Where are you Christmas?

I've been having a lot of trouble getting into the Christmas Spirit this year. I don't know what it is, but it just does not feel like Christmas. I don't know if it has to do with the fact that my family is going to be leaving, or if its the fact that my roommates decorated the house and the Christmas tree while Nick and I were out of town this weekend, or that I had my Christmas shopping completely done before Thanksgiving...

So I decided to list some of my favorite things about Christmas in hopes that it will put me more in the Christmas Spirit.

1. The music. I *heart* Christmas music, especially Josh Groban's Christmas CD. Its uber fabulous. And of course singing Christmas hymns in church, and listening to the children singing "Picture a Christmas."

2. Elf. Pretty much the best Christmas movie ever. "I love smiling, smiling's my favorite."

3. Disneyland. The Christmas fireworks, the feeling of sheer peace and joy when it snows on Mainstreet, the hauntingly beautiful version of "White Christmas"... it all makes me cry everytime.

4. Special Eggnog. Eggnog, Fresca soda, and vanilla icecream. Its oh so yummy and we have it every year at my parents house.

5. An orange in the toe of the stocking at my in-laws. I think it a fun tradition.

6. My ginormous stockings and sparkly stocking holders. They are gorgeous and I love them.

7. Wrapping presents. I must admit, I'm rather good at it and I really enjoy doing it. My gifts are always the best dressed.

8. "You ruined Christmas!" My mom told that to one of us one year a while back, and now we tell my mom that at least 3 or 4 dozen times on Christmas. It makes her so mad, and it is so much fun!

9. Bella's Christmas shirt. It says "I ate Santa's Cookies." So cute.

10. The opportunity to celebrate our Savior's birth and concentrate on what's really important and to refocus ourselves before the beginning of a new year.

Emotional

I have been SOOOOO emotional lately! I don't know what it is, but the littlest things have been making me break down into tears. Sad, happy, touching, spiritual, offensive, nice... doesn't matter what, they just all result in crying.

My latest sob fest came today after I was talking to my dad on the phone. He got a job this weekend!! Yay!! That is exciting news because it has been a long time since he has had an official "job." But guess what... the job is in Canada. Calgary, Canada to be exact. He starts January 4. He will leave shortly after Christmas to go up there and find a place to live and get settled before he starts work. The rest of my family will stay down here until Zachary leaves on his mission at the end of May ish, and then they will follow my dad up to Calgary.

I'm freaking out. Freaking. Out. Everytime I think about my family being that far away at this stage of my life I burst into tears. There was a time in my life when no distance would have been far enough away... but now I'm finally starting to be closer to my family. And especially because Nick and I will be starting a family in the next year or two. My mom is supposed to be here to walk me through being pregnant and plan my baby shower...

I know this is the Lord's doing. My dad was in exactly the right place at exactly the right time to be able to get that job, and they way things are working out, we can all see the Lord's hand in this. I know this is His will, I'm just having a really hard time with it. Don't you hate that? When you can see what He's doing and it makes perfect sense, but it's just hard to accept?

Funny thing about all this though... of all the places in the world my dad could get a job, he finds one in Calgary. Nick is Canadian and guess where he and his family are from... Calgary. What irony. Also funny, my mom hates the cold. Too bad it's like -13 degrees in Calgary right now. Good times. I guess this gives us a legit excuse to go up there and visit. I told Sierra she's not allowed to start liking the Flames though... Its Ducks or she's disowned!!

I was born to be a star

Remember how I went to the taping of The Biggest Loser makeover episode? Well it premeired last night, and I was on TV THREE TIMES!!!! I'm pretty stoked. As soon as the episode is available for viewing online, I will be posting a link here, and I will also take some screen grabs to share with you.
Once again, I was on TV THREE TIMES, and now I am a famous tv star. You totally wish I was your best friend, don't you?

