Hello Montana

This summer has been full of good times. About 6 months ago, I saw this picture on pinterest...

and I told Jesse I wanted to go see it. This amazing picture was taken in Glacier National Park Montana. It just so happened, that Jesse's boss had been to Glacier. They started talking about it and before I knew it, we were planning our trip! (Unfortunately, I never saw the place in the picture, I'm sure it's in the backwoods somewhere, where regular hikers/campers cannot get to.)

We planned our trip for the end of July, borrowed a camper, loaded up on food for a week, bought bear spray (which we thankfully never had to use), packed our stuff and hit the road! So here's some pictures from our little adventure. (Prepare yourself, there are a lot of pictures. I won't be offended if you don't look at them all :)

Our first campground-A parking lot at a friends in Rexburg.

3 Bucks in Whitefish 

Our 2nd Campground-An RV park in Whitefish 

Lake McDonald 

These next few are on Apgar Trail in Glacier. It was a little harder than we expected...7.2 miles round trip straight up a mountain the size of Pomerelle.

We made it! I was a little exhausted.

The road we had to drive down. Our camper barely made it :)

Our 3rd campgound-Fish Creek at Glacier

Lake McDonald at Sunrise

This moose was just chillin' by the road. He looked a little confused.

Hiking John's Lake Loop

(Jesse got eaten alive on this trail by mosquitos. We never forgot bug spray after that.)

Some sweet rapids, and of course Jesse has to get as close as he can.

The water was so blue and clear. It was beautiful.

The waterfalls on Avalanche Lake Trail. 

This little chipmunk was not scared of us...he tried to steal our granola.

More rapids

Scenes from the Going to the Sun Road

The road is only 16 feet wide so passing other cars was a bit precarious. 

The Weeping Wall

The Triple Arches

Our 5th Campsite-Rising Sun

Probably my favorite waterfalls...St. Mary's Falls

Virginia Falls

The Lodge at Many Glaciers. There are 2 other lodges in Glacier and they are all HUGE!

Our 4th Campsite-Avalanche Campground

I know out of order, but we actually forgot to take a picture while we were there so on our way back we stopped to take a picture but our spot was taken. Luckily they were gone so we just hurried and parked and snapped the picture.

More Waterfalls

 

Well, that was our trip. It was SO much fun and we will definitely have to go back (though we might not do the Apgar Trail again...)

Summer Fun

Wow! Where has this summer gone? 

Anyways, here's a little update on what we've been doing all summer long.

We got a couple of wave-runners to enjoy while we live on the river, especially because it will probably never happen again.

Jesse & I ran another 5k (the Joint Jaunt in Pocatello) and totally trashed our previous record from the Dam 5k. We ran it in 32 minutes! Go us!

And we went to the last (tear) Harper Family Reunion.

I have so many fond memories from reunion and I'm sad that we won't be able to go back. And even if we do it won't be the same. I'll always remember hiking down to the creek, staying up late with Vanessa, Amanda, and Tenille playing truth or dare, late night games in the lodge, the races Saturday morning, and of course singing I Love the Mountains and Columbia the Gem of the Ocean.

And then we had Jesse's (26th) Birthday. 

I made him the most awesomest cake with a 4-wheeler that looked like it was off roading somewhere. 

It almost went up in flames with all those candles on in though!

 We've been having so much fun this summer and I'm kind of sad to see it coming to an end, but I'm super excited for fall! Well, we did take ourselves a little vacation, but there are like a hundred pictures so prepare yourself and I'll make another post soon.

Am I a Runner?

The past few months, I've tried to get more in shape. Because believe me, there is a big difference between being skinny and in shape. So I decided to run.

I have never, ever, been a runner. In high school when I was asked to be on the cross country or track team I laughed. I hated running to some unknown destination that I couldn't see. I like seeing exactly how far I have to run. That's why I liked soccer. So the fact that I decided to run now seemed crazy to me. But motivation from some people in my ward and family made me decide to run. I started slow and the day I ran a mile without stopping was probably one of my biggest accomplishments up to that time. After that, I just kept pushing.

I started training for a 5K. I got to the point where I could run 2 miles without stopping and so I figured I would do ok. Jesse agreed to run the Dam 5K with me, along with my sisters-in-law Katie and Jocelyn, and my brother-in-law Jordan. It was SO cold that day!

 Katie, Jocelyn, Me, and Jesse

 Me and Jesse

 Me beating Jesse to the finish line :)

 This is my "I can't believe I just did that!" face

Jesse and me. 

My goal was to run it in under 40 minutes and I came in at 35 min and 50 seconds. I can honestly say I couldn't have done it without Jesse. He was so supportive and kept me going the whole way. He helped me keep my pace steady so I didn't get too worn out but pushed me enough to help me do my best. 

After the Dam 5K (that was the actual name of the race, I'm not trying to swear) I slacked off. I had some major blisters that needed to heal and I took probably more time than I should have. But then I convinced myself to get off my lazy butt and start running again. Then last week I had the coolest experience. 

Jesse and I were in Idaho Falls for some business stuff and we were staying in a hotel next to the falls by the IF Temple. There are lots off cool running paths so I woke up early one day and went for a run. I don't know how long I ran, I don't know how far I went, I just ran. I just enjoyed the scenery, of course its hard to beat scenery like this:

Picture from lifesplaybook.wordpress.com

It was so beautiful. It was an awesome experience to just go running and have such beautiful views all around me. 

And today, I pushed myself farther than I have. I ran 4 miles. My personal best. It was hard, but I couldn't be more proud of myself coming from a girl who hated to run and avoided running long distances. Now I can run a mile without stopping and I know I can push myself to go even farther. 

