Josh and Kylee

What's been going on...

2012-01-17T22:01:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! A little update from the Taylors is here... Well the holidays came and went. We definitely had a great time spending with all the family. Here's a brief little summary of each holiday...

Halloween we stopped by my brother's wards trunk or treat to see our nephews and nieces. They were all so cute dressed up. Then after that we went to Josh's sister's house with friends where ate dinner and carved pumpkins. Our pumpkins that we carved this year we sponsored by ASU. haha! We thought they were pretty cool. One had a pitchfork and they other said ASU. Josh did all the carving. Fun times!

Our Thanksgiving was great as usual.... eating lots of food and spending time with fam is always so great. This year Josh's side of the family decided to have Thanksgiving the Sunday before the actual day... (normally Josh and I just have to rotate years of who we have the big dinner with that day). But this year... we were able to enjoy TWO delicious dinners on different days. I must say we loved it.

Christmas came and was so fun as well. The week of Christmas was filled with parties with friends and families. I also went to see White Christmas at Gammage with my younger sisters, my mom and her friend. I love the movie White Christmas and so does my family, so we were so exited to go see it. It was tons of fun too! We loved it! We took a little trip up to Anthem to see the tallest Christmas tree in the country. It was awesome!! Christmas day was fabulous! Josh got me a new camera... which I have been in need of one for so long...(Ive been using my camera on my phone... which pretty much sucks) It has been so nice to have! He also got me lots of fun stocking stuffers and he also had made a frame with a 30 day calendar in it....I mentioned that I wanted one a long time ago... and he called up our friend that makes them. I love it too!

New Years we spent with Josh's family at Disneyland. We went over there a few days before the new year, and spent a few days at Disneyland and at the beach. It was an awesome trip! We loved it!

Some other things that have been going on... My younger sister Savanna got engaged back around Thanksgiving. We are so excited for her and Logan too. So we have been doing lots of fun wedding plans with her.

This semester Josh is studying for DAT. He is now going to take in March.. so he spends lots and lots and lots of hours everyday in the library studying. It will be so nice when this test is over for him. He's working hard to get prepared and I know he's gonna rock it. Until then.... he will be found in the library everyday til now until March... (I think the week of Spring Break).

I'm in my final semester of my Masters program. If all goes as planned.... May 12th I will be graduating! I can't wait!!

So things to come over the next few months:

1. My sister Savanna will be getting married (spring break).
2. Josh takes the DAT in March.
3. I will be taking my state tests to get my certification. I have two to take.. they are each like 5 hour tests... no fun! Can't wait til those are done and passed.
4. A snowboarding trip....
5. We might be taking a trip up to Utah as well... (not sure yet).

Enjoy the pics!!

Teacups at Disneyland

It's a small world after all...

Peter Pan

The fam

The beach!

Disneyland

Pluto

Chip and Dale

We also sent out our first Christmas card this year.... I couldn't figure out how put the actual card on here so here some of the pics that we used...... We were trying to bring back the style....haha!

Everyone's favorite was the "laughing at book" one...ha!

Good times! Thanks to my clever sister Shasta for taking the pics and giving us the idea. We'll see what we do next year.... haha! Hope all is well with everyone!! Much love!!

Lately.....

2011-09-24T23:04:00.000-07:00

Hello to all! I thought I would do a quick update of what has been going on with the Taylors lately. Well we got all moved in to our new house, and we are loving it! We actually did some decorating today finally.. which was great! I have been dying to decorate.... so it is nice to get it started. We have lots more room here at our new place, it is sooo nice! I'm so loving it!
The summer came to an end, and school got started right away. Josh is as ASU and he's taking a lighter load this semester because he is studying for the DAT. It's nice that his classes aren't very stressful, but the whole studying for this HUGE test isn't the funnest. It hasn't been to bad actually. Josh is studying hard, and I know he's gonna do great on his test. He won't take it til prob closer to December. I was hoping he would take it right before Thanksgiving, so that we could relax and enjoy the holidays, but probably not. That's ok tho. The closer the test comes, the more nervous I get for Josh. Looking forward to him taking it, and being done with it. He will apply for Dental school next summer... so this time next year we will hopefully be getting interviews. I'm so proud of Josh, he has worked so hard in school, and continues to work so hard! It will be so nice to get this test done with.

As for me, I started teaching Kindergarten this year, and am absolutely loving it. I have the cutest kids in the world! It is a great class. Some of the stuff they say during the day... is just to funny! One morning they were quietly working on their morning papers, and I hear some singing "black and yellow, black and yellow". Then they were trying to figure out who sings it, and started talking about Lady Gaga. I just laughed, and couldn't believe what I was hearing from 5 and 6 year olds. They are seriously the cutest kids ever! I feel very lucky to be able to be teaching. I am also in my last semester of classes in my Masters program. I am taking the final 2 classes this fall, and then next semester I will be completing my "student teaching" which I will be doing while I am teaching.... then I will graduate in May!! This program has flown by, and I can't believe it's coming to an end. I'm looking forward to being done though, I swear I have been in school for so long... and it is time to close this chapter in my life....(well in May it will be time). I thought I was closing it when I graduated ASU......haha! Guess not... But my program is almost over... and I can't wait. Can't wait to be alll done.... completely... and forever!!

We have also been busy going on lots of weekend vacations. Since the summer, we went to Utah with Josh's family, then later on.... I went back to Utah with my family for a reunion. We went up to the cabin I think 3 different times. 2 times with Josh's family, and once with my family. Soo fun! Josh also went to Hawaii for a "work retreat". We went to California with his company a few weeks ago. And Josh went on a hunting trip just last weekend. So this is our first weekend in awhile where we are both at home... and it is so nice! We loved our little weekend get aways... but sometimes it's really nice just to be at home... and relax. We got some stuff done on our house to. Once we finish decorating completely, I will try and post some pics. But for now..... here some pics of our many weekend getaways, and things we've been up to.

