ANNUAL TRAINING

Every year, Michael has to leave me for anywhere from 2-4 weeks to train with the Marine Corps. Well, Michael leaves me tomorrow for 15 days... KILL ME NOW! It will be the longest we have been a part, and the least we will be able to talk. I am just so grateful for this man and the amazing influence he is on my life!

Here is to the next two weeks of DIY decorations for our new apartment!

No Longer a Teenager!

Growing up is kind of a bitter sweet situation. My 20th birthday just passed and Mike made it a Birthday to remember! However, I feel sad to be leaving my teenage years! The teenage years were amazing and I guess it is just time to let them go!

I am very excited to be entering into a whole new part of my life though!

Michael spoiled me rotten for my Birthday! He took me shopping and let me spend way to much money! Then he got me my favorite food for dinner. (Pizza) and had a relaxing night of watching movies! How perfect is that??

Since my Birthday was on Monday, we celebrated on Saturday! It was definitely a memorable celebration!!

Then, on Monday, when I got home, Mike was waiting for me with our favorite donuts! He had pulled one out and lit 20 candles and sang to me when I walked in the door! It was such a perfect greeting! Unfortunately, the candles burned out of wax and started boiling the donut! It was wonderful! :)

That evening, we went to FHE and our amazing friends surprised me with decorations, and a candle lit cake! Who could have asked for as better celebration!? 

I am so blessed!

A New Look!

Alright, So as many know, I've been working for years on growing my hair out. After so long, I finally feel like it is getting longer.

Girls, you'll understand how frustrating it is to grow it out. You feel as though you aren't making progress and It is always the same style!

Lucky for me, I have an amazing hairstylist. (She also happens to be one of my best friends!) Kara Kocherhans! She is amazing! I trust her with anything she wants to do with my hair!

Anyway, Mike had this bright idea that I should cut bangs... So we did! We are loving them! Although they do require a lot of upkeep, they are pretty fun!

Laser Field

Living in Salt Lake City has provided us with many opportunities 

to be with our new friends! 

We decided to try and put together a FHE group, and much to our delight, it has been quite a success!

I'm going to post some of our activity ideas.. I always forget to take pictures while doing things, but hopefully I will get better!

On this particular occasion  my random brain decided it would be so fun to set up a pretend laser field in our home. 

We took red yarn and taped it down our hallway in a pretty complex pattern. (Not really. We just zigzagged down the wall.) 

It looked a little something like this:

I didn't know I was so flexible!

You learn a lot about yourself when going to a laser field of death!

I didn't get a picture of it, but Becky actually taped her pants to her ankles so as not to burn herself on those lasers! OUCH!

Mike and Ian were probably the most creative when it came to going through.

They folded their bodies in ways we never thought possible!

Sharesa was moving so quickly,

it was hard to catch a still shot!

BobbyJames really got into it! Look at that form!

This is just one of my many ideas! More to come!

My random brain sure does make for a fun activity!

Thanks for Reading!

The Ridings :)

C O L O R A D O

The week after we got back from Disneyland, we were fortunate enough to be able to go to Frisco, Colorado with the Mike's family!

We did so much, I couldn't possibly post all of it, but here is a summary in pictures!

Found some fun costumes at the Childrens Museum!

Hiking to Hanging Falls with the family!

This day was such an "Adventure!"

This swing takes you over a cliff 1,700 feet off the ground! 

Plus, we went on cool cave tours, a way fun alpine slide, AND a roller coaster that is the highest elevated coaster in North America! 

Quite a sucessful day!

Thanks for reading!

The Ridings :)

M E M O R I A L D A Y

First of all, thank you to all of those who are out

serving our country, and to those who have served in the 

past! What an amazing opportunity

we are given to spend a day in memory of those who

have done us such a great service!

Lucky for me, I got to spend Memorial Day weekend with 

my own American hero. 

A couple of months ago, some good friends of ours decided we were

going to make the trip to Disneyland over Memorial Day weekend.

So, Friday night, we packed up our vehicle and headed off! 

In case you are wondering, we took a Dodge Journey. 

