2010 is over so I better write something...

Well when we left you last, It was summer and we had returned from one last vacation, complete with baseball, beaches and stingrays. Since then we have pretty much been on cruise control with no major hiccups! There has been Disneyland again, new jobs, school, football, basketball, parties, holidays and more. So I will do my best to recap some of the highlights...

When school time fell upon us Jane started her teaching job. She works at two schools, Orem Jr and Willow Creek Middle School in Lehi. It's a bummer she has to split between the two, but a full-time contract will make us feel better. After one semester now it has been about as smooth sailing as we could ask for. I can't remember more than one or two breakdowns for Jane over the semester, and very few nervous nights. She has done such a terrific job and has really enjoyed teaching. However, just like the students, the teachers look forward to the breaks just as much, if not more! I think all of the hard work Jane puts into her preparation for the classroom has really paid off and one of the biggest reasons she has done so well, and one of the reasons she has such a great job.

I worked some of the summer and have continued this semester at BYU Athletic Communications working as the sports information director for men's cross country and men's track. I have also been helping out for football and basketball, along with soccer and a few other sports. It has been a blast, I love my co-workers at the office and getting to work with coaches and athletes from BYU. You can see the office, as well as us sitting on the BYU bench, waiting to get put into a game one of these days...Getting to attend and work at all the games has been so fun despite the somewhat disappointing season, with a terrific turnaround however. Getting to know players and people that work with different teams, writing stories and other stuff has been a great experience. I am looking forward to next season and really enjoying basketball season right now. Track is about to start so I will be a lot busier for the next few months, which is good. I finished the fall semester with straight A's, I think the first time that has happened in college...it helps when you only have one or two classes that really matter. The highlight was my capstone PR course, where the class is split into four teams and we have a real client and have to develop a strategic campaign over the entire semester to compete to see who has the best one. We worked with the Department of Transportation, specifically the Zero Fatalties program, focusing on cell phone use in the car. Our main goal was to stop people from doing it of course. Glad to say that our group took home the victory. The victory unfortunately doesn't include a full-time job or money or anything like that...just glory and a gift bag. Oh well, it sounds good in a job interview.

Sprinkled in the semester was a trip to California to go to Disneyland (again...it is Jane's new favorite place) Only this time we spent two days at the parks and got to do a lot more stuff. Are new favorite thing is Turtle Talk with Crush. Supposedly it is for little kids but Jane and I may or may not have watched the show three to four times...

We also had some Halloween fun. At our separate work parties, I went as teen pop sensation Justin Bieber!!! (teenage readers, drool now.) And Jane went as Jimmer Fredette (BYU single ladies, drool now.) Of course for a party with our friends we mixed it up a bit, and I went as Jimmer and Jane went as Jimmer's biggest fan...see photo.

Much of the fall semester was spent playing intramurals. My team was comprised most of my best friends, old freshmen roommates and the majority of the best people from Boise, Idaho. It was a lot of fun and our team was pretty good too. The Mustangs made it to the sweet 16 of tournament, the deepest run of any of our previous intramural teams. Here you see coach giving us some tips...We are looking forward to basketball now.

We had Thanksgiving with the Cox Family. Let's just say it was packed (literally, 38 people or something like that at one time) with lots of fun, lots of kids and noise, but the good noise of course. I was really looking forward to seeing so many siblings and glad so many could come. Thanks to Mom and Dad for letting everyone destroy the house for a week.

And of course, Christmas has now come and gone. Jane has been pouting as she puts away all of our decorations and the holidays are coming to a close. Jane's mom and dad came out here for Christmas and we spent most of the break with them along with Jane's sister Kate and her family. We had a fun Christmas Eve party with the Decker's, (Jane's uncle) and Christmas Day at Kate's. We got all sorts of great stuff too! Jane got some more running gear and her favorite present, the Zumba Wii Fitness game. I am secretly going to post a video on here when Jane isn't around. It is pretty hilarious, but she works up a good sweat and loves it. I got lots of camping stuff and some movies as well. We also did some serious bowling. I wish my intensity translated to high scores...Thanks to John and Brenda for coming out here over the holidays and being so good to Jane and I, we love you!

