Our Story

I have a friend in town this weekend.  We have been having all sorts of fun taking pictures of our different activities and I thought they would be perfect for a blog post.  Unfortunately, I realized that I am a little behind on my blog.  And though I'm never going to catch everything up, I thought I would start with my one BIG event. . .


I'd say it all started in August of 2011, even though it's hard to give an exact "starting" day.   I decided to create a team on a bowing league.   I sent out a mass text to all my Las Vegas friends, inviting them to join my team.  Seconds after sending it out, I was browsing through my phone list for anyone I might have possibly missed, and I stumbled upon BJ Norton's name.  So, I sporadically sent out my final- solo- invite.

Though he wasn't the the first to get invited, he was the first to respond, and the first to officially join Team Incredibowls.  BJ was actually my old college roommate Randi's older brother.  We had definitely met and seen each other here and there over the years of knowing Randi.  When I moved to Vegas I saw him a couple of times, and he helped me move a few times too.  But we had never actually just hung out consistently. . . until bowling league started that is.

So by September we were hanging out weekly (with team Incredibowls of course)!

By mid December he had definitely become one of my top texting buddies.

And by the first of January, we officially started dating.  

Besides a few random trips out of town, both mine and his, (at first it seemed that one of us was always out of town.  Never at the same time though.  Fancy how that works!), we were always together.  But with a 35 minute commute between our two houses (we didn't exactly live close to each other), that started to get pretty old, pretty fast.  So almost 6 months to the day of our first "date," BJ proposed to me in St. George, Utah,

Of course I will always remember June 30 as a very happy day. . . but we probably could not have been on a worse time schedule than that.  My vacations revolve around summer break, winter break, and spring break.  Throwing together a wedding at the beginning of the school year was just not going to work for me.  So the question of when this whole ceremonious occasion would all take place was kind of a dilemma.  Bj wanted a wedding "as soon as possible," yet I couldn't convince him to just take me to the little white chapel somewhere in the city.  I didn't want to start my new school year, get married, and move all in the months of September or October, and neither of us wanted to wait until Christmas break.  So a little backyard wedding was planned for August 18 at my parent's house.  This would give my family 7 weeks to plan a wedding, and me 7 weeks to pack and move my house.

And that's just what happened!

My mom and sisters did an amazing job planning everything.  I did my best to squeeze all our stuff into one little house without too much complaint.  And our 7 week engagement was pulled off with complete success!  

The wedding was perfect!

We were happy

And our families were amazing with it all!

And life one month later has been just as perfect!

                                    

. . . Besides the broken air conditioner.
. . . And the mess with the HOA getting Doogle a permanent gate at the new house.
. . . And having to replace the carpet in the other house . .

Ok. . . Maybe not perfect.  But close enough!

Highlights of 2012 Kelly Cruise

# 6

Cramming 14 people and a LOT of luggage into a car and truck and heading off to our  "home sweet home” docked in San Diego. 
 

#5 
Spending 9 fun filled days on a boat.  Swimming, sleeping, playing, and EATING

. . . did I say eating???


# 4 
Visiting the sites of 4 great Mexican cities:  
Ensenada, Cabo San Lucas, Manzanillo, and Puerto Vallarta

# 3
Living the life of luxury

# 2
Quality family time!

# 1 

Heading home with dreams of the next one. . . 

Pictures can never do a trip like this justice.  
Thanks mom and dad for yet another great vacation!!!

The Kolorful Kellys

A few months ago I was looking up different runs in the Las Vegas area to try to inspire me back into the whole running thing. . . and look what I found!!

Bonnie and the kids already had intentions to make it up to Vegas early sometime this year so of course we planned it around this event!  Because what Kelly would pass up the chance to run a 5k through the colorful chalky roads of Vegas?? (besides Molly :)

How it all worked out, they actually arrived on the Friday evening of my birthday(The big 2-9!).  We had a yummy dinner at the Rio (None other than CAFE RIO), took an exciting trip to Walmart for our plain white tshirts (my first event with a dress code!), then got a good nights sleep!

