Oh Christmas Tree

 I never, never, never thought I would be married to someone who is so particular about a Christmas tree. Philip and I went to probably 10 different stores to find ornaments that he was okay with. We couldn't just have 2 or 3 different colors our whole tree had to be multicolored. It was so funny to go shopping with him and see how opinionated he was about the ornaments and everything else. Me on the other hand all I really cared about what having some sort of theme to our Christmas tree. I think we both did just that. We found some multicolored ornaments and some super cute snowman ornaments that made everything tie together. After all the frustration of trying to get our tree straight in the stand Philip got to do the lights his way and I decorated the ornaments my way with his help of course. Together we made a great team and I think our first Christmas tree turned out so cute!

 Our first Christmas together ornament. We couldn't find one that fit us until we found this one. I love that we will always have something that reminds us of the start. 

 Okay so are these not the cutest ornaments you've ever seen? I LOVE THEM! The inside is filled with little styrofoam balls in it that move around. They're just perfect.

I'm so excited to have our very first married Christmas together. I can't wait to wake up to Philip on Christmas morning and just have us time. He is such a fun guy at Christmas and wants me to deck out our house with all Christmas decorations. Dixie you did so well on teaching Philip Christmas fun, almost too well haha!

Happy happy 26th birthday!

So Philip turned 26 this year. After giving him a hard time after how old he is now (well actually I'm still giving him a hard time) we had a good day. We thought Philip would be working swing shift on his birthday so Saturday night after putting up our first Christmas tree (I'll post pictures on a separate blog), we went to one of our favorite restaurants to celebrate. Tepanyaki! Tepanyaki is a Japanese Steakhouse for those of you who don't know and it is super yummy! Plus with the meal we order we always have leftovers and those are just as good. It was so nice to get out with Philip and to be able to celebrate his birthday. 

On his actual birthday, I took the day  off thinking he'd be working that night so I would get to spend a little time with him, but he ended up not having to work and we got to spend the whole day together. I could have those more often. We had so much fun. First we woke up and were just lazy, watched some Toy Story. Now watching that and being a little older you can see the grown up humor in it too. So funny. Then I talked Philip into going to another movie (thank goodness Philip is awesome at sales and wins free gift cards). We stopped by my mom's and picked up his birthday present which he loved (UofU clothes) then off to see Megamind. We loved it. It was a good movie and it was fun seeing it in 3D. After the movie we went and did a little window shopping (the joys of being a newlywed haha). I forgot what it's like to go out and actual do stuff. Who needs to spend money to have a good time. To finish our day off we went to Salt Lake and looked at the lights on our church. It is so neat. They have a couple songs and the lights match up with songs. Two of our favorite things Christmas songs and Christmas lights. Such a good time. After finishing up the lights at church we enjoyed dinner with Philip's parents at La Costa. One of our favorite restaurants. 

All and all it was a great day. I loved being able to spend all day with Philip. We haven't been able to do that for a long time. I love my husband and love that our birthdays are still special days to us.

Catching up...

So I know that I'm not the best at blogging. I posted a short and sweet post for Philip's birthday, but other than that I haven't been keeping everyone updated. To defend myself all except the last couple weeks I have been working 11 hour days. What can I say I enjoy the time off later and it was especially nice being able to spend Philip's birthday with him.. So let me go back to Thanksgiving. 

 This is me and our kids headed to Grandma's house. This year was quite a bit different.. Instead of 20 people being there when all was said and done we had 8. Plus this year I got to spend the WHOLE day with Philip, which was awesome. 

 Before my niece and nephew left to their other grandparents house we had an impromptu photo shoot and it was super fun. They kept telling me what kind of pictures to take and they weren't camera shy at all.

 Cracks me up how innocent she looks, trust me she is FULL of personality. 

 Funny Faces!

 These are are mean faces. They are so funny.

 Lookin' cute and showing off those good looks.

 Their funny faces

 Kenadee and our little Tootsie. Every time we take Tootsie to grandma's house Kenadee cannot get enough. Unfortunately Tootsie has had enough within the first 5 minutes, but she is still a good sport.

 Yummy fruit!

 Waiting for some grub!

 What little family we had sitting down waiting to eat, minus my brother in law Chris taking the pciture.

