It's not all bad!

I realize the last two posts may have made it seem as though these last couple of months have been...well, pretty darn depressing. This just isn't true! However, I was recently enjoying a really great pity party. This wasn't some last minute week old cupcake type party - this was a well planned extravaganza complete with pony rides and go-carts. I figure everyone is allowed a really good pity party every so often, right? However, now that I've somewhat snapped out of it I figure I should show that I really am enjoying the whole 'being married' thing.

Marriage has been very enlightening for both myself and Kevin and I think we've learned some great lessons about each other and life in the past couple of months. Oh, you read right, we are extremely enlightened individuals now. (Oh and for those of you who aren't aware, Kevin and I are in fact married. Kevin felt he needed to point out that according to our blog we haven't even gone on our first date yet.) We thought we'd share a few of the lessons we have learned:

Kayla's Lessons Learned:
1. Chocolate solves all problems! An entire pan of fudge all to yourself can work wonders.
2. As Buggy observed the night of the crash, the spin cycle does GREAT things for your hair.
3. Who needs to pay for heat when you have a blanket and someone to snuggle with?
4. Sometimes the best thing to cheer someone up is a little bit of the Christmas Spirit (who cares if it isn't even Halloween yet?)
5. Putting a cat in a costume can provide hours and hours of entertainment! They're just so flipping cute - even when they want to scratch your face off.
6. If you whine and complain enough someone else will plan your future for you. Thanks mom and Kira!
7. There's nothing like a special trip to PetCo just to pet little furballs when you're missing your own little kitten fluff.
8. White Fudge Oreos can make even the most gray of days can become bright

Kevin's Lesson's Learned
1. Always expect the unexpected - a mystery poo can sneak up on you at any time (and just to clarify - this one is all Kevin, definitely not something he learned from me!)
2. Sometimes a queen size bed just doesn't cut it.
3. Someone else's pillow is ALWAYS better. (Just in case you couldn't tell - this is Kevin taking up the whole bed and using my pillow even though his is right there next to his head. Silly boy!)
4. Where's the place to go to forget about all your problems and become a man? VEGAS!!!!
5. Why study when you can play retro video games on your computer and relive your younger days? [Ok I will study now... - Kev]
6. The most magical substance on earth is: (drum roll please...) JUICE!!!!
7. It's like heaven on earth to have such a cooperative and helpful wife! (A true story: Kevin- ok, how about you make dinner and I'll clean up a bit... Kayla - Ok! a little time passes, Kayla makes dinner and serves her husband like the wonderfully little wifey that she is. After dinner she is chillin' on the couch when Kevin kindly asks - Kayla, I'm not sure where everything goes, will you help me? No response, so he begins to ask again, after getting out the "Kayla, will yo-" Kayla decides to respond with the loudest, whiniest NO! followed by the exclamation: 'that wasn't part of the deal!' - also said in a very whiny voice. She did however, immediately stand up and begin to help her husband tidy up their lovely residence.)

Really though - all the not so great things in the past couple of months have really shown me how lucky I am to have Kevin. As cheesy as it may sound I really do think all the challenges have brought us closer together and to really appreciate all that we do have. We are so thankful for our families and for all the love they show us and we are so thankfull to have one another. All in all, life is pretty good for the two of us and we are incredibly blessed!

The most important lesson we've learned: One man's toxic sludge is another man's potpourri!

Pictures from today - it looked worse in the daylight

You can see in this picture the skid marks on the top of the car that arrived during our roll after our 360 turn.

It's scary to see how crushed the front driver's side of the car is but even more scary is Kevin's side of the car- I can't believe how smashed Kevin's side of the car is. It makes it pretty clear that our time isn't up and we must have some sort of work to do here still. Especially considering we rolled the car.

The mark on my forehead is from where I hit the steering wheel - it got a bit darker but on the plus side it is the worst injury on either of us so I guess we really can't complain.

Kevin was on his phone with his mom when we crashed and when we rolled the car he dropped it and it broke in half - the front was in the back seat and we found that the night we crashed. then today we found the back in the rear window, then Kevin amazingly found the little pen - we never did find the battery but luckily he had an extra one.

I think we might need a bit more touch up paint.

The first two months...

They say the first year of marriage is the most difficult. Honestly, I can't figure out if that is good news or bad news. We've been married just about two and a half months and honestly if the first year of marriage is the most difficult then the rest of our marriage should be a cake walk. However, if these first two months are any indication of the next ten then I must admit I'm a little terrified of what else is coming our way.

