Numero Uno

Pete surprised me by getting us a room at the Grand America for our Anniversary. He did such a good job in TOTALLY surprising me.

I had asked if we could just go to temple square and out to eat for our anniversary and he said he thought that was a good idea. Then we found out later that his parents were going to be in Salt Lake that evening for a concert his mom and sister were doing and they invited us to go along. Since we already had plans Pete told them we wanted to just do our own thing. Then he told me that they still offered to get us a room so we could just stay up there after seeing temple square.

I didn't think much about it except that it was really nice of his parents to do that. So we were on our way to stay overnight in Salt Lake and I started guessing where we were going to eat since he hadn't told me yet. He was giving me subtle hints and I finally guessed the Grand America and he said that was it. So we pull in underground at the Grand and he says, "grab your bags because we are actually staying here."

It took me a minute to believe him, and after hitting him and saying it was too much, I got excited. He thoughtfully got the same room we stayed in the night we got married and we relived the wonderful feelings of being newly married and enjoying the Christmas festivities at the Grand America one year ago.

It was a perfect evening right down to the strawberry and Reese's chocolate ice cream we ate from the sweet shop at 10 pm.  I have a very thoughtful, wonderful husband.

The view from the 18th floor

The Finishing Touch

This year I slowly put up Christmas decorations trying to decide if it was REALLY necessary that Pete and I buy a Christmas tree that in a few weeks we would have no where to store.

So we did not end up buying a Christmas tree. I kept putting garland up and decorating it and that gave me my feel of decorating a tree. We won't be here Christmas morning anyway and we really don't have gifts for eachother to put under the tree (I sent him snowboarding and he took me to the Grand America--post to come).

I knew I was finally satisfied with not having a tree when I got these custom-made stockings from my sister. I asked her to make them for me out of a picture we saw online. She is so talented! I love that we have our own, unique stockings that no one else has.

Check out her blog amyoffthehook.blogspot.com.

We also don't really have the type of home to put Christmas lights up so we decided to use the Marquee Pete's dad made for our wedding reception last year. It is too cool to take apart.

  

So in case anyone had any doubts about who lives here . . . they just have to check out the window.

Pumpkin Carving

I bought two lovely pumpkins the first week of October because I was feeling in the fall mood. They sat on our front porch looking cute the whole month. We intended on carving them 3 different times but could just never get around to it. Don't worry though, we eventually did get them carved. And in time for the trick-or-treaters...all 3 of them.

Mine looked so terrible I had to cover it up with paint to make it look decent.

Making the face of our pumpkins

  

On our porch all lit up!

I love doing these small traditions during holidays. I get pretty upset if I don't get the chance to carve pumpkins, make gingerbread houses or dye eggs--I just don't feel like the holiday happened without them :).

What's in a Costume?

For as much as I like to dress up, I should be a HUGE fan of Halloween. Let's be honest here, I was playing dress ups with Ali well into our high school years. But I have never really liked Halloween--maybe the fact that everyone dresses up at the same time takes the fun out of it. So I did not dress up on Halloween this year. I did, however, dress up multiple times the week before the actual day for a few parties I had to attend. The first time I dress up was for dance. I taught two days but only got a pictures of what I dressed up as for Wednesday's classes--Miss Showcase USA.

Each year when we went on tour during the summer our teachers held the "Miss Showcase USA pageant." I was in fact crowned in 2003 I think or maybe it was 2004. So it was a small trip down memory lane for me (I wore the actual plastic, glittered crown I received when I was give the title).

None of the kids really cared about my costume, but the owner of the studio (who taught me dance since I was 4 years old) loved it--and that is really all that counts right? So I just had to endure a lot of "What are you supposed to be?" from the children the whole evening. This is what EVERY YEAR goes like:

2009: "Who are you supposed to be?" Answer: "Katie!" (my sister who I assistant taught with, she dressed up like me and we made the girls call us by the opposite name--I have to admit that year was fun)

2010: Question: "What are you supposed to be?" Answer: "The iPod commercial" (dressed in all black with my white iPod) *got only confused looks from the kids.* Apparently no one watches TV anymore?

