Birthday Vlog

Our sweet baby Jackson turned 1 July 17th! We can't believe it. We took you guys along with us throughout the day! Hope you enjoy watching! Please like and subscribe! 

LINK BELOW:


https://youtu.be/3tXzlQqI8Kk
Xo - Brandyn, Katie & Jackson

the story of us

Most people know this story but I have a lot of new blog followers and in honor of Valentine's Day, I thought I would share a condensed version of how Brandyn and I met. I'll try to keep it as short and to the point as I can!

Brandyn and I met when we were little, probably 8 years old. He initially was my older brothers friend, but due to him spending so much time around the house we developed a friendship as well. We would go fishing, biking, four wheeling, and pretty much anything outdoors; I was very much a tomboy so we played a lot outside. We had little crushes on each other for a few years (he actually gave me my first Valentine) and we both have really fond childhood memories together. 

Then the high school years came around. Brandyn went to the local school and I was homeschooled so we drifted apart at this time. I didn't see much of him but when I did, we didn't get along well. He actually really annoyed me and I would try to avoid him at all costs. Sadly, by the time we were through our freshman year of school, we weren't even friends! Over the course of the next few years, he dated other girls and I was interested in other guys. Even though we hung out with different crowds and had totally different people groups, Brandyn and my brother stayed friends.

Then we graduated high school, and Brandyn came to my grad party. I remember thinking, "Why is Brandyn Ross here, we aren't even friends". And he even gave a little toast/speech to me! That summer, he would come by for milkshakes and burgers at a little Drive IN that I worked at.I honestly had no interest in him but my co workers and friends would often tease me about him and say we should go out. I always would laugh and say, "No I don't like him at all and I'm planning on getting away from this town". 

So the summer passed and fall came. I was still working at the Drive IN. In October, my brother and his girlfriend at the time, planned to go to a halloween theme park and asked me to join. I went along thinking nothing of it. However, once I got there, I was scared out of my mind. At this point I am sure you can guess who just happened to be there that night too; Brandyn. I ended up clinging to his arm through the haunted house, mazes and everywhere from that moment on. I kept saying to myself "Katie get your crap together and quit holding onto to Brandyn”(Later, Brandyn informed me he was so excited that I was holding onto him, LOL.) Anyways, the night went and by the time I got into my car I had a text from Brandyn saying how good he thought the night was! And some little thing in my mind changed at that moment...

That same week, I went to a bonfire and Brandyn was there AGAIN! We ended up talking a bunch and stayed out really late. I got home to my parents house and my mom was waiting up for me. She asked how it went and I remember telling her that I felt like I was starting to like Brandyn. She told me that she had always liked him and she loved the idea of us being together. However, I was still really hesitant. 

But Brandyn kept texting me and randomly showing up all the time. He hung out with my brother a lot and we developed, once again, a very strong friendship. It was at this point that I knew I liked him back. We would go walking a lot, went on lots of milkshake dates, and star gazing was one of our favorite things to do. We held hands for the first time at Green Bluff farms and right away we saw each other being together forever. We were inseparable and became best friends very quickly. 

In December, I went off to college in Seattle and Brandyn surprised me with a promise ring right before I left. We became so serious, so quickly. It was so nice to not only have a foundation to grow on that had started way back when we were kids but to know so much about him. And because my brother was his best friend, he knew everything about him as well. There was never any worries about moving to quickly. We were so in love with each other and a couple months into the relationship we were already talking about marriage. 

We ended up doing the whole long distance thing for one very long semester while I was in Seattle and Brandyn was going to school to be a lineman. But we made it work. I spent part of the summer in Haiti doing mission work and Brandyn got a job in Idaho after he graduated. 

At my brothers wedding rehearsal in August of 2015, Brandyn proposed and I was totally surprised. Thinking of that day gives me chills; it was sheer bliss and happiness. I can still remember looking at Brandyn and thinking, I get to marry that guy! We eagerly started planning our wedding and things moved so smoothly. We were both 19 and madly in love and were married October 18, 2015.

Thinking back over the story of how we met, one thing I love is that it was all in perfect timing. God's timing is beautiful. I am so glad that we had those years when we were little kids with crushes on each and also for the years in high school. We had the time when we were young to establish what being friends with each other looks like and the time in high school to find and learn who we were as individuals. 

I am so thankful that we fell in love when we did, and I can't imagine our story any other way. We are still so head over heals in love and everyday, we are able to both grow and change together. We are such good friends and no one has ever made me laugh the way Brandyn does. I want to be more like the person he is and I am so thankful that I get to be with someone who pushes me to be a better person. I just love everything about him and about us. 

AND NOW WE ARE HAVING A LITTLE BABY TOGETHER, hehe I just had to add that :)

Happy Valentines Day!


