Disney Delights

Over Labor Day weekend Matt and I drove up to Orlando (about 3 hours) and spent our time playing at Disneyworld. (Sorry for no pictures! We took them with Disney Photopass and are too poor to pay for them)

Matthew had been to Disneyworld once before when he was a child and it was the 80's so I thought that a trip to see the mouse was in order.

We had so much fun starting off the tour in Epcot and enjoying some great German food at the Biergarten - they even wished us a happy belated anniversary:) Sadly, we did not enjoy all the rides as much as the food. After we rode Mission Space - we decided to take a couple hours to sit and wait for the world to stop spinning. We were very relieved for Dramamine being sold on the Disney black market (When I say black market, here's what I mean:We could not find any dramamine out on the counters or shops, but when we asked, they pulled it out from a storage box below the counter and charged us a ridiculous amount for two pills). After we got over this dizzy spill, we visited first aid for some blister relief and found out we could have got dramamine for free. It is now marked on all my disney maps :)

We then visited Magic Kingdom and had a blast on Space Mountain - for some reason, it felt a little more rickety than the one in Disney. We decided that we would stick to Peter Pan and the three foot fall should a ride stop. We really enjoyed our Jungle Cruise and visiting the Laugh Floor with Monsters Inc characters. I think we added two more potential jobs to Matt's list.

At Hollywood studios we got to see a lot of shows! We visited Ariel's Voyage to the Sea followed up by a cool Mickey bar to Beauty and the Beast. We ate at Pizza Planet after riding toy mania, where Matt finally beat me on the highest score.

Later that evening we made our way to the Boardwalk where we sat under a patio and people watched in the rain. No rides, no characters, but still one of my favorite moments of the trip. We also made a stop to the ESPN club which is not as cool as ESPN zones (no individual tv's at each table) but at least they did have a live radio broadcast.

Our last day we visited Animal Kingdom where Matt found his favorite ride - Expedition Everest. We enjoyed it so much we rode it twice! We also watched the really cute Finding Nemo show and enjoyed the up close experience we had with the animals on the Safari.

We wrapped up our trip with a sunset ferry ride and dinner on the bay at Downtown Disney. It was really sweet - even the delicious chocolate covered strawberries and caramel apple we picked up there!

Over the last couple of weeks we have been busy with school and work.

Matt had an interview for the Marriage and Family Therapy grad program here at Nova *fingers crossed*. We should hear back about a second interview within the next week.

I had my first week on duty in South Florida and I feel like Dorothy - I am definitely not in Utah anymore. I'm lucky that none of the incidents were major or extreme. Mostly it's the large number of calls I got. Hopefully this will slow down for the next time I'm on-call... next week.

I have an upcoming work conference for Florida NASPA next week in Orlando but i'm excited because it'll be more an overnight trip and most likely, Matt will be working. I will be participating in the case study and hope to get my act together for it.

I've also been starting with my first few class assignments and submitted my first grad paper yesterday. It feel so weird being back in the game but thankfully, it hasn't been too hard of an adjustment.

Right now, we're just finding time to have our weekly date nights and get things organized for school and work. We're really looking forward to having Matt's parents come down in October and my upcoming birthday.

How old is too old?

Thank you all who sent sweet birthday notes to Matthew this year. We had a wonderful day celebrating Matthew's 28th birthday with our friends the Laney's and Fontoura's at a local sports bar and grill here in Florida. The best part was the surprise element! For those of you who know me, i'm not great at keeping things in suspense. I have a hard time enjoying any surprise but Matthew is the opposite. I wanted to make it special and coordinated a fun little evening for him that involved good food, good people, and games.

This month the pace has picked up a bit. I started classes this week. Along with becoming a graduate student, I am also co-teaching a class at NSU. It's been new and different but I am enjoying every minute of it. We survived another year of RA training and check-in's and are looking forward to getting into a more established routine. Matt just submitted his application to NSU and we've got our fingers crossed that he can start in Winter term.


We have a trip planned to Disneyworld over Labor Day weekend with our friends Rob and Sheree and we hope to post some pics of beautiful Florida with that.

Still going strong!

Today is August first. Four years ago Matthew and I were married in the temple in Nauvoo, Il. I just wanted to blog about how wonderful these last four years have been. We have had huge obstacles to work our way through (immigration, lack of money, job changes, moves across the country...) but we have had some wonderful highlights! I felt like sharing some of my favorite moments of marriage (PG rated) and highlighting some of our favorite people who made these memories with us.

August 2006 - Married in the Nauvoo temple. This day was so wonderful and we were so happy to have Matt's family and my mentor and friend Jill supporting us through that.

