Happy Birthday My Love!!!

Well the day is finally here….I am writing a blog. As you will soon find by the quality of this blog, this is not Bailey. It is Matt. Writing is not my forte so I hope misspellings and miss punctuations don’t bother you.

In case you don’t know, today is Bailey’s birthday!

If you ask her she is practically 30 now. I will not tell you how old she is because females don’t divulge that information very often, but I will give you 25 reasons why I love her so much (not in any particular order).

1. She actually married me! 6 months 3 days of awesomeness so far!!
2. I don’t need a planner anymore.
3. She can put up with enough sports to get me through most weekends.
4. Deb and Rusty (Her parents)
5. All of her family.
6. She is very intelligent.
7. She doesn’t make me write on this blog!
8. She loves me even when I am being stupid…so she loves me all the time.
9. She is strong in her beliefs.
10. She can handle any situation.
11. I have never seen anybody more organized.
12. She knows how to laugh and have a good time.
13. She knows how to cook very well.
14. She is B-E-A-Utiful!!
15. Extremely beautiful!
16. She sleeps on my arm on long car rides (longer than 10 minutes).
17. She respects me and my family.
18. She is going to make the perfect mother someday.
19. She is very adventurous.
20. She can speak fluent French.
21. She has wonderful friends that like me…I think.
22. She is successful!
23. She encourages me to do things I didn’t think were possible.
24. She makes random noises, and I mean random.
25. She is the best thing to ever happen to me!

Make sure you send her an email, give her a call, or message her on facebook to tell her happy birthday because this is the only time this year you will be able to do that! Now that I have lowered your IQ by approximately 10 points with my blogging abilities, I will stop.

I love you Bailey and I hope you enjoy your birthday! We have special plans for supper tonight that you will enjoy! I can’t wait to celebrate many many more of your birthdays with you! Happy Birthday to my wife!

oh, how i hate you mr. dentist

Ok, so that might have been an exaggeration, but I really do dislike the dentist. Last week I had the grand opportunity of having to visit the dentist for a filling. My aunt Tammy works at the dentist's office and had the pleasure of having me as a patient. Here is the not so hilarious account of my time at the dentist:

Matt picked me up from school (since we are doing the fabulous car-pooling thing now! =) and we headed up to Waverly to the dentist's office. On the way there I only thought I was going to throw up two times...not too bad for a 20 minute drive. Once we were there I slouched down into the waiting room chair and prayed that they would forget I was there...to no avail. Tammy soon came out and got me, and we headed back to the dungeon together. For some reason I ended up in the back far corner, hmm... maybe they know I need to be secluded? =)

Soon after I sat down I was given the gas...laughing gas that is. Ahh... the stuff of miracles. Many deep breaths later and my legs finally quit shaking and my hands went from white knuckles to bright pink knuckles. After anxiously awaiting the dentist he finally arrived. Mr. Dentist is a large man, he played football at Iowa many years ago, and for some reason his kindness won me over. Tammy asked him if I needed "the needle" and he said he probably would recommend it. I panicked for a moment, but as he undoubtedly saw the fear in my eyes, he quickly reminded me that I would first get the numbing cream for my gums. Now we were talking! Gas, numbing cream, and novocaine. If I still felt pain after all three things, we may have had something to really worry about.

The numbing cream did wonders. I closed my eyes (God forbid I would see the needle, I most certainly would have been on the floor!) and stiffened up as he gave me the novocaine. A few short stories later about Germany and how I know Mr. Dentist's wife and it was time for....... THE DRILL. Ugh, how I hate the sound of the drill. I wish you were never created stinking drill. It was over pretty quickly, the filling was pushed in, and I was outta there!

Ok... you can laugh now, but at least now you know why the dentist is such an ordeal for me.

Christmas at the Kings

We've had a very productive weekend at our house. Not only did I get the first 3 chapters of my research paper completed, but we also completed our Christmas decorations!! Yeah!!! I LOVE CHRISTMAS! I love it for many reasons. I love Christmas because it's a week after my birthday, because I love snow, because Christmas trees are amazing, because I love presents, and because it's Jesus' B-day!

