Madison and Matt

Unexpected Surgery

2011-09-01T22:27:00.000-06:00

A few days after returning from Tahoe, I had an unfortunate surprise waiting for me.

I was at work Tuesday evening when I began to feel nauseated. By the end of the night it had progressed to vomiting, to the point where two of my sweet friends at work had to drive me home. Matt did the best he could to comfort me all night, but at 6am Wednesday morning he was off to Chicago for his internship conference until Friday night.

Luckily Wednesday was my day off, so all I did all day was rest. On Thursday the abdominal pain had subsided enough that I went to work. However, I only lasted a few hours before I drove myself home. The pain worsened that evening and by 11pm or so, after talking on the phone to Mom, Dad, Kim and Matt, it was determined that I should go to the ER.

I knew several of my friends were at the midnight showing of Harry Potter, and I didn't want to interrupt, so I couldn't think of who to call! Matt got in touch with our friend Roger who picked me up, then we went to pick up Grandpa Clyde, after which they gave me a blessing. At that point I was actually beginning to feel better and feared the trip to the ER would be a total waste (of money, that is). Everyone insisted that I still go, as it's better to be safe than sorry.

At midnight I was checking in to the ER. By 1am I was receiving a CAT scan, and by 2am they had determined that I would need an appendectomy. Naturally, I cried for a moment at the news. However, I think the blessing I had received helped me to feel peace and comfort. Considering Matt wasn't there with me, I could've felt much worse than I did. I was taken in for surgery at 6am. The appendix had not ruptured, but it was gangrenous (meaning the tissues surrounding the appendix were deteriorating) and some fluid was beginning to leak. When I woke up, sweet Grandpa Clyde was there to make sure I didn't wake up in the hospital alone. GraNola came to relieve him around noon. Matt was able to catch an earlier flight from Chicago and finally around 5pm he had arrived to take care of me.

I stayed in the hospital until Sunday so that they could keep me on antibiotics to prevent any infections. I got two and a half weeks of paid leave from work so that I could fully recover. Matt and I have determined that if he ever has to leave on a business trip again, I will go with him. ;) We feel very grateful for the love and support we received and I am now fully recovered.

This was when I was promoted from the Clear Liquids Menu to the Full Liquids Menu. Boy, was that creamy potato soup tasty!

I felt so loved to have so many lovely, fragrant flowers sent to me. I had my own garden in the room! It definitely lifted my spirits. It didn't hurt that I finally had my sweet husband to take care of me.

Lake Tahoe

2011-07-27T08:47:00.007-06:00

In early July, Matt and I took a little trip to Lake Tahoe with his family. We stayed in a house on Donner Lake, just outside Lake Tahoe. It was beautiful, the ideal weekend getaway.

Craig, Kim, Matt and I rented bikes and rode 22 miles (11 down, 11 back) along the southwestern edge of Lake Tahoe. Here we are admiring the incredible view at the southern end after a delightful picnic of peanut butter & banana sandwiches.

Enjoying Mexican food at Martha's Kitchen. I LOVE Mexican food.

Kat, Nate, Craig and Kim doing the Insanity workout! The 22-mile bike ride earlier in the day was enough for M&M.

Matt jumped from the highest cliff at Angora Lake! (See orange circle.) The water was FREEZING. Notice the packs of snow still present on the mountains...

Pouring over the incredible menu at Wolfdale's in Tahoe City. One of the best meals we've ever had! We called the chef out to compliment him and he brought us a special dessert. :)

Family picture at Wolfdale's. (Unfortunately you can't really see Lake Tahoe behind us.)

Rowing on Donner Lake...where the infamous and unfortunate Donner Party once stayed.

Lots of bocce ball.

Nephews

2011-07-01T10:40:00.004-06:00

Matt and I had been anxiously counting down the days until mid-June, when our cute nephews were coming to Utah! Julian Hadley (15, almost 16, from Ohio) and Dalan Cragun (from California) arrived on June 19th, Dalan's 14th birthday! We took them to Chipotle, a favorite of M&M and the Craguns, in Dalan's honor.

The next morning we took them to Kneaders for the famous chunky cinnamon French toast. Yum!

Then we took them to BYU to get registered and settled in for their week at EFY! (Definitely made me miss my days as an EFY counselor a few summers ago.)

The following weekend, we picked Dalan and Julian up from EFY and took them to Texas Roadhouse. They loved the delicious sweet rolls and honey butter. By the time the meal came, they were already stuffed.

The next day we picked up Dalan's brother Ryan (11) at the airport.

