Breaking out the Camera

Today I did something I haven't done in a while. I woke up early (well kind of early) put on my hoodie, my hat and my gloves that I use for shooting. (Thanks to Deb for those, they are a life uh... I mean hand/finger saver!) The colors in Cache Valley have been changing for a few weeks now, but I finally had a day off work, so I took the opportunity to head out and take pictures in the almost freezing cold... it was 34 degrees when I left, but I couldn't let that stop me, even though the warmth of my bed was calling my name, loudly. But still, I jumped in the car and headed towards sardine canyon. My mission for the day was to photograph the fall colors and the Brigham City Temple, So that is why I chose Sardine Canyon, I could accomplish both on the same trip without going too much out of my way. So with the car heater on full blast I headed down what I like to call the longest road in America. If you've driven the highway between Logan and the mouth of the canyon you know what I mean. While I was driving I couldn't pass up the beauty of the Wellsville Mountains. Somedays I think there is no place like Cache valley in the world. I love living in this beautiful place, and I'm grateful I have a talent that will let me capture it's beauty permanently.

Ah, the beauty of Cache Valley, there is no place like home!

Lake Powell 2012

Well it's been another busy summer, but we've had our share of fun as well. No summer is complete without the Peterson family trip to Lake Powell. It has always been my favorite vacation since I was little and I look forward to it every summer. We had a blast with the many boat trips, playing in the water, and relaxing on the beach. We only had one minor mishap while at the beach, which involved grandmas van getting stuck in the sand and when we tried to tow it out the front bumper ripped off, nothing a little duct tape can't fix for the week. :)

Lone Rock Beach

On the boat!

Peace!

Ripping it up!

Justin taping grandma's bumper back on

No Lake Powell trip is complete with out a beautiful sunset.

New Jersey/New York

Well I can officially make New York of my list of places to visit! Andrew and I had a blast spending a few days in the Big Apple with The Thatchers! They make excellent travel buddies! We Visited many places in New Jersey, Mike served his mission there so we has able to take us around to the sights and he did a great job of driving us around every where. We did as much as we could in NY, going to the top of the Empire State Building, Eating a hot dog from a street cart, going to central park, seeing the Manhattan temple and going to Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. We also went to the 9/11 memorial which was really cool. They are still constructing it but once it is complete it will be a way cool place. We ate lots of pizza, and tried to eat at places that we don't have in Utah. We had a great time and made lots of fun memories. I loved going to the Phantom of the Opera, it was probably the highlight of the trip for me. Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty was also really cool. Over all we had a great trip but I am happy to be back in Utah. I like my little bubble, and small city.

Saryah Kate

Yesterday my beautiful niece Saryah Kate was born. My sister Kathryn asked me if I would be willing to come down when she was in labor to take pictures of the baby in the hospital and of the family. So she called me on the way to the hospital and I made the drive from Logan to Murry. I got there at about 11:30 and we hung out and waited for this little girl to make her way into the world. We had lots of fun hanging out and talking it seemed, at least for me that the time flew by waiting for her to be born. Then suddenly the nurses and doctors were swarming the room and it was time for Saryah to join our family. All of us that were there waited out in the waiting room for Aaron to come tell us that they baby was here, we heard her cry and waited and waited. Then Aaron came out and asked my mom to come into the room, that the baby was having a hard time breathing. It was a little bit of a shock to all of us and we were all worried. They let us take a quick peek at little Saryah as they took her to NICU. It was a scary and nerve wracking hour or so as we waited to see if she would be okay. Thankfully she was doing much better than she was and the doctor approved her to go up the the room with Katie and that things were looking great. It was such a relief. We had fun taking turns holding her and I loved taking pictures of her, I have to admit she will probably be my new little model for a while. So far Mom and baby are both doing great and we are looking forward to seeing them again in a few days. I love being and aunt it is the greatest! Welcome to the world little Saryah Kate!!!

