Babysitting

Friday was a day full of surprises for us. Matt works every other Friday, so yesterday was his day off. He had loads of homework to complete, and also wanted to put up our Christmas lights and finish painting the trim we repaired last week in our house. Anyway, our neighbor Mike works construction. He and Matt were at Home Depot yesterday getting some supplies and Mike asked Matt if he wanted to come help him finish up a job in American Fork. He said he would pay him an apprentice's wage. Who doesn't want a little extra cash, especially around the holidays? So...Matt went with him, and I think they had a lot of fun.

Anyway, on my way home from work Matt and Mike were busy putting up Christmas lights on Mike's house. I stopped to take a look at them and see how they were coming along. While I was there, Mike got a phone call from his wife, Andrea, saying she had been in a car accident. The accident happened pretty close to our house, so Mike hopped in his truck and we got in our car to go help. Unfortunately their 3 children had been in the car during the accident, so they were pretty scared. By the time we arrived on the scene a nurse had already come and taken them across the street to the hospital. Andrea was pretty shaken up. :( So, I stayed with her while she filled out paperwork and talked to the police while Mike and Matt went to check on the kids. Andrea's brother had also been in the car at the time and he was pretty cut up. Anyway...sorry about all the details...eventually Matt and I got to take the kids so the parents could get everything straightened out. So...we got to babysit 3 little girls- Lindsey (4), Holland (2), and Halle (6 weeks) for a few hours. They were so sweet and adorable! Lindsey walked into our house and said, "Oh my...your house is beautiful!" Ha ha ha! Isn't that cute? The girls had fun playing on Matt's banana chair while watching Cars and eating fruit roll-ups. It was a fun night for all of us! :)

Exciting News!

Ah!!!!!! It's almost been a month since our last post!!!! YIKES! What can I say, we've been so busy!? I kept procrastinating posting because I have all these fun pictures of birthdays, Nutcracker, etc. that I want to post. BUT...of course, they haven't been uploaded to the computer quite yet. So...more updates are coming.

Anyway, I got some super exciting news this week! It is DEFINITELY "blog worthy". Ha ha ha. On Wednesday at 5:30 pm I got a call from my little sister Stephanie. She is a Senior right now and is super active on her high school track team-- mostly doing hurdles. Yeah, I know, she's pretty amazing. How ANYONE can "leap" over those things blows my mind! Anyway. The University of Utah has been "recruiting" her for the past little while for their track team. They even gave her 8th row tickets to the BYU vs Utah football game!!!!!! I KNOW!!!! Jealous yet? Ok, back to the story. So she called me on Wednesday and said this, "Guess what!? The University of Utah just called me and said, 'Well Stephanie, the next step in our recruiting process is to make you an offer. If you join our track team we will pay for your tuition, books, and fees.'" In other words, my sister got a FULL RIDE scholarship to the U of U!!!!!!!! :) We are so so so excited! Congrats Steph! We are sad she won't be down in Provo to hang out with us...but she will kick some serious butt on Utah's track team! :D

Bored yet???

I think I am officially the worst blogger. Throughout the week I think, "Oh, I need to remember to blog about this!" Then days pass...and weeks pass...and by the time I get around to blogging (seems odd that I can use that as a verb- lol) either I have forgotten what I wanted to write about, or it has lost its excitement. I think I am better about posting on my brother's blog. Ha ha ha! Which..by the way, if you haven't checked it out...you should!!! eldermuelleck.blogspot.com

I guess while I am on here...I will ask for some help. I am in charge of Enrichment in my ward, and our next activity is pretty much a "Super Saturday" (but on Wednesday). We are doing a bunch of different crafts. One of them is the picture mat that goes around "The Living Christ". Has anybody made one of these before? If so...did you have a template or pattern to use when cutting out the pictures? I have found a few things online, but nothing that's super good info. Anyway...if anyone knows, I will GLADLY take some advice. :)

Well...I'm almost officially "old". Ha ha ha! It's kind of strange to stand back for a second and think about how far you have come. I always thought that by now I would be busy in grad school. So much for that idea, right? LOL! Lately I have been thinking back to all of the things I used to do, especially during this holiday season. I used to dance in the Nutcracker, play my violin in the mall in SLC, travel with my singing group and perform for different care centers, teach piano, help out on the Youth City Council, etc. Now I am kind of just blah. I practically live at work and my extracurricular activities center around cooking, cleaning my house, doing the shopping, folding laundry, etc. Have I become super boring...? Actually, don't answer that...ha ha ha! I don't want to know. At least I have an awesome husband that I LOVE hanging out with and spending time with! But, I really do want to try to get involved with my passion for music again. I wish I could start taking lessons again...especially voice lessons! I miss it! I used to teach a family in Mapleton while I was in school, but had to quit due to my work hours. I really miss teaching though. I think I may start looking for some students. :)

Well how was that for another boring post? Ha ha ha! :)

Weekend Spent on Big Paper

This last weekend I spent probably around fifteen total hours writing a ten page single spaced religion paper on a section from the Doctrine and Covenants. I had some good help from my beautiful wife, and I am happy to say that it is done and I am finished. If anyone wants to read a copy and let me know what they think about it that would be great, just shoot me an email (ingles22@gmail.com) and I will email you a copy. I want some feedback. Thanks

A great birthday gift from my AMAZING Wife!!

