This last year...

I cannot believe it will be 2016 tomorrow. This year has had some of the highest highs, and some of the lowest lows. It has been one of the most challenging, but most rewarding and healing years of my life. I've made many mistakes, I've had a fair share of fails, but I've learned a lot and have overcome some things I never thought I would have been able to. 

It seems like just yesterday I was stepping off the plane in Texas, back in January, too excited to think, waiting to see Ethan (my BOYFRIEND) graduate boot camp and be able to see him again for the first time in 2 long months. It was an amazing 4 days, but it felt like it was over in a flash. Then he was off for another 5 LONG months in Mississippi. It made me so proud to see everything he had accomplished up until that point in his life, and I was so proud and honored to be able to see him graduate from Boot camp and receive his airman's coin. 

While he was in Mississippi, I was still trying to figure out how to be a "military girlfriend" It was difficult for me to be away from him for so long. I missed him so much, and there were some nights where the only place in the world I wanted to be was in his arms. With limited communication it was hard to know what was happening in each other's lives. I turned 18, and got my first tattoo about a week before