Sad to Leave Cali

This past week was pretty full but a lot of fun!

Nick and I went with his family to California for Thanksgiving. We finally got on the road on Wednesday and got in to Nick's Aunt Kendra's house that night. The first full day we were there was thanksgiving so we hung out at the house, played games, and ate lots of yummy food.

His aunt is the epitome of health conscious, so all we ate that day other than the main meal was a sip of breakfast, which was carrot spinach smoothie (not recommended) and then a little snack of a piece of pita bread and hummus. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy being nutritious, but making a smoothie out of carrots and spinach? We told Kendra that we prefer to chew our veggies. We sort of feel sorry for her kids who have to drink various veggie+fruit smoothies every day and finish them completely. haha. Needless to say we went and bought bagels for ourself the next morning to eat the rest of the trip. On Friday, we got to try out surfing! It was a lot of fun even though we barely started standing up on our boards by the time we left the beach. We were also very thankful for the invention of wetsuits. The next day a group of us went out to lunch and saw the movie Tangled. Sunday we left to come back to Utah but got caught in a storm. It took us about 2 hours to get from St. George to Cedar City where we ended up staying the night in a hotel.

We had a very fun trip and enjoyed being able to walk around in flip flops and capris once again for a few days. And then when we got back this afternoon we shoveled our driveway reminiscing about the sunshine & warmth in California. We're hoping to go back soon.

Almost Three Months!

This coming saturday Nick and I will be married three months! Things have been going great for us. We're enjoying married life. The past few months have provided many fun daily adventures.

Recent adventures include....

Helping a friend propose to his girlfriend this week. We took her on an "Amazing Race" adventure and gave her clues. It was fun!

The faucet in the shower flew off when we tried to turn it to the shower setting... Bucket showers until it's fixed. Yay! We feel like kids pouring cups of water over our heads.

Craziness at work, but we DID get a lot of free food this week.

I beat Nick at Mario Kart several times this week (don't tell him I told you)

We found & temporarily adopted a cat that was living under our house. Her name is Artemis and we are a little sad to say goodbye to her tomorrow when we take her to a shelter. We can't really keep her and think she would be better with someone who is home more.

We got called as young men and young women leaders so that keeps us pretty busy too.

We took his sister to get her first stuffed animal at build a bear last month and she LOVED it. When asked on her birthday this past monday where she wanted to go she requested to go back there to get a friend for the one we got her.

We went bowling for the first time as a married couple this week.

We have enjoyed having dinner together every night and I love cooking (most of the time).

We went camping last month with his cousin and found out his cousin's wife and I share the same birthday.

Next week during thanksgiving we will be heading to California with his family to visit his aunt & cousins.

We enjoy going to the local dollar theater and seeing whatever we feel like seeing. For 2 bucks it's usually a great deal.

We've also been into watching TV series, but starting at episode 1 and continuing on from there. We've lately started watching Pushing Daisies, Psyche, & Arrested Development. We still enjoy our favorite "usuals" of The Big Bang Theory, Seinfeld, Chuck, and The Office.

I picked up reading again last week so we can read together. He reads his textbooks and studies while I read another book. I just finished a book called The Westing Game and loved it!

January will start our crazy and hectic days. He will begin a second job in December working as a Ski Instructor (which I found ski boots for $5 at DI so that was a nice deal). He'll continue there until April-ish and will also be going to school full time. We are going to be packed!

Our daily routine seems just that sometimes - routine - but we love it and we are having a lot of fun spending time together and just being married.

Planning Planning Planning!

Things have been super busy lately! Work is going well at the camp though and I'm loving being in the kitchen constantly. I now have a following for my homemade mac and cheese, meatloaf, chicken salad sandwiches and a few other things. The kitchen supervisor and I are going to make a little recipe book at the end of summer for all of the staff so if any of YOU want one let me know and we'll make a few extra ones.

Other than work, my weekends have been packed with wedding planning! It's been stressful at times, but mostly things have gone really well. It always feels so good to get more things checked off the seemingly neverending list. And yet we still have some time for fun. We got to do stuff with both of our families on the fourth of July weekend and last weekend we got to go water skiing one morning with my step dad. This past weekend we spent time with his family when his dad got called as bishop for a byu student singles ward in provo and then with my family for my step sister amy's birthday. It's been a lot of fun.
And as of today, there are only 25 days left until the wedding. We are getting really excited! We found a place to live too this past week and the week before that we got all of our furniture. About two weeks ago he found all our furniture off a ksl ad for less than 1100 dollars. Two couches, two end tables, a coffee table, a 6 month old sealy mattress, 6 month old washer and dryer, dining room table and 4 chairs, a tv, a wii with lots of games & rock band/guitar hero stuff controllers and the likes. We already got our bedding too (for 100$) which included a comforter, pillows, pillow cases, and all of the sheets so that was an awesome awesome deal as well. Overall things have not gotten too stressful so I am greatful for that. I am excited to see everyone in a few weeks for my wedding!!! :-) Oh and p.s. all of you who gave me your address already will get your invites soon!

