How 'bout a Mailbag to end the week?

Dear School,
I'm honestly kinda missing you. Although, I am very appreciative of the break, I am getting so antsy to find out my final grades and what the jurors said during my jury. You can understand why I feel like I'm getting an ulcer due to stress.
Sincerely,
Ready for Winter Semester

Dear Christmas,
Thank you for being "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year." I needed to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol the other day. It made me quite happy.
Yours,
Kelsey

Dear Work,
I don't know what to say with you.
Sincerely,
On my last leaf

Dear Presents-under-the-tree,
There are so many this year! I'm so excited to give/receive you! Really, I think I did good this year for Bryan.
Love,
Kelsey

Dear Mom and Dad,
I miss you.
Love,
Your Daughter

Dear Michael McLean,
Thank you for writing The Forgotten Carols. They make the Christmas season that much more for us. Truly.
Love,
Bryan and Kelsey
ps. I love my new plaque
http://www.forgottencarols.com/latest-products/decorative-wooden-plaques/

Dear Hunger Games,
I'm sorry we haven't met until recently. I'm glad we're friends.
Love,
can't-get-my-mind-off

"Christmas Must Be Something More" by Taylor Swift

This song has become a new favorite of mine. I first heard it three years ago at a little Christmas luncheon with my sister and some of the ladies from my ward (the group of people I go to church with).

I just love it and the message it gives. It's like in How the Grinch Stole Christmas when the Grinch realizes that "Maybe Christmas, perhaps, is a little bit more."
When Christmas first came...
It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes, or bags!

It came with a simple babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes. It came with angels singing on the most high, "Joy to the world, the Lord is come!"

It continues to come with charity, the pure love of Christ. As we give our hearts to others in service, we give to our Father in Heaven and our Savior.

Happy 9 days til Christmas.

Our Christmas letter

Hello Family and Friends!

We decided to keep things simple this year and just give you the highlights of what was our 2011:

1. We took our first Family Picture! (Of course, this is a highlight mostly for Kelsey, but it's going to stay on here anyway)
2. Instead of doing something normal, we spent a morning in the air for our first anniversary. Yep, we went hot air ballooning!
3. The wedding of the year! We were the Best Man and Bride's Matron to Bryan's brother, Matthew, and his wonderful bride, Leah. What an honor it was! We love them so much!
4. Kelsey joined the community theatre scene and was a featured dancer in the SCERA Shell Theatre’s production of Aida.
5. As much as we loved Wymount, we needed a change of scenery. So, we moved to Orem.
6. Bryan spent a whole night filming the Gethsemane scene for our Church's New Testament Project. Poor soul, his life is so hard.
7. Battlescars, camo, and a new gun later, we have become paintball enthusiasts.
8. Kelsey got her Associate's degree in the summer and is now on campus at Utah Valley University. She's loving being able to sing again. . . And not taking online courses!
9. We went to Yellowstone for the T. Family Reunion. This being Kelsey’s first time at the National Park, it became quite the event. Not to mention the great company!
10. Thanksgiving was spent in sandals, shorts, and 75 degree weather. Arizona treated us well while we ate, sang songs, watched movies, and shot some guns with Kelsey’s family.

As many things highlight our year, there is one thing that will always highlight our lives: Our Savior, Jesus Christ. We wish you all a wonderful holiday and pray for the best of the New Year!

Love,

Bryan and Kelsey

Christmas Traditions

Bryan's cousin Bryton is looking for Christmas traditions.

First off, I lovelovelove her piggy bank Christmas tradition. So cute. I may have to adopt it for myself.

Secondly, I'm grateful that I read her blog today so I could feel motivated to write. (since I've been dead to the world)

Thirdly, let's talk about CHRISTMAS.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Bryan and I have started a little tradition where we open our gifts to each other before Christmas, that way we can do it together. It's so sharing our own little Christmas. That's pretty much our only tradition together.

One of my favorite traditions from growing up was caroling outside my parents' bedroom door. You see, on Christmas morning, we would all convene in my parents room, make their bed, kneel next to it and thank our Father in Heaven for our Savior before going to demolish the living room.

Well, my parents didn't want all 9 of us barging in there (especially when they were (a) in their garments aka undies and (b)up all night laying out presents so they didn't want to get up right when we did).

