Weekend/ Update!

When I was little I dreaded General Conference weekend. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED not having to put on a dress and go to church for 3 hours. But I hated having to sit through all the boring old men's talks. It was pure torture. Now that I'm old and wise, I get so excited for it. I love all of the inspiration they have to offer. At every single conference I feel that there is at least one talk that I swear was meant just for me. I am really looking forward to Novembers Ensign with the Conference recap!

Greg lucked out, I actually made breakfast. I can honestly say this is probably only the second time I've made breakfast for him since we've been married. It turned out delicious though.

He better not get used to this, its a once-in-a-lifetime ordeal

On Sunday after conference we took a little (aka 40 minute'ish) drive up to see our house. It is SO cute. Here are are the updated pics.

Garage!

Entrance

The stone we picked

Siding will be installed here (side)

This will one day be a kitchen

Our (dirty) hardwood floors in the kitchen

Cuuute doors

This is the tile that will be in the entry ways, bathrooms, and laundry space

I cannot even explain how happy and excited I am about this. It will feel so nice to finally be a homeowner! Supposedly the house will be done this Wednesday (October 10th), or Thursday at the latest. I'm guessing it won't really happen. But a girl can dream!

Oh, and because this little boy is the cutest kid alive....

Love,

The Glutard

Nickname?

I've really never had a nickname, or one that stuck. I remember when I was little I was always jealous of people who had nicknames that stuck. As pathetic as this sounds, I used to try and start my own hoping others would catch on.

I half-way lied, I do have one. Time for a confession. I was given the nickname, "Chis", from my dear friend Staci and her sister. To be honest when I was first called that, I cried. Anytime I got a birthday invite or anything my name was spelled wrong. Always. There are just too many ways to spell, Kristi. So when they didn't say my name right, I was crushed. But to this day, I am still,  "Chis" to them.

Back to the purpose of this post. My coworker gets daily words from Urban Dictionary. He was extremely excited about yesterday's word. He was so excited about it, he decided to forward it to me, to share the greatness. Here is the e-mail I  received.




It is a well known fact that I am, as the Urban Dictionary states, a "Glutard". I have been a "Glutard" since February 2005- Crazy huh? I know. Luckily its becoming quite the fad, it makes it a lot easier to find Gluten  Free (GF) products!I really don't know if its an honor to have that title, or somewhat offensive? I'll go with the idea that its an honor.

Sincerely,
The Glutard (?)

P.S. I just found some "swag" that might need to be purchased. Stat. Check it out!

GF Hot chocolate will never be the same...

I could maybe get some ink done? Like a gang or something?

It comes in different colors, SCORE!

Be Yourself, Be Yourself, BEE YOURSELLLLF

Has anyone seen Just Friends? Probably one of the best films ever made. It is pure joy on a disc. If you haven't seen it, you probably don't have a soul, and I feel bad for you.

Anywho, Chris (Ryan Reynolds) accidentally comes home for Christmas with his "girlfriend," Samantha James the singer/songwriter. During his short visit home he sees his high school crush and decides to try and win her over. Rather than just being himself, he tries to pick up the traits of guys Jamie Palamino always went after in high school. As he panicked trying to win her over, his mother sings him a sweet, sweet tune. It goes a little like this: "Be yourself, be yourself, be yourseeellllfff". Its pretty deep.

You may be wondering why I would bring such a random movie/song up. Well, recently I've noticed people who just aren't comfortable in their own skin. Each person here on earth was designed to be unique, or original; that is what makes this world so amazing. There isn't, or shouldn't be, anyone who is absolutely the same as you are- and its a good thing. 

Growing up you always do what you have to do to survive the school years. You follow the current trend, you read the "coolest" books/magazines, you listen to the "popular" music. Its hard to define who you are in those years, at least it was for me. After I graduated high school and  ventured into the real world, I learned that it was okay to be me. I could listen to the cheesy boy bands and not be teased (too much). I can dress however  I want. I can be myself. I think finally by the ripe ol' age of 27 I'm finally comfortable in my own skin, being who I am and not worry what others may think.

When someone is trying to be something other than who they are, its hard to really know them. If they don't know who they are themselves, how is anyone else supposed to know?

Here are some cute little quotey-quotes on being original/unique.

My favorite one of all. Thank you, Pinterest!

