This 'N That

Mr. and Mrs. Polatis

I cannot believe the last time I blogged, we still had 54 days to go until the most important day of our lives! Well folks, 54 days has come and gone, our wedding day and honeymoon have come and gone and we are settling into real newlywed life now. It's the best! I've had mixed emotions about a million different things, before during and after the wedding...finally being a married woman, changing my name, leaving some things behind, gaining a whole lot of things, etc, etc. However, none of them were about that sweet boy of mine.

It's time now, (another mixed feeling of mine) to leave this blog, this chapter of my life behind and move on to a blog that is not just "mine", but my new little families blog. Sure, for now it's just Ry and I... but trust me, we have adventures enough to keep you entertained. So, goodbye "This N' That", the vivacious ramblings of Kaitlen Paige Jensen, and Helloooo "8 Days a Week"--the newlywed adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Polatis.

You can find us here! ryanandkaitlenpolatis.blogspot.com

54 days!!

You guys... 54 days until I marry that boy of mine! And I cannot wait. Things are starting to really come together, and feel really....real! We spent the weekend getting engagements taken and that was lots of fun! ...And really tiring. Ryan could work a 15 hour shift and still have all the energy in the world afterwards, however, two things exhaust that guy more than anything #1: Shopping--#2: Picture taking. By the end of Friday, he was beat! We went over to say goodbye to Nate, Amanda and the babes and he just laid there on the floor--exhausted. Oh man, he's cute.

So, on behalf for 54 days left until the greatest day to date--- here are 54 reasons why I love/can't wait to marry Ryan Christian Brady!

I know it's cheesy....It's my blog--I get to do what I want!

I'm so over saying goodnight to him at the door. Seriously, it's getting old.
He makes me laugh like a fool, every single day.
He is so dang handsome. I can't wait to see that mug of his every morning and night.
Sometimes I ask for foot massages...and RARELY does he turn me down. It's glorious.
He's a hard worker, I know no matter what, I will always be taken care of. That's a great feeling.
I love his family! I can't wait to be a Polatis! (Though I am unusually sad about giving up Jensen)
He helps me de-stress and come back to earth. Sometimes I get a little anxious..
You guys...I LOVE it when he prays. It's seriously the most attractive thing.
He's going to be the BEST daddy! Watching him with my nieces and nephews...melts my heart.
He's going to let us get a kitty..... this is a big deal.
I love that he's always dinking around on his guitar when not busy, our house will be filled with music!
I don't cook often OR well. But when I do, he always tells me how awesome I am.
We have fun! Doing nothing, going to the grocery store, watching a movie....we always have fun.
Sometimes we get in deep conversations, and I always end up learning stuff... he's so smart!
When he's lying or trying to keep a secret, he pretends like he's chewing gum....mind there is no gum in his actual mouth....he just does the motions so he won't smile. It's stinkin hilarious.
I can't wait to go on honeymoon vacation with this lad!! It's booked and waiting for us... but he refuses to tell me where it is until our wedding day.
On that note, he's good at surprising me... which is not an easy task!
He loves to be near me, he's always snuggling me or kissing me no matter where we are.
He's got mass amounts of integrity.. he's always going to do the right thing no matter how hard it is.
He's got road rage...but not scary road-rage...just hilarious road rage. It's a good time.
Literally, he can talk to anybody and everybody. He makes random friends everywhere we go.
My family loves him. That's always a bonus!
He's athletic and when I'm not influencing him to go with me to Taco-Bell...he's a healthy eater!
However, he eats a lot. I love that, because I eat a lot! But he eats more! That is important.
He's got a massive, huge, gianormous heart. He's sympathetic and empathetic to strangers. It's cute.
He's the biggest smart Aaaaa... I know. Call me crazy, but I love it.
He loved his mission so much. Sometimes, when he talks to me about it, he gets wattery... adorable.
I can't wait to play trick on him all the time living together...I've got some good ones in mind!
One day...in the very far future, we will start a family. And he's the type that's going to cry when we have our babies... I just KNOW it! I can't wait for that :)
He's a momma's boy... he loves her so much, I'm so grateful for that.
He loves my brothers and sisters like his own already. He's always asking about them and concerned.
He's a gentleman to the max. Rarely does he let me pay for things, or open my own door. Shauna-na raised him right!
Sometimes, those Georgian roots of his shine through and he says ya'll, or wears his hat a sillly way. It's the cutest thing. That was one thing that attracted to me when we first dated... "ya'll"
Speaking of hats...he looks SO GOOD in one. I love it. Love it a whole lot.
He listens to all my problems and stresses with open ears....usually after he tells me I'm just being a girl about it all, and that it's really not THAT big of a deal. Usually, he's right.
Sometimes, for no reason at all, I get in these terribly grumpy moods. And I'm not very nice to him. He handles it well, he usually just dismisses himself from the situation until I realize I'm being dumb.
He's the quickest person I know to apologize. And it's always a very sincere apology.
He sings so good! I hope our children get his talent...
He is sooo hairy! When we first started dating, he shaved his legs. That lasted a few weeks because I told him how I loved hairy guys. I don't think he likes his oober hairy legs, but I sure do!
His hair is also SO thick. We both can relate to the stupid hair dresser comment "Oh my gosh! Like, you have like the thickest hair!" .... Our kids are doomed. Or blessed?
He reminds me every night to say my prayers.
I cannot wait to do little house projects with him. The boy loves to fix up a house!
His relationship with his brothers is really important to him. I love that.
He respects his dad like nobody's business. Respect, or fear.... whatever it is, He's got it.
When we rolled the fourwheeler, and I was in tears/shock and after realizing we were both OK, was so concerned about the fourwheeler, he was not concerned with the fourwheeler at all. He probably asked me 45 times in 20 minutes if I was OK.
He's very protective of me.
We are completely opposite... he mellows out my crazy...I crazy-up his mellow.
When we fight, and we do... it lasts MAYBE 30 minutes. Maybe.
He reassures me all the time he does think i'm nuts....but he still loves me anyway.
He puts up a hard front, but really, he's a big softy.
He's SUPER competitive. It's attractive and annoying all at the same time.
He makes the most delicious garlic bread.
I feel like a million bucks when I'm with him, he's always telling me how pretty I am.

