Our First Summer

The last two summers have been absolutely crazy. Chad and I spent part of last summer in Europe and the rest of the summer spending every possible moment together. In other words, we were practically inseparable. This summer, our first married summer, has been a little different. Work travels have kept us apart for a good majority of the summer. It's been tough, but it's made us appreciate the time we were able to have together.

I will admit though, on multiple occasions I've thought, "Retirement is going to be the best! I'll get him all to myself, all day long." I slap myself back to reality though and recognize that we are only at the beginning of our careers. A wise man once said, "Find joy in the journey!" That's exactly what I intend to do.

Here's a recap of our crazy first summer:

Chad left to LA.

Chad left to Orlando.

Kandace left to San Diego.

After those three weeks of travel, we had an amazing weekend in Bear Lake celebrating G & R's 50th Wedding Anniversary (Grandma & Grandpa Hyland).

The whole family was able to be there and it was so fun!

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was hiking around Minnetonka Cave.

Side note: Did I mention that I'm convinced I married into the greatest family? Every single week Chad was away this summer I got a text or phone call from more than one of the Hyland's checking in on me. I love them!

After we got home from Bear Lake, we went to Alpine to house-sit for my family while they were in Portland. We were having an enjoyable experience until one of my co-workers pointed out the smoke coming from the mountainside. Sure enough, my beautiful Alpine mountainside was on fire.

I immediately left for home and made the awful call to inform my parents. As soon as I got there, I packed up their lists of requests in case we had to evacuate. Fortunately, we didn't have to evacuate. Our neighbors a few streets to the North and one street to the East were evacuated though. Crazy!

We tried to salvage the rest of our 4th of July by going rafting and zip-lining with Chad's family. It was so much fun!

Then...Chad left to Reno.

Chad left to Reno, again.

Chad left to Helena, Butte, Albuquerque, Amarillo, and Lubbock.

Kandace left to Las Vegas.

Chad left to Reno, again.

This last weekend we were able to go camping with my family. We had a lot of fun shooting guns, playing cards, and just enjoying time together. We also went to the rodeo in Heber, which I always love.

Next up: Chad AND Kandace leave for NYC. Hallelujah for a trip together!