Sooo... It's Been A While...

Hey friends and family,
Sorry it's been so long since a post! It's been really busy around here! We've got work, school and a lot of summer play going on! We wouldn't have it any other way though... well maybe more play :) . So a lot of the news in this post is kinda old but I figured I'd include it just in case anyone hasn't heard.

So on July 4th (a while back, I know!) we went for a day camp-out with my sister and her family. It was a great little get away! We played with the kids, played on the teeter totter, went fishing (p.s. I caught one!) and had our lovely campfire and smores.

My first successful catch! 

We love spending time with Kelly and her family. Her kids are adorable and we always have a fun time with them! 

Speaking of my nieces and nephews I thought I would include some pictures that have been sitting in my phone dying to be seen. What little goofs!

Silly Jack and oreo faced Noah. What a handful.

P.s. Take a gander at this lovely old photo I found the other day... Merry Christmas in July - from my 14 year old self! 

Temple Trip and Girls Camp

I figured these two experiences belong in a post together because the girls camp theme this year was "Oh to the Temple We Go!"

So the other weekend Tyler and I spent our day off and drove to the Kansas City Temple. It was built about a year ago and neither I nor him have seen it yet and it had been a while since we had been. It ended up being a great trip! (Minus the fact that our air conditioner didn't work...Booo) It's a gorgeous Temple and it's always an uplifting experience that lasts when we leave.

Okay, now for the girls camp updates! As many of you know, I was a "camp Mom" for the Spanish Ward girls at girls camp. Let me just say that I had NO IDEA how much work the leaders did prepping for camp when I was a girl! Thank you to all of my leaders from back in the day! Thank you Thank you! I definitely had my hands full with picking up enough food and supplies to last for a week for a group of girls, getting all of their treats and devotionals and other misc. things ready on top of helping them prepare for their skits, cheers, themes and all of the other mounds of things to do. 

You can see the picture below from when I went to Sam's Club. I seriously could not even push my basket around it was so full (and it only had 1/3 of the supplies from the list in it). I ended up having to drop it off with some nice lady that worked there and continue shopping with another cart before having a bag boy help me push everything out to the loading zone. We were both surprised everything fit into the  little Rio.

If you can't tell, my car is literally packed to the max from my Sam's Club trip for groceries.
 Front seat, back seat, trunk. All shoved full with food. 

This is just some of the little goodies and treats for GC.

So once I got to Girls Camp I had a great time. My girls were seriously perfect! I would hear about how there was drama in other camps between the girls or the leaders and I had no problems whatsoever with it. The Spanish Ward girls were so sweet, had no drama with each other or me and the other leader and we're so helpful! I felt more like a girl than a leader! I ended up spending majority of my free time hanging out with them at the pool and talking and playing games. Seriously. So fun! My only complaint would be that it was so humid and hot! But, it was definitely worth it.  Now as a little disclaimer before you see the pictures below, all of these girls are gorgeous and have really good style! But when at camp and preparing for a skit, good style and makeup goes out the window! Enjoy!

Just for the Record, she was playing as the grinch in our skit ... hence all of the green. :) 

See this hairstyle... after doing this for one girl, I ended up being asked to do it for pretty much every girl... everyday. Luckily I like doing hair so it was no problemo. :) 

When I wasn't looking some girls decided to play with my phone... thanks for the little surprise girls! ha!

This is our camp flag which one of our girls made. (The one with the pink Tutu and huge hair in the above pics)

Busy busy busy! 

If you can't tell it was crazy but fun. The girls did a great job on their skits and cheers and I loved testimony meeting night and hearing how much their testimonies had grown over the week. It was an amazing and touching experience.

