Well, what were you expecting?

WE'RE EXPECTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's the whole truth and nothing but.....

Kurtis and I are expecting our first little one into our family on June 5th, 2009. we have wanted to spill the beans sooner to all those who don't know yet, but wanted to wait a little time. I am 12 weeks along and so excited! It's amazing the blessings that we have already recieved since deciding to start our family. We are thankful for the commandment to have children and look forward to many new adventures that come with the first of many children.

We are happy-very happy!

Hello all! WE are not dead, just temporarily without the internet. So, first except our apologies and second, don't lose faith in the good ol' Taylors-You'll be hearing from us soon. Look for such posts that will showcase trips, tips and pics. Love you all and hope to update soon!!

Professor Taylor

My sweet husband had some neat new waiting for me when I got home from Germany. "So Chase from UVSC (UVU) called me up and asked me to teach  a class there." So we talked it over and he decided to try it out. He teaches Mon, Wed, Fri, 3-5pm. the class is 3D Essentials and we felt like it would be an awesome opportunity for his career, so he is a teacher now and he loves it!  I think it is the coolest thing that he just graduated in April and he is now teaching at his university-talented man if you ask me! He is still working at TTA and he looks forward with much excitement for the future. I love him and his hard work and I am thankful for a husband who has ambition and passion for his profession. He is the bomb.com! So here's to you Husband!

there's a first time for everything!

This was us one year ago. Time flies when your having fun! It has been one crazy year of school, work, surgery, fun, family and trips. Love ROCKS!

HAAAAAAPPPPPPPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!! So it has officially been one year since we stepped over the thresh hold of Childhood into the unknown world of married people. And what an awesome year it has been. We have had a blast getting to know each  other mo betta everyday and there has been much growth. It's fun to have a best friend with whom you can spend everyday with and share everything with. Kurtis came home from work and set up this little picnic on the living room floor-Pizza and Root beer and a beautiful bouquet of flowers. 

The day was WONDERFUL and it has been an awesome year of firsts. I love my husband so much and cannot imagine my life without him. We feel so blessed to have found each other and even more to have the same goals and moral beliefs.  He truly is my bestest friend and we look forward to many more of these anniversary thing days.

24th of July

In my hometown of Monroe Utah we have a huge celebration for Pioneer Day and we get to see alot of good friends. in this pic we are watching the parade and I'll tell you it was something else! Small town anything is always ten times cooler than the normal big city things we do. This particular celebration alwayse brings out the city's finest citizens. 

This is Layla Kate our little seven month old neice. She just has the most muchable little leggs ever!

Good friends. Good family. Good times

read the fine print

This is a picture from our Ward Pie-o-neer Day activity. We ate a nice meal and the pie eating contest came last. I was totally content being a spectator only, but half of the people who signed up to do it didn't come..so my husband being the good guy that he is volunteered himself not realizing that it was a couple contest. So I was in for it as well. "I'm not afraid!" I said and we were off to conquer the chocolate pudding beast of a pie 

So we are a little sideways sometimes.....

bottoms up! after about 5 bites we were so over the chocolate pudding and we couldn't stop laughing at each other. This was a fun activity, but needless to say it was my first and definately last pie eating contest. Chocolate pudding up the nose takes day to recover from.

Timing is everything!

This is right after surgery, he was being really sweet and very relaxed-he even thanked me ffor marrying him and asked me 3 times what the doc said about the surgery.
this is about 3 in the morning and he wasn't feeling too much pain.
So, this story starts out with a change in Kurtis' work schedule...it's exciting so, pop some popcorn, sit back and enjoy the ride.

