A Caribbean Engagement

On January 31, 2012 Danny and I went on a cruise with the Beecroft family to the Western Carribean.  About a week before we left, Danny suggested we start looking at rings! YAHOOOOO!!!  Looking came with a small disclosure.. "Don't get too excited or think I am going to propose on our cruise, there is no jewler that can get a ring in by then.. I just don't want you to be disappointed.."  Any man brave enough to make that statement, COULDN'T be lying! I didn't care, I could wait :) 

Finally the day came and we were sailing off to the Carribean!  On the second night, we had a formal dinner.. Danny and I got all dressed up and met up with his family.  After dinner, his family wanted to head to the top deck for some Karaoke.  I thought it would be fun BUT I wanted to change out of my clothes to be more comfortable.  I kept asking Danny if we could go change first, and he kept IGNORING me! (of all the nerve:) So I stormed off to change.. He followed and strangly, stayed in his suit?  We headed back up to the lounge and Danny was one of the first to sing Karaoke.. Now, Danny is the life of the party so it was no surprise to me that he wanted to sing.. When he started singing, I thought Oh what an adorable song!  It was only when he walked off stage that I realized what was going on!  Here is our proposal video.. It STILL makes me cry.. (You may not be able to open the video via IPHONE.. at least I can't! But it will open on a desktop or other phone).

The Ring.. which I had nothing to do with but love it. Danny did great :)

On the cruise.. Belize? Or maybe Honduras? Or Cozummel? I'm not really sure..

Danny then WON the World's Sexiest Man.. Can't say I disagree..

And on June 22, 2012 we were Married.. I couldn't be more lucky or grateful for this man.

& off to Newport we went for a Honeymoon, planned by this hunk.. Complete with Celine Dion, Cirque de Soleil, Phantom of the Opera, Six Flags (thanks Mildred), Newport donuts and THE BEACH. PERFECT start to our life together :)



REWIND..

This month, Danny and I will have been married for 6 months!  I just stumbled across our engagment video.. It makes me so happy and I can't help but smile the ENTIRE way through.. I want to remember our "story" in case one day we get old and forget how it all started :)  Soooo.. this is mostly for me, it will probably be a bore to anyone else so.. future self, This is how it went down...

(About a month after we met at the 4th of July fireworks)

In May 2010, I went to Fashion Place mall to pick up a dress for my brother Casey's wedding.  Afterwards, my mom wanted to look for ties for the wedding party so, we went wandering through the mall. As we were walking into a tie shop, I noticed a table of women staring at us.. Not in a non-chalant sort of way.. But in a very obvious, necks turned, everyone at the table, looking at us sort of way..  I whispered to my mom.. "Is there something wrong with us? That table of women are staring at us.."  My mom, bless her heart, just smiled and we went on our way to look for ties.. To get back to our car, we had to walk passed this table of women again,  I noticed they were, once again, staring at us.  As we were exiting Nordstrom, I felt a tug on my arm, "Excuse me miss, excuse me miss..."  Before turning around I thought.. Oh geez! Security thinks I stole something!! Ha.. I turned around and there stood 2 of the women at the table who had been staring at us.. I was a little surprised..  "Umm, we were wondering where you got your purse!" one of them said. OHHHHH... it all makes sense! They were staring at us because they liked my purse!  "TJ Max" I answered.. "ACTUALLY, the short haired brunette said, we don't care about your purse, we want to know if you'll go out with our brother.."  At this point I was pretty surprised.  For the next 30 minutes we all talked.. I could hear my mom telling one of the brunettes how wonderful I am (I think she was trying to sell me) and in return the other brunette was telling me how wonderful her brother was. The girls asked if they should call their brother to meet them at the mall.. Noo!  How awkward to meet someone for the first time in front of their family and my  mother!  "We are having family dinner Sunday, would you like to come?"  Ahh, double no! Super awkward! I kindly declined and gave them my number.. No picture, just taking the word of these 2 women, that their brother was in fact, amazing.  Me and my mom left the mall and for some reason, I had a feeling of excitment come over me. I had a good feeling about this..

(One of the first pictures we ever took.. at my brother's wedding:) In the dresss that started it all!)