The following week, all three of them got to participate in BYU Basketball Camp. We didn't get any pictures of them at camp, but here are some pictures of Dalan, Ryan and Matt shooting around at BYU in the Richards Building.

I love this picture of Ryan. He looks pretty awesome.

I caught an even better picture of Dalan! ;)

After taking the boys to see Transformers 3, we had lunch at Chipotle...again. It's their favorite!

As if Chipotle wasn't enough, we took them to Hire's Big H in SLC for root beer freezes. (The boys were tired from all the fun they were having with us!)

Taking the sweet boys to the airport. Sad to say goodbye!

Anniversary 2

2011-05-20T11:19:00.002-06:00

Matt and I had always wanted to stay at The Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City. For our 2nd anniversary, we decided to splurge and do it! It was lovely.

Matching slippers.

They surprised us with a special anniversary cake!

And they left yummy chocolates on our bed each night.

I loved the fresh flowers in the entryway.

One of the highlights was the delectable Sunday brunch, featuring music from a live jazz band.

Taking in the ornate hallways.

The courtyard from our balcony.

Two years on May 8, 2011.

Mr. & Mrs. Lloyd: Shower & Wedding

2011-04-30T11:45:00.003-06:00

In February we got to celebrate Kat and Nate's upcoming wedding with a bridal shower and an engagement party in Lafayette, California!

The Stevens' good friends Laura and Sandy came up with a fun game to test Kat's skills in the kitchen...she had to make chocolate chip cookies without a recipe!

The cookies turned out absolutely delicious, proving the volleyball court isn't the only arena in which she has skills. ;)

Me, Kat and Kim; Kat and friends.

Here are some of Kat and Nate's photos from their bridal shoot by Annie Randall (the same photographer from our wedding)! Dreamy.

After the sealing in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple in American Fork, Utah, on March 12, 2011.

More pictures prior to the reception: M&M with K&N; Grandpa Clyde & GraNola with the newlyweds.

Stevens Family; Bridal Party.

The beautiful reception room at Sleepy Ridge in Orem, Utah.

Me with Matty, and me with our good friend, Laura Peers.

The live band kept us dancing all night! These cute girls had no end to their energy. :)

Congrats to the newlyweds!

Incredible

2011-04-24T19:59:00.003-06:00

My sister shared this link with me and I thought it was absolutely amazing. I also thought it was very appropriate in celebrating this Easter season.

Just Dance 2!

2010-10-25T22:51:00.005-06:00

Matt and I just purchased Just Dance 2 and I am SO EXCITED. Best game ever. If you'd like to come over and practice your dance moves, just give us a call!

¡Viva México!

2010-08-11T17:05:00.029-06:00

In honor of my graduating from BYU...

and reaching our one-year anniversary...

Matt and I went on a 7-day Mexican Riviera cruise in May! Our first stop was Puerto Vallarta, where we went on a zipline excursion. Our tour guides were so much fun, and Matt and I had a great time hablando espanol.

Our second stop was Mazatlan. We strolled along the beach in the Zona de Oro, and I got to go parasailing!

(That tiny dot in the sky is me!)

Cabo San Lucas was our favorite port. We took a little tour boat out to see El Arco and Lover's Beach, rented a jet ski in the bay, and soaked in the sun on some great cushy chairs sipping tropical smoothies. (In the "feet" picture, you can see our cruise ship out in the marina.)

We came back to our room each night to find cute, little animals waiting for us!

The ship had tons of fun activities: sun bathing, karaoke, dance parties, dating games, fancy dinners, comedians, water slides, basketball, ping-pong...

The time has come...for a new blog post!

2010-06-13T21:44:00.003-06:00

Here is a post I started several months ago... I knew I'd get around to it eventually!

December was a wonderful month. My favorite part of the month was probably the day I walked out of the BYU Testing Center having completed my very last final EVER! I am now officially a BYU alum with a Business Management degree (emphasis in Marketing) and a Spanish minor. BYU doesn't hold a December graduation ceremony, so it all became official when I "walked" in the April ceremony. It's a great feeling to be done.

