Happy Easter!

My family didn't do much celebrating on Easter Sunday (as no one's plans coordinated), but that didn't take away from the holiday one bit. I know that Easter is not about the chocolate, plastic eggs, or over-sized bunny (which in my opinion, is pretty creepy to begin with), but it's about the atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that through the atonement we can repent of our shortcomings, turn our weaknesses into strengths, and someday return to our Father in Heaven and be with our families for eternity. I am so grateful for the blessings that the atonement has brought into my life, and the assurance and guidance it has given me.

Happy Easter!

lucky in love

my sisters and I had the privilege of throwing chris' fiance, jade, a bridal shower. now, anyone who knows me, knows I love throwing a bridal shower. like, I really, really love it. and even better, this time I got to team up with my creative sisters to create something really great!

at first, I was stuck on doing a "paris" themed shower. I don't know why, but that theme has always appealed to me. but after realizing that jade has no correlation to anything paris, I finally (and reluctantly) let go of my idea.  my sister, harmony, eventually came up with the cutest idea for a theme- "lucky in love". The shower would be in march (on the first day of spring), so doing a "lucky" shower fit into the month perfectly. also, with Jade's name being a shade of green, we thought it would be cute to incorporate all different shades of green into the shower- which incorporated into the month as well.

cake pops made by harmony and jeff.

fruit rainbow provided by wendy.

wraps made by nikki.

Italian sodas made by me. 

we gave all the guests a "lucky" bingo card, where the filled in each space with guesses on what jade would get for her shower.

everything ended up coming together beautifully and the turnout was better than expected. the highlights (in my opinion) was the chick flick game and video of chris that we secretly filmed (kendrick did an awesome job with editing it- it included a bloopers reel and everything).

for the chick flick game, I picked out twenty different movies that my parents and I owned, and covered the title, and put chris and jade's faces on top of the main characters (I felt pretty creepy having 20 different sized cut outs of their faces... just saying). It ended up being so funny and surprisingly difficult to guess the movie when you can't see the two main characters!

as for the video of chris, harmony had asked jade a variety of questions about him, and then kendrick and I filmed him as he gave his answers. It was such a wonderful surprise for jade! with each wrong answer, jade had to eat a sour gumball, and lets just say, she had a really full mouth by the end of the game.

so excited to have you in the family, jade!

(i'm hoping you'll forgive me for the sour gumballs sometime in the near future).

Birthday weekend for Kamiya

If there's one thing that I could get used to, it's weekend getaways with fun and spontaneous people. Last weekend was a getaway for the books, as we headed out to Mesquite to celebrate Aaron's birthday. It was just me, Kendrick, Aaron, and Brandon- which may sound terrible, with my being the other girl and all, but I honestly wouldn't have had it any other way!

As soon as we arrived in Mesquite, I was ready to hit the sheets and call it a night (and it was only eleven o'clock!) The boys had something entirely different in mind, as they headed out for some late night black jack and McDonald's breakfast. Of course, as soon as they left, I started thinking about all of the horrendous things that could happen to me, with me being alone and all (because I'm just Postive Polly over here), But I was able to calm those fears with a long shower and then turning on the news- which just informed me on all the local crimes. Awesome.

The next morning came fast, and I was up and ready to go! The guys were all tired and ready for a Redbull run (I think they were out until about 2:00). Our first stop was the CasaBlanca Resort for the breakfast buffet! It was dirt cheap for each person, and the food honestly wasn't too shabby. If anything, we were all full and ready to take on the day!

Next stop- Vegas! We didn't want to spend too much time on the strip, so spent our first few hours strolling through the outlets. I had to make my mandatory stop at Kate Spade, while the guys headed off to look at things with a little less bows. We all met up later, hungry and ready to have some lunch. Aaron told us about a great placed called Bachi Burger (it was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives!), so the decision to head their for lunch was unanimous.

