2013 January - May

The beginning of January 2013 was freezing so what do people do when it is freezing cold? Get married!  We celebrated Clinton and Teddi getting married on January 5th and I was happy to get this amazing selfie with 5 people in it.  A few years earlier, at Alisha's wedding, we got a similar picture so we were recreating the moment.  I love the Wisemen's!

Kaitlyn Kolilis is pretty much the coolest person ever!  She got me these amazing Tom's for Christmas, they have math on them and I am a math teacher.  It is too good.  I only wear them on special occasions since I don't want them to wear out too fast!

There is one simple joy of teaching Jr. High and that is watching the terrific/horrible plays.  These kids have cracking voices and acting that makes you want to cry but it is pure joy to the teachers who teach them.  I convinced Kaitlyn and Laura to bask in this wonderful treat.  I think they would both agree it was well worth their evening.  Oh and the play was High School Musical… yeah I bet you can imagine just how awesome it truly was.

At the beginning of the year, Bryce Avery from The Rocket Summer was playing at an event.  Emily, Kaitlyn, Laura and me all decided to go and the best part besides seeing Bryce Avery play was that...

I got to meet him and talk to him.  It was pretty awesome and I was happy to see that he was a nice and humble guy.

I love living in Utah and getting to hang out with my Bountiful cousins.  We decided to play Harry Potter and wear capes, yeah we are super cool, but who cares when you are having fun.

This is the day that I went of my first date with Kennedy, February 9th 2013.  It was the best first date that I have ever been on.  We had to drive through a snow storm to get to the Old Spaghetti Factory and laughed the whole time.  Before we went on this date, Kennedy had invited me over for the Super Bowl and we had made a bet who would win.  The winner would get a free dinner, needless to say, I lost.  At Old Spaghetti Factory, Kennedy was ordering drinks and appetizers and I was thinking this is great that this boy is taking full advantage of winning a challenge.  At the end of the dinner I pulled out my wallet to pay but Kennedy was a complete gentlemen and ended up paying.  That was his plan all along and then he had to tell me that is was a real date, I wasn't sure because I am not too smart when it comes to boys hitting on me.  I thought he just wanted a free meal.  I am glad it wasn't all he wanted... 

A few days later it was Valentines Day, when I got home from school I got a text from Kennedy saying to look on the front porch of my house.  When I looked I saw that there was a card that said, "Chocolate may be good, but you are the best!"  After one date he got me the most amazing valentine ever!  There is a story behind this valentine.  A couple weeks before our first date I went to a farewell for my friend Mark, Kennedy was also there and we ended up spending a lot of time together.  I was eating a chocolate tootsie pop and saying how good it was.  I ended up sounding pretty stupid when I said, "Chocolate Good, Chocolate Good."  I was trying to describe how the outside was good as well as the inside.  Kennedy thought it was so funny so he put a sign on the outside of the box that said, "Chocolate, good" and then on the inside it said, "Chocolate... good?" 

I went and saw my wonderful friend Marjorie.  We went to the DI and tried on crazy clothes.  I love spending time with her.  She has always been such an amazing friend and I could ask for a better one.  

My dad turned 58 and I was glad that I could come home and celebrate with him, even if he doesn't like his birthday, I hope that he likes me coming home.

Kennedy and I went on a second to the Utah Gymnastics meet.  One of the things that I love about Kennedy is that he makes me feel so comfortable and we always have such a great time.  We had another great date and I knew that something was special about Kennedy.

We are also kind of perfect for each other.

Kaitlyn's school put on a play, "Into the Wood."  Because Kaitlyn sat through my wonderful play of "High School Musical" I owed it to her.  It was actually really good.  I hate to say this but her play was way better than ours.  They are the North Ogden Knights so we had to get a picture with the knight and shining armor.

In March, Laura celebrated her birthday.  We went to Settebello's, an Italian pizza place.  I loved having Laura as a roommate.

Kennedy also had a birthday in March.  For his birthday we started off the day going to Kneaders for all you can eat french toast.  It was delicious.  We hung around bountiful for a couple hours with Jay Paul and Leah.  We then went to lunch at Moochies for Philly cheesesteaks.  They were so delicious.  After lunch we went to a Real Salt Lake game (soccer).  After the soccer game we went to The Pie, a pizza place that is the best pizza I have ever tasted.  All 3 of these restaurants are Kennedy's favorites and he loves going to Soccer games so I was glad he got to do all the his favorite things for his birthday and that I was there to celebrate them with him.

