Wayne & Kate

Wayne's graduation countdown...

2012-01-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

I keep asking Wayne, how many weeks left?! So I made this (corny?) countdown link thing for each week he has left, in those beautiful OCSD colors! 22 more to go!

Random photos

2011-12-27T08:58:00.001-08:00

My Blackberry is dying out so I'm trying to decide on my next phone. I could get a Blackberry, go to a Droid or IPhone. I'm leaning towards a white IPhone though. Because Blackberry info doesn't transfer to other devices besides Blackberry, I have to somehow get rid of my photos. So here they are!

Wayne put on my new car magnet- woo hoo!

At my Birthday dinner holding my baby niece, Lexie!

My Grandma Young!

My Mom, Aunt Cindy and Aunt Helen with my Grandma...

I was at the nail salon flipping through magazines and I caught this! I'm Kate Young too! Isn't that such a lovely English name?!

This is of me and Arlene, one of my Mom's foster babies. She was my favorite! She looked like Betty Boop and was so stinkin' adorable! She was with my family while Wayne and I were engaged so I was living with my parents at the time and spent a lot of time with her. (Don't look at the trash can on the counter! It has to be out of reach for the crawling babies! ha ha)

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T13:28:00.001-08:00

I have SO slacked on my blog posts lately! So here is a catch up!

Christmas Eve at Grammy and Grandpa Hickens':

Notice Wayne's shaved head- Class #200 OCSD Deputy Sheriff Trainee! As of now, 3 weeks down, 24 to go! He's doing really well! It's so crazy, he leaves the house every morning at 5am, meets his carpool buddies and gets home close to 6pm, eats, (I do his laundry, press his uniform, pack his healthy lunch/snacks), writes reports and goes to bed. And I didn't mention what happens from 7am-4pm: class time, training, PT (physical time), and not so fun stuff because of his tactical staff. Orange County Sheriffs Dept. is the most difficult training academy in the state and in the top few of the nation; it also has the highest success rate in the state. He's been well-prepared and I am so proud of him! We just cannot wait until his graduation on May 31st, 2012!

My Grandma Young decided a couple months ago to move to California (Corona) so my Mom and my Aunt Cindy found a nice home for her. My Mom and I drove to Hurricane, Utah and brought her down to check out this lovely home. She actually decided she's happy in the home in Hurricane for now so she just visited us for a week. We decided to have a Young Family Christmas Party while she was here (and forgot to take any photos except this one my sister, Marcie took):

(Aunt Cindy, Mom, Grandma)

Our quaint house and some lights! It turns out, all our neighbors (I think there are 14 of us now- 47 more houses to build!) went way out with lights, our house looked pathetic with just a single row of lights. Now we know better for next year!

Our little Christmas tree in our loft with all our miscellaneous ornaments from all our years...

And our real tree downstairs...

New happenings: I'm home-based now with work! I'm not working for the mortgage company anymore but focusing completely on my real estate and property management. I still go into the office a couple-few times a week but it's SO nice not having to commute every day and not being quite as busy!

Laundry Room re-do!

2011-11-20T14:22:00.000-08:00

So we've been wanting to do something with our boring laundry room for awhile and I when I saw House of Smith's laundry room, I loved it so much, I tried to copy it :) I've been reading Shelly's blog for quite some time now. She is so talented and creative!

Our inspiration:

We took our boring laundry room from this:

To this! We painted the ceiling white and used the same paint color (Cyprus Grass from Glidden). I loved it for the room, it matches our house but its a little different but still clean-looking. Wayne also put up this shelf and chair rail on the opposite wall.

See- chair rail with some vinyl and hooks I got (after breaking 3 out of the 4 I had) at Hobby Lobby- my new favorite store (30 minutes away).

Beautiful, right?

Birthday Weekend Extravaganza!

2011-10-26T16:24:00.000-07:00

What a FUUUUUUUUUN 4-day weekend! Jami had us stay at her house (since she was going to be home alone while Dan, Cutler and Ryker were at their annual hunting trip and Tayden went to Salt Lake with her Grandma). I LOVE Jami's house. Her husband built it and did such an amazing job. And Jami has done such a lovely job with her home decor- I try to copy her house into mine!
Wayne and I drove to St. George Friday morning and got to town a few hours before Kim's Open House. It was SO BEAUTIFUL! When Kim moved into my house, we shared the master bedroom and she shared her gorgeous taste with me. We had a large B & W picture of Marilyn Monroe and another of James Dean. Everything was black and white with light pink here and there, and a lot of sparkling crystals from her lamp to my candlesticks (is it weird I remember exactly what my room looked like 5 years ago?). Well, her wedding was SO HER! Her Open House was held at the Bell Tower and had beautiful light pink, black and white fabric draped everywhere with light pink and white flowers everywhere and crystals to accent! Doesn't Kim look like an Old Hollywood BARBIE/Bride?

The next day was Ana's baby shower. (Baby boy) will be here in about a month! Jami threw the cutest baseball-themed shower in her backyard. We had a popcorn machine, decorated onesies and wrote notes on baseballs for Ana and baby. It is always so wonderful when I get together with Jami, Ana and Kaysie and I hate leaving St. George for that reason.

While there, of course we visited my Grandma Young! She didn't answer her phone (more than once) so we ended up surprising her. She has been in the Beehive Home for about 4 months and she has gained weight and is seeming stronger than before (better diet!). She even walked pretty fast (with her walker), she was scaring me, I thought she was going too fast and I would have to catch her if she fell! As always, it was really hard saying bye but bittersweet because... she has decided to move back to Southern California!!! I can't express how happy I am for this! My Mom and my Aunt Cindy are looking for homes in Corona. I can't wait until I can see my Grandma so often and much more frequent! (AND I can help move her so I can make an extra trip to St. George again! he he).

That night we visited the Proas. It was late and we were all pretty silly.

Baby Hallie's first (Aunt Kate and Ana photo).

The next day was my birthday and we drove home and went to dinner with Shawn, Ryan/Monica.

The next day was the Stake Youth Trunk of Treat. I (last minute) dressed up like a Barbie (figures?!) and had a little display in my trunk. I got my old barbies from my Mom's, broke some limbs off and just about every barbie had awfully-cut hair. The youth seemed to enjoy it and it was fun putting together.

What a busy week! Tomorrow, my family will be celebrating mine and Desi's birthdays. It never stops :)

Grandma Blanche

2011-10-02T12:20:00.000-07:00

My Mom and my aunts Cindy and Helen went to St. George this past week for the hearing of my cousin who had stolen A LOT of money from my Grandma while being her caregiver (and that's all I need to say about that). I wished I could go too but my busy week wouldn't allow. My Mom and her sister and sister-in-law had so much fun while being in town (minus the hearing and the dirty looks given to them from that family).

They spent a lot of time with my Grandma and my Uncles Corey and Brian. Every time I called my Mom, I could hear laughing and my Mom wasn't too focused on our conversation because she was focused on the fun that was going on there (I don't blame her! Just jealous I couldn't be there!). My Aunts are so fun to be around and (make an unpleasant purpose for the trip, tons of fun and get business done). My Mom said they decided they needed to take a "Daughters Trip" soon and come up again and bring their daughters- I vote YES! (Besides, I LOOK for reasons to visit St. George!).

Wayne and I are going to St. George Thursday, Oct. 20th to Monday, the 24th (MY 25th!!!). My dear Kim is getting married that Friday- to the most handsome Doctor/graduate of University of Utah I ever did see (besides my Grandpa of course). SO HAPPY FOR HER!!!! The next day is Ana's baby shower and that night is my birthday party! That Sunday we'll spend the day with my Grandma and the next day, we'll drive home (and hopefully Desperado at Buffalo Bills will be in operating mode so we can ride it!)- one of my many birthday wishes, ha ha ha. And I get to meet Kaysie's baby Hallie and see her twins... I seriously can't wait!

My Mom brought down some items from my Grandma's house (since she's living in the Beehive home now), her house is half-empty. A couple of items I took home last night when I was at my Mom's- a casserole dish (that I'm now baking a delicious, Heath/caramel/whipped topping birthday cake for Wayne's Grandma Ruth in!) and this photo:

This picture was after my Sophomore year of college (by my then-boyfriend Andre). Wayne just scanned this photo and asked how I wanted it cropped and I told him to not crop it at all because I wanted to remember how her house was. Can't wait for our trip in 3 weeks!