We had 6 people packed into it.

Mike and I have never been in a car ride for so

 long that made us feel so squished!

It was totally worth it!

So we drove through the night stopping for gas occasionally.

Sorry it's so blurry! 

There was little room for movement to get a good picture!

After the longest car ride of my life, we finally got to Disneyland! 

This was the picture that I begged we take! 

I was so happy he dipped me!

This was right as we got into the park... Becky and I went a little Picture happy! 

Totally worth it though!

I will probably post another time about our beach experience just FYI!

We did the classics of course. This is at "It's Tough to be a Bug."

I actually can't watch most of the show because it has spiders in it.

Yes, I am terrified of the ugly things, but Mike loves it so much

we go every time! It's fine though, I burry my face in his shoulder 

and make him feel like a man, so it is a win win situation!

This is our group! We feel so blessed to have met these people!

They made for an extremely memorable trip to Disneyland!

(Left to Right: Sharesa Bedingfield, Ian Bedingfield, us, 

BobbyJames Hubbard and Becky Hubbard.)

This was taken after we went on Splash Mountain... Mike barely got wet!

Lucky dog!

I know this one is HUGE, but this picture is too priceless to be left small!

Most won't understand the beauty behind this picture, but if any 

of you are youtube lovers like we are, Olan Rogers is a must to look up!

Once you watch a couple of his videos, this picture will make more sense..

#mischiefmanaged #thechiefhaslanded 

This is our last picture from Disneyland.

If you are going in the near future, I highly recommend going on the 

new Car's ride. It was probably my favorite ride this time around. 

You need to get in the fast pass line though as soon as you get into the park!

Not only will your kids love it, but it is fun for adults too!

Mike and I realized on this trip how truly blessed we are. 

We have amazing friends, who we love so much, an opportunity for travel,

and we have each other. 

I love this boy more and more each day, and I can't believe he is mine for all eternity. 

I'd call that the greatest blessing of them all!

Thanks for reading!

The Ridings :)

S U M M E R

Summer has officially arrived! 

So excited to see that it is finally warm enough to 

hit the canyon!

Stay safe out there!

Watch out for bikers!

Careful of the old bumpy bridge!

Thanks for reading!

The Ridings!

Z O O

When it comes to some things, I swear Mike and I will never grow up.

A couple of weekends ago, we decided we would make a trip to the Zoo!

It was absolutely fabulous! 

As kids, I'm not quite sure we completely appreciated the Zoo!

Sure the animals were cool, but during this trip , I feel like I learned more 

than I had in my entire life.

We timed our visit perfectly enough to catch an amazing Bird show! It was so fun! 

They literally had birds swooping right over our heads! 

They had talking parrots, a bald eagle, and beautiful doves flying all over the place!

We highly recommend staying for it!

Seriously, it was such a fun day!

I could only get a picture of the Bald Eagle from afar!

If you look closely, you can see the parrots in the background. 

I had been dying to see the Polar Bear ever since we went to the Zoo during Christmas.

Lucky for us, the polar bear was out and roaming around! It made me so happy!

I didn't get a picture of the polar bear because their were to many people there.

It still was such a fun way to spend our Saturday!

Thanks for readings!

The Ridings :) 

Napoleon Dynamite!

Last week was a good friend of our's Birthday! 

His wonderful wife decided she was going to go all out for him! 

She threw him a Napoleon Dynamite surprise party! It ended up turning out pretty legit!

A couple of us decided we were going to dress up, and boy did we go all out!

A while ago, BJ made a special request that Mike would dress up as Uncle Rico...
Here is what we came up with!
What do ya think?

We even made a place for Deb's Glam Shots!

 Seriously it was absolutely amazing!

Becky, BJ's wife, went seriously all out! 

I wish I hade more pictures, but it was such a fun evening! 

Definitely something we will never want to forget! 

Thanks for reading!

The Ridings :)

Easter Bunny Surprise!

I'll probably end up doing another post about Easter later, but I am so excited about what Michael gave me for Easter, that I simply can not wait to post it!

