Day 13: A Letter to Someone Who Has Hurt Me Recently...

Dear Me,

I just wanted to write you a short letter to tell you something.
I'm not as bad as you make me seem.
Please be kinder to me.
If you do that, I know for a fact that we both
will be happier.
My husband will be too.
Let me make mistakes.
I'm not perfect, so please, please, please
stop expecting me to be.
Just let the little things go.
I'm me, and I would appreciate it if you would just
accept that.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Forever Yours,
Me

Day 12: How I found out about Blogs and Why I Keep One...

My older sister Shawna is the one who introduced me to the
wonderful world of bloggy goodness.
She started one a while ago and I wasn't really interested in keeping one myself.
I liked reading hers, but didn't think it was for me.
That is until I moved 1700 miles away from home.
Ryan and I both thought this would be a great way to keep our families informed of the
goings on of our lives here in the good ol' land of Cleve.
As it has fulfilled that purpose; it has also become
like a journal to me.
And I've been able to keep in touch with friends I haven't seen
for many years.
Also, I love to write and this is a good outlet for my creativity.
That is why I blog :)
I LOVE it.
So, thank you very much Shawna for opening this door for me.

Day 11: Another Picture of Me and My Friends...

(Jake, Julie, Me, Ryan)

(Julie and her super cute daughter Kambree)

I'm going to take this opportunity to talk about this woman for a minute.
This is Julie, my beautiful best friend.
We've been through so much together.
I love her so much!
She's such a good friend to me.
And she's such a good example. She makes me want to be better.
She 's a wonderful mother.
I hate living so far away. I miss out on so much.
I'm so thankful for the invention of the telephone.
We talk for hours. Not often enough.
She's been right there with me through happy and sad times.
I'm so grateful for her.
We met about eleven years ago in Institute Council.
It seems like I've known her for longer.

Thank you Juels, for everything you've done for me.
I don't know what I'd do without you.
I hope you know that you are one of my favorite people
and I miss you so much.
Thank you for sticking with me.
Thank you for being my best friend.
I love you!!

Day 10: Songs I listen to when I'm Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad...

I have a very eclectic taste in music. I listen to almost anything. So here they are

Happy:
Frank Sinatra
Michael Buble
Harry Connick Jr.
U2
Johnny Cash
Jimmy Eat World
Yellowcard
Tegan and Sara
Led Zeppelin
Billy Joel
there's more, but I don't want to make a huge list...

Sad:
Counting Crows
Dashboard Confessional
John Meyer
That's all I can think of...

Bored:
I'm never bored
Never...

Hyped:
All American Rejects
Eminem (the cleaned up album. I know it's crazy that I
even like Eminem, but hey, it's good to work out to)
Jimmy Eat World *again*
The Offspring
etc, etc...

Mad:
Tegan and Sara (they're good for all moods actually. I LOVE them!!!)
Dashboard Confessional
Plumb

Day 9: Something I did lately that I'm proud of.

Is it sad that I can't really think of anything? Tiny accomplishments and simple things I've done are the only things that are coming to my mind. So here they are:
I'm proud that I've been posting blogs nine days in a row.
I'm proud that I'm getting better at my job (they are making me do accounting and that's not easy if one doesn't have a degree in that area; which I do not) (nor do I have any desire).
I'm proud that I finally am doing something I've only dreamed of, and that's teaching dance. I teach 4 and 5 year olds from my ward. It's been challenging, but fun.
I'm proud that I just ended my triple dose of clomid and I wasn't depressed the entire time. Although, I don't think I can take credit for that one. Still, it's worth mentioning.

There's more but these are the ones I'm most happy about :)

Day 8: Short term goals for this month and why.

Here are my goals, after all a goal not written down is just a dream.

- Exercise everyday, because I never do it and it's showing. No Bueno!!!!!!!

- Get a budget plan in place, because we are Not good with our money. And now is the time
when we should be since we're living mostly on student loans. Yikes!!

- Make Halloween decorations, because I'm being more frugal. And because I've subscribed to Martha Stewart and I'm itching to make all of those awesome decorations.

- Clean out our second bedroom and purge the stuff I never use. Because, you should see that room. It's sad. So very sad.

- Finish reading the Hunger Games series. Because how can I not. It's awesome!

- Take our family pictures. Because I want a new picture of us for the mantel, and I found
THE best place to take them. I'm quite excited about it. I hope it turns out the way I have it
in my head.

- Make a pie, because I've never done that before. And I come from a family of great pie
makers. I've been a great pie eater.

- Learn photoshop. Because that thing is gloriously confusing and I need to figure it out.

- Paint a water color, because my mother has requested it. And you can't say no to your mother

It's going to be a good month. I can feel it.

P.S. Ryan is studying for an oral pathology test and I just glanced over at what he's studying. I'm just going to say that I'm so so so so glad that I had no interest in becoming a dentist. EEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Picture of Someone Who Has Had the Biggest Impact on Me.

This is a total given...

This guy, the love of my life, has pushed me (yes, I said pushed. See Day #4) to become better and stronger than I ever thought I could. He lives his life for me and I live my life for him. He makes me so happy. Plus he's really funny. :)

There are so many people that have made impacts on me, but Ryan is Numero Uno!!!!!

Day 6: My Favorite Super Hero...and Why.

I would have to say Wolverine. His power is awesome and just look at those arms! I don't know anything about the comic book Wolverine, just the one from the X-Men movies. And I love him. He doesn't take crap from anyone and he has adamantium covering his entire skeleton. That is super cool (know what's even cooler than that? I spelled adamantium right. I was proud of myself when I googled it to check. Ha!) And he's a nice guy. So, he's my favorite.

