May 28th, 2010 by Kateastrophe

I’ll never forget the moment the sealer in the temple announced that we were sealed together for eternity.  I blinked back tears and looked up from our clasped hands and looked into Matt’s eyes.  They were practically glowing blue from the combination of the heavenly lighting in the room and I think he too was blinking back some rogue tears.  I think it’s a close to heaven on earth as I’ll ever come.  I wanted to take a picture and have it to look at forever and ever.  Luckily, it’s one of the moments from our wedding day that is still crystal clear in my memory.

Neither one of us broke down and actually cried, as I’ve seen many people do at that moment.  I’m not sure why.  I’m usually a big old bawl baby.  Part of it may have been my determination to keep my make-up intact, but most of it you can probably contribute to the happiness we both were feeling at that moment.  We’d found each other and we hadn’t screwed it up.  We’d done everything that had been asked of us and we’d followed the rules and we’d been worthy to be sealed in the House of the Lord - no easy feat when you’re madly in love and the hormones are raging, but we’d done it.

The rest of the day is a blur.  Things didn’t go perfectly with the ring ceremony or reception but it was an AMAZING day.  I wish my brain would let me forget about the speed-bumps and just remember the awesome things.  I want to focus on things like my Dad crying as he announced to our closest friends and family how proud he was that I’d achieved my goal of being married in the temple even though it meant he didn’t get to see us married.  Our first dance as a couple.  Our parents dancing.  All of Matt’s family being there and feeling so at home with all of them.  My hilarious family antics.  The delicious wedding cake.  My amazing friends.  The amazing man that picked me.  ME!!  This wonderful, kind, sweet, never-yells, always positive, gives-me-whatever-I-want man picked ME, this selfish, loud, boisterous, obnoxious, spazoid of a woman to spend forever with. 

These last five years have been the best of my life.  With Matt I found everything I had been missing.  He is truly my better half and I’m so lucky to have found him and to have somehow tricked him into thinking I was awesome, too.  We’ve had so much fun.  We’ve been places neither of us ever imagined we’d be, from the beaches of Hawaii to the tallest buildings in China.  We’ve laughed until we cried.  We’ve fought and loved as fiercely as any two people are capable of.  We’ve learned so much from each other and it’s been amazing. 

I cannot wait for the adventures of the next five years.  We’ve got big plans and surprises in store and I’m so excited we’re in on them together because our life?  Is going to be epic.

******

I know some of my LDS beliefs and jargon are foreign to many of you.  If you’d like to learn more about my religion and what I’m talking about, you can go to Mormon.org .  You can also go to this page to learn more about the temple specifically.

Update:  The Church has just announced the completion of a to-scale model of the inside of the Salt Lake Temple.  You can see pictures and read about it here.  This is the first time since the temple’s dedication in 1893 that individuals who do not belong to the LDS Church can see inside.  It’s amazing!

March 30th, 2010 by Kateastrophe

This is the time of year why us “crazy Phoenicians” live here in the hot place.  The weather in Phoenix right now is awesome.  AWE-SOME.  It’s been a balmy 70-85 degrees every day for the past two weeks.  AND I AM TRAPPED IN AN OFFICE NINE HOURS A DAY M-F.  Lamesauce. 

Our weekends are usually filled with cleaning and errands but this weekend Matt and I decided we had to get outside and do something in the gorgeousness, so we pulled the trusty Jeep out of the garage and went for a ride with the top off.  Not MY top off.  Pervs.  THE top off.  Of the JEEP.  Right.  Moving on.  To my hair.  My awesome, out of control Jeep hair.  It took me about thirty minutes to brush it out after we were done.  Isn’t it rad?  And this picture was early on.  You should have seen it three hours later.  HOT.

We drove toward the lake (there’s a LAKE!  In PHOENIX!) and then down into the city and then to a quaint little part of town with antique shops and furniture stores.  It was cute and quant and full of knick-knack crap that I just don’t really DO but we did get ice cream cones and that was totally worth it!  It was awesome to walk around town with a little breeze and shade trees (SHADE TREES!  In PHOENIX!). 

