T21:06:00.000-08:00

HaHa... I just realized I created this post months ago, but never posted it. Well better late than never!

This trip was awesome! The usual skiing, wake boarding, swimming, jet skiing, slot canyons, pirates, ect, ect... But this year we made the long trek to Rainbow Bridge.

July...

2011-09-30T23:05:00.000-07:00

July was awesome, we had a blast this month.

It stared it out with Forth of July in Pinetop! We went there with our friends Jenny and Nolynn. We spent our time relaxing, eating, and we went to the Taylor Rodeo!

Then we made our annual trip to Lake Powell.....Separate Post....check out the pics.

Then at the end of July we went back up to Pinetop/Eager for a Non-Reunion for Michael's side of the family. I call it a non-reunion is because a reunion was planned, but then cancelled due to the huge fires outside of Eager. Well the fires were under control and everyone still wanted to get together so we did! The weekend was so much fun, great food, horseback riding, quads, and fun company! It was a blast.

June....

2011-09-29T10:40:00.000-07:00

So I know June was busy, but I can't remember everything we did. But two of my favorite thing were going to Utah for Logan's baby blessing!

And Stephen and Brittney got Married!!!!

The other great part of June.... I was called to be the Primary president in my ward. I was the second counselor, so lucky I knew a little bit of what I was doing, but had a lot more to learn. It has been so much fun. Being in the Primary is my favorite calling. I feel so lucky to be with all the children!

May.... Hawaii

2011-09-28T20:36:00.000-07:00

May....

So in May Michael got to go to Hawaii for the first time. We went to Maui with my parents. We had such a blast. The weather was great, the beaches were beautiful and the food was delicious.

While in Hawaii we got to snorkel. Michael and I saw tons of fish, sea turtles, and we even saw a manta ray. This is a first for both of us. It was amazing how big and graceful these rays are.

We also went to Haleakala Crater. Wow it was cold and windy up there.

We took a tour boat snorkeling around Lania. I was a great trip aboard a giant adventure raft. While over at lania we saw an octopus and a huge pod of dolphins.

We drove the road to Hana, which was a lot of fun and worth the day long trip. Over by Hana we did the pepiwa trail which was amazing. There are gorgeous waterfall all along the way, a bamboo forest and at the end is a 200 foot waterfall that is spectacular.

When we came off the trail at the base where the water flows to the ocean is the seven sacred pools or the .... The pools area was closed so we couldn't go swimming, but it was still beautiful to see.

Also along the road to Hana we saw a black sand beach, red sand beach, Charles Lundbergs grave, ate coconut candy, walked some lava tubes and went through who knows how many twists and turns.

After Maui we took two days on Oahu. There we went to the Dole pineapple plantation and had pineapple ice cream. Unfortunately Michael and my dad didn't want to do the giant maze... oh well.

We went to the Polyneisan Culture Center, which I love. It was so fun. I really enjoyed our day there. While there we did a luau and say their show Breath of Life. Wow, that was truly amazing, if you ever make it over to the Polynesian Center make sure you see the show.

We also got to see the Hawaii Temple.

The next day we spent at Pearl Harbor. Also a must if you go to Oahu. We did the audio tour which was definitely the way to go.

Over all it was a fabulous trip. I think Michael would go again sometime :)

4 Month Recap

2011-09-27T22:56:00.000-07:00

It appears that I am a seasonal blogger. So here is a recap on the summer months...

This summer was packed with stuff....But before I get into the summer I wanted to show you some of the projects I completed in the spring:

For Karly and Kayla I made fun spring dresses. Aren't they cute....

I made this car seat canopy for Stevie and Logan. Then I made a matching bag

And I still have so many other projects to do.

Also my garden has gone fairly well. I definitely need more practice but here are some fruits of my labor :)

I decided, since there was so much this summer I'll put them in separate posts. Soon to come: May, June, July, Aug....

Cave of Bells

2011-05-18T19:54:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we went to Cave of Bells with Stacy, Artie and Tyler. It was so much fun and the cave was amazing.

Backyard Update

2011-05-09T21:38:00.000-07:00

We decided to use our tax return on our back yard. So not only did we put a garden in, but we also added grass! We absolutely love it, but our dogs might love it even more. It has definitely cut down on the amount of dirt and dust in our house so that is a big plus. We spend so much more time in our back yard, it makes me so happy :)

The garden is also doing amazing! After only a few weeks from planting we had things sprouting all over the place. Now it has been just over a month since planting and everything is growing like crazy, especially the corn, tomatoes and sunflowers. We have already picked some tomatoes. I even gave Jacob a few for his birthday. And I have used some of my basil in my cooking. It is awesome having a garden! Check out the pics!

Corn!

Aren't they beautiful!

The irrigation is in. No more watering by hand!

Michael's Birthday

2011-05-09T17:07:00.000-07:00

For Michael's birthday we took him out to The Keg for dinner, of course it was amazing. Although Michael decided to try the escargot, which I dont think he was a fan of. Luckily the prime rib there is so delicious.

On Michael's actual birthday he had to work a twelve hour clinical shift, but I wanted him to have something fun for his birthday so when he got home he found a basket with a note telling him I wanted to tell him 27 things I love about him, but he would have to find them first. I sent him on an easter egg hunt around the house. He had a lots of fun.

For Michael's Birthday, along with family, we got Michael a new BBQ grill. He loves it! In the last month we have used it multiple time each week and already went through one tank of propane. Michael is an excellent griller!

