Our love story (the short version)

I was fourteen years old the day that I met you Erick Sampson. We had just gotten home from a trip to Disneyland with our church, Fallbrook Presbyterian. You sat at one of the barstools in the lobby with a little flirtatious smirk on your face. I remember you introduced yourself to me and complained that you didn’t meet me sooner. When I left you told me how you wished we could’ve hung out all day and gotten to know eachother. I went home and told my mom how I met "the hottest guy ever" and hoped that we’d have another chance to get to know each other very soon. I couldn’t get you out of my head from that moment on. By fifteen, we were no longer acquaintances but friends. I would wait anxiously by my computer to talk to you on AIM since I didn’t have a cell phone yet but I had your number memorized anyways! ;) All my girlfriends had to endure endless stories about my high school crush, how I wished you would notice me and how much I wanted to spend more time with you. By sixteen you were practically one of the family. I would come home and you would be downstairs playing guitars with my dad without me even knowing or my mom would invite you over to dinner. You took me to prom that year and for the first time since the day I met you, you started showing just the slightest interest in me. By seventeen we were best friends. You went off to college at San Diego State but kept in touch with me. We talked on the phone, visited each other and you would come home for my mom’s special meals like gyoza and cashew chicken. After two family vacations together, a second prom, a whole lot of flirting and a few very serious conversations; our journey began. By eighteen, I fell in love with you and I have never looked back! Every year since then my love for you has grown exponentially. You held my hand through some of the most difficult times of my life, you challenged me to grow spiritually daily and and brought more JOY than I could have ever asked for! You have truly made me the person that I am today. Through countless powerful prayers, insightful conversations and belly aching laughs you transformed from my best friend to the love of my life. You became my everything! I was twenty one when you got down on one knee on January 1st, 2012 and changed my whole world forever, making every dream of mine come true at once, when you asked that one simple question…. “Kayla, will you marry me?”. The rest of our love story is unwritten but I know the absolute best is yet to come! From the moment I met you, Erick Sampson, I saw something special in you and over the last seven years I’ve watched you grow and transform in to the man of my dreams! There is not a thing I would change about you.. You are truly the best thing that has ever happened to me and I can not wait to watch the rest of our love story unfold as time passes.. I’ve got a lifetime of love for you!!

Shelter by Birdy

Skinny Love

so much to celebrate

In celebration of the commencement of Christmas break we took a trip with my parents up to Mt. Laguna to get in to the Christmas spirit and capture some christmasy pictures for our Christmas card. I was expecting a few patches of snow and when we arrived it was a complete winter wonderland with miles and miles of perfect fresh snow. Erick and I cringed as we stood there all dressed up watching the little kids sled ride! We wanted to be out there with them soooo badly.. but we are planning a second trip and next time we will dress a little warmer and take our sleds along! 

We ended the perfect day with a delicious dinner at BJ's with erick's family in celebration of erick's NEW JOB!! That's right, he is officially an ENGINEER with a real salary and benefits and all that jazz. I can't believe it! I watched him work so hard for the last four and a half years of college and now all of that incredible work has paid off. He's amazing and deserves the absolute best which is exactly what God has provided to him through this incredible job opportunity... and what better way to celebrate than eating a PAZOOKIE!? yum.

Getting my life back

So this blog of mine has been completely neglected and forgotten about, poor thing. But finally for the first time since August I have this amazing thing in my life called spare time! After a hellish and miserable two weeks I finished my very last final of the semester at 130 pm on thursday. This semester was absolutely brutal. Working 35+ hours a week and taking five classes was one of the worst ideas I've had yet.. Wouldn't wish that kind of stress on anyone. With the exception of a few hours playing my piano and the extra ten minutes I would spend in the shower every morning trying to gain composure, there was absolutely NO free time alloted for in my schedule. Every now and then I would cheat and take a day of but man would I pay the next day!! So the combination of school being over and working less has been nothing short of amazing. It's only been four days and I feel like a whole new person. Today was the first day I was able to sleep in because I worked all weekend and it seriously changed my life!! Amazing what a little sleep can do. So needless to say I am so thankful and excited for the next five weeks! I can't wait to cram in all of the fun that I missed the last four months.I can't wait to get my free time, amazing friends and beautiful family back! It's going to be incredible.

Its always the little things

At least once every semester I get to a point in school when I feel like my brain is about to explode. Papers, homework, group projects, presentations and five of the hardest tests of your life all bundled up in a merciless two week time span. It's when I get to the the point of absolute frustration and exhaustion that I let my academic left brain take a load off while I sneak in moments for creativity. They are short, few and far between but they get me through and keep me sane in the midst of what seems like an endless cycle of busyness. Every hour that I work diligently in school or at work makes each moment behind my piano or in front of a canvas that much sweeter. So, here's to the little things in life that keep us sane!

He's got the whole world in his hands

On my list of many things to do today is an interesting task.

"Your assignment is to read and write about the search for extraterrestrial intelligence

(SETI). Specifically, briefly give informed commentary on:

A. Do you think they are out there, somewhere? Why or why not?"

So as I am researching articles proving or disproving that extraterrestrial beings are out there somewhere in an unknown galaxy I came across this. The following is an excerpt from one of my articles about the many different components necessary in any planet to be able to sustain life and I can't help but sit in awe of what an incredible creator we have. If just one of these components were missing or altered life as we know it would be impossible.

"In their book of that title, Rare Earth authors Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee, both of the University of Washington have outlined a short list of conditions needed: Right distance from a

star; habitat for complex life; liquid water near surface; far enough to avoid tidal lock; right mass of star with long enough lifetime and not too much ultraviolet; stable planetary orbits; right

planet mass to maintain atmosphere and ocean with a solid molten core and enough heat for plate tectonics; a Jupiter-like neighbor to clear out comets and asteroids; plate tectonics to build up

land mass, enhance bio-diversity, and enable a magnetic field; not too much, nor too little ocean; a large moon at the right distance to stabilize tilt; a small Mars-like neighbor as possible source

to seed Earth-like planet; maintenance of adequate temperature, composition and pressure for plants and animals; a galaxy with enough heavy elements, not too small, elliptical or irregular;

right position the galaxy; few giant impacts like had 65 million years ago; enough carbon for life, but not enough for runaway greenhouse effect; evolution of oxygen and photosynthesis; and, of

course, biological evolution."

Amazing, right?

He's got the whole world in his hands.