Ryan & Kylee

7 weeks later and our HOME

2012-01-22T18:38:00.002-07:00

If my brain is firing correctly (which I never count on these days...) the last time I shared a picture of the bump was for week 27. I think you could still call it a bump at week 27 - now it's more of a something much larger than a bump that I'm not quite sure how to classify...

Weeks 32 and 34!

I enjoy being pregnant about 23/7. There is this hour at bedtime after a long day where my ankles and calves are swollen and I look in the mirror and see all the places other than the belly that are growing and getting chubby and I start to complain and wish I didn't eat everything in sight that day and Ryan tells me we're never having another baby and then I say that I just need to get some sleep and I'll feel better in the morning... Then I get some sleep and feel better in the morning and Ryan says we can have more babies. Phew. He's going to be way to good of a dad to only let one child experience being his daughter/son.

Feeling life moving inside of you is one of my favorite body sensations. It is so special. I'm definitely looking forward to holding this baby in my arms but I feel like a part of me will miss feeling her inside of me.

While Shalayne was here over Christmas break we used some of our time together to refinish Eden's crib and changing table. Here's a little sneak peak of her room.

Yes, we picked yellow. Crazy, I know, but the room just needed some color! I still need to track down 2 more red knobs for the changing table and do a million other things to her room but... life is kinda hectic at the moment. I'm not planning on finishing her room until she is here. She'll be sleeping in our room for the first few months anyway and it will give me something to do while I'm at home so I don't go stir crazy.

Her collection of clothing is growing - here's just one of the piles and the few pieces of clothing actually on hangers. I bought a bunch of children's hangers the other day but have yet to get everything hung and organized.

And since I've started posting some pictures of the house - would you maybe like to see more? If yes, keep scrolling down. If no, do whatever else you want to do.

This is the view once you've walked a few steps into the house (past the office and soon to be music room). Across from the kitchen is a built in computer desk and wall of cupboards. It's so nice to have the computer as part of the living area of our home. One of the features my dream home will have - can't believe we got it in our first home. Oh, and the redhead sitting at the computer desk is kind of a favorite of mine too.

The kitchen. It has a dishwasher, more than 3 square feet of counter space, more than 4 cabinets and we aren't using a sheet to cover our pantry - big upgrades from our basement apartment in Ogden. Also love that it's connected to the living room area - it's so nice that it's all so open. Cooking is one of my favorite things again!

There are lots of windows in the home - natural light is definitely a fave. Can't wait to get some bright pillows and fun curtains to add some color. Ryan picked out the rug. The rug and mantle decor are the only decorations in the house at this point. I'm going to have lots of fun decorating when I'm on maternity leave if our budget allows :)

Ending tonights series is my new best friend, our tub. Definitely have enjoyed its company.

Darn, I did not take a picture of the fancy pantry Ryan and my Dad built... It deserves a post of its own someday.

Oh my, there are so many wonderful things about this home. We still don't totally feel like we really live here. It's so surreal and we feel blessed the the max.

If I wait to blog about Eden for another 7 weeks, she will most likely be here - wow. Time to make some car seat decisions and make sure we've got all the other essentials. Any favorite baby products you couldn't live without?

And any carseat recommendations? I never want to read another online car seat review again...

The Janis 9

2012-01-07T15:54:00.002-07:00

Our plan was to get some serious weeding done in our yard right now but it's like 80 degrees outside. Way to hot for a pregnant lady to be weeding. So, I've been doing the next most productive thing... catching up on y'alls blogs and even updating ours. Here's a little snippet of our Christmas. More updates to follow.

This Christmas the Janis 9 - or Janis 9.5 as my Dad calls us (already thinking like a Grandpa...) - were all in Texas together. It was a special time. We skipped the presents and focused on other Christmas celebrations and remembrances. I don't think we will ever have a Christmas like this one again. We were old enough to have mature conversations and devotionals - the kinds of things that get hard as grandkids start coming into the picture. Plus, it will be a long time before we are all in the same place for Christmas. Dover will be on a mission for the next two Christmas's and who knows where we all could be after that. We had an especially neat discussion led by my Dad on Christmas Eve about the Atonement - it's neat gaining new understanding of principles with your family.

And of course we had lots and lots of fun!! So many awesome game nights and yummy meals and conversations. Each of us planned a meal with new fancy recipes that we had not tried and oh my goodness we ate well.

One of the favorite activities was 'elfing' ourselves to make a music video...

We're totally on youtube - check us out.

Family videos are kind of a big deal at our house and we're pretty sure this one will be a favorite. I love family, especially our family!

She is so helpful...

2011-12-21T10:17:00.001-07:00

Eden and I are working from home today.

As in, like our first home that we moved into on Saturday. Merry early Christmas to the Wayments!

She is so helpful. Staying nice a calm while I get my work done - NOT.

Notice how her head/hand/foot/bum or some part of her is sticking out and making my stomach lopsided. She's been going crazy all morning. Guess she's just excited about the entire Janis family being in Texas RIGHT NOW. We have to keep working today and tomorrow but then will be spending time with everyone 24/7. Hooray!

A Thanksgiving Trip to Utah and Baby Updates

2011-12-04T17:31:00.001-07:00

The last seven weeks have been BIG growth weeks. See...

Little girl has been growing continuously - and - little girl now has a name. Everyone asks and maybe I should wait to tell but....

Pardon the crooked tights and allow me to introduce -

Every night when we say our together prayer, we thank Heavenly Father for baby Eden.

Thanksgiving in Utah - collage style for quickness :)

1. Ry on a plane

2. Ky on a plane - going to UT was a great excuse to pull out winter boots

3. Shay picked us up from the airport

4. Ry so happy to be back to his stomping grounds

5. Meg making us stylish - shellac style - she's so good at the whole beauty thing

6. Rough housing with Reese and Bo

7. Best buddy bonding time

8. Our shiny shellac nails - toes were shellac-ed too but no pics :(

9. More Bo-Ry time

10. Thanksgiving meal at the Wayments - SO YUM!

11. Nephew Caden & 12. Nephew Conner

(so fun to see these cuties)

13. All the boys at Blake's Eagle Court of Honor - so glad we could be in Utah for this!

14. Father and sons at the Court of Honor

15. Shopping at the new H&M with the ESSIGS! We woke up early to meet them in SLC for all you can eat french toast and sourdough pancakes at Kneaders, shopping, and then they accompanied us at an ultrasound for Eden - it was so wonderful - we can't get enough of spending time with these two!

16. Trying on twinner outfits in H&M with Alyse

17. Treats at Sams Club with Courtney - I was pretty much dead at this point (woke up at 2am UT time to get to the airport and this pic was taken that day at like 8pm UT time...)

18. Mario Kart time... I think it's more entertaining to watch these three play then to try and compete

19. Visiting Grandma & Grandpa Bjornn at the Family History Center in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building

20. Getting ready to eat our HUGE tootsie rolls from Ry's mom on our flight home

This was such a fun trip! Way to short and completely packed. We tried to do everything and succeeded for the most part. Definitely did not succeed at taking pictures of everything though...

A few other favorites:

Black friday shopping with Court - shopping for a little girl is way funner than shopping for yourself

Sunday brunch with the Carvers for 2 hours that felt like 2 minutes - why did that have to be so short - and why didn't we get a pic with you two??? Shame on us...

4D Ultrasound - so special to have most of the Wayment fam at one of Eden's ultrasounds

Cafe Rio

Dinner at Zupas and great conversation with Ry's parents

Seeing Tanner and Jess's cute house

Getting some early Christmas presents for Eden (hooray for baby clothes!)

Seeing the extended Janis family on Thanksgiving evening

Lots of Killer Bunnies matchs

I feel like I'm forgetting some other things we loved, probably because it feels like the trip was months ago and I have pregnant brain and I should be making my lunch for tomorrow and getting into bed right now. Basically, we feel so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends we can't spend enough time with! Why can't we all just quit our jobs and spend time together all the time?

Guess what - we're having a baby in March (oh wait, you already know that). So guess what else - we are moving into our house on SATURDAY! At least that's the plan. Next time I blog I could be posting from my built in desk in the kitchen - AH!

Our first home is... progressing.

2011-11-20T19:50:00.001-07:00

It's high time for a house update. We didn't get before pictures because well they wouldn't quite do the 'before' justice. The house honestly wasn't too hard on the visual senses but the nose senses were a totally different story. Who knew 2 years of pets and smoking in a house could smell THAT bad... The carpet was so gross we tore it out - that was like 70% of the smell. Then the entire house has been washed with some secret powerful chemicals that I can't be around - literally the entire house - walls, ceilings, cement, tile, everything... That took like 3 weeks. Next up was the application of primer/glue on all painted surfaces. That stuff was nasty - seriouslly more like glue than paint but that means it did it's job well right? Now, my Dad and Ryan have become painters by day and night getting the final coats on everything. It is so fun to see color on the walls.

This is the entry from the master bedroom to the bathroom. The paint colors are slightly different (darker in the bathroom, lighter in the bedroom) and the effect is super neat in real life. We are way happy with how it turned out! Who knew my Daddy and husband are painting pros?

This is the Master Bedroom - seriously - look at that amazing paint job.

Here's a 'kinda before' shot of the kitchen/living area. The ceilings have been painted but no color on the walls yet...

Hopefully we'll be moving in sometime in the next two-ish weeks. We'll definitely be in by Christmas though! Hooray!

I put in a day at the house on Saturday - now that it's just normal paint being put on the walls I can safely be there and work on projects other than painting. It's hard work! Or maybe I'm just weak sauce because I'm preggo... I did have enough energy at the end of the day to take a pic at the house AND smile.

And here is the man of the night, weekend, month, year, century, etc. in action.

It doesn't seem quite real that we are going to be living in this house. We're feel so lucky. Pretty sure I'll cry for a week when we sell/rent it and move for Phd school.

I'm officially becoming a mother. I had a coupon and reward dollars at Gap and my Mom said there were some darling maternity and baby clothes there. Without processing, I thought I don't want any maternity clothes. I have zero desire to spend money on clothes for me when I could spend them on our little girl. I remember thinking my Mom was crazy when she told me she'd rather buy things for me than for herself - welp, looks like I'm turning into a crazy Mom...

P.S. Ryan was the MVP at the annual Turkey Bowl game last night against one of the wards in our Stake. Multiple touchdowns, an interception, and the hottest guy on the field. I was proud.

Little lady

2011-11-09T20:47:00.000-07:00

Little lady is working hard and growing every day (assuming mommas increase in belly size each morning is due to her growth...). She weighs well over a pound and has let Daddy feel her move. She knows just when Mommy needs a little happiness and gives her a reminder she is there with a little kick or punch or whatever it is she does in there...

Daddy is working hard on our new house. Our new house that is a bigger project and more time consuming than expected, however it is absolutely beautiful! He is taking the GMAT this weekend and will probably score in the hundredth percentile. Boy oh boy he has been preparing well and working hard to get everything in place for our future! And boy oh boy does he make Mommy grateful for him every day.

Mommy is working hard to not let work stress her out so her body is a happy place for little lady to live. She sings along to play songs in her car so she'll have a plethora of them to use with the little lady to help her develop. It feels a little odd switching gears from singing childrens songs to auditing corporations in a matter of minutes.

We are grateful for grandparents and sundays.

Happy Halloween and it's a ________!

2011-10-23T15:27:00.004-06:00

Today and tomorrow

2011-10-19T20:21:00.000-06:00

Even though I sat in training all day and had to drive in traffic both ways because training was from 8-5 and have a cold coming on - today was one of my favorite days. I felt the little one inside of me. The pokes were so subtle but they were definitely this kiddo. I was shocked because we didn't think we'd start feeling him/her for a few weeks thanks to my placenta placement-a.

Tomorrow is my 20 week huge and expensive {ugh} ultra sound. We are bringing the whole house with us.

I'm growing and definitely have pics to prove it. It's a race to see what will come first, the baby or me not being able to fit in those shorts anymore. I vote #2...

My belly button is changing. Ok, my whole body is changing. However, we love it!

We spoke in church on Sunday. Our topic was service. I got three {3} callings after I spoke - guess they really wanted to test me to see if I meant what I said when I spoke...

