Monday, May 14, 2012

Kyle and Stefanie's Wedding!

I am absolutely the worst blogger in the world this year. Sorry!
But I have some exciting news! My little brother is MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!
Here's their story (from their wedding website):

Stefanie is a sophomore Child and Famiy Studies major at John Brown University. She enjoys scrapbooking and spending time with her family. Kyle is a sophomore Biology major at John Brown University. He aspires to be a surgeon upon completion of school. In his spare time he enjoys playing video games and spending time with the love of his life. (Awe). We met on the first night of Freshman orientation at JBU. It was "game night" and we were both playing Ninja in walker student center. The next time we ran into each other was at dinner sometime over the next couple of nights, where he called me (Stefanie) New Mexico, because he couldn't remember my name. We waited at least a month to start officially dating, but we went on several dates during that time. On September 30, 2010, Kyle took me on a date to a really nice restaurant in town, and afterwords we went to the soccer field at JBU and watched a movie under the moonlight. After midnight that night, Kyle asked me to be his girlfriend, and we have never been so happy in our lives! Engagement: All through out our relationship, Kyle seemed to know that we were meant to be together. He told his mom that I (Stefanie) was the one, before we even started dating! He had very high hopes for our future. One night when we were dating, we had a conversation, and I described the perfect proposal to him. Apparently he listened very well! We had been shopping for rings all month, but didn't find one that fit in our budget, and looked the "the one!" So, I had no idea that he had another plan in mind. Kyle and I had planned on going out one night, and it was supposed to be a simple "date night," or so I thought. We bought a brand new dress for me, just for this date! The drive wasn't too long, but long enough for me to look at him several times to check and see if maybe he had a ring box somewhere on his person. I couldn't find it anywhere! So, I wasn't expecting a proposal that night, although I was a little anxious, because we had been talking about it for awhile. We ate dinner at Olive Garden, and he invited some family to sit near us, but it was family I didn't know. They were able to get some pictures of us throughout the night, but I kept looking back wondering why they kept staring at us! (Not knowing there was something else going on!) When it was time to go, Kyle stopped me, and said "Wait, I need to let things settle, I feel sick to my stomach." A few minutes passed, and I kept asking what we were waiting for. He then pointed outside and said "Its raining!" But he was really waiting for traffic to clear so he could "make his move." Next, I tried to eat the chocolate that we got from the waiter, and Kyle snatched it out of my hands! (He didn't want me to have a mouth full of chocolate when he kissed me!)  Eventually Kyle was able to calm down and pull out the ring box. He said "I have something for you." (Then he got down on one knee, and popped the question) "Stefanie Kristeena Stewart, will you marry me?" Of course I said yes! 

Stefanie's bridal shower was in March during their spring break. I had so much fun helping with the games and planning!! Kyle's Dad did an amazing job on decorations, as usual. He is a pro!! Her shower was beautiful! Here are some pictures:





























After the shower, Stefanie asked me to be a bridesmaid =) So the following day, I got to hang out with her family and was able to go to her dress fitting. Then I tried on bridesmaid dresses with her sister and ordered my dress and shoes! I just love weddings =)


The last of the wedding festivities were this past weekend! Unfortunately it was a HOT May weekend! My Mom and youngest brother, CJ, flew in from Indiana. CJ and Jan-Michael were Ushers in the wedding.
Kyle's Mom, Christy, took all us girls to a nail salon the day before the wedding. We were pampered with mani/pedis!



I love this pic of my Mom and Christy- they look like sisters!






Then it was rehearsal and rehearsal dinner! The rehearsal dinner was at the Spaghetti Factory. YUM. Kyle and Stef did a "ring reveal" where they finally showed eachother the wedding bands they picked for eachother. Cute =) The bridesmaids got jewelry to wear for the wedding that Christy made! It was so pretty.




























The wedding day was Saturday, May 12th at North Phoenix Baptist Church. I don't have very many pictures, obviously since I couldn't take them! But here are a few sneak peaks!















 Christy, my Mom, Sister and I also helped to decorate their honeymoon suite before the wedding!









The day after the wedding, we got to watch them open gifts!









It was also Mother's Day! So we had brunch and hung out with my Grandma Charlotte and Uncle Curtis =)












Sorry in advance to all my friends/family I didn't get to see while visiting. It was a pretty jam packed weekend, as you can see! It's not every day that your brother gets married!!!!!!!!

Congratulations to Kyle and Stefanie! xoxo

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

My Running Adventure

My very first half marathon ever is in 5 days! Wish me luck and say a prayer!

I created a different blog just for my running experience. I've been posting articles about running and training that I thought were useful or interesting. I'll post pictures from the race there as well. Follow me =)
http://krystaruns.blogspot.com

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Adventures = Goals?

2012 Goals:
*Stay away from doctor! Well, expensive doctors visits. Fingers crossed.
*Read more. I don't know how I got away from this. I only read like 3 or 4 books this whole year! SAD! I love books!
*More Adventures- but the free kind! We definitely didn't do the once a month plan, sadly. But hopefully we will get a few adventures in this year. I say "free" because we have a lot of traveling to do this year. It's the year of the weddings!!!

