SUMMER!!!

Yes!!! We officially made it to our summer break!! Somehow I managed not to fail any of my finals, and came out with pretty good grades. I was .4 points away from getting a full tuition scholarship, so that is frustrating, but luckily I am eligible to receive a half tuition scholarship, and Derek that smarty pants received a full tuition scholarship!! It is such a blessing and I don't know how we would be able to afford college if it weren't for grants and scholarships!
I am working at Access Point for the rest of the summer, and I really do love it! I am only working 2 days a week as of right now, but hopefully I can get some more hours. I work with developmentally delayed children and I just adore them!! It is a very challenging job, but a very rewarding job overall. Other than work, I am dancing on the Aspire Dance Company, and I am really enjoying it.

As for my amazing husband, he starts his new job tomorrow!! We are so blessed that Derek was somehow able to get such a great job! He got the job almost a month ago, but he had to wait for his background check, and he had to get all his shots and test for TB and whatnot. But now that he is officially starting training tomorrow, I thought I would share with ya'll! He is working at EIRMC (Idaho Falls hospital), and he will be working as a Medical Transporter in the E.R. I could NEVER do that, but Derek is a macho man! He will be working the night shift from 7pm to 7am. 6 hours of his shift will be transporting patients, and the other 6 hours will be doing clerical work such as filing, paging doctors, paperwork, etc. He will be working 3 days on and 4 days off. It will be really hard once he's in school trying to find any sleep, but I know that he can do it!! Derek never ceases to amaze me!! It really is incredible that he got this job, let alone an interview. They only look at the first 50 resumes out of the hundreds and hundreds that come into the hospital. From there, then they choose who is a potential candidate and they do interviews for a couple weeks. Derek was so grateful for the interview. When he left they told him that they would get back to him in a week..... and they called him 3 hours and later and told him that he got the job!! We were so ecstatic!! Our patience has finally paid off, and he has been given the opportunity to grow and develop, and to gain knowledge and experience in the field he is planning on going into.

Other than that, we have been LOVING having nothing to do or worry about. We have loved not having homework, and we have really just enjoyed spending time with each other. Thus far I have read a book, and we have been able to go to Table Rock with Thayne and Kiama. We had so much fun, but I will say... this hike is a real butt kicker! It is the second hardest hike I have ever done, and it feels like one of the greatest accomplishments when finished.
It really was quite the experience. We started out the day before 5 am, we missed the turn off and drove WAY out of the way. Once we got there, a man told us the wrong trail so we hiked 3 miles up the wrong trail, discovered we were on the wrong hike, and we ran the 3 miles all the way back to the car. We then decided to take a little break to try and find some motivation, so we carb loaded in the car before starting the brutal hike. The hike is incredibly steep for almost the entire way. Once to the top of table rock, we sprawled out on the rocks totally exhausted, we ate more food, and talked and laughed. We didn't get home until 7 pm. It was the longest day of my life, but we honestly had a blast!!

I hope that the rest of this summer will be filled with fun adventures. I hope to go boating, camping, read the Hunger Games, and go on a small trip. I hope the rest of you are all enjoying your summer and staying safe!!

Kick the Can

What a fun weekend! Of course I forgot my camera, but oh well, I will still blog about it. Finals week is this week, and I am freaking out, not gonna lie. Instead of studying like crazy this weekend,(which I probably should have done), I had a great time with friends instead.
Friday night, Derek and I went to Ryan's parent's house on the river, and we played volleyball with Ryan and Syd. The first game, Sydni and I dominated, the second game, we weren't as fortunate. We grilled some hot dogs and enjoyed each others company. Afterwards, we invited more friends and we went to Freeman Park and played night games. Now.... when I was a kid, we played night games on a weekly basis, so I was very excited to play night games again! We played a game of kick the can, and next we played Grey Wolf. I am the only one that calls it grey wolf, everyone else calls it Ghost in the Graveyard..... so that's what we called it. It will always be Grey Wolf to me though.
Saturday I went to my friend Sarah Stanger's bridal shower. She is an amazing girl, and I adore her! I couldn't be happier for her, and her and her fiance make an adorable couple. After the bridal shower, Derek and I went shopping and we bought a SUPER cute bed set. We were in dire need of a new set, and we found the perfect set for the perfect price! The sheets, pillow cases, and the comforter are all reversible, so there are like 8 different combos you can do. So if we get bored with one, we can switch it up to another design.
Last night we went to Joe's parents with Joe, Lindsay, Drew, Kenye, Dalin, Ryan, and Syd, and sat around the camp fire roasting marshmallows, coconut marshmallows, starbursts, and sour patch kids. It was delicious!!! I LOVE the summer and I love my friends! I can't wait to be done with this week of finals so I can have more summer adventures with the friends and family that I love!

