THE GREINERS

The Eight-Month Old Hammer

2012-01-05T21:54:00.000-08:00

YEA! I'm actually writing only three days late instead of three weeks like last time! Austin is growing like a weed, I'm not even sure how big he is right now...about twenty pounds and getting close to about 2 ft. 6 in.! What a GIANT! This kid is my whole world right now, he keeps us on our toes and makes us laugh nonstop. He's starting to get the standing on his own thing down, but isn't quite there yet. He loves to walk with our help, loves to climb the stairs (with supervision, of course!), and is exploring all the cool sounds he can make. His latest thing is sucking in while he's "talking". He cracks himself up and us, too! Austin has about 400 toys, and loves most of them, but when he can grab onto something he's not supposed to touch or is dangerous, he's all about it.
The month of December was a busy one for us. I think it is for just about everybody! My ward calling is the Enrichment Leader, so with it, I had to help plan the ward Christmas Party. Ummm, never doing that again, let me just say. There's a little too much of a perfect party expectation and not enough help. Anyways, it went well and my sweet hubby helped a ton. My good friend, Gena Lattin, was up to her eye-balls in stress planning it with me with her baby on the way, an active 1 year-old and serving as the 2nd counselor in the RS Presidency. I still get kinda heated about it. Oh, well. It really went well and I'm so glad its over.
Gregor's parents came out to visit at the beginning of the month for Kathy's sister's wedding. It was so amazing to see them. I know Gregor really enjoys having is parents around. His mom spoils us rotten and his dad is hilarious! Thank you again, Papa and Mom for your kindness and generosity towards us, it is greatly appreciated!!!
Our Christmas was really special. Gregor, Austin, and I wanted to start some of our own traditions since this was the first year we spent Christmas at our house and our first with our son. Gregor's family makes a big deal of Christmas Eve, while in my family, it's more of Christmas day. We kind of combined both. Since I had cooked a big dinner the night before and wasn't really in the mood to cook another one, we opted out and picked up Cafe Rio for dinner. Feliz Navidad! I loved it! Afterward, we opened presents as a family. It was so fun to watch our sweet, baby boy rip and tear paper like nobody's business! He loved it and I'm wishing that I would have just wadded up some paper for him to play with instead of spending all that money! Oh, well. I'd rather spoil my kid his first Christmas. It's worth it! Gregor got some cool stuff, but I think the topper was his GoPro camera. He's really outdoorsy and wants to take cool video and pictures of his adventures and this water-proof, smash-resistant camera is perfect! I got pretty spoiled myself with a SodaStream soda maker. (Gregor's just feeding my Diet Coke addiction!) I got some great clothes and snowboarding boots, along with a bunch of other great stuff. But as much as I loved giving and getting, it was so meaningful to celebrate the birth of our Savior with a baby this year. Seeing Austin and realizing that the Redeemer of the world came here in same infantile way just blows me away. I am so grateful for my Savior, I love Him.
Christmas was also a little bitter-sweet this year. My brother Kyle is on his mission in Ventura, CA so we really missed him, but the sweet part is that my beautiful sister, Kate, came home from CHINA! She's been over there for four months teaching english. She had such a great time there, I think she's planning on becoming a world explorer.
Gregor had his 28th birthday on New Years Eve! It was fun to plan a little party for him with a ton of fun little appetizers and his favorite, cheesecake! We had a few friends and family over (his dad and brother included!) I think he had fun, but my husband is not a group person, so when Austin was getting fussy and ready for bed, Gregor happily volunteered to hang out with him upstairs and read his book. Pretty funny, but I am grateful that he let me throw him a party! We rang in the New Year on our couch with a grumpy baby watching the ball drop on TV. Pretty magical, I'd say! I DID get my New Year's kiss though, which made me pretty happy! I sure love my little family, I can't believe my life is where it is. CRAZY!

Riding in the car with Grandma Kathy

Greiner's and Elder Smith

Love the hair!

Daddy and Austin

Mommy and Hammer

First snow of the season

@ Christina's Bachelorette party! Such a fun night at Koi!

I'll include a few pictures, along with Austin's eight-month photo-shoot with my friend, Christina. She is AWESOME and only now breaking into the baby biz. I told her that Austin will happily be her muse, so hopefully we'll have a ton of professional pictures to share of our little guy!

Austin @ Christmas

2011-12-29T12:30:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day at the Smith's

Crawlin'

Blue Eyes!

I think this is my favorite one!

Crazy kid!

Can you see his teeth??

BLUE-EYED BOY!!!

MERRRRRRRRYYYYY CHRISTMAS!

2011-12-22T15:59:00.000-08:00

Love, the Greiner Fam!

7 Months and counting...

2011-12-20T21:19:00.000-08:00

This is a little late, he's closer to eight months now than seven, but our boy is getting so big! The month of November was filled with a lot of fun activities, advancements, and happy times! November 2 was Austin's 7-month birthday and we celebrated by hanging out with family and friends. Austin is now "ghetto" crawling by being on one knee and one foot, he's actually very efficient with this method and is racing around our place on a daily basis! He is also walking along ALL the furniture, but his favorite are the fish tank stand and the TV table. He's a little unstable on his feet which has caused him a lot of crashes, most of which involved bumping his head on something, but our little trooper just shakes it off and moves onto the next thing. I'm so worried about having a girl in the future...sheesh, no crush/kill/destroy attitude? What will I do with myself? :)
We had a big month as a family. We got to spend time exploring outside, going for runs, swimming, playing, and learning. Gregor is doing great at work, he's now the retention manager at Bluehost and kicks butt at his job. I'm staying busy teaching violin and elementary strings along with trying to keep up with a VERY adventurous Hammer-baby. We spent November helping out my brother, Kyle, to get out on his mission to Ventura, California by taking him around shopping, helping him pack, going through the temple and psyching him up for the next two years. I know he's going to be a GREAT missionary and I couldn't be prouder of my lil' brudder.
Thanksgiving was wonderful and spent with my mom's family. We had a huge dinner at John and Shammah's with tons of food and FOOTBALL. Everyone took naps after dinner and on Friday we hit the stores! I'm not a big Black Friday person, so we skipped the crazy morning crap and went in the afternoon. Still able to catch some sweet deals, I took care of a lot of Christmas presents in one day. Pretty sweet!

Austin and Daddy chill-axin!

SO TRUE!

Candice and I doing an earring ad for my friend, Alicia. She rocks, no?

Large and in charge!

Let's just say we laugh A LOT in our house

Bath time with my little water-baby!

Ahh, I wanna cry with this one! Austin and Ky have a special bond.
They're two peas in a pod, I know they miss each other!

Cute!

Crazy kid!

Modeling his new Santa hat

My boys. Best friends. Love them!

I re-arranged the living room. It was driving me crazy! Ignore the nasty carpet, please.

Austin just LOVED Santa, can't you tell?

Well, even as I am writing, the boy just woke up and needs his mom...Joys of parenthood, huh? Life is great, we're happy, healthy, and looking forward to a wonderful Christmas!

Frank Fox and Mrs. Feathermaster's Pies

2011-11-28T14:44:00.000-08:00

My Dad, Mark Smith, has written a childrens book entitled, Frank Fox and Mrs. Feathermaster's Pies. It's the story of Frank Fox, an inhabitant of Fromby Forest who loves mischeif and most of all PIE! Its a great children's story book that has been created from the childhood stories my dad would tell us when we were kids. After many years of all of his kids telling him to publish, he finally has! The book is beautiful and will be for sale on Amazon this coming January, but if you would like to get a copy through me earlier, let me know!!! The book is selling for $16.95 and I can get you as many copies as you want! It would make a great Christmas present and would also help us to get the book out to the public!

Please comment...

2011-11-15T09:07:00.000-08:00

Please comment on my blog! See, I'm sad you haven't yet. Comments keep me motivated. Thank you.

6 Months with the Hammer

2011-11-06T17:23:00.000-08:00

November 2nd marks Hammer's 6 month birthday!!! As a celebration of being with us for 6 whole months, we decided it was time to introduce a couple new solid foods...Yea for sweet potato puffs and Arrowroot cookies! Its been fun to introduce Austin to new things and solid foods are a big one! This past month has been awesome. We've had a lot of fun experiences and learned a lot as a family. Here's a breakdown of a few of our October adventures:

At Thanksgiving Point

Sisters...sisters!

Austin loves playing the infant games on the Fisher-Price website

And playing the bongos...

At BYU on a lazy Saturday

BLUE eyes

We had a fun evening in my parents backyard. We made a big campfire, roasted marshmallows, and talked all night. So fun!

See? Our fire was nice and HOT!

I had to splurge when Candice, Kyle, Austin and I went to the Gateway in early October. Gotta make my baby a UTE!

I should have put this in the last post, but this is Kyle opening his mission call. Ventura, Baby!!!

My dad gave us some newborn pictures of Austin that we'd never seen. Made me cry!

My angel baby!

Gregor's grandparents were able to come out from Texas and spend a weekend with us. It was AWESOME! We had such a great time with them and Austin took to them so quickly! Especially Opa. Austin was sad to see them go so he held Opa's hand the whole way to the airport. So CUTE!

We had to show Gutti and Opa the Alpine Loop. They came at just the right time to see the beautiful leaves. All Opa could say was "beautiful!" It made my day!

Yeah, I took that...wat up?!

Me and my Honey...Love this Man!

Kyle was watching Austin for us one day and said he just kept trying and trying to get him to sleep. So he finally just laid down with him and then passed out himself! I had to take a picture, it was so cute!

Austin is a speed crawler and he LOVES textures. Grass, sand, carpet, fur, it's all good. Playing in the grass and Grandma and Papa's was a great time.

This face just screams trouble!

Playing in the grass.

Halloween was the best! Austin was Yoda...I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! He didn't like his costume too much, so I was grateful we at least got a couple pictures of him smiling!

Greiner Family!

We wanted happy pumpkins, not scary ones. Love ya!

October was a fabulous month. We hope things are good for everyone, because they are for us!

Happy Halloween!!!

2011-10-31T17:33:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!!!

Master Yoda aka Austin

Kendall Greiner-Skywalker and Master Yoda

Gregor "Bear Grylls" Greiner and His Jedi Master

Happy Halloween!!!

Love, The Greiner Family

5 Months of Awesome-ness

2011-10-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

October second marked our fifth month with our little Hammer. It seems like we've had him forever, but when I look back and realize that its only been five months, I'm blown away! The past month has been pretty fun, we've had a lot of adventures and have grown a lot as a family.

Austin's first time sitting up on his own!

The Top Ten:
1) Austin is crawling, rolling, grabbing, standing, walking with help, and into EVERYTHING!

Eating Daddy's hair in St. George

2) We had an awesome vacation with Carly and Logan down to St. George for a long weekend. We spent time at their grandparents condo, I ran 11 miles down in Coral Canyon, and we went shopping in Vegas. AMAZING!
3) We finally closed down Ivory Ridge Pool for the winter! Yea! I love my job, but it is a HUGE responsibility and its nice to have a break from constantly worrying about pool quality, lifeguards, swimming lesson, patrons, scheduling, etc!
4) Gregor is swimming with BYU right now to try for his Olympic Trials cuts again. I couldn't be more proud! My handsome husband is so talented, I'm sure he's going to qualify again! He's following in my sister, Candice's, footsteps. She qualified again for Trials this past summer and I cannot WAIT to go see my amazing family doing what they do best...SWIMMING!
5) We had some really awesome FHE's during September, as well. My favorite still has to be our finger painting activity. We've been trying to get Austin's handprints since he's grown so much, but all that turkey wanted to do with the paint was squish it in his hands! So we decided to paint Austin instead! I haven't laughed that hard in a LONG time!

See, we painted him! And he couldn't be happier!

Yep, I do love Austin.

6) During September my lil' brudder, Kyle, got his Mission Call! He will be serving in the Ventura, California mission leaving on December 7! I am SOOOO stoked to have a missionary in the family! Kyle is such a great guy and I know he'll be a fabulous missionary. He's just got a way with people, I know he's going to be successful.
7) This is too long in coming, but I also need to give a shout out to my beautiful sister, Kate! She is teaching English in China right now for four months. I cannot believe how brave she is! I would be terrified to leave America all by myself for four months, but she is so freakin tough! I'm so proud of her and hope and pray that she is safe and having fun teaching and SHOPPING (everything is so cheap there, I'm jealous)!
8) My sister-in-law, Hilary, is pregnant with their second baby girl. She's due in December, I think on Christmas Day, actually, and they are naming her Terra. I'm so excited to have another niece! I just wish they lived closer so I could spoil them rotten!
9) I've been training for the past five months for a half marathon on October 8. The training has been rough coming back from a pregnancy, but I am happy to announce that even without any sleep due to a sick baby the night before, I ran all 13.18 miles of the Pink Series Park City Half Marathon in 2 hours and 11 minutes! I was SO stoked about holding under 10-minute miles and running in such a beautiful place! I would run in PC everyday if I could. Thank you so so so much to my sweet husband who took such great care of Austin so I could go on long runs and for getting up with me at 4 am so we could drive up to PC on time and thank you to my parents for watching Hammer for 7 hours so I could compete! So so so so so fun! I can't wait for next year and for my first full marathon in JUNE!
10) Grandma Kathy came out for Austin's 5 month birthday, too! She was actually coming out to Utah to help her sweet sister, Debbie, find a wedding dress. And did they find a Wedding dress! That thing is GORGEOUS! Debbie looks stunning in it, and I was so glad that Austin and I got to spend some time with Grandma! We love you, Ma!

Swingin in style.

Playing in the yard.

My beautiful Mama on her birthday! I got her the necklace and earrings. So pretty!

Dressed up and ready to go!

My October centerpiece. I got this idea from Pinterest. My favorite new site!

So excited to board this year!!!

Sup?

These cracked me up

Austin- five months

September was a GREAT month! We have so many adventures from day-to-day, its hard to get them all down. I am so grateful for my wonderful family! We are so blessed. More to come, and hopefully I write sooner and more often!

