Moving

So, as you all might know by now, Cory and I are moving to Ann Arbor, Michigan for grad school.  We are so excited, and people keep raving about the city.  We have put in the time trying to figure out the best possible way to move for cheap, and we think we've found some good options. For example, all of our boxes have been free (yes, actually free).  We went to the liquor store and got some awesome sturdy boxes, and then to Hobby Lobby for some bigger sized ones.  As excited as we are, we both keep falling into funks of sadness.  Packing everything up is sad. I don't like to see our house "deserted" like it's starting to look.  I hate the bare walls where there was once pictures.  I hate packing.  I only get out of the funk by thinking of how fun it will be to start a new adventure together in a place that we know absolutely nothing about.  I think it will be so fun to hang our pictures on new walls, and to unpack in a place where we only can rely on each other.  It's just so bittersweet.

Boxes, boxes, mess. Galore.

Our poor bare walls. 

Any tips on moving for cheap??

Last Moments at Home

After our fun trips to a baseball game, falls, and the lake, our trip home mellowed out nicely. We still got to enjoy the California sunshine, which is always nice, and we even got to visit with friends! I wrote about my best friends in this post, but I have to write a little more about how wonderful they are! I hadn't seen a couple of them since our wedding, so it was quite a joyous occasion to see these pretty ladies and their new lives.  I am really impressed by each one of them and couldn't love them more.  

We celebrated Father's Day on Sunday with a delicious, and huge, dinner.  My brother, Zander, just got braces so we had some soft salmon for him, and ribs for everyone else.  I mean, it was heaven on a table.  Fresh rolls, veggie drink, a beautiful fruit parfait made by my talented mom, and more meat than you could ask for.  Cory really enjoyed it, too, as was apparent by his moans of delight throughout.  He also commented during it that he felt like he was on his mission again, sweating and eating too much delicious food. (Our house is not kept very cold generally, for those of us Mishler's who freeze in anything below 80).  We all learned just how true his statement was when, after dinner, he tried to get off his chair and was sticking to it.  He thought something sticky must have been on his chair, but, come to find out, it was the veneer on the wood that had come up during his aggressive dinner. Hahahaha :) We all laughed pretty hard at that, but my dad enjoyed it the most. In fact, he requested to keep Cory's pants for the times when he would need a laugh.  Poor Cory, but he was a good sport about it. 

Life is pretty good to the Cory and Bree family. 

University Falls and Folsom Lake

In the Mishler family, we spend as much time as possible outside.  So, finding a husband who was like that as well was high on the list.  Luckily for me, Cory loves being outside almost more than I do. We also both absolutely love the water, so when I found out that he had booked the trip home for us in hot June,  I knew exactly where we should go when we got there: University Falls.  It's a set of 3 natural waterfalls that are perfect for sliding down.  Because it's high up in the mountains, it's usually pretty freezing cold, but after the 2 mile hike in, it seems perfectly refreshing.  My dad, mom, and brother, Zander, all came on the adventure with us and that made it even more special.  We got to go the day after we got in to Sacramento, and it was perfect.  If you click on the pictures, you can see them bigger:

Cold smiles. 

The way we got in, my dad hesitated for so long!

If you look closely, you will see Cory and my dad. My dad is ready to go down on his stomach. 

After this picture, I decided to take a video of my dad going down on his stomach on the third fall. Fun, right? Cory also decided to get a better look of what was going on too... (warning: please mute. unless you want to hear an unnaturally high-pitched scream. I don't know why it was so high...?)

Yeah, sorry about that. You were warned, though! You can't really tell, but Cory slips and starts to slide. He tried to stop himself but kept getting closer and closer over the edge.  The third fall is the highest, and, luckily, is the only one deep enough to where people can jump off of it. Eventually, after finding that he couldn't stop, Cory did just that and jumped off.  A little rush of adrenaline and some scraped up hands was all he had to endure.  

The next day we went over to Folsom Lake and enjoyed a nice picnic dinner and a beautiful sunset.  The water was the perfect temperature! It was amazing. 

I'm sure all of you can tell (right??), but we spelled "Nels" here for my brother who's on his mission in Nicaragua. 

It was a perfect day. 

 More fun stories and pictures to come! Stay posted!

...And We're Back!

Well we have had quite the hiatus! I am happy to say that we are now back in action. Guess who's back, back again? Blom's are back, tell a friend.  So yeah, we have a lot to catch up on.  Graduation, birthday parties, sports, trip to L.A., Provo Temple dedication, camping, picnics, and the list goes on and on.  I really can't believe all we've done in the almost 7 months since we've last posted.  But, instead of overwhelming you with it all at once, we'll just take it one thing at a time over a few posts.  Starting with the most recent! Our two-year anniversary.   Can you believe that? Two years?!?  I can't.  Apparently the second anniversary is traditionally the cotton gift year.  Oh you don't believe me? Well...

