KeEpInG mE sANe!!!!

My summer days do not consist of much excitement.Greg & I are living in Wilmington, North Carolina for the summer. He works for APX security. So I had to make some sacrifices to come here for the summer. Such as school & working. Alot of people would love to trade me right now & have the summer off to just relax & trust me it was nice at first but it gets old very fast.It gives me alot of time to organize stuff & relax but I would much rather be going to school & working. We dont live in the safest part of town & its hard to get out and walk Jax. So I staying in all day drives me insane. Thankfully my parents came & paid us a visit this last week & it was so good to get out & spend time with them,I have truly missed them. Right before my parents came out my dad had something terrible happen to him I can't remember what its called but one day he woke up with his whole left side of his face paralized. He went to the hospital & thank goodness it will go away but in time. So he still came out & I know that was hard for him but I loved having him & my mom here. We did so many fun things one day my dad wanted to rest & greg had to work so me & my mom had a girls day & drove a hour out to this flea market. We wanted to go because the last time we went to one was in Florida a couple yrs ago & we loved it. Well unfortunetly by the time we got there & were so excited it was really ghetto & reminded us of the D.I but worse. We were extremely disapointed. However we did find fun outlet stores & were able to get suvineers there. The rest of the trip we did tons of fun things. Greg had to work some of the days so one day my parents,me & Jax went down to Mertal Beach it was so fun. Lots of fun shops & the beach was awesome. Jax did so good coming with us he just stayed in my perce & was so calm the whole time. We ate at this amazing buffet by Cape Fear river,it was expensive but worth it. The rest of the vacation Greg was able to be with us. We went to this fun amusement park called Carowinds in Charlotte. But I think everybodys favorite part was Washington D.C,we drove up there and got a room & went & saw the temple,it was beautiful. My dad really enjoyed this because he went to Washington D.C on his mission. When we went to the temple it was night time and nobody was there so it was peaceful & quiet as we walked around it. I got goosbumps when I saw it from the freeway it was so bright. Everybody was telling me the city had to turn down the lights on it cuz it was blinding people on the freeway. It was just an amazing experience that I will never forget & sharing that with my husband made it that much better. We also visited the white house & lincoln memorial. It was so exciting. The trip was fun & I am so glad my parents came to visit. Bless their hearts for traveling so far. I am excited to see them again along with the rest of my family in July when Jax and I come to visit. and thanks To my sister in law Katee I now have a new favorite hobby scrapbooking. She is just so awesome she knows how I feel out here away from the family because she to has been out of state with Kyle during summers so she bought me a scrapbooking kit. I just wanna thank her so much & let her know how much I love her & appreciate her.

