Excuses, excuses, excuses....

We all know that I am a terrible blogger. I'll spare the excuses and tears and give you another photo overload of the last few months. Keep on scrolling, there are quite a few... Enjoy!

Drum roll folks.... For the first time in a very long time I now have short hair! I got a crazy idea and had to chop it off before I chickened out. Thankfully I LOVE it! It's been a really fun change and Ben loves it too. :) I was worried because he loved my long hair so much.






Ben went and helped our friend paint and finish welding the grill that he built. He was so dirty! He looked like he'd been working in the coal mines.



I"ve been riding my bike to work since I can't run anymore and wouldn't you know it...? I got caught in a rain storm. It poured and poured. Every inch of me was SOAKED!




Broulim's (local grocery store) had cherries 0.99 a lb! We got gobs and ate them by the handful until our bellies could take no more. It was fantastic!



Who knew that here in Rexburg you could pick your own wild asparagus?? Boy was it delicious!! Look at the size of that bugger. It's a beast!!




We went camping at Willow Flats with Ben's parents and Brother and his family. We had so much fun!! Ben got to fish and we hiked to the stream to get fresh pure water. It was delightfully delicious and very cold!






We hiked to Lower Palisades Lake. It was only 4 miles in to the lake. Not too hard of a hike with some up and down hill. It was such a perfect day to go and the hike was absolutely beautiful! We took Mojo and were amazed that he made it the whole way (well almost). Poor guy... his hair was so long, it was super hot and he would lay down every time we stopped. We felt bad so threw him in our backpack right at the end. Then we had to give him a bath and he was so filthy he got shaved the next day!









I will try (just like I always say) to be more consistent so you get better stories, descriptions and all that is good. Thanks for stopping by and having faith that one day... just one day... I'd post. :)

Where to begin...

It's been a while eh? Lots of going ons at the Vinton place of residence. Ben just got back from Denver where he went with a school trip to scope out some possible internships. It wasn't as fruitful as we had hoped but Ben was able to meet Brother Bauke (sp?) Who used to work for Meryl and Lynch. He said he would be more than happy to get Ben and interview, all he had to do was say the word! He was very warm and receptive to Ben and we're very hopeful!

On Memorial Monday we went to Yellowstone with some friends of ours. We took the camera but the battery wasn't charged (sore subject) and got no pictures at all. We did get to see TONS of bison, old faithful, and that's about it through the blizzarding snow. We still enjoyed ourselves and are looking forward to going back when the weather looks more promising.

Last Saturday June 11th was my half marathon. Natalie (running partner and awesome friend) and I placed 6th and 7th for our age group and finished with a whopping time of 1:51:48 Not as fast as I was hoping for but pretty darn good considering the amount of ENDLESS hills we had to endure. And yes... We have pictures!! Mom, Ethan, and Matt came up to cheer me on and poor little Ethan ended up in the hospital here in Rexburg on Saturday night with acute apendicitis. He was so brave and such a trooper though! Surgery is a big scary word to such a little guy but I was so grateful that I was there to help the whole process be a little smoother. Plus I got to show my family where I work and they got to meet a lot of friends I work with. Happily he has made a full recovery.

This was mile 10 or 11 I think? I don't feel that happy inside, but the run was really beautiful and the weather was perfect.

It always feels good to pass people, we got a surge of adrenaline! Plus pink shirt chick and her friend kept running and stopping and they were driving me crazy!

Almost to the finish line! Yahoo!

Natalie and I after the race.

Sweet Benny and Mojo after we had crossed the finish line. I love my boys!

I refinished our dresser and a few other D.I. treasures...that I DO have pictures for! And now I absolutely LOVE them. Thanks Rachelle for your help!

This shelf was for $10 at D.I. but I talked them down to 8 because the knobs were missing!

After... Painted red and and distressed and stained.

Our dresser before was green with brown shelves. Long story...

After... We painted it cream with a brown top, antiqued and distressed it and stained it cherry wood. We LOVE it!

This bad boy was $25 af D.I. also a hideous green

Sorry I don't have a better picture. We painted and stained it the same as the dresser. It looks great!

That's about all that makes up the recent news. We'll keep you updated on more fun filled happenings as they come!

Absolute Bliss

I have so many things to be happy about today. I don't think anything could get me down! I took a turn for the better on Sunday. Probably because Mom came to visit and brought extra love. I'm feeling so much better!! I'm getting cabin fever from just sitting around the last week. But I have to remind myself that the two weeks is worth the wait so I can get out there running again. Today is SUCH a beautiful day! The sun is out and compared to how its been if feels so WARM! Yesterday was our 2 year anniversary! I can't believe it's been 2 years already. It's funny to look back on where I thought we would be by now when we got married and compare it to reality. My husband is amazing. I love him so much and am grateful for him every day. He's been such a huge help since I had the surgery. He's always so full of love and patience, He's incredible. In honor of such an amazing day I thought I would post some of the things that make my heart soar...

