Dear Caleb,

Caleb,

Thanks for pursuing me, even when I'm not very nice.

Thanks for kissing my eyes when I have a bad headache.

Thanks for cleaning the house on your days off.

Thanks for encouraging me when I'm feeling down.

Thanks for making me laugh every. single. stinking. day.

Thanks for gifting me my first Bible 8 years ago today (wow)!

Thanks for being a kid at heart, and reminding me life isn't always serious.

Thanks for lighting my favorite pineapple candle before I come home.

Thanks for explaining movie plots to me when I'm totally lost.

Thanks for your morning texts.

Thanks for always making me feel safe.

Thanks for always cooking breakfast on Saturdays.

Thanks for being the most selfless person I know.

Thanks for being my best friend.

Thanks for being you.

You're amazing, and I not only LOVE you, I really, really like you, too!

-K

V day: Round 7

It was pretty crazy when I realized this was mine and Caleb's SEVENTH Valentines Day together! We, as usual, kept it pretty low key. No fancy evening was planned, and not a lot of money was spent...which is truly the way we like it.

Let me back up, our entire weekend was "just how we liked it". I mean, it couldn't have been more perfect. Not ONE thing we had to do at a certain time, no one we had to meet, it was just awesome. Whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. Typically most weekends that are free still have a few (even small) obligations. This one? Different story. We were thrilled!

We started the night off after work on Friday by ordering a pizza...and that was totally unplanned. If you know me, you know I love my pizza. So when Caleb was upstairs and we hadn't yet figured out dinner plans, you could say I was pretty happy to receive this smooth text while sitting on the couch...

Saturday we got ready early and headed to our local libraries used book sale. We scored quite a few awesome deals and even ran into Erin & Jared! We decided to meet back up later for games! Before that, we scored our free chipotle (and when we got there, ended up scoring 3 more free coupons...heck yes) and had ourselves a little day date.

Hilton Head-opoly!

Caleb and I decided on no gifts this year, but of course, my man didn't listen. His gift made me cry...so darn sweet. He framed a couple of his favorite wedding photos of us in an adorable frame with a bible verse about love. He is the best!!!

Sunday Caleb took me to a couple flea markets and we found some old vintage cameras (enter all the heart eye emojis). We had a gift card for dinner so we headed there and yes, we made it through the snow storm! We honestly had no idea it was going to be that bad out, so we're thankful we made it home safely. We passed a huge accident about every 5 minutes!

Once we got home, I decided to make some Red Velvet puppy chow and it. was. delicious!!!

I plan to post the recipe at some point, it was so tasty! The ingredients I bought could've probably tripled the recipe, but I'm thankful I didn't because I seriously would've finished it off! ;)

This weekend was seriously perfect. No real plans, but so much stinkin fun with my man! I hope everyone had a great weekend, too!

Valentines Day was FUN!

Our Saturday wasn't your typical Valentines Day. No reservations were made, nothing fancy happened...but we still managed to have a blast together! Caleb woke me up early and decided to get donuts (I swear, he knows the ways to my heart!)

We don't really do "big gifts" on V-day so I knew we'd be keeping it small... so I wanted to do something more personal for him. My gift to him was a print with some lyrics from the song he sang to me on our wedding day...my awesome SIL created it and I couldn't love it any more. He really liked it!

Besides the donuts, he gave me the neatest DIY book, as well as an Emily Giffin novel! He knew I was obsessed with her "Something Borrowed" series, & I thought it was sweet how he remembered. His catch was that I had to pick one project out of the DIY book and we'd spend our evening doing it.

So, we were off to the Flea Market then Ikea. We decided that (while we had fun at the flea market) we like it much better in the summer. The outdoor vendors that obviously aren't there in the winter, are the ones who carry all the neat antiques/etc.

We had a gift card to Chili's so we had an early dinner after the flea market, then headed home to get started on our DIY project right away. We had a blast and I can't wait to show you what we did (later this week)! We even bought Caleb a drill... he prefers to be called Mr. Handyman now ;)

Caleb is such a great man. He literally makes me laugh until I cry, and I love him more every single day. I hope you guys all had a fantastic weekend!!

