who does this!?

last week was a little on the crazy side.

I was running around like crazy trying to get everything done before I left for sacramento.

aaaand, admist all of that--the thing that fell to the bottom of the list was taking care of our house.

...and, our house was a disaster.

let's face it, I'm not perfect--and as much as I try to keep a clean house, sometimes weeks like this happen.

so, don't judge. just please tell me your house sometimes looks like this! haha

the worst part, was that the house was a disaster, and I kissed taylor goodbye and left him in all of it. ha!

but during the days I was gone, I started to receive these videos.

one after the other.

and MAN, I fell in love all over again.

not just because my house was spanking clean when I got home, but because it was the epitome of taylor to think of making these little videos to send to me. 

My family enjoyed these videos all weekend long.

we all just love him.

you've got to see them:

pw: clean

pw: clean

pw: clean

^a little disclaimer on this one: the clothes on the ground WERE folded, just not put away. so it wasn't quite as pig-sty-ish as it looks haha^^

pw: clean

^and he did the rest of the laundry! wait for when he folds the socks--the coolest!

the funniest part was when taylor sent me this video showing the contraption he made to record all of these videos.

I love how much effort he took to do something so silly!

pw: clean

seriously, who does these things!?
taylorray--you are my idol.
just about the coolest guy I know.
thanks for always keeping my life entertaining!

aaand, it made my heart flutter when I came home and saw he had opened one of the "open when..." envelopes:

glad to know he missed me as much as I missed him!
i'm addicted!

gosh, I got lucky with this guy.

he really is a keeper!

anniversary celebration: part 1

this last weekend we were able to celebrate our 3 year anniversary!

it was my turn to plan our anniversary, and I decided to pick a "theme" this year:

"tie the knot!"

so all of taylor's surprises and gifts were accompanied with a little note and a "play on words" with our theme.

see here for more about our theme!

On our actual anniversary, we celebrated by going to the temple and out to dinner.

but we always like to drag things out...ha

So we had a whole weekend full of surprises!

On Friday morning, I gave Taylor this note:

we dressed up fancy and took our traditional "anniversary picture."

^oh, and taylor bought me this new fancy dress for our anniversary. I LOVE it!^

then we headed up to Salt Lake City for dinner on The Roof!

we loooove the atmosphere of that place.

I mean just look at the view!

and this was my favorite view...even with his slightly creepy smile. ha

every single time we do something fancy, we are quickly reminded that we do NOT belong. ha

if you haven't been to The Roof, it's a fine dining buffet.

while in line, taylor dropped the tongs, and they clattered to the floor.

he quickly picked them up, but not before rubbing his plate with ranch dressing along the back of my dress (while everyone was still staring because of the tongs...ha!).

flustered, he tried to wipe my dress, and then dropped his fork. ha!

so we got out of line and headed back to our table pretty quickly, while trying really hard not to burst out laughing.

but as soon as we sat down, I tried to "fork" a piece of potato, and it just FLEW off of my plate.

and that's when we broke. 

tears and all. it was just sooo funny.

on a more serious note, I got SO emotional during dinner while talking with my sweet taylor and having the temple as our view.

it was all just so special to me...I could hardly handle how grateful I was!

soooo...we were supposed to spend the night at the Grand America...but our reservation fell through (due to my stupidity).

and I'm still a little sad about that part, so we are just going to skip it over completely and pretend like the whole plan was to go home on Friday night after dinner! 

OH, so one of my gifts for Taylor was new sheets!

lame gift...BUT he has been wanting a new set for awhile.

and when our reservation didn't work out, I thought it would be a perfect gift to come home to (new sheets is close to the feeling of a hotel suite, right? ha)

When we got home, I gave him the gift, and when he opened it, I said, "This is the only thing that makes the hotel not working out bearable for me! Let's put them on right now!"

