Christmas Time

Kenny and I decorated our apartment for Christmas! I love Christmas decorations, they just make me happy!

Our tree fixings....

Our tree all said and done. I am pleased with our tree on a budget!

I just love the glowy pictures!

Our first tree!

A few other pics of our Christmas decorations... I love Honk's, the dollar store. That is where I got most of them! I am addicted, but I have to limit myself when I go there. But it is great because when money is tight it makes me want to spend it for some strange reason (my mom says that I get it from my grandmother), so if I go to the dollar store and buy like 8 things, it is not too big of a dent in my wallet, yet you still get the feeling of joy from spending! Hmmm... I really love it! Maybe I will go tomorrow!

Turkey Day

So we had a fabulous Thanksgiving yesterday. Kenny and I did dinner at our house with Stephen and one of his old roommates. It was fun and totally casual. It was a long day though. Being the turkey amateurs that we are, we decided that we would do the easiest things possible... throw it in the crock pot. Kenny got up at 7 in the morning to fix it up (he buttered it, then rubbed french onion soup mix on) and threw it in the crock pot.

Kenny's hand prepping the turkey. It turned out so delicious!! My mom said that it was Stephen's favorite.

Me waiting for the sweet potatoes and green bean casserole. I have always felt like my kitchen was a good enough size for me and Kenny... boy was I wrong, two ovens and more counter space would have been amazing. It got very small, very quick in there. We had to turn on the fan, it was getting so hot.

The boys were anxiously awaiting to start dinner. Everything is on the table except the sweet potatoes and green bean casserole. We had to rotate the food on the table because there was no room for everything at once.

Kenny reaching for his favorite, mashed potatoes. The dinner turned out SOOOO YUMMY! I was totally shocked with myself. I did not think that I would be able to pull it off. My favorite thing this Thanksgiving was probably the Meier's sparkling grape juice; however, my favorite food was the stuffing... got to love Stove top!

After dinner the boys finished watching the game ( go Cowboys!) and we had dessert.

After it was all said and done, and the boys had left, Kenny and I snuggled on the couch to watch a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

I had not watched Charlie Brown in a while and was surprised at how old the kids look! The lines all over their face made them look old and wrinkly.

But anyways, it was a great Thanksgiving. I missed the rest of my family, but I was blessed to be able to spend it with Kenny and Stephen.

BYU Football

Kenny and I bought All sports passes for all the BYU home games this year! Last Saturday was the final BYU home game. It has been fun going to the games and being with there with Kenny. The only question now is what will we do with our free Saturday afternoons and evenings? Here are pictures of us at the last game...

Us at half time....

We had to wait till after the game was over to get a picture of the field. The guy who sits in front of us was HIGHLY annoying (never sitting down, yelling at the refs when the made any sort of call in the other teams favor, yelling at the players when they did not do well, and the worst... the CONTINUAL jumping up and down.... the guy must have calves of steel!) But anyways, here it is!

Also, sorry it took so long Nanny and Grammy! But thanks for the "award." Love you both!

Proposition 2

My excitement for voting in this election stems completely from these two commercials! I just love these cute little guys! So if you are reading this and you can vote in Utah, vote for the giraffes!

Plates and office party

So this is a picture of our car with our BEAUTIFUL Texas plates. It always made me so happy seeing them...a little bit of home.

This is Kenny's walk of shame back into the house after taking them off and putting on our new Utah plates. It makes me sad to think that when on the road I can now be classified as a Utah driver. No one will know that I am a Texan. :(

OFFICE PARTY

So every year my company has a killer party. They give away tons of stuff.... cars, the scooter/motorcycle things, 60,000 in CASH, mountain bikes... it was crazy the stuff they were giving away and tons of it. Although we did not win anything that grand, we felt like we came away with some decent stuff.... tons of shirts and hats, a few of the small gym bag things and 2 swiss army backpacks (all of the stuff branded with APX), so we decided to take a picture with all of our loot.




Kenny wanted to take a picture looking "gangster" or "tough" or something of the sort... this was my best try, Kenny does it better than I... that is what two years in the ghetto of Jersey does to you I guess.