Valentines past.

Valentines Day isn't a huge deal for Caleb and I. We usually celebrate with dinner or a "date night in", but it will always be a special day for me for one particular reason.

It was 2011, we were broke kids in college, but I surprised Caleb with a dinner at The Cheesecake Factory (he had never been). We gorged ourselves on fried macaroni and cheese, and abut a million other appetizers. Sometimes, I think that's the only way to dine out appropriately ;) ... and on our walk back to the car (it was freezing in Downtown Columbus) we stopped for a self-timer picture with my tiny point and shoot. Ohhhhh how I don't miss Picnik and its pathetic "photoshop" skills.

Caleb and I didn't feel like going back to campus yet, so we turned on some music and just talked for a while in the car, talked about us, life, our future... that's when he surprised me with the sweetest gift in the world. My first Bible!! He got "Kayla Lynn" engraved on the bottom .. I think he had a feeling my last name would be changing in the future ;) so he just got my middle name.

Off the V-day topic; we had a great week. Caleb was able to go to a basketball tournament after work with a bunch of guys and when he came home last night he couldn't stop talking about how much fun he had! We also had a blast babysitting our favorite little girls on Wednesday night...and I'm excited to tell you I've worked out four days in a row! This first week of half-marathon training is brutal, but I'm loving it!!! We're really looking forward to a nice weekend with no big plans.

Although we don't have any insane plans for this V-day, we do plan on relaxing! I bought us some cookies (and by cookies I mean pre cut squares of cookie dough, I know, I'm so domestic) with red and pink chocolate chips, and I can bet you that we'll be watching a ton of Disney movies. Hope you have a blast, with whatever it is you're doing!!

A newlywed valentines!

We had another "first" as a married couple -- our first V-day together! Now, if you read my Friday post, you realized we don't do anything huge for this holiday, so we knew we'd be keeping it low key after we got home for dinner.

Then the snow started...like crazy. We decided though that we really needed a night out, it had been too long! SO, we made the treck to Texas Roadhouse, with our gift card in hand!! I had worked my butt off last week at the gym so I knew I wouldn't exactly be "holding back" at dinner that night...

Why yes...I DID "load" my sweet potato, thank you very much.

After stuffing myself to the brim for the first time in a while, we were ready to head home...but not after stopping by Target and picking up some puzzles. Remember Friday? How I promised we weren't 57 years old by staying in, renting a movie, and completing said puzzle?! Well...maybe now isn't the best time to tell you we fell asleep on the couch before 10 that night...

But let me tell you what, it was the best Valentine's ever...cause we're newlyweds.

& that freakin rocks.

Hope you had a great one, no matter WHAT you did! 

My Valentine!

Caleb and I never make a big fuss about this holiday. Yes, its a fun excuse to get dolled up and do dinner or whatever if we felt like it, and an excuse to decorate sugar cookies like crazy, and to craft our little fingers off, but honestly? I'm excited for tonight. We have no crazy plans.

I've mentioned we're trying not to spend a lot of money anymore as we're paying off debt...and we decided that saving money was more important than a fancy night out for us. We did get each other each a small gift, and I'm excited to give Caleb his! It's so him. So tonight? We're using a $30 gift card to get dinner at Texas Roadhouse (I know, we're so fancy its ridiculous), rent a movie (with our free promo-code) and finish a 1,000 piece puzzle (no, we're not 57 years old), and everything about that is so exciting to me. I'm so ready to get off work, and piece together a fun outfit for my hot date later!

I thought I'd include a fun picture from our wedding -- that shows how much we love each other, and it involves sweets...which is kind of the point of this holiday ;) -sidenote- I'd give anything to have those cupcakes from our wedding again. They. Were. PERFECT!

Sweets got me thinking back to older V-days, the only one that really sticks out to me is the one in 2010. Caleb and I had only been dating for a few months, and we went to dinner (off our college campus, it was glorious), at The Cheesecake Factory, and after, swapped gifts in my car.

