Christmas With The Youngs

We spent Christmas in Colorado with Greg's family. It was fun watching his little brothers and sisters open gifts. They were so excited about everything. We had a fabulous dinner Christmas day and then spent the rest of the night playing games and Guitar Hero. Turns out there are a few dancers in the family and some wish-they-were-musicians.
Julia
Jacob and John
Greg's Dad, Grace, Angela, and Joshua

We have had so much fun visiting the fam and Greg's had a blast playing with his brothers John and Jacob. We are sad to go, but they are coming out to stay with us in March for Greg's brother Garrett's wedding. We are gonna have a FULL house!

We are headed to Utah Tuesday to visit for New Years, then its back to Idaho to hopefully find some jobs and attend another semester of school.

Soda Pop Stoves

On campus each semester the Outdoor Activities program does a few Survival Clinics where they teach you skills to, well, survive. Greg and I went to one last Thursday and made these really cool little stoves to put with our emergency preparedness stuff. You can use rubbing alcohol, the stuff used to get water out of your gas tank, and even hand sanitizer as fuel. They stay lit for about 10 minutes, just enough time to boil a small cup of water :D I thought these were such a cool idea! Instructions on how to make them can be found at backpacking.net/makegear. (sometime I'll ask Greg how to make those little links to click on)

HOLY COW!

I can't believe its almost THANKSGIVING We are almost done with school! I can't believe it. I just need to hang on a little longer... Saturday was a mini triathalon at school and Caytlin, Maggie, and I raced against our husbands and WON! WOOHOO! Maggie did the swimming (12 laps in the pool) and beat everyone that was in the pool, then Caytlin got on the bike (she pumped hard for 5 miles) and when she finished, I did the running (2 miles indoors, 22 laps). We were soooo proud of ourselves! Teach those bums to think that just cuz they're boys they can win bahhahaha! Maggie and Bryce took all the pictures so hopefully they'll send me some to post :D

Halloweenie

We have been brainstorming and planning and getting excited for our ward Halloween party. We are supposed to bring and then decorate a cake with our ward FHE group. After hours of searching Google for great ideas, we decided to make a graveyard scene with two 9x13 cakes. We went out yesterday to buy all the accessories and after sampling all of them, will hopefully have stuff left to actually decorate with! The party is Friday so I will post pictures of the finished product.

We are also planning a Halloween party. Last night we started decorating and were there till well after midnight. But I'm sure all the hard work will pay off, right? =) Greg and I still haven't figured out what we are going to be, and I decided I'm going to leave it up to him to decide since he didn't really like any of my ideas... (news anchormen, american gladiators, or tourists)

There's only 8 weeks left till the end of finals, minus the week off for Thanksgiving, and we only have 7 weeks left! Its so crazy how fast this semester has gone by!

Another Adventure

Our friends Bryce and Maggie invited us to their grandparents' house for dinner. They have an awesome place and all kinds of fun stuff to play with (Bryce's grandma has this huge scrapbook room that I spent like 25 minutes just looking at). Before we even went in to say hello to his grandparents we saw a little zip line and the boys had to give it a try. The only problem was that it needed to be oiled or something, because they only made it about half-way across before they got stuck!

Bryce was the first to get stuck in the middle, and he had to decide to hang on or just fall in.

I hopped in this paddle boat that happened to be ready for a rescue

Bryce hung on till I could get over there. It took me a while since its been a LONG time since I've been in one, forgot how to steer =)Christian decides to test his luck too.

Then of course Greg decides to join in too!

But he decided he wanted to get in head first

We were worried the boat would sink with 5 people on the boat (Christians date Hyson tried it too)

But we made it safely, with nobody falling in, back to shore! And Maggie was the wonderful photographer. Thanks Maggie! Oh, then we met the grandparents =)

We're Online

Its official! We now have the internet. And its our own too. We aren't stealing wireless from neighbors! Greg's brother Tim is in town for the weekend, so Greg's been taking him to all the good food places in town (Craigos Pizza, Big Judds, the Taco Bus, etc) He also took him shotgun shooting and they had a great time blowing up old squash and apples and anything else they could find to shoot in the garage.

I went on a backpacking trip for a class that was supposed to be for two nights but after the first night everyone was ready to go home. Its snowed on us all throughout the night and didn't look like it was going to let up. So we only ended up hiking about 8 miles total, and didn't get in all the experiences we were supposed to, but I learned a lot. I learned that I like camping but will never do it again in the winter. I also learned that water purifiers freeze, camp stoves don't always work even if you test them before your trip, tents are not fun to put up in the dark, and the food you plan doesn't always turn out as good as you imagined. But I got to meet some fun people and overall we had a good time. Even when we got back to our van and it didn't start. Everyone kept a very positive attitude.

We ALMOST have the internet!

So I am not yet posting from home, but will soon be blogging from the comfort of my own home because we are FINALLY getting the internet! Greg called around for a couple days to find the best deal and we should be online on Friday.

What Beautiful Babies!

This is Greg and David admiring our little bundle of joy, Wallace. Oh, and that's David's son Taber. In this photo Taber was about a month old.

