Introducing Finnegan :)

I've always been an animal lover, but if I ever had to circle dog or cat on a piece of paper, 12/10 times I would have always chosen dog.

Until recently....

Kendal and I are into watching documentaries and a few Sunday's ago, Kendal chose a cat documentary for us to watch. I was pretty surprised at his choice, given that he too is certified dog person. But I obliged because I'm not about to say no to watching cute animals be, well, cute for 2 hours.

And thus started our kitten enchantment.

Fast forward to last Sunday when I was scrounging for a story idea for my upcoming A-TV News broadcast (those of you who see my posts on Facebook know what I'm talking about). You see, Thanksgiving break was coming to a close and pretty much everyone in my class hadn't filmed or written anything for our Wednesday show... because WE WERE ON A BREAK (that was for you, my fellow Friends lovers). Anyway, people started tossing around story ideas in our group text and someone mentioned that the Cache Humane Society (along with animals shelters across the nation in partnership with The Best Friends Animal Society) had a very successful Black Friday event over the weekend and adopted out most of the animals! Again, I wasn't about to say no to anything that revolved around cute little pups and kitties.... so I volunteered as tribute and snatched the story!

On Tuesday I went down there and found someone willing to do an interview with me (btw...why do people always get so weird when they see I'm carrying a camera??) I asked the girl if we could go into the cat room because I wanted a fitting background and dogs clearly make too much noise that would jack my audio. She showed me the room and said she would be in shortly. Finnegan was the first thing I saw when I walked in and I was immediately drawn to him amongst all the other little fur balls in there. I really don't know why... maybe the way he cocked his little head as I set my camera up... maybe the way his green eyes locked with mine when I said "hi kitty cat" in my high-pitched-animal-voice (I know you all have an animal voice too #noshame) but he seriously stole my heart in the first 10 seconds I saw him. At this point, I hadn't even touched him to feel his bunny soft fur because I am notoriously allergic to animals (my VERY least favorite aspect about myself) and I didn't want my coughing and sneezing and wheezing to interfere with the interview. So I just admired him from afar (and got some seriously adorable shots of him) while I waited to do my interview.

When we finished the interview, I commented on how cute I thought little Finnegan was! The girl was all "I know, we all LOVE him around here! He has the SWEETEST personality!" and then she told me that he was brought in with some brothers and sister as strays during October and how surprised they all were that he was still in the shelter. She also said she adopted one of his brothers and said that he was such a good cat. We wrapped up the conversation and I continued to get the shots I came for. As the day went on I couldn't stop thinking about the little white kitty with green eyes. Which surprised me because as I said before... I'm not normally a cat person.

I was up on campus pretty late because that's just my average Tuesday evening so I didn't get the chance to tell Kendal about my time at the shelter that night. It wasn't until Wednesday evening that I brought Finnegan up. I wasn't hopeful at all when I started the conversation because I've asked Kendal for a pet since before we even got married and the time has never been right. Probably because I've always tried to convince him to get a dog and dogs require a lot more time than cats. But I gave it a shot anyway and Kendal was pretty interested right off the bat! Very few things in our marriage have surprised me more than this. So I showed him Finnegan's picture from the Humane Society's site and the footage I caught of him while I was there. If Kendal was a girl he would have been squealing but he is a manly man so he just voiced how adorable he thought Finnegan was. Then we started talking about maybe acting on this and bringing home a cat. It had us both questioning our identities, but after some discussion we agreed that this was something we wanted to do. There was still, of course, my allergy problems, but I was raised in a home with two cats and two dogs and though that bothered my allergies some it wasn't until I came to college and wasn't surrounded by all the pet toxins that my body just forgot how to handle it's immune system. Seriously... it got bad. Every time I've been home since I moved to Logan I've turned into a real piece of work sneezing and coughing. It's ugly. BUT having pets around are a big part of my life and I figured if we got a cat now my immune system would have no choice but to figure out how to deal with it again. ALSO I've heard that if you have an animal around while you are pregnant you are less likely to pass such allergens onto your child because they are exposed to it while still in the womb and this allergy thing is not something I want my children to have to deal with. Because it's really sad and no fun when you can't love hard on the animals around you.

