Adventures of Brandee & Scott

Things to come

2011-11-25T09:17:00.000-08:00

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the tons of people who read this blog..both of you will pleased to know that I am planning on blogging on: my new job with my new classroom, coaching volleyball, my first trick-or-treaters, football games, basketball games, and Thanksgiving. And some really cute videos of Mia in there.

Rest assured, it will come.

Mia's Favorite Pasttime

2011-09-12T19:02:00.000-07:00

Meet Mia and her favoritest things in the world, and they are called her toys.

This is Mia's other favoritest thing the world, and it is called digging great big holes that Scott hates! She loves it! The feel of the dirt under her nails and on her nose and on her feet and on her blanket and in her water and on the black couch inside the house. Ahh, yes, it is a favorite.

Garden Pizza

2011-08-04T08:58:00.000-07:00

This is our garden about a month ago. Scott was putting up some metal fence for the green beans to climb up. We also had just placed that hose. We were hoping that the extra water would help. On this side we have two different kinds of corn, melons, two different peppers, pole beans, okra, and cucumbers.
This is the other side of the garden. I think that we may well have crammed more things into this garden than I have crammed into my purse. And that is saying something. On this side we have onions, radishes, tomatoes, peas, beets, zucchini, crookneck, spinach, carrots, lettuce and potatoes.
This is Mia "helping" with the garden. She mostly just bites at Scott while he bends over the puppy fence. Or if he is weeding and is on his knees, she will bring a toy and sit on the back of his legs , or run in and out from under him. Silly puppy. So this is our garden now. As you can see the corn has grown considerably as well as the beans and the cucumbers. And I think that the okra is doing well. In fact, if I went outside and took a picture now, which I really don't feel like doing...the pole beans are actually above the top of the fence. And the melons and wrapped themselves around the corn. This side of the garden is my favorite. Mostly because the smell of summer is actually the smell of homegrown tomato plants. Every time I check the garden, I lean over and smell them, and it is precisely at this moment that Mia thinks it is appropriate to jump on me, virtually landing on my back. Its great fun. And this is the best part. This is Beet Crust Pizza! We have zucchini and crookneck on it, as well as basil pesto, tomatoes and cheese. Lots of cheese. MMMM.

Our Newest Acquisition

2011-08-03T06:53:00.000-07:00

Before:After:
This is my Yamaha 47" Professional Upright. It's loud, and it's amazing.

The Pup

2011-07-27T06:52:00.000-07:00

I think that it is time to post a couple pictures of our puppy. I will go in order, so that you can see how she has already gotten older and bigger.
This is the absolute cutest picture of Mia. When we first brought her home, she did not like the tile at all. She would only walk on it to get to the carpet. She also would not walk on the patio out back either. This is still her favorite place to lay down when we are in the kitchen.
We have actually recently discovered that the toy that Mia has destroyed here was good when she was not teething. She is currently loosing all of her teeth and biting everything. Everything. She figured out that there was a squeaker in this toy and that is what she wanted. Just the squeaker.

Mia loves to sleep. She is a lazy puppy. This is one of the cutest little sleeping pictures. I don't know how she ended up having two blankets outside, but she is holding one in her paws, and the blue out is like a pillow on her. Super cute.
This is Mia in Provo waiting for Scott. She loves the grass. When I first put her down on it, she rolled around and lounged. She only picked up her head long enough for me to get a picture.

Easter in St George (still catching up)

2011-07-11T16:12:00.000-07:00

After Great Basin National Park, Scott and I went down to St. George.
We had an Easter egg hunt...my first one in red rocks and no grass! But those rocks were fun to climb on.
I decorated my first Easter egg, which I decorated to be a soccer ball, and Eliza put a cute face on it to make it look like it was being kicked!We also decided to take a practice Christmas picture...then I realized we didn't have our puppy yet! But here ya go, that is a sheer cliff behind me...I was terrified.

Catch-up: Lehman Caves!

2011-07-11T15:54:00.000-07:00

Scott and I went camping in Great Basin National Park. It was freezing! When we woke up that morning, there was frost on the car! Yay for our mummy bags. Anyway, we then went on the cave tour. Here are some pictures from the cave!Scott is on the back of the one that I am standing next to below.

I like this one because it looked like an organ on this side.

The Trip to NC: Part IV

2011-07-11T09:30:00.001-07:00

We went to the BEACH! For this post you should just look at my mom's blog:

thisisntthelifeisignedupfor.blogspot.com

The Trip to NC: Part III

2011-07-11T09:23:00.000-07:00

We went to a couple of graduations.
Kirsten: Finally finished kindergarten! She was so cute!Hayleigh: She was promoted to the 6th grade! A middle school girl!

Tyler's graduation! Yay! He did it. He also has goofball hair
And, in other news about that, it was about 95 degrees outside, and we started 40 minutes late. The graduates had to be in line at 8, for graduation at 9. A few of them decided not to show up until about 9:30. Punks.

The Trip to NC: Part II

2011-06-24T09:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I know that you have been dying to hear what we did! Well, first, we caught up on some lost sleep. Then on Monday, Scott went to work with my dad building stairs...(oo, fun..) and my mom and lounged around the house, eating popsicles. Then, on Tuesday I went to get a haircut. I now have an incredibly short a-line style, which I think looks really cute.

Then on Wednesday we went to Carowinds. It was a very hot day...about 96 or so. And in an amusement park it is even hotter! But that did not stifle my excitement!

