shameless

remember the time I didn't blog all summer?

oh yeah, that's now.

And I really have no excuse.

I've had all the time in the world.

But I'm pretty sure my week doesn't make for great blog posts.

most of my days consist of:

2-3 hours of Pretty Little Liars (pantsless of course) &

2-3 hours of sitting by the pool

and shamelessly eating 4-6 fresh chocolate chip cookies (...everyday)

...let's just say, that buying a tub of cookie dough was a huge mistake when all I do is sit at home all day. ha!

and then, I anxiously wait for taylor to come home, so we can go play with our friends or do some other "summery" thing.

I really thought that within a few days of this little life, I'd get bored.

buuuut, it's day 8 of this life, and I'm still happy as a clam.

(are clams really happy?)

taylor makes fun of me every day.
first for being pantsless every time he walks in
(and if you've followed my blog for awhile, you know how much I shamelessly hate pants)
then for the cookie pan sitting on top of the stove
and then for me having the most cushiony life ever.

but...he also asks for updates on Pretty Little Liars every day.
so there's that.

the suspense of the show has gotten to him too. ha!

that show is addicting!

anyone else addicted?

okay, so basically, I'm still alive.

I'm having a little ball all on my lonesome.

and sometimes I cook really good lunches

(topped off with fresh cookies, of course)

oh and I also ordered the cutest tops from j.crew, and it's pretty awesome to get packages in the middle of the day.

and also, my back feels broken from crossfit yesterday.

oh, but hey!

tonight we are going camping!

and i've got my favorite wooden ring on for proof!

I think my favorite part about doing anything woodsy is getting to pull out our wooden rings.

see here to see the day taylor proposed to me with a wooden ring ;)

and since I don't have a single other picture to share with you on this post, why not two more "wooden ring" pictures for good measure?

I hope you all have a great weekend!

we're gonna stomp off into the woods & i'm going to try to stop taylor from chopping down every tree around while I eat 10 million s'mores.

one last newport post!

on one of our last nights in newport, taylor and I decided to take a night walk on the beach.

it was technically closed, but we decided to be little rebels anyway. ;)

the night was so perfect and so fun--just us, the waves, and a full moon.

the part of the beach we went to was down a big hill.

(it's a smaller beach, with only one entrance...which is important information for the story i'm about to share ;))

the tide was coming in super high, and as we walked along, we had to keep hopping up on the rocks and getting as close to the hill as we could so we wouldn't get hit by the waves.

we were laughing so hard (and i was screaming and squealing) every time a big wave came--we had to practically rock-climb up the hill to not get wet.

but, after going down the beach a ways, we looked back to where the entrance was-and realized that if we didn't turn back now, there was no way we would make it back without practically swimming our way to the entrance.

the tide was sooo high that we basically had no beach. 

we were just jumping from rock to rock to try not to get wet.

we waited a few seconds for the waves to calm down, and then taylor yelled, "GO!"

and we booked (jumping from rock to rock) as we tried to beat the next huge wave.

it was possibly the funniest + scariest moment ever.

when we finally got back to the entrance and climbed back to the top, we just sat there panting and completely out of breath.

then thinking how ridiculous the whole plight was, we couldn't help but break into uncontrollable laughter.

i think we learned why this part of the beach was closed at night...

and yay! we are alive.

except for taylor's leather sperry's.

RIP.

then, we sat on a bench up on the hill looking out into the ocean while we took these really bad quality pictures.

but even with the bad quality, I really think these might be my favorite pictures of the whole trip.

that night was just all around one of those memories you know you'll always remember.

and if I had to be swallowed by the waves that night--couldn't think of a better buddy to do it with ;)

oh and hey!

pier pictures on a freezing evening!

on our last day in newport, we decided to have a relaxing day by the pool.

the pool area in this resort was ahhhmayyzing.

and we kind of died over the peach smoothies.

aaand this is the only picture I have of that day:

 and after all of my pestering, on our last night we finally made a stop at seaside donuts at 11:30pm.

i don't even like donuts.

but I have heard so much about this place, that I was dying to try it out.

especially their famous cronuts.

i'm happy to report that the cronut was delicious, and also, I felt a little sick after eating it so fast.

