Rewind...

Alright, let's rewind a couple of months: it's time for the dreaded recap. I need to be better about posting and then I won't have to do a recap all the time, since I don't like it. Hopefully I'll improve soon. Ok, so starting backwards and working my way forward, here we go:

Sterling finally graduated!! Hooray! He paid his due of four long years and he's finally done! He's really excited to be done with school, he was suffering from senioritis really badly.
Ok, so he didn't actually walk, the picture of him in the cap and gown is actually from back when I graduated, we found an extra one in his size and decided to take some pictures because even back then (two years ago) he still hadn't been planning on going to his graduation at all, so we thought we'd be sneaky and still get pictures for posterity.

While Sterling was in his last semester of school, I was also taking some classes. I took a RAD class (stands for Rape Aggression Defense) that's only for women. SO much fun!! Basically you go there and you learn how to beat the crap out of guys if anyone ever tries to abduct/rape you or anything like that. It's done by the police officers on campus. If any of you who go to BYU have ever seen any of them, you'll know that many of them are big scary guys. It's not very easy going up against them in full body suits. I don't have any pictures from class, but here's a picture of what they look like in their huge suits when we do the final simulation, the other is the measly amount of protection they give you. In the final simulation they actually attack you and you have to get away from them. Because they're so padded up, you're actually kicking, punching, head-butting, and elbowing them as hard as you possible can. It was quite the adrenaline rush, but it was such a blast! They filmed it and we got to watch the tape back right after. I took the basic class and the advanced class. The basic class is just how to get away from them, the advanced class teaches you moves where you could potentially kill your attacker. Rather scary, I know. It also teaches you how to react if they get you on the ground or if they have a gun or a knife. In the final simulation for the advanced class, one officer had a knife to my neck and when I got away from him I actually twisted his shoulder really badly and he had to file a worker's compensation form and had to wear a sling for awhile. I felt bad, but it's nice to know it actually really works.

The other class I did I haven't been able to find pictures for. I was a teacher's assistant for an Emergency Medical Technician class on BYU campus. It was a lot of fun. There were 30 students in the class and we had a great time! I enjoyed being able to help teach, even if I didn't always know all the answers. Sometime I'll try to get pictures and post some of them.

We got a new baby backpack for Cami, so we thought we'd make use of it and hike Squaw Peak the week before our anniversary (May 9). I had no idea how out of shape I was until we did that. I felt like I was going to die. My excuse is that I had a baby awhile ago, it really wears down your body in ways you don't know until you try something like this. We got passed by a whole bunch of little kids and they were just plugging along as though they were walking on flat ground. I really took a blow to my self-esteem there, especially since Sterling looked just as spry as always once we reached the top. In the past when I've hiked the peak, it's been about a three hour round trip. This time, it took us three hours just to get to the top. It was about a five hour round trip total. Pathetic. Cami seemed to enjoy it though, even if she did sleep through most of it.
For mother's day/our anniversary (Sterling gets off easy because they're usually within a few days of each other) we left Cami with her Grandma Joyce for several days and went up to Zermatt Resort and Spa in Midway, UT. It was so pretty up there. My parents own a villa there, so we get to stay for almost free (besides room cleaning fees). On the morning of our anniversary, I woke up to find this: Sterling didn't have time to write anything in the card because I got up too soon. He was cute because he told me that he was going to go to the gym in the morning and probably wouldn't be there when I got up, instead he was out getting flowers. So cute. The flowers were so pretty. We also went horseback riding while up there (I forgot to bring the camera so I don't have any pictures) and went swimming in the pool at the hotel. Between Squaw peak and horseback riding, I couldn't walk (or sit) for about a week. But it was all so much fun!

The second to last week in May, we went down to Lytle (Lie-tle) Ranch in St. George with Sterling's brother Preston, his wife, Alisha, their little girl Rabeca and their German Shepherd Abby. We brought Cami with us this time, as well as Sadie, our dog. The ranch is owned by BYU and is a literal oasis out in the middle of the Mojave Desert. It's gorgeous down there. Mostly we just sat around and enjoyed the 92 degree weather (well, I enjoyed it) Sterling and I went bird watching and we found a nasty, crawdad filled pond to go swimming in. Preston actually got his toes pinched by the crawdads; note to self: don't stand on the bottom of the pond. Because the temperatures were so high, the water felt heavenly!
Phew! Now that that's done and I'm caught up, I can make a greater effort from now on. I've got some cute pictures and videos of Cami I'll post later as well as news about Sterling, but I'll have to wait until I have the whole story before posting that.