A Touch Of Tyrell

2017 was a bittersweet symphony. Or an explosion.  This is the third year in a row that I've said it's been hard, the worst and bitter. This one takes the cake. If I had to sum up the year in one word, it would be ANXIETY.  or CHANGE. or SAD. or UNCERTAIN. or BROKEN. The truth is I couldn't watch our best friends marriage and family fall apart anymore. They had moved onto our street in 2016 and that was the beginning of the end.  We couldn't get to or from our house without driving past their house and it was tearing me apart. I couldn't handle to watch a dear family fall apart.  So we moved. Because that's what I do. When things are bad, I run away.  It affected me in every aspect of my life and I had to do something about it. So we moved. We wanted to live in a different town anyways and have a pool so it just seemed like we better do it already.  One thing lead to the next and here we are, in a temporary rental counting do...

I've been feeling a little nostalgic lately. The stress of real life is really stressful 😆 and a few times last week I found my mind in another place.  I was camping. With my Dad, brother, and sister. My entire being begged to be in the mountains, in the forest chopping things with our rusty hatchets, playing cards in our tents because it was raining, and carving our names into Aspen trees. Drinking the purest water from the spring and gorging myself on little debbie snacks. Swinging on the rope swing and riding bikes on old logging roads. Building forts and shooting targets.  I longed to be eating at one of my dad's favorite all-you-can-eat Asian buffets. With him, of course. Eating platefuls of egg rolls with sweet and sour sauce and all kinds of funky jello salads in a dimly-lit restaurant.  I was taken back to the time my mom took my sister and I to the hot springs. Just the three of us. No babies. She even let us pick out our own bags of candy an...

So we moved two weeks ago and I'm just now getting to sorting out the office/craft room. There's a lot of stuff in here.  For some reason (now that we have the biggest house we've ever lived in) I have the urge to throw everything away. Now that we have tons of space I want to get rid of it? So I've been going through boxes and tossing things I don't need and won't need anymore. And what do you know?... I came across this beauty.  AH- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Oh. My. Gosh.  That picture cracks me up. For one, I don't even kind-of look cute or attractive in anyway and we are awkwardly posed around a live koala that Jake felt the need to reach across his body and touch for the picture. And two, I'm glow-in-the-dark white.... that's not the flash, that's how white I was living under a sky of clouds in WA.  (Jake and I got to go on this amazing trip to Australia 3 1/2 years ago and it was a trip of a lifetime. Truly amazing a...

My dad took me out to lunch today. We talked and visited while Everett ate our fortune cookies and behaved so nicely. We had a good visit and then it was time for him to drive back home. About an hour later he called and let me know that my grandma had passed away. My entire life we have always called her Nanny. Nanny suffered from a stroke last December that left her unable to live on her own. She was in a nice home with several other ladies and caretakers just 30 minutes away. We were able to visit with her as a family a few weeks after we moved here and it was nice that she was finally able to meet Everett. I spent the next two Sundays visiting with her and I loved to hear her stories from when she was a child. She had the best memories of growing up on the ranch with her many, many brothers and sisters; she being one of the youngest. Her stories were magical and at times made me wish that life were still that way. I am so thankful that I was able to hear about her favorite ti...

Photo Well I finally did it. I registered for my first half marathon. About 3 weeks ago I got a calendar of local events in the mail and the Tacoma Narrows Half was the last thing listed. Interested, I went to the website . I've looked at the website almost 100 times since then and tonight I finally resisted for the race. Run or walk one of the most unique race courses in the Puget Sound Region! This point to point course starts at the Tacoma Narrows Airport, crosses over the majestic Tacoma Narrows Bridge, runs on the warning track at Cheney Stadium (where you will see yourself on the jumbo tron), and finishes in beautiful downtown Tacoma...the city of destiny. I'm really excited about this. Excluding track and cross country (in middle school) I've only run/ran in 2 other races. A 5k when I was 9 or 10 and I got first place. There were 2 runners, my sister and I. I also ran the Imogene Pass Run when I was 17. The Imogene Pass Run (IPR) is a 17.1 mile poin...

