Another Round of Catch-Up

If anybody has a blog of their own (for personal purposes and without intentions of making an income), they know that new blog posts can only come once in a great while no matter what "blogging goals" they may have. Based on the fact that Kasey promised more blog posts in March, and it is now August... you could definitely call us the "casual bloggers" instead of "bloggers." I'm not sure exactly why new "bloggers" typically slow down after the first few months. Maybe it's because we have this idea of a blog that is going have tons of traffic, thousands of followers, and that companies like Netflix, Nike, or Samsung are going to e-mail us and ask to pay us for ad space on our blog. Fact is, I don't know the statistics, but that only happens to X% of bloggers. So, basically, what we're trying to get to is, we're not going to promise frequent blog posts, but we will promise meaningful ones when they do come.

Some of you have been pretty well-filled in on our life during the last few months (feel free to read on anyway if you'd like), but for the rest of you, it's time to play another round of catch-up.

While in California, Kasey was serving at a restaurant called Claim Jumper while I inspected iPhones during a huge "buy-back, then re-sell your old iPhones" project, for a company called Gazelle. The project lasted only a few months, sending home numerous employees to start the search all over again. I had just begun my semester at the community college and didn't put a whole lot of effort into finding a new job. We figured just grinding out the semester then looking for work would be better than trying to find a job to cater to my particular school schedule (after-all, this was a small, Lincoln, CA, not a normal busy, bustling college town). The semester was a success and brought my collegiate GPA from a 3.2 to a 3.8! Part-way through the semester, Kasey and I both got the impression that we weren't in the place we were supposed to be for the foreseeable future. It was a tough decision to make, but we knew that we were supposed to return to Utah, even though we had just a few months before, packed our stuff and hauled it all from Utah to California. It wasn't an easy decision to make, and it was an even harder undertaking to tell our family. They had sacrificed so much and had gone so far out of their way to make sure things worked out for us, it was not at all easy for any of us. Not only that, but we found out Kasey was pregnant, so we had dangled the dream of living so close to their first grandchild in their faces, then basically said, "sorry, we've gotta take that away and go back to (crappy) UT." Tears were definitely shed, and even more were shed than I'm sure any of the associated parties new about. It was a difficult time for a lot of people...

Aside from the fact that family, friends, and family-friends (ourselves included) were sad with the decision Kasey and I made to move back, our sweet baby boy was found to have been struggling with an issue called an "enlarged cisterna magna." The cisterna magna is a space in the back of our head, essentially between our skull and whats called the cerebellum. A "normal" cisterna magna, we were told, should measure at about 1cm. Boston's was measuring at 1.3cm. The doctor informed us that we should potentially prepare for "learning disabilities" and that we needed to keep an eye on it. Another Ultrasound 6 weeks later showed our baby's cisterna magna had grown even more from 1.3cm to 1.5cm! We were becoming more and more scared for our child. Every parent has this dream of the "perfect family," and our dream was turning into a nightmare. We were told by our doctor that our baby's head was growing at a faster rate than the rest of his body and if he stayed there too long, he couldn't be delivered normally because his head would be too big. They scheduled us to come back in 2 weeks and then we would have to start making decisions about when to deliver Boston, and how soon/pre-maturely he could be delivered, while still being as healthy and as developed as he could be. Too early and he wouldn't have been fully developed, leading to more complications, and too late his head wouldn't allow him to be delivered normally, on top of being proportionately askew in his head to body size ratio. We asked the doctors if this was something they saw often, or something that could get better. We were told, "at this point, we don't expect it to get better (having gotten .2cm worse in 6 weeks). You can probably expect learning disabilities, such as your child taking longer to learn things that children would normally learn at a certain age. At the next appointment, we can just hope that the cisterna magna is 1.5cm and not getting any worse."

