what a weekend.

like i said, we've been crazy busy since... well, since we got married, really! we're realizing that now both of us have plans, as always, but now that we're married... we do all those plans together. so we're adapting. it's good, though. i like it. i like to be busy. it makes me feel productive.


Friday, i got off work at 2:30, like always, and headed home to do a little cleaning before I went to PG to Christian and Sarah's at 3:30. They are the parents of my favorite 2-year-old, Joanna, and have a 3 week old baby girl, Molly. I told them that whenever they were ready, Devin and I would watch the girls so they could have a much needed date-night.


friday was the night!


so I was with the girls while Christian and Sarah went to dinner and saw a movie. They are angels! Joanna is so easily entertained, and does a great job of keeping herself busy with her toys, and the wonderful help of Nick Jr... haha and Molly is such a great baby. She's just content. She ate just fine, and only cried a little bit, and slept for awhile too, even. It was great!


Devin came over when he got off a little after 6:00 and Christian and Sarah were home around 7:00.


after we talked for a little while, Dev and I went to the Timpanogos Temple to a) make up for last week not attending because i was sick and b) start our goal of going to all the temples in the valley this month!


we had taken an envelope full of family names to do sealings. we had couples, and their kids. 


we were with 3 other couples, and our sealer was really nice and let us do all of our family names first, and Devin and I were proxy for all of them, even for the kids! It was so much fun. I absolutely loved it.


I loved being in the sealing room again, especially so close after our wedding (only 3 weeks!) because on our wedding day, I honestly wasn't paying much attention to the words of the sealing, so it was nice to be refreshed and get a better understanding of what it means to be sealed, and the blessing that come with it.


Since we had the privilege of being proxy for most of the names we brought, we were doing a lot of kneeling. And I hadn't eaten all day because of work and babysitting. The sealing room was also pretty warm.


The whole night, Devin would whisper to me across the altar and ask if I was okay, and it was starting to get on my nerves a little bit. I was fine! But then, we were sealing some couples, and I started getting really light-headed. I kept trying to snap myself out of it, but reached the point where you know you aren't going to be able to. Devin kept squeezing my hand, and I wasn't responding and I was starting to rock forward and droop my head and he asked me again if i was okay. I looked right at him and shook my head and that's the last thing I remember!


Soooo... I fainted. In the temple. Naturally. (Oh, that Katie Ashby!-- i happen to faint a lot...) From what i've been told, Devin ran around the altar and caught me before I fell and he laid me down. One of the sisters that was in our group was a nurse, so she came and moved my legs out from under me to get some blood to my head, because I was super pale. 


I woke up right after they set me down, and was really confused. It took me a minute to realize where I was and what happened. The sealer was really concerned, but everyone kept talking about how often that happens. It's a hard thing to kneel for a long time! It's pretty true, too. I've heard so may stories of people fainting in the temple. Devin did before his mission! I wasn't very embarrassed, because of how common it is.


After that, we just sat down and let the rest of the group finish the names we had, and they did a few more couples and then we were out of time. The sealer kept asking if I wanted a drink of water, or if I would need a wheelchair-- no! haha I had some water, and then we got the family names recorded.


I really wanted to go to the celestial room, so we went for a few minutes. I love being there. It's a feeling that isn't of this world, and it's such an amazing place to be and feeling to have. While we were there, we saw Devin's good friend, Shane, who actually got married today. Shane and his then-fiance were getting their endowment out. It was so cool to see them, and congratulate them, and we also saw another friend of Devin's from high school, so i'm glad we went to the celestial room!


When we decided to go, we came home and made some food and I felt a lot better. 


But honestly-- leave it to Katie to faint in the temple. 


Hopefully, that won't be a regular thing. 


Today has been equally busy.


We got up in the morning, and Devin had planned to ride, but didn't have time for the route his friends were doing, so he spent the morning putting our new Yakima car basket on top of the car. He wanted a skybox... but I didn't. So we agreed on the basket, and it's awesome. 


I spent the morning baking.


We've embraced the fact that now that we're married, every holiday and occasion will require 3 parties of us. My parents, his parents, and my grandparents, who always have family get-togethers whenever they can.


Now that we're married, we're considered to be obligated to bring a dish every time. Challenge accepted.


I got assigned dessert for my mom's and my grandparents' parties.