APX Alarm

Here is video that my company put out on YouTube... we are supposed to get it out there so that people view it. So this is my way of not feeling guilty next week during the manager/supervisor meeting for not "putting it out there" when they ask me how I helped. Check it out, it is cool to work for a company who cares!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-u2QMS3N0g

Glasses R COOL!

So my cute little sister got glasses... they are so adorable on her. I told her that if she put a picture of them on her blog, Kenny and I would take a picture in our glasses and post them as well. So here they are...

I LOVE YOU RILEY!

And this picture is for my mother... Thanks for the new shirt! I love it and got tons of compliments at work today!

Still Alive

Quite some time has passed since I was last on here! Life has been crazy! With school, new jobs, and no internet for a whole month (thank you landlord)... it has been hard getting around to doing it. But not to worry....we are still alive!


Probably the biggest thing that has happened around here since last time is my new job. I used to work for a phone survey company... dialing all day long, talking to rude, angry people. But I now have the best job ever. I am a supervisor for the brand new customer research department at APX Alarm and Security. I have a team of 6 and am supposed to be getting at least four more this week. So a lot of training coming up. But it is such an awesome company... I work with a bunch of fun people who are my age. It has been awesome, since the department is new, I have gotten to do a lot of stuff in getting everything started, so that has been an awesome experience. And since I signed up too late to start school this fall I can handle the 40+ hours every week (I feel like I am always at work and always busy, Kenny calls me during the day and reminds me to take breaks.... otherwise, I just don't get around to it). But anyways, it has just been a great job, a lot of work, but I am blessed to have gotten it.

This is my first ever nameplate. I was so excited to get it... all the supervisors have them. I am very proud of mine.

Also, Kenny has been crazy busy as well...juggling school and two jobs is keeping him pretty tied up. Other than that, we are doing great...just having fun being married and spending all the time we can together.

Kenny's Happy Box

So we got our coupon for a TV converter box and bought one while we were at Sams Club yesterday. We (kenny) set it up and Kenny was in heaven! With a regular antenna, we only had one good channel (CW) and two really scratchy ones (Fox and KBYU)... but now, thanks to the box, we have abc, cbs, nbc, and like three different BYU channels with our previous three... I am excited too! This means conference at home and Dirty Sexy Money (on abc, if you have not seen it, you should! It is such a good show!) the night it is actually on! And ELLEN! OH MY GOSH.... ELLEN, I love her show! YIPPEE!

Lots of Stuff!

So first of all... Happy Pioneer Day! Apparently it is really big in Utah. Kenny had the day off and went to the driving range... I went to work! BLAH!

Last week, my little brother Cole came and stayed with us while he was attending BYU soccer camp. We had so much fun with him! Saturday night, we took him and climbed the Y. It was so much fun and gorgeous up there.

This is Cole and I on the mountain....

Cole and Kenny on the mountain!

My mom sent Cole with a gift for Kenny... thanks for Lil Rupert mom!

It was a crazy week from Cole getting sick on the kitchen floor to the dishwasher flooding our room and kitchen to work and my finals for school... but it was so fun spending time with him for the week! He is such a cool kid!

Now Kenny and I are just getting ready for talks on Sunday... I am not happy about it at all! I do not like giving talks... at all! I really despise it actually! But Kenny refuses to move just to dodge giving talks... nor will he let me skip on Sunday due to my not feeling so good! So I just have to give it I guess... it is on the power of music! I just hope it goes well!

Anniversary & Fourth of July!

So first of all, our 2 month anniversary was July 3rd and Kenny was so sweet and surprised me by bringing home flowers! He is so amazing! I am so lucky!






And then as a thank you for the amazing flowers, poor Kenny had to camp out with me, in the middle of downtown Provo, on the little piece of grass between the road and sidewalk sandwiched in between the driveway of a bank and Mexican restaurant.

It all started with me going to work that day(shouldn't have gone) and getting some misinformation from the girl in the next cubicle(never trust a girl in a cubicle). She said that you have to camp out in order to get a good spot for the parade the next day... FALSE(you drop off your stuff, go home, then come back the next morning)! Here is how the night went....
5p.m.- we get there and set up camp, have dinner, play a game of Sequence(our favorite... we play at least 3 times a week)

7:30 p.m.- we go back to our apartment for a bathroom break

9:00 p.m.- we get back to our blankets to find our blankets soaking wet... got to love those automatic sprinklers.... NOT!!!