Bachi certainly did not disappoint, and gave us the energy we needed to continue on with the day! However, despite the delicious burgers and fries, we were all getting pretty tired (the guys were crashing hard from their morning Redbulls), so all agreed to finish up the day walking along the Vegas strip. I must say, as terrible of a place that Vegas is, it sure is a pretty sight when it gets dark.

We were on the road and back to Mesquite by ten o'clock, and I know I can speak for everyone when I say we were exhausted. The next morning was a sad one, as I realized that this fun little trip was just about over. We had some delicious breakfast at the casino, then drove the thirty minutes to Saint George. Our time in St. George was spent shopping and prepping ourselves for the long trek home. Although, I must admit, road trips with these guys aren't bad at all- our friend Brandon is literally the human version of a jukebox, and kept us completely entertained for the whole trip.

Oh, and I have to mention the bucket list item that I was able to check off in Vegas! I have always wanted a characterture drawn of me, and thanks to Kendrick for being a good sport, I was finally able to get one! I must say, Kendrick's beard is on point, and as for me.. at least I know what I'll look like when I'm thirty.

attack of the appendicitis

it all started at about 9 o'clock on the night of monday, february 16th. kendrick and I had just gotten back from a dinner with his parents, and were retreating to our room to get ready for bed and put on a movie. the second I laid down, I knew something was not right. I could not get comfortable, the nausea hit, chills started up, and the ache on the lower right side of my stomach only got worse with time. around midnight, I found myself running back and forth from the bedroom to bathroom, throwing up each time. I have had a fair share of flu's in my lifetime, and while most of the symptoms matched up, I could not shake the lingering thought in my mind that it was my appendix.

now, to be perfectly honest, I'm sick a lot. some times more than others, but about sixty percent of the time, I am just not feeling great. kendrick, as sweet of a husband that he is, probably thinks I can be a bit of a drama queen when it comes to being sick (which I'm not denying). so, when I asked him if it could be my appendix, he was quick to dismiss that option. of course, I can't blame him for feeling that way, as the only evidence I had that it could be appendicitis was the long list of symptoms that popped up on my internet browser when I googled "symptoms of appendicitis". note- never do this, you'll end up thinking that the symptoms for the common cold are the beginning stages of a life-threatening tumor.

however, it was odd to both of us that the appendix is on the lower right side of the stomach, and that was the only part of my body that was hurting. but each and every time that kendrick pressed down in that area, it didn't hurt at all. so, I retrieved my trusty rice pack that my mom made me, heated it up nice and warm, and laid it on my lower right stomach. the sharp pain escalated as the hours went on, and by two in the morning I was miserable. kendrick gave me a blessing, and I took some pain medicine, which allowed me to drift off for a couple of hours of blissful sleep.

the next morning was not better, at all. I called in sick to work, and laid in front of the tv, keeping the heat pack on my stomach. I still couldn't rid the thought of it being appendicitis, so researched it online one more time. I scrolled to the section about how to manage the pain, and there it was in big bold letters- do not apply any heat on the area, as it may lead to the bursting of the appendix. of course, I still didn't know if it was appendicitis or not, but I ironically had been keeping a hot rice pack on the area all night and morning. whether or not it was appendicitis, I didn't want to take my chances, so off went the heat pad. 

it was around this time that kendrick called me from work. he explained to me that his friend at work had a relative that recently had appendicitis, and the way they found out was they jumped off a chair. basically, if the landing hurt a significant amount in that area, it was appendicitis. I was willing to try anything at this moment, so up I went, and off the couch and onto the floor...and oh did it hurt! "I'm on my way home," kendrick quickly said and hung up.

I changed and made myself as presentable as possible (so basically- leggings, sweatshirt, ponytail). at this point, I couldn't even bend over without crying out in pain. kendrick showed up at the house about 20 minutes later, and we were off to the hospital.