I wanted to make lemon cupcakes, but we didn't have lemon jello. Instead, I used raspberry. Best idea i've ever had! They are sooo good. Raspberry flavored anything is delicious, but cupcakes? I didn't even think that was possibly!


They are a funny shade of salmon pink, and the only frosting I had was yellow, so they definitely look funny, but they taste SO good.


Next, I was out of ideas for the other dessert, but happened upon a recipe for a really easy Chocolate Mousse. 


Done.


Both are successes.


For devin's family party, we're bringing chips and guacamole. Mostly because I was sick of desserts, and Devin's guacamole is extra scrumptious. No seriously. He has secret ingredients.


After all the baking, we went to a family reunion for my grandma's side of the family and had some lunch before heading over to Amanda's to see how the boutique was going.


She has so many cute new products (like baby shoes, and more hairpieces for adults!) and there was awesome treats, hoola hoops, and Scentsy. It looked like it was going really good!


Devin and I hadn't seen the babies for awhile, and when I took Addison outside to where Devin was, she yelled "HI!!!" she's getting so talkative, and she can pronounce words so well. She kept saying so excitedly "I'm outside!" it was adorable. I love that baby! 


Kayla and Kaden were busy playing angry birds (they're way better than I ever was!), but they were excited to see us. I love that when we go over there, the kids are excited to see us. It makes me feel so good! They're the best nieces and nephew I could ever ask for! 


Next, we headed to Bed Bath and Beyond to use up our last giftcard and got another bamboo cutting board, and an expandable cooling rack. After that, we went to Lowe's, and Devin got lots of tools. He had been using his dad's, and he needed them back. Tools were easily justified-- we used them when we came home to hang up lots of frames! Purchase success.


After shopping and hanging, we did lots of cleaning, and I took a nap and then we headed to my parents for Father's Day dinner. Kelli and Sean came down, and Kelli had just run the Ragnar race (she did so good!!! she's amazing!!!) and Grandpa Larry was there too. We had steak, grilled on the smoking Tragar (which is awesome) and the chocolate mousse was a huge hit. 


Now, I'm sitting on the couch while Devin and my little brother play video games.


I think i've been depriving devin of much needed man-time. They're having a good time, though.


I even made us muddie buddies. 


I like having guests over. Even if it's my 15 year old brother. He thinks our house is awesome. Which makes me feel good.


Tomorrow, we have 2 family parties, and are definitely going to sleep in!


This next week, we'll be doing a lot of research on schooling options for both Devin and I-- that's a process I'll have to talk about later. 


good weekend. i love spending time with my family, and i love all the time i get with devin when we don't have work in the way. also? a very domestic weekend. all that baking and cleaning and house-decorating will do that to ya! 

2 things more

okay, i already posted this morning (this shows you not only how busy we aren't at work, but also how bored it's making me), but I have 2 things more to tell you:


#1: this saturday (as in TOMORROW)... my wonderful sister in law AMANDA is having a Boutique/Open House at her home in Provo! She is the amazing woman behind all the cuteness that is Addison Renee, and she'll be selling her cute things then and there. ALSO-- more cool vendors will be there. Like our cool friend, Lee. who makes custom hoola-hoops! And also... my other wonderful sister in law CHLOE is making treats. And you know you'll be eating good treats when Chloe is making them. Trust me. She's got it down.


Also? Amanda has started doing all kinds of deals and giveaways on her facebook page. Sooooo... if you "like it"... you'll get in on the goodness. And this is goodness you def. want to get in on. 


#2: my best friend KYLEE works at this cool store called Out-N-Back, which is owned by her overly-sarcastic-in-the-funniest-way father, Keith. Anyway, KYLEE is leading her VERY FIRST HIKE through ONB next saturday, the 25th. We'll be hiking 5th water at 9:00a.m. it's 5 miles round trip.. 2 hours-ish tops. Easy peezy. It will be really great. And it would mean a lot to me and kylee both if you cared to sign up for the hike! How, you ask? simple. just click ME.


easy enough, right?


i have cool friends. and a cool family. and they do really cool things.

stacked

yesterday was a good day.


except that it was emily's last day of work. emily was sort of my first friend at this job. she helped train me, and all. she's really awesome, and doing a cool thing by moving to D.C. because her husband got a job out there. they're going pretty spontaneously. they have no idea where they'll live, and she still has to find a job and everything. but i think that's cool. 