Well 2010 is pretty much done, I'd say it has been a success. Jane and I are approaching our third anniversary in April now, Wow! We had a great year and look forward to another in 2011.

In Memory of Steve Irwin

Well we are due for an update of this thing. We took a trip to San Diego in July for beach week to spend a few days camping at San Elijo with Mark and Jo and my parents as well, and of course catch a Padres game. We were able to spend a night at Susi and Adam's and go for a swim with everyone there. I managed to jump in the pool using a crafty tactic of jumping in the water in a sort of rolling motion, creating a tidal wave of sorts, thoroughly drenching Jane and nearby family dog, Buddy. It was a nice break from the drive in which Jane actually contributed a fair amount of driving this time!

We headed to the beach for camping and were able to quickly set up camp thanks to the old motorhome. (which is now going to be gone forever...see mom or dad for details) I was able to get lots of surfing in on this trip, however the waves were rather un-epic this time around so a lot of it was done on the recently purchased 8-foot foamie provided by Mark. It reminded me how underrated longboarding is and I look forward to living down there and investing in a nice longboard for days like that. We had fun hanging out with Mark and Jo, my parents and some friends that came to visit us at the beach. Campfires, cheddarwurst, roasted marshmellows and occasional roasted starburst were all on the menu, (as well as a secret stash of peanut butter candy...thanks jo!)

All the excitement came however when I decided to go on a quick morning surf sesh while Jane went for a run. I saw an older guy lose his board (common, if you can't hang on to your board when its 1-2 feet, you don't belong out there!) so I went to go rescue it for him and make his trek a little less strenuous. I should have known that no good deed goes unpunished as after I handed his board back off to him I felt a squishy, wiggly animal under my foot followed by a quick thrashing around and sharp pain to the ankle all within a split second or two. At first I thought, whew that was close, and hopped on my board and took a few paddles, only to think hmm, that kind of hurt. I looked back at my ankle and saw a hole with blood steadily pouring out of it. Yup, a stingray got me! I headed back in and began to walk back towards the stairs and every step it began to hurt more and more. I dropped the board at the bottom of the stairs and hobbled my way back to our campsite in search of some relief. Marrrk! (my thinking was Mark, the surfer/lifeguard could quickly spring in to action,which he did, but later I learned he really didn't know what to do, he fooled us though.) We managed to put my leg in a box lined with a trash bag filled with almost boiling water which provided a lot of relief. After about an hour and a half of that I figured I was good to go and put a bandaid on the wound and headed back down to the beach where I got in a few more hours of surfing for the rest of the day despite the steady trickle of blood. It definitely hurt though, I don't recommend it.

We finished off our trip with a Padres game where we finally won when we actually attended. It was a great trip, minus the one small wild animal attack. We miss you Steve Irwin, glad the stringray that got me wasn't quite the same.

Impulsive Camping

So as most of you know, Mom and Dad (more Dad) are looking at getting a new trailer to serve as the new Cox family home base in Yosemite and other various trips. We all love the old orange camper but its getting older and becoming more and more stressful every year. Dad of course has narrowed his RV of choice down to one, which he always has an open lookout for. Well they came across a place in Utah that rents the exact kind that he wants, so they jumped at the chance to rent one last week just before the price goes way up for the summer "high season." I managed to snag a few nights of camping in Zion National Park (again, I know) for those few days. Mom, Dad, Jane and I made a quick and impulsive trip down there to test out the new digs of this fancy machine. Well, we were not disappointed. The trailer had everything from a flat screen TV, ATV storage, power slide outs, and Mom, Jane and I's favorite, great air conditioning! Since we could plug in at our campsite, we ran that air conditioner non stop on the government's dime! We loved that since it was about 90 degrees all day long. Dad however, felt he was in a motel six and was frequently annoyed with cold air blowing non stop in his face all day. He was outnumbered though so there was not much he could do. Dad's truck pulled it just fine and he enjoyed the almost stress-free trek. We especially enjoyed the super easy set up as this trailer had power everything, no lighting of pilot lights, no cranking out an awning, no nothing! We are all sold on these new digs, now Dad just has to convince Mom there is sufficient funds, and judging by Mom's "Aahhhh I don't have money for this look," good luck Dad!