Planting

2011-04-06T22:47:00.000-07:00

Saturday I finished filling the beds with a wonderful soil mixture of soil, manure and mulch. Then I soaked them to get water nice and deep. Dont they look awesome!

Monday Michael and I went to the nursery. Since summer is just around the corner I needed to get some transplants for the things I am a little late in planting. I also got seeds of the things that do great in the summer. So in box one I have green onions, lettuce, carrots, radishes, tomatoes and sunflowers. In box two I have bell peppers, banana pepper, corn, squash, zucchini, cantaloupe, and watermelon. I have strawberries but I'm not sure where I'm putting them yet.

I am having so much fun with my garden. And Michael is doing a great job helping me out with some plants and watering. I cant wait to get my irrigation system in.

When I was planting on Monday I had a visitor to the garden. A Humming Bird! It was so awesome, it was flying all around the plants and got with in 3 feet of me. So yesterday I bought a humming bird feeder in hopes that it will come back. No sign of him yet.

I did make the mistake of letting the dog come in the garden while I was planting and of course while I wasn't looking Stark decides to eat the tops off my onions. You would think I would kick the dogs out after that, but no of course not. So Gambit shows some interest in the strawberry plants and what does he do, knocks one of the developing strawberries right off. I know they like gardening, but I guess they need to stay out :(

GARDEN TIME!

2011-04-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

So we decided to start a garden.... ok I decided, and Michael is going a long with it and doing lots of extra work. Don't I have a great husband. Anyway when we moved in to our new house last June the back yard was completely bare, just a ton of hard rocky dirt. So what better to fill it up than a garden.

For inspiration we went to Michael's Uncle's house, he has a beautiful every fruitful garden. He gave us some good pointers to get us started. Originally I planned to plant right at ground level and mix in compost and potting soil. Well last week I spent at least 3-4 days soaking the dirt and digging at it. Much to my disappointment I was only about 4 inches deep. This ground was ridiculously hard. So I persuaded Michael to help make me raised garden boxes. This was a great idea and I love them. They are 12 ft. x 4 ft. Michael cut the wood and I put them together. What do you think?

The dogs love the garden boxes.... well I think it might be the soil and manure they love. Our dogs may have an interest in gardening, but I'm afraid they might smoother it with too much love. So we decided to build a fence to protect our investment.

In order to put the fence in, we needed to bury posts. Well I already said how hard the ground was, so Michael decided to rent a Two-man Auger. That's right I said two-man. Michael thought that a one-man auger wouldn't be strong enough for our hard ground. So I agreed to the two-man auger even though I was a bit afraid, those things are huge, let's just say when the auger was sitting on top of the ground the handles were practically in my arm pits. Michael said all I would have to do is weigh down the one side. Well that is not even close to what happened. Once that auger dug a hole WE had to pull it out and that thing was not lite.
So much for just weighing down one side. At the beginning I tried pulling it up with my arm strength and that wasn't working. It got to a point where I had to squat down a put my shoulder under the handles in order to get enough lift.

I wish I would have taken a picture to show you all how big this was next to me. But this picture is of two full grown men, you can just imagine me and Michael with one of these. And I didn't even get a hard hat!

Well we only had 5 holes to dig and that didn't take long. We had the auger for 4 hours and since we had plenty of time I thought it would be great to break up the ground that the raised beds would be sitting on. Well this turned out to be exhausting. Lifting and moving that auger over and over wore me out, but it was worth it. Check out the ground now.... this will be great for the plants and drainage. But next time Michael will have to get someone else to help run the auger :)

I will keep everyone updated on our progress.

Masters Complete Dec 2010!

2011-04-02T16:08:00.000-07:00

Wow, has it really been since September since I last Blogged.....I guess it's true. Well I guess some exciting stuff has happened since September. I think the best thing was I completed my thesis and finally got my MASTERS DEGREE!!! It was a lot of hard work and long hours but it was worth it. I officially graduated this last December 2010.

For those of you that are interested my thesis was a project-based thesis where I created Riding Through Life a curriculum guide for utilizing equine assisted learning with children who have high functioning autism. It ended up being almost 140 pages! It was a huge project. In November and December there were some days I spent over 16 hours working on it. My faculty adviser didn't think I could complete it in time, but I pulled it off and I think it turned out great If you want to read my thesis or just take a look, it was published on Proquest, here is the link: http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.prescott.edu/pqdtlocal1005733/docview/840632464/previewPDF/12E7DF65093190AB10E/1?accountid=28426

I'm hoping you don't need a password to get on. Enjoy :)

Making Bread

2010-09-08T19:47:00.000-07:00

I have started making my own bread and it is taste. My mom got me a wheat grinder and a bosch for my birthday/wedding present and I love them. Last month my friend Mandy and I went to a cooking class at Shar’s kitchen center. At that class they taught us how to make fresh whole wheat bread. Well the next day we decided to practice ourselves so we wouldn’t forget all the little tips and techniques. We ground our own wheat and threw all the ingredients in the bosch. A couple hours later to our surprise the bread turned out amazing. I have made bread about 4 times since and every time it comes out great. If you want the recipe go to our cooking blog at http://easy-fun-delicious.blogspot.com. The recipe makes 4-5 loaves. Don’t they look great.

