A drive, a family, & a piano

I appologize in advance for the size of this posting. I just have a lot on my mind and some insight and tales I would love to share. And of course some fun pictures.

This past weekend Cody and I spent in Utah with my family. My older sister Jessica and her family were headed out to Des Moines, Iowa for Eric to go to medical school there. We were lucky enough to be able to see them for a few days before they headed out that direction for the next few years. 

We drove down to Utah the day before Jess got there and got to go on a little hike with Jen and her kids up to a waterfall. What a perfect way to start out your day!

As we were just walking along on this beautiful sunny day, we come across a cow. Right on the side of the path. Just eating and hanging out. Hello cow.

As we were coming back down the hill from the waterfall, the kids started waving to the cow and telling it goodbye. Only one reason why I love them.

We went to the parade in Spanish Fork on Saturday July 24th, thats pioneer day. We saw a lot of princesses and cheerleaders. But my favorite part was all the bagpipes!

That night we went and saw fireworks. We spread out a bunch of blankets and camp chairs and whipped out Jess & Erics IPad.

4 player pong is the coolest game ever.
Even though I lost every single round, it was still a blast!
The best part of the fireworks was the commentary.
A few minutes after the fireworks started Ethan starts saying, "I'm not scared of the big ones anymore!"
At the same time Wyatt was sitting on a different blanket saying, "Hi Firework. Hi Firework. Hi Firework." Every firework that went off got a hi or hello.

Sunday we got to go on a drive! My grandpa was brave enough to let Cody drive his TR3 Triumph (I think its a 1959?).

We drove up the Canyon right by there house, I am pretty sure its Provo Canyon.
We got a lot of smiles and thumbs up.
I felt like an actress in one of those old black and white movies!
Every new turn is a new adventure, life is only black and white, so simple and easy.

Love is only to the one you are with and no one else matters.
There isn't a worry in the world, you can only enjoy each other's company and hope there is one more turn after the next because you don't want that ride to ever end.

At the hospital I work at I see a lot of elderly people pass through our doors.
A lady the other day that was in her late 80's came and sat at my desk.
I had to ask for her husband's birthday and ended up asking how long they had been married for.
60 Years.
Cody and I are just a month shy of us celebrating one full year of being married together.
This year has been the most amazing year of my life with having him in it every single day.
I can only imagine what 60 years of that would be like!

But it also brought my attention to the plan of salvation and how greatful I am for the knowledge and testimony I have of it.

I could not imagine any day without Cody. Even considering being away from him for one weekend is killing me. But knowing that I will be with him and my whole family forever just makes life so much easier.

One of the things I love about Cody reminds me of my grandfather.
Cody will just randomly sit down at the keyboard and play.
My favorite things about going to grandma & grandpa's house is grandpa playing the piano.
He just creates such an atmosphere of love and peace that contention is so hard to come by.

It is always hard saying goodbye to family.
I cry everytime I have to drive away from them.
I don't know when the next time I will see them will be because of the distance between us all.
But I take comfort in knowing that no matter what the distance may be I will always have them forever.

I stole this quote from one of my best friends Li-Sha because she can always find the best quotes.

"If for a while the harder you try the harder it gets--take heart. So it has been with the best people that have ever lived." -Elder Holland

Things to look forward to:Not working for one week.
Flying to Alaska, home.
Photographing my best friends wedding.
Seeing Dad, puppy, & grandparents.
Well all family I can while there.
Real, Yummy food. Already have the list.
Thai Orchid.
Play time with best friends, way over due to!
Being able to take pictures of the temple from inside the house.

Things I am dreading:Flying if this cold doesn't go away.
Leaving Cody for almost a whole week.
Trying to pack everything into a carry on.

Cold, cold weather.

Midnight Cruising, Canoes, & A Wedding

This has definitely been a busy weekend.
But I am not complaining because I got to spend the entire time with my best friend.

Friday night we just relaxed at home and both fell asleep on the couches. Thank goodness Cody set his alarm for 11:30pm so he could go check on the water.
Good ol' Rexburg... They decided to turn off the water until 7pm on Friday night to "conserve energy." That just meant a late night for us because he had to get things watered, like his plots and the schools garden.
So here we went at 11:30 at night in our comfy clothes to go check some water and turn off others. We snagged the school's little John Deere Gator and headed out to the middle of the field.
Breath taking.
 Sitting in the middle of the field where it was pitch black we had a perfect view of all the stars.
It has been a long time since I have really had time to just enjoy night time outside.
The breeze just barely blowing, pushing the grain just slightly to one side.
The sounds of crickets chirping and the moon just shining bright.
Its simple moments like that that make me really grateful to be in Idaho.
Yes I just admited that I like Idaho. Scary!
But coming from Alaska, where it is light at all hours of the night, you never get to see stars.