I think that we all have that sweet spot in our lives that we always think back to and smile. Mine? It was Freshman P.E. We lined up alphabetically on the lines of the gym floor. Right behind me was a boy named Justin Bundy. It was his first year in our small town (graduating class of 63 people) and he fit in perfectly. It's almost like he had been there since kindergarten, like most of us. Our class was small but still had a variety of people. There was the uncoordinated 6'4" shaggy-haired guy, the wrestler that wore white shorts with no underwear, the girls with long nails, the jocks, the smokers, and then there was Justin. We would find our assigned spot on the gym floor and Mrs. Cashio would take roll. (Mrs. Cashio was a little frumpy, very serious, had red hair, meant business, and I think got suckered into being the gym teacher that semester.) While she took roll we did our crunches and push ups. Everyday, without fail, Justin would make me laugh and my...

We had only been married for a few months before we decided that we needed to go camping. I went camping almost every summer weekend as a kid and Jake went on endless family camping trips + all of those scouting adventures. Between the two of us we were pros. It wasn’t until we were setting up camp in the cold American Fork Canyon that we realized we had forgotten pillows, toilet paper, cards, blankets, and we had only brought one sleeping bag. Seriously. It was October. We almost forgot the tent and we didn’t bring any padding to sleep on. What a terribly cold night. We tried various activities trying to stay warm... but they all failed. The next morning we decided to go for a bike ride. We didn’t get but 20 feet before Jake’s tire went flat. You will never believe me, but we melted the hole back together with a lighter and pumped the tire back up. We went on a bike ride and found a great place to go rock climbing. At least we remembered the essentials: mountain bikes and rock climbin...

I am a Heap. I mean my Grandma is a Heap. Was. So I guess that means I am a descendant of a Heap. My Grandma, my Dad’s mom (but we lovingly refer to her as “Nanny”) was born into a family with 12 (or 13 I can never remember) brothers and sisters. The Heaps. At some point in her youth, her family went camping and a family tradition was born. The Heap Family reunion. Destination: The White Mountains. Nanny got married to Papa and they had 6 kids. My Dad is the oldest. Like a traditional tradition, they kept on camping in the White Mountains every summer. At some point I was born…. but we won’t get into the logistics. (Nanny cooking over the fire....sometime in the early 90's) I don’t have a phenomenal memory, but I know we went camping at the reunion every year (or at least most years) when I was a kid. I loved it. And when I mean camping, I mean camping. Tents, sleeping bags, peeing in the woods, hatchets, cooking over the fire, smores, sparklers, junk food, rope swings, dirty clot...

Jake bought me my longboard when we were still dating...or engaged. I can't really tell the difference between the two statuses because we were pretty much engaged at Hello. Provo canyon was the place to be if you had a longboard. A downhill trail ran along the river and was the perfect place to be on a warm summer night. The fun. The freedom. The memories. We try to re-live the good times...

"What cha thinkin about" Jake knew I wasn't sleeping. But I sure was thinking. Thinking about what used to be. How we used to pay 1/3 the money in rent that we pay now, how I used to work from 7:45 am to 2 p.m. and wished I had a better job, how working a "late night" for Jake used to mean he was home by 6, how I thought getting up for seminary in the morning was hard, how I used to cook dinner every night.... The times were so good. Now we pay 3x the amount of rent we used to pay, I work 24 hours a day, working a late night for Jake means he is home between 8:30 and 11, how getting up at any time throughout the night is hard, how I can't wait until my family is here to visit so we can have real dinner food.... I told him all things on my mind and we just smiled at what used to be. It was beautiful. But now the times are much more beautiful....and adorable:

So many stories to tell. This weekend was awesome. Story #1. WE GOT TV . Just in time for conference. Boo-yeah grandma! The install guy was there for 5 hours....apparently our house is hard to hook up. Jake and I re-arranged our whole house around getting TV. It looks pretty sweet. Story #2. The Hunt. The Easter Bunny hid new shampoo, hair gel, movie tickets, and lots of chocolate candy for Jake I got plastic eggs with money (just coins!), chocolate, orange cadbury eggs, and 2 Webkinz. Story #3. Webkinz. We were at Fred Meyer the other day and I saw these little stuffed animals on sale. Not only are the stuffed animals super cute, you enter the secret code they come with and you can play games online...you know, kid games. My little sister-in-law got one a few years ago and she let me have her password so I could play the games online. I am a dork. Jake sneak attacked me and bought two for Easter. He hid the gorilla in a plant and the dog in the nursery. This reminds me of another st...

My pops is a coupon clipper. I am not sure if he has ever really made a shopping list... he will just cut out what is on sale and that's what he'll buy. I was always amused by his shopping technique and most of the time, I would benefit from going to the store with him. If we just happened to walk down the cookie isle, and those pink and white frosted animal cookies were on sale...they would just jump in the cart! But my favorite was when Kool-aid was on sale 20 for $1. Montana and I would go wild. One of the reasons Jake loves vacations so much is for the snacks. He LOVES snacks. We leave on Friday for our trip and the 18 hour plane ride allows lots of time to snack. We went to the store to get some snacks and when I saw the kool-aid I had to get some. It is so tasty! I miss you Dad!

For real. This was our first date. I love his hair and sideburns! And I love looking back and laughing!

I woke up this morning weighing a little less than the day before. Did I go the gym? No. I looked at old college photos. Hilarious. I laughed until it hurt. See: (Friday the 13th) Anyways, while my stay at BYU-I, I had the best roommate in the world. She is beautiful, hilarious, spunky, and spiritual. Living under the gray/snowy sky for too many months, early spring brought great adventures. Steph had remembered this really cool place up in the Teton Mountains and we though we should take a road trip. Early Saturday morning we packed lunches and headed for the mountains. Turn after turn we found ourselves on a snow-packed back road. Being brave, we pressed onward. (dumbest thing we could have done!) We ended up getting stuck in the snow. Stuck so bad. So bad the tires just spun...and spun. We got out of the car, assessed our situation.....and started the walk back to the nearest road. We made some jokes, laughed off our worries, made a short documentary, and backtracked our route. We h...

It was two weeks ago that I felt the baby move for the first time. It was incredible. Every time it moves I get so excited. When we were sitting in church yesterday afternoon, I think it was dancing. I just can't wait until the movements are big enough for Jake to feel. Yesterday it was my little sister's 14 th Birthday. She has had some pretty bad allergies lately, so her birthday wasn't spectacular.... These are the latest pictures I have of her (from my mom) The super sad thing is that she is 6 inches taller than me already. She's not my little sister anymore. Effie is incredibly talented and was smarter than me when she was in the 5 th grade. I don't remember the day she was born (I don't know why...I was 9) but I do remember her as a baby. She had the craziest/wildest curly white hair ever. I used to carry her around everywhere and rock her to sleep. She was my buddy. She cried every time I left for the summer and gave me the biggest hugs when I got ho...

1. NEVER EVER EVER wear overalls camping. You WILL pee on the straps 2. NEVER EVER EVER tell your mom you are "bored." She will find some chores for you 3. Eating too much cookie dough WILL give you diarrhea 4. ALWAYS tell your Grandma you loved the gift she gave you... because someday you will cherish it. (Even if it is a jersey dress that says Kitten on the back...for your 18th birthday) 5. If you are going to be late....CALL YOUR MOM. She will FREAK OUT if you don't....She ran off the road, she died, she got kidnapped....all run through her mind and she will give you a piece of it when you get home 6. Bread dough is not made with just flour and water...that makes rocks 7. If your parents ask "do you want to go shopping with me" don't get your hopes up because they mean grocery shopping. You MIGHT get a doughnut