I'm pretty sure one of the reasons BYU students get married so early is, as a couple in my Art History class said last year: "you get more money being married than you do being single." With a federal grant designed to give free money to married college students who wouldn't want to get married? This may not have been the only reason I decided to get married but lets be honest, it was a big part of it. I mean, why do you think I married a guy who's planning on being a doctor - you guessed it! Money! Just kidding. :) However, anyone that knows me very well knows that I don't like to part with my money. Since I was planning on buying the Camry from my parents before the end of the summer I was more than a little worried that I would be coming into the marriage with absolutely nothing in my savings - something I hadn't experienced since I started putting money in a savings account. Because of this it was a relief to know that we would be getting somewhere around 2000 dollars of free money.

Kevin and I didn't want to miss out on the grant and when the McKay's looked on the website we saw that the deadline for the application for the 2009-2010 school year was in June or July of 2009- I can't remember now... We needed to get our butts in gear to get the application in before the wedding to be sure we would get the money! For at least two or three weeks I called and nagged Kevin about applying for the grant. He kept babbling about how he didn't have time and how he didn't see why we needed to do it now before we were married and why we wouldn't just wait until after the wedding and do it as a couple. I then procceeded to tell him that this is how I had been told we were to do it and that if we missed the deadline we wouldn't be able to get the money we needed. It seemed so obvious I couldn't understand why he didn't get it - the website said you could submit corrections for evertything but your socical security number - so as long as it was in by the deadline we would just correct it and get our money for the year. At one point Kevin was so busy with work he told me he was pretty sure he wasn't going to get his application in, and that his dad was busy too and he couldn't get the tax return information that he needed. But, being the wonderful guy that he is Kevin worked it all out and got the application in just in time. Isn't he the best?!

First lesson of marriage: Don't listen to Kayla, Kevin is usually right and always almost worth listening to.

Back when Kevin was babbling on about how he had too much to do and he didn't understand why we couldn't just do it together, what he had really been saying was that he didn't understand why we needed to fill out the application separately when the deadline went all the way to June/July of 2010. But since I thought I was always right I didn't even bother to listen to Kevin's logic and because of my pig-headedness we weren't able to get our grant. The website does say that you can change anything but your social security number but somewhere buried in all the information about how to apply it also says that you can only change your marital status if it was incorrect as of the day you applied. Since Kevin and I were in fact single when we applied it didn't matter that we were married now there was no way to change it. Kevin called me at work to deliver the news which meant I had to hold it together for a little while but when I got home I cried for about three hours straight before I had to go to my class that night - Kevin, being the incredibly sweet husband that he is not only refrained from saying "I told you so" but he also came to my two and a half hour art class with me. We then came home to our little condo in springville and tried to figure out how we were going to pay for everything. Which really means that Kevin had to sit there and comfort me as I hyperventilated and freaked out that I had just bought a car and that I didn't have any money to help us live off of and our house was a disaster, everything was still in boxes, the only food we had as a gallon of milk and two boxes of cereal, no money to buy food, and our rent and bills were going to come due before I would get paid (thank goodness my boss from the past two years liked me and let me come back to work for him). What were we going to do?

Mommy and Kira To the Rescue!

Mommy came into town and brought Kira out from San Jose and they unpacked all of our boxes and helped Kevin decorate the house while I studied and prepared my application to get into the advertising program here at BYU. (Sadly I actually studied for the test I would have to take while on my Honeymoon. Wow, I'm really a loser). Kira and mom took Kevin and myself to Bed Bath and Beyond and Target and we got a ton of beautiful stuff with our wedding money - I had no idea what to do with all of it though and thankfully we had Kira to put it all together for us. Because she had to empty all our boxes she only had time to do the front room of the house but it looks amazing and we desparately want her to come back and do the rest of the apartment. (We also owe a big thank you to mommy and daddy McKay for all the furniture because without their kindness we would have a very empty and sad looking condo - and another big thank you to mommy and daddy Conrad for the TV and to all the Conrads (Heidi, Kaleigh, Hyrum, Britney and James for helping us unload the moving van until all hours of the morning) Mommy Moose also took us food shopping and let us fill up our pantry so we wouldn't go hungry. She also offered to help us out if we ever needed it. Thank goodness for family and parents that won't let their kids go hungry.