Carpinteria!

2011-09-07T13:28:00.001-07:00

SO happy to have gone! We love Carpinteria! It's a yearly vacation for Wayne's family. This was my third year going (first year we were dating, second right after we got married and we missed last year). I took some pictures but deleted them from my camera before downloading them (I'm so bright sometimes!).
We got there Friday afternoon and Cory, Sarah and kids got there about an hour after us. We played at the park, rode our cruisers around town, had dinner at Cabos, got hot chocolate/cider (it was SO COLD there!!!) and then had smores! After the kids had gone to bed, Mike and Robin got there and then we went to sleep. The next morning, Neil and Christine came up and we went to the beach (and froze). Then we celebrated Christine's birthday at Giovanni's (our FAVORITE place in town). We also stopped at Robitaille's and got some fun, vintage candy! The next morning we went shopping in Santa Barbara on State Street and had so much fun! Cory, Sarah and Neil, Christine left that day so we finished the day with smores again (3 nights in a row!). The next morning we went with Mike and Robin to Esau's Cafe (my 2nd favorite place in town). After cleaning the campsite, we went to the beach and it was FINALLY warm!
It was SO nice to be out of the office for 5 days and not have to do my makeup and hair! I think that last time I went 5 days without makeup and hair done was in 6th grade? ha ha! We missed Clint, Kristin, Ryder and Reese this year :( We can't wait for next year!

More pictures of the home...

2011-08-20T14:10:00.001-07:00

I love our bedroom! I got the idea to have taupe drapes from a model home we saw in Lake Elsinore. We still are going to do crown molding and sure that will finish it nicely.

The office that Wayne has been working on. He's painted the ceiling white, painted the walls, new baseboards, bead board, chair rail, ceiling fan and still to do- crown molding. This room will be the nursery (someday)...

Attention out-of-town friends: GUEST ROOM!!!

The view of our POOL from our office window! So excited to be able to swim next weekend!

POOL almost complete!

2011-08-18T10:05:00.000-07:00

Our pool is just about done! WOO HOO! We are so excited! Because our house is right next to the pool, it's like it's our own! We only have 2 sets of neighbors (and the house behind ours but she's in China and hasn't moved in yet) so it will feel like ours! And Wayne wants to be a director for the HOA so we might just be running the place! They are almost done with the landscaping and should finish the ramp on the side in a couple days. Our Superintendent saw me taking photos as I shouted across the pool, "It's for my blog!" (LOL) and he told me it will be swim-ready by next weekend! Not only do we have a great lot, but I think ours will look the largest because of the landscaping on the side of our house.

The side/back of our house:

Isn't it looking good?!?!

Wayne's 25th!

2011-08-01T09:32:00.000-07:00

Wayne's birthday was on Saturday and we celebrated by going to Medieval Times- Wayne's pick! It was pretty corny but having friends with us is always the best!

The birthday banner I made for Wayne

Us at Medieval Times!

Westley, Elizabeth, Kaci and Chris

Adam, Laura, Monica and Ryan

All of us!

Lately...

2011-07-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

Wayne has been working on the office. We finally found the right gray color (why can't you just buy regular gray paint? We tested 4 shades that looked similar on the card but were totally different once painted). He's working on installing the ceiling fan, bead boarding and crown moulding! Last week when he removed the old baseboard, he realized that when it was installed, a nail when through a water line so he quickly shut the water off (I was just about to leave for work so I wasn't any help) and got the Superintendent to come over right away. Even though the morning poundings from the construction workers are annoying and sometimes inhibit sleep (they're working on the pool, bathroom for the pool area, building 2 houses and 2 parks), it was so convenient to have help right there. Our Superintendent is a great guy and has always been so gracious to us. The plumber fixed the pipe, the drywaller patched the wall, the carpet installer tore out the carpet, let it dry and replaced the pad, reinstalled the carpet in the office and part of the hallway and stairs. Luckily we have a builder's warranty and everything was covered without us having to pay anything! I'll post photos once it's complete!

Wayne is the 16/17 year-old Sunday School teacher and loves it. He's really good at it too because he knows the scriptures well. He has all the Laurels (they're all amazing by the way!) and had 2 boys but they just graduated so they're not in the class anymore. I LOVE being in Young Womens, I don't think I'd want to have a calling anywhere else. The girls are so fun and I love being able to share my testimony/experiences/lessons with them each week!

This weekend was especially fun for me because on Friday night, I had dinner with my LONG time friends, Claudia and Christina. Christina and I have known each other since kindergarten and were in the same group of friends since then! Claudia and I met in 7th grade and instantly became best friends and she already knew Christina because they went to church together. We were able to catch up with Christina who is working on her Masters at USC. Claudia already has her Masters and teaches middle school math. They have always been such high achievers! Claudia is also engaged so we were talking wedding planning most of the dinner! After dinner, Christina had to go home and Claudia and I went shopping (second week in a row!). After the mall, we went to my house and watched a movie, or just talked the whole time, ha ha.

The next morning I took one of our Beehives to a baptism of the sister and brother of one of our Beehives and Mia Maids. She wanted to go to see what a baptism looks like. She has been taking the missionary lessons and has set the date to be baptized next Sunday! She is such a fun girl and we really enjoy her being apart of our group.

That afternoon, I got together with Kelly, while she is visiting from Salt Lake. She and Jared just bought their home and we wanted to see what Tai Pan had. Then I showed her our house and later we watched a movie and she ended up spending the night since Wayne had work. Who says just because we're married women we can't still have sleep overs!? Ha!

After church, we were lucky to watch Ryder and Reese while Papa Too and Papa Too's Titi (as they refer to Mike and Robin, he he), then we went to Cory and Sarah's house for a surprise birthday dinner for Robin. Clint, Kristin, Grandpa Hicken and Grammy came out and it was such a fun time visiting with everyone. Have I mentioned it's so nice to have Cory and Sarah live 10 minutes away?!

All in all, it was a great weekend and next weekend is going to be another FUN one with Wayne's 25th birthday!

Elliott Wedding Day!

2011-07-08T22:17:00.000-07:00

Today was the wedding of my half-brother, Andy and Lavonda. I first met Lavonda when I was 16 (yes, 8 years ago!) when she and Andy started dating, even though it was kind of a secret then because we all worked together and they were my managers! They had a nice ceremony and a fun little reception at Lavonda's sister's house. Her family is so kind and gracious, they made us feel like we had been apart of their family forever. I'm happy to have a new sister-in-law, even though I'm a little jealous she has my maiden name :) And happy to have a baby niece, Lexie, coming in a few months! Some new things for our family!

Braces

2011-06-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

I know this is something really weird to blog about but maybe someday I'll think, "Why didn't I get braces?" and maybe this will help me remember. When I was younger, I met with an Orthodontist and he said I had an overbite but my teeth were fine so braces weren't mandatory. My parents gave me the choice and of course I said I didn't want them. Regret!

I was at the Dentist the other day and he suggested I see an Orthodontist. Slightly offended, I agreed to the consultation. I know I have an overbite and I have one crooked tooth, but I wouldn't suffer through BRACES from 24-26 years of age. This is my PRIME! So yesterday, I met with the Orthodontist and left almost in tears. He did his evaluation on my teeth and it turns out not only do I have an overbite and one crooked tooth (so I thought these were the only problems), but my whole bite/alignment is off, my upper jaw is more to the right of my face, and my teeth aren't perfectly symmetrical to my face. These comments made me really self-conscious. He was going on and on and I was trying to pay attention but he was kind of offensive (truth hurts sometimes, right?). And according to my Dentist, my teeth are perfect (which is why I go so often, ha!). I wanted to know my options as far as clear braces or "Invisalign" or whatever, so I didn't run out the door like I wanted.

It turns out, "Invisalign" wouldn't work for me, because that is more for people with just crooked teeth. For me, I need re-alignment. So because I wouldn't torture myself and wear regular braces, I'd have to wear the new "Incognito" braces (that just came out less than a year ago). They go in the back of your teeth and are gold. So my thoughts are this- I'd probably end up with a lisp or some speech impediment and won't be able to open my mouth much when I talk to people because they might be able to see a lot of gold in my mouth. Can I be frustrated now? I have no options. But it's OK, I'm 24 and decided my pride is more important than having PERFECT alignment. Besides, my Mom and her Daddy both have their upper teeth more on the right side of their mouth too. These darn things I've inherited... I just HOPE our kids get Wayne's perfect teeth genes.