9:10 p.m.- Kenny leaves to go throw the blankets in the dryer... I sit on the wet ground saving the spot till he gets back!

10:00 p.m.-Kenny gets back we play some games then some lady and her kids come up and ask us to watch their stuff over night... no problem cause we are totally staying overnight... Hard core? Yes we are!!

2:00 a.m.- I am begging Kenny to let us go home... but that dang lady and her dang kids!!

3:00 a.m.- Who in the world lets their high school aged kids roam around at this time? And why are they so dang loud? Oh and the smokers come and put their stuff next to ours! YIPPEE for second hand.

4:00 a.m.- Kenny is still saying no to going home! Why was I so Gun-ho about this earlier... dang me!
4:30 a.m.- dang those high school kids.... we play games cause there is definitely no rest with all the noise.

6:oo a.m.- we get like twenty minutes of sleep (I did at least)

9:00 a.m.- the Parade is starting... a family comes and parks themselves in front of us... still good seats but for the lack of sleep you would have thought it would have been first row... but oh well!

The very beginning of our camping excursion...

Laying down on the blanket less grass... they were still in the dryer.

The tree that we were under... it looked so cool looking up at it!

Finally the morning... no sleep does not serve me well!

And the parade... It was Kenny's first parade ever!

However, as always, it was just fun being with Kenny and doing something new together... I don't think we will ever do something like that again but it was fun to say we did it once I guess. But after we got home from the parade, we went to a barbecue with some family and then came home with the idea to take a nap and then go see fireworks... but we did not make it to the fireworks... we took a 15 hour nap instead! But overall it was a great fourth of July! I love my husband so much... he is so amazing... I am so incredibly lucky!

This one is for the hubby...

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!!

I love you Kenny!

Some Pictures...

So here are some of the wedding pictures.... I have not yet seen them all but I got my aunt to send me some of her favorites! My uncle took my wedding pictures for me, photography is his side business/ hobby! He was so amazing to take them!

I love this one with the view of the temple in the background!

Us with my parents and in-laws... (it is still really weird to think I have in-laws, I am not sure what to call them yet... everything seems weird! But talking to another sister in-law in the family and she does not call them anything... she just wait till she has their attention then starts to talk... it has worked for her successfully for almost 10 years... I think I am going to adopt this plan as well! It is just to weird to call them anything... So, avoiding it all costs seems the only logical option!)

The top of my cake! The cake was one of my favorite pieces of the reception! It turned out GORGEOUS... I loved it! I could look at this picture all day!

This is another one of my favorites! My amazing brother, Cole, came up with this idea for the groom's cake! Plus he made and decorated it... He is such an "ace of cakes" and so dang CUTE!

So those are some of the ones that I have seen... I can't wait to get them all back and printed and framed for our house!

Things have been busy, busy, busy lately! We just got back from a long weekend in Canada, where we had our second reception! So it was fun spending time with all of Kenny's family! Our families are total opposites in many ways, but they were all so nice and welcoming! We had lots of fun! Plus we stocked up on all of the DELICIOUS candy bars and all-dressed chips that we LOVE but they don't have in the states! Those alone are worth a trip to Canada... I can not believe I have been satisfied with Hershey's all these years! Canadian chocolate is at least 10 times better! It is heavenly! Just thinking about it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside! :)

We bought a car from Kenny's sister the week of our wedding, which is amazing and has been such a blessing to be more mobile! However, there is one downfall.... it is a stick! So I have been trying to master that! I am pretty good at it now and can basically go anywhere I to... I just don't like to! Poor Kenny has had to do basically all the driving since we have been married! He is probably tired of it! I will drive to the store (three blocks away), to his work (five blocks away), the bank( three blocks), and home from church (not there because we are usually late and only because Kenny makes me drive it home, but it is five blocks away). Anything further and I wait for Kenny to get home and take me! I could do it (and have once when I was feeling brave, I drove to Bed, Bath, and Beyond which is by the mall... but I took the back roads to stay away from the masses) but I just do not like too! The stick makes driving too much of a stressful chore... It takes the fun out of it!