Because Mom and Kira did all the work with the house I was able to finish my application for advertising which included an 80 question test (the one I studied for on the Honeymoon - luckily I acutally enjoyed the information so it didn't really feel like study - more like interesting reading), five essay questions and a 60 second video (they also look at your grades in the prerequisite courses and the number of credits you have - they subtract a point for every credit over 75). It seemed that everyone but me was sure I would get in to the program and when I got a 78 on the test I studied so hard for I was incredibly discouraged and it seemed to me the last nail in the coffin. Kevin and mom were still convinced taht I should put in the application and that if I did I was sure to get in. However, I wasn't too convinced but I continued anyway and turned in my application on September 11. This was my video:

I was supposed to find out whether or not I was accepted on October 9th but the pushed the date back to Thursday the 15th. Kevin and I went to pick up the letter at lunch but I refused to open it until after school because I knew if I opened it before class and Iwasn't accepted I wouldn't be able to go to my classes for the rest of the day. It's a really good thing I decided to wait. We got home and when I opened it the first line caused my heart to fall and instantly brought tears to my eyes: We would like to thank you for your interest in our program but unfortuantely you were not admitted - something along those lines anyway - you know the completely condesending rejection letter as though they actually care that they just crushed your dreams and threw your plans for the future in the toilet. I basically spent the rest of the day in a catatonic state on the couch crying and sleeping and according to Kevin, crying in my sleep. I also had to call and tell my sister and mom to tell them - it was not a good day for the McKay women - Mom had gotten some bad news at workand Kira found out that she was having a girl when she desparately wanted a boy. it was not a good night. I feel so bad for Kevin, I know he felt incredibly helpless as he watched me curled up on the couch (for some reason when I'm really upset I like to just collapse on the couch). When I woke up the next morning my face was all red and my eyes were huge and puffy and when I looked in the mirror at my hideous face I was reminded all over again what I failure I am and I started crying my eyes out all over again - which really didn't help the redness or the puffyness. It was then that Kevin came in to the bathroom, sat on the floor with me, held me while I cried a bit more and then convinced me to take the day off of work and told me we would just drive up to his house for the weekend to be there for his sister's baby shower and just relax and forget about school. Before we left he helped me make an entire 13x9 pan of fudge - which I'm pretty sure I ate 3/4 by the end of that weekend. Before we left I also sent a message to one of the advertising professors asking if I could meet with them and discuss exactly what in my application kept me from being accepted. I met with him the following tuesday, and when he looked at my scores he looked me right in the eye and said: "Your grades are great but your video wasn't very good and your test score really needs to be improved." Thank you, I spent hours on that video and I personally thought it was really good, especially considering your useless description of what was required for the video. and I'm sorry that I wasn't able to do well on your horribly written exam. He later qualified that the reason my video wasn't very good is that it was something they see a lot of -I read the list of crap that they see too much of and my video wasn't on there. He did tell me that with my grades I should definitely re-take the test, make a new video and apply again next semester. Really, not very helpful.

It had alll seemed so perfect - We had year and a half after I would be accepted and we would need to move so Kevin could go to med school. Now what am I supposed to do? Now even if I applied to the program there is a really good chance that I wouldn't be able to finish before we needed to move. I guess it's time to figure out a new plan for my future. Oh, well, that's life, there's not easy way is there?

Since being at school Kevin and I have mostly been driving Kevin's car. This meant that almost every weekend for two months his car was getting the added miles of driving the four hours two and from Rexburg. The most driving my car had seen was moving it in and out of the garage to get the trash can out on Monday morning. It just made sense then to drive my car to and from Vegas. I drove the whole twelve hours and it was completely uneventful. We were so happy with the gas mileage on my car that we continued to drive it for the rest of the week. On thursday (the 29th) we headed to the airport to catch our flight to Vancouver to visit Mom and Dad and see Kira and Zac for the weekend. We had so much fun and we really didn't want to leave but school was calling and we had to go back to the real world. We had an ueventful flight back to Utah and although it took forever to get our bags and twice as long to get out to the car using the shuttle we finally were able to throw all our stuff in the trunk and head home. It has been a lot of fun to visit family almost every weekend but we were pretty excited to be headed home. It would be so niche to just relax and stay home for a while and we couldn't wait.