I won't bore you with the details of the next twelve excruciating hours- but it went a little something like this: check into the Emergency Room at ten am, get admitted to a personal room, change into hospital gown, wait for nurse. thirty minutes later- nurse shows up, vitals are taken and iv is inserted (ouch!). nurse leaves, wait another hour. nurse arrives, pumps the most magical, miraculous God-sent medicine into iv (hello, dilaudid!), which leaves me giggling for the next thirty minutes. nurse leaves, there's another 1 hour wait. different nurse arrives with an ultra sound machine. we do a vaginal ultrasound, so that some pictures of my ovaries could be taken (to look for cysts). ultra sound comes up clear, there's another two hour wait. different nurse arrives and wheels me into a room for a ct scan (this was actually one of the coolest parts- they pumped some metallic-y stuff into my veins, so that my veins and blood vessels would glow on the x-ray, but it left my blood feeling extremely warm and my mouth tasting like metal- weirdest. feeling. ever). wheeled back into room, there's another two hour wait. parents arrive, and doctor arrives soon after. we are told that the ct scan showed some signs of appendicitis, and they suggest I get my appendix out. um, do it, do it now.

something must have caught on, because there were about eight other appendectomy's done that night, which bumped my surgery clear to ten o'clock at night.yep that's right, a full twelve hours after I was admitted into the hospital. the nurse wheeled me up to my hospital room, which was about the twelfth floor off the ground, maybe (honestly, at this point, all details are fuzzy. thank you, pain killers!) my parents followed us up to make sure I got settled in, and then said goodbye so that kendrick and I could be alone. I have got to say, going through things like this with a husband by my side makes trials so much more manageable. 

around nine o'clock, our sweet friend kamiya stopped by to check on me and bring dinner to kendrick (he drove clear from provo!) he also surprised me with some gorgeous purple orchids. we all chatted for about twenty minutes (not entirely sure about how coherent I was, considering the amount of pain meds pumping through my veins). the nurse surprised me around nine thirty, letting me know that my surgery was bumped up and it was my turn. I know it is such a small operation- but I was so nervous! I've never had an operation done before! I was wheeled downstairs, and then stopped in a long white empty hall, where I was left alone to stir in my own, unreasonable thoughts. I was about to be cut open, what if they mess up? what if they find something else? what if I wake up while they are doing the procedure? just little optimistic olivia in these kinds of situations.

I was greeted by the sweetest older man, who told me that he would be the surgeon conducting my operation. I then met my anesthesiologist, and got prepped for surgery. the last thing I remember was the surgeon telling me something about my fingernails (maybe?), and then a mask coming up to my face, and then I was out. next thing I know, it's pitch black, and I hear voices all around me. I feel tired and weak, and as much as I want to, I can't get my eyelids to raise. I was then wheeled back to my hospital room, where I could hear kendrick and feel his hand as he grabbed mine. 

that night was probably one of my most uncomfortable nights (beside the night before that). I woke up around 2 in the morning with achy incisions and my shoulders hurt so bad. I called for a nurse, and she explained to me that during surgery you are pumped up full of gas, so for the next couple of days, that gas will rise in your body, causing your shoulders to hurt. the pain was almost intolerable, so she suggested I take a walk to relieve the pressure. So there I was, at two thirty in the morning, walking around the hospital sporting my hospital gown and an iv tank.

the rest of the night didn't go much better. every time I was able to drift off to sleep, the pesky machine next to my bed (that monitored my heart rate) would have a startling beeping-fit. we probably called the nurse in four or five times to turn it off. and don't even get me started on trying to use the bathroom, that was a process all in itself- especially when you are hooked up to all kinds of machines and there are cords everywhere! but like I said before, having a husband to help with things like that just made everything so much easier (lucky him, right?)

