Lost

We finally got around to taking Brad's jeep in to get fixed.  We had what we thought was a simple plan.  I was going to follow Brad in my car to the shop, pick him up and take him back to work.  Everything was going great up until the first stop light.  Yes, Brad went through at the end of a yellow leaving me with no choice but to stop.

No big deal I knew how to get there right, WRONG.  I thought I saw Brad turn down a street further up but once again WRONG.  So I'm going in circles trying to find Brad meanwhile Brad has turned around trying to find me.  So why haven't we just picked up our phones and called each other.  Oh that's right I left my phone home.  Was it this chaotic back in the days when cell phones didn't exist.

Once I realized I was thoroughly lost and honestly had no clue where to find DRAKE GARAGE I stopped at a gas station and asked.  After getting my directions I wasn't even close I quickly jumped in the car and made my way over.  I finally got to the garage and there was no sign of Brad or the jeep.  So being the lost and confused person I was at the time I went in and asked if they had seen a guy who brought in a green jeep.  Finally one guy mentioned he saw him walking the other direction.  EXCELLENT,  once again I jumped in my car and the chase was on.  Sure enough I find Brad walking back towards the school.  

REALLY, this shouldn't have been so difficult.

SUMMER GOAL

Brad and I will be sticking around Des Moines this summer since both of us will be working.  So I figure it's about time we figure out what there is to do in this flat corn growing country.

My list so far:

1. Buy a mountain bike for Charlie
   
2. Go Mountain Biking
   
3. Check out Saylorville lake
   
4. Rock Climbing, we here Climb Iowa is pretty good
   
5. Go on our own high adventure since Brad can't go with the scouts.
   
6. Find somewhere to go Kayaking
   
7. Hiking 
   
8. Camping
   
9. Go to Ledges State Park
   

And so much more...So if anyone has any other suggestions, or knows some good places to enjoy outdoor fun please let me know.  I'm still very new to Iowa.  

Better yet let me know if you want to come.

Maggie Sottero Dresses

I remember hating shopping for a prom/homecoming dress.  It always seemed so stressful and when we finally found one that seemed like it would work it cost way too much.  Mary has been lucky and my Aunt Janet has helped us find some amazing dresses for an even more amazing price.   I only have pictures of two of them.

PROM 2009

WITH THE JACKET AND THE BOY

THE FRONT

THE BACK

Prom 2008

Thanks to the same aunt I was extremley lucky when it came to shopping for my wedding dress.  It took about two hours and my aunt hooked us up.  My mom picked me up from the airport and we went straight to Maggie Sottero where my aunt had already pulled all the dresses I had said I liked and some she thought I'd like.  I had an incredible selection.  Found one I loved, they ordered it, and sent it to us with extra material from the same dye lot to make the jacket.  We got a killer deal and I didn't have to shop which I hate.  It's great knowing people in high places.  She sent me an email telling me they put my picture on the website.  You can check it out, my dress was the Victoriana.

Sometimes you just have to laugh...

one... When you have to evacuate a 25 story building at work because our floor thank goodness we were only on the eighth floor didn't get the memo that they were only testing the fire alarms.  This wouldn't have been so bad if Brad and I hadn't had an extra good workout at the gym the night before.  My legs were burning before I began the 8 floor decent.

two... My third calling that I have been blessed with is Scouts.  I get to work with the bears.  While we were outside playing games the boys showed me the almost perfect shell of a robins egg.  Of course I was thinking about all the diseases on this egg shell and avoided holding it for them.  Low and behold what did I find in my purse the next day?  That's right a now crushed robins egg. 

three... being sick. It started with Brad and now it's gotten to me.

four... Our wonderful old duplex that we live in has a few small problems.  The most recent has come along with the wonderful rainstorms and humidity of Iowa.  Water has been seeping into our basement.  I've done some creative rearranging to keep things dry.

Wilderness vs. Civlization

Brad wonders how it is that I lived in the wilderness... 

went weeks without showering, 

no candy, 

no junk food, 

no toothpaste,

rocks for a bed, 

drank cow tank water,

wore dirty grimy sweaty clothes, 

slept with cochroaches in my sleeping bag, 

rattle snakes threatening me while checking my traps, (aka using the bathroom) 

tarantulas, 

being eaten by chiggers, 

living off the land, 

being rolled over by boulders, 

surviving off crawdads and prickly pears, 

crawling through catclaw, 

lovin' up dried tomatoes, 

encounters with cactus

and so many other things I dare not mention.  

