Sometimes...You Just Throw On a Band-Aid And Get Back To Work

I obviously am not very good at this blogging deal, nor am I any good with keeping a journal but I do my best. I realize that it has been nearly a year since I last posted on here and BOY is there A LOT to update on here....I will start well with what has happened since I last posted.

Colin got home and it was a joyous reunion. His mom and I went shopping for a new outfit for myself to welcome him home in and may or may not have stopped at a certain "secret" store for another outfit. I had been texting him since he got his phone back and told him I had a surprise for him at home that was Air Force blue and I even put a winky face with the text. Little did I know that I needed to be a little more obvious with him because it would soon come back to bite me in the toosh. After leaving the airport my husband plainly and loudly asks what his surprise was that was Air Force blue for him. Well because we were in the same vehicle as his parents I made up some lie about how I washed and polished his truck for him and it was waiting for him at home. So he got excited. Obviously he didnt get the hint of the winky face...as throughout the drive he kept asking about it as well as when we were at his house and I kept getting frustrated with him and told him to stop asking about it. FINALLY we were alone and I was able to tell him the surprise and all he said was "OH. SORRY." and then "OOooohhhhh...." unfortunately he had to wait until we got to OUR home. The embarassing thing about this was that my mother in law told my father in law about it and so he immediately went and turned on the stereo so they couldnt 'hear' anything when nothing was going on :)

School started back up and we both stayed fairly busy through out the semester. Colin continued to excel in all that he did in the Air Force and loved every second of it. He had his regular frustrations and worries that he wasnt going to be able to continue in the program due to a grade or just the military cuts that had/have been happening. Part of the program required him to take a test in which he could take multiple times. The first time he took the test he didn't pass by only a few marks and was ok with it because he had another chance to take it in December during finals week. He studied and studied hard for the test and part of the cuts in the military was to make the required passing score higher then what it had been in the past. Unfortunately it turned out that he didn't pass by 2 marks. As you can imagine this was devastating for him. His life-long dream was no more and he had to find a new one.Yes he understood he could just enlist, but he wanted to be a pilot and in order to do so he needed to pass this test. So as the title of this post goes...he put a band-aid on and got back to work and focused on school. At the time I think he took it better then I had, I was worried that I wouldnt know how to console him or what to do for him when he would just break down...I was devastated because I knew this is what he has wanted his whole life. But I do have to say...it sure has been nice having my husband around. As Christmas went by and the new semester had begun my heart ached for him know that he wasnt attending his regular classes with his buddies but he kept his head high. He focused on his studies for Residential Landscape Design and I think had the best semester he has had since he started school. He has taken upon him his new dream of starting his own business in the Park City area and has already begun designing peoples yards. He has truthfully had the most amazing faith in himself and Heavenly Father to get him through this and I am so proud of how much he has grown. Not to mention it has been nice not having the stress and pressure of needing to perform well upon his shoulders all the time.

The last semester seemed to go by fairly quickly. I graduated on May 3 from Utah State University with a bachelors in Exercise Science and Minor in Parks and Recreation. During the fall semester my boss at the Utah Statesman had continuously encouraged and pushed me to find a job within my field. I dont think he was expecting me to go and find one so quickly. I started at Mountain West Physical Therapy in December the week before Christmas. So unfortunately I was not able to finish out the semester with the Statesman. I know my boss regrets having encouraged me to do what I did but I know he was proud of me. Him and I have become good friends. I am still with the therapy clinic and I LOVE my job. Our clinic is through Cache Valley Hospital (not to be confused with Logan Regional) but our location is within the Sports Academy. I have been asked many of times what it feels like to be a college grad...quite honestly right now I just feel like I am on summer break. I honestly dont think it will hit me until Colin goes back to school and I dont. That will be weird.

In April Colin and I took the next step in our lives and purchased our first home as a couple. It is a townhome (end unit) in the most Northern end of Smithfield. WE LOVE OUR NEW HOME. It is so nice to have a place that does not have cinder block walls  or stupid rules to baby sit the community (thank you aggie village) and a place to call our OWN. Not to mention it is nice to be able to do whatever we want to do to the inside of it like paint a wall. I love that my kitchen is 3x the size it was and it has AC but fortunately we have not had to turn on the AC ONCE this summer SO. FAR. It is starting to get more and more hot so we will see how long it lasts. Ceiling fans are a must have for me from now on.