Given that I hadn't even really met Finnegan and got to know his personality, we decided that I would go in Thursday morning to see if he was really as lovable as the workers said he was. And if he was, I was allowed to go back after my class and bring him home.

So I did. And he was. And I told Kendal it was official. We were getting a cat. Craziest, most spur of the moment, BEST choice we have ever made together! (Including the GoPro we just purchased a couple weeks ago for our trip to India over the break... we thought THAT was the wildest thing we'd ever do. hahah)

I brought Finnegan home while Kendal was still at work and the bonding time I had with him was so special! He was nervous about being exposed to a new environment and he was sniffing every inch of our home with the utmost caution. It was adorable. But what was even MORE adorable was the fact that he trusted me enough that in between investing each crook and cranny he'd come to me for some reassurance. Either a head butt (cats love that... not a clue why!) or rubbing up against my legs or letting me pet him all over. He is SUCH a little lover! We got so lucky!

Not only is he the cuddliest kitten, but he is the smartest too. My proudest moment was about an hour after I brought him home, he started scratching at the carpet (no no, this is a not a good thing, I realize that, but just wait for it) and looking up at me and meowing and I realized "OMG I think he needs to go potty and he is TELLING me!" So I hurried and quickly set up his litter box and showed it to him and without any hesitation he hopped right in and did his business! Talk about some easy potty training. I love that guy for so many reasons.

Since bringing him home, we have had a whole list of sweet and fun moments.

Favorites include:

His playful nature. If it's dangling, he's going to jump for it. He loves strings on hoodies, the way my hair hangs when I bend over, the strings on our window blinds, and the wand toy we bought for him. If the videos I've taken would upload on here (just spent WAY too much time trying to make that work! haha!) I'd share them all because it's very entertaining stuff! Guess you'll all just have to come over and see it in person :)

The way he responds to our voices. He either knows his name or knows that if he comes he'll get loved on (probably the later but I like to believe the former). But he truly does come when we call for him! Well... 90% of the time at least. He is still a cat and as we all know... cats have their own agenda. Haha

Watching him run up the stairs. Poor thing has to work himself up for at least a minute before attempting it. But not down the stairs... nope that's all good with him. But up the stairs? Different story. He gets in pouncing position, looks up, gets lower, meows, yawns nervously, and then finally rounds the corner with a running start and zooms up in a blur! You'd think King Kong was chasing him! Hahah it's so funny and need I say it? CUTE.

Seeing him turn into a soccer prodigy. We got him all these little ball toys and he loves chasing them along the floor. Cats may not play fetch by they sure know how to chase a ball! He swats them in between his paws running at maximum speed and I could watch him do it for hours. The best part though is when the ball loses it's momentum he'll walk away from it like he's done but then he turns around, crouches down, and goes it for the kill! And it starts all over again. He'll do that until he gets it stuck somewhere, like behind the fridge or the laundry machine or out of reach under the couch. We have to keep pulling them back out for him. But we do so willingly because we just love him OH so much.

His motorboat purr. Start scratching him and it will start right up. I'm excited for when kids come along because I think Finnegan is going to be fine with them. Doesn't matter where you pet him, doesn't even matter if you tug on his tail, he is completely unfazed as long as you are giving him loves. Oh and speaking of his tail, another little characteristic of his is that the tip of his tail is a bent. Apparently when he was brought into the shelter he had a broken tail, poor kitty. But even if you grab that he doesn't mind too much. He just swooshes it away and keeps on purring. Good thing because one day little humans will be crawling all over him! Every now and then I'll give it a little tug just to get him adjusted to such bothers.

And last but not least! His cuddles. He is one snugly little kitty. If everyone in the world spent 10 minutes a day enjoying Finn's cuddles, this whole globe would be a better place.

I was watching Netflix on my laptop in bed and Finnegan hopped up onto my chest and he was being way to cute to not snap a picture! So I pulled up Photo Booth and right then Kendal started calling me, hence the phone pressed to my ear. Haha when I answered Kendal thought something was wrong because I was whispering but I just didn't want to disturb Finn's slumber. :) JUST LOOK HOW CUTE HE IS!

No one and no thing looks cuter when stretching than this little sweetie. 

That blue collar you see has a little bell on it so we can hear him wherever he goes. That little jingle makes every day as happy as Christmas morning over here!

