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!