We ended our day with a fabulous Chipotle (a guy I used to work with called it Chi-pot-el and I laughed every time and now that’s just what I call it) burritos and a gorgeous sunset.  Phoenix?  Has AMAZING sunsets.  See?  (Disclaimer:  This was not a sunset from Saturday.  This was a few weeks ago.  But it might as WELL have been from Saturday because they’re all gorgeous.)

Sunday, as if we hadn’t had enough of the great outdoors, we decided to take advantage of the hiking trails our community so generously provided to us.  Granted, they only got us a few yards past the houses then we were off the beaten path.  It was pretty toasty warm, but the breeze felt good.  We were amazed at the wildflowers (WILDFLOWERS??  IN PHOENIX?) in purple, pink and yellow and the cacti are starting to bloom as well, and that’s always fun. 

As we started off the end of the path, Matt looked back and me and said “watch out for rattlesnakes (Seriously.  RATTLESNAKES.  In PHOENIX (getting old yet?))” and as if the rattlesnake gods heard him say that, immediately the bush next to me started making a noise that sounded suspiciously like a rattle.  Matt threw a few rocks at it (because he’s SMRT) but nothing ever came out to say hi, it just kept rattling at us.  I pray it was a big bug.  A little further down the path, I heard a strange rustling next to me again.  My immediate reaction was to scream but luckily I strangled that right in and look what we found!!

Yes, that is a desert tortoise.  IN PHOENIX!  He’s about two feel long and oh so cute.  I think he hated us because Matt kept trying to get closed and closer and then he told me to go nudge him in the butt.  I resisted for a bit but he finally talked me into it and BAM into his shell he went.  It was actually cute because I discovered that they pull their heads in and then cover their heads with their little front feet.  It’s as if he’s silently screaming and hoping his wee arms are enough to save his brain.  I guess luckily in his case they are.  In my case, not so much.

We hiked up for almost two hours and then we were like “screw this we’re going home.”  Which of course took us a long time because going down?  Sucks.  Lots of rocks.  Slippery suckers.  I fell down a couple of times.  Luckily not anywhere close to a cactus.  Which are also everywhere.

It would have been the perfect weekend if not for the GIANT CENTIPEDES WHO HAVE INVADED OUR HOUSE.  (GIANT CENTIPEDES!  IN PHOENIX!) The first one got sent down the bathtub drain, much to his chagrin.  The second one is probably freaking out in the canister of my Dyson as we speak.  I just picture him running around and around mixed in with the dust and red fuzz from our family room rug.  It’s actually sort of funny in my head . . . but probably not funny for him.

We finished our evening by watching Up! (yes, two grown adults with no children watched a cartoon for fun.  AND LIKED IT.  No judging) with the windows and doors open while I secretly freaked out that I was going to be eaten by a giant centipede.  Luckily that didn’t happen.  Yet.  Awesome.

June 12th, 2009 by Kateastrophe

So, Sunday begins my whirlwind of travel.  I’m basically gone for the next three weeks straight.  This is cool for several reasons:

• I get to see Boston for the first time
• I get to go to Dewey Beach with my amazing stepmother, Lisa
• Tax free outlet shopping
• I get to see my brother’s new house AND his fiance’s new bling!
• I get to go to San Francisco
• I hope to finally learn how to beat our new software (that’s seriously giving me a hernia) the beat down.
• I get to see my best college friend, Adrienne
• I also get to see my best guy friend, Dan and his gorgeous wife, Anne
• I get to shop at the H&M on Market Street
• I get to see my bestie, JoAnne, Alli and my baby birthday twin, Nora
• I finally get to see Moses Lake, Washington

This is not cool for several reasons:

• I will miss my husband terribly
• I will not be able to consistently work out
• I may gain back some of the 8% body fat I just found out I lost (but strangely gained five pounds??)
• I will be at a conference on the east coast that starts at 7AM.  That’s 4AM Arizona time.  OUI
• I will be at a conference and on my feet all day
• My stepmother will most likely be doing some complaining about my Dad and their upcoming divorce
• Beach+Kate=Sunburn.  EVERY TIME.

I’m already feeling exhausted, overworked and overwhelmed, and the next few weeks probably won’t help with that, BUT, I do love my job, my friends and my life so I don’t really have anything to complain about.