A Picture of Somewhere I've been

Almost to the Summit of Mt. Timpanogas, Utah 2006.
One of my favorite places ever.

I was only supposed to post one picture, but I couldn't resist this one also.
Meghan's Bay, St. Thomas (where I picked up my love of snorkeling!).
2007

A Habit I wish I didn't Have

There are so many habits I have that I wish I didn't. But the one that makes me the most irritated is my habit to procrastinate. Yuck!! That word just sounds disdainful. I hate it. I miss out on so much because of this flaw. I could try harder to improve, but guess what? I procrastinate that too! I have the best of intentions to do things and in a timely manner. Let's just say, if the road to hell is paved with good intentions, you know where I'll be... Please come visit sometimes (I'll be the one with Medusa hair).

Day 3: Pictures of my Friends

Kellie, Nathan, Me and Ryan after The Phantom of the Opera, which was awesome by the way!! 2010

Friends I REALLY miss!

Diane and I and Joe in the background.

My Beautiful Sisters. My Best friends!!

And the best of them all...My silly, crazy, sweet, handsome, wonderful husband!!

The Meaning Behind My Blog Name

Hmmm... That is easy.

Our blog name is Ryan and Kristy. Simple, easy to remember. It's not clever, creative or witty. But the meaning is quite clear. This is a blog about our life together and individually. It is a record of our thoughts, the things we do and our challenges in this life. We've been counseled to keep a journal and this, to us, is a form of a journal. There you have it. :)

A Recent Picture and 15 Things About Moi

(Me at Findley Lake, NY Labor Day 2010, sans makeup)

1. I watch Friends way way WAY too much!!
2. I'm super excited that it's Fall. I love this time of year.
3. I LOVE gum balls. In fact, one of the best things that could ever happen to me is if I won a life time supply of gum balls!
4. I need a new wardrobe.
5. I'm allergic to celery
6. Elephants are my favorite animal. I want to rescue all of them from every circus.
7. When I golf, I don't hit the ball down the fairway, I throw the golf club down the fairway in frustration. It's the most irritating game I've ever loved.
8. I'm not frugal and I wish that I was.
9. Four way stops drive me crazy.
10. I love having people over for dinner.
11. I love yoga but I do it maybe once every couple months.
12. I love playing games, but I get furious when Ryan wins. I don't care when other people win. For some reason, it's just when he does.
13. I love it when my husband plays with my hair.
14. I wish I could play football without getting killed.
15. My ring tone is Kashmir by Led Zeppelin

I'm doing a 30 day blogging challenge, so tune in tomorrow.

Go Grizzlies!

As I was on Facebook today, I saw a lot of pictures of my friends from high school. A lot of them I haven't seen since graduation day twelve years ago. All of the sudden I started to ache for those days. I closed my eyes and in my head I could see the stage where I performed with the Dance Company. I coud hear the cheers of the crowd in the football field. I could see the choir room where I sang with friends everyday. I could see the lockers where my friends and I would gather to talk before class. There are many eighteen year olds who can't wait to graduate high school and get on with their lives and become adults and be responsible. I was never one of those eighteen year olds. I never wanted to be an adult. Sadly, I still don't. I still feel like that sixteen year old girl full of energy, dancing at football games and going to hang out at a friends house. Yes, my grades suffered because all I wanted to do was have fun, but back then, that's all that mattered. And yes, I did have fun. Dance Company, boys, friends, and boys were all I thought about. It's funny, I was much more sure and confident back then than I am now. I had it all, I thought. Graduating from high school was very hard for me. It took me a while to get over the fact that, yes I had to be a grown up now. And yes, I probably wouldn't see a lot of those people ever again. Sad, sad days.


But I did get over it. I miss high school. But I wouldn't trade where I am now for anything. If someone told me they could turn back time and I could do it all over again, I would reply with an absolute no. It would be tempting, but I would be without my husband. I couldn't be without him. I couldn't be without all the people that are now in my life or the wonderful experiences I've had since then.

I'm turning 31 in a couple weeks. I know that I do need be more adult. But I don't think I need to completely let go of that sixteen year old girl. I think I'm lucky that I still have that child inside me, that one that helps me see the hope and happiness in life. She helps me, especially when I'm feeling insecure and awkward, to remember that I am ok. I'm always beating myself up about how I never act my age and that I've never really grown up. But today I realized that sometimes that's ok (I do need to improve on that though). It's me. I can still have fun and be happy. When I have children of my own, they will be happy that their mother can go out and have fun with them. And hopefully I can embarrass the crap out of them!!

High School was awesome. The people and experiences I had there have helped me become who I am. So thank you Sam, Ryan P., Brent, Tony, Stacy, Bryan, Ryan D., Stephanie, Angie, Joe, Ashley, Homer, Jason, Henning, Evelyn, all of my Dance Co. friends, choir friends, and more (doesn't it sound like I just won an Academy award or something?..."Oh don't play the music yet... eh, it doesn't matter, most of these people don't read this anyway"...)

As I thought more about those days, the lyrics to Don Henley's "Boys of Summer" came to my mind:
"...A little voice inside my head said,
'Don't look back, you can never look back'
I thought I knew what love was
What did I know?
Those days are gone forever
I should just let them go but..."

Thanks Guys! You're the best!

Brian Regan

I just want to share this with those of you who read my blog. I love Brain Regan and think he's so funny. I'm so grateful for funny people!