2 YEARS and many more to come...

2011-06-15T10:29:00.000-07:00

2 years ago was the happiest day of our lives. The day didn't go perfect (remember our graffiti-looking cake?!) but the day really was perfect! All our lives we prepared for that day... to be sealed in the Los Angeles Temple. I remember growing up, hearing my Young Women leaders saying how indescribably beautiful the temples are and that everything is breathtaking. I never doubted them, but still had no idea how wonderful it really would be.

The past two years have gone by fast but seems like we've been married forever. In these two years, we've: rented our first apartment, I got my real estate license, Wayne left the auto-customizing business and started a new career with OCSD, Wayne served as Elders Quorum President, I served (and am serving) in Young Womens, moved into Wayne's parent's house, bought our first home and the adventure continues..

Trip to St. G!

2011-06-05T16:50:00.001-07:00

I LOVE visiting St. George and love it even more when Wayne loves it too! The weekend started out great- Tess and her 16-month old daughter, Lacee, visited our house for breakfast Friday morning. She was in town for her friend's wedding and wanted to stop by and visit before we left for Utah. It was so fun seeing her and Lacee and catching up with her. She is one of those friends that you can catch up with after a few months and pick up right where we left off!

We picked up my Mom (she spent the weekend with my Grandma) and got to St. George Friday evening. We helped set up for Mike and Luisa's wedding (the reason for the trip)! Then we headed to the Proas and had fun visiting them! Kaysie is 35 weeks pregnant with baby Hallie :)

I LOVE these girls!

That night, we had dinner with Kaysie, Ana and Jami. I would rather be with these girls just talking then anywhere else! Wayne left us for Mike's Bachelor Party and then we had more girl talk :) Talk turned to babies and pregnancy, typical :) We stayed up until 2am talking at Jami's while she cleaned her house for her Cutler's baptism luncheon the next day.

We were so happy to be at Mike and Luisa's sealing. It was so beautiful and just wonderful to see their relationship grow from them being friends, Mike introducing the Gospel to her, Mike baptizing her, them starting to date and fall in love, Mike shopping for a ring, Mike proposing, planning the wedding and then their beautiful sealing. I just kept thinking, they're going to have really good-looking kids!

Us outside the St. George temple. How many times have I posed on these steps? A million! How many times with Wayne? Our first :)

Mike and Luisa as husband and wife!

Their cute cake! It was so good too!

Jami, Tayden and I on our hundredth photo :)

After the reception, we went to Players with Dan, Jami, Kaysie (Michael was working), and Ana. The food wasn't great, but the company was the BEST!

Us girls outside- Kaysie- 35 weeks pregnant, Ana- 12 weeks, Jami and I :)

Then we went back to Jami's for some more fun! Tayden was such a sweetheart (like always!) and babysat her brothers and the twins- they all had so much fun!

Ana and I with the twins and Ryker :)

And with Tayden (Cutler passed out after a long day- it was his baptism day after all!)

I miss these girls and their kids already!

Updated photos of home

2011-06-05T16:45:00.001-07:00

We filled in our hallway cut-out finally! We don't have many books (as you can see), so we opted for a shorter bookcase (that matches our entertainment console on the 3rd floor) and hung one of my Grandma's quilts.

We got our new entertainment console! It was tough finding the right one- one that was large enough for our TV and to fit the wall. And Wayne painted the in-set walls! (and spilled a quart of paint on the carpet by accident... it's gone now though- phew! ha ha).

What kind of ancestor will you be?

2011-05-31T12:58:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, I taught all the Young Women on Heritage. I was so excited to give this lesson and immediately started thinking of a million stories to tell but then remembered to stick to the lesson and not get carried away with all my family stories. In the lesson, we learned that it is up to US individually to make sure we are living righteous lives and being the best person we can be so our posterity will draw from our strength and character.

I have been richly blessed with a heritage of faith as stated in my Patriarchal Blessing and there is no doubt that I haven't been. I am so grateful every day for my heritage, on both sides of my family. I feel I have gained certain attributes from my ancestors and I enjoy learning more about them. After thinking so much about my ancestors, I thought, What kind of ancestor will I be? What do I have that will benefit my posterity? What kind of Mother will I be? So many questions! So I guess I have things to work on!

House Photos!

2011-05-02T10:11:00.000-07:00

We are now moved in and had our first set of guests over yesterday! It was our Stake Conference and Wayne's Mom, Robin spoke. Her parents and Mike's parents (both sets of Wayne's grandparents) came to hear her speak, then we had dinner at Robin's and then Emma's birthday cake at our house! Robin was released as the Stake Young Women's President after serving for 5 years! Wayne's brother Cory and his wife, Sarah and their kids came down from Kaysville (they're also house shopping in Riverside after Cory got a promotion and gets to transfer back!). Emma is their oldest and is turning 8 this week. Wayne's other brother, Clint and Kristin and their kids came too! So now that we're settled in, I thought it was time to document photos of our first home.

The side view of our home; it looks narrow but it doesn't seem so when you're inside. The pool will be to the side of us, where the dirt is now- woo! It is to be completed by the middle of July.

The living room, also including my favorite zebra-print chair and my Granny's end tables from the 50's.

The mantle/fireplace. Cory helped Wayne with the mantle, and now he wants his photo on the mantle (hehe). Also including my Granny's mirror- another piece from my Dad's Dad's furniture store.

I really love this chair! When we were buying our furniture, there was a section of animal-print accent pieces and I was looking at all the different pieces and sitting in the chairs and Wayne and I started laughing because I had a leopard-print cardigan on- what a sight! The animal-print-wearing girl in heaven looking at all her animal-print furniture! :)

Dining room. The table can extend to fit up to 8! I love those table legs!

Kitchen- view from the dining area/bar.

Left side of kitchen

And the right side.

My Mom sewed these curtains- took most of a Saturday! We had these red curtains already but they weren't long enough for our 10-ft. ceilings! So she used the brown curtains to add length to the bottom of the red! Stole the idea from identical curtains at Bed Bath and Beyond!

And our yard. It is pretty small, about 10 feet by 30 feet. But low maintenance! :) Clint got us the grass (he has his own ariticial grass company) and helped Wayne install it. Big thanks to Clint- it looks great!!! Clint also had a hook-up for pavers so our pavers were done beautifully. Wayne poured the cement for the blocks and stained them also. Our friend, Westley and my brother Shawn were big helps with these! The finishing touch was the flowers! We are so unsure what flowers will thrive more in our little area, so we planted gardenias (which don't like too much sun) and white roses (my favorite, but we don't know if we'll get enough sun for them to be happy).

A view from the other end.

The master bedroom.

The master bath which is too big for us and our closet is also nice and roomy!

The guest bedroom- hint, hint Utah friends! :)

And the third floor- the loft! Also known as Wayne's XBOX room :)

I thought this photo was funny- this is the view from our front yard of Mike and Robin's house! There is a gate to the left side of this photo that we go through (it looks locked but the latch isn't, hehe). If we were to drive to their house, we have to drive the loop through the community (the shorter way is blocked off due to the 4 model homes), and take 2 U-Turns, so usually we just walk on over!

Coming along...

2011-04-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

We closed on our house 3 weeks ago and are finally moving in tomorrow! We've been SO busy with the house. Some things we've done so far: crown moulding, mantle over fireplace, plantation shutters (they are being installed TODAY which is why we're moving in tomorrow), yard: pavers, leveled, ordered rods and curtains. Last weekend we moved in our furniture, emptied our storage unit into the house, hung things on the walls, basically put everything were we wanted. We still have to hang rods and curtains (once they come in), buy a new dining table (tomorrow!), have the carpet installed in the garage (thanks to Wayne's brother Clint for getting it for us!), plant plants in the planter, cement is being poured tomorrow and next week, install the artificial grass and CLEAN! It's been quite the construction zone. But we are SO excited!!!

Happy 92nd Grandma Young!

