Nick and Amber

Looked Out the Window...

2012-02-12T14:47:00.000-07:00

and what did I see? (finally...)

I guess Punxsutawney Phil was right: 6 more weeks of Winter. Not gonna lie, I was a little excited to wake up to snow this morning. I've been super grateful for the mild weather we've had, of all the winters to train for and run a half marathon this one has been the best BUT we do need water in this desert.

2011 was a hard year, I found myself in some pretty deep dark emotional pits. New Year's Eve was tough: I just sat thinking "Another year gone and still no pregnancy/baby" tears where shed and Nick kicked into loving/sweet/comforting husband mode. I'm done being depressed or at least I tell myself that, I still have hard days but they're not as frequent. Running has become my therapy and I've found peace and comfort in my testimony that Heavenly Father DOES have a plan for ME although I'm still working on having faith/patience with that plan. So I've been on a domestic/cooking/crafting/running kick to keep myself busy/occupied.

I LOVE how this wreath turned out.

It was really easy and not overly time consuming

I was able to get wood blocks from my Dad for free,

the paper was on sale at Joann's and the vinyl letters cost me $3

A little paint, mod podge and glitter:

I've been finding and trying out A LOT of new recipes, Nick has been a wonderful dinner guinea pig. I need to do better at taking pictures and posting the successful recipes I've found

Good thing I've taken up running as a hobby :)

Who Me?

2012-02-06T20:57:00.000-07:00

Nick totally denies this but during college football, basketball and the NBA season this is what I fell like sometimes.....

Favorite sports season?

Baseball- cause Nick doesn't watch it :)

2012 St George Half Marathon

2012-01-22T14:32:00.000-07:00

9 Months ago I just wanted to run a 5K, that's all....no biggie. If you would have told me I would run 13.1 miles I would have thought you were crazy. Friday we drove down with my friend Connie and her husband, we went to Olive Garden for dinner and carb'd it up (ok, I'll be honest I was carb loading the entire week). The hotel we stayed at was literally right next to the Dixie Center (which was where the race started and finished) SO NICE! Saturday morning we woke up to rain- serious?! this has been the driest winter Utah has seen and on race day it's raining?! Fortunately the temp was in the upper 40's so it wasn't too cold.

Look at that smile, obviously I have no idea what I'm about to do

Tina (another friend from work) also came down for the race

Tina, Connie, Me and Jenny trying to stay warm in the rain

waiting for the half to start

So to the best of my knowledge running a half marathon is kinda what I imagine labor would be like (disclaimer: having not given birth to a child I don't claim to actually KNOW and I think childbirth has got to be way harder than running). You've been waiting/training for months getting ready for the big day. Your emotions range from excitement/fear/nervous/anxiety, you've mentally pumped yourself up. The race starts and you're feeling good--"I can totally do this" about half way point you're thinking "What in the H was I thinking?!" It hurts, you want to quit but you just can't, somewhere deep down you have to dig and find that last ounce of strength to keep pushing. Finally you reach 10 and you're so close, just a little bit further. You finally cross that finish line and you are overwhelmed with emotions you want to cry/laugh/die... You think to yourself, I am NEVER doing this again (of coarse we all know that after the pain subsides you're no longer sore and you've forgotten about that pain you're totally going to do this again) and yes, I'm already thinking about running the Salt Lake half in April :)

0.1 to go! (we're behind the blue lady)

There is no way I could have done this without Connie, she was the BEST! She stayed with me the entire way, endured listening to me whine and cry (miles 8-10) and kept me going.

FINISHED my FIRST HALF MARATHON!!

TIME 2:12:56

best orange slices and chocolate milk of my life!

We are SOAKING WET! Proof that running does make you crazy/goofy :)

My awesome hansom cheerleader

He didn't run this one with me BUT he's promised he will run a half with me this summer :)

I survived but my toe didn't- sad

The rain we ran in turned into snow on the drive home YIKES! We made it home safe but the weather added another hour to our drive.

Domestic-ness

2011-12-31T09:31:00.000-07:00

For Christmas this year I got this beauty:

I've been wanting one for years. Nick went in with my Mom and got it for me and I'm in L.O.V.E I have been in the kitchen non-stop (too bad I'm not barefoot and pregnant).

My first attempt (EVER) at baking bread, my Mom's been baking bread for years but I was never interested in learning how (just eating it-d'oh!) After a few phone calls to my Mom during the process, I was happy (and so was Nick) with the end result, nothing like fresh warm bread with butter/honey or homemade jam- YUMMY! (Wheat Bread Recipe)

Yesterday was my sister's birthday and I made her RED VELVET CUPCAKES with cream cheese frosting

I've tried homemade cupcakes before but they've never turned out quite right, I don't know if I've been over mixing (using a hand mixer-bah!) or if it's because we live at a high altitude. Either way these cupcakes turned out so moist and delicious (Red Velvet Cupcake Recipe) I melted some red chocolate in a piping bag and made little hearts (because I heart her!)

Happy Birthday Chrissy!

One last thing:

ONLY 3 WEEKS til my HALF MARATHON!!

Good thing I have something to train for right now with all this baking going on. Ran 9 miles yesterday and the temp was in the 40s....in December....and I loved every minute of it :)

Oh So Sweet

2011-12-24T08:03:00.000-07:00

I remember growing up and walking in from the cold to a warm kitchen full of delicious treats and baked goods. It's no secret my family loves to cook/bake; my grandma did it, my mom does it, I even have a sister in culinary school. On Christmas Eve/Eve/Eve I spent the day at my Mom's house baking Christmas goodies. Spending the day with my Mom and sisters in the kitchen, dancing to Christmas music and laughing- now it feels like Christmas.

We made gingerbread cookies (they're soft and chewy not hard/crunchy like traditional cookies), we made chocolate dipped pretzels, white chocolate popcorn, candied nuts, homemade caramel and fudge. We made Oreo balls (mint and regular) in white chocolate, we took peanut butter cookies and made balls dipped in milk chocolate- YUMMY! I should have taken a picture of the kitchen table covered in sweets.
Nick came over after work and decorated a few cookies:

Yes, that is a basket-bell, a football, the star from Mario, a devil and a jack-o-lantern tree and a gingerbread man wearing......not much- HAHA!
OH! and I just recently discovered PINTEREST -HOLLA! Now I know what everyone is talking about. I spent an entire morning looking at DIY crafts, recipes, home decor...... I'm even playing with the idea of starting a cooking/baking blog and I've been totally inspired to get my craft on :)

Endure to the End

2011-12-16T14:48:00.001-07:00

That phrase can mean a lot of different things to different people. It might mean endure to the end of the semester, my long run, my trials...... In 2 Nephi 31:20 we're told "...Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life."
I had the opportunity to visit teach an amazing woman; Sister Edna {L} lived in our ward and was 93 years young! She was full of life and love and I was so blessed to be her visiting teacher. In Sept Edna had heart attack and requested that no intervention be done and she was made DNR. She was not scared of death and joyfully looked forward to being reunited with her husband. She peacefully passed away surrounded by her family.
Flash forward to this past Sunday when we had tithing settlement. Our Bishop shared with us that 2 weeks after Sister {L}'s death he received this in the mail:

Even when though she was in the hospital dying, she still had her daughter mail her tithing. A true example of an individual Enduring to the End

So Much to be Thankful for...

2011-11-27T10:45:00.001-07:00

I didn't have to work this Thanksgiving and it was so nice to have a 4 day weekend to spend with family. Even though this has been a hard year, it has also been filled with many blessings. I am so thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ, His atonement and the restored Gospel, it has brought peace and comfort and been the light during my dark times. Very close second is my best friend, my eternal companion and my #1 support, my WONDERFUL AMAZING husband. I am so grateful for family and good friends. I have had a few friends come into my life this year that have been heaven sent (you know who you are). We have been blessed to have good health, this year the Dr told Nick he was officially cancer free and considered cured-this is a HUGE milestone. The list goes on and on, I feel very humble and grateful.

We ran a 4 mile turkey trot Thursday morning (thankful for the nice weather). I was able to keep a good pace (9:30 mile) and ran it in 38:08. Nick finished in 36:14 and his sister Lisa ran it in 27:12 !! It was my family's turn for Thanksgiving dinner this year, we had my cousins Austin and Ethan (at BYU-I) and Chelsey and Kylie (at BYU) all siblings from Chicago join us. There was plenty of yummy food

Friday Nick and I put up our Christmas tree and decorations (YAY!!) Saturday the Whiting family went out to dinner at the Lion House and then looked at the lights on Temple Square (again thankful for the nice weather)

Let the Holidays BEGIN!

2011-11-19T12:59:00.000-07:00

Last night we kicked off the holiday season at the Shops at the Riverwoods. They turned on their Christmas lights (which are quite impressive), Santa was there, as well as free cookies and carriage rides. Jon Schmidt performed a mini concert (he is amazing!) just as he was finishing his last song it began to snow, the first snow of the season! They couldn't have timed that any better you really felt the magic of Christmas :)

Afterwards we drove to the Thanksgiving Point theater to see...