Me...You're gonna love this place! I've been here a million times!

Scott....Okay, I believe you.

After riding what I thought was my favorite ride, "The Hurler" and being whipped around so much I thought my ears would bleed the next time they banged into the seat restraint, this is what I had to say,

Me....That used to be much more fun.

Scott....Ughhhhh

So we rode what we could, and then decided to hang out in the water park. That was really nice. My favorite "ride" in the water park was the Lazy River.

We had decided before hand to stay all day, ya know, get our money's worth. But when we got there and were sweating buckets waiting in line, we quickly changed our minds. Good thing too, right after we left, we stopped to get dinner and while we were waiting in the drive through, there was a flash thunderstorm with raindrops the size of golfballs.

So we drove home in the rain; sweaty, sunburned, and feeling old.

The Trip to NC: Part I

2011-06-21T15:04:00.000-07:00

We just spent a beautiful two weeks with my family! We started out the trip right after I got out of school...and left about 2.5 hours after I wanted to. We made it to Laramie, WY and drove right past our hotel. We tried to pull up the hotel on our GPS, but we had no service on our phones. After driving around for a while, we finally stopped at gas station. The attendant said he didn't know, but he would get a map. I was thinking an old fashion map because we had the address but he just whipped out his verizon phone and found it. Dang t-mobile.

We had to leave Mia in the car, which was hard, but thankfully our window had a perfect vantage point of the car. After sleeping in a barely 2-star hotel, we left for Columbia. Along the way, Mia had to stop to pee at every fill up, and we think she peed in like 10 different states. We finally made it to Columbia late that night and Scott's Aunt Sharon and Uncle Jack were very gracious hosts. (The bed in their guest room hugs you back I swear.)

We left early that morning and made it to my parents house late that night. My sisters were already sleeping and did not wake up. Goof balls. I liked walking around and seeing all of the work that my parents have been doing to their house. And so our first night of our two week stay we sleep in the room where all of my brothers clothes are located and the box spring on the bed is the loudest I have ever heard. It was all I could do to keep from moving so it didn't wake up the neighbors.

Rugby

2011-05-16T10:08:00.001-07:00

I know, I know, you all want pictures of my house and my puppy....but I just wanted to say that we love rugby! Scott and I went to the BYU rugby game two weeks ago, to a couple of my students rugby games and then we watched BYU rugby on Saturday and hopefully going to the College Premier League final on Saturday!

The first BYU game we went to was super fun! We had really good seats and watched them beat Navy 64-12. Before the slaughter was over, Scott leaned to me and asked, "Should we be worried about our nation's protection?"

A couple of my students play rugby for Herriman Rugby Club. They jokingly invited me to their game on Saturday. Boy were they surprised to actually see me! The 9/10 grade team won their semi-final game against United 62-7 and face off against Highland (yes the famous team from Forever Strong) in two weeks at University of Utah. That will also be a fun game to watch.

Then, after we went to that game we watched the California vs Utah and the BYU vs Arkansas semi-final games. We will be going to see the BYU vs California in the final at Rio Tinto stadium on Saturday. It is going to be awesome!

Anyway, everything here is great....I have currently misplaced my camera, so there are no pictures for the time being....you will know when I find it!

Our house is empty.....

2011-03-02T14:56:00.000-08:00

So, we have officially moved into our house! It has been a very tiring week. We have basically nothing...but Scott keeps reminding me that less is more, and that not every space has to be filled just yet. Everything is still in boxes thanks to two consecutive nights of Parent-teacher conferences. Speaking of, my conferences are going great! Parents are leaving my room with smiles and laughing. However, I take an awful long time ( I like to talk, who knew?)...so parents are waiting at my door for a long time. I am going to try harder today.

Anyway, just thought I would give you a quick update...pictures of our meager belongings in our house to come soon!

The Waiting Game

2011-02-19T18:46:00.000-08:00

We are down to the wire to get into our house. I feel kind of helpless because I do nothing but WAIT! I hate waiting with a passion. Because I know that you can't wait either, I decided to post a couple pictures of our house!

This weekend we are in Tridell again, but this time we are joined by Erik and his kids, Chris and Emily and Brielle, Amy and Dan and their kids, Josh and Amanda and Addy, and there is also William and Stephanie and Paisley and super cute three week old Stetson! He is adorable and I got to hold him. It just makes me more baby hungry. Oh well, someday. So there is more waiting.

And on top of all of that, I have to be in school on Monday! It is a make-up day from the fire in Herriman this past fall. But, even if I have to be there, there are going to be about 5 or 6 kids in all the classes. People in this community just up and take their kids on vacation for weeks on end....and when they come back it is apparently the teacher's job to follow their child around and make sure they get their work in. Good grief. So I have to waste another day because it would be pointless to teach with 5 or 6 kids. So even more waiting.

This is the Jordan River Temple in the foreground of the Herriman Fire. My school is right at the base of that hill.

But, it will be a fun day! 5 or 6 kids will be cake!

New Goals

2011-02-17T16:58:00.000-08:00

I had a goal to post on my blog once a week this year....We can see how well that worked out. Let me do a quick recap so that we can all be on the same page!

This past Christmas, Scott and I spent it with the Merkley's. This was my first Christmas with Janet and Errol and it was really fun! I got some great stuff from Scott and apparently Santa, including books, one of which I finished on December 28th....Scott and I had a bunch of fun playing with Josh and Amanda at their house, being out with Chris and Emily on the sleds and playing games until they got too competitive.