Weekend Fun

This weekend was both ridiculously stressful and fun. Remember that wedding I told you I was planning? Well, it was yesterday. I also ended up being the florist as well - and it was my first wedding. Boy, was I nervous! But everything turned out to be beautiful. Kim looked stunning, the bridesmaids looked beautiful, and of course, the flowers were gorgeous. Her bouquet was solid roses with a collar of black ostrich feathers. She had a feather theme running through the whole wedding. The bridesmaids all had these hot black feather head pieces (found and designed by yours truly) and carried bouquets of red roses with black feathers coming out of them.

Kim's Bouquet

Bridesmaid's bouquets.

The cake. I did the cake flowers too. :) Every single empolyee at the Thatcher Manor came up to me at some point during the reception and told me how great the cake looked. I also had one lady come up to me and tell me that she is a wedding planner who works for a big company out in Orange County, and that the feather thing is really in right now and she sees it a lot. Then she told me that was the best she had ever seen it done. She told me that everything looked so elegant and beautiful. I felt so honored when she told me that. I was so nervous and stressed about how they looked. I spent all day Thursday, went after I got off work at 6 on Friday and was there til 11:30, and then was working on it starting at 6 am on Saturday. I had about 5 breakdowns where I flipped out and threw flowers and started balling. But all the time, all the tears, it was all worth it when I delivered the flowers Saturday morning before I had to go in to work, and Kim started jumping up and down and gave me the biggest hug and told me they were exactly what she had dreamed of. And then when that lady told me that the flowers were some of the nicest she'd seen, that was just icing on the cake.

It was SOOO cold! The Man of Honor let me borrow his jacket.

I love this picture. Man I'm a good photographer! J/k. This picture makes me smile because Kim is such a daddy's girl, and he just looked at her with such love all night long.

Then today at church I had 10 kids in my primary class, 10! Luckily I had a fun activity planned that kept them involved and excited for the lesson. We talked about service today. We learned about how serving others shows Heavenly Father and Jesus how much we love them. We talked about the Bishop and how much service he does for the ward. For our activity we heart-attacked the door of his office. I had cut out a bunch of hearts, and I had the kids write on the hearts different acts of service that they could do, and then we taped them to his door while he was doing an interview. The kids LOVED it. The whole time we were frantically taping hearts to his door they were giggling and they just kept saying, "This is so fun!" Nick is the ward financial clerk and so stays after to do the tithing, and the clerk's office is right next to the bishop's office. When he came home he told me that a bunch of the kids brought their parents over to the office to show them the door. I love it when things like that happens, when the kids are so excited about a lesson. I just hope they learned something! Lol.

So all in all it was a very good weekend. I had a ton of fun at the wedding rocking out to Miley Cyrus, and Twist and Shout, and Lady Gaga. And I had a blast at church with my kiddos saying thank you to the bishop for all of his service.

Blessings

So my last post was slightly depressing, and I've been thinking alot about how many blessings I have, so I wanted to share a few with you.


I have a job, a place to live, and a car to drive. I have a nice camera and a budding side photography business (which I am absolutely LOVING). I am going to college and will finally have my bachelor's degree early next year. I have SO much to be thankful for and these are some of my favorites:

My Bella. She is such a sweetheart, and is always SO excited to see me and love to give me kisses. She can always make me smile, and even though she can be a little trouble maker sometimes, she is genuinely a good dog, and almost always listens and obeys.

Disneyland. I am so blessed to live within a 45 minutes drive from Disneyland and have an annual pass which allows me to go and be a kid and forget my problems anytime I want to.

The temple and the scriptures. Both are vital to our eternal salvation, and both help me get closer to my Father in Heaven. Both help me feel better when I'm feeling down and depressed.



Nicholas. He helps me see in myself the strong, beautiful person that he sees in me. I love him so much, and he helps me become a better person. He believes in me when I don't believe in myself and always encourages me to puch myself and be the best I can be.

