Nate and Kim Smith

Have You Missed Me?

2012-02-10T11:07:00.002-07:00

I'm choosing to flatter myself and think that you all have missed me in my blogging absence. I do resolve to do a better job from now on. Here's what's been going on with Nate and I the last month or so.

-met our health insurance deductible halfway through January for the second year in a row. All because of me. Again. Got diagnosed with asthma, so much for my goal of no chronic conditions diagnosed this year. Lame. Also had to see some other specialists for some other issues. My vitamin D is super duper low, got a prescription for that. We're also going to try some new things with my diabetes. Yah, lots of fun there. Nate was taking to a colleague about how we've already met our deductible. His colleague said Nate should trade me in for a better functioning model, rude!

-paid off one of our cars yesterday! Woot woo! The other car will be paid off in September. I can't tell you how good it feels to own my precious Ford Focus free and clear. Loving it!

-bought some strawberries today. They're my most favorite fruit in all their world. The display at the store smelled so so good. Cannot wait to eat them tonight! I'm probably more excited than a grown woman should be. Please still be my friend.

-been doing some home decor projects. Pretty sure Nate is not as jazzed about it as me, but I promise our place is looking way better. Plus, I've only purchased things that would I would reuse in our next place, no frivolous spending. My cute cousin Becca is coming over tomorrow to help me hang some vinyl. I'll try to remember to post some pictures.

-watched 10,000 BC the other night. I know, random. I've been in the mood to watch that movie for months and Nate finally caved, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

-Mike and Sarah taught us a new game called Hand and Foot. Best game ever! I totally love playing, except when Mike and Nate are teammates. I'm pretty sure they cheat. I secretly want to call them every day to see if I can come over and play. Wow, now I sound like I'm 7 years old, but I swear the game is that fun.

-I'm going to take some cooking classes in the next few weeks. They're free, but you do have to register. Anybody want to come with me?

-Nate shaved his beard off. His mom will be happy. He just was ready for a change. The beard has been a part of our family for a while now, so I guess the fact that it's gone is blog worthy.

-Valentine's Day is next week. We've got a date planned, reservations made, the works. We're not exchanging gifts, just doing cards and we're each making a playlist of songs that remind us of the other person. I cannot wait for Nate to listen to mine. I've got some awesome songs planned.

Okay, I think that's it. Well, it's all I can think of at the time. I haven't been very good about taking pictures, but I will do better!

Happy New Year and Holiday Re-Cap

2012-01-01T20:27:00.006-07:00

Happy New Year! Nate and I are looking forward to a fantastic 2012. We have some goals set and several fun things planned over the course of this new year. To ring in the holiday we had some family over last night for games and appetizers. Thanks to everyone for making it a fun night.

One of the highlights of the night was watching people play Fruit Ninja on the xbox kinect. Look at those arms move! Notice how I did not include any pictures of myself playing.

Nate and I had a good Christmas. We've always celebrated Christmas morning with just the two of us, and we really like that tradition. It's nice to enjoy the company of one another and dream of future Christmases with our children. We enjoyed opening gifts, church, video chatting with Nate's parents in Oregon, a good nap, and a prime rib dinner with Nate's siblings. Hope you all had a great Christmas too.

Christmas Eve we spent with my mom, brother, and sister. We went and saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie and had a big dinner, Korean barbecue beef kabobs- per my mom's request, so good! Of course my mom got us all our traditional Christmas Eve pajamas.

A Very Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T07:34:00.002-07:00

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday. Don't worry that Nate woke me up at 5:30 this morning because he was so excited to open presents. We were very spoiled this year. We are looking forward to a great musical program at church this morning and later this evening we are going to have a prime rib dinner with some of Nate's siblings. I'm in charge of the prime rib, I've never made one or eaten one before so wish me luck! Merry Christmas!!

In Which I Look Like a Polygamist

2011-12-08T14:52:00.007-07:00

I interrupt your afternoon with an awful picture. Please, please let me set the tone for your picture viewing (or make a desperate excuse). I was wearing my hair down and straight, until I started my baking. I hate standing over a hot oven with hair in my face so I pulled my bangs and the hair right around my face up into a clip. But a few minutes I was still hot so I figured I should pull all my hair up off my neck, so I just did a quick loose pony tail. An hour or so into baking I went to use the bathroom and saw this in the mirror, there is a polygamist in my house!!! I was amused and horrified all at the same time. Even though I live in Utah, I promise that I don't know or associate with Warren Jeffs, and despite one nightmare, I am Nate's only wife and he is my only husband. I promise! Anyway, after I paused to take a picture to entertain all of you, I did fix my hair. No more poofy bangs and long hair trailing down my back. Let's just say, lesson learned.

Ahh, I am SO embarrassed! The only good thing you can say about this picture is that it's good I didn't french braid it.

P.S. No, I don't have any makeup on, my eyes have been so watery today and so I didn't put any on. Also, this photo is in my laundry room/ 1/2 bath, hence the towels.

P.P.S. Alisha, you are still my favorite hair stylist of all time and I promise I won't embarrass you by looking like this ever again! That reminds me, I need to call you and schedule a trim.

P.P.S. There's a picture for you Heather, now will you send me an invite to your blog? My email is on the side bar.

Text Love

2011-12-08T10:00:00.002-07:00

I just got the best text message from my handsome husband. And I quote,

"You should get some of the presents today so that you can get your wrap on."

Awesome!! I LOVE wrapping presents, love it, love it, love it! I bought ridiculously cute wrapping paper this year and I just bought a gift wrap and ribbon organizer. Now I just need the UPS guy to get here! Thanks Natey, you made my day!

Thanksgiving Week 2011

2011-11-28T08:06:00.004-07:00

This year was our year to celebrate Thanksgiving with Nate's side of the family. Ben and Katie were kind enough to provide us all with rooms up at the Park City mountain resort. Nate and I went up Friday night and were able to stay the whole week. Nate hasn't that much time off of work since his hernia surgery! It was so nice to be able to spend so much time with Nate. I hated saying bye to him when he left for work this morning.
We did all the usual things in Park City, we shopped at the outlets, more than once. We went out to eat, our big couples' dinner was such a fiasco though! But that is a story for another time. We worked out, the kids and some of the adults went swimming. We played wii, took naps, and indulged in hot chocolate and of course we celebrated Thanksgiving. It was so fun to be away, but it's also nice to be home in my own bed too. Thanks Ben and Katie for a fun week!

Happy Birthday Nate! I Love You!

2011-11-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

I really want to wish my husband a very Happy Birthday! Nate, I love you more than you could possibly know. You are the biggest blessing in my life. I'm crazy about you, head over heels crazy. Life is so much better with you. I love our relationship and our marriage. Thanks for always being willing to try my new recipes, thanks for making me laugh, thanks for loving me, and thanks for being you. I hope today is amazing for you and that 26 is your best year yet!

We Are Now a Dot Com

2011-11-11T16:39:00.004-07:00

Okay, you may have noticed, we have changed our address. Instead of having to type in our last name and blogspot we are now simply nateandkim.com. Even if you put in our old blogspot address, you will automatically get redirected. Everything is the same except for our address. This is just what happens when your husband loves technology.

P.S. It is Nate's birthday tomorrow so be sure and send him a happy birthday text!

Birthday Dinner

2011-11-06T20:40:00.003-07:00

Happy Birthday month to Brandon and Nate! My brother-in-law Brandon had a birthday last week and Nate has a birthday at the end of this week. We had a birthday dinner to celebrate them tonight. We did shredded pork two ways and had tacos and I made Nate's favorite Brazilian lemonade. Everyone had a good time and I hope Nate and Brandon felt loved!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T18:05:00.003-06:00

Happy Halloween! It wouldn't be fitting if I didn't acknowledge my husband's favorite holiday. I started out the day with an MRI of my foot, yah, it's still hurting all the time and the podiatrist wants an MRI. I see him again Thursday to get the results. I spent the afternoon baking. Nate starts his master's degree program tomorrow so we are going to party tonight! We've got lots of full size candy bars to hand out tonight and in fact we've already had our first trick-or-treaters! Cute Steph, Eliza, and Anna came by this afternoon to show off their costumes. Yes, I actually know the kids in the photo, I don't take pictures of random kids. Nate may convince me to watch a scary movie with him tonight, but I am secretly hoping for Hocus Pocus, the best Halloween movie! Have a fun and safe Halloween!

Please Watch

2011-10-27T16:03:00.003-06:00

We came across this video today and it does a good job of summing up some of what our trials are. Please watch.

In Which We Look for the Silver Lining

2011-10-14T14:11:00.007-06:00

So funny story. Last week on our date, Nate and I were talking about how even though we are missing a huge blessing, children, we have a pretty darn good life. We have a fantastic marriage, Nate has a great job, I am blessed to be able to stay home, we get to spend a lot of time together, etc. We really are so blessed. This was the tenor of our conversation and we had a great weekend.
Then comes this week, I had a bad migraine and my foot has been hurting like crazy. It's my right foot and it KILLS when I step down on it. It's the back outside of my foot and my heel. I've been walking on my toes on that foot so I don't have to step down all the way. This morning Nate told me that he was sick and tired of me hobbling around and that I needed to make a doctor's appointment. He offered to come with me. I only agreed because I knew if I came I could con him into getting a flu shot. I know! I'm a mean mean wife.
Anyway, lots of pain, two shots, a few x-rays, and several mental curses later, I am now the proud new owner of a boot! Can you tell how thrilled I am? Not. At least I convinced them to not make me have crutches and a boot. He told me I have a sprained ankle and really bad plantar faciitis (some swollen something or other). So yah, I've got a boot for the next little bit.
Moral of the story: we are still so blessed. Now we will just be sure to mention how grateful we are for modern medicine in our prayers. It's been a bit harder to feel blessed this week, but I know we are!

Nate assures me that boots are the "in" shoe for fall. Thanks babe.

I beg of you, please ignore the extreme contrast of my black boot and my shockingly white leg. Please.

Congrats Zak and Domonique

2011-10-08T21:53:00.002-06:00

Nate's little brother got married yesterday! Thank goodness the rain held off until we were nearly finished with the pictures. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Smith!

Holy Smokes Batman! It's About Time for an Update!

2011-09-09T05:03:00.005-06:00

No, we haven't gone Amish or been abducted by aliens or anything like that. We've just been busy! I've been meaning to blog for some time now, but I'm so far behind it's just felt a bit overwhelming. No more procrastinating though!

Okay, first up is the rest of July. Nate's parents and his youngest siblings moved to Portland, Oregon in early July and have been adjusting to life away from the majority of their kids and all their grandkids. The kids finally started school this week and it sounds like everything is going well with them. Back here in Utah, we spent lots of Fridays swimming at the pond with all the cousins.

Towards the end of the month, Nate and I started a new exercise program that we are LOVING. I'm jealous because Nate has seen bigger results than I have, but we both are seeing results and feeling much better. I still need to work on my blood sugars, my second A1C was higher than the time before, so I'm trying to really focus on that these next 3 months until they test me again! My heart is doing pretty well too. I finally feel like we are at a good level of medication and I don't have too many episodes these days. Woohoo!

Next is the month of August. In August, Nate started working an earlier schedule at work, so now he is done by 4:30 pm, which is really really nice. We love it. The two days a week that he does go in to the office he gets home before most of traffic and then on the days he works from home, he is done early enough to have lots of time to still enjoy the day. Can I just say how much I love Nate working from home! We are so blessed. Mid August, Nate's parents came back in town for a visit and we threw a bridal shower for Domonique (my brother-in-law's fiancee). Thanks to everyone who came.

We had some fun dinners with Nate's siblings. See, even baby Jack had a good time. Sorry, it's a cell phone pic.