Summer Fun

2010-09-08T19:36:00.000-07:00

This summer was filled with fun and exciting trip: Just a few included: Lake Powell with my family. We spent a week on a house boat and had a wonderful time. Since our normal time to go to Lake Powell is the second week in July, we expected it to super hot, but to our delight the This weather was pretty nice. I don’t know how we got so lucky.
This year was awesome. It was Michael and Kyle’s first year and they fit in great. The best part of Lake Powell is Pirates Day. This year was one of the best. We had a return of Captain Brown Beard (Artie), our treasure map and a treasure chest full of goodies. New this year we had new pirates, Silver hook (Michael) and Brown Beard’s sister (Me). We planned out a little skit to introduce us. Michael definitely scared the littlest kids, he even made some of them cry. He sure looked scary. We had a great time.

Also this summer we got to do a little camping with Shawn and Chris’s family. We went out to the Chiricahua Mountains. We had a lot of fun, we eat great food, played a bunch or games, practiced out shooting, hiked and got a little rain. What a blast!

Scuba Trip

2010-09-01T21:25:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention my scuba trip this year. In January some of my family went to Cozumel Mexico for an awesome diving. Here are some of the pictures I took:

Other Big News

2010-08-31T07:53:00.000-07:00

Michael got in to the nursing program with Eastern Arizona College. I am so proud of him. The faculty told the students they had three times as many applicants this year than in the past, so it was very competitive. We are so happy, but he’ll have a lot of work and studying the next couple years.
Michael is attending their Globe campus. Luckily the drive from our house is only about 50 minutes and he only has to go to Globe 3 days a week. Then starting next semester his clinical will be in Phoenix or Chandler, so he’ll only have to go to Globe twice a week. Also there are four other students from the Valley so they all carpool. It has really worked out great.

Also this summer we decided to buy a house. And since Michael is commuting to Globe three days a week we decided to move east… way east. We found a cute house out in Apache Junction near Ironwood and Southern. It’s 3 bedroom, two bath and just perfect for us and our dogs. One of these days we’ll plan a house warming party, I’ll keep you updated. Check out the pictures:

Honeymoon in Disney World

2010-08-27T17:37:00.000-07:00

Michael and I decided we wanted to be big kids for our honeymoon, so we went to Disney World. Talk about a great place for a honeymoon, Disney knows how to do things right. We had a great time. We stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort.
We had park hopper passes so we went everywhere, met characters, rode all the best rides and eat way too much food. The first night we got there our flight arrived around 10pm. Well the Magic Kingdom was open late that night until 3am. Since we came from AZ 3am was only midnight our time. So we went straight to the park. It wasn’t too busy that late and we got to ride all the major rides that night. This was fun, but I made the mistake of making breakfast reservations the next morning at 8am at the Animal Kingdom. That night we only got about 4 hours of sleep, thank goodness for naps. :)The Animal Kingdom was awesome; my favorite rides there were the African Safari and Expedition Everest. So amazing, on the safari we saw all kinds of animals, my favorites were the giraffes. Also at this park they had Finding Nemo the Musical; it was so well done I made Michael take me to it twice.Epcot was also great, especially their food. We had our best meals here. One night we ate at the French Bistro, wow best tenderloin I have ever had and the crème brule, yum. We also eat at the Chinese restaurant The Nine Dragons; this was so good probably the best Chinese I’ve ever had. I’d definitely recommend both places to eat if you ever go to Epcot. I also really enjoyed their aquarium, the sharks, dolphins and fish were awesome.
Hollywood Studios was also a blast. Tower of Terror, best ride there, always fun. I loved Fantasmic and the Beauty and the Beast show. We also enjoyed a stunt show and plenty of other attractions.Typhoon Lagoon is one of the water parks they have there. We spent one day there and had a blast. This was probably the best water park I’ve ever been too. I feel like I’m saying “ the best ever a lot”, well that’s Disney for ya. :)
We also spent some time in Downtown Disney. Again more great food down here, we ate at the Wolfgang Puck Cafe, very taste. :) We also saw the Cirque du Soleil Show called La Nouba. It was very entertaining.
The parks were fun, the food was great, accommodations excellent, and then we had a surprise visitor our second to last day….

So, I decided to start packing our suitcases for our trip home the next day. I picked up a Disney shopping bag to see if I forgot something inside and saw nothing so I dropped it on the floor and a snake came out of it. My first thought was “Michael, it is not funny to put a fake snake in my bag”, I reached down to pick it up and scold Michael, when all of a sudden it moved. I jumped on the bed and quickly realized it wasn’t fake or a prank. It was only about a foot long and pencil thin. It was Reddish orange, black and yellowish white. I knew it looked like one of those snakes that could be poisonous or its look alike that’s not poisonous. And of course I couldn’t remember the riddle. Anyway, I called the front desk and told them we had a snake, and the lady asked me, “Are you sure it’s a snake and not a lizard?” Duh, I know the difference between a snake and a lizard… Well I told it was definitely a snake. She said they would send someone over, but if I didn’t feel safe to leave the room. Yeah right, I wasn’t going to take my eye off that thing, no way it was slithering into my bag. Well, it turns out when the maintenance guy got there he was overjoyed to see that we hadn’t harmed the snake. He told us it was a scarlet king snake and was harmless. It’s the coral snake that is poisonous. He said in all his 20+ years of working there he had only seen 3 of those guys and called them “God’s gift to Earth”. He must really like snakes. Well it was a fun experience and made for a good story. Lesson learned: Red on yellow kills a fellow, Red on black won’t hurt jack. I guess I won’t be forgetting that riddle anytime soon.

We Got Married!!!