2011-04-14T14:18:00.001-07:00

Today is my Grandma's 92nd Birthday! And I hope she has many more! We are planning a Vegas trip soon. She was hinting to my Mom and Aunt that the grandkids and her should do a Vegas trip and see The Lion King (It doesn't sound entertaining to us, but whatever she wants!). She'll probably want to go gambling too (she's been talking about it for awhile now), I guess it's one of those things on her list? My cousins can take her to do that! I can't wait to see her next and hear all her stories of living in The Beehive Home, where she just moved to a couple months ago. She decided to move there so she would have less worries and things would be taken care of for her. The last time I talked with her, she was really enjoying it. She said there were a lot of things to do and everyone is so nice to her. (Also, today is the 99th anniversary of the Titanic sinking).

Love you Grandma!

HOMEOWNERS!

2011-03-28T11:27:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a ride! We are SO elated! We had planned on buying in summer/fall but after talking with the sales agent at the sales office in the cute, new gated community next to Wayne's parent's house and hearing about all the incentives, we were sold! That was mid-February and ever since, I've wanted the house we picked out... SO BAD! Wayne kept planning on things, like calling for shutter quotes and other little things but I didn't want to get my hopes up so I tried not to plan on much (that's why it was never mentioned on the blog or announced to everyone) because if something came up, I knew it would come crashing down HARD for me. But 5 weeks later and a few UP's and DOWN's, we signed loan docs (twice actually- turns out, my ID is still in my maiden name and it HAS to match the loan docs- I should have known better!), then we recorded/closed the next day! And spent all Friday night and all day Saturday furniture shopping and transporting it. Big thanks to my brother Shawn for all his help and his CUTE girlfriend, Danielle for putting up with me and my indecisiveness! Shawn will be moving in with us too (what else are we going to do with the other 3 bedrooms?!) and that will be good! The shutters are taking almost a month to make/install, so I have to be patient until then to move in.

Our house is part of the new urbanism movement (haha, that was a term I heard while working real estate in Utah in 2007). Just meaning, it's a tall, narrow house with the garage entry in the back. It's a four-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 2,000 square feet, 2-car garage with extra storage and 2 sideyards (yes, NO backyard) and the selling feature for Wayne- the LOFT is the entire 3rd floor. So it's a pretty unique layout from the homes I usually work with. The community pool will be built right next to us and Wayne's parent's house is probably 150 feet away from ours! We can see the side of their house pretty well, until a house is built in between us.

Wayne and I finally got callings in our ward (had to wait until we were officially permanent in the ward). Wayne is the new 16/17 Sunday School teacher and I am the new Mia Maid advisor and I am so excited! I love the YW program and the presidency and girls have been so kind and welcoming!

We are just so grateful for this opportunity we had to buy our first home and SO EXCITED for our future in this home. And I am just so unbelievably grateful for the blessings we've had along the way, reminding us how much we are loved and watched over :)

Utah visit

2011-01-03T16:36:00.000-08:00

Wayne and I drove up to St. George last Wednesday and got there that night. My cute Grandma waited up for us and soon after we got there, it started snowing! I LOVE watching snow fall, I think it's one of the most beautiful things! (The first time of probably 5 times in my life that I saw snow fall was my freshmen year at Dixie and as I walked out of church, I noticed there were ash-like substances falling. Yes, it took my blonde brain about a minute to figure it was SNOW! I giggled and wore a smile all the way to my car). The next morning we woke up to more snow! I thought it was like 3 inches, but Wayne said 1. It was so beautiful! We drove to St. George (my Grandma lives 20 minutes outside of town) and visited with the Hansens then had lunch with Jami, her son Ryker, Kim, Natalie, Kaysie, Rylie and Natalie, Thad, Mike and Louisa. It's unbelievably fun when we get together with our friends there! Then Jami, Kim, Natalie and I went to the mall and they showed me a fun new boutique there.

My Grandma wanted us to come back to her house for dinner so we did then went back into town to visit the Proas (boy have I missed spending time with them!) then had a late dinner with Mike, Louisa, and Jami. We drove home the next morning and were exhausted! I'm thinking we should go back to St. George in February and go to the annual Parade of Homes- nothing better than us being with my St. George friends and seeing multi-million dollar mansions!

December and year end

2010-12-27T13:16:00.000-08:00

Just like November, December came and went. I went early-morning shopping on Black Friday and that Saturday and was exhausted. It was nice not to have to decorate for Christmas (now that we're living with Wayne's parents) and I bet by next Christmas I'll be super excited to decorate (since we'll be in our new house!). I was nervous about Christmas this year because my half brother, Kevin came down for 4 days and we haven't seen him for 11 years. So we were all very curious as to how he had changed and how he is now. Everything turned out fine and he seemed like his old self: calm and chill, not a characteristic of the Elliotts! ha.

Wayne and I went to his Hicken grandparents Christmas Eve then went to my Mom's to open gifts then Christmas Day, we went back to the Hicken grandparent's then to the Gomer grandparent's then back to the Hicken grandparent's. Ha, it was a lot of driving!

Wayne and I are in for MORE driving this week! We're going to Hurricane, Utah this Wednesday to see my Grandma, we'll see our St. George friends Thursday (which we are SO excited about!) and then drive home with my Grandma Friday so she can be in CA for a few weeks.

And we're still wondering what to do New Years Eve...?

November

2010-11-12T13:39:00.000-08:00

Well we moved in with Wayne's parents Halloween weekend. It was a little sad to leave our apartment but we won't miss that rent (or stairs or loud neighbors)! It was a little tricky getting our things to fit in our room and closet (everything else is in storage and our unit is packed!), but it's all fitting well now! I enjoy the company of Wayne's parents while Wayne is at work (since he works nights while I work days) and I'm getting used to their dog. I'm not a dog (or pet) person and I feel so silly for being afraid of her when I'm learning that she is really kind and just wants to be around people and get attention (don't we all?! ha!).

Today, Wayne is (cosmetically) renovating our bathroom. We can't wait until we can do projects with our house someday soon! I still look in the MLS 4-5 times a week for new Lake Elsinore listings. A little obsessive, but I'm learning the area pretty well with the different communities and builders.

That's all so far this month. We'll be celebrating Thanksgiving this year at my parents house, since we switch off every year with each other's families.

Wedding season is now over! I can relax now... :)

And I'm enjoying our now private blog :)

Going Private

2010-10-26T10:33:00.000-07:00

Yes, bummer right? Sorry! Wayne has been asking I do this for a long time! Since I don't know everyone reading the blog (I think there's just a few of you :) ), please comment me your email or just leave a comment and I should have your email :)

24!

2010-10-25T10:05:00.000-07:00

24... is my new age! My birthday was on Sunday. Wayne worked that night and my Dad is out of town, so we celebrated it Friday night. And since my birthday was during a weekend, I kept saying my birthday weekend and giving Wayne birthday wishes, like my birthday wish is to go to the mall or my birthday wish is to watch Hocus Pocus, hehe! (Thanks Annie for the birthday wish idea!) We spent Saturday in LA for Kelly's wedding then setting up for her reception and taking down, etc. Sunday we went to church then Wayne left for work and I went to my Mom's for my actual birthday dinner. Then we went to our Stake's YW Recognition Night because my baby sister Desi earned her Personal Progress Medallion! So proud of her! All in all, it was a great weekend!

Kelly & Jared's Wedding!

2010-10-25T09:47:00.001-07:00

Congrats Kelly & Jared!!! They are so cute! It was so wonderful to attend their sealing at the LA Temple. Tess came down from Salt Lake and its always fun to see your friends you grew up with! We were also able to help Kelly get ready in the Bride's room and of course that was so fun.

Us 16 months later! xoxo Wayne!

Me and Tess!

Us girls with Geri- she was our YW President when we graduated and I also lived with her for a summer.

Congrats again Kelly & Jared!!! xoxo

Harold & Tanisha's Wedding!

2010-10-17T18:10:00.001-07:00

The day finally came! We've been planning and prepping for months and it came together quite nicely. I'm so happy for my strong and beautiful Tanisha. They were sealed for time and all eternity in the San Diego Temple October 16, 2010.

(I have to post a pic of my hair- Sabrina did SO amazing!!! and this photo doesn't even show all of it.)