AND I FREAK OUT WITH A FEW ANTS IN THE KITCHEN.

a LOT of growing up to do!!!

Since Brad is in the young mens presidency we had the great privilege of making the trip to Omaha for the youth temple trip.

The wonderful spiritual experience of being at the temple was shortly followed by...

A soft bean burrito contest at Taco Bell.

ZACH GOING FOR THE WIN

ZACH'S BURRITO COMING BACK UP

I AM PROUD TO ANNOUNCE BRAD'S VICTORY

Duplicates

Some people receive multiple toasters and others multiple blenders as wedding gifts.  We were lucky enough to receive multiple skookies.  

We enjoyed our skookies as part of a Sunday afternoon snack with the Monsons.  A peanut butter skookie with ice cream and chocolate syrup quickly followed by an orange julius.  

BUONISSSIMO!!!!

NICK GETTING READY TO PARTAKE, BUON APPETITO

MICHELLE BEGGING NICK TO SHARE, 

OR MAYBE THIS WAS THE SEXY FACE?

I'm Hungry!

That's how I came home

It's hard to believe I've been home from my mission one year.  I struggled coming home from the mission.  I loved everything about being in Italy and all the incredible experiences I had.  So when it came to the end of my mission and naturally my mom was quite excited I avoided her questions and pretended like I wasn't coming home.  I didn't want trunky emails from family and friends.  I believe the letters went something like this.

Mom: I know you don't want to talk about it but I just got a letter from the mission office saying you weren't coming home until MAY 22 are you sure it's not suppose to be March?

My Reply: I'm not coming home in March.

More Background:  Completing an 18 month mission would have meant I'd be home in March however I was lucky enough to be able to stay until April and May would have just been amazing.  I still think sisters get jipped 6 months.  

What I didn't realize is how upset my mom was about me not coming home until May she complained to everyone about how they were keeping me longer.  I just kept going on with my mission until to my great surprise I received my first email from my dad.  

Dad:  Remember the joke Bill played on you when you got your mission call?  If it's ok with you I want to get Bill back and surprise your mom.  She thinks you're coming home in May.  I guess that was a typo or something.  I just got your flight plans and your coming home April 11.  I'm not going to tell anyone and I'm going to smuggle you home from the airport.  Let's get creative.

My Reply:  Sounds great.  Do whatever you want.

This was the most dangerous trick we had ever played and if anything were to go wrong it could be deadly.

So it's April 11 and I was on my way home.

6:00a.m. Italy/10:p.m. Idaho: Boarding the plan in Milano

7:00a.m./11:00p.m: Still sitting on the plane in Milano

8:00a.m./Midnight: STILL SITTING ON THE PLANE IN MILANO

9:00a.m./1:00a.m.: Still in Milano, connecting flight in Frankfurt LEAVING

10:00a.m/2:00a.m.: Finally leaving Milano

12:00p.m/4:00a.m.: Frantically running from line to line in the Frankfurt airport trying to find a flight home.  We were redirected through Denver Colorado instead of San Francisco.

6:00p.m: Finally in the USA.  Going through customs in Denver.

7:00: Still going through customs in Denver and missing connecting flight to Salt Lake.

7:30: Trying to find another flight.  Waiting in stand-by for last flight out of Denver.  Trying to get through to my dad to give him the new flight plans.  Now the joke is on him.

Meanwhile:  My dad is waiting at the Salt Lake airport he sees my flight come in.  I'm not on it. He waits.  Still nothing.  He finally goes to the ticket counter.  

Nice lady at the ticket counter:  She never boarded the plane in Frankfurt she will most likely be flying in at this time tomorrow.

Dad panicking is trying to think of more excuses to stay in Salt Lake until tomorrow.  Hoping the mission home doesn't call the house and blow his cover.  Dad starts to leave the airport when he sees an Italian missionary.  By this time all the missionaries had been separated and reconnected on different flights.  Dad decides to wait a little longer.  Still no Sister Geddes. More Italian missionaries, no Sister Geddes.

