En Route

It's about time

2011-12-12T23:46:00.000-08:00

I introduced you to Mr. Isaac Denzel Steele

I have been selfishly keeping him to myself for 3 and a half weeks now, and enough is enough. It's been so hard to blog (or do laundry, or dishes, or vacuum for that matter) for these past few weeks because I can't justify putting this perfect little baby down for any reason. I have been spending an uncharacteristically low amount of time on my computer lately, and a very large amount of time smiling into the face of my sweet little boy. He's incredible, he's finally here, and he's mine! I still can't believe it.

Every second of it, the 4 a.m. feedings, the dirty diapers, the sore post-labor body, is amazing and I am so grateful for it!

On the morning of November 18, we headed to the hospital for my scheduled induction. Isaac was adamant about making an entrance, and insisted on making us wait a week past his due date of 11.11.11. We got to the hospital at 7:30. At this point, I was surprisingly sane. I've never been someone who does well with medical things. Okay fine, I'm that person, you know, the one who passed out in health class every year from junior high on up, the one who won't tell you if there's something in your contact because the sight of you tugging at the bottom half of your eyelid makes her faint, the one who swore she would become a nun because the thought of enduring childbirth was just too much... (no offense to the nuns, but I'm glad I didn't end up following through on that one.)

Blake and I got to the hospital and rode the elevator up to the labor and delivery floor with a very tired looking new father who had rushed to his car to get his new baby's car seat so he and his wife could take their son home. My nerves started to subside a little and the excitement of meeting my new baby grew.

...Until we checked in to our room and the nurse handed me a hospital gown and shut the door. Blake and I looked at each other and finally it all became real. We were about to be parents. I was going to have a baby, me of all people! We were going to leave this hospital with our son! After the initial mini-breakdown fueled by the fear of it all, I put on the hospital gown and declared myself ready to have a baby. (Because having a baby is such a monumental occurrence in the first place, in my mind it is worthy of being declared.)

The nurse came in and put my IV in, which, ouch! She messed up, she even admitted it. I'll spare you all of the details. The doctor came and broke my water. I wanted to feel contractions for a while before I asked for an epidural. Looking back... why? Anyway, I waited a couple hours in to the contractions before they became pretty unbearable. After the epidural, I was a much more pleasant person to be around I'm sure.

True to Peterson woman fashion, I dilated pretty quickly and was ready to push around 4:45 p.m. After about a half hour of pushing, Isaac was born at 5:11.

8 lbs. 1 oz.

21.5 inches long

dark hair

dark eyes

big hands and feet

my little Isaac.

Literally the second he was born, the nurse laid him on my chest and he reached up and touched my face. It was the most amazing experience to finally get to see my baby. This was the baby I had been thinking about, praying for, and waiting to hold for a lot longer than the past 9 months. I finally had him.

I think what shocked me the most was how much I felt like I knew him. I recognized him. He was so familiar to me, immediately. It was incredible.

And now, please enjoy this display of a million pictures:

The day before my due date, my sister took these last-minute maternity pictures

Looking a little rough before the epidural. Those things are a miracle I tell you!

Such a crazy feeling. So many emotions, but mainly just so excited!

My sister Stephanie drew a picture of what she thought Isaac would look like on the hospital whiteboard, and my niece Lily drew pictures of "mermaid ghosts," because, what else?

Post-epidural, and life is beautiful once again

This was the view outside my hospital room. It just can't get better than this.

Oh look, it just did! This is Isaac just a few minutes old.

Hours old, this was our first night in the hospital.

One day old, much less swollen and extremely adorable!

So tired. Our first day home from the hospital

And here's a few pictures of Isaac when he was a week old.

We are so grateful for a safe delivery, a healthy baby, and our new little family of three. Throughout these past few weeks of new motherhood, my testimony of a Heavenly Father who loves us all eternally has grown so much. I am so grateful for this little person that I get to raise. It's hard to explain, but Isaac already has such a calm countenance. He is a very calm and contemplative little baby. I can't wait to watch his personality develop and to be the person who gets to help him cultivate his good qualities. I feel so lucky to get to have this little guy. I keep saying I can't believe he's mine! I just hope I can be the type of mother that this sweet little boy deserves.

7 Days...

2011-11-04T13:09:00.000-07:00

I slept for about 3 1/2hours last night. Is this what the end of pregnancy feels like? Great. However, I did manage to shave my legs this morning, so, youknow, there's that. If you don't know why this is incredible, then youhave never been 39 weeks pregnant.

Ithit me a few weeks ago while I was making the trek from campus to mytrusty parking spot next to the car with eyelashes in the MarriottCenter parking lot, (have you seen that car? It's so funny!) that I'mnot only having a baby, but I'm also graduating. I always thought Iwould be more excited. I mean, of course I'm excited, but I'm alsoreally going to miss school. I loved every second of being a BYUstudent. I really, really did. I even loved the seconds cramming forthose awful American Heritage tests. Even those excruciating seconds Iloved deep down because I love BYU, and I love learning, and I loveschool.

Abouta year ago, my sister Natalie told me to enjoy every moment of being incollege, because it is the only time in your whole life where your mainfocus can be on making yourself a better, smarter person. Of course,you can always improve, but in college, the whole time you get to haveyour #1 focus be on becoming a more knowledgeable person. When youthink about it, it's kind of selfish, and it is wonderful.

I only have ONE week left until my due date, and FIVEweeks until I'm an official college graduate. I'm going to missschool, but I'm very excited to move on to this next adventure.

Ourlittle guy is constantly moving and reminding us that he's comingsoon. I like to think that I have a lot more time left than I reallydo. Most of my sisters have had to be induced a week after their duedates, so I'm not very hopeful that he'll come on his awesome due dateof 11.11.11. My sister asked me if I've packed my hospital bag, and Ifound myself answering, "no, I'll probably just do that the nightbefore..." then I realized that I don't know when the night before willbe... which is still a very hard concept for me- the perpetual planner-to wrap my head around.

Weare VERY excited around here. Blake and I love to look at the babyswing that now occupies the space next to our TV in our living room,and I love to do my homework in the baby's room and just spend time inthere. At least I know that at the very most I'll be holding my baby in14 days!

Forgetting Stuff

2011-10-05T22:06:00.000-07:00

You know how people say that pregnancy makes you forgetful? Well I always scoffed at that idea (yes, that's right, I said scoffed). How could being pregnant possibly make you forgetful? What correlation do the two have? In fact, about a month ago I told Blake quite smugly-you see, I get smug when I think generalizations don't apply to myself- that even though people claim that pregnancy causes forgetfulness, I was living proof that it does not. My memory was just as sharp as ever. And by sharp, I mean really sharp, because I have always prided myself on my memory. You're allowed to pride yourself on at least one thing, right?

Well a few days after this very conversation took place, I was getting ready to leave for work in the morning. Blake was already in class. I grabbed my laptop, my cellphone, my lunch, my water bottle, and then I stepped onto our porch and shut the door to my apartment. In that very second that the door clicked shut, I realized with sinking hopes of getting to work on time that my car and apartment keys were locked inside, as was our spare key. Great. So what does my rational brain think to do? Oh maybe just start to walk to work...about 3 miles away... in the late morning sun...8 months pregnant...in heels. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I walked for about 5 minutes before I even thought to stop and think, "what the heck am I doing?" So I called my dad, who in typical dad fashion came to my rescue by picking me up and taking me to work. Once in the car I thought, what just happened? I don't forget things, I really don't! Or maybe I do, I can't remember.

Last weekend, I went up to my parents' house in Midway to watch General Conference with my family. Blake was going to come up the next day. I got in the car and drove all the way up to Midway. Once I got there, I opened up my back door to get my bag out, only it wasn't there. So I called Blake, "yeah, it's right here in our apartment by the door." What is happening to me!? That night, I went up to the Park City outlets with my mom and sister. While drooling over the delicious baby boy polos and corduroy pants at the Ralph Lauren store, I suddenly realized: My phone is gone!

I ran (yes, you heard me, I actually ran in this current state of mine) up to Baby Gap to hopefully retrieve my phone. In retrospect, why did I run? I don't have an iPhone (woe is me) so who would even want to steal my relic of a cellphone? I ran in the doors and asked the very hairy teenager behind the counter if he found a phone. "Yes, can you describe it?" Seriously? I was just in there like 15 minutes ago. "Okay, it's black and old, and not cool, and not a smart phone." "Yeah, here it is. I actually saw you leave it on the counter before you left." .....Really? And you didn't think to say, "Hey lady, you left your phone???"

Anyway, aside from feeling like a complete moron when my boss asks me a question at work and I completely forget the answer to it mid-sentence, having a 10 second short-term memory span has its perks. For instance I have completely stopped depending on myself. See? No pressure. Also, I'm getting really good at not feeling dumb when I start to tell a story and then suddenly remember that I can't remember the ending. Like water off a duck's back I tell ya.

However, its still a very small price to pay in exchange for a sweet little baby boy in 5 weeks. I hear that your memory never fully comes back, but when I'm holding my little baby, and Blake asks me what the capital of Uganda is, and I can't remember? Who cares. (Kampala! Only I really do still remember that, I didn't even look it up, I promise.)

P.S., I don't have any pictures yet, but my mother-in-law threw me a really fun shower last Saturday. It was a blast, and I'm so grateful to everyone who came. Thank you!

The secret code

2011-09-28T22:01:00.000-07:00

I made eye contact with another pregnant girl on campus today. There's a certain camaraderie that exists between pregnant women, especially third-trimester pregnant women on college campuses. Like a secret code. We communicated to each other with our brief eye contact and friendly little smile and half-nod. It was like we both said, "You're having a baby a few weeks before finals too? That stinks. Good luck." Or maybe like, "Do you also have to pause to catch your breath every 30 steps?" or "So how do you enjoy being a classic BYU stereotype?"

I remember one of my first days of school my freshman year. I had class in the SWKT, in one of those big auditorium classrooms. The first thing I noticed was how many married people were in my class. It was so weird! I thought, I can't possibly be old enough to go to school with married people. This is too weird. I remember sitting in a seat and realizing the guy sitting next to me had a wedding ring on. The whole class all I could think about was, am I not supposed to sit here? Is there some unwritten rule that you don't sit next to married people? Does he think it's weird that I sat next to him? It wasn't on purpose! It's the first seat I saw! The other thing I noticed was how many pregnant women were waddling about on campus. I distinctly remember thinking: that will not be me.