Matt reluctantly (ok, not reluctantly, frankly he was a bit pissed to help me decorate, well at first at least) decorated with me. We headed outside, and I knew it was meant to be when we saw this:

Before pic of our house:

SNOW! (I know it's not much, but I love it!)

Matt putting up the lights

We decided to keep the decorations simple this year, because, we are trying to sell our house after all. For those of you who know me well know that I have an obsession with outdoor decorations. And, I'm not ashamed to admit that I have several blowup yard decorations (ok, so like 6 or 7). =) After many discussions we decided to keep the blowups in the garage for the year, but I did get to do icicle lights and one other decoration... a miniature ski lift that connects to the roof and takes characters up and down the lift, it's way cute, trust me! =)

Here is the final look of our house:

And here is the ski lift:

Before:

And our Christmas tree:

(which caused a few curse words from Mr. King because it is a pre-lit tree and several sections would not light up this year, and it's maybe just a bit crooked, but I still love it!)

Our living room:

And MY VILLAGE! My friends say I'm 70 for having a village but I think it's amazing. So far I have the church, with a couple outside on the steps in their wedding attire, a house with a family outside unloading the Christmas tree off of the top of the car, a tree that has carolers all around it, an ice skating rink that lights up has six moving ice skaters!!! A ski lodge that lights up and has a man and woman walking up the steps, and my favorite... a ski slope that has people skiing up and down the slope. And I know I have a few more coming this year from my mom, yes.. she's really not good about keeping secrets.

And a final note to my husband: (that's still weird to see, ha!)

Thank you for making our house a Christmas Wonderland, I love it!!! And thanks for climbing up the shaky ladder and freezing your hands to get the icicles perfectly straight. And thank you also for helping me rearrange the village 7 times before I decided it was perfect. =)

And the last picture... Junie being stinking cute!

painting and magic!

Keri was back for the week and you know what that means... quality time with the fam! We went to Picasso's on Main Street to paint some pottery for my dad. Keri had given him a bowl a few years ago that she had painted and he had also seen all of the awesome cups that everyone painted for my bachelorette party in March, so he decided that he wanted a whole set of painted dishes!

So on Friday when I had the day off of school we headed downtown to start our painting fiasco, with the plan of finishing the rest of the dishes over Christmas break when Keri is home again. Dad decided that he wanted big plates, little plates, and bowls. The funny part of this whole story is that Dad really thought that it would take ten minutes to paint each piece. So when he showed up to start helping us and 30 minutes later he was STILL working on this fine plate :

I didn't feel bad, because now he will actually appreciate all of our hard work!

Here is Dad and Keri working:

Matt & I working hard:

Some of our final pieces!

A plate that Matt painted, if you look close it spells out I- O- W- A in a very artistic way!



My last and favorite plate! (In honor of Wilson, Dad's awesome dog that Grandpa & I picked out when he was out of town a few years ago!)

After painting on Friday it was time to gear up for the Hawks game on Saturday. It was the only game of the season that we went to and, if you have seen any highlights on ESPN, it was the BEST game of the year!!!! However, it was absolutely freezing! We had hand warmers, blankets, long underwear, sweatshirts, coats, hats, and gloves! We had assumed the game would be a blowout so I had mentally prepared myself to only have to sit though half or MAYBE 3/4 of the game. I was wrong, but that's ok because the game was awesome!

Here is a section from The Des Moines Register:

No way, said Iowa's Daniel Murray, 45 minutes after making the biggest field goal of his life.

"I knew I was going to make it," he said after his 31-yard kick with 1 second to play resulted in Saturday's 24-23 upset of third-ranked Penn State and turned Kinnick Stadium into a mosh pit - twice.

Fans stormed the field immediately after the game-winner, and then were shooed away as Iowa still had to kick off. They came out again, this time for the real post game party, after Hawkeye Bruce Davis recovered the short boot.

"Biggest win in Hawkeye history? Who knows," said defensive tackle Mitch King, on the field for nearly 36 minutes of the 60-minute game. "Let's just say this is something I'll remember as long as I'm alive."

This is believed to have at least equaled the biggest upset in Iowa football history, according to the rankings.

And for the record, yes, the Leymaster family did join in for the rushing of the field! (Ha, sort of that is. We went out about 5 minutes after the real surge of people... but we were still out there.)

