in your face.

blogs are funny things.

they're tiny, filtered and edited portions of a person's life.
and oftentimes we (as readers) perceive those portions to be the whole. 
even as a blogger i find myself seeing other bloggers through blogger goggles despite the fact that i know how deceiving they can be.

when jenn first told me about this link up, i was immediately excited to be a part of it. and i hope that you'll contribute and link up so that we can read more about the girl behind your blog.

whatever you are, whatever you do, we want to read about it. 

1. i'm a daughter/sister/aunt.

i truly consider myself blessed to have been born to my parents. i grew up in a loving home with parents who raised us well and provided us with everything we needed and a good portion of what we wanted. four of my parent's five children are all married and i truly love my in-law siblings. 

when i was born, i was the youngest with 2 older sisters and an older brother. when i was 15 years old, my mom delivered a perfect little boy and made me a big sister for the first time ever. i remember staring at him after he was born and trying to wrap my mind around how brand new he was. and that he was my brother. three years later my sister in law delivered my niece, abby. i remember getting a brief text from my brother saying that she was born and that all was well. i was alone in my dorm room and i sat down on my bed and began to cry. i loved her immediately without ever having met her. even if all my other titles fall away (though i really, really hope they don't) i will always be a daughter, a sister and an aunt. and that's happy to know.

2. i'm a wife.

this month will mark 3 years since i took on that title of wife. and i won't lie. i'm still not very good at it. i try. but even with 3 years of experience, i'm still prone to crappy wife syndrome. i have days where i get easily frustrated with that cute boy with blue eyes. i have days where i'm argumentative and easily offended. i have days that seem like they're just too hard. i have days that i don't feel like doing anything wifey. i have days where i really miss living with girl roommates. i have days when garrett drives me absolutely bonkers. i have nights where i just wish i could sleep in my own bed. alone. and garrett, bless his heart, loves me through each of those days and nights and always assures me that i'm "the best wife (he's) ever had." (for the record, i'm the only wife he's ever had..)being a wife is really hard some days. and it's work every day. but i'm grateful i get to be one-even if i'm not so great at it all the time.

3. i'm a christian. i'm a mormon. 

i was born a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. i was raised in a home that followed the teachings and standards of the LDS faith and was taught from birth who i was, where i came from and why i'm here. it wasn't until i was much, much older that i realized that not everyone knows the answers to those questions. i am constantly grateful for that knowledge in my life. when i was about 13-14 i realized that i couldn't live off of the knowledge my parents and teachers had about the gospel, Jesus Christ, The Book of Mormon and other aspects of the mormon faith. i began seeking to gain my own personal testimony. i needed and wanted to know for myself if it was true. after a lot of scripture study and prayer, i realized that i really did believe it. i knew it was true. i felt it so deep within me and i knew that i never wanted to not have the gospel (and the peace and joy it brings) in my life. i have had moments and difficult times in my life which have led me to question. but each time i receive the same answer i did so many years ago. every day of my life i am grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. i'm grateful to know that my marriage is eternal, that my family can be together forever and that I have a loving Savior and Father in Heaven who know me personally and love me more than i can comprehend. so much of who i am and what i have comes by way of my being a mormon. 

4. i'm a puppy mom.

if you have only read this  blog one other time, odds are you know i have a pup named gilly. we adopted her 2 years ago and she has truly changed my life. i love her so much it makes me cry sometimes. i kiss her more times than i can count in a single day. i cuddle her as often as she will let me. i worry about her health and safety constantly. i pray for her every day. i'm sure this is borderline psychotic to some people. but the fact of the matter is that i love her. and she  has brought so much joy and love into my life. so i don't really care if i'm leaping into psychosis. i love her. and she loves me. and it's sort of perfect.

  

5. i'm a biffle. 

i consider myself fortunate because i have a pretty decent amount of pals that can fall into the "best friend" category. if you don't believe me, i'll remind you that i have been a bridesmaid on 8 separate occasions. i've always tried to be a good friend, but i know i have fallen short several times. fortunately, i have the kind of friends that forgive, forget and still love me. 

 

and taylor swift...obvi. we hang out on the reg.

6. i'm a cosmetologist. 

after a year of college i still had no clue what i wanted to do with my life. but i loved doing makeup and hair seemed like it could be fun, too. so i went to cosmetology school. being in cosmetology school was rough. it just was. but i love doing hair and makeup and having a job that is fun and different every day and allows me to make money even when i'm on vacation be creative. 

last summer. big family vacation on garrett's side. i did all of their hair that evening. and i looked like a troll. #typical (ignore my ginormous cystic zit that decided to make a cameo.)

 

 

 

garrett's sister's wedding. wedding makeup is lots of fun.

7. i'm a blog designer. 

i recently took on this title. and i really, really love it. it can totally get stressful sometimes. but hearing that the designs are exactly what my clients want is such a great feeling. you can go see some of my designs here.

8. i'm a wanna-be-yogi/exercise..person? 

i say wanna-be because i'm yet to be able to scratch the back of my head with my left toes. and i'm not buff enough to enter a body building contest. just kidding. (sort of) i say wanna be because it's all pretty new to me. for most of my life i sort of felt about exercise the way i currently feel about filing taxes. or taking out the trash. it needs to be done. but i'm sort of okay with someone else doing it. i had a gym membership while i was in utah and i actually did use it. but i was completely unaware of what kind of exercise worked for my body and as it turns out, i was doing it all wrong. i pretty much didn't do any kind of consistent or powerful/effective exercise..like ever. last summer i started Insanity. go big or go home, right? it was freaking hard. and i could hardly walk during the first week. but something about it just worked for me and i continued to do it for several months. in november of 2012 i attended my first ever yoga class with two of my aunts. it was also freaking hard. but i really loved it. i started incorporating yoga more regularly into my exercise schedule and while i was in SC visiting my sister, she introduced me to Body Flow and let me steal some of her Body Flow dvds. i really love it. (maybe because at the end of it there are 10 minutes dedicated to meditation/relaxation/nap time?  who knows..) and even though it's only been a short while that i've been doing it, i can tell that i'm getting leaner muscles. i'm really glad i finally figured out that working out isn't as miserable as i always thought it was. and maybe one day i'll be a real yogi. or something. and maybe one day i'll enjoy filing taxes. ha. i'm funny.

9. i am a sleeper.

my mom calls it a gift. i'm pretty sure garrett hates it and envies it at the same time. and rumor has it it's a trait that flows through the blood of most of the people on my dad's side of my family. the way some people can sing or paint, i can sleep. day. night. noise. silence. dark. bright. fireworks. football games. libraries. cars. (definitely cars.) beds. chairs. floors. busy hallways between classes in college. inside. outside. counter tops. airplanes (before they ever even take off). airport floors. you name it, i've probably slept in/on/during it. it's just who i am. it's my gift.

10. i'm a weirdo.

i mean it. i'm weird. i believe in being weird. not sketchy, trench coat weird. just weird. no matter what other hat i'm wearing i always seem to be wearing the weirdo hat as well. i just like having fun. laughing until i'm in pain is my favorite thing to do and making other people laugh is just about as fantastic as it gets. so here's hoping these pictures won't make you judge me too much will make you laugh. and that you'll be weird with me, too.

 and that's that. i'm sort of a lot of things. and i'm pretty happy that i am. 

remember to grab the button below and LINK UP! i want to know all about your many faces!

love,
kate.

lyrics: i will never forget, i will never regret. i will live my life.
 

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