Aust-onian's Fourth

2011-09-03T23:19:00.000-07:00

Austin is four months old as of yesterday! I can't believe my little baby is so huge now! He's a whopping 18 pounds, and about 28.5 inches long. He's still learning how to crawl, he's figured out how to do a 360°, but doesn't have any forward movement just yet. Austin loves to talk/scream (not a mad scream, just make noise with his voice), stand up (with help), flirt with all my lifeguard girls, go swimming, and play with his toys. He's become very dexterous in the last month, he reaches and picks up just about everything he can...and then puts it in his mouth. Kinda gross with some things, but hey, the kid's building his immune system, right? Hammer's got the most beautiful blue eyes in the world and I'm hoping they don't change because his uncle Collin has the same color eyes and they are killer! He loves watching cartoons, playing in the sand/grass/dirt, and loves to dance with Mom in the kitchen. Man, I love this kid! He's the greatest thing that has happened to our little family! Here are some pictures of the adventures we've had in the last month:

BLUE eyes! On our way to Mommy's work.

Everything goes in the mouth. Everything.

I borrowed Candice's red dress for my friend's wedding. I felt very pretty in it!

Just about Austin's favorite pastime. His FISH!

Gregor waterskiing at Yuba. Our first family campout!

Austin driving home from Great Grandma and Papa's house. Carly and I were in the back getting a kick out of this kid!

I promise I did not cut his hair that way (it's been falling out) and he is wearing a diaper.

Hammer has this thing with feet. I don't get it.

Had to take a pic of my beautiful sisters at Chanel's wedding. Bubblegum pink dresses and they still look SEXY!

CHEEKS!

Austin in the morning. He is a hoot!

With Daddy at Lake Tahoe. SUCH a fun trip!

My lil' balla!

Wishing Uncle Karl a happy birthday!

Family pics. Yes, my hair WAS red. Dyeing mishap. I'm back to blonde. At least my boys look amazing!

Gregor sent me this picture while I was out and about one evening. What a beautiful boy we have!

YUBA

Big FHE at Evergreen. Gregor was in the ZONE!

Mom and Aus at Thanksgiving Point Gardens.

Two-dollar Tuesdays ROCK!

He loves holding my hand. It melts my heart.

Austin Friedrich Greiner. The man. The legend.

Austin @ 3 Months

2011-08-19T06:52:00.000-07:00

I know it's actually closer to his 4 month birthday by now, but that just goes to show you how busy I've been with this little boy! He's a total handful, but definitely the most fun I've ever had! A few accomplishments in the third month of his life are:

1) Gained 1.5 lbs and another 1.5 inches since his last Dr.'s appointment
2) Talks ALL the time (at least in his own special language) and grabs for EVERYTHING!
3) Flirts like crazy with all of my girl lifeguards
4) Went hiking, running, and swimming for the first time!
5) Drove for 13+ hours to Lake Tahoe for a family vacation
6) Met his uncles, Erik and Karl, along with Aunt Hilary and cousin Kalli for the first time. He LOVED them!
7) Stayed in his first Hotel in Elko, Nevada on our way out to Tahoe...The King-size bed was AMAZING!
8) Moved from his bassinet to the bassinet in his pack-n-play. (Still not in his crib just yet, it's okay with me though. I like having him close!)
9) Is learning how to crawl! He's totally got the leg part, bur the upper body is still a little weak in the arms...I'm thinking it's gonna be VERY soon that I have to put up baby gates and cabinet locks...great.

Swimming for the first time with Mommy at Ivory Ridge!

10) Has made his parents SO proud and happy and excited, along with a little tired. He's sleeping almost all the way through the night now, he just wakes up to eat. Pretty sweet, I'd have to say!

My Handsome Boy

Look at that little HOT body!

Early morning photobooth session!

With Mom on the Salt Flats

With Daddy on the way to Lake Tahoe!

He dressed up in a tux for the occasion!

The Greiner Family!

WE LOVE YOU STINKER!!!

10 Things...

2011-07-31T16:26:00.000-07:00

This week has been a good one. Long and busy, but definitely good. I wanted to share 10 things that happened that were fun and/or significant to me this week!
1) I went to the temple on Friday. It's been a while since I've had the chance to go (since March), due to pregnancy and new baby. It's such a beautiful, amazing, wonderful place. I was very grateful to my Heavenly Father for the reminder of the many blessings He has given me.

Fourth of July at John and Shammahs. I look gross, but it's for posterity, right?

2) Austin is getting soooo big! This kid grows like a weed! Hammer is definitely a fitting nickname for him. He's talking and smiling all the time, he's strong as an ox, can roll completely over, and plays with us all the time. He's got a huge personality for such a small person, I'm so excited to watch it come out more as he grows.
3) The Hubs and I got to go on a sort of date this week. We took Hammer up to Kearns to watch the state meet yesterday, then went to dinner with Carly and Logan. I love those guys! Car started swimming again, changing her status from "swammer" to "swimmer". She rocked! After dinner we hit up the Sport Chalet and wanted to buy just about everything in there...but we didn't.

My Boys!

4) We're going to Tahoe next Tuesday! I know this is something that didn't happen this past week, but it has been a shining beacon of hope in the past couple weeks! I NEED A VACATION! I'm so excited to spend time in such a beautiful place with my little family and the Greiner clan! STOKED!
5) Dice's birthday! Candice turned 21 last Tuesday. She is an amazing person! I'm so proud to be her big sister! We celebrated with a BBQ at my folks house, and I'm going to get her something cool from Tahoe for her B-day.

Cami and Kyle's Level 2 class. SO CUTE!
6) It's the last session on swimming lessons at Ivory Ridge! I couldn't be happier! I didn't have as many signups as I would have liked, but I have Carly, Logan, Kyle, and Cami Trinnaman teaching for me, along with Collin aiding. Seriously the best bunch of teachers eva! The kids are having a great time, learning a lot, and having a good time doing it. I had a mom approach me the other day asking about how soon she could sign up for lessons next year because they were so good she didn't want to get beat out of a spot! That did my heart good!

7) I had a girl's night with Mom and Car. These two women are just about my favorite people in the world! I am so lucky to be blessed with such amazing examples. We chatted for a long time, then turned on "The Devil Wears Prada" and I made Ebelskivers (you can totally ask me what they are, text me!). It was nice to spend time with some estrogen instead of all the testosterone I get at my house all the time!
8) Had a guard in-service. This was supposed to be a BBQ, but we cancelled that because of weather and unpreparedness (on my behalf). Carly ran a challenge course for us all, and I'll tell ya, I have an amazing group of lifeguards! I'm so impressed with them and their hard work. We talked about entering the Utah State Lifeguard Games next summer and we are gonna ROCK!
9) Gregor and I had some really awesome conversations this week. It's such an honor to be his wife. I love him so so so much! It has been difficult since having Austin to find our balance and I'm so grateful that he and I are best friends! We understand each other in so many ways...Its awesome!

On the move!
10) I hurt myself running earlier this week and have been slowly building back into it. Gregor and I are starting to run "barefoot", sometimes with minimal shoes on, and sometimes completely barefoot. It's been such a fun way to exercise, but, true to Kendall form, I overdid it and now I'm paying for it. Just a little strain on my achilles and forefoot, but I'll be back at it hopefully tomorrow. PC Half-Here I Come!

Uncle Kyle and Hammer

Two Month Appointment and a Surprise!

2011-07-06T19:46:00.000-07:00

So Austin's two month appt was today. Here's some stats:

Length-24.5 inches (92 percentile)
Weight-15.3 lbs (98 percentile)
Head Circumfrence-16 inches (63 percentile)

Immunizations done, everything is great, the doctor was really impressed with his growth and progression. In fact, he was shocked (and so were we) to hear that he did this:

TWO MONTHS!

2011-07-04T17:02:00.000-07:00

My baby is two months old as of July 2nd! Crazy how time flies! He is officially out of newborn AND 0-3 Month clothing, this kid is HUGE! Here are some things that happened in the last month for Austin Friedrich "Hammer" Greiner and Gregor and I:
1) Austin had a name and a blessing given to him on June 5. He had a lot of his family members come from Texas, California, and Nevada. It was a great day and he looked like an angel. (Thanks, Ma!)
2) Hammer-jammer smiles and giggles ALL the time!
3) I had my 27th birthday! I can't believe I'm 27, weird. I got spoiled by my hubby and family, and had a BBQ with family and friends that evening. It was a great day!
4) Austin slept all night a couple times! Mom and Dad were thrilled!
5) He copies our sounds and facial expressions
6) We (Gregor and I) went to Stadium of Fire with Brad Paisley and David Archuleta. It was Amazing!!! Austin got to hang out with Grandma and Papa that evening. Thanks and sorry he was soooo fussy!
7) Our family went to Park City to watch Carly and Logan run RAGNAR. They did GREAT!
8) Had a family outing up the canyon to go sing for our ward's girls camp. It was a neat experience for everyone.
9) We've gone hiking up Dry Creek and around AF Canyon on several occasions
10) Gregor got a sweet promotion at work, GREAT JOB!!!!

Austin and Gregor laughing it up!

At my birthday party. Hammer's smile was my best present!

Snuggling with Daddy

A little unsure about Gpa Spencer! He ended up falling asleep in his arms right after this though.

Another snuggly one in the kitchen

Blessing day! Didn't he look adorable?

SMILE!

Trying to get Austin to calm down to take a family pic on his blessing day

The best we could do. At least his outfit is cute!

As you can see, it's been a great month. I am so thrilled to be Gregor's wife and Austin's mom, it's a dream come true!

Hammer Pix

2011-06-24T16:54:00.000-07:00

So I know that once you have a baby, a baby blog is pretty much what your blog becomes, but I thought I'd just get that out of the way right now. Yes, I think I only take pictures of Austin lately, but he'll thank me for it later. So enjoy the fruits of my labor, these amazing pix of my son!

Yawn! Notice the double chin. It can reach triple fold depending on the day.

The cheeks are legendary

Austin is a very concerned baby. He scrunches up his eyebrows all the time.

Tummy time!

Probably one of my favorites of my boys!

Hallo. Mein name ist Hammer.

He smiled for me on my birthday like ALL day! It was a very good day!

Mom's tired, baby's sleeping. What's wrong with this picture?

Well, that's my baby. I love him and he's cute. I will blog about his blessing and my birthday soon!

Uno Montho...

2011-06-02T10:37:00.000-07:00

Yeah, from the title of this post, you KNOW I don't speak a lick of Spanish...Anyways...Today is June 2! Austin's 1 Month Birthday! I can't believe we've had this little guy for a month already! It's flown by, but at the same time, I can't remember what life was without him! In the past month he's already:
1) Held his head up for 30 seconds+ and lowered it down gently by himself.
2) Smiled and is still smiling!
3) Taken a couple baths (see last post) and lots of showers (he loves those!).
4) Has grown over a pound and is in the 99% for height! (23.5 inches!).
5) Slept almost a whole night, with quick breaks for nursing.
6) Been babysat by family members.
7) Played with the family dogs.
8) Gone for lots of walks and outings. (With mom carrying a crap load of hand sanitizer!).
9) Had family prayers with us everyday and night.
10) Has been read a lot of books and scriptures.
11) Coos and grunts all the time. He tells lots of stories!

Brand new!

12) Has the cutest belly button ever! It's a swirl!
13) Loves classical music, car rides, and walks in his BOB stroller. (Thanks, Opa!)
14) Has had his first photo shoot.
15) Made his parents the happiest, and most tired, people in the world!

One Month. He's grown so much! I'm sad it's going so fast!

One of the many faces of Hammer

He absolutely loves his Dad. Gregor is the best Father in the World!

Again, another side to Austin

As you can see, this little guy is just about the best thing that has happened to us. I'll admit that sometimes its been really tough adjusting to a new lifestyle, but its been such an amazing blessing to have Austin in our home. Gregor and I adore him and are so happy to be the parents of such a big-spirited little boy!

Bath time=Bad time

2011-05-17T15:55:00.000-07:00

So, Austin doesn't like baths. AT ALL. In fact, his first one at home he decided to show us how much he despises the tub by peeing and pooping in not only one tub, but two. Pretty hilarious, but he was ticked about having to wait for Dad to fill up another tub while he was all soapy and cold. Silly kid. So, for your viewing pleasure, I have documented one bath to share with the masses. Please note, the water is warm, the air was very comfortable, and Hammer had not only his own parents for moral support, but his Aunt Carly and Uncle Logan, too.

1. Relatively calm as long as he can hold Mom's hand.

2. The inhale. This usually occurs right before a huge scream.

3. The scream. Ticked off about the entire situation. Note: Hammer is still holding Mom's hand.

4. Still screaming. Has let go of Mom to initialize swift and random arm movements, along with kicking his legs so hard the water splashes him in the face, thus ticking him off even more.

5. Still screaming. My mom said the washrag over the chest usually helps babies stay warm and comfy. Not so, Mother.

6. Still screaming, but turning a beautiful shade of red. When he's mad, he changes color! It reminds me of Jack-Jack on the Incredibles.

7. Into the hooded towel for warmth and a little Mommy comfort. He's usually very calm once he's wrapped up and out of the water!

8. Still sniffling slightly, but alive and doing well. He survived the bath to see another day.

LOVE YOU HAMMER-JAMMER!

The Birth of HAMMER!

2011-05-08T17:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry for such a horrible quality picture in the last post. I just wanted to get something up here. I promise I'll provide photos that prove Austin's complete cuteness. I wanted to write down everything I can remember about his birth, so here goes nothing!

Waiting and waiting...