BiG gIrLs DoN'T cRy

One year ago my heavenly father sent an angel into my life. This angel is 6'1,has light brown hair, & has the most amazing smile I have seen in my 22 yrs of life. Little did I know this angel would be with me for the rest of my life. I was soon married to this amazing man who I love with all my heart.Greg always told me that the moment he saw my picture he told his friend that he was going to marry me .I was so excited to start this journey with him. He understood me in a way nobody ever did,he brought out the best in me & made me finally believe there's more to life than what I thought. We have now been married for six months.These last six months we have had our ups and downs & have loved every second of it. I am one of those people who hates to fight & I am very dramatic about it. Fighting with Greg is one of the most frustrating things in the world. He is very hard to argue with because he is amazing at it & is usually right. He is definitely the more responsible one of the two of us.Not only that but he wants to be a lawyer & he usually knows what he's talking about. When I argue, the words come out of my mouth before I can concentrate on what to think to say, as a result this adds to the frustration on my part because Greg laughs at me which than causes me to leave the room.No man would ever have the patience to deal with Katie like Greg does. In the end he is always the first to admit he's sorry & that he loves me. I however am really stubborn. In past relationships I would always feel to afraid to speak my mind & be open with that other person because they didn't care if i was upset and in the end I would be the one apoligizing for speaking my mind. I never stood up for myself & was made to feel that whenever I felt something that was upseting me that it was wrong & I made myself forget about it & never confront the person again. This didn't sit well with Greg He told me when I feel he's treating me bad or disrespecting me that I need to stand up for myself & let him know how I'm feeling. It made him very upset when I wouldn't. So slowly I am learning that its ok to stand up for myself & to confront those feelings. Never has Greg told me I get upset to much or am crazy for feeling the way I feel about things, in return he talks it out with me & together we take care of the problem. Nobody has ever done that with me before.I get my feelings hurt easily,& I cry alot because of it. However when your married sometimes the situations require us to be tough and strong for that other person. This summer I have had to learn alot about being tough & supporting Greg in our hard times with money. I have never understood what it was like having no money & living within our means. Greg has been use to struggling with money for a while so this tends to be a problem for us. I have broke down & cried many times because I'm so scared we would not be able to pay the bills. I finally knelt down to pray in a way different than how I was praying before, instead of asking my heavenly father to help us financially I asked him to help me know what I can do to support Greg at this time & to help me be strong for him. It took a while for me to hear the answer but finally I knew that I needed to make a list of my needs & my wants and focus on getting by on as little as possible. Its been very hard making this adjustment. I am very high maintenance I have always loved shopping & material things. I have had to learn that there are so many things in life that are more important than looking stylish or having the best pair of jeans. Money doesnt buy happiness. I now know that being happy means laughing about everything & anything with my best friend,my companion, the love of my life Gregory. Happiness is seeing my puppy finally after tons of tries & practice being able to jump on up tp the couch all by himself. Happiness is being in gregs arms while he sings me to sleep. Happiness is seeing other people smile when you have done something nice for them. Happiness is reading a great scripture & thinking "wow that makes perfect sense"!! Happiness is feeling the spirit out of nowhere when you least expect it. Happiness is accomplishing something you work so hard for. Happiness is after me and greg have a big fight he kisses me and tells me he loves me forever and ever. Its the little things in life that matter the most & sometimes some people need a big slap in the face to realize that. Now Greg & I are closer than we have ever been & fully understand each other. I know now that its time I be an adult & not cry about stressful situations with money. I have realized material things will not bring me the same kindof happiness that greg & my puppy jax bring me. Nothing could ever make me smile the way they do. I have everything I will ever need & to me that makes me the happiest & luckiest girl in the world.

UtAh I MiSs YoU

I miss Utah & here are some things I am looking forward to doing when I go back home.

1.breath in the air with no humidity
2.hang out with my parents & get some dinner
3.Go camping
4.go see my hairstylist karen
5.Give kendall & ella lots of kisses & hugs
6.go see a movie with jeni,payt & ausha & get yummy pickles
7.Go visit both my sisters jaime & jodi
8.Take Jax to visit Tula & see Katee & Kyles house
9.Go back to school & be with the lovely ladies at Taylor Andrews
10.Get in my mom and dads hot tub
11.go to Ihop & get a big stack of pancakes -no ihops out here ;(
12.Go to my favorite restraunt El madador
13.Give my mo a haircut & scalp massage
14.Take my nieces & Nefue to the park
15.Go to walmart & feel safe at walmart ha ha
16.go to a rodeo
17.go to church thats less than ten miles away
18.go to lagoon
19.visit with payton & listen to how her beauty pagent went
20.Go watch sleeping beauty with Kaylee & Cassie
21.Watch my nieces & nephew's soccer games
22.find a part time job ugh
23.color & cut clients hair
24.sleep in our soft big bed
25.get a snowie

HaPpY mOtHErS dAy

22 years ago I was welcomed into this world by the most amazing woman on the planet. My mom Cheryl Ann Payne. As the years went by I didnt always agree with her,we fought,laughed,cried & she got me through all my hard trials. She was there for me even when she warned me not to do those things which put me in such sticky situations. I love her she has tought me so much & showed me how to love,laugh & live.

22 things my mom has tought me in the last 22 yrs!