Bridesmaids: Jennifer, Sabrina, Gina, TANISHA, Hillary, Samantha and me!

Thanks again Sabrina, my hair was gorgeous (and I'm so glad you convinced me to wear it up or else it would be crazy by the end of the misty night!)

Cutting their gorgeous cake! And it was the best tasting wedding cake I've ever had!

Congrats Tanisha and Harold! Have fun in Maui!!! xoxo

Update

2010-09-08T12:06:00.000-07:00

OK, I've been avoiding my blog because I think, there's nothing FUN to write about... well maybe I'll just take a minute to update on our lives since this is the closest thing to my journal.

Wayne works 12-hour graveyard shifts Sunday to (every other) Wednesday. So I only see him for 15 minutes in the morning the first half of the week until he crashes to sleep. So I'm home alone the first half of each week. Its such a weird feeling! But I get to do all those things I'd rather not have Wayne see me do (as often as I do) like my facial masks, pore strips, soak my feet, etc- haha! Anyway, he really likes his job and prefers working graveyard. He even has fun carpool buddies that have pretty much convinced us to buy in Lake Elsinore.

Yes, we're pretty set on Lake Elsinore. We've looked at so many cities and communities and we really feel good about it. We spent a lot of time going through model homes and finding builders and communities and we are set on four different communities. We just have to finish our lease...

I am staying so busy with work, trying my hardest to not feel overwhelmed or let stress get to me. I really enjoy focusing on Real Estate only but I also have my properties I manage and my work for the mortgage company. But I am grateful for staying busy!

Wedding season is starting! My best friend Tanisha is getting married mid-October and I'm co-hosting her shower too! She is going to have a STUNNING wedding in San Diego. Her and Harold will be married in the San Diego temple and have their reception at his sister's house in El Cajon. Everything from the red/black/silver/white color scheme, rockabilly-themed wedding just screams vintage class. And the week after Tanisha's wedding is my other best friend, Kelly's wedding! Kelly is also going to have a FABULOUS wedding! She's chosen a black/charcoal/mustard/white color scheme and its going to be just beautiful. I am so excited to help them with their weddings and give them my input and help.

I just finished working on some family genealogy. I say finished because I went through files that my Dad had of pedigree charts, stories and photos that my Aunt Sandy had compiled (and boy did she do a TON of research!) and uploaded them into the Family Search program (which my Aunt Nancy helped create and she came up with the name Family Search). Its amazing to see how much family temple work has already been done, considering my Dad is a convert. Oh, and as far as I can tell, all my Mom's family's work has been done, back to the 1400s. Thats what you get when you're a Young! All we have to do now is go to the temple and start really completing this work. It was so fun going through the files my Dad had and reading the stories of my ancestors. Fun stories like my great, great grandpa being the first white child born in Iowa (and that being his claim to fame) and my great (many greats) grandpa and brothers being torn from their family after their parents had died and being put on a ship and being sent to America (hence how they got their new surname of Seamans) because they were Scottish royalty and were envied. (Remember, I just know parts of the stories...). But its so fun learning these things and getting to know my ancestors and of course, by getting to do the temple work for people like my dear Granny, Lillie Lucille. And still on our family to-do list: be sealed to my littles- Marcie, Desi and Danny.

So all in all, we've been great! Keeping busy and staying in love.

Jami & Tayden visit!

2010-08-10T09:42:00.000-07:00

My best friend Jami and her adorable daughter, Tayden visited a few weeks ago! It was a weekend we've been planning for awhile! They flew in on a Thursday night, we had to take them to Ruby's on a pier (these girls LOVE the beach)...

The next day we went to Knott's Berry Farm and luckily there weren't too many people there. Then we met up with Shawn for dinner. The next day we went to the beach with Westley and then went to the mall and then to Pole Position so Wayne and Westley can battle it out once again.

The next morning we were pooped from all the running around! But we made it in time for church. Tayden is such a doll and such a sport for all the times Jami tells her to smile for another picture.

Love you Jam and Tayden!!!

Downtown Shoot with Tonya

2010-07-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

Our wedding photographer, Tonya emailed me a few weeks ago asking if I would be interested in being her model for a mentoring session she was doing... I was flattered to say the least! After a full day of work and getting my makeup done by my dear friend, Sabrina, I was off to Downtown Fullerton! It was fun being the subject of a photography lesson and a little scary too. But like always, Tonya is beyond amazing! She has so much knowledge and talent!

http://www.tonyajoy.com/myjoy

Anniversary Weekend!

2010-06-22T13:59:00.000-07:00

This weekend marked our 1 year! Wayne and I agree it went by fast! But I reminded him its only been a year... much longer to go! I am so awful for not taking one picture all weekend (and my camera was in my purse all weekend too so I have no excuses). Our weekend started by making quick visits to Aunt Suzette & Uncle Rick's then to Robin Herbert's then I convinced Wayne to go to Denny's- I LOVE their breakfasts (even at night)... but we were let down there- yuck.
On Saturday, we ran a million errands, we had so many that we went separate. When I came home, I was surprised to see a beautiful dozen of white roses! Then we left for the LA Temple! Best place in the world! Quite literally. There is not one place or another building as beautiful. When we left, we realized it was pretty late and I was so busy all day, I had hardly eaten anything so I was willing to eat whatever we could find first. Lucky for us, In-n-Out was on our way home :)
Sunday was our actual anniversary and Father's Day and Wayne's first shift working in the jail and Ana was in town! We went to my parent's for brunch (I love that: brunch), lovely as always Mom! Then we went to my parent's ward to see little Emily being blessed by her wonderful father. Emily was my Mom's shelter baby and the Wach's (in my parent's ward, fell in love with her) and her adoption was finalized last week. What a lucky family!!! Then Wayne was off for his first (graveyard) shift. I got out our cake top from one year ago and it still tasted good! I was totally hesitant. Then Ana came over with friends from St. George. Of course Shawn came over too! It was so fun having Ana here, even though it was just for a night (perfect night too because its really hard for me to sleep by myself!) It was fabulous and so far at work this week, its been fabulous too!

Wayne's Academy Graduation!

2010-06-17T10:05:00.000-07:00

WOO!!! He's finally finished with the academy for OCSD Corrections- CSA Division. The graduation ceremony was a nice glimpse of what Wayne has gone through- they told the family and friends what was required of the CSA Officers and how important their positions are to having Orange County jails run smoothly. I also learned a few things that I think Wayne would rather not have me know because now I am even more nervous for my love to work with inmates.

This is a horrible, far away and fuzzy photo, but it is Sheriff Sandra Hutchens giving Wayne his certificates.

Wayne with his tactical staff. Yes. he has to stand at attention when with them.

Us with my parents.

Grandpa Gomer, Mike, Clint, Wayne, Neil, Grandpa Hicken and my Dad.

Wayne with his mother-in-law, Grandmas and Mom- the most beautiful and wonderful women.

Us with Wayne's parents.

Wayne and his brothers, Clint and Neil.

And of course his best friend Westley came too!

So proud of you Wayne! xoxo

I think I'm done...

2010-06-15T13:51:00.003-07:00

...editing my blog layout/header/design. In the past few days, there has been about 4-8 different headers.

Fun week/weekend ahead! Including: Wayne's Academy Graduation, One-Year Anniversary and visit from Ana!

I PASSED!

2010-06-04T12:24:00.000-07:00

So happy/relieved/excited that I passed my Real Estate exam!!! I studied for 6 months! It wasn't nearly as easy as I thought! I'm excited to really start marketing myself and getting busy with it since I will be licensed in just a couple weeks! I do feel embarassed for not getting my license sooner, since I've been in the real estate world pretty much since I was 18... better now than never I guess!

Night at Pole Position

2010-05-20T09:56:00.001-07:00

Pole Position... these guys loooooooooove Pole Position. It was so fun to go with our friends (and cousin) Doug and Rosanna who stayed with us while they were here a few weeks ago. They are so much fun and it was beyond fun to have them here! Our friends Chris and Kaci (who live in Costa Mesa) came over too! (After seeing their place, I started to tell Wayne we should move to Costa Mesa but he doesn't mind the commute). We have SO much fun with them and laugh the whole time. Doug and Rosanna got married 2 months after us and then Chris and Kaci got married 2 months after them! And Chris had Ryan (who made my ring) do Kaci's also and hers is gorgeous as well! With Doug and Rosanna in Provo (and in Baltimore for the summer) we hardly see them!

