That One Time We Got Married ...A YEAR AGO

Hey.

On December 29th, 2012, we got married.

That means McKay and I have been married for just over ONE WHOLE YEAR.

I can hardly believe it's been one year since I married the love of my life. I also can't believe how happy I thought I'd be, compared to how happy I actually am. Which, by the way, is a MILLION times happier than I ever expected!

Here we are, a year ago:

And here we are now:

Aaaaaand yup, we look the same! No surprise there. haha.

Our first year together went a little bit like this:

School. School. Work. School. Play. Study. Test. Work. School. Play. School. Test. School.

We've both got three semesters left, then grad school for McKay and coaching to my heart's content for me!

Grad School

McKay decided on his next step! He want to be a PA (Physicians assistant)! I was pretty excited when he told me, it was totally out of the blue! We just got together to eat our lunches and he started the conversation with "So I want to go to PA school". I was totally caught off guard! But he had already researched some Grad School options, requirements for applications, and brainstormed on how to start gaining experience and volunteer work. He also called one of his brothers, who is a PA, to get some tips and insights for grad school. Is he a stud or what? Recently he contacted some Physicians in the area about shadowing, so things are moving along perfectly.

Marriage

Remember how I said that I am so much happier than I thought? Well, marriage is celebrated as a beautiful, wonderful, and sacred thing. But just as often, marriage is said to be difficult, a growing experience, and something you need to work hard at. Well, marriage is both, obviously. But no matter how much of either description I was exposed to, apparently all I absorbed when I was younger was "Marriage is hard", "Marriage is all compromise", "Never give up", etc. And I'll be darned, our marriage is actually the opposite. 90% joy, happiness, and beauty, and maybe, MAYBE, 10% hard work. That's how easy McKay is to get along with. Alright, alright, throw a couple of kids, grad school loans, and maybe temporary unemployment into our (currently) peaceful home of two, and maybe things won't be so easily harmonious after all. And I bet that's true, but I will proudly enjoy our simple life as long as I've got it! 

This first year of marriage has been a blessing and it's been a journey, not necessarily a hard one, but certainly a rewarding one. I can't tell you how many times a day something will happen that makes me think, "Wow, I married the perfect man for me." Here is to an eternity of laughter and joy with the love of my life: I love you McKay!

The Last of Summer, The First of Fall

It's official, Summer is over and the new school semester has started. McKay has a second job as a security guard and WOW, does that man look good in uniform. ;) Not only has McKay gotten himself a second job, he is also volunteering in a lab on campus for around 10 hours a week. Can I take a moment and mention how hard working and amazing my husband is? He's working two jobs, half of his security shifts are dead in the night, he's volunteering during the day to get experience, ALL while going to school full time.  Despite all his sacrifice, he still finds time to do things for me, he doesn't ever let me forget just how much he loves me. Before all the crazy changes in our lives, we did still have some fun summer adventures I want to mention!

Beach, Beach, Let's go to the Beach -Katelyn & Vanessa

The beach! We got to spent a few days on a small beach in California called Dillon Beach. There wasn't any cell reception, and the town is tiny, perfect for a relaxing vacation. We spent a day in San Francisco, ran around the beach, poked weird sea creatures, had a bon fire, ate our weight in fruit snacks, played some halo, and browsed some outlets. here, have a look:

Mmmm... Salt.... 

Here we are, up exploring the San Fran hills by the Golden Gate Bridge!

The Golden Gate Bridge, corn dogs we were WAY to excited about, and these crazy water massage machine things ...Which were more like 10 minutes of tickle torture devices. Apparently you could hear my screams/laughs (scrafs? Leams?) from outside the store.

Look at those hills!! Plus we thoroughly enjoyed a street performance by 3 people who are in acrobatic school, the unicycle man took the cake.

Can you see Alcatraz back there?? Also Vanessa was upset she couldn't go to the bathroom in the porta-potty on the bridge.

Yes, that's me feeding bacon to Andy and McKay while they're playing halo. I will gladly accept my wife of the year award now, thank you. We played lots of games and enjoyed beautiful sunsets!

