2012 in Review...

I feel that 2012 was VERY good to me. New Years is a great time to look back on the year you had. So here I go, month by month.

JANUARY was good. I honestly don't remember anything significant happening, other that starting the worst semester of my life. I was only a few months in my relationship with Chris, but at this point we both knew we wanted to marry each other. :)

FEBRUARY was fun! I always hated Valentines Day, but this year it was really good!! Chris's birthday is the day after Valentines Day so it was two days of gift giving and keeping him happy. I loved it! It was also the month I went to Las Vegas with his family for a soccer tournament. I got to meet a lot more of his relatives and truly get to know his brothers and parents.

MARCH was exciting! In college, March was always busy for me because of the San Diego trip I take with the USU Ballroom Dance Team. That trip is always so fun though. (even when our team sucks and gets last place in the competition...)

APRIL was... well I really can't remember. April is my best friend's birthday month, but unfortunately  now that I go to USU I don't usually see her on her birthday. I will this year though!!

MAY was relaxing. The worst semester of my life ended (with all failing grades) so I was able to relax a bit. I moved into the worst apartment of my life for the summer, but it was nice because Chris lived in the same building.

JUNE was boring. Sorry to my sister whose birthday is in June, but I really didn't do anything in June except hang out with Chris, work, and eat. We tried to start running together to train for our 5k for Independence Day, but, please, I don't run. And I started a dance camp, but it made me wake up too early and I was way older than everyone else there. It was weird.

JULY was sad. I love Independence Day and Pioneer Day (which I'm told is just a Utah holiday) but this year I didn't get to do the fun, crazy things I usually do and it made me sad! I walked a 5k with Chris's mom, would have been better if I wasn't sick. It was the first time in many, many years, pretty much since I was like 4 or 5, that I hadn't been with my best friend Lauren on the 24th of July. It killed me.

AUGUST was super hot and fun! We went on our family trip to Jackson Hole, Chris got to come for a few days. It was a blast!! I love Jackson because I get to see lots of family, more specifically my amazing cousin who lives in Austria. Because without Jackson Hole and Facebook, I may never see her. I also started this blog with 50 Things About Me!

SEPTEMBER was weird. I had decided to move back home to find a better job and earn money for school. But I didn't realize how hard it would be to be away from Chris. It was also strangely weird to not be going back to school. It didn't feel right, a clear indication that I need to go back to school soon.

OCTOBER was happy! I started working more at the daycare and I absolutely (still) love it!! Those kids are so much fun and amazing! October is also my favorite holiday, Halloween! And I got to decorate the house and I made an awesome Halloween craft!

NOVEMBER held the greatest moment of my life:

I don't think any other words are necessary. :)

DECEMBER was merry! I had the best Christmas of my life this month!! I loved every minute leading up to it! My parents spoiled me rotten! I love Christmas!

I'm so excited for January to come again! This year (the year I get married) will be the best year yet!! :)

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE!!

Hey blogging world! I hope you're as excited for 2013 as I am... because I'M GETTING MARRIED THIS YEAR!!! :)

Anyways, as is customary, I have a few New Years Resolutions to start out 2013. I hope you have all thought up so new resolutions, and if not, (if you're in Utah like me) then you still have a couple hours. And actually, I think it's acceptable to still be thinking of resolution on New Years Day. I'll allow it.

So, without any further ado, here are my 2013 New Years Resolutions:

1. To limit my income of sugar and salt. (when I die, they doctors will say "Woah!! She ate way too much salt!" because I do, daily. I just eat it. It's delicious and a horrible addiction. So my goal is to stop that and only use it when necessary (like on everything... just kidding))

2. To learn to love cooking. (I'm getting married this year and for Christmas this year I got a binder to hold recipes (that is adorable!) so I really want to start cooking more. Besides, I have a million recipes on my Pinterest page just waiting to be tried!!)

3. To become more flexible. (I've been taking a flexibility class... so here's hoping!)

4. To become a better friend. (Yeah... I don't have a lot of friends it seems so I figure if I work harder to be a better friend it will help. But, the friends I do have are the greatest in the world! I love them all so much!!)

5. To work harder for my education. (The past three years I've been in college feel like a waste considering I have to retake like 4 or 5 classes. I need to push myself harder! This is my year to be a better student!!)

