i-15 southbound.

the last two weekends we have traveled outside the grasps of potato hell. the first was Easter weekend where we went down to Manti, UT (my hometown). It is typically--- supposedly a 5 hour drive. But for us it turned into a 7 hour drive. On account of the fact that poor Tayl got food poisoning that LUCKILY, kicked in 2 hours into our drive. Barfy McGee had a real rough trip and I was tired and grumpy so I wasn't nice. Until we finally got there and I saw him in the light and his face was actually GRAY and he was shaking like a Polaroid.  He luckily recovered in time for Easter lunch and we had a short little less than 5 hour ride home.
The thing that changed my life Easter weekend: Discovering Dr. Pepper with coconut syrup at Sip It. *DROOL*

NOW this weekend we decided to sneak away for a lovers night getaway to SLC to celebrate our 2 year anniversary a little early. I looked forward to this little trip for two weeks. It's almost all I thought about at work. AND LUCKILY we were able to catch sessions of conference on the radio on the ride down. We decided to eat at Tucano's a Brazilian Steak house (unlimited MEATS) for lunch and then catch an early showing of JURASSIC PARK 3D IN IMAX (WHICH WAS AWWWEEEESSSOOOMMMEEE). Then for dinner we went for sushi at a tasty little place called Simply Sushi. Which has endless sushi for 21 bucks. ANYWAY, We did more than just eat and watch a movie. But for the sake of censorship, I will spare you. But in closing: I love Salt Lake City, and I love my Tayl.

sweatpants and frozen lakes.

On Friday night we headed over to Bear Lake to visit my Grandma for the weekend. If you don't know anything about Bear Lake, you should get to know it, because it's probably the only beautiful thing in southeast Idaho, and the most beautiful thing in Utah. (the two states share the lake). ANYWAY in spite of being beautiful, the towns surrounding the lake are tiny and in the winter, there is next to nothing. So sometimes when we go visit her, she'll have me stop and pick up a few things for her before we leave civilization. On this particular visit, she asked if I could stop and pick up cat AND dog food for her.

It was very convenient because when Roscoe barfed in the car (like I knew he eventually would) we were driving through Soda Springs so we stopped to clean it up in the parking lot of a grocery store, and I decided to run in and grab cat and dog food. Now, mind you, when we left Idaho Falls, I decided to put on sweats because who wants to wear real clothes while riding in the car for 3 hours? NOT ME. So I go into the store and as I'm lugging the box of cat food and the giant bag of dog food I think to myself, "WOW I look like a loser right now. Wearing sweats in public, in a small Idaho town, buying pet food on a Friday night. And this is my life." When I get up to  the cash register the first thing the cashier girl says to me, [very enthusiastically in an Idaho accent] is, "DOIN ANYTHNG FUN TONIGHT!?!" and I was so caught off guard for several reasons. So I just said, "no." But what I wanted to say was, "I'M IN SODA SPRINGS BUYING CAT FOOD IN MY SWEAT PANTS, WHILE MY HUSBAND CLEANS DOG BARF OUT OF THE CAR, WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING ON IN MY LIFE RIGHT NOW?!"

Idahoans are so dumb. They say things like supposably. And I'm not saying this because I'm bias, I really saw on the news (which wow, you should see the local news here, it is comedy gold, it's like it's produced by elementary school kids from 1996) that Idaho is ranked SECOND TO LAST in Education and also, only 1 in 10 Idaho students will get a degree. Now yes, I am a college dropout, but if you pulled me and 10 of my friends from high school I would be like only one of two that didn't get a degree.

But that's just a side rant. So our weekend with Grandma went well. We helped her drive her 20 year old dog (that she inherited from her twin brother when he died in 2006) to the vet to get put to sleep. Nobody was really sad about it because it was a really big relief, dealing with a dog that old is no bueno.

Then as we always do when someone dies in our family, we went and bought pie.

my cute grandma

Then Taylor gave my Grandma's OTHER dog a hair cut, and then decided to give Roscoe a haircut too.

"all that remains of my old life" -Roscoe Dash

And the lake up there was still frozen so Tayl took a thousand trillion billion photos because snow is still more a novelty than a nuisance to him. But I wasn't as annoyed cause it's Bear Lake.

Then we went home:

Also this:

Lately in our mediocre lives.

Recently I was going through my old instagram photos from last year and it made me sad. I've always said that our life was mediocre, but really until we got to Idaho, it wasn't. I mean we lived in England for 3 months, then we lived in Savannah for a year and there was always something fun to do. The beach, good eatin', historical landmarks, events at the park, going crabbing, St. Patricks day festival, New Years Eve, 4th of July, road tripping to Charleston, kayaking, fishing etc.

