Greg and Mikki

The end of January.

2012-01-31T21:50:00.006-07:00

The end of January is here! Hello February. This has been one of the weirdest winters I've ever spent in Rexburg, but I can't complain. There has hardly been any snow and its already FEBRUARY! This last week was my birthday, and it was difficult to admit that I'm this old. Which really isn't that old, but it seems old enough to me. A quarter of a century... wowzers! Well here are some highlights from my birthday. I went to Millhollow, one of my favorite sandwich places. They have the best turkey BLT mmm mmm MMM! The sandwich was followed closely by a chocolate frozen yogurt with butterfinger swirled in. Yum!

Sometime after we got married, I tried the jumbleberry pie at Frontier Pies and decided to get it instead of a cake for my birthday. Every year since, I've had my own pie on my birthday. Sometimes I share, and sometimes I don't. Whatever. But this year I DID actually share. In the pictures below, you can see how MUCH I shared... and how much I got to eat later on :)

We went bowling with the Daltons

and Garrett

And had a lot of fun. The best part was changing everyone's names while it was their turn, so then the next time they got a strike or spare they got to see what their new name was. I think that was more fun than the actual bowling... I'll have to work on my game.

I wanted to get into Valentines a little more this year, or rather, I was bored and wanted an excuse to buy crafty things, so below are a couple pictures of what I've been working on. They're a little dark. (thank you Pinterest for the ideas!)

And this little beauty I found randomly when I had the itch to make myself some waffles for lunch one day. I pulled out the waffle iron to start heating it up, mixed up the waffle batter, then lifted the lid to spray it. When what to my wondering eyes should appear...

but an old waffle from like a week an a half ago. GROSS

2012

2012-01-05T14:05:00.008-07:00

Here are a bunch of photos from our Christmas vacation:

Bailey using my phone case as a flip flop.

I sent Greg to get some wrapping paper. Apparently he didn't like Wal Mart's prices. So he came home with two huge rolls of wall paper from DI instead. That was a first!

I can't believe its a new year already! Time has just been flying by. Since we've been home from Delaware, we've been to Colorado twice, Utah FIVE times, and have had family come to visit us. Its been a crazy 3 months! The holidays were wonderful. It was so much fun to spend them all with family. We are so blessed to have such an amazing family. We hope this new year brings peace and much happiness to everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-25T21:25:00.002-07:00

So this is a day late, but that's how I roll. We had a good Thanksgiving and were lucky to have family up here to spend the day with. Greg's mom moved up here this summer and she invited us to eat at her home. Greg's brother Garrett and his wife, Josie, were also there. I bought my first ham ever! Which was awesome -love ham. And Greg made the mashed potatoes. It was such a relaxing day. And then to top it off, Garrett and Josie came over to our house after dinner with her family, and we played Monopoly. All the way through. I haven't done that it a looong time.

Well as I write this, I feel sort of lazy and bored, and it has reflected in my typing. So I'm just gonna be happy that I've updated and call it quits. :)

November

2011-11-19T10:49:00.003-07:00

Its crazy how quickly time flies! Its already mid November, Sheesh! I was talking to a lady on the phone the other day, (I work at Artco, a paper company, taking in-bound calls for customer service and placing orders for cards) and this lady was saying she not only had all of her Christmas decor up, but this order that she was placing for business cards was the very last of her Christmas gifts she had to get done. I couldn't believe it! I haven't even THOUGHT about what to do for Christmas.

Anyway, since my last post in October, I got a temporary job, started working out with Maggie again, decorated my house for Christmas :)

my dad got baptized

This is the whole family minus a nephew (Hunter), and a sister-in-law (Kristin). We'll have to see what magic we can work with photo shop.

I made some bread and it was good for the first ten minutes after it came out of the bread machine (when it was still warm) and then it tasted really blah. So Greg and I took a little trip over to the Nature Park to feed the rest of the bread to the ducks.
We started organizing a bit and we realized Greg has a little hat problem. He NEVER wears these hats. The only hat he ever wears is this old beanie because he thinks it helps keep his hear from getting poofy.

And this picture I thought was funny. We had Greg's brothers Garrett and Matthew as well as Matthew's wife Heather sleeping over at our house. Greg and I came downstairs and saw this and both turned to each other so confused at first, like "what the heck?" then we realized, Matthew and Heather got up at 6 to go to the temple and apparently didn't want to make too much noise as they got their breakfast before they left. So they left all the cupboards and drawers open as they got out bowls, spoons, and cereal. It made us laugh :)

Random

2011-10-12T12:47:00.004-06:00

While we were in Colorado we hit up the zoo. Greg's family has yearly passes so we got to go for free! I don't think I could ever get tired of the zoo-I love it! We had a great time with Angela, Joshua, and Grace.

This is Joshua and I trying to feed birds. It was this cool little room filled with tons of different birds flying loose all around the room.
This is Grace. We went to this fun little diner to eat breakfast one morning and Angela ordered a pancake for Grace and they brought out this GINORMOUS pancake. She's 2 :) haha! We had a great time and Greg and I love breakfast any time of the day. Her expression is perfect.

AWESOME DI FINDSThis shot didn't do it justice, but I just bought that mug with the fruit on it for cocoa. It will fit 3 times the amount as that little black one. I'm so excited!!!!!

And this little beauty I bought for $2. I have a little pink one that I spent over $30 on about 4 years ago that is a little too tight. This one will be PERFECT. The straps adjust and the pocket is even better than my old one. I don't always find cool stuff when I frequent DI but this last trip was pretty sweet.

Greg's knocking duds. After months of wearing the same shorts and same shoes every day, they get pretty worn out. They were retired after the summer. Goodbye worn out clothes!

Wallace decked out in Evergreen :)

Heenternet

2011-10-11T12:51:00.002-06:00

After a few phone calls, assurances, and a few more phone calls later, we have internet. I'm glad I'm married to Greg for MANY reasons but after yesterday I'm reminded how glad I am that I'm married to Greg for his amazing talent of talking to people and persuading them to do what he wants.

We called Quest which is now Centurylink or something like that, to hook up our internet again since we disconnected it while we were away for the summer. They gave us a great rate yada yada yada, it would be connected on Monday. Well Monday came and almost went and still no internet, so late Monday night Greg calls to figure out why it wasn't working, and the sales rep or cust service person (whatever he was) proceeded to tell him that since the company changed over, the modem we had was outdated and the only thing he could do for us was to send us a new modem (at the Oh, so affordable rate of $5 per month to RENT). Incredulously, Greg asked, "Seriously? There is nothing else you can do?" To which the Rep responded, "Let me see if I can save you some money somewhere else to make up for the modem... Do you have a TV?"

Greg says, "Yes. A big one."

"We can go ahead and set you up for cable included for only $50 a month. oh and it is a two year commitment."

Greg: "Are you serious? Do people actually ever say 'yes' to that?"

Rep: "Sometimes."

Greg: "HAHA. No I don't want that. Do not sign me up for ANYTHING. Just transfer me over to tech support."

Elevator music begins to play...