He discovered the warm and comfort of blanket forts. And when he isn't cuddled up under the blanket he is attacking the monster hidden underneath! Hahah watching him pounce on Kendal's toes is the funniest thing. I just wish I could see what goes on in Finnegan's head... I'm sure the monsters he sees are very real to him. Haha

Cuddlin' with Finnegan, chillen' with no makeup on. And nope, not first thing in the morning either! Haha I spent my Saturday afternoon chilling hard with this little cat napper. We laid like this on the couch for several hours. I kept trying to get up to go be productive but when I'd move, he'd stretch into an even deeper cuddle like this and I just couldn't get myself to leave him. Can ya blame me?!

Okay, now here's the best part of it all! I don't even believe the good fortune myself. Those allergies I told you about? NONEXISTENT WITH FINNEGAN! Can I get a what, whaaaat?? Seriously it's a miracle. I have never experienced this before. I don't know what's different. But I've been testing all my limits and trying everything that normally set me off before. Touching my face? Not a problem. Getting a little scratch on my arm? No hives. I'm honestly in heaven over here being able to snuggle with him as close as possible without going into a sneezing, wheezing frenzy! And I know I still have hardcore allergies because when I was in the shelter I was doing everything in my will to not look like my allergies where killing me because then maybe they wouldn't have let me take Finn home. (hahah I had to be discreet, ya know? didn't want to give them a reason to decline me!) Seriously it's a miracle. Okay, okay it's not really nonexistent, but I've only sneezed a few times and got itchy eyes twice. But zero hives and zero breathing problems! Anyone who saw me around animals before wouldn't believe I'm not taking 3 allergy pills a day. It's either A) a blessing for adopting him and giving him a good home or B) he's not an full grown adult and he doesn't have an undercoat yet. But even this theory is unlikely because I've played with kittens before and twas not the case. So I am sticking with A! He's a little blessing in all shapes and sizes.

And here is what our current situation looks like as I type this post up. Such typical cat move. Find a neck and get cozy on it. Hahah but we don't mind it a bit. You can cuddle with us allllll day long little Finnegan :)




(And as long as I spent trying to upload videos, I just spent equally as much time trying to get these words on a new line instead of being part of the caption on the last picture) #userfail. Make things easier to work, Blogger!

But alas, it looks like I am stuck inside the caption so I'll wrap this post up here.

For those wondering what we will do with Finn when we visit my parents in India in about two weeks, fear not! We are not the fools you might have thought we were. We did not adopt him without thinking these things through. We called one of my best friends and fellow cat lover and worked out all the details the night before we brought him home. He will be staying with her while we are away. He is very adaptable to his surroundings so I know he will be okay with her. Plus also she has another cat and two dogs so it'll be interesting to hear the report on how he does around other animals. I'm sure he will be fine! He is good little Finn. But I can tell you this much... I am sure going to miss him! Last night we left the house for like two hours to go see my father -in-law perform in a choir concert and I missed Finnegan the whole time! Hahah I told Kendal maybe he should just go to India and tell me about it so I could stay home with my baby kitty cat. ;) JK... kind of.

Welp, my kitty is calling my name so I'll catch ya'll later. Gotta go get some Finnegan cuddles :)

Our Month of FUN

This last month has been full of fun and adventures! We have been busy, busy, busy and though I find myself exhausted as I try to keep up a good pace at work and maintain a clean and happy home, I am so glad we finally got in some solid summer vacations! Hooray for letting this white skin of mine soak up a little bit of sun!

I'm still not quite certain how I'd like to break up these posts, but  I will try to be as chronologically correct as possible.

These seemingly nonstop adventures began exactly one whole month ago! As I just looked at my calendar to figure out where to begin, I realized that June 24th is when all these fun little activities started taking place.

So, on June 24th, we hosted a little pop up shop at our new home for my cute friend Val who recently started her own clothing line. I had a blast planning and preparing to host our first big get together. We got to use some of the fun serving items we got for our wedding AND this little party gave me the best excuse to get our home ready for people visiting (because at that point we had only lived here for about a month and there were still boxes on boxes in some of the rooms upstairs!). Anyway, the turnout we got was a lot of fun and I got some super cute clothes for a great price! (THANKS VAL PAL). People, if you get anything from this post, please go check her stuff out on PenelopeOlive.com. It is all incredibly cute, comfy and affordable. I call that a win, win, win. ALSO, my mom made the trip all the way up here for just a couple hours to hang with me and that alone made the entire night a success. 