I come out of the terminal hoping my dad had gotten my message.  I can't find my dad.  I walk down to baggage claim.  Still no dad.  I found another missionary who my dad had already talked to while trying to find me.  In all the confusion I finally here CHARLIE.

My dad grabs my luggage we quickly hug and run out the door.  I have no clue what is going on at this point.  We jump in a truck with my dad's cousin from Salt Lake then we transfer vehicles my limo home... a semi truck.  This was my dads decoy.  A new trailer for the semi that he had to pick up in Salt Lake on April 11. 

10:30 my mom calls my dad to see when he will get home.  

Dad: "We'll be home in about an hour"

Mom: "Who's we?"

Dad: "Me and the truck.  Is Bill still there to see it?"

You know we are rednecks when my brother keeps his wife and two kids awake at midnight to see a semi trailer.

11:30:  we pull into Banida my dad tells everyone to look out the window so they can see the lights.  We get to the house.  My dad jumps out to wake up my other brother and sister.  I hide in the cabin of the truck.  When I thought everyone was out I started honking the horn. Confusion.  I jump out of the truck.  

MOM'S THOUGHTS "WHAT'S COUSIN JENNY DOING HERE?"

"THAT'S NOT JENNY."

"WHAT'S GOING ON?"

"I'M STILL CONFUSED"

MARY CRYING SHE IS SO EXCITED TO SEE HER SISTER

SURPRISING GRANDPARENTS

We pulled it off and my mom forgave us.  Hopefully people don't think I got sent home early or something.

Being Crafty

I've had a lot of time on my hand so I've decided to learn how to sew.  While in Idaho for spring break my mom and grandma sent me home with a sewing machine.  Only problem is it's a german machine without any instructions.  This might not be a challenge for all you brilliant seamstresses.  But trying to thread the stinking sewing machine was very complicated.  Nothing like any sewing machine I've ever used.  (I'm pretty sure I've only touched one other machine.) It was hour upon hour of trial and error.  But I got it.  Once again thank goodness I have a lot of time on my hands these days.  

So after I managed to sew several straight lines working on some baby burp rags.  I decided to move onto bigger and better things.  I made a pillow.  First I went for a smaller more simple pillow 27 x36, but that wasn't big enough for us.  So I went for a mega pillow.  Final results 4.5 feet x 4.5 x 1 and filled with shredded foam. They aren't perfect but definitely a great addition to our small living quarters.

Have I mentioned that shredded foam is very messy and remnants of it may be found among our stuff for the remainder of our lives.  It took longer to clean the mess then it did to make the pillow.

So if anyone wants to watch a movie on a not quite love sack but very soft giant shredded foam pillow they are more than welcome to come on over.  We even have some popcorn...but no movies so stop at the redbox on your way.

My husband is the best

I was told the purpose of blogging is to brag about your husband.  I haven't contributed enough with my bragging so here it goes.  Today we received an important delivery.  A very long box.

Inside was my very own, new and shiny pair of Scratch BC Rossignol skis. 

I got to demo these skis when we were home for spring break and I fell in love with them.  Brad found a good deal on the internet and they were delivered today.  Now all we need are bindings, mountains, snow, and time to ski.  It's going to be a long eight months before I can enjoy them. Maybe I'll hang them on a wall in the mean time, or if it really does snow this weekend like the forecast says I might be tying my feet to the skis and going for a practice run on our hill. My husband really is the best.

Oggi ho ricevuto un pacco. Un pacco lungo e grande.  Dentro c'erano i miei nuovi sci.  Il mio marito ha trovato questi belli sci sul internet.  E molto bravo lui.  Ancora abbiamo bisogno delle mogntagne, la neve e il tempo.  Aspettiamo otto mesi quando torniamo in Utah e Idaho per Natale.  NON VEDO L'ORA di andare.

My first backcountry ski adventure

Those of you who know Brad you know he is all about skiing.  For spring break we left the flatness of Iowa and headed to the mountains.  Brad taught me how to backcountry for the first time, he's got a lot of patience.  I've skied before and do alright at a ski resort on groomed trails.  In my younger years I even ventured into the trees and off a few jumps.  Nothing like what Brad does.  But after five years of being gone during winter I was a little rusty.  So we spent christmas getting warmed up and spring break teaching me the ropes of backcountry.