In the Lord's Time

"The answers to our prayers come in the Lord’s due time. Sometimes we may become frustrated that the Lord has delayed answering our prayers. In such times we need to understand that He knows what we do not know. He sees what we do not see. Trust in Him. He knows what is best for His child, and being a perfect God, He will answer our prayers perfectly and in the perfect time." ~President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

I've been crying alot lately and I've been having a VERY hard time dealing with "the Lord's timing." Those who know me know that I'm going to school to be an elementary school teacher and plan on specializing in special education. Those who know me well know that what I really want to do is have kids and be a stay at home mom. Ever since Nick lost his job I've been struggling to understand/see the Lord's purpose in this trial.


We had our whole plan laid out: He had a good job making good money, and was all set to graduate this coming June, at which point he would officially be an engineer and his salary would get a hefty boost. We were starting to look at houses and were hoping to buy one within a year, and we were also planning on starting a family. The plan was to start trying to get pregnant within the next couple of months here to time the baby for a few months after graduation... Then Nick lost his job and Cal Poly canceled all of their summer classes, effectively setting Nick's graduation date, and the start of our family, back by a year. I know that one year in the grand scheme of things is nothing, but for me right now, it feels like it might as well be an eternity. I keep reminding myself that the Lord knows what is best for me, and if I'm not having a baby right now, its because there is something else that needs to happen first. Over and over I tell myself that it will happen when we're ready, when the Lord sees we're ready. All in the Lord's time, All in the Lord's time, All in the Lord's time...


And yet, still the tears keep coming. Its not that I don't have faith, or patience, I have a lot of both, I just have this overwhelming feeling that is... drowning me, and it seems that my overflow valve is located in my eyes. Everytime I see a baby or a pregnant lady I have to bite my lip to keep from crying. I am trying so hard to be strong. I don't feel any ill will toward those that have babies or are pregnant, on the contrary I am elated for them. I am anxious everyday to check and see if they've updated their blogs so I can get my fix. I feel SO happy for them that it makes my heart ache, but at the same time, part of that ache is the yearning I feel to start that chapter of life for myself.


I'm sorry for the slightly depressing nature of this post, I just wanted to see if anyone else has had these feelings, or if anyone has any words of encouragement to help me get through this. I feel ridiculous, and I know that my problems are so trivial compared to what is going on in the world, and I have so many blessings to be grateful for.

Thoughts.

• I love fall. It is my favorite season. The colors, the crisp breeze, comfy sweaters, boots...
• I love having a hobby. I'm so glad I finally found one that I enjoy and I'm good at, its just SO frustrating that it is one that is so expensive.
• I am so baby crazy right now it ridiculous, and its driving Nick crazy. He wants to start a family too, but he should probably have a degree and, more importantly, a job before we get pregnant.
• I really want a sb-900 flashlight. And a MacBook.
• I love headbands. And feather headpieces.
• I despise my ethics class. It's awful. And boring.
• I made a baby bootie today, with another one to match to come tomorrow. How cool is that? I crocheted a baby bootie! I'm the bomb.
• I have wonderful friends and I love them like a fat kid loves cake :)

PS... I have a small favor to ask. Could everyone please say a prayer for Nick tonight/tomorrow morning? He has a solid lead on a job in his career field. The man he's meeting with is going to be a guest lecturer in the civil engineering department tomorrow morning, and said he wanted to meet with Nick about the possibility of a job. We're keeping our fingers crossed, and we could use the extra prayers.

Ducks Meet and Greet

Last night was the annual season ticket holder Ducks meet and greet event, and I didn't get to go! I had class, and I was a GOOD GIRL and went to class. Shocked? I was too.

Nick, his sister Cassie, his brother Stewart, and my sister Sierra all went down and had a blast without me... yeah, I don't know how they managed either. I'm way jealous because they got to take a tour of both the Ducks locker room and the visitor's locker room. So cool. Here are a couple of pictures from the event.