Not that I wasn't excited about marriage and kids, but just watching some of those women shuffle to their classes with their heavy backpacks and largely protruding bellies didn't look ideal. I almost feel bad telling this story because I think about how happy I am to have my own protruding belly, heavy backpack, and yes, very distinct waddle. I definitely didn't think I would be here while I was still in college, but I feel so lucky that I am!

At 34 weeks I am:

-Sleeping about 1 1/2 hours at a time

-Going through Tums like they're sour cream and onion Pringles

-Always craving sour cream and onion Pringles

-Unable to eat anything citrus (it burns my throat too bad and makes my ever-present heartburn increase to an unbearable level)

-Reading about a page every couple days out the book "What To Expect When You're Expecting," and then getting too scared, having a little breakdown, and making Blake read the rest.....only to repeat this cycle every 3-4 days.

-Stressing out over not having a name yet.

-Using three very strategically placed pillows to sit comfortably at a chair and avoid the constant stabbing pain in the middle of my back. (Middle of my back? That is the weirdest spot to have back pain. How does that even happen?)

-Nesting like a crazy person (read: the inside of my fridge is seriously SO CLEAN!)

-Getting a lot of funny stares from freshmen on campus
-Hoping that the non-maternity shirts and pants I've been wearing will shrink back to normal after this pregnancy.

And another picture, because every time someone pulls a camera out, I instinctively turn to the side to give them the classic pregnancy shot. Sign #432 that pregnancies last too long. Six more weeks, come on baby!

Little Brother

2011-09-22T22:18:00.000-07:00

I miss my brother. My darling ~~little~~ younger brother Sean is serving in the Spain, Malaga mission. I miss him so much! It's pretty cool he's in Malaga because Blake served in Barcelona, and the church has since changed the mission boundaries so Sean gets to serve in a few of Blake's old areas.

Sean's emails are always so uplifting. It is such a neat experience to hear his stories illustrating how the Spirit of God works through his servants to answer prayers and provide help to people who need it. The gospel is just so amazing. There are simply too many amazing "coincidences" that happen in our lives to not be attributed to Heavenly Father.

In his last letter, he sent home some pictures of his most recent baptism. A little 8 year old boy in his ward asked Sean to baptize him. When I saw this picture, I could not stop laughing. Sean is 6'6". While his awesome height served him very well in his basketball career, and is not out of the ordinary for our very tall family, or even for America, it seems the people in Spain aren't used to it.

This is a picture the father of the baptized boy took of the baptism:

Sean looks great, doesn't he? Really happy and healthy. Love that haircut.

Oh poor Sean, but this is the world's best picture.

He let us know that somebody else took this next picture:

Oh I miss my cute little brother. Sean is a great missionary and he's working really hard. I miss him to death but I'm so grateful for his decision to serve a mission. His example of selfless service influences me every day.

Football, Basketball, Baseball...

2011-09-14T16:18:00.000-07:00

I was organizing some of our baby clothes a few nights ago, (Oh my goodness! There are SO MANY adorable little boy clothes! I am so excited!) and it reminded me of something that happened after my baby shower a few weeks ago.

I was opening my present from my sweet friend Jennica, and she got me the cutest little sports outfits. Most of the onesies had footballs on it, and Jennica said,

"I bought all these outfits with Blake in mind. I made sure they had footballs on them so they could be Blake-approved."

I told Blake about it when I brought all my cute presents home and was telling him what was from who. When I told him what my friend said, Blake said,

"Well he doesn't have to have ALL football stuff..." just as I was wondering what happened to Blake, and when did he suffer a personality-altering head injury, he said "He can have baseball and basketball stuff too."

That's more like it. I was worried there for a minute!

We are getting so excited! Our little guy squirms around all day long and every time I see my alien belly morph, I get even more excited to see him in about 8 1/2 weeks. (8 1/2 weeks! How did this happen so fast?)

blondes vs. brunettes

2011-09-10T11:22:00.000-07:00

A little story:

There are six girls in my family, including my mom, and five of us are blonde. Stephanie was born with beautiful dark brown hair, which, although stunning, also caused her to be mistaken for a neighbor child most of her life.

"Now who are you?"

"I'm Stephanie, I'm one of the Petersons."

"Oh no you're not, the Peterson girls are blonde!"

"Now when did you dye your hair?"

Stephanie's hair is gorgeous, and she loves that it's one of the attributes that makes her look the most like our beautiful grandma; but I'm sure this conversation she has on repeat with every distant relative and former ward members gets old.

When Blake and I were engaged, Steph realized I would be the only blonde in a family of brunettes. She thought it was so funny that someone else was finally going to experience a fraction of the case of mistaken identity she went through her whole life.

The Steeles took family pictures a few weeks ago... can you spot the blonde? I showed this to Steph at my baby shower. She felt vindicated.

In other news, I'm now 31 weeks pregnant. I can't believe I only have 9 weeks left. We're getting so excited! It's really crazy to watch this active little boy distort my stomach all day long. He doesn't stop moving for a minute, (and if he does, then he gets the hiccups) which makes my stomach look like something out of Alien. We're having a blast getting his room ready. Now if anyone has any name suggestions, go ahead and send them our way. We are really struggling here!

Showers!

2011-09-01T22:56:00.000-07:00

First of all, my new blog design is courtesy of the great Darrian Watts, one of my co-workers and web designer extraordinaire. She designs blogs and websites as part of her business, so if you're in the market, look her up and see some of her work. You can find her here. She is amazing and extremely talented. Also, since she's still a student, her rates are incredibly low.

The last few weeks have been so much fun. Blake and I have been focusing on getting ready for mini-Blake to arrive. We've been painting, cleaning, organizing, and preparing and we're getting so excited! I, of course, am so nervous about the labor, (have you met me? I can't believe I've remained conscious the last few times I've had to get my blood drawn.) So thank heavens for epidurals, in fact, I think I'll go ahead and get one now if you don't mind--you know, just to be safe and make sure it kicks in in time... ten weeks early.

Part of our preparation included baby showers! One of my best friends Jennica threw me a really fun shower, and then my mom and sisters threw me another one a few days later. I have such great friends and family, I had the best time at my showers!

All the Peterson girls with Mom and Honey

I had a blast, thank you so much everyone!

And a blurry 30 week picture for your viewing pleasure.

One year later.

2011-08-14T01:59:00.000-07:00

This is a hard post to write, but at the same time, it's the easiest thing in the world to talk about my grandpa.

I blogged about Papa's funeral last year. I can't believe it's been a year. He was sick, especially near the end, and I know he is so happy now. That knowledge that he's happy and that he's where he deserves to be is the only bright beam when we lose a loved one. That and the sweet peaceful knowledge that we'll see him again.

When Papa passed away and we were preparing for the funeral, one thing that kept popping into all our minds was, "we loved him because he first loved us."

Honey and Papa made it a priority to be a big part of our lives. They loved spending time with their grandchildren. Growing up, I always knew they loved us, not just because they told us so frequently, but by how they treated us. Papa walked my little brother Sean and I to the bus stop almost every day in elementary school, and he was always there when we got home. The bus would pull up and Papa would be standing there with our golden Labrador, Cougar, waving with his ever-present happy smile waiting for us. We would get off the bus and run to give Papa a hug. All our friends loved our grandparents, and many of my friends knew my grandparents better than they knew their own.

Papa was Mr. Fix-it. He could fix anything! With 12 grandkids, it seems like every day Papa was fixing someone's bike chain, or pumping up someone else's tires. He also loved cars. He taught Drivers' Ed at Orem for years, and had a passion for cars. Most kids have to struggle to get all their roading hours in with their parents to qualify for their drivers' licenses, but Papa would call me and ask me if I wanted to go for a drive to practice. He made sure I got plenty of hours driving in the dark and during rain storms too so I could be extra-prepared. (When I took my actual driving test, the woman who tested me said I was the only 100% she'd ever given. Thanks, Papa!)

I could tell stories about him all day. One of my favorite of Papa's qualities was his ability to be happy in any circumstance. You'd never know it by his attitude, but he had a lot of hard times in his life. People very close to him didn't treat him like they should. But Papa was always happy, always smiling, and never held any grudges. He was an amazing example of not being a victim of circumstance. When he was dealt a difficult hand, he didn't dwell on it. He chose happiness. He made a conscious choice every day to be happy. It wasn't always easy for him-- how could that ever be easy for anyone? But he did it. Always smiling, usually whistling, and never dwelling on the negative. He was a very forgiving man. Yet another lesson Papa inadvertently taught me by the way he lived his life. People who forgive live the happiest lives.

There have been definite times since his passing when I've been able to feel Papa nearby. I am so grateful for those peaceful moments when I can feel his presence. Tears instantly spring to my eyes and I'm filled with so much warmth as I think about the wonderful lessons I learned from my amazing grandpa. Little reminders about not being in such a rush. Taking time to appreciate the little things, and choosing to be happy. He was a wonderful man, and together with my equally wonderful grandma, succeeded in accomplishing much good in this world.

It's hard, and we miss him, but I am forever grateful that I was able to know him. My heart goes out to the people who never had the opportunity--or worse, had the opportunity but disregarded it-- to know their grandparents. Especially with grandparents as wonderful as mine, there would be few greater tragedies.

July 31, 2011- One year later

If there's one thing to be known about the Peterson women, it's our uncanny and often hilarious ability to dress almost identical on a daily basis. Inadvertently, of course. Repeating color patters, and even complete outfits, as demonstrated by my mom and Steph, more fully illustrate this point. We're just missing Tiff in this picture, but I'd bet my life she was wearing a pink shirt that totally matched Lisa's.

I looked over and noticed Blake was wearing Papa's socks.

Honey and Spencer watching the rest of the grandkids racing.

Telling our favorite Papa stories.

Yellow was Papa's favorite color. So fitting for a man who lived such a happy and bright life. We released yellow balloons into the air, just like we did at his funeral. Here are my parents watching the balloons.

We love you, Papa! Thanks for all the trips to the creamery to get ice cream, all the times you loaded us in the back of your blue truck to go fishing, all the trips to rock canyon park to go sledding, all the jokes you told, all the love you shared, and all the lessons you taught. You are one of a kind.

