The Visit of Family.

Tanner's youngest brother Cooper kept my in-laws pretty busy this summer because of his studly athletic abilities on the football field. He was able to attend multiple football camps at various campuses around the country like Stanford and Notre Dame (just to name a few). So they decided to make these trips into a 3 week long vacation and stop at all the cool sites along the way.

When they made their way to the east coast, they decided to end their trip with the very coolest stop of all- DC! :) 

Tanner and I could not WAIT for them to come. Although my in-laws would be sleeping on an air mattress in our empty guest bedroom and Cooper would be all cozy on our couch, we were stoked for them to stay with us. It was the week of the 4th of July so we had been moved out here for a little over a month and were missing our family a ton! (I know I know I'm really late updating all of this! I'm workin on it!!)

It just so happened that I already had that week off of work because the family I nanny for was out of town that entire week. SCORE. And although Tanner never gets days off, this also gave him an excuse to take 2 whole days off! *GASP!* DOUBLE SCORE. 

The first day that they were here they obviously wanted to see the sights. And so did I! Tanner had to work that day, so we said goodbye to him in the morning and went off to be tourists in the city. My in-laws generously bought us metro cards and loaded them up for our week of adventures so we wouldn't have to worry about driving. 

Day 1: We rode the metro into the city and decided to have the Smithsonian as our first stop. The moment we got off the metro, me and Cooper both were literally about to pee ourselves so we had to find a bathroom... STAT. Little did we know, the nearest public bathroom was centuries away (or that's how it seemed to our bladders) so the next thing I knew I was following Coop into some random official Government building and was immediately greeted by security guards and a metal detector. Coop explained that we just really needed to use the bathroom so the security guard took our ID's, made us sign in, checked our bags and sent us through a metal detector. After passing all the tests, we barely made it to the bathroom in time. Later I found out it was the Department of Agriculture or something official like that. Who knows. But after we were done relieving ourselves, we grabbed our IDS back from the kind security official and were on our way. Good times.

After our bladders were emptied, we continued onto our destination, the Smithsonian. Oh and did I mention it was one of the most humid weeks of the summer?? Go figure right?
The type of humidity that makes you feel like you are eating the thickest slice of musty, city air while making you feel instantly wet the moment you walk outside. Love that. Super comfortable. So basically walking around the city was awesome. And by awesome I mean, sticky. But that wasn't stopping us!

         In front of the Capital Building! 

We decided to go to the Air and Space Museum first. (It had amazing AC). Holla! And the exhibits were really interesting as well! We also watched a movie in the I-Max theatre. 

We grabbed lunch afterwards and then headed to the Natural History Museum. Another score for the AC and also of course, great exhibits. I loved the one I went to when I lived in NYC and this was equally as cool! I loved the animals of course.

                       Dinosaurs! 

                    More dinosaurs! 

           My favorite! The elephant!! 

Day 2: Tanner was off work!! YAY! First day (besides the typical Sunday) that Tanner wasn't working until 10:00pm and I was soooo happy! We took the metro into the city with the clan and headed to see some more sights! 

Tanner and I both knew that we wanted to go to the famous Holocaust Museum while we were living here, so we decided when his family came it would be the perfect opportunity. Apparently we underestimated the popularity of the museum and considering the fact it was the day before the 4th of July in DC, the patriotic were out and about and determined to flood the sights.

Luckily, my Father in-law prepared and even though the tickets to the museum were sold out for the next week (What??) he was able to swing it to get us VIP tickets by making a generous donation and we were all able to go! I was soooo excited. Props to you Big Papi!

When we got there they tell you to grab a booklet and that is your 'person' and each level of the museum you complete, you read a new page in the booklet about your person and then at the end of the museum you find out whether or not you survived the Holocaust. They are real people from the holocaust so it gave it a whole new meaning. The museum was GIGANTIC and took us about 3 hours to get through but it was soooooo moving. So many videos and real life examples. It made the Holocaust seem so much more realistic to me and even then made it almost impossible to understand and fully comprehend. My person was a young girl who during the midst of the holocaust ran away and hid in some palace until she was discovered by some prince and they migrated to New York and got married and lived happily ever after. Go me. Cooper ended up dying by being hung in public. Sad. 

