The Eternal Catchup Game

Lately, us Jones' have been quite busy. Here in Glendale, time just keeps zipping by, barely giving us time to catch our breath. Hunter continues to be the center of our universe. Watching him grow up is amazing. He is such a little ball of energy and personality it's almost impossible to get mad at him as he continually terrorizes our house.

Before I get carried away with stories and pictures of Hunter, here is the brief summary of what else is going on in our lives. Jared is still going to school. Some days it seems he will never graduate, but in three years when he does, we will look back and think time flew by. In his limited spare time he is still driving school buses and being an incredible father. Hunter and I love his job, because we get to see him during his long lunch breaks everyday. As soon has Hunter hears the back door open he sprints/waddles towards it laughing with excitement in anticipation knowing his dad is home.

I am just struggling with trying to find the balance with motherhood, trying to grow a baby and somehow keeping our house clean. The never ending pile of dishes is always there next to the ever growing pile of laundry. Hunter tries to be helpful, but it never quite works. Luckily the broom is one of his favorite toys, and I can't wait for the day when he can actually use it. Now for this alien of a baby growing inside of me, it zaps all my energy but there is hope in life: I am FINALLY not nauseous all of the time!! Tune in later this week for the big gender reveal!!

Now for some quick big moments in our lives: A couple of weeks ago we went to our ward camp out in Munds Park, AZ. (It's 20 minutes south of Flagstaff). Being up in the pine trees and fresh air made us question our sanity of moving from Flagstaff, to Glendale but somehow we managed to make it back down to the city and back to the reality of our lives. Camping was sure a very interesting experience with a crazy little toddler. Hunter wore a dirt goatee most of the time. He would always have a rock in each hand. He would put one in his mouth and then look at me innocently with a smile on his face right after it would go in his mouth. As soon as I would take it out, the next hand went immediately to his mouth with that rock he had stock piled. He must have needed the iron or something found in those rocks. Campfire hot dogs and smores were delicious and singing around the campfire was healing for the soul. The night was rough because we were all cold, but after Hunter decided he was comfortable monopolizing my sleeping bag he slept great. Apparently Hunter didn't care if I was cold or tired, so I just woke Jared up and made him keep me warm.

 And a big moment in little Hunter's life. Yesterday he had his first haircut. He went from looking like a shaggy little baby to an adorable toddler in the matter of minutes. It was a struggle keeping him still enough for the hair cut, but luckily our hair stylist is amazing (Thanks Jen). Between food and a super cool electronic book she was able to keep Hunter still enough just to get the job done. Now hopefully, all the strangers in the world won't get him confused as a little girl anymore.

The Before

The After

It has been a long time since the last blog post. Here are some new photos.

Our family in front of Holgate Glacier

My parents came to visit us in Alaska. Well they came to visit Hunter in Alaska.

Hunter enjoying the boat ride.

My dad and I going flight seeing around Mt. Denali.

Hunter enjoying the grass.

Alaska: Q&A

Many of you have probably been wondering where I have disappeared
to. Somedays I am beginning to wonder myself. Due to lack of Internet
I have disconnected myself from reality, but for the next ten minutes I am back. Hope you enjoy the first
ever question and answer session of my blogging career.

Q: Janina, I heard a rumor that you were in Alaska for the summer.
A: Yes, Jared and I needed some extra cash this summer and decided that going back to the place where we met was the a great way to get out of the Arizona heat and make some quick cash. Jared is driving tour buses and I am working part-time in the office.
Q: How is little Hunter doing in all of this?
A: Hunter actually adjusted faster than I did. He loves all the adventures, the new people and tormenting the dog at the house we are living at. In the next couple days be on the look out for pictures of him and from the summer thus far.
Q: Tell me more about where you are living.
A: We are living with the same lady who I lived with the last summer I was up here. She has an empty bedroom she rents out every summer. She has an annoying little dog named Leo and has adopted us as her family.
Q: Janina, do you miss driving buses?
A: Of course. Driving a 45 foot bus seeing some of the most scenic landscape in the world is a natural high for me, but being with Hunter is completely worth sitting in an office staring at a pretty picture on a screen saver.
Q: Will we be hearing more of your adventures in the near future?
A: Yes, in fact leave me comments of the questions you want answered and I will answer them next time I get a chance.