The last week of August I met with a new doctor regarding certain "lady" things. I left the appointment angry and bawling. The doctor couldn't answer any of my questions and so he just referred me to someone else. It was a huge waste of time. To top it all off he told me that with my age and diabetes that my clock is ticking. He said that if I want any chance of giving birth I would need to get pregnant asap. Awesome. I had a really hard time turning 25 earlier this year and now I feel older than ever.

Almost done! September so far... I can't believe it is September! I am SO ready for fall and changing leaves and cooler temperatures. Not next week but the week after I am going to make soup. I've been craving soup for weeks now and I have lots of soup recipes I want to try. Unfortunately I got the news that my grandpa has colon cancer which they are concerned may have spread to his liver and is having surgery next week. My grandma had a total knee replacement Tuesday. This is the set of grandparents that I lived with for a while. I still talk to my grandma at least once a week on the phone. I feel like I'm not handling it very well. My mom, aunt, and I have been busy coordinating to make sure someone will be there at all times an that my mom (a nurse) will be at the major doctor appointments, and all that that entails. A rough start to the month. Nate and I were going to go camping tonight with Justin and Whitney, but due to work schedules it was cancelled. I am so glad, I spent all Wednesday night and yesterday so sick. I would have had to cancel anyway. I am starting to feel a little bit better, so let's hope I'm over the worst! Nate is excited that BYU football season has started and has already requested treats for the game this Saturday. I finished up making Zak and Domonique's wedding announcement, at least I think we are finished! Now it's time to work on the family calendar.

I think that is all that's new with us. At least, that's all I can think of for the time being. Hopefully everyone is having a fabulous week!

Let Freedom Ring!

2011-07-05T16:45:00.006-06:00

Happy 4th of July! I hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday. We celebrated with the in-laws, Spencer's girlfriend and her kids, and Zak's fiancee's mom and sisters. It was a full house! We enjoyed a barbecued dinner and a firework show. My husband's favorite holidays are the 4th of July and Halloween. Seriously, he gets so excited to light fireworks every year. This year the big aerial fireworks were legal in our state so Nate was even happier. We definitely went over our firework budget, but it was so worth it! This was the best firework show we've done! In addition to all our fun, I want to take a moment to thank all of our service men and women for their selfless service to protect the rights and liberties we enjoy in the amazing country! My thoughts and prayers go out to all them and their families. Nate has an uncle, a father of 11 children who has spent a lot of time overseas, including Iraq, and we love and appreciate you Uncle David!

Now for some pictures of our festivities! I have to admit, taking photos of fireworks has been my biggest photography challenge to date. I had a lot of bad ones, but I think I got a couple decent photos too. Let me know if you have any tips!

Couponing - 1 Month Down

2011-07-01T17:48:00.006-06:00

Okay, I have officially been a couponer for one month! I am totally hooked and I will always be couponing from now on. Here are a few pictures of what I accumulated in just a month! Keep in mind that this doesn't include anything that goes in the fridge or freezer, stuff we've already used, items that are in my kitchen pantry, and the huge box of stuff I gave to my mom. Even with all that stuff missing from these pictures I am pretty dang proud of my stock pile.

Sorry, this first one is the inside of my linen closet. I know it's not a great photo.

I already told Nate that I need another set of shelves!

P.S. I would like to also brag about how I saved $70 on fireworks with coupons! The hubs is a HUGE fan of fireworks and we were able to get tons this year because of coupons!

Vials, Pens, and Cake Pops

2011-06-30T21:13:00.004-06:00

Did you know there is now another way to get your insulin? No more need for vials, needles, or pens, there are now cake pops! My favorite baking website Bakerella had these fun cake pops featured and I think they are so fun! As a diabetic, I had to share. Go check out her site, she makes the most incredible treats and desserts!

Another Busy Week

2011-06-19T19:45:00.005-06:00

Okay, this week was another busy one for Nate and me. We started out celebrating Katie's (mother-in-law) birthday. We threw a little party for her to wish her happy birthday.

Saturday night was date night for the two of us and we loved it because we had our first snow cones of the season! Nate is a HUGE fan of snow cones. In fact I was informed that that is what he wants tomorrow night for our Family Home Evening treat.

Also on Saturday, we found out that Nate's younger brother Zak got engaged! Congratulations to Dominique and Zak!

Then of course today is Father's Day so we had dinner at the in-law's. Happy Father's day to all fathers and future fathers!

Couponing 101 Part 2

2011-06-14T13:25:00.004-06:00

Sorry it's taken me so long to get this posted! I have bronchitis and it has made accomplishing my to-do list very difficult. Hopefully I will start feeling better soon!

Okay, I am going to be finishing up my how-to post on couponing. Last week I posted the first two steps, finding coupons and clipping coupons. In case you missed it, read that post before this one so that everything will make a little more sense.

Step 3: Organization
Once all your coupons are clipped it is time to sort. I have a big zip up binder for my coupons. I also have those dividers for each coupon category. Alisha (my cousin that taught me how to coupon) suggest getting dividers that have a pocket so that you can store rain checks and stuff that pertains to that category. Here are my categories, but some things might get broken into more specific sections.

Breads, Cereals, and Breakfast Items
Pasta and Rice
Beverages
Refrigerated Case
Dairy
Meat
Canned Goods
Baking Supplies, Seasonings, and Condiments
Snacks
Frozen Foods
Household Supplies
Cleaning Supplies
Beauty and Hygiene
Medicines
Miscellaneous

In each section I have baseball card sleeves to hold all my coupons. You can find these sleeves at Walmart by the pokemon and baseball cards or you can find them at Hobby Lobby by the models and collections. I looked forever at Walmart for them but they were always out and so I got mine at Hobby Lobby. They are $7 for a pack of thirty, and so I bought two.
Okay, so you've got your coupons cut and you are now ready to put them away. I sort mine into sections, so all my hygiene coupons are together and all my frozen food coupons are together. Then that way I only have to go through each category in the binder once. You may have to fold your coupons to get them to fit in the slots, but I try and make the product picture and price face upward so that I can easily what the coupon is for. I also separate my coupons by price. For example if you have coupons for $0.50 off a box of Cheerios and coupons for $1.00 off a box of Cheerios I put them in two different slots because even though they are for the same product it is a different value. If the coupons are identical they go together. Remember that I get four Sunday papers so that means four of each coupon and the same ones get put in the same slot. I hope that makes sense.

Step 4: Preparing a Grocery List
The goal of couponing is to combine sale prices and coupons to maximize your savings. The easiest way to find deals is to have someone do it for you! I use a site called Savvy Shopper. She pairs up sales from local stores and tells you what coupons to use to save the most money! I also like that she ranks how good the deal is so you know if you should stock up or just buy a few. If you live in Utah, like me, the best two sites I've found are Savvy Shopper and Grocery Smarts, and the best part is they're free to use! Each of those sites have more locations than just Utah but I know they aren't totally national. I know that there are some sites that do similar things but you have to pay for a subscription. I personally don't want to pay because my whole reason for couponing is to save money!
If you can't find a website that pairs sales and coupons for you, you still have options! Where I live the weekly grocery store ads come in the mail on Wednesday. You can go through the weekly ads and look for good sale items and check if you have a coupon for that same item.
Once you have a list put together you are ready to shop!

Step 5: Time to Shop!
I choose just to focus on one store. I choose Walmart because I can price-match. Price matching is when another store has an item cheaper than Walmart and then they will match that price. I like the idea of only having to go to one store. That is definitely a suggestion I have for beginners, focus on one store until you get really comfortable. Read up on the store's coupon policy, I printed out Walmart's coupon policy that I can make sure what the rules and regulations are. Often times you will come to find that you know the coupon policy better than the cashiers! Make sure you get your maximum savings! In my county Walmart doubles coupons up to $1 on Tuesdays. For example if I have a coupon for $0.25 off an item they will double it to $0.50 off.
Okay, get prepared to shop, make sure you have a detailed list of things you are going to buy. Bring your coupon binder, have a pen, etc. As I go through and put things in my cart I double check the coupon to make sure it is the right item. Also, once something is in my cart I pull out the corresponding coupons and put them in a plastic sleeve in the front of my binder then it makes checking out much easier since I can just hand the cashier the coupons instead of having to search for them.
So you've finished shopping and now you are ready to check-out. Brace yourself, checking out is going to take a lot longer now that you are couponing. I have some tips for you, choose a male or a young teenager cashier, they are a lot less likely to hassle you about your couponing and a lot more likely to let you do your process. Let the cashier know right away that you have coupons and or price-matches so they know they will need to make some adjustments. Also, it's polite to let the person in line behind you know that you'll be couponing and that you are likely going to take a while. They may want to pick another lane. I like to put like items together on the conveyer belt and place the corresponding coupons with them. For example, when the cashier gets to my four lotions I tell them the price-match price, they scan the item, and then I hand them the coupons to scan. This way when I can see the coupon take effect right away, and if for some reason you have trouble with a coupon it can be fixed immediately instead of at the end. That works best for me, you'll find what works best for you.
After checking out, celebrate! You just saved your family money! Enjoy! Once I get my haul home I like to take a picture of my items and email them to my husband while he's at work so I can brag. I also like to go through my receipt and see what my total savings is in both dollar amount and percentage.

Okay, I really hope you could all understand that. Again, please comment of email me at nksmithfamily[at]gmail[dot]com if you have any questions of you want to brag about your savings! Happy Couponing!

Free Contact Lens Solution!

2011-06-10T15:06:00.004-06:00

Today only Walmart is giving away free contact solution! Each box of solution also comes with a contact case! All you have to do is print the offer and take it in to your local Walmart Eye Center. I printed eight copies and got eight boxes of solution! Hurry because it is today only! Here is the link for the offer - http://instoresnow.walmart.com/enhancedrendercontent_ektid97189.aspx

Kim's Couponing 101

2011-06-09T14:34:00.004-06:00

Okay, let me preface this post by saying I have a killer cold so I really hope that everything is coherent. Also, it's a long post so I am breaking it up into two sections.

I coupon to have a baby. That is the super short version of things. My husband and I will hit the 4 year mark next month of trying to get pregnant. Four years! It has felt like an eternity trying and waiting and praying for a child. I won't bore you with all the details of procedures and medicines and diagnoses, but here is where we are at now- in order for us to have a chance of getting pregnant we will have to undergo a $15,000 procedure called ICSI, and that is only if I am medically cleared with my diabetes and heart issues. So yah, that's the story in a nutshell! I want to save at a faster rate than we have been so I decided to jump into the world of couponing. My husband and I made the decision that we will not go into debt to have a baby. We want to be able to pay for everything up front. I am not condemning those who do finance their fertilty procedures, but it just wasn't the right decision for us. Saving for ICSI is my number one reason for couponing.

Both my husband and I are deeply religious. We belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. One thing our church advocates is personal preparedness. It is recommended that everyone have a stockpile of food and essentials in case of natural disaster or financial struggles. Couponing helps me build up my stockpile. First I want to be able to have a 3 month supply of everything from food to toiletries to cleaning products etc. Eventually I want a full year's worth. This is my other motivation for couponing.

Okay, now that you know my life story :) I will walk you through my process. Keep in mind that I've only been couponing for a couple of weeks! I have made some mistakes but I understand the general idea and I hope that my tips help! I will try and explain the best I can but please leave a comment or send me an email if you have questions. My email is nksmithfamily[at]gmail[dot]com.

Step 1: Getting Your Hands on those Coupons!
I get my coupons from two sources, my local newspaper and online.
Each Sunday I get four newspapers delivered to me. Why four? Because that means I get four sets of coupons. If you look at my previous post you will notice that I bought four of most items, that's because I had four coupons. The common standard is that you order one newspaper per person in your household. So if you have four kids you order six papers, one for you, one for your husband, and one for each of your kids. I hope that makes sense.
I also print some coupons from the internet. The best sites for coupons are coupons.com
smartsource.com
and redplum.com.
You can print each coupon twice per computer. If there is a coupon I want I print it from my laptop, my husband's laptop, and from his home office computer, that gives me a total of six coupons. As far as the online coupons go, I only print ones that I know I'll use. For example, we don't drink coffee or have pets so I don't waste my time on those coupons.

