Awesome Andersens reuniting

Again, another wonderful couple of days. Thanks to Mom and Dad for letting us all take over your house! We had such a great time. In summary: Tennis-ing, swimming, sewing, World Cup-ing, eating, volleyballing, laughing, playing, picture-taking, bacci-balling, loving.

The two who started it all

This is a true representation of the reunion and the chaos that we love

But sometimes we try to act normally

We took an engagement picture in this very spot one year ago! Crazy how time goes by so quickly

Uncle Tyler turned into a little jungle gym when it was too hot to go outside

Grandpa with his adorable granddaughters

We all took lots of pictures

Now for the classic swimming pictures...

Thank goodness for the kiddie pool!
Even Sam liked his first swim! {We think, anyway... he's got quite the poker face}
I anxiously awaited Tyler's arrival every day after he got off work. This is me checking on him
Strong Ty-man
A perfect cooldown on a hot Houston summer day
We love being with our family!

100th post!

I don't have anything super-special to say on this 100th post... sorry to anyone who got excited about that. :) Starting yesterday, every day marks the longest I've ever been away from Tyler. Not the kind of records I wanted to set, but I'm learning to deal. To keep myself busy, I've found all sorts of crafty projects that I'll post pictures of soon! I discovered the blog Make it and Love it on Friday, so I pulled a bunch of stuff off of there. I did a few of them over the weekend, and I'm so excited about how they turned out! I've been reading up a storm, learning some new songs on the piano, and I just got through the first season of Arrested Development.

Yesterday I drove up the canyon to read outside for a while. This is what I think of when I think of summer...

Lying on a blanket in a clearing of trees

with a good book

and new sandals that I got at Payless for $7! :)Just had to share.

I went hiking up to the Y on Saturday... it was embarrassing! I had to stop way too many times for my liking. I'd like to be able to run up that someday. I was wishing a certain someone was there to hike with me...

But he'll be here on THURSDAY!!!! He decided to come up for the holiday weekend, since he has both Friday and Monday off. I can't even explain my excitement.

Other stuff coming this week: lots of cleaning, haircut on Tuesday (I think for now I'm just going to trim it), play at Annie's on Tuesday night, and pick up Tyler on Thursday. Oh, and my boss informed me that I now get to leave every day at 5 instead of 6! Halle-flippin-lujah!

Dude... Ranch

The only way to describe the Dude Ranch is in pictures... LOTS of pictures. Words just don't suffice! We had SO much fun. It got even better when Tyler joined us on Friday night! That just completed it. I love Tyler's family-- seriously, I don't think I could have hand-picked a better family to marry into! I love them all so much. Thanks to everyone for making me feel so welcome and a part of your family during this reunion!

Random picture at breakfast one morning. The food was SO good!

We did lots of laying out. I just love Giselle and Austin! So glad Giselle was there!

We tried to do a little reading... but ended up talking for hours instead.

Heidi, me, Gabby, and Giselle. I just love these gals!

All the cousins floating in the lazy river. We had tons of fun floating all together!

Now for horsies. This was my trusty steed, Gunsmoke. I rode him both times we went riding! They called him a "kerplunk" kind of horse, and that word described him perfectly. It was a blast!

The girls and Botz on the way to the first ride.

Tyler and I on our horses before the second ride.

The fearless foursome before the scramble on Saturday. These guys were so nice to let Giselle and I putt every hole!

Mad skills...

But mostly I just had fun driving the golf cart and sitting next to this guy:

So happy to be together after a week apart!

Heidi and I had some fun riding it too!

Dang... what a bunch of good-lookin' boys. Yes, I definitely married into the right family!

Family picture time!







On our way to the creekside for dinner:

TENNIS! We played tons!

Seeing Makin' Dust (yes, that's what he called himself, really) perform. He has performed at the dude ranch for years, and remembered the Juergens family from over 10 years ago. Naturally, he made them come up and sing with him!

We had so much fun! Thanks to Nana and Botz for providing such a wonderful reunion. I can't WAIT for next year!! :)

There are some advantages...