Austin Friedrich Greiner was born on Monday, May 2, 2011 at 11:07 pm. He weighed 9 lbs 2 oz and was 21.5 inches long. He was actually due a week earlier on April 25, but he decided to be my Mother's Day present instead of my Easter present. Totally okay. I had been in pre-labor/early labor for about three weeks previous to his birth with contractions coming about 3 to 7 minutes apart. It was absolutely delightful. :( NOT! My amazing doc, Dr. Watabe, was even kind of surprised himself that I hadn't gone into labor earlier. He was sure that I'd beat my due date, but Austin had a different idea. We had gone to the hospital the Friday before my due date, thinking he was definitely coming, but after being monitored in Labor and Delivery for about two hours, they sent us home because I wasn't progressing. Major major bummer. I decided to keep busy and went in on Sunday, May 1st around 2:30pm, in labor. My old Mia Maids advisor, Sarah Thomas, was my nurse and she did EVERYTHING she could to keep me there that evening, but by 6:30 we were headed back home again. Sarah was sure that I just needed some rest after not really sleeping for three weeks, so she gave me a Percocet and told me to pass out. That night was horrible. I had slept for about 4 hours when we got home, but the meds wore off and I was having legit, hurty contractions all night. By 10:30 Monday morning, we were back at AF Hospital ready to have a baby. I got admitted pretty quickly and met Dr. Jones, the OB on call. Coolest guy...loved him. Once I got to my room, they broke my water and started me on Pitocin to get things moving along. I had wanted to go natural with the birth, but after being in some form of labor for three weeks, Sarah convinced me otherwise. The epidural was pretty great, except my right leg was totally dead the entire rest of the day. My family came to visit all throughout the day and at about 9 pm, I started pushing. Holy hardest thing I've ever done in my whole freakin' life! The epidural was kind of starting to wear off at this point, not too bad, but I felt a lot. Talk about the hardest swim practice ever! Gregor never left my side and was such an amazing help. He just held me and helped me to relax between pushes. He was incredible. My mom was in there, too and then, much to my surprise, my sisters came in. All three did so great. Candice and Kate are total medical people and Car is so empathetic. It was sweet to have them there. I think Candice totally got a kick out of helping hold my legs during some of the pushing. Right there in the thick of everything! After pushing for a little over two hours, Dr. Jones told me that Austin was stuck behind my pelvic bone. He told me that it was starting to get serious, Austin's heart rate was through the roof and he needed to get out. Dr. Jones said he could use forceps to try and bring his head down, but he was only going to try once and if it didn't work I needed to have a C-section. That completely motivated me to push with everything I had, I wasn't going to have a C-section after all that work! I told him to do what was best for the baby, and he quietly mentioned to Gregor that a cesarean would be safer. Luckily, with Dr. Jones using his amazing forcep skills and me pushing my guts out, Austin's head was delivered. With just a couple more pushes, he was out! I was so excited to meet my little boy, but he wasn't breathing...Gregor hurried to cut the cord so Austin could be whipped over to the table for oxygen and some breathing help. Talk about scaring the crap out of everyone in the room. About 5 extra nurses ran in to help and suddenly the room was way too crowded. I waited, scared and exhausted, to hear my son cry. Finally after about 5 minutes, he did. Gregor shooed everyone out and I finally got to hold our son. I think I bawled for about 10 minutes. He was so beautiful! We were a family, and it was so so so amazing. The nurses took him down to the nursery and I got all cleaned up and my family came in to say hi. A huge huge HUGE thank you to Sarah Thomas. She worked a 12 hour shift already that day and stayed an extra two hours to help get Austin here. She is awesome!

Our first family photo. I think we were all overcome with emotion by this point.

Sarah Thomas. Best nurse/friend in the world!
After some much needed food and some help down to the Mother/Baby floor, I was able to meet up with my family again. They told me that Gregor had gone down to the Nursery with Austin and had just broken down with emotion once it was all over. Gregor never cries, but it made me cry to hear that he had. I love that man!

All set and ready to go home!
Austin took to nursing right away and spent the rest of the night in the Nursery. The next day he came in to be fed, but a short time after that, my nurse said that his blood sugar was in the basement. Like a 22 (it should be above 45 at least). To treat his problem, they admitted him to the Nursery II/NICU 3. Its the lowest level of the NICU, but no one wants there baby in any sort of intensive care unit. They put him on an IV for two days to get his blood sugar regulated. We were able to go in and spend a lot of time with him, and I got to nurse him as well. As our 48 hour limit was approaching, we weren't sure if we were going to be able to take him home. His pediatrician, Dr. Mumford, check him out around 6:45 and said that if he could maintain his blood sugar over the next two hours, he could come home. He did, and we were able to take our son to our home to stay!

Finally going home
When we finally got in the door around 11:30 that night, I sat down and just looked at my sweet baby boy. I couldn't help but cry. Heavenly Father entrusted Gregor and I to raise one of His choice sons. I was so honored and so overcome with gratitude. We said our first family prayer that night and thanked God for His love and kindness towards our little family. I love our son, Austin. He has been the greatest blessing in my life and I am so honored to be his Mother. I hope I do a good job!

HE'S HERE!!!

2011-05-04T10:32:00.000-07:00

Austin Friedrich Greiner
Born May 2, 2011
9 lbs 2 oz
21.5 inches long

Practically Perfect in Every Way!!!

Fun Photos

2011-04-29T19:21:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to be creative while I'm waiting for Hammer...Here's the latest. Shot with my Nikon D40x. Adventure in Texture.

Dr's Appointment Today!

2011-04-29T13:30:00.001-07:00

Oh, please, oh, please, oh, please, oh, please let me have this baby today...Oh, please, oh, please, oh, please!

DUE DATE...

2011-04-25T17:02:00.001-07:00

ANNNNNNNNNNDDDDDDDDDD...nothing. Sorry. I'm ready, too.

Baby Stuff...

2011-04-08T08:54:00.000-07:00

So just an update...I had a Dr.'s appointment yesterday and I'm 17 days from my due date, dilated to a 1.5 and 70% effaced. Hammer's comin' soon!!!

Updates, etc.

2011-04-05T10:53:00.000-07:00

I've been having a lot of contractions this past week, so I'm thinking Hammer's on his way pretty soon. In that hope, I wanted to post some pics of the nursery and a belly pic. Enjoy!

The Fish Light. We found this at Ikea and thought it was very appropriate for a couple of swimmer's son.

This isn't what it reallly looks like now, we've moved the stuffed animals on the shelf and have added some pictures, stencils, etc

I looked all over for cool stencils to decorate Hammer's room. I wanted to do a Jungle-y theme with some fun stencils around the room. I loved the stars and the squigglies on top of the green paint. It's a very happy room, we hang out in there a lot already.

My 8-month along belly. I know I'm weak-sauce compared to most prego ladies this far along, but don't worry. I still feel big, uncomfortable and ready to pop!

The "MEN". We had a fun FHE last night with some of our neighbors and friends. The guys built a picnic table while the girls and the kids were smart and hung out inside to stay warm.

Manly Men. They built this whole thing from scratch in about an hour and a half.

Day 30: A Photo of You Today and 3 Good Things That Happened During This Challenge

2011-03-30T07:48:00.000-07:00

3/30/11

Last day of the Challenge! I made it! Today I am subbing in Mrs. Bates Biology class. I HATED her class when I was in it. Ugh, stupid class and she was NOT fun. I probably shouldn't say this about a co-worker, but seriously. Worst! Hopefully it'll be better than it was when I was at AFJH.

Three good things that have happened during this challenge...

1) I have an interview for a job for next year! I'm not going to say when or where online, but I am really excited and its a good motivator for working out the mess-up I had with my endorsement at the USOE.

2) When I started this challenge I had 56 days to go with the pregnancy, now I only have 26!

3) We finished (almost) the Nursery! It looks great and I'll post pics very soon.

I don't think this challenge has necessarily "blessed" my life in anyway, but it has been fun to revisit some things that make me, me. And it's been nice to have some "homework", it's helped with some of the mundane days I've had. If you need something to do, do the blog challenge during April! You won't be disappointed.

Days 26-29

2011-03-29T09:27:00.000-07:00

So much for the "daily" blog challenge. Oh, well. At least I'm doing something semi-productive, right?
Day 26 - A photo of somewhere you've been to.

La Jolla Cove
How I miss this place! I miss living in San Diego sooooo bad! I love the ocean and the beaches and the surf and the sun! Ugh, this winter has kicked my butt here in Utah. Oh, well. I think Gregor and I will take a trip this summer to Cali with our kid. I needs me some sunshine!

Day 27 - A picture of the last year and now and how have you've changed

Trying on my wedding dress last year

Prego, tired, but still happy and in love! (This pic was taken at like 6 months pregnant)

Day 28: Your Favorite Movie

Remember the Titans. Hands down. I've loved that movie since the first time I saw it. I'm a sucker for football and any sports movie that talks about overcoming opposition. SO GOOD!

Day 29: Something You Could Never Get Tired of Doing...

Hanging out with my Hubby. I love doing anything an everything with Gregor. He's my best friend and we always have a good time together. We can laugh, cry, talk, read, walk, run, swim, etc. together and we're sure to enjoy spending that time together. I feel so lucky to have married such an amazing guy!

Days 20-25

2011-03-25T08:34:00.000-07:00

So I couldn't remember what Day 20 was all about in my last post, but I know now! The meaning behind my blog name, FIRE AND RAIN, comes from my favorite James Taylor song. The chorus goes a little like this:
"I've seen fire and I've seen rain. I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end. I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend, but I always thought that I'd see you again."
Makes my heart melt.
Day 21- A photo of something that makes you happy.

My three boys make me very happy. Gregor, Hammer and Oakley. They're all cute and they're all MINE!

Day 22: A letter to someone who has hurt you recently.

I guess I don't get offended easily. But here goes...

Dear Person who drive WAY to slow in the morning,

You make me late for work almost every day. No matter what time I leave my house, you are always there to slow me down. Thank you for never using your turning signal or going the speed limit. Thank you for cutting me of at the most inconvenient times and thank you mostly for making me slam on my brakes and spill my drink all over my big pregnant belly and lap.

Forever behind you,

Kendall

Day 23: 15 Facts about You

1. I like school. And math. And science. And history. And English. I'm a nerd.

2. I am married to a German-African-American who speaks English, German, Portuguese, and a little Afrikaans. He's white.

3. I swam for the University of Utah and was one of the captains for their first and only women's swim team to win a MWC Championship.

4. I love recipe/Food magazines.

5. I have a Master's Degree in Secondary Education and will be licensed to teach PE/Health whenever the state decides to approve my endorsements.

6. I'm a baking snob. I rarely like any baked good that I didn't make. Sorry!

7. I've become a runner since I retired from swimming competitively. I'm not fast and I don't win anything, but I really love it and can't wait to get back out there once Hammer's born.

8. Our son's name is really Austin Fredrich Greiner, but the name Hammer came from my brother-in-law and it's stuck with me. I don't know how much I'll call him Austin.

9. My husband is my best friend. I'd rather be with him than anyone else.

10. I'm very eclectic in the music I like. I'll listen to just about anything depending on my mood.

11. I'm the primary chorister in my ward.

12. I hate doing laundry, but I don't mind doing the dishes.

13. I love anything athletic and anything outside. I have to move and have sunshine to be truly happy.

14. I don't like milk chocolate, but dark chocolate is wonderful!

15. My baby never stops moving. Never.

Day 24: A photo of something that means a lot to you

These ladies. My sisters are the best!!! Car, Kate, Dice...I LOVE YOU!

Candice, Kendall, and Kate

Car Car

Day 25: What's in your purse?

I am not taking a picture of that right now. It's gross. I think something spilled in the bottom of it and there are tons of receipts and other crap in there. I'm not good and carrying a purse regularly, so I don't really clean it out...Sorry to disappoint.

Anniversary and Blog Challenge!

2011-03-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

It feels like yesterday.

Today is our first Anniversary!!! It's been such an amazing weekend! We were able to go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple yesterday and do a session in OUR temple. It was such beautiful experience and I think I bawled the whole time! (Being pregnant makes me super emotional, annoying.) Remembering that beautiful day that I was able to be sealed to my Sweetheart for eternity was a little overwhelming. I am so grateful for Gregor. His love and his friendship mean the world to me. He's going to be the greatest dad, he's already the greatest husband! Here are some pictures from our wedding day and some from today, too. Enjoy!

At Our Reception

Remember how the cake got smashed? Yeah. We pulled this little baby out of the freezer today. Yum.

A little nervous at the prospect of eating this thing.

One of my favs. My shoes were killing me and Gregor was so helpful carrying my dress!

Gregor was awesome and dug right in! It actually tasted pretty good.

35 weeks. I feel huge! The hat was my anniversary gift from Gregor. Cute, huh?

I got him a Jetboil. I'm so excited to use this thing this summer!

Gregor said we had to blog about our fish. We have two tanks. These guys are our Neons. They're crazy!

Mbuma Ciclids. These are guys are punks, but we love them. They all have interesting personalities. I know, they're fish, but they are very unique.

So Day 19 was a photo of yourself. I guess the prego pic counts for that, hopefully. And today, Day 20 was something....I don't remember. I'll let ya know!

Day 18: Something You Crave A Lot

2011-03-18T10:14:00.000-07:00

I thought that being prego would cause me to have some serious cravings, but really I haven't had any. Maybe one at the very beginning...KFC's Mashed Potatoes and Gravy. That was good, but it was just the one time...Hmmmm...I love chocolate and pickles and pork ribs. But not all together, don't worry. I've always liked those three foods, so I don't think the pregnancy has any relevancy here.

Day 17: A Photo of You and Your Family

2011-03-17T09:04:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of pretty much the whole family at our wedding last year. Our Anniversary is on Sunday, March 20. I can't believe its already been a year! It honestly feels like yesterday that Gregor picked me up that beautiful Saturday morning, took me to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple and was sealed to me forever. I am so grateful for the love and support of our family that day and now. I have the best family and I love them forever! The only thing missing now in this photo is Hammer, but I guess he was there in spirit, right?

