the greatest tennis match ever

I sit this morning with a sore forearm and sore abs... but it is ALL worth it! Yesterday afternoon Matt and I accepted a challenge from my parents, Rusty & Deb, to compete in a Leymaster/King tennis match. Matt and I gladly accepted as we knew we could undoubtedly beat the old folks (actually, I'm pretty sure they've beaten us before, so I figured we would lose and that would pretty much ruin my day because I'm slightly competitive, but I figured it was better than a traditional workout).

We took to the court a little while after the thunderstorm blew over, with serious and competitive faces. After a VERY short warm up (looking back I'm pretty sure that was part of my parents' plan!) the match began. It was to be a regular match, with the winner taking 2 sets of 6 games. Matt and I started out about as worthless as you can get. We found ourselves down 0-4 and I was starting to get the "give up" feeling in my head. And then we realized that we were finally warmed up and ready to put the real heat on. A few games later and it was now 5-5! The Kings were in the process of making an amazing comeback! And then we choked... and lost the first set 5-7. But at least now we had the confidence that we could stinking win a game!

I don't have much to write about for the second set. It was a BLOWOUT!!! 6-0 Yes, the Kings 6, the Leymasters 0!!! We dominated them, serving lightening fast down the middle, overhead smashes galore (which would be why my abs are sore today) and a little trash talk to get in their heads.

Which leads us to the final set... we're all tied up at 1-1 and this is for "the whole match, the world championship, the whole shebang" as my dad put it.

My mom stepped up to the baseline to serve first... we won the point. After a quick tap of the rackets I knew Matt and I had this in the bag! We ended up winning the game and now had a 1-0 lead, I knew the first game was critical to set the pace so I was pretty happy. I then served and we won that game as well, we were now up 2-0. Dad served next and held his game so we were only up 2-1. Matt served and won his game, 3-1 the Kings. Deb served and won, 3-2 the Kings. I was up next, I knew the mo-mo (as my Dad called it, momentum for everyone else) was shifting. I held serve and we were up 4-2, only 2 more games to win the and the championship was ours! And then things started to change...we found ourselves tied up at 4-4. I could tell the sun was starting to make me tired and I could tell we were going to lose. And then, a glimpse of an open corner and we nailed the final shot of the game to go up 5-4. Now everything rested on this last game, we either win or go on to have to win by 2.

Somehow we pulled the strength from our souls and took the last game!!! We had won, beat the old folks, and now had bragging rights for at least a week!!!! God is good! A chest bump and a fist pump for the champs!

I'm convinced that it was a fluke, although I'd never tell my parents that. Usually Matt and I aren't exactly a team on the court. I have my precise way of playing, and he attempts to be Andre Agassi and smash it down every one's throats the whole time only to send the ball flying into the fence (which he did do a mimimum of 10 times yesterday, but I've seen worse). But somehow (maybe being married and having to learn to "play" together has helped us) we pulled together and played as a team.

I think next week I'll be "sick" so that we can at least remain on top for 2 straight weeks. =) Either way it was a fun afternoon haning with the "rents".

My mom and I

My dad and I

tears and one month down

One week ago today I was feeling daring and decided to actually turn off the air conditioner, and open a few windows. Nearly half of the windows in our house don't have screens (don't ask us why, there are lots of things "missing" in this house). Since there are three windows in the living room all in a row, I chose to open the middle window which was farthest from the end table and the tv stand. I thought I was making a good choice. I figured that Juney most certainly can't jump from the ground, and I was 99% sure that she couldn't maneuver the jump out the window from the end table.

I then began cleaning the house and our crazy messy office filled with wedding presents, yes people, I did say cleaning. I checked in on Juney every 30 minutes or so and every single time I found her laying on the couch dead to the world. At about 2:30 I started organizing some of the crap in the office (and you need to understand that I love organizing, so I got pretty into it). It wasn't until 4:00 that I realized I hadn't seen the cat and I began my man hunt for her.

