Be mine.

 

I didn't really expect to have much of a Valentine's Day this year. Philip works later than I do and on Tuesday nights I have class late. 

To my surprise I came home to roses, candy, a stuffed animal, funny card, and a candlelit dinner. 

I am one lucky girl!

Love that my husband doesn't just love me on Valentine's Day, but spends the whole year letting me know how loved I am. 

Date night!

Almost 7 years and I'm still so in love with this guy!

Happenings...

It is now 2 am and guess what? I'm wide awake. First it started with Philip being an incredibly annoying snorer then it just turned into insomnia. Either way I figured I could squeeze in a blog with a few updates on our life. I know when my 5:30 alarm goes off I will totally be hating myself, but that's okay.

Philip and I have actually had some really exciting stuff going on lately. It's so weird to think about what used to be exciting and what is exciting now that we're married. 

I'll start with school. Philip and I have been working really hard with school this semester and last. Yes we both should've been done by now and no neither of us are, but we are making HUGE progress. We're both right on track to graduate with our Associate's Degrees this semester. I met with my counselor last week and Philip is meeting with his this week. We haven't really decided if we are going to walk or anything, but I am really proud of us. No one in my family has any kind of college degree so I'm pretty excited even if it's 4 years after I should've had it. I'm really proud of Philip for getting back in school. I've always known Philip was really smart, but sometimes he still surprises me. We work well together and help each other out with our classes. We have both decided to major in Accounting. We both have about 2-3 years left depending on how many classes we take each semester, but I know it will be worth it in the end.

Now I have to brag about myself a little. I got another promotion at work! I am so excited. I've really worked hard at my job and it feels good to be rewarded with a promotion. My new team seems really nice and friendly. I can't wait to start. I have one more week at my current job. It's always bitter-sweet leaving a job. I will miss seeing all my friends at work (I'll be moving to a different building), but I can't wait to make new friends and for all the other opportunities that will be there for me. The drive will be a much shorter drive so I'll be making more money and saving more. Sounds like a win/win right? 

I really have to give major props to my husband! I married such a great guy. Philip has been by my side through everything. He has helped me so much with school and pushes me to want more out of my career at IRS. He really has been my rock and I wouldn't have been able to make it through this last year with out him. Plus he even cooks, cleans, and does laundry sometimes? Man am I lucky! 

Last week we FINALLY got insulation in our house. I seriously can't believe we went a 1 1/2 without it. We were crazy. We got a killer deal through my brother's friend. It is so weird to not hear our heater every 5 min. Like I said what's exciting now is completely different than what it would've been 7 years ago when we first started dating. We've been making updates to our house here and there and it's been pretty exciting. Now that we're getting old debt paid off I can't wait to spruce the place up even more. It's funny because I will walk into a room and want to make something to decorate it. I love our house. I love that we have room to grow in it and that we have all the things that we "wanted" in a house. We really lucked out when we bought our house. Yes it still needs some odds and ends, but it's one investment we'll never regret making. 

Our animals still keep us pretty busy when we're not at work or school. It's kind of funny because when we have people over now we joke about being an animal shelter. It's okay though because the guy who put insulation in our house has way more pets than us so I think we're doing okay. Tootsie, Bentley, and Trouble still aren't loving Kimber. It's really kind of sad. Kimber really is a good puppy though (minus a couple cords and pairs of shoes chewed up) she's actually been easy when it comes to other training. She's completely potty trained, knows how to sit and lay (when she's not super hyper),  knows how to fetch, and finally is warming up to car rides. Now if I could just get the other 3 to love her like we do it'd be a big happy family.

Well I had all these things in my head that I was going to blog about, but that's all I remember for now. Until next time...

Viva Las Vegas!!

For awhile now Philip and I have been talking about how we wanted to just get away for the weekend and go somewhere. We tossed up a quick trip to Cali or a trip to Vegas and after all was said and done we decided to go to Vegas. We had a blast!

