Before & After

The Deed Is Done (inside joke for ashley hehe)
I've finally come around and decided after much debate (mainly... Jay sucking my hair in at night causing him to choke + when he'd hug me he'd accidently yank my head back cause my hair was just so darn long) that I've come to the conclusion... it's time for a haircut. Yesterday was the dreaded day (Jan. 27th), I went in at 11:30am and after an hour and a half I walked out about 13in. shorter and what felt like pounds lighter lol. I'm not to dissapointed in my choice, though it defintitely feels different and will take me a bit to figure out the best ways to style my new do --- (I'm hopeless when it comes to styling so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated) ;-) So... here's the new me --- enjoy

Updates

Just some quick updates since getting out here to Rexburg,ID ...

1) Saw a BALD EAGLE! while driving back home from Panguitch,UT
(Jan.7)
2) Saw some Swans in a river in St. Anthony,ID (Jan.18)
3) Jay got a job working construction (Jan.21) -- it's only temporary (his boss only guaranteed him 3wks of work framing a house cause it's the slow season but we're praying that Jay will be able to get on another project and keep working for this guy)
4) Our first trip to the mountains since getting here and on the way back home we sink all the way up to the door on Jay's truck in nice fluffy white snow ... and we we're stuck to say the least. We did see some deer though right next to us actually. It was starting to get dark out and poor Jay was outside trying to shovel the snow out of the way to make a path for the truck to drive through. Thank goodness there were still a few snowmobilers out and they stopped to offer assistance (otherwise it might have been a very long and possibly cold night), they hooked a tow chain up to Jay's truck and helped pull us out with one of their trucks. Once we got home we saw the humor in our previous situation ;-) (Jan. 20)

Winter Fun

Late afternoon is when the snow started and it hasn't stopped since then. It's around 27degrees outside and we've already gotten over 6in. of snow and counting. Roads are slick, the wind is cold, and we just had a blast out in the canyon playing in the snow. We had mini snow fights (or I should say Jay did I ws just trying to dodge his snowballs... unsuccesfully I might add lol), in fact while trying to run away I sunk into some waist-deep snow, fell forward (right when Jay was throwing a snowball), it was suppose to hit my back but because I was already falling forward it beaned me inthe back of the head (I had a huge lump of snow tangled up in my hair after that one). We slid down a hill (on our butts since we had no sleds --- hmmm I think we need to invest in some soon), then ate some snow ice cream before heading back home. On the way out of the canyon we saw a Golden Eagle perched on a telephone pole --- It was enormous, it's wing-span was massive (I tried to take a picture when it took off but my camera wasn't quick enough --- darn these Cheap-o cameras!). Had fun but looking forward for the snow to stop so I can take better pictures without my camera getting all wet.
Jay in full snow gear

You can't really tell but my hair was COVERED in snow!
"The Main Attraction -- A Golden Eagle"
Golden Eagle

He's DEAD!!! Oh wait my bad

Ok that probably wasn't the best title but it goes great with the story I'm about to tell that happened to us almost 2weeks ago.

Dedicated: To my Sister Ashley (Hope you get a kick out of this sis) & to my
mom who thought this story was disgusting upon hearing it

This story took place our last night at Mom and Dad Mangum's place. It was approx. 4 in the morning when after tossing and turing all night I finally decided to call it quits and get out of bed, you know to see if maybe eating something would calm me down. Well I sat up in bed and stretched a little bit which caused our air mattress to move --- waking my hubby up from his deep slumber. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and turned to ask Jay if he wanted to get up for a bit too. When I did so I noticed something unusual sticking out from underneath his head and leaned down to get a closer look (Y'all should know by now how blind I am w/o my glasses or contacts on). What I saw took my breath away... Ole' Tom's back legs were sticking straight out from underneath Jay's neck. My gasp of surprise caused Jay to sit straight up and there was Tom... Back and front legs sticking straight out. We couldn't believe it, Jay rolled him over and Holy Cow his position didn't change a bit. We couldn't believe that Tom traveled from Oklahoma to Tennessee, lived with us for 7months, traveled all the way BACK to Oklahoma and only 2.5days at Jay's parents place died... In the most unusal manner no less. I couldn't believe Jay had squashed Tom in his sleep... we were speechless. Jay rolled him over once more and nudged him a bit and we about jumped off our bed when Ole' Tom let out a tired MEOW! He sat up, meowed again, looked at us once more with a huffy "I can't beleive you just woke me up from this relaxing nap" stare, and walked out the door. We were quiet for a short time then we both burst out laughing... even now when we think about it we can't help but chuckle a bit. Till this day we still have NO IDEA how Tom got under Jay's neck... Sadly no picture (we were both a bit to freaked out at first to do it, by the time we knew the truth it was to late).

Count Your Many Blessings

Well its official... we're tired AND frustrated with our situation right now! We've been traveling none stop since leaving Tennessee (or so it seems), the truck dealership (in Texas) where we got Jay's 4x4 truck is hucking truckloads of crap at us right now that we're trying to shovel up.. and on top of that NO ONE IS HIRING!!!! Oh yeah the school is also feeding is some piece of garbage also but that one seems to be working out (lol at least it doesn't smell to bad). Luckily our bills for this month we had enough saved up to be able to pay (which is a real blessing), our ward and Bishop seem really nice, Jay's family is fairly close, but Jay knows some people that live down here which has really helped us out alot. Despite all the problem that keep piling up it's nice to be able to take a step back and see the blessings on top of the trials. We'll get through all this, life really isn't so bad. Just keep us in your prayers that we don't go Stark Raving Mad!!! lol --- Love and miss y'all!

PS: Will post some pictures soon

Driving? I Hate Driving!!!

We've been married for a year and 5months now and according to our calculations, we've traveled approx. 3,000miles a month since getting married. Wow!!! I guess it's safe to say we're more than ready for a break - definitely looking forward to not traveling more than an hour to someplace for at least 2months (lol longer if we can help it). We just recently made the longest trip by far (since being married) approx. 2,200 miles in a weeks time. Our trip consisted of my car getting banged up cause the stinkin' dolly was just a "little" to big for it, Jay's truck tank (the extra one we had installed in the back) accidently overflowing before we realized that the people who put the tank in didn't install it properly so we had to be sure to manually shut it off everytime it reached full otherwise we might just go KaBOOM!!!,We packed, unpacked, and then repacked everything we owned to try and get it all to fit in our vechicles. Traveled approx. 12 or so hours to Oklahoma the first night and stayed at Jay's parents place (for the next 2nights and half of the 3rd day + traveled an extra 12hours while there). We then traveled another 10 or so hours to New Mexico and stayed at Jay's Aunt & Uncle's place for a day, afterward we traveled another 8hours to Panguitch, UT (visted for an hour or so with Jay's grandparents and Aunt + Cousin) then traveled another hour to Cedar City, UT where we stayed for the next 2days at Jay's cousin's place (spent New Years with them, some friends, and Jay's brother and his wife... Had TONS of fun playing games and goofing off). After that was all done we traveled 3 or so hours to Provo, UT where we decided to spend the night at Jay's brother's place to catch or breath. First thing next morning we left to finally head to our actual destintion (Rexburg, ID) which was... hehe another 5hours away. It was soooo nice when we finally got there and got into our apartment (Cougar Court). It's was a long and VERY exhausting trip but at the same time we're grateful for all the help we recieved before and along the way. Thank you to everyone who helped and supported us during this whirlwind adventure of ours. :-)