Bad Blogger.

I haven't been a very good blogger lately at all. Life has been busy. Great, but busy. Here are some of the most recent happenings...

Schooling it...as always. This semester hasn't been ideal, because Tyler and I basically go to school on opposite days. Thankfully I haven't been working full time, so I still am lucky and get to see a little more of him. It does keep our lives pretty busy though! Tyler changed his major and he is officially a communications major. It's exciting to have a little glimpse of what we're working so hard for.

I went to State Drill Team with my sister-in-law Sara and my little sis. It's always fun to see whats new each year and who is the best. This year did certainly not disappoint. There were definitely some awesome dances and amazing teams!

It has been a month of Baby Showers galour! The last two Saturday's I've had attended baby shower's for my sister-in-law, Misty, who is due in March. I promised myself last Saturday that I would take a few pictures so I could at least have something to put on the blog but I forgot my camera and left my phone in my car. This Saturday I have 2 more baby showers for 2 other baby makers, so needless to say my Saturday's have been fun but busy.

My best friend, Jaynee flew in on Friday from Texas, so I spent Saturday night with her, Rachel, and Hope! Our lives are all so different now so it is seriously the best when we are all able to get together! We went to dinner at Los Hermanos and then spent the rest of the evening just talking.

Tyler has been luckily staying safe. They had an incident recently at work (see KSL story here), but thankfully him and all his crew were fine. There were a few injured but all of them are going to be okay. It really scared me and could have been a lot worse.

I tried ZUMBA for the first time and really liked it. I have been meaning to try it for it a while now and just never have. At first I wasn't so sure about it but it definitely got better as it went along and it was a great work out so looks like its going to be part of my weekly routine. It really made me miss dance though...you forget how much you love it when you aren't doing it. I'm thinking of starting Ballet Blast, because I hear it is awesome...feedback anyone???

It is VALENTINES tomorrow! I'm really excited...although I'm fairly certain Tyler is not. I think it stresses him out, but it shouldn't! I don't think Valentines needs to be extravagent. It is just a simple day, but such a great one to celebrate! We have a fun little date planned and I can't wait. I loook forward to this day all year! It is the best.

Happy Heart Day Everyone!

Ambitious

I wouldn't consider myself a very ambitious person at all. That word, just doesn't describe me...except for on the first week of school. Something about the first week always makes me feel super motivated and ambitious about not only school, but everything else in life. Like if you asked me this week if I could conquer the world, I'd tell you yes and I'd probably even believe it. By week 2 I always ask myself why on earth I felt that way, but it continues to happen over and over again. This year I've made a goal with myself to be a bigger picture taker and better blogger than I was last year. I'm hoping my new iphone that showed up in the mail for me yesterday will help me in fulfilling my goals! And as if those 2 weren't enough, I randomly today decided that I am going to take on a second blog. Yep, thats right. Except number 2 isn't so much about me, its more about my fam. I set the blog up ohhhh 3 years ago for my mom and she's never ever used it. Soooo today I was thinking that I should just take it on myself, since I know what happens in there life anyway right? We'll see how it goes. If you'd like to follow or check it out you may go here to do so. We'll see if my ambitiousness stays with me long enough to post there for more than a week...

New Years!

Our new year is already off to a great start...

We partied it up with some family on New Years Eve and had lots of fun. We ate food...unfortunately it wasn't very good food...thanks to my nacho cheese disaster. Note to Self: Try out the recipe before deciding to make it for company.  We enjoyed some way overdue sparklers! (We bought them with Misty & Russ on the 4th of July, because we were dying to do them and then ended up waiting 5 months to actually use them.) And yes, as you can see, we struggle. Our logic was that we could just do normal 2's and then flip the picture...didn't think about the fact that when they flip, they say 2102. We enjoyed playing/watching the kids play Just Dance on the Wii. By eleven our place was quiet and empty but I insisted that Tyler had to stay up and wasn't allowed to go to bed before midnight. We watched the ball drop and drank us some bubbly! No pictures (besides the firework ones taken by Misty) because I thought I had lost my SD card for my camera :( turns out it was where I had it all along.