Tech support comes on the phone. They reset the router and give Greg the Authentication Key and BAM! Suddenly we have internet. Without having to lease a new modem and without having to sign up for stupid cable that we couldn't possibly care less about! Seriously? Seriously. If we weren't getting such a screaming deal...

Anywho, we are home and happy to be here. It been a fun, relaxing week. Now to get busy and find ourselves some jobs!

HOME

2011-10-02T13:28:00.002-06:00

We are finally going home and I am so excited!
We flew into Denver Tuesday Sept 27th and stayed a few days with Greg's family. We went to the zoo and fed giraffes, saw some big bears wrestle, and a whole bunch of other fun animals (one-handed monkeys included). We hung out and played games and ate delicious food :)

Saturday we flew into Salt Lake City and went to dinner with my mom. It was funny as it got later, more and more white-shirted men came into the restaurant after the Priesthood Session of Conference got over. We are staying in Utah a few days and then headed back home to Idaho! Yeehaw!

NACHOOOO!!!!!

2011-08-06T19:55:00.005-06:00

"They think I don't know a buttload of

crap about the Gospel, but I do!"

"Save me a piece of that corn!"

"So anyways, lets get down to the nitty gritty..."

"My life is good. Real good."

Finally Friday!

2011-07-29T21:24:00.002-06:00

I look forward to Fridays. I've always loved Fridays and when its Friday, its means we are one day closer to Saturday which is even BETTER than Friday, because it means we are one day closer to Sunday! Did you get all that? Basically I just like the weekend. And I'm really looking forward to just laying around Saturday night and laying around some more on Sunday.

This week we have been running on frozen Pot Pies, chicken nuggets, and some old rice crispy treats I made last Sunday night (just finished the last of them this morning). We have been so busy working and doing training meetings, we haven't had much time to go to the store and it makes me shake my head in shame when I think about how unhealthy we have become. Yes, we do walk around all day long, which is great exercise. And yes, we do stay out in the heat, which makes us sweat like crazy. This means we aren't gaining weight or anything-quite the opposite actually. But this doesn't mean we are fueling our bodies properly and it goes against everything I've learned my entire LIFE! But somehow, despite the subconscious sabotaging-they keep on plugging along... for now.

Evergreen Machine

2011-07-26T23:49:00.002-06:00

We have been out here for three months now. It has gone by so fast-just August and September left. We have been out knocking in some of the crappiest weather, all to bring the residents of New Castle County these beautiful babies. Seriously. Have you ever seen better looking trash cans? I think NOT!

The pictures below are from one of the silly things we did during one of our training meetings. Its called "Bear, Hunter, Hooker". Similar to "Rock, Paper, Scissors" but a little more interesting. Its almost impossible to play without laughing. Bear kills the hooker, hooker kills the hunter, and hunter kills the bear. The winner got $$$. Kyle won.

We went a few weeks without hitting our dinner goal, but luckily the last 2 weeks we made it! Its always more fun getting to go out on someone else's tab! Hopefully these next two months just fly by as quickly as the first couple. I'm sure they will. And before we know it, we'll be back in the cold of Idaho.

Heat Wave

2011-07-22T18:30:00.002-06:00

So its been really hot lately. The thing that drives me nuts is how much the news is covering this heat wave. Its SUMMER time. It gets HOT. We don't need every news channel on every station at every hour of the day to remind us that we don't want to open our doors or windows or even THINK about leaving the comfort of our air conditioned homes.

Sincerely,

Mikki Young

Day at the pool

2011-06-24T08:30:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was our first time trying out the pool at our complex. We told ourselves that if we could hit our sales goal for the day as an office, we would skip our training meeting the next day and go play at the pool and get pizza. Thankfully we hit our goal so we were able to go play a little!

I've never felt so white! I have the weirdest tan lines from wearing capris every day. It was the first time my shoulders have seen the sunlight in over a year, so needless to say, they got a little toasty. We played in the pool for about 2 hours and then stuffed ourselves with pizza. We had a great time and I can't wait till we can have our next pool day.

Our sales team:

Mike, Chelsea, Mikki, Greg, Matthew, Jared, Lindsay, and Kyle

New Addition

2011-06-12T09:00:00.003-06:00

This picture is super old, but I'm so excited my little brother is out here finally. He flew in last Monday night at like midnight. He made it through his first week of sales and has done awesome so far. Its already been more fun since he's been here. AND next Friday Matthew will be out here so it will be even better. Greg and I love having our family around!

We have been running into a lot of other door-to-door salesmen lately while we've been out knocking. That makes for a frustrating day. One because they are kind of jerks (I won't mention which ALARM company) - harassing us about licensing and they have even called the police telling them "There's a suspicious-looking person wandering the neighborhood in a bright fluorescent green shirt." The cops don't do anything when they stop us, but its still frustrating to have your day interrupted. The funny thing is that we service a TON of cops in this area with our trash pickup anyway. Whatever. And two, nobody wants to talk to more than one sales person on the door in a single day. On a better note:

Ever heard of Water Ice? Well if you aren't from the east coast that makes sense. I've heard of ice. I've heard of water. I've even heard of ice water. But not "water ice" Now let me introduce you to ....

This place is so so GOOD! This was our first experience with what everyone in Delaware calls water ice. Its like a thick slurpee but better. And they have delicious flavors: Swedish fish, juicy pear, strawberry margarita, key lime, the list goes on and on. You can even mix them with custard to make them creamier. When we hit our daily goals for sales Rita's is our reward. It's the perfect end to a hot, humid day. Well, that and a cold shower.

This Week

2011-05-22T14:57:00.002-06:00

Well this is our new Delaware ride. For now. . . Hopefully it will last us at LEAST until the end of the summer! We left our 4-Runner in Utah (trying to sell it) and flew out here. It was so weird not having a whole car full of stuff. We thought our apartments from previous summers seemed empty, but they are nothing compared to this summer. We have hardly anything out here with us. Its been interesting trying to improvise without things I would normally have. Even something so simple as having the lid to a pot to help steam vegetables.

Anyway, we bought the car from this Asian guy who has been going to school out here and apparently decided to upgrade to a much newer car. This is a 96 Acura. It leaks oil which makes it smell awful, like something is burning (oil) but like I said, hopefully it will last the duration of the summer. And it is finally registered, thanks to Bryce back in Idaho!
The tan lines have begun! We haven't even had that many days of full sunshine, but already I can see a definite sock line. Much different from the flip flop line I'm used to from the summer. Yesterday was super sunny and I actually got burned on my forehead and arms a bit. I tried to drink lots of water but couldn't keep up with the heat of the sun. It won. I got so hot and had an awful headache. Next time I'm wearing sun screen and a HAT!
We've hit our dinner goals two weeks in a row! As an office we set a goal at the beginning of the week and when we hit it on Saturday we go out to eat courtesy of the owners. We went to Roadhouse last week and Red Robin yesterday. It is super fun since the rest of the week we don't do anything except work, come home, eat gross food (frozen burritos, frozen pizza, or something else equally unappetizing), and sleep.

Greg has been doing awesome. Yesterday was his first double digit day. He was so, so happy! Hopefully there will be many more days like it for him :) Days like that help boost his confidence and then there's no slowing him down!