Then, when January rolled around, it was back to the grindstone. I went back to work. Oh, by the way, I teach at a middle school in the same school district that I student taught in. It is called Fort Herriman Middle School, it is beautiful and I love it! Anyway, I went back to work and Scott went back to school to start his second semester at BYU.

The house that we were gratefully babysitting for missionaries that we had never met before was about to be needed by them again, and so we began to search for somewhere to live. To no avail with cheap apartments that I would feel comfortable living in and paying for, we decided to buy a house. We bought a house in Eagle Mountain Utah (pictures to come!) and are very excited to move in. We are going to close hopefully next week.

Scott and I spend our time doing homework, planning around basketball games that we love to attend and trying to see each other in between!

We have another GOAL: to climb all the county high peaks in Utah to prepare to climb Mt. Elbert at the end of the summer. Josh and Amanda should be in on it, and anyone else who wants to join!!

Anyway, now you are caught up! Just bug me for another post next week!!

Camping in American Fork....a long time ago.

2010-07-18T09:34:00.000-07:00

Once in a while in the thawing north, Scott and I will receive invitations to things like baby showers, bridal showers, wedding receptions, things like that. And most of the time, we are unable to go because of school things or it is not a long weekend. Well, we got an invitation to one of Scott's friends from back home and low and behold, we could actually go! We decided to make a big weekend out of it, and packed all of our camping gear. We went camping on Friday night up in the American Fork Canynon, hiked a bit then went to town. We had a gift card to Cabela's and Scott wanted a new fishing pole. So, after the reception in Highland, UT, we headed on over to Provo area to go to Cabela's. Scott picked out a really nice fly fishing pole and he let me pick out some lures for my spinner. (Of course I got some sweet pink ones.) Then, while we were there, we saw that that day was FREE FISHING DAY! My favorite kind of fishing day! So, we picked up some more stuff, just enough to last us fishing. Then, we went fishing. The following are pictures of our campsite and our fishing escapades.

Our Memorable Visit on Memorial Day to St George

2010-07-11T19:39:00.000-07:00

Since everyone else forgot a camera that day and we had one, here are some fun pictures of "the cousins" playing in the water park in St. George.

More of Our Spring Break

2010-07-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

Scott and I decided to take advantage of a cheaper Grand Targhee Ski resort rate. Here are some of our goofy pictures....

This is Scott and I on the lift with our cool goggles.

This is my glamor shot for the next snowboarding magazine.
And this is where we took all those great pictures.......apparently right under all this snow there is layers of shale that is falling off the side of the mountain.....

The First Day of Spring Break

2010-06-10T09:21:00.000-07:00

Well, Scott and I were able to finish out this semester with ease. There are graduation pictures somewhere, on everyone else's cameras, so if you want to see any, ask them.

When I lived in North Carolina, Spring Break was one of the times that kids looked forward to the most. There was sunshine and no school at the same time! Many times, I would get together with some friends and hit the beach (only 2-3 hours away). Unlike Rexburg, it was warm enough to swim.

This Spring Break I was looking forward to picnicing, or backpacking, or even swimming. Which is why when what the following pictures bear record of, I was shocked and not amuzed in the least.

Catch up!

2010-05-17T09:43:00.000-07:00

I am actually going to post some stuff.......yay.

2010-03-24T09:45:00.001-07:00

We are pleased to announce the
Commencement Exercises of
Scott Sanders Merkley
and
Brandee Marie Merkley
on April 10, 2010
at 9:00 a.m.
in the Hart Auditorium
Brigham Young University - Idaho
Rexburg, Idaho

Scott and Brandee will be participating in the Commencement Choir

The Convocation Exercises for
Scott and Brandee
are on Firday April 9, 2010
Brigham Young University - Idaho
Rexburg, Idaho

(Only Commencement is a ticketed event, anyone can come to the convocation!)

Soon to be: The Great Move

2010-03-24T09:27:00.001-07:00

Well, we are coming to the end of the semester up here in Rexburg. Scott and I are graduating this semester. We are hurriedly trying to finish all of our course work without going crazy and still eating full meals at the appropriate times. This semester has been fun. We have been snowboarding a couple times, we have been to some great movies, and have made some yummy food.

We are anticipating moving down to Provo. SCOTT GOT INTO BYU!! It is so exciting. We can't wait to go to football games and enjoy being on such a big campus. I have been placed for my student teaching in the Jordan School District and am currently working on getting my student teaching to be more of an internship. This means that I would actually be the teacher, given at least 5 classes and a "good luck" from my supervisor. This would work out much better for us I think.

Next semester, I will have to take two classes. One that the school scheduled wrong that I had to just go with the flow, and the other because I didn't want to take such a hard class this semester. Scott will go back to full-time with his internship-turned-job. It will be a lazy summer though.

Dallin, Dallin

2010-01-01T18:51:00.000-08:00

While dancing to the Beach Boys on Just Dance on Wii, my brother Dallin was singing all the lyrics and getting them wrong. We asked him why, when they were scrolling on the TV. He said he likes to mix them up because they are odd. Then he said that if they had Crossing USA he would like that better because he knows all the words to that one. We all looked at him, and my dad said, "Its Surfin USA!" After some arguing, Dallin finally says: "Why is it Surfin USA, you can't surf on land..you would have to be Chuck Norris!!