Step 2: Cutting the Coupons
This is my least favorite part of couponing, but alas, it has to be done. For my newspaper coupons I pull apart all the coupon pages and stack the identical pages on top of each other. That way when you cut them, you are cutting all four at once. Make sure you get coupons from both sides of the pages! Once they are all stacked and ready it doesn't take too long. My husband usually will help if I bribe with some cinnamon rolls or some cookies. Just a suggestion :). As far as online coupons go I use one of those slide track cutters that are usually used for scrapbooking. I told Nate that I want to get one of those heavy duty handle cutters that can go through like 20 pages at once.

Okay folks, this cold is killing me and I've got to stop, but stay tuned tomorrow for steps 3, 4, and 5 and some pictures!

The Low-Down on My Coupon Showdown

2011-06-08T20:04:00.004-06:00

So I talked with Alisha (cousin) earlier this evening. Of course couponing came up! Alisha is the one who taught me how to coupon and I loved that she let me brag to her about the deals I got this week! So I've got another coupon post for you! Here are some of the deals I was able to get. This isn't everything. I didn't get stuff out of my fridge or freezer for the photo, I forgot. But this should still give you a pretty good idea of what I was able to get. I can't remember all the pre-sale prices, but I listed both the full price and the price I paid.

Here's the breakdown:
4 Crest Mouthwash - $3.99 to $1.99
4 All Laundry Detergent - $2.99 to $0.99
4 Ban Deodorant - $2.75? to $0.74
2 Stayfree Pads - $2.99 to $0.99
4 Snuggle Fabric Softener - $3.47? to $1.99
4 Tide Stain Release Packets - $3.97 to $0.97
4 Nivea Men's Body Wash - $3.50 to $0.50
4 Nivea Men's Shaving Cream $2.60? to $0.50
4 Fusion ProGlide 5 Blade Razors - $6.97 to $0.89
4 Bic 4 Flex Razors - $5.97 to $0.99
4 Crest Toothpastes - $2.87 to $0.25
2 Aquafresh Toothpastes - $0.97 to FREE
4 Colgate Toothpastes - $3.00 to $0.13
16 Nexcare Bandaids - $1.00 to FREE
2 Tylenol Precise Cream - $5.97 to $0.97
5 Wheat Thins Stix - $2.50? to $0.67
2 Pompeian Vinegar - $1.48 to $0.48
1 French's Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce - $2.00? to $0.37
12 Ronzoni Pasta - $1.48 to $0.50

Pre Price Match and Coupon Total: $225.52
Total Spent: $47.99
Total Savings: $177.53 or 79%

That was my week in coupons! Tomorrow I'll post my process, where I get my coupons, how I find deals, and how I stay organized.

4 Years!

2011-06-02T12:19:00.002-06:00

It's our 4 year anniversary today! Part of me can't believe that it's only been 4 years. I feel like I have always been with Nate, it's hard to remember what single life was like. I've learned a few things in these four years, I know that Nate is a wonderful wonderful man. He is an amazing partner, a fantastic provider, he's fun to be with, and he is truly the best friend I have ever had. I love him so much more than I ever thought possible. Thank you Nate for being my husband! I love you!

Couponing

2011-05-31T15:19:00.007-06:00

So I have dabbled in the world of couponing before. I never truly understood it and I never really seemed to reap the benefits. I have now come to know that I was going about it all wrong! Nate has a super cute cousin, Alisha, that was so sweet and took the time to go over the whole process with me. Today was my first shopping trip taking advantage of price matching and coupon doubling at Walmart. I have to say, one trip and I am hooked! I love my coupon binder and I can't wait until my next set of newspapers come!

Here is part of my shopping trip today:

Haribo Gummy Bears - $0.37 each
Frosted Flakes - $0.25 box
Kool Aid 5 Packs - free
Comet - $0.97 each
5 Gum - $0.78 each
Cookie Crisps - $0.48 box
Lunchables - $1.29 each
Candles - free

Total before price matching and coupons - $39.02
Total out of pocket - $9.84
Total savings - $29.18 or 74%

I was pretty pleased with myself. I spent less than $10 for everything and it would have cost me more than that to just buy 3 boxes of the cereal at full price! Here are some pictures of my binder. I love it. It makes the system manageable for me. I was able to organize it just the way I wanted it and I am really enjoying the process.

Needless to say, I am totally hooked on couponing now! Thanks again Alisha!

Mustache May and Baby Jack

2011-05-27T11:01:00.004-06:00

Oh man, so glad this is over! Nate's work is participating in mustache May. During the month they all grow out a full beard and then this week they all had to trim everything but their mustache. There is some sort of prize for the person with the craziest mustache. Since Nate is working from home the later part of the week he is already back to being clean shaven. Yay for me! Here is what he looked like a few days ago.

This last week we welcomed another new addition, cute baby Jack! Congratulations to Brandon and Julianna! I think he is so cute, he is just so little and he's darling with his curly strawberry blonde hair. Welcome to our family Jack!

Mother's Day, a New Addition, and a Baby Shower

2011-05-14T20:12:00.007-06:00

It's been an exciting week for us! Sunday was Mother's Day and we were able to visit both of our moms. I made them each a personalized recipe binder with some of our favorite recipes and some family favorites.

On Tuesday we welcomed a brand new niece into the family. Lacey Nichole was born Tuesday evening. We got to see her on Wednesday and she is darling! She has lots of dark hair just like her older brother did when he was born. I can't believe how small she is! Congratulations Benji and Amanda.
We will also be having another nephew added to the family any day now. This morning I went to a shower for my other sister-in-law. Please forgive my photography, I can't seem to stop throwing up, so I just took pictures from my seat on the couch. Julianna got lots of cute things for baby Jack.

May Already

2011-05-02T14:24:00.009-06:00

I know, I know, I've been slacking big time with the whole blogging thing. Life has been crazy the last month.
First things first, we moved! We've been in our new place for just over two weeks, and we are pretty settled. A few miscellaneous boxes to unpack and I need to get decorating. Nate's office needs to finish being set up, but other than that we are pretty much finished. Thanks again to all those who helped us with the move. Nate will be working from home 3 days a week and we are excited about that. Nate has a list of things he wants to adorn his office with, including a mini fridge. We'll see about that!
We had a pretty good Easter. I was really sick that day but we exchanged baskets and treats for the first time since we've been married. I even did an egg hunt for Nathan. We made a big traditional dinner of smoked brisket, asparagus, potatoes, rolls, etc. This was the most we have ever done for Easter and I think we will continue to go all out.
I finally decided what do for Mother's Day. For some reason I feel like I have to be super creative and make my gifts for Mother's Day. I've been procrastinating since I haven't felt very good lately, so I have a lot of work to do this week! My mom doesn't read my blog, but my mother-in-law does on occasion, so I can't say what my idea is, but call me if you want to use my idea. It will be easy to reproduce.
Yesterday we had a big birthday dinner for everyone on Nate's side of the family who is having a May birthday. We will be adding a new niece and a new nephew this month too! I'm getting excited to meet Lacey and Jack and finally see what they look like!

That is pretty much the happenings for us. I feel like between moving, unpacking, and doctors appointments I haven't been very much fun. I usually have at least one doctor's visit a week, and I am so sick of it all! Sorry to complain, but I just feel really down lately. My heart isn't doing better despite the weekly increase of my medicine dosage. The medication has two major side effects as well. One is that is makes my diabetes harder to control, so I've had to start an additional medication to help with my diabetes. I just had my A1C done for the first time since my diagnosis and it was 6.5. It is a simple blood test that sees how well my average blood sugars have been. Under 7 is acceptable, but my doctor would love to see mine under 6. So my score of 6.5 is not horrible, but I definitely have room for improvement. The test is done every 3 months, next time I want to be under 6.2. The second major side effect of my heart medicine is exhaustion. Never in my life have I been as tired as I've been this last week. Last Monday my electrophysiologist went all out and doubled my dosage and I have been exhausted 24/7. I wish I could describe how tired I've been, it is almost like an out of body experience. Every day feels like this incredible struggle just to make it through the day. I feel like such a slacker, I've been really bad about returning phone calls and emails (sorry Alisha! sorry Jennifer!) and I want to cry knowing I still have to make dinner tonight. I just feel like I am living in this alternate universe and I just want my life back. Feeling down about all of this stuff and really down about our infertility struggles this past week. Sorry, I am just not in a very good place emotionally right now and I just needed to vent.

Our Easter meal.

Super Nate found all the Easter eggs.

Last night's birthday dinner.

This photo is also from last night, two of my favorite guys!

Not sure if they are tired of jumping, or tired of me taking pictures :).

Why I Don't Bring Nate Grocery Shopping

2011-04-04T21:04:00.003-06:00

We had to go get some groceries tonight. Midway through the trip I told Nate, "I feel like I am grocery shopping with a little kid!" True statement, here's why. Grocery shopping takes a LOT longer when I bring Nate, he thinks everything looks good and likes to dawdle. Me, I bring a list and I know exactly what I need during the trip so I don't have to back track. I also don't like it when I have to stop and wait for him to catch up, why can't he just walk alongside me? We were walking past the freezer section and Nate saw those Kid Cuisine frozen dinners. Do you know the ones I'm talking about? The blue boxes with the penguin on the front? He told me that he would always ask for them when he was little and he never got one. So then I felt totally bad and told him he could get one. He also ended up getting these airhead flavored popsicles, he really wanted to try the white mystery flavor. Long story short, I love Nathan, he is amazing, and tonight he reminded me that I love how young at heart he is!

P.S. Does anybody want a Kid Cuisine, I don't think Nate will really eat it.

A Slight Change of Plans

2011-03-31T20:52:00.002-06:00

Oh man, I swear my head is going to explode. I have no brain power left. Nate and I have been on such a roller coaster since Valentine's Day. Right around then is when we first had the Blackberry job come into our lives. Nathan wasn't even looking for a new job, they contacted us. After weeks of interviews, phone calls, prayers and the like, we really felt like Texas was the right step for us. Earlier this week Nathan turned in his notice to his current employer. Nate is an awesome employee, they asked Nate if they could give him a counter offer to tempt him to stay. Nate said yes, but that we really felt like we were supposed to go to Texas. They countered, and we turned it down. For weeks we had been praying and felt like it was meant for us to go to Texas. Nate's current employer came back with another counter offer. We were totally surprised. This offer was amazing. So with more thought and prayer (I am pretty sure I've been praying non-stop since February) we suddenly started to feel very positive about staying in Utah. I haven't slept in two nights because I feel like it is such a huge decision, one of the biggest decisions we've ever had to make. We came to a consensus, we are staying in Utah! We are still going to move into a new place close to Nate's work, but it will not be 1200 miles away! I know our families are excited to keep us close. I feel like a huge weight is lifted and I am really excited for this new chapter. But please, no more big decisions right now! I've had all I can handle for a while.

Big News Y'all!

2011-03-29T08:35:00.003-06:00

Nate and I are moving to Texas!!! Nate has accepted a position with RIM, which is the company that makes Blackberry. We are moving to Irving, Texas, which is right by Dallas. We are moving in two weeks and we are really excited!