This weekend is the 4th of July and we are headed to a Salt Lake Bees game and then boating on Saturday. Sunday I will be set apart as the Miamaids Advisor for our new ward and I am excited for the opportunity to be a leader in a program that has influenced so much of my life.


Colin and mine's testimonies have sure grown immensely since last year and we are eternally grateful for the trials and opportunities we have had to further grow in the gospel. We have truly been blessed with a great ward and look forward to many more opportunities to come our way.

Benefits of Hard Work

Well school is out and so is the sun!

Colin and I finished school the first week of May and have been playing outdoors ever since! We went camping over Memorial Day Weekend and have  made a boating trip with his family. His parents just recently put in a pool in their back yard so we have made a few trips there to swim in the pool, especially with this heat! The sun has sure been shining bright! Definitely another wonderful reminder of all of the wonderful things we have been blessed with on this earth. Colin's Brother and his Wife just recently had a baby! WE ARE AUNT/UNCLES now! Super exciting! 

Colin has been really big into mountain biking and has crashed a few too many times. (Good thing I bought him a nice mountain biking helmet for Christmas). He is such a goof! The biggest focus in Colin's life has been his recent acceptance to go to Field Training for the Air Force ROTC program. The ROTC program is an officer training program while attending school. Field Training is something that is held for 4 weeks during the summer in Montgomery, Alabama at Maxwell Air Force Base. They have different rotations of the times that cadets can attend. Colin was assigned to the 5th Rotation...they call it Max 5 or something like that. Anyway he left July 10 and will Return August 7. They are not allowed any contact with home unless it is by snail mail. They are supposed to take their cell phones with them in case something happened with their flights they were to notify their commander of the situation. When they get to the base, it is there that they turn in their electronic devices to their commanding officers. Some good advice was given to him before he left. He was told that when he attends church, to make friends with somebody in the congregation who would allow him to use their cell phone to call home. I haven't been putting too much expectations or hopes into whether or not that will actually happen just to protect myself from disappointment. Yesterday was his first Sunday gone and no phone call. The last contact I had had from him was Wednesday afternoon when he called to tell me his flight was delayed in Dallas. I know he is working hard and doing the best he can. There are benefits to having parents live so close to Hill Air Force Base in Roy, UT because there are a bunch of retired Airmen in their ward with some excellent contacts and advice! He especially is grateful for the friends he has made within the ROTC that have gone through this before them and given him some good direction as well. I remember the preparation he has put into this Field Training. For those of you who do not know, the military is VERY particular in how they fold their clothes and keep their room and make their beds etc. We spent many hours figuring these things out and folding and refolding all of his clothes to make sure they were at the standard they needed to be. I admit I think its kind of dumb how they are so particular about some of their things but I respect our military and all that they do for this country. I also respect the lesson they are trying to get across. PAY ATTENTION TO DETAIL. Needless to say I am looking forward to having him come home and being so detail oriented and tidy! 

I have been keeping busy as well. I have been trying to keep Colin on track with preparation for field training and all that goes into it. I am the Office Manager for the Utah Statesman and have recently been recruited to work for Student Involvement here on campus. It has definitely furthered my contacts in the professional world and helped me to improve career wise. The Statesman is the school newspaper and we recently were notified that the office would be changing locations as well it will be placed under the Student Involvement Department. At first I was very hesitant about it because the room we would be moving into is significantly smaller. On the plus side, I do get my own office! Since the Statesman does not publish in the summer and Jay, the recent advisor has moved into retirement, I have been the one in charge of this transition/move. I had to pack up and consolidate the entire office and let me tell ya...it was NOT and easy task. I was able to get everything that we would be taking upstairs to fit into a small storage room so I was pretty proud of myself for that! The Assistance Vice President and the Associate VP were really impressed with me that the big help that I have been to them. So currently I am in a little tiny office on the third floor of the Student Center until I can get moved into my permanent office which should be taking place NEXT WEEK! Im so excited. I am really excited for the new furniture that was ordered and to see how my designs have turned out! So I am excited to announce that I have decided to start a military wife blog, just to kind of document the process of a military wife and Colin's military experience. I know that there are already a lot of blogs out there that document a military wife, but everybody has a different point of view. I will place a link to the blog on this one. It has not yet been created, but the link will be here shortly after it is created.