2010-08-26T23:10:00.000-07:00

Ok, although our puppies are awesome, some more important things have happened in the last 10 month….. MICHAEL AND I GOT MARRIED!!!! I think this is what took up most of my time and attention the first part of this year, but I have no excuse for not updating my blog for the last 4 monthish.
I already wrote about when we got engaged so I’ll skip to our engagement pictures, they're AWESOME! We hired Spencer Boerup as our photographer and he did an amazing job. For our engagement pictures we decided to add our Wildcat vs. Sun Devil rivalry, we had a lot of fun with it. Here are some of my favorites:
Then on Feb. 12th, 2010 in the Mesa Arizona Temple, Michael and I were sealed for time and all eternity. It was an amazing day. :) Everything went so perfect that day. We started off with a morning ceremony. Michael picked me up so we could go to the temple early together. I remember looking at Michael as we drove there, thinking how happy I was and lucky to have found him. The ceremony was wonderful. Following that we had a family luncheon at the Landmark. The food was great and we had a great time relaxing and having fun with our family and close friends. From there the fun continued, I got my hair and makeup all done up for pictures, thanks Julia and Brittany. Michael and I went to the Temple first for our pictures and told our families to come a little later. The Petersen side was all there at the time we told them and mine well they were running on Loftfield time and showed up 30 minutes late. You would think I would have learned to give them an earlier time, knowing they would be late. Oh well it all worked out. After our photo session we went over to the Regency Gardens where we help our Mesa Reception. The place looked amazing. The family got their early so we could eat… on the menu bread bowls soup, fruit, veggies and a hot chocolate bar, yum yum. The reception went great. We had a picture booth, which was a blast. Check out some pictures. Overall the whole night was a success. No major problem, no frantic moments, it was a calm peaceful, enjoyable day. And the following day we got to get up and head to Tucson for reception number two. This was held at my parents house and it looked amazing, well how couldn’t it with my mom in charge.:) She is absolutely amazing when it comes to putting wedding together. It was another great evening. Thank you to all our family and friends that came for our wedding weekend.

What's new... a puppy

2010-08-26T00:49:00.001-07:00

So a lot has happened since my last post…. I know it has been forever or 10 months!!!!

In my last post we had just got Gambit, our wonderful white lab. Well now Gambit is 11 months old. Wow time flies. Here are some pictures of him. He used to be so small and now he’s huge.
Then...
Now...
The top two pictures are with Tucker, his best friend (Mandy’s boxer). They have been together since we first got Gambit. And when Mandy got married we got to babysit Tucker for the last 6 month, since she couldn’t have Tucker in the new place they lived. We have loved having Tucker and will be sad when Mandy takes him back. He really has taught Gambit so much and has kept Gambit from chewing everything up… well maybe not everything. Just a couple weeks ago Gambit decided to tear the stuffing out of the arm of our couch… got to love the puppy chew phase. I’m pretty sure this was a rebellion against having our new addition….

In preparation for Tucker leaving us soon, :( we decided to get another dog to help keep Gambit entertained. So we found an adorable boxer puppy.
We found him in the classified ads 2 weeks before we were heading to Lake Powell, so we asked the owner of the litter to hold him for the next 3 weeks. I wanted to take him home so bad, but I had to wait. It actually turned out great he was a little bigger and not so fragile for Gambit to play with. After throwing a few names around we decided to name our new puppy Stark. Since Gambit came from an X-men character we decided to keep with the super hero theme and named him after Ironman’s Tony Stark.
Well when we first got Stark, Gambit wasn’t too thrilled, he growled at him the first couple days. Now they are great friends and love to play tug-o-war and wrestle. We love having them!

Our New Puppy!!!

2009-11-21T09:54:00.001-08:00

Michael and I got a puppy. He is sooooo cute! We decided to name him Gambit. We got him on Nov. 1st and he is a beautiful white lab. We absolutely love him. Right now we are working on potty training and not biting us so hard, man those teeth are sharp. We have bought him all kinds of toys which he likes but still wants to chew on everything else as well.

We already take him on walks so he is learning to walk on a leash. He will hopfully start puppy training classes in January.

He loves Tucker (my roommate Mandy's Boxer) they play all the time, chasing eachother, eating together, and Tucker lets Gambit chew on him as much as he want...so sweet. Tucker is a boy and when we brought Gambit home he kept trying to nurse off of Tucker. It was so funny, poor Tucker. Luckily he has got over that.

I'm Getting Married

2009-11-14T20:01:00.001-08:00

So for those of you that didn't read on Facebook.... Michael and I are getting married. We are so excited. Michael proposed on Oct. 4th, and it was a very pleasent surprise. We'll I knew it would be soon, but I didn't know it would be that weekend. The week before Michael and I had been looking at rings here and there and I found a couple I really liked, but figured I would look some more. We had plans to meet my parents up in Pinetop for Conference weekend, so Michael told me we would keep looking when we got back. I figure he was going to ask my dad to marry me that weekend and so he didn't want to look until after he talked to my dad. Michael and my dad went to Preisthood session on Saturdaynight and before we went to bed I asked Michael if he talked to my dad. He told me no and that he would rather do it over the phone later. He could tell my disappointment and I told him it would be lame to do it over the phone, but this was all just a part of his plan to throw me off. He had talked to my dad and already had the ring, but I didn't know either. I went to bed a little annoyed thinking Michael missed the perfect opportunity to talk to my dad, oh well. Sunday came and in between the two sessions Michael and I decided to go for a walk. There is this hiking spot we love to visit when we come up to Pinetop. It's a great trail that crosses a stream a few time. We got to the first crossing, which is a place we tend to stop, sit on the log and occassionally take some pictures. So we stop to look at the beautiful view. As Michael holds me in his arms he tells me about how much he loves me, how luck he feels to be with me, and so on.... then he gets down on one knee, pulls out a ring and asks me to marry him. Of course I say yes. It was so sweet and the perfect setting. I was so surprised and over joyed. We went back to the cabin where my Parents already knew the good news. We then called family to let them know. If I would have known I would have at least showered and dressed up for the picture :) Oh well.