July 2007 - Playing in Logan with my niece and nephew. We explored the town and canyon while our niece and nephew stayed with us for a few days.

October 2007 - Our trip to Las Vegas where we celebrated my 21st birthday

December 2007 - Christmas in Indiana. Visiting with Matt's family, Euchre at Grandma and Grandpa's and date night with the Peyton's

June 2008 - A trip to Chicago with the Peyton's. Good food, great company, and Wrigley Field!

December 2008 - My cousins from Venezuela came and hung out with us

May 2009 - Matthew's graduation.

August 2009 - Camping and Boating at Bear Lake with the Fisher's and the Eldridge's. So fun!

September 2009 - Florida trip... what started it all

December 2009 - Christmas in Utah - both my family and Matthew's gathered together to celebrate in one location.

March 2010 - Disneyland with the Cook's and Allen's. What a magical moment

June 2010 - Moving to our new home in Florida. The biggest adventure yet to come...

Noticing the little things

Oh how I love rain! I've always enjoyed rain more than sunny days or snowy evenings. I love the sound it makes, the smell that comes after word, and the cool breezes that accompany it in. Now more than ever the rain is a relief from the exhausting heat that is constantly here in Florida. I know most people around here find it a huge inconvenience (truthfully, so does my hair) but it's the time of day I look forward to most!

Sometimes you have the light misting that lingers but the best rainfalls are when it pours. It literally looks like a waterfall from our patio. When you're outside it's like a shower and i've learned that you never go anywhere without an umbrella because the weather changes on a dime!

We've also had our small dips smooth out. I finally got my license fiasco finalized! After 8 hours (seriously!) at the DMV I walked out with a license in my hands displaying very tired, sweaty, and pig-tail wearing beast named Heilit. I thought they were going to use the picture I took the time before and mail it to me... but that would be way too efficient. It worked itself just in time because our title from Utah just arrived and we were called by the tax collectors that we can go register our car. We decided to do the lawful thing and take care of that. After shelling out about $500 we walked away with our "Family First" plates - endorsed and sponsored by Tony Dungy! Pretty much we rock it out here. Little point of information - the specialty plates are not why it cost us so much, or else I would have been Uber crazy!

On a super cool, you-can-all-envy-me moment - Matthew and I had the privilege to go to a book signing for Julie Andrews new childrens book... *pause for drama*... and it was awesome!

Surprisingly, the Borders by our house was the only one that did not issue tickets and was not sold out, nor did we have to camp out all night or stand in line for 8 hours, unlike the DMV. We had a very pleasant wait outside for less than an hour and then got to wait in the store for about another hour and a half reading books until we met her. She was EXACTLY how she appears in her movies only better since she spoke to just us two! She called Matt brave for coming out with me to her signing (which was for her book "A very, fairy princess") and then was sweet as can be by referring to all young women as princesses and asked about our little princess that we were sending the book to (my incredible niece, Brigitte). Of course, we got another copy for my little family library but it was all so wonderful and for less money and time than we could have hoped for! I absolutely love books and though I missed the $1 sale at my home Borders in Logan, My new Borders out here has surpassed expectations :)

On Monday, I got to set up my office and get moved in a little. Truthfully, I was not expecting to have an office but I was so excited to see I did and it was huge! I started putting up my pictures and toys and already it's beginning to feel so comfortable. My office is located in the main Housing and Reslife office for the university and as Matt and me were putting things away, we were so warmly welcomed by loads of people and a cute grab bag. I even got some new Shark flair and am stoked to wear my shark pride shirt around campus. Matthew was introduced to my directors and they were really kind and inviting. They even suggested my first paycheck going to him directly for his extra work helping me set up my office but we'll have to see about that... haha

We know that things are about to pick up with my job starting next week and flowing right into the school semester next month. Matthew's also officially out of training and picking more shifts at Red Lobster. We're working hard to set up some personal time with each other and take some measures to share the load (like a chore chart!). I've really happy with the man I married and his willingness to support me through all of this, even if that means he has to vacuum :)

Still waiting for visitors to come out but our schedules have started to stabilize a little more and are ready for reservations! We heard from the locals that September, October, and January are the least busy times for the theme parks... just saying.

The good things in life

This week I stumbled across some photos I took the day before we left Utah. I wanted to share these with my friends and family because I love how special these people are in my life and it was a good moment in my life.

Matt playing Xbox with Cisco and Brigitte

Hanging out at Jay's birthday party in Millcreek Canyon

The Koenigs

Hanging out with the kids and Ian, our friend, at the Pie... Matt looks photoshopped in but he's the reason we were all there. This night we also got to see Crystal, Ian's wife, and my friend Aubrey and her family.