This last week Kurtis' company starting working the four day work week and so he gets Fridays off, anyhoo, on Thursday night Kurtis called me on his way home and said "My groin hurts" (some things are edited) he got home and we ate dinner. Then I had a Relief Society meeting and he went upstairs.  I finished and went up to find him asleep on the bed so I woke him up and he complained of pains in his stomach.  So I suggested all remedies know to men for an upset stomach and i did the appendix test and he hurt a lot on the right side, so I finally convinced him to go to the ER and off we were at about 10:30.  He was writhing in pain and almost fell down on the way to the car, so I knew he was in a lot of pain. Now, side note-Kurtis DOES NOT GET SICK, so when he was shaking and could hardly stand I knew something was going on.  They emitted him into the ER  about 11pm, and they immediately took a blood test. nothing showed, usually you can tell if something is going on with a blood test, but luckily the doc wouldn't take that for an answer, so he sent him off for a CT Scan and about 2:30 in the morning came in and said Kurtis had appendicitis and was going into surgery at 7am.  What!? Well, they took us and checked him into a room to stay while in the hospital and at 6:30 wheeled him into the operating room.  Appentix out. Surgery went real well, ad because of his clean medical history and quick improvement after surgery they sent him home at 4:30 yesterday. Now he has 3 small incisions on his belly and he is in a lot of pain.  Timing is everything because now he doesn't have to miss work cause he has Fridays off -including the entire weekend to heal. So needless to say, Tender mercies are still upon us even in hours of trauma.  He is healing nicely and gets a little loopy on the pain killers. What an experience!

what's going down wit us!

last month Kurtis sent out what seems like a hundred applications(mostly because we had to stuff all 32 of them at midnight), and he heard back from 3 studios and they are reviewing his work. We know The Lord's hand is in everything so we just wait. 

We went to the annual Kendall Kampout at the end of June and I saw my first Moose! We camped up Big Cottonwood  Canyon and we got to hang out with the fam.  It was soooo much fun!!! we played our camping version of Fear Factor with everyone and it was fun to see what people can and will do to win.

The 4th of july was a good time as well.  We met up with my mother's side of the family, The Hatch's, and watched the parade.  We watched the Thanksgiving Point fireworks and had a good time playing games waiting for them to start.  We sure are thankful for the Awesome and FREE Country that we live in. We are so blessed to enjoy the freedoms we have and sometimes forget about. God bless the USA!

Looks can be deceiving!

These are Aebelskevers, a traditional European treat, that are also a true Taylor family favorite.  When we got married we purchased THE special pan to make this tasty item.  Months had gone by and we finally decided to attempt what seemed a simple task.  so we got a recipe and failed miserably-it called for way too much yeast! So Kurtis decided to find a new recipe online and found only one-he perfected the cooking method, and we sat down hungry and ready to eat them hot and at first they tasted real good, but then it happened....the Baking Soda reared its ugly head and slapped us in the mouth.  Again another failure in creating this european treat.  So we broke down and called Kurtis' sister Kathryn for Grandma Ryser's recipe. We are eager to try again!!

Good times, Great friends and hairy Uvulas

Friday night Kurtis, me, kirk and Melissa Maudley went out to eat at Macaroni Grill-their bread rocks by the way-and afterwards we came back to our house and played some games.  It was a riot! So the first picture here is us playin games, next picture....well, it requires a bit of an explanation.  So, bought a salon sink/chair combination stand for the obvious reason-

i will one day have a salon in my home and ya know, wash hair there. Until that blessed day, we are storing it right in our dining room(as shown in the first pic behind me). Any hoo, Kurtis accidentally knocked the hose off in the back and discovered what he most affectionately called "The Hairy  Uvaula".  SOOOO GROSS! In reality, it was a whole bunch of hair clogging the tube in the back and we were totally grossed out, but glad Kurtis found it and did away with it.  By the way, if you don't know what a Uvula is-it's the hangy ball at the back of your throat...ENJOY!

nossos pes bonitos

So, my good friend Carly is moving to San Jose, and Me and another good friend Lindsay decided to take her to the local school of aestetics and get pedicures.  It was fantastic!! Super relaxin and not that expensive.  Here is the finished product-look at us rock that pedi!! my feet are the ones in blue on the bottem.

3D phenomenon wanted

So, they are officially out.....Kurtis' applications for jobs, that is.  He sent out 28 portfolio/resumes in the mail, and 4 on line to various companies throughout the US.  Michigan, North Carolina, California, Seattle, Texas, Oregon, and some in Utah.  So, we will just wait and see what takers come a callin'! Any company would be lucky to have Kurtis' as an employee, so we pray that they will see the potential  and awesome talent that he has.  Wish us luck!

mile high wedding

This is "The Crew" as they were referred to in high school.  Johnny, the groom, is on the very left.  Kurtis loves to be with his friends, and even had to brave the presence of the celebratory cigar smoke. Notice who's hands are free! We love them anyway!