Other than that, we are are just working and enjoying being married! I love getting to spend my days and nights with my best friend! He makes everything so much more fun! It has been challenging at times, but I am learning so much more about Kenny and even myself everyday. It is so fun finding out different things about Kenny that make me love him even more! He is amazing and I love being married to him!

And finally... Mr. & Mrs. Kyle!

So dang it has been forever! Life has been pretty crazy! There was pre-wedding prep and lots of it. So much to do, lucky for me though I have the most wonderful mom in the world! I am so blessed to have her for my mom!
My wedding was beautiful! Everything was just how I pictured and wanted it! It was the best day ever, I got to marry the most AMAZING, FABULOUS guy I have ever met! I love him so much! But it was so nice to have all of our family and friends there with us for the day! It was perfect!
We have now been married for 19 fabulous days! It has been so fun spending everyday with my best friend, but also busy. It feels like we have done it all in 19 days (well not all but lots anyways). With honeymoons, road trips, moving and packing, setting up house, online classes, and working we have kept busy. But having a husband to do it all with makes it fun and worth it.

Pictures of the wedding late...

Tagged by Dunkin'

A-attached or single: attached! OFFICIAL WEDDING COUNTDOWN: 21 DAYS

B-best friend: Kenny. Then my mom.

C-cake or pie: Cinnamon Bundt Cake

D-day of choice: Friday for obvious reasons! But also Monday because the Bachelor!

E-essential item: My cell phone... I may die without it!

F-favorite color: depends on the day... today, Kelly green.

G-gummy worms or bears: worms... more to eat.

H-hometown: Wylie, Texas

I-indulgences: A good book!

J-January or July: July for the weather, January for my birthday!

K-kids: They say the darnedest things!

L-life is incomplete without: My family and friends.

M-marriage date: May 3, 2008!

N- Number of Siblings: 4 brothers, 1 adorable little sister and I guess soon to be a lot of in law siblings!

O-oranges or apples: Granny Smith

P-phobias or fears: car accidents...they give me the chills.

Q-quote: "And above all, watch with glittering eyes the world around you. Because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who do not believe in magic will never find it." - Roald Dahl

R-reason to smile: My amazing, gorgeous fiancee and my wonderful family!

S-season: Spring. I love BIG thunderstorms and the flowers!

T-Tags: Paige...ha ha... jk

U-unknown fact about me: I don't like when people are dirty... like as in caked on mud dirty! It grosses me out and I have a really hard time watching a movie when people are dirty! Like Lord of the Rings... so gross I have not been able to watch the whole thing!!

V-vegetable: Celery or Cucumbers... peppers are so good too though!

W- Worst Habit:procrastinating and nail biting!

X-Ray or ultrasound: X-ray

Y-your favorite food: Salad... Souper Salad is my all time favorite!

Z-Zodiac sign: I think Capricorn... but I could be wrong and do not feel like taking the time to look it up!

hallelujah....

So, ALL the invitations are officially and FINALLY done! I am so dang glad I do not have to deal with them anymore! After weeks of looking, ordering, phrasing and rephrasing the wording, finding a good place to print pictures, picking up them up, folding, tying ribbon, and stuffing all the different things into the endless amounts of invitations.... they are done and in people's mailboxes! Thank goodness! So, I hope everyone likes them! I ended up loving them and was extremely happy with them in the end, which was shocking because in the middle of all the madness, I felt like throwing them all off a very high building and hoping who ever really wanted one was there to catch it! However, I made it through thanks to Kenny and all his amazing help and patience with me! Plus, he is now an EXCELLENT envelope stuffer so if anyone needs envelopes stuffed.... He is the guy to call and I am sure you can hire him out for a small fee! hehehe! But no, I am SO LUCKY , not only is he so incredible and so dang good lookin' but he is so helpful! I LOVE HIM... so, so, so much!