Mike gave me tickets to see one of my FAVORITE artists perform!

H E   I S    W E

I am absolutely beyond pumped! This poor kid doesn't even really like their

music, but he is willing to sit through it because he loves me!

I don't know how I got so lucky with this one, but 

I love him!

Happy late Easter!

Thanks for reading!

The Ridings :)

F R I E N D S

Anyone who has seen me recently knows already, but 

we have kind of some big news!

Ready for it???

WE FOUND FRIENDS IN SLC!!!

Oh man, oh man! To some this may not seem like a big deal,

but Mike and I have been hoping and praying that we would find some 

solid friends here, and boy did we ever!

Lucky for us, they accept us for our crazy selves! 

We do a lot together, and are so grateful for them!

Mike and BobbyJames seriously are long lost brothers, it seems!
... Aren't they just adorable? :)

The men even let Becky and I go do girly things sometimes!
This time we got to go get our nails done!
Hooray for mani/pedi's!! :)

Anyway... This was kind of a big moment in our lives...
Finding friends!!!

I have been beyond excited about meeting these guys!
If anyone asks me, I get the biggest, goofiest, most ridiculous smile on my face,
shake my hands in the air, and repeat in a high pitched voice
"We have friends!"

... Most people laugh at me...
I still am not sure why!

We love these guys and are so blessed to have met the Hubbards!

Thanks for reading!

The Ridings :)

While Mike's away... I craft away!!! ;)

After High School, Michael joined the Marine Corps. 

He did all of his training before the mission, and has 

been able to start back at Camp Williams since his return from Madagascar. 

Since he is in the reserves, he only has to go once a month to Drill. 

While he is gone, I spend my time in Orem with my parents. 

These weekends can be really long, but thankfully,

 my Mom keeps me busy! This past Drill, 

we worked on a couple of fun things!

The first project was to spray paint a white dresser black! 

Our bedroom is pretty large, and has tons of awkward walls.

 We wanted something to cover a wall, 

so we made the wall art in the picture below.

The other project was a pallet shelf! 

Most people didnt think it would look good, 

but I am pretty excited about how it turned out!

These projects were simple, but added a lot to our home!

Thanks for Reading!

The Ridings :)

Home Cooked Manicure!

Michael Linley is the most amazing person ever!

Seriously! My dear, dear husband gave me a manicure!

It definitely wasn't perfect, but not too shabby for his first time!

Poor kid just got himself into a lifetime of painting his wife's nails!!

Thanks for reading!

The Ridings! :)

A R C A D E S!

I don't think Mike and I will ever officially grow up.

Sure our bodies may mature and our family may grow, 

but at heart, we are both little children.

Recently, Mike was put in as 2nd counselor in the Young Mens.

Naturally, we were so excited because this gave us the opportunity to 

make friends in our ward!

In an attempt to start the friendship, we suggested we go bowling.

The other couples agreed, and we decided to go to FatCats. 

We did a lot of things while there, 

although the wait on bowling was too long so we never did bowl.

HOWEVER, we did spend a sufficient amount of time in the 

little arcade they have there.

Boy did we go crazy there!

The other 2 couples scored big at certain games, and got a lot more

tickets than we did, but we were bouncing off the walls like little children!

I guess the sad part of the story is that less than a week later, we 

were back at the FatCats arcade with my older brother and his girlfriend!

We can't stay away! 

It's an evil addiction!

Anyone want to go to the Arcade with us!?!?!!?!! 

 

One time I fell in the parking lot into a giant mud puddle... It was SUPER embarrassing... 

Thanks for Reading!

The Ridings!

:)

Frontrunner FAIL!

For anyone who knows me, I don't always have the best of luck.

I tend to be a little clumsy, and things dont always go my way...

This happened a little while ago, and am just now getting around to posting about it,

but it is quite the sad tale.

A while ago, Mike and I had this brilliant idea that we would

ride frontrunner down to Orem, instead of paying for gas.

Through UHEAA, Mike's place of employment, he gets free UTA travel,

so we would only be paying for one ticket. 

