Wow.

Wow is right. It has been a serious minute since I’ve written here and I’ve missed it! I love this little journal space and it’s so fun to look back on the memories here and read over what has happened. Life is still grand, I still love Trent to bits and I’m so grateful for this little life we have. It’s far from perfect in many ways and we always have our ups and downs but I’m grateful I get to be on this journey with T. It would definitely be a lot lonelier without him.

This year has been full of new jobs, new adventures and some of the same old same old. I started my new job teaching Preschool up at the U of U and I love it! It’s been so much fun to stretch my mind and find new ways to teach the little ones. They have already grown and changed so much since just the beginning of the year! We’re already coming quickly to the end of the year and I can honestly say that I’ve loved it!

Trent found a new job in November and he is loving it! It’s such a great fit and he is learning so much from all of the experiences he is having! Bonus, it’s like 2 minutes from our house.

We have yet to travel anywhere super crazy this year but it’s been fun to find time to go on small adventures together! Fall came and went in a flash and we are already in March but I wanted to remember some of these fall adventures together.

This fall brought some sadness as we lost a sweet family member unexpectedly. It’s been a somber couple of months and we try to piece together all of our feelings. Through it all I am reminded that life is fragile and changes in the blink of an eye. Hold your loved ones tight and enjoy every minute life has to offer.

Lots of love,

Eliza

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St. George, Utah

Dry, hot, beautiful St. George, Utah was the perfect location for our Jackson Family vacation this year. We stayed in a darling condo and had a blast soaking in all the sun. With the new babies in the family, things are starting to look a little different but it was still just as wonderful to be surrounded by family. I’m so blessed to have such incredible siblings and great parents.

 

We started the trip off spending two days at Sand Hollow State Park and it was a blast! Trent and I have been boating a lot this summer and I wouldn’t have it any other way! There is something so perfect about sitting on a boat out in the middle of the lake. It’s the best. We cracked out the old Skurfer (definitely look that up and be entertained) and I love it! It’s a mix between a wakeboard, slalom ski and surfboard. So fun! It was definitely hot but being surrounded by water made that a lot easier.

 On the 4th of July, my favorite Holiday, we took off to Gunlock Falls and it was incredible. The amount of water that was still pouring down the falls in mid-July was incredible. Some St. George locals said that this is the most water they’ve seen in July ever. We explored the falls, found a very safe place to cliff jump and had a great day! We finished the 4th by watching fireworks across the entire city from a balcony up high. It was so much fun!

The last night we went to the Sand Dunes in Snow Canyon State Park. We went around dusk and it was perfect. The sand wasn’t hot at all and we could have stayed and played all night long. We played KanJam and Frisbee and sat and chatted. It was a great ending to a perfect trip.

What a great trip and what a great summer!

It’s been a minute.

It’s been a long time since I’ve updated around here because there’s been a lot going on. Life is crazy as usual but I’m grateful for the crazy because it keeps us going.

I finished out the school year and learned so much along the way. I learned new levels of compassion, understanding and found a strength that I didn’t know existed in me. I’m grateful for the wonderful opportunity that I had to teach 5th grade and I will forever be grateful for how my teaching experience shaped me. The people that I was surrounded by will hold a special place in my heart forever and I learned so much from this incredible experience. Teaching is the most incredible career even with the roller coaster of emotions that comes along with it.

Next  year I’m excited to say that I’ll be teaching preschool! It will be a big big change but I’m ready for the challenge. I think it will be neat to experience teaching such young minds and I know it will be a big stretch from teaching 5th grade.  Along will teaching preschool, I’ll also be diving more in to my photography. It’s been a passion of mine and I’m thrilled to be able to devote more time and attention to further this hobby of mine.

Trent is working full time as a marketing manager for a company here in the valley and loving it! I’m so proud of how hard he works and all that he is doing. We still find time to adventure and for that I am so grateful. Trent’s so good and making life fun and I am so lucky to have such a wonderful partner on this journey.

This adventure was a Saturday spent off exploring and getting muddy and I am grateful for this little online scrapbook of mine to keep these memories!

Life is a grand adventure!

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays from the Wards! We’ve had a crazy busy season around here but it feels so good to spend the holidays together. Although the break is definitely not long enough, it’s been so good to have some time to relax. We’ve done so much with family and Trent’s sister comes in from Texas today and we can’t wait to see all our nieces and nephews! It will be so fun! I am so grateful for family and friends! Trent and I are surrounded by some truly remarkable people!

For Christmas this year Trent’s sister surprised us with the nicest gift. She took pictures and ordered Christmas Cards for us! This is something I never would have thought to do myself and I loved that it was such a personal gift. Trent was a good sport during pictures and we got some good ones. No, that is not our dog, I wish! Ryder is Trent’s parents and although we sometimes feel like he is our dog, he’s not. We sure love him thought and he had to debut in some of the photos.

We had one big snowstorm a couple weeks before Christmas and then up until Christmas it was all dry and warm. Luckily Christmas came with a miracle and it snowed all Christmas night long. I really do love the snow, especially in December (after that…not so much) Trent’s been hitting the mountains snowmobiling and I’ve been catching up on some much needed cleaning and relaxing. I can’t believe the break is already almost over. It’s crazy how fast time flies.

 

Today it is bitter cold so I’m staying inside trying to keep warm. I’m so grateful for this wonderful time of year to reflect on family, our new goals and just how blessed we are. 2018 was an incredible year and I will do a whole post about it later. I can’t wait to see what adventures await. Life truly is wonderful.

10 Easy Breakfast Ideas

Mornings have always been hard for me. I press snooze until the very last minute, jump out of bed and then rush to work. With that in mind, breakfast is usually an afterthought. My mom always talked about breakfast being the most important meal and I often reflect on that when my stomach is growling at 10:00 that morning. I started thinking about how I could up my breakfast game. I’ve been making muffins that Trent and I can eat as we rush out the door but I’m struggling to find other things to do. Luckily I have some great friends and an awesome family that pitched in some incredible ideas and I wanted to share my top ten suggestions with you!

 

10 AWESOME AND EASY BREAKFAST IDEAS

 

1. Cut peppers, onions and your favorite sausage and put them in a tupperware. In the mornings, pour some into a pan with two eggs and you’ve got the perfect morning mix.
2. Make a bunch of mini waffles and then freeze them. Pop into the toaster in the mornings. Genius!
3. Yogurt Parfaits. Store in mason jars or little containers and throw fruit and granola in each morning.
4. Eggs Muffins. Eggs, milk, veggies, protein, bake in a muffin tin. Grab and go in the mornings.
5. Make bags of ready to make smoothies. Put everything you need in little ziplock bags except the liquid. Stick them in a freezer for ready to make smoothie packages. (I’m a fan of this one!)
6. Cereal in a Mason jar for a totally “on-the-go” approach.
7. Muffins. Muffins. Muffins.
8. Overnight oats. Use the pioneer woman recipe found here.
9. Like the waffle idea but instead of waffles make protein packed pancakes. Make a big batch on the weekend and warm up throughout the week.
10. Ready to go breakfast burritos. Make them the weekend before with your favorite fillings, eggs, sausage, bacon, peppers etc. Individually wrap in tinfoil and store in the fridge. Unwrap and reheat in the mornings for an easy breakfast out the door.

 

Hopefully this helps spice up your morning routines! If you have any other suggestions, please drop them in the comments. I need all the help I can get!