Trying times...

Well, first off I can't believe it is already the week of Christmas. So much has been going on and so much has changed this year. It's hard to imagine my life without Derick and we've only been married for 4 months. But I am so thankful for him. 

Last week was a hard week for me. In the midst of all the craziness surrounding the holiday, I found out that one of my really good friends lost her baby. It came as a total shock since she was so close to her due date. I was pretty upset about the whole thing and am glad that Derick was there to put everything back into perspective. I just can't believe that it could happen, especially to them.  I am so sad that they will not have the opportunity to be with their little guy here on Earth but am so thankful that they are an eternal family and will be together again someday. I'm thankful that they have each other to turn to and hope that she knows I'm here for her anytime. I pray nightly for their family and hope they can get through this difficult time. 

It's also been a hard week, in the fact that it is Christmas and I won't be around any of my family. This is the first time I haven't flown home for Christmas and I miss my family terribly. I'm glad Derick's family is close and we get to share the holiday with them but it just doesn't feel the same this year. I'm excited to start new traditions with Derick but it sure has been hard. I love my family and it seems that Christmas is also the one time when our family gets together. I miss family pictures, playing with my Nieces and nephews, cooking/baking with my mom, playing games with siblings, and all around just sitting and laughing with everyone. I wish Derick and I could have gone home so that he can see how fun Christmas really is, and not just about money and presents but how it's really about the thing that matters most to me... my family. 

Home Sweet Home...finally!

Well, as most of you know Derick and I have finally moved into our new place! It's a simple 3 bedroom 2 bath and we love it. It's out towards Eagle Mountain, just passed Saratoga Springs. We just finished painting the kitchen and living room and it looks great. I'm glad I talked Derick into doing it before we got our TV all setup or else I never would have gotten him off the couch to help! LOL But here are a few before and after pictures for you all!

Before...

After...

New Moon

Well it is exciting to say that New Moon is coming out this week but I have some mixed feelings about it. Out of all the Twilight series books this one was my least favorite. Was it because I am not a big Jacob fan? I like Jacob and his friendship with Bella but I was never the reader who sat there while reading the book and rooted for Jacob and Bella to get together. I know Edward was always the dangerous one and Jacob the lovable one but something about Edward and Bella always drew me to thier relationship more than Bella being with Jacob. I'm also very interested to see how the whole werewolf thing is portrayed on film. I know the first film was a little low budget and at times corny but I'm really thinking (or rather hoping) this one will be done better.

I'm also excited because all the girls in Derick's family (and a few boys believe it or not) are going to be having a Twlight party and then go see the show together. We are going on Thursday which should be way fun. I guess they all did it last year for Twilight but this year we are going to Grandma Myrna's and have dinner, play games, and hang out before going to the rented movie theater where they will also be having prizes and all that fun stuff! I wish my sisters were all closer so that we could all go see it together! But I'll let everyone know how it is! Miss you girls!

Home Sweet Home

Here are some pictures of our new condo. Today everything got cleaned up and our fridge and stove were installed. We are starting to get excited to move it. I can't wait to get in and paint and decorate. Our final walk through is on Monday so we are thinking we will close sometime next week! Yeah! Now we are trying to figure out paint colors. I would like a blue in the living room and Derick wants green. Oh and don't forget there will be a deer head somewhere in the living room! Yikes- What a nice wife I am! LOL

The living room

One of the bathrooms

Living room looking into the kitchen/hall

Kitchen

So now that you've pretty much seen the main rooms, what colors do you think would look good. Right now it's like 10 different shades of brown so I need color!!

Wedding pics

Hey everyone! Derick and I are so happy with the way our wedding pictures turned out! Don't worry everyone will be getting some pics soon! If there is one you love just let us know and we can print it for you! And if anyone is ever looking for a wedding photographer please check out amylittlephotography.com. She was such an awesome photographer to have!