if devin got a job across the country, i'd do the same. i'd follow him anywhere, even if we had no plans. it would be an adventure!


i came home from work and cleaned a lot. when devin got home, i told him this. i said, "i know it doesn't look like it, but i've been cleaning all day!" he just laughed and said thank you. i really did clean, though. laundry and all.


then i made dinner. herb and garlic chicken with asparagus. it was delicious! but devin and i were both still hungry... oops. we didn't have time to solve that issue, though, because then...


we took engagements of his mission friend Aaron, and fiance Laurel. we went up the alpine loop as far as it would let us, and ended down at sundance. the pictures are going to turn out GREAT! 


even though all i do is carry devin's camera bag, and hold the flash for the cool shots, i still love going on shoots with my husband. he is so talented and loves what he does. it's so fun to watch, and it's even more fun to be involved. 


when we were done with the shoot, we went to wing nutz. i know. we made dinner, then went to dinner. but we really were still hungry! we feel like "regulars" at wing nutz, because the waiters recognize us. it's pretty cool. 


so it was a good day.


this morning, i have decided something:


i hate it when devin has to be to work earlier than normal, because that means i don't get to sleep in either. once he leaves, i can't fall back asleep! 


i know. what a rough life i live. but seriously. i've grown so accustomed to him being there, that when he's not, sleeping is just not a possibility. not even afternoon naps, hardly. except for that time last week that he came home from work to find me asleep in our bed (but i was a sick kind of exhausted. which i feel is an exception.)


tonight after work, i'm heading right over to Christian and Sarah's to relieve them for a much needed date night. I'm so excited to spend the evening with my favorite 2-year-old Joanna and her 3 week old sister, Molly! I love those little girls! Devin will come over when he gets off, and when Christian and Sarah get back, we're going to the temple. 


I'm pretty excited. On both accounts.


This month is such a busy month. all our weekends are STACKED with awesome plans. we were trying to get all our plans in order last night and both agreed at the same time that we need to get a calender! we have lots of friends getting married, lots of family events, lots of other cool things like Stadium of Fire and the rooftop concert series in provo.


Also, Devin is starting to get more interested in photo journalism, and has had a lot of friends approach him about shooting their bike races. So we're going to a few of those this month, too. It will be great!

some wedding pretties

so, i know that i've posted some of these pictures before, but now you're getting the full effect.

since i'm getting too anxious about my real wedding pictures being ready, i need to do this post to hold me over!

 these are vintage clip-on earrings that i had my florist use as a brooch on my bouquet-- it work BEAUTIFULLY. (you'll see)

 this is the antique lace that was wrapped around my bouquet. it was perfect!

 these are my wedding earrings. 1.50 from forever 21! haha they were just what i wanted.

 this is my amazing hairpiece my sister, Amanda made me. it was perfect! i love it!

 this is our wedding announcement! devin and i designed it all by ourselves. it was 5x5 inches. we wanted it to be a little different. and it was two-sided instead of two different pieces. so this is the front side.

and this was the back! our announcements were awesome! loved them! *just so you know, the postal service makes you pay extra if you have weird envelopes, so we had to put them in 5x7 envelopes. just a helpful tip.

okay. so like i said, devin is still working on the bridals, and jared is getting our wedding day pictures to us next week, i think. we went and proofed them, but they weren't done yet. so it'll be soon!

BUT

here are some pictures taken by my awesome friends. some of these are from Chloe's camera, some from Amy's, and some from Kylee's.

i love these 2 pictures. amy hancock took them! i love devin's face in the first one, and his fist in the air! haha

 oh, i LOVE this!

 this picture SO defines how i felt ALL DAY.. and how i STILL FEEL!

 hugging my little sister, McKayla!

 quite possibly one of my favorite pictures ever. Devin loves his nieces and nephew so much! this picture is priceless.

hugging my new second Dad!

chloe took all of those pictures. love!

 CAKE! our cake lady was AMAZING and also devin's best friend's mother... and our amazing florist put together the fresh flowers that matched my bouquet to go on top! LOVE this cake. it was PERFECT!

 first dance. best 3 minutes of the whole reception.

hugging kylee as we left the reception (she's wearing the awesome skirt i made for the bridesmaids!) i LOVE this picture of us!!!

kylee took all of those last few! well, i guess she had someone else take the bottom one, maybe travis. anyway, you get what i mean.

okay. i'm feeling a little bit more satisfied.

that'll do for now.

some random updates.

i'm clean! i'm clean!


took the last antibiotic today, and i think i'm all better- thank goodness! that was a week of MISERABLE pain. so glad it's over.