I look forward to spending some time with Family over the next two weekends! My cousin Cassie is getting baptized on Sat. the 20th. This event is so special to me as she is the first (other than myself of course) family member to get baptized on my dad's side in the LDS church. I know that each of the family members have their own religious beliefs and I have the highest respect for that, I am excited and grateful that I will have somebody on that side who shares the same beliefs that I have. On Saturday July 27th is the Dooley cousin reunion and I am SO excited to see all of my family and have a good time with them! Colin's cousin is getting married on Aug. 3 unfortunately the same day as my best friend so that has been hard decision to make as one is in Idaho and the other in Eastern Utah. Then Colin comes home August 7. So there is a lot to look forward to and I am SO excited! 

What's New Pussy Cat?!?

It's a crazy life is an appropriate title for this here blog. Life seriously has been crazy!

The last time that I even posted anything was before school started. Colin is doing great with classes and has spent many late nights doing drafting homework and studying for his classes. I have been driving to and from Brigham City twice a week just to pass my anatomy class and boy is the grade worth it! I too have also spent many late nights doing Colin's english papers...ha ha just been helping him out. But really.

Life has been busy between work and school for the both of us. Colin is still a landscaper for the University Housing department and I am the Office Manager at the Utah Statesman, which is the University's newspaper. We both love and enjoy our jobs which is a big load off of our shoulders as we had a pretty stressful semester. The semester is coming to a close. This week is not test week and next week is finals. We are excited for the semester to be over and have a break just to come back to school with a fresh new schedule.

New updates from the Maxfield's!

• Colin has a new truck! (2000 Dodge Ram 1500 Blue)

Okay so that was a little less epic as it could have been, but that honestly is the only big news that has really been going on with us. Colin is happy to have a truck and has taken it mudding numerous times!

Well it is the Holiday season and the awesome time of year when most family traditions take place! There has been a lot of things going on, especially with the recent passing of the Thanksgiving Holiday. Due to our wonderful jobs we were both able to have the same days off to enjoy, basically, an entire week of family fun! The Wednesday before Thanksgiving we were able to attend the Transiberian Orchestra Concert. This is one of the biggest events that we always look forward to especially because we get to attend with the whole family. The concert was AWESOME! It is definitely a tradition that I suggest doing if you live in the Utah, Salt Lake City area. Even if you don't you have to go at least once in your lifetime! Thanksgiving was spent with Colin's side of the family as we had both sets of grandparents. his parents and us there. It was a delicious meal with lots of pies and plenty of conversation to go around the table. Later that day after we had our after turkey nap time, we drove to Alpine to my Aunt Wendy's house where my dad's side of the family was spending their turkey time. It was really good to see all of them and spend time with them! Well seeing how stores are opening up earlier and earlier, people are standing in line earlier and earlier for the black friday deals. This has been really bothersome to both Colin and I, as family is so important to us we couldn't believe that getting a good deal on a TV was more important then spending time with the family. People were literally having take out for thanksgiving or having their wife bring them a plate of the dinner to them in line. I remember the times when my mom was sad that Alan couldn't make it because he had to work. It is amazing to us that people would put worldly things that aren't really that important over their families. Anyways, away from the rant, we decided to take advantage of the Black Friday deal after leaving the family time and go into Target that opened at 9. Holy Craziness! Well we stood an hour and a half in the check out line and were finally able to get the items that we set out for. It definitely made a good memory as our first Black Friday as Mr. and Mrs. We definitely had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and were very sad to leave to have to go back to school.

With that in mind we set our sights on finals and for Zachary coming home Dec. 18! Not to mention coming up VERY soon is the one and only Kurt Bestor concert that we are so excited to attend! Yet another family tradition to take part of. Colin and I plan on being in Idaho from Dec. 18-Dec.26 for the Holiday celebration. We will then return and work for a couple days and then head to his house and my dad's house for the holiday celebration with them! We are so excited to embark into the 2013 New Year with Awesome resolutions and dreams to come true. We look forward to preparing for Colin to go to Field Training next summer in which he will be gone for a whole month! I don't know what to do!? Oh wait...enjoy a nice quiet, clean apartment with lots of chocolate and chick flicks every night!

Til next time...

Party Hardy....That's our style!