What he gave me is one of my favorite presents to this day...my very first Bible.

I couldn't believe it. It had "Kayla Lynn" on it... he now tells me he didn't want to put my last name on it, as it might be changing one day ;) smart cookie, he is.

Whatever your plans may be...whether extravagant, or simple, a night out with your man, or a night in with your girls, I hope its fantastic!

Valentines daaay {re-cap}

Caleb and I never really go "all out" for Valentines Day, I mean... in all honesty, it is just another day of the year... marked by cupid ;)

But we still like to do a little something.

This year, we decided to make it a really low-key night at my house with my family (romantic, I know). He came over, and we exchanged gifts.

Pleeease excuse my mess of a room, yes those are gym shoes, a camera bag, pajama shorts, and a stuffed elephant you will find scattered on the floor. Can you spot them all? ;)

I got him a card, some Reese's Hearts, two magazines, and I hand made him a little coupon book good starting in May! Here are some of the coupons I included;

The first night we hung out together, we met at Taco Bell, got Mango Strawberry Fruitista's and cinnamon swirls and ate them in his car, and stayed there until 4 AM just talking. It was basically amazing

There were PLENTY of others, I just chose to share a few! ;)

 After I gave him his gift, he gave me mine!

A fitted womens Nike A.J. Green Bengals jersey!!! :) my first one EVER!! I was pumped.

After that, we did Insanity

These must be our game faces.

After, we changed out of our work out clothes, washed up a bit, and went downstairs to enjoy dinner with my grandparents, and my younger brother who invited his girlfriend over, too. We had dinner by candle light, it really was so precious.

After dinner we got some alone time by catching up on some of our favorite shows, you know... cleared up some space off the ole' DVR. Although it was relaxing, it was the perfect Valentine's Day. 

Happy Monday, friends.
How was your weekend?

Surprises, surprises!

Hiiii friends. I hope your Valentines Day was awesome! Mine was relaxing, amazing, and fun, but I am too sleepy on this cold morning to re-cap it, sooo check back over the weekend! ;)

For now, I do want to show you what the SWEET sweet Amy over at A Glimpse of the Gouglers sent me in my V-day package. We each participated in Erin & Megan's valentines swap and Amy got matched to send me a package, and boy am I glad she did! 

I was SO excited to get the package, if ya know anything about me by now, I am OBSESSED with snail mail, packages, hand written letters, cute stationary, etc. So to get this package when I got home one evening after a too-long office day was SO exciting!

Um can we talk about how cute this bracelet is?! Pretty sure its from Target. The girl knows the way to my heart. 

She said she swears by this stuff and that its her favorite. After I used the nail polish I was in LOVE, and I am officially hooked. This stuff is not cheap, though! Check out all the cute polish colors here!! Not to mention I never have time to paint my nails, but I made sure I set aside an hour of "me time" to do them... no base coat, no top coat... just 2 coats of this gorgeous color... and omg, the stuff lasted 3 WHOLE DAYS! No chips! I was excited. So worth the expense!

I was in love. Amy is so sweet and I'm so excited to continue getting to know her! If you don't already, go check out her adorable blog!! :)

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As I just said above, you now know unexpected mail is my favorite thing basically ever. So, you can imagine my excitement when I came home Wednesday with a package laying on my desk all the way from Louisiana. Uhhhhh...

Turns out one of my favorites, miss Kaitlyn wanted to be the SWEETEST thing on the face of this earth and totally blindside surprise me with an adorable Bengals shirt from Victoria's Secret!! 

How sweet is she!!?!? The back of it says "Win Me Over"... and girlfriend sure did ;) her note instructed me to "rock it while I rocked Insanity", and I can't wait too!! Thank you so much girl, you're the sweetest.

Can't wait to read all about your V-days! HAPPY FRIDAY!!