My sisters and Nick's youngest sister came, along with my BFF Julie. Nick was one of only 4 guys in the entire theater (he's been watching football all day today to make up for loosing his "man card") If you're a twilight fan, you'll love the movie. This book was my least favorite of the series but they did a pretty good job translating it onto the big screen. It is a little steamy and kinda werid (demon vampire baby) but then again so was the book. I will admit I am a bit of a nerd (ok a HUGE nerd but a closet nerd) I love Harry Potter too (saw that on opening day) still think HP 7.2 was better that BD p1........don't judge me :)

Pumpkin Carving

2011-11-02T13:29:00.000-06:00

I know Halloween is over but I have one last post before we move onto the next holiday (CHRISTMAS!!) ok ok Thanksgiving first. Nick won't let me put up any Christmas decorations until Nov 25th. Sunday night we went to my parents house and carved pumpkins. It's been a couple years since Nick and I carved pumpkins, I think the last time we were dating.

We decided to go old school and carve traditional

Jack-o-Lantern faces

Highway to Hale

2011-10-30T11:50:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we ran the HIGHWAY TO HALE, a fundraising race for the Hale Center Theater in Orem. I had to take a 6 week break from running the last half of summer due to a leg injury, once that recovered I was out hitting the pavement running with my friend Connie, Nick or even going by myself. One of the girls I work with told me about this race and I made a goal to run the 10k (6.2 miles!)

Waiting for the gun to fire

Cute Jana and her hubby dressed up like M&Ms

Since it was a Halloween race, costumes were encouraged.

I had a few good ideas for us:

Nick could be a hot dog and I could be a bottle of mustard

Nick a banana and I would be a monkey

My personal favorite: bacon and eggs

Needless to say, I couldn't convince Nick into dressing up. He did have a good point, running 6 miles in a costume would get annoying (and he was concerned about chaffing). And what would people think seeing a 6'4" banana or hot dog running through the streets of Orem

The first 3 miles I ran in about 28 minutes but with any run what goes down must come up AND the last 2 miles were all up hill (some parts were even really steep) Around mile 4 I was really wishing we had just done the 5k. Nick was (as always) patient and a good support and we finished the race. Not sure what our official times are but Nick finished in 1:00 and I was just behind him 1:02 My parents were at the finish line and it was nice to have their support. Overall, it was fun to feel that sense of accomplishment and it's motivated me to keep running so I can improve my time.

Go Cougars!

2011-10-09T14:11:00.000-06:00

Last night we went to BYU's homecoming football game vs San Jose St. When we bought the tickets the time was still TBA, I was thinking that since it was a Saturday game it would be at 2:00 maybe 4:00 at the latest, nope it didn't start until 8:15! AND of course this was the week that the Fall weather decided to turn cold and wet. Fortunately the weather was dry for the game but it was still 45 degrees BRRRRRRR! I bundled up in lots and lots of layers (running spandex under my jeans, 3 shirts, a sweatshirt AND a jacket)

Hot Chocolate so I could endure the second half

I should get some sort of wife brownie points for sitting through the ENTIRE game in the COLD and not complaining :) We both had a really fun time and BYU played a good game (finally!)

Final score BYU 29 San Jose St 16

GO COUGARS!

Mr Domestic

2011-09-26T09:54:00.000-06:00

Saturday I came home from work to find the dishes done, kitchen cleaned, house dusted and vacuumed and the bathroom clean. Then Sunday morning Nick decided to bake cookies since we don't have church until 2:00! ( I'm very much looking forward to 9:00 church next year)

I think the apron is a nice touch

yummy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies! What a great way to welcome FALL!

Whting Family Camp Out

2011-08-27T12:59:00.000-06:00

Last weekend Nick's family went camping, it's was 3 days and 2 nights of good ol fashion outdoor fun! We camped on some private property (with permission of coarse) above Schofield, it was a beautiful area in the mountains.

Off to a great start! Darren's camping trailer got a flat tire

(fortunately this was the worst thing that happened the entire trip)

RIP little tire

Breakfast of Champions

Darren enjoying the SPORT-BRELLA

it's not JUST a chair!

Darren and Hyrum riding dirt bikes

Jason and Susie

Hyrum, Grandpa and Nick playing ball

Lacee and Sami

first time EVER shooting a gun (ok it was just a pellet gun)

Grandpa caught a chipmunk!

Cute little Hugh

Oh Susie....... :)

Dutch Oven Cobbler

Happy Birthday Uncle Jason!

in 9 months.....

2011-08-08T09:11:00.000-06:00

Nick will graduate in April and if I don't have a

then in May 2012 we're going to

DISNEY WORLD &

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

and we might even hop on one of these

If we're going to fly to Florida we might as well see and do A LOT!

I'm always planning our next vacation and this one will be EPIC. I have 9 months to plan and save (cause it's gonna be mega $$) but I'm sooooooo excited :)

Summer Loving

2011-07-28T12:08:00.000-06:00

WHEW July has been a BUSY month and I can't believe it's still not over! Nick turned 33 this year! For his birthday he said he wanted pizza for dinner, so I took him to Malawi's pizza in Provo. His family was waiting there to surprise him

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE NICK!

Last Saturday we went to the 2011 TASTE OF THE VALLEY It was at the Shops at the Riverwoods, 40+ vendors/ restaurants from around Utah Valley with one purpose: TO FEED US! There was so much delicious food, we ate til our tummy's were happily full, defiantly $10 well spent

My parents and sister came

It was HOT that day so we went inside Williams Sonoma since it was cool and because it's one of my favorite stores. They have a HOT PINK kitchen aid stand mixer that I feel in love with, I so want one! We also found Nick a "MANs" apron- hehe :)

Monday for Pioneer Day we decided to enjoy the summer weather (finally!) and become one with mother nature. We hiked up to Silver Lake in AF canyon

With all the wet weather we've been having, the small mountain streams have turned into raging rivers which made for an adventurous hike

It was just a little over 2 miles one way and a good hike (harder than Stewart falls but easier than hiking Timp) It was BEAU-ti-FUL and so quiet and peaceful. I couldn't believe home much snow was still there considering it was JULY 25!

YAY for Mother Nature!

Happy Birthday to....

2011-07-05T22:46:00.001-06:00

amber, nick and AMERICA!!

June 29th was my GOLDEN BIRTHDAY I turned 29- EEK! Nick spoiled me BIG TIME this year, he's such a wonderful husband! Let's just say it's been a little rough turning 29 and struggling with not being pregnant/ having a baby. I just want a baby before I'm 30! On Wed I went to the Spa at Sundance (found a super good deal on CITYDEALS) got a 60min massage and a mani/pedi- it was FABULOUS! On Friday, Nick surprised me and took me up to Park City. We ate dinner at this nice little restaurant in Midway. The food was really good, best halibut I've ever had in Utah.

Didn't need a refill on that diet coke

SURPRISE! we stayed at the Stein Eriksen Lodge

in Deer Valley (it's the only 5 star 5 diamond hotel in UT)

and it was AMAZING!

Most comfortable bed we've ever slept in

The jetted tub was fantastic! And it was HUGE!

When we finally get into a house (in 10 years)

I want one of these!

Of coarse I found the spa-hehe!
but had to pass it was mucho $$

Private Deck+ beautiful summer evening+

big fluffy robe+birthday cupcake+ hot hubby=

BEST BIRTHDAY EVER

We spent the day in Park City and drove back to Provo in time to go to

STADIUM OF FIRE!

Chrissy and Amy (my sisters)

Darren and Lisa (Nick's sister and bro-in-law)

David Archuleta!

Brad Paisley was awesome!

Ran the 5k freedom run Monday AM with Connie, we finally got to run a race together! It was a lot of fun, the biggest race I've ever done, there where thousands of runners! Unfortunately not running for 3 weeks because of my leg (which still hurts-LAME!) killed me and this was not my best run. Connie was GREAT support as I walked (yes I'm ashamed to say I walked) the last bit Our time was less than stellar (31:40-UGH!) but I can't be too disappointed since I was out of shape. Now I really need to let my leg heal 100% so I can train for a half marathon!

My family had a big ol BBQ that afternoon for the holiday and to celebrate our birthdays (Nick's birthday is July 6th). My Dad smoked some ribs, we also had dutch oven potatoes, homemade baked beans, fruit salad- Nick was a happy boy!

My brother Jeffery and Nick creating their firework bomb. Some boys never grow out of playing with fire, leave it up to them to create a weapon of mass destruction! Seriously, there was a 5 foot ball of flame!

Better than sex cake-ice cream version!

When you live in a house full of girls a V.S. bag doubles as a gift bag-haha! There wasn't anything in there that really was from V.S. we got a bunch of gift cards to dinner, movies and that new Provo Beach resort. My sister Chrissy got me a set of frosting decorating tips, I'm super excited to try them out. I got Nick new computer speakers.

My parents neighbors must have spend a couple hundred dollars on fireworks (the now legal aerial ones and defiantly several illegal ones) because we had stadium of fire part II Nick said it was the best neighborhood firework show he's ever seen. We played with sparklers and homemade bombs :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!

live.survive.thrive.