A Day at the Zoo

As you might know Jared is a school bus driver. Every morning he wakes up, puts on his bus driving polo shirt and drives rowdy elementary school students to and from school. His job doesn't have many perks except: working around his class schedule, really good pay, giving us every holiday off and my favorite, getting to go on field trips.

Last week Jared got to drive to the Wildlife World Zoo in Lichfield Park, AZ. Hunter and I met Jared there and spent the day with our favorite bus driver. The Wildlife World Zoo is an awesome zoo with Arizona's largest collection of exotic animals. They have over 6000 individual animals representing more than 600 exotic locations. Hunter had a grand time cruising around in his stroller and looking at all of the animals.

This pond had giant gold fish.

What zoo isn't complete without a flamingo exhibit?

My two favorite men in the world.

The famous white tiger.

We are alive

Some of you have probably been wondering where are the amazing Jones. Well, as we wrap up yet another semester it seems we have been MIA. This is due to the overload of homework that has been assigned, and procrastinated throughout this semester. But, have no fear, we are holding strong and surviving life. We will completely resurface in about 11 days. Here is a quick summary of our semi-exciting lives in the last couple of weeks.

1. We celebrated Thanksgiving in Utah with Jared's family. His dad has a four-wheeler. It makes me really happy.
2. We survived the first Thanksgiving season of Janina's Bake Sale by baking: 4 pumpkin pies, 4 spiced pear pies, 4 apple cranberry pies, 1 pecan pie, 3 pumpkin cheesecakes, 1 cherry pie, 1 lemon meringue pie, 1 chocolate cream pie, 1 german chocolate pie and a turkey cake (pictures soon to come). It was quite the bake fest.
   
3. Our basil plant died because it was too cold in our apartment when we were gone for the holiday. A huge tragedy. Our goldfish were even almost frozen to death and were floating on the bottom of their tank when we got back. There were practically ice chunks floating in the water. They slowly gained consciousness as it warmed up in our apartment and we slowly replaced their cold water with luke-warm water. Now they are frisky as ever.
   
4. I turned 28! Happy Birthday to me. It was a lovely birthday even though I pretended it didn't happen. I am still in denial that my 10 year high school reunion is this next summer.
5. I bought a new macro lens for my camera. This is thanks to the many donations for my birthday. Thanks to everyone on both sides of our family. (I am still accepting donations.)
   
6. We put up our 7 foot Christmas tree and lights. It looks beautiful sparkling in the corner of our apartment.
7. I procrastinated updating this blog with our adventures for the last three weeks.

This was our first Thanksgiving together.
Weren't we adorable?

A Reason to Celebrate

Some blogs that I stalk have started getting into the Thanksgiving spirit by listing things they are grateful for. Those of you who know me know that I like to celebrate the small little things in life. These are the things which I am the most grateful for. Upon doing my usual scholarly research I found a list of random holidays to celebrate this month. Jared and I will be celebrating as many as possible. If it wasn't past my bedtime I would be making cookies to celebrate Cookie Monster Day instead of typing this.

• Nov 2- Cookie Monster Day
• Nov 3- National Sandwich Day
• Nov 4- National Men Make Dinner Day (we are definitely going to celebrate this one)
• Nov 4- Chicken Lady Appreciation Day
• Nov 7- Zero Tasking Day
• Nov 15- National Bundt Pan Day
• Nov 19- Have a Bad Day
• Nov 24- Janina's Birthday Celebration
• Nov 26- Flossing Day
• Nov 27- Stay Home Because You Are Well Day

Route 66 Days

Last weekend was Route 66 Days here in Flagstaff, AZ. It is a big deal in the the highest city on Historic Route 66. Over 450 classic cars came to town. They all converged downtown where they lined the streets. Traffic going through town was horrendous, pedestrians were everywhere and beautiful cars just awaited to be admired. In all the excitement a 1980 Corvette was even stolen. The only way to describe what we experienced is through a montage of pictures.

