A Year of Change is Right!

I've mentioned several times that I thought 2012 was going to be full of change and I wasn't kidding! I started a new job 3 weeks ago and Tyler has been working at his new job for a month or so now. Little did I know our jobs would GREATLY change how much we see each other. Basically, we're lucky to see each other for an hour straight, no lie. Last night we had a whole 15 minutes where we were together and tonight we didn't overlap at all. We don't even sleep at the same time. We were really lucky before to have very similar work hours and had a lot of time together, up until last semester in school we even had school the same night so we were only away from each other the one night a week and we actually in the same building! The time away has been alright, but I'd love to have a few hours straight to spend with Tyler! It would sure be nice! I even work Saturdays, which is his only day off. I've had my moments when I get super frustrated by our schedules but then I realize that this too shall pass and so then I just see all the humor in our craziness and laugh!

The Definition of A Good Uncle

While visiting our neices and nephew they decided to do Uncle Tyler's hair. They first blow dryed, combed, brushed, and "pretended" to straighten his hair and then got the bright idea to put bows in it! He was a sport and let them have their fun.

 Chaston decided afterward that it looked like fun, so he put them in his own hair!

Sometimes we leave church for this...

Tyler is the most unflexible person I know. He can't even sit up straight, because his hamstrings are so tight they won't let his back straighten fully while sitting. The only thing he can really do for himself is try to stretch them but they seriously hardly move. Sunday in the middle of sacrament meeting Tyler started complaining that he was dying and couldn't sit--his back was in so much pain. We couldn't leave because I had to be there to say the closing prayer so I told him go walk around for a bit and see if it helped. He came back after about 10 minutes in just as much pain...you should have seen him get up to leave. He looked like he was a 90 year old man and took about 10 steps before he could stand up completely straight. Basically, he looked like a limping hunchback. Anyway, there was no way he was going to be able to sit through 2 more hours of church so we drove home. I planned on going back for Relief Society but ended up doing this instead....

I know this doesn't even look like somebody stretching but this is HARD work for Tyler, it took a little while before he could even get his legs to go up this far. And he couldn't do this by himself, I had to lift them up while he complained about how much it hurt. The chair is not even an inch higher than the step ladder but it was a big achievement for Tyler...poor guy.

Words from Tyler.

One of the VERY BEST things about Tyler is how funny he is.
I know I have shared this fact many times before, but I am sharing it again, just with a new reason :)

One of things that makes Tyler so darn funny is all the funny words he makes up or the funny things he renames. Last Saturday we went out to dinner and to a movie with Jaynee and Cam. We went to the Water Gardens theater and they have sucker dispensers with Chupa Chups, only come to find out, in Tyler's world they are Chalula's. I think I will stick to his name, it's so much better especially since Chupa Chups just means suck sucks...or something along those lines.

And then there is my favorite of all...if I asked majority of people what these ---->
are, they would say Croutons. But they'd be wrong, because turns out they are called Newtons. Yes, NEWTONS! Random, I know. The best part was how I found out Tyler's lovely name for these. I don't remember why they were even brought up, but he kept talking about Newton's...me, I was maybe thinking he was referring to Fig Newton's? I dunno. So I finally asked him what in the world he was talking about and what the heck a Newton was and he said, "you know those hard bread crumb things you put on salads." Silly me, didn't know what a Newton was, but I sure do now! Thank goodness I have a fantastic husband to teach me all these things!

...and yes, these are just 2 of MANY Tyler words...maybe I will share more soon!

The fun of curtains.

Last night I had a sudden urge to go buy curtains. Well...maybe it wasn't so sudden, Tyler and I have been saying we've wanted to for several days, we've just never picked a time to do it. I guess it was sudden, because I was laying on the couch watching The Office in my pajamas no less, Tyler was at his brothers, and almost instantly I just wanted to go. I texted Tyler just to see what he would say. I was shocked when he said he would go (he was watching sports). He was home in minutes and off to Target we went, we had just pulled out, and I realized we didn't measure the window, Tyler assured me it was fine and we could figure it out. I picked out the ones that I wanted and Tyler looked at them and told me the size I got was WAY too small, he insisted we get different ones. Ones to cover like 8 ft. of window. I thought it would be more than enough curtain, but didn't question his belief that the ones I originally had picked up were too small. I trusted his opinion, especially because measurements and any sort of math is NOT my forte. We got home and Tyler ran back out the door to go watch the rest of the game, leaving me alone with the curtains.