That very next day, Kendal and I took a pleasant little trip up to Bear Lake for some maxing and relaxing (long live Fresh Prince for those of you who got that reference). The greatest part was that even though he doesn't normally get Saturday's off, one of his coworkers offered to switch him so that he could have Saturday to spend some time with me! How nice is that?! I was so excited about getting some quality time in with my man on a day I hadn't expected to! When we found out we would have a day off together, we immediately texted our friends Jentz and Audrey (Kendal's old roomie and brand new wifey) and invited them up to Bear Lake with us! It was perfect. They were coming up from Ogden area, so we didn't drive with them and we got there a little over an hour before they arrived. I was determined to get a hand-dipped corn dog and raspberry shake on our little excursion so we stopped for some lunch while it was just the two of us. At first it seemed like no one had hand-dipped corn dogs which is CRAZY because who doesn't LOVE those scrumptious delicacies?! But we finally found them at a little place that advertised themselves as having "The least famous raspberry shakes" which was pretty funny considering every other restaurant up there claims to have the most "Famous Raspberry Shakes". Can't tell you if their "least famous shakes" are any good because we decided to wait to get those until we were headed out of town, but their corn dogs definitely lived up to my Bear Lake dreams. As we were finishing up our food we saw J+A drive by and met them down at a private beach we had access to because Jentz's family has a cabin up there. The water was a bit chilly but we had a grand time anyway! Highlights from our time at the beach include floating on these comfy little water chairs Kendal's sweet mom gave to us as a surprise and exploring the water on the kayak J+A got for their wedding! It was great to spend some time with them because we haven't really had a chance since they got married in May. On our way home, Kendal let me make one last stop for a shake at a little restaurant that we had never been to before. (I am just really grateful he tolerates my sweet tooth). The shake was yummers but I must say that LaBeau's still has the best. It's probably all in my head but I swear they really do taste the best. I guess we will have to keep trying new places to see if I am right or not! That night we went out to see a movie which was a real treat because we NEVER see movies on any day besides $5 Tuesday. The reason for the outing was out of my mama's generosity. When she popped in for the Penelope Olive party, she gave us some free movie tickets that she didn't think her and my dad would have time to use before India. Needless to say, we were pretty pumped on this surprise and went to go see "The Shallows". I'm not saying the movie is in any way realistic... BUT we both love Blake Lively and she rocked it. As usual. Like I totally have a girl crush on her and I made Kendal follow her on insta to see how cool she is. Aaaand he ended up loving her almost as much as me. I suggest you all go give her a follow too. SHE IS HILLLARIOUS.

Later in the week we got to celebrate our 6 month anniversary together! After we both worked full days, we took the Olive Garden Gift card the King's gave us for Easter and had ourselves a delicious night out. Our server was a kook! Hahahah and even though his bizarreness was giving me some slight anxiety, we got some big laughs out of our experience that night. Also he winked and gave me like 25 chocolates at the end so that was cool too. When we got home, we couldn't help but dig into our wedding cake topper! I know, I know, that tradition is supposed to come on the 1 year anniversary but we seriously couldn't wait a day longer! IT WAS SO GOOD. My cousin Lauren is the best and made our cake not only BEAUTIFUL but sooooo tasty too. It was a lovely night indeed :)

Additionally, I just wanna give a quick shout out to both of our amazing mama's for coming in clutch and helping these little adventures come true! Thanks to my mom for helping out with the Penelope Olive party and movie tickets and thanks to Kendal's mom for the floaties and gift card! We love you ladies!

I'll cut this post here, but I still got a lot to say! Keep your eye out for more adventures of C+K!

OH and as promised, here's a couple pictures from our little outings!

From our little trip up to Bear Lake :)

Digging in to our yummy cake topper on our 6 month anni!

A little bit of dress up for our night out to Olive Garden! And yes, that pretty top I'm wearing is Penelope Olive!
Check out her website for more lovely staple pieces :)

As Of Lately

Hi readers!

Guess who's back - back again. I am back! Tell a friend.

