christmas pictures!

last year, tyson and i sent out christmas cards to our close friends and family. it was a last minute thing that involved a box of walmart cards and a picture we stuffed inside. the picture was a sloppy self timer picture of us in front of our christmas tree.

although it served it’s purpose, this year i was determined to do better and go all out. the past few weeks i have scoured online card websites and finally tyson and i agreed on a design we both liked. the website (www.tinyprints.com) is awesome and has everything from baby announcements and party invitations to calendars and planners. since the site was having a great deal on holiday cards this weekend, i knew it was prime picture time.

unfortunately, tyson was leaving on friday to go hunting with his friends catlin and mcchristie. but that didn’t stop me. we woke up at 5:30 friday morning to get some shots while the sun was going up. as much as i wanted to get a photographer to take them (sad face) it just wasn’t in our budget this year. so we used the self-timer again, but this time i planned ahead a little better and i think the pictures came out pretty dang good! here are some of my favorites:

    this was our first one of the day! and it came out pretty good :)

 

sometimes i don’t know how i lucked out in finding such a good looking guy!

i was pretty proud of myself and happy with how our christmas card turned out. it’s nice that we saved a few bucks taking our pictures ourselves, not to mention gas money since we took them all in our backyard! there are many more and you will see them this year on our spectacular christmas card! ho ho ho!

my return to the blog world

hello blog world,

i’ve returned! it has been a crazy summer/semester and as much as i’ve meant to keep up with my blog, it clearly hasn’t happened. but this time i’m back with a vengeance and i want to keep this up to date!!

currently, i am substituting for alamogordo public schools part time and going to school full time. it has been a difficult semester for me, school-wise. online classes are completely different than regular classes and it has been a challenge to motivate myself. thankfully, i have progressed in this weakness and i am better and stronger. last month i was accepted into NMSU’s Teacher Education Program, so in January i will be taking my block A classes at NMSUA. i am beyond excited for this! three more semesters until graduation. praise God.

things with tyson have been so good. he is making progress with his business and finally has all the tax stuff and whatnot dealt with and he is “legit” as he likes to say. i am so glad that he wakes up each morning knowing he is doing something he loves. i feel the same way when i go to schools. i know not many people love what they do, so i feel doubly blessed for that.

it has been a difficult transition for me moving to alamogordo, but i’m starting to get more and more used to it. (maybe not a good thing?) although most people might think that moving here has made me more dependant on another person, i would argue that i have become much more independent! since tyson is pretty much the breadwinner of our household (substitutes don’t get paid much!), i contribute by doing all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. tyson’s gotten pretty spoiled by it, but i enjoy it because it keeps my mind occupied and i know that i’m helping out somehow. i miss my friends and family so so incredibly much here. it’s true you never know what you have until it’s gone. i don’t have anyone i would consider close to family here, and sadly i don’t even have anyone i would consider a real friend besides tyson of course. my sister and i were talking about it and she mentioned that it was like “feeling lost in a familiar place”. that’s it exactly. i love tyson and it feels right to be here, but sometimes i don’t know how i cope.

one thing i know for sure is how amazing it is to go to deming every few weeks. i have taken for granted how wonderfully my parents raised me and how they continue to take care of me. i can never repay them for all their love. they are true parents. just thinking about them brings me to tears. they have paved the way for me to be who i am today. i owe it all to them. they are my role models and heroes. i finally feel like i am out of the resentful teenage years and i can appreciate those around me for who they truly are. my parents would sacrifice anything for their children, and i am grateful that they believe in me and my siblings that much.

until next time,

katie

fishing <3

Yesterday Tyson and I drove up to Bonito Lake to avoid the hot summer sun. It was 102 degrees down here at the house, and much much MUCH cooler up in the mountains. It was a bummer because we were up there for over two hours and we didn’t get a single bite, but it was still fun. Afterwards, we had a nice dinner in Ruidoso. Here are a few pictures from our fun day.

welcome back, summer!

Well summer has begun and it’s not quite what I thought it would be.

My awesome job that I was so excited for turned out to be a disaster. My supervisor was unorganized, irresponsible, and frankly, just clueless. There was little, if any, accountability for the children, and I was extremely uncomfortable. A couple hours after I got there, I left on my lunch break in tears and met Tyson in town, sobbing. I stuck out the rest of the day, but called home to my parents that evening. They agreed with me that a part-time summer job shouldn’t be such a liability, so I quit the very next day. I’ve been sitting at the house ever since, filling out application after application. I haven’t got a single call yet, and it’s getting pretty depressing. Tyson isn’t my husband, and I hate having to depend on him. I just want to me independent me again. Keep your fingers crossed that my luck changes soon.

In other news, I am so happy to be living here in La Luz. I love being with Tyson; he makes me so happy and takes such good care of me. Living out in the country is the best, too. I can play outside with the dogs all day, go on long walks, tan on the front porch, and watch the beautiful sunsets in the evenings. Since I’m not working, there’s been lots of time to brush up on some hobbies: reading, cooking, baking, and napping :) That being said, I AM very anxious to go back to work.. somewhere, anywhere.

