Dear Grandma Great,

I've been thinking A LOT about you lately.  Maybe this is because you loved this time of year.  You loved the warm air and the fresh, newly mowed green grass.  Your favorite chair quickly became the rocker on the front porch and we would stay up many nights way past bedtime watching the light fade into the night.  I miss you so much it hurts at times, but I smile when I think about you and Grandpa together again.  I can't believe it's been a whole year since you last sat on the porch and laughed with us.  I wish so badly you were here to hold and cuddle Oaklee and Fisher, you would've loved them so much.  They are such cute, sweet HAPPY babies.  Perhaps that's because you were the last to kiss them goodbye before they joined us here.  Lucky me I had the sweetest dream with you in it the other night.  You were happy and I knew you were happy.  And then I woke up the next morning and my mom reminded me it was your birthday.  Thanks for the present on YOUR birthday.  Don't know why but I feel you so close at times I think maybe if I squint a little harder, I'll see you.  I even sometimes wave to you when I run in the mornings and I like to think you wave back.  :)  (I probably look pretty silly to my running partner, but anytime I see a yellow butterfly (so many yellow butterflies I lost count last run, true story) I know you're there somewhere.)  Caleb, mom, dad and I had such a sweet experience in the temple the other night doing your work.  But I'm sure you know that too.  I'll never forget it.  Keep sending those butterflies.  Love you MORE.  xoxoxo
Lauren

P.S.  This was the view as Caleb and I walked hand in hand around the temple the other night. This almost looks as pretty as a Kansas farm sunset.  We laughed and talked about you.   The longer you've been gone, the more I seem to appreciate the woman you became.  Miss you!

friday night date night- i love you lots...

...especially when I get to break out the spring clothes for the first time in a long time.
And even more so when the cheesecake factory is involved.
And a way over due catch up night with great people is in the mix-up.
And when I feel like Sunday was the last day I played let's have a real conversation with my man- oh time where do you always go?! It's okay if you decide to stand still for tonight!!

So Long 2011

I seriously can not believe another year has come and gone.  I still remember New Years Eve 2000 like it was yesterday.  I had a rocking sleepover with all the neighborhood besties.  We stayed up all night waiting for the world to end, ate pickles, and banged all of my mom's pots and pans.  Who does that?!  Oh man were we cool.  :) I love the end of the year.  I feel like my life hits a pause button for a small moment to reflect on all of the happenings of the past year.  And as much as I thought my life was bliss as a 13 year old girl back in 2000 (which it was) I now realize my life is more perfect than it has ever been.  I am one lucky girl.  Here's to all of the should have been blogging moments of 2011.  (new year's resolution 2012, show some much more needed blogger loving)

 Girl's Favorite Things 2011.  Epic this year.   D went all out and reserved a condo in Midway.  I'm pretty sure we'll have to fly to Bora Bora next year to beat this year's weekend. 

Mom's favorite thingssss = hand crafted jewelry keeper frames, charming charlies, shower spongie, and the list goes on....   She forgot we call it a favorite thing and not things party, I think we'll just call her Oprah now.  D's favorite = Tommy Girl and a yellow butterfly magnet.  Tender moment.  Aubrey's favorite = 101 things every kid should do and a journal to track our doings.  So fun.  Erin's favorite = Gorgeous framed vintage photos of the temple.  World's greatest thrifter at her finest.  Love the picture!  Shay's favorite = super cute earrings that every girl in my school wants.  My favorite = Purse with a copy of the parable of the purse, and a love letter from our lovers to go in our purses. 

We loved this house so much that we wanted to pose in front of it.  On a side note, we saw a lot of deathly looking runners go by as we were snapping away.  I asked my mom if we should offer them a ride home.  Then we found out they were on mile 99, yes 99, of a 100 mile race.  I was humbled.  And I don't know why they turned down a car full of cute girls but for some reason they opted to finish the race rather than get a ride home.  

The best husband in the universe scored some serious bonus points for writing this letter.  My mom asked us to share our favorite sentence without getting emotional, yeah right!!  And yes his cursive is better than my typed papers.

