Crunch Time

This weekend was pretty good. I got to babysit my cousins, meet Kelsie's boyfriend, celebrate Mother's Day with my mom, talk to Tanner, who is my future brother-in-law, ate dinner with the Spears, and had a very nice evening with Riley. Even though the weekend was pretty busy the ending was quite relaxing.

Riley also made this incredibly cute video... :) it made me very happy. I love him immensely! Here is the video.

Now for the rest of the week. Bridals are next Thursday! Time just flies by...yesterday we went to the printers and designed the announcements; we'll be proofing them tomorrow. Mom is going to the reception center today to see the basic set up that we'll be having. Last week we got the tuxes!!! Riley is such a stud. He looked so handsome. I'm excited to see the dad's and groomsmen as well. Everyone is just going to look sharp!

Other than that I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing with my hair and make-up. I know who is doing it I just don't know WHAT I'm doing with it...which is stressing me out because Bridals are next week so I kind of need to know what I'm doing. Here is a basic idea of what I would like to do with my hair. What do you think?

There would be some alterations but I think it looks beautiful! Also, we're picking up my dress from Alterations on Thursday and going to our floral consulation. We're just hammering everything out this week! Next week is Bridals and the Bachelorette Party. Fun times.

Have a glorious day!

How Lucky Am I?

50 MORE DAYS! 50 more days and I will be sealed for time and all eternity to Riley. I am so excited! Planning the wedding is fun and everything but what I am looking forward to the most is being with this wonderful man forever. I love you, Riley.

I'm very grateful. I'm grateful for my amazing friends from all over! Yesterday my friend Jaclynn and Catherine (who is getting married next week!!!) came over. So we had those two lovely girls and the amazing Nora so that was a lot of fun. It felt like a partial Southern Virginia University reunion. I'm very glad I was able to go to school there. It was one of the most beautiful places in world. It was also a place where I grew up A LOT.

My friends here in Utah are incredible as well. I can not express just how awesome my Maid of Honor is. McCall is incredible. She is so on top of things and really is doing her best to help me out any way she can. All of my friends have offered to help and everytime I asked for something or just want to talk about things they are always right there for me.

How lucky am I? Ridiculously lucky. I'm lucky to have the job that I have and that I get to work for a company with a mission to change peoples' lives.  So lucky that I get to be sealed to such an amazing man, so lucky that I have loving and loyal friends, and blessed to have a family who is helping me prepare for the wedding and learn everything I can to be ready for marriage.

Look around you today! See what blessing you have and all the good things happening in your life! There is so much love and support around us that it is difficult to see unless we look for it.

Have a blessed day!

My Eyes Be Poppin!

I'm pretty sure a handful of you are reading this so you can understand what is up with the weird title of this post. I promise that this is not totally random! First of all, I'm curious to see how much the title effects the amount of views on my blog, and second, my eyes look fabulous!

I got eyelash extensions yesterday! While Riley, Lori, and I were looking for tuxes (Riley looks incredibly attractive in tuxes...fyi) Lori asked if I was going to get false eyelashes or eyelash extensions for Bridals and the wedding. I hadn't even thought of that! I started looking up prices online and I found this really good deal. At Salon on the Avenue in Provo, Kenzie is having a deal this week where she'll give you a full set of eyelash extensions for $45. You may think that's too pricey, but trust me, I was looking everywhere and this was the best deal by far.

Also getting the extensions was probably the most relaxing thing I've done in awhile. I know that sounds weird but it really was very nice. We went in a nice warm room, I was laying down on a comfy table, listening to good music, and I had my eyes closed the whole time. I even fell asleep! I'll put up pictures of my eyelashes in a little while but my phone is terrible at taking pictures so I'll have to get a legitimate camera to give you an idea of what it looks like.

Riley is recovering from his surgery very well. We even did a double date on Tuesday. That was a blast! One of Riley's neighbors stopped by his house that day and said they had 4 free tickets to the Bee's baseball game for that night. Riley took them and so after I got back from teaching my kids we went to Zupa's and then met Ashley and Tom at the stadium to watch the game. I'm not the biggest baseball fan but that really was fun! Thanks again for the amazing date, Riley!

I have a question...Riley and I put together a team for The Dirty Dash. It's a 5K that is going on in Miday on September 22. It actually looks really fun. It's not just running, they have obstacles all along the way and you get COVERED in mud. I just really don't want to train for it...at all. Riley understands me so we did early registration. When I said that we would wait this was his response, "Kaili, we need to register for it now because you'll actually train and not back out later since it has already been paid for." He knows me too well.