Tyson’s 24th birthday was on the 15th of May. We celebrated with a big party here at the house. I cleaned everything until it was spotless and cooked massive amounts of food. It was so much fun and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. My 21st birthday is two and a half weeks, so that’s exciting, too.

tomorrow!

Tomorrow Tyson and I finally move in together. I could not be more excited or ready. It is such a thrilling feeling- like my life is barely beginning. This may be a wild ride, but there's nobody else I'd rather be on it with :)

as the end of the semester approaches...

Hi everyone, 

It's been way too long since my last post. As you can imagine, there is lots going on and lots to write about! In my last post, I wrote about our bedroom renovation at Tyson's house. It's pretty much completed, minus a few details and it looks GREAT! I love it. One of those minor details is a nightstand/lamp on my side of the bed, which I am so looking forward to. It's definitely a room where I can get a lot of late-night reading done at :)

I am still planning on moving in with Tyson (T-minus 10 days!) and a majority of my stuff is already there. It's so exciting and I am so grateful to have him. Only a good man would let his girl have full reign of his home, and you better believe that's what Tyson has done for me. I'm lucky. 

Speaking of my move, I have decided to opt out of summer school. I need a break from classes and lectures and projects. This semester has kicked my butt with classes alone, but driving so much and having a life in disarray hasn't helped. Instead, I put in a couple job applications in throughout Alamogordo, and I am super proud to say, I got hired for the job I wanted the most!! Starting May 10th, I am a new Recreation Aide for the City of Alamogordo. It's not a fancy or professional job by any means, but I am so so so happy to be back working with kids. Friday is my last day at my current job (DACC Administration), and although it was great experience with great people, I am not sad at all! Good riddance Las Cruces!!

My mind is already in summer gear, and I can't wait for what the next couple months bring. Hopefully some good times with my man, a nice golden tan, and a happier Katie :)

redecorating!

About a month ago, Tyson and I started planning to redecorate the bedroom at his house. No offense (okay, take all the offense you want) but his old bedroom was UGLY! Ha! Three of the walls were plain white, and the wall the bed was on was sponge painted light/dark green. Throw in a ratty old green comforter, plain furniture and practically no decorations, and thats about it. I wish I would have taken a before picture!! It was such a simple "boy" room. Blah.

Typical me, I decided to take over this mess and re-do it all. It was about time for a grown-up, classy bedroom, for the both of us to share. I love the turquoise/chocolate color combination, so we decided to play off that. The room isn't done, but here's some pics of the painting process!!!

Talk about an expert! Painting the turquoise. I love it again the brown wall!

Turned out to be a great contrast. Most of our room decor is the same espresso color as the barn star!

This is the tan color we painted the other two walls. After I took this, we decided that mirror is garage sale material :)

Yesterday we put on the new bedding and hung up some of the decorations. It looks like a totally different room! We still need to finish a little bit of painting, hang up curtains, get new nightstands, (start and) finish our big replica of our brand that's going on the chocolate wall, and build a hat rack. My goal is to have it all done by the time I move it-- a little over a month!!

chasing dreams

tyson is becoming quite the professional horse trainer. he’s breaking horses in record time and his clients are thrilled with him. his ambition never ceases to amaze me. he is so great at what he does and has such a good disposition on life. business is growing more and more and this little side job is on its way to becoming a real career. i’m so proud of him!

 

i love this man!

making plans

this week, tyson and i have decided to take our relationship to the next step and move in together. it will be just for the summer, at least for now anyways. i don’t want to live in cruces alone during the break, and i feel that although my family (who i love!) are in deming, i don’t have many opportunities job-wise there. alamogordo is really economically stable, at least compared to deming, so i feel more confident in getting a job. plus, it will be SO nice to not have to drive to alamogordo every single weekend. instead, we can drive to deming every couple weekends and see the family.

i can’t lie- i’m beyond excited for this change. i already keep a good chunk of clothes at tyson’s house, but having all my stuff there is going to different.. in a great way. having any distance in a relationship is so difficult, even if it is only an hour. the next few months of togetherness will really be a good test of our relationship. being in love doesn’t necessarily mean you are compatible to live together, and although i think living together will be so much better for us than being apart, we’ll see as the months go along. although i won’t move until may, we’ve already started planning some minor re-decorating to make me feel a little more at home and like i belong. can’t wait to keep you all posted as things move along and we get closer and closer to the move-in!!

my wonderful grandparents

i found this earlier today. my gramma and grandpa were the most amazing people and i miss them everyday.

changes, changes

This weekend was full of happy news! On Sunday night, my sister-in-law Jenny called Tyson and I over and shared the wonderful news that her and my brother are expecting. How exciting! It’s been so long since we’ve had a little bundle of joy in the family, and I’m so excited to be an auntie! I think even Tyson was happy. Jenny and Chris are going to be such great parents, and they have so much to offer a brand new baby :) Lord willing, come November we will have a new, happy and healthy addition to our family!