It's not to say that I'm miserable here, it's just you never realize how good you have it until afterwards, and perhaps, I hope I will feel that way about Idaho when we leave. (Cross your fingers that one day we leave!)

And now, the purpose of this blog was to update with the actual mediocre things that we've been up to. Which most of you, I will warn you, it is boring, but it's for my personal records. Since Taylor is always printing our blog at the end of the year, our book from 2012 was much smaller than our book from 2011 (and it had four months less!) So I am going to make a better effort, maybe.

I'll start from where I can remember in February
I started a new job! Nothing fancy, but I definitely don't hate it, and that's important. I am a full-time receptionist at a car dealership here in Idaho Falls. I've been here for about a month now and it's going well. But it's given me a reason to hate Mondays again, so that's fun.

My BFF!! came to visit me all the way from Vegas. Well technically she only came from Lehi, but still. It was a blasty. We love eachother and her baby is the COOLEST! and best dressed, even Joan Rivers herself couldn't deny it:

After that weekend Valentine's day was approaching, and to be honest, I don't really care about Valentine's. I think it's much more fun when you're a little kid or you have little kids. I don't HATE Valentine's it's just silly that it's a commercial holiday that gives women a sense of entitlement to expensive gifts. But still Tayl got me roses, which looked like regular roses so I didn't take a picture of them because nobody really cares, except me. And ON Valentine's I threw this little ditty together in like 30 minutes:





 Then the following weekend we headed up to SLC, because said BFF's parents were having their mission farewell. That was sad for me because they are literally like Chicken Nuggets to me. and Chicken Nuggets, is like my family. The trip up there was ridiculous because we learned that Roscoe gets car sick and so he barfed like 12 times. Twice on me.

The last little bit of February, the dogs were a real hassle. Roscoe kept losing his teef. And then one day I came home for Lunch and the dogs had gotten into some of Tayl's specialty dark chocolate I gave him for Valentine's SO, I was freaking out and had to rush them to the vet. Which was 0% fun and 100% expensive. But they are alive.

And other that near death experiences and visits from loved ones, nothing else new exciting.

Oh and I made this wreath on Saturday and BARELY took down the Christmas-y one. At first I thought it was too plain. Because I literally went to Michael's and randomly grabbed stuff. But it turned out pretty good. I like it much more now that I've gone in and out of my door a few times:

That's all the mediocrity for now, folks.

land of spuds.

I haven't pre-approved this announcement with my husband but...
we are moving to Idaho Falls, IDAHO.

Next week.

For reals.

It kind of gave me anxiety just to type that. I haaaaaaate the cold and the snow and Idaho. but at least we will be closer to my family and friends I left behind two and a half years ago. I'm going to try and have a good attitude because *supposedly* that helps. Gandhi/Confucius/Marilyn Monroe said so. And plus, at least it's not China. or the midwest.

I'm excited for a new adventure with my husband but what I am most excited about is that I feel as though this job that Taylor got will be much more fulfilling for him. It really bummed me out thinking that he was wasting that genius brain of his at work everyday, so I am glad that he is excited about not only the company but also his position.

I will update you more later because I can't talk about how much I am going to miss the dirty souf without wanting to cry. But in the meantime, pray that we make it to the land of spuds in one piece.

(And it's okay to congratulate Taylor, because it is seriously a blessing that he got a job exactly one month after he got laid off.)

little trouble in big china.

After 24 hours of travel, Taylor made it to China in one piece.

We have been able to Skype and email a little whenever he wakes up and I'm getting ready for bed and vice versa (on account of the 13 hour time diff), which has been nice. It's like we have traveled back in time to the early days of our blossoming love affair.

ANYWAY, I asked him to update the blog with his various adventures in China, BUT he is unable to access google (which includes blogger) and also Facebook. I've found some of his email updates humorous so I thought I would copy and paste them in lieu of him blogging.

Sunday Night :

"I got here just fine. 

The flight from Seattle to Beijing was tough. It wasn't long into the flight that I started burping collard greens that I got from Paschal's in Atlanta airport and I knew everything wasn't ok. I sat in my seat with my belt undone for a while. Then got a coke and walked around in the back of the plane a little. Then I started to feel like I really might barf up those collard greens along with the chopsteak, so I stood in the airplane bathroom. For about an hour. Finally I just pooped. I hoped that would be the end, so I finally asked for my dinner. The chicken and stuffing smelled delicious, but when it hit my tongue my body was clearly rejecting it. So I went and stood in the other bathroom. While in there both times I preemptively cleaned the seats off and practiced squeezing my legs around the toilet in the tiny little room to get ready for when I lost it. But I just couldn't puke. So after another hour or so in there I sat back down and was fortunate enough to be able to sleep it off after eating a slice of cucumber. I finally was able to get my cold dinner down after the first hour or so nap. All in all I ended up sleeping quite a bit after that.

