2007: a year in review

I stole this idea from Carrie who ultimately stole it from someone else. So props to the Creator! Mark and I had a year full of new experiences, and quite a lot of change along with it. I will somewhat start from the beginning. Mark graduated from the University of Utah in May! We are so happy to both be done with school! No more books, tests, or papers. Mark was offered a job in Twin falls Idaho at MiddleKauff Auto. He was, of course, thrilled and couldn't wait to start his new job.

As a gift to ourselves for our 1 year anniversary, graduation, and both birthdays we took an amazing vacation to Australia! We decided to go back to Mark's missionary stomping ground and visit all the people and places we could. We stopped in Sydney for the first leg of the trip. We saw the Opera house, the harbor bridge, the aquarium, The Rocks(a little historic town, I loved it). We went out the the Blue mountains, and pretended to enjoy that Mark was climbing up and down a cliff. We visited the Sydney Temple and ate at a lot of great places.

The second leg was to Melbourne, where Mark served his mission. We visited a lot of people and a lot of different places. I am so happy I was able to meet all these people that were part of Mark life for 2 years!He really did make some lasting friendships while there. We went to an animal sanctuary on Phillips island and feed kangaroos. We visited the Nobbies (kind of a beach but no sand, just massive rocks, great white sharks, the blue penguins, and a blowhole). We traveled the Great Ocean Road and saw the Twelve Apostles. The Dandanonges was our last stop in Melbourne. Its a big forest I guess, but it was beautiful! Great restaurants and great scenery.

We last stopped in Brisbane, which is one of the surfing capitals of the world. We saw the beaches, lots of little shops, and had some great seafood. Over all it was such a great trip and we had an amazing time.

Once we got back from Australia, we dove right into buying a house! We found something perfect for us just on a drive around town. We have had a lot of fun fixing it up and making it our own. But there are always more projects in store for this year.

Mark and I have both started our jobs, and are starting to fit in well. mark loves his job, and has been privileged to be the salesman of the month a couple times now. My job at the hospital has been a lot to get used to (graveyard shift) but I am starting to like it a lot.

Our newest addition to the family is our basset hound named Beatrice. We are so happy to have her in our home. She is the most spunky and intelligent dog!

2007 has been a great year. We can't wait to see what 2008 has in store for us. We can only hope its even bigger and better.