Wedding Plans and Concerts

This month has been super crazy! I started work at the girl scout camp and haven't had much time since. The week is going pretty well compared to the past few weeks. We're starting to get the hang of things in the kitchen and it's been getting better. Nick and I have gotten a lot done on the weekends for the wedding but we also got to go to a Cake concert in Salt Lake last weekend. It was a ton of fun at the concert as it's one of our favorite bands. We got to register at Target and Kohl's this past weekend and had a lot of fun with the little scanner around the stores. Things have been going really well and I'm getting really excited for the wedding in less than two months. We have most of our engagement pictures done and our invites ordered! This summer is going by pretty fast thankfully. :-)

Employed!

Well, I am employed once again. This time it is a summer position at the other Utah Girl Scout's Camp. This time I am not going to be a counselor though, I am going to be the head cook. Which is awesome for me since I am wanting to go into nutrition and all. It is a great opportunity and I'm excited to start that tomorrow morning! If I don't answer my phone the next few months during the week, now you know why. Just leave me a message and I'll call you when I've got a minute or on the weekends when I've got better service. Anyway, I am looking forward to this summer and the end of it when Nick and I get married! It will be hectic and slightly stressful I'm sure at times, but overall I'm looking forward to just about everything the next few months.

The Proposal

Yep, Nick and I are officially engaged now.

Saturday we went for a ride up in his dad's plane (His dad piloted). We weren't sure if we were going to be able to because it was really cloudy and rainy that morning, but early afternoon rolled around and we got some nice weather right around provo-orem valley. We filled up the tank on the plane and it stalled for a bit on the runway. They thought I was going to be nervous after that, but stuff like that doesn't make me nervous and we just went right up after it started. His dad did a couple touch and go's at first to practice taking off and landing in his plane. Then we circled above the lake for a few minutes and they decided to try and find their house over in provo. So we found their house and Nick said "oh look, see our tennis court". I just nodded and said "yep, I see it." Then they suggested we fly over it again and text his mom to see if they could see us. So we circled again and they asked again if I could see the tennis court. I said I definietly could see it and they kept pointing to it and asking about the tennis court. I just acknowledged that yes I saw the tennis court. Well, we started heading back to the provo airport and Nick, a little disappointed, noted that I was supposed to be able to see the sign he had made on the tennis court and that it had said "Will you marry me?" And then he whipped out the ring, I said yes, and we snapped a few pictures up in the plane before we landed. A few funny things to note from this proposal story is that I was already suspecting that he was going to propose in the plane that day, and the sign he had made was at most 3 feet wide for the lettering and just about as wide as the tennis court's net. It was green and maroon, on a green and maroon tennis court. I teased him about that once we got to his house and we looked at it. We both just laughed at each other about it. It was a really fun day and terrific weekend as I stayed at his house from Friday night to Tuesday afternoon.
And the date is August 20th. So just about three months away! :-)

Pictures!

This week has been really great. Nick and I finally got around to taking some pictures of us together when I came down to his house from Thursday to Friday. We went for a walk to the park Thursday night and Friday we went to Ikea because he had never been there and also went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple together. Then we came back and hung out at his house with his family for a bit. We've been having lots of fun.

So here are a few of the pictures for you guys who haven't seen them on facebook already...

Summer Time

Ohh summer! It has been great to be done with school and catch a break from books!

Last week after I got back home I finally tackled my room and organized it all. It has been a mess full of boxes since last Memorial Day when we went for a trip to Arizona and our basement flooded while we were gone. I've been putting it off and off because I couldn't find (or make) time to do it. All Saturday though I was determined to get it all organized and it looks great now! I loveeeee having it all clean.

Sunday night Nick got back from a family trip to Moab and then came up here. He stayed at our house til this morning and we've had a ton of fun. I went and applied to a job at a daycare yesterday. It's with the babies and one year olds again, just a different place than last time but I'm feeling pretty confident. I'll let you all know if I get it or not. I interview tomorrow. After I filled out the application at that daycare, we then went and had a picnic at the park down the street from us. There was a seagull who decided to join us too and I think it must've been disappointed when it didn't get any food out of us. After that we went over to the Hill Aerospace Museum. For one - it's free. For two - He used to want to be a pilot when he was little. So, it was great. I had been there once before for a young singles activity in our ward and it's a pretty cool place. We drove around a bit, checked out some deals at a nearby closing blockbuster and then came back to the house. He left today to be back down in Provo for his job.