Day 16: Your Celebrity Crush

2011-03-16T08:23:00.000-07:00

So I think he's a horrible actor for the most part, but I think he's super cute...Paul Walker. Holy cow. He's a total cutie. I think Gregor kinda looks like him, too. SCORE!

HAPPY MOOB ANNIVERSARY!

2011-03-15T09:21:00.000-07:00

Our Anniversary isn't actually until this Sunday, but we celebrated this past weekend by going to Moab. I have to say that Moab is just about my favorite place in Utah and I've been wanting to take Gregor there for a LONG time because there are aspects of it that look like Namibia (where Gregor is from). We were worried about the cost of the trip and initially weren't going to go, but then decided to throw caution to the wind and just do it. I found a hotel for $67, and we were frugal in our eating out and adventures and got away with the whole trip for around $150 bucks! It was so wonderful to get away from the stress of work and life for a bit. I love my sweet husband so so so much! He is my best friend in the whole world and we had such a fun weekend! I LOVE YOU GREGOR!!

Gregor at Sandhill

Petroglyphs at the Trailhead of Delicate Arch

After playing around on Sandhill

Sandhill, didn't look as nice as it usually does, but still super fun!

Under the arch. The color contrast is AWESOME!

Proof that I hiked Delicate Arch at 34 weeks pregnant!

Catch up Day! Blog Challenge

2011-03-15T09:06:00.000-07:00

Day 12: A photo of the town you live in.

Good Ol' American Fork. Beautiful town, I pretty much grew up here. This is a pic of AF Canyon. One of my favorite places!

Day 13: Your Favorite Musician and Why.

By far my favorite musician of all time is James Taylor. My parents listened to him during all my years growing up and they fortunately passed on JT's greatness! I can listen to him just about any time, anywhere. Great, great, great musician!

Day 14: TV Show You're Currently Addicted To.

BONES! I love this show! We don't have cable at our house, but we do have Netflix, so we have an HDMI cable hooked up to our awesome, new TV and we watch Bones to our hearts content!

Day 15: Something You Don't Leave the House Without.

I've been rocking the Livestrong band for about 6 years now. I always have it on, I don't even think about it anymore. I love what it stands for and I love the reminder to Live Strong! I've gotten into Tri's and running after I finished college swimming, so wearing this helps keep me motivated.

Day 11: A Photo of What's in Your Make-up Bag

2011-03-11T13:52:00.000-08:00

My Makeup bag isn't the most exciting thing. I'm kinda lame with it. On the show, What Not to Wear, Carmindy has what she calls the 5 minute face...well, I'm like the T-minus 2 minute face. I have some fun eye color and eye liner, but I usually only wear a little concealer, a bit of bronzer, and mascara. Easy-peasy!

Blog Challenge!

2011-03-10T11:51:00.000-08:00

I think this has been the trendy blogger thing lately, but I thought it could be fun to do this for the month of March. I'm ten days late, so I'll try to get all caught up in one post! Whew! Here's a list of the first 10 ten days of the challenge!

Day 1: A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.

March 10, 2011. Today, so far, hasn't been too shabby. I'm currently subbing for Mr. Dean's German classes at AFJH. The kids have been good and have worked hard, but I will admit that I am slightly bored. Maybe that's why I'm blogging right now while they're finishing up a review assignment. Thursdays are long days. I teach all day, then I coach high jump and long jump for track, then I help teach 3 elementary strings classes before I go home and try to cook dinner and clean my house. Oh, and spend some quality time with the hubs!

Day 2: A photo of something you ate today.

I LOVE THESE! I am the slowest mover in the morning, so a quick, tasty, and healthy bar is a great breakfast. I always drink about 32 oz of water with one bar because they dry my mouth out a little, but they are really tasty and really filling. Even for a 8 months pregnant lady!

Day 3: Your idea of the Perfect Date

Pretty much anything with Gregor. Our first date was actually pretty fun. He picked me up for dinner at Zuppa's, where I think we were both just smiling stupidly the whole time. After dinner we went to my brother's swim meet where everyone who knew either of us thought we were already seriously dating. (I guess we seemed pretty comfortable with each other already). Then we went for a drive up the canyon to Tibble Fork to talk and look at the stars. It was kinda cold, so I tried to hold his hand, but he wussed out! (I tease him about that all the time!). Afterwards, he took me home and talked with me and my parents for a little while. When we said goodnight, he asked me out for the next day...Sounds like a good date to me!

Day 4: Your favorite photo of your Best Friend

This is my favorite picture of Gregor. The summer before we got married, he went back to his roots for a law internship in Namibia. He was born there and lived their for a few years when he was young. This picture is him standing on the beach at Swakopmund (I think that's how you spell it). We both love the water (SWIMMERS!), and this cloudy day at the beach along with my super hot husband is just about perfect!

Day 5: A photo of yourself from high school.

Hmmmmmm....I don't have one on my compy right now. I'll scan one sometime and post it...

Day 6: Animal you'd love to keep as a pet.

OAKLEY! He's my favorite animal! He's crazy and cute and the best dog I've ever known!

Day 7: Your Dream Wedding.

My wedding was my dream wedding. We had the best day. I can't believe we've almost been married a year already! Holy cow! The only think I think I would change about our wedding day was the fact that my aunt smashed the top layer of our wedding cake by adding extra roses. I ordered the amount of roses on top for a reason, but she thought it would look better with more. Not paying attention to the weight, the cake fell apart. I saw it, told someone to fix it and walked away. Thank goodness for creative family members! They doctored up the top layer and it looked even better than when we got it. Good job, peeps!

Day 8: Song to match your mood

I'm watching a video about the Autobahn, so something like Rhianna's "Shut Up and Drive".

Day 9: Photo of your Last Purchase.

OH YEAH!

Day 10: Photo of your Favorite Place.

I think I have a few favorite places, but the one I've been wanting to visit a lot lately is Kauai. Gregor and I went there for our Honeymoon. It was such a beautiful and chill place! We hiked and swam and snorkeled, it was amazing! I'd go back ANYTIME!

All caught up! Tomorrow I'll show ya'll what's in my make-up bag! THRILLING!

SUPER SATURDAY!

2011-03-05T20:25:00.000-08:00

Today was soooo fun! Gregor and I woke up early (for a Saturday) and headed north to Salt Lake to go to breakfast with my bff, Meghan at Ruth's Diner. Holy crap! I forgot how great that food is, there biscuits are like heaven! After a great couple hours with her, we said our goodbyes and headed down Emigration Canyon. I was so glad to get out of the house and out of Utah County for the day! Earlier this week I suggested that Gregor and I go to the Hogle Zoo today. He said it was a good idea, so we got it all planned. I told my mom she was invited and it turned out to be a really fun family outing. I only had my iPhone camera, but here are some of the cool adventures we had today.

Iguana

Crocodile. For some reason this guy gave me the major creeps!

Siamese Crocodile

Giant Tortoises

I had to include the "Wild Chicken"! These guys were all over Kauai when we went on our honeymoon!

He's hard to see, but there's a Siberian Lynx on the tree.

TIGERS! They were so lazy today! Just slept the whole time we were watching them.

See?

The giraffes were awesome. I want their eyelashes!

This guy was kind of a ham.

Merry Christmas?

Gray Wolf. LAZY!

Our Nation's Symbol

Camels. Watch out, they spit!

The happy couple. Mazel tov.

These hats were great. Candice looks extremely happy, huh?

All in all, a very fun time at the zoo. After that we went with Car and Log to Sports Den, Costa Vida, and REI. They were tired, so they left a little before us. We (I) was determined to be out and about today! After a quick dinner at my parents house, Gregor and I hit up Target with my parents to pick up a changing table for Hammer. Alas, they were out of stock, but I did get a really cute Maxi dress and some Zone bars. Totally successful!
I think I wore my poor husband out today, but I was so so so grateful to be moving, to be outside, and to be with my family today.

Day of LUV!

2011-02-15T14:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the best Valentine's I've ever had! Probably because I'm married and very out of the Single Awareness Day stage, (thank goodness!). I've had the stupid Swine Flu for the last week so I haven't been working since last Wednesday. Ugh, the joys of being sick and pregnant. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy! So anyway, after a semi-boring day at home, I finally got up the energy to run a couple errands. While I was having the Jetta's oil changed, I walked over to Kohls and found a couple little things for my sweet hubby. I got home and checked the mail and low and behold my copy of EAT PRAY LOVE finally came on Netflix! I've been dying to watch that movie forever, so I turned it on and waited for Gregor to get home.

When he walked in, he was holding a big bag of goodies from Bath and Body Works. Inside was a mixture of amazing things for a luxurious bath. If any of ya'll have ever been prego, you know that the bathtub quickly becomes one of your best friends! Gregor is so sweet! Everything he got smelled amazing and I was so stoked to take a bath that night! I think he liked his gifts, too! :)
Instead of rushing off to grab dinner like we planned, though, Gregor sat with me for a while and watched EAT PRAY LOVE with me. He's a very macho movie-watcher, so the whole chick flick thing is saved for time with my sisters, but in this case he sat and held my hand on the couch for half an hour before we decided we were too hungry to wait anymore.
Dinner was at the Blue Lemon, our traditional Valentine's place. As usual, the food was delicious and as we were eating, we got to watch a beautiful sunset through the big restaurant windows. Hmmm. We sat close and snuggled and kissed, I'm sure we were super obnoxious to the single girls sitting near us. Girls, I've been there! And when you finally find your sweetheart, I hope you show tons of PDA, too!
We rounded out the evening with a trip up to Jordan Commons to see The Green Hornet. Semi-funny, semi-crude. Not my favorite, but there were some funny parts.

Finally we got home, Gregor drew me a hot bath with my smelly wonderfulness and we just talked and laughed all night. I am so grateful for my amazing husband! I can't believe he's mine! I love you, Sweetie! Forever.

Year in Pictures 2010

2011-02-04T13:39:00.000-08:00

So I know I should have done this a couple months ago, but I just didn't have time and Gregor hadn't given me all of his pictures off his phone yet, so I couldn't. Sorry. Now that that's out of the way, I wanted to share some of the coolest pictures from 2010. Enjoy!!!

January 2010- Grendall (Gregor + Kendall) was born thanks to my brother-in-law, Karl. My uncle came up with a fictitious monster that supposedly looks like what our kids will look like...I don't think so.

February: Finally decided to go ahead and purchase the designer wedding dress I wanted. I found a maker in China who could duplicate my gown for $200! Holy crap, when does that happen?! I sent him all my measurements and he shipped the dress for free from China. I pulled it out of the packaging and it fit like a glove! Everything I ever wanted in a dress!!!

March 2010. Married the man of my dreams!!! Gregor and I were married at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple on March 20, 2010. Best day of my whole life! (His tux was amazing, btw!)

A couple days later, we finally made it to Hawaii for our honeymoon. We were gifted some standby tickets from a family friend, which was great except for the fact that the only days we could fly out there were "red" or no flight days. So we waited a couple days and had to drive to Vegas to fly to LAX then to Lehui. We had an amazing time down there and I would go back anytime. Seriously, ANY-time.

April 2010. Officially moved into our condo in American Fork. Its a cozy place, not too big, but definitely not too small either. We really enjoy it and love our neighbors and ward.

May 2010. I started managing the Ivory Ridge Swim and Tennis Club pool. Funnest (I know, not a word), but most stressful job in the world! This is a picture of my "brother" Seth. He was one of my 11 amazing guards that summer.

June 2010. What a fun month! We went to Texas at the beginning of the month for our Texas reception. We decided to go less formal with this one and have an African Braai instead. A braai is like an African BBQ. Best meat and food and company eva! Thanks again Greiner's for putting that on for us!

July 2010 was all sort of fun for us! We were both working a lot, but we found time to play, too! Lots of hiking and swimming and boating. This picture is from Yuba lake when we went with Car, Logan, and Collin. We met up with some friends down there and had an AWESOME time!

August 2010 was busy, busy! This first picture is from the Ben Folds concert in Park City. Such an AMAZING concert, he's a musical genius!

He performed with the Utah Symphony and even played one of our special songs for his encore. "The Luckiest". Awwww!

Gregor's great uncle passed away in Germany earlier in 2010. He was a pretty neat guy and had a lot of his estate sent over to the States to his family. These are pictures of some of the cool stuff we found!

Also in August we decided to head out to Reno to spend some time with family. Gregor's mom was out there handling some of her family's affairs and wanted to take a break with us by going to Tahoe for a day. We were happy to oblige and headed out on the long road to Nevada. This is a picture of me doing a handstand at the Salt Flats.

I could get this stupid picture to rotate for me, but this is the car we got to drive in for "Hot August Night's" It was a 1940 Chevy Sedan that had been remade into a taxi. The kids on the streets loved it and we were honking the horn and having a great time all night long!

TAHOE!!!!!

We also went up to Silver Lake for a family campout in August. Little did we know that the same day we took this picture we'd find out this....

Yep! Pregnant! Gregor was wondering why I was so moody and weird, so we grabbed a pregnancy test on the way home from camping. That was just about the biggest surprise of our lives! I think we experienced just about every emotion possible when we saw that little cross for the first time!

September 2010. School was back in session and we needed to play, so we got together with Carly and Logan, and our friends, Kristen and Justin for a night at Trafalga. I know its something you'd do in Junior High or for a lame college date, but we actually had a great time and we got to use the batting cages until we couldn't swing anymore. Great night!

In October 2010, we got to go up to Idaho to visit Erik and Hilary Greiner, Gregor's brother and sister-in-law. Hilary was just about ready to pop with her first baby, so we decided to give her a chance to relax with Kathy (my mother-in-law) while we took Erik shooting. I shot a muzzle loader for the first time that day. Wow, I think I'm lucky to still have a shoulder. A few days after we left, this little munchkin was born. Kalli Eva has stolen my heart and just about everyone else's I think!

We also decided to go as Clark Kent and Lois Lane for Halloween this year. We're huge Smallville fans, we both love Superman, and we had the shirt! It worked out great!

