Adventures and Bites

So, it's been a very long time. But still love me, I've been ridiculously busy and stressed with school. The semester is ending though, which makes life better.

SO! What have you missed?

Shooting Guns

So much fun! Zac got a new hand gun and it freaks me out to shoot. It throws your whole hand back. We went with our friends Kevin and Camille and their dog Titan, Nixon's brother. Turns out, when I actually get up the nerve to shoot the guns, I'm not a bad shot. Woot! Woot!

Bike Rides

Lately, Zac and I have been taking little bike rides and giving Nixon's leg an ultra workout by making him run along side us. He's getting bigger and eating TONS more, but he'll never be to big for scooter rides.

Scooter Rides

We went on a scooter ride up Millville Canyon. Once we got up to the canyon where it was all a dirt trail, we let Nixon off the leash. He was loving running next to us and smelling everything. However, trouble was just around the corner. HAHA! I'm sure the suspense is killing you right? Well, there was another dog, also not on his leash. Nixon was stoked to find a new friend and immediately ran up to the dog. It was when Nixon went to sniff the other dogs 'unmentionables' that all h-e-double hockey sticks broke out. This dog was not having it. There was a lot of growling and yelping and all sorts of noises; next thing I knew, Nixon was pinned under the other dog, and the other dog took the liberty of biting into Nixon's 'good' back leg. So, we went on our way, because, really, who was in the wrong? Both dogs were off their leashes. In the end, Nixon has a big ol' hole in his leg, from the canine tooth of the angry dog.

The vet has charged us for far too many other things, so we just poured hydrogen peroxide on it and glued the hole up with super glue. He's doing just fine, and we probably saved a hundred dollars. Stupid vets. Stupid angry dogs. Then Zac started a fire using gasoline out of the scooter, while Nixon acted like he didn't even have a big hole in his leg. Ha! I love my family.

Fishing

Of course, fishing. Nixon was being a complete psycho during this trip. I still love him. He swam in the freezing water to fetch some super muddy ball that he had found, and ran clear up a mountain of rocks to look for the ball when Zac chucked it up there. Then, just before we left, he ran through prickly bushes and got huge prickles stuck to him. He loved every minute of it.

Welp, that's the update for now! :)

I PASSED

A post to say the only thing I have time to these days, I passed.

I passed the last praxis test that I have to take. Pretty much the last hurdle that I had to overcome before being a teacher. (Aside from graduation. Ha.)

Sadly, that is the end of my post. My head hurts too much these days. Thankfully the passing Praxis news relieved some of the ache.

My 24th Year

I rolled gracefully into my 24th year with a good morning kiss and a happy birthday song from a man that loves me. 92.9 must have known that I was feeling a little old school, because as I turned on my car and proceeded to drive to school, I was graced with the presence of CHER and her jammin' song, Believe. You know, the one that says, DO YOU BELIEVE IN LIFE AFTER LOVE? Still not sure what I'm talking about? Please, click here and take yourself back. How can you not sing your guts out to that song. Ha! So this, I did. (sang my guts out)

My lovely first day, of my 24th year continued with me turning on the t.v. just to find, ME. Yes, me. Well not only me. It was the let's make a deal episode 1091. My episode. I mean, the episode where I was in the audience screaming, "WAYNE, WAYNE!! PICK ME WAYNE!" While wearing card board and lights in the pattern of a traffic light and sitting next to my family and friends who were also dressed like freaks. (the things you'll do for a chance at money) Click on the 'My episode' link up there and fast forward to about 23 and a half minutes. It's just before he picked the lady dressed like a santa, or elf, or something. Anyways, she's right behind me and I'm screaming in Wayne's face, but no, he picked her. My costume was cooler anyway.

If none of this is ringing a bell, then I suggest you begin following my entertaining blog. That is my birthday wish. :) And you should begin by reading the Bucket List Post. Perhaps then you won't feel so out of the loop. Back to my point. MY EPISODE aired on MY BIRTHDAY. This was meant to be.

Later in the day I enjoyed a fantastic facial and relaxing massage. It was wonderful. Zac came home with flowers and then we went out to Wingers (my absolute favorite place) with Keaton and Jen. We ended the night with the movie, "When in Rome" Which proved to be overall, humorous; especially the girl from fraggle rock. When you see it, you'll know who we're talking about.