The boys don't like cameras as much as we do :)

See? Ha.

Rosanna, me and Kaci :) Miss you girls!

Busy busy...

2010-05-11T09:30:00.001-07:00

Its been awhile since I've posted. Here's what is new:

Wayne is now halfway through the academy for OCSD Corrections. It is TOUGH. Every day when he comes home, he has four reports to write and then 12 over each weekend! He's doing his best in his calling even though he hardly has any extra time. I don't know how he does it- I would have given up by now, ha ha.

I am studying once again for my real estate exam- need to pass this time! I hate studying. I have a short sale on the brink of closing or dying right now which is causing me to be tense. I am getting into family history work... tonight is my 2nd class (out of 6) at our ward on genealogy work. It makes me really excited to know how much I can do! I feel the closest to my ancestors when I read about them- even if its just reading the major events in their life like their birthplace, then/where they got married (just learned my grandparents got married in Vegas!), etc. Its fun and I'm really really excited to do their temple work!

Grandma's 91st!

2010-04-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

SURPRISE!!! My Grandma's response: "Well its not my birthday yet." She was totally surprised- all the cars in front and the balloons on the mailbox didn't make her question. She's such a riot! My Aunt Cindy and Uncle Paul threw her this party at their house in Lake Elsinore. My Grandma used to live next door to them for 3 years when she was married to her 2nd husband. It was so fun (and long!), my aunt came up from Tucson, my cousin came down from San Fran- it was FUN!

Here are (some) of us Young granddaughters.

And some Young boys...

Me, Val (lives in San Fran) and Sarah (lives in LA). Its always fun to get together with them... heck, we grew up together!

You can always count on (my brother) Shawn to create havoc (and mess up my hair!)

Shawn, Dan, me, Val, Sarah and her husband Shaun- watch out, he's an aspiring actor!

Don't want my Grandma to go back up to Utah! We love her too much.

Emily & Jeff's Wedding!

2010-03-16T09:51:00.000-07:00

My good friend Emily Thomas married Jeff Honeycutt this past weekend in Newport! They were married in the Newport Temple and had their reception in the Newport Stake Center. Emily had recently bought a house in Florida, so she had been planning a wedding on the other side of the country so my Mom and I were more than happy to help out. We set up the linens and we now have a new appreciation for the looks of a reception- it was a lot of work, but it turned out SO beautiful! Pretty similar to our wedding :)

Their colors were hot pink, navy, yellow and white- very crisp and fresh! Emily LOVES daisies so there were little daisy touches everywhere- from the cake serving set to the cake to table confetti. What I loved about her wedding, was that it was very personal, from the music played, to the daisy touches everywhere, and the beautiful simplicity.

Congrats Em and Jeff! Hope to see you two the next visit to CA!

Real Estate

2010-02-24T13:03:00.000-08:00

"It is best for all to leave each man free to acquire property as fast as he can." -Abraham Lincoln

I read this quote just now and thought of my Dad's Grandpa. He did just that- acquired property as fast as he could. He remains to me one of the wisest men I will ever know of. I suppose wanting to do with Real Estate is in my blood, not so much acquiring it (but will be next year!), but the listing and selling of Real Estate. I love this business!

As you know, I do Real Estate. I have worked under my Broker's license for ... my whole Real Estate career. I never needed to get my own license since I work under his. Well, my goal for the beginning of this year is to actually get my license. I have one property in escrow and a new listing that I am expecting offers any day now... and I figure its TIME to get my own license so my business can GROW!

I scheduled my exam and have had to wait for over a month now to hear when my exam date is... I called the Dept. of Real Estate today, it was just scheduled this morning and its in two weeks! I need to get studying! WISH ME LUCK!

Off to Grandma's House!

2010-01-21T12:16:00.000-08:00

I am so excited for this weekend! I've literally been looking forward to it for over a month! My Mom and I are going up to St. George/Hurricane, Utah. I am going to visit my friends (the other loves of my life- besides Wayne) and my Mom is going to have a "sibling meeting" regarding my Grandma. Also, I'll be saying farewell to my St. George house. My parents bought it my senior year of high school and now (6 years later) it sold for less than they bought it for (bad realtor, bad market)! My Dad told me "Oh well. We bought it for 2 reasons. One so that you could have a nice, safe place to live while going to school and second, as an investment (obviously). I figure since you did have that nice, safe place for you to live while you went to school, it was worth it, even if I'm loosing money." A nice thing to say :)

Here is a cute picture of my Grandma at her 90th birthday party last year. We had her party at my Aunt's Quilt Shop and featured some of her quilts. My Grandma is a very famous quilter and has traveled the world teaching. She is known for her humor and making quilting fun. You can tell how fun she is by what she is wearing here:

Also, it would be my Granny's 89th birthday tomorrow if she was still alive. I miss her so much. She was such a glamorous woman. Example, she had a light pink '55 T-Bird. Her license plate said "LUCYS T". How cute is that?! I'll be wearing a piece of her jewelry in her honor :)

Home Sweet Home

2010-01-18T11:03:00.000-08:00

I am constantly re-vamping our apartment... Wayne gets totally annoyed with all the change and doesn't understand why I can't just "sit still", but I really enjoy the small changes I make to make our place. At least for the next year and a half before we buy our home! (that's the plan!)

I saw this on someone's blog and had to buy it! A John Raymond painting for our entry and when we have a mantle, it will adorn it :)

Mission Inn

2010-01-05T16:42:00.000-08:00

Aw, I LOVE the Mission Inn, very charming and vintage (and historic). Wayne and I went with his oldest brother Cory, his wife Sarah and their kids while they were visiting and we got to meet our new nephew! Sarah, I totally stole this photo from your blog! Thanks :)

And THIS photo I found- from 4 years ago! This was when I had (slightly) brown hair, before Shawn had the muscles he has now (lol) and Ana was with us!!! We went with my Mom (us 4 could have fun anywhere!).

Lisa Mallory Photography

2009-12-30T21:23:00.000-08:00

My fabulous cousin (who I've been told all my life looks like she could be my sister which is a wonderful thing), LISA MALLORY of Lisa Mallory Photography is in the Yosemite Area and has a special wedding package for 2010 including a free engagement session... well, she used a couple of our engagement photos in her blog post and that was quite the compliment as she stated our session was her year favorite! (Maybe she is a little bias? :) ) Anyway, I liked this photo and wanted to share... don't we look SO YOUNG?!

Delete, delete, oh!!!

2009-12-10T12:41:00.001-08:00

So I (constantly) feel the need to purge- emails, papers, anything that I don't need and today, that target was aimed at my Photobucket account. I had so many photos in there (notice the had???), some were uploaded in college! These are the ones that made me smile (these were kept of course).

From oldest, this photo I had found a few years ago when I was diving into my Dad's family history. This is my Dad's Grandpa, Granddad Elliott as I know him by even though he died in 1967. He was a generous, wise man who my Dad still looks up to and mentions him every once in awhile. I like this candid photo of him because I think you can see his success on and around him.

My Granny and my Dad (Christmas 1948) when my Dad was just 2 months! I love this photo, she looks like the epitome of a 40s/50s homemaker.

And my Granny at an older age, with my Dad's 2 sisters, Deidre and Sandy (making faces) at my Granny's house in Irvine probably in the late 80s/early 90s.

Ahhh, Shawn and me when we were oh, so young! (I was my Mom's wild child and Shawn was the good child as this photo shows, but the roles were soon reversed!)

Such a cute one of Shawn- I think he was in 2nd grade- where I think the only thing he learned that year was his art teacher taught him to draw eyes like footballs.

Oh, and my Marcie, she was such a doll, now she's just a high school sophomore...

And my cute Desi, she has the sweetest spirit.

I don't have one of Danny, maybe I'll have to look for one... speaking of though, Danny (my youngest brother) just turned 14 this week. He wants to play football next year in high school and he's such a good boy. He is so appreciative for things and respectful too.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

2009-12-06T22:55:00.000-08:00

I am grateful for...

