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.

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!

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

The Mint Milano Story

Have you ever had these before?

mmm...I absolutely love these cookies.

I lived on them while I was in college. so YUM!

Well let me tell you the story of how I got lucky enough to eat these last week:

When my family was in town, we all decided to go to the BYU creamery for some delicious ice cream.

While there, I saw the milano cookies, and was telling my mom about how those cookies used to be  my everyday meal.

(she's never had them before! I almost died!)

I was telling her how yummy they were, and how her life would never be complete until she tried one.

Well, about ten minutes goes by, and the conversation subject has shifted to something else.

The next thing I know, my dear husband walks around the corner, mint milano cookies (and receipt of purchase) in hand.

He wasn't even part of the conversation! But he overheard us talking, and without saying a word he decided to go buy those cookies for me, right then and there. 

Don't I have the sweetest guy in the world?

I just love him!

...and my stomach loves him too. ;)

That's the kind of person my husband is.  Always surprising me in the littlest and sweetest ways.

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. :)

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 :)

Happy 4th!

Taylor and I had such a wonderful time celebrating the 4th of July yesterday!

So much fun. So much good food. So much family and friends.

Can't get much better than that!

Here are a few pictures from our day:

Hey look! Picture on the left=last year's 4th.
Status: dating.
Picture on the right=this year's 4th.
Status: married!
Awesome.

(p.s. we wore the same shirts on purpose ;))

More pictures AND an awesome video of the whole day (in the process of making it right now!) to come tomorrow!

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.

The desired forgettable, yet unforgettable moments of marriage, Part 2

Part 2 of the desired forgettable, yet unforgettable moments of marriage is here!

See this if you missed part 1. Hopefully, you won't regret taking a moment to read that one first before you plunge ahead to this post.

Let's refresh what this post is about: 

We all have these moments, don't we?  You know, the moments that you never want to relive.  The moments that you pray everyone will forget.  The moments that make your cheeks turn red just thinking about it.  The moments you wish you could forget, but you know will never be forgotten.  Well, I figured since there was no hope of these memories ever being forgotten, I might as well record them.  So please, enjoy mine and Taylor's desired forgettable, yet unforgettable moments of marriage.

So, you ready?  Here goes,
 Part 2:
For the past few months, Taylor has been going to the gym with his dad every morning.  The other day, while we were both in the bathroom getting ready, I turned to Taylor and asked, "So, which particular muscles are you working on?"

Taylor named off a few, and then gave me a quizzical look, "Why?"
I obviously wasn't thinking, because I answered with the truth, when I should have answered with a lie.
"I just wanted to know, so I knew which muscles to compliment."
 As soon as that came out of my mouth, I slapped my hand to my mouth and whispered, "Dang it." 
Definitely ruined that. Good job, wife.
You weren't supposed to tell him that was why you were asking!
Now, whenever I compliment Taylor and his cute sexy muscles, Tay always just laughs and rolls his eyes.   
No muscle compliment from the wife is taken as a sincere complement from here on out.
Dang it, dang it, dang it.


A couple of Saturdays ago, Taylor woke up much earlier than I did.  He started playing video games, while he waited for me to wake up.  The handsome boy just didn't realize how loud the surround system was.  
So, half-asleep I yelled from the bedroom:
"David!"
No response.
Still half-asleep: "David!"
No response.
Still half-asleep: "David, can you turn that down?"
Taylor walked into the bedroom slowly.  "Did you just call me David? Multiple times?"
I opened my eyes, this time fully awake, and said, "Yeah....yeah...I did.  Who's David?"
"That's what I wanted to ask you." Taylor said as he playfully winked at me. "Who's David, and why is my wife thinking about him first thing in the morning?"
I just started laughing.  Who the heck is David? I hardly even know a David!
Don't worry, dearest husband, you have nothing to worry about.  I was thinking about you first thing in the morning...I just couldn't remember your name. ;)


Taylor came home one day and said to me as he walked into the door, "Hello, my chubby bride!"
His face looked just as surprised as mine when the words came out of his mouth.
"I...have...no idea why I just said that...." Taylor said, with a confused look on his face.
Now, the nickname has stuck...just for kicks. ;) 
But it sure was funny to see his face once he realized what he had just said. 