November 2010. When we were up in Idaho, Erik was amazingly generous and gave me his old Nikon d40x. I have been coveting that camera since the beginning of time and I finally had it! This is one of my favorite pictures that I've taken so far with it!

November also brought us some good time with friends and family. Katie Harvey Weaver is one of my oldest friends from swimming. She and her hubby live back east now, but came out for a visit. Here we are with Carly and Ashley Kleinman Dahl and all the kiddies.

Karl was also sent home from his mission on a medical release for having been poisoned by carbon monoxide. He's recovering well, and we are so glad that he's alive and healthy! We were lucky enough to get to pick him up and have him with us for Thanksgiving, too. Love you, Bro!

December 2010 was a fun, fun month! I was finishing up my student teaching for my Master's degree, so any fun breaks we could take, we did! Gregor won 2nd row tickets to the Jazz/Spurs game. I will never go to another game in the nosebleed section again, I swear it was so awesome! We also had some fun drives up the canyon to take pictures of the mountains covered in snow. We about froze our buns off, but the pictures turned out really cool.

We live just down the hill from the Mount Timpanogos Temple. I took this picture the same day we were coming out of the canyon. I love the contrast of the red leaves, the clouds, and the beautiful spires of the temple.

December also brought us some fun experiences. We were able to finally see pictures of our little boy, and I actually kind of started showing, too!

We started a fish tank at the end of October, its been a fun challenge to learn about tropical fish and get them to stay ALIVE in our tank. We've figured it out for the most part by now and this is our little 10-gal tank with a couple of our fish!

Gregor had shoulder surgery on December 17. He had a pretty gnarly bone spur and some inflammation from 15 years of swimming. Not a contact sport? My foot! He's recovering well and looking forward to a lot more training and fitness in the future!

Christmas was spent in Texas this year. It was the first time I hadn't spent Christmas with my own family, but the Greiner Christmas was incredible! I was so grateful to learn more about their traditions and spend Christmas out of the snow, even though it was still stinkin' cold outside!

Well, there ya go! A few fun pictures and a couple neat stories from 2010. Definitely one of the best and busiest years of my life! I am so grateful for the blessings Heavenly Father gives to me! I'm definitely looking forward to what 2011 will bring and hope you are, too!

Sick of Sick

2011-01-24T14:53:00.000-08:00

So for the last month, I have been sick with something. Sinus infection to the max for 3 weeks, leftover cold for one, and now I think I have the flu! Seriously! I think Hammer's doing great. He's movin' and squirming and happy (from what I can tell), while his Momma is not a happy camper. At least he's doing good. I'll see ya'll in the morning. I'm taking a wimpy Tylenol and going to bed.

Baby Bump!

2011-01-09T15:19:00.000-08:00

So I'm six months along and FINALLY I have something to show for the months of being nauseous and tired all the time! Baby Greiner is showing! I'm about 25 weeks along and we are SO excited to meet our sweet little boy. "Hammer" moves all the time now and keeps me in the bathroom almost 24/7, but I couldn't be happier about welcoming such a wonderful, big-spirited little boy into our lives! Enjoy!

See?! There's a little bump there!

"Hammer", sucking his thumb. He's totally got Gregor's lips!

Definitely a boy. Definitely.

Happy Birthday Gregor!

2010-12-31T20:15:00.000-08:00

Happy 27th Birthday, Sweetie! You are the sunshine in my soul! I hope you have had a fabulous day and a fabulous 26th year! I hope 27 is the bomb and that life only gets better. I love you with all my heart!

Cowboy Christmas!

2010-12-26T19:35:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas y'all! I'm in Texas to celebrate Christmas with the Greiner's. It's been a fun holiday down here, but not as warm I was hoping it to be! Gregor and I are staying in the apartment above the garage and without a heater, its been like a winter campout! Adventures, adventures! I need to get the pictures off of Gregor's camera, but I wanted to just say how grateful I am for my family and my Savior. I am so grateful that we can celebrate His birth and life during this season. I'm excited to teach our son about Him and have "Hammer" teach me some things about my Savior as well. Merry Christmas! Pictures coming soon!

Thankful

2010-11-28T19:59:00.000-08:00

Its that time of year again, not that I'm not grateful everyday for the blessings (and trials) I have in my life, but Thanksgiving is a fun time to remember some of those things I am truly thankful for. Here's my top ten...
1) The Love of My Life, Gregor. I really can't believe I lived 25 years on this earth without this man. He is my best friend, my sanity, my helper, my protector, my Love! I am so grateful for his desires to serve and be a good example. He keeps me on the straight and narrow and helps me be a better person in every way. I am grateful that he is the father of our baby boy. I know he's going to be an incredible dad. I love you, Gregor! With ALL my heart!
2) The Gospel of Jesus Christ. I forget sometimes how lucky I am to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is His church. It is His Gospel. I know that have a Father in Heaven who loves me and is guiding my life. I am grateful for my potential and for the opportunity to go to the Temple to learn more about who I really am. I am grateful for modern revelation and most importantly, for the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He is real and He love us.
3) My family. I think getting married has given me a different perspective of my family. I am so lucky to have grown up the way I did. I have the best parents and the closest siblings in the world. Each of them is an amazing example to me and show me how to be a better person. I am grateful for my new family, the Greiners and for their love and kindness toward me.
4) School. Yeah, I know. For as much as I complain about it, I really am appreciative that I have the opportunity to get a Masters Degree. I look around the world and see so many places where women are oppressed and don't have the chance to gain their educations. I know its not the dark ages anymore, but I am grateful that I live in a free country that allows me to pursue those things that will make me a better person. I'm grateful for my learning team at school and for the professors who have spent to much time on my behalf.
5) My home. Gregor and I have such a beautiful place to live. Its warm and safe and clean. I am so grateful for a roof over my head and food to eat and clothes to wear. We are so richly blessed, especially in the cold weather, to be safe and protected. I hope to be able to provide warmth and shelter to those who don't have it.
6) My body. Being pregnant this year has been such an eye-opening experience for me. Its harder than anything I've ever done, but also the most rewarding. I am so thankful to have a body that is healthy and strong and able to support the growth and development of this beautiful baby boy (nicknamed Hammer!). I am grateful that I can still run and be active. I can walk and talk and move the way that I want to, even with a growing belly! I hope to always take care of this great gift that my Heavenly Father has given me.
7) Family pets. We have been lucky in the Smith family to have great animals live in our home. Right now my parents are hosting my dog, Oakley, at their place along with Princess, their dog. Those two have bonded in such a way that I don't think I'm ever getting Oakley back, but I am grateful that they get along so well. I am also grateful for Scotch the cat and Peaches the cockatiel. They are funny animals and provide me with a lot of love. I'm also totally in love with Carly and Logan's giant puppy, PJ. He's a stud!
8) Transportation. We have been blessed to pay off our cars this year and it has been so nice to own something that has made moving from place-to-place so convenient. My aunt and uncle also let us use their truck during the time we were getting one car fixed. THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! It saved our lives!
9) The beauty of this world. Gregor and I have explored a lot of cool places since we've been together. Hawaii is beautiful, Utah is great. We've been to Tahoe, Idaho, and Texas. We've spent a lot of time outside enjoying nature and learning about the world around us. I look forward to exploring a lot more with my sweet Husband. Growing up in a very active home also taught me a lot about nature and loving the outdoors in spite of the season. There is beauty in everything, we just have to find it!
10) Music. Every year my sisters and mom participate in the Messiah. This music is so incredible and it brings the Spirit of Jesus Christ into the lives of those who hear it. I am so thankful for a mother who taught us to play and love music from a VERY young age, I will be forever grateful.
There's this years list. There are so many more things that I am grateful for in this world, but not enough room on this blog to list them all. Above all I am grateful for my testimony of Jesus Christ. He is my King, my Friend, and my Advocate with the Father. I know that He lives. I know that He is real. The Church of Jesus Christ is the true and living church on the earth. I am so looking forward to this Christmas season, and am truly thankful for all the amazing blessings I have.

Pictures of the year so far...

2010-11-13T20:47:00.000-08:00

I thought it would be fun to put up some actual pictures of some of the things I've been blogging about. Enjoy!

Its a BUCKET! At Yuba Lake

Car's happy about something

Hardcore

Showing a little love at the Salt Flats on the way to Tahoe!

Random Wedding picture my aunt Jenn took and my sister Kate edited. Not too shabby, eh?

Shout out to my happy Moob-ers!!! Handstands forever, baby!

Yeah, he's a babe and he's mine!

Clouds and salt...just a little fun photography

We saw some sweet old cars at Hot August Night in Reno. LEGIT!

Pretty. I wouldn't mind me one of these.

My first time shooting a 22-250. I was a little nervous if you can't tell.

Beautiful day in Idaho. My man knows how to use a gun. Good ol' Rancher boy!

Ken, Harv, Car, and Smash. Kids attached. Old swim team buddies never go out of style!

OAKS! Best dog in the world!!!

Log. Wow.

Ky as morphman. Seriously the best costume eva!

Lois Lane and Clark Kent, I mean, Superman!

She might've been a redneck...Like their tats?

"Great SCOTT!" It's Marty McFly! Great costume, Beaner!!!

My very amateur, un-edited photography. I still like it, though.

Charming little bridge in AF

The most gorgeous dog in the world, Princess. She lives up to her name.

New Hair...Possibly?

2010-10-29T11:19:00.000-07:00

Natural Blonde

Bad lighting, but its like 3 shades darker

Darker blonde? Maybe. I tried a rinse last night, trying to go super dark brown, but this is what came out. I like it, but I'm naturally a ton lighter...Hmmmm...Help?

Dearest...

2010-10-25T10:55:00.000-07:00

Dear 1st Trimester,
It has been an incredible 14 weeks, as well as a horrible 14 weeks. How excited I was to find out that we were going to have a baby! How cool to have our first and second doctors appointments and learn that our baby is happy and healthy. How neat to hear this little child's heartbeat! How fabulous is it to plan for the future and have your family buy you cute baby things?
On the other hand, you have made me feel more rotten that ever. I have been through countless swim practices, long rehearsals, painful runs, and terrible sicknesses, but you, my Dear, take the cake. I hate feeling nauseous every day and wanting to puke my guts out on an hourly basis. The exhaustion is unlike anything I have ever faced before in my entire life, EVEN after SIX HOURS worth of swim practices + school + work. Seriously!
All-in-all, I guess I have to be grateful for you in the end. Every good thing has to start somewhere, and having a baby is definitely a good thing! So thank you, 1st Trimester, for all the good and bad times. See ya later. A lot later.

~Kendall

Student Teaching and Auntie Kens!

2010-10-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

I am officially at the beginning of the end of my Master's program! Halle-freakin-lujah! I am SO excited to be done and I will NEVER go to school again. The elusive PhD holds no value for me right now, or probably ever for that matter, but it will be nice to be a Master of Secondary Education. Right now I'm student teaching for 3 mentor teachers at AFJH. So far its been a whirlwind of chaos, but so much fun. I wish I was getting paid for it. Oh, well.
In other news, I'm an AUNT!!! My sister-in-law, Hilary just had a baby girl! Kalli Ava Greiner was born last Tuesday and she is a BABE! I'll get pics posted asap, the picture upload is broken right now. We went up to Idaho a couple weekends ago, hoping the baby would come while we were there, but the stinker came two days after we left! I can't wait to meet her in person, she makes me excited for our own little baby to arrive!
Finally, speaking of BABIES, we got to hear our kids heartbeat last Wednesday! I can't tell you how amazing it was to hear the beautiful sound of the child that Gregor and I have helped in creating! The heartbeat was so much faster than I thought it would be! About 160 bpm, no wonder I'm tired all the time! This kid is running a marathon in my uterus! Ha!
Finally, finally. My little sister, Kate, had to have an emergency appendectomy a couple weeks ago. She was super sick and in the hospital for almost a week. She's home now and recovering, but I know your prayers would be appreciated. Thanks ya'll!!!

Updates and Schtuff...

2010-09-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

Thanks, all y'all for the kind comments about being prego. I'm really excited to have a baby around, it'll definitely be a cool and very humbling experience. I'm really just praying that the nausea takes a hike soon, it's been interfering with work and school and life...I HATE IT!
Well, since the last post, Gregor and I have celebrate our 6 month anniversary! I am so amazed that I have this man in my life. He is the gravy on my mashed potatoes (which is what we had for dinner that night. Cravings for KFC anyone?) I love him more than anything, seriously. How did I get so lucky? For our anniversary, we went for a little 4-mile run together. I was SO excited that he went running with me. Being a swimmer, running really isn't his cup of tea, but he totally rocked it and we had a really good time exploring AF together. Then, like I said, we hit up KFC for some mashed potatoes and gravy. I should have just bought a huge thing of that, its all I really ate. Then we headed to Orem to look at a new computer. Our Dell is slowly, but surely eating trash, so we decided on a little Macbook Pro. I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! Mac's totally win in my book, I hate PC's with a passion.
Finally, I have to admit my passion for Smallville. Who knew this amazing television show would hook me so thoroughly? Gregor loves it, too. We just finished Season 4. I love it. That Clark Kent gets me every time. Until next time!

I'M ALIVE

2010-09-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

So dearest blogger friends, I am here. My blog has had a glich in it for the past forever and I haven't been able to see anything on it! So frustrating! I'll give ya'll a quick update...
The end of July was fun. Lots of working and playing. Gregor and I enjoyed a lot of time with family and even got a visit from his mom on her way to Reno to help her family. She is the coolest lady, I love her! About a week after she left, she called Gregor and asked us to come out to visit her over the weekend and spend some time in Tahoe. That was a no-brainer, so we figured out the work thang, and left that Friday night to get to Reno. We got there late and stayed with Gregor's cousin Stephanie and her husband Josh. They are a hoot! We had a great time and spent a lot of time in the sun and also got to cruise in a 1940 Chevy for Hot August nights. SO SO SO FUN! I'll try to get some pics up soon.
I'm still finishing up my Masters degree and working tons, so life has been busy. Gregor is working for a web-hosting company and will soon start in on working for a family business. We're excited to be a part of building a company and being part of something fun. We've spent tons of time hiking and camping, too. We hike a least once a week and went camping up Silver Lake with my family for an over-nighter. It was super fun to hike up there in the dark and laugh all night with my siblings. I love those people!
Finally, we have a surprise! We're expecting! I'm super nervous and super nauseous, but we're both really excited to be parents! I'll keep everyone updated as the pregnancy goes along...I'm only about 8 weeks, so there's plenty of time to blog about it! I hope everyone is having a fabulous day!

