Our Happily Ever After

It's the start of a NEW YEAR!

2012-01-08T15:22:00.000-08:00

My New Years resolution is to blog more. Like... maybe once a month? Hopefully more. Hey now.. it's better than once every 6 months like before. I figure having a child should be a good reason to blog more, since things are constantly changing with her and we have lots of family that don't live close to us. :)

Yup that's my little peanut taking some of her first bites. YUM YUMMMMMMY sweet potatoes! Perry loves food. LOVES food. She's a great eater. I was so excited with the Doc. gave us the go to start feeding her solids. We are anti-grain in this household so I went against what most do and chose not to feed Perry rice cereal. After doing lots of my own research I found no good reason why the first food I gave my child should be a grain and not a non-processed whole food... other than the fact that it's just the "American way" of doing things. So we started her off with Sweet potatoes. The next week we tried bananas. And then the next week we went for carrots/avocados (combined the 2). I am making my own baby food, which I am stoked about. It's super easy. Especially since for Christmas my fabulous mother in law gave us a baby bullet. It's so cute seeing Perry open her little mouth as wide as possible the second she sees that spoon come near her mouth.

We had a great Christmas. We were able to celebrate with Bobbys Mom, brother (and his fam), and sister a week before Christmas. Then Perry and I caught a ride with a friend down to Portland so I could do some hair, a few days before Christmas, and Bobby came down the Friday before when he was done working. We had a great time celebrating Perrys first Christmas.

This is Perry on Christmas morning. Did I mention she is a smiling maniac? It's rare that you smile at her and she won't give you a massive dimpley smile back. She's into this new thing where she'll smile at you and then burry her head into whoevers neck that's holding her--getting all shy. :)
We had fun hanging out with the family, going from family to familys house, visiting different friends. I took Perry over to a few other of her "grandma's" houses.. like the Eisenbach's and Maloneys. Cara and Kristin were 2 of my best friends in high school. Cara and I have been best friends since 4th grade. Her family lives a few houses down from my parents, so I got to see them a lot, they are like family to me. Kristin was also in town so I got to go over to her parents house a couple of times and visit. Everyone loved getting to see Perry.

The day after Christmas was my sister Crystal's birthday. She did the coolest thing anyone I've ever known has done for a birthday. She had a "Feed the homeless birthday party". She invited everyone she knows to come to our church and make 160ish sack lunches and then take them to downtown Portland and pass them out. Many people contributed, and it was a HUGE success! Bobby and I got to go down and help pass them out.. driving around and hopping out of the car whenever we saw a homeless person, offering them a lunch. It was very humbling. I've been to downtown Portland a billion times and never think much of the homeless people I see all around. It was really eye opening, having them be my focus for the day, and interacting with them. Seeing young and old.. some children. Very emotional. I'm grateful for my sister and that she came up with this super cool idea. It was a great activity to do the day after Christmas, and I know all the people we served were truly appreciative.

Then onto the open road.. all the way to Utah. Bobby had to work so he couldn't go, but My mom, Chuck, Crystal, Kevin, Pdub and I spent 4 days in the car (total) to and from Utah to go visit our Grandma & Grandpa Billinton. Perry did really well in the car. I was kind of surprised. She is nursing so luckily I have a FABULOUS pump with a battery plug in and pumped in the car... that way I didn't have to stop and nurse her. We would stop after I fed her so I could burp her and change her diaper. She slept quite a bit, and when she was awake and board I had a few different toys I used.. then when all else failed I put The Backyardigans or "Tigger and Pooh" on my phone so she could be entertained. The last half hour of every day in the car she was done and wailed till we got to our location. We stopped in Boise Idaho to stay the night both there and back.
It was great seeing Grams & Gramps. We don't see them much, and this was their first time meeting Perry. Sadly Perry was teething and had a really rough time being so out of her schedule. My mom and the rest of my family were a huge help, but it was hard doing it all without Bobby. Nonetheless it was great seeing lots of family.

This is my beautiful Grandma. I sure do love her.

We also got to visit with my friend Kylie and her SUPER cute daughter Zoie. I love this girl!!!! Cutest 2 year old I know! She loved Perry and Perry loved her!!

This was super neat. We have 5 generations! My Great Grandma Larsen.. then My Grandma Billinton. My mom. Me. And Perry. So cool! 5 generations of women and 5 generations of hands! So cool. So glad we were able to visit Grandma Larsen and get these pictures.

All in all it was a great trip but it was so great to come home. Perry has really discovered her voice and she gets louder and louder EVVVEERRRY day. She's into yelling right now. It's pretty funny. We really enjoy her. She gets more and more interactive every day and we love it. She's 2 seconds away from rolling over! So much fun.

We are excited for this year. We feel like there will be a lot of exciting things going on and we cannot wait!

Perry Willows birth story.

2011-12-12T14:23:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to post this for months... and was asked by many people for me to tell the story, and here I am almost 4 months later finally posting! I am going to keep this as PG as possible, but come on, it's child birth.. is that possible??!?!

My due date was August 23rd. I was lucky and had an EXTREMELY easy pregnancy. The last month was horrible of course, but I don't know many women that enjoy that last month. When my due date came I was EXTREMELY sad Perry hadn't come yet. Like... I cried about it. Kind of pathetic I know, but you go so long telling everyone that date, and thinking your baby will be here by then, and when it comes and they still aren't here.. you start to question if they will ever come! Or if there's even a baby in there! I know that's crazy, but I wanted to meet her so bad I was just so bummed out the entire day and night. I went to sleep not expecting much, because I had gotten my hopes up every night and day for the past month... And it didn't help that I was dialated to a 4 a whole week and a half before the girl actually came. Doesn't help when your midwife says "Oh I'm SURE she'll be here by your due-date. I will be very surprised if she doesn't come". Ya. THANKS A LOT! So like I said, I had been dialated to a 4 and 75% effaced for almost 2 weeks... starting to think this deal wasn't happening.

Anyway.. the day after my due date I was in a great mood. I started doing EVERYTHING people had told me to do to induce labor (except drink castor oil.. wouldn't allow myself..). I decided to run a mile on the treadmill.. then go on a 5 mile walk outside to run my errands... walked to safeway, then whole foods, then target. Then when I got home I got in the pool and jumped around, as well as doing squats. COME ONNNN BABY! I had so much energy that day. I made dinner and then Bobby and I decided to go to our favorite local ice cream place (Theno's Dairy) and get some rockin ice cream. We came home and decided to watch some Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. :) The day before I had gone in to see my midwife and she told me that in my spare time I should bend over the couch or ottoman on my hands and knees and sway my hips back and forth to get the baby in the right postion. So I decided to do this while we were watching our show. After doing it for about 10 minutes (about 9pm) I sat on the couch and felt some leakage... I looked at Bobby and said "umm something just happened. I know I didn't just pee my pants..." There wasn't a big GUSH like I always heard happens when your water breaks... but I got up and sure enough there was a nice liquid spot on the couch. Bobby was sure it wasn't my water... but I called my mom and she said that I should call my midwife. So I did, and she said "Yup! That's your water. Your water is leaking. If you don't go into labor by 6am we will need to induce you.. but for how dialated you are I think you'll start on your own". So then within 5 minutes of getting off the phone contractions started up. I was still able to move around a little and talk through them... I called my mom and told her to get on the road because I didn't want her to miss it and I wanted her in the room. SO her, my sister and brother got on the road around 10pm that night. My mother in law called and insisted on staying on the phone through a contraction... she wanted to hear? lol (my crazy mother in law ;) ). I even got to talk to Cara!!! Anyway... contractions came on pretty strong.. Bobby discovered a cool app on our smartphones that helps you keep track of contractions. After the first few contractions, my contractions started being 5 minutes apart and lasting for a minute. I called my midwife and she wanted them to be that way for an hour before calling her back. In between contractions I finished packing.. then it got so bad I couldn't move around anymore. After I had these contractions consistently for an hour, I called my midwife. She had asked me if I wanted to do this naturally. I said that I would like to, so she said that I should stay home as long as possible so that I was comfortable. I told her that the pain was getting bad, and I wanted to go to the hospital now because I was worried about the sitting position for the carride. (I had been doing different positions that I had learned in my labor class, that were super helpful but sitting was not one of them). So we got in the car and made our way to the hospital. Bobby and I had to fill out some paperwork before going into our room, and every few minutes I had to take a break and go squat against the wall hanging onto the bar. Boy that was fun. All I wanted to go do was get into my room and go sit in my squatting position because that's the way I felt the least amount of pain. We got into our room, and the nurse got me changed and monitored me for a half hour before they checked to see my dialation. My midwife came in and checked me and I was still at a 4 1/2. I then decided I wanted to get in the tub because I had heard SO MANY amazing things about it. So I got in... it felt good for about a minute. Then a contraction started and I started shaking and immediately had to get out... then came the throwing up. Good times. So I went back to my comfortable squating position where I lingered in and out of sleep. It's crazy how you mentally just have to check out of your body because of the pain. I took the advice from a few friends to just try as hard as I could to relax my body and when I felt the urge to tighten up, do the opposite... as much as possible anyway. It was hard... but it works. I also just kept focusing on my little pdub and visualize her coming out and meeting her.

I had always said I wanted to see if I could do childbirth naturally. I wasn't necessarily against an epidural, I just wanted to do it natural if I could (for lots of reasons). But I always said that I've never been through it, so I had no idea what it would feel like, so if I ended up getting the epidural I wouldn't beat myself up over it. However.. as my pregnancy went on I felt stronger and stronger about doing it without any pain relief, and like Bobby says.. I'm pretty strong minded and when I set my mind to something, I generally do it. There were many times during labor that I thought "Wow I can see why someone would want an epidural", but I never seriously asked for one or even thought about getting it. I just thought... my body was made to do this, and she's it's only a day out of my life of pain, and it's for my daughter! So that made it a little easier for me.

My mom finally arrived around 12:30 and I was so happy to see her. Bobby had been so great, staying by my side the entire time, rubbing my back, doing whatever I asked. I had an amazing nurse and AMAZING midwife, she was there through all of it, and had such great advice on helping me breathe correctly through the pain. By the time my mom got there, I was at a 7, and I was currently in "back labor". The baby was facing a not so ideal way.. so she wanted me to get on the bed and sit on my knees bending over a medicine ball to help get the baby to turn. After I was doing that for a while, she said "okay we really gotta get this baby in the right position", so I had to lay on my side. Oh. My. GOSH. The pain amplified by about a billion and I threw up again, along with getting the shakes pretty bad. I was dehydrated from throwing up so much that they had to IV some liquids in me. I was in so much pain that I couldn't even feel the needle going in. Yet again, good times. Right when I got into this position I hit transition and I wasn't getting any breaks in between contractions... If I was they were few and not very long lasting. Within about a half hour, I felt the urge to push. I yelled "She's coming! I need to push!" Sure enough my midwife checked me and I was at a 9 1/2, and almost 100% effaced. I wasn't completely effaced so my midwife didn't want me to push yet which was extremely hard.. she helped me with my breathing which helped keeping me from pushing. I had heard from so many people that breathing didn't do anything blah blah blah.. well at least in my situation, the way I breathed and did my hee hee hoos made a HUGE difference on not only keeping my body in check, but it helped with the pain! Soon I couldn't keep the pushing from happening and it was going down. I also had been told by those who did it naturally that the pushing wasn't as painful as the contractions. Boy was that not true for me. This may be a little dramatic, but when the pushing started happening I literally thought that that must be what it feels like to die. Your body just takes over and the pain is so outrageous and you can feel every last bit of it. About 20 minutes into this... her head was there and the midwife said "She has brown curly hair!" I was like "SHE DOES?!?" And I started crying. Don't know why... but the fact that she had hair just really made me happy. I was not expecting that! The nurse asked if I wanted a mirror and I said no... then they had me touch her head and I cried even more with happiness and I heard my nurse say "I think she wants the mirror". SO she got it and I was so happy she did! It was seriously the coolest thing ever. Shortly after that Perry was all the way out and on my chest. Born Thursday August 25th 2011 and 3:21am. After 6 1/2 hours of labor she was so beautiful and alert and nursed perfectly right away, she just knew what to do! Bobby and I cried and we were immediately so in love. The second she came out the intense pain was gone, and nothing else mattered. She was perfect, and healthy, and everything I'd dreamed she'd be.