I walked into the bedroom and laughed so hard I cried. I knew our window was not very big, but what I didn't know was how SMALL it really is. Let's just say if we cut the new curtains in half, we will still have extra! Needless to say, our curtains will be going back. Which last night, as funny as the whole thing was, was very disappointing. The reason we have been so anxious to get them is because our room is so bright at night. We have blinds, but all of the street lamps in our apt. complex shine right through them and straight into my face. I cannot wait for the day, when we have some that fit our window and help me get a better night's sleep! However, I am so so thankful for a funny husband who keeps me laughin, and is as clueless as me, when it comes to guessing the size of our window!

Yesterday.

Yesterday was a pretty eventful day....

We went to the BYU vs. Airforce Basketball game.

And of course BYU won :)

Then we had dinner with two VERY special people.

It was my Nana's Birthday!

...and it was Nate's birthday too!

We celebrated with both of them at P.F. Changs!

And then back to my Nana's for cake & presents.

The cake sort of fell out of the freezer.

It was really funny.

My dad doesn't find the humor in this sort of thing so we had this big plan of how to hide the damage from him (My Mom, Me, and Natalie). My mom was still getting candles on the cake, but Natalie and I went back into the living room where everyone was. A few minutes later we heard a thud in the kitchen. Thinking of the cake again, Natalie and I kind of just looked at each other and laughed. Of course, my dad, being how he is...instantly said, "What was that?" Which made us laugh harder...thinking he was funny and COMPLETELY kidding says, "Oh, it was the birthday cake!" So of course Natalie and I are laughing hysterically and even funnier, I was sitting on the arm of a chair, and because of my laughter I fall off the and continue to laugh EVEN harder til I am laughing so hard, it hurts. At this point my dad and Tyler wouldn't leave us alone, trying to figure out what was so hysterical and why we can't stop laughing--which in turn, just kept us thinking about it, so we continued to laugh. And of course, we couldn't just tell them a ruin the nice cake surprise! Needless to say it made the night much more entertaining and memorable.

Happy Birthday Nana & Nate!
Hope you had fabulous days!
Love you Both!

Cold Feet.

Scene set up: Tyler is leaving my house after Natalie's birthday party. I walk outside with him, bare footed.

Tyler: don't you need shoes?
Nicole: shoes are overrated.

More scene set up: We put our dishes from my grandma, which FINALLY arrived into Tyler's car to take to our apartment.

Nicole: guess what? only 12 more days!!
Tyler: my dad asked if you're getting cold feet yet.
Nicole: (laughs...looks down at her feet, then back up at Tyler.) yep, i am.

Hopefully those will be the only kind of cold feet I will be getting!!!

I can't wait for December 29th!

{Funny Story}

Jaynee's super awesome husband Cameron, threw her a surprise party on Friday night! They live in her grandpa's basement & he's got a fire pit out back so we had a fire--roasting hot dogs, starbursts, and making smores...you know, all that normal stuff would expect at a bon fire.

Well, if any of you know Jaynee, you know, her birthday or any event involving her can't be mellow...or normal. She likes things crazy and exciting...

This party was no exception. Her grandpa has a sunroom that connects to both the front of the house & to the backyard. We heard pounding on the door to the front, because we had left the back door open. And who was there? None of other than the fire dept.--apparently they got a call about a fire from a block away so they had to come out to inspect. There was two of them, who came and looked at our pathetic fire (it was so small it was barely putting off any heat at all.) They chuckled a little--and were like well that fire is DEFINITELY legal. But unfortunately legal or not, since they did complain we have to make you put it out. We hate to ruin the fun.

Talk about a random visit, to make things better they told us that it took a long time for them to find out where it was even at and they had to get a spotlight out just to see the tiny smoke cloud it was putting off-- so how someone saw it from a block away is beyond me!