Days passed and I didn't hear from this mystery man.  I was sort of bummed because I was kinda excited about him, who I didn't know :)  Then, one day after work, I looked at my phone and noticed a couple voice messages.  The first message was, actually another blind date that my brother in law had set me up with.. "Hi Keira, this is so and so..." and the message went on.. I wrote down his number to call him back.  Next message, "Hi Keira, this is Danny, my sister's got your number and told me to call you.."  The message went on and I could feel the butterflies.. His voice was so cute and like I said, I had a good feeling about this one!  I first called voice message number 1 back and set up a date for the coming Wed.  Then called Danny and spoke for awhile.. He made me so giddy! We then set a date for Thurs. June 3, 2010..

Wed. came and I went out on blind date number 1.. Let's just say.. not my favorite date.. He was a nice guy, but I was just not feeling it!  At this point I felt like blind date number 2 would end the same way..  What are the chances we would actually like each other anyway?? 

(Jackson Hole 2010.. First time on a family vacay)

Thurs. came and I went out on blind date number 2.. I thought that I better drive to HIS house (as I didn't want him to know where I lived in case he was a CREEP:) So.. I made the trek from Ogden to Salt Lake... As I pulled up to his house, I saw a tall, dark, muscley man exit the house.. Could that be him??  He walked over to my car and introduced himself  "I'm Danny.." then he gave me a hug and said  "and you are even prettier than my sisters described you." After that.. the date pretty much went down hill.. not gonna lie..  We walked back to his house and he basically left me in his dust.. then we went to dinner and we made uncomfortable small talk.. THEN we decided to go to the driving range and proudly, I drove the ball further than him.. and THAT is where the date changed! (Danny is actually an excellent golfer, but that day, he must have been nervous and I must have been having good luck!) He was so impressed that the date went on :) We went back to Danny's house and may or may not have had our first kiss.. (I know, I know.. first date.. sigh.. it was his blue eyes that made me do it!)

(Fall 2010)

 I then headed back to Ogden, a little confused as to how the date went from disaster to kiss.... Before I even got out of Salt Lake, I got a call from Danny, "Are you home yet? I figure that since I kissed you, I at least have to make sure you get home safe :)"  I was intrigued by his coolness and loved his confidence. From that point on, Danny and I spent nearly every day together for the next 2 years. 

So much has happened since June 3, 2010.

  (Zion 2010)

The first year of dating was pure bliss.. I didn't think life could get any better!  Danny and I always joke that we should have gotten married during our first year of dating, when we were still naive:)  The next 6 months, we learned reality.  We learned that we both had FLAWS.. I couldn't believe it! This guy isn't perfect?? 2011 was a learning experience.. mixed with some more good times of course :)

(1 Year Anniversary.. BOO YAH)

We went on some fun vacations and kept learning about each other and how to get along:)

(San Diego 2011)

2012 came and we were getting the hang of each other!  Next up.. The engagement...

Changes

Where do I start?! 2012 has been such a life changing year! In June, Danny and I got married, In July, we got pregnant! What an exciting time for us! Last week, we had our 19 week ultrasound and found out that we are having a... BOY :) Danny couldn't be more pumped to have a little side kick and I just bawled to find out it was really REAL!  We kept it a secret until about 12 weeks (which was torture by the way, because I was so excited and wanted to tell anyone I came in contact with:)  Anyway.. I just wanted to remember this first pregnancy so here is a little summary of the first 4 1/2 months of pregnancy! & Bless our Hearts.. 5 1/2 months of marriage :)

In 1 month we went from this..

To this:

AWESOME! CRAZY! LIFE CHANGING!

About a month after we got married, I noticed I was ONE day late, yes ONE (which would be normal for some, but my body has always been right on time PLUS I just had a feeling..) I was watching football with Danny  and decided I would discretely run upstairs and take a pregnancy test.. I waited and sure enough.. POSITIVE! WHAT?! How can that be?? We just got married! I walked downstairs, with test in hand.. and STARED at Danny until he looked at me.. "Oh my gosh!" He asked what was going on.. I started crying and told him I thought I was pregnant.  He didn't say anything for a minute so I asked why he wasn't responding.. He looked at me and said, "Well.. I was just watching football and eating some chips, I just really wasn't expecting that!"  He then asked why I was crying.. "Isn't this a good thing?!" He asked. I told him, yes and that I was just surprised! Then we laughed and it has been PURE excitement since. 

