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!

Light Bulb Butts - Title by Ryan, NOT Kristy

(P.S. I didn't take this picture. Wish I had. I don't know who took it.)

There's a certain magic about summer. That's why I love it so much. It's warm. It's green. It's going outside and smelling the fresh cut grass and seeing the beautiful colors of flowers. Here, there is green everywhere. Green has become a favorite color of mine. It speaks of life. But I must say, no other part of summer is quite as magical as seeing lightening bugs floating on the warm summer breeze. There's no other word to describe these wonders, but Magical. Seeing them in the sunlight is like looking at any other ordinary bug. Nothing to set them apart. But around dusk, these ordinary bugs become not so ordinary. It's a treat to see.

Tonight, there were so many. Ryan and I went for a walk around the block. We live in a very nice area. The homes that surround us are breathtaking. There are many flower gardens and gigantic trees. The breeze tonight was inviting, since it's been so humid and muggy. I wasn't feeling that great, but the outdoors were beckoning me to join. I couldn't resist. It was peaceful, walking and holding hands with my husband. Despite my stomach ache, I felt very content (I'm just hoping this constant stomach ache means something great. But let's not get our hopes up). I think lightening bugs would cheer anyone up. One can not look at them and be sad. They are a wonder. I'm going to miss them so much when we leave.

Homemade Goodness

Just so you know, this post is all about food. I've been a cooking fool lately. Well, not really a fool, just cooking almost every night like I should be doing. But to me, that's me being a cooking fool. ANYWAY, here are some of the delicious things I've been whipping up.

Homemade Oreo Cookies, YUM!

Strawberry Spinach Salad with grapes, tomatoes, and Gorgonzola Cheese (my favorite), topped with a little Italian Dressing.

Whole Wheat Avocado Pesto Pizza, so very good if I say so myself.
This was the first pizza I've ever made.

Orange Salmon with Rice. Very easy and delicious.

Tune in next week, there may be more:).

Life Through a Camera

Our last couple of weeks in a few pictures:

Freckled Lips

(Ryan at Headland Beach, Mentor, OH)
I get to be with this guy forever. Life is good :)

Japanese Candy

Trying to have fun doing laundry...

An Amish family. We went to Amish country for Memorial Day. It was fun. The country was gorgeous. It was neat to see the farms, men plowing fields and buggies everywhere.

Beautiful Horse!
I will have a horse someday.

Trip to Utah in Pictures

Our trip to Utah went by too fast. It was really good to be home. We miss our family and friends so much. It was good to see them. Matthew's wedding was beautiful. We were stupid and didn't bring the camera to the wedding so we didn't get any pictures there. It was great to see Matthew and Tara get married and we are so happy for them. Here is our little vacation in pictures.

Matthew and Tara


"It's guy love, that's all it is. Guy Love, he's mine, I'm his.
There's nothing gay about it in our eyes."

Playing Ladder Ball with my parents.

Shawna & Kallen

Michael & Herbie

Ryan's mom in her new jacket.

I miss everybody so much!!!

Hace Mucho Tiempo

Time, oh where do you go?

You are an elusive stranger that sneaks past
barely noticed.
You're sneaky!!

(Just a little goofy poem :))

So Ryan and I have been really busy the past few weeks. Work and school and such
have just taken up our lives. We do have time to see each other though, which is wonderful.
Tax season is over finally, so I have more time to come home and do the things I need to do.
This week is finals week for Ryan. His last final is this Thursday and then...
WE'RE OFF TO UTAH!!!!!!!!!
We are so excited!! Ryan hasn't been home for about 10 months so this is going to be
really nice for him. It's going to be a good break. We wish we could be there longer,
but we're only staying for about 5 days. At least we get to go!!!!!
Here are some things we've been doing lately...

Growing Basil. I can't wait to start using this delicious herb. Fresh basil is the best for cooking.

Growing Tomatoes, Cucumbers for pickles, Green Beans, Dill and Chives.
So far only the Tomatoes, Cucumbers and half the beans have come up. I've also got one or
two dill seedlings. It's my first garden so I wasn't expecting a lot. And I don't like the garden starter I got. Now I know what not to do for next year. My friend Kjristi just started a gardening blog called Craving Dirt. I'm glad, because I could sure use the advice. Maybe you could too.

We heard of this cemetery close to our house called Lakeview Cemetery. I don't know how we've never heard of this place before now. It's so beautiful and there are so many gorgeous sculptures and head stones. I was amazed at the mausoleums. My brother-in-law Scott would go crazy here. It's a photographer's paradise. Oddly, Rockefeller is buried here. There is an enormous obelisk marking his grave. President Garfield is buried here as well. There is a great memorial for him. We had fun walking around looking at the old headstones and beautiful spring flowers.

Rockefeller's grave.

We hope you have a great week :)

Mountains and a Red Face

Missing this...

(Timpanogas hike, 2006)

Hey all you people in Utah, Take advantage!!!
This was my first time hiking Timp, a wonderfully beautiful mountain in Utah.
I wasn't married yet.
I was dating Ryan.
I was the only girl.
Awesome.
And I saw Matthew's Little General on accident
(Never had a redder face in my life, including the time I got sunburned really bad).
Laughed a LOT!!!

It's beautiful here in Cleveland, especially during spring time.

But there are times when

I REALLY miss the mountains.