On the drive home I can't remember if mom called me or if I called her but as we were coming up on thanksgiving point the phone kept cutting out and dropping the call and it was getting really annoying so I told mom as we were driving up the hill that I would just call her back when we got home. Kevin called his mom too but their phones weren't having any issues (clearly, I just wasn't supposed to be on the phone). We continued driving and we were getting really close to home - we were coming up on the Orem center Street exit and the traffic started slowing down - I was in the far left lane and the HOV was wide open so I deciede to just get over. While I was checking my blind spot the car in front of us slammed on the break and Kevin said "break, Kayla break!" when I turned to look the car was right there in front of us and I hit our breaks - when I hit the breaks I must have turned the the wheel to the right again which was sending us straight for the back of the other car so I quickly turned it to the left to pull in to the HOV like I had been planning (I knew it was empty - I had just been checking my blind spot) (Luckily all the cars behind us were quite a ways back too or else we might have been smashed). That turn to the right was the last thing I had any control over. The car started swerving uncontrolably - to me it felt like it was rocking side to side as well as going from left to right. At this point Kevin was still on the phone with his mom and apparently all she hear was Kevin say "break" and then a panicked voice she couldn't understand - that was me screaming Kevin's name (not that I wanted him to do anything, I was just terrified that he was going to be hurt) and then everything apparently went to static - that was Kevin dropping his phone and it breaking apart. After the car swerving uncontrolably I just remember seeing the red lights of the backs of cars then twisting or turning and headed for the middle divider. Suddenly it was white headlights I was seeing through the cracked windshield as glass was falling on us, then the top of the car went from the being up towards the sky down to the ground and somehow we ended up back on all four tires. Oh, and somewhere in there I hit my head on the steering wheel (the airbags didn't deploy). Kevin remembers hitting the middlle divider on the driver's side - then we went up the divider - the car was airborn then came down and hit the roof on the passenger's side and tipped back onto all four wheels. We ended up partly in the HOV lane and partly in the far left lane facing oncoming traffic. First we made sure that each other was ok and the second we knew that I immediately started freaking out that I had destroyed my car. I had just purchased it from my parents with my entire life savings (something that already freaked me out) and now on it's ninth trip out of the garage since actually owning the car it was completely totaled. A couple of people stopped and they came up to the car to make sure we were ok. Two of them were registered nurses and they told us not to move too much until the EMT's got here. At which point I said I was fine and that nothing hurt I just wanted to get out of the glass I was sitting in. They didn't want to let me but that didn't stop me from trying to get the glass out of my sleeves.

The EMT did get there and he let us get out of the car - when I looked down the little mouse keychain my mom had given me was sitting on the seat next to me and as I was getting out of the car I grabbed it and stuffed it in my pocket. Then the EMT and the Police and the Tow Truck guy and everyone started asking questions about what had happend. Honestly what are they thinking? I was shaking and crying and I had no idea what was going on and here they were asking me to explain everything and expecting me to remember everything they were telling me. Are you kidding me? It took me two minutes to remember that I had family living in Utah that could come pick me up.

Kevin laughed at me when I hit the call button to connect to Uncle Carl and said "I really hope he's not running a marathon." Then when he didn't answer I realized that we still had Dacia and Joe nearby that could give us a ride. Thankfully, Dacia answered and she sent Uncle Carl, Joe and Buggy to come pick us up. It was really nice to see a friendly face that wasn't asking me to explain but was just giving me a hug and showing us that we were loved.

When we got out of the Ambulance we went back over to the car and while Kevin was filling out the accident report for the police I was taking pictures.

I'm not sure why all of this is happening but I guess that's life but it really hasn't been all bad. In fact almost everything that has happened has brought us closer together and has made me realize what a blessing it is that I have Kevin in my life. And it was never more obvious than last night. When Uncle Carl dropped us off back at the condo I really started freaking out that with all these horrible things that had been happening the only thing that could be any worse than what had already happened would be losing Kevin and that was something that I had come horribly close to that night. It was then that Kevin offered to give me a blessing and it was the sweetest blessing I have ever recieved. The blessing told me everything that I have been needing to hear and I was reminded just how lucky I am to have Kevin in my life and how much I owe to my heavenly father for bringing him into my life and for protecting both of us and allowing us more time together on this earth.