All in all, a wonderful day.

The beginning of a good year.

NIXON

Of course this is a post about Nixon. Truly there's not much else going on in our lives right now. Sorry. :)

This is Nixon taking a nap in the back seat of

Zac's parents' suburban. We were on our way home from Rexburg, ID.

Same trip, just doing his usual head cuddle on Zac's shoulder.

I, Sarah, recently taught Nixon to crawl. He will crawl for a fairly long distance, but only on carpet. I'm fairly certain it's uncomfortable and painful for him to crawl on the wood and tile. Also, he can't get as good of a grip to push himself along when it's a hard, smooth surface.

This is Nixon on Christmas night, 3 days after surgery. He is wearing the ace bandage around his neck to protect the fentanyl patch, which was administering wonderful amounts of pain relief through his skin.

Haha! Of course, Nixon peeking over the edge of the bed. He's such a weirdee sometimes. You can't help but love him.

Now, I suggest we do a little before and after. (For all of you who care. Ha, that's probably only me, but we'll do it for the sake of things.) Nixon and Harvey (the black dog) then.

Nixon and Harvey now. Allow me to clear up any confusion you may have. Harvey did NOT shrink.

To finish up, I propose we end with two moments when Nixon is the sweetest. (In his sleep.)

The first, in the back of the car. The Rexburg trip really took it out of him. (Of course he's sleeping with his head on the pillow, don't all civilized dogs?)

And second, our little baby boy, in Keaton's arms, after a long day of home renovations. He was exhausted. (And so tiny!)

School.. And Now a Public Service Message

The break has been thoroughly enjoyed. But now we must return to school. The joyful part, at least for me, is that summer comes after this semester, meaning a long SUNNY break. Although, I have been dreading returning to school, I have come to terms with it and realized that this is basically my last 'CLASS' semester. This is my last semester before student teaching which means they're trying to teach me how to teach children, before I'm actually teaching them. Hmmm.. did that make sense? Oh, well. Just read it a couple of times and maybe it will make sense then. (I will soon be teaching your children and yet I can't make my blog make sense. HA! I probably could if I tried, but isn't it enough that I'm blogging? Must I make sense?)

I digress.

I need to tell EVERYONE! If you have not looked at the blogs on the side of the page, look NOW. You know, the section that says 'blogs that I love'. Specifically, our best bites. I promise you that it will become your best bites ever! This thing is full of easy and delicious recipes. Seriously, you can't screw these things up. I shall recommend a few. I tried 2 this weekend and Zac and I could not get enough.

First, Spicy Honey Chicken. MMMMMMMmmmmmmmm...... Need I say more?

Second, Italian Burgers. Only make these with the Marinara Sauce. It says you can prepare it with regular hamburger stuff, but trust me... Maaariiinaaara. (True I have not tried it with regular hamburger stuff, but I can just tell.) OH! And you will look forever for Italian Turkey Sausage. I suggest calling stores before going. Only ONE store had it in ALL of Cache Valley. There were probably 4 that carried it, but everyone was out. I finally found it at the last store, where they only had ONE package left.

Anyways, so click on the blog, then browse whatever they have most recently posted, (the dessert wantons were delish too), THEN go to the top and select recipes. Then it allows you to browse by categories. The Spicy Honey Chicken is under 'Poultry'. Does it seem stupid that I have to say that? Maybe it is stupid, but I am not a chef, and I looked for the first couple seconds for a category named 'Chicken'. HA! Yes, laugh at me. And then, all of you who know you would have made the same silly mistake, thank me in your hearts for saving you from your own embarrassment. :) And of course, the Italian Burgers are under 'Beef". Yes, yes; I got that one right the first time.

I expect comments on this telling me how great those recipes are! YUM!