XO - K 

Baby Ross Part 2 - November 11th, 2017

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

    your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:14

November 11th, 2017

I woke up like usual, got ready for the day. Brandyn had already left for work hours earlier. I don't think I had any particular plans for the day, so I was taking my time getting ready. The night before I had taken a pregnancy test which was negative (along with probably 25-35 or so other tests over the past few months). I had told Brandyn that we should go back to the fertility doctor after the first of the year and until then just stop hoping to get a positive test. We both agreed and went to bed. 

So now back to the next morning November 11th, I thought "well shoot, I'll just take one more...". I took it, set in on the edge of the sink and went on about my morning. I had no expectation at this point for a positive, so I literally didn't even think to check on the results. A few hours went by and I went back to brush my teeth...AND OH MY GOSH. I saw a faint positive line. Could it be real? I started screaming at the test that it was broken, that it wasn't true, NO NO NO way. I thought "ok, maybe it is real, I should take some more tests (different brands of course, lol). I took two more and they were positive. I at this point was shaking, my heart pounding, and crying hysterically. I couldn't believe my eyes. Our prayers, our dreams, our most wished for wish had come TRUE. And biggest most silent fear that we would never get pregnant had vanished. I just sat in awe for hours. It's a feeling I'll never forget.

I ended up going to my next door neighbors house and talking it over and calming down a little. Then I drove up and told my mom (who also cried, and cried out of excitement). I knew way before I even wanted to get pregnant how I wanted to tell and surprise Brandyn. 

I would book a photographer, have a sign that read "you're going to be a daddy!", and then I would pull it out of no where in the middle of the photoshoot. I told Brandyn we needed to get our christmas photos taken right away before it was to late. He believed me, whew.  He did't suspect anything at all! And then I had to hold the secret inside for two days until the photographer had an opening. I still can't believe I didn't give the surprise away, because I was bursting with excitement! 

All went as planed for the photoshoot. Brandyn was 100% surprised. As I watched him laugh and cry because of all the emotions I fell more in love with him. I am so excited to see him be a dad! And I CANNOT wait to see what our little baby looks like! We are so thankful to God for blessing us with our baby. We have had 2 ultrasounds now and seeing our baby was the best feeling in the world. Please keep us in your prayers that the rest of the pregnancy will go smoothly. We can't wait to meet our little bundle of joy, we love you already more than anything little one. And can't wait for you to be in our arms. ♡

THX for reading! xoxo - K

I will post some of the photos below :

 

Baby Ross Part 1

As many of you know we are expecting a baby! Due July 21, 2018. We are beyond excited and actually quite surprised. I thought I would share our story and then get rolling with more blog posts of telling my husband, bump dates and updates!

I haven't shared much about my struggle with PCOS, and hormonal issues over the past few years. So I think I will start there to help you understand why getting a positive pregnancy test was so unbelievable for us. 

In the Winter/Spring of 2016 I started experiencing some issues regarding my periods, pain in my abdomen, I gained thirty pounds very rapidly, and I started to have some facial breakouts. I started to feel sick all the time. I continued to workout and run regularly. I was very stingy with how I ate. But there was nothing that seemed to help. I began to spiral downward into a bad state of depression. I was so discouraged, I was doing everything I could do to the best of my knowlegde to get healthy and feel better. But with no results and feeling worse I became mentally not well either. I was so confused. I spent so much of my time crying and feeling like a failure. I finally started to feel like something was just not right. 

Summer of 2016 I booked my first doctors appointment, had blood work done, an ultrasound and was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. The doctor told me that I needed to eat 900 calories a day and do 45 minutes of cardio, and that when I lost weight all the hormone issues, pain and cysts would go away. I went home and did exactly what he said to do. I ate the 900 cals a day and did 45 minutes of cardio a day. I went to my follow up appointment 3 months later and had gained more weight. The doctor then said "It's obvious that you haven't done what I've told you to do or you would have lost weight...". I was beside myself, I left that room crying, the hyperventilating type of crying. I called my mom and she prayed over me. She then called me back a few minutes later saying she found a doctor she wanted me to know go see. I went and saw the doctor she had found a few weeks later and told her everything. She informed me that she could help me. She explained all the things that were going wrong with my body, she broke down how my body was unable to maintain proper blood-sugar because of how out of control my hormones were. She gave me some medication, she told me to do less stress involved working out, she helped me understand what type of diet I should be on (I am sure you could guess, it involved more than 900 cals), and most of all she offered hope to me. One of the hardest things though that she said was "you will not get pregnant naturally, but I am going to help you..." 