6. To learn ways to spend less money. (I've been a little addicted to Extreme Couponing lately. They spend like $8 on $500 worth of groceries!! It's ridiculous! I don't want to be quite that extreme, but I do want to save money anyway I can. Money will be really tight once I get married in May, but Chris and I are both willing to work hard and save wherever we can.)

7. To (finally) get my six-pack. (I know I can do it!!! For Christmas I got Jillian Michaels' Six Weeks to Six Pack workout video and I fully intend to make it work. I will have a six-pack by May for my wedding. I will!!!)

8. To be more organized and clean. (It's not that I'm a terribly messy person, and I do like this organized, but if anyone were to walk in my room right now... it's kind of impossible to walk in my room right now. I just have too much stuff! I need to de-clutter and organize what I have so that when I move in with Chris he isn't appalled by my mass amount of junk (yes I have a very large collection of clothes, but that is not going out... ever))

9. To blog more!!! (I really love writing on this blog! It makes me happy and I love sharing my thoughts and ideas with you! I also really want this blog to be helpful for others. So please leave your comments and tell me what you think. Also, remember that any proceeds I get from this blog go to charity, so spread the word. The more followers I get, the more money I'll have to send to charities! (by way of Charity of the Month, which doesn't currently exist because I don't have enough followers, please share this page with others!))

10. To love Chris more each and every day! (I'm so excited to get married this year!! Chris really is my soulmate, and he deserves for me to show it to him every single day! Love you Christopher!)

Things I Wanted to Write About On or Before Christmas

This post is brought to you by LAZINESS! It gets you far in life... not.

1. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Yes, I seriously didn't even get on my blog long enough to write Merry Christmas. That's pure laziness right there. Yes, I did work 24 hours this week, which isn't too far off from my normal week, but seriously, I can't even write Merry Christmas? I'm pathetic. Anyways, I hope you all had a very merry Christmas! Mine was FANTASTIC!!

2. I made a Star Wars Clone Trooper Snowflake!!!

It was pretty awesome if I do say so myself. I found how to do it here and the example snowflake looks like this:

And I say I did pretty darn well. We looked at the other ones but seriously I don't think anyone could make this:

I love you Princess Leia, but that's not happening.

3. I didn't divulge in the extended version of my shopping trip with my brother. I will now share just a few things with you.

This book... what? Okay sure I want a "low stress, high success, LDS wedding" but do I really want a wedding planner book with a slightly creepy winking bride on it? No, no I do not. Thank you, but I'll find something else. Like THIS!!

A South Pole Water Tribe nativity scene!! With an adorable penguin and seal!! I love it! I wanted to buy it. I apologize for the horrible quality photo, it was taken with my phone. My phone camera shouldn't really deserve to be called a camera. But doesn't the above picture look like this:

Same outfits, same dog, I NEED THIS NATIVITY SCENE!! PS, I've been watching way too much Avatar lately, but I'm not ashamed about it. In fact, I'm proud of it. It makes me happy. :)

Also while shopping I found something out. If the fire alarm starts going off in the Hallmark store at the mall, what do people do??? Complain. Not try to evacuate the store, don't even think about asking the store workers on what to do, no, just complain. "That's loud!" "Turn that off!" You know if it was going off because of a real fire I wonder if people would still react the same way "Curse you fire for ruining my Christmas shopping!!"

4. I'm the best girlfriend/fiance in the world. Yep. Because only I would spend $80+ on my fiance's fishing related gift on this:

And this:

And a $50 gift card to Cabela's for fishing related gifts. Granted, this gift could have been much cooler (if I had gotten to the store an hour earlier John Bytheway would have been there to sign the book and the gummy worms in the candy fish tackle box were like rocks) but he loved it anyways.

5. K-Mart already started selling Valentines. Before Christmas.

So I guess the real question is why; Why do K-Mart employees want to cause husband/boyfriends searching for the perfect Christmas gift to start stressing out over Valentines Day??? I believe that if this gets kept up, the divorce rate will keep going up as well. Too much holiday gift stress isn't good for relationships.

6. I had a lovely ward-y girls dinner on Saturday! They were girls I had grown up with and we haven't seen each other in forever! It was so much fun eating, catching up, and sharing Christmas gifts! I love you Kelsey for setting that up! And I miss all my E3 girls!!

