A Long Overdue Update-Summer Version

As far as I can tell, I haven't truly updated since May...As you can probably tell, we've been busy. So here is our long overdue update--summer version.

In May I threw a bridal shower for my sister-in-law to-be:

Steven went on Father's/Son's campout with his dad/ brothers:



I spent Memorial Day Weekend with my sisters and mom in San Diego. We spent time on the beach, went to a Padres game, ate LOTS of good food, went shopping, bought lots of flip flops and had TONS of fun!!!
June--
The best part of June was that I said goodbye to KinderCare and hello to the Make-A-Wish Foundation!! I started as a summer intern and I'm still there. MAW is by far the greatest place I have ever worked. It will get it's own post when I leave in a few weeks :)

Also in June, we welcomed another Dorn to the family...Greg got married to Caitlin. Steve was best man and I was a bridesmaid.
Shortly after that wedding, I flew to Utah to see my dear friend, Katie get married to my other friend Gabe. I got to spend the better part of the week there to see her go through the temple, go to a Kelly Clarkson concert for the bachelorette party, help set up and attend the reception & be in the temple for her sealing. I know Heavenly Father believes in marriage!
A big shout out goes out to Jed and Jeff (two of Steve's mission buddies) who drove me from the airport. They actually parked in the garage to come pick me up in person, but I was waiting on the curb trying to minimize their efforts. They took me to the open house of the Oquirrh Mtn temple & to the temple for Katie's endowment. They waited while I was in the session and ate before they picked me up again and took me to my friend's house in Provo! AND Jed came and got me and took me back to the airport (and dealt with a minor meltdown I was having) on Saturday. Seriously those 2 saved me several times & I couldn't have been there for all the partying without them!!


After flying home, I was picked up at the airport by my cute husband and Raf. We drove straight to GIRLS CAMP!! Seeing as how I have been camp director for two years, I obviously couldn't miss camp. I ended up only missing the initial bus ride up and the decorating the cabin part. Luckily I had an AMAZING assistant director (Rikki) who went up with the girls and everything was great when I got there!!! I learned a lot about myself at Girls Camp...as an individual and as a leader. I got to see little glimpses of how special the Young Women are. I imagine that is how Heavenly Father feels about all His children who make good decisions. I can't tell you it was an easy week, but I sure learned A LOT and more importantly I learned to love the YW even more. It's easy to feel the Spirit when you're surrounded by all of God's beautiful creations!!!


Another fun thing in June was getting to go to a Dbacks game with the other summer interns. We went out for dinner (appetizers) at Macayo's and then took the light rail downtown to the game. We ended up split up for the game, but I had fun with Carrie & Victoria who also interned in my department!!!

Whew---we were clearly very busy in June. No wonder I didn't blog more this summer!!
For the 4th of July, we decided to combine our families (sometimes having in-laws that are good friends is SUCH a blessing & fun thing) to have a big BBQ/ Swimming party. We also watched the fireworks from the roof of my parents house. I almost drown in the early evening but did recover after my inhaler, lots of coughing/puking up water and taking the rest of the afternoon easy. The food was SOOOO good, I ate way too much and it was fun to have both families together.

Next, I turned 21...yipee! Here were some highlights:
-Steven bought me the cutest shoes ever for my birthday and he bought me a pink maglite.
-Steve came to work and took me out to lunch at Macayo's.
-My boss planned a surprise party for me with our department complete with DELICIOUS cake, balloons, streamers, EVERYTHING, even pretty crazy daisies (one of my faves)in a COOL vase
-The CEO of the company came up and wished me happy birthday and talked to me a bit!
-a few of my YW and my sister came over to have cake and watch chick flicks with me (Steve had previously committed to taking his Boy Scouts camping, so it was girls night)
All in all, it was a lot of fun!!

*Note: The shoes Steven picked out for me are the pink polka dot ones. He's pretty great.


For those of you who don't know, I'm daddy's girl THROUGH AND THROUGH...this may have something to do witht he fact that we share a birthday (or it's just that I'm very spoiled and he's always been WRAPPED around my finger...) Anyways, for our birthdays, my mom bought the four of us tickets to go see WICKED!!! Despite the close call of the lake trip for YW (that was supposed to be only morning and turned into an all day thing) and making it to the show, it was amazing. I've seen it before on San Diego Broadway, but Steven had never heard more than a few of the songs...needless to say he was hooked. One of the actresses (Galinda) accidentally threw her wand at part of it and it was HILLARIOUS to see the two leads try not to laugh and keep going. Good to know everyone is human!

*NOTE: I typed this post and then added pictures later...I realized the Wicked pictures are on my mom's computer...I'll have to find those!

Also in July, we said temporary goodbyes to our dear friends, the Drotars. They went to Pennsylvania for a few months for Raf's internship. We had a fun little get together with some other friends & we went to the temple with the four of us and Chris. We missed them like crazy and are glad they're back!!