We cried on the way home, scared and worried about the health of our baby. The "perfect family" dream was shattered and we started to prepare ourselves for whatever happened next, and whatever we needed to do as future parents. With the support from our parents and all of our family members from California all the way until Missouri, we decided to leave it in hands far more powerful than ours. We prayed hard during those two weeks, and everyone joined in fasting that God would take care of our baby. We returned for our scheduled ultra-sound, crossing our fingers that the measurement showed 1.5cm and not a pinch higher. The doctor checked all of the baby's organs, and limbs like normal, but we during this visit, we didn't care too much about that stuff. Kasey and I held hands looking only for the space in the back of our baby's head. The doctor checked, then walked out saying only, "i'll be right back." Another doctor came in and checked right where the previous had left off... the back of the baby's head. Nobody was saying anything, and we were becoming even more prepared for bad news. Shocked, and seemingly amazed, both doctors told us that not only did Boston's cicsterna magna not get worse, but that it got BETTER!! His cisterna magna was measuring .9/just below 1cm which was considered "normal." My face fell into my hand and tears fell from just about every eye in that room with us. We could not believe it! Our baby's cisterna magna had gone from bad to WORSE in a 6 WEEK period, then in just 2 WEEKS, it not only stayed the same, but got completely better! I've never believed in coincidence, and once again, this was no coincidence. God had heard all of our prayers, he was aware of our concerns, and he was aware of our child. I still to this day give thanks to our Father in Heaven for what he did! It couldn't have been done or made better any other way, than through Him.

Since that day, Kasey and I successfully made the move to UT. I started a new job, and our sweet baby Boston hasn't come yet, but the anticipated day of his arrival couldn't come any sooner... that day is tomorrow!! So soon we will be able to hold our loved child, and physically hold the blessing that God has permitted us. For a while there, we got to know our baby by seeing him in ultrasounds every few weeks. We have only seen him once since, in the last 3 months, and when he finally comes, we'll get to know him all over again in another round of catch-up.

Yes, we are "those" people

It's true. We are "those" people... we are they who permanently request off Monday nights from work so we do not miss one of the most exciting moments of the week, they who spend a significant amount of time and dollars on making Monday nights a night to remember, those people who just cannot get enough of The Bachelor. I don't know how or when it happened, but we became "those people" and cannot seem to escape it (probably because we really just don't want to). 

I don't know what it is about this particular reality show, but it is definitely our favorite. The drama, the love (fake or not), the fights, the Kasie's, the Courtney's... we eat it up. But we ask that you please do not judge us for we know what we bring upon ourselves, and we know that you secretly love it too. 

However, I must say that this season of The Bachelor was one for... the trashcan. Absolute garbage. But we persevered through all of it (it being- all of Courtney's fakeness and Ben & Lindzi's extreme awkwardness) to the end. We had a fabulous Finale Party full of friends, cupcakes and Panda Express; and although the finale was nothing to remember, the company and food definitely were. 

Ani & I got together to do a little cupcake baking. 

These are our "Courtney/Linzdi Cupcakes." We are most proud of the witty little Courtney Quotes on the chocolate cupcakes. 

Panda Express... We love it. 

We found out about a third of the way through this season that

 Ben & Rachel were also "those people" and decided that we 

had to join forces. This season would not have

 been the same without them. 

Me & the Reyneman... so excited can't ya tell :)

Chad is the latest addition to our little Bachelor Gang. Not sure if we 

have him fully committed (addicted), but I feel that we soon will, 

especially with the wonderful Emily being the 

new Bachelorette. 

Apple Pie

Yes, it has happened. I have had one of my first pregnant cravings.

APPLE PIE. 

I never really appreciated how wonderful apple pie truly was, until about 10:30 pm last night. Evan and I were sitting in our bed, getting ready to go to sleep as I leaned over to him and confessed my craving. Being the wonderful husband he is, he put on his slippers and a jacket, and then put on my slippers for me.. and out the door we went. 

He took me to a place that served the most wonderful apple pie's I had ever tasted. I could not believe that I had not yet bought or even tasted one of these fabulous pie's!!

McDonald's Baked Apple Pie. Seriously. Have you ever had an apple pie from that place? It's amazing. Served hot and fresh and it melts in your mouth. I almost made him take me back for a second serving, but decided that was a little too crazy. So I savored every bite and then happily fell asleep. Don't be surprised if you're working at Lincoln, CA McDonald's and you see the Reyne's back again tonight. There's a 98% chance that it will happen. 

Where To Start...

Ok, so here we go again... As you can probably tell our first attempt at this whole blogging thing was somewhat of an epic fail, but we're gonna do our best to not let that happen again. There has been so many changes and so many wonderful things that have happened that we are so excited to share with everyone! So here it goes...

