Catch up...

So it has been quite a while since I have updated my blog and I am starting over today with blogging so someone read this so that I am not wasting my time.  I figured I would do a year recap since it has been over a year since my last post from India.

Last summer Nate and I both went on Europe adventures (different adventures)  

Nate Graduated in December 

We got engaged! (again for those of you who have know us for a while) 

Then we sealed the deal.

We moved back to Provo to a short term lease while we look for something more permanent.  This place was a gem.  Pretty scary at night and super hot in the middle of the summer with no ac but it was really fun to have a place of our own.  We even had a small backyard where we had a BBQ.  

We took a trip to Hawaii with Nate's fam and stayed in an awesome beach house in Kauai.  We snorkeled, swam, and ate good food.

We both won a game of Deal or No Deal!!!  I can't find Nate's picture though...

Family outing to see Nitro Circus 3D

We bought our first home.  Actually we went to the Salt Lake City Utah Parade of Homes.

Visited the FFA animals at the Utah County Rodeo/Fair

My car broke down on our way to Park City for Nate's builders dinner because the Jiffy Lube people left the coolant cap half off.  Yes I got it fully repaired by them after I went them three times and cried on the third time, but don't worry the manager and I made up and we are on good terms now.  Ha we even hugged.  

The malibu it back in action although I was pretty scared I was going to lose the bu after its heat stroke.

We moved to Park City! 

We really did buy a house!  

Still trying to unpack...  It is kind of like a life size game of Unblock Me.  We have to move three things to get one thing into place.  Trying to get all out stuff to fit.  

We have an awesome back deck with a duck pond right off the condo.  The ducks are pretty friendly too.

Got all the new bedding and the new memory foam mattress.  It fixed my back problems but now Nate's is feeling a little stiff in the mornings.  We are still waiting on our storage bed frame to be finished. 

 Nate has been growing his hair out...

Nate built this really cool storage/bench seat for all our stuff and we have a lot of stuff.  It came together quite nicely.  It is nice to have a handy man.  

Oh yeah and he also helped build this in case you were not impressed with the storage box.  He made the 3D rendering to show exactly how it would look and I would say it is pretty spot on.

Big Buddha

A few weeks ago we visited Lumbini Park and Buddha Nagar.  It is a famous statue of Buddha in the middle of a lake.

I think can't decide whether this was just a fountain or if it actually for people to swim in.  

The park also contained some pretty sketchy looking rides.

Our cruise ship out to the statue.

This is me and one of my country directors Melissa.

This lake smells really bad, but it looks really pretty.

They had this really classy astroturf pattern surrounding the statue.  

This is kind of India's version of the Statue of Liberty.  

Just an authentic Indian pose.  

It changes colors at night.

It is hard to see but this security guard followed us around with his whistle trying to get us back on the boat, apparently they don't like you to dilly dally much.  It was pretty funny.  He was practically blowing his whistle in my face at one point.  

The city from the boat.

Just Another Day in India

This is our self appointed tour guide of a mosque.  I couldn't understand most of what he was saying.  At the end he demanded that we give him money "for the children."  I don't know what children he was talking about but he kept chasing all the kids away during the tour.  I have him a few cents and called it good since we didn't even want a guide and because I didn't understand a thing he said.  

So I just thought I would share something that I found in my inbox this morning.  It is so nice and so funny.

Hiiii           aleesha, this is sirish here i met u in NGO for physically handicapped people today morning hope u got me u where along with your friend..it was very glad speaking to , at this tender age ur doing social service and that too u came all the way from US.. it has touched my heart...                            Im 28 yrs old bachelor doing business,hats off to u for serving my people.. you where looking simple and down to earth... Whoever marry you is lucky guy... can u give your contact number so that i can call u once..plz mail me back With Regards Siriish Hyderabad india This brought several questions to mind.  So what age range qualifies as tender?  How old does he think I am?  haha I am looking simple?...that is probably pretty accurate.

Charminar and Pearls Second Round

I went back to the pearl shop found and they were doing some filming for the news.  They wanted our story so we elected Ale, the broadcast journalism student.  They did get some great footage of all of us shopping.  It was pretty funny.  

Pearl statue of a Hundu God.

Back to the Charminar.  This time we went inside.  The details of it are amazing. 

The fountain in the middle. 

We had to walk up a tiny stair case all the way to the top, I felt a little claustrophobic.  I also rigged my purse to stay up higher.  This place is jam packed with people and has a history of pick pocketing.  

View of the city from the top

See what I mean about crowded street.  Cars still push their way though down there and they will run you down if you don't get out of the way.  

I have posted a picture of this building before, this is a different view.  I was told it is a hospital.  

People selling all sorts of things below. 

The masque we visited.  The picture didn't turn out that great but you get the picture.  

We had to wear scarves over our heads to be more modest.  The guard at the door ran up to us and told us to cover up!  It is weird though because I saw lots of other women not wearing anything over there head.  

These are tombs of important people.  The men's and women's are decorated differently.  

On our way home.  They fit whole families on motorcycles.  Save your family some money on a suburban and just get a motorcycle, the only downfall is the safety rating but not a big deal.