Life changing experience. So lucky to be a part of Oaklee's grand entrance.  Enough said. 

Friday, February 18th, 2011.  7 days before she found out heaven is for real.  I totally agree when people say you don't know what you've got til it's gone.  This was the happiest I've ever seen my Grandma.  Too bad the night had to end, but wow I am so so grateful that Caleb and I for whatever reason decided to spend our entire Friday night in Grandma Great's room.  Not even all the riches of the world could buy a night like that one.

The husband's wish for me to have a little more fun with Halloween came true.  He even let me pick out his costume.  My intent was for us to be Jesse and Norman from A River Runs Through It.  Caleb's new wish is for me to never pick out his costume again.  My bad. 

      

I ran the hardest most fun races of my life. 

 

 Caleb figured out why my childhood vacations to Kansas really were as good as I say they were.  

My job has exponentially increased on the DILY scale.  Best job ever. 

Porter showed his killer bball skills to my kids.  They dubbed him the next Harlem Globetrotter in the making.   My students still fight over who gets to play with the personally autographed yellow Porter basketball.  He's that cool.

Caleb is definitely the favorite around here.   For some reason whenever I show up alone I instantly get the where's Caleb question kiddo attack.  

And he is thinking of switching his major to expert wood crafting maker person.  I think he should opt for the host of what not to wear. 

 All of my family in the same picture.  Say what?!  Oh wait, we've added two more since!!  Freaking love all of them. 

 Went to the game wearing one color, came out cheering for a different.  Still so fun though. 

 

Caleb and I thought it would be so cool to give Emry a bunny for her birthday.  I don't know if her dad thought the same.   He babysat that bunny while Emry was on vacation, and meanwhile the bunny died.  Emry has since told Caleb and I over and over that if she ever goes on vacation again, we get to babysit her bunny.  Want cool presents for your kids?!  Invite us to their parties, you'll love us so much afterwards.  Just kidding Mike, you really aren't that bad of a bunny babysitter.  Some things just take time.  :)

I saw Seth a.k.a. my most favorite cousin ever twice in the same year.  This blue knight is the bomb.com.

 

I overly loved living only five minutes away from the sister's house.  Starbuck's vanilla steamer cravings and baby snuggling wishes love it too.

 

And best of all, I got to spend another perfect year with the man of my dreams!!

2011 you rocked!!!
And I am so excited for 2012. Bring it!!

Great Friends!

Halloween weekend was celebrated with some of our great friends. Sam and Penny Yarbrough invited us up to the Yarbrough Manor at Fish Lake. Until we actually got there I, Caleb, didn't think it existed because Sam always conveniently invited me when I couldn't go. :) But this time we were able to go and it was awesome! We got to catch up with the Wangsgard's as we carpooled together. It is always great being around Dave and Sarah, except for when Dave thinks I'm hitting on his wife. I can totally see why he would be intimidated by me though, so I can blame him, hahaha. Anyways, we also go to see the McKinley's who we haven't seen for ages! It was so fun to see their son Maximus Primus and their baby girl Avery. They have such an awesome family and I am very jealous of them. I got to entertain Max during breakfast the first morning by throwing grapes as high as I could and catch them in my mouth. Max loved it, but what he loved even more was when I taught him to throw grapes at his Dad :), I need someone to pick on Danny when I'm not there. Oh and there is a beautiful stream that flows right past the cabin and so Max always wanted to go and see it and I would walk out there with him and this is one of the pictures I got of him. It was mid smile. He was frowning when I told him to smile, and then I was trying to make him laugh and caught the transition face. Oh well, he is still a very cute kid. Good job Jessie! 

 

We had a lot of fun playing Quiddler, having Ticket to Ride tournaments (luckily Jessie didn't win any of these, I think she lost her edge), and Penny surprised us with a Micheal Jackson dancing game for the Wii. Surprisingly Dave was pretty good at this. Even when it wasn't his turn he was off in the corner practicing his moves so he could compete with Danny and Penny. Sam on the other hand was the same old Sam who loves to dance no matter if the game tells him he is good or not. (just playin cowboy.)

