10 WEEKS TO GO!!!

Tyler and I have had some really fun adventures lately, and it doesn't seem like things are going to slow down any time soon! We had a really fun opportunity to house sit for one of my mother-in-law's friends  while she and her family went on vacation for a few days. Our instructions were to feed the cat (who became very fond of Tyler, (I can't say that Tyler became much of a fan of him), water the flowers outside, eat the food, and swim in the swimming pool!!! It rocked! Plus, it gave us a little taste of what life is like living on our own again! We are so excited to move!

On the 16th, we went to the zoo and met Shantel and Grandma Ella with the grandkids! They were dropping off my niece Peighton at the airport so she could fly to Texas to help my sister Erin with her kids on their drive to Wyoming. It was so fun to see Coleton, Afton, Nathan, and Shadie! Man do I love my nieces and nephews! I even got to see Aiden, Hannah, and Brielle on Erin and Peighton's drive through Orem! It was so good to meet Brielle! She loves me :)

The baby elephant!

They have a new sea lion/sea otter exhibit!!!

There was a fly swimming in the water by the sea lion. It looked funny, so we took a picture of course!

The new polar bear exhibit is really neat too!!

Tyler, Afton, and Shadie got stuck in an egg shell!!

There was a parade in Orem for Summerfest and Goldenwest Credit Union, the credit union that Tyler works for, got to be apart of it! Melissa, David, and I volunteered to help out with the candy! We had a lot of fun even though it was super windy outside! We made the best of the wind and I even got to see some of my kids from school with their families!

Tyler still goes and plays basketball at the church on Wednesday and Thursday nights! I still go watch him. There were a few weeks where I was just to sick or tired or both to go watch him, but now I try to go often to support my hott husband! He is really quite amazing at sports and I learn so much about dedication and how practice really pays off from him. And in return, he goes and plays tennis with me so that I can show off my mad skills :) We have a lot of fun together, and it's so nice that we enjoy the same activities! It's almost like hanging out with myself sometimes. And I am awesome, so it's a win win situation!

On Friday night we went to the Orem Owls baseball game with our Pass of all Passes! It was so much fun, even though the temperature outside was probably a million degrees! It was so hot! The Owls dominated the Raptors 14 to 7 by the end but this first picture was the score after the 7th inning. 13-1...It looks like somebody needs to practice a little harder. We even got fun stadium snacks! Tyler got sunflower seeds and I got a yummy frozen lemonade (my craving for the past month or so)!

We were super sweaty and hot in this picture. Good memories :)

Tyler won free tickets from work for the new movie Brave, but the only stipulation was that the theater that the tickets were for a theater in Ogden. So last night, we drove to Ogden to see a fun movie! I even got a nap in on the way there! Way to go me! And the movie was super short...the previews started at 7:00 and we were walking out of the theater at 8:50.

This morning, and really I mean earlier than I even really want to say, even though waking up at 6:55 is something that I should be used to by now, but I am not, we went to go watch my dedicated cousins Chelsea and Greg dominate their Half Marathon! Greg beat his goal by 3 seconds or something like that, and Chelsea beat her goal by 6 minutes! Way to go you two! What a pair! We also got to see my Grandma and Grandpa Bluemel, who told us that my grandpa is making baby Noah a cradle! I am so excited! He really makes beautiful things with wood and I will proudly display our cradle and our bookshelf that he built us for our wedding in our new home!

Speaking of the new home, we still haven't closed yet. They wanted to check on a few more things just to double check to make sure everything is ready. Then we will have the carpets cleaned and hopefully, emphasis on the hopefully, be able to move in the first week of July! What better way to spend our anniversary than by moving in to our first home!! Still so many exciting things happening, this summer is just going to be a blast!

Things still to do this summer:

1. June 25-27 Travel to Green River for my baby shower

2. June 29-July 2 Family reunion at Bear Lake

3. July 2 ANNIVERSARY!

4. First week of July Hopefully move in to our new home

5. July 9 Pick up my mom in Wyoming and bring her back to Utah

6. July 10 Baby Shower in Orem?

7. July 11 2nd Ultrasound to see how baby is doing

8. July 12-14 Take Mom to Colorado

9. July 14 Maternity pictures with our amazing photographer Kali

10. July 16 American Idol Concert with Dad and Mom Slaughter

11. July 17 Kimberly's baby shower in Green River

12. July 30 Tyler's birthday bash

13. August 1-2 More collaboration with my awesome teammates for school

14. August 3-4 St. George Trip with Marilyn, Melissa, and Jennie

15. August 20 Back to School Night

16. August 21 School Starts?

17. August 27 OUR BABY BOY IS DUE!!!

Summer?