I’ll be reporting on my trips when I can and reading blogs during down-time via my Crackberry.

Now I’m going to get my adorable snoring husband off the couch and into bed.  Tomorrow is our last day together for quite some time.  Oh how I’ll miss him.

May 28th, 2009 by Kateastrophe

I was talking to a friend recently about how her husband grew up in hell and she grew up in Disneyland (it’s a whole other blog post subject, but roll with me here) and ever since then I realized how amazingly lucky I am to have married a man who makes every day like Disneyland.  And that’s saying a lot. I love Disneyland . . . and I love my life with my unbelievably amazing husband even more.

Four years ago today Matt and I were sealed for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake LDS Temple.  True to (my preferred) form we were married in my equivalent of a castle and it’s a day I will never forget.  We promised to love each other for eternity and I am so grateful to know that ours is a bond that will never be broken.  Not even by death.

My fairytale life continued that day with a wedding reception that was a dream come true.  We had perfect weather, in a perfect place with the perfect crowd of loved ones to celebrate our love with us.

I married a man who puts me above anything else.  Who laughs when I laugh, hurts when I cry and makes sure that I know I am the most important, beautiful thing in the whole world.  I have said it a million times . . . I don’t know what I did right to deserve him.

Every single day I marvel at the man I was blessed to marry.  Our separate lives have meshed into one and I cannot remember my life without him — nor do I want to.  He is my everything and I want him to know that this has been the four most amazing years of my life and our eternity is going to be even better than Disneyland.

February 17th, 2009 by Kateastrophe

Our weekend was simply delicious. Friday night Matt told me for Valentine’s Day he wanted me to go pick out a new pair of shoes. I squealed delightfully and we headed out to the mall . . . where I could find NO SHOES. I’m not sure what happened or what is missing from my brain, but I couldn’t really find anything GREAT. And lately? If it’s not great I’m not having it. So, we decided to go upstairs to the clothes . . . specifically the part where there was 70% off of my favorite brand of clothes. (Please recall my last post for reference to how excited this makes me.) I proceeded to try on everything they had in my size and made out like a bandit. My husband was quite a trooper and actually liked everything I picked out (we have very different taste in women’s clothing, to say the least.) We then ate at Matt’s favorite fast food joint, Del Taco.

I’m going to go on a tangent for just a second here to state, for the record, that I don’t get the fascination with Del Taco. Matt could literally eat it every single day. I can’t figure it out. Wavy cut french fries and tacos? How do those two go together? Call me crazy but I’ll take Taco Bell any day of the week. Tangent ending now.

Saturday I got a mad cleaning bug and spent THREE HOURS cleaning out our closet and drawers and then deep cleaning (and I mean DEEP CLEANING) the bathroom. One of the things I loved about our master bathroom when we bought this house was the clear glass shower door. Thanks in part to the hardest water IN THE WORLD, it is now what I hate most about our house. You can’t just wipe it down. OH NO! You have to get out the bathroom cleaner to get off the soap scum. THEN you have to rinse that off with water. HARD WATER. Which you then have to squeegee off. And THEN you must clean the glass with Windex and THEN, as a precautionary measure, get out the Rain-X. IT TAKES FOR FRICKIN’ EVER. Needless to say just the shower takes a long time and I cleaned baseboards and grout and cupboards and all that crap. The bathroom has never been so clean and I have never been so sick of cleaning.

We spent Saturday evening on a sort of couples date with our friends JoAnne and James. We made restaurant style (read: BOILED IN BUTTER) filet mignon, mashed potatoes and corn and then finished off the meal with warm molten chocolate cakes topped with strawberries and whipped cream. DEEELISH. Matt and I then went home and were the boring old married couple who fell asleep watching old episodes of Bones. Don’t worry though, we’re going to go out this weekend to celebrate Valentine’s Day sans the crazy crowd and impossible to get reservations. I’m thinking seafood.

