O Christmas Tree

Here I sit, cramped in a small apartment with a whole lot of STUFF and no room for a real Christmas tree. SOB. All I want for Christmas is a Christmas Tree! A Christmas Tree! A Christmas Tree!

I guess the only tree I'm going to get this year is the one I post on my page. So Merry Christmas to me! And Merry Christmas to my tree!

I should have been on the Mayflower!

I am compiling a list of things I am thankful for. Let me begin:

A Heavenly Father who loves me and knows me!
An incredible guy named Kris who is so good to me!
My family! My awesome family! Need I say more?
Porter. Kristen Porter that is. She's nuts, but you gotta love her!
My babies...Samantha, Hannah, Graydon, Alex, Haley, Brady, Blake, Harper, Savannah, Kennedy, Zachary, and one on the way!
Food. Oh I love food. Mmmmmm food! Yogurt, fruit, salads, chicken, etc... I just love food!
Pottery Barn!!! I can't shop there yet, but I can still be thankful for Pottery barn! hehehe!
A cute apartment! I love it here! Even if a big screen TV has taken over my living room, I still have the cutest place ever!
My job. It's flexible so I can play with all those babies! Now I just need to sign some deals! lol!
The earth with all its seasons, beauty, and grace. I know that is SOOOOO cheesy, but it's true! I love spring! I love summer! I love fall! I love winter! I love the sky! I love the trees! I love the mountains! Kris says I'm a tree hugger, and I'm proud of it!
Brenda.

Now it's Kristian's turn:

Boobies, legs, and tree huggers!
Zoey. (the dang dog)
Splenda lemonade...and lots of it!
The new floor at the church! Now I can play ball!
My family!
The fact that fat is the new skinny!
NIGEL BARKER! (hehehehehe! Kally slipped that one in here!)

Mamacita

This is just a shout out to my mother and one of her incredible talents! Below are pictured just a handful of the gorgeous outfits she has made for 81 Gingerbread Lane. Her ability to create masterpieces never ceases to amaze me. To see more (as well as purchase) some of my mothers creations, visit the link 81 Gingerbread under "My Favorite Blogs". Trust me, you won't be disappointed! Keep up the good work Mom!

Something that makes me happy...

I'm sorry...but if these doesn't make you happy, I don't know what will! Zachary and Kennedy found the mud puddle by Mom's house and went to town! There was mud EVERYWHERE! One thing I should point out...this was at the end of September and it was 92 degrees outside. They had a blast and it reminded me of when I was younger! Absolutely adorable!

Conflict of Interests

Anyone that knows me knows that I'm not exactly the girliest of girls. However, I do have a few small tendencies that are on the extreme feminine side....one of these just so happens to be Pottery Barn. (see left) I'm going to be frank right now about this girly girl trapped inside me... If I could only shop at one store in the world, it would be Pottery Barn. Unfortunately, I'm what most would consider lower class (ie: broke, poor, underpriviliged, and hard-up for cold hard cash). This means that the only Pottery Barn pieces I own are the "Clearanced", then "Reduced", then "Marked down", and finally found in the pile of "Please come take this junk from our store." Okay maybe I'm not that bad off, but let's be honest, who at my age can afford anything from there? Um...unless you're Paris Hilton, I don't know of any! As a newly engaged lady, I thought I had found the perfect excuse to register for a few small things, if only to please my somewhat girly side. I brought it up with Kris and this is what I happened:

Kally: Hey sweetie! I was thinking we should register online at Potterybarn.com for a few things. Good idea, right?

Kris: Huh? What could be get from there?

Kally: Well you know, towels, sheets, Christmas decorations, etc...

Kris: Um okay. But I was thinking we'd just register at Wal-Mart, but do what you want to do.

Kally: Well what were you thinking we should register for?

Kris: A big screen TV.

Kally: (blank stare)

A big screen TV???? Are you joking me? I mean, I'm all in favor of a big screen, but come on! This was my chance to finally indulge a little! Lay beneath a hand-stitched PB quilt. Dry my hands with a luxuriously soft PB towel. Snuggle up by the PB ordorned tree. The big screen TV has forever opened my eyes to the inate differences between men and women. I thought I'd include two more pictures of things we want to register for. Can you guess whose is who's?