This one actually has a blog post of it's own, but I think it deserves to be on this post as well:
Taylor (with a sad face): "You forgot my half birthday..."
Me: "What? When was it?"
Taylor: "February 1st."
Me: "Whoops. Sorry. But you didn't remember or celebrate mine on October 15th."
Taylor: "Well, we were on our honeymoon that day, so that's automatic celebration."
Me: "We weren't on our honeymoon on October 15th..."
Taylor: "Yes, we were..."
Me: "Taylor, our honeymoon was only five days."
Taylor: "Yeah, I know. We got married on the 11th. So we were still on our honeymoon on the 15th."
Me: "Are you serious?" Then I explode in violent laughter. "This is so sad."
Taylor just looked at me with a confused look and said, "The 11th..." in a small timid voice. Then a startled look of realization and immediate regret hit his face (an appropriate "oh shizzz" face), until he joined me in uncontrollable laughter.
We've only been married for 5 months and he's already forgotten that we were married on the 8th. And he can't even use old-age as an excuse...
Hope you enjoyed.  Look forward to Part 3 of the desired forgettable, yet unforgettable moments of marriage. Coming soon. :)

Love this boy, and love these moments.

Mangina.

Remember how I talked about the Mongolian BBQ Taylor and I went to on Friday? And remember how I said that I couldn't wait to go again?  Well, we went...again.  Here's what happened:

The past couple of weeks, Taylor has been having some strange chest/heart pains, among some other bizarre symptoms.  I finally decided to take charge, and scheduled a doctor's appointment for him.  He complained to me about it all weekend, and tried convincing me that he didn't need to go and see a doctor.  He told me he was perfectly healthy (which I responded with, "Then go and have your doctor tell you that, and I hope you prove me wrong!") and going to a doctor's appointment was silly.  

I jokingly diagnosed him with Angina (a heart condition, pronounced 'an-gyna'...which is what makes it so funny), which quickly turned into Mangina (thanks to Seth).  Taylor's Mangina has been the ongoing joke of the past few days.  Every time Seth sees him, he's sure to ask Taylor how his "Mangina" is doing. Ha.  Or, anytime Taylor does something wrong, drops something, or stumbles on his words, we quickly tell him, "Don't worry. It's just because of your Mangina."

Anyways, so of course, Taylor continued to complain all yesterday leading up to his afternoon appointment.  But I just stuck firm and continued to say, "We've got to get your Mangina checked by a doctor!"  

Taylor finally told me, "Okay, I will go to the doctor's happily if we can go to Mongolian BBQ tonight."

Done and done.

Even after that deal though, he still wasn't very happy about it...but I wasn't going to challenge him, because I really wanted Mongolian BBQ ;)    

To get me back, he teased me about having a fatal heart condition for the rest of the afternoon. 

Dear husband: that wasn't funny. Even though some of your comments made me laugh...it still wasn't funny. :)

Here's some proof via our texting conversation that day (excuse our frequent misspellings...there was a time that we cared about that {like when we were dating}, but that time has long since passed):

Anyways, long story short: Taylor's Mangina is a-okay!  Thank goodness!  He was given a few medications, and it's nothing too serious.  But I think the "mangina" term will stick around for awhile longer. ;)

And then, we celebrated the end of the day at our new favorite place:

See?  He smiles even with Mangina!

He's crafty!

Mr. Taylor Ray is always surprising me with his clever and crafty ideas.  A couple of days ago, Taylor had an idea to try transferring a printed image to canvas (this wasn't his own idea, by any means.  I believe he found the idea online).  His first attempt was a complete success! I was so shocked with how well it turned out! Taylor went for a more vintage look, and I think it looks stellar.  I am excited to hang it (and more to come!) in our house! Here are a few pictures of the first attempt:

Pretty impressive, eh?

Here's another example of Taylor's craftiness.  About a month after we were married, I came home to find this (pictures and all!) hanging on the wall next to our front door.   

Cute, right?

Taylor is always coming up with new and exciting ideas.  Whether it's building a complex shoe cubby or as simple as leaving a flower on my pillow, he's constantly finding ways to put a smile on my face.  Thank goodness his creative ideas make up for my lack of artsy genes! ;)  My husband is a keeper.

This weekend will be filled with lots of family time + memorial day! Couldn't be more excited!  Enjoy your weekend!