2009-12-07T07:37:00.001-08:00

Counting today there are 13 days until we are in NORTH CAROLINA!

Cute pictures

2009-12-07T07:19:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my friend Annelise, we have some wonderful pictures that are not wedding pictures, random camping pictures, or our amateur picture taking.

Here is the link to her wonderful pictures. Enjoy!

The Retreat Part 2

2009-12-07T07:05:00.000-08:00

So when we left off, we were still lost. Good news-we found our way to the hotel-but not without some more laughs. We had to turn onto a couple of funny named roads. Arapahoe for example (a-wrap-a-hoe) and what I thought was pronounce Yo-si-might. Turns out it is something like Yo-sim-mitty. Oh well. Brittany made fun of me for like half an hour. "Is she being serious right now? Do you really pronounce it like that?" Good thing she had went to the bathroom when we stopped to get directions from that bar.
So we finally get to the hotel and low and behold, we have rooms. So, I went up to my room, tried to be as quiet as I could. The lady at the front desk told us that we were in rooms that only had one other person in them. And when I got up to my room, that is what it looked like. I got all ready for bed, and walked into the bedroom half of the hotel room--and both beds are occupied. Great. I get to pull out the couch, and it was horrible, trying to sleep on a pull out couch with too much room. I had to angle the pillows around me so that it seemed like it was just more than me in that bed.
The next morning, I met up with Brittany and heard her story. She is on the fourth floor (I was on the 8th) and after she had hauled all of her stuff up there and was ready to open the door--the little electronic thing was flashing not red and not green but yellow (when I say electronic thing, I mean the thingy that you put your key in and it opens the door...)
Well, she had to go all the way back downstairs, and tell the lady at the front desk. The conversation from the hotel attendant to Brittany's roommate kinda went like this:
"Hi, I'm calling to let you know that your roommate is here, and oops! You locked the dead bolt on your door! Can you kindly get up and let her in?"
"My roommate? What are you talking about? I'm married!"
"No, your roommate, for the conference?"
"I don't have a roommate, I'm married!"
This proceeded for about 5 minutes, until the roommate finally woke up, and was convinced that her roommate was here. And all this at 4:00 in the morning.

Brandee's Trip to Denver for Jan Harris Area Mary Kay Retreat PART 1=The drive---its a hoot

2009-10-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

Okay, well the day started off okay...I guess. I still went to two of my three classes, and thought about showing up at the third one to sign the attendance and leave--but decided I should just go. I met up with Scott who was driving my friend and I to Idaho Falls to pick up another girl, then drive on to Utah. While I was in class, Scott had been packing--and I hadn't cleaned the house before we left, so of course, it stayed a mess. I picked up my friend Brittany, and we went on to IF to pick up Melissa. This first part of the drive was really boring.....
The more interesting part begins when we kick Scott out of the car in Tridell, spent all of ten minutes there, then got back on the road to Denver. It is dark by now at about 7:30 when we were leaving the tiny town of Vernal.
As, most of those reading this know, Dinosaur is the first town in Colorado one comes to on hwy 40, before the turn onto 64, and they also know the speed limit drops to 30 mph. I however, did not know that and when in doubt, in North Carolina, one drives 55. I was driving 55, and upon seeing the sign for 30, I began to slow down. As soon as I saw the sign, the pretty blue and red and white lights came on behind me. The officer comes to my window after making me sit there for about 10 minutes, and tells me he clocked me at 54. I said, "I know officer, I was going 55. Until I saw the sign and began to slow down." He said, "Well, it is 30 through here, and I have never not given anyone a ticket for driving that fast. License and registration please." I am thinking, are you kidding me?! I just told him that I was sorry, I admitted guilt...I could see the sign that said 30 in my rear view mirror. Melissa and Brittany were shocked too--until he came and told me how much he was going to charge me= $243! I was shocked. I couldn't even say anything. The cop explained to me the procedure, and Brittany had to say, "Okay, thanks officer." Because I had not spoken yet. Getting back on the road again, we had not even gone a quarter of a mile, and the speed limit went back up to 60. LAME.

Well, the rest was pretty good. We did not miss any turns, until we reached the outskirts of Denver. Because of my ticket, we had added a little extra time, and it was around 12:30 in the morning. I knew from the directions that we were supposed to get off on something that had a 6 in it and upon seeing the road that said hwy 6, I took it, not knowing it meant 6th Ave in downtown Denver to merge to hwy 25. This detour cost us an hour in what I am sure is beautiful countryside. There was a really turny part in the road and it dropped down to about 40 mph, and the line of cars got kind of tight, becuase I was try to going 40 and the person in front of me was not, I was pretty close on his tail, and he flipped me the bird...oh well.

Well, we finally got off the highway and saw some Denver lights, and went where we thought we were supposed to go. Brittany kept getting mad becuase the map quest maps we had were not very good. They had no major roads, and there was no help for where we were. So, we had the brillant idea of calling the hotel. So Brittany calls the hotel and asks how to get to where they are from where we are. (Keep in mind we are trying to find hwy 25) So, the hotel person said "well, just find 25." "That is what we are looking for." "Well, where are you again?" "We are on hwy 6." "Oh, I have no idea where that is." "Thanks anyway. (hung up). Brandee, it is 1:40 in the morning, the gas stations are closed our only chance of finding directions is getting to a bar. So lets go."

