The New High Five

Eric does this thing a lot. He sticks he fist out in front of me, while still staring in the other direction and says "nucks." I guess it's supposed to be some kind of "Amen Brother" thing. He was surprised when he did this in the car and I licked his fist instead of "giving him nucks."
That is officially how I respond to "nucks" now. A year of marriage later and he still gets surprised when I lick his hand and I still laugh.

I love that man. :)

Carnival Rides

Before:During:

After:

Sky Ride and Shoes

Terror Ride

Bumper Cars

haha look at Eric

Good times. :)

Loyal Fan

Dear Autumn,

I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am that you've finally arrived. It's not that I don't like different things about the other seasons but there is just something about you that makes me absolutely giddy.

Yesterday, Eric and I went up Timpanogos to see you at your best and I have to say that my favorite color of yours is that red that looks like the tree is on fire next to the golden aspen trees. While we were a bit sad that we missed all the flowers of summer, you made up for it in the crisp air and your perfectly lovely smell.

Now that you are here, there are a few things Eric and I are hoping to do. We want to go to a corn maze, carve pumpkins, make warm soups, drink hot chocolate by the gallons, go to football games (not to mention watching dozens of them), play tennis in the afternoon, eat carmel apples, decorate for the season and coming holidays, throw my very first party and wear sweaters. I've also really missed my Rocketdog boots.

Some don't understand my love for you but I think it has something to do with my genetics. I can't help it. It's in my blood. Have you ever had the pleasure of meeting my mother? She has instilled a love of your time of year in me and all my sisters from the time we were tiny. We go to Gardner Village and watch conference together. We swap all the best of your recipes and let the calories slide a bit. We watch Halloween movies together and talk about the best costumes. We have sparkling cider for Thanksgiving and we listen to the same old stories my mother tells of her childhood and ours and we'll all laugh like we've never heard them before.

I'm not sure if Eric loves you as much as I do but he certainly has fond feelings. I think it has to do with leaving the window open in the morning and snuggling under the covers before getting out of bed. He likes to snuggle in cool weather and I can't pretend it isn't my favorite time of day either. I still can't seem to get him to love hot chocolate the way I do but he certainly likes carmel apples and pumpkin cookies.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I'm happy you are here. You make me really appreciate my loved ones and for the time we have to be together. Without them, I don't know if I would love you as much as I do. So thank you for the time you have to share with us and for the peaceful feeling I have when I watch you slowly come and slowly go again.

Your Loyal Friend,

Kate

State Fair '09

Oh meet me in St. Louis, Louis
Meet me at the fair
Don't tell me the lights are shining
Any place but there!

So last friday Eric and I went to the Utah State Fair with our good friends Kalli and Joel Smith.

We did lots of fun things!

I got my first carmel apple of the season!
(not very good sadly)

Pet the sheep!

Watched this goat run up to be pet by everyone just like a puppy. :)

Pet the bunny!

Saw lots of prizes for people who can do things I can't.

I'd like to try though.

Got Lemonade from a "lemon"ade stand. Made with real lemons!




Picked up some cotton candy for my mom and sneaked lots of kisses!

I really liked the bunnies and this one was the coolest I've ever seen!

we liked it so much i think we'll go every year

This is Ladies Night

Last night Shannon and I met up with some old roommates and good friends of mine. Julie and Angela. I lived with them at the Regency Apartments when we were all attending BYU. This is proof that I did infact go to college and I had friends there. We went to dinner first at Shoots (the Riverwoods in Provo) because Julie is expecting her fist baby and she was too hungry to wait. That worked out because I was really hungry too and I don't have an excuse.

We then went to Color Me Mine in Provo. If you haven't heard of it, you just go in and pick a ceramic piece and you sit and a table and paint. Here is Julie with her baby bottle that she'll keep baby stuff in.

This is Angela. She just got home from her mission. She was in New York City area speaking spanish. Now she can talk to all the RM's at BYU.