10 Things

10 Things I Do Every Day Without A Doubt

1. Go to the bathroom
2. Eat
3. Brush my teeth
4. Wash my face
5. Get ready (hair, makeup, get dressed, etc)
6. Tell my husband I love him
7. Homework
8. Kiss my husband
9. Think about family
10. Attempt to get things done off of my to do list

10 Things About My Personality

1. I am pretty Sensitive
2. I care WAY too much about others. I stress when something bad happens to other people and I hate watching them suffer.
3. I am the hardest person on myself
4. I am an overall very happy person, and I laugh everyday
5. I have anxiety and I do my best to control it, although it is difficult at times.
6. I would do anything for anyone
7. I am a perfectionist about certain things
8. I'm not ok with just meeting someone. I love knowing people, helping people, and building close relationships with them.
9. I have a sarcastic sense of humor, and I love when I meet others with the same sense of humor as myself.
10. I don't ever deny something that I've experienced or felt, and I'm proud of it.

10 Things I Absolutely Hate

1. Repeating myself. I don't know why, but I can't stand when someone doesn't hear what I said and I have to repeat the entire thing.
2. Liars
3. Judgmental people. I've known too many people who have fallen away from the church because of these types of people.
4. Bragging and people who are cocky and think the world of themselves. We all know you're not perfect!
5. Sluts... I feel bad for you, you have no self respect.
6. Bad drivers
7. People who only have one volume and that's loud. I hate when people don't know how to whisper at the appropriate times.
8. I hate when people are unaware of something that's called a bubble. They're in their own world and don't even realize they are now standing right in front of you with their hair in your face and they stepped on your toe.
9. People who deliberately hurt others
10. Watching someone suffer

(Sorry, I didn't mean to base that entirely off of others, apparently other people bug me at times)

10 Things I'm Ashamed Of

1. Not treating my mom the way I should've as a teenager
2. Losing a best friend over a boy
3. Having serious boyfriends at such a young age.
4. Not standing up for myself
5. Being too scared to have a missionary moment
6. Treating one of my best friends poorly and falling so far apart for so long
7. Hurting anyone's feelings
8. Fighting with anyone
9. Holding myself back in fear of other people's opinions
10. Letting someone control me and not doing what I wanted

10 Things I Absolutely Love

1. Derek Ray Dawson, he is perfect for me!
2. My family
3. My in laws
4. The close friends I have made over the years
5. Dance!
6. Sunny days and beaches
7. Popcorn ( it is my comfort food)
8. The Gospel, don't know where I'd be without it
9. Having deep conversations with people
10. Laughing until I cry

I love to DANCE!!

Today we started our rehearsals for Aspire Dance Company, and man have I missed dancing! I haven't danced on a team for 3 years! It's been way too long. Today I realized how much I need to work on some technique and flexibility, but I'm sure it will come back in no time.
We had a choreographer come in today and the way she moves is incredible. When she shows us what to do and then I try and do it I just wish my body could melt and fold the way that hers does, but it will come along! She has rheumatoid arthritis so a lot of the movements she does hurts her body. It makes me grateful for a healthy youthful body, and it makes me want to dance that much more, because before long, my body won't be able to move the same.
I can't wait to get to know the girls (and 1 boy) on my team! I am excited to be performing again, moving my body, and I'm excited to share my talents with others!! I love dance, and that's all there is to it!

Exercise Physiology is definitely for me!

Well, I got accepted for fast grad here at BYU-Idaho. What that means is that I am accepted to go straight through with each semester without taking any breaks. I am required to take at least 15 credits each semester. If all goes well, I will be graduating in 3 semesters, but if it doesn't all fall into place perfectly, I will be graduating in 4 semesters and that's still great! It's awesome to think that I could be a college graduate within a year. That will be an amazing accomplishment in my life!! It is a scary thought, but a relieving thought all at the same time.
Thinking about coming to the end of my schooling, I have really been thinking more and more about what I would like to do with my degree. I originally really wanted to be a Physical Therapy Assistant. I can still do that, but that requires another 2 years of schooling, and it would not be a Master's degree, it would just be a certificate. It really would be a great job for me, but I'm still keeping all my options open.
Something that I have recently really been looking into is Cardiac Rehab. The heart is fascinating to me, and so many people suffer with heart problems. Something that my job would consist of is monitoring patients hearts while it is under stress while exercising. My job would be to view what the heart is undergoing, where the problem is coming from, and working as a team to discover what we can do to fix it. To me, this sounds like a fun job because it still involves exercising, and is somewhat similar to physical therapy, but is all focused around the heart. This job would require no further schooling and I could do this with my bachelors degree.
Something else I have been looking at truly is the whole aspect of helping clients lose weight, determine an exercise program that best suits them, and get them under proper nutrition. I am not fully convinced that this is for me, but all I know is it would sure be fun to motivate people and watch the transformation happen.
How cool would it be to be Jillian Michaels? I could whip your butt into gear, make you cry, and then make you love me in the end for turning your body into a fit firm bod. Honestly.... I'm not one to get in someone's face and scream at them, but it's fun to think about people being afraid of me and knowing I could beat them up. Haha. I know I would never be Jillian, but it's fun to think about helping people get their bodies back into a healthy condition.
I know for sure that as Derek and I begin to have a family, I would love to have a side mom job. I want to teach a workout class on the side to stay in shape and make some extra income for our home. I haven't decided what exactly I want to teach, but I know that this is something that I would be eligible to do and would absolutely love doing!
I absolutely love what I am going into and I am so excited to see where it leads me in my future. Who knows if I'll even work with this degree or if I'll be able to focus entirely on being a mom? But all I know is I'm so grateful for the opportunity to receive an education, and I hope that I can help others with the knowledge that I am gaining.