Name Change and Shopping Frenzy

Well for the past two days I have been off work due to UEA which is were the teachers are supposed to go to conferences but they never go so now it's just called "Fall Recess". Well, no matter the reason I was thankful for two days of relaxation! But then I started thinking that I really should go down and get my name changed officially. And after having battled lines before, I decided to get up early and be one of the first people to the Social Security place. When I got there I was #15 and ended up only waiting 15 minutes and then I was out of there. I was about to head down to the License department when my cute husband called and asked if I wanted to go to the high school and have lunch with him... even though the License place was only a few blocks I couldn't turn him down and I headed out to Saratoga Springs to eat lunch with him! He has been to my school before but I had never seen him interact with the students and he was pretty cute with them! Afterwards I headed down to Orem and thought "it's the middle of the day, I am going to be at the License place forever!" I filled out the application, got some crap from the desk guy about my hyphenated last name, and was out 20 minutes later! Everyone I have talked to said what a pain it was changing their last name but it was pretty easy for me. I am so glad to officially have the last name of Milne! I've changed over credit cards, insurance, and all that. The only thing left to do is wait for my new ss card and license and then I can change it officially with the school district and the title on my card! Yeah!

Condo update:

Most of you know that Derick and I found the cutest little condos in Eagle Mountain...don't worry it's not completely out there in the boondocks, but it's more towards Saratoga Springs in a little development called the Ranches. It's like 5 minutes from Derick's school and we love the area. They've pushed our closing date to November 1st and we are way excited! We are on the 3rd floor so thats usually the last floor to be finished. We drove out last week to check the progress and they have it all framed and are putting in instillation and sheet rock. For the last few days I have been worried that we are going to move in and have absolutely no furniture. We pretty much have my bedroom stuff and thats it. So I suggested to Derick that we go out and have a look around and price some things. I couldn't believe he agreed! (I think it helped that I showed him some things that were on sale!) We stopped at a few places but it is amazing how high priced things are at one place and lower at another for completely the same item! We headed over to ShopKo in Orem because Derick's mom had seen a dining room table on sale. So we went to get that. We were shocked when we got there and saw that they had a nice couch, loveseat, and chair on sale. But even better...they said that if we got the couch and loveseat, we would get the chair for free! So we walked out of ShopKo with a 5-piece dining set, a couch, loveseat, and chair for $800! When we got back to Derick's parent's place of course Derick wanted to rip off the plastic and start putting everything together. (typical boy- can't wait for an excuse to get out the tools!) but I said we'd better wait until we move everything to our new place. I think he was kind of sad but I am so glad we got all that taken care of. The only things we need now are a fridge and stove (they came with the place but we want to upgrade to a side by side frige and a flat top stove) and then we will be all set! Here's a picture of our new furniture!

Randomness

Well, not much has been going on and I keep thinking that I should get on and blog but there really hasn't been much to actually write about. Things are going good. Derick is still pretty busy with work and all the IEPs he has to do but I think he is enjoying what he does (some days more than other I think!) My class has been good. They definitely have their good days and their bad days though. The good news is I only have four weeks and then I am on track break! And I also don't have school next Thursday or Friday for "fall recess"! Yeah!

For the past few months we Derick and his brothers and friends have been playing on a recreational softball team. It's been lots of fun to go and watch them play every Tuesday. And it's sad to say that now it is over. I won't mention what their record was but they sure tried! I'm going to miss going to the games now! What else is there to do on a Tuesday night???

Tonight Derick had his first parent teacher conferences so he was pretty much gone all night. It was kind of nice to make something for dinner that I like but know Derick will hate. It was also nice not to have to watch sports but watch my own shows. I can't wait until we move into our new place and have two tv's so that he can watch his sports and I can watch my girly shows! Even though I know Derick secretly likes watching some of my shows. Ok maybe the word "likes" is a bit much but I think he gets sucked in sometimes! LOL

Speaking of girly shows- tomorrow is the season premier of Grey's Anatomy! I am totally addicted! And so is everyone on my team at work. We are all going to Shelley's house to watch it amd eat yummy pizza. We have done this for the past three seasons and I love it. And now that I'm married it's definitely nice having a girls night!

