March 3, 2012

Eric's manager at work and lifetime friend Kathy has always been trying to get Eric into essential oils. Eric's never been a big believer, but now that I'm sick he decided to give it a shot. So Kathy sent Eric home as a medicine man and now he's making me better with lemon grass and lavender. Haha. I wasn't sure what to think at first either but I do seem to be getting a lot better pretty fast. Maybe we'll be a voodoo family after all. ;)

March 2, 2012

Today was not fun. I went to work feeling sick. After a few hours my runny nose all had all but turned into Niagara Falls, and I felt aweful. I couldn't even shoot a session without having to stop, blow my nose, reapply hand sanitizer, and hope I wasn't totally grossing out every client who walked through the door. I think I really grossed one mom out. Great. I kept getting worse so I finally went and talked to my boss and told him that I didn't just feel aweful anymore, I was worried I was grossing out all the clients. He sent me home and I crashed. I thought I just had a cold but I feel like I have the flu. There's no fever, no nasea, just light-headedness and cold symptoms. Who misses work for a cold?! I can't believe this is totally wiping me out.

March 1, 2012

This is Bailey's favorite toy. When we first got her she would run around the house whining with her football in her mouth. The whining has since stopped but she still carries the football around everywhere. She chews on it, she hides it, she rips it apart... and now it's getting cotton all over the house. Haha. But hey, at least she's not chewing up anything else. Our little football lover. She's her father's daughter. ;)

February 29, 2012

We're teaching Bailey to drive a stick. No big deal. ;)

February 28, 2012

Eric got a new job!! He's been applying all over the place since he got his CNA and he applied for several different positions at the University Hospital. We talked to a few people that work at the hospital and some of them said it took 6 months of trying to get a job there. Well guess what, Eric got an interview, and then he landed the job! He's a health care assistant working 3 shifts of 12 hours a week. The bummer is that the shifts are from 7pm until 7am. The great thing is that Eric ultimately wants to end up working at the University hospital, so it's pretty awesome that he got his foot in the door! We're pretty excited! He starts March 12.

February 27, 2012

Eric and I have a... rule... for lack of a better word... that we don't eat after 10:00 in an effort to be healthy. Eric wanted to have pudding at 9:45. So he started making pudding 15 minutes before food curfew. The pudding didn't make it to the next day. We broke the rules.

February 26, 2012



She's barely tall enough to climb in the basket, but she loves being in the laundry basket when there's warm clothes in there. She'll even let me put all the clothes out of the dryer on top of her. Funny dog. :)

February 25, 2012

Eric thinks it's funny to take Bailey out to potty in the morning and then bring her back in and put her in the bed. Because every time, she lunges at me and starts licking me like crazy and chewing on my ears. It is pretty funny... only because that dog is so darn cute. Eric was laughing pretty hard and he took about 10 pictures of it. Lol

February 24, 2012

Date night!! We played Monopoly and guess what... I WON!! It seems like Eric wins just about everything, so I was pretty proud of myself! :)

February 23, 2012

We got these free A&W ice cream coupons from Eric's dentist... so we cashed in!! And let me tell you, A&W root beer flavored ice cream is soooo good! Thanks to Chris for giving us the dentist coupons!

February 22, 2012

Miracle potty-training treats. My co-worker told us about these pure liver treats and that they'll help house train your dog in a snap. Bailey has made WAY better progress since we started using these treats. I'm a believer. Even though they smell aweful. We've almost got this puppy house trained!! Go Bailey Go!! ...outside!!

February 21, 2012


Another Family Night activity: we had a lesson about spiritual gifts and talents and then we listed each other's talents and put them on the fridge. :)

February 20, 2012


Haha... this is quite a story. For family home evening we all (including Bailey) piled in the car to go to Petco. We got some stuff for Bailey and then decided to stop by Jamba (more gift cards you know). Eric went in and I stayed with Bailey in the car. After he had been gone for a while Bailey started whining so I thought she might have to go to the bathroom. I got out of the car right as Eric was coming back to the car, and told him I was going to take Bailey to the bathroom. I closed the door and walked across the parking lot to a grassy spot. Eric said, "Uh Tia, do you have the keys?" I thought he was kidding. He wasn't. Ah man. I just locked us out of the car. I didn't even realize the doors were locked! It was pretty chilly out. We stood there calling everyone we could think of to see if someone could pick up the car's spare at our apartment. We finally got ahold of Eric's good friend Landon and he rescued us. We got permission from an anonymous and very nice Jamba Juice employee to bring Bailey inside hidden in my jacket while we waited for Landon. What a friend! What a family night!

February 19, 2012

This is Bailey getting in trouble for running away... or for being a punk... I don't remember which. The new snow outside has been a great adventure for Bailey. At first she wouldn't even step in it long enough to go potty, and now she dives in it and rolls in it!

