Vegas, Nellis Air Force Base Air Show

Last weekend Glenn and I joined some of the people in his AF ROTC flight and headed down to Vegas for the air show that Nellis AFB was hosting. It was so nice to get away and see something different again. We got use to seeing new places and things every week when we were in Boston, so now being in provo again seems pretty dull. So a trip to Vegas was just what we needed! And even though we are poor, carpooling saved us gas money, staying at someones house saved us hotel costs, her parents making us feasts at every meal was delicious and saved us food money, and the air show was completely free! Couldn't get a cheaper vacation then that!

The air show was amazing! Glenn was like a little kid in the candy isle. He just can't wait for his opportunity to fly. He says he really wants to fly the F15, but basically any fighter would be awesome. The skills of the pilots and the capabilities of the planes was unbelievable. The show really got me excited for Glenn to fly too so that someday I can say to people, "The handsome pilot in that F15 is my husband!"

The show concluded with a performance of the Thunderbirds. AMAZING. FLAWLESS. These guys flew those planes perfect. Even with the wind, they flew perfectly straight in every manouver. It was such a great show. After, Glenn and I met two of the pilots which was really neat. Glenn got to talk with his "idol", Thunderbird pilot 6, and talked with him about what he needs to do so that he can someday fly as pilot 6 for the Thunderbirds. After seeing the show, Glenn's goal of flying for the Thunderbirds is my goal too. It would be such a great honor for him to be selected as a top notch pilot and be invited to join the Thunderbirds. I guess we need to take one step at a time and get him through his training this summer first. But I don't know if Glenn can stand to wait!

Later saturday night a group of us went down to the strip in vegas and walked around. We watched the water show at the Belagio and the volcano show at the Mirage. It was so much fun and I finally felt like I was really getting to know some of his friends in his flight. The whole trip was so worth it and the time that Glenn and I got to spend together was refreshing, even the 10 hours spent in the car just talking to each other was so nice. We have been so busy lately. We will try to keep in better touch with everyone. In the meantime, look up youtube videos of some of these military planes and see how amazing they are!

Quick Update

We are back in Provo, UT and very very busy. We are living in a 4plex which is pretty old, but we kinda like it. We have been making a lot of improvements with it and making it work for us. We feel blessed to have found the place since we were across the country!

Glenn is back into school and Air Force ROTC. He will also be working at the home football games taking tickets, ushering, or wherever they need him. I have started working a temporary job doing data entry for Apple rebates. I work from 4pm to midnight with that right now. I also just interviewed for another data entry type position posting products to Amazon.com. If they hire me, I will probably be working that from about 9:30 am to 1:30pm each day. I am still looking for a permanent position, hopefully in PR again, but will continue doing whatever work I can find until then. Add on the housework and trying to still unpack and organize, and you've got two extremely busy people!

We are so glad to be back though. We are also extremely thankful for our families and all the help that they have given us. We are so blessed to have such wonderful families and we know we couldn't make it without them. For the family members reading this, thank you, thank you, thank you, and know that we love you so much!

Goodbye Bahston!

We are on our way to Utah! See ya on the West Coast! GOODBYE BOSTON!

Hartford, Connecticut

We went to Hartford quite awhile ago, so I'm just trying to update the blog again. We both really liked the city. There were lots of neat buildings, a great park, an awesome capitol building, and it was unusually empty. For being such a big city and the capitol of Connecticut, there were surprisingly very few people in the city. It was actually kind of creepy. We wondered where all the people and cars were as we were walking downtown all alone. All the businesses were closed too. Of course it was a Sunday, but still, Dunkin Donuts was closed! What kind of big city closes everything down and empties out on a Sunday? Weird.

Here are some pictures of our little adventure to the big empty city of Hartford. The building that looks like a castle is the capitol building. It was amazing! Definitely the coolest capitol building we have ever seen! Oh and we drove through the capitol of Rhode Island, Providence, on our way over too. So we have been to Rhode Island but I don't really have pictures. But I will write about what we did there another time.

I will try to keep updating. Tomorrow we are going to Concord, MA and I'm SOOO excited! Can't wait to see the home of Louisa May Alcott and the bridge where the Revolutionary War began. Oh and we are moving in 5 days! Now we are leaving Thursday night rather then Friday. Wahoo!

Only 2 Weeks Left in Boston

Sorry I haven't been keeping our blog up to date. I will have to blog later about our adventures in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Plymouth rock (where the Mayflower landed), the zoo, Harvard, Fenway park, and we are still planning on going to Martha's Vineyard before we leave. Right now though, I just want to give an update about the leaving part.

Glenn and I are planning on driving back to Utah. We will leave the morning of Friday, Aug. 28 and will arrive in Provo on Sunday, Aug. 30. Yes, that is a long drive for a short amount of time. We decided to cut back on hotel costs and try to get home quick. Afterall, we are driving the same route back as we did coming out here and we took our time to see things then. We will be living in a 4plex not far off center street in Provo.

We have really enjoyed our adventures and experiences in the Boston area. Plus we were able to make it to all the New England states. To be honest though, we are both so happy to be returning to Provo. Glenn's job is really tough and he's ready to be done with it. I'm ready to get back to having a job and things to occupy my day. Strange I know. But the days seem endless when your alone and don't have anything to do, not even watch tv cause we don't have one! We are both excited to get back to our friends and family and to a more familiar place where we can actually feel like we are home.