1.always try to be a good example
2.pray always and especially when u dont want to
3.no matter how much you try to change somebody the only person u can change is yourself.
4.dont expect to much of others or youll end up being disapointed no matter what
5.its ok to cry
6.listen to that feeling telling u no in a bad situation its always right.
7.be patient (this one is hard for me ha ha)
8.its ok just to be alone
9.forgive always especially yourself
10.you cant control how others treat you what u can control is how u react to the situation
11.dont live in the past the futures to bright
12.to love and be loved
13.to help others always
14.no matter if the other person is wrong and your right in the end it doesnt matter.
15.being independant is attractive.
16.to get what you want in life you have to work hard for it,for it to be truly worth it.
17.money doesnt buy happiness
18.be careful with who you trust
19.cherish your family
20.charity is the pure love of christ
21.dont take you family members for granet one day it could all be gone.
22.your mom will always be there to wipe away tears,calm fears,laugh with & love you no matter what.

I love you mom!!! Thank you for all you have tought me

SwEeT hOmE aLaBaMa

I am sitting here in our new apartment surprised with how amazing my life is. I am for sure spoiled & dont know what i did to deserve such an amazing life. This last Thursday ME gREG &Jax arrived to our new home In Columbus Georgia well technically we are on the line so we live in phenix Alabama as well. Our car is on the Georgia side & our apartment is on the Alabama side. So now I can say I have lived in Georgia & Alabama. When we walked into our apartment my jaw dropped. I have to admit I was a little weary about trusting Greg when he said Apx was gonna be good to us. Its for sure a lot bigger than our apartment or as I call it "the poopy apartment" we had in Orem. Its a three bedroom,two bathroom apartment fully furnished with cable & internet! & when Gregs at work I can go tanning for free and work out in the gym. I love it here as does Greg & I think Jax is loving the fact he has his own room and can run around more . in our old apartment there was no room for him to run around. This last Sunday we went to six flags in Georgia & we got fast passes so we didnt have to wait in tons of lines we were done riding the rides within 3 hrs it was awesome. Greg went out selling yesterday for the first time & he did amazing he got his first sale & today hes going back to a couple houses who were interested,I am so proud of him I knew he was going to do good. He was really nervous & stressed he wouldnt make any sales but I never doubted him He has an ability to make good points & statements I know this because I always loose with arguments ha ha. Other news that most of you know a little about is my cist on my right ovary! I had an ultra sound at the beginning of April & the pain is increasing my doctor told me to monitor the pain because its 4.8 centimeter cist he says when it gets to 5 they have to operate so its 21 days later & the pain is worse so just to be sure I went to a doctor here in Georgia Monday & well lets just say I was crying the whole time. Greg was at work & I had to find the place & not get lost I'm not good with finding places. Well when the doctor came in the room he reviewed my ultra sound paper,looked at me & said why are u here? why did your doctor let u come out here without getting this removed? this has to be operated on imediately!!!I was freaking out he was being so mean to me I asked him if the cist might have burst & he laughed at me & said no trust me it didnt burst!!! I felt very uncomfortable with the whole situation & was shaking & crying when I left the doctors office he told me to get a flight asap & fly home so i can have surgery. Immidiately I called my mom cuz Greg was at work and was freaking out crying telling her how upset I was. My mom was great. She calmed me down told me to go home & take a bath & she would take care of the rest. So I went home said a long prayer & had a bubble bath. I told Greg all about it & he was very upset. He was calling airlines to see how much the flight would cost & he totally was there to calm me down and wipe away my tears. I told him I didnt wanna fly home without him and have surgery without him by my side & unfortunetly that wasnt a possibility because he cant get work off so at least I would have my parents there with me. He held me for the rest of the night & calmed me down. Last night my mom called me & she had called my doctor back home who I have been seeing,he's a great doctor & I can tell he cares about me & my health. My mom told me the doctor said there is no need to rush into surgery that unfortunetly these cists sometimes take months to go away & that these next months will be painful but I would just have to bare through it with pain pills!!! So we were all so relieved & if I do have to have surgery at the end of the summer when we get back to Utah at least I will have my hubby there along with my amazing parents. So last night I took Greg out for ice cream to celebrate his first sale & me not having to have surgery Yet at least!I am so glad we took this oppertunity to come out this summer Gregs doing amazing & I love our apartment ,we are excited to have my parents come visit us in june when we move up to North carolina. This so far has been one of my funnest summers!!