The next day was pretty exciting.  We were at the start line (with thousands of other people) at 9 am for the kick off. . . but because of the technicalities of the race, they let us off in waves and by 9:30 we were still on the start line!  We did have an excellent photographer though (more about my favorite photographer in later posts I suppose) who kept in contact via text messaging and was able to make it to most of the "K's" where the volunteers "colored us up" by throwing handfuls of chalk at our bodies (and faces at times).  
By the end-- we were a mess of course (which was pretty much the point).  With registration, they gave each runner a good sized pack of colored chalk of our own that we were able to throw in the air at the celebration area just past the finish line.  Needless to say, Cayden was thrilled by this crazy finale and we lost him in the cloud of color several times before we finally dragged him home for a much needed shower.
The car and house actually stayed much cleaner than I anticipated coming home from an event such as this, though now. . . several weeks later, I am STILL digging pink out of my ear during my nightly cleanings.  :)

The rest of the weekend was a bit more mellow.  We did some shopping, some bowling, some eating, and ended the night playing a few games (shawna and the kids-- bon was on the phone through most of this however-- to guess who??).  There is no one else I would have wanted to do this run with.  It was a great time. . . and I am already looking forward to next year!
Las Vegas Color Run 2013!

what goes up must (not) come down

Remember how Molly and I were so excited for Dad to bring the bucket truck home so we could take the Christmas lights down?

Molly wanted me to go first. . . because we already knew I was a natural right??

So I climb in and expertly steer myself up to the upper left corner of the house and as I am reaching to take down the first of the lights, I bump. . . something?

Power goes off. . . and dad can't get it back on!

The pictures tell most of the story. . .

I sit around waiting in the bucket a while-

After Dad gets tired of one too many fireman jokes- he pulls out the ladder

Down comes Shawna!

Without even one ride in the bucket, Molly now gets stuck taking down some of the lights the old fashioned way- dad's make shift pole and hook (boo!)

Dad climbs into the bucket-

Dad climbs out of the bucket-

Dad fixes bucket!

And up Shawna goes again!

I held no hard feelings towards ole bucket. . . he did his job. . . eventually!

Molly however lost all trust. . . and never dared climbed on inside-

Maybe next year Molly!

Christmas at the Kellys

Christmas at the Kelly's was great as always. Molly, Bryan, and Brooklyn got to be here this year, which was perfect. Bonnie, Cayden, Aubrey, and Puppy (Lil' Wolf) all spent the night as well as Doogle and I. It was a packed house! We tried to remember our Christmas Eve "traditions" as well as start some new ones. We had our spa time and gingerbread house building. The kids had a visit from the Pajama Fairy. And we ended the evening watching Dad's traditional Christmas eve night movie "Rudy."

(Not a Christmas movie-- not really sure how that got started so many moons ago!)

Christmas morning we opened presents and drank hot cocoa all before we went to church. .

Scott and his family came for a visit after church as well.

Good ole Santy Claus was generous to everyone.

It was a happy day.

lights galore

This year I decorated TWO houses for Christmas. Mom and Dad's house was definitely a bit funner. I got to try out the bucket truck for the first time! I was a natural "driver." Though my house took a bit longer. . . it would have probably taken even longer if I had actually waited for the bucket truck to be driven up from California as dad had so kindly offered.

They both turned out fantastic though and definitely put both Kelly households into the festive spirit!

I'm officially a "Lousy Bowler"

One day, back in August, I decided that I wanted to join a bowling league. So I did some texting and got some friends together and . . .

Team INCREDIBOWLS was born!

The first words that popped into my head on day one of league bowling were "white trash." It was nothing like my beloved BYU bowling league memories. I was ashamed that I had suckered three friends into committing to this with me. The first team we bowled against were pretty much scary looking and I honestly wondered how these people could even afford the $20 weekly fee besides all that beer they were guzzling. But they ended up being super friendly and helpful in how the league ran (obviously they were not newcomers like us). And by the end of the evening, I was getting a little more excited to go back the following week (though not completely).

As it turns out, the first team we played against were definitely the weirdest. . . believe it or not, several of the other teams actually seem somewhat normal. Or at least- not too scary.

We actually joined a 4-man team league but due to unfortunate circumstances (like Shawna being mean), one of our team members quit just a few weeks into the league. Of course, it was annoying, but we have hardly had any problems finding someone each week to step in for the night. As this 13 week session comes to a close, and the January session nears, I do find myself getting a bit nervous though. Afterall, we have had some excellent and most helpful substitutes over the past few weeks, but I am not sure that any of them are yet quite dedicated enough to commit the next 13 Tuesdays of their lives to the Redrock Bowling Alley.

The rest of my team are definitely in it for the long haul though. Its an unspoken vibe that I get (or maybe its because BJ went and bought a pair of his own bowling shoes and Holly has told me that a bowling ball has made it onto her Christmas list).