tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23054044920434451472024-03-13T20:34:43.579-07:00she writes homekatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.comBlogger336125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-57522986278838971652016-04-12T21:38:00.000-07:002016-04-12T21:38:00.197-07:004 months <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-11803401119185376262015-03-16T15:15:00.000-07:002015-03-16T15:15:06.583-07:00i would say you are my favorite one in town <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Lu at 3 months: </div>
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Smiles at everyone (though I'm convinced she saves the best smiles for me.) </div>
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Is VOCAL. She doesn't really babble- she mostly yells. She's got a loud voice for such a tiny body. When we read to her at night she squawks along with us and it's my faaaavorite! </div>
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We say "she's happy... until she's not" Lu is a generally easy going, happy baby- but when she's hungry/sad/mad/tired/bothered she lets us know. I actually love it because her sad face is about the cutest thing I've ever seen. </div>
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She loves the solly wrap and the hiking pack. We end up using one or the other in the late afternoon while I make dinner. </div>
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She looks so wide-eyed and serious the entire time when we walk or jog in her stroller.</div>
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She is just starting to really belly laugh- it's like that half cry half laugh and it's the best sound in the world. </div>
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She's up once a night to eat (praise heaven!) and sleeping in her crib in her room</div>
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She rolls over! From tummy to back on both sides. </div>
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She loves tummy time, which always surprises me because a few weeks ago it was not so great. </div>
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She is unbelievably happy when she wakes up every morning. It's my absolute favorite time of day with her (plus babies in pajamas makes me want to die of cuteness) I always bring her in bed with me and she squawks and smiles and laughs. </div>
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She eats 4 oz every 3 hours or so </div>
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She is curious and alert </div>
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Whenever she wakes up from a nap she looks around the room- serious and slow with a furrowed brow. We call it "looking over her kingdom" ...making sure everything is as she left it. </div>
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She is just starting (as in the past couple days) to get a little worried when someone other than Mom or Dad pick her up. </div>
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I sing to her all day and she coos back with me. </div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1p9kj-odnU">This</a> is my favorite song to sing to her right now. </div>
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And <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Awesome-Book-Love-Dallas-Clayton/dp/0062116665">this</a> is my favorite book to read. (Order it ASAP) </div>
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James Taylor pandora calms her down every time. </div>
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We call her Lu, Lulu, Little Lu, Goose, Sister, or The Baby (I love that last one because Landon refers to me as "The Mom") </div>
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It's unbelievable how much this little girl has changed our lives. She is the most amazing person. I can't believe she is here, and I can't believe she is ours. We love you so much, Lu girl. </div>
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katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-87898970248845473812015-02-23T20:16:00.002-08:002015-02-23T20:16:19.375-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLb0v0kL7BKciddQyQUy7QiAFhVGLx4Fq_dI2WeBI6U2EiOMbUiYQ0u0f30pDrco3c9dsmr96uSrWjmQtGxbtXFlkskTm8fqvlG9v0fud2oUqlOM3DSPyFr4LQ8uw8k-yiV5jRQjjaWRU0/s1600/IMG_8153.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLb0v0kL7BKciddQyQUy7QiAFhVGLx4Fq_dI2WeBI6U2EiOMbUiYQ0u0f30pDrco3c9dsmr96uSrWjmQtGxbtXFlkskTm8fqvlG9v0fud2oUqlOM3DSPyFr4LQ8uw8k-yiV5jRQjjaWRU0/s1600/IMG_8153.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-44347164831558430302015-02-23T20:02:00.001-08:002015-09-22T23:10:42.363-07:00before i met you <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9qW4KtKJUbJHhPu9UuON5jxmwtrVn9yyteXZ3AuH79vq3gE8_VVIaC5qQuWnYH86ijPqfBzV6MaK2VQVL8g8IJwO6ZK7KVCeaePRMZHmdbp6gKcnm0dG9M48hncMXF8rQMA2yasDRtJgw/s1600/IMG_8131.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9qW4KtKJUbJHhPu9UuON5jxmwtrVn9yyteXZ3AuH79vq3gE8_VVIaC5qQuWnYH86ijPqfBzV6MaK2VQVL8g8IJwO6ZK7KVCeaePRMZHmdbp6gKcnm0dG9M48hncMXF8rQMA2yasDRtJgw/s1600/IMG_8131.jpg" /></a></div>
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Before I met you, I had dreams about holding a baby girl, heavy in my arms. Tonight I held you tight against my chest and sang you to sleep. Before I met you, I worried and wondered if I would feel the things I was supposed to when I saw you. The day I saw your face my heart broke into a thousand pieces for every day we'd spent apart. Before I met you, I prayed I was enough, I hoped I was right. The moment I saw you, I knew you were my daughter and I was your mother.<br />
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Oh my baby girl, how I love you.<br />
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You are every good thing.<br />
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love, mom<br />
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<br />katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-74849918130930023732015-02-10T11:26:00.000-08:002015-02-10T11:26:18.228-08:00The Horseshoe House part 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivXak0IvBxngkZMQ0AgJO1Xpo1ZM_wDmDBr3cm2i3TxhpdXSO9eMtvk-8BMLw2WkLEHr9rbuaAsWUhxO_FVt-S7OCu4phiU4rQ6hGeLNaOsLBwqgN86WAeIFS3rUd7cRgEXC-1aukUrBOy/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivXak0IvBxngkZMQ0AgJO1Xpo1ZM_wDmDBr3cm2i3TxhpdXSO9eMtvk-8BMLw2WkLEHr9rbuaAsWUhxO_FVt-S7OCu4phiU4rQ6hGeLNaOsLBwqgN86WAeIFS3rUd7cRgEXC-1aukUrBOy/s1600/5.jpg" /></a></div>
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The front room!</div>
