R-Rated

Viewer discretion is advised:

Michael and I were on our way to a lovely game night at some friends of ours, Charlotte and Jared Nelson, when we saw... what we saw. Michael was parallel parking and my eyes gravitated to the only light in the entire complex that was on. Turns out, their blinds were also open. Oh dear heavens. OH DEAR HEAVENS. They're living in a newlywed complex... you can only imagine what I saw. Their window was RIGHT ON THE STREET. Across from a single housing complex!What do you do at this point? I freaked and kind of flailed my arms and got michael in the mouth with my ring. Then, I needed a witness, so I made Michael look. We just laughed and laughed until I realized that if I was her, I'd be absolutely mortified and probably cry.

So, what did I do? Well, first of course we went to our game night and told Charlotte, Jared, Tiffany, Collin, Lauren, and Josh. Then, of course I had a heart and wrote that poor couple a note! They need to know. For pitty sakes there were teenagers out there looking up in the window! So I said:

Dear 404,
Don't forget to close your blinds. Just a friendly tip :)

Love,
People who don't live here, parked on the street, and saw too much... oops!

Just a day in the life of newlyweds in Provo... too good.

Our First Christmas MARRIED!

I could probably go on forever about how fantastic our Christmas break was. But I'll try to keep it brief and let the pictures do the talking. Michael and I had the greatest 1st Christmas imaginable! First, Michael's parents came to Provo to visit and it was great to have a visit with them. Then, we were able to take off to Oregon! And ohhhh was it ever JUST what we needed. It was so wonderful to be at home with my parents. I enjoy spending time with them so much and it just feels so good to be there. We had so much fun! Right when we got off of the plane we were greeted by Mom, Emily, Easton, and Carly and they took us right over to Marc, Connie, Kellen, and Caleb! Oh I was in heaven immediately. We went to the Portland Zoo and saw the zoo lights and it was fantastic!

I was only aboe to see Em and the kids for 24 hours but it was SO great to get my fix and squeeze those babies!! Look at this beauty:The festivities included: Cookie baking, game playing, movie watching, michael's first $5 gift exchange, opening presents, watching my adorable nephews play with their new toys, visiting with family, and my favorite part... just hanging out, relaxing, and spending quality time with my parents. It was awesome to have Michael with me on such a special day. For the past 2 years I've opened boxes from Taiwan and this year I got to open my boxes with him sitting right there. It really was so special to me. I just kept remembering the past 2 Christmases, wondering what Michael was doing and missing him. And this year- we were together. It was perfect.

Dad came down the stairs Christmas morning with his pants pulled up... just for a laugh hahaha. and it worked!

And of course- a new years BASH with the Mitchells! A great way to end the new year! With a toast and some games!!Thank you Mom and Dad for a great Christmas. And now, It's January. great. We have Michael's birthday to look forward to, but I miss my Christmas tree!!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!

Is everyone feeling the happy holiday spirit in the air?! We sure are! There is a lot going on this time of year and we are really enjoying it. This week alone we had our ward christmas party, ward temple night, super saturday, and my work christmas party. All of those events were so wonderful. I was so glad that Michael was finally able to meet the excellent and kind people that I work with, and it's always fun to get to know people's personalities outside of work. Of course, the one thing that brings the christmas spirit the most for me is the TREE! I was absolutely certain that we must have a real one, and the smell has been totally worth it. I'm in love with the tree topper. Loriol from work hooked me up, thanks girl :). I find myself just sniffing the tree daily. I water it everyday thanks to the example of my father every year. It's really fun to have our first christmas tree :). I have some other decorations up too and it just feels really nice.

We also got our first big snow of the season just in time for the holidays. And Anessa was here visiting with us to enjoy it! She came for the weekend and we were SO glad to have her. She somehow seems to always have non snow friendly shoes on when it snows though... darn it!haha! We hung out with Anessa everyday during the summer, so it was really fun to have her back.Brooke came over for dinner with us and I just love this picture. It just reminds me of the good ol' days of chillin out at our apartment at camden in Rexburg. Brooke, is trying to show you the ring she's wearing (don't worry, it's mine) and be the center of the picture haha, anesssa is battling brooke for attention in the picture, I'm making cookies, and michael is just trying to watch the fireside. haha. Just so typical. LOVE IT!

The Woodmansee parents come into town this week, and then we head to Oregon on the 22nd. SO MUCH FUN STUFF COMING UP!!!! I can barely stand it, I'm so excited! I LOVE DECEMBER! I hope you're all enjoying the holidays as well.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

Our Very Happy First Thanksgiving Together!