Boston will be missed. The ocean and beautiful beaches will be missed. The trees and Boston skyline will be missed. We will miss hearing and laughing about the way people out hear say Lahbstah instead of lobster, carriages instead of carts, expressway instead of freeway, and never pronouncing their r's (or should we say aaahhh's). I even think we will miss riding the T (subway).

It has been a good adventure for us. We will always have wonderful memories of our first home together out in Boston. But more than anything, we are excited to get back to Utah (never thought I would say that)!

4th of July- "Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular"

The 4th of July was absolutely amazing for us here in Boston! Glenn unfortunately had to work. While he was at work I went to Boston and immersed myself in the crowds. I walked all over checking out lots of little shops and sidewalk vendors, got some free food and drink samples, watched street performers, watched historical re-enactments and story-telling, bought a hot dog and lemonade from a cart, all in all a good time. The streets were packed with hundreds of thousands of people and I enjoyed being in the middle of it.

One thing I particularly enjoyed during my solo adventure (besides managing the subway and streets without getting lost) was seeing the USS Constitution, or "Old Ironsides". If you don't know the history of this ship click on the first link to read about it cause it's a very historically significant ship in America and you should know about it. The second link is a famous poem about the ship that is believed to be the reason that the ship was preserved. They pulled it out from the dock into the harbor, did a 21 cannon salute, then put it back. It was kinda neat to see the tugboats maneuvering the ship around. Pictures of Old Ironsides is included in the slide show below.

Glenn got off work early, about 6:00. I was back home to meet up with him and then was right back out the door to the train again. We ran into a group of friends at the train who invited us to join them in their staked out place on the Charles River where they said they had the best view for the fireworks. So Glenn and I decided to join them, and we are lucky we did because they really did have the best view! We were on the Cambridge side of the Charles River near MIT. The barge where the fireworks were set off was right in front of us. There were speakers right next to us so we could here the show happening at the Esplanade across the river where Neil Diamond and the Boston Pops were performing and Craig Ferguson hosted. The whole event was aired live on CBS, but we got to be there in person! So cool! There were over a million people there!

The following video is meant for you to hear Neil Diamond performing live and to hear the crowd singing along. There is nothing to see since it was dark out, except maybe some of the city lights across the river. This is one of his famous songs, Sweet Caroline, which he performed once for TV and then again during commercial break for the crowd's entertainment. It was a lot of fun!

P.S. I PROMISE that is not me singing along.

Here are some videos I took of the fireworks. The display lasted about 30 mins. Absolutely amazing....

The Finale was especially amazing! I got most of it on video but it's nothing compared to seeing it live and feeling the booms pulse through you!

Maine

After church on Sunday May 24, we drove up to Maine. There was a huge thunderstorm (which was pretty cool) and it was pouring down rain in Braintree, so we wanted to get away from it. Maine was a little chilly with the wind, but dry and sunny. So we just drove along the coast and found random beaches to stop at and explore.

Lighthouse

The cart takes you to the lighthouse, but it's not open to the public. Still pretty crazy for the people that live in that house to have to ride this cart hanging from a wire to get to the main land. Can you imagine trying to haul groceries back home?

Glenn with the light house and Atlantic Ocean in the background

Huge homes!

This is another beach we found and fell in love with! It's called Drakes Island which is near Ogunquit, Maine. The beach was huge and clean. There were people playing a baseball game on the beach, flying kites and a group playing botche ball with an interesting twist to it. It was definitely the beach to be at! Then there were tide pools to look at as well. On the edge of the tide pools in the sand, there were these clear tubular creatures that would come up out of the sand right under our feet. It was so freaky! I call them the sand monsters because the only thing I know about them is that they bury themselves in the sand and then come up and attack my feet! Anyone who has any idea what they might be, please let me know!

I love love love this picture of his reflection on the sand!

Snail trails. You find both snails and their trails all over the beach. I thought it was actually pretty cool to follow a little line in the sand all the way until you could find the snail.

Starfish!

Sorry this one is blurry, but it's a baby starfish!

We really loved Maine. We just really love going to the beach. Most Sundays we find a new beach to go walk on. I love living on the coast!

Cape Cod

On May 17, we drove along Cape Cod. It was our first time at a beach here. We saw a lot of people fishing, some neat little stores, but other then that we didn't really find anything special about the cape. Maybe we didn't go to the right place on the cape? It's actually pretty long. I'm sure we'll go explore it another time and maybe then we will find out why Cape Cod is so special. (Besides the whole gay community thing).

Our Crab friend. I had to take a picture of it because he is my Atlantic Coast crab friend. I use to take pictures of crabs when I lived in Hawaii and they were my Pacific Coast crab friends.

Boston - Founded 1630

I found this slide show application and thought I would give it a try. I left some photos out though so you could click on them and make them larger to read them. We went to the Granary Burial Ground where many famous people in history are buried. The people are listed on these plaques. We also found the birthplace of the first telephone. The slide show contains some random photos I have left from our walk on the Freedom Trail in Boston.

Boston - Bunker Hill

The Bunker Hill Monument is huge! It can be spotted wherever you are in Boston. The is a staircase inside that you can climb up and see a view of Boston from the top, but unfortunately it was closed when Glenn and I were there. I assure you that I will make it to the top before the summer is over though! Haley, I'm dragging you to the top with me when you get here! Get ready for a good stair climb workout!