Thursday, August 11, 2011

guest post - Kara

[Getting back from my honeymoon late tonight!  And probably wishing I could stay longer...]

Ok kids...now you get to hear from someone I've never met in person.  [At least that I remember...but if I remember correctly, she's going to ASU, so we may have met at some point.  Who knows.  #smallmormonworld]

Her name is Kara, and her blog is absolutely charming.  I remember her guest posting on another friend's blog once and so I snooped through her blog a little bit - only to become engrossed by her life.  And her love story.  And her writing style.  Check it.  You're can thank me later.  [Or now.  Whichever you choose.]

Here she is, ladies and gents!

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I’m pretty stoked to be here posting for Katie while she is away getting married and basking in the kind of happiness that only can be achieved when looking at an absurdly large pile of wedding presents. {Kidding, sort of.} I like to think that I still have a little bit of newlywed glow, even though I have been married for 7 months now.


My name is Kara and I blog at Not A Couple’s Blog. Would you like to know a little bit about my blog history? I thought so.

When I was a freshman in college I started a blog one Friday night while sitting in my dorm room. {I was popular, obviously.}

I wrote in it for the next couple of years, but because not many people read it and I have a flair for the dramatic I mostly wrote about my tragic love life. And by that, I mean I wrote a heckuva lot of posts about this tall guy who looked good in a suit whom I was slowly but surely falling in love with. My posts were so tortured and ridiculous, it was awesome.

And then one day, after about 6 months of pining, the tall boy and I became an officially official couple. Suddenly, I didn’t know how to write in my blog anymore. I didn’t want to write about the boy and how happy I was if we the whole situation didn’t work out. I remedied the situation by making my blog private and not writing in it for months and months and months.

But then the boy proposed, and I started planning a wedding and a marriage and a life and a blog. Yes, another blog. There would be one. This, I was sure of. But I did not want it to be one of those blogs called “scottandkara” where I only updated once every 5 months to say “this is what’s happening in my life” and “Ohmygosh I looooooooove my husband!!!!!!!!!!!” {Even though I do. Really.} I also did not want to give the illusion that this blog somehow belonged to Scott because, let’s be honest, he doesn’t really care what I write. I’m fairly certain he has never read my blog, unless it’s because I read it to him or his family can’t stop laughing about that dumb thing I did that one time and wrote about it.

And so, Not A Couple’s Blog was born. It’s my blog. But yes, more often than not, it is about a couple.



What can I say?

I have spent a lot of my new married life laughing, and I like to write about that.

I also like to read about other people’s newlywed adventures, which is why I am so very excited for Katie to get back from her honeymoon and give us the skinny. But only on the blog appropriate stuff. Duh.

P.S. After the wedding I started writing down our entire love story, even the parts that were too depressing for me to write about at the time. You can read more here. I promise it has a happy ending, once you get through all the tortured longing and batted eyelashes.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

guest post - Katie

[No, I am not guest posting for myself.  I'm in Hawaii, remember?]

Today you get a very special treat - the chance to hear from my dear friend, Katie Hawkes.  Aka khawkes.  Aka Hawk Girl.  [Take your pick.]  She writes over at a delightful blog called Scruples.  I shared a room with this girl for a year [and a couple months...you know, until I decided to get married or whatever].  I don't have enough good things to say about this girl - the list is literally endless.  She is funny, smart, ambitious...

....and, well, to save time...

I just know you are going to love her.

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today's post has been brought to you by the letter P and the numbers 1-10.
what? you don't get it? oh bother. i guess i should lay off the inside jokes or this blog will get nowhere.

but really, the other night ksparks ... um, kdevey? ... and i realized that if outsiders listened in on our conversations, no one would have any idea what we're talking about half the time.
that's what happens when you've shared a room for more than a year.
a lot of other things happened too.
try these stories on for size.

most recently, a little stranger appeared in our living space.
he looked pretty normal...

...until i stepped on him.