Seriously... WHY is documenting life SO HARD?! I struggle to journal, blog, and even take pictures these days! This newly-wedded bliss has brought me some of the best times of my life and for some reason I can't get myself to record it all for the future. BOO! So here's a June 7th resolution... I'm hoping that you'll see a lot more of us as we live out our lives together. As adventurous or boring as they may be. I know our families have been wondering what we've been up to because when we were dating we were pretty good about sharing the milestones we were passing. So mom (my most devoted fangirl), I hope to be able to get you more pictures of us ;)

I guess my biggest problem with successfully documenting our fun times is that I haven't quite figured out the balance of when and when not to share via social media. Kendal and I were talking about it in our first month of marriage and we decided it makes some moments more special to keep them to ourselves. DUH. But why did that make us suddenly suck at pulling out our camera when we were doing something eventful?? I just do not know. So Kendal, imma make you smile for the camera and you better freaking like it! JK when we were dating he suggested when to take pictures more than half of the time. Like I say to him almost everyday, he really is a good egg.

Aaaand that little intro brings us to now. I present to you - yet another list - of the happenings in our lives. As Of Lately:

• We bought a house! Okay... not totally. As some of you may know, my amazing parents have decided to serve a mission (I'll get to that in a second) and as they were talking to us about our plans for the next two years, it appeared as though Kendal and I would be residents of Logan for 2+ years, at least. We are both still in school (I'll graduate next spring and he will be done in a matter of 2-3 more years), so it seemed like a good idea to get into a place that we could stay in until our time in Logan is up. Owning multiple properties is a good tax write off and so it seemed like the perfect idea for my parents to buy a property in Logan that we could take care of while they are away. And thus, this cutie townhouse is OURS. Hooray! Ah I can hardly describe how much I love it here. The layout is perfect, everything is so new and clean, and the neighborhood is a delight! We are in the midst of so many fun things! To name a few - the fairgrounds, the quaintest little park with a pond, by favorite local bakery, a pretty greenhouse, the aquatic center, our gym - it's just perfect. Plus we love finally having space for guests :) It is so much fun inviting people over and being able to hang out and play real live house when we host dinner parties! Also... I am loving decorating this place. We have already invested in some sweet deals (like our cute comfy couches) and placing pictures and endearing prints all over the place! It's really starting to feel cozy in almost every room. I'll have to get some pictures up on the blog of my favorite parts of our home soon so you all can swoon with me! We are just so blessed. I love knowing this place will likely be home to our first baby. It's so full of happy memories already! I already know it's going to be hard to say goodbye to it when we move out of this little town. 
• As I mentioned before.... my parents are going on a mission! They were called to serve in the New Delhi, India Public Affairs Office. Their mission will include India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh! HOW COOL IS THAT? The coolest. I know. We are already tentatively planning to go visit them this upcoming winter break! YAY! So many dreams come true. I am so excited for them. It is fun to see my parents so thrilled about it. And no.... they aren't the slightest bit worried or nervous. They actually requested this exact mission! Some may say they are a little crazy, but I think they are so rad for wanting to go to India. They can't wait for this adventure together. Can you say GOALS? For real peeps... they are the ultimate example of what a dream team looks like! They just had their mission farewell over Memorial Day weekend and were supposed to enter the MTC June 13th and leave June 20. However, due to some recent delays in their Visa's, those dates have been pushed back nearly one month. Which is good and bad. Good because they get to hang around longer but bad because that means I'll have to wait even longer for them to come back home! Selfish. I know. But saying goodbye to them is going to be so hard and I will miss them more than they know. I believe we will all see blessings from their service though. What they are doing is a really special thing. I love them!!
• One tender mercy after another... I landed a dope job! It's kind of a funny story. I started this summer with two completely random jobs (working at a loan place and knocking door selling insurance) lol. Do either of those sound remotely up my alley? HAHA naaawt. But as the last semester was ending I did my best to get ahead of the game and apply for a bunch of summer jobs before they all got taken! So I ended up with a zillion interviews, several job offers, and I took the two that offered the best money/ complimented each other's schedules. Welllll... money really isn't the most important thing in this world. Happiness truly is. And let me tell ya - I was not happy working at those jobs (not necessarily the insurance gig besides it being awfully mundane. but certainly that loan job). Holy cow, I would come home after work feeling exhausted and stressed and dirty. After coming home on one particularly stressful night in tears my husband convinced me it was absolutely not worth it to stay there. So I made up my mind to quit! And I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders the moment I did. That same night I started looking on Career Aggie and surprising found some pretty cool looking jobs. The next morning I went around handing out resumes, officially quit the loan job, and got a call back for an interview the coming Monday at a place called The Logo Shop. The position was looking for a graphic designer, so naturally I was thrilled because that's what I'm interested in for a career! So I went to the interview and waited barely 24 hours before I got another call that said I had got the job! I was so happy that day. It was all perfect timing. And the best part is that the pay matches what I was getting at the loan place, it's a full time position, and the hours match Kendal's almost perfectly! So we get to wake up together in the morning and he gets home just 30 minutes after me. It couldn't be a bigger blessing. Plus the experience I am getting is great and I enjoy what I do all day! Even though I sometimes get tired of looking at a computer screen, the time goes by quite quickly! I feel so lucky. And grown up. And legit because my job is super cool and I love telling people where I work! :)
• This last weekend brought Kendal and I the greatest adventure of our summer so far. Though it was a quick trip, it was well spent. Kendal's sweet Grandma Bluth passed away just about two weeks ago and so a funeral down in Mexico was in order. Kendal hasn't been to visit Mexico for 9 years and he's been looking forward to the family reunion that is happening down there in July. He was really close to his grandma as a kid so he wanted to be at her funeral even though it would mean taking several days off work and driving a looooong way for just two days. We were both able to get work off, which was a great, especially for me with this new job. I couldn't even give the right amount of hours it took to get down there, but I wanna say it was about 17 or 18. Ick! Honestly though, the drive wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be. We were entertained by some audio books Kendal and I picked up at the library, movies on my laptop, books - I've started reading the Harry Potter series again (I almost read the entire 2nd book this trip!), sleeping, and lots of snacking! The ride down felt shorter than the ride back. I'm sure it was because on the way down I was a little more ignorant at how long the drive really was haha. It was all worth it when we got there though! The two days we were there were filled with the most delicious food (my favorites were the mango palette's - mexican popsicles - and the carne asada quesadilla with a manzana lift on the side - aka heaven sent apple soda. the fact that it was served in an ice cold glass bottle was just the cherry on top! mmm it was all so good!), riding through the dusty roads on four wheelers and motos (that's what everyone in mexico calls em), riding a horse (it's been sooo long since I've been on the back of a horse!), and swimming/ soaking up the hot sun/ and gobbling up as much fresh guacamole and corn tortilla chips as I could pool side! It was all so splendid. I also loved getting to meet tons of Kendal's relatives that weren't able to make it the our wedding and learning more about his astounding grandma at her funeral. I just feel so lucky and blessed to be apart of this amazing family and legacy! Seriously, I hit the jackpot with these people. I can't wait to go back down for a whole week in July for the reunion! 