Anyway, this summer is going to be a ton of fun and we're also planning to go down to Arizona next week so I will for sure post some pictures of that after we're back for sure.

Fortune Cookie

So I went up to Provo this weekend and spent the weekend with Nick. It was a lot of fun and we got to do a lot of random things. But, Saturday afternoon we went to Panda Express and low and behold I got this fortune cookie. It gave us a laugh. He promises he didn't slip the chinese girl at the register some money while I wasn't looking.

Officially "Official"

Nick came down to visit this weekend and it was really fun! I took him to the Pastry Pub, which is a really great little sandwich shop/cafe' place here in Cedar. We went on a little drive up the canyon here which is really great when there's still a little bit of snow in the mountains. It goes up past a little place called duck creek, and you can see (probably) into wyoming from the top elevation of the road. We went to a little institute dance (but we left early... cus it was sorta... ehh.) We went for a hike. And, we just hung out and had a lot of fun watching a bunch of random things we quote from (youtube videos, movie clips... etc..) It was a great weekend.

Annnnnnd yes.... we're now "official". haha. :-)

Easter Weekend!

This weekend was great! I got to go home a little bit early. I ended up being able to come home last Wednesday. Thursday was nice to relax. And then a guy I've sort of been dating got to came over. Yes... A guy! His name is Nick...

So. Back in February, my friend Sam (also one of Thomas's friends, who my friend Jessica is dating right now) set us up on a date. Nick is from Pennsylvania, and served his mission in Salt Lake. He reactivated Sam's stepdad so that's how they know each other. But while he was serving his mission, his family moved to provo. And now he's going to BYU. So, now he's in Provo. Oh, and he took me skiing over Spring Break too and we had a lot of fun. Yep!

Back to the weekend... So Friday, mom and chad and I went to Sills with Biff and Kensie. Then they came over and Kensie found some Easter eggs. We colored a few Easter pictures, and then we dyed some eggs. We had a lot of fun!

Saturday, we got to watch some of conference. And then we had to take Abby (our cat) to the vet. She got in a fight a week before with another cat. haha. Another one... And she's been limping around the house not in a particularly happy mood. So, we got her some kitty drugs and then she started just laying there like a rock even more.

On Sunday, I watched the first part of conference at home as I packed up my car, and then I drove down to Provo. Nick invited me to come over to watch the last session there and do some Easter stuff. So we watched the last part of conference with some of his brothers and a few of their friends. And then ate some food and did an easter egg hunt. It was a lot of fun.
THennnnnn back to Cedar it was.

I woke up this morning and realized I had a test I didn't study for. Oops. But ya know? I think I did alright on it, and I had a lot of fun this weekend so I figure it'll be okay. :-)

Sooo Fast

This year has been going by very quickly to me. I can't believe it will be April this week! I don't know where the time has gone, but it has been a fun few months!

Just yesterday I got the chance to go on another trip to St George with my climbing class people. It was really fun! Despite being the coldest I've ever been for the longest I've ever been... and then sudden heat. The first wall we went to was extremely tall, and the sun had not gotten to the side we were climbing on yet. It was blowing wind everywhere and I'm pretty sure it was 10 degrees with the windchill. In the car (which our old teacher got to drive the Toyota Prius from our school's lot of cars, and it was pretty exciting to ride in it), it said the temp outside was about 30 degrees minus the windchill factor of the wind that was blowing so hard we couldn't walk straight. We had short sleeve shirts... and hoodies. We all had our hoods up with our helmets on just for extra warmth. My friend Jessica and I hid behind a little wall and huddled up in balls. haha. It was freezing. We thought we'd be able to wait it out for the sun to reach us and then we'd be okay... Well, after about 2 and a half hours, our teacher decided that the wind wasn't letting up anyway so we should probably head out. We all walked back to the cars while our teachers cleaned up the anchors. Juuuust as we were leaving, the sun hit the spot where we were at (you could see the entire wall from the cars though it was some distance away.) Then we went to the other wall we were at back in January. It was warm, and we actually climbed. haha. I ended up climbing up all the way once despite not getting home until 6pm. But it was really fun and I just love being outside instead of cooped up in this little brown cave of mine in cedar city.