Heart Update

2011-03-25T15:50:00.005-06:00

I had my appointment with the electrophysiologist this morning. He confirmed what the previous doctor had said. Surgery is an option, but it's not ideal for my exact situation. With the surgery I run the risk of needing a pacemaker. Not exactly great news. Surgery may be required down the road, but for now they are going to try and control everything with medication. My new medication will most likely make me very very tired for a week or two, but once my body is used to it the tiredness will go away. The medicine also makes diabetes a little harder to control, so I am going to have to be really careful there too. I see him again in two weeks and we will see how things are going.
That's the news for now. I am so glad we are just a few hours away from the weekend! I can't wait to see my husband!

Oh my gosh! Look what I found! Further proof I really need an iphone! See Nate, I could even work from my phone!

10 Years

2011-03-24T14:51:00.002-06:00

Today marks the 10 year anniversary of my dad's death. It's weird, it seems like it was so so long ago, but I remember so many things about that day. He died just 3 weeks after I turned 15. I don't think I've ever mentioned my dad on this blog before. I didn't agree with a lot of his choices or actions, but he is still my dad. Here's his picture. Sorry about the quality, it's a picture of a picture. I don't have it hanging up, but I do have it saved. I think it's the only one I have. I'm not super sad, it's been a lot of years and I think I'm just used to it. What does make me a little sad is the fact that he never met Nate, that he wasn't there at my high school graduation or my wedding or other big moments. I am a little sad that my kids will never know one of their grandpas. Anyway, I just thought I would mention this day.

Our Weekend

2011-03-21T14:37:00.005-06:00

Friday I had my heart appointment. We went over my test results. The ultrasound of my heart looked great, which means there are no structural defects. Good news! The results of my halter monitor were not good. My heart beats way way too fast, even when I am sleeping. My doctor compared it to someone who is always running. My heart beats so fast that it is just working too hard, leaving me exhausted all the time. There are times when the actual beats of my heart are incorrect as well. This leads my doctor to believe that the electrical currents of my heart are misfiring. So I am off to see a doctor who specializes in heart electrical activity on Friday morning. He will be able to tell what exactly is going on with the currents and to determine if I need surgery. It would be a simple surgery and would fix the problem permanently. In the mean time I have started a medication to slow my heart beat. This should help me not feel so exhausted and out of breath all the time. It is nice to know what is going on, and I will have the rest of the picture when I see this next doctor on Friday.

Friday evening Nate and I went his cousin Brittany's wedding reception. Everything looked amazing. Here is a picture of the happy bride and groom.

Early Saturday morning we took both of our cars in to get oil changes. Unfortunately my car had a couple issues. We had spent $500 by 10 am! Gotta love days like that. Oh well, I can't really complain, we have had relatively few issues with our cars. Now I just need to vacuum out my car and wash it, and it'll be perfect!

I think that is everything. This weekend flew by way too fast. I can't wait until Friday night!

Kim the Chicken

2011-03-11T15:18:00.003-07:00

As many of you know, I am lucky enough to not have to work. I am blessed to be a full-time housewife. That being said, I spend a lot of my time at home. Today is one of those days. I've spent my day working on a guest book for an upcoming cousin's wedding, then I dusted and vacuumed, continued a bit of spring cleaning, and working my way through the laundry. Anyway, I just showered. So while I'm in the shower I hear this tapping every so often. It seriously sounds like someone is standing on the other side of the curtain tapping their foot waiting for me. So freaky! I start looking around for some sort of weapon so I can defend myself against this attacker who I am sure is lurking in my bathroom. My options are crappy, loofah, shampoo, face wash, definitely not lethal. Lame. Even my razor won't work. It is one of those intuition razors that are surrounded by that soap stuff. I decide my only option is to take the metal shower caddy and hope that I can swing it hard enough to knock this guy out. Then I start having one of my heart episodes and I start to feel tired and weak. Great, now I totally don't stand a chance. I am about to get murdered and this guy is going to wrap my body in the shower curtain liner and leave no forensic evidence. Finally I don't feel like I can stand up much longer so I rip back the shower curtain and.............no one is there. All that freaking out for nothing. All that standing around looking for weapons and wasting hot water for nothing. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I wasn't murdered, but I totally feel like I wasted like 10 good minutes of worrying. After I got dressed and ready I went out to the living room and noticed that the front door is unlocked! I never, ever leave the door unlocked. Now I think there really might have been a murderer in my bathroom!

Anyway, that's the story of how I ended up taking a ridiculously long shower today. I am open to a self-defense class if anyone wants to come with me!

Today

2011-03-07T16:34:00.004-07:00

It is pouring outside, I LOVE the rain. I would so much rather have rain than snow. However, today may not have been the day to wear sandals. I got a pedicure for my birthday last Monday and I just couldn't resist wearing sandals.
So my mom sent me a text this morning and I called her back because I needed to talk to her. First thing she says is, "Did you get my text?" Yes mom, that is why I called you :). Then she says, "Did you see my cute signature at the bottom? I just figured out how to do add that to my texts!" Oh DeeAnn, you are such a funny mom sometimes. She was seriously so excited. If you don't know my mom she is not exactly a techy. Nate taught her how to text a few years ago, how to add attachments to her emails, basic stuff like that. Welcome to the technology era Mom, glad you are enjoying it!
Okay, this didn't happen today, it was yesterday, and oh my gosh I laughed so hard. So we were over at my in-laws yesterday for Sunday dinner. It was nice, all the kids were able to make it. I was making dinner and one of my brothers-in-law was talking to me and asked, "Kim is diabetes contagious?" I wiped my hand on his arm and said, "Yep!" Oh my gosh it was hysterical! Amanda and I were near tears we were laughing so hard! And no, I am not going to tell you which of my 6 brothers-in-law said that. Oh man, still so funny to me!

Finally, the moment you have all been waiting for :). I like to pretend you all hang on my every word. I had my cardiologist appointment earlier this afternoon. Here's what I found out. There is definitely a problem and it is something that has to be fixed. What exactly is causing it still has to be determined. I am currently wearing a heart monitor and will for the next 24-48 hours. They want an extended look at my heart rhythm and rate and really want to capture one of my "episodes." I have not had any episodes today, but I had two yesterday and three the day before that. This might sound weird, but I am praying to have an episode. They need to see what is going on with my heart during these episodes, so hopefully I have one or two today or tomorrow. I also had some blood work done at my appointment. On Thursday I am going to have an ultrasound of my heart. After these tests are done and the results are in I see my doctor again. Most likely the issue will be corrected with some medicine or I will have a minor surgery. That's what I know for now! So pray or keep your fingers crossed I have an episode, thanks!

Now let's get back to my mom. She is awesome. She also happens to be super fun and SINGLE! My mom is really smart and likes to be active. She enjoys watching football and her celebrity crush is Mark Harmon from NCIS. If you know a good man send me an email at nksmithfamily@gmail.com.
This is my mom and her favorite daughter, me!
P.S. Do you think she'll try and ground me for posting this? :)

Add Another Item to the List

2011-02-25T15:52:00.005-07:00

Okay, despite how I've been feeling lately, I've worked really hard to keep my blog posts upbeat and positive. Sorry, but that is not going to happen today. This post is mainly for me, since I am a horrible journal keeper, so that I can look back and remember all that went on.

So I went to the doctor today. Just a normal visit to check up on my diabetes and all my medications. Love my doctor, his nurse is awesome, his office is great, I hardly ever have to wait, love them, totally recommend them. Anyway during the visit I mentioned these little episodes I've been having. Randomly my heart starts racing super fast. It beats so fast and so hard that my chest hurts, I get really really light headed and nauseated. I feel really sick and have to go lay/lie (sorry, never can remember which one to use) down. They have just been happening the last month. Now my heart rate is normally fast, but this just feels weird when it happens. Anyway, I mentioned it at my appointment this morning and next thing I know I changing into a gown getting ready for an EKG. Of course with my luck, or lack thereof, it was abnormal. Perfect! I mean, it's just what I needed, another health issue! For New Year's I found out I had diabetes and now just in time for my birthday I find out all this about my heart. When it rains, it pours! So now I am off to see a specialist and to try and sort all of this out. I blame my parents. Nice genetics Harvey and DeeAnn! Both my parents had hypertension (high blood pressure), oh wait, so do I! Thanks. My dad also had several heart attacks and heart procedures before he died. It just so happens that February is heart health month!
I see the specialist a week from Monday so hopefully I can get all my questions answered then. The thing that concerns me the most is that my mom offered to take a day off work to come to the appointment with me. I mean of course my mom has worried about my health lately with all the diabetic stuff, but she never mentioned coming to an appointment. My mom is a nurse with critical care experience so I told her the specific things that showed up on the EKG and she got kinda quiet and told me to take the soonest available appointment and that she was willing to come with me. I wasn't super worried, but now I feel like maybe I should be. Besides wondering how serious this all is, I worry about how it will effect me fertility wise. If it is a serious heart condition will they let me do IVF? Just a lot to deal with.
Basically I feel like it was a crappy start to the weekend. Anyway, just feeling like I have had more than my fair share of health issues this year. Just needed to vent.
On a happier note, Nate gets off of work soon and I want to something fun this weekend! I am also trying a new recipe tonight that I am really excited about it!

Happy Birthday Keith

2011-02-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

I have the most handsome nephew. Not only is he super cute, he has a darling little personality! I truly feel so privileged to have been able to watch him grow. Keith has two fantastic parents that have been so good about letting us play with and spoil him. Every time I see Keith, he brightens my day. Today Keith is turning two years old! He is so grown up, I can hardly stand it! I wish Keith a very very happy birthday today. I hope two is a super fun year for him.

I have taken hundreds of photos of Keith. He is so cute, every time I get my camera out and say, "cheese," he gives me a fantastic smile. He loves it if you show him the photos when you are done. This "cheese" face is how I will always remember him at this age.

I love when Keith comes over to our apartment. I love that he feels comfortable enough to walk around and explore. He knows where we keep our food and loves when I give him treats. Nate and I love having one on one time with Keith. Nate loves that when Keith comes over they can watch cartoons together. Notice how they have the same expression on their faces. I guess cartoons entertain boys of all ages.

Most of all, we love how fun and loving Keith is. He is always giving kisses. He started adding a little "mmmwah" sound with his kisses. So cute! Keith has the best and most sincere laugh. He is so entertaining to be around. We had a family party last Sunday and Amanda (Keith's mom) made the cutest dinosaur cake. Of course Keith loved it, and I'm told it tastes better when you eat it with cars!

Oh Keith, we love you so much! You are such a fantastic addition to the family. Happy Birthday!

It's Here!

2011-02-14T12:31:00.004-07:00

It's a Valentine's Day miracle! My scrapbook came! I love how it turned out and it even came ahead of schedule! Winkflash rocks! Let me show you...

P.S. Did you know that today was supposed to be my birthday? Yep, Valentine's Day was my due date. However, I didn't make my debut for another two weeks. Don't worry, I apologize to my mom every Valentine's Day.

XOXO

2011-02-14T11:34:00.004-07:00

Happy Valentine's Day Nate! I love you and I am so glad you are my valentine.

Looking for Craft Ideas

2011-02-11T11:32:00.003-07:00

I am on the hunt for some cute St. Patrick's Day crafts. I am finally starting to feel up to being creative. Do you have an idea for me? I would like to have the crafts finished by the end of the month so that I can display them starting March 1. Also send me some ideas for Easter, really any spring craft. Keep in mind I am diabetic so I don't want things that revolve around baked goods or candy. Any suggestions? Would anyone like to come over and craft with me? Here are a couple things I have found so far:

Luck Sign from It's A Girl Thing

Fabric Flowers from The Creative Crate

Butterfly Wreath from The Creative Crate

I LOVE the fabric flowers, I think they would look so cute in my kitchen or on my entertainment center. I would love other ideas though, and I'm serious about a craft party! Thanks!

Lovin' It

2011-02-07T13:11:00.008-07:00

Oh man, I am so loving this Valentine's Day kit I bought this morning. Best part, it was on sale! Yay! I used the Vintage Valentine kit from ScrapOrchard to decorate my blog. It's probably my favorite blog look yet, so don't be surprised if I don't change anything until October! Anyway, I love this kit and I just wanted to share!