Josh and Me up at the cabin with his family

This the cabin trip with my family... we did some shooting one day
This is two of my lovely sister, Savanna, Laci and Me.

Josh shooting.......

Me shooting..... focusing hard....

Josh helping me to shoot his Glock.

Fearless......

Hard core! Park core!

We spent a lot of our time with the guns just taking pictures with them.

Don't mess with us......

We went to the lake while we were up there. So pretty!

Josh and Me at the Josh Groban concert. He got me tickets for my birthday. It was an awesome concert. AMAZING!!!! I highly recommend it!

The girls getting on the road to Utah for our family reunion. The rest of my family went in another car. It was a great trip with the fam!

This was our view from the cabin we stayed at in Utah for our reunion. Awesome!

This is our view from the front window at the beach house that we stayed at in California on the trip we went with Josh's company. It was awesome! Right on the beach! Loved it!

Us at the beach

Again.... at the beach.

So fun!!!

Josh and his buddies burring one of the other guys in the sand.

We took a nice walk out to the pier

Us on the pier.....

On our way home from California, we stopped by the San Diego Temple.

Me and my cute nephew at his soccer game.

Things to come:

The beginning of October, I am going back to New York, Washington DC, and Boston,with some of my family for a historical trip. We will be gone for a little over 10 days. Sooo excited! Josh can't go because he can't miss that much school.... I'm so sad, but he's excited for me to go. I can't wait!!

Beginning of December Josh takes the DAT.

And best of all.... the holidays are just around the corner!!! I love this time of year and am so glad it's here! If only it would start cooling down so it would start to actually feel like this time of year. Hopefully soon it will! We are so ready for fall to be here!! Hope all is well!

24th Birthday!

2011-05-28T12:20:00.000-07:00

Well last week was my 24th birthday! Wow... I can't believe I'm 24. I still feel like I'm 19... Anyways-it was on Friday so I started the day by sleeping in, which was great. Then I went to lunch with my mom and sisters. We went to Flancers, it's a little sandwich/salad/pizza place in Mesa. We have only ever gotten their sandwiches there, which are just fabulous. Enjoyed a yummy lunch there, then a few of us went out to Scottsdale Mall to do a little shopping at H & M. I had never been there before. I must say it was great! I didn't find anything that I wanted to buy... but it definitely is a place I will be going back. After I came home from shopping, I got ready to go out that night. Josh took me to PF Changs for dinner... so good! Then he had a friend from highschool that got married that day, so swung by their reception for a little bit to say hello.

The new Pirates movie was good! We really liked it!
I don't think we are fans of 3D movies.. We both were getting
annoyed with our glasses... and some parts I felt like I had to take
them off to see the screen better. Overall tho, it was a good movie!

Us waiting for the movie to start... my camera is dead, so these are phone pics... not the best.

For my present.... Josh gave me the new Josh Groban CD..... and we are going to see him in concert!!!
It's not til August... but we are both super excited! I've been listening to his CD all week... and I must say that he is just AMAZING!! I love it!! And can't wait for his concert! Josh and I love going to concerts.. back in August, Josh surprised me with John Mayer tickets... and that was an awesome concert!! So coming soon this August we will be enjoying the awesome music of Josh Groban!

On Sunday, we spent time with both of our families and this is was his Grandma made me. She made it... and it's beautiful. The picture doesn't do it justice... I've been looking for a nice wreath to put on our door, but haven't found one that I liked. Now I have one, and I love it!

Josh's family gave me some new necklaces, which I love!

And a new wallet.. It looks black, but it's actually like a dark dark purple which I love!

Saturday night I went a D-Backs game with some friends. It was an awesome game! We won 9-6. And there was a grand slam that was hit too. Awesome!!

Me, Tara and Bobbie at the game. Soo fun!

Overall, it was a great birthday, and fun weekend spent with family and friends. Still can't believe I'm 24. Although, while we were at lunch on Friday, the waitress asked me how old I turned. When I said 24, she was shocked and said she thought I was turning 16. I guess I'll take it as a compliment...haha! Hopefully that stays with me when I get older. Thanks to everyone who made it a great birthday! Love you all!

Hello alll!

2011-05-16T19:26:00.000-07:00

Hello all!!! My poor blog.... time to dust it off and update it with some pictures and whats been going on with us. I changed the template on here... and hate it. I don't know how to get back to my old one. So if anyone knows how.... please let me know. This new one is weird and don't like it. Anyways tho.....

Well.... the semester just ended....(seems like I only find time to update this in between semesters). It was a pretty hectic semester. Josh was once again taking over 20 credits... which makes for a very over welmed husband. Poor guy.... he did great tho... and is always so good about staying positive and motivated. He made it through....and rocked his classes! And he is soooo glad its over!

This was my first semester in my masters program..... and besides a few stressful moments.... it actually went pretty good! I got all A's which is fabulous! I have about a 3 week break til I start summer classes back up in June. I am definitely soaking up my time off for the next few weeks.

Normally about this time is when Josh and I packing up our things and moving to San Diego.... like we've done for the past two summers. Well.... the plan for this summer was Josh was going go to Cali as usual... but I was going to stay here because of my summer classes. Not the best plan... but that's what we were going to do. (I was going to visit on weekends by the way). Well... awhile back those plans changed because they decided to open a branch here.... right here in Phoenix!! It was a great day when we found that out... that meant we weren't going to have to be apart for the summer! Wahoo! We were a little sad to say farewell to our summers in San Diego... We had the best time over there.... and met some great people! But we are soooo excited to be staying here!! Below are some fun and random pictures!! Enjoy!!!