54. "I love you so much honey. I just want you to know that everyday. Not just from hearing it but from me showing it to you. I can't wait until June 15th. It's going to be the happiest day of my life! I'm excited for everything. Even the hard times. You are the one and only person I want to go through them with. We are going to have mountains to climb but I'm excited to accomplish lifetime and eternal goals with you Kaitlen Paige. I love you so..."

Our Story: Late One Night

I got home from work one night at eleven and everybody had gone to bed. I poured myself some Sugar Puffs cereal and sat at my counter checking emails, Facebook, etc.

A few minutes later I got a message from none-other than that brown-haired, awkward returned missionary, Ryan. He asked if I told Cam I received the package and I replied that I had. One thing led to another and we ended up chatting for the next two hours about all sorts of stuff.

We made plans to set him up with my friends.
We talked about his love for the Dodgers and my love for the Angels.
We talked about his football team the Broncos and mine Greenbay.
We talked about high school and which one of ours was better.
I laughed so hard I worried about waking my parents up.
We talked about his mission and my time spent in Thailand.
We talked about his girlfriend that had "Dear Johned" him.
I laughed and laughed and laughed.
I poured myself another bowl of cereal.
We made plans to hang out with his friends and my friends when the girl I wanted him to date was in town.

I told him about the dream and made him promise not to think I was a creep.
We laughed about the dream.
And talked about "Dream dating" and what we would do in each date.
Which included time spent in Greece...and penguins....I don't even know.

Then I got tired and we said goodnight.

I went to bed smiling.

Our Story: The First Meeting.

Some people say that the day you meet your person, is a day just like any other. Some say, they knew that day was going to be different. I met Ryan on May 26, 2012 and when I woke up it felt like any other day--because it was. I slept in a bit, layed out, got ready for work in a hurry, throwing on a little makeup, throwing my hair up in a headband, tossing on my red polo shirt and running out the door to work.

I was twenty five days home from Thailand---and I looked like it. Ryan was one day home from Brazil and well, he acted like it.

It was slow at work, allowing me to dink around on my Facebook for a little while. Shortly after, I learned that one of my good friends and past summer love interest had been killed along with three other boys in our community in a small plane crash at the airport. I was shocked to say the least and called my mom in tears to tell her what happened. Work from there on out was a struggle to say the least. Between teary phone calls setting up room arrangements for his family to come down the following week for funeral arrangements, and onery guests...I was ready to call it quits for the night.

I got a call from my mom about an hour and a half after I had told her the news and she said "Quick! Make yourself look presentable, one of Cam's old companions is coming to drop off a package to you."