 I think this is right before we crashed on the couch. We were so stuffed and so tired that a nap was a must!

The End of the night. My brother's birthday was on Thanksgiving this year and after searching up and down through my mom's cupboards for candles we found these. So Happy 95th (28th) Birthday Luke!

When all was said and done we both had a good time and were completely stuffed after. We were both so thankful to be able to spend time with our family and just have a good day being around them. We really are so blessed with all the support we have.

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday Philip!
I met you when you were 20 years old and now you're turning the big 2-6!
I can't believe it's been so long!
I'm so lucky to be married to my best friend and to be able to share many more birthdays with you.
Thanks for being the best ever!
Hope you're day is just as amazing as you are!
Love you babe!!!

And.....

Again... Okay so maybe this will be the last time, maybe not. Philip and I are on the front page of the sport's section from the Salt Lake Tribune on Saturday. Where's Waldo? See if you can find us!

We're famous... again...

Just wanted to post a link, our reception center posted a blog about our wedding as a feature wedding. Go check it out. I think she did a great job and it does our wedding justice!

The Grays!

Because it's my day off & I'm bored

I saw this on someone's blog and I decided that since I'm home alone (Philip had to go to work) and I am completely bored... Why not?

1. When is your "marriage" anniversary? "Engagement" anniversary?
Our marriage anniversary is May 21, 2010, almost 5 years to the day that we actually met and our engagement anniversary is July 22, 2009, 4 years to the day that Philip first said he loved me. How thoughtful and cute is he?


2. Where/how did you meet your spouse for the first time?
We had mutual friends online through Myspace and we just started talking and eventually decided to go out.


3. How long have you known your spouse:
5 1/2 long crazy years and I still love him more than anything.


4. How long did you date/court before you were engaged?
Ha! We dated FOREVER! Just over 4 years. Don't tell Philip, because I always give him a hard time, but I'm glad we waited as long as we did. I feel like it prepared us so much more for marriage and plus we didn't have to move into an apartment. I LOVE LOVE LOVE our house and I wouldn't have it any other way.

5. Do you have any children:
No. Not yet, but I know Philip will be a great daddy!

6. Do you have any house pets:
Yes, we have 2 cute little dogs and 1 crazy cat. Dog 1 Tootsie - loves to cuddle and get as much human attention as possible. Dog 2 Bentley - loves as much attention as possible and will go to any extreme to get it. Of course he does have a hard time opening up to new people, but once that is gone he will make you and everyone else his best friend. Of course are completely insane cat Trouble- she has completely wiped out any mouse population near our house and most days you can either find her meowing at the top of her lungs for attention or sleeping in millions of different crazy ways. I love all ours pets and life just wouldn't be the same without them.


7. What are some of your favorite activities together:
Together we are both HUGE sports fans! We can usually be found at any Real home game or University of Utah football home games. We both love snowboarding and love watching our TV shows together.


8. Do you have a favorite vacation spot:
We both love Disneyland and probably would go there 4 or 5 times a year if we could. Other than that probably my property in the mountains, I know that's not everyone's idea of a vacation, but growing up camping was the only vacations my family ever took.


9. Where was your first date?
Oh boy.. Our first date, Philip pulled up to my house to pick me up and the moment he showed up I noticed he was wearing the EXACT same pair of sunglasses that I owned. It was crazy, talk about just knowing. After that we went to Chilis where he spent most of the time talking to his friends on the phone haha I never let him forget it either. After that we just decided to drive around and talk, but first he wanted to meet my cute lil puppy (at the time) Tootsie. So we stopped to pick her up and you'll never believe what he did... He HUNG her out the window. She weighs 3.5 lbs now so she was probably half that then. How he ever got a second date? Who knows haha


10. When did you first kiss?
Our first kiss was on what Philip considers to be our first actual date. It was a few days or so after our first one and let me tell you about Philip. He was hilarious. We decided we were going to go see a movie. He was to scared to try and hold my hand so he asked me to tickle scratch his hand. I stopped then he made me do it again, and finally he held my hand. It was the cutest funniest most unique way a guy had ever tried holding my hand, but that's Philip for ya. After the movie he took me back to my car and we talked for a good 2 or 3 hours and I told him I needed to go. He made me wait and dance with him in the parking lot of the mall. After so long he finally kissed me on the forehead and then kissed my lips. He still knows what song we were dancing to when he kissed me (it was some Backstreet Boys song and what can I say I never listened to them).