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BEFORE:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDKgKOn_CfHZ5lvS7RGRMMTAGfavXVXJlLT0iLaZhFn26hB3c-hF1qJLuQ8N8ppOPnvGl-fJ_U5eqp3uoGgxAVBvMfMVgyLY1KhPvjwDzpsli0vbzx_qtz3JrNOgpHOwauLr79KsfUz_MJ/s1600/IMG_5445.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDKgKOn_CfHZ5lvS7RGRMMTAGfavXVXJlLT0iLaZhFn26hB3c-hF1qJLuQ8N8ppOPnvGl-fJ_U5eqp3uoGgxAVBvMfMVgyLY1KhPvjwDzpsli0vbzx_qtz3JrNOgpHOwauLr79KsfUz_MJ/s1600/IMG_5445.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2MYak0HWpSFXESkGIfr9RhW-LHsINDi4SrAwE-NTUaMlWQIz5RnNSWM8coh9m8Hzfk3et1BQMihz1j3YWLN4kTomNb2-IjuuDumx-rliafwJVmX8yLSZDo90TRCKFXEUoV9R2incRItCV/s1600/picture-uh=3772ef34115af7649be5e732e2f2651-ps=7723e174aab057a684fedbaaebe1794.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2MYak0HWpSFXESkGIfr9RhW-LHsINDi4SrAwE-NTUaMlWQIz5RnNSWM8coh9m8Hzfk3et1BQMihz1j3YWLN4kTomNb2-IjuuDumx-rliafwJVmX8yLSZDo90TRCKFXEUoV9R2incRItCV/s1600/picture-uh=3772ef34115af7649be5e732e2f2651-ps=7723e174aab057a684fedbaaebe1794.jpg" /></a></div>
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I wish I'd taken better before photos, because in these photos you can't see the POPCORN CEILING. You also cant smell the cigarette smoke that was seeped into that popcorn ceiling. When we walked through the house it only smelled faintly of smoke but when we started scraping the ceilings....woah mama it was so bad. You also don't get the full effect of how stunning the gold walls were... ;)</div>
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AFTER:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVB2m7dYBTVnoplVyKdcaaYnnAdHp6tIs-gJeeZHjreTqxDhKyleGQwOXwa-RdQ4KRoehLhVUlIJr2dn31_1O4JsVNfojeQrvfVnp8ksSJMN2olXYCChCyhB7o7HxES2mx1ccJzcQ4x49-/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVB2m7dYBTVnoplVyKdcaaYnnAdHp6tIs-gJeeZHjreTqxDhKyleGQwOXwa-RdQ4KRoehLhVUlIJr2dn31_1O4JsVNfojeQrvfVnp8ksSJMN2olXYCChCyhB7o7HxES2mx1ccJzcQ4x49-/s1600/1.jpg" /></a></div>
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-We scraped (and scraped) the popcorn, retextured, sanded, primed and painted the ceiling. This project took longer than any other project. We laid out a big tarp, sprayed the ceiling with water a few times (with a weed sprayer, genius!) and scraped a section at a time. The popcorn came off easily and besides the smell, this part wasn't terrible. We textured all the imperfections by hand, again this wasn't bad. Then we sanded, it took days and made a giant mess. Priming and painting we tricky simply because you had to stand on a ladder and movie it every couple feet. </div>
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-We painted the walls bright white, again- Ben Moore "chantilly lace". We painted the ceiling the same shade in a different sheen. </div>
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-The ceiling fans were new, so it seemed silly to replace them right now. You can't really tell from the before photos but they were a niiiiice shade of red cherry wood. We spray painted them black and it made a huge difference. </div>
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-We installed the bookshelves! I designed the corner shelves and Landon installed them. (I use design loosely, I basically measured the spacing from the window and between the shelves and sketched it out) We just used wood and brackets from Home Depot. Landon cut down the wood and I stained them. </div>
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-We painted the coat closet door (and all the interior doors) Ben Moore "brushed aluminum" and I love the contrast against the white walls. The perfect gray in my book. </div>
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-You can see a part of it in the piano shot, but we widened and squared off that entry way. I'll explain that with the kitchen post. </div>
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The next project for this room is definitely the flooring. The bank replaced the carpet before we moved in and it's the cheapest carpet laid very poorly. It's coming up in a few places and had seams everywhere that if you pull keep pulling up the whole line of carpet, like a sweater. It shows everything and there are already stains just from foot traffic. Sooooo, I'm anxious to get new flooring hopefully sometime this year. We're going to do wood floor for sure in the front room and hallway and hopefully in the bedrooms too if we can find a wood thats affordable enough. We're hoping to find a color similar to our bookshelves. With new flooring comes new trim! We'll do something really simple. Then we'll do a big over sized rug in this space. Right now I'm leaning towards something like <a href="http://www.rugsusa.com/rugsusa/rugs/oriental-weavers-550/blue/132550H2-110076.html">this</a>, possibly even more navy. </div>
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Eventually, I'd love to get another couch. My teal couch is the stuff my dreams are made of but it's not the comfiest to lounge on. Especially since we spend the majority of the time in this room. I think we'll do a sectional, I found one I love thats reasonably priced and I can customize the fabric. <a href="http://gusmodern.com/collections/sectionals/products/adelaide-bi-sectional">This</a> is the shape of the couch and actually pretty similar to the couch I want, just with some tufting and probably a darker fabric. I'm not the biggest fan of sectionals but if they fit a space well I'm all about the function of lots of comfortable seating. Then I'll put one of the orange chairs "conversationally" placed to break up the room. </div>
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Overall I love the flow of this room. I can't waaaaait to get the flooring down! </div>
katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-70126148569807755152015-02-09T18:29:00.002-08:002015-02-09T18:29:55.405-08:00The Horseshoe House part 1 We bought a house! In September. We'd been looking for nearly a year and had our hearts broken with some other houses. In July sometime we drove past this house for the first time, we'd recently discovered these older neighborhoods near downtown Gilbert and <i>loved</i> them. We wanted an older house in a good area and once we found these few blocks of homes we knew we wanted to be in the neighborhood. (There were a few other neighborhoods in Mesa that we loved and looked in regularly.) In August we stumbled upon the house again and looked through the windows (and maybe climbed the fence to look in the backyard) and Landon said to me "is this our house?!" ...it sort of felt like home from that moment on. We got the keys and as we walked up to it for the first time I said to Landon "can you believe we own this piece of crap?!" ...<br />
