22 years of bliss...

 22 years ago,Tracy and I started the RIDE of a lifetime 
as we drove to Logan, Utah, to be married...

I still remember the drive as if it happened yesterday!
We watched the sun come up on our three hour drive,

we talked about our dreams, and we couldn't stop being excited about the events that were to happen in the next few hours.

(photo on the left is the last photo taken before we got married

photo on the right..."Mr. and Mrs. Tracy Smith") 

I've always loved this saying...

"Choose Thy Love... 

 ...Love Thy Choice"

And this is something that I have reflected on daily because I truly cherish and

 LOVE MY CHOICE!

I'm married to such a hopeless romantic
and I get LOVE notes on a weekly basis.

This year, Tracy made me such a priceless treasure...he printed out an old fashioned looking post card and then spent the next 2 weeks writing love notes and thoughts all over it.
I LOVE this so much...
I can't stop picking it up and reading and cherishing all of the sweet, heartfelt sentiments!  

This is a collection of thoughts I gave to Tracy for his 42nd birthday in 2010...these feelings still ring true today and so I'm preserving them in my journal...

My Dearest, husband, love and best friend...

Happy birthday 2010!   

42 wonderful reasons why I am so head over heels in love with you!!

-- Gorgeous eyes and smile I LOVE your bright blue eyes and your electric smile.

-- LOVE your gap in your front teeth!!  I know you don’t enjoy the gap in your teeth, but I LOVE it!! Your smile makes me melt and get weak in the knees!  I couldn’t imagine a better smile than yours!
-- I love your sense of style in the way you dress. Even if you are mechanicing on the cars or working in the yard you like to be dressed nice. I still remember seeing you for the first time in Pearl of Great Price and how nice you were dressed…striped turtleneck, white V-neck sweater with burgundy and navy banding around the collar, tapered pants and your black penny loafers with the beefy sole.
-- You have the BEST sense of humor! I love that my everyday is filled with laughter because of your awesome personality and sense of humor. I know that you fill many a life with laughter and humor as well.  I just can’t believe that I have YOU to spend my life and every day with. I AM LUCKY!!
-- Love all of your doodling and drawings that you do when you explain things. I love how visual you make everything when you describe or explain something to me. This is such a wonderful strength you have!

-- I LOVE my notebook and all of your sweet love notes you leave me. I get SO excited to walk through the kitchen door each day and I am hopeful that I will see a notebook lying on the counter with notes and thoughts from you!!  They are such treasures to me!
-- Kindness...I love how kind you are to everyone you meet. I don’t think there is a mean bone in your body.
-- Curly hair. I always dreamed of marrying someone with blonde highlighted hair. I know you don’t like when your hair gets long, but I LOVE your curly locks of hair. I get excited thinking of growing old together and having you be a spunky old man with grey curly hair!
-- Facial hair! I love that you are a manly man and that you can grow facial hair. My favorite thing is when you have your “Goatee”.
-- I love that I am married to capable man!! It doesn’t matter what task you have to do, you are always capable of doing whatever comes your way and you always do a wonderful job as well!
-- Make people feel comfortable!  What a blessing it is to be married to a man that makes people feel comfortable. From co-workers, to your scouts, to ward members and family, people LOVE to be around you because you make them feel comfortable with your “put people at ease” personality you have!

-- LOVE that you love to talk and speak what's on your mind. I never have to guess what you are thinking. I am SO lucky as there are many a woman out there that would love to have husbands that would talk to them!
-- I love your zest for life and your desire to be healthy!!  How lucky I am to be married to a husband that takes care of himself physically and strives daily to make conscious choices to be healthy!
-- You love the outdoors!! I am SO grateful that our sons have a dad that has such a great love for the outdoors and I love that you so willing take us to the outdoors to enjoy hikes and nature every chance you get.
-- You are the most incredible LOVER!!  I am completely fulfilled in my sexual life and you know how to make me feel incredibly good!!  What’s amazing is that our sex life just keeps on getting better and better!  It is like an aged wine…it just gets better with age!

-- Patient...I can't believe how many people you deal with at your work and you are always patient with them.  I know that you work with many teachers and co-workers that say and do dumb things, but you are always patient and nice with them!
-- I love your desire for knowledge and learning!  It doesn’t matter what the subject is, you are constantly, learning and gaining knowledge! It is such a blessing to not be married to someone that thinks they know it all! You are never too good to learn from others.
-- Smart!  I sometimes don’t know how you got stuck with me, because I am far from being as smart and intelligent as you are!  I am daily amazed by the intelligent words that come out of your mouth and you know and teach me things that I never knew, but, you knew everything about!
-- Creative! All I can say is WOW to your creativity! You are a dream husband and you are one of the main reasons that I don’t choose to hang out with other girls, because we craft together, decorate the house together and I get all of my JOY from doing all of these FUN things with you!