SuMmEr LoViN

I am feeling tons of different emotions at the moment. my mind is full of so many thoughts. This coming monday april 20th 09 Greg ,me & jax will be leaving to Georgia for the summer. Greg works for Apx & he is going to be selling security systems,we come home August 20th!!! I thought I would be a lot more sad & scared but I have a feeling of peace & exictement. Though however I still at times get a bit sad thinking how far away I will be from the rest of the family. I am sad I will not be able to attend school this summer because if we stayed I would be graduating this July! But Greg & I have prayed about this both together & individually & both feel this is the best decision t& that it will help us out so much financially. Greg & I are very different in a lot of ways. He has been living on his own away from his parents since the age of 20 I however lived with my parents until I was 22,so this is a bit more tough for me. Although I thank my wonderful husband because he has tought me so much & has given me the world! We both even each other out with our differences! The feeling I am feeling at this time is excited,nervous,overwhelmed,and anxious! We will be living in Georgia for the month of May than we will be relocating to North Carolina. Apx has set us up in some very nice apartments fully furnished,3 swimming pools,sauna,tanning bed & an apartment thats a whole lot bigger than the one we are in right now!!! ha ha. One thing I am very excited about is on our way out we will be stopping by the navoo temple & all the church history places I am so excited for that & to go through that temple. This will be quite the summer & I am excited to be with my amazing husband & my baby jax. Our family will grow so much on this adventure & its something we must do before we have kids. When we return in August we will be moving into Gregs parents house in spanish fork. The house gets finished being built in july and gregs parents leave on their mission in August so when gregs mom was explaining how the living situation will be she explained that we will be only paying 300 for rent and all their furniture bed,table everything will be boxed up. she said it will be considered Greg & i's house for 18 months and im able to decorate and do anything I would like to do with the house. When I heard this I thought wow I guess living in that small apartment did pay off cuz now when we come home we get to move in to a brand new home similar to my parents and I have a big house to decorate ha ha its such a relief and will help Greg and I financially so much as he starts law school & graduate from hair school. The lord has blessed us so much and for that I am so thankful. As much as I hate saying this I will miss this little apartment. Greg & I have shared so much & have grown tremendously. Yes some dyas were hard especially when we fought but having Greg as a husband made it so much easier he truly is the man of my dreams ,my prince charming. He understands me in a way nobody ever has or will & has shown me how to be who I am today!!

HaPpInEsS Is A wArM pUpPy

On April 4,2009 Greg & I brought home our new baby boy aka our puppy Jax! Jax is a 8 week old,2 pound baby yorkie. We are so happy to have him. He is such a little bundle of joy, He's a mamas boy and loves to snuggle with his mama but loves playing with his papa!!! We went & got his shots on Monday & Greg had to go in with him while I left and was stressing the whole time, I felt so bad he had to get shots.We have gotten him lots of toys,food,& a nice little bed but he will not sleep in it he has to be right up on my chest & snuggling with me. Car rides are quite interesting he always sleeps on them and when I'm driving has to be in my lap. He's very calm and very chill however he does love to explore & meet new friends. Whenever we go to my moms he is always hyper alot more hyper than he is at home. Him & My brother kyle & sister in laws Katee dog tula had a play date this last sunday & he loves Tula I'm not sure if the feeling are mutual but she loves to tease him and than he will chase her and she will jump on kyle & katee ha ha its very cute he loves his cousin Tula!!! I have bought some little clothes for him so far only his little "I Love my daddy" shirt fits but he still has some growing. We love him so much and are so thankful we have him!!!