....and I regretted buying $10 worth of donuts.

but they looked so good and they are so cheap!

but after stuffing my face with the cronut, I remembered why I don't really like donuts.

soooo muchhh sugarrrrr.

we may or may not have thrown a bag of donuts away the next morning.

(sorry seaside donuts)

if you're in newport, you definitely have to go there!

and they are open 24 hours! double bonus!

 and how could I end this post without yet another bad quality picture?

dear newport: we love and miss you! thanks for showing us SUCH a great time!

dear mom and dad gilbert: thanks for an incredible vacation!

dear taylor: thanks for letting me buy $10 worth of donuts and only making fun of me a little bit for it.

sandcastles and more boogie-ing (part 2)

our next few days in newport involved even more beach time!

i could sit there forever in the warm sun reading and napping.

i am currently reading night circus. 

has anyone read it?

i would definitely recommend it.

on our last day on the beach, taylor finally convinced me to help him build sandcastles.

i swear i married a 10 year old (don't worry, i'm fairly certain that he is actually 25, not 10)

he loves all things "little boy" ha!

the funniest part of the day was when taylor longingly looked at the "sandcastle kits" that the kids next to us had.

I swear if it weren't for my watchful eye, he would have swiped them when he had the chance.

i've never seen him more jealous of anything in his life!

so...I present to you our sandcastle city!

all of the rookie parts, like the misshapen lumps and random triangle sticks are my doing.

taylor built the moat, the little stick fence, the arena (steps and flags on the inside!...should have gotten a better picture..it's the one on the right) and all of the flags on top of the building. you can't really tell, but he tied seaweed to the tops of the sticks to make the flags!

besides the part where I was really mad at the little kids who stomped it to the ground, it was actually pretty fun to build.

It was an interesting day: I had to stop taylor from stealing from the kids--and he had to stop me from beating those same kids up.

he was holding me back saying, "it's okay, kells. that's what happens to sandcastles. they're just kids!"

...i was a little ticked.

it was the first real sandcity I built, and I was proud of those misshapen lumps!

but whatever.

i'm almost over it now. 

every evening, we would find the best little dinner places.

i will share the "must-eat" places tomorrow!

because we ate some food that my mouth is STILL watering over.

and a few updates that are not about the trip:

1. I went to my first crossfit class on monday night. it was just a "ramp up" class where you learn the moves, so I haven't gotten into anything real yet. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but I've been hearing so many things lately (positive and negative) that I decided I wanted to form my own opinion.

...also, there was a groupon.

and I'm a sucker for groupon.

so there's that...

2. it has been RAINY the past two days.

which is pretty depressing coming home from the beach...

but it also means that I don't have to wake up at 7am to go running.

I can sleep in until 9:30 and it's still nice and cool.

kinda loving it.

but also, bye tan.

3. i may have spent too much money on clothes yesterday.

not sure if taylor knows or not...

4. I think he will forgive me when he comes home today and sees that I've ironed 22 of his dress shirts.

22!! TWENTY TWO!

they were sitting in a pile waiting to be ironed (he may have about 3000 dress shirts), and I finally decided, "oh, hey, i'm not doing anything but sitting at home all day. I guess I can iron them for him..."

so HI netflix and HI burn on my thumb.

I suck at ironing.

5. my first week of summer I was studying for that praxis test and getting ready to go on our trip.

the second week of summer we were in newport having the time of our lives.

so I've dedicated this week to only doing what I want, when I want.

a few target trips (on the daily)

netflix

reading

napping

making cookies

basically...being a stay at home wife is pretty spectacular.

in fact, i did all of the laundry on monday night, and left a HUGE pile in the living room of all of the clothes. I told taylor, "i have allll day to fold those puppies tomorrow." (clothes, not actual puppies p.s.)

then when he came home yesterday, the massive pile was still sitting there.

and taylor said, "kells, I'm confused. what did you do all day?"

me: "tay, I didn't have to do ANYTHING today. NOTHING. and I didn't want to ruin that by having to do something...like fold clothes. so I took a nap in the laundry instead."

it happened.

oh, and mom, don't worry. 

the clothes got folded this morning and are neatly put away.

buuuuut, even though this week has been great, I still miss this:

one more newport post to come tomorrow!

xoxo

Newport (part 1!)