My parents locked us out of their room.

So, we sang. Usually, it wasn't very pretty because we just wanted to wake them up so we could commence the demolishing of the living room. But, in the end, it has become one of my favorite thing about Christmas.

Thanks, Bryton :)

The Proudest Moment of My Life... Thus far

This is me unloading an AK.

So, I kinda LOVE my friends :)

Tonight, I had a girls night with a few of the girls I got really close to while I was doing Aida over the summer. Let's just say, I have missed them terribly and I just love them so much! They're so awesome! Part of me feels young around them because they have so much life experience and good advice and positive attitudes. They're so uplifting from the day-to-day (not that my super hot husband is not uplifting, but sometimes you need your friends to cheer you up). Listening and laughing and venting was just so awesome! And it was with people I really relate to. It's not that my school friends aren't awesome, but most of them are either a lot younger than me (I say alot, but they're only like 3 years younger than me) or just single and filled with drama. And not the drama I like to be involved with. That sounds terrible, but sometimes I just don't care. lol. But yeah.

I just love my friends :)

Now to go research Irish music **does jig**

Hello.

I'm Kelsey, and I suck at life.

Well.... Blogging. Yes, I suck at blogging. I honestly love it, but I'm terrible at keeping up! I can never figure out why!

As a little update to our busy life, Bryan is doing fantastic! He's working on two commercials right now--on his own! Yep! Ladies and 'Gents, my cute hubby is doing his own production work! He's excited but still kinda... I'm not sure how to describe it. Stress? Anxiety? idk. Meh, whatever! He's living the dream :)

Me, on the other hand, I'm just cruising along with school. I'm come to reason with the fact that it's going to be about 3 years instead of 1.5 years before I graduate, but I'm doing what I love and I love what I do! My voice teacher has been away since the end of October doing The Barber of Seville in Beijing, China. (Poor soul, his life is so hard... NOT!) He comes back after Thanksgiving and honestly, I'm SO HAPPY. I've been practicing every day and working on my music, but I'm just ready to have him back. Other than that, work is work and all that jazz.

So, in ONE WEEK... Bryan and I are trekking down to Phoenix to see my family for Thanksgiving. I honestly can't tell you how happy I am to be (1) getting out of Utah and (2)getting away from the cold and bracing myself for snow. 70 degrees, here we come!

It's Octo-brrrrrr!!

Which means, I've been riding my bike in the fall air. It's been pleasant.

My poor little beach cruiser is still squeaking, though. I may need to take some WD-40 to it.

School is crazy. But it makes me happy. I honestly wouldn't want to be anywhere doing anything but what my situation is RIGHT NOW. I get to sing every day and I get to analyze music and understand even deeper why music is so breath taking. It's a happy time.

Here's a little sneak peek as to what I am working on:

Disclaimer: I am NOT the person singing on these videos lol. These are just pieces that I am trying to work on. Who knew I was a soprano?!! ha!

Oh! had I Jubal's Lyre from Joshua by G. F. Handel

Pale et Blonde from Hamlet by Ambroise Thomas

Post #101. How 'bout an A-Z!

I saw this on I Believe in Unicorns and thought it would be fun to do for my second post in the triple digits :)

The Misses

Age: 21

Bedsize: Queen

Chores that you hate: Making the bed. I know, I'm crazy.

Dogs: I want a puppy

Essential start to your day: listening to music

Favorite color: hot pink!

Gold or Silver: silver

Height: 5’6” ish...

Instruments you play: piano, percussion

Job title: Asst. Manager

Kids: not yet

Live: O-town, UT

Mother’s Maden Name: Thompson

Nicknames: Kels, Kelser Belser, Kelsey Gracie (to Bryan)

Overnight hospital stays: Uhhhh never?

Pet peeves: The word "like" being overly used.

Quote from a movie or tv show: "Hot dog to hot dog bun ratio: Why for the love of mustard are there never enough buns?!" Mr. Magorium rocks.

Right or Lefty: right-handed

Siblings: 5 sister, 3 brothers

Time you wake up: about 7 AM

Underwear: I don't understand this one... But I wear them, yes...

Vegetable you hate: eggplant.

What makes you run late: my husband...

