Anniversary Trip to Disneyland

Well Folks, I said I would get better at this and I am not doing so well. Here is another try at being a blogger.

The beginning of August we went to Disneyland with my little sister and her new hubby. We had such a blast, but it was too busy for my taste. Don't get me wrong we still had a wonderful time, but that time of year is too hot and busy. It was the only time we could go with Jeff being in school and all. We had a old friend who is over there in Cali working at Disneyland with her family and she got us into the parks, (I don't remember the last time I had to pay to go to Disney parks with me working there and all. hehe!) Jeff hadn't been there since he was 7, so I really excited for him to go and experience the it with him!

We flew in on Sunday and Marilee and Mikell picked us up and then we went to church over in the area by Disneyland. We then had a picnic at a park near the church building. Thank goodness for smart phones and the map apps they have!! Then we had to wait ti check in so we strolled across the street to Downtown Disney to kill some time. Then we checked in and got some good rest before we hit the Parks the next 2 days.

Monday we started bright and early and were there when the parks open. The key to the busy season at Disney parks is to get there at the very beginning and hit all of the big rides first cause the parks aren't as busy in the morning and utilize Fast Pass. We got to ride the updated Star Tours first and it was lots of fun. We rode all the good stuff like Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, It's a Small World, Indiana Jones, Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mountain Railroad, Storybook Land Boats and I beat everyone at Buzz Lightyear!! HAHA!! We went and saw our family favorite Billy Hill and the Hillbillies, we have to see it every time if we can. That afternoon we headed to California Adventure and went on Tower of Terror and we got to ride the brand new Little Mermaid ride, it was so cute. Finally we rode Soaring over California, that is a great ride! Back at Disneyland, they all humored me and watched the new parade with me and it just happened that Mikell's neighbor growing up was "friends" a certain Princess in the parade. It was fun for them to see each other for a quick moment and she even blew him a kiss (I am not sure how Mar felt about that. jk!) We also watched the fireworks and my most favorite show Fantasmic, I absolutely think that it is my most favoritve show ever at disney!! Can you tell I like it? :)

On Tuesday we were there at opening again and we went to the Fantasyland rides. My favorite one is Peter Pan and it's usually a long wait so you have to do it fast. We then hit Dumbo, the Tea cups, Alice in Wonderland, Mr. Toad's Wild ride and all the rest over there. After a while we went over to California Adventure for it's opening for the day. Right now it's under a lot of construction for the new look they are creating, so it made Jeff's first experience there not the best. Marilee also needed a wheelchair for her knee so crowds were not the best getting through. We hit Toy Story Mania first and again I beat everyone at it!! Yeah!! I am humble too. ;)  Then we rode California Screaming, watched Aladdin and rode Tower of Terror again. That night we watched an awesome college all-star band. There just happened to be a BYU gal in the band, Go BYU! haha I will only say that cause we are here going to school. Then that night we went and watched the new World of Color water show, because Mar was in a wheelchair we got pretty good seats. It was a beautiful and cool show! To end the night we went back to Disneyland and rode the Nemo Submarines. We were dead tired by the end of our trip. Oh and when we went to fly out we almost missed our flight because LAX is too busy and not very nice, but it's ok we got our workout running to our gate. :) We had lots of fun and had some good food!  I loved hanging out with my little sis and her new hubby. Jeff and I loved Disneyland and can't wait till we have a family of our own to take there too!

The Summer Raines

Well folks, I keep saying I am going to be better at the whole blogging thing, but to my dismay I am still terrible at it. Anywho here is another try......

This summer was very busy and very fast! My baby sister got married in May and I was down in Mesa for like 9 days for it, Jeff couldn't come the whole time I was there but flew in the day before. It was a beautiful wedding! It was the first time my whole family was in the temple together, it was such a wonderful experience! I got to see my in-laws that week too. Marilee and Mikell are perfect for each other and I couldn't be happier for them. I loved being home with my family for that week and I miss them dearly. I miss my nieces and nephews a ton!!

Once we got back we were busy little bees at work and Jeff was finishing up the spring semester.  About a month and a half after applying for the animation program we finally got the letter back saying that he didn't get in, but that he should work on his drawings and reapply in august. We were a little bummed, but we knew he could work his tail off this summer and hopefully get in August.