February 18, 2012


After WAY too long, Eric and I have started taking family names to the temple. I used to take them all the time for baptisms, and I've been trying to remember to print names for Eric and I to take for MONTHS!! I finally remembered and Eric and I got to go do initiatories. It was a great experience. We love the temple.

February 17, 2012

Graduate!!! ...well sort of. Eric got his Associates Degree and he's all ready to start the nursing program at Weber. We're pretty sure he'll get in and start next spring.

February 16, 2012

Jade made Bailey this ADORABLE Valentine. I think it's the cutest thing ever, and it was very sweet of Jadey. Clearly Bailey loves it, and we're keeping it forever. Thank you Jade!

February 15, 2012

Tonight was our romantical Valentine's celebration! Eric took me out to dinner at The Olive Garden tonight and then we went to see the new movie 'The Vow'. It was a really great movie! I really liked it... except that they stole my movie plot idea! No kidding, I have this great plot for a book/movie that is so similar to the vow... only I like mine better. Haha. Very fun evening.

February 14, 2012


Happy Valentine's Day!! Sadly, Eric and I had conflicting work schedules today so we spent about 10 minutes together. We're celebrating tomorrow. We did get to have a little Valentine exchange though. Eric gave me... drumroll please..... A CUTE LITTLE PUPPY!! Haha. Okay so Bailey was a very early Valentine's present, but she is the greatest Valentine EVER! I made Eric a wedding album. It's kind of a scrapbooky journaly documentation of our wedding day from Shutterfly! It turned out pretty cute! Eric is the sweetest Valentine I've ever had. <3

February 13, 2012







We took Bailey to FotoFly today... after hours. Technically we don't allow pets... but many an employee has brought his pup in after hours for a little photo shoot. Our owner is nice enough to let us do this. So my friend and co-worker Dan helped us take some Merrill family pictures, and then I took some fun pics of Bailey B. Man our puppy is cute! And what a nice little family!

February 12, 2012

Sunday dinner at the Hammonds! My mom and dad just left to go on a cruise, so the rest of us all made Sunday dinner together. Eric found a fancy recipe for salmon cannelloni, and so we had quite a luxurious dinner!

February 11, 2012


We thought we bought a dog... but Bailey is a monkey. She loves to crawl under, over, and through EVERYTHING. She hides under chairs, under the bed, and tries to wedge herself behind and under every piece of furniture that might fit her. This is her underneath the ottoman at my parents house. She would wedge herself under there, get stuck halfway, and then start barking and flailing like the furniture was attacking her. She did this repeatedly. It was pretty funny.

February 10, 2012

We went out and got Jamba today. I keep getting $5 gift cards at work for Jamba Juice so we finally got us some goodness! I love that place!

February 9, 2012

Bailey and dad watching a show together. :)

February 8, 2012

Today my mom and dad came up to meet their new grand daughter! It was a lot of fun to have them come visit on my day off. And let me tell you, the highlight of my whole MONTH was watching my dad play with Bailey. He let her climb all over him, let her chew his ears, lick his face, and just looked like he was having the time of his life. He played and played with her and then proclaimed that while some people had lap dogs, this was definitely a face dog. Haha. So true. Bailey would much rather climb up and sit on your face than in your lap. I would totally post the video of it... but my dad wouldn't be too thrilled about that. Just trust me, it was WAY CUTE.

February 7, 2012

Bailey is the funniest dog. She cracks me up every day. I'm sure some day she won't be the subject of our photo journal EVERY DAY.... but that day is not today. So I always wondered if dogs could see themselves in the mirror... especially since my dog growing up never really wanted anything to do with the mirror. But Bailey LOVES to look at the little puppy in the mirror. Haha. She whines at herself, barks at herself, and even tries to get THROUGH the mirror to play with the puppy on the other side. It's pretty entertaining.

February 6, 2012

Happy Birthday Macy!! My sister turns 21 tomorrow so we went out to Mimi's to celebrate with my family, Brad, and Nana! It was really fun! We sure have an amazing family!

February 5, 2012

Today Bailey met her new best friend Holly. We took Bailey over to the Merrill's with us this afternoon. When I first put her down she wedged herself under the baseboard and on top of my feet to get away from Holly... but by the end of then night we couldn't get them to stop playing together and chasing each other around the room. It was pretty entertaining.

February 4, 2012




Meet Bailey Bennet Merrill! Our new puppy was born December 17, 2011 and she is the cutest baby I've EVER seen! After a long day of playing outside, Bailey came home with Eric... but not before they stopped by FotoFly to see Mommy! We took a family picture and then brought Bailey home. She is so darn cute I can't stop looking at her. We are totally in love already! Welcome home Bailey B!

