Time to start planning...

....my wedding!! Kyle proposed yesterday and I said YES!
So here's the story:
Kyle and I were putting ornaments up on the Christmas tree in the living room, and when my back was to him, he said "Here's the last ornament. You can hang it up". When I turned around to grab it, he had a shiny wooden box in his hand, got down on one knee, and opened it. I was sooo surprised, I couldn't think of anything to say. He then asked "Will you marry me?" and of course I said yes (after a few silent seconds of awe). The ring is beautiful, and it fits perfectly. I love it, and I love Kyle so much and can't wait to be married for eternity!

Emma took pictures of the ring, so you can check out her blog listed on the right....

PURSES!!

Everyone who knows me knows that I love shoes and...PURSES! I saw this site the other day and I love all of their purses. If you click the link you have the chance to win a free one. Who doesn't love a free purse?!?!

I DO need a nice purse for the fall...

http://www.handbagplanet.com/

Check it out!!

IT'S FALL!!!

Alright alright I'm not posting once a week. I guess I'm just not cut out to be a blogger!! But I will update when I have anything interesting to write about.
Fall is my all time favorite season of the year. I love the smells, the colors, the trees, the apple cider, the pumpkins, and candy corn. This past weekend Kyle and I went on a hunt for pumpkins. We saw some at Albertsons, but we decided that we want to go to a pumpkin patch instead and pick them ourselves. We did stop by a place called The Big Red Barn in Santaquin. It's a country store that sells fruit (lots of peaches, apples, and cherries), fresh apple cider, crafts, home decor, gifts, fall decorations, homemade fudge and caramels , etc. I loved it! We bought a gallon of cider, and it was some of the best I have ever had. We then went to Cracker-Barrel and looked around for a while. We bought some old-fashioned candy, including Fruit Stripe gum (the kind with the zebra cartoon and the wrappers with the tattoo). They had some cute Christmas dishes, lots of John Deere stuff, rocking charis, and old-fashioned toys. It was fun to look around in there, and I also bought a harmonica for Chris. Sorry Emma and John!
On Friday night, I went to my first haunted house. I have never screamed so much in my whole life. It was called the Castle of Chaos in Salt Lake. It is voted one of the scariest haunted houses in North America by the Travel Channel. And boy, it was!! There were different attractions to choose from, and we decided to do the scariest...the Ultimate X-Scream. Even when we pulled in to the parking lot there was a man running around and through the crowd with a chainsaw!! I wish I would have brought my camera, it was so scary! We had to enter into the attraction alone, too!! I loved it and hated it at the same time. When I first entered it was pitch black. Voices came from all around and told me to get on my hands and knees and crawl. All I could say was "seriously?!" a couple of times, and they kept saying "yes, you must get get on your hands and knees". We also had to get inside wooden coffins that made a chainsaw noises and vibrated, until they opened up into a mini slide, where another man with a chainsaw was at the bottom waiting to get us! FREAKY! There were so many different and scary rooms - one with a girl chained to a wall begging for help, another room with a family who like to torture and eat people, one with a crazy girl and her doll, and so many more! Anyway, enough about that. It was scary, but I still want to go back and do the other attractions!
Kyle and I also went to the Utah State Fair in the beginning of September. It was pretty fun, but I definitely wore the wrong shoes... But we went on the Ferris Wheel and played some games and got some cinnamon almonds. We walked around and looked at all of the crafts and quilts, went to the "freak show", looked at all of the animals, and watched some bands play. It was just a little bit better than the Rochester Fair back in NH...haha.
On last week we went for a drive on the Mt. Nebo loop. I love going for drives, and this one had a lot of great views. It took us about 4 hours to go everywhere and make some stops, but it was worth the time. The colors on the trees were starting to change, too, so that made it even better. On Saturday we went to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. It was very interesting, and I can't believe how big they were! Some of those teeth could snap me in two with one bite! I'm kind of glad they aren't around anymore...The movie Jurassic Park kind of ruined my like of dinosaurs anyway...
Anyway, that's all that has been going on lately. I'm sure there's more, but it's been a few months so I don't remember everything. Except we went to the Thanksgiving Point Gardens, and I've decided that I want my backyard and garden to be just like those gardens. They were beautiful.

the Fair!

View from the ferris wheel

a rocking-plane instead of a rocking horse!

a rhino at the Zoo!

Chris!!

I'm Not a Very Good Blogger...