December was also wonderful because of the nice holiday break Matt and I had. We first went to San Diego where we spent some time with my mom and her husband, as well as my sister Cara and her family in San Clemente. Alex, Danny, and Alysa also got to come up at the same time we were there! The only siblings missing were Lauren (who is living the high life as a nanny in NYC) and Cami (and her husband, cute kids, and new baby girl, India!). The best part of the Southern California trip was probably the day we spent at Disneyland. I love it there. :)

After a few warm days down south, we flew up to the San Francisco Bay Area to spend Christmas and New Years with Matt's family. We got to take some fun day trips to the Carmel/Monterrey area, as well as the Sonoma/Napa area. Northern California is so beautiful. We also got to go into San Francisco a few times for some shopping, outdoor ice skating, Cirque du Soleil, and an unfortunate Phoenix Suns loss to the Golden State Warriors. I wore my Stoudemire shirt proud nonetheless.

While we had a fabulous and relaxing end of December, January had other things in store. Matt is in school and working hard. My most recent and exciting news is that I have accepted a job offer with Target!

As a consumer, I can literally spend HOURS walking around this great store, which is a definite perk to the job. I'm an ETL (Executive Team Leader) over Human Resources. Basically, I am one of the 5 assistant managers, but the Human Resources part of the store is my primary focus. It has been a great experience so far. If you ever see me, I'm probably wearing a red shirt and khaki pants! ;)

The other exciting news for the month of January is that Matt and I moved into a new place. We were really enjoying our cute little apartment around the corner from Brickoven and about 200 yards from the BYU south stairs, but we got an offer somewhere else that we just couldn't refuse. We are now living in a great basement apartment of a beautiful house up on Y Mountain. We have a beautiful view of all of Provo out to Utah Lake, a newer and more spacious living area, a garage, more privacy, and cheaper rent. And it's so much more homey! 2010 has been a great year for us so far.

Here are some pictures from Disneyland/California Adventure in December...

Me, Cara, Kylie, and Alysa; Matt and me in front of the mini Golden Gate Bridge.

I love our individual faces in this picture. This ride always gets me so wet!

Alysa and her Daddy; Kylie and her Uncle Al.

Kylie and Alysa LOVE Uncle Matt and got to hold hands with him all day. :)

We had an awesome day; but only 5 of us made it all the way to the end!

Now for some pictures from Northern California...

The Oakland Temple and the beautiful view from it (me with Kim, my lovely mom-in-law).

In front of the big Christmas tree in Union Square, SF. Kim and I got fresh gardenias from our hubbies!

Enjoying the garden atop the Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. Behind us is the de Young Museum of Art.

Outdoor ice skating!

Cirque du Soleil!

Marina and lighthouse in Monterrey.

The adorable cottages of Carmel. I am determined to stay in one someday.

New York, New York!

2009-10-30T22:56:00.025-06:00

At the end of the summer, before heading west, we stopped for a few days in New York City! This was my second trip to the city, but it was Matt's first. Lauren came down from Connecticut to be our tour guide. We stayed in my cousin's apartment on the edge of Harlem near the northern end of Central Park. We had such a fun time and can't wait to go back someday.

On the metro. Unfortunately I lost my $20 metro pass on Day One within twenty minutes of buying it and we had to buy another one. I can't stand doing careless things like that! We didn't let it ruin our trip, though.

We saw The Little Mermaid on Broadway! It was a very fun and creative show. Sebastian was phenomenal. I had our digital camera in my pocket when we sat down for the show. Little did I know it slid out of my pocket (the same pocket the metro pass disappeared from) and onto the ground beneath our seats! Luckily I realized the camera was missing about 3 blocks from the theater and we were able to sprint back and recover it. As organized as I am, every once in a while I get into these bouts of carelessness and stupidity, as was evidenced twice during Day One of our trip.

We had a fun adventure in Chinatown where Lauren and I got some new purses. Matt enjoyed our adventures into the little, secret shops and closets where the goods are kept.

Matt approved of the NY pizza.

Yummy NY cheesecake!

M&M at M&M World! How appropriate. Matt got lots of M&Ms.

Times Square. Matt loved this place.

Views from the top of the Empire State Building.

Grand Central Station.

Matt is always so good at being chivalrous and carrying all the bags and purses.

Matt took some very artistic pictures of the Statue of Liberty.

I love the view of the cityscape from Liberty Island.

Ellis Island and our bike tour through Central Park. Our bicycling tour guide was Hispanic and gave us our tour in Spanish! We loved it.

Me, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid. And Matt and Batman. All made of Legos at FAO Schwartz.

Matt LOVED FAO Schwartz, especially the overpriced candy he bought. (Apparently the M&Ms weren't enough.)

Matt and I were approached in Times Square to go to the David Letterman Show! The guests were some random comedians, and Imogen Heap performed. We sat in the second row, right across from Dave's desk. The second picture is The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which I only had about 45 minutes to basically sprint through. There are some amazing works there; I can't wait to go back!