Steele Reunion

2011-08-09T19:35:00.000-07:00

July was a month of family reunions for us. We had a Peterson reunion in Lava Hot Springs where my grandma is from, and a Steele reunion with Blake's immediate family. Next week we're going to a Taylor reunion in good old Wayne County, Utah.

The Steele reunion was a blast. Blake's sister and brother-in-law came in from Virgina, and we hadn't seen them for a year. We had a "stay-cation" type of reunion where we did all sorts of fun things around Utah Valley. There was a temple trip, a hike to Timp Cave (I couldn't go because being pregnant apparently for me means you can no longer participate in normal physical activities. This little boy is draining all my energy already), a dutch oven cookout up the canyon, a game day, family pictures, a trip to Lagoon, and golfing! It was quite the reunion.

Laurel and I were on baby patrol since we couldn't do most of the rides. Clearly I'm doing a great job. No picture is complete with a Steele boy making a face in there somewhere! Thanks Tom. Usually its Luke.

All the Steele boys. Blake, his two brothers and his two brothers-in-law.

Blake, Tom, and Luke

Here's Laurel and Steele. Blake's sister named her little boy Steele, how cool is that?

Blake's nieces and nephews listening intently to Grammy's instructions for when we take them on the little kid rides

We had a blast. Thanks again Robert and Laurel!

Wrong Number

2011-08-03T23:06:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Blake and I went to the Lehi rodeo with my family. I texted my sister before to ask her what time it started and exactly how to get there. She usually texts back pretty quickly, but she didn't respond for a little while. About a half hour later, I got a phone call from a phone number that was one digit off from my sister's. Realizing I just texted the wrong number, I answered the phone:

Me: Hello?

Stranger: (In a very demanding voice) Who is this?

Me: Michelle, who is this?

Stranger: Shannon. You texted me.

Me: Oh sorry, I just realized I typed in the wrong number when I saw your number on my caller ID.

Stranger: Do you need to know how to get to the Lehi rodeo?

Me:... yes?

Stranger: Ok, you take main street, turn right after the roundabout, there's parking on the west side of the arena, and if you drive north a few streets you'll find more parking. It starts at eight. Walk in the west doors, there's better seating. I went last night and had a blast. Have fun!

Me: Oh my gosh, thank you so much!

I was laughing so hard. What a nice person to call and make sure I had the right directions, especially since I texted her on accident and she was a complete stranger. I made sure to text her after and tell her thanks and that we had a lot of fun.

An Open Letter

2011-07-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

To all participants of any BYU intramural flag football league:

If you rip one more of my husband's shirts while going for his flag, I'mma kill you. Not like "oh my gosh, I can't believe you just did that, I'm going to kill you!" No, literally, I will kill you. Blake has lost way too many shirts playing flag football, and is only allowed to wear the already-ripped ones to games from now on.

Sidenote: Hey refs, when they grab and tear a shirt literally in half, it's called holding. Blow your whistle, and I will stop yelling at you. That is how our relationship will work.

Blake's in the middle of his intramural season, a.k.a the happiest time of his life. The only hard thing about this pregnancy is not being able to play any co-ed intramurals with him. It's kind of sad that last year was our last chance for that, but we got to play on a basketball and softball team together, which was so much fun! You really don't want to mess with our basketball team. Really, you don't.

Other than intramurals, Blake's in the process of submitting his secondary applications to medical school. The process is, first you send out primary's, and then from that the schools decide whether or not to send you a secondary, and then after you turn those in, the schools contact you to come for an interview, and then you wait in agonizing anticipation to see if they have accepted you.

We've also been having a lot of fun with our ward. Right before I left for New York, Blake got called to be in the bishopric of a singles' ward. I was able to go to our new ward once before I left for my internship, and Blake stayed behind and attended a singles' ward... by himself... for two months. Hilarious. By the way, I forgot how many activities singles' wards have! We are having the best time! Pool parties, dutch oven dinners, bonfires up the canyon, breakfasts, and that's just the start. We really miss our old ward, but we are having so much fun with this new one.

4th of July!

2011-07-08T22:42:00.000-07:00

The Fourth of July is favorite holiday- even topping Christmas! Can you believe that?

My mom is one of the Vice Presidents of the Freedom Festival so for our family, the Fourth of July is a combination of really exciting patriotic events mixed with barbecues and the biggest firework show in the country.

Our holiday started out with the annual Patriotic Service in the Marriott Center. Last year, Steve Young was the keynote speaker and I interviewed him for this article, (last year I also pulled double duty as a stage manager? Stage worker? Theatrical friends, what is this called? My mom volunteered my 5 month pregnant sister and myself to dress in black and move the sets on and off the stage during scene changes... good times Mom.)

This year, there was no keynote speaker, it was more of a program. It was really incredible. All you who live in Provo and have never been, you are missing out! Oh that's a picture of my cute parents afterward

This is my parents with my niece Lily and Miss United Nations and Miss Africa Utah. Miss United Nations is from Tajikistan. This was pretty cool because I got to spend the day with the ambassador of Tajikistan when they came for an ambassador's picnic on Governor's Island, NY hosted by the LDS Public and International Affairs office. I told you there was still a lot I wanted to blog about New York.

My parents gave us tickets to a Mark Wills/Mark Chesnutt concert, which was awesome. We sat next to Miss America, who I'm sorry to tell you, wears a wig. But she wears it well! We were able to go to a meet and greet before the concert, and they were really funny. Especially Mark Wills, you can tell he loves his fans.

This is my cute mom and Blake.

One of my favorite parts of our annual Fourth of July celebration is the Freedom Awards Gala. It's a formal dinner where 3-4ish people are awarded each year for their outstanding contributions to promoting freedom. F. Enzio Busche, an emeritus member of the Quorum of the Seventy was one of the people awarded this year. It's always a great celebration for freedom, as well as a strong reminder to be grateful for the freedoms we all experience each day living in America.

Honey wore one of my high school dance dresses! She looked gorgeous, and could definitely zip it up easier than I could.

In the middle of our celebrations, Natalie had her adorable baby, Eliza Clawson! She's gorgeous, and Natalie is such a rockstar. She definitely didn't look like she just had a baby. Peterson grandbaby #9. That is crazy!

Blake came to the hospital to help watch kids in the lobby during the delivery.

Then, of course, we finished up with the Stadium of Fire! (Blake politely informed me that he might kill me if I sing the song one more time.) We were able to go backstage to the pre-show and post-show and hang out with the performers. Good times!

Here's Chad Lewis at the pre-show, He went to my elementary school, junior high, and high school. I'm sure he remembers coming to my elementary school for an assembly to encourage us all to read when I was in fourth grade. I'm sure that had just as strong of an impact on him as it did on me. :)

We finished off the week by going to the festival in Provo and buying matching ties for our little guy and Blake. Oh adorable! We had such a great time! Thanks mom and dad :)

It's a BOY!!!!

2011-06-26T11:14:00.000-07:00

If you are my Facebook friend, which you probably are, then you know we're having a boy! I thought it was a boy all along, and Blake started to think so too. I was SO EXCITED when the doctor confirmed our would-be parental instincts (or lucky guess). It is so fun being able to concentrate on getting ready for mini-Blake to arrive.

We went to the doctor on Tuesday and got to see our little guy on the screen. He's so cute already. I have never been one to like ultrasound pictures (some are just so creepy looking!) But he is adorable. The more we are able to get ready for him, the more excited we get. Blake and I love to say "our son." It's my favorite thing. Example, "Blake, our son is kicking a lot right now."

We Blake has been painting the crib:

With a little help. Blake's nephew Will has been our little buddy the last few days. He comes to visit us a lot and has been telling me what kinds of toys little boys like to play with so I can be prepared.

And here's a 20 week picture. Half-way there! So far I've been feeling awesome. The first trimester was tough. It was near the end of a tough semester, and I was running out of classes to go throw up. Luckily I had very understanding professors and bosses, (plus I go to BYU, they're used to pregnant students.)

Once I started the second trimester, I felt so good. Which was a huge blessing because I was already in New York and it was hard enough being away from Blake. I had some pretty killer headaches, but other than that I felt amazing. My joints hurt now, and I feel like I'm 100 years old when my back and hips ache so bad that I'm hobbling around. And there there's the heartburn, oh the heartburn! But I look at how hard some other people's pregnancies are and I feel really lucky. I've felt really good.

I haven't really had weird cravings, I just want the food I already love all the time. I ALWAYS want a burger, and I will never say no to ice cream, but that is pretty standard.

Blake and I at the Lehi Rodeo Friday night. By the way, finally a stranger asked me how far along I was! I was SO excited because that means I'm getting out of the "is that girl just chubby" stage to the "I think she's pregnant"stage. Sweet!

Babies Everywhere!

2011-06-26T10:20:00.000-07:00

There's still so much I want to blog about New York, but for now, I'm home!

Our really good friends, Garrett and Andrea, had their beautiful baby girl last week. They let us come to the hospital and see them, which got Blake and I even more excited for our own. Here's some pictures of some of our pre-baby hijinx:

The Bodines

BYU's YBALL (Basically prom for married people, don't make fun), it was so fun to just attend the event and not be in charge of the event like 2 years ago....STRESSFUL! Last year I had absolutely nothing to do with it. It was awesome :)

Guys, we do a lot of things that require us dress up. Next time lets hang out in sweats.

Beautiful Callie Jane Bodine!

Blake's sister Lindsey had her baby, Steele, (sweet name, huh?) about 4 weeks ago. They're coming to Utah in a few weeks so we can meet him! My sister Natalie was due with a girl last week, she's scheduled to be induced on Tuesday. So exciting! Our baby is going to be grandbaby #7 on the Steele side and #10 on the Peterson side.

Pressure and Equilibrium

2011-06-08T20:53:00.000-07:00

Blake has been known to say- in the most positive way possible- that all those chemistry and physics classes he's taken have completely ruined his life.

Not that he hasn't loved them, he is extremely interested in those topics, but because he has learned so much that they have completely changed the way that thinks about things. He can hardly drive in a car without it sparking a thought on velocity, and the power of acceleration, yada yada yada...