Time to Craft

Over the last couple of months I've had to find ways to entertain my self, I work part time (very part time) and keeping busy while Andrew is at school can be a challenge sometimes. I don't know when it happened, but I became big on crafting, and especially making wreaths. I guess I got sick of our plain white front door so I have to dress it up a little. I've also found that making wreaths can be pretty cheap, the most expensive wreath I've made so far has been about six dollars. I like to think of my self as a budget crafter. I've made many other little decorations for our apartment for the different holidays but I decided that just posting pictures of my wreaths would be the easiest.

I also made one for February, but I gave that one away to a friend and didn't get a picture of it before I did. I plan on making one for each of the up coming summer months, I have some ideas of what I would like to do so let's see if they actually turn out like I want them too.

The Best Pup Ever

Yesterday my mom called to let me know that our dog, Cosmo, had passed away, this was not too much of a shock because she had been really sick and not eating for about the last month, but after 16 years of having her around you kind of get attached. We got Cosmo shortly after I turned 8, my brother finally convinced my parents to let him get a dog so he went to the pound and picked her out. She was such a spunky dog her whole life and was a very loving animal. I will miss her dancing for cookies, and taking her on walks. I have a lot of good memories of her from over the years, such as, swimming in the canal by our house in Price and having her jump in to rescue us, escaping during our christmas light drive around the different neighborhoods and chasing after her for what seemed like hours, watching her try to be brave and bark at a sheep that got in our back yard when we lived in Price and then promptly running away when the sheep took a step towards her, and many many other great memories. I will miss you Puppy, But I am glad you are in a better place and can once again run around. Rest in peace pup, you are much loved and will be missed.

NYC!!!

So not much has happened with us lately, Andrew is starting to get burned out with school, and I think we are both looking forward to spring break. Hopefully we will get to do something fun, and he can take a break from all his homework and studying. One bit of exciting news for us is that we are going to New York in May! I am so excited!!! I have always wanted to go to NYC, and you better believe my camera will be my best friend while we are there. I am so excited for all the fun things we are going to do and for the time we will get to spend together and with our good friends Mike and Brenda, our designated travel buddies! We have been wanting to take a trip with Mike and Brenda for a while and we talked about a few options before finally deciding on going to New York. I'm looking forward to posting my pictures and telling you all about it in the future, but for now I will continue to dream about it, and think about what I am going to pack even though it is still over two months away. oh well, it is giving me something to look forward too!

Oh How Time Flies!

There are days when I think to my self there is no way it has been a year since we got married and there are other times I think it has been way longer than that. Even still it is a new adventure everyday. For our anniversary we decided to take a little "staycation" if you will and partied it up in downtown SLC. We were down that way for the holidays and decided that it would be fun to rent a hotel and hang out for a few days with just the two of us. We rented a room at the Radisson in downtown SLC which was pretty nice despite the surprise renovations we were not informed of upon booking the room. Besides a little dust in the lobby and the pounding of workers that woke us up every morning it was a lot of fun. Andrew was extreamly excited that the hotel had an indoor pool so we made sure to pack our swimsuits. Much to his dismay I am sure, I would not step foot in the pool because it was far too cold for me, but rather spent my time in the nice warm hot tub. The day of our anniversary 12.28.11 we did a little shopping at the gateway went to dinner at the Macaroni Grill and walked around Temple Square. We also went on a carriage ride around the city which is something I have always wanted to do and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was not bothered one bit by the cold until we got off the ride and had to walk back to our hotel then all the fun was gone and I was able to focus on the reality of how cold it was. Once back to the hotel we broke out the top layer of our cake that my mom had saved for us after our reception. She did an excellent job of wrapping it up and freezing it. Despite all the negative things I have heard about saving your cake top for the one year anniversary it actually tasted pretty good. I'm sure it would have been better had we eaten it right away but I am glad we saved it. Over all it was a great little get away and it was fun to spend time together before the semester started up again.

Us on our wedding day!

One Year Later...almost to the hour.

Walking around Temple Square to see the lights

The carriage ride

The cake- the black frosting bled a little and turned green but other then that I think it still looked and tasted pretty good.