Also, I am posting a hot wing recipe on the Durfee Family Recipe Blog. I made 4lbs. of these suckers yesterday and Nate and my brother ate them all! They said they were great! I didn't even get a picture of them because they were eaten so quickly!

One last thing, since I am talking about things to love, I am so loving Tim McGraw right now. His song "Felt Good On My Lips" has been stuck in my head all weekend and I love it!

Finished!

2011-02-07T08:20:00.004-07:00

Woo hoo! I just ordered my book. I saved $118 due to the sale. I am so excited, I can't wait for it to get here. They said the estimated arrival date is next Wednesday, so hopefully it comes on time. One of the last pages I did was a double page of our wedding, I wanted something simple and clean, yet still formal looking. Here is what I came up with.

P.S. I have the worst cold. I just want it to be gone! It's obviously making me grumpy, plus it is making my blood sugar go all crazy. Lame. Colds suck.

Random Facts

2011-02-02T14:49:00.004-07:00

So I spend what feels like a million hours scrapbooking today and I need a break. One thing I noticed about my scrapbooking is that I need to do more pages of everyday moments, the simple things that make us who we are, funny things Nate says, our date nights, things like that. In the spirit of celebrating the simple things here are a few random (and little known) facts about me. Enjoy!

* I am freakishly good at guessing the temperature of a room. No joke, I can tell you the exact temperature of a room. Seriously, just ask Nate, I'm good.

*I refuse to sing in public. I was once told that I had an awful voice after singing in church one day, and I haven't sang in public since. I will however rock out to Pandora when I am at home alone. I always play music when I cook or clean and I think I sound just fine. One time my neighbor in the apartment upstairs told me she could hear me, so embarrassing! I try and sing more quietly now.

*When I am home alone I cannot have silence. It freaks me out, I have to have music or a book playing on my ipod or have the tv on. I have to feel like there are other people there with me. The only time it is silent is when I read, which is not very often.

*I consider myself a better cook than my mom. Please don't tell her. Don't worry, she doesn't read my blog. Does that make me an awful person? I'm not sure.

*I am a fast reader, always have been, and I hope I always will be. I'm no champion speed reader, but I read faster than the average bear. I enjoy reading, I need to read more, I just feel like I never have time!

*I really like my handwriting. Oh my gosh, that sounds so vain! Do you ever have those days when you seriously can't think of one good thing about yourself? Well every once in a while I do, and I remind myself that at least I have decent handwriting.

*I still get jealous when I think girls are being overly friendly to my husband. One time we were going through a drive through and Nate handed over his debit card to pay. The little cashier girl asked if the picture of the snowboarder on the card was him. Oh my gosh, you should have heard the way she said it and the stupid smile on her face! She was totally flirting with him! And his ring was on his finger and I was there in the passenger seat! Slut!

*When I was growing up I really really wanted my name to be Montana Jo. Okay, stop laughing and let me explain. First of all, this was a secret that was going to be taken to the grave, but I made the mistake of telling Benji and Amanda and they thought it was so hilarious and of course they kept bringing it up. Amanda is now pregnant with a little girl, I offered to let them use the name Montana Jo and they said no. So rude! Okay, here is the story. I have an older half sister who is named Tori Jo. Tori is 14 years older than me, so I have some super fun memories of sleeping over at her apartment and hanging out with her and her roommates when I was like 8 or 9. So since she was Tori Jo, I figured I could be Tana Jo (that would be my nickname) and everyone would think we were so cool. I also really liked the name Brooke growing up, that was my second choice.

*Here's another fun fact about young Kim. I used to get perms. The sad part is that my bangs got permed too. Keep in mind that I was young, really young, and that it was totally my mom's fault! It was the 90's people!! No, do not even ask to see pictures.

Okay folks, laugh it up, laugh it up. Hopefully that made your Wednesday a little bit better. I wonder if I have any friends left after this post. Feel free to share embarrassing facts about yourselves in the comments! Ha! Okay, I need to get back to scrapbooking.

It's Panic Time!!!

2011-02-01T20:24:00.006-07:00

Okay folks it's official. I am going to be off the grid until Saturday. Please do not be offended if I don't answer calls, texts, or emails. I also will no be looking outside for carrier pigeons of smoke signals. Sorry. It is crunch time! Winkflash is having their flat rate book sale for the next few days. This is a huge deal! I get a beautiful, custom bound 12x12" scrapbook filled 100 pages of my digital scrapbook pages for only $25. That is insane! Do you realize that you can't even have individual pages printed that cheap, let alone bound into a book! Insane! So basically I need to get my hiney in gear and finish my book. I have nearly two books full but since they are in chronological order I can't leave any gaps, and I have some pages that bug me that I want to re-do. I am determined to finish and have it ordered by Friday. Oh my gosh I can't wait!!! So for the next few days I am going to scrapbook and watch the first season Burn Notice, don't judge me, but it actually sounds fun!

P.S. Please don't look at my blog. I LOVE February, it is a fantastic month, and hugely underrated! It saddens me that I haven't put up a cute February header and such, as soon as my book is done that will be next on the list!

***UPDATE***
Okay, I finished the wedding announcement/invitation I was working on yesterday so I am scrapbooking my little heart out. Here are the pages I've made/edited so far (as of 11:20 Tuesday morning). One is from 2008, one from 2009, and one from 2010. I still need to make a double page of our wedding from summer 2007, but I am dreading it because I know it will take forever. That will probably be the last one I do.

-Newport Beach Vacation 2008. Don't worry about how the papers don't align perfectly, the binding will hide it.

-Zak's Homecoming 2009. Boy pages are not my favorite, they stress me. I don't want to make them all frilly and feminine, and I kind of feel limited. Oh well, here it is.

-Benji's Birthday 2010

*Answer to a comment. Yes, I do everything from scratch. Sometimes I browse through templates and find some inspiration. Some templates might have a photo grouping that I like and some may have a fun way to incorporate a title. I use those ideas and make my own pages. My most favorite digital scrapbook store is Sweet Shoppe Designs, they have the best selection hands down and I like the aesthetic of a lot of their designers, I would say 90% of all my scrapbooking purchases are from this site. I also like Shabby Princess, Scrap Orchard, and Scrap Matters.

Making Me Proud

2011-01-28T11:39:00.006-07:00

Woo hoo Natey! My handsome husband was nominated and received a little $50 award for being amazing at work.
The award states; "Nathan Smith is one of our newer employees, however Nathan has done an exemplary job in several key areas. Nathan receives excellent customer surveys, is punctual, and extremely efficient. During a time of record workloads for our TSE team Nathan has demonstrated how to handle a large workload with extreme efficiency."
That's my husband! Good job babe, you always make me proud. In an effort to be a little more positive in my everyday life, I want to celebrate the little things more, things like this award. I know that Nate is a hard worker and I am glad he is being recognized for it.

Here is what I think he should buy with his prize money:
It's called a Connect-A-Desk laptop holder, I mean, if that's not sexy I don't know what is! You can find it online at Think Geek.

It’s Not A Tuma!

2011-01-20T17:22:00.001-07:00

The title is supposed to be said with an Arnold voice ala Kindergarten Cop.

So as is clearly evident in the photos below, this is not my finest work. I love to cook, but I have a love/hate relationship with baking. Today it is a hate relationship.

Here’s the story. For some reason I was in the mood to bake today. For Christmas one of my gifts from my family was this huge assortment of sprinkles. I wanted to use these cute dinosaur sprinkles. So I thought I would be cute and surprise Nate with a yummy dessert tonight. He loves chocolate cake and so I found this recipe that looked delish (even to me who doesn’t like cake or chocolate). I followed the recipe exactly. However, much to my surprise, I had two ugly cakes with sunken middles and weird lumpy tumors. Not what I had planned. Then to add insult to injury I tried to turn one of the cakes out it completely fell apart. I think I am on a baking strike for the time being.

Epic fail.

On the flip side, I have tried some new recipes of the non-baking variety and they have turned out so good! I am trying another new one tonight. Head on over to Durfee Family Recipes to see what I’ve been cooking.

I Win!

2011-01-14T17:06:00.001-07:00

In our home a great debate has raged for over 3 1/2 years. Cheese chips vs. nachos. If you are awesome like me, you are on the nacho side.

Let me explain. What do you call a plate of tortilla chips with melted cheese on them? Nate calls them cheese chips and I call them nachos. To me cheese chips would be chips that have a cheese flavor. Nate strongly disagrees, strongly. No, I am not crazy, my best friend and sister-in-law Amanda has this same debate in her house. Of course she and I agree that chips with melted cheese are nachos. We are so right, and I can prove it.

Have you ever heard of The Pioneer Woman? Of course you have, she is a cooking authority, she even beat Bobby Flay in a Thanksgiving throwdown. So we all agree that she knows a thing or two about cooking. Well, today I was looking at her website and I saw a recipe for salsa, see picture below. If you click on the picture, it takes you to her recipe. Once you are done with the recipe, you will notice that she recommends serving this salsa with NACHOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I quote, “Serve with tortilla chips or cheese nachos.” That’s right Nate, NACHOS. I win.

P.S. Dear Nate, they are called laundry baskets, not buckets. Buckets do not have holes all over the side. Stay tuned for when I prove that to you. :)

Scrapbook Pages

2011-01-12T21:19:00.002-07:00

Finally. I feel like I haven’t scrapbooked in forever. Here are a few pages I’ve finished this week.

Christmas Eve – I don’t love it though. I might re-do it.

Christmas Day double page

Brandon and Julianna’s wedding double page. I really like how it turned out.

Happy New Year........I Have Diabetes

2011-01-03T18:55:00.004-07:00

Today was kind of a crazy day. Crazy good and crazy bad. Nate had today off of work for the New Year, they didn't want to have another holiday in 2010, so they made today a holiday instead. I love when Nate is home from work, it is nice having extra time with him, and he has been super great about helping out around the house. Also in the good new category... I got my camera! Woot woot! I've been waiting and waiting, and today was the day. So rockin' pictures will be coming your way! Now on to the bad news. This morning I had yet another doctor's appointment. I officially have diabetes. Crap, actually the real word that went through my mind was s*#@. I'm none too thrilled about this situation, but it is nice to know why I have been so sick lately. Basically due to the fact that my PCOS went undiagnosed for so many years my pancreas was damaged and led to my diabetes. Can I just say once again how much infertility sucks! So yah, that was my day. I want to cry a little bit, but I know what I need to do, so I will carry on. That is my resolution for this year, get healthy! Sorry for the past few posts and the negativity they've contained. Soon I will update the look of my blog and post some darling pictures from Christmas.

Merry Christmas- I Finally Went to the Doctor

2010-12-24T00:47:00.009-07:00

It's officially Christmas Eve, my favorite day of the year! Merry Christmas everyone! We are going to be enjoying our families over the next few days and I hope everyone has a fabulous holiday.

So, after a few more days of feeling so sick I finally went to the doctor. Nate and my mom ganged up on me and made me go. However, I am glad I went. Can I just say how much I love my doctor? Dr. Brockbank is the absolute best. So Nate drags me to the doctor and Dr. B talks to me and runs a urine test, and next thing I know I am laying there with some girl trying to start an IV in my arm (worst part of the day, pretty sure I don't want you poking around the same vein for 10 minutes, no joke, she ended up starting one in my wrist). Apparently I really was sick. I had tons of sugar in my urine and my blood sugar was really high. This can be a side effect of my PCOS, I had been on metformin, although it seems it wasn't doing it's job. The high blood sugars explains my nausea/vomiting, my sweats/chills, my extreme thirst and dry mouth, and my need to urinate every 5 minutes. After the IV and some nausea medicine I was already feeling a lot better. For the next few days I have to check my blood sugars at home and give myself insulin shots each night. I need to track my blood sugars and I see the doctor again Monday morning. As far as the lady pain goes, nothing major seems to be going on, just some cyst pain from the PCOS.

