hair

So once again talking about my name brought about another whole post: my hair. Here it goes: The fact that I'm a redhead has always (ok probably not always, maybe the last ten years) made me feel 'different' or 'unique' I guess, because it isn't something that you necessarily see everyday. Also, because I grew up with just my mom and little sister who have dark tan skin and brown hair. Because I was fair and they were not I was always teased that I must have been adopted. Seriously, I remember coming home from elementary school devastated when someone told me that I probably was adopted. So I went to my mom, "Just tell me I'm adopted! I know its true! I'm adopted! I can handle the truth!" and of course she wouldn't say it lol. I also got the name calling of 'carrot top' (It was in first grade and I was so sad when someone told me thats what their brother said redheads were) along with the friendly ones of 'red' 'licorice' etc. If someone can't/doesn't want to remember my name they just call me red. It works. If any of you know me well, you know I'm extremely proud to be a redhead :)I've come to love and embrace it, rather than lay out hoping I'll tan like my mom and sister. I've always equated it to how some girls bawl their eyes out when their long hair is cut off; I would bawl if my hair was dyed a different color. I've also heard several times that I fit the description of a 'typical redhead': bold personality, bad temper (I'm not necessarily quick to anger but quick to ALL my emotions), no matter what type of personality having scads of it, etc.

I apologize if I'm bragging, I don't mean to. The train of thought that started about a week ago just had to be completed! Here's a link to a breif history of redheads I thought it was pretty interesting:
http://www.divinecaroline.com/22260/71866-red-hot-redheads-cool-facts-carrot/2 Ammon has always teased me about being a child of Satan or something like that because of my hair, well I guess this is why lol

I will be back with updates on my bedroom next time. I must get a camera cord and a printer cord so I can upload pictures!


And just to leave you with something wonderful. I absolutely love this quote. Because really, love is supposed to be amazing, not something you endure or are "meh" about. :D And I am just pretty freaking happy right now thinking about this. So I hope it made you a little warm and fuzzy too :)

Love,
Kxoxo

Me Myself and I

What started out as a little explanation of why I like my name turned into a full blown post. Hope its not too self-centered or 'tootin my own horn', I just really enjoy kind of figuring out little things about myself. For example I've really grown to like my hair and name as I've gotten older, so this is me trying to explain it to myself for the whole world to see.

I read an interesting post on a woman's young daughter who doesn't like her name. At the end of her post she asks if anyone really has an attachment or love of their name or if its 'just their name'. I wanted to answer that question! But maybe it'll be easier to understand if you read the post first: http://blogs.babycenter.com/mom_stories/my-daughter-doesnt-like-her-name/

**And really don't ask me why I was reading a a parenting blog. I'm not having or planning on having a kid for a long while, I just really like reading blogs. It's pretty much become my Facebook. I love logging into Blogger to see any updates (especially on the design/decorating blogs I follow). And I found this 'name' post through Young House Love (you know the couple I mentioned in my last post) because they also post on this parenting blog/webiste about their insights, experiences, and advice when it comes to parenting their daughter.**

Anyways, when I was reading some peoples answers to the question I didn't really get those who were just like 'eh, whatever' when it came to their name, because I love my name. I really would not be who I am if I wasn't Kesley. Kesley is me. I am Kesley. I think it fits me quite nicely, actually perfectly. It has shaped who I am. For example: Since it is unique and easily/often mispronouned it taught me to speak up for myself when almost every single teacher, professor, primary leader, manager, customer, etc said it wrong. I'm pretty sure this contributed to my being a blunt, loud, and outgoing person. I had to step out of my comfort zone when I was young and tell big adults "No, its Kesley" and repeat it a lot aka pretty much you can't read. No I'm totally teasing, I understand why people mispronounce it.