I looked EVERYWHERE! Not only did I look everywhere, but I looked everywhere 3-4 times. I looked under the bed, under the dresser, behind the couch, downstairs (which she doesn't even know how to get downstairs yet, but I still checked), I looked in the cabinets which she happened to climb into last week and get stuck, and yes... I even checked the refrigerator. You laugh, but I swear to God she managed to crawl in there last week without me seeing and I finally heard her crying 5-10 minutes later only to find a little kitty starring up at me with REALLY cold feet and a freezing little nose.

It was at this point that my heart started to race a little and I decided that she must have made the darn jump out of the window so I headed outside. I walked around our house, down to the garden, near the creek, and looked across the street in every direction praying that I wouldn't see her in a pile in the street... still no Juney. As I was starting to get tears in my eyes (sad, I know) I got the courage to ask the 3 neighbor boys next door if they had seen a little brown, black, and white kitty, they said no.

It was at this point that I headed inside and got my phone. I quickly hit the speed dial for Matt and could tell as he picked up that he was just leaving work. In a panicky voice I told him that I couldn't find the cat and could he please hurry home because I was really worried. For those of you who haven't seen me with this cat you may not understand the severity of this situation. I love this cat like my first child, I talk to her during the day (ok, and at night too), I give her baths, I clean her ears out for her, I carry her around, I even take her with me if I'm leaving town because she probably would be too scared and lonely to stay home alone. =) So the fact that I think I've lost her has me on the verge of tears and starting to panic. 15 minutes later I call Matt again, this time with real tears, only to find out he's still 25 minutes away. Apparently I thought that the normally 45 minute drive could be done in 15 if I really needed him. =)

Matt eventually came home to find me on the couch in tears. He took off through the house looking for the cat, and then it happened..... he appeared with Juney in hand. The little shit had managed to crawl behind the nightstand, under the pillows (that Matt never puts on the bed, why? because they're only for decoration, not actually to be used) and was dead asleep! How she ever slept through my yells and pleading to come out I'll never know. What I do know is that I was absolutely the most thankful person in the world to see this little furry, spotted, face come around the corner in Matt's arms:

As soon as Matt threw her at me he walked out and came back in with 3 dozen beautiful roses, because through all of this mess I had completely forgotten that we had made it through exactly one month of marriage! I've always known Matt was smart, but he proved it to me again. He didn't come home and give me the flowers right away because he knew that until we found our cat I really wasn't going to care about the flowers like I should have, instead he waited to save the day and THEN give me the flowers. I guess I'll have to wait and see what excitement will come with month two!

our newest addition to the family

I don't know what it is about being married and suddenly feeling the need for a pet, but it is true. Matt and I went out to a friend's farm and picked out the cutest, sweetest little kitty ever last week. (At least that's what we thought until she started biting this week!)

Talk about a tough decision... We stood above 7-10 little, cute kittens as they ran around and climbed on each other. Each one with their own unique personality coming through in only a few short minutes. Matt was immediately drawn to the black one, who was fairly quiet and kept to himself. And I was drawn to the two calico cats who had the prettiest eyes and were playing with each other. And last on our list of possibilities was a silly orange cat (although we had decided that we did not want orange). This kitty was a character to say the least. She, or was it he, would fall over as it tried to jump, make funny noises, and overall make us laugh. But, we had decided on not getting an orange cat, so as quickly as she was considered she had to be dropped from "the list".

So we stood... watching the kittens, picking up the one we wanted, and then stood some more. About 20 minutes into it I knew we had a situation on our hands. Matt suddenly said, "Why don't we just get two of them hun?" Are you kidding me!? We're not ready for two cats, the vet expenses, the litter box cleanings, no no my friend, just one today. So then we were back to standing, watching, trying to wait for the other person to give in and see just how adorable the kitty was that each of us wanted.

And then finally, it happened. Matt put down his black kitty and picked up the cute calico and we were off, 30 minutes and one darn cute kitty later we were on the road to a happy family. .. until she pooped in my hand in the car, maybe I wasn't ready to be a "parent" yet.

So without further ado, meet Juney! (yes, we got married in June, and got her in June)

Is she not the cutest little thing ever?! Well, at least after she got a bath she was much more beautiful! Here are the bath pictures, she really didn't mind the bath, which was surprising.

