dating

Over on Eryka and Ashley's blogs their weekly linkup is "Most Memorable Dates."

I'm not sure if this really qualifies as a "date" {I like to think of it more as a business transaction...but I know that's really not the case}, but Miss Kelly doesn't get asked on many {if any!} dates, so this will have to work :) {sorry...it's rather long...}

So it is somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas 2010...I receive a text from my brother asking if I'll do him a favor.  He was buying all the seasons of the Office for Eryka for Christmas, but still needed season 6.  On KSL he found a guy selling it who lived in Logan.

"Can you pick it up and I'll pay you back?" he asks.
"Sure!"

He gives me the guy's phone number.  I text Mr. Travis and say "Hey I'm Kelly, Dan's sister.  He was wanting to buy the Office from you? Here are times that work for me {insert times...}. Do any of these work for you?"

We pick a time and decide to meet at the mall {public place, yo!} in a few days.  I thought that was that...but no.  He keeps texting me.  I'm polite.  I respond to his questions.  I think I even asked my own. {Why, Kelly?! WHY?}  There were probably even flirty texts too.  Barf.

One of the nights prior I mention how bored I am and he says I should come visit him at work. {Woah now.  I don't even know who this guy is!}  It's like 11:30 at night, mind you, but Kylee and I hop into my car and drive to Walmart to go grocery shopping. {Walmart.  Yes.  Why did it not click that all the creepers work the night shift at Logan's Walmart?}

Anyway, we grab a cart and wander around the store looking at the badges of all the employees while we are shopping.  We finish and wander a bit more.  We finally give up and head towards the check out.  As we are walking we pass one more employee.  Travis.  But it didn't register to actually look and commit to memory until it was too late.  All we could remember was that he was a heavy-set man with glasses {glasses are generally attractive in my book}.

So we leave.  I check my phone and I have a text.  I say sorry and inform him we're already on our way home.  Anyway, we keep texting.  Somehow I'm informed he has a daughter named Lily.  Whatevs.

Fast forward. It is Tuesday.  The day of our business transaction.  He calls me a little before to make sure I was still planning on it.  Give the gist of what type of person to look for, etc.  He decides we'll get pretzels while we're at the mall {this mall is tiny.  It has some Japanese food place and a Pretzelmaker.  Logan please get a real food court!}.  I hang up.  Less than five minutes later I get a text saying what a pretty voice I have and that it must belong to a pretty girl.  I don't know whether to be flattered or creeped out.  I think I leaned toward the latter.

Now, as a nineteen year old, with a head semi-attached to my shoulders, I tell my roommates at least one of them has to come with me {online deals can be sketchy you know!}.  Three of them happily volunteer.  They walk in a few minutes later and sit a few tables away.

Travis and I and his child sit there.  Awkwardly.  Eating pretzels. {well not his child.  she's only 6 months old.} Except I don't know if he feels the awkward.  We talk.  I'm not thrilled with anything I'm hearing.  Or seeing. {debt galore, six month old, walmart, unattractive, AWFUL teeth, no direction in life, etc....} I keep stealing glances over to my roommates.  PLEASE just look over at me was the desperate plea running through my mind.  Save me.  It was like they were avoiding my general direction entirely.

Finally, out of the corner of my eye, I see them stand up to throw away their garbage.
"Oh look!  I think my roommates are ready to leave!"
I give him the money and he hands me the grocery sack full of DVD cases.  Pretty sure this isn't what Dan wanted.  They look like the kind you rent, all discs in separate cases.  But I'm ready to bolt, so I don't question it.

My roommates and I head to Walmart {honestly we make so many trips here in a week.  Logan please get a Target}.  My phone vibrates.  "Just couldn't wait to get away, huh?"

How am I supposed to respond to this?!  I b.s. some answer.  I don't really like to be rude.  If I am, it's usually sarcasm.  I think I ended up telling him I had something with a friend that was about to turn into something more and was more interested in pursuing that.

Later that night I get another text asking if I had any friends I could set him up with.  "I really want to get back into the dating pool."  I tell him I'll ask around.  Honestly, all my friends deserve better than him.  I didn't lie though.  I did ask around...I just didn't present him in the most favorable light {I'm awful, I know haha}.

I think I ended up getting a few more texts from him checking up on the friends thing and me.  Desperate much?  Yeah...I ignored him and eventually he got the hint.

