So little to say, so much time...

2011-11-16T18:41:00.000-08:00

Meet the new addition to our tiny little family:

He's affectionately known as Link. He's also (not so affectionately) known as Linkosaurus.

Link is a Mini Aussie Puppy. He is currently 12 weeks old, 8.0 lbs and mostly fluff. He sits, waits, plays fetch, cuddles lots and likes to eats toes and leaves. But most importantly, he knows where to poop. I love him more than I thought possible.

-M

2011-10-05T17:26:00.000-07:00

On Procrastination.

I went to visit my parents last week in Farmington, and while I was there a childhood friend came to mind. The description of 'friend' does not quite describe the relationship I had with Elaine Kirkpatrick when I was younger, though - come to think of it she was more like my third grandmother.

It had been about a year since I had talked to Elaine and I felt like I needed to write her a letter, which I promptly started that night but never found the time to finish. No, not because I was busy, but because time management has never been one of my strengths... especially when addicted to a new book or TV series.

Anyway, come to find out, Elaine passed away two nights ago. I know she had been struggling with cancer for years, and I'm sure it's an incredible relief for her to be able to move on - I just hope she knows how loved she was. So Elaine, this letter is for you. I'm sorry I didn't finish it sooner. This will forever be a reminder to me to get things done exactly when you feel like you should do them.

Elaine -

It feels like just the other day that I was playing in your yard, eating watermelon and hanging around just long enough to stay till dinner. Your food really was worth waiting hours for. During those summers that I practically lived at your house I never thought I'd actually grow up - but just look at me now, Elaine! I've been graduated from college for a few years and now I'm married. I don't think I ever got the chance to thank you properly for your wedding present, either. It was so great to get that letter from you. Brandon and I are living in a small house in Ogden and he's working his way through his undergrad. Life is great, and so is our ward! Though I have to say, I really was spoiled by our neighborhood in Farmington. I found that scarf you brought back from Turkey while I was at my parent's house the other day and thought of you...

Thank you so much for always looking out for me when I was younger, and even when I was a crazy teenager. Thanks for sneaking me in and out of your house even when I wasn't technically allowed to play with Jenna. I am so sorry that I can't attend your funeral on Friday, but I don't think I'll be able to work around my internship. But I want you to know that I hope I grow up to be exactly how you were, Elaine. You were so caring, comforting and reliable. Thank you for giving me another great person in this world to look up to - your example will follow me for the rest of my life. I love you, and so did everyone who knew you.

-Sadie bird

2011-09-14T20:01:00.000-07:00

Boy with a coin he crammed in his jeans

Then making a wish tossed in the sea,

Then walked to a town that all of us burned

When God left the ground to circle the world

This happens to be one of my favorite songs and music videos of all time, so I thought I'd share. I think it's because I secretly want to be able a flameco dancer. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. Here is Iron and Wine - Boy with a Coin.

PS...Brandon here, this man looks like Grizzly Adams, but sings like an angel!

Speaking of great music though, I would just like to share with you my top 5 favorite songs of all time.

1. "What it's like" by Everlast.

2. "Son of a preacher man" by Dusty Springfield.

3. "Heard it through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye.

4. "Ain't no sunshine when she's gone" Bill Withers.

5. "Irreplaceable" Beyonce Knowles.

I am truly a child of beat and lyrics, that is all I hear when I listen to music. I think these songs top out as the most beautiful examples of American music.

2011-09-10T15:16:00.000-07:00

Today I realized that I am, in fact, a grown woman (kind of) and I can wear bright red lipstick if I feel like it.

So, a trip to Ulta in Farmington + British Red 350:

I still feel a bit like I'm 5 and playing dress up, but I am content.

2011-08-26T08:27:00.000-07:00

For the first time since Sadie has let me take the reigns on her blog I am posting. This will probably be an error on her end, since husbands should never be trusted. Anyway, about a month ago, we began to think that Sadie might also have Celiac disease like her father since it can be genetic. This began in college with a newly developed lactose allergy (rather an allergy to the protein in milk products) which we shrugged off and have been avoiding, however upon research for her dad we discovered a myriad of symptoms that Sade has been experiencing such as dry skin, headaches, lethargy etc. So we have been test running a gluten free diet for the last few weeks. Must to our dismay this has actually cut out A LOT of our fun foods like sushi and top-ramen, but literally overnight all of Sadie's symptoms have vanished!

So gluten-free shall we be! and it has been rather fun and interesting to explore the many options and wonderful recipes on the inter-web. Today we are trying a wonderful polenta with milk and brown sugar found on a very nice lady's blog, her name is Joy.

Further making our morning a success Joy has given me a new motivational speech to recite on mornings when I don't want to get out of bed, she writes "[Brandon] stop being such a crabby pants. Get out of bed, go put on that big robe that feels like a combination of cloud and kitten and make yourself breakfast without setting those robe sleeves on fire." Obviously I can't always do this, but I can say it and trick myself.

Here is a link to her blog for a shout out and a thanks! http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/

I hope you all enjoyed it :-)

2011-07-22T11:30:00.000-07:00

Seattle.

I have finally found where I want to spend the rest of my life! I had the hardest time getting on that plane to come home on Tuesday - the husband pretty much had to pick me up and carry me through security. The UDUB Campus reminds me of Utah State and the constant rain would allow Brandon and me to actually use our extensive jacket collection. We really do have a problem. Seriously. Brandon if you're reading this, we can't buy any jackets/coats/cardigans for the next decade. Deal?

Anyway, here are some pictures from our little excursion last week where we stayed with Jaqui and Travis Shumate in Tacoma. Jaqui is Brandon's friend Nick's older sister, who was also our wedding photographer and one of the nicest people you will ever meet. And she had news! Check out this video they filmed the day we flew home: http://www.jaquilynshumate.com/blog/

The friendliest raccoon I've ever met.

