The Happenings of Quinn N' Linds

Ivory Cleo Millet Birth Story

2011-11-08T10:52:00.000-08:00

My due date was August 20^th. It had been a long a hot summer and I had my hospital bag all packed, so I was super excited to get this baby out. However, I had heard one too many times that first babies always come late and I did not want to get my hopes up. That being the case on August 20^th Quinn and I went to a Sugarland (a county music band) concert at USANA. It was great to have something to look forward to on that day besides not having a baby. Turns out the 21^st was not the day to have a baby either so we decided to go to a Brandi Carlile concert at Red Butte Gardens, AMAZING concert and a great way to pass the time when you again, not having a baby. Monday morning the 22^nd rolls around and I got up at 5:45 like any other day and went to my masters swimming group at the pool everyone commented on how amazing it was that I was 2 days past my due date and still swimming with them every morning. Throughout the swim I was feeling a little crampy and extra tired, after swimming 2 miles I showered and headed home. After breakfast and a little computer time, I had a few last minute things to buy and return. I hopped in the car and ran errands for the next 2-3 hours, the whole time I was feeling a little tired and what I thought may be small contractions. I got home and decided to lie down for a while. 3 hours later…I woke up from my nap and Quinn was home from work. We spent the evening together and while we were watching TV I decided to start timing my contractions because at that point they were pretty regular. After timing them for about 30 minutes we found that they were about 4 minutes apart. Quinn started getting nervous and was convinced that we would have the baby that night. I reminded him how long fist time labors are and how if we went to the hospital they would probably send us home and I was not about to be that person. We continued to time the contractions and at about 9:45 Quinn asked for the report, they were 2-3 minutes apart. He told me to get up stairs and get my things, we were going to the hospital whether I liked it or not. It was a really weird feeling leaving the house as two, knowing we would come home as three. I was surprised how calm I felt, I was more excited and determined to have this baby and kick butt at it!

We arrived to the hospital at 11:00 pm and brought us to a room. The nurse said she was not going to check us in until 12:00 so that we could have an extra day in the hospital. So because we did not have a room, we went outside and walked around the hospital grounds. It was such a peaceful summer night (besides having to stop every 2 minutes to breathe through a contraction) and we just enjoyed our last walk as just the two of us. At 12:00 they checked us into our labor and delivery room; at this point we were both starting to feel a little tired and were ready to sleep. Unfortunately for me, sleep was not on the docket for the night. I was hooked up to all my monitors and the nurse checked me, I was dilated to a 2, after being barley a one for the past three weeks, I was super excited. The nurse said she would come back the next hour to check me again. Quinn settled down on his couch and tried to stay awake and keep me company. The nurse came back at 1:30 and checked me again, I was a 2 ½, she informed us that most labors progress a ½ centimeter an hour…at that rate I was not going to have this baby until 4:00 in the afternoon. At that news, we settled in, Quinn made a nice bed for himself and I tried to take my mind off contractions with the TV. I told Quinn to get some rest because it was going to be a long night…little did I know, that was the last I would hear from Quinn until 6:30. The nurse came back in at 3:00; I was in a good amount of pain and really focusing through the contractions. She checked me and this time I was a 4, she asked me if I wanted the epidural and I could not get the words out fast enough…YES bring it on!!

The anesthesiologist came in soon after to give me sweet relief. I have to say that the epidural was by far the most painful part of labor. Luckily he was quick and I was feeling pretty good in no time. All I needed to do now was try and get some rest. I think I was able to sleep a total of 45 minutes all night, but I was so excited that I did not feel that tired, I was just ready to meet my little girl. At 6:30 the nurse came back to check me, I was a 10! She was surprised how quick I progressed and ran off the call my doctor and get things set up. Quinn was wide awake after that…We were going to have this baby in the next hour! My doctor was delivering another baby so it took her about 45 minutes to get to me. In the mean time the nurses got me all set up and were talking to me about pushing. We decided to do a couple of practice pushes to get the rhythm of it down. After two practice pushes the nurses told me to stop or I would have the baby without a doctor there to catch it. At 7:30 my doctor came in and we got started, 3 pushes and 9 minutes later, Ivory Cleo Millet was born. Nothing can describe how I felt while I was pushing fear, excitement, anticipation; I was awe struck. As soon as Ivory came out, my doctor put her on my chest and I saw my baby girl for the very first time. I cannot put into words the immense love I felt for her right then. This tiny little person that Quinn and I had created and I had brought into this world. After a few minutes of awing over our little piece of heaven, they took her away to clean and weigh her. Everyone in the room was amazed that it was my first baby and that everything has happened so quickly and that I had no tears considering she was such a big baby (8lbs 12 oz) I have to say I felt like super women for the rest of the day. We spent the next two days falling at the hospital falling more and more in love with our little girl.

Heading to the hosptial All hooked up and ready to go
Pure bilssOur big girl

Daddy holing Ivory for the first time A rare moment of awake time

A new post...yes it is true!

2011-08-08T12:05:00.001-07:00

Thanks to my sister-in-law Dixie...I have been forced to write a blog update.

Summer top 10...so far.