The guys were able to get away here and there and play some fuseball. I have to admit that I was a charity case in that game and that Dave was kind enough to accept me as his teammate. Danny is abnormally awesome at fuseball, Dave is an awesome defender, and Sam would just rock my face on offense. We had a tournament with fuseball and Dave and I ended up loosing the last game after many great comebacks.

Lastly, we got to go out on the lake and do a little fishing in the freezing cold weather. I guess there is a part of the lake where the mountain dips and it is called the saddle. Sam said we would catch some fish there and Dave was able to catch a humongous 10" rainbow trout. Unfortunately we threw it back in and didn't eat it.

It was such an awesome weekend to just relax and enjoy the company of many great friends we have made. Thanks Sam and Penny for putting that together. We love you guys.

This past weekend Lauren and I finally hung out with our long lost friends Billy and MacKenzie who just got back from Houston, Texas a year ago and decided they wanted to hang out :). It was so fun! We went to Zupas and then did what we do best, just talk the night away. We were able to catch up on their lives in Houston and they convinced us even more that Texas would be a great place for the future Perkins' family. It is always great when you can have friends that you don't see for over 2 years and pick up like you just saw them yesterday.

We played the game Quiddler with them, which is like a scrabble card game, and I ended up loosing by a lot because I challenged the word "zoon" and lost quite a few points. Besides me loosing again, it was a lot of fun!

Also we hung out with Trent and Erica who are hilarious. They have an awesome house, and an even more awesome dog! Bry is a boxer and is two years old and absolutely cut! His muscles bulge everywhere and so Bry, the dog, has inspired me to start working out a little more. Let's see if that happens :) We hung out at their house talking and wrestling with Bry.  Lauren learned what a boat that paddles is called, a paddle boat :). After talking for a bit we went to go see Moneyball which turned out to be a pretty good movie.  I might just watch an inning of baseball now.

Anyways, we are very grateful to have the friends that we do.  Anywhere we go we can count on great friends to be there.  Hopefully we can be friends until we're 50, then from there on who knows :) right Dave.

Good Hail! I ran 26.2 and liked it.

Mom I wrote EVERY detail, and then some, just for you.  Missed you.  :)  And please don’t ground me permanently even though somehow both camera batteries were dead.  Caleb’s phone does just as good as our DSLR right?!

Friday was crazy.  I thought running against schools like BYU and Boise State was scary, I guess I didn’t know what scary was back in my college days.  My pre-race-jitters hit an all time high and I think the people around me could sense those feelings.  Everyone was trying extra hard to show me the love.  Mr. Herzog went out of his way to make sure EVERYONE knew what I was doing the next day (great, no pressure at all to finish) and he counted down the hours more than I did.  Thanks.  All 930 students wished me good luck.   Somehow the staff was also informed, couldn’t have been Herzog, about my madness and they gave me a super cute running jacket- maybe they knew what was to come the next morning, or maybe they just jinxed me...  Some students also showed the love by bringing me way too many candy bars.  I’ve taught them so well about pre-race fuel, or maybe I was really grumpy and they know how to give me a cheerfulness fix, or maybe they just wanted extra-credit.  I have no idea who would’ve ever told them they would be my favorite students and get bonus points if they brought me candy.   ;) 

Friday night Caleb was being sooooo sweet to me.  I feel bad now because I’m pretty sure I was ornery.  And we all know what happens when I’m in a bad mood, no bueno.  We drove up to Logan to pick up my packet.  Caleb made me sphagetti for the 25^th night in a row, I drank enough water to stay hydrated for an entire year, and all I wanted at this point was for the race to just finally begin. 

My dad called me a million times through out the week, or maybe his extra nervous first-time marathon runner daughter called him a million times to get some more wise words of advice, I can’t remember now, but Friday he told me he scored big at D.I. and found the perfect clothing bag for me to keep all of his sweats in.  Yes, his sweats.  I love mine too much.  Heaven forbid I might loose some of my ten year old, bleach stained, torn sweats.  So I turned to the next best thing, my dad’s sweats.  I am so nice to him, no wonder I'm his favorite.  He brought me the bright orange trick-or-treat pumpkin bag with his sweats (which was the best idea ever because it took us all of five seconds to find that bag at the finish line), I popped some sleep meds, and zoned out.