Possibly something less boring this time:

I could be really nice at this point and do what you all have asked for and just move on to the good parts but since I was rather pathetic this past year when it came to writing in my journal I’m afraid I’m going to continue to bore my extremely small number of readers. I apologize but I am going to continue to write every minute boring detail and I fully understand if you no longer want to read. However, if you have exhausted entire list of ways to bore yourself out of your mind and you are looking for that one last thing to tip you over the edge, then by all means continue reading.

When we left off last time Kayla was laying in bed ridiculously happy because she had finally been asked on a date (maybe) with a guy she was actually interested in dating. Although the ‘date’ was scheduled for Saturday thankfully Friday would not be free of Kevin. The two had already agreed to go with a group of friends to the Haunted Forest. It did take quite a bit of convincing on Kevin’s part to get Kayla to agree to this activity. Although completely willing to run lost through a haunted maze she had a bad experience with both a haunted house and a haunted forest and hadn’t been through one since. In the process of being convinced Kayla warned Kevin that he had better be prepared to have her jump on his back and to hear her scream like an extra in a horror movie because it was guaranteed to happen. He took a few minutes to consider after this warning and although he seemed much less excited about the whole thing he still said he would like her to come with him and his friends.

Once they got there Kevin revealed that they were going to get the combo ticket that would let them do both Psycho Manor and the Haunted Forest and although Kayla had only agreed to the Haunted Forest and was still insanely terrified of haunted houses now that she was there with no way to get home so for now she was stuck. But truly it was Kevin that didn’t realize what he was getting himself into. She may seem shy and quiet but those who know her mother know that Kayla has a terrific potential in those lungs of hers, and when given the proper motivation she is perfectly capable of reaching that potential.

Blah blah blah… she screamed, she banged his head into two poles and a tree, she almost tossed him in a pond but she didn’t make him bleed so he can’t complain too much plus she let him wrap his arm around her waist and put his hand over hers so he should be counting his lucky stars. No really, she screamed, he laughed, they had a great time. But he still hadn’t told her anything about the four wheeling that was supposed to happen the next day so she really had no idea if it was really going to happen. Finally, about two in the morning after a group breakfast at IHOP he said “Oh, right, I haven’t told you anything about four wheeling have I?” Oh yes, he is quite the charmer!

Finally, it was official! He was going to take her four wheeling! She was so excited but also a little worried. Someone being kind would say that she is a bit timid when it comes to adventurous things such as a four wheelers or jet skis, anyone in the Johnson family would just say she is a complete chicken, which is completely true. But for the first time in her life she was more excited than worried. And even more strange and exciting - - instead of being scared or repulsed at the idea of putting her arms around him she was somewhere between indifferent and excited which is actually saying quite a lot considering when she went to prom she did everything she could to avoid dancing with her date. (Yes she is a terrible person). This was going to be SOOO fun!

This was your teaser. Yes! I am finally getting to the good stuff. The next entry will, in fact be our first date. I know it’s a disappointment that this entry isn’t crazy long and that I didn’t just continue with my trend and bore you with a ton of information that you don’t really care about. Don’t hate me too much! Tune in eventually for the first date. :)

Part Two!

Well, as you can see it is not tomorrow... I blame it on my parents. I was supposed to write the next part of the story on the drive back from Spokane but instead I drove the whole six hours and then Monday I was running around doing things for them ‘cause that’s just the kind of wonderful daughter I am.

(Ok… so it took a few days to write it too…enjoy the reading! And it may be a mile long but don’t give up. I promise it’s awesome. I wrote it so it has to be, right?

Now, to pick up where we left off…

Kayla went to a movie with the boys and after that she spent almost every Sunday evening at their apartment playing games. They were all so much fun it was ridiculous. Every night Kayla would leave thinking “Too bad Kevin has a girlfriend. He’s tall and cute and best of all, he is REALLY funny!” (His sense of humor was incredibly similar to her own, so how could he not be funny?) Of course she didn’t really know that he had a girlfriend, but remember, she was a creeper and she had learned all sorts of things about him without his knowing it and one of those things was that he had a girlfriend.