                          Back in January two of our best friends got married. It was a great day and we were sooo                   happy for them!!!

                                                Me and my besty Bobbie. She looked beautiful!

Josh and I at the wedding. Such a fun night!!

The happy couple..... sooo sweet!

All the guys!

My little sister Ciera was down from BYU Idaho this last semester... but she went back up in April. This was the night she left. We all went to BJ's for some dessert. We miss her!

This is at my older sister Shasta's baby shower. That was fun night and she got so much cute stuff!

At my nephews baseball game...

My younger sister Molly went to prom! We found her dress for only $6.50. No joke. We went to the Dilliards in Fiesta mall...(it's now the discount store). The zipper had to be replaced... but other than that it was perfect for her. We added the purple ribbon... and she had purple high heels to match.. and a purple flower in her hair. Soooo cute!!!! They looked fabulous together!!!

One day that Josh came home from volunteering at a dental event..... he was so exhausted. It was funny when he woke up tho... because the left side of his body/face was alseep. So he woke up all disoriented. I must say I laughed pretty hard.... When I showed him this picture he laughed pretty hard too...

This was back on Valentines Day.... I had just got my hair done... and it was alot darker than I usually have it. It doesn't look like this now... because I'm due for a cut and color. But that's what it looked like when I first cut it.

This was a notebook that I had for 1 class this semester..... 1 class! Luckily not every class I took was like this... but still.. I think it weighed like 5 pounds. It was a pain carrying it around towards the end.

We took some family pictures back around the holidays.

Here are some things to come this year:

1.. Josh will be preparing to take the DAT in the fall. This is the big dental school exam that he takes before he applies.... it's pretty big deal.
2. I will start teaching Kindergarten in the fall.... which I am sooo excited for!
3. We will be welcoming a new little niece in June.... "Hadley Kay".
4. So.... probably come the fall.... we might just be getting a dog. Josh really wants one.... and I've put it off since we got married. You see I never grew up having a dog... and am not a huge dog/animal person... but..... I'm definitely getting better... and am excited to see what it's like! We will see what happens.

Hope all is well with everyone!

Updates are here!

2010-10-10T23:03:00.001-07:00

Yes yes......we are still alive! I know I've been slacking big time with updating this, but just so you know.... we are still around. Well, I just wanted to do some updates of what has been going on with us. When Josh got back from Cali and we moved into our new place. We have decided that moving really really really sucks! We feel like we are constantly moving.... (which if you look at the past few months.... it's kind of true.) Well anyways- we got moved in.... and are liking the new place. There are a few little things that I'm not loving.....but it's what you get when living in an apartment I guess. And besides still having things in boxes..... we are trying to settle in. Overall it's going good!!

About a week before I came home from Cali Josh's family came out there and we went to Disneyland/Cali Adventure. We had a great time!

At Cali Adventure

In front of Disneyland..... Happiest place on earth!

Waiting in line at the white water rapids.

In other news....Thanks to craigslist..... we got hooked up with some new things.... we got a new dining table...which I absolutely love! And we also got a new office desk.... which we also love. We didn't have a dining table in our last place because there wasn't really a place for it... so now that our new place does... we started looking on craigslist and after searching for awhile.... i finally found one that i love!

The week that we got moved in.... we also went to the John Mayor concert. Josh surprised me with the tickets a few days before. I was way excited! The concert was awesome! John Mayor is pretty much amazing on the guitar..... he was doing all sorts of crazy things on it.... and it sounded awesome! We were very impressed with the whole concert and had a great time!

At the John Mayor concert......

Besides being busy with school we have found some time to spend with family. Josh's brother Jarret is playing football this year so we have enjoyed going to his games every week. And they are undefeated too. So that's way awesome! We have also been seeing our nephews play at their soccer games, so that's fun to watch!

Nephew's soccer game....

Josh and Jarret at his football game

Well the semester is going good. It has been soooo incredibly busy for both Josh and I. Josh is at ASU and loving it. Although taking 21 credits is quite the full load... and he's been insanely busy with his classes. I'm taking 4 online classes and 1 down on campus. So with that many classes online = extremely busy and overwhelming at times. But we are getting through it. I am constantly counting down the weeks we have left. We are about half-way through.... so that's great! I am also very excited for the semester to be done because I will be graduating in December!!! I am so excited! I will have a BS in Family and Human Development with a minor in Sociology. So come December it will be farewell to ASU........

But come January it will be hello....... NAU!

I recently got accepted to the Master's program at NAU. It is right here in Mesa too, and I will be starting that in January. I will be getting my Master's in Education. I still can't believe I'm doing it.... but I'm really excited for it!

Well that about wraps up what's been going on with us. We are looking forward to the holidays coming up! I looove this time of the year. So I can't wait! Hope all is well! Much love to everyone!!

CALIFORNIA & UPDATES!!

2010-07-15T20:33:00.000-07:00

Well our summer has just been flying by out here in Cali.... I can't believe it's going to be coming to an end soon. We have been way busy with work out here..... but it's been a blast. In between our time off of work.... we have been hanging out with friends.... visiting the beach and having BBQs. The weather over here has been gorgeous!! And up until this past week.... it has been pretty dang chilly over here. It's starting to warm up alot this week though- It's been nice tho being able to wear alot of my sweatshirts over here.

Our apartment out here is a little smaller than last year... but we are like 1 min away from our office for work so that's amazing.

Here is our living/family room...

Our kitchen.... we have a gas stove.... not sure if I am a fan

Our balcony over looking the street.... and a church is straight across the street.... so we get to hear the church bells.... every morning.... they never miss a morning.... didn't think churchs still rang bells..... but they DEFINITELY do!

