500 days of summer? 11.27.2011

Nope...not 500 days of Summer-however I do like that movie!

you could say its 500 days of winter though ;)

Sunday morning.

November 27, 2011

Marks 500 days of waiting for Elder Schott.

I can't believe its been that long to be honest.

 Yes some days I can't imagine making it to the next or to the end of this to be honest but at times I think its for my own good, if I didn't struggle I wouldn't be made stronger, I wouldn't see what I'm grateful for in life. 

someone once told me "if it wasn't hard it would be easy" the thing about easy things is...you get bored with them too fast, you lose interest sorta speak. When something is not worth fighting for people give up and get over it. I know this journey of waiting is hard...but I also know its because Nate is worth it. 

The sad days, where the tears just don't stop coming

The hand cramps from writing long letters.

The nasty taste from when you lick an envelope (its the worst!)

The lonely moments when all you wish is for a phone call, or even a simple text

The emptiness you feel when your hands are cold or you need comforting

 I'm almost onto my last spire. Time is passing....Each day is a day closer to seeing Elder Schott again. Its odd to think he will actually return one day-I mean 230 days left compared to 730 is nothing but to me the 8 months left he has is a REALLY long time lol. So it still kinda feels like that day next July will never actually come, but for the moment I am okay with being stuck in this time warp phase I'm in lol.

Isn't that such a perrty picture? 29 days to go till I'm in the "100's" :D

I'm "SORRY" 11.25.2011

I hate to post this.
But I must admit defeat. I lost the game I am most famous for in my family.
Tessa beat me every time at Sorry.
it was devastating!
I had no luck the whole game
She got all the "SORRY" cards, 11 (switch places) ones (which she always used to get me away from HOME even if it would get her closer to hers...she's evil I tell ya ;p)
Basically.....Tessa is the SORRY champion...congrats bud ;)

I'm the Jenga pro 11.24.2011

Just want you all to know that I am the jenga champion.

I beat Tessa over and OVER again....haha it was epic!!!

No butterfingers here-no siree!

I got skills-I'm the real ninja!

I can pull those sticks out lightning fast! like BAM! haha

Poor Tessa....don't you fret I'll teach you my ways ;)

BLACK friday 11.24-25.2011

Best night of the year happens after you are stuffed full of food

BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING!!!

this is one of my favorite holidays lol

I love to watch the crazy ladies run around the stores grabbing all the good deals!

This year I got to give Tessa the experience for the first time :D (my mom and I may have scared her a bit though, it is quite a lot to take in lol)

We had to split up the stores this year because we had so many good deals to get! ;)

Tessa and I waited in Target's line-we got there at 10:30 and stood in line freezing to death till midnight. But don't worry we kept ourselves from totally freezing to death by listening to music and making up awesome dance moves-we are kinda known for that now ;p

After we hit up Target we booked it over to Old Navy to help out my mommie. Old Navy's theme was "Gobblepalooza" so they had these awesome 3-D glasses that we got to go around the store to see secret messages (ok kinda silly but at 2 a.m. and after no sleep it was a lot of fun lol)

After that we headed back to the house to rest up before our next adventure to Fred Meyer's at 5.

We left at 3:30 a.m. to go get in line, well my mom stood in line while Tessa and I sat in the car jamming out to music for the first little bit then decided to go wait in line on the other entrance of the store but there was like no one there so we walked from entrance to entrance instead (this is when the pictures in front of the store happened lol)

We scored some awesome deals this year while shopping, I remixed Christmas songs while waiting in line cracking both of us up, and got to spend the night with some awesome people :)

Thanksgiving feast 11.24.2011

Happy Thanksgiving ya'll :)

I hope your day was filled with lots of family time, yummy food and lots of relaxation!

I know mine was ;p

I brought home Tessa for the holiday which was awesome!

We went and saw Happy Feet 2-adorable :)

Ate lots of yummy food-mommie's cooking is the best (I got stuffed lol)

I'm grateful for lots this holiday season!

