Not a witty post title

Unfortunately this post won't include any pictures. Not because I don't have any to include, but because my phone is at the opposite end of my house and I'm just too lazy to go get it and download them to my computer. Never fret, I will at some point though.

So we have already announced it to the cyber world, but I have yet to announce on my blog officially.

We are having a BOY!

A bouncing baby boy as I am delightfully saying. 

We could not be more thrilled. I won't deny however that I truly believed I was having a girl. Mostly based off of the online prediction tests I took. Yes, I'm one of those people. Plus I had always thought my first would be a girl. Most likely because I really REALLY wanted to name her Leia. Yes, from Star Wars. I am not ashamed.

During that reveal ultrasound my child flashed us a good one to prove me wrong, all I saw was my husbands tears of pure joy. He yelled in disbelief as he had prayed REAL hard to have a boy first to pass on the Earl name. It was very tender and sweet. 

So since then I've scanned the internet for sweet deals on nursery and boy clothes. Can I just say that it seems that boys are MUCH easier to shop for than girls? I'm super duper pumped to see my son in little hoodies, suspenders, and bowties! I love it! 

As far as names, we have nothing set in stone. We have a few on the list, but nothing that we both agree on 100%. Our plan, if we have yet decided, is to go in on the day of his delivery with 3 names and decide which suits him best when we meet him. That's the plan. 

Moving on...

We recently went to Brandon's family reunion on his Dad's side. 

The EARL reunion.

It was at Bear Lake, (Idaho side). We stayed in a huge cabin. Some stayed in rooms in the cabin and others either tented or had RV's outside. We ended up tenting with his sister Kelsey and her little fam. It was a two bedroom tent, so we had our privacy. I still think we should have all just cuddled. No?

Anyhow, it was a blast. Plenty of beach time, volleyball, games, yummy food, family history lesson, and quality one-on-one time with the peeps. 

Before the reunion we were asked to submit our love stories. B and I sent in our separately, and chose not to read ours until we received the books with everyone's love stories and read it then. 

Funny thing is, as we each read ours, we realized that some of the details were totally wrong in our stories?

#whoops

For example, B and I met at a singles ward activity. It was a movie night accompanied with treats. He wrote that it was accompanied with pie. I wrote popcorn.

Brandon=1

Taylor=0

Example dos, Brandon included in his story that I was dating someone at the time. I did not include that in my story.

Brandon=2

Taylor=0

Let me preface that part of my story by saying first that I choose not to include that in my story because I slightly embarrassed, and it was never actually "official." Plus I did end up "breaking up" with him the next evening specifically to date Brandon, so I basically sound like a terrible person. 

Example tres, Brandon stated in his story that he sat at the table in front of me with those other two girls and was like chatting it up with another chick? 

Brandon=2

Taylor=1

Okay, so that can totally be true but I don't remember that. I remember those girls coming up and talking with the guy next to me and B sitting in front of our table, but like turned towards our table if that makes sense. 

Anyways, truth of the matter is that we are totally on the same page, (pfft). At the end of the day we fell in love, got married, and happily ever after. 

#lolforever

I'll include some pics later. 

Peace.

Sitting, waiting, wishing, and celebrating

Get ready, this is going to be long...
Let's start down the list...
I've been initiated into the Earl family now that I can officially say I've attended an Earl Girl Reunion and all it's glory. From heart to hearts, updates, games, FOOD, staying up all night, cute babies, and bonding. Hi my name is Kelsie Taylor and I'm an Earl girl. So much love.

Truth be told there are way better pictures than the ones I have on my phone under Brit's shutterfly account and for some reason it won't let me download them on here to brag about. What the dumb. Anyways, SO FUN!
Then we watched the last 20 mins of the first session on general conference at home. Then watched, or tried to watch anyway, the second half over at our friends Callie and Bryce's house. Afterwards, Callie and I went to a volleyball game at BSU with her team she coaches at Meridian High School. Saw Brandon's best friend Brock. Coo coo. We kept the spirit thriving by going to the Haunted World with Bryce, Callie, Kelsey, and Pat. Ps there is way too many Kelsey(ie)'s in the world.... May or may not have peed my pants from being scared. May or may not have had nightmares. Whatev's. It was so fun though to go with our dear friendships! And laughing/crying/screaming together.

The evil chick next to me scared me the most. THOSE AREN'T REAL TEARS. Apparently our friends were real happy they didn't have to stand next to her.