11. Who said I Love you First?
Philip did and it was super cute. I love when he gets all shy and embarrassed about things. One night we were sitting there talking and he just looked at me in the eyes and tried talking to me and said never mind. I had to coax him into telling me what he was going to say and he turns to me and says, "How do you tell someone you're falling in love with them?" I remember my heart just dropped and it was one of the most perfect moments.


12. Did you get married in a church?
No we wanted to get married outside and we took a risk. I remember 3 weeks before our wedding it was supposed to be in the high 70s and by the time of the actual wedding it was rainy and thunderstorms. Our wedding coordinator called me in the morning and asked me what I wanted to do. I told her let's go for the outside (after all it was $100.00 more). Right in the middle you could hear the thunder and by the end it was pouring. I hear rain is a good sign though?


13. Do you get flowers often?
It depends. We are on a pretty tight budget right now, so not too often, but Philip does go out of his way to get me flowers. He doesn't just get me flowers because he messes up or something either. He gets them just because. Whenever he sees a sunflower he usually stops to pick it for me, he knows I love them.

14. Where did you go on your honeymoon:
Cancun (technically Maya Riviera), Mexico and man do we have stories haha. I love looking back at it all now and laughing, but it was wasn't funny at the time. It was a blast though, I've never left the country before and man was it nice and sunny.


15. How long did you know each other before you started dating?
We talked for probably a month or two before we decided we wanted to hang out. I think I fell in love with Philip before I ever met him.


16. What do you call each other most of the time?
We both use the same, babe, boo, baby lol we're not very unique. We do have other random nicknames for each other, but we don't use those as often


17.Where do you each work or go to school?
I work at the IRS and will be transferring to Weber State for Spring semester. Philip just got a new job at Lexington Law (I'm so proud of him) and might go to Weber for Spring semester if he doesn't coach high school basketball.


18. Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
Probably our work schedules (although that will be changing with Philip's new job). I work 6 am- 230 pm and he worked 9 am - 6 pm in Salt Lake. Most nights we get an hour or two together before I need to try to go to bed before work the next day. Or it could be that Philip is carefree and I'm not so carefree. I like to live on a budget and have things planned out, Philip on the other hand haha not so much.

19. Did you go to the same school?
Not high school and we have gone to the same schools, but I don't know if we ever have at the same time.


20. Are you from the same home town?
Nope I grew up in Roy and he grew up in Cottonwood Heights.


21. Who is smarter?
I think it depends on the subject. Philip can figure out math percentages in his head and is a history buff. I know nothing about history, geography, and never have retained what I've learned on those subjects. I think I'm better at english, writing, and other stuff. We both compliment each other well I think.


22. Who is more sensitive?
Me.


23.Where do you eat out most as a couple?
La Costa and Texas Roadhouse. For special occasions, Rodizzio grill, Tepanyaki, or Timbermine. Those don't happen too often anymore though.


24. What attracted you about him/her first?
Lots of things. I met Philip a few months after my dad passed away and I don't really remember smiling after that till I met him. Philip can always make me laugh (even if we're arguing), he has the best personality, and the cutest smile (not his forced smile). He listened and cared about my life and he has the prettiest blue eyes. How could I not fall for him?


25. Who is more social?
Definitely Philip. If we're sitting in a room I like to be the one who listens more and he likes to be the one that people are listening to. He's always been way more outspoken then me.


26. Who is the neat-freak?
Me. I feel like there is always something that needs to be cleaned up and if we're having people over I want our house to be cleaned from top to bottom. Philip doesn't mind if things are not clean.


28. Who hogs the bed?
It depends on the night sometimes I think between him and our pets I have an inch or room and other times I know I'm taking the whole bed along with all the blankets.


29. Who wakes up earlier?
Me. I have to be to work at 6 am so I'm usually up at 430 5 o clock. On the weekends too he usually sleeps in and I'm up. Although lately I can't get enough sleep after my surgery.


30. What are HIS favorite things and HER favorite things?
Philip loves basketball, football, video games, snowboarding, sleeping, spending time with his friends, and watching TV or movies.