2011-06-27T11:10:00.000-06:00

I think I'm finally to the point that I can call myself a "REAL RUNNER" I've been running with my good friend Connie for the last few months and she has whipped me into shape. I went from barely making it to 3 miles to running 7....uphill....and ENJOYING IT!

seeing a hill and thinking "I can totally run up that"-CHECK

running so much I have blisters on top of blisters- CHECK

bleeding in your shoe from above mentioned blisters popping-CHECK

running too much too soon causing injury-CHECK

The last one not so excited about. About 3 weeks ago I was running and after 5 miles my leg started to hurt {BAD} I had to limp home the last mile. I had earned myself a nasty shin splint and HOLY COW it hurts! Bring on the ice and ibuprofen! I was really worried cause I had already signed up for a 5k and I could barely walk let alone run! So I rested my leg best I could (meaning no running but I still had to work 12 hour days) and prayed really hard.

This last Saturday was THE BIG DAY, it was the AF CANYON 5k to raise money to support/help fight cancer. All the money raised would help those who couldn't afford to pay for cancer treatments.

My hot athletic trainer :) taped my leg before the race

Nick had a special blue running bib that said

SURVIVOR I was so proud

See that hill? Ya, we totally conquered it!

This was what I had been training for:

It was a grueling mile #2

It was the downhill that killed me, my leg started to hurt. I pushed through the pain as best I could but the last 200 yards it was getting to be too much and I had to slow down.

We finished with a time of 29:13 our best time yet! Not bad considering I was running on a injured leg (and did you see that hill?!) Nick was the first cancer survivor to cross the finish line!

We had some AWESOME and SUPER CUTE support to cheer us on at the finish line (2 of Nick's nephews). Nick's uncle ran the half marathon and came in 2nd place for his age group

WAY TO GO UNCLE KELLY!

Kelly told us that before the half started they shared stories from cancer survivors and they told Nick Whiting's story! (I had submitted his story when I was registering us for the race)

As soon as we finished and stopped running my leg was KILLING ME and I could barely walk again. Thank goodness for ibuprofen! I'm resting up and praying it will recover, I really want to run on the 4th of July. I was hoping to run the 10k but I don't think my leg will let me so I might just do the 5k.

2011-06-14T12:08:00.000-06:00

Sometimes when we are faced with some of our most difficult trails, the Lord sends angels to lift us up, give us hope, a sympathetic ear that will listen and a shoulder to cry on, someone to help us realize that we're not alone. Recently, several of those angels in the forms of good friends and family have come into my life. This morning I came back from my day at the temple and in an effort to try to stay awake I just happen to check my facebook and saw that one of my new friends shared a link to this article:

http://www.ldsliving.com/story/64783-infertility-when-children-dont-come-easily

Sometimes it's hard for me to say what I'm thinking or share what I'm feeling, and I get the feeling that a lot of my fertile family and friends don't know what to say to me. It's the GIANT baby elephant in the room. Fertile or infertile, married or single- read it and educate yourself, 15% of couples struggle with infertility.

Class of 2011

2011-06-12T12:22:00.001-06:00

2 weeks ago Nick's youngest sister Lacee graduated from American Heritage High School (it's a private school in AF- right across the street from the MntTimp Temple) It was a nice ceremony, they even had Elder Dallin H. Oaks speak. It was a little long (for only having 25 kids graduate, it was still 2 hours!) but ALL graduations are long I guess and that's what you do for family. We are so proud of Lacee and super excited for what lies ahead for her- REAL LIFE! :)

FunkyFreshSrChoir

2011-05-26T12:01:00.000-06:00

I'll admit it I'm a GLEEK! Glee has become a guilty pleasure

I love the music anything from Broadway and classic musicals to

Bruno Mars, Ke$ha and Lady Gaga

I also love old people (they keep me working!)

BUT I do not think Glee and senior citizens should mix

exhibit A:

I personally think they saved the best song for last.

Could you even watch the entire thing? It's almost painful to watch

And just in case you where wondering,

YES they are available for your next party

Race For Red

2011-05-23T10:59:00.002-06:00

This is a 5k sponsored by the heart services at the hospital to raise heart health awareness and it was this last Saturday. It was my goal this year (for work and personally) to run it. I also talked some of my family into doing it with me (part of my work goal was to increase participation)

I've been running with my good friend Connie (who is a "real" runner and trying to make me a "real" runner-haha) for the last month-ish. I've never run before and this was my first 5k ever. I didn't do as well as I had hoped (my goal was to do it around 28 minutes) my official time was 29:55 I was super nervous before the race even started and psyched myself out (running is so much a mental game). Connie had to work so she didn't get to run it but Nick and my sis-in-law Lisa (who is also a runner- she ran a half marathon pregnant with her 4th) ran with me and they were awesome support.

Don't look too closely at this pic, I look awful running!

Notice Nick and Lisa look so happy

(I looked like I was in some sort of horrible pain)

Emily was just a little bit behind us

Emily, Me, Nick and Lisa

Here come Chrissy and Marie

Nick, Me, Emily, Maire and Chrissy

Group pic of the cardiac service line

MDs, PAs, RNs, PCTs, HUCs, RTs
I'm in there somewhere :)

YAY! we did it!

My parents and Nick's parents were at the finish line to cheer us on. It was a lot of fun to have my family and work family there. I even caught the running bug, I've already signed Nick and I up for another race in June, I have a goal to meet!

An Eternal Perspective

2011-05-14T17:40:00.001-06:00

My sis-in-law sent me an email with a link to this blog. I've never meet or even heard of this family until 3 days ago. I don't normally do this but their story touched me deeply maybe because I'm all sensitive to the whole trails and faith testing stuff right now, this is in no way related to any of the trials that we are facing currently but does help me to realize the big picture and what is truly important. It is a story of faith, courage and a true eternal perspective. You have (no NEED) to read it! WARNING: have a box of tissues ready

www.dennyandwendy.blogspot.com

Vegas Cont.

2011-05-07T12:31:00.000-06:00

So I just realized that these posts are going to be out of order.....sorry

Las Vegas cont.

We saw the LION KING and it was AMAZING!

From the powerful opening scene with the cast singing

"The Circle of Life" to the curtain closing at the end we both

had goosebumps! Totally, totally recommend it and it was VERY clean

(especially for Vegas)

We spent some time poolside soaking up some vitamin D. It's been 9 months since we've had any sunshine therefore we did not take pictures of our chubby white bodies :)

Walked around the Las Vegas Temple

So apparently Marie Osmond got married here the same day, we didn't know until we were watching TV and it was all over the news. We missed them by a few hours!

Visited Venice

Nick surprised me and agreed to see another show:

It was INCREDIBLE! So this is the THIRD time I've seen it but I still LOVE it! Nick said he really enjoyed it too--he even said he would pay to see it again! We purchased cheap tickets that were in the back and off to the side. When we walked in the lady asked us if we wanted to sit closer since it wasn't a sold out show. We ended up sitting in the middle, 12 rows from the front! The chandler was right above us and looked like it was going to fall on top of us.

Saw Rome in a day

Frozen Hot Chocolate from Serendipity since we can't go to NY we'll try it in Vegas! It was super yummy but kinda pricey, I need to figure out how to make it at home

Driving home after some much needed R&R

Viva Las Vegas!

2011-05-07T12:10:00.001-06:00

I was sick of all the cold snowy weather we've been having, I was getting burned out at work and this close to looking for a new RN job. Nick worked his buns off this semester BTW he got a 3.85 GPA and was awarded an academic scholarship for next Fall/Spring semester (half tuition!) We both needed a vacation but didn't have a lot of time in between Spring and Summer semester so nothing big this year (like Disneyland AND Hawaii) we decided to drive down
to Las Vegas for a few days.
What does one do in Las Vegas when they don't drink or gamble? I'll tell you:

We visited the Shark Exhibit at Mandalay Bay

The gardens at the Bellagio

Got a drink of water

Looked at high priced stores

Yes, we did go inside

Yes, I did try on/look at jewelry

but our credit card only has a $3000 limit

*sigh* someday......

Coca Cola world it's really overrated

but that's where you go when you're a Mormon visiting Vegas

He's a SURVIVOR!

2011-04-25T14:27:00.001-06:00

We went to see Nick's Oncologist today for his 5 year follow-up appointment. Dr Clark gave Nick a clean bill of health and declared him cured

Nick is officially

CANCER FREE!!

BEST. NEWS. EVER.

I looked out the window...

2011-04-25T14:01:00.001-06:00

and what did I see?

SPRING has finally arrived!

I have welcomed the warm(er) weather with open arms

This is how I spent my Easter weekend:

I got to work Saturday and Sunday

We did have an AMAZING potluck lunch on Sunday

Honeybaked ham, funeral potatoes, pasta salad, jello salad,

green salad, rolls and I made a super yummy

STRAWBERRY-LEMON TRIFLE

it was DELICIOUS! Here is the link for the recipe:

http://www.recipegirl.com/2010/04/01/layered-strawberry-trifle-celebrating-the-debut-of-spring/

This is how Nick spent his weekend

Poor guy had a math final this morning at 7 AM- YUCK!

