The Joy of Painting :)

Well I know I've been promising pictures of my paintings for a while, and now I'm finally getting around to it. I really enjoyed painting, it was much easier than I expected it to be...but now I have to deal with the "self-criticism" (especially since I have the paintings hanging up in my home; what was I thinking??) So anyway...here are the pictures and I hope that you like them. I really expect more to come, because I really think it could become a new hobby (if I can get over the fact of how expensive it will be).

The pumpkins were actually really really fun, and I don't criticize them at all. :) Anyway, I thought I'd do a quick update since I'm here...

My job is going pretty good, it's been really slow and that is really hard because it makes me feel like I'm not working hard. I have been thinking lately of what I want to do for the rest of my life. Of course, when the time is right, I want to be a mom and stay home with the kids. But I keep thinking, will that be 100 % fulfilling?? I'm sure it will be, but since I'm not there yet, I just don't know. I'm trying to figure out if I want to go back to school (which is so unlikely that I might as well not even think about it), or just start focusing on things that I enjoy and progressing in that (like CrAfTs!). I love doing crafty things and looking at blogs all the time of new ideas, but then I hate to spend the money to actually do it. So anyway, thats where I am right now. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. :) But even if I do think of something, I feel like I won't have any time to do it until I am a stay at home mom...sigh... *Side note, I am enjoying my calling at YW secretary. I feel like I'm not quite yet part of the program, because I'm just kind of there. I did teach a few weeks ago and realized that I really like teaching. It's definitely hard when you don't get much participation (especially with your subject is MAINTAINING CHASTITY...Yikes!) But anyway, I know it will get better and really I just need to put myself out there and get involved 100%.

Andy is doing well. He is still enjoying his job, but I think secretly can't wait until another opportunity comes along where he can really use his PR skills. He is learning so much and it's so great for his career. He is still enjoying YM. He was especially happy today because his Deacons actually participated in class! Yay!

Well I think that's about it; time to go make some din-din!

New Callings

Well now that I feel I actually have something interesting going on in our lives, I figure I should share. Andy and I both accepted new callings in our ward. Andy got his a few weeks before me. He is the Deacons Quorum Advisor! I was so excited for him, because when we got called in he for sure thought we were going to get Primary again (which is an amazing calling, but you can get a little burnt-out). So he has enjoyed it so far and it sounds like they have a couple of fun activities coming up. One of them will be an overnight camp-out where they shoot old school guns. Why is it that Young Men always do the fun activities like that? We never did anything like that when I was in Young Womens...boo. Anyway, so I was so excited for him and totally thought that I would be put in the Primary by myself, but no such luck. :) I was called last week as the Young Womens Secretary, which I hear is super easy and fun! I am so excited! There are only about 10 girls in our ward, which will be something to get used to since I came from a ward with over 25 girls. It'll be nice because then I can get to know each of them more personally.
I definitely feel very humble with this new calling. I feel like I have a lot of experiences that will help me help these young women, but I also feel so inadequate to be the one teaching them (I'll only teach once a quarter, but still...). I've never taught anyone before, so I'm excited for the challenge. On Sunday we had a lesson about the consequences, good and bad, that come from the choices we make every day. I totally remember having a lesson like that when I was in YW and I just got to thinking that back then I would answer the questions how the teachers would want me to, but I didn't really follow the teachings. I just don't think that I can stress enough to the YW that those lessons are SO important! That they really need to listen to them and remember them. Don't just give the answers the teachers want to hear, but to really know and live it! Because every decision that you make as a teenager will affect the rest of your life, no matter how big or small. I wish that I would have listened to my teachers and really lived what was taught...because life would have been a lot easier had I done that. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to share my experiences with the girls and help them so that they can make better decisions than I did and to be completely happy and not have to feel the long-lasting feeling of guilt. No one should have to feel that way; all you need to do is follow our Savior's example. He set the perfect example, and if we follow it 100%, we will be eternally HAPPY!
So anyway, I'm super grateful for my new calling and excited that Andy and I can still be somewhat together in our callings. Oh and p.s., we both have to speak in church on Sunday, so please pray for me!!! I have to speak for a whole 15 minutes. I really don't think I've ever done that before... Andy will be perfectly fine, but please pray for me that I won't get up there and bawl and fumble over my words and that I can say all that I want and need to say. Thank you! :)