Thank you to my family and friends who are amazing to me :)

We like ninjas! 11.23.2011

Basically she is the COOLEST.
She has a laugh that is contagious.
She takes my stress away instantly.
I could talk to her all.night.long (which I did lol).
She is like a ninja.
But I'm a better poser ;p
Tonight was tons of fun, we spent hours listening to music and making up dances :)

Two spires completed 11.20.2011

Day 493.

 2 spires complete. 

237 days left. 

1 spire to go till I see you again!

Date Night 11.19.2011

So tonight I got to go out with my awesome friend Michelle. Michelle and I are lab partners in my chem class and we are both taking nutrition too so basically we spend a lot of time together lol good thing we get along REALLY well :)
Michelle is from Wenatchee and her boyfriend lives there and mine is temporarily out of the state too so we figured we should go out on a date night!
She picked me up around 5:30 on Saturday night and we headed to Southcenter mall to grab dinner and shop (because we are girls and that's what WE DO :)!)
We were searching around for places to eat and I saw BJ's Brewery and Restaurant....basically the best place on earth! I thought there was only one in Tacoma....BEST DISCOVERY EVER!!!! Michelle had never been so of course we had to go! We had their hand crafted rootbeer and shared a pizza and a pizookie (its a big cookie-basically a mini pizza cookie!) its delicious! the food was SOOOO good and the company was fantastic-we chatted the whole night! :)
Then we went inside the mall and shopped for a bit, we found a DownEast Basics 2nd BEST DISCOVERY OF THE NIGHT! (if you are from Utah or are LDS you know what this is but if you don't its basically a clothing store that has modest clothing, my favorite is the tank tops/camis because they are LONG which is always nice!) So we went in there and they were having a sale on accessories! SCORE! so we got headbands-now that its FREEZING in this state its nice to have while you are out walking!
Thanks Michelle for the much needed break from studying and awesome night! I loved shopping with you- it was tons of fun and you better believe another date night is in our future!!! :)

Service Project 11.19.2011

Today the LDS YSA got together and went to the Shoreline's Children's Center to help prep their land for winter-I think we may have been a bit late though because there is already frost out! (But better late than never right?)

We took out all the weeds, leaves, and trimmed down all the bushes.

Then we had a massive pile of dirt that we took and put all over the area.

 Here is the finished product of one side of the grounds, I'd say we did a pretty great job :)

 Then we moved onto what they call the dinosaur gardens...we got that all fixed up and ready to be played in again, well maybe in April when its a bit warmer out lol

 Then when all work was done we went and played on the toys-it was so much fun! Jackie (the red head), Tessa, Rachel (the squinter lol) and I made it to the top so of course I had to take a photo! ( I felt SO tall lol)

take it back to the 80's 11.18.2011

Tonight Carole and I went to our dorm's 80's night!

It was totally a spur of the moment thing (for me at least Carole had planned on going)

Carole was getting reading to go when she asked me one more time if I wanted to go with her...

 well I didn't have anything in my closet that is from the 80's but I got creative and put together an outfit from my aero (bright pink shirt), running shorts, carole's socks (matched my shirt which was cool), my awesome head band (it totally didn't look out of place with this outfit lol) and of course a side ponytail lol!

 They had decked out the walls with neon colors to make it look like we lived in the 80's which was sweet!

 I tried to be like Richard Simmons lol....

We totally rock the 80's ;p Tonight was a blast-they had a karaoke machine where we brought back to life all the songs from our childhood which was tons of fun! :D