So Melissa is asleep by now, in fact she missed the entire detour, and when we pulled into the bar, she woke up--kinda. Brittany runs in and Mellisa says from the back seat, "Should I go in with her?" I said, "I would feel more comfortable if you would." "Okay." Then she just sits there. So, I wait a few minutes and say, "I'm gonna go and check on Brittany, you just stay here." "Okay." With no movement, Melissa stares off into space--I don't think she was awake yet.

Well, the bouncer at the bar gave us perfect directions, but as we got back onto a road that we had been wandering on, Brittany was like, "I wish we had a better map, or an atlas or something, this is driving me crazy!"

This is when I brilliantly reach behind the back of her seat, and pull out a big red atlas of all the states, and state, "Oh, you mean like this one?"

YELLOWSTONE

2009-08-17T15:14:00.000-07:00

Scott and I decided that because it was a fee-free weekend we would go to visit Yellowstone, seeing as we are less than two hours away from it while we are here at BYU-I. We were there with everybody and his brother...and the president decided to show up today too. We spent all day starting at about 6:30 and leaving around 7. We finished the night off in a pizza place called the Gusher. Here are all the pictures and videos from Yellowstone:

These are the elk cows that were on the side of the road...and me standing like 8 feet from them. This is a mineral trail that one of the gysers made in the rock. Cool colors.
This is one of the gyser fields on the way to Old Faithful.
And this IS Old Faithful! My first time ever seeing it in real person....(statistically speaking, Old Faithful isn't really that faithful...but we'll let it go...)
This is evidence that the president was there....making a mess of everything....

These are some pictures of the buffalo that were super close to the road. This video is so cool. Everytime the bull makes a grunting noise...he sticks his tongue out.(Hee hee, the bus-a-joes!!)

These are the pictures of the pretty walls of the Canyon of Yellowstone. I love the pink! (of course)

The next pictures are of the Upper Falls in the same canyon. There are 328 steps leading down to the platform (which means there are 328 steps to go back up....)

The 4th of July

2009-08-17T14:56:00.001-07:00

These arent really good pictures...

But Scott and I went to the parade in Rexburg on the morning of the 4th. We saw a couple of our teachers, and it was kind of weird to see them without button-ups and ties...There were some really wierd floats too. The Rexburg parade went on and on and on....It wasn't even a really big parade, it was just really slow, so it seemed like it was a long parade.

Then Scott and I went down to Idaho Falls to watch the Melaluca fireworks that come from the river. It was hot and then cold, and then hot...We sat in our chairs from 3 to about 10:30 at night. We got some sunburn! We tried some good food (this is where the yummy corn on the cob came from). We got a really good seat and settled in for some good old fashioned people watching until the fireworks started.

Mesa Falls

2009-08-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

Little did Scott and I know, that in this desert there is an oasis on the way to Yellowstone Park, called the Mesa Falls. There are upper and lower falls, and on a rainy Sunday afternoon, Scott and I decided that we would go and see them.

These are the lower falls:

These are the upper falls, with

Scott and I posing by them:

It was really cold that day, and the water coming off of the falls was not making it any better. But they were really pretty and worth going to! If you ever come back up to Rexburg....you should definitely go and check these out!

And just for my mom...a soccer picture...

2009-08-17T12:20:00.000-07:00

This is a save Scott got a shot of...I'm next to the goal post in red (not burgandy...)

Summer fun...

2009-08-17T12:05:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would put up a few pictures of our summer days... We like to have food made on the grill, go for bike rides, watch the sunset, go to the garden...

This is Scott's little grill. I have made some really yummy stuff on this little baby! Like corn on the cob, shish kabobs, steak, chicken, pizza, pinapple...just about everything!

Here are some pictures of our living room as it is right now...we are changing it around because we are bored of it right now....

Oops, forgot to post our pretty camping trip in Providence Canyon

2009-08-17T11:38:00.000-07:00

When Scott and I decided to come down to Logan for a visit, we also decided that we would go camping. After driving up the canyon for a little while, and it was starting to get dark, we finally picked a spot that had a really great view....but a really deep slope. But we slept there anyway...slowly slipping down the hill...but the following pictures are of our cool camping spot, the awesome tent, the view...etc.
This is the tent that Scott and I got for getting married....its great. Its warm at night and its perfect for the two of us!

This is the cool outdoor oven thingy that we got for Christmas last year. We love it! And Scott says its easy to use, I have no idea, he is the only one that is allowed to touch it. I think the view behind him is awesome. Yea, we had breakfast looking at that!! So pretty!

R Mountain? Don't you mean Hill?

2009-07-12T20:07:00.000-07:00

Well, Scott and I finally decided to climb R Mountain--but instead of planning all week to have the trip and figuring out what to bring, we kind of planned on going about 10 minutes before we actually did. It was a fun climb, there was sand as the path (which made it kind of hard). We got up there and were able to go all the way around to see a beautiful sunset and a rain storm in the distance. The cool wind was filled with the smell and feel of rain. It was awesome.
These pictures on the left are of Scott and I facing the west side of R Hill.

The pictures on the right are of the flowers that I picked up there, didn't want to hold and put in the backpack Scott was carrying and of the crater that was once a volcano.

This is a video of Scott climbing an outcropping of rock...with my commentary. It got really windy so he had to come down, but it was cute to watch him climb it!

A semester in review.....