On new years day we went to church and it was our first week as Sunbeam teachers. We got to move up with some of our nursery kids to primary. It was a fun new experience for us and they're super cute. In sharing time we had learned about choices and consequences...one of the examples of a good choice was cleaning their room...so when we got to class that was definitely engraved in their minds, because when we asked them what they liked to do for fun they said things like clean their room and pick up their toys...haha. Guess their parents will be pleased? Hopefully they will learn something from us...at the end of class Tyler asked them if they remembered what they had just learned and they all shook their heads no. Looks like we're going to have to step up our game. For dinner we had fondue, which is a Schaefer family New Years tradition...one of my favorites!!! Only now at our house, we do it better without any gross shrimp!

On Monday Tyler had to go back to work, but I had the day off so I went to a movie with my family. We went and saw War Horse because my dad has been dying to see it. I loved it! I expected that I would, but didn't expect it to be quite as good as it was. I know a bunch of people who thought it looked so boring (including my husband) but its far from that. Its a pretty long movie and I hate long movies...even if I'm enjoying them I usually get super anxious for them to be over  but I didn't feel that way at all in War Horse. I didn't cry, but it definitely gets to your emotions. After the movie I was thinking about it and decided that it was the best movie I'd seen all year. And then I realized the year had just started so that wasn't saying much, haha. So I guess we'll see if any movies can beat it this year. After that we went to dinner with the family and then called it a night! Spending time with family is always great!

As you can see...Nate really loves pictures.

Next week we will start school up again, which I dread but am also really excited for. Last year at this time we weren't in school because life was just too crazy, so I'm excited we will be going this semester because it means we're one step closer to being done...unfortunately we still have lots of steps to go but progress is always good! Tyler finally has a major and is all done with his generals so that has made things a little more exciting!

I told Chelsey a few weeks ago that I feel like 2012 is going to be a year of change. I honestly have no clue what is going to change, I'm not even sure why I think it, but for some reason I just do, so I guess we will see!!! It is 2012 so who knows, maybe the world will end ;)

Perfect Way to Start Christmas.

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO START OFF CHRISTMAS EVE?

Checking your grades and finding out you have a 4.0 GPA!!! Wooot. Woot.

My computer applications class felt like the death of me and I was to the point that I could care less what my grade was, I just wanted to pass. Sooo happy that I did more than just pass. Guess those countless hours were worth it!

It is going to be a very merry Christmas. Yay!

Progress.

This is what progress looks like.

Pretty depressing huh?

2 days and many hours later and this sad thing is considered progress.

Did I mention I have 3 more projects to do AFTER this one?

Deadline: December 16th

He meant December of next year right???

Monday Night.

This is a taste of what my Monday night looked like.

I'm definitely an amateur and this project is FAR from finished {sigh}
But I must say, I'm very proud of my Angel Moroni. 

7 hours and a few redo's later I'm pretty pleased with my progress.

If only you could have seen how bad it looked Sunday.

Now bring on Tuesday...I know what I'll be doing.

My Blogging Skills Sometimes Suck.

Yep, I said it cuz its true. Again, so much to say because I don't do this too often.

What's new in the world of Tyler & Nicole world you ask?

Oh...ya know...just that yes, we're going back to school! Hooray for school! I can't wait to be done...so I'm glad we're actually going to go this semester!

Tyler started an ebay business...he's no ebay rookie and has already done plenty of buying and selling, but this stuff is more official and consistent. He's pretty excited that he's making more every day on ebay than he makes all day at work!

We had a fun slumber party last weekend with Mccall, Chaston, and Brinley...they are some of our cute nieces and nephews! We had lots of fun eating popcorn, watching "Up", and playing beauty parlor. I don't think my hair has ever had so much attention...3 stylists all at once and probably 8 or more new do's! I wish I would have taken pictures!!!


WE BOUGHT A HOUSE! ...okay, maybe not, but I can dream. Working in real estate will really do that to a girl...that and having a boss who is constantly harassing you (in a good way of course) about why you haven't bought one yet, because its such a good time to!!! Unfortunately, I'm not so sure its the right time for us just yet.