That wraps up the biggest parts of our lives from the past several months. If you're still reading, get ready for some better and more frequent posting from me here ;) It's my goal to get better at writing down these special memories (oh and to hit the gym more often of course). Haha wish me luck as I try to accomplish these personal tasks while still maintaining the other important aspects of my life!

XOXO The Kings

Easter Weekend

Let me first apologize for my lack of cute, pastel plastered Easter pictures. The hubs and I are pretty terrible about remembering to take pictures. We're working on that...

Although we don't have the photo proof, our Easter weekend was pretty dang great. Good food, good people, good times.

We took a trip up to Pocatello to visit Kendal's sweet parents and arrived around 7 p.m. on Saturday to smiling faces and a delicious Easter feast. Since Lucy had plans to fly to Arizona to care for her mom early Sunday morning, we celebrated the festivities one night early so she could join us.

The food was SO good. I seriously STUFFED my face. I felt kind of bad about not being more involved in the dinner conversation... I was just over there scarfing down everything laid before me haha... chicken and shrimp fresh from the grill, a new recipe of jerk ribs Lucy wanted to try out, an assortment of yummy veggies, GF pasta tossed with even more yummy veggies, and spinach/ feta cheese naan (she's been hooked on naan ever since Kendal and I went with them to an Indian restaurant here in Logan). Gosh, I wish you all could enjoy a bite of every dish right now. I guess when you marry into the King family you get to eat like a king too!

