Life is wonderful!

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.

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!

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!

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)

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.

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!

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