My own "Bucket List"

So...last night Alex and I watched the "Friends" episode where they all go through their 30th birthdays and how they reacted. Phoebe gets to do all the things she wanted to by the time she was 30, until her sister shows her their birth certificate and Phoebe realizes she actually turned 31, not 30. She is devastated because she didn't get to do all the things she wanted by the time she was 31. Well, that got me thinking. I really need to finish my bucket list. I started it in high school, would add a few here and there, but this morning I've really given it some thought and I feel I have come up with the perfect bucket list for me. So here ya go: (stars mean already completed)

1. milk a cow

2. ice skate in rockafeller center

3. ride a gondola IN Italy

4. ride an elephant

5. go to each continent

6. visit 100 temples

7. swim with dolphins * (August 2006 in St. Augustine, FL)

8. see Celine Dion in concert * (April 2011 in Vegas)

9. get married to an amazing man in the temple * (August 12, 2011 :)

10. have children with this amazing man

11. see a Braves playoff game * (October 2010 in San Fran)

12. go to a real fashion show

13. go on a humanitarian mission to a cool country

14. help someone's testimony * (EFY, EFY, EFY...but always trying on this one)

15. always be healthy

16. forgive others

17. learn how to ballroom dance

18. walk/run in a race for a terminal disease

19. ride a jet ski

20. learn how to play golf

21. climb the Eiffel Tower

22. go horseback riding on the beach * (August 2011 on our honeymoon on Amelia Island, FL)

23. be able to communicate in spanish

24. learn the 100 basic ASL signs

25. learn how to play the Ukelele

26. make a CD with my own songs

27. go snorkling

28. write thank you notes and send them to everyone who has influenced me in my life

29. learn how to do a Rubik's Cube

30. see Justin Bieber in concert

31. have a sunflower and wildflower patch in my garden

32. see a live Olympic event

33. ride in a hot air balloon

34. see tulips in Holland

35. kiss my husband at the top of the Eiffel Tower

36. visit all 50 states

37. do something to get on Ellen

38. audition for SYTYCD * (February 2007 in SLC)

39. invent something

40. listen to every piece by Frederic Chopin

41. build a treehouse

42. learn how to sew

43. Go to a jazz club at the French Quarter in New Orleans

44. be on a game show

45. go to a big event holding a "Free Hugs" sign

46. get pampered at a really fancy spa

47. see a Broadway show ON Broadway

48. hop a mile on a bouncy ball (inspired by Phoebe from "Friends)

49. kiss my husband under mistletoe

50. visit CoCo Chanel's apartment and boutique at 31 Rue Cambon in Paris

51. send a message in a bottle

52. take a train

53. go to Hollywood and drive through Beverley Hills

54. cross the intersection at Abbey Road

55. sing the national anthem in D.C.

56. sleep in a castle

57. volunteer at a soup kitchen

58. go to a PowWow

59. eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day for 2 weeks

60. learn about the lives of the latter-day prophets

61. do a 365 photography project one year

62. eat Belgium Waffles in Belgium

63. read 25 classic books

64. carve my name and a heart into a tree with my husband

65. go on a European vacation

66. always pay my tithing

67. see Sara Bareilles in concert * (November 2010 in SLC)

68. run a lemonade stand with my kids

69. write my life story

70. buy a polaroid camera

71. participate in a mud fight

72. spend all day in a wildflower field doing whatever i want

73. memorize "The Living Christ" and "The Family: A Proclamation to the World"

74. go to a Nascar race

75. take a paddle boat on the Mississippi River and read excerpts of "Huckleberry Finn" and "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" while riding

76. go on a Disney cruise

77. be content in life and always trusting the Lord

78. Go to Michael Jackson's Neverland

79. kiss in the rain (like really kiss.)

80. visit a redwood forest

81. go to the world's longest yard sale (Michigan to Alabama)

82. be a street performer for a day

83. go to a drive-in movie

84. eat breakfast at Tiffany's on 5th avenue while dressed up like Audrey Hepbern

85. take a picture with a celebrity * (Matt Damon, fall 1999, Savannah...but I'm always up for more :)

86. have a paint war

87. have a picnic in Central Park

88. learn the Thriller dance

89. see the Hill Cumorah and Manti pageants

90. teach a child how to play an instrument

91. donate to a charity

92. go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

93. learn how to do a cartwheel and a hand stand

94. take a pottery class

95. go to a Luau in Hawaii

96. take a hip hop class from Napoleon & Tabitha

97. ride a bicycle built for 2 with my husband

98. hold an exotic animal

99. spend a week at Walden pond

100. be the best wife and mother i can be

101. document all of it with pictures, journal writing, video, etc.

(subject to be added to)

So there ya have it...101 things I want to for sure do before I kick the can.

I've already completed 9.

