Friday, May 20, 2011

The Young and the Restless

Last night my company had a party, just kinda for the heck of it (pretty awesome I know). They reserved this place called Jump on It. It's a warehouse filled with trampolines. Huge areas that are completely trampoline-d, even some of the walls are trampolines. They also had a foam pit (I've never been in one but always wanted to).

Brock and I had a blast, I don't know anyone from work real well, we said hi and I introduced him to a lot of people but mostly we just played. We played tag and dodgeball. We climbed up a rock wall and let ourselves fall into the foam pit. We did flips off the trampolines into the foam pit. Ahh it was so fun to play like a kid. And man it was a good workout too, my upper body was SO sore from pulling myself out of the pit (Brock thought it was funny to keep pushing me back in haha).

After that we went to drove down to Utah Lake since it was close. I've see Utah Lake every day from far away and just wanted to see what it looked like up close. When we drove up we saw a man trying to catch and horse that was out of it's yard. He had a make shift harness that he made out of some kind of twine, it was pretty impressive.

It was dusk and we watched the fish eating bugs. There are a ton of nasty Carp in Utah Lake, they get huge! We watched as they mouthed the surface of the water, it looked like they were sucking the scum of the surface or something, it was pretty gross, they even scared some of the birds that were swimming. I don't think I'll be getting in the water anytime soon haha, but it was fun to see.

I love that I married my best friend. I love that we can be so silly together. I love Brock...

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

California Roots

Brock and I are trying to plan a vacation this summer and go out to Cali to visit my Grandpa and play on the beach. I'M SO EXCITED!!! I haven't been out there in almost 12 years, I think. I love Colorado and I love Utah but I have always felt like a beach bum at heart. I was reminiscing the other night and sharing with Brock some of my fondest memories when I was a kid.

My Grandma was one of my favorite people on the planet, she past away from Pancreatic Cancer years ago but I will always have fond memories. She would tickle my back for as long as I wanted and take me on early morning walks when everyone else was asleep. She would do my hair up and I'd always get on my mom's case for not be as gentle as Grandma was when she did my hair (my poor mom). Grandma would knit my sister and I matching sweaters and the coolest clothes for our Barbies. I remember my Grandpa would fall asleep sitting up with his chin propped up on his hand and it was fun to try and tickle his nose. They had a bunny named BunBun haha and it would have the seizures where it would run in a circle, we have pictures of me trying to twitch my nose like a bunny. And Peanut the wiener dog that was fast enough to take you out if you weren't ready for her to jump up on you.

My sister and I would wake up early and watch Little Rascals on the little TV in the front room, we'd sit right in front of the screen, I loved the blue carpet in that room. The family would go down to the beach where my dad taught me to find tiny little sand crabs, he once stuffed a bunch into his swim trunk haha. My first experience with a bikini when I was like 6, I was so irritated by it, I would yank the top down as far as I could and would hike the bottoms up my belly to meet the top haha. I remember the ocean waves were scary though, it was so chilly and my dad taught me how to dive under the waves as they came but I was little and the waves seemed so big, that was not my favorite. I still have a fear of deep water and just nasty little water creatures in general.

I Should Be Famous

Picture this....

Car windows rolled down, sun shining, sunglasses on, a good song on the radio and pink flower petals swirling around and around the car like some fantastic music video... Yeah that totally happened.

I was stopped at a light on my way home from work the other day. The sun was bright, it was warm. I really did have the windows rolled down, my sun glasses on and Taylor Swift on the radio.

Then a huge dust devil kicked up. It started in the cemetery at the stop light I was at where several large pink blossoming trees stood, then swirled across the street and right around my car, it was THE coolest thing!! I was in the middle of a miniature pink tornado!

It was one of those moments that I wish someone had been in the car with me or that I had picture or video so I could relive that moment. It was so neat.

I still have petals in my car.

.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

New Job, Spring Petals and a Zillion Other Things

So I'm not very good at consistently writing in my journal, let alone updating a blog (actually this blog has become more like a journal than my journal has). Recently though I lost my job. I was working at Box Home Loans. They are a great company and I loved the people I worked with. Finding a new job is a fulltime job in itself...

Recently I got hired on at Property Solutions. I love it here!!! I am soo thankful to find another great job. The pay is great, the environment is wonderful and the people I work with are nice.