Even though having Tyler gone is hard, I've found there are some benefits!

-I don't feel guilty watching chick flicks anymore. Tyler is super-sweet and never opposes anything I choose when we're picking a movie (He's just happy when I make a choice at all-- we're both SO indecisive), but I always feel a little bad picking a girly movie. Now, I can watch all the chick flicks I want, guilt-free!

-I can put all the olives in my salad that I could ever want, and no one will give me flack about it!

-When I play Josh Groban music to fall asleep to, I don't have to worry about waking him up.

-Last night I made a pan of brownies... and I don't have to share them. :) This may be a con instead of a pro, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, at least for one night... if I gain 10 pounds during the next month and a half that he's gone I may not be smiling about this!

And, I have to say, I'm loving my Skype dates with Tyler. I mean, not to say that I don't hate that we have to use Skype, but since we have to, I'll admit it's pretty fun! It's amazing how he can make me smile, even from 1,487 miles away! I love you honey!

Home again, home again, jiggety jig

Well, back in Utah at least. There's so much to say, and I'm a little too tired right now. So here's what you get for tonight:

-I cried as my plane took off to come to Salt Lake.

-Gretchen let me borrow the three "Anne of Green Gables" movies, and that has kept me entertained all day. I love it! I'm watching one right now.

-I am writing this post from my new MACBOOK. Yes, I have joined the ranks of a Mac owner! I love it so much. As silly as it is, I may or may not have spent 15 minutes taking silly pictures of myself in the photo booth. This computer is so great!

-The apartment smelled funny when I walked in. Thank goodness for Scentsy-- now the smell of Camu Camu fills our house! YUM.

-My face has loved this little vacation from makeup. Well, I don't really wear tons anyway, so I guess what I've loved is not having to put it on and take it off.

-Tomorrow=dreaded.

For now, here are a few pictures. I love my man.

Going HOME

I'm leaving in 30 minutes to begin my travels to Texas! I'm so excited... I have not been a very productive employee this morning. But, I'm proud to say that I left a clean apartment, and I don't think I've forgotten anything! I'm going HOME. I say home not because it is where my mail is sent, or because Texas is where I live. I say HOME because Texas is where my Tyler is. In his arms is my HOME, and I can't wait to be there.

Sleepless in Orem

Two nights in a row... not great sleep. This morning I woke up at about 3:30 and didn't fall asleep for over an hour. It's not like I'm not tired or anything, I just can't sleep. I even went on a good long run yesterday to try and tire me out, but that just made my foot even worse. *Did I tell you? My left foot has had issues since the 10k. No fun.* I just lay there, trying to sleep.

This morning I started packing for my trip to Texas, and I can hardly contain my excitement! Bring on the predictable weather pattern, even if it is just plain hot. This is my one chance to get some color this summer, and I'm going to take advantage! I may or may not have packed 3 swimming suits, and more tennis/exercise clothes than normal clothes. I can't wait to spend time with Tyler's family at the dude ranch, and then get to see almost every member of my family too! It will be the best 10 days. But, I'll admit, I'm kind of sad to be missing Orem's summerfest, and lots of other fun stuff that will be happening here. I won't miss work-- not ONE bit.

So if your cupboards/fridges are empty, please come over. We bought way too much food for the week before Tyler left, and it's all just going to go bad or be thrown away if I don't get some help eating it!

So it goes

Despite my various attempts to take myself along...


Tyler is gone. And I'm pretty proud of myself, I've only really only broken down twice. Once right as we said goodbye, and then after killing a HUGE spider that crept up on the pillow next to me on the couch. Stupid, I know.

We had a great weekend. Tyler's throat has been sore the past few days, so we've been taking it easy. Yesterday we had a picnic at the park with Subways and a little frisbee golf. I'd never played before, and it was a blast! Except for Tyler winning... not my favorite. :) We did some shopping, including a walk to the snow cone stand that is just down the street from our apartment. It will definitely be a summer staple! We bought some new sheet music that I'm really excited about. I want to practice a lot while T's gone. We ended the day with a most delicious dinner at Olive Garden, dessert from Arctic Circle, and watching Marley and Me.

