his birthday

dawson and i have developed a routine for special occasions and i have to say i really love it.  

every time we are celebrating some thing, we will follow roughly this same schedule:  

sleep in, work out, go out to breakfast, do a few fun activities (usually one involving dash), and then going out to dinner.  

oh it is the best.  even if it's the other person's "day".  so here is how we did dawson's bday celebration:

we started with a work out at golds gym with all the gym bros.  dawson thought i was dumb to take a picture, so he wouldn't stop working out.  being 25 makes him soooo hardcore.  but not as hardcore as all the bros in tank tops behind us.

then we went out to breakfast at the original house of pancakes.  we enjoy stuffing our faces with fat and calorie laden breakfasts (hey, we didn't just work out for no reason!).

then we ran some errands (ok, not the most fun, but having the day off together because it was MLK day made it fun), did a little house hunting, and took dash to the dog park with his friend benji.  

after that we were somehow hungry again.  don't act so surprised.  we had heard alamexo was delicious so we splurged and went there for dinner.  it definitely did not disappoint.  we even had the restaurant to ourselves because i guess it isn't hip to go to dinner at 5pm?

the queso was to die for.  i still dream about it at night sometimes.  but as you can see, the portion sizes weren't what you would call large, so we decided we had room for dessert.  off to cheesecake factory we went.

aaaand ending with a s'mores cheesecake, it was a perfect day celebrating the fact that dawson was born!

surprise weekend getaway

a few months ago we planned a trip to san fran for the first weekend in november, but it ended up not working out and we couldn't go.  i was so sad that i almost cried because i love san francisco and i love our family who lives there even more.

the weekend we were supposed to go came, and on that thursday dawson sent me an email with this schedule attached to it.  i was equally as excited for a vacay as i was impressed by his microsoft excel skills.  and he definitely deserves an award or gold star or something for being so amazing and planning a whole weekend out.

we made it to st george and easily filled up all of our "open" time with the following:

• going to the st george temple.  i've never been to that temple before and it was beautiful.  i almost made us too late for our session but i think god knew we needed some uplifting and we made it with about 3 seconds to spare.
• stopping by swig to get diabetes.  discovered the swig man is dawson in cartoon form.  i got a sugar cookie and immediate got a cavity.  dawson got a dirty dr pepper and if you can believe it that ^ was a SMALL
• going to the movie "ender's game".  dawson really liked it but i was a disappointed.  i've read the book no less than 10 times in my life and i just felt like they left too much out.  oh and we almost got in a brawl with a mom who was there with her two kids.  she tried to fight us for being in their seats when we didn't even know it was assigned seats, duh.  i was embarrassed for her.
• being very daring and eating breakfast burritos at a sketchy mexican place.  being very glad that neither of us ended up with violent diarrhea.

then into las vegas we went to bask in the 75 degree weather.  there isn't a lot for boring married folk to do in sin city, but dawson put up with a few hours of shopping and then we devoured a greasy cheesy pizza.

and then the best part of the day, the beatles love show at the mirage!  i love the beatles and have always wanted to see the show.  i laughed, i cried, i sang along (but not as loud and obnoxiously as the drunk girl sitting behind us did), and loved every second of it.

we finished the night off with some classic bellagio water fountain dancing and being amazed at all the crazy people you see on the strip.  some of the most entertaining people watching EVER.  then because my love knows me so well, we stopped for some nielsens frozen custard on the way home. 10,000 calories, mmmmmmm.

it might not seem like too thrilling of a weekend to most people, but for me it was absolutely perfect.  what can i say, i'm easy to please.  dawson knows the keys to my heart (warm weather and good food).

and no i didn't forget that there was one more day on dawson's weekend agenda!  but that deserves a post of it's own (plus i'm really sick of typing).  stay tuned!

i'm the luckiest.

falling more and more in love with these two boys every day.

it was one of those days...