Last night I had a chance to go see some of my favorite bands with Jen. She got a great present for me taking me to the Rock Band Live tour and we got to enjoy our night. None of our pictures showed up well so I decided to post the video from youtube about it.

Happy October!

I am really slacking when it comes to posting on this blog...but, what a week it has been!!! After an awesome Conference weekend spent in the "villes", we celebrated Matt's birthday! It was on Monday, and such a fun day! I was really lucky to get off work early to celebrate with him. :) We opened presents and went out to dinner. I'm so blessed to have married such a sweet and amazing guy. Happy Birthday babe!

On Thursday, one of my roommates from freshman year, Sarah, got married. She happens to be the niece of Bronco Mendenhall, and the daughter-in-law of Pace Mannion. So, needless to say...the reception was a blast! Sarah was gorgeous, and it was so much fun to catch up with Erica and Jewell (two of my other roommates). We scoped out the reception to see if we would catch a glimpse of Bronco Mendenhall, but didn't see him anywhere. There was, however, a mechanical bull- ha ha ha! Matt had enough guts to talk to Pace Mannion. Thanks to his lead we were all able to go shake his hand. I was shocked at how kind and friendly he was! The reception was at a gorgeous house in Highland...so, after we went to visit Uncle Wolf and Aunt Julie. It was such a fun night!

Jenny, Darin, Bridger, and Wyatt all came down to Provo the next day (Friday) to visit the eye clinic where I work. They were so sweet to make the huge drive-- especially with two kids! After their visit with Dr. Haggard, we all went to Goodwood for lunch. I can't believe how grown up those boys are! They are such a sweet family, we miss them a bunch! I sure hope their new contacts are working out...

We also got our flu shots on Friday...yikes. I have never had one before, but it seems like a good thing to have since I work at a Dr.'s office. My work provides an optional shot for each employee and their spouse. So...Matt and I have some sore arms today. Hopefully it pays off, lol.

Well...I guess that finally brings me to today. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT SNOWED!!!!! EW! I am so grateful that I no longer have to walk to school in the snow...yay for being graduated! Anyway. Today is the BYU Homecoming football game. It has been fun to see the Y lit up all week on the mountain. We are so excited for the BYU vs. Utah game!!!

It is crazy to think that it's already October. It feels like we kind of skipped over Autumn this year. It went from super hot to freezing cold. Crazy Utah, ha ha ha! :) In November it will be one year since Jason left on his mission to Honduras. I started a blog of some pictures of him in Honduras...I figured it would be a fun and easy way to keep everyone posted and show off some fun pictures. :) His link is on my sidebar, or you can type in eldermuelleck.blogspot.com.

September 19, 2006

I married the most amazing man in the whole world :) I know it sounds cliche, but you have no idea how absolutely wonderful Matt is! Tomorrow marks the 2 year anniversary of our engagement...and it's only fair that I take a second to write out the engagement story (mostly for my memory's sake). So, here goes...

On September 19, 2006 I began my brand new job as a bookseller at Deseret Book. I had just moved back to Provo for the new semester, and Matt was living in Kaysville going to Weber. We officially "hooked up" March 19, 2006 and wanted to celebrate our 6 months together after I got off work. Unfortunately, I was training at my new job and didn't get off until 10:00 pm. When I got home to the condo, Matt was waiting outside for me. I was kind of disappointed that he didn't have flowers or something sweet to celebrate our 6 months, but I kind of blew it off. I was so excited to see him, long distance relationships are the WORST! He was wearing a black jacket, which I thought was kind of odd since he is NEVER cold. We had only looked at rings a month earlier, so...I was a little suspicious. I teased him that he had a ring in his pocket and checked them just to see. No ring though. Since Matt had to travel all the way back to Kaysville that night, we decided to do something low-key and quick. We had been up Provo Canyon earlier that month on Labor Day to see all the leaves and came across a gorgeous waterfall called Bridal Veil Falls. We decided it would be fun to go see it in the moonlight- conveniently, it was a full moon ;) he he he. Since I had just gotten off work though, I was starving- ha ha ha- so I told him I was going to change out of my work clothes and grab an apple. I was kind of shocked by his response...he was kind of pushy! He said, "No, let's just go! It's a full moon and I really want to see the falls before it gets too dark." I was a little confused as to why we had to hurry so fast (little did I know my family was awaiting the exciting phone call), but...off we went.