2009-05-03T19:43:00.000-07:00

Here is our life for the past three months that you guys had no clue about:

January: Scott and I moved in. To our apartment we had never seen before, and quickly began searching for another apartment. Much to our chagrin, we had to stay in our basement dungeon...so we made it work.
We started school...thinking we could walk to campus from four blocks away. I got a job tutoring and Scott gave up his plasma biweekly.
We went to a comedy show with Kirby Heyborne and that guy who plays DeVerl. Here are some crazy pictures:

We also went snowboarding a few times. Scott and I now each have our own snowboards...so that makes it cheaper. We went on Saturday after it had just snowed about four inches in the valley, it was beautiful up in Kelly Canyon. So awesome...its pretty much the only thing that convinces us to do another winter here.

February: Scott and I had a wonderful Valentines day, and we celebrated being married for 6 months. We also had midterms, and went snowboarding again.
Scott and I had some fun being in the University Choir this semester too. We sang in devotional this month. Here is picture of us in our concert dress after sing a pretty rendition of Guide Me, Oh Thou Great Jehovah. The two devotionals are going to be aired on BYUTV on May 31 and June 14 at 10:00 am MST.

March: This month, we sang in devotional, sang for a thing called Hymn Fest, and had our concert (see below):
This song is called "I'm Runnin' On" by Mack Wilberg

There was much more to the concert, but who wants to sit through all that...again....
Also for all the die hard math lovers out there, there was PI DAY!! 3-14
This is part of the video of Scott at the Pi Day PIe eating contest:

April: We finally moved! We got a lucky break, and took over a contract at a place we were looking at....Finals came and went, we both did really well.

And that's all she wrote.

Just some wedding bliss

2009-03-09T07:58:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share some of our wedding pictures:

This picture is one of my favorites. Scott and I were very loved that day!

I think that this picture is gorgeous too. Maybe because we haven't seen green in so long. I remember not being able to climb up on that bench. Scott had to pick me up and put me on it because I didn't want to get my dress dirty. Instead of helping me down though, he walked away and I had to jump into the dirt below. Oh well.
This picture took about 5 minutes for me to get it right. It hurt my hand, too. I told Scott that this was one picture we had to get, becasue if I was going to stand there like that, we better reap the benefits. And it turned out pretty!

If you know me, you know I love this picture, because I love shoes! There are a few more of these pictures in a few different places, and I love them all!

This is also another gorgeous picture. The wind picked up just enough to blow my veil. And we were thankful because it was a pretty warm day.

Anyway, just thought I would share some happy pictures with ya'll. I like looking at them because they have flowers and green and sun in them....unlike here. All this snow is getting to me. It is also hard to believe that these pictures were taken over 6 months ago! I can't believe it. Time is just flying.

To catch up:
Scott is singing in the choir during the priesthood session of conference.
I have already started the billions of meetings that come with being a director. (It's cool, a few meetings for a full scholarship.)
Midterm grades were great! Only 4 B's between us, and the rest A's. Being married boosted our GPAs......

The Scott and Brandee Clear Your Clutter Service

2009-03-08T17:34:00.000-07:00

Are you tired of looking at that old couch, but don't know where to put it?

Do you want to move your t.v. cabinet out of sight, but don't know who could do it?

Then call the Scott and Brandee Clear Your Clutter Service!

Scott and Brandee are currently moving from a furnished apartment into and unfurnished apartment, and in the midst of all that, they are willing to perform this service for you!! So, if you have a couch you don't know what to with, and a t.v. cabinet you don't want to see anymore, call on Scott and Brandee!! They garuantee quality removal with a smile, and its absolutely free! That's right folks, they will do it for free!!! "We just want to help people," says Scott.

So give them a call!

Our First Valentines....

2009-02-17T13:22:00.000-08:00

Aw! Scott was so sweet to me....breakfast in bed, and a rose, and a game, and a heartfelt card...he loves me.

Well enough gushy stuff. While Scott and I have been at school it appears as though we have fallen off the face of the Earth....and figuratively we did. I mean who really chooses to go to college where your not sure if you should layer both your winter coats today, or pull out the parka. It has been snowing steadily while we have been here, and we have taken advantage of the beautiful snow by going snowboarding.

The first time we went there was lots of snow, with ice under it....so falling hurt (falling hurts anyway, but when you add ice its much less fun.) Then the second time was perfect. It had just snowed the day before, and it didn't get that cold that night, so the powder was wonderful. We got there on time, (meaning still daylight) and all the lifts were open. We had a blast for about three and a half hours, with Scott trying his hand or his feet rather in the trick slope. You will have to ask him how that went. Then we topped off the day at this place called Big Jud's. I think Scott will agree in saying that we have had our fill of greasy hamburgers for the year after that huge burger.

We also have had some fun times with friends...trying to limit the amount of visitors to our dungeon apartment. It is becoming more like home. We are already looking for another place to live. Midterms are upon us and we must move out next semester.

Just thought I would catch ya'll up!

Tyler's Visit......

2009-01-10T11:43:00.000-08:00

Well, Tiny aka Tyler came to visit his big (well, older) sister in the frozen desert. After battling horrible weather, and making it safely home, we played guitar hero, until we realized how late it was and had to go to bed to make it to Colorado the next day. While we were there we went snow shoeing. It was a lot of hard work, but it was very fun. Thanks to Josh and Amanda and Addy for letting all of us stay up there!! p.s. I hope you all enjoyed Snickers!
Then, we came home from Colorado, and spent the next day doing absolutely nothing. Well, Tiny did. I packed. But the day after that, we went sledding. that was fun too. And a one time thing for me! I also took a video of Tyler going down the freakin big hill.