Bucket List

So this post is a little delayed, but I need to document this experience. I don't have a bucket list, but I may as well. December 12th, 2009 myself, and the poor souls I dragged with me, were on the game show "Let's Make A Deal" with Wayne Brady. Yes, we were ready to MAKE A DEAL!! Sadly, I have decided the game is fixed. FIXED I tell you! We dressed up as the coolest things, and yet Wayne didn't pick any of us! He was standing directly in front of me and I was SCREAMING, "Wayne, Wayne! Pick me, Wayne! I'm right here! Look at me Wayne!" Still, nothing. We were a little preoccupied throughout the day and forgot to take pictures. We snapped this one at the last minute, but everyone else had already taken off their costumes. A list of what were all dressed as, myself- a traffic light (I really lit up!), Andrew- a retired kidney fairy (the wings, the hair, a tutu, and the homemade kidney shirt), Rachel and her boyfriend were crayons (homemade by MUAH!), Daniel was a christmas tree (very creative, he looked great!), and Wyatt was a star (shining brightly, shining for the whole world to see!) So, thanks to everyone for your support in checking this item off our bucket lists. Be on a game show... CHECK! P.S. It's episode 1091 on CBS. We sat on the right side, on the bottom half.

A Little Party, A Little Bubbly, and A Little Smoochie

New Year's Eve. I always think, 'we're gonna do something big this time, something awesome to celebrate the ending of a year and the prospects of a fantastic new beginning'. So first we were going to Vegas, and we would stop in St. George so I could see my lovely friends. Then plans changed to going to Lava Hot Springs. In the end, all fell through. I was a little disappointed, because I had practically begged to get work off. Last minute, it was decided that we would have a little shin-dig at our house. So we busted out the chocolate fountain (deeelish), grabbed some bubbly (thank you mr. martinelli), and had the friends over. We thought it was going to be just a small gathering, but it grew quickly. We had a delicious steak and potato dinner, then snacked and played 'catch phrase' all night long. The boys have a way of joining together to make themselves louder than the girls, when we're trying to discuss who's point it should have been, which was a little frustrating, and yet, no relationships were broken on that night. The one thing that was broken was our couch. We understand there was a lot of excitement during the game, and Keaton is a guy that can really get into things. So, Zac busted out his manly intuition the next day and fixed the couch, it's better and stronger than ever. Nixon and Jersey (Jake and Morgan's dog) had a great time together, entertaining each other while they were trapped in the kitchen. So this year, we rang in the new year with great friends. It was a fantastic way to celebrate! Thanks to everyone that came!

Broken

So, Nixon has been broken for a couple of weeks now. He got hit by a car and avoided walking on his back left leg. So we took him to the vet and the vet basically told us that he had broken the ball of his hip, but the displacement was minimal and he would be fine to take it easy and let it heal where it was. The doctor also warned us that there was about a 5% chance of the fracture forming a blood clot, in which case we would be in for it. So we watched nixon carefully and he was doing fine. After about a week he was back to normal. Walking and running just fine. Then on our trip to St. George, he suddenly started limping again. There was no apparent reason for the limping so I called the vet. After a pricey vet visit it was decided that Nixon had, of course, been in the lucky 5%. He had formed a clot and the bone was dying. Apparently it was luck of the draw, and it was no fault of ours that he had formed this clot. Surgery was needed. Expensive surgery. Dang, I hope Nixon knows how much we love him. Also, during this wonderful vet visit, we learned he had mange (a skin eating mite), and a terrible ear infection. So, he has now had surgery, and thanks to Micall (it's great to have friends working at the vet's office) we were able to break in last night (ok we didn't really break in, Micall, being the great person that she is, offered to administer his pain medications after hours for free). These are some of the pictures of him in the vet post surgery. He is home now and feeling much more comfortable.

Almost Christmas

Wow, its been a while, I know. There s snow everywhere in Logan, and it does not threaten to leave anytime soon, not that leaving would be a threat to me. The snow is wonderful.. for a day. This is the wonderful thing about St. George (oh, how I miss thee), it doesn't snow often, so when it does, everyone is stoked. Then it leaves within the next few days. Gone. No trudging in the slush or trying to drive to school when you can't see the lines on the road.

Enough about my relationship with the snow. Nixon loves it! He goes crazy in the snow, rolling and jumping everywhere. Oh! Post script, Nixon got hit by a car 2 weeks ago. Long story, but he hurt his back leg, limped around forever, and now he is all better. Between the limping and the all better, there were pain meds. Nixon loves pain meds. :)

And continuing to another subject. Michelle took fun pictures for us down in Salt Lake a week ago. It was freezing, but we still had a great time. She did a great job, here's a sample of the pics. Before you look at the pictures, I must warn - I am NOT PREGNANT. Despite what it might look like in one of these pictures, I'm not 'trying' to tell you anything. Ok... continue.