So...we pulled up to the falls and we were standing outside listening to the water and enjoying the beautiful night (all to ourselves) when Matt handed me his car keys and said, "You're probably cold (which I was)...I have some blankets in my trunk, you can grab one ." Ok...for those who do not know me...I am terrified of the dark, and of seeing deer in the dark!!! I was not about to go walk back to his car in the dark to get a blanket. Plus, in the dark I didn't even know which key was the right one. So, I made him go with me. We got to the car and I gave him the keys back and told him he could just get the blanket out. But, he insisted that I did it. I kind of started to suspect that something was in his trunk since he was making such a big deal about it. So, I opened the trunk and inside was a GORGEOUS boquet of beautiful roses with a gift certificate to my favorite restaurant in Salt Lake City. I was so glad that he remembered to do something for our 6 months! I turned around and gave him a hug. Honestly, I didn't really expect anything else to happen-- but to my surprise, he reached into his pocket (it WAS in his pocket after all! He had conveniently put it in his jacket pocket and taken off his jacket when he met up with me) and pulled out a black velvet box with a sparkling ring and got on one knee. Adorable! 7 1/2 months later we were married! Apparently he had bought the ring the same day we went looking. His proposal caught me completely off-guard! We had talked about getting married in the Spring, and not getting engaged until December or January--yeah...didn't happen. Oh well, he's the best and I love him! I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

EW YUCK!!!!!!!!

THIS is what was in my house!!!!!!!! Can you believe it??? EW! A while ago I posted a blog about a spider I found under my bed. Ugh. I LOATHE spiders. Anyway...this is it! (Gag.) Here is the problem though. I was outside watering my plants a few minutes ago and tying up my potted tomatoes (Yes, they actually grew in pots! I am amazed.) when I looked up on the deck railing and saw another one of these NASTY jumping spiders!!!! This time it was smaller and brown- but still very colorful and fuzzy. I tried to kill it, but it jumped into my plants while I was getting a shoe to smash it with. If it ends up in my house...I just might have to move. Ha ha ha! Why do we have to have such nasty creatures on this planet? :(

The Big Rock Candy Mountain

We spent last weekend at the Big Rock Candy Mountain (thanks to Uncle Rick and Aunt Maryann). It was SO much fun! It was so nice to get away from crowded civilization and cell phone service for a little r&r. We rode the 4 wheelers all over the mountain, ate at Hoover's (not Hooter's), and played lots of games. Here are some pics of the fun vacation. :)

The gang (Matt, Jen, Allie, and Matt) posing in front of the Big Rock Candy Mountain while on a 4 wheeling adventure.

The amazing Matt trickin' it out.

I know, I lucked out-- he's a hottie!!! ;)

More tricks! :) Aunt Maryann & Uncle Rick were nice enough to leave us two 4 wheelers AND the Polaris.

Too fast!!!! Me and Allie tried to take pics of the boys' tricks...but most of the time they were too fast and we missed them! :(

Paging Customer Service

My whole life I have worked in foods, retail, or been involved in supervisor positions. It's been my blessed calling in life to take crap from other people. I have been yelled at in the face by complete strangers (yes, in Deseret Book of all places with Mo-Tab playing in the background), had numerous people tell me they think I need to change my "Store Policies" (as if it is MY store), and watched customers storm off in disbelief and yell "I'm never coming back here again!!!" because of something I have just told them. I have been called multiple names, and have had soups and sandwiches thrown back in my face with shouts of, "This is disgusting, I want a refund!" (of course, they waited until they ate 3/4 of the food until complaining...idiots)...that's just to mention a few. Despite dealing with all the crazies and taking all of their crap, I have remained calm and kept a smiling face. Well, today I FINALLY got to play the other part, and it felt SO GOOD. I think it released years of pent up rage, and I can't even begin to explain how much I loved it! I think I may play the "crazy customer" again sometime... :)

Well, the river trip has come and gone. We all had a blast on our trip and here are some fun pictures to enjoy!

Heading right for Lunch Counter

Lunch Counter at it's best

The Ropes

Finishing up the Ropes

Changes...

This week has been filled with so many fun things, but also a lot of changes. My little sister Stephanie came down to stay with us for four days while she went to a track camp at BYU. On the last day of the camp, they held a mini-track meet. She did SO well! It was really fun to watch her. After that, our friend Matt Day came down to stay for a couple days. We went bowling and out to dinner at Red Robin. Last night we went to the 11:30 pm showing of the new Batman movie. It was SO good!!! The movie was really long, though. But, definitely worth seeing!