While we were together in New York, I got up one morning to go to the bathroom at 5:00 am-because that's what you do when you're pregnant-and when I opened the door to our room, I heard something fall. I turned around and asked a very groggy Blake what happened. He responded, still half asleep,

Blake: "well when you opened the door, the pressure in the room changed. Before the door was opened, the room was at equilibrium, and because the window is open..."

Me: "Oh my gosh, Blake, what happened?"

Blake: "The bag fell off the windowsill."

....Thank you.

This is a variation of basically the exact same conversation that we have almost daily. I love it, I have learned quite a bit since we've been married. Never mind the fact that the only science class I took in college was Bio 100, ask me about buoyancy. (I got this lesson on the Staten Island Ferry going to see the Statue of Liberty.)

Never a dull moment.

Let's Hear it for New York!

2011-06-06T22:29:00.000-07:00

I took a little blogging hiatus for a few weeks because Blake came to visit! We had the best time! We hadn't seen each other in 4 weeks, which, if you're wondering, is 4 weeks too long.

We:

Went to a Yankees Game, Yankees v. Blue Jays, even though they played Toronto, it was still the most exciting Major League Baseball game I've ever seen.
Rented a row boat in Central Park and rowed around the lake for an hour. That was one of my favorite things we did, it was gorgeous. We saw turtles everywhere! It was such a fun afternoon.

Went to Bethesda Fountain
Visited Rockefeller Center
Magnolia's Bakery

Serendipity

...and many more ice cream stands on the streets that my pregnant self dragged Blake along to
Shopped at a few local street fairs
Watched Top Gun on the top deck of the U.S.S Intrepid that's docked in NY Harbor. (This ship has since been converted to a museum)

Times Square, this is about two weeks old, but I think I'm 16 weeks in this picture. Officially 4 months!

Went to Grimaldi's Pizza...twice. It was worth the 1 hour and 45 minute wait, seriously, it was.

Walked across the Brooklyn Bridge

(sidenote: the definition of anxiety is wearing white pants in NYC.)

Took a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty (please excuse my shoes, too much walking!)

Went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and even saw the Alexander McQueen exhibit

Went to the Natural History Museum (where we saw the one and only Mr. Feeny from Boy Meets World, oh and Tony Hawk, but come on, Mr. Feeny!!)

Blake did a good job fake posing for this picture. I'm so mad that i didn't take a picture with Mr. Feeny!

Visited Ground Zero. This little chapel, St. Paul's Church, I think, is directly across the street from Ground Zero. It's been turned into a reverent memorial for the events of that day. It is beautiful inside, and very sobering. Firefighters napped on the benches before getting called back into "the pit," and their boots and helmets left deep scuff marks on the benches. Rather than replace them, the church preserved them as a memento of the sacrifices made. This is also one of the oldest churches in America. Immediately after George Washington was inaugurated, he came here to pray.

Soho

Greenwich Village, my favorite area for sure

Took a tour of the U.N., and sat in the General Assembly room (17 weeks pregnant, here comes the bump!)

Saw "How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying" on Broadway. We sat fourth row, and Daniel Radcliffe is the lead performer. He was awesome! We loved it!

Went to the Apollo Theater, and cringed as the rest of the audience boo-ed people off the stage
Went to Roxy's in Time Square
China town/Little Italy
and did lots, and lots of walking

He just left today, but I already miss him so much! We had the best time together, and even though it's been really tough being so far away from Blake and our families, I know I'm going to look back on this experience and be glad I came. I've learned so much in this internship, and I can't write too much about it because there are strict privacy rules, but I really love it. I've met great people and New York in the Spring is tough to argue with.

By the way, we've been feeling our little baby kick! And he/she is very strong already! I'd write more about it, but I think our peanut deserves its own post later on.

Little Italy, plus some ramblings.

2011-05-21T22:56:00.000-07:00

I am way behind on documenting my time in NYC. I've made a lot of great friends here, and we've done some really fun stuff. The funny thing is, most of the friends I've made have all been people who go to BYU, who I just didn't know beforehand. It's funny how I had to come all the way to New York to meet fellow BYU Comms majors.

It's pretty cool how awesome BYU is. There are probably about 30 of us here, and everyone is interning at some pretty big name places. There are print journalists interning at some major newspapers and magazines, broadcast journalists at some of the most-watched morning shows, advertising students at top ad agencies, and public relations students at corporate in-house internships and agencies. At the end of our long days, we all come back to the same apartment complex and eat dinner together. It's a really fun experience.

Last weekend, we went to Little Italy. It reminded me so much of Boston. When I lived in Boston (I interned on Mitt Romney's campaign in 2008), I worked in the heart of the Italian district. It was gorgeous, and I really loved it there. It was fun to be in Little Italy and get a slight feel for Boston again. We also did some light shopping, (I said LIGHT shopping, Blake :) and then went to the Guggenheim Museum. The Guggenheim was cool because I'm fresh off my interior design/architecture class at BYU and it's one of Frank Lloyd Wright's buildings. The art inside was different though.

I used to really love that sort of modern cubism style, so I recognized a lot of the Marc Chagall and Kandinsky paintings, but the rest of it, not so much. They did have a huge impressionist section, with Monet, Degas, and old school Picasso's (back when he painted and drew people as they are, not in the cubism forms he created later) and that was by far my favorite. I've always loved Degas.

I think it goes back to fifth grade. My mom coached the knowledge bowl at my elementary school. The knowledge bowl was for overachieving, ahem, nerdy elementary school kids who wanted to learn in-depth about a certain subject, and would study year long before school and then compete against other elementary schools at the end of the year.

I remember we had an all-girl team, and the topic was art. That was the best year of my elementary school life, (and that's saying something, because I LOVED elementary school!) My mom spent forever making flash cards for all of us, and quizzing us in the mornings at the school library. Most of what I know now about different types of art, and different artists came from what my mom spent hours countless hours helping me learn in elementary school, and not from my advanced art classes in junior high and high school. Good thing it paid off, because who took home the gold in our matching Old Navy shirts my mom bought us? Only the Hillcrest Hawks. Don't mess...

After that I really wanted to be an art history major, but then I when I got to college I decided on English, then French, then political science, then finally, public relations. (I think I'm starting to figure out why I haven't graduated yet...) But I still love art history, as more of a hobby.

Here are some pictures of what we've been up to, I'm a few weeks behind on this, but here's a start.

This is a really cool vintage store we found. We weren't allowed to touch the clothes without assistance because some were over 100 years old. My first thought was "cool," which was quickly replaced with "sick, I don't want to buy some nasty 100 year old old lady outfits, I'd rather buy something that looks vintage, rather than actual vintage, there is probably still dead old lady skin cells on those things."

Sidenote: Living here, I've quickly realized that if left unchecked, I could easily develop a debilitating case of OCD. I have to hand-sanitize every 5 seconds, and when people breathe on my arm on the subway (Do not breathe on me, it grosses me out so bad. Especially when it's nose-breath), I have to hurry and sanitize my arm. Everything is so dirty here!

NYC is beautiful, and the people are some of the most talented, successful, and interesting in the world, but with that often comes eclectic, crazy lifestyles, and often complete disregard for all things civility when it comes to public transportation. I am constantly amazed at how awful and selfish people on the subway can be, but once we're out of the dark underground free for all, and back on the streets, they return to smiley, helpful individuals. I somehow remember Boston being so much cleaner and friendlier than it is here.

A few weeks ago, I was on a packed subway headed into work. An old feeble woman got on and slowly made her way through the crowd. There was one empty seat and she had almost reached it when a young guy ran behind her and sat down about 5 seconds before she could. I was shocked. I was standing, or I would have let her sit in my seat. Nobody seemed to notice or care. I wish I said something, but I think I just watch too much Law and Order because I thought maybe he would stab me or something. (That being said, everyone I have met at work and outside of the subway have been extremely nice and helpful people. It's just something about those tunnels, I tell ya.)

Little Italy

Tori and I by the Italian flag inspired fire hydrant, with our ever-present H&M bags. Hey, when there's one on every corner...

This reminded me so much of Boston

And a 14 week pregnant picture, in front of the Guggenheim.

Also, Blake comes Monday night. I can't wait!

Looking up

2011-05-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

First off, thanks for the comments on my last post. Blogger deleted my post (as it did to many of you) and along with it, the original comments, but I think I read most of them before they were lost forever! I'm 14 weeks pregnant now and feeling great. We are extremely excited!

My parents came to New York last weekend. I had only been here a week and a half when they came. I like to think their sole purpose in coming was to visit me, and that my dad conveniently had meetings scheduled out here the same time. Yes, that's how I'll view it. We had a blast. I was pretty homesick the first week, (something about moving into the world's smallest, smelliest glorified nasty dorm room will probably do that to you) and when I saw them I felt like I hadn't seen family in 20 years. Alright, maybe I can blame a little bit of that on the pregnancy hormones, but still, I was really happy to see them.

I got to leave my gross little apartment and stay with them at the Waldorf-Astoria for a few nights. My bed felt like I was sleeping on a cloud sprinkled with fairy dust compared to the little bricks they call mattresses at my apartment. I felt like pretty woman, you know, the non-prostitute, Mormon, watered down, weekend version of pretty woman. So I guess maybe that analogy doesn't work at all..

Is it possible that I am being slightly overly dramatic when it comes to my apartment? No. I'm sorry, it's not. It is just simply that gross.

Anyway, back to the weekend. On Saturday we went shopping and saw a bunch of fun sights. We went to FAO Schwarz to see the famous Piano floor, of course, and then everything from Bergdorf Goodman to McKenzie Childs (which is adorable, by the way), I had the best time with my parents. They are so much fun to be with. As I get older, and now especially as I'm going to be a parent myself, I start to realize more and more how incredible they are, and I am finally able to see more clearly the sacrifices that they make so frequently and without a second thought, things I didn't realize before.

This is a Barbie Foosball table at FAO Schwarz

This guy told my mom he would pay her $5 if he could take a picture with her

I received no such offer

My cute mom in the elevator at McKenzie Childs, the most adorable store in the world

Blake, I know you are hard-core and a hunter and everything, and I know you have killed giant elk and mounted their heads on the wall of your family's cabin, but I'm sorry, this is the only way I will let wild game be on display on our home.