Zac's Birthday

It was Zac's birthday on Tuesday. The big 24... I'll be there soon. :) We had some friends over and had a little BBQ. We cooked hamburgers and then ate delicious cake, but not until Zac blew out all 24 candles. We ended the night with a little Taboo. Which turned out to be one of the hardest games ever. We had tons of laughs though! Definitely a good night. :)

P.S. If anyone feels inclined to buy me the game 'Catch Phrase', I would not be opposed.

My child. My child.

Nixon is the most hilarious dog ever! I feel as if I have a human child. This was our morning:

I wake up at 6:15 and get in the shower

I get out of the shower and open the door

There is my little child dog, laying on the ground

He follows me around until I let him outside

He pees and does his 'business'

He comes galloping back inside

By this time he is stoked about being awake

So I go upstairs and start getting ready for school

Meanwhile Nixon is throwing his rope in the air

Running around to pounce on it

Picking it up

Spazzing out

Running in circles

Rolling on his back

And all of this he does without any attention from anyone

He is self entertained

Thus acting like a toddler with toys.

Talks

The inevitable has occurred. Zac and I are speaking in church next week.

Story:

Church man called Zac a couple of weeks ago, we ignored it. Church man called again a couple of days ago. Zac reaches in his pocket to retrieve his phone and, during the wrestle to get it out of his pocket, touches the screen, several times. Thanks to technology, our wonderful touch screen phones only require you to touch the screen a couple of times and then it answers the phone. Zac says hello? Church man say HELLO BROTHER BURK!

yadda yadda yadda... We're speaking in church. Needless to say, Zac is going to need a few lessons on how to appropriately handle his very delicate touch screen phone.

One Year!

Zac and I just celebrated our 1st anniversary on Saturday. It was fantastic. We partied it up with friends at the lake, then had a nice dinner out at Texas Roadhouse with just the two of us. I thought I couldn't love Zac anymore than on the day I married him, but I realize now that our love is growing so much every day. Having the year mark celebration gave me a chance to think back on all that we have accomplished together and how we have grown closer and closer everyday. LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Breaking and Entering

Yesterday Zac and I decided that we would go on a nice Sunday hike with Nixon. As Zac is walking out the front door he locks the handle, I made sure the back door was locked and then went to walk out the front door. I noticed he had locked the handle already and figured he wouldn't have locked it without taking his keys... so I didn't grab mine. WRONG. Just as I am walking around the side of the garage I see Zac and Nixon walking back from the car. Zac asks me if I have my keys. Nope. So we check all of the windows to see if there was any chance we left one unlocked. I knew there was no way we would have left one of the downstairs windows unlocked, but the windows upstairs are usually unlocked. Indeed they were. All of them, in fact. Too bad they are all 20 feet above the ground. So Zac hoisted me up onto the overhang above our door. I climbed up, took the screen off and slid the window open. I climbed in through the blinds and right onto the desk knocking over our pens and pencils. So I wasn't very quiet and probably wouldn't make a great thief, but I did make it into the house. Moral of this story, never trust anyone else to have keys. Always take your own. :)

My Funny Boy

Nixon is the funniest dog ever. We just got into our new condo and have been renovating, so we haven't exactly had all the time in the world to spend with our dog. SO, I suppose we were lucky that Nixon has always been able to entertain himself. We were sitting on the couch after a long day of work and Nixon was wide awake, I walked outside for a minute and he quickly followed. When we went back inside nixon began playing with something little and black that he had brought in from outside. HE WAS FREAKING OUT! He was going so crazy, that I thought the black thing was a bug, so I grabbed it from his mouth.

Not a bug.

A rock.

A ROCK! Nixon would set the rock on the ground and then pounce on it. When it wouldn't move, he would push it with his paw, and it would go sliding clear across our wood floor. Nixon would chase after it and shake his head, jump all around it, and push it again. Hilarious. Much funnier when you're there in person, but still, hilarious!

