Family Home Awesome

Nathan and I had our first real Family Home Evening as a little future family on Monday night. It was fun. I like doing things with Nathan. I think it's because I like him. I think it's because he's so handsome. And buys me diet coke.

We had a little lesson then, of course, got a treat. The best part of FHE.

We went to SubZero where they make the ice cream with NITROGEN GAS! Sounds so hardcore right? It's delicious.

Shawny boy joined us for treats of course. Since he is basically our child.

We sat in the store for quite a while discussing uncomfortable benches, galaxies, The Cable Guy, and a woman named Jonathan. 

All in all, very successful FHE.

Plans

 Thought sharing time. This has been a topic that Katie and I discuss regularly. Now I am discussing it with you through my keyboard

 This is me and a group of my friends ar our senior prom.

(I am the one with the BRIGHT blonde hair. I know, right?)

 I was freshly 18. I was obnoxious. I was immature. (Though I would have fought you on that one). I was living an amazing life. I had even more amazing plans for the next few years ahead. I was on the verge of that life, and the plans I had made, getting flipped completely up-side-down. And I had absolutely no idea.

To say my life has not gone according to plan would be an understatement. I can tell you that the girl in the picture thought she would be married by now. And she thought she knew exactly who she would be married to.

If you told that girl she would be 23 and single, she would have laughed.

Same thing would have happened if you had told her her high school boyfriend wouldn't work out. Or that she would wait for a missionary. Or that she would teach middle school. 

No sportsfans, life is nothing how I planned.

It is so much better.

I experienced heartache like I didn't think was possible. I fought back and became who I am today. I met the love of my life at 18, a mere two weeks after the big crash of what was my life plan. I didn't know it then, but that day we began the 5 year journey that brought us to where we are today.

There's been highs and there's been lows. But we are here now, and I can't imagine it any other way. I am the happiest I have ever been and I know it's because those plans I thought were so wonderful as a senior in high school, didn't work out. That big crash led me to Provo and to BYU and to the Special Ed Program and to teaching preschool and to amazing friends and to Nathan and to the Gospel and to South Hills Middle School and to me. I am so glad Heavenly Father doesn't allow 18-year-old girls to plan their futures. I am so glad He loves me and knows me and had something so much better in mind.

Much, much better.

The most fun I have ever had

Hey guys, wanna know what is the vest way to spend a Saturday?

REGISTERING!

Yesterday Nathan and I headed to Target and Bed Bath and Beyond to register.

We just got to pick things out for other people to buy us.

At first I felt weird that I was telling people to get me stuff.. and then I got over it and it was awesome!

Target was a blast and we scanned until the battery in our gun died.

Bed Bath and Beyond was still fun but we started loosing energy fast.

Then the lady meticulously combed through our list with a fine tooth comb asking weird questions and judging the things we decided to register for.

At first I thought I was just tired and being sensitive, but then she kept going and Nathan gave me a weird look and Nathan is the most patient person in the planet.

I tried to be nice and explain that we were very happy with the things we registered for but were tired and needed to go eat.

But homegirl kept going.

That's when blunt/attitude Kaitlin (who I lovingly call.. Dana Graff) came out and I knew we needed to get out of there fast. So I basically stood up and told her we were leaving. Crazy lady. Leave me and my awesome red kitchen-aide alone.

But other than Miss Sassy Pants, it was a blast! Literally.

Get it? Cuz I am blasting away with that gun?

Hahahaha. I am so punny.

Anywho we of course celebrated at our favorite 5-star restaurant.

McDonald's.

We should probably be ashamed of how much we love this place.

But we aren't. 

McDonald's is delicious and I will challenge anyone who counters that claim with a fight to the death.

Magicians and Missionaries

We got to hang out with some pretty cool people the past few days. 

More like they got to hang out with us.

My favorite big brother came into town for work and we got to meet up with him on Wednesday to gorge ourselves at Sweet Tomatoes. It's what our family does best!

These two little love birds came too! That there is the little-budgy-babie and her man-friend, Marshall. Or Marshmellow, as I loving call him behind his back. Nathan and I gave our stamp of approval after just 1 meeting. Although, he really should learn some magic tricks..

I love this picture because it's got my two favorite men in it besides Ffejy poo. I love that Blake gets to come out here every few months. Now if Kelsey would just stop complaining that it's hard to travel with a newborn and a 3-year-old, maybe I'd get to see my sister sometimes too! Kidding, kidding. Kinda.