Go Thunder!

So last week it was homecoming week at Derick's school- Westlake High. I had been telling him how fun it would be to go to the football game. So it was a nice surprise when Derick asked if I wanted to go get some dinner and go to the game. It was actually lots of fun. It was fun to see some of his students and to watch the game. I kept getting distracted by everything going on. The kids with their painted bodies, the kids jumping all around in front of us, the cheerleaders, and all the people around. We even got to see the marching band, cheerleaders, and drill team perform and they crowned the homecoming royalty. All in all it was a good date night! But  I learned that I definitely don't miss high school!

One month of fun!

Well today is officially our one month anniversary! Crazy! I can't believe it has already been a month since all the wedding craziness! Everything has been good with Derick and I. We've both settled into work and Derick seems to be enjoying it all. He's been pretty swamped with all the paperwork that comes with teaching, especially all of it that comes with opening a new school, getting new students, and being in special ed. Sometimes he seems overwhelmed and it makes me think back to my very first year of teaching and I don't miss that at all! My class has been good. I don't have any hellions or trouble makers, just a few low kids and of course some talkers but all in all they are pretty good and cute. I forget how low they are when they first come to first grade but they already seem to be making progress which is good! For the time being, Derick and I are living in Derick's parents' basement until our condo is done in October. We got to go pick out all of our carpet, appliances, and colors the other day. I can't wait to be able to move in and have our own home. As for everything else, our days have been filled with lots of camping and football. But I don't mind as long as I get to spend time with Derick. Today we are both feeling a little under the weather. I have a sore throat and am very tired and Derick has the same but he actually is running a fever and has it a little worse that me. I told him thats what happens when you are a teacher. You seem to get sick quite often. I'm sure his immune system will be pretty tough like mine soon! So yeah, we are spending our one month anniversary at home sick, sleeping, and watching football!

Wedding Pictures

Alright, I know a lot of you have been asking for pictures of the big day. So here are a few that Derick's family had. I've still been lazy and haven't uploaded some from my camera and I'm still waiting on the ones from the photographer but hopefully some of these will hold you over for a bit! :)

Derick and I outside the Mt. Timpanogos temple!
Diana, Britney, and Devin

Lindy, Cooper, and Justin

My new brother and sister in laws on our sealing day!

Britney and Ava

Derick and I with Derick's parents on our sealing day!

Camping fun

So if any of you know my husband Derick, then you know that we will definitely be spending a lot of weekends camping during our marriage! Yes, I have always loved camping and we often went when we were kids. I love sleeping in a tent, the sounds of nature, waking up whenever you feel like it, lounging around all day outside, going for hikes, playing games, and sitting around the campfire are just a few of my favorite things about camping. Derick and I have gone camping quite a lot since we first started dating. I love that he goes with his brothers and extended family and is so excited when we do it. This weekend we headed down south and camped out with Derick's brother Devin and friend Kyle. Derick's main reason to go was to hunt deer. So I told him to go out while I set up the tent! I love setting up our tent. It's so easy. It's all color coded and just clips on. I hate those dang tents where you have to shove the bendy poles into the pockets and hope that it all turns out right. So I was pretty proud of myself to do it and thought "This is going to be a good weekend!" Well thats when it started. I tried to put on the rain flap, but the tent was too tall for me to do it alone. I tried to start a fire but the matches were locked in the car (keys were with Derick) and then I smashed my finger inside the folding table, the kind where the legs push open, yep thats right where my finger decided to land! That night we tried to play rook. But the batteries in the flash light died. (don't worry we still beat Devin and Kyle) and then I got really bad allergies. The kind where when you go to lay down you absolutely, no matter how hard you try, can't breathe! The kind where your eyes itch so badly they swell up. The kind where your nose is rubbed so much from blowing your nose that it hurts. Yep, no matter how much I love camping, I definitely was ready to come home! And don't worry, guess where we are going this weekend??? Yep, camping! but this time I'll be prepared with allergy medicine and those soft tissues that have the lotion in them! Wish me luck!

