Time to be a better blogger!

So, I may or may not have forgotten completely about my blog! So much has happened lately. As most of you know, I'm pregnant! The first few months were pretty rough. I rarely had the energy to even get out of bed! I am now 18 weeks and I finally feel like myself again! I want to be better at documenting our life and my pregnancy so my family//friends can always stay caught up with our little family. 

My belly has really seemed to pop the last week! Shawn thinks it gets bigger every day- especially since more than half my clothes don't fit anymore! I am pretty at peace with putting on weight for my sweet baby. I mostly laugh when trying on clothes cause I look like a hillbilly with this big belly hanging out! 

We are headed home in a couple days  to find out the gender! I've been counting down the days. I can't wait to find out - we don't really have a preference on what we want first. At this point, we are both guessing that it's a boy! So we'll find out very soon. I will do a gender reveal post & show you guys the cute baby stuff we get! 

                  Baby at 15 weeks! 

||Pregnancy Questions|| -

How far along? 18 weeks 

Stretch marks? None so far- fingers crossed!

Sleep? It's harder to get comfortable but I'm still getting tons of sleep & a few naps here & there! 

Miss anything? Sleeping on my belly!

Movement? I have felt baby E lots more this week! I only felt flutters for a while but now it seems like he/she is knocking on my belly! 

Cravings? Fruity pebbles, protein shakes & anything sweet! 

Belly button- in or out? In. 

Feeling? Energetic & extremely excited to find out the gender! 

x o x o // k

Home is wherever I'm with you.

We finally made it back to North Dakota. Going from beautiful sunny days back to snowstorms & freezing rain isn't easy to get used to. We brought our camper trailer up here because it's cheaper than paying for the overpriced housing, but so far its been nothing but trouble and stress. The pipes keep freezing up & the heater only works half the time. Shawn is always outside trying to fix things. He is so patient. I'm probably driving him crazy with all my emotions due to how cold, tired, and fed up I am with tryin' to make this camper home. We will get the hang of things soon. Especially after we buy a bigger, nicer one later this week. Haha let's just hope that one doesn't have any problems that keep me curled up in bed til noon. :)I'm pretty good with living in small spaces, especially campers, because it's nice to park it in the pretty spots you can find. Right now, ours is by the lake & it will be perfect for summertime. I think all the these little adventures will make for some great memories/stories later on in life. 

I'm so glad that I get to go through all these experiences with Shawn. Its truly remarkable to have my one. He is my very best friend and life wouldn't be the same if he wasn't my husband. He is constantly working then he comes home to work even more. I'm proud to have a dedicated man, who lives to love & take care of me. We joke around 90% of the time. Non stop laughing & quoting stupid movies. There' no doubt that he was made for me. I'm extremely blessed. [Thank you, hubby]

On a less cheesy note, My sister Jessica and her kids are here! I'm so excited. Picking them up at the airport was the highlight of my week. Seeing how excited they were to see me almost brought me to tears. I love being an aunt. They are absolutely adorable. I'm glad I get to hang with my family for a week. It definitely makes all the little house problems we're having seem insignificant. Life is good. We are blessed. 

Catching Up

I have loved my time at home! So many adventures and new memories. I finally did my photo shoot with the amazing Jake Buntjer. If you want some beautiful, artistic photos done- look him up! He makes you feel very comfortable and has some incredible ideas! I will post some pictures when I get them off my old laptop. Speaking of that, I got a new one! It's a macbook and I seriously love it. It came with photoshop also, which is awesome! I have so many projects to work on. I'll be posting a lot more of my photos real soon! Things are going great - and Shawn will be here tomorrow! I'm thrilled- I haven't seen him in a month! This trip was only supposed to be a few weeks. Don't get me wrong, I love being home but Shawn is my real home. It's hard to function without my heart. Enough with the mushy stuff, I promise I'll start blogging a few times a week. It was one of my goals this year, and I have to stick with it, because I'm following through with all the other ones! 

Easter weekend is always one of my favorites - Shawn rides his dirt bike, I get a tan, take lots of pictures, eat all my favorite fresh fruit, hang with our family, and I thoroughly enjoy every minute of it! I can't wait for this weekend! Shawn could only get a few days off work so we will be going back pretty soon, but it'll be so nice to spend time with our families, together! I'll be sure to post lots of pictures! But for now, I'll give you a sneak peek at my shoot! More to come..

xx, Katie

Home Sweet Home

It feels great to be home! I drove from North Dakota to Utah in 16 hours. It would have been a lot shorter if my stupid iPhone GPS hadn't lead me 2 hours out of the way. I was so mad, but at least the detour was beautiful! I thrifted a pair of earrings, and a vintage tray for $20 when I stopped to rest. I brought my dog with me, and he actually kept me pretty entertained the whole drive. He kept switching from front to back seat, and attempting to lay on my lap also. Haha it was nice to have him to laugh at when I was getting tired. But.. 4 big red bulls later.. HOME! 

I didn't tell my mom I was coming to town and her face was priceless when she saw me on her doorstep. She's the cutest. I know everyone thinks their mom is the best, but seriously.. mine is. After surprising her I showed up at Wal-Mart where one of my best friends was & surprised her also. We got a video of that reaction though! (which I'll post when I can get it on my comp) I was so excited to be here but I was starting to hallucinate, from being so exhausted. But now that I've caught up on sleep, and finally have time to blog, I wanted to share some photos of my trip so far!