Now for a different dinner date with much lower quality pictures.

We went to dinner with one of Nathan's old companions on Friday, Ian. They spent a good chunk of the mission together and Ian and I got to really know each other through Nathan. He came home about a month before Nathan did and we got to hang out. It's fun to be able to feel apart of Nathan's mission in that way. Plus, he is dramatic like me so we have funny discussions while Nathan rolls his eyes.

This was the first time Nathan has seen anyone from his mission since he got home. It was fun to see him get all excited.

Then a man offered to take one of all 3 of us as long as we sent him a copy. We all laughed and posed but he kept saying it. I'm sure he was joking but he said it so many times, I kinda started to believe that he wanted one. Sorry guy. Maybe if you read my blog like a normal person, you could have a copy.

Grateful List

I just found out that my usually "free" Thursday is going to be spent in an IEP meeting and then an extra reading endorsement class making it so I have not spent more than a couple hours at my apartment this entire week. Plus.. I absolutely hate this class. I know it is helping me become a better teacher but 3 hours talking about students metacognition doesn't sound fun when I haven't had a spare second to breathe this week. I am not going to allow the grumpies to overtake me like they usually do. So I am going to make a grateful list.

• My brother-in-law being in town and getting to have a quick dinner with him last night.
• Finding out that my fiance's work is going to pay most of our phone bill.
• The fact that my box in the office is positioned perfectly so I can check through the window whether or not I need to go in and grab stuff.
• My principal for announcing in the hallway this morning that "Ms Graff is the cutest in the world!"
• The science class I teach so watching a video today so I can relax for a minute.
• I complained about how my students borrow and lose all my pencils yesterday and today one boy walked in with a giant box of brand new pencils for me.
• I am semi-caught up on my paper work and meetings. 
• My work email is working again.
• I figured out how to use my super fancy projector. 
• I go to the temple in 35 days.
• I get married 71 days.
• Ricky comes home in 1 WEEK!
• My handsome nephew, Clark turned 3 on Tuesday.
• Most of the big wedding plans are taken care of.
• Justin Bieber is working on a new album.
• My intervention class went really, really well today. Not a single behavior problem.
• It's not snowing and it's not freezing cold.
• Tomorrow is Friday.
• Most my bills for the next month are paid for.
• I have a very handsome fiance that I get to see tonight. Even if it's just for an hour. 
• It only took 10 minutes to type my reflection paper for tonight's class.
• I took a break from the teacher's lounge today, ate lunch in my room, and watched big bang theory. It was awesome.

Happy Thursday!

Smooth

Really, what more does a woman need than an Enrique-Iglesias-quoting fiance?

The Adventure That Never Was

Guys, all Nathan and I do is eat. Hope my wedding dress still fits in 2 months. Pray for a miracle. Because I think it is more likely that my body magically shrinks than it is that I give up eating like a cow.

This weekend I introduced Nathan to two of my favorite fine dining establishments that I discovered while he was gone. First and most importantly.. KNEADERS.

I love this place so much. Whether for breakfast or lunch or dinner or just when you need a cream cheese brownie at 8am. It's always good.

Next.. Sweet Tomatoes. I love this place because I get to eat as much as I want AND it has the most delicious chocolate muffins in the world. And I am not even lying.

Nathan snapped this beauty as we were digesting our chocolate muffins. I mean our well balanced and healthy dinner. There was about 10 minutes after dinner where we were both sitting on our iPhones like this and we realized a few things. First, we are definitely technology additcted. Second, we looked like a couple who hated each other. Third, iPhones are awesome. Fourth, we are awesome. Fifth, let's get more chocolate muffins.

So I have been frustrated with the weather lately. Which is pretty lame considering how wonderful this winter has been. But even with little snow, it's almost impossible to be outside longer than a few minutes and I love being outside. Nathan and I have always been an "adventure" couple and adventures are near impossible in January.

But this weekend we were excited, because we were going to the Sundance Film Festival! I have been twice but never with Nathan and we were so excited to have an adventure. Well, halfway to Park City we realized we were in the middle of a blizzard. We were trying to stay positive though and we kept going. By the time we got there the roads were terrible and it kept snowing harder. We couldn't even get to main street. We thought about just getting dinner instead. But even that plan was ruined when it kept snowing harder. We ended up turning around about 7 minutes after we got there and headed back. Thanks a lot Snow Gods.