4 MONTHS!

2010-07-20T18:18:00.001-07:00

Today is our 4 Month Anniversary! And in recognition of this wonderful day, I am going to blog about this past weekend! YEA!!!
Last weekend we decided to take a couple days off work and away from our norms and chillax. We went down to Yuba lake with Car and Logan Peterson and my brother, Collin, for a weekend of camping, dutch-ovening, boating, wakeboarding, water skiing, and SUNSHINE! It was fabulous! We spent all day on the lake, and then Gregor and I spent the night on a blow-up mattress in the truckbed on our two-man -5 degree sleeping bag in the desert. Needless to say, I didn't sleep AT ALL that night! But, the stars were incredible and sleeping outside with my Sweetie was a fun experience. Dutch oven ribs and coca-cola brownies aren't too shabby either!
After our little camping/boating excursion, we headed home, cleaned up and headed up to Park City for Ben Fold and the Utah Symphony. HOLY CRAP! He is freakin' amazing! It was such a great end to a great weekend. Ben's encore piece was "The Luckiest" which was one of our wedding songs, so we were pretty excited about seeing him!
Happy quarter of year, Baby! I love you and thanks for going on this adventure with me!

Kate the Great!

2010-07-01T19:05:00.000-07:00

Today is my little sister Kate's 22nd birthday. In honor of this amazing lady, I thought I'd tell you 10 things I love about my little Katie Rae.
1) She is freakin' GORGEOUS! She's got these kitty-cat eyes that can floor just about anybody and a killer smile to match. AND she's single! CRAZY!
2) Kate is an observer. She is so great to go to when you're not understanding a situation, cause she's watched everything and can give you an outsiders opinion. She saved my relationship with my boyfriend (now husband) on several occasions. Thanks!
3) She is the hardest worker I know, besides my mom. I guess her observation power reflects what she learned growing up.
4) She's an amazing listener. I can't tell you how many times I've vented to Kate about EVERYTHING!
5) She's a girly-girl. Kate always has cute clothes, awesome make-up, and she's a whiz with a curling iron. She did my hair and make-up for my wedding. Yeah, she's awesome.
6) Kate is CHILL. She's fun to hang out with and is cool to try pretty much anything whether its sports, movies, dances, shopping, anything. So fun!
7) She's a night owl. Kate and I have stayed up til 4 am on MANY occasions. Just talking.
8) She's truly one of my very best friends. I'm so grateful that my siblings are my favorite people to be around. A lot of people don't have that. Kate makes it easy.
9) Kate is a GENIUS. She's struggled with school, but she's one of the most well-read people I have ever known. She's always reading something new and interesting.
10) Katelyn Rae Smith is just an all-around AMAZING sister. She'd give you the shirt off her back (or the lipgloss from her purse) at the slightest inference. She's generous and wonderful and the best 3rd girl in the Smith family EVER!
Happy Birthday, Kitty! I LOVE YOU!!!

The Braai

2010-07-01T14:18:00.000-07:00

My awesome Parents-in-Law threw us a Texas reception the beginning of June. Being from Namibia (Africa), they decided to keep things a little more casual and host a Braai (an African-style BBQ) instead of a big dressy event. (THANK YOU!) It was great to spend some time in Texas, I love it more every time I'm down there. I got to meet a bunch of the wardies and Greiner family friends, too! My whole side of the family came down to Texas as their summer family vacation, so they got to come also. It was so fun and very authentic. We had the most amazing food, great company and a beautiful setting (the Greiner's backyard). I think my favorite part was watching X-Men Origins after the party outside on Karl's flat screen. Amazing! Thank you so so so so so much to everyone that helped. It was such a great time and Gregor and I were so grateful to have it! LOVE YA'LL!!!

Here are some pics from the Braai. Enjoy!My Mama and sister Kate before the Braai getting things started.Hilary and Kathy. Aren't they cute? Hilary's baby is due in October. First Greiner grandkid!My Dad and Opa. They were buds right off the bat.Some of the spread. We had the best food there. The decorations were pretty awesome. The pictures don't do them justice.Papa making the gouda and tomato sandwiches on homemade bread on the homemade grill. Holy crap, I love Texas.Meeting people was pretty fun, but I think I wanted to spend more time next to my cute husband. The picture-through-the-window effect is pretty cool, right?Real African flowers. I can't remember what they're called, but they're awesome!

Father's Day

2010-06-24T10:19:00.000-07:00

Gregor has officially joined my family. Phone-wise, at least. Ha. We decided to buy a family plan from AT&T so he could open up a line for his parents Sprint plan. Good decision. But, he needed a new phone, so what better than to get him the best, right? Behold, the new iPhone 4G!
Pretty, huh?
We ordered it the first day it came out and got it yesterday. It is SO COOL! Definitely the best one yet. It was 200 bucks, well worth it, so HAPPY FATHERS DAY, SWEETIE! Oh, and Happy 3 months, too!

ST. GEORGE!!!

2010-05-25T08:12:00.001-07:00

The original plan was to go camping in Moab, but the wonderful weather over the weekend pursuaded us to head south to Car and Log's grandparents "winter home" in S.G. I have a bunch of pics on Gregor's camera that will come along with our Hawaii pics that I promised so long ago... Next post, I promise!!! Get excited people!!!

2 Months

2010-05-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know these are small margins in the grand scheme of things, but today is our 2-month Anniversary! Yea! Another month! I love you more and more everyday, Gregor. Thank you for being you and for loving me back! Here's to Eternity!!!

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

2010-05-19T13:03:00.000-07:00

I went to practice this morning at 5 am with Gregor. This is what I looked like for the majority of the practice. But, I didn't drown. A small victory. Wahoo.PS. I had my fastest 10k run EVER on Monday. 45.00! Now I gotta do it in an actual race. Can do. Can do.

ME EYE!

2010-05-17T11:59:00.001-07:00

UGH! Contact wearers, you feel my pain...Has one of your contacts ever RIPPED in your eye? It hurts like hell and then when you take it out, you're blind in one eye for the rest of the day? AWESOME! My depth perception is sooo off! I'm in class with my students with one eye closed, trying to focus. It probably looks ridiculous. Oh, well. I've already fallen into the "She's kind of a weird teacher" category. No worries.

It's Thursday, again.

2010-05-13T09:07:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned I hate Thursdays? Oh, yeah. I did a post on it last week. Ugh. I hate that I don't get to see my husband from 7:40 am til 10:30 pm, or even be home at all for that matter. I go to work, go run, today I have to go pick up uniforms for my guards, and then go to school early to knock out our final group presentation and then present it in 4-hours worth of class. AHHHHHHH! I WANT TO GO BACK TO KAUAI RIGHT NOW!!! I guess I'd take any vacation...I'm just super burned out of EVERYTHING! K, I'm being super negative...Here are 3 positives for today...
1) Tomorrow's Friday. (Always a good thing)
2) I have an interview for a big girl teaching job tomorrow. Yea!
3) After tonight, I'm taking a whole MONTH off of school. Bigger Yea!

2 more weeks of teaching, last night of school for a while and tomorrow's date night! SWEET!

Happy Mothers Day!

2010-05-10T07:51:00.000-07:00

I have the best Mom in the world! She has been my best friend for as long as I can remember. Its been such a fun journey growing and learning from her over the years. She has always been there even when I've been a turd and a huge pain in the butt. Thank you, Mom! Not only are you one of the most accomplished musicians I know, you are changing lives on a daily basis for the better. Your students adore you, I was glad I got to see that this weekend. Thank you for teaching me to be a good person, to live life to the fullest and to love without hesitation. Thanks for giving me 5 amazing siblings and helping us to realize how important we are to each other. Thank you for teaching me the Gospel of Jesus Christ and giving me the stepping stones to develop my own testimony. Thank you for loving me, taking care of me, and feeding me and my husband on more than one occasion. Thank you for loving Dad and showing me what it takes to make a marriage successful. You are my Hero/Role Model/Example/Best Friend. I love you forever! Happy Mother's Day!

I also have a lot of love for Kathy, Gregor's mom. Thank you, Ma, for raising the greatest man in the whole world! He is the love of my life! Thank you for your love and for accepting me so readily into the Greiner clan. You are a beautiful, strong and very capable woman. I love you!Aren't they beautiful? These two gorgeous gals are my Moms! Kathy and Shauna.

This is for Zach

2010-05-07T07:58:00.001-07:00

Haha! Zach this post is totally for you. Last night in class I successfully used the movie Mean Girls in context. I swear this is probably the iconic movie of our friendship, so I was stoked to use it in a public setting. We were talking about Affirmative Action in class and how it has almost caused reverse discrimination in America. The first thoughts that popped in my head were these from Mean Girls:

Karen Smith (talking to Cady Harren): "...If you're from Africa, why are you white?"
Gretchen Wieners: "Oh my gosh, Karen! You can't just go around asking people why they're white!!!"

I shared my thoughts and my professor actually used it to carry on the discussion. Major points to Betch and Deck! I WILL be watching that movie sometime this weekend just to reminisce! Love ya, Zaaaaaa!

THURSDAY:(

2010-05-06T17:23:00.000-07:00

I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE Thursdays. Ugh. Hate 'em. I did NOT want to go to the Junior High today. I did NOT want to go workout. I did NOT want to hurry to eat dinner. And now I really really REALLY do NOT want to be at the U of P sitting in class for the next 4 hours. Ya know what I want to do??? Peace out to Kauai again with my husband. That's it. Go and relish in the beauty of the island, sit on the beach and play in the surf, eat a tropical and yummy dinner, then curl up on a warm bed with a cool fan blowing above and watch the Food Network while snuggling with my Sweetie. Hmmmmm...sounds good.

Hi-de-ho!

2010-05-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, the Greiner family needed to get away from Utah county...so we did. To Rexburg, ID. Before ya'll roll your eyes and say that Rexburg is just as bad, if not worse, than Utah county, we have family up there and seeing them was so so so refreshing and worth it for a University of Utah diehard being in BYU-Idaho territory. Erik (Gregor's brother) and Hilary Greiner live up there while Erik is going to school for engineering. Hil's pregnant and has been super sick her whole pregnancy. Sincer Gregor and I are the only family within about 1000 miles, we packed up the car and drove the 4 hours up to Idaho. WHAT A WEEKEND! We got up there and Erik and Hil took us to this hole-in-the-wall diner called Big Juds for burgers. They make these HUGE 1-lb burgers that feed 4 people along with fries, drinks and homemade ice cream. HEAVEN! Seriously, one of the best burgers I've ever had and the bun! Holy crap...amazing! We got home and I wasn't feeling too hot, so I went upstairs and passed out. The next day I was still feeling super crappy, but Hilary was having a "good" day (meaning she wasn't upchucking everything that hit her stomach), so we decided to go for a walk and see what the boys were up to in the Weld Shop. It was pretty cold up there, but we took it in stride and had a good walk. By the time we got home though, I was DONE! I felt so disgustingly sick and exhausted all stinkin' day. Sheesh! The whole point in going up there was to help Hilary and Erik and then I'm the one falling apart. I took a 4-hour nap after Hilary and I made stuffed shells for lunch. That was an adventure in itself, but whatever! We hit up the grocery store after naptime and I just wanted to die the whole time we were there. What is going on with me??? Finally, it hit my head that I'm hypoglycemic and a little anemic and I hadn't eaten any protein all day...so guess what we had for dinner? STEAK! YUM! I'm usually not the biggest fan, but in this case it was amazing and I felt tons better afterward. Sunday, we went to Sacrament meeting with them, left early cuz Hil puked in the rockgarden outside, took a nap, ate an amazing lunch, then headed back down to Utah. Even though I didn't feel super hot the whole time we were there, it was so nice to get away from the stress we've been feeling lately. Gregor was super funny the whole time and I feel rejuvinated fo sho! I love you Erik and Hil! You guys are awesome! Thanks!

School

2010-04-30T07:26:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. I still need to blog about Hawaii. I will, I promise. I'm trying to get Gregor to get the pictures of his camera, because a post about Hawaii without pictures is like a warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie without milk! (Hungry, now?) Anyways. I wanted to blog about school a little bit. I am taking an ELL (English Language Learning) class in my Masters program right now. I can't tell you how great this class has been. My teacher is from Belgium and he's truly been an inspiration to me. I have a student in my Junior High class who is an orphan from Haiti. This kid is great! He/she is learning a brand new language, has moved to a completely new culture and has a brand new family, but is learning quickly and keeps a smile on his/her face (I don't want to give too much info, my blog isn't private). I'm so grateful to play a small role in the lives of my students. I'm inspired to be better, to be more passionate, and to be more involved in the learning processes of the children I teach. I love these guys! I do have to remind myself here and there, but really I am so lucky to do what I do.

Happy Graduation!

2010-04-27T08:17:00.001-07:00

Gregor graduated on Friday. Technically he was already done having finished up his classes in December, but he walked with the Political Science Department on Friday and I couldn't be prouder! The college of family and life sciences (I think that's what his college is called, Go BYU for having weird names for the Poli Sci dept.) is HUGE! We were there for over 3 hours waiting for him to walk across the stage and pick up his "diploma" (the real one already came in the mail, but for the sake of the situation, I was so excited!). I was glad that my mom and siblings could come. In typical Smith family fashion, we entertained ourselves very well by people watching and making fun of the speakers. So mature. Kyle and I got to go down to the floor to take some pictures as Gregor walked across the stage and I was glad to get a kiss from my favorite graduate. Congratulations, honey! You're awesome! Now on to the future!