Second Anniversary Traditional Gift: Cotton Great gift ideas:

• New bed linen
• Boxers or other attractive underwear for him
• Sexy cotton lingerie for you that both of you would enjoy
• Quality cotton towels
• Matching dressing gowns
• Hammock
• Personalised T-shirt

So there you go! 

Cory and I have a wonderful kind of relationship in that we have never, in all our days together, had to define anything.  No DTR's for us, no deciding who plans what event, we just take it as it comes and it's been amazing.  So it was with this anniversary.  However, we ran into a problem this time with it. Both of us planned something and booked them without informing the other!  Usually, we surprise each other and it works out! But this time, we found out that both of us had arranged for us to be outside of Utah on some of the same days.  I had booked us a couple nights at the Stratosphere hotel (for an amazing deal, no less), where one of my favorite memories of Cory was made:

Look at that face; so sick with fear. Hahahahha!

And Cory booked us a flight to my home in California!!! He sent me the itinerary surprise at work and I started crying/laughing. My coworkers didn't know what to do.  I was so happy. There aren't many husbands like this one, folks.  

The next week, we packed up and drove to St. George to visit Cory's grandma, then made the trip to the Las Vegas airport where my sweet cousin dropped us off and we started our Anniversary Vacation.  We got to Sacramento and my bag did not arrive with us.  And it wouldn't be there for another 4 hours.  It was so frustrating. Cory and I took the public bus into Old Sacramento and visited the sweets shoppe that we patronized on our first day of our honeymoon. We're so nostalgic... 

Delicious, no?

 Cory got the smores when we went there two years ago. This time we just got the smells. How is it possible that we're more broke than we were back then? Or did we just buy those on a marriage high? :) We then walked all around the malls and riverfront with Cory toting his huge bag around.  I felt so bad! My dad wasn't coming to pick us up until later, because of my bag fiasco-we live too far away to make that trip twice.  But, it all paid off in the end because we were able to go to an amazing RiverCats game with my dad who got us Box Seats! We couldn't believe it! Free food and drinks and an amazing evening made for a pretty great day, but it was even better because we got to be with my dad, too!  Cory hit cloud nine even after that though, when he saw his "boy", Manny Ramirez come out on the field!! Apparently, something with affiliates of something and Oakland A's and DL something and triple A something all made this happen, and Cory could not have been happier.  

Manny "My Boy" Ramirez

The RiverCats ended up losing, but nothing could have impaired our night.  It was pretty spectacular. We went back to the airport, picked up my bag, and headed home.  It was such a good feeling to drive the winding canyons, past the Foresthill bridge, past the rivers that were so fun, back to the wonderful place of my youth.  

There isn't a better feeling than the feeling of going home, right? 

We'll be back with more later! I bet so many of you have been anxiously waiting for our hiatus to end, huh? :)

A little break...

Yes, that's right. I am too overwhelmed to try and care about updating our blog right now. Who knows when I'll feel like it is. I might just randomly post whenever I feel. So, for now, au revoir. 

Mistletoe and Holly

Well Christmas came and went with a bang, and now we are facing the sadness/emptiness following that. The lull in activities is driving me insane, whereas before I was going insane with all of the things to do.  December 14th was "G-Day", the day Cory took the GMAT, and he rocked it. Seriously, my husband is a genius. He got in the 97th percentile and for that we celebrated. We went out to Iggy's that night and feasted on the relief of having that major milestone out of the way. Now he is just finishing up all of his applications and then we will be playing the waiting game until February for interviews. He is doing such a good job and I am so proud of him. Unfortunately, I couldn't fully get into celebration mode that night because I was still working on my finals that week. I took 19 credits this semester and I was feeling the effects of it by the end of finals week. I am so glad to be done, though, and one semester away from graduating. From college. :) So happy.  So, finally, after all of the testing, we were able to slow down and really get into the Christmas spirit. We went up to Park City where we spent Christmas break with Cory's family. Cory's dad works at the Canyons resort so we even got some tickets for a ski day trip that we spent with his family as well. We had some great food, great games, and great new memories. As it was my first Christmas ever away from my family, I had some rocky spots, but it really was a great Christmas with only a few tears shed.  Spending so much time with Cory was the best, everyday I was so happy that we didn't have work and that we could just be together. I loved it. Here are a few iPhone pictures that will illustrate our time a little better. 

Boots from Cory that I have been coveting for somewhere around forever. 

Winter golf at Thanksgiving Point. A chilling -400 degrees, hence the scarf turned turban. 

"The Family" Christmas party dessert. Such a fun night.

Tebowing during golf.

Good food + sports + big-screen tv's = best celebration GMAT dinner ever. 

Mark stayed with us for a week and a half, so we made his room appropriately festive.

Ski rack made by Cory's BIL and hung with care  :)

A very delicious ski lunch made even better by Cory's homemade double-decker turkey and ham sandwich. 

The whole gang.

Showing off his GMAT talent for the family Christmas Eve talent show.

Our meagerly decorated tree. I heart Christmas.

Reading a little nighttime book for my favorite niece and nephew.