Took a long time to get home. Snowy roads caused a ton of accidents and semi-trucks just stopped right in the middle of lanes. We finally made it back though and consented to our dinner at Sweet Tomatoes and watching the final Harry Potter instead. Not gonna lie, it was a pretty good second plan. Even a spoiled adventure is still an adventure with my sweet fiance. And Daniel Radcliffe. But mostly Nathan.

Things that happened this week

• I only had to work 3 days. Thanks Martin Luther King and teacher grading day!
• I got to play with my old Practicum Carpool buddies. We were loud and obnoxious and loud and reminiscent and LOUD. Also, we ate a lot of breadsticks.

• It snowed. And it was freezing. Then it was warm again. What?
• I had a mini stress break down. A few times.
• I lived for 4 days with no internet. It was miserable.
• Nathan survived his second week of full time school and full time work.
• Nathan and I found the perfect place to live after we get married! I instantly fell in love and they will hold it for us until April. It's right down-town, it's in our price range, it's NOT low-income (no crazies), it was built just a few years ago, it has a washer and a dryer included, it's super cute, it' walking distance for Nathan from work and school, it's right by the freeway, it has a gym, it has a year-round hot tub, it has walk-in closets.. I could go on forever. I can't believe we found the place where we will spend the first while of our marriage!

• I survived the second week of lunch school. For some reason, students who are failing hate to give up their lunches just to make up their work.
• I held a pizza/donut party for my 5th period. Like they need MORE sugar. Goodness gracious. 
• I taught Nathan that most college students don't actually complete the reading assignments. 
• I held an hour and 45 minute IEP meeting. My longest one to date. Shoot me.
• Nathan and I spent an entire evening together (and when I say evening together, I mean an hour because that's as much time as we get to spend together during the week) doing his Business 101 home work. We are reckless and exciting.
  
  
• I slept for 10 and a half hours on my day off. I think my brain might have been a little overworked. 
• I started up with the Big Bang Theory again. I went on hiatus when life got crazy, but now I have returned. I love that show so much.
• Nathan claimed to solve world hunger after leaving his economics class.
• My class went through a box of 24 pencils. Found out my boys borrow them, then throw them away after class because they are too lazy to put them in their backpacks. 
• I walked in on Katie sleeping like this. Exhausted much? Also, that is a bag of frozen peas icing her bum.
  
  

• Nathan finally got to see the last Harry Potter movie.
• B.Stew stopped by for a little bit Friday night. It was her first time seeing Nathan in 2 years!
• I cursed the sun for setting so early on several occasions.
• Nathan gave me a beautiful blessing. The first time he's been able to do that for me since he's been home.
• I cooked a real meal for the first time in months. Nathan is already bringing out my domestic side! Not really though. Cos it only happened once.
• Nathan experienced his first time at Kneader's. A must if you would like to be in my life.

Still

"Yea, for this cause I have said: Stop and stand still until I command thee, and I will provide means whereby thou mayest accomplish the thing which I have commanded thee."

Doctrine and Covenants 5:34

Sometimes life is crazy. Lately, it's crazy double time.
With work and a finace and no time and cold weather and wedding plans and insurance confusion and no money and apartment hunting and crazy students and grumpy parents and lots of meetings and friends to keep up with and sleep to get and exercise to pretend to worry about and phone calls to make and bills to pay and church callings to fulfill and anxiety to overcome, I am feeling swamped.
My mind is constantly moving. I feel the need to always be on the go and always be doing something or solving some problem or worrying about some concern.
I cannot remember the last time I was truly still.
When I read that scripture I felt like my brain was punched.
Yes, my brain.
I realized how much time I spend asking for answers and how little time I spend actually listening for them.
How can Heavenly Father possibly speak to me when my brain is running around like one of my ADHD students on red bull?
He can't. It's that simple.
It's going to take practice, but today begins the "still movement" in my life.
Less noise. More peace.
Wish me luck.

Engagements

We took our engagements this weekend. Please vote for your favorite.

Milk Day

Happy MLK day!

Hahaha it looks like milk day.

Milk day would be awesome. As long as I still had it off work.

