THANKSGIVING (PaRt 2)

Amberlee e-mailed me the pictures with the help of Ryan and Mom so I have a few new ones to add, which show a little more of our thanksgiving break adventures.

This picture is from the first day, while we met in the hotel to decide on dinner we had fun taking some snapshots.

The next day we had fun with the family and visited Wheeler Farm and played games in the park. Amberlee and I played frisbee with Joe (I rocked that frisbee) and Tara (our cousin) joined in on the fun, Ryan and Daniel played football with Shea and were sad to have to leave. Afterwards we had Thanksgiving dinner at Marie Callendars, and then did a family gathering with a guess who game and treats!

Friday was a big day, we went bowling all together and then met for a tour at the Church History and Art Museum, and then ate dinner and saw the temple lights. They were beautiful, we all wished we could have stayed longer but the cold drove us away. There are a few pictures below of our Temple adventure...

Saturday brunch was the concluding event of the reunion. But the Martins (and Stangers) stayed together to enjoy the time we had. We saw the movie "Blind Side" (so good!) and drove to This is the Place for a Candlelight Christmas Tour. It was so fun and very cold. Joe loved the train the treked us all over the place, we saw a puppet show, Santa, a live Nativity, Brigham Young's Farmhouse, a reenactment of the first pioneers christmas, and more.

Sunday was a day of R-E-L-A-X-A-T-I-O-N we played lots of gamed and just hung out before our tearful goodbyes (okay so it was mostly my tearful goodbye, along with Mom).

We had such a great time and can't wait to do it again in the future. We are so grateful for all the time and money that went into the reunion planning it was so special. I am so sad it is all over. But now I am back to work and thinking only 2 more weeks left and then GRADUATION baby and Christmas in Maryland (Merry-Land)!

THANKSGIVING (PaRt 1)

Thanksgiving this year was a little different. I haven't had a Thanksgiving with my family since '05 and this year it was with my family and yet it wasn't at home. It was bittersweet you could say, we had a family reunion in Utah. I loved being able to spend time with everyone and all the activities were really fun, but at times I just wanted that Thanksgiving from my memories back. Maybe next year.

I didn't have my camera with me the whole time, so most of the good pictures are on my sisters camera, so I will have to post them later. The pictures I do have are all from the last day. It was so hard to leave.


We enjoyed being silly, resting, laughing, playing games, seeing sights, and overall just seeing eachothers faces :)

The hardest part is saying goodbye.

The best part is that Shea and I are going to Maryland for CHRISTMAS! So only 3 more weeks and we get to see them all again. I am counting down the days ...

November Makes Me Smile

Okay so school is really hard this semester, Shea and I are doing our best, but something keeps making us anxious for this semester to be done. I can't wait for graduation, and yet it seems like it gets miles and miles away at every step. But now that November is here Shea and I have reason to smile.

BECAUSE we are half way done, more than half way now. Which is exciting. I can't wait for that freedom of winter semester. Winter semester will be our first semester that we are both not going to school, Shea is off track, and I will be done!!! We are planning our winter lives already, everday we say I can't wait to do this or this or this.

Another reason we are anxious for the fall semester to end is because we get to move, move move! We are stoked! WE think about it all the time. I want to make our next apartment really nice, since it is where we plan to stay for the rest of our time in Rexburg. I want it to be a home, our home. I want to do some decoration, which since I will be done school I will actually have time to do. My primary reason for getting a new job in Winter is so that I can use the money for our apartment, haha I know what your thinking, "Kay-Marie you should put into savings or something". But I am thinking of it as an investment, an investment to our happiness. I will be happier in a place that I can enjoy and feel good and confident about.

And why else does November make me smile??? Well for Thanksgiving this year I get to see my family, because we are having a family reunion in Utah. So we are all staying down there. I am so excited for the week break from school and the time to be with family. Fun, fun, fun!

Okay so I am a person who loves pictures, and everytime I see a blog post without a picture I am dissapointed. So there is no picture to match this post, so this is a random picture ... can you say close up :)

A Blast From The Past

Well this October Shea and I promised each other that we would go to the Haunted Mill. Why you ask? Well two years ago we went on a double date to the Haunted Mill, this was our very first actual date. It was very scary.