2011: For Thursday's classes I dressed up as a Disco Queen with a bright purple full-body suit complete with bell bottoms and a huge collar that was actually my Grandma's in the 1970s. Talk about authentic. Again, none of the little girls really cared that it was a true outfit from the 70s and continued to ask "what are you supposed to be?" I then responded with "a Disco Queen" *pulling a Saturday Night Fever pose.* When I got a confused look I would state, "1970s--Ever heard of 'em?" But sadly, they haven't since most of these girls were born within the current decade.

Better luck next year, Annie. One day I will find a costume that requires no explanation.

For a family party with Pete's fam on Saturday, we went as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Little Olivia (who is 5 years old) was Snow White and the rest of us were the dwarfs. I was Bashful and Pete was Happy. Sadly, I did not get a single picture that night. Sorry! But let me assure you--we looked goooood.

Millarapalooza

Just realized I never blogged about the EPIC Millarapalooza this summer!

It all started nearly 4 years ago during the 2008 summer olympics when my family began joking about putting on our own Family Olympics. Except it wasn't really a joke. Because we really did it. It was like our own mini family reunion.

Just so you can get the full effect . . .

We had official judges sheets with my parents judging and keeping score. We made metals and had a podium where we had a special ceremony after each event. The day's events included your own country's flag making, costume contest, floor routine, shot-put, synchronized swimming, diving and ... did I forget anything?

It was quite the day to say the least. Our stomachs all hurt from laughing so hard all day long but more than that we were all dead tired from putting our heart and soul into every event---we are all a little competitive to say the least.

So this summer we were all going to be together again--but it wasn't 2012 so we couldn't have the next Millar Family Olympics yet. So what did my crazy creative brother come up with? Millarapalooza--a weekend full of fishing, games, eating and other fun activities. Pete and I were with his family in Midway for the first part of the weekend so we missed some of the fun but when we got to my parents' house Sunday night we laid down to go to bed on the floor in the basement, my brother (the self-appointed leader of Millarapalooza) came down to bounce ideas off us for the next day's events. He suggested doing some type of timed obstacle course.

Together Pete, my brother (Drew) and I concocted quite the plan. The obstacle course consisted of riding my mom's pink cruiser bike down the path on the side of the house to the swing set where you then had to climb up to the top level and slide down the slide, put on an oversized wet t-shirt, eat a cookie, drink 4 oz of water from a baby's bottle, plant an American flag in the garden, make a soccer goal, catch a football, hit a water balloon with a tennis racquet, take off the over sized shirt, slip-n-slide down the rest of the yard and find a string of beads in a 5 gallon bucket of mud. During all of this you are being timed, the sprinklers are on and everyone has 1 or 2 water balloons to throw at you. If you got hit, 10 seconds was added to your overall time. Whoever completed the course in the fasted time won.

Ash competing

Every one of my siblings competed their hearts out. My dad had a sound system set up in the back yard where he announced and gave a play-by-play during each contestant's turn. It was just too funny!

I am sure from an outsider's perspective it looked crazy and ridiculous, but we had a blast! And oh, did I mention Pete and I won? First and second place, respectively. Yeah! Millarapalooza champs, baby!

Best. Weekend. Ever.

Pete and I had such a fun weekend relaxing together and listening to the uplifting words of General Conference. We talked last night about what a fun weekend it was and yet it really wasn't like we did anything super special. But I concluded that it felt so fun because we had spent our time soaking up good, wholesome and uplifting words and music instead of wasting our time on other things.

I feel such a renewed sense of purpose and a great desire to try harder at being a better person.

Despite all that is going on in this crazy world, the messages taught in General Conference bring me hope for the future and happiness in my everyday life. I have so much to be happy about and so much to be thankful for!  

Saint Diego

This past week I was in San Diego for work. It was quite an adventure being in a hotel during the great power outage of 2011--for details read here. The hotel fed everyone in the ballroom where our convention was taking place so we had hundreds of people coming to our floor (using the one working elevator) in search of food after the city was without power for 4 hours.

The food consisted of anything uncooked--Salads, Rolls, PB&J--not your typical room service display. They handed out glow sticks and flashlights so that we could get through the night since they did not anticipate having power until the next day.