I have definitely been a failure at blogging for the past few months! But that's okay, because the quality of each post is impeccable, which makes up for that. :) Isn't that how it works? Anyways, I have about a million things that I want to write about because about a million things are happening! I will begin with exactly what I am thinking about right now. Summer! What a beautiful idea Summer is. I have not had the opportunity to completely enjoy Summer just yet, because after school got out last Thursday, although I had last Friday to chill, this entire week consists of training for next year! We are implementing the New Common Core that already 44 states have implemented. Yes, it has taken Utah that long to catch the wave. What is going on with the other 6 states? I don't really feel like it's TOO much of an inconvenience, however, because I have moved from 3&5th grade, to 5th grade, now back to 3rd grade. So what's a new curriculum altogether going to hurt? Maybe after this year, since I will be staying with 3rd grade (yes, that is a part of the exciting news I will share later), I will be able to get organized!

Exciting news! I am going to be teaching 3rd grade next year!! I couldn't be more excited! The reason I switch every year is because who they need teaching what depends on the number of students moving to each grade level. They needed me in fifth grade last year because there were 74 fifth graders, and splitting that between 2 classes would be crazy. That's how I was hired for that position. This year, 5th grade doesn't have AS many students, but 3rd grade does, and so that's the reason for the switch. Plus, this position is one that I will be able to have until basically I don't want it anymore. I will even get to move up to a license 2 level after this year! I am definitely sad to leave my 5th grade team, Carol and Lynn, and the 5th grade curriculum (because I was beginning to feel like I was finally getting the hang of it), but I love love love my new team, Elizabeth and Kristin, equally as much! Hopefully we will all learn to love the new 3rd grade curriculum. Luckily for us, all that's changing this year is Language Arts, but next year, math is changing as well.

Lynn, Megan, Carol: The Fabulous 5th Grade Team, sporting our Hope of America Shirts! Bonus: This picture was taken on May 30th, so there is a recent picture of my belly!

The most amazing faculty ever!! (missing a few people)

All of the sweet 5th grade girls!

Some of my crazy 5th grade boys.

More exciting news!! We are moving!!! This is probably some of the most exciting news, because although I love living with my in laws, having our own place when Baby Keil comes is really important to me. I feel like we would be more of a nuisance if we stayed much longer anyways. The condo that we purchased and will be able to move into in the next couple of weeks is in Pleasant Grove. It is still a close enough distance away from Tyler's work and from my school that it won't be that much more travel time than we are currently doing. It is on the top level of 3, vaulted ceilings, 3 bedrooms 2 bathrooms, laundry room, beautiful kitchen, nice living room, plenty of storage space, and a garage! We really got a great deal! The complex has an incredible club house, swimming pool, playground, basketball court, and many other great qualities! We feel like it is going to be an awesome starter home for our family, and we can't wait to sign those final papers! (I will post pictures when we move in).

Even more exciting news!! Our baby boy is growing like crazy!!!! I can feel him moving all the time. We really think that he is either going to be a dancer or a karate ninja. Those are the activities that it feels like he practices the most in my growing belly. I don't know what my waist measured before, but it is now 40 inches around and I am at 28 weeks. I still really haven't taken a "pregnant" belly picture yet. Maybe we should do that soon. With 3 months to go, I don't think I will really want to be taking many pictures by the end of this adventure. We have settled on a name, and I love love love it! NOAH MORGAN KEIL will be joining our family in August!! I love it even more each time I say it! My coworkers even had a surprise baby shower for me on the 30th of May! They got us so many awesome gifts and I really can't thank them enough. I literally work with the most amazing people on the planet. My students had a baby shower for me on the last day of school and were extremely generous with their gifts as well. They can't wait for Noah to get here too. I am feeling great though, even though I am getting a little bigger each week. I eat constantly, and most recently I have been craving tomatoes, lemonade, and nectarines. I still eat cereal all the time. I love Subway. I am so glad that my appetite is back. I finally got my dessert taste-buds back and I am loving that. I eat ice cream a lot. I have a feeling my sister Erin's suggestion of Otter Pops will come in handy soon as the weather starts to get hotter. We also have some amazing shaved ice stands in Orem!

