Awesome Work & An Awesome Wife

My last post about the Stadium of Fire was made possible by my current employer, Squire and Company. Not only have they been providing an awesome work/educational experience, they keep providing awesome extracurricular opportunities as well. Yesterday Ruth and I had the opportunity to go to Deer Creek Reservoir with the audit department for a boating activity. I worked up to lunch time and then grabbed a quick bite to eat and picked up Ruth. Since we didn't want to have to bring both cars down into Orem, Ruth took the frontrunner train. I haven't had the chance to ride the train, but Ruth said she thoroughly enjoyed it. After a quick drive up Provo Canyon we arrived at the reservoir and had a blast on the water.

When I first heard that we were doing a boating activity I had assumed we would be on a boat owned by one of the partners of the firm, but that wasn't quite the case. The father of one of the ladies I work with owns a boat dealership, so we got to borrow his demo boat. From what I understand he usually gets a really nice boat at the start of the summer to demo and then sells it at the end of the summer. This year someone had already purchased the demo boat, so he had to get a new one. As a result we got to spend the afternoon in a 2014 MasterCraft X10! As if getting a boat that new wasn't shocking enough, we were also the first ones to get to take it out on the water. The X10 has seating for 14 people and has about every luxury you could ever want on a boat. We were told from our dealership connection, Jessica, that it was a $79,000 boat! Although I have a couple of pictures of the boat, if you want to get a better look you can follow this link http://www.mastercraft.com/boat/detail/x10.

Once we got out on the water we started with some knee boarding. After watching a few people participate, Ruth and I decided to give it a try. I think Ruth got pretty close to getting up on one of our runs, but I didn't ever even get close. It was surprisingly hard to try and pull yourself up to a kneeling position. After everyone had a chance to knee board, we filled up a giant water bladder on one side of the boat to make it lean to one side. We did this so the boat would make a bigger wake on that side and create a ride-able wave. The wave was used so people could surf behind the boat. Once again, after watching a few people take a turn, Ruth and I decided to give it a try. I was pretty horrible at this as well, and never made it all the way up. Ruth on the other hand, was a natural! She got the hang of it really quickly and took off with it. Seeing her do so well with it just made me realize that there is one more thing that makes her AWESOME!

After boating for a few hours we headed back to shore for a barbeque. We got to partake of some delicious burgers, chips, salads, fruit, and dessert.  It was the perfect cap to a fun day out on the water. Ruth and I headed for home after dinner even though some people went back out for one more run on the boat. We were starting to burn a bit, so we decided to call it quits. As always, here is the good part, the pictures. This time there is a bonus video with Ruth rocking the surf board!

Ruth's frontrunner train.

Driving up the canyon.

Almost there.....

Deer Creek Reservoir!

Our Cadillac of the water.......

The MasterCraft X10!

 Ruth getting in position to surf.

 Pulling herself up.

 She's up and smiling.

 Cutting through the reservoir.

 Having a blast!

 A focused champion.

 Doing what I do best, not falling out of the boat.

Getting close to the surfing sensation.

 

 

The Grand Finale: Ruth in ACTION

Celebrating a Year of Silence & Independence Day

One of my favorite things about holidays is that they are an annual occurrence. Once a year we get to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, important historical and religious events, and now an annual update to my blog! I am a little embarrassed to think of all the significant events that have come and gone in the last year, and I haven't even mentioned a single one. I guess I could chalk this one up to being very busy, but honestly it is probably linked more closely to laziness and procrastination. So for any who thought I dropped off the face of the earth, here is a quick update on where life has taken Ruth and I. I have been working on my Masters of Accountancy (Macc) at SUU for the last school year. I actually walked for that degree in May, but I had two classes to take in the summer to finish. I took care of one of the two classes with May-mester. I am currently working on my final class for my Macc, which bring us to our current location. I am working as an intern at Squire and Company in Orem for my final credits. To facilitate this, Ruth and I have moved from Cedar City to South Jordan. We were very sad to leave all the friends and memories behind in Cedar. We both had some great years there. Now we are living with Ruth's parents until we figure out the job situation. I am hoping that the internship will turn into a full-time position, but we are waiting to see how that goes.

 

That brief background takes us out of the things that shouldn't be done annually (updating a blog) to the things that should be done annually (celebrating the 4th of July). We had desperately hoped to get to Blanding for the 4th, but those plans didn't quite come through. Luckily, work provided a good back-up plan for us. I was at work on Tuesday morning when I got an email saying that Squire had received a few extra tickets for the Stadium of Fire (Squire is one of the sponsors for the Freedom Festival, which includes the Stadium of Fire). It turned my day around because I was feeling pretty bummed about not being able to be with my family on the 4th. This year the show featured performers from Cirque du Soleil, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Kelly Clarkson. The performers from Cirque du Soleil were amazing and made me want to go see a full performance down in Vegas. It was unreal watching some of their stunts. Both of artists brought a lot of hype and energy, which made them fun to watch. Kelly Clarkson was a lot more fun for me because I knew her songs, and she has an amazing voice. As if all that wasn't good enough, the fireworks display at the end was phenomenal. Like I said earlier, it was a downer not to get to be in Blanding, but the Stadium of Fire definitely made it easier to bear. I didn't get very many pictures from the event, but here are a few.

 

 

 The stage set-up for the show.

 

This just shows how close to the field we were. Our tickets were for the 10th row (Thank you Squire)! 

My cute wife! 

Possibly my favorite part of the show. 

Not sure why Ruth was trying to put her finger in my mouth, but it made for a fun picture. 

At the start of the show they had someone skydive into the stadium with a big flag. 

The dancers did a number with giant Slinkys. It reminded me of something you would see on Toy Story. 

Who needs lighters when you have cell phones. There was a rendition of Lean on Me that was sung for a presentation tied to the Wounded Warrior Project, and the entire stadium was lit up with flashlight apps. It was a pretty cool sight. 

I wanted to get a picture of Kelly signing, but as you can see my phone wasn't quite up to the task.