Me freezing at the beginning

Jessica freezing at the beginning

The view of the hike we have to make back to the car...minus the rocks right below us we had to climb down. If you look closely, you can see a little white dot in the middle of the picture, slightly to the right... that's the car!

These are our warming up faces. Yay!

If you don't have anything nice to say....

I sort of wish people would live by this simple little rule. If you don't have anything nice to say, keep those thoughts to yourself, or change the subject! There are so many better things to talk about and discuss than the failures you recognize of those around you. Everyone makes mistakes so some times it is easy to find faults, so it can be hard to get out of the habit.

Now, I try my best not to judge people for judging others, because I do it too sometimes and I recognize it's a normal, human tendency and it's hard to stop. I try to stop myself, and I like to think I'm getting better at avoiding judgements and seeing people in a more positive light, but I think it's something we can all work on in some way or another though so I wanted to share some of my thoughts on this subject.. It's been on my mind lately as I've been contemplating various things.


When I was younger, probably 9 or 10, my dad and I had a short little conversation that helped to changed my perspective about people and I've never forgotten it. I don't know if he remembers it, but I do. So if you're reading dad, thanks! :-)
It went something like this:

Dad: What do you think of Scrooge??

Me: I don't know. I guess he was a mean, selfish, greedy man. He hated Christmas and didn't like to share or give to others in need.

Dad: Yes, that is what he WAS at the start of the story. Why is it that we always forget what happened at the end of the story? It seems to me that everyone forgets the most important part of this story. The ability for people to change the course of their lives and improve themselves. At the end of the story, Scrooge was a happy man who changed. He apologized to those around him and became a generous giver to the needy.


This helped me think about people differently ever since and now The Chirstmas Carol is one of my favorite Christmas stories. It reminds me of this conversation every year. I always try to give people the benefit of the doubt. I know that I would not want to be judged on one thing I did or said in my life because I know I've done or said many things out of immediate emotion, or even things that were slightly thought out, that I regret and now see as not the best choice, so I try not judge anyone else for one or two things they did or said around me because they probably are not like that as a whole person. Even if someone appears to me to be consistently mean, rude, selfish or whatever... I always remind myself that I don't know why they are the way they are or if they are going through a hard time in their life. We all have the ability to change too and everyone has their own set of strengths and weaknesses. We can choose what we say and think about others and I think that is one of the most important things we can do in life. Learn to love one another, despite our weaknesses, shortcomings, and failures. And for myself, I also need to work on trying not to take things personally when people are trying to point out my own weaknesses or give me constructive criticism... because more often than not, they're right, and I need to do the scrooge like thing and make a change for the better.

So, moral of this post: let's all go be Scrooges... :-)

It's all about crazy and random these days.

I've been really busy lately, but done a few random fun things. I got to go back home over MLK weekend as well as the first weekend in February. I also got to take two trips to St. George in January. One with a large group of people and some friends. And one with my rock climbing class.

Anyway, here are some pictures from the adventures that I haven't blogged about... (my two trips to st george is all...)

Pirate's Pizza trip. I liked how the paint on the wall made it look like fog in the picture.
It was a pizza place with a pirate theme. Arrrrgh.

We got two of these pizzas called "The Kraken". (yes that's my hand)

And... here are some pictures of my climbing trip with my class one saturday. We're going again this weekend so I'm excited!

New Blog

Just to update all of you, I'm going to be changing this blog in the next few days to be "kaitscorneroftheworld.blogspot.com". I'll send out an email to everyone too as a reminder, so if i don't have your email or facebook or something hopefully you read this before it's changed! :-)

I am also starting a blog about nutrition and healthy cooking/living! Many of you know that I love cooking and that I have now decided to go into the Nutrition field for my major. I will be posting information on there about nutrition related topics as well as converting recipes into healthier ones and offering some tips on how to afford to live a healthy lifestyle. As well as my own opinions on nutrtion topics.
I am enjoying my Culinary Arts class and Nutrition related to Sports and Fitness class this semester. When I took my first Nutrition class last year, I often made posts related to that, and with TWO food related classes this semester I thought starting a blog right now would be perfect and that all of you could benefit from it to. It also helps ME to engrain the information in my head.
that new blog is:
fixingsmadefit.blogspot.com
and I'm hoping to start posting on there once or twice a week soon.

I hope everyone is doing well! I'm enjoying being back in school and living with roommates, but also missing spending time with my mom and stepdad and all of you up north (even though I've been home the past few weekends...) Love you guys! And thanks again for all of the support!

Manzanita Days

So.... I found some old roommate videos from my days in Manzanita! I miss those days. :-( But, it is great to look back on them and laugh and smile. :-)