Where to start? Well, let's just start with the most exciting, most wonderful news of all. Evan and I found out on Christmas day that we are going to be having another little addition to our family!!!!!!!! Yes, I'm pregnant!! We are absolutely beyond words excited about the whole thing, it was definitely the best Christmas present we could have ever received. I am about 13 weeks along to the day and am already starting to show. It's crazy, but I am convinced that this little one is gonna be quite the big baby (which won't surprise anyone I'm sure, seeing how big his/her mommy and daddy are). We won't know for 6 more weeks if we're having a boy or girl, but we have decided that we definitely want to know the sex of the baby. I am dying to go to Target to buy a cute little outfit or pair of shoes, the anticipation is killing me! The pregnancy so far has been really well. I have had zero morning sickness which, as others have told me, makes me one very lucky lady. Although there's been no morning sickness, the amount of fatigue and tiredness I have been experiencing is insane! If I don't get at least 9 or 10 hours of sleep at night, I'm dead on my feet the entire day. I also just got done working 2 serving jobs, so those 10-12 hour days on my feet did not help with the extreme exhaustion. Let's just say... right now, naps are my best friend. 

My beautiful little baby bump at 13 weeks! 

In other news... Evan and I are no longer living in Utah. About six months ago we decided to pack our bags and head out even farther West. We are now living in Lincoln, California. This is where Evan was born and raised and where his family currently resides! With the news of the baby on it's way, we decided that being close to family would be ideal... so here we are in the great state of California. So far things have been great. Stressful and a little rocky, but great. We enjoy so much being so close to Evan's parents, siblings, and grandparents and getting to spend so much time with them! They have been so great in everything that they have done to help and support us in this move! Job searches and the search for our own place hasn't been the easiest, but we are preserving! We are on a couple of waiting list for a couple of apartments and I finally got a great job as a server at the restaurant Claim Jumper.

Evan has finally gotten back into the world of classes and homework and could not be doing any better. If you didn't know already, my husband is a pretty smart man. He is taking three classes at Sierra Community College in Roseville- Economics, English, and Accounting. So far he has loved his classes and teachers and is doing really really well. I am super proud of him and so excited for what he has ahead in the future. 

Well that's all I got for now! I'll try to make this a daily habit, but no promises people! :) 

Keep the birds coming!

I remember the first time a little bird flew inside someone's window and told them something that that someone desperately needed to know. I had never seen one myself, but I was hearing about them more and more. I asked myself one day, "What birds!? Where are these talking birds that people are always talking about!?". It took me years to finally understand that these "birds" are the ones who gave me a girl's phone number when I wanted to call her without her having given her number to me. These same "birds" once told me that "Kasey wasn't quite ready for a boyfriend, but that she really liked (me)". Well... SUCKERS!! I proved them wrong!!! Kasey WAS ready for a boyfriend, she just didn't know it for herself yet, and here we are, married now! We've been married for almost 8 months and here come these birds knocking at our door again.

A couple of birds have told us it was time to update the Reyne Day (thanks birds, here we are), others have said that we need to leave our stomping pad and land our feet somewhere new (we're talking about it and we'll get back to you), but mostly they've been saying, "when are you going to give us grandkids?!?!?!".

(PLEASE TAKE 5 SECONDS TO WATCH THE FOLLOWING VIDEO CLIP -WITH SOUND)

Yes, birds, we're watching you!

So after about 5 months of ignoring the chirps, we're gonna get on it and clean up the mess.

I hope I've kept you all filled in enough to know that I am working in a different department at Xango now. I am no longer working with the Portuguese Distributors, but I am working instead with Craig in the mail center. In the mail center I receive and deliver incoming packages, package and ship outgoing packages, and you know, logistical type of stuff. Kasey is working (for free haha) for the Boy Scouts of America. It's her intership and it is going really well. She has been helping to plan and organize a 5k run and has been asked to student teach a couple of times a week at the local Elementary School. Seeing as her major is Recreation Management, we're not quite sure why she has to student teach.. she doesn't want to be a teacher.... but the 5k event is right up her alley. There are only a few more weeks until she is done!!! In April, Kasey will be walking the stage in her cap and gown, but will still have to finish Statistics before August in order to be a true graduate. Kasey is almost done with school, and I'm almost re-starting...

A long time ago, in my best friend's bedroom who is now far far away in Brazil (Hi Josh), I decided that I wanted to continue my studies at BYU and eventually land myself in BYU's Law School. Much thought, consideration, and planning had gone into this goal, and I was going for it like that song Chad and I had to sing when we stayed at our Aunt Phyllis' for a week one summer and went to a religious camp for kids.. "Go for the gold, run for the priiiiize... (as we held up a fake, hand painted torch)". After taking the long trip back to Arizona, things started falling into place and I shortly after made it to Utah! Two years have since gone by, and I still have yet to make that goal a reality by returning to school. After figuring out all the details with Kasey, the application was FINALLY, completely submitted with transcripts from my previous semesters at BYU-Idaho. We spent Thanksgiving in California with Momma and Poppa Reyne, then Christmas in Missouri with Momma and Poppa Williams. Here we are in March, and we just found out that I was rejected like a basketball player getting stuffed out of the gym on a breakaway layup.

