New Hair

Mike has told me a few times that he fell in love with a blonde and married a redhead. I never thought I'd dye my hair again, but because he liked it so much I thought I would give it another try. So I roped my good friend Sharon into helping me by bribing her with a girls night. Her fiance (yes! She's engaged! Isn't that exciting?! Congrats Sharon!) was working, and Mike was working, so we went to work together...on my hair. I had bought the dye before hand and hid it from Mike so that this would be a surprise. I'll give you a play by play if you wish, or you can simply look through the pictures :)

Here I am at the start with my natural frizz...aka a mane. The before shot :)

Sharon pulling out my hair

Still at it! She was so faithful!

A single shot of the beautiful Sharon :)

The in between shot, all of the hair to be dyed has now been pulled out.

Putting the "goo" on

Waiting, this is when we watched a movie. Sadly it wasn't a very good movie :(

The end result...can't really tell a difference, but I promise it is lighter! Just not quite as blonde as before. I got too chicken and washed it out earlier then I should have but its okay...it just looks naturally highlighted or lightened. I might have to do it again sometime so that Mike can have his blonde back :)

A shot of Sharon and I. Before when my hair was really blonde and we used to have people ask us if we were sisters, one even if we were twins! :) I appreciate your help Sharon! Thanks again! :)

For the conference weekend Mike and I were able to go down to Utah and stay with my parents. We were also able to see Mike's sister, Stephanie, his dad, and his two brothers, Kevin and Rob, who all had just gotten done running the St. George Marathon. Good job guys! They were all pretty tired when we got to his aunt's house, and who could blame them? It was really nice to see them, however short it was. Below are some pictures from the weekend.

We were able to go to a session of conference where surprisingly we saw a kid who was in an area where Mike served. He was a really cool kid who went on splits with Mike all the time. It was fun for me to hear stories, including how Mike is apparently a legend in his mission. Stevie (pictured below) said that even after Mike went home there would be new Elders who'd come into the area and talk about an Elder Reese who tore up the mission and had no fear in talking to people. Stevie was always proud to be able to say, "Yea...I went on splits with him like every day!". It make me happy to hear what a good missionary my husband was and I can believe it since he has absolutely no fear and it seemed like every letter I got he had come up with a new way to approach people to break the ice. I'm proud of my husband :)

Stevie and Mike

Mike and my Dad at the priesthood session.

These next few pictures are not from our trip to Utah weekend but are kinda fun. Above is a picture of Mike with the poster of him that was up all over campus. It was funny because when he met some of my friends at my surprise party they were like, "Hey, you're the kid from the communications poster!". It made him happy that he was so "famous". Silly goof :)

And above is the hamburger jack-o-lantern that I found on the internet and made for when we had our friends Jeff and Karissa over for dinner. I didn't get a picture of them, but we also had marsh potatoes (green mashed potatoes), monster toes/mummies (little wiener roasters with flour tortillas), and blood juice (red juice). The side pieces are the cut outs of the mouth and nose that we cooked. It was fun and it was surprising good! Doesn't look that yummy, but it wasn't bad.

SURPRISE!!

Sorry I haven't posted in forever! Life has been really busy, and these are probably going to be kinda short...sorry! :-/ So about a month ago my wonderful husband threw me a surprise birthday party. And a surprise it was, especially since it was a month early :) He had been hiding things from me all week so I knew something was up, but he led me to believe that it was a "thing" we were going to be doing down in Idaho Falls or something. I had work this Saturday, so I had to try and hurry home. Then the door was locked....hmm, somethings up right? But I was still clueless! It was really sweet of him. He invited a lot of my old roommates and a few friends from home (he had to steal their numbers out of my phone). AND his football team was there as well...and guess what gift they gave me? Silly boys...So Mike has been having fun telling everyone that I am pregnant and that we're going to have all girls with the first being named McKenzie. SOO his teammates went to DI where they found a white maternity shirt. They put "Team Wife #1" on the back (since Mike's the only one married) and signed their names. Then they proceeded to put their team name and draw their mascot on the front, topped off with McKenzie (fan in the oven) written over my belly! What crack ups! We all got a good laugh out of it, only a few of my Jerome friends thought it was for real and started freaking out, but we hopefully got that all sorted out so that rumors don't start flying. I keep telling Mike that he's becoming the boy who cried "wolf" and no one is going to believe him when its for real. But my husband will do what he wants, and I'm glad he can make me laugh :) Below is a video he got of the "surprise". Enjoy! :)

Nashville Tribute!