All summer we've been enjoying going to Owlz games. My family finally joined us for one 2 weeks ago. We had a great time!!!

I also went and saw The Help with all the girls! It was lots of fun & I loved the movie!!!

Oh Happy Day.

It's fall break and I am HAPPY! 

minus the fact that i found a cricket on my bed this afternoon. eww

Its been a stressful busy last few weeks so this break feels amazing. 

I am excited to have no homework and actually have time to breath!

Two thumbs up doesn't do my excitement any justice, so instead I went for 8 thumbs!

Props to my MacBook for making this possible.

Yay for Fall Break.

My sympathies go out to all you BYU students who won't be celebrating these next few days with me.

Guess you should have thought of that before you decided to go there :).

Midterms

I've never hated midterms so much as I do this semester. Usually I don't find them very stressful at all, but this semester they've all landed back to back & make me want to pull my hair out.

Today I'm relieved, because I finally took my Chemistry test. My score wasn't good at all, but I didn't expect it to be. I got a lousy 52%.

Confession: I came out of the testing center and laughed about it. I'm pretty sure that makes me a bad student. But seriously, I think that class is a joke. I did what I could, studied...did some practice problems...what else was left? ...So at the end of the day, after taking it...I really didn't care. I was just happy to have it over with.

Tonight I'm get to take another one...joy. But this one, I will Ace! Got to love Psychology!!!

Then this weekend, I get to read a history book...and by history book...I don't mean fun, interesting stuff...I actually really like history and enjoy my lectures in class, but our assignments make me want to pull my hair out. I actually read my TEXT book for the class and enjoy it...but this so called literature we're supposed to read is beyond awful. And then to make things better, I get to write a fun paper all about it.

Needless to say, fall break can't come soon enough.

Meet The Science Geek

I'm pleased to present...

The Science Geek. 

Tyler is taking NOTHING but science classes this semester.

(gotta love the dental hygiene pre-req's)

He is hating it, but personally I think he makes a cute geek ;)

One Day Down...& a Depressing Number of them to Go!

I survived the first day of this semester! The good news, I guess, is that its one down, but sadly it also means that the EASIEST day is over :(

Here are my goals for this semester:

To get back in shape! I didn't dance at all this summer and I am starting to feel OLD. I remember having young dance teachers in their early 20's tell me how easily they'd lose their flexibility...and whine about their old bodies. I thought they were crazy, but I'm beginning to understand. I've never had such limited motion as I do now. I've always been pretty flexible and it's all come very naturally, but 3 months of summer has caused me to lose it all!!! I didn't dance today, but I did do a lot of walking! I didn't plan my schedule very well at all. I had to park out in no mans land & walk to the opposite end of campus, then I had to walk back to the other end, and back again....you get the idea! I probably walked a mile between all that back and forth.

To actually STAY registered in all my classes I am currently in. I always take on a pretty big load, then chicken out and drop like half of them...but I'm so ready to just get lots of credits out of the way, and not worry about them anymore! I've got 17 credits this semester so hopefully I don't hate myself for taking them all, but hopefully I will be happy that I did it come December!

Important? I think Not.

Can someone please tell me why I need to know Astronomy? I don't care if the stars look like anything or not .I can find the big dipper and thats about it. Why does it matter what degree the angle is between me & the north star? Someone please tell me why I am enrolled in such a pointless class. Please...cuz its 12:44am, I have an assignment due and a test to study for. Neither of which I have bothered to do yet.

Way To Go Smartie Pants!

This genius is graduating TODAY!

I'm so proud to call him my big brother.

And can't wait to see him on ESPN one day!

(for those of you who don't know, he's a broadcast journalism major & wants to be a sports broadcaster)

He is very smart and will go far.

He whizzed right thru college & there isn't anything he can't do.

Good Luck in the Future Kev!

I love you and know you will succeed.

My only request is that you please get a job somewhere warm so I can get a tan while I visit you ;)

Happy Graduation Keveroonie!