We have also had some wonderful assurances that we are in the right place. Matt has been blessed with a job that let's us spend time together and yet given him a new opportunity to learn and grow. We also are excited about the huge sports news taking place here in Southern Florida. We have three huge power house players that are on the Miami Heat (basketball team) and Matt is excited about his professional sports adventures that are to come these next few months.

We're still having some small hiccups with getting things organized (I have yet to receive my license) but we know that this is where we need to be. We've also started making some great friends and hope for more good things to come :)

Monday Madness

Last night, after over 20 years, I met my Aunt Ilse. Ilse is my mother's sister and also my Godmother. Aside from a few pictures of my Catholic baptism and a few other ones strewn about, I haven't seen her since my family left Venezuela. I was so excited and happy at meeting her. My wonderful cousin Monsi invited Matthew and me over for dinner and to meet our Aunt who had been in town for the week. It was great meeting her because it's so nice to reconnect with that side of my family and get to know my mom a little more through that extension.

Something we learned is that Munchmeyer women are inherently similar in their personalities. Warm, kind, beautiful, a little eccentric and nervous creatures, but overall - absolutely wonderful! So many of the mannerisms i've picked up from my mother are seen in most of the Munchmeyer women. And for better or worse, i'm looking forward to becoming like them.

I also got to meet Monsi's awesome step sons - David and Cristian. They were really kind and connected well with Matthew. Thank goodness for the international male language of sports. Though most of the conversation was dominated in Spanish, my aunt spoke German with Matthew and David Jr. kept the conversation going in English with him. Monsi shared her wonderful cooking skills with us and made us some Venezuelan food... Arepas! Mmmm...:) She also shared their limited supply of Toddy which Matt found he loved more than regular American Chocolate milk. We also got to see little Ilse (Monsi's daughter) in her wonderful dress up outfits. She was Cinderella, a ballerina, and her cute peace outfit. She really is a little doll.

Ilse- My Aunt and Godmother.

My Taunte Ilse and us

From left to right and front David (Jr)- Monsi's step son, David - Monsi's husband, Cristian - Monsi's step son, Taunte Ilse, Little Ilse - Monsi's daughter, Me, Matthew, and my Cousin Monsi

Monsi's daughter Ilse and me.

Yesterday was a bit of a scramble for us. We had planned for a beach trip in the morning and after a mad scramble of finding our beach towels, packing a lunch, and figuring out how to use our new sun -umbrella. We were on our way. The weather was wonderful and thanks to a sun block of SPF 90 - we had no burning happen :)

Ft. Lauderdale Beach

In March, the sea turtles come and lay eggs on the beach. All over the beach are these roped off sections protecting their eggs.

They say that the eggs typically hatch in October. We hope to go out and watch the little "Crushes" swim out.

Sand, sand, everywhere... this was our faces after discovering that you can't avoid getting it in everything.

We love our sun!

We made friends with some tourists from Michigan who volunteered to take pictures of our pasty selves... Hopefully in a few months we'll darken up a bit.

For some reason, we always do these really awkward prom poses... even at the beach...

I asked Matt to do his "man" pose and he went straight into a tackle.

When I asked him to give it another shot, he wanted to show off some leg.

Enjoying our day...

Oasis

As promised, here are some photos of our new home. I have not posted pictures of our Master because it is our last project and we also want to leave an element of surprise for those who come out and see us. I also posted pictures of our closets (tacky, I know!) but here's a little example of my organization skills as requested by some.

Our view from our apartment.

Reggie is fascinated by the palm trees and bugs!

Our guest room (AKA: family room) - Can you guess the theme?

Between Matt's golf clubs and the sports memorabilia is the new bed and bedding just for you!

Matthew organized this all on his own

The organized closet with our emergency kit.

The guest closet we call our storage closet... we own A LOT of clothes

I found a way to organize my purses!

My new desk! A little smaller than before but well organized - thank you Office Max. Below are some more random shots of our guest bedroom.

My patio and new bike (AKA: Ponie!)

We love enjoying our outdoor space and my small garden

The Master bath... a compromise of colors between Matthew and my style.

Our Master closet is nice and tidy. There's more to it than the picture shows.

My wonderful laundry room! Our matching front loading LG Washer and Dryer are just amazing! and we love them.

I have an actual pantry and it's organized to my taste.

The guest bathroom's medicine cabinet. We're supplied for any visitor to come :)

We've put up some pictures of Logan Canyon in our guest bath...

Tried to make it look and feel more like a hotel bathroom.

I like things matching.

The living room.

I love my green wall with our dark wood furniture and couch.