Many people have called me crazy when I say this, but I loved childbirth. Right after she was born I said I would do it all again tomorrow. There is nothing like going through so much pain for something you never imagined you could love that much. I loved being present physically for the whole thing, and experiencing it was amazing. Best thing I've ever done.

Now we have this beautiful little drama queen, and we love her more than words could ever say. She is such a good baby. She'll be 4 months on Christmas, sleeping 6-8 hours through the night, and is now going to sleep on her own! (without having to be rocked for an hour). She smiles constantly, and loves to chat it up. She's discovered her hands in the last few weeks and can just stare at them forever (as well as chew on them). She's SO close to rolling over, and we got her first REAL laugh a couple of days ago. She loves baths. I give her a bath before she goes to bed every night, and I sing to her. She absolutely loves it. I love every second I get to be with her. I miss her when she's sleeping, and I love that I get to be home with her. Bobby and I are so grateful for such a beautiful little soul that has made us better people.

37 weeks and 5 days!

2011-08-07T21:12:00.000-07:00

I AM ALMOST THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woot! We are so so so so so so so so so so excited! Definitely nervous... but moreso excited. :) I can't believe our baby girl is almost here. Like... ALMOST HERE. I'm so ready to have this baby here. Ready to not be pregnant anymore, and start this new chapter in our lives! I can't wait to see what she looks like, what her manorisms will be like. I just want to meet her already!

I've spent most of the summer getting ready for the baby. Getting the baby room set up, getting our cute little apartment organized, being a good house wife (cleaning and cooking yummy paleo dinners every night --one of my goals), playing with friends and relaxing by the pool on the very few nice days we've had.

Pregnancy has been great. I really can't complain. I've managed keeping up Crossfit work outs (doing them all by my lonesome at our apartment gym) which I think has been really helpful. (Excuse the narly picture above, it was post work out and I wasn't planning on sharing it. But it's the most recent one I took a couple days ago.) We've gone on some hikes and tried to venture around the area a little bit. She's extremely active and gets hiccups on a regular basis. At this point my midwife says she's dropped and doesn't think I will go past my due date. YAY!!! Let's hope she's right! We picked a name.... okay you ready for this??? We are naming her Perry Willow Ulrich. This name was a long long long process with the decision making. Before we knew the gender, if it was a boy I really wanted to name him after my dad. My dads name is Brian and well.. it's just a little old and a friend of mine thought to name him Perry (being my dads last name). Well I loved it, Bobby could not stand it... for a boy that is. We both had a weird thing for the name Willow, but we couldn't lock it down for her first name. Then I had a client say "what about Perry Willow"?? I'd never really thought about Perry being a first name for a girl! then I started hearing all these people say oh ya "I had a girlfriend name Perry", etc. I didn't think Bobby would like it, and he LOVED it! My best friend Cara couldn't let go of the name Perry since before we found out the gender and called her Perry before we ever decided on it. So we are going to have a little Per, and the name is in memory of my Dad.

Re-cap on the summer... Bobby and I moved in the first couple of weeks of June to Redmond Washington for a job at Microsoft. Bobby loves his job and it has definitely been a good fit for him. Great company to be a part of. We love it here. I love Redmond. It is so beautiful and we are so close to everything. Downtown Redmond is right next to us and we are in walking distance of our favorite restaraunt MATADOR! haha Oh boy. There's so many beautiful parks and trails around here it's great. One thing I've realized I love about Seattle is all of the water. Pretty much everywhere you go you're surrounded by different Lakes or the sound. It's sooo pretty. I've had fun hanging with some of my really good friends, and getting to spend time with my mother in law and sister in law and niece Brookey during the days.

Bobby and I had our 2nd anniversary on July 18th, and let me tell you... I swear I fall more and more in love with the boy every day. I don't know how I ever got so lucky. He is so amazing and loves me so unconditionally I really don't know if I deserve it. He is by far the best friend I've ever had and he treats me so well. He surprised me and took me on a little cruise that went around Lake Washington. It was beautiful! Oh and of course we got to see Bill Gates MASSIVE property. :) He then took me to a fancy shmancy restaraunt and we had a really good time. Can't believe it's been 2 years already. Time sure does fly when you're having fun. :)

We went camping in July with Bobbys family at Ocean shores... Sorry Washington, you still have nothing on the Oregon Coast. I still don't get why this is the case... seems like Washington should have just as beautiful beaches as Oregon... but welp. They don't. It's one thing I've missed about living in Portland... the last couple of summers we have just up and driven to the beach for an evening bonfire. I miss that. I miss Portland and I miss my family friends and clients. My mom and sister have come up a couple of times to visit and that's been so nice. They just left today and it's crazy to think the next time I see them I'll be in labor!!! EEK! Not working has been a really nice break and I really admire those hard working hairdressers that work till their baby comes!!! NUTSOOOO! I guess I would have done it... but I think I would have passed out the second I got home from work every day. It's been really nice to get used to a new area and get as ready as I possibly can for Perry to come.

We went to a Mariners game with some of Bobbys extended family on his Dads side and we had a lot of fun. I love going to Mariners games. Such a fun atmosphere no matter how bad the team may be. ;)

Overall it's been a fabulous summer, but I will say... the best part of it is yet to come!!!!! We are so ready to meet our baby!!!!!

(3D picture of Perry)

26wks Prego and 2 weeks till move!

2011-05-19T10:22:00.000-07:00

The past 2 months have been nutts-o.

I'm now 26 weeks (and 2 days) pregnant with a BABY GIRL!!!!! I feel great. She's kicking like crazy and has even found my rib cage which isn't so fun. ;) So far everything has gone really smooth (besides my rear ending a car experience that wound me in the hospital for 4 hours to be monitored). All is well and I've been able to keep up my exercise and have pretty good energy most of the time! 2nd trimester has sure beat the 1st! Being pregnant is probably the coolest thing I have ever experienced. It's so exciting and everything is so new and to top it all off, Bobby has been in Seattle for the past 8 weeks. It stinks. It blows and I'm SOOOOO OVER IT. We see each other on weekends, and it kind of feels like we are dating again... him living at his dads.. me living at my parents (w/ brother and sister).. and I'm just ready to feel married again. :)

We found a place to live in Redmond Washington. Only a few minutes away from Bobbys job at Microsoft (which he LOVES by the way!), and it's a super cute little apartment that overlooks the cutest courtyard. So happy about it. Of course it is an apartment... which I hate apartment living... but it's only temporary and it will do for the next year. :) I love Redmond. It's fabulous. We are fairly close to all of our friends and family, and it has GREAT shopping. ;)

2 weeks of work left, and I've been saying goodbye to all my favorite clients right and left. I hate goodbyes. It's been hard. But at this point I am SOOO ready to be up in Washington and start our new life up there. It's all so exciting. New place, new baby, new experiences. I can't wait. WE CANT WAIT!

24 weeks along.

26 weeks.

Seattle here we come!

2011-03-13T16:43:00.000-07:00

We are SO SO SO EXCITED! So sad, but so very happy. Bobby got offered a job (kind of out of the blue) working at Microsoft in Redmond Washington. We've known for a while that we could possibly see ourselves up there... but I sure wasn't planning on moving any time soon. We go to Seattle at least once a month. Bobbys entire family lives up there, and we have a load of great great friends up there. It's so similar to Portland (I'm a little biased however... of course I think Portland is better), and has a lot to offer our little family. I think this will be a really great growing experience for Bobby and I, and I am SO SO SO SO SO excited to be in our own little place again (we've been living in the same house as not only my parents but my sister and brother). Let's just say... there's a reason why most couples have their own place. They need their space! We are not sure as to WHERE exactly we are going to live.. we are are currently looking in the Kirkland area. Redmond is pretty expensive so I think we'll be going a little North.

2 hardest things for me to leave are... 1. My mom. Of course, I'm over 4 months pregnant and so therefore I'm a bit emotional and the idea of leaving her while I'm pregnant is a little sad. But she promises she'll be there the second I go into labor and help me out for a couple weeks once the baby comes, so that makes me feel better. And 2.. Leaving my hair business! I worked so hard for a career that I love, and I have such AMAZING clients who I love dearly, and leaving all of that behind has been a tough decision for me. At first I didn't want to leave, and got really emotional about it. Then.. I had to look at all the reasons for me not wanting to leave.. and really they were selfish reasons. And guess what? I really can't be selfish anymore. I have a family and a baby to think about. This oppertunity at Microsoft is HUGE for Bobbys career and we would be crazy to not take it. One of the BIG BIG BIG upsides to this move is that I will get to stay home at least for a while once the baby comes. In Portland I was going to have to work till my due date and only take a month off and leave my baby to work full time. Even though I LOVE what I do.. and it's honestly a little hard for me to see it at THIS EXACT MOMENT... I hear it's not going to be so easy to leave that baby that fast.

So with all that said.. Bobby is leaving in 2 weeks (right after we have our big ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby), to go live with his Dad while I stay behind and finish out seeing my clients through the end of May. It's going to be hard to be apart.... kinda like the old days.. that long drive EVERY weekend back and forth. But I felt strongly about staying and seeing all my clients off and getting them set with a different stylist if that's what they wanted. I'm sure there's women that have experienced the same thing as me... and I know many that haven't. Even though I've only wanted to be a mom for years, I am also very attached to a business I started from the ground. But I'm looking forward to having the summer of NOT BEING ON MY FEET 24/7, and getting ready for this little nugget! It'll be nice to not have to stress about getting right back to work, and luckily we have a great great great support team in Seattle.

We are going to miss our family and friends here in Portland, but I have promised my mom MANY times that we will be back regularly. I'm excited for this new adventure, and the next stage in our lives.

On to pregnancy. I am 17 weeks, and feeling pretty good! Minus the headaches. I've had headaches just about every day since my second trimester started. :/ Again, that's okay, I really can't complain. I wasn't really showing about a week ago.. and I swear over night it was like "oh HEY there you are". And it wasn't really hidden anymore. It's crazy how fast these little ones grow, and all the changes that come in just weeks. I'm still sleeping lots, and am experiencing some AWESOME back and feet pain at the end of each work day. I've decided it's time to stop wearing the crappy cute flats, and I need to get good shoes. NEED. It's got to happen. So tomorrow I am off to TRY and find some cute looking comfy shoes. I swear it's so hard to do.

I love being pregnant and I am so very thankful for this oppertunity to be a mother and feel very very blessed. 2 more weeks and we find out if it's BLUE OR PINK! :)

17 weeks pregnant

Things I've learned while being pregnant....

2011-02-21T12:50:00.000-08:00

NUMBER ONE:

I hate throwing up. I'm not like many I've heard where they throw up everything they eat, but for the first 8 weeks I threw up once every couple of days. My fabulous Midwife told me about a B-6 vitamin which works most days. But let me tell you. I am officially 14 weeks today and I want to hurl this morning. WHAT is the deal. Nauscea is not fun. Throwing up is even worse. Mmmmmmmmm morning sickness I would be ever so happy if you went away.

NUMBER TWO:

I never knew I could sleep so much. Not even when I was a teenager did I sleep 10-12 hours every night. WOAH. This is intense. Yet it's such a beautiful thing. I find myself literally almost passing out around 7pm some nights... I don't know how women deal with this with their 2nd + children... I guess just suck it up and be tired? Boo to that!

NUMBER THREE:

Goodbye sweet tooth, hello SALT! For some reason the I haven't been caring much for sweets. All I ever want is salty and spicy (I don't even like spicy food, but I can never get enough hot sauce). And Red Robin fries. Holy moly this is a problem. I smell fries and I want them. Someone talks about fries and I want them. Sometimes I even dream about them. The other thing I want on a regular basis is Pizza... Now this one I just don't understand. Pizza has always been "ok"... but never a fav. I crave it. I do. WHAT IS GOING ON WITH MY BODY. Remember the days of low carb, high protein, high fat? Ya... Too bad that doesn't sound good to me. OH no. PIZZA instead..