Brock has signed up for one class for the Spring semester... Calculus. Yeah he's crazy ;) he recently changed his major to Chemical Engineering. We're stuck here for the next 3 or so years haha. I shouldn't say stuck, we like it here but we won't live in Utah forever.

I haven't heard any complaints from him not liking math, he's really excited for his career choice and that's so nice for me to see. This class has been Very intense though, I feel bad for how crazy busy he is. I know it'll all be worth it in the end and that we need to just continue finding joy in the little everyday things.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Sunday School Lesson

This past Sunday Brock and I had the lesson (we were called as team teachers and I love it!). I always seem to go through a cycle when preparing for our lessons; I read, I think 'Oh dear this is short and there are so many redundant questions how are we going to fill up 45 minutes, I re-read the lesson, I read the scriptures for the lesson and then we pick which section we each want to take.

This lesson was on parables and specifically the one about the sower and the seeds that land on different kinds of ground, hard ground, thorny ground etc. As usual I thought 'oh no everyone has heard this before, how is anyone going to get anything new out of this?' But I did the usual and prayed and studied it and hoped that the class would have some outstanding feedback. I was not disappointed.


I was blown away by what we talked about in class, our class if full of very intelligent people that are far along in their education paths and it's is very intimidating sometimes. But it was wonderful to sit back and listen to the discussion and insight that everyone gave, it's my favorite part of every lesson. I love hearing the views of people who think differently. So with this parable we talked about why Christ talked in parables and points were brought up that it was because not everyone was ready to hear the messages that were being shared, that it gave a visual and something relate able (I know I personally love being taught through stories). Another thought was shared that it was because one parable can relate to many things and have many different levels of depth to it. This idea was shown as the lesson progressed.


We discussed what each part of the parable represented and then my favorite.. How it applied. We talked about missionary work and the point was brought up that just because a person may be on rocky ground and not ready for the gospel it doesn't mean it's the end, things change, rocks can be removed, weeds can be pulled - that's one thing that I love, that hope and faith resonate throughout the gospel! We also said that each of us can be a different kind of "ground" through our own lives and that our testimonies are always increasing or decreasing and that this parable can be a good indicator of what we should be working on. I could go on and on about the wonderful spirit and enrichment that went on, but I thought it was great. And I'm not saying I'm a great teacher, I feel like I benefit most from the lessons because of how much studying I do and the comments shared by others. I really hope that others got as much out of it as I did.

I had forgot to wear my watch and Brock and I normally switch halfway through so I told him to just let me know when I had 5 minutes left and he never did. Before I knew it there were only about 8 minutes left. I felt so bad and asked him later why he didn't say anything and he said that it was going great and he thought he'd just let the lesson go where ever it was going. :) I thought that was sweet, next time I'll have him start.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Canyon Climbers

Our latest pass time has been to run/jog/hike up to Provo Canyon trail which is just up the street from us and it is beautiful!! I have been complaining about how gloomy it has been this winter, and for the most part it has been (I find my mood is very effected by the weather) but now that spring is right around the corner I am amazed at the beauty here in Utah County.

We have started to love running but it can be a brutal hobby. The other day we were a mess (in a good way, it way hilarious). It was too chilly so I went to the gym and ran for a solid hour at a cross country level. Brock is hard core and he still went running outside. We both felt so good afterward, there is just some freeing feeling that comes with running. I knew I had pushed my body hard and made sure to stretch and drink plenty of water. However later in the evening we were sitting on the couch, I got up to go get something and got a nasty Charlie Horse in my right butt cheek! Oh man it seized up and wouldn't let go. I kept stretching and tried to relax, finally I ask Brock in a pathetic voice "Brock will you rub my butt?" HAHAHA! He started laughing so hard, but he had just got done running in the freezing cold and had bad runners cough, he laugh was a mix of weezing and coughing which made me laugh. It was so fun. My hip really was in pain though, I couldn't sleep on my right side for the rest of the night.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Wandering Thoughts

Life gets so busy, there are so many "distractions" in the world today. I love technology and I don't know what I would do without it but many times I think we let it consume us/our time. Brock and I had a week that we watched far too much TV. Yeah we had some good laughs but I don't feel fulfilled from a couple of cheap jokes, that episode of the Nanny didn't bring Brock and I closer together even though we were sitting right next to each other for 40 minutes. We since unplugged and TV and I was blown away by the difference it made to me. I was able to get more things done, which made me feel good about myself and feel good that the house was clean, it even helped in odd areas like sticking to my weight loss program (I think I'm a mindless snacker when I don't pay attention).

