Truth Tuesday

• I enjoyed myself thoroughly last week at Selena Gomez's concert with my mom and sisters. I shamelessly sang "Slow Down" at the top of my lungs. Also, Emblem 3 was the opening act and who knew, they have a lot of awesome songs besides "Chloe". Ironically enough, we went to this concert for my little sister, Chloe's birthday. While it was a fun girls' night, I couldn't help but think of my brother who is currently serving an LDS mission. Jace (that's my brother) has always had a huge crush on Selena Gomez. That's why I tried my best to bring a bit of Jace to the concert with us. Seriously, I crack myself up. I emailed the below pictures to him and I hope they make him laugh. We are going to start taking this cut-out of Jace with us to all major events/vacations.

• I bought orange juice recently and I had never been so happy to buy a fruity beverage. The best buy date was Christmas Day. The holidays are coming! 

• I think I've sat in our hot tub every night this week. Thank you people we bought our house from, for leaving your hot tub behind. It's being put to good use. 

• Eating applesauce makes me gag. Therefore, I don't eat applesauce. 

• For some reason, I can never take Harrison Ford seriously. He's always so stern in all his movies and it makes me laugh.

• More often than not, I forget to take the tags off my new clothes. Oops. 

• Today I told Brian I wanted a Great Gatsby-themed birthday party. He laughed and asked me if I was a 16-year-old girl. 

• One of my favorite songs of all time is "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler. Don't judge. 

• I often have moments where I miss my short hair but then I brush those moments off. Well, this time I can't seem to fight it. I want to cut my hair. I mean, when I get on Pinterest and search through photos of Carey Mulligan and Michelle Williams can you really blame me? I'm open to advice. To chop or not to chop? 

A big fat thank you

A couple photos from the mountains behind my parents' house.

To say I was surprised when my recent blog post #myhusbandisbetterthanyours went viral is an understatement. I was amazed by how many people commented, shared, thanked me, and gave positive feedback over what I had written. It's such a blessing to know I'm not alone in this journey. We are not alone. You have all inspired me to work everyday at being more supportive of those around me. A couple days after I wrote that post, Deseret News contacted me saying they wanted to share what I had written in an article. I am so thankful I received that opportunity. I can honestly say I have never felt quite so vulnerable as I did this past week, putting my words and feelings out there for others to judge. I learned that there will always be people who do not agree with you, who want to tear you down and who want to see you miserable. However, I also learned that there are many more people with sweet souls who want to lift others up and see those around them succeed. Thanks to those of you who focus your time on lifting up rather than tearing down. There is some ugliness in the world, but the good around us definitely outweighs it.

After gaining some new followers and receiving more page views, I feel slightly intimidated. Do I need to start creating thought provoking posts everyday? Will I ever get as many comments again as I did on my last post?

The answer to both of those questions is possibly "no" and I am okay with that. I originally started this blog after a professor told me that in order to be a good writer, I would have to write something every day. This blog is a place for me to practice growing as a writer. It's as simple as that. It will never be something I invest hours of my time in, it's not something I dream of making a living off of. I have many responsibilities that come before this blog and I hope it remains that way.

More than anything, this blog is a place for me to come after a long day at work and just write about anything my heart desires. If you enjoy reading along, then I am honored.

I can't promise you consistent posts, amazing giveaways or lovely pictures. I can promise you that I will always be real, honest and raw.

I've never claimed to be a blogger, but I would love to claim the title of writer.

Ahem, also there is a new button for my blog on the sidebar, so use that one from here on out. I love to do button swaps with other bloggers. One of the things I've loved about this blog is the opportunity I've had to meet so many amazing people. Email me at mrskellwell@gmail.com if ever interested. 

Sunday Best: Getting Down to Business

dress: Rue 21, blazer: Maurices, tights: TJ Maxx, heels: Old Navy, necklace: Forever 21

Let's talk about colds for a minute and how dumb they are. If you are sick with the stomach flu and you're throwing up, you obviously stay home from work. But where do you draw the line for the cold? Every time you get a runny nose do you call in sick? 

This week, I developed a cold. My throat is on fire and when I speak, I sound like a teenage boy going through puberty. This is definitely a problem since I am a radio deejay for a living. However, I had so much to do at work this week that I didn't want to take time off. I felt like I couldn't. So I trucked along all week with cough drops and water bottle in tow. Yep, I'm that girl. The girl that goes places sick and spreads my germs to everyone.