Now I don't usually do this, whether it's because I don't want to make others feel awkward or if it's just because I feel a little embarrassed but I don't want to let there be any doubt about how I feel. I have a testimony that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church. It's a gospel based around families and progression and I know that we can be sealed to our families so that those relationships and bonds don't end after our time here on earth is up. I know that we have a true and living Prophet on the earth today who receives revelation from God about the things that pertain to us in this day and age. The more I learn and grow in this gospel the more it makes sense and brings peace to my soul. I know that God is forgiving and wants us to succeed and that what Jesus Christ did for us allows us to repent for our sins so that we can have the opportunity to live with God again. That goes for anyone, anywhere.  I know that God loves me and knows me personally and the more I try to be closer to him and build that relationship, the more I feel and know that he's there. I have seen first hand the joy and peace that this gospel brings to those who let it be apart of their lives. I am now seeing friends learning about the gospel and they heard about it through different sources and, while feeling SO happy for them, it makes me sad that I didn't speak up sooner, out of fear to offend or have awkward moments, to let it touch their lives. I know in my heart and mind that this is the true gospel. I'm a little nervous posting this because I have never typically been good at sharing my testimony outside of church but I felt all week like I needed to, so here it is! Maybe there is someone out there needs to read it...who knows. Thanks again for reading and I hope that you all have a good week this week!

- Rif

Tyler's 25th Birthday!

So Tyler turned 25!! But... that happened back in May. Sorry to be so slow on the update! I surprised him and had his Mom come up from Houston without him knowing. When she showed up and knocked on the door, Tyler saw her out the window and leaped off the couch yelling "What the heck!? That's my Mom!" Ha, needless to say, he was happily surprised!  We spent the day showing her around and just catching up with her and then the next day while he was working, she and I went to Crystal Bridges and then worked on getting everything together for his surprise birthday party that evening. I would say that the party was also a success. :)

So after our fun surprise weekend we spent his actual birthday (Sunday) grilling up some yummy steaks (thanks Susan!) and then meeting up for a quick cobbler and for another round of the "Happy Birthday" song. Haha poor Tyler, he told me that he didn't like all of the attention being on him. He'll have to adjust to that because from here on out his Birthday is an extra big deal... I'll make sure of that ;). Love you Tyler! 

5 Months Married!

Hey everyone!

I hope you guys had a good week! Saturday was our 5 month mark of being married (time is seriously flying). On Friday, since we both had the day off, we went up to Branson, MO and had a little get away day. It was great. We woke up at a decent hour, ran and grabbed some doughnuts- as a treat to ourselves, and drove the 2 hour drive to Branson. We started off with Silver Dollar City (a classic theme park of my childhood) and lived it up. We went into Grandfather's Mansion (pretty much a fun house) and got our headache started off there. (The fact that headaches are coming quicker and stronger at theme parks makes me feel old. I'm only 20! I shouldn't be having a rough time yet!) We then went and did all of the rides and rode the new Outlaw Run ride. It's awesome! It was our first time to ride it and we both got on nice and excited to experience it. As the workers came by to do the last push on the lap belts to make sure they were secure, I noticed that the greasy high school kid in front of me had soaking wet hair. My fear was confirmed when as soon as the speed for the ride increased my face was getting pelted with water. So much for screaming with my mouth open. Blech! So, we tried again later and decided to ride on the front row. I was pumped and felt like there would be no problems. I was wrong. Happy Mr. Tyler was loving the ride so much that every time he threw his hands up he was smacking me right in the face and he was completely oblivious about it too. I tried to hold his hands down but it was useless. The lesson learned is that 1. Tyler on a roller coaster is an out of control Tyler and 2. Next time I want to ride a new ride with no set backs I need to sit by myself on the front row.

You may not believe me, but I'm standing straight up. Crooked floors! 

So after our big morning at Silver Dollar City we headed to the Tanger Outlet Malls. I had been having a hard time with finding clothes this summer that I liked. I've been trying to find classier clothes and some shorts that are longer than my rear and I found some shorts and tops that I'm obsessed with for a heck of a deal! We seriously found some awesome bargains at the Outlet Gap. I found all of my summer finds that I've been wanting there. It was a successful trip. 

Look at these summer colors! Love it! 