Well it has been a while since the last post but things have been a little bit crazy here in the Maxfield household! Here is a rundown of the last few weeks:

The weekend of the 4th of August Colin and I had quite the schedule. Friday we had arrived at his house there in Hooper, UT and immediately his mom and I along with Shay went to go baby shopping for cousin Allyssa's baby shower the following day and Colin left with his dad to look at a boat for Uncle Mike. After we returned Colin had left with one of his friends while I enjoyed just hanging around the house. The following day is when it got busy.

Terie and I went shopping at a new store called Gordmans there in Riverdale. MY NEW FAVORITE STORE!!! Colin could care less but good looking jeans with a good lookin price as well! :) I couldnt believe how affordable their clothes were! It was like an upgraded TJ MAXX. After that we had to take off to go the Aunt Jaci's in Herriman for the baby shower. It was so much fun to see everybody there and to hang out! I even got to hold baby Elsie Leis (mistalyns baby girl) she is SO cute. Colin came with us and crashed the party for one the food and the other to help Anthony diagnose the status of the air conditioning in my car. Let me tell ya...I didnt like driving clear from Hooper to Herriman (about an hours drive) in the middle of the day without air conditioning. Needless to say it was pretty entertaining watching those boys fix that air conditioning. Turns out there were two wires that were cut because they had fallen against the pulley or something to that effect and over time it just cut them. SO WE GOT TO DRIVE WITH AIR CONDITIONING! Now just for the final preparations on the care to sell it.

After the baby shower we headed straight to Draper to a place called Planet Play. It is just behind that big water slide place you can see right off the freeway. It was Aunt Wendy's 40th birthday (shout out to her ya old fart! ha ha just kidding we love you aunt wendy). Planet Play is the ULTIMATE Chuckie Cheese! Go Karts, Laser Tag, Miniature Bowling and all sorts of arcade games PLUS ALL YOU CAN EAT FOOD! We had a BLAST seeing everybody and playing laser tag and what not! Needless to say we shut that place down! We loved playing with the kids and seeing them have so much fun! We seriously cannot wait until the next family outing/get together!

Last week I came home a couple days in a row after being sick and I am such a lucky girl to have a wonderful husband that would take care of me. And boy did I milk it for all it was worth! (for those of you whose minds are wandering no im NOT pregnant it was something going around at work a couple people went home with it as well). This past weekend Colin and I were planning on just chilling at home and hanging out with friends before school stuff started kicking in.

Friday night we went Jeepin Down Old Main Hill. A lot of people just take Ice Blocks down it but one of Colin's co-workers (for those shelleyans Travis Maynard to be exact) found one of those motorized childrens jeeps next to a dumpster with the motor ripped out so we decided to take that down Old Main Hill. For all those doubters out there SO MUCH BETTER THE ICE BLOCKING. And yes to the parentals we did wear helmets some of the time :).

Saturday we were called up by Colin's parents to go boating with July and Targ Childs and kids. We had so much fun spending time out in the sun and in the water. That was only the second time that we were able to get out on the boat. It was such a great day out on the lake we left super tired, sunburned with big smiles for a well used up day. Colin and I then returned to Logan Saturday night and woke up Sunday to head to church. This was the only second time that we have been to this ward and we showed up a half hour late. Lesson learned church starts at 9 not 930.

Today, Monday I had a job interview and then went to walmart to pick up some wedding pictures for a frame I am hanging above our bed in our bedroom. (pics of apartment to come later) Then we had fun shopping for food and running into family and friends at the store. We grilled some burgers and set up our awesome tent in our living room to have a family home evening campout while watching Red Tails (FANTASTIC MOVIE).

Colin and I have a short week this week because we have a couple friends and some family getting married all in the same week!!! Chandi and Chris are getting married Wednesday (unfortunately we cant make it to that SORRY) and then Kelly and Kiley are getting married on thursday which we are super excited for them to be moved into their apartment because it is TWO buildings away from ours! YAY! and then my cousin Brittney is getting married on Saturday in which after the wedding we have plans to hit up Rexburg Rapids which we are so excited to do!

School starts August 27th and Colin and I are happy to announce that we BOTH got financial aid and so we were able to pay for school for BOTH OF US!! WOOT WOOT!!! Such a relief and I am SO excited to start the new school year as MRS MAXFIELD. Speaking of which we were finally able to finalize the name change after receiving my new SS card now just the wait to receive my license in the mail and change my name at school! :) so glad to have that stress off my back also!