While at the beach, we were planning to go to the Redwoods at one point, but turns out that contrary to popular belief (or at least those of us that have seen Planet of the Apes) The redwood forest is NOT near San Francisco. Not even remotely, they're actually 5 hours away. So we cancelled those plans and just had a lovely relaxing day doing whatever we wanted. Basically, our brief trip to California was wonderful. I especially love being around my family, plus I don't have to cook dinner, BONUS. Honestly, one thing I love most about being with my family is the Portuguese! I never realized how much I love speaking with my mom especially. My Portuguese has slipped a little since I moved out, and now speaking with my family feels refreshing. McKay is learning, and just to be clear I am NOT the best teacher. But I love his willingness to learn. His Spanish helps a lot, and he even remembers to speak Portuguese more often than I do. When he was asked to say a prayer once when we were with my family, he prayed in Portuguese, and boy were they surprised!


IDAHO
After being home for 2 days, we hit the road again and spent our last precious weekend before school started up in Rexburg  for some Coffey family time. Di is such a trooper! 9 hour trip to get up and down and she's driving like a charm. It was like a half-Coffey family reunion of sorts. McKay's parents brought Kristi out for school and Melissa and Katie's family are already there in Rexburg. Here's some pictures of the fun weekend!

This cow bell game was so funny, it's a spinning see-saw and you have to try and whack the bell. McKay won with 5 rings!

Go karts! We rode these at least 12 times, and I'll never forget how fast the red and green go karts were. Also Chris is rocking the white Glitzn' cart haha.

And of course, we couldn't leave without trying to *nicely beat each other up. Wayne was the winner there.

I married an amazing man, you know. And I know he's amazing because of his parents and his family. I absolutely LOVE the family I have become a part of and I couldn't be more grateful for their love and kindness. Whenever we go up to Idaho we have such a great time. I loved being there hearing family stories, watching McKay's dad give father's blessings, and playing with all the kids. It's no wonder McKay is so wonderful to me, I can definitely see where he gets his loving and supportive nature.

This semester is a busy one, but so far I've been enjoying myself. My Exercise Physiology class is fascinating, it's the first class where I've actually enjoyed the textbook reading. Plus the lab portion of that class is a blast! Just last week we took heart rate and blood pressure measurements at different levels of exercise. It was a workout! Plus taking someone's blood pressure makes you feel all professional. My Kinesiology class is a bit rough, Physics has never been my strong point, so I'm pretty sure sure I'm going to get to know the TA for that class rather well haha. Lastly I want to mention my New Testament class, which I adore! In most religion classes you can just talk about your feelings and you're pretty much set, and I've always used that to my advantage, but this class is totally different. It's basically a history class, and my first thought was oh no not history! But just to add another first to my list of firsts this semester I'm actually really enjoying all the history! My professor is an archaeologist, and a rather happy one too. He get SO excited teaching about the world at and around Christ's life. And I've found everything so fascinating! I understand SO much more about Matthew and his gospel than I ever thought I could, and it's only been three weeks. This semester's going to be a great one.

The Last of Summer, The First of Fall

It's official, Summer is over and the new school semester has started. McKay has a second job as a security guard and WOW, does that man look good in uniform. ;) Not only has McKay gotten himself a second job, he is also volunteering in a lab on campus for around 10 hours a week. Can I take a moment and mention how hard working and amazing my husband is? He's working two jobs, half of his security shifts are dead in the night, he's volunteering during the day to get experience, ALL while going to school full time.  Despite all his sacrifice, he still finds time to do things for me, he doesn't ever let me forget just how much he loves me. Before all the crazy changes in our lives, we did still have some fun summer adventures I want to mention!

Beach, Beach, Let's go to the Beach -Katelyn & Vanessa

The beach! We got to spent a few days on a small beach in California called Dillon Beach. There wasn't any cell reception, and the town is tiny, perfect for a relaxing vacation. We spent a day in San Francisco, ran around the beach, poked weird sea creatures, had a bon fire, ate our weight in fruit snacks, played some halo, and browsed some outlets. here, have a look:

Mmmm... Salt.... 

Here we are, up exploring the San Fran hills by the Golden Gate Bridge!

The Golden Gate Bridge, corn dogs we were WAY to excited about, and these crazy water massage machine things ...Which were more like 10 minutes of tickle torture devices. Apparently you could hear my screams/laughs (scrafs? Leams?) from outside the store.

Look at those hills!! Plus we thoroughly enjoyed a street performance by 3 people who are in acrobatic school, the unicycle man took the cake.

Can you see Alcatraz back there?? Also Vanessa was upset she couldn't go to the bathroom in the porta-potty on the bridge.

Yes, that's me feeding bacon to Andy and McKay while they're playing halo. I will gladly accept my wife of the year award now, thank you. We played lots of games and enjoyed beautiful sunsets!