Last Friday, the 18th, was the mark of Mike and I being married for two whole months! CRAZY!! I can't believe how fast time has flown by, but its been great so far :) We didn't really do anything for our first month anniversary, and we probably won't be doing things on every month mark, but for this one we were able to go to the Nashville Tribute to the Prophet Joseph Smith show and it was amazing! Mike had sent me the CD while he was on his mission and I would listen to it before I'd go to clinical and practically all the time for awhile. So knowing that I loved the CD, and since he really liked it too, Mike got online and ordered us some tickets. I had to work that day, but I got off at six-thirty, came home and we quickly went to a ward function (they had free pizza so of course we had to go:) ) then off to the concert. We saw a lot of friends there too like Kyle and Sharon, and then Jeremy and his date. The performers were out selling CDs, t-shirts, and signing autographs afterwards and we went to met them...well only one really :) Mike had warned me that he is a fanatic about getting autographs, and when he wants one, he'll get it. He wasn't kidding! Mindy Gledhill, a really popular Mormon singer (especially among the missionaries), was there and even though there were A TON of people we had to push through, we got up right next to her! Yea! :) On our way home we talked about what a neat experience that was and how lucky we are to be here at BYU-I where there's lots of cool opportunities and where the spirit is so strong. Apparently they're coming out with a new CD as a tribute to missionaries that's going to be release this coming January. We're excited to see what its like! The song they sang from it was good and was a promising start :) Also Due West, a country band, play/sing in the Nashville Tribute Band and they're really awesome! I didn't know if any of you country listeners would want to check them out...but they have some good stuff from what I've checked out and apparently their song I Get That All the Time is in the top 10 for country music videos. It made me happy that a good and wholesome group was succeeding ya know? So anywho...enjoy the pictures from the show down below! :)

Mike, Mindy, and Me. Mike laughed at me because at first I wasn't too willing to let her stand in between Mike and I :) And I'm really not as short as it looks. It was just an awkward position and I had to stoop a bit.

The crew at the show-pianiost, guitarist, drumist:) (that sounds funny), guitarist/singer, two kids who sang a song, guitarist/singer, guitarist/singer, and singer.

Mindy singing, she really has an amazing voice...especially in person! :)

Just the band singing away!

Mike and I before the show started. Isn't he just so cute? :)

This last one wasn't from the show. Apparently while Mike was at work this kid from one of his classes last semester came up and asked him to be in this photo for a quick moment. It was a slow day so Mike said, "Sure!". The picture above showed up on all the student's homepage today. My husband is famous!! Haha, apparently they took a lot of pictures, and Mike remembers this one because the guy told them to be serious. Now look again at the picture...notice how every is serious? Everyone but Mike that is :) What a goofball! But that's why I love ya hon! You make me smile and I sure do love you!

State Fair!!

First of all, Congrats Heidi!! Little Thomas Benson Lloyd is a beautiful kid, looks like Jacob and David, and who would have thought you'd have another redheaded boy? :) Welcome to the family Thomas!
On to our next item of buisness...BLACKFOOT FAIR!! Can you believe that Mike has never been to a rodeo before? With this being said, you can see why there was no way we were going to pass up going to the Blackfoot State Fair Rodeo! (Marjorie and Mom...do you remember how I use to love watching the musical State Fair growing up?) AND it was a great excuse to be able to wear our cowboy boots! Mike got his on his mission and they still needed to be broken in a bit. He got blisters :( But he also said that he had a lot of fun, so I guess it was worth it :)

This is a booth that had Tinkerbell painted on it. Mike thought his nieces would love it, so he had me stand by it so he could get a picture.

I think my favorite part was watching Mike experience and enjoy his first rodeo. He was like a little kid! :) I'm pretty sure his favorite events were the bronco riding (picture above) and the bull riding (video below) events. Silly boy...he was laughing and loved when the cowboys would almost get stepped on or rammed into the wall. It was a long, but fun rodeo.

A picture of us before it all began.

Mike captured this video of a bull rider, and I have to say I thought he did a pretty good job and it was a good, exciting one to film. Hope you all enjoy! Love you all!

Wyoming

Last weekend before school started we were able to go to Wyoming to visit my brother Trent. It was a lot of fun and nice for Mike to become better aquatinted with my bro since the only interaction he had with him was at the wedding which = not very much :) We left Rexburg after I got off work, arrived there around ten thirty after having a lot of detours and me messing up the directions. Oops! But after a good nights rest my brain started working properly again and I was able to enjoy the rest of the stay. Saturday morning we went to a little beach where the boys went fishing and us girls (Mardy, Clariee, and I) stayed on the beach and played in the water. Mardy's friend was also there with her little boy and Clariee's friend, and it was a lot of fun seeing them interact.

Clairee and I upon arrival at the beach. Doesn't she look so good? :)

Little Miss Independent

They wanted to go fishing like the guys...we found them some sticks :)

Mardy and Clairee

This little girl was fearless in the water even though it was COLD! (its fed by a glacier)

Mardy had to force Clairee to get out of the water to get warm. Her little lips were so purple but she didn't want to stop!

The boys going fishing.

Trent out on a rock

Mike trying to fix his broken rod. He ended up having to share with Trent.

Wading out to the rock to catch some fish. Mike said that he got up to his chest, and because it was so cold he started hyperventilating! Apparently Trent just laughed :)

When we got back Mike wanted to shoot some of Trent's guns so they went out and shot at the targets below and some others after I went back inside.

Its a pig and a ram.

My wanna be mountain man loading his gun.