NUMBER FOUR:

My dreams are OUTRAGEOUS. I mean like so beyond weird and real and scary and sad and some just ODD. I mean... what's with having a dream you're on Jersey Shore.. or having a dream you saw some guy punch your mom in the face... or... better yet 4 dreams I'm delivering to a boy and in one of the dreams he is talking like an adult... Ya that one was kind of creepy almost. ;) Maybe it just means my baby will be SUPER smart. :)

NUMBER FIVE:

Ok so I know I'm emotional. But this is NUTS! I sometimes cry over nothing. The smallest thing can set this off. Some silly break up on a silly sitcom can make me break out balling.. no SOBBING for an hour straight. Sometimes I think Bobby may think I am a total freak. He thinks someone just died and really I'm just having a breakdown "NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ME!" Yet another crying session.. literally. OVER NOTHING... for a good hour. Sometimes two. You could even look at me wrong some days and I may start crying. YIKES.

Anyway, these are just a few things I've learned thus far (without going into details NO one wants to hear about). What a ride. Amazing what a little nut can do to ya! But boy do I sure love it! :)

PREGNANT!

2011-02-16T23:03:00.000-08:00

Definitely the best Christmas gift Bobby or I have ever received. The day after Christmas we found out this little treasure was going to be changing our lives for the better. It was kind of a surprise... but anyone that knows me, knows I have been baby crazed for almost 2 years now. So you can imagine my excitement. :) Bobby and I had had a feeling that I was pregnant... but I didn't want the disappointment by a negative test result.. so I decided to wait it out a bit. I was 6 1/2 weeks pregnant when we found out. We were in Seattle celebrating Christmas with Bobbys family.. and of COURSE my mother in law (love you Nancy) was all over me about whether or not she was getting a grandbaby for Christmas. I said "well it's possible". So that lead to a billion more questions, which then ended up driving me to taking a pregnancy test. I snuck into the bathroom and once that test showed positive I started shaking and crying immediately. I was so frazzled and happy, I went out to Bobby and he saw the test and the news was OUT! Kind of an intense moment to share with so many other people.. but it was good because my mother in law handed me the phone and I called my mom (hence the picture of me on the phone). I have never been so happy in my life. For so long I had it in my head that something like this could just very well not be in my cards, so for it to come so suprising like that, I was filled with pure joy. I drove the whole way home from seattle with a smile on my face, nothing capable of bringing me down.

We were able to keep the news SOMEWHAT on the low down for the first 12 weeks... slowly spilling the beans. It was very hard to keep it from clients.. while I'm standing there trying to weave someones hair, keep a conversation without throwing up on them. Ya.. no bueno. The worst case of morning sickness was over New Years when we went to Leavenworth, WA (5 hours away) with my family. I was pretty much sick with Nauscea and the flu the entire time... OH yeah, and in 6 degree weather. AWESOME. Still I didn't care and hugged that toilet, thinking "it's ok, this is for you baby".

First Trimester I had the all the typical symptoms. B6 vitamin calmed down the nauscea, only throwing up every once in a while. All I craved for a while was salty and spicy. Fries, fries, fries. It's really all I thought about at times. SO disturbing. I didn't get the exhaustion till about 9 weeks in. However, I have consitantly been sleeping 10-12 hours every night for I don't know how long. So that definitely helps.

We got to see the baby at 11 weeks (I am now 13 weeks and 3 days), and that baby was kickin and movin their arms all around! There is nothing like hearing that little heartbeat. Such an amazing miracle.Bobby and I cannot wait for this baby to come. I'm ready for a full on belly, and can't wait to find out the sex (March 28th!!!), and feel the first kick. I thank God every day for giving me this oppertunity to be a mother. Give me a boy, give me a girl, I don't care! We are just so excited to start our family.

1 MONTH PREGNANT

2 MONTHS PREGNANT

3 MONTHS PREGNANT

Balance.

2010-09-13T00:10:00.000-07:00

I'm Blogging... GASP!

It's 12:07am on a Sunday night and it is a RARE occasion for me to be up at this hour. But sadly... even though it felt OH so good.. I took a 2 hour nap today after church and now it's payback.

Something I've learned lately. I love alone time. As I've gotten older I've become more intraverted (I know that is probably incorrect spelling but that was my shot at it)... which is weird because allll growing up I was SUPER out-going and loved meeting new people. Now? Not so much. Maybe it's because of my job. I can do 1 on 1 all day long (and I do), and I love it. But I think within my 8 hour period of work I have fulfilled my small talk quota for the day. Maybe it's because my husband is a little bit quieter when you first meet him (and boy does that change in a matter of minutes)... But I don't like it much. I've even experienced some social anxiety (I know this may be shocking to some).. but it's just how I've become. And really I'm totally okay with it. Don't get me wrong I love people and I love my friends and I love my family. And I love making good new friends. But I really appreciate my alone time these days...

We are now living in the same household as my mom, step dad and little brother. This can be fun at times but I've realized that Bobby and I rarely are alone in our home let alone ME being alone... I don't know how I feel about this. Ok ok I don't really love it all that much. But for this reason a few things have become neccessary.... Date nights. FOR SURE. And I really appreciate the time I spend driving to and from work, and even an occasional movie by myself.

I watched the movie "Eat Pray Love" the other day (by myself :)) and although I don't agree with some of the thoughts in this book/movie I really enjoyed it. It's about finding yourself and loving who you were are and will be. Finding that balance in your life. As I've thought about this I've thought about the different priorities in my life and what comes first, second, etc.. as well as what I need to keep myself sain and eveyone else around me.

1. My relationsihp with God and all that involves keeping me close to him. Church, scriptures, prayer, service.. I can easily say that this is the best part of who I am. I have been blessed with a knowledge and understanding and fire of truth in my heart that can not be denied. Even in the hardest of times, I will be brought to my knees and my heart can be mended.

2. Now this one is tricky. I'm going to go with my husband Bobby. I've often been labeled as selfish or spoiled or whatever the crap you want to call it, but every day I'm learing in my marriage that I have to give him all of myself and find his needs, and try my best to fulfill them. I know that as long as we are doing this for one another (even though my needs may be higher) we can make it through most anything. Call me crazy but in my short experience of 1 year of marriage that is what I've learned.

3. (going back to what I originally was talking about) I need ME time. This is a recent discovery. I was always pretty independent growing up and went through some of the hardest times ALONE. You need your own time to think and sort through the thoughts in your head. I need it for my own sanity, my husbands, and everyone else around me. I think often times this one is linked back to numero uno. My relationship with my higher power. It's when I get a lot of inspiration and spiritual guidance.
I know many couples that are constantly needing to be with each other and don't want to do anything without the other... And though that may be fine for them or for a while, I think it's important to always know WHO YOU ARE so you don't wake up one day completely lost. There's such a balance there, and I know for me it's a daily thing I'm trying to achieve.

4. My career. One day the bigger career for me will be being a Mother. Heaven knows I cannot wait for that day. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would have this desire as strongly as I do now. It brings me to tears on a REGULAR basis, and I know that some of the greatest joys (and hardships) in life are through raising a family. This may not be important to some... some traveling and experiencing the WOOORRRLLDD is what they find as important.. but to me I can't imagine anything more fascinating, exciting, and remarkable as creating life, and raising one to know the rights and wrongs of the world and growing into strong individuals.
Second half is current and that would be my career in the salon. Huge part of my daily balance and it's a passion that I get to fulfill and thankfully it pays the bills! ;) What more could a girl ask for?

5. You named it... dun dun dun Excersize/healthy nutrition. Call my crazy but this is HUGE IN A DAILY BALANCE. It affects our moods, our physical and mental health, and in general how we feel about ourself as a whole. No not everybody (nor myself) needs to be a size 2, but finding a healthy balance in the foods to give your body satisfaction and joy and being in the physical shape that makes you capable of doing things you would like to do. For me that involves Crossfit, Running, and anything physical outdoors. I eat a paleo low-carb diet that I plan on eating the rest of my life. why? BECAUSE ITS GOOD FOR YOU. Don't believe me? check marksdailyapple.com.. or anything on Rob Wolff. This is just 1 opinion but I've tested many waters and this is what makes me happy and is what works for me. I can enjoy life because I feel great. Again... what more could a girl ask for?

I would say there of course is family and friends and hobbies that go into this balance as well. but those were some of the major points I've thought about lately. Balance is so necessary. Life is so good. We should spend less time worrying and more time enjoying.

Fathers Day.

2010-06-21T17:31:00.001-07:00

This Fathers Day was a rough one.

I hate feeling sad about it because he died so many years ago and I feel as though I should be over it. But for some reason this whole past month has been a rough one and I've missed him a lot. Missed the time we had together, and the time we never got to have. Wondering where we would be, what I would be like if he lived.

I can't help but wish he were here.

Trips, trips, and more trips.

2010-06-14T15:46:00.001-07:00

We've been busy oh yes we have. I'd like to say that's my good excuse for not blogging since April.... and I think I'm going to stick with that excuse. :) Things have been really great for us lately. Work has been WONDERFUL. I've loved having my own schedule and it's been great having everything so flexible. It's allowed me to do lots of fun (much needed) things.

Back in March? Maybe April... I can't remember anymore, my mom and I took a nice little stroll over to Rexburg Idaho to see my sister and my brother. It was short and sweet and sadly I don't think any pictures were taken... but we had a blast. My mom and I talked the whole 12 hours there and the whole 12 hours back and it honestly made the time go by crazy fast. Can I just say I am so glad that I'm not a teen anymore and am able to have a wonderful friendship with my mom? It's awesome. She really is one of my best friends and I love it.
Crystal was SOOOO excited for us to come. It was tender. We met her cute roomates, met her ALL TIME FAVORITE teacher (I even went to the class... such a great sister I know) played with one of my bffs Missy, and of course got a crossfit class in. I got Crystals roomate to drive with me to Idaho Falls to do a crossfit workout since Crystal nor missy nor my mother would come... sigh.
Anyway we had lots of fun. Made dinner, had a crappy happy hour at crappy Applebees (still hate that place... it never gets better) and had lots and lots of laughing... and farting. I don't know which one happened more but let me tell you I had a LOT of dairy and dairy HATES me. So that's how that went. My poor mom got to sit in a car with me for 12 hours! Woo good gracious.

Theen in the end of April I got to go to VEGGAASSS!!! Vegas baby. And it was a BLAST. I went for a few reasons. My girlfriend Tina and I went to the Vegas hairshow.. it was 3 days and it was a ton of fun. Also, that Monday we were there, my good high school friend Jen got married! I did her hair and the wedding was beautiful. Another good high school friend Catherine came up from California with her boyfriend so it was great playing with her and catching up. And then last but not least, another BFF Kylie from Utah was in town with her hubby and SUPER adorable baby!!! I had fun going out with her, it was so good to see them.
Tina and I did everything while we were there. We'd sleep in, go to the pool for a few hours, go to the hairshow for a few hours, go to dinner, and go party on the town at night. One night we even walked from one side of the strip to the other and rode the Stratosphere rides at 1am. One of those moments where you're strapped into the seat and you're wondering how the crap you got there... yeah. GREAT times.
After 4 days in Vegas, I had a few massive blisters on the bottom of my feet and was ready to go home!

Tina and I on the strip.

The beautiful bride!

Then we had some serious wedding OVERLOAD. We went to Seattle in may 2 weekends in a row. Bobbys step brother got married on Saturday May 8th, and then his brother Dave got married May 15th and he was the best man in that wedding. For Dave and Alli's wedding I did all of the bridesmaids and the brides hair and make up... holy cow I was stressed about this because I only had 4 hours to do 5 girls hair and make up and NONE of their hair holds curl... and the brides hair is down to her butt! But, I made it happen and it was a beautiful day and we had so much fun!

Alli--the pretty bride!

The happy couple.

Bobby's sister Coley, Alli and me!

My super hot husband :)

After all of this the traveling kind of relaxed... but then we had a fun wild week of PARENTING!!! Yes. parenting. My step sister Penny and her husband went on a cruise and had Bobby and I watch their 3 kids. Ellie is the oldest (12), then Luke (9) and Ben (6). They were so much fun and a total handful. We loved being parents for a week, but were totally ok handing them back at the end of the week! We got them memorial day and decided to take them on a hike. We had a great time.

Ellie is 12.. can you believe it??

(Luke doesn't like to smile for pictures... he would put a frown on the second I brought the camera out! haha)

Love these kids.

I just thought this picture was way too freakin cute.

All in all it's been a good hectic and wild last few months! We have a lot coming up to look forward to. This week I'm making 2 more Seattle trips, and then in July we're headed to Utah for a week over our anniversary! I can't believe it's already been a year. Absolutely wild. :)

Back.

