Remember how I have a blog? Yeah... I forgot.

Also, remember that one time Tommy and I got engaged? 
Probably not, because I never even really blogged about it. 
But, it was awesome.

In the summer of 2012 is when Tommy and I fell in love and learned that we wanted to be together forever. From our first date on, I think it's safe to say that Tommy and I spent time with each other everyday (except for the few days he was out of town.)

On August 16th, we were planning on meeting up with Tommy's dad for dinner, who was in town for only a few hours. Before we drove down to meet him, I remember showing up at Tommy's place and I was so hot and sweaty, which for me is a recipe for a bad mood. Tommy's smart and I'm sure he knew this, so he suggested that we jump in the pool for a bit and then clean up and meet his dad for dinner. Such a good idea. So, we jumped in the pool.

We met his dad down at the famous Fish Market in the San Diego Harbor. Dinner was yummy of course, and the company was wonderful too. After dinner, Tommy took me over to Coronado Island. We got ice cream and found a nice spot to sit on the beach. We ate and talked. Tommy started to put a ring on my finger. "Wrong hand," I told him. He switched hands. He was asking if I would marry him. I wasn't sure whether to believe it, so I asked if he was serious. He was. And I said yes. And we laughed. And hugged. And hugged and laughed. For a good while.

That whole evening was so fun. I remember being so happy to be spending time with Tommy. Little did I know that he was going to propose and I'd get to spend the rest of time with him.

That night we kept our engagement to ourselves. It was our little secret. And it was fun. We had been planning on driving out to Mesa, AZ the next evening to meet up with my family for the weekend. We figured it would be more fun to show them the news than to call with the news. So, I spent the day on a high by myself while I waited for Tommy to pick me up so we could get on the road. Longest day of my life. I pretty much didn't talk to anyone for fear that my extreme happiness might kill them or something. We finally got to Mesa and my family finally noticed the ring and then our little secret was public news.

That was an extremely memorable time in my life. I know I'll never forget it. I know I'll always remember little things about it, like how Tommy kept saying he wanted to have an "enjoyful" day. That isn't even a word. He probably made it up out of nervousness when I thought he was just being silly. I'll always remember how happy I was. I'll always remember the best parts of that memory. But I won't remember every thing. I'm sure I've already forgotten some tiny, little things within that memory.

And sadly, I've most likely forgotten many fun and wonderful memories in between then and now, simply because I didn't take time to record them. I feel like each day there is some new connection, some fond memory, some silent blessing, and I'm missing out by not writing them down.

I guess I've been thinking about it so much lately because at this time a year ago so many special memories were forming. And I loved it. And I never want to forget.

This August 16th, Tommy and I went and visited our special spot on Coronado Island. The spot where we hugged and laughed and had such a happy time together. And it was wonderful all over again.

I've never been the best at keeping a journal or a record of my life, which is basically why I started blogging in the first place. I'm not too good at keeping a blog though either. But I really want to keep a record of my life. So many great things happen that I don't want to forget.

I recently got a journal called "One Line a Day" 

and have been writing in it every day since. 

Get one! (You can get it here!) 

It's amazing to see how there is some 

sort of keepsake to write down every day.

Scenic drives, setting up camp, petting horsies, roasting mallows, nature hiking, building fires, exploring, road tripping, stream jumping, pool swimming... 

The Humphry's (Tommy's Mama's side) Family Reunion included just what a summertime, Idaho, family reunion should! 

We spent a day in Lava Hot Springs and two days in Grey's Lake camping.

Tommy and I went on a little exploration near our camp.

Some pretty findings.

Then it was time for ghostly stories.

Our scenic drive was very scenic.

And it had me longing to run wild on one of these ladies.

Our nature walk was full of nature. I'm fascinated by bees.

The kids loved it and Tommy gathered the most beautiful bouquet of wildflowers for me. 
My favorite! (Excuse my extreme roughness, I was the only lady here who was camping.)

Tommy is truly an animal whisperer. And I love it.

While the others were off shooting guns, I'm over here trying to pet and feed some horsies we found.

And wearing flowers in my hair.

Hooray for family reunions, horsies, and wildflowers.

I love summertime, old glory, and the U.S.A.!!