A bit thrown-off that a package was on it's way from Cameron, seeing as things had been a bit rocky with us for the last couple months and dealing with the days events, the last thing I cared about was looking "presentable" for a newly returned missionary who I really didn't care too much about. So I threw some chap-stick on and adjusted my headband just a bit.

I remember thinking it was weird my mom didn't just take the package for me and give it to me once I got home, and instead sent him clear across town to hand deliver it to me.

Not too long after an awkward brown-haired boy holding a brown box walked through the door with two side-kicks lagging behind him, This had to be him. We introduced ourselves, HE SHOOK MY HAND. hahahaha still makes me laugh... and he handed over the package. We chatted for a little bit about how it was to be home, and the plane crash. As it turns out one of his high school friends was involved as well. I noticed his smile, it was nice. But I do that... I notice smiles. I also noticed how awkward he was and promptly wanted to get him out of my lobby. We wrapped things up and he and his friends walked out of the door--never to be seen or heard of again....or so I thought.

Engaged...say what?!

You guys... I'm an engaged woman.

I've promised my hand.

I have a Fiance.

I AM a Fiance.

My parents have given their permission.

I have a giant rock on my left ring finger.

The temple is booked.

I'M GETTING MARRIED!!!

There have been a few times in my life where I sat there and thought "Wow, this is probably the best day of my life." But here's the thing.... I lied. Because yesterday was the most perfect day and I literally did not want it to end. I smiled from ear to ear for probably a solid 7-8 hours and couldn't fall asleep because I couldn't come down from my high. I was dating the most perfect boy ever for me. And then he decided he liked me enough to marry me! So he proposed, and most of my family was involved, and it was perfect and everything I ever imagined and sneaky and suprising and I cried. Yep, I cried.

Finally all the anxiety was over. I could set my detective gear aside, and the nightly dreams of proposals stopped. I was engaged to my best friend, the hottest guy I know, and the person who makes me laugh harder than ever. To say I was on cloud 9 is an understatement.

It Happened Like This....

Let's start with Valentines Day. Actually, let's go back even further. Ryan had always joked about how he would never propose on Valentines...and about how he'd do it the next day instead just to be a brat but I never thought he was for real. Okay, flashback over. Back to Valentines Day. Ryan had to work 4-10:30 that night so he came over about two, roses in hand, to take me to lunch. We went to Red Robin and it of course was perfect and fun.I gave him a silly card, we spent a couple hours together and then he headed off to work. We met up later that night at his house so I could give him his Valentines Day "Bro"-quet where he later informed me that the second part of my Valentines day, I would recieve tomorrow. You guys...I DIDN'T THINK ANYTHING OF IT. But of course I pried a little bit, and asked for a hint. He strummed a chord on his guitar and told me that was my hint. I was convinced he had finally written me that song I'd been asking for for so long....

Tay and Darren happened to be in town this weekend (Missed my Willards so hard!) so I headed over to Kenz's early Friday afternoon to spend some time with my darling baby nephews and I guess everybody else too.. ;) I knew Ryan didn't have work or school that day and we had talked about getting together that night for dinner. I also knew that Ry was headed off to Mathis to play some frisbee golf with his brother around 1 o'clock. When 4:30 rolled around and I STILL had not heard from the kid... I will admit to being a little peeved. So I called him and asked what was going and If I was going to see him today or what? And he replied like this....

"Idunno, I'm going to hope in the shower.. and then I will call you, and let you know what's going on either way"

I was ticked! Hi. My name is Kaitlen, we've been dating for seven months, uhhh......does that mean anything to you? So of course I vented to all my sisters/sister-in-laws and probably even the infants about what a dumb Ryan was being and headed back from the park to Kenz's house. The guys had just got home from golfing so there we all were lounging around at Kenz's house. I decided I had had enough and was just going to go home to see my sick-in-bed momma, but first I really wanted Tay to dye/tweeze my eyebrows.

So here I am, after looking cute ALL DAY. All day people.... here I am laying on the couch, dark eyebrow dye lingering in my brows and Taylor going at them with tweezers when all the sudden she stops, walks away....the boys pause their video game...and everybody kind of clusters together. I grabbed my phone and realized Ryan had texted me a few minutes ago and said "Did you notice that your roses only had 11 in them yesterday?" And I'm thinking...."Yeah, because I sat there and counted them Ry, really?" but before I could reply with my sarcastic remark, I sat up and turned around and there was my favorite boy! Dressed so cute, with one giant long stemmed rose and his guitar.