I had to stack our movies.... there was no place to put them...haha!

Anyways- so in other news over here.... we sold Josh's truck about a month ago..... farewell to the giant blue beast... and hello to our new mustang. We thought it was a good idea to "downsize". Now we have cheaper tires and better gas mileage with the stang. It was a little sad for Josh when we said goodbye to his truck... he loved it so much.... but he is loving his new stang.

Farewell to the truck.....

Hello new stang.....

He has been pulled over twice over here acually...... but it was not for speeding..... Cali has a law that you are not allowed to talk on your cell phone while you are driving.... which is fine I guess....(safer drivers.... fewer accidents) but.... when you are not used to having that law...... when your phone rings...... your first instinct is to pick up. The first time was when he was driving over here to Cali- and the the 2nd time happened about 2 weeks and he luckily got out of it the 2nd time. Still kinda lame tho!

We did have some visitors for the 4th of the July. My two sisters Savanna and Ciera came over with our Friends Brad and Forrest. They stayed the weekend with us and we went to the beach and saw fireworks. It was great to spend the weekend with them.

We spent a day at the beach..... I got so sunburned....

Me with Savanna and Ciera....... and Ciera had a lovely tan on her legs...haha!

We played some beach volleyball... good times!

We bought the volleyball when we first got out here.... it is just like the one from Cast Away... with the bloody hand print.... and yes....... we refer to it as Wilson. Josh takes him everywhere.....haah! ok not really.... but he does keep it in his car so he always has it....haha!

We got this pizza here last year..... so we had to get it again when our visitors were here.... it's the biggest pizza I have ever seen.... and soooo good! The little one is just a normal size pizza..... that's how big it was.... it was awesome!

Josh works some long hours out here... He starts at 8:30 and doesn't get home til about 10pm at night sometimes.... So when he gets home.... he's pretty exhausted.... this is what happened one night.............

On Friday nights a few of us wives have been getting together and having cooking nights. The guys get home so late that we make lots for them when they get home. We have a good time! Aleece, Me and Chandee.....

The first time we made our own homemade pizza.... even the dough....(Chandee made it and it was amazing)

The pizzas were def a success!!

We have had lots of visits to the beach this summer.....

Chandee and Dawna with sweet Aiden..... relaxing in the sun.

Me Chandee and Aiden...

There was one night where a bunch of us went out to the beach when the guys got off work... so like 10 oclock.... and a bunch of them were acutally boogie boarding.... the beach was awesome at night..... a little scary but still way sweet. I was ofcourse freezing...... but Josh was having a ball with the boogie board....

Dawna me and Aleece.... staying close to keep warm.....

Well I think this may be the longest post I have ever done.....But there are some pics of our summer.... we have been having a blast! I can't believe it's almost over. Josh will be here another month....but I am actually coming home to AZ in about 2 weeks. The summer has seriously flown by.... I can't believe we'll be starting back up at school about a month. Crazy!! Anyways- farewell for now....... hope everyone has been having a great summer!

Finals... Packing... Moving....

2010-05-17T20:52:00.000-07:00

Hello all! I know I have been terrible with updating my blog lately...but now that I'm out of school.... I'm hoping that will change. So a little update of what's been going on... Josh and I survived our finals. I will say barely survived because the week before finals... Josh pulled about 3 all nighters throughout the week. I felt like I barely saw him that week. He studied his face off for his 2 Chemistry classes. Apparently when we apply for dental schools... it's really important to have really good grades in all of the science classes... ESPECIALLY Chemistry. So Josh had lots of pressure to make sure and get his A's. After the hardest semester of his life... (so far) he spent hours and hours and hours studying for Chemistry and doing the labs. After all the stress and tears(the tears which were mine..haha!) All of his hard work paid off.... He did it... He got his A's! It was a joyous day when his grades finally posted. Now no more Chemistry..... he's done with MCC and moving onto ASU in the fall. Which he is very excited about. He decided to walk at MCC's graduation (mainly because his mom and I wanted him too...but he was glad he did) He got 2 associates degrees... an AA in Arts and an AA in General Studies. Here are some pics....

My side of the family. They were all so sweet to come!

Josh and his sweet little sister Jaycee

Josh's Dad and little bro!

Josh and his parents.... I took the pic a little late..

So proud of him! He's about 1/4 of the way done with school.... still got a ways to go... But he's ready for it and he def kicked butt this semester!

During the week of finals.... we also had to start packing up our apartment. It was not a pleasant experience either. Last summer we kept our apartment here... while we were in Cali... but this year we decided to pack it all up and just put everything in a storage unit for the summer. It was a bigger project than we thought.... We moved out all of our big stuff.... like bookshelf.. bed.. coffee table, end tables, ect.. at the beginning of the week... And we have some awesome friends that saved us last minute in moving all that stuff out. Thanks again!!

This is what our apartment looked like this past week.... Our TV looked pretty weird on our card table...

At one point... we were packing and after awhile... we both looked around and said I think that it's gotten worse.... packing was miserable.... and I still have to go back over and finish things up...ugh!! Like I said....."Never ending process"

My wonderful mother in law was a huge help in packing up our decorations.. dishes and all of the "fragile" stuff. She was such a great help with everything! I couldn't have done it without her. Thanks again Mom!

So our adventure to Cali has "kind of" began.... Mainly for Josh right now..... He drove over there this past weekend... made it safe and sound. I'm still in AZ right now... and I'll be joining him in about a week in a half.....looking forward to getting over to gorgeous San Diego. He was gone not even a day and I was already missing him like crazy..... So I'm a little nervous for this next week in a half. Since our apartment is pretty much all packed up I'm staying with my lovely sister and her husband, Shasta and Tanner til I leave. It was so nice of them to let me stay with them.