Once my focus wasn't completely consumed by the food (pun intended) I realized Lucy had decorated pretty much every corner of the house! The whole place was SO cute. I don't know where she's collected all those fun decorations from but I want tips! There were twinkly lights with colorful flowers and ornaments hung in the spaces between the bulbs, festive table cloths and pretty tulips, and beaded strands of ribbon hung over all the doors. It got me feeling so excited for when I get to be a mom with a real house that I get to light up with all kinds of cheery decor!

We spent Saturday night relaxing and sharing stories. OH and of course munching on carrot cake with vanilla ice cream once our tummies had a little more space :)  It's always fun to hear about the family history and the silly jokes Corey manages to slide into every conversation. Haha all I know is that I couldn't have picked a better family to marry into. I got so lucky!

Lucy had an early flight to catch so I barely missed her and Corey leaving as I pulled my groggy morning self out of bed. I didn't even notice that Kendal had left our room to say goodbye so when I woke up to footsteps and voices upstairs I got myself up there as quick as I could! When I got to the top Kendal called me over to the couch to at least wave goodbye as they pulled out of the driveway.

We had a little Easter scavenger hunt prepared for us so once I woke up a bit more we decided to get started on that. Lucy had pointed out the starting point the night before so we walked over and opened up the first egg to find our clue. This little activity was definitely a highlight for me. It's been years since I've participated in an Easter Egg Hunt... especially one without older brothers terrorizing me and swiping all my findings from my bare hands! Haha sooo many teary-eyed baby Claire Easter videos. But this year I got to be on a team with my husband and we had a blast working together to find the next egg. Some of the eggs were actually quite a challenge to find so that added even more excitement to our hunt! Also Kendal let me dub myself "Keeper of the Eggs", giving me each clue to store in my hoodie's front pocket. I felt like an aussie kanga with a pouch! One of the funniest moments was when we were looking for an Easter basket in the garage. Kendal found a basket on top of the refrigerator and checked inside for the next egg. But all he could find was a grocery bag filled with corn nuts! Hahah we thought maybe that was our prize, which would have compared to Kendal's idea of giving someone a chicken pot pie for Christmas! But when we double checked to make sure they weren't just pulling our legs we found an clear egg that blended in perfectly with the basket. I'm not sure why that tickled our funny bones so much, but it did! We continued on the hunt and eventually found the very last hiding place. Our prize was hidden away in a colorful jar and to our delight we opened it up to find TWO gift cards! Olive Garden and Coldstone :) Some of our very favorite places! It's always exciting getting gift cards because they give us a reason to have a night out... especially because I can be so stingy with our money. It was so nice of them to plan that little scavenger hunt for us. A very pleasant surprise indeed!

I wasn't feeling too well after we finished so I went back downstairs to rest a little more while Kendal took a bath. Unfortunately that didn't help much because I spent the rest of the day feeling a little under the weather. But we met Corey at church and enjoyed the Easter messages together. My favorite part hands-down was the primary performance. They sang two songs and did such a nice job! Children's voices are the absolute sweetest. They brought such a strong spirit right into the meeting in a matter of minutes. The church choir also sang some songs, which Corey is a part of, so we got to enjoy those numbers as well. It was great! We sat in on his Sunday School lesson afterwards and felt like rock stars being introduced as his son and daughter-in-law :)

Post church consisted of more good food- complete with risotto, bringing me right back to my beloved Italian days- and solid Sunday naps.

We may have only been there for 24 hours but that time was filled with many happy memories. Huge thanks to the Kings for making sure our first Easter together was egg-stra special! ;)

LET'S GET HIGH [on love]. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros.

Kendal and I will soon be coming up on 3 magical months of marriage! WHAAAT. It seems like just yesterday we were being sealed to each other in the Salt Lake Temple, celebrating the day away with our loved ones.

Although 3 months deems us as total marriage newbies, I think we are rocking this whole marriage thing. Sure, we have our disagreements… but if we didn’t, this journey we’re on together couldn’t really be constituted as an adventure, right? And Gordon B. Hinckley himself said, “Love is meant to be an adventure”. So as long as you can agree to disagree and choose to be happy rather than to be right (p.s. read that last piece of advice online the other day and LOVED it), you’re doing better than fine. PLUS – those tiffs don’t even compare with the many highlights each day has brought to us since 12.30.15. 