We celebrated his birthday on Saturday but his actually birthday was Monday.  I made cafe rio pork and cake mix cookies.  I also gave him a recreation date of the first time I met him.  We met at a Real Salt Lake Game and before the game we went to Crown Burger.

My sister came to visit Idaho and I love anytime I get to see her and my wonderful nephews.  I love Cohen and how silly he is.  Thanks for coming and visiting Ansley, come back anytime!

Another fun date that Kennedy and I went on was to the Color Fest.  Here is the before shot when we went into the Color Fest.  As we were walking I found $20 on the side of the road.  I used that to pay for us to get in.  Kaitlyn and Laura also came with us.

After being in the Color Fest for a little while, now we are all covered in chalk.

Close up of Kennedy all covered in chalk.

One night for our date, Kennedy decided to be creative and bought us some wooden objects to paint.  We first went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner and then spent the night painting.  Mine was the cute Norwegian house that we will someday have in Norway and Kennedy painted the rocket ship with the 3 different times of day.

I got together with my friends that I met in Bountiful when Kaitlyn and I moved here in January.  They have been excellent friends and I have loved being a part of each of their lives.

The Rocket Summer was back and we had to go, we went to Johnny Rockets for dinner, they forgot our order and we had to wait forever and then ended up taking our food to go since we wanted to be to the concert on time.  We had a great time and loved seeing Bryce Avery put on an amazing show.

Bryce Avery performing as amazing as always!

In April, I decided to take this amazing man home to meet my family and also one of my best friends.  Marjorie was graduating for BYU-Idaho and so we went to celebrate her graduation.  I am so proud of her!  Kennedy and I had a blast watching Marjorie graduate.  We took some selfies to show how much fun we were having.

So silly...

What is a trip to Idaho without a trip to the Idaho Potato Museum.  We even got potatoes for out of staters.  Dad came with us and made sure we read every fact about potatoes that we could ever want to know.  It was super windy that day but we braved the wind and went and took a photo in front of the potato.

In May, Kennedy's best friend Jay Paul got married.  We went and celebrated the marriage of Jay Paul and Leah at a reception in Taylorsville.  In the picture above I am trying to break Kennedy's sparkler with my sparkler.  It is one of my favorite picture of us because even though I am trying to doing something malicious, Kennedy is still so happy and in love with me.

We are just so cute!

Another one me and Kennedy's dates was going bowling.  As you can tell, we are pretty going at bowling and it has nothing to do with luck when we get 3 strikes in a row.

My friend Shalese wanted to go to the garden's at Thanksgiving Point.  Laura and I decided to go and did not regret it.  The flowers were beautiful and it was fun to spend the day with friends.

At the end of April or beginning of May, to keep teachers from quitting they have made a week of celebrating called teacher appreciation week.  I took my two teacher best friends and we got a discount of Chipotle and talked Yogurt Land into giving us a discount too.

One of my favorite reason I like working at Union Middle was this lady right here.  She was the best co-worker I could ask for.  She is super brilliant and excellent with the kids.  We started at the same time and we grew so much in the year that we worked together.  I was sad to leave Union because of her.  Union had a spirit week and we decided to be twins on twiner day and dress alike for the fancy day too.

Can I just say, Kennedy is the best boyfriend ever.  First of all, her lets us got to Costco and rather than us getting a cart, he decided to be the cart for us.  On top of that, he carries my tampons, I think that he is a keeper.  To go along with this picture, I invited my friend Kaitlyn down to hang out with us but forgot to tell her that we were having a Mulan party and were eating Chinese food.  We bought a lot of Chinese food at Costco and she just thought we really liked Chinese food.  When we got home and started making all the Chinese food, Kailtyn was again confused.  She finally asked if we had something going on.  I told her that we had the Mulan party, why she came over.  We laughed about it.  Kennedy would probably just say that is a classic Merilee, assuming people can read my mind.

We had another party a couple weeks later for the Arrested Development premiere on Netflicks.  We had all the proper snacks to celebrate Arrested Development complete with Bluth's Frozen Bananas.

Cornballs, Banger in the Mouth...