But I knew when it didn't come out the top end that it would later meet me at the back alley. And it did. As soon as I stood up to get off the plane it hit me that I needed to clear my bowels. And I had to wait for everyone to clear out. I followed the crowd out of the tunnel, up the escalator, noting that everything was in Chinese and thinking that I had pictured my first steps in China to be less frantic, and finally around the corner found the bathroom. It was very relieving, but by the time it had subsided I was left all alone. 

I followed the signs for baggage claim and eventually caught up with everyone at the customs desk. I made it through without a problem and found my driver that was arranged. It was Sindy's husband, Yang Yong He. It was an hour and a half drive or so to the hotel and we chatted the whole way. Until we stopped so I could pee on the side of the road. That was really the first I saw of China, when I stepped over the siderail of the highway to pee in the middle of the night. It was nice finally putting my Chinese to the test for the first time in so long. It was a struggle to remember some very basic words. When I went to tell him how we had locked ourselves out of the house on the way to the airport and had to reach my arm up in the doggy door to break back into the house to get the car keys I had to ask him how to say the words wallet and arm. Pretty weak. Along the way I told him how much I was looking forward to some good chinese food and mentioned a few of my favorites, so when we got close to the hotel he treated me to one of the things I mentioned, niu rou mian or beef noodle soup. It was excellent"

I probably should have warned you about all the toilet talk in that one, but whatever. It is what is, and it made ME laugh.

Monday he had the day off to adjust and rest. He sent me pictures of his breakfast. That is one thing I am happy about, that he gets to enjoy the Chinese food he loves so dearly. But this breakfast looks weird. 

Just as a side note, this breakfast cost 34 american dollars!

He got a haircut (which was crazy to me that they allow haircuts in China that aren't bowl cuts) and he sent me this email Monday evening:

"Dear Kynslie,
I didn't go sightseeing. I met up with Mark instead and he went over what all is going on here. Then we went over to Motorola. We walked by where they make all these phones. I was surprised when he said they don't even wear gloves when they're making them. It was cool to see how normal and crappy looking it is looking inside one of these huge corporations. Also, it's snowing a little. Also, people drive like maniacs here. There seem to be very loose interpretations of traffic laws. People don't care about lanes. It's crazy. Also, I love you. 

Your husband in love,
Taylor"

Later we skyped when it was a about two in the morning his time. He told me he was hungry so we parted ways. Later I got this email:

"Dear Kynslie,

I went to get some dumplings just now cuz i forgot to eat dinner. The first place the taxi driver tried to take me to was closed, so he kindly offered to take me to get some beers and have some pretty girls accompany me. I said no and he found me a 24 hour dumpling shop. Me likely. He gave me his number and wants to be my friend. Now I will try to sleep.

Love you long time,
Taylor"

It makes me feel so special to know that he turned down an offer so enticing as some beers and pretty Asian girls. 

"world travellers"

Get ready cause I am about to shove more Christmas ornament stuff in your face.

Today we went to World Market, they had ornaments on sale, and also I just think that store is real fun. Anyway, last month we went and looked at the ornaments and decided we would get a couple to represent our adventures this year, since we weren't smart enough to collect them while we were actually in those places. So anyway, here's what we've got so far.

we got a hula girl for our HONEYMOON to Maui

A snowflake to represent our snowy wedding day in Utah

We wanted a Big Ben without Santa but they were gone.This one was for London.

A cute red phone booth for all of our English adventures.

We got this little globe for all of our other travels, and also, because on our boarding pass when we went to England, there was a little thing that said "World Traveller" which was for whatever reason, amusing to us, and has been a little joke between us ever since.
[also traveller is spelled wrong]

Guess you had to be there.

This is a cute little ornament that we didn't buy but we Jen's mom gave it to us while we were in Utah for Thanksgiving.

So that was fun and then also I found some Fentiman's Curiosity Cola. Which was this tasty little beverage that I had while we were visiting the Dover castle. Never thought I would see it again.

The moral of the story, is that World Market is super fun and I wish we were rich.

you're probably in this post somewhere.

WOW, so I am starting to wish I wrote this sooner, even though I am only a couple days late on it. It's just going to be a loong one, and I've got more things to update on, like Crock Pots and Christmas Trees!

For Thanksgiving we went to UTAH to see my family, and friends who are family.

I'd be lying if I told you that I was excited for the trip. I was tired of traveling and really reluctant to leave behind my sunshine and 75 degree weather. But, it's always worth it to be able to see my nearest and dearest. Even if it is stressful and sometimes impossible to fit everyone in such a short time period.