I thought when I started a blog I would keep up with it and blog at least twice a week. Now it's about once a month. From now on, I will definitely try harder to blog at least once every week. But no promises!
First, I have no pictures for this blog. Those will come later. (I haven't been good at bringing my camera with me to places). Only a few things have happened since I last updated. First, I brought Kyle home to meet my parents. And to visit all of the historic church sites in Palmyra, NY. We watched the Hill Cumorah Pageant on Thursday night when we flew in. I saw one of my friends from Utah and another one from the Exeter stake there! It's a pretty small world. On Friday we went to the Sacred Grove and toured the Joseph Smith cabin, along with the Visitor's Center. We also went to the Chill and Grill to get ice cream cones (a tradition). I got half of a kiddie cone, which was 2 scoops!!! I can't imagine how big a large cone would be...Maybe next year we'll have to find out. On Friday night we drove to Corisca, PA, where mom and dad live. Mom let me drive some of the way so she could sleep, but I don't think she ever closed both of her eyes. She always had one on the road and one on the pedometer. I don' think she trusts my driving skills....(although there is no reason for her not to!)
On Saturday Elza came to visit and sleep over. Mom drove Kyle, Elza and I to a small bridge (the drop off point) and we floated down the creek for over two hours on our tubes! (It goes past the backyard). It wasn't very deep in some spots, so we would end up carrying our tubes and walking. I forgot how humid the Northeast is! I hope to move back eventually, though. I love all of the houses and buildings in New England. And the fall, of course!! We flew back to Utah on Sunday night, so the trip was short, but it was a lot of fun and it was great to see mom and dad and Grandma and Grandpa. But especially OTIS!! Too bad he didn't fit in my suitcase...
Other than that, not much has been happening. Just the same old. Work, play, sleep, etc....

One Month Anniversary...

Kyle and I celebrated our one month anniversary yesterday. I know, I know, one month isn't really that long, but it seems like a lot longer than that! I had to work late last night (until 10:45) but I told him to meet me at my house at 11 and we could watch a move/spend time together. At work I made him a card with all of the extra time that I had. When I got home he had just pulled in to my driveway and said that he forgot to rent a movie and would run to Redbox. I decided to go with him and placed the card in his truck for him to find. He didn't see it for a while, so finally I just told him. He opened and read it, and had a look of disappointment on his face. I asked what was wrong, and he said he felt bad because he didn't make ME a card. I told him that it was alright and that I didn't expect anything. When we got back home I walked inside and there on the dining room table was a big bouquet of flowers with a note and a box of Belgian chocolate!! Apparently he went to my house while I was at work and put them there!! It was a wonderful surprise!

Plus, he really spoils me. I came home from choir on Sunday and he had dinner ready....again!!

Mormon Miracle Pageant

This past Friday night Kyle and I went to Manti Temple to see the Mormon Miracle Pageant. It was pretty good. It wasn't as good as the Hill Cumorah Pageant though...The recording was just a little too dramatic-sounding or something. It sounded more like a made-up story then true church history. It was a nice drive to the temple (lots of farm smells...!) We didn't take any pictures of the play, since it would disturb the cast.

We tried taking a bunch of pictures of ourselves until finally a man asked if we wanted him to take it. We took him up on the offer, although I'm not the biggest fan of how it came out. I need to work on my posture!

The King and I

When our family lived in Orem, UT ('92-'94) we always went to the Scera Shell, the local outdoor theater, to watch plays during the summer. We lived right next door, so we'd walk over with our homemade popcorn in a brown grocery bag (one kid would shake the open bag while another would pour in the salt and melted butter). We'd lay our blankets on the hill that would look down on the stage. Last week Emma and I decided to go see The King and I. It brought back so many memories! We brought our homemade popcorn and blankets and enjoyed a great play. It got pretty cold, so it's a good thing Emma brought extra blankets!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

First, the GOOD
Last night Kyle and I went to Salt Lake for dinner. He took me to the Garden Restaurant, which is on the 10th floor of the Joseph Smith Building. I got Chicken Parmesan, and Kyle got Mahi Mahi (fish). Usually I'm not a big fan of fish (other than tuna in a can) but I tried a bite, and it wasn't bad at all. I think it's just the fishy smell that I don't like so much. We then walked to the Church Museum of History and Art. I've never been there before, but I loved it. I really like looking at all the church history pictures and artifacts. They also keep it very clean there. At one point while we were walking around, I went to pick up an old Indian horn, and didn't realize it was behind glass until a smashed my hand on the window! Kyle thought that was pretty hilarious....I think I'll have to go visit there again. We didn't have a ton of time, so we weren't able to enjoy everything fully.

Now, the BAD.
This morning I woke up around 1:45 with a pain in my side. At first I thought I just slept wrong, but after about 30 minutes, the pain was just getting worse. And although I hate the idea of going to the hospital (especially the emergency room), I just couldn't stand the pain anymore. I wasn't going to go alone, so I tried calling Emma, but as it was now 2:30 in the morning, she was in a deep sleep and didn't hear the phone ring. I then called Kyle, who woke up to his vibrating phone! My prayers were answered!! He came straight over and drove me to the hospital....

