Paintballing

This past weekend we got invited to go paintballing with some friends.

Confession time. I've never in my whole life been paintballing. 

Kade was so disappointed! Hahaha. 

I really had no interest in doing it to be honest... This time or any other time. I heard it hurts when you get hit and you get massive welts. Not interested. 

After much asking and prodding, and a huge, fluffy, man-sized down coat being brought out, I somehow got roped into it.

I had no idea what to expect!! I really was so nervous. Sweaty palms, shaky knees, the whole bit. Plus, I was playing with 15 guys who were really into this stuff. I mean, reeeeaally into this stuff. 

We played in a forest and the second they shouted GO and I ran through the trees SO fast to the biggest one and hid behind it. I don't even think I shot the gun once. But hey! I didn't get hit! 

After that I started warming up and using the gun and running around and shooting and stuff. I felt so cool.

I only lasted a couple rounds. I was melting in that huge coat. I wanted to play more but there was absolutely no way I was going without that thing. 

I only got hit one time and it skimmed the sleeve of the coat so I really actually never got hit. It was awesome. 

 Here is the big coat of awesome. I give this guy 2 big thumbs up.

Just looking all hardcore and stuff. 

Aaaaand then totally killing the hardcore vibe. Haha!

In all of these pictures I was totally smiling and then trying to have a straight face and look all cool and then after looking at them I realized you can't even see our faces. Hahahaha *face palm*. 

After the experience I had, I'd definitely play paintball again. Assuming the big, man coat gets to come with, of course. 

We went "upcountry" to play and have our little bonfire. It is unreal up there. I wish pictures would do it justice but they just don't!! 

It is incredible. 

And cold. It was super nice to put on actual shoes (with socks!!!) and wear jeans.

Our weenie roastin', mallow toasting view.

Hooray for paintballing, not getting hit while paintballing, pretty sunsets, and marshmallows! 

Halloween

Halloween this year was kind of different. Besides the fact that we weren't home... I didn't get to eat my mom's uhhhmazeballs donuts (that's 3 years in a row!!!! It's a crime!), we didn't have any trick-or-treaters, aaaand we were in bed by 10. 

It felt so bizarre. 

We're lame. We didn't even buy candy for trick-or-treaters because we didn't expect any. Which ended up being a good thing because, like I said, we didn't have a one! 

We went to the ABC Store at like 9:30 because I was dying for a Reese's Peanut Buttercup (HAHA) and we didn't have any so we walked down our street and there wasn't a soul in sight! It was so dead! 

That was so strange to me because at home the party is still going all hours of the night ya know? 

Anywayyyyyy.... 

Instead of dressing up on actual Halloween, we dressed up for our ward's trunk or treat. 

This was the result of a last minute Target run. 

The pizza is a children's small and was the last one... But I think it turned out alright...

We got pretty into it when we were figuring out our trunk though. We made a pretty legit oven! Complete with actual Pizza Hut pizza boxes!! That we were totally willing to pay for! Hahaha oh geez. The nice filippino lady gave them to us for free btw.

This is pretty much the only picture we took with it... So you can't even see the detail or the blood and tears on our display! 

Just kidding.

It did look pretty legit, though.

Our carved pineapples turned pretty swell too! 

I'm a total fan of that. They're a tad more challenging to carve (read way mega sticky and messy) but they looked so cool! 

Don't worry, we made sure to carve them at someone else's house. ;)  

They smelled so good!

Just to keep it traditional we did carve our pumpkin from the patch. But I liked the pineapple way better.

Bummer is, they rotted so fast (darn humidity) that we had to throw them away like 3 days after we carved them.

Actual Halloween ended up being a pretty laid back night, which I wasn't mad about. And there was no sugar hangover the next day!

Slightly bummed about that....

Hope your Halloween was as cheesy as ours! :)

HAHA.

The Pumpkin Patch

THERE IS A PUMPKIN PATCH HERE IN MAUI.

I felt the need to put that all in caps because this was a big deal.

I got all pouty for a minute thinking that because we're in Hawaii we won't get to do all the fun fall things, which is still partially true. But, it's fine. Some things I can live without doing. For instance... wearing cute boots and drinking hot chocolate on the reg, because it's still hotter than Hades here and so I don't really feel like doing that.

I really was sad about missing out on pumpkins though!! Lucky for us, we have awesome friends with little kids so they knew about the fun pumpkin patch wayyy up on the mountain. 

Speaking of way up on the mountain... LOOK at this view. Just look! You could see pretty much the whole island. It was insanely beautiful. 

It really was an awesome, little pumpkin patch.

I was all for picking like 6 pumpkins and taking them all home and carving the crap outta them! 

How do you ever pick just one anyway!?

But then Kade told me that in Hawaii you carve pineapples and watermelons instead... Soooooooo that should be interesting. 

In the end we only got one. 

But it's a good one. A real good one.  