MOTHER'S DAY!

2011-05-08T14:35:00.003-06:00

It seems like the last mothers' day I can remember getting to actually spend with my mom was quite a few years ago. We were at my sister's house, and all of us had pitched in to get her this cute little decorative table. So it would have to have been at least 4 years ago. SAD. And this year is yet another that I will spend away from my dear Mum. But she has been on my mind.

So one of the small benefits I've received from being married the last 4 years is at church every Mother's Day they count me as one of the "mothers". I remember getting a big Symphony bar in Minnesota, a begonia in Kentucky, sadly I can't remember what they gave us in St Louis or last year in our ward in Idaho, but this year...

Pepperidge Farms Milano cookies! So delicious! Thank you Wilminton 2nd Ward!

Honey Smacks

2011-05-06T09:31:00.003-06:00

So weird, random little fact about Honey Smacks-or at least the generic version. They make your pee smell just like them! Its weird and a little gross. You should get a bag and test it out haha!

We've been here for one week as of yesterday. I was surprised that it had already been a whole week and then at the same time sort of shocked that it had only been a week. I didn't realize how homesick I would get. I really miss Idaho. But I'm trying hard not to think about it, so I won't dwell on it. I want to make a paper chain with all the days left in the summer and write little uplifting things on some links and then incentives on some others to make things a little more fun.

I've decided that sales is definitely one of the toughest jobs ever. But its been going pretty well so far. In fact, we've surprised the owners with how well we've done this first week as beginners, well, Tim and I anyway. Greg is not a beginner. As of right now, we have 2 girls selling and 2 guys. In a few weeks we'll have a couple more sales people. I'm excited for my little brother Jared to get out here after his graduation. And Greg's brother Matthew will come out sometime in June for a few weeks to earn extra $$$ for his wedding! Super excited for him! And super excited for money. Just have to stay focused on goals...

The New Place

2011-05-01T18:34:00.003-06:00

This apartment has the tiniest little kitchen, which is funny because the rest of the place is huge and they really could have made the kitchen just a little bigger, but whatever.

I think its funny how apartment complexes never have ceiling lights. except in the kitchen and bathrooms. What about the rest of the apartment?! You have to buy a bunch of lamps-makes no sense to me because I would think that lamps would be more of a fire hazard. Luckily we were provided two lamps. One in the bedroom and one in the living room. Of the three other apartments we've lived in throughout the years of summer sales, this one is my favorite, just not the rest of the complex... Does anyone else who's lived in an apartment ever feel weird walking around outside, like everyone can see you and is watching you? Well I guess that's just me being super paranoid and self-conscious but its weird being new! We haven't been able to explore the area too much, but driving to church we saw quite a few really old old houses and lots of GREEN. This place is SO green. And there are these really pretty flowering trees everywhere that I'm going to have to find the name of and see if they can grow out west :)

New"ark" Delaware

2011-04-29T08:37:00.002-06:00

Not to be confused with Newark NJ.

Well we made it. I'm sitting in our new apartment in Delaware on a rented camel-colored couch that who knows how many butts have sat on, looking around the room. Its pretty large considering we only have enough furniture to fit in half the room. It seems larger still because we are on the top floor and it has vaulted ceilings.

This apartment complex it huge! There are apartments and town houses all around us. The closest grocery store or Walmart I could find on google was 4 miles away. I hope we find a car soon. We are renting a car for the first few days we will be here and then hopefully we can find something a little more permanent.

I'm trying not to psych myself out. Now that we're here in this new place I feel anxious about everything. Well even before we got on the plane I was feeling anxious. But hopefully we'll get into a good routine and start feeling more relaxed.

I'll post some picture soon!

New Post!

2011-02-20T20:33:00.004-07:00

I cannot believe how long its been since I've blogged. February is almost over! Looking back, I saw that January 17th I had tried to create a post and after much time and typing, I had quite the post. Blogger, however, was being finicky and wouldn't let me post it for some reason or another, and the post was saved as a "draft". THEN a few weeks a go-like 2, I created yet another post, only to have Greg tell me to remove it because he was embarrassed. Needless to say, I have had quite a time trying to update the ol' blog without somebody (Greg) or something (Blogger) getting in the way. So here's to attempt number 3. Hope it works.

So we are pretty sure that for the summer we are doing trash sales. This is where we dress up like the homeless, and go door-to-door trying to sell things we've picked out of local dumpsters. Never more truth to "one man's trash is another man's treasure"!

Ok not really. Well we are doing trash sales, but not like that. Basically we switch residents from a big trash removal service to a cheaper, local trash service. It will be a big change from alarms (according to Greg) and we are looking forward to it. We will be living in dun-dun-na-na!.............DELWARE!

As you can see from the lovely map above, that DE or Delaware, is quite a ways away from Idaho.

I'm really excited to get to see this part of the country and visit lots of cool historical sites not only in DE, but neighboring states as well! I've never been to the east coast at all.

Where we will be in DE is 2 hrs from Washington DC and 2 hours from New York and 1 hour from Philadelphia. Wowzers! This is gonna be an adventure! Now to just fit some sort of work schedule into my tourist schedule....

Oh Goodie!

2010-12-06T00:28:00.004-07:00

Spent the whole day today wanting to do everything I either couldn't or shouldn't. What's the DEAL!? Seriously. Luckily 5:30 FINALLY rolled around and Bryce and Maggie took me to their grandparent's house for dinner. I couldn't have been more relieved. Dinner was awesome and the company was even better!

Greg has been complaining lately that all of his socks have holes in them. Luckily he is resourceful and found another use for his socksPoor Wallace! He just laid down, kind of depressed and then when Greg called his name he started running into furniture. I'll admit, it WAS funny at first, but then I just felt bad for my little bud and took it off.

For one of my classes we did a blood cholesterol analysis. I was "borderline" for many of my values!
Then I realized why. . .

Hellooooo Saturated FAT!
Can we have some more bacon with those green beans? I'm seeing a little too much green.

Renee and I spent a few hours tonight making treats. Not sure why exactly, but I'm glad we did. Minus the fact that they are sugar, calorie, and fat-laden treats, we had such a fun time! I love having my cousins here! The other day I had spent the whole day doing homework and was getting pretty burnt out-to the point that I wasn't even getting anything done anymore, and Renee and Rach came over to watch Knight and Day. Hilarious! That is a funny movie and was such a great way to end my boring homework-filled day.

Break Time!

2010-11-22T00:50:00.004-07:00

LOVING the fact that we get a week off for Thanksgiving! The crazy thing is that I somehow have managed to plan a lot more stuff than I originally thought. If I do actually get all the things done that I need to, it wont be much of a break, but whatever.

We are having Thanksgiving dinner with two families here in Rexburg. The Kingstons and the Stevesons. Both families have kids so we should be sufficiently entertained for the day. I'm sad we won't be seeing any family for the holiday so I called and got recipes for my favorite dishes and am planning on making them, and making a LOT so I can have loads of leftovers! SO EXCITED!

Thought these were funny enough to share. . .

