It's the little things. And the big things.

The other day, Kennedy and I were talking about boys (she's mildly obsessed). More specifically, the boys she has crushes on. She was telling me the reasons she liked each of them.  She then proceeded to ask me why I liked Casey so much.  I had very little problem coming up with a gazillion reasons why he still gives me butterflies. After listing about 15 things, Kennedy started getting bored with my explanation of grown-up infatuation and changed the subject to the new zombie movie that just came out (ParaNorman- it was way cute. Go see it).  Anyway, since I didn't get a chance to tell her all of the reasons, I'm listing a bunch of them here for you to read. So that you can know how awesome my boyfriend is.

• Like the fact that he is FUNNY.  We have had quite a few "laugh 'til we cry" moments. Even if I'm in a bad mood, he somehow says something completely ridiculous that makes me laugh. Bad mood over.

• He is manly. He's strong. Tall. He loves football. Basketball. Poker. Guy stuff. *Grunt. Plus, he's got the perfect amount of chest hair. 

• Sweet. And charming. Cheesy. And yet....not. He'll be all sweet and romantic and say something that makes me swoon, and then he'll throw something totally sarcastic and dumb in there that makes me roll my eyes. And swoon a little more.

• He is smart. Very smart.

• He thinks I'm smart. (Which actually gives his intelligence a little less credibility...)

• He loves Kennedy. He plays with her, treats her like a princess, and she loves him right back.

• He thinks that I'm the most amazing woman in the world. And he tells me constantly. (Boy do I have him fooled.)

• He 'gets' me. If I'm upset/frustrated/sad and I'm not quite sure how to explain what I'm feeling (a/k/a being a woman), he is somehow able to say "I can imagine that you're feeling a little _______ and ______." And I'm like "Holy crap. Are you psychic?"  It's pretty cool.

• Not to mention, he is devilishly handsome. *Swoon

• He encouraged me to join my family's fantasy football league. And reminds me every day to check up on my players to make sure they're not injured. It's really sweet.

• He tells me when I'm wrong (which is rare) in a way that I don't feel like I have to be defensive.

• He admits when he's wrong. And then apologizes. (Yes ladies, this man is for real.)

• He actually reads my blog, and checks it without me even telling him that I updated it. (Hi babe!)

• He thinks I'm funny. 

• We make a dashing couple. 

• The things about myself of which I am most self-conscious are some of the things he loves the most. (i.e. my big butt.)

• He is clean. His house is so tidy that I thought he had a maid. Nope. He is just that awesome.

• We both love to travel. Together.

• He lets me listen to whatever music I want in the car, even if it's Katy Perry.

• And even though he says that Ashlee and I have some "weird" and "obsessive" friendship, I know he secretly would love to marry both of us. Too bad for him, she's taken. Oh- and polygamy is illegal. Sorry, Casey.

• He loves his mom. He talks about her with so much love and respect. It's so sweet.

• He is super respectful. Of me. Of Kennedy. Of my family. I am never nervous to take him to my grandma's house or to a work party or anything, because I know he'll be completely respectful to everyone he meets.

• He listens to me (as much as is possible for a man to listen to a woman). And he acts interested in everything I have to say. Even if it's about flowers or cakes. Or my hair. 

I honestly could go on for hours.  But I think I've gone on long enough, for today.  If you couldn't tell, this dude is pretty great. I think I'll keep him around for a while.

P.S. I found this hat in San Diego and I want it. I'm just putting that out there, since my birthday is coming up. Thank you in advance.

So much stuff.

I have come to realize that the main problem with not blogging very often is that, when I finally find the time to blog, I have so many things to choose from, and I just end up writing about all of them and then calling it a "random" post. I apologize if that gets annoying.

Well, anyway, here's another random post.

Kennedy broke her first heart.  She told a boy in her class (Tripp) that she no longer had a crush on him. She  felt REALLY bad for making him cry.

Poor Tripp. Words of advice: Get used to heartbreak. It is a part of life (even at 8 years old, apparently). Also- while crying is a natural reaction to heartbreak, try to not cry in front of your guy friends. They will most likely make fun of you.

These two started preschool. PRESCHOOL. As in, they're 4 years old. FOUR. Ugh. And I'm going to continue to add emphasis by way of repetition and capitalization. CAPITALIZATION.
(btw- I cannot look at this picture without wanting to squeeze them both and kiss them from head to toe. I just love them.)

Kennedy came to visit me at work, and we went to lunch at City Creek. Idn't she a cutie? (Yes, the "idn't" is intentional.)

I let Kennedy bring a friend with us to the fair. They had so much fun.

Mmmmm. Apples. APPLES.

And on our way walking out of the fair, she had a "Kennedyism":

Kennedy: Casey, will you give me a ride on your shoulders?
Casey: Sorry, Kennedy- not tonight, since I can't give both you and your friend a ride.
Kennedy: Oh. Is it because you haven't learned to duplicate yourself, yet?

Man, she's funny. FUNNY.

My friends (most of them) are Ute fans.  Ute fans assemble before games.  So naturally, as Ute fans, we assembled with the lot of them and got each other pumped up for the game....

Which we didn't have tickets to.

So when it was game time, we said goodbye to our ticket-holding friends, and the rest of us went and watched it on a nice, big TV, with instant re-plays, close-ups, and food.  (I'm trying to tell myself it was better than seeing it in person.)

In other news, Kennedy is starting baseball! We'll see if she actually plays or if, instead, she performs handstands and cartwheels on the field, like her dad used to. Either way, at least she gets a cool baseball cap out of it. A BASEBALL CAP.

Look what I did! (a/k/a a boast post)

Yes, I'm going to write about a few things I have done lately, which I'm proud of. Yes, it may be a bit boastful. No, I don't really care.  Because it's really not THAT impressive. I'm just surprised I could actually do any of it!

First, turning free crap to AWESOME non-crap!

A while back, I found this desk on the side of the road with a sign that said "FREE" attached to it.

So I snagged that bad boy up, knowing I'd have a girl who would be need of a desk.

A BLUE desk, that is! (She was a great helper.)

Final result: Ta da!!  Cute, huh? I think it looks awesome. And it's not crap, anymore.

Second, it was Ivy and Kaia's (the twins) birthday party today, and Ashley and I spent a few hours making this cake. I think it turned out quite lovely.  It was one of those cakes where half way through we were considering tossing the entire thing and starting from scratch. So the fact that it even looks like a cake is pretty phenomenal. 

Third... ok, there really isn't anything else.  I guess I can be proud of myself for actually finding the time to blog about the things for which I am proud of myself. (I swear that sentence makes sense to me.)

Happy September, everyone!

Magic hair? Maybe. Or just good music.

Here's another plug for my buddy Ryan.  (Remember? The musician with long hair which Kristin asked if he could cut?) Well, his album has now been released. The good news is I have it, and it's excellent. It is currently in my CD player in the car. I've been jamming out.  The bad news (well, according to my aunt Kristin) is that he still hasn't cut his hair.  But maybe it's his long hair that gives him such great musical abilities. Kind of like Samson of old.

Either way, long or short hair, his album is out and it's gooood. I told him that. And guess what? He told me I can offer my friends a FREE download of one of his songs!! Just let me know if'n you want one and I'll get that set up for you.

In the meantime, go here: www.ryandarton.com, and you can listen to a few of his songs and maybe purchase the rest of the album. (The added bonus is that you'd be supporting him and his beautiful wife and gorgeous new little baby girl. It's a worthy cause.)

Lastly, for any of you Calfornians, he has a show coming up on September 22 at the WitZend Live in Venice. (Yes, that's Calfornia. Not Italy.)