So yah, that's what is going on. I'm glad I went to the doctor. He said I would have just continued to get sicker and sicker. I already feel much improved. I had just been to see him early last week for my monthly med check so I felt kinda dumb showing up a week and a half later, but it seems I needed to go. Nate and my mom are happy. I feel more at ease knowing what is going on. Hopefully I can survive the shots, although the finger pokes hurt way more than the shots. I see Dr. Brockbank again Monday, but I am sure I will have nothing but good news then. Thank you all for the kind thoughts and well wishes, I really needed it. Merry Christmas!

P.S. Since this blog is about both Nate and me, though lately I have been talking a lot about myself, let's talk about Nate. Nate is doing really well. Work is going great for him, his health is good, he is growing a beard, and he is loving this new show called American Ninja Warrior. It is this crazy extreme obstacle course competition. In fact we are watching it right now at one in the morning. Check it out!

A Penny for Your Thoughts

2010-12-20T18:05:00.001-07:00

Okay, I am not going to post anymore about having good days! Every time I do, I have a bad day that follows. I must jinx myself. Anyway, I am feeling sick and Nate is still at work and no one is answering their phone so I figured I would vent on my blog. I’m sick, but I’m not sick. Let me explain. I have to take 19 prescription pills every single day (thank you PCOS and your lame side effects). Some of the prescriptions make me have a really dry mouth. If my mouth gets to dry I start to gag and then I throw up. This is why you always see me with a water bottle. I also have to pack a gallon size ziploc bag around in my purse. I learned that lesson after I threw up in the car. I know, so attractive. I don’t feel sick, I just throw up. It happens on average two or three times a week. I feel sick, throw up, and then I am totally fine and I carry on my day. Not a big deal, I can handle it. But the past 5 days I have been throwing up. I have been getting sick multiple times a day and feeling so so nauseated. This is not the usual. I also have had some random lady pains, not cramps, pains I only had during our fertility procedures. I am absolutely not pregnant, let’s just get that clear. I am as infertile as they come. I WebMd’d my symptoms (nausea and pain) and I don’t find any good diagnoses. I just saw my doctor at the beginning of last week so I don’t really want to go back. Thoughts anyone? Suggestions? Advice? Basically I just don’t feel good and want some sympathy. Sorry, I always get a bit sad at Christmas-time that we still don’t have any children. Next month also marks 3 1/2 years that we have been trying. I just had a few things happen lately that make me feel really sad about my infertility. I just need a few days to get over it and then I will be back to normal. Thanks for reading, sorry for the graphic descriptions :).

P.S. Is anyone looking at the family recipe blog? I feel totally lame that I have posted like 10 x more than anyone else.

It's Christmas Time

2010-12-13T21:07:00.003-07:00

Oh man, today was good. I was able to do two of my favorite Christmas activities, wrapping presents and driving around looking at Christmas lights. I LOVE wrapping presents, LOVE it! Drop your gifts off at my place and I would be happy to wrap them for you! Tonight for Family Home Evening we went and drove around looking at Christmas lights. We have these fun glasses that turn the lights into fun shapes. We blasted our Christmas music and had so much fun just talking and driving. I've been a bit of a scrooge this year, and haven't been too excited for Christmas. Someone is doing the 12 Days of Christmas to us this year and I have to say, it really has brightened my mood. So if it is you, THANK YOU! Merry Christmas! Soon I will have to post some pictures of our decorations.

Family Recipe Blog

2010-12-03T17:24:00.005-07:00

Oh man, I so need to be cleaning, we are having company tonight. Oh well, I've been posting on our new family recipe blog! That's right folks we have a family recipe blog. It is Durfee Family Recipes. So come on over and take a look! If you want to contribute, just send me your recipe and I can add it, or if you are familiar with blogging, send me your email and I will add you as an author. To be able to add a recipe, check your inbox for an invitation, then click on the link to be added as an author. Once you have done this then you can post away! I need lots of new ideas for fun dinners, so everyone better be posting tons! Also, post your kitchen tips or fun food websites for the rest of us to enjoy! If there is stuff you would like to see on the blog, let me know, I am open to suggestions. Happy cooking Durfee girls, and those of us who have married in!

Just click the image to go directly to the recipe blog!

Thanksgiving Festivities

2010-11-27T22:56:00.001-07:00

It is no secret that Amanda and I LOVE hanging out. I seriously think that we married our husbands in order for the two of us to meet. It it so nice that Nate and Benji get along so well and have similar interests, so while the boys do lame sports or technology things, Amanda and I go do fun things. Okay, just in case you’re not family, Amanda is my sister-in-law, we married brothers.

This year is the year that we celebrate Thanksgiving with my side of the family. We have coordinated it so that when it is the year we spend with the Smith family, all the married couples are there. So since Amanda and I were not going to be together for Thanksgiving, she came up with an awesome idea that we have a “pre-Thanksgiving” dinner. The Saturday before Thanksgiving we got together and made our own feast. We had everything from appetizers to turkey to mashed potatoes to jello to dessert. It was very nice and traditional. Although, at the end of the day we were so so exhausted. The food was good and the company was fantastic. I think it may just become a tradition!

Nate and I went to see Harry Potter later that same day. We went to the Thanksgiving Point theater, the one with reserved seating. So we get there and sit down and this old man next to us turns and says, “We took your seats so we could sit by our family.” Seriously, this old couple took our seats!! What is the point of reserved seating if it isn’t truly reserved?! What bugs me most is that they didn’t even offer our seats to us, they just stated that they stole our seats as though it was no big deal. I was bugged. It is proof that it’s not just the younger generation that has become lax on common courtesy. Anyway, other than that it was a pretty good movie. Nate loved it.

On the actual day of Thanksgiving we went to my mom’s house in Cottonwood Heights. We had a nice meal and we stayed and hung out with my family for most of the day. I didn’t even take one picture of our feast, just a few of us playing games. After we ate we played games, Nate fell asleep in the middle of Passwords. He missed some funny moments though. My mom was trying to get us to guess the word tattle. Here were her three clues: rat, tale, mommy. We thought she said tail, and I was so so confused. What does rattail mommy have to do with anything? So we were guessing mullet and ratlings and all sorts of crazy things. Oh man. Then later I was giving the clues for the word arthritis so my first clue was joint. My mom yells out “MARIJUANA!” Literally yells it. I seriously almost peed my pants. I seriously wonder if I was adopted. So we had a low key Thanksgiving and Nate and I slept in on Friday, no Black Friday shopping for us this year. My brother came and spent the night at our apartment. We took him back to Cottonwood Heights and visited my mom for a few hours. Anyway, that was our holiday. It was nice for me to have Nate home for so many days. I’m not looking forward to Monday. I am hoping to put up our Christmas decorations this coming weekend. I LOVE this time of year! Hopefully you all had a wonderful holiday too!

Three Things That Made My Day

2010-11-17T16:53:00.004-07:00

I guess I should really have titled this post, "Lame Things I'm Proud Of." Then I remembered that sentences shouldn't end in of. Please ignore the fact that I just ended two sentences that way. Man, I really shouldn't blog when I'm so tired. I don't think I've gotten more than 4-5 hours of sleep any night this week. Anyway, I've been having a pretty good day. I was lucky enough to see Keith for a few hours today, he showed off for me saying all the new words he learned. Honestly, he has the cutest little boy voice! We were playing while Amanda put groceries away and he was being a little naughty so I said, "No way Jose!" Oh my gosh, he laughed and laughed. He kept knocking the same bottle over again and again, and each time he would look over at me and smile until I said, "No way Jose!" Oh gosh, I could listen to Keith laugh all day! That was fun thing that made my day number one. Number two was the fact that I bought a 14.5 pound turkey for $4.70! Amazing deal!!! That comes to $0.32 a pound! Woot woot! That also made my day. Okay, number three is pretty lame, I will readily admit that. So I was eating a sucker and made it the whole way without biting it. Okay, lame, I know! But I seriously can NEVER make it through an entire sucker without chomping it into little pieces. Now insert random fact of how I have never had a single cavity. Anyway, I'm just having a pretty good day, I hope all of you are too.

Dating Ideas

2010-11-15T10:43:00.001-07:00

I can’t believe I haven’t shared this before! A few months ago I found this cute website The Dating Divas. It is full of fun ideas all about how to “date” your husband. It has step by step instructions and downloads for fun themed dates. Most of their ideas are really inexpensive. So often I feel like Nate and I get stuck in the rut of dinner and a movie. Not anymore! I am determined to plan more fun dates. Just thought I would share.

Happy Birthday Nate!

2010-11-12T08:04:00.001-07:00

My handsome husband Nathan Walter Smith turns 25 today! Happy Birthday babe! We have some fun plans to celebrate tonight and I hope today is wonderful for you. I also hope that 25 is your best year yet! I love you.

Blogging Tip - Lock Your Photos

2010-11-10T07:55:00.006-07:00

Last night I taught a little class on digital scrapbooking. Thank goodness Amanda came so I had some moral support! During the class I briefly touched on the subject of blogging. I mentioned that you can lock your pictures to prevent people from right clicking and saving them. My blog is public and my scrapbook blog is public as well. The reason I leave these blogs public is because my pictures are locked! Since I post a lot of pictures of family and friends and their kids I feel so much safer knowing that no one can steal or copy my pictures. It seemed like most everyone at my class last night wanted to know how to do this so I figured I would post the link with the tutorial I used.

Right Click Disabling:
This is a one time deal. You only need to edit your blog's template HTML once and it will always be right click disabled. Right Click Disable

Left Click Disabling (photos only):
Even if you disable the right click function on your pictures, people can still left click and enlarge the photo. Once the photo is enlarged in a new screen then they can right click and save/copy it from there. DO NOT disable left click all together, then you wouldn't be able to click on links, comments, or anything!!! In order to left click disable your pictures you have to remove the link for every single photo. It is a little time consuming but I think it is totally worth it! It only took me an hour to go back through all my blog posts on all my blogs and lock my pictures. Left Click Disable

P.S. Did I totally confuse you? Questions? Need help? Call me or email me (my email is on the side) and I can walk you through it.

Perks

2010-11-05T15:51:00.006-06:00

So I had to drive Nate to work today. We have some fun plans this evening and didn't want to have to drive separately on the way home, so I drove him to work. On our way to South Jordan we had a nice talk. During our conversation the matter of our infertility came up. Nate mentioned that he wished he knew what he could do to make it up to me. I said DIAMONDS! Nate joked that every time I start my period I should get a diamond. Sweet! Then I remembered that I haven't had a period in months (the doctor and I are working on it, however my uterus is not known for being cooperative). Dang it! Can I get diamonds for all the other months though? Just curious. Sorry if that was a little personal, but my mind has been on diamonds all day. Babies and diamonds, that is my Christmas list this year, which is funny because I think that has been my Christmas list for the past few years. A girl can dream.

Christmas Cards

2010-11-04T14:33:00.003-06:00

Okay, 'tis the season. I am doing custom Christmas cards this year. I'm just wanting to do something on the side to make a little money for our adoption and in-vitro costs. See some examples I made really quick at ksdigitaldesigns.blogspot.com. I can also do announcements and invitations or almost anything you want. Pricing is $20 for a 4x6 or a 5x7. I'll sent you the digital copy and you can print it at your convenience. If you like my work pass it along!

P.S. If you are related to Nathan or myself your design is free. Merry Christmas!

P.P.S. Thanks to all my family and friends for being my models!

Good Day, Bad Night

2010-10-27T10:26:00.002-06:00

Disclaimer: Long post up ahead.