Enough of that, the whole reason I was thinking of that is because after everything on my To-Do List is done, it's nice to just sit down in a quite house, car or outside and let my mind wander. So funny the things you think of and ponder on when your mind isn't buzzing with media or things that seem they must be done. I was taken back to our honeymoon in Cozumel and how much fun we had.

The ocean was a blue green, small waves hit the shore. There was a cute little dock at the resort we were at that we liked to go hang out on. We ordered as many non-alcoholic Pina Coladas as we could get our hands on (yum they were SO good). I lived in my swimsuit all week, I love swimsuits and sun dresses it reminds me of when I was little - I lived in my swimsuits during the summer, out visiting Grandpa in Cali and swim team :) ahh.

We quite a bit of snorkeling. Snorkeling is so common but it was hard for me to get used to, being a competitive swimmer I'm so used to blowing air out my nose but it's impossible to do with those giant masks on. They jelly fish had been netted for the summer (one of my big fears) and we had fun staying in the shallows and finding all sorts of cool little creatures. There were these funny little blue fish about a foot and a half long, very skinny with long beaks that resembled a sword fish. They would swim just 2 inches below the waters surface. It started creeping us out though cause they would follow us. I mean you would look into the water straight ahead and outta now where you'd have one of these little guys staring you right in the face. If you reach out to touch them unlike all the other fish, they would slow swim just out of your reach.

After a while I was getting more confident that there weren't any weird things that would eat me and I wasn't being so wary. I would still grab Brock's hand and swim next to him though haha. At one point I was holding Brock's hand when he yanked me backwards, I stopped and looked and him and he pointed toward the 2 headed (it probably wasn't but it looked like it was 2 headed) jellyfish that I was about to swim right into with my forehead!! Ahhh that gave me the hibbie jibbies so bad.

Man I love traveling and living in new places I'm excited to see what the future brings for us.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Up To Speed

Since then we:

Went on our honeymoon to Cozumel Mexico - It was my first time being out of the country. We had so much fun!! We just stayed at an all inclusive resort so we didn't have to worry about anything. The ocean was beautiful and the humidity did wonders for my skin and hair :)

Went camping - That summer we went camping a couple of times both were fun, but I was panicked at times, swearing that there was something standing just outside our tent

School again - Brock has had a very full schedule, school all day 3 days a week and then 10 hr days at work the other 2 days. Brock is going to school to be a chemical engineer, it's gonna be rough but he's got me as his cheerleader :)

Work - I found a great job with a company called Box Home Loans as a file processor and love it here!! I work with awesome people, we get together outside of work, that's how well we get along. I've never worked at a place that I enjoyed this much. I'm also looking at my schooling options since we'll be here awhile, I'm looking for something that I can do night classes around my work schedule.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Prince & Princess for a Day

From the time we announced our engagement I began making plans, scratch that, I SHOULD have been making plans. It all seemed so surreal and it felt like April was so far away I wasn't as diligent about planning as I think I should have been. Our engagement was 6 months long, Ugh it felt like forever! Plus I was still in Colorado working and he was in Utah going to school. I had free nights and weekends on my cell phone and needless to say we took advantage of that. Long talks on the phone and skyping (I don't know what we would do without technology!).

Those 6 months were full. Full of planning, getting to know my wonderful new in-laws to be, drama, work... full. I was glad to be so busy, it made the time go by faster. Honestly when I look back there were so many things about the wedding that I thought mattered (even though people told me to focus on our sealing in the Temple), I think I tried to micro-manage alot even though I wanted help I didn't want help, haha. I feel bad for all those who had to be around me during all that. Thankfully those tasks that I let others help with were done wonderfully and I'm sooo appreciative.

Finally the day came! Brock and I were sealed to each other on April 24th 2010 in the Denver Colorado Temple. What a wonderful day! There was so much going on but I just remember being doted on. I love my wedding dress and would wear it anywhere I could if I had the chance. I don't remember what the sealer said but I remember how I felt, I felt loved. I was surrounded by family and friends that love me and are happy for me and I was getting married to my best friend. Saying yes to Brock has been the best decision of my life!