(Thank you, Pinterest)

(Thank you, Tumblr)

(Thank you again, Pinterest!)


Good night!

Falling in Love

After our second-first date Greg and I became inseparable. He was (and still is) so amazing. He is so incredible. After only dating for a few weeks I had surgery, and knew that I missed seeing my idol in concert because of it, Britney Spears, of course. The day of my surgery Greg came to visit me bringing my favorite Easter candy, diet coke, a sweet card, and two tickets to see Taking Back Sunday in concert. After much deliberation I decided he could have that extra ticket. (Ha!)

After only dating for a month or so, I knew he liked me when he asked if he could come with me while I went shopping for my upcoming vacation. He saw that i was disappointed that I couldn't find the pair of shoes I saw only a few weeks before. So this sweet man surprised me with pink shoes shortly after. We hadn't even become "official" yet. Can we say dream come true? I know.

The longest we were apart during our courtship was for about a week when my family and I went on a cruise to the Bahama's. Although we had only been dating a short time, he insisted on dropping me off, and picking me (and some siblings) from the airport. Any time I had phone service we text non-stop. It was crazy how much I thought of him, and missed him while I was gone. It seemed intense since I had only been dating him for such a short amount of time.

Greg surprised me with so many sweet and thoughtful surprises. He was (and still does) put me first. He makes me feel so important and beautiful- even when I know I'm not. He puts up with so much with me. I was created as a very stubborn individual- we butt-heads (?) a lot because we both insist we are right. But he is always sweet to me. Also with my varying health issues he is nothing less than supportive.

Neither of us thought, or planned, that we would fall in love so quickly and easily. However, although we felt it, we didn't want to scare the other off. So our saying to each other for the longest time was, "I way more than like you". It is still a sweet saying that reminds us of your past together.

It was probably in June when Greg and I went on a double date with his friend Luke, and his new girlfriend. We had dinner at Wingers and had planned to go bowling after, but it didn't end up working out. Greg got food poisoning, or something, and by the ended up really sick by the end of the night. We went to his grandparents house, where he was currently living, and hung out for a little while longer. As the night progressed, the sickness did as well. Because he was so sick I was going to call my mom or dad to see if they'd come pick me up, so he didn't have to drive me home while he was so sick. But because he is quite the classy gentleman he insisted on taking me home. As he dropped me offI said, "feel better, I love you!", without even thinking. I almost died. I guess he hadn't heard me and asked what I had said so I covered it up by saying, "I way more than like you." I proceeded to quickly close the door and rush to my house. I thought I had ruined everything. He had a bad relationship prior to us being together, so I was trying to make sure we didn't rush things and make things harder for him. 

About a month or so later, after my XANGO summer party at seven peaks we finally officially said those three words, I Love You. We were at his place and just talking and he suddenly said he had a secret for me (I LOVE secrets). He ended up telling me that he was in love with me. It felt so amazing hearing him say that to me, and it was even more amazing to finally say those words to him. 

Life was, and still is, so wonderful. I'm so blessed to have Greg as my husband and the father of our future children. It was a totally smart idea on his part to fall in love with me. Now he gets to be a part of my awesomeness for time and all eternity. 

Busy weekend!

I had such a great, but busy weekend! I hope you did, too!

On Friday some of the girls I work with had a GNO! It was filled with:



It was beyond delightful. I love Wingers, but Greg hates it. So it was nice going with some friends! I still can't decide if I liked the movie, or not. Has anyone else seen it yet?

Saturday was booked solid, too. I had a much needed hair appointment that morning and went dark, I love it!

I'm not trying to look retarded, just showin' the red-ness

Then I went on to doing some math homework. I really, really despise math. It is completely useless... anyways, then I did my sister-in-law's hair for homecoming and helped a little with her make up. She looked so cute! I'm still waiting on a final picture.

That night we went with Greg's friend and his wife to Spaghetti Factory and tried going to the SLC temple, but got there a little late. So instead, we got a tour of the conference center. I have been a few times before, but it was so nice to see it again.

Then on Sunday, after the Brigham City Temple dedication we took my parents to see the house! Are you (as if anyone even reads this) sick of hearing about the house? Well, too bad. :) 

I'm SO glad we went and saw the house again, it has come a long more than I thought it would have. The garage door is on, the interior doors have been delivered, the baseboards arrived as well, and the outside is at the beginning of being stucco'd (sp?)!! 