The entry way and my children's/YA books

This apartment was meant for me - built-in bookshelves!

The dining room and our new dining set.

A great open layout.

I love this part of the room. It was made just for food and family!

My wonderful new kitchen.

Good things to come

I just wanted to announce that Matthew got his first job offer this afternoon. It's for a server position at Red Lobster... yes, I know that means Sebastian is no longer singing, but I am! We're excited for this to come in and are still waiting to hear from some of the other companies he interviewed with this week.

On another note, almost all of our stuff got here and is pretty much put away or up on the walls. We're missing our curtains hardware :( but it's replaceable and we're just glad to be done and have it like home. Picture of most of the rooms will be up this weekend... with the exception of the Master. I am still waiting on some key pieces of furniture to be purchased before I can show the completed project. As for our guests... the Biehl Bed'n'Breakfast is ready to go! We are stocked and anxious for our first guest... P.S. whoever comes out first gets first dibs on the well stocked freebies! If you're still debating how to raise the money to come see us - hopefully our relaxed oasis will tempt you.

I am officially registered as a Shark and am excited for my class load... A lot of topics that have intrigued me as a professional and now I get to expand on it. They'll mostly be night classes but i'll be busy doing my GA position in the day. Things are just working out.

We also heard that my Aunt Ilse, my mother's sister, is in Miami this weekend for her granddaughters ballet recital and I am so excited to see her! I don't have any memories of this aunt since the last time we saw each other I was just a little toddler. I'm also so happy to see my cousin Monsi and her sweet little girl. I hope to post pictures of this get together too!

The many things that start with the letter "H"....

We'll begin with "Home."

We have officially arrived and checked into our new apartment here in Florida. Though we have yet to receive our belongings (our moving truck broke down in OK and is delayed another 5 days) - we're home! We've also been grateful that we have more belongings than we did as newlyweds. For example, a bed! We were lucky to have purchase an air mattress and then our good friend Benton donated his lovely queen to us when he moved away this week. We also have a shower curtain, bar stools, and a coffee table so we are managing with meals, showers and mini dates (thank you youtube!).

"Hot" + "Humid"

Do you know what this results in? Really bad hair days for Heilit! It has been reading 96 degrees on average but doesn't even reflect the major humidity we're facing too. It's been a huge adjustment for me and i'm starting to realize how much extra water I need, along with my limits of playing outside. After a bout of heat exhaustion a couple days in - we're surviving the weather pretty well and looking forward to our afternoon rain showers that cool us down.

"Hungry"

There are sooooooo many amazing places to eat around here that every time I hop in the car my mouth begins to water... Mo's, Steak'nShake, Buca di Beppo, Chick-fil-A, and these are just some of the names that are average. We have loads of local places and different ethnic cuisines that I'm just anxious to start eating out once a week to start trying them all!

"H2O"

Water, water everywhere! Two days ago I spent an hour with Matthew relaxing by the pool, in two more days we will be going to one of the many nearby beaches we have... each afternoon we have lovely tropical rain showers that replenish the beautiful, lush landscape and relieve me of the heat... I think I have found my own personal oasis. I love all the fun water options I have to play in and I'm looking forward to more... like cruises, everglade/swamp tours, rides up the waterway/canal, and finding a lagoon to kiss Matt in!

"Heart"

Even though it's such an exciting adventure I definitely miss my family. I really miss knowing that Cisco and Brigitte were so close but i'm already saving pennies to get them out here quickly. I know that soon I'll get to have them close to me again and i'll have my heart put back as one. On the other wonderful hand, I have Matthew. I'm really blessed to be able to be with the one I love and that no matter what we do or don't have - we're still Happy.

"Happiness"

I've really felt happy and content knowing that this is where the Lord would have us and all the little miracles he's given us to make it happen. He can work wonders. All this extra time and lack of funds has also really given me and Matthew the opportunity to spend quality time with one another and reconnect. We've also been blessed with extra time for personal scripture study, prayer, and time to meditate and ponder. We've got a list load of errands but it's wonderful having time to dedicate an hour or two a day to reconnect with our Savior and father in heaven. (read the "Don't be in a hurry" in this month's Ensign- it really helped us see the good of it all).

"Heilit"

As usual it's about me... but really, it's for those that I love. I promise to have photos posted of our beautiful oasis soon... but I do need to get my furniture in so you get the full effect. Also, here's a standing offer to any of our beloved friends interested in visiting - we would love to have you! If you pay for a ticket, we will have a comfy space for you in our home! :)

Clueless...

So, as we've had adorable friends and family share with us their blogs - we could really use some help on ours. We'd love to post more photos and haven't a clue how. If you have any great tips how to add this - please post!