Then today, we spoke in church. I put on my tribal print dress with blazer and told myself I'd get down to business, just like I had all week long. I spoke over the pulpit with my raspy voice and said a prayer to God the entire time that I wouldn't burst into a coughing attack. No coughing attacks occurred but I did decide to draw the line. After speaking, I came home, changed into sweats, buried myself beneath blankets, and zonked out for several hours. Sometimes it's more important to get some rest rather than get down to business. If it counts for anything, I really liked my outfit today. Even if I only wore it for an hour.   

Truth Tuesday

• I am quite proud of this ridiculous photo above. I arranged the heart out of the leaves that were, at the time, taking over my lawn. Then I started snapping photos. I obviously had to get my feet in the picture because, duh, that's cute or something. Then a guy drove past my fence on his bike and stared at me and I felt super ridiculous. Don't mind me, biker dude, I'm just making hearts out of piles of leaves. I'm an adult. 

• Speaking of that, today before Brian and I went to a meeting, I ran to the bathroom mirror to quickly apply lipstick and said, "Sorry, I need to put this on so I'll feel like an adult." Honestly, do you ever hit a certain point where you actually feel like an adult? I kind of hope I don't.  

• I think I like room temperature water. 

• This week, I've been feeling so overwhelmed yet so thankful all at the same time. It's a weird mixture of emotions. 

• A couple nights ago, I walked out to my driveway to get in my car and a couple was walking past on the sidewalk. They startled me. I wasn't expecting a couple to be there in the darkness strolling past my car. I jumped and I screamed. It was embarrassing. 

• I bought Snowflake Ritz Crackers at the store instead of the regular ones and it was basically the highlight of the day. 

• That was a lie. It wasn't the highlight of my day. But pretty close. 

• BWell brought home a deep fryer and now we want to deep fry everything in sight. We're Americans and that's how Americans gotta eat. Okay, I'm kidding. We actually strive to eat healthy for the most part. However, we do want to experiment. We've mostly just been making fries. So, friends, what do you like deep fried? I think I need to try some deep fried Oreos because I've never had them. 

• I'm going to Selena Gomez's concert this week. Yeah, that's totally happening. When you're ready, come and get it. 

Sunday Best: Cleavage

dress: PacSun, cardigan: Bella Me Boutique, leggings: Forever 21, flats: Target

When I wear this dress with just the right bra, it's the closest I can get to feeling like I have cleavage. So dear floral dress from the store where all the high school kids shop, thanks for making me feel feminine with a dash of sexy. Mostly, just thanks for making it feel like I have boobs.

Things have been worse. When I played little league soccer at the age of 11, everyone on the other team had me mistaken for a boy. That's what happens when you have short hair and don't get any girly shape until age 15. It also probably didn't help that at age 11, I wanted to be a boy with all my heart. So it didn't offend me much when the coaches and parents were yelling stuff like, "Guard the skinny boy with brown hair." My mom though, she took it a little personally. She started yelling things from the sidelines like, "That's not a boy that's my daughter!" 

Okay, and that probably didn't all happen word for word because I was 11 and my memory is not perfect. The point is, I grew out of that awkward stage into a different awkward stage and now I'm where I'm at today and I look like a woman. I might only wear an A cup, but that still doesn't make me any less of a woman. Come at me.

#myhusbandisbetterthanyours

It's the hashtag that makes me cringe above all hashtags (and there are many cringe-worthy hashtags out there). I've seen it time after time and it's always bothered me, but then I just shrug it off. It's not a big deal.

Or is it a big deal?

Marriage is not a competition. It shouldn't be. But the first year of our marriage, I quickly found that for many people that is exactly what it is. I think it even became that for me. I started to feel this icky pressure to prove to the world that Brian and I had a worthy love story. I needed to show all outsiders that our life was good, our home was clean, that I was a desirable wife, and most importantly, that Brian was a flawless husband. I posted pictures to Instagram when he brought me breakfast in bed. I wrote out a mushy Facebook status when he brought flowers home from work. Looking back on that first year, I just roll my eyes at a lot of the things I did and shared, all just to prove to others that our marriage was happy and we were lovesick for one another. What a cheap act for me to pull, really. It wasn't right for me to put Brian's acts of love on display for the world to see. It was degrading, really.