Cody was asked to drive a van of students for the teacher he works for up on campus for a classes final.

And just take a wild guess at what the class had to do for their final?!

Go canoeing.
We spent all Saturday morning just slowly drifting down the snake river. I really wish I had brought my camera with me. It was amazing.
The water was so shallow most of the time that you could see the bottom of the river.
There was not a cloud in the sky, it was not over bearingly hot.
The trees were peaceful and green.
In the river you could see random peices of metal farm equipment from way back when the teton dam flooded still sitting at the bottom of the river.
It was the perfect way to start out a day.
Nothing smells better that just calm, fresh air.
The best destresser ever.

Not only did we have a good morning but a great afternoon.
Cody has pretty much sworn off coming with me to take pictures. But I was somehow able to convince him that I needed him.
And I could not have honestly done it without him.
He was right there when I needed him to hold this or that, or to run to the car to grab something I forgot.
He truely has the most patience I have ever seen.
The wedding went well.
I would have liked more time to shoot just the bride and groom, but then again I always say that.
Here is just a few of my favorite shots.
Still editing them though.

More pictures will be on my Photography blog.

jsearlephotography.blogspot.com

or on Facebook at Jayme Searle Photography

This past week a tragic death happened in my hometown and it has really made me stop and think. What in my life do I value the most.
And questions like, if something were to happen to me tomorrow, what would people say I value the most.

I have many responses that I would wish to hear but are they really what others around me are seeing?

Sometimes I feel like there is way too much that I could write about, like tonight, and other times I feel like I have nothing of any importance to say.

So I will leave you with a quote.

"Believe you can and you're halfway there."

-Theodore Roosevelt

Steering Wheel, Chex Mix, & Birthday Cake

It is July 14th. And I haven’t written since April, that is sad. I apologize.


The past few months have been filled with lots of pictures, laughter, and both good and difficult times. I work 40 hours a week and take engagement or family pictures as much as people will allow.
Cody goes to school and work all day, night time is my favorite time of the day because it is almost always spent with just him.


A few exciting things that happened and are coming up in the near future.


First, my birthday. We went to Red Robin where they made me hold two balloons above my head, they called them donkey ears. But I got a free sunday out of it so I am not complaining.
Second, Utah for pioneer day. It will probably be the last time I will see my sister Jess, Eric, & the two little munchkin boys. They are going to Des Moines Iowa, Iowa Des Moines for Eric to go to medical school. And I also get to see my other sister and her family, my grandparents, and my mother. Hopefully more to!
And that means driving some more, just what Cody loves to do.

Third, Not only one trip home to Alaska but TWO! And both are in August for the best reason ever, taking Wedding Pictures.I get to do one of my best friend Li-sha’s Wedding first. It is going to be amazing and creative and beautiful just like her. Oh, and it will be carnival themed. Even better!

I started a photography blog. It is
jsearlephotography.blogspot.com

At the moment Cody is driving a big semi truck around a parking lot weaving in and out of cones. Hooray. He is taking his CDL test for one of his classes.

We have also been spending quite a bit of time up at the gardens that Cody has to weed every week for his class. It’s a nice excuse to get out of the house at night when it isn’t so blazing hot!


I just had to put up this picture, its just too funny to pass up. This is my brother in law Kirby getting the trash punched out of his eye by cute little Chloe.

Upcoming events for the next two weeks:
Photography a wedding this weekend.
A few family shoots coming up.
Oh, and did I mention I was going to Alaska?!

April Adventures

Since last updating quite a little bit has happened.

Work has been a little bit more crazy with new people starting and all. I also started working at 6 a.m. every morning. Even though it sucks waking up at 4 a.m. every morning, its nice getting home by 5:15.

We have been all around the last few weekends for Weddings and such but my favorite reason for leaving for the weekend has been for taking pictures!!!!

I was able to spend this past weekend in Utah and take not only one but TWO of my best friends from high school's engagement pictures.

I met up with Sarah & Ryan in Salt Lake City and we had a blast!

They are so dang cute together and were SO much fun to take pictures of. The chemestry between them is just so natural and you could just feel the love they have for eachother by looking at them. I'm so happy for you Sarah!

Li-Sha & Mikey are super cute and super fun! They both have so much energy and are sooooo goofy! I was really nervous about getting a good shot with the short amount of time we had but here is just one of my favorites so far!

I have also started a page on Facebook {Jayme Searle Photography} to put the majority of pictures I am taking at! I am hoping that soon enough I can get a blog going of just my photography but we will see.
Photography is still just a dream that doesn't seem like it could be a reality but every day it is becoming more of a possibility and I could not be happier.

Cody is so amazing and so supportive!
Even though he is not really into photography, well not even in the slightest but, it is still so much fun to have him when I'm shooting. He likes to try to get people to laugh and open up and it helps me so much when he does that.