A little photo shoot with my little brother

My Mom. . .
Sister. . .
Niece. . .

Welp, time for bed. Looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow and not going outside if I can help it! It snowed a TON and as always, is super cold and windy.

Yumalicious

2010-11-04T23:40:00.002-06:00

So I have posted about German Pancakes before, but not German Pancakes with BUTTERMILK SYRUP! I found the recipe here. I have had buttermilk syrup only one other time in my life, and I loved it then too! Never having made the stuff before, I will issue one warning: It gets super bubbly and frothy as you boil it, so make it in a LARGER saucepan. I only have one (One day I'll graduate to a nice set of pots and pans, when I'm nicer, more mature, etc) smaller saucepan, not sure the proper measurements, but after it boiled over just a couple times, I had the most delicious syrup and even some left over to have on waffles tomorrow!

Now this isn't the healthiest of syrups as it calls for a cube of butter and almost a cup of buttermilk, but its delicious and oh so worth it.

The End

Punkins

2010-10-24T15:41:00.003-06:00

I LOVE holidays, especially Christmas and Halloween. So I got really excited when Greg's brother Garrett and his wife Josie wanted to carve pumpkins about two weeks ago! I've been way too busy to actually decorate my front door or anything. So we put our awesome pumpkins, that we carved to look just like Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street (minus Bert's unibrow, we are going to put a piece of black felt there), out on our porch. I am SO happy that we are being festive...Mine's Ernie. On the right.

10/10/10-cool

2010-10-10T20:41:00.004-06:00

I get excited when dates line up like today's. I remember how excited I was in junior high about 02/02/02. Its just fun and I'm a dork. Whatever.

ANYWAY...This has been a crazy/fun/tiring/exciting weekend. My cousin Rachael just got married so we had tons of family up here to celebrate. I just love seeing my family, I know I already said that in my last post-but again, whatever. I don't have any pictures yet, but she was a gorgeous bride and Andrew Sparhawk is one lucky man.

*Star it was so good to see you there! I just love you and Becky and Kat.

It is always the weirdest feeling after having a house full of people to suddenly be sitting here alone. Even my little bud seems out of sorts, just wandering around like he has no idea what to do with himself either. Its SO quiet... And kinda lonely. Hence the blogging, I guess. I better enjoy the relaxing that I have left this evening before another crazy week starts. I picked up some extra shifts at work and have a ridiculous amount of volunteer hours to complete for some classes-gonna be busy for like, the next 8 weeks! I guess that should keep me out of trouble though, or just make me pissy enough to cause more trouble than normal. WE SHALL SEE!

We love messing with Wallace, so we took apart his little crate. When he's in trouble or when we are leaving we tell him "CRATE!" and he runs in. So after we took it apart we said, "Wallace, crate!" and he hopped right in and sat there looking a little uncertain.

But even better was when we stopped messing with him and he crawled into the top part on his own and curled up in there. We couldn't get him to come out. Must've embarrassed him...

Mini Vacay

2010-09-02T20:03:00.005-06:00

Went down to Utah for the first time in a LONG time. It was such a great weekend. We were able to go down Friday morning and come back Monday night. I just love my family. It is so fun getting everybody together and having big dinners and laughing with them. And what a great little break from work! I needed it.We LOVE floating down the Provo river. In fact, we enjoy it so much that we actually went twice while we were there. About 5 years ago we got a bunch of these little blow up rafts, they have always worked great! . . . except the second trip down. We spent all this time making sure that all the rafts were river-worthy, no leaks, nothin'. but somehow about 2 minutes after we pushed off the bank, the one my mom and I were in started sagging. There was a hole! But with our muscles and mad paddling skills, oh! and super-duper awesomeness, we miraculously made it through. (these photos were from the first trip down on Friday, the second trip down was Saturday)

We went for a little bike ride up to Bridal Veil Falls. Greg had never been, so we hiked the little ways up to the falls and took like thirty photos before we got a good one (the one below with all 3 of us). It sure is pretty up there.

"This killin time is killin me..."

2010-08-12T23:12:00.002-06:00

Seems like the last 2 weeks Greg and I have had opposite work schedules. Both of us are working and that's great, don't get me wrong, but I just think it would be IDEAL if we were gone at the same times so that one of us (Me) wasn't sitting at home for forever (not really). Today I only worked until about 1, and then Greg went to work from 3 to 11:30 pm. So here is a list of things I did today in no particular order:

ate lunch

went for a walk

ate handfuls of jelly beans

went for a bike ride

took a nap

read my book

ate 2 packages of fruit snacks

ate second lunch

threw the ball for Wallace

vacuumed

read the Drivers Manual for Idaho

thought about eating more jelly beans

had dinner instead (but still secretly thinking of jelly beans)

I don't usually mind having time to myself, but I guess I just didn't plan well today or something and couldn't wrap my head around actually doing something productive like CLEANING or ORGANIZING or something... I heard the neighbors next door, the kids screaming and scampering all around their house, little feet pounding on the hardwood floor, and I think, "Oh ya, I want kids... right?" Then I hear their baby cry. . . And I'm positive that when its my turn, to have kids I mean, I'll be wishing for all this time that is currently killing me.

WALLACE

2010-07-28T17:06:00.002-06:00

This is what Wallace has been up to lately :)

His new best friend is Grace, our 4 year old neighbor. She comes over and peaks in our window, which makes Wallace bark like crazy, and she's gotten brave enough now to just come knock on our door or ring the bell, which also makes Wallace bark like crazy, to see if Wallace can play.

We showed Grace all the tricks he knows, so now she tries to get him to do them, and when he actually does respond to her commands, she says "thank you" and gives him leaves for treats. The crazy thing is, Wallace actually eats them. She has been coming over regularly now for the last 2 weeks. I have a hard time saying no to her, since she is getting him out to play, exercising him, and well, she's 4. The funny thing is that even as I am writing this, she knocked on the door and I'm finishing up this post outside to keep an eye on them :)

We got him these little tiny tennis balls with squeakers in them. There were three of them, and within about 20 minutes the squeakers were broken and he had torn off all the green fuzz. Worst 4 bucks I ever spent.

Ramblings

2010-06-01T20:23:00.002-06:00

Well May has sorta come and gone, flashed right on by. I don't know what happened-well, nothing did really. I finally remembered that we have a library here in Rexburg, checked out a few books, went to return those few books, only to find that my newly remembered library was closed for remodeling. I. was. Devastated. The worst part of the whole ordeal was that I checked out only 3 books, expecting to be able to go back quickly and get some new ones, and it turned out that one of the 3 I have already read and just didn't know it till I sat down to read it again, and it wasn't even that good the first time! The library is supposed to open again by next week, but knowing my luck, it will be postponed. (Sigh).

So anyway, work is fun and I'm getting a few more hours in as people are trying to get time off for vacations, and it just so happens that I have nothing else to do, so I take their shifts. Its definitely nice getting more hours since more hours = more money.