Kayla couldn’t quite figure out what was going on with this apartment of boys. Tyler had asked for her number and was always the one to invite her to do things. That was until another one of their roommates, Tanner, texted her out of the blue and started texting her to do things, but most importantly she still couldn’t figure out if Kevin really had a girlfriend. (Her friends pointed out that if he did have a girlfriend then it was extremely suspicious that he would spend almost every weekend with her.) She wondered how good of friends they even were, I mean she still didn’t have his phone number and as far as she knew he didn’t have hers. Anytime she would invite the guys to go do things (like visiting IHOP at 2:00am on a Tuesday – which they tried to get out of, but thank goodness for text messages that don’t come through when they are supposed to) she would send a message to Tyler and Tanner and ask them both to make sure that Kevin knew about it and that he was invited. It was all very strange. Kayla was certainly curious why this boy (Kevin) didn’t seem to want her number when she definitely wanted his – if only to make sure that she could invite him to all the activities because she always seemed to have more fun when he was there. Hmm…dilemma…

Halloween was coming up, and one night while she was over visiting the guys apartment to play card games she mentioned that it would be strange to not be able to do a haunted corn maze since she had been doing one for years back home. That night they all decided that they should go to the haunted corn maze nearby. Oddly, it was actually Kayla that was kind of heading the activity – this was surprising since in the not too distant past she was afraid to even talk to guys, she spent most of her time alone, and she would never have dreamed of inviting anyone anywhere because she was terrified of rejection. The group for the visit to the corn maze included Kayla’s roommates from the previous year, the new apartment of guys she had met as well as a few other miscellaneous people.

Upon arrival at Cornbilly’s the group purchased their wristbands and headed off to have a great time of running through a darkened maze while having being scared half to death. Kayla’s old roommates were too scared to do the haunted maze so they took off towards the regular corn maze leaving Kayla with the Kevin, Tyler and Tanner. They all wanted to go to the haunted maze so they hiked over there only to find that the maze was only open on the weekends and they were there on a Thursday. Of course.

Still wanting to do a maze they headed back to where they had started but now they were separated from the other group. They probably would have been able to get through a lot faster if the darn boys hadn’t kept cutting through the walls (which, by the way, was against the rules). There were two sections of the maze and they kept starting in one and ending up in the other. Darn boys and their need to cut corners. It took them about a year and a half to get through the maze but Kayla started to think this may have been a part of Kevin’s plan because with their long legs they kept pulling ahead of the other two in their group and they walked through most of the maze side by side. (Kayla was pretty sure at this point that Kevin didn’t have a girlfriend anymore, by the way.) Kayla had a great time talking to Kevin. It only made her realize how much fun he was and how much she enjoyed having him as a friend. It also reminded her that she didn’t have his number and she resolved to ask for it when it wouldn’t be too awkward. She just needed to be casual. Riiiiggghhttt….Eventually they cut through enough walls to get to an exit (the wrong one mind you) and they decided to enjoys some of the other attractions such as the giant blow up Lizard.

The idea of the blow up Lizard was this: You enter the mouth and work your way through its insides until you eventually walk out from beneath its tail. Strange concept, but surprisingly fun. It was pitch dark, and there were random inflated walls all over the place. For a scardy cat like Kayla it was somewhat terrifying to be stumbling through the dark, bouncing off walls. And she couldn’t help but scream when someone unexpectedly popped out from behind a wall. At least these people hadn’t intended to be scary – Kevin on the other hand kept trying to get away from the group so he could hide behind the walls and scare them. At one point he even resorted to crawling on his hands and knees to get away but Kayla caught him every time. He thinks he’s so sneaky. THINK AGAIN!

When they finally met up with the other half of their group they decided, with much urging from Kevin, that they should all go through the monster again. Why you ask? Because, they had spent fourteen dollars to get in to this place and they weren’t going to leave until they had some serious fun! In they went. This time Kayla didn’t do quite as good a job of keeping track of Kevin and as soon as she noticed he was gone she became very jumpy as she approached each corner. And for good reason. As she rounded one of the corners somewhere near the heart of the beast someone jumped out and grabbed her waist! She was preparing to beat the crap out of the creeper who touched her when she spun around and realized it was just silly old Kevin. Once she realized it was just her friend she punched him in the gut, laughed and ran away. (It wasn’t the most graceful run away in history as she bounced off a few walls…but it got her away from the mean boy so…)

By the time they finished playing on the various contraptions out in the cold October air it was about 1:00. Perfect time for breakfast! (Is there ever a time that’s not perfect for breakfast though?) To IHOP! As Kayla and Kevin were walking to the table Kayla decided it would be a good time to casually bring up the fact that she didn’t have his number. The conversation went a little like this:

Kayla: “So, I’m beginning to wonder if we’re really friends. I mean I have the numbers of both your roommates but I don’t have yours.”