Here are some pictures from the game.

Evan (Keri's best friend) & Keri

Keri & Dad

Mom & I

Matt & I

The winning field goal kick!!!

After the game, see the scoreboard?!? Way cool!

YESS!!!!

I've been waiting for ALMOST A MONTH to post this!

The good news that we have been waiting for has finally come today! Matt interviewed with John Deere (in Waterloo) a month ago and was offered the position today!!! We are both SO excited. We have been (somewhat secretly) waiting to hear this news. Matt will be a manufacturing engineer in the "heat treat" part of the downtown Waterloo location. It has been our plan to move to Cedar Falls for a few months now, but we were waiting on this awesome news. We are currently in the process of trying to sell our house which will be the final step in our process. For now we will at least be able to drive only ONE car to Cedar Falls instead of two cars going opposite directions. Yeah for saving money on gas!

We have begun our search for a house in Cedar Falls. A few weeks ago we looked at 7 different houses around town with our realtor. We found one that we really liked, an older 2 story home with squeaky wood floors ( I always loved that sound) and a great new kitchen but 2 of the 3 upstairs bedrooms don't have closets... so we like it, but don't love it. Other than that our search didn't produce anything to our liking. We will continue to look with our realtor but have jointly decided that if we sell our house and haven't found anything that we're in love with we will A)try to rent an apartment on a month-by-month basis B) move in with good ol' pops for a while (yes Dad, that's you!) We just know that we really want to find a house that we're in love with and can stay for a long, long....long time, and not just settle on one that is "ok". (Matt has insistently told me that we will NOT be moving again soon. Can't blame him I guess. =)

It's amazing how things just seem to "pull together" at the right time. It's so hard to sit back and have faith that everything is meant to happen when it happens, but it's amazing to look back on things and realize just how perfectly God has planned things for us. Another exciting thing for us is that we just completed the membership class for Orchard Hill Church so we are now both members at that church. We are looking forward to getting involved with the church, which will be MUCH easier living in the same town. We just joined a small group of young married couples and have had a lot of fun getting that started. We also have volunteered to help with some committee"ish" things at church. Matt is looking into helping run the computers/tech stuff for one of the services and I am hoping to get on board with the wedding coordinators at the church. (I know... you're completely shocked because I really don't like weddings, ha! I love weddings and can't wait to get started!)

So that's our good news for now, hopefully the next good news is that we've got an offer on our house!

Amazing movie!

**Ok, so this isn't the original post that I've been waiting for a few days to post, but I really wanted to share this one too, so I'll keep on waiting to get the other WAY MORE exciting one up soon!**

I'm not usually a huge movie buff, but Matt and I saw an amazing movie last week that I feel compelled to share with everyone! The movie is called Fireproof, and it is a must see in my opinion. Here is the info on the movie:

Fireproof is the story of a firefighter, Captain Caleb Holt, who lives by the old firefighter's adage: Never leave your partner behind. But, after seven years of marriage to his wife Catherine, their own relationship is failing. Neither one understands the pressures the other faces. As they prepare to file for divorce, Caleb's father challenges his son to commit to a 40-day test called "The Love Dare." Caleb starts it, but more for his father's sake than for his marriage.

When Caleb discovers the book’s daily challenges are tied into his parents' newfound faith, his already limited interest is further dampened. Even though he wants to stay true to his promise, Caleb becomes frustrated time and time again. He finally asks his father, "How am I supposed to show love to somebody who constantly rejects me?" When his father tells him that this is the love God shows to people, Caleb makes a life-changing commitment to love God. And, with God's help, he begins to understand what it means to truly love his wife. But, he is unsure if it's too late to "fireproof" his marriage.

I know it sounds a little bit cheesy, but it really was awesome! The movie was produced by two brothers who are both pastors and most of the cast are volunteers from their church. It was such a good movie that Matt even went out the next day and bought the book, Love Dare (same book that the movie is based off of).

Click below to watch the trailer. I know that it is not playing in Cedar Falls yet, we actually went to Cedar Rapids to see it, but I'm assuming it will be coming soon!

patience is the key...