I told my brother he owed me $7000 because of it.  p.s. dude - you still owe me well over 6 grand :)
pps. Dan didn't even end up using the DVDs I got.  It was all for nothing!

writing

lately i feel all the times i have felt like blogging have come at the worst times {i have really great conversations with myself with the hour-ish drive between home and school}

all of the times that are convenient i feel like i have nothing to say. or i just don't want to put forth the effort to articulate my words into sentences like i want them or find pictures or...endless excuses haha.

and almost all the time, people who want to spend time with me win out over this screen.  and sometimes naps do too.  like today. and yesterday :) and unfortunately school should too.

hopefully soon i can get back into the swing of things.  i can blog about this past weekend.  and random thoughts. and the other stupid stories of my life haha.

and these are my ramblings for a boring tuesday night

save button

*how to tell one is too tired...*

So tomorrow I have a test in my marriage and family class.  I'm working on the test review and think to myself: "I should save this," picturing the wondrous little floppy disk icon at the top of Word.

via

There's just one problem....my notes are handwritten.

better than sex (heath) cupcakes

These cupcakes are pretty dang delicious.  Anytime I say I'm making cupcakes people ask hopefully if I'm making Better Than Sex cupcakes.  They really aren't that hard.  I've heard of different methods to making them...but this is the one that works the best for me! {If anything is unclear, let me know and I'll try to clarify}

Ingredients:

• 1 chocolate cake mix (and the eggs, oil, and water it calls for)
• 1 bottle of carmel (I use Smuckers Caramel that looks like this)
• Cool Whip (8 oz I believe)
• 3 Heath bars (varies depending how much Heath you want)

First you make the cupcakes according to the directions on the box.  Simple, eh?

While still warm, poke three holes in each cupcake with the end of a wooden spoon.  Warm the carmel and spoon  into the holes.  Try to do this carefully or your cupcakes will become very sticky and messy to eat. {Note: I have noticed sometimes when I make these that the integrity of the cake is affected by the holes and the carmel combo...either be careful as you eat or go easy on the carmel so the bottom doesn't get too saturated}

Let them finish cooling.  I then let them chill in the fridge.  

Take your Heath bars and chop them into pieces.  A mixture of finely chopped and chunks is fine.  {The chunks are my favorite part.}  Don't eat too much of your Heath or else you won't have anything to put on top!

Once chilled, I spoon a dollop of Cool Whip onto each cupcake and use the spoon to make the peaks in the Cool Whip.  Sprinkle the Heath onto the Cool Whip.  I usually let them chill a little bit more just so everything gets nice and cold.  They are now ready to serve!   

Mmmm.  Delicious.  Now I'm craving them!  Good thing I'm making them this afternoon with my sister :)

where i've been

Today I'm linking up with Ashley and Eryka!

This week the topic is:
What states have you been to and where do you wanna travel next?

{san francisco march 2011}

I've been to:

• utah
• idaho
• california
• oregon
• washington
• nevada
• wyoming
• montana (i think...)
• arizona (does it count if i don't remember it?)

Yeah...I've never been off the west coast!  Sad, huh?

We're also supposed to say where we want to go to!

• new york
• maryland
• florida
• hawaii
• washington dc
• california
• oregon
• washington

Okay, okay.  I know I put places on there that I've already been....but I love them!  Honestly they are SO beautiful and so much fun :)  I think I need a vacation!

excited

There's this girl who lives nearly 2100 miles from me.  Even though she's eight years older than me, I still think she's pretty rad.  Well, I found out just the other day she is coming to visit!  My sister is coming to visit! :)

sisters: stephanie, heather, and me

You see, I haven't seen her since last July.  Seven and a half months is a looooong time.  Okay.  Some people may not think so...but when you have a family as awesome as mine, it is!

The last time we saw Heather
{steph's wedding}

I've joked that the next time our family would get to see Heather was when I get married {the last two times she came to town were for siblings weddings}.  Oh wait!  Am I spoiling the surprise?  Do I get a surprise wedding?  Thankfully, no!

{dan's wedding}

It'll be great having us all together again...even if only for a few days :)

gone

Life has been a bit crazy lately...I really need to be better about writing stories before I begin forgetting the details haha...anyway...we'll time travel back to last week for a minute.

On my laptop I have a folder of all my pictures prior to this computer.  Last week I opened it to look for pictures for a project and instead of being greeted by a plethora of pictures I am greeted by this message:

Now don't get me wrong.  I was sad that these pictures were gone.  Family vacations, nieces growing up, choir trip, graduation, etc.  My family computer I had them all stored on crashed a few months earlier and stuff was only partially recovered...so I was pretty sure everything was gone.  I ended up being okay with it all.  I figured I had a decent amount of pictures on Facebook, many pictures were dorky self-portraits of a funny looking girl, and everyone in the pictures was still in existence so I knew I would be able to get more even though they wouldn't be snapshots capturing the old memories.