30 Rock! (Liz Lemon lives on Riverside Drive, and so do I... but strangely enough we have yet to run into each other in the elevator. I'll let you know...)

And we saw Mary Poppins on Broadway

My niece Emma can probably do this. We had to take this picture in honor of how crazy flexible that little girl is!

Central Park. I miss you already Mom and Dad!

Thought You'd Like to Know

2011-05-11T21:32:00.000-07:00

We're expecting!

We are ecstatic.

We find out what we're having next month. (The latest: Blake thinks it's a girl, and I keep thinking it's a boy.)

Yes, it is hard to be so far away from Blake, but it's only for a short time, and soon we'll be together and planning for this new arrival.

I still can't believe there's a baby in there. I just feel like I ate a really big lunch. But when I think that there's a tiny person in there with hands and feet and hair (can you believe our baby already has hair for crying out loud???) I just can't believe it. I can't wait until I can actually start to feel him/her moving.

Picture from last week. 13 weeks. This is in front of the Rockefeller Center at night.

A little tour

2011-05-04T20:46:00.000-07:00

Skyping with Blake. He's coming to visit in 3 weeks! I can't wait!

This is the view outside my window

This is across the street from where I work. I'm in that big black building right behind the sculpture. I work on Madison Avenue. It is AWESOME! This is Madison Square Park, I get to walk through it every morning. Every few months they have a different local artist's work displayed in the park. I am in love with this face. It's the coolest thing in person. It is so beautiful! I'm excited to see what they have next month.

Across the street in the other direction is the Flat Iron building. How cool is this area? I love stepping off the subway every morning and seeing how beautiful my surroundings are.

The first Saturday we were here, a few of us went to the temple. I forgot for a minute that we're not in Utah anymore and the only session we made it to was in Spanish. It was so beautiful. It's amazing how much peace the sight of the temple can bring. It's right in the heart of Manhattan, across from the Lincoln Center, and even though it's surrounded by huge skyscrapers, it seems as though it stands alone. It is a beautiful building. Our ward meets here as well. It's really cool to go to church in the temple! They have a chapel on the second floor.

More pictures from Ground Zero

2011-05-04T20:32:00.000-07:00

This is a continuation of the last post:

See the guys standing on the traffic light? Ground Zero is immediately to my right.

Seriously? An American Flag with Marilyn Monroe on it? Ugh don't even get me started on how much I hate Marilyn Monroe, and how grossly she is misrepresented as an icon and sometimes as an idol for young girls. Tangent...

I think this is so funny. This is my friend Tiffany on some unidentified man's shoulders, her BYU sweatshirt and all. This is her being interviewed by the CNN reporter right before she interviewed me. Right when we got there, a guy turned to her and said, "want a boost?" I thought is was so funny that she, without hesitation, got on his shoulders. I'm glad she did though because she got this shot for me:

Angela and Whitney. These are some great friends I've made out here. Keep in mind at this point it was probably 3:30 a.m. and we all had to be at work in the morning. Finding a subway car that didn't have a sleeping homeless person in it was an adventure, I'm pretty sure we managed to score the only one.

Ground Zero (and an interview)

2011-05-02T20:20:00.000-07:00

Well I made it! I flew into New York at about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, and then had to be at work the next day... that in itself was an adventure. My flight got delayed big time, and by the time I got to my apartment, got settled, and finally got to sleep, it was around 4 a.m.

Work is amazing, I'm having a great time, and I have a lot to write and catch up on, but first I really need to address the events of last night. I watched Obama give his address from my tiny apartment on msnbc.com. The feeling was very eerie. It was almost as if the collective emotions of New Yorkers was palpable. The feeling in the air immediately changed. I knew this was going to be a big moment for a long time to come.

I got a text from one of my friends here, she said "We're going to Ground Zero right now, meet at the lobbby" I knew I couldn't miss that. I had my pajamas on but quickly changed and ran out the door.

I had a lot of emotions on the subway ride over. I was in 8th grade when the events of 9/11 took place. I remember my mom being glued to the TV that morning. Before even glancing at what she was watching, the look on her face told me that something of both extreme significance, and extreme horror had just happened. At school that day during first period, my teacher walked into the room with an entirely different tone. Although most of us had heard about what had happened already, we didn't understand the magnitude at this time. My teacher was usually very strict. I remember she walked to the TV and turned it on. All she said was "nothing we can say or do here today will be more important than you watching this." We watched the news coverage for 2 hours straight, no one saying a word.

When we stepped off the subway to Ground Zero, there was a huge crowd of people. Men had climbed up onto traffic lights and lamp posts, waving American flags with makeshift flagpoles. There were chants of "USA," and the crowd broke out into the National Anthem a few times. I was surprised at how emotional I felt. All of us, some directly affected by this terrible tragedy, some indirectly, were all united. We were celebrating together.

Now, I know many people are saying that celebrating a man's death is macabre and contrary to the point we are trying to make. But for me, and I'm pretty confident for many of the people there, we weren't celebrating a death. It felt more like celebrating the end of a chapter. It felt like a long-awaited sense of closure, and sure, maybe it was tinged with vindication, but I'm having a hard time seeing why that is wrong.

Men were sitting on the curb sobbing at the memory of what happened there over 9 years ago, a woman was standing off by herself holding a sign commemorating the loss of her young son during the attack. Many of the people chanting "USA" along with the rest of us had personally lost loved ones that day. Tell one of them that they shouldn't feel a sense of relief, and a spirit of celebration that they can now have an end to this chapter.

The death of bin Laden will not be the death of al Qaeda. I know that. But let it breath a little life into America. It's a victory. A victory over the taking of innocent lives. It enables us to feel that sense of security again. It lets the terrorists know that we will not back down. President Bush was a very brave president to order the search for bin Laden. I'm grateful that President Obama chose to follow in those footsteps.

I spoke with a CNN reporter at the scene. The story aired today. Here's the video, my interview starts at 2:49

(If that doesn't work, click HERE for the link)

I took some incredible pictures too, but I'll upload and add those tomorrow.

Out of Order

2011-04-18T21:39:00.000-07:00

It's finals week.

That's probably all I need to say.

We are currently out of order around here, but we expect to be back soon. Roughly around Thursday, which also so happens to be the last day of finals to be exact. What a coincidence.

By the way, I really think I deserve something for channeling ~~all~~ most of my typing energy into these papers and final projects instead of my blog. I love to write, and I love to type (is that weird? It's one of my favorite things to do) and it takes some crazy amount of discipline for me to not blog right now.

Thanks for sticking around. Here's to hoping that I'll have more interesting things to say later.

(Editor's note: thanks for all the support on that last post. In addition to the comments and emails, I got a lot of texts from friends and even a visit or two, reassuring me that life will not be that bad, and even if it is, then there are always ways to celebrate the positive. I have great friends and family.)

Negative Nancy-Land

2011-04-07T21:58:00.000-07:00

In preparation for our future, I found some blogs written by wives of medical school students...two hours and one emotional breakdown later, that was the dumbest thing I've ever done.

I ask you, med school wives, what's the point of having a blog if all you ever write about is how terrible your lonely, dismal, depressing life is when you are at home raising your two kids all by yourself and you see your husband for twenty minutes on a Sunday, and then you are alone again to start the whole desperately monotonous routine all over again? Do you just not anyone to join your club? Are you trying to scare off all the newcomers so you can bubble in the exclusivity of being a med school wife?? I will not make friends with you, because you are apparently a negative Nancy all the time and who the heck likes negative Nancies?**

Even if that's what my life is like, I will refuse to accept it. I will blog about how pretty the flowers are outside or something, I just will not focus on everything that may be less than ideal about our situation on every single post. (Cue the sound of everyone un-following my blog in anticipation of it getting really, really boring.)

In other news, this hot guy:

Takes the MCAT on Saturday. He'll do amazing. He is the most dedicated student I have ever known. But, regardless, good vibes are always appreciated :)

**"Nancies" just seemed like the logical choice when trying to find the plural of Nancy.

The Pot Roast.

2011-03-22T22:08:00.000-07:00

Last night I decided to make dinner. This in itself is noteworthy because I've cooked like 18 times in the nearly two years since we've been married. (I guess that's what being a full-time student and working 40 hours a week will do to you.) I was really excited because Blake would be home late and I could surprise him. I decided last minute to make a pot roast. Guess what I learned? Don't decide last minute to make a pot roast. It won't work. It will not cook in time. Luckily, (for me, not for Blake) Blake's test took him a lot longer than he expected and he came home an hour later than he thought.

One semi-cooked pot roast, mashed potatoes, peas, and edamame (Why? Because we had some in the fridge) meal later, it wasn't a complete failure, but still a little rough. The moral of the story: Cooking is lame, and it takes forever, but I'm actually really looking forward to the day when I'm graduated and have time to really try, and hopefully improve my cooking skills. Good thing I married a rockstar who cooks like 4-5 nights a week. Blake is a champ. Reason #435798473 why I love him.

Jeefers?

2011-03-09T16:53:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I was walking with Blake on campus.  I said something jokingly and Blake said sarcastically:

Blake: "Jeefers, Michelle! Really?"

Me: (pausing, then slowly looking at him) "What did you say?"

Blake: "What, Jeefers?"

Me: "Jeefers, what is Jeefers? Where did you even hear that?"

Blake totally confused why this is funny.

Me: "Jeefers, although very creative, is a word that you concocted out of your own brain. Did you mean Jeepers?"

Blake: "Ok the joke is dead now."

Me: "Were you just watching Scooby-Doo one time, and then decided to put your own spin on 'Jeepers?'"

Blake: "Seriously, joke dead."

Blake is hilarious. I really love every minute with him. I can't believe we've almost been married 2 years. It feels like we got married a week ago. I'm really sad we won't be able to celebrate our 2 year anniversary together because I'll be in New York by then. Hopefully since our first anniversary was so incredible (spent in Barcelona) it will kind of make up for it? (Let me believe that.)

Odds and Ends

2011-02-19T23:51:00.000-08:00

Blake deserves an award.

If there is one thing he hates, it's getting his picture taken. That and cucumbers. (Can you imagine going through life hating cucumbers? That is so sad. He is missing out on one of the most important additions at any salad bar.)