I love soccer, football, reading, crafting, spending time with my friends & family, trying to decorate our house, cooking, and snowboarding.

I am now a ....

Wildcat. So I know I was completely vague on my last post, but now it's official. I have been accepted to Weber State University, credits transferred and all. I never in a million years wanted to go to Weber, but one night Philip and I were sitting here discussing our futures and it just made sense for me to go to Weber. No more hour long drives to and from class, I can get my associate's degree from there (so close) and I will be able to receive financial aid which is the biggest plus. After changing my name at the University of Utah getting my financial aid there was a HUGE mess. I still am unsure about Weber State, but I am looking forward to getting back on track with school and moving on to bigger and better things. I know I have a career at the IRS, but I don't know if that is my "forever" job. I have no clue what I want to do with my life and I can not figure out a major for the life of me, so any suggestions would greatly help. Here's to the future and hopefully to a better life for Philip and me.

Moving on..

Last night I took a major jump in the opposite direction that I have been going. I'm completely nervous about it and I'm praying it was the right decision.. It feels like the best direction for us right now... Now it's just a waiting game and we'll see what happens. I have even bigger decisions to make in the next couple of months. Nothing more exciting than trying to figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life.

Too funny!

So last Thursday I had surgery on my shoulder and it has been a pretty rough recovery so far. I do have shoulder pain, but I have been really sick from the medication and had a hard time keeping any food down. They switched my medications over so I'm hoping that it will help. Philip has been taking care of me (I don't know where I would be without him). Last night when he was making some soup for me he brought me out a bowl and it was real thick (looked almost like chili) it was supposed to be vegetable soup. So I just kind of stood there and looked at it and I realized that he made the soup without putting water in it. I started laughing so hard. It cracks me up that Philip doesn't know how to do such simple things (he asked his mom how to make a bowl of cereal once for her), but I'm glad he tries so hard for me. I hope we have many more years of these moments and finding out quirks about each other. I love being married and couldn't ask for a better person to help take care of me during recovery from my surgery.

A brand new birthday.

So this year was my 23rd birthday, but my first birthday as Mrs. Gray and can I tell you if this is what married birthdays are like I can't wait for all the rest. Philip truly made this the best birthday ever and I had so much fun hanging out with him and my family. Philip and I both took the day off from work (a rare occasion) and spent the day together. We woke up and went to Cracker Barrel (which Philip kept saying I have to call my mom and tell her that's where you wanted to go) and then went to a movie (completely free because my husband is an amazing salesperson). After that we went out for dinner with my mom and then headed back to bring 23 in with the rest of my family.




Every year my mom goes out of her way to get me and ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. My absolute favorite and this year was much of the same. I love that I'm 23 years old and my mom still treats my birthday so importantly. I really do have the best mom ever!



Okay, how can you not love this picture? My nieces and nephew were all so excited to sing my happy birthday, especially Kenadee. Kenadee is my 4 year old fire cracker of a niece. Boy does this girl have a personality! She was so cute and sang louder than anyone else. My other nieces made my adorable handmade birthday cards filled with "you're the best aunt ever." I love all those lil munchkins so much. Thanks everyone for the great birthday party!

My favorite place...

A couple weekends ago, I called Philip up and said, "Let's go camping!" It was a complete last minute thing, but I couldn't have been more glad that we went. My family's property has so much meaning to me and really is my favorite place to go. I remember when my pop bought our property and all the times we would go up there to work on it and now everytime we go up there it reminds me of him so much. This is also the place the place that Philip proposed and that was one of the happiest days of my life, next to marrying him. The stars up there are so pretty, I tried taking a picture, but it didn't work. The best part of the trip is when we got up there and started the fire up to make our hobo dinners and guess what? I completely forgot aluminum foil. There's a cute little cafe about 20 minutes away that luckily made our dinner that night. We still laugh about it now. Here are some pics from the trip.

This is our cute pup Bentley, he loved it up there even though all him and Tootsie wanted to do at night was cuddle up in our hoodies.

My brother gave us a head flashlight to borrow and Philip was highly amused with himself as you can see in this picture. It had a red light feature, so Philip wanted to pose as a devil. What can I say? I truly married a nerd.