New Home in Bellevue

Well as most of you know, Andy was hired on full time at Laplink. And as most of you know, once he got a full time job we were moving out! So we finally did it. I can't believe the time has finally come that we get to be out on our own again. It's such an amazing feeling to have our own place, pay our own bills, buy our own groceries (not that we didn't appreciate the free food for 9 months from the in-laws), vacuum our own carpet, and don't forget DECORATE (which I still have to find the time for).
We've appreciated so much Andy's parents for letting us stay with them so we could save up and be able to get our own place. Because of them we were able to buy a new TV, table and chairs, and some other random furniture we needed to fill the apartment. Thank you!!
So it took us about 5 hours to get everything loaded into the U-haul, unloaded, and in to the house. I can't believe we got it done so fast! Now it took just a little bit longer than that to get things organized...but let me tell you, it's amazing how much space we have here! I think we figured it out and our apartment back in Logan was about 375-400 square feet (ya, and we lived there a year!!!) and our apartment here is 670-ish. I still have a cupboard in the kitchen that doesn't have anything in it. It's crazy, and I love it!
For some reason, since we've moved out I assume that I'm going to have tons more time on my hands. So with all that "extra" time I've decided that I'm going to paint some pictures to decorate the walls with, kinda scary, but it can't be that hard right? I also have another fun collage, mod podge project I'm going to start. I'm so excited! I'll definitely put pictures up for all to enjoy. :)
Well I think that's about it for now. We are just so happy to finally be at the point in our lives that we've dreamt of ever since we got married. It's been hard, especially the decision to leave Utah and start a new life in a completely new place. But now, we finally see why we made that decision!

Trip to Utah!

Well I can't believe that I didn't take any pictures while in Utah, but I can still write about our trip! It was amazing!! Andy and I flew in late Thursday night. My family "didn't know" that Andy was coming, so we tried to surprise them even further and had Ben and Linds pick Andy up and show up to the house later. Apparently it didn't really work since everyone was already asleep and expected him to be there anyway; but hey at least we tried! That's half the fun I think. So Linds and Ben stayed to talk and then my Janny came over! Yay! It was so awesome to see her! She's amazing!! It was just so good to be with my friends again, I definitely miss that. So we stayed up until 3 am talking and laughing and having so much fun. I haven't stayed up that late for a long time, but it just felt like we had to in order to have plenty of time to catch up! We finally went to bed and I just have to say Thank You mom and dad for buying a mattress for when visitors come! That ruled! It was so hard to stay at mom and dad's before because we had to sleep on the air mattress or on the couch bed and didn't have a room to stay in. So thank you! It made the trip 100 times better. :)
So the next day was all about the girls; eating lunch at Chili's, Facials (my first one ever! It was amazing!), shopping at Victoria Secret, and finished it off with date night. It was such a fun day. I think my favorite part, no offense girls, was when Andy text me all day letting me know how much he missed me! I love when he says he misses me even though I just saw him like 2 hours before. :) It just makes me smile! So anyway, stayed up late again and had to wake up early...again, on Saturday. We had a baby shower for Judy and baby Gracie and then had a family swimming party (yep, in the wind and rain). Definitely helps when the pool is more like a hot tub! It was just so fun to be with the whole family and our nieces and nephews. They're so darn cute! So stayed up late again...and had to wake up early again on Sunday for Jan's Homecoming! Oh my, I can't even believe what an amazing job she did. She has become so spiritual and the Spirit is always with her. She knows how to follow the Spirit to teach what people need to hear, especially me! I want to become a better person so that I can feel worthy to be her friend because she is just so amazing! Sorry this is getting a little cheesy/sappy, whatever...but that's seriously how I feel! She makes me want to be a better person. It was just so good to see a ton of people that I haven't seen, probably since her farewell! I loved it!
Another one of my favorite parts of the trip was seeing Andy have so much fun with my friends! He loves them just as much as I do, especially his buddy Ben! :) And for some reason, we can't quite figure out why because we don't feel that anything special happened...but Andy and I just fell more in love while we were there! It was amazing to feel our love grow...I didn't think that it was possible to grow anymore, but it definitely can! Sorry, again, getting too sappy. :)
We just did so much while we were there and had so much fun! We were constantly busy and doing something, I think that's how vacations so be. Andy called it a "visitation" though, because "vacations" are supposed to be relaxing. Funny boy! Anyway, we just had such a fun time spending those few days with everybody! But you know, once we landed in Seattle it just felt like Home! Which is such a good thing, because this is where we live now. It's just nice that I don't hold any grudges or regret because we moved here. This is where we're supposed to be and life is wonderful! I will always enjoy our trips back to Utah and seeing family and friends, but for now Seattle is our home; and I love it! :)

Kind of a sad day...