And Shannon. Always the artist.

I did a little cup cinnamon red and moose brown. I hope it turns out. I'm planning on keeping it on my desk to collect randoms like change and earrings. You always need something to hold that stuff.

Have a happy Labour Day! Eric and I will be spending it watching the BYU game, eating pizza, teaching primary, and camping with Brit and Brady and the Praags up and Jordon Nel. Jordon El. Joredonel. huh. I have no idea how that is spelled.

Play Dates

Something that I absolutely love about my husband is that he still asks me on dates. I'm not talking about the fact that we go to dinner and a movie on weekends. Every few weeks, I get an email or he looks at me seriously and asks if I would please go on a date with him. When I say "yes I would love to" he always gets really excited like he wasn't sure what I would say.

We dress up especially nice and he makes sure to open all my doors. I've noticed that we act differently with each other as well. We both make a more conscious effort to ask each other questions and to make sure the other is having a good time. We are very mushy gooshy and we sit on the same side of the table so we can hold hands.

I hope we go on thousands of dates.
Love you honey

My Birthday is a Week Event

I bet ya'll didn't think you would see a post again from me this soon did you?? I like to keep you on your toes. :)

So it's Sunday afternoon and I'm still not done celebrating my birthday yet! Turns out that the Keeles decided to also have cake for me too! Having two families is that best!

So I got a transmitter for my car so I can use my iPod while I drive, a new SWEET hair dryer, some new clothes including a new pair of jeans! Oh and then Eric brought me some beatiful, live yellow gerbera daisies (my favorites) to work for me and then he felt like I still didn't get enough so I got the Nike+ iPod application!! It's freaking sweet. I put a sensor on my shoe and it tracks my distance, time, calories burned and it plays music at the same time.

I've decided that I'm going to try to train for a half marathon. I think that would be so amazing and I'm young. It's not like I don't have the time you know?

Thursday, after enjoying my team meeting (seriously, my team is so fun we all look forward to our weekly meeting) and some yummy cake, I drove to Layton Mall to meet Brit to go shopping. She totally out did herself and got me some super cute accessories. I love accessories. They really do make an outfit. It was so good to see Brit again and we talked so much that our throats were sore! It's so nice to have a friend that you just click with so well and have so much fun with.

So Friday we did infact sleep in till 9 and then we went to run some errands. Our Honda is officially registered so we can drive it again! Yay! We are going to save SO much on cash. Our Xterra (while still awesome) only gets like 17 miles to the gallon AND it only take premium. Yeah, we didn't know that when we bought it. Anyway, we got the car going and then went to lunch at Won Won Wok here in Saratoga Springs. I really liked it but the General Zao's (spelling?) wasn't spicy so Eric wasn't a fan. Then we went all over to buy clothes including the Park City Outlet Mall. For dinner we did infact end up at Olive Garden. Good stuff.

Saturday we got up and went to work. I was not happy about going to work but Eric was so sweet and he surprised me with flowers and some dark chocolate so that made it tons better. One of my best friends in the world called me Saturday from Alaska to talk sing me Happy Birthday and I got to talk to her about her adventures so that was really great. We then went to my family reunion up Millcreek Canyon. It was fun to see some people I haven't seen in a long time and I especially enjoyed introducing my husband. That doesn't get old.

That night we went with my brother Paul to buy his new Xbox 360. Eric was pretty excited about that. They are actually playing right this second. Personally, I think Gears of War is a bit violent for Sunday but I pick my battles. (No pun intended).

On another note, I had my 6 month review this week and I was so nervous! Turns out that I'm doing really well and I'm still improving. It's so nice to have your hard work is appreciated and to be motivated to do better with out being shamed for the things you need to work on. I'm really loving my job and team right now.

Well, I'm going to see if I can figure out my new iPod toy. Thank you all for your many birthday wishes! It means a lot to me and it feels good to realize how many people really care about you. All in all, it was a fabulous week. :)