About two weeks ago on a Saturday we went with our good friend Mike and his sister Natalie out to the ice caves north of Rexburg. Garrett came along and we all had a blast slipping and sliding on the ice as we explored the cave. Its really amazing that it was 75 degrees outside, but we went about ten feet into the mouth of the cave and immediately the temperature dropped at least 20 degrees. From the mouth of the cave, you kind of hunch over and walk over some stones and BAM! There's the ice. From then on you have to slide and push yourself along the ice that forms on the floor of the cave. We took somebody's old skateboard and would take turns running and then jumping on the board to see how far we could slide. We had a great time and aside from the EXTREMELY rough road to get to the cave, can't wait to go again!

Embarrassing?

Ever had those moments you remember from your childhood that you just wish you could forget ever happened-or better yet, wish that they had NEVER happened. Well this is one of my not-so-proud-moments from my childhood that I had forgotten about till we went to Utah and stayed at my dad's. This is what Greg happened to find written on the wall.

Who is Jessica? Or Jesseka rather? That doesn't need to be disclosed, however, apparently I didn't really like her and decided to make it known to anyone who entered the dark recesses of our basement. Fortunately for me, Greg didn't find out my hateful tendencies until AFTER he sealed the deal. I knew I should have helped paint the downstairs when I was little. Now my secret's out.

LAST WEEK!

This is our last week in St. Louis! I am always so excited to go home and be done for the summer. Since we've been married, Greg and I have moved 6 times and lived in 4 states, Idaho, Minnesota, Kentucky, and Missouri. I've always wanted to spend a summer in Rexburg, but who knows.

I started packing a few things last week, things that we wouldn't be needing (I hope we wont need them again) and am itching to clean and pack up the rest of the apartment. I gave Wallace his last bath for the summer, and cut his hair again. I won't post pictures because believe it or not, it looks worse that the last time we had it cut.

Greg is working hard to get in his last sales of the summer. He is ready to be done! Poor guy works so hard all summer. I feel guilty I didn't work this summer and got to lay around at the pool and he had to sweat and sweat and sweat! while I did whatever I wanted to that was generally in an air-conditioned building.

Greg promised we'll be getting the internet when we get back to Rexburg, so I am planning on doing all kinds of blogging about our super eventful life and our thoughts about it :D until then!

Mikki signing out

Grant's Farm

Grants Farm is another awesome "free" attraction. (You DO have to pay for parking, but if you can cram enough people into your car, you only pay a couple bucks) There is this tram that takes you all around the farm, which is great when you have a way way pregnant lady with you, and is even more great when its July and 90 something degrees with 80 something percent humidity! Its not your typical farm, although they do have horses, steers, and goats. There was a plethora of nearly endangered deer, and they also had lamas, eagles, and camels. We had a great time, however, my advice to anyone wishing to visit St. Louis, is to go in September :D

St Louis Summer

Albert Pujols hitting a home run at the Cardinals game. Caytlin and I scored free tickets from a guy at church. 

We were sitting out in the sun for about 15 minutes before we got way to hot and went inside in the air conditioning. 
We made a trip to Grants Farm to see the Budweiser clydesdales and a bunch of other animals. There are so many fun free things to do in this city! It was super hot, but aside from our makeup melting off, we had a great time.
We got to go paintballing one morning. Turned out I was the only girl that showed up. It was my first time ever, and I had a blast! I didn't enjoy the sting when I got hit, but hitting other people was way worth it!

Trip To The Groomer

Wallace got his first trip to the groomer. He was there for 4 hours! He looks so funny now. And everyone that saw him after he got back laughed at him. Poor Wallace. Even Greg said he looked ridiculous. Yorkie hair grows fast so hopefully he'll start looking cute again!

BEFORE



AFTER

St Louis

We have been in St. Louis now for a month and are loving it. There is so much to do here and its all so close! The zoo, the arch, tons of malls, and best of all, the temple is only ten miles from us! There are 11 wives out here with us this summer and we have formed our own mini Relief Society, with a monthly calendar and everything. We get together almost every day to do something. Lucky for me, a few of them even like scrapbooking. 

As soon as I figure out where I left my camera, I'll upload some pictures from the past few days.

Not Spring Yet

I knew I shouldn't get my hopes up when there was about a week of good, snow-free weather. But that is easier said than done. And I was sorely disappointed when Sunday afternoon we practically had a blizzard. We went into church with clear roads and a strong wind, we came out of church with snow blowing horizontally into our faces. The roads and lawns quickly became covered in snow and parts of I-15 were closed because of all the snow. Have I ever mentioned that I hate snow? Well I do. And never more than that Sunday afternoon.

