The Iron Horse...and a sore neck!

Well, it's safe to say that we are back in Provo and I am thankfully alive!! On Friday, my dad, younger brothers, Brett and me traveled down to Durango, Colorado for something road bikers refer to as "The Iron Horse Bicycle Race". For those that don't know what this race is it is a 50 mile race that travels up 6,600 vertical feet. It has flat ground, downhills, and 3 rather large hills to climb. When we got there we spent some time with some of my relatives that live there. We went down main street and looked through the shops and of course, went to the Mountain Bike Specialists store for some needed gear. It was a pretty rainy day but luckily wasn't snowing. My Uncle Robert is some sort of an expert on the race so he prepped us for what we were getting ourselves into. Josh, my dad and I did the race. This year was tricky because the race completely filled up before the race so we weren't able to be registered racers. So, we woke up at 5 a.m. and left my uncles home at 6 a.m., while the rest of the riders started at 8 a.m. Brett drove my dads car and my uncle in his car. We started the race and Brett and Robert would make stops every couple miles or so just in case we needed more water or food. The race was going great until we hit a hill called Colebank. It is an uphill that is 7 miles long with one little area that is flatter than the rest. My dad stayed with me and Josh raced ahead to get a new PR for the race. Josh and my dad had done it before so my dad was just staying with me which helped me alot! I never thought that we would get up Colebank but we finally did. We had some downhill after that before we hit the next big hill called Molass. When we first saw Molass I had to pull over and get a good cry in. I was so tired and was so sick of biking. Although it looked bad Molass wasn't as bad as Colebank and amazingly enough we make it up to the top. The downhill was again very welcome as we came down the mountain. It felt so good to see the small town of Silverton as we came down those mountain passes. Well, we made it to Silverton!! It felt so, so amazing to finish that race! Robert, Brett, Trevor and Josh were there waiting as we got in. I honestly couldn't believe I had finished. I don't think I will ever do it again, but....we'll see. Thanks dad for staying with me the whole time and cheering me on like you did!! I love you so much.

1. I'm alive.
2. My dad is amazing.

3. Today is Memorial Day! No school or work.

Timpanogos Cave

The Explorers

At the top!!

Brett was very interested :)

Yesterday Brett and I took decided we would do some things that have been on our "to do" list for a while. We set out at noon and went to the Timpanogos Caves. Neither of us could remember the last time we were there so we wanted to hike it again. We got our tickets and hike the mile and half up to the caves. It was perfect weather and so fun to have a Saturday out. We arrived at the top and shortly after got to go inside the cave for our designated tour time. It was interesting. It was our tour guides second day on the job and he was surprisingly very knowledgable about the caves. We were both surprised as to the size and length of the caves. Thankfully we made it out alive and got safely back down to the base. We got in the car rather tired from our four hour excursion and went down to Cabelas. We pass it every time we go home and have always wondered what it was like inside. Well, it's huge and definitely a hunters paradise. We didn't stay long cause we were exchausted. On the way home we stopped and got Five Guys Hamburgers because of all the "raving" we hear about it. It was really good and we were impressed. So, the day was successful. We definitely were excited to see the caves, the store, and try out Five Guys. Other than that we are just working, Brett's in school, and my sister Holly and her family comes in today for the week. Yeah!!

Brett's Graduation!

After Graduation at our lil' Home.

Brett walking at his Graduation

Katerooski and Brett.

The 1st Graduation ceremony at the BYU Basketball Stadium

The Electrical and Computer Engineers Graduation Ceremony

Brett!

Mom, me, Brett, and Josh

Today our own Brett Lee Mellor walked to the song Pomp and Circumstance as he was given his degree of Bachelor of Electrical Engineering Cum Laude. Yay!!!!! Yesterday was the massive graduation of mostly speakers to all the graduates with their families. Brett didn't want to sit alone so we sat in the nose bleeds and enjoyed the show with me. President Uchtdorf and Elder Nelson spoke and they both gave great addresses. Today was the seperate graduations of the different degrees. Along with Brett, all the Engineering degrees were given in the same meeting at the Smith Fieldhouse. My parents, my brother Josh and Brett's sister Katie were able to make it and we were so so glad!! (Although, we missed Claire and Bob greatly!) There were several great speakers and a fantastic piano solo. We all are so very proud of Brett!! It is such a huge accomplishment especially in such a hard degree. Congratulations my honey!! We all love you :)

And the Winner Is...