The words of my heart 11.18.2011

Today I flipped over another page of journal to realize I was on my last page, where on earth did that time go-I started the journal (one on the right) right after I moved out of my dorm this past summer (June 2011) and now 5 months later I have completed it.
When I was little writing in a journal seemed pointless, I figured "NO ONE in the world would ever WANT to read what I'm writing" which at 12 or so years of age that is probably true, who am I kidding its probably true now...they say that your posterity one day will go back and read this (eh I doubt it) but if one of my kids wants to sit down one day to read what my life was like (or lack there of since I don't really have one) then I say go for it. To be honest the motivation to write in my journal is basically Nate (I swear he IS my everything!) I started to write in a journal right after he left (really because I have a bad memory so I wanted to remember what I had done the whole week when I sat down to write him on Sunday night lol) eh so my motivation might be a bit twisted but really all I have to say to that is "welcome to my life" ;p But hey its getting me to write in a journal at least lol.
I never really liked the idea of a journal because you don't really write to anyone-ok sure "your future children" but what if I don't have any lol then who is it going to? So I found it easier (for me) to make it out to Nate, so its kinda like it was before he left how we'd talk each night and tell each other how our day was...it makes it easier for me if I have someone to talk to! Yes I've already thought about the question what I'm going to do when he returns and I don't have to write him each week...well to be honest I have no idea but I do know that writing in a journal has become a habit (I've been doing it for 16 months I sure hope it has lol...you know you can make a habit in just 21 days!) So I'm sure I'll keep it up, maybe I'll still write to him in it, maybe I'll switch to once a week-who knows? But as Sis Bushman (wife of Bro Bushman who wrote the book Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. they spoke to us at a fireside recently it was awesome!) said if you don't write it down it didn't happen! thats kinda my thinking with events, photo or it didn't happen lol more like I like to cherish memories through photos but hey it works :) So to my future reader of my journal whoever you may be I hope you learn something from it-if not its okay because my life is a bit routine and chaotic thanks to the stress of school and work! Well three down now onto my fourth :)

Guess who? 11.18.2011

This week at the Seattle Institute we got a special visitor! Can anyone tell who it is????

Elder Oaks :D

I was super stoked for this visit (my first up close and personal meeting of an apostle!)

I first heard the news from my roomie Carole who said it was a rumor going around...then on wednesday in my institute class (see I do attend!) I heard it from Bro Knowles!

Elder Oaks was coming to Washington for some leadership conference and was going to have an extra 30 mins to spare and wanted to come and talk to the YSA at in Seattle :)

 I raced from work on Friday morning so I could make it to the institute in time! I ended up deciding to skip my spanish class-yes I know its bad to skip class but come on its an apostle!!!! (cut me some slack)
Elder Oaks arrived with his cute wife and introduced themselves, then Elder Oaks said he would love to shake all our hands but he felt inspired to talk to us about some issues that cause the apostles worry these days. So sadly I didn't get to shake his hand or take a photo with him I did get some of him counseling us!

 His words were awesome-helping us prepare for the church to be made really the attention of the media with the elections and how to deal with it along with Satan's temptations that come along with media.

After he exited, I actually got to go up to his wife and talk to her for a bit-so I got to shake her hand and she was holding his hand when they walked in so it kinda counts lol ;)
I am grateful that I got to partake of this wonderful event, I'm grateful for being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Today was a great day and definitely one for the journal :)

whats 16/2? 11.14.2011

here is some math for ya'll...

what is 16 (how many months Elder Schott has been out)

divided by

2 (Nate and I) equal????

8 MONTHS to go :)

 Eight months till I see my best friend again, eight months till I get to be in his arms, seems like forever to go but to think I've done twice that already its really nothing! 242 days left...every day is one day closer to being with him but also its one day closer to the 100's (aka 199), may not seem like much to some of you but to a girl waiting for a missionary getting out of the 200's and into the 100's is kind of a big deal!

 I'm going to be freaking out in 43 days just to warn everyone lol you won't want to be near me when I hit double digits (aka 99 days) lol its going to be crazy!

Its crazy how time is flying by, today marks Elder Schott's 16 month mark, I have 4 weeks left of school for the quarter, christmas is in less than 2 months, its almost 2012...SERIOUSLY??? Well ready or not here goes another month :)

Right on track 11.12.2011

today we celebrated Jaxson's 4th birthday!

the theme of this year's was "We're right on track" because Jaxson LOVES trains! So Britt-being all creative and such made the food dishes a train (caboose and all! ;p) then there was a "water station" for our drinks, a cake depot for where his train cake sat, a candy station where we made awesome goodie bags (blue and red colors only because Jaxson LOVES Thomas the train!) 

The night before, (like every year) we scrambled to get all the supplies ready, bought, and made so that it was all ready and cute (approved by Brittany as well lol) for the big day-it was tons of fun putting together the train and sitting and chatting :)

Saturday morning came-I was sleeping over at Brandon and Korrine's place so Saturday morning early Korrine and I headed over (Brandon had class in the morning-school on Saturday, lame right?)