My yummy cake! 

Upcoming exciting news! Next month, on July 2nd, Tyler and I will have been married for a year!!! I love Tyler so so so so so much! He is my sweetie pie and I couldn't be more in love with him! He has been especially great the past few months by giving my massages when I want them, and getting me treats when I need them. He is getting better at making the bed every morning. He really is the best. I couldn't ask for a better person to share my everything with! He is going to start taking classes again in the Fall and he is going to continue working as a teller at the credit union. He is learning so much from working at the credit union which has come in handy while going through the process of buying our condo. He teaches me new things everyday! He still plays basketball in the evenings, and we have even   been going to the park with our basketball lately and he has been teaching me how to shoot better. We went camping for memorial day weekend and got to sleep in our new tent. We went to Capitol Reef in Southern Utah and had fun hiking up mountains and through waterfalls with our fun family! Our cousin Lisa is having a baby boy in August as well and we were able to hike together! It was tons of fun! We ate yummy camping food and really enjoyed some great time with family. We went to a concert in the park on Memorial Day and got to see Vocal Point and Pentatonix from the show "The Sing Off". We especially love Pentatonix and are excited to buy their CD at the end of this month.

My and my Love

Vocal Point

Oh, one of the most important details of the past few months that I almost forgot to mention that I had my birthday in April! I am now 24 years old!!! So crazy!! That's all! Hopefully I will be able to add more at another time! So many exciting things happening! It's so crazy!!!

Life Changing

I have been thinking a lot lately about all the events that have transpired in my life just within the past year. Almost exactly one year ago, on March 9th, I started dating my BFF. He is awesome. We have experienced so much together already, and we have definitely built a love and a friendship it almost blows my mind a little bit. I share things with Tyler that probably even the CIA wouldn't be able to find out about me :)

The very beginning.

I think what is really awesome about our whole dating experience is that the entire time we were dating, there were only 4 days where we didn't see each other. The first 2 were the first two days we started dating. Tyler went to Las Vegas with some friends for the basketball tournament. The second 2 were when I went to Green River for a visit.

That's just how much we love eachother!

We loved each other so much in fact, that we decided to get engaged!!!

And then, we were so crazy in love, we decided marriage was going to fit us just right!!!

After our wedding, with such amazing support and love from our family and friends, we had an incredible summer. Neither of us had jobs holding us down, so basically we just spent every second together, went on vacations with family, had an awesome honeymoon, and took advantage of the summer.

Tyler was planning on working and going to school in the Fall, so he signed up for classes and got hired at a call center, but came down with the craziest case of Mono that I have ever heard of. Every time he would go get tested, the test would come back negative for Mono. That lasted a miserable month, and Tyler eventually had to drop out of school because he had missed so much. He got an amazing new job at Goldenwest Credit Union in Provo as a teller in October and really enjoys it. He's learned so much about interest rates, mortgages, and finances, and always comes home to share new things he's learned at work.

What a blessing it was for me to get a job again at the school I worked at last year! I love teaching fifth grade, but am still on a one year contract, so I don't have a definite plan for next year yet. I love my school though, and hope and pray that something opens up for me there again next year. Teaching is such an awesome profession.

When we first got married, we got an apartment in Springville, which turned out to be not such a good move for us. The commute to work for both of us took around 25 minutes both ways, and it started to really wear on our financial situation and just was not convenient. Orem is where we needed to be. So we asked, more like begged Tyler's parents if we could move in to their basement on Labor Day weekend. We promised that we would be out by the time we found a place of our own, but that June would be the latest. They of course said yes, and that is where we're still at today. His parents are so awesome. Marilyn and I take turns cooking dinner. This has also helped us save a ton of money. I love it most of the time, just because we all get along so well. But sometimes I feel like I just want to move anywhere because I want to start a life with Tyler. We have actually looked at a few houses, and we recently put an offer in on one that we really love, so hopefully that goes through, but if not, we still have options. Our realtor is very helpful and encouraging and is trying to help us find a place that will meet all of our needs. I JUST WISH WE WOULD HEAR SOMETHING SOON!!!