Coming this week: Tyler goes to Georgia for internship training, I spend two days here, then head off to the DUDE RANCH! Yeah, that's right. I'm almost jealous of myself.

A weekend for memorializing

Friday night I went straight from work to Magleby's Fresh to pick up my bib, shirt, and, of course, to carb-load. Half off chicken parmegiana for runners! It was delish. I was so nice and shared with Tyler, and we went to bed early after making a mix for me to run to.

Saturday morning I woke with butterflies. I'm not really sure why I was nervous, but all I could muscle down my throat was a little bit of yogurt. But I was so excited that the shirts were awesome:

Aubrey came over and we 3 headed over to the park where the starting line was. Can you find me in this picture?

We ran a lap around the park before starting, but it didn't help shake our jitters away!

And we're off! This picture is taken somewhere between mile 1 and 2. Tyler was the best supporter!

Same spot, my stride was suffering on that hill...

But eventually, I crossed the finish line!!

Aubrey was there to congratulate me, as she had finished about 20 minutes before! Little stinker.

Free massages by Solase... thanks to them I was not stiff or sore AT ALL.

And, wow. Free oxygen bar. Weirdest and coolest thing, all at once! They even let me keep my nose piece hahaha.

The rest of the day Saturday was great. Because we had waited in a long line for massages, Magleby's had packed up and left! No free breakfast! But we felt that we deserved it anyway, so we went and got all-you-can-eat french toast. :) YUM. We went home and I got in a hot bath, only to look over and realize that we didn't have any shampoo! So frustrating. I hopped out and Tyler and I went to the store. By then, I was feeling energized again, and the sun was out, so I wanted to be outside. We ended up riding our bikes to Mountain View to play tennis with Austin, Giselle, Brady, Gabby, and Uncle John! I got sunburnt being out there for so long, which was wonderful. I needed me some good sun. We rode our bikes home, exhausted at that point, and I finally showered. :) Aubrey came over and we watched the dumbest movie ever, "Picture Perfect." I DON'T recommend it. Aubrey went to pick her hubby up from the airport and Tyler and I relaxed the rest of the night.

Sunday we finally took a picture of our cute Primary kids:

We love being their teachers. After church we went up to the Ostler's with Heidi and had a delicious Memorial Day dinner. I am so lucky to have married into such a wonderful family! Seriously, I love them all so much.

Tyler got to play a little Lightning with the boys:

And of course, no Juergens family gathering at the Ostler's is complete without a putting tournament! While the boys putted, we girls chatted and ate brownies. Not just any brownies-- Aunt Sheila's brownies. I'm not willing to admit how many I ate.

After dinner Heidi came over and we watched a movie. Oh, the joys of not having to worry about waking up early!

Monday was wonderful! We ended up waking up early, even though we didn't plan to. I just didn't want to waste a second of sunshine. We cleaned the apartment (FINALLY) and I vacuumed out the car. Randall and Crystal came over at 11:00 and we drove up to Park City! First thing we did there was eat, of course. They had a coupon for a yummy soup restaurant, but we found out the hard way that it was closed for the holiday. So, after much wandering around Park City, we settled on the dollar menu at Arby's. :) Totally hit the spot! Then we did some shopping, where Crystal eagle-eyed me that cute jean skirt. Everything at the Tanger outlets was 40-50% off... we landed some awesome deals! Afterwards, we headed over to Olympic Park and rode the zipline! It was the coolest thing ever. The scariest part was the ride up on the ski lift haha. We weren't locked in at all and it was super-steep! But this zipline is the steepest in the world... it went uber-fast.

I was second-guessing whether or not I wanted to go...

Randall and Crystal, all strapped in and ready to go.

The gates opened and they were off!

Then we were strapped in:

And of course, we had to take a video of our ride down. I totally beat Tyler in speed! It was a blast!!

Definitely a weekend to remember.