Cuddling in a storm

Saturday night at around 4am,  I woke up to the sound of rain outside of our bedroom window.

I absolutely love rain, so it was a treat to drift back to sleep to the sound of it.

Then, both Taylor and I were startled awake when thunder shook the whole house!

Our window shook so violently, I thought it would break!

Taylor scooted closer to me and held me in his arms as we lay awake listening to the sound of rain and thunder through our open window.

Every few seconds, the lightening would light up our whole room.

I've never experienced anything quite like that.  

The thunder and lightening were so close!

Everyone was talking about the storm the next morning.

Some talked about how frightened they were, others said they were annoyed that they were woken up.

 But me?

I loved every second.

I loved having the small opportunity to lay in my husband's arms and once again realize how grateful I am that I get to be with him for eternity!

And how lucky I am to sleep next to him every night.

I was absolutely overwhelmed with gratitude.

And I still am.

Life, you are wonderful.
xoxo

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!

Happy birthday...kind of.

Last Wednesday was Taylor's 23rd birthday!

But, since I was at girls camp, we celebrated it two days early.

(How much of a bummer that I missed his first birthday as a married couple?)

I told Taylor that I would be thinking about him all day on his actual birthday.

I didn't even have phone service to wish him a happy birthday.

But I wished him happy birthday lots of times in my head. :)

To make myself feel better for missing his birthday, I told Taylor that I was going to pretend in my head that the day we celebrated was his actual birthday.

I greeted him in the morning with a "Good morning, birthday boy!"

And called him that multiple times throughout the day.

I even sang "Happy Birthday" to him over and over.

Taylor would always respond with "kind of."

For example:

Me: "Good morning, birthday boy!"

Taylor: "Kind of."

or

Me: "Happy birthday!"

Taylor: "Thanks...kind of."

or

Me: "Today is your birthday! Yay!"

Taylor: "Kind of."

or

Me: "Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Taylor! Happy birthday to you!"

Taylor: "Kind of."

It kind of just became the running joke for the day. He'd put on his sly side-smile every time he'd respond with his "kind of."  Thank goodness that my sweet husband was so patient with me and my silly ways.

Here's the nerd in me: It is always so hard for me to keep gifts a secret. After buying his gifts, I would tell him over and over again how excited I was for him to open them. Then I would tell him what his presents were in a gibberish/mumbled tone so that he couldn't understand. For some reason, it made keeping the secret easier. ;) I was sooo excited for him to finally open his gifts!

Here are some pictures of our "kind of" celebration:

The "kind of" birthday boy with his presents ;)

His new spiffy sports coat :)

Keeping with tradition. Every year on his birthday, I make him a photo book of the things I'll always remember from the past year.  The first year I made it for him, he asked me to make one every year, because he loved it so much. :)

Happy birthday (kind of) to my wonderful husband, my very best friend, and the man of my dreams.
I am so lucky to be spending this life with you.
I love you!

Winning.

I got to spend all of yesterday with my wonderful family.

We had so much fun!

But for some reason, my back was killing me all day.

Before going to bed last night, I asked Taylor if he would give me a back massage.

Of course he agreed.  But he said, "If you can find the Deep Blue Rub, then I will give you a massage that lasts twice as long."

Deep Blue Rub is a doTERRA product that we LOVE.  We just bought a new bottle a couple of weeks ago, but then it suddenly disappeared and was no where to be found.  Taylor has looked for it almost every night (since he loves using it), but has yet to find it.

Of course, I was now determined to find it.

Taylor left the bedroom as I was frantically looking everywhere for the dang bottle.

And then...within probably three minutes of Taylor making this deal, I ran out of the bedroom, DEEP BLUE RUB IN HAND.

Victory!  I had found it!

Taylor could NOT believe that I had found it so fast.

I was so excited and hyper for the next ten minutes or so, because I was about to get a dang good back massage! 

Here are some pictures documenting my victory:

Yep, I'm definitely winning.

And...the massage was well worth it!

Thanks, Taylor!

Proposal Round 2

Late last night, Taylor asked me if I wanted to go on a drive with him.

We used to go on drives through the canyon all of the time when we were dating, so I jumped at his offer as soon as he asked.

After driving for a little while, Taylor pulled over.

We sat on the side of the road and talked for a little while.

Then Taylor reached his hand into his shirt pocket, pulled out a wooden ring, and said,

"Kelli Davis, will you go camping with me?"

Taylor and I have always thought it would be awesome to get wooden rings to wear when we go camping. 

And this sweet boy went out and made it happen. 

(he even remembered my ring size! ;)) 

It was such a cute moment.  I had so many butterflies.
I even got a sweet kiss when I said, "Yes!" :)

My husband is secretly the biggest romantic.  And I love it.

Aren't these awesome?

And here we are, excitedly showing them off.

I love my wooden ring. And I love my sweet husband. :)

Reunited!

Taylor and I are reunited...and it feels great!

So happy to have him home with me again!

I gave him a huge hug when I saw him...even though he was smelly....