In July, Steven turned 24!!! July is a month full of birthdays for us!! We love it :) We are three weeks short of 3 years apart. On Steve's actual birthday, we went mini golfing with our friend Tom and his girlfriend Chole (pronounced Show-lee) and her son Caleb. For family celebration, we went to Sardella's and had a cake that I attempted to decorate.



Also in July, probably the most important thing that happened for us was that Steven finally got his private pilot's license!!! He worked so hard and went through a lot of trials to get it, but he did it!! It's so good to feel progress when things start to feel like they are standing still. He felt ligit wearing his aviator sunglasses (birthday present) because he finally had his license. One down, several to go!!! (I'm not really sure how many he'll end up with)


In August, we discovered that our bed makes for a very cool fort. We decided to make a fort and watch a movie in there. While I showered, Steven decided we needed the complete surround sound office set up and snacks. I came out to quite the set-up!!
*Note: see all those cords, those were for the surround sound he hooked up.

My Beehives also threw a triple baby shower for 3 of the ladies in YW who are pregnant. I'm glad they're all finally showing (and one had her baby) because I was tired of getting asked if I was the pregnant one!! The girls did a great job...it was lots of work, but what party isn't?!

Clearly, we had a very busy summer! Stay tuned for the long overdue update-Fall version!

Random Thoughts on a Thursday Night.

Wow it's been awhile. I want to post more, but something else is always priority. I was planning on posting pictures of the past few events, but my computer is being mighty difficult tonight. I've decided to update on the major aspects of our life piece by piece.

First is school. Steven's schooling is doing considerably better. He understands his new concepts in physics and they finally got a tutor. However, the only times the tutor is available, Steven is at work. That class is very time consuming. I wish I could help, but mostly I just pray. He's working on a new speech this week. It's about sleep disorders. For FHE we decided to do the research for the speech. This weekend will be the practicing weekend. It's going to be worse than the last one because he has to remember the quotes exactly.
As far as school for me goes...I wish it was over. My two online classes are ok. It's definitely not the same as in-person normal classes. Oh how I miss SUU. My psychology class is do-able. It's a lot of reading, but not boring so I handle it. My other class is a joke. The teacher never clarifies anything and never emails back so I'm frustrated. I just barely figured out how things work in the class...because a student clarified for me on the discussion board. On a brighter note, I should be able to start at Ottawa in a few weeks. I'm getting super tired of paper work though. I just keep reminding myself that I can be graduated by next December. That's manageable.

Next work- Steven's job is same old same old. It's working out better this week for him to do half day at school and half day at work M,W,F. I know it's tough having to finish class, rush to eat and change and then head to work-he's a trooper!
Now my job. I've learned one important thing this week: At least I have a job and my hours aren't being cut like so many other's in the area. Ok now that that's over I'm going to complain for a minute. I almost quit my job this week. I've been working long long hours and having lots of kids. That's the ok part. The not ok part is my coworker. She seems to think she knows everything. So, she bosses me around-even though Iknow what I'm doing....just as much as she does. She also thinks that her kids are perfect so all kids should be raised like her kids...Now she was a mom at 16 and her kids principal often calls so I'm doubting that part. She also doesn't do anything. Today, in four hours-she changed a total of...guess how many? TWO diapers! In three hours of that time guess how many I did? About 25-30. So it's a real fair thing. She wants to be in a different room so she's "acting like a B until they realize what she wants" thats what she said at least. I got so frustrated today, I went in to the office at lunch and was in tears talking to my boss. But very long story short, my boss is reasonable most of the time and she's going to handle it. If she doesn't then I feel like I have good reasons to quit. I've been looking for a job more closely related to my future degree or an internship so hopefully we'll see. I've learned a lot of life lessons at my job but I can tell it's getting close for a need to change.

Lastly, Church. Steven is getting the hang of his 11-year old scouting. I'll post pictures of our training weekend whenever I can. He gets frustrated with some of the boys, but he just got an awesome assistant scoutmaster and some plans set so he'll manage.
I LOVE My Calling! My beehives are awesome. I am continually impressed by them *for the most part*. They want to be at church and mutual and anything else, and they want their friends to be there too. They are working on personal progress *mostly* and they shine more and more every day. By the end of the year we will get 4 more girls and they are already planning ways to welcome them. You can't get better than that. Church is awesome-we are excited for CONFERENCE!!

When someone asks me how life is going I usually say: School, Work, Church, Repeat. It's about accurate. We try to spend as much time together as possible, but it is very limited. We ALWAYS eat dinner together and we always go on a Friday night date (well sometimes it gets moved to Friday & Saturday nights). It's tough being a young, newly married couple in a family ward and going to school. Especially tough when almost all the other couples we know are expecting an addition to their family :) We're looking forward to graduation and starting our own family, but everything in good time!

PS Our mailbox has been stuck lately, so we're having trouble getting it open every night. Don't be worried if we don't respond to fan mail in our normally timely manner ;)