Wedding Bliss

Sorry i've been out of touch a bit lately! And I know everyone is dying to see wedding pictures. I will post everything i've gotten lately from people but we haven't gotten our temple ones back from the photographer yet, but as soon as I get some you will all know! Well everything went well with the wedding. We were a little sad that everything didn't work out to get married in the temple on the 7th but we still had fun taking pictures that day and we definitely had fun with everyone at our reception! My flowers turned out beautiful and even the table cloths and cupcakes were great! We were a little concerned about rain and it almost rained us out of the reception but thank goodness it cleared up and we didn't have a problem with too much heat! Derick and I had fun seeing everyone and talking to all our family and friends. Then we were super excited when we got our letter the next week. It worked out for us to go to the temple Thursday night, August 13th. It was actually really nice not to have to worry about setting up and getting to a reception. We had a beautiful sealing with those family and friends who could make it. (and missed those who couldn't be there) We had fun taking pictures afterwards and there was even a beautiful rainbow outside afterwards. Then we headed to the hotel. Sadly, Derick and I both had to get up early the next day and go to work. But overall we had a fun reception and wedding and are enjoying our first week of marriage! Thanks everyone who supported us through it all! Derick and I love you!

Lots going on

Gosh it sure has been a long time since I last blogged. And yes there has actually been tons happening! First off- Derick's brother Justin and sister-in-law Lindy had a cute little baby girl! They named her Ava Marne and she is absolutely adorable. We were able to go visit them in the hospital and got to watch as the nurses gave her a check-up and a little bath. Even Cooper was so cute with his new little sister!

Then Derick and I headed down to California to met the fam. (Don't worry, he survived!) LOL we had lots of fun BBQing, swimming, playing with my nieces and nephews, and even playing tennis against my parents! (Don't worry, we won!) We were also in California for the fourth of July and Derick had fun helping my dad set off the fireworks. I think I'm learning that every guy loves fire! All in all I think my family loved Derick. Especially my little nephew Jonathan. We would walk in and he would crawl right to Derick! It was so cute and it was really fun seeing my family.

We had a few days rest from our California trip before we headed out to Bear Lake with all of Derick's family. At first I thought I'd never been there before but as soon as we pulled into the Condos where we would be staying, I could remember coming there for a family reunion like 15 years ago! It was so crazy. We had lots of fun swimming and riding the wave runners. Here is cute baby Ava in her little swimmy!

We even got to play mini golf. Derick and I did pretty good against his parents and I even got a hole in one on the 18th hole so I got to keep my golf ball (purple of course) and got a free ticket to play again. But of course Derick beat me both times. It was really fun spending time with his family and getting to know them a lot better. I also got to met Derick's brother Jason and wife Andrea who live in Arkansas. And they have two cute kids- Hayden and Hailey.

(Hayden, Cooper, Hailey)

Last week I started going back to work to get things together for my classroom. I can't believe it's almost time to go back to work. Derick has been going to lots of new teacher and special education meetings. It's exciting to watch him get ready to start the year. Last weekend we went down to Manti and did a little camping/fishing. I had never been down there and couldn't believe how pretty it was. I loved all the wildflowers and even enjoyed some of the rain. Derick taught me how to fish. Of course I sucked at casting it but I even reeled in a few fish! I told Derick that I would gut a fish if I caught one (guess I thought I would never catch one) but I did! And yes he wanted me to gut it! After he showed me how to do it, I just couldn't do it! Maybe if I had gloves but ew putting my fingers inside the fish and oh the noises! YUCK! But here are a few pictures of our fish!