Taylor looked at me and said, "kells, I've got good news and I've got bad news.  the good news is that they are beautiful sheets and I love them.  The bad news...is that you got them in queen size."

yep, our bed is definitely a california king.

how did I not even check that!? I still don't even know how that happened...haha

anyways, this one moment made the "hotel not working out" totally worth it. because we laughed on that bed for a good 5 minutes--you know, the crying and having trouble breathing kind of laughing. it was the best.

I woke Taylor up Saturday morning to a starbucks hot chocolate.

which came at the perfect time, because taylor woke up not feeling too hot :(

I told him to suck it up---we had a whole day of fun ahead of us!
no...but really. 

we started with an afternoon of shooting (hence the note).

taylor has been dyyyying to go for awhile, and so I got it all set up with the help of taylor's dad.

but, I wasn't too sneaky apparently, because he had this part of the day guessed all along. ha

our dear friends, kate and taylor, accompanied us all satuday, and it was SO fun having them along!

they are just our very favorite!

^how cute are they? we love them.^

taylor is AMAZING with these guns. 

he hits the clay pigeons every SINGLE time!

like...c'mon, stop making the rest of us look bad.

but with his coaching, I hit 3 out of 2938728473 pigeons! wahooo!

I felt pretty accomplished when we finished, because taylor couldn't stop smiling.

he was SO happy we finally got out and did this.

and it is surprisingly fun...even for a california valley girl. ha

By this point, I was absolutely bursting for our evening surprise.

I had been looking forward to it for WEEKS and had the hardest time keeping it a secret!

if you follow me on instagram, you probably already saw what it was--one of the best experiences we've ever had!

posting all about it tomorrow! 

I'm a little sad that I'm leaving this dreamboat of mine to drive down to my good ol' sacramento today!

FALL BREAK! (being a teacher...it's just the best).

I'll be spending a few days with my family before my little sister leaves on her mission in just two weeks! ah!

xoxo

las vegas in pictures

last weekend, taylor and I went down to vegas!

Taylor had a bunch of work meetings, and he invited me to tag along.

pretty easy answer...haha

we honestly didn't do much at all.

and it was awesome.

I accompanied taylor to two of his business meetings on friday, and it was so fun to see him in action!

after the meetings, we decided to go relax in the hotel for a bit before heading out.

but before we knew it..."american pickers" on history channel had us hooked.

we are suuuuch nerds. hahaha

we watched maybe 5 or 6 hour episodes in a row? 

before we realized we were hungry.

so we ran to get food so we could make it back for more episodes. 

it was the funniest thing.

we went to tommy's for dinner--a burger joint in california and nevada.

and when we pulled up, taylor said, "man, this place makes me nervous."

when I asked him why, he said, "because, the last time we were here, it was when we were driving back from california, and I realized I wanted to marry you. and that was exciting but also terribly nerve wracking."

you learn something new every day! cute boy, cute boy.

then, on saturday morning, we decided to change the channel, because we got WAY too hooked the night before.

buuut uh.

we changed it to HGTV. probably our favorite tv station ever (oh, yeah, we don't have cable, so this is kinda like a treat for us ha--taylor secretly hates me because I think cable is the biggest waste of money. I grew up in a no-tv-household--sooo yeah, judge me now.)

and so then we got hooked on HGTV, and had the best time watching, laughing, and talking in that hotel room.

we finally decided to get moving, so we browsed some outlets, went to lunch, and then came back for...more HGTV.

this is so embarrassing...haha

BUT at about 8pm, we decided to hit up more outlets, and then head down to the strip.

sooo, taylor's dad told us we could park in any hotel parking garage for free, but cute little Siri directed us RIGHT TO THE STRIP.

and so here I am driving on the strip and totally panicking, because it is so distracting and people drive crazy and there are walkers everywhere and geesh. it was the worst.

and then we both got stressed and kinda freaked out at each other (sorry, babe), but as soon as we were able to turn off of the strip, we both gave the biggest sigh and started laughing so hard.

and then taylor said, "uh, so...do you feel like we got the "strip" experience this trip?"

me: "let's count that and go watch some HGTV."

