The blog post that is more like a Facebook status

Today as I was driving home I saw a dead cat that looked like Hei-Bai and I started to cry. Life with the Robbins, ladies and gents.

Miquelle

Brain-cation

I don't have any pictures of anything we did this week. In fact, yesterday as my little sister was looking through my phone she made fun of the fact that I only have pictures of our cat. In spite of the cat-lady tendencies I tend to have, we still had a pretty fun week. Kevin worked a lot, I worked a little, we spent whatever time we had together either sleeping or playing Zelda. What whaaaat? We just beat Twilight Princess and are now playing Skyward Sword, the newest game in the franchise. Yeah, we know.

Ok, ok, we did other stuff too. Today is Kevin's last day working in Provo. Their location will be closing down, and he will now we driving up to American Fork! Hopefully he will be there for a while, this is the third location he will have worked at since we've been married. My job is still amazing. Working with special needs preschoolers is so hard and exhausting, but in the end so worth it. Those little guys put a smile on my face everyday, and seeing their progress is incredibly rewarding.

Besides our jobs, we have also been teaching the CTR 6 primary class in our ward, which we also love. Today during our lesson, one of us asked what we could do to be reverent in class. One of our kids piped up and told us that if he folds his arms and puts his eyes on one location on the wall, his brain can take a vacation during class. Needless to say, I lost it for a second. I know I sound like a broken record, but I love love love working with kids. I can't wait to be able to start our family. I just hope I grow up a little bit soon, sometimes I feel like the biggest kid of all.

Friday night we say the movie "Red Tails," which was just awful. Awful. I would rather listen to 2 hours of radio commercials than sit through that mess ever again.

Saturday we both spend time with our respective families. Kevin hung out with his parents and Shelly, I hung out with my parents and Kimball. We both had an great time and feel so lucky to be related to such awesome people, maybe some of that awesome will rub off.

To end this sort of lame post, here's a sample of the Zelda obsession we've been experiencing this week. Thanks to Kevin's friend Brian who sent us this CD, we really can't stop listening to it.  This is our favorite track off the album.
Gerudo Valley - Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony

Miquelle

FOR-EH-VER

Today is our four month wedding anniversary. I'm not usually one to celebrate minor dates like this, it just hit me this morning that it's ONLY been four months. It feels like it's been forever, which is a good thing. We've already been through so much together, good and bad. We've overcome all of our obstacles and come out stronger and with more love and devotion for each other than ever. I just wanted the whole world to know that I love my husband and feel so blessed to have him as my eternal partner. 

Pfft. Kissing? Who even does that.

Miquelle

With a New Year comes all new things.

This year has started out with all kinds of cool stuff going on.  We really loved all the time spend with family and friends over the holidays.  Starting out the new year we were able to enjoy a full day off from work to celebrate Miquelle's litter sister's birthday.  Kimball had a fun day planned ahead, and part of it was to enjoy an outing with her just to ourselves.  We went to Cupcake Chic one of the if not THE best Cupcake shop around. (here in Orem) and becoming one of our favorite places to go.... it brings smiles.  Kimball got her usual Very Vanilla, I got the Orange Creme, and Miquelle got their specialty this month which is a MAPLE BACON, yep it tastes exactly as it sounds. (see below) The best breakfast snack there is!!

We then went and joined the rest the Tingey family and made our way to Laser Tagging at Nickel-City.  There was a much bigger group there this time compared to the last few times we've gone which made it all the more crazy awesome!  I got smacked in the face by some kid's gun coming around a corner too fast, but teaming up with Miquelle and chasing down her family having a blast was pretty great.

Later we went to I-Hop for dinner, and I'm sure its obvious that the Tingey girls love breakfast.

As a reward for finishing Goblet of Fire the book,  we took Kimball to Chinese Buffet which is a restaurant she really wanted to go to, one of her favorite places to eat.  And they had some just delightful dishes.  

Now on to a few things that have transpired in the first two weeks of this year:  We got to putting away our Christmas decorations for the first time was really fun. For all of those who wanted to come visit and see it and could not, attached are some photos.  

Our first Christmas tree, which if you haven't heard that story feel free to ask its a doozy.

Combination of homemade stockings from Miquelle, our gingerbread house
and let's not forget Mr. Nutcracker.

The coolest window in the apartment complex.

And I just felt like adding this so EVERYONE can see the cool artwork (paintwork) my brother Ryan did for our wedding gift.  Looks good on the wall it does.  We also got to our Sugar Cookie baking, and we had fun using our Star Wars cookie-cutters.  We tried out both cookie and frosting recipes we had on hand and best part was the flavor in the cookies was amazing with the almond extract, downside of the frosting was interesting bathroom colored concoctions, but we are feeling much better now if anyone was worried.

Pre-Bake

Vehicles and All.

 And then they were frosted with goodness.... also does anyone see Slimer from Ghostbusters?

I Started school and it has been pretty energy consuming having to wake up at 6:00 am everyday and rushing out the door with crazy bed head.  But it's paying off cause we have more time together when we are not at work.  And to end out our week of fun we started to put together our Wedding Album and Miquelle made it look great.  Going back over those memories was just what we needed to end the week as well as going into what could be a very interesting week.  I will be relocating for my Job, and it is still up in the air where or when.  Updates to come when they are available. But Miquelle and I are loving life right now, and our work life has never been better and we are looking forward to this year.  I mean who can't have an amazingly fun time every week and be happy when this guy is staring you in the face.... or something like that.

Good luck to all in your endeavors and pursuits!

Obsessed.

I've been listening to the song below on repeat since before Christmas; I could drown in it I love it so much.

Rising rising, falling down.