Our favorite car from the show. She was a beauty.

In high school this was my dream car.
Sadly I did not even get close to owning it.

Jared next to his favorite antenna decoration.

I got really excited whenever a car was shown with a
display of food. I took more pictures of food than I did cars.



A lot of cars had signs telling people not to touch them.
These were my two favorite signs.

This owner is apparently attached to his car. At his
age he is still sitting in the drivers seat.

Notice the miniature version of the car sitting on the engine.

A Visit From My Parents

For the Fourth of July weekend my parents came to visit. In the three short days they were here we ate some amazing food which included spiced pear pie, mango fajitas, lasagna and juicy steaks. We hiked the lava tubes which are just outside of Flagstaff. The lava tubes are a mile-long lava tube cave was formed roughly 700,000 years ago by molten rock that erupted from a volcanic vent. We also went to Walnut Canyon National Monument - the site of cliff dwellings from the Sinagua people whom lived here over 700 years ago. We also had time to relax and celebrate the 4th of July.

While they were here I had asked my mom to help me sew an apron with some fabric I bought. My mom is a professional seamstress. I have absolutely no paitence for the details that sewing requires. I can bake pies all day long but sewing will make me immediately into a mad woman. She miraculously whipped up three intricate aprons in less than 24 hours. Now every time I bake I think of her amazingness and have a stylish apron.

West Fork Canyon

Spring is slowly fighting off the prolonged winter. This very thought makes my heart sing. Yesterday I didn't have to wear a jacket for most of the day! I just want to be outside but find myself inside inside organizing everything that became unorganized during the semester. This week Jared and I finally escaped and drove the twenty minutes to Sedona. After getting new bladders for our Camelpacks we were ready to hike. Last summer when both our families came to visit we took them to West Fork Canyon in Sedona. We hiked about a mile in and then found the perfect stream-bed to lounge on before turning around. Jared and I always felt an intense drive to finish the hike. This week we satisfied that drive and finished the eight mile hike. It was a gorgeous canyon and we took full advantage of our tripod.

Fields of wildflowers surrounded the trail

Jared and I braved the cold water until our feet when numb

I let Jared take all of the pictures of this trip (minus this one).
I am highly attached to my camera.

Lakes and Legos

Wow. We have been out of school for almost a week! I have been so busy with trying to catch up from the semester that it feels like forever since I was in school. So far this week I have managed to organize our apartment, clean out the cupboards, lounge around on our giant love sac and bake some delicacies. I am happy to note that after organizing the apartment our rouge brownie has not been so treasonist. It must be happy with the acknowledgment from my last blog entry and the extra space I was able to find for it.

Sunday Jared and I actually had time to go on a scenic drive without feeling guilty. We headed out to Lake Mary (which is just outside of town). After sitting along the banks of Lake Mary for a while we starting getting frustrated because there were no rocks to skip. We then decided to head up the road to Marshall Lake The views of the San Fransisco Peaks were heavenly from there.

Marshall Lake & the San Fransisco Peaks

The rest of the week consisted of working random hours, enjoying the beautiful chilly weather and socializing with the outside world. Wednesday night a friend asked us to watch her two year old son. Immediately Jared saw this as a opportunity to dig out his tub of Legos. I think Jared had more fun than the kid we were watching, but that is why I love my husband.

Our next adventure will begin in a few minutes when Jared finally gets off of work. We are heading to the Frisbee golf course to perfect our Frisbee throwing skills. You never know when skills like that might come in handy. Wish me luck.

A quick glimpse of my sexy husband

Chocolate Falls, AZ

Jared and I are on a continual quest for adventure in our lives. With the new addition to our family (the amazing Canon EOS Rebel) we feel that we need to capture the beauty surrounding our lives. Last week Jared had some down time at work and was leafing through some magazines. In a nature magazine he read about Grand Falls which is about 45 minutes east of Flagstaff on the Navajo Reservation. To get to the falls you drive on unmarked, unpaved roads. This sounded like a perfect Saturday afternoon activity and so we convinced some friends to come with us and we went.