Fast-forward to 3:15 am.  I slept like a rock, and only dreamed one bad thing, the stick on the trail turned into a giant Rattlesnake that bit my ankle and I died.   I woke up and was delusional.  I heard something really loud outside, RAIN!!!  But I was so confused because it NEVER EVER rains like that in Utah.  GREAT!!!!!!  Notice my dad's mountain man jacket he let me wear?!  He must have really liked our Halloween costumes from last year.  

Caleb drove me to Logan and I got right on the bus.  The only thing I was thinking about on the bus ride was the huge need to go pee feeling I had.  I swear I was going to pee my pants.  Seriously, enough fuel in my bladder to hydrate your mom’s cow… The bus ride up the canyon seemed like 52 miles, definitely not 26, and the long ride was not helping the mental note that I knew I was about to run down what we just drove up.  The old man next to me was really tired and didn’t say one word.  We got to the start and the bus driver stopped the bus and everyone just sat there.  I was so confused because I knew we were at the start but no one was getting off the bus.  I was at the back of the bus and was the first to stand up.  Everyone looked at me like I was crazy because I stood up, I yelled to the bus driver something like hey I am about to pee on your bus, can you please open the doors so I can get off?!  I got off the bus and realized the bathrooms were a quarter of a mile up the road, I guess that’s why no one was getting off because they knew eventually the driver would take them to port-a-potty land.  I peed in the bush and made my way to the heated tent.  

30 seconds before the gun went off, the skies thought it would be funny to pour an ocean on all the runners.  It lasted long enough to get my shoes soaking wet, and went away.  Glad you cared.  Right then I decided that if I wanted to have a positive experience, I couldn’t let the monsoon bring me down.  I turned on my music and started dancing.  (Dancing in the rain, bucket list check.)  I was completely SHOCKED when I ran past the mile one sign because it felt like I had been running for 60 seconds.  Then all of the sudden there was mile 2, and 3, and 4…I was pleasantly surprised at how fast the miles were flying by.   I got to mile 6 did a double take with the course digitial clock and my time, thinking there was no way I was really running sub 8 minute miles.  OOOPS!!  I was feeling sooo good but knew if I kept up that pace for much longer I would either die, or I would be hating life come Mile 18, so I slowed my pace.  The canyon was so beautiful and peaceful.  At mile 8 the rain hit really hard again.  It continued for, don’t even worry about it, TEN MILES.

 

 After I got over the fact that my hair was ruined, I was cold, my shoes now weighed at least 20 lbs. each, I couldn’t see, my ear filled with water and ruined my niece’s left-ear head phone I was wearing, it felt like I was wearing a swimming suit, I couldn’t feel my legs because they were so cold, I made the mental note to be the Tigger in life that my mom always taught me to be.  And started thinking something like, the faster I run, the faster I finish, the faster I get to be with Caleb, the faster I’m out of the cold rain, the faster I can go back to bed, and the faster I get to take a hott shower.  Mile 13 was at the bottom of the canyon and my time was right around 1:45ish.  I was feeling good and knew that if I kept my pace I would be in good shape for qualifying for Boston.  This was a good motivator to keep moving.  At mile 14 I saw my dad and sister and couldn’t have been more happy.  My dad must have been really worried about me cuz he kept asking me if I was okay and really wanted me to put on his jacket. He seriously has been the best coach through this entire process and he was more worried about the rain, coldness and hail than I was.  Bless his heart I've caused him a lot of stress and anxiety the past 7 days.  At mile 15 I saw Caleb and was freaking out!!  Then I noticed the scenery and road I was running on looked very familiar, it was the exact road I ran on for my first leg of Ragnar, freaking out even more.    I wanted Caleb to know he had a super hott sexy wife even in the rain, so I picked up my pace again.  BUT I guess my spirits needed a humbling fix, almost as much as BYU needed a humbling fix after they scored their one and only touch-down yesterday and were cheering as though they had just won the superbowl, they lost 5,000 to 10, or something like that, boy were they humbled, so back to my running, it started hailing!!!!  I was humbled and slowed way down.

