Ta da!

I'm growing up and not being such a hair wuss. Some bleach and 12 inches later, I feel like a new woman. A new woman who is gonna save butt load on shampoo and conditioner.

California thus far

Lots of eating. Lots of babies. Lots of shopping. Lots of Olympics. Lots of Bridal Shower. Lots of laziness. Lots of Heaven. I love my family.

A bulleted list of crap

+ Today was the longest day of my life. Not really. But kinda. I've never driven all the way to California from Salt Lake by myself. Today I did. And I was so bored and my butt hurt and there was tons of traffic. I'm a baby. But there's a reason Nathan is the one who always drives, not me.
+ I'm excited to throw Jessi her shower tomorrow! It's been so fun to decorate and cook and get ready with Kels.
+ The only plus side to road tripping alone is that I got to listen to anything I want! Nathan always says I can listen to anything, but I feel bad blasting my super gay music. So you can bet today *NSYNC, BBMac, Clay Aiken, Celine Dion, Hannah Montana, the Biebs, and Backstreet Boys were pumping through my speakers. All the goods.
+ I cannot wait to be blond again! Good thing my awesome sister is an awesome cosmetologist. This whole "dark" stint that turned into the color of a dirty penny is not really doing it for me anymore.
+ I love sitting with my sisters and discussing stupid celebrity gossip, focusing mostly on the bachelorette and Kristen Stewart. We are so lame and awesome. Sometimes my throat is sore after our animated and loud conversations.
+ I laaaavvvveee my fat cat!!
+ I love that as soon as dinner is done, my dad asks my mom what we're having for dessert. Every. Night.
+ I really, really miss my husband. I'm a pansy.
+ These faces help ease the pain though:

Hizzah Pioneers!

We spent Pioneer day with some Graff's! Always such a loud adventure :) We swam and ate and talked. It was a great day! Most of the pictures are of my sweet little cousins. (Sorry older Graff's, you just aren't as cute). It's so fun to have such young cousins. It's more like extra nieces and nephews that I get to play with! Nathan had never met any of the little guys before and they instantly fell in love. It was a gorgeous day. Thanks Pioneers for crossing the plains and giving my husband the day off work! Wahoo!!

Here's Nathan helping Benny to swim. We were kinda nervous for Benny to meet Nathan. My aunt thought their might be some jealousy issues because Benny kinda loves me, a lot. He's my special buddy. No problems though, as you can see. He LOVED Nathan :)

But he still loves me more ;)

My Nana and Papa :) We were remembering how 2 Pioneer days ago, the same group of us got together for a BBQ and they had just gotten home from their mission the day before. I can't believe it's been two years! I am so happy they moved to Utah and I get to have them so close. (Side-note, Nathan had been out on his mission 7 months at that point and I thought that was soo long! Ewwww!)

Leaving

This Friday I leave for California. My beautiful baby sister is getting married August 3rd! My big sister and I are throwing her a shower on Saturday, she goes through the temple on Tuesday and then a few days later she will be a married lady!! I am so excited to spend this next week with her and celebrate her special day. She is my closest friend and her fiance is perfect for her and I can't wait to see them happy for all eternity. Friday cannot come soon enough!

..Except that it can. I am a crazy ball of mixed emotions lately.

Nathan can't get much work off. So he will be flying to California the night before the wedding. As in we will be apart for a week. No big deal right? WRONG.

Since Nathan came home from his mission, we haven't been apart for a single day. When we were engaged we had work and school but we always saw each other at night. And now that we are married we spend every morning and night together. After going two years without him, I don't want him out of my sight. My separation anxiety is kicking in bad and I am having flashbacks to poor little Kaitlin circa early 2010 when Nathan had just left for St. Louis. I feel like I did my time. I didn't see him for 730 days. Before that we lived an hour apart for our 2 years of dating and only saw each other on weekends. I shouldn't ever have to be without him again, right?

I know I'm a big baby. Like, a huge one. There are women who have lost their husbands, women who send their husbands off to war, and women whose husbands are constantly traveling for work. I am leaving mine for barely 6 days in our cozy little apartment with a well-stocked fridge while I spend a week with my amazing family. But this first time away is going to be hard. Plus this is my blog, so I can whine and complain all I want!! Nothing could make me miss this week with my sister. I am giddy just thinking about being home with her and counting down to her wedding. But it would be nice to have my husband there too.

These four months of marriage have taught me a lot. But more than anything they have taught me just how truly made for me my husband is. They have taught me how much I love him. They have taught me how awesome it is to marry your best friend, and they have taught me that I don't ever want to be away from him. Not even for a day. I know as time goes on being apart will be easier, but I don't think it will ever be fun. Everything is better when he's there.

Weekend Highlights

It was a beautiful weekend. We got to head up to Idaho for Shawn's birthday and see him receive the Melchizedek Priesthood! It was such a special experience and we are so proud of Shawny boy! We also had a lot of fun. We got to float down the Boise river. Basically I laid in the raft and the boys paddled. We ate a lot of food and saw Spider Man (I love Andrew Garfield) and surprised Shawn with a new guitar and then listened to hours of the brothers jamming together. I also took a lot of naps. Oh and we had homemade cheesecake and homemade ice cream. Thanks for being born Shawn! It was a perfect weekend, and so wonderful to see Shawn so happy :)

Happy Weekending!