The other reason why I am so attached to my name is how much meaning it has behind it. This also explains the ever present question of how my parents came up with my name. My mama and dad both have brown hair. Not a stitch of red. So when they had their first little red headed girl, it was a pleasant surprise. They named her Kesley Tristan. However, four months into raising their sweet new baby girl, she passed away from SIDS. My parents were devastated. About a year later, they had me. Out pops another red headed girl. I looked exactly like my older sister; I can't even tell us apart in baby pictures, I always have to ask my mom. Me and my older sister were both delivered by the same doctor and nurses. When I came out my mom says they all just gasped and couldn't believe how much I resembled Kesley Tristan. And so my parents decided to name me Kesley Elizabeth, and I have always felt a strong connection to my older sister because of that. I love my name because of what it represents, where it comes from, and what it has taught me.

So, anyone else feel a particular connection, liking, or dislike of their name? I'd love to hear :)

Love,
Kxoxo

Room Update

Sorry I don't have any pictures to post today (I love blogs with pictures) but I need to buy another computer cord for my camera. This is why lately all the pictures have come off my phone, lame I know. But, there is some wonderful progress coming along in my room. Woohoo! No, I have not gotten a new mattress yet but surprisingly it doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would. I did however MAKE my own curtains! I'm a little obsessed with this blog I stumbled upon: www.younghouselove.com Its about a young family who is on their second "fixer upper" house, and let me tell you, they are amazing at turning old, outdated, ahhh! houses into wonderful beautiness (yes its a word). And it is on this blog that I found out how to make no sew curtains! Go on check it out, you know you want to: www.younghouselove.com So, I will hopefully be getting that camera cord today so pictures will soon follow. But besides the curtains I rearranged my room, and I'm in the process of Modg Podging my old desk in black and white pictures etc until I can afford a new one. *Hint* mama IKEA gift card, my birthday is coming :)

Love,
Kxoxo

Confessions

Okay, so I know that I said I'd buy rollerblades last time.... But that never happened. But I have a really really good explanation! I am a horrible online shopper, and in case you haven't noticed, its not like the stores are overflowing with rollerblades these days. I hate not being able to try something on, see if I actually like the way it looks (its very difficult to tell from a single picture OK?!), etc. I'm trying to figure out what to do. Ugh so thats confession #1... Yes Yes I know, its horrible I have more than one.

Story time, bear with me, I know its long. As I said in my last post (or at least I think I did) I was getting my new bed frame and mattress and was so excited. To start I lug Mariah, and my cousins Josh and Michael to Layton in a teeny little truck to help. When we're almost there Mariah simply says, "so what did you bring to cover it?". Yep this was Wednesday, the one day it decides to rain heavily and for a long time in UT and I just drove all over creation without getting a tarp. I get to the guys house (who was really nice by the way and gave me one of his allen wrenches because I didn't have one. Don't you love people like that?!), pay him the money, then ask like a fool if I can keep it on his porch then come back with a tarp. He was very nice once again, and agreed. We went to Ace Hardware get a ginormous tarp, cover the bed pieces all up, then drive to Ammon's to get the mattress and box spring. Well, us being lazy or stupid, (I haven't figured out which yet) put the mattress and box spring on top of the tarp... And its pouring. We think we can make it home without it getting too wet (uhhh yeah right), but Ammon so sweetly and smartly (he has a big brain fyi) informs me that beds and box springs can mold if they get too wet and don't dry well enough. Another trip to a store to get a tarp. Woop De Do. Mariah, Josh, and Michael come back with one that barely fits but we just go with it. Then while on the freeway the tarp blows like halfway off, Josh is holding it on with a freezing hand through the trucks back window, while Michael holds a cup up to stop all the rain from dripping in and soaking them...

Fast forward 24 hours and I put the bed together all by myself. Lugging old beds and boxsprings, new beds and boxsprings, and putting the Heavy Frame together. I'm so tired that all I want to do is pull my new mattress in and lay down. Now this thing (they're technically known as boxsprings) was FREAKING heavy, but I did it all by myself, feeling so proud, lay it down on the bed frame and...