Sunday was spent doing the church thing and then attempting to deep clean the kitchen and family room, at which point my totally awesome vacuum decided to bite the dust (pun intended.) The “won’t ever lose suction” SOB decided to lose suction. We’re having a fight right now, Mr, Infinity and I. I’m going to win by taking him back to his home and exchanging him for a REAL vacuum, most likely named DYSON. That’s what I get for trying to save a little bit of cash. A won’t ever lose suction vacuum that LOSES SUCTION. Bastard.

Monday, at my husband’s request, we did MORE shopping at the outlets in Anthem where there was more 70% off of my favorite clothes. I restrained myself and only bought three things, but my are they glorious. We decided to end the weekend on a high note by seeing Slumdog Millionaire. There are few movies I would claim to be somewhat life changing for me and this, folks, is one of them. It deserves all the attention and awards it’s been receiving. My suggestion is to run, not walk, to see it.

That brings me to today. Sigh. There is nothing quite as lame as returning to work after a long, relaxing weekend full of quality spouse time and shopping. It becomes lame-ER when everyone you work with is in Florida working and you are stuck in the office making solicitation calls. THIS IS NOT WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR WHEN I SAID I WANTED A MARKETING CAREER, PEEPS. However, appointments at our show are good for the salespeople and what’s good for the salespeople is what’s good for me. Or so I’ve heard.

As you can see, I live a pretty boring existence. Would someone please tell me something amazingly fun you did over the weekend so I can live vicariously through you? That’d be great, kthxbai.

October 9th, 2008 by Kateastrophe

We just got Rock Band.  FOR FREE.  I love “knowing a guy” and having “the guy” owe me one.

I told Matt he’d love it and laughed at him when he didn’t believe me.  He believes me now.  We just played for two hours straight. 

I have three blisters on my fingers from the drumsticks and I just discovered that Matt?  Can actually sing.  Who knew!

 My own little rocker.  How cute.

August 24th, 2008 by Kateastrophe

I would like to introduce you to Matt, age 4 months:

Could you DIE? Look at that little face and the button nose!!

Now, meet Matt at 1 year:

Stopit he’s so cute.

How about 2 years old? Wanna meet him then?

What a little gentleman, no?

Let’s see . . . is he still cute at 3?

Not just cute, he’s a SUPERPERSON!

Look at that protective older brother face!!!

And that SMILE!?

At four, I swear he’s the twin of my baby brother Patrick. While that is a little creepy, it’s also SO dang cute.

He just looks so sweet!

His fashion sense at five is awe inspiring!

Hello, my name is Mr. Dapper!

First grade . . . just starting school.

Makes my heart melt.

That’s not surprising though . . . he still does

Meee-ow

Today my sweetheart had a birthday. He got lots of junk food and his own fridge to keep it in, Mario Cart and a gluttonous dinner at Claim Jumper. During down time today, I kept asking him what he wanted to do, and, on his own birthday, he was concerned about what I wanted to do. That is the kind of man I married. He’d rather have me happy that do something he wants to do. (Don’t worry though, I forced him to pick what he wanted to do.) Thanks Janna and Steve for raising such an amazing person. I married way out of my league and I thank God every day sending this man into my life.

Matt, I love you more and more every day. Thank you for being so incredibly amazing. Happy Birthday!!!

August 14th, 2008 by Kateastrophe

From the moment I roared into this world, I was social. A talker. Interested. Engaged with those around me.

Stories of me as a toddler always include me becoming fast friends with the family next to us at dinner. Stories of me screaming “hello” to passing shopping carts and becoming very irritated if no response was given. Walking up to complete strangers and asking them about their respective private parts.

My Mom often tells one story about losing me in a mall for two hours when I was three years old. She was running through the mall, sobbing hysterically, sure I had been kidnapped. She eventually found me sitting on a bench, in a deep conversation with a woman in her forties. The woman felt awful as she explained to my Mom that she was so engaged in the conversation we were having, it never occurred to her that I had been separated from a parent. I WAS THREE.

Told you I was social.

I was never one to understand why anyone would be shy. Why people want to be reserved?? Quiet? Huh? I’ve struggled to understand these concepts my whole life. I always sort of thought shy people were . . . well, boring. I come from a completely Irish background. Loud, boisterous, stereotypical Irish. Quiet isn’t a word we understand. Reserved means that table is taken and you can’t sit there. My younger brother was publicly shy, in a way, but at home he was anything BUT. He was the clown, the one sitting at the dinner table pulling his cheeks as far off his teeth as possible and barking and mooning us from behind our Mom. His shy he grew out of it by about third grade so I’d never been around someone who was shy and quiet all the time. It was completely foreign to me

Enter my husband.