Then, Scott, Tyler and I went to Salt Lake for fun at First Night. We went on to Temple Square and onto the conference center for some cool pictures. Then we went ice skating and watched a pretty cool band with this guy drawing weird pictures, counted down until midnight...and Happy New Year!!

Our first Christmas

2009-01-10T11:31:00.001-08:00

Well, I know I am very far behind on my blogging....sorry.

Scott had to work almost all day on Christmas Eve, so in my sadness and loneliness, I made cookies. I made Spritz, Forgotten, Old Fashioned Spice, Peppermint Meringes, Cornflake, White Velvet cut-outs, and Grandmom's thumbprint. They were tasty, and have lasted a whole lot longer than I thought was capable for cookies to last.

This next picture was taken on Christmas Eve too, before we went down to Wig and Steph's house for dinner. Its kinda dark, but we wanted to make sure you could see our pretty tree with all of our good stuff!!

Then, Christmas day, Scott and I went to pick up Tyler, my brother. It was a long scary drive, but read the next blog to find out what we did.

Getting our Tree

2008-12-29T14:03:00.000-08:00

My first real tree. That I have cut down. Well, seen cut down. The following pictures are Scott cutting down our great tree...and the after pictures of the decorated tree.

This is Happy Scott, posing to take a picture to satisfy me.

Our pretty tree, almost all the way down!

And the tree all done!

Black Friday...aptly named.

2008-12-22T18:16:00.001-08:00

Well, the day started off crazy. I had to work. At 5. I didn't even know there was one of those in the morning.

The doors opened as I got there.
I have never seen so many people move that fast.

About half way through the day, all associates got called into the break room, and we learned of the tragic death of a fellow associate in the New York/New Jersey store. After opening the door for the crazy people, they trampled him to death. It was a sad day, after that.

Anyway, after a trying day....I get picked up by Scott to go to the Jazz game! That was fun..

There was a heated verbal team spirit argument between an 11 year old jazz fan and an 11 year old kings fan (ages are guessed to protect the true identities). After one would yell "Go Jazz!" there would be a resounding "Go Kings!" or my favorite, "Come on Jazz, we have faith in you!"
It was entertaining, and it lasted the entire game!

Thanksgiving Feast--or Fiasco?

2008-12-02T14:07:00.000-08:00

Who was I kidding, making my own Thanksgiving dinner. There was the stuffing, and the potatoes, and the corn, and the rolls, and can't forget the turkey. All of these expectations to uphold. If I ruined this dinner.....what would become of my cooking reputation?

Heehee, just joking. Thanksgiving was great! The turkey was really good, and yes, with only two people and one helping each, we are up to our ears in left-overs. And I made everything that I was used to having on Thanksgiving. Scott was in for a real treat with my grandmother's (I don't know what recipe belonged to who...so for the sake of argument, grandmothers is now a collective noun) corn pudding and potato casserole.

It was fun. It was fattening. (And I am never wearing that shirt in front of a camera again.) (Promise.)

Headline...DRY ICE BOMBS FRIGHTEN TRICK-OR-TREATERS

2008-11-01T07:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday as the nation began its preparations for the scary holiday, one group of people, too old to trick-or-treat, too young to have their own trick-or-treaters, waited in anticipation. A party was planned, that included caramel apple making, game playing, movie watching, the usual as parties go. But this party was different. The treat part of Halloween flying from their minds, the men in the party decided to steal the dry ice that was used as a decoration for the limeade juice (made to look as if bubbling over) to make dry ice bombs.
As any good boy scout knows, always be prepared, and when the time came to look for a bottle to make the bomb, one boy, John Gillman, supplied the rest of the men, Trent Simmons and Scott Merkley, with enough bottles to take on Japan.
Gillman brought in the bottles, Simmons filled them with water, Merkley added ice. Then the group waited. There was a loud explosion. There was laughter. Then in the midst of it all, headlights could be seen and a car door slam could be heard.
Then, another bang. Looking at each other...all knowing what the other was thinking...."we didn't throw another bomb.." went out to the front yard to cautiously look around.
The trash can, which was housed at the end of our driveway, was careened out of position. Top off and on its side, it appears to have been hit by the terrified father of the young trick-or-treaters that were deceived by the porch light which had remained on.
With the thought of the dry ice bomb in their minds and the trick-or-treaters leaving fresh in their thoughts, I think the group has learned its lesson.

Don't leave your trash can at the end of the driveway, someone could hit it.

I Hate Haunted Walk-throughs

2008-10-26T20:45:00.000-07:00

Well, for starters, I got a job! Yay! So if you are ever in Vernal, come by the frozen department! I work in zero degrees. Fun. The good news is that I will be ready for Rexburg weather.

Speaking of Rexburg, Scott and I can go to school...with the bill paid for by the feds!! Interesting bit'o'info: the apartment complex sent back our application because we didn't add landlord information to it. Good grief. This is the same lady who keeps only four hours a week in the office. Lets not even go there.