1. Lindsay has been gradually packing on the pounds and getting ready for baby. Luckily, it has been a nice hot summer and baby girl has been cooking hot. To keep cool, Lindsay has taken to hiding in the basement, eating a lot of Popsicle and sno cones, and swimming a lot. If she decides to show up on time, she will be here on the 20th.

2. Quinn has been playing a lot of racquetball. He has found a partner that he plays 3 times a week and keep him challenged. The competition keeps him excited to play every time.

3. We have really enjoyed our new house this summer. Lindsay planted a garden in the backyard and we are just beginning to enjoy the fresh tomatoes. Quinn has become quite the porch sitter and has been enjoying the beautiful summer nights on our front porch swing.
4. Quinn went on a weekend fishing trip in Southeastern Utah with some in-laws. He described it as fishing with a little camping on the side, They spent 99% of the time on the water and the other 1% was split between eating, sleeping, and catching up. Needless to say, Quinn learned he is more of a camper with fishing on the side.

5. Quinn's little sister tied the knot! We had a great time seeing all the family and catching up everyone. It was a beautiful day and we are so excited to have Matt in the family and have plans to go out a visit them in Texas...in December :)

6. Lindsay's grandparents live in a small town in Southeast Utah called Richfield. There is no better place to celebrate America's freedom than a small country town. Normally, we participate in the local 5K Freedom run, but Lindsay was a little too pregnant for that...so we slept in instead. We spent the whole weekend down there and did a lot of visiting with Lindsay's extended family. On the 4th we enjoyed the main street parade complete with beauty queens, tractors, and cub scout troop floats. The carnival at the park and the 4th of July would not be complete without the trout grab!

7. We decided to drive back to Salt Lake City on the 4th of July to watch the fireworks at Sugarhouse park. This was probably one of Lindsay's favorite things we have done all summer; there was excellent people watching, love music, great food, and a lot of walking around. The firework show was VERY impressive and better yet, we were able to walk to the park instead of fighting the rest of the city for a parking space.

8. Quinn is scout leader for the 12-13 year olds in the ward and the scouts headed out to Moab for a little camp out. While Quinn was down there, he was able to hike, raft, and sleep under the stars. Their campsite was taken over by mice (they lost a lot of food) and one of the leaders pop-up campers was also a popular hangout for the mice. Luckily Quinn has his own tent and was saved from the scavengers.

9. We were able to spend a beautiful summer evening with Adelia, her kids, and AJ at a Bee's game. Since it was close to the 24th of July, it was also a firework game. Bee's games rarely sell out, but this was a special day; a fire work game and a complete blowout (the Bee's won by 14 runs!) Quinn spent most of the game explaining the intricacies of baseball to Joshua, while everyone else spent their time walking Rachel around (apparently she is not much of a baseball fan).

10. Lindsay's family had a family reunion in Flaming Gorge. It is not often that we can get everyone together, but we had a great time. We rented out 3 campsites and everyone set up their campers/tents for the weekend. Lindsay's dad Kim brought the speedboat from Logan and we spent most of the time out on the lake. We really enjoyed watching the big boys show off on the wake board and forcing the sometimes smiling, mostly screaming nieces and nephews to ski. We also had a chance to raft the Green River, it was crystal clear and stock full of fish. It was
great to get away from the city for the weekend and sleep under the stars.

Here is a photo collage of what we have been up to.
1 & 2: Quinn and I went to Canyonlands and hikes around for a weekend.
3 & 4: Mom, Dad, Paige, and Trevor rafting down the Green River
5: Quinn and I visiting Doug and Katrina in San Fran
6 & 7: Trevor and I hanging out on the boat at Flaming Gorge ( I am 9 1/2 months pregnant here!)
8: Annabelle and Lucas (niece and nephew) catching a nap while the adults wakeboard.
9 & 10: Mom catching some sun on the boat. Quinn guiding me down the Green River.
11& 12: Jen and her girls at my baby shower. Dad doing what he does best.

Keys on Main and Colorado Trip

2009-10-20T17:21:00.000-07:00

May 2009

My sister-in-law Dixie decided to enhance her knowledge and move off to D.C. for grad school. Quinn and I wanted to have one last night with her before she left us for the all too alluring EAST COAST. What better way to say goodbye than a live concert at a hip downtown club? The answer...nothing; because this club even threw in free martini glasses and free drinks!

The performer of the night: Eric Hutchinson...Excellent live, I highly recommend him!

Quinn and I enjoyin the good music.

Dixie and Shane. I think Dixie in especially excited in the picture because she had just experienced her first Pina Colda...on the house! (Virgin of course).

Showing off our SWAG...free martini glasses (I think we all ended up leaving them under our chairs at the end of the night; oops!)

Here is the live video of Eric. He had a great stage presence and was really funny. I have not figured out how to flip the video...but I will soon.

Bad Reaction to Flu Shot + Down Time = Blog Update

2009-10-20T16:54:00.000-07:00

I have been all but physically assulted by more than a few loving family and friends becuase of my lack luster blogging. I guess it takes angry phone calls and substantial down time (due to side effects of above mentioned flu shot), to get me going. So here it is, it not so many words and lots of pictures....AN UPDATE!

April 2009

I competed in my first triathlon. I ended up doing 3 more throughout the summer and loved it! Safe to say....I am addicted.