Oh how I miss you....

Today I am having one of those days where I am homesick for Arizona!!! I am missing my old ward, I'm missing the warm weather, my job? weird I know, going swimming when it's 115 outside and getting burnt to the crisp, my loving friends, I miss that I never had to get ready to leave my house because I never would run into anyone I knew, I miss the adventure of being on our own, I miss having a fresh slate where no one knew my past, I miss Raylene and Scott and their sweet kids, and good ol' Raylon, I miss the huge malls all within 10 miles of our house, I miss spring training games, I miss the brown scenery (never thought I would miss that), I miss the beautiful sunsets, the beautiful spring colors when everything is in bloom, I miss the stucco houses, I miss In N Out Burgers, I miss the cactus, I miss hiking, and I miss having a billion things to do all within 10 minutes of our house.

Derek and I eventually want to end back up in Arizona once we are done here at BYU-Idaho, and I honestly can't wait for this day!! Who knows if it will happen, but as for now, this is our plan. Today I was looking up jobs and housing in Arizona, and there was the exact job in the exact city that I want. The job is working as a Physical Therapy Technician in Maricopa Arizona. Do you know how tempted I am to apply? But then, this would throw off our schooling. I hate timing sometimes!! Right now you can buy a 4 bedroom 3 bath house for $80,000, and I really am hoping we will still be able to get an opportunity like this in a couple of years. Ugh, timing is everything, but apparently I am supposed to be right here right now. Oh how I love you Arizona, and I can't wait to join you again someday soon!! Until then, I will just keep dreaming about you!

A "Memoriable" camping trip

Sometimes.... things come out of my mouth, now I'm not saying I like the things that come out of my mouth, but sometimes I don't think it all the way through first. Last weekend we had the opportunity to go camping with our friends the Pasley's. While on our camping trip, getting mixed up with the weekends obviously, because Memorial day is this weekend.... I said, "This camping trip is will be a great memoriable weekend." Well, it stuck, and this is the terms we used to describe the weekend.
We had a fun time! We went up last Saturday and set up camp. I always amaze myself at how little I know about camping, so I gave myself the easiest jobs possible. I "helped" set up the tent, and I gathered sticks. Due to this, I was given the title of "Mary, the stick gatherer." Sydni started to prepare food and was given the name, "Sydni, the food preparer." She wasn't thrilled about this name so we re-established the name of "Sydni, the knife slicer." Ryan was given the name,"Ryan, the prepared man." Let me tell you.... Ryan brought EVERYTHING!! He had like a thousand little bags filled with everything you could imagine. I laughed at this, but in all reality, I think I'm going to take him on every trip with me. It's always handy to have the friend that is prepared. We gave Derek the name of, "Derek, the wood chopper." We had very important jobs and all felt so special with our names.

We made corn on the cob and tin foil dinners filled with hamburger, carrots, and potatoes. They were good other than the fact that we burned the CRAP out of them. They were still good considering, and it was the experience that mattered. Afterwards it started raining so we hung out in the tent for about 30 mintues. Once it stopped raining we sat around the camp fire laughing, talking, and of course making yummy s'mores. All in all it was a great weekend full of laughter and fun memories. I will say that I learned how to chop wood and I pretty much went crazy with the ax and wood. I may have got carried away.... but who's to judge? Anyways, Derek and I forgot our camera, so I stole a few from Ryan and Syd. Enjoy! For real this time... have a "Memoriable" weekend..... it's more fitting this time!! I know I will. Dawson family reunion, here I come!!