LMU-DCOM Orientation

Today we had the fabulous experience of attending Steve's orientation. As far as orientations go... it was very boring. Steve is ready to just dive into school so these next couple of days of orientation might drive him a little crazy. But you do what you have to do.

Steve enjoying his registration papers

I actually really enjoyed parts of the orientation. I have met a few members of the staff but today they had a lot of the faculty speak and it got me really excited for Steve. The school just seems amazing and I am so proud of Steve for getting in!

They had a little spousal orientation in the afternoon that I attended. They talked a lot about what we can expect. Basically... the next few years are going to be really hard. I just want him to start to I can experience it for myself.

One analogy they gave a lot today is Med School is like drinking water out of a fire hydrant.

I have great faith in Steve. He is so passionate about medicine and healing people. I know he will do great and he is going to make a fantastic doctor.

Go Aggies!!

Due to SUU's lack of on line education and unwillingness to help their students (I only hold a slight grudge) I have made the decision to attend Utah State University. My father in law gave me insight to this institution and informed me that they pioneered the idea of on line education in Utah... he was so right! They have multiple bachelor degrees that can be obtained completely on line. I applied to USU and found out this week that Im in! My major will be Family Life Science (basically the same thing I was doing at SUU with Family Life and Human Development) GO AGGIES!

The unfortunate part of me going to Utah State is I will be the only one in the Jones family who has not graduated from SUU. Steve, his two brothers, and his two sisters in law all graduated from SUU. I hope they can find it in their hearts to forgive me. Steve's father did receive his bachelors, two masters, AND his doctorate from USU... so I am hoping this might get me in good with him.

We are the 3%

I decided in an effort to save a couple of bucks and to have a local telephone number to switch to Steve's family plan and use at&t. When we first moved in Steve wasnt able to get service in our house. We contacted at&t and they ended up putting a 3G tower in our house. On Saturday we went to get me a new phone and I got a phone I really liked. We brought it home and realized it wasnt a 3G phone... so we had to take it back. While we were in the store I was getting so frustrated because there were all these signs saying "Americas Best Coverage!!" when I can't even get service in my own home! Well I went over to look at the map that shows all there covered areassure enough! If you look at the north east corner of TN it is in their "no coverage" area. We are lucky enough to be grouped with the 3% of Americans who do not have coverage. Oh the joys of living in the middle of nowhere.

Let's all go to the movies!

Since I expressed my hate for Tennessee drivers I figured I should write about something I love. One of the many things I love about Tennessee is the movie prices. Well... I guess its technically what I love about Kentucky since that is where the movie theater is. Prepare to be jealous... new releases are $3.50!!! This is great for a movie lover like me. I love going to the movies. I am one of those losers who love to go see movies by myself. So now I can go see basically any movie I want because it is the cheapest thing ever!

Well the other night Steve and I decided to go on a hot date to the movie theater. There wasnt anything that I wanted to Steve but there was something Steve wanted to see Transformers. Since I love my husband and feel bad that a week from now the only thing he will be doing is studying, I told him we could see it. My opinion... they should just stop making Transformers.

While we were there we saw that the last Harry Potter is now playing. Steve loves the books and the movies. I read the first one and only saw the first two movies. I prefer vampires over wizards. Steve asked if I would go see the last movie with him and I told him I only would if we watched the other seven movies first so that I wouldnt be lost and bored. He agreed and so began our Harry Potter marathon.

That brings me to another thing I love about TN... the flea market! It is so interesting and fun and we got the first 4 Harry Potters for $7. I am embarrassed to admit that we have already watched the first five... there isnt much to do! I have to admit that I am really enjoying them. They are pretty entertaining and Steve is fun to watch them with. He read the books when they first came out and he still remembers every single detail! Even some of the spells! I told him it was worrying me that he knows the spells and he said "That's why I am going to be a doctor!" I took that to mean that doctors cast spells... he says he meant he has a good memory.

We only have two movies left to watch and then we get another hot date in Kentucky!

Happy Fourth of July!

I know my posts are way out of order and I promise to do posts to do posts about the wedding and move, I am just waiting on pictures.

So for now you get random posts!

Our one week anniversary was on the Fourth of July. I cant believe how fast that week went by. It was nice to have the excuse of the holiday to take a break from our busy new life and spend time with Steve's family.

We started the day by waking up really late and heading over to Steve's parents house for a Fourth of July brunch. After brunch we made the beautiful drive out to Morristown to spend the evening with Steve's brother Rick, Rick's wife Holly, and their adorable children.