In this past week alone, Blake has endured 3 different "photo shoots," the first one was on Valentine's Day, and I'm pretty sure the reason he agreed was because I promised it would count as my Valentine's present. My friend from high school turned incredible photographer selflessly sacrificed a huge chunk of her Valentine's Day to take pictures for us. Check out her website, she's amazing.

Then today we went up to Salt Lake to take family pictures with my family. It was so much fun but really sad at the same time because it's our last family picture before Sean leaves on his mission. This came way too fast. He is so excited to go, but the poor guy has five older sisters who are really trying hard to act excited for him instead of sad. His farewell is tomorrow, and he enters the MTC on Wednesday then on to Malaga, Spain. I am really going to miss him!

After those pictures, all the siblings went to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building to take more pictures by my sister Lisa, also an incredibly talented photographer. Blake thinks we don't have to take any more pictures for three years. We'll see how long that lasts.

Now on to a really cool announcement. Blake has been working in a cancer research lab on campus for almost a year now, and the professor he works with asked him and 4 other students to come to D.C. with him to present their research at a pretty big conference. It's really exciting and will look great on his med school applications. I think he's mostly excited that it's all-expense paid though. He leaves in March for about 4 days I think? It's kind of sad, we both love to travel, but it seems like a lot of the traveling we do is apart from the other one. A year ago, Blake went to Mexico to go to a friend's temple sealing, then I went to D.C. for a week for PRSSA National Conference, and now Blake will be in D.C., then right after I'll be in New York for the summer. We're talking about planning a trip that we'll actually get to take together once I get back, so let's hear it for tax refunds!

Uncle Dunk

2011-02-16T23:18:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knew me growing up probably knows about Loa.  Loa is a small, small town in Wayne County, Utah where just about everyone who lives there is one of my relatives. (No, really, every year the Wayne County Fair and Taylor Reunion are lumped together in one big event.) I always get so excited about going to Loa for our family reunions every year. In fact, when I was little, I used to tell my friends I was from Loa; because to me, if my grandma was from there, then I basically was too, right?  I love my Wayne County cousins and great aunts and uncles, and it's always fun we get to see them. 

My grandma's older brother, Uncle Dunk, (Duncan) has been pretty sick.  Uncle Dunk was always one of my favorite people to see when we went to Loa.  If you get the chance to meet Uncle Dunk, give him a hug.  He might break one of your ribs.  (He actually did that to a lady once, he told me about it.) Uncle Dunk gives the tightest hugs of anyone you'll ever meet.  He also gives the strongest handshakes.  He's a cowboy through and through. 

 A few weeks ago, my sisters called and said they were making the drive to Loa for the day to see Uncle Dunk.  I miraculously got work off and I'm so glad I was able to go with them and be with him.  He was just as funny as ever.  One of the things he said after we walked in and got one of his famous bone-crunching hugs was, "well, you look like you could tie a goat!"

Admittedly, this city girl has no idea what that means, let alone whether or not that's a bad or good thing.  I asked him what that meant and he seemed shocked that I didn't know.  "In the rodeo! The goat tie-ers! Come on now!" He said I looked like I had swift legs so I could catch the goats and tie them really fast.  Later, I asked him if he ever went goat tying.  His response? "Oh no, that's a woman's job!"

We love Uncle Dunk so much.  He and Honey (my grandma) are really close.  In fact, they used to teach a dance class together in Loa, back in the days when Honey was the rodeo queen.  Uncle Dunk said if I could tie a goat in the Wayne County rodeo next year he would give me his belt buckle that has a dancing couple on it.  As cool as that belt buckle was, that might be one dream I'm going to have to let pass me by.

Tiff, Natalie and me.  Steph and Lisa were there too.  He probably wishes he had his cowboy hat on for this picture, so here's a better one.

This was almost 3 years ago when Blake and I first started dating.  Uncle Dunk and I are at the old church building in Fremont where we always have our reunions.  I remember telling Uncle Dunk about Blake and how much I liked him.  (We had only been dating for about a month and a half) I told him Blake grew up hauling hay, working on his family's farms and milking cows.  Uncle Dunk said, "Well, any man that has a little horse**** on his boots is alright with me." Luckily, Blake passed the test..

Uncle Dunk loved Papa like a best friend.  He would take Papa out hunting and horseback riding and all sorts of cool things when he and Honey were dating.  One time I asked Uncle Dunk what he thought of Papa when he and Honey first started to date.  "Oh heck*, right then and there he was like my own brother."

I'm really grateful for my roots.  I'm grateful for the examples of lifetimes of hard work and service that have been set before me by my relatives and ancestors.  Honey has so many inspiring, incredible stories on her side of the family, but for now I'll leave you with some parting wisdom from Uncle Dunk.

"Don't take any wooden nickels."

*ok, he didn't really say heck.

JimmerMania

2011-02-08T21:49:00.000-08:00

Blake and I at the UNLV game. Jimmer time.

I know most of you have probably already heard about this, but it is hilarious!

A girl at BYU wrote a letter to the editor in the Daily Universe complaining about how BYU students are worshipping Jimmer like a false idol. Poor thing. She made the mistake of not making her facebook page private... well you don't say bad things about Jimmer to a BYU fan, let alone an entire university of them.

Within about two hours she probably had 200 comments on her facebook status, which read "Just wrote another irritated letter to the editor of the BYU newspaper. I hope this doesn't turn into a habit"

Please, PLEASE if you do nothing else today, click on these links and read some of the comments people wrote to her. You will personally send me a hand-written thank you note for adding so much hilarity into your life. (I would copy and paste, but it is about 39 times as long as my never-ending picture thread I posted a few days ago.)

I saw this thread this morning at work when one of my managers emailed it to me, from there, one of the other interns and I watched as ESPN.com and Yahoo news picked up the story. I figure since I'm learning how to do media monitoring, this was an effective use of my time.

Without further ado, enjoy.
Here's what ESPN.com had to say, this is too funny.

As a manager put it today, "it just restores my faith in humanity, that so many people out there are still so witty."

I have to say, I feel a little bad for that poor, unsuspecting girl who only sought to complain about something that she had no reason to complain about in a very public forum for all to see and respond to, and this is what she got? Seriously though, she was trending on twitter earlier today, maybe a bit much?

At least now the word is out, you don't diss The Jimmer. Especially not at BYU.

Lindsey Lohan and Gary Coleman

2011-02-07T23:04:00.000-08:00

You know what's pretty time consuming? School and work.  Who knew?

Things are good here at the Steele residence.  Blake takes the MCAT in April, which is so exciting.  I'm looking forward to being able to actually see my husband again.  Hopefully I'll recognize him.  

Once he takes it, he'll start the med school application process. So to walk you through that, he pays a lot of money to take the MCAT, then pays to fill out first-round applications to a million medical schools. (You heard right, a million.) Then if they like it, he pays even more to fill out secondary applications and send them in.  Then, whoever likes him the best invites him to pay a ton of money for a last-minute flight out there to interview.  We're so excited!!!

Really though, we are.  It's pretty weird but also kind of cool to just have no idea where we'll be.  It's a little hard for me because I am such a planner.  I always need to know exactly where we'll be and what we'll be doing.  I love to make lists and charts and things of future plans (wow, I've been in school too long.... ) and I'm trying to look at this situation of everything being so up-in-the-air positively.  

I leave for New York in two short months.  I know these months are going to fly by but the two months I spend in New York away from Blake are probably going to be the slowest of my life; but I'm really excited about my internship, and about getting a taste of real agency or corporate PR experience.

Work is good, I love my internship at University Communications, I feel so official working in the Administration Building.  Bonus: Cecil sightings.  I walked by President Samuelson yesterday.  I was starstruck.

Nordstrom is still really fun.  I love getting to dress up to go into work.  I have to quit soon for New York, which is so weird.  I started working there almost four years ago.  FOUR! That is crazy.  I quit once before when I moved to Boston for a different internship (Go Mitt!) and then, inevitably found my way back.  Honestly though, I will probably miss the discount most of all.  (Moment of silence for the Michael Kors watch with the silver face and gold accents that now I really won't be able to afford.)  Oh Nordstrom, you were so good to me.  How else could I have seen and interacted with such legendary stars as Gary Coleman, Marie Osmond, Shawn King (wife of suspender-sporting Larry) and the one and only, always classy Lindsey Lohan?  

Yes friends, I helped Lindsey Lohan buy a Marc by Marc Jacobs electric blue handbag a few years ago when she was here for rehab.  Not that she really needed my help that much, she basically bought the entire first floor in about twenty minutes.  

Flashback:  

Me: Can I help you find something?

Customer: *turning around*

Me: Lindsay Lohan??? What the??

One of my finer moments.  Anyway, she was actually really, really nice.  (sidenote: she was photographed in People the next day walking out of Nord's with the handbag that I helped her buy.  Claim to fame people.)

Since I've already frightened away my hordes of readers by committing a blogging cardinal sin in my last post: overloading on picture-postage, I'll stop before my rambling leaves me alone and reader-less.  

So what's the moral of the story? Lindsey Lohan is even skinnier in real life, and Gary Coleman (RIP) wore the heck out of that black felt cowboy hat he loved to sport around town.

Disneyworld

2011-01-23T15:13:00.000-08:00

I'm sick. I've been sick for a few days. The worst part is yesterday was my day off, but I spent literally the entire day on my couch. Nothing to do but blog... or I could always get to the copious amount of homework that is ever-present in my life, but come what, what's more fun?

So the week after Christmas, we went to DISNEYWORLD with my family. It was so much fun!! My parents bought us all park-hopper passes, so Blake, Sean and I (the last child-less members of my family) made very good use of them. We spent all day every day going back and forth between Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios. We probably rode Tower of Terror like 45 times.

I know, I know. Picture overload. Here are a few points of interest:

-Blake the piggy-back king
-The amazing Christmas lights at Hollywood Studios, they even had a nativity scene there, that is so cool!
-Our stop at the Orlando temple, it was beautiful. We tried to make it to church that Sunday but our GPS was not concerned with our salvation. We drove ALL OVER Orlando, and then after we had already missed church, we finally found the temple... which was right across the street from the church.
-Steph's french-braiding skills. She french-braided my hair almost every day.
-The Loch-ness monster built entirely out of lego's and coming out of a lake at Downtown Disney.