Friday night we did a combined date night at Lowe's with my parents. We filled 2 shopping carts and one of those big push carts full of goods and weren't finished at closing time so they let us leave the carts there until the morning. Why the rush? I had a 10% off coupon that expired on Saturday. Trying to buy everything we could at 10% off was kinda stressful! After the shopping spree, we ate chips and salsa and fajitas at Chuy's. So yummy! Then Saturday we fit as much house stuff in as we could in the morning, went and did some service at an assisted living center {singing service}, then wrote talks. It was kind of a crazy weekend. This weekend will be better because we can focus on one thing and one thing only - our casa. Plus, we have pappa wayment coming down to help us. Ryan is sure excited to get some time with his Dad and we both really appreciate his willingness to come help us!

If it is a she

2011-10-12T16:58:00.000-06:00

The baby steal today stole my heart - not because of the product - but because of this little gal.

Are you dying yet? Ahhhhh!!! If we have a girl, she will look just like this - only cuter of course (only because we'll be her biased parents because I don't think it gets much cuter than this).

We closed on our house yesterday - meaning I have a million things I should be doing other than blogging... So I'm outta here.

Goodbye carefree living

2011-10-09T17:55:00.000-06:00

This was our last weekend of the carefree life. Tuesday we become homeowners with lots of DIY projects planned. We capitalized on our carefree-ness and went on a mini-getaway Saturday and I took pictures to prove it.

Destination - Battleship TEXAS, at one point the most powerful weapon in the WORLD. It is the only surviving battleship that served in both World War I and World War II. We had a lot of fun exploring onboard. They let you access all sorts of areas of the ship; it was refreshing to be able to access so many areas of something built in 1914.

Here she is -

My sailor.

The engine room.

The stairs {if you can call them stairs} to get down to the engine room. Those were the real deal.

After we explored the battleship to our hearts content, we went to the beach told secrets while watching the waves. Then we split a thick oreo shake and I slept while Ryan drove us back to Richmond.

My other favorite part of the week was when I came home and found this on my side of the bed.

Ry got me a little present and wrapped it so cute. He says that if he imagined me as a pregnant woman cartoon in his head, that is what I would look like. That cute little cartoon was a keeper and is currently hanging out on my mirror. He also went to three stores to find what was wrapped inside that box. There is no stopping Ryan when he is on a mission to please his wife. I love him.

Ryan, myself and baby have made it to week 19 alive - in a little less than 2 weeks we have our BIG ultrasound to find out the gender - then even more fun begins.

This is the most comfortable dress in the world. Be prepared to see it pop up here more - probably in every post because I want to wear it every day.

Old and not so old happenings

2011-10-02T17:18:00.001-06:00

I never posted any pictures from our last hoo-raw with the Carvers in July, I was looking through some of them and just had to share. We escaped to their cabin near Strawberry Reservoir for a weekend. Our husbands are so hilarious - I can't believe they let me take pictures of them like this...

We miss these mountains - and mostly these friends - A LOT!

And we miss Bonnie's cooking and dessert making skills. My mouth is watering just thinking about all the yummy stuff she fed us - she's got some serious kitchen skills!

Here's a little picture of me and the belly baby OUTSIDE during daylight! The temperature is going down which is driving us outside - so nice. It's definitely not fall, but it's wonderful!

We think our little one might be a football player because I could throw a football yesterday like I've never thrown before. Hopefully he/she doesn't start practicing tackles in my belly.

Here is a little recap of some more recent happenings from my iPhone.

50% of these are food related... oops.

1. Steak sandwiches I made for Ry - won the best wife ever award that day.

2. Bonding time with the baby belly.

3. Now you're going to really be jealous because my sweetie can play the guitar and whistle at the same time!

4. Ry preparing to eat his pizza on our Sushi night.

5. Ryan ready to film Daenon's swim meet.

6. Sushi night! No raw fish - don't worry - it was totally baby safe.

General Conference was so wonderful! We loved every minute of every hour of it. Can't wait to download the talks and listen to them again during my daily commute. I wish conference lasted a whole week! We could be spiritually inspired and eat treats all week long - wouldn't that be a dream.

My job is going great! I've completed 5 weeks at the firm and am starting to feel more comfortable with procedures and commuting. Bah, commuting. It's a big change driving into downtown Houston every day versus driving a mile down Harrison to get to the office - but I'm getting used to it.

We should close on our house this week! Hooray! We have lots of work to do to get it ready for move in and can't wait to finally close so we can get started.

So, I caved in and I'm now part of the world of Pinterest. I rationalized it into being productive because I need a way to keep all my inspiration photos for our new house and new baby in the same place, right? I'm addicted, oops.

Happiness!

2011-09-25T18:57:00.000-06:00

It is about time I updated y'all. I'm becoming quite the Texan - throwing in y'all's without thinking - and Ryan says I'm even starting to get a cute accent when I say certain words.

Let us skip to the most exciting new shall we - Ryan and I are expecting the best thing in the world - a BABY! I'm due March 9th, next year, obviously. The only way I could be any happier is if I could have an ultrasound every single day. Watching this little one wiggle around inside of me is simply the best - he/she is quite the mover - like all limbs at once. He/she can already cross his/her legs while playing with his/her face with his/her hands at the same time. Impressive eh? You should probably get used to me bragging about all the neat things this little one can do on here...

Here's a full body shot around 11 weeks -

And here is a face shot with a hand waving at our last ultrasound - around 15 weeks -

I can already tell that the baby has my belly - yep - we've both got some nice round mid-sections at the moment.

Totally already have a belly to show you... I worry that I'm getting too big too fast but I think that pregnant bellies are about the cutest thing and Ryan thinks that my growing belly is about the cutest thing so I just let that baby stick out as much as he/she wants to. Ha.

We had a scare at our last appointment. I was almost 15 weeks and the Dr. came in with a doppler to hear the heartbeat - searched for what seemed like an hour and all it was picking up was my heartbeat. Skipping the drama - we ended up getting an ultrasound (yay!) and everything was just fine - I just have a healthy large placenta that has decided to hang out in front of the baby so it was blocking the doppler from picking up the heartbeat. Phew. And it's my excuse for sticking out a little extra. That thing is like bigger than the baby and it's not nearly as cute - in fact it's not cute at all - but I'm sure glad it's there and doing its job.

I'm really looking forward to General Conference this weekend. I am so anxious to know what Heavenly Father wants to teach me/remind me of as Ry and I are approaching a new stage in life. The Relief Society Broadcast last night was wonderful - the perfect prelude for General Conference. Just from those four talks - I feel like I have so many things I want to improve on.

I have been reading so many pregnancy forums and looking at people's weekly pictures while pregnant and it all kind of feels like this big competition to see who can have the cutest non-belly and gain the least amount of weight and bah! I feel so depressed after reading about thirty people who have all gained less than 5 lbs and are 20 weeks pregnant and running 15 miles a week etc. If your body can do that, that is so wonderful but my body sure can't... When I try to run, I get really painful cramps. I was so sad when this started happening because I felt like to be healthy I need to stay super active while pregnant because that's what everyone else seemed to be doing. Turns out my healthy is not running - it's walking and maybe jogging a little until it starts to feel uncomfortable. The internet is a huge blessing but kind of a curse too. I've seen many great posts addressing blog life versus real life and they are great reminders of keeping it all in perspective. I love that we can all put the happy parts of life on blogs so we can remember them - but we do have to remind ourselves that everyone else is doing the same and we can't start comparing.

For example - I'm on week 17 in both of the pictures below but in one of them I am standing up super straight and contracting my abs (never ever how I stand...) and in the other I'm totally sticking out my belly. There are so many factors going into how a picture looks that we have no idea of!

There is a more dramatic difference between these shots - both on the same day - than the ones taken 4 weeks apart above - just because of how I'm standing. Ha.

Hope everyone has a great week and it won't take me a month to post on this blog again, promise. Now that I can talk about baby stuff on here I'll probably want to start posting everyday - watch out!

Crunchy time

2011-08-28T16:26:00.003-06:00

I'm eating a spoonful of crunchy peanut butter. There are enough people living in this household we can justify stocking a tub of crunchy peanut butter and a tub of creamy peanut butter. I have not purchased crunchy peanut butter since I married Ryan because he prefers creamy. Do I make huge sacrifices for our marriage or what? ...

Today is the last day of my almost month free of work. It hasn't felt like vacation - but it has been wonderful to have lots of flexible time to get a million and one things done. I'm looking forward to getting on a consistent schedule, getting ready every day, being around lots of people, and a paycheck. Not too excited about figuring out the commute, not having access to a kitchen for snacking all day long, and losing a flexible schedule.

Here is documentation of some of the happenings the past week - or so.

1. School clothes shopping with my little bro.
2. Little bro let me buy him JEANS! He has refused to wear jeans his entire life; high school can kick some fashion sense into teenagers {even boys} in no time.
3. Me right before I headed to my first job interview in Houston
4. Check out that expiration date... All cookies made with pictured item were eaten by the garbage.

5. Little brother {Daenon} on his first day of 9th grade.
6. Lightening storm - this was the most satisfactory storm of my life - I love seeing lightening and you never see enough of it in Utah storms well in Texas storms the lightening flashed continuosly so even if you miss one you can watch another one the next moment.
7. Documenting our first trip to the Houston Texas LDS temple, so glad it's only 50 minutes away, we'll return often.
8. I started a new part on Saturday - in the middle - dun dun dun. It's always nice to do something a little different with your hair. A hair expert recommended this {Moroccan Oil} product to me. I did a little research and didn't want to spend as many $$$ as that product required so I bought this one {Argan Oil} instead. Absolutely LOVE IT! I just rub a little into my hair after I shower and maybe a tinsy bit after I style my hair and it makes my hair so soft and healthy looking. Totally worth the $$$.

One more little thing I should probably mention. We are a day away from being under contract on this house. I absolutely love the floorplan and never thought we would find a house like this to be our first home. The home was built in 2007 so there are no major repairs to be done but there are lots of cosmetic things we are planning to do with it. Between working to earn money during the day and working to spend money on our house in the evenings - we're going to be busy little red heads for the next few months. So excited! And so lucky we have lots of extra hands here to help us out and nothing to rush us - it's a pretty ideal setup if you ask me.

Confession: I am not a dog person and I'm not ready to be the parent of a teenager. Cannot wait for my Mom to get home and resume the role of Mother to Chia and Daenon! Chia especially.

House sitting

2011-08-19T10:22:00.000-06:00

Welp, I guess my parents are happy to have us invading their home but their actions sure aren't showing it. They left us on Thursday for a trip to Utah. We have inherited a teenage boy as our child for the next 12 days {my brother Daenon}. He starts his first high school experience on Monday and we get to be his chauffeurs and make sure he does all his homework. We'll keep him in line.

Before my parents took off, I did get to spend some quality time with them. More particularly with my Mom. My Dad and Ryan took a trip to Dallas for business so I was left at home with my Mom and younger brothers for a weekend. It felt like I was in high school again. She brought me these each morning as I was getting ready {ok - maybe it was only one morning while I was getting ready because these days I'm not exactly getting ready until the afternoon...}

Last night Ryan had a basketball game - yes you read that right - what a blessing that he already found a team and league to play in! He rocked it!

We also discovered our new favorite restaurant in this area - Lupe Tortilla. This is the most authentic Mexican food we've found this side of the border. Ryan was loving it! It made him want to take me to his mission so sooo bad. Too bad we'd probably be killed if we set foot there...

This was a celebration lunch because I HAVE A JOB!!! You read that right - no one ever finds a job like mine this quick. I'm a blessed little girl that is for sure. I'll be working at the No. 8 CPA firm in Houston as an auditor. As long as my background check comes through, don't think I've committed any crimes recently so I should be good. I start on the 29th. One more week of pseudo vacation... More details will come later I'm sure, probably more details than you care to hear.

A reason to celebrate

2011-08-18T09:45:00.000-06:00

We celebrated three years of being a married couple on Monday {August 15th}.

Here we were three years ago -

And here we were on Monday -

My how we've grown...

We ventured out into our new city and visited the Alamo Drafthouse Theater. Dinner is served while you watch a movie. It's a sign that we have been married for three years. We never did the standard 'dinner and a movie' date when we were dating or first married. But after so much moving craziness and work figuring out our life it sounded like the perfect little excursion. We snuggled and watched Captain America while we munched on some chips and queso, BBQ chicken pizza, and the yummiest fries on the side of Ry's steak sandwich. Snuggling was critical because it was FREEZING in the theater! The Houston heat never felt as wonderful as it did when we walked through the exterior doors to return to our vehicle.