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We took about 20 days of non-stop work to get it move-in ready and have been tackling projects since moving in mid-October. Remodeling a house 100% on your own is not easy. Remodeling a house 100% on your own when you're married to Landon is a little easier. Even still, I have vivid memories of blistered hands and crying at 3:00 in the morning wondering how the the heck we'd get this place livable... but we did it! (Side note to that: we got "put on hold" by Lu's birth-mom 2 days before we closed on the house. So getting the house ready for a BABY to come home to felt more stressful.)<br />
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We have a long list of projects still to do but we love, love, really love our little home.<br />
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I want to document room-by-room, where we started-where we're at-and what we have left to do. So without further ado- the front exterior!</div>
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BEFORE: </div>
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AFTER(s):</div>
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-We painted the exterior, you can't really tell in the first photo because of the sun, but the house was an odd shade of aqua with possibly the worlds most horrible paint job. There was different shades all over and paint splattered everywhere. We painted Lowe's "ocean storm" after trying 5-6 other samples. We wanted a dark gray (well, I wanted a soft black but that seemed a little impractical in Arizona) but didn't want a brown, purple, or green undertone. I was fine with a blue-gray and at times our house can almost look navy, but I'm so, so happy with the color. (My brother and mom actually came in to town for 3 days and helped non-stop with our house. It was one of the kindest things anyone as ever done for me. My brother sprayed our whole house in a day!)</div>
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-We took off the security door and painted the front door. The color was a source of much debate for us. And we ended with a compromise of sorts. Landon wanted more limey-green, I wanted more teal-green and we ended with a pretty bright shade of chartruese- Behr's "rolling hills". It's still not exactly what I would have picked, but I do like the cheery welcome. And we've actually had people knock on our door just to say they like the color! </div>
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-We repainted the garage door and trim a cool bright white- Ben Moore "chantilly lace".</div>
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-We tilled the front yard and planted seed. Landon was so anxious to get seed down that we ignored a rainy forecast for later that day. Low and behold- literal minutes after the seed was down there was a 10 minute torrential downpour and all of the seed washed into the road. I laughed, Landon nearly cried. But we planted a few days later and looooooooook how pretty it is now! I could sit out there all day. Grassy Arizona winters make up for 100 degree falls, amiright? </div>
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-Landon is a bad-a and built the most amazing RV gate. Designed, welded, built, stained... everything. I love how it compliments our house. </div>
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-To further prove his bad-a-ness, Landon completely made our mailbox! I feel like it's such a good extension of our home. And I love that Landon made the cute thing. He's handy to have around, that guy. </div>
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-We added blinds to the front windows. </div>
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-We added new numbers to the house. </div>
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There are only a couple things left to do to the front of the house. We are going to paint and seal the front porch. Just a light gray porch paint. We tried to pressure wash the previous stains to no avail. We also need to trim back the mulberry tree, but other than that, we pretty happy with the front exterior!<br />
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And for good measure.... the man of the house:</div>
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and the baby of the house: (concerned about her hair loss and where her next meal is coming from, no doubt.) </div>
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katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-55541967700399739532015-01-22T18:59:00.001-08:002015-01-23T04:22:04.328-08:00<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="309" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/116880018" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="550"></iframe> <br />
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so, how dead after watching this video?katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-46818261236449759302015-01-22T18:39:00.000-08:002015-09-22T23:11:54.872-07:00*and spirit says to spirit, welcome home.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Nearly 6 weeks ago Landon and I sat in the waiting room of a hospital and heard a baby cry from the surgery room around the corner. We looked at each other immediately, giant grins on our faces and said "that was her!" A minute later a nurse was wheeling her from the surgery room to the nursery and slowed down and whispered "here is your baby..." It was the most incredible moment of my life. There was our baby. This tiny perfect thing with wrinkly hands and pink lips. "Hi baby, hi baby, hi baby" was all I could say through my tears. She was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.<br />
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Those next few hours and days in the hospital were some of the most sacred of my life. The most miraculous, beautiful, heartbreaking, wonderful, sorrowful days. The story of Lula is not only my story, it's her birthmother's story too. It's a story we share and only we two mothers can fully understand. It's a miraculous thing to be given the gift of your child, literally given by another mother who loves her so fiercely. It's the closest to Christ I've ever been. It is the atonement personified. I will be forever and eternally grateful to S for choosing us.<br />
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My sister asked me "What has surprised you most about motherhood?" My answer is I had no idea I could love a child so much. She is my heart and my soul. She has the entire world in her smiling face. She is my grace and my hope. She is an old soul and a young heart. She is God's love. She is every good thing.<br />
