June 2021 Randoms

GORGEOUS VIEWS

What's not to love about the beauty of June?! I heard this quote in high school and have never forgotten it: "God gave us memories so that we could remember the June roses in the December of our lives". How fitting, since I'm writing this post in winter, but posting about our summer! Of course, the quote also has a much deeper meaning, which I also think of when times seem dreary.

Josh took this photo on his way to work, overlooking Uncle Tim's pond.

Josh took this photo at work a different day:
 a sunrise over the golf course pond.

Josh took this photo at work of a sunrise over the Bitteroots. 

I took this photo of a sunset on a drive home after
a day of working for River Shuttles.

GOLF COURSE

A lot of Josh's work at the golf course is pretty predictable based on the season and weather: when it's windy, he's got to pick up branches, when it's nice and warm, he's got to get the mowing down early because golfers will be there all day, when it's cold and rainy, he's got to adjust the water schedule. However, sometimes unexpected occurrences happen, which can be a nice change in his daily routines. I like when he documents these occurrences, so I have a glimpse into what he experiences while at work. 

The Ladies Golf Association paid to have this official entrance
installed. It looks SO good!

Every year, the Chinese Elm drops its pods on this nearby green, 
making the green covered in them. Josh blows them off with a leaf 
blower every day until they're done dropping, and it makes the
green look like it's surrounded by dead grass. 

 

Josh rented this stump grinder to grind up two
stumps of trees that had been uprooted in a 
big windstorm. It was a HUGE project! It took 
several hours, and really hurt his neck & shoulders
to keep a hold of the machine as it was
grinding. All the brown in this photo looks like 
dirt, but it's really wood shavings and wood chips
from all the grinding he did on this stump. 

SCHOOL JOBS

When I left my job at Mud Lake, I didn't have any teaching jobs lined up for the next school year. I left my teaching job at Mud Lake, and the school that I loved working at, to move home to Salmon so that I could be with my family full time. I knew it was important for me to be there for the twins' senior year, and I felt like the timing was right to return, even without having a secure job in place. It was a leap of faith that I was willing to make. 

There was supposedly going to be an opening at the Leadore School District, but the posting wasn't made until mid-May. I applied for an elementary position, but didn'thear anything from them until the beginning of June. I had an interview, and then waited. In the meantime, a job opened up in Salmon as a 6th grade teacher, so I applied there at the beginning of June, and got a call the next week to set up an interview. That interview was during the 3rd week of June; then they waited until the following week to call me back to let me know I didn't get the job because they "hired somebody who'd already worked at the district before". I couldn't believe they would say that to me--I ALSO worked at the district previously! It felt like such a slap in the face. Thankfully, I'd heard back from Leadore before Salmon notified me; Leadore offered me the job as their 3rd/4th grade teacher for the upcoming school year, so I didn't need the job in Salmon anyways, but it still rubs me wrong how they handled it! I was so excited at the prospect of teaching at Leadore: it would be nice to be on a 4-day school week like my kids who attend school in Salmon, Leadore's pay was higher than what Salmon would've paid, and I would be able to teach the same grades that I had just finished teaching in Mud Lake. 

I was the Jr. High/Elementary Yearbook advisor & editor at West J
the past 2 years. I enjoyed the extra job and creating organized
pages using a lot of pictures I took myself at different events
throughout the year. It was stressful & challenging, but the end
product made me so giddy! I cried as I put together the last few
pages of the book; they were bittersweet tears of my memories.

I dedicated 3 pages to track & field this year, since there wasn't
any track & field pages photos included in last year's book (spring
sports & school got canceled due to COVID). I was quite proud
of this particular spread: I went to several track meets in order to
get at least one up-close photo of all the athletes, and it took me a
while to get them all cropped to fit, but I liked how it turned out! 