So now I've been looking at weeding magazines, wedding dress shopping and so on. We set the date for Friday, February 12th. The reception will be that night in Mesa at the Regency Gardens. It's going to be beautiful. We hope you all can make it. Here's a picture of the inside:

NARHA Test

2009-10-23T10:23:00.000-07:00

So in one of my last blog post I mentioned a NARHA test I was taking so that I could become a Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor. Well anyway the test was last month and I passed!!! I was so nervous about it. There were two portions of the test a teaching part and a riding part. I felt confident enough about the teaching part, since I have been teaching similar lessons since March. But the riding part scared me. I never took lessons and we still learning all the basics. For the test I needed to know how to walk, trot, post trot, canter, change leads, change diagonals, transitions ect. All these moves had to be done in a specific pattern. I know that might not seem like much but for some one that just started learning to canter 3 weeks before the test it's a bit intimidating. As well as being nervous about just riding the pattern, I was riding some where I have never ridden, on a horse I didn't know, and at night. Anyway before the ride I was nervous, but as soon as I was in the arena I was calm and only thought about the pattern. It all went so well, thanks to the help of Bob the horse I was assigned and the ladies from my work there to cheer me on. Terra, my boss, spent hours with me the months before preparing me to take the test. I couldn't have done it without her. She's amazing and I am so grateful for her help. Here are some pictures from that day:

California Trip

2009-09-19T22:39:00.001-07:00

So in August Stevie, Michael and I went to California to visit my Aunt Shelley and my friend Larisa. We were able to do all kinds of fun things...

Alcatraz

A view of San Francisco from Alcatraz

Krazy Hats on Peir 39/Fisherman's Wharf

Giants Game

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

Muir Woods

The trip was a blast. Michael has never been to the Bay area so it was fun showing him around and I was able to do things I've never done before ever though I've been to San Fran many times. This was the first time I have ever gone over the Golden Gate Bridge. Other first for me were: Six Flags Discovery Kingdon, taking the train from San Fran the Sacramento, going to the Giants game at the new AT&T Park and seeing Muir Woods. I loved Muir woods it was amazing. The park is full of Redwoods and Giant Sequoias. These trees are amazing!!! I've never seen trees like these. the forrest was beautiful. I'm so glad we got to go there. I hope we can go back next time we visit so we can go on a longer hike.

All in all the trip was a success :)

Summer at Work!!

2009-09-19T22:37:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know I have been working at Hunkapi Horse Programs since February. And I'm having a blast! I get to work with kids and horses, what could be better. Anyway, here is a little about what this summer has been like.... First it's been very hot and I am getting a wonderful farmers tan. June was a normal month and luckily not as hot as I thought it would be, but then came July...
In July we cut back on our lessons. So I only worked a couple early mornings and some evenings. And our barn was closed for August, it is just too hot and the horses needed a break. Even though the barn was closed in August I continued working on my own riding skills and exercise the horses occasionally. I've been learning to post-trot, canter/lope, and all that good stuff. Wow has this been a leg workout. I am preparing to become a therapeutic riding instructor through an organization called NARHA. There is a workshop/certification this September where I will have to past a lesson and riding test. Wish me luck! In July most of our horses went up to camp. We took 11 of our horses up on the Mogollian Rim. There we worked with Camp Colley, a camp for kids provided by the Phoenix Parks and Recreations. We had week long overnight camps all through July. I was able to spend part of one week up there. Camp Colley had a group of 17 kids from the city there and we brought 13 kids from our program that have special needs. The time I spent up there was great, but a lot of work. One thing I really enjoyed was seeing how welcoming and accepting the Camp Colley kids were to our kids with special needs. The interactions and fun they had together was great to see. I feel so lucky to be a part of a program that can help so many individuals. I don't have any pictures of camp right now, maybe later...

4th of July

2009-08-17T14:06:00.000-07:00

Now that I got my owe camera I have been taking more picture. I just need to get better about updating my blog. So here are picture from 4th of July. We went up to our cabin in Pinetop. It was so nice to get out of the heat and into the pine trees. :) While in Pinetop we went hiking, played card games (mainly poker), went to a rodeo and I was able to meet more of Michael's family. It was a relaxing fun weekend.

Michael's cousin Jake was in the Eager rodeo. He did a fun event call the pickup race... here's the video.

Memorial Day Pictures

2009-08-03T17:28:00.001-07:00

So I know it's now August and yes it has taken me this long to post Memorial Day Picture. This last Memorial Day was a ton of fun. We went down to Saint David to Stacy and Artie's house for a day filled with fun!!!!

We ate great food and homemade icecream, played on the quads, zipline and went shooting. What also made it nice was that Stevie came down from Idaho that weekend for Jacob's baptism. So my whole family was there and we talked Michael and the Bayardo family into joining us.

