August

August was a really fun and busy month. Here's what we did.

We had a fun time when Gabe came to stay for a weekend.

We went to Aspen, Colorado with the Lee family to visit
Brian and Mary-Jane.

We love them.

We celebrated our anniversary by going back to where we were married a year ago and doing an endowment session.
Then we went horseback riding.
We hiked Stewart Falls.
We also hiked Timp with my dad.

I am incredibly sore from that experience and proud of myself for not succumbing and renting a wheelchair to get around campus on the first day of school.
Russ and I are sad to see the summer end, but glad to be students again! It's only the second day of school and I'm already busy. I love all my classes. This is my last semester here before I start student teaching for a French class in January. Weird. I remember thinking student teachers were really old (and boring) when I was in junior high and high school. I can't believe I am going to be one. Russ is still pursuing a Political Science degree and he loves it. We are working hard and keeping busy and happy.

Life's Full Of Hilarious Contradictions

In the summer, I can't wait for fall and winter. But in the winter, I long for spring and summer.

I never run into the people I really want to see, and I always run into the people I do not wish to see at the most inopportune moments.

I gripe about homework and can't wait for school to be over, but I am terrified to graduate and enter the real world.

I look forward to payday, but then as soon as it comes, my money disappears - spent on dumb necessary things faster than I know where it's gone.

When I read a really good book, I can't wait to finish it, but at the same time I want it to last forever.

I do not like exercising and I try to get out of it whenever possible, but I love the feeling of shaky legs after a really long run and sore abs after pilates.

I love the lazy feeling of having nothing I need to do, but I hate the bored feeling of having nothing to do. That's why...as much as I have enjoyed the drowsy leisureliness of summer...I am really looking forward to the bustling industriousness of being a student again. I love school. I thrive on structure, challenge, accomplishment, and deadlines. I love new notebooks and binders and gluesticks and markers and mechanical pencils (even though the only new thing I really need is a notebook). I love the excitement in the air on the first day of school. I love the vitality brought to the campus by those eager and overzealous freshmen students who honestly have no idea what they're in for. I love the fact that the first day of school is when we all get excited and try to break out our fall wardrobes, even though it's still 95 degrees outside. I love it all. I can't wait for August 31st.

It's Been A Year

August 21, 2008 was a perfect day. I couldn't have asked for anything more.

This past year has been more challenging, more rewarding, more difficult, more hilarious, and more wonderful than I ever thought possible.

I'm so glad Russell came into my life. He is my truest friend. What a joy it is to know I'll have him as my companion forever.

Blackberry Pie

My dad went to Seattle this weekend. He picked blackberries and then brought them back and my mom made a delicious blackberry pie. The hand-shucked berries couldn't have tasted better. I am eating the leftover pie at work today. It's a good day.

Russell Gets A Gold Star

My husband is adorable.

The other night, my mom and sisters Katie and Emma came to visit our apartment. They brought tidings of joy in the form of fresh garden produce! Emma brought her new toy with her: a little white teddy bear dressed in a tiny denim dress and headband that my mom had made. They left and four minutes later, we heard a pounding on our door and it was Emma again, close to tears, asking us if we had seen the little jean headband. It had fallen off her bear. Mom and Katie had their cell phones out and were combing the grass and bushes. I couldn't find it in our house, but I promised Emma that we would look for it outside the next day. Katie told me later that Emma cried all the way home.

The next morning, I came into the kitchen and found Russell sitting at the table, writing a letter. He told me excitedly, "I found the headband! It was under the couch!" He was writing Emma a little note. Then he put the note, the headband, and a stick of gym in an envelope, addressed it to EMMA GRACE ALLENBACH in huge block letters, and asked me to mail it. He said, "Do you remember being nine years old, and getting mail with your name on it was the best feeling in the world? I think she'll just love this."

I just gawked at him. I mean, it was beyond the call of duty. Most guys probably would have flung the headband in my direction and said, "Hey, I found that thing your sister was looking for." He totally went out of his way and took the time to put this letter together and make it a special surprise that will mean the world to my little sister. Of course, Emma is already obsessed with Russell as it is, because he plays soccer with her when we visit on Sunday afternoons and everyone else just wants to take a nap. He is always so sweet to her.

I love Russell for being so kind and thoughtful. I know he'll make a great dad someday.

Four

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Target
2. Shade Clothing
3. BYU Games Center
4. BYU Division of Continuing Education
(How convenient that I've only had four jobs in my life.)

Four movies I would watch over and over:
1. Pride and Prejudice
2. Amélie
3. Glory Road
4. The Princess Bride

Four places I have lived:
1. Seattle, Washington
2. Logan, Utah
3. Paris, France
4. American Fork, Utah

Four TV Shows that I watch:
1. America's Next Top Model
2. Snapped
3. American Idol
4. Seinfeld

Four places I have traveled to:
1. Calgary, Alberta
2. London, England
3. Maui, Hawaii
4. Washington D.C.

Four people who email me regularly:
1. Tiffani
2. Katie
3. Melissa
4. People Magazine

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Pudding cake
2. Grilled pineapple
3. Fettucine Alfredo
4. Waffles

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Paris with Russell
2. American Fork with Katie and Daniel
3. A beach in California
4. Florence

Four things I am looking forward to this year:
1. Hiking Timp at the end of the month
2. My last semester at BYU
3. Thanksgiving with my family
4. Shepherds' Meal on Christmas Eve with the Lees

I have to admit, this was pretty fun.

Big Plans For August

Summer is far from over. We have a month left before school starts, and we are going to jam-pack it with fun things! Our plans include hanging out with Russell's best buddy Gabe this weekend, going to Colorado to visit Bri and Mary-Jane, celebrating our first wedding anniversary in some fun and creative way, playing with family, attending some wedding receptions of our study abroad friends, ransacking all the farmers markets and yard sales we can get to, enjoying fun nights out in Salt Lake City, and hiking to the top of Mt. Timpanogos with my family. Well, with everybody except Katie. Anyone who knows my younger sister knows that she would rather get her gums scraped than climb a mountain.