 

i looked in my closet and couldn't find one single thing that i liked,

and couldn't go shopping because i got a new jacket that took up my whole month's budget

(it wasn't an expensive jacket. my budget is just THAT small).

i had roots and frizzy hair that wasn't acceptable for the public to see.

a big teenage-like zit in the middle of my forehead with another one on it's way.

the scale told me i weigh 5 lbs more than i did a month ago and still all i wanted to eat was a donut.

and everyone on social media just seemed to be getting prettier, skinnier, and have more expensive new clothes.

so i turned to my husband and like usual he found a way to make me laugh and feel a little better.

i sure am lucky to have found that guy.

i still might be hibernating, making myself eat broccoli, and avoiding social media for awhile.

but at least i have an amazing husband to keep me company,

and when i come out of hiding it might be cold enough to wear my new jacket! 

(which is actually really cute despite what my husband says).

newest full-time employee

doesn't he just look good as a workin' man???

today was dawson's first day at his NEW JOB!

he is working with the VP of development at the woodbury corporation and couldn't be more excited.

his first day went fabulously and while i'm a little happy that i'm no longer the sole bread winner,

i'm a little sad that this job is going to take up more of his time than school and his part time job did.

boo on real life.

but still couldn't be more proud of my man for getting the job he wanted!

who could resist hiring him anyway?

college grad

congratulations dawson!!!
i am so incredibly proud of my amazing husband.
i can't even tell you how many hours this guy has put in at the library,
how many times he's turned me down when i've tried to convince him to ditch class,
and how freaking happy we both are that he is done!!!

after getting his GPA up, tackling the LSAT and getting into the schools in CA, AZ and WA
that we THOUGHT we wanted to go to for law school...
i am so glad that after much thought and prayer we are keeping are butts right here! (for now)

although i know that dawson would have breezed through law school (ha! does anyone do that?),
i know that he is going to be just as amazing at this new opportunity that has come up.
can't even wait for our new adventure to start as two college grads!



now just for fun, here is what a wedding, another degree, and 2 years of marriage will do to people:

that's right people.  nothing at all.  

we actually probably look younger and more immature now than we did before.

but at least we're both done with that college thing and are now officially a double income family!

yogi's

we've decided it's time to work on that extra layer of flubber we acquired over the winter.
we have 2 months til summer to go from flab to fit!!
our goal is to eat healthier, not go to nielsens as often (cut back to 3 times a month),
and start workin on our fitness by hitting the track, the gym, the trails, etc.

because of this i managed to convince dawson to do a 10 day yoga pass with me.
not just any yoga.

bikram yoga.
aka HOT yoga.
aka hotter than laying in a tanning bed inside a volcano yoga.

i had a yoga pass last summer and knew what was in store.
i was fully expecting dawson to walk out cursing halfway through the first class.
or to pass out from sweating so much.
or break a bone from falling out of one of those body bending poses.
or throw up from the wonderful stenches that come from that humid room.
or at the VERY least laugh at all the yogi men in their short shorts
and not take the class seriously at all.

but he thoroughly surprised me.
he was born to do yoga!
he didn't take any breaks in the first class, or in any classes for that matter.
he was actually better than me in a lot of the poses!
(very humbling to me and my yoga pride)
and once he even chatted up the teacher after class and made a new friend.

he claims that he won't go back now that the pass is over,
but we'll see what happens....
i don't think i'll be able to keep this new yogi away from that 110 degree yoga room!

p.s. if you want a glimpse into hot yoga here is a very accurate decription: yoga mat for sale

what if?

a few months ago this song was a number one hit on the radio, and every time it came on dawson would turn it up a little bit.  he never said anything about it but after listening to it a few times i had to laugh because it almost describes us perfectly.  now i know the music video is incredibly cheesy, but watch it anyway and you can pretend that you are watching dawson and i (ignore the fact that we look nothing like the people in this video)

i'm not tooting my own horn and saying that dawson is lucky to have me (i'm the one who married up, helloooo. have you met my hilarious, handsome, genius husband?),
but it is just funny how so many things lee brice sings about reminds me of us.  