Andy and Shay, Caleb personally made this video just for you two.

I continued to see my cheerers every few miles and was feeling good.  Then it happened, I hit the wall at mile 18, and tried to ignore the fact that the entire mile was a hill.  I may or may not have walked all of it.  :/  Somewhere a long the run a lady runner next to me told me she could hear the water in my shoes sloshing around!!!  Oh my luck sometimes, it's okay to not be jealous.  Eventually I made my long way to mile 21 and ran into Caleb and Caitlyn.   

Caitlyn was a complete rockstar and drove all the way to Logan to pull me a long the last five miles.  She seriously was my saving grace.  She just did a marathon this summer and so she knew the exact feelings I was having.  We carried on and met up with Aubrey at mile 23!!  Wahoo another person to pull me a long!!   I think the race people got confused with their distance calculations and I’m pretty sure the last 3 miles was actually 10 miles.  Eventually I finished and was quite emotional, in a good way, crossing the line.  I loved the marathon so much that despite my muscles screaming bloody murder when they come close to stairs, I can’t wait to do it again.  My time was right around 4 hours, and if your math skills are any better than mine, you know more than I know that I slowed way way down the last few miles.  But oh well, I feel good and I know I gave it my all. 

26.2.  Whoo whoo!!

Thanks to everyone who’s had to put up with my race anxiety for the past 90 days.  It was well worth it and I can’t wait to do my next one!!  And a special thanks to these people!  Best motivators, coaches, supporters ever. And as a side note, my dad told Caleb and I a few weeks ago that he heard a song on the radio that he really likes.  He started singing it and it's Beyonce's Single Ladies song. No joke!   Caleb and I have since been making bets on what radio station my dad listens to.  Apparently it's the same radio that plays LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem because all he kept saying was to just keep shuffling.   Everyday I'm shuffling...  Which was funny because I lost track how many times I listened to that song on repeat to get pumped for the race, before and during...

I wait all year for the 4th...

If there's one day in the year that I seriously know how to "live it up", it's definitely the 4th.

And if there's one holiday that completely deserves a double x-l long post, this one is it and I didn't disappoint.

I freaking love everything about the holiday.  

I especially love fast and testimony meeting during the month of July. (I'll never forget how Sarah Stelter hit it home for me this year.)

I love taking the time to think about what freedom and being American really means.  thank you chris. 

I love waking up to run an early race, cheering at the parade for who knows what just to get that one piece of taffy, barbecuing and pooling it in the afternoon, playing and acting as though no one is watching as the sun slowly fades into the dimness of the night, the anticipation for the first big boom and lit sky, the smell of smoke in the air (yep I really just said that), and of course the grand finale- the kind that in this case the city of Bay Village spent way too much money on- but was well appreciated.

Really though, I.freaking.love.all.of.it.

It's on cold long winter days that I dream and wish about the 4th.

So when it's here, I kind of feel like it's deja vu, the entire day, and I hate it when the day comes to a close.

This year was especially fun.  

Caleb and I flew to Ohio again.

Nothing beats fireworks over the lake and chasing cute kiddos who we definitely don't get to see enough of.

And extra bonus, Andy had the entire week off to entertain us, or more like make fun of someone just because they forgot how to spell the word rink. Oh wait who won that Qwiddler game?! That's what I thought.

Playing and waiting for that first big boom.  Totally feel so lucky that we got a group shot.

A NORMAL picture of the chief and me.  Say what?!!  Yep, normal, it is possible.

I seriously love my brother so much and feel like it's an honor to claim him as such.  I loved being introduced at church as Andy's little sis.

Maybe one day I'll be half as cool, kind, wise, loving, hard-working, super-heroish (any person who saves other people's lives on a daily basis should be called a super hero right?) and funny as he is.

Love her.
Can we please be neighbors?!  No more of this 2,000 miles away crap.  Texas needs doctors too.