TaYLoR aNdReWs NeXt DeMeNsIoN hAiR sHoW

As most of you know these last couple of weeks Have been quite busy. On April 2nd I had a great oppertunity to be a part of the Taylor Andrews hair/fashion show. Its a runway type hair show where each group has a certain theme and has a segment in the show where we display our work!! My group had henry the fifth,a very famous artist his work is alot like circus stuff so we are going off of that & the movie moulin rouge. My friend Ashley & I had the top hat girl so we made her hat out of hair. Believe it or not this has given me a great opportunity to use my "crafty" & creative skills as far as making the costume,I always thought that if I didnt go into cosmetology I wanted to go into fashion. Lucky for me I was able to use both skills for this show.We took a simple black tank top and made it into a corset,yes I burnt myself alot with the glue gun ha ha but it was worth it. I was so busy with this hair show I had hardly any time to get gregs birthday together but My mom being the superwoman she is helped me,I decided to surprise him & make him a blanket,it totally shocked him to see that I actually did something crafty other than hair & fashion ha ha. The plan was to celebrate his birthday a bit early due to the hair show. So last monday we went to pf changs for dinner than went & saw a movie & he opened his jazz blanket and a shit & hat I had bought him .This last week was very fun,exciting,busy,chaotic,stressful,and very awarding that I was able to show off my work to friends & family. Our model turned out amazing she got all her steps correct and totally killed it for the big show she was amazing and me & ashley were very proud of her.We were both smiling and staring in amazement as our model showed our work to the very best of her ability.It was so nice seeing my family at the end & hearing how proud of me they were & how much they enjoyed it,it truly was one of the porudest moments of my life.Gregs birthday was on this day & lets just say I have the most amazing husband in the whole wide world he came and supported me and come on what guy wants to go to a hair/fashion show ever especially on their birthday.After that though we went home and had yummy cake and celebrated the last hrs of his 23rd birthday. I am very passionate about what I do,Taylor Andrews has helped me restore the confidence I once had & as I grow closer to graduating in December I see myself improving each day,I dont like to brag about myself & I try not to but when it comes to something I feel very strongly about & take great pride in its hard to not want to share my happiness with others. Some may see it as just doing hair but as for me I see it as a way to express my creativity,a way to put a smile on others faces,a way to help others confidence by doing well on their hair,and a way to show myself that I can do what I put my mind to.

Us girls with worldwide famous hairstylist Nicholas French

oUr NeW aDdItIon

Greg & I are excited to announce that we will soon be adding to our little family with a bran new baby boy......a bran new baby PUPPY boy that is ha ha. I have been a little baby hungry so I gave Greg an altimadum either a baby or a puppy without thinking twice he agreed to a puppy ha ha. When my married friends tell me they want a puppy too I just tell them to use the whole either you get me a puppy or I stop taking the pill ha ha ha. No I wouldn't really do that but it worked. His name will be Jax he's a little Yorkie and we will be getting him from my moms friend Dave he will get to be about five pounds. We are going to go put the down payment on him next week he is only 2 weeks old & just barely opened his eyes. We both are very excited ok ok I may be a little more excited than my husband ha ha I have started looking for clothes & toys and have gotten him a t-shirt that says i love my daddy and little sneakers. He will be the only small boy dog in my extended family so he will be the little pimp to barbie,tula & dusty ha ha. We are excited to add him to our little family & I am so excited I will have him with me in New Jersey while greg works we will have tons of fun playing on the beach. For all you who got disapointed we were not having a baby well our great paln is to hopefully become pregnant in a year than i'll be graduated and while I'm preganant we plan to add either a huskie or a boxer before the baby comes!!!!but who knows plans always change :)

VaLeNtInEs DaY 09

This Valentines Day was Greg & I's first Valentines day together & it was unbelievable. We both opened our gifts like a month ago because niether one of us can keep a secret & be patient.He got me some jeans from the buckle & I got him the 7th season of Smallville, he ended up watching the whole season in one night he is hooked & I wear my jeans alot I love them. We started out the day yesterday like a normal day & I for sure thought he was gonna send me flowers to my school or something but he didnt & I did not hear from him all day I was a little worried because I was at least expecting a text a call or something & its not like Greg to not call me throughout the day when I'm at school. So when I got out of school at 5 I went home & was a little pist he had not called. I than walked in my house and it wa spotless clean,rose petals were leading me back to the bathroom where he had candles lit,and a ocuple gifts he bought me. I actually started to cry because I felt so bad that I was so mad at him he must have spent hours cleaning and preparing. I called him & he told me to take a nice hott bubble bath & he would be home soon with dinner. We both knew it would be crowded everywhere & hate crowds plus he was sick with the cold I had & I have a bad kidney infection so we kept it low key & he stopped by outback to get our favorite-me a steak & him ribs than came home & when i got out of the bath he was in the front room with candles everywhere and a little blanket laid out for our "picnic" We finished off the night going to see shopaholic. It was the perfect day & I was so surprised I love my husband so much & am thankful for him.It was truly the best valentines day I have ever had!!