Sierra got to meet her favorite player Ryan Getzlaf and get a picture autographed.

Nick and Stewart took a picture with the "Power Players" I think they look a little too happy...

Some of the player's jerseys in the locker room. So cool.

Nick knew how bummed I was to not get to meet George "Fear the 'Stache" Parros, who is THE MAN, so he asked him to hold up this sign while he took a picture. Nick told THE MAN that he is my favorite player. Did I mention he is THE MAN?

Tuesday Nights

This is how Tuesday nights go:

- I get off work and come home to change my clothes and run out the door to school
- School from 6-10
- Race home to start Biggest Loser
- Shout at the TV about how much I loathe Tracey
- Nick laughs at me while I cry through the parts when I'm not shouting at Tracey
- I get mad at Nick for laughing at me for crying, and then shout at him about how I can't stand Tracey
- Get excited because we're getting closer to the makeover episode (which I was at the taping of, and everybody should watch and look for me in the audience)
- Tell Nick that I would have sent Tracey home and wish I could punch her in the ovary
- Go to bed

Sounds like a great night, huh? I love it. Did I mention my feelings about Tracey? Just making sure.

PS, I still need input about my photography assignment. Please refer to my last post. Thanks!!

Struggling For Inspiration

I am taking a digital photography class at the local jr. college this semester, and I am having a blast. I am learning SOOOOO much, and it is going to help make me into a much better photographer, in fact, its already working. We have 7 or 8 big projects that are all due on the last night of the class, so I'm trying work on it slowly but surely throughout the semester so I don't have to be all stressed out at the last minute **pause for all those who know how I do all of my school work to gasp and pick themselves up after having fainted**
One of the projects is proving particularly difficult for me, and I thought I might put it out there and maybe get some inspiration from all none of you who read my blog. The assignment is this: take pictures of things in the world around you that resemble the letters of your name (first or last) and assemble them into a collage that spells out your name. I think it would be amazing to do a themed collage of my last name and have it framed and give it to my inlaws as a Christmas gift... ideally a hockey themed collage. But I am just having so much trouble finding inspiration and seeing letters in the everyday things around me. I also thought it would be cool to do all of my favorite things for my first name, like shoes, makeup, and things of that nature.
Anybody have any ideas? Suggestions? Anything? Bueller? Bueller?

Catch Up Continued...

A couple more pictures from the wedding...Me with my bouquet, and a front view of my hair, ish.The great escape! Always the newlywed's favorite part of the reception ;)

The Monday after the Wedding Nick and I went with his family to the Ducks game, and I wore a crazy orange shirt. Because of my crazy orange shirt, I was selected to participate in the trivia challenge! They put your face on the jumbotron and ask you a trivia question about the ducks. If you answer right, you win a prize for your row. If you answer wrong, the row in front of yours wins the prize. No pressure or anything. Well, I answered right (thanks to lots of help from the loud people around me shouting the answer...) and our row got tickets to Improv-Ice, a figure skating thing that actually sounds pretty cool.
The orange shirt that ended up leading to my face big as life on the Jumbo TronNick and I at the game. I kind of look drunk in this picture.

Then Wednesday was my birthday! Yay!! Nick made me breakfast in bed, and this:
Is what I had to deal with. A little begger waiting for me to share. Lol. Then we went to Disneyland!! WAHOO!! We got pineapple floats from the Dole stand, mmmmm.... I love Pineapple!!

And of course I tried, like always, and failed, like always, to pull the sword out of the stone. We had so much fun, and got on all the rides with practically no wait. It was super hot, but I spent most of the day soaking wet from the rapids ride in California Adventure that I didn't even notice the heat :) Oh, and if you notice my shirt, I'm sporting the sweet shirt I bought at the love show. It says "All you need is Love" and then has the little The Beatles logo below. Its super cute.

All of you that made it this far, congrats! You rock!!