 Afterwards, we went to the National Mall which we soon figured out was sooooo huge and spread out. It had rained that morning so it was also extra humid. Sweet. But we were determined to see at least the Lincoln Memorial! After many wrong turns and eventually seeing majority of the memorials in search of the Lincoln memorial, we finally found it! And although we were all dripping with nice, salty, sweat... It was worth it and gave us a funny story to look back on!

This is the view of the monument from the Lincoln Memorial. It is under construction this year, so it is covered by scaffolding- but it still makes a cool picture! 

               

Brotherly love. 

                It's fine. We had to ;) 

Humidity and all, it was an amazing visit and especially because I got to spend some much needed quality time with family and my honey! 

Day 3: the 4th of July we decided to sleep in, have breakfast at I-Hop (our fave), lay by the pool, and then go to Georgetown for a movie (White House Down ironically), shopping and dinner! We ate at another one of mine and tanners spots-the famous  Serendipity! And ended the night off with nothing better than a Frozen Hot Chocolate! Our favorite!!!

We were so grateful to have them come and be able to have so much fun together. They spoiled us rotten but more importantly, we were able to enjoy each others company and make even more cherished memories here on the East Side :) We are truly blessed! 

Xoxo, 

-mr & mrs clark 

Oceancity, Maryland.

Since Tanners work schedule is literally crazy, time we get to actually spend together is absolutely and completely SACRED. More than ever before.

One magical day, Tan told me that Moxie was providing an incentive for a beach trip and if you got a certain amount of sales that week then you could go to the beach for the weekend and have your room paid for! I. Was. Pumped. (to say the least). 

Tanner got off of work that Friday at 5 and we packed up our things and left to Oceancity!!! Our hotel was right on the beach. The beach itself was your basic fairly nice sanded, large ocean, beach but it had a super fun boardwalk and an amusement park right on the pier!

Saturday morning we woke up and went straight down to the beach. When we got there a bunch of other Moxie people were down there already. Moxie had set up a huge tent with a big, long table under it.... COVERED in food. It was like they went to Costco, went to the snack/candy isle, stuck their arm out, and started walking- shoving everything imaginable in their cart including energy drinks, gatorades, etc. We, of course, immediately began getting fat. It was great.

Tanner did some boogy boarding with some of the guys while I lathered on the tanning lotion and laid out with some of the ladies... And of course... Kept working on the whole 'eating and getting fat' thing. You can't put boxes of full size candy bars in front of me and expect me not to eat them. Oh and Goldfish too?? Yeah. Watch out. And back off. 

So after almost reaching a food coma, we went back up to the room, took a nap and got cleaned up for a dinner. We all met up a restaurant on the pier and ate some yummy food. Yup. More food.

Saturday nights, in my opinion, have always been meant for doing something you wouldn't do during the week. Saturday nights are suppose to be spontaneous and are suppose to supply you with the stories that you tell the rest of the week until the next Saturday. So this Saturday I was determined to have a normal, story worthy, Saturday night. 

When we saw the amusement park, we immediately noticed the huge structure with two, skyscraper tall beams and thick bungee-lookin-cords attached to them that are flinging a light up cage into the air at a ridiculous speed.

Yup. I found it. My Saturday night activity. 

After a little convincing, Tanner was completely sold and we purchased our $25 tickets (each.... Whoops! :)) and stood in line.... The anticipation literally almost killed us as we stood in line for an hour and a half. Yeah. Not the best thing to do.... Wait in line for an hour before you literally put your life in the hands of a teenage girl working, who happens to have 4 lip rings and blue hair, but nothing was stopping us. Plus, me and Tanner both agreed if something were to go wrong, there wouldn't be a cooler way to exit this world then in a metal cage with shining neon lights and weird techno music playing from it while it spins and shoots toward the stars. Yes. That was a real conversation. 