Two weeks ago we enjoyed a grand wedding fiasco of Kurtis' really good friends John and Katherine Goldburg in Greeley, Colorado.  The ceremony was short-the party was long and....well let's just say we were the only ones not under the influence.  It was fun to see a lot of good friends though, and hand out with some family as well. Uncle Kurtis became the bucking bronco for Kelly and George-at the same time.

Viva La Mexico

Here are the long awaited pics from our way, totally cool, 10 day trip to Manzanillo, Mexico.  We went with Kurtis' oldest brothers family and stayed in a 5 bed, 5 bath beach house, with a little maid to cook the meals, a huge pools and it was a block from the beach.



Kurtis got to go deep sea fishing with his bro Ken and he caught a 5 lb tuna.  After five hours he was hot and sunburned but he had a lot of fun!

Here we are building our sand castle-but we got anxious to boogie board so we ditched the castle and her we are catching some sweet waves on our boogie boards. I like to boogie...board.

This is the THE Best taco shop in the world! Big and Beefy baby!

We got to take a horse back ride through the jungle and then on the beach.  Our tour guide let us gallup the horses right next to the waves. Mexico was  AWESOME and we would'nt trade the trip for anything!

Happy Spring!!

I decided to welcome in Spring yesterday adn I got this great..um idea to clear away some viney greenery things outside our house and create my own flower patch.  So Kurtis dug in first(so I didn't get bitten by spiders, of course)and attacked to foilage, then I came in and planted my pretty petunias!  I love it! its a small piece of home for me, tradition you could say.  Every spring me and mom go and purchase TONS of flowers and decorate the yard until it almost disappears behind the colorful array of flowers.  I came out last night and this morning already about 10 times just to look at them.  Nature sure is majestic and brings such joy to my heart.

Layla Kate Jenkins

For those of you who don't know, this is our newest neice, Layla Kate. She was born in December and is sooooooo cute.  WE went home to Ephraim this weekend for Mothers Day, and I guess you could say I had Mothers on the mind!!  I can't wait to be a mom! What a wonderful mom I have.  She is my hero, all the way.  I look up to her in so many way.  I am very blessed to have a wonderful Mom-in-law. But I think of her as a 2nd mom! She is wonderful as well, and taught me to make bread!  What great mother figures I have to look up to!
She loves her uncle Kurtis!

I want my baby back ribs...BBQ sauce

Last week I went up for a beauty show in SLC and had a few minutes so I went out to lunch with Lindsay Hewitt, my forever best gal pal and it was a blast!  Chili's all the way!  Me and my mom are going to Germany in August for Irka's (my foreign exchange sister)wedding... anyways long story shorter-Lindsay decided to come with us and we are so excited! We will go to New York on the 10 fly to London, England the 11th stay and tour England for 2 days, then on to Hamburg, Germany to celebrate with Irka.  What an adventure!

DQ Disaster

So after a great trip to the temple we decided to go to Dairy Queen. Well upon arrival I (Kurtis) was greeted with the most unfortunate news. The local Dairy Queen was out of butterscotch! So I asked for a Kit Kat blizzard, only to be disappointed again. I got the blizzard of the week instead and it was not that great. I went back to the counter and got my sub par blizzard, and vowed to return and receive satisfaction. 

GRADUATION of KURTIS RYSER TAYLOR

This is the bright point in any college grads existence. You work for four years, pay thousands of dollars and you have all of 15 seconds, or less to show case all the effort. But we are sure proud of ourselves when its all over.

This picture says a lot...mostly how cool Kurtis really is... and how beautiful this spring has been, despite  all the nasty, cold weather.
The wolverine is trying to get his head...soon that sign will say Utah Valley University!  Fun fact:  Kurtis' graduating class was the last to graduate from UVSC and the first with UVU on their diplomas-neat huh!! 
Mom and Dad Jenkins came to the fesivities as well as Kurtis' oldest sister Kathryn and husband Jon and their fam of four. 
We are just now figuring out how to do this whole blogging, picture, posting business...so bare with us.  These are more pics of Kurtis' graduation day.  It was so wonderful to see him graduate and to be with family to celebrate this huge accomplishment.  

