BYU v. UTEP

Two weeks ago, in an unlikely, yet very fortunate turn of events, I got work off so I could go with Blake and his brother Luke, his brother-in-law Matt, his dad, and Tom's friend Cami to watch Tom play in the New Mexico bowl.  It was so fun to have a weekend off and to hang out with Blake and his fam.  It was a short, but very fun trip.

Tom warming up (#52)

Cami and I sitting on a semi-creepy Santa's lap

I laughed my head off when I saw Blake wearing his beanie like this.  This is him right after he said "What?? This doesn't look funny!" He looked like a cute little Christmas elf.  I thought that was the funniest thing, until I noticed:

  
That he and his dad were wearing theirs the exact same way! Oh man I laughed so hard.  They are so funny together.

 

Blake and Tom after the game.  I'm sure if Luke had noticed someone was taking a picture, he would have made sure he was pulling a really creepy face.  Luke is always making everyone laugh.

I know it looks like Blake and I knew this picture was being taken, but we really didn't.  Luke, however, looks like that on a regular basis. 

Cami and me

The Steele boys

Chad Lewis was excited to see Blake's dad, who coached him in high school.  They stayed and talked on the field for a really long time.  I thought it was so cool! I kind of just stood like 3 feet away and stared at him, too shy to say anything, but apparently brave enough to stare strangely for an extended period of time.  Makes sense right? Cami kept daring me to go get a picture with him but I was too scared so she took one when I didn't know:

 This one's going on the fridge for sure.

I'm so glad I got to go.  It's always fun to spend time with Blake.  He's the best and we always have a ton of fun together.  

I really liked the trip, but realized I never want to live in a desert-y place.  So St. George, New Mexico, Arizona, Vegas, and parts of Southern California, send me a postcard.  I also realized how much I HATE Kokopelli's.  (You know, the little guys who play an instrument with the curved backs that are found in desert-y places and on the necklaces of old women? What? That wasn't descriptive enough? Here's a picture):

But we had a TON of fun and I'm so glad I was able to come.

P.S. That sweet old school BYU coat I'm wearing was given to me by Papa a few months ago.  Everytime I wear it I think of him.  Even though it's a few sizes too big for me, it always brings back great memories.

Big News!

This has been a really exciting month because:

• I found out I got 2 internships that I REALLY wanted! Starting in January, I'll be working for BYU's University Communications writing press releases, helping host and plan press conferences, and writing feature stories on anything and everything newsworthy that happens at the Y.  (which, by the way, is a lot.)  I'll be there all the way until next December and I can't wait to get started. The girl who I'm replacing had some of her stories published in Shape Magazine, Self Magazine, and CNN.com.  Pretty cool! I'm SO excited and can't wait to start! (Bonus: I'm working on the same floor just a few doors down from the great Cecil O! *Cecil O. Samuelson, the President of BYU.)(Oh, another thing, that bio I linked to on President Sameulson? That was put out by University Communications :)
• Bigger news, in April I'll be moving to Manhattan for two months for the second internship. I'll either be working for LDS Public Affairs or Fleishman-Hillard Public Relations.  Still hammering out those details :)  The downside is Blake can't come with me because he'll be taking the MCAT and applying to med schools.  But he'll visit... a lot, so maybe I'll survive? Too soon to call it.
• Blake took another MCAT practice test today and scored a whole 5 points higher than his last one. That's awesome! He's planning on taking it in April and we're still trying to narrow down the schools he's going to apply to.  So this is an exciting/stressful next few months for us.
• I'm still working at Nordstrom in the Women's shoe department.  Because this will be my 4th Christmas in a row closing on Christmas Eve, I have a love/hate relationship with working retail and Christmas.  Example: I love Christmas, but I hate that I will be working 50 hours this week.  
• Finally, I'm REALLY excited about one of the presents I got Blake for Christmas.  Seeing as how he just asked me what the URL was for our blog... again... I could probably just tell you what I got him and confidently know that he would still have no idea.  But in the spirit of Christmas, I will not divulge that information.