-- Eloquent speaker!  You exude talent in this area. Anytime you talk you use such big words, but you can relate to anyone on any level and they can understand you!
-- Sincere!  You are always SO sincere. Even when someone bugs you, you can be sincere and give them some kind of genuine compliment!
-- Adventurous!  I love that from the moment I started dating you, you took me on adventurous and unique dates! I will forever always remember our FUN date to the bat cave and our discovery of “Calli-delight” (along with some other FUN moments in the cave as well)

(and in your mess of things in your "Man-cave", you have an 

"I love my wife" sticker amongst all of your things...)

-- Jack of all trades!  I’m sorry to admit it, but I sometimes take you for granted, because in our 20 years of marriage you have been able to figure out and fix anything you touch!
-- You’re my editor...you make me look good! I love that you proof-read all of my posts and catch and fix things so they read and post well on my Blog, because sometimes I use the wrong homonyms. 
-- You are the BEST dad!  I know that being a dad is not always easy, but you are SO wonderful to our sons! Even though they both are unique, you try to bring out the best in both of our sons. I love that you take time for them and you always want to make sure we have FUN in our home each and every day!
-- You have a great body! I love your body and you have the most sexy butt!  You look amazing for being 42 years old. I love everything about your body and WOW you know how to make me feel oh so good!
-- You take care of yourself! I am SO lucky to be married to a man that clips his nails, picks the black heads on his nose, showers, washes his hair and brushes and flosses his teeth daily. You are clean and always smell good and that is a blessing as there are women that have husbands that aren't that meticulously about grooming. You are yummy!!

-- You're mine! I truly have to someday pinch myself to make sure I am in real life!  I am SO lucky that YOU are my hubby!

-- You are SO thoughtful!! I am always finding thoughtful things from my sweetie! I have treasure boxes full of 20 years of thoughtful notes and gifts from you.  I LOVE THEM ALL!!
-- You are a great teacher!  You teach me so many things as well as our kids, but I am really enjoying watching your teaching skills with your scouts. They are learning SO many things because of your great teaching abilities!
-- People feel safe around you!  Your boys in your Scout Troop are so fortunate they have a leader they can feel safe around!  I love that people that are the “underdog” can feel safe because of your kind nature!
-- You have filled my life with FREEDOM!  I love our freedom that we experience in every area of our life! Thanks for giving me butterfly wings!
-- You are a Thinker! I am SO grateful to have a husband that thinks for himself and that doesn’t lock step to everything that everyone says to do. I love our conversations about the Cosmos and Truth and I am SO blessed that you aren’t afraid to question things. I love your honesty as well.
-- You Radiate JOY and Happiness…when I think of these 2 words YOU come to my mind!

-- You mend our clothes and can create masterpieces out of nothing…you truly know how to make a silk purse out of a sows ear!

-- You're my everything...my mechanic, my artist, my carpenter, my tailor, my landscape artist, etc....

-- you are PERFECT for me!! 

Love, Kimmie

Happy anniversary to my sweetheart! 

I hope we ring in at least another 50 together!

Ten Amazing Years!

From here on out it is double digit numbers...

we no longer have children in the single digits, 

and quite frankly, it makes me sad a little bit.

(last year's birthday post...here)

 How has it been 10 years ago since 

our family welcomed 

our sweet 3 pound Ethan Kip into this world!

 (here)

My how the time has flown by...

I no longer have a little toddler 

to pack around on my hip!

I no longer have a little boy to sit on my lap 

and read our favorite books together!

"Guess How Much I Love You"...by Sam McBratney

OR, 

"The Kissing Hand"...by Audrey Penn

This book was definitely life changing as 

EVERY single night before bed  

and many times during the day 

we give each other the "I Love you" sign!!

 However, I have a handsome young man that even though he likes to read and read and read books by himself,

still likes to snuggle on the couch right next to me 

 and read when we get a free moment.  

I love and savor those moments greatly!

March 19th, 2012

Such a FUN, happy day for my Ethan Kip...

it started out with a surprise bike (he had NO idea he was getting that)

breakfast consisted of his favorite smoothie and boiled eggs on toast,

lunch meant, having mom come and sit and eat with you in the lunch room at school,

dinner consisted of Salmon burgers, on homemade onion and cheese buns with all the toppings, homemade FRENCH Fries, sparkling cider and 

GERMAN Chocolate Cake...the best!!  (here)
 

We also got to enjoy dinner with Grandpa and Grandma Smith!

Here's the day in photos!

10 candles... 

one amazing son!!

No matter how old you get Ethan Kip,

I'll always say...

"I love you right up to the moon....and back"!

Key Lime Pie... better than Cheescake!

 Oh the wonderful memories 

of Key Lime Pie...

 It's sad that one of Tracy's very favorite desserts 

is Key Lime Pie 

and yet, the last time we enjoyed this, 

was in the cafeteria at the U of U Hospital while convalescing,

 after I'd undergone an emergency cesarean section,

to deliver Ethan Kip, 10 years ago. 

I decided to surprise Tracy by making this for him and  

WOW, was it the biggest hit ever, 

the only sad thing was that we didn't make up two of them, 

because the first one just whet our appetites and left us wanting for more!