RIVER VISTAS

We feel lucky to live nearby the beautiful Salmon River. It is only a mile from our home, and we love watching it transform through each season: the ice floes in the winter, the rising levels in the spring, the busyness on the rushing waters in the summer, and the surrounding landscape of it in the fall. For the third summer in a row, I worked at River Shuttles 3 days a week, shuttling vehicles for people who were on river trips. Most of the time, I was on the route that picked up vehicles at Corn Creek, and drove those vehicles back to Salmon, over to Riggins, and down to Carey Creek. From Salmon to Carey Creek and back is usually a 15 hour day. They're very long days, but what I enjoy is seeing all the different rivers on the way, and watching people enjoying life on the river: fishing, rafting, and floating. Josh and I also took a few motorbike rides down river this summer, and he was able to finally see Corn Creek for the first time in his life! 

I love how his goatee is split in half (as seen
in the rearview mirror), due to the rushing air
as we drove along the river road. 

One morning at work when we were picking up cars at Corn Creek,
I noticed how this pinecone appeared as a rose pattern from an
aerial view. It really struck me, and I instantly snapped this photo.
I love finding beauty in our surrounding world! To me, these
instances show how God is present in the details of our lives.  

Usually when we arrive at Carey Creek, we hop
into the Shuttle van to head back to Salmon. On
this particular day, the shuttle van was delayed a 
little, and I got to witness a whole group ending their
river trip and getting out, which was fun to see.

FOOD

I LOVE trying new restaurants and cuisines! I never got to eat out a lot growing up, so I think that's a factor in why I love it so much now and why I always try new cuisines and why I get excited to eat at new restaurants! A new restaurant opened up in Salmon this summer called "6 Soups", and I looked forward to trying it out with Josh. There has been a lack in variety of restaurants in the past couple of years: the Chinese Restaurant closed, Fiesta En Jalisco closed, Bertram's closed, and I feel like all we have are a few steak houses open on the weekends, a few fast food restaurants, and a couple pizza parlors. I really crave other things besides just steak and pizza! Josh and I tried 6 Soups out. They have a good indoor vibe, and the renovations they made to the building on Main Street were great. We ordered the poutine and LOVED IT, the 6 Soup Sampler, which was fun to have soup in shot glasses, and the Monte Cristo which was very rich, but good. 

One afternoon, Josh and I were headed to Rexburg to do some shopping, and we stopped in Mud Lake on the way and ate lunch at the Mexican food truck. Some of my Domino's friends' group stopped by, which was so fun--as it was a totally last-minute thing. They have such good food there! This time, in addition to my meal, I also ordered a Mango on a Stick. I love these things! The first one I ever had like this was 4 years ago at the Mud Lake Fair. I like the way they slice it like a flower and put chili pepper on it to season it! 

CARS

After I hit the deer on Father's Day Sunday, my Chevy Equinox was totalled. As a result, I was in the market for a new vehicle. I knew I needed something to drive that was a family vehicle--to fit all 6 of us (when Ammon came home), but a vehicle that would also get decent gas mileage to go back and forth to my new teaching job in Leadore. Josh did a lot of research, and online perusing, and we decided to get a GMC Acadia. 

It's slightly older than my Chevy Equinox, but it was in good shape, and it had about as many miles on it as my Equinox did. It's got a 3rd row seat that folds down for additional storage, which we really liked, and it also has heated leather seats, which we've never had before, but were really excited about! We got a good deal on it, and paid cash for it, which was an awesome feeling! (That's the second car in a row we've been able to do that for, thanks to Josh and his smart financial skills.) 

RIVER FLOAT

We like to float the river with the boys every summer. This year's event was typical: the boys spread out too far, we had to keep stopping to make sure they were all in view, there was shouting about which bend to take at every river fork, and by the end, parts of everyone's inflatable rafts were going flat. It was wonderful: it's a fun family tradition that I enjoy! 

DOUBLE DATE

We've been trying to go on a golfing date with our friends Dallin & Jen for many years now, and it FINALLY happened this June! We golfed with them, ate dinner with them, and played cornhole at their house. It was a super fun night! Jen and I rode around in a golf cart together and watched Dallin & Josh golf. They rode together in our personal golf cart, and after hole #4, the cart stopped working, so Jen & I went and got them a different one so they could finish all 9 holes. We ate at the Ranch afterwards--and it was a Wednesday, their prime rib night, so we got to eat a delicious meal with great friendly conversation, too!