Three day weekend!

I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am for the three day weekend.

I've never needed it more.

This teacher thing?

It's super super super hard.

I took this picture last night to show how I felt about my never-ending lesson planning.
(and yes, my hand is a gun).

Dear three day weekend: come FASTER! 

Moments you can't explain

Let me tell you a story:

Last week I called the government teacher that used to work at the high school I work at now (the teacher I replaced).

I heard she was awesome, and as a first year teacher, I was dying for some excellent ideas.

And boy..."awesome" was an understatement.

She gave me SO many great ideas.

I scribbled profusely on a small little index card (the only thing close enough to write on) as she explained all of her ideas in detail over the phone.

After the phone conservation, I typed everything up, while it was still fresh in my mind.

I had two typed pages FULL of her awesome ideas.

And to go even further to show how incredible this stranger was:

the very next morning, another teacher brought me a folder of papers.

She said, "Mrs. O told me she talked to you on the phone last night, and she wanted to give you these."

Copies of everything!

It was better than Christmas!

So anyways...I realized today, that I never saved that document of all of the ideas.

Yes, I had the copies for about 1/2 of the activities she told me about, and could probably remember more if I tried really hard, but I knew I was still forgetting a lot of what she told me.

And I was soooo bummed.

About five minutes ago, I told Taylor what I discovered today: that I never saved that document of ideas.

He mourned with me for a minute over it.

Anyways, so a few minutes goes by, and my computer dies. 0% battery. Whoops.

So I plug it in, and turn it back on.

And...what the heck!?

THAT DOCUMENT somehow loads onto the screen.

Nothing else.

Just that.

Completely random!
I stared at disbelief at the screen and just kept saying, "No...no way...."
I had JUST finished telling Taylor that it was gone for good! Literally minutes before!
Then I did a little happy dance--but stopped suddenly in the middle of the dance to run back to my computer and SAVE the dang document!

I can't even explain how this happened.

There is probably some technological-mac answer.

But...here's my explanation:

One of my students told me I sucked today (awesome, right?).

I think this was God telling me, "Hey Kel?  You don't suck. Here's that lost document."

I'm going to bed with a happy little heart.

THANK YOU, MIRACLES!

Quick.

A really quick post since they have been lacking this week:

All I have to say is that I am so grateful for my husband.

When I come home from a hard day of teaching (so many stories to come) and am just about ready to quit and give up, Taylor pulls my crying self off of the couch and says, "It's milkshake time."

I sense a lot of "milkshake times" with my sweet husband the next few weeks.

A perfect therapy session: I cry about my day while he patiently listens, holds my hand, and says, "Tomorrow is another day."

And because of him, I will be ready for every tomorrow.

We created the world.

Blog posts are way behind.

I have been SO busy with the start of school.

I didn't quite realize how crazy everything would be.

All last week, I was at orientation for teaching.

I learned a lot.

And found out a lot of things I had to do that I didn't think about.

Which added to the stress load.

But...I made it through the week.

Today was the first day of school for the students.

Man. I have lots of stories about that.

But, that will come in the next post.

This post is dedicated to something a little different:

our Friday night beast.

So. I bought a huge map mural to put in my classroom.

It's 9ft by 13ft!

(it's awesome! you can even write with whiteboard markers on it!)

I asked Taylor if he would come down to my school on Friday to help me put it up.

Of course, he agreed.

I thought it would take us mayyybe 45 minutes, and then we could enjoy a nice date night together in Salt Lake City.

I was so wrong.

We started at 3:30, and didn't leave until 8:30.

It was an absolute nightmare!

What I didn't realize:

This map came in eight different panels.

We had to make a paste for the map.

We had to wait 10 minutes after pasting each panel to hang it on the wall.

(and we couldn't paste ahead...because each one could only be sitting for 10 minutes before it was hung on the wall...and hanging each panel took a good 20 minutes for each one).

Meet the beast:

All the panels lined up.

You had to match up each panel EXACTLY.  And that was unbelievably hard to do. Matching up city names and latitude/longitude lines was near impossible.

Hence: Birmingham is now Birminam. Hawaiian Islands is now Hawn slds. Mexico is now Mxxico.

It's confusing. But take my word for it.

You can only see the mistakes from up close. And only if I point them out. But still.

OCD Kelli and OCD Taylor were having a hayday over it all.

(oh, and let's just say Project Kelli and Project Taylor sometimes don't get along very well.  We have very different ideas of how to do things like this, and we are both perfectionists....so...you can imagine the funny squabbles. ;))

Anyyyways. Putting together this map turned into our Friday night "date."

We did treat ourselves to some fabulous wings after. Which were so YUM.

I really have a love/hate relationship with this map.

At least the students think it's cool.

By ends night, we decided we actually felt accomplished.

I mean...

Taylor and I CREATED THE WORLD!

In just five hours!

;)

Marci.