And now I'm feeling much better about this whole "fall in Hawaii" thing. 

Side note: I promise I don't always look like such a scrub! In probably the last 5 pictures Kade and I have taken together I am basically wearing the exact same outfit. I actually do wear clothes that don't say Vivint Solar on them. Hahaha. 

It just happened to be Take Your Wife to Work Day. So I gotta rep ya know? 

Our Story - The Courtship

So! Continuing with our story.... 

It's time to tell about the real first date. 

And our first week of dates. Cause yeah, I saw him every single day the week I got home.

I think the day of I spent half of it at the gym (hahahaha.. hha. ha. post mission bod. yiiiiikes.) and the other half getting ready. 

My mom had this really cute, gold sequined skirt that I wanted to wear and we both thought it would be hilarious to text Kade and tell him to get a matching vest. We seriously thought we were so funny.

He called me in a panic like 5 minutes later asking if I was serious. My mom and I busted up laughing! I told him we were kidding but then he got all self conscious about what he was going to wear so when he came to pick me up he brought like half of his wardrobe so I could help him find something.

Little did I know, he actually did go out and buy a gold tie so we could match! That was cute. 

So we went and got Thai food (which has now become our "thing") and went to the play. 

HE HELD MY HAND, PEOPLE. 

It was real nice. It wasn't even weird! It felt totally naturally. And it was like, holding hands with a super hot guy that I was basically in love with after 18 months of nothin. So yeah, real nice. 

The next day we didn't have plans to hang out but I got a call from him that night asking me to come spy on a blind date his friend was going on. Haha. So we ate Yogurtland and pretended to be a couple (heart flutters) while we observed their date. 

Side note on this night: Kade asked me to pick him up. I drove him in my car!! I was so panicked. I think I drove like an psycho and I'm pretty sure he was nervous. But I didn't crash, so, success.

The next day it was his sister's play. I was stoked because we had to drive up to Ogden. Alllllll of that car time. Alone. Together. It was great. 

We had dinner with his parents before the show. That was nerve wracking. Thankfully his parents are some of the sweetest people on planet earth and either took no notice and just thought I was odd or they ignored my nervous ramblings.

It was a super cute play and he held my hand again! And we had the whole drive home. Winning!

This next day was probably my favorite. Kade and his friends invited me to go ice skating up in Salt Lake. 

Thankfully I'm not very good at ice skating so I told Kade that I needed to hold his hand so I could skate. Hehe. 

So, there we were just skating around the rink, having a grand ole time when these kids on the side of the rink started cheering "KISS!" at every couple that skated passed. (Kade and I probably did the awkward chuckle and side glance at each other...)

But then, the song I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas came on... So that next loop around Kade swung me into the middle and planted one right on my mouth! 

I think I was so surprised and happy and giddy and stoked out of my mind that I just laughed. It was the cutest most awesome, happy thing ever. 

So, according to my calculations, Kade kissed me 5 days after I got home from my mission. I really wasn't mad. :)

The next days and weeks were filled with Kade. And loooots and lots of him. I saw him every single day after I got home. I even saw him on Christmas. And his birthday! 

He posted this picture on Instagram. It was a big deal.

On January 12, we had a DTR. You know, determine the relationship. Or as Kade likes to call them, WAWA's. You know, where are we at. 

Either way, it was initiated by me. (HAHA) Whatever... I was just barely a missionary, I knew how to get straight to the point... From then on we were "a thing". An official one :)

Just a couple of days after that we went on our first road trip together! We went to California with a bunch of friends and it was uhhhmazing. 

I thought Kade was a winner all along but then HE TOOK ME TO DISNEYLAND.

Are you kidding me!? Ahhhhhhhhhh.

Can you sense my excitement from this picture!?

The Happiest Place on Earth is right! 

Theeeen we got fake engaged. Hahaha. Different story though. 

On January 22, we had what we lovingly refer to as our "E-versary". You know, the anniversary of the day Kade first wrote me! It was pretty freakin cute. 

He brought me flowers and we lit lanterns and made wishes. 

Alright. We're getting cheesy up in here but I don't care. 

That was the night that we said the big 3 to each other!! You know, I LOVE YOU... (I STILL get butterflies thinking about it!)

After that, we shot some guns...

We flew on some planes...

We rode some motorcycles...

and some mountain boards...

Then we took another road trip to Santa Cruz! 

And 3 stellar months after I got home from my mission we took another road trip to Laguna Beach and came home engaged!!! 

That story coming soon...

Our Story - The Mission

Kade left this morning for a business trip and is gone until tomorrow night and it feels like foreeeeeeevver already. 

Drama queen, I know. But really! I miss him. 

Because of that I'm feeling a bit sentimental this evening so I thought I'd share mine and Kade's story! It's one I've told probably a hundred million times but I want to write it down! 

It makes me so happy every. darn. time.

Here we go....