I want to cry, because blogging about this trip means that it's over.

it was SUCH a dreamy vacation!

we have been looking forward to it for months, and man! 

it exceeded all expectations.

big thanks to mom and dad gilbert for making this trip possible.

we got really spoiled!

we stayed in marriott's newport coast villas--and I totally recommend it!

the resort was beautiful: ocean views, five minute walk to the beach, and had everything you could possibly need for a vacation.

our whole week was incredibly relaxing.

lots of beach time (my very favorite), games, and nightly jacuzzi visits.

first, i must start with this picture to give you a small idea of how fun this family is.

if you zone out for a second, you'll miss a billion witty comments, puns, and jokes.

it is constant with these gilbies, i tell ya.

on our first night there, we headed down to the beach for a few hours.

 we played volleyball, flew kites, and relaxed.

and man. I'm saying it again: i have the most fun in-laws ever.

 you can't really tell in this picture, but this kite is GIANT.

the first thing taylor did was pull this bad boy out and start flying.

he would have sat there for hours flying that kite.

buuuut, i kinda messed up his plans: he let me have a turn, and of course, within about five seconds, I crashed it right into the ocean.

it was a little too wet and heavy to lift off again.

whoooops.

sorry about that, tay. ;) 

and how cute are seth and his girlfriend?

it's so fun having all of us kids so close in age!

taylor was good about inviting me on long walks while we were at the beach.

he knows the way to my heart!

and during those walks we got to talk about all kinds of things--life is pretty great with this guy!

 oh and I pretty much DIED every morning.

I got to run right on the beach. it was so beautiful.

and I stopped every once and awhile to just sit and enjoy.

the beach was empty and quiet, except for me and a few runners.

it was seriously a little piece of heaven.

it made waking up before everyone just a little better when I knew what my destination was.

 you better believe that on day 2, we were at the beach first thing!

we really like to boogie board.

but i give up when the waves pull me under and drag my chin along the sand.

hiiiii chin burn!

also, i am LOVING my new headwraps from mint and arrows.

order a few--you won't be sorry!

 the next day, dad gilbert convinced us all to go to knot's berry farm

 do I look a little pale?

that's because I got sick.

do I look a little short?

that's because of my mom and dad.

I told taylor I might be momming-out next year.

(if you notice from the picture above, mom gilbert could not be convinced to come)

I can't do roller-coasters like I used to.

I was sad for a second--before I realized that mama gil was sitting by the pool all day while we were riding coasters.

and then I realized, momming-out doesn't sound so bad after all...

and dear MOM, I am slowly becoming as bad as you with motion sickness.

did you know I threw up on the first day after being in the car for 10 hours?

xoxo, your bitter daughter

i've got another picture overload coming your way tomorrow!

we miss you already, newport!

oh, hi. remember me?

oh guess what?

i'm alive!

today marks day #5 of summer break.

and it's already going by way too fast!

this last week has been craaaazy! I seriously have been go-go-go 24/7, with a to-do list a million miles long.

I haven't had a single second yet to just SIT and think about the fact that I'm not working right now!

next week, while we lay on my sunny california beaches, I'll get a chance to soak it alllll in!

but, here's a recap of what's been happening the last few days:

+ I have to take my last praxis test on saturday (a test for teachers). and this one is extremely stupid. it's all about "teaching theories" and "hypothetical situations." I just finished taking a practice test and was baffled at some of the "right" answers. There are even questions on there about best practices for elementary classes, when the test is specifically for grades 7-12. dumb.