Tommy and I got to spend some time in Utah with his family and it was a wonderful time filled with fireworks, shave ice, soccer games, family fun, relaxation, swimming, climbing, summer storm watching, and all of the fun festivities that come along with the 4th of July celebration.

Tommy's Dad was the President of the Freedom Festival this year in Utah, so we went to a lot of fun events including the Stadium of Fire. It was my first time going to all of these fun places and my first time celebrating the 4th with Tommy, which I loved!

Climbing Buddies

Baby Jane and Heather

The pre party for Stadium of Fire. My awesome Aunt Lisa came and partied with us!

The Stadium of Fire was awesome and Carly Rae Jepson and Kelly Clarkson totally rocked the mic, seriously.

Me and Tommylove

Way to go Papa Shallenberger on such a great Freedom Festival. Here is is with Roxanne being awesome as usual.

God Bless America

and summertime!

So Long
Sweet Summer

All of finals week I looked forward to blasting and belting out this song. And as it goes, I'm now longing for school and bouquets of sharpened pencils. I can't help but feel the crispness in the air and happily welcome in the beloved season of football games, changing leaves, pumpkins and sweaters. With this comes the want to gear up for school. "It makes me want to buy school supplies." And, what can I say, I <3 college. So, with or without school, I'd like to warmly welcome Fall to show up this month.

Another trip to Carlsbad?

Yes, please!

My sister, Kira, wanted to take a little road trip, Carlsbad included! We've been enjoying the beach and all of North County's Beauty for about a week and a half. Soon we'll be in Mesa to visit our sister, Connie, and her family. It's been nice to finally spend some time with Kira.

We don't play volleyball. But we play volleyball.

Of course In-N-Out is enjoyed.

When finals week was over, I headed to SLC to spend a couple of days with my sister Kira before going to Logandale. I had car trouble all the way down. It was all great timing since I was driving down during the hottest part of the day with no air conditioning, not to mention I was on a time schedule. By the time I got to Kira's (well, around the corner and down the street because my car wouldn't quite make it) I was so frustrated, sweaty and upset that all I wanted was a shower, a drink of water and a good cry. Luckily, Kira came and saved the day. She took me to a Fleet Foxes concert! It was amazing! My favorite band at my new favorite venue. It was at the Red Butte Gardens Amphitheater. The weather was perfect, the surroundings were beautiful and the sound was amazing. Easily one of the best, if not THE best, concert I've ever been to. We snacked on Cracker Jacks, relaxed in the cool grass and rocked out with the hippies a bit. Great concert. Thanks Kira!

This is the Red Butte.

This picture was actually from the Ben Folds concert, but you get the idea.

I LOVE the 4th of July!!! Who doesn't, right? It's just such a glorious day. It's eating watermelon, it's getting sunburnt, it's lying in the grass, it's watching fireworks, it's BBQ-ing, it's water fights and swimming, it's being patriotic, it's majestic, it's summer lovin', it's bare-feet, it's lemonade, it's Old Glory, it's baseball, it's Independence Day!

I celebrated the grand holiday by:

drinking IBC cream soda

wearing my "Reagan for President" shirt

eating a Five Guys Burgers and Fries hot dog with relish and grilled onions

walking through a crowd of red, white and blue wearing, fellow citizens

listening to some down home, country tunes

eating Nacho Cheese Doritos

watching a spectacular fireworks show in Idaho Falls

Happy 4th of July!

How did you celebrate?

"Was it all trumpets and fireworks?"

Name that movie!

This Labor Day weekend... I went to the lake! with Ashley, Kyle, Justine, Wade and Geoff. We enjoyed a nice day that included swimming, tubing, cliff jumping, yummy snacks and good company. It was also Dad's birthday! He turned the big 55! We celebrated with some peach cobbler. Here are some pictures of us at the lake.

Me, Ashley and Justine swimming.

Kyle and Geoff ready to tube.

Geoff cliff jumping.

Justine and Me

Me and Ashley.

Wade, Geoff and Justine

Ashley, Kyle and Me.