Anything is Better than Finals

I dread finals.

I hate them with all of my heart.

I am pretty good at avoiding stuff til I have no other choice.

It's funny the things I will distract myself with before cracking down and studyin' up.

I thought I'd share my most recent avoidance method.

I'll admit I'm an idiot, but this is how I feel about school.

Pulling stupid faces and taking pictures on my Mac tops homework any day.

Monday night I will be done with this miserable semester.

I can almost feel freedom and it feels good.

Too bad it will be short lived since I will be attending SUMMER school.

Talk about asking for a horrible summer.

Lucky Me.

Dancers Block

You've all heard of writer's block.

But have you heard of dancer's block?

I may have invented it.

But newly invented or not, I clearly have it.

For my Advanced Jazz class, we're required to do a solo for our final.

But whenever I work on it, I get stuck.

EXTREMELY stuck.

All creativity leaves me.

I seriously will not be focusing on it at all, and ideas will just come.

But when it comes time to use my ideas of course, I can't remember a single thing.

I'm pretty frustrated about the whole thing.

So if anyone has a cure, please let me know!

Why Don't You Just Be Who You Are?

Something I just can't figure out: Cross Dressing...Sex Changes.

I just don't understand it.

We've all heard these phrase a million times...

BE YOURSELF.

NEVER CHANGE WHO YOU ARE.

BE WHO YOU ARE.

I think this is one of the most important lessons we learn in life. It's so easy to wish we were someone else, or try to be like someone else hoping people will accept us if we change... so to go to the EXTREME. And completely change YOU. It makes no sense to me. If you're a man, why on earth would you want to be anything other than a man??? Does anyone understand this? I sure don't.

Everyday at school I see the same guy, who dresses as if he were a girl, but people know. He's not fooling anyone.  Even he knows it. He'll never be the real thing, so what on earth is going through his mind???  Does he like all the negative looks, or the double takes people give him? I simply don't understand. 

Rough Week

I'm so thrilled that the weekend is here! I am sooo sick of school...and I hate finals. I should be spending the entire time doing homework, but I can tell you right now I won't be. I will probably procrastinate til Sunday and at that point I will be hating life, but oh well. Mid December just needs to get here!!! I can't wait to have a few weeks that are school free!

Instead of homework my weekend will be filled with:

• Spending time with Tyler
• Christmas Shopping
• Dining
• Movies
• Setting up my Christmas Tree
• BYU basketball game @ Energy Solutions!
• Sunday dinner with my 'rents & sibling, plus grandpa, the Ballantynes, and Em!

...and maybe, sometime late Sunday night I will get around to that dreaded homework that makes me want to pull my hair out! The good news is I'm just about done with my dance class after Monday it will be stress free. And by Thursday I will have everything done for my English class and I will be done with English forever. **Knock on Wood.**

And for anyone who plans to be around me in the next couple weeks: Beware, because I might just look like this...

What I COULD Be Doing Tonight

I was supposed to be going to the Dashboard Confessional concert tonight, but OF COURSE, it had to be cancelled. Apparently their tour has been a total flop so they just decided to cancel the entire thing. They didn't think of the disappointed Utah girl who was excited to be at their show So instead of having some FUN tonight, I will be dedicating my night to school. This is how it will go: I am going to be sitting in the UV Library wishing I was at Dashboard banging a book against my head because I am going to have no life away from school this next month. In a small way, I guess its a good thing, because I am SWAMPED with homework and I would which is why I have not blogged in sooo long.That & the internet at my apartment is down. I haven't even fixed my currently pathetic header. bah. Good post is coming soon!!! I had the world's greatest weekend last week and have yet to share it. But for now, I am out, until my life slows down just a little bit. Peace.

Wow. I Just Wrote Quite the Tangent.