Thursday I am looking on Pinterest and show my roommates this picture:

Source: dwellstudio.com via Kelly on Pinterest

The owl bedding is adorable...but what I was really focused on was the cute dachshund pillow on the bed.

You see....from about age 4 to age 18 my family had the cutest little wiener dog.  See?

Yeah.  Adorable, I know.  He wasn't very good at listening though.  I remember telling him explicitly before my choir trip he wasn't allowed to die while I was gone.  Yeah.  He failed at listening.  The night I got home and found out I bawled pretty much all night.  He was the friend who was always there no matter what was going on in life.

Anyway, back to the owl bedding.  I started googling dachshund things.  I'm sitting in our cute little grandpa recliner with my cute little green laptop resting in my cute little lap.  And suddenly, something in my brain clicks.  I scream NO!!! and have curious glances directed my way from inquisitive roommates.  I race to open the folder..and sure enough, my worst fear is confirmed.  The folder still looks like this:

EMPTY.  GONE.

I start laughing.  I start crying.  I am just a mess.  Those are the two dominant ways of dealing with my emotions and both decide to manifest themselves at the exact same moment.

"Kelly, are you okay?"

"I...I don't think so."  I sit, staring at my computer in disbelief, tears welling up in my eyes.

I sat for at least ten minutes staring at the screen.  Then, I notice button in the top right corner.  It says something about arranging the pictures by different things.  I click it and change the settings...and miraculously all the pictures fill the screen.  I was beyond excited.  I felt beyond stupid.  I knew how ridiculous I looked and sounded.  He was just a dog.  But really, he wasn't.  He was much, much more.

valentines day

Free hugs?  I wonder whose are better

some of the supplies :)

owl apron!

Funfetti, Chocolate, and Better Than Sex cupcakes
There are 5 different types of sprinkles plus Heath.  I love sprinkles :)

Valentine's present.  Love it!

Monday night I got a valentine present.  I wasn't expecting it...but it's pretty much the greatest thing ever.  This is Richard the Duck and an Eric Carle duck book.  Totally fits me.  Love it.

Then on Valentines Day I wake up (like any normal day, right?).  Except I have a huge smile on my face.  I have issues waking up (maybe I'll talk about that later) and so I laid in bed for like an hour feeling giddy knowing what was in store for me the rest of the day.  I woke up next to a duck.  And I knew I was making cupcakes which was the main reason for my giddyness.

I love buying cupcake liners and sprinkles.  I have a nice little collection.  It is a little embarrassing and quite ridiculous.  I ended up making over 80 cupcakes to give out as my valentines which were well received :)

Later that night, Craig, Creighton, Kevin, and I all got together and ate Cafe Rio which was super delicious.  Kev and I watched the newest episode of 30 Rock and everyone {Kevin, Creighton, Tyler, Katie, and Scott, and me} watched Crazy, Stupid, Love.  I loved it and thought it was pretty funny.  Some of the others found it awkward though.  I think know I thrive off of awkward situations :)

The day had its ups and downs -- I won't bore you with the details...but all in all it was a great day!

enough

YOU are enough

little lovelies

This weekend has been full of wonderful little things!

Friday night Shayna, Janie, and Tyler Savage got together and went to a choir concert put on by the school to support some of our friends.

This concert was so much fun!  The different choirs sounded so great and I wanted to sing along to just about every song.  I restrained myself for the most part...but I will admit Janie and I couldn't stay quiet for the entire time.  Styx, Journey, Heart - it had it all!

Then later that night I went over to Kevin's and watched a movie with some of our neighbors.  Never watch The Others.  I thought it was stupid and super boring.

This morning Savage invited us over to his house for breakfast.  We ate totally delicious crepes!

Totally awful picture...but it doesn't mean it was any less yummy :)

And then the spending began.  I've spent a ridiculous amount of money today.

The greatest chunk went when I filled out and signed these lovely papers.  Totally worth it though.  Now I have a place to live next fall!  I do like where I live this year...but this new place has many more perks for pretty much the same price.  Can you say STORAGE?!  I have next to no storage where I'm currently living, so this will be a definite plus.  And the people there are great!  So much fun.  My old roommates from last year will all be near.

Then Katie and I decided we needed to go shopping.  We first hit Violet Hill.