BYU v. UTEP

2010-12-29T22:07:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-12-22T23:20:00.001-08:00

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

2010-12-09T23:05:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-07T20:40:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-11-28T10:03:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-11-01T23:03:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-10-22T20:44:00.000-07:00

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.."

2010-10-20T23:37:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-10-19T09:17:00.000-07:00

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.

Good and Bad

2010-10-14T22:06:00.000-07:00

The good news: I'm in DC!
The bad news: without Blake.

The good news: I'm here for the Public Relations Student Society of America National Conference.
The bad news: Blake isn't here

The good news: This is the coolest opportunity to network, build relationships, and learn more about the profession that I am slowly assimilating into with every press release, every tweet, and every article I write; and since I'm on the Executive Board, for the BYU chapter of PRSSA, this trip was basically all paid for.
The bad news: I'm Blake-less.... you get the picture. But it's only six days, and I'll be back on Tuesday, oh you know, the day before ~~my 22nd birthday!!~~ Wednesday.

So I'm here with 5 of the 8 members of the E-board having a blast. Tomorrow is the first official day of conference, so today we did the tourist thing.

Me, Michelle T., and Lauren on the plane. And creeper Nick in the background. Oh I died my hair darker! I love it. Not my best picture though, cut me some slack, it was the end of the flight.

These were supposed to look cooler. We're on a really sweet looking escalator off of the metro. OK now I can see the idea seemed cooler in my head.

The girls in front of the Capitol. Me, Haley, Lauren and Michelle T.

Haley and I

We saw some amazing memorials today too, but I'll post about them tomorrow. My favorite was the Pentagon memorial. So peaceful and still so somber. I am so grateful for our country, and so very proud to be an American.

I'm back!

2010-09-21T09:46:00.000-07:00

Hello again friends,

Due to the fact that much of my major deals with using social media to send specific messages and communicate on behalf of an organization, we learn A LOT about the benefits, as well as the potential harms, of using social media. All day long I have it drilled into my head that "anything you put on the internet becomes permanent, archive-able, searchable information that can never fully be removed"

Imagine hearing that all day and then coming home and wanting to blog?? Not really. Even though my blog isn't what I would call controversial, still the fact that I can never fully remove anything I put on here is kind of creepy.

That being said, another part of the reason I haven't blogged in forever is because I said I was going private (which I still am) But I keep putting off gathering everyone's emails and actually privatizing my blog. So don't think I'm a liar, we're still going private pretty soon..

Now on to the "bloggy" part. Before school started again this semester, Blake and I wanted to do as many fun things as we could in our little two week or so break from Summer term to Fall semester. Here's what we came up with:

We went to Park City for a night and visited the Olympic sites up there.

Blake is hilarious. I laughed so hard when I saw his face in this

We went to Dave and Jennica's wedding. Jennica and I have been good friends for a really long time. It was so fun to be there and see her get married. Everything was so beautiful that day and Jenn looked like an angel! Look how beautiful her dress is. We're so happy for you guys!

We hit up "two-buck tuesdays" at Thanksgiving Point. It was cool to see the beautiful gardens, although we decided it's probably one of those activities that's really fun to do with little kids but not so fun without. After about ten minutes I think we got our fill of the gardens. We met my sisters there and had lunch with them.

Taylor Belle and Lisa

Lily!!

This is Emma's fake smile :)

Taylor's face is so funny! I love my nieces and nephews. I didn't get pictures of the boys because they went outside to play.

I have some other things to post but this is already really long so I'll do it later.

Oh! and I died my hair brown! I love it, I just haven't put any pictures up because I haven't taken any yet

Amazing Special Effects

2010-08-18T23:08:00.000-07:00

Thank you Chloe for posting this music video. This is just too good not to share. Best music video I've EVER seen.

Behold:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPnGPIMUnus&feature=player_embedded

Papa

2010-08-06T16:00:00.000-07:00

My sweet grandpa, Papa passed away on Saturday. My siblings and I were so incredibly blessed to grow up next door to him and my grandma, Honey. We were over there almost every single day. They are the most amazing people. They have been through so much in their lives but they are consistently the strongest examples of Christlike love and forgiveness.

After he passed, there was such a strong outpouring of love from neighbors, friends, and relatives. Honey and Papa have so many friends. They were both schoolteachers and Papa taught drivers' ed too for years and years so basically everywhere we go, someone stops them to tell them hi and thank them for being such great teachers.

Almost all of my favorite childhood memories involve Honey and Papa. They took us everywhere! From renting a cabin every year at fish lake to taking us out to eat or to get ice cream a few times a week, to fun fishing trips. We had the opportunity to be with Papa every day right up to the end of his life. I am so grateful for the huge blessing it has been to be Papa's granddaughter. I am grateful for all the things he taught me, and all the things I learned just from watching his example. His funeral is on Monday at 11. As hard as it is, I'm excited to get to share the many wonderful stories and memories that I have with him.

One of my favorites is ever since I was little, Papa would hold me on his lap and read me the "funnies." He would read me every box in the Sunday comics and then we would start reading the jokes in the Reader's Digest. He would explain every single joke to me (because I was 3). After we were done with the funnies, Papa would read me books. This was always a ritual for us. He got me so excited about learning to read and about going to school so I could learn as much as I could. Papa was the smartest man I've ever known. As soon as I could read, I always had a book in my hand, and I've had a deep love of reading and learning ever since, all because of Papa. When he and Honey were serving one of their missions, they were in St. George serving at the visitor's center, Jacob Hamblin home, and other Southern Utah historic sites. While they were there, Papa read 74 books about the areas they were serving in because he loved to learn.

Papa, We love and miss you so much. You were one of my best friends and I am so grateful that I got to be your granddaughter.

Papa always had a huge smile on his face

With Honey, Papa, and my sweet grandma Peterson at our wedding

I know a lot of the people who read my blog grew up with me and had your own great experiences with Papa and Honey and have great memories of them taking you out for ice cream or just giving you a cookie when you came to visit. I've had friends tell me that Papa was more of a grandpa to them than their own grandparents. I'm linking to his obituary here so you can read it and see the viewing and funeral information

You can thank the crazies

2010-08-02T12:07:00.000-07:00

Due to some recent nut-jobs, (i mean really, some down right crazy people) our blog is going private. If you want to read it then you can send me your email address on facebook or email me at michellesteele09@gmail.com.

He tasered her? What??

2010-07-29T14:52:00.000-07:00

Yes, I've been neglectful. Let's just go ahead and face that fact. My problem is I am writing all day every day long at school so when I get home, I don't feel like writing anymore. I actually feel like hiding my computer so I don't even have to look at it. Ok it's not that bad. My major is awesome. I've been writing for the Daily Universe (3-4 articles a week.. sheesh!!), and the Bridal Guide. (P.S if you are curious about the guy that tasered that BYU girl and what's going on in his trial, here are some links. This one is the most recent, oh and what is my story doing in the U's paper? Boo)

Anyway, most of my other stories are pretty boring, I have a cool front page one coming out Monday though. I'll link to it when it comes out. So I didn't realize what time it is and I don't have time to do this post justice because I have to go to work so I'll leave you with a picture:

Here's Blake and I on top of a gorgeous bell tower in Spain. Just imagine that I wrote something else cool about it.

Of Late

2010-06-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

   I had to return my rental car yesterday, (the other guy's insurance paid for it) and now I am car-less. Pretty awesome considering how Blake and I have the most opposite schedules you can imagine. My cute little brother is letting me borrow his car today for school and work.
   School is pretty fun actually, now that all my classes are in my major it's a whole lot more interesting. I'm writing for the Daily Universe this semester and it is CRAZY! It's a ton of work but it's pretty fun. There are so many deadlines it's really hard to keep up and everyone has to be working on a few stories at a time or else you fall behind. I get to cover trials, immigration, the White House, health care and whatever else I get assigned to. I love it. I've been to court following a case that happened on BYU on-campus housing last April and I get to follow it through to the end. It can be pretty exciting. I got to cover the Patriotic Service on Sunday which was AMAZING! (even though I was already working on it as a member of the stage crew.. thanks mom for volunteering me for that by the way:) you haven't been before, you are missing out. It is such a beautiful program every year. Steve Young did amazing this year.
   Other than that, I'm still doing makeup at Nordies. I love my job because I meet so many fun, cool people, and let's face it- I love makeup.
   Blake's taking an English class and working and taking some research credits, he just signed up for a ridiculously expensive MCAT prep course but it will for sure be worth it when he rocks the MCAT. We're playing on a co-ed softball team and it is SO FUN! We are undefeated in case you were wondering.

Okay here's a random picture of us in front of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican-- just because I miss it. Please excuse the Saved By the Bell style jacket tied around the waist, I was sick of carrying it.

Looks like I spoke too soon..

2010-06-17T19:05:00.000-07:00

A half an hour after I published the last post titled "Boring Post" I decided to take a shower to wash all the paint off from the painting my table. While I was in there, I heard the loudest CRUNCH!!!! It sounded awful. Metal on metal, screeching brakes. Then somehow, I forgot all about it. I was finishing my makeup when I heard a knock on my door. It was my mother in law with a terrible look on her face. She told me my car just got hit. I looked outside and saw:

Where did my trunk go? (In case you were wondering, my car is, well was, the white one)

It just hurts to look at

My car looks like the flying nun from the front. I guess the universe decided my life needed some spicing up. A student at UVU was driving home from class and looked down to pick something up (probably code for "was texting") and hit my poor car. He hit it so hard that it moved the car about 12 feet forward. The blessings in this situation are: Blake and I decided after an embarrassingly large number of months to clean out our trunk TWO days ago! We took a bunch of stuff out that would have been crushed to death and left mostly blankets inside. Blessing #2 the guy who hit my car had a baby 2 weeks ago, SUCH a blessing his baby wasn't in the car. His airbags deployed and he blacked out for a minute, his baby could have been really hurt. Blessing #3 no one was hurt. Blessing (in disguise) #4 Our car is probably totaled and the insurance company is probably just going to have to give us a check instead of fixing it, so.. new car? (This is going to take some time for me to see it as a blessing because I loved my honda and it was the best, most reliable car that we could have had for a long, long time.)

Anyway Blake had a nice surprise waiting for him when he came home from work, and I learned to never ever publicly declare that anything about my life is "boring" ever again.