X-Rays You’ve Had: The ones from the dentist. My wrist. And my pelvic region... Awkward. Moving on.

Yummy food you make: I back cakes like NOBODY you have ever met :)

Zoo Animal: Hippopotamus

The Mister

Age: 24

Bedsize: Queen

Chores that you hate: I don't mind doing chores.

Dogs: Had them growing up, and want them when our kids grow up

Essential start to your day: showering

Favorite color: Blue

Gold or Silver: silver

Height: 6'

Instruments you play: violin, a little piano

Job title: Camera Room Assistant

Kids: not yet

Live: O-town, UT

Mother’s Maden Name: O'Toole

Nicknames: Bry, Big Ol' Bry, (insert last name here), Honey-baby (by Kelsey)

Overnight hospital stays: None

Pet peeves: Facebook

Quote from a movie or tv show: "What you do in life echoes in eternity." --Gladiator

Right or Lefty: right-handed

Siblings: 3 sisters, 1 brother

Time you wake up: about 9 AM

Underwear: I don't understand this one... But I wear them, yes...

Vegetable you hate: asparagus, zuccini

What makes you run late: Getting ready

X-Rays You’ve Had: Catscan.

Yummy food you make: I don't cook

Zoo Animal: cheetah or elephants

Maaaiiilll Baaaag!!!

Dear Mailbag,

Thank you for being convenient so I can update people on my life in short terms. But not so full of details... Meh. We'll work this out one day.

Love, Kelsey

Dear School,

Man I missed you.

Sincerely, A Student

Dear School,

Stop asking me for more money!

Sincerely, A Poor Student

Dear School (is there an echo in here???),

I wish there was some way you could be downhill both ways instead of just one. Although, I do love riding my bike and getting some sweet exercise.

Sincerely, Tired

Dear Bryan,

Thanks for being cute. And endulging me by purchasing season 1 of CSI:NY. This makes me happy. I love you.

Love, your little wifey <3

Dear Bike,

You need to stop squeaking. I can't seem to figure out why you scream at me so much. I'm doing the best I can.

Yours truly, the concerned bike-rider

Dear Lucha Shoes,

You know how much I love you, but why in the WORLD have you started to make my feet stinky??? I've never had stinky feet until now!!! WTF, MATE???

Regards, I-need-more-dress-socks

Dear God,

Thanks for looking out for me. I love you.

Yours, Your daughter

Dear New Ward,

I promise we're not total strangers!!! We just have other things going on in near-ish places, so we go to other wards instead of you. Maybe it's a good thing I don't have a calling yet...

Sincerely, Bryan and Kelsey

Dear Apartment,

As much as I love you, I wish you could just decorate yourself! (and where in the world did we get all this crap from??? geez...)

Love, Kelsey

Dear Paintball,

Why are you so expensive yet SO ADDICTING???

Sincerely, Poor.

Dear Bed,

I'm coming.

Love, me

Why, hello there!

WOW.

You'd think that Bryan and I moved across town, started school, and haven't had a moment's sit down in like 3 weeks...

GAH!

As you can tell, it's been a mad house around this little family's home (no, I'm not announcing anything besides the craziness that is my life).

We moved. Yes, we're in our new apartment. Oakhurst is treating us pretty well :) Although, I'm not super fond of the rust stains on the counter in my guest bathroom ***grumblegrumblegrumble*** I am super happy with pretty much everything else! The first night here, Bryan and I laid in the bed and were just gazing at how enormous our new master bedroom was. And yes, I just said master bedroom! 2 Bed, 2 Bath, one HUGE APARTMENT! At least, compared to Wymount it is much bigger :)

School is... Awesome. Yes, I just used school and awesome in the same sentence. I love being in school, strange as it is. And I love being able to sing all the time again. I also love the fact that I'm getting exercise every day! I've been riding my little beach cruiser to and from school everyday. It is tiring (especially after riding uphill and then having to run up 4, sometimes 5 flights of stairs before getting to class) but it feels good.

Bryan is living the dream! The MPS (Motion Picture Studio) is shooting the Goshen stuff right now and he's gotten to go on set once already! It was his first night shoot and they shot the Gethsemane scene. I'm so jealous! It was so good for him, though. Like I said, He is living the dream!