"what the..."

we now like to refer to this new friend as The Bad Esteem Scale.

reason: he's a little generous with his weight guesstimates.
like, 10 lbs generous.

something like this could be very dangerous, in the wrong hands.
i mean ... wrong feet.

in any case,
we planned to get rid of this mysterious and insulting visitor ASAP, before a guest stepped on it and inadvertently damaged their body image.
actually, my Plan A is to just wrap it up and put it with ksparks' other wedding presents. shhh.

now i'm going to help katie pack
by stealing the stuff she already owns, wrapping it in wedding gift wrap and bringing it to her reception.
because unwrapping is more fun than unpacking, right?
right.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

guest post - Meghan

[Off to Hawaii now for my honeymoon!]

Ok kids, speaking of style [which I was, if you read the last post], my beautiful friend Meghan understands style like no one I've ever met.  And she is fun, bubbly, smart, and insightful.  [Who doesn't love someone like that?]  I was roommates with Meghan for about a year, too.  [How lucky am I?!]

Ladies and gentlemen...here's Meghan!

[Mmmhmm...I did steal this from your blog:)]
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Congrats Katie and Tim!  I hope you are thoroughly enjoying Hawaii!

While she is on her honeymoon, Katie asked me to guest post on her blog.  She and I were roomies for a year.  And when you are roommates you experience a lot together. Especially in terms of relationships. You see one another's heartbreaks, flings, moments of confusion and most importantly love. Katie Sparks (now Devey!), Katie Hawkes, Chantal and I lived through a myriad of experiences. Some happy, some sad and finally true love and Marriage!

It's funny how we are obsessed with love.  It's no coincidence that love is the subject of most songs, movies, plays, poems and art.  If I'm being honest, I'll admit I am not immune to this disease.  I love a good romantic comedy, Jane Austen book and Michael Buble song as much as the next girl.  So in celebration of the happy couple, I thought I would share my favorite indulgences.  Enjoy!

Brighter than Sunshine by Aqualung


Elephant Love Medely by Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman on Moulin Rouge


Your Song covered by Ellie Gould


You and I by Ingrid Michaelson

Friday, August 5, 2011

guest post - Chantal

Today [whilst I'm off getting married!] you get to hear from my lovely friend Chantal.  She blogs over at Peeling the Paint Away and Piece of Panaché.  I am blessed to know her in real life, and we were even roommates for about a year.  She is beautiful [just look at that picture!], strong, courageous, and full of life - and understands all things fun and stylish.

Without further ado...here is Chantal!

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My name is Chantal. I’m 25 years old and unmarried. I have brown shoulder length hair that isn’t quite straight and isn’t quite curly. I have hazel eyes that only look green when I cry. My skin is ivory and dotted with freckles. My body isn’t bad but it isn’t great either; it’s just average. However, I like to think I have an above average mind and spirit that make up for the aforementioned facts. But perhaps I’m partial.

Now that we feel adequately acquainted and you can imagine what I look like let’s dive right in, shall we? I grew up in what many nowadays would call a “broken home.” Heck I, myself, would even concede that I was dealt some pretty heavy stuff to sift through from a very young age. I don’t feel it necessary to go through the drudgery of it all right now, and frankly, I think it’s mostly irrelevant because I am NOT a broken person. I survived! Sure, I have my share of scars that make me hesitant and a little afraid of things, especially love/parenthood. I think that happens to all of us in some way or another along the way. And then we transition into adulthood and acquire even more bruises and battle wound scars… and such is life.

My point is this: we each go through truly stressful, painful, traumatic or heart-breaking experiences, whatever they may be, that are unique to each of us and our lives. But that is a part of our purpose here. Each struggle helps shape and design us into the individuals we are intended to be. I’m not going to lie and say it’s always easy to keep this in mind and endure our trials well. I know better than anyone just how easy it is to become weighed down by it all and lose hope, or worse, faith. But I can honestly say that I’ve learned that all things can be made for our benefit if we trust in the Lord and His healing hands. Hopelessness can be cured as we increase our faith.

I’m grateful for the opportunity I have to live each day and experience it all, good and bad. In spite of everything, even the very darkest depths I have felt, I still BELIEVE. I still HOPE. I still hold to m
y FAITH.

And yes, I still believe in LOVE.