And Josh started work over there today and is already doing awesome! I can't wait to get over there. We are really looking forward to the summer! (and ditching the AZ summer heat here)
So I am planning on doing more updates a lot more often while we are over there.... hopefully with pictures too....but right now my charger for my camera won't charge the battery... so I have no camera(I had to borrow my sister Molly's camera this past weekend.. thanks molls!)
Anyways.... that will be it for now... but more updates to come... soon from Cali! Hope everyone has a great week!

Updates!!

2010-03-19T15:21:00.001-07:00

Ya..... I know it's been so long since I've posted anything. My poor blog..... So I thought I would post some updates of what's been going on around here.....

January:
We got our first niece...Megan Ruth Stradling... and she is soooo precious!
We sold my car to my sister and got me a new...... 2008 Hyndia Sonata. And seriously love it!
(I never want to go through the process of buying a new car again...... I hate car salesmen)

February:
Niece Megan spent a few days in the hospital because she had RSV. She's doing great now, but still really scary!
Josh and I got terribly sick with a miserable cold/congestion thing. Terrible! Tissues were overflowing in our apartment. (ok not really... but almost)
My family discovered the game "Just Dance" for the wii.... and it is AMAZING! (Highly recommend it if you have never played it.) We've played it with friends and it is awesome!!
I got to go the Mary Poppins play at Gammage with Josh's family and it was soo fun! Practically Perfect in every way!

March: Spring Break
We finally made it to Spring Break! This semester has been insanely busy with school. With Josh taking 2 Chemistry classes... (that includes 2 labs) and me taking 18 credits... school has taken over our lives.....haha! But we made it to Spring Break which we were so happy for. Josh went to Mexico to go fishing with his dad, bro, grandpa and a few of his dad's buddies. He caught a 9lb fish (which is really really big) so he was soooo excited about that. Before he left on his trip he said that if he catches a big one he wants to mount it on our wall.... and I agreed to this. So... prob at the end of the year(cuz it takes a long time for them to put the fish together to mount) We will be mounting a fish on our wall......we'll see how that goes.haha! Anyways-It's been a relaxing week and I'm hoping I will get back into "school mode" by next week.

And then we have only like 6 more weeks til summer.... til we get to leave for sweet San Diego!! We move there for the summer for Josh's job and we cannot wait to see our sweet friends again over there!

I will try and be better about posting... the past few months have been so busy I haven't had time... but for now that's what has been going on. Hope everyone is doing great and enjoying their Spring Break!

First Anniversary!

2010-01-06T16:27:00.000-08:00

So last weekend was our 1 year anniversary! I can't believe it's already been a year. Everyone says that the first year is the hardest... but I must say that this past year has been soooo fun! We have had so many fun times! Even though we are both so busy with school and work, we still find time with each other.
Last week Josh's sister got married over in San Diego... (sweet times)and we got home really late Friday night, so on Saturday we slept in and spent a very relaxing day at home. Then that night, we went to dinner and saw a movie. We were gonna go see The Blind Side, but it was sold out by the time we got there, so we saw Sherlock Holmes. VERY GOOD by the way if you haven't seen it.
Then we came home and busted out the bottle of Martinellis, that was given to us for our wedding.... and my mom had kept the top layer of our wedding cake in her freezer... so we got that out as well. Neither of us are huge cake fans.... so we just had a small bite of the cake, it wasn't to bad for being in the freezer....but after one bite....we were done.haha! We had a great first anniversary and looking forward to another year!

Us at the movies.......great movie!

Our Marinellies and our frozen cake. Our wine glasses have our names and our wedding date on them. We used them at our luncheon. Love them!!

Made a toast to each other and topped it off with a kiss! Happy 1 year!

1 year ago at our wedding....

Happiest day of my life!

We are both looking forward to the new year!!

Holiday Fun!

2009-12-22T22:49:00.000-08:00

So we have had a pretty crazy past few weeks. With finals ending and everything with the holidays.... we have been super busy...but it's been good times! To start the holiday season off right... we went out and bought our very first Christmas tree! This is our first Christmas married... It was so fun to decorate it together...(actually the night that we started decorating it... Josh was putting the lights on the tree, and we fell asleep before we put any decorations on it, and this was the weekend before finals... so we went for almost a week with just lights on our tree...so when the lights were off, it looked like a "bare" tree.) So we finally got it all decorated and bought something to go on top. We went with a pretty red bow. And we love it. We had to rearrange our furniture just a little to make room for the tree....but it's so worth it!

Pictures below are of our a couple parties. We have had so many, I can't post them all. So here are a few. We had a friends Christmas party that was themed "ugly sweater"...good stuff! And then my side of the family had a Christmas party that was way fun as well. It has been so fun to see family and friends and enjoy this time of the year. We are absolutely loving it! Hope everyone else is having a great holiday season as well!

This is our tree when we first put it up so BEFORE......

And.......... AFTER

So pretty! We love it!!

Ok... so this is a really random picture. Last week we went Josh's work party and it was at this nice restaurant and everything. There was great food and we had a great time. Well, right before we were about to leave.... I needed to go to the bathroom.... So I run in there and this is what I see. It literally scared the crap out of me. It was pretty life-like.... and I was a little scared. I almost didn't make it into the stall because it scared me so bad.haha! Ok that's not true. But I found it really weird to be in the restrooms.

So this is at our friends "Ugly Sweater" Christmas party where we had a "gag" gift exchange. And yes... that is a male unrinal. Enough said. It was halarious!

My sister Savanna opened a gift that was Ronald Mcdonald shoes... they were huge. And along with them came a Mcdonald's bag.... with 2 apple pies from Mcdonalds. People got pretty creative with the gifts.