Only 92 more to go! :)

Randoms.

-an Asian couple lived here before us. and apparently she loves catalogs. cause we get them now. at least she got good magazines because i really enjoy getting one every day. HELLO Nordstrom and Urban Outfitters!

-speaking of Urban Outfitters, did you know they have a warehouse in Trenton, SC? (bet you didn't.)

-also...I want a chair from Urban Outfitters. it's called Madeline. how awesome. too bad it's $350. see ya next time, Madeline.

-we recycle now since we have a recycling bin. i kinda love it.

-i made delicious chicken tacos last night. alex ate 4...mission accomplished.

-i never thought i would love the idea of getting tupperware and kitchen utensils. but i do. that means i grew up at some point...BLAH. when did that happen?

-i bought enough flour and sugar to last us probably 2 years. yay case lot sale at Smith's.

-i still love my living room rug.

-kris, alex, and i skyped with karly and laela yesterday. it was glorious. i miss that AZ duo.

-i am going to use my kitchen aid for the first time as soon as i am done with this post. i am going to make cookies. yay case lot sale at Smith's...again.

-i miss provo. (but don't tell alex cause he feels bad that he took me away from there. but he reads this blog...oops...love you :)

-i still love new haven and all those lost teenage girls. bless them.

-putting together our apartment is taking WAY more time than i ever anticipated.

-santa barbara reception in less than a month! WOOT.

-we went on a date last friday to rascal flatts. we ate nachos, went in the free photo booth, and danced our little country souls out. (well...me so more than him...but he still loved gary, jay, and joe don.)

-i've made our bed way more times being married than i ever did in my single life.

-i wish gas weren't so blasted expensive.

-krista's coming to my adult hip hop class and i'm way happy about that.

-and lastly: i had a dream last night that John Mayer came to perform at our Stake activity. yeah ok...cause that would happen. anywho, Johnny boy agreed to come to a room and do a private performance for Alex and me. don't know how that happened either. BUT John played "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" and my man and I slow danced. um....nothing more romantic than that. if only it had been real...

-happy thursday!

Sister Forbes & Mermaids.

K, first...I am happy to announce that my dear friend, McKell Lyn Forbes, has been called to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Milan, Italy!!!! Um...Italy is her favorite place in the WORLD! She loves it with all her heart and soul. So this is quite amazing she is now going to be a missionary there since she already has a love affair with it. Talk about dream come true! She reports on Nov. 16, and I am OH so proud of her! This has been a big decision for her and I'm so happy it's happening!

And in other news...

Alex and I have to go down to Santa Barbara for our 2nd reception in early October. I was trying to think of something fun we could do during our road trip since it is a long drive. Then I remembered seeing "The Little Mermaid" is going on at Tuacahn, which is on our route. So I looked it up and it will still be playing then! AND, nosebleed tickets weren't all that expensivo, so we got 2! I am SO SO SO excited! The Little Mermaid is one of my favs (and Alex's too). I watched The Little Mermaid so much when I was 3-4 that I broke my first VHS and they had to buy me a new one. Alex didn't quite break his, but he watched it an awful lot as well. We're just two peas in a pod, aren't we? :)

Ariel...I'm a'Comin!

AHHH!

Our first night in Florida.

What are newlyweds to do when you get to Florida and it's thunderstorming outside?

(Ok...well I know y'all had an idea of something we could do. But no.)

Perfect solution:

Watch "Aladdin," eat Cheez-Its, and take PhotoBooth pictures.

It. Was. Awesome.

Kids in the dumpster?

So being as we live in married student housing, there are more than just adults at said complex.

There's babies, infants, toddlers, and even a few grade school children.

Our favorite kiddos to watch are these 2 black kids that live in our court.

The boy is probably 7-8 and the girl is probably 5-6.

They ride their scooters like nobody's business around the sidewalks.

The brother usually tries to crash into his sister.

We may have laughed when we witnessed it.

The other day Alex and I came home from some errand and we saw the little black boy positioning himself between the trash dumpster and the recycling dumpster.

I was like, "what is he doing?!"

Then, he reached in the recycling dumpster and pulled out a large tupperware that I, yes myself, personally put in there only hours before.

It had no top, it was starting to yellow, and just not too useful anymore so I threw it in there earlier that day.

I seriously couldn't believe it, I was laughing so hard.

Alex couldn't figure out why I thought it was so funny, until I told them that was our tupperware.

Then he had a good laugh as well.

The little boy hopped down and ran.

We saw him show his sister and who knows what they did with it.

Then on sunday while Alex and I were throwing the baseball back and forth, the little girl had a cardboard box (which she dumpster dove for) in her hand.

Alex asked her what she was going to do with it.

She said, "Play with my brother."

She said it in such a "duhh...what else would I do with it?" tone in her voice.