Enjoying the WARMTH!

We are looking forward to forever still together! And a real celebration getaway in a few weeks/months when we are a little more settled here.

Random fact for the Utah crowd: Did you know that we can drive to New Orleans in the same amount of time that you can drive to St. George? So fun to be in a new area of the Country with so many options of new places to visit!

Phew!

2011-08-10T20:58:00.002-06:00

Well, after a series of the following:

- Cabin trip with friends
- Cabin trip with family
- Organizing, dejunking, and packing
- A cold in the summertime...
- The worst fever I've ever had
- Food poisoning
- Switching moving companies the DAY before picking up our moving van
- Feeling humbled while watching family and friends help us
- A fun day at Lagoon
- Three days of driving while looking at this...

- Feeling so proud of myself that I conquered that drive and so lucky I have a husband to drive the 20' Uhaul plus a tow doly with a car
- A pitstop in AZ for a sleepover and playtime with the BEST family in that town
- Finding out I got replaced in Utah by this {Reese got a "Kylee doll" - so cute!}

- Unloading the entire moving van the night we pulled into Richmond - why did we do that again? So nice to just have it done though
- Lots of organizing {again}, dejunking {again}, and UNpacking
- Notices on my phone like this - yes - Texas is a little on the warm side...

- An unfortunate motorcycle incident
- Yummy food, games, and conversations with my parents and the Damon Janis fam
- Feeling super relieved to take this beast back to where it belongs

- Anxiety over finding a job, house, new bank, registering cars, changing addresses, bah!

- Ryan calming me down
- Prayers, more prayers, and answers to prayers

WE HAVE BEEN RESIDENTS OF RICHMOND TEXAS FOR ALMOST 48 HOURS! I am happily sitting in Ryan's chair in our new bedroom. We have a walk-in closet and actually have room in our room to walk around. This is going to be a wonderful place to stay for a few months while we job shop and then house shop.

It feels too easy to move in with your parents, like life shouldn't be this easy. We'll handle the situation responsibly though and feel so blessed that my parents would rather have us with them than anywhere else! Besides, some of my favorite couples in the world that I look up to sooo much spent time living with parents so it can't be such a bad thing right? My parents and brothers have done sooo much to make sure we will be comfortable during our months here. Daenon moved out of his HUGE room so we could live in it and my Mom has been making room all over the house for all of our misc. junk and that's just the beginning.

I feel anxious to start looking for a job, but it's kind of scary too. There are sooo many options with accounting and I can't decide on exactly what I will enjoy the most and should be looking for. Prayer is such an invaluable tool when making small decisions that feel big. Even in my nervousness, I know that Heavenly Father will help me find a job that I'll feel good about pursuing and that will work for our situation. It will just be nice to actually have the job and be working again! Maybe then I'll be able to tell you what day of the week it is...

ps - we have the coldest room in the house - shhhh don't tell - everyone might decide to spend their day in here with me...

The first of the lasts

2011-07-24T14:42:00.000-06:00

One week and six days until we head off to Texas! It does not seem real to me - yet. I haven't packed a single box. Luckily we don't have tooo many things so the organizing and packing shouldn't take me too long. This will probably be the easiest move we ever make so I better appreciate it!

Friday I said goodbye to my now empty office - crazy that I've worked at this desk for almost three years and it's weird to think I'll probably never sit there again.

Today was the sweetest day in primary! Right before I got up to do singing time - the primary president came up and gave me kisses (chocolate ones) from all of the kiddos and this card. The little notes from them are my favorite! I've been laughing and crying reading them. Here are a few funny faves written word for word:

-your the best singer ever better then taylor swift probaly i'll miss' Love Chans
-I ll miss you even though I dont know who you are Romney
-Hite!! rocks!!
-thank you for being are singing teacher Love, Emma
-I'll always have you in my heart Shawn

And lots of no one can ever top you, you are the best singing teacher ever, good luck, we'll miss you, and other sweet words. I will really really really miss singing with those sweet children every Sunday. They are so special and singing with them was one of my counted blessings.

This was taken on our LAST drive to Ry's parents for Sunday dinner and laundry... Soon we'll be getting extra blessings for not doing laundry on Sundays - haha. We have had so many great times at the Wayment's for Sunday dinner - playing games - eating good food - etc. We will miss that!

I caught Ryan taking a picture of my behind today with his phone... He likes the way it looks in my red dress. Silly boy. I won't blog that picture ok!

An ideal lunch hour

2011-07-20T19:39:00.001-06:00

Maybe it was more like two hours... But only because we had to see ALL the horses in downtown Ogden and eat cupcakes. Lunch is not complete without a cupcake. I met my favorite Parrish family for a little photo shoot before I head to Texas. These pictures will help me not miss them so much. OK - maybe they will make me miss them more because they are so cute - but I still want them. Here they are!!

This one just made me laugh... It's the one-hundred percent tough big brother look.

Tickle Sam!!

See the next picture - after the one below - for the secret for making your children smile like this. And check out those perfectly dirty summertime feet!

Mom on the left making the flying bug about to land on Kylee - smiling secrets revealed. Meg should teach parents lessons on how to make their kiddos smile for pictures.

This sequence of photos of the twins is one of my faves!

Wish I could look this cute with crazy hair...

And let us end this post with the many faces of Miss Reese.

Pioneer Days

2011-07-19T18:02:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday was prime time for living in a basement on 36th Street in Ogden.

Annually, as part of the Ogden Pioneer Days Celebration, the Lindquist family sponsors a Pops concert and fireworks at WSU. We haven't missed this event yet in our three years of living here.

The Parrish's joined us - watching fireworks is fun - but watching fireworks with Bodee is like a whole new level of fun. He took my spot snuggled in Ry's lap but that's ok - I can snuggle in Ry's lap anytime - and I was at Ry's side so I got to be front row for Bodee's firework observations...

Reese demonstrating proper positioning for the National Anthem. She is a 3 year old proud to be an American.

Reese and Meg

One of the many faces of Bodee that we love...

My hairs are getting LOOONG!

With the Carvers - aren't they cute - we will miss the buddies lots when we move!

A firework as proof we saw them. Totally should have brought my tripod but I was distracted by fresh rolo cookies. Next time. Oh wait, there won't be a next time - next time I watch fireworks then? In Texas? They have sweet fireworks in Texas right? I hope so. If not, we might be seriously reconsidering our move.

Natural and enhanced

2011-07-12T19:56:00.000-06:00

Want to see two polarly opposite sets of pictures of us? These sets represent two exciting occurences in our life as of late, family photographs and a pioneer trek.

Let's start with the lovely set shall we? For the rest and for additional information about our amazing photographer go here.

Can't get over his dimples in this next photo of us...

Phew. Didn't she make us look beautiful? Now for what we look like in real life... as pioneers. I totally stole these pictures from facebook. Would you believe that I did not bring a camera on trek? Shame on me, I know...

My mom made me the cutest bonnet. I wish everyone in the world had a mom who spoiled them like my mom spoils me!

That is what we look like as the ma and pa to TEN children. I hope I look that great after I have ten children in real life. We felt priveleged to be able to participate in our stake trek and to walk the same trail as the pioneers. Something about being in the places that they were made them so real to me. Real people, like me, doing their best to do what is right and to follow the Prophet. Being a parent for 4 days was a lot harder than I anticipated but it was definitely rewarding. I'd do it again in like four years...

A Birthday Celebration!

2011-07-01T14:02:00.001-06:00

{image courtesy of link referenced below}

A wise person I know sent me an email with a link to this 5 minute activity for the 4th of July. I'm quite excited about it. Works for kids and adults alike and will help us all remember a little bit extra about what it means to be an American.

Follow this link or click on '5 minute activity' above to get the details. I double linked it to make sure you can all access it.

http://www.prageruniversity.com/4th-of-july-declaration.html

I plan on making these strawberries and pretzel sparklers (thanks Kim) to cover the food items needed, and we'll probably do lemonade instead of iced tea. Guess the prep will take more than 5 minutes... But you can keep it super simple. I love birthdays - especially America's birthday!

We're not fakers

2011-06-30T22:12:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite pictures from our trip to Cody because it eminates happiness.

Not all moments in life are THIS happy. But most of them can be.

I'm an aunt! Ry is an uncle! It is so fun to see everyone in his family in their new roles. Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, etc. I count my family as the foremost of my many blessings.

Aren't these little boys the sweetest? Love their chin dimples and the faces they make and how yummy they smell and how good they are and that they seem content to let me snuggle them!

Goodbye Jake's

2011-06-28T23:32:00.002-06:00

Unfortunately, it is time to start bidding farewell to some of our favorite Ogden locations. I have a feeling these next 5 weeks until the move will fly by.

Checked one item off the pre-Texas bucket list - a walk across Weber State campus to get a 'hot-fudge brownie avalanche' at Jake's.

Our life hasn't been quite the same since we started splitting these on occasion.

Today was a little much for my little heart. But I put on my happy face, until I got into bed to fall asleep. I couldn't sleep so I revisited old happenings through emails and journal entries and photos and videos and the mentionings of June and what I want to be doing right now were bittersweet. This is all I will say - I just didn't want to pass over June without a quick mentioning of the past and the month is almost through.

I went to a very inspiring luncheon today. I pondered the question 'what would I do if I could do anything?'

The very top item on my list I have complete control over (spend time to develop a relationship with Ry - have hobbies together, travel together, philosophize together). The second item I don't have any control over (it involves little Wayments and doing creative things with them all day long). The third and on down are in no particular order and have a lot of fear associated with them. Fear of failure and losing the security of my current position. I have chosen a very secure and practical path and diversion from that path scares me. I think it may come within the next few years though. I'm going to start preparing now to minimize my fear factor. I know that's now how you're supposed to do it and I should just go for what I want to do right now but I just can't help it. I'm a risk mitigator.

That was quick

2011-06-26T14:36:00.000-06:00

Do you know what this means?

We got our family picture preview! Heather is amazing.

I'll be using the pictures of Ryan and I to design us a new header one of these days. I want to add some color to these pages.

P.S. We are moving to Texas. No joke. In like a month. Overwhelmed - a little, sad to leave so many people we love here - a lot, but excited for change and new opportunity.

My Squeeze

2011-06-24T15:56:00.000-06:00

We took a two hour drive to Provo last night. It really shouldn't take that long but we are unlucky with traffic situations.
I didn't mind the extra time in the car because I was with my squeeze for life and I had lots of time to practice my picture faces for the family pictures we were headed to.

The following are a few of our favorites:

Heather was our genius behind the camera. I'll be stalking her blog every 2.5 minutes to see the results of our excursion. You should too!

We're so glad when Daddy takes pictures.

2011-06-21T21:56:00.003-06:00

Our Daddy took pictures of us for his Father's day celebration in Cody, Wyoming. I wish I lived in Cody every time I wanted to take pictures and I wish my Dad was always around to be our photographer - I think he has some serious skills. Are we horrible for coercing him into doing this with us? I think he loved it so I don't feel too bad.

It may seem odd to post pictures of my Father's children on his Father's day post. I think my Dad would be thrilled about that though because he does not enjoy being shot by my camera. We found him a card that said something to the effect of a father helping us discover ourselves and our direction. This is the epitome of my Dad; conversations lasting a good portion of the day with him listening and probing and patiently helping us learn about ourselves. I truly believe I would handle my crazy emotions and feelings even crazier than I do if it wasn't for his dedication to helping me sort through the fuzziness and find truth. I'm so glad I get to spend forever with my Dad.

Be nice to him - or ELSE!

Yellow Daisies in Cody

2011-06-18T08:39:00.000-06:00

The only thing better than running Ragnar this weekend is being with all these folks in the town where my Grandpa Dover grew up. This is his families stone at the Buffalo Bill Dam in a little place in Wyoming called Cody.

We played ring a round the rosie in a yellow daisy field.

And skipped through a yellow daisy field.

Any made silly faces.

And danced.

Today we are headed to a PowWow. Right now we're going to shimmy off our air mattress and go eat some breakfast burritos.