Well that is it for our busy lives so far! Stay tuned for more chapters to come in the Crazy Life of Colin and Allison :)

Washington D.C.

Colin's mom is part of the Uath Education Association and every year the National Education Association has a convention. This year the convention was in Washington D.C. His parents planned to take the whole family to this event and boy was I excited! We were to fly East on July 4 and then head back home on July 9.

The weeks leading up to the trip were pretty hectic with finishing up wedding stuff and we found out that my Grandma Dooley was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. She had a tumor the size of a cantaloupe with a 17 cm diameter. Decisions were having to be made if she was to pursue chemotherapy (which would have given her up to 5 years) or let the cancer take its course (2-6 months). My grandmother decided to do chemo but later discovered it was too hard on her fragile body and she came home. 1 week later she passed away. The funeral was set for July 9 (the day we were flying home). Due to conflicts with flight times and what not I was not able to attend her funeral, but I know she would have wanted me to have fun and live my life.

FINALLY the day had come to head to the airport. This was my first flight that lasted longer then 45 minutes and I was STOKED!! Colin was just glad that it wasn't an 18 hour flight like his was going to and from the Philippines. We got there and were headed through security when I was stopped for a random security check. They asked me for my shoes which were in a bin that had rolled through the security machine. They took my Chacos over to a check station and then gave them back to me...I never knew that Chacos could be a national security risk!

We landed in Washington DC and I have NEVER experienced humidity before, I just kept having to tell myself that Colin has been in worse. We then flagged a taxi that took us to our 4 star hotel called the Omni Sheridan! WOW what a nice hotel! Afterwards we walked 2.5 miles down Connecticut Ave. to the National Mall and parked ourselves on the 'grassy' area just 100 yards from the Washington Monument so we could watch the Fourth of July Fireworks. Which. Were. Awesome.

The next day we went to the Holocaust Museum and the Natural History Museum. Afterwards and to kill time in between we browsed around the Smithsonian Castle. Friday was Tour day. The first tour we went on was the Capital Building which we were able to get a private tour that was just the 6 of us and was VERY informative. We never knew all of that stuff about our nation's capital. After that we went on a tour of the White House which was cool but not as informative because it was self guided, but we were able to see the China Room, Library, Dining Area, Blue Room, Green Room, Red Room, First Lady's Sitting Area and so on and so forth. The tour ended with us walking out the front doors of the White House. After that we made our way back to the hotel and then decided to go on a night tour of all of the monuments. The night tour took us to the Capital, White House, Vietnam War, Korean War, World War 2, Lincoln, and Iwo Jima monuments. Saturday we went to the Arlington Cemetery in the morning and then through the American History Museum and most of the Smithsonians including the Air and Space Museum which took up most of our day. We did eat at one of the biggest Mcdonalds we have ever seen! It was 2 levels! After all the museums we walked the long way to the Jefferson Memorial and to part of the JFK memorial.Sunday we went to a Washington Nationals game and Colin, Scott, Terie, and I went back to the Lincoln Monument to get some stuff at the gift shop. Monday before we had to head to the Airport we went to the National Zoo which the Panda Bears were my favorite! Colin LOVED the orangutangs because of the way they allow them to climb this tower and walk across these ropes that stretch across the top of the entire zoo! it was really cool to see!

We finally boarded the plane to head home...we were thus thankful for the dry weather here that is much more bearable!

The Beginning

I decided that I would start a blog for Colin and I! That way our peeps can keep up on the doings of our new life as a married couple!

Because this is the first post I will just give the background of how we started!

Colin and I met at Utah State University the summer before our freshman year! We were both signed up for the Outdoor SOAR program (Student Orientation And Registration). At first I thought he was super weird and too much of a "jock" for me, little did I know he thought I was too "popular" for him. After much flirting and texting we had finally made it official on July 3, 2008. We spent our first year at school inseparable! He got his mission call to the Philippines where he spent two years of his life and I continued on with my education and waited for him to return July 29, 2011. 6 months later he took me on a snowmobile ride and proposed to me on January 1, 2012 at Big Springs, Island Park in front of a live moose! 6 months after that we were sealed in the Salt Lake City, UT Temple on June 9, 2012.

And thus begins our Journey....