Jane the Graduate and California!

So Jane did it! She graduated! It only took five years . . .but thats okay, I'm still in school so what can I really tease about? Jane has worked very hard and put in many hours to be one of the best students in her major and all of her teachers love her. Hopefully it pays off as she is getting lots of job interviews and different opportunities so we will just have to find the best one. It was fun to have all of Jane's family in town and celebrate all of her achievements. Now I can look forward to no more watching her be stressing over the first days of school, oh wait, now there will be new stress as the first days of school as a TEACHER!

After Jane's graduation we took off on a much anticipated California adventure tour of sorts. It started with a trip to Magic Mountain on our 2 year anniversary! (We went to Magic Mountain for part of our honeymoon too) However the results were very similar. . . Jane doesn't do roller coasters. After about three rides Jane was turning green again. She took about a 45 minute nap on the grass at the park and we decided she could handle the water rides safely. We got drenched thoroughly and went on one more roller coaster, the new Terminator ride, a wooden coaster, which was actually a blast! We also stayed in this really sketchy motel where we were nervous we were going to get robbed or worse. It only had one tiny little lamp and the door didn't quite close all the way! We survived though.

Our next stop was a trip to the happiest place on earth, Disneyland. Jane hadn't been since she was little so she was super excited. We lucked out and there was hardly anyone there and never had to wait more than 20 minutes for a ride. Jane's favorite was the Indiana Jones ride, (funny since she hasn't even watched the movies, although I made her start the trilogy as soon as we got back). After riding that 2 times and almost every other ride by 4 o'clock, we met up with Tami and Brent and did everything again. We managed to take a totally awesome picture on Splash Mountain, however, we realized putting the two fatties Brent and myself up front, it made for an extra wet ride. Jane and I had so much fun at the park and wished we could go back. Jane keeps telling me how "magical" Disneyland is.

The last leg of our trip was spent visiting Jo and Mark in San Diego, visiting the beach, and most importantly going to watch the Padres play. Of course the one night we go is the night they lose. The days before and after they played great baseball and shut out the other team on each occasion. Oh well, we got some totally awesome free jerseys!

After a week long fun adventure we made it back to Utah, with a stop to visit Susi and Adam (thanks for the burgers!) and are now incredibly bored, waiting to go on another fun vacation to pop up for us.

Zion National Park 2.0

Jane and I needed a getaway from school and work and everything so we made a quick trip down to Zion's just before conference weekend. I know what you are all thinking, how the last time the family made a trip to Zion's the general consensus was poor. Too hot, too windy, not as pretty, too crowded etc, well we thought we would give it another shot. We are happy to report that this trip was much more of a success. We camped in a different campground that was very different from the previous one. This time we had grass and plenty of trees for shade and we liked that a lot more. It was much cooler, obviously since it was early April, and it got pretty cold at night. But the low temperatures made hiking much more enjoyable. We went on a few more hikes than the last time, including Angels Landing. It goes up really high and kind of has a Half-Dome-ish ending. Instead of cables climbing up a wall, there is a single chain to hang on to as you scale the side of the mountain and up the rocks. If you are afraid of heights, this one isn't for you. Jane was able to make until what is called Scout's Landing, about a half mile from the top. That's where the chains start. She ventured out a few yards on the chain and then started to notice how high she was, not to mention an area of about 10 feet where there is no chain for some reason. Of course she started hyperventilating and having a freak out, but we documented how far she came as noted in the photo with her hair kind of blowing in the wind up so high. So I took her back to the spot before the chains where other non-heights people waited for their significant others, and I went on to the top. I can't fault Jane for turning back there because it only got worse from there! But I survived and took some pictures from up on top. It was a pretty neat sight. Anyways the trip was a much needed break and was great for us. Who knew Jane would have turned into such a camper?