This particular race was an Xterra race (meaning you mountain bike instead of road bike) and I did the race with our good friends Jess and Andrew Wood. Race Day ended up being rainy and freezing. It had been raining for several days prior to the race, giving the moutain bike course ample time to get nice and muddy. Special thanks to a supportive Quinn (love you!) for being my photographer/ cheerleader.

Here I am pre-race...cold but excited and ready to take on the competition!
In T1, transition between the swim and the bike.

Ready to face the muddy mountain bike course

Turning the last corner on the run and sprinting to the finish line.

We did it!! Jess and I post-race excited, muddy, and ready for a warm shower.

Lindsay...Lindsay...How does you garden grow??

2009-03-30T15:55:00.000-07:00

Great question....I have NO IDEA! Quinn and I are really motivated this year to get our backyard fixed up and functional. Part of fixing it up includes a fully planted veggie garden, raspberries, and strawberries. Ambitious....yes, too ambitious....only time will tell (let's hope not)!

The problem I am running into with planting my garden; minus the snow and frigid temperatures; is a complete lack of knowledge about gardens and how to plant them. See my problem? So, I turn to my good friend GOOGLE and type in Utah Veggie Planting Chart; guess who come to my rescuse? "My Alma mater Utah State, my heart sings out to you". The USU vegetable specialist, Dan Drost, put together a chart outlining the vegetables that grow well in Utah! Not only does it tell you what to plant; but when to plant it, how deep to plant, row spacing, and how long it takes to produce!

Wish me luck on my planting ventures...I can only cross my fingers and wait!

3rd Annual San Francisco Trip

2009-03-24T15:29:00.000-07:00

Quinn and I had another opportunity to go and visit Doug and Katrina (Quinn's sister) in San Francisco. I had an event in the city for work, so I flew in early on Monday and worked. Quinn spent the week working at home in SLC and then flew out to meet up with me on Thursday, once my event ended. Quinn has really been putting in the hours appraising and was BADLY in need of some time off. He met me at our downtown hotel and had the weekend to enjoy some family, sun, and ocean views.

Doug and Katrina have lived in the San Francisco area for years...so they had a couple of tricks up their sleeves to show us while we were there.

They took us to the ruins of a once posh bathhouse on the beach, just outside the city. We went around 11:00 pm...making the experience all the spookier! The building used to be a giant freshwater pool and spa that over looked the Ocean; but due to its close proximity to the salty water had been reduced to almost nothing. We scaled down the side of a muddy cliff (I of course wore my new brown suede flats and a smart pink trench coat for the occasion...oops!) and started exploring the ruins.
There was a cave that you could walk through and hear the water come in and out; it literally sounded like you were going to wash away with the tide every time a wave came in. Here we are on the other side of the cave. Quinn is basically holding on to the cliff for dear life; you can't see it very well here, but there is only about an inch of rock between us and the edge of the cliff and the smashing waves below!

We then headed North to Sonoma County where we stayed in a cute little motel on the beach, flew kites, played games on the beach, and of course toured vineyards.

Doug is a kite master and spent a good part of the day teaching Quinn and I how to keep the kite in the air; it's harder than it looks! Quinn mastered the kite well before I did and even learned to make it do flips! Doug took the strings and showed us both up; he is quite talented on that thing; he can get the wind pulling the kite so hard that it drags him through the sand!
Our gracious host's The Spencer's...after they kicked our butts in kube!! We owe you a re-match!

While Quinn and I were in the city, we went on a "Foodie Tour" of the North Beach area. What is a "foodie tour" you ask? Basically, we walked around with our guide to a bunch of really old cafes, bakeries, and resturants and sampled food. Forget the fact that we were the yougest people on the tour by about 30 years and it was awesome! Needless to say, we did not cover a whole lot of ground, one can only be hearded into tiny old shops so fast. The food was great though; we sampled: fresh bread, olive oils, cheeses, truffles, meats, foccatia, bakery sweets, and THE BEST coconut macaroon I have ever tasted!

October/November Summary in Pictures...and a few words

2008-12-08T16:56:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe how time has been flying lately! On Monday I feel like the weekend will never come and then all of a sudden it is Friday; but then all too soon it is Monday again. A vicious cycle if you ask me!! I guess that is where all the time has gone and that is also how I am going to explain my lack of posts!

October and November was full of outdoor fun, parties, family, work, and weddings!

Quinn and I competed in "SLC: The Amazing Race". One of our teams tasks was ice blocking and another was a fireman's relay. We ran all over the valley completing various tasks at locations such as: Cabelas, Thanksgiving Point, Maverick, Kennecott Mine, and several parks. Team Quiet Riet (consisting of Quinn and I and our friends the Riley's) could not quite pull off first, but we did manage 4th place!

Tandem Labs (my employer) had a convention in San Diego that I put together, so I flew out there to make sure all went well. While I was there, I shared breakfast with a good friend from high school, Lindsay Hauser at a cafe on the beach!

Quinn and I have really discovered MillCreek Canyon since we got Rylee. We have taken her up there several times and she LOVES every second of it. This is the view of Dog Lake up Millcreek canyon.