I also started playing on a co-ed rec. soccer team. I played with the same team last fall. I only know about 4 people on the team, even after playing with them previously, but whatever. I have really lost almost all the skill I acquired through the many years I played up to high school, but at least I can remember the rules, and hey, they need girls on the team, so no matter how bad I stink, I get to play :) Bahahaha unless they can track down a better, more skilled girl, but chances are they won't since the short season has already started. We started off the season with a 4-0 win! Nothing beats starting out as winners!!

The Marvelous Month of May

2010-05-19T22:57:00.005-06:00

So I was looking at the date of my last post and it was a long time ago, well just a month, but it really didn't seem like it had been that long. I'm shocked at how quickly this month is going by. I started working at Jimmy Johns, thanks to Maggie (I am positive I wouldn't have gotten hired without her) and am really loving it there. Its fast-paced (as long as there are people in the store) and I really like working with Maggie. This is my first time ever working "Fast Food".

I have had some extra time on my hands and remembered the library, so I picked up a few books and had heard somewhere that "The Hunger Games" was good, got that one and loved it! I recommend it to anyone looking for a good read. If anyone else has any good recommendations, please let me know.

So here are some pictures of some of the things we've been doing the last couple weeks:

So the following three photos are a result of reading "The Hunger Games", the main character Katniss is this amazing hunter and she goes around the whole book shooting this bow and arrow. So just like a little kid that watches a karate movie likes to do karate afterward, I REALLY wanted to just run through the woods and shoot stuff with a bow and arrow after reading this book. So my cousin Renee taught me how to shoot her bow. I would make a very poor hunter, but I think I killed the target.

These were from our hike up "R Mountain" here in Rexburg. It was a fun little hike, only took about 20-30 minutes, and we got back down just before the rain hit. It was an awesome view from the top, looking back towards Rexburg. And Wallace actually did really well. He surprised all of us with his stamina.

Leanna, Renee, and Rachael

This is supposed to be a quilt one day, but I started it, sewed about 5 blocks together, and got bored. This is gonna be one of those 5 year projects. I am not a quilter.
And below are some cool photos of some German Pancakes we had for dinner a few Sundays back. They got so big I had to keep moving the oven racks up to give them more room. They were delicious, but even better were the biscuits and gravy Renee helped me make. My absolute favorite thing to eat is biscuits and country gravy! mmm...Mmm!

In the summertime when the weather is fine...

2010-04-20T21:25:00.002-06:00

So I think its official that we are actually staying in Rexburg this summer. I love Rexburg. I'm super excited that we'll actually be here-which is when everyone says its the most fun in Rexburg. Now we can actually do the things I've always wanted to do during the summer- like spend time together :) Every summer Greg has sold security systems and is usually gone from about 10:30 am to 11:30 pm. Doesn't leave a ton of time to do fun summer-time stuff. So, now that we will be working normal jobs, we can actually go camping and have BBQ on weekdays or weekends-whatever we want! There are so many possibilities-they are endless! Now maybe after living here for almost 5 years, we can explore all the fun things to do in Rexburg that don't involve snow. I've got a big list of craft projects I want to do, camping trips to plan, and a little running to fit it there too. I want to get better at tennis, play soccer and ultimate frisbee, and play outside with the pup. Anyway, that's all really. Just happy :)

Greg Old's Birthday

2010-04-10T15:12:00.002-06:00

Thursday was Greg's birthday and I had to keep reminding him that it was coming up. I guess once you get older you just don't care as much about birthdays.

Greg got to go on a scavenger hunt for his birthday. When he found each clue there was an article of clothing that he had to put on. He started getting pretty worried after about 2 clues and he had orange pants and Gold shoes to put on. He called and said "This is terrible. I'm going to look like a clown on my birthday". Little did he know, that we all were dressed up waiting for him to show up at the bowling alley. We had a jello soda pop cake that was delish! And I can say that because I didn't make it :)

A Little Confused

2010-04-01T17:48:00.002-06:00

Greg just didn't understand why I needed all these downstairs, and to be honest, I don't really know either. He thought it was funny/annoying, that I was so cluttered.

A list of things Greg doesn't understand:

Me leaving any door in the house cracked-he likes them closed or open, not cracked.

Socks inside out.

PMS

Me wearing shoes in the house. No shoes inside period.

Why I wear his clothes

Why I leave belts in my pants when I put them in the dirty clothes pile

Why girls wear chapstick and lipgloss

How I can be getting dressed and change my shirt 4 or 5 times before settling on one

Why I don't think its necessary to color code my hangers in the closet

Why I need 3 pairs of sunglasses in the car (you never know when one may break, you need backup)

Next week is our 3 year wedding anniversary. Its amazing that its already been 3 years. I'm not sure how to describe it, it seems like we've always been married, but like the time has gone by so fast-I don't know. Anyway, I love being married and can't wait for many, many, many, many more years -oh wait, forever, to come :)

A Random Update

2010-03-10T23:00:00.004-07:00

In my sports medicine class we've been practicing taping for various injuries. I had to practice, and since it didn't really work to practice on myself, I recruited some help from my cousins. We are going to be tested on our taping next week, so I had to get lots of practice in.

Below are the lovely legs of Rachael and Renee, they were nice enough to let me practice on them. Rachael lucked out because all the wraps I did on her legs I put pre-wrap down first but poor Renee didn't get pre-wrap on hers so she had to just tear it off like a bandaid-a REALLY BIG Band Aid.
For Jumpers' Knee
Shin Splints
Arch Support above, and Achilles Tendonitis Below
Albertson's had this great sale on fruit snacks! For every 5 boxes you purchased, you got a coupon for $3.50 and since we LOVE fruit snacks. . . we bought 35 boxes! I've been eating about 3 packages a day and loving it! haha!
Greg sent this to me on my phone and I just laughed so hard. I love this picture because it is such a true depiction of cats and their high-and-mighty attitude and how the poor meek dog that is 4 times the size of that stinky cat just gets bossed around and kicked out of his own bed. And he has such a worried little face-the poor thing. So funny
Greg and I had a date night a few weeks ago where we made milkshakes built a little fort and watched a movie. It was so fun just being goofy. We planned on sleeping in it, but about 3 am we both woke up and realized how hard the floor was even with all the layers of blankets underneath us. We ditched the fort and went up to bed. What a relief! There is nothing better than sleeping in your own bed. I'm so grateful to have a comfy bed.

March Wahoo!

2010-03-03T22:55:00.002-07:00

February came so fast-and now its gone already! This semester has really flown by. Which is good in some respects and a little scary in others. Its good because that means I'm one semester closer to graduation, but bad because we have no idea what we are doing for sure this summer. I guess I should be used to the spontaneity of our lives, but I'm not really. We are currently watching the movie 2012, well I should say Greg is, I lost interest after about 5 minutes. Good thing it was free with a Redbox code.

It has been in the 40s lately here in Rexburg and I'm LOVING IT! The snow is melting and the awful ice ruts are almost gone in the driveway behind our house. I was chipping away at them with the snow shovel this afternoon until I got a blister on my hand- then it was time to stop.

