Cougartown USA

RISE AND SHOUT...

THE MILLERS LOVE COLLEGE FOOTBALL!

After last week's controversy over the excessive celebration call made right before the Cougars stepped up big with the game-winning block, our team was obviously looking to make a statement that would silence all the skeptics. Boy did they ever! UCLA-who??? I couldn't go without mentioning how much fun this game was for us, but I have a lot of homework so this has to be very brief...

Luckily, I think 59-0 pretty much speaks for itself!

My Kimmy Loo!!!

Well, I wanted to post this yesterday, to wish my dearest Kimmy Loo (also known to the rest of the world as Kimmy Poo) a HAAAAAAAAAPY BIRTHDAY!!! Unfortunately, the internet was simply not willing to cooperate yesterday, so I had to settle for waiting until I was on campus today.

Everyone has that friend, you know the one who no matter how long its been since you have seen each other, whenever you get to talk to them, you pick it up like you haven't missed a beat in each other's lives? Thats Kim for me.

We met when her family moved into my ward my senior year (her whole family is adorably wonderful)! We sat next to each other in Young Womens and after striking up a conversation, I swear we were best friends overnight. She came into my life right when I needed a good friend, I am so grateful for her!

I have so many awesome memories with Kimmy, mainly just the things girls love to do--talk about boys, have sleep overs, watch movies, talk about boys, go shopping, eat gelato, talk about boys, go on double dates, talk about boys... Remember when we rode our bikes to Blockbuster in Layton?!? Beyond the fun times, Kim and I were there for each other through heartbreaks and hard times, and I couldn't have asked for a better support. She's such a good friend.

I cried a ton at her wedding, knowing things would probably never be the same between us again. Let's be honest, she's got a much better sleepover pal than me now! The tears on her wedding were also happy tears--Chance and Kim are perfect for each other. And their baby girl Marley is absolutely beautiful! I can't wait to hold her.

Kimmy, I hope you had a wonderful 21st birthday! I love you!
P.S. I owe you a birthday lunch!

MY DAD COULD BEAT UP YOUR DAD!!!

Do you remember using a comeback like this when you were a kid? To be honest, I don't think I ever did, but it seemed like a good way to start off my birthday wishes to my wonderful father today!!! (Plus, the title "Happy Birthday" already went to our blog last time. Wasn't really thinking ahead on that one, was I?)

In honor of my dad on his special day, please enjoy this Top Ten Tribute to him:
(now the hard part is going to be narrowing this list down to ten things!)

1. My dad's number #1 priority is his family.

Family Picture outside the Provo temple where my parents were married over twenty-five years ago.

2. My dad is an incredibly hard worker.

My dad has been a pilot for SkyWest since April 22, 1985-with hours starting as early as 2 a.m.
He works long days to provide for our family.

3. My dad has a great sense of humor.

My dad jokingly pouting that he was too tall to ride the kiddie ride.

4. My dad is an amazing example to me.

Everyone in my extended family looks up to my dad. I have always admired how he doesn't have to tell you what to do, because he leads by example with his actions. (I love everyone's face in this goofy picture, especially my dad's.)

5. My dad is a good husband to my mom.

After watching my dad my whole life, I had pretty high expectations of a future spouse.
Luckily Jon has a lot of the same qualities I respect so much about my dad.

6. My dad is incredibly generous.

Dad sharing his oysters with Danielle.
He and my mom have blessed my life so much with their generosity and I have always been so impressed as I have watched them give so much to others.

7. My dad cooks a mean steak on the grill.

Not only does is he a mean griller, but he also whips up an incredible spaghetti sauce and is definitely the melon expert.

8. My dad is a ton of fun.

Gotta love Dad's face here as we are about to take off on another fun rollercoaster ride at Busch Gardens.

9. My dad has been there for me at all the important times.

From coaching my basketball games to seeing me off to Homecoming dances, my dad has always been a huge support to me.

10. Any man who can live outnumbered by so many women deserves props!

Dad has miraculously figured out how to deal with us girls!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

Well, in an effort to endlessly procrastinate my homework, I have found a temporary distraction in blogging. I love seeing all the updates of my friends and family! Jon and I initially started this blog last year in lieu of writing a monthly e-mail update to his family. As girlfriend of the time, I was somehow appointed to helping Jon to be more diligent about actually following through on this commitment. Not sure how I ended up with that designation, but lets be honest, Jon needed the help. (Love you baby!)

Today, I chanced upon Allie Shumway's blog. We were in the same dance group a few times back in high school and she's an absolutely adorable girl. On her blog, she mentioned that she is going to print her blog and make it into a book-what a great idea! As I was thinking about how it has been fun to capture the events of our dating, courtship, engagement, and marriage on our blog, I started to wonder how long its been since we started making this online record. Well, guess what? We started exactly one year ago today! Happy birthday to our blog! In honor of the beginning of our blog, I am going to post a picture capturing one of the beginnings of our relationship... the night we "pretended to be engaged" and took a fake engagement picture! If we only knew what we were getting ourselves into!

...and now, I WILL do my homework.

Our New Best Friend

Jon and I have a new best friend. You may have heard of him- Harold B. Lee?



The Harold B. Lee library, that is. Somehow, somehow, I am going to have to find it in my being to not despise the library. I have already come to the painful realization of how many hours, no days, of my life I will be spending here again at the onset of this new semester.

Since I am now finishing my upper-division Political Science courses, the majority of my semester will consist of major research papers. The positive side of this is that I am free to explore numerous topics that interest me with a distinct research design for each of my classes. The downfall of this academic all-you-can-eat is that I can count on being at the library as close to 24/7 as humanly possible.

In the meantime, I am sure you will all be on the edge of your seat, just waiting to hear if I choose to focus my research on divisive primary election outcomes in newly democratic nations or Islamic authoritarianism and female empowerment. Please, please, I know its exciting but try to keep your shirt on while I deliberate. I promise to keep you all posted the moment I decide. Ok, who am I kidding? Is anyone still reading this?

Oh how I miss the days when my biggest stresses were making sure my cute little red wagon didn't run out of corn, my adorable husband had dinner on his plate each night, and that we didn't miss Deal or No Deal.

BACK TO SCHOOL: The newlywed days of a blissfully carefree summer schedule are officially over.

On A More Upbeat Note....
GO COUGARS!!!