Favorite Bottled Root Beer

2009-08-03T12:22:00.001-07:00

In my last post I told you about the Soda Pop Shop. We have been on a search for the Best Bottled Root Beer. My favorites so far are Buckin' Root Beer and Sparky's. The rest of these are also very good. It's crazy how all the root beers taste so different. Try some of these out and let me know what you think!

Also I found a website (www.delicioussparklingtemperancedrinks.net/rbeer/Beers.html) that did a root beer taste test and here is their rankings and what they had to say:

Buckin'- Not in the taste test. Too bad it's my favorite

Sparky's - Made by Knox Brewing Co. of Pacific Grove, CA. This brand is not available in the Midwest, but Kevin Knox kindly sent a bottle for us to try. This brand is sweetened with cane sugar and honey, but the "botanical extracts" and spices give the first sip a bitterness which initially put some of the reviewers off. "It has a lot of flavor, its just not a good flavor." "Has a goofy aftertaste, but the taste of vanilla, honey and molasses is pleasant." After the first sip, most of the reviewers warmed to the taste: "A very interesting combo of flavors with a minty aftertaste." "It smells great and its growing on me after the initial shock." Sparky's website. - Score: 3.14

Iron Horse - A train-themed root beer bottled in Edina, Minnesota. "Thick creamy. Very creamy flavor - not much intense flavor - this is a subtle brew," one reviewer wrote. The testers enjoyed the creamy vanilla taste, but some found it a little overly sweet. - Score: 3.52

Abita - Bottled in Abita Springs, Louisiana. The beautiful label features a stylized homage to Louisiana cane sugar, which is this brew's prime ingredient (also listed in the formulation is the secretive "root beer flavor"). Our reviewers wrote: "Pretty good punch to it, but I wish it was creamier." " Sharp on the tongue. I like this, a root beer that wakes me up with fizz & flavor. A bit bitter in the aftertaste, but just for a moment. A full, bold flavor." "Not very creamy. Contains a wider taste spectrum than it does root beer flavor." "Nice little punch, agreeable taste." Abita Brewing website. - Score: 3.43

Henry Weinhard's - Bottled by Blitz-Weinhard Brewery in Portland, Oregon. The reviewers found this brew flavorful and complex: "Nice appearance, interesting taste, complex, vanilla-y. Not what I would expect root beer to taste like, but still good." "Great full flavor. No initial sizzling burst of carbonation, but this one rolls over my tongue so easily I'm sad to finish the sample." Though some did not care for the flavor: "Creamy head. Subtle yet nasty aroma. Complex, subtle, conspiratorial." - Score: 3.40

Virgil's - Another old-fashioned style root beer with all-natural ingredients: anise, licorice, bourbon vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, wintergreen, sweet birch, molasses, nutmeg, pimento berry oil, balsam oil and oil of cassia. Our reviewers enjoyed the complex flavors, but overall found it a bit weak in taste: "Vanilla aroma, refreshing fizz, but I'm not crazy about the fruity taste which gets stronger with each sip." "Molasses-y but not a lasting flavor. Aftertaste is medicinal." "Cola flavor. Not much root beer here." "In the end, it tastes more like RC than root beer." Virgil's website. - Score: 2.69

Fitz's- Not in the contest, but very good.

All you Root Beer lovers ENJOY!!!!

Hello Again!

2009-07-17T16:41:00.001-07:00

Like usual it has been a long time since my last post. I'm really not very good at keeping up with things. Well anyway, as you know I have been living in Mesa since January. I love it here, except the heat and not seeing my family very often. I think they need to come up to visit me more, hint, hint.

So the last few months have been filled with all kinds of fun things. First of all for those of you who don't know I am dating a great guy. His name is Michael. And here's a cute picture of us.

Michael and I have tons of fun together and like to stay busy. Over the last couple months we have done all kind of stuff.

FREE TICKETS- Some how we have been lucky enough to get free tickets to all kinds things. We have been able to go see the Diamondbacks play, unfortunatly they haven't been very good. We have seen the Phoenix Roadrunners, which was lots of fun for me since I had only been to one other hockey game in my life. My work gave us tickets to see Cavalia which was amazing. It is a Cirque du Soliel show with horses. The tricks and stunts they performed were so fun to watch. Check out their website http://www.cavalia.net/

OTHER NEW ADVENTURE- Michael likes to take me to do things I've never done so we've been busy...

One night we rode the light rail, which took us down town were we wnt to the Phoenix Science Center. We then took the light rail to Tempe were we hiked up "A" mountain. Then we walked down to Mill Ave. and ate pizza at Slices.

We've also been to:

Jesterz- an improv comedy place

The Soda Pop Shop- a fun store that sells bottled soda from all over the world. They have a whole isle just of rootbeers, so we have been trying all different kinds to try and find our favorite.

Tempe Impov- the other week we went to the Tempe Improv were we saw Iliza Shlesinger the winner of Last Comic Standing season 6. She was funny, but I think I was expecting better. Oh well it was a lot of fun.

We've also kept busy with other things like, going to the drive-in movies, playing games, going to the driving range, eating out, trips to Tucson, Pinetop, Eager, Saint David, and so on. Life has been pretty good to me this year :)

Trip to Idaho!!!