At that point I was so far from feeling like I could even think of being a mom and have a baby. Though the thought of not being able to get pregnant was hard and scary, I had a lot on my mind as far as what my health would look like in the future. I knew I had some healing to do both physically and mentally. Also something that I learned again through this journey is, depression is real. So real. It is so crazy how strong your mind is. How much it can make you believe, how once your in a bad place it feels %100 harder to get out when depression becomes a factor. It is a real thing. But I now had the hope, and refreshed willpower to work hard on getting better. It wasn't long before I started to feel better, loose some weight, and became mentally stronger too. A year later I was in such a better, positive place! On a side note - I am so blessed that Brandyn was always so encouraging, loving and kind through all of my ups and downs. He was so amazing through it all! And even though it was hard we both became closer to each other and to God.  

So I was feeling better but I still had no idea if I would ever get pregnant...BABY ROSS PART 2 blog post coming soon, so stay tuned!

xoxo - K

Pinterest inspired shelves

I have been wanting to incorporate a little bit more of the "farmhouse" vibe into my house style lately. My husband picked up the supplies for these shelves at Home Depot. The wood was around $12 total and the shelf brackets were $3 each. So the total was $24. Then I am OBSESSED with TJ MAXX, so I picked up all the little fames, plants, glasses and decor pieces for super cheap. I found them mostly on the clearance section, which is always a double bargain. I added some of my fav photos of me and Brandyn. The "I Love Coffee" print my aunt sent to me - its hand painted with real coffee. So that is a fun touch!

I am pretty happy with how they turned out. (I also added a few photos from around my dinning room.) It was a fun afternoon project to do with the hubby and it brought in some fun bright farmhouse style! I am finding that I am hesitant to decorate because it tends to cost a lot but I am learning there are so many cheaper ways to decorate. I am feeling extra inspired to decorate the rest of my house! The guest bedroom is next so stay tuned...;)

                      xoxo - K

summertime smoky skies

YOU CAN BE HAPPY

Recently I was talking with my mom about marriage and having a good spouse relationship. We were discussing what makes one marriage more joyous than another. And why so many marriages are falling apart and leading them to either divorce or ongoing unhappiness. I thought I would share some of my thoughts.

I know that someones past can play a huge role in the happiness of ones future but God can and will make all things new. My mom and I talked about how their past was pretty bumpy, a lot of worldly, sinful things before they had Jesus in their life! She poured out her heart of how she was so close to giving up on their marriage but the Lord saved it. If it weren't for the Lord's power to clean up their relationship and show them what true love was it would not be what it is today. (My parents are still married and share a great life together btw...)

After my mom sharing about her past, the struggles she has gone through to get to where she is now, and things she still goes through I started to think. I started to think about my own marriage and relationship with Brandyn. I often find myself having mixed feelings for being so happy, for having a beautiful marriage. Sometimes I feel bad that I have something so great when so many couples are struggling so much to make things work. Like I want to express my feelings of great happiness and joy but I sometimes feel like I need to keep it to myself because of all the pain that many experience in their marriage. And I honestly don't think I am the only one who has these feelings...? 

But then it hit me, Christ created marriage in the beginning to share with the church what the Bride of Christ was to be, how the church was supposed to be for the Lord. And what the Lords love looks like for his church. Why would God create something (marriage) so beautiful to replicate such an amazing picture and then not desire for us to live out that happiness? Like lets be real if the Lord created marriage only to reproduce - sex/relationship for babies - He totally could have made it happen in a different, less intimate, and not so personal way! But he didn't. He created such a beautiful thing. In my case He allowed me to meet the most amazing man, fall in love, get married and share the deepest, most passionate love that only could be found by living under the covenant of God. I often have people ask how we have such a good relationship and what we do but it's not about what we do - It's about being %100 open to each other and the Lord. And trusting in the Lord's beautiful plan.

I guess what I am trying to say is that people need true love to exist to be able to work for something better. We live in a sinful world and we are all only human but with God he can make marriage beautiful - just like he intended from the beginning. No, it is not always going to be perfect, and easy. (Maybe I will share some of our own trials and struggles we are currently facing soon.) BUT if we start to change our mindset and realize that God's desire is that we share Him through our relationship with our spouse, it will bring Him glory. We need to stop saying things like "marriage will be the hardest thing you'll ever do".  Don't get me wrong I know its not all butterflies and roses, but I think we set ourselves up for failure from the beginning. Marriage is beautiful and can be beautiful forever! It all starts by giving a little more of ourselves and not keeping score.

On a side note: I totally understand that people struggle, and that we all have times of giving up. Times when we feel like we are the only ones trying, who knows maybe we are! But there is hope, hope in Jesus - He will restore what is lost, make your relationship great again, and be by your side in the process. His desire for you is to have a beautiful marriage. It might take some work and time but YOU CAN DO IT!

XO - K