Some poor soul wrote this all pretty-like on the dock. I hope you do never get sober friend, if that's really what you want.

The infamous Gum Wall.

The Shumate's Apartment

2011-02-07T17:23:00.000-08:00

I know my blog posts are few and far between... and usually about something trivial, but for once I do have something very important to blog about. I have a new family member!

First off, I would like to congratulate Wes and Lindsay - they are going to be incredible parents. Second, I'd like to introduce my little nephew, Mr. Arthur Atwood Pearce.

Yeah, he's THAT cute. :)

But then again, I'm a little biased.

2010-11-10T18:01:00.000-08:00

On November 6th,

there was one bride to be,

three mannequins,

six best friends and over

twenty bottles of fingernail polish...

We had fun. :)

Congratulations Caitlin!

2010-11-09T13:57:00.000-08:00

If there is one thing my dad has taught me in the past twenty years, it's to savor September. He absolutely LOVES fall, and his enthusiasm was infused into all of us kids... But Brandon just doesn't understand my love of all things Autumn (changing leaves, carving pumpkins, corn mazes, etc) Poor thing. But being the awesome husband that he is, he secretly bought me tickets to CornBelly's in Lehi, and then he brought me to my parent's where Jess and I carved some pretty sweet pumpkins. Oh and he helped me make great caramel apples. So here's to you, bear - thanks for a few amazing weekends, one at Cornbelly and one at Disneyland.

2010-10-15T18:12:00.000-07:00

I forgot just how much I loved this video. Enjoy! :)

2010-06-17T19:39:00.000-07:00

I never realized how many pictures are taken at a wedding! Our photographers gave us two discs last week - each with over 600 pictures on them. There were some really amazing ones... but of course, with 1200+ photos there were bound to be some hilarious ones as well. :) I decided that these would probably be more entertaining than the photos of Brandon and I - plus, those are on facebook anywho.

So without further ado, here are some of our best wedding photos:

2010-04-13T07:02:00.000-07:00

Cafe Trio.

     Almost Husband
     Fantastic food
+ Great Artwork

Best date night ever.

2010-03-21T09:50:00.000-07:00

Fifty things about us:

1. We both received or are working on our undergrads in Utah.

He's a Wildcat. She's a Wildcat/Aggie.

2. He may or may not do medical malpractice when he grows up. 

3. Sometimes she wants him to be a chef.

4. She wants to teach Yoga on the beach somewhere.

5. He wishes life was simply about rock climbing and backpacking. 

6. She'd gladly tag along.

7. We both love to travel. Brandon loves the Caribbean; Sadie loves Europe.

8. He's an avid scuba diver.

9. She's just took her first ocean dive last summer. 

10. He loves comic books and cartoons.

11. She loves interior decorating and all things IKEA. 

12. He's a closet poet.

13. She missed the artistic gene in her family, but wishes she could paint.

14. He loves food. He has to be fed and watered every three hours.

15. We love finding hole-in-the-wall restaurants.

16. He's Captain Awesome.

17. She calls him Bear.

18. He calls her Princess, just like her dad. 

19. He sleeps with a fan and a light.

20. She, thankfully, can sleep through anything.

21. She laughs in her sleep.

22. We both want a small wedding. We're failing miserably. 

23. He loves weird bands no one has heard of.

24. She loves everything... as long as they're on tune. 

25. She sings in the shower.

26. He doesn't know she sings in the shower.

27. He speaks Albanian and English.

28. She speaks English... and more English.

29. We are both starting Rosetta Stone, Spanish edition this summer.

30. We both want threeish children, the first one in 5-7 years.

31. He had her wedding ring custom-made.

32. She's deathly afraid of losing it and only takes it off when she's afraid of it falling down a drain.

33. He's the oldest child.

34. She's the youngest child.

35. She hates being tickled.

36. Sometimes he does it anyway.

37. We both have an ultimate law in our relationship - dibst it, no battles, no change-back.

38. ... we're very mature for our age. ;)

39. We chose an apartment based on his closet space.

40. He's fashion forward.

41. She's all about comfort, but lets him pick out her outfits on occasion.

42. We registered at REI... and then Target as an afterthought.

43. We both love good photography. One day she'll buy him a nice camera.

44. He wants a bulldog.

45. She wants any breed of dog besides a bulldog, but she might let him have one anyway... if she can name him Anconeus. 

46. He gives incredible massages.

47. We both love Hawaiian Pizza.

48. Sometimes he'll have dinner ready for her when she gets off of work.

49. He proposed at sunrise while hiking on redrock in Las Vegas - but neither of us can remember exactly what was said. She may or may not have cried.

50. She completely adores him. One more month!

2010-03-11T14:15:00.000-08:00

You know it's going to be a pretty good day when you're front-pagin' the Deseret News!

Ok, so the article is really about the sad deterioration of the New Century Scholarship and not about how awesome I am... and it kinda makes me sound like I hated high school. But either way - my picture is in the newspaper. :)

Here's the whole article for anyone using or planning to use this scholarship:

Desert News - Limiting Scholarships

2010-03-09T07:19:00.000-08:00

Travis and Jaqui Shumate are the two of the sweetest and most fashionable people on the planet, not to mention their AMAZING photography skills. Lucky for me, they like my fiance :) While they were in town a few weeks ago they drove us out to Salt Lake and shot us. (With a camera).

Check them out! Jaquilyn Shumate Photography.

2010-02-27T07:45:00.000-08:00

Wedding Shoes - Uncheck... and then check. Again.