I guess the saying "One man's trash is another man's treasure" really is true.

Alex and I tried to think about all they could possibly be playing with the cardboard box and plastic tupperware.

My personal favs were train cars and space shuttles.

Maybe I should go dumpster dive in the recycling dumpster...

last night.

We ate pretzels while both sitting in the La-Z-Boy.

We picked out our activity from the FHE jar which said, "Eat at a local hole in the wall joint. Those usually are the best places."

I texted Krista since neither one of us knew of any holes in the wall.

She gave us 3 to choose from.

We sang "I Am a Child of God" from the Children's Songbook.

Him on the ukelele, me on...nothing. Just singing.

We sang all FOUR verses.

I gave the spiritual thought.

To the car.

Stopped at Michael's to get wire for hanging pictures purposes.

Stopped at a nail salon because my acrylics had got to go.

Lady told us 30 mins.

An hour and a half later...we're walking out.

Alex's tummy was grumbling and blood sugar dropping so we needed to get somewhere quick.

Sorry hole in the wall joint.

Training Table beat you out.

Better luck next time.

Got home and put that FHE slip back in the jar for a later date.

Watched Cake Boss.

Got ready for bed.

Said our prayers.

Mmm...bed.

Husband. y'know...that Alex guy.

I don't have much time to blog as our apartment is still in quite the process mode. We have all of the furniture moved in or put together (yay IKEA) except for a bedside stand and a shelf for the bathroom. (NO storage in the bathroom so our stuff is all on the floor.) However, the unpacking is taking a long time and now that I am home from work and Alex will soon be home from school, our FHE activity will commence. FHE activity: unpacking more! bleh. Oh well...it's been fun.

The reason though I wanted to blog, was to publicly say how much I love my husband.

That's still a little strange to say.

Husband.

I am a wife.

Hmm...

We randomly have these moments where we look at each other, stare for like 4 seconds, then say at the same time, "We're married."

It's cool though. I highly recommend marriage.

Anywho: reasons why I love my husband of one week and 3 days:

1. He was EVER so patient with me on our wedding night. (too much info? oh well.)

2. I still find him staring at me. Just because.

3. He tells me he loves me probably around 20 times a day.

4. On the last night of our honeymoon we took a night stroll on the beach. We walked barefoot back to the hotel and I started to cry. I love the south and the coast and was really sad to get on a plane the next morning. He lifted me up on the bed, hugged me, kissed my cheek, and let me lay down (feet dangling since they still had sand on them). Then he went and got a wet washcloth and a dry towel and proceeded to wipe all the sand off my feet and even got in between my toes. Then dried them off and came back to cradle me...all while I'm crying.

5. He's done with his getting ready for bed routine quicker than me. When I get in the room he is kneeling by the side of the bed waiting for me to join him to say our nightly prayers.

6. As I was leaving for work this morning he jumped up out of the chair to give me a big hug and kiss (or 5 or 6 maybe...) and told me he loved me. Then asked if there was any house work I wanted him to do. I just asked him to make the bed. I got back from work...and it was made.

He's a great husband, he is.

I love being married to him.

Bridezilla?

First, EFY was AWESOME! Sad it was my last year, but so happy the summer was a success.

Second, Bridezilla?

Well...I am definitely not at this stage:

I am, however, in this stage:

Completely and totally overwhelmed. The to-do lists keep getting longer. Even though things get checked off...the bottom gets longer so it feels like there's no headway. I am so so grateful I have sisters, a mother, sisters at church, and bridesmaids coming soon! This day could not happen without them. Whenever I get overwhelmed though, I just think about this handsome guy and it helps remind me that I am marrying such an amazing person. And that all of this will not be remembered because the wedding happiness will fade it all away.

I seriously am so excited to get married.

I love him, I love him, I LOVE HIM.

When I say "Raw" you say "Chester"

So this one time I flew to New York.

Rochester in fact.

I flew out of Jacksonville at 5:45 this morning (after getting 4.5 hours of sleep) and after a layover in D.C. landed myself in NY at 9:30 a.m.

After finding out the shuttle to Palmyra is $75 I thought to myself, "There must be another way."

So I contacted the EFY team up here. They were still in MA at their last session.

So what am I doing, you ask?

I am waiting here until Ash & Liz arrive from Atlanta at 11:30 p.m. when the EFY team will pick us all up and take us to the Palmyra Inn.

Yeah...you add that up.

9:30 a.m. - 11:30 p.m.

14 HOURS!

I have found myself a quaint spot by baggage claim. I have big windows to look out of, a rocking chair, a short couch, a Pretzel Maker & a TCBY. I finally gave in to hunger and after purchasing $8 worth of crap food decided the airport will take my money no more today and I will live with the hunger that will most likely consume me around 8 p.m.

Good thing I have a lot to occupy my time with.