February 3, 2012

Tonight we went puppy supply shopping! We've readied our apartment, bought food, bed, collar, leash, galore! Eric came home from work today and couldn't hold in what was supposed to be his big surprise. He told me that he had been down to Eagle Mountain and played with 5 beagles that are 7 weeks old. He picked out our new puppy and said he'd be back to pay for her. I was SOOO excited!! So we went to Costco that night and admitted that neither of us could wait until Valentine's Day. :)

February 2, 2012

Every now and then I look at our toothbrushes and chuckle. Chris gave them to Eric for his 23rd birthday. We had been dating for about 5 months at the time and Chris winked at Eric and said, "It's a Mr. and Mrs. set." I laughed pretty hard at that, and then spent a few minutes trying to decide if she was serious. Well, turns out she knew all along. Haha

February 1, 2012

So... Eric has spent the last several weeks convincing me that we should get a dog. ...Granted, it didn't take a lot of convincing, and now we're both pretty excited about it. Eric wants to get me a beagle for Valentine's Day. Haha. How sweet. So we spent the evening writing up a pet contract for our landlords. They got quite a kick out of it.

January 31, 2012



Needless to say, Eric LOVES the show 'Friends'. We own every season on DVD and Eric has watched EVERY episode at least twice. I've only seen one episode once, and I have been claiming that I only eat Tic Tacs in even numbers ever since. ;)

January 30, 2012

This is my lonely snowboard under the bed, where it has sat for an entire year. Sometimes I think I can hear it softly crying at night, dusty and unused. Meanwhile I'm sinking into depression because there hasn't been enough snow this season to make it work taking ol' Bowie out for a ride.

January 29, 2012

Sunday game night at the Hammonds! We gave them Scattergories for Christmas and we all had a great time playing it together this evening! I tell ya, you get a close group of people to play this game in teams, it gets pretty heated and pretty hilarious!

January 28, 2012


It's the end of the month... which means we're out of grocery money in our budget... which means the fridge contents are running a little low. You know it must be about January 28 when the fridge is full of condiments, bread, and carrots. Lol

January 27, 2012

My check engine light came on on the way home from work today. Eric, the big hero, is checking it out. We ended up taking it to Auto Zone, and worry no more, because it turns out nothing was wrong. Whew. My trusty Chevy pulls through again!

January 26, 2012

Eric's been spending time lately applying for the nursing program at Weber. He's all done with the pre-requisites and the odds look pretty good, so wish him luck!

January 25, 2012


Congratulations Eric Merrill, you've just become a CNA!! He took the classes, he survived the clinicals, and he passed the tests! Yeah honey!! This opens up a lot of great job opportunities for Eric because he now has his EMT and CNA. We're pretty excited!

January 24, 2012


I don't feel particularly great about wearing holey jeans to work. But work puts the holes in my jeans. I'm always kneeling down and scooting around chasing kids all over the place. I had a pair of work jeans that didn't have holes in the knees... but they have since worn through too. So I guess that means all of the jeans I wear to work now have holes in them. Hmph.

January 23, 2012

I loved both of these pictures too much to choose just one. Macy got these funny props for her wedding reception. Get excited to use these babies in the photo booth. We had a pretty great time playing around with them tonight.

Haha... this picture makes me laugh every time I look at it. For Family Home Evening we joined the Hammonds and went to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. We had a lot of fun!

January 22, 2012

Eric LOVES ketchup. And he is very particular about his ketchup. Western Family? No way. Kroger? Not a chance. It's Heinz ketchup or nothin. He has a shirt that says "I put ketchup on my ketchup." Haha. So we stocked up.

January 21, 2012

Today's picture is a trip down memory lane! Last Christmas (2010) Eric and I had been dating for just a month. And actually, we weren't even quite official yet. So Christmas time came around and I turned Eric this fancy-schmancy pen on the lathe. I was pretty excited about it and he really liked it. After I gave it to Eric he gave me his gift... this darling apron! It's my favorite colors, and I didn't believe it at first but HE MADE IT. This manly man sewed an apron for me for Christmas! Well, if I wasn't a gonner before I was definitely won over after that! ;)

January 20, 2012


Before I left work today Eric asked me if I had eaten dinner. I said no and when I got home he was in the middle of whipping up an extravagant feast! I think Eric cooks more than I do... and I'm the one with a degree in Culinary Arts! Darn full-time job. But what a chef! Thanks honey!

January 19, 2012

Reason why I love Eric #312: I got up this morning to find this note on the kitchen mirror "Tia, You're beautiful and I hope you see that! I love you soooooooo MUCH! Have a spectacular day and always be sure to smile. Love, Eric" Let's just say that made my whole week.