I received those beautiful shoes in the mail on my birthday, and they were, infact, beautiful. But sadly, I overestimated my talent with high heels, and I could not walk in said shoes for longer than ten minutes... haha much less six hours. (I should probably take some lessons from Nicole and Kj - they could probably do it) Plus, Brandon was a little weirded out when I could initiate a kiss on my own. He usually has to bend down, poor thing. :)

So thanks to the understanding return policy of Zappos.com, I exchanged them this morning for some tiffany blue flats and some gel inserts. Plus, this way Brandon can keep using my head as a chin rest at the wedding... like usual.

2010-02-19T06:34:00.000-08:00

Wedding Shoes. Check.

I found them! But not without difficulty. Shopping for shoes for me is like... searching through twelve rolls of bubble wrap trying to find an untouched bubble. Then the economy crashes and nudges shoe companies into only carrying size six, which pops that one last little bubble of satisfaction. But there I am, unaware and frantically searching while surrounded by loads of bubble wrap... and maybe a box of tissues.

Luckily, Brandon enjoys the challenge. I usually let him shoe shop for me. :) In the past three years and 8 months that we've dated he's found me a good 6+ pairs. Hah, love that boy... man. Man? Boy.

When I first got engaged and should have been worrying about colors and the right dress, my first thought concerned finding a pair of wedding-worthy shoes in a size 4.5. But, after two months of rummaging through Zappos and other online shoe stores I found what I was looking for. It was a close call, too! They only had one pair left.

Anyway, here they are. :)

2010-02-16T22:23:00.000-08:00

Invitations

I can't believe how much they cost. HOLY expensive! Haha why didn't someone warn me? I finally picked a design I loved, but with my low-budget wedding I didn't think it was a possibility. Luckily, I have an incredibly talented sister-in-law and a dad in the printing industry who were both willing to help me out. :)

I'd post a picture of the full invitation on here... but then Candace would see it. However, Lindsay (my amazing sister-in-law) posted a picture of some art she did for them on her blog. Let me know what you think!

www.blog.lindsaypearce.com

2010-02-08T14:34:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the new blog! If you need an explanation about why I have a new one, or why my url is suddenly 'mercedeswilde' and I'm not even married yet, please visit my last post at www.mercedespearce.blogspot.com. :)

Anyway, here goes my firt post:

Sadly, I couldn't really contribute to the 'Celebrity Dopplegagner Week/Month' on Facebook (pretty sure I don't have one), but I thought it was rather entertaining while it lasted! Now that it's winding down, I thought I'd post my top five favorites.

Tristan - Ok, so I know this picture isn't the best example, but seriously when I saw Juno the first thing that came to my mind was Tristan Tesch. I'm glad other people have told him the same!

Melissa - I never thought about this when I first met her this summer, but yes. Spot on.

Ashley - I've been telling her this since sophomore year. I'm sure others have to - she's probably pretty sick of it. I'm glad she was a good sport and put the picture up, though!

Adam - this guy was in a play with Jess this fall. This post was so happy... or well, GLEEful. Haha, had to. Sorry.

Taryn - from facebook stalking I found that Taryn couldn't find one at first, but some awesome person suggested this women on her wall.

Yep, so there it is! My top five. Let me know if I missed any good ones.

2009-12-05T09:40:00.000-08:00

Text Back Tempo

(Dedicated to Riss - kind of because she got after me for not updating my blog, but mostly because I wish she could have been at this concert with us. Miss you!)

I'm sorry this is so late, but I figured the best concert I've ever been to warranted at least one blog post. Words fail me, so I figure I'll let this video do the talking.

Imogen Heap - In the Venue

2009-09-11T11:25:00.000-07:00

Post Graduation Dilemma

My current list of possibilities:

Get my certified yoga instructor license at Infusion
Go into cardiac rehabilitation
Leave the country
Wait for Candace to graduate and go for world domination

Help? I'm in desperate need of suggestions.

2009-08-27T07:53:00.000-07:00

Summer Vacation #1 - St. George road trip with Caitlin and my ethnically ambiguous friend, Lauren Hong.

My darling friend Courtney told Cait and me to eat lunch at 25th on Main, which turned out to be my favorite cafe EVER. It reminded me on Anthropologie with little birds flying around... and more cupcakes. Oh and the food was great, too.

Memorable quotes from the trip:

"Hey, want to go eat at that Rexican Mestraunt? Wait..." - Lauren

"Yes, I'm sure if you ripped apart a live person their intestines would look more like spaghetti and marinera sauce than the intestines of a dead person, Cait." - Me

"Oh, don't worry. We'll facebook the crap out of this trip!"

"You ask her." I think Lauren should, she's the socialist. "Caitlin, I'm not a socialist."

"Someone should get on that... in a very spiritual way."

(On cat-calling) "Somehow Cait turned in to a little girl, Lauren turned into a new yorker and Sadie turned into a pedafile."

Summer Vacation #2 - Roadtrip to SLC

Melissa Rose, Cait and I drove down to Salt Lake to go dancing one night - they teasingly called it my pre-bachelorette party. Oh and... Melissa fell in love.

Summer Vacation #3 - Vegas.

After Brandon surprised me, he came up to Logan with me and then we flew out to Vegas on Friday. I stayed the weekend with him in Vegas to see his homecoming, which was probably one of the best ones I've ever gone to.  He took me to the nicest restaurant I've ever been to in my life, too! These pictures are just from the plane, because someone keeps forgetting to give me real pictures... ahem. :)

Summer Vacation #4 - West Yellowstone

My sister lives in Montana while working for the Playmill Theater in the summers, so I went up with my parents and the Crocketts to go see her in Secret Garden and Footloose.

Of course, my dad sees a cliff and must throw rocks off of it.

According to this snow pole... I'm less than five feet tall. I beg to differ.