I was a little nervous to make this 

as I didn't have any Key Lime Juice or "Key Limes", 

but, I decided, why not just be frugal  

and use the regular limes that I had an abundance of.

SO, I juiced up 3 limes (which gave me the 1/2 cup of juice I needed) and it tasted perfect!
I can't believe how easy this is to throw together 

and it only has 4 ingredients in it.

Also, I found out that one sleeve of graham crackers smashed up

 makes the exact measurement of 1-1/2 cups 

which is how much you need to make the graham cracker crust.

Key Lime Pie

Graham Cracker Crust

1 sleeve graham crackers finely crushed 

1/4 cup sugar

6 Tbsp melted butter

Mix all together and press into pie pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes

(filling)

(1) 8 oz. package  Cream Cheese 

1 can sweetened condensed milk

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (I juiced up 3 limes)

1 Tbsp grated lime zest

Beat cream cheese until creamy

Add in sweetened condensed milk and beat well

Add in 3 egg yolks, beat well again

Then add in lime juice and beat until creamy

Pour into graham cracker crust

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes (until filling is set)

Remove from oven and let cool

Chill in fridge at least 2 hours before serving.

Garnish with fresh lime slices...

Enjoy!

Make up gourmet pie today 

(2 would be best)

and find out how EASY it is to throw together and 

it is something that makes you feel like you've gone 

to a gourmet restaurant and truly tastes better 

than any Cheesecake could you whip up for yourself!

Life is full of an abundance of LOVE....

 

Valentine's Day 2012...

I am greatly missing this handsome man 
staring back at me in this photo!
He is on a technology business trip to Boise and won't be back until tomorrow 2-15.
I have missed hearing his voice (although we have been in contact through email/texting, no phone calls though). 
I miss those electric blue eyes, his gorgeous smile, his contagious laugh, 
his funny sense of humor, his compliments...

I miss every single thing about him!! 

"Oh, if it be to choose 

and call thee mine,

love, thou art every day 

my Valentine"!

~Thomas Hood

I love these photos...
what's amazing about these photos, is they were taken the same year, by the same company.  
It's amazing that were are both laying on blue carpet, wearing red and laying down. 
 Who would have ever known that when these photos were taken, that we would find each other, fall in love and marry.

I have ALWAYS been a romantic,
ever since I was a wee little girl 
 I DREAMED of growing up, falling in love and being married.  
I dreamed of having a husband who would love me, who would be romantic,
kiss and love me each day when he came home from work, leave me love notes,
make our home a place where LOVE abundantly abounds. 
I dreamed of having a marriage where each and every day LOVE is shown,
romance is there,
a home full of FUN, 
memories created daily and
a refuge from the storm and place to feel peace. 


YES, I have all of these things I have listed above and MORE
in my wonderful life, with my wonderful marriage
to the most amazing man I know...
Tracy (aka "Mr. Smith")

One of my favorite quotes about LOVE
(which I cross-stitched and have sitting 
on one of the shelves in my house)

I am SO grateful to be shown true love
every day of my life and not just on  
Valentine's Day!!

You see, we have Valentine's Day 
each day of the year!

Like this quote says...
"Love is more than verses on 
Valentines or Romance in the movies....
 it is here and now, real and true the  
most important thing in our lives..."

It's a daily effort by both of us doing 

all of the "little things" that make life so big!!

Some of my favorites...I always get told I'm beautiful even when I'm not feeling beautiful (from having not so good hair days, OR, with my "double chin" neck that I inherited from my dad)
 I LOVE that we do everything together from daily walks together around the block, walking in rain storms,  hiking/backpacking in the mountains, enjoying weather of all kinds together, camping, playing in the water on the beach, enjoying nature with all it's gorgeous splendor like amazing sunrises and sunsets.  I love being by your side with all of our home improvement projects...

I LOVE the effort you put in to being up with me in the morning with helping out with getting the steel cut oats all in our bowls for us to eat for breakfast.  I LOVE having you come and sit on the counter in the bathroom and talking to me while I'm putting on my make-up and doing my hair to get ready for work.

LAUGHTER...your contagious laugh you bring to home and fill our lives with an abundance of laughing!  I LOVE this so much about you!

I LOVE raising sons together and being FUN parents... 
I LOVE DATE NIGHT each week and
love when you have uploaded new music to your iPhone
and created FUN music play lists to enjoy while we drive together.
(It shows that you were thinking about me during the day)

I LOVE on several occasions walking out of work and seeing your truck parked there and opening the door and having you tell me you missed me and you only worked half a day of work because you wanted to take me to lunch and spend the afternoon with me before kids got home from school!!

From daily kisses and 

"I Love you's", love notes, daily thoughtful acts that abundantly abound, having you catch me off guard while you turn me around while I'm making dinner and you take me and dance with me (pure bliss that is)

 Whatever it is we are doing,

I LOVE and cherish each and every moment with the Love of my Life Tracy!!

Yes indeed Love...

"thou art every day my Valentine"