One Month

2010-04-20T07:17:00.000-07:00

Today is officially our one month anniversary! It's kinda dumb to celebrate such a small margin of Eternity, but I want to. :) So here are 31 things I love about my husband, Gregor.
1) He loves my cooking
2) He does the dishes all the time
3) He always has to be holding my hand, touching my leg, hugging me. I love it!
4) He works so hard and is concerned about being a good provider.
5) He honors his Priesthood
6) Gregor loves to read and reads anything!
7) Nothing grosses him out
8) He's willing to try new things
9) We can walk around Cabela's or Sportman's holding hands and he teaches me about knives and guns
10) He puts up with my Diet Coke habit
11) Best. Kisser. Ever. Have you seen his lips???!!!
12) I love swimming with him. We'll go to swim practices or just go workout together. Awesome!
13) He is an AMAZING swimmer! Olympic trials, baby!
14) Gregor loves to serve in any capacity. I love hearing his goals about helping people
15) He's travelled all over the world and wants to take me everywhere he goes from now on
16) Speaks 3 languages, graduated from BYU, knows tons about EVERYTHING, and always has a good story
17) Gregor loves being in the mountains, or on the beach, anywhere outdoors. ME TOO!
18) He laughs with me about all the stupid stuff I do
19) He understands how much I hate carrying a purse, so he carries all my stuff in his pockets
20) He listens to me
21) Family is number one to him, he'd do anything for them
22) He makes me feel safe
23) His body temperature is approximately 100.3 degrees. No more cold hands and feet!
24) The way he says "I love you" in his deep voice
25) I love watching him play with my cousin/niece, Kenzie. He's gonna be a great dad
26) He'll watch a good chick flick with me. I got him to watch the new 'Pride and Prejudice'. He liked it!
27) Gregor loves music and supports my musical family
28) He and Oakley get along perfectly!
29) We can just go drive around and he's perfectly content.
30) He wants to be successful in everything he does, including loving me
31) I love him more than anything! He's my best friend FOREVER!

Its been a beautiful 31 days being married, Honey! I love you with all my heart. Here's to a gazillion more!!!

WEDDING!

2010-04-13T08:45:00.000-07:00

I guess it's about time to blog about our wedding! Yea! Well, I started the day at 6 am, got showered and was in the hair/makeup chair by 6:30. Katelyn, my little beautician sister, did my hair and makeup for the big day. She is AWESOME! Thank you forever! I loved it! Gregor picked me up at 9:15 to head up to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. I was so nervous, but so excited and did I mention nervous?! We were both really happy and excited to be going to get sealed forever! The night before the Greiners hosted a beautiful wedding dinner at Rodizio's where Gregor had given me a gorgeous ruby and pearl necklace. I gave him a two-man sleeping bag for a wedding gift. (Hey, all the guys I talked to said it was a great idea!). Anyways. The dinner was wonderful and we had our family and friends there. Perfect. Now back to the wedding day. So we got to the Temple and went in for all the hoopla. The sealing was beautiful, my grandfather, Jack Vogl, sealed us as we were surrounded by our family and friends. I think pretty much everyone cried at least a little, the Spirit in the room was incredible! I'm so happy to be Kendall Marie Greiner now! Gregor is so amazing and I'm so grateful that we could be sealed for Time and All Eternity in the House of the Lord. It's the ONLY place to be married!
After the sealing, we took about a MILLION pictures (Thanks, Erik) and then left to go home and chill for a couple hours before the reception. My parents put on a Smith-family luncheon for all the friends and family around and I think Gregor and I both can tell you that it was much appreciated! We were STARVING after not really eating anything in the morning due to all the butterflys in our stomachs. We even got a nap in, can you believe it?! Great day!
The reception started at 6pm that night and let me tell you, it was so so so beautiful in the chapel! We had a family friend, the amazing Debbie, who also decorated Car's wedding, come and do up the cultural hall in Red, Black and Cream everything! We had tons of pictures on display, a gorgeous wedding cake, and roses everywhere! I was so pleased with how everything turned out! Such a perfect day! We got to see a bunch of old friends, family, and wardies, I was lovin' it! We left at 8pm to head to Salt Lake to the Anniversary Inn where my parents had gifted us one of their themed rooms, but we were so hungry after the reception (yeah, tons of food, but like the bride and groom get to eat anything!) we went through the drive-thru in our wedding clothes! I think we threw off the people working there, but oh, well. That salad was AMAZING!
All in all, the best day of my entire life! I'm so grateful to be married to the man of my dreams! He's truly my best friend and I love him with my whole heart and soul. Thank you to everyone who came, helped, gave support, gave gifts, and love to us. We love you all!

Here are some pics! Enjoy!
At Rodizio's. I think everyone ate plenty. Thanks Ma & Papa!The Official Walkout! Mr. & Mrs. Greiner!So happy! The Temple let me borrow this awesome cape that matched my dress and the windy day perfectly.The whole crew. I have a HUGE family!The rings on the bouquet shot. A definite wedding must-have.Ha! Dress-$250, Makeup-$25, Bouquet-$20. Being a Smith girl- PRICELESS!Here's our Temple, baby! Oquirrh Mountain. Best place in the world!These shoes literally MURDERED my feet. So as soon as I could I took them off and just chucked them across the pathway by the Temple. They landed this way and Erik thought adding the bouquet would be a nice touch. I love this picture!MINE! He's such a babe, huh? Luckiest girl in the world!We had the coolest cake! I thought it looked even better after we had to make some last-minute modifications! Gregor totally nailed my nose with the frosting, and wouldn't let me get to him until I pouted a little. Then I smeared it on his nose!Getting jazzed up to throw the bouquet. My mom made me throw it 3 times, because the first two tries weren't good enough!I love my expression here. Oh, boy! He's touching my leg!!! This is the classic "What the HECK did you do to my car???" face. Gregor had a much better reaction than I did. So patient!

The Honeymoon pictures from Hawaii are coming! Next post, baby! Love ya'll!!!

MARRIED!

2010-03-21T21:52:00.001-07:00

It's Official!!! We're hitched!!! Details of the wedding and reception to come! Love you all!

A Couple Bridals for Your Enjoyment

2010-03-16T08:38:00.000-07:00

We took our bridal/groomals in 2 photo sessions with Marianne, THE BOMB! She is seriously so incredibly amazing at what she does! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Here are some of the final products!

SATURDAY!!!

I'M GETTING MARRIED SO SOON!

2010-03-11T07:29:00.000-08:00

Wow! It's March 11th and I'm getting married on the 20th. That's technically 9 days, but I don't count the 20th as a day. That's like go-time. Holy cow! I am SO SO SO SO SO SO EXCITED!!!

10 Day Countdown...

2010-03-09T07:28:00.001-08:00

Begins.............NOW!

Moving

2010-03-04T09:44:00.000-08:00

I have a definite love/hate relationship with moving. Over the years I've acquired tons and tons of crap and moving it is NOT fun. Yesterday we moved into our new condo. It's so beautiful and fun and perfect for us, but sheesh! There's always a fair amount of stress that goes into packing up all your belongings and moving them to a new place. Most of my stuff from my apartment in Temecula has been in storage since moving back to Utah, so we had to get all of that out and moved into our new place. I'm really grateful though to have furniture and pictures and things to fill a home. Our house is going to be so cute and cozy, I'm so grateful that we have it. Gregor is so awesome, he worked his butt off yesterday to get things going. Thanks to everyone who helped, especially Shammah for feeding the masses after we got everything inside. It was DELICIOUS!!! And if ya'll want to give some more service, come help me unpack at your leisure! :)

Poetry

2010-03-02T07:33:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was sick, a horrible problem,
My lungs were all scrambled, no idea how to solve 'em.
To the doctor I went, though with much hesitation,
Shots and weigh-ins are freaky, stress my situation.
But the doctor was nice, and I weighed less than I thought,
No shots were given, just needed some medicine I bought.
The cough syrup was nasty, but helped me to nap,
On a cute boy's chest, Gregor must think me a sap!
I feel so much better, truly healed from affliction,
Now I must teach mid-schoolers, give them some attention.

(Yeah, I know its not very good, but whatever. I really feel tons better!)

DICE!

2010-02-22T11:17:00.000-08:00

I think most people know my sister, Candice. She is INCREDIBLE! Not only is she one of my favorite people in the whole world, but she's a KICK BUTT swimmer (backstroker) for Brigham Young University. She's only a sophomore, but she's a team leader and has won almost every backstroke and medley relay event she has been in throughout high school AND college! Candice is headed off to the Mountain West Conference Championships this week and is in the top 3 in all of her events! For those of you who don't know much about swimming, that placing is AWESOME! She's shooting for NCAA's this year both individually and in her relays. If she makes it to NC's, she'll miss the wedding, but ya know what?! GO FOR IT! If I would have made NC's during my career, I'd have missed my OWN wedding for it. Seriously, that's how big this meet is. It's faster than the Olympics a lot of the time. So anyways...Candice~Good Luck, Sista. You are a STAR! Knock 'em dead! And, even though I truly am a Ute at heart, GO COUGARS!!!

Elope?

2010-02-19T13:14:00.000-08:00

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay. Feel better now. Sheesh! I love how great things happen and then all the stupid stuff comes up. We've changed temples to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple instead of Manti. It's closer and everyone that I want to have come can come if we get married there. Sure, great. No worries on that. Decorations- NOPE! Cancelled. UGH! Reception Friday? - Probably not, Saturday instead. Cake? Great question. I thought I was so planned, but apparently not. All the little things are falling through. At least we have a solid temple date. Oquirrh Mountain, March 20th baby!!!

MARCH 20TH!!!

2010-02-18T10:11:00.001-08:00

IT'S OFFICIAL! For those of you who know that we've had a couple factors that could possibly change our wedding date, they are no longer an issue! WE ARE GETTIN' HITCHED ON MARCH 20TH IN MANTI! YEA!!!

SUNDANCE!

2010-02-17T12:56:00.000-08:00

No school Mondays = Awesome day for Kendall! Carly and I spent our teachers day off on the slopes at Sundance. What an amazing day! Carly's becoming quite the skier now that swimming's over and she's married a ski instructor. I try really hard to snowboard, am totally NOT good, but I can get myself down the mountain. It was just such a wonderful day and I was so stoked I got to spend it with Car. I've missed her a lot since she got married in October last year, we've been inseparable since she was born...I've been going through some serious withdrawals! She is my best friend and spending the day laughing at my crappy boarding, then watching her take out a kid on one of our runs, to taking on the back mountain...what a great day! We also got to chill with Logan a little bit, too. The three of us had a little lunch and a quick run before he had to back to teaching. Thanks to my awesome sibs for a great President's Day!

Kendall's ABC's

2010-02-12T13:01:00.000-08:00

I haven't done a tag post in a while, so here goes...

A - Attached or Single: Attached almost. I'm engaged, so that counts as attached?
B - Best Friends: Gregor, Megs, Sibs, Zach...
C - Cake or Pie: Hmmm, pie.
D - Day of choice: Saturday or Mondays with no school...3 day weekends ROCK!
E - Essential Item: Water bottle ooooor a Diet Coke. They're nutritionally equal, right? Haha.
F - Favorite Color: Crimson RED!!! (Go UTES!)
G - Gummy Bears or Worms: Gummy Bears. I really like stale cinnamon bears. YUM!
H - Hometown: AF, UT.
I - Indulgence(s): Dark chocolate ANYTHING. And Diet Coke.
J - January or July: July. Given.
K - Kids: You mean besides the 4 I have staying up in Murray? Oh. No. Okay. :)
L - Life is incomplete without: FAMILY.
M - Marriage Date: March 20, 2010. It WILL be on this date!
N - Number of Siblings: 5. Carly, Katie, Candice, Kyle and Collin. I should add all the "adopted" sibs, too. BUT there's too many to count.
O - Oranges or Apples: Bolth. :)
P - Phobias or Fears: Dead fish. I know, its weird.
Q - Quotes: "We're gonna stay together, and we're gonna have FUN!" ~ My Mom.
R - Reason to smile: I'm in love with and about marry my best friend in the whole world! You'd be smiling, too!
S - Season: Summer/Fall. I love warm, sunny days, but when the leaves start to change and I get to wear my cute sweaters, I'm pretty happy, too!
T - Three goals for this year: 1) Get married, 2) Run a marathon, 3) Finish my Masters Degree.
U - Unknown fact about me: One of my ambitions is to be a bakery/cafe owner.
V - Very favorite store: The Buckle AND Borders.
W - Worst habit: Biting my fingernails. I can't stop!!!
X - X-ray or Ultrasound: Hmmmm, I loved getting Ultrasound on my elbow...its so warm and nice. X-rays usually mean I broke something.
Y - Your favorite food: Pizza. It's amazing.
Z - Zodiac: Gemini.

Happy Valentines

2010-02-10T09:37:00.000-08:00

I have the sweetest fiance ever! Gregor took me out yesterday for Valentines Day, (a bit early, I know), but the timing couldn't have been better! I had worked all day and was totally stressed out when he came and picked me up at the Junior High with a bouquet of roses. They smelled terrific! He took me home so I could change into something a little more dressy than school attire then took me to the Blue Lemon in Highland for dinner. SOOOOO yummy! We ate and ate then went for a drive around Cedar Hills and American Fork. It was such a cute and romantic evening, I am marrying a stud!!! Thank you Sweetie! I love you!!!

DRESS!

2010-02-09T07:15:00.001-08:00

I got my wedding dress on Saturday! It's sooooo beautiful, I'm stoked to wear it! It was custom made for me and it ROCKS! Just thought y'all should know. ;)

SCHOOL

2010-02-02T08:57:00.001-08:00

I've come to the conclusion that the sole purpose of public school is not education. Instead it's spreading diseases to as many people in the community as possible. Dirty little kids. Ew.