Madison Avenue!

The Good Ol' South.

2009-07-27T11:05:00.002-06:00

Matt and I spent the end of May through the end of June in the city of Greenville, SC. While he spent long, hard days in the humidity knocking on doors, I spent a couple of weeks writing what seemed like an endless amount of Thank You cards. I finally finished the majority of those and was able to be a little more social and hang out with the other wives. Our days typically consisted of going out to the pool.

I spent the rest of my time in my TVless and sporadic-internet apartment. It's given me some time to work on my cooking abilities. Matt is always a trooper and eats my meals even when he doesn't particularly like them. I think I'm getting a little better.

Oh yeah, the wives and I did go and tour the BMW factory one day. The tour guide's auto/mechanic lingo went right over our heads, but it was still cool to see the Transformer-looking robots and flying sparks put the cars together.

This summer I've also gotten to read a couple of good books! The Book Thief was so good and a real tear-jerker. Matt couldn't believe how much I was sobbing as I finished the last few pages. I then read The Alchemist which was really different than what I usually read but so enjoyable. It was a pretty quick read, too. Then I read The Notebook. I have to say that I love the movie, but I was a little disappointed by the book. It's probably because I experienced them in the wrong order. The movie just seemed more riveting and dramatic than the book. It was still an entertaining read, though.

One cool thing Matt and I got to do together in Greenville was take a stroll around Falls Park, which is in the nice downtown area of the city. It was beautiful. While we were there we passed by some old guy who shouted, "Well you two look like a good Christian couple!" "Yep!" was our response, to which he replied, "Amen!" Good ol' Southerners.

On Matt's 23rd birthday, June 21st, we took a little trip to Atlanta, GA. He was dying to eat at Benihana's and the closest one around was in Atlanta. While there we went to the World of Coca-Cola, but I wouldn't put it as one of my favorite attractions. The most exciting part of the tour was probably when we got to try dozens of Coca-Cola products from around the world. I guess the glass bottling factory part was okay, too. After that we strolled through the Centennial Olympic Park, which was built for the 1996 Summer Olympics, on our way to dinner. I guess I'm glad we can say we've been to Atlanta, but I think it would've been cooler to visit somewhere like Savannah. We're hoping to make it to Charleston, SC one of these weekends before we leave.

Benihana's.

Great photo-op in the entryway at The World of Coca-Cola:
Giant Coca-Cola bottles...

Cool retro room with old school, nostalgic Coke stuff.

This kind of reminds me of It's a Wonderful Life.
"I wish I had a million dollars... Hot dog!"

The room with old Coke posters and advertisements.
Matt LOVES when I take lots of pictures.

Testing the flavors. Some were pretty good; others NOT so good.

We got to pick up a FREE Coke bottle on our way out for paying to see the place.

The next day we had some Papa John's pizza (our favorite) and Baskin Robbins mint chocolate chip ice cream cake (Matt's favorite; I prefer Cold Stone). Becca and Steve came over to enjoy the cake with us and celebrate Matt's special day. I got Matt two Brian Regan comedy DVDs as well as a bunch of his favorite movie candies. I think he enjoyed them. :)

On the 4th of July we packed up the car and took the freeway north and east from Greenville to Charlotte. We didn't get to sit and watch a fireworks show from beginning to end, but we caught probably a dozen parts of various firework shows throughout our drive. I really like our current apartment. It is actually an executive suite owned by Marriott in an apartment complex, so it almost feels like we're in a hotel! It is much more homey than our last apartment because there is artwork on the walls and nice, comfy furniture. Not to mention we now have two TVs and a microwave! Now if that's not a step up, I don't know what is.

Matt drinking his FREE Coca-Cola on our drive to Charlotte.
What a way to celebrate the 4th!

Here are some pictures from our very first apartment (Greenville).
I'll put up Charlotte ones later.

Matt, just hanging out in the living room.

View from the entryway; kitchen.

Hallway; bathroom.

Our bedroom; not much to look at... Can't wait to be able to decorate in Provo.

Charlotte Marriott ExecuStay welcomes us to our new apartment with a box of goodies!
Again, Matt LOVES when I say, "Wait right there; let me take a picture!"

Our Honeymoon: Just Maui'd!

2009-07-15T08:05:00.025-06:00

Matt and I went to Maui and had the most wonderful honeymoon ever. We spent the first five days at the Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Villas, which was a beautiful resort. It was so tranquil and romantic. We had an amazing room on the bottom floor, adjacent to the resort pool and, even better, the ocean. We sat out on our little porch each morning in our resort robes and ate our breakfast as we gazed at the incredible view.