Kevin: “Yeah, I don’t really give out my number.” *big cheesy grin* (In his head: ha ha! I so funny! I tease her and she will fall for me for sure!)

*awkward silence*

Kayla: “Ok. I guess we’re not friends then…That’s cool. (In her head: So… does he really not want to give me his number…or is he just teasing me? I guess I’ll tease back and see what happens) I guess you don’t need my number then either. Good. We’ll keep things the way they are then.”

Kevin:”That’s perfect. I don’t really need yours”

*they walk awkwardly to the table while chuckling uncomfortably*

Kayla: (In her head: this did not go as planned)

As they all moved to the table it’s not really clear who sat by whom but they did indeed end up sitting next to one another. However, they ended up sitting uncomfortably at the table for a few minutes while looking at the menus and Kayla needed to fidget so she ripped off her wristband and started folding it and playing with it. After a few more minutes of uncomfortable silence (the teasing had definitely taken a wrong turn somewhere) Kayla finally decided she needed to break the tension so she whipped a pen out of her purse, wrote her number on the wristband and pushed it in front of Kevin as she said “well, someone’s going to have to bend.” You see, she really wanted to have his number but she figured as long as he had hers that was something. They spent the rest of breakfast joking and laughing and generally having a great time. Finally Kevin asked to borrow Kayla’s pen and he started writing on his napkin. He wouldn’t let her see as he was writing so she figured he might actually be giving her his number. When he kind of pushed the napkin between them she got really excited but then said it wasn’t for her, it was for Steve, their waiter. Hmmm… should she be worried about this boy? Finally she got up the courage to grab the napkin and take a look and sure enough, it was written for Steve. In fact it said: “Hey Steve, if you’re looking for a good time call Kevin at: 208-313-248_.” She laughed, hoped it was a joke and stuck the napkin in her purse as she they were walking out of the restaurant. (Kayla kept the napkin for a long time until one day it disappeared in her black hole of a room - - Kevin however still has the wristband she gave him - - he is much more romantic than she, for instance he always remembers how long they’ve been dating, Kayla not so much.)

Kayla safely drove the boys home, although you might hear a different story from the boys who were a little scared by her excellent U-turn skills. As she was locking her car she looked over and was shocked to see that Kevin was still standing on the other side of her car. (The strangest part was that this wasn’t the first time this had happened to Kayla this year – although she turned down the first guy to go to that first movie with Kevin and his roommates…) Kevin looked a tad bit uncomfortable as he blurted out “So, some friends and I are going four-wheeling this Saturday and I was wondering if you would want to go.” Kayla hesitantly responded that it sounded really fun. She was ‘hesitant’ for a couple of reasons. First, she wasn’t sure it was a date and second, if this was a date it would be the third date of her entire life and the first two were less than stellar. However, she always had an amazing time with him in the past and no matter what she was sure she would have a good time if it actually pulled through. The next day she was extremely excited and she couldn’t wait until Saturday to see if it would really happen.

Yes, it’s true you’ve made it to the end of this ridiculously long blog post and the adorable couple still has not been on their first date. I guess you’ll just have to wait until I get my butt in gear again and get around to finishing the story… I figure I should give you a little time to recover from the length of this one first though so I figure I’m off the hook for at least another week right?

The Rumors are...

Once upon a time, in a not so distant land, in a time not so long ago, there was a young girl, only nineteen. She was the loner child, book worm, ugly duckling of McKay Manor. Her name was Kayla.

The time had come again for the young girl to return to the magical kingdom at the base of the Wasatch Mountains where she would fill her brain with all kinds of 'important information.'

Upon arriving at her apartment Kayla found that she was only going to have one roommate and it wasn't long before she realized that she would be doing a lot of things by herself in the coming months. It was this fact that made her force herself to get off her butt and go to the first Ward family home evening of the year.

It was the same bishopric she had the year before and they already loved her so she figured it couldn't be all bad. Plus, there was free food with no clean up so that right there made it worth the drive up Provo Canyon to Timpanogas Park.

When she arrived people were milling about talking and waiting for the food to be served but of course since she had come alone and didn't know anyone but the bishopric she didn't have anyone to talk to so she just sat on a table near the front of the food line waiting for the prayer.