Not only was it degrading to my own relationship, but I can see clearly now how it could have been degrading to other couples. Putting everything out there, perfectly rehearsed, can be hurtful to the couple who may have just had a fight, are struggling financially or are in any other kind of a rut. When you're saying your husband is the best, someone might actually believe it, and that might bruise their heart.

I hope that each woman truly believes that her husband is the best. That's how it should be. I know Brian is the best for me. However, that gives me no right to say he's better than all other husbands. That's simply not true. Every love story is special and sacred.

I've learned my lesson. Marriage isn't a competition to be the most in love. It's not something to be put up on display for others to judge and compare themselves to. Marriage is a sacred thing between you and your companion. Sure, I love seeing the occasional mushy Facebook status from other couples and it makes me happy to hear about how your husband brought you home a really great surprise. I'm not saying to never share. I am only suggesting that maybe we all need to ask ourselves every now and again, "Am I over sharing?" Also, when we share pieces of our marriage, we can do it in a manner that enlightens and lifts others up in their own marriages and relationships. We are a community of women; from here on out I want to strive to strengthen my sisters in their own relationships. I'm so over the comparison game and I want to kick the "let me paint this picture that my life is perfect" thing in the gutter.

My husband is not perfect. He does things that drive me bonkers.

And I still love him.

#ourhusbandsrock

Aint No Party Like a Halloween Party

Brian and I have put on a Halloween party for the past three years (so basically every Halloween we've ever been married). One ridiculous thing I really love about our marriage is the fact that both of us have this yearning for being party planners. We are both all about inviting people over and making sure they have a good time. We have a ways to go until we are pros at throwing parties, but I must say that this year's Halloween party was the best yet. It helps when you have great friends to make it fun. I've decided it also helps when you live in a house and not an apartment. Our bungalow has a really good setup for parties. Big open living room connected to a big open dining room. Expect plenty of parties in the future. On top of that, I read that according to a study, when a group of people were put in a yellow room together, they were more boisterous and ate more food. Yellow is the party color. Our living room ceiling . . . bright yellow. Score.

The magical part about this party, was that hardly any of the couples knew one another. They were all our friends but not friends with each another. However, by the end of the night, I think everyone knew more than they wanted to know about the other couples.

Here is a rundown of our successful party.

We invited every couple to bring a treat or drink of some kind. We made an event on Facebook so people could notify everyone what they would bring. That way we wouldn't all show up with drinks.

I made chocolate covered strawberry . . . creatures. They were originally supposed to be ghosts, but things went south.

The treats were great because as everyone started arriving, they could grab a plate of food, sit down and get to know other couples.

Once everyone got their fill of food and most of our friends had arrived, we played our first game. Truth or Dare Jenga. We took the classic game of Jenga and numbered all the blocks. Since there are about 53 blocks, we didn't actually think of truths and dares for all of them but we did for a little over half. There were things connected to the blocks such as, "tell us how you make a PB&J sandwich using a Dracula accent", "stare at the person across from you for a full minute", "eat a spoonful of mustard", "what's something disturbing about yourself that no one else knows". Just dumb stuff like that. If a person pulled a block with no truth or dare, they were off the hook. We didn't really have a punishment for what happened to the person who knocked down the blocks, so at last minute we decided that person would have to kiss Luna (our cat). It was a fun game to start on and got people laughing.

Then we played the Newlywed Game - Halloween Edition. This game was hilarious. Some of the questions were slightly off-colored which made it funnier. And hey, all the couples there but one were married. The unmarried couple were super good sports about it. This game lasted a long time since we did a round with the ladies and a round with the men, but I don't think anyone ever got bored.

I'd say the Weller Halloween Party of 2013 was a success. Come over again soon, friends. We also requested that everyone wear costumes. We should have done a costume contest because look how grand everyone looked . . .

After much debating this year, BWell and I decided on Mario and Luigi costumes. We made our hats and found shirts and suspenders for cheap. The stick-on mustaches were a fun touch, though it was hard to smile and my upper lip got sweaty. Overall, a super easy costume. To be a bit more original, we made Mario Kart cars out of cardboard. Brian got all technical and made a wooden base with handles on the inside. Since he worked so hard on them, I now feel like I need to keep them forever? 