My cousin Natalie Nay got married in the Bountiful Temple! We were roomies at USU, so these are all our fellow USU Aggies!! It was amazing the amount of college friends were able to make it!!Most of us lived together at some point during our time at USU, so it was great to see everyone!This is a very classic Linds/Natalie face...I think we were reacting to the fact, that yes, she really IS married!!She had her reception at a beautiful home in Mapleton. The back yard was so beautiful, Quinn and I had to take advantage!Mom and Dad drove out for the wedding!Now onto Halloween: The dinosaur is my nephew Tyler and the Octopus is my niece Reese. The little spider was a neighbor friend that came "Frick-O-Freating" (according to Tyler) with us!The Rappleye Sister's got together and had a post Halloween, Halloween party. My sister Jen put together a scavenger hunt in the backyard.

And of course...we played in the leaves. The pirate is my niece Andi and Odette (from Swan Lake) in my niece Afton.I made a festive graveyard cake for the occasion.

This cake made me VERY popular with the nieces and nephew!

This has to be the cutest picture of the night!! My two nieces, Reese (Kristi's girl) and Chloe (Jen's girl) are just two weeks apart They love to explore and have some much fun interacting with each other! You can only imagine how long it took to get these two smiling at the same time!

Quinn has recently introduced Rylee to peanut butter! If you want to keep her busy for an entire day; take a raw hide bone, slather it in peanut butter, freeze it...and viola you won't see her for the rest of the day!She is trying to get out every last bit of peanut butter here, we did not even try to take this away from her...it was way too entertaining!Lastly, Tandem Labs had a show in Atlanta...so off I went. These are some pictures of the booth I put together for our company. I am sure Atlanta has a lot of great things to see...but most of what I saw was within the Atlanta Convention Center!

My favorite part had to have been the Tandem bike that we raffled off...it was VERY popular! This trip I also had the chance to sample some of Atlanta's fabulous restaurant's. If you ever need any suggestions in that city let me know; I feel like all we did was go from the convention center to a 5 course meal, back to the convention center, to another 5 course meal, to the hotel to sleep and do it all again the next day!!

Pet Peeve!

2008-10-28T15:52:00.001-07:00

I don't normaly post things that bug me...but I had to share this one.

We live several miles away from Sugarhouse park. On my morning runs, I usually head in that direction, run around the park a few times and run back home.

One morning in September, I noticed how dark it still was at 6 A.M. I started to worry about getting hit by cars, especially becuase it was only going to get darker in the mornings.

So, being the responsible runner that I am, I bought a reflective vest and started wearing it every morning on my run. I did not do this to look cool, becuase I am constantly dodging comments like "Oh! Capitan Safety...it is a good thing you're here, Rylee was just running with scissors!" from Quinn. I bought the vest to keep myself from getting hit by cars.

Well, you will never guess what happens next! I GET HIT BY A CAR TWO TIMES IN TWO WEEKS and to top it off, it is the same stupid lady in her CRV booth times!!
How can you not see this!!!

A New Edition to the Millet's!!

2008-10-27T17:19:00.001-07:00

Yep, that's right...Quinn and I have taken the next step in our lives, we have decided to grow our little family by one.

We are so excited!

Please Welcome Rylee Millet!!

She is our sweet little English Setter. We bought her from a breader in Idaho and she was born on June 8th.

She is so fun to have around. I take her running with me and Quinn will soon take her hunting with him. We have taken her to the dog park during the farmers market to socialize and up Millcreek Canyon several times. First to enjoy the fall leaves...

Second, to mingle with other dogs at dog lake. We ran into a couple dogs on the way up and she had such a great time playing around with them. She also loved not having to stay on her leash the entire time!

Come by and visit on new little guy when you get a chance!

20/15 and lovin every minute!

2008-10-20T16:38:00.000-07:00

I can see, I can see, I can see!! That's right, I got lasik eye surgery. Thanks to my dad, he gave me the gift of sight for college graduation (1 1/2 yrs ago). On September 11, 2008 Quinn and I drove to Hoopes Lasik Eye Clinic, I arrived in my glasses (which I had been wearing for 2 weeks prior)

Read all the precautionary instructions

And had my vision tested one final time before going under the knife (or lazer in this case)

After they cut the cornea, they have you sit in a massage chair for 30 minutes with your eyes closed while your eyes adjust. The whole time the chair is massaging and they bring fresh baked chocolate chip cookies!!

Here I am, with Quinn (my support the whole time), dropping my un-needed glasses in a donation bin. Who needs glasses when you can see 20/15!!!!

Suprise Anniversary Trip!

2008-09-17T16:00:00.000-07:00

Joel this is for you! I will post details about the trip soon, but here are pictures!

Lake Powell!!

2008-09-16T15:55:00.001-07:00

In July Quinn and I were able to go to the best place on earth...Lake Powell. My family has gone every summer with the Nay family (my aunt and uncle) since before I was born. Summer is not Summer without a week on the My-Ski-Tow with the fam. Nothing beats early morning wake board runs, fishing, campfire stories, POWELL FOOD, tube wars, and sleeping under the stars. We did all of the above and more; Quinn actually found a very special friend while we were down there...

Yeah...Quinn found a lizard in a slot canyon and adopted it for a few days. Croc (as he was so named) actually stayed on his arm through an entire movie and overnight!