New Calling . . .

So In case you hadn't heard, I got a new calling. Yes, that's right, me and my sparkling personality is now the second counselor in a singles ward bishopric. Don't worry, that is going to sound weird to me too. Anyways, we went from one week being the ward greeter in our married ward to this so you never know what is in store for you. We are excited though, our main objective is to be good examples of being married so we will see how that goes! In other news, I am still getting rejected left and right from internships, it is really getting fun I tell ya. Jane is enjoying her student teaching much more now with a new school and a new teacher. She is looking for jobs left and right so we hope that she can find something good, although she probably won't know anything until the end of the summer. Anyways, a great tidbit of information is with some of our tax refund, (thanks mom for all the help with it) we invested in an Ipod touch. It hasn't caused to many marital problems yet, we have managed to share well enough. But it is pretty neat.
I'd like to say that we have all been healthy, but unfortunately I have really been screwing that up. I have had a series of nose issues...apparently I have small nasal passages according to the ear-nose-throat specialist. So if I get the teensiest infection up there it is game over and I can't breathe. I would also like to thank Jane's sister Kate and her kids for dropping off a little hand-foot-mouth disease on my immune system. Sounds disgusting, well it was mostly just painful. A wicked sore throat mostly, although I did get a few sores on my hands. Luckily most of it is gone. Well this has been a most boring blog post but Jane has been bugging me to do something. Over the next few weeks we should have much more exciting things to share, including some much needed photos to dress this blog up with our camping trip to Zion's next week, Jane's graduation, and our California road trip after that. Until then...welp see ya later!

Mrs. Cox and other things

Well as you can see there has been a lack of posting. In a nutshell there was Christmas, more BYU football (domination of Oregon State) and the start of a new semester. This semester Jane is out of class, well sort of. She is student teaching now, so you can refer to her as Mrs. Cox, and it has been a bit of an adventure. She is teaching junior high in Lindon, and her teacher she is partnered up with is, well I guess you could say not Jane's type. She is an older lady that isn't quite as organized and on the ball as Jane is so you can imagine that is bit frustrating for her. One day the teacher just decided she wasn't feeling to good and had Jane take over...with no lesson plans or instructions. So she had to wing it for the day. She is surviving but it has been a bit of a roller coaster. Hopefully things are starting to adjust and Jane is learning a lot about the kind of teacher that she wants to be.
I am in another semester of school, this one is shaping up to be a bit busier than the last one. Last semester was a lot more theory and learning how to do things and this semester is a lot more actual application of those things. I am sad to see my reporting job at the newspaper for the football team come to an end but it was a great experience and a lot of fun for me. Jane made me a sort of scrapbook with all of my stories in it, although my very last story was published the first week of this semester so we will have to add it in.
Jane and I and the folks went to the car show and we saw lots of cool stuff. It's one of my favorite events of the year so of course I was excited. My favorites were the Subaru STI, the Hyundai Genesis and Genesis coupe and the big shocker, the Hyundai Equus. Basically its a Bentley for half the price. Jane wishes we could have the cash for a Audi A5 convertible, or a Lexus IS350 convertible (all we need is about 50,000) for either one. She also liked the Jeep Wranglers, of course it has to be the hardtop and the four door for practicality. And Jane realized that minivans provide the most room and comfort, and the most practicality, if your willing to sacrifice a bit of cool factor.
All in all, we are busier than ever and look forward to some vacation time. Camping, cruises, beach, anything will do.