Dearest...

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!

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...

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

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!

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!

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

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!