This is Kurtis and I at the Utah Grizzlies game.  His company paid our way and we didn't argue at all!!  We enjoyed the game as much as we could in between the drunken out bursts of ravenous hockey fans!!  PS. the Grizzlies lost


Me and two of my old roommates having a great time riding some ponies 
This is the new location of employment that I have attained and I love it. Rennaissance Academie de Hair Design

things we love

Kurtis: fooood. my wife. good times. sunshine. art. animation. computer animation, that is. movies. war parafinalia. air soft. church. firm couches. bean and cheese burritos. my bummin' shorts. steak and potatoes. traffic-not! sleep. much sleep. family. sports. shorts. music. 

Melanie: doing hair. people. my husband..... and his kisses. how it smells after it rains.  brazil. the gospel. family. my nieces and nephews. music. dancing. connecting with people. laughing. red vines. singing. portugese. oranges. sunday naps. my guitar, ruby. interior design. shoes.  

upcoming leaps in life

what a crazy life we have, but oh how we have been blessed!!!  It's not hard to notice the blessings-it seems sometimes they are coming out of our ears! 

Kurtis Graduates this Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And he is so excited.  He really never ceases to impress me.  His ambition and drive to do his best are definately going to get him anywhere that he dreams.  He has worked so hard and long for this, and deserves the best.

we have Katherine and John's family coming from Colorado for his graduation and some of my family are coming as well.  happy days. so, i will be posting some pics of that.

bringin home mo bacon!

Bacon...means money, sometimes.  and so it is in this case-today one of my dreams came to fruition!  The opportunity  to teach at Renaissance Hair Academy has come my way!  I finally get to teach what I love.  I will still be working at Modifi, but will be teaching on Monday, half of Tuesday, and Thursday night.  Perfect part time job.  But it really is the teaching that I am most excited about.  The school is awesome, and pretty new so there is more room for growth and more one on one for the students.  Yeah for School, I say!

This last week was not a bland one-to say the least.  On Thursday 

i discovered a big inflamed lump on my head and ...well, i freaked out!!  

Next day, i went to the doc expecting to hear the worst and He said I just have an infection and gave me some antibiotics.   good news eh?  heck yah!  Good news of the week:

Kurtis came even closer to graduation.

I cleaned the whole house.

I went to Ephraim with Carly and Lindsay, because My mother had Sister Bonnie D Parkin come and talk at the stake Releif Society enrichment night.  It was amazing!!!

Kurtis got Friday off-that's pretty big!

Holly and Kent and their two cute kids, Jack and Jordon flew in on Friday and stayed until Sunday morning.  It was a blast!  Kurtis and I got to sharpen our parenting skills by watching the two kids on Saturday night. Aslo a blast-they are so cute!!

Sunday, we went down to Ephraim for EAster Sunday celebrations.  What a great weekend!! 

So, after much coaxing, here is our long awaited blog page!!!  And hopefully this can be an excellent source for catching up on our life together and perhaps no matter where this life takes us we can keep in touch by..well, blogging!! 

 On the 4th of this month Kurtis and I celebrated our 7 month anniversary...ok it really went like this 

Mel-"hey is it the fourth today?"

Kurtis-"yeah"

Mel-" so we've been married for 7 months!"

Kurtis-"yeah"

Mel-"Sweet! Happy seven months "

Kurtis-"yeah"

We definately fit the perfect woman and man profiles sometimes, but we sure have a fun time together.  Life has proved to be very exciting and full of suprises!  The last seven months has been awesome, and very busy.  Kurtis is in full time school, and full time work for TTA...and...full time husband !  He keeps himself busy even on weekends with work sometimes, and he plays with and air soft club in Orem.  He loves his boy time and I am glad he has a release from all the serious adult stuff.

I work full time at Modifi Salon and Spa, in Orem.  I love it so much!  I have a girls night every Wednesday, and a craft day once a month with my friend Carly-which has definately helped in decorating our home

We look forward for what is up ahead and hope to maintain a happy, healthy life.