I guess that's what a week at scout camp will do to you!

I'm happy to report that he no longer smells.

Showers are good.

Pre-shower Taylor:

Look at that scruff!

Post-shower! He's clean!

Dear Taylor: So happy you are back with me again. You truly are my better half!

Tomorrow is the day :)

Tomorrow is the day my sweet husband finally comes home!
I have officially started to count down the hours.
I simply cannot wait to see him, jump in his arms, and give him one giant kiss!

I've been treating myself to lots of different things this week to keep my mind occupied.
Lots of ice cream (as seen here and here)
and a wonderful pedicure yesterday:

Loving this fun summer color!

Hey, take a look at this cute Gilbert family picture! Mama Gilbert just got the pictures back, and this one is easily the favorite.

Love me some of that Gilb fam. :)

Tomorrow!!

2.5 days to go!

I am sooo ready for Taylor to come home.

I have been keeping myself busy, but I sure do miss that handsome boy.

Yesterday, Regs and I went to Yogurtland (our very favorite).

(She always gets something fruity...but I can never tear myself away from the chocolatey goodness)

And we took our cute little neighbor friend, Brooke.

That little girl has one sense of humor.  She kept us laughing the whole time.

I am going to miss the day when I don't live across the street from:

Ma and Pa Gilb

my best friend and sister, Regan

and all of the cute little neighbor kids.

When Taylor and I were doing our wedding registry at Target, I registered for a two-step stool.

Taylor looked at me and said, "Seriously?  Why are you registering for a stool?"

Me: "Well, you haven't lived the life of a 5'1" person. This is something I need on a daily basis!"

Since we've been married, I've rarely used it.  And not because everything is low...we sure have some high cabinets.  But because, when I can't reach something, I just ask Taylor, "Hey, can I use your height real quick?"  And he'll get whatever I need down from the unreachable high places (and he never even has to use tippy-toes! I'm always amazed!).

Taylor took this picture awhile ago to document the one time he's actually seen me use the stool, that I "supposedly needed on a daily basis." ;)  

Don't tell Taylor this, but when he's not looking, sometimes I climb up on the counter and purposefully put things on the very top shelf in the very back of everything else (it's usually always the chocolate chips).  Then I'll say, "Hey Taylor? Can I use your height real quick? I need those chocolate chips way back there." Why do I do this?  I'm determined to see him use his tippy-toes one day to reach something!  Hasn't happened yet...

Still trying.

Anyways, the point of this little saga: in the last three days, I've used that stool more than I've used it in the last nine months! Why?  Taylor left and took his height with him.

Dear Taylor: I'm ready for you to come home so I can put this stool away.  I like using your height better :)

Summer nights.

Gotta love those summer nights that consist of America's pastime with the fam. 

Look at those mountains! Why is Utah so beautiful?

My toes and Regan's legs.  So wonderfully relaxing.

Here's Regs and me at the game.  This summer we may be at baseball games, but next summer we'll be backpacking through Europe! We can't wait!

Last night, this cute girl, stayed the night with me.  

We are showing off our matching earrings in this picture.

We talked for hours and had such a fun time.  And I loved it because I didn't have to sleep in an empty house.  Her name is Ashley, and she is possibly one of my favorite people in the world.

Dear Tay: I really wish you had cell phone service.

Another day down!

A week alone

Yesterday, at 5:30am, Taylor left for scout camp (he's a young men's leader for our church, so he went with the boys).

And he'll be gone for a whole week.

He doesn't come back until Saturday.

This is the longest we have been apart since we have known each other.
The worst part is that he doesn't even have cell phone service. So not only is it the longest we will go without seeing each other, it's definitely going to be the longest without talking to each other!

So I'm already going a little crazy ;)

Luckily, the Gilbs live right across the street. So I'm not totally alone.

I made Taylor pose for me on Sunday night when he put on his scout shirt.

 my little eagle scout :)

I may or may not have shed a few tears over the fact that he was leaving.

Why am I so pathetic?

I guess love will do that to you.

Taylor laughed at me and then just held me, and told me he would miss me a lot too.

Thanks, husband. For not laughing too hard. Because I know it was probably really lame.

After work yesterday, I went and purchased this.

You know, to help me get through the week. ;)

Falling asleep in an empty bed is the worst!

Lately I have been having the worst nightmares. I can't seem to catch a break. 

I wake up really scared (and a little disturbed) and say Taylor's name to wake him up.  He knows just why I'm saying his name (because I seem to have this problem every night lately), and so he scoots closer to me and helps me fall back asleep.  I am so grateful I have him there.  I was a little scared to fall asleep last night, because I knew Taylor wouldn't be there to comfort me.

I prayed over and over again and asked not to have nightmares.

And guess what? I didn't have a single nightmare!

Just dreams about a cute little dog named Bowzie. Weird, right?

But I was very grateful for that dream and for cute little Bowzie.

Dear Tay: miss you lots!

Day one and night one down. 

Let the countdown begin!

Thank you.