We got a good laugh out of all the people drinking like crazy for lack of better things to do and probably to take the edge off so they would feel a little less panicked about this all being some sort of terrorist activity.

The lights came back on at 3:00am and life resumed back to normal as if nothing had happened.

Aside from that adventure I spent some time reading by the pool, walking around Gaslamp Quarter, meeting lots of nice people and of course eating great food. . .  

For those of you curious about what I was do for work, I work for a nonprofit foundation. I was fundraising at a convention in San Diego. Click here to visit our website and learn more about what awesome things I get to do every day. 

Driven

Pete's little brother on a mission had a birthday this last month. We miss him terribly!

Guess what the best part of his birthday was though? His birthday present. Which is really a great present for the rest of the world--His CD was put on iTunes!

Zach (the brother) recorded a CD of instrumental music composed and performed by him before he left on his mission. I am telling you, it is AWESOME! If you like classic, uplifting rock music his music is for you. Even if you don't, I am pretty sure you will still enjoy it.

He is incredible! Especially considering he wrote all of it himself while he was in high school. Crazy kid.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/driven/id458755200

Seriously, check it out. You won't regret it.

Pete's Class

Pete was a Student Teacher's Assistant for a Hospitality Management class at UVU over the summer. The students were all still in High School and took the class as a part of transitioning them into college.

He would always come home with funny stories about how the kids would harass him during study hall and stalk him on Facebook, then make fun of him. But he loved it and had a blast.
The other day I was going through our camera trying to find an old picture and I found these. I never even knew he took the camera, but how cute that on the last day of class he got everyone together for picture with him!

Dr. Winsome

All this time Pete has been so enthusiastic and excited about working toward attending medical school and eventually becoming some type of doctor. I haven't been so sure, however. It's just that he LOVES it. Too much! And I am a selfish wife, I don't like taking the backseat. :)

After this week though, I am all for med school. Because look how attractive he is in scrubs!

What a hunk, I would choose him as my doc!

This summer Pete took a phlebotomy course and I could not admire him more. He would come home with bruises and holes in his arm from the other students practicing on each other and never complained about it. I could never take a course like that!


This past week he had his externship at the hospital where he drew blood on real people! For real reasons! Babies, old guys, crying people, you name it.


I have been so impressed with Pete as he works so hard to do something he loves.


I guess another Dr. Sundwall in the world wouldn't hurt ;)

Midway x2

This is going to be a very boring post because I do not have any pictures. We thought our camera broke so we stopped taking it anywhere. But when I looked into it further I realized it didn't necessarily break for good, we just can't use the zoom. So I finally brought it on our most recent trip and NEVER used it! Bad Annie! (Pete thinks it is ok because we brought it, "isn't that good enough?" NO! What is the point of bringing it if we aren't going to USE it! So lame.)

Anyway, we have recently attended two family reunions with Pete's family. One with the Sundwall side over the 4th of July weekend and then one with the Stevens side over the weekend of the 24th. Since Pete's parents were in charge of planning both reunions this year we went up to Midway both times.

It was so nice to get away for a bit and enjoy the great outdoors. We went four-wheeling, boating, hiking, running, biking--you name it.

We laugh about how different things were between the two reunions. The Sundwall reunion was laid back. We all kind of broke off in groups and did our own thing. Pete and I hung out with the adults for the most part since he has an uncle and aunt close to our age as well as some cousins our age.

With the Stevens family there was a lot of planned events and activities for the kids. Pete and I usually had at least one child on our laps and hung out more with the little kids than we did the adults. I felt really at home because it felt like it does when I am with my family and there are about 100 kids under eight years old running around.

Both reunions were such a blast! I had never been up to Midway before, but I loved how beautiful and secluded it was there. It is so nice to live close to family and be able to attend family gatherings!

Catching My Breath

I have been UNBELIEVABLY busy lately! But life is now slowing down and hopefully will remain that way for a little while.

My work has kept me very occupied and working more than usual. Then with the 4th holiday and two reunions to attend, as well as Pete's birthday, I am just proud I made it through alive.