Let's play a game. Here's an example question--you tell me what the answer is:

"A high school class is holding a review for their upcoming history test. They have a large amount of information to cover in one class period.  How should their teacher respond to correct answers?"

a. Organize a mock "academic bowl" by grouping students into teams.  The teacher keeps track of correct answers and rewards the winning team with a sweet treat.

b. Follow the format of the test and guide students by indicating which responses are best suited for success on the test

c. Toss out a piece of candy to each student who provides a correct answer

d. Smile and verbally praise students when they provide correct answers

sooo...if you're like me, you chose B. But the correct answer? A! I thought for sure the "sweet treat" would make it an incorrect response.  But in the explanation, they wrote that "sweet treats can encourage motivation and make reviewing a bit more fun." I don't disagree with that--but I also remember a billion lectures in college about how bringing treats to a classroom is against health and safety codes... 

so basically, I'm really frustrated that I have to take a test this stupid. but tomorrow at 10am, I will be officially done with praxis tests! 

+ on monday night, tay and I hosted a bachelorette viewing party with a bunch of our favorite couples. and it was SO fun watching it with everyone and being entertained with sarcastic comments from the husbands. seriously, we are so blessed to have so many good friends and such a fun couple group! it's going to be a new monday night tradition!

+i have been nagging taylor for the past couple of weeks to throw away his oatmeal packets in the morning.  i always find them on the counter, and it drives me insane. true to taylor's character, he decided to take a different route than the one i asked: the past few days, he has left me little notes with the oatmeal packets--and i really just can't complain anymore about him leaving them out.  oh that boy...

+ can you believe that 2years and 8months later, taylor and I are STILL trying to use all of our wedding giftcards? it's insane. we got sooooo many restaurant giftcards--and trust me, they aren't still around for a lack of going out. we go out plenty. but we somehow always forget we have them...until we rediscover them again and it feels like we hit a mini jackpot. aka we just rediscovered our little "drug-wad" of wedding money+giftcards again and are recommitted to trying to use them all up! and luckily, this is my cute date every time:

+the coolest dad ever!

my dad is an EFY session director/teacher and we were lucky enough to have him out in utah at the beginning of this week! it was fun to see him each night and get some one-on-one time with my pops. doesn't happen super often being one of six kids, so I feel pretty lucky when it does. that guy is just the coolest 50-something year old around.

+i'm going to feel like a broken record with this one--but man am I obsessed with mine and taylor's nightly walks.  it's my new favorite tradition, and it is easily my favorite part of the day! especially when tay decides to go in his suit...

+YOU GUYS I officially finished Jillian Michael's 30-day shred on Monday! And I didn't miss a single day (except for sundays!).  I have a testimony of that little 20min workout DVD. I wish I was brave enough to post a before/after.  maybe I will? but I am definitely more toned all around! I coupled it with cardio of my own every day (just a little too addicted to my running to cut it out), but I saw some awesome results at the end of the 30 days! so go find the DVD on amazon and get your butt in shape! and remember my goal of getting a six pack? jillian helped! my abs are slowly coming out to play! my one motivation for abs is to prevent crazy pregnancy weight gain (in the far future of course)! ...you feel me on this one? my number one fear. i will not let pregnancy be an excuse to gain weight! i figure if I say that enough now, then maybe it will work when i'm pregnant? ugh guys. seriously. petrified.

+max texts with my three sisters are possibly one of my favorite things in the world.  it is just a constant conversation.  and anytime I leave my phone for more than ten minutes, I can guarantee to come back to 15+ new messages.  we talk about anything and everything, and it is so fun to be in constant communication with three of my favorite people. 

+oh hey! it is totally possible to have a spotless house when you are a stay-at-home wife! our house has not just been clean this week, but IMMACULATE. like, I actually have time to scrub the stove and clean out the fridge and clean those little pesky corners of the house. i kinda like this gig...

+okay, i know, i know, i brag about tayray just a little too much. but I am just so proud of him for making a little name for himself.  the past couple of weeks, he has had some pretty large companies seek HIM out for some really cool and exciting opportunities.  i'll share more when things are finalized--but man, he is one go-getter.

+and last but not least, we leave for california tomorrow! we aren't going to my dear sacramento (we will mainly be in southern california), but I am so excited to be back in my homestate! I love that little state like you wouldn't believe. and I think a week on the beach sounds incredible.  so if you don't hear from me--that's where i'll be.  but hopefully I can find some time to stop and blog a little here and there.  follow me on instagram for our latest adventures!

you're a trooper if you read this whole post!

thanks for letting me ramble!

xoxo!