THE BED DOESN'T FIT. Yeah thats the confession. I guess its not a very good one but whatever. Ammon's friends told us it was a double. Well I measured it and its a freaking queen. Needless to say I was upset. Now please remember that the only reason I bought a new frame was because I didn't have to buy a new mattress. Ha! HA! You got me ole queenie! Now I have to buy a flipping mattress! So for the time being the wonderful frame is sitting in my un wonderful room with my un wonderful twin mattress on top of it. Ugh.


But apparently Athena doesn't mind. She climbed up as soon as the twin was in place and made her sleepy little self comfy for her 17th nap of the day.

I will fix this. I will get it right. I'm searching for good mattress deals (I may get one through work) and focusing on curtains (which I'll probably make myself), the layout of my room, and uncluttering. So until next time (hopefully with wonderful curtain news) friends.

Love,
Kxoxo

Bites, Fights, and Mites OH MY!

Title explanation:

#1 Bites: Me and Ammon are pretty much the best cooking team ever. He made awesome steak and asparagus, I made amazing mashed potatoes. I actually brought the rest of them for lunch today, I'm pretty excited. And I was so proud of myself when Ammon wouldn't stop picking at them in the bowl woo woo! For some reason I have this idea that I'm a horrible cook, but apparently with the pie and mashed potatoes under my belt I'm getting way better. So this isn't a picture of our dinner but its close.


#2 Fights: As in Kesley Elizabeth's First Real Soccer Game And Tailgate. Get it? Real was 'fighting' for the win ha. Seriously I had such a freaking good time. Awesome people, wonderful winning game, sitting in the section with crazy fans, my first tailgate = mucho bueno. Thank you ACB for so much fun :)


#3 Mites: So I wake up from a mild night slumber and start itching my legs like crazy. Now, I always itch for some reason (probably the dry winter) but this was different. I itched like crazy. So I turn on my light and look at my legs and there are a few little bumps. Well, silly me (more like, Kesley you're a moron)I scratched and it turned into one big bump the size of my palm on both legs. Ah! So my mama (she always knows what to do) told me to wash it with some soap and water, take some benadryl, and put some clean pajamas on so the rashes wouldn't rub together. I wake up and POOF! Its gone, what a smart mama I have. But then I get to work and now my calves (instead of my thighs) itch, my hip itches, and my forearm itches. WTF! I think there is a spider or something in my room that won't die. And this isn't picture of me but its what mine looks like expect fifty times bigger.


But I got my new bed (YAAAAAAAY) which I will put together today, (its currently in pieces in my mamas living room) with a little help from Little Baker and Jos (she's an experience Ikea bed putter together-er). I will definitley be posting pictures of the beauty soon.

So I hope everyone has a wonderful St.Pattys! Don't drink and drive, eat lots of corned beef and cabbage, kiss an Irish (Ammon is and I sure am), uh and wear green...

Love,
Kxoxo

P.S. E informed me that Colten saw me on the jumbo tron at the game. I was really happy lol but I didn't even see!

Spring Break!!!

Oh, everything that is holy! I cannot tell you how excited I am to just have this WHOLE WEEK off from school! I really just want to cuddle, go see movies I've reeeally wanted to see (Black Swan, Blue Valentine, and Red Riding Hood), play with Athena (she gets lonely when I'm always gone ok?), lounge, visit Jack and Bay and Marley (!!!), come home from work just knowing that I can finally relax, move that freaking bed (you know the one I've been talking about forever) to my room, and just be :) I'm horribly excited.

In other news:


#1: I've been stressed. Really who hasn't? So I'm just gonna let it flow. <---- that was my mantra in high school, good thing I remembered it. I've been trying to jam my schedule or thinking time with 'obligations' rather than doing them/thinking about them because I actually want to. So just let it flow. Because its spring break yo!