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Oh Lula girl, your Mom and Dad love you so. Thank you for finding us.<br />
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(*A line from a poem my Grandma Karen wrote years ago. A line I've always remembered)katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-55326546228594578562015-01-19T14:08:00.002-08:002015-01-19T14:08:45.875-08:00if you climb a mountain and you turn around <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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(^the cute neighborhood around our rental home)<br />
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1:<br />
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- Joe, Chelsea, James, Caitlin, Landon, and I (and bonus baby Ellie) piled into my brothers car and drove to St. George to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Denhalter.<br />
- We took the first big adoption step and did a home study and started all our paperwork<br />
- Our second puppy, Penny passed away and it was pretty heartbreaking<br />
- We went to our 7th supercross together<br />
-I got promoted and transferred to the Kierland Commons Anthropologie<br />
- Laura and I went to Peter and the Star Catcher, forever my favorite (Laura and Peter)<br />
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(^Gilbert Temple open house) </div>
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-We played a giant kickball game with the Ray-Siens</div>
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- A last minute camping trip with the Joe Denhalter's and my parents</div>
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- We finished all our adoption certification paperwork</div>
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- A mini staycation with the Denhalter girls</div>
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- We toured the Gilbert Temple open house </div>
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(^Landon being... Landon)</div>
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-I left Anthro and started working full time for Little Green Notebook </div>
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-We spent a weekend hiking in Sedona with James and Caitlin </div>
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-Drove to Flagstaff for Ezra's baby blessing </div>
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-I did a solo Snowflake trip to hang with my Momma (and cousins lunch, duh) </div>
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(^Easter Egg hunt at Great-Grandma Lines) </div>
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4:</div>
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-Jess and Darrel moved from Flagstaff to Mesa, into our ward! </div>
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-My parents bought a 1970's trailer near Roosevelt lake and we spent a couple weekends down there fixing it up </div>
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- The Romney's came into town for Easter </div>
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-Laura and I saw Once at Gammage </div>
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(^My Grandparents house in Parowan Utah) </div>
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5:</div>
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- My cousin lost her baby boy in a tragic accident. She spoke so beautifully at his funeral and I'll never forget her words. I learned a lot about Christ that day</div>
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-Laura and I went to St. George to see the Grandparents and check out Dixie College. We did a driving tour trough Parowon and cried most of the time</div>
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- Yet another lake trip or two</div>
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- Lots of afternoons spent at the LeSueur's playing ninja with Eli</div>
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(^the family in the hospital waiting room) </div>
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6: </div>
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- We celebrated our 7th anniversary! Hiking by day and St. Francis by night</div>
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- Lacey had her baby, Raelyn! We were all instantly in love</div>
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- June was our busiest month at work by far. We spent lots of weekends and late nights prepping Jenny's house for the Domino Magazine shoot. </div>
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(^my outfit for day one of the Domino shoot) </div>
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7:</div>
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-3 whirlwind days of the Domino shoot. It was such a freaking cool thing to be a part of!</div>
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-10 day road trip to Idaho with James and Caitlin, we covered all our old stomping grounds and hiked, camped, ate, and rafted the days away</div>
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- I joined the Lines for a few days in California</div>
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-More weekend trips to the lake, proving how old we are by our continued level of soreness from wakeboarding</div>
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-We finally got our certification paperwork and we were FINALLY approved to adopt</div>
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(^rooster and aunt kate boat selfie) </div>
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-We put our profile up with LDSFS and got an email from S the next day</div>
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-I went to New York for a week with Jenny, as if I need to say it... but I have the best job in the world</div>
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-Landon turned 29! </div>
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-We went to Mexico for Camden's baptism </div>
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-We put an offer on a house in Gilbert</div>
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(^the night we got some very good news) </div>
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-S picked us as the adoptive parents and officially put us on hold </div>
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- The same week, we closed on our little fixer-upper </div>