So we tried to go several times in October and it never seemed to work out, one day it rained, one day the line was too long, one day it was too windy and cold to wait in a line if there was one, one day I had too much homework, etc. Anyway October 29th we finally made it!

This year it was even worse then I remember it being, they had updated a bunch of stuff I was so scared. We had to crawl through small small spaces, we had to go up stairs and down stairs where they grabbed your legs in between the stairs, we had to go through a few different buildings, we had to squeeze through tight spaces, anyway it was freaky. I kept telling Shea I think this is the end, please be the end. People kept jumping out at me and stuff, I guess I am the perfect candidate. I can just imagine these people waiting and as I approach they think, "Oh perfect I am going to get her good..." and then 5 seconds later I am screaming and shouting at the people. It was probably pretty humerous if you were there watching me, everytime I got scared and screamed I would shout back "This is horrible", "This is so mean", "I hate this place", "Please get away please...", "That is not very nice!" Yeah I don't do well in dark places not to mention that I am a very jumpy person to begin with. Half the time I jump when Shea enters a room I'm in, haha I know it is sad. Looking back it was a lot of fun, but I am glad its over. Afterwards we had hot chocolate and scones, it was funny because two years ago there had been some women who had joked with us and they were still there and remembered us, they said that we should come back every year as tradition and we promised we would.
Below is a picture of us in front of the haunted house, but it is too dark to see anything behind us.


The picture below is from two years ago, October 2007. Wow it is funny to look back.

One Year Later

Can you believe it, Shea and I have known eachother for a little more than two whole years. On Thursday, October 22nd, we celebrated our very first anniversary together. It is crazy to think it has been a whole year since we were married. It has been so wonderful being together and knowing we get to spend eternity with eachother. The time sure has gone by fast and at the same time I couldn't imagine what it was like without him before we met.



Shea surprised me in the morning with a dozen red roses. Fortunately, Shea got off work early and we decided to keep it simple and go to Idaho Falls for dinner at Olive Garden. We had a lot of fun, afterwards we rented a few movies and popped open a bottle of sparkling cider!

(Eating at Olive Garden)

(Celebrating with some sparkling cider... oh baby we are wild)

A few of our favorite things about being married to one another are . . .

Shea:

1. Her loyalty. I know that Kay-Marie always has my back and I am never afraid that she will contradict me in public, making me look stupid...although she might tell me later. She is so supportive and strong, I love it.

2. Kay-Marie is so gentle. She takes the time to rub my back and her every touch makes me so happy that I get to spend forever with her.

3. The fact that Kay-Marie is ticklish everywhere. I will be scratching her back and she will squirm around with a smirk on her face trying not to laugh. It cracks me up.

4. Kay-Marie is patient. I can be a dummy sometimes but she is always there for me. She is an example to me. She picks up after me and make me happy all the time.

5. She is beautiful. Whether it is early in the morning, late at night, or right before a date she looks beautiful. I am so lucky. She gets dressed up for me all the time, I love that.

Kay-Marie:

1. Waking up next to Shea in the morning. He loves to cuddle when he sleeps so in the morning I usually have to push away to get air, but I love it all the same. When I wake up in the morning sometimes I will move around a little and Shea will start to wake up and on his verge of awakeness and sleeplessness he rubs my feet, at first when we got married it made me laugh now I love it.

2. Reading together. Both Shea and I love to read, and reading to eachother is one of my favorite things that we do. We both take turns reading a chapter or two, basically when we get tired or one of us wants to take over we swap. It is fun seeing how enthusiastic we are when we read, we love doing different voices and just having fun getting really into the book. We read Lost Boys by Orson Scott Card in August and greatly enjoyed spending time together reading and laughing and talking about the book. I hope to start another book soon, probably after school is out, it is a great way to relax.

3. Going on our dates. I love that Shea will try to take me out atleast once every week. Sometimes its for a walk in the park or a hike, or dinner for two. But it is so nice because he always remembers, even when I forget, that we need time for just us. It is so nice to get away from school/work/all the worries of life.

4. Shea is so supportive of my education and anything that I want to do. That is so important to me. This semester has been rough, but Shea has been a great reminder of how important it is to get done and how close I am. I have even been talking about going on to get a Masters in Education so that I can later teach all this stuff I have been learning. Shea loves the idea of me continuing my education and it is great to know that he will always be at my side.