Peace,

Miquelle

Meatball! Meatball! Spaghetti Underneath! Ravioli! Ravioli! Great Barrier Reef! *clap*

This week we:

Went up to my dear friend Tessa's house and watched North and South (North and South!) to satiate our need for 19th century British drama and also did a crazy scary rope swing. I love my Tessa, she was my roommate during my Utah State year. I could say so much about this girl because she is incredible, but for the sake of that's weird I'll spare you, dear reader.

Please ignore that ugly space between the second and third pictures, Blogger doesn't let me be as OCD as I would like with the layout of everything. Also, here's a hilarious video of me struggling with said rope swing.

We went snowboarding! It's been a while since I've been, and Chase wanted to go before he leaves on his mission, so my dad took us boarding at Sundance! It rekindled my love for the sport, and we all had an enjoyable time even though the snow was the WORST. The next day I was also reminded of how sore you get after snowboarding, particularly how sore I get with a wrist that's been broken three times.

                Chase got lots of compliments on his coat, and goggles + smiling don't really mix too well.

We had a good ol' fashioned lobsta bake! My dad is from Boston (Bahston, Bwaston) so we grew up with a love for seafood, particularly live shellfish! Kevin had never had fresh lobster before, so we decided it was about time he gave it a shot. T'was delicious.

                                                          My dad with the first lobster. 

We celebrated New Year's Eve with Joe and Jaynee! We all went up to the "Eve" party at the Salt Palace. Kevin and I were only up there for an hour, but we still went down the large inflatable slide several times and partied hard to the live techno group "Musclehawk." Yeah. (PS, after doing a Google search of Musclehawk, I realize that to call them a techno group is grossly inaccurate, they are actually Disco Thrash. Apologies.) Anyway, they were actually pretty cool. They tried to go Daft Punk after midnight struck and one of the band members wore what looked like a robot costume made out of a cardboard box. Going out for me was especially fun, because I've gone to bed at around 10:00 pm for the past few years. The only thing I wasn't missing out on during my time as a hermit was the PDA. Eww, and eww.

This week we also had the opportunity to visit with one of Kevin's favorite families from his mission, the Jacques. It was fun to hear them reminisce, and also fun to see the oldest boy pick Kevin up and hold him like a baby. We also went to see War Horse with Ma and Pa Robbins and boy howdy, I have not cried like that in a movie in a while. We wish you all the very best, and hope that your new year is the best one yet!

-Kevin and Miquelle

Happy Christmas Harry, Happy Christmas Ron

Christmas has come and gone, and I can honestly say that this year was the best year of all. Being married and not working retail are two of the big contributing factors, but being close to both of our families and being able to spend time with both of them was really grand as well. We of course missed our out-of-state family, hope your guysez Christmas was filled with fun, food, and the true meaning of Christmas.

The cat keeps jumping onto the back of the laptop and smashing my hands against the keys, so if there are any spelling errors or nonsensical words, please forgive me and blame the cat.

Christmas Eve started out with us waking up early and heading over to my parents, (the Tingey's) house to cook them a surprise breakfast. We made these bad boys, (see picture to right) and then helped with some cleaning and yard work. After all that, we went LASER TAGGING. If you guys didn't already know, laser tagging is one of my favorite things, ever. Ever. We went to Nickel City and were pleased to discover that they have the best laser tag in the whole world. After our battles with each other and some random eight-year-old kids, we went to Kevin's parents (the Robbins) for some good old-fashioned gift exchangery and fun times. After being spoiled rotten, we then headed to my cousin's house for my family's main Christmas Eve tradition. First off at the Kemp's, we had a delicious seafood dinner, loosely based off of what they would have eaten in Christ's time, then gathered together to start our program. Every year my mom and aunt Kristi make a list of every kid's "Good Deeds" that they did throughout the year and tell everyone about them. Since Kevin is a new addition, he was added to the list. We do this as a way to give the Saviour a Christmas present, we can't give him an X-Box or fluffy blanket, but we can give him our lives. We watched the Church's new nativity video, then ate "snowballs." (ice cream rolled in coconut with a candle lit in the middle) Following the program, we all got our Reindeer food then headed back to my parents for our Christmas pajamas, then Kevin and I went back to our place, and to bed.

Christmas day was an even earlier morning for us. We woke up at 5:15 and did our gift exchange, then got ready for the day and headed to my parents for their Christmas morning. After all the presents were opened and messes were made, we went to the Robbin's for their fabulous traditional sourdough pancake breakfast. Here is another picture of pancakes I found on Google. Following the pancakes, we did our third gift exchange of the day, and then spent several hours eating more food, playing games, and just having fun in each other's company. After the Robbin's festivities, we headed back to my parents for our Christmas dinner for my family, which was well attended. The Kemp's plus Courtney's boyfriend Steve, Kirk and Larry, and my grandma Jorgensen were all there. After eating yet again, we all sat around and talked more. After the extendeds left, we watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone with Kimball and my parents, then finally headed home. We both had an amazing Christmas. Thank-you everyone who celebrated with us for your kindness and generosity, and for just being awesome. God bless us, every one!

Picture Time

Miquelle being embarrassing while opening a present.

We gave each other pop-up books by accident

Christmas morn' at the Tingey's

Our only picture of Christmas at the Robbin's Nest. We'll try and get more, promise!

Other Christmas Happenings

Festival of Trees. Miquelle's pigeon feet.

We decorated sugar cookies with the Robbins! Kevin did the rainbow star destroyer and the Eskimo, my cookies weren't worth featuring on the blog :)

Temple Square!

Zoo + Christmas = A Christmas miracle. 

-Kevin and Miquelle