Here is Josh and I with our "ugly sweaters"... the day before I went to goodwill and picked out the sweater vest for me that was like 4 sizes to big. And.... when I first found Josh's sweater... (It has a picture of duck up in the corner if you can't tell) I thought it was perfect.... ugly right?? Well, that night he put it on.... and it actually looked pretty good on him. He even wore it over to his parents house before our party and his mom complimented him on how nice it looked, and said it looked like he got at Cabellas. We then told her that I picked it up at goodwill for about $2 for our party. Pretty funny!

Janessa, Savanna, Me and cute pregnant Chandra!

The guys started a wrestling match...

At one of our many family Christmas parties. We had a great time. Great food, and a sweet gift exchange where Josh got a Sonic giftcard and I got a giftcard to Costa Vida, and a football! Great game!

All the ladies....(well not all, mom and heather would not get in.) But the rest of us are all there! Lots of gorgeous girls! We have a great time with eachother!

Happy Holidays everyone!!!

Dogs and Cats

2009-11-13T16:55:00.000-08:00

Ok.......So I read this on a friends blog, and could not stop laughing. So I decided to copy it and put it on mine!! Even though I'm not really a dog person or a cat person...........but either way......... I still thought it was halarious!! Enjoy!!

Excerpts from a Dog's Diary...
8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!

9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!

9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!

10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!

12:00 PM - Lunch! My favorite thing!

1:00 PM - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!

3:00 PM - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!

5:00 PM - Milk bones! My favorite thing!

7:00 PM - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!

8:00 PM - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!

11:00 PM - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

Excerpts from a Cat's Diary…
Day 983 of my captivity. My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.
f

They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a 'good little hunter' I am. Jerks.

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of 'allergies.' I must learn what this means and how to use it to my advantage...

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded.

g
The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now.........

If any of you watch Family Guy.....The cat reminded me a little of Stewie! Love it!

HaLLoWeeN FuN!!!

2009-11-01T15:36:00.000-08:00

So the Halloween weekend was lots of fun! You won't see Josh in any of these pictures tho because he was gone.... hunting allllll weekend long. He did get his deer tho, so that is very exciting!! And it was still a fabulous weekend!
It began Friday evening.... all of my sisters went over to my sister Shasta's house to frost cookies and watch Garfield Halloween. (I'm not sure if any of you ever used to watch Garfield.... well we did when we were younger... and loved it!) The nephews came to and we had a great time!!

Starting the Garfield Halloween! candy, candy, candy, candy....

Shasta and Laci making the cookies! (I'm not a huge fan of sugar cookies...but they were very good!)

And the frosting begins.......

There was Frankenstein, cat, and I think bat cookies!

After all that was done. My 4 younger sisters came back to my our apartment to stay the night with me, so I wouldn't have to be there all by myself. We made up their beds and all of us were out with in a few minutes. We have this round chair... it's called a "papa'sjohn" chair... or something like that... and Jenna called that right away to be her bed.

She got all snuggled up in it.

My other sister Bria was going to try to sleep in our leather recliner.... but after a few minutes..she decided to go down to the floor.

Then Saturday night, I went back over to Shasta's because my little sisters were going trick or treating in her neighborhood. Molly was showing off her cute pajamas....Bria is the lovely green M&M...and Jenna is a sweet little witch. They looked great! And got lots of candy!

After that, I went and met up with our friends who were finishing getting their costumes on. My friend Bobbie is a vampire...and that is her boyfriend Sam who is the Joker.....she kept trying to bight him all night..haha! They looked awesome!!

This is Tara, Bobbie and Me....... I wasn't sure if I was going to dress up til the last minute.. and by that time I didn't have anything.... so I supported the Cardinals for Halloween.haha! (It was simple and not to complicated....which worked for me.)
Overall the weekend was a ton of fun! Hope everyone had a great Halloween weekend as well!

Adorable!!

2009-09-26T12:01:00.000-07:00

My friend Callie is having a give away on her vinyl sign blog... Valentine Decor!! There are so many signs that are absolutely adorable!! All you have to do is go to her blog, leave a comment and then tell about it on your blog. Fun stuff!! Go check it out! Valentine Decor

Decorating Time!

2009-09-21T19:40:00.000-07:00

So after being at our apartment for about 9 months... we finally got some decorating done. Before we had up 1 wedding picture, and 2 signs.....and that was it. I also learned that Josh is a super perfectionist when it comes to putting stuff on the walls... so he's got to measure every angle possible, so it's perfectly equal. And this is great so things don't look crooked on our walls. So..... I had 2 gift cards to the amazing Hobby Lobby.... so shopping I went. (Josh did actually come with me to) and it was lovely! I also went to Ross that same day and picked up a few little things there! Super cheap!

The next few days after that, I was talking to my mother-in-law and found out that she had never been to Hobby Lobby. And If you've seen her house, this is very surprising because her house is decorated AMAZING!!!! So.... we met up one night at Hobby Lobby to experience the amazing! We were supposed to only window shop, but my sweet mother-in-law ended up buying us some more decorations.... to go above our cabinets in our kitchen. Then she came back to our place after wards and helped put it all together. It looks amazing. The first 3 pics are some of the things she bought us. Thanks again mom! We love it!

The next thing I want to work on is our bathroom. And I decided that when we get a bigger place...with 2 bathrooms... I want our second bathroom to be all PARIS stuff. I wanna do it with black/white and pink! We still have a few pics to hang up, but now our walls aren't so bare. Which means yeah!!!!

I love this sign... thanks to my sweet mother-in-law

This is the cutest little trunk!

I got this at Ross for $10... to go in our little "laundry room"...(it's not really a laundry room.. it's more like the "area" where our washer and dryer are... next to the bathroom..haha!)