While doing my internship this semester I've had the opportunity to work with two people with Alzheimer's. I've never met anyone with this disease before, only seen things on TV, and its been pretty eye-opening for me. I just met one guy who moved in last week, introduced myself and then he asked where I'm from. I said, "I'm from Orem, Utah." and he replied that he was from Provo right by the hospital. about 2 minutes later he again asked where I was from. I said, "I'm from Orem." and he said "Oh really? I'm from Provo, right by the hospital" He is such a sweet guy and the other resident with Alzheimer's is also very nice, they are two of my favorite people there at the Assisted Living center. I'm really enjoying planning activities for the residents. I'm planning a big event for the end of the month, a Potluck from Around the World, where missionaries or people who have studied abroad make different dishes from the country they visited. I'm excited to try different foods, but I'm not sure how the residents will react since they don't even like the food they normally eat.

Well I guess its back to the lame-o movie.

Crafty Randomness

2010-02-12T15:42:00.003-07:00

For one of the activities at the Teton House, the place I'm doing my internship, we made these little refrigerator magnets. The ladies that came picked out the paper they wanted and we put them together for them to take back to their rooms. I had a lot of fun doing it because I got my cousins Rachael and Leanna to come help. Everything is more fun when you have friends! I liked the magnets so much that I had to make some for my own fridge.
I found all of these wood scraps behind our house, so I went around and picked them all up (got the idea from my friend Brittany when she stilled lived here), and even made Greg hop in some dumpsters behind home construction sites to get other wood pieces. I sanded them down and painted these ones, I plan on covering the front with paper and trying to make them look cute. It will say L-O-V-E or H-O-M-E or something equally cliche ;-)
I got into a card-making frenzy and went nuts with paper and embellishments strewn about the room . I can't believe the HUGE mess I made, right after Greg helped me organize my scrapbook room . It really is a disaster. These are just a few that I actually thought to take pictures of. We also made cards at the Teton House, one lady wanted some for her 19th and 20th great granddaughters that will be born this month. I can hardly imagine having kids let alone 30-something grandkids and almost 21 great grandkids.
This is Wallace playing pool. He was going around knocking all the balls into the pockets. I was surprised he actually held still long enough to take a picture. He's a funny little guy. Tonight its just the two of us. Greg went snowmobiling with Bryce and Maggie and I couldn't go so Wallace and I are cuddling =) Tonight we are watching a movie at the Teton House and I'll be lucky if I can even get any of the residents out to do anything. Its funny because I would think these old people would want to come out to the activities I plan because I think, "What else are you gonna do but sit in your room and watch TV". But during the week only one or two show up. Oh well. Hopefully its fun for those 2 people that come.
For Josie's birthday her mom made this really cute cake shaped like a giant cupcake and I thought it was so cute I wanted to show it. Garrett and Josie are getting married in about a month! I'm so excited for them.

We finished season 5 of 24 and I just started season 6! Pretty sad how much I've gotten into it. Seems like we are always quoting something from it or I even had a dream where Jack Bauer was riding in the car with me and told me to put on my seatbelt. The next morning I got in the car to drive to school and I remembered so I quickly put on my seatbelt. Don't want any more visits from Jack telling me what to do.

February

2010-02-07T23:28:00.003-07:00

This has been a great week. Lots of time with friends and family, and topped it off with great church meetings Sunday. Its amazing how easily we forget that the Lord knows us, each person individually, then sends us little reminders. That's just one of the reasons I love going to church Sundays. I feel that the Lord speaks to me and answers prayers through people's comments during lessons and especially while singing hymns. I got a great reminder today about pride. This guy got up during Fast and Testimony meeting and explained that we don't need pride because the Lord loves us SO much, so there is no need to impress anyone else, just Him. That's a very simplified version, but pride is something I've been struggling with lately. Mostly just admitting when I'm wrong - I know, like that ever happens.

On another note, This is Wallace and his girlfriend Juicey. She's a Maltese and we want to bread them. Wallace fallows her around non-stop. Last Thursday we went to Josey's birthday party (Josey is Greg's brother Garrett's financee) and hung out for about 6 hours. Wallace never left Juicey's side and we would tease him by trapping him in a corner while Juicey ran off and Wallace would flip out! Anyway I thought this one was cute since it looks like he's kissing her ;-)

January

2010-01-24T10:33:00.002-07:00

This month is going by SO fast! I'm kinda glad though, that means Spring will come that much faster. Greg got a job, I got an internship, and we have been watching season 5 of 24. Life is good.

Greg is all finished with classes, he needs to do an internship (hopefully this summer) and apply for graduation! Woohoo! I have one more semester after this and then I should graduate in December!

We haven't figured out what to do with the rest of our lives after we graduate, but we are just enjoying NOT thinking about it. We have such great friends here in Rexburg and it will be sad to leave them, I'm sure we'll stick around for a while.

Wallace barks a LOT but is still super cute which helps me to not kill him every time he goes on a barking rampage. I wish it was warmer out so that I would actually enjoy taking him for walks. He seems to like the snow though, but I have to clean my floors way more often to get rid of all the paw prints everywhere. Greg's brother Garrett is getting married in March and we are looking forward to his family coming to visit for the wedding. It will be the first time Greg's dad has come to visit in Idaho. We can't wait.

Christmas With The Youngs

2009-12-28T10:59:00.004-07:00

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

2009-12-06T00:25:00.003-07:00

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!

2009-11-16T16:06:00.002-07:00

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

2009-10-29T09:23:00.002-06:00

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

2009-10-26T19:45:00.007-06:00

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

2009-10-10T09:25:00.002-06:00

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!

2009-09-29T17:48:00.006-06:00

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?

2009-09-17T11:33:00.005-06:00

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!

2009-08-24T15:57:00.002-06:00

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

2009-08-21T18:26:00.004-06:00

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

2009-08-11T15:16:00.003-06:00

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

2009-06-01T16:54:00.004-06:00

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

2009-05-28T09:21:00.002-06:00

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

2009-04-01T02:38:00.002-06:00

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

2009-02-23T19:45:00.002-07:00

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

2009-02-19T23:21:00.003-07:00

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

2009-02-19T23:08:00.002-07:00

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!

2009-02-07T17:21:00.004-07:00

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!

2009-02-03T20:26:00.002-07:00

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

2009-01-30T09:23:00.003-07:00

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

2009-01-23T10:03:00.004-07:00

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

2009-01-05T23:35:00.003-07:00

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.

The Grand Finale!

2008-12-12T17:24:00.006-07:00

School Is OVER! Well at least for a few weeks of Christmas vacation. Gregory is actually still working on some last minute stuff to turn in, but I'm done! We had a great Thanksgiving in Mississippi with Greg's grandparents and visiting his aunt and her family. We enjoyed playing games and just catching up. Gregory had so much fun looking at old pictures of his family growing up. We also ended up eating THREE Thanksgiving dinners!

We went on a cruise to Mexico with Platinum, the company Greg works for, and enjoyed some days in the sun and some great waves at the beach. I'll post pictures of that later (I don't have my camera with me).

This week we have neglected EVERYTHING since we were working so hard to catch up on the week of school that we missed while on the cruise, and taking all of our finals. But we did enjoy going to our friend Bryce's birthday party. These are pictures of Greg after the party at his new desk in the Platinum building.