And who would have guessed... that this amazing couplewould get engaged only a week after we left Powell. Congrats Natalie Nay and Brian Sanders!!

We spent a lot of our time wakeboarding and tubing out on the lake. Here is a little slide show of all our Powell pics (a lot of wake boaring ones of Quinn and I).

Back to the days...

2008-09-05T10:32:00.000-07:00

On our flight home from our trip to Boston, we decided to extend our 1 hour layover in Chicago, to a 6 hour layover so that Quinn could show me his childhood stompin' grounds. His family moved to Utah from Chicago when he was 12 and he has not been back to visit since. He was so excited to visit his old house, elementary school, and swimming pool in the cute little city of Geneva, IL. The day was filled of stories and memories of Quinn's childhood. It was fun to see where he grew up and to hear all of his stories as he walked me around to each place. Quinn posing in front of the steet sign that he and his brother Abe tied a neighbor kid to so that they could see how long it took him to untie himself.
This is the fire hydrant that Quinn knocked his teeth out on when he went over the handlebars of his bike.
The big white house on DeerField Way, lots of fond memories in that place.

A Trip back home

2008-08-21T09:35:00.000-07:00

Quinn was sweet enough to drive all the way to Colorado in July with me to attend one of my old choir and track buddies wedding. My highschool friends are finally starting to get married, they all thought I was CRAZY when I tied the knot two years ago, now they are finally seeing the light! I have known booth the bride and groom since elementary school, so it was great to see them get hitched! Plus, Quinn and I were able to visit my parents and hang out with the younger siblings.

The wedding ended up being like a high school reuion of sorts. It was so weird to see all the people that I grew up with again (it has been almost 5 years). A lot of the people that were in Summit Singers (a select choir in my high school) including the bride and groom were at the wedding. We decided to sing a little song for the newley weds, for old time sake. It tunred out, that we had our pianist, our choir teacher, several tenors and bases, 2 sopranos, and me...the lone alto. Just enough to pull off an impromptu performance.

Our Boston Photo Album

2008-08-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

Boston

2008-08-20T15:02:00.000-07:00

In June Quinn and I were able to go to Boston... on the compnay dollar (at least my part of the trip was). Tandem Labs (my current employer) had a tradeshow in Boston that I put together; so of course, I had to go. I thought to myself, why not turn a business trip into a vacation and invite Quinn along!! We had a awesome time sleeping in a 5 star hotel, eating fresh seafood, and enjoying the sites!

Quinn was in Heaven all morning (it happened to be 10am when we got there). Nothing like award winning ribs for breakfast!

Bunker Hill Cemetary...I felt weird smiling around a bunch of dead folk!

You can't go to Boston without visiting historic Fenway!! I also must say...Flirting is sooo underrated, how else are you supossed to get 10th row seats when you were supossed to be sitting in nosebleed?

A Fenway way park must...Sweet Caroline!

No ballgame is complete without this song.

Our final destination after our 20 mile bike ride around Nantuckett Island. And yes...we were SOO sore the next day!

Just as the ferry was leaving Nantuckett to take us back, a dense fog rolled in. It made the whole island look like a ghost town and the temp. drop about 40 degrees!!

We loved Boston, I would move there for the Gelatto and Canaloi (italian pastry that I may have been OBSESSED with!) We can't wait to go back again!

Capital Reef

2008-07-14T16:05:00.000-07:00

The last weekend in May, my cousin Devin came homw from his mission, so Quinn and I decided to head down to Richfield to listen to him speak on Sunday. Since we were already driving part way Quinn and I decided to venture a little farther south and pay a visit to Capital Reef National Park. We had driven through many-a-time on our way to Lake Powell, but had never actually stopped and stayed.

We learned a couple valuable lessons on our dirve down to Capital Reef...
1. You will NEVER get on the road until at least 1 hour after you wanted to
2. Never assume that just becuase you believe there will be open camp sites, that it will actually happen (whose stupid idea was it to only have 1 campgound in the whole park anayway!!)
3. When a campground says it is full...it really is (now matter how long you drive around with your parking lights on at 2 a.m., you cannot blind people out of their camp sites)

We ended up sleeping in a R.V. park across from a gas station for $25 a night (they did not have seperate pricing, we paid for elecricity and poop dumping when we only there for a total of 6 hours(including sleep time)!!

That day however, we managed to go on an AMAZING hike that overlooked the entire park.

A cute little arch I found on the way up to the top!

The view from the top, thankfully there was another couple up there to take our picture (we did not see ANYONE the whole 5 miles up and at the very top...there they were!)

Here is a video of the view that we had from the top of the hike...it was amazing!

Kalai Spring BBQ

2008-06-10T17:18:00.000-07:00

Quinn and I decided that we wanted to celebrate the spring with a little BBQ party and our house. Leave it to Quinn to book Kalai to play a backyard concert for our humble BBQ. Since Quinn stepped it up with the entertainment, I felt it necessary to step it up with the food. After a few of our infamous planning sessions, our small BBQ turned into a PARTY! We sent out formal invites, cooked 25 pounds of pork for sandwiches, and topped it off with a chocolate fountain! We had a great time and hope to make it an annual event.

What were the Millet's up to in May??