MIDTERM, SAY WHAAAT?
So I just found out like an hour ago I have a midterm...when?
Tomorrow?
Yeah, great.
On what?
Yoga!
I have no idea how to study for a Yoga midterm.
Is it written or is it just doing Yoga?
I have no idea.
Other than the fact it would be like impossible to test on us actually doing Yoga.
Why?
1. Only one teacher
2. What determines good? and Bad?
3. Yoga is all about listening to your own body. How will she know if we are listening?
You get the point.
If it is a test based on our ability...
I will probably fail.
Since we have "breathing exercises"...and I cannot do them.
YEah. Nicole forgets to breathe.
I also prefer to hold my breath.
If it is a written test...
I will also probably fail, since I don't know the names for anything.
Show me the position, and I will follow.
Sorry though, I still don't know what Vinyasa means.
Want to ask me what downward dog is though?
Or happy baby?
Or dolphin?
Or warrior 1?
I know those ones.
So wish me luck cuz I'm gonna need it!
Maybe I'm crazy but I thought Yoga was supposed to RELIEVE stress, not CAUSE it! Gah.
O ya, and I got a paper to write tonight. Oh joy.
I HATE English.
Good thing, once I'm done with this class, no more English for me.
I pretty much hate this week of school.
Good news though, I have an AWESOME dance teacher.
She cancelled class Friday just cuz we wanted her to.
And it gets better, our midterm was scheduled for Friday, but now we have til Monday.
Really that just means I have til Monday to forget EVERYTHING we did today.
So maybe that's not such a good thing.
But it is dance, and I love it. So I will survive.

ARIZONA IS CALLING MY NAME
.........................................................................................................................
So today my Aunt and Uncle from Phoenix welcomed a new baby girl into their family.
Her name is Mia.
And boy, she is a cutie.
I am DYING to go see her. Like I wanna jump in my car right now and drive all night long.
BUT...I can't thanks to school :(
Ok...School isn't the only thing holding me back.
There is work too.
bah....
I do want to visit Arizona though soon.
It's one of my favorite places in the world!!!
(might be only because I've never left the U.S. so I haven't seen the world. Just seen the U.S.)
So, I'm watching very closely for the first opportunity that presents itself and I will most certainly be taking off! I miss my cute little cousins A & Z and now I'm missing little M, even though we've never met! I can't wait to meet her so that is the same as missing her, right?
Oh and off course I miss Matt & Becky too!!!
I'm very envious of my Grandparents at the moment.
Why?
Because they are there! And I am not.
....................................................................................................................................

EVERYTHING I HATE ABOUT BEING SICK.

Ok, lets face it. There is not anything I don't HATE about being sick! Maybe when I was younger there were things to enjoy, like a day off of school, but now as an adult, there are NO perks, because regardless how crappy I feel I can't miss class! Especially since over half my classes are heavily graded on attendance alone! Dancing when you're sick is NOT fun, I dreaded going to my advanced Jazz class today, because its a challenge enough when I am healthy, but when my entire body is aching BEFORE class, I know there is a problem! Luckily class was not AS bad as I thought it might be, and I actually nailed some pretty good turns, which usually doesn't happen on sick days since being sick knocks my equilibrium totally off! I hate the feeling, so I was shocked when I was actually able to turn! I have 3 papers to write this week and I am dreading them because my body is so tired and its so hard to focus on homework when all I really want to do is curl up in a ball and go to sleep! To make matters worse, when I do go to sleep, its not very good sleep, because my head is congested and I wake up because I'm unable to breath! So NOT fun! I'm hoping this bug is gone by the weekend, but we will see!!! Oh, and the UVU Inaugural Ball is tonight! My friend Jeff was in charge of planning the dance and i'm excited to go, but would be lots happier if I felt better! He did such a good job planning the GREEN OUT dance so can't wait to see what he's done for this one!

On a happier note: Found out today that my high school drill team, is doing a come back performance of thriller and bringing back the last 3 to 4 years of drill team members! I can't wait, I have missed performing more than anything! I love it and can't wait for next Wednesday. It should be pretty fun, because it will be the ONLY time me & my little sister will dance TOGETHER. Never thought that would happen! Woot. Woot.

Me & My Best Friend Jaynee doing THRILLER my Senior Year in High School. Don't we just look fabulous???