Yesterday late afternoon, I suddenly felt overwhelmingly nauseous.

(no, I'm not pregnant)

I was trying to hold it together at work and pound out the last two hours,

but finally had to bail and go home.

On the way home, I was trying really hard to focus on the songs on the radio, and not on the fact that I was about to lose my lunch (ravioli to be exact).

But, that was to no avail.

Because I had to pull over on the side of the road, and throw up for all passerby's to see.

The ravioli wasn't pretty.

I thought about taking a picture, but I wanted to get back in the car and drive home more. 

Then I thought, "Who really wants to see a picture of this?" 

So, lucky you. No picture. 

Anyways, I laid in bed for the rest of the afternoon and evening, and slept my nausea away (mostly).

My husband was so worried about me, and it was really sweet. He wanted to do everything he could to help me feel better.

It reminded me of a time about two months after we got married:

I had a really bad UTI (#typicalmormongirlproblems).

Taylor kept telling me to go to the doctor, but I insisted that I was just fine.

Then, my kidneys started to hurt, and I was throwing up like crazy.  So I decided going to the doctor would be a good idea. 

It was actually the same week as finals...so, as you can imagine, this was an awesome week for me.

Not.

After throwing up all day, I fell asleep on the couch in the living room at around 7pm.

When I woke up at two in the morning, my sweet husband was laying on the floor next to the couch, fast asleep.

Even though there was another couch about four feet away, he chose to sleep on the ground, so he could be right next to me to help me if I needed it.

I was overwhelmed with gratitude for this wonderful man.

I woke up again at six in the morning. 

He was still there, on the ground.

And he was holding my hand.

Yesterday morning, I made a list of chores I wanted to get done that evening (you know, before I knew that I'd end up getting sick).

I obviously didn't make it to that chore list.

But when I woke up this morning, the list was gone.

And everything that I had on the list had been done.

Leprechauns? Angels? Little mice?

No.

 Just my wonderful husband.

My wonderful husband who cared for me until I fell asleep.

And then started on that chore list. 

And didn't finish until the whole list was complete...even though he was up until 12:30am doing it, and had to work early the next morning.

But he wanted to make sure everything on that list was finished.

Just for me.

Growing up, my dad used to always "baby" me and my siblings when we weren't feeling well.

When we were sick, he would make sure our beds were just how we liked them.

He would call to check up on us (if he was at work), or come into our rooms (if he was home) to make sure we were doing okay.

He would even give us a bell to put on our nightstands.

If we needed anything, we just had to ring the bell, and he'd come.

Awesome, right?

We only got this treatment if we were sick though. ;)

He'd buy us a Jamba Juice if our throats hurt, some 7-up and crackers if our stomachs hurt, and even milkshakes if our hearts hurt.

I love getting taken care of when I'm sick.

I got spoiled when I was a kid. 

By my wonderful daddy.

And I'm getting spoiled as an adult.

By my wonderful husband.

How did I get so lucky?

Still trying to figure this out.

Thank you, Dad.

Thank you, husband.

I love you both.

Giant Jenga + Some

Taylor and I had such an awesome weekend.  

On Friday, we got to tour the Jerusalem set in Utah, where movies like this are being filmed.  It was built just over a year ago, so very few have seen it (plus, you have to know someone involved to get a tour), so we felt very lucky to have the opportunity! Thank goodness that Papa Gilbert seems to have all of the connections.  I took some awesome pictures, but no pictures are allowed to be posted until the filming is complete.  I figured I should obey the rule. ;)

On Saturday, I came home to find this:

When my diploma came in the mail, Taylor hid it until he could buy some frames to surprise me.  Good thing I didn't even think to wonder why my diploma hadn't come yet.  This put a huge smile on my face for three reasons:

1. I have a DIPLOMA from BYU! It feels awesome.

2. My husband was so proud of me (once again) for accomplishing this, and he told me over and over again. That felt great. :)

3. My sweet husband is always thinking of cute ways to make me happy.

SO much good food was had this weekend.  My favorites consisting of Outback and Red Robin.  We're still trying to plow through the massive amounts of giftcards we received from our wedding.  And we're still so grateful...because we had great excuses to eat at yummy places all weekend long (and for the past eight months)!

The Gilbert sibs at Red Robin.  The picture was for Ms. Kelsey Briggs, because we all miss her.  ...She's pretty much a Gilbert in our minds.

This weekend also consisted of a lot of giant jenga.  How awesome is this?

And, see videos to appreciate the greatness of it all:

hiya=favorite part ;)

And last, but not least...well, actually it probably deserves to be least, here are my faces while waiting for Taylor to finish getting ready for church on Sunday. 

All in all, our weekend was great.

Brothers.

This sight made my heart happy yesterday:

Taylor and his brother, Seth, playing video games at our house.  It makes me so happy to see the two of them finally reunited.  So glad Tay finally has his brother back.  We just love Seth!

It's going to be a hot week (finally!)...I'm ready to sit out by a pool and enjoy summer. :)