Boring Post

2010-06-17T14:22:00.000-07:00

   Blake takes the MCAT in May but he and his friends Garrett and Joe study for it probably three times a week already. I really hope he gets into the U. (Never thought I'd ever want anyone I loved or cared about to get into the U :) If he goes to Utah then we can stay relatively close. I think Blake is kind of excited to go somewhere far though. To be honest, the thought of being so far away from my siblings is a little unsettling for me. Fingers crossed Utah!
   School starts for both of us on Monday. I'm excited to go back because I love my major SO, SO much! All the classes, projects, everything, it's all so fun for me! Even though I love it, I've been a pretty big whiner about finding out it will take me an extra semester than I thought to graduate, but a few nights ago I had a dream that I graduated and then I had nothing to do.... so I realized that I need to enjoy every minute of this!
   This morning I finally got around to painting my coffee table. I'm so excited to finish it, I'm going to mod podge cool wrapping paper on the top of it, I'm so excited to see how it's going to turn out.

   So, on an unrelated note: is anyone else weirded out by the Ashton Kutcher camera commercials where he's walking around at a party and taking close-up pictures of girls he doesn't know? Creepy Ashton, creepy.

Steele Strong

2010-06-14T22:40:00.000-07:00

This is Blake's cute cousin Rachel. Rachel is a gorgeous, spunky, fun, easygoing, talented, athletic girl. She is an amazing volleyball player, way fun cousin and all-around happy girl. Early yesterday morning Rachel was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Rachel is incredible. Ever since the diagnosis (keep in mind, it's barely been a day) she has kept her positive attitude and outlook. We finally got to visit her today, and despite the "CVC" tube that was surgically inserted into her chest, the small doses of chemotherapy that they started her on, and the incredible amount of exhaustion and nausea she felt, she was happy, smiling, and joking around with everyone. In fact she even told us "when I go bald, I'm going to draw a line down my head to look like a butt like on Cool Runnings." She is hilarious. Rachel is a shining example to everyone around her.

Her family started a blog so we can follow her journey. You can see it here. Right after she found out her diagnosis, she updated her facebook status to read, "Steele Strong." Please keep Rachel and her family in your prayers. We love you Rachel! Come home soon!

People from Blake's Mission

2010-06-07T19:19:00.000-07:00

Since Blake served his mission in Spain, he was really excited to get to reconnect with some of the people there that meant a lot to him. I was able to meet some incredible church members. From an elderly couple who were the first members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in southern Spain, to recent converts who knew more about sacrifice and gratitude than I can even imagine. We had the greatest time.
A lot of the people Blake taught were immigrants to Spain from Bolivia, Peru, or other third-world countries. They were incredible people who didn't have much but were so genuinely willing to give of what they did have. I wish I took a picture of all the food people made for us. It was so amazing, we had just barely met them, (and there were a lot of us) but because they knew and loved Blake they would invite all 7-12 of us to dinner and prepare amazing meals. These people exemplified the light of Christ. It wasn't just one family either- three different families invited us in on extremely short notice to have dinner with them.

This is Esmerelda and Abraham's family. They were incredible. Every decoration on their walls was either a picture of Christ or of the Temple. They were extremely welcoming and opened their home to people so freely. One of the people that really had an impact on Blake from his mission is Shirley (in the red). Blake and his companion started teaching Shirley the discussions when he was there. She was so excited to set a date for her baptism. Two weeks before her baptism her entire house burned to the ground. She and her 3 children lost every single thing that they owned except for the clothes on their backs. I can't even imagine what it would be like to lose everything. She still kept her baptism date despite her huge personal tragedy.

This is Sara. She was hilarious! She didn't really say anything, she just sat in a chair and put these fake lips and teeth in her mouth. She was adorable.

This is Elianel. She was such an angel! We met her the first night at Esmerelda and Abraham's house but she couldn't come back the next night for dinner so she left presents for me, Blake's mom, and his little sister McKell. She gave Laurel and I brooches. (I'm wearing mine in the picture below) and she gave McKell a beautiful bracelet.

The guy in front is Archie. An adorable Filipino (that's with an "F" right?) man that made us the most incredible food. He and Blake have kept in touch since Blake came home. He sends us Christmas cards and letters. Blake said that one day in church he complimented Archie on his tie and Archie immediately took it off and gave it to BLake without even saying anything. He is the sweetest guy.

Blake and Archie again

The Perez family from Peru. She made the spiciest hot sauce that I have EVER tasted! And I love spicy food!

With Hernan and Sonja... and their little dog Titi. They were so funny! Even though only two people in our seven person group spoke Spanish, we were all laughing the whole time. And Sonja made the most incredible empanadas!

Los Reyes. The couple on the left were the first members of the church in Murcia. Hermano Reyes writes poetry and he read us a ten page poem in Spanish.. no idea what it meant but it sounded beautiful!

Happy Anniversary to us!

2010-05-24T14:48:00.000-07:00

May 1 was our first anniversary. We spent it in Barcelona walking the streets, looking at the beautiful architecture and eating bocadillos at a little tapas where the cook held a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of whiskey (or something alcoholic, i don't have a lot of experience in this area) in the other. I'm really not joking about that either, we wanted to get a picture really bad but the way the restaurant was set up he was facing us and would have seen us.

We landed in Barcelona on the morning of our anniversary and tried really hard to stay awake to see some cool sites that day. Here's the Sagrada Familia, or Sacred Family. It's a giant monster of a Roman Catholic Cathedral built by Antoni Gaudi, it's famous because of its crazy architecture and because it has been under construction since the day they started to build it in 1882 and it won't be finished until 2026! Gaudi designed a bunch of buildings in Spain, Blake told me that we get the word "gaudy" from his name, his buildings are known for looking ridiculous and cool at the same time.

I wish you could see how crazy the detail is close up, there are hundreds of little statues of saints and demons all over it, there are also strange letters (JSH? anyone know what the significance of these letters would be on a Catholic Cathedral?), giant statues of fruit on the tops of spires and ghoulish looking faces

Here's the fruit

We tried to go in and tour but it was way expensive so we just snuck in the bottom floor and sat in on mass. This is also where a random Italian man stopped Blake to tell him he looked like Superman.

Blake also pointed out the fact that cranes are EVERYWHERE in Spain. It's basically the only way to do construction there. Those cranes will be an ever-present sight here for another 16 years at least.

This is on the beach in Barcelona. We saw enough old overweight (or scary skinny, seriously, there was no happy medium there) topless women and old men in thongs to last us a lifetime. I wish so bad that I was kidding.

(Oh, by the way, notice the camera bag? Every picture, I'm tellin ya)

Gorgeous coastline, beautiful cityscape and the hottest man in the world

We're Baaaaack!!

2010-05-23T21:23:00.000-07:00

Because I know you all are drowning in a sea of curiosity, here's a single picture to give you a small taste of the fun we had on our trip:

This is on top of the Cathedral of Barcelona. Here's a heads up for the rest of the pictures that I'll post tomorrow, you will most likely always see that black shoulder strap on me in every picture. I took our camera bag EVERYWHERE! I couldn't miss an opportunity for a new potential profile pic! Anyway to sum up the trip: incredible, amazing, unforgettable, and well, just beautiful. We had so much fun and so many incredible experiences, which I will share in increments over the next little while.

Plenty more to come..

Funny Guy

2010-04-26T23:17:00.000-07:00

My husband is so funny. I love him so much. Every day he makes me laugh my head off. Here's some proof: A few weeks ago we were sitting in sunday school together at church. This is noteworthy in and of itself because Blake got called to the Bishopric so we can never sit together during sacrament and I'm in the nursery/primary (our ward isn't big enough to have them separate :) so I don't get to go to sunday school or relief society very often. So anyway, we were sitting together in Sunday School and the teachers asked everyone to turn to a specific scripture. It just so happens that I didn't bring my scriptures that day, (I usually do, I promise.) Blake and I were sitting on the front row so I knew we'd be called on to start reading. I leaned towards Blake and reached for his scriptures to share, but he moved them out of my reach, turned to me and whispered,

"Get your own oil"

I had the hardest time trying not to laugh. I was not very successful.

Prom... again

2010-04-23T22:27:00.000-07:00

   First things first: Finals are over! YES!!! Blake rocked them as always, and I... finished. Anyway it feels so good to be done! Mainly because in one week from today, we'll be on an airplane flying into to Barcelona. What a way to celebrate a first anniversary! Speaking of, I can't believe we've almost been married for a year. We've had so much fun and I am so grateful for Blake and more than anything I'm so grateful that I get to be with him forever. I have so much fun with him everyday. He is the best and I am so lucky. I'm not one to get all mushy on the blog so I'll keep it at that.

   Oh I cut my hair, a little over a foot is gone now. (Did i already say this on my blog?) It's fun and I love it, I think I'm going to cut it even shorter now. Alright no one cares. I'll just update you on some things we've been up to:

   Blake and I, along with our good friends Garrett and Andrea chaperoned a high school prom last week. (Garrett, Blake, and I all have younger siblings that are on student council) It was a lot of fun, mostly because Blake's little sister McKell is the one who asked us to chaperone so I didn't tell my little brother Sean that I was going to be there until I actually saw him there. I ran up to him and grabbed his arm in the middle of the dance and he turned around, froze, and then yelled "AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Probably the last person he was planning on seeing at his senior prom. It was pretty funny. I didn't even spy on him though, I just concentrated on keeping the water pitchers filled up and stayed in my corner :) We had a ton of fun with Garrett and Andrea though. We went to dinner beforehand and it was pretty embarrassing how many people at the restaurant asked us if we were part of a prom group...

At the restaurant with Garrett and Andrea

Before the dance started. Poor Sean, he got the scare of his life

Sean and his date. I didn't get a picture of Mckell but she looked beautiful! I had so much fun doing her makeup before prom, that girl is gorgeous

This is Blake's dancing face, it really is.

Handsome, handsome husband. We took a carriage ride after prom :) My MIL Laurel is so sweet, she had the carriage people stay late so that we could go for a ride. We had a ton of fun and I loved getting to go to prom with my husband.. how many people can say that?

Almost there!!!

2010-04-19T13:26:00.000-07:00

I want to blog so bad but I just can't justify it when I'm still in the midst of finals week. Only one more (+ a paper) and then I can blog all I want. Take that school!