2008-06-10T16:39:00.000-07:00

I apologize that I have dropped off the blogging planet the last month. The Millet's have been quite busy and it has left me little time to report on our life's activities! In the early part of May our good friend Bryan Hurd invited us and few other friends (including newly married Tyler and Rachel Buzzwell) to a Real Salt Lake Game. Everyone knows that the probability of actually catching one of the shirts that is blasted out of those high powered guns is very low. Well, it must have been Quinn's lucky day. (This is not the "actual" catch, but a very convincing re-enactment. We recieved some interesting looks from the crowd when Quinn got this excited twice!) Quinn almost fell down the bleachers to catch the shirt, but hey at least HE caught it.

California Adventure Pictures

2008-05-15T12:11:00.001-07:00

"Real World" Spring Break

2008-05-14T14:40:00.001-07:00

Another reminder that you are no longer in college....NO SPRING BREAK! It was early March, I began to get really bored with everyday life, why sooo bored you ask?? I am used to getting scheduled breaks at random times throughout the year (thanks to our school systems for implementing thanksgiving break, Christmas break, fall break, winter break, spring break and best of all SUMMER!) Now that I live in the "real world", I have to trudge along with everyone else who works 9-5 in a break-less existence. Wait...there is a point to all my ranting. Quinn and I needed a break, a vacation of sorts. Since our birthdays are weeks apart in March and April, we decided to gift ourselves a vacation to California to visit Quinn's sister Katirna, her husband Doug and our nephew Sampson. This was our second annual trip to visit Katrina and Doug and we were excited to experience the outdoor/scenic side of California vs the touristy city stuff (all of which we did last year). We had a great time hiking, sleeping, shopping, and eating. It was a great way to celebrate both our birthdays! Thanks goes out to Doug and Katirna for being amazing hosts...anyone who goes to California should call them, they will show you a good time!

Our Titanic ImpersonationThe biggest piece of birthday cake I have EVER seen

March Madness!

2008-04-17T16:19:00.000-07:00

No...not college basketball bracket buster (though Quinn would approve if I blogged about that). I am talking babies!! In March alone Quinn and I became Auntie and Uncle to 3 new nieces and 1 new nephew! Please welcome to the world....

Aubrey Stott

February 26, 2008

8 lbs 2 oz

Proud parents: Marne' and Dave

Thayne Michael Millet

March 2, 2008

7 lbs 6 oz

Proud parents: Floyd and Jo

Reese Phillips

March 15, 2008

6 lbs 8 oz

Proud parents: Kristi and Scott

Chloe Alexis Bates

March 29, 2008

7 lbs 11 oz

Proud parents: Jenn and Cory

A special thanks goes out to all of our siblings. With them reproducing so often...Quinn and I don't need to contribute for at least 4 years!

Culinary Creations

2008-04-17T15:10:00.001-07:00

As most of you know I love to cook, especially DESSERT! As of the past 4 months or so, I have really been focusing on presentation. I feel like I can make something taste good, but I was not the best at making it look good. Here are some of my most recent experiments...I think I have made some progress.

A carrot cake I made for Quinn and I one Sunday night.

This is my first effort in making a cake actually look like something. My mom always did this when I was little, my birthday being in April, I got A LOT of bunny cakes. I thought I would try to recreate history for my nephew Tyler at his birthday.

I am proud to say that the bunny cake was quite the hit, particularly with all the kids there. I ALMOST did not want to eat it because it was so cute...however, it tasted as good as it looked!

This last one was a personal creation and quite the experiment. Rob and Elaine threw Quinn and I a little birthday fiesta at their house and I thought to myself, who better to experiment on than the in-laws?? So I created a Black and Blue Berry Cheesecake Trifle. This was made in honor of my in-laws, Millet's do love their trifle.

Spontaneous Extreme Makeover

2008-04-02T14:34:00.000-07:00

One Thursday night I was complaining to Quinn about how I thought our carpets were dirty and wanted to get them cleaned. I was in the middle of listing the pros of carpet cleaning and why he should support me in my desire to have clean carpet, when I had an idea; why PAY to clean the carpet...when you can rip it up for FREE?! Home improvement Project!!! That defiantly perked Quinn's interest. We spent the rest of the evening crawling around our nasty old carpet peeling back the corners to reveal the solid wood floor underneath (one of the benefits of owning an old home). Our only worry, was that the previous owner may have covered the wood floor for a reason, like major scratches or water damage. The only was for us to find out however, was to completely rip it up to see the whole floor. The next day, I came home from work to Quinn on his hands and knees and this is the sight that met my eyes. You can imagine my surprise, I saw a huge pile of carpet a a super dirty wood floor littered with carpet staples and other unrecognizables. Well, it being a Friday night, we already had plans with friends, so we left the mess and met up with our friends for the night. Saturday morning, we got up bright and early and worked all day. We ripped out staples, scrubbed off glue and paint stains and swept up all the leftover carpet pad bits. We then used a whole bottle of wood oil to moisturize the floor. After letting the oil soak in overnight, the image we saw before going to bed on Sunday night quite a sight. A drastically different sight than what I saw late Friday night. Not to shabby for a weekend project!!