7. I bought some really great gifts this year!!

• My dad received a jar full of Peanut M&M's with a tag saying "To my nutty but sweet dad". (I did not come up with this myself, see HERE) I also got him a Utah State hat! It's about time he started to support my school more!! :) 
• My mom received a box of hand and feet warmers (the little pack things), a silver shimmery scarf, and two sets of earrings. 
• My sister's was my favorite!! I bought her Harry Potter Kindle Fire covers!! Found on Etsy HERE!! I also got her a Ron one. They are super cute and so perfect for my sister!! :) 
• I went to six different store just to find Lego Pirates of the Carribean Video Game for Wii for my brother. I'm glad I did too because I was playing it last night and I love it!!! :) 

8. (and the last one) My parent know their kids so very very well...

Merry Christmas everyone!!! 

Why Scheels Is Sort of Evil

So a Scheels opened up near my house in September. At first I was excited! It has a cool aquarium, tons of incredible clothes and a Ferris Wheel!! 

It's even where I got my favorite pair of boots!! 

See? I hugged them when I got them for my birthday! I'm wearing them right now! Favorite boots right there. 

So Scheels is a great store. It has a little bit of everything and it's huge. But here's the problem... If you want to drive anywhere near Scheels... it's nearly impossible. Scheels is constantly packed and it causes traffic problems on State Street, which lately, since I've been doing all my Christmas shopping last minute, that's been a huge problem!! 

My brother and I sat in traffic FOREVER just trying to get past Scheels. Because everyone was trying to turn into the Scheels parking lot, and they were blocking the road. Awful. Simply awful. 

So despite it's awesome aquarium...

Stuffed animal mountain...

Airplane in a sea of fishing supplies...

Indoor bowling alley...

Presidential salute...

Ferris Wheel...

... it's kind of evil...

Okay, let's face it, I still love the darn place. I just hate how busy it always is.

Once Upon A Time.... (Part 2)

So the boy then knew he wanted to date the girl. So he got her number and began texting her. He asked her out (through text, to which she refused to reply until he called and more properly asked her on a date).

But the girl was scared. She couldn't help but remember all the previous dates she had been on with boys that were rude and selfish and used her. She didn't want to face that again. She didn't want to date again. So she begged her roommate to go with her and make it a double date. Arrangements were made and the boy's friend was planned to drive up to Logan to meet them for the date.

The girl stressed the whole day. She had bought a new outfit, wanting to look extra cute. She vented to a good friend while drinking a bunch of energy drinks to hype up her attitude and calm her nerves. She realized how terrified she really was of dating again.

But then the phone rang.

The boy called her to tell her that his friend was stranded in the canyon, his car having caught on fire. He had to drive to help his friend.

Their date was cancelled.

TO BE CONTINUED

The Best Day of Work Ever

At a daycare the kids are adorable and wonderful and just amazing! But bring in Santa Claus and everything doubles!!

We were out in the gym and there's a window to the second floor so the parents can watch on their kids if they want. But today Santa came and stood in the window. The kids went running to the side of the gym all waving up at Santa and his elf friend. It was the most adorable moment ever! We took pictures of the magical Christmas moment.

I was in charge of crafts today and it was a Santa letter. It was so funny to hear what they wanted for Christmas! Such as:

• iPad mini
• Batsuit
• iPhone touch
• Rainbow pony
• A rainbow pony that flies without touching it
• A metal Star Wars Storm-trooper costume

So I'm supposed to sit at the craft table and not leave unless one of my coworkers comes to replace me. So at one point I had to use the bathroom. I had one of my favorite little girls sitting on my lap and she starting moving around more so I told her to stop because I had to go to the bathroom. And the three girls surrounding me immediately shouted "Go to the bathroom!" 

So I laughed and told them I wasn't allowed to leave the table. But they kept yelling and saying that I had to go "RIGHT NOW!" and that I wasn't allowed to pee my pants. Next thing I know, one of the girls is running across the room to one of my coworkers and quickly informs her "The teacher has to go to the bathroom!" So I'm laughing because it's just a ridiculous situation and another coworker comes over laughing and takes my spot at the table. 

Moral of the story is that moms these days are good at teaching their children to go to the bathroom right away and that they shouldn't wait because they aren't allowed to pee their pants. That's a good thing I guess. 