This past week I had to take her to the vet, alone. Before I even left I was nervous to take her. One, because I don't do needles and the thought of me having to hold her while she got a shot only gave me a mental image of me on the floor and the vet standing above me horrified. And two, I didn't want to be the bad parent that took her somewhere she hated and received pain. Nonetheless I was off to the vet with Juney. At first I was pleasantly surprised at how quiet and calm she was. Then, as if some divine power told her the vet was coming, she flipped out. The vet simply waved his hand in front of her cage and she started hissing like a wild animal. I was mortified, and then I was even more mortified when the young 20something vet looked at me and told me that I could get her out if she was going to be like that. Great, I thought to myself, you piss off my cat then let me jam my hand in the cage to get bitten. Luckily though, she was much calmer when I got her out. A few shots, clipped nails, an ear cleaning, and a worming pill later and we were finally on the way home!

Which leads me to the last couple of days. This is how the week started:

She LOVES to sleep on our shoulders

And I LOVE to sleep with her =)

And then we reach the end of the week...and suddenly a need to bite us! I'm not sure if kittens go through a biting stage like kids, but this seriously needs to come to a stop. I have to muster up the courage to flick her little nose and tell her no, which about breaks my heart. At which point she just bites me again. Anyway, we are learning to "parent" as we go along. I figure we can't really mess a cat up too much, so we're good to go.

And in all of this I must admit, although I know we're not ready for "real" kids (and believe me, I understand that a kitten is NOTHING like a child), I must admit that I absolutely can't wait! The way Matt picks her up and talks to her like a child, and carries her to her little box in case she needs to "go potty" just makes my heart smile. For now, we'll perfect the cat world and worry about little kings later.

a change of habit

As the new Mrs. King I often find myself wondering "when will this become normal?" When will it be normal to hear King instead of Leymaster, and when will that not make me sad? Or when will the word husband not make me giggle? When will I actually think it's ok that we're now living together? I have many other questions that I wont bore you with, but nonetheless they are running through my mind.

Don't get me wrong, 3 weeks into married life is a good place to be, but it's also an awkward place to be. Does it take months, years or never for things to become normal to me? Now I realize that yes, it's only been 3 weeks, and I obviously need to give it more time to become a habit, but part of me wonders if those words will ever flow out of my mouth without a smirk.

The task of trying to figure out who's toothbrush will go on which side of the sink will someday be a habit, and likely I will look back at these weeks and laugh. Or finding the oh-so-dead/will never come back to life plant outside and wondering if I will ever become a gardener. And then there's the hardest one of all... making ourselves workout without an incredible incentive dangling in front of us.

When all is said and done and we've reached our 25th wedding anniversary, have a few kids (hopefully out of the house ;) and look back at our first year, hopefully we can have a few laughs and remember "the good times".

Below I've posted some of my favorite wedding pictures (we just got them back yesterday so I may have to post some more favorites later too).

The first time we saw each other

showing some love in downtown cedar falls

i loved my long veil even though it was a pain on such a windy day

going down the isle with my dad ( i really didn't think i'd be that emotional)

the whole gang (they were awesome!)

taking the plunge...

Well... it's official. We've taken the plunge, in more ways than one. After almost a year and a half of planning and almost 3 years of being together, our wedding has come and gone and we are now officially Mr. & Mrs. King. It was the most amazing day of our lives, filled with the most important people from our lives, lots of laughter, and even a few surprising tears. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day, even with the amazing floods of 2008 looming around the area.

It's amazing how fast the wedding day came and went, how fast these first two weeks of married life have flown by and how different married life is compared to "engaged" life, but I'm sure there will be more on that to come in a future blog.

Another plunge that I'm taking is entering the blog world. After being an admitted stalker of lots and lots of other people's blogs, like friends who were having babies, and children fighting for their lives, I have decided that I would give it a go myself. After all, Matt and I surely must have something entertaining to share with the blog world, right? =)

As I start to adjust to married life, and learn to be alone at home alone during the day while Matt is at work (which as those of you who know me best is a HUGE challenge for me to sit silently alone), I continually find myself pondering and questioning different parts of life. Not necessarily my life, but life in general. My hope is to continue to share my ponderings with everyone, and probably along the way get a few laughs.

So welcome to the life of the Kings (or should I say the King & Queen), we hope you get just as many laughs out of our life as we do.