Team Fuego!! Brett just completed his Senior Project about a week ago and his team took first place!! For the senior project they programmed robots to go through a designated course that was given to them 15 minutes before the race. There were five teams. In the practice runs weeks before other teams looked as if they would be the ones to take the gold, but Team Fuego came in first with fiery! There were four members on the team. Each one specialized in different parts of the engineering for the robot. Endless hours, long nights, sweat, and hard work went into the little guy. Brett was so obsessed with it that he was talking about it in his sleep and spatting about the pylons and what they needed to do to increase its speed. The final day came and the race took place in the Wilk Center. Spectators watched as the little robots raced in and out of pylons (the poles the robots went around). Some robots never even made it all the way through the course. But at the end of the day, Team Fuego had finished every course in the fastest time, making it the official winner for the senior project. It was such a great day and so rewarding after so much hard work. Go Team Fuego!!

Rook Night and Spring Snow

My family is completely obsessed with the game Rook. All through my childhood I played Rook with my family and it has always been such a fun tradition. The game usually goes the same. Good hands, bad hands, all kinds. A couple weekends back we decided to take pictures during our rook game. It includes the post-game showdown. This happens after every game. It includes who played what, what could have been different, and if Trevor just would have played the Rook at a different time. It is so hilarious!!! After the game we went over to Brett's home and were there for quite a while. Little did we know how much it was snowing outside. When we went to leave there were about 5 inches of snow waiting on our car and on the ground. The roads weren't plowed and it took 30 minutes to get to the Chevron in Kaysville. So scary!! We finally got to the freeway and drove slow through to Farmington where the snow stopped and the clouds were clear all the way to Provo. Man, Utah has bipolar weather!!

Siblings On Weekends

This weekend has been a sibling party! On Saturday night Deven and Andrea came over for a beef sandwich and game night. It was such a blast! It was their first time to come to our little fortress in Provo and they loved the place. We had some grub and then played some quality Xbox Tetris for a while. We got bored of that and moved on to Clue. It was all of our first times playing and it was a riot! We are currently looking into purchasing that game, it was just that fun! Today Katie came over for dinner and she brought an incredible chocolate cake dessert and sadly she left it at our apartment...only sad for me. It was very yummy! Josh came up too cause tomorrow there is no school. We all watched some Indiana Jones and then played some games on the Xbox. Above are pictures of us happy and then very into the game. It's been a great weekend to say the least, and very fun to see our families! We only wish that Holly and Jan, Michael and Staci, and Laura and Matt could come have a fun night with us. Maybe later!! Anyway, off to bed. Good night!