Boredom

2010-01-27T09:10:00.001-08:00

I have a love/hate relationship with my job. I love that I get to help kids become better students, but a lot of the time its sooooooo boring! The kids don't always need help and I'm not going to stand hovering over them all day especially when they're working hard. I just need a real teaching job, with curriculum and bigger classes (and more money), then I won't take pictures like this during class.

Engagements

2010-01-25T11:12:00.001-08:00

We took our engagement pictures last weekend and they turned out so beautiful! Thanks to Marianne for all your hard work! You are incredible, woman!!! Here's a few...

SWAMMER

2010-01-20T07:51:00.000-08:00

Wow. I had some sort of psychosis this morning and decided to get up at 4:50 am and go to HAST's morning workout. The method behind my madness? I'm sick of taking two showers a day. I shower in the morning before school then after I run or swim. It's drying my skin and hair out in the dry Utah weather and I hate having to get ready twice a day. So it seemed like a good idea. Workout itself was awesome. I really don't feel too bad in the water. AFTER practice, though, is a totally different matter. I am so TIRED!!! My eyes can hardly stay open and I still have pretty much a full day dealing with Junior High Schoolers. Sweet. Remind me how I did this for 15+ years???

15 Good Things about the 15th

2010-01-15T07:47:00.000-08:00

1) Thursday is OVER! I hate Thursdays. I have to go to work til 3, then I go straight to the gym at to run, then to Elementary Strings at 4, then to school for 4 hours in SLC. We did get out early last night, though. I guess that helped.
2) I bought my wedding dress this week!!! That's pretty darn awesome!
3) Gregor and I found our wedding bands this week, too!
4) Yesterday was my half-birthday! I didn't really get a chance to celebrate, but I bought myself a Diet Coke, so I guess that counts, right?
5) I have totally amazing students this semester! I'm really looking forward to working with them and helping their grades improve.
6) Gregor got a job this week! Way awesome! Congrats Sweetie!
7) My scripture study has gotten a lot better this week.8) I wrote 4 papers in 2 days and did pretty well on them.
9) Our engagement pictures are tomorrow!
10) Did you know that Kendall + Gregor = Grendel?! Hahahaha!
11) Apparently I've lost weight according to the teachers at AFJH. I haven't really noticed, but hey, I'll take it!
12) Running is becoming more consistent again. My legs aren't hurting as much and I'm slowly, but surely getting my mileage back up.
13) The fog this morning was beautiful! I felt like I was in Narnia or something.
14) I have successfully completed everything on my to do lists this week.
15) Its just a good day!

Updates

2010-01-11T10:38:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd give all y'all a quick update on life and stuff. The wedding is scheduled for March 20th in the Manti Temple. We have some other factors that might interfere with the scheduling, but for now that's the date! I'm so excited to marry Gregor! I love that guy!
School has started again and I'm back at AFJH teaching Guided Studies. I was being looked at for a full-time Health and PE position, but was not eligible for it because my mom works at the Junior High, too. I was disappointed, but my administrators are dead-set on helping me get a full-time gig by next year, so hopefully that works out soon. For now I'm loving my students and helping them get better grades. Motivating 12 to 15 year-olds is definitely a challenge, but they keep me on my toes and I enjoy what I do!
The running world has taken a hit because of swine flu and some injuries, which totally SUCKS! I'm going crazy dropping my mileage so freakin' low, but swimming a few times a week has helped. I'm thinking of paying my USA Swimming fee and competing this summer a little. I dunno, we'll see. Definitely going to get back on my marathon training program as soon as my hip feels better, I can't wait!!!
Wedding plans are starting to move. I'm buying my dress today and figuring out details of pictures, bridesmaids dresses, cakes, food, reception, etc. All sorts of good fun. I could seriously just get married and peace out with my honey and call it good, but I don't think the mom's would be okay with that. :) Oh, well.
I'm actually kind of liking winter this year. I know, weird huh? I've been snowboarding, sledding, snowshoeing and played outside a ton and I love it! Saturday was AWESOME! I went with Gregor, my sibs and some friends up to Logan and Carly's family's cabin at Sundance. I love that place! It's beautiful and big and warm and fun! We went snowshoeing around Sundance as a group. So fun and hilarious, too! Emily Morrison, a family friend, who's like 5 foot nothin' kept eating it hard core as we were hiking down. I could not stop laughing and fell a few times myself because of it! So funny! We ended up spending the night up there and woke up to a beautiful view of Provo Canyon. Man, we live in a gorgeous place! I love Utah!
Well, blogging world, life is good. And p.s. I got my In 'N Out on Saturday, too! Holy crap, it's amazing!

I want this.

2010-01-08T08:05:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's Friday. And yes, it's 9 o'clock in the morning, but I really, truly, seriously could go for one of these right now.
That's right. In 'N Out Double/Double Animal Style with fries and a drink. I haven't had it since moving back from Cali. Sad day. Good thing there's one in Orem and one in AF!!!

STRESS!!!

2010-01-06T09:11:00.000-08:00

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Okay, now I feel better.

Pics and such as...

2010-01-01T18:42:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures of our engagement day!!! Isn't he cute???!!!
Tired, but sooooo happy!
I've got a new sparkly!
Happy girl! Definitely the luckiest gal in the whole world!!!

Austin, Texas. 12/30/09. WOW!

2009-12-30T23:19:00.000-08:00

Dear Blogging World,
I'M ENGAGED!!! I can't believe it! I'm sooooo tired right now, but I have to write down my day before I go to sleep! Today Gregor and I decided to go down to Austin, TX to see his old UT stomping grounds. (I'm in Abilene, TX by the way visiting Gregor and his family) ANYWAYS...We left at 6 am and made it to Austin around 10 am. We drove straight the the University of Texas (Hook 'em!), looked at some of the campus and walked around a bit. We then drove over to the state capital to check it out. Gorgeous building and it was even better being with my sweetie! We checked out a few things around the capital then recieved a phone call from his mom that we needed to go to this pawn shop to look at a gun for her. I thought this was weird having to run errands while we were in Austin, but we took it in stride and ran down to this seedy little place across town. When we went in, Gregor told them who he was and they took us back into the office. I've never been to a pawn shop before and let me tell you, its everything you think it would be. CREEPY. Anyways, once we got back into the office, this guy (who in fact turned out to be Gregors diamond guy) handed me this rifle and Gregor a couple boxes of ammo. Little did I know, this little side trip happened so Gregor could pick up the ring and be discreet since he didn't have it yet. Sneaky! So then we drove back into town and went to Whole Foods where he said he wanted to buy me some flowers. I got a little suspicious that he would propose, but pushed it out of my mind because all week he's been saying that the diamond came in, but it would take a while to put everything together and ship it to the jeweler and blah, blah, so I didn't think the ring was coming for at least another week. Fooled me, huh? So after Gregor bought me this beautiful bouquet of orange roses (Hook 'em), we checked out another camping gear store in town. I was oblivious, I swear. I was just happy hanging out and Austin is BEAUTIFUL, so I wasn't thinking about anything to do with proposing. He had been talking about going up to Mt. Bonnell to get a good look at the Colorado River, so that was our next stop. We walked up a flight of stairs to get to this beautiful setting overlooking the river. It was so incredibly beautiful, I was just happy to see it! He made me put my stupid boots back on (I had taken them off, they were killing my feet) to go hike down a ways for a better look. He took me onto this little secluded path and when I looked over at him he was down on one knee holding a gorgeous diamond ring. Gregor told me that he loved me and then asked if I would marry him. All I could say for a second was "Seriously?" then of course I said yes! With all my heart, I said yes!!! I think I've been on cloud 1000000000 all day! We walked back down to the car (I think I should say Gregor pretty much had to carry me, I totally was weak in the knees!) and then we hit up the Salt Lick BBQ joint, just like any other recently engaged couple would :), for some seriously great chow! Then we hit the road back to Abilene. Long drive and long day, but so incredibly perfect! I can't believe I'm going to be Mrs. Kendall Greiner! I'm sooooo happy and so glad that its Gregor! He's the love of my life and I'm so grateful that he loves me, too! What a GREAT day!!!

Merry Christmas Run

2009-12-25T13:07:00.000-08:00

Today is Christmas! I love today! Collin and I woke up at 5:30 am to check out the loot, then crashed til about 8:30 when everyone got up and opened presents. I got sooooo much good stuff, but my favorite thing today was my new Asics Gel-Enduros. Holy crap, these shoes are amazing! Just because I could, I went for a 4.5 mile run around the winter wonderland known as American Fork. I felt like a million bucks! Those shoes were made to run, I was smiling like an idiot the whole time. Simple pleasures...Merry Christmas!!!

It's a Wonderful Life

2009-12-17T08:22:00.001-08:00

It's a Wonderful Life has always been my favorite Christmas movie. The story of George Bailey makes me cry every time. I walk away from that movie feeling grateful for my life and the blessings I have. Last night I was reminded a little about how wonderful my life really is.
-I have the most WONDERFUL man in the whole world! Gregor is so thoughtful, caring, loving, and fun! He pushes me to be better and makes me feel like a princess!
-My family is the greatest group of people I have ever known! I love that I can spend time with any of them and know it's going to be fun and meaningful. My mother's mantra will forever reflect the way we feel about each other, "We're gonna stay together, and we're gonna have FUN!"
-Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year! It makes me so happy to see families and friends coming together, people caring about others, and above all, remembering the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I am so lucky to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. The knowledge of the Gospel has saved my life in so many ways and I'm forever grateful for it!
I'm so glad to know that my life is worth while. Watching Wonderful Life always reminds me that I do make a difference. That my job, my talents, my personality, and my spirit are things that benefit those who know me and even some who don't! Merry Christmas!

It's a Wonderful Life

2009-12-17T08:22:00.000-08:00

The Case of the Missing Calculators

2009-12-15T07:49:00.000-08:00

I have 5 calculators for my classroom. These are NICE ones. They can graph, they can do fractions, and all the basic calculator functions. I have three brand-spankin' new ones and two oldies-but-goodies. Recently, two of my brand new calculators have gone missing. I know I didn't misplace them, and they aren't allowed outside my classroom. Hmmmm... Obviously some of my kids are taking them and losing them in the black holes also known as their backpacks. I have put note on my board for the last couple weeks asking for them back. I won't punish them, I just want them back. Guess what? They're not back yet. Bummer.

Thanksgiving update

2009-12-08T09:42:00.001-08:00

I just realized I didn't blog about Thanksgiving! Silly me! Well, here ya go. On Wednesday the 25th, Gregor and I went up to Salt Lake to get his mom, Kathy, who was flying in from Texas. I had seen her before, but never met her and was pretty nervous! She ended up being a complete joy to be around and made that whole meeting really smooth and fun. We took her down to AF to meet my family (who weren't home, big surprise) and then she went to Provo to meet up with an old seminary student while I got my butt in gear to pack. At around 3ish, we met up again, Kathy met my parents, Mark and Shauna, and then we hit the road to Rexburg, Idaho. The drive took a while, but I got to "dj" with my new iPod touch. Sweet! I was loving that I was sitting next to my sweetie and talking with him and his mom. They have a fun relationship, it was good to see him interact with her. After a few hours we made it to Erik and Hilary's (Gregor's brother and sister-in-law) where their youngest brother, Karl, was staying as well. Dieter (Daddy Greiner) couldn't make it, but we were thinking about him! We went to Appleby's for dinner, laughed the whole time then came home and headed to bed. Kathy and I shared a room and I was loving getting to know her. It was one of those situations that could have been really bad or really good and luckily it was great!
Thanksgiving day was awesome. I went for a freezing run out in the Rexburg countryside. It was gorgeous! After coming home and thawing, we got ready for dinner. Hilary made this HUGE 24-lb turkey for 6 people and we feasted like kings! I think everyone passed out after dinner for a while then we watched movies and chilled the rest of the day.
Friday, we hit up Idaho Falls for some shopping. Of course you go shopping on Black Friday! We didn't hit any of the early sales or anything, but we walked around the mall after an amazing dinner at Garcia's. Good day.
On Saturday, Hilary, Kathy and I went and did a session in the Rexburg Temple. It was so fabulous! Such a beautiful temple and it was great to spend time with those two great women! I'm so excited to get to know them more! After we went back to Idaho Falls so Karl could return something. I can't remember everything else we did. I remember I was super happy! I love spending time with Gregor! He's awesome!
Sunday we got up, went to church and then peaced out to Utah. Long drive, but it had been a great weekend so we didn't mind too much. I'm grateful that I got to have such a great time in Rexburg of all places! Happy Thanksgiving!

10 Things I've Learned or Remembered in the Last 24 Hours

2009-12-04T08:38:00.000-08:00

I'm going to copy Zach because I'm too tired to think on my own today.

1. Staying up til 3 am talking to your sister is wonderful, but tomorrow morning still comes early.

2. Purchasing online is not always the safest method of shopping.

3. I am a SWAMMER!

4. Stressing about things you have no control over just makes you more stressed.

5. El Pollo Loco is a very tasty and fairly healthy fast food alternative. Pollo Ceasar. Nice.

6. I have not dated the greatest boys in the past. Good thing I'm dating the best one now!

7. Oakley is a great foot warmer when he's asleep. He just lays on my feet with that little hot, furry body. We're both warm and comfortable. What a great pair we are!

8. The Eric Snider's rejected screenplays of Twilight and New Moon are super funny! Read them!

9. Even when you're wearing sweatpants, a fleece pullover and an arctic-rated coat, flip flops will NOT keep your feet warm in 12 degree weather.

10. DC in the bottle and a chocolate chip cookie can make anything better. :)

Cool Pics

2009-11-30T10:24:00.000-08:00

The Week in Pictures from Today is sooooo cool. Here are a few of my favorites from this week.