#2: Ammon is taking me to my first Real game. Yeah, I know, I'm horrible. If I wasn't so nice, he probably would have dumped me like a load of garbage on garbage day (he loves soccer), BUT I'm just so sweet ;) Anyway, I'm very excited. Ammon has conditioned me with a few 'matches' (I guess you don't really call them games if you're super cool. I'm not when it comes to this) on the ole telly. They are actually pretty interesting. I usually get into games if those around me are all pumped up, so I know I'll have a blast :)


#3: I am ordering my rollerblades today. I am committing to that because I keep putting it off. So if you happen to be driving around Bountiful and see a short red head rollerblading with a short, floppy, drooly, goofy looking dog trailing behind or ahead (its been known to happen, more than i care to admit) its us. Smile, wave, give us an encouraging honk honk of the ole car horn.
FYI: I chose rollerblades because a)I hate running. Despise. b)I don't think Athena could keep up with a bike for very long (short legs, top heavy, etc)__c)I hear its a good overall work out; core = a little ab action, legs = well who doesn't want to have nice legs?, and cardio (if I do it right, long enough, etc.)


Have a wonderful Monday :) I hope you had a wonderful Sunday because mine rocked.
Love,
Kxoxo

My Life Right Now

CPK

So Me, Mariah, Mike, Josie, and Mike all went out to CPK (yeah! I was the 5th wheel ha, :( Ammon was at work). Anyways, so I was super tired and hyper at the same time on account of being at the mall forever with Little Baker and Josie. That Little Baker is a butthead. But he really isn't that bad I guess lol Then we got coffee which made me hyper... ish. So at the end of the meal I'm laughing at, I don't remember what, and I swing my whole arm and flip over my glass thing of ranch and clatter my plate and silverware. Our whole table is laughing LOUD and the old couple next to us looked so annoyed, I'm sure I was probably acting like I was all liquored up (I totally was not, but coffee does make me nuts), or totally crazy. We left pretty fast after that.



While shopping I got these sunglasses for $10 bucks. Love em. But my real favorite are the bootcut jeans from Hollister. I LOVE jeans. I love when you find a perfect pair that just fit and feel awesome and look awesome. Love love em.

Now the cooler portion of my post (I wrote half of this at like 8am when my brain couldn't think of anything interesting to write but when I came back at noon I remembered this!

Explore home design ideas

That is my moodboard for my eventually new room. Ammon is giving me a mattress. So naturally I will need a cute new frame for it. And I will finally be out of a freaking twin woo woo! So I stroll on over to Ikea (me and Josie have pretty much moved in there lately)And BAM! fall in love with an Ikea frame. But I can't decide if I will like the bedspread with the white frame (will the white of the comforter get lost?) or if I should go with a black one. Or perhaps I will do the white frame and do dark night stands, it sounds weird but I've seen some rooms like with a white bed and dark nightstands and i really like them. I also don't really know about the wall lights. I know I want some on each side of the bed but I can't find any that I love. Someday I would like a green wall and the rest grey, which is why I lean more towards the white bed, you know, brighten things up a bit. But add some dark touches like the mirror, lamps, rug?, curtains, etc. I'm really digging the color scheme, it feels all grown up and sophisticated lol. I've been needing an upgrade from my random, million poster, bean bag, every inch of my walls covered room. And I'm really starting to love this one :) Have a fabulous Wednesday! I sure will my Psych 1010 class is cancelled Hallelujah!!!!

Love,
Kxoxo

Athena The Goddess Of...

Warfare, civilization, wisdom, female arts, strength, strategy, crafts, justice and skill. Athena is also a shrewd companion of heroes and the goddess of heroic endeavour. She is the virgin patron of Athens. See why I picked that name? Eh? Now, I'm pretty sure she will never live up to her namesake. Here is why, along with some evidence I've collected to support my hypothesis:

#1 She sleeps 85% of the day:












#2 She eats flowers:

But I didn't let her get these beauties!



#3 She isn't very good at pictures:

a)She won't stand still:



b)She never smiles:



(But she does have friends, 2 to be exact) Sophie above:
And her cousing Bear. Oh Bear!





