THE BIG ONE!!!

A bit more than a week ago, it was our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!! Hooray!!! I can't believe how quickly time has flown by. I never believed I could love anyone so much or grow as close to someone as I have to Jon. Everyday just seems to get better and better as we learn more about each other. Cheesy, I know, but true. We had both of our parents over for dinner the other night and they asked us what the most surprising thing was about marriage in this first year, and we both answered that everyone told us how incredibly difficult it would be to adjust to one another, to get over the little quirks that we both have, to learn to do things for the other person, and it surprised us how wrong they were, because married life was immediately (and still is) very easy for us. Life with Jon has been amazing...we just seem to fit perfectly! He is incredible in so many ways and I am so wonderfully blessed to be married to the most unselfish, devilishly handsome, sweet, caring, hardworking man! To prove his wonderfulness... Jon surprised me with a weekend getaway to the Zermatt Resort. We got some excellent discounts and they upgraded us to the Honeymoon Suite! It was so fun! The whole weekend was spent in complete relaxation, which was much needed after the long semester and finals.

We got to Zermatt late on Thursday and then Friday we lounged around the resort, ate gelatto (devine), slept in, watched TV (which we don't have and sometimes crave), watched movies...pretty much, it was heaven. Jon also had made some really fun plans to go either hot air ballooning or for a helicopter ride, but they fell through because of the stinky weather. So instead, we went to The Crater. It was pretty sweet. This is a picture from inside the crater, which is actually like 50 ft wide. The water was really warm and Jon and I went snorkling. We watched from above as others below were getting their scuba diving certifications.
The water was so blue it was incredible, and contrary to rumor, the water was really clear and you could see all of the wall formations underwater.

This is us on top of the crater and Zermatt is in the background. Later that evening, we went out to dinner at ClaimJumpers because our favorite restaurant in Seattle was ClaimJumpers. Sadly, Heber ClaimJumpers doesn't quite match up, but we had a really good time and the food was really good. That night, Jon presented me with some really pretty flowers, and a sweet gift certificate for a shopping spree the nest day, and we enjoyed an evening of candy and movies! I gave him a much needed electric razor and a hair clipper kit (and I cut his hair just last week for the first time...I was terrified but it ended up looking okay!) It was a fabulous weekend and a fabulous anniversary!!!

This past weekend was my brother's 17th birthday! I can't believe that Josh is that old. He is the one with the glasses down below. He is currently ranked the #6 best goalie in Utah for lacrosse! Incredible! Anywho...Jon and I decided to put aside other responsibilities to go hang out with my family and we had a great time. My brothers always crack me up and somehow manage to make the oddest comments of all time...they are definitely a generation of TV addicts. Sam is missing from this picture...

This is my dad and my cute grandma who came up for the birthday celebration. My other grandparents were there too and it was so fun to spend time with them.
Unfortunately, we spent too much time and didn't get home until 12:00pm...with the rude realization that both Jon and I had massive amounts of homework...I mean, an eight page paper due by 8 in the morning! It was a LATE night for us both.

So anywho...other than that, the update on life is that Jon and I are pretty much going to be dead this summer. We are trying to work really really hard so that we can save up and get back to Brazil and Ethiopia soon! Jon is working three jobs and going to school full time (he is crazy, but so willing to work hard and sacrifice for us!). I am working two jobs and also going to school full time! I just started waitressing at the Old Spaghetti Factory if anyone wants to come in, please do! I would love a friendly face! To sum up, we will have a very busy summer, but we both feel that it is the right decision and hopefully we can reach our goals. One sad note is that we are being kicked out of our cute, lovely little house. The landlord has decided to sell it to some buyers who want to rent it to their married kids, so we got the boot. Unfortunatley, the house has got me a bit spoiled...it was so nice, so open, so full of light, and SO cheap...I don't think something like that exists south of campus besides our house. Luckily, we got into the newer part of Wymount (you gotta love the "rabbit hutches") for the right time, so I don't think it will be too much of an issue. I just wish we weren't leaving our home, which we have really come to love, and I wish we weren't leaving the ward! We just got called as ward mission leaders and are LOVING the calling. GRRRR to change!
Wow...well this was a novel....hope it makes up for the slacking I have been doing (sorry katie!).