2009-04-02T20:31:00.000-07:00

I went to Idaho the other week to visit Stevie! It was a great trip. My mom, grandma, aunt, Stacy, Kayla and Karly all got to go. We had a fun time hangin with Stevie and seeing all the hard work she has done at school. She made a beautiful cake that was displayed in an event show put on by the school. Her cake was for a New Years party with a Swing Dance theme. I'm not going to lie, her cake was by far the best one there and I'm not just saying that because she is my sister. See for yourself....
This was another cake she made for her mid-term. Check out her blog if you want to see more pictures. http://teeanngiggles.blogspot.com/

2009-03-20T14:49:00.000-07:00

Since my last post I have done a lot, but don't have any pictures to prove it! (maybe I should get a camera)
Some of the things I have done/am doing:
Moved to Mesa
Started my internship
Making new friends
Cheering for UofA B-ball
Had a Birthday
Two visits to Chauncey Ranch
Went to the Match Play Tournament
and plenty of other things in between.

So far I love living in Mesa. I've been living here about two months and am having a blast. My roommates are all very nice (I have 5 of them) and my new ward has been fun.

For my internship I get to work with kids and horses, what can be better! Most of the kids we work with have special needs, we do some group sessions and some individual lessons. The kids seem to have a great time and I just love to see them smile! Everyday I go home with a different story. It is such a rewarding program. I am hoping to start leading groups and lessons in the next couple weeks!

I'll try to start taking pictures for my next post!

Skydiving

2009-01-20T21:48:00.000-08:00

I got to go SKYDIVING again! And it was awesome! I think it was better this time, probably because I wasn't nervous at all. I was able to go with a big group of my friend from Tucson. We had so much fun.
This was our practice jump! This was another practice option.
This is ME! We got to do a backward sommersault out of the plane and then we did some spins during our free fall. We jump at 13, 000 ft, then free fall a little under a minute until we get to 5, 000 ft., I think they said we fall about 1,000 every 5 secs, CRAZY! It is so amazing!My istructor was awesome. He let me pull the cord to release the chute and he let me steer part of the time.

Snowboarding

2009-01-20T21:34:00.001-08:00

So I tried snowboarding for the first time a couple weeks ago. It was so much fun and so exhausting! We went up Mt. Lemmon, which to my surprise had decent snow. I was on my butt more often than I would have liked and getting back up was not always easy. And since this was mine and Adam's first time our friend, Jeremiah, chose to take us down Black Diamonds (the hardest trails) for the first two runs. I will say for snowboarding the more difficult and steeper trails where actually easier, well easier to get up after falling I should say. I had a blast and was sore for at least three days. Ever muscle in my body hurt, but it was worth it and I'd love to try it again sometime!

I think a fell on the flat parts more than anything...don't I look great!

Jeremiah definitely has had more practice!

Christmas

2009-01-20T21:12:00.000-08:00

Christmas was fun, it was a small group this year and that was really nice. Although big groups are a blast too! Here are some pics...

Delicious Recipes

2009-01-11T10:56:00.001-08:00

Check out the blog my sister Shawn created where we can post easy and delicious recipes. If you want to be able to share and post your own recipes let me know and she can add you as a contributor! http://easy-fun-delicious.blogspot.com/

Vegas Bowl

2009-01-02T16:26:00.000-08:00

I did get to go to the Las Vegas Bowl- UofA vs. BYU. It was a blast, especially since UofA won!!!! I went to the game with a bunch of friend and most of them cheered for the wrong team, but I wont hold that against them ;-) It was cold but cheering for the winning team befinitely helped keep me warm!

Always Busy!

2009-01-02T15:47:00.000-08:00

So now that I have new friends in Tucson I am always busy. Between my ward, instiivitie and friends planning stuff I feel like I'm doing fun things all the time. I love it! The dumb thing is now that I've made friends I'm going to more to Phoenix and have to start all over. Oh well it will be a new adventure :-)

This month so of the stuff I did included going to an IceCats game UAvs. ASU. And then IHOP afterwards for a late night breakfast.

I went to a dance which was tons of fun. But my feet were killing me by the end. I'm just not used to wearing 4 inch heels and dancing for hours!

Then there has been parties, games nights, ultimate frisbee, golf, and plenty of other things to keep me busy. I definitley stay up later than I used too, but it's been lots of fun.

Curses

2008-12-22T17:48:00.000-08:00

On Thanksgiving we played a hilarious game called Curses! You have to do all kinds of dumb stuff. Artie had to have his wrist on his chest almost the whole game.

Chris had to do a dance move every time he spoke. Shawn had to act like a monkey when she spoke and Stevie had to mimic everything Shawn did. There were many more curses and we were laughing the whole game!

The Ranch

2008-12-22T17:25:00.000-08:00

So my favorite part about school is going to the ranch

and playing with the horses. It was cold this last time

I went up there but still fun.

Luckily my new boots kept my feet warm!

After the ranch I went to a workshop in Phoenix to learn about facilitating business workshops using equine assisted learning.

One night after the workshop we went to a

resturant called Saddle Ranch. That night they had a bull ridding contest, which of course we had to participate in. One of my friends ended up winning and got $100. It was pretty fun, I would definitely recommend trying it! I'd do it again even though I was sore for days.

Look What I Made!

2008-11-06T14:00:00.001-08:00

So I wanted to show everyone what I made! Well, I got the patterns from Stevie. She made my sisters and I all dresses for Christmas. So I took one of the patterns and shortened it to make shirts! Aren't they cute. I must say I am a little proud of my work :-)

So you don't get the best view of the the shirt but the picture was better with Karly in it!

This is the dress Steive made me. Isn't it cute!

2008-11-06T13:40:00.000-08:00

So I know it has been awhile. But things are going well. School has been good, a lot of research and writing. It's nice not having to go to a scheduled class, but I think I might actually like that.