 I went to the gym with Johnny when we first got there...KILLER work out-like seriously sunday and monday, I could barely move lol! (guess it means I did it right lol right? or am I just a wuss?) we got back to the house changed and got ready for the PARTAY!!!!

Everyone started showing up around 11:30 and we got our soups all decked out and dug in! After sitting and chatting we swtiched tracks to the presents (you see what I did there lol) Jaxson got lots of train tracks, legos, and a pirate ship which he was really excited about...however I think the biggest gift that took his attention was the stroller that was intended for Brooklyn from his Gpa and Gma Derbidge but since it was with his gifts he figured it belonged to him...so he sat in it haha it was so funny! We then convinced him to have Brooklyn sit in it and then push her, he LOVED that idea lol that was hilarious to watch him to that!

Another successful, creative, and delicious (cake and soups) birthday for the Derbidge's! Jaxson I hope you had a fantastic birthday and enjoy all your gifts :)

A quick getaway 11.10-13.2011

A few of my favorite things:

the smile that goes from ear to ear on my niece and nephew's face when they see me

getting a "Brooklyn" kiss (practically a french kiss lol)

having Jaxson asking for more and more flips from his Auntie K

chasing those kiddos around the island in the kitchen

putting on my nephews baseball hat and having him copy me after

saying something and having Brooklyn repeat it

being tattled on by my nephew for something I didn't do lol

watching these two kids grow up

short visits like this help me refuel the challenging times I have ahead of me!

 Jaxson and Brooklyn stole my heart from day one, I love being an Auntie...

Watching these two kids grow so much since the last time I saw them amazes me and I'm sad that I'm not able to be apart of their day to day life but it makes me appreciate them that much more when I get to spend all my time with them while I'm there!

Jaxson's 4th birthday! 11.9.2011

Happy Birthday to the cutest nephew in the world!

(sorry everyone but I had to admit the truth, ok maybe I'm a bit biased!)

4 years you've been in my life, giving the greatest blessing of my life-being an Auntie :)

I can't believe its been 4 years since you came into the world...wow really 4 years ago I was barely 16, didn't have my license yet, hadn't had a boyfriend, was a sophomore in high school. Where is the time going?!?!?

Man now I am 20, I've had my license for almost 4 years (in January!), I've dated guys ;) and now I'm a sophomore in college! WOWZA!

Jaxson you are such a blessing in my life, I didn't know that I would love being an Aunt as much as I do! I get all excited to talk to you on the phone, video chat with you, and the times I get to come see you are moments I cherish for sure! I love coming down to Utah and visiting with this little guy! This past summer I was able to spend three whole weeks with this little tyke and boy did I enjoy that SO much!

Jaxson you amaze me every time I see you, you are such an amazing little boy! Yes you have some challenges in life but you are the happiest little boy I've ever met and you are so smart-you can trick even me lol little mischievous guy! I love how stinkin clever you are, you may not talk clearly yet but you get your point across to all of us! (he totally tattled on me yesterday to his mom, no joke!) 

I love being able to spend time with you, all of our family vacations we've been on-our mini trips are the BEST! you are so fun to sit next to in the car and have you entertain me on the car ride lol!

Little guy, I can't believe its been four years, I've loved being Auntie K and can't wait for our years to come!

Happy 4th Birthday Jaxson!

Auntie K

PB & J November.8.2011

Laugh if you want to but I still make PB& J's for lunch-its the BOMB! 

Especially if its crunchy peanut butter and my mom's strawberry jam-to die for!
Only thing about now is I no longer have my mom making my lunch :/ 

no more waking up and rolling out of bed to a lunch box all prepped for me-now if I WANT something I have to do it MYSELF! 

Man this growing up thing is ROUGH! ;)
I like not having to stand in lines for food at the cafeteria
I like biting into the sandwich and having your mouth be filled with awesomeness ;p
I like me some PB & J....

question is......DO YOU?

