Summer lovin', having a blast!

Life in Los Alamos has been fabulous.

It is such a beautiful town with so many nice people! Daniel had a friend who described the people like this: all of the awkward scientists married outgoing wives who love to get everyone together. To my knowledge, this is fairly accurate!

Daniel is learning a lot at his internship. He is finding out how much programming is involved in a career in mathematics, and since he's only taken one programming class, it's a little challenging for him. But you know Daniel - he is always up for a challenge. He doesn't like doing things unless it's a challenge, it seems like. He is so great. We only have three more weeks here, which is really sad, but his internship mentor said there is a good possibility of welcoming him back next summer! That would be great. We will see!

While Daniel is saving the world and doing his dream job, I'm keeping busy. I'm surprised how much I can find to do in a day! I clean, go grocery shopping, run little errands, read, volunteer at the hospital, and sew. I've gotten some good progress on my quilt, thanks to my awesome mother-in-law. She lent me The Quilting Bible, which has been a great help! I'm planning on doing a lot of the sewing for it tomorrow - it's scary designing a quilt!

Daniel and I recently started applying to grad schools! Daniel is doing a lot of research into the schools he wants to apply for. I pretty much know the schools that I want to go - there aren't as many schools that offer a masters in dietetics as there are doctorates for math. At least that what it feels like.

On weekends, we like to see things. You know, like family!

Here are some of the Mowrer's, who live near Albuquerque - that's Allie, Hannah, and Paige. All awesome people (as well as those not photographed)! We are really enjoying getting to know them better!

We like to go to Santa Fe too! It's a really cool town. I'm standing in front of a catholic church, and the tree has tons of crucifixes on it. We thought it looked cool.

This is another fun looking church in Santa Fe.

We saw this donkey, and Daniel didn't really want to pose in front of it, but he obliged because he loves me. For some reason, I feel the need to take a picture of every large animal statue I see. Cite all my pictures from Seattle and Berlin.

So there's proof - we are loving it here! While it will be sad to go back to Rexburg, it will also be kind of nice. We have adventures waiting for us back home - backpacking, our marathon, and fall semester, oh my! Life is good, as usual.

Peace, from the Watkins'!

New State, New Adventures!

Who would have thought that summer could be this awesome? We are currently in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and it is so much fun. Daniel is on his third week of his internship at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he is working for the Department of Homeland Security. It is a lot of material to learn, but he is really enjoying it!

We left Rexburg on June 4th for or week long adventure. Our first stop was in Brigham City, Utah to visit Daniel's aunts and their families! While we were there, we played tennis and went mountain biking with Sherri, and ate curry and talked with Laura and Kevin and their family.

Then we went to Lagoon. Which was awesome! And a little frigid. It was my first time ever going to Lagoon, and we had so much fun riding on roller coasters! Wicked was the best - it was the only one that Daniel wanted to ride more than once. What can I say? We had a blast!

That night (Tuesday), we went to Daniel's aunt's house, who lives in Walsburg, UT and we stayed there. I'd say that the chickens just love Daniel. I can't say that I blame them...

On Wednesday, we headed to Provo, UT. Daniel's awesome sister Becky is going to school there, so we went to visit her and her new boyfriend Jeff, who is also awesome. Daniel gave the brotherly stamp of approval!

Then we went bowling with a couple of Daniel's cousins and their wives! That was fun! Without gloating, I would like to point out that... I WON!! Bowling is now my favorite game ever! I finally have a chance of beating Daniel at something!

Thursday and Friday were spent in Moab, UT, in fun adventures of hiking, mountain biking, and eating at fun-looking diners. What a blast!! Daniel and I had so much fun exploring. Our first day we went mountain biking on Klondike Bluffs, which was very difficult. I had to get off my bike and walk several times. Daniel is a champion though.

On Friday we went to Arches National Park, which was also awesome. We didn't go on any of the big hikes, but we did find out that you really have to hike a little further in to see the truly awesome arches. Like this one!

The last day of our week vacation, we went to Mesa Verde in Colorado. That was incredible too. We learned about the previously nomadic Native Americans who decided in 1200-1300's ish, "hey, this cliff looks like a nice place to live for a while!" So they built their houses out of the cliff, and they have been preserved very nicely.

On Sunday, we arrived in Los Alamos, New Mexico, just in time for Daniel to start his internship on Monday. After an entire week of traveling and doing amazingly fun things, we were both ready to relax for a bit and get back into business as usual. In a different state.

It's really kind of fun - I'm getting a taste of what it would be like to be a stay-at-home wife. I really hope it's more entertaining with children running around, but I'm really enjoying the time that I have to do all the things that I wish I could do when I don't have any time. This week I'm going to start working at the hospital, and I'm very excited for that.

Wahoo!