I don't know why, but I fell in love with this picture. It was EVERYWHERE! Yellowstone really is a creepy place come to think of it. You take one wrong step and get steamed to death by a random geyser... or mauled by a buffalo. Or eaten by a wolf. No wonder the Native Americans thought it was haunted.

My dad and the Crocketts decided to take the scenic route home, which took over 15 hours (ten hours longer than what it would have orginally taken us to drive from West to Farmington.) So my mom and I had to keep each other entertained. By the end of the trip we had a whole list of places we could have driven in that 15 hour time frame, including Tijuana, Universal Studios, the redwoods, and Canada. We finally contented ourselves with watching the old cartoon Robin Hood on my laptop.

Summer Vacation #5 - Maui.

There are no words to describe how amazing this vacation was, but as promised here are some more pictures.

Summer Vacation #6 - Home

My new room at my parent's house. I'll be a sad to leave my apartment in Logan, but at least I have this cute queen size Ikea bed to come home to!

Pretty nice seats, eh? My dad has had these season tickets for a few years now and I love going with him when I can. It was great to be home and catch up with my parents for a bit before taking off to Vegas again.

Summer Vacation # 7 - Grassy Lake

I almost got eaten by a wolf. However, after feeding him a fish he stopped staring at me greedily and we took him home and domesticated him once again. I'm so in love with this puppy. (Yes, that is a puppy.)

This is our family camping spot up by Joe's Resevoir. My dad and I carved that tree when I was about 12! It took quite a while to find again. :) The trip itself was great - except that we all happened to get food poisoning after. (Except my dad of course, who can eat anything because of his mission in Argentina.) My throwing up just happened to begin in a motor home with Brandon's family on a long drive down to Vegas, which brings me to....

Summer Vacation #8 - Vegas. Again.

Brandon was so adorable... I can't believe I found a guy that will hold my hair back while I'm throwing up and not even cringe. He took care of me for a few days while I was sick, and then I drove around and helped him out with work. By the end of the week I was feeling good enough to ride roller coasters on the strip :) Despite being sick, the trip was quite the successful shopping venture. I've missed having my personal shopper these past two years. He's already made drastic improvements on my wardrobe since he's been home. Sadly, I don't get to see him again for a few weeks... unless I just give in, steal a car and drive to Vegas... it's getting more tempting by the second.

Well, that was pretty much my entire summer in a nutshell. Now it's back to school for another three and a half months!

2009-08-08T21:58:00.000-07:00

Sneak Preview - Maui

I'm determined to dedicate a full blog to this vacation when I recover from jet lag, but as for now here are a few pictures. :)

2009-07-06T17:41:00.000-07:00

Thoroughly Surprised.

Well, he's home! And even with all my attempts at thwarting his plans - he got me good.

So there I was, all stressed out about the upcoming week. I knew he was trying to sneak up on me, and I felt like a sitting duck! My brother's friend Zach had come down on the fourth to catch up with my family so we were all gathered out on our back deck, and a certain someone just showed up at my house... and looking quite handsome I might add.

This is how it went down: WHAT. Are you kidding me?! (Hug... spin. Short kiss.) "Surprised?"... I'm going to kill you. :)

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out and catching up with my family. My parents were so excited to see him! Then we took off to watch fireworks with the whole Wilde clan that night, which was amazing... it was so fun to see everyone! His little sister Maddy is definitely taller than I am now. Which ya, I know what you're thinking. Not hard to beat. But still!

Sunday morning he came to church with me, and we hung out with my sisters and Wes that afternoon. It's so much fun to hear him slip into Albanian or accidentally say something Arabic... I'm loving it. :) We had plenty of time to catch each other up on the past two years of our lives... I actually lost my voice! It's recovering, though.

This is going to be one crazy awesome week. His family left yesterday, and sadly I had to come back up to Logan for class this morning, but I'm heading back down tomorrow so we can go pick up his new car, get him a laptop and go to dinner with a mutual friend at CPK. :) Then Wednesday morning he's coming back up to Logan to see my apartment and have a movie night, Thursday we're heading back into k-town and then flying out Friday for his homecoming in Vegas.

I love life!

Pictures to come. :)

2009-06-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

M+B

So as most of you know, I'm freaking out. There are only 20 something days left until my missionary gets home! Instead of pacing and trying to distract myself with homework, which fyi, hasn't been working, I've decided to blog.

Here's a little background for the few (and very few) of you that I haven't told this story to in it's entirety. You really can just skip ahead if you know the details haha. I'm really writing this more to clear my own head than for the enjoyment of others... assuming anyone is really reading this. I just need these thoughts out and documented in the world somewhere.

Brandon Wilde and I. 

Once upon a time (well, to be more precise - June of 2006) I ended up on an archeology tour guided by Uncle with 20+ students from Davis High. Most of them had just graduated from seminary, where as I had barely finished my sophomore year of high school. Luckily, Brandon didn't figure this out until about a week into the trip.

Our last day in Belize is when I really started to get to know Brandon. I had noticed him around of course, it was hard not to! He had some awesome hair going on and to be honest I was very, very intimidated. If you ask him he'll tell you the first time we started talked was floating down a cave in intertubes, because he doesn't remember that he actually came and sat next to me on the bus beforehand where he promptly went through my sad little ipod and offered to update my music collection.