Anyways, best day of work ever! All thanks to Santa Claus! 

Bridal Expressions

This is another review for a bridal store and I am happy to say... yesterday I purchased my dress through them!!

Bridal Expressions is located at 10489 S State Street, Sandy, Utah 84070. You can call them to set up an appointment at 801-571-5551. You can also find their website HERE.

I absolutely loved this place! I loved the dressing rooms, the mirrors, the couches and their large amount of dresses! They have a huge selection with tons of different designers. I tried on about eight dresses there, however the very first one I put on is the one I'm getting! I wish I could put up pictures, but I don't want to risk my fiance seeing the dress, so you'll just have to wait till May. :)

I worked with three different consultants in the few times I've visited the store. They were all incredibly helpful, friendly and knowledgeable. They gave their own suggestions on altering my dress to make it modest and they helped out in ordering extra fabric and buttons for alterations.

They do not have an in-house alterations, but they gave me a list of people they suggest and highlighted the one they think I will work with best. I'll write more about alterations when I get there (they sadly don't get my dress in until March).

They also sell the most amazing and sometimes ridiculous prom dresses there. They are seriously over the top and crazy! And way too expensive for what I would want to spend on a prom dress, but if you're interested it is a really great store.

Here are some examples of what they sell:

But seriously if you go to their website, there are tons more!! 

If you have any other questions about Bridal Expressions please feel free to ask! I highly recommend visiting Bridal Expressions they are so helpful and I am getting my dress there!!! :) 

Dear Santa...

Dear Santa,

With one week left till Christmas I feel I should make my Christmas wishes known.

I've been very good this year... well maybe... I failed some classes... and then left school... but I am going back to school next year!! That's good. I haven't completely given up. And I stopped being gothic... sort of. I still wear dark makeup and mostly wear black, but my makeup isn't quite as dark anymore. My eyeliner is technically gray. But my nails aren't black anymore... although I prefer them that way...

Anyways, I've been very good.

So I have a few wishes for Christmas this year. The first one being Christmas itself. Everyone keeps saying the world is going to end...

... but I really enjoy Christmas every year!!! I don't want the world to end before Christmas! And I'm pretty sure every child in the world wants Christmas too. I work with kids, I know a few things. So, yeah? You'll help keep the world from ending? I heard you're in a new movie where you save the world with Chris Pine... ahem, I mean Jack Frost. So you can do it! I believe in you! Besides, I really want to get married to my Christopher, so if the world ends before that happens, I won't be too happy. I'm sure you're tight with our Heavenly Father anyways (Jesus is the reason for the season!) and I know he'd be willing to help out with a good cause.

I want a car for Christmas. And if not a car, then the hope and possibility that I'll get one this upcoming year. My dad has been saying he'll buy me a car for the past three years, and it hasn't happened yet. So if you could just give him a little push that would be great. (and I actually really like the Honda Fit

It doesn't have to be new, but I do love this car.)

Hmm... what else?

Well the usual, clothes, itunes money, shoes, jewelry, etc. I typically have fairly basic needs.

Most importantly I want this to be the best Christmas ever!! With me getting married, this is sort of like my last Christmas with just my family! It has to be perfect! And by perfect, I don't mean tons of gifts or even a single expensive gift (like a car). I just want my family to be together and to be happy and to just enjoy the day together! I have been blessed with the most wonderful family!! Please make it a wonderful Christmas for us!

Thank you Santa for all you do! You really are getting the kids at my work excited. They are very anxious about you coming in on Thursday! Me too. It will be lots of fun!

Thanks again Santa!

Love,

Kaylee

A Christmas Fairy-Tale (as told by a 3 year old)

So at work the other day this adorable little girl comes up to me.

"It's story time!" She exclaims (she's the most enthusiastic little girl I've ever met).

"Okay," I reply. "Should we read a book or make it up?"

"Make our own story! About a princess and a dragon!"

"Okay. So once upon a time there was a beautiful young princess. Now what was her name Charlee?" The little girl thinks for a little while.

"Her name was Charlee! And there was another princess named Brooklyn (her younger sister's name)! And a king and queen..." (and she named her parents, but I actually don't remember their names).