It was a truly splendid weekend. The Merkley’s were in town for a wedding so we got to spend the weekend with family! And what’s better than spending the weekend with family? Getting to spend the weekend in their awesome hotel! They got bumped to a sweet two-bedroom room and invited us to stay with them so we wouldn’t have to keep making the tretorous 15-minute drive from Holladay to down town. I got my own queen-size bed for 2 nights and I was one happy lady. Plus, breakfast buffet. I wish I lived in a hotel.

Saturday before the reception, I went wedding dress shopping with Katie and Jessica. Guess what sportsfans? I FOUND THE DRESS!!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh I could not be happier. It’s perfect. The dress is the part I was most worried about because I really had no idea what I wanted. Every time I saw a dress or tried one on, I thought “Well this is pretty.” I’m not picky, so I felt like I was just going to float around from store to store being indecisive. But once the dress was on, I knew. It was the second one I tried on that day and every other dress failed in comparison. The dress is mine, and I am ridiculously stoked. But you can't see it.

Then it was wedding reception time! I had met a lot of Nathan’s extended family 3 years ago at a family reunion but it was fun to be introduced as the fiancée now.

You guys. There were the most amazing brownies at the reception. Like.. holy crap. I felt like I was eating heaven. I might have been.

The weekend ended with a lazy Sunday. Nathan and I did laundry and made PEANUTBUTTER BALL GOODNESS. 

Enjoy milk day Sportsfans! 

Bacon

My head is going to explode I think.
Today at work has been insane.
I always seem to blog at moments like this.
Seconds-away-from-spontaneous-combustion moments.
I always thought "spontaneous combustion" would be a great name for a band.
Or an energy drink.
Well anywho. How about a life update!

Nathan started full time work and full time school on Monday. He's a busty little beaver! (I realize that says busty. I did it on accident but I feel like that's way funnier). We had orginally planned that he was going to do either work or school full time, and do the other pne part time. But he decided to go in full force. He's such a hard worker. So far he really seems to enjoy it and even has a professor who looks like Napolean Dynamite. So, score.

I am still loving work even on the spontaneuos combustion days. My kids were more excited than anyone else about my engagement. They would applaud anytime I walked into the room. They got to meet Nathan a few days ago and I am pretty sure it was like meeting a celebrity. Which makes sense. They probably confused him with a young Kevin Bacon. We all do.



Wedding planning is coming along nicely. It's a billion times easier than everyone else says if you happen to have a planner-mother and a sister who is obsessed with crafting and pinterest. I also happen to have a finacee who is incredibly interested in the process. I bet if I sat back, he would pick out my wedding dress and lose 10 pounds for me.

All in all life is going quite splendidly for me right now. Even on the stressful days like today, I am realizing how much easier life can be when you have someone to take care of you.

My Brain Hurts

It's my prep period and I should be working but like I said before, I just can't get back into the swing of things. So here comes one of those posts where I say whatever the heck I want and you enjoy it thoroughly.

I don't get the obsession with Zombies. In fact it kinda creeps me out. Why do people think they are so cool? It makes me want to hurt someone.

Justin Timberlake needs to go back to singing. Like.. ASAP.

Speaking of JT, I saw "Im Time" this weekend and it was pretty interesting even though JT's acting is still kinda lame. But it made me stressed out. I feel like I have to run everywhere. If you've seen the movie then you understand.

Nathan starts his new job AND school today. Both full time. I am so proud of him! He works so hard. I think I just decided I will take him to Olive Garden tonight. Maybe it's more of a treat for me, but he doesn't need to know that.

I got a stomach bug yesterday and it SUCKED. I am feeling better today but I almost passed out when I stood up this morning because my body was so deprived of food and water. Alas, I am still standing. Which means I had to come to work. Which means I am getting nothing done.

I wish Justin Bieber didn't cut his hair. I also wish his voice never got deep.

I love my engagement ring a lot. Like.. a lot. I may have put it on my counter last night and had a photo shoot with it.

The moon was so big on the way to work today! It felt like I was in Pocahontas and I was finally understanding what she meant by "the blue corn moon!" Expect I wasn't in Pocahontas, and i still don't know what she meant.

Winter temperatures are finally here. I am officially regretting when I said I missed winter. That didn't take very long.

Katie's missionary is home in TWENTY FOUR days!!! She may not think it's close.. but it is definitely close.