"I've never loved you more, kells."
sooo, we didn't quite experience the strip like in trips past, but that stressful drive was priceless.

and while the rest of the 20-something-year-olds in vegas were gambling on the strip, we gambled over whether we would hit the bed or the ground after jumping on the bed a million times.
best game ever.

^true fear on my face in this one. I went SO high and was headed straight towards the ground^

also, I learned that if I want to leave someplace (and taylor doesn't), if I just start dancing in public, taylor will get up faster than lightening.

...because I am the worst dancer ever. haha

(and I make sure I'm extra bad in public)

also #2, taylor was making a u-turn while driving and totally ran over the median.

we both gasped and sat there silently (busy intersection--pretty embarrassing) and then couldn't stop laughing.

running joke of the whole trip.

every weekend with this boy is golden.

aaand THIS WEEKEND will make the books, I have been waiting forever to spill all of the secret plans I have for taylor this weekend!

and high five me for being such a good secret keeper and not telling taylor! it has been the hardest feat ever!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

(follow me on instagram to see our surprises this weekend--saturday night will kill it!)

october 8, 2014

our anniversary was so special!

we decided to take turns planning our anniversaries, and this year was my turn!

I decided to do a "tie the knot" theme for our anniversary!

(hence the rope in the picture above haha)

alsoooo please notice my wanna-be-little-heart-shaped-french-toast

even with a heart-shaped cookie cutter, it didn't turn out so good. haha

(they are the two little small ones on the plate)

Taylor normally goes to the gym at 5:30 every morning--so I thought it would be fun to have a warm breakfast waiting for him when he returned.

I planned all of the decorations and details out!

buuuut, of course, he sprained his knee the day before our anniversary and so he didn't go to the gym.

so, I had to very sneakily wake up and try to be as quiet as I could while I set up and made french toast.

I kinda wish someone was recording me, because I was doing such ridiculous things to try to be quiet. haha--it was quite the spectacle.

 (heart shaped confetti!)

so each of my surprises and gifts to taylor come with a little note that go along with our "theme."

for example: the note that was sitting on his plate

^^I laid out 12 "open when..." envelopes.

there is one envelope a month for the next year for him to open...as he chooses!

(example: open when...you had a bad day; open when...you need a laugh; open when...you feel nostalgic, etc., and the last one is: open when...it's our 4 year anniversary!)

...and a little note on top of them all said, "here are love notes to keep you "tied" over for the next year."

get it? hahah

 while we ate breakfast, we watched our wedding video--such a fun thing to watch every year!

okay, and I must include this picture.

I think I totally won with this gift.

even though it was partially a selfish gift.

so, fellow office lovers, here is your next gift idea:

(disclaimer: you don't have to do the wannabe-dwight-poses when you get the shirts)

I definitely wore that shirt to work yesterday, and the students who commented on it won a small piece of my heart.

we are office ADDICTS. hahah

As soon as school got out, Taylor and I rushed to the temple to beat the crowds.

by far our favorite thing to do on our anniversary.

Our anniversary has so far always been a weekday (duh, we were married on a weekend...so yeah), so we go to the temple on our anniversary and then celebrate during the weekend.

just look how pretty this place is!

the last couple of days, we were trying to decide where we wanted to go to eat on our anniversary.

we threw around lots of fancy and expensive restaurants, and couldn't really decide on anything.

yesterday, I said, "Tay, I kinda just feel like Cafe Rio."

he lit up and said, "I made such a great decision three years ago!"

hahahaha 

so cafe rio it was!

we spent the rest of the evening spending sweet time together.

it was SUCH a fun day.

and taylor spoils me too much.

aaaand, I am BURSTING to give him the rest of my little "tie the knot" notes with our big surprises this weekend! (finale: saturday night. I cannot waaaait)

last night, we had a little bit of the "christmas night blues"---but then got giddy again when we remembered we still had a whole weekend of celebration ahead of us!

feeling pretty lucky every day to have this guy!