Dear Halloween, you're almost as good as Christmas. Catch you next year. 

   

Truth Tuesday

• Brian showed me the above picture today and said, "This is totally a Kelsey joke." I laughed and felt very proud. 

• Today, I bought a cart full of white dishes from the DI. I felt bad for the poor lady who checked me out and had to wrap them all. She probably was wishing terrible things upon me and I apologized close to 30 times. I made it home without breaking any of them. Just wait until you see what I'm going to do with them next. Having a house is fun. 

• It's very bothersome when groups of people decide to stop and chat right in the doorway of stores/restaurants. Especially the grocery store. Then there is a line of carts trying to exit and everyone gets angry real fast.

• I've been obsessing over color lately. Whenever I paint a wall or piece of furniture, I have to try and determine which color is the right choice. Then I started to get all "scientific" and read about how colors impact your mood and such. This one was an interesting read. 

• I had a peanut butter Snickers for the first time this weekend. Where have I been? They are so tasty. 

• I still haven't changed my car's clock. It's kind of nice though. Maybe I'll leave it. Every time I look at it, I go into a panic but then remember it's actually an hour earlier. Then I feel like I'm really on top of things and have all this extra time on my hands. Stupid strategy but it's working for me thus far. 

• I was finding things to talk about on the radio the other day at work. I found a story about a girl who is dying of brain cancer and wanted to do a cover of Katy Perry's "Roar". A studio recorded it and the video of the song has since gone viral. I watched it and started bawling. So there I was, crouched over my computer, sobbing at work, praying that no one would come in and talk to me. Watch and prepare to cry.  

• Last week, Luna started drooling a lot. She was acting completely normal otherwise. However, since I'm the queen of worrying, I persuaded Brian to make an appointment with the vet. I left work early to be with her and was basically afraid that if I took my eyes off of her, she would fall over and die. She quit drooling as soon as we got to the vet (of course). The vet did a physical and said she is super healthy and has really nice teeth. Also, she only weighs 6.6 pounds. The conclusion of this story is, how in the WORLD am I going to have my own children one day if I go into a panic over my cat drooling?? I'm going to be one of those awful helicopter parents. 

Girls' Night Out at the Pumpkin Walk

The week before Halloween, Brian went out of town due to work for two days. I'm not one of those people who gets freaked out when I'm home alone or anything like that. However, I do go a bit crazy after being cooped up in my house by myself for too long. Think Jack Nicholson from "The Shining". Heeeere's Johnny!

I decided that I needed to get out of the house to pass the time that evening, and I convinced my mom and sisters to accompany me. We went out to dinner and then paid a visit to the North Logan Pumpkin Walk. The Pumpkin Walk is amazing for kids and adults alike. It's a free event the week before Halloween where people set up intricate displays using pumpkins, squash and other things. Many of the scenes are from movies, television shows or books. My favorite this year was probably a display of "Despicable Me 2". Pumpkins make the cutest minions, for real. This year, there were 50 different displays. The weather was even pretty mild for late October in Utah so it was nice to walk around outside. When I went two years ago, I'm pretty sure it was snowing and I walked through as quickly as humanly possible before my ears froze off.

I love that I live in a place that still has that American small-town feel. The Pumpkin Walk is just one of the many reminders of that. Guess what they do with the hundreds of pumpkins after the event is over? Well, they have the Pumpkin Toss. Teams build their own catapults to throw the pumpkins. I went to cover that event for work on Saturday and it was a blast (no pun intended).

Anyway, I didn't go camera crazy at the Pumpkin Walk and get a photo of every display, but we did take plenty of pictures using the face hole setups at the front of the park. Keep scrolling for further enjoyment . . .

    

and my personal favorite . . .

Girl time with my mom and sisters is the best. 

Sunday Best: Plain Jane

top: TJ Maxx skirt: Forever 21, flats: PacSun

Because sometimes, nothing beats a button-up, a skirt and flats. 

Also, these photos are from a month ago. 

Also, today was the first snowfall of the season and I made pumpkin roll. Life is good. 

That's really all I have to say.