The rejection letter had some great things to say, but in the end says, "This decision should be considered final" (Aka: don't apply again cause we already said no and a new application won't change the reason why we said no). Had I recieved this notification 2 years ago, I probably would have freaked out, gotten scared and been completely lost, but I am not bothered one bit by this decision now. Originally, I thought I was supposed to be in Utah for school, but I know now that the reason I was lead to Utah was to find Kasey. Well, I found her, and now my chapter in Utah can finally end and allow a new one to commence.

At this point, we are ready to soar with those talking birds and give them grandchildren. Since Kasey will be done with school, and I will be heading back to school, we will be making a temporary 180 degree turn in our roles. Kasey will work and I will go to school. Our situation will require the help of our much loved family, with our children. We want to have family nearby so they can help watch the kids as Kasey and I juggle school, work, family, and other responsibilities without sending our kids to daycare. The sooner I can get school done, the better, then we will be able to move onto yet another chapter in our life!

As of now, a new blueprint is being drawn up and will soon become our official new plan! So all I have to say is, Keep the birds Coming!

It's been a HOT minute!

If you're unaware of the phrase "It's been a hot minute", don't feel like you're too old to understand what the youngsters are saying these days or that you missed the latest incredible movie that everybody will be quoting for months! A "Hot minute" is only known and actively used in the English language by myself and a small handful of 3 other people. A hot minute (depending on the context) can be compared to an amount of time as if it was molasses slowly creeping it's way the down the actual North Pole itself, or it can be like a new baby cat dashing for it's lair under the bed when it gets shot with a water bottle!

"It's been a hot minute since i've written on my blog" -Long time/molasses

"It's been a hot minute since I ate Wendy's" -Short time/super fast/recently

So, right now, I'm going to take a hot minute to get us all caught up (no pun inteded).

After our wedding, when Kasey and I got back from our trip to Missouri, we didn't hesitate to get right back into the daily grind. We spent lots of time organizing our new apartment and getting everything put away. We jumped right back into work and school and began our jourmey on the "day train" instead of "cloud 9".

School has kept Kasey plenty busy, and as the youngters do in fact say; "kicking our trash". A celebration is thrown whenever she has no homework and we usually end up doing something special like taking a jog to the nearest park and shooting some hoops or somthing. Work is equally keeping us busy. I recently have actually applied for a couple of new possibilities. One can only take calls like, " QUERRRRRRRRRRRRRRO 4 CAIXAS DE SUMO!!" and complaints over and over and over on the phone in Portuguese for so long. It kinda wares on you and starts to attack at your "happy gland", you know, the one inside your heart that makes you feel happy or sad.

Other than work and school, there has not been a whole to report at the moment. Except for "Toby"....

So, just this last weekend, Kasey decided that she REALLY wanted a new addition to the family (and not the kind the takes 9 months to be delivered by the stork), but a CAT! I've not had the best of experiences with cats in the past. My grandma has 2 cats that she refers to as "Real people/Royalty in cat suits". I once had to babysit those little royal kings, and I soon became their laughable jester at the round table in their castle. I already wasn't a "cat man" before that period of life, but the experience even furthered my desire to welcome a furry feline into the front door. Needless to say.. we got a cat.

We've had the cat for what seems FOR-EVVVV-EEERRRR (imagine the kid from The Sandlot)!!! He's just a baby and loves to be obnoxious and tear up all our furniture. When I try to cuddle up with my wife to watch a movie, he has to come in and try to lay down in between us. He's already showing signs of a rotten, oversized rat like the ones on The Princess Bride. After much conversation, Kasey and I have agreed that a baby cat is not the right addition to our family at the moment, so we are already giving him away.

To Kasey, we're saying Hello and Goodbye to the cat in less than one week.

To me, we're saying goodbye to the cat after a LIFETIME!

So either way... we got the cat, and now we're passing him on... and it's been a HOT minute!

Where to Start?!?!

So here is attempt #2 to fill everybody in with what's going on! Last week I spent a solid couple of hours writing the latest blog post in order to catch everybody up, but when I went to post it, an error popped up saying, "Your request cannot be made at this time" or something like that, and right about that time, my whole post had disappeared! It was gone!