Other than that things have been pretty normal around here. I'll be posting about my birthday soon. But not today. For now, that's it!

Back to School

YIKES!!!

Yes, I am going to be going back to school as an on-campus student tomorrow for the first time in two years. Since Bryan and I got engaged, I have either been working or taking online classes. Needless to say, I'm not sure how well this is going to go over

Dear Wymount....

I decided that I was going to reminisce a little bit, seeing as Bryan and I will be moving out of our first apartment in two days... It's a little bittersweet...

Dear Wymount,

First off, I must say that this has been an interesting experience altogether. Although Bryan and I are gone to Bountiful a lot, I have loved calling you home. Thanks for being open when you were. We never expected a second floor apartment to treat us so well. It seems like we needed it, considering how loud and often we watch movies. Having no neighbors on the other side of the wall was nice.

Remember when Bryan was putting up all those shelves and woke up the baby next door during her nap? I guess it was the hard way of finding out where her room was. But it was still funny. Those first few months of putting up decorations and getting used to living in BYU housing was a little rough for me, but thanks for pulling through when you did.

Christmas was a fun time for me. Being able to decorate my own little house and have our little white tree in the corner where the orchid usually sits (sorry orchid, but Christmas tree comes first during December) was kinda special. Opening gifts and starting traditions together was fun and strange all at the same time. Who knew that we had so much in common.

I wanted to say sorry for not celebrating many holidays/birthdays here. But I do want to say thank you for being our clean, quiet haven when we got back from those mini-vacations. I don't think you realize how special you are.

I'll miss your rent price. I know that's selfish, but you're not half bad of a place. Some of the other apartments that are in close range of your rent are... Well... Dumps, to say the least. Thanks for not being trashy :) I mean that in the best way possible.

I could have done without those little black and red bugs in my bedroom during the summer months, but I deal with those if that means the AC unit is right next to my side of the bed.

In the end, I guess what I want to say is: Thanks for being home. Not just any home, but our home.

With All of My Love,

Kelsey

The Most Wonderful Weekend to Date! (A month late! hahaha!)

Thursday morning came, and we slept in. It was the most wonderful sleep in ever. I had new hair, I didn't have to work or even worry about work, and my best friend and I were leaving for our weekend getaway. I was so excited, I just wanted to leave! We packed the car, picked up my sunglasses from my hairdresser, and then drove!

We drove through the canyon. The camera was in the trunk, but I wished the entire drive that I had it. I hope to drive through there again. It was a perfect 78 degrees with the windows down. The river was full and the canyon was gorgeous. We listened to music and laughed and talked about what we might do when we got to our amazing hotel. I love my best friend. After all, he's the best :)

When we got to Park City, we had an hour to kill, so we got some Kneaders. I needed me a good cranberry-white chocolate chip cookie. (Don't hate until you eat one. You will change your mind. I promise). After lunch, we went to our hotel--The Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Park City. Valet greeted me and they trolleyed our stuff down to our little suite. I already felt like a rockstar and we had been on vacation for 2 hours!

We settled in and I discovered my new love: the flatscreen in the bathroom.

Yes, I am in love. I told you. It's so convenient to be able to watch the news while you shower or do your hair. No need to shout to Bryan and ask, "What did they say??? It's going to HAIL??"
"No honey! That guy is going to JAIL!"
"Oh... I figured hail in August was weird..."




Anyway. Away from the randomness. We settled in and then sat by the pool, where the awesome people of the Waldorf continued to treat us like rockstars with food, drinks, and classical music poolside. Who knew vacations could be so awesome?


Then, my darling husband let me shop. I got dolled up, we got some dinner and he let me go! I didn't find much that first night, except for my new brown belt for our family pictures (A&F Outlet -- appprox. $15. Steal). I hid it, of course so I could find it later. Bryan laughed.


We called it an early night because of our Saturday adventures. I woke up to this outside on my balcony....

That was such a beautiful wakeup call to the amazing morning of Hot Air Ballooning.

Yes, I said it. And yes, we did it.

It was so serene and so beautiful. The 6 AM air made me feel so alive! We didn't get to fly over Park City because of the wind, but we drove about 20 minutes to Heber City and flew.