While at the beach, we were planning to go to the Redwoods at one point, but turns out that contrary to popular belief (or at least those of us that have seen Planet of the Apes) The redwood forest is NOT near San Francisco. Not even remotely, they're actually 5 hours away. So we cancelled those plans and just had a lovely relaxing day doing whatever we wanted. Basically, our brief trip to California was wonderful. I especially love being around my family, plus I don't have to cook dinner, BONUS. Honestly, one thing I love most about being with my family is the Portuguese! I never realized how much I love speaking with my mom especially. My Portuguese has slipped a little since I moved out, and now speaking with my family feels refreshing. McKay is learning, and just to be clear I am NOT the best teacher. But I love his willingness to learn. His Spanish helps a lot, and he even remembers to speak Portuguese more often than I do. When he was asked to say a prayer once when we were with my family, he prayed in Portuguese, and boy were they surprised!


IDAHO
After being home for 2 days, we hit the road again and spent our last precious weekend before school started up in Rexburg  for some Coffey family time. Di is such a trooper! 9 hour trip to get up and down and she's driving like a charm. It was like a half-Coffey family reunion of sorts. McKay's parents brought Kristi out for school and Melissa and Katie's family are already there in Rexburg. Here's some pictures of the fun weekend!

This cow bell game was so funny, it's a spinning see-saw and you have to try and whack the bell. McKay won with 5 rings!

Go karts! We rode these at least 12 times, and I'll never forget how fast the red and green go karts were. Also Chris is rocking the white Glitzn' cart haha.

And of course, we couldn't leave without trying to *nicely beat each other up. Wayne was the winner there.

I married an amazing man, you know. And I know he's amazing because of his parents and his family. I absolutely LOVE the family I have become a part of and I couldn't be more grateful for their love and kindness. Whenever we go up to Idaho we have such a great time. I loved being there hearing family stories, watching McKay's dad give father's blessings, and playing with all the kids. It's no wonder McKay is so wonderful to me, I can definitely see where he gets his loving and supportive nature.

This semester is a busy one, but so far I've been enjoying myself. My Exercise Physiology class is fascinating, it's the first class where I've actually enjoyed the textbook reading. Plus the lab portion of that class is a blast! Just last week we took heart rate and blood pressure measurements at different levels of exercise. It was a workout! Plus taking someone's blood pressure makes you feel all professional. My Kinesiology class is a bit rough, Physics has never been my strong point, so I'm pretty sure sure I'm going to get to know the TA for that class rather well haha. Lastly I want to mention my New Testament class, which I adore! In most religion classes you can just talk about your feelings and you're pretty much set, and I've always used that to my advantage, but this class is totally different. It's basically a history class, and my first thought was oh no not history! But just to add another first to my list of firsts this semester I'm actually really enjoying all the history! My professor is an archaeologist, and a rather happy one too. He get SO excited teaching about the world at and around Christ's life. And I've found everything so fascinating! I understand SO much more about Matthew and his gospel than I ever thought I could, and it's only been three weeks. This semester's going to be a great one.

Life, Lately

We're happy.

So, so happy.

Life lately... has been wonderful. We're just here in Utah, doin' the married thing. And what a blessing it's been! We've been going on lots of adventures and we have our biggest adventures planned for the end of the month. In a few day's we'll drive to California to spend a few days at the beach with my side of the family, then we'll be heading up to Idaho to spend a few days with McKay's side of the family. I AM SO EXCITED. We are definitely ready for a vacation.

Since I like pictures more than talking, here are some shots of our latest adventures together :)

We hiked Squaw Peak

My family came in town and we watched Andy and Vanessa run the Dirty Dash

We went on lots of dates!

And climbed up Bridal Veil Falls

I cannot emphasize how much I LOVE TO CLIMB!

This hike was especially fun, I wanted to go back the next day and do it again! I would do it everyday if I could. I LOVED IT

 

My family came in town again

 

And we tried to take a normal family picture

And then finally got one

Also, Jess is part of the family.

We went camping for Pioneer Day

How appropriate

And lastly, we have way too much food

Look at all those tomatoes.... Which I made 2 1/2 quarts of Pico de Gallo with!

Mmmm Jalapenos! 

Basically, this summer has been super fun! We've managed to make some friends in our ward (Yay! We're not so awkward after all!), and we also see family a lot it seems. With only two weeks left, we're cramming what's left of our summer in.