50 Things About Whitney...

1. I love being married to Brett.
2. I love my family. My siblings have been my best friends my whole life. My parents are the best! I love when I get to see them. Plus I couldn't ask for Brett to have a better family, they are so fantastic!!
3. I can't imagine being any happier than I am now.
4. I love the gospel.
5. I love Rascal Flatts. It makes me happy on my hardest days!
6. Cold Stone is my favorite ice cream. Mix Raspberry Sorbet with fresh raspberries and crushed Heath bar and I'm sold!
7. I like snow only for skiing. Other than that I'm a Spring and Fall girl!
8. I can't stand being non-productive.
9. I love helping other people feel good. I gave a client an age-smart treatment today and she loved it! She booked 5 more for the next (and thankfully last) 4 weeks of school and gave me a 20 tip. It made me feel so good!
10. I'm loving cooking. I'm saving tips to buy a Rachael Ray Cookbook!
11. I love Architecture. I have a hard time concentrating while driving cause I love to look around...so fun!
12. I never want to be famous.
13. I love decorating my concrete wall apartment. I never knew it could be so fun!
14. I love my nieces. I miss them so much and wish I could wake up with them every morning and play with them.
15. I want to travel the world like my grandparents did.
16. I don't care what other people think of me.
17. I love my friends. Life is so sweet with a friend by your side.
18. I love camping with my family and going rappelling!
19. I love my dog Penny and want a dog for our future family! Someday...
20. I love that I have curly hair but I hate to straighten it...it takes so long!
21. I can't Wake Board. I tried in Lake Powell and many will testify that I should never again.
22. I love Boating, especially at Sunset!
23. I loved my wedding, it was everything plus way more than I ever dreamed. (Although it lacked one thing-my father-in-law-we missed you Bob!)
24. Sunday afternoon drives are my favorite!
25. I love giving and getting nice notes. Don't you love that?
26. I want to be fluent in French.
27. I don't want to go Sky Diving again...once is enough.
28. I don't like commuting to school. I look up to anyone who commutes.
29. I love to go road biking. It makes you feel so free and unstoppable!
30. I love Jazz music.
31. Confession: I fell asleep in a facial once. I took an allergy pill right before and the dimmed light and soothing music put me right to sleep.
32. I want 5 children.
33. I love the smell of coffee. If I wasn't Mormon I would probably drink it.
34. I hate Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.
35. I love shopping!
36. Monday is currently my favorite day of the week.
37. My favorite color is Turquoise and Grey.
38. I loved High School. I thought it was a blast!
39. I love that Brett and I are going to see a movie at 11 p.m. tonight and he is taking a nap on the couch right now getting ready for the late night. :)
40. I love that we used a giftcard for Outback Steakhouse last night.
41. My favorite food is the Honey Oat Bran Muffins from Mimi's Cafe...Oh my, oh my!! Yummy!!
42. I can never seem to look good in both a necklace and earrings....it has to be one or the other.
43. I love when people vent to me. I love to listen.
44. I love that Brett tucks me in every night and tickles my face until I fall asleep.
45. I love that God listens to my prayers and answers them even when they aren't answered the way I wanted.
46. I love that Zions Visa has a system that checks your card. A stupid man in Florida made a copy of my card and tried to use it in Florida 5 times this last week until they called me and I canceled the card...stupid people. Thankfully he didn't have the right Authenticity number on the back so it didn't work.
47. I love to read and learn.
48. I am a Daddy and a Mommy's girl.
49. I love to work out at the gym. I feel so much better after!
50. I love that you're taking the time to read this long funny post :) Have a great day!

Love, Whitney

Married! And more....

Hello to anyone who might think that this blog is still alive! I'm going to try to revive it and get into this world. Brett and I are married and we are loving life! It is so fun and so new. We are currently living at Wymount at BYU. Brett just got into Grad school and for that we are so happy and grateful. Both of us are going to school and just trying to keep up with everything that's going on in life right now. I wanted to post some pictures of our apartment and a couple from our honeymoon. At my cabin on our honeymoon we built a huge snowfort and the picture pretty much explains it all. It was awesome. Anyway, Mondays are insane. I don't have school on Mondays so they are crazy. This morning I did the laundry, prepared dinner and put it in the crockpot (second attempt at the Crockpot, let's cross our fingers!!), made Brett lunch and took it to him, got the groceries, cleaned the apartment and folded and put away the clothes and made the bed all before 12!! It was insane. I love being productive!! Anyway, have a great day and we love and miss you all!!
1. That I am married to my best friend.
2. I got to see my family yesterday.
3. Brett got into Grad school.

Draper Temple Open House

Andrea got our entire family tickets to the Draper Temple Open House and it was so gorgeous! We went on a Saturday night and first went to dinner at The Roof. It was so yummy and fun to be all together. The temple was absolutely gorgeous!! It is one of the most beautiful temples I have ever seen and has an incredible spirit in it as well.