2017 Highlights

I lost all of my photos at the end of last year. I am continually sad about it. A lot of friends I follow on Instagram reviewed their years on New Years. I stole some photos from Thomas and Facebook. I'm a little late in the game but here is my photo review of 2017...

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

 December

Hello 2018

Hello 2018
Hello age 23
Hello new apartment
Hello next level of adulthood

Hello blog reader,
It's been a heck of a Year already. Today is MLK day and I spent the day off school doing homework. The semester is in full swing. I like almost all of my class and will probably spend much of the semester with my nose in a book. Being busy and back in school has felt good. I like to learn even if I can be grumpy about it. I would still take my classes over T's. It is pretty exciting to think this is his last semester before graduation.

Being back at school means we are in Provo again and this time we get to live together!!! I rather enjoy being married to Thomas. We live at Wymount right across from the MTC.
The crazy thing about Wymount is that Mom and Dad lived here AND Grandpa and Grandma Marchant lived here the first year they were built. I almost lost it when I heard that.
I love being next door to the temple and close enough to walk to school. Our apartment is bigger than we need. We have 3 bedrooms. The first night we were here I had a small emotional breakdown. I told Thomas it was too big and that we would never see each other or that he would get tired of me and hide in the other room....... I know I was a little dramatic. So far he hasn't. We've pretty much finished unpacking and it feels more like home everyday.
We are anxiously awaiting our living room set to be delivered this week. It will be awesome to have couches. We have been watching the Office in camp chairs. I don't remember who gave them to us but what an awesome wedding present they've turned out to be.
It's still crazy to believe we bought a living room set. It's the most money (other than school) I've ever spent. It is a new level of adulthood to pick a coffee table and think "what do I want to have for the next 10 or so years." I think we picked some good stuff and I can't wait to have it all arrive.

I'm a little late on documenting my birthday. We spent our first few days in Provo watching the Corey kids. One of those days was my 23rd Birthday. Thomas took every chance to make it special. He let me sleep in and saw the older kids off to school. We went to breakfast while they were all at school. Then later he let me sneak away to take a nap while he played games with the younger kids. We had a pizza party and opened presents later that night. I even bought the fancy Dairy Queen blizzard ice cream cake- it was absolutely delicious!
23 sounds older than I feel. I spent the last year forgetting I was 22 and telling people I was 21 so maybe that is why I'm so confused.

I expect great things from this year. So much of where we are going to be after May is unknown. Do we head off to PT school, stick around Provo or move back to St. George to lock down my degree.... It's all a bit overwhelming. However, here is what I do know...
I'll spend 365 days this year married to the most incredibly kind person.
I'll have to make some big decisions but I don't have to do it all on my own.
I'll miss that cute missionary brother of mine but anxiously await every email.
I'll still have two wonderful families to celebrate life with. We are expecting a new niece or nephew this summer- we can't wait!

Yippy for 2018 xoxo

New Years Eve

 Early Bday dinner at Cafe Sabor in STG- soooo good! Thanks for sharing Logan, UT!

We ate this for days. yum yum yum

Some of my favorite humans. A Happy Birthday indeed.

Christmas Wishes from the Rich's

I did not make a Christmas card this year. Am I adult enough to do that now? Well maybe next year. Until then I'm sending my Christmas wishes through the internet.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

We love our friends and family and are so grateful for the support we received this year.

It was a really big year for us, WE GOT MARRIED! This is our first Christmas for our new little family of 2. It's been fun to compare Christmas traditions and talk about how we will blend them together. We were almost engaged last Christmas but because both our parents live in St. George we spent Christmas morning apart. I'm excited to experience the magic together.

LIGHT THE WORLD

We were so excited to take part in the church's #lighttheworld initiative.

We didn't have long on temple square so we jumped into the shortest line.

We each took a turn to purchase clean drinking water. 

If you don't know what I'm talking about follow the link above. This year The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is inviting everyone to light the world by doing good. One thing you can do is visit temple Square in Salt Lake City. My parents used one of the fancy vending machines to purchase a goat that will be sent internationally. You can also donate locally or like us donate clean drinking water. It's a fun way to be charitable this Christmas season.

I Climb Mountains.

RIM TO RIM

5 AM was cold and the sun was hours from making an appearance. I was nervous and excited as I pulled on a second pair of socks then squinted in the bright flash of the before picture.

It felt like it took forever to get light. Hiking in the dark was fun for the first minute or two but then it made me nervous not seeing more than a couple feet in front of me. Slowly, as the sun woke, the magic of the Canyon came to life.

It. was. breathtaking.

I have visited the Grand Canyon many times now but being inside it felt different. I did great the first 9 miles and highly enjoyed chatting with my in-laws. Well before the half-way point that I began to feel tired. A cliff bar at our first rest stop and a bag of cheez-its through the long gorge worked wonders in giving me more energy. I was continually amazed at the human body. I didn't train (big mistake), I didn't prepare well sleep or hydration wise (also a mistake) but I asked my legs to work and they did. Our bodies are far more capable of extremes than I often recognize.

I was grateful for the chance to hike with Matthew and Clarissa. We talked books and movies, Harry Potter baby names and for at least 2 miles of pizza. There is a lot to discuss when comparing pizza places. Hungry Howies will forever have my heart.

We took a short detour somewhere in the first half to explore ribbon falls. Those couple extra miles are well worth it in my opinion. The bridge is pretty sketchy but the waterfall is phenomenal. An extra couple of miles didn't seem like a big deal when we were already hiking over 2 dozen. One thing you can't tell from the tourist viewpoints of the Grand Canyon is how green it is down there.

It was fun to watch the scenery change from rocky to green to bridges over the Colorado River.

I found the view stunningly beautiful hiking alongside the river. The second half of the hike really is incredible. However, my post lunch hiking was not as enthusiastic as those first 13 miles. My muscles ached and my head hurt. A blister had formed on my toe and negative thinking filled my head. We were all less talkative and focused on keeping a steady pace. Daniel and Stephen had run a marathon the month before so their speed was far faster than ours. We didn't even try to stay with them.

I can easily separate the hike in half. The first half was exciting, adventurous and fun. The second half was a struggle. I don't think I will ever hike it again but if I do I will be sure to prepare better. I would still be in the bottom of that Canyon if I hadn't been hiking with Thomas. Everyone dreads the last 4.6 miles. I had been told many times about the switchbacks. I was anxious about my ability to get up the South Rim but the truth of the matter is- you have to get out. There is no way of avoiding it. Our goal was to get out before dark. I REALLY didn't want to hike out after dark. We were slow but kept moving. Thomas would switch between placing his hand on my back and lightly pushing me and holding my hand to pull me. I was so grateful to have him.

If we look exhausted it is because we are.

I ran some wicked track workouts back in the day but my legs have never burned like this. Every step hurt. I didn't stretch cuz I'm a baby and it hurt too bad. Those last couple of miles were harder than the rest of the hike put together and it felt like it would never end.

It did end. We made it out right as it was really getting dark. Total time 13 hours. We weren't speedy by any means. I marvel at the people who do Rim to Rim to Rim. I can't imagine turning around at the top and going back.

As we made our way up the last and longest switch back Thomas pointed out Daniel, his Dad and Stephen. When he didn't I couldn't help myself, I started to cry. I was just so ready to be done and so relieved that we had actually finished.

The days to follow were humbling. I hobbled around as my muscles took their sweet time to recover. They eventually did and I'm sitting here writing this grateful for the experience.

Oh what a wonderful world. Oh what a fantastic place I live. I'll miss it. I can count the days on one hand until we move and it's surreal.