Shortly after we met, a friend of ours finagled a phone call between us, fibbing to both of us that the other asked for the phone call. Matt was the lucky one doing the calling. It was supposed to be a short phone call, inviting me to go on a trip with a group of people, but I turned it into an hour long conversation about everything from family to favorite movies. I hung up the phone excited to have a new friend. My girlfriend (the finagler) called me to report that Matt had simply said to her that I was “quite a talker.” I was insulted! I decided then and there that he didn’t like me and nothing would ever happen, so therefore I probably didn’t like him either.

Little did I know at the time that he was just shy and quiet. Pretty much all the time. And he’s not much of a “talker.” Obviously he’s not “shy” around me anymore, but he’s definitely quiet most of the time. Reserved. Cautious with his words. All things I personally have a hard time comprehending, but that I love about him.

Now I’m doing what I never thought possible. I’m learning from his example. Learning to be more reserved. To share less and listen more. To filter my thoughts. All qualities I never thought I needed or wanted but which I understand the value of more and more every day. I may not be doing a great job at it, but I can see it making a big difference in my life.

I think Matt is also learning from me. Learning to be LESS shy. To be more comfortable around people. It’s hard for me to see him so visibly uncomfortable in social situations. To wish that I could take all his anxiety away and help him relax and be himself around strangers. And I think he’s doing a bang up job. He’ll never be loud and boisterous like me, but he’s sure doing well at the whole “social” thing.

Through all of this, I’m learning ways to help others be less visibly uncomfortable in social situations. To be the kind of person that makes them more comfortable and relaxed. To give them the time to form their thoughts and share them with me. And it’s really nice. The people I always thought were boring are far from that. And I’m ashamed I ever thought that way.

I will never be shy or reserved or even remotely quiet, but as continue to I grow up, I’m finding a balance between my world and Matt’s. Between the loud and the quiet, the filtered and the open – and I’m finding that balance is good.

May 28th, 2008 by Kateastrophe

Three years ago today I married the man of my dreams

The man who has, in every way imaginable, saved me

The man who taught me that a good marriage in my crazy family is possible

Who proved to me that love isn’t hard

Who showed me that a simple, calm, (relatively) drama free life isn’t boring, it’s amazing

The man who still makes me want to jump for joy because he chose me

The man who makes me feel beautiful every single day(even when I know I’m not)

Three years ago today I married the most amazing man I’ve ever met.

And every day I am more in love and so grateful that he is mine and I am his for eternity.

February 14th, 2008 by Kateastrophe

Today is the day of lurve. Oooh ahhh. Valentine’s Day. The day in my previous life as a single girl that typically meant depression and consumption of much chocolate. I was usually alone, abandoned by the most recent “fling” shortly before the holiday.

I was always a hopeless romantic, dreaming of the Valentine’s Day when my Don Juan would arrive to pick me up in a horse drawn carriage to take me out for a night of passion and romance. I wished for thousands of roses and candlelit dinners and everything that “they” (whoever they are) tell you Valentine’s Day is supposed to contain.

I should have dreamed bigger. I should have been dreaming who would put me first, every single day. I should have been hoping for the safe feeling of always being taken care of. I should have imagined years of laughter and fun and tender, amazing true love. Oh, and some serious passion too.

Maybe it’s good that I didn’t dream bigger because it allowed me to be completely swept away by the man who gave me everything I was dreaming of, plus everything I should have been dreaming of and more.

Sure, I’m still a girl and a hopeless romantic who wishes my life had a little more “show” but when I really stop to think about it, you couldn’t pay me enough money or give me enough “packaged romance” to convince me that what I have isn’t the most amazing gift I’ve ever been given. I consider myself the luckiest woman alive to have the privilege to be married to Matt. He is my everything and on Valentine’s Day, I just wanted the world to know it. He is my Don Juan . . . but better.