Without further ado, I present to you our very first list of “Marriage Peaks” [because anyone who knows me knows that I love a good list]

v  Sharing a bed. And why did I place this item at the very tip top of the list? Because that boy’s freakishly warm body never fails to warm up my constantly subzero toes. Slipping my feet under his legs as I’m falling asleep may be the greatest thing EVER. However, I should point out this might be a different story for Kendal… sharing a bed with me has shown him what it’s like to sleep with an alligator. Most nights he takes it like a true champion. But on some occasions I’ll wake up to him shoving my body across the bed, moving me away from my assumed pose – smack dab in the middle of the mattress, sprawled out like a skydiver in free fall. (Sorry honey)

v  Sharing chores and other responsibilities. Let me tell ya, it is SO nice to have a partner who helps keep our home a happy place to be. After a long day, solo work is the last thing anyone wants to do. But when one person tackles the dishes and the other takes care of the vacuuming and sweeping, those mundane jobs aren’t so bad. And it’s all done in half the time. Cheers to that!

v  And then there’s the things that a helpful partner is ESPECIALLY nice for… doing those things we just really can’t stand. Ironically, Kendal does a better job at not turning green while pulling clogged hair out of the shower drain. And I am the designated spider killer in the relationship. (teeheehee totally serious over here folks)

v  Sleepy good morning snuggles and kisses. There’s just something extra special about those moments when the sun is streaming through the windows and we’re still cuddled up in our warm blankets.

v  Date night, every night. Whether we get to enjoy a slow night in, complete with pizza and a Redbox or go out with some of our fun married couple friends. It’s so wonderful to not have to deal with those “your place or mine” texts as we figure out plans for the evening. All we have to do is walk through the door and our night together can begin right away! It’s a truly beautiful thing.

v  Never having to say goodnight. Of course we always say goodnight as we are curling up to go to bed, but oh my goodness… one of the best things about being married is never having to say goodnight and go home. Seriously, it’s the biggest game changer. We can now peacefully go to bed at a reasonable hour because we aren’t forcing ourselves to stay awake as we procrastinate leaving each other for the night. Our bedtime has changed from midnight or later to 10:30 or earlier. IT’S THRILLING.

v  Getting to do our own thing while still having the fun of being together. As two separate people, we naturally have our own separate interests. And sometimes I just really like kicking back and binge watching Grey’s Anatomy (I’M FREAKING OBSESSED BTW), while Kendal plays some Xbox. Life in our little studio apartment allows us to always be in close proximity to each other so when we both get the itch for our guilty pleasures Kendal will turn off the sound on his game and I’ll turn my volume up so he can hear it. It’s fun for us to do this because he pays close attention to what’s happening and asks questions to stay up to date on all the drama. Then whenever I gasp at some gross condition a character has, he’ll run over and check out the gore with me. It’s a good time. And we both get to do what we want J  Always a win-win activity!

v  Living together forces us to solve our differences promptly. Which is so healthy! When we got frustrated when we were dating, it was too easy to escape the issue by leaving and going home. Though it’s definitely good to take a minute and step back until you’ve calmed down, I find it more beneficial to resolve things sooner than later. This way there isn’t time to build any resentment or bitterness toward the person or the issue. You also get to observe the other person as they go through every stage of whatever emotion and you really learn a lot about the best way to handle things. 

Oh – and for those curious about the title of this post – It’s simply a song I like. Give it a listen if you’re wanting to add a little groove to your day J It’s been stuck in my head and I thought it was fitting considering the peak of a mountain is the highest point and these “Marriage Peaks” have got us high on looooove. Amen and amen. 

P.S. Pictures have a way of spicing up just about everything, so here's a little photo of the husband and I at our Stake's Valentine dinner + dance. We've been on a lucky streak lately because at this event we won a gift card to The Elements restaurant here in Logan (which is basically one of the fanciest places in town) and just the other night we went to a Vivint recruiting dinner to support one of Kendal's buddies and won an IPad Air! We are SUPER pumped about both victories.

Also love the married student ward we are in and recently received the calling of Sunday School teachers together! It's especially fun because this will probably be one of the only church callings in our life that we get to share. XOXO