I've done lots of things for the wedding. (YAY checking things off my to-do list!)

And I've made a lot of headway in The Hunger Games. (LOVE it.)

And of course I've chatted it up with friends and the love of my life. (His name's Alex in case you were wondering...)

And this is me:

8 hours down...7 to go! WOOT!

Just what I needed.

Well, here I am.

I have a quiet moment.

And I decided I wanted to use that quiet moment to blog since I have not done so in quite some time.

I can hear the girls next door singing "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" in the next room over as they prepare for their nightly counselor devotional.

It's heavenly.

Just a little update:

EFY is amazzzzing as always! I am continuously in awe of the youth. Sometimes in awe of their lack in maturity (jk), but mostly in awe of how incredible they are. The Lord really has been keeping his strongest spirits for this time and I have no doubt they will just keep getting stronger.

Having Alex at EFY has also been amazing. His youth love him every week and he loves them too. Our new session director asked us to write down the thing we love most about being an LDS young single adult in 2011. Alex wrote down: being an EFY counselor. Cute, huh? Of course the kids think it's adorable when we dance together or hold hands or what not. I feel almost like a celebrity couple. Angelina and Brad got nothin' on us!

Every week has been different from the other and they have all taught me something different.

I will go in depth a little bit more into each one as to why they were so special when I have more time, but let's just say I am very sad it's our last week in the south! However, Kentucky has already been so great in the 2 days we've been here!

For example...tender mercy today:

Flip back the pages to GA EFY 2007...my very first week as a counselor.

I was 20 years old and pumped/scared spitless to be a counselor. The Sunday before EFY began, Kate & I were in the cafeteria eating breakfast and no one else was in there. In walked our session director for the week...Brother Hadley. He sat down and talked to us in the most genuine way. He wanted to know everything about us. Where we were from, how we knew each other, where we went to school, what growing up in the south was like, and on and on and on. We sat at that table for probably 2 hours talking with him. He loved him instantly.

The next day EFY began and I was having a pretty great first day. Then, as always, we had our counselor devotional. The topic for monday nights was "The Challenge to Become." I had my devo all set up, girls all around me, scriptures and pens ready when I heard a knock knock knock at my door. "Who would that be?" I thought. I knew I wasn't getting observed by a BC that night so I didn't know who it could've been. So I get up, open the door, and there stands Brother Hadley! With a smile on his face he asks, "Can I join you for devotional tonight?" What am I going to say? "No?" Obviously I can't so I sheepishly say, "Yeah, sure! Come on in!" He thanked me and took a seat in the corner. So now, not only am I teaching my first EVER devotional as a counselor, but the session director is in there now. I was praying SO hard that I would have a good devotional.

Well...I thought it went alright, but I did not remember too much because I was so nervous. After I bore my testimony Brother Hadley asked if he could speak. Of course I said yes so he proceeded to turn to the New Testament. Then he started talking about the woman at the well and the type of woman she was. After he painted this amazing picture about who she was, he turned around and told my girls that their counselor was a woman at the well. Um, excuse me...ME? Is he fo real?! He was fo real and told them to be thankful for having me as a counselor. After I thanked him for coming that night and getting my girls off to bed I was so overwhelmed with love for EFY and Brother Hadley. GA 2007 was an awesome week and Brother Hadley was great!

Finished my sessions 2007, counselor again in 2008, BC in 2009 and on comes 2010 with my first year coordinating. We had a coordinator/session director training for 2 days up at the UofU Institute Building. I was so busy I hadn't thought much about it, but as everyone started piling in I saw Brother Hadley and his wife! I about hit the floor! I ran over to say hi! They knew me almost instantly and were just as excited as I was! It was awesome spending those 2 days with them and just feeling their spirit.

Then today, Kentucky 2011, check in has begun and Ammon and I are at the solutions table (our least favorite place all week) waiting for people to come complain or walk on when I see a familiar face...Brother Hadley!!! Then it dawned on me, "Duh...they live in Tennessee!" I looked up and called his name. He saw me and with zero hesitation said happily, "Hey Kayc!" That right there made coming to Kentucky all worth it! His wife was there too! They were bringing their oldest to EFY. We talked for good while. They of course wanted to meet Alex, which they did, and were so happy for us! As Brother Hadley was shaking Alex's hand he said, "I hope you know you're one of the luckiest guys in the world."

It's amazing how the Lord orchestrates our paths with others so that we can have reunions like that. I will be very grateful in my prayers tonight.

Anyways, my quiet moment is running out...time for another meeting.

But I did rummage up this picture from 2007 of Brother Hadley and I.

I am so baby!

And for your viewing pleasure...GA 2 Games Night 2011!

Until next time, my friends...

Go make someone feel good about themselves.

I promise you they will remember how you made them feel for years to come.