This I got from my Bridal shower, this was one of the signs we already had it up. I love it tho!

Ross....$5! And it is a true statement.haha!

We got the shelf and candle sticks at Hobby Lobby! Put it above our TV. I love it!

Fun Weekends!!

2009-09-14T22:50:00.000-07:00

My family has started a tradition to go camping every year around this time of the year. We usually go the weekend before Labor Day. The last few times we have gone, we go up north.. I'm not sure where exactly, but to a nice little camp spot, we pitch our tents and live it up in the sticks for the weekend. (Well, not entirely, my parents have a motor home that they bring, so it def makes things a bit easier. Example... like not having to squat out in the woods.) Well, this year, my sweet mother-in-law offered their lovely cabin up in Forest Lakes to us for the weekend. My family was so excited. We enjoy the tents...and living out in the wilderness for a few days, but of course we would rather "camp" in a beautiful cabin..with comfortable beds.. and showers! So that's just what we did. Everybody was there except the one sister living up in Provo...Yes.. Savanna was very missed. But we still had a great time! The pics below show that we went shooting, and spent some sweet time around the campfire. We had an amazing weekend!

The following weekend which was Labor Day, we got to go back up to the cabin and spend the weekend with Josh's family. We had a great time.. we went quading.. played games...and....the big news......Josh's sister Janessa got ENGAGED while we were up there!! She has been dating Travis for over a year now... he is an amazing guy. Josh and I have both known him since the beginning years of high school. And we have all remained the greatest of friends. We could not be more excited for them! It will be great to have him officially in to the family! And they are going to be getting married in the San Diego temple around the end of the year...so we are excited to back and visit sweet San Diego.. and maybe go visit sweet Poway!haha!

Relaxing on a log...

Josh showing me how to shoot....

My sweet hubby...being all tough!

Ya....we like to think we are tough! Josh just looks really angry....lol!

Boys love their guns!

Sitting around the campfire!

The adorable newly engaged couple! So cute!

We can't wait for their big day!

Finally......

2009-08-31T19:59:00.000-07:00

Well, got through our first week back to school. It was a very busy and crazy week but we got through it. And we ended the week with going up to Josh's family cabin over the weekend with my family. (I'm gonna try and post some pics soon!) We had a great time and it was very relaxing. We also went through all of last week with our poor little apartment a disaster. With starting school and work last week, I had no time to finish getting things unpacked and situated in their places. But finally today...... I spent the entire afternoon doing laundry, organizing, and cleaning the entire apartment. It was driving me crazy! And I can't believe we have been home over a week now and I'm finally finishing unpacking. There are still a few little things here and there that don't have a place, but the bottom line is that it's looking 100% than it was.

Goodbye Cali!!

2009-08-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

So the time has come for us to pack our things up and head home. Today I spent all day packing up the apartment. We are heading out early tomorrow morning for sweet AZ! Home sweet home!!! I'm excited to be back at our apartment, see family and friends and go eat some yummy Costa Vida as soon as we get home!! I'm gonna miss Cali.... the amazing weather over here and the gorgeous beaches. We have had an awesome summer! We've met so many sweet people while we've been here and hope to see them all again soon. We have had lots of friends and family come visit us, lots of those people that slept on our floor, many visits to the beach and so many fun times! We looking forward to heading home and getting back into the swing of things. We both start back at school on Monday and are looking forward to the new semester. We have loved being out here and have made so many sweet memories. Peace out for now Cali!! Hope to be back soon!

Sweet Times!!!!

2009-07-22T16:28:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my family came over to visit. Friday morning I drove up to Santa Clarita to go to Magic Mountain. The last time I went there was about 3 years ago, and I've always loved it. Well, we go on about 4 rides, and the last one we went on, I walk off of it and I'm feeling so sick. So.... instead of riding the big rides with the rest of the "big girls" I decide to stay with my parents and little sister Jenna to go ride the little rides. I've always loved rollar coasters, and normally I can go all day riding them, but this time was not the case. But I def enjoyed the rest of the afternoon riding the little rides with Jenna. I was able to let my stomach settle, and was feeling much better by the end of the day.
After we left the park, all of my little sisters drove back with me to stay with us for the weekend. We spent time getting some sun at our pool, took the girls to Old Town San Diego, had some wrestling matches, and tickling matches, and spent time at the beach. It was a great weekend to be family, I have missed them so much! We loved seeing everyone, and it was sad to say goodby, but we now only have a month left til we go home... so we will soon be back in AZ! It's been a great summer, and we are loving it out here, but I am def way excited to go back home!! One of my favorite things about being over here.... when we get sweet visitors!!! We've had friends and family come visit us and we have absolutely loved it!!

At sweet Magic Mountain!

Jenna and I got pretty soaked!

Swimming at the pool!!! So nice!

Love the hats!!!

We went and checked out Old Town San Diego!

The girls tickling Josh.... He got dominated!

The girls stayed on our floor... it was pretty cozy!

Josh building a sand castle with Bria and Jenna

Gorgeous gals at the beach

Enjoying the beach!!

4th of July Weekend!

2009-07-11T15:21:00.000-07:00

So a few of our friends came out 4th of July weekend and stayed at our apartment while we were up in Utah. And the night that they arrived, Josh came home with this enormous pizza for dinner. It was 3 feet long.. he said it would barley fit in the back of my car. We ate every piece! Well ok I think there were maybe 2 or 3 small edge pieces left. It was soo good to! You can kinda see in the picture with the box all the way open... it was as long as our table. It was soo sweet!

So.....On our flight home we flew from Salt Lake to Vegas, then from Vegas to San Diego, and on our first flight we ran into my brother in law (Jared)...his brother Joshua was on our exact flight. They were actually flying out here to come to Poway! When they told us that, we busted up laughing because were like hey that's where we live! And no one has ever really heard of Poway... So it was a very small world. It was fun to run into him tho!