Finally, the UGLY!

For those of you who know me, I don't like needles. I don't mind getting shots, but I hate the thought of someone putting a needle in my vein and drawing blood out of my body. It gives me the heebie jeebies! Well, before they are able to give me any medicine for the pain, they have to draw blood. For some reason I thought I would get out of this, because they would see how much pain I was in and just forget about the whole blood-drawing thing. Boy, was I wrong. The first nurse tried - and failed - twice. I started getting tears in my eyes. I couldn't do this anymore. I just wanted the drugs! The second nurse attempted to draw blood from two new veins - and also failed. After these 4 attempts, I start to cry a little. I knew mascara was starting to run down my cheeks. I have pretty low pain tolerance and I hate feeling sick. Kyle sat with me holding my hand the whole time, telling me that "this next one will be it. Definitely. They'll get it". They then got a third nurse. I tried to add some humor with "3rd nurse is the charm" or "5th time's the charm". But no, number 5 is no longer my lucky number. NO...the 7TH time was the charm. So now I have 7 little pin-prick marks in my arms and hands. After that ordeal, I got the pain-free drugs, and went to get a CAT scan. They found a kidney stone, but I actually passed the one while I was there! There are a couple more, but very small.
So today I've been lying around and relaxing. I'm just glad this all happened on a Saturday! I've had all day to recover and I'm already feeling better. Kyle has stayed with me. I think he's catching up on all the rest he missed, too! The medicine the doctor gave me makes me a bit nauseated and drowsy, but at least there isn't any more pain!! Thank goodness for modern medicine. They just need a new way to draw blood....

It's Been Fun!

Time to update again! The other day I heard a knock on my door around 7:30 AM. Lo and behold, there's Kyle, holding a couple of grocery bags. He then announced that he was going to make me breakfast! He made me an amazing omelette. I'm not quite sure what he put in it, but it was definitely the best omelette I've ever had. I've decided that I better practice my cooking skills before I make him anything. I guess I should start expanding my breakfast foods. Growing up, my mom would make breakfast every morning (at least 5 days a week) and it was always something good. Now that she's not around to make me breakfast, it's been cereal (at least 5 days a week)!

Here are some pics of my wonderful omelette:


Early in the morning!

Kyle also made me dinner this past Sunday, which was, again, amazing. He made Roman Style Chicken. Here are some more pics....

More updates to come!

Dessert Night!

Last night Kyle came over and we decided to make a dessert that neither of us had ever tried....Chocolate Strawberry Wontons!! They were pretty good, and simple! Just cut up strawberries into small pieces, mix with mini chocolate chips, and put a spoonful of the mixture onto wonton paper. Wrap it up, place on a buttered pan, and stick in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until golden (at 350 degrees). Once they have baked, sprinkle with powdered sugar. Viola! You have a delicious, easy, and fairly quick dessert. It would also be great with bananas or raspberries, etc. We paired it with ginger ale, and that was really good. Any bubbly drink would do, though...

Our strawberry-chocolate chip mixure

Kyle showing off a wonton

Holding our tray of wontons

The finished product!

SUSHI DATE NIGHT

I love sushi! Especially the Las Vegas roll…MMMMM!! It is stuffed with salmon, crab, avocado, and cream cheese, it’s tempura dipped and has sumo sauce and eel sauce. So good! Last night Kyle (a very nice young man) took me to Ichiban, a restaurant in Salt Lake. (Which, according to him, has the best sushi around here!) It was sooo good. I got the Las Vegas roll, of course. I also had a mussel shooter, which is, according to the Ichiban web site, “diced New Zealand green lip mussels mixed with flying fish eggs and green onions in a spicy lemon vinegar soy sauce topped with a quail egg”. It was pretty different. A bit spicy for me. And the texture was a little gross...But I'll try anything once! Kyle also made me eat a piece of his “mystery meat” that turned out to be eel. He refused to tell me beforehand so I would still eat it. It was actually really good!

Here are some pictures from dinner!

Vegas roll

eating a piece of sushi!!

Kyle's roll....way too spicy for me!

In short, it was a great night. More updates to come!

Almost a month later....

Alright, it's time to blog again. I'm sorry I've been such a slacker. Emma has been using my camera, but I have it back! So here's a quick update:
Mom, Dad, Hannah, and Abby came out to Provo for Mike's graduation. They stayed for a week, and it was great to have them around. I moved to the upstairs, where Mike and Shauna used to live. It's so roomy! Now I just need to find a roommate. I posted ads on Craigslist and KSL this morning, so we'll see how it goes. I love living alone and having my "own place" that I can take care of, but I need a roommate to pay rent. Haha. Also, I'm usually not a very paranoid person, but now when I hear noises, I know it can't be my roommate! I also need a roommate because tonight, a Saturday night, I was doing at 1000 piece puzzle all by myself. I know, I know, pretty lame... I'm tempted to send out a mass text and ask what people are doing....haha.