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- I heard our baby's heartbeat for the first time </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQhvceK_OfK1Y3vh4M7vmB7my1-en5BiOduml3qQ4AlZ4cZJsLojgzEGziC5NBQhGfThjgz-820ulxHGdE_MEYx677VZv2-8FEpSTcFfmp7v6xAs-VfNQdVWw5V2pwC7r2OW6rOXiDthIk/s1600/oct+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQhvceK_OfK1Y3vh4M7vmB7my1-en5BiOduml3qQ4AlZ4cZJsLojgzEGziC5NBQhGfThjgz-820ulxHGdE_MEYx677VZv2-8FEpSTcFfmp7v6xAs-VfNQdVWw5V2pwC7r2OW6rOXiDthIk/s1600/oct+.jpg" /></a></div>
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(^midway through the kitchen reno) </div>
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10:</div>
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-October was renovation month. We spent hours and hours (and hours) working on the house before we moved in</div>
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-My mom and brothers came in to town and spent 3 days knocking out a huge chunk of our renovation list </div>
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-I turned 26!</div>
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-We went to the Phoenix Temple open house with the whole Denhalter Clan </div>
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(^my mom and sisters and my baby shower) </div>
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11: </div>
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-I went to weekly doctors appointments with S</div>
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-My sisters and Jenny threw me the most beautiful baby shower</div>
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-We spent a very warm Thanksgiving with the Lines family </div>
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-We worked and worked on our house getting it ready for the baby </div>
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12:<br />
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-Our baby Lula Colette was born. The best moment of our lives. (Believe me, this is not all I have to say about it)katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-8967396308120673322014-08-06T00:23:00.001-07:002014-08-06T00:29:10.340-07:00the space between hope and fearA few weeks ago I woke up nervous. A feeling I've had more than a few times, a feeling I have when I'm going to a fertility appointment. This particular day was a follow up - of sorts. We were going to talk about possibilities of why the last round didn't work and what my steps were for further treatment.<br />
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I opened my mailbox before getting in my car and there is was. Our certification letter. The letter that says "Congratulations! You've been certified as acceptable to adopt a child..." We've waited for this letter for weeks (months...years...my whole life?) and I just... laughed. Hysterically laughed and laughed and then, of course, cried.<br />
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As my record would go, I sat across from my Doctor as he told me what treatment to try "and if that doesn't work we'll try this" and on and on, and I felt so <i>unbelievably</i> overwhelmed. A grasp raised in my throat and I fought back tears, different tears than the tears earlier that day.<br />
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I got in the car and called my sister. I told her what my Dr said, I cried, I told her how I was feeling. Then I said "we got our letter this morning." She said "Kate, your voice changes when you talk about adoption." And it does. Completely and wholly changes. I feel calm. And loved. And heard. And patient. And willing. And <i>everything</i> I want to feel.<br />
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And all those feelings combined, every single one of those wonderful, heartbreaking feelings, tells me that this is that path that is right for our family. Man oh man oh man, I cannot wait.<br />
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Find us soon, baby, my arms feel heavy without you.<br />
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<br />katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-28140715952812123982014-04-27T00:15:00.001-07:002014-04-27T00:18:39.843-07:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu5qJJTQDpqGpttylhWw6hTDeMvQ2A4418qxtWNnWbU4JVPdskbgQQtoCPGLkrZv4muNRZvHMg1VoV7Yw4Q6SJYs4Lahyphenhyphen0xSTAuQZC2-As4pbhvgCoNGcbzMbabRa8SvuP71XO_nsLVJTv/s1600/aa.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu5qJJTQDpqGpttylhWw6hTDeMvQ2A4418qxtWNnWbU4JVPdskbgQQtoCPGLkrZv4muNRZvHMg1VoV7Yw4Q6SJYs4Lahyphenhyphen0xSTAuQZC2-As4pbhvgCoNGcbzMbabRa8SvuP71XO_nsLVJTv/s1600/aa.png" height="320" width="240" /></a>Last week marked a year since graduation. That fact sort of blew me away, one full year of post grad life- and a full year in real-grown-up jobs. Landon loves his job, although he told me yesterday that he's allergic to cubicles. He passed it EIT test in October (test 1 of 2 to become a professional engineer, he'll take the second after a few years experience) and was pretty stoked about it. I was managing at Anthropologie and got a promotion that moved me to a different store in January. I'd been working very part time for Jenny (of LGN) since she moved from New York in July and the week I switched stores- she asked me to come on full time. It was sort of crazy timing for both of us, and I stayed on at Anthro until march to ease the transition a bit. Now I'm with Jenny full time as her editorial assistant and I LOVE IT. This is dream job status and every day I leave work wondering how I got so lucky to be working with someone so insanely talented, so genuinely kind, and so dang funny. Not to mention I adore her 3 daughters and I'm greeted daily with a "Kaaaaate!" and a hug from the youngest- who often asks why I can't just live at their house. (Have you seen her home? I'd gladly move in.) We're still figuring out the transition from student to 9-5er but we're lucky that's it's been fairly smooth. (image from a project a few weeks ago)<br />
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katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-30637290062660659412014-03-06T20:17:00.001-08:002014-04-27T00:18:20.097-07:00fear not, little flock<span style="font-family: inherit;">one semester i had decided i would go to the temple every week. one day, sitting in white, waiting for my name to be called, i was reading in doctrine and covenants and read this </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"<i style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">I say unto you, if you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things. Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?</i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;"> <i> Therefore, </i></span><i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">fear not, little flock</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">, do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">upon my rock, they cannot prevail. Look</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">unto me in every thought, doubt</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">not, fear not." </span></i></span><br />