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i don't know if i ever said this on my blog-- but i don't work at BBW anymore. i'm sad about it. i miss my friends, but it was definitely for the better. and i pick the time it gives me with my husband over that job any day :)


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the bachelorette is still stupid.
the show is outdated now.
it's old news.
i would be surprised if they kept doing more seasons.
it's getting repetitive, in an annoying way.


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devin is riding tonight with his friends.
i went for a run, but still have too much time alone on my hands!


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i'm sore from golfing. but want to go again. right now.


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Jared Medley, our awesome photographer who is also Devin's good friend... is almost done with our wedding day pictures. we'll get them in dng files though, so I'll have to wait (still) for dev to change them. which he's working on.


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i went to the Social Security Office today and am now officially Kathryn Machelle Ashby! I accidentally almost made my Kathryn Machelle Johnson-Ashby. Which would have been weird, and annoying to sign every time!


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i love my husband.


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i want a dog SOOO bad. today, there was a brittany spaniel in our neighbor's yard and it was the cutest thing! i want a dog so bad :(


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i've been thinking a lot about our honeymoon lately. wishing we could go back.
but then i realize that we would probably run out of things to do.
we went to St. George for crying out loud!
i'm glad we chose to go somewhere fun, but close, and not overly exciting. 


that way, we made fun plans that we could do if we wanted, but we didn't feel bad when we didn't do them. (we can always go back to SG for a weekend)


the point was to be there together. it didn't matter where we were. just that we were there together. finally! that's what was important. we would have had just as much fun if we were in hawaii or mexico. plus- those places aren't all they're cracked up to be anyway ;)


that's why i want to go back. 


some quality devin-katie time. 


camping in the next couple weeks should compensate :)

Ashby FHE

Last night, Devin and I had plans to take engagement pictures for his good friend, Aaron and his fiance. The weather was looking sketchy, and we didn't want to risk getting rained on, so we just rescheduled.

How did we choose to spend the rest of our evening, you ask?

Golfing for Family Night, of course!

 

It was pretty windy, and even rained a little bit, and everyone else on the coarse was just dinking around, so we had to wait a lot... but it was so much fun! I hadn't golfed seriously in about a year, and was ready to humiliate myself, which I probably did, but after I warmed up, I was doing okay! Dev made me feel pretty good about myself, too. I had some great shots, but mostly just burned worms all night!

Devin, on the other hand... is pretty great. He went golfing on Saturday with my Dad and brother, and they played 27 holes at Wasatch. Doing anything with my dad provides him with a teaching opportunity, so Devin came home with some good tips, and helped me work on my form.

We only played 9 holes, and then we went to Coldstone for ice cream. FHE success!

plus also... I love my husband.

p.s. As we were leaving the house, Grandma and Grandpa were on their back porch with the contractors who've been helping them make decisions about adding onto the house. Devin walked out of our stairwell, and they all saw him with his clubs and made some comment about how is wife lets him golf. I was locking the door, and as I walked up the stairs he said, "No... she's coming with me!" Then they said, "she's your caddy? that's cool!" and he said "No! She's playing!"

yes. yes i am. i play golf.

and hopefully i will play golf more often!

plans.

Devin and I have been talking a lot lately about plans.


There is a huge long list of things we want to do, places we want to go... We talked yesterday about this again. It seems pretty common for people to have conversations like this, but I told Devin that since we were planning on waiting a few years to have kids, then we might as well make this wishful thinking a reality while we can.


So when I said we were going to hike Machu Pichu-- I meant it.


We're going to Oregon.
We're going to Alaska.
We're going to Havasu Falls.
and anywhere else we feel like going, dang it!


we might as well take advantage of the time we have now, while we're young, and don't have many things holding us back from doing things that we want to do, anyway.


My parents' newlywed advice was always this. That we spend the first few years being married. Travel and do things together that you won't be able to do when you have kids. We are purposefully not in school this semester for this very reason.


So we're going to.


Hopefully we'll start with some camping trips in the next couple of weekends-- then we'll work our way up to really traveling.