Playing Catch Up

I'm going to try and keep this brief. I have alot to catch up on... We went on a work outing to the Murder Mystery Cafe in San Diego. It was hilarious. We all had a really great time.

The next morning my mom and I left for Las Vegas. We went to the gift show to merchandise her shop for Christmas. It was SOOOO much fun. While were were there, my mom surprised me by taking me to dinner and a show. We went to dinner at a place called Red Square in Mandalay Bay, and it was AMAZING. I had the truffle and lobster fetuccini. I also had a virgin "martini." :) Then we went to see Cirque du Soleil's Love, the show based on the music by The Beatles (Jealous? You should be.) It was incredible. I've never seen anything like it.

My truffle and lobster fetuccini, complete with lobster claw. My mom and I in front of the Love sign.

The Beatles were all jumping, so I wanted to jump too. Only its really difficult to do in 4" stilletos. Luckily my mom managed to snap this pic on the first try, so I didn't have to try it again.

At dinner. YUM!!

My virgin martini. It was SOOO yummy.

After Vegas, it was time to switch into wedding mode. My dear friend Megan was getting married, and I was one of her bridesmaids!! We had a super fun bachelorette slumber party at a beach house in Laguna. We went dancing at The Sandpiper, and it was a blast. There was a great little regae band playing and we jammed all night, then walked back to the house and stayed up late playing cards. The next day we went to the beach and ran last minute wedding errands.

At the Sandpiper. Super fun!!

And Saturday was the BIG DAY!! Megan looked radiant, Thomas looked dashing, and all of the bridesmaids looked gorgeous.

Just waiting for the big moment to arrive and trying to keep cool.

Picture of the back ish of my hair. It looked really great.

Vacation :)

My vacation starts tomorrow. We're going on a work outing to a murder mystery dinner show tomorrow night. Sunday I leave for Las Vegas with my mom. We're going to the gift show and I'm going to help her merchandise her store :) After we get home, I get to do bridesmaid stuff for the rest of the week! Thursday is the rehersal dinner and bachelorette slumber party. Friday is an all day bridesmaid primping day, and the wedding is Saturday!! I am sooooo excited. It's going to be a busy busy week, and I'll probably need a vacation from my vacation when its all over, but it will be worth it. Yay for vacations packed full of fun!!

Hi, My name is Kimberly Grafton!

Officially. Finally. For Real.

Its been two years and 2 months since Nick and I tied the knot, and I officially changed my name today. Lol. Better late than never, right? My license expires on my birthday next month, so I figured now was as good a time as any. Two hours after walking into the social security office and taking a number I walked out as Kimberly Grafton. Another reason I decided to finally change it is because we have $0 right now. $0. And Nick's birthday is next weekend. Soooo... Kimberly Kitterman -> Kimberly Grafton = Happy Birthday Nick!!

I'm happy to have changed my name, but I don't like signing Grafton. The f-t-o always looks funky, no matter how many times I've practiced.

Special Moments

Today was a really good day.

First thing this morning I got an email from one of my oldest friends (I think we've known each other since we were like 3 or 4) telling me that she and her husband are working towards going to the temple and asking if I would be her escort when she went through for the first time. What an honor. I was so touched that she would ask me, even though we haven't always kept in touch, and aren't as close as we may have been in the past.

Then at church for our Sunday school lesson, I cut out those paper dolls that are all strung together (you know what I'm talking about, right?) for all the kids and they colored them in. I told them they could color their friends at school, or their families, or the class, or whoever they wanted, and when they were done, they had to stand up and say who they colored and how they could show those people they loved them. Each string of dolls had 3 little people for them to color. One of the girls in the class ran up to me when she was done to show me what she colored, and she had colored herself in the middle with Nick on one side and me on the other.

Its moments like these that melt my heart and make up for all of the hardships, all the stress, all the worry, all the bad days. I love days like today.