The number one thing that I was most excited for was to meet the precious spawn of my best friend, forever. [and ever.]

Gracie Ruth

Is she not the most beautiful little thing ever? If those eyes don't melt your heart, then you probably don't have one.

So when we got in at 10:30 PM mountain standard time on Wednesday, we got the rental car THE FIAT.

this is real life.

my first order of business was to head down to AF to see the nocturnal infant and her parents {Jen and Scotty}.We stayed and chatted until the wee hours of the night. I was pretty tired so I was basically drunk, and don't remember what really happened other than, I loved that baby.

I don't know what it is about Thanksgiving that makes it so dinner is at like 3PM, but that's how it always seems to go. So on Thursday afternoon we headed over to my Aunt Tonya's house for dinner. Everyone kept cracking jokes about how it was so "classy" because we ate on paper plates and sat on the couches/floor and watched TV. But I thought it was great. We had delicious food and it was super chill. Who needs dishes and tables? Not the Coffins. After dinner we went to see some of my mom's side of the family, like my Aunts and Uncle and my cousin Ranee and her family. My aunt's 300 pound cat sat on me and demanded that I pet it, and then bit me. Cats suck.

On Friday we didn't go to any black friday sales because I can't think of anything worse than shopping and being stuck in a crowd of Utards. I know, I grew up in Utah but every time I go back, I can't believe how ridiculous most Utahns really are. I mean, the rednecks here are dumb, but at least everyone is nice, and at least they know they are dumb. I had to make a trip to the craft store but I waited until a little bit later in the day to go so I wouldn't get trapped. It was still pretty busy, and I still ran into some idiots. But it wasn't too bad.

Friday night we got to have our SECOND Thanksgiving dinner, HOLLA! My step-mom's family all got together at her parents house and we had delicious everything, but this time we used real dishes and sat a table. But, we enjoyed both Thanksgivings.

And after dinner we headed down to Manti to get back to my roots. That night we hung out at my aunt Holly's house, and my bff Sherry came over to see us and we made plans to take pictures of her little girl, Nixon.

So on Saturday we got up and headed out to see my Grandparents and take Nixon's pictures on the farm.

Taylor asked my Grandpa if he could ride a horse, so they saddled up old Fluffy for him and he hopped on, like a rhinestone cowboy... in a J.Crew hoodie.

Then, the unthinkable happened. I mean seriously unthinkable.

I.
rode.
the horse.

IT'S CRAZY. I used to love horses when I was a little girl but I had an accident with one when I was about 8 or 9 and have REFUSED to ride a horse since that day. But I finally overcame my fear and got back in the saddle. YES, my grandpa led the horse for me but I couldn't believe I finally got on. In my dress at that. I was pretty dern proud of myself. and I'm still alive!!

I also cannot believe that I was wearing only a cardigan in Utah at the end of November. It was surprisingly warm.

That evening, we had plans to eat at the restaurant formerly known as Fat Jacks, in Ephraim with my beloved A**ley and her fiance, Danny. I referred to it as a double date. But it ended up being a lovely family affair, Danny's mom, and Ashley's entire family, minus one sister came with. This was a great time for me because it was the first time Ashley and I saw each other in TWO YEARS plus a month. Also, Taylor finally got to meet the woman that I spoke constantly, and highly of. So needless to say it was a joyous, pizza filled occasion. After we ate the four of us decided to go to pollie's so that the fatter two of the four (us) could get candy and ice cream at my childhood hang out spot.

The following is a series photos which depict Taylor's attempt to take a picture of all 4 of us with my cell phone.

FINALLY GOT IT.

Also, I just realized we are ALL wearing gray. Favorite.

Sunday morning happened pretty fast, we both got haircuts (and I got color) and then we headed back up to American Fork to spend the day with the BFFAE and little baby G-Money. 

Taylor took some baby photos and some family photos for their Christmas card. I will try not to bombard you with every photo but I freaking love these guys.

Train tracks SHOT

G money and her mustache daddy.

That's just the light, not a gray patch.

Also I have bangs again.


After the photo sesh we ate dinner and went over to visit Jen's parents, who just so happen to be my second parents. (LOVE THE WADES!) and chatted about England and looked at the pictures together and ate pie. It was a smashing good time.

So that basically concluded our trip. We had to get up at 5:30 AM on Monday to catch our plane. And we had dinner with Jamie and Jeff in Atlanta, and stopped at IKEA and I found the perfect fabric for my throw pillows, YES! And then we drove four hours and we made it home.

I realize this is the longest post ever, and I do mean ever. If you read it all, kudos to you.

Stay tuned for my upcoming posts about our Christmas tree, my DIY ornaments, and how we finally got our crock pot, which is my new favorite thing.