CarJacker...Kind of

2008-04-02T14:05:00.000-07:00

Has anyone seen the hilarious show that feature stupid criminals like the guy who robs a convenient store but leaves his cell phone on the counter with the clerk or the guy who walks out on his tab at a restaurant, but then comes back 20 minutes later to get the jacket he left on accident?? They should start recruiting for talent in Sugarhouse, because I have a fully written and already preformed script for the next episode of that show.

Quinn and I were enjoying an uplifting dose of spirituality at church one Sunday morning at our church (located on a very busy street in Salt Lake). Quinn and I had driven separately because I had to go early for choir practice. After church I head out to my car and drive home. Quinn also heads out to his car (which is parked on the other side of the parking lot). As he gets closer to his car, he hears that it is idling, which is weird because the keys were in his pocket and the car doors were locked. He walked around his car to the other side and found this...

Apparently, the stupid criminal had gone through all the trouble of prying off the side of the window, busting in the window, ripping off the steering wheel cover and starting the car with his screwdriver before he realized that the steering wheel was locked. I guess Quinn accidentally locked it when he pulled himself out of the car before church. Needless to say, a locked steering wheel deterred our criminal from stealing Quinn's car. Our criminal left in such a hurry that he did not even turn the car off. As a result of his hurried departure, Quinn and I are now the proud owners of a new screwdriver. If you found you have misplaced yours....don't call us to complain, we may send the cops after you!

See how far we have come!

2008-04-02T13:39:00.000-07:00

I was scanning through some pictures the other day and came across a few from our first months of marraige....1 year and 9 months ago. Those first few months we had a A B and C list. The A list was stuff we could not live without such as a shower curtain, food, and a broom. The stuff on the c list was stuff that everyone else probably has and you probaly should not live without, but our budget could not quite afford such luxuries as a trashcan, a mop, or "real" dishes. I am glad to say that we now have everything on our A, B, and even our C list. These pictures truly show how much can change in such a short time. Please Note the use of coolers as chairs! A very practical use of coolers if I do say so myself!

Valentines Suprise

2008-04-02T12:28:00.000-07:00

I am sure everyone can relate when I say that going out to a nice restaurant on Valentines is a joke! Did Saint Valentine set requirements that EVERYONE must go out to an OVERpiced and OVERcrowded meal, buy OVERpriced roses(that will be 75% off the next day) and eat OVERpriced chocolate (I wish he would have set the chocolate requirement...I would be more than happy to oblige.)

Due to the reasons mentioned above and because I had to work until 8:00, Quinn and I decided to spend valentines night in the comfort of our own home and to celebrate valentines day the following weekend when the prices and crowds had calmed down. That being the situation, when I got off work at 8:00 I was looking forward to getting home, putting on my sweats, and chowing down on a turkey avocado sandwich. Quinn, on the other hand, had other plans and this was what I saw when I walked in the door! My sweet amazing husband had been scheming behind my back and had cooked up a batch of amazingly aromatic coconut curry accompanied with a strawberry spinach and mushroom salad complete with candied walnuts (which he is very good at). The meal was eaten by candlelight backed with romantic music! Needless to say, I was speechless and felt very outdone (I thought we were celebrating later!). I am very thankful to have such a sweet amazing husband who will slave over the stove just to see a surprised look on my face. I love you big guy!

Snow Cave vs Snowshoe??

2008-04-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

My cousin Natalie, whom I love so much, was willing to hang out with me for a weekend when Quinn ditched me. I was super offended that Quinn did not invite me to come along on his overnight excursion, I am his wife!, should he not want to spend every moment by my side? Then he told me he would be driving up to Heber and building snow caves with the scouts and sleeping in them. Wise choice not to invite the eternally cold wife not to sleep in snow caves with you, also...it is Feburary in Utah. I would much prefer the comfort of a warm bed and a thermostat reading a toasty 72.

I headed up to Logan to visit Natalie at Utah State. I forget how beauiful Sardine Canyon is...I think that's because I developed at deep loathing for it while communitng to USU from Salt Lake for a semester, it is not nearly as pretty when you have to drive it 2 times a day every day. The night in Logan was spent going out to dinner with some old girlfriends, making and eating entirely too many homeade pizzaookies, and staying up until 2:30 a.m. Being the married women that I am...I cannot remeber the last time my clock read later than 11:30 when my exhausted head hit the pillow!

I decided that I wanted to treat Natalie to a snowshoeing adventure. It is high time that I stop dragging poor Quinn up a freezing mountain early on a saturday (who only kind of likes snowshoeing and only goes with me becuase it is a great way to tire me out and guarantee the rare treat of nachos or something fatty afterwards!) Plus he is an amazing husband) Natalie and I decided on the Old Ephriam trail up Logan canyon and set off on our adventure. After a brutally grueling glute burning uphill climb (I was cursing the aforemention pizzaookies the whole time) we took a quick break to enjoy the view and play around in the snow for awhile. We hiked up a little bit farther before we decided to call it quits due to screaming muscles. Thankfully there were not too many people around to see how beautiful we looked during our sweaty snowshoe however, I do feel bad for the cross country skiers we hounded down to capture our adventure on film (thankfully they did not take a close up!)