Anyway, I get to go back up to Prescott this weekend for school and another trip to the ranch. I'm very excited about the ranch part! I even got new boots!

Other than that I went to Idaho and Utah for about 3 weeks in Sept. Which was overall very fun. I love seeing Stevie! And since then I have been working on making new friends. I started going to the university ward here in Tucson, which has been fun.

I have been going to a bunch of activities like FHE, institute class and whatever else comes along.

I also found some guys to play golf with a couple times!
I just played last Saturday and had a blast. I'm not very good, but I think that is what makes it fun, no pressure!

Lake Powell

2008-09-13T22:44:00.000-07:00

This year was amazing. We could not have asked for a better trip. The weather was perfect, the water was great and the company was the best. We only missed having the Schagel crew:(

We had so much fun. With everything from wake boarding, skiing, hiking, jet skiing, treasure hunt and pirate night, fireworks (the good ones), good food, card and dice games, ect, ect, ect.... who wouldn't have fun!!!

School

2008-08-25T12:16:00.000-07:00

So for all of you that don't know, I have decided to go back to school. I am attending Prescott College (but still living in Tucson). I origanally was going to get my Masters in Counseling and Psychology with a concentration in Equine Assisted Mental Health, but when I went to my orientation and registration last week I discovered that I really dont want to be a counselor. So I did some research and found that the Master's in Education with a consentration in Equine Assisted Learning is a much better fit. I'm really excited about the program and had a great time in Prescott. Here are some pictures from last week.

I started out at the campus for 3 1/2 days. We had registration and workshops to attend. The weather was wonderful and the town was beautiful. Then I spent 3 1/2 days on a Ranch.

This is my firend Meredith. She is also attending Prescott College.

We had giant Banana Splits in the Town Square. Yum, Yum!

The Ranch and horses were amazing. It was hard to leave. I can't wait to go back in November.

Shawn's B-day

2008-08-20T19:46:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Shawn's birthday last week. The best part was being able to get all the family together. That seems harder and harder to do as we seem to grow larger in numbers almost every year. This year Stevie made Shawn's cake. It didn't come out exactly as she planned, but I thought it was awesome. It was a Mad Hatter cake with edible pictures covering the layers (how creative is that). Stevie has made amazing cakes this last year. If you want to see more check out her blog http://teeanngiggles.blogspot.com/

Silver Medal

2008-08-20T19:28:00.000-07:00

A good friend of my family, Lacey Nymeyer, won a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics in the 4x100 freestyle swimming event. Lacey has had a every successful career so far and we are very proud of her.

A bunch of friends and family gathered to watch the race and celebrate her victory. We had such a blast. I love watching the Olympics, but when you know some one participating in an event makes it even better.

Camping

2008-08-09T19:05:00.000-07:00

Camping with the Schagels is always fun. We played cards, hide-n-go seek in the dark, gatorade top racing, dirt bike riding, hiking and much more. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

My most recent adventures

2008-06-28T22:54:00.000-07:00

Well I just got back from my most recent adventure. The past 3 weeks I have been in Salt Lake at the Genealogy Library, in Rexburg visiting Stevie, in Sacramento with Larisa and then near Oakland visiting my Aunt Shelley and her family.

The Library was great, I met Shelia in SLC so we could spend as many hours as possible in the Library only breaking to eat. This past year I have really become interested in family history work. I love finding new names and doing the work for them. It is so fascinating! I also love using the New Family Search site.

I had a blast with Stevie. We went to movies, ate a bunch of junk and went to the ice caves. We got muddy and a little banged up, but had fun doing it.

It was really fun to see Larisa and her brand new baby boy. I also got to play with her older son Kyser, we became pretty close buds.

My visits with Aunt Shelley are always a blast. She said she felt like she was on vacation all week too. She kept us busy from start to finish. The week started with floating on a raft down the American River and ended with a tour of Alcatraz. In between included a pedicure, massages, Great America, Yoga, eating out, movies at night, Fisherman's Wharf and the Aquarium of the Bay. I had a great time and there is still more to do the next time I visit.
Thanks everyone for all the awesome adventures!

House in Pinetop

2008-06-28T22:44:00.000-07:00

Some of my most exciting news is that I bought a house in Pinetop, AZ. And if you're wondering, no I'm not moving there permantly, but I love to be there as much as possible. So if any of you want to visit let me know.

My family is going up for the 4th of July. It will be nice to get out of the 100+ weather.

Here, There and Everywhere

2008-06-28T22:12:00.000-07:00

This year has been filled with all kinds of trips. Since the beginning of the year I have been on a cruise to the Caribbean. I have gone to visit Stevie in Idaho (twice). Once for the Rexburg Temple Dedication.

And I just got back from visiting her again during her summer session.

I have been scuba diving in Cozumel. Where I was able to use my new underwater camera. Check out some of the pictures I think they came out pretty good.

In April My Whole Family went to Disneyland. We had a blast and the kids were surprisingly good the whole time.

Then there have been trips to Pinetop, AZ; Helping as a cooks at Girls Camp, Spending time at the Genealogy library in Salt Lake, Camping with Shawn and Chris, and occasionally just hangin' at home in Tucson. So far it has been a very busy year.

Finally!!!!

2008-06-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

So all my sisters have cute blogs and I'm feeling a little left out. I guess I'm jumping on the band wagon. I will try to keep this updated so whoever is interested can know what's new with me.