Hat, goggles, backpack, shovel, beacon, skis, 

poles, boots and chocolate...Ready to go!!!

Snowmobiling up Franklin Basin

Unloading the snowmobile.

Checking for avalanches.

I don't have any hiking pictures but this is Brad once we finally got up to the top.  He was very patient while I figured out the whole hiking with skins thing.

Brad on Double Top pointing to his next ski hill. 

Brad heading down.  I had to wait for him to get

 out of Avalanche danger before going

I slowly eased my way down the mountain and

 face planted only a few times.

Eventually I'll get good at this stuff.  It was a lot of fun and I'm getting excited for next year. Brad is trying to find me all the equipment.  I need to get in better shape so I can hike better and not be as sore next time.  Hmmm, I never mentioned the snowmobile rolling over story.

Kids Again

We spent last week in Utah/Idaho trying to get some spring skiing in.  Brad finished the skis he's been building over the last year on Tuesday night and was so anxious to ride them we pilled up all the snow in the backyard and made a jump.  Brad was like a little kid so excited for his new toy.

I have better footage of the jump taken on Brad's mini DV camera but I don't know how to download it to my Mac does anyone have a clue?

THE FINAL STEP OF THE SKI BUILDING PROJECT,

MOUNTING THE BINDINGS

I wish I would have taken a better picture. The skis are incredible I couldn't believe he built and designed them himself with the help of Rex Burgan.  The underfoot was so wide his breaks don't work.

HBO's Big Love

There has been a lot of controversy raised over the HBO series Big Love that will air a temple ceremony.  I have seen a lot of facebook groups saying they want to stop this.  It is difficult for us as members of the church to see something so sacred taken out of context; however, it is important that we continue to live as examples of Christ through all controversy.  I would recommend that members read The Publicity  Dilemma the official statement by the church, to help us remember what our role is in being examples.  And for those of you who aren't LDS  you can learn more about Mormon Temples by following this link.

Negli Stati Uniti ci sono i programmi televisonali chi vogliono fare e dire le cose sulla Chiesa di Gesu Cristo dei Santi Degli Ultimi Giorni.  Queste cose sono cose mutle sacre per noi.  Come membri della chiesa di Gesu Cristo e importante che siamo sempre gli esempi di Cristo.  Troviamo tante cose negative sul internet e TV pero se voulete sapere quello che crediamo mi raccomando che cercate il sito http://www.mormon.org/mormonorg/ita/ o parlare con i missionari.  

Io so che Dio e il nostro Padre Celeste e ci ama.  Per quello lui sempre ci da aiuta in questa vita. Possiamo pregare e leggere delle scritture per trovare le nostre proprie risposte.  Dio voule che noi torniamo a lui con le nostre famiglie e io so che possiamo essere le famiglie eterne.  Per quello i templi sono cosi importante.

More wedding pictures coming soon

So this is kind of like a teaser but not really since you are probably already sick of wedding pictures.  However being in Iowa made it a little slower getting all the pictures back from the actual wedding day.  I just got them in the mail so when I have more time I'll post more pics.

Finalmente tutte le mie foto sono arrivate.  Alora fra alcuni giorni mettro ancora di piu delle foto.  Queste foto saranno del giorno di nozze.  Le altre che ho messo erano una settimana prima.  Spero che ancora vogliate vedere il mio giorno di nozze.

Anticipating the arrival of the bride and groom.  

Tutti aspettano la sposa e il sposo.

URN IN THE ATTIC

So what's the story behind this old house?  We don't know but we did find an urn in our attic.

My husband thinks I'm fat...

Or he just knows me well enough to know I have an obsession with chocolate that is yet to be controlled.  

So what did he do?  He hid the chocolate he got me for Valentines Day so I couldn't eat it all at once.  

I was surprised and thrilled when I mistakenly came across some hidden chocolate.  

So then what did he do?  He hid it again.

Then I bought my favorite Easter Cadbury Mini Eggs...and he hid them.  