Yesterday Scott and I went to Lagoon Frightmares. I got two free tickets from work for free and we traveled to Salt Lake. The rides were awesome. The weather was great. The candy apple I begged for was delicious, and went right to my hips. The lines were horrible. And I cried, I was so scared at the stupid walk-through. It's like they preyed on me. Scott said that I looked too scared, and they just had a field day. Well good for them. Tomorrow for family home evening we are going to go the corn maize. So that will be fun. As long as I don't psych myself out. But it was totally fun!

Now what?

2008-10-13T12:26:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know me very well...I love to read. I love reading. But, now that I am finished with the Twilght books, what do I read now? Now what? Nothing I tell you. After them, there is nothing that compares. I will have to start my love of reading all over again.

See Spot run......

See Dick play. See Jan laugh.....

Other news: I know you don't believe us, but Scott and I actually did get a lot out of conference, regardless of the wonderful picture of us on Stephanie's blog. Just for the record.

I have been able to get a job. You are looking at the new ICS member of the Wal-mart group. Yipee. Pretty much I get to walk around and fix everything. I am a perfectionist so getting paid over $10 to work on my OCD is great. And because everywhere in Vernal is hard pressed for people to work, I got to pick my own hours. So that was wonderful.

Scott and I are going to have a haunted dinner Halloween party. If any of you have any ideas for scary dishes that I can serve to four men who work hard labor jobs (translation: very hungry boys) and their wives, it would be awesome!!

Torn between two worlds

2008-09-25T10:57:00.000-07:00

Well, as you know now, Scott and I went to Colorado to spend some time with Josh and Amanda and Addy. The trip was planned around a hike up the highest flippin mountain in Colorado...a height that sea-level loving me only had attained in planes, with the aid of motion sickness pills. After huffing and puffing up the base of the first false summit, the clouds changed our minds and path for us, and we started the laborious process of the climb down. Had I know how hard the climb down would have been, I would have never went up that high. But overall, that world of high heights, great views, and my over active pulse is calling me again, I would love to go back.....

But there is another world that I have immediately become sucked into. Why didn't anyone force me to read the Twilight books earlier??? I started the first one yesterday (Wednesday), and am now done with it and the second one. Steph and I are currently sharing the series, and I hope that she is done with the third. I am going to make banana bread in hopes of bartering for the third one. Thanks so much Emily for getting me all interested.

There is still no hope on the job front. I can't tell you how many times I have heard the phrase, We'll call you....Thankfully, Scott and I have recently acquired a new addition to our little family that we will have to return when we go back to school, but that's okay, she is fun while she is here. Her name is Ellie and she is a mix...of....of...two kinds of dogs, that I am sure of. She is a ball of energy, and adores Scott.....

Cows on the move

2008-09-10T12:31:00.000-07:00

Yay, just like home, I got to move cows on Saturday. It was great. There are some really cool looking ones out there. There is a calf that looks like a zebra, and one that looks like a sheep, and a brown and white one that looks like a toasted marshmallow. I'll get some pictures of them and post them.

The Rains came down

2008-09-10T12:30:00.000-07:00

WOW!! It started raining last night, and at 1:30 in the afternoon, it is continuing to do so! Not like a gross "the sky is spitting" rain, but a tried and true rain!!

Civilzation at Last

2008-09-08T09:03:00.000-07:00

On Friday I entered civilization. Well, Vernal. I went with Scott, and we were going to go get my lisence, and much to my chagrin, the DMV is closed on Fridays. So, I went to the library, and stayed there for about three hours, until Scott's friend's wife, Bridget got off of work (lucky). Oh! And I applied for a job, at a scrapbook place that was in desparate need of being organized. So Bridget and I head out to the job that our husbands are working on....this huge fence, like 1,000 ft of it, and decided to take them slushies, which we proceeded to drink all of while watching them strain in the heat. It was a good thought.
After going out to dinner, Scott and I came back to the house and I convinced him to take us camping in the most awesome tent I have ever seen...now 9:00 at night. So we go, and it was awesome! We used our super cool marshmallow stick things, and make smores (which I seemed to have misplaced the other chocolate bars..) and had a good time.

Life in the Dell

2008-09-03T15:42:00.000-07:00

So far, I have been pretty bored.....just laundry, cooking, and thank-you cards to occupy my time...I hope to go and get a job this week, as well as a new license......
The weather here is....dry...go figure. I guess I now fully understand the meaning of desert. I can't wait until it gets cold and the view is covered in snow!
I made my firs post office run today. I walked in, the lady looked at me and turned around and didn't say anything. My shy self didn't say anything either, yeah right...I introduced myself as Brandee Merkley, and that I needed stamps. She looked at me like, no duh. Well, only like three more runs to the post office and I should have thanked everyone for making my day special...maybe next time I can make her smile...

Pass go, collect $200

2008-08-27T06:57:00.000-07:00

Well, as Scott and I began our life together, we were given an abundance of presents, and all of which are happily awaiting their thank-you cards. We are in Washington, D.C. right now, my sweetie of a husband bringing me here because I wanted to get married in this temple. He decided it would be a great honeymoon, and I totally agree. We went shopping yesterday in the biggest mall I have ever been in...it just went on and on, like the stinkin desert (for you movie watchers, that was from Tall Tale, not a bash at the desert). Today we are going to the temple, and then on to the Smithsonian and other places I have always wanted to go to.
I am so blessed to be with Scott. He is my dream guy. Strong, both spiritually and physically (wow! muscles!) He is patient and sweet. Oh I love him!