I was awaken the next morning by my dad who stopped in on his way to work to check up on me. we chatted a bit, while the nurse brought in breakfast. after my dad had left, the surgeon that had done the operation stopped by to see how I was doing. he told me that my appendix was extremely sick, and that it was covered in puss. he also said that if we hadn't come in when we did, it would have burst that previous night. it was a little funny to me that the doctor who had viewed my ct scan made it sound like getting my appendix removed was an "option". ha!

from this whole experience, there are two things I remember vividly. the first was how ridiculously thirsty I was. from nine in the morning until midnight, I was not allowed anything to drink at all- and it honestly sucked! whenever kendrick had gotten himself a coke from the hospital cafeteria, I begged and begged him to sneak me a sip, and while he wouldn't do that, he would fill the straw up with a little and drip it into my mouth (so basically, I was a hamster). the nurses did give me a drip to keep me hydrated, which made my veins feel cold and tingly, but nothing that could compare to a nice cold drink of water. never, ever am I taking water for granted again.

secondly- how grateful I am for my husband. my favorite part about the whole experience was each and every time I looked over at him, he was already looking at me, with a look of both love and concern. throughout the whole ordeal, he didn't leave my side once. we are an eternal team, and my trials become his trials, and vice versa. from our good days, to our bad and challenging days (like these!) I wouldn't trade a single day that is spent with him.

and I can't end this post without mentioning the support and love I received from my family and sweet in-laws! from bringing me dinner to text messages of well wishes, I am almost tempted to get something else taken out of my body... it'd almost be worth it. almost.

weekend in montana

over the weekend, kendrick and I ventured out to the beautiful state of montana, along with his aunt jen and cousins shelby and kelsey. shelby and kelsey are both from montana, so we had their home to stay at, completely free. Isn't that the best? the ride up was a blast, as we made a necessary stop at the sweet tooth fairy to stock up on cake bites and a variety of cupcakes... which is pretty much required for any respectable road trip.

we arrived in montana around midnight, and it was as cold as ever! there was snow everywhere. we were all tired and cold, so quickly brought everything into the house, and then turned in for a full nights sleep.

waking up to a world completely blanketed in snow is one of the best feelings ever, it just makes everything so whimsical and beautiful. we were greeted the next morning by kendrick's aunt and cousins in the kitchen eating cereal, so we helped ourselves to some as well.

there was basically only one thing on the agenda that day- snowmobiling. the next hour was spent getting everything ready, which included gathering gear that fit each person and picking up the snowmobiles. kendrick's relatives actually own the snowmobiling rental shop, so everything was completely free (no complaints here!) around eleven o'clock we were finally ready to go! this was my very first snowmobiling experience, so I definitely wasn't ready to go all by myself. luckily, kendrick was completely fine with having a second rider, so I hopped on the back of his.

the first half of the ride was so much fun! my favorite part was when there were no bumps ahead, just smooth snow that allowed us to go as fast as we wanted (which is really, really fast when you have kendrick as your driver). but with each and every bump, my back and neck started hurting more and more (and those darn bumps definitely didn't help with not having the urge to pee...) one of our first stops on the snowmobiles was this huge and open range that had steep hills on one side, so we had fun driving ridiculously fast up and down the hills, not having to worry about hitting any bumps or trees. I felt safe enough at this point, so took over driving for a bit- it was the most exhilarating feelings! I could definitely do that again.

afterwards, we hopped back on the snowmobiles and continued up to two top mountain (which would apparently deliver an incredible view of montana). and they weren't messing around- it was stunning up there! being so high up made it undeniably windy and frigid, but there was nothing that could take from that view. we all snapped a few pictures, and took a small rest from driving, but were on our way back down the mountain within fifteen minutes minutes.

our next stop was lunch! there was this darling little diner called meadow creek lodge, which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere and was meant exclusively for snowmobile drivers (as the only way to get to it was on a snowmobile). we parked our snowmobiles out front with all the others, stripped off some of our gear, and headed inside. the place was completely packed inside! luckily, there was an open table, which we quickly snatched up. the restaurant was owned and ran by a family (who were all a bit older), and this sign on the counter made me laugh (see below). so, clearly we all took it their way, which meant a burger and fries for everyone!