Then Sunday came. The big GC continued. Here are the morning/afternoon highlights I gathered:
MORNING (only was able to get notes on half because we were making breakfast)-
Richard J. Maynes:
* Keep your testimony in shape
* Become the rock the river can't wash away
* Build spiritual stamina
Richard G. Scott:
* Remember the atonement in your lives
* Satan will use previous grievances to lure us back into his influence
* Repent of any rebellion
* Don't be a 15 minute (visiting) teacher, be a real friend
President Monson:
* Keep the gospel center of our life so that when we are faced with challenges we can face them head on and emerge victorious
* In the best and worst of times, He is with us
AFTERNOON-
Quinton L. Cook:
* Addictions use up our precious time which can be spent otherwise
* Work to improve the moral conduct that surrounds us
* Avoid bondage of any kind
Neil L. Anderson:
* Sacred responsibilities are given to EACH GENDER (booyah)
* Deny not the gifts of God, for there are many
* If thine eye is full of evil, thy body is full of darkness
David McKonkie:
* "What would the Savior say if He were teaching my class today?"
* Live so that we can have the Holy Ghost as our guide and companion
* Daily spiritual preparation is number one priority
* In order to teach the gospel, you need the word and power of the Lord
* Listen to the spirit and your students
* Let go and follow promptings
* A teacher is also a student
Kevin S. Hamilton:
* All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
* Strive to attend all of your Sunday meetings
Adrian Ochoa:
* Don't neglect to look up
* Look to the source of your wisdom
* It's CRITICAL you remain worthy of the spirit
* We're living evidence of the Savior
Terence M. Vinson:
* I can return that love in my own imperfect way
Russel M. Nelson:
* You're never to young too learn, and you're never too old to change
* Freedom from self slavery is true liberation
* We cannot change HIS doctrine
President Monson:
* May we ever be found doing the work of the church
Afterwards, we went with the Meyet's to go on a nice Sunday walk while Callie took some pictures. It was absolutely beautiful outside.

This is one of the prettiest houses I've seen.

And, no this isn't our dog. It's Bryce and Callie's dog Koa.

Blah blah. Idaho can be real pretty. This past week has been extra hard to stay focused at work for a number of reasons. #1 we were celebrating our first anniversary on the 12th, #2 we are leaving for Puerto Rico on the 15th, and #3 we are waiting to hear back from UND to see if B got in to their PA program. We are pretty sure we will hear when we're in PR. Where else would you want to celebrate/cry it out? Just sayin'. 

On Friday I told my co-workers bu-bye for two weeks as I won't see them until we're back from vacae. One of my bosses, (right?),  is listening to me brag about how excited I am and he goes, "I'll put some extra money into your pay check so that you have some extra spending money while you're there. You deserve it." At first I thought he was kidding, but he was totally serious. I thanked him over and over, walked out to my car skipping all giddy and then burst into tears of happiness on the drive home. It's times like those that make me realize I work with the best people.

NOW, lez talk about our anniversary shall we? :) 

B scheduled for me to get my hair done from my favorite lady so that way I can stop being a red head. I make fun of red heads too much to actually be one you guys... Anyways, super sweet right? Came home, chilled and ate breakfast. We got a ding-dong-ditch attempt at our door as one of our best friends dropped off tasty treats, a card, and sparkling cider to wish us a happy anniversary. I chased them down the street and chit chatted. Love you Dennings :)

Went to lunch at Tree City since our friends the Meyet's got us a gift card as they know it's our favorite place ever. Yum! We had a couples massage scheduled through groupon. We both needed it! He had a girl and I had a male. Here's a funny story... When the massages were done B and I both were like, "I didn't relax through any of that!" THEY HURT SO BAD! When they were kneading, it felt like they were trying to see how deep they could get until we said something, which both of us were too chicken to so we endured. We came out bruised and victorious. 

We stayed out the hotel we stayed at our first night as a married couple at the Oxford Suites. BEST EVER! Got dressed, went to the temple down the street and did a sealing session. The sealer said something I will never ever forget, "When Heavenly Father created the woman, He asked His son 'Is it right that man should be alone?' He answered, 'No it is not right that man should be alone.' Then Heavenly father says, 'Then we shall create a help MEET for him.' He doesn't say a help MATE. Women, you dedicate your whole mortal existence to help your spouse MEET the requirements to take you BOTH to the presence of our Heavenly Father. What a sobering thing that is." 

Afterwards, we went and changed out of our "Sunday best" clothes and went out to dinner at olive garden and reminisced over what we love/dislike about each other and our marriage. Don't worry, our dislikes were things like "I don't like when you don't cuddle with me when I ask," "I don't like when we get stressed over our finances," "I don't like when you aren't home when I go to bed." We have a very cheesy lovey-dovey relationship. It's the best.
We saw the new movie Gravity. It was so interesting and suspenseful! We both caught ourselves holding our breath at different times. Go see it!
We got back to the hotel and broke out our wedding cake we have saved. We took a bite and a picture and said, "Yeah it was better a year ago." Ahahahaha.
This morning we enjoyed the continental breakfast. That's always the best part of hotels! Oxford suites has a bomb diggity breakfast, too! Pancakes, potatoes, sausage, fresh fruit, pastries, etc. Yummy! Went back to our room and slept in until the last possible moment when we had to wake up and go. And I have to say, this past year has been filled with laughs, kisses, hugs, learning moments, tears, and more love than I could have imagined. I'm truly blessed to be this man's wife. Life is good. Cheers to another year!

"One year down, yo."

Tree City lunch

Olive Garden

Olive Garden. My hubs is adorbs.

But really...

Temple in the background.

Now we are home planning on what we need to pack, clean, and get done before we leave on our trip to PR. Pretty sure neither of us will be functioning normally.
The next post will be about our trip. GET READY, and hope we don't get eaten by sharks?