Anyways, finally it was time to get on. We got inside the cage, Mrs. blue hair strapped us in, locked us in, and then this was it! Show time! Without any warning it SHOT us up SO FAST and immediately I regretted not going pee beforehand..... My mouth wide open the whole time as it bounced us up and down, I didn't make a sound or say a word. Tanner was screaming (yes he was) and kept asking me questions like "ISNT THIS GREAT?!" and "ARE YOU OKAY!?" and I literally couldn't physically respond.
Finally toward the end of the spectacle and I just spurted out 'I PEE'D MYSELF!!!!' He then reached over and touched my pants as it was ending to check the damage. We both then started nervously laughing without breathing for a long period of time. It was fantastic.

Here's a shot that I took while waiting in line. You can kinda see Blue Hair Girl on the right. 

Oh and did I mention they recorded the whole thing from the inside of the cage? Yup. The fools who own that and have a copy of it, will be watching that tape for the rest of their lives. It's that good. It was an extra $15 so we didn't buy it. Kinda regretting that now so that you could believe me when I say it's the funniest thing you'll ever see. But I guess you'll have to just take my word for it.

Our friend Sydnie, did however, video us going up in the air from the outside. Don't mind my kicking feet. Apparently I was doing that subconsciously.... the entire time. You get kind of an idea of how high we were... except not, because it's also 11:30pm. But it's still fun to watch.

Now if you happen to be at an amusement park on the pier and it's a Saturday night... You know what to do. SLINGSHOT BABY! I don't regret a single part of it. 

Sunday morning came and the weekend was almost over.. We packed up our stuff and headed toward home. On the way home however, we stopped at a Nike Outlet store. I mean, duh. You don't just keep driving. Tanner got some new basketball shorts to add to his ridiculous collection and he also let me get some new running gear for my half marathon. He's a stud. 

Thanks moxie for the amazing weekend! We needed it. Pee and all. 

Xoxo,

-mr and mrs clark 

Animals and the President.

For the first couple weeks living in DC, we hadn't actually gone farther than about a 5 mile radius around our apartment. Partly because we had no idea where to go and partly because when it's the weekend, all we want to do is hangout and watch Netflix and sleep. Especially because each of us work 6 days a week. 

Well... Last month (I know Ive been terrible at blogging) my boss told me about the zoo and I immediately got excited! Anyone who knows me knows I am obsessed with animals. And the zoo. So this was an obvious choice when thinking about what to do on the weekend. Tanner was equally as excited to go (I love that boy), and we invited our friends Stephanie and Karl. 

The zoo was called the 'The National Washington DC Smithsonian Zoo'.... Sounds pretty legit right? I had dreamt in my head leading up to the day, of this ginormous zoo full of every type of cuddly creature imaginable. 

Well... There were a couple cuddlies, but it was sort of a disappointment. They didn't have polar bears or giraffes!! I thought those were classics? They did have some sweet elephants and monkeys and of course a fat panda... But other than tht it was nothing special. Plus did I mention that DC is ridiculously HUMID???? Yeah. About that. You step outside and are instantly sweaty and your face is wet. It's a great feeling. Bye bye straight hair. See you in a couple months. 

Anyways, I'm not going to lie, I swooned over the elephants. I could've watched them all day. They are amazing and I can't wait to ride one in Africa someday... (It's gonna happen!) 

Overall, it was a great day because I got to sweat it out at the zoo with this cute boy. Oh and because when we passed a vender in the zoo and saw 'Dip&Dots and Powerade' and we both stopped and looked at each other like 'I know we will essentially be paying $20 for air and electrolytes but I want it and I want it now' at the same time. It's moments like those that I remember how hand crafted we are for each other. So after the little/much needed/totally worth it snack, we decided to head out. 