It was right as we pulled up to Steve's brothers house that I experienced my first dose of homesickness. I was able to hold it together somewhat but then I went shopping with Holly and Steve's mom and we passed a pet store which reminded me of my sweet little niece Adie (the girl is obsessed with animals). It took everything in my power not to burst into tears. I just miss my family so much!

After the homesickness wore off a little I was able to relax and have a fun time. We had dinner at Rick and Holly's and then went to a park to watch fireworks. The fireworks were amazing! It was so much fun.

Mr. and Mrs. Jones together for our first holiday as a married couple!

Lots of people there for fireworks! There was even a country band there for our listening enjoyment before the fireworks.

Steve playing with his adorable niece. She calls me "Aunt Steph-a-mie"

Awesome fireworks!

After the park we went back to Rick and Holly's and did some of our own fireworks. Fireworks aren't illegal in TN so we got to set off some real fireworks!

It was a great day! I am so grateful to live in a free country and grateful for all the brave men (for example, my husband!) and women who fight and give their all for our freedom. I hope everyone had a happy Independence Day!!

We gonna go straight and we gonna turrrn to the left sometimes

Why yes, these people are driving around without a back to their car.

My father in law asked me last night what I hate most about Tennessee. My response- the drivers.

The drivers out here are just plain frightening. I dont know if it is the states love for Nascar or what but people drive WAY to fast and tailgate like crazy.

We live on a "busy" street and I am scared daily by the people who drive by. I dont know if it is because the speed limit is 35 and I am use to residential areas being 25 but people just fly by my house! Steve initially thought that he could ride his bike to school. The second I saw that there were no side walks and saw how fast people drive I told him no way.

Well now that we are living here we get to join the Tennessee drives club. We got our new plates and licenses. I am so glad I get to be lumped in with these fantastic drivers.

One thing I do love about TN is how cheap is it to renew your tags!! You just go in once a year, no safety check, no emissions check, you just go in a pay $46 (no matter what kind of car you have) and you get your new tags! Wonderful.

No more Utah plates

They only give you a plate for you back so you can put whatever you want in the front. Steve's dad got us this wonderful LMU DCOM plate for the front!

We went to Morristown the other day so that we could get our new licenses and so that I could finally change my name. Thats right! I am officially Stephanie Jones now.

The DMV was wonderful as always. While we were there I was waiting for the lady helping me to get off the phone (I think its so rude when people answer and take phone calls when they have a customer standing in front of them. That would NOT fly at good old UCCU!) Anyways, while I was standing there there was a young man next to me trying to get his learners permit. The lady asked him to look in the little box and read the bottom line to check his eye site. The kid could NOT see!! The lady had him read it three times and he kept getting it wrong. His dad kept saying "he is just nervous" and the kid kept saying "I think I need glasses". Well the DMV worker said "You're fine, you're just nervous" and gave him his permit! WOW!

We now have TN licenses and plates. It is weird and a little sad having all my Utah stuff gone.

Engagements

As previously mentioned, my sister Lindsay came to Cedar City. She is a talented photographer so I asked her to take some engagement pictures of us. Steve and I have maybe four pictures of us so I figured it would be nice to add some more to our collection. Thanks again, sis! They are great.

Zion National Park

My sister Lindsay, her husband John, and my adorable nephew Caleb came to Cedar at the end of June. John was on his way to California and he kindly dropped Lindsay and Caleb off so they could be at my wedding. John had work in California so he was added to the list of loved ones that were unable to attend the wedding. We sure did miss him!

Anyways! John was able to stay in Cedar a couple of days so we decided to go to Zion. I have never hike Angels Landing so we decided to do so. The Madsen's came to Cedar, picked up Steve, Dana, and me and we headed off to St George in Lindsay's fancy new car.

We had to go to St George so Steve could return some Army things. While we were in St George we noticed that Lindsays fancy new car was acting up. When we would stop at red lights the AC would turn off. John finally decided to pull over and apparently something was very wrong. This left us stranded in St George for awhile. I personally really enjoyed myself. It was fun window shopping with my sisters and playing with my nephew. We went and had sushi for lunch and Caleb made me laugh so hard, I almost cried.

John ended up getting an awesome mini van and we headed off to Zion! We got there just in time. It was late enough in the afternoon so it wasn't really hot and we finished the hike just in time before the park closed.

We had lots of fun! It was a beautiful hike. I am loving all the green in Tennessee but I already miss the beautiful scenery of Utah.