Do any of you lovely people who know how to train for marathons of any length? I understand that we need to run, but other than that is there anything that helps you prepare for it? Thanks!

Have a awe-inspiring day!

Late Night Ponderings

The past few days have been great days. I was able to go pick up Nora from the airport last night. For those of you who don't know Nora, she is one of my very good friends from Southern Virginia University. I haven't seen her in 3 years...how crazy is that? She'll be staying with me until May 21st. It is a long time but she's super chill so I know it will be a blast.

I was also able to go to Bryce and Brianne's reception today. It was so beautiful! I can't believe she is married now. Pretty much all of the girls from our lunch group were there. McCall's brother was married today as well; their reception was in the same place! It was great to see the girls again. Ashley is married, Kellie is leaving on a mission, Brianne is married now, and everyone is moving on with their lives. I can't believe that high school was so long ago. When we were going through it it felt like it would never end.

There was something else that I realized today. As a girl, I know that I've always been excited to get married. Here in Utah as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints we're told to get married. We see wedding pictures, see how happy or unhappy couples are, and we always long for it in many ways. We go to singles' ward and go on dates, date losers and date awesome guys that have no interest in us. Why? Because we believe in true love. Because we believe that marriage isn't something that lasts only a few years, but for time and all eternity and we long to be with that man (or woman depending on your gender) that God wants us to be with.

The reason I bring this up is because I know it will take a lot of very difficult work. I am very blessed to have found Riley, an incredible man who I absolutely adore. Luckily we are both very open and communicate very well, most of the time. There are times where both of us have difficulty expressing what we need or want to say. It's a lot of work. We've been talking about a lot of different things recently and I realized that this is going to be tough! I feel that we're both good people and doing our best but we're very different people and we're human. Compromising, communicating, and keeping the love and adoration growing and constant will be tough. It will take faith. It will stretch us and there will be days and nights where we're both grumpy and have to try very hard to suck up our pride.

But the fact is that I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else. On February 4th I agreed to be sealed to Riley for time and all eternity. I agreed because I knew that Riley was the best man for me, I knew that that was who the Lord wanted me to be with forever...and it's who I want to be with forever.

I can not adequately express in writing or speaking the deep love and adoration I have for this wonderful man. I also can not adequately express the stress that comes in finding someone and trying to plan and understand what eternity will be like with them. But Heavenly Father is going to be with us every single step of the way. He will help us through our struggles. He will be able to help me see past myself, and he is teaching me how to love someone in a way that I have never experienced before. For this, I am incredibly grateful.

Have a wonderful night.



What A Week!

A ton has happened. I just finished my 5 day service as a temporary mission companion, Diamond is now in the MTC, Riley had surgery, my parents got back from Florida, I had my first bridal shower, and there have been a lot of adventures!

We'll start off with Friday. Diamond came into Utah and started her 5 day stay with us. I would be dropping her off at the MTC on Wednesday. The thing was, she had already been set apart, so my family kept the mission rules as much as possible. The other issue was that she couldn't be without a companion so I took 3 days off work and was a mission companion for 5 days! That was awesome.

On Sunday I went to Temple Prep for the first time. I'm so excited! We got the time for endownments booked. I'll be endowed on June 2 in the Salt Lake Temple! On that note, only 58 days until the wedding! I am really excited that it's a little less than 2 months away but it also boggles my mind! I can't believe how fast time goes by.

Wow...I just totally bypassed Saturdary. On Saturday I had my first bridal shower! It was the family one and it was a lot of fun. We now have a ton of kitchen stuff. I also got a special present from my Aunt Ginnie, you'll see a picture of it in a second. I have my second bridal shower tonight which my visiting teachers are throwing for me. I love my visiting teachers. Here is my sister with the special present...

If you're confused by this picture you should know that I really dislike moose.

On Monday Diamond and I went up to Salt Lake City. We talked to sister missionaries, saw the Joseph Smith movie, checked out Temple Square, and then we ate at the Cheesecake Factory in City Creek Mall. It was an awesome day.

Diamond and I went to Manti on Tuesday. The reason we went is because that is Diamond's favorite temple. It was GORGEOUS! It was definitely worth the long drive. It also proved how small the world is. While I was there I ran into my friend's parents. I've known this kid since I was in kindergarten and I knew his parents so it was really exciting to see them. What a great experience.

Yesterday was also a big day. I took Diamond to Olive Garden and then dropped her off at the MTC. I'm very excited for her. After that I went to the hospital because Riley had his surgery that morning. He is doing great! He walked around a bit and slept A LOT. He should be home by now so I'll be able to see him today.

Have a spectacular day!