2010-06-11T10:55:00.001-07:00

I'm coming back I swear.

I look at other peoples blogs just about every day.... but for some reason sitting down and writing in mine.. well I've just gotten lazy. Maybe it's the weather.

Either way, I promise I'll be better.
xoxo

Tagged!

2010-04-07T12:38:00.000-07:00

Got tagged to do this by my sister. GOODY. Hope you like.

Four Shows I Watch:
1. LOST
2. 24
3. Biggest Loser
4. Big Bang Theory

Four Things I'm Passionate About:
1. Hair
2. Music
3. Faith
4. Family/Friends

Four Phrases I Say A Lot:
1. "Tender." (thanks to Crystal, lacey... whoever started that trend)
2. "That's different.."
3. "For sure."
4. "Random."

Four Things I've Learned from the Past:
1. Rely on God.
2. Life's too short to be dramatic all the time.
3. Seek out the good in others.
4. Don't stop reading the scriptures.

Four Places I Would Like to Go:
1. England
2. New York
3. Germany to visit Cara!!!!
4. Greece

Four Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Slept in.
2. Worked a looonnggg day.
3. Got my Crossfit on.
4. Watched Biggst Loser :)

Four Things I'm Looking Forward to:
1. VEGAAAS!
2. Seeing sister!
3. Family weddings coming up
4. Crossfit Games.

Four Things I Love about Winter:
1. Snow (when it comes)
2. Christmas Music
3. Family time...around the holidays
4. My birthday :)

Four Things on My Wish List:
1. Have healthy happy babies.
2. Getting to a really lean body fat %
3. Travel the world.
4. grow grow grow my career

Four People I tag:

Suzypoooo
Jessie
Danika
Cara jeanne

*!@#

2010-03-25T19:50:00.000-07:00

Can I just say... Life is good.

I'm so glad I finally grew up. Heavenly Fathers blessings have become so much more apparent now. Oh how I struggled throughout so much of my life. Growing up was a constant battle. My single years were even harder in ways. I feel like I've closed the first chapter in my life. I love looking back and seeing my life with the eyes I have now. God is so good. I honestly believe the moment I turned my life around and chose to follow Christ, REALLY follow Him and put my broken heart in His hands-- blessings just poured. Poured. and poured. Oh how grateful I am. A broken heart is all he ever really asked for.

Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saves a wretch like me
I once was lost
And now I'm found
Was blind but now I see

Simple pleasures.

2010-03-15T18:59:00.000-07:00

First let me tell you what is NOT a simple pleasure. Getting all ready to head to the mall (with LOTS of excitement) and then realizing you left your keys in your husbands car which is now across town. GOODY. Yes this just happened to me. So I've decided to sit down and write a much needed blog instead of doing laundry. Sounds PEACHY. :)

I feel SO BLESSED. Life may not always be like this but let me tell you, it's pretty dang rockin lately. Family, husband, work, friends, weather (today)--it's all just ROCKIN.

First simple pleasure. My sweet Margaret. Bobby and I teach the sunbeams on Sunday at church (well at least 5 of them). OH how I love it. Some Sundays are harder than others but we just adore these kids. Margaret is one of them and she is HILARIOUS. She is very smart, and she DEFINITELY doesn't like just anyone, at least not all the time. She is famous for her dirty look. This little girl is freshly 4 years old and OH how she can give you the stink eye! So funny. Here's another funny story. The other day she was saying the opening prayer before we started our lesson and she said "Please help us to be able to sell our house", I don't know why but this totally caught Bobby and I off guard and we laughed (just a little). She stopped, looked up at us... pondered for a second... and said "forget it". Oh my gosh it was so funny! We loved it. These kids are so fun. Josh isn't talking much yet, but he has THE cutest "okay". We like to say it like him when we're at home. Malena is as sweet as can be and ALWAYS has something to say. Alexa is my little red-head who gets SO excited SO EASILY and has the cutest laugh. And then there's little Jack and his rosy cheeks. Jack has big muscles and is ALWAYS being a helper.
Anyway, so this Sunday I was sitting behind Margarets family and I didn't get the stink eye ONCE! Instead she kept coming over to me handing me pictures. This one was my favorite:

Isn't that just tender? I love these sweet spirits. When I was watching her color I just kept thinking how great it would be to be that innocent again. To have so much curiosity and joy in simple things. All these kids are looking for is love, and I love loving them and teaching them about the Saviors love. We look forward to Sundays.

Another simple pleasure:

I get to see these kids in less than a week! Yup that's right. My mom and I are doing the long drive to Rexburg Idaho. Haven't been back there in QUITE some time! I'm pretty excited. We'll get lots of knitting done on the way while listening to some Daughtry and munching on celery (GOODY). I'm pretty stoked! Can't wait to see my favorite siblings and go meet Crystals FAVORITE TEACHER EEEEVVVVEEERRRR (that was just for you Crystal). Hopefully I can still get my work-out on and see my Missy pissy and maybe even Jess again! We're just going for a few days but BOY it's gonna be great! First time away from the husband. Let's hope he doesn't cry himself to sleep every night. ;) I'm sure he'll LOVE a break!

I have an AWESOME job. This seems so simple but let me tell you it's NOT. It makes life SO good. It makes it possible for me to go on little trips like this! I could not do this before. And guess what? I'm actually making more money than before! Isn't that GRAND? My clients rock, the girls I work with rock, and all around I feel FREEDOM! It's like when you first move away from home and you can do whatever the heck you want. Just like that. :)

So another simple pleasure.... a husband that COOKS! Bobby is an amazing cook. He basically cooks dinner every night.. I come home from work and it is ON the table. WOW am I a lucky girl! Remember the crazy Paleo diet I told you about? Well we've been doing it (or at least he has.. I've been sneaking naughty treats every once in a while). Anyway, it's gluten free, dairy free, soy free, pretty much everything free. And it really hasn't been too bad. Especially since Bobby likes to try new recipes all the time and it never gets boring. Get this. Valentines Day I came home to a 3 course meal. He made PF Chang style lettuce wraps for appetizers, salmon AMAZING asparagus w/ mushrooms and mock mashed potatoes (mashed cauliflower! SO GOOD!) for dinner, and for dessert HE MADE CREME BRULE!!! WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My jaw was dropped BASICALLY the whole time. Here is one of my favorites that he makes. Lettuce wrap TACOOOSSSS!!!! SO GOODDDD!:

(ps check out his Work-out/nutrition blog: bobulrich.net)

I love simple pleasures. Like Lost, knitting, a killer run, and Coconut bliss ice cream.

Check it out. It will rock your world.

XOXOXOXO

Bella Salon!

2010-02-28T16:37:00.000-08:00

Some exciting news....... I MOVED TO A DIFFERENT SALON!!! HAAALLLLEEEELLLUUUUUUJJJAAHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Life is good let me tell you. So some of you know I had been working at Ensemble Salon for almost 3 years... and although I LOVE doing hair I, (and everyone else that worked there) really had a hard time. I won't go into detail.. but basically I was just so ready to leave. They were moving locations so I decided that at the same time I would go to a different salon.

My step sister Jonna has a sister-in-law named Da'Lynne that worked at Bella Salon, and had told me to get into contact with her. So I did. :) I met with the owner and that was that! I got hired! Now the difference between the salons is Ensemble was commission... and Bella is a leasing salon. Do you know how great this is? I am my own boss. No more dealing with cruddy bosses who never let me take any time off and never listened to me and 80% of the time didn't have color in stock. I don't have to deal with that BS ANYMORE!!! The transfer was pretty stressful. I had to get all my clients info and call everyone and send out postcards to everyone. But I did it, and last week was my first week at Bella! I love it. There's 13 stylists and everyone is super nice and all of my clients followed!

I feel like the biggest burden has been lifted off my back and now I enjoy working again. YAY FOR HAPPY JOBSSSS!!!!

Winter Madness.

2010-01-12T16:03:00.000-08:00

This past month has been SO fun and SO nuts! We had so much fun over the Holidays. Lot's of family and friend time and lots of Holiday cheer! The month of December was pretty crazy and was just go go go.
Near the beginning of the month we threw a little Christmas party/Missy's birthday party. I made lots of food and it was DELICIOUS. We ate and watched Home Alone and decorated sugar cookies. We had a ton of fun and maybe we'll even do it again next year!

(the food was intense)

(Kyle & Kerri--newly engaged cute couple!)

(don't you love my candles??)

(Alysha & Justin decorating cookies. The best sugar cookie decorators)

Then Christmas started getting closer and Crystal came home!! My mom waited till Crystal came home so we could decorate the tree and we had a good time since Bobby especially always makes things wild and entertaining.

(this is one of those moments where I don't know if I want to claim him...)

(love these two chicks.)

(I was feeling left out being the only one without 4-eyes, so Chuck let me borrow his)

(we also went to "Peacock Lane" which is a famous street that decks out on xmas lights every year.)
sisters :)

(and then the weater got all crazy on us and SNOWED! We loved it!)
(we walked to my parents house and there were cars stuck EVERYWHERE!)

Then Crystal and Kevin and the rents took off for Idaho and things settled back down a little bit.. and 2 weeks after christmas my birthday hit!!! woot woot! Good ol 23. I love my birthday. Who doesn't love a day all about them? I like to tell Bobby that it's actually my birthday WEEK so I get whatever I want all week. Ok lets be honest... I get what I want pretty much always. But ESPECIALLY on my birthday.

(looking a whole year older--don't look to close to see the wrinkles ps thanks Crystal for the earings! Love em!)

(we went cosmic bowling the Friday before with a bunch of friends and had a blast!)

(two of my favorite people. Whit and Holly)

(that's my GQ man)

(priceless)

And then the BEST birthday present of all was the next day when Bobby took me to leavenworth, Washington! OH MY GOSH GO THERE!!!! I was in heaven. It's a little German town up in the mountains and we had the most relaxing time imaginable. It was so nice to get away just the 2 of us and it was so beautiful and magical. We only spent one night there but it was so much fun and we want to go back.

(the trees were beautiful)

(this was funny. Pretzels everywhere. We love German food)

(don't you love it?!?)

(don't worry it didn't stick!)

(we went to a German restaraunt and had a shnitzel!!! SO DELICIOUS!)

(Delicious nutella cheesecake. YUM)

Crossfit.

2010-01-06T10:51:00.001-08:00

I know I have much more catching up to do other than writing about our new(ish) obsession. We love crossfit. If you have talked to me lately you know what that is. I'm sorry if you're sick of hearing about it--stop reading as of now. :) Never heard of it? go to http://www.crossfit.com/. It rocks our world.

Bobby and I have been working out 5-6 days a week pretty consitantly for the past mmmmm 2 years? It wasn't till last January that I really got down on my eating habits and lost the pounds. My typical work-out consisted of a lot of running and weight training. Which would be the "Body building"weight lifting style that most people do in the gym. You know... 15 reps of x amount of weight 3 times. Rest in between. All that good stuff. Now this was all fine and dandy until we got bored and stopped seeing as great of results. I hadn't really lost weight since the wedding and I found that annoying. Bobby's a weight loss machine but us girls I think have hit harder.

So anyway, our friends Wade and Bethany (who Bobby lived with before we got married) have been trying to get us to do crossfit for... mmm a long time. We finally started a few months ago and we have already seen drastic changes in our body. It's crazy that I'd been working on my arms for such a long time at the gym lifting weights but never saw many results.. only in 3 months my arms have gotten so much more toned, including my legs, back, abs, butt everything!

Here's what it is. Crossfit is a bunch of affiliations around the US. It's not like a 24 hour fitness or a Golds Gym. They're personally owned, different costs to sign up at different crossfits. Most are a warehouse type setting, and when you get there there is a work out of the day posted on the board. Everyone in the class starts at the same time, and before you start you do a long warm-up and then the coach goes over what you're doing, and often times you work on specific body parts before you do the work out of the day. A lot of things we do are things you would do in gymnastics.. using the rings and pull up bar to do gymnastic type moves. These things do an all over body strength training. The work out of the day normally consists of 2 to 5 excersizes either doing repeated 3-5 times. The nice thing is it's different every day and you never know what you're going to be doing until you get there. The best part is having the coach/trainer watching you during the work-out, correcting your form and motivating you to finish the work-out. All work-outs are timed, and your time is scored on the bored at the end and you keep personal track so the next time you do that work-out down the road you can keep score of your progress. Many of the things we do are some of the best all over body movements.. things like push-ups, pull-ups, squats, sit-ups.. and then as well as running, jump roping, box jumping, dead-lifts, front squats, etc. A couple examples of these work-outs would be something like:

100 pull-ups

100 push-ups

100 sit-ups

100 squats

or...