<i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></i>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">in the moment i realized the emotion that had taken over my heart the past 4 years. fear. so much fear. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">i've cried to Him countless times with empty and longing arms, with a broken heart and a beaten spirit. i've cried to Him while losing a pregnancy...then another...then another. but suddenly, sitting there, i wondered </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">how could i feel fear when my Heavenly Father had spoken to my heart so many times. He spoke peace. He spoke promise. i said the quietest and loudest prayer i've ever said, </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"what should i do?"</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 22px;">adopt.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">i'd thought about this before. always in a fleeting, distant moment, thinking it would never really happen. but goodness! i knew it then. it was written on my heart that day and it's never, ever leaving. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">so here comes a whirlwind of finishing school, moving back home, and starting new jobs but we are finally, FINALLY here. our paperwork is in and we are waiting for our certification letter. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">then we wait for our baby. our baby! </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">all of this. every loss, every gain, every day... is leading us to this baby. i feel it. i can almost touch it. i've said this once and i'll say it again- i feel like the luckiest girl in the world. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">find us soon, baby. we love you. </span></span>katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-22719876690072756062014-01-05T14:57:00.000-08:002014-04-27T00:18:07.821-07:00every chorus is your name<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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1/52<br />
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this week we went to st. george to see my denhalter grandparents. the denhalters... we visit. we tell all the same stories and laugh and cry and laugh some more. my uncles tell stories about my dad and we all make my grandma recite the 5-word-opera until our stomachs ache from laughing. <br />
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a favorite story from this weekend: (one i've heard many times) my grandpa was an orphan adopted by an angel mother when he was 6. she was the first person to show him real love and when he finally recognized it he said to her "you didn't borned me, but we knew each other in heaven."katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-51499071209477286872013-10-28T23:52:00.000-07:002014-04-27T00:17:46.411-07:00a lover of the light<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today is my 25th birthday. And I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY! about this year. This year is going to be about things I can change and taking a break from the things I cannot. It's as simple as that.<br />
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I am running a marathon.<br />
I am reading <i>Jesus the Christ</i> cover to cover.<br />
I am playing my piano more.<br />
I am camping with my husband once a month.<br />
I am not cutting my hair.<br />
I am taking guitar lessons.<br />
I am planning a kiiiiiiiiiller summer trip.<br />
I am losing 15 pounds.<br />
I am going to the temple once a week.<br />
I am going to remember birthdays.<br />
I am reading 20 books.<br />
I am telling people I love them when I think it.<br />
I am praying every single morning.<br />
I am volunteering.<br />
I am doing whatever the heck I want.<br />
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I am pretty happy about it.<br />
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Catch ya on the flip side 24, you've been real.katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-47573707118244852622013-10-21T11:38:00.001-07:002014-04-27T00:17:38.904-07:00if you're sick of me whining about babies, this post is not for you. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A photo of me and my husband, since this is my blog after all. I think this photo depicts this moment in our lives. Mostly happy (and really tall.) A little lost in this stage of life. Married for almost 6.5 years, no kids, done with school, working full time, a little house to call our own. I guess lost might be the wrong word, but I just never imagined it'd be the two of us for so long! That is a wonderful and heartbreaking thing, my friends.<br />
<br />katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-2838698785165335492013-09-02T15:07:00.000-07:002014-04-27T00:17:02.196-07:00i've seen this room, i've walked this floor <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We finally got out on an overnight this past weekend and goodness I've missed it. We left after work with Cam and Casi (our token hiking friends. Actually, kind of our token everything friends.) We got there around 9:00 pm and started hiking. It was an easy 2 miles to where we set up camp and the evening was perfect. 75 degrees, an insane amount of stars, the most picturesque campsite. The next day we packed up and headed 4-5 miles up and down (and up and down) to hell's hole, a good size creek flowing through the bottom of the canyon. The scenery of this hike is incredible. The road we drove to get there is called "desert to tall pines" and the hike is essentially that. You start in the pines and end in the desert. So, the water in the canyon is incredible because it feels so rare to see that much water in the desert. There is enough to form a few good size waterfalls, where we stopped for lunch and swimming. The hike out was b r u t a l. The brush was so thick and our legs were covered in scratches and the majority of the hike is switchbacks and we were headed up rather than down at the hottest part of the day. It was rough country, to say the least. Lando turned 28 on Wednesday and the hike out he said "if this is was 28 feels like, I don't want to be 28..." He blames in on age, I blame it on Arizona terrain. The weather was nice to us though, and we got a few storm clouds in the hot afternoon. The absolute best part of this trip was the wild vegetation. There was mint growing all around our campsite and we made mint tea to go with our breakfast. There were meadows of blackberries around the creek. And we stumbled across a wild peach tree. In Arizona! That is pretty incredible for the desert, I think Landon ate 4 of them. There is usually at least one time on a hike where I'm mad at Lando because he prefers to forge his own trail, which usually means I end up getting hurt. But regardless, there is no where I'd rather be than outdoors with Lando.katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-76598590172603781702013-08-24T00:01:00.000-07:002014-04-27T00:16:54.307-07:00head full of doubt, road full of promise <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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stars hide your fire, these here are my desires, and i won't give them up to you this time around<br />