I took 3.. Just to make sure:)

  

The next step.. we called the doctor and set up an 8 week appointment.  The next 4 weeks CREPT by.. It just didn't seem real.. My body looked the same.. The only difference.. KILL ME NOW.. Morning Sickness from DAY 1.. I tried everything.. Even these.. I don't know if they work? Sometimes I felt like they did.. Sometimes I think I tried to talk myself into THINKING they worked:)

But to my  dismay.. this morning sickness just never seems to go away.. It is like the flu.. on steriods.. EVERYDAY.. Anyway, 8 weeks finally came and we saw.. Nothing! What a bunch of crap!  For our first appointment, we basically went to the doctor and took ANOTHER pregnancy test.. "Yep you're pregnant!"  Hey, thanks a lot. We already peed on like 5 of those sticks :)

THEN our 12 week appointment came and we saw a little baby in there! AMAZING! So tiny, but REAL. It would float to the bottom of my uterus and PING "jump" as Danny would say, straight to the top. (To this day, Danny thinks a STAR athlete is cooking in there :)

At this point, we felt it was time to tell the family the great news! We had been waiting, for what felt like forever and we were stoked!  We told my parents over dinner, before Danny's baseball game and we told Danny's family at his dad's birthday dinner at Little America.. This is what we gave the grandparents..

After we told our parents, we called our siblings who lived out of town and shared the news. It has been such an exciting experience so far.. 

We feel so lucky and so blessed.. Finally, 19 weeks came!  We arrived at the Imaging Center and I was so nervous! Me and Danny were anxious to find out the sex of our new little person BUT we were also nervous to hear if the baby was healthy and developing normally.  Seriously, I could have had a heart attack.. 

Anxiety.. ALL DAY.

  The ultrasound tech was AMAZING. She spent 1 1/2 hours with us. She took the time to go over EVERY little measurement. EVERY little organ.. She even counted EVERY finger for us :)  She explained details about the umbilical cord and after an hour.. told us everything looked good and HEALTHY! Seriously.. Best news ever.. SO happy. SO blessed.

I could stare at these pictures all day..

An hour through our appointment, she told us she would now tell us what the sex was.  At this point, Danny had his tie undone, shirt unbuttoned, was pacing, sweating and nervous.  Was it a boy or girl.  The ultrasound tech was in love with Danny, I think she wanted to keep him :) haha She kept saying, "Oh you should keep him!"  He's a charmer :) Anyway, the baby would not turn to show us.. BOY or GIRL.. after about 20 minutes of moving around.. she spotted it..

It's a... BOY she said! I was so overwhelmed at this point I started bawling.. Danny started rejoicing :) Needless to say.. We were both excited in our own way!  We then called and told family and friends the news.. Again :)

 Ok, so this picture is 19 weeks..About HALFWAY done! (Note to self.. do NOT wear horizontal stripes if you want to look slim:) This last week, I started feeling a little better.. Not as much nausea and throwing up.. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! 

I was a little worried I was going to gain an enormous amount of weight because at my 12 week appointment I had already gained 10 pounds.. EESH! But even at 19 weeks, I am still only at a 10 pound gain..PHEW!! :)

By the way.. Nobody ever told me the HORENDOUS things that happen to your body during pregnancy.. Oh. My. Gosh.  I will just say, I have NOT been a very gracious pregnant person.. Danny will attest to that.  I am completely exhausted by about 5:00 pm, I am dizzy, congested, nauseous, stomach aches, back aches, heartburn, ACNE galore.. you would think I was a teen... I wake up at LEAST 2-3 times at night to PEE, I am SO EMOTIONAL (I bawled on September 11 because Danny said he would have called me if he were on one of the planes..)  And,  I am NEVER hungry but if I don't eat, I feel like death. SO I have to eat even when it sounds horrid.  I find myself wondering.. HOW DO PEOPLE HAVE MORE THAN ONE CHILD?! PS some women look beautiful and glow and LOVE being pregnant.. I am not one of them. I am a wreck. 

The GOOD news is.. it's worth it :)

I went out the DAY we found out we were having a boy and bought his first outfit! (That he can't wear till he is a year old.. Meh.. you win some you lose some:) 

Then I came home to a gift from some of our closest friends, the Joneses who were so thoughtful and brought us some ADORABLE baby boy onesies! Little baby "B" can't wait to meet the Joneses and his older girlfriend Jules :)

Then, Grandma Clydesdale brought baby "B" the cutest little polo sweater that he will just look adorable in :) Thanks mama!