This little piggy

2011-06-15T22:26:00.000-06:00

I mean this little brother.

I get to see him tomorrow! And my other brother and my other brother and my sister and my other sister and my mom and my dad and my grandma and my grandpa and my aunt and my uncle and lots of my cousins....

In a wonderful little place in Wyoming called Cody.

Outside the box

2011-06-07T22:25:00.001-06:00

Stella and co.

and two more pets joined Lucky this time

I am grateful for my job

However

I don't stay awake thinking about new accounting equations and I do stay awake thinking about new photography poses, photo tricks I want to learn, creative things I want to make, etc.

Outside the accounting box for an evening, using some creativity

Happy me

Rollin'

2011-06-06T23:09:00.000-06:00

Saturday was so sunny. We felt spontaneous and made a silly purchase. One of those silly purchases that makes you feel like you are 9 years old again. Feeling 9 years old can't be too silly when one is only 23.

Any ideas what we ended up spending our hard earned pennies on?

{I wanted to make this one of those fancy GIF rotating images thing but can't get it to be compatible with blogger... I'll figure it out someday when it's not 10:59 PM.}

Tadaa!!

We are the proud owners of a 2 new pairs of rollerblades. They are totally in style in case you were wondering.

We bought the coolest rollerblades ever. We had no idea that when I wear mine and Ryan wears his bare feet I become the ideal kissing height. We also had no idea that our rollerblades had foot massaging capabilities, we probably should have considered the lack of sidewalk in our neighborhood before we made this investment. Oh, and we had no idea that rollerblading for 2.5 hours would make our quads as tight as harp strings.

The dinner I made on Saturday was so good Ryan tweeted about it. Chili with a secret ingredient that starts with a c and ends with an e with a hocolat in between.

C-C-Cruisin'

2011-06-01T23:13:00.001-06:00

A cruise is our idea of the perfect combination of relaxation and recreation. We felt so lucky to be able to slip away on a HUGE ship to visit three amazing locations over the course of 7 days.

We started off by cruising across the gulf of Mexico and arrived in the Bahamas, Nassau specifically, after two relaxing days at sea. While the rest of the ship laid out, gambled, and became intoxicated... we read, napped, ate, ate some more, played card games, napped, ate, used an entire bottle of sunscreen to survive in the sun long enough to swim and play on the water slide, gazed out into the ocean, watched late night outdoor disney movies, hot tubbed, etc.

I set wakeup calls every morning we were on the ship to wake me up just before sunrise so I could throw on some running gear and climb 13 flights of stairs to the jogging track to get in a morning run while watching the sunrise. Kinda weird to run lots of miles and see ocean as your only view in every direction - but I love it! After my run, I would descend the 13 flights of stairs, shower, and slip back into bed all before Ry woke up. To his credit, he was feeling under the weather - otherwise he would have been running with me. I love getting back in bed after a good workout - it tricks my mind to make me feel like I'm engaging in productive relaxation.

After 2 days onboard the ship, we were definitely ready to get out on an adventure. First stop, as mentioned above, Nassau! We rented a scooter and explored everything we could in our 10 hours on this island. We started off in the tourist area of town and then ended up in the 'back-country' and on a few scary roads... We knew really quickly when it was time to stop heading down a scary road...

Our stops in the tourist area included the Queen's Staircase, Parliament Square, Fort Fincastle, etc.

Here is the view from the top of the Queen's staircase - it took 600 slaves 16 years to carve this out - I don't have that kind of patience.

The 'back-country' happened while we were trying to find 'the retreat', a huge tropical gardenish thing... Navigating took some getting used to due to odd roundabouts and driving on the left side of the road - I was so happy I got to be the backseat driver and did not hold our lives in my hands (especially after seeing what the hospital looked like in Nassau). We did end up finding the retreat - as pictured below. Don't ask me why we both decided to have our picture taken in the same location when there were so many scenic spots surrounding us... Oh well, we were kind of too busy to take pictures most of the trip so let's all be happy with what we do have.

Ryan chose our lunch location in Nassau and you'll never guess where we went... Wendy's. It seemed so safe - and we were in the 'back-country' area of town when our stomachs started calling. Wendy's does not take credit cards in the Bahamas - FYI. The cashier asked us if we were locals or tourists - even though we totally looked like tourists - it made me so happy because I hate feeling like I'm a tourist.

Our journey around the island continued with random stops at scenic locations and graveyards (it was a really neat old graveyard so I begged Ry to stop - I think I was fascinated with it mostly because the Anne book I was reading had tales of Anne's escape into the graveyard near her boarding house while she was at college... I kind of idolize her).

We made it to the most beautiful little beach area called Love Beach just in time for a rain storm complete with lightening. This is rumored to be one of the best snorkeling places on the island and it looked like a wonderful snorkeling place but alas - we were not allowed to see under the sea for ourselves. If we are ever in Nassau again with family/friends, we will spend the entire day here. It was the perfect beach - complete with a sand volleyball pit.

Instead of the best snorkeling of our life, we enjoyed a scooter ride in the rain back to our ship... We made better time than we thought and had time to ride across the bridge to paradise island and visit a beach there. We gave snorkeling a shot but only saw a few small fish, Ry did see one big fish that he really liked - that was neat (the fish was me...).

Here we are after snorkeling with our trusty scooter, the scooter sounded like a Harley, p.s. We got a special one because the other scooters we saw people driving sounded like wimpy little scooters. Once again - didn't we choose a scenic location for these shots... Ha.

Welp, that sums up the details and logistics of days 1 - 3. I'm feeling a little loopy so I better get some shut eye and document the remaining days at a later date...

Darn Chocolate Muffins

2011-05-24T20:53:00.002-06:00

Me oh my. Costco just gave us a wonderful welcome back to Ogden...

I made sure to empty the fridge prior to our prolonged escape from here. Thus, one of our first tasks after work today was refilling the empty shelves. I love it when we can go grocery shopping together; it makes me feel like we are newlyweds again. I put on a chipper face, in spite of 4 tiny hours of sleep last night, grabbed my champagne ruffle purse, and we headed to Costco.

We were enjoying a most blissful shopping excursion, as far as shopping excursions go, until we reached the incriminating worker who checks your basket and receipt as you leave Costco. He took a quick glance at our cart and said loudly - 'we've go a problem here'. He proceeded to take 5 minutes (feeling like 30) counting the items in our basket versus the items listed on our receipt. I felt the evergrowing crowd of folks evergrowing impatient behind us. I ended up figuring out it was the darn chocolate muffins that the cashier did not ring up as we went through the checkout, the incriminating worker proceeds to get a clipboard and take ANOTHER 5 minutes filling out a form regarding our situation, still letting the crowd of people grow behind us. He finally allows us to step to the side and Ryan goes to have a cashier ring up his muffins. I tried to not start crying as the crowd of people moved past me looking at me as if I was the scum of the earth. Seriously, we did nothing wrong. I guess I should have noticed that the total was $6 less than it was supposed to be but I was kind of distracted by my darling red headed companion.

My vision was kind of blurred as Ryan came back and as I pushed the cart towards him I bumped the customer service counter. The lady at the counter gave me the worst stink eye and motioned for the incriminating worker to come check the counter to make sure I didn't do any damage, seriously, were they going to make me go back to the register and pay for a new counter too.

No one apologized for the cashiers mistake, they all treated us as if we were the ones in error. I feel like I never want to go back there again but I'm sure I'll have sorted through that foolishness by the morning. Although, I did prohibit Ryan from gassing up our car at the Costco pumps as we were leaving... That felt good.

I strongly dislike being treated like scum, especially when I have done nothing wrong. I guess that is what you get when you treat your husband to his favorite chocolate muffins.

Checkin in from TX

2011-05-15T08:46:00.000-06:00

I'm sitting on the couch at my parents in TX. Even though it is my first time being in this house, it feels like home. My sweet Mom hauled all of the family familiar knick-knacks from UT to AZ to TX. Home feels good. I'm definitely not ready to go back to Ogden. It's blissful thinking that we'll be checked out for another week.

We finally met the newest member of our family. Chia the pet.

Dad and Ry setup a new bball hoop for Daenon for his birthday. They work so well together. I loved observing their back and forth comedic comments. The instruction manual for the assembly of the bball hoop had illustrations for each step. I watched my Dad take a razor and slice through the wrist of one of the illustratees - 'look, I cut off his hand' he says. Oh boys...

I love his faces!

Mom made me feel like a million bucks and did nail polish stickers on my toes for me! There is nothing quite like being pampered by your Mother. I'll have to get a better close-up picture of these because they are really darling!

Toes of Ky and Mom - both applied by Mom...

This globe was my Great Grandpas - when I have a house I get it. One more reason I really really really want a house...

Time is of the essence at the moment and I don't have more of it, so enjoy some captionless pictures from the past few days in TX including the shooting range and Harmann park...

Dad couldn't decide which was scarier... A gun being pointed at him or my camera lens being pointed at him... He was a good sport though :) I think I took more pictures of him this weekend then I have taken of him my entire life!!

Representing

2011-05-07T09:17:00.001-06:00

It's 9 o'clock in the morning.

Just snapped this picture representing a number of positive things and just one negative thing but we won't worry about that at the moment.

Let's all be grateful that I took this picture with my phone and not with my camera. I mean the 4 inch long leg hairs on my quads are attractive and all but you probably don't want to start your day seeing them...

I'm officially a girly runner because I have a running skort. I don't care what people think about them - I happen to love it and plan on building a collection.

Spring is here and I can run in skorts/shorts/short sleeves without ear warmers and a jacket and 3 pairs of socks and thick gloves. It is amazing how a sunny day can motivate you to hit the pavement. I ran every day this week (except Friday), that is a big deal and it felt soooo good! Can I just say how wonderful it is to make time to exercise!

Did you know that I get hooked on books? When I'm warped in a good story I have a hard time wanting to do anything but read it. The combined efforts of my Mom and Gratalie teamed up to give me a series of books to listen to called "The Rangers Apprentice". I am so excited! I love new books! However, I did something hard. I made a rule that the books were going on my iPhone and I could only listen to them when I run... That's my real secret to getting out on a run every day this week.

A good book + sunshine is my recipe for running success. Oh, and I also registered for a few races this summer - that helps too. I have to start training so I don't make a fool out of myself come race time.

What a beautiful day. I'm blogging, then running, then running errands and planning out a great primary music time for Sunday, then I get to spend the rest of the afternoon with Ryan doing whatever we feel like, then we're headed to the drive-in mooovies with Chonnie, then we have a happy mothers day sunday, then a quick monday and tuesday work day, and a wednesday half workday then we are headed to TX and then on a bitty thing called a cruise.... Ahhh! This makes all those 70+ hour work weeks during tax season sooo worth it!!

This feels gooood

2011-05-03T19:41:00.006-06:00

I have so much to communicate at the moment. Between birthdays, graduations, easter, family time, fresh looks at life, simple reminders, small changes, sunny days, snowy days, cheescake, curry, veggie trays, snickers eggs, peas, cadbury eggs - ok gotta get off the food kick - a lotta neat stuff has been happening in our island of the woods.

1. Family was here from TX - Dad and Daenon pictured above. Daenon is my little brother and my best birthday present ever! Really, he was born on my day of birth, April 26th. He became a teacher on Sunday.

2. My shoes en route to Provo in construction... Construction en route to Provo has become a theme in our life... Yuck. I paid $2 for these shoes at ON.

3. My breakfast staple these days - greek yogurt and frozen berries. It's like ice cream for breakfast except that it has like 26 grams of protein and no fat. Score.

4. A car picture. I bet you've been missing them!

1. Little Reese frowns in her sleep. That expression was glued on her face until she woke up - so funny! But only because she has nothing in real life to make her so sad.

2. Catching a little shut eye in Wyo. We have had quick moments to sleep in the past few weeks.

3. Mom catches a wink of sleep in Provo UT at WOMEN'S CONFERENCE! Best birthday present this year! More below on this.

4. Ryan's face illustrates how tired we are of construction en route to Provo.

1. Birthday boy with confetti in his red hairs.

2. Angry birds in real life. Seriously! This was our easter surprise for friends/visiting teachees/home teachees - it was a huge hit!! Just launch peeps at your wafer towers with bunnies in them. We have some pretty awesome videos that I'll have to show you at a later date.