These are a few pictures that were on Greg's iphone that were taken on the cruise. Some are a little blurry but you get the idea.

CHRISTMAS!

2008-11-19T12:59:00.004-07:00

I know its not even Thanskgiving yet, but I'm already excited for Christmas. Its the best holiday of the year. Greg was adamant that we weren't going to put up lights or decorations until AFTER Thanksgiving but when we were at Wal-Mart I talked him into getting a Christmas tree and he started getting into the spirit of things. We actually put the tree up two weeks ago! Now I just need to get my hands on some Christmas music (No comments Lesley) I have one Christmas CD but we've already listened to it at least 10 times. Its getting a little old.

Thing are getting a wee bit stressful as we are trying to get tests and homework done before the break. But we are excited to get to visit family. We'll be spending the few days before Thanksgiving in Mississippi with Greg's Grandparents and then flyig to Utah Thanksgiving day. We are really looking forward to vacation time! Wahoo!!

Do You Know Who This Is?

2008-10-30T17:48:00.008-06:00

This is the guy who once punched a man in his soul...

Also known as Greg's biological father Chuck Norris.

This is who will be sitting on our porch for Halloween. No chance of any misdeeds at our house.

When the Boogie Man goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.

Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.

There is no theory of evolution, just a list of creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to l ive.

Outer space exists because its afraid to be on the same planet as Chuck Norris.

Chuck Norris doesn't sleep. He waits.

Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC claiming Law and Order are the trademarked names for his left and right legs.

Chuck Norris is the reason Waldo is hiding.

Chuck Norris counted to infinity-twice.

Chuck Norris does not get frostbite, he bites frost.

Chuck Norris can lead a horse to water AND make him drink.

Chuck Norris can kill two stones with one bird.

Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table because he only recognizes the element of surprise!

2008-10-30T17:45:00.002-06:00

This is my sister's kitty Sampson. He's quite a frisky kitty and Greg didn't appreciate that. So this is how Greg likes to play with Sampson.

We stopped in Colorado Springs on our way back from Kentucky. We had a great time seeing his family. We wanted to take them to this arcade but it turned out it was closed. So we did the next best thing...Ice Cream :D

Johnny Boy Greg's little brother.

Jacob, Me, Garrett.

Julia Greg's little sister.

Summer Flashbacks

2008-10-30T17:40:00.003-06:00

Note to all new appartment renters/homeowners/blondes: Open the oven before you turn it on to make sure you don't accidetally burn down your new apartment/home.

MATTHEW GOIN ON HIS MISSION!!!!!

Summer Flashbacks Continued

2008-10-30T17:35:00.002-06:00

This is Greg and Matthew in "Game Mode". They sat and scowled at the TV one day for a VERY LONG time. We had a game night where we had three TVs set up in the office and had playstation, original nintendo and xbox 360. They played in the office for 6 hours straight!

Summer Flashbacks Continued

2008-10-30T17:23:00.006-06:00

When Greg made it to the 100 Club in our office this summer he was knighted and officially became a "Louisville Slugger"

Friday Night Date Night?

2008-10-17T22:30:00.002-06:00

Its not often you get to have 'date night' in one of the buildings on compus that isn't an event like a play or concert, but a night spent surfing the internet and doing homework. Luckily, I got to take a short break to wonder around Wal Mart. Greg's been doing homework MOST of the time. We got to share a lovely dinner over the computer desk between us. Nothing like a Wendy's Jr Bacon Cheeseburger. How romantic!

WATER AEROBICS

2008-10-02T17:31:00.005-06:00

Not to be confused with synchronized swimming, water aerobics is my new favorite work out. My friend Brittany and I go twice a week to a free class offered on campus and we LOVE it! But my favorite is when the class gets over. Brittany used to be a swimming champ in high school so she has been giving me tips and pointers as well as teaching me how to do the flip turn. My next goal is to be able to swim from one end to other, do a flip turn, then get back to the other end without drowning myself :D Woohoo!

Mom's Fifty!

2008-10-02T17:07:00.001-06:00

Peter Rabbit

2008-09-16T15:48:00.003-06:00

I have a drawer in my nightstand the contents of which I forgot about until I opened it a few days ago and found all this chocolate from Easter. Talk about a sweet surprise! I can't wait to stash more candy for myself all over the house so I can find more yummy surprises!!!

WE MADE IT!

2008-09-16T15:31:00.003-06:00

We survived the trip from Kentucky back to Rexburg. Its a long drive but that wasn't our main worry. Our tires are absolutely as bald as they could be. We were advised by multiple people to get them changed but ran out of time and money. So as dumb as it sounds, we tested our luck and made the 21 hour drive tire-explosion-free!

We're on our second week of classes and I think, since we're both getting tired of the cold, we're finally gonna buckle down and actually study so we can get on with graduation. Greg and I have at least three semesters left plus internships.

The Countdown Begins

2008-08-22T13:17:00.002-06:00

As you can see, I've posted a lot more in the last two days than I have in the last month. This is my attempt at fighting boredom sitting at the pool right now. We have ten days left here in Kentucky!!!! Its an understatement to say I'm excited. We plan on leaving Monday, September 1st and driving down to Mississippi to see Gregory's grandparents. Then we will drive for 3 days back to Rexburg. My dad gave us a book on CD to listen to and hopefully we can watch some good movies on the way.

Louisville Slugger

2008-08-22T13:10:00.002-06:00

These are some of the pics we took at the museum. I forgot to take a picture of Greg's new bat. That was his incentive for reaching 100 sales. He is awesome!

I think we're turning Japanese...

2008-08-22T12:55:00.004-06:00

A couple weeks ago we decided to have a sushi night. We made california rolls and some other ones with shrimp in them :( I don't like any seafood. But anyway, we also made tempura (battered and deep fried veggies) and strawberry daiquiris and chicken kabobs. The food was awesome! We also went to the dollar store to get some decorations. Luckily one of the girls new how to make origami and taught us how to do it. We had fun with all the preparations and the guys were happy with it too.

Caytlin Me and Kalya
Cami and Caytlin

Me and Greggors

Utah!

2008-08-21T19:43:00.002-06:00

I just got back from a trip to Utah for Lesley's Wedding. She looked sooooo happy, every time I looked at them I couldn't help but smile. We got to help out with the reception by making fruit Kabobs and setting up tables and chairs. She looked beautiful and I couldn't be happier for her and her husband Jason.

Mi madre y mi amiga Joyce
Elayna and Mariah

They Never Grow Up Do They

2008-07-29T14:00:00.004-06:00

I have been babysitting this little boy Jimmy every day while his mom studies for school. He is the sweetest little guy and loves Elmo. We play most of the day and he has this big bucket of toys that stay at our house for him to play with when he comes. But when he leaves...

Greg plays with all of his toys! Not only did he play with Jimmy's cars but he told me I put the track together wrong! This is not the first time I've caught Greg playing with the toys either.
Today we got to go to the Louisville Slugger Museum and see how they make their famous bats. Jimmy cried and cried when I tried to get him in the 4-runner so I thought it was gonna be a LONG day. But as soon as we pulled out of the parking lot he was fine and we had a great time at the museum! I'll have to post pics later. Greg had a bat engraved as a little gift to himself which I will also post pictures of-its pretty sweet!