Engagement Photos

Thanks to my very talented and wonderful sister Kourtney, Kris and I now have our engagement pictures all taken care of! (Kris says, "Yay.") We suited up on Friday afternoon, Kourtney did hair makeovers on the both of us, and then we ventured into the wild outdoors for about an hour of picture taking. Kennedy and Zachary joined us and provided entertainment while we smiled, and smiled, and smiled, and smiled. Oh...did I mention that we smiled?!?!?

So alas, they are done! We are keeping the good ones a secret, so for now I'll just post the ones that show our sillier side! Enjoy!

News Alert

Kris wanted me to write and let you all know I took his advice 2 different times today! This might be a record! See...I am learning to listen!

ANTM Wannabe?!?! Who me??!?!

Okay, so I admit it....I have a weakness for America's Next Top Model. Maybe it's not so much a weakness as an obsession! If I have to say it, I might as well. I AM OBSESSED WITH AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL!!!!! Not only do I watch the show religiously, but I even take it as far as to try to replicate their photos shoots. (see left)

Who cares if this little obsession should have stopped when I was 16. Who cares if I wasn't blessed with the long and lean look. And who cares if Tyra isn't my best friend (although I seem to think she is!). I still want to be America's Next Top Model!!!

Poor Kris. That is really all I have to say. He puts up with each episode, each photo shoot, each scream when I see one of the girls in print ads, and each drawn out story that Kristen (she too wants to be ANTM) and I tell him about our future photo shoot plans. Bless his soul...

For all the young girls out there who dream of being America's Next Top Model, I feel you! I understand the desire to get dressed up in crazy clothes, (see above) over the top makeup, and odd props and work it like you've never worked it before. So until Tyra calls and said I've made it in the big world of fashion, Kristen and I will continue to take ridiculously obnoxious pictures in even more ridiculously obnoxious outfits!

Construction Kris

Well let's just say Kris is a busy, busy, busy man! If he isn't working on the two homes he has for sale in Dogwood Estates, he's at my parents home or at my sisters working on some task for them. He is also prepping two different spots of land for future development and trying to squeeze in Kally time, family time, friends time, etc...

Oak Hills is one of the developments that we're both very excited about! He and Phillip, his father are going to build around 26 townhouses on a gorgeous wooded piece of land! Once the first few are done, this will become our home for who knows how long! Kris is always thinking of ways to improve the plans, make things more comfortable for us, and create spaces that people will love living in! What can I say? He's incredibly talented!

Included above is a picture of Kris hard at work at my sister Kourtney's house. I'm a huge fan of America's Next Top Model so I asked him to do his best pose! Honestly...I think this one turned out pretty well! America's Next Top Construction Model!!!!!

We're ENGAGED!

Yep! So it finally happened! Kris and I got engaged! It's amazing what can happen when you break out the carving knives, a few pumpkins, and a little creativity!

On Oct. 22nd Kris decided to pop the question by having a pumpkin carving contest! Trust me though, this was easier said than done! Morehead was having a pumpkin shortage and after stopping at eight different stores, desperation set in and we had to buy two from a small bookstore in town. Lucky for me, when we asked to buy their display pumpkins, the owner happily agreed.

Once we arrived back at my apartment the real fun started. Kris is a pumpkin carving pro and went to work, fast and furiously on his masterpiece! Of course this was all done behind a large partition he set up on my dining room table. I worked a little slower, but the end result turned out to be fabulous!

After we were each finished, Kris decided he wanted us to show them on the back porch. He turned off the lights, we both closed our eyes, and then when it was all dark, we opened them for the unveiling of the pumpkins. Mine was a Bear Paw (his nickname) and Kris had carved a shining diamond ring into his! He flipped on the porch light and written across his pumpkin was< "Will you Marry Me?" He got down on one knee, and the rest is history!

Now that is a story I am sure we will both tell for years to come! :-)