and so, i'll be found, with my stake stuck in this ground, marking the territory of this newly impassioned soul.<br />
you, you've gone to far this time, you have neither reason nor rhyme<br />
for which to take this soul that is so rightfully mine.<br />
(-mumford. because... who else would write that?)<br />
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I like this photo. And this song.katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-37800766151955046252013-08-02T00:53:00.000-07:002014-04-27T00:16:41.101-07:00flower court and surrybrook <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here you might see an ordinary family on an ordinary front porch.<br />
<br />
But here I see,<br />
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Bekah. The loyal and brave oldest sister. The audaciously bright girl, with determination for days.<br />
Joe. The kind and safe older brother. Compassionate and giving, always the one taking things for the team.<br />
Jessica. The soft sister, graceful and calm, who sees the good in every living thing without much effort.<br />
Kate. The pleasant middle child, with a smile on her face ready to find a place for anyone in her heart.<br />
James. The beautiful baby boy, with so much brightness and humor and sensitivity in that little face.<br />
It's missing John Paul- the oldest child and brother who died before any of us were born, a child of light and perfectness with a beaming smile.<br />
And Laura- our Laura love. The perfect end to our family who came a few months later. The youngest sister with perfect curls and the good of the whole world in her eyes.<br />
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Here you might see an ordinary family, but I see something extraordinary, a whole life in front of each one of those little faces, a life waiting to happen.<br />
<br />katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-46278596487933067522013-07-13T18:13:00.004-07:002014-04-27T00:16:31.761-07:00little notes for you. Yesterday I held the tiniest, prettiest baby girl and my heart broke a little bit. I sat in my car and cried. For myself, for Landon, for loss, and for longing.<br />
<br />
I don't really write about this often, though I'm not sure why. Maybe because it's the deepest thing in me, or maybe because I feel so open and exposed. Maybe because it's still sometimes the weirdest to admit that I'm a girl who has fertility problems.<br />
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Baby sad is the different kind of sad. My arms ache with emptiness of days, and months, and years we've waited for our baby. I've often imagined the moment I hold that baby in my arms, and all of these days, and months, and years will suddenly be clear and my heart will beat the way it's supposed to.<br />
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We miss you, baby. Come hang out soon.<br />
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<br />katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-9828326709314823472013-06-26T21:09:00.001-07:002014-04-27T00:16:21.997-07:006.21.13 - i'm on top of the world <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is us. We are alive. The heat hasn't killed us yet.<br />
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James and Caitlin tied the knot last Friday and it was just the most perfect sealing. I could see James' face and the way he was looking at Caitlin was the sweetest, so much love and so much hope. When she said "yes" his eyebrows raised and he tried his hardest to hold back a toothy grin. Their reception was perfect, in my parents backyard, with lights, bunting, and lace everywhere you looked. They are so good for each other, we love Caitlin.<br />
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Happy Wedding Day, Denhalters!katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-8944293538806573612013-05-18T22:57:00.001-07:002014-04-27T00:16:07.433-07:00in all thy getting, get understanding <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We graduated! (If you follow me on any other form of social media, I pretty much threw it in your face...) And it was amazing! It is definitely up there with the top 3 best days of my life. I really didn't expect to love it as much as I did. I felt proud of myself and incredibly proud of Landon. He was giddy all day, I think he finally realized that it was finally OVER. His nearly permanent stress line was wiped off his forehead and we went to bed without thinking about all the homework we had to do the next day. <br />
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I sure love this engineer of mine. We did it, Lando.katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-37766151880106289622013-04-07T18:09:00.000-07:002014-04-27T00:15:45.061-07:00little pockets Our time is almost up in Rexburg, 6 days to be exact, and I know I'm being awfully dramatic about leaving and I've only mentioned it on social media like, 100 times- but I feel such uncompromising emotions about leaving this little town. I'm ecstatic for the next phase of our lives. Careers! A baby(ies)! Our own home! The 30's! (I've always thought age 30 sounded like the perfect age, closely followed by age 70, I'm a young-old soul, okay?) But part of my heart hurts thinking about this place, and leaving it...<br />