I promise I have a great post just waiting to be, well...posted! Just be patient my friends, I'm waiting for the "ok" sign, then I'm hoping to get it up on here in the next day or two.

Fingers crossed!

on the crazy train

I posted earlier in the summer that the teacher across the hall (Renee) and I have decided that we would get our Master's together. Our original plan was to take 2 years to complete it, like most sane adults would choose. And then we attended a meeting with the head guy of the master's program here in Iowa and he told us that if we really wanted to, we could graduate this July.

We contemplated it and then decided, SURE... WHY NOT?!? So now we are on the crazy train of classes. Taking between 2-4 classes at a time. We are currently in 2 and will be starting our research class at the end of October, which... we are both dreading. We will then have to complete our research and paper over the next 6 or so months (while taking 5 more classes in the spring), because of course we wouldn't want the normal 9 months to do it!

And on top of it, Renee and her husband Drew are expecting their second child in February, so I guess I shouldn't be the one complaining. =) All of this will lead to a week long class in July in Wisconsin (where the University is at) and graduation on July 17th, 2009. Dear lord will we ever make it....

So if my posting starts to fade to once a week (oh wait, that's all I'm finding time for now!) then you will know that I'm alive, just stuck in some corner reading or doing other crappy grad work.

Enjoy this beautiful fall weather for me... because unfortunately I'm guessing I won't have much time to enjoy it this year. $5,000 pay raise... $5,000 pay raise and a chance to move to a new position... I just need to keep the goal in mind! =)

OH, I almost forgot to share this. The house that we really wanted (the crappy boarded up one that we loved, see picture below) got an offer last week. We haven't heard if they accepted the offer or not but we're assuming it's sold. =( Only 2 tears were shed, and now we're on the hunt again. AND we have someone coming to look at our house next week, YIPPEEE!!!

oh, how i love the biggest loser

Why is it that watching extremely obese people workout makes me workout 10 times harder?! I don't know either, but I won't complain. Tuesday nights are the one night of the week that I actually feel motivated to workout, and that the time actually flies by, and I LOVE IT! If you don't tune into Biggest Loser (NBC, Tuesday nights at 7pm central) you're really missing out.

Not only are the people phenomenal, hello, they lose over a 100 lbs in the time they are on the show, but the two trainers are amazing too! Jillian and Bob are in your face type of trainers. They yell, scream, and sometimes physically drag the people on their team to success. If only I had the money to hire a personal trainer like that... then maybe I could have my dream body too!

Jillian

Bob

So tonight (in less than an hour!) I look forward to a heart pounding, leg trembling, sweaty 30 minute elliptical workout in front of our tv, all thanks to one exhilarating show!

Enjoy the show folks!

we're moving!!! (well...hopefully!)

So I know I've been awful about updating the last two weeks, but I have some good reasons. First, with grad school and teaching finally getting going life has been crazy. Second, I've had nothing else on my mind except for this darn house stuff!

We will have our house up for sale after this weekend...WHAT?! (I know that's what you're thinking). I know, we only bought our house 7 months ago, and yes... we are crazy for moving again already! (We fully understand that!) However we're ready for this move. We want to be in a town that actually has umm, A GROCERY STORE! Let alone a mall would be nice too, or yes, even a real restaurant! And we would really like to be near our families, especially since we find ourselves making the hour drive to Cedar Falls EVERY SINGLE weekend! So we have decided to put our house up for sale by owner and see what happens...frankly we're just hoping to break even. We have spotted a house in Cedar Falls that we're in love with! It's boarded up, has yellow stained walls, boards for siding, and a roof that is sliding off, and we love it! (shh... don't tell anyone about it until it's ours!) =)

Isn't she a BEAUTY!!

It's in an amazing location and we're hoping we can make it our home! We are in the process of getting some contractors to give us bids and then we'll be able to put an offer in, with the contingency that our house sells. It's all too exciting, in fact, Matt and I have both lost sleep thinking about what we want to do to the house.

So... if anyone is looking for an amazing 5 bedroom walkout ranch in Urbana with a pool, cherry kitchen with island, 2 car attached garage, master bathroom with whirlpool tub and walk-in closet and 3/4 acre lot let us know!

So that's the latest news from the Kings. Other than the worrying that we might lose the house we want, life is great!