take me out to the ball game…again

We definitely hit the ball out of the park this week. Literally.

Tanman and I utterly SCORED with free tickets to the Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers game. I obviously wore Dodger Blue and Tanman wore Diamonback Red. Our seats were amazing. We were right behind home plate. In the row just about all the VIPs. If you read the post below you would have learned how much I love baseball. I believe it all started from this:

…with a little of this:

…and a lot of this:

Yes, I realize that I used this picture before, but I love it and it makes me smile! 

in case you were wondering...

Alright, still no camera charger but I was playing around on Facebook the other day and came across this little ditty. It's one of those survey things that everybody does and tags you in and then they spread all over and they get super annoying really quickly. Well deal with it, cause that's what I'm posting. I'm pretty sure I filled this one out like two years ago, but it's surprisingly still accurate and since we are new to the blog world, here is a little introduction to Merelips:

25 Things:

1. I am painfully shy when I don’t know anyone in the room.

2. I love antique rings, necklaces and pins because I think jewelry should always have a good story behind it.

3. I miss picnics on the bridges of Paris.

4. I would rather clean the bathroom and vacuum than do the dishes. I don’t mind cleaning my own, but I won’t clean off other people’s half-eaten food.

5. At night, I have to sleep with the fan on to dull the noise. In France, I used to listen to the sound of rain on my laptop to drown out the sound of people walking up and down the stairs all night.

6. Baseball and Football are the best sports ever created (Running Charades would have to be 3rd)

7. I have probably read Pride and Prejudice 10 times from 10 different books. (and two languages)

8. Scrapbooking and crafts are my release. I buy stickers, fabric and embellishments like there is no tomorrow.

9. The full-length mirror in my room (at my parent’s house now) says, “Don’t get fat!!” and my sister Melissa snuck in and added, “I mean it this time!” to the bottom.

10. There is a reason my sisters call me “Marshmallow”

11. I love photography and really wish I knew what I was doing when I take pictures.

12. Make-up is my hobby. I hardly wear it but I love putting it on people.

13. I still believe in chivalry, and expect it.

14. When I was two, I fell through the window from jumping on the bed.

15. I’m pretty sure that I know ALL of the words to Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, Evita, Joseph and Mamma Mia.

16. I would love to have my own family. (Looks like I can check that off)

17. I would like to travel the world before though. (Still working on it)

18. Laundry is my favorite cleaning activity.

19. My clothes are color coordinated in my closet.

20. If I could get by without a job, I would keep up with piano and take voice lessons again.

21. I miss dance.

22. I have probably been to about 30 weddings in my life and probably around the same number of funerals.

23. Math is the best subject there is.

24. Baguettes and cheese, crepes or chocolate covered strawberries will get me to forgive ANYTHING.

25. I am the neighbor that bakes treats and drops them off on Sundays just to say hi. I mostly use this as an excuse to have leftover goodness in the kitchen that I can snack on :)

Well there you have it! If you ever wanted to know anything about me you now do!

no news is good news

I don't know what is going on, but I seriously cannot think of ANYTHING to write and I am determined to have more than one post a month. (My original goal was one a week, but really who are we kidding?).

Highlights:

1. The charger for my camera and the usb chord are MIA. This is serious folks. I have searched everywhere. If you have seen them please let me know. I might even be able to offer a reward.

2. Tanman came back from his "business trip" last weekend. While he was gone I stayed with the in-laws. We came home to the biggest spider I have ever seen chilling on the floor in our bedroom. It ran away behind the dresser and Tanman had to take the whole thing apart before he finally caught it. (I took pictures, but of the battery died) I don't do spiders at all. There is a fun little story that has circulated in our family of a time we were on the lake near the lagoon and a spider crawled on my back. I screamed so loud the lifeguards jumped in their boat and came over to see what was wrong only to find me hyperventilating in the paddle boat crying that a spider was on me. I really don't do spiders.