He did have some candy to munch on over the weekend though

I made him an Easter basket.

They're basketball Easter eggs!

You know you're a nurse if...

2011-04-07T17:15:00.000-06:00

Hehe some of these are sad but oh so very true
You know you're a nurse if...

You believe every patient needs TLC: Thorazine, Lorazepam and Compazine.
You would like to meet the inventor of the call light in a dark alley one night.
You believe not all patients are annoying ... some are unconscious.
Your sense of humor seems to get more "warped" each year.
You know the phone numbers of every late night food delivery place in town by heart.
You can only tell time with a 24 hour clock.
Almost everything can seem humorous ... eventually.
When asked, "What color is the patient's diarrhea?", you show them your shoes.
Every time you walk, you make a rattling noise because of all the scissors and clamps in your pockets.
You can tell the pharmacist more about the medicines he is dispensing than he can.
You carry "spare" meds in your pocket rather than wait for pharmacy to deliver.
You check the caller ID when the phone rings on your day off to see if someone from the hospital is trying to call to ask you to work.
You've been telling stories in a restaurant and had someone at another table throw up.
You notice that you use more four letter words now than before you became a nurse.
Every time someone asks you for a pen, you can find at least three of them on you.
You can intubate your friends at parties.
You don't get excited about blood loss ... unless it's your own.
You live by the motto, "To be right is only half the battle, to convince the physician is more difficult."
You've told a confused patient your name was that of your coworker and to HOLLER if they need help.
Eating microwave popcorn out a clean bedpan is perfectly natural.
Your bladder can expand to the same size as a Winnebago's water tank.
When checking the level of orientation of a patient, you aren't sure of the answer.
You find yourself checking out other customer's arm veins in grocery waiting lines.
You avoid unhealthy looking shoppers in the mall for fear that they'll drop near you and you'll have to do CPR on your day off.
You've sworn you're going to have "NO CODE" tattooed on your chest.

How SWEET it is!

2011-03-22T12:26:00.001-06:00

This past weekend was like Christmas+Birthday+Christmas for Nick

WHY?.....

because of this kid

and BYU making it into the SWEET 16!

It's JIMMER-MANIA

at the Whiting house.

Last week was Spring Break the start of MARCH MADNESS and we celebrated our anniversary (Nick assures me that is what really made this weekend the best ever.......right)

Nick played a little ball back in his younger years.

Yep, that's my stud muffin. After his mission he played ball for CEU and then was recruited to play for Cal State. Needless to say, Nick is a bit of a college basketball fan and it's rubbing off on me :) I even filled out a bracket this year, the first time in my entire life. The madness is in full force at our house. The question:

Can BYU pull off a win against Florida?

and

Who's bracket will emerge victorious?

Stay tuned....

2 years down and an ETERNITY to GO!

2011-03-15T18:54:00.000-06:00

MARCH 14 2009

Nick is my best friend and the perfect husband for me. I'm so incredibly grateful for our eternal marriage and the blessing that it has been in my life. Together we've laughed and cried. We have been trying to get pregnant for a while and enduring this trial has been really really really hard. Infertility is not something we ever saw coming in our "happily ever after". Nick has been my support and strength as I have struggled with this trial, his testimony and faith gives me peace and hope. I have realized how much Nick and I are meant for each other. Even though I don't understand why Heavenly Father has given me this burden, I am grateful that He has given me someone to help me carry it. I'm also grateful for the "tender mercies" the Lord has put in my path that have helped me get through those tough days.
Nick, I love you and I know that together we can get through ANYTHING!

High Rollers

2011-03-04T14:30:00.000-07:00

Nick's sister invited us to the Jazz game last night. Her in-laws have AWESOME season tickets. We got to sit court side for the entire game-SWEET! My Mom and sister kept texting me that they could see us on TV. It was a really good game and we had a blast, sadly though the Jazz lost by 2 :( 7 game loosing streak AT HOME! C'MON!

$1800 for a game-pish

We roll like that :)

We had a semi-obstructed view

Nick got to hold the ball during one of the time outs

then had to give it back to Andrei Kirilenko

See that big gash over his eye?

city league basketball game got a little intense the night before

Good thing he married a nurse :)

Denver's Bird man, he a freak of nature

It's been a less than stellar year for Utah sports. Nick's been having a rough time, he was super grumpy Tuesday night when he found out Brandon Davies got kicked off BYU's basketball team. Our first born will no longer be name Deron but Jimmer is in the running :)

Cupcakes by Cupid

2011-02-14T17:03:00.001-07:00

I had to work all weekend and yesterday wasn't the best day, it was a pretty crappy day-literally.
2 different patients both max assist + kayexalate= a very poopy day. If you don't know what kayexalate is consider yourself very lucky.

You might be thinking at this point "Wow! What a great Valentine's Day post, I feel all warm and fuzzy inside." Don't worry I'm getting to the warm fuzzy part.

I told Nick not to spend any money for V-day this year. He's not bringing home any $$ from his internship (yet) and our anniversary is next month. Well, bless his sweet heart, he still really wanted to do something for me. I came home from work last night to find this:

Nick made (from scratch) chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting! Like a good husband he has been watching waaaay too much food network with me and knows that I love the show cupcake wars. Like many others, I have jumped on the cupcake bandwagon- Who doesn't LOVE a cupcake?! These cupcakes were DELICIOUS and choice above all other cupcakes :)
AND he had the kitchen all cleaned up (any other ladies out there ever had to clean up after their husband cook?) He printed flowers off the computer (since I wouldn't let him buy any) and made me a card:

Ok, this is the warm fuzzy part where you say awwwe

I married a good man. I feel so so blessed to have him as my husband and I love him so so much! Exactly one month till our anniversary-- 2 years down and an eternity to go!

Klondike Derby

2011-01-28T10:59:00.001-07:00

Nick got a new calling in our ward end of December, he is now the 1st counselor in the Young Mens Presidency. Our ward only has 4 young men (3 deacons and 1 teacher), they're good kids and Nick has enjoyed his calling so far (pizza parties and laser tag-SWEET!) Last weekend was the stake Klondike derby. Camping in the snow and winter survival, sounds too cold for me. Young Women never did anything like this, thank goodness! Fortunately it wasn't TOO cold, no one got frost bite and the boys had a great time. Nick was more than ready to come home by the end, he's not really into the outdoors as much as when he was younger, he's more into sports now. But he did admit to having a good time. I laugh when I think of scout camp coming up this summer, Nick just groans :)

While the boys where out freezing their buns off, I had my sisters and sis-in-law over for a slumber party. We ate pizza and candy watched a movie and stayed up late. Poor Jamie got a upset stomach and decided to throw up- awesome. Never let a 9 year old go nuts eating junk food- lesson learned. Other than that everyone had a good time. Of course when Nick came home with all his gear our house had major campfire stink! This is one of those time a garage and backyard would be nice. Right away I made Nick strip down trow his clothes straight into the wash and made him take a shower! Only problem, his ski jacket STILL STINKS! It's aired out for a couple days and I've washed it twice now! I'm kinda mad, cause that was a new nice ($$) jacket and hope it's not ruined. Any suggestions?

Laugh So You Don't Cry

2011-01-11T17:34:00.000-07:00

This is how my day went:

Woke up at 3:45 AM, got ready and left for the temple at 4:35 (it's Tuesday, my temple day). Arrived at the temple 4:50ish, greeted by the sweet elderly gentleman at the recommend desk. Scanned recommend--"Sorry but this recommend isn't valid" ME: "huh?" "It says here this recommend isn't valid"

My recommend expires this month and I though I would be on the ball and renewed it this past Sunday before the month was over. I had left my new recommend in my scriptures, my old recommend still in my temple bag. Apparently, as soon as you are issued a new recommend your old recommend is automatically invalid AND I didn't know this.

AWESOME, so what do I do now? Of course they can't let me in with an invalid recommend, and it's now 5:00 in the morning and of course the temple recorder isn't there yet to verify my recommend. Sooo my only option is to drive back home and get my new VALID recommend. As I'm driving, I'm praying "Please don't let me crash, or die, or get a ticket" I wonder if it's ok to pray not to get caught while breaking the law. Grab my recommend and rush back to the temple, get to the desk and it's Nick's recommend (ok that part isn't true, that would have made for a REALLY good story). I did make it back to the temple without crashing or dying or getting pulled over which is a miracle-I was driving pretty fast in the construction zone. As I was frantically driving home, fighting back the tears, this quote came into my head.

"The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it.

You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh.

Crying gives me a headache. If we can't laugh at life,

we are in big trouble."

It's from Sister Marjorie Hinckley and one of my favorites. It really was a tender mercy, I just had to laugh at my predicament and express my gratitude that out of all the possible scenarios this wasn't that bad. I was only a little late for my shift and surprisingly still had a little bit of the spirit with me, the rest of my day went smoothly. I feel so blessed to have a Heavenly Father who loves me, is aware of me and has a sense of humor.