I can't wait to see it progress! Its so exciting. I have sort of forgot all the colors we picked, so hopefully I'll still like them. Haha! Here are a few pictures so far.

Doesn't the sky look cool?

The side-view

Our adoorable doors..see what I did there?

Us in front of the humble abode (sp?)

I have been getting a little nervous about our decision to move to Eagle Mtn, but each time I see it I know we made the right choice. Its so exciting, but I've never lived this far away from my family, which will be hard to adjust to. I guess we'll have to host some holiday and/or random party/get-together's so people will consider visiting us. :)

Sunday night I started making cake pops, but it was mostly a fail because I didn't allow them to freeze all of the way at first. But here are the few I did that were successful!

I have a love/hate relationship with these things. They are a pain to make (not hard, just annoying) but SOO delicious to eat!

Decisions, decisions..

Life is SO good! We've been so blessed and many good things are happening. Last week we were able to meet with the builder and finalize things we want for our house. Supposedly I was a little bratty about the things I wanted, but I don't believe it for a second!

We chose dark hardwood floors and semi-dark cabinets. We got to pick out our granite counter-top color. We chose medium/neutral tile and carpet. (The carpet we didn't agree on, but I totally won that war!) We also had to pick out the grout color.. who knew that could be so hard!? I can't remember what else we picked out, but it was fun but also overwhelming.

We're lucky that we had such great features to choose from that didn't cost extra. The only things we are adding on is oil-brushed bronze fixtures and stainless steel appliances. Its gonna be SWEET! To be honest, I'm a little nervous about an oil-brushed bronze faucet, with a stainless steel sink/basin. Here is a picture I found online: 



What do you think?

We also got to visit our new house on Sunday, to show Greg's parents. It was SO fun going out to see it. I got super excited all over again. Here are some pictures from the trip.





Is it not the cutest thing you've ever seen? Yeah, I didn't think so. ;)

NEW HOUSE!!!

Greg and I are SO excited to announce that we are moving to Eagle Mountain! We are building a home and it will be ready sometime in October. We originally were planning on a 6-month'ish wait, but the builder had a home already framed, so things are moving along quite faster than we thought. 

Things are crazy with work, school, and getting the loan and house finalized. But it will be SO worth it!

Here is the layout:

Wish us luck!

The Beginning of our Second-First Date

I'm trying to get this here blog started with a background of the Maynes'. Today I want to reminisce about our second-first date.

Greg and I hadn't really talked since our first-first date. Because we were both crazy-shy. Most of the blame is on me because I am the one who started the no-more-talking deal. I really never thought I'd really see, or hang out with him, again.

It was towards the beginning of 2009 and I was working as a data-entry agent in the Elite Services Department of XanGo. It was the "slow time" of the month, so me and the other data-entry agent really just hung out until we were given work to do. A lot of my day was playing games on Facebook or browsing the internet.

While I was "working" I noticed I had a Friend Request on Facebook, so of course I check it out. As crazy as it sounds- it was Greg Maynes. After a LONG debate (wink,wink), I added him and stalked through his pictures, like a normal person would do. Later that day, or week, he wrote on my page just saying hi, and asking what I had been up to in the past .. a lot of years. I wrote back with the generic "Not much. You?" response. I thought it would fizzle out and that would be that.- Wrong again! We started writing to each other back and forth on our wall's and finally our messages got too long and we had to send it in a message. This went on for weeks. We got to know each other really well. He was working the graveyard-shift at Primary Children's Hospital at the time so I would get messages from him at really odd hours.I remember looking forward to his e-mails each morning, and sometimes the afternoon too. I finally got bold and gave him my phone number.

I'm not going to lie when I say that I  was expecting a call within 24 hours. I can assure you that it did not happen. We still e-mailed back and forth, but he never asked a certain question.. the one I was DYING to hear. A few days passed and I had stopped staring at the phone (yes, i'm one of those girls). Who am I kidding, I still watched that thing like a hawk.

Sunday dinner came and went- I'm sure it was good, my mom can definitely cook. I just remember when my family and I were all hanging out after eating and joking around, my phone lit up! It was Greg (it was about ... time!). I played it cool. But only if cool means running and jumping over people while I ran to my room and slammed the door. But I did let it ring two or  three times so he wouldn't think I was sitting around waiting for the call.