Well the next big thing for us is the wedding. I can't believe it's a week from tomorrow! Thanks for everyone helping us and offering to help. Yes, we are still waiting on our sealing clearance but I guess it's a lesson for me in patience. Keep your fingers crossed! But we still look forward to seeing everyone on the 7th for the reception!

Engaged!

So I know that pretty  much everyone has already heard that Derick and I are getting married! but I know some people have asked how it all happened and such. So here you go! About three weeks ago we were asked by my friend Meg to go to Lake Powell with her, her husband, her brother in law, and a bunch of their friends. I had never been and thought it would be fun. After a bunch of changes and such, we ended up leaving with Meg, Colby, and their 9 year old nephew around 1:00 AM! We got to the lake around 7:30 and got everything on the boat and headed toward where the house boat was docked. It took us a while to actually find it and we were exhausted when we got there. Pretty much all day we ate, swam, played horseshoes, frisbee, and took naps. Derick asked if I wanted to go on a hike and I told him yes and even asked Meg and Colby if they wanted to come along. (Luckily Colby said no, that we needed some alone time) Now mind you, I had absolutely no clue that Derick as going to propose! He even changed his clothes so I couldn't see the ring in his pocket. We walked to a pretty spot overlooking the lake where we sat and talked and then he got down on his knee, handed me the ring, and asked me to marry him. It was so sweet and so perfect for us! The bad thing was the we didn't get cell phone reception the whole week so our families and friends had to wait until Sunday to hear the news. After that we had a fun weekend. I wakeboarded, we swam, ate, went boating, went on a crazy hike through disgusting water, and even went to rainbow bridge. Overall it was a fantastic weekend!

Fun in the Sun

One weekend last month, Derick and I went camping with some of his friends. Yes- I am still waiting for one of his friends to send me all the pictures! Gosh, leave somethings to guys 

and you'd never get anything done! But we had fun camping and hiking. We hiked down a small gorge which was very cool. And then we did a bit of shooting. I do have to say, that I did pretty good for my first time shooting! But I promise to post more about it all when I get those pictures!

So Derick and I didn't really have any plans for the Memorial weekend. We just knew we wanted to relax and play the rest by ear. But Saturday morning came around and no luck. Derick got a call saying he needed to head down to Arizona for work. But, he being the sweetheart that he is, asked me to come along. Our end destination was the Northern Rim of the Grand Canyon but we had a few stops to hit along the way. It was a long drive but it was nice to spend some time with Derick, just he and I. We saw lots of deer and even got in a stupid car accident when some kids rear ended us. But luckily it wasn't too bad and no one was hurt....just Derick's trunk! :( Well it ended up pouring for a majority of the trip but was nice and sunny as we pulled up to the Grand Canyon. 

Well it sounds like we've done a lot of stuff out doors this last month. Cause we've also enjoyed hiking and bonfires with Derick's brothers and friends in the American Fork Canyon. But don't you worry, we've also spent a lot of time indoors watching all the basketball games. I don't think i've ever watched so much basketball but it sure has been fun! (I can say that now that it's almost over!)  Since all this fun stuff, not much has been going on. Just hanging out here and there and oh, of course work! Thank goodness I'm down to four more weeks! Then we're off for some more fun! Cali with my fam and Bear Lake with Dericks! So look forward to more posts soon!

Mother's Day Quilt

So for Mother's Day I decided to make my mom a quilt. Now if you know anything about my mom, you know that 1. she's always cold  2. she likes to nap  and 3. she loves her family! So I decided to make a small quilt so she can take it with her in the car or she could just use it to take nap with. I also thought it would be cute to put some baby pictures of my brother, sisters, and I on it. It turned out pretty cute for only my second quilt. Don't ya think??