Other than me taking pictures (when I say pictures, I don't just mean about 100 in the past month... I mean about 2000-3000...), nothing is really new with us.

Cody just finished the winter semester at BYU-Idaho and now has a one week break until the Summer term starts. He is crazy and is loading up on classes with the intent of graduating next April if possible. He is such a hard worker and knows exactly what it is going to take for him to get where he wants to be.

We had a good experience this weekend that really helped us as a couple refocus on what is really important to us in our marraige and with our family. When we first started dating and all throughout our engagement, we drove a lot. Down to Utah, to Burley, just about all over the place. It gave us a lot of time to talk and we missed that. I am so grateful for the little things like that, just being able to talk for 4 hours without interuptions.

I am also grateful for green grass, sunshine, orange soda, picniks, backpacks, flip flops, beaches, fluffy clouds, lemonade, swings, dresses, bright toe nail polish, bugs and butterflies, flowers, bicycles, open country, the American flag, and anything and everything that has to do with summer and spring. It all just makes me so happy and so excited for the new season and weather that we are being blessed with right now.

As for the near future, our plans are to spend a lot of time playing in the sun and thats all that is set in stone for right now. But with 70 degree weather, who could blame us?!

A Photo Blog?!

I am considering, {only considering} starting a blog with all the pictures I take.

I need a good name though and I completely clueless when it comes to ideas.

Any suggestions?

Well for now anyways heres a few of my favorites.

A few good stories.

A few funny stories from the past few days.

The Car Alarm

We were leaving our apartment on Sunday and Cody whistles REALLY loud. When I turn around he goes, "Man! Did you hear that?! Who did that?!" He had just closed my car door when he started whistling again, SUPER LOUD! AGAIN!, but making it sound like a siren.
When he gets in the car I ask him what that was all about and he just goes. "Oh that was just the car alarm."
Just one reason why I love him.

Early Morning Wake Up Calls

My mother teaches early morning seminary and Alaska is two hours behind us here in Idaho. As I was driving to work this morning at 7 am, 5 am Alaska time, I decided to call my mom and wake her up for seminary, thinking she was going to get up soon anyways.
I start saying, "Wake up you sleepy head and get you butt right out of bed." I'm a morning person so of course I was very cheerful when I was chanting it.
Turns out that it is spring break in Alaska. So no seminary. Josh is home. And my mom didn't have to get up for a few more hours.

Poor mother of mine.

BUT she is coming down next weekend to go to Utah with us and we are so excited!

{On a more serious note, if I have anything of the sort...}

I got a new lens today!

And signed up for a photography class in two weeks as well!

One of Cody's favorite movies is The Man From Snowy River and The Return To Snowy River. The first time I saw it I said it was a dumb movie because the girl just moves in with the main character. They aren't married, they didn't even elope. They're just living together. Cody's cover up is that they got married but they just didn't show it.
False.
This is an on going debate in our home.

Fun Quote for the Day: All my life I always wanted to fly. I always wanted to live like a hawk. I know you're not supposed to be jealous of anything, but...to take flight, to soar above everything and everyone, now that's living.

Today's Happy List

One of my Wonderful best friends gave me a great idea, she wrote down just a few things that she loves.

Top Ten Things That Make My Day

1. Photography.
I love taking pictures of anyone or anything at ANY time!

2. Cody.
He loves me for me and puts up with all my silly and obnoxious ideas.

3. The sun.
Because when its not around its so gloomy, it can always brighten your day ;)

4. Music!
You can never be sad when you listen to good happy music.

5. Jalapeno Poppers.
Those dang little suckers will be the death of me they are so good and addicting.

6. Family.
We wouldn't be where we are without them and it makes trips so much funner when you know your going to see them.

7. Old things.
Old pictures, old barns & tractors, old people, old music, old paintings. They just see life a totally different way, its so fun.

8. Games and puzzles.
You can't play a game or do a puzzle and still be upset, unless its Carcason or It came to pass and they are ganging up on you.

9. Laughing.
You can't hear a silly laugh and not laugh as well.

10. Best Friends.

Even though I don't see or talk to them as often as I would like, I know they will ALWAYS be there. Because friends like Allie, Li-sha, Sarah, and Marie will be there forever.

11. Italian & Mexican Food.

I could eat it every night and never get tired of it.

12. Traveling and Long Drives.

No distractions around, only me and Cody in the car. Can't get any better.

13. The most amazing husband.
Did I already mention him? Well he deserves to be on here twice, he is the best.

14. Celebrating Anniversaries.
Time goes by so fast. Its so fun to think we have only been married for a short time but it feels like forever already. Next week will be {6 months}!!!


We are also considering getting our toys we've been wanting.

I want a new lens.

Cody wants a gun. XD. 9 mm.

Where is Santa when you need him?
The leprechaun is right around the corner!!!