lunch was delicious and filling, and after a quick stop at an incredibly scenic river, we were all ready to get back home! the ride back was long and pretty painful and terrifying for me (it got extremely bumpy, which made it hard to hang on at some points!) but we were all back at the young's beautiful and comfortable home within forty five minutes. I was so tired and worn out, and wanted nothing more than to lay down and relax. but, we all showered and got ready, and then headed out to the junior high to support kendrick's cousin in his basketball game.

the next morning I woke up more sore than I have ever felt in my life. my back felt like it had about sixteen knots, all tied together forming one large knot- and don't even get me started on how bad my arms ached (all from hanging onto kendrick for dear life). the rest of the crew decided they wanted another day of snowmobiling, but I decided it was best to stay home. I spent the morning and afternoon laying around and watching mindless TV, somewhat regretting my decision to stay home (which my body would then quickly remind me that it was indeed the right decision).

everyone came home around three o'clock, and I was anxious to hear about their trip and to be around people! kendrick showered and got cleaned up, and then we headed out to explore the cute little town of west yellowstone. We went through some of the cutest shops, and stopped at a bookstore that had a small cafe' in back, where we treated ourselves to some Italian sodas. the rest of the night was spent with the family, eating pizza and chatting. (oh, and of course kendrick and I hit up the hot tub- my aching body was forever grateful).

during this trip, I learned two things:

next time, drive my own snowmobile.

and... where have gas station scratch cards been all my life? utah, get on that!

(I made $32, kachiiing.)

Ringing in 2015....

Our New Years Eve was pretty fun this year, as we were invited to a classy dinner party at our friends Brett and Hannah's house! It was a gorgeous party with sparkly decorations AND a photo booth, which everyone likes.

Don't mind my massive Jay Leno chin in this bottom picture, but let's just all take a minute to appreciate how cute my husband is.

I've been thinking a lot about my New Years resolutions for 2015, because I really want them to be good ones. Many can get carried away with the idea of "new year, new person", to the point where they are creating resolutions that are completely unreachable and a bit absurd. I want mine to be attainable, and reasonable. So without much further adieu, Kendrick and my 2015 resolutions:

* Limit the amount of times we eat out to special occasions only (date nights). 

* Prayer & scripture nightly

* Limit our clothing purchases to only items that we LOVE (we have actually created a rating scale, where only items that reach an 8 are allowed to be purchased. Nerdy? Yes. Avoids buyers remorse and spending too much? YES!

* Attend temple every other week (once a month is the bare minimum)

* Travel somewhere new (Mexico, here we come!)

* Pay off all credit cards, and put all Kendrick's pay checks straight to savings

* Buy a house!

Holiday recap

I have severely slacked at blogging, but my reason is pretty legitimate- I got a job! I am now working for Health Equity as the front desk receptionist, alongside another girl. I've only been there for about a month so far, but can already tell it's going to be a perfect fit.

I was scrolling through my pictures on my iPhone the other day, hoping to clear some out for space reasons, when I realized that so many pictures from the holidays were never blogged or posted! So here is my cheat post, or as I like to call it, my "holiday recap".

I really got into the Christmas spirit (maybe even a little too much?) and made sooo many holiday treats. From white chocolate pretzel rods to reindeer cupcakes, I did it all. Unfortunately, I only got this one picture of rice krispy pops, but I assure you that all the others were just as festive.

Kendrick and I joined Chris and Jade in seeing the infamous "tree of life"- a tree in Draper that is completely covered in white lights, which resembles the Tree of Life in the Book of Mormon (hense the name, obviously). To be perfectly honest, Temple Square does their trees a million times better and this Draper tree received way too much attention for what it actually was, but either way we got a cute picture out of it. ;)

Kendrick's extended family throws a yearly ugly sweater/white elephant party- and this was my first year getting to go! I purchased my sweater at JC Penneys (I know, I know, it's not that ugly. But trust me, I tried) and we made Kendrick's sweater from a kit on Amazon. 