we both know if we had never met that daw would hit up the kfc with jeff wilson weekly.

he would most definitely golf more, and snowmobile a lot more too.  

he wouldn't know about yoga, not to mention crossfit or pilates or healthy foods.  

we all know that i'm as a big of football fan as him, but he would be a lot bigger basketball fan.  

he would be living in a bachelor pad, but it'd probably be at byu-hawaii where he was going to go to school before we decided to get engaged and ruin that plan.
every night would be a "boys night" (because i refuse to think of him going on dates)

unfortunately he still has a motorcycle right now, but it'd would be a much faster one if he was single.

and he definitely would not worry about throw pillows. or house decorations. 
or about taking a million pictures. or even know what a blog is.

i asked dawson what my life would be like if we hadn't ever got married
(even though i don't like to think about that, it is a recurring nightmare that i have), 

and this is what we came up with:

my keys would live in a continual state of lostness
i would still be in a relationship with my blackberry instead of my iphone

not to mention i would never have a charged phone
dash would not exist in my life

i would never have a warm car in the mornings before work

my clothes would not know what life inside a closet was like
i would be missing out on some of the best friends and family around

my sweats and socks would all fit me because i wouldn't have dawson's to steal
i would be the epitome of loneliness and cry myself to sleep every night

i feel like it's fairly safe to say that we are quite lucky that we found each other.

Thank you Husband

Thank you for ...

always backing the car in for me so I don't have to back out of our skinny driveway

being the best cuddler and letting me fall asleep with my head on your chest every night

taking care of the bills, budgets, and finances that I know nothing about

always eating the crusts of my pizza and sandwiches for me

waking up 3 days a week at 6:30am and taking me to work

being such a hard worker and being so studious All. The. Time.

letting me use your iPhone anytime I want (which is all the time)

letting us get Dash, the best puppy ever

always remembering to take the garbages out 

(somehow I can't remember to do this even when they are almost overflowing... weird)

always being willing to go get a treat with me

asking about my patients every day after work, and being such a good listener

hearing Dash in the morning and taking him out when I am asleep and dead to the world

not forgetting about me on you mission, dating me when you got home, proposing to me, marrying me, loving me, and being the best husband I ever could have asked for

Awwww.... XOXO

Pheasant Hunting

For Dawson's birthday he went pheasant hunting with Blair and Andrew.  While I don't condone hunting, Dawson said that this was one of the funnest things he's done in his life.  I shed a tear when he sent me the pictures of the dead birds.    

Yuck.  

To make myself feel a little better I just started calling Dawson "Gale" and pretended that we were living in the Hunger Games and he was hunting for our survival.

When he got home he proudly handed me the packaged up pheasant meat that they had shot just that day.  For some reason he thinks that it's going to make a great crockpot meal.  Excuse me while I go throw up a little bit.

His Party

Birthday Lunch at Cheesecake Factory

 

Dawson wanted to make his birthday as insignificant as possible, which made planning a party for him hard. I wanted to fly us out to Hawaii and celebrate on the beach, he wanted to stay in just us and watch a movie.  We compromised on having our friends over to his parents house for desserts and games.  But because I am stubborn, I snuck in singing happy birthday to him and made him blow out candles.  It WAS his birthday after all.

We also had the Kent Family party that Sunday.  I didn't get any pictures, but 4 year old Taedon did!  He was the photographer for the event, and I'd say he did a pretty good job (I did have to delete about 20 pictures of the floor, but I think he shows promise)

Happy Birthday Husband!!!!

Happy birthday to my handsome hubby!

He is FINALLY 23 yrs old.

Remember, I'm robbing the cradle, cuz I've already been 23 for awhile now.

I don't know how I got so lucky to have found a husband that was so perfect for me.  He is the best friend I've EVER had.  My favorite thing in the world is coming home to him every day, and I can't imagine anything more fun than being with him for the rest of forever.