My favorite, Bluth's frozen Banana's

To say my first year was hard, is an understatement but to say that is was not important would be insane.  I loved working with this group so much.  We had our ups and downs but they made my first year the best it could be.  I love being a teacher and being able to make a difference in my students life.

Kennedy, once again the best boyfriend ever, brought me flowers on my last day and gave me a massage from his boss, who is a massage therapist, so it not weird.  He was so nice to recognize how huge it is for a first year teacher to finish the year and want to go back the next year.  

At Lagoon next to the Jet Star is a sign that says "No Single Riders." The first picture was taken October 2012 right before I met Kennedy.

This picture was taken May 2013, 2 months before Kennedy proposed.  I am no longer a single rider!

The Rest of 2012… 3 Years Later

Highlights of 2012

In June, a couple of my friends went to a Rocket Summer concert.  I had not seen them since 2006 and I love this band.  It was fun to spend the night rocking out with Kaitlyn and Emily to some sweet Bryce Avery tunes.

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love Texas Roadhouse (It is in this blog twice).  For my 23rd birthday.  The main reason I wanted to go there, besides the ribs, was so I could ride the saddle.  Everyone who came got a turn on the saddle but Kaitlyn and I did a twinsie picture.  It was a great birthday and I was grateful for all the cousins and friends who came to celebrate with me.

2012 was a year of concerts.  The last concert I had attended had been several years before in college.  Kaitlyn convinced me to come to Warp Tour with her.  Warp Tour is a bunch of bands, some who you have heard of and others who no one knows, who come and play on the same day.  We saw lots of bands including Yellowcard, Taking Back Sunday, The Used, and a bunch of other ones I had never heard of.  It was long day in the sun and we had a great time dancing and seeing a couple students, not really about seeing the students, it was awkward.

Ryan and Carrie came to visit Idaho the Summer before they left for Europe.  I had the great idea for us to see the Manti pageant.  I hadn't ever been, or at least that I remembered, and thought it would be a fun activity for us.  I love the Manti temple and how beautiful it is, it looks like castle.  I ended up holding Carver the entire pageant as he slept but I loved every minute of it.

The summer of 2012 was filled with working at summer camp, hanging out at our apartment pool where people were pretty classy (aka had lots of missing teeth), and running to sonic on a daily basis.  These are the girls who made my summer amazing and I loved spending time with them.

I went to the Ogden firework show with these two lovely ladies.  They were also my go to hang out people.  I ended up living with Laura (right) for over a year.  I am so grateful for the wonderful friends I met in Utah!

Our family can't stand to go any amount of time without trying to see each other.  We planned a family reunion in Texas over the summer.  Ansley, Stephen, Afton, Mom, Dad, and myself were all there to celebrate.  Of course, all the babies were there too to celebrate the Anderson's being awesome.  We had lots of fun swimming, going to Ckick-fil-A, SeaWorld, and just playing all day.  I love any opportunity I get to spend with my family and can't wait till I get to see them again.

Dad, Mom, and Me at Sea World at the Seseame Street Show.  It was over cast that day and we didn't want to get too wet but we ended up having an excellent day.

The highlight of my summer was probably the coolest vacation resort destination you can go to… ATLANTIS!  

TJ's mom Mirae was kind enough to let me tag along as the babysitter.  It was so much fun to spend all day in the pool and eat the best tasting food.  I had an amazing time being the most spoiled babysitter of all time.  They had a lazy river that had rapids and I think we probably went down 10-12 times during the week.

Another amazing experience we had while we were in Atlantis, is that we got to swim with the sea lions.  As you can probably tell from the picture, I am loving every minute.  They gave each of us the opportunity to hug the sea lion and….

KISS the sea lion… I loved both parts!

None of the group shots turned out very well but here is the best we could do.  

I loved spending time with the whole family but most of all I love getting to be around my sister.  She is so much fun to spend time with and I wouldn't trade her for any other sister.  Plus she hooks me up with the best babysitting job ever! Love ya Ansley!

Leaving Atlantis, on our way to the airport and we were all so sad to have to leave.  Seriously, I know why people live in paradise.

Before I started my first year of teaching, I had to say goodbye to a dear friend.  I sold my Buick LeSabre 1998 custom edition wit the dent in the front.  She was a solid lady and took me on many adventures in high school and college.  She will be missed but I am loving my Toyota Camry 2006.  Another hand me down from my mom but no complaints here...