Nixon

I'm pretty certain this will be the name of my new best friend, but you never know, we change our minds a lot. So Nixon is mine and Zac's new puppy. Michelle drove clear to Ferron, UT with me on monday to pick him up. Ferron is one trip that will never be made again... I hope. It is approximately 5 hours from Logan, UT. But it was worth it just this once to get my beautiful boy! Michelle took these fantastic pictures. Right now Nixon is sleeping on my lap. That's what he does most of the time, but when he is awake he is a bundle of joy. He gets way excited to play with his hunting duck and loves to be around people. Basically, he's a freakin' awesome dog. Nixon was born on Thursday, April 16, 2009 and was officially part of our family on Monday, June 15, 2009. We love him and look forward to a fun life with him. 

Tubing Down Old Main

This will be a short post, but I just wanted to tell everyone about my hilarious husband. USU is on the top of a steep hill, and the steepest part is right below Old Main (the building) thus it is called "Old Main Hill". We decided to tube down this today. So we found a tube, and headed up there. As we're walking to hill Zac runs and dives forward with the tube. He was a couple yards in front of me so I couldn't quite see what happened, but I heard a big POP. As I got to the edge of the hill and looked down, I saw my wonderful hubby on his knees. As he looked up he said in the sweetest, most innocent voice, "It popped." HAHAHAHAHA!!!! I was laughing so hard it made me cry! It was a good thing I had gone to the bathroom before we left, or I may have peed my pants. Although the tube popped on the first run, we made the best of it. We just sat on the popped tube and sled down the hill. Turns out you can still get going pretty fast, with or without air. :) All in all, it was a fabulous adventure. And I love Zac, he makes me laugh so hard!

Snowmobiles!

Thursday held wonderous snow mobiling adventures. We went up Farmington Canyon with Keaton and Jen. It was freezing and at some points, down right uncomfortable, but overall, it was a good time! So after a few adjustments to the sleds we headead on up. The snow was amazing. By the time we hit the top there was probably 4 feet of pure, untouched, powder.

So of course, once we made it up to the top, the boy played around for a little bit and then they hopped off and let the girls have a try. (Bad Idea) Well actually, Jenny did just fine. :) It was, of course, me who had the trouble. What can you expect in 4 feet of powder. How was I NOT supposed to get stuck? So I was stuck and Jen had to go back and get my wonderful, STRONG, husband to pull me out of the snow. Luckily, I wasn't the only one who had trouble with the depth of the snow. First it was Keaton, then it was Zac. :)

That's Jenny in the red jacket. She was trying to help, but couldn't quite make it through the deep snow.The boys to the sleds and did all they could to conquer this fresh mountain. Zac was speeding up the mountain and turning around. He had his whole body standing on one side of the sled when something made him slow down for a second and then speed up again, throwing him off the sled. The snow mobile kept going. Zac was on his feet in a fraction of a second, running full speed down the mountain in an attempt to catch the sled. His top half began going faster than his feet and there was nothing he could do. Straight down into the snow he went. But he did it so gracefully, he tucked and rolled and faster than I could blink he was on his feet and gaining on the sled! He lunged for the back of it and managed to grab the back bar. The snow mobile dragged him a little ways until he pulled himself up and grabbed the brake. My hero! Anyways, this picture is the result of his adventure. :) Here are just a few more pics.

Keaton and Jen

Zac and Me, (before I sunk the sled).

I just couldn't resist putting this on here. This is a totally legite picture. Jen was trying her hardest to free herself from the snow. HAHAHA!! I don't think she even knew I took it. That girl cracks me up. Loves Jen!

So Smart!

Zac and I are SO smart! Haha. This semester is over, thank goodness, and we are so excited. The semester was fun and then there were times that all I wanted to do was punch my stupid professor in the head, but all in all, we both came out of it with pretty good grades. :) We are excited for Christmas and mostly to have a little break from school. And I am so excited to go home for Christmas. Fun Fun!

More Scooter Adventures

Well here is the good ol' scoot scoot. Once again the faithful little thing got us part way up the canyon, until we found a fun turn off to take a little nature walk.

It was freezing, so I made sure to bundle up, not matter how goofy I may have looked. All I know, is that I was toasty warm even when we were doing 40 miles an hour against the wind.

The walk proved to be beautiful. The Logan area is full of beautiful sites, and trails.