The good news? We have one week and three days left of school! Wahoo!!! We don't get a Spring Break here at BYU-Idaho, but we get out a whole heck of a lot earlier than anybody else. So Nanner nanner NANN-ER!!! with love, Mikki

Little Things

I am so grateful for all the little things. Today anyway. I went running and there were puddles everywhere and lots of mud. But my feet are dry and my clothes are mud free. That's just awesome. I got my nike+ to work. I've been trying for a couple weeks to make it work and finally figured it out. I got out of class a little early when I was in a time crunch. I was working out Saturday on the elliptical, which I hate, and was moving along thinking how bored I was when my friend Maggie brought me two magazines that she was done reading - a total life saver! made  my workout go so much faster. I called my mom for a random favor and she was very willing to do it. Greg has been a little sick the past few days. I'm not. Sweet! I was in a group that had to plan an activity for class and we pulled it off Saturday. The teacher even commented on how great our activity went and how organized it was (This was cool because the whole time I kept thinking what a flop it was). Well I'm done now.

8 Things About Mikki

Favorite TV Shows:

1. Arrested Development

2. The Office

3. Heroes

4. The Simpsons

5. Seinfeld

6. Friends

7. What Not to Wear

8. Design On A Dime

Things I did Yesterday

1. Went to Class

2. Ran with my awesome running buddy Aubrey

3. Took a test and bombed it

4. Went to microbiology lab and played with bacteria

5. Coveted my husband's phone (I have had the same phone since high school and I love it, it works great, but sometimes I just you know, want a new one)

6. Went to a jewelry party

7. Read Runner's World magazines

8. Slept on an air mattress so I could sleep through the night without my puppy waking me up

Things I look Forward To

1. My puppy finally being potty trained

2. Long Hair

3. Running the Canyonlands half marathon in a few weeks

4. Spending all day with my sisters at the scrapbooking retreat. WAHOO

5. Drinking my next Mountain Dew

6. The snow melting

7. Flowers

8. Getting a new pair of running shoes

Favorite Restaurants

1. Craigo's Pizza

2. Tucano's

3. Brick Oven

4. Red Robin

5. Hard Hat

6. Wingers 

7. Little Caesar's

8. Wendy's

Wish List

1. A cool running log

2. New Nike+

3. A sweet new digital camera

4. A Massage

5. A new car (For Greg. I want to drive our 4 runner)

6. Unlimited Gorilla Munch ice cream ( can't get enough of that banana flavored ice cream with chunks of oreo and peanut butter mmmm)

7. No neighbors ( I always wonder if they can hear me. I almost never hear them, but I'm paranoid they can hear me)

8. My own yard to plant tons and tons of Dahlias and Daisies

I tag Brittany and Maggie 

Callings

I just got called to be the Enrichment Leader in our ward and I have to plan the Relief Society Birthday Party that is going to be held in March. Its coming so fast and I have no idea what I'm doing! I can't seem to remember any of the ones that I went to in the past and I want my first big event to be a real hit. I googled "Relief Society Birthday" and all the ideas that came up sounded so boring. Baaahh!!! What to do...

Summer's Comin!

The draft is over and the verdict is in. Drum roll please! We are going to FORT WORTH TEXAS !!!
Greg is pretty excited. Fort Worth was in their top 5 cities, I think it was actually their number two choice. I have never been to Texas but basically all I've heard is that it is HOT!

Its nice knowing where we will be this summer so we can start looking for apartments and fun things to do. (Its not Houston Brittany, but its kinda close...) I guess now I can really break in my boots and cowboy hat. I know nothing about Texas except its big, people from there are VERY proud of their state, and most of the people I've met from there talk a lot. Guess its time I start "google-ing" and find out more about our soon-to-be town.

Upcoming Draft!

This weekend Greg and his co-manager David will get to choose where we are going this summer! The waiting is almost over. I'm excited about this summer. We are going to have a great group of guys on the sales team, but we're also going to have a fun group of girls too! One of the girls going out with us, Aubrey, is my new running buddy. She is an awesome motivator and I'm really looking forward to running this summer with her as she trains for a marathon in May and I hope to get into the Top of Utah Marathon in the fall.  

Snowmobiling

Last weekend Greg and I were able to go snowmobiling in West Yellowstone with my sister Alicia and her boyfriend Jeff. It was my first time, and to be honest, it wasn't my favorite, but it was fun. The great thing was that I didn't get too cold, which has never happened before. Anytime I do anything centered around snow I FREEZE. Everybody had a good time and thankfully no one got hurt. The biggest mishap is in the video below. Jeff got a little too gutsy I guess, and tried going up a small hill. 

Complaints Department

I understand that by teaching others you learn way more in the process of studying and preparation than you would learn otherwise, but I'm tired of group presentations! In every single class this semester, we have to do some sort of group presentation and in a few of my classes, we are required to do MULTIPLE group presentations. I hate them. That is all.

Christmas

This is William Wallace our new puppy. Santa brought him for me for Christmas. Greg wasn't too thrilled with the silverware Santa brought for him, but Santa was good to me this Christmas. We spent Christmas at our house in Rexburg and really enjoyed just being together. Greg's brother Garrett stayed with us for a few days and then puppysat while Greg and I visited my brother Landon and his family in Las Vegas.  School will be starting again here in about two days and I'm not sure I'm ready. I think another two weeks of Christmas break are in order. Oh well.