Happy Feet

We were watching a little Sunday night television.
I look down to see my warm and cuddly wool socks were mismatched.
"Hmmm....wonder why they are mismatched?", I think.
I look at Rick's feet.
He too was wearing the same mismatched pair.
Same color on the same foot.
Wierd.
Oh well, what can I say, we're in love.
We also like our feet warm and....
obviously don't look too close when putting on our socks.

Take A Picture, It Lasts Longer

So I'm in the market for one of those fancy shmancy DSLR cameras. I'm no photographer, but I do enjoy bugging people with my annoying urge to snap at any photographic moment I see. It's in my genes, my mom and dad are both obsessive picture takers. For example, they went on a Mexican cruise last month and not one but both of them had cameras. This meant two sets of pictures to go through when they got home which resulted in 800+ photos. They are a cute little couple and I love them. Rick sat through the first 25 and then bowed out and watched basketball. I took one for the team and sat through the whole load of 800. (On a side note, for those of you who didn't know, my parents got remarried last month. Yep, you heard correct....my parents got remarried, to each other. Pretty cool to send your parents off on their second honeymoon 30 years after they went on their first honeymoon together...hence the Mexican Cruise, hence 800+ photos and hence me calling them a cute couple. They are much too happy for words and I am so proud of them.)

Anyways, back to the camera. I'm having trouble trying to decide between Canon and Nikon. I've done a little research but I'm still a little uncommitted. I've heard they are both very similar, but does anyone have an opinion? Anyone used either of these? Below are the two I'm thinking but I will take suggestions on any alternatives. Any feedback would be VERY much appreciated. Gracias.

Canon XSi 450D



Nikon D60

Gobble

We were with Rick's family for Thanksgiving this year. We decided to eat our turkey down in St. George far far away from my work desk and any of Rick's text books. Not to mention the temperature is warm and there are palm trees. I love palm trees. My dad has a vacation home down in St. George that we could stay at and Rick's family had never been, so we headed down. It was wonderful.



A few things we were thankful for on our Thanksgiving trip:

Cari's Cooking Skills

Cari planned the whole meal and everything was scrumptious.


Sweet ApronsMy Mother-in-Law is the type that doesn't forget any special touch. She is so sweet and gave us these matching aprons to cook it up in the kitchen.

Apple Strings

Anthony's favorite part of Thankgiving was definitely the "apple strings" (as he calls them) that would come off as we were peeling the apples for apple crisp. We had to make him stop eating cause we were worried he would get a stomach ache. Good thing he ate a lot of the strings cause he fell asleep right before we started our big feast. So cute.

Nephews

I love watching Rick with Anthony and Ethan. They can't get enough of playing with Uncle Rick. Every family event is so much more fun and eventful because of these little guys. We love them.








It was fun! We are thankful. Until next year....

Food Is Joy....

and as far as Rick is concerned, joy is In N Out. Rick introduced me to In N Out on my first trip out to California while we were dating. He loves it and he got me to love it. Every time Rick goes home to California he can't wait to eat his beloved double-double burger. Well, now he can get it whenever he wants cause it is right next door in Orem and American Fork. There is a little part of us that is sad that it won't be a special occasion to go to In N Out when we go to Cali to see Rick's family but I think the joy outweighs the sadness. Rick, my little bro Matt and myself went and braved the crowds to opening day of the Orem store.

It was good....real good. Thanks for the greasy goodness In N Out, it was a wonderful night.

Simply Ridiculous

I went jogging last night for the first time...in a long time. How do I feel today you ask? Like my butt is going to fall off. Yeah, I'm pretty disappointed in myself. I have no excuses; no kids, no school, I do have a job but that is only 8 hours out of the day. Seems as though when you graduate with an Exercise Science degree, it doesn't exactly mean you are the most dedicated at keeping in shape. But don't you worry, I am changing my ways...and I am going to get in shape to do that triathlon in November(when Rick reads this I'm sure he will chuckle). I can see it now, six pack abs and a rock hard behind(a girl can dream). GO ME!!

Three Outstanding Men

Life is precious. Family is precious. This is what I have learned this week. Tragedy struck in my family on Monday with news that my sweet Uncle Ron and his two sons were killed in an airplane crash while on their way to a father and sons fishing trip in Oregon. I could go on and on about examples of why these men were amazing but no words can do it justice. They just were.

Jed Mingo, 32
SLC, Utah

Jordan Mingo, 26
Lehi, Utah

Ron Mingo, 62
Paul, Idaho

And so it goes in situations like these, my mind has been racing with thoughts of ANYTHING that I can do to help....anything at all, and besides prayers there is only one other thing I can think of doing.