How can you not think this is so beautiful? Some of the best views ever!

I had the best time ever just going camping with my Philip. We are on a pretty strict budget with our house and our bills so one night away without having to spend money (sides me forgetting aluminum foil) was well worth it. Philip and I talked and I found out things about him that I didn't know after 5 1/2 years of being together. I can't wait for many more trips with him.

Loved this.

I may not be the most beautiful, or the sexiest, nor do I have the
perfect body. I might not be everyone's first choice, but I'm a great
choice. I don't pretend to be someone I'm not, because I'm good at being me. I might not be proud of some of the things I've done in the past, but I'm proud of who I am today. Take me... as I am or watch me as I walk away!

Happy, happy birthday!

This is the week of birthdays in my family. My mom's is Oct 3, mine is Oct 6, and my brother John's is Oct 7. So to say the least it's a super busy week, but I love it. Sunday we celebrated my cute mom's birthday. Let me tell you about my mom. When I was 4 years old my mom found out she had breast cancer. Instead of giving up, she fought and she fought hard. She wanted to make sure that she was always there for her family. I will never forget that time in my life, I look at my mom now and I am SO proud to call her my mom. She has been so amazing in so many ways. She helped me to go to school, she helped me to move out on to my own, she helped me plan the most important day of my life (so far) and she has helped me with so much more. My mom is always there to talk and to listen. She gives some of the best advice I've ever received and have I mentioned how amazing of a cook she is? She is the best cook ever. I love you mom! Thank you for everything you have and will do for me in the future. I am so glad to be able to call you my mom and more importantly to call you my best friend.

For my mom's birthday she wanted something more than money can buy. Awhile ago I started making a craft for her that I had yet to finish. I needed more than one person to accomplish it and never really found time, but my mom said that was the one thing she wanted done and finished for her birthday. So after church we went to her house and I began crafting and finishing up my project. After a few hours and a lot of stressing about getting things perfect we had an end project and I think it looks AMAZING!

The letters on the way just have ribbon behind them to look like they're hanging up. All the surrounding pictures are our family pictures we had done in January. Up to that day I had never been in a formal family picture (shows you how outdated our old ones were). I know this isn't the best picture, it was taken with my phone but I think it gives you a good idea. Thanks also to my hubby for helping to hang the pictures. He was such a champ and measured everything to make sure it was exact!

I am so lucky to have the family, friends, and husband in my life that I do. I love you all and couldn't ask for a better way to bring in turning 23!

I am one lucky wife.

After a long day of cleaning and making dinner I was exhausted and told Philip I was probably going to go take a bath and relax. To my surprise this is what I got when I went in the bathroom. A bath already drawn with candles. I love my husband more than anything and I'm so glad I married such a thoughtful guy. Thanks Philip you're the best!

Kind of a big deal...

Yup we were on the front page of the Salt Lake Tribune... Check it out...

2008 Muss

Here is what the picture looks like in the actual newspaper, it's pretty much us.


Update: The link no longer shows the whole picture.. Bummer.

Name change!

Never again will I change my name! I am soooo worn out right now..

Financial aid is a complete mess..
Trying to change my name on all my bills is a complete nightmare.
Ordering new checks, just more money out the door..

On the bright side, the Social Security was a breeze.. Walk in, and walk out with a new name. Although you may only change it 10 times in your lifetime.. Once is good enough for me thanks. Good thing Philip is worth it. (:

That ends my vent...

My Husband

Yes I still love being able to say "my husband" it is definitely one of the best feelings in the world.

Lately, I have been so lucky to have Philip in my life. He is my rock. Although I have lived on my own moving out this time is definitely a different feeling. There is no turning back, being able to move back in with my mom. This was completely exciting to me and very scary. I had a hard time adjusting at first. It didn't help that a week after we came back our house got broken in to.

I get off work at 2:30 and Philip doesn't make it home till 6 or 7. We get about 2 or 3 hours to spend together at night because I need to go to bed to wake up early. At first those 2 or 3 hours were spent trying to get our house in order. Man! It was definitely hard, but Philip has been there for me through it all..

There are so many things I love about Philip.

