Let's play catch up!

It has been 9 entire months since we updated last... and basically an eternity since we've posted anything important or significant. So, we are going to start over and do better at this updating thing.

But first, let's start with a review of the last few months:

September: we started school at BYU for another semester. Nate is studying Public Relations and Lyndsey is studying Public Health (yes, we love the public). Over Labor Day weekend we hung out with my family for a few days before we got back into the grind.

October: We headed to the Cornbellies Festival with our friends for the third year in a row! This was our first "official" date back in October 2009, so it's pretty special to us. It is a great tradition that I love! It always starts with yummmy burgers at Red Robin with a big ol' group of friends. We gorge ourselves until we are stuffed, and then chase each other through the corn maze until we get lost or until we get shooed out by the festival workers.

The first Corbellies 2009... You can't tell here, but we matched almost perfectly that night

We're so excited to go!

November: At this point we're eyeball deep in papers, homework, projects and tests. We took 10 days off for a much needed Thanksgiving break, which was fantastic. We spent time with Nate's family in Boise playing games, going out to delicious restaurants, seeing movies, looking at Christmas trees, eating ourselves into food comas, hanging out with siblings, ya know. All that fun family stuff!

December: It was cold. We finished finals, and it all turned out pretty good! We went to my (Lyndsey's) house in California for Christmas. We did so many fun things over the break! We all went to a Bethlehem program, I guess you could say. A church in the valley always puts on this great event where they turn their big lawn into Bethlehem for a week or so. When you walk in, you get coins made of clay to use as money in the town. While you're there, you can buy food or spices, participate in a traditional dance, barter for goods, and even see the baby Jesus (which is actually a real child). It is a fun way to really learn and experience what Jerusalem was like when Christ was born.

To celebrate our first anniversary, we went to Disneyland! It was soo much fun. We went with Nate's brother Ben and his wife Lindsey and had a blast. Lindsey's family lives just 15 minutes from Disneyland so we were able to spend the night without having to drive too far. Thank goodness, we were so tired from literally running from ride to ride all day. Lindsey is a Disneyland Master! It was great to spend time with them, we wished they lived closer!

During our break, we also went to the beach and enjoyed the nice warm weather, played lots of Just Dance, had yummy dinners with great friends, and of course, OPENED PRESENTS!! Jillian and Alyssa were given two Hermann tortoises, so it was fun to play with them! Dad, Ryan and I went indoor skydiving... SUCH a cool experience! I was a little flail-ish, but managed not to ram myself into the glass wall too much.

The beach on Christmas Eve

Dad, Ry and me. I don't know why I'm frowning...

January: We started school and work again, which isn't as fun as playing all the time but it is nice to be home. We also visited both of our grandparents in St. George over the 3 day weekend. It was great to be warm and spend time with them. Nate started his LSAT preparation course! He takes classes twice a week and has a mock LSAT test every Saturday. He is planning on taking the LSAT in June, so he has about 5 months to prepare for it. His friend Trent is also taking the class, which is great because it gives them some motivation to study and work together, but it also fosters a little bit of competition.

February: My 21st birthday! It was a great day. The day before we ate ourselves sick at Tucano's Brazilian Grill with all the meat, pineapple, fruit, salad, rolls, rice and beans, veggies we could get our hans on. Nate had his LSAT test that morning, so my friends took me out to lunch at Zupa's, which is one of my favorite places in town. Yum!

Me and my friends 

 Then Nate took me to Color Me Mine (another one of my favorite places) where we painted a few masterpieces. Nate painted a monkey mug and I decorated a plate for our kitchen. We came home and opened presents and had homemade ice cream cake (another favorite of mine). Nate bought me beautiful flowers and some shoes I really wanted. I was amazed that he remembered! He is so thoughtful.

March: This was a busy month for us! March 4th was Nate's 24th birthday... he's getting so old! His grandparents took us to Olive Garden for lunch, and then we saw "We Bought A Zoo"-- a great movie that everyone should see at least once. Then they treated us to milkshakes at Arctic Circle- yum. We also went to the Nickelcade, a happening date night found in Orem. It is one of the classic Friday/Saturday night activities in the college town. Sunday was Nate's actual birthday, so we had church, but then had a birthday celebration. He opened the shirt I bought him that he mentioned he had wanted, and had a delicious birthday meal.

I was able to fly out to California for a weekend to see my dad and surprise him for his 50th birthday! He didn't know I was coming and was really taken aback to see me pop in his room and yell at him. I had a good weekend just hanging out with the family, but had to leave after only three days to get back to school.

Three days after I came back, we headed to Boise to see Nate's family for a long weekend. Nate's sister Andrea and her hubby Tyler and their three chilluns live in North Carolina and can't make it out to visit very often. So, when their Christmas present to the kids was to visit Nana and Papa, the family made an affair out of it. All of the siblings and their spouses were able to come visit, and it was great! February and March hold 6 birthdays of the extended Miller Family, so we had a big celebration!   After going out to lunch, we had a fun birthday activity where each birthday person had a team and was given $5 to buy a present for another birthday person. We then had a luau complete with leis, hawaiian haystacks, and a tropical cake for dessert. We exchanged presents and lots of laughs at the silly gifts we found.

Super-Peewee's his royal pose

Trips to the Miller home are always filled with lots of games and lots of yummy treats! Jason taught us how to play Ripple, which is probably my new favorite game!

YUMMMM

April: We finished up school, barely survived through finals, and totally freed up our schedule. Nate had a rough week before finals with several presentations and group projects to finish up. I, on the other hand, had smooth sailing until the last day of class when it felt like I was trying to run through cement. A million test reviews, presentations, and test prep sessions left me exhausted and with only about a day to study for each test. Alas, we survived, and it ended up being my best semester at BYU yet!

After about three days of being done with finals I got really, really bored. I am working 30 hours a week, which still keeps all of my evenings wide open. I made a "Summer Checklist" of things to do before the summer is over. I've made good progress so far!

May: Now that he is done with school, Nate is working and spending nearly all of his free time studying for the LSAT. He is taking it June 11th and trying to absorb everything he can in the last few weeks. He is a trooper! It is seriously not fun to shut yourself in a small room (he goes to the church and studies in an empty classroom) and take tests for hours on end, but he doesn't complain. He actually kind of enjoys studying, which makes it a bit easier. Let's see how he feels come the test day, however.