Cue the tears. He proceeded to play for me and sing me what i'm sure was the sweetest song.... but I do not remember a word. I was a space-cadet for sure. And I kept saying how embarrassed I was that my eyebrows were bushy and dark. I remember him saying a line about me being my "Parents little girl" which I thought was very cute...and cried more. And then he said something that ryhmed with "Marry me" .... and then he just strummed....and strummed....and strummed...and then finally sung "Marry me" Then that handsome devil of a man handed off his guitar, got down on one knee, used my full name, and asked me to marry him.

And I said no.

The end.

hahahah...i'm so funny. I hugged that boy and kissed him and I think my family clapped and such. And then he slipped the most beautiful, perfect ring on my finger! ....and I haven't stopped smiling, or staring at it since.

And then we proceeded to take the most attractive post-engagement picture ever.

Not. Seriously, look at those brows. And we are matching. It's fine.

Okay, so we've only been engaged for just over 24 hours.... but I LOVE RYAN BEING MY FIANCE!!! Seriously, he's probably sick of me telling him how happy I am, and calling him fiance, and asking him if we can just get married right now. But boy do I love that guy! How lucky am I that I get to spend stinkin eternity with this handsome fella!?

dfjashdfkljashdfjkasdsdfasdgds That's basically all I have left to say.

I can't even form words. I'm such a spaz.

A happy, in love, excited, giddy, engaged spaz that is.

July 19th, 2013

Be there! Or be square I guess..

Anxious

Heyyyy youuuu guyyyyyyyysss....

I only have ~~two~~ three things to say at this moment.

Anxious, anxious, anxious, anxious, excited, excited, excited, excited....stupid girl emotions!
Ryan is the best/worst secret keeper in this world.
Saying goodnight to Ry every night is literally the hardest thing. Booo... Can't we just watch Cake Boss all night?

Okay, I realize this post is mainly about Ryan... but give me a break alright? I kind love that boy!

Our Story: The Dream

A few weeks after meeting Ryan in the lobby of my work, I had a dream. And it freaked me out. I had only met this kid once, he was awkward and taboo.. a companion of a boy you dated...you just don't got there.

In my dream, we were sitting on my couch being playful and talking. He kissed me like it was a normal occurance, held me hand and we continued our playful banter. I remember looking over at him and thinking to myself "I am so in love with this boy."

And then I woke up.

Happy Thursday!

Whirlwind Year.

January:

Made one of the best decisions thus far and moved to Thailand for four months, meeting and loving four new girls, 20+ students, and countless friendly Thai people.
Learned that congealed duck-blood is sicknast and I would never like to try it again, ever.
Kissed countless Thai baby faces and loved every minute of it.
Sweat more in a week than I have in my whole life.
Missed my family, but grateful for their love and support.
Found out CJ and Ang were going to have a baby!
Met someone, hit it off with them...spent a few days getting to know each other... moved to the other side of the world...all in one week.
Kept talking that person. Missed that person. Felt a weee bit silly for missing that person.
Was so happy. So, so happy.

February:

Continued adjusting to teaching, the heat, bugs, each other, the culture, doing our own laundry, the heat, the food, the heat, riding bikes everywhere annnnd.....the heat.
Made our first trip to Chiang Mai
Fulfilled a bucket-list item--BUNGEE JUMPING! Terrifying.
Completed another bucket-list item and road an Elephant.
Experienced our first sleeper-bus....and all the joy that comes with it.
Had the best Valentines day to date, spent it with the most adorable children loving on us all day long.
I'm pretty sure this was the month we discovered Swensons ice cream, and it was all downhill from there.
Found out Nathan and Amanda were going to welcome baby #2 shortly after CJ and Angie!

March:

This month started off a bit rough when I found out Grandma K had passed away.
Being away from home was really, really hard this month. I just wanted to be surrounded by my family, but grew closer to my small Thai family and found comfort in them.
We got to venture out of Thailand over to the country of Laos for a few days! We had a blast and it was so neat to experience ANOTHER country for a little bit.
We made our second trip to Chiang Mai, this time renting scooters to see more of the city, meeting some new friends, and cuddling with Tigers!
Tang got married this month! We got to experience our very first...and probably last Thai wedding and it was incredible! Literally, something I will never forget.
Kept in touch with friends at home, and grew more anxious/sad/nervous to go home knowing I only had one full month left in my new home.
I had a lot of personal changes going on this month, I was unsure about a lot of things and was doing my best to figure it all out.
I accepted an offer to go to CHINA fall 2013 as a head teacher with ILP! I was excited, but a bit uneasy at the same time.
Got some sort of weird sickness for a few weeks where I would be nauseous almost every night...completely fine during the day, disgustingly nauseated during the night. Weirdest thing ever.
And of course, fell even more in love with my Thai babies.