When you commit to being with someone that loves you like no one else can and makes you feel like no one else can, you look forward to all the eternities you get to be together.

Friday, March 18, 2011

The Proposal

We dated for about 6 months, it was the best summer of my life! Brock was enrolled for BYU Provo and the plan was to keep in contact but not try to do a long distance relationship and just see what the future held. As the time for Brock to leave got closer and closer the more it became uncomfortable to imagine dating anyone else. We had become best friends. We started talking about getting serious. We even went ring shopping on one of my visits out to see him. Then October 17th 2009 Brock got down on one knee and popped the question.

I was in Utah again visiting Brock at school.  He had planned a fun date night for us, we were gonna go dancing :D I've always had a bad wiggle bone or two and dancing is the perfect remedy. Before we could go to the club though Brock had to run a few errands on campus, the library, the ATM... I was not dressed for the chilly weather and was anxious for us to get going. Brock wouldn't tell me where the last errand was but was walking toward the Joseph F Smith Building, it was dark and the fountain was lit up beautifully. I kept my quick pace trying to see what door he was headed for when Brock took his coat off and put it around my shoulders, put his arm around my waist to slow me down and his other hand crept into his pocket. That's when it clicked in my mind what was going on.

After that I got so excited I don't remember exactly what was said but I know Brock said lovely things and I said yes just as fast as his knee touched the ground...

Thursday, March 17, 2011

In The Beginning

If this is going to be a blog about the Tyler family I thought it would be important to include how our little family of 2 got started.

Part 1: Dating -
Well I had been going to the Berthoud Singles Ward for almost 3 years I think. Just working and playing. Brock came home from serving a church mission in Germany in February 2009. Brock had a lot of not-so-great-relationships (to put it nicely) in high school and before his mission so when he came home he had a strict plan; Work for the summer and go to school. No Girls. :)

We met for the first time at a church dance. I just remember that he was pretty quite and I decided that I wanted to get to know this new guy.

I scooted off to Sunday School pretty quickly the next day and sat in my normal spot. There was Brock already sitting clear on the other side of the room. I didn't want to make it so obvious that I was so interested that I would get back up and go sit next to him, but I also didn't want any of the other marry trunky girls in the ward to be all gaga over him. So I took the girl-next-door approach and said something like "don't sit by yourself, I have a seat right here" and patted the spot next to me.

He knew exactly what I was up to and luckily he didn't decline. I thought that would be a big enough hint for him to ask for my number (since he hadn't at the dance the night before). We chit-chatted a bit but the lesson ended and he still hadn't gotten my digits. Welp, I know what I want and I don't mind taking things into my own hands every once in a while so I told him that I was in the Relief Society Presidency and since he was new to the ward I could get his number and let him know when church activities were going on. Again I'm so lucky he didn't say no. Brock knew exactly what I was doing and was tempted to put the Kobosh on it right there. So glad he went with it!

So after a month of texting, calling and hanging out at church activities he finally asked me out on our first date! Brock didn't disappoint either. He took me Frisbee golfing (my first time), then we went and got smoothies and went back to his house to watch a movie. I love creative dates! We had such a blast and the rest is history :) ....

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

First of the New Year






   I finally decided to see what all this blogging business is about! My writing can be very scatter-brained sometimes, but I'll do my best. We were so busy trying to get ready for this semester and it's already here, I hope to keep this up to date fairly often. Some days doesn't it just feel like we just say good morning and goodnight? haha.

   We gave the lesson in Sunday School this last weekend. We have been called as team teachers and besides teaching a 5 year old Sunbeam class, this has been one of my favorite callings. I learn so much when I study for the lessons and it's so fun to sit down and have gospel discussions so regularly. Brock does a great job, he knows the scriptures so well. 

   With the holiday craziness done I went back to the gym yesterday. Dang it was SO crowded!! I go to 24 hr fitness, it's by far my favorite. I think everyone has the same New Year's Resolution to get skinny every year haha. I think mine is going to be different - I want to be more actively enjoying the outdoors!

I hope this suffices for a first blog post :) until next time...Aubrey