I still have a job!!

So Guaranty Bank announced a couple of weeks ago that it was failing, and that the FDIC was looking for someone to buy us out. We've been waiting to hear which bank would be taking us over, nervous that if would be someone with branches near us, for fear that our branch would get closed down and we would all lose our jobs.
The announcement came out today, and Guaranty Bank is now BBVA Compass Bank, which has no branches in California! Yay! So I am now officially a BBVA Compass employee, but that's all I know. The switch over will take time, and as of right now I know next to nothing about what is going on, which is really annoying, but I still have a job!
Other than that, nothing has been going on in my life. I think that is excitement enough, don't you?

Check Out My Photography Blog!

Since I booked a wedding, I thought I should create a photography blog so potential clients (*cough*allofyouguys*cough*) could see samples of my work. Everyone should click HERE to check it out. My dear friend Kim and I are starting up a little side photography business and are shooting the wedding together. Its very exciting. Leave me some feedback and let me know what you think, good and bad.

Excited Beyond Reason

Today was a seriously awful day. It felt like Kimberly and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. And its been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad MONTH so far as well. I'll be so glad when August is over and September is here. September is going to be good. Nick's birthday + Vegas gift show with Mom + Bridesmaid in Megan's wedding + my birthday = good month. But back to today.... It was a bad day (as we've established) and then.........
I booked a wedding. Me. Wedding. Booked. Seriously.
I'm a photographer. A real-life, honest-to-goodness photographer. Officially. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself.
The wedding is in December. I can't wait. Its going to be amazing.
So to recap:
-Bad Day
-August = bad, September = good
-Official photographer
-December = good too!

...

I've been feeling pretty invisible lately.

Biggest Loser Makeover Reveals

It was absolutely incredible. I can't really say anything about it because I had to sign a release, but I will say that it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. The Biggest Loser has made such and impact on my life - the contestants on that show are an inspiration to me, and proof that you truly can accomplish anything you set your mind to. I feel like such a big baby, because I cry every time I watch the show. I'm just so touched by their stories and their journeys, because it is a journey. To lose the weight, and keep it off, it takes more than just diet and exercise. You have to figure out how and why you got to where you are. Losing weight is as much about emotion as it is about fitness. I think The Biggest Loser means so much to me because I identify with the contestants. I may not be as big as them, but for my whole life I've felt like the fat friend. More times than I can count I've heard, "You could be so pretty if you just lost some weight." Nick gets really mad at me when I say that I'm fat. He tells me everyday how beautiful I am, and that he thinks my body is perfect, but its hard to change what I see when I look in the mirror. When I watch the Biggest Loser, I see myself in each of the contestants, and I feel like nothing is impossible. I feel like I can make a change and become the beautiful woman Nick sees in me.
That's why it was such a big deal when I got tickets to see the makeover reveals. I can't wait for the next season to start, and everybody should make sure they watch the makeover episode and watch for me on tv!

OMG. Seriously.

I just got some of the best news ever. Let me start at the beginning. You'll probably be able to figure out what the awesome news is halfway through the story (or you already know if you go on facebook) but I want to tell you anyway.
It all started when Sierra and I auditioned to be on The Biggest Loser. We didn't make the show :( but ever since then I've been getting emails from the Biggest Loser telling me about various things in connection with the show. Monday as I was checking my email, something caught my eye. It was an email that was titled "(Exclusive Invite) NBC's The Biggest Loser Needs You for Special Taping‏" So I open the email, and it tells me that I have the opportunity to be in the audience for the taping of The Biggest Loser season 8 makeover reveals. I almost wet myself with excitement. All I have to do to be considered for tickets is email them back with my name and how many people I'd like to bring. So I freak out, make a bunch of phone calls, and email them back. In their email, they said they would send full details to those selected to receive tickets on Tuesday (today).
So I literally check my email every 2 minutes all day long today... nothing. I go to the movies with some girls from work, and on my way back, I text Nick and ask him to check my email. He responds by texting me a picture message of the email that says "Congratulations on being accepted to attend The Biggest Loser Season 8 Makeover Special" At which point I start screaming, and scare the daylights out of the girl who was driving the car. I ran into the house and jumped on the computer and completely devoured the email and the attached document with all the details of the taping.
Saying that I'm excited would be a gross understatement. Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm obsessed with The Biggest Loser. I cry EVERY EPISODE. Every single one. Its one of those things that feels to good to be true.
So in case you missed it,
I'M GOING TO SEE THE TAPING OF THE BIGGEST LOSER SEASON 8 MAKEOVER REVEALS!!!!!!!