April:

April was INSANE.
We were so busy in our last month at the school and in Phichit. We took time to appreciate every day, knowing we wouldn't have much longer.
We took lots of bike rides to get lots of treats--the ones that we thought we would miss most.
Spent lots of time laying out at the lake and the Garden home.
Jared came to visit for Semester check-ups.
We started home visits with our students and loved getting to see them at home and meet their sweet families....even if sometimes they were a bit lengthy.
Packed up, and headed off to our 10 day vacation in Bangkok and Phuket! Best. Vacation. Ever. Met so many fun people, lounged on the beach for days and Hey, even ran from a Tsunami.... can't say that happens every day!
Wrapped up teaching and started packing up our belongings for our journey home... heartbroken always.
Saw a movie in Thai, finally ate at Hotpot, ate a lot of Swensons..
My email also got hacked this month...so I had a difficult time communicating with home, and could not blog at all. Quite inconvenient.

May:

May was probably one of the more challenging months of the year.
I was so anxious to go home and see my family, but I was also sick to my stomach about leaving. It was a weird few days.
We packed and said our goodbyes, and headed off for our last short trip to Chiang Mai before heading home to the US.
Had literally one of the best days of my life our second-to-last-day in Thailand. It is something I will never forget.
When our plane landed in SLC, reality set back in for a sec, and when we came down the escalator and saw our family and parents--I cried. My time in Thailand was over, it was time to come home. I was ready, but I wanted so bad to get back on that plane.
I took the rest of the month to adjust and get back into the groove of things.
May 26th, I met somebody who I thought would not impact my life in any significant way--boy was I wrong!
Went camping for my 20th birthday with Katelyn, Spencer and Clay!
Realized feelings for some had changed significantly. Scared me.

June:

I started working back at the Marriott at the beginning on this month. It was good to be back! It felt good to be working again, and surrounded my people I missed and loved.
Went to my first Angels game with the family! So fun.
Began talking more to that friend I met on the 26^th. Made plans to set him up with some of my friends.
Sheela came to visit! Had fun doing random St. George activities and attempting to play match-maker.
Spent a lot of time by the pool—typical summer.
Tried getting pumped up to leave for China in August—wasn’t sitting right.
Finally realized my uneasy feeling was the answer I was waiting for.
Declined China. Decided to move to SLC with Shayla. Went up to look at apartments, found apartment, came home, was offered scholarship to Dixie for journalism. Changed plans again and decided I needed to be in St. George for whatever reason.
Began dating casually cute boy from high school, went on a lot of fun dates. Enjoyed time spent with him. Made plans for upcoming 4^th of July….

July:

4^th of July was perfect and spent working, and then with family, and then with cute boy. Best yet.
Four days later finally planned “Scrubs” marathon with Ryan! Got goodies ready….definitely did not go as planned. I’m not even mad.
Realized things with high school boy were not going anywhere, civilly went our separate ways after a semi-awkward lunch date.
Had my last first kiss.
Got ready for fall semester. Got a little excited.
Started spending any and all free time with Ryan. Went on our first date. He played his guitar and sang for me—I was smitten.
Realized just how much my smitten-ness complicated things. Started to stress quite a bit.
Watched CJ kick some major booty in the Utah State Am. Tournament. Enjoyed spending the day on the course with ALL my siblings. That never happens people. It was such a great day.
Bugzee ran away...
Enjoyed a lot of spontaneous work visits from Ryan. Tried reallllly hard not to like him as much as I knew I was about to.
Quit the Marriott and started working at Sterling Court as a CNA, loved it!
Started making plans to move out with friends into the Condo in town.

August:

School started and I was ridiculously busy with work, editing, school, and everything else I had to balance out.
Went and saw "Fun" with Marci, Shayla and Ryan. Kenz and Nate met us there too! SUCH A GOOD CONCERT. I died.
We decided I would drive....bad idea. Got a flat tire and got stranded in Vegas for the night. Missed my 12 hour shift the next day. It wasn't all that bad though ;)
Changed a lot. Unintentionally hurt a lot of people.
Had to figure out how to move on without closure.
Spent every free minute with Ryan. Family finally started warming up to him. Finally. Got really close with Ry's family.
Focused on school and work. School and work....
We also welcomed baby Cohen and Lexi!! One day apart!