Before we left I preformed some scholarly research on the these falls. We discovered that the rock face of these falls is 185 feet. This is higher than Niagara Falls. Grand Falls feeds from the Little Colorado River which is fed from snow melt and rain. This is why the water is so muddy. With all the snow this last winter Grand Falls is flowing quite heavily but during the summer months the falls dry up to solely a trickle. My reliable internet sources tell me that it is also called Chocolate Falls, Mud Fall or the Niagara Falls of Arizona. These falls are absolutely stunning. I tried to capture the magnificence with my camera but that was near impossible.

Easter Part 2: The Rebel

As I mentioned in my previous blog I organized an amazing Easter egg hunt for Jared in celebration of Easter. He had promised to organize one for me but was waiting for "something" to come in the mail. He seemed super excited about the hunt and was finally able to put it together yesterday when I came home from work. As I walked in the front door I saw a beautiful Easter basket with Peeps, Reeces peanut butter bunnies and a plastic egg. Inside of the egg was a clue. These clues then led me all over the house in circles, to our mail box and then finally the trunk of our Honda. The last clue I found was a description of a date we had been on where we went up to the Snow Bowl and ate Burger King cheeseburgers. He then told me to get into the car. Sitting on the front seat was the burgers and some fries. My taste buds immediately started going crazy. As we drove up to the Snow Bowl I had to distract myself from eating all of the food. We got up to our favorite look-out, over looking most of Northern Arizona and devoured our food.

After eating I wanted to play with our Aerobie, the high performance frisbee. Jared then asked me to grab it out of the car. As I went to grab the Aerobie I spotted a professional camera bag sitting right next to it. Feeling weak I looked at Jared with unbelief in my eyes. Sitting in that bag was the EOS Canon Rebel XS that I had been wanting. I just recently registered for a photography class in the fall and really needed a new camera for it. I did not dream that I would really own the camera I wanted. The ironic thing about the location where Jared choose to give me the camera is that this is the exact location where my last camera died. Now I will always remember this place as where my new camera came to life. Tears came to my eyes as I realized what an amazing husband I had. I tell him all the time that I spoil him, but the truth of the matter is that I am beyond spoiled.

On the way home from the mountain, and after taking a plethora of pictures Jared then told me that if I ever wanted, I could surprise him with a Nintendo Wii. Maybe one day I will. Until then, all I know is that I am the luckiest women on the face of the earth.

The view of northern Arizona from the Snow Bowl.

I love this man.

I love my life.

Ducks

Yesterday as I drove my bus I saw the first ducks of the season. They were swimming in a canal. Upon seeing them I almost missed a stop sign because I was so excited. My passengers got a little nervous. If only they understood the significance of the ducks. I wanted to share my excitement but I held off for some unknown reason.

The last ducks that I was privileged to see were sighted last fall. It happened on a crisp beautiful day. As I walked out to my car I heard quacking up above, looked up and saw a flock of ducks flying in the perfect flying V. The "Mighty Ducks" would have been proud. I felt as though they were telling me goodbye. But now they are back, and my heart is once again complete. This is going to be a great spring.

The death of my camera

About 2.8 years ago I bought my first nice semi-cheap digital camera (a Canon Powershot A560). It has gone all over the world and has captured many adventures in my life. This last week Jared and I drove up to the Snowbowl (the local ski resort) which overlooks all of Northern Arizona. We wanted to capture the beauty of the fresh snowfall and the sunset. I took gorgeous pictures of the sunset, Jared and I and the dollar cheeseburgers we picked up for dinner. In the middle of all this picture taking my camera started flashing MEMORY CARD ERROR and beeping a pitiful little beep. It took a moment to realize that my camera was slowly dying. The next day I went back to upload all of my pictures from our latest adventures and there was nothing there. It was like I had never taken the pictures. My heart was crushed. It actually still is. I am now in the market for a new camera. If any of you photographers out there have any suggestions on which camera to buy I would love to have them. I dedicate the rest of this blog entry to some of my favorite memories that I have been able to capture with my camera. Enjoy.