Since I moved to Utah, I have opened my eyes to the various sport teams.  I went to a Bee's game with my parents.  Baseball is kind of boring so I have not been back to another game since but it was fun to go with my parents and go to Hire's Big H before the game.  Great end of summer activity.

Another sporting event that I went to with my wonderful friends was Real Soccer Match.  It was fun but I don't know a lot about soccer so it was difficult to pay attention sometimes.  The atmosphere at the games is great.  They have amazing fans who will keep beating drums and playing horns throughout the whole match.  Go Real!

Besides being a grown up and buying a car that will survive the rough terrain of Utah (just joking, the buick could have handled it like a pro), I also bought a couch.  I felt so grown up buying a car and couch and then reality hit me that I would have to pay both off.  The joys of being an adult.  I am happy to say that both items have been paid off since.

The third concert of the blog was The Big A Show.  We got to see Imagine Dragons, which I got to see again with my lovely roommate Laura the next year.  We had a great time parting all night.  After seeing Neon Tree's and The Used (again, I don't even like them) we went and watched Pitch Perfect.  One of my favorite movies and I got to see it with my favorite people, Kaitlyn and Laura.

UEA, something amazing that they celebrate in Utah and I had to make sure my first UEA break as teacher was epic.  UEA is a fall break that is only 2 days off school but 2 days off school is wonderful. Laura and I decided to go visit my brother Spencer in California for the weekend.  We made a pit stop in Reno for Wednesday night and then another pit stop at the Jelly Belly Factory before we went to visit Spencer and his family.

The Jelly Belly Factory was amazing and if you love Jelly Belly's I would recommend a visit.  We got lots of Jelly Belly's to eat and shared with our gracious hosts.

We also visited Alcatraz, I didn't really know what that was but we took a ferry to get there and it is pretty much a prison where some famous mobsters went.  It is really difficult to escape because all the water around it.  It was fun and I would recommend for people to go at least once.  It was really cold though.

Alcatraz in the background.  We also loved visiting the piers in San Francisco, they had lots of yummy sea food and clam chowder!

We went to visit the Oakland Temple, it was so beautiful and the view from Temple is not bad either.  I loved getting to spend time with my wonderful nephews.  Thanks Spencer and Nikki for letting us visit you!

At the end of October, I went to another Real Game.  The thing about this Real Game is that I met my best friend and husband.  I am so grateful that I got to sit to such an amazing man during this game and get a glimpse at how amazing life can be with him by my side.  Love you Kennedy!

For Halloween at school, I dressed up as Katniss from Hunger Games.  A lot of my student's had said that I looked like Katniss so I went with it.  It was fun to dress up but I don't know if I will be able to dress up every year.

I don't know why anyone would want to go to a Football game in Utah in November, especially an evening game, but when Dad asked me to go, I went.  It was so cold and the game was not overly exciting.  The crowd was making paper airplanes out of the papers they had handed out to see if they could make them down to the field.  Funny story, Kennedy was also at this game freezing his butt off, but he had much better seats.  I wish we were sitting together so you could have kept me warm Kennedy!

In December, our ward had a Charity Auction.  I went thinking that I would maybe buy some desserts or a car wash but I was wrong.  Laura and I were sitting next to some of our friends in the ward, Brittany and Melanie.  As the auction went on we ended up being coaxed into buying a group date.  It was fun date but I thinking the excitement of buying 4 boys for $130 was better than the date.  No marriages or friendships bloomed out of this date auction.  It went to charity but it is sad that I had to buy one of my only dates in 2012.  Don't feel sorry for me, I got the best date a couple months from now with Kenny Boo Boo Bear.

Ansley came to visit before Christmas, since she would be in St. Louis.  We had a great time hanging out in SLC and spending lots of time with her and the boys.  I love getting to see my family whenever I can.

My beautiful roommate Morgan got married at the end of 2012.  I was so happy to celebrate with her and Byron.  They are so perfect together and I love them!

Byron, Morgan, and Me!

Christmas of 2012 was uneventful.  It was a quiet Christmas with just Mom, Dad, and me.  This was Christmas Eve and they both were asleep before 10 o'clock.  

There are perks to being the only child at Christmas.  I received this beautiful keyboard so that I could practice at my place in Utah.  

To end of the post and the year is how any year should end, a trip to Texas Roadhouse to eat some wonderful ribs.  Happy 2012!