After that, Bryan surprised me with a theraputic massage and a mani/pedi appointment. It was so relaxing and it was exactly what I needed. The massuse discovered that the reason why I get pains in my right shoulder is because I've been holding babies on my right hip since I was ten--the curse that came with being a young aunt. She was absolutely amazing. And my manicurist was probably one of the sweetest girls ever! I really was spoiled. Bryan really does love me. And I love him desperately.

After that, we went out to dinner where I had the best burger I have ever had in my life! I don't know why, but that thing was DELICIOUS! There really are no words to describe the awesomeness that was this burger. It's times like these when I wish I had a better phone so I could have taken pictures of the amazing food we ate. We dined, we laughed, we walked. Me and my best friend.

Sunday morning, I woke up to the most beautiful bouquet of flowers I have ever seen. It was colorful like the morning sun and smelled amazing. Next to it was a book made by the love of my life. It was called, A Glimpse to Ever After: The Story of Our First Year. He's so sweet. I decided that making a book of our year would be a great way to archive our life together. He's awesome.

We cuddled and watched movies for the rest of the night. It was truly a relaxing weekend. The best weekend to date.

Oh, ps. I'm going to Katy Perry on Monday :)

So, this has never happened before!

You know that giveaway I talked about? The post just below this one?

Yeah.

I TOTALLY WON!!!

The color of the font--yeah. The color of my Undertease shirt.
For freeeeeee!
My shirt should be here any day now and I am so excited I CAN HARDLY HANDLE IT!!!

Also, I lovelovelove Ashley from i believe in unicorns.
She's just so awesome.

Is it creepy that I'm saying stuff like this about a person that I haven't met in real life???....
I feel like a creeper.
Just a little...

I think I may have a serious problem.

I entered another giveaway.
These Undertease shirts are just so awesome!
And you can never go wrong with a layering shirt!

And in other news...

I made it!

I did it. I tried out for community theater and I made the cast of AIDA!

Rehearsals started this last week and lemme tell ya... They're kickin' my TRASH! Our choreographer is a freakin' genius and he's having us do some amazing stuff. But I haven't danced like this in almost 3 years. Let's just say, I've been limping and been sore a lot!

I'll have to post about Bryan and I's anniversary trip some other time because I should really be doing homework.

Ooops! I did it again!

Not like Britney Spears.

But, I entered another giveaway on i believe in unicorns.

I couldn't help it!

If you know me, you know that I love me some BOWS!!!
And she's giving away a DANG CUTE ONE!
If I don't win it, I think I may turn around and try and make some of these myself
because they're so freaking gorgeous!
And a little bit pricey :/
Anyway, happy Tuesday!

Brain Function

It's totally at an all-time LOW right now.
Which isn't good.
I have a mid-term that I have to do before Thursday.
Why Thursday? You might ask. Aren't things due Saturday at midnight for your online courses?
Yes. They are.

I want to be done Thursday because on FRIDAY.

Bryan and I will be here:

The Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Park City, UT!

Isn't it gorgeous????? Ohmygosh, I'm sooooo super excited! I can hardly contain it!!!

But then, I come back to my little dilemma.

I am now down to approx. 48 hours to get all my homework done, take a midterm, and make sure that work is in a spot where those boys (and now McCale) can function without me.

I wonder how they'll do...

I'm in love...

With Oakhurst Apartments :) lol

But really. Bryan and I have been apartment hunting for a little while, seeing as we live in BYU student housing currently and soon enough, we won't be BYU students anymore so we can't live here much longer....
We found a couple that we like. We saw one on Tuesday and their prices shot WAAYYYYY up. Yeah.
No bueno.
And all their fees and deposits and what-not are NON-REFUNDABLE!
Whaaaa?? Yeah.
L. A. M. E.

So... about $500 down the drain was pretty much out of the question.

When we first got to Oakhurst this morning, I wasn't too sure about it. But then she brought us to the "model home" apartment... And... I'm in love :)
It comes with storage, a porch, washer/dryer hookups, a HUGE bathroom, and a really good sized master bedroom. The second bedroom is pretty good sized as well, which means we may be getting another futon or a nice blow-up mattress for when people stay with us, that way they don't have to sleep in the living room. YE-YEAH!

Anyway. I am excited.
But, we're still considering just buying a condo.
I'll keep you posted.