There is so much to say and SO many pictures to share about our first Thanksgiving weekend. Michael and I went to Vegas to spend the holiday with Em, Steve, Easton, and Carly! Oh where to begin. It was absolutely fantastic! Thanksgiving day was great. Emily cooked up a storm, I made a pie, Em and Steve got a chocolate pie especially for me (which was divine by the way), we ate at Emily's friends Nick and Christi's house, Christi also cooked up a storm, all of the food was DELICIOUS, there were 4 adorable children to play with and watch, the boys took naps, the girls plotted our shopping adventures, it was a perfect day. I ended the day stuffed just like it should be! And black friday... wowza! We didn't go to sleep. We shopped from Midnight to 4 AM! I gotta say, while we were out, I had a great time! When we got in the car to drive home, I was pooped! There were some sweet deals though, so I guess that explains the traffic and tons of people! Ok, so I have so many fun pictures and stories to share about the best part of the weekend... playing with the family :). So, I'm going to post them all and if you don't make it all the way through, it's all good!Easton has SUCH a great imagination! I cannot explain to you how much I enjoyed playing with him and watching him play and hear him come up with such fun imaginary games. We were making funny faces here :). One of his favorites was to play pirates! The couch was our ship, michael and easton made a treasure map, and we would swim through the sea looking for burried treasure! SO ADORABLE!OH! Are there words for how beautiful this baby is? I think not. I enjoyed every second with her. She had such good smiles and chatter for me. I don't know of a happier baby.The Strip! I am seriously fascinated with the strip. I just find it all quite amazing and I love going down there. Michael had never been and he really enjoyed it. Although, the truth is that he mostly enjoyed listening in on all of the Chinese people. Em and I even chatted with Elvis, just for you dad :)Christmas festivities! We went to the cactus gardens to see the lights and Santa. It was awesome. Just what I needed to get in the spirit. I was so proud of Easton, I went right up to Santa and told him what he wanted for Christmas. And the greatest hosts ever. I love Emily and Steve so much. We had such a blast. We played a seriously intense game of Risk (Steve dominated) and just enjoyed each other. We really had an amazing time in Las Vegas, thank you SO MUCH Rogers!!Look familiar?!! It's grandma's house and the tire shop!! I took Mikey to BEAVER! WAHOO! I was seriously so happy to be there. It has been far too long and I have some wonderful memories there. We were able to visit with Grandma for almost 2 hours and Val and Ila for a bit as well! Grandma is sharp as a tac and we had such a fun time! Sorry about the marathon post. I just had so much fun and wanted to share it all. I had THE WORST case of the Mondays when we came home. I was not happy to leave at all. But luckily, there is always something to look forward to and Michael and I really enjoy our lives here in Provo. I'm SO THANKFUL!

Shellie Week!

Michael and I have been so lucky! We have been having so much fun in the last couple of months and it just keeps coming! We got to spend Halloween with the Sorensens, Darren has come to visit us a couple of times, we went to Boise for Carly's blessing, last weekend we went to our favorite place on earth... REXBURG to suprise Lindsey for her birthday and see the Woodmansee grandparents who we absolutely adore, we were able to see baby Landon Hilton be blessed, we've had some fun play dates with our nieces and nephews here in town, and most recently, SHELLIE CAME TO VISIT! Michelle Culpepper has always been nothing but good to me. She has such a special place in my heart and was one of Michael and I's biggest fans while he was gone.

We love Shellie so much! Shellie and I have a lot in common and we could just talk for hours... as a matter of fact we did, multiple times while she was here. She came all the way from Texas! We had a lot of fun while she was here. We did a lot of eating of course, playing games, shopping, we went to see NEW MOON! ( LOVED IT!! by the way), and to top it all off we ended our wonderful week at David Archuleta's christmas concertHow do 3 people in a tiny apartment not realize that they are dressing like twins? We noticed right before we walked out the door to church. haha!Game night with the Lances and the soon to be Duvards.... I mean, Lauren and her boyfriend Josh :) P.S- we absolutely love him and totally approve. He's already a part of our Provo family.Aunt Shellie and the beautiful miss LuCille. We had a fun time playing with her for a couple hours.Last but CERTAINLY not least... wating for DAVID ARCHULETA TO COME OUT!!! Shellie scored us killer seats and it was all so wonderful. He sang some of his normal songs, and then most of it was Christmas music. It was absolutely beautiful. The Utah Children's Choir was there, along with a symphony and his voice was so pure. It as a great way to kick off the Christmas season. I cried many times, it was a really spiritual environment actually.This young, little guy is making quite a huge influence on the world. After every song, he basically shared his testimony. He told the crowd how all of these songs are for Jesus Christ and how he has been the biggest influence in his life. He has nothing to hide, he was completely real. what a great dude!Ok, I had a video to post, but blogger sucks and it isn't working. Basically, Shellie showed me that during O Holy Night, the background music is playing the childrens hymn "Love One Another". It's beautiful. Anyway, we had a wonderful time! Thanks for visiting us Shellie!