"Okay, so Princess Charlee decided to go on an adventure outside of the castle and ran into a dragon..."

"But the dragon was her friend! His name was Rudolph and she rode on him to go to the North Pole to go see Santa Claus!" ... and she went on about Rudolph speaking really really fast in her enthusiastic voice. I don't remember all she was saying. She mentioned it being like "The Polar Express!" And then I think she just started telling the story of the Polar Express... and then she walked away.

I never knew the end of what happened to Princess Charlee and her dragon friend named Rudolph. All I know is that little kids are adorable and Christmas really is a magical time of year. :)

It reminds me of this video though:

Top Ten Reasons I Love My Fiance

(very similar to Top Ten Reasons I Love My Boyfriend, but there are some differences)

1. When we're driving in the car he takes my hand and kisses it. It's just adorable.

2. He goes along with things to humor my weird ideas or quirks.

3. He's willing to help when planning our wedding.

4. He stopped chewing gum for me. Because I just really hate gum and the smell makes me nauseous.

5. When we go to movies together he turns to look at me and whispers "I love you".

6. He opens my car door for me.

7. Our love for each other has never faltered, only grown stronger, even through arguments and trials.

8. He consults me before shaving or cutting his hair. Which is just kind of funny, but it makes me happy that he cares what I think. (and he knows he can't do anything drastic since we're getting engagement photos soon)

9. He takes care of me when I'm sick. Even when we're not near each other, he tries to make me feel better.

10. He drove 2 hours to pick me up to drive back to Logan so we could spend the weekend together. And what a wonderful weekend it is. :)

Christmas Brownies!!

I am now going to share with you THE BEST BROWNIE RECIPE IN THE WORLD!! Seriously, I've tried tons of different brownies (I'm kind of a desert addict) but this recipe is the greatest. They are truly perfect! And I'm not only going to share with you the recipe, but show you how we Christmas-ed them up for a neighborhood Christmas party.

FUDGE BROWNIES

1/2 cup margarine

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 Tablespoons cocoa

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup flour

Melt margarine and cocoa in pan. Remove from heat, add sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add flour. Cook for 30 minutes at 350 degrees in a 8x8x2 inch pan. 

My family always doubles this recipe!! 

After that, we made some frosting (or my mom did). Her recipe for frosting is not a real recipe. It's simply powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. She mixes and keeps adding until it tastes right. It tastes delicious too! It's very simple.

Then to make them Christmas-y we crushed up candy canes and sprinkled them on top! My brother had a lot of fun with that part. He put them in a Ziploc bag and smashed them with a mallet. Then we spread the frosting over the brownies and sprinkled the candy canes on top.

The edges were a little burnt so we chose not to take them to the party and just keep them for ourselves. :)

The brownies were a huge hit! This really is the best brownie recipe and I really hope you try it out and tell me what you think!

My brother and I were very proud of what we had made! :)

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do! Have fun cooking!

R.I.P. Cari

Cari was a very near and dear friend of mine. For many many years.

We went on awesome and eventful car rides to give presents to people 3 months after their actual birthday, and then they weren't there so we left. 

We played with her many toys, like ninja swords. 

We witness this sight together after a drive to the temple. Yes, the temple. (But I think the gorilla forgot to bring his recommend, because he stayed outside)

We took dramatic photos together.

But she died Saturday night in a horrible accident. The snow was just too slippery for her to handle... Now look at her:

Oh... did you not realize I was talking about a car? :) 

But seriously. I learned to drive with this car, I drove it all through high school and a little bit through college. I loved this car!! It did matter to that it had so many problems, I loved it! It was MY car, my first car, and my favorite. I loved it because it got me where I needed to go, and sometimes it took me where I didn't know I wanted to go, I sat on the trunk with my friends and talked, she let me sit and cry in her sometimes, she listened to my problems with no complaint, we experienced the most beautiful places together, we went through troubles and trials together. I loved this car! Cari is my favorite! 

But even though she can still run after hitting a pole, she's not really worth fixing her up. I'm sad. I'm sad she's going to leave my family. We got her years ago from my Nana, and my Nana had her years before we did. She was driven by every member of my family. My sister had her at college, my brother had her now, but I had her the most. 

So goodbye Cari! You were a fantastic car! I'm sorry my brother had to run you into a pole.