Now I have a confession. Most of my runs involve walking. I'm not the fastest, or the best runner, and I know I never will be. And all of my amazing friends from high school and in my ward who run all the time and now run marathons and half marathons and 10K's all the time just amaze me. I admire and look up to each of them. They motivate me to "try a little harder to be a little better". So now, I love running. I love the energy I have after I run. I love that feeling that I have accomplished something. So I guess now, I am a runner.

You found what where?

Hola! The last few weeks have been really fun. It feels like spring is finally here and it is amazing! We've had a few fun adventures. Well, not really "adventures but we've done some fun stuff.

First, we planted our garden! Thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law Jesse & I went and bought all the seeds and starters to begin our very own garden. I don't know why, but this makes us both feel very "grown-up". I'm so excited for the fresh carrots, peas, cucumbers, watermelon, and tomatoes and Jesse can't wait for the corn to start growing. I wish I had taken pictures, but I'm sure I'll get some when you can actually see stuff growing.

Alright this next story requires a little bit of background. (WARNING- if you are a little squeamish this is a toilet story and you might want to skip down to the next section.) Alright, so for the past couple weeks our lovely mauve and wood toilet has been clogged. I've tried not to bug Jesse about it too much, but it was hard to catch everyone that came over before they used it on accident. So after a week or so of it being clogged, Jesse went to the store and got a wire snake thing that is supposed to catch on whatever is clogging your toilet and pull it out. Well, the wire was not going as far as it was supposed to and as I was winding it, it just kept bumping Jesse (which now is kind of funny but he was freaking out about toilet water touching him) and ended in him just getting really frustrated. So a couple days later, Jesse's parents came over to help with our garden and offered to take off the toilet to see what was the problem. I don't think any of us expected this...

Yes, that is a bird in our toilet. How it got there is a complete mystery to me. But now our ugly toilet is fixed. So any "guess what was stuck in my toilet story" I can top. :)

Last. So I like corny things. And cheesy things. So I love cheesy corn, it is my favorite :) For the last little while, Jesse has been saying that if he could have, he would have taken me to prom (awww. I have such a good husband). So, I came up with the wonderfully ridiculous idea to throw a prom. So I made Jesse go on a little scavenger hunt--complete with candy--to "ask" him to be my date. (Lucky me he said yes.) I fixed up the basement with room for pictures, dancing, and dinner. We got all dressed up and danced then watched a movie to finish off the night. Jesse was so good to play along with me.

I just want to say how grateful I am for an amazing husband and for all he does for me. We really are blessed and all the little things make it worth it.

Fun, Fun, Fun

Time to update you all on what has been going on in the Larsen Family (or more likely, just type it down for myself to read and pat myself on the back for doing something semi-productive). This spring has been really good so far. Jesse and I definitely enjoyed the Easter weekend and the warm weather. We actually laid out on a blanket for a little while and got tan (well, Jesse got tan). And now the weather is back to normal, cold and windy :( But I guess that just makes it easier to appreciate the warm weather.

We've done a few exciting things over the past couple months, Jesse and I went to his first Jazz game against the Denver Nuggets. The Jazz totally dominated so it was awesome! I was such a mean wife and made Jesse get t-shirts to commemorate the occasion.

Yeah it was pretty sweet. And it just so happened that this pretty cool car was in front of our hotel...

Yeah, part of me thinks that seeing the car was cooler for Jesse than the Jazz game, but we both had fun.

We've also made some serious improvements to the house... 

Jesse, Rick, and Kollin putting a window in the basement.

I wish there was a before-before picture, but just imagine florescent lights, wood paneling, the central heating unit in the middle of the room, and cement floors.

The After-Before

Ta-Da!

Full on Man Cave

And now I'm not scared to go in the basement! The first movie we watched was Real Steel and Jesse was totally enjoying his investment in a new sound system.

Jesse is still loving his calling in YM. I think he is learning a little patience working with 12 year olds but I know he has so much fun with the boys. I'm loving Primary more every week. I have to say my favorite part is when I get to go to Nursery for singing time. All the kids are {SO} cute! And a few of them, their first words in nursery have been the names of songs, especially the bumble bee song. So cute. 

All in all, life is pretty good here in Rupert, and we are so blessed to be able to enjoy it all.

A New Year

The new year has brought some ups and downs. The ups have been spending time with family and we had a wonderful Christmas. Jesse got the camo he wanted and I got a puppy--ok so its a pillow pet puppy, but I'll take what I can get :) We also got some movies, a photo book, and a new camera! I've been using it a lot to help justify our getting a new camera. So here's a few of our Christmas pictures...

 Oh, and I made my brothers these awesome foot-y pajamas.

Another up, I got a calling in December to be the primary chorister. When I first got the calling I was super intimidated. I know kids shouldn't be scary, but I was a bit terrified. Now that I am a month into it, I love my calling. It is so much fun to teach these primary songs and come up with activities to teach the kids and invite the spirit too. For Jesse, he has been called as the assistant scout master for the Deacon's quorum. He is loving planning all the trips and camp-outs and uses as an excuse to try and get a camp stove...I'm not buying it :)

For the downs...so we came home last weekend from Sherlock Holmes (awesome movie!) to this...

Since it's dark, I'll explain...a tree fell on our house. And our car. In the top picture, where the load-all is, that is where our car was. So now we are in the middle of insurance claims and stuff. No fun. But we are definitely blessed that no worse damage happened and that we are ok.

Again, on the up side (!) we got a new set of couches! Kind of a last minute, spontaneous decision but we feel good about it. Of course it's hard not to feel good in on a soft, reclining sofa :)

So, 6 days into the new year and already it is crazy! But I am grateful for what we have and the loved ones around us. We really are blessed.