Both Nate and I had good days yesterday. Nothing extraordinary happened, it was just a normal nice day. I made bread, did all my laundry,scrapbooked two pages, and made a good dinner. All in all I felt productive. Nate said he had a good day at work and he took out the garbage just like I asked. We went to bed early at 9:15, that is so early for us. Usually we are up until at least 11. We were laying in bed talking about how it had been a really nice day. We totally jinxed ourselves. We were finally finished talking and were trying to fall asleep when Nate says, “Kim!” I said, “What? What is it Nate?” No answer from Nate. So I am starting to get a little nervous. Then he finally answers and says, “There is a mouse. Hand me some tissues so I can get it.” Are you kidding me?! There is a mouse in my house? I am now officially in panic mode. I toss him the box of tissues and then run to the safety of bathroom and lock the door behind me. Once I am in there I realize I left my glasses in the bedroom and can’t see anything. What if the mouse follows me in there? I wouldn’t be able to see it! I am totally vulnerable, and I am pretty sure this situation is not good for my high blood pressure. While I am hiding and leaving Nate to deal with the mouse I have an epiphany. This could be why I’m infertile! I wouldn’t be able to protect my kids from vermin! Isn’t that one qualification of being a mother, to be able to protect your children? What would I have done if we had kids, leave them to defend themselves from the mouse, teach them the lesson of survival of the fittest? Looks like I have some work to do before we have kids. :)

That however, is not the end of the story. I did warn you this post was long. The mouse was not caught. Nate says it ran back outside. Here’s what we think happened. When we moved into our apartment we didn’t have central air so we installed a window unit in our bedroom. We have since gotten central air but haven’t removed the window unit. Nate figures that the mouse got in and out through this window unit. So after this ordeal I told Nate that I was still a little scared and was worried about falling asleep. Nate is a great husband and wanted me to feel better so he offered to take the window unit out right then at 10:30 at night. I told him it was late and not to worry about it until the next day. He however wanted to be the hero and went ahead and started to take it out. Next thing I know I hear glass shattering. Yes, Nate broke the window. Again, are you kidding me? A broken bedroom window at 10:40 at night? So Nate left the window unit in and we boarded up the window the best we could. I was thinking that it’s a good thing that Nate sleeps by the window so that if someone comes through the window, whether it be man or mouse, he can protect me. I was also worried about freezing to death during the night and of course last night it snowed. Not only could I not protect my kids from mice, but they wouldn’t even have a warm shelter! Worst non-mother of the year award goes to me! Well I did live through the night and our awesome landlord is going to get the window taken care of today. However I am refusing to leave the house today because I don’t want anyone to see a broken window and decide to break in. Nate says that we have renter’s insurance and I shouldn’t worry so much. I say he should have listened to me last night and we wouldn’t have a broken window. Oh well, I am just grateful nothing worse happened and that is something that can be fixed without too much difficulty.

-P.S. I just want to make one thing clear, I keep a reasonably clean house. We have never had an infestation of any kind. Our next door neighbors have had ants and our previous upstairs neighbors had weevils, but we have never had anything but the occasional spider. I promise I clean and that we aren’t hoarders. I don’t know why we had a mouse. I am choosing to believe that it just wanted the warmth of our apartment.

-P.P.S. I never saw the mouse but Nate assured me it was the smallest mouse he had ever seen. He said it was only an inch and half long. I hope that was the case. Not that it makes any less scary to me.

Birthday Boys

2010-10-25T17:38:00.002-06:00

Yesterday we got together for a family dinner to celebrate the birthdays of Spencer, Nathan, and Brandon. Everyone is getting older! We had a good dinner, some Halloween cupcakes, and some funny conversation. Brandon showed us some shoes he wanted and as a family we unanimously voted that they were ugly. Keith showed off his sign language skills and identifying parts of the body. We watched crazy videos of Aaron dancing and discussed Julianna and her brother’s style. You had to be there. All in all it was a blast. Thanks to Ben and Katie for hosting. Happy Birthday Spencer, Nate, and Brandon!

I Am So Doing This

2010-10-05T01:21:00.005-06:00

I just came across the most darling idea. I am absolutely going to do this when we finally have children. I think it is so cute. It is a family art gallery where you can display your kid's artwork. Love it! I found it at The Creative Crate.

Individual Spaghetti Dinners

2010-10-01T18:12:00.006-06:00

How cute is this dinner? Oh man, now I feel bad that I am serving this to Nate tonight. Sorry Nate, we are having Shepherd's Pie. I need to make this recipe though, minus the ricotta. I love when food looks and tastes great. Picky Palate is a fun site and has some cute ideas.

What's Your Rap Name?

2010-09-23T11:51:00.006-06:00

Oh goodness, I am laughing my head off. So we found this website My Rap Name that will take your given name and tell you what your rap name would be. So dang funny. It came up with names like K Muffin, KK Spunky Silk, and K Kimmy Jewel (and some others that I won't share) for me. For Nate they came up with NN Menace, NS Flash, and my personal favorite Methodical Frosty Natty Tank a.k.a. Outlaw Chill. So if everyone could please call us by our rap names, that would be great!

Peace Out,
K Kimmy Jewel

The Happenings

2010-09-20T15:28:00.008-06:00

Everybody knows that I LOVE watching BYU games (please read the sarcasm). It is the highlight of my weekends!! Fortunately Amanda feels the same way I do, so we try to other activities while our husbands watch the game. We've gone shopping, played with Keith, and baked all to try and endure the games. These pictures are from the first game of the season, notice how I failed to take a picture of anyone but Keith, oh well, he's cuter than us anyway. Thanks for entertaining us Keith! You're welcome over anytime!

Nate and I try to make it up to visit my mom every couple of weeks. This time we went up for Sunday dinner and games. Just in case you're wondering, I did win. :)

Justin and Whitney blessed their cute baby Beckham earlier this month. Here are a few pictures I took that day. I am not totally happy with this double page, I'll probably re-do it. Just click on the picture to enlarge.

We went to Sam's farewell and luncheon. It was fun to celebrate a missionary and to see all the family.

Happy Birthday Jake! Congrats on reaching double digits!

Durfee Family Calendar

2010-09-20T15:11:00.006-06:00

Nate's cute cousin Alisha is in charge of the annual family calendar. She asked me to help this year and I though I'd show you what I have done so far. These are obviously the top half, the bottom will have the calendar and a section for notes. I don't have pictures yet, I can't wait to add them. Enjoy!

Scrapbooking

2010-09-20T15:00:00.004-06:00

We've been so busy lately, birthdays, farewells, baby blessings, family, etc. It has been crazy! I'm slowly but surely catching up on everything. I am making a dent into all the scrapbooking I need to do. I don't really go in order, I just work on whatever sounds fun at the time. Here is a double page I made of our engagement. I am working on finishing a book, they can hold up to 100 pages, and I have 85 thus far, just a few more to go then I can order it!

Happy Birthday Benji!

2010-09-20T14:46:00.004-06:00

This is a few days late, but Happy Birthday Benji! The Smith's had a family dinner to celebrate and Amanda made the cutest cake. It looked so good, I'm a little jealous. You can see a picture of the cake below. Nate and I had a double date with Benji and Amanda this past Saturday. We went to Brick Oven and then to Golden Spoon, and I didn't even take one picture, dang! I love spending time with Keith (and his parents) he makes things so fun. However it was Benji that threw a crayon into Nate's water. Goodness, we always have a fun time with them. Thanks for coming guys and thanks for giving us a reason to celebrate! We hope this year is a great one for you Benji!

Update on Nathan

2010-08-23T16:02:00.002-06:00

Nate is now home (I brought him home yesterday) and feeling a lot better. His surgery was successful and he will make a full recovery. No more hernia! Thank you all so much for all the prayers and text messages and emails on our behalf. Now I just need to think of some things to keep Nate entertained while he is at home! I did tell him that if he was well behaved today he could have a sno-cone. :)

Worst End to Date Night Thus Far

2010-08-21T08:00:00.002-06:00

Guess where Nate and I are? In the hospital! So long story short, Nate has a hernia and is having surgery this afternoon. That is how date night went last night, dinner, shopping, ER visit. Not exactly how it was supposed to go. Nate is a little nervous, and so am I, so keep us in your prayers today.

P.S. Question, am I the worst wife ever for taking pictures so I can scrapbook this?

Happy Wedding!

2010-08-12T19:24:00.002-06:00

Today was Brandon and Julianna's wedding and we just wanted to take a second to say congratulations! Here is a quick page so you can see the happy couple.

Banana Crumb Muffin Recipe

2010-08-11T15:05:00.005-06:00

This morning we spent a few hours dipping chocolate strawberries for the wedding tomorrow. I have to admit, we were really quick. I thought it was going to take all day! Thankfully Amanda knows where to get the chocolate for dipping, and thanks to Lori for hosting, she has a great nice long island that we used. Anyway I brought these muffins to share and everybody loved them and wanted the recipe so I thought I would share.

Disclaimer: I do not like bananas so I did not try these, but they smelled amazing!

I Might Be Crazy

2010-08-10T19:04:00.009-06:00

Just before our first Christmas together Nate's mom gave us a huge box of all his mission letters, photos, and souvenirs and informed me that it was now my job to scrapbook and preserve his mission memories. So I hurried and rushed to make a 15 or so page scrapbook for Nate (this was back before I started digital scrapbooking) in time for Christmas. It turned out okay, definitely nothing amazing. I told myself that one day I would make something better. Since I got Photoshop I have really wanted to go through all of his pictures (2000+)and really make something nice.

So two weeks ago I lost my mind. I was looking at a cute scrapbooking site and saw this darling book this girl had made. It was a full fledged book, with an engraved cover and everything, so so cute. She had it made by Winkflash. I went to their site (winkflash.com)and they were having a sale! Their custom books are 60% off through the end of August. So, my 100 page 12x12 leather cover engraved book would be just a little more than $40. Sold! I have everything all picked out now I just have to scrapbook 100 pages! I am officially crazy. Did I mention that Nate's brother is getting married this week too and I have been busy helping with that? It would seem that I like to keep busy. I do have to admit that I am off to a pretty good start. I have a little more than 50 pages ready to go. My goal is to be all done by the 25th so then all I will have to do is organize them in the book and place my order! I am going to do it!!! Just a few more weeks of no sleep and I'll be done. Wish me luck!

Here are a few of my favorite pages thus far. I'm trying to keep everything similar without being to matchy-matchy so each page has this dark blue paper on it somewhere to keep the theme going. Also I've tried to make the pages seem somewhat masculine, as masculine as scrapbooking can be. I worry that they look too boring but I don't want to add more if it is going to make it too girly. Tell me what you think.

P.S. Please excuse any grammar and spelling errors, as previously mentioned I've had very little sleep.

Summertime Crafts

2010-08-03T20:40:00.007-06:00

Every other Friday morning my mother-in-law hosts girls' time. We have been making bead jewelry and I have to say they have been turning out super cute! In addition to the jewelry it is so fun just to spend time together talking.

I made homemade bread for the first time yesterday. I know, shocking! I'm 24 years old and have been married for over three years and I've never made homemade bread. Here's the story: a few weeks ago Nate's cousin Alisha made these super yummy rolls. One day at our jewelry making session I told her that I had to have that recipe. Alisha told me that it was the Pantry Secret recipe and that she would teach us all a class with the recipe and all the variations. I decided I couldn't wait for a class, so I googled the recipe and tried it yesterday. To be honest I think it turned out pretty good for a first try. Now I am even more excited to attend Alisha's class! Thanks to Alisha for the great recipe!!