*I know clothes are petty.. Every post will not consist of baby outfits.. Bare with me.. I am excited.. this is all we have so far.. and heck, I'm a first time mom :) *

Another exciting thing is.. We have been looking at houses! Oh the changes keep coming! House hunting is kindof like wedding dress shopping for me.. a nightmare :) I know we are fortunate to be able to look at houses but every house we find that we love, already has an offer or we find something is horribly wrong.. We have put 1 offer on a house thus far.. This beaut, that Danny and I both fell in love with.. But we were the secondary offer and likely won't get it :(

The search for a house continues...

Thanksgiving weekend is here.. We spent Thanksgiving day with Danny's family and will get ANOTHER amazing Thanksgiving feast on Sunday with my family! YUM! Around the corner is Christmas! I am in love with the holidays and am so excited to see Britt and Dan and baby Mason and spend time with all our loved ones!  My brother Casey and his family are in Maryland and can't make it home for Christmas :( SO, Until I can see my little nephews.. (All 2 of them..) Pictures will do!

 

Love my family. Love this time of year. So Happy. So blessed.

 

Lesson Learned

Lately, I find myself wondering..
What makes a great leader?  What makes a great debater? What makes a great teacher? & What kind of person is the most influential?

Going back to September..
As I was leaving the Brigham City temple open house, I walked passed some protestors.  However, these were unlike protestors I had ever before encountered.  I agree with and completely support our country's freedoms, including freedom of speech so, I respected their decision to be at the temple, protesting if they so choose.  However, rather than rant, yell, and make a scene (like most protestors I have encountered) this family ever so respectfully of my rights (to enjoy my freedom of religious beliefs), quietly stood on the corner, holding their protesting signs and kindly asked if I "would like a paper, not LDS," they asked chuckling.  "No thank you," I said and continued on my way.  I haven't stopped thinking about that family.

A couple weeks later, the presidential debate was upon us.  As Obama and Romney duked it out on national television, I found myself thinking again.. What makes a great leader?  What makes a great debater? What makes a great teacher? & What kind of person is the most influential?  According to the polls and news articles I have read, Romney "won" the debate.  How is it that he won?

As I think about what qualities can be attributed to a great leader and how one can be "heard" especially amongst people with differing views, beliefs or opinions, I think about the different styles that reach me.  What style of debate is the most effective for me?  I have come to the conclusion that there are multiple styles that reach me however, some are completely ineffective.

You may be wondering.. What does the protestor and the presidential election have in common? Well, for me, both taught me about effective teaching.  The family on the corner taught me more through their meek and subtle protest, than any protestor screaming at the top of their lungs the same message.
LESSON: The loudest person in the room is often times not the one doing the teaching.  I felt that this family was more "Christian" than most of the so-called "Christians" I have encountered.  I felt that they were there protesting, probably out of love for their fellow man, and to share their own beliefs.. peacefully.

Romney was effective in the presidential debate, I believe, because rather than focus on Obama, he focused on himself and what he planned to do for the country.  Obama failed, in my opinion, because rather than focus on how he would improve the country, he focused almost solely on Romney's flaws.
LESSON: Whether discussing politics, religion, economy, etc... An effective debater/teacher/speaker will likely focus on their own knowledge.  They will build on their own topics and strengths rather than defaming, blaming, accusing, the other person/topic.  When focusing on the flaws of the opposing side, the opportunity to teach and build upon ones own cause is lost. This will likely cause people to lose respect and listen less.

Sing praises and build up your cause.  Strengthen your cause, not by tearing another person's cause down, but share information to increase knowledge on your own topic/cause.  Strengthen your cause by sharing knowledge related to your topic.   

If your cause is not strong enough to support itself without first proving how someone else is wrong, I personally will have difficulty, listening to you, or respecting your opinion on the matter you are trying to promote.  

This is what I have learned...

Natural Order of Things, Right?

Well, isn't this the way it goes in Utah? You get married and start a blog, right? Who knows what this little blog will become!  It may become a journal, it may become my little space to vent, it may become abandoned at some point or it may just become full of things and thoughts that don't really matter!  On this first post, I officially have nothing cool to share or funny stories to tell, just a small hello!  Hopefully I will figure this blogging stuff out as time goes! Here's to Blogging!

P.S. My husband is a HUNK!