I think Pete had a good birthday...though you will have to ask him for confirmation on that. We spent most of the day apart while I worked and then the evening driving to Boise, Idaho for a good friend/mission companion's wedding. But being in Boise for the sealing was well worth the drive! And it was a plus that we got to stay in Nampa with my Grandma and visit my childhood vacation spot. Pete has heard so many stories about my trips to visit family in Nampa as a child and now he finally got to see the place in person.

Our reunions with Pete's extended family (Sundwall side) and my immediate family (all my siblings together!) were so fun! We had a blast. I didn't take any pictures but hopefully I can round up a few from others to share.

My sister-in-law stayed here in Utah with her kids for about a month starting in June and so we got to spend some extra time with them. At first the boys were hesitant when it came to Peter but it only took Peter playing "swords" with them to make him the first person they ran to hug when we came in the door. A while back Pete needed to fix his car and the they wanted to help. I snapped a few fun shots of them helping Peter "fix" the car.

We sure do miss all seeing all our family! But are grateful to be settling back into normal life again.

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

Last week I had some eye-opening realizations. Pete had the opportunity to shadow two different doctors, one of which was his father. Because of this opportunity, he dressed a little differently than he normally does and for whatever reason put on his glasses as well. When he came home I was across the room and could swear it was his father walking into our home. I told him I had to have a picture because he looked so much like his dad and you can see how happy he was to take it.

This next picture actually happens to be more like my own dad...which is a scary realization that I may have married someone more like my crazy father than I realized (I say that with complete love, we tease him a lot. Love you dad!) Since getting warm outside, we have had tons of little neighbor kids who have set up their stands on the sidewalks selling just about anything.

One night he came home with these two lovely pictures of . . . Dogs? Raccoons? I am not really sure. But he couldn't resist buying the 50 cent pictures.

I laughed at Pete for buying those pictures thinking it was a onetime thing. But of course the next day he came home with two small Dixie cups of red KoolAid he handed to me as a "gift." He had already drank his all gone but couldn't wait to watch me flinch as I tastes the YUMMY KoolAid the little neighbor kids had made.

I really hope we aren't creating a habit here or we could potentially go broke. :) Nonetheless, it is kind of sweet that he wants to keep those kids in business. He says he loved the people who would buy from his little stand growing up. I really can't dislike his sweet intentions.

6 months, what!?

Last Friday Pete and I celebrated 6 months of being married! It does not feel like we have been married that long at all. Maybe that is because we have been away from each other for nearly half that time. Whatever the reason, time has flown!


I am not one to celebrate made up holidays but I thought this special occasion was worth a date night. Pete and I went out to eat at Carrabbas, a really good Italian restaurant, then went and got our wedding cake out of my parents' freezer and borrowed Star Trek while we were there.


While watching Star Trek we ate two large pieces of our wedding cake and still have enough left for our 1- and 2-year anniversaries. To our surprise it still tasted really good! My grandma is the best at making beautiful and delicious cakes! Thanks Grandma!


This really is not a great picture of us but it is the only one we took of the evening. We had fun celebrating the small milestone in our new lives together.

Side Note

Can anyone else not figure out this formatting business? I set my blog posts up all nicely but for some reason blogger will not cooperate.

Please, any suggestions on how to get along with blogger when formatting my blog posts would be appreciated.

I seriously struggle.

A couple of gallons of water and 15 miles later....

Pete and I had a great weekend hiking Zion's. We wish we had time to do more but probably wouldn't have been able to handle much more consistent hiking. We were so sore!


We got into Zion's Thursday evening, had some good--but way too expensive--sandwiches in the park and then proceeded to hike to the upper emerald pool.

As we were hiking up we heard some loud noises that sounded like goats. Once we got to the top we realized that it was these tiny frogs that made LOUD noises! Must have been mating season. Pete's aunt Alyce was kind enough to let us stay in her beautiful home (The Alyce Palace). We got in late and they had just closed their pool but they opened it back up for us and we got to swim in the cool water under the St. George stars.

The next morning we woke up and ate wonderful omelets made by Alyce. Then we filled our packs with lots of water and peanut butter sandwiches and headed to Zion's to hike the 8 mile roundtrip Observation Point on the East Rim.