5. I am no perfect wife, that is for sure. I feel like a mess of one most of the time. I am so busy that I barely ever make dinner and if I do it is never anything elaborate. I am slacking off on cleaning, sometimes I get a rush and there is not a speck of dust anywhere in the apartment to be found, but most times Shea has to help me do the dishes and clean up. Shea never complains about having to cook or clean if I ask him too (although the dishes are harder to get him to do). I really appreciate the fact that Shea compliments me on being the best wife in the world, which is one of his favorite things to say, when most of the time I feel like I could be so much better and hope to once I am finished with school.

(Here is one more picture from our wedding day, one year ago...)

Time To Move

So Shea and I have been thinking it is time to move for a while now. Living on the third floor is a dangerous idea for me, since I tend to take quite a tumble every now and then. Well after searching for a place for a while now we decided to check into the apartments at The Village. We were pleasently surprised. After checking out several other apartments we decided to take the plunge. We applied and were accepted but the two bedroom apartment we wanted was unavailable. We were so depressed. We had thought that everything was going so well.

Later in the week they called us to tell us that someone had dropped their contract and it is ours now! It is going to be so fun, we got the model apartment so all the appliances are new, and I am loving the fact that we are going to have our own washer and dryer and dishwasher and air conditioning. It will be so nice. We signed the contract to move in January, so we have to suck it up for a while here at our current apartment while we get everything ready for the new one.

Exploring Mesa Falls

Well school has been crazy. Shea and I are busy all the time, I barely ever see Shea because he leaves for work most mornings at 7 and works on homework in the library until 11:30 most nights. He is working hard to get straight A's this semester, I am so proud of him. I am not as diligent but just as busy. This last semester has been a bit more demanding then I imagined it would be. Shea and I only have one laptop which can be pretty difficult at times, but we have managed so far. This week is midterms, it is crazy that we are already half way through the semester. I love that I am almost done!

This weekend we were both yearning for a break, so I suggested Mesa Falls. We keep hearing about it but neither of us have ever gone. So on Saturday we made a date of it we went for lunch and then drove to the Falls. It was nice to have a chance to relax and talk.
Shea read all the signs as we walked along the trail to the falls. So it took us a lot longer to get to the falls but Shea found all the information very engaging, I found it a bit boring. Some of the information was interesting though, the rocks behind us in this picture were formed 200,000 years ago from the cooling of a volcanic explosion.

This squirrel in the picture below was a hard fellow to catch, I took this picture and Shea wanted to get one up close so he proceeded to chase the squirrel around as it ran along the trees and skirted around the ground. Finally our squirrel ran right into the thicket of trees and we gave up on a closer picture.

Part of the reason I was so excited to go to Mesa Falls was to see some leaves changing colors, I am do used to the beautiful bright colored autumn leaves that make up Fall in Maryland. But Idaho, particularly Rexburg, doesn't seem to get the whole autumn season, skipping right to winter. So catching some color was exciting!

The Beginning of Fall

With September not only comes the chills and thrills of Fall, but the drills and skills for school start to set in since it is the beginning of a new school year.

After Ryan left on his shuttle at 2am Shea and I made a late night trip to Walmart in IF (Idaho Falls-30mins away), for some school shopping. Shea had the idea to go when no one would be there, so what better time then 3 in the morning! It was actually a lot of fun. No one was awake and it was fun having the streets and place to ourselves. By the time we got back I was so awake from the chilly air -which frosted windshields and lawns- that it took me awhile to go to sleep.

Shea and I got really lucky this year because we didn't have to buy many books. Shea already had all his and I only had one to buy (although I bought a bunch of novels for classes already to read over the summer). All in all that made this year of school a lot less expensive.
Yesterday was the first day of school, fortunately we had our first class together, unfortunately it was Biology at 8am. Not to fun, but since were together it wont be too bad either. Shea started work yesterday too. He is working on campus at the computer help desk, not up front like before but downstairs in the "cave". He is answering phones and helping faculty and students with questions and concerns about technical difficulties.

This is my last semester so I am stoked to get done as soon as possible which is looking like Dec 18th right now. Graduation is coming up fast. I am excited to complete college and earn my Bachelors in English. Shea has a bit longer, with the mission and changing his major he is a bit behind. So hopefully things move along a little faster and smoother.