Now for the changes...I quit Deseret Book!!!! I'm so excited! Tomorrow I start my new job at Utah Valley Eye Center. I'm a little nervous, because it's always tough to switch jobs. It will be hard to go from a supervisor position to a "I have no clue what I'm doing" position. Ha ha! Oh well, it will be an awesome change! I'm really excited.

This week is going to be crazy as well because...we are leaving for the Snake River!!!! YAY! It's about time! We have been looking forward to this ever since we got home from the trip last year, ha ha. :) This year we will have lots of new people joining us. We just can't wait!

I really hope our garden doesn't shrivel up and die while we are gone. It is doing so well! I already have 8 green tomatoes! Matt's cucumber plant is full of big yellow flowers, too. Its vines are already crawling over our balcony it's getting so big! :)

Well...I guess that's it for today! I'll try to post some more before we leave :)

Welcome Home Ron!

This last Sunday Jen and I were able to go and see my Mission President Ron Godfrey's homecoming. It was a blast being able to see him and hear him and his family speak again. We had such a good time being able to speak with him briefly and hearing of his strong and powerful testimony.

Here is a picture of two of my favorite people in this life, and two of the most influential in my life as well:)

Park City!

Yesterday we took a road trip up to Park City, and it was SOOOOO fun! Matt & I haven't been there in years! We hit up the outlet stores, found some great deals, ate at our favorite Ruby Tuesday restaurant, and...did the Alpine Slide!!!!!!!!!!!! I have never done it before, but Matt is an Alpine Slide veteran. You ride this sweeeet ski lift up to the top of the mountain, and then slide down these cement tracks on a plastic blue sled/cart. The view from the top is absolutely breathtaking! It is AWESOME! I was a wuss and went pretty slow, I thought I was gonna fall off the side, ha ha ha! Luckily I didn't. Matt was an expert and flew down the mountain! Next time maybe I'll have the guts to do the same. They also have a zip line and a brand new Alpine Coaster. We can't wait to get back up there and try them out! Here are some pics of us on the ski lift and at the top of the mountain. I can't believe that I have lived in Utah this long and never done the Alpine Slide before! CRAZY!

4th of July...(a little late).

Well...I guess we're a little late with this post about the 4th of July... At least I'm finally getting around to it though. Things have been so busy for us! Our 4th of July was SO fun though! (Despite the fact that I had to work. UGH!) After work we went to Kaysville to celebrate the 4th with both of our families. It was so fun to see some of our family members that we haven't seen for a while. John and Katerina were in town with their two little girls. We also got to see Chris and Marie's new baby girl. We went to Tom and Janice's for a really fun BBQ and then to Ryan and Stacey's house for fireworks. It was a blast. Here are some pictures of when we went to Stacey's house.

Baby Caitlyn in her 4th of July outfit with her adorable pigtails! :)

Caitlyn hated the fireworks. She enjoyed driving her car around MUCH more.

Cute Stacey and Austin.

Linsey & Caitlyn waiting for the fireworks to start.

Austin was SO adorable! He wanted to share his HUGE jar of gumballs with everybody. We can't believe he is already three years old! What a stud.

Can you believe these dimples???? CUTE!

It was really dark outside...so we used glow sticks to keep track of the little kids running around everywhere.

Matt has been an amazing "Mr. Fixit". He has been so busy re-sheetrocking the area around our swamp cooler. Over the years, the sheetrock got extremely water damaged. Now it looks amazing! The sheetrock has been replaced, and now all we need to do is paint. :) My house is COVERED with sheetrock dust though. One of the worst things EVER.

Ok...well...I'm determined to blog a little more than once a week. Ha ha ha-- I know, I'm slacking. Tomorrow I will post some awesome pictures of the trip Matt & I took today. :)

Finally...

After having this blog for over a week, I guess it is about time we post something. Ha ha ha. Maybe we're just still too addicted to Facebook. :S At least we are trying to make the transition-- right?

So...what's been going on with us lately? A LOT! This summer has been wonderful, but very busy. We've moved, been to Nauvoo and back, repaired our swamp cooler (well...all the credit on that is going to Matt), planted a garden--a very small one, upgraded our tv, and thrown a few BBQs with our amazing new grill. Now we are planning our annual Snake River trip 2008! YAY! This year's river trip will be very different since no one in Matt's family is coming with us. :( No more banjo campfire songs from Matt's dad, or delicious gourmet breakfasts made by Darin. But, we will have some new people joining us! My aunt and uncle will be coming, as well as Allie and our friend Dallin. We can't wait!!! Just a few more weeks...

Well, as short as this blog is, I guess we better run. Some stupid tobacco worms are eating my petunias and I NEED to go buy some pesticide ASAP. If the worms get to my one and only tomato plant-- the world may end. :S

Anyway, thanks to all those who finally broke us and talked us into getting a blog started. :)