3. We used our George Foreman for the first time, and I have no idea why it took us so long! I am obsessed now.

4. Oh and we've been published! No, I didn't finish my book (not that I have even started writing one) but some pictures from our wedding made it into BYU's bridal guide. Nothing too exciting but slightly entertaining.

Can you tell now how uneventful our life has been? This is why there has been no post for the past two weeks. The best stuff I could come up with was something about a battery, some food and a spider.

I promise next post will have pictures and jokes in it. Stay tuned!

writer's blog

So, I haven't posted for two weeks! I feel like our life suddenly became ridiculously boring and, as most of you know, boring is not my thing. So instead of writing about our lives lately, I figure if a picture is worth a thousand words, then I'll just post one of those so I don't have to worry about putting a thousand words together in a witty little story. So here is a photo from back when life was a little less boring... enjoy! I don't know why, but it always makes me laugh whenever I see this picture.

Some might say we have "interesting personalities. I saw we're more normal than anyone I know.

take me out to the ball game!

So, I have an awesome boss! He's such a high roller! He scored free tickets to the Cubs game in the VIP section and just straight up gave them to Tanman and I when we were chilling at work on friday! We had tons of fun and definitely owe him a major high five.


I had been BEGGING Tanman for weeks to go to a game because all the sweet baseball teams do their spring training right here in the valley, so I was so stoked when we were able to go. We lucked out with those seats too! We were right above the dugout in the shade. (I know it's only march, but it's already hot and we were so relieved when we saw our seats were in the shade). We were in the family section so we were with all the wives of the players which made for a fun fan-filled cheering section. One of the wives had her baby boy with her and he made friends with Tanman instantly. It was pretty funny watching the little boy stare at Tanman the entire game. She couldn't distract him for anything. How lucky am I that I have a boss that let's us leave at noon on a friday and chill at a baseball game?!


I can't wait for the season to start so that we can go cheer on the Angels and watch them win the World Series this year with these fine people!

california dreamin'

Last week Tanman and I rocked the west coast. It was so fun to visit with our family and friends and bask in the lovely California weather. We stayed half at his fam's house then spent the other half at my fam's house.


His Fam's- Every time we are there we try to find new trails along the cliffs of the beach. It makes for a fun adventure and helps us appreciate the splendor of it all. We were also lucky to have sis #1 and mom stop by for a bit to hang out with us in our empty beach house and shop it up. Then we stopped by the cove to see the seals. Last time we were there I saw no seals. This time I saw loads of them. They are fat.
I love the smell of ocean in the air! It was so nice not to smell cow the second I walk outside!

My Fam's- We made it just in time for sis #2's birthday. She turned twenty-stupid and to celebrate we ate burritos all day long! Of course, as all Southern Californian's do, we definitely used our Dland passes while we were there. Tanman and I have MASTERED the art of spending an entire day at Dland for free (except the day we bought our passes... we paid for those).
I love family vacations! I'm trying to talk Tanman into taking a trip every week. We're still in the negotiation process.


P.S. My mind is all over the place today! Can you tell?! Oh well!

trying out my snow shoes

I don't quite remember the last time I played in the snow. I know that when I lived in Nauvoo it snowed, but I'm pretty sure it was like the last day we were there and we didn't even get a chance to enjoy it. This leads me to believe that the last time I was even in the snow was February of 2001 when we stayed in Uncle John's house. Nevertheless, it is super fun and quite cold! Tanman and I went to a friend's cabin a couple of hours away for the weekend and I was able to go sledding for the first time that I really remember. You better believe I layered up with my California "winter clothes" but I did miraculously already own a turtleneck, a puffer vest, and a windbreaker (all three still had the tags on them). It was a bit tiring hiking up that darn hill each time we survived the downward fall. Towards the end we just started standing on our sleds to see how long we could stay up and that way we wouldn't go all the way to the bottom of the hill before we had to climb tooth and nail to the top. I lasted quite a bit, which leads me to believe that I might be ready for snowboarding! ...maybe next season...