Arizona Trip

Ok ok! I know it's been a long time since I last posted but in all honesty LOTS have been going on this last month. So beware of the blog overload!! First off I had a blast down in Arizona with Terra, Josh, and little Dakota. I was scared at first that Dakota wouldn't recognize or like me since he was still really little the last time he saw me. But he and I got along great!  He is such a cute little guy with a fun personality! I had a blast helping Terra with his 1st birthday party! And the cake turned out so cute! He got tons of presents and even a slide from Grandma and Grandpa!

My mom and I

Terra and Dakota

Our cute crocodile cake!

While in Arizona Josh was nice enough to take my parents and I down to Sedona. It was really pretty there. Reminded me a lot of St. George with all the red rock. We walked around all the fun shops and ate some yummy ice cream. All in all it was a fun trip. It always sucks when you have to leave family, especially when you have to get back to work!

My mom and I

Terry, Dakota, and Mom

The start of something wonderful!

Monday started my first week of my last track break. It's k

ind of bittersweet. Yes I'm excited for it to be track break so I can be on vacation but I am not excited that this two weeks is my last track break of the year. And that means its 9 more weeks until the end of the school year! Yuck! But let's not look at the bad stuff! Cause right now I'm on vacation!! 

So Wednesday I headed down to Cedar City to hang out with Derick for a while before I had to get to Las Vegas. While I was there I got to meet all of his friends, we went on a hike, went to Derick's tennis practice at the high school, and went to eat. Then I headed down to Chelsea's house to spend some time with them. 

It was fun playing with Chelsea's little girl Karlee and talking with Chels. It was fun reminiscing about old college roommates and the fun things we did. 

I stayed there Thursday and got to go with them to story time at the library and the park. Then I left on Friday for Arizona.  Saturday we got up and went on a hike of Thumb Butte. 

It was a fun hike (steep on the way up but nice and relaxing on the way down) and you could see all the way out into the valley. It was cool. 

Today we just went to church, had some yummy elk roast, played ladder golf, and watched movies. I just can't say it enough--I love vacation!

Enough already

Well I guess it's true what they say..."When one thing goes bad...it all goes bad!" Friday morning I woke up with a horrible pain in my stomach. Thinking it was only cramps, I got in the shower hoping to make it feel better. Well it didn't. It turned into about 40 minutes of throwing up. I called a few girls from work hoping to find someone to sub for me but no luck. I barely made it through blow drying my hair and put on the bare minimum amount of makeup to make me at least look decent. I barely made it to work on time. Thank goodness it was only a half day at school. And that goodness for Magic School Bus movies! LOL Well then through the weekend it turned into a horrible cough and a bad sore throat. I also got a stye in my eye and now my nose and eyes itch and I've been sneezing all day probably due to allergies. Gosh, can't a girl have enough already??? :)

Spring Break

Last year for spring break, a couple of girls from work and I decided that since it's the only time we all have a break together, we would go to California and hit Disneyland. So of course this year we decided to continue that tradition. But this time hit California Adventure. (Yes since we are teachers we can only afford one park at a time! LOL) So Tina, Kate, and I left Wednesday afternoon after school got out. We decided to drive down to Las Vegas and stay the night there instead of driving all the way through. We stayed at the Stratosphere but decided that we wanted to meet up with another teacher from work and see the Bellagio fountains and the flowers. Of course we took silly pictures and laughed so hard we all were about to pee our pants! Thursday we drove down to Temecula (a small town between LA and San Diego) where Kate had family. So we decided to hit the mall and get lots of good food. That night we headed to our hotel in Anaheim. Friday it was supposed to rain so we decided to go to the LA temple, which is amazing inside, get pedicures, walk the Santa Monica pier, and see a movie. Saturday we got up and went to California Adventure. None of us had been there but it turned out to be fun. I loved to roller coaster and Soaring over California but boy did Tower of Terror freak me out! But don't worry I still went on it twice! :) Over all we had a blast but I was sure exhausted after that weekend! But hey, three more days and here comes another vacation...Arizona here I come!!