I have a bunch of late paperwork to turn in that I am scared to turn in because it's late, thus making it more late.

I am kinda sick of being confused for a student. Maybe I should start wearing a suit to work. Or stilts. Or.. yeah.

It makes me feel really good when I am in my inclusion Language Arts class and one of my reading students raises his hand and says, "Ms Graff already taught us this!" So I am not teaching to a bunch of brick walls? Hallelujah!

Sometimes my students insult Harry Potter. And sometimes it makes me mad.

Last Friday one of my boys got in school suspension. He is one of my big behavior problems and I was kinda excited. Well 10 minutes in 1st period, the ISS lady comes walking in with this particular boy and asks if he can spend his ISS with me because she can't handle him. So he spent EIGHT straight hours with me. It was a long day.

I love that most of my kids don't even realize they are in special ed. They make fun of resource kids and I kinda just wanna say, "What do you guys think you are in?"

And.. well.. yep. I should probably go. I will leave you with a random picture.

I love this picture. It's my two favorite people and me, relaxing and watching stupid youtube videos. Jessica may or may not be unconscious. Can it be Christmas break again?

Grumpy Pancakes

I am still trying to get the hang of this new blog. I blogged for so many years on my old one that I feel almost out of place on this one. Like it can't be trusted with my secrets or something.

Wow. That sounded even dumber than I thought it would. Guess I'll just have to start trusting it.

Getting back into the groove after Christmas has been hard, just like I knew it would be. Throw wedding planing on top of that and I am a regular basket case. Not to mention 2 of my students got suspended this week. Another got in school suspension. Guess where he spent his in school suspension? Done guessing? I'll tell you. With me. Every. Single. Class. 8 hours straight. Soooo.. yeah. It's been a long week.

But I've gotta say it's been so amazing to have Nathan back in Salt Lake. This is the first time we've lived in the same city in over 4 years. I love that anytime I want to see him, I can. I love that we can sit around doing nothing for hours and it's still a blast. I love that he kept his high score on Doodle Sprint a secret so I could feel proud of my pathetic one. I love that he lets me talk for hours about the stupid details of my job. I love that he laughs at my jokes and doesn't mind my burps. I love that he woke up early just so he could be over at my place making pancakes by the time I woke up.

Have you ever seen someone more excited to be making pancakes?

I've been thinking a lot about choices lately, and how we end up where we're at in life. If you had asked me 5 years ago where I'd be today, my answer would be no where even close to being correct. But I am glad that stupid 18-year-old Kaitlin's predictions weren't right. I've made a lot of stupid decisions in my life, but deciding to marry Nathan has definitely been the best one so far. 

That one time we got engaged

So Nathan and I are engaged now. And it's pretty freaking exciting I've gotta say.

I may or may not have "accidentally" heard him talking to my dad one day over the break so I knew it was coming soon. And boy.. was I anxious.

Luckily he didn't make me wait too long, but he did trick me.

We were spending New Years in Arizona with my family. I thought it would be perfect to do it at midnight and I got my hopes up a bit. 

Well, midnight came and went and no ring found its way to my finger. 

I stalled for a little bit but when he said, "Nothing could make this night more perfect" I kinda figured it wasn't happening that night.

I got in my pajamas, took off my makeup, and got all ready for bed.

I walked out into the dark living room to grab my phone and started doing my "New Years dance" and when I turned around he was watching me smiling.

He came up next to me and I turned away for a second. From the corner of my eye I saw him get down on one knee and I began to freak out. I yelled, "Stop it! Stop it! Shut up!" Before he'd even said a word.

He told me how much he loved me and asked me to marry him.

My first words?

"Are you sure?"

He laughed and told me he was sure. So I yelled yes and gave him a big kiss and he gave me the most beautiful ring in the entire world.

After the shock wore off, I hit him and was mad that he let me take off my makeup because now I was going to look gross in the pictures. But I got over it. We went in and told my parents then my sister and even woke Cameron up who was verrryyy excited to have Nathan as an official brother. We called a bunch of people then we took some pictures. No make up and all!

It was the happiest moment of my life to date and I cannot wait to be married to Nathan for time and all eternity. 

April 6th cannot get here fast enough.

Christmas Highlights

I planned to do this awesome post with all the details of my glorious holiday.. but this happened instead.

You're already glad you're reading this blog aren't you?

Happy Holidays Sportsfans.