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Friends: We have made some of the dearest friends here. Growing up, we had two families who we did vacations with regularly, the Halls and the Harkers. They were my parents friends from college and I remember thinking how fun it would be to have life-long friends that you met in college when you were poorer than poor and newlyweds. Well, we met those kinds of friends. Some already left us last semester (the Warnicks to North Carolina) some are joining us in Arizona next semester (The Jarmans, hooray!) some are staying put in Idaho and we are trying to talk them into moving to AZ with us (The Haynes, did we convince you yet?) and some are leaving this semester too, just to places that aren't Arizona (The Wrights, but California is close-ish). We've found the perfect balance with these couple friends, and not being 2 blocks away from most of them makes me sad and teary. I hope we always stay close. And that they all come live in Arizona. Or visit, at the very least.<br />
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Our neighborhood: We manage girls apartments, but we're nestled smack in the middle of a residential neighborhood. We opted out of a married-student ward and go to a family ward. We teach the 6 turning 7 year old's in primary and have been there long enough to get siblings when classes switch. We love our ward and neighborhood. We walk Burry everyday and see our kids and their parents. We have a little guy now who always says "Brother Lines, you're a teaser-teaser-mac-and-cheeser!" But it sounds more like "Bwotha Lines, yoa teaso-teaso-mac-an-cheeso!" and he says yells it loudly every time we see him on the street. In the summer, we get daily knocks on our door of our kids requesting to play with Burry. We hear them out our window riding their bikes up and down the hill (again and again and again.) We see our professors in our ward, and whoa, is it funny to see them in the Dad or Mom element rather than the teacher element. We love the little pocket we're in, we told our kids on Sunday that next Sunday is our last one with them and one said "...cause' you're dying?" Ha!<br />
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Idaho in general: if you've seen any of the photos here you know how beautiful Idaho is. I'm sad to leave endless farm fields and big blue rivers, hikes every direction minutes away and moose in our backyard. I was hesitant about Idaho but I can say I've fallen in love with it. Granted, we're not staying around and didn't even really look at the option of staying, but for a 3 year home, Idaho was pretty great. I guess our hearts just belong in the desert. But part of it will always be here.<br />
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These are the things that I've been thinking about these past few nights during bouts of insomnia (ensued by the anxiety of being surrounded by moving boxes). <br />
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<br />katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-47150375173813765912013-03-13T17:09:00.003-07:002013-03-13T17:09:42.792-07:00everything you gave and nothing you would take<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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my favorite <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=aePWkeDxRjE#!"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">song</span></a> of all time.katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-39793096737477800732013-02-27T00:42:00.000-08:002013-02-27T00:42:22.614-08:00on applications and jute rugs <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My internet time lately is restricted to a. applying for jobs and b. looking for housing. The former always leads to me leaving myself excessive notes that read "call so-and-so on 11/29" or "send follow up email in the morning" and the latter always leads to finding the perfect apartment/townhome/house and then dreaming of what I'm going to put in it. You see, we are now 95% sure we'll be moving to the valley of the sun come April. Which is kind of ironic, I think. We've always said "we'll go anywhere!" so for things to be working out so perfectly for us to end back up in AZ just seems ironic. Ironic and also so exciting. Family! Friends! THE SUN! We love it there and no matter where we actually end up, we'll always love the desert, so if that's were we go, we'll take it. Anyways. All of our furniture was purchased used and then we've had it for nearly 6 years... that's just a nice way of saying I hate it all and we don't want to move it. I feel like the day I buy a camel leather couch will be the day I say "I've made it." Lofty goals, over here. So dreaming of buying furniture excites me <i>almost</i> as much as finding my future career. Which leads me too this: I cannot wait to be hired. I have, what feels like a million resumes out there and there are a handful that just make me giddy to think about. So many good options. I'm hoping that the dust settles over applications and interviews and emails and offers over the next few weeks and we can start making plans. Real life, grown up plans. Boo-yah.<br />
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p.s. all the beautiful furniture you see is from <a href="http://www.westelm.com/">west elm</a> (where else?)katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305404492043445147.post-42214005548924569072013-02-25T13:27:00.000-08:002013-02-25T13:27:23.255-08:00gold bug<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Lando has been begging me to go snow camping since we moved to the burg and we finally found a compromise. We heard about gold bug hot springs and I decided if I can sit in a hot spring the night and morning before and after snow camping, I would do it. We hiked in 2(ish) miles and set up camp, started a fire to warm up, and trekked another half mile up the mountain to the hot springs. The first photo is the springs, and the second photo it our view. They were *incredible. There were 3 different pools of varying temperatures with crystal clear water. There was a small waterfall you could easily sit under. There was a small smell of sulfur but not overbearing (like any natural other hot spring we've been too.) And that view! </div>
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Believe it or not, the snow camping was not as horrific as I thought it'd be. I mean, it was brutal and I think I slept 2 hours the whole night and I'll never do it again, but it wasn't <i>that </i>bad. </div>
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*So yes, the hot springs were incredible. The people there were not. It's not quite a long enough hike to deter the "bros" and their alcohol. And these springs are "clothing optional"- and wow was clothing optional. Needless to say there were a few awkward encounters and some things I wish I could un-see. The fact that we went on Presidents day weekend didn't help either. I guess it was an experience, and man oh man, it still makes me laugh thinking about it. </div>
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<br />katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17451127727231100847noreply@blogger.com7