Class of 2013

My little brother Caleb graduated this past May, and I was super bummed I wouldn't be able to make it to his graduation. When we found out we would be driving to Phoenix and staying for a couple weeks, we decided it was safe to leave a week early so I could make it to Holbrook to see Caleb walk. I was SO excited, but decided to keep it a surprise! We showed up on the day of graduation and completely surprised everyone! It was so fun, I'm so glad I got to be there to support my little brother!

Huge bonus seeing this little girl! Oh man, do I love me some Oakleigh! I hadn't seen her since Christmas, I couldn't believe how big she was! Oh, babies.

She takes her food pretty seriously

This photo of us makes me look significantly shorter than my husband. That's because I am, friends, and I take pride in our height difference. (besides, I come from a short/average height gene pool, had to get some tall-blood in there somehow ;))

My baby sis (honorary) graduated this year too! Go Riah, I freaking love your guts! Thanks to this little lady for helping surprise Caleb, too! 

Handsome brother :) 

Words can't express how much I love this kid. I am so proud of you, Caleb! You're an outstanding young man, keep it up! LOVE YOU!

Road Trippin'

This summer we had the opportunity to head back to the homeland, we knew flying the dogs would be expensive, but so would boarding them, so the decision to drive back to Phoenix was sort of made for us! But we didn't mind! When we drove here from Phoenix the first time we took the southern route through Texas, this time we wanted to see middle portion of the US of A! We loaded up the puppies (drunk puppies, might I add, as Coco's fear of cars is pretty intense.) and headed back west! As you'll see from out photos, we kind of only took photos in St. Louis and Colorado, but hey...the rest of the drive was kind of all the same, I mean...Kansas (not hating! also, not the most interesting part of our drive). And now, photos!

 <<Our first (and pretty much only, to be honest) destination stop was the St. Louis Arch! Man is that monument impressive! I think of all the architectural structures Taylor or I have seen, this might be our favorite!

<<I was also inspired by the the symbolism, I do love the wild west myself, and am so grateful for that expansion stuff! Gateway to my heart, more like!

<< This cross country trip was the first time the puppies slept outside of their kennels since we first got them back in October! We were so proud, they were so well behaved, unless someone walked by our hotel room, or the air conditioning unit blew the blinds a little strongly. They're mission in life is to protect us from all wrong doers, and those with ill intentions; even those without brains to even have intentions! They slept all night cuddled together on either mine or Taylor's side of the bed, so sweet! I think they love each other more than most dogs.

<< Another favorite of both Taylor and myself was beautiful Colorado. Oh, Colorado, you did it for me, let me tell you! Taylor served his mission in Grand Junction, so we stopped there and saw all his shady apartments and got some ice cream at his favorite spot.

<<As much as the dogs DON'T love the car, I'm pretty sure they loved exploring when we let them OUT of the car! We found a gorgeous field and let the pups stretch their legs on our way south. If you can't tell, this is Doctor Jones, I dare you to figure out which part of the fluff is his little head. Don't worry, he got a very handsome haircut once we got to Phoenix.

<< Action shot! 

<< Seriously, take me back. Breathtaking

shenandoah

  A few weekends ago we went on a little trip up to Shenandoah with our friends Cary and Lauren Ning (an explanation of our relation to the Nings). It was sooooooo cold up there, you could see a line of brown about half way up the mountain showing springs progession, it was pretty rad. 
  Spring here is definitely not Arizona spring (duh, kelcie)! I never thoughts I'd miss the orange blossoms that I'm so allergic to. Turns out I'm twice as allergic to EVERYTHING out here, no joke! Like, I layer my allergy meds, I'm taking 3 different kinds right now, at the same time, errrrrr day. (nice little tangent there).
  Taylor is officially done with his first year of his MBA! One down, one to go! I could not be more proud of him! He's so focused and motivated and it's super sexy! 