Nik, Dawna, Josh and me eating yummy Costa Vida!! Oh we love it so much!

Sweet Fireworks!!!!

Dawna Me and Ness chilling on the blankets!

For the 4th of July we went to Utah for the weekend because Josh's sweet Great Grandma passed away, so we went up there for the funeral. So there were parts of the weekend that were very sad, but we also were able to see all the family up there, so we did love seeing everyone. It was just sad that it had to be on those circumstances. For the 4th of July we went and saw Ice Age 3. We all laughed and enjoyed the movie. Then from there we went and put our blankets and everything down in this grassy field next to BYU stadium, because that was where the fireworks show was going on. It was a busy busy night with people lighting off their own fireworks waiting for the show to begin. We relaxed on our blankets, the weather was beautiful, and enjoyed being there with everyone.

For dinner we experience the amazing....longly missed....Costa Vida!! Josh and I have been missing good old CV since we've moved out here. (sadly there are none in Cali....they should def change that.) So.....we were sooooooo excited to go there for dinner that night. It was right down the street from where were going to be watching the fireworks. My sister Savanna used to work there when she was going to school up there this last year. And now Josh's sister Janessa works there. So it's just a great place!!! Josh and I were looking forward to it all day! And finally the time came to go get dinner. And it was absolutely amazing! Yes it may seem like we are a little obsessed.. but we have just been deprived of it since we moved out here. And we live a mile away from it back home.. so we def would go there lots.

It was an all around good weekend. We've missed all the family, so we loved seeing everyone!!

San Diego Fair and Switchfoot

2009-07-01T00:22:00.000-07:00

The view from our seats was way sweet!!

You can see the ferris wheel!!!

So....... last week Josh walks in the door from work and says "I won Switchfoot tickets". I'm like what?? So..... there is a radio station out here in Cali that is called "Sophie" and we both love it. It plays a lot of all kinds of music and we just love it. Well, I guess they were having a contest where if you were the 25th caller, you won Switchfoot tickets, to go see them at the fair that was in town. So, Josh called and at first they said he was the 15th caller. So he called back again.. and it rang and rang, and he was about to hang up when someone finally answers and says "Oh my gosh you are so lucky". He's like why? She then goes on to tell him that he is actually the 26th caller, but that the last caller that should have won was under 18, so she could not give him the tickets. So then she goes on to congratulate Josh on winning 2 tickets into the San Diego fair, along with 2 tickets to see Switchfoot in concert. We were way excited!! Josh has never won anything like that before, (like on the radio) so were so excited to go to the fair.

So Friday night comes around, and we head out to the fair. It was an awesome concert! I didn't think I was to familar with Switchfoot, but they played a good amount of songs that I had heard before. They are a Christian band and are originally from San Deigo. They put on a great show! We had some sweet seats to, the view as you can see in them was beautiful. After the concert was over we walked around, ate some amazing indian fry bed, which was soooo good!! And chose one ride go on. I also got a sweet hat there as well, which I'm way excited to wear. We def saw some interesting people at the fair to. It was all together a great night. So thank you radio station 103.7 "Sophie" for providing us a way to visit the San Diego Fair and see sweet Switchfoot!

Day trip to AZ!

2009-06-11T18:22:00.000-07:00

We came down for Nik and Dawna's wedding for a day. We flew in at 9am and left at about 8pm that night. A very short little trip, but we loved being home and seeing everyone that we did. We would have loved to stay longer and spend more time with everyone, but we had to be back the next day for work. We def loved being back in sweet Az!!

Nik and Josh. Both looking so handsome!!

Dawna and Nik coming out of the temple. Both looked amazing!

Beach Fun!

2009-06-11T17:23:00.000-07:00

Here are the sweet wives..... Chandee, Hilary, Bree, Sally and Me. And their adorable little babies!! We had a good time... even though it was pretty chilly that night.

We had a little pizza party at the beach with all the salesman and families Saturday night. It was so relaxing after a long week. The guys played sand volleyball and the girls chatted and stayed close to the fire to keep warm. It is still sooo cold at the beach. They say it doesn't start to get warm til July and August. It's still so fun to go and see tho, I just have to bundle up. We were able to see the gorgeous sunset that night to!! You can see it behind us on some of them. We all had great time!!!

Our Apartment in Poway California

2009-06-06T21:58:00.000-07:00

So this is our apartment in California! It's similar in size to our place back home.. I think, so we are enjoying it. And we got some nice furniture as well for it. So that's sweet! I haven't taken any pictures of the outside, because our building happens be the one that they are remodeling. So there is lots and lots of construction out there. I'm sure it will look great when it is done, I just don't think that we will be here when they finish it. That's ok though. The construction guys are pretty friendly. My only small complaints are, I have to do our laundry at the laundromat here. But the plus side to that is I'm getting to know all the friendly people here at the apartments. And the other thing is.. we don't have a microwave. But we just bought a toaster oven.. so that should take care of that problem. They are called Countryside apartments, and basically the theme that they are trying to get across is "woodsy" type. So there are pine trees outside... and the buildings can kind of remind you of a "cabin" type. We definitely love the woods, so that's where we are living it up here in Poway! When entering Poway....The entry sign says "Welcome to Poway... The city in the country." It's like right outside of San Diego. We are definitely having some good times here in good old Poway!!

We have a Blog!!

2009-05-14T18:11:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Taylor Family Blog! We are so excited to be able to keep in touch with you all while we are living it up in Cali! Be sure to leave a comment so we can check out your blog! Thanks to Shasta for helping us set up the blog!!