We Should Get Jerseys, 'Cause We Make A Good Team

McKay and I are going strong on 6 months now! And can I just say, it has been the best 6 months of my life. I absolutely adore my husband, and can't get enough of him! With everyone telling me "Oh, it wears off", or "we used to be like that", I was expecting (I admit this with some shame) that McKay and I would eventually fall into a routine or something. You know, that we'd discover those habits that you're not expecting in a house-mate and have to work through them. I was prepared to work through all the "hard things" that everyone warns newlyweds about. Well, I'd like to know exactly what are those "hard things"?? Because we haven't come across a single one! Maybe some of those allegedly "hard things" came and we didn't even notice because we work so well together.

Despite our lovey-dovey ooey-gooey relationship, there has been ONE serious argument we've had. We like to call it "The Great Garden Dispute of 2013!". It's got a nice ring to it, hasn't it? You wouldn't believe the gravity of the situation. We could not agree on whether to have pumpkins or strawberries in our garden. Whew. What a heavy topic to talk about. If you couldn't tell by now, this paragraph is complete sarcasm. We laughed our whole way through this "argument", and we are still laughing about it now!

Bringing things back around, this whole being married thing is kinda the best decision I've ever made. McKay and I are 100% perfect for one another. Everyday we are laughing, smiling, and providing the best companionship anyone could possibly need. My wonderful husband reminds me everyday that he loves me, and he does so much for me, too. These last six months have been wonderful! We have been so blessed with the amount of time we get to spend with one another, and have discovered some new things we enjoy doing together.

For instance, gardening! We love being outside, especially together. Plus, the garden is looking great! Already we've harvested 2 tasty tomatoes, and LOTS of green beans.

We've also spent a lot of time with family. Which makes me so happy! We've driven up to Idaho to spend time with McKay's side, and been to some mini-reunions. Just last month, we traveled to Sacramento, California and were so grateful to spend time with my extended family. My dear Grandmother passed away, and I can't explain how much it meant to me that we were able to go out and be with my family for the funeral. Nearly all of my Grandparent's kids and grand kids were there, we were just 2 short. The funeral wasn't planned to be a family reunion, but it ended up that way, and we had a great time. Later this summer we have a few trips planned to see some more family!

Cousin Line-up!

So, what have we been up to?

Have I mentioned our newest addition? She's just temporary, but having something to take care of is probably a good thing. Meet Shelby, the turtle! We are turtle sitting for a friend while she and her husband are away this summer. So far we've learned that she loves to eat watermelon, grapes, and the plants outside. I was cleaning out the car one day and when I got up to check on her, I found her in the garden happily digesting two of our little pepper plant sprouts. I didn't know whether to laugh or be sad! When I showed McKay later, he just laughed and laughed. We've got several other pepper plants anyways. Roaming the yard and hiding under things is basically her favorite. It's a good thing I put a bright pink piece of paper on her back when we let her roam outside, because we would probably misplace her with all of the hiding spots she's found!

I laugh every time I look at this picture.

On June 15th, our good friends Sara and Spencer, were married in the Salt Lake City Temple! The wedding was beautiful. Really, I don't think anything can top the wedding they had, it was perfect! I swear I have never seen either of the two lovebirds so happy. McKay and I are so happy to (finally) have married friends! haha. We've discovered that we're not to great at the whole making new friends thing, we just have too much fun with each other! Anyways, Sara and Spencer PALMER, are basically the best looking couple ever, so I think everyone should take a look, because they are just so awesome:

Photo Cred goes to Carli Hobson (https://www.facebook.com/carlihobsonphotography)

 I am constantly pulling out my phone to catch a quick picture or two. I feel as if pictures are one of the best ways to keep memories. Plus, pictures make journals way more interesting. If I were to sum up the rest of the things that happened these past months with pictures, it would look something like this:

Date Nights:

 Family Time:

Camping:

And basically just having a great time:

McKay means the world to me. Just thinking about him gives me butterflies! These past 6 months have been the best 6 months of my life (I know I already said that, but seriously, I LOVE MY LIFE!), and I know that it's only going to get better because of him. We've been scrimping and saving our money, and having an absolute blast while doing so. One day we're going to look back at our tiny (no really, 300 square foot), run-down, brick apartment, and remember all of the wonderful memories we've made, and will make, while here. I am so grateful to the Lord for the man I get to spend the rest of eternity with. Our journey together has just begun, and I can't believe all the blessings we've received already. I know this is so cliche, but everyday I spend with McKay becomes the new best day of my life (I maybe just quoted a song). I look forward to what the Lord has in store for us!