The party was a blast! Cafe Rio catered and it was so much fun seeing the sweaters that everyone came up with. The best part was surely the white elephant gift exchange, as this was notorious for getting a little bit... risque. There were definitely a couple of gifts that left people blushing, but all were down right hilarious. The funniest part was watching Chase's girlfriend open up a "drug kit" (it included a homemade pipe and little baggies of spices that were made to look like drugs) and then seeing Kendrick's mom bright red from embarrassment and laughing so hard, as it was from her and she wasn't expecting it to go to her son's new girlfriend.

We took the liberty of starting a brand new Christmas Eve tradition for our little family this year- new pajamas and eating Chinese take out while watching A Christmas Story! My parents and Chris and Jade joined us this year and it was so much fun being with everyone! I'm definitely looking forward to this tradition continuing each year. 

Unfortunately, I got pretty sick that night and spent most of the night running to the bathroom to throw up. There may have been a couple of occasions where I snuck out to the front room to see what Kendrick had put in my stocking... I just really needed something to lift my spirits. ;)

Christmas morning was awesome! Kendrick loved the Italian wool cardigan that I surprised him with, which I'm really happy I was able to get! I had ordered it online for a steal back in November, but something completely different came in the mail. So I quickly made it over to Banana Republic to find out that they were sold out everywhere... Until they found one more available in New York in Kendrick's size! Fate, I tell you. That sweater was meant to be Kendrick's. (Joke) (kind of)

After presents were open and everyone was showered and ready, the rest of the family came over (except for Harmony and Jeff's family, who were in Florida for the holidays with Jeff's family.)

We all opened the rest of the presents and ate some delicious soup and treats. I still wasn't feeling too great, so headed off to the bedroom to get some rest before Kendrick and I headed out that night.

Oh, by the way, Kendrick completely spoiled me rotten! I got a few major things on my wish list, including some Hunter Boots, a Kate Spade watch, and a pearl necklace. 

Kendrick woke me up from my glorious Christmas nap around 5:00, and we packed up our things and headed out to Richfield! Kendrick's dad made plans for us all to stay a few nights in St. George at his sister Liz's house, and we all couldn't wait to get down there and ditch the snow. 

The drive to Richfield was pretty stressful, as it was a blizzard for about the third of the way. Also, I was still pretty nauseous, and it sure isn't easy to get comfortable in a car. However, we arrived safely and it was so much fun to see Kendrick's family and all their new Christmas presents and gadgets.

We left for St. George the next morning, and I slept for a large portion of the drive. Once in St. George, we made our way over to Liz's house- I couldn't believe the size of it! Definitely one of the nicest houses I have ever stayed in, and the decorating was on point.

That night we got to use Liz's credit at the country club and treat ourselves to a dinner buffet. For how much that dinner was, it was shockingly not that great! However, who can complain about a free dinner and the atmosphere of a big-shot country club was definitely an experience. 

The next day was an eventful one- we got up early and made our way to Vegas! 

Not much can be said about this day, it was mainly just a fun day of a lot of shopping, a little gambling, and all the food you could ever need or want. 

However, I do have to mention the fabulous deals I scored at the Kate Spade outlet! If you know me, you'll know that I love Kate Spade. It's definitely pricey, and each purchase has to be thought out and saved for, but it's so worth it. Anyways, at the outlet, everything was 60% off! Kendrick's parents had generously given us both a good chunk of spending money for Christmas, so I was able to treat myself to not one, but two Kate Spade bags. Best. Shopping. Trip. Ever. 

We spent the next couple of days in St. George lounging around and watching movies- definitely my kind of vacation. However, I did find out that I had a bladder infection (TMI?) and I was super stressed out about it, since I was currently uninsured. But, my sweet PA brother called in an antibiotic prescription to the closest pharmacy to where we were, and I'll forever be grateful for that. 

All in all, it was an excellent Christmas vacation, nauseua and bladder infections aside. (TMI, again).