On the way home from the zoo, we passed the White House... Kind of by accident. So we parked and got out and decided to walk to see the house of the president. 

We took pictures behind the White House. This is actually the back, but nowadays when you try to see the White House from the front it's ultimately impossible considering the huge trees, security baracades and fences that push you out a couple acres at least. I mean if youre fine with squinting, go for it. I was okay with just seeing the back. 

There were also a ton of protesters there. I think they were from Israel or some country. I have absolutely no idea what they were protesting, but keep on chanting in your language people.. Someone will understand. Power to the people I suppose. 

After standing there for a bit we headed back to the car. Once we were on the road about the head home, a cop car popped out of no where and told us to stop. In the middle of a intersection. I was so confused. Then I noticed all the other security barricades stopping even pedestrians. Very soon after a line of about 6 motorcycle cops zoomed by, followed by about 15 blacked out suburbans and ending with another 10 cop cars, and an ambulance heading into the White House. Obviously the President decided to come home. What a welcoming. 

Disregarding my feelings about the President and his leadership, it was still pretty cool to see. 

It was a great day with animals and the president.  

Xoxo, 

-Mr & Mrs Clark  

The Move.

Pest Control.
The first thoughts that would come to my head immediately after hearing these words were:
Tool Bags.
Flashy Watches.
Liars.
Fake Smiles.
Big trucks 20 feet off the ground.
Not a real job.
And images of the guys you find standing around flexing their muscles in the mirrors at the BYU-Idaho gym would flash through my head.
(I don't know what muscles have to do with pest control, but the association of the two were real).

If you would've asked me a year ago if I would marry a Pest Control Salesman, I would answer without hesitation. And I think you know what that response would entail. YES  NO.

When Tanner and I were just dating in October, he brought up that some people from different pest control companies had approached him about selling during the summer (they prey on RM's). I was clearly hesitant about this but after weeks of talking to different companies, Tanner really thought it would be a good experience with this certain company and especially because of a certain Team Leader who had been recruiting him. He felt this company was super honest and genuine with what they were asking and he felt he could be successful at it... (after all, he had just been knocking doors for the past two years). I had a change of heart. I, as well, thought that not only would he be really successful at it, but I actually thought the company was straight up and the best that I had heard. He told me he would be selling in Washington DC for Moxie Pest Control. I told him that sounded great and completely supported him 100% (not thinking at this time that I would be marrying him and moving across the country with him immediately after).

Well, we know the rest of the story. We fell in love, blah blah blah. When things started to get really serious, I had one of those "Oh frick"moments, realizing that not only had I supported Tanner signing up to sell pest control, but that meant I had also supported Tanner in taking me with him. Across the country. For the entire summer.

And this is where I really learned something about love: I didn't care. I wanted to go wherever he was going. I didn't care when it was, what we were going to do, where we would live or how we would get there, but I was going to follow him. And that's also when I knew I was actually IN love. Never had I desired to be with someone like I did him. The thought of being away from him for a week, let alone an entire summer, made me sick.

And this is where I really learned something about Pest Control: I loved it. It may sound silly but Moxie Pest Control completely changed the route of my life, and gave me the slap in the face I needed by dangling the thought of taking away my best friend and the love of my life from me for an entire summer. And it was that thought that woke me up and made me get over the initial thoughts I had about not only pest control and the guys in the BYU-Idaho gym but also marriage and the realization that I was truly in love.

So the day after we flew home from our Honeymoon, we stayed up all night to pack up whatever we could fit in some suitcases (that's not much by the way....), and moved to DC not really knowing what the summer would bring!

The company provided us with a nice, furnished apartment not too far from the office. All we had were our clothes that we packed, a ziplock baggie full of the gift cards we were so generously given at our wedding, a spatula, duvet cover and a ceramic knife (tanner's choice of course). Aka: we had nothing.