I'll just post a few random pics of "my new place". I'll admit that when blogs don't have pictures, I don't really read them....





Sorry there aren't very many pictures. I didn't take as many as I thought....

General Conference

It's been a while since my last post, but not much has happened. General Conference was this past weekend, and I was able to go to the second session on Sunday at the Conference Center. I think I was pretty lucky because that turned out to be my favorite session. I loved Elder Ballard's talk about mothers. When he spoke to the children, telling them to help out their mothers and to make their bed/do dishes/clean up toys, etc without being asked, it made me think back to my childhood. I remember mom asking me to do those things, but I don't think I ever volunteered to clean up, etc. I'll have to give her plenty of hugs when I see her to make up for it...

This was the first time I ever heard the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing inside the Conference Center, too!! They sounded wonderful. I think it's best just to close your eyes and concentrate on the words and the music. Also, it was great to take part in the Solemn Assembly. I wonder what President Monson was thinking the whole time. He has a great sense of humor and I'm excited to hear him speak often.

We didn't take any pictures at Conference except for the one above. But we did make a fantastic French Toast breakfast with orange juice and bacon!

I hope everyone enjoyed Conference. I know I did!!

Update

Tonight I was listening to Frank Sinatra on the record player and heard a song with my name! There aren't a ton out there, so it was cool to hear another one. It went something like "Molly and me and baby makes three." Now there are at least 3 that I know of, including Good Golly Miss Molly, Molly Smiles, and now this one.

Not a lot has been going on this week. I need to start bringing my camera with me whenever I go places. It's always more interesting when people blog with pictures...

Blast from the Past

Since it was really nice outside tonight, Elza and I decided to play some badmitton. I think the most hits we got in a row was about 4. I blame it on the wind...We played for about 40 minutes, and would have probably played more, but unfortunately both the birdies were lost in some bushes. There's no way to reach them unless we go into a neighbor yard behind us. Hopefully the neighbors will notice and toss them back over, but I doubt it. Good thing they were only a dollar!

We then moved on and played toss with velcro mitts. They are GIANT mitts, so it's pretty hard to miss the ball. The ball sticks to the mitt really easily, so I felt like a pro catching every one.

After 20 minutes of that, it was time to move on to the REAL fun...

SOMERSAULTING!!

I cannot somersault. Growing up, I used to run and JUMP onto the couch and do somersaults. I remember finishing the somersault, landing on the end of the couch, get up, and run to the other side to start all over again.

So, tonight Shelby and I each decided to attempt a somersault. Elza was our coach.

Here, you can see her example (with a slight interuption):

Here is our attempt after our coaching lesson:

As you can see, her coaching skills did not quite help our attempts...

Alas, before the end of the night, we BOTH DID A SOMERSAULT. Shauna came home and was our spotter, and we DID IT!!

I forgot how much it tickled my stomach...! It was certainly a blast from the past.

All Siebachs Play the Piano

Or at least most of them do. I can't think of anyone in our family who doesn't, anyway.

My nephew Chris is just carrying on the tradition!

(Sorry the camera moves a lot - you'll have to tilt your head)

I have a blog!

I've decided to start a blog. I know I probably won't have a lot to blog about, but I think it will be fun. Now I won't have to call mom every day to give her an update...I'm sure she doesn't mind, though :)

Today was Easter Sunday! Our stake had a morning-side at the Provo Tabernacle at 7:30 am, so the choir had to be there at 6:30 am to practice. Unfortunately, no one was there to unlock the building, so people sat in their cars or stood outside for about 15 minutes. Once we got inside everything went smoothly. I think the choir did a pretty good job.

At church we had a special combined Relief Society/Priesthood meeting, and the former president of the St. Louis temple came with his wife and taught our lesson. The president shared a quote by President Faust that I've been trying to find for the past hour, but it's nowhere to be found. I'll have to keep looking and post it once I've remembered or found it.

Mike, Shauna, Carter, Shelby and I had an Easter dinner upstairs. It was very good. And since I decided right before dinner that I wanted to start a blog, I took some pics!

Here are the potatoes I made. They turned out pretty well, especially since I had never made them before:

I think they looked better in real life....



And here is our set table with the food!



It was all very good. And Shauna made a very good apple pie for dessert.

Elza came to church with Shelby and me, and here are some Easter pictures we took:






Happy Easter!!