It was raining really hard and he was on the freeway driving to work. I honestly had the hardest time understanding him. I did make out that he wanted to take me out the following Friday, March 27th, 2009. (Is it cheesy that I remember the dates?).

So Friday night rolled around and I was getting really anxious. For those who don't know me, I'm a serious worrier- about EVERYTHING. So, the anxious thoughts started running through my mind a million thoughts per second, not literally (haha?). Any-who.. I just remembered how awkward things got after the first-first date. So I was a little worried, not gonna lie.  Well he picked me up, and the first thing I noticed was that he was taller than I remembered. No joke. I don't think I've even told him that.

So our date  began by driving to Lehi to go to a nice little Thai restaurant. We got totally forgotten about by our waiter. Our table was in the far corner, and no one was really sat by us. We were literally there for at least two hours. Luckily, things went extremely well. We talked and there were not any awkward pauses. It was a really crazy. We clicked almost immediately. After dinner we were supposed to go rock-climbing, but plans changed due to being neglected at the restaurant. Instead we opted to go to a movie. We decided to see Duplicity (with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen.. ring a bell?). It was not a good movie, to us at least. We talked through most of it. We normally despise people who talk through movies. But it was pretty empty and it was really stupid.

(Ring a bell?)

Then he dropped me off, and we ended the night with a crazy make-out session... just kidding. It was just a nice hug. Definitely the BEST second-first-date, ever!

Educational Weekend

Hello Monday, I sincerely despise you. 

I'm just like anyone else, I love having weekends and hate when they end. They are always too short; and weekdays are too long. If I were to rule the world, I would make it so that weekends are 5 days, and work days are only 2 days; with the same pay. I would be an excellent ruler.

My weekend was very educational. I learned many life lessons. Some of the most important lessons are below. Look and Learn.

Lesson #1: My adorable little nephew CAN get cuter. I am seriously obsessed with this little guy. I remember when my sister announced that she was going to be having a little baby. It was cool at the time. But, as the day got closer and her belly began to grow- it all seemed much more real and exciting. I didn't understand how much I could love a little baby I just met so much. That first time I saw him, he won me over.

Before

After

 Lesson #2: You don't HAVE to be redneck to enjoy a good ol' fashion demolition derby. On Saturday night we tagged along with Greg's brother, his wife, and their  friends. It was  the first demolition derby Greg and I had ever  been to. I honestly didn't really know what to expect, but it was really fun. There were some really odd people doing some really odd things. But, it is what it is.  Here is a picture of my favorite/scariest part:

Lesson #3: I CAN take a picture and not make a weird, overly-excited face. Here it is folks.

First  Attempt

Second Attempt

Lesson #4: I have started doing nails a little here and there. I have a Gelish kit and normally only do one color. Well my little sister is getting sealed next week and wanted a french tip. I was hesitant to try, but I got the stuff over the weekend and tried it on myself, and I'm not gonna lie- I'm impressed. Evidence below:That is all for now! I hope you had a great weekend, too! Only a few more days until the next one! Tootles! 

And my right hand isn't half-bad either!

Him + Her

I just wanted to do a quick introduction about Greg and myself. We both filled out a little survey dealio. 

Here is Greg's take on the questions...

What is her name? Kristi
How long have you been together? 3 and a half years
How long did you date? 10 months
How old is she? 27
Who eats more? Me
Who said I love you first? Me
Who is taller? Me
Who can sing better? Me
Who is smarter? Me
Who does the laundry? Me
Who pays the bills? Me
Who sleeps on the right side? .Me
Who mows the lawn? N/A but it would be me
Who cooks dinner? .Me
Who drives? Me
Who is more stubborn? Kristi
Who kissed who first? I kissed her first
Who asked who out first? I asked her
Who proposed? Me
Who is more sensitive? Who has more siblings? Kristi-both
Who wears the pants? ME!!!

Isn't he funny? Yeah, I didn't think so either. He said, "Well, I am there to supervise" -his words, not mine. Punk.
Here is my take on it... 