In 2013 Kade was living and working in Oahu. My dad went out to Hawaii to film a commercial that Kade happened to be in! My dad, being my dad, kept hinting at this missionary daughter of his... and Kade wasn't having any of it hahaha. 

But, he and my dad hit it off anyway and went surfing and cave diving and all sorts of other stuff.

Fast forward a bit and they went to Guatemala for a charity trip with Vivint together. My dad kept hinting at his missionary daughter and Kade still wasn't having it. 

Fast forward agaaaaain, my dad and their mutual friend Dan are in California at dinner together. Dan texted Kade a picture of me (embarrassing) and said, "Hey dude. Found your wife."

According to Kade he was like, "Who's that??" Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dan told him it was Kurt's daughter and that he really needed to start writing me.

Thank the heavens for Dan and his amazing wife, Laura during that. If they wouldn't have pushed and prodded like they did, he probably would never have written me! 

During this time, I was in Seattle, minding my own business, preaching the gospel, being faithful and focused and having no idea that all of this was going on! Until... I get an email from my dad that says, "Met this way cool guy named Kade. He's going to write you so make sure to write him back."
He was sure to include this picture :)

What a champ.

Then, whaddaya know! Kade finally wrote me!

We wrote emails every week for almost a whole year! Contrary to popular belief we always had things to talk about and it really wasn't ever awkward. Later on we started to add pictures to the emails.

Truth be told, it was what I looked forward to all week long! There were some weeks I didn't write my parents because I spent too long writing Kade an email. Hahaha.
Not sure if they actually knew that... Soooorryyyyy mom and dad!! 

So, about 6 months in to writing, things were great. I'd say we were good friends, ya know?

Side note: It is crazy how well you get to know someone when all you can do is write emails. Really! You get to know them on a totally different level. It was cool to actually get to know him know him in a strictly friend way before we ever even met.

Anyway, back to the story! I will always remember this moment. It was around my birthday in June and my companion and I were out knocking doors and I just had this thought pop into my head. A really quick, fleeting kinda thought but it was "I can really see myself marrying Kade."

I wasn't thinking about him or anything and after that thought went through my head I thought "Hmmm. Cool!" and then went about my business.

Over some months, lots of emails were sent, a few super hilarious videos were made and sent, and one really super cute package was sent too.

He found out that I am a freak for pancakes and waffles and he sent me my favorite waffle mix! With almond butter and an amazing syrup. Cue the heart eyed emoji.

My mission time was coming to a close and thank heavens Kade had moved from Hawaii to California in the time we were writing. California was just so much closer ya know?? Then, one email, he dropped a bomb on me and told me he got a job offer in Utah.
I ABSOLUTELY squealed like a little girl in the library when I read that. But, I played it cool and told him that I thought it was a really good move and that Utah was a cool place ;) Haha.

Like 2 weeks before I was set to come home, my dad emailed me and told me that he had tickets to see A Christmas Carol at the Hale Center Theater two days after I got home and that I should ask Kade.

So I did!

While I was on my mission.
Hahaha. He didn't know when he was for sure moving back to Utah yet so it was for a really good cause k!? I needed him to not live in California when I got home!

He agreed and then asked me on a date two days after that! His sister was in A Christmas Carol and so we planned to see it again! Trust me, I wasn't mad.

Then, we wrote our last emails to each other. It was a totally bittersweet! I had looked forward to those every week! I knew and hoped soo so much that it would be just as wonderful and easy in person as it was in email and that we would just click. That was one of my biggest fears in meeting Kade! And that he would smell bad or something... It's a totally valid fear.

 Then, I came home! It was awesome.
I bawled like a baby.
I was really happy Kade wasn't there.... Sorry babe. It wasn't pretty. 
I think I hugged my mom for a good 3 solid minutes. But that's a different story.

I didn't get released from being a missionary until the morning after I got home and a couple hours after that Kade came over! He wanted to meet first before going on our date. So happy it happened that way. Aaaaand he brought me flowers! Whatta guy.

Like I mentioned earlier, I was so nervous to meet Kade. I was worried that I had built this relationship up to something unrealistic and I really didn't want to get my hopes up and have them crash and burn because he smelt bad or sounded like a 5 year old girl or was totally awkward in person. Again, valid fears, guys.

But, I honestly was worried for no reason. He gave me a big hug when he first walked in and it just felt good! Like, good. It wasn't weird or awkward and it was like I had known him forever! Because I guess I had known him for almost a year. It was the coolest thing.

We went to pick out a Christmas present for his niece and we got acai bowls. The conversation flowed so easily and the whole time I remember just being sooo so stoked because this guy I had written and become good friends with and, let's just be honest here, loved, was really real! I actually was with him! In person! And I could see him and hear him and smell him! And he smelt great, btw! 

It was fantastic and everything I had hoped it would be.

Now, on to our courtship story. Coming soon :)