I was able to find a darling necklace that's perfect for Valentine's Day...or just any day.  And this cardigan is super comfy.  I love the grey and green stripes.  And the detailing with the black, especially the pocket.  And...robot earrings!  The picture isn't super clear...but they are quite adorable :)

A trip to the grocery store and gas station later we finally made it home.

After lunch and cleaning I learned my parents made it safely home from Mexico and heard they had a blast.  I'm so jealous.  It sounds like it would be a lot of fun.  I guess that's what I'll hopefully get to do once I'm "old" and married with all the kids moved out.

Only halfway through the weekend....but I'm sure with a surprise party and church it will shape up to be pretty fabulous! It's much more exciting than the usual just watch movies weekends at least :)

What If

Sorry I've been MIA lately.  I've had 4 tests and a paper due...but anywho...

I found this beauty on Pinterest the other day.

Source: Uploaded by user via Kelly on Pinterest

1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 reads: "Rejoice evermore.  Pray without ceasing.  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

I believe that we are continually growing and progressing throughout life, but I feel like that growth shoots up like sunflowers during the hard times. However, you don't notice it until you're reflecting on the past.

On Monday Kylee {my old roommate} and I were talking about last year.  I gave her a little more insight as to what was going on in my life at that point {she's pretty much my free therapist.  she's wonderful.} I don't even know how the topic came up, but it did.  She told me how she's noticed how much happier I am this year.  I can see and feel it too.  It's a great thing.  But, I know I wouldn't appreciate my happiness now if I didn't have the bad times to compare it to.

I know that I need to work on living that scripture more.  When things are easy it's easy to ignore it.  I rely on God and prayer much more when things are rough.  I'm trying to remember to pray prayers of gratitude more often.  I pray for those I know who are struggling.  I pray for help to improve myself.

I feel like this should be an English essay.  I feel like I need to use smoother transitions and somehow appropriately sum up my feelings instead of end abruptly.  But, I'm not submitting this for a grade, so really I can do things how I want :)

Just remember happiness is all good and dandy.  It really is.  Remember to rejoice, pray, and be grateful.  But also remember that sadness, trials, and tears are wonderful things too.

strangers

This is how I feel about studying.  Ha.  I feel awkward posting pictures of myself when random strangers sit down behind me.  At least I made myself look adorable today :)  Here's hoping all you lovelies have a wonderful, fun-filled, stress-free weekend!

breathe

Sometimes life gets crazy.  Okay life always seems to be crazy.  Social outings, education obligations, {soon work will be creepin' back into my life}, and taking care of yourself.

Test, paper, test, test, project, quiz, test, project, Cafe Rio adventure, date doctor {the guy Hitch is based on}, cookie baking, movie watching, birthday, birthday, birthday, family, friends, confusion with just about everything, etc, etc.

Oh wait.  I'm supposed to take care of myself too?  Sleep?  What's that?  Eat right? Ha.  Work out?  Double ha.

I think yesterday I must have been super stressed.  My emotions were all over the place.  I'm pretty sure I felt every single one possible.  I was sad, angry, irritated, surprised, and super happy.




This video played a huge part in my happiness.  My friend knew I was having an off day and showed this to me.  My face lit up and I just laughed with a huge smile on my face until I was almost crying.  {almost like Kristin Bell and the sloth haha}  Now I don't have quite the same reaction, but it still makes me happy.  This kid is wonderful.

It reminded me that I need to take a step back sometimes and just breathe.  I can handle everything that's being thrown my way.  I just need to trust.

Source: shop.kellyraeroberts.com via Kelly on Pinterest

february happy list

I can't believe it's already February!  It's one of the most loved and hated times of the year.  I love love.  I love all the cute couples around {and my! many are forming in my lovely little neighborhood. so adorable.} yet I can't help but be envious from time to time.  Oh well!  It'll happen eventually.

I love happy lists!  Totally linking up with the exciting Eryka and awesome Ashley!  You should too! {just click their names}

Here's my happy happy happy list! :)

• having late night chats with sarah {not the aftermath though. super tiredness!} why must all the best conversations take place after midnight?  last night we were up until three...
• chocolate chip muffins and diet coke {oh goodness i wish i could've seen my face this morning. super tiredness + this combo = face lights up}
• chats in the hub with kylee, janie, and kevin
• awkward questions
• making people laugh
• writing about a personal subject for english {good to see those words on paper!}
• peer reviews in english {totally was dreading them...they ended up wonderful}
• cupcakes
• apologizing
• spur of the moment trips to ogden to see the sister, her hubs, and girlies
• youtube videos {such as this:

Until next time!  Have a fabulous February! :)