That night we crossed the border into Mexico and stayed at one amazing hotel. I really hope I get a chance to go back there one day! Brandon and I were one of the first to finish up with the border patrol, so we kicked back and listened to some Hot Hot Heat on his "superior" ipod. Later on at the hotel I was laying on a hammock outside our porch and Brandon slid in next to me. Eventually I got up enough nerve to reach my hand over to the same general area as his just to test the water, and it took him all of .2 seconds to intertwine our fingers. (I'm sure we were thinking the same thing, and the words "mexico fling" come to mind) However, the best story about that night didn't even to do with Brandon and I, or someone breaking the railing with a hammock. (Was that Kelsie?) We had planned on making a midnight run to a ruin nearby, but our tour guide had informed us that there was 100% chance of rain that night. He said after living there for over 20 years he could feel it coming, and he had never been wrong. My Uncle, being the seminary teacher that he is, told him that as a group we would pray and see if we could change the weather. The guide laughed - but around midnight when there was no rain in sight he rode his bike all the way out to our hotel to guide us out. Scott left him with a Book of Mormon. :)

Anyway, we finally cleared off enough scorpions to have a fireside on the top of the ruin. The subject was astronomy, but sadly our cloud cover left us a grand total of two stars to observe. Looking below us at the fireflies in the canopy made up for it, though. I can't even tell you beautiful it was - to this day I've never seen anything like it.

After that night we spent the rest of the trip in this hotel to the right --> It's called the Shangri La Caribe. It was right on the beach, had plenty of hammocks to go around and great food. Brandon and I ended up wandering down the beach a bit and we ran into a wedding. We sat by the pier and talked about life while they were setting up. Seriously, I know this sounds cheesy, but I had never been able to talk to anyone like I could talk to Brandon. We laid out our entire lives for each other - what was wrong, what we wanted to fix, where we wanted to end up. I'm not entirely sure what his side of the story is on this, but for me that's when this mexico fling changed into something a little more serious... I had just spilled my guts to a total stranger, and not just a stranger, but a stranger who was my complete opposite! Brandon was kind of a more indie punk/skater from Davis and I was the 4.0 prep from Viewmont (Yes, I was 16 and still stuck in the game of stereotypes).

We spent most nights talking and hanging out with everyone on the beach, and when I say talking I mean talking - I mean yeah we kissed a few times (once in the rain - just had to throw that in there) but there was no making out involved. Imagine laying on the beach with a full moon and Imogen Heap's Hide and Seek playing. Yeah.. there's the feeling. Ha, I'm sure my dad was more than a little worried about us spending so much time together. There was one night we stayed out on the beach and realized we had no one around us anymore and he looked at his watch and realized we were half an hour late for a fireside. Yeah, I'm sure that looked fantastic walking in together ;) It had scandal written all over it - without there actually being any. Bad luck.

When we left Mexico Brandon wrote his number at least seven different times on my arms, haha it took some hard-core scrubbing to get off. When my mom picked us up from the airport my dad's first words were seriously "she met a boy with a mohawk." :)

So I texted him that night and we went mini-golfing the next day at Cherry Hill, and as fate would have it my tour-guide uncle showed up with his family too. So that was the beginning of the non-mexico, Kaysville/Farmington, High School/College me and Brandon. We spent the entire year together eating breakfast at Sills, going to drive-ins, drinking steamers at Starbucks and climbing random buildings in Kaysville to watch fireworks. We also spent quite a bit of time on his little orange scooter. (I've been trying to upload a picture of it, Brody Dezember took an awesome one at Brandon's friend Jaqui's wedding) He came and got me from lunch at Viewmont every Tuesday and he would bring my flowers whenever I was having a bad day - like that time me, Courtney and Noelle accidentally got 10 people kicked out of Mr. Rawlins class, or when I thought my dog Tut had gotten hit by a car. One text was all it took to get Brandon to leave class at Weber and run to my rescue. :) I can't even tell you how many times he took me out to get sushi either or had me try a new restaurant in Salt Lake.

We had our ups and downs like every normal couple, but we stuck it out. There was one rough patch in February where there was confusion about whether we should be dating seriously before his mission, but that was cleared up pretty quickly and we were back to being as happy as ever. The best thing about Brandon was he knew how to laugh at any situation, like that time we both locked our keys in his car and had to have his grandma come save us. :) Or when I accidentally bent a valuable comic book of his... still sorry about that, Bear. Oh! And that's another thing, for some reason the nickname 'Bear' stuck, and like Candace Weller, he always called me Sadie Sue. But one of the best things about Brandon? My parents love him. We ended up going on a few double dates that year - the most memorable was Valentines and Tepanyaki.

So we dated for a year and a bit before he left on his mission to Albania in July 07, which was a few days after this picture was taken. My parents came down for the farewell in Vegas and so did my uncle. Believe me, after spending nearly every day together it sucked saying goodbye, even though we all knew it was the right thing to do. It was a long, rough ride back up to Salt Lake.

After he left I tried to keep myself distracted. Luckily I had school, cross country or track and then work until 10 pm for the majority of that year. When track ended and Music to the Maxx went out of business I still had school to keep me occupied, and I went to Weber the summer after I graduated and then I headed up here to USU in the Fall.

So now we're all caught up to speed. After 2 years of writing every week Brandon is coming home in less than a month... and I'm a little nervous. We won't have much time together this summer, but hopefully he'll be moving up to Kaysville soon and I'll be driving back and forth from Logan to see him until I graduate in December.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is... wish me luck! I'm sure I'll have another update on here as soon as he gets home. Peace! And congrats to anyone who actually read through this entire blog... it was rather large. By the way? Kamas girls - I miss you lots.

2009-05-21T13:34:00.000-07:00

Summer in Logan

Hey guys! Sorry it's been awhile. I kept trying to come up with a new post, but nothing in the past few weeks has been near as exciting as our last night of spring semester. Now I've realized I probably wont ever top that adventure (nor do I want to if more coppers are involved) so I might as well just move on and go back to blogging about everyday life.

