Independence Day Weekend with the In-Laws

I'll admit, we don't spend a whole lot of time with Preston's family. His brothers and sister live out of town, and we don't really see them that much. I have a hard time relating to my new family. I don't know why, I just do. I like them, they're all nice, but I'm struggling. This past weekend was spent pretty much entirely with them, so I had a lot of work to do.

As hard as this weekend was for me, there were some pretty great moments:

• Hugs (voluntary ones) from my nephews, Aries and Ash
• Getting my niece, Savannah, to play with me (finally!)
• Trannan wearing bellbottoms (unfortunately, I'm told I shouldn't post pictures of Trannan... still don't know why.)
  
• Being called Aunt Kristyn all around (last time we all got together was for our wedding, and then it was still so awkward, especially for the kids -- now I'm a permanent fixture!)

Blake and Savannah

Aries

Ash

Preston and Savannah

All about me... I'm so narcissistic

A. ATTACHED OR SINGLE? Attached

B. BEST FRIEND? Angie Aldous (... and Preston, naturally, but how obvious is that answer)

C. CAKE OR PIE? I missed Marie Calendars' pie month, so I'm craving pie at the moment, but I'll take whatever you've got.

D. DAY OF CHOICE? Saturdays rock my socks off!

E. ESSENTIAL ITEMS? Moisturizer, Burt's Bees lip balm, mascara, a pen

F. FAVORITE COLORS? pink, lavendar, blue, and green

G. GUMMY BEARS OR WORMS? No thanks.

H. HOMETOWN? Holladay, UT

I. INDULGENCE? On occasion I watch Oprah and Dr. Phil just to make fun. If we're talking about food, it's definitely ice cream (preferably Ben & Jerry's).

J. JANUARY OR JULY? I love snow, so January is good, but July wins (in spite of the hot weather) for my birthday, Preston's birthday, the nation's birthday, and not having to dig the car out of a snow bank. :)

K. KIDS? I keep begging (but not really because I don't know that we're ready) and Preston keeps telling me "3 years", because that's when he'll be done with school.

L. LIFE ISN'T COMPLETE WITHOUT? Gilmore Girls, good movies, good friends, cooking, Preston!!!

M. MARRIAGE DATE? November 17th, 2007

N. NUMBER OF BROTHERS AND SISTERS? 1 brother, but I gained a lot when I got married!

O. ORANGES OR APPLES? Apples are awesome!

P. PHOBIAS OR FEARS? I am scared of the most harmless insects: crickets, dragonflies, house flies, house centipedes... bees and wasps... but they're not all that harmless.
Other than that, I'm not really afraid of much.

Q. QUOTE? Too long for a blog post.

R. REASONS TO SMILE? Sunshine, flowers, family, great music, friends, babies!

S. SUPERMAN OR WONDER WOMAN? Superman

T. TAG 5 PEOPLE - No.

U. UNKNOWN FACT ABOUT ME? I'm so mysterious, it's hard to pick just one... But I bet you didn't know I wore braces for 7 years. Am I right?

V. VEGETABLES? I don't get what this is asking. Do I like veggies? Yes. What are my favorites? peas, potatoes, carrots, asparagus, zucchini, green beans... I could probably go on... oh! peppers! and celery! and... I should stop now.

W. WORST HABIT? I tend to make piles instead of cleaning things up entirely. So there are little piles of things all over the house that need to be taken care of.

X. X-RAY OR ULTRASOUND? Dunno. If the ultrasound is for a baby, then I vote yes, because that's much better than an x-ray for something that's broken.

Y. YOUR FAVORITE FOOD? Creamed Veggies, Cookie Dough ice cream, Broiled Chicken Sandwich from Crown Burger, Strawberries, Peaches, Pork Salad from Cafe Rio

Z. ZODIAC SIGN? Cancer

Baby-kins! Er... Preston

Eek! I've been tagged! So I guess I better get on it... but it's perfect because this blog is about the perfect things in my life, and now I get to write about the one thing in my life that makes everything else worthwhile: Preston.



So here goes...

What is his full name?
Preston Kaj (pronounced like "kite" without the "t" - K - A - I) Erickson

How long have you been married?
Six months

How long did you date?
That's a tough one. We dated in high school for a couple of months. Then we took a LONG break. When we got back together, things happened fast; we were engaged about a month after we got together again.

Who eats more sweets?
Me. Always me.

Who said I love you first?
Preston told me on our second date, but now claims that he doesn't remember it. I think the second time around I said it first. Our history is so complicated...

How old is he?
One week younger than me.

Who is taller?
Preston.

Who is smarter?
Preston blows my mind with his smartness and determination, but the kid has no common sense. That's where I come in. We're a good match. :)

Who can sing better?
Me, without a doubt. Preston tries, but... well...

Who does the laundry?
Me. Always me.

Who pays the bills?
Most of them get paid automatically, but I field the few that still need a check.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
If you're facing it, Preston does. If you're laying on it, I do.

Who mows the lawn?
Preston does. The world isn't ready for me behind the lawn mower...

Who cooks dinner?
Me. I love cooking so much. It helps me unwind.

Who drives?
Well, it's my car, and I drop him off at work/school, but when we go out, I like to just chill while he drives.

Who is more stubborn?
Definitely me.

Who kissed who first?
Preston, but I was dropping hints like there was no tomorrow.

Who asked who out?
Preston took me to prom, but he was coerced by my friend Coral.

Who proposed?
No one. I did get a sparkly ring anyway, though, so it all works out.

Who has more siblings?
Preston has 3 and I just have Cam.

Who wears the pants?
Probably me... but lucky me, I also get to wear the skirts and heels!

So... in keeping with the essence of this blog, I am abounding in perfect moments today:

Preston contiually impresses me. Not only is he super-genius-smart, but he's great with kids. I love to watch him with our friends' baby and dream of the day when he'll be a Daddy.

I only spent $45 on groceries yesterday, which is under-budget! I have been going over-budget so much lately, that I forgot that it's not really normal for us to spend $70 a week to feed the two of us... Yay for me!

We get together with our married friends for FHE ever other week, and yesterday I had the lesson. I decided to give it on Gratitude (perhaps a guilty nod to the fact the I still haven't written thank yous from my wedding... oops!). I love it when you have those Aha! moments, and I had one last night while giving the lesson. It occured to me how all-encompassing gratitude is. It encourages humility, charity, faith, kindness... it is so Christ-like! And what I love most about it is that it's EASY! I can be grateful. It's not hard to truly be glad for the things in my life that are from the Lord. How blessed we are to be guided by true prophets and true principles in these hard times in which we live! I am truly grateful.

I LOVE iPHOTO!!! It's amazing! We went a little cheaper on my wedding photos by getting an all digital package that I have a copyright release for, so I can do anything I want with them. So I've been fiddling with them on our new Mac, and I'm addicted! I can fix virtually anything! I've even figured out how to make my veil look normal (and if you read my post about what I would change about my wedding, then you know how I feel about my veil...) and I've made the funny scars on my forehead disappear! I'm moving on the the rest of our photos next! It's like I'm re-writing history. No... I don't remember that huge zit I had at that one party. See.. it's not in the picture. :)

Okay... that's all for now.