Durfee Family Reunion

2010-08-02T18:13:00.008-06:00

Nate's mom's side of the family had a reunion the weekend of the 24th. We didn't camp out, but we did go up for a few hours Saturday morning. I got to play with Keith and Nate had to defend his arm wrestling prowess. It looked like everyone had a good time. Thanks to Mary, Sabrina, and JJ for being in charge of the party planning. I just learned that there is another reunion occurring in September, seems like we can't get enough of each other!! Here are the pages I made of the reunion. If you want to make them bigger and easier to read, just click on them:).

Big Exciting News!

2010-07-14T14:23:00.002-06:00

Nathan and I have started the adoption process! We are in the very first stages of paperwork and we have classes to attend and meetings with a social worker, but we have started! We are so excited and hope this process goes smoothly for us. Please keep us, and all couples in our situation, in your prayers!

Nate's First Day

2010-07-12T12:10:00.006-06:00

Today is Nathan's first day of work at LANDesk. He said he was a little bit nervous, but I know he'll do great. We know so many people that are out of work at this time and we feel so blessed to have this position. Nate has the opportunity to use his degree and I have the opportunity to stay home and to further my education. We are blessed!

Happy Belated Birthday Mom!

2010-07-10T18:44:00.003-06:00

My mom's birthday was June 28th. Nathan and I went up and surprised her on her birthday. Next year is a big birthday and I want to throw her a huge party. Love you Mom!

Quick Page

2010-07-08T21:05:00.004-06:00

I am loving this new kit! I just had to make a page with it. Here is a quick page with a picture of Nathan from last year. Just thought I'd share.

The kit is from Sweet Shoppe Designs. It is called In It Together by Julie Billingsley.

2011 Calendar - April

2010-07-07T07:08:00.004-06:00

So I am working on a 2011 calendar to give as part of a Christmas gift this year. Here is the page for April. It is all about Stephanie! She is so much fun to have in our family, we sure do love her. This scrapbooking kit is called "In It Together" by Julie Billingsley and was purchased from Sweet Shoppe Designs.

Belated 4th of July Weekend

2010-07-07T06:30:00.008-06:00

My goodness, it's about time I posted our 4th of July happenings. Lately my time has been consumed with wedding invitations. I am making both Julianna and Brandon's announcement and Sarah and Michael's as well. Since I woke up at 4 this morning and couldn't fall back to sleep, I figured I may as well be productive. Here are the 4th of July pages that I made. I don't totally love them, but I don't know what to do to fix them. This kit is "Lucky" by Amanda Heimann and I purchased it from Scrap Orchard.

Finished!

2010-07-01T17:26:00.003-06:00

I am done with work! Woo hoo! Last night was my last night at work, and I have to say, it was a pretty good night. I'll miss so many of my coworkers. I have some fond memories of Lorna getting soaking wet on April Fool's Day a few years ago, Holly running and sliding down the hall, Audrey saying "JK JK JK!" Dawney, codename Catnip, could always fill me in on what was going on, I remember a confused patient calling the cops on Brad, Ellen and her songs, several coworkers had dance moves, Michelle could do flips, and nearly everyone I worked with could make me laugh. I will miss working with all my fellow night shift PCT's. Thanks for all the fun times and I wish everyone the absolute best. Thanks guys!!

Exciting News

2010-06-27T21:36:00.004-06:00

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Nate graduated in April with his bachelor's degree and now has a new job to go with that degree! He is going to be working in South Jordan for a company called LanDesk. He will also be using his Portuguese in this job. I am so proud of Nathan. This week will be my last week of work. We feel so grateful for this blessing and are looking forward to this next phase of life!

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T20:52:00.004-06:00

Wishing all the fathers and future fathers a wonderful wonderful day! Today we listened to Amanda speak in church and she did a fabulous job. After that we went to the Smith's house and ate and played bingo. We had some cousins over and it was a party! We had a fun day, but we are exhausted.

Although he is not yet a father, I wanted to to remember Nate on this special day. I cannot wait for Nathan to be a father, he will be so so great. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Nate loves kids. Being one of the oldest in his family, he has been around a ton of kids. I love to watch him interact and play with our nephew Keith. He is so tender and cute and has the biggest smile when he plays with Keith. Keith likes Nate better than he likes me despite all my bribery. I guess Benji and Amanda raised Keith too well, he doesn't go for my bribes.
2. Nate has a great temperament. I've never heard him yell or scream. He is as mellow as they come. No situation riles Nate.
3. Nate is so smart. He is the only one of 70+ cousins to have a bachelor's degree. Need I say more? On top of being able to learn, Nate is really good at teaching.
4. Nate is handsome. He will have cute kids.
5. Nate is spiritual. I enjoy reading scriptures and praying with Nathan each day.
6. Nate serves. Whether he is serving me, his family, or our neighbors, Nathan is a great example of service.
7. Nate is a hard worker. He went to school full-time all while he worked full-time. Nathan is a great provider and he works hard both inside our home and outside.
8. Nate is loving.

For these reasons and many more I believe Nathan will make a wonderful father. I cannot wait for that day to come.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Anniversary

2010-06-02T12:12:00.003-06:00

Today is our third anniversary. Here's to three years together and many more to come.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T20:36:00.005-06:00

Just wishing our mothers and all mothers (and future mothers) a very happy day. Here are some photos of the gifts I made this year. Please ignore the poor quality of the photos, I just don't feel like running them through Photoshop right now.

Happy Mother's Day!

P.S. Happy Birthday Amanda!! We hope you have a wonderful day and an awesome year!

National Infertility Awareness Week

2010-04-28T21:01:00.003-06:00

Just a reminder that this week is National Infertility Awareness Week. Please keep all of us who struggle with infertility in your thoughts and prayers this week.

Thinking About Marriage

2010-04-09T17:19:00.003-06:00

My younger brother Josh talked to Nate earlier today and said, and I quote, "I'm thinking of taking a wife, just thought I would let you know." Oh my goodness!! Who says it like that? It totally made my day.

Time For An Update

2010-03-18T12:02:00.009-06:00

It's been a couple weeks! I need to do better at updating. Here is a little glimpse as to what we have been up to lately. February ended with a super bad cold for me, I was sick over my birthday, but I so appreciate everyone's warm wishes and thoughtfulness. Even though I didn't feel good, I really did feel so loved. Thanks. It has been work as usual for Nathan and myself, and school as well for Nathan. Nate is so close to being finished, he'll be done next month! We can't wait! This past weekend we had dinner and watched the Jazz game with Benji and Amanda and Keith. Well, I should clarify. Benji and Nate watched the game, Amanda and I talked and hung out :). Then Sunday, Nate and I went up to my mom's house for some dinner and games. That pretty much sums up the last couple of weeks for us. And no, even though I had my camera with me always, I didn't take one single picture.
On my computer I have a folder labeled Craft Ideas. Every time I come across a cute idea that I want to try I save it in there. Lately it just keeps getting fuller and fuller and yet I haven't made anything. Here are a few of my favorite ideas.

These are interchangeable flip flop straps! How cute are these?! You can change out the straps. The giraffe print is my most favorite. You can find the tutorial at Make It and Love It.
She has even adapted them for little girl flip flops, so darling.

This is called a floating frame. It is ribbon, photos, and vinyl in between two glass panels and then the whole thing is framed. I love it. I think I am going to do a brown version to match my wedding invitation. Good thing I know someone who does vinyl (Katie, I'll be ordering some soon)! You can find the tutorial here at U Create.

How thoughtful is this? I try and leave notes for Nathan every so often. Usually it ends up on a scrap of paper or a post-it. I love the idea of a sentimental IOU. You can find the printable version at Oh Brooke.

If you're like me, you already have a recipe binder. Mine is full to overflowing! I need to upgrade to a bigger binder. When I do that, I am also going to make it a little cuter, like this binder here. The tutorial is at Brown Paper Packages. While you are there, browse through their site, they have a ton of great ideas.

Speaking of Brown Paper Packages, here is another idea of theirs that I want to make. It is called a family values canvas. I love that you can totally personalize to fit your family. From the values you choose to the fonts to the papers and colors, you can totally customize it. Find the instructions at Brown Paper Packages.

There you have it! I've got a million things to make. I might need to have a Super Saturday craft day. Let me know if you're interested.

I Shouldn't Kiss My Husband

2010-02-25T17:08:00.003-07:00

Dear Nathan,

You gave me a cold. That wasn't very nice of you. Please take it back.

Sincerely,
Kim

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T12:48:00.001-07:00

Dear Nate,

Forever and always.

-Kim

Compliment

2010-02-08T14:21:00.003-07:00

There are some things I never get tired of. Today I was at the grocery store and as I was paying the male cashier stopped me and asked if he could see my ring. He asked where my husband had purchased it and paid me tons of compliments. It totally made my day. Even though I've been wearing that ring for years now, I felt like I did when I first engaged and all your friends and family ask to see your ring. I have to admit, Nate has good taste. So a big thanks to the cashier for being so kind to me today, I've been in a great mood ever since!

Happy Groundhog's Day!

2010-02-02T16:11:00.003-07:00

Happy Groundhog's Day everyone! I hope you are all ready for six more weeks of winter.

Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk

2010-01-23T09:31:00.004-07:00

Last night Nate and I went out with Benji and Amanda. We went out to dinner and then played indoor miniature golf. Pretty sure I didn't win. I did however get the night's only hole in one! I think Amanda won, she had a lot of great shots that should have gone in. Of course I didn't remember to take one single picture. I should have made that one of my New Year's resolutions. I need to take more pictures.

Also last night, Nate was making a bowl of cereal and I kept telling him that he was adding too much milk. Moments later he sat down to eat and........................

I did manage to get a picture this time. Moral of this story--the wife is always right!

P.S. Nate tells me that Trix aren't just for kids.

Two and a Half Years

2010-01-20T16:40:00.003-07:00

Mondays are never fun. But this week Tuesday was my least favorite. Tuesday marked the two and a half year mark for us. We've now been trying to have a baby for over two and a half years. No wonder I've cried three out of four days this week. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would ever take this long, and to be honest, I don't feel like we are anywhere near having a baby. I'm so exhausted from carrying this pain around. I hurt everyday and I know Nate does too. Don't get me wrong, some days are much easier than others. This week is just hard because of yesterday, and my birthday is also coming up which makes me feel old and just marks another age at which I won't be a mother. Just a little down about things today.

Family Home Evening

2010-01-11T16:52:00.001-07:00

I am in charge of FHE tonight and I have no ideas! I've used up all my good ideas. Ugh! Does anyone have cute suggestions that work for two people?

The Princess and the Frog

2010-01-04T12:42:00.005-07:00

Nate received some free movie tickets from his office for his birthday. The catch was that they couldn't be used on a new movie, the movie had to have been out for at least 12 days. So this weekend we went and saw The Princess and the Frog. It was actually pretty cute. The villain was a little too creepy for me. If I were a young child I would have been pretty scared. It wasn't too bad going to an older movie. Nate and I had the theater almost entirely to ourselves, so we had our pick of seats and it was nice and quiet. All in all, we had a good time, and we recommend the movie.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T06:45:00.003-07:00

Happy 2010 to everyone! I hope everyone had fun last night, I know that we did. We had some friends and family over. Everyone brought some yummy treats and we played games and had lots of laughs. The girls won Battle of the Sexes even though the boys were cheating with Nate's iPhone. We should have known that they didn't know the ingredients to marzipan! Hopefully everyone had a fun and safe New Year's Eve! Best wishes for 2010!

Hi Elder Smith!

2009-12-14T10:52:00.007-07:00

Nate's younger brother Zak came home on Friday night from Germany. Zak was serving a mission in Frankfurt, Germany and has been ill for a while now. He is home for a little bit trying get everything diagnosed and figured out. Thanks to everyone who came out to the airport to greet Zak, we know it was short notice. We love Zak and we will sure enjoy seeing him for Christmas! Here are some photos that I took on Friday night.