While the rest of the summer was playing out we went to see some movies and musicals. In June for Jeff's birthday we went to the midnight showing of Green Lantern and discovered the magical place of Sub Zero Ice Cream!!! Oh my goodness it is amazing and Jeff gets so excited every time we go now, just cause he gets to see them blast liquid nitrogen on our chosen cream flavors! :) He is so cute! My personal fav is pumpkin, cheesecake and cinnamon with heath chunks in it. Yum Yum!! The next day I surprised him with tickets to see Singing in the Rain at the outdoor theater in Orem. It was so fun, we both LOVE that musical so it was a great date! Poor thing was slightly sick and a little miserable and fell asleep as we were waiting for it to start, but we loved the performance. A week later it was our 1st Anniversary and we went to Tucanos, an amazing brazilian grill and anytime you go, you have to be rolled out cause you are stuffed full. If you are ever around a Tucanos... GO! It will be worth it. :)

Happy anniversary Jeff! Love ya!! :)

I got to go to my first Drive-in movie during the fourth of July holiday when we were in Toole visiting his grandparents. I absolutely loved it. His cousin has this huge truck and we threw a love-sac and blankets in the back and watched a double feature of Kung Fu Panda 2 and Rio. Both very enjoyable! I  have always wanted to go too a drive-in but could never go whenever my friends were going. Later this summer my family was having a reunion in AZ for Grandma Jones' 80th birthday, but sadly we couldn't go because of work and Jeff getting all his stuff ready for reapplying for the animation program. We were involved in the t-shirt making though, Jeff designed an awesome design for the t-shirts. I wish I could have gone, but AZ was too far away. :(  

Later that same month Jeff's fam had a reunion too and it was only an hour away from Provo so we were able to make a short appearance there. It was Pioneer day weekend and we had scored tickets to the MoTab concert and Brian Stokes Mitchell and Linda Eder were the guests!! It was an amazing concert, I have always wanted to see him perform live and it was Marvelous!!! Sadly that weekend I was not feeling good and had terrible headaches, which turned out to be a sinus infection from the cold I had been blessed with a few weeks prior. It was not fun at all! No worries it got all cleared up 10 days later with lovely HUGE pills I had to swallow after eating yogurt. I finished those pills right before our trip to DISNEYLAND. Yep that's right I said Disneyland. We decided to celebrate our 1st anniversary by going to Disneyland for a couple of days in August with Marilee and Mikell. I will write about that in another post later. It deserves it own post.

Jeff finished up all of his portfolio for is application and felt really good about the changes he made. He sent off his application Aug 1st. We were expecting another long wait, but 2 days later he was told the letters were ready to be picked up. Whoa! I was like ok let's go pick it up, so we went and picked up the letter during our lunch break. We had to wait a bit cause the secretary was out for lunch too, lame come on who eats! haha.. So we finally got the letter and Jeff opened it and it said...... Congrats you have been accepted into the BYU Animation program!!! YAY he got in!! We were basically jumping for joy at the time! We called our families to tell them the wonderful news. It was a very glorious moment and also a relief to know that we can start planning our lives somewhat. Well It was great that we had planned a trip to disneyland that same week, so we were also celebrating Jeff's acceptance into the program. Life is great. Now I get to become an animation widow, but it will be worth it. :)

Married Life in Provo...

Well we have survived our first winter here in Provo. Let's just say snow and I are not the best of friends. I will not last long living in the snow, but I will be here as long as Jeff needs to be. It's may and the snow has finally stopped and it feels like spring and I love it!!

I started a new job in April and so far so great. I am working with the BYU ARTS Partnership. It's basically a program that teaches teachers how to incorporate the arts in their classrooms. Sadly the arts are getting pushed out of schools and this is one of the many programs working hard to keep arts in school. I do a bunch of the behind the scene stuff for the different conferences put on. I get to walk to work most days, which saves us a bunch on gas! YAY!

Jeff is done with the normal school year, but is now taking a few classes during the spring semester. By the way the spring and summer semesters are like squished into a 3 1/2 month time so if you miss one week its like missing a month of a regular semester. He is also waiting to hear back on if he made it into the Animation Program at BYU, which is super competitive! Around 200 people apply every year and like only 20-25 make it in each year. Let's just hope he gets in his first time around. Jeff works for the grounds crew at BYU right now, currently we are looking for a new student position for him so he doesn't have to shovel snow at 4 in the morning this next winter. I did not enjoy waking up to those phone calls at 3:30 am!

Married life has been pretty darn awesome so far! Our stakes just got realigned and now no more BYU in our ward and stake names. We were the BYU 109th ward and now our new name is now, drumroll please......... the Prove Married Student 12th ward. How will that look on a tithing slip?? haha Jeff joke that he will put the PMS 12th ward. Silly Jefferson. Our ward seems to be a bit smaller now. We will just have to see this coming Sunday now won't we. Luckily church is at noon so I can still sleep in on my weekends. Happy sleepy time for me! Anywho thats about for now. I will post some pictures from the last few months since I haven't been on for a while. I have made it a goal to post more often now. I promise Kim! :) haha
































Sorry they are all out of order, but I am too lazy to fix the order. You get the idea. The disney pics are from our honeymoon to Disney World in August. Enjoy the pics!