3. My face illustrates how tired we are of construction en route to Provo.

4. My husband on a harley. Not such a great idea if you want to save money instead of desiring to spend it on a harley...

At this moment I am dying to talk about Women's Conference. I heard an advertisement about it a few weeks ago when I was listening to the Mormon Channel and was inspired with the thought that my Mom and sisters and I should attend. My Mom offered to take us all for my birthday! It was meant to be!

I have not felt the Spirit with such magnitude in such close increments in quite some time. So many wonderful reminders of small things I can do to make our life even better! I have twenty pages of notes that make me cry when I read them - wish I could share it all here.

The primary theme I came away with was that I need a better vision of the person Heavenly Father see's me becoming and I need to prepare to become that person. I can prepare to become that person and I can see glimpses of that person in me now if I let him show me.

I don't want to be spread in the thick of thin things.

When I am filled with the Spirit - my soul is satisfied.

I desire the Spirit of God to know and understand myself.

I want to be someone Heavenly Father can rely on to help him.

I am an ordinary person, but I know that as I consistently do right I will do extraordinary things.

What a blessing it is to be a woman living on earth today!

He makes it happen

2011-04-09T18:33:00.001-06:00

It is light outside and I am not at work. Weird.

Logically, work seems to be the most productive thing I can do with myself these days. I think I may have taken that to a bit of an extreme the past few months. Tax season presents the opportunity to take on responsibility. Me wanting to be a responsible person decides to take on too much responsibility. I hope I will have different productive things to be doing with my time next time tax season rolls around.

I could not be pulling the shifts I do without coming home to

A) a clean bathroom

B) no dirty dishes in the sink
C) a foot massage

D) laundry put away

and

E) packages of new clothing waiting for me

RYAN
A) cleans the bathroom

B) is my dishwasher
C) is the best foot massager

and

D) gets so excited anytime I buy something for myself

In fact he is always encouraging me to buy things for myself.

Oh let's not forget that

E) he has a happy ear and brain that listen to my ramblings as I wind down

oh and

G) the fact that he is working full time plus some and still does all of this

and
H) in case you didn't notice, we bought a Wii and I'm fairly certain he would prefer to spend his evenings winning races and getting us new players on Mario Kart

Really, I would not be very good at life without him. He can do things for me that I simply cannot do for myself. That's what being married is all about. Doing things for your spouse that they cannot do for themselves.

Well, there are a lot of other things that being married is all about but that is certainly one of the them. We accomplish so much more as a team than we ever could if we were separate or if we approached life being an un-united team.

I started this post with the picture below thinking that I wanted to talk about how life is good but a little off right now - kinda like the picture of me that was supposed to show up on my iPhone in the picture below is off. Honestly, our life is a little off of the plan we thought it should be on, but luckily there is someone else who knows what plan our life should be on and we're trusting him.

And I decide to trust him and waa laaa

I really do feel like life is on again, not on my plan - but on his - and I make the face in the picture below.

Now I'm going to enjoy some time with my teammate for life and watch Tangled - yeeeeaaaa.

I'll be back for good after the 18th!!! Only 7 more crazy work days!!!!

A Lens End Change

2011-03-08T22:35:00.003-07:00

Family pictures with the Wayments.

So fun to take a turn in front of the camera for a change.

Mark's (ridiculously good looking one in the green sweater and red & black hat) face in this picture is my favorite - totally made me smile during my no good very bad work day when I thought of it. Doesn't it make you smile?

Doesn't Ryan look great in this next one - I love it when his true beauty is captured on film.

I'm crossing my toes for a Wednesday as new and fresh as that snow.

Sparkles all around

2011-03-07T21:07:00.001-07:00

There are sparkles all around.

The sparkliest snow that I ever did see.

We had family home evening tonight - at the office.

We did our taxes.

A wise person I know tweeted something like - there are two types of people who don't like paying taxes - men and women.

Our face in photo #1 indicates our regrets for owing bodies of governments funds or for the sparkly snow? Hint: it's the first one, and we will hold onto our pennies until the very last second of April 18th, 2011.

I did not wear a jacket this morning. Oops. Good thing I convinced Ryan to come to work and engage in a wholesome family activity a.k.a. tax preparation. Of course he was the perfect husband and brushed every spec of snow off of my car while I locked up.

Picture no. 2 above shows the turn of death leaving the office. I took sooo long to make the turn; Ryan had the entire driveway clear of snow by the time I got home. I hate missing out on shoveling fun - but I appreciate his speedy muscle contribution.

Would you like my business card, said with creepy smile pictured above. I am official now because I have business cards. See...

And no I did not photo shop my name into that. It's the real deal.

Many faces

2011-03-06T17:40:00.001-07:00

1. Team Dover wins 1st in STATE deca - Orlando here he comes.

2. Me. Upside down.

3. Me. Right side up again. Hooray! I'm wearing makeup for once in my pictures on this blog life.

4. The Wayments - that's us.

5. Courten and I - upside down again.

6. The VIEW from Grandma and Grandpa Bjornns. They are living in SLC to serve here.

7. Courten and Grandpa - I did her top knot in the car on our way to dine.

8. Grandma Bjornn - I love her bright white hair.

9. A mirror I love and the man I love.

10. The man I love again.

11. The man I love again.

12. Oh, and the man I love again.

I am

2011-03-05T08:29:00.003-07:00

i am Kylee Anne (with an e) Wayment.

i think I'll go to work after I complete this.

i am happy when I eat regularly and have exercise endorphins.

i have stinky morning breath right now, greasy hair, and a fresh morning brain - don't you love morning brain.

i miss afternoon naps.

i fear spider veins - pretty sure I have some already.

i feel like I could never spend enough time with Ryan.

i smell nothing at the moment, weird. I'm enjoying it.

i usually, scratch that, I always clean my face - every morning and night - good habit, check.

i search for perfection.

i wonder about our future and how I'll plan amazing meals the rest of our life.

i regret fretting about what people think of me - oh wait I still do that - I'm working on it.

i love retail therapy - one of the perks of long work hours is extra spending $ - and on a more serious note I love my family, friends, job, health, and bed.

i care about being good at life.

i tell Ryan everything like EVERYTHING.

i worry about the dollar crashing and having our savings we've worked our batooties off for become nothing overnight and I worry about not doing anything worthwhile with my life.

i am not a purse person.

i remember lots of recent things but I don't remember the past very well.

i believe in our Heavenly Father's plan.

i sing lots and lots of primary songs.

i don’t always make our bed - wait that's a lie - I like never make our bed.

i don’t like making mistakes.

i write leafs.

i win and occasionally

i lose.

i dance with our wii.

i wish we stayed home in the mornings and worked in the evening.

i never made dinner this week. Eek.

i listen better when I'm not playing with my phone while people talk to me.

i don't understand how constant Ryan is and why in the world he loves me so much.

i can usually be found at work these days.

i need to get out of bed and go to work now.

i forget to remind Ryan how amazing he is often enough.

I did this once upon a time here. I just read it and I kind of like that one better... I purposefully wrote this one before I read that one. Fun to compare.

You should join in the I am fun. In the words of my dear Alyse "I like to read these when other people do them, so you should do it! Then tell me so I can read it." Ditto!

Very truly yours,

Kylee Anne (with an e) Wayment

*Very truly yours is how all of the standard PPC letters are ended - we always change it to sincerely because it sounds to cheesy for work - but I don't think it's too cheesy for a cheesy blog.

Happy Wiikend

2011-02-20T15:46:00.001-07:00

Holyschmooly ohmygoodness wooowwwwzaaah.

We bought a Wii - instead of taking a weekend vacation. Ok. Are we lame? Oh well. Sometimes you just need a little staycation. It was so relaxing to sleep in and have absolutely nothing planned for an entire day - when do you ever get lucky enough to have nothing planned for an entire day. We were seriously blessed.

Here's all the goods and a 'happy wiikend' sign custom made by Ry.

Mug shots. Ry is better at mug shots than I am. I meant that as a compliment...

We enjoyed some sleeping in, then I actually got to workout for once in my life, then I felt like my energetic self again, then we played some sports resort, then some just dance (oh my - this game is my new fave - so much fun and a workout at the same time - yay), then some mario kart. Oh and we split a betos breakfast burrito... Good thing we played some just dance to work that baby off. Then we got wii tired and made ourselves look somewhat presentable for..... The Essigs! Just when we thought we couldn't be any luckier, they happened to be in Ogden for a Undergrad Research event at WSU and we got to spend all afternoon and evening with them!!!!

I love that we can do whatever with them and always have a blast - so wish we lived closer... We chatted, Alyse and I rocked just dance while the boys talked business, we totally made a four person dance work in our tiny apartment ha, we shopped savers and costco and ate curry and played some more Wii.

Aren't they cute to be excited about our nerdy wii-ness with us. We want to be just like them when we grow up.

The rest of the wiikend included not a lot of wii...

We saw a movie with the Carvers complete with Bonnie's amazing caramel popcorn.

Church ball and more church ball.

Some contract writing and a few tax returns.

No makeup and a top knot baby.

Pizza Factory with Shay and Meg and the twins.

Just dance with Shay and Meg and the twins.

Shay and Meg and the twins - we love them.

Life is beautiful.

So what is your favorite Wii game? We need some recommendations.

Would it be more relaxing for you to take a weekend vacation or do a staycation? I'm usually all about getting out and going on an adventure but sometimes I just need some downtime.

Did you wear makeup this weekend? Don't you love putting on makeup after you haven't worn it for a few days. I always feel so pretty.

Allotment

2011-02-16T21:45:00.000-07:00

I like that word. Say it with a british accent. I chose to use my time alloted for a shower to take a picture of myself and visit the blog. Showers can be overrated {and they can be spread out when you sit at a desk all day as I demonstrate EVERY day}.

My hair is my best feature. Even at the end of a crazy day. My lips like this are my worst feature. Well they are always my worst feature because they are so smalll... Oh well. My Valentine still loves to kiss me.

This is my "I'm ready for the wiikend face"

wiikend = not a typo

Mila's Daydreams

2011-02-05T14:44:00.001-07:00

This is the cutest! This sweet mamma puts her imagination to work while her little one is dreaming. I hope I'm this ambitious someday! Love creativity.

You can visit her blog. She can't post her pictures anymore because people can't handle them responsibly... but you can still visit it and see a collage of bitty versions of her pictures and a cute way to make a family tree.

Picture of my life

2011-01-31T21:07:00.000-07:00

The top two things that make me get out of bed in the morning are school and going to bed early the night before. School is no longer in my life's picture so I pretty much am best at getting out of bed in the morning when I go to bed early the night before. My job has this thing called 'professional flexibility' which for me means no one is going to make sure you're at work at a certain time so you can sleep a little longer. You'd think Ryan would make me get out of bed but really all I want to do is pull him back in bed with me and snuggle the day away. Time to lay in bed in the mornings is the best. I love the clear mind, the openness of what might happen that day, newness, and crisp clean (warm) sheets.

Saturday morning I did not stick in bed after my iPhone said it was time to get up. I was very obedient and got right out of bed when it told me to and dragged Ryan out of bed too. I dug through my jean drawer and found my big stars (they are flawed but I can't find the flaw but pretty sure they are flawed because I got them cheap) pulled them on, found a shirt to match my black rhinestoned hat, put a little moisturizer on my face and some vaseline on my lips, split my hair hanging out in half and made some pigtail braids, made my v8+spinach smoothie, gulped it, listened to my daddy tell me that I'm cute, grabbed socks and my pumas and ran out the door to the car so I wouldn't make Ryan late to his ball game. I think I brushed my teeth somewhere in there too.... At least I hope I did.

Just as I was getting settled in the bleachers for Ry's game, the official came and asked me to run the scoreboard and the books. I'm an accountant so I can keep books real good... So much for wanting to pay attention to Ryan, oh well. I made sure every single one of his bazillion baskets counted. And I might have added a few extra points in there... No, I did not. I am honest. Of course they won anyway. I did such a great job that I was asked to keep the scoreboard and books running for the rest of the games that day, I wish I could have done so. Unfortunately, I had to go keep some real books at work...