Well one of my very best friends in the whole world is coming home from her mission today...and I don't get to be there. :( I am having a pretty hard time with it, but I guess I can always talk to her on the phone right...? Luckily, I will be coming home to visit in a week so I can spend 3 or 4 days with her!! I am very excited for that. A year and a half is way to long for best friends to be apart! But she was out doing such a wonderful thing, serving the Lord and gaining a stronger testimony of this wonderful gospel. She is going to have such amazing memories and lessons learned from her experience in Germany. I am so proud of my Janny! I love her so much and can't wait to see her in 1 week!!
Tribute to me and Janny:



Love you Janny-bananny! See you in one week!!

Another Month has gone by...

Or should I say 2 months...maybe 3...Goodness, I am no good at this blogging thing. Thanks to good friends who give me "friendly little hints" that it's time to update. :)

Well, it seems like there is not much going on with Andy and I these days, but the more I look back and think about it, I guess we do actually have a life. My job is going exceptionally better since we hired a new girl and we've become good friends. I feel like I know what I'm doing and don't have to ask as many questions. That's always a good feeling. Andy's internship is going really well. A few weeks ago Andy got a "raise" and is now the proud owner of $200/week. But, where this is only an internship, that is pretty dang good. Andy feels very appreciated at work and often gets compliments on what an amazing job he is doing, especially for only being there for 2 months. His internship is coming to an end in June and at that time his boss will know whether they will hire him part-time or full-time, or if at all. We are anxiously waiting for that time...

In the mean time, it is definitely baseball season...and soccer season...and hockey playoffs. It's amazing that I even know what's going on in this world besides sports! Andy and I have gone to a few Mariner's games and they have been AWESOME!! I am definitely a Seattle Mariner's fan, big time. Cliff Lee...mmmm... Even though they haven't been doing so hot lately, it's still fun to go to the games and support, oh and of course, get Ken Griffey Jr bobble-heads (we have two out of three, gonna get the third in a few weeks). Now soccer on the other hand, I am not very familiar with, but going to Seattle Sounders games have been...well...they've been okay. Apparently they're not playing as well as they were last year and fans are disappointed, but hopefully they'll continue to get better as the season goes on, especially since we have season tickets. I do have to say, that Seattle fans are very loyal and crazy, it's fun to be a part of that.

I was lucky enough to get to go home to Utah a few weeks ago. It was a short trip, just the weekend, but it was packed with fun. :) My brother, Dan, had just finished his army training down in Arizona and the family planned a trip up to my sister-in-laws trailer in Bear Lake. My dad really wanted me to be there (he says it was for me to see Dan before he goes to Iraq, but I know it was because of his own selfish reasons, haha), so he and my mom paid for my plane ticket. We couldn't afford another ticket for Andy to join me, which, let me tell you was one of the hardest things I've had to deal with. It was our first time being apart since we've been married and I cried...a lot. But, when I wasn't thinking about Andy, I was enjoying being with my family. We had so much fun, laughing so hard that my face and head hurt! I love when that happens! I just love my family so much and it's hard not to see them every month, but when I do see them, we make up for lost time. The weather was not swimming weather by any means, but I love Bear Lake, no matter what. So many good memories there...

I'm hoping that the month of May flies by! Because one of my best friends, Jan, is coming home from her mission in June. Just like it was hard for me to be away from Andy for 2 days, it has been crazy hard to be apart from Janny for 18 months! I can't wait to see her and my other girls! Luckily, this trip will be a little bit longer so I can spend more time with everyone.

I sometimes feel like I'm writing in a diary or something after I get done with a post. I feel like I need to start with a "Dear Diary" and end with a "well that's it for today, I'll write more tomorrow. Love, Kellie". But that just seems weird, so I guess I'll just leave it at that... :)

Time to Update!

Well, a certain someone was getting a little upset that I haven't updated our blog in a while, so here I go, this is for you Linds! :)

Things have been going pretty well here. I'm still working at my same job, amazingly enough. You'd think that with as bad of an attitude I've had about it, they would've fired me by now... I guess I'm able to keep my dislike towards it hidden. Ha ha! No, it's not that bad. It's just not what I expected at all! I already called my old boss and told him that I was an idiot for leaving the best job and boss ever! But, after a good talk with my husband and Heavenly Father I have been able to have a better attitude and feel more comfortable at work. Still a work in progress though. On a happy note, good things have come from the move, such as.... ANDY GOT A JOB!! Well, an internship, but a job still! It's been so awesome. We finally know why we moved here and why he got turned down so many other times before. He's working for a computer software company called LapLink and he does the Public Relations for them. He just started about 2 weeks ago and he is really starting to get into it and really enjoying it. He feels a little overwhelmed, as anyone would, especially since he feels he has to impress immediately in order to get full-time hire. But, I personally think that he already has the job, he just has to go through the motions of the internship. He comes home and tells me about all of his ideas and I don't even know where he gets the stuff from ! It's amazing! I'm so proud of him and all of his hard work through school and other jobs he's had that has given him the experience needed to land a sweet job like this one.