My sister Marci is officially moved back to Sacramento.

I said goodbye to her on Tuesday night.  

That was a tearful goodbye.

As I cried a little in bed that night, I was reminded of another night, almost exactly five years ago, when I cried in bed over missing my big sister.

That was the night Marci left for BYU.

Marci and I were inseparable in high school.

When she left for college, it was so hard for me.

Then, two years later, when I moved out to Utah, we got to live in the same state again!

Ever since I moved to Utah, Marci has been here with me.

She took such good care of me, and always looked out for me.

I'll miss all of our many sister outings:

glitter toes, shopping, frozen yogurt, parade of homes, and so many more!

I am going to stop typing before I get too emotional all over again.

Let's end this post with some pictures taken throughout the years:

Thanks for everything, M.

Already miss you, Tom, and Baby J.

xoxo

A little love code

The other night I made a love-note for my one and only.
But this wasn't just any love-note.
This love-note was in code.

...Just for fun :)

I took a book (one of our antique looking ones that we have on display for decoration) and circled words throughout the book.

I wrote down the page number that corresponded to each word.

Then, I left the book and code-breaker on the bed for Taylor to find and solve.

Each page number has a circled word for him to find. Get it?

It was so fun watching him solve it.

And he absolutely loved it!

I love finding small and creative ways to tell my husband how much I love him.

And this one did just the trick.

A Parking Story

Let me tell you a story.

I'm awful at parking.

While dating, Taylor used to laugh at me and my parking skills (or complete lack thereof).

But Taylor has realized that it's come to the point that "laughing about it" isn't cutting it anymore.

So, he has resorted to re-teaching me how to park.

I pretty much get a little lesson every time we are about to park.

I act like I'm really paying attention and really focused on his parking lectures, but secretly, I am holding back my laughter until he gets out of the car. 

Because really...how ridiculous is this situation?

I am 21 years old, and my husband is teaching me how to park a car.

 And the saddest part?

I desperately need these lessons.

Don't believe me?

Take a look for yourself:

Taylor is trying to measure how far away I was from the curb....ha.

New day....same parking problem.

Taylor reparking the car.

I don't have a picture of trying to park in a parking lot.

But just imagine this little scene:

Taylor holding his breath and saying, "Think skinny thoughts, think skinny thoughts" every time he tries to get out of the car.

A debacle that usually lasts a good minute or two, because he is being so careful not to hit the car next to us with his door.

I tend to park very close to the car on the right-hand side of us.

Whoops. Sorry, Tay.

Oh, and look what I have:

A video of Taylor teaching me how to park so that he has enough room to park his truck behind my car.

Enjoy!

The theme of this little saga?

I am awful at parking.

And Taylor is significantly embarrassed.

The end.

Back to School

On Monday, I start orientation for teaching.

The students start the following Monday, the 27th.

Am I nervous?

You bet.

Am I overwhelmed?

You bet.

Am I stressed?

You bet.

Am I excited?

You better believe it!

Last night, I had a small emotional breakdown.  I am so overwhelmed with everything that I want to have done before school starts.

Thank goodness for my sweet husband during times like this.

Who held me while I cried and didn't stop holding me until he had successfully put a smile on my face.

When I wanted to keep preparing and planning through the late hours of the night, Taylor played the "Dad role" and set a 30 minute timer.  He told me that I had to be in bed by the time that timer went off.  

Thank goodness he listens when my body is pleading for sleep, because I often ignore the pleadings completely when I have a "To-Do List."

Have I mentioned how grateful I am for Taylor? So grateful.

I am starting to realize that I will forever be indebted to this wonderful man.

Back to School isn't all bad though...because Back to School also means Back to School SHOPPING!

Growing up, we always got a few new outfits, maybe a backpack, and a new pair of shoes before the first day of school.  And now that I have a "first day of school" all over again, I decided that I once again qualify for back to school shopping!

Marci and I went shopping earlier this week, and I found a few gems.

Notice the jewelry galore.  That was mostly what I was looking for, since my wardrobe is already significant. Ha

I was also looking for some more slacks/dress pants.  But I always have the hardest time finding any that fit me.  They usually need to be hemmed (which isn't a big deal), but they are also usually so baggy in the thighs.  Dress pants are meant to be flowy, but when you're 5'1" and have miniature thighs like I do, the flowy pants look more like a trash bag than anything else.  Awesome.

So I didn't have any luck finding pants this go around.

But then, a few days later, I went to D.I. to find a globe, and I noticed racks upon racks of dress pants.  So I decided to give it a shot.  And I left the store with 3 darling dress pants that fit me perfectly! Some other shorty out there had already had them hemmed to perfection!  They are in mint condition, and to top it off, I left the store with 3 dress pants and a skirt for $22!  Why am I not shopping there everyday?

Love me a good deal.