12 years ago today November.6.2011

12 years ago I became a member of The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

I cannot believe that it has been 12 years since I was 8 (man is time flying) I totally remember my baptism day too-I got to be baptized with my best friend of all time Cara :) We had our family and friends there to support us as we became official members of this amazing church!

 12 years ago when I was baptized they didn't have the fancy cameras like we do now, my photo of my Dad and I of my baptism is actually on a polaroid lol So ya I couldn't actually get that on here so I went for another photo that I love!

This was taken almost 12 years to the day I was baptized. I'm so glad that I was able to share that moment with my dad, its a moment I cherish because it means a great deal if you think about it-the man who helped bring me to earth was also worthy enough to help bring me one step closer to my Father in Heaven. Baptism is a very important aspect of the church, it helps me become like Christ which is one of the ultimate goals.
 I'm grateful that I chose to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints.

Extra Hour November.5.2011

In my last post I said that I had a Relief Society movie night that I had planned to go to instead of the UW vs Oregon game (I'm really glad I didn't go because the night I had was WAY better than freezing my butt off in the stands ;p)

So here's what I looked like

 After the movie was over as Tessa was driving me back to my dorm so we could have some hot coco and chit chat we couldn't get back to my dorm because the police had blocked off every entrance to the school (they had used the parking lots for the game so it was an exit only thing), we tried to enter from every way but EVERYTHING was blocked off...so what do you do at 11 at night when you are stuck in Seattle? OH ask Tessa- you just keep driving till you find a place that's open 24 hours BAHA. And that is exactly what we did ;) we took lefts and rights and drove till we found a gas station...not too creepy looking so we decided since we couldn't get to my dorm to have hot coco we'd get it from there. Inside we went-I filled mine up way too high so I tried sipping some, I figured if its out of a machine its warm but not HOT boy was I WRONG! taste buds GONE lol...well Tessa didn't believe me so she tried some..MISTAKE-her taste buds burned too lol. Then we grabbed a muffin and went back to the car :) We still had NOWHERE to go so we decided to eat the muffin, drink our hot coco and have a singing party in the car-as we took photos of course (I'm so glad I remembered my camera tonight! I need to remember this epic night FOREVER)

We had texted our friend Dean about the score of the game (he's a LEGIT husky fan, goes to all the games!) and he responded with we had lost and now he was stuck in traffic...so what do we say back to him? LETS MEET UP :) lol he said he could manage to get home so he told us to come over-without giving us directions lol (Tessa had been there once so we went off her memory haha scary!) we knew it was on 60th...whether it was 60th ave or 60th street we didn't know but we adventured to find out lol...we found the cross street and Tessa recalled the street and after turning LEFT (thanks to beyonce's song playing for inspiration lol) we MADE it-phew! We went inside and got a tour of the MANor mansion (one of the Boy LDS houses) then we chatted and Dean was like-donuts anyone? So we made another adventure out to QFC to grab donuts! that was a blast...we totally ate almost all their free samples, well Dean did lol! Then we got back to his house and had a dance party in the car! :) At one o'clock (really midnight according to Tessa lol) we figured the school would be cleared now so we said goodbye to Dean and headed back...Tessa pulled into my dorm and my entrance was slightly blocked off due to they are having a 5k run this morning (I had no idea lol) but we managed to go around the cones and I got dropped off!
Totally the best extra hour of my life tonight :) I had a blast! Thank you Tessa for making me laugh SO hard and to dean for teaching me some new dance moves :)

We got quaked. November.5.2011

So tonight the UW played the Oregon ducks, it was a good fight but the huskies weren't able to pull through and ended up getting quaked. The final score was 34-17.

This was the LAST game the huskies would play at Husky Stadium before its remodeled and won't be reopened till 2013 so EVERYONE went (like seriously as Tessa and I drove passed the stadiums were PACKED) There was even people outside just listening to the game! Tessa and I had a Relief Society movie night that we had already planned to go to which is why I didn't join in on the festivities! 

But win or lose I am still proud to be a husky! GO DAWGS!