So Season's Greetings, from, the Steeles. Can you tell how excited Blake is for Christmas!!??

Ok now for a real one..

Oh yeah, I'm blonde again.

Attn: BYU Students

Have you seen this? It is HILARIOUS! However, may I point out two discrepancies: 


-One of the girl's hair looks a little too polygamist-y for my taste during the wedding dress chase scene.  Let's keep that distance girls.  Keep in mind the number of people who will come across this video from random googling.  In fact, that whole wedding dress chase thing near the end is kind of "sister wives"


-Allow me to point out that EVERY single person that both Blake and I know that got married/engaged after like two weeks or some other obscenely short amount of time goes to UVU, not BYU! 


Seriously! I can give you like 12 couples off the top of my head.  NONE of them go to BYU.  So take that!

A little background

I STILL can't find my camera! I really want to post pictures too because we've been doing lots of camera-worthy things lately. But to feel better about myself as a blogger, I'll answer this tag, mainly so I can have a post tied me over.  


1)When is your "marriage" anniversary? "engagement" anniversary?


We got engaged on December 19, 2008 and married on May 1, 2009.  

2) Where/how did you meet your spouse for the first time?


Well we went to junior high AND high school together, but we didn't really meet until the summer in 2008 when we saw each other at an outdoor concert thing.  That one's that one that counts. 
3) How long have you known your spouse:


I don't know how to answer this since we knew who each other were in high school, technically... 8 years? That doesn't really count though, I'm going to say 2 1/2 to stay on the safe side.

4) How long did you date/court before you were engaged?


Well... we got engaged after six months, and married four months after that. We actually got married ten months to the day of our first date.  This is where you go "awwwww"
5) Do you have any children:


Yes, four.  Have I never blogged about them? Really? That's so weird..
6) Do you have any house pets:


Oh geez.  No but I bet Blake would answer this yes because we happen to dog sit for friends and family quite a bit.  I love it because I think dogs are so fun, but Blake pretends to not love it, even though I know he really does. Good thing he has me to tell him that he actually loves things he pretends to hate, like cucumbers. (Who hates cucumbers??) 
7) What are some of your favorite activities together:


We like to not have homework together, but that never happens, so we are avid red box patrons, we like to go out to eat, we love to play sports together and we like to go on bike rides together.  We're going to start training for triathlons this spring hopefully!


8) Do you have a favorite vacation spot:

Well we've basically been on one vacation, and it was to EUROPE, so we're pretty spoiled.  I'm going to go ahead and say Italy and look really cool.  
9) Where was your first date?


We went bowling with Blake's friends Brandon Hill and Dallin Larsen and their dates. Then we hiked the Y.  (It wasn't a competition, but I'm so competitive that I turned it into one, and I really wanted Blake and I to make it to the top first, so by the time we got up there we were all sweaty and tired.  But we totally wasted everybody else, and that's all that matters.)
10) When did you first kiss? 


This is pretty sad, neither of us remember exactly how long after our first date it was, but we both pretty much agree it was about 3-4 weeks after our first date.  It was really cute :)

11)Who said I Love you First? 


Blake did, but I said it back right away.

12) Did you get married in a church? 


No we got married in the Salt Lake Temple.

13) Where did you go on your honeymoon:


We went to San Diego, and it was so much fun.

14) How long did you know each other before you started dating?

You're getting a little repetitive here, survey.  We've kind of been over this.  Probably five years. But I'm using the term "know each other" very loosely, we knew who each other were, but we didn't necessarily know each other.

15)What do you call each other most of the time?


We both kind of think it's annoying when couples call each other "babe" or "hon," so we mostly call each other "love," oh, you know, like old people. When Blake's with his friends though I like to call him embarrassingly mushy nicknames, such as "lover-bottom", and "honey-babe," and "shmoopy-shmooperton".  It's a new game I made up called "embarrass your husband," and I am REALLY good at it.