I have never had new year goals. Ever. So we will see how it goes haha!

In 2012 we will be.......
*Running a half marathon. Well, I will be this month. Hopefully. I just sprained my ankle this weekend so it looks dim. Cross your fingers and say a prayer!
*Driving to AZ at least 5 times. Baby shower, bridal shower, and 3 weddings!
*Flying to PA twice. Bridal shower and wedding (I'm a bridesmaid YAY!)
*Celebrating our 5 year wedding anniversary. Hopefully this includes a vacation for the first time since our honeymoon! Any ideas?!?!

Happy new year everyone! May the Lord bless you and keep you. And may all your dreams.. er.. um.. GOALS come true =)
xoxo

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Disney Adventures


I don't usually get to do "new" adventures with Disney. But so far this year, we've had 4!

 First was D23. D23 stands for Disney 1923, which is when the company started. They call themselves the "official" Disney fan club. http://d23.disney.go.com/ For a few years now, D23 has been hosting expos. If you take ComicCon and add Disney, it equals the D23 Expo. Something like that. Anyway, we were living in PA the first year they had it, so we missed out. But this time, we got to go! It was pretty insane. I think they sold a little too many tickets since we missed out on quite a lot due to lack of seating. We mainly missed all the panel discussions and a lot of meet and greets. The two days that we were there though, we made it in to the "Once Upon a Time" screening (show coming to ABC), Vintage Disneyland (watched old, newly discovered footage of building Disneyland) and a panel discussion about Marvel (Disney purchased Marvel a few years ago). We saw a few celebrities here and there (got far away pics LOL). They had a ton of Disney costumes/props and stuff from their archives around. We got to see the new changes coming to Disneyland and Disney World. Met a few Disney artists. Saw a ton of new products (and purchased a few LOL). They handed out goodie bags and gave away free "loot". There were a lot of people who dressed up like characters, which was really fun. But the all time high of the whole expo, for me, was meeting Paige O'Hara, the voice of Belle from Beauty and the Beast! Best. Day. Ever.




Dapper Day
http://www.dapperday.com/
Sometimes, there are events that are NOT sponsored or advertised by Disneyland. However, enough people can spread the word and create a day to celebrate at the parks. This is one example. Dapper Day is fairly new. It was definitely not around when I worked at Disneyland. Infact, I think this was the 2nd time they've ever had it. Thank you to Nathan and Dana for inviting us and telling us all about it! It was pretty fun getting dressed up just to go to Disneyland! And I have to say, our pictures are amazing.



Annual Passholder Appreciation Event
Disneyland opened it's doors to passholders ONLY! It was like a mini-party! On top of that, they brought out the parade floats to take pictures with! Something I've definitely never done, even when I was a Cast Member!







Mickey's Halloween Party
A few friends of ours told us that the Halloween event Disneyland does is totally worth the extra ticket price. So, this year, we thought we'd check it out! The great thing about attending the party is dressing up! Adults are included! You can even dress up as a Disney character... and then take a picture WITH that character. They also have special Halloween fireworks and a Halloween parade that they do not have during normal park hours. Then they make special trick or treat lanes all throughout the park. Each lane has about 5-8 trick or treat stops! Adults get to trick or treat too! Although they give you a bag when you come in for trick or treating, we had to keep dumping the candy in a back pack! We got TONS of candy! Don't worry, there were also fruit/vegie options too LOL. I loved seeing everyone's costumes. There were some great family units- this one Dad even dressed up like King Triton so his daughter could be Ariel! So cute!! Jan and I had a blast, even though we didn't have costumes ourselves. I'm glad we went so we know what it's all about. I will definitely take our kids someday.

Well that's it for Disneyland...... I did not renew my annual pass. But I think we have had enough Disney adventures to last a while though!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

September Adventure: San Diego

Although I'm like a month and a half late posting this, we really did have a nice new adventure in September over Labor Day weekend!
We have been to San Diego before, but hadn't ever stayed on Coronado Island. Plus, we stayed at a Navy base! Yep, it was a good adventure.
My Dad decided that once a year, we should stay on Coronado Island. And this was the first year! It would give the AZ folks a break from the heat and Jan-Michael & I a break from driving to AZ! I thought it was a pretty good plan and can't wait to go annually!
This particular weekend also happened to be my Dad's birthday weekend as well. Happy Birthday Dad!
It was also the first weekend we have ever put our dog, Sparkles, in doggie boarding! She stayed 2 nights at Golden Paw "Resort".  I'm sure she had a great time, but I was missing her and feeling guilty LOL!
Some of the things we did:
Ferry to Sea Port Village
Toured the USS Midway
Rented a boat and went boating
Visited Hotel del Coronado quite often
Ate, shopped, and had a merry time!






Can't wait to go next year and do NEW things =)