We got married and a... baby.

Peeing on a stick has never been so much fun. 

You know, because I've done a lot of stick peeing in my life...

We're doing this baby thing. May 2014. Can't wait. Like seriously, I am going to be poking my eyes out for the next 26 weeks dying to meet this little alien babe. 

And then my boss found out and said "that's what happens when you mess around."

Nice.

the mamacita

For her birthday, she flew to Utah to celebrate with ME!
I am the gift here, people. The gift that keeps on giving.
We "worked", shopped, and adventured around this fall ridden state.

I love it and I love her.

I am glad you were borned, Mama. Can't think of this pretty place without you in it.
You're the most kind, thoughtful, best dressed, snuggly, witty, best friendy person I know.
Let's celebrate 50 more birthdays just like this one.

xoxo.

(mostly) Stewart Falls, Sundance, Utah Sept. 14th, 2013

Tony Stark, who?

Last year Clay decided to add "IronMan" to his bucket list. Being the supporter of dreams that I am, I sent him out for training days with promises of sour patch kids, little caesars pizza, and rocky road ice cream upon his return. Was my ulterior motive that I don't need him to be skinnier than me? Maybe. But did it come across that I am an expert in the love language of giving gifts? Absolutely.

So he trained, and I got hooked on Gossip Girl, naturally.

Then we boarded a plane to Kentucky. 

What should you know about Lousiville, you ask? 1. The Ohio River is disgusting. Fact: It used to be so polluted that it actually caught on fire. 2. Churchill Downs will blow your mind. It's charming. 3. The highways are lined with abundant greenery and old, rocky bridges. 4. Target is easily accessible.

The Downs were completely empty and completely unlocked. We wandered aimlessly in and out of buildings, up and down escalators, over and under walkways, around and through betting stations. (I'll stop there because I am running out of prepositions, but you get the idea.) I was bummed there weren't races going on, however, the good news is, there weren't wide brimmed hats to block my views, or horse poop to ruin my shoes.

Lemons to lemonade.

And then all of our hard work and training paid off. To bring things full circle- he swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles, and ran 26.2 miles all while I finished off a bag of donettes, avidly shook my cow bell, power walked, ate qudoba AND made friends with the girls that work there, read the news, watched some fire dancers perform, purchased a car phone charger, caught up on running with friends games, napped for 2 hours, tracked Clay via iphone apps, and licked an ice cream cone at the finish line. I'm not trying to say one of us did more than the other, but I think one of us did more than the other. I just wish he wasn't so lazy. 

Okay, but seriously. He is rad. I am so proud of him for finishing something he said he would do. Not only did he finish it, but he finished it STRONG. First Iron Man in UNDER 13 hours? Uh, ya. Killer. I have a feeling that won't be the last IronMan for this guy.

Louisville, Kentucky, August 22nd- 26th, 2013

powellerina

Remember that one time I wrote about Lake Powell, and about how all the cool people go there?

Well. It's official. We made it into the cool club. 

Some of our bestest friends, Carley and Adam invited us, and some other BFFs, to head to Powell for the weekend. Duh. Of course. Yes. Absolutely. 100%. No brainer. They are living on the east coast right now and we are just missing their cute faces, and the fact that they just understand our ridiculous humor. Not only do they understand it, they live it. Dare I say they are as weird as we are... And I mean that in the nicest way. I am proud of them for that accomplishment. 

The days were spent tubing, napping, relaxation station-ing, iron man training, sun burning, reading, zumba on the beach-ing, eating, eating, snacking, and devouring.

The nights were spent lightning storming, fireworking, snuggling, relationship advicing, bug biting, snoring, mafia-ing, and semi afraid of rolling into the water-ing.

there are two amazing things about this picture: Mike's face, and Clay's bod.

i can't decide which is better. no wait, yes i can.

Minimal make up. Minimal clothes. Maximum tubing bruises. Maximum life loving.

We count our blessing every day-- for this beautiful place that was created for us to enjoy, and for incredible friends to enjoy it with. 

Lake Powell, August 16th- 18th, 2013.

adoption

I have a best friend, and she is the best.
She has a husband, and he is pretty swell, too.
They are starting the adoption process, and it has been quite the ordeal. It shouldn't be so difficult--- sweet little babies need sweet big people to take care of them and love them.

You can read their story here.

I am sure we all know someone who knows someone who knows someone that is making the difficult choice of placing their child with another family. Pray for them to make the best decision for themselves, and for their sweet little babe. These two will make incredible parents. I mean, if my parents weren't so rad, I'd put myself up for adoption just so Jen and Dylan could snag me right up.

Keep these two in mind. I promise you will be happy you did.

hims birthday

Clay bay bay turned the big 2-6 on July 30. Good thing he is doing it so well, it makes it less daunting that I'll be that old in 3 weeks. Bahh. 

Basically it was the one day out of the whole year that I will get out of bed before him. I said I had to use the restroom, but really started making birthday waffles. Man, I am so sneaky. I threw a whole bottle of sprinkles into the batter... Maybe a little overkill, but let's be honest- a birthday isn't a birthday without a sugar crash at 9am.