Welcome to a New Year!

2011-01-01T11:05:00.000-07:00

01-01-11

twenty-ELEVEN!!!

We rang in the new year a little early last night since we were both

asleep by 11:00 and woke up early to this wonderful weather forecast

Yup, that's right 3 degrees in Provo people!

Before we get too much into 2011,

here's a little recap of how we ended 2010

Nick finished the fall semester with a 4.0 GPA YA BABY!!

BYU graduate school has been our #1 choice but after the lovely

weather we've been having UofA in ARIZONA is looking nice and warm

Nick also got hired for an internship in Orem-YAY! BUT it's not a paid

internship (yet) so 2011 is going to mean we gotta start to budget (eek!)

In Sept I started serving at the Mount Timpanogos Temple

as an Ordinance Worker. A major perk of working as an RN

is I only work 3 days a week soooooo what better way to spend one of

my days off then to serve in the Temple. I work every Tuesday morning

from 0500-1100. Words cannot describe what an amazing experience

and blessing this has been. Even though it is SUPER early, it's the

highlightof my week. I took this picture earlier this week

I wish I had taken a picture the Tuesday before Christmas when we

had that huge snow storm, everything was black and white and the

Temple looked incredible

2010 was a great year and we're looking forward to whatever

comes our way in 2011!

In Memory Of

2010-12-17T08:32:00.000-07:00

Willie Ray Blocker

Feb 21 1920- Dec 9 2010

My Grandparents were two of the most influential people in my life.

I'm so grateful for the blessing of Eternal Families.

I know he has been reunited with his eternal sweetheart

(Grandma died Dec 2007)

and someday we will see both of them again

Christmas Devotional

2010-12-06T17:09:00.001-07:00

Last night we were able to go to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. This was the first time I've ever been to the devotional (BIG HUGE THANKS to Connie for sharing some of her tickets!) I loved listening to the MoTab choir and orchestra and as always loved listening to our Prophet and First Presidency. For those who watched/attended, didn't you love President Uchtdorf's talk and reference to "How the Grinch Stole Christmas?"

I realized that Nick and I have never seen the lights on Temple Square together and this is our THIRD Christmas together! I don't know how you get through Mormon dating/courtship without visiting Temple Square- isn't it some sort of requirement?! So afterwards we walked around Temple Square, of course this was probably the worst night to do that because everyone else had the same idea so it was PACKED! Surprisingly the weather was warm which caused this odd fog in the SL valley but made for really cool pictures of the temple.

Yay for the Demke girls!

*Que music As Sister's in Zion

It's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS!

2010-11-28T22:32:00.000-07:00

It's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS around the Whiting house. Yesterday we put up our Christmas decorations

I know everyone has this Nativity set but

it's by far my favorite

We got this when we went to Disneyland earlier this year

Not the best picture but it's our little Christmas tree

Someone got his Christmas present a little early:

The new Windows 7 phone

and this is what he's been doing ALL weekend

Ok, so this is what we've both been doing all weekend since I got one

too I wasn't about to let him have all the fun by himself! We've been holding off on joining the smart phone club, we thought it was too expensive and Nick being the computer guy he is was anti-apple (so no iphone for us!) But then they came out with the windows phone and that caught Nick's attention. After a little research we found out it would only add $15 to our monthly bill and we got a great deal on the price of the phones from Costco. I have to say that this phone is totally a luxury and a want not a need but I also have to say that IT'S TOTALLY AWESOME!

You say Goodbye and I say Hello!

2010-11-23T16:06:00.000-07:00

Please pardon my lack of posting but the last few weeks have been

busy because we moved into a new place. As far as moving goes, it

really wasn't too bad- we had lots of help from family and the weather

stayed dry (whew!) We literally moved less than a block and stayed

in the same ward It's so close Uncle Rico could through a football

from our old place to our new place-haha

Why the move?

1. It's cheaper (between rent and utilities we should save $100/month)

2. It's bigger

3. STORAGE UNIT

4. COVERED PARKING!!!!!

Items #3 & 4 sealed the deal for me-

I'm DONE scraping snow off my car at 5:30 AM

Here are a few pics:

(new ones will come as soon as I get my CHRISTMAS decorations up!)

I actually have counter space AND empty cupboards

Plenty of space for our cereal food storage!

YES, Nick really does eat all of that cereal

All of our furniture fits in our bedroom

Meet my new babies!

We got an AWESOME deal on these

BRAND SPANKING NEW!

yay for pre-holiday sales!

Fighting the Flu

2010-10-27T09:27:00.000-06:00

ME: "Hey Hon, lets run to Macey's real quick,

we can get an ice cream cone"

NICK (unsuspecting husband): "Ok"

FLU SHOT!

Afterwards I got him an ice cream cone

and let him pick a pumpkin

Just so you know, I got my flu shot about a month ago at work

and I didn't get any ice cream after, just a sore arm.

Cornbelly's

2010-10-18T09:34:00.001-06:00

This weekend Nick and I took my sisters to Cornbelly's at

Thanksgiving point. What better fall-tastic way to kick off the

season then to get lost in a corn maze

Jamie survived the creature

Someone got a little hungry while wandering through the corn

General Conference

2010-10-04T12:59:00.000-06:00

I was blessed to have this weekend off from work, so I could enjoy:

GENERAL CONFERENCE

It was wonderful to have the opportunity to listen to our Prophet's and other priesthood leader's messages of peace, encouragement and love. I am so grateful for our living Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. I enjoyed all of the talks given, I cried throughout Elder Jeffrey Holland's talk.

Saturday night the Demke girls had our traditional G.N.O and went to Olive Garden for dinner, after the priesthood session we had scones with the boys. Sunday morning my mom made a delicious breakfast with homemade waffles, homemade buttermilk syrup fresh peaches strawberries and homegrown blackberries--it was heaven! Sunday dinner was with Nick's family, I made rosemary chicken and potatoes and it turned out super yummy!

After this great weekend of being spiritually (and physically) feed, I found out this morning that my credit card info had been stolen and someone made a $400 purchase on my Visa

AWESOME

Roman Holiday

2010-09-28T16:59:00.001-06:00

2 years ago my girlfriend Julie and I were able to cross off a wish on our bucket list, we went to Europe- Italy, Greece and Turkey. The trip was a mere 21 days we went all over Italy jumped on a cruise ship traveled over to Greece and Turkey and then back to Italy. Today I was looking at my pictures and I still can't believe I was there (PINCH ME!). Nick and I were dating at the time and the trip was about 20 days too long for him, we only had minimal communication (a brief occasional email). When I got home we both decided that we never wanted to be without the other and we became "unofficially engaged" of course he didn't "officially" pop the question until over a month later (he was "waiting for the right moment") but that's another story for another time. I've been blog stalking my friend Abbie, she and her husband just went to Europe over the summer, and her pics have been making me jealous (one day I'll go back, one day....)

Venice:

Florence:

Pisa:

Turkey:

Greece:

For you Twilight fans- we were this close:

Rome:

Love Her:

Friday Night Lights

2010-09-13T08:54:00.000-06:00

Last Friday night we went to a local high school football game- it's a fun, cheap date. It was TIMPVIEW T-BIRDS (Amber class of 2000) vs MOUNTAIN VIEW BRUINS (Nick class of 1996) Ahhh the days of insecurity, acne, peer pressure, the cool kids, and the not-so cool kids, first crush, first kiss and first heart break--Oh how I don't miss those 4 years. Nick played sports (Varsity Basketball, cross country) and I was in the band (total NERD)-hehe :)

GO MARCHING BAND!

My sister came too

(and payed for us since we didn't have any cash- THANKS Chrissy!)

Oh What do you do in the Summer time?

2010-09-05T09:33:00.000-06:00

Our wonderful summer is sadly coming to a close.

Here are a few pics of what we did to finish it off:

Move over Tiger Woods!

We tried not once but TWICE to go camping this year. Our first attempt we drove around for 3 1/2 hours looking for a camping spot EVERYTHING was full. Our second attempt was our ward camp out--it was POURING rain thunder and lightening-NO BUENO!

This week was the start of COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON, Nick has been so excited- the equivalent of me going to Disneyland :) haha We went to BYU's opening game against Washington

It was RIDICULOUSLY hot we were MELTING in the sun

Did I mention it was SUPER hot?

Not sure what this guy was trying to accomplish with the hair

It was a nail-biter but the Cougars managed to pull off a WIN!

Names...

2010-08-10T22:54:00.000-06:00

We just watched two really cute movies:

and

This is not a baby announcement,

BUT

IF we have any boys

I decided I really like the names STEVE and KEVIN

If Nick had his way they would be named:

Kobe

and Deron

but unfortunately two vanilla's don't make a chocolate

Update

2010-07-30T10:50:00.000-06:00

So I have to apologize to all y'all out there for being a super slacker!