2009-11-25T14:06:00.000-08:00

After reading my sweet sister-in-law, Kristin's blog and reading what she was grateful for, I started thinking what my list would consist of. So here it is:

I am grateful for my health and my body. I've always been blessed with good health and I really hope it lasts... (for the rest of my life? :) )

I am grateful for my parents and siblings, aunts and uncles, cousins and my Grandma. For their love and undying support. Especially my Mom, she is the most beautiful person I know. She is the most unselfish, most patient, most caring woman. Growing up, my Dad would always say, "If you end up half as good as your Mom is, your husband will be one very lucky man." I hope I can be just half as great as my Mom.

I am grateful for Wayne, for his love, support, concern and unselfishness. He puts my wants before his always and that means the world to me. I am grateful for our time together and how we are learning together, like responsibilites and how to combine our finances...

I am grateful for Wayne's family, for his parents who from the very beginning, showed me they really cared and let me know they loved me. That is more than I could ask for in in-laws. For his brothers and their beautiful wives who showed me immediate likeness and care, wanting to really get to know me and making me feel apart of the family. I am grateful for his grandparents who treat me like I am one of their grandchildren, which is so dear, especially since I just have my Grandma left :)

I am grateful for my ancestry. I am grateful my parents decided to give me my Mom's maiden name as my middle name, so I would always remember I am a Young. I am grateful to know stories of my Dad's grandparents. They seemed to be the most loving and wise people. I very much look forward to meeting them someday. I am grateful to have lineage of three American Presidents and one Prophet and believe I have a tad of their diplomacy in my blood :) I am grateful for the knowledge that I should feel welcome in Tustin and Santa Ana (does that sound vain? :) )

I am grateful for the courageous lives of my Grandma and my Granny. My Grandma (Young) had 7 children and dealt with a lot she didn't have to deal with and she continues to do so at 90 years young :) My Granny (Elliott) was the first person in her family to graduate from high school. Not only did she graduate, she made a life for herself... moving to Southern California (by herself from Arkansas in the 40s) and marrying a handsome man who had one of those family names.

I am grateful for my four years I lived in St. George, Utah. Even though when I moved there, I was heartbroken, lonely and confused, I realized years later, there was a reason I needed to be there. I grew up very fast, learned real responsibility real fast and I made life-long friends with some of the best girls ever... I also was able to gain education and knowledge in the field where I would work for the rest of my life... I am grateful I could live with and close to other college students, people from all over, mostly who shared my same beliefs and were good friends. I am grateful for my dating experiences (sounds silly, right?), because from those experiences, I can truly appreciate Wayne for his sweetness :) I am grateful I could live 20 minutes from my Grandma and hear stories of her life and spend time with her since we didn't live in CA anymore.

I am grateful for my childhood. As silly as that sounds too, I have a lot of memories of events and places. Places like my Granny's house with her weird cat statue, her metal zebra on the wall, her collection of matchboxes, her yummy tangerines. My Grandma's house in Westminster and having my cousins down the street and the beach only 15 minutes away. I remember my very first memory... my Mom bringing my little brother to my Grandma's house after undergoing surgeries at UCLA right after his birth. I remember random things like this and grateful I can remember so much.

I am grateful for my work and that I can stay busy in a field where some people are struggling for business. I am grateful for appreciative clients that make my job easier and less stressful :) I am grateful for a boss that gives me opportunities that I could only hope for and for my fun conversations and gossip time with Carolina (we're the only girls in the office :) ).

I am grateful for temples. They are THE MOST beautiful places on earth, especially the Los Angeles temple :) I am grateful Wayne and I were able to be sealed together forever in this beautiful building where my parents, his parents and most of his family was married as well. I am grateful I lived less than 2 blocks from the St. George temple for four years. When my Dad bought that house, he told me it was right by the temple. Only when I saw it for myself, I couldn't fathom living that close to one of those magnificent structures.

I am grateful for my testimony in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the love I feel for and from my Savior and my Heavenly Father. I am grateful to know that I am a daughter of God. I am grateful I can pray and know that my prayers will be heard. I am grateful for my patriarchal blessing and the knowledge of my lineage and where I am to be and who I am to be.

I am grateful and hopeful for my future- with Wayne, with our future family, for my career and for happiness that comes with growing old with the ones I love.

My 23rd!

2009-11-01T18:29:00.000-08:00

I was looking forward to my 23rd for quite sometime... I'm a big birthday person... or at least when it comes to mine! My best friends, Ana and Jami came down from St. George to celebrate with us! We went to Disneyland (typical tourist and birthday thing to do!)... there were a million people there! Probably since it was a Saturday! Thanks again Ana and Jami for making my day so special- loooooove you girls! xoxo

Jami and me in the LONG, HOT line for Space Mountain... it was so worth the 1 hr. 15 min. wait!

Us girls cruisin' in Mickey's car

And Shawn (my little brother who hates Disneyland) came too! Wayne was there too of course but there weren't photos to document.

We went to dinner in Huntington that night and we were taking dumb photos on Main St. I had to get one here. Long story short- my Dad's Dad grew up next to the Owner/Founder of the OC Register and my Dad's Dad dated his daughter all through childhood/high school and planned to be married but then he left for the war and she found someone else. But it was fine because then he married my Granny, the lovely Lillie Lucille :)

"I knew you were a Young!"

2009-09-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

Ok, so last Sunday, my Mom had come to our church building after church to see me get set apart for my new calling. While we were waiting in the hall, she almost screamed (yes, she's dramatic too), "Katy, that's Pat Donald! She's in your ward?!" And I said, "No Mom, that's Pat Chambers." She then proceeded to run up to Pat and they were surprised to see each other, hugged a couple times and then Pat had to follow her husband and the Bishop into another room.

A little preface, Pat Donald, (now Pat Chambers- her new married name) is my Grandma's best and oldest friend. I had never met Pat before, but remember all the stories my Grandma had told about her best friend, Pat. We've been in this ward 3 months now and I would have never known this sweet old lady was THE PAT DONALD my Grandma always talked about! (So glad my Mom visited our ward and made that discovery!)

I went up to Pat today and told her who I was, she was so happy and gave me a hug. She said, "I knew you were a YOUNG when I saw you!!!" She then told me about her friendship with my Grandma and how she always loved my Mom. She was even at my parent's sealing! She even knew recent stories about my parents (heard from my Grandma of course) and told me a sweet story from my parent's sealing. She even made me cry!

I'm so happy that this sweet lady is in our ward and lives so close! Its very nice to have a piece of my Grandma here with me (even though my Grandma lives in Utah, I miss her oh so much!)

PS...

2009-09-06T14:56:00.001-07:00

Thanks for the comments and help on my last post. I also wanted to mention MY MOM was just called as the Y.W. Secretary (same stake!) in her ward too! And for those that don't know, my Mother-in-law, Robin is the Y.W. Stake President... could this be any more fun?! :)

New Ward, New Calling!

2009-09-01T13:29:00.000-07:00

I have been called as the Young Women's Secretary for our ward and I am so excited! (and nervous, anxious, etc...) I loved the Young Women's program when I was that age- I loved my leaders and gained my testimony of the gospel in those years of my life.

President Gordon B. Hinckley said, "When you save a girl, you save generations." SO TRUE! I read that and thought of girls that I knew growing up in our stake and how some of them started to slip and slip and slip after high school and now they don't live the standards we were taught. I mentioned I loved my leaders, I really really did/do! They were more than just leaders, they were friends, (most were my Mom's friends too) and they did so much for us girls! At one of my Bridal Showers, I noticed I had 2 of my former Young Women's presidents there and 2 former advisors there too.

I hope I can be the type of leader that they were. I'm so grateful for this opportunity and for the other sisters I can serve with- they are so kind! Also, I've been looking online for some cutesy Y.W. stuff- so far I've found sugardoodle.net. Does anyone know of any othe sites for ideas, clip art, etc?

Doug & Rosanna's Wedding!

2009-08-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

Doug and Rosanna were married for time and all eternity 8/22/2009 in the Mt. Timpanogas Temple! The entire day was full of flowers, smiles, well-wishes, candles, gardens and love.

The Beautiful Mt. Timpanogas Temple!

Rosanna and Doug :)

Greeted by her new nieces and nephews...

Xavier, Doug, Jason and Wayne- these guys have been friends for YEARS!