3 years.

I really can't believe that it was three years ago today (at this very hour!) that we walked out of the temple together as HUSBAND AND WIFE!

seriously the best feeling ever.

I had dreamed for years of walking out of those exact temple doors.

the temple that was just around the corner from my home, that we watched being built, that we got to place our own stones (with our names!) in the foundation.

the sacramento temple will always own a piece of my heart.

and so will that guy up there ;)

a perfect day.

so, a little tribute to my husband:

I still think you're hot.

I still love your smile.

I still laugh at the cute things you say.

I still need your hugs.

I still crave your kisses.

I still love when you touch me.

 I'm still glad you call simply to say "hi."

...or just because you're thinking of me.

I still love the way I start out the day with you as the first one I see.

I still have fun when we just hang out at home.

I still love your funny accents.

I still love your silly ways.

I still love your smell.

And, I'm still falling in love with you, more and more every day.

to the man who gave me his forever: taylor--you are my world.

i'm in love with our forever.

our anniversary started perfect this morning--can't wait to share everything tomorrow.

and we've got a full weekend of surprises!

i'm bursting!

happy three years, my love!
(follow me on instagram to see the surprises as they unfold this weekend!)
see past anniversaries here and here.

our fall picnic--a video!

here's a little home video of our traditional fall picnic.

it's nothing special, and was put together incredibly fast--but there's still something about it that I love so much.

It's these little moments together that I cherish.

and I'm so glad I have these little home videos to always remember.

so many big things are happening this week!
(half of which are surprises!...I am ready to burst!)

and tomorrow I will post all about our VEGAS weekend! 

haaappy monday!

xoxo

happy october!

I LOVE october!! 

it has always been one of my very favorite months.

and three years ago, it became even more special--we were married in october!

there's always been something magical about october.

I love fall with everything in me.

the changing leaves, boots and sweaters, crisp weather, hot chocolate.

it all makes me giddy!

so when we got engaged in august, it only made sense to have our special day in october!

even though that meant we had exactly EIGHT weeks to plan a wedding!
(okay, let's be real though, I had already started planning a majority of it before he was down on one knee ;))

but really, when it came down to it--we only had two options.

october or december.

(november was out because some family couldn't make it)

and I was pretty adamant about not having a december wedding.

actually, even if I wanted to have one, my mom would have begged me not to.

my oldest sister got married in december, and it was sooo crazy.

the holidays were hardly enjoyed!
plus--I really, really dreaded the thought of having my anniversary compete with ward christmas parties, work christmas parties, future children's school christmas assemblies, holiday fun, etc.

I mean...if we got married in december, when would we celebrate?!

how would we ever be able to have an anniversary "get-away?"

and my sister was the first to tell me, "DON'T choose december like I did!"

ANYways, after quick deliberation, october was chosen!

and, I got to have my perfect outdoor reception that I had dreamed of since I was little.

is there anyone else that swooooons over outdoor receptions?

they melt my heart.

oh heyyy, a little glimpse of part of our outdoor reception ;)

basically, I just love october.

so this month will be full of fall and love and all things good!

speaking of fall and october--one of my very favorite traditions is in october!
taylor and I always grab subway, drive up the canyon, and have a picnic in the leaves around the first of fall!

it is SUCH a fun tradition, and it gets us in the perfect mood for the new season!

and every year we forget the tripod, so we struggle taking pictures of just the two of us. ha

oh! and a little video of our special tradition coming tomorrow!

see past years here and here.

and tomorrow, tay and I are running off to vegas for the weekend!

taylor has to go for business, and he invited me to come along!

and the best part?

all expenses paid, baby!

and then the next weekend is our anniversary (so many surprises--I am dying!), and the weekend after that we are visiting my family in california!

it's going to be a GOOD month!

OH, and can't forget our traditional halloween bash!

our costumes are coming along--and I couldn't be more excited!

can't wait to share!

we love our little life!
what does your october look like? do you love it as much as me!?