Pioneer Day

This was the most interesting thing that came out of our stake's Pioneer Day Celebration. It was way lame, so I entertained myself by taking pictures of myself in Nick's sunglasses.

Grab your tissues...

I don't know if any of you watch "So You Think You Can Dance," but I LOVE that show, and I felt compelled to share this particular dance with the people (if there are any) that read this blog. This is a dance choreographed by Tyce DiOrio and performed by Melissa and Ade about a woman's struggle with breast cancer and her friend trying to understand what she's going through and supporting her through it all. It is one of the most beautiful things I've seen on the show, and was incredibly touching. It really hit home for me; my grandmother had breast cancer, Nick's aunt had breast cancer, and my mom recently had a breast cancer scare. I know that as I grow older, the deadly disease will probably, unfortunate though it may be, affect my life again in one way or another. The judges, much of the audience, and I were all brought to tears, and I think this is one instance when music/dance/art can truly say more than words are able to. The dance is just so moving, and having a background in psychology, it was interesting to watch the dance move through the different stages of grieving. You can see Melissa go through shock, despair, anger, and finally acceptance.
This was something that really touched me, and I wanted to share it with all of you, in hopes that it would touch your lives too.

Good News

I weighed myself this morning, and the scale actually had good news! I'm losing weight, only a little, but enough to give me the encouragement I need to keep up what I'm doing. I have been going to the gym 3 times a week, I am sore ALL the time, I've given up soda and almost all of my favorite foods... but its working! I WILL fit into that dress.

I know I've been posting alot about weight lately, so here are some other updates:

I went to the LA gift show with my mom today to help her buy merchandise for her shop. It was mind boggling the about of stuff they have there. When Nick and I are finally able to buy a house, I will definitely make my mom take me there so I can pick out decor. I also found the place I want to buy my baby bedding when we finally have kids. I saw the most beautiful bedding there... I can't wait to have kids!

I also signed up for 4 extra classes at the local jr. college so I can make sure I graduate on time. I have a few I need to take outside of my program to make sure I get out of school in June. FINALLY!! It's been a long time coming, and its almost here. I can't wait to graduate from college!

In other news, Nick's school decided to offer the one class he really needed to stay on track to graduate. We are both so relieved, because when they announced they were cancelling all of their summer classes, we freaked out because there was one class he needed to make sure he graduates in June. The next thing we're praying for is that he gets into a senior project in the fall. If he doesn't get into a senior project in the fall, his graduation will be pushed back another year. And if his graduation is pushed back a year, then us starting a family is pushed back a year as well, and neither of us want that. We would really appreciate everyone's prayer's that he is admitted into a senior project this fall.

Thanks for everybody's love and support. We love you all.

Workout Buddy

My mom and I have become workout buddies. Its kinda fun. It pushes me to do more, because I CAN'T let the "old lady" (she's not that old) with a gimp knee do more than me! Lol. I think its going to kill me to fit into this stupid dress. Can anyone tell me why I didn't just buy my size? Why did I insist on buying a size smaller? "It'll give me great motivation to lose weight!" I thought to myself... but what if I don't loose the weight! AHHHH!! It makes me nervous to think about it.
So I'm going to keep killing myself and asking my Heavenly Father to help me (it seems silly to ask for help with that, but that's what he's there for, right? To help us with what we stand in need of?) to acheive my goal. It'll happen. I'm going to do it. At least that's what I have to keep telling myself........