I have a few pictures I wanted to put up from Andy's 24th birthday! He's such a big boy now. His mom asked him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday and his reply "imagine I am 12, get me a cake that 12 year old would like". So of course, I took that to the next level, because we all know how much Andy loves birthdays, I decided to decorate the house like a 12 year old would like it. SPIDERMAN, duh?!? It was really fun to decorate and he said he was actually surprised, for once he didn't know what I was doing. Ha ha! So Happy Birthday honey (even though this was over a month ago...)

And here are some pictures of Andy after he shaved his gi-normous beard. Silly boy...ha ha!

So we are still doing really well here, just living life one day at a time; well trying to anyway. Sometimes I catch myself thinking "I can't wait until Andy gets full time hire and we can buy a new car" or "I can't wait until we have a baby and I can quit my job" etc. etc. etc. But I know that things will happen and fall into place when they're supposed to. We miss everybody back home and can't wait until we can come visit!!

Happy New Year!!

Well we just had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. For New Years Eve, I had to work (bummer), but when I got off, Andy, Steve, and Louise were there to pick me up and we headed off to Tory and Suni's for the night. We watched Oscar play around with his socks and watched Nana hold little Spencer. Aren't Grandma's always the biggest baby hogs? Ha ha! We were all hungry so we decided to order in some Chinese instead of trying to face the crowds of busy Seattle. After dinner, we played Monopoly. It ruled!! Ha ha! No one had played it in such a long time (because we all know how long it can take...) But this time for some reason it didn't take very long...probably because Andy and I kicked butt and wiped everybody out. Ha ha! It was awesome. A & K all the way!! We make such a great team. :) We got home at about 11:30 and stayed up to watch the fireworks shoot off of the Space Needle. That was pretty cool since I am not used to seeing many fireworks on New Years Eve. Maybe one year we can actually go down to the Seattle Center and watch them in person...I know Andy would love that...

And then of course, I had my birthday. For some reason it didn't feel like my birthday, and I thought it was just going to be a regular old day. But my sweet husband made is so special for me. Well, I should back up. Andy really wanted a Play Station 3 and wasn't sure how he could get it for his birthday, so I told the parents to just combine mine and Andy's birthday's. So on Thursday night, they gave that to us. Thank You!! Andy has enjoyed it a ton, and I, well, I enjoy watching Blu-ray. :) So then on Thursday morning, I had received a package from the family so I opened it before work and it was filled with wonderful things, the number one thing being a beautiful, hand-made scarf from my brother Rich. I love it!! Thank You, Rich, again!! He is so amazing! I have the best family, and I miss them so much! So I went to work, and the girls had decorated my desk with some of my favorite things. Cinderella birthday banner, Garden Salsa Sun Chips, White Cheddar Cheez-it's, and beautiful pink lily's. It was so cute! At first I thought it was just a coincidence, but I guess that they emailed Andy and he gave them a whole list of my favorite things! I was so impressed. He's the best. So after that, I got a phone call from reception before lunch saying that my husband is here! What a wonderful surprise. He brought me single rose in a beautiful vase, a funny card, and stayed and visited for a while. It just made my day!

I told Andy that I just wanted us to go out on my birthday, because it seems like that hasn't happened for a while (not complaining, but you all know what I mean, couples need their alone time). So we went to Old Spaghetti Factory and then he took me shopping for a new pair of jeans (that's all I wanted for my present, well and to spend time with him, of course), but we had a lot of fun together. And he was even happy while waiting for me to try on 50 pairs of jeans. :) So we got home and the parents were there waiting with a beautiful cake. They didn't sing Happy Birthday, they must've been too excited for the cake. So we just went straight to eating the cupcakes (the cake was too pretty to cut right away).





So overall, it was a wonderful birthday. Nothing I expected at all!! Everybody was so sweet and wonderful. Thank you so much for all of the birthday wishes! I love you all and can't wait until I can see you again! Oh and I almost forgot... I was telling Mom how Andy has been growing out his beard since Thanksgiving, and she really wanted to see it, so here you go Mama. I hope you can tell how beastly it is. Love you!!