16)Where do you each work or go to school?

We both go to BYU and I work at Nordstrom in the Women's Shoe department.

17) Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?


Probably how much time we have to spend apart.  We are busy newlywed students.
 18) Did you go to the same school?


Yes, the same junior high, high school, and college.

19) Are you from the same home town?


Yes we're both from Orem.  I LOVE that!
20) Who is smarter?

We both have our strengths, but overall Blake is the smartest.

21) Who is more sensitive?


You're kind of dropping the ball on these end questions here survey.  It's like you just gave up.  Where's the effort? I am more sensitive ok!? Are you happy??

22)Where do you eat out most as a couple?


Iggy's, Wingers, Cafe Rio, Mi Ranchito, Olive Garden... man we eat out way too much.

23) What attracted you to him first?


Hello, have you SEEN him??? He is a very beautiful man.  One might even go as far as to say he is like a greek god. 
24) Who is more social?


Again, the topic of much debate in our lives.  Blake would for sure say that I am way more social, and that he doesn't like to be social or something, but Blake is one of the most social people.  It's that thing he does again where he pretends he is not a certain way but he actually is.  Like when he says he is not very smart but then he gets a 95% on his Advanced Physiology final, or whatever hard class he is currently taking.

25) Who is the neat-freak?


ME by FAR! I hate it so bad when people come over and the house is messy.  Probably one of my biggest pet peeves.  

26) What are HIS favorite things and HER favorite things?


His: cereal, football, playing with nieces and nephews, bread, watching sports, laughing super hard, and america's funniest home videos (to which he laughs super hard)


Hers: family, holding babies, writing, ice cream, watching movies with Blake, hulu (I'm just going to say it) and PR




I tag: Camille Juergens, Jennica Myra Faye Felsted, and Michelle Cannon

First Private Post!

and it's going to be lame because I lost my camera!!!


I can't find it anywhere and it has tons of important pictures on it that I haven't uploaded yet.  I am so mad! I can't even post pictures of my gorgeous niece Chloe Noelle Barker who was born on the 24th.  


So as soon as I find it I'll finally blog again.  


Sorry for the lame post.

22!

I had such a fun birthday! I turned 22 on the 10-20-2010.  22 feels old... but the exact same at the same time.  My sister Tiffany took me to get a pedicure, and we invited the other sisters along. (Minus Natalie who lives in North Carolina, we missed you Nat!) 

Tiff (she's due in 2 weeks!) Lisa, and Steph

The quintessential sorority sister toe picture. Tiff and I have the snowflakes and Steph and Lisa kept it classy with the monochromes.  I always have so much fun with my sisters.  Every time we get together we end up laughing our heads off.

On Sunday, Blake's mom threw me a birthday party combined with the family halloween party.  It was a blast.  Ever since I was little, I have loved having a halloween-ish birthday.  I always begged my mom for costume parties, and my mom got pretty creative with craft and game ideas for my birthday parties.  She always made me very elaborate cakes with fake spiders and things all over them.  I loved it! This year's birthday cake fell into the same category :)

Tom and Cami making their cupcakes

Hubs and I

Andrea and Lauren.  Andrea bought all of the supplies, so thank you shout-out to Andrea!

Luke and Will decorating cupcakes

Mine and Blake's cupcakes.  Mine is the one on the left with the eyelashes on it's singe eye (of course,) and Blake's is the sweet one that looks like it was made by the cake boss himself

 

Me with my "birthday cake," everyone's finished product.  It was so fun!

The donut-on-a-string competition.  That's my #22, putting that donut away like a champ.

Haha I love this picture.  Blake and Tom are locked in a head-to-head battle to the death to see who can chew their donut the fastest in order to be the first one to let out an audible whistle and be declared the champion.  Blake won.  I've never been so proud. 