 

 The first pic is from the drive in. The pic doesn't do it justice. One of my favorite things about Vegas is driving in at night and seeing all the lights. It's crazy! Such a cool experience. I remember seeing it for the first time with my pop and brothers and ever since then I've just loved it. We didn't get into Vegas until around 2am, but we decided to get dressed up and go out anyway for a little bit. Party animals right?

 The next day we woke up and found out that our friend Chad was in town! We were so excited to be able to hang out with him. Both of our schedules are usually pretty crazy so we don't get to hang out as much as we should, but when we do hang out it's a blast!

 Before we met up with Chad we went to go see LOVE! It was such a great show. I always say no one puts on a show like Vegas does! I'd recommend this show to anyone!

 I tried to get a picture of us with the ceiling. It was decorated really cool and all the staff wore Beatles inspired outfits.

After LOVE we met up with Chad. We had dinner on the strip and took some pics, then we were out for a fun night on the town!

The next day Chad had left town and it was a pretty low key day for Philip and me. We went to a few exhibits and just had a relaxing day away from home. First we went to the Bodies Exhibit. Which was pretty neat, but definitely didn't have as much as we expected. From what I hear when they traveled to SLC they had much more in their exhibit then they had at the one in Vegas, but it was still fun to see. After we went to the Bodies Exhibit we went to the Titanic Exhibit (ironic that another cruise ship crashed that weekend?). The Titanic Exhibit was awesome! Philip and I both were people from SLC, but we both ended up dying. There was a lot of cool artifacts and interesting information. I'd recommend going to this exhibit as well.

 After all was said and done we had dinner at Serendipity 3. We shared the frozen hot chocolate (which was very chocolately, but good with the whipped cream) and then had our food. Most food in Vegas is super overpriced and not that great of food, but we actually thought their food was pretty good. We had a great view on their deck which is located right on the strip.

 After dinner we just kind of walked the strip and did a little site seeing. We stopped and watched the Bellagio water show and took a couple pictures.

 

The next morning it was time to go home, but we wanted to do one last thing before heading home so we went to Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden . Supposedly they are adding more to the place, but it was just okay for us. The dolphin show was by far the best, but it was pretty neat seeing all the other different animals. They were all so big. The white tiger that is standing on it's legs was almost double Philip even though you can't really tell in the pic.

These guys all knew how to pose for pictures. It was so funny! One day Philip and I want to swim with dolphins! Just another thing to add to our to do list.

Even though it was a short weekend trip, it was just what we needed. Sometimes we get so bogged down with work, school, and all the little odds and ends with our house we just forget to relax and have fun. This trip definitely provided that for us. Trips also make you realize what all you leave behind at home and how much it means to you. We were so ready to return home to that!

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Here's some pics from our Christmas this year! Enjoy!

 Every year we go to my pop's headstone on Christmas Eve to bring up some Christmas festivity. I wish he was still here.

 And that night after church we head home to color in our giant Twas' the Night Before Christmas coloring book. I've done this since I was a little kid and I love that we are still keeping the tradition alive.

 And this is how we label our presents. <3

 Christmas morning!

 Bentley and Trouble wanted to help open presents.

 Just Dance and oh man can Philip dance with the best of them! haha

 Out of all our presents I can't help but have a favorite. Love our new Christmas puppy.

 Love all my pups period!

 Me and Tootsie

 Kimber was pooped. It's hard being a Gray at Christmas time.

 My mom makes the best faces opening gifts. I seriously love her!

 This was my pop's favorite cartoon character. He even drew him on his checks. My mom gave L.j. his old stuffed animal of Yosemite Sam for Christmas. It was so sweet!

 I have the cutest nieces. Love them all!

 Kimber loves Heston's carseat!

My little man Heston!

Even though we are always super busy around the holidays I love the time that we get to spend with our families. It really is the best time of the year. Hope everyone else had a great Christmas like we did and that you all have a great 2012!

Love The Grays