NEWS FLASH!!!

Okay, not so much for you, but definitely for me. I woke up Monday morning and realized that I don't have 3 months to drop a dress size to fit into my too small bridesmaid's dress... I only have 2 MONTHS!!! Holy crap. Goodbye pasta, cookies, brownies, icecream, dinner rolls, and Hello salad and treadmills.
The bad news: I'm going to have to loose about 10-15 pounds for the dress to look good.
The good news: I can just barely get the dress on and zipped up, so it can only fit better from here.

Please think skinny thoughts for me. I'm going to need all the positive vibes I can get!

Curious

Did anyone else watch the Michael Jackson memorial? I sure did.

Did anyone else think that Janet should have performed "Together Again?" I sure did, and I've had it stuck in my head all day.

Wild Animal Park

This year for our anniversary we decided to get away for the weekend and get memberships to the San Diego Zoo and The Wild Animal Park instead of exchanging gift. The membership is such an awesome deal! It's $84 for 2 adults and gets you into the Zoo and the Wild Animal Park for a year with no blackout dates! And it comes with a couple of guest passes! So if any of our out of town friend *cough*ShalayneAshleyCaitlin*cough* decide to come visit us in beautiful, sunny, close to the beach, Southern California, we can get them in with us for free!

We had a fabulous time! Here are some pictures of our first visit to the Wild Animal Park and our behind the scenes tour.

Kimi and Michael "Save the Dates" Engagement Shoot

Two Years

Nick and I celebrated out second anniversary yesterday. We went to Disneyland and watched the new fireworks show (which was great!) and Fantasmic (they added/changed a couple of things, and its still fabulous). We had such a great time, and it was so nice to get away from it all and just hang out with each other at "our place."
It still feels like yesterday that we were taking these pictures, and I can't imagine my life without him. I'm glad I gave the creepy red-head that always stared at me when I was leading the music a chance. Lol.

Old, New, Borrowed, and Blue

My dear friend Kim just asked if I would be her wedding planner!! I'm SOOOO excited. I've always thought I would make a great wedding planner. Why would I be a great wedding planner? I LOVE weddings and I have tons and tons of ideas of all sorts of things to do with any wedding color you could choose. I'm going with them to view a venue tomorrow, and I'm also shooting their engagement pictures. I'm going to have so much fun with this, and I get a clipboard and everything!! YAY!!
Its kind wierd how it happened, I was supposed to be one of her bridesmaids, but she needed to cut down the bridal party, and asked if I would be okay not being a bridesmaid and being the wedding planner instead. I think that was the way of the Lord showing me a tender mercy, because she was picking strapless dresses, and I was trying to figure out how I could be a bridesmaid, but not wear the bridesmaid dress. LOL. So now I get to pick my own dress, and I get to be even more involved in the wedding than I would have been before! Sweet. I love the way things just work themselves out like that when you trust in the Lord. He is so amazing.
So here goes nothing... my first REAL, honest to goodness, getting paid to take pictures photo shoot, AND trying my hand at being a wedding planner. I feel like I'm living out all of the things I always thought it would be so cool to do for a living.

My favorite place.

Lately the Temple has been my sanctuary from the world, which is as it should be. I've been bringing my camera when I go, and here are a few of the images I've captured. I hope you enjoy the amazing house of the Lord as much as I do.

black and white

Sometimes things just look really cool in black and white. I'm excited because I just discovered that my camera has the capability to shoot in black and white.
These crazy plant things are in a planter near the entrance to the distrobution center at the San Diego Temple, and I've always thought they looked cool, and the clouds were really interesting looking, so I took this shot. I think its pretty cool. What do you think?