I was in awe the whole time. Everything was so incredible and beautiful! The information we got from the park said that the hike should take us about 5 hours. But we were at the top in an hour and a half. We booked it! We were passing people left and right, ha!
(on the top)

Coming down was worse than going up because it was so steep. But we finally made it down and had the time and energy to hike to Weeping Rock as well.
We got back to Alyce's just in time to play with the kids in the pool for a little while before Alyce fed us yet again. Then we hit the town...meaning the outlets and Cold Stone Creamery! We woke up early again on Saturday, packed up and headed to hike Angel's Landing. I was a bit worried about hiking this one because of all the horror stories I had heard. I did OK though, as long as I didn't look down...which is kind of the point on this hike. But I enjoyed it regardless. The terrain was completely different than any other hike we did so i enjoyed it. And I felt very proud of myself for accomplishing it...until I saw the 7 year olds surrounding me...then I just felt like a baby for being scared.
(Pete was ready to take a nap on the top of Angel's Landing, but I wouldn't let him. I was too eager to get off that high mountain where I was bound to slip.)

(we saw this owl sleeping on our hike, I could have sworn it was a stuffed animal.)

Pete and I had planned on hiking the Narrows but found out that it is still closed because of high water...surprise. So we just hiked a few things and relaxed the rest of the time which was really nice for both of us--we don't naturally gravitate toward resting or relaxing so it was a good vacation for us.

Weekend Trip

Headed here today....
(Zion's National Park)

Three days of hiking.

Should be pretty cool because I have never been there. And it is on my list of places I want to go. And since the other places just so happen to be on the other side of the world, I am utterly content with this weekend trip.

Mustachio

In case you didn't notice, Pete grew out his mustache for the month of May. When he left for his 8-day baseball trip to the Great West Tournament it was a little gross and he got a few comments on it but when he returned I was appalled at how discustingly funny my husband could look! I thorougly enjoyed his enthusiasm for doing something new and audacious (yeah I used the thesaurus for that one!).

A few pictures from when he returned for your enjoyment:

This was us last Halloween when we were engaged, we talked about how we wish he could of had the Chester-stache back then to complete the look.

Hallelujah

Guess who's back?

Home for good.

And LOVING it.

Back to Our Roots

Recently I have lost sight of who I used to be. When I graduated from college I had these visions of being a productive college graduate who was constantly seeking out learning opportunities. But as I look at myself today I realize that I am only doing all I can to get by. I go to work early in the morning and get home late in the day then I do all my household duties and never take time to do something new or anything I love.

So....here are a few of things I intend on implementing into my life on a weekly basis:

• Running for as long as I want (who cares if I should be doing laundry or dishes instead).


• Projects. Creative projects. Like making cute skirts and painting old dressers.


• Eating popsicles.


• Learning to play the piano (really this time).


• Family History research-this takes a lot of hours but I am determined to find even a little time here and there.


• Perhaps not on a weekly basis but I definitely think Pete and I should go country swing dancing more often. We went the other night with some friends and had a BLAST! (pictured above)

Here's to new beginnings. I am going to spend more time doing the things I love and learning new things. And I think as a result Pete will stop feeling so pressured to constantly study and never take a break--I really think these improvements will be good for both of us in many ways.

Pride and Joy

My sister sent me these pictures of her little girls. I just HAVE to share! I am like a proud grandparent that has to show off their "adorable" grandkids. But seriously, how can I not share these ADORABLE smiles?!

I went to Kentucky back in March and never blogged about it. I loved spending time with these little kids. They are so adorable I can hardly stand it. At the mall. All the kids love Grandma.

Mac and I

GG (Gray) eating the most delicious cookies EVER! (My sister-in-law makes them and I crave them when I see these pictures)

Miss Ellie

Emma "reading" me a book. I thought for sure she wanted me to come upstairs so that I would read her a book. But no, she informed me that I needed to sit down so she could read me a book (she doesn't read, she's 2)

Me and baby Annie hanging out

These kids I get to see a lot more often since they live close.Colin doing one of his favorite things (eating)

This is usually the face I get when I see her.

This one I have yet to meet. But I know we will hit it off when I see her real soon!