He is my best friend
He has a fun carefree attitude that definitely helps me unwind.
He can make me laugh at anytime (even when I'm mad)
He's an awesome cook and has no problem coming home from work and making dinner when I'm exhausted
He is 100% supportive of me and tells me how proud he is of me
He has asked me everyday this week, How was Day 1 of the new job? How was Day 2 of the new job? It really just shows me how much he truly cares
He will work overtime if we need extra money
He does small things for us to have fun without spending money
I love that he is 25 and is still ticklish
He is going to make the best dad (he is amazing with kids)
My family is so in love with him and he is great with them
He is always the first to apologize (even when I should be)

There are sooo many more reasons, but this year with him has definitely been the best. I can't believe after 5 years you can still keep falling more in love with someone everyday. I know I don't tell you enough, but thanks babe for everything you do for me. I'd be "lost without you."

The post you've all been waiting for... OUR HOUSE!

Okay. So I know there aren't tons of pictures, but these are the only two rooms that I feel are done enough to share online. Well our bathroom is too, but I just haven't got around to taking pictures.. Two days before our wedding, May 19, 2010, we closed on our home! What a great feeling. We've both owned cars, but I don't think either of us felt as accomplished as we did when we bought our house. It's a 4 or 5 bedroom (depending on who looks at it, I say 4 with an office realtor said 5), 2 bathroom, 1 living room, and 1 family room house. Everyone always asks us why we bought a house so big to start out in or bought a house period and to this question I always say "Why not?" We absolutely fell in love with this house the moment we walked in the door. After months of house hunting and many failed attempts we had just about given up. We had talked earlier that day and had literally decided this was our last day of looking. Enjoy the pictures and hopefully more will be up soon.

Our kitchen table from Philip's parents. We absolutely love it. (Don't mind all the food in the background it's from our BBQ)

Our fridge. Man was this a chore to put in. Thank goodness my brother is a handy man and helped us out tons. We had to raise our cupboards and take the top off the counter to the right and put it on differently. I was seriously stressing out so bad, but my brother came to the rescue and made it fit just right. Thanks John.

Our stove and microwave are also brand new. We just had a white fan above the stove place before so we decided that since we needed a microwave anyway to put in an above the range. This was also a VERY snug fit, but once again my brother came to the rescue. I love how it looks.

Our dishwasher and sink. Not so much to look at, but before we moved in we had a white dishwasher (the only appliance in the house) so we decided to upgrade that to black too.

A better view of the kitchen.

Our living room ( I absolutely love our furniture)

A typical night at our house consists of putting our ottoman right up to our couch and crashing on it just like a bed. Our furniture takes up more room than we had planned, but I definitely think it's worth it.

Other view of our living room.

That's all the pictures for now and decorations will be coming soon. As soon as the other rooms are more presentable I will post pictures of them. Being a house owner is DEFINITELY more work than Philip and I imagined, but I can't imagine a better place to start our lives together.

Next...

We have SO many birthdays in August to celebrate! It has been crazy. Every weekend in August we have had a different party to go to. This time it was my niece Majesta's birthday party. I first became an aunt at the age of 7. My first niece was Majesta and it's hard to believe that she was born 15 years ago! Man I'm getting old. I have always looked at Majesta as a little sister almost in fact I still get asked if she is my little sister. I am so PROUD of my niece and who she has become and is still becoming. She is so full of personality and so outgoing (although she can be a little brat at times). I don't know where I would be without this little well I guess not so little anymore girl in my life. Happy 15th birthday Majesta! We love you sooooo much!

P.S. Everyone STAY OFF THE SIDEWALKS! You can now get your permit at 15 in Utah! Yikes! I can't believe this girl will be driving!

BBQ Time!

Welp! We finally decided that our house was in enough order to invite some family and friends over to show them our house and have a BBQ and man did we have a great time! We are so lucky to be blessed with the friends and family that we have that support us 100% in everything we do. I don't know where we would be without all of you. Thanks to everyone for your support and thanks to all who came out to have a good time!

Me and Nikki

My sister Sandy and brother John

Me and my mom!

Philip and Jon

Us!

My best friend Adam since Jr. High. Love that kid! He came back from Cambodia just for our BBQ haha jk

My cute nieces and my nephew who was being a stinker about being in a picture.. Boys

My girls! We have been through so much together and I love them all to death! I know that they are ALWAYS there for me. Thanks guys!