To make things better we followed them out and turns out there were a bunch of firemen outside all suited up in their full gear--not to mention there was the fire dept. suv out front, a fire truck, and an ambulance!!! Needless to say, the whole neighborhood & Jaynee's family were either showing up or calling the house to find out what was going on.

I've been to lots of bon fires and such, but I'm not sure if any will be more memorable than this one. --Next time, I think we'll just invite the fire dept. to come join us to avoid any future 911 calls, we offered them some food and drinks last night but they declined. haha.

Nicknames

So my cousin Britt blogged about nicknames yesterday & asked for comments back about funny nicknames & stories, I enjoyed her post so much & decided it would serve best as a post in & of itself, rather than just a comment...so here it goes.

My funniest nickname of mine & most random would be "Beer". When I first became friends with one of my best friends, Rachel, she called me Schaefer, as did everyone else I was on drill team with. We had 4 Nicole's on the team, so all of us went by our last name to keep things less confusing. I was over at her house one day and her older brother, Dallas, who I'd never met before was home. She introduced me to him as Schaefer, and he was like--her name is really Schaefer? Like Schaefer Beer? He thought it was funny, so from there on out Dallas has called me Schaefer Beer, it soon caught on though and Rach and several of our other friends started calling me that, pretty soon the Schaefer part was lost and here I am, just "Beer."

It's sort of funny when my friends will out of habit, introduce me as Beer, or shout it out in public, or occasionally someone even calls me that at church. People's reactions are definitely priceless--some people laugh, and some give you really dirty looks. I don't think my mother is very fond of the name, but I find it kinda funny. Besides, if Lucille Ball likes it, I should be proud to call it my name, even if I don't drink :)

Several years ago Rachel, Jaynee, and Hope posted these funny pictures on facebook for my birthday.

I love these dorks...they've got great nicknames themselves :)

The Best Thing About Tyler.

    
So, yesterday I went to Tyler's ward with him & after singing one of the hymns in sacrament meeting, he leaned over to me & said, "You're tone deaf, but you try anyway. I love that about you." In my defense, nothing against the organist...she obviously hadn't had much experience playing the organ, but was doing her best, (gold star for her.) the only problem was she was struggling and therefore playing the song very slowly. The entire congregation was struggling, and it was a song I was completely unfamiliar with and based on how quietly everyone else was singing, I'd say they were in the same boat. Needless to say, it was NOT my best singing, but I won't deny it, I am definitely NO SINGER. There is a reason I've never joined any choir and as a child did anything & everything to get out of singing in Primary, at my Grandparents' funerals, in Sacrament meeting with the Young Women...etc. I was forced to join Youth Choir when I lived in a ward in Orem for a short time and confession: I used to pretend I was singing but really wouldn't. haha. I wouldn't sing in with the congregation in Sacrament meeting til I was 18 years old. Anyhow, I was a little shocked by this comment, haha, it was so unexpected, I wasn't sure if I should start laughing or be offended. But at the same time...this is one of my favorite things about Tyler. All his unexpected, non sugar coated comments. You get nothing but honesty from him. He'll tell you exactly what he thinks!

...and for the record I decided to laugh about it, we had a missionary homecoming to go to following...we sat next to my sister at that meeting so before the meeting started I told her what he said & we laughed about it together, so thanks for the laugh T. coughjerkcough. HAHA.

Rice Krispy Treats

Last night Tyler attempted to make Rice Krispy Treats for the first time in his life.

And he did a really good job. 

Except for this...

Next time he will watch the marshmallows in the microwave.

He noticed this mess before it got any worse but even so, there was still marshmallow everywhere.

(take notice to the top of the microwave.)

Kids Say the Darnest Things

So I am lucky enough to get to be in Primary every week. I recently started going back to my home ward where my mom teaches the 4 year olds in Primary. Lucky for me, her team teacher is not able to make it a lot of the time and since there has to be 2 adults in there I get to be adult #2 on a regular basis. Primary beats going to Sunday School and Relief Society, that if for sure!

I love singing all the songs and listening to the cute kids in Jr. Primary give the talks. But best of all, I love the funny things little kids say. Every week there is at least 4 or 5 funny new one-liners that make my day. So I figured it would be selfish of me not to share a few of them.