Just look at Tim & Katie!

I hope to find what they have someday. This is why those of us who remain in 'singledom' fight, why we choose to keep going each day, to make those hard decisions because they’re the right ones.

I choose to be patient. I choose to be strong. I choose to believe.

And now I leave you with A Lovely Love Story by Edward Monkton to ignite the believer in you! Enjoy!


Thursday, August 4, 2011

wedding and guest posters

Ok kids...I'm getting married tomorrow!

I really wanted to write a blog about how waiting to get married is like waiting to go to Disneyland when you're a kid...

...but I don't have time to draw all of the comparisons.  But you can imagine that it would have been a very insightful post.

But in the meantime, just remember that we have a few guest posters (about every other day), so be sure to show them some love!


Tuesday, August 2, 2011

"just in case"

I am a horrible packer.


The phrase "just in case" kills me every time.

You know...

Just in case the weather happens to be frigid and I need five layers.  Just in case there's a major downpour and/or hurricane.  Just in case I decide to go hiking.  Just in case I decide to go swimming.  Just in case I happen to need formal wear.  Just in case there's a power outage that happens to affect an entire city.  Just in case it's 116 degrees and I get heatstroke.  [Ok maybe that's where I live right now.]  Just in case I run into a man-eating army of ants and they decide to attack.

Ok so maybe that last one has never come up.

But the rest of them are viable possibilities, depending on where I'm going.

Which brings me to my next problem.

Packing for my honeymoon.

I know Hawaii is pretty reliable weather-wise, but that doesn't mean I'm not tempted to bring five layers and a coat just in case they have a freak snowstorm.

Since I'm moving right now, too, the probability is high that I will [inadvertently] pack something that I need for my honeymoon in a box that won't be opened for another month.

You know what else kills me when I'm packing?

The fallacy that if I forget something, I won't be able to buy it wherever I'm going.  That might be true if I'm backpacking somewhere deep into the Sierra Nevadas, but it probably isn't true of Hawaii.

But it's still an irrational fear of mine.

Welp, I'm off to pack.

Wish me luck!  [I'm gonna need it.]

Oh, and if you happen to have any fabulous tips for packing, I'd love to hear them!

Monday, August 1, 2011

wedding teaser

Ladies, THANK YOU for your comments on my last blog.  They were very much appreciated.

I am happy to inform you that I am much less emotional and much less stressed today.

And frankly, I am getting freaking excited.

Now for some news: [I already mentioned this, but for those of you that might be new] Tim and I took our pre-wedding pictures, oh, like, two weeks ago.  We did that so we would be less stressed on our wedding day.  Not to mention the fact that I didn't want to get up at the [butt] crack of dawn so it wouldn't be scorching hot [#Arizonaheatkills] [#okmaybenotreally] and be exhausted and cranky the rest of the day.

And now for the actual news:

We got the pictures back last night!

And I love love love them!

I don't know if anyone else does this, but I felt pretty during the picture-taking, and then starting immediately afterwards, I had myself convinced that I probably looked really ugly and that my hair was completely messed up and that my dress made me look fat.

It was a pleasant surprise, then, when we got them back last night and I thought, "Oh, I don't look as bad as I thought I would!"

In fact, I felt quite pretty again.

Oh, imagination.  Oh, self-esteem.

And now for a little teaser [because you just know that my blog will be ridden with them for months]:


Is it ok for me to show you that before the wedding?  Oh.  Well.  I just did.  At least you can't see every little detail, right?

And finally, as you might recall from this post, I would like to have some guest posters during my honeymoon.  I already have a few, but I would love to have a couple more if any of you would like to!  This is your last chance!  [Does that sound dramatic enough?]

p.s.  Last night I was showing this girl all of my wedding pictures and she oooed and awwed in all of the appropriate places.  Then when we got to the above picture, she said it made it look like I was stalking him.  Like he was just chillin' at the temple and I showed up in a wedding dress just hoping that someone would be there to marry me.  And that made me giggle profusely.  [#creeperrrr]

p.p.s.  We get married on FRIDAY!  [Friday, Friday, Gotta get down on Friday!]