200 meter run

21 kettle bell swings

21 pull-ups

400 meter run

21 kettle bell swings

21 pull-ups

200 meter run

21 kettle bell swings

21 pull-ups

I've never done the same work-out twice. We've been doing crossfit 3 times a week and I've been running on my off days. I highly recommend people checking this out if they're tired of their same ol routine, need something new and EFFECTIVE, or are just looking to get into really good shape. People who did sports growing up love crossfit because it can be competitive and a lot of things we do are very sports oriented.

Ok I'm off my soap-box now, but check it out! We love it!!!

here's some pictures to see what it's all about

ohhhhhhh the Holidays.

2009-12-10T13:33:00.000-08:00

Things have been crazy lately. Loving this holiday season. Our house is finally all decorated which is great. It finally feels like a home! Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. My sister came home for a week and we were able to go on our shopping trip that we always do within a few days before thanksgiving with my mom, brother and sister. We like to go downtown to Pioneer place (even though it doesn't have the largest amount of stores or best deals, it's got the best christmas spirit). We road the lightrail down (always), and spent a few hours shopping. We had a lot of fun minus the 10 hour walk downtown in the freezing cold to find the stupid Ducks store (which we NEVER found). I thought I was going to freeze to death. Ok it wasn't THAT bad but we were all pretty pooped after that. That night we all went and saw "A Christmas Carol" in 3D and that was pretty fun. Bobby had never seen A Christmas Carol before! Can you believe that? He really enjoyed it and the animation with 3D was pretty sweet.

We left the night before Thanksgiving to head up to Seattle and spend the rest of the holiday with Bobbys side of the family. We stayed at his Dad and step moms house and had Thanksgiving dinner with them. Bobby and I got to cut the turkey for our FIRST time ever and can I just say we did a pretty dang good job. Bobby just started attacking it until I got there and gave him some direction. Boys with electric knives... yikes. (PS excuse my terrible camera)

(Do you see the look on his face?)

(We ripped that bad boy to pieces. Got every last bit of meat we could find!)

Bobby's brother came over with his fiance Alli and daughter Brooke. Brooke is a doll. She's 2 and at the stage where she is INTO EVERYTHING. It's hard to keep track of her. Bobby's sister Coley also came over, as well as Bobby's step brothers. There was a good amount of people and it was REALLY great to spend a holiday with Bobby's Dad. That evening we went with his dad and sister to go see "The Blindside" = AMAZING. Had to keep my family tradition going of seeing a movie on Thanksgiving. Normally on Bobbys side-- Thanksgiving is spent at Bobby's Moms mom--but that wasn't the case this year. His dad and step mom are so sweet and kind and we loved spending a couple of days with them.

(Alli and cute Brookie)

(always into something)

(ohhh just a little car shot)

(Brotherly love)

We spent the day after Thanksgiving with Bobbys Mom (for Thanksgiving #2). All the siblings came to this Thanksgiving as well. This was quite an event (as ones with Bobby's mom always are). Their oven broke so instead of having dinner at 3:30 as planned we had it at 6! Nonetheless we had a really fun time hanging out. It's always wild and crazy over there, lots of pictures were taken (not with my terrible camera sadly) and let's just say the mashed potatoes were amazing. After dinner we drove home and rolled in around 10:30.

Last weekend we went to Seattle AGAIN due to a hair class I had to go to. We stayed at our good friends Sara & Jasons and it was so much fun. Sunday night I had to go to this big demo debut that the Art Director of Pureology was throwing, and then Monday there was a 3 hour class. It was a good time although we didn't learn a whole lot of new stuff. All in all it was a good weekend--though I'm getting sick of sitting in a car.

We had a good time getting our christmas tree the other day. The original plan was to go cut a tree down (afterall it IS our first christmas as a married couple)..... buuuttt we ended up at Fred Meyer getting our ghetto ugly tree of which Bobby named Gilbert I believe? His exact words were "But Kayleen if we don't pick him no one else will". So I gave in and got an ugly noble. It was fun. We enjoyed tying it on top of my car in which we roped it through our windows which made it not possible to get into our car.... we thought about crawling through the window.. but instead we just re-roped it. Don't hate--we're newbies. Sadly I didn't get pictures of this event.. but I did take pictures of our decorated place (which have been long over-due to put up... but here you go Cara).

(heres wall #1)

(We painted the walls ourself... don't look to closely haha ps you can see crooked gilbert)

(I've been wanting a clock like this for a LONG time. Thanks Khols)
(love our wedding pictures!)

(our wonderful Ikea bookshelf in which Bobby put together wrong. :) )

(Last but not least our cute kitchen!)

The next few weeks are going to be crazy. We have Christmas parties, last minute shopping, and a crazy work schedule! I'm so excited for Crystal to come home. I love love love this time of year!!!! Merry christmas everyone and Happy New year!!!

Thanks.

2009-11-28T15:09:00.000-08:00

<3 I am thankful for a Heavenly Father who loves me and is always there for me. For a Savior who died for me so that I could return to live with him--Which truly is the greatest gift of all.

<3 I am thankful for a wonderful family who loves me unconditionally. I am thankful for the relationships that I have with them and how as the years go by we get closer and closer.

<3 I am thankful for my husband. When I was 17 we would talk on the phone all day and all night and my mom just couldn't UNDERSTAND what was so great about this guy... It was all about the connection. I am so grateful for that connection that always brought us back to each other. He is my best friend, my soul-mate and the best husband I could ever ask for.

<3 I am thankful for my friends. Oh my friends. The ones that I always turned to, and always kept me hangin on even when I didn't want to. I have been so blessed with amazing friends throughout my life.

<3 I am thankful for good health. I've never had any serious illness, or even broken a bone.

<3 I am thankful that I have a job. And one that I enjoy. I love what I do and that makes things a lot easier and pleasant. I am thankful that Bobby has a good stable job as well.

These are just a few of the things I am so very thankful for. I love the holidays, and I love how it's a time we can reflect the past year and appreciate all the great things in our lives.

Dun dun dun......

2009-11-18T12:53:00.000-08:00

Yes. We have the Swine flu in my home. And let me tell you. It's miserable.

I started to get sick a week and a half ago, but never got got a fever. It would come and go and I thought by the end of last week it was almost gone... well I was wrong! Saturday I worked all day and then took my niece Ellie out shopping and for dinner for her birthday and stayed out a little too late and ended up coughing all night. The next morning I woke up with a temp of 101.1. After taking Advil the temp went down and I thought I was good to go.. Bobby wasn't feeling sick so we ended up going over to my parents for dinner. I came home that night, went to bed and was up ALL night with a fever of 102. Nothing would make it go down. Oh I was beyond miserable. I finally woke bobby up around 5am and we called the ER at St. Vincent because I seriously thought I was dying. I talked to a nurse on the phone and she said it sounded like I had H1N1 and she told me to stay home and what I should do. Then I spoke to my primary doctor and she wanted me to come in. So we went in and I was feeling pretty freakin crappy and could barely breath. She made me breath into this thing that is supposed to open up your lungs.. didn't help too much. She prescribed me with tamiflu as well as a cough medicine with codeine that was supposed to knock me out since I hadn't slept in like 3 days.
After waiting in line at Rite aid for FAR too long I went home... tried to get some soup down although I hadn't eaten anything that day.. and took a warm bath for an hour. When I got out of the bath my body must have gone into shock because I started shaking really bad and turned blue. Bobby freaked out and didn't know what to do. I finally managed to get clothes on and crawl into bed in which I managed to make it to the bathroom in time to throw up the little soup i had eaten. At this point Bobby was downstairs while I was trying to sleep, he didn't know what to do so he said a prayer and his mom called him. After talking to his mom he got ahold of his Aunt who is a nurse in the ER and she told him to go get a humidifier, vapor rub, spray for my throat, crackers and gateraid. After all of this... I finally was able to breath and sleep.
I woke up at 4am so happy that I had slept 6 hours. I couldn't believe it! It had been so long since I'd really slept. Tuesday was quite a bit better. IB Profen seemed to be the only thing that kept the fever down... so i took that ever 6 hours. My visiting teacher brought us chicken noodle soup which was AWESOME and we had a 24 season 5 marathon. :) Sad to say, last night bobby was running a 100.5 temp. :(
So today we are both stuck at home. Sitting here... not doing much other than sleeping, and watching TV. I'm starting to feel better, the only problem is I can't breath very well. I feel like my oxygen level has been cut in half and nothing I do seems to make it better.
I'm really hoping I can be back at work by Friday... a good friend of mine is getting married and I'm supposed to be doing her hair!!!! aaahhhhhh!!!!
Amy our roomate has managed to stay healthy. She's pretty much stayed downstairs through all of this and when she does come upstairs she wears a mask. Smart move. I do not wish this flu on anyone! So everyone take lots and lots and lots of vitamin C and stay healthy!!!!!

I <3 Fall.

2009-10-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

I LOVE fall. It is my most FAVORITE season of ALL the seasons. Fall is my favorite for so many reasons. I especially love Oregon in the Fall. I love the leaves on the trees changing color, I love the smell in the air, I love pumpkins, I love scarves and boots, I love that it's the beginning of the Holiday season, I love that all my favorite bands come to Portland in the fall, and I love love love the rain. Can we say I am a true Oregonian? yes we can. The rain is my favorite part of Fall. Ok ok... so after many consecutive days of rain of course it can get a little old, and of course when you're having a bad day grey skies don't exactly help. But I love dark dreary days. I especially love going to a concert on a dark night where it's pouring down rain, and I love driving my car in the rain listening to William fitzsimmons or some other chill acoustic music. Gaaahhh I love this season. It's time for new beginnings. For years and years I especially disliked September. My dad died September 30th 16 years ago and it was always especailly a hard month for me. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that for many of those years I was in school and school always started in September. The last "hard" September I had was probably when I first moved to Utah though--where I didn't have many friends and everything was new. But the last few years I've tried to make it a good month and not let hard memories affect my mood.

Things have been so fun and so busy and lots has been going on! At the end of September my best friend (the one that moved to Germany) Cara's little sister Amy moved in with us! I love Amy. Amy is like a little sister to me. Our place is so big... now let me tell you... you might be thinking that we're a little weird for letting someone moved in with us mostly because we're newlyweds. And I wasn't crazy about the idea for a little while but I wouldn't do it if our place wasn't so big. On the bottom floor of our townhouse we have a bedroom, a full bathroom and the garage. Second floor we have a big kitchen, big living/dinning space, and a half bathroom. Top floor we have master bedroom with a full bathroom connected, another bedroom, another full bathroom, and a den. Yeah... can we say MORE ROOM than we needed? trust me the only reason why we got this place is because we got a BANGIN deal on it. It was so cheap and so great that it was too great to pass up. ALSO I wouldn't let just ANYONE move in. Amy is such a good kid and like family to me. She's in school full time and works part-time, cleans up after herself and we really don't see her all that much. All we do is share the kitchen. It's fun having her around since she's the only one who will watch America's Next Top Model with me. hehe :p It's been great having her, and the extra 350 a month isn't bad either! Isn't she just a doll? lol haha

I've gotten REALLY into running lately. I've been running for a few years now, but I never really pushed myself. When I first started running about 4ish years ago I couldn't run a mile. I would run 7 minutes on the treadmill and have to stop. Well I worked my way up and eventually started running 20 minutes on the treadmill a few times a week, but still for a couple years never would dare push myself to go further. Then a few months ago I started going further (but only like.. once every 2 or 3 weeks) and worked up to 3 or 4 miles. Then about a month ago I went to the gym and it was a leg day for me... (which meant a lot of leg weight training.. which is exhausting).. and I told myself that if I could run for an hour on the treadmill I wouldn't have to do legs that day. HA! I did it!!! I ran 6 miles and I was so stinkin proud of myself. After that I was thinking.. yeah I'll probably never be able to do that again... And then the next week I did it again! And then a couple days later I did it AGAIN! So then Yesterday morning it was my late day at work (didn't start till noon)... so I decided to attempt running outside.... which I haven't done in at least a year... I was very nervous about this. I was thinking I'd MAYBE be able to run 3 miles... because running outside is so much harder than the treadmill.. anyway, I went for it and I ran 7 MILESSSSS!!!!!!!!!!! (CARA AREN'T YOU SO PROUD OF ME???) And I could have kept going except I had to hurry home and shower to get ready for work!!! I was so excited and I can't wait to do it again. After all this I decided I wanted to work my way up to run my first half-marathon... Well later that day my friend Sarah came in to get her haircut and she's been training to run a half marathon in 2 weeks and has only gotten up to 8 miles so far... a half marathon is 13.1 miles... She thinks I can do it and really wants me to do it with her. I am so nervous and haven't decided yet. I'm going to give it another week and we'll see... Her and I are going running next monday and if I can do at least 10 or 11 miles then I think I'll run it. If not I will definitely be doing one in the near future. Running outside is so exhilirating. Especially this time of year, when it's cool enough outside and everything is so beautiful. So we'll see how this goes... wish me luck!