September:

Work and school picked up--life got a bit more hectic.
Parents went out of town for the weekend and left the funniest note.
Finally got Ryan to play the guitar and sing at Jazzy Java, some of his family came to watch and Kenz and Nate did too! He did fantastic. Such a hottie.
Katelyn and I went to a NASCAR event with her Dad and Matt...that was....interesting.
We welcomed Nate and Amanda's second, Baby Lincoln!
Ryan and I spent a lot of time at Tuacahn... for some reason we always ended up with tickets to the shows...ended up seeing each show twice!
Started playing on a Kick-ball team with Ryan and his family. So fun.
Moved out with friends into the condo in town! Ry was a champ helping me move for a solid week. Finally got settled and loved it!

October:

I woke up one morning with this insane pain in my side...naturally I called my mom bawling. She took me to the Dr. where they then sent me to the ER...spent the next 4+ hours in the ER.... and after two ultrasounds and one CT scan.... kidney stone!
Surprised Ryan with tickets to go see Thriller! ....I'm tellin ya, we just can't get enough of Tuacahn.
Katelyn got engaged!
Worked for a few hours on Halloween dressed as a Cat then spent the rest of the night with Ryan and his family.
Got another flat tire....that Ryan fixed.
Celebrated Danielle's 21st birthday!
Went to the Grand Canyon for the first time with Ryan and his family.
Watched cute nieces dance in the Hunstman Senior Games opening ceremonies.

November:

Again, stayed busy with work and school.
I feel like I got sick a ton this month. Flu, cold...you name it.
Celebrated Thanksgiving with my most favorite family! Tay and Darren came down with baby Cohen and anxiously awaited the arrival of baby Reid!
Ryan applied for, and landed a new job! He was all set to start at the beginning of the year.
Two days before Thanksgiving...Ryan and I became parents to two beautiful boys. (At least we are assuming they are boys) Turtles!! Michael Angelo and Squirdle. I love them more than words can say. Easiest pets evvverrr.
Ryan and I made a little day trip up to Pine Valley to play in the snow and just get out of St. George for a few hours.
Started talking about future plans. Exciting, unreal and nerve-wracking all at the same time. :)
Not a whole lot else happened this month...just prepared for the holidays coming up, enjoyed extra time spent with family and prepared to finish up the semester.

December:

December was a fantastic month!
School ended...praise the heavens. And it was time for some fun!
Welcomed new baby Reid Shane Moffitt to the family!!
Got to go spent a whole week with Dartay and babies. Loved it. Got a litttttle bit baby hungry. Stopped being baby hungry once It was my turn to wake up with them. Cried when I left. Sweetest little boys ever.
Spent a weekend up in Pine Valley at a Cabin with Ryan and family.
Ryan and I made a trip to Vegas for some Christmas shopping.
Finally got to go see the Nativity at Tuacahn... an annual tradition.
For the first time in THREE years I had both Christmas Eve and Christmas day off!
Spent Christmas eve in the most perfect of ways, as well as Christmas day. Ryan and I bounced between both families activities on Christmas day, and Ryan surprised my mom by playing and singing one of her favorite songs of all time.
Briefly got together with some of my Dance girls from high school for a bit! So good to see them. Then in the same night, got together with Ryan and a bunch of his high school friends.... including married ex-girlfriends... that was......fun ;)
Realized how much I miss living with my parents and decided to make plans to move back in.
Ryan's best friend Alec got married! Ryan was the best man...in suspenders. Totes Adorbs... ;) Such fun to be part of their big day.
December 31st, headed back up to the Cabin with Ryan and his family. Despite me being miserable with a killer head cold...spent the most perfect new years with that boy whom I adore.
Finally got my first ever New Years kiss.

I couldn't have asked for a better year. I am seriously so humbled as I reflect back on how blessed I have been. It's funny how much can change in a year, how much YOU can change in a year. At the beginning of the year, I would have never thought I'd be where I am right now--but I'm so glad I am here. 2013 is already a month in, and so far it's had it's up's and of course some downs.... but as I look toward the future just a bit... I literally can't contain my excitement for what is to come.

Okay, I realize this post is mainly about Ryan... but give me a break alright? I kind love that boy!

Looksies