Thankful

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...

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?

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...

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!