Not only does he think I'm fat he also thinks I'm short and wouldn't find them in the light fixture.

But you can't keep chocolate from a chocolate addict.  I have an innate sense for finding chocolate that is unstoppable.  Maybe if I shared ever once in a while he'd quit hiding it.

Numerous Nuptial

You don't get a better deal than $10 tickets to the incredible Iowa Chops hockey game including...

A Free Cow Bell...

An Iowa Chops fan towel (keep out of reach of BRAD) and...

$5 vouchers to Wendy's along with free fries if the Chops score at least 5 goals, which they did.

The game was attended by Iowa's favorite celebrities.  The Iowa Pork Queen and Princess. 

And of course we can't forget Numerous Nuptial when over 70 couples were married or renewed their vows during the first period.

What an excellent way to celebrate Valentines Day.

Anasazi, The Making of a Walking

A lot of you know that I worked at Anasazi, a wilderness therapy program for troubled teens, but with all the excitement of the wedding I didn't get a chance to tell you all about it.  It was a unique opportunity that helped me transition from the mission to the real world.

Anasazi was another one of those life changing experiences I'll never forget.  I went to Anasazi not knowing what I was getting myself into.  I was excited to get a job that I was paid to hike through the wilderness and hopefully have the chance to influence lives.  I quickly found that Anasazi changes all lives it doesn't matter if your a TrailWalker, YoungWalker, or family of someone that participated.

Everyday was another challenging adventure.  We spent our days hiking and our nights eating rice and lentils by the fire.  And yes we started our fires with a stick and bow, made our spoons out of wood and used a rain poncho not only as a shelter but also to make our packs every morning.  There were a lot of cold nights and even more long hot hikes.  I loved every minute of it.  In fact, I loved sleeping on the trail so much that when I came off a soft warm bed didn't cut it for me.  I found myself looking for a spot on hard, uneven ground and missing the chance to look up at the incredible stars.

Anasazi gave me the ability to have many awakenings, that's the Anasazi word for that moment when our hearts are softened and able to learn or understand something in a new and different way.  For me those awakenings came at the most challenging, difficult and humbling times.  When I would look up ahead and see an overwhelming mountain we would have to climb up and over.  There wasn't ever a trail to follow and we were often bushwhacking and even belly crawling through the manzanita or cat claw.  I still have scars on my arms reminding me of those wonderful experiences.

Anasazi even gave me the opportunity to do something I never thought possible.  At least not for me.  Our entire band, the group of YoungWalkers and TrailWalkers that hiked together, agreed to do what we called a primitive.  We left behind our packs including sleeping bag, FOOD, and extra clothes for four days giving us the chance to live off the land.  Of course it rained on us and we had to swim to get down the river because of the steep surrounding cliffs.  I spent those cold, wet nights hungry and curled around the fire.  On the third day after having very little food we were able to fish for crawdads and I can honestly tell you that nothing has ever tasted so good as sharing those pesky little crawdads around the fire.  Yeah, I know I've heard it a million times...you all think I'm crazy, but this was one of those humbling experiences that opened my heart to many important and spiritual things I needed in my life.

I wish I could write this blog and tell you about all the times I changed and influenced someone else's life through my time at Anasazi, but I can't do that.  I will never know the influence I had on those amazing YoungWalkers and SinaguaWalkers that walked with me.  But I do know that they changed me.  They opened their hearts to me and my life will never be the same.  I am eternally grateful for those young people who taught me.  I am a better person because of their determination, their courage and their love.  I will now be a better wife, mom, sister and daughter because of what they taught me as together we overcame those long, exhausting and grueling hikes as we recognized our true potential, our seeds of greatness and around the fire we planned a way to accomplish it when we reentered the REAL WORLD.  And now that we are in the real world that's the challenge.  Not to forget our seeds of greatness, the awakenings and how are life's were changed as we continue walking forward.

Thank you to all the YoungWalkers, SinaguaWalkers, fellow TrailWalkers, Shadows, field team, and all the other staff at Anasazi.  I am Peaceful Mountain Breeze and I have spoken.

If you want to be a TrailWalker or know someone who could benefit from Anasazi check out their website.  http://www.anasazi.org