 So after our fun shopping day (even Tyler was having a good time!) We drove 30 minutes to one of Tyler's favorite restaurants, Lamberts. He went there for the first time at our family reunion last fall and loved it. It's just your typical southern cuisine restaurant except that it's always packed, they throw the rolls at you to catch and there are people walking around serving random side dishes onto your paper towels. It's fun and we highly recommend it. Here are some of the pictures we snapped while waiting in the summer sun for our names to be called.

Trying to decide on the best meal. You can see his messy side of the
table before we've even ordered our food. 

 It was a great little get away! We came home and were worn out! Poor Tyler had to work early the next morning!

On Saturday while Tyler was at work I had a meeting/party with my girls camp girls at my Mom's house. We had watermelon, punch and tons of other little snacks. I had a blast working on their cheers and skits with them. Seriously they are some of the sweetest and funniest girls. I cannot wait to spend a week at camp with them. I might be a handful for Tyler when I get home.

So today after church we tried out a new recipe. Tyler loved it and wants it to be a family favorite but I'm still not sure how I feel. It's a lot of zest! Here's the link to the recipe though in case you want to try it! I halved it since it's only the 2 of us and I only used 1/4 of the lemon juice. It's pretty zesty! But as far as cooking it though it was pretty easy and quick! (oh, and thanks to our new garlic mincer, it was fun for me!

Mini little update: we got a KitchenAid as a graduation present! Thanks to Lynn and Tyler's Mom. It's this gorgeous Robin's Egg blue color. We love it! Hopefully one day we can have a larger kitchen that will give it the space it deserves! With due time I suppose.

Well, we are in the middle of watching Robin Hood (the one with Kevin Costner!) and having a relaxing little Sunday night. Until next time, thanks for reading!

Saturday Calmness

This Saturday after Tyler got off we just had a lazy day. The weather was perfect, so we decided to just go outside for a bit. We went to the driving range at our apartment and he hit some balls while I just caught up on my leisure book. He are some quick photos we snapped. 

Warmin' up like a pro! 

Reading time! Yay! 

Even when we aren't up to crazy things it's still just so great even doing the calmest things together. It's so nice to be with someone who, even when you aren't doing anything crazy, you can still have a great time together. Gosh I love him... and now I'm done with my tender wife moment. I'm sure you are ready to be through with that, so I'll carry on. ;)

Okay, so I know it's the running joke that no one can understand my name.. ever. Here is some more fuel to the fire for that. Here are just a couple  pieces of evidence (out of so many) about how at work, when dealing with other people, no one ever gets my name - and it becomes evident when they send me faxes. Enjoy:

Risha? Really? That's a new one..  

Oh and p.s. My husband is the best. He bring me surprise gifts without warning, like nail polish. Gosh. I scored a good one. He even picked out colors that I had been wanting. :) 

Future Plans and Thoughts

So, as many of you know Tyler and I are both brainstorming all of our options for future plans. We are applying to different schools all around the country, he has been applying to different jobs all around the country and even one in Russia (haha hmm... we'll see about that...) but right now we are just praying a lot and trying to find an option that is beneficial to both of us. The hardest thing we have been struggling with is that most plans will only be helpful to one of us while leaving the other one in an awkward spot. I'll keep you updated as we know more and things start falling into place but in the mean time, prayers are definitely welcome. We're keeping our heads up and having faith that things will work out but nonetheless it's still stressful to not know where life is going to take you soon. So keep us in your prayers and I'll keep you updated as we know more! Thank you all for being such great friends and family to us and thanks again for reading and keeping in touch with the going-on's in our life.

Our Life as Sunbeam Teachers.

So as you know, Tyler and I teach the sunbeams (3 year old class) at our church. It's seriously so fun! Today since it was Mother's Day all of the men in the church took over for the women in Primary and in Young Women's so that all of the ladies could go to Relief Society and Sunday School. It was so nice but last night I helped Tyler get prepared for his lesson today since it was going to be just him and a substitute. After church he came back and told me that it went awesome and all of the kids loved the activity so I thought I would share it in off chance that someone else teaching little kids might be needing some ideas. The lesson today was about how we have bodies and how important it is to take care of them (Deep doctrine I know!)