Yes, the Saturdays at work have begun. All this happened before 9:00 am when I was to be at work for an audit team meeting. Go team! Worked for a few hours.... got hungry so we ordered some lunch, I volunteered to pick it up, I was friendly to a boy in front of me and he took it the wrong way, doesn't happen to me often, in fact I can't remember a time since I've been married that it has happened as awkwardly. It felt so weird, especially because I had a dream the night before about a boy who was on a mission when I got engaged to Ry and in my dream I was so torn between him and my husband. Let's just say I was so happy to get finished with work and home to the real love of my life. I felt like a new girl once I confessed my dream and my flirty lunch pickup, Ryan just laughed at me then with me.

We only had one car, my Dad has been with us all week - lucky us - and he stole one of our vehicles to visit family and my sibs down south. Thus, I knew Ryan was trapped at home. I rescued him and we went on a running date. I actually kept up with him! Woohoo! Too bad it was because he had a bruised rib from playing ball and was panting like a dog because it hurt to breath deep... Then I did some lunges on our driveway while he researched a surprise online. That was a bad idea. I've been waddling like a pregnant lady thanks to the overworkage of my buttocks. I don't enjoy being so out of shape, although it feels efficient to be so sore from less than a hundred lunges.

Almost five by this time...

I kept my phone on me the entire run etc. because I knew I would be needed at the office again that evening. I took my chances and hoped in the shower, bet you can guess, that my phone call saying I was needed came during the shower... I finished my shower, pulled up my hair, threw on some clothes in a matter of seconds and was in the car. Called the office and found out I wasn't needed yet so I hurried back inside and attacked Ryan for our weekly tickle fight - but then I remembered his ribs were bruised so we took silly pictures with the iPhone instead, as pictured above. Then we pillow talked. Pillow talk makes me a great listener as long as I'm not sleepy, then I'm the worlds worst listener. Ryan would nicely agree with that.

I love saturdays and my life.

Hiya

2011-01-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

Just in case you were wondering, highlight of my week was watching these two hiya.

Aren't the libre masks rockin.

iPhone pics are not consistent. Oh well.

I don't even know what to say

2011-01-26T21:02:00.000-07:00

I don't even know what to say right now.

Too many thoughts I guess.

I am sad I didn't do any of this this season.

My heart still hurts over this.

I still love him - in case you were wondering.

I'm taking a woodshop class so I can someday make this. (I know the one I'm linking you to is made out of metal but I don't have connections for a metal shop class so I'm improvising...)

Really should be doing more of this so I'm ready for the next time around. Guess I'll plan on participating since my plan on being 9 months pregnant in June failed.

The taxified season of the year is starting to pick up at work here.

Do you like my new look?

Everyone is doing it.

The Carver's are doing it.

My siblings are doing it (minus Daenon in never never Texas land)

Grandma and Grandpa Dover are doing it.

You should do iFatFace too.

Get some of this

2011-01-17T20:53:00.001-07:00

Presenting...

My first attempt at word art.

If I start practicing now, by the time I have a home to decorate in a million years I'll be a pro.

I love love, kisses, hugs, cuddles, squeezes (as long as they aren't on my tummy chub), mmmm.

Think I'll go get me some of that right now. Pretty sure there will be no objections.

Scratch me a prescription please

2011-01-15T09:27:00.002-07:00

April 2007

I feel like a horrible person daily thanks to a condition I do not have the will power to overcome. I'm stubborn about taking medication (and basically never take it), but I'm positive I would happily swallow a pill that could fix this.

Illustration of my condition as follows. Snuggling with Ry on our little couch after a movie last night, we begin an interesting conversation. I'm completely focused on what he is saying for a solid 30 seconds until my nose starts telling my brain to think about something else. All of a sudden I'm thinking about stinky breath instead of what Ry's saying. I turn my head away from him and keep listening hoping it'll pass but it doesn't and I'm uncomfortable not looking at him while he's talking and so I just have to tell him his breath stinks. I always feel so rude when I do it! Why can't I just endure to the end of stinky breath?

I'm sure I always have stinky breath (especially after I drink my V8 and spinach drinks in the morning) and Ryan never says anything to me about it. Why do I have to tell him every single time. I'm tired of snuggling with my back to Ry's front in bed so that my nose is not a direct shot from his mouth.

I know there are fixes for breath but my nose picks up smells so strongly that Ryan would have to brush his teeth 24 times a day and chew a new piece of gum every 30 minutes so that my nose was happy when I was close to him. I want to clarify that this is a problem with me - not with him. He is always happy to go brush when I tell him but it just ruins the synergy from the conversation or activity that was interrupted and I blame myself.

Does anyone else experience this???

The Leather Jacket

2011-01-13T18:28:00.000-07:00

This is us on a cruise.

My story today is not about us on a cruise.

It is about us when we were dating, way before we were ever married for a full year and cruising to celebrate.

So, once upon a time we were dating. Well actually, we weren't really dating because I couldn't make up my mind as to whether I was loving this red head guy I was sort of dating. The loving status kind of went like this, monday love him, tuesday love him, wednesday love him, thursday he wears a really ugly leather jacket and wow I'm not sure if I really love him. I have a thing with ugly leather jackets. I had a leather jacket once. It was ugly and I can't believe I ever had it. I have a leather jacket now, and it's rad because it is red with studs but I never wear it because I'm not really rad enough for it. Although I guess I'm red enough for it thanks to my hairs. I should wear it.

I finally decided to tell Ryan that I didn't love his leather jacket and to please never wear it again and all I have felt is love for him since. Falling in love is so easy without leather jackets getting in the way.

Leather jackets have always been a joke between us. Ryan will always find the ugliest leather jackets while we are shopping and ask if he should buy them and then laugh and laugh and laugh at how hilarious he was and how much he loved the disgusted look I gave him.

Oh boy he will be surprised when he comes home tonight to me wearing a "new to us" leather jacket without much underneath it. One of my co-workers was cleaning out his closet and found a jacket that was too small for him and brought it to work to see if Ryan would like it. It was too perfect to resist. It is a pretty good looking leather jacket so I'm thinking I'll still be able to love Ry while he is wearing it. Phew.

Third time's the charm

2011-01-10T22:37:00.000-07:00

I am doing some contract writing. You might not believe that based on the grammer I use on this blog but I can be a really good writer when I'm not writing what comes out of my head without a filter. My brain was buzzed after work and writing work so I relived my glory days and karaoked. I found the karaoke music on youtube (oh my there are so many fun karaoke songs on youtube!) to a song I sang for Ry at our wedding dinner. What better way to celebrate 2 and 1/2 years of marriage than to preserve our wedding song right.

Presenting Ryan the Redhead Boy (originally sung as Taylor the Latte Boy by Kristin Chenoweth)

I started by using our webcam and it worked until I sang a high note...

Then I tried using my Nikon and MY NEW TRIPOD (thank you Merry Christmas from Ryan)... But I needed his help and he well... see for yourself what he made me do.

Then I did it all by myself and made it through the entire song. Yipee!

Song is good for the soul.

Overlooking the little things

2011-01-09T19:08:00.000-07:00

Sunday School today connected a new principle I want to live by this year. I have had this principle swimming in my brain all day. I wish I would have spoken up and shared it while I was sitting in Sunday School. Maybe sharing it here will redeem myself for that a little bit...

Elisabeth (cousin of Mary) states that when she hears the voice of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb and she knew that Mary was carrying the Savior. My understanding is that when you are pregnant your babe will be doing a lot of leaping. It would have been so easy for Elisabeth to think of the 'leaping' of her babe as a coincidence. But because Elisabeth was a righteous woman and in tune with the spirit, she did not discredit a common occurence and it became an amazingly spiritual experience for her.

This made me wonder how often I might be overlooking something that seems common that could be a spiritual experience. Little things make big differences!

Little Reese loving Ry - Christmas Eve 2010

Preparation

2011-01-03T18:23:00.000-07:00

Preparation, 2010 was full of it.

We are looking forward to a new year where the fruits of our preparations will start to pay off. Don't get me wrong, 2010 was a year I'm grateful for but it was preparing preparing preparing for the most part. I'm ready to stop preparing! Preparing for the future with long-term decisions made, dollars saved, plans for the babies to be made.

Or maybe 2011 will be another year of preparation... Happy New Year anyway!

You can never be too prepared I guess.

A long time coming

2010-12-29T21:11:00.001-07:00

One of my co-workers got a new baby just in time for Christmas. This little one has been a long time coming. She was adopted by the best family a little girl could wish for! I'm so excited for them.

Also, a long time coming was my first time shooting pictures of a newborn! I had no idea how pliable a little baby can be when he/she is sleeping. I learn so much every time I take pictures for someone - and it reminds me that there is SO much to learn.

Now I just need to start learning real photoshop... It was the first thing on my Christmas list a few months ago but never made it to the final one because I'm nervous about making that leap. Maybe I'll decide I'm ready in April for my birthday... Until then, I'll appreciate using simple little elements.

Love us

2010-12-26T15:34:00.000-07:00

Merry

Christmas

Love,

US (Ryan & Kylee)

{I hope you love my ornament earrings. Ry made them for me for Christmas 2007, our dating Christmas. One says 'Merry Christmas' and the other says 'Feliz Navidad' because he spent two years in Mexico and speaks darn good Spanish for a redhead boy. I sooo look forward to putting those babies on during Christmas time! Betcha didn't know I married a jewelry maker did ya?}

Glove lovin

2010-12-21T17:20:00.000-07:00

I support sharing. I'm a proponent of sharing. I think we all should share a little more.

Last night I shared a glove with him.

And...

Got all sorts of warm fuzzies inside.

You'll get them if you share too, cross my heart.

Pictures with a celebrity

2010-12-19T20:10:00.000-07:00

Santa stopped by so we made him stay for some pics.

We watched the Christmas Classics "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" the other night, I so relived my childhood. Do you own those movies for your kids/husbands to watch? You need to!

Anyway, here's good ol' Kris Kringle himself...

He's my favorite celebrity - sorry Santa

I love Santa. However, the secularization of Christmas is not my favorite occurrence. Celebrating Christmas because of Christ is what makes Christmas the most wonderful time of the year. I am completely imperfect and don't love all the reminders I get of that. But I must say that the reminders are only bad for a moment because I quickly remember that my imperfections can be perfected through my perfect older brother. Probably not in this life because I have way to many for that, but someday. I try to celebrate Christ all year long and I love that I don't even have to try at Christmas time because reminders of Him are everywhere! Merry Christmas everyone!

Jewish girls we are

2010-12-18T08:38:00.001-07:00

Two half Jewish girls standing in front of a 'Hanukkah bush' in celebration of Hanukkah on December 12, 2010 in Mapleton Utah.

I am grateful for my Jewish heritage. It means that I get to celebrate two extra holidays each year - Hanukkah and Passover. It means that I know two stories from the past very well - the Maccabees and the flee from Egypt. It means that my children might get an awesome Jewish nose, or beautiful olive skin (ok maybe we're too far removed from that...). It means my extended family gets together two extra times every year. It means that we get to try making and tasting different foods. It means I have a beautiful seder plate for Passover that we received as a wedding gift that I can't wait to use with our family. I am grateful that my granparents, parents, aunts and uncles have made sacrifices to make sure we get to experience our heritage.

Here is another (one of many) little Jewish girl we love.

And a Jewish Grandpa we adore telling us the short-version of the Maccabee story.

Note to self/family: We need to record Grandpa telling the Hanukkah and Passover stories and get a DVD to everyone in the family! Adding it to my list for 2011!

Next time

2010-12-15T20:51:00.001-07:00

Remember back in this post when I told you I had an exciting announcement about me plus photography? Well here it is.

The entire motivation for my desire to get a nice camera and learn how to use it is was to be able to take wonderful photographs of our children. October 19th I peed on a stick and it told me this...

Yay! I was finally going to be able to use my camera for its intended purpose.

We went to my first appointment November 2nd and saw a sweet little heart beat and found out that I had a 6 week old miracle inside of me... My calculations told me 8 weeks but due to some silly things about me I'm 2 weeks behind the normal pregnancy world... Anyway....

We went to my second appointment November 30th for the 10 week checkup and found out our little baby was the size of an 8.5 week old baby and had no heart beat.

You know, my life has been pretty trial-less. I've never had any of the typical 'trials' that we all hear about. It's nice to know that I can face a 'trial' and still be a happy, optimistic, full of faith person. Oh there have been some hard moments and a few melt downs, but overall I think I've had the most ideal miscarriage a girl could wish for, except that no girl better ever wish for this...