What is his name? Gregory Kurt Maynes
How long have you been together? Since March 2009, so about 3.5 years.
How long did you date? Our (second) first date was on March 27th.. and he asked me to marry him on October 10th.
How old is he? 27.. but a few months older.
Who eats more? Greg
Who said I love you first? Technically me. Greg drove me home from a date one night and he was extremely sick. As I got out of the car I said something like, "Feel better, I love you!" ... He didn't hear me and asked me to repeat myself. So I said, "Feel better..." I took off the I love you part, because I was afraid it would freak him out... Then one day after my work summer party, he said it.
Who is taller? Greg by a few inches.
Who can sing better? Undecided, he sings more than I do.
Who is smarter? Probably Greg. He remembers everything.
Who does the laundry? Both. We both do a fair share of the laundry. He isn't picked on and have to do it all himself.
Who pays the bills? He says that he does.. but I'm the one with the check book. However, we are both in charge of paying certain bills.
Who sleeps on the right side? If you are looking at the bed, he is on the right side.
Who mows the lawn? Our apartment manager. :)
Who cooks dinner?

Who drives? Greg does usually, but I sometimes take a turn
Who is more stubborn? We are both pretty stubborn.. I think he's more so though.
Who kissed who first? Greg
Who asked who out first? First-first date, I did. Second-first date, he did.
Who proposed? Greg
Who is more sensitive? Who has more siblings? I win on both accounts.
Who wears the pants? He likes to think he is. But I'm the boss. ;)

That is just a little on us... I'll be back later telling more info on "our story"!

First Date

Greg and I met back in kindergarten, Mrs. McCone was our teacher. We also grew up in the same LDS stake. Oh, and we only lived like 3 blocks away from each other for most of our lives.

Greg and I had always known each other, but we never really started talking until we were in 10th grade, in Mrs. Wellings algebra class. Greg sat up one seat forward, and one seat to the right of me in that class. There were a couple of us who would chit-chat before, after, and a little during class (of course). If you were to ask Greg, he'd tell you the only reason we talked was so that I could copy his math homework, which is only partially true; I did borrow his answers, but we talked for fun as well.

Well a few months after school  started they announced that the Sweethearts Dance was coming up in February. It was the hot topic and all the girls were planning on who they would ask and what group they wanted to be in. Luckily, I got  to participate this time, because I would be 16 right before the day of the dance. I'm sure you can guess who I asked, Greg. Big surprise, right? Anyway, I remember asking Greg with a few bags of starbursts and making a sign that said something about look in the candies to see who is bursting to go to Sweethearts with you.. and had my name tucked away into some of the wrappers. I don't remember how he replied, but he said yes.

The quicker that day came, the worse my nerves got. I'm a very anxious girl, and this was my first date.. and I asked him! When I get nervous I can do some really dumb things. For some reason I got all weird around him because I didn't want him, or others, to think I was like in love with him and get teased for it. Crazy, right? It was just a dance. 

Well the awkwardness continued the day of the dance.  I didn't quite have my license so we carpool with another couple to the dance. Because Greg lived so close, we went to his house first. I remember walking up to his door literally shaking because of nerves. His mom opened the door, I knew her from church activities as well as she is who did the crossing on my way to school in elementary school... Anyways, she answered the door and guided me into their front room where Greg, his dad, and his sister, Rhiannon, were waiting. Because it was a formal dance I was supposed to pin on a boutonniere. I say supposed to because I was shaking too bad to be able to do it; luckily his mom stepped in. 

The first event of the night was dinner. We went to a little Italian restaurant with our group. It was good, we had a decent sized group, so there weren't too many awkward silences. Before we left the restaurant me and a few other girls went to "powder our noses". While we were in there I was checking my hair and/or makeup and leaned up on the counter towards the mirror- BIG mistake. There was a bunch of water, and that water hit me just right and I looked as though I had peed my pants/dress. Awesome. I was literally running around in the bathroom trying to get it to dry before we had to leave. 

On the way to the dance the fun continued, there was a slight fender-bender with a friends car. It was bad that we had the accident- but at least it wasn't some stranger, right? Right. FINALLY we were on our way to the dance. Man, I was SO nervous. Greg was too. So with that combination it was a fun, but awkward date.

In my mind, I thought everyone would think we were an "item" now that we went to that dance together... and I liked him. However, I had a funny way of showing it, I avoided him like the plague- and not just in math... the rest of high school! 

But, believe it or not, we did have a second date... just quite a few years later.