Our most recent news happens to be something that I have been very hesitant about sharing, but most of the people who look at my blog (which I don't actually know if anybody still does), know what I am about to share anyways. From the very beginning, Tyler and I knew that we wanted kids, preferably little tiny babies first, because they are so cute, but kids nonetheless. So needless to say, we were not really preventing it from happening, but didn't expect it to happen as quickly as it did. We found out on December 27th that we are going to have a little tiny baby in August, and we are thrilled!!! I am currently 15 weeks into my pregnancy and have already experienced more that I ever knew I could. Here are just a few of the wonderful joys of my pregnancy so far:

FOOD

I used to love to eat everything. As of now, I still can eat a few of my favorite things, but my tastes have definitely changed. Some of the things that I still actually like are cold cereal, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, apples, bananas, and yep, that about covers it. I have gone through several food stages. December was my orange stage. January was my chicken noodle soup stage (which eventually got to where I never want it again). February was my bagels with cream cheese stage. And now in March, I don't really have a specific item that I constantly want. I ate chicken enchiladas on Monday night for dinner, and they were SO DELICIOUS!!! A few of the things that I thought I liked, which didn't turn out well were spaghetti and rigatoni. One night I could eat them and loved them, and the next night I couldn't keep them down. I don't like going out to eat anymore. My love and affection for desserts has completely disappeared. I don't even enjoy chocolate. Sad. And cheese is definitely a no go.

EMOTIONS

Sometimes I find myself in the most interesting situations, and after the event is over, I label myself as a crazy person. The first event I love thinking back on happened on a beautiful, or maybe actually not so beautiful day in January. Tyler had to work and so I decided that I would go get a library card from the Orem Public Library so that I could check out a book that I really wanted to read. All I wanted was a stinking book so that I wouldn't be bored while my husband was at work. Isn't reading a great activity? I thought so too. But apparently the man at the front desk of the library did not think so. I knew beforehand that I needed to take some mail in to the library in order for them to issue me a library card to prove that I was a resident of Orem. They like to know that you are going to bring your library books back. Well, duh. Do I look like someone who would come to the library, get a bunch of books, and take them home and never bring them back? Or heaven-forbid, take them home and destroy them or something? Apparently the man at the front desk thought so. My mail was not good enough. I could not get a library card. I could not check out a book. I said to him, "I am really annoyed right now, and I am probably never coming back." And I walked out. I have never been back since. I called Tyler right away in tears. He was on his way to work. I explained the situation. All he kept saying was, "I am sorry Babe." I hung up on him. I wanted him to say that he was heading straight to the library and that he was going to injure the man at the front desk and burn the library down. That's why I called my mom. She knew exactly what to say, and then she sent me the book I wanted to check out so that I wouldn't have to ever go back to the stupid library again!!! What an awesome mom. So I get emotional sometimes....doesn't everybody? :)

BODY

My body has not changed much at all. In fact, if you didn't know, you probably wouldn't be able to tell that I was pregnant. However...my back has started to ache a little bit now and then. (Tyler is so awesome and massages it for me). I am more susceptible to illnesses. (I have already gotten the stomach flu and am currently battling a cold AND a cold sore) (EW). I hate any pressure on my stomach at all. (Still not sure what to do about that situation). I am exhausted all the time. (I go to sleep around 8 or 9 every night). I still have not gotten over my "morning sickness" which should never be referred to as "morning sickness" because I have it 24/7. I have even lost 9 pounds in the process. And my most recent discovery is that fiber and anything bran related are going to be my very best friends from now on. I had Tyler call my principal this morning to inform him that I was going to be a little bit late for work because I was not feeling very well and was still getting ready (aka, I was stuck on the potty for a half an hour and couldn't get anything to move, if you know what I mean). That was one of the worst experiences I have ever had in my life.

All in all though, I am still super excited, and so is my family. I couldn't be more happy about the opportunity to be a Mom. All of the women in my life who have raised me to be who I am have inspired me. I hope I have half of the qualities that they have when I raise my kids. We find out the gender of the baby on the 29th of this month, so I will hopefully keep my blog more updated than I have been doing recently. I just knew that this post was coming soon, so I didn't want to spoil the beans before I was ready. I still haven't told my students yet, or my coworkers (except for 2), and I don't know when I will be ready to do that. Tyler keeps saying to wait to tell my students until they ask me if I am getting fat. He is so awesome.