Not one to be shy about food, as soon as the prayer was said our little duckling headed straight for the food and was the first in line to fill up her plate. This of course meant that every table was open which was actually a very good thing because this meant that she was the first to sit down at a table and then the table filled in around her. Awesome! She thought to herself. No awkward moment of wondering who she could possibly sit by, now she only had to hope that others would choose to sit at the same table she chose.

Slowly, people began to sit next to the young girl and they were all male-type people. It was shocking!

Now, this girl left school last year with a crush on a boy named Kyle. He was tall, muscular and in Kayla’s opinion very cute. Well, who would sit down right next to her but Kyle! Ok, this activity just got a heck of a lot better! And to think that at first she didn’t want to come just because she didn’t want to drive up the canyon by herself (she was a little worried she would get lost – she’s not the best with directions and can’t seem to drive anywhere without at least one u-turn).

Well, since she had been crushing on this boy for about a year now she couldn’t possibly talk to him… I mean really, who actually talks to the people they have a crush on? So she sat there, silently happy until a few more people sat down. A nice guy in a blue shirt sat down across from her at the table and started talking to his friend. He was talking loudly and Kayla loves to listen in to the conversations of others (because she has no life of her own, and she’s a little bit of a creeper) so when he started saying funny things she couldn’t help but laugh and join in.

He asked her name and she asked his. Kevin Conrad…that was familiar. He had been roommates with her friend Jacob over the summer and Jacob had told her all about him. He was the nice, pre-Med roommate with a girlfriend that wasn’t around all that often. Hmm…well she already knew the answers to most of the twenty questions people ask when meeting one another – where are you from? How old are you? What are you majoring in (or where do you work?) etc. – but she didn’t want to seem like total creeper so she asked them all anyway.

He and his friend Tyler asked the girl if she played any sports. After all, she was tall and thin – it would seem logical that she would be the athletic type right? Wrong! She quickly corrected them saying that she tried to avoid all physical activity if possible and games with a ball were definitely out because the stupid ball always seemed magnetically attracted to her head. She told them her hobbies included reading, photography, watching TV, basically being lazy.

They wanted to know if she did anything else, anything the least bit physical – so she answered that she actually did like hiking. Apparently Kevin doesn’t have the best hearing, so after her response a perplexed look came across his face and with a quizzical voice he asked, “You like hiding?”

Not one to let an opportunity to be sarcastic pass her by she responded “yes, that is exactly how I like to spend my time. I don’t even need anyone to find me. Just the joy of finding a great hiding place is enough to make my day.” (Now that may not be exactly what was said – but it was certainly something along those lines). Luckily this was a rather sarcastic boy and he took the little jest in the light it was intended, laughed, and asked what she said then.

He may not be able to hear but he was cute and nice and he was willing to talk to the girl trying to stuff a sloppy-joe in her face, so she wasn’t complaining.

Our little homebody walked away from the evening feeling pretty good about herself. She had spent a good 45 min. sitting next to the boy she liked (no talking necessary there) and she had been at a table surrounded by boys and she was actually able to speak with them without looking too incredibly stupid. Nice! Now she just had to keep this trend going.

The following Sunday in church the two boys, Kevin and Tyler, sat behind her in Sunday school and they talked before class started. Can you believe it? She had somehow managed to make friends, with BOYS! (Maybe they weren’t all that terrifying.) Eventually Tyler asked for her number and things finally started to move. The next friday she went to a movie with Tyler, Kevin and a few of their friends. It was great and She had a great time! This was something entirely new to her and she was loving it.

...tune in tomorrow for the next installation in the story

An Evening in Vegas :)

I'm breaking in and it feels so GOOD :) Revenge is so SWEET!

Just wanted to share with all of you some photos that I snapped while I was on a business trip in Las Vegas the first of the month.

According to the Valet that parked their car - it appears that the 'mystery couple' arrived in Las Vegas around 11:00 p.m. pm on the night of March 2nd. These first two photos were snapped somewhere near NY NY.

They do appear to be enjoying their late night in the great city of Las Vegas don't they.

This next photo was snapped just as they were coming out of the Mandalay Bay hotel - I believe they spent the night there in the lap of luxury - Oh MY!

I followed them down the strip and caught them climbing up into Pharoh's Lap, and then fondly remembering the night before at NY NY.

For more details - I guess you'll have to wait until Kayla updates her own Blog! Love you Roo!