Jordan left a young wife, Shelley and three young children behind in his untimely death. Shelley is now faced with a daunting road ahead of raising these three children(one born just three short months ago) under the age of four without the love of her life and rock by her side. There has been a paypal account set up in Shelley's name that will take donations of anyone who would like to help. A little (even $1 or $2) adds up to a lot and the more word gets out, the more this young mom will be helped. Below are quick directions on donating to Shelley:

1) Click on following link http://wherearethemingos.blogspot.com/
2) On right side bar you will see donate button under paypal
3) Enter payment info and it will be sent directly to Shelley's account

Jordan, Shelley and kids

Jordan and his brand new baby boy

Uncle Rick & Aunt Melissa

We thought that since we don't have kids of our own, we would borrow our cute little nephews for a day of fun in the sun at the new Lindon Pool to start practicing our parenting skills. I think it turned out well. No tears(maybe a few), no sunburns, and no ambulances were called. I just need to give a shout out to all you mothers, you are saints. These little guys are such angels but kids are so much work! I can't wait to have kids of our own...but I will keep borrowing these cute little guys until we do;) We love them so much.

Ethan

Anthony showing me his tongue

.....and Uncle Rick showing me his tongue

Mel and the boys

Nothing's Better Than Good Music

The Fray's How To Save a Life album was the soundtrack we listened to over and over again when we dated and we have been fans ever since. We love their unique and chill style of music that we can always count on to soothe our aching ears. So, when we found out they were coming to USANA amphitheater we could not resist. We went. We LOVED it.

We didn't have the closest seats because we were stuck in traffic for an hour on the way there, but regardless the concert was amazing

We love going to concerts at this venue...take your blankets and lay around on the grass listening to good music. The best way to go to a concert.

Rick refusing to be a good little boy for the camera

Love Them! Check out my current favorite of their cover of Kanye West's "Heartless"......so good

Triathlon

Rick completed his first Triathlon a few weeks ago and I must say I am SO proud of him. As I was warm and comfy in my bed on a Saturday morning, Rick and his sister Cari were up bright and early to go compete in the PG triathlon. They have motivated me to try and do the Orem Triathlon in November...cross your fingers folks:)

Crossing the finish line....1:22:57


They're special:)

So proud of my man....74th place!! Woot Woot.


Rick has been so motivated these past 6 months to get healthy and in shape. He has lost close to 30 lbs since the beginning of the year!!

JULY 2008

JUNE 2009

It's good that he is motivated cause I'm sure not, I am a big blub-a-dub and can't get myself off the stinkin' couch when I get home from work lately. HELP!!

Good job sweets! Love ya.

Our Hiking Day

Rick has been a broken record lately getting the point across to me that we are going to be active this summer doing hiking, biking, camping, etc. I told him I got the idea after about ten times of him mentioning it to me this past week, but that didn't stop him, I think he repeated it about 20 more times after that, haha. So, I decided that I would satisfy his craving for some outdoor adventure and we went and hiked Y mount this past Saturday. I was a little nervous because last year when I did this hike...mmm...well...didn't go to good for me. Let's just say I didn't eat breakfast before and I had to stop every 10 steps to take a break, pretty embarrasing. I definitely do not pride myself in being a good hiker so I was a little nervous about how I would do this time.

Me before the hike. I looked happy, but inside I wasn't too pumped.


Rick and I before the journey. After I took this picture I said to Rick, "You are smiling wierd, just smile normal". Well this next pic is what he gave me........


LOL. Yeah, we didn't take any more up close after that:)


We went with our friends Ryan and Rachel who just moved here from California. They have two kids who are the cutest.


We got to the the "Y" and I was so happy cause I had done really well without too much huffing and puffing, but.....


These insane boys thought maybe we should go to the very tippity top of the whole stinkin' mountain. After a little contemplation the final decision was.....



YES....ahhh.



So we kept going and I was actually pretty happy we did, we saw some cool views and burned a lot more calories. Here is Rachel overlooking the beautiful view.


Adorable Andrew. He is such a trooper, walked pretty much the whole way, ALL 4 HOURS!! He was full of questions the whole time and fascinated by all the lizards and snakes we saw.


Us at the top, atleast the top of our journey. We didn't make it the whole way that we were planning on. It was a little bit farther that we had thought it would be, hehe. After we got down the mountain we snarfed down a JDawg..yum!!! It was so much fun to get out and do something with the weather FINALLY being nice. It really got me excited for this summer and all the outdoor goodness we have ahead of us.

On a side note, we got a new car. We got rid of Rick's big truck and got a little car with good gas mileage. We tried doing the one car thing for a few weeks and we decided that even though we work at the same building and could make it work if we wanted, we are just not the couple who can have one car. We are so pumped, it's really nice and 1/2 the payment we had with the truck. Yay for saving money!! Below is a picture of our new beauty!!