One week we were talking about baptism...and a little boy in our class very bluntly said, "I do NOT want to be baptized. I'm not doing it, my mom didn't do it so I don't think I will. I'm not going under that water!"
(His mom is in the Primary Presidency & obviously has been baptized!)

One week we were talking about Joseph Smith and the kids were supposed to answer some questions about Joseph. One question was When was Joseph Smith born? It was a pretty tricky question for all of them, so several had been guessing. One little girl got all excited cuz she knew the answer and she yelled it out, "He was born on his birthday!!!"

The week we talked about baptism was definitely a winner, we were asking the kids how they can be prepared to be baptized since they aren't old enough yet. The answers we kept bringing up were praying, loving our family like Jesus Loves us, reading scriptures, go to church, keep the commandments, etc. These were our "steps" to baptism. Later we got to walk on our "steps." Each one had a picture representing what we were supposed to do to prepare. When they walked on them, they were supposed to say what the picture represented. Their was a heart for love others. This cute little girl got to it and said, "Fall and Love and Get Married!" The rest of the lesson she kept using that as her answer, guess its no joke that girls in Utah in are in a rush to get married. Sounds like it starts at Age 4!

One lesson required a first aid kit as part of the object lesson, explaining the purpose of each item in the first-aid kit. Not thinking my mom pulled out RUBBING alcohol wipes. And said they were alcohol and told the kids what they were used for. Most the class had no problem with what had been said, but one little boys eyes got REALLY big & he looked at me and goes.."THIS IS ALCOHOL?" He was pretty concerned, so we had to explain the difference.

There is a really shy girl in the class and she hardly says a word. The lesson was about the Savior and if the Savior was on the earth, wouldn't they like to be with him if he said, "Come Follow Me?" This cute little girl, louder than ever before, says, "I WOULDN'T GO. I'D STAY HOME." and if you knew her, there was a lot of honesty in her answer. She's pretty attached to her mom and doesn't like to do anything out of her comfort zone.

We were supposed to make clay pots for a lesson, so we brought salt dough. Bad idea...the dough was great the night before but had sat in the car during sacrament meeting and condensation had built up. The clay ended up being a sticky gooey mess...all over the kids hands. We didn't even attempt to make pots with it. As we were cleaning up their hands...one little boy just kept shaking his head over and over and saying, "My mom is NOT going to be happy about this."

One little girl is always telling us funny little things about her family that don't pertain to the lesson at all, this last Sunday she told us that her family used to live in Tennessee BEFORE she was born. Then went on to inform us how much she loved living in Tennessee. I got a kick out of that one.

They keep me so entertained and love how innocent they are. If you ever need a little cheap entertainment, just spend 5 minutes in Primary!

Friday.

Friday I had the funniest drive I've ever had to work & had to share.

I made a stop for some food on the way in.

El Pollo Loco is right on my way and always quick so I went there.

Normally I have trouble understanding the person taking my order and Friday was no different.

His thick accent made it hard to understand anything he said.

When I got to the window, the gentleman was a blonde headed guy with NO accent!

My thought...must have been a different guy...

Next thing I know it, the guy is speaking in a completely FAKE spanish accent on the drive thru headset.

Funniest thing EVER.

Not sure why he did it, thats for sure, but I wanted to burst out laughing then and there.

After leaving there I ended up at a traffic light stopped behind a Scion TC which belonged to one of

Jean's Golden Girls! As I found out from the license plate cover.

I tried to take a picture, but the sun was shining right on it, so I couldn't get one to turn out.

One the light went green, I of course, wanted to see what this Golden Girl looked like.

I pulled up beside her...and there it was.

A handicapped parking permit hanging in the front window.

I don't know about you, but I find it VERY hard to believe that a Golden Girl passes for handicap.

These ladies know how to get their groove on, thats for sure!

I got to another stoplight where there is always a Little Cesars employee waving a big sign for Hot-N-Ready Pizzas. It was a really nice day out, and this guy had a massive puffy coat on, hood up and all.

People are interesting to say the least.

Needless to say, I arrived to work in a VERY good mood.