The first couple weeks out here were a bit of a shock. I had gotten a nanny job a couple months before moving out here, but it wouldn't start until school out here was done. So end of June. It was the beginning of May. Previously I had thought; oh the break wouldn't be so bad, and that the couple weeks of no working would give me time to settle us in and get somethings done that I hadn't had time to do since school and planning and having a wedding and honeymoon all occurred. Well, I must've realllllllly overestimated the amount of 'things' I needed to do, because within the first couple days- everything was moved in, all the shopping had been completed, all my 'tasks' on my to-do list were checked off and I found myself sitting in an apartment with no TV, no internet, and no car (that's a whole other story), with absolutely nothing to do but to call Tanner while he was at work every 10 minutes, go to the gym twice a day, and watch Netflix on my phone. I had no life. And I missed Tanner. A lot.

              (Tanner on his first day)

And this is where I really learned something about Pest Control: I hated it.

Tanner's schedule was this:

7:30am: Wake up, hurry and shower, scarf down half of a breakfast

8:00am: Say goodbye to me and Leave for the office
8:00am-10:30pm: Sell stupid pest control.
10:30pm: Come home to a very bored and lonely and whiney and hater of pest control- Wifey.

So needless to say, I needed a job. To fill my time and help me not breakdown and pack up all of our (not so much) stuff and leave in the middle of the night... with tanner of course... and never come back.

Luckily, there was an opening at the Moxie office where some of the other wives work and they were okay with me working until my nanny job started! Horray! So at least I had a job to take up the time between 8:30-5:30 and that meant I only had time to think about not being with Tanner between 5:30-10:30.... which is totally a piece of cake ;)

(On our way to the Moxie office for work)

After the few first couple rough weeks, life was getting to be normal! I was somewhat use to only seeing my husband 3 hours a day total, and time was going by a little faster each day. Plus, we had finally gotten internet and our car (it was shipped here) so I felt a little more human again. Not to mention, Tanner really just came out here and didn't let being 'the new guy' intimidate him in any way.

This is where I really learn something else about Pest Control: It can really change your mind. Fast. Tanner was really prepared coming out here. Even before we came out here I knew that he was one of the hardest workers I had ever known in my entire life. And I didn't have a doubt in my mind that he would be so dedicated, regardless of what it is he signs up for. He even read his Moxie Manual on our honeymoon. Thats not okay. Anyways, so after the first few weeks out here, I began to become addicted to the happiness that came from Tanner when he would come home so proud of what he had accomplished that day. I liked the feeling of being that supportive wife that would have a hot cooked meal ready for him the moment he came home and even sometimes a hot bath already prepared for him or if he's really lucky- a wife ready to give him a foot massage... And for me and feet.... Trust me... That's a big step. 

I liked the idea of him being able to set a goal for the day and then going out and surpassing the goal by lunch time. 

I'm not going to be naive and try to make you believe that 

1. I'm a perfect wife always so happy and supportive and 

2. That there aren't the hard days... 

But ultimately if you can live for the good days, the bad days come and go and give you perspective to make the next good day- even better. 

All in all, we are here, living in the most humid place on the earth (tanner says I should try living in Bolivia but that won't happen, so I am okay with my statement), trying to find peace among the chaos and craziness that a summer of sales brings to a Newely wed couple. 

If anything being out here shows me how grateful I am that I married tanner. He is honestly the most dedicated, hard working person Ive ever known, and some days i just dont know how he does it. I feel so lucky. 

A lot of people said coming out here as Newely weds would be the " hardest way to start our marriage" Well. I am sure that for others, it would be. But for us, it has given us so much strength and growth independently and more importantly, together as a unit, and it just has proved to me even more than we are not only totally and completely made for each other, but that no matter what trial and obstacle comes into our marriage- we will hold on to each other even tighter and be that much stronger because of it. And if that isn't what marriage is all about, I don't know what is. 