YAHTZEE!!!!

2008-07-29T13:49:00.004-06:00

I officially have the high score on our electronic Yahtzee game. I couldn't be more proud of any accomplishment. And the best part was it took less than fifteen minutes! Usually I have to play for hours just to get over 350

My New Do

2008-07-11T21:45:00.003-06:00

I thought about cutting my hair before we left Idaho but never got around to it. Then after we had been here a couple weeks I had the car for the day and drove to the mall. Its such a relief from the heat!

A Rose By Any Other Name

2008-07-07T12:36:00.002-06:00

My ROCK STAR NAME: (Name of first pet, current car)
Festus 4-Runner
My GANGSTA NAME: (Favourite ice cream flavour, type of shoe)
Moosetracks Boots
My NATIVE AMERICAN NAME: (Favourite colour, favourite animal)
Green Dog
My SOAP OPERA NAME: (Middle Name, place where I was born)
Christiane Utah
My STAR WARS NAME: (First three letters of your last name, first two of your first name)
Youmi
My SUPERHERO NAME: (Second favourite colour, favourite drink)
Coral Daquiri
My NASCAR NAME: (Combine the names of grandfathers)
Jerry Dennis
My TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (5th grade teacher's name plus a city that starts with the same letter)
Holyoak Hurricane
My SPY NAME: (Favourite season of the year, favourite flower)
Summer Daisy
My CARTOON NAME: (Favourite fruit, article of clothing wearing right now)
Strawberry Sweats
My HIPPIE NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, favourite tree)
Banana Quaking Aspin

Husband Tag

2008-06-26T15:38:00.005-06:00

What is his name? Gregory

How long have you been together? 2 years 2 months

How long did you date? 9 months-engaged for 3

How old is he? 25

Who eats more? I do

Who said I love you first? He did

Who's taller? Greggors

Who can sing better? Me, but I love when he sings to me

Who is smarter? Most definitely Greg

Who does the laundry? Moi

Who pays the bills? We both do. He pays the phone, I pay the house

Who sleeps on the right side? I do. There's no way I'd be caught on the wrong side!

Who mows the lawn? The landscapers-we live in an apartment

Who cooks dinner? Me and not very well :-/

Who drives? Greg does most of the driving, unless its cross-country (He falls asleep)

Who is more stubborn? Me

Who kissed who first? I kissed him

Who proposed? He proposed at sunrise in a field covered in snow

Who has more friends? Greg does, he is way more outgoing

Who is more sensitive? Me, and I'm not even on medication. Maybe I should be...

Who has more siblings?Greg, by 2

Who wears the pants? We take our turns, but I am pretty bossy

Biker Dad

2008-06-08T22:50:00.003-06:00

My dad decided he wanted a motorcycle so he bought one, and then another one. He has had so much fun going on long rides and taking the rest of us out for a spin. I think he is in heaven.
These pictures were taken just before Greg and I drove out to Kentucky in April. I don't normally wear sweats around all day- I swear!

As Dad and my Brother-in-law Brandon were just pulling up after riding the bikes around, the Utah soccer league mascot rode up on his bike all decked out in leather chaps and vest, looking good and everybody wanted a picture...except me, I was taking it.

My Kentucky Garden

2008-05-20T17:13:00.006-06:00

I don't think these little guys will ever grow. Seems like they've been the same height for weeks now. But one day, maybe not until this fall, they will grow beautiful juicy tomatoes.

I don't even know what to say about this plant's sorry state. I'm not sure what I'm doing to kill it. Maybe I'm killing it with love. I never really had to try with my garden growing up but I can't seem to keep this guy green. All his leaves are shriveling up and getting crunchy.

Poor Thing

The Office

2008-05-20T17:05:00.003-06:00

Every day before the reps hit the doors, they get together and cheer to pump themselves up.

My new love...

2008-05-16T20:18:00.003-06:00

I never thought any store could take place of my beloved Maceys Grocery, but my new love for Aldi's has surpassed all of my shopping dreams. I shop here 2 to 3 times a week and when I'm not shopping at Aldi's I'm thinking of what I would shop for if I was there.

Knocking in Fort Knox

2008-05-16T20:01:00.003-06:00

Greg leading the troops into Fort Knox.

A few of the guys in our office had some troubles with the police in Louisville since we somehow overlooked getting solicitor's permits for the city. They only ended up knocking there for one day because they ran into the same issues there. But we were able to work things out and get their permits so they were allowed to actually knock. So far we've had the cops called on multiple reps, a few had guns pulled on them, one guy Josh got punched by the same guy twice, and another rep claims he was chased by a gang. And still another rep said he witnessed a police chase that ended in the chasee crashing into a tree and dying. I don't know about some of these stories... I think after knocking for so long the reps have to make up stories to make their days a little more interesting. But I won't tell them that!

Sunday's Suprise! (skip if you have a weak stomach)

2008-04-28T16:32:00.004-06:00

I didn't have any corn for dinner Greg, did you? This is what we came home from church to find. It was our second day in the apartment. We called the maintenance people who told us the main line was blocked and we were the lucky ones to figure that out. Its yucky in Kentucky! Eeewwe

Flying North For The Winter?

2008-04-22T20:39:00.003-06:00

Apparently these ducks missed the memo that it was WINTER and they were supposed to fly south! Mom, Jared, and Hunter came up to visit in Rexburg over Easter weekend. We decided to visit the Nature Park and we spotted the ducks still hanging around.

I wanna Puppy!

2008-04-22T19:36:00.003-06:00

I like the looks of this one. What do you think?

Mr McGreggor Turns 25!

2008-04-22T18:36:00.006-06:00

Brittany Young
David Kingston
Brett Young

Sir Garrett Young & Danny Brown

Gregory got to light his own 'candles' (inflammable tags that came off the fridge) and make a wish. He wished he could drink shots of V-8 mixed with BBQ sauce, syrup, Ramen noodle flavoring and much, much more. His wish came true. Not only did he get to drink them, but Everyone got to drink them!

MEXICO

2007-12-25T14:57:00.002-07:00

The week after Thanksgiving we set sails for Mexico on a Mexican Riviera Cruise. We went to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerta Vallarta. This picture was at the very tip of the Baja Peninsula in Cabo.

Mr. McGreggor

2007-11-11T19:29:00.000-07:00

Today Gregory had a great time "harvesting" the 3 x 3 foot garden in the backyard of the house we're renting. We already had a frost, so everything was rotten except some carrots and onions and one tiny little gourd.

Flag Football Fiend

2007-11-01T19:58:00.000-06:00

Greg had a great time playing flag football with a bunch of boys from Burlington Wy. They lost their first game, but the next three games were a total shutout. When they got to the semi-finals, one of their players dislocated his shoulder, and another player was sent to the ER for surgery on his nose after he took a cleat to the face. With two men down, they were able to hold their own fairly well but lost 6-19.