Tess, me and Makaila- Tess and I have been friends since we were 3 and she's now expecting her first! And Makaila married our friend Drew 2 weeks before Wayne and I were married!

Thanksgiving Point

Us with the happy couple!

Congratulations you two! We couldn't be more happy! :) xoxo

Brainstorming, creativity, time, work all pays off because...

2009-08-17T11:43:00.000-07:00

...our wedding was featured on Zenadia Design!!! Thanks so much Tonya for sharing! I LOVE that blog and followed it through our engagement and could only wish ours would grab their attention!

President McKay's insights to the country's current problems

2009-08-14T10:37:00.000-07:00

My dear, Mama Kays posted this on her blog and I wanted to share (hoping to spread the word):

"Next to being one in worshipping God there is nothing in this world upon which the Church should be more united than in upholding and defending the Constitution of the United States."

"I will raise my voice as long as God gives me sound or ability, against this Communistic idea that the Government will take care of us all, and everything belongs to the government. It is wrong!"

-President David O. McKay

CA vs. UT

2009-08-13T10:06:00.000-07:00

Darn... here are these feelings and memories... again. It started 2 days ago when I had to go to the San Bernardino Courthouse to fight a red light violation ticket (oops) and I was there 50 minutes early and there were already 80-100 people in front of me! I was there almost 3 hours! (No better way to start your day than in the most ghetto courthouse! They were also doing construction so the inside walls were cement and there were wires hanging all over the ceiling!) See, in St. George, it is SO not like that- its in and out! Just like at the DMV or the airport there- SO not CA! And then, our friend Mike (who is from Riverside but recently moved to St. George) told me he saw my two besties, Ana and Jami last night and they talked and talked and talked. I am so jealous and wanting to take a quick visit- but I'll have to wait until next weekend--- we're driving with our friends (and recently engaged!) Chris and Kaci to Salt Lake for Doug and Rosanna's wedding! And we'll stop and see Ana, Jami and Mike then!

Wayne's BDay Weekend!

2009-08-02T17:00:00.001-07:00

Wayne's birthday came and seemed to never end--- it was a 3-day celebration. First, the guys went to Pole Position--- their favorite place for an HOUR AND A HALF RACE!

Then we came back for some cake and ice cream... here's the banner I made :)

And then for a weekend getaway... the Huntington Hilton- executive suite... not too shabby...

Then we came home to a SURPRISE PARTY! We BBQ'ed Hamburgers/hot dogs, my siblings swam but most importantly, Wayne had no idea! :) Sorry I have no photos to prove it!

Finished!

2009-07-27T22:14:00.000-07:00

Yay! This sad table was sitting in our dining room (taken apart) and the chairs were all scuffed up from being sanded... we tried staining them but decided that took TOO long and we didn't care too much for the look either. Anyway, after sanding, experimenting, painting, recovering the chairs and waiting for the special brackets to get here, we finally finished!

Vacation!

2009-07-15T12:13:00.001-07:00

Also known as our honeymoon, but that word makes me sick (I don't know why- probably because it sounds too mushy?) But here are a few vacation photos! We went from Huntington Beach to Carpinteria (10 miles south of Santa Barbara), to Santa Cruz to Monterey to San Simeon then to San Francisco. Very relaxing! We agreed beforehand that we wouldn't make any reservations anywhere and just play it by ear!

Hearst's Castle- my family used to take tours when we were younger and camp on the beach...

San Fran Chinatown... didn't find much there...

The infamous Haight & Ashbury... my aunt was a hippie and ran away from OC to San Fran in the early 70s.

The view of Union Square from our (royal) suite at the Kensington Park Hotel... very elegant.

Union Square... view from the restaurant.

Pier 39... not that exciting as people claim.

Us and the Golden Gate... a nice European lady offered to take our photo.

June 20, 2009...

2009-07-15T10:11:00.000-07:00

...We were sealed for time and all eternity in the Los Angeles Temple. It was a beautiful day, a little foggy from the ocean, but wonderful. Photos taken by the fabulous Tonya of Tonya Joy Photography, http://www.tonyajoy.com/ / http://www.tonyajoy.com/myjoy/?p=374

Our family and friends who came out to join us!

Our wedding party was huge! 9 bridesmaids/9 groomsmen.

I wore my Granny's bracelet. I inherited it when I was 15 and always knew I'd wear it on my wedding day, especially when we were planning the wedding and decided on the Old Hollywood Glam theme. No one I know portrayed that classiness and grace more than my Granny, Lillie Lucille (hence, all the cala lillies!).

Us with my dear Grandma Young. She is my last grandparent and we're very close. She loves Wayne because he is "oh so handsome"- she's really cute.

My beautiful Mom who did so much for the wedding... thank you Mom! xoxo

Our custom made dance floor light...

Our favors... popcorn drizzled with milk chocolate and pink- milk chocolate... thanks Mom, Marc and Des for slaving over these!

The LA Temple as our cake topper, to symbolize where we made our vows...

Ice cream/candy bar that seemed to never end...

A lot of these...

A table we dedicated to our grandparents whose lives led us to each other...

Some fun dancing...

And a show from Westley in his pink suit :)

Westley decided to join us! We were mortified! But luckily we hadn't driven off yet!

Q & A's

2009-06-30T12:24:00.000-07:00

Yay, I can finally do this questionaire! PS- Wedding pics will be up SOON! :)

1. When did you get married?
June 20, 2009… haha just a few days ago!

2. Was this your first marriage?
Of course!

3.How long were you and your significant other together before getting married?
Almost a year and a half but we knew each other for years and years…

4. How did you meet your significant other?
At church things/tanning salon/through friends… basically, it was inevitable.

5. How did your engagement happen? Who asked who and how?
He proposed at our place in Laguna- Shaw’s Cove after going to dinner and the mall (he definitely surprised me that way because I was NOT expecting it!)

6. Did he ask the parents permission?
Yes, my Mom cried and my Dad asked if he would take my name… ha ha.

7. Was the ring a surprise? Who picked it out?
Yes. He designed it from already made designs I liked. He incorporated the two-band thing in 1 really well and he gave me a very special and rare diamond :)

8. Where was your wedding ceremony and/or reception?
Los Angeles Temple (in Westwood :)) and our reception at our Stake Center (where we probably met, ha ha).

9. What were your wedding colors?
Black/white/hot pink/light pink/some silver- (very ME!)

10. What was the weather like on your big day?
It started to sprinkle before the ceremony but by the time of pictures, it was perfect. A little chilly and foggy from the beach, but it was great picture taking weather!

11. Where did you go for pictures?
The temple grounds of course! There's only 13 acres of grounds right outside of Bev Hills :)

12. Did either of you get drunk?
No….

13. What was your wedding song?
The Greatest by Cat Power- not really a wedding song, but oh so beautiful!

14. What was your wedding favor/gift?
We had pink bubbles but that wasn’t really the favor. My Mom made popcorn drizzled with white chocolate and (pink) white chocolate in baggies with a pink ribbon and our monogram sticker. VERY unique I think. It went very well with our movie premiere theme and a touch of pink to match :) Thanks again Kristin for the idea!

15. Did you smash the cake?
No! But the temple topper was on backwards, the monogram looked smashed and Wayne put cake in my face AND EYE/EYELASHES!!!! So it wasn’t perfect but it was yum, (strawberries and cream!)

16. Wedding night?
Huntington Hilton.

17.Favorite part of your wedding day?
The whole day. The ceremony, the photo taking (we had two AMAZING photographers!), the greeting of everyone at the reception… it was great! :)

18. Least favorite part?
Not eating AND waiting for my Mom for 30 minutes and not being able to get ahold of her while I was in the Bride’s Room and she was outside… some man told her to go outside (even though she had an ESCORT pin on)… but she finally came to my rescue!

19. Would you do it all again?
It was the most stressful time of my life- those 7 months (up until we got to the temple and after that was great) but yes!

20. Where did you go on your honeymoon?
Huntington, Carpinteria, Santa Barbara, Monterey, Hearsts Castle, San Fran!

NEW NEW NEW!

2009-06-02T20:03:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is our BRAND NEW BLOG! As expressed in my old blog, I am moving on to better things in my life... hence, our wedding in just under 3 weeks! Soon, we'll have wedding photos, then photos of our new place and more!

xoxo until then...