#3 She drinks my bath water (obvious lack of hygiene):




#4 She is a pushover:




BUT I love her to pieces and wouldn't have her any other way :) She's the sweetest, most people social, perfect cuddly amount, cutest basset I could ever ask for. No matter how bad of a day I've had when I walk in the door and she brings me one of her toys or a shoe, and is so excited to see me, I melt and smile and give her lots of loves. And she may or may not sleep with me... I personally don't care that she smells like corn chips, however, everyone in my Humanities class thinks its gross.
I just had to write about her. It was that simple.

Love,
Kxoxo

Poor Poor Josie :(

Ok well apart from Josie being my first best friend ever (I've known her for 17 years, holy cow) she's hilarious and cute and sweet :) And after getting together for the first time in a long time, we discovered we have matching dogs. Like this is a huge deal. I really wanted Athena to have a basset friend and now she does and they are so cute! (especially when they bark and howl together) And if Jos is in town we might do The Wasatch Waddle :D You and your basset walk in the St.Patty Parade in SLC, all the proceeds go to the Utah Basset Hound Rescue, and you get a t-shirt and your pup gets a scarf to wear while you walk lol I love it.



So onto my story: (I'm not really sure why this is relevant but I decided to talk about Josie and this is the latest) Ammon and I were like "Hey, why not go on a double date with my friend and your brother?" GENIUS! So we're all four of us looking forward to a night of ice cream and pool yay! But then poor Josie got sick:( And being sick sucks. And then Ammon and Michael harrassed her trying to get her to buck up and get better fast, but the poor lady was really sick :( So Jos I'm sorry you felt/feel yucky, and I'm sorry we harrassed you lol we're going to reschedule :)

And oh my hallelujah Emily Rachelle Kofford aka my BFE is coming down this weekend!!! I miss her so freaking flipping flooping much. So now its the weekend (which I'm just really really really happy about I really need it) which means I get to play with E, I think we should get some new cool shades from Forever 21, and then we can get slurpees and take cool pictures like this:



Love,
Kxoxo

Funeral Blues by W.H. Auden

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East, and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out
everyone;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

And THIS is why I love Humanities. I get to read such beautiful work that I fall in love with. I especially love the last two stanzas; not so much the sadness of them, but that you can really FEEL how much emotion and love he has for this person.

Love,
Kxoxo

Chocolate. Extra Crunchy. Birthdays.

OKAY. I have a confession. I LOVE chocolate. And I love extra crunchy skippy peanut butter. But I LOVE chocolate dessert. Ammon always prepares himself for the moment after dinner when I practically fall off my seat because the new chocolate dessert I just discovered weakens my knees it so good. For example: we went to P.F. Chang's for his Bday Sunday and their mousse chocolate cake mini dessert thingy was So Freaking Good. I made a huge deal out of it lol



And as I also said I love extra crunchy skippy. That on Sara Lee wheat bread and I am set for a snack (or in my case when I don't have time to sit and eat). I may have gotten that from my Gma because we both know when we run out and its a really big deal when its all gone.



But anyways! We celebrated Ammon's bday this weekend yay! Happy Birthday :) I made him an apple pie and took him out for dinner :) It was a really fun and good weekend, I love making him feel all birthday special (i love birthdays). BUT here's a disaster story:

So E gave me the most delicious apple pie recipe and I was so excited to make it for Ammon and his fam because he loves pie. So after getting all the needed supplies from the store (and a few quick calls to Josie before she left her house) we began the pies! I planned to make 3 (2 for the fights and 1 for Ammon to have all just for him). Well....



Needless to say I only got to make the two because Jos and I (mostly I) read the crust directions wrong and they crumbled haha but Josie and I had so much fun and she was such a trooper and helped me make two more, so thanks Jos! And everyone loved the pies (I was really nervous since it was my first time making them) and I was so proud of us!

So it was a wonderful, funny, relaxing, spoiling weekend :) I love weekends. And I reeeeally love my Humanities class, I think I should do my next post on why. Until then folks...

Love,
Kxoxo