Get Your Snuggie

This week Bre has been complaining that our apartment is too cold. Well I just so happened to find this great product on TV and thought it would be a perfect gift for her. It really is such a great idea because isn't everybody as sick of blankets as I am? Blankets today can just be so frustrating to use. I am so thankful there are people out there creating such fine products. I just wanted to share this great Christmas gift idea for everyone. Be sure to order soon before they are sold out!

I Am Thankful For..

1. Tyler - I'm thankful to be married to such an amazing person. I could go on and on, but that gets annoying.
2. The Gospel
3. Our awesome families - we are so lucky to have amazing families who we love to be with.
4. Sonic Diet Coke with real cherries and limes (yes, it is this high on my list)
5. Our jobs and great employers who are flexible with our crazy schedules.
6. My education
7. This country and the freedoms that we enjoy.
8. Chocolate and Salt - not together, but two of my favorite things.
9. A great landlord and a warm place to sleep at night.
10. All of the little things we enjoy each day that get taken for granted.

Me Being Patriotic

Patriotism... this word has taken on so many different (and strange) meanings in the last few years. What makes me patriotic? I don't fly an American flag from my car, I don't have American flags hanging from my ears, my husband doesn't sing Toby Keith's "I'll put a boot in your ass..." at the top of his lungs. (I can't even finish the lyrics because they are so ridiculous.) So are we patriotic?

I was thinking about the different ways people support the country and I believe the number one way we can do what's best for this country is by letting our voices be heard tomorrow, election day. Tyler and I voted early this year and it made me think about how involved we have become in this election. We researched the candidates, found out the FACTS (which can be hard to do) and we really made educated decisions when it came to most of the candidates. I'm proud to say that I made a contribution to the future of our country, especially in this scary time of uncertainty and doubt with many of the issues we are being faced with today. I'm feeling very patriotic, although I may not look the part. No matter which candidates you support, tomorrow is the day to let your voice be heard. I know you'll make the right choice. (right Bob and Mom?) Just remember, "Yes we can."

Another funny political comment for the day... my little brother, Mike, text me this today "my friends are bashing Obama, I need some good stuff to argue about him." His friend said that "there is no good reason to vote for Obama." I would definitely beg to differ, but like I told Mike, that can be his opinion but obviously there must be SOMETHING good about him since he's made it this far in the race. You need to research those issues that are important to you and decide for yourself. Funny how we can see things so one-sided and not think twice about it. Moral of the story: Be open to others opinions and look at both sides of the argument. 

Happy Halloween!

Halloween/Maren's Birthday Party

This post is a little late but we have had a crazy week with school and work. After taking two weekend vacations in a row, we had a lot of catching up to do. I know you were all excited to see Tyler in Mickey Mouse ears but he "accidently" forgot the camera in the car. Whoops! So we have no pictures of the magical kingdom...

We also went on a tram ride in the San Jacinto State Park that made me much more sick than any of the roller coasters at Disneyland. Going up 9,000 feet with a rotating floor just didn't do it for me. (Did I mention that we were swaying each time we went over a pole.) Once we got to the top, we realized that the farther we hiked the fewer people we encountered. So we did manage to escape the huge crowds, but it was still a pretty popular/touristy place. All-in-all, it was a beautiful view, the weather was perfect, and it was fun to be with my family.

  

Escape to the Desert

While Utah County was getting rain and snow last weekend, we were enjoying the nice, mostly warm weather in Canyonlands. But the fun isn't over yet! Tonight we are headed down to California for the weekend. Disneyland, here we come! I'm sure you can all guess how excited Tyler is. I will try to convince him to put on some Mickey ears for a photo shoot but I'm not going to hold my breath. 

The Goat Show On Timp

Yesterday while Bre was doing a project for school I decided to hike Timpanogos along with the rest of Utah County. We forgot there was no BYU game so apparently all of the zoobies needed something to occupy their time. I have never seen so many people in wilderness on cellphones before. With that being said I guess it's a good thing that their not sitting home watching TV. The leaves were changing into bright colors and the air was cool which made for a beautiful fall day.

Just on the summit there was easily over 50 people. If you look close most of them will be on cellphones.

The Big Race

Last weekend was the Top of Utah Marathon and to show our support for Todd and Ash, we decided to run the 5K (23 miles shorter than what they ran). Congrats Todd and Ash for making it the entire race without dying... quite the accomplishment.

The 5K was a big feat for me, since I started off the summer without the ability to run around the block before getting a massive side-ache (you know the kind that cut off your breathing...). Although Ty and Nate left us in the dust before we could even start running, Miranda, Kell, Hatee and I had a mostly enjoyable race. Hatee even took first place in her division. Nice job, Hatee! Hopefully next year we'll be shooting for the half-marathon.
And to top it off, matching team Murdock shirts.. Love it!

Sarah or Tina?

The Contrast (as told by one side)

Today in my British Literature class we were studying the French Revolution and how it influenced Great Britain and its literature. My professor had us look at this picture drawn by Thomas Rowlandson in 1792 that was used as British propaganda against the revolution. Many of the upper class citizens in Great Britain were against the French Revolution and they began posting pictures like this one on the windows of stores so that the lower working class (those that couldn't afford to buy propaganda) could see how "horrible" the French were. So.... why did this make the blog cut?