So, for the bodies part, we just made a blank face and then cut out things to put on it. Things like eyes, hair, nose, mouths, ears, etc. The kids just drew all of these items out of a bag and then stuck it onto the face. Tyler said that they loved it. I made boy face items and girl face items and they had fun with it. They put the girls hair on the boy as a mustache and etc. I'm glad they had so much fun and it was so easy to make! The best part about it is that even if you can't color and draw well, it doesn't matter! It's just the activity that they enjoy! (I'm proof of that!) 

The next activity that we prepared for them is about the things you put in your body. I made healthy foods and then not so healthy foods. They would draw these one of these out of the bags and put it in the "Healthy-eat whenever" pile or else in the "Not so Healthy- eat only every once in while" pile. They loved this one as well! I'm so glad! 

The last activity I got ready for them was for Mother's Day. I just got these fuzzy pipe lines for them to make flowers for their Mom's with. Tyler said he had to help them a little with the twisting and making it look good (our class is so funny, even when making things with playdough they want it to look perfect.). It still went well, it's just an activity you have to help them a bit more with.
We stayed up late Saturday night working on all of it. We watched a movie, did some arts and crafts for the class and just made it a cute date. Here is a picture of Tyler at like 1:30 in the morning once we were all done. He's such a great husband!

our happy Sunday School Teacher the night before! 

Well that is our happy Sunday School update and here is one of our happy Sunday Schoolers... he also is my nephew which is why this photo isn't in a church setting at all. This picture actually has nothing to do with anything but I thought I would add it because it's just too cute to exclude!

Once again, thanks for reading! 

Love, 

Dog Sitting (well Kind of...)

My Brother and Sister in Law went out of town this weekend for her last track meet. While they were gone they asked us to watch their dogs. As a side note, I've been craving some puppy time so we brought the little dog, Cocoa home one night and just spoiled her. It was her turn since the other day I took the big one out on a run through this awesome trail by our house. So we brought Cocoa home, gave her a bath, and gave her good dog-rubs the rest of the night. Then, of course when it was time to go to sleep she cried most of the night because attention time was over and she's used to her night life outside. I thought she was out of her puppy crying stage but I guess not. Oh well, it was still fun. Needless to say though after I dropped her off back at her house I scrubbed and vacuumed the entire apartment so that there wouldn't be any left over dog smell or hair. I guess that's a good way to motivate my spring cleaning. After that we took both of the dogs on walks and then since last night was the last time to feed them we also gave them some rawhide bones. They loved it.

They were too excited to stand or sit still for even two seconds. Oh, and beware: Layla is still a puppy, but you can tell from her size she's already a huge boxer, so when she jumps up on you and is knocking you over she doesn't even realize that you are trying to push her off.

Here she is on one of our runs. She's a great running partner. She'll
pull you along to a run even if you're wanting to walk.

 Crazy dog ruined my outfit with slobber and dirt every time I went over. But she's still awesome :). We had a lot of fun with them both.

Thanks Caleb for letting us watch your dogs! We had fun!

Belated Gorden Graduation Party

So when I know I had a post about graduating already but this last weekend we had a graduation party with the Gorden family. My Sister in Law, Becca graduated from University of Arkansas so my family threw a graduation party for both of us. My Dad made some delicious BBQ (Tyler said it's his new favorite -good job Dad!) and then my Dad made this awesome graduation cake for me. So since I only got my associates degree the running joke has been that I've "half graduated" so my Dad made this "half graduation" cake.

So creative right! Go Dad! 

My awesome nephew Gorden. After everyone scarfed the cake down, he convinced
everyone to go outside and play soccer with him as a fam. So fun. :) 

So with that said it was a good weekend! The night before this (on Saturday) we all went as a family to this El Salvadoran restaurant and needless to say we all ate some interesting things, but my Dad's meal won. Look at this big ol' nasty.

 

....and on that note! Thanks for reading!