FIRST: I'm probably not going to post more Hawaii pics--

I posted a TON on facebook and I'm being lazy

SECOND: It's been over a month since I've posted ANYTHING! sorry

So here is an update from the Whiting House:

I turned 28 on June 29 (EEK!)

Nick turned 32 a week later on July 6th (double EEK!)

Both of our Birthdays were great, Nick printed and framed pics from our vacations and got my road bike tuned up so I could start riding again

I got Nick a new basketball, 18 holes at Sleepy Ridge golf course

AND I baked him a HOMEMADE PECAN PIE- his favorite!

The Fourth of July weekend was (as always) a great celebration with lots and lots of family in town from both sides.

We went to STADIUM OF FIRE of course I cried when they recognized the military and their families

GOD BLESS OUR SOLDIERS!

loved, LOVED Carrie Underwood!

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

In the 20+ years my family has lived here we have never missed the Provo parade it is a Demke Family tradition, we've even sat in the same spot for years! This year I was scheduled to work during the parade (SAD!) and was going to miss it for the first time. Sunday night a MIRACLE happened and I got put on call! So Monday morning we woke up bright and early surprised my family and enjoyed the parade!

Chrissy and Amy were saving our spot at 3:30 am

My youngest sister, Jamie and our cute cousins

Nick's brother Jason was married July 17 in the Manti Temple. It was a beautiful day

and we're super excited to welcome Susie into our family

Unfortunately we left the camera in the car so we have no pics :(

And finally......

we have a new addition to our family!

We bought a new couch!

We've been looking and saving for over a year we finally found one at Costco

It was love at first site and the price was right.

It's SOOOO comfy we LOVE it!

This was our old couch

It's Nick's grandparents old couch that has been sitting in the basement forever! Not very attractive and VERY uncomfortable but when you're newlywed you'll take what you can get.

We gladly passed this old couch on to Jason and Susie :)

Coming Soon....

2010-06-24T21:42:00.001-06:00

So we just returned home from this:

PARADISE !!

aka North Shore Oahu Hawaii

9 days and 400+ pictures later *whew!*

Eventually I will blog about our trip

(as soon as I have a day off)

any suggestions so it's not SUPER FREAKING long??

(I'll probably post pictures on facebook first cause it's faster and easier)

Memorial Day

2010-06-03T11:41:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I know it's June and Memorial Day is over BUT this year both Nick and I had to work- SO LAME! We missed out on all of the festivities and all of the food. Yesterday was such a beautiful day I decided we would just celebrate it a little late and had a BBQ dinner up Provo Canyon. We're so blessed and spoiled to have an amazingly incredible canyon less than 10 minutes away.

It was great we practically had the entire park to ourselves.

After some good outdoor cookin' we played some Frisbee

then took a little stroll over to Bridal Veil Falls

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

Arts & Crafts

2010-06-01T10:26:00.000-06:00

My finished project:

Just in time to kick off summer

Thanks to Sarah for her inspiration!

Summer?!

2010-05-24T09:49:00.001-06:00

So.....we've really been enjoying the warm weather lately. We christened our new BBQ (ok- new to us our neighbors gave it to us when they moved). We made Teriyaki Beef Kabobs- sooooo yummy!

May 16 2010

The grill master

My little flower garden- an attempt to make our apartment feel more like a home

This morning I wake up to find this:

May 24 2010

WHAT THE @#&!*%

DEAR WEATHER MAN-

YOU'RE FIRED!

When you Wish Upon a Star....

2010-05-12T10:49:00.000-06:00

Dreams really do come true!

Nick Whiting you just finished the semester! What are you going to do next?

WE'RE GOING TO DISNEYLAND!!!!

Friday morning we loaded up the car and drove down to Sunny California! (California here we come right back where I started from. California!) I know no one really reads blogs they just look at the pics so.....I hope you're ready for our longest blog yet with lots and lots o' pics from our SUPER-DE-DUPER va-cay!

Saturday we went sailing on my uncle's boat in Long Beach

Sunday we went to church and visited Mia familia

Monday we went to Universal Studios

Last time Nick was here this ride was being built.

He finally got to ride it after waiting 10+ years!

The next day we went to THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH!!

I may have shed a few tears of joy

Day #1 waiting for the rope to drop

Day # 2

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

He did this one solo....I'm a huge sissy

Every time we even got close to it I would have a total anxiety attack

To give Nick a little break from Disney we took a day off

The LA temple this is where it all started for my family

my ma & pa where married here almost 30 years ago

Zion

Babylon

We drove over to Burbank where my uncle works for NBC.

He got us tickets toThe Tonight Show with Jay Leno

we sat on the front row got to run up and give Jay a high five

at the beginning of the showand even got on TV (for like 2 seconds)

It was so much fun and so cool!

Afterwards my uncle gave us a private tour of the studio.

We walked past Samuel L Jackson's dressing room and

got to meet Jay Leno!

He was really nice and my uncle says he's a good guy to work with.

Day #3

Nick made me go on the giant Mickey Ferris Wheel

Again, I have this crippling fear of heights, not cool

I remember going on this ride when it opened

It's SUPER 80's cheesy but we loved it!

As we where leaving the park I may have again shed tears of joy

When I ask Nick when we can go again he says not until our kids are

old enough to enjoy it......wait we don't have any kids!

I think Nick may have OD on a little too much Disney

Thank You

2010-04-12T17:33:00.000-06:00

Dear Uncle Sam,

Thank you for the

We were going to use it responsibly and buy a new

BUT we decided to go here instead:

DISNEYLAND! (in 18 days)

and

HAWAII!!! (June 2010)

Sincerely,

Nick & Amber

(We figure we'll save the responsibility for when the babies come)

cRaZy LoVe!

2010-04-01T11:36:00.000-06:00

We had an appointment yesterday morning with the Oncologist to get the results of Nick's CT Scan. A few years ago Nick had a lump on his collar bone and after a biopsy they found he had Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He had another surgery to have some lymph nodes removed from under his arm pit and underwent a month of radiation therapy. Yesterday we found out that the scan was NEGATIVE (only in the medical field is negative a good thing) this means that Nick is 4 YEARS CANCER FREE!

As if the day couldn't get any better, last night we went to the Michael Buble Concert! Unfortunately the camera battery was dead so I didn't get any pictures :( but IT WAS TOTALLY AMAZING!! His voice is even better live. He was so humble and down to earth and you could feel how passionate he is about his music. Nick was such a good patient husband to sit next to me the entire time I'm screaming and giggling. I know I'm a married woman but Michael Buble MAKES MY HEART MELT!

Happy Anniversary!

2010-03-21T15:18:00.001-06:00

Last Sunday was our 1 year anniversary (YAY!) This weekend we went on a little "romantic getaway " to celebrate. Friday afternoon we did a live session at the Salt Lake temple. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! The spirit was so strong and it strengthened both of our testimonies of the love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for us.

After the temple we had dinner at "The Roof" restaurant at the JSMB. We both give it an A++ the atmosphere was classy and elegant, the view spectacular and the food was the best we've ever had- so incredibly delicious! We're both trying to figure out when we can go back (it's pretty pricey so we have to wait for another super special occasion)

Nick surprised me by spending a little cash and getting a really nice hotel in downtown SL. At check-in we mentioned we were celebrating our anniversary and they upgraded us to a mini suite- SCORE! Here Nick's trying to sneak in a little NCAA, being the good wife that I am, I let him watch a little basketball :)

Saturday morning we drove up to Park City and visited the Olympic Park. It was a lot of fun, if you've never been there before we both highly recommend it.

Gotta love the Olympics, I wish I didn't have to wait till Summer 2012 for the next games. Afterwards we hit the outlets and scored on some sweet deals. The Columbia outlet was having their spring sale, we bought Nick a new winter jacket normally for $260 we paid $50! It's like taking candy from a baby (not that I endorse stealing but I DO endorse super awesome sales!).

After our full day in Park City we drove back to SL for the Jazz game.

Fortunately/unfortunately BYU made it past the first round in the NCAA tournament (which they haven't done in over a decade) and their game was at the same time as the Jazz game! Poor Nick was caught between a rock and a hard place. He kept texting his Dad and Google for BYU updates. Sad News BYU lost :( Good news the Jazz killed New Orleans! At least one of his teams won :)

I can't believe one year has already past! It has been an incredible time, I'm excited to see where the future takes us and what adventures lie ahead all with my best friend. I'm SO SUPERCALIFRAGILISTIC head over heels in love! Thanks Nick for a wonderful weekend and a wonderful life together!

what would YOU do?

2010-03-01T11:12:00.001-07:00

Last night my sisters introduced us to this new show on MTV called the buried life. This documentary-ish show is about 4 guys trying to accomplish 100 things on their list of "things I want to do before I die" It's pretty cool and SUPER HILARIOUS! Some of the things on their list are: ask out the girl of your dreams, play ball with Obama, help deliver a baby.... As they cross off a item on their list they help other people (that they randomly meet on the street) cross something off their list. While I don't endorse watching MTV, it got me thinking about my own bucket list. Here are a few things that I have accomplished and some that still need to be crossed off:

Marry in the temple- check

Have a baby before I'm 30 (I still have 2 years)

Raise a righteous family

Graduate nursing school- check

Get a stamp in my passport, travel to Europe- check

Lay on the beach in Hawaii- check

Run and finish a race (not super ambitious just a 5K MAYBE a 10K)

Hike to the top of Timp

Be an extra in a movie

Learn to surf

It's kind of fun to think about what I've done and really motivating to think about what I still need to do. Now I'll ask:

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE?