Oh, and we can't forget the new sperrys that should be coming in the mail today :)

My sweet mother-in-law saw this lunchbag in the store and got it for me!  It's even insulated on the inside!  Isn't it darling?

This is Taylor's favorite corner of the house....not.  All of my school supplies/decorations ready to go into my new classroom!

These colored felt pens are easily my favorite purchase.

Alright, enough procrastinating.  Time to start planning some more. 

Back to school I go!

Wednesday night love and a splendid Thursday morning

Last night, the sibs and I went to Cory and Kirsten's wedding reception.

(We grew up with Cory in Sacramento)

And my goodness, this reception was beautiful!

And the couple was glowing with love.

Have you ever met a couple and just thought, "Oh my, they are absolutely perfect for each other!"

Well, that was what was on my mind the whole night.

And I'm sure it was on everyone else's too.

They are each other's match. No doubt about it!

I love weddings. I love happiness. I love love.

And here's the happy couple:

My good friends from high school, Anja (sister of the groom) and Danni, came out for the wedding. It was SO fun seeing them. Love these girls!

Here's Dan holding baby Jack. Anja was making a face to show how she feels about babies...but my phone camera didn't capture it too well :/

 The whole night felt like a small Sacramento reunion. 

I loved every second!

And Wednesday night turned into an awesome Thursday morning.

After my morning run, I got to come home to this sweet babe:

M, T & J spent the night last night since they are all moved out of their apartment and off to California in just a few short days.  I loved holding the babes this morning and watching his funny little movements. I am going to miss little J so much!

Then, I treated myself to this:

A double chocolatey chip! My very favorite.

Dear Thursday:

You've started out great. 

And I know you will end great.

Why?

Because you and I will be at H&M tonight.

Enough said.

Wing Tuesday

I've been meaning to blog about this for awhile now:

A few weeks ago, the sibs and I went to the best wing place.

And we went on .50 cent Tuesday, which made it even better.

I was sad Taylor couldn't join us, because wings are his favorite thing ever.

For awhile, we had a tradition of "wing Sunday."  Every Sunday for lunch, we would cook up some BBQ wings.

But, I got tired of that pretty quickly. Sorry, Tay. 

Anyways, this wing place was so yummy. 

I had so much fun spending the afternoon with my siblings.
I can't believe that Marci and Tom move back to California in just a few days. 

Ever since I've lived in Utah, they've lived here too.  It will be so weird without them!

More about that later though...

Here are some pictures of our wing Tuesday.

Here's M&T.  This was the weekend before little Jack was born!

Here's Rachel, my beautiful sister-in-law!

Wings galore!

Hair pulled back, and ready to go!

Okay...so these were everyone's bones...not just mine. But still...this face shows how I was feeling after 5 wings! (I have a little tummy!)

Boy, did I love that place.
And, there's nothing better than looking back on memories spent with family.

August 6th

On August 6th, 2011, Taylor Ray got down on one knee and asked me a question I was so excited to say "yes" to.

The cute boy had me completely fooled.  I thought for sure, I would know when he was going to propose.  But he did such a good job at fooling me the entire day!

I'll have to have a blog post dedicated to that story.

See here for more details on our love story :)

Taylor proposed to me at the beautiful Stewart Falls.  We decided after we got engaged, that we would make it a tradition to hike Stewart Falls every year on August 6th.  No matter where we are in life, no matter what state we may be living in, I plan to take a trip to Utah to hike Stewart Falls on August 6th, until my limbs are too weak to make the memory-filled hike.

Here are pictures of Taylor and I celebrating our one year engagement anniversary at the top of Stewart Falls.  There was no one around to take a picture of us, so we struggled taking a good phone picture of the two of us together. But, here are our best attempts:

You know you spend too much time with someone when you make the exact same face, completely on accident, in a picture!

Hi, pretty ring!

Taylor's showing off his muscles...I'm just pointing to the waterfalls. Haha

Thanks, husband.

Don't really know what's happening here, but this one made me laugh.

Look closely... see that water bottle in the brush? Taylor and I joked that this was the same water bottle that I dropped from excitement after he proposed.  Ha...it very well might be! (see video at the end of this post and watch for the water bottle drop!)

As we were huffing while hiking, Taylor jokingly turned to me and said, "Why didn't I propose to you on a wave-runner?"

I could not stop laughing after that.

He told me that after years and years of hiking this, our future boys would ask him (in their best whining voices), "Dad, why did you have to propose to Mom at the top of a mountain?"

And Dad will reply, "So I could teach you how not to propose. I did it for you, boys."

Haha...even though he joked about it, we both loved every second of reliving such a beautiful memory. :)

Here is the video of that special day one year ago :)

Dear husband, Thank you so much for proposing to me. Thank you for giving me the most beautiful ring. Thank you for being my very best friend and eternal companion through this life. Thank you for making me want to be a better person every day. I love you.
"Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same." -Emily Bronte