Moving out of Pineview was an interesting experience. After a weekend of making sure everything was spotless I got charged ten dollars for a little bit of dust on the side of the oven. Haha I guess it could have been worse, luckily we were able to talk him out of charging us for the spackle in the front room. Anyway, I ended up crashing on Amber's couch, Amber's grandparent's couch and my parents basement before actually moving into Garden Court. It was a lovely little three day summer (my first class started the monday after finals). But now I'm all settled in, and come to find out I have some amazing roommates! We hardly ever see Jamie, but Katie, Saren and Hailey are all SO much fun. I couldn't have asked for better people to spend my summer with.

I can't even explain how beautiful Logan in the summer is, and there is always something going on. Seriously, we've crashed three BBQs, snuck into Oakridge, almost got kicked out of Oakridge (we were saved by attractive men who knew Caitlin), played frisbee/volleyball/soccer, and had a few picnics. I'm pretty sure I've been more social in the past three weeks than I was the entire spring semester - but with good reason. Without Andy Anderson in my life I feel like I'm on vacation.

I miss everyone, though! Phone calls are definitely not the same as living together. Oh but Huss came up yesterday! We found one awesome rope swing, laid on the quad, did homework like the good ol'days and went to Rio. And holy crap was she tan, and just going to get tanner! Not only did she just get back from the Dominican, but she's heading to St. Martins next week. Lucky butt.

And for the record, there is one month and 17 days left till he comes home. The countdown has officially restarted. :)

2009-05-02T08:41:00.000-07:00

The REAL Fugitive.

Disclaimer: All names have been changed, and I'm pleading the 5th on how many girls were involved. :)

Once upon a time it was a Friday night at USU. And not just any Friday - but the Friday after the hardest final of my life. After scrubbing down the walls of my apartment and fitting my entire room into my car, all I wanted to do was watch the end of Sweet Home Alabama and fall asleep on the couch. The persuasive broad across the hall, however, had other plans.

So there we were, sprinting across the bottom of the football stadium embracing a clothing-optional lifestyle. After enjoying our moment of freedom, we ran up the bleachers (now clothed) and sprinted back to the fence we had slid under earlier. Then then someone saw the headlights. "It's a cop, I'd bet my life on it." My heart stopped. Words flooded through my head like ludeness, trespassing, and dang, this is so going to haunt Rascal when she runs for President.

We took off. A few split one way, we split the other. The ambitious Huss sprinted up the bleachers - Rascal, Hops and I followed. But sadly, we rolled off the last bench into a spotlight. I kicked off my flip-flops and we booked it west down towards Pineview. Hops and Rascal dove headfirst into the bushes, and Huss and I split up around the concession stand. I made the wrong decision and went right... right into a cop. He got out of the car with his flashlight as four other cop cars come up over the curb and surrounded me (with sirens no less). This is pretty much how the conversation went: (I can't remember the exact details... I was a bit nervous after all)

Officer Dunn: Um, what are you up to miss?

Me: Hi officer! I'm just trying to catch up...

Officer Dunn: So you're the slowest one?

Me: Yes sir. And I stepped on a rock.

Officer Dunn: Alright ma'am what were you doing in the stadium?

Me: Trying to relieve some stress from finals.

Officer Dunn: How?

Me: Streaking... but we chickened out.

Officer Dunn: (whips out his notepad) I'm going to need your name and home address.

Me: (Personal info inserted here)

Officer Dunn: I need you to tell me the full names and location of the girls involved.

Me: I'm sorry sir, I can't give you that information... and I have no idea where they where most of them went.

Officer Dunn: Do you think they'd be back home by now?

Me: Oh yeah, they all ran cross country. I'm really sorry, sir! This is the first time I've EVER done something like this. Heck, I've never even been pulled over. How much is it for a trespassing ticket?

Officer Dunn: You know? I'm a nice guy. This wouldn't have been a big deal if you hadn't ran. I just want to get everyone together and talk. Why don't you hop in the car and while we try to find more of your friends.

40 minutes later....

He took me home and came to check if any girls in my apartment were involved. Luckily Huss was the only one here (she got away safely) and the other girls didn't have their cell phones on them. So he left, but he gave me his card to call him when I had heard from anyone that was with me at the stadium.

Apparently, Rascal and Hops hid in the bushes near the stadium for a good 40 minutes before booking it over to Old Farm. They tried banging on Ber's door and ran into the wrong apartment looking for Chitty :) When they made it back we filled them in on what had gone down, and luckily for me Huss and both of them agreed to meet with him, which was really entertaining all in all. We talked to him about how many people he catches becoming ultimate aggies, and how many people break into the stadium at night. Of all the cops to have caught me? I seriously lucked out. He was awesome.

The lucky butts who weren't ambitious enough to climb the stairs got away clean :) But they did have a good 2 mile walk over to 1400 and a run in with a cop on the way home. Luckily they let a certain someone do all the talking and continued to 'take a walk, because we have been cleaning our apartment all day, officer' LOVE those girls!!!

We all got back together and told everyone's side of the story, and then promptly updated everyone's facebook status to commemorate one freakin amazing last night in Logan. They were as follows:

Broad just played the real fugitive and is glad I didnt go through the front fence....I would have gotten stuck:(

Huss just played the real fugitive and won. Yes officer, that was me behind the concession stand. Good thing im a running huss.

Hops just played the real fugitive and dove head first into a bush!

Rascal just played the real fugitive...and yes, I'm still removing pine needles.

I just played the real fugitive... and lost. Yes, officer. I AM the slowest.

Someone just played the real fugitive and obstructed justice apparently. See you in 3-5

Someone else just played the real fugitive and only won because my fat self couldn't make it up the stairs

Memorable quotes from the night:

"I can see your white-A from the fifty yard line!" - Huss

"Shoot!" - Candace "No Candace, SHIT!"

"We were at Coldstone!" - Jess

"Please say no one gets caught!!! Scratch that... we just went streaking. I probably shouldn't be bugging you about this" - Hops' prayer in the bushes.