And we had fun attempting to get a picture of me and all the spunkiness that surrounded us for 6 days.
 Notice how Caleb rocked it on the face painting this year.

Hottness. end of story.


And even more hottness.
It boggles my mind that we are standing in front of a lake, not an ocean.
Caleb thought Jaws was going to be in full-attack mode any moment because the lake is just that big.
And we decided that lakes in Utah are way too over-rated and should be called puddle hoppers.

Marin.  Couldn't get enough of her.
And please don't ever burn your fingers again.  Your mom and I might just have a heart attack.

 

We loved us some beach time and humidity time.  And Tessa and Carlee loved them some mermaid time.

 

I love summer nights.  The feel of being content and knowing that life is good.  Porter feels the same way, especially when Caleb is around. 

And it ain't no 4th of July without some funnel cake loving, horse riding, money wasting, carnival sporting, good time.   

 

I loved this trip.  It was the perfect summer recipe.  

Caleb is still wishing Tessa could've been our lap child on our flight home.  She has a good time telling Caleb your mom jokes.  We forget that she's just two.  

Buffalo wild wings, Quiddler, Settlers, and the food was a hit, just like always.  

Thanks Andy, Shay, Porter, Tessa, Carlee and Marin for adding the perfect week to our summer.

And yes I'm already counting the days til next year's 4th.

Proud to be American are we. 

365 times 3

caleb and i celebrated three years.
i will never forget the first time i saw caleb- i had major butterflies and became a true believer in love at first sight.
i wanted him so bad.
apparently caleb wanted me too, so thanks to his friend's smart thinking, caleb's keys were chucked at me and we exchanged numbers.
i then went on a date with the man of my dreams and thought about him every second of every day.
we went and saw pick-a-dilly-cowboy and kissed, and i was head over heels. 
i started skipping class for this crazy boy- something my mom couldn't ever get me to do on days "she was bored" when i was in high school.
i cut myself from the track team, cuz suddenly, hanging out with a cute boy was way cooler than running for three hours everyday.
we bought air soft guns, went on slurpee runs, hiked the Y, dressed up as if we were going to the prom-only to find out we weren't (thanks elliot and danny), sat hand-in-hand at general conference, cooked dinner together, became a frequent visitor of "the park", tripple-dog-dared each other to do the stupidest things, danced in the moonlight under the stars, sang our hearts out to "You have Stolen My Heart" by Dashboard over and over with the windows rolled down, stayed up way too late, hiked the hot springs, cheered proudly at the BYU football games, told stories of our past, had fun living in the moment, dreamed about our future, and best of all, fell in love! 
never in my life had i wanted anything more than for him to be mine.
after a year of dating, the stars aligned, and my fairytale wish came true.
had i known then, what i know now, i would've wanted him even more, and that is something i didn't think was possible.
may 1, 2008, he became mine for forever.
and because of all this, i am the luckiest.
we celebrated by going to vegas, again.

escaping just the two of us is the best thing ever- even if all we do is master the art of sleeping and eating.
caleb even figured out the best time to go to the buffet... 
10:30. you can get your fill of breakfast food, then if you wait long enough, they will bring the lunch food out and you can eat lunch in the same sitting.  we definitely worked the system.  and i'm pretty sure we both ate enough calories to not eat for an entire year.  gotta love vegas buffets. 
caleb is beyond the best husband i could've ever dreamed up.
he makes me dinner (more than i make him dinner), never misses a friday night date night, works super hard in school (15 credits of engineering this semester often turned into a 60 hour week for him), listens to me, gives the best advice, makes me laugh all the time, makes me feel safe, helps me clean, lets me buy another pair of running shoes just because they're pink, wins the favorite uncle award every sunday, will one day, hands down, make the best dad in the world, and my most favorite thing...
he loves me no matter what.
i thank my lucky stars everyday that he is mine.
and here's one picture from the special day.
it's not the best picture from the day, but in a way, it's one of my favorites because we were so happy... and it shows in this picture.

and that happiness continues to grow more and more each year.
happy three to us!
love ya babe!