Aim, Shoot, and Success! :)

I was even able to get in on the action, lucky me! :)

I did end up hitting the target, wahoo! This certainly isn't my first time shooting though, so I had an advantage. In fact, one of my favorite stories about shooting happened my senior year of high school. I came home and found my dad out on the back porch with the rifle (or whatever type of gun he has) on his lap. I started talking to him and he "shushed" me then pointed. I looked and saw a rockchuck on our lawn and asked him if he was going to shoot it. He said "Yes!" I just laughed at him and asked how he expected to shoot with one hand. He shook his head and said, "I dunno!" So I asked if he wanted me to try to shoot it, I took the gun, aimed, and I got it! All my dad could saw was, "I don't believe it!" Haha, neither could I quite honestly! I know this isn't usually my type of thing, but I felt pretty good at succeeding! AND I was able to get two more! For those who don't like math, that means I killed three rockchucks in one day! Go Camille! :) Okay, I'm a dork I know, and just for the record, I don't like killing innocent animals, but those things are no good! They were eating our garden and digging holes in our lawn. So, I did a justice for humanity...right?

Back to Wyoming...Later, Mike and Trent got in a wrestling match. I won't say who won :)

And they played Mario Cart on the Wii. That didn't help get Mike's mind off of buying one for ourselves, but he had fun and even tied for first with Mardy's brother Gus and then won on the second go around for the tie breaker. Hahaa, and I love how Mike is the only one in this picture that is so intent and zoned into the game. Love you honey! :)

On our way home we stopped and saw a pretty part of Wyoming and took a few pictures.

We sure do love you Trent and Mardy! Thanks for letting us come to visit! We had a ton of fun!!

Life thus far

Here's a little bit of an update on our lives. When we got back from Ohio we found this on our door... A few of my friends came and decorated it! Isn't it cute? Thanks Sharon and Kassie :)

Then I started work. The first week was just basic hospital orientation where we went around and saw the different departments, learned the protocols, they gave us safety lessons, yada yada yada:) Boring stuff but at least I got paid for it! Now I only have a dysrhythmia class every Wednesday and am spending two days a week orienting out on the floor. Its gone really well so far. I like my preceptor and it's nice to have experience under my belt. All of the other new people are fresh out of the nursing program, so I'm not quite as lost as they are :) In fact Saturday my preceptor basically left me alone with a few of the patients while she hung out at the other nursing station and watched our "crazy" patient who was very disoriented. It felt good to be in control again and not have to follow anyone around. I'll be glad to be off orientation, but at least right now I get steady, guaranteed hours so no room to complain. They run the shifts differently at this hospital, from 6-6 instead of 7-7, but I think I'm going to like it alright. The only downfall is getting up earlier, but with being closer to the hospital here I'm only having to wake up about 15-20 mins earlier then down in Utah so its all good. Mike gets to be at home all alone while I'm at work, which can get pretty boring for him. He has gone and filled out applications for work, but no luck thus far. School starts on the 10th of September and I think he's kind of excited for that. Cute story about him...my first twelve hour shift out on the floor came on a Thursday and when I got home I was greeted by my handsome husband who had a surprise for me. He covered my eyes and put me in our room so he could finish preparing dinner since I got home a little early and he wasn't expecting me yet. Then he took me to Porter Park and we sat down for a delicious picnic. It was so good! And I was really excited I didn't have to cook anything :) Here are a few pictures of that.

Mike with our meal: hamburgers, beans, and he even brought me pickles even though he hates it when I eat them! Thanks honey:)

Oh yes, and he made us some fruit smoothies...very good! :)

Yesterday I woke up kinda early so I decided to make some homemade bread! Yea! I've been wanting to do it for awhile now, but I always seemed to find a reason not to do it. Truth be told I think I was just kind of nervous and thought it would be very time consuming and take all day. But it wasn't that bad! I used the wheat grinder my sisters, Angela, Jeanine, and Valerie, gave me, which I think might have woken up Mike. Oops! Sorry honey :) I was worried I wouldn't get the temperature for the water right to activate the yeast, but was happy when it "bubbled" beautifully...then while it was rising and I had to turn it every 10 minutes, I went in and cleaned in between the turnings, and later for the actual loaf rising, Mike and I went for a run. Who would have thought making bread could be so productive with all of these dovetailing activities? :) I felt very good and like a lot had been accomplished by the end of the morning. Below are the pictures of the baked loaves.

Trial and error is sometimes the only way to learn. I think they turned out okay for a first timer, but the middle was a little doughy and the tops a little more done then I would like. I'm thinking next time I'll lower the rack so the tops aren't as close to the top and turn down the oven more. It is kind of a temperamental oven and I have had to play the guessing game on how hot it should be. I have been lucky so far, but in this case I think it could go down a tad bit more.

Other then that, we have enjoyed it, especially Mike! :)

The last thing I wanted to mention is a congratulations to my sister, Marjorie, for having another little boy! Its her third and she is really excited! He arrived yesterday at around 1:00 in the morning and I think he looks a lot like his brothers and very Meservy. Congrats, welcome to the family little guy, and sure do love ya! :)