Temple Saturday November.5.2011

Waking up to attend the temple this morning was the best decision I've ever made, the feeling you experience there is beyond description. I was able to be surrounded by youth from all over the area who had gotten up at 6 a.m. to attend a temple session (how amazing is that?) I know as a teenager I did not want to get up early on my Saturdays. I was truly impressed, waking up at 7 this morning I thought was rough lol. Tessa picked me up and we met Taylor and Jenna at the institute, piled into one car and headed there. We didn't schedule an appointment so they attached us to the RS sisters that were coming in from the Graham Stake, my friend Kourtney who used to be in my ward was there so that was pretty awesome to see her :)

Today was bliss, peaceful, sure we had to wait two hours to perform the ordinances but the most important thing is that they were completed. I love listening to the worker's as they speak, with such confidence and firmness that they know this church is true, it strengthens my testimony for sure!

I love this gospel, the joys that it brings to our lives, not only us living here on Earth but to those who have passed on already as well. 

The temple is gorgeous, as we walked out of it today the sun was hitting it just right and it just sparkled, it was definitely like a scene out of a fairy tale. I can't wait till the day I have my happy ending sealed for time and all eternity in that place :)

After our temple trip we headed to Denny's for breakfast-well seeing as it was 11:30 it was more like a brunch but delicious nonetheless ;) I ordered "moons over my hammy"-come on that has to be the coolest title for food EVER! we were joking about saying it just to see what the waiter would say, so I did (sure I feel into peer pressure but it was the good kind lol) and it as hilarious! and I did end up ordering it and it was so worth the embarrassment for both the waiter and I lol! Definitely a great way to start my Saturday :)

Happy 150th UW November.4.2011

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy 150th Birthday to you University of Washington!

Man I thought I was old-this school makes me look like a baby! Phew ;)

Oh man was today a BIG celebration for the school! basically no one paid attention to anything lol, I mean when the school is giving away free t-shirts and cupcakes (along with tons of discounts at stores around campus) who would?

My co-workers decided to go wait in line for a free t-shirt, we got there at 10 and the line was HUGE it wound all over the campus, up and down the stairs and down a hill but it was moving pretty quickly...just not quick enough for my schedule :( I had class at 10:30 so i had to leave at go to class (ya I chose school over a cupcake, I'm a nerd I know)

oh and co-workers from left back to right front: Joseph, Barron, Cynthia, Allison, Lora, Sheila, and Me :)

 BUT my roommate texted me saying that they still had tshirts so after my class I went to go grab one, by the time I got up there they only had XL haha but hey its still a free tshirt :) oh and I got myself a cupcake too-chocolate with purple frosting ;)

 Above is the front and below is the back!

Happy Birthday UW :) I wore my purple with pride today! I love this school :) 

"catch up"

Give me a day. 

30 hours or so and I'll have some me time-time to "catch up" on my blog, 

all the pictures are on my computer ready to be commented on and published. 

Friday afternoon is my free time-its where school and work are over for the weekend and I can "catch up" on all my activities.

It is coming....just you wait!

Hope you liked my cheesy Ketchup phrase lol ;) Happy Thursday!

Novemburrrrr.1. 2011

No I did not make that my title because its cold, unlike Utah it did not snow here in Washington on the first of November (but hey at least it waited till after Halloween right?)

In fact October was beautiful here in the Northwest and its continuing through November, as I sit looking out my window its beautiful out-totally looks like fall I LOVE it! There is so many different colors on the trees it makes the world look so gorgeous! (blue skies and sun don't hurt either ;p)

Can anyone believe its November? I'm not the only one in shock right now am I? I mean really I remember new years's eve, where did the time go *not that I'm complaining* its just insane to me to think that almost a whole year has flown by!
So what's on the agenda for this month??? Well the big event most people look forward to happens near the end *cough THANKSGIVING cough* but my BIG events happen early:
November 4th-University of Washington celebrates its 150th Birthday-that's a LONG time so its going to be a BIG party :)
November 9th-my little nephew turns 4-wow where is that time going!
November 10th-I fly to Utah to be with the family on the 3 day weekend to celebrate Jaxson's birthday :)
November 14th-Nate's 16th month mark-another month down
November 23rd-going home for THANKSGIVING break! :)
November 28-Miss Marlee's birthday-just thought I'd throw that one in there ;p