Working Woman

I just thought I'd share a little bit about my new job. I just wrote this whole post about it and then lost it. So I'm ticked. But, Michael is at work, so I'll re-do it. I work for Utah Physiatry Associates. There are 2 doctors. They are brothers and both very kind. There are 4 receptionists who are absolutely wonderful. They are adorable and all about my age. I'm having a great time getting to know them and we get a long so well. My position is an "Exercise Specialist" or "Therapist". And there is one other girl with the same position. She trained me and is fantastic! She has been so great and she is awesome at what she does. We get along so well and have so much fun at work. Not only that, but I'm learning so much from her as well.

How it works. The patient comes in to see the doctor. They have some kind of pain- car accident, scoliosis, arthritis, regular old wear and tear, etc. It is usually back pain, but we see pretty much everything. The doctor works his magic and then makes the patient an appointment to see me. I sit down with them, we chat, and I get a feel for what kind of pain the are experiencing. Then, I teach them an exercise program that will strengthen their weak muscles, stretch their tight muscles, and hopefully reduce their pain. I send them home with a paper with pictures on it and then they report back. We also do pain treatments like electric stimulation, ultra sound, massage, traction, etc. The goal is to reduce their pain while they are in, and help them help themselves while they are at home. They come in as often as the doctor perscribes, or as often as they'd like. Some come in twice a week because they are in high pain, and some come in once a month because they just need occasional help.

How I like it. I love it! The people I work with are excellent. And not only do we have a great time, but I'm learning so much and they are so patient with me! I have always loved working in places where I can meet interesting people and this tops them all. The patients are the best. They come in and we get to spend quite a big of time together. I get to learn all about their story and I tell them mine. We build a little friendship. Of course, there will always be crazies. But that just makes it even more comical! Michael gets a kick out of the stories I come home with, and I'm excited to share some with you all over the blog :).

I just can't believe how blessed I am to have this job. Michael and I are so thankful for my job, and for his job on campus that is so flexible. I loved my education, and I am so happy to be using it as well as continuing to learn.

Our First Halloween

There is so much that I love about this picture. 1.Nicholas- he didn't want to be in the pic, but that actually worked perfectly for his costume, he looks just like Napoleon! lol! 2. The costumes ROCK! Ben is an awesome hippie, Bella looking good as a G.I joe, beth gorgeous as Dorothy, and I totally loved Mel's festive outfit, and of course... Pooh :)

Oh how I love Halloween! There isn't much better than cute kids running around the streets in awesome costumes. We had such a great day! We were tremendously blessed to spend the day with the Andy Sorensen family. Yep- Mel, Andy, Beth, Nick, Ben, and Bella were all here! They met us down here in Provo for the afternoon. And thank goodness they did because Michael was in group meetings all morning and afternoon so they kept me company! We went up to campus and looked around the bookstore and such. It was really fun because I've actually never been there. And it was really fun to hear about all of Mel's fun college experiences. Then, they were ever so kind and took me to a delicous lunch where I stuffed my face :).

That night was the highlight of course, TRICK-OR -TREATING! Michael and I came up to SLC where the Sorensen fam was so kind to let us crash their Halloween festivities. Is it just me, or am I the queen of crashing my siblings in-laws parties? Whoops! We got all dressed up and headed on out! First stop, the ward trunk or treat.Then off to the neighborhoods! Andy had some family in a GORGEOUS neighborhood in SLC. I felt like we were in an awesome Halloween movie. Every house was decorated, there were bunches of kids racing from door to door, cute lanterns lining the streets. It was perfect! I loved watching the kids say in unison "TRICK OR TREAT!" so cute. And mostly, I love just walking and chatting with my sister!Michael as a scarecrow, and me as a pirate. Our costumes came together pretty well considering I put the together the day before Halloween. I just wish I had an eye patch!Beth stayed back in Provo for a bit with me while her fam headed up to see some other family. I just love her and she is so beautiful!Michael and I with the whole fam :) Dressing up is so fun! Michael will absolutely kill me for posting this. But I thought you'd like to see a blast from the past. This was Halloween while we were dating before his mission. We switched clothes and dressed up as each other. hahahaha!