Me & Jake!

*How long have you been together? It has been 3 years on December 22nd!!!

*How long did you date? We got engaged after a year and 4 months and were married 3 months later. Jake was stuck on the 2 year mark before getting married or even engaged but I guess I changed his mind. ;)

*How old is he? 28

*Who eats more? He does, but sometimes I can eat the same. haha

*Who said I love you first? He did but I know that I felt it first!

*Who is taller? Jake-thank goodness!

*Who sings better? Haha, I don't know whow sings BETTER! I come from a long line of singers so I guess I would call myself a singer but I don't think Jake would call himself a singer (If that makes sense?)

*Who does the laundry? I do. Every now and again I have him fold but he has no idea where everything goes... haha

*Who does the dishes? Mostly me but Jake will load and unload sometimes...

*Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Depends on what you mean the right side is. When you are facing the bed I am on the right and when you are laying in the bed Jake is on the right.

*Who pays the bills? I do--Im the Quicken Master!

*Who mows the lawn? Aww...we don't have a lawn. We live in a town home so we pay the HOA to do it. :(

*Who cooks dinner? Haha JAKE!!! I really try to cook dinner a few times a week but Jake is just so much better than I am.

*Who is more stubborn? Hmmm...Im going to say that I am.

*Who kissed who first? We both leaned in! It was so PERFECT!!!

*Who asked who out? I asked him out! Oh ya!! I knew that I wanted him and if I didn't go for it I would always regret it. :)

*Who proposed? Jake

*Who is more sensitive? Uhhhh me--no contest! I cry over everything....haha

*Who has more friends? Well lets see. Jake has 5 close guy friends and I have 5 close girl friends so I guess we are even...

*Who has more siblings? Jake by far. He has 7 sisters and 3 brother bringing the GRAND TOTAL TO 10 siblings!!! YOWZA

*Who wears the pants in the family? We share pants. We are the same size! lol

I've been tagged...!

I was tagged by Nat! So I guess I am supposed to list 6 things about myself. Here it goes...

1. I am a total freak when it comes to making list and doing things very particularly. I will write several lists per day with things I need to buy, things I need to do, places I need to go, etc. Lucky for me the list is much longer during the Christmas season with all the gifts and all. When I have things to do or places to go I will do everything in perfect order so that at the end I can feel like I've accomplished something. A little OCD I think!...?

2. I am a CLEAN FREAK! I will spray down my countertops 2 or 3 times a day minimum even if nothing has touched them in between cleanings. Everything MUST be in it's perfect place in every drawer, cupboard, etc. That is a little OCD as well....haha. I think mostly I just want things to be perfect for Jake.


3. I truly love my life. I love my home. I love my husband. I love Mercedes. I love my family and I love all the friends I am blessed with! I look forward to the time spent with each and every one of them. I am incredibly proud of the life and home that Jake and I have made for ourselves. I feel so lucky to be where I am in comparison to where I came from and my childhood... I hope I never forget that!

4. Jake and I are planning on having kids in the next 2 or 3 years. But before we do...I want to TRAVEL my little booty off!!!! On the top of my LIST is Europe. I want to go to France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Amsterdam and England! I would love to travel the entire east coast--New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine. Then last but not least Hawaii!!! I want to see if it compares to The Bahamas...haha. Im not sure if that is possible but I'll just wait and see.

5. I'm planning on going to school for Esthetics. I've chosen a school in Salt Lake and I am going to go full time and be finished in 8 months. Those 8 months are going to be really hard because I will go straight from school to work and then bed without a second in between but once it's over then I can start doing something I love instead of sitting at a desk all day.

6. I appreciate people that make me laugh! There are a couple of people that I enjoy being around so much because how much I laugh when I am with them.

1. Chelsea--she and I have so many inside jokes and we laugh so hard when we are together. She is someone I can completely be myself with and just be silly if I feel like it. (xoxo, Love you Chelsrah ;)
2. Karen and Madison Warren-they are exactly like Lorelai and Rory Gilmore haha. Oh man, I love it!
3. Kim Marshall-she is Jake's sister-in-law. I only see her when we visit St. George or Moab but boy, it's a treat! Here is a visual--She's 6 feet tall with super long blonde hair. Her sense of humor is so dry and I enjoy every second with her.
4. My aunt Jen--she is my twin! Seriously. But in a lot of ways I would only be so lucky to be as great as her. Last night she was going on and on with some crazy hilarious thing that she was thinking and it would sound so bizarr to everyone else but I found myself thinking "I feel that way too!" Then I quoted Hot Chicks and said "Ling Ling, you forgot your Bling Bling" and she replied "Oh no Blong Blong, No go with no bling blong!" That is just so stupid that it's funny! haha love it! :)

Rules:
1. The player lists six facts about themselves.
2. At the end of the post, the player tags six people and posts their names.

I tag: Chelsea and Tiffany--since those are my only other blogger friends. haha!

We went to watch Kyli dance last night at the Festival of Trees. She was such a doll! She loves the spotlight. She's doing all sorts of things with this family that she would never be able to do otherwise. I love to see her happy and it was so good to see her again! :)

Twinner Jeans--haha!!!