Mom, Dad and Landon came to visit! It was really nice to have them here. On Pioneer Day we went to the Mormon Battalion Center in Old Town and Jeff, Lisa and Marc came along. That was really cool. They just remodeled the whole place and it's really nice, fun and interesting. It was very interactive. They had pictures that talked and told the stories. It was kind Disneyland-ish. They had an outside area where you could pan for gold and play the fiddle. Landon and I partook in that. After that we ate some Mexican food in Old Town and went to an old fashion candy shop. On Monday Landon and I went to the beach. It was really overcast, but we laid out and played with the sand a bit. Then we decided to give the cold water a try. It was cold. We had a lot of fun getting in and and playing in the waves though. The waves were breaking right on the beach so it was really easy to get taken out by them even in knee deep water. We body surfed in the shallow water for a while. We got a little bruised from that but we had a ton of fun laughing our heads off. Can't wait until they come again!

Looks like we would have made a great addition to the Mormon Battalion!

I had
A night at the Padres Game!

I got STUNG!
by a STINGRAY! (one of these suckers!)

Ouch? Yes! It hurt. Here is the story...
I went to buccaneer (south Oceanside) beach to go boogie with some peeps (Zac, Adam, Will, Heather) from the ward. This was on Thursday July 30th. We ran out with our boards and had some fun in the water. I caught some white wash for a bit and then we went out a little farther to actually try and catch some waves. I haven't done that for a LONG time and it was tiring! Heather (cousin) and I got tired pretty fast so we decided to head in for a while. I rode some waves in and started walking up to the beach. As I was walking up to the beach I stepped on what felt like an arm. "Ew", was my first thought. "Did I just step on an arm? A small slippery arm? A child? Drowned? Ew." Keep in mind all of those thoughts went through my head in a nano-second. Instantly after I stepped on the slippery arm, something stabbed me in the front of my ankle. "OW! What the heck was that?! Maybe when I stepped on whatever it was, it flipped up and hit me... No way! That was WAY to forceful of a poke to be accidental.. Oh, I can't walk.. I'm limping." I call out to Heather to take my board for me as I keep walking up the beach. She takes it, notices I'm limping and tells me that I'm bleeding. I look down to confirm. Bleeding, yes, but I'm more concerned that it's getting harder to walk. I felt like my ankle was swelling. The feeling of venom. Painful swelling. I got to the beach and leaned on the rocks. Heather went and told the lifeguard and came back to help me to him. I told him what happened and he tells me that I've been stung by a stingray. Told me they hurt pretty bad. Started asking me all sorts of questions.. Where are you from? Are you allergic to bees? Do you have any allergies? How do you feel? I'm answering as best I can. Starting to feel light headed. I tell him. He has me sit down and wraps my ankle. Feel like I might throw up. I tell him. He says it's okay. Feeling REALLY light headed. My head is getting really heavy. I can barely hold it up. He continues to ask me questions. At this point he is just trying to keep me conscious. Taking my pulse. Still asking questions. I can see the feet of the people I came with surrounding me. I feel dumb and a little worried that I look ugly. He continues to be a dove while we wait for other lifeguards to show up. When they get there I start to feel better. The light-headedness slowly goes away and the heavy head as well. My ankle is still in pain though. They put a hot pack on it. That helped SO much. Dulled the pain. They tell me I need to go home immediately and get my ankle in nearly scalding hot water. So Zac (friend) drives up onto the beach with his Cherokee (I know he felt cool) and carries me to his car. They took to to his Gma's house and carried me to the tub.. Tears were streaming down my face by this time. The hot water pack was luke. We sat there for a while, but everybody still wanted to swim, so we went to Marc's condo. They swam and I sat in the hot tub. That's my stingray adventure! It hurt for the next few days and I got more than enough attention from those guys the rest of the weekend. The wound just looked like a nail hole. I don't know if it will scar. Next time I go to the beach I'll be sure to do the stingray shuffle!!! Good thing I'm not afraid of things in the ocean.. at least I wasn't before! I might be a little timid for a while. Here are some pictures of the adventure...

Heather, Gimp, Adam

Laughing it off. (Probably trying not to cry :)


Photos courtesy of Zac's waterproof camera.
(I'm glad he didn't get any of me when I was sitting down with the lifeguard. According to Will I was "green".)

Landon's Baseball Game
I love watching Landon play sports, but I think watching him play baseball is my favorite. Here are a few pics I snapped at one of his games. Good job Lan!