After work (I still am not sure why birthday's don't classify as holiday's... No one should ever have to work on their birthday, or their siblings birthday, or their spouses birthday, or their neighbors birthday, or their I met you one time at the grocery store acquaintances birthday... it's just mean and not very respectful). What was I saying? After work, gross, Clay opened presents!!! There is a solid chance I love birthdays ten times more than he does- but he was a trooper and put up with me photographing him and singing to him whenever possible. 

This boy is pretty simple. He has been been wanting to watch the Count of Monte Cristo for months, but alas, no one has it. So for part of his present, I got him that movie... We got a Little C's for dinner and watched a movie together and did a little bit of 26 year old snuggling. 

Mostly I couldn't snuggle because I was too excited about DESSERT!! Clay mentioned wanting an ice cream sandwich cake--- so, naturally, I took it up a few notches. Magic in the mouth. That's what this should be called.

 


















It was a great day. I am so grateful that Clay was borned. I love that even though he is getting older, he is still goofy, he still says ridiculously funny things, and he still pushes himself to be better and accomplish more. The things he has lined up for his 26th year are incredible. I am exceptionally proud of him for never stopping, and always striving to be better. He sets an incredible example and keeps the bar high. It could have to do with the fact that he is 6'6" and if the bar was low, he would hit his head... But, regardless, the bar is high, and I can't wait to see him do more and more with his life. 

Here's to many more birthdays with this hunk. (clink)

apricot bbq wings

Guys, I've had some success with this wife thing.

It's simple, really.

Find really easy dinner recipes, act like you slaved in the kitchen ALL day, maybe mess your hair up a little bit so you really look like you put your all into it (when really you were just finishing season 1 of Gossip Girl), and then his happy belly will give you endless compliments. Booya. And because you worked SO hard on dinner, you will probably get dessert served to you while you sit on the couch and watch TV (which you haven't done all day) and a back rub, you know, because standing over the stove all day really messed with your muscles.

Hint: Buy a crockpot. It's a miracle worker. And it let's me watch at least 3 episodes of trash in the amount of time I would have been cooking. Double hint: Make sure you put it away before he gets home. Can't have him knowing our secrets.

Apricot BBQ wings, yum.

What you need:
3 lbs chicken wings
1 cup BBQ sauce
1- 18oz jar apricot preserves
1 tsp dry mustard powder
1 TBSP tabasco sauce

The how- to:
Spread wings on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 mins at 400 degrees. This helps the wings not be disgustingly slimy. (Well, there are my real thoughts, I guess!) Once baked, put them in your crock pot and then mix all your other ingredients in a medium bowl. Or small, or large. (Depending on your mixing skills. I find that a medium bowl allows me some wiggle room for the times my strength gets the best of me and the mixture tries to fly up the side of the bowl.) Pour this concoction to the crock pot evenly over the wings. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours.
(exact recipe found here. She's a genius.)

 


















Based on his messy face, and my recently massaged back, you better believe this recipe went directly to the favorites list. I wish I would have been a better cook before we got married, but I am learning. And although it is hard to believe, I need help. So, I am sharing mine if you'll share yours. Deal? Great. I just held my hand out to shake hands with the computer screen. Clearly I am taking this seriously.

honeymoonin

I'm a major sucker for the beach and all things water. Give me a bathing suit, a towel, and some sun glasses, and I will lay there all day. But if we are being minimalists in this economy, just give me the sun glasses.

Clay is a major sucker for all things mountain. He wants to move his body and go on adventures. 

So we compromised. (We are totally already acing this marriage thing.)

Spent one night in San Jose. I think that was the happiest drive of my life. We couldn't stop talking about how spoiled we were that day. Is it considered reminiscing if you do it 3 minutes after it happened? Because we did it, and I am not even mad. We checked into our hotel and realized we were starved-- so naturally we headed to In n Out. Happy honeymoon to us. My boo treats me right.

Tahoe. That place. Sheesh. We stayed in a sweet little condo. Had cereal for breakfast and made PB & J for lunch. Spoiled ourselves and went out to dinner. I miss those days. You know, the days where you eat whatever you want, whenever you want, just because you can. We hiked our hearts out. Clay got is nature fix, and I got my water fix. And we were happy. Favorite parts of Tahoe (in no particular order): Blue Dog Pizza and Angora Lakes. (That is the exact order, actually. Food is necessary to enjoy the sites, people.)

Yosemite. I'm not even going to ask you to go, I am yelling it at the top of my lungs. Go, go, go. 

    

Basically it was the best week ever. People kept asking if I loved Clay more the second we got married, and I didn't know how to answer them. What I do know for sure is that I love going on adventures with my best friend. (cheese factor is sitting at an 8 at leeeeast!) I love that it is safe, and comfortable, and that we acknowledge that the commitment we made to each other is the most important thing in our lives. He makes me happy every single day, and I am grateful for that like wo.

South Lake, Tahoe and Yosemite National Park, June 16th- 22nd, 2013