P.S: Jennica and Dave, we had a blast at your murder mystery party!! I wish I took pictures! That was easily one of our highlights of the semester

Malaga!

This guy:

Got one of these:

So he opened it

And found out he was called to.....

Malaga, Spain!!!

Blake couldn't be there when Sean opened his call because he was in class, but as soon as he got to my parent's house, Sean re-enacted it for him. :)  Since Blake served in Barcelona, he was so excited to hear that Sean was going to Spain! And since they changed the mission boundaries a little bit, some of Sean's areas are some of Blake's old areas. (Oh, I un-grounded Blake from the blog for the time being.)

I can't believe Sean's already going on a mission.  We are all going to miss him so bad.  Sean's going to do such a great job.  He's been excited to serve a mission since he was tiny.  I can't even think about him leaving for two years, but he is so happy and prepared.  I'm so grateful for Sean and his example but we are going to miss him like crazy! Especially all the nieces and nephews.  Sean is for sure the favorite uncle.  

And just to demonstrate Sean's enthusiasm, here's a picture he photoshopped of what he foresees his mission experience to be like. 

"We're kind of a big deal.."

Go BYU PRSSA!!! We won the outstanding chapter award at National Conference on Monday!!! Outstanding chapter is the award given to the chapter excelling in eleven different categories, including outstanding website, newsletter, faculty, member services and diversity, (haha, really? At BYU?) to name a few.  Out of more than 300 chapters, that's not bad.  And that plaque is going to look pretty good hanging up in our display case when we get back to Provo. I'll link the press release as soon as I finish it.

According to Professor Walton, "Wow, we really are a big deal!"

Right after we won.  Best night!

  "We are PR Superstars" These shirts were hilarious.

Yes, this picture was necessary. 

More D.C.

So I know the real reason we came to D.C.  wasn't to see the sights... but that happened anyway, so here's a bunch of pictures. 

Here's Patrick and I in front of the sign for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery.  Patrick just got hired by GM! Hurray for internships turning into jobs! Also, follow him on twitter, legit thought leader right here. 

At Arlington Cemetery.  It was so incredible.  It is so sobering to see all the graves and to have a visual like that to illustrate the amount of people that have served and fought for our country. 

In front of Ford's Theatre.. obviously.. because there's a giant sign above me telling you all where I am. 

This was so cool, I'm standing between Joseph Smith and Brigham Young at the Smithsonian.  We went to see the exhibit of one of my FAVORITE painters, Norman Rockwell.  All the pictures on display were from the collections of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.  There were some I had never seen before.  Norman Rockwell's originals are so much cooler than the prints.  It was awesome! 

Here's the fabulous Lauren Lytle and I 

Me, Lauren, Steve and Nick in front of the White House.  Thanks for getting the WH in the picture, random street lady. 

Oh here we go, with a little sass thrown in. Especially on Steve's part.

Probably the main reason for me uploading these next pictures are because of the fact that Haley and my eyes are closed in almost every picture.  How does that even happen? This is in front of the National Archives by the way.  We saw the Nuremberg laws in there, complete with Hitler's original signature, which was very eerie.  We also saw the Constitution, Declaration, Bill of Rights, AND Magna Carta.

Please don't click on this picture to make it bigger because you will see that my eyes are closed.. again.

Patrick, Nick, Haley, Steve, Me and Brandon

Please, we HAD to get a hot dog from a street vendor!

Haley and I on the metro

This is blurry because the metro was moving.  Thanks Steve for risking your life to take this picture of us.

And Lauren and I in our chapter shirts before one of the sessions.  I realize there is an overwhelming number of pictures of ME on this blog, but hey, it's my blog.  (Yes, I'm claiming this blog all on my own.  I feel like that's justified considering the fact that Blake just asked me what the URL was for our blog again a few days ago.  So Blake is grounded from the blog until further notice.)

Here's one last picture.  All the girls before a joint session of PRSA/PRSSA.