Am I so excited that we only have a month left here and then we will be back at school with somewhat of a normal schedule again? YES. But I wouldn't trade this Move and the experiences that have come from it for anything in the world. 

Honey of the Moon.

When the cake was cut and the dancing was paused, it was time for Tanner and I to start not just our lives together, but the vacation that we had been so patiently waiting for throughout the entire painful, stressful, wedding planning process. It was finally time for CABO!!! 

We started off our Honeymoon by staying at the Nines Hotel in Downtown Portland (the hotel I've always dreamed of staying in). Tanner knew this and surprised me by booking it for the night before we were to leave for Cabo! I was blown away. 

When we first arrived, the valet driver came and opened my car door. We were still in our wedding attire and when we got out I felt like a celebrity. Granted, it was a Friday night in Portland and there were mannnnnny intoxicated people walking the streets, but when we got out of the car an immediate applause came from those not-so-sober strangers accompanied by some cheers and whistles. It was a surreal moment. 

A drunk business man on the side of the road looked at Tanner as we were getting things out of the car and said "BRO. You got married in F***ing Chuck T's?? That is the SICKEST thing I've ever seen!" We laughed and then Tanner lifted up my dress and said "I wasn't the only one!" and the drunk man's mouth dropped and he starting pointing it out to other people walking by. He just kept saying "That is SO legit. (lots of profanity)... SO LEGIT!! CONGRATS YOU GUYS AND GOOOO BLAZERS!!!" I would expect nothing less from a Portland local. 

We didn't arrive to the hotel that night until about 11:00/11:30pm and we had to be AT the airport the next morning at 4:30am. Needless to say, we were paying a ridiculous amount of money to stay for 5 hours. Once we made it to the room though, everything was worth it! We had a complete view of the Columbia River and night city skyline of Portland. We had chocolate covered strawberries. We had the comfiest bed I have ever laid in and to top it all off, they even had slippers awaiting for us along side our bed just in case our feet were to get cold. I mean Hello... That's class right there.

We woke up with just barley enough time to order some room service (it was included) and get ready to go to the airport. The room service peeps said it was 'too early' for breakfast. That's when you know you're waking up way TOO early. So we ordered some yummy sandwiches and fruit. A man in a tux came and delivered it to us and we ate as fast as we could and then we were off to the airport. 

We decided to go to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for our honeymoon for three reasons. 

1. Tanner's family has a house in Cabo, so we wouldn't have to stay in a hotel. 

2. We both love Mexico... (primarily mexican food ;)) 

3. Tanner speaks fluent Spanish from living in Bolivia for 2 years. And that's pretty cool. (and by cool, I mean sexy). 

Our number one rule for the honeymoon was just that we weren't going to have a schedule! After all the school and wedding stress leading up to the big day, all we wanted was a week of no set plans and no schedule. And that's exactly what we got! 

We went to the grocery store and stocked the house with some munchies. We ate at bomb taco stands on the side of the road and laid by the pool in the gated community that the house was in and it felt like a private pool since no body seemed to be around. We went to the beach, went jet skiing, went on a boat ride/tour to Lover's Island and spent the day there as well snorkeling and enjoying the sun. The week was spent mostly of sun, food & beaches. Basically, it was my idea of heaven.

 Taco Stands and Coke in a bottle :) 

 Pool days at the house

 Dinner on the Marina 

 Views while Jet Skiing

 Beach Bums

 Drivin' in the old truck around the town :) 

 Our favorite restaurant! 

 Boat Ride to Lover's Island! 

 "Make Love, Not War" 

 Tour of Lover's Cove

They said that this is "Lover's Cave".. and when "2 go in, 3 come out" ;)

Snorkeling on Lover's Beach

It was a great way to start our lives together. We are so grateful to have been able to stay at the beautiful house and have time for serious relaxation and recuperation from all the wedding festivities. 

Thanks for all the memories Cabo... we will be back VERY soon! :) 

-Mr. & Mrs. Clark