My brother, Ryan got home safe. It was a long trip and he was exhausted but it all turned out well. Now he is locked away studying for the ACT. Which he takes on Saturday. GOOD LUCK RYAN! And to my other brother I want to say HAPPY 16th BIRTHDAY DANIEL, I wish you the best and I'm so proud of you!

These are some pictures of Shea and I on our way to class...

After school today we got ice cream and played in the park. Talking on the grass and swinging on the swings is one of my favorite things to do. It was a beautiful day!

Whirlwind

It has been crazy here for the last few weeks. My brother, Ryan, came to visit for about two weeks. And we had a ton of fun. I tried to plan something for everyday so you can imagine how hectic it was. Let me just go down the list of our activities; we went to a drive-in movie, we had a little bonfire where we had dinner and smores and starbursts, at our apt. we watched movies and played games and got a sugar rush, we went to The Craze Fun Zone and did laser tag and arcade games and minigolf and pool, and Ryan got to take a BYUI tour - which is nice since he's planning on going to school here after the mission. Ryan says it was like a party everyday, I think that was mostly because we let him eat junk food and play video games whenever he wanted. Either way it was a lot of fun and seeing Ryan was awesome. We miss you dude!

(The beginning of our fire!)

(We won lots of tickets!)

(Playing Pool)

(I wasn't that great at pool, Shea and I were on a team but both times Ryan won - the eight ball and I got a little too friendly)

(LASER TAG ROCKED!)

(Ryan had to leave at 2am to catch the shuttle to the airport in Salt Lake, so it was a late night. And right before Ryan left we got our alien parachuters that we won from the arcade and threw them off the football stadium, I know random but fun!)

(I know I look happy in this picture but our goodbyes were quick and quiet and sad...)

Time For A Change

I have been wanting short hair for a while now, but have hesitated since it would be such a big change. Shea was reluctant for the change, since he said my long hair was his favorite. Yesterday I finally made the plunge. I found a cute haircut that seemed fun and easy to work with and printed a pic so that who ever cut my hair would have an idea of what I was looking for.

(This pic is the one I found online of

the short hairstyle I was thinking...)

I was scared that it wouldn't come out right, or that I would hate how it looked on me. But I loved it. I think it came out really well. Shea even liked it! At church today we took a new picture since we are in charge of the photo directory... and I thought we deserved a new picture :)

(This is the best picture I could take of my hair. But it doesn't really do it justice. As you can tell I was a little picky with which picture I liked, and Shea got tired of taking pictures. )

EnTeRtAiNeR's

Well this past weekend Shea and I made a trip down to Utah. My brother is coming to visit so we picked him up at the airport, and we decided to visit with my Grandpa and Aunt Nola near Salt Lake and go to Lagoon. Since my brother is going to be preparing for a mission soon (he turns 19 in December), I wanted to make his trip to visit us memorable. So we are going to be having a lot of fun, this week as Shea and I become Ryan's personal entertainers!

Saturday at Lagoon: It took us a while to get there since 15N was shut down, but we finally made it. We had fun riding roller coasters, getting wet on water rides, laughing and being silly, and eating lots of sugar! After spending the day at the park we stopped by Chili's for dinner. For dessert we all shared a chocolate lava cake and ice cream... it was yummy!

(All Dry...)

(Then All Wet.)

(We Match!)

(Shea was a little scared of the rides...haha)

Sunday at Grandpa's: Sunday was full of time to visit and share stories. Ryan and I went to church with Grandpa Kotter and Shea visited a missionary companion in Salt Lake. Grandpa told us all about how grateful he was for his many blessings; he shared stories from when he got his mission, when he was on his mission, and when he was deciding on a career. Ryan and I shared stories from our childhood, that included Grandpa's frequent visits. Then we all enjoyed the dinner Grandpa made for everyone.

Shea and I now have a great start on a library, since Grandpa gave us any books that we wanted (three full boxes)! Then Aunt Nola offered an old kitchen table, which is great because it can replace the table we found for free...

(Old Table)

(New Table)

After all the visiting we got the car packed up and ready to go. We were sad to leave but excited to show Ryan the fun of Rexburg.