Our view in the morning and our view at sunset...

We did some really fun things while we were there. We went to the Old Lahaina Luau, which was a spectacular show, not to mention a sensational meal with fresh Kahlua pork that we witnessed come out of the ground. It wasn't a pretty sight, but it tasted delicious.

The Banyan Tree in Lahaina; it is huge and has about 12 trunks!

We spent one whole day taking a catamaran out to the little island of Lanai, snorkeling in a gorgeous and exclusive cove, touring the cute and tiny town of Lanai, enjoying great meals along the way, and witnessing the beautiful sunset as we sailed back to Maui.

For the last three days of our stay we went to the Grand Wailea Resort. It was an enormous and incredible resort, complete with fun pools and waterslides, as well as gorgeous views. We felt especially lucky when we got a free room upgrade to a 1700 sq. ft. Molokini Suite overlooking the ocean!

On our last night, my sweet sister and her husband treated us, as a wedding gift, to a delectable dinner at the amazing Mama's Fish House. It was one of the most incredible meals I've ever had. I don't even like seafood, but it was so fresh and delicious that it didn't even matter. Matt and I were in heaven.

Saying goodbye to The Grand Wailea.

The Big Day!

2009-06-30T19:40:00.001-06:00

Our wedding reception turned out to be so pretty.

Bridesmaids & Flower Girls.

Alysa & Kylie were the most adorable flower girls.

What studly groomsmen!

La Familia Stevens!

My lovely sisters and handsome brothers.

Flower girls and cute cousins; our silver shoes.

The sign-in table & our beautiful wedding cake made by Erin Haslam.

Our first dance; "Feels Like Home"

GraNola & Clyde. Nola was shakin' it ALL night long... She was the life of the party!

The dancing was the best part of the night. We all had SO much fun!

Cute daddies Mark & Danny with their little girls.

I'm pretty sure this was "WHOOOA! Livin' on a prayer!"

Cutting the cake.

Our grand exit!

And we will live happily ever after...

To see more pictures from our special day, click the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2266298&id=17818044&l=9b7d1dc42b

We are married!

2009-06-30T18:40:00.005-06:00

May 8th has finally come and gone. I can't believe it! Our wedding day was so special. We are happy to be married.

My Handsome Husband!

Runaway Bride? I don't think so!

If you want to see more of our bridal pictures, you can visit
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2266269&id=17818044&l=d0762c3017

More Engagement Pictures!

2009-04-01T11:35:00.010-06:00

Here are some of the shots we picked from our engagement session.

Engagements in Mesa.

2009-03-18T20:04:00.005-06:00

Here are some pictures from our engagement session in Mesa at the Killian Farm. Our photographer was so fun to work with.

Provo or Florida? No brainer...

2009-02-03T23:26:00.000-07:00

During the first week of school in January, I decided to take a little holiday to Hollywood Beach, Florida to visit my sister Cami and my nephews Julian and Oliver. I stayed for 8 days and Matt got to come for about 3 days. It was so warm and wonderful. Julian and Oliver are getting so big and so very cute.

St. George & Las Vegas.

2009-02-03T23:17:00.001-07:00

One weekend in October, Matt and I drove down to St. George to stay with my grandparents. One of the nights, we went down to Vegas where Matt surprised me with front row tickets to the "O" show by Cirque du Soleil! It was amazing. And then, of course, we made a stop at the Bellagio fountains.

Stewart Falls in Autumn.

2009-02-03T22:45:00.000-07:00

In October or so, Lauren and I hiked to Stewart Falls near Sundance. While I absolutely HATE living in the snow here in Provo, I sure do LOVE how beautiful it is in the fall.

Horseback Adventure.

2009-02-03T22:28:00.000-07:00

Matt was bugging me for months to go ride horses at my aunt and uncle's house in Draper. In November we finally made it happen. I must say he's looking pretty studly.

Engaged!

2009-02-03T22:13:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, December 14th, I was blind-folded and taken up to our friend's cabin in Sundance. I walked in to find a candlelit dinner, beautiful music playing, and Matt outside by the porch swing (where we had our first kiss freshman year) waiting on one knee. What a hopeless romantic. :)

December 6th, Salt Lake City

2008-12-08T22:43:00.000-07:00

I guess it's our turn to start a blog!

Last Saturday after an intense BYU basketball win over Utah State in Salt Lake, we ate dinner at Hire's Big H and then walked around Temple Square to see the Christmas lights!