I was thinking about how this related to politics today and how funny it is that political parties become so one-sided and extreme. As you watch commercials, read e-mails, or watch the news, it's hard to know what to believe because all of the politicians are typically going to tear down the other party. What I've decided is rather than believe everything I hear, I need to research it myself in order to find the "truth" behind the political schemes. No matter which party you are going to vote for this November, try to find out the facts. Don't rely on sources from the other party to sway your opinion. For all you know, it could be bogus just like this British propaganda. So ask yourself the same simple question the British asked; which is best?

Slacking on Westwater

We have been in school for about two weeks now and have already needed a break... I'm pretty sure that's not a very good beginning to the semester. For some reason, Tyler and I tend to be easily stressed out, so it's nice when we can take a break from our school, work, homework routine. I feel like a huge slacker since we have only been in school for such a short period of time but I guess there's no better way to slack then on a river trip.  For some video footage of the big adventure, see Brian's blog. 

Veggin' Out

Tyler has never been a big vegetable eater, but I think we've finally discovered how to get him to eat and ENJOY them. He's been helping his mom in her vegetable garden and it has been really fun to "live off the land." He is actually excited to eat fresh steamed carrots for dinner, which is highly unusual.

I still haven't been able to convince him to put tomatoes on his bacon sandwhiches, but we're taking baby steps.

Cottonwood Creek

Yesterday Creed, Chad, and I went down to kayak Cottonwood Creek. On our way we stopped in the great metropolis of Castle Dale for lunch. I get depressed every time I go to that little town. While we were eating, I heard the people at the other table say they had to take there dog to the vet because he was sick and the kid said, "ya he got maggots all over him." If that doesn't make you hungry!  We had a great run down Cottonwood with no major accidents other than a couple of pinned boats, a few swims, and a 3 inch gash in the floor of Creed's boat.

Gimme a Head of Hair

Due to the recent popularity of Ty's long, curly locks and some pictures that I found from our crazy hair girl's night, I decided to create this masterpiece... I will apologize now for the song but I just couldn't resist. 

High Uintas Wilderness

This past week I spent in the Grandaddy and Four Lakes Basins of the Uintas. Todd is working as the wilderness ranger in those basins for the summer. So Brian, River, Mikey (Ashli's little brother) and I went in to keep him company. We had a great trip and caught alot of Big Brookies and Artic Grayling. 

Daynes Lake in the Four Lakes Basin with Cyclone pass in the background. We spent the entire day here fishing and sleeping.

Brinton Meadows

This is one of the Brookies we caught out of Rainbow Lake.

Rainbow Lake with Mt. Agassiz in the Back.

Todd and I at Daynes Lake.

Red Pine Lake up Little Cottonwood Canyon

Mikey, Aubrey, Ash, Me and Ty

New Pad

After a few weeks of packing, hauling, and carrying boxes and furniture between our places, we are officially moved in! It has been a lot of work with between moving and painting but definitely worth it now that we are in and settled. We actually bought groceries for the first time in a month because we were living in limbo between Orem and Springville.

Last night, we finished the bedroom painting project. It was a little sketchy at first, since the paint was looking more fuschia than red. In the end, it turned out to be the color we were hoping for (after about 20 coats of paint). 

Wedding Bells

Finally, the waiting is over and my mom and Paul got hitched on Thursday, June 26th. After being engaged for over seven months, we were all ready for Paul to officially become part of the family.  We love them both and we are glad they found each other. Right now they are enjoying the beautiful sights of Italy and we can't wait for them to come home next week. Congrats Mom and Paul! We love you!

The San Rafael River

Yesterday we met "Wild Bri" and the Nielson's for a nice relaxing trip down the San Rafael River. The river flows through an area known as the Little Grand Canyon which deep canyon walls provide beautiful scenery for the float. It was a great day to be on the river.

The Old Man in his fish cat.

Go With the Flow

"Ah the river... who knows where she'll take you. When you are adrift at last, give thanks to the fates. No matter what you've forgotten, everything you need is here. All you can do is go with the flow." 

--Ann Walka

We all know that Ty and I have a hard time "going with the flow" (Ty especially..:) but one thing that I've learned to love about floating down the river is you really have to let go of everything and literally go with the flow of the river. We had a very nice and relaxing trip with the Murdock clan and it was hard to get back to work on Monday. It's crazy how fast the relaxation from the river trip can disappear once we get back to our stress-filled lives! 

Horsetail Falls

On Saturday Ty and I went up to Lone Peak Wilderness area and hiked into Horsetail Falls. It was one of the prettiest falls I have seen, especially right now with so much water coming off the mountains. It was a beautiful day to be out hiking.

Springtime in the Desert

Last week we went down south to visit Bri, Alina and the boys. After driving through a complete whiteout in Spanish Fork Canyon it turned out to be a very nice weekend. We Climbed on Potash Friday, Hiked up Mill Creek Friday evening and went Backpacking Saturday and Sunday. While Bri, River and I went Backpacking the girls even found time to watch 8 hours of Pride and Prejudice and 4 hours of Wives and Daughters. I was really sad that I missed 8 hours of Mr. Darci.

Kell and Bre climbing above Potash.

Brian, River and I headed down to Cedar Mesa on saturday and sunday. We went down Bullet Canyon to the Confluence of Grand Gulch.

This is at the Perfect Kiva Ruin which was found in near perfect condition in the late 1800's. They have since stabalized the roof so you can go inside. Kiva's are thought to have been used by the Anasazi's for spirtual or religous ceremonies. It is amazing to think of the work that went into building these structures.