I have never felt closer to Ryan or to my Heavenly Father. Without support from the two of them, life would seem quite bleak at the moment. Emails and texts from family and friends have also been so comforting! Thank you! We feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many wise people. My Uncle emailed me the following quote from a conference talk by Elder Scott:

“As you walk to the boundary of your understanding into the twilight of uncertainty, exercising faith, you will be led to find solutions you would not obtain otherwise. With even your strongest faith, God will not always reward you immediately according to your desires. Rather, God will respond with what in His eternal plan is best for you, when it will yield the greatest advantage. Be thankful that sometimes God lets you struggle for a long time before that answer comes. That causes your faith to increase and your character to grow.”

I know this is true from EXPERIENCE! God has a plan for us and we know that it involves some little ones (maybe little redheads... pleeeaase genes) creating havoc in our home someday. Ryan and I can't even comprehend how much more a healthy little baby will mean to us when we get one!

We started a baby journal for our little one that may come down to us in a different body, or maybe we will get to meet him/her in Heaven. We have three entries, I got all my tears out making this one tonight so I may share the other two later... Or we might make you wait until pregnancy #2 for more little journal entries.

Other updates from our house:

We are all grown up and shopping at Costco with an executive membership

We have sonicare electric toothbrushes and I can now use mine without my mouth getting numb - go me!

We can't wait for Christmas and to have everyone open their gifts from us - come quicker!!!

I can snowboard with Ryan this year (which I'm not sure if I'm really excited about or not... maybe this will be the year I get really good...)

Today was payday and we made the last transfer into our savings to reach our goal we never thought we would reach this year - WOOHOO!

I had my first ever hospital experience and had surgery on December 6th, I'm a true read head because they had to give me some serious meds to get me to stop bleeding, my shoulder was sore from that for a week. The sore shoulder and the sore throat from the tube were the worst part... At our post-surgery appointment yesterday our OB told us that the Pathologist report did not show anything that indicated a miscarriage would happen again - YAY!

My Daddy is here again to work with Ryan and we watched the BEST movie ever last night - you really need to watch it - it's called "Temple Grandin" - don't let the cover that makes it look like not awesome movie deceive you. I think I'm going to watch it again tonight while I edit some pictures. The movie is in redbox - go get it!

We are super excited for the next time we get to make a pregnancy announcement to the blogging world - and I have thought of some WAY good ways to tell ya'll. I wish we didn't have to wait...

Nose joke

2010-11-21T16:19:00.000-07:00

It has been such a happy week - other than Mrs. Nose deciding to act up on me. I've kept on smiling for the most part, you'd be proud.

I hate it when everyone around you is sick and then you don't get sick and then you think you are safe from getting sick and then you get sick. Pride comes before the fall....

Primary music today was really a joke. I started by telling the children that I was going to need them to be super singers today because my voice was not going to be a super singer. One of my sweetest little boys on the front row said 'ya, your voice is horrible',then the entire primary erupts in laughter... Oh well, I couldn't agree more. I was completely pathetic. Oh well... I don't think I have mentioned on the blogosphere that I am now the primary chorister for our ward. It's such a rockstar calling, all the kids know me, and hopefully still love me!

My Daddy has been staying with us almost all week and Shalayne came in from Wyo on Friday. It has been so nice to have some new faces in town. Ryan and my Dad have been working like maniacs on their new venture and it has grown and grown and grown. I cannot tell you how perfectly those two interact. It warms my soul. Shalayne and I have had so much fun - we've done photo-shoots, fashion styling {she's going to be a school teacher and needed some ideas for clothes to wear other than her usual soccer player sweats attire... It's a huge confidence boost to see such a cute fit girl fit into ones clothes, because it makes a big sister feel like she might look somewhat like her cute fit sister...}, shopping, talking, eating, baking, hangin with the Parrish's, frozen yogurt stops.... I so soooo love having her around! She may transfer to a Utah university in the near future which would be such a dream!

I'm so happy we have had so much going on to keep me from wallowing in my nose situation.

Did I mention that the descent to our basement has become a huge pile of leaves, and now snow... If we slip on our steps we won't get hurt because there are plenty of leaves to cushion our file... and at least we won't have to rake all of our leaves now because they all blew into the stair well... We can just shovel them. Maybe we'll do that tomorrow.

Have a happy sunday!

The time we saw the 'kiters'

2010-11-10T20:28:00.000-07:00

I desired some inspiration for a blog post before I take a steamy shower and slip in between my sheets to begin adventures with my kindred spirit Anne (with an e). Upon recommendation from my mother, I have rediscovered my love for reading something other than accounting jargon... Not that I really have a love for reading accounting jargon.

This picture made me want some more summer. I mean, I'm not opposed to winter, I just don't like having cold toes.

This picture also made me miss my Mother. She was accompanying us on an outing to antelope island when we took this picture. We went for a festival that I can't remember the name of and saw the neatest kite flying display. There was a team of five 'kiters' that performed synchronized kite flying. It was like a dance and some of the moves were just so cute they made me giggle.

The 'kiters' took a break so we went on a little hike. Obviously the hike was unplanned because I dressed as pictured above. I'm not a prissy girl who usually dresses like this when I'm on an island hike. Just in case you've never been on an island hike with me.

I can't believe it's November. I can't wait for some one-on-one with Mr. Turkey.

Oldies but goodies

2010-11-01T20:46:00.001-06:00

They don't seem much like oldies and they are definitely goodies. We sure love our grandparents.

When I was in high school, I was always excited to introduce my friends to my grandparents. I didn't realize that it's kind of rare for grandchildren in high school to still be so excited for a visit from grandparents. However, my friends all understood when they met them because they are so fun! Grandma always comes with a bag full of games, stories, and goodies. And Grandpa always comes with lots and lots of one-liners, teases, and big hugs. They are classic.

He is a hoot

Full steam ahead

2010-10-30T12:47:00.000-06:00

Thank you to the State of Utah for our exciting date night Friday evening.

It began with viewing some romantic videos on YouTube about removing tinting from your car windows and it ended with us removing tinting from our car windows...

We used a legit steamer. Well Ryan used it, his job was to steam and my job was to gently peel, then wait for him to steam some more, then gently peel, etc.

he's 'hot' with a steamer

It was pitch black outside, good thing so none of our neighbors could see the kinds of reckless things we do on Friday evenings. The extension cord we borrowed from Grant and Mildred did not want to allow the steamer we borrowed from Corey and Bubs to stay connected to it, so we had to force them together. It made my hands hurt, but I did take 45 second turns holding them in between Ryan's 15 minute turns.

Driver side tinting successfully removed and all in one piece - for free 99. Yes!

Now State of Utah please allow us to pass safety. This was quite frustrating because we did not decide to put tinting on our car windows, they came that way. Sometimes you have to fix problems that aren't your fault, like on Friday night.

Isn't Ryan a great little photographer. I have some exciting news about me + photography coming to you early December!

Sharp objects

2010-10-29T17:41:00.000-06:00

Guess I've had a bit of an obsession with them as of late.

I cut me some straight bangs. I can't wait to do them poofy... Maybe I will dress up for Halloween since I can now have some hilarious bang action.

iPhone picture taken during evening stroll 10/29/10

It's nice to change things up every once in a while, you know shave your legs, cut your bangs, brush your hair, etc.

I made this for our work Halloween lunch today and remembered how in love with it I am. You should try it this cold season.

I want to remember the following conversation:

Setting: Ryan and Kylee finally in bed to rest from their labors, lights off.

Mood: Kylee is having an odd one.

Ryan states as he snuggles into Kylee: Decent night, my love.

Silence

Kylee: Hmmm. You know what my first response to that was. Bad night, my arch rival.

Ryan: Belly laugh. Arch rivals cannot snuggle.

It is sticking. I think I'm so hilarious when I call him my arch rival. We are still getting laughs from it, courtesy laughs from Ryan and real ones from me. Maybe because he is anything but my arch rival, and if he is my arch rival, then I have the easiest rivalry in the universe. Yes, I have the easiest rivalry in the universe.

It's never been a big deal to me

2010-10-27T21:37:00.000-06:00

I shaved my legs tonight. Shaving really isn't an often occurrence for me. I was blessed with very VERY blond leg hairs so you can't see them unless Mr. Sun decides to shine at the perfect angle. I was also blessed with a husband who never complains about a little hair on my legs. It doesn't get prickly and I guess when your legs are as muscular (not...) as mine a little hair doesn't get in the way... I realized I had waited too long to get rid of my furry friends after the following incidents:

1) I went on a run this evening and felt my leg hairs blowing yes blowing in the wind. They totally slowed me down!

2) The season is changing itself to winter. Thus, I am now wearing knee high business socks to work. A minimum of 10 minutes of pain have followed the removal of my socks as my hair follicles adjust to being normal again. No good.

Is this gross? I mean to some people, not shaving your legs is like not brushing your teeth. I guess it's not a big deal to me. If I had black prickly hairs, it would be a totally different story. Don't think less of me.

I'll redeem myself by showing you my favorite $3 ruffle tank I have ever purchased and I will also show you my pink toothbrush as proof that I brush my teeth {even if I don't shave my legs}. Also, you'll notice that when I brush my teeth I do not get toothpaste all over my mouth. That skill took years of refinement thank you very much.

It was stormy on Monday night.

Look at this nasty cloud coming in as I came home from a Macey's run where I purchased hot cocoa, greek yogurt, celery, and rented a redbox movie. Ryan beat me home from his day of deer hunting. This nasty cloud after a deer hunt day definitely meant that any plans other than sipping hot cocoa while watching a movie would be futile.

It was a lovely affair.

This is the face I make when I see nasty clouds. I was trying to be very real in this iPhone picture. However, I think I look depressed. I am not depressed ok.

I need some decent pictures of myself. I got the cutest shirt at Urban Outfitters on clearance after the Jazz game we attended Friday night. Isn't that perfect, a Jazz game for Ry and a quick shopping trip for me on the way out so we could get parking validations... hehe. Anyway, back to the picture thing. Rynamo has agreed to conduct a photoshoot with me tomorrow evening, weather permitting, and I will be wearing my new shirt/dress. I will try very hard not to look depressed during previously stated photoshoot.

I always liked you {shame on me if I didn't}

2010-10-21T19:03:00.000-06:00

4th day of July, 2010

I sorted through my box of high school stuff this evening. It's been glaring at me for months now... Cardboard box is now living temporarily in the trash can, its glares DO NOT penetrate our green garbage machine.

I found so many things that brought so many emotions.

Here's one that made me laugh.... Transcribed exactly as written.

Kylee I am sorry :( I can't get that qt shirt or capree's for you. Mom won't let me! I bet u don't like me now. I hope this was the purse u wanted! I love u so much if I could I would spoil u! I am sorry I ask for your clothes it must be sooo...ect. annoying! Well I hope u forgive me! Have a SWEET16 Kylee ;).

love u!

<3 / Auna

Auna has the most pure heart. Always assuming any problem or unhappiness is completely her fault! Aubriana Janis I mean Doria - I'm sorry I was sometimes a bratty big sister and didn't share my clothes. You can come use my clothes any day any time now and I mean it! Hooray for me growing up and being mature finally. Shay you can use them too and I love you just as much! I miss my sistahs...

He who does the hard stuff

2010-10-19T21:59:00.000-06:00

OH MY I'm behind.

Life is still loverly and busy. Ryan has a new job. It is not technically a new job because it is being performed in addition to his old job making him a very busy boy. We can't say much about it but it could be BIG! As with all big things in the beginning, there are some kinks to work through at the moment and they are causing frustration. The frustration comes from me, not him. He is so even tempered and logical. I love that about him. I'm so glad he is balancing two jobs and not me.

The GMAT mess is behind us. It really isn't a mess at all because Ryan did great and will never ever ever have to take that test again! What a relief. Once again, I'm so glad he took the GMAT and not me.

You can see who does all the hard stuff at our house. Although, to my credit, I have been working a lot and doing a lot of dishes {by hand}. I owe a lot of you out there some pictures and I'm also working on that - I have officially decided photography will be much more manageable someday if I'm not working another full-time {plus frequently more time} job. I love that the hobby makes me busy though. I simply can't devote enough time to be as skilled as I wish to be. Thanks for your patience!