In less life-changing, but still exciting news, Tyson and I finally got our brand registered. There were some setbacks, so we couldn’t get the exact brand that we had originally planned on, but the one we have is the same idea and still equally as great.

Ty came up with it. Originally we wanted the T above the K, but the NMLB can’t do that, so we switched it. It is a symbol of our future together, the house of Katie and Tyson. I thought it was very thoughtful, and seeing how much Tyson loves it makes me so happy. This weekend we even started building our branding iron together. I wasn’t aware that I was going to have to actually weld! But I tried, and we made some progress. It’s fun to do unusual stuff like that together. Hey, someday soon maybe we’ll be branding our own cattle! (Or maybe I’ll be at the house making lunch… either way) Whether it’s new babies or new brands, life is moving forward so fast and I’m so glad I have such wonderful family and friends to share it with. Love ya’ll!

happy valentine’s day!

i love valentine’s day. although i try every day to show the people i love how important they are to me, there’s just something magical about february 14th. maybe it’s because my favorite book when i was little was called “charlie’s secret valentine”. (great story, look it up :)) anywho, we had a really wonderful weekend where we just focused on each other and having a relaxing weekend.

tyson got a little spoiled with his presents. i sent the check to get his brand registered, and made him a cute little gift basket with some fun stuff.

 

friday night we enjoyed our valentine’s dinner. i love getting dressed up and going out so we did. it was yummy food and i must say we looked pretty great, too!

after dinner, we played video games (mostly tyson, but i was there!) and just played around with the dogs.

 

on saturday, we both enjoyed sleeping in, and then ate a yummy breakfast together at home. we spent the afternoon in cloudcroft. there was a mardi gras festival thing going on so we walked around, looking at the shops and watching the parade. it was so much fun! in the evening, we went out and watched valentines day and finished the night with ice cream. it was so great!

sunday we went to mass and had lunch with tyson’s family. it’s so cute seeing all the little grandmas decked out in everything red they own on valentine’s day. makes me miss my own gramma. after lunch we baked brownies and watched movies together. we topped off the evening with our tradition: valentine’s pizza making :)

i know valentine’s is just another corny commercial holiday for most people, but i love celebrating love! if you’re reading this, i probably love you too! happy valentine’s day!

our puppy is growing!

last week tyson and i took rebel in for his nine week shots; he’s already 12 pounds!!! three weeks ago he was 6 pounds. what a little chubster. he truly is developing his own personality, which can best be defined as “crazy”. sometimes i feel bad tyson has to take care of rebel and bo by himself. the little guy is a handful. but boy, is he cute!

this was from when he was five weeks, still little and cute :(

look at him now!

rebel and bo are even almost halfway friends :)

i’m so glad that tyson and i got rebel. it gives me a little comfort knowing that a little piece of me is stuck with tyson during the week. i hope he feels the same way; that i’m kind of still around. next week, tyson and i will have been together for 15 months. time flies and i am a million times happier now than i ever have been (or thought i could be)!! even though our little family is only the two of us and our dogs, i think it’s the best family in the world, and i’m so lucky! i love you tyson!

the newest addition to our family :)

over the past few months, tyson and i have been thinking about getting a new dog to expand our little family. since we aren’t married, and there will be no little pitter-patter of baby feet in our future anytime soon, a puppy was sure to be just the right amount of parenting we need! plus, we wanted to get tyson’s dog, bo, a friend. well, the perfect opportunity arose, and we got an adorable little puppy a couple weeks ago! originally his name was monster (trust me, he’s lived up to it), but we changed it to rebel (he’s lived up to that one too). he is half white heeler, half border collie. he’s only five weeks old in these pictures!!

isn’t that just the cutest spot?!

he sleeps constantly. it’s so nice :)

   

daddy and mommy with the big boy!

these pictures don’t even show how adorable he is. he’s growing so fast. i took him to the vet last week for his first puppy shots and he’s already 6.14 pounds!! he’s such a great puppy to have around and we love him so much :)

winter wonderland

this winter, southern new mexico has seen more snow than it has in a long time. now, i’m no snow bunny, but it’s so beautiful to see some of the white stuff on the ground. it’s even better to see it when you’re curled up on the couch at home! earlier in the season it snowed both in deming and las cruces, but last week, i woke up to a surprise snowfall in la luz!
this was the view out of tyson’s front door:

although it melted fast there was about two inches in all.

little bo LOVES the snow and played outside all day :)

hope you all got to enjoy some time snuggled up at home over the holidays!

just a new years resolution..

this year, one of my (many) resolutions was to start blogging and phase out my use of other social networking sites (ie: facebook). i’m looking forward to sharing pictures and other news with my family and friends.