USU Roomie Reuion

2008-04-02T11:18:00.000-07:00

In Feburary my old USU roomie's and I had a rare chance to get together. I always love getting together with those girls, you forget how much fun it is to sit around, talk, and eat until you're sick (I think every girl can relate when I say that girls nights are a great excuse to over indulge in any food that in sinfully yummy).

Get togethers like this remind me how much truly can happen in 2 years. If this picture took place two years ago, everyone would be single, no one would be pregnant (Charlotte), we would all be living together in Logan, and all still be students. 2 years later however, 3 of us are married, 2 are graduated and have left Logan, and 1 is preganant and has a dog! Too bad I had to join the "real world", which FYI is definantly not as fun as the alternative...College.

Long Over Due...

2008-04-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

I am guilty as charged! I am an inactive blogger and am fully willing to admit it. I swore to myself once I began blogging, I would take time once a week to post any interesting, funny, or enlightening things that happened in our lives...well we can all see how long that lasted. I blame it on technology. Not too long after my last post, my laptop got very sick and needed some major TLC. So, Circut City was contacted and my little laptop was sent off on an all expenses paid (thanks to insurance :) trip to the HP factory for some much needed R and R. Three long computer-less weeks later, the laptop returned fully recovered and ready for action...at least I hope!

Now is the task of back tracking the ever so interesting and entertaining life that we lead and telling everyone about it. If you are not ready for a long read, feel free to read this marathon update in shifts.

A New Year!

2008-01-20T14:15:00.000-08:00

Happy January from the Millet's! We are happy to report we had a fantastic christmas season thanks to family and friends. We decorated our first christmas tree, which was one of my favoirte things of the season. I was so excited to use all the decorations that I had purchased last January for 75% off. It totally worth waiting till the end of the season to buy (even if I did have to wait a WHOLE YEAR to put them up). We had a Rappleye Sister Christmas party: complete with chili, cornbread, and fritos (which is Rappleye family tradition) and made gingerbread houses with the nieces and nephews. Christmas Eve we went sledding with our Millet nieces and nephews.

Buddy, the Millet family dog, was the highlight of the event. Quinn attached him to the sleds, ushered our eager nephew Luke into the sled, thew a ball as far as possible and watched as Buddy took off after the ball, kids in tow. Amazingly, Luke stayed on the sled for the ride of his life! To our suprise, Buddy fetched the ball back to us and pulled the sled (Luke and all) back up the hill. Not one of the kids walked up the hill after that! To top off the holiday season...Quinn and I took an uncontested first place at an Ugly Sweater party ( I actually left the house in stirrup leggings!) The sweaters were hidious and deserved the trophy we were given.

We also had the chance to go to Colorado to visit my family for Christmas. We left Utah on Christmas eve and made it to Colorado before midnight! We awoke the next morning to 7+ inches of snow, it was a white christmas after all! While in Colorado, Quinn had the chance to develop his raquet ball game during gruling early morning games with my dad. The first day his legs and his ego were a little sore after being slaughtered by a 50 year old. He is proud to say however, that the next few mornings were much better for his ego. Over the course of the week, his raquetball skills improved immensley and he is ready to take on anyone! We also had the chance to cross country ski and snowboard multiple times. Thanks mom and dad for an excelent time!!

I hope everyone is dealing ok with their post holiday let down. It is always so hard to get back into the "real world" after all the holiday joy making that goes on in November and December. Luckily for me, I did not have to worry too much about getting back to the daily grind after the holidays. Why is that you wonder?? Well, on my first day back to work after New Years, I was laid off. Yep, it is true! The company I was doing PR for (Silverado Development) had to downsize. As a result of that, I am back on the job market once again! Hopefully, third time is a charm, when trying to find a job that I want to keep longer than 4 months. If you hear of any phenonminal job opportunities in the Salt Lake area, I am open for suggestions. To keep myself busy while looking for jobs, I am helping Quinn appraise, cooking, and eliminating items from the forever long to do list ( it seems like there is always a project).

Quinn is working hard as ever as an appraiser with Abe (his brother). Q & A Appraisal Services is starting to make a name for itself! They are really enjoying working together and are realizing how similar they truly are. Yesterday, Quinn came home from a morning out and announced to me, "Wife, I AM MAN" He proceeded to drop a bloddy ziplock bag of fresh duck meat on my lap! It is offical Quinn went on his first duck hunt, with his new gun, and shot a duck straight out of the sky! He is very proud and I am stuck learning how to cook duck! He has registered for 3 or 4 hunts throughout this year, including the buffalo hunt. I can only hope that if that one is succesful, it does not end up in a ziplock on my lap.

The first post!

2007-09-16T17:26:00.000-07:00

Hello family and friends Quinn and Lindsay have finally broken down and joined the blogging craze. One more step to a total dependency on technology! Life with the Millet's is going along as usual.

Quinn is working again...someone has to! He has been marketing the apprasial company all week. Smoozing every mortgage company and bank in town. Linds on the other hand... would rather interview than work (actually she is very sick of the interview process, but she is pushing along). Linds has actually found a job (sort of), Linds has become a free-lance secretary for the apprasial company. She works half day on a day to day contract! To fill the time between interviews and playing secretary, Lindsay has taken on a handfull of projects. This week, she will paint the kitchen, can peaches, and build a fence in the backyard.

We will be adding some pictures as soon as we have some new and interesting ones.