My sisters Lindsay and Dana

I love my sissys! And Caleb

I LOVE Lindsays camera. I cant wait to get a fancy camera. This is my attempt at being artistic.

Steve kept telling my to back up and stand up for this picture. This was the only time I was actually scared. I was worried I would miss my step and fall. Freaky!

The end!

Steve and I were the only ones that made it to the top due to a combination of fear of heights and a small child. The only camera I had was Lindsay's fancy huge camera so it was hard to get a good picture at the top. This is the best we got.

Oh my husband

Sweet little Caleb

Sweet Caleb is such a mommy's boy and needed to hold Lindsays hand the whole time

I love this picture! Dana is the sweetest and I love her so much. I miss her everyday and miss living in Cedar with her.

It was a great day! The drive home was hilarious. Lindsay, Dana, and myself were referred to as "The Little Girls" while we were growing up and whenever we get together we laugh and play like we did when we were young. I love it. Thanks again for a fun day, sistas!

22 Days of Summer

This is the second summer that Steve and I have been dating. The first summer he took Organic Chemistry and I worked full time. Summer O Chem is one of the top classes that is failed at SUU which meant Steve was either studying or in class. He ended up passing with an A- and a B+ (because he is brilliant) but that took a lot of work and little time with his girlfriend.

Well this summer is turning out to be about the same. In the month of May I had a surgery and Steve had his Annual Training so he was gone Monday thru Friday... leaving little time for us to have any exciting summer adventures.

We went up north over memorial day and when we got back, we had just about 22 days to do whatever we wanted. I did work most of the days but we had lots of fun trying to enjoy our last days in Cedar City.

We were of course planning our wedding and a move in this short amount of time. I decided that I needed to get in shape for our wedding so working out became apart of our (well my) daily routine. I was no were near in the shape I wanted to be for our wedding but these two little programs did make a lot of difference....

First, I did Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred.

Now this work out is great but it is not for the weak or uncommitted. I was lucky enough to have a goal of the wedding and Steve who is a big motivator and doesnt take quitters! On days when I was a little too tired (or sore) I would turn to my other Biggest Loser favorite, Bob.

If you enjoy yoga than you MUST get The Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga workout. It is my all time favorite and you really will see results within days!

I also went running whenever I worked a morning shift so I would come home sweaty and gross, do one of my work outs, and then we would go swimming! Steve lived next to the Best Western in Cedar City so we would go and jump in their pool almost nightly. It was so much fun and relaxing.

We also tried to go to as many of our favorite restaurants as we could. Our all time favorite was 3B's. Its a great little Tex Mex that a sweet Native American man runs all by himself next to the Little Caesars in Cedar City. If you are ever in Cedar, you must go!

One night we decided to go to my favorite hamburger place in Cedar called Brads Food Hut (another must if you go to Cedar). We came up with the nice idea to go down to Cedar Lake and have a little picnic with our food. It was so much fun and such a beautiful night

Beautiful Cedar Lake

 

Brads Food Hut. Yummy yummy!
 

We are so hot right now.

We also had some great times with friends who we will miss dearly. One of Steve besties deployed at the beginning of the month but for the couple of nights we all had free we had a good time hanging out. We will miss Mickey and Amanda so much and cant wait for them to come visit. :)

We went out one night with our friends Kasen and Beth. Beth and I both work at hotels and Kasen is doing summer school AND working full time. With our busy schedules it was hard to find time to get together. We finally decided to get together at my favorite place (not!) Applebees one night after work. It was so fun to talk and catch up. They are great friends and will be missed!

We had a couple of fun days hanging out with our good friends Daniel and Megan. They have been such awesome friends to us and I miss them already!

Daniel, Megan, me and Steve

We had a Rock Band party one night. SO much fun!

We also spent LOTS of time with my little sister Dana and her husband Brandon. They were so great to us! We watched lots of movies and lots of lame episodes of the Bachelorette (which I miss watching with her) We had lots of meals together, most of which we remembered to turn off the oven after we were done cooking :). We just had lots of fun. I miss the Savages so much already! Dana was my biggest support in Cedar and I cant thank her enough for all she has done for me the last year and a half.

Well that was our short/wonderful summer! We then packed up our car, got married, and moved to Tennessee (which will all be covered in later blog posts). This is without a doubt the best summer of my life! We are loving Tennessee and I am looking forward to the next two weeks of vacation before Steve starts medical school and I never see him again.