"Why did you guys run?" - Officer Dunn "That's what we learn from video games" - Huss

2009-04-19T10:31:00.000-07:00

My brother brought home a new puppy Easter weekend, and he may just be the cutest thing that ever happened. He's an extremely cuddly wolf/malamute/husky, but at the moment I'm not quite sure whether he'll grow up to be a dog or a bear. He was only three months old and HUGE! The breeder said he'd be around 100 lbs.

Anyway, this is him and my sister-in-law Lindsay (he's already starting to follow her around). We call him Captain. :)

2009-04-07T07:09:00.000-07:00

Revenge

So the other day I was over at my brother's new house in west Farmington priming a wall in his front room, and I noticed a bee flying around in the corner. Normally I wouldn't have cared - bees and I have always had a rather nice relationship. And by nice I don't mean a Pushing Daisies-esque, but I had only been stung once so far and it was a freak middle of january why-the-h-weren't-you-hibernating accident. :)

But anyway, I was on a very tall ladder and decided it would better if I killed the bee now instead of getting stung and falling to my death later... so I climbed down and hit it with my shoe. After making certain he was dead, I left him on the floor and walked a good twenty feet back to the wall I was working on and set my shoes down in the front entry.

Half an hour later I washed the roller, cleaned up a bit, found my keys and slipped my shoes back on. Yep, I got stung! After yelping for a bit and grabbing some ice I went back to check on my dead little bee friend I had smashed earlier. Yeah, definitely not dead! The same bloody bee had crawled all the way across the living room and into my shoe! How's that for revenge?

If bees are somehow evolving to play dead or tense up like fainting goats, I swear the world must be ending. Maybe the mayans were right about 2012...

2009-04-02T12:53:00.000-07:00

Nicole kindly reminded me the other day that I hadn't updated my blog for two weeks, so here I am, writing a blog about some very uneventful days in Logan. :)

The roommates have all been bogged down with homework these past few weeks, and I'm almost certain it's a conspiracy. I think all the professors on campus got together and decided to schedule all the exams at the exact same time. Poor Candace has been doing homework for at least four days straight, minus class and bathroom breaks. Has she showered? I'm not sure. Most likely, I can't see her pulling a Sian. Haha... just kidding.

Oh! And a HUGE happy birthday to Candace!!! She turned 19 last weekend :) And to celebrate, here are some things I absolutely love about Candace Weller.

She runs on SWT (Standard Weller Time) which is give or take two hours, right? Haha I love it, she's always running late to class.
Her laugh - it's beautiful.
How she knows more about whats going on in the world politically than anyone in our apartment. Or apartment complex for that matter.
How she's just up and leaving to Spain in a few short months. I'm beyond jealous.
How she doesn't fully comprehend how brilliant she is.
Our study sessions when the rest of the world is out partying.
That one Casper's run. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about.
How I can reach over and knock on the wall at one o'clock in the morning and she'll knock too whether she's awake or not. :)
How comfortable her bed is!
How her and Amber got me into Ender's Game. (Dang, I still need to finish those...)
She's down to earth and logical, but still shows emotion.
Her dB level increases exponentially when she gets excited
How I can talk to her about anything, and she doesn't think I'm stupid. Or at least... doesn't say it out loud.
When she swears. It's the best.
How we love all the same movies. Gladiator all the way chica.
How she says 'chica' all the time. :)
Her love for Gilmore Girls.*
How she has every old school backstreet boys song in her itunes library.
That she thinks how much she runs every day isn't a big deal. No darling, that's called death.
She doesn't plan, she plots.
How she randomly knew Chitty and I knew Chitty, and we how got put in the same apartment. (Candace and me, not Chitty)

Speaking of him, he told me I needed to try and pin down my top ten favorite songs of all time. Chitty, I accept the challenge. Give me a few days, and I'll dedicate a whole blog to it.

So there Nicole! My blog is now updated. It's your turn :)

*Candace wanted me to clarify: She loves Logan in Gilmore Girls.

2009-03-12T16:15:00.000-07:00

Spring Break 09

My long lost friend Natasha Baker and I went down to see Courtney at Dixie State this past weekend, and it was amazing. The drive there and back wasn't quite as long as we expected it to be (I swear I wasn't going that fast...) and we just happen to be extremely compatible when it comes to music. :) Really though, I've never met another India.Arie fan! I LOVE life! And Natasha, with all my heart.

Courtney has one of the cutest apartments I've ever seen and, of course, she's just as sexy as ever. She even has a pool, hot tub, a work out room, a cute little walking path and nice guys downstairs. (sigh) I'm just a little jealous. Darn USU. Oh well, at least we don't have to pee on Dixie rock to be cool, we just have to ride a bull naked.

Anyway one of the best nights down there was spent watching Step Up 2 with the guys downstairs. They were drooling the entire time, I had no idea every guy on the planet thinks Briana Evigan is that attractive! Haha however, we all know Natasha is a better dancer. That woman could make a living off of teaching people to krump. And no, I have no idea how to spell that!

We went on a hike Sunday afternoon after taking pictures at the St. George temple, and it was probably the highlight of our trip. These crazy guys (I think at least one was from USU) decided to parkour the red rock by the St. George narrows and I swear the gap he was trying to jump was at least 18 or 19 feet across and above a 30 foot drop. We had about 20 people line up to watch the attempt, but luckily he waited long enough to freak himself out and he bowed out gracefully. I'm glad to see peer pressure doesn't work on everyone, I didn't really want to see him biff it; I think I've seen enough dead bodies lately. That night we went to see Jake, Landon, Rob and Nate's fireside where they served churros for refreshments, how cool is that?