Almost a Century!

2010-02-20T21:03:00.000-07:00

Today Grandpa Blocker turned 90!

A few facts about my Grandpa:

He was born in Georgia and is a good ol southern boy full of

kindness and hospitality

He was married to the most amazing and influential woman for over 60 years

Together they had 10 children- all 7 boys and 1 girl served missions and

all of their children were married in the temple.

He has an amazing posterity with over 50 grandchildren and

over 30 great-grandchildren

He always has a smile and a joke to share

He truly is a disciple of Christ and is full of love and charity

a source of strength and peace

Happy Birthday Grandpa- we love you!

That's Amor

2010-02-14T21:48:00.000-07:00

I told Nick all I wanted for Valentine's Day this year was the gift of time, we've both been so busy with work and Nick with school that we hardly spend any time together. So Nick planned an entire Saturday together with NO work and NO school- first V-day together as a married couple and it was WONDERFUL. He surprised me with flowers even though I told him not to buy any but what girl can resist beautiful roses?

Saturday morning we slept in (which we don't get to do very often) then he took me out to breakfast. We spent the day running a few errands and mostly just enjoying each others company, it was like we were dating again and it was GREAT we had so much fun together.

We got all dressed up for dinner at Magleby's (thanks Mom & Dad for the gift card from Christmas)

What night is complete without a romantic chic flick? We saw "Dear John"..... Yes I cried, BUT we don't recommend it- really didn't like the ending.

And of course the exchanging of our V-day gifts, my favorite candy- peanut M&Ms and red vines plus a chocolate wiener dog which is my favorite puppy- I want one....one day (but a real one not a chocolate one). Nick got a pound of chocolate from Sees (again thanks Mom & Dad for the gift cards- good Christmas) and Michael Jackson's movie "This is It" because what says "I love you" better than some sweet moves by the king of pop himself?

How did I get so lucky and marry such an INCREDIBLE man? I must have done something right, this was the perfect way to spend the day with my PERFECT man!

As if the intense sugar overload wasn't enough.....I made a PEANUT BUTTER CUP TRIFLE for dessert on Sunday. The perfect marriage of chocolate and peanut butter- be still my beating heart (or please keep beating and don't stop even though my arteries are clogged)

You too may also enjoy this most delicious dessert. Here is the link for the recipe:

http://sisterscafe.blogspot.com/search?q=peanut+butter+cup+trifle

twenty-ten

2010-01-21T12:02:00.000-07:00

We started the year off with a BANG...more like a CRASH...several crashes and a few choice words by me. Nick went where no man has gone before (and survived) he took me skiing! This was the third time in my life that I've ever been skiing. The previous times were TOTAL disasters! Last time I went was about 4 years ago, a guy took me on a date and I never heard from him again. Nick loves to ski and used to go all the time and for some odd reason he thought it would be fun to take me. This isn't a surprise to family and close friends but I'm a HUGE sissy! I gave Nick fair warning that the day would be full of me whining and crying but he was determined to go. Nick was an EXCELLENT teacher, he was so patient and encouraging. After an hour I made it down the first run (the bunny hill) and I was EXHAUSTED! I told Nick that I wanted to take a break and he could go down some runs by himself. After he ski a little he told me I had to go down again. I almost started to cry (my butt was cold from sitting in the snow, I was hungry and tired and sore) but my tears and whining didn't work and I found myself on the ski lift headed up the mountain again. This time down I did A LOT better, I was finally getting the hang of it and even starting to enjoy it, I wanted to go again. It was a fun day, I learned once again that I married the perfect man for me- he endured to the end and after a day on the slopes with me he still loves me. In case you're wondering Nick says he had a lot of fun too, he was happy to see me enjoy doing something that he loves to do.

This is the run Nick went down:

All that Jazz!!

2009-12-27T15:46:00.000-07:00

This year was indeed a very MERRY Christmas! It was our first Christmas together, the day started when we both woke up a 5:00 am, I couldn't sleep and Nick was super excited that it was Christmas morning. At 6:00 am we figured out that the other was awake and decided to get up and open presents. There was the usual gifts of clothes, movies, CDs, socks.... I surprised Nick with a pair of Air Jordan Basketball shoes (now he can run faster AND jump higher) Nick did a really good job this year and TOTALLY surprised me with Michael Buble's new CD-Crazy Love AND tickets to his concert!!! BEST GIFT EVER! I heart Michael Buble his voice melts my heart like butter! The concert isn't until March-- I told Nick this counts as Valentines and Anniversary gift . After we were done we journeyed over the river and through the woods to his family's house. It was a lot of fun to see his niece and nephews all excited that Santa came. His youngest nephew- Hugh is only 18 months and wasn't sure what was going on but because everyone else was excited so was he.

After all the fun at the Whiting house we journeyed over to my parents house. My youngest sister Jamie was super excited that Santa came and anxious for us to arrive so we could open presents. My sister Emily had us for secret Santa and gave us this really nice basket full of candy and sparkling apple cider and gift cards to the movies and dinner- it was AWESOME and she paid for all it from babysitting.

The rest of the day was spent hanging out, playing on the Wii, and munching on so much junk that out blood sugar was at critical levels.

Nick's sister Lisa and her husband Darren had us for secret Santa and they gave us tickets to the Jazz game. Darren's family has special season tickets- basically we sat right behind the Jazz during the first half and then sat on the floor for the second half--it was pretty much the COOLEST EVER! The players were so close that I could reach out and touch them (if it wasn't for the security guard standing right in front of us). Excuse me? Coach Sloan can you sit down I can't see the game, thanks. I learned that Okur is HUGE, Carlos Boozer is a very sweaty man, Ronnie Price looks tiny next to 6'9 Andrea Kirilenko and I didn't have to read Deron Williams lips as he was arguing with the ref, I could just hear him. Of course I look funny in all the pictures so please ignore me but check out our AMAZING experience at the Jazz game! PS I didn't even have to use the zoom on the camera

TV, Turkey and Tree

2009-12-01T20:55:00.000-07:00

I thought it was time to post a little update about life in the Whiting house. To start out, Nick got an early Christmas present, he is the proud daddy of a new 40' LCD TV. As mentioned in a prior post he has wanted this TV for a very long time. I must say that I am really impressed with the quality of the picture and enjoy watching movies on it a lot more than our previous 20' junker. The high def is SO intense we can see the sweat on Deron Williams face (player for the Utah Jazz)

This year Thanksgiving was wonderful- mostly due to the fact that I didn't have to work all weekend. We were planning on having dinner with my family... but long story short, I ended up inviting Nick's family to join my family for dinner, it was a Demke/Whiting festival of feasting. The day was a little crazy and stressful but as always, my Mom's culinary skills provided us with another delicious Thanksgiving dinner. It was a nice opportunity to cook in the kitchen next to my Mom, I aways learn something new from her.

Now that Thanksgiving was over, I was finally able to put up my Christmas decorations! Apparently there is some sort of rule that Christmas can't start until AFTER Thanksgiving (I broke that rule beginning of November when FM 100 started playing Christmas music). With a little love and some discounted items from Roberts Craft and Target, I was able to turn my sad little Charlie Brown tree into something decent. I'm rather proud of our first Christmas tree.

Finally, we decided that we wanted to send out a Christmas card this year and what Christmas card isn't complete without the perfect family picture.

A little help from Saver's throw in some major bang curl and a big bow and you have a very merry 1990 flashback Christmas!

Quote of the Day

2009-11-18T17:48:00.000-07:00

Quote of the Day:

"The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache. If we can't laugh at life, we are in big trouble."

Sis. Marjorie Hinckley

SURPRISE!

2009-11-03T19:14:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, Nick and I went furniture shopping (I know really boring, it's like we're an old married couple) it's something we enjoy doing together, we mostly just look around and try to imagine ourselves at a point in our lives when we have money and can afford to buy new matching furniture. We found this really nice entertainment center and cute wall table- it was love at first sight! Nick, being the frugal minded man that I married, was a little hesitant about the price. I told him that if I worked an extra shift we could afford to buy them AND we would have something to put his TV on, Nick has been dreaming about owning a new 40' LCD TV since I've met him--we also go TV shopping and he lusts after the TV's (our TV right now I found in my Grandpa's basement-it kind of works). "We" decided to walk away and "think about it" (again see above mention of frugal minded husband).