It was a brilliant idea... In theory...

Earlier that morning, we had decided to walk to the station, and even save 

more gas by doing so. 

Little did we know, it would take us a whole hour to get to the station! 

It was snowing, the snow on the ground had turned to slush, and definitely windy.

Nevertheless, we pressed onward determined to make it to the station. 

Upon arrival to the station, we couldn't find a time for the train to leave.

We had heard rumors that the train left every 20 minutes, 

and decided to just buy the ticket and wait.

After purchasing the ticket, we realized the train wouldn't come for another

3 hours... 

At this point, we were completely distraught! Only then did we remember that

we did not need to walk all the way to the station because we could have gotten on the free trax to the station... 

It a devastating day. Fail, after fail. 

We just couldn't catch a break!

Picture taken after we took the trax home... 

We were all still smiles!

Thanks for reading!

The Ridings!

:)

Valentines Day!

For the sake of any possible readers out there, I will spare the mushy gushy lovey things about our Valentines Day, and only post a brief explanation of what we gave each other!  

This Valentines Day was the first time either of us had a Valentine!

I know what you are thinking, 

"How could 2 such young, good looking, funny, 

AMAZING people never have had a 

Valentine to call their own?"

GREAT QUESTION!

My answer: Any other possible Valentine wouldn't have mattered, 

because this was the best Valentines Day EVER!

This was one of the things I did for Michael.

Yes, you may have seen this idea on Pinterest, but let's be honest,

who doesn't steal ideas from Pinterest.

If you think you dont, you are lying to yourself.

Anyway, I printed out pictures of us through our relationship and

wrote something special on the back of all of them!

Cheesy? Yes.

Ashamed? Never.

This is one of the things Mike gave to me!

As crazy as it sounds, I have never been a huge chocolate eater.

I know! I know! SINNER! It's the truth though!

I was super surprised, however, to find when I opened the box,

little notes all stating reasons he loves me. 

I am a super sentimental person, so the fact that he 

sacrificed himself, and ate all the chocolate really meant a lot to me!

NO SERIOUSLY!

I almost cried!

Anyway, just some creative ways to surprise your love!

Thanks for reading!

The Ridings!

:)

S O R R Y ! ! !

I understand it has been such a long time since I last posted and 

since Mike is away with the Marines this weekend, 

I figured I might as well catch up on what's been going on

 in our crazy busy lives! 

This post isn't so much about our lives as much as it is a 

chance to just brag about how absolutely 

amazingly talented my husband is! 

He is a wood burning guru! 

No joke! Check these out!

This is something he did for my Dad's Birthday!

He looked online at both my parents family crests,

and mashed them together! 

He freehanded most everything on this piece!

This is the present we gave to his parents for Christmas!

He whipped this idea out, and finished it all in just 

a couple of days!

He is so creative! 1987 was the year that his

 parents moved into their current house!

Most people don't know how talented he really is, and I hope to post more of the things he has done! He definitely isn't one to brag about his 

abilities, but that is why he got married, right? Now I can do it for him!

He has one piece I haven't taken a picture of I will post a bit later on, that he did for his final project in woods that is absolutely unreal!

Man oh man do I hope our kids get his talents!

Thanks for reading,

The Ridings!

:)

The Aquarium

Michael and I are constantly looking for new date ideas.

Generally, we get dinner and a movie. 

Don't get me wrong, we LOVE dinner and a movie, but sometimes you've got to try something new!

This week, we ventured out to The Living Aquarium in Draper!
It may seem small, but it definitely did not disappoint!

Although we did have to fight of hoards of children, to actually get a good look,
it was well worth the effort!

We found this poster to be the most interesting!
We loved hearing about the largest shark ever to live!

We thought this was neat!
It was like Finding Nemo came alive right in front of us!

Lucky for us, we made it just in time the Penguin feed!
These guys are so cute!
(Sorry the glass wasn't very clean!)

Classic sitting on the frog picture!
Every couple has to have one!
Sorry for the crazy shadows!

Thanks for reading!
The Ridings!

:)