We also took a short little roadtrip to Vegas where we at at the Cheesecake Factory in the forum and watched Court pick up on random guys on the strip. Kjarinda had never seen Vegas, so she met up with us that morning and came along, too! Tasha bought oddly colored M&Ms, we watched the Bellagio fountains and then went back to Courtney's apartment.

We shopped the outlets in the mall in St. George, and after some car problems (nothing Jiffy Lube couldn't fix) Tasha and I drove home. Best weekend ever.

2009-02-20T18:24:00.000-08:00

My Winter Blog to You

Winter was beautiful when I was younger. We'd have hot chocolate, warm fires and blankets with adventure books, replicas of the Calvin and Hobbes snowmen on the front lawn and a countdown till my birthday. Snowboarding was cheap freedom and the sharp outline of the branches against the colors of the sky looked all artistic and edgy...

But this winter something isn't right. I've been trying to put my finger on the main reason, but I've realized it could be a variety of different things:

I'm actually getting a real education and have to study all the time, and I barely make it outside unless it's to trek up to campus. Snowboarding is way too expensive for a poor college student. I've been craving summer color, unlike the muted blue and grey-scale winter spectrum. I have no love interest on the this continent. I've listened to 'Winter Song' by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson way too many times. Logan is colder than home. I haven't done yoga since the first week of December. But more importantly? I've been counting down to too many tomorrows, and not enjoying today. Haha I'm not kidding, here I'll prove it. There are 5 days left till my birthday, 12 till my next ortho, 14 till spring break and road trip, 70 to the day I move out of Pineview and into Garden Court, and 138 till Brandon comes home.

So all that being said, I've decided to get outside and enjoy this warmish weather and live life.... aka giving up facebook for Lent. I'm also cutting my hair tomorrow morning with Nicole! :) I haven't really done my hair or gotten ready for months, and it's time for a change. I've been really insecure about my braces, which I've recently realized very, very lame. They're only going to be on for a few more weeks and I shouldn't have let them get in the way with my social life.

Oh! And bless those Australians, who not only gave us Hugh Jackman, but they gave us No Line on the Horizon a few weeks early. :) Saweet!

2009-02-05T14:38:00.000-08:00

Lessons Learned in Logan

The warmest place on campus is the girl's bathroom on the first floor of Biology and Natural Resources. Seriously! It's just to the right of room 102 and has an amazing heater. I've been contemplating charging sauna entrance fees at the door.
Andy Anderson's exams are "Easy. Like a puzzle... you just have to know every word on every page, and how that word relates to every other word on every other page, clinical views and articles" -TA
Apparently, you CAN reach into someone's orbitals and crush their lacrimal bone. Thanks for trying that out on a cadaver, Andy.
Don't say "frat boy" to a frat boy. Instead, SAY "service oriented fraternity" and only THINK "drunk, silly party boy." I guess they're a little touchy on the subject.
If you take Dynamic Fitness, do it in the fall. While jumping one-legged up old main might be painful, it would be much worse with ice covered steps.
Class is not dismissed until Dr. Kras announces that you should get on with your bad self.
The fieldhouse is crazy crowded at night, which is only useful if you're trying to pick up on hot men. And that's only useful if you're name is Caitlin.
Athletic Injuries: don't let Mildenberger's speech fool you - he is and always will be intimidating. Avoid eye contact, but if he does call on you, yell DONE or PRESERVE LIFE and you have an 80% chance of being right.
Termites follow Bic pens... (really, I had no idea)
The bathrooms in Pineview have great acoustics - just ask Kjarinda
Riss has THE best bedtime stories EVER! I can't wait for her to tuck me in tonight.
When the weather is unbearable, you have a few options: hot chocolate, moving to St. George, or cuddling with Nicole and Kjarinda in Candace's bed.
If you had a son when you were twelve, and then fell in love with someone twelve years younger than you while you were in your 50s, make sure he isn't your son before you marry him. Unless you want to be the scary old cat lady in your village.
It's possible to make it from Campus Loop's first stop to the Library while only stepping outside for twenty seconds tops. It takes longer, but if you want the route I'd be more than happy to show you :) I'm such a wimp when it comes to cold weather!
If you have an hour in between classes, go people watching in the Engineering building (Sorry, any of the THREE engineering buildings. Confusing.)
Counting down till summer only makes the winter last longer, counting down till they take your braces off makes your ortho feel like even more of a traitor, and counting down till your missionary gets home makes it feel like five years instead of two. But sadly, I can't help it. 153 days everyone!
Loud music $50, Lighting $20, time wasted standing in line $5, watching people get lip-raped on True Aggie night... priceless.
Shopping carts down Old Main... probably not a good idea.

2009-01-29T10:49:00.000-08:00

The day my blogging virginity was lost:

Well, I'm definitely new to the blogosphere, and I probably wouldn't have made this if it hadn't have been for the insistence of my darling roommates Kjarinda and Nicole (formally known as Kij and Leona). I'm not exactly sure how these things are supposed to function, but I'm almost positive this will be a more productive waste of time than the facebook and flicker stalking I'm used to. I've never been a diligent journal writer either, so this might be a good alternative.

I live with and next door to some pretty amazing girls up here in Logan! Emily is our perfect domestic home-maker and technical writer, Kjarinda sings us lullabyes and inspires us with her neurological ambitions, Nicole is our beautiful and caring FCHD major, Candace is going to put her political science inclinations to use by going for world domination, and Caitlin's life is just... mystical. We're not really sure what her life ambitions are. Our other entertainment (besides Caitlin) comes from the broads over at Apt 27.

I myself am an exercise science major, a yogi, and snowboarder. I graduated from Viewmont High and WSU last spring, and I should be graduating from USU next December. In the meantime I'll be here, freezing my extremities off in Logan's hypothermic weather... and writing all about it! :)