New toothbrushes

Freshly shaved legs

Brand new whites socks

The smell of my laundry detergent

When I say something silly and get a real genuine laugh out of Ben.

And of course... SUNSHINE!

Here are some random pictures as well. No specific order or event just things we've been dong lately. Enjoy...

Aren't they cute?? That's our nephew Holden. We haven't seen him for a while and couldn't believe how big he was! We went down to Ut see Ben's parents who just moved to Mapleton.

Emily with Mom and Dad Vinton at Willem's birthday party.

Cute Holden eating cake.

Willem with his yummy birthday cake.

Isn't Emily so cute?? She made a space ship cake. It was awesome!

Going up to a friend's cabin in Island Park for the weekend. We went snowmobiling and hat a lot of fun!

Beautiful drive on our way to Island Park.

Ben will be so proud of me for posting a picture of his beloved Buggy. This is right at the top of Jackson pass. We were going to Jackson Hole as part of Ben's birthday.

Another picture of the beautiful scenery on the way to Jackson.

Mojo's new Christmas sweater and ball. He chewed the ball to pieces and threw up all night. Good thing we had some Pepto Bismol!

Our beautiful Christmas tree in our lovely home. We didn't have one last year which was heartbreaking. I had to work so we did Christmas by ourselves but it was actually really nice.

Smiling with all our presents.

Ben is really excited... What could it be??

Our sweet little Mojo... before he got his hair cut!

Me getting ready for work. How blessed night shift.. I do not miss you and hope we never meet again

Dreaming of better times

Ok, I'll be honest. I did not think recovering from surgery would be that bad. I thought every day would be an improvement of the last and I would be good as new in no time! Wrong. I wake up after a restful night with Tylenol PM and am hopeful that today is the day. Today is the day I have no more gas pains, I can eat with out getting bloated, I won't feel like my belly button is stitching open when I turn the wrong way, you name it, I have a lot of things I am looking forward too. So far my diet consists of chicken broth, toast, Gatorade, grape juice, saltines, and of course water and Ibuprofen. Ben ordered pizza and even that wasn't too appealing. Every time I think of food my gut rumbles the gases and my mind is changed almost immediately. The one thing that has sounded continually delicious is Ramen Noodles but I refuse to stoop that low. So until then me and my liquids will have to be content to live together in harmony. I should be grateful after all because aren't there starving children in China??

Aftermath of Surgery

It's been a while since I've posted but seeing as how I had surgery today and have a 2 week recovery ahead it's safe to say the posts will be plentiful. Oh by the way... I got my gallbladder out

Surgery was so much better than I thought! I was so nervous! I saw the nurse anesthetist (Lane) when I was working yesterday and asked him if he would read his scriptures and pray the night before so he would have the spirit with him for surgery! haha And you know what?! He did! He told me that he was reading about the gift to heal and the gift to be healed. He said "Rachael, you have the gift to be healed and everything is going to be perfectly fine." And of course thanks to the meds I got teary eyes. What a comforting thing to go "to sleep" to huh?? The next thing I remember I was in the recovery room waking up and squeezing Lane's hand in my right hand and my Surgeons hand in my left, both for dear life!! I was so out of it my heart rate was 30bpm, I was breathing only 8 times a minute... I'm a lightweight!! I kept asking them all if I had pooped the bed or tooted in their face! Then I had to know if they thought my belly was fat? Apparently I was concerned about that. I told my nurse that I liked her so much and kept asking everyone to be my friend. When I got back to Ben in my room I smiled and told him I didn't toot and I have so many friends!! Haha oh the things we do and say on drugs. Those drugs have a love/hate relationship though. I LOVE that they made me sleep and that I don't hurt that bad but HATE that I've thrown up so many times. Yuck, it's absolutely the worst!!

Here are a few pictures... Hope you enjoy!

These are the incisions with the bandaids off. The one on top looks like kind of gnarly! And yes, my stomach is still ridiculously bloated and swollen :( Oh six pack... where have you gone! Will you ever come back??

I'm not announcing I'm pregnant... They blow your stomach up with gas so they can see all the organs better. I just have 4 little incisions and they white tape under the bandaids stays on for 2 weeks.
These are all the presents people have brought me!! Thank you Jessica, Cort, Tecia, Chelse and Gena. You are all so thoughtful and such good friends I love it. (Not pictures...super sexy panties we give our patients at the hospital)