I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather as much as I am! xx, Katie

Thriftin' Fools!

Shawn and I just so happen to be the best team when it comes to thrifting! We always find the coolest treasures! We are covered in dust by the time the day is done! I don't give up til I find the one thing I was meant to find. Sounds crazy, but I'm serious! Ha last weekend we found High Waisted jeans for me (for cut-offs) 4 flannels for Shawn, curtains, 4 aztec design coffee cups, 3 sweet mexican blankets, and the sweetest Rocky tee shirt. We were freaking out! Then this weekend we weren't even planning on thrifting until we passed a Pawn Shop we had never seen before. I hit the jackpot in there! One onyx ring, 4 Dean Martin records (mint condition), 1 Johnny Cash record, vintage leather jacket for Shawn, Harley Davidson beanie, turquoise/coral knife & finally... the coolest vintage army jacket I've ever seen. All of that for $100. It felt like we stole it! Our weekends are usually packed with adventures since we are so busy during the week. It has been nice getting to spend more time with the hubbs.. 

I almost forgot to mention the most exciting part about our weekend! We went to a Dwight Yoakam concert and it was amaaaazing. I'm not even over exaggerating. He still puts on a great show! I remember being really little, probably 4 or 5 dancing in the living room and falling in love with the way he moves those legs! Haha tight jeans and a cowboy hat. You just can't go wrong with that! We were on row 14 but right at the end, all the security guards let people run up to the stage. So of course, I took off! I even looked in his eyes. I was screaming, not even kidding! Haha dream come true. Such a good kick off for that awesome weekend! 

So busy!

I have been unbelievably busy lately! My work put me on the early morning shift & if you know me at all, you know I'm not a morning person! I'm getting much better though. Those little babes keep me laughing all day. Working at the day care can be super stressful but it's worth it when the day is done. Lovin' on them all day is my favorite! After work, I head home & workout for 2 hours. I have only missed two days in the last few weeks! My body is getting really strong again & I have lost 6 pounds! I'm so excited, but it always seems like the first 5-10 are easy to lose then the rest is really stubborn.

My workout usually consists of 30-60 min of cardio, 30 min strength training & 20-45 min of stretching, yoga, etc. I do interval training on the elliptical and I love it! My knees get pretty bad after a couple months of high intensity training so it helps my joints a lot! My workouts are all over the place, but I'll post two I have been doing all the time. I'm seeing and feeling such positive results! The hardest part is eating healthy constantly. I eat super clean & lean foods 80% of the time and I try not to eat after 7. If I do, it's a cup of tea, banana or some cucumber slices! I am doing really well though & I'm so proud of myself for staying motivated the last month!

We are getting so excited for spring time! The temp is finally starting to warm up. The first day it went above 40,  I put a tank top on & we took a little road trip to Minot for the weekend. Went thrifting, out to eat, played around the mall & had Coldstone. We live in a really small town, so believe me when I say that was a luxury weekend! I'm hoping it gets warmer in the next few weeks. We are ready for summer!

Feelin' better

I'm not usually one to complain about winter time. I try to see the beauty in all the seasons, but it would be a lie if I told you that I like this season! I think a couple weeks on a vacation to Sundance sounds ideal. My immune system turns to mush when its cold. I have caught every sickness that's gone around this year, and I've had enough. I want sunshine, swimming, hiking, fresh fruit & vegetables, road trips to Utah, and snow cones. Is that too much to ask?!

Anyway, enough with my rant. :) I am actually in a pretty good mood today! I'm finally starting to feel better. I was able to workout (twice!) and make dinner for the hubbs. Poor guy, living off pizza & pb&j's probably got old the past few weeks. Or not, he's a guy. Haha I started work at a Day Care and I haven't been able to go in because I'm so contagious. I'd feel terrible if one of those lil' ones got sick! I'm feeling extremely positive about life right now. Way motivated & determined to get that toned bikini bod for summer! 

I'm hoping to start posting workouts, meal plans, recipes, and all that soon. Like I said before, its a huge part of my life and I'm sure my friends get tired of my constant updates about new foods and workouts that are rocking my world. Haha I'll try to change it up for ya though. I will post about plenty other things! 

I've started doing a ton of research about getting certified to be a Personal Trainer & Nutritionist but I'm finding it difficult to choose one! If any one knows of a legit website for these courses, please let me know! I'm so anxious to start learning more. I can only read so many books - I want it as a profession! 

> > katie

 

First Post.

 - Blogging to document all my craziness, our newlywed adventures, life away from home, but mostly to relieve my need to write!

I'm Katie. My husband is Shawn. You'll get to know us pretty quick. We live a relatively simple life. It's just us, our dog Dewy, and Arrow, our cat. Shawn works on a Pipeline here in North Dakota. We are only here to get money saved so we can have our own home, a big family, and a million dogs. ;) 

A little about me -

• I have a ridiculous infatuation with the moon. I always have. It reminds me to breathe. To "Be here now." 
• I'm a health & fitness nut. I have educated myself about both for so long, but have finally decided to start going to school to be a Nutritionist & Personal Trainer.
• I'm closer to my family than anyone. People always find it strange that I would rather hang around my big brothers, than most other friends. 
• I love, love, love anything vintage. Jewelry, clothing, decorations, etc. If I go inside a Thrift Shop or Antique Store, its rare that I walk out emptied handed.

I'm thrilled to share our life with you!