Locks, Cookies, & A Get-Away

We have had a really great December so far! School was great in December, and now I am happily but rather lonely celebrating for two whole weeks away from school! It has been a blast. But again this year, my students were so gracious with their gifts! I love my students. They are amazing. I hope they are all having a great Christmas Break! We had a really fun last day of school by having pajama day, a read-a-thon in the morning. We watched the movie The Best Christmas Pageant Ever after reading the book. So funny. We took a spelling test. We had a way fun gift exchange and ate treats, and then our entire school met in the auditorium to have a Christmas Sing. Each grade got a turn singing two Christmas songs that they have been practicing for the past couple of weeks. We sang Pine Cones and Holly Berries, and Nuttin' for Christmas. We even heard through the grapevine that our choreography and singing was the best out of the whole school. 5th grade rocks!

We decided that we needed to put a lock on our door downstairs, and Tyler thought that the best time to do that would be at midnight. We had to do some sawing and drilling and it was a little bit bigger of a project than I think we anticipated. But we finally finished and by the time we were done, I think I looked like a zombie.

We made delicious cookies to take to work parties and such. We made homemade oreos, peanut butter yummy cookies with hershey's kisses, and sugar cookies with candy cane kisses. They were all delicious. Tyler just gets too excited about the size of the cookies so we are working on making the cookies a little bit smaller now :) He is so cute.

For a quick get-away, we left for Ogden on the 19th to stay in Tyler's parent's condo. We only took comfy clothes, because we were planning on a few days of pure laziness and relaxation. We did bring our new sleds because we were hoping that it would snow and we could have some fun outside, but we were sad to only experience the snow on our way out the door to head back to Orem. We did buy delicious food to cook while we were there though. We made tacos, biscuits and gravy, but our favorite was spaghetti with italian sausage and yummy salad. We bought tons of snacks and just enjoyed our time together. We even got to go hot-tubbing! It was definitely a great get-away that hopefully we can do again soon!!

We know how to have a good time with our family. Tyler is always tackling everybody and tickling them. It's one of the things that I love most about him. He has the best sense of humor. Everybody else loves the tackling and tickling too (said sarcastically).

And last night, we did not want to cook, so we just made one of my Grandma Slaughter's specialties; Cereal, toast, and hot chocolate. She used to make that for my every time I would go over to her house or whenever I stayed the night. It is one of my all time favorites!!

And finally, in just a few short hours, we are heading to Green River to spend Christmas with my Dad's side of the family!! I can hardly wait! We are going to have such a fun time! I just hope that the roads are good and that we can finally use our sleds! Christmas is such a fun time of the year, and I can't wait to spend my first Christmas being married with Tyler!! He was so excited about the things that he got me for Christmas that he might have already showed me everything he got me. He thought that since he showed me my presents, that I should show him his, but I definitely have not, and he is just going to have to wait till tomorrow, or at least until tonight! He keeps telling me that I don't love him, but it's because I love him so much that I haven't shown him! Yay for surprises, family, love, and Christmas!

One more thing. We have become addicted to the show Prison Break. It is so intense and so good!! We love it and have even gotten coworkers addicted to it as well. It is on Netflix, so if you have netflix, you should watch it too! It is just so sad that we are on the 4th season and don't know what we are going to do after it is over!!! Who knew you could become so close to and supportive of convicts trying to break out of prison :)

Cel-e-brate good times, Come On!!!

There have been so many wonderful things happening lately. I can't wait to share! First of all, we celebrated my wonderful husband getting a new job at Goldenwest Credit Union by going shopping all day one Saturday for new clothes for him, and my my my is he the most handsome teller there now or what!!! Just a few of my favorite outfits that he got :)

Today we had the amazing opportunity to share Chelsea and Greg Sloat's special day with them. My wonderful cousin Chelsea got married today to Greg Sloat, and we had the opportunity to go to the temple and attend their sealing. They are now blessed to be with eachother as husband and wife for time and all eternity! Congrats Chels and Greg! I can't wait to hang out with you guys once you get back and all settled in! Here are a few of the pictures that Tyler and I took throughout the day!

Tyler made me yummy french toast this morning!!

Watching football...hmm...should be going to get a haircut :)

Out to eat at California Pizza Kitchen!

The remnants after our delicious crispy mac' n' cheese!

Tyler made the #3 :)

The only picture that I got of the Salt Lake Temple.

My awesome cousin Erika!

Our amazing friends Ruth and Steve!

My beautiful cousin Chelsea and her new husband Greg!

Now we are safe and sound at home, doing what you may ask....watching the BYU game of course! But at least we got some treats to enjoy while we watch! I love my sweet husband!