Some things I've learned!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY LADIES! Tonight, Caleb and I are getting SUPER romantic... and working out together. No judging ;)
Blogger decided to SUCK yesterday and wouldn't let me post... so that means I'm back today with another "love-ish" post... but don't worry. Its not all muuuushy gushy ;)

Caleb and I have been together almost 3.5 years now (dang)! & there is a LOT we have learned about each other... but what's cooler? We have taught each other new things. Things that the other one loves and enjoys... I gotta say, when my man endures a bad musical just for me, I've never loved him more.... but first, I'll show you a thing or two that he's taught me ;)

 - How to fish (better than him)

...............

just kidding, obvi.

- How to shoot a gun

- How to NEVER leave your plate full at Skyline...

Not kidding, that boy would lick that plate clean if you'd let him. In public. No shame.

- How to play Frisbee golf

- How to hold a snake (eek!)!!

- How to play a mean air guitar

- That the woman doesn't ALWAYS have to cook (that's right!).

- How to pick a good nail polish for summer (thanks again, hot schtufff).

... and now, for the few things I have taught him.

- How to properly pick me up...

...or not.

- How to embrace the photo booth

-How to "suck it in" for a photo opp

-How to break. it. down.

jk... homeboy's got moves ALL on his own ;)

So, in reality... looks like I haven't taught him much of anything... the man is already super smart & amazing at negotiating, bartering, scoring good deals, dancing, fishing, sports, running, cooking, you name it.

Sounds like he might be the better wife in this marriage? ;) I kid... I promise one day to learn how to cook.
I hope you ALL have a fun day planned but don't forget, EVERY DAY is a reason to celebrate love.
Awwwwww.
kbye!

Favorite Valentines Day; by Ali

This is my beyond gorgeous friend, Ali. Her and I decided we'd do a blog swap today and talk about our favorite V-day memory with our men. I'll keep it simple; you're going to love her.

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Kayla’s blog is one of my very favorites. When I
first came across it, I feel in love with the cute story between her and her fiancé, Caleb.
I mean, seriously. They are the cutest couple ever.
And now I am dying for their wedding time to roll around so I can witness (in
photos…) their perfect, special day!

Here is the story my very favorite Valentine's Day ever:

My husband and I got married during the summer of 2010. Soon after, I got pregnant with our first baby. We were ecstatic, and
couldn't wait to find out what we were having. We aren't one of those couples
that wanted a “surprise.” We wanted to know. ASAP. We scheduled an early
appointment to determine the gender of our baby, and that appointment fell right
on Valentine’s Day. 

I couldn't sleep the night before, and I laid awake thinking of the crib, the
blankets, the clothes, (the headbands), and everything else we would buy for
our brand new baby. Valentine’s Day morning, we woke up, got ready, and when it
was time- headed to our appointment. We were both nervous and so excited as we
sat in the waiting room. Finally, we were called back. We headed into the room
and prepped for the ultrasound. The nurse put the sensor on my belly and
asked, “So what do you think it is?”. Right away, I said, “boy.” And it was! I was right. I smiled. McKay smiled. We laughed, and we talked about how fun little boys
were…

And then we walked out to the car and I cried... for an hour straight. Of course, I was happy- but all my dreams of pink nurseries and ruffles and bows were completely dead. I cried because I was
worried about telling my family (who had already bought headbands and baby girl
clothes). I cried because I had always imagined a little girl and I didn't
know how to be a mom to a little boy. And then I cried because I felt terrible
that I was crying in the first place. 

We called my mom (who wanted a boy anyways) and then we drove to a parking lot and talked. McKay, probably trying not to laugh, hugged me and told me to look in the backseat. There were two tiny boxes. One with a cupcake in it (from my favorite place in the world), and one with things he had
picked from my favorite little boutique. I smiled and hugged him a lot. Next
came the best part: he said we were going to go shopping for some baby clothes!
We took the half-our drive to the mall and picked out the very first outfits
our little Jax ever had. And then I got really, really excited we were having a baby boy. The very first thing I found was a plaid shirt that was just like the shirt McKay wore when he proposed to me. It was the best Valentine’s Day of my life.

Oh and just for the record, boys are way better than girls! 

Here is my blog if you ever want to come visit me!