ALASTAIR + LALEINIA

3 days and 2 nights, that's how long it took us to drive cross country. Alastair, Emre, and I with our stuff fit into our little Jetta. We re-packed the car and left most of our stuff with my in-laws, and swapped out California gear for Michigan gear. Man, I forgot how cold it gets! Actually, we never experienced a true Michigan winter because last year was so mild. But this year...Jack Frost is nipping! There's nothing much to say about the drive. The road conditions were great, Emre was awesome, and there was a moment when Alastair and I randomly started belting out Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On." We also stopped by a few Cabela's along the way, to entertain Emre. Not my kind of store, but Emre loved all the taxidermy! We showed him all the animals and the fish tank, it was like he was at the real zoo. To this day, he talks about going to see the elk, turkey, and all the other woodland creatures. Also, New Year's Eve was celebrated by stayin...

The last few months have been a blast, but have flown by. We have both been working hard in Utah, Alastair at Qualtrics and Laleinia at Vivint. We've spent a lot of time with visiting family, but we haven't really taken any pictures of late. We have been having lots of fun, but haven't done much that is noteworthy. Suffice it to say that we are enjoying our life in Provo, but we are living in the thick of thin things that constitutes normal life. One of the things that we have missed most about Idaho is... Wyoming. We have always loved Jackson Hole, and this time we were able to visit with family. Another one of the highlights was visiting the Moulton Barn on Mormon Row. It is the most photographed barn in the USA, possibly the world. We have always wanted to visit and take a picture of it, but had never actually researched where it was or how to get there. Well, mission accomplished. We are already thinking about coming back soon and seeing it in the morning, w...

Autumn is our favorite time of the year. Nothing beats the colorful leaves, the crunching under your boots, and the cup of hot cocoa held in your hands. We decided to take a trip up to Jackson Hole to enjoy the beautiful weather. Our friends have never been, so we made a group date out of it! The drive up was picturesque, so we took a few snapshots here and there. From listening to fall-inspired music, a few good laughs, authentic Mexican food, and window shopping, it was all too perfect! 

You probably recall that we first visited Yellowstone together in 2011. Well, we went back. We basically did the same route as last time (even though variation would have been smarter). Either way, Yellowstone is always a cool place to go. We love the colors of the pits, forest, and all of that. It really is a pretty place. If we ever get really into photography, this would be a great place to come back to. Everything is pretty picturesque, and the photos don't really do it justice. We went with Doug and Emily. It was their first time going so that was cool to be the experts of the group. As usual, Laleinia loved sharing her knowledge with us all. She is really into geology, which is quite odd, but she loves it. I like listening to her explain geothermal activity and other interesting things that have slipped my mind! Enjoy the pictures!

Well first of all it was nice to be back on the road with a chance of seeing something interesting together. What made it even better was being in our new car! We are getting rid of Burberry (the Land Rover) because we can't justify the lack of fuel economy any longer. We'll buy another Land Rover some day when we have tons of money! Back on the road. Anyways, we were smiling all the way there because we knew we were getting way better miles per gallon in the new car (which is yet to be named) than the old one. Living in Rexburg we are so close to Yellowstone. We really should go more often! First time in Montana together. We drove through and stopped quickly in West Yellowstone, a small town in the south-west corner of Montana, from which we entered Yellowstone national park. Good job we brought our own food since it was about $20 for food in that town! Alastair's first trip to Yellowstone  Alastair had never been to Yellowstone, which is one of Lalein...

Denver, CO It was time for another Dragons road trip, the last and most adventurous of the season. School and work were missed on Friday as we hit the road at 6am from Rexburg, ID to Colorado springs.  In this car all weekend We got there about 90 minutes before the 8pm kick-off, and had a really good game. After 90 minutes the score was 1-1, and so we went to a shoot out. Shoot-out Everyone of the five Dragons players scored their penalty, and the game was won as one of the Colorado Springs players hit the bar with his. Get in! I'm going to pretend that we ended on a high and didn't get destroyed the following afternoon by the University of Wyoming in Laramie, WY. Madison Dragons 2011 Because of Lain having to work in Rexburg, this was the first night that we had been apart since we got married! We don't want too many more of those!

You may be wondering where the Labor-day-Lovers were on the fifth of September. Well, Wyoming. And Idaho. They actually crossed the border a total of four times. And why you may ask? Camping, fishing, hiking and going to Burger King. It all started long after sunset on the fourth, where the traveling two joined forces with the bilingual bunch, Chris and Naty Jankowski, and jumped into the car looking for a green Wyoming pasture in which to camp. They thought they'd found one, but in the morning the truth was discovered. They had camped on a rocky spot of weeds, and now knew why the previous night was so uncomfortable. But that was nothing that a morning camp fire couldn't fix. Laleinia & Alastair recovering from a night on the rocks. After responsibly putting out the fire completely, Alastair and Laleinia took photographs and left tracks. A five minute Idaho fishing expedition was really boring, and so it was to Wyoming again, in search of the world famous Dar...

The sun was shining, Johnny Cash was loaded on the iPod and off we went, due East to chase a dream. The dream: Jackson Hole, Wyoming. After gorgeous scenery of the Grand Tetons and a little too much of Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Tim McGraw and Neil Diamond, we had completed our navigation through beautiful farmland and steep mountain roads. We were greeted in the most appropriate way: an archway made completely of antlers. Jackson Hole was beautiful. The buildings looked like they were right out of an old Western film, and the sidewalks were wooden. We looked at awful T-Shirts, stuffed dead animals and even sat down and pondered with Einstein. Upon leaving the Hole, we stopped by the side of the road to pet some horses and stare at the mountains, all while a passing by Coyote trotted around the field in front of us.  Our artistic senses were tingling, so we whipped out some sketch pads and charcoal and went to work. Although close to call, it was decided...

Nothing like a fun weekend with friends.