So anyways, on to the next task that needs tackling... the DRESS! My mom and grandma flew up for this week for to go shopping! I am so excited to see them... Too bad I have no idea what I want yet! I have not even started looking or thinking about dresses yet... those dang invitations! So we will see how that goes!

Kenny and I at lunch with his Aunt and Uncle.

OFFICIAL WEDDING COUNTDOWN: 40 DAYS!

My New Favorite!

So at work, I sit for hours upon end doing phone surveys, and due to the fact that everyone hates doing them and no one really actually does them (except for the old people who live alone and have no one else to talk to) I have a lot of sitting time on my hands. So I have filled it with BOOKS! Yes, books! I average 2-3 novels and 40-50 Sudoku puzzles a week... no joke! However, I love it because I have read so many amazing books this semester! Kenny always jokes that I have a new book favorite every week (or every time I finish one), which is somewhat true! As such, I currently have a NEW favorite book... It is absolutely amazing and I think this one will stick my new favorite for a while (also it is so good that I am writing about it on here, letting everyone know it is my favorite... this makes it seem more permanent) ... it is just THAT GOOD! So without further delay, here it is, my new favorite book....

Jane Hayes is a seemingly normal young New Yorker, but she has a secret. Her obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, is ruining her love life: no real man can compare. But when a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-crazed women, Jane’s fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become realer than she ever could have imagined. Decked out in empire-waist gowns, Jane struggles to master Regency etiquette and flirts with gardeners and gentlemen—or maybe even, she suspects, with the actors who are playing them. It’s all a game, Jane knows. And yet the longer she stays, the more her insecurities seem to fall away, and the more she wonders: Is she about to kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?

It is absolutely amazing, it is full of twists that you never imagine! It is absolutely fabulous! I want to read it again as soon as possible! My new favorite chick novel! I give it five stars, two thumbs up, a 20 on a 1-10 scale, and all that other jazz!

OFFICIAL WEDDING COUNTDOWN: 42 DAYS!

The BANE of my existence....

So, never again will I order invitations! NEVER! In the past 3 weeks I have searched through at least 20 invitation books! And my new pet peeve is finding an invitation that I absolutely love only to find out that you can not change the base color... so annoying! So my advice for anyone planning a wedding... go with puke green as your color! You will find the absolute CUTEST invitations EVER... no joke, I think I found three! However, I finally found invitations that I love and come in what ever color you want them to (that also have a monogram and ribbon).... YIPPEEE! So as of Monday they were officially ordered and I am thankfully done with the invitation part of planning (until I have to stuff them)!
But other than that not much else is going on. Invitations were pretty much consuming my life! We have gone to a lot of BYU basketball games lately, which I must admit are pretty fun (I really just like to watch the cheerleaders and Cosmo)... the only thing that would make it better was if they were playing football! I can't wait for the football season, I miss Sunday afternoons with Romo, Barber, and the Boys!

OFFICIAL WEDDING COUNTDOWN: 57 DAYS!

Wow I had not written on this thing in forever!

First of all, here is a better picture of my ring... I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Kenny did fabulous picking it out, I could not have done better myself! It is perfect!

It has been crazy lately! We have been apartment hunting, (which, thank goodness is finally over! And I would have done pics but people are currently living there so it just would have been pictures of their crud... YIKES!) picture taking, (infinite thanks to Kenny's sister-in law and her sister!) endless planning for the wedding, just planning in general, working full time for me, school for Kenny, and all the other things that everyday life brings! But we are loving every minute of it.... well most of the minutes!

OFFICIAL WEDDING DAY COUNTDOWN.....

82 DAYS LEFT!!!!

The Night It Became Official...

YAY!

The Pre-Proposal Dinner... Gorgeous View!

Calling Brittany's mom and dad to make the big announcement!

The First Time

So, this is my first time on a blog... kind of exciting! Although I should probably be doing something more productive... such as trying to find an apartment for the spring, planning things for the wedding, doing my laundry which has been neglected for a while now, making a list of things to do, or making myself a late lunch before I have to go to work. However, I am doing none of those things; instead I am entertaining myself (and hopefully others) by creating/writing a blog on our crazy, hectic, fabulous life! So I guess this will just have to be the first of many more to come!