Jake and I went shopping for Jeans and both ended up with the same ones. We're pretty cool, I know! ;)

Me and little boo boo! She was licking her face instead of smiling for the picture...haha

-BONSAI!-

We went out on a group date this weekend to Bonsai. We had a lot of fun..of course me and Chelsea were the only two that didn't catch the shrimp in our mouth. LAME! haha

Thanksgiving...

Our Thanksgiving was so beautiful and wonderful this year! We have a tradition to all go around the table before we eat and say what we are thankful for. Every year I get really emotional but this year even more because of the things Jake said. One of the things he said was that he was thankful for our house that I make a "home" and how nice I make it to come home to everyday.

Mercedes wanted to show what she's got too!

Jake took some dance lessons! ;)

Balancing Act!

Sadie seriously has the best balance. This is my work chair and it spins around. First she jumped from the floor to the arm rest and balanced (picture above). Then she jumped from the arm rest to the back of the chair (picture below). She should be in the Circus I tell you! :)

At long last...

Because of some really sad circumstances I haven't been able to see the kids for a really long time...I think about them every day and have missed them so much. Today I was able to go see them for a couple of hours. Luckily you can't tell in the pics that I had been crying. Phew! The battery on my camera was about to die so I only got a couple of pictures of me and Kyli. Enjoy! :)

Kyli, Kayden & Kameron

This is my BEAUTIFUL niece Kyli. She is just so sweet and as you can see ADORABLE! In the picture to the left you can see her in a pie eating contest--which she won 1st place! Good girl. haha :)

She loves to dance and has been learning from the girls on a High School team. She danced with them on the football field and had the best time!

This is Kayden, my one and only nephew. He has such a funny little personality.

Meet little Kameron. She has such a sweet face. She looks like a porcelain doll. I just love how the corners of her mouth turn up. Ooh so cute! :) As you can see, I absolutely love my nieces and nephew.

Our little Snuggle Bug...!!!

Here are some pics of our little snuggle bug. She's always falling asleep somewhere--a lot of times on our shoulders!

HaLlOwEeEeEn!!!!

Me and Sadie Boo just hanging out on Halloween night. She begged me to post these cool pics of her in her skeleton costume. It glows in the dark. She felt pretty cool! :)


Im not sure what the deal is with Jake's evil eyes!

Here is Boo ba doo trying to mix in with the pumpkins. Which one of these things doesn't belong??!! ;)

Just Chillin' on the couch. It's a Halloween costume slash pajamas...

Meet Ally & Broox--both born on September 24th, 2007!

This is Allyson Jean Collins!! She is Joey & Tiffany's new baby girl. Look at that head of hair! Ha, I would have never guessed. She already smiles and she is only a month old!!! What a sweet little thing. xoxo

This is Broox Kit Bate! He is Kit & Nat's baby boy. He has such a sweet little face and spunky hair that is always in a little mohawk! ;) He's a little grunter but other than that doesn't make a peep! Having these two sweet babies around should hold me over until I am ready to have my own...? ;)

Jake's Mayan days....

Jake is second from the left. Look at his cute little body. haha! By the time I started working at the Mayan the divers stopped wearing the loincloths and the headresses. :( Too bad!

Our most recent trip to Moab

We recently drove down to Moab to see Jake's family. On the way there our car broke down. Turns out it was the alternator and it cost us $500 in total. That is an expensive fix we were not expecting! :( The trip down there was pretty crazy since he has 7 sister and three brothers plus all their kids. Mercedes was desperate to be saved from all the little kids molling her to death, haha. Above picture: Jake's brother John (left), me (center) and Jake's neice Izzy (right).

Mercedes had fun rolling around in the leaves. She's so cute!

Jake with his three brothers: Daniel, Jeff and John. They look NOTHING alike! haha.

The 4th of July

On the 4th we spent the day at the pool with Kit and Nat and then went to Cal and Torie's house to watch fireworks! It was such a fun night with the family.

We got some fun pictures with Sadie boo next to the flag!

"All Because Two People Fell In Love!"

Our Home

This is our home. We have lived here a year and two months now and we love it!

This is our new flat screen TV that we bought just last month. It definitely makes the living room more spacious.

This is the master bedroom!

One-year anniversary in Mexico!

We went to Mexico in July with our good friends Kit & Nat. The timing was perfect because it also happened to be our one-year anniversary! We spent a full day shopping in both Playa Del Carmen and Cancun.
We also spent a day seeing all the Mayan Ruins at Chichen Itza and then had an amazing day snorkeling, cliff diving, and tubing down the lazy river at Xel-Ha. It was such an amazing trip despite the humidity. :)

Meet Mercedes

This is Mercedes or Sadie for short. For now she is our one and only baby! We got her in September, just after we got married. She turned one year old on July 17, 2007. She has the cutest little personality and she is just the sweetest little thing. I cannot imagine life without her. I look forward to coming home because she always comes running and is so excited! Anytime someone cries, she is the first one to come running to see what's wrong and to give loves. She's darling and is just to die for. :)