All day Sunday I talked about how much better our apartment would look with the table and entertainment center (It was real love, not just a fling!). Monday I worked an extra shift and of course being an extra shift it was a lousy day but my dreams of one day owning matching furniture kept me going. Today I came home from work and to my surprise, sitting in our front room was the cute table and entertainment center!! Nick got off work a little early yesterday bought them and had them delivered today. He had successfully surprised me and was so cute to see how excited I was. Another confirmation that I married the right man! Now I'll have to surprise him...maybe with a new LCD TV :)

The End of an Era

2009-10-10T21:41:00.000-06:00

Today Nick sold his car...and while part of me is happy and relieved (now we won't have a car payment or expensive insurance) the other part of me is sad. This was HIS CAR--his baby! We both joke that one of the reasons I went out with him was because of his sweet ride. It really is/was a cool car and I loved riding around in it but due to the adult responsibilities of marriage and finances, we decided to sell it. After 2 months of being up for sale on KSL, he got a phone call this morning and then wham-bam it's gone. I was at work so I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye. Today is the end of an era, no longer is Nick a member of the coveted Subaru club. No longer will we get "totally awesome car" comments from teenagers at the drive-through window. No more engine roaring and races at every red stop light and then the joy at seeing the face of the defeated driver. The money left over will be used to buy a more "practical" car like a corolla or a civic....it's going to take Nick some time to adjust. Fortunately, I took some pictures of Nick and his car before we posted it up for sale.

THRILLER

2009-10-10T20:49:00.000-06:00

Last night Nick and I went to see Odyssey Dance Company's Thriller show. It was the perfect way to get into the Halloween spirit. We were amazed at the talent and enjoyed the creepy, spooky and fun dances. There were a few dances that were a little too dark (I get scared very VERY easily) for my personal taste but overall we both LOVED IT! They even did a Michael Jackson tribute, which was AWESOME! Before, during and after the show some of the performers were dressed like zombies and wandered around trying to scare people. I didn't get any pictures because I was running away from the zombies (they were creepy!) but here is a video of the highlights.

Go Dog Go!--MIRACLE WIN!!

2009-09-06T12:45:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, Nick and I headed up to Soldier's Hollow in Midway to watch the International Sheepdog competition. The dogs had to run up the side of the mountain and retrieve the heard of sheep then guide them through a series of gates and finally into a big circle. Then the sheep had to be split into groups of 2 and 3 and finally put into a coral. This all had to happen in 13 minutes! The trainer could only whistle commands. It was so much fun to watch, we were both impressed with how well trained and smart the dogs are.

There was also a splash dog competition. They measured the distance of how far the dog could jump into the water. The furthest distance we saw while watching was 18 feet!

We made it home in time to watch BYU and their MIRACLE win over Oklahoma!! Gotta admit that we were both doubting BYU's ability, we just prayed that they wouldn't get completely shut out, we hoped to lose by only one or two TD. Our defense played amazing and were able to hold them back. Nick was like a little kid on Christmas morning after their win, even today he's still all giddy! :)

First Day of School

2009-08-26T21:13:00.000-06:00

Today was Nick's first day of school! It's been several years since he's been a full time student and I'm so proud of him for making the decision to go back to school to better himself and make a better future for our family. He's getting a bachelors degree in computer information systems. Basically, he's a smarty pants computer nerd. I just nod my head and smile when he starts talking about computer stuff.

Our singles ward bishop gave us a special red plate as a wedding gift. The plate says "You are special today" When a member of your family achieves or accomplishes anything of significance they are recognized by getting to use the red plate for dinner. It's a fun tradition we hope to continue as our family grows. Today it was christened and Nick had his dinner on the "special" plate.

Following the Leader

2009-07-27T09:48:00.000-06:00

Saturday morning we took Nick's 5 year old nephew and 3 year old niece hiking up to Stewart Falls in Provo Canyon. My family ended up coming along as well and so did Grandpa (Nick's dad). I forgot that the hike was 2 miles one way and wasn't very easy, but the kids did great and had a lot of fun.

Uncle Nick, Jamie (my sis), Hyrum and Sami

Jamie and Hyrum taking a water break

Grandpa and Sami

My sister Amy....being Amy

True Blue Harry Potter Fan!

Rocky Mountain High

2009-07-27T09:21:00.000-06:00

In celebration of Pioneer Day, Nick and I went camping over July 23-24 up American Fork Canyon. We both love being up in the mountains and had a lot of fun together. My sisters came up in the evening and joined us for some marshmallow roasting.

Chrissy and the PERFECT mallow!

The next morning

Breakfast of champions

After breakfast, we drove down to Tibble Fork Reservoir and went fishing

We even caught a fish!

After our fishing adventures we drove back to camp for some lunch then packed up to head home. We really wished we could have stayed one more night but becuase it was a holiday weekend every camp site was booked. We had a great time and would like to go one more time before the summer ends.

Happy, Happy Birthday Nick!

2009-07-08T08:47:00.000-06:00

On Monday, July 6, my husband Nick turned 31! I always tease him about how old he is and he assures me he can still move like a gazelle. Since he still had to work on Monday, I decided to give him his birthday presents on Sunday. So far Nick and I haven't been very good at keeping secrets from each other, we just get too excited. I knew about my camera two weeks before my birthday (he just made me promise not to open it until my actual day came).

A box of chocolates- he's more a of chocolate fan than I am.

The new Gostbusters video game (yes my husband did turn 31 and asked for a video game) and a nose hair trimmer-HaHa

The story behind the nose hair trimmer is one day I walked into the bathroom and noticed Nick had my good tweezers in his nose! I was grossed out because I use those tweezers for my eyebrows. He thinks the trimmer is an old man gift but I told him if the shoe fits.....

For dinner on Monday we went to Texas Roadhouse for some really good steak

After dinner, went to my parents house where all of his family and my family were there for a backyard fire, roasting marshmallows and ICE CREAM CAKE! This was my first attempt at making an ice cream cake, thanks to my mom for all of her help. It was layers of devils food cake and cookies and cream ice cream--it turned out delicious!

Happy Birthday!

2009-06-30T19:56:00.000-06:00

Monday, June 29, was my 27th birthday! I started the day with a great workout at the gym, got my eyebrows waxed and cleaned my house really well. It was nice to get a lot of phone calls/text messages from family and friends wishing me a happy birthday. Nick got me balloons and RED, WHITE and BLUE flowers. The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays so the flower color combo was PERFECT! He also got me a AWESOME camera-- a nikon 12 megapixels 7x zoom digital camera. We've been using my sister's camera but after a little incident where our Moab trip picutes got lost, Nick decided it was time to have our own camera. For dinner we
drove up to the Cheesecake Factory (even though our first experience there was really bad, we were both craving cheesecake, so we decied to give it ONE more try).This time we weren't disapointed. We were seated right away, our server was excellent and the food was AMAZING! Nick ordered one of their HUGE burgers and I had this really good carmalized ginger chicked dish

Of course we had

to have cheesecake! Which was most delicious and

choice above all other cheesecakes.

Afer dinner we still had a little daylight left, so we decided to go to the Thanksgiving Point Gardens and play with my new camera. We had a lot of fun messing around, Nick was posing like a bride for some of the pictures (mock groomal pictures).

It was a GREAT birthday, Nick did a really good job. Now I have to come up with something really good for his birthday which is only a week away from mine (July 6).

Grumpy old man+ fat kid = Great Movie

2009-06-09T20:18:00.000-06:00

Nick surprised me today by coming home from work early. Actually he scared me to death- I was just getting out of the shower, when I heard a knock at the door and then heard it open! Fortunately the mysterious man walking in was my husband but my heart was going a million beats a minute. After my heart rate came back to normal Nick and I decided to catch a matinee movie and go see UP. From the commercials I thought this was another cute Disney/Pixar kids movie about a grumpy old man and a fat kid, I was crying within the first 15 minutes and continue to tear up throughout the next hour and a half. My family will tell you that I cry at everything (which is true) but even Nick got a little moist in the eyes. This had one of the most heart warming plots I've seen in a long time and for a kids movie there was a lot of depth in the storyline. The humor was great and the computer graphics were flawless. I highly recommend this movie, if you get a chance to see UP tell me what you think. This is defiantly my favorite Pixar movie (sorry Finding Nemo but you've been replaced). Afterwards we grabbed a quick dinner at Panda Express (mmmmm Orange Chicken) and I went to Enrichment while Nick watched the LA Lakers vs Orlando Magic game. Overall I'd say this was a great afternoon out.

Introduction

2009-06-06T22:12:00.000-06:00

So.... I finally caved, I gave in. I have joined women across the world and have become a blogger. I've loved reading friends and family blogs (it's been a great way to stay up to date, see pictures of their cute kids, hear about their fun adventures) but I never thought there was anything interesting enough in my own life that was worth posting on the Internet. My friends at work convinced me otherwise and starting a blog has become an almost CPCU right of passage. They assured me that, now that I'm married, I'll have LOTS of things to blog about. Thanks to Connie G for helping me get started. It will pretty much be lots of stuff about Nick and I, and our lives as newlyweds. It really won't get cute and fun until the little nino's show up, but that won't be for a while so you'll just have to endure. Well it's late and my husband is asleep on the floor so goodnight for now and stay tuned.