We made a quick escape to Bear Lake with family for the weekend. The drive alone made the trip worth it - the canyons are GORGEOUS!

Email troubles

2010-10-19T20:15:00.000-06:00

Mrs. Price:

Because I know I can't email you a quick preview of our little photoshoot tonight, because every email I have ever sent you has not been delivered, I'm posting a preview here for you to see. I hope it was worth it! Everything was going against us taking these pictures folks but she made it happen anyway because she is super woman/wife/mom.

This is just a preview. So many more cute ones coming your way ASAP!

p.s. I'm still munching on the dehydrated apples...

thanks

Gimme some facetime

2010-10-06T19:25:00.000-06:00

Our life is about to get hectic. I'd tell you about it, but it's not official yet, and even if it is official I can't tell you much about it. Just take my word that it will be hectic and I'm going to miss my facetime with Ryan. He is a big deal and will become an even bigger deal. I can just feel it. Why do I get to take part in his big-deal-ness? I'll be asking myself that for a looong time, like forever, because that is how long he is stuck with me.

I organized all my picture files tonight. Sigh. Wonder. Awe. Picasa is trying to keep up with me, and it can't, so I have a little grey box flashing pictures at me as a type.

I really love life. My life. Watching other peoples lives. Living in general. It is full. I can't believe how life and plans for life can change practically overnight. So many opportunities await each of us.

I couldn't survive without knowing that God loves me. How can anyone survive without knowing that? I hope all of you know that God loves you.

Bah. Gotta go. I'll finish that thought later.

For now, enjoy BoBo enjoying his facetime with Ry. He adores my husband.

Pumpkin patching

2010-10-04T17:18:00.000-06:00

We went to a pumpkin patch {minus Ryan thanks to a bug called the stomach flu} for some pre-halloween pictures.

Is a pumpkin patch not the perfect place for a Rellarella{translation from Reese language: Cinderella}?

Could have been more perfect if Rellarella had decided to smile and wear the accessories to her costume and hold prince charmings hand...

How did I get so lucky to have a niece that looks so darling even when she is screaming {not just crying - screaming, bawling, people must have thought we were terrible snapping pictures and laughing at her hystericalness}. Technically she's my cousin, but she is much more like a niece, that doesn't really matter...

On to some pictures - with some very specific graphic editing for Meg who is really more like a sister than an aunt.

Moodle took over

2010-10-04T17:08:00.002-06:00

Moodle took over all my computer time last week.

Because of previously mentioned take over I am WAY behind on getting pictures to people and my life blog is still being taken over by my new hobby... I will start a new blog for pictures so you don't get photo overkilled unknowingly.

I made a trip to the sunflower field with an old co-worker for a mommy-toddler shoot. Turned out to be more of a toddler shoot... But I think we got some cute candid shots and Ryan and I enjoyed some delicious cookies in return! Yum! Here's a little preview.

You need one of these

2010-10-03T20:56:00.001-06:00

We figured out video on my camera today! Ah! So fun!

Almost as fun as our stretchy thingee....

The happy kind of family

2010-09-27T19:21:00.000-06:00

Seriously. You might ask how I was lucky enough to bribe this family to meet me in my favorite sunflower field to play photography and I wouldn't have any idea how that kind of luck stumbled in my path. They are the happiest kind of family. Everything a family should be. An in love mommy and daddy who are in love with each other and with their little one. I love their pictures! Almost as much as I love them! I couldn't even begin to choose which ones to send them, or which ones to post. They were all so perfect, kind of like they are...

Presenting Nick, Shay, and Reagan

The end.

More sunflower field pictures to come later - LOTS MORE!

In love with light

2010-09-22T21:36:00.001-06:00

I'm in love with light. Extra in love with natural light.

Extra excited for someday when we have windows above ground that let in a lot of natural light. We have spent a good deal of time outside in the evenings and it has been oh so good for my soul. Just standing on our driveway is a wonderful break from the basement. I love evening walks with Ryan, especially when he is supposed to be studying... I love September. Best time of year to live in Utah!

Courtney and I ventured to a sunflower field Monday evening. She is the easiest person to photograph I know. Every picture I take of her looks great, sheesh Court...

Anyway, if anyone ever wants to meet me in field pictured above for some photo play between the hours of 6:45 and 7:45 PM, I'd love it. And I think you'd love it too - at least when you have some amazing pictures hanging on your wall! Email me - kyleewayment@gmail.com - or leave a comment.

No payment accepted. Taking pictures is like my favorite thing right now and I'm worried if you pay me money it will take away the fun because I'll be stressed to make them perfect - and I'm not perfect - yet - so let me practice on you already.

I want sparkly eyes like this

2010-09-18T16:10:00.002-06:00

Clara turned two so of course we took some pictures this morning.

Can you believe her eyes in this picture? I did not edit the picture for her eyes - I don't really know how to edit pictures for eyes. If I did, then I would make everyones eyes look exactly like this.

Photography is weird.

I wasn't even going to use this picture on my first run through of Clara's shoot and it has turned out to be one of my favorites. Weird.

I've done a lot today and I deserved to lay in bed all day. I'd rather do a lot than lay in bed all day. But my body is saying it's time to get on that lay in bed plan. Saturday afternoon nap all the way Ky.

I'm getting really skinny, at least I must be because I've lost like 5 pounds in boogers since I got out of bed this morning. 5 pounds of boogers and almost all of the TP in our house. bah. sorry if that's gross to any of you.

I'm a translator

2010-09-17T18:15:00.001-06:00

A lot of life has happened since the last time I blogged. Oops.

I just wanted to share two quick pictures of pictures:

My sister is the cute, sun-kissed, toned, perfect one in brown. Isn't she intense? Can you believe they caught this on camera? Yikes! I do love her - ya hear that everyone out there - I do love her!

This is me teaching primary illustrated by one of my attendees. It was delivered to me in a sealed envelope last Sunday.

She wrote this:

Which means this:

"I am glad I went to church so I could learn about my Heavenly Father"

You know what, I'm glad that I go to church so I can learn about my Heavenly Father too. Have you all checked out the new LDS website? It is absolutely amazing and there are so many new features - I love it. I'm really excited to use 'my study notebook' (shown here) the next time I give a talk and possibly for my gospel study in general. And to have this to check for community service opportunities. And to use this the next time we are out of town on a Sunday. And to read more about this when the content is released. And to get the LDS tools app on my phone so I have the entire ward AND stake directory on my phone and more. Neat.

Triple S

2010-09-07T20:52:00.001-06:00

Skip, Sara, and Sienna {aka the skankstas} were the most patient photogees ever. I felt so lucky I got to practice my new little hobby on such beautiful people. The blue chair pictured above and below is a real antique from the family of Sara, I am blue, i mean green with envy...

Can you see my shadow... shhhhh don't tell.....

This is how I want all my BW pictures to look - I think I got the exposure exactly right and that's why I like it so much but I'm not really sure...

We discussed the fact that Skip is likely the proudest Dad ever. He is so sweet to his little Sienna, lucky girl!

I wish that the Wayment little ones will have hair like this, however, I'm not counting on it due to the hard fact that I was peach fuzz until age 2...

Ok, I really need to stop sharing pics but they are just so cute!

Last one - we caught a smile at 3 months old! Hooray!

An attempt for preservation

2010-08-30T21:02:00.000-06:00

I promised myself I wouldn't waste time blogging until I finished sorting through a billion pictures, deep cleaned the fridge, put away our laundry, and cleaned my face... but I have a feeling I'm trying to preserve here.

I am sorting through pictures I took of the darlingest family and the mommy baby ones are making me emotional. Who thought I could get emotional editing pictures... but I am. My heart is bubbling with special feelings about being a mommy and I want to bottle it up so I can steal a little sip of it every once in a while. Blogs can function as bottles for feelings, right?

A worth it trip

2010-08-26T18:20:00.002-06:00

To this store...

To buy oh 2 little gadgets called iPhones. Can you believe it? I can't. Yet. One of the perks of working hard every day of my life I guess.

I can now blog on the road, in my bed, on the potty. Watch out.

Disclaimer: I will only blog on the road when I'm a passenger and I might really blog on the potty gross.

I can take quick pics on the go.

And edit them a bit in phone (sorry this one looks a little extreme).

And my texts look cool like this

Um I hope this post doesn't look wacky. I've got to learn the tricks of iPhone blogging. Hang in there for a bit.

Here's my report

2010-08-23T20:17:00.003-06:00

I was one happy loving life girl today. Even though I worked on a single tax return that I've been working on for weeks except that today I finally actually got to start prepping the actual return and I worked on it for like 6 hours and I'm still trying to get all the equity to balance because it's like three huge companies in one and the records are horrible and I hate projects that I can't complete in one day that seem to drag on as much as this sentence.

I was really tired when I got home, mostly because I had to call the traffic school line and reschedule my session and I was worried they would be mean. So I got that call over with super speedy style and ate a whole cucumber smothered in hummus.

Then I tidied up the front room and opened all the blinds so that Ryan would have a happy place to study when he got home.

This little flower I made yesterday made me so very happy today.

Creating things {especially cute things I can wear} makes me happy. It's empowering.

I laid on the floor in the hallway for too long soaking up the sun. Ryan probably won't mind if I'm laying on the floor when he gets home right? I mean, he'd probably rather find me laying in a more private place but.... I don't want to distract him from his studies you know.

I contemplated writing something in one of my new homecovered {only halfway homemade...} notebooks. But decided it would be more fun to take pictures of them. I would have used these notebooks for school except... Oh wait I DIDN'T START SCHOOL TODAY. Weird. Weird. Weird. And to complete the weirdness I kind of missed it and felt semi left out while gazing at the campus on my way to work. I like school.

Then I got distracted by the cool shadows that our screen door makes...

Then I wanted to see what the shadows would look like on my face in a picture but it looked really silly so I won't show you that one ok. So, I kept laying on the floor.

Then I decided to actually be good at life and put away our laundry. So I put away one shirt then realized I needed some thought provocation so I wouldn't get bored while putting away laundry so I came to the computer to download some more Dennis Prager {Pragertopia} on Ryan's iPod.

And then I heard a motorcycle outside

...

And Ryan came home to my arms

...

Rut free

2010-08-22T15:30:00.002-06:00

We took some snuggle blankets to the park past our bedtime and talked about how we are in a bit of a rut. Daily work and GMAT studies take a lot of time and energy, leaving little energy for the happier things. Energy is an odd thing. If you can muster some energy to fake that you have a lot of energy, all of a sudden you have a lot of energy. Weird.

And.

Focusing some energy on noticing and creating happy things gives you so much more energy for the work and monotonous things that happen each day.

No need to feel like we're in a rut because WE'RE NOT! We have so much to look forward to in the distant future that right now can seem a little bleak... but we have lots to look forward to each day too.

Like the following:

The best hugs when we get home from work

Weekends free from work (and mostly free from studying)

Evening meals together

Amazing weather for walks and motorcycle rides

Love texts

Quick {and some not so quick} hellos from people we love

Learning about each other

Going to sleep together {in the same bed hehe} every night

and so SOO much more

We just need to remember and notice the happy moments. We are moving forward with a goal to be rut free and are thrilled to announce that we have each other to remind us of such. It's so much easier to accomplish things together. We like that.

Wishing you and yours {and ourselves} a very rut free week.

*we have some reasons to be extra excited this week and next week and the next week and forever {see I'm already really good at this}

more adventures and glimpses into our imperfect but lovely life coming soon

Off to Kindergarten

2010-08-18T21:26:00.002-06:00

remember Stella?

She is off to kindergarten next week with Mrs. Joy and without Lucky...

Meet Lucky.

{resting on my first photo prop purchase a $10 vintage rug from TJMaxx - smiley face}

Little Stella has been practicing coming to Primary without Lucky, it is quite hard for her sweet spirit, but she is being ever so brave. We planned a picture outing so that she could have a part of her buddy to take with her on her Kindergarten adventure. Isn't she the cutest ever? If you could have heard all the funny things she was telling me as we took pictures, you'd steal her to belong at your house.

Finale:

Stella's 'ready to take on Kindergarten face'. Applause. Applause. Applause.