So last weekend Bobby and I went with our friends Holly and Stephen to the Sauvie's Island SCCCAAARRRRRYYYY corn-maze. Let me tell you this was a BLAST. We get there and the parking lot is OUT of control packed.... We didn't know this going in.. but it ended up being a 2 HOUR WAIT!!! We almost decided to forfeit the 10 bucks a person and leave because it wa sso freakin cold outside and we were sick of standing in line... but once we got there... it was SO worth it.
Anyone that knows me husband knows he is ridiculous. He is HILLARIOUSSSSSSS. ESPECIALLY when he gets excited... the CHILD comes out. He's basically a big kid.. so much so that I can never get a normal picture out of him... hardly even a smile. This below is proof:

Anyway... Now that I got that out of the way... this scary corn-maze was a ball.. especially having my GOOFY husband by my side. I am the BIGGEST scardy cat. I'm a weeeeeny. And the scary people that jump out of you LOVE the scared ones... so I was followed QUITe a bit... Bobby just ate it up. Crystal I know you can picture him in this corn-maze... He screams like a girl, Like I'm not even kidding the octave of his pitch is out of control high and he gets all bouncy and giddy. We all had so much fun and it was worth every penny and every second of that long wait.

This is during our long crazy wait... Bobby is obviously not impressed.. and Holly and stephen... well it's self explanitory.

The end of the night.... SO FUN! (yikes! Where did my tan go? :( )

OH PS. I finally started decorating our place and I love it. Pictures to come soon. <3

Seattle trip.

2009-09-22T10:00:00.001-07:00

This weekend we went to Seattle. My salon was going to a hairshow in Bellevue so we decided to make a trip of it. Every time we go to Seattle we like to stay with our friends Sara and Jason. Jason is a friend of Bobbys who he used to work with when he worked at the John L. Scott office up in Bellevue. We love these guys and wish they lived in Portland. It's like a big slumber party every time we stay and we love it!! They have the cutest little 3 year old Magnus, who I adore.

We also decided to do Saras hair while we were up which was way fun... and of course we decided to take some pictures.

Sara and Jay. :)

Welcome to my husband.
Her hot new do. :)

We want to make it to Seattle more. We don't get to spend enough time with Bobby's family which I think is important. Bobby took Monday off (which I always have off) and we went to dinner with his whole family to celebrate his sister Coley and niece Brookes birthdays. His family is wild and so much fun. Glad we got to spend some extra time up there.

Being a wife is hard work.

2009-09-10T17:36:00.000-07:00

Ok so I KNOW what you're thinking. All you moms out there are like "yeah you think that's hard just WAIT till you have a few babies." And really... I can't wrap my head around that. Is that a problem that I can't? I mean you could throw a baby at me right now and I'd be happy as a clown but really... are you ever REALLY ready for children? All I know is I still have a ways of perfecting my "housewife" duties.. responsiblities... obligations.. whatever word makes you happy.

But I can tell you this. I am good at the following:

-Baking. I could bake all day and all night if someone allowed it. I'd also probably be 4593 pounds, but I'd be happy. This is not necessarily a good thing either, because even though I tend to go for the "healthy" baking--both Bobby and I are kind of healthy nuts-o's and my husband gets mad at me when there are treats around. Hmph. :(
-Cleaning WHEN guests are coming over. I never EVER knew I would be like this... I've always known I was on the "messy" side... but when people are coming over to my home I don't know what it is but I get a LITTLE crazy. I've never vaccuumed so much in my life. (literally... if you knew my last apartment I went a whole year without vaccuuming... don't judge me, i was rarely home so it really wasn't that dirty). Maybe it's that I like people coming over and thinking "wow she's not as bad as I thought she'd be". I don't know but it's a little OCD.
-Telling my husband when he is wrong. I'm KIND of opinionated and as my family likes to tell me I think I'm always right. But really don't we all? I'm SLOWLY learning that marriages can't really work like this. Yes Bobby lets me have my way 98% of the time, but it shouldn't be 98 it should probably be like 50%? Ya? I'll work on it. Either way I don't know how good of a thing this is, but I do know I'm good at it. :)
-Ok back to cleaning. I'm good at it when I do it. That goes with Laundry. I never realized how much more laundry I have to do when living with another person. Sheesh.

So I'm sitting here trying to think of more things I'm good at but... I think it's always easier seeing the things we're bad at. So the list goes as follows...

-Deep cleaning every week. I didn't think about this when we signed up to live in a place that has 4 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, a den, and a garage and is 3 levels.
-Organizing. We've been married for almost 2 months now and I still haven't gone through my boxes of "stuff" (non-clothing related) from moving. Yikes.
-I'm bad at taking advantage of my only REAL day off (monday). Instead I'd rather.... go hiking, go shopping, go to the gym, sleep... you know. All the selfish things I get to do. For some weird reason running those erands, grocery shopping, and scrubbing those toilets doesn't sound as appealing as the others. dang.
-Reading my scriptures every day. We're AWESOME at saying our night-time prayers together but shoot that scripture study can be hard sometimes. This is one I am sad about and we are CONSTANTLY trying to do better. We see great things in our relationship when we are studying together.

So I guess I shouldn't go on more. This whole marriage thing is such an adventure. I'm not gonna lie... I thought this newlywed thing was going to be a sinch. Afterall... we've known eachother basically our whole lives... loved eachother for what feels like an eternity.. and dated longer than the average lds couple. I knew his flaws, he knew mine... but I am learning EVERY day things I need to be better at. At the end of the day I love it. I love him, I love us, I love our not so always clean house, and I love that we are always happy to see each other.

Yay for marriage.

And she's gone.

2009-09-03T14:24:00.000-07:00

SO this is Cara Jeanne Eisenbach. And I'm pretty sure it's safe to say she is my bestest friend in the whole wide world. We've been best friends since 4th grade, back when she called me pee hair and I called her poop hair (we didn't like each other at first). We were actually ROYAL enemies. Once our 4th grade teacher Mrs. Wilhelms got us to sit down and talk out our differences we've been bff ever since. She's a strong mix between a sister and a best friend. We are brutally honest with each other (she likes to tell me when I'm orange and I like to tell her when her hair looks like crap). She is my traveler. We couldn't be any different. She doesn't want to settle down, if she could she would spend her money on traveling for the rest of her life. Me on the other hand, big dreams were getting married and raising a family. But no matter where we are, we always talk and are ALWAYS close.

And today, (her birthday) I am so very sad. :( She moved to Germany yesterday for at LEAST a year and won't be back in that year at all. She's going to be an Au pair, and REALLY I'm SO excited for her. She's wanted to do this for a while, but I'm just sad to have her leave me. I don't think I've ever gone this long without seeing her.

Besides Bobby, she is the bestest friend I've ever had. She's gone through everything with me. And I will miss her so very much. Love you Cara. :)

Husband.

2009-08-25T14:35:00.001-07:00

THIS ONE IS ALL MINE.

Sorry ladies. :)

-------->

I could not be any luckier. I possibly have the best husband ummm EVER. He puts up with so much, LET ME TELL YOU. I am a handful. I can be needy, I can be bossy, I can be VERY emotional, and I can be a BIG brat. He is so humble whenever I tell him things he should work on and I'm not always so willing to listen. He's great at calling me out when I'm gossiping and I never hear him speak negatively of people. He's always willing to be someones friend or give them a chance even if they won't give him one. That's always amazed me about him.

He tells me what I need to hear and he means it. Not a day goes by where he's not complimenting me or telling me how cute my outfit is, or how pretty I look.

He cooks for me... all the time. I LOVE how healthy it is because it is THAT much easier for me to be healthy. He loves to cook me food and try new things. I'm learning it's his way of showing me love.

He's the funniest person I know. I've never met anyone as RANDOM and SILLY as this boy. We are always playing and goofing around. He has made me laugh so hard I have almost peed my pants. I am so happy to be with someone who gets my humor and I get his--it's ALWAYS a big laughing fest in our house.

He can't stay mad at me for more than 2 minutes... and it's RARE when he is mad at me... AND when he is it's for good reason. I have to be a real brat for this to happen, but it's always an easy fix. He hates to fight he is SUCH a lover.

He is the kind of guy that sets his mind to something and he ACHIEVES it. It's one of his most impressive qualities. A couple years ago he got a gym membership and made the decision to get fit. You see those big muscley body builders? Ya that was his goal. He did a lot of research on dieting, and nutrition and has lost 100 pounds! I've never seen anyone with as much dedication as him. It's incredible. I love that we enjoy working out and being active together, I don't think it's something that we'll ever lose.

My family loves him and for this I love him more. I'm so glad that they see the amazing person that I see. They've been able to get to know him so well and I love how close they are with him.

He would do anything for me. And he does. He calms me down. I don't freak out as much as I used to, I'm not as emotional as I used to be and I love him for allllllllllllll of this and so much more! I am so grateful to have him as my partner.

Girls of 239!

2009-08-20T22:46:00.000-07:00

I love being married. Married life is amazing. Living and waking up next to my best friend is the most wonderful thing EVER. I don't get sick of it... at least not yet. We've been having so much fun getting our house together and learning all the WONDERFUL things that you learn about your spouse when you are first married (like him leaving the toilet seat up. UGH.) But even though my life has had so many changes and life has been so crazy busy, I've still had time to think about all of the important people I've had in my life that have gotten me through it.

Today was one of those days where I was just missing Utah. Specifically I was missing my old roomates, Suz, Camille, and Robin. They were the first roomates I had when I moved away from home for the first time. Poor girls putting up with my naive 18 year old boy crazy self. But I cannot tell you how much these girls mean to me. I cry when I think about them because I miss them so much. We were like a family. We went out during the day, lived our life, and came home and sat and talked and cried together. I went through the HARDEST times in my life with these girls and I don't know if I will ever be able to thank them enough or have them understand how much they've done for me.

I came home one particular night, probably the worst night of my life and they just knew me better than anyone at that time and knew something was wrong. They made me sit down and talk to them, and all they did was listen and love me.

Sometimes I would come home at night and feel so lost and so confused and at such a low point in my life and suz would come in and cry with me. So many people in my life didn't understand me, or why I made the decisions I did, or just thought I was going nowhere and Suz always saw so much more in me. She was such an example and had such an amazingly strong testimony and it was hard to not feel Heavenly Fathers love when you were around her. She never judged me even though I was "rough around the edges" as she would say. Often times I've gone back to those low low days and think about how much she saved me. I needed someone to believe I was worth something and she always gave me that hope.

We always loved doing little things for each other. Whether it was just leaving a note for one another or decorating each others rooms, or throwing surprise parties. One year those girls threw me a surprise birthday party and I swear our whole ward was there. I knew maybe 10 of the people but our place was PACT and I loved every second of it. Another time Robin called our moms (around christmas time) and got our favorite recipes and made us a big dinner with all of our favorite food. We would have nights where we would sit in the dark in a circle and listen to "home" by Michael buble and talk about our future husbands.

These are the memories I will always cherish. I get homesick for them and the life we had in that little 239 apartment. I loved coming home and having my best friends there. Having Camille sitting on the couch with Eddie getting math help from him, Robin always on the phone with your family back home, and Suz going EVERY WHICH way (let me tell you she is one BUSY girl. And back then she didn't have a cell phone. IMAGINE).