 FYI: I know, I just told you how cold it was on our little day trip up to the mountains, yet you will notice Taylor is indeed wearing a beach towel. NO, we did not go swimming is the waterfall behind us. 
 As you may (or may not) know, Kelcie is tiny. Tiny people, if you weren't aware, do not typically have as much muscle or fat to keep them warm. Also, Kelcie didn't check the weather and was wearing her gym clothes and a light sweater, thus she needed extra warmth, in the form of the only thing available in the Ning's trunk...a beach towel. Now, this beach towel was originally wrapped around Kelcie's shoulder's, HOWEVER, about a mile or so into the couple's treacherous (not really) hike Kelcie's pumping blood and burning calories warmed her up. No longer needing the towel for warmth, her sweet and caring husband offered to carry it for her. Thank you, sweet, kind, caring, hunky husband! 
  We were actually asked more than once if we were swimming, people thought we were in-sane in the mem-brane. Also, people here hike in their everyday jeans, it was really weird.
 I would like to ask you all to pause for a moment and appreciate Taylor's rippling muscles, he's rockin'. That is all.

capitol tour and a lot of nonsense

   Hey Hey! So, I guess it's about time to play catch up again! Bear with me!

The past few months have been busy busy busy! Taylor is wrapping up his first year MBA and I've been working some interesting jobs, including, but not limited to: The White House (okay, okay, that was literally the only interesting job I had...and mostly because I saw why nothing is getting done around here ((and by here I mean, America)) empty hallways, empty offices, people...the probably is the empty-ness of it all)

   The Cherry Blossoms were GORGEOUS this year! As I'm sure they are every year, something I wouldn't really know, but I can't imagine they have ever NOT been gorgeous! Our street, apparently, is spilling over with cherry trees! The blossoms appeared out of nowhere early one morning, stayed for about a week, then snowed down for several days...then we got to live all over again immediately afterwards, as a whole street in our neighborhood was a late bloomer (much like myself, haha, punny).

   *funny story: Taylor and I decided because there were SO MANY blossoms, the trees could spare a few clippings so we could enjoy them in our home as well as outside of it. Well, one of our neighbors wasn't thrilled and proceeded to tap menacingly on his/her window at as during our clipping adventure. I just ignored her. I know, suh rude. Her view was no less gorgeous because of us taking a few clusters of blossoms, so she (or he) can suck it! Plus, they made our little place smell lovely!
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Several Saturday's ago we met our friends Ellen and Gabe Bush at Eastern Market for some brunch and browsing. We had never been, and I had been wanting to since we moved here. It was fantastic! I wish we lived closer to a metro, I would literally be there always. No, really.

   Two Saturday's ago (everything happens on Saturday around these parts, although, it would be nice if everything happened on Tuesday, because traffic is TERRIBLE on Saturdays.) Taylor and I went on  a tour of the Capitol Building. I really just wanted to see the Apotheosis of George Washington (shame on you if you don't know what that is, google it.). It was a fun (quick) tour, and we spent the rest of the day wandering around the Capitol grounds and checking out the visitor's center for the Library of Congress, which we loved SUH MUCH we went straight over and got ourselves library cards for the Library of Congress! It was ten times more amazing than the Capitol, FYI, so if you ever come to DC, go there please!! I'm about to upload a plethora of photos, but most people just look at blogs for the photos, right?

working on a little somethin' somethin'

I've realized that it's awkward for me to advertise my thoughts and feelings on a blog that is supposed to be about "us", meaning Taylor and I. I wanted this blog to represent our little family and our life together, but I also wanted a place where I can express my deepest darkest thoughts, journal style, where I wouldn't feel like I was tainting Taylor's good name (haha)...Thus a new, more kelcie-fied blog for your entertainment and reading enjoyment!

I'll probably work on my photography skills, or lack thereof, on there. Or possibly do some d.i.y. project (don't get your hopes too high though)...we'll see! So...read, comment, do what you will...

this new blog of mine will quite possibly be under construction for a week or so until I can find the time to finish it up...so I'll totally post the link up on here and see what happens when it's ready, so look for that in the next little while...mmmkay?

xo, kelcie