Naturally, I wasn't exactly excited to get back on the grind and re-write it! If you've ever seen that amazing T.V show "Friends", I felt like Ross after he had written a huge, important speech for a convention and somehow lost it! The good part about Ross' speech though, was he had only minutes before; shared his speech with a friend who was able to help him re-write it. I on the other hand was left with a blank screen and a threatening silence that seemed to imply, "it's gone sucka! it's all gone!"



So, here I am again for the second shot!



A lot has gone down in the last few weeks, and there is really no better place to start than here: Kasey is officially, 100% a "Reyne" now!! Yes, we finally got married on July 31st, 2010 in the LDS Salt Lake City Temple. The wedding day was incredible! Our ceremony was scheduled to begin at 11:40am. Our guests were to start arriving at 11:15am. Kasey and I of course had to be there a little earlier. Our mark was set for 10:00am. The drive from the town we both lived in was about 1 hour from the Temple. I set my alarm the night before for 8:30am. When the alarm rang to wake me up the next morning, I casually showered, got dressed and arrived at Kasey's place ready to go by 9:00am. Kasey on the other hand had been up since about 6:30am, and was still scrambling by the time I got there just to get out the door on time. But hey, it's OK, it's her wedding day and she can wake up super early and still almost be late if she wants to.
The ceremony was beautiful and it was great to have such close friends and family present. After the ceremony, it was equally decided among everybody in the family that it was time for some lunch! We all went and got some food and then we all went about our afternoon doing whatever and running errands.

Lets fast forward! Close your eyes! Look up, and look down, now look back up and you're at the site of our wedding reception; where the guests were welcomed and we celebrated our marriage! I'm on a computer! (Doo, doo doo, do doo dooo). Our reception was held in the yard of some really good friends of ours. The story of how we met those friend is kind of long, so I'll give the "Reader's Digest" version so try to keep up. I served my Mission in the Salvador, Brazil Mission. In Brazil, I met an Elder named Elder Griffin. We became friends and soon after, Elder Griffin's 2 years had ended and he returned home. In the meantime, Kasey was going to school at BYU and was super good friends with a long-time classmate named Natali (yes that's spelt right. There is no "E" at the end of Natali and she's dang proud of it!). 2 more years into the future, I get home and start living life again in the United States. Just under another year flashes by like the speed of light; I met Kasey and we started dating. One day Kasey wanted to go on a double date with the two of us, her friend Natali from school and Natali's husband. When they were planning out what we were going to do, they discovered that Natali's husband's name was Evan, and so was mine. When all four of our heads got put together, we realized that Evan was the same Evan (Elder) Griffin I had met in Brazil about 3 years earlier! It was crazy! So, needless to say, we all became great friends and Evan and Natali have become our Favorite and Best Friend-married couple to hang out with. Back to the beginning of this paragraph; Natali's parents have a large backyard that they rent out frequently for wedding receptions, birthdays, and other types of parties. They were so kind, and they offered us to use their yard for our reception. The reception was a huge success! It looked great, the weather was perfect and we had lots of family and friends show up.

At the end of the day, Kasey and I were off to Salt Lake City for the night, but first we had to make our daily stop at "Mavy". Mavy is the nickname we gave to a gas station that is really called "Maverick". We stopped for our usual "DP's" (Diet Pepsi for her, and Dr. Pepper for me, hence "D.P."). We saw our usual gas station friends who we've grown to know so well from our visits every night. They congratulated us and sent us on our way with our cold 44 oz. DP's in hand. We went to our new apartment, grabbed some things and a change of clothes for our little trip and off we were.

The rest of the weekend was great as we prepared for the new week ahead of us as Mr. and Mrs. Reyne. The next week was scheduled as follows: Monday morning - 6:30am-3:00pm, Evan goes to work. Tuesday Morning - 6:30am-3:00pm, Evan goes to work. Wednesday - 6:30am-3:00pm, Evan goes to work. Wednesday afternoon 4:00pm-?? drive to Missouri. "WHAT!?!?!" "WHAT WAS I THINKING when I requested to work for three days only 2 days after my wedding and then go to Missouri?!?!" I obviously was not thinking at all. So Sunday night, I called into work and said just that, "I have no idea what I was thinking when I said I would work for 3 days, and then take a week and a half off! I'm actually just going to take Monday-Wednesday off as well and make that a full 2 weeks off!"

The next morning we were off to Missouri and ready for a 2 week break from the grind of "real life". Our trip to Missouri is a new day and a new story! When I start to write about it, I find myself all the way back where I started... "Where to Start?!?!"