I don't know if I would have gotten through those years without them. My home away from home. I love you girls with all of my heart.

Here's some old pics. thrrrooowwww back:

Robin, me, and Camille all squished (I have no idea how to spell that) in the bathroom at 4am. I think it was even easter maybe? Don't ask me why we were doing this but ohhh how we laughed.

Suuzzz! Where's suuzzz! This picture makes me pee my pants!

Michelle is in this picture with us!!!! I love Michelle (suz's sister). This was at Camilles wedding (Robin was either back home or on her mission) and that was the last time before I moved that we were together. Oh how I LOVE these girls.

And then this is the most recent pic of the 4 of us. I went back to Utah in March and we all got together and had dinner. We could have sat and talked there for hours. I loved every minute of it.

WEDDING!!!

2009-08-15T18:37:00.001-07:00

Finally some wedding pictures up! These aren't the pros but here's a few (except for the one up top. Taken by my wonderful photographyer Ashleigh Thornock. More to come soon!)! I loved this day! By far the best day of my life and I wish I could go back and do it all over again!

Life is wonderful!

2009-06-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone! I know I'm terrible at updating this blog but I want to get better. I'm hoping I will once things start slowing down. Life has been crazy and busy and amazing lately! I am getting married in a month from yesterday! And I couldn't be more excited. Everything is starting to feel so real and now it's just countdown time. I feel so blessed for all the things that have happened and for this wonderful life I've been given.

Today so many thoughts are running through my head. Both Bobby and I got our temple recommends to receive our endowments and to be sealed. It's the most amazing feeling to know that you are worthy to enter into the Lords house. We have both come so far and we couldn't have done it without our Saviors love.

I had such a WONDERFUL bridal shower where so many of my friends and family were able to come out (including my sister Crystal and Grandma Billington). It was so great seeing everyone and getting so many great GIFTS! Lots and lots of cooking supplies. I've always acted weird about cooking, thinking I just can't do it. I'm not quite sure why I've been that way... but something has gotten into me and I have been a cooking machine lately! It must be this WIFE thing that is doing it. Anyway, today I busted out one of my best friends mothers recipe for Banana bread and did some baking! And let me tell you: it was goooood.

It's getting down to crunch time and we're both workin hard to look good on July 18th! Well... we've been working hard longer than we've been engaged, but weddings are a great insentive let me tell you! Bobby has lost around 65 pounds and I've lost 41. It's so nice to feel good about yourself and it makes it a little bit easier to worry less and enjoy the people and things around you. 41 down, 20 more to go!

Even though things have been crazy and busy, I really do feel like we've been able to just enjoy this time and not stress out too much. Life is just too short. Sure the party is fun, but the marriage is what I am most excited for. I cannot wait to spend all of eternity with the person who knows me and loves me most, my best friend.

Engagement Photos.

2009-04-30T00:34:00.001-07:00

WOOT. I love them I love them I love them. Here's the engagement photo's done by the amazing Ksenia Everton. Hope you like them as much as I do!!!

83 days!!!! The Countdown is on!

2009-04-26T23:31:00.000-07:00

This blog is just going to be a lot of boring text with nooooooo pictures. I have no idea where my camera disappeared to... it's gotta be around here somewhere!

Everything has been wonderful lately. Crazy, but wonderful. LET ME TELL YOU.. I've never really understood why people say weddings are so hectic. But now I get it. Doesn't matter how simpleish you try and make it, there's still a lot to do. As of right now most of the big things are either done or planned. It's now just a matter of doing all of the little things. I've left some of the crafty things up to my mom... with an opinion here and there given by me. She's been great with helping me plan this wedding. She's so creative and everytime I come over to the house she's got a new idea or is surfing the web for wedding stuff. At this point in time... we are about to make our wedding invitations. I'm trying to go the cheap route and am lucky enough to have a friend that majored in graphic design and has basically come up with the whole invitation on her own. She's really into making invitations, so thanks to her help they're going to be super classy. But it's going to take a lot of work. Not only are we making them but my mom decided to get all crazy on me. She decided that she wants us to hand write every single stinkin address. Ummmmmm seriously? I was thinkin more like... let's print them. Who really looks at the envelope? I don't. But you know.. I'm not the only person in the world and evidently people like my mom do look at that kind of stuff.. she says it's more personable and blah blah blah. The other thing I didn't care about was the stamp. Yes. The stamp. She wants to make personalized stamps with my cake on it. So all of you out there, make sure you admire my envelope and spend at least 10 minutes admiring it. All for the sake of my mother. This battle is not worth fighting. :)

I am soooooooooo excited for summer. My little brother is graduating in June and I just feel like so many changes are happening! Crazy to think I'm going to be a married old lady in just a few months! I cannot wait! My roomate Holly and mines apartment lease is up in 20ish days and then I'll be moving home for 2 months! They really just can't get rid of me. ;) I wasn't planning on this but as it turns out... it would have been silly for me to try and find a place so close to getting married.. and I didn't really want to pay for the place we will be living in so soon because well... that's just too much money that I don't have. But it will be nice to save a couple months worth of rent, and living with the rents isn't all that bad.

A big thing that has been taking up my time has been the gym! I've always loved working out but when i knew this wedding was coming up a fire really got put under my butt! My eating habbits needed to change. So since Christmas I have lost 31 pounds and still going! I plan to keep losing till I'm exactly where I want to be. My fiance Bobby is a big... healthy crazy work out guy. A couple of years ago Bobby was a preettttyyy big boy and since he made some big life changes he got himself on a track to a healthier life. All together he has lost 60 pounds and is still losing. He's been studying about nutrition and what's important and different eating habbits for the past couple of years. Though the past 9 months he's really gotten serious about it. I have never in my life seen anyone as motivated as this guy. When he wants something he really puts his mind to it. It is so amazing. More will-power than anyone. Anyway, through him I've been able to learn a lot about how I should be eating. A lot of people go on different diets and that works for them. But I really wanted to lose the weight I wanted to lose and keep it off. And I've seen too many times where someone goes on something like Nutrisystem (no offense to anyone who's done it or is on it!) and they gain at least half if not all of it back. You aren't learning anything about why certain things are bad for you or how just cutting out fat or carbs completely isn't necessarily the best option. Reducing meal sizes, eating more often, eating a good breakfast, lots of protein, not eating late or out too much, not cutting things completely out of your diet and allowing yourself to splurge once a week are a lot of the things people miss. I never knew some of these things or better yet WHY they were important. What I learned is so much of it comes down to calorie intake. Just because I'm eating a salad doesn't mean it's not 1500 calories! Let me tell you... that cheese and bacon bits and fried chicken strips and dressing DO ADD UP! I never knew these things!! This is what they should be teaching in health class starting at an early age. It's not just about being skinny it's about being healthy. I would so much rather be an average size and healthy and active then super super tiny where I starve myself and am hurting my body.

Anyway, I'd like to be 9 pounds lighter before the wedding! Then I'll have another 20ish to go after that. I really hope that I can remember all of those things and teach my kids about nutrition and why it's important. Thankfully I'm marrying a great cook who eats really well and we are great motivators for each other!

Other than all of that I'm just trying to do as many fun things on the side as possible! In the few weeks we have gotten some WONDERFUL sunshine! A couple of the weekends we took night trips to the beach with friends just to have bonfires. Ohhh I am so excited for summer! I just want to be outside and hiking and playing as much as possible! I can not wait.

Here's a few pictures from a few weeks ago when we took a little trip to the beach.

Too little time--Too much to do!

2009-03-30T00:39:00.000-07:00

So many things have been going on lately and now I'm finally taking the time to update this thing! Life has been crazy but oh so fun this last month and time is just flying by. Basically it goes like this... wedding planning + work + gym = little free time. Weird how that is. I barely have time to clean and do my laundry. ok ok I've never really been good at doing that whether I have time or not... but still! Though, like I said--this past month has been crazy!

A couple weeks ago my friends threw me an engagement party. It was so so so much fun. These girls are crazy, I love it. They went all out with a fancy dinner, fondue, games and everything! I was so impressed. Here's a few pictures from the event.

How cute is this? I have such great friends--

Some of the girls-- I was a little sunburnt... and obviously unaware that a picture was being taken..
Inside joke. I love Holly--

TTHHEEEENNN Just a couple of days after the party I flew out to Utah to go visit friends!!! This was supposed to just be a fun get away trip where I get to spend time with friends I hadn't seen in too long.... yeah well sadly this turned out to be a "lets find a wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses while I'm here" kind of a trip. Wasn't aware that this would take up most of the time out of the 4 days I was there. I stayed with my good friend Kylie (who's prego!! yay!) and got to spend some time with her.. not as much playtime as I would have liked though. It just so happened that my parents were driving Crystal out to Utah during the same time I was going to be flying to Utah... yeah totally on accident. So it worked out best for me to go find a wedding dress there (plus let's be honest... Oregon doesn't really know how to make modest wedding dresses). So that Monday my mom, sister, and I went a found my dress!!! And oh my gosh I love it. It was the first one I tried on and CRYSTALS favorite from the beginning. I of course liked it but didn't knwo and wanted to try on others. After trying a billion on I put this bad boy back on, threw on a sash and really fell in love with it. I think this dress was made for me. I'm glad my mom and sister got to be there to help me out, because when it came to this I was kind of clueless. Definitely the kind that needs opinions. I'm allowing myself a couple more months to lose 13 more pounds (my desired wedding weight) and it will be perfect! I've lost 27 pounds since christmas so hopefully these 13 won't be too hard. I don't know what it is but there is something about getting married that really kicks your butt into gear and gets you motivated!

The next 2 days I was there.... we searched for bridesmaid dresses. This became more of an issue than I had thought it would be. Guess it's my fault for having 6 bridesmaids, trying to please everyone, OH and wanting all the dresses to be the same. ANYWAY, the main reason why I wanted to find something there was because I had 2 of my bridesmaids (Crystal and Kylie) there to try them on. By the end of the day we found a dress that would work and everything turned out okay. I made it home that Thursday just in time to go to Work. woohoo. Exactly what you want to do after getting 4 hours of sleep. It was just... awesome.

BUT. there were some great things that came out of this trip.....

I got to spend some quality time with Aaron and Kylie. We're about to watch "Push"
I got to eat at one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE SANDWICH PLACES. Kneaders. YUMMY.
And one of the best parts about the trip was getting together with my old roomates Suz, Robin, and Camille. I love these girls so much and just about cried 235232353 times while I was with them. It had just been too long and I miss them so so so much. They are like sisters to me.

ANOTHER exciting thing was 2 weeks ago I bought a new car! Yes I know kind of random. But I had HAD it with my old car. Come on come on. It was a Alero OLDSMOBILE. I hated that thing. I definitely got my moneys worth out of it though.... it had 100,000 miles when I bought it and I put 50,000 miles on it in the 2 years I had it... yeah.... Having a long distance relationship isn't very nice on cars FYI. Plus I just wasn't very nice to it. I didn't like it. It was ugly, and really it was just my first car and that's all I cared about at the time of buying it. The weekend before I bought this new car there had been 3 consistent things that weekend that was going wrong with the car. Now... I know that cars need money put into them no matter what.. but when Sunday morning my car wouldn't start I had had it. Why continue to put money into a car I hate?!? No thank you. I was done. So we went out to this dealership originally looking at a Mazda3. Mazdas are cute cars... but this one wasn't so much. Whomever had had it last was not good to it. I just had a bad feeling... SOOO of course they don't want to lose you. So once they busted out a Nissan Altima it was all over for me. I've wanted one of those bad boys for like 5 years now. It's in really really good condition. It's an '04 with only 45,000 miles on it and it looks practically new. I love my car. yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.
So this isn't my exact car... but it looks like it!!

I'M ENGAGED!!!!!! (Here's the story)

2009-02-22T00:04:00.000-08:00

It finally happened!!! And a little over a week ago to be exact! Crystal has been bugging me to get the story up on here (I've wanted to) but I've just been SOOOO busy. Barely any sleep or time to have a second to myself! It's been insane. I am so very happy though and so very in love to my best friend. And when I say best, I really mean best.

It happened Last Friday night, the 13th (the night before Valentines Day). I thought he was going to propose on V-day... I'm kind of ridiculous and have a MASSIVE issue with not knowing secrets and dealing with surprises. I knew he had the ring and had figured out the whole master plan a few days before that saturday. I felt guilty.... and told bobby that I was a brat and got some answers.. but I STILL thought V-day was gonna be the big day.

Let me just start off with telling you a few things about my fiancee Bobby. He is VERY VERY VERY into nutrition (for the past yearish) and very into preparing his own meals. He HATES going out and spending money on food when he spends a fortune at costco and buys enough to feed a family of 5 (yeah.. I know right?) Sometimes it's like pulling teeth to get him to go get some grub. But I know it's good for me because eating out was always my weakness.

ANYWAY... that Friday (the 13th) Bobby and I decided to meet up for lunch at this really great Burger joint called the Skyline Restaraunt. It's this oooolllddd famous restaraunt that's famous for their amazing burgers and shakes. Now.. we're both trying to be good eaters this day so this was going to take up like ummm my WHOLE day of calories. None the less... he had been craving a burger for a while and always wanted to go there. So we go. I get a big ol fatty hamburger, french fries, and a very intense amazing shake. It was satisfying. It was a late lunch (around 3ish). And I told him I was not going to eat for the rest of the night. We decided that we were going to go see "He's just not that into you" that night after I got off work around 7:20. He didn't seem like he wanted to do anything else, pluse I was uberly tired.

So I finish with my last client of the night around 6:45. I look at my phone and I had gotten a text around 5 from Bobby saying "What time do you get off work tonight?" Then another at 5:20 saying "Go straight home after work I want to take you downtown tonight". I'm like.. what the heck. All i want to do is go to this movie right next to my house and go to bed. No way. I'm tired, no walking around downtown for me. So I call him. I'm like "what are you talkin about? I thought we were going to this movie?" Hes like "well I want to go downtown and take you to stanfords and then go to a movie downtown. We never go out anymore and it'll be fine". I'm thinking... are you insane? for 2 reasons. Going to stanfords. Ok um... We just ate 3 hours ago. THIS WOULD BE 2 MEALS IN ONE DAY OF EATING OUT. Remember how I said my Bobby doesn't do this? Hard to get 1? Yeah.. Plus I was still full and felt like a fat cow and was like aaaaaahhhhh heeee**** no. Number 2.... We never go out anymore? We go do stuff all the time and DO go out to dinner once every other week. I think that's not exactly qualifying for "anymroe". So at this point I know something might be up because this is TOTALLY not my boyfriend. So he's like "well too late. I'm right by your work. I'm here." WHY WAS HE AT MY WORK? No clue. So random. He comes inside my work and is totally all cleaned up and showered and lookin all cute. I'm feelin like a hot mess. So I'm harassing him about this and begging him to not go (i know, brat huh... my bratiness gets even better). So then I start getting snoopy and asking questions like... "You SWEAR on our relationship this has nothing to do with our 'status'?" You and everyone else is thinking COME ON JUST LET THE POOR GUY PROPOSE! yeah I'm a total snot.

Anyway, so finally I shut up and we go downtown. We have a nice dinner (don't worry, I got a salad if you're worried about that :)) But he is acting a little strange. a little TOOO attentive and a little TOOO much like it was a first date. But it was cute none the less. Oh and I also asked to borrow his coat (even though I had a fleece on) and he said no. I was just doing it so I could get a little fill in on the pockets. Crazy I know.

So after dinner he decides he wants to go for a little stroll on the waterfront. I'm complaining about how cold it is and how i'm getting blisters on my feet. You know... you'd think that at this point I would be nicer considering the fact that I knew he was going to propose. There must be some sick pleasure in me that finds making it harder for him humerous. Juusssttttt kidding. Don't worry--he knows I'm a handful.

We walk along the waterfront which was fun then we decide to walk up onto the Hawthorne bridge to look over the water and town. It was so pretty. We started getting a little giggley because it was one of those "let's try really hard to create a romantical moment here". Then finally I was able to get serious and he got down on one knee.. busted the ring out and said "Kayleen Nicole perry will you marry me?" I said yes and then the tears came. I was so excited. I loovvveeee my ring and I was so thrilled to make things official and be able to call him my finacee! After that we went and saw my sister at the theater then went to go see the fam.

Evidently the reason why he was in the neighborhood was because he was coming back from asking my parents for permission. (cute huh) They love him and he loves them so it was alllll great. My step dad chuck made sure to let him know that there's a no-return policy. He's stuck with me. Thanks Chuck. :)

All jokes aside, I am honestly happier than I have ever been and so overwhelmed with emotion. Not everybody knows the struggles Bobby and I have been through, and not everyone has been able to see our relationship and personal relationships with the savior bring us where we are now and closer together. I'm so happy to know that there's no secrets, no regrets (well maybe a few), and pure honesty between us. I feel like we've already been married for 10 years and know eachother inside and out (though I DO know marriage isn't easy and there's ALWAYS more to learn). There was a point many years ago where I did not picture him and I together in the end let alone it being a temple marriage. There were so many tears shed, so many emotional nights, so many heart-breaks and times where I just had to move on. My mom once said a long time ago "Let him figure this out on his own and maybe down the road you two can find your way back together". And that's what happened. I am so proud of the person he has become and the inspiration he is to me. I'm not a young 18 year old girl. I'm not naive in my relationships anymore. I know what it means to feel a confirmation through the spirit. I know that Heavenly Father as well as my earthly dad have been rooting for me all along to make the right decisions whether it be with Bobby or not. And it's not till I finally allowed myself to put my faith and will in the Lord's hands that he was able to bless me with this everlasting love. Nobody is perfect and no marriage is guaranteed unless both parties are willing to work and keep the Lord as their constant companion. I am so ready to work and love and enjoy the life I will be sharing with Bobby. I am so grateful to have a man that is a worthy priesthood holder that will be able to take me to the temple. I am so excited for whatever the future has in store.

Here's a few pictures from the big night!!!!!
Right after we got engaged:
Here's me showing off my bling-bling!!
Annnddd up close:

Sometimes happy endings don't come easy.

2009-01-25T23:47:00.001-08:00

I know that all of maybe 2 people read this blog... but right now I'm just needing to write. My life is so wonderful. I have an amazing family, amazing career, and I'm getting married in the temple this summer to my best friend. But sometimes it's hard to not let other peoples decisions get you down... and sometimes praying for them is just not enough.

One of my very best friends Tara is a oxycotton and heroin addict. I met her when she had been 2 years sober and she was so beautiful. I've delt with addicts for a long time... one being my now boyfriend. I watched him hurt himself for years and couldn't do anything about it. She was the one who helped me understand their minds and how they work. Although she was sober she wasn't actively involved in Alcoholics Anonymous's 12 step program-- which we call a dry addict. They're going through the motions but not really doing the work. This was all new to me at the time so I had no idea how important being involved in that is. Shortly after I met her, my Bobby (who I wasn't seeing at the time) hit his rock bottom and decided to get sober. On his own. From that day on he no longer felt a desire to drink or use. He's been ACTIVELY involved in AA going to meetings at least twice a week and working the steps. Not only that but he found his way back to the church and is now working on receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood. It's been the most amazing experience watching someones nearly non-existent testimony grow the way his did. Though Bobby got back on track (which no one is ever cured of this disease--it's a lifetime involvement in AA) some don't.

Tara since then has relapsed more times than I can count. She's stolen money, sold her most prized posessions, and even used right infront of me while lying to my face. I love this girl like a sister. I want to believe her when she says this is the last time. And everytime she does I try and be supportive I try and say "I believe you can do this. You're stronger than this." I know that's what she needs to hear. But in my mind at times I just want to give up. I don't believe her. Loving an addict is one of the most exhausting things ever. I've never been one to let go, especially when all you want to do is shake them and lock them in your arms so they can't harm themselves anymore. She is 5'7 and weighs under 100 pounds... She just spent 3 days in jail (never done that before) and is now checking herself into rehab.

I talked to her tonight and I just sat and cried for hours. You either get better or this disease kills you. And she is two seconds away from death. It's hard to know that all I can do is keep her in my prayers. But Heavenly Father gave us our agency and learing to accept that we can't control other peoples actions is just part of the plan.

Birthday Time!

2009-01-12T14:13:00.000-08:00

January is one of my FAVORITE months... because I was it has my birthday in it! My birthday was on January 10th and I had such a good time. The day before I met up with a bunch of friends at Old Chicago and just had a nice dinner. I don't get to see everyone all together that often anymore so it was really fun having everyone there. The only thing that wasn't fun was the fact that I've been sick since Wednesday. I believe it is Laryngitis.. and it blows! Saturday my voice was almost completely gone. So on Friday when I was at Old Chicago trying to talk above loud noises it really didn't help my situation. I don't like losing my voice. I've never lost it until now... and I've heard that there are lots of people that have "always wanted to lose their voice".. well if you're one of those-- Don't! It sucks. Big time. But the good thing is, the rest of me felt great. It was pretty much just my voice. Which you might consider that to be worse considering what I do... It's kind of important to be able to talk to your clients when you're a hairdresser. Oh well. I got through it.

Here are some pictures from my friend birthday get together.
My friend Lauren got me this hat... it was a little ridiculous--but I was a good sport.
The night of my birthday my WONDERFUL boyfriend took me to The Melting Pot for the first time. I've ALWAYS wanted to go but it's a little spendy for just a random night out. We were there for 2 hours and it was so much fun. I highly recommend going if you haven't gone. It's quite the experience.
Here's a few more pictures from that fun night.
SOOOO good. strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, cheesecake, rice crispy treats, brownies... mmmmmm

Holidays are over... Bring on 2009!

2009-01-01T13:16:00.000-08:00

Well. This year was a good year. I went through a lot of a good and bad but I can say it's one of the best. I found an amazing guy, stable in a job I love, and my sister came home from her mission! Everything was laid back and drama-free. Beautiful.
The Holidays came by pretty freakin fast this year. Not only that but we got suuccchhh a crazy snow storm! It shut my salon down for a few days and I still haven't seen my weak paycheck from that pay period yet. But at the same time it was fun (at least for the first couple days) and we had some gooood times in the snow.
Christmas was a lot of fun. The plan was for Bobby and I to spend Christmas eve and morning with my family, and then drive up after we open presents to his Grandmas in Bremerton Washington... which ended up not happening due to 3ft. of snow she got at her house. Yikes! Much worse then our foot of snow. So we spent the whole time with my family and we had such a good time. Still haven't made it to Seattle yet to see Bobby's family but hopefully soon we'll be able to make it up there. :(
This year will be bringing on a lot of new changes and I'm so ready for them! Sooo bring it on!

I feel a little silly.

2008-11-02T11:15:00.000-08:00

It seems like most people who have a blog are married and have a cute little family.... welp! I don't (at least not yet) so I'm not really sure if this is for me. But I figure.. I have a myspace and a facebook so why not right? I have no idea how to use this... or even how to put pictures on it.. so if you could help me that would be wonderful.
Let's see..... If you want an update on my life as of NOW... I love my life. I am finally happy. I've always attracted drama and I think I've honestly always liked it... But the past year has been pretty much drama free. I can finally appreciate the people and things around me.

I have an amazing boyfriend who fits me better than anyone can really understand. When people don't know him they may think he's not the right guy for me. But once you get to know him.. he excells in everything I lack. He balances me out. He makes me laugh harder than anyone, he has more patience with me than I deserve, and we've been through a trial or two that has made us appreciate eachother and understand eachother. I can't wait to marry him next summer in the Portland Temple.

I do hair in a Salon in Beaverton called Ensemble Salon and it's so much stinkin fun. I've been doing hair since I graduated from Bon Losee Beauty school in Oct. of 06. I couldn't see myself doing anything else and it's definitely a satisfying job making people feel good about themselves.

I live near my wonderful mom and step dad. My sister Crystal just got back from her mission where she served in Jackson, Mississippi and I love having her around. I admire her a lot and am so happy to have her as a sister (even though I know she'd

rather be back out on the mission!) It's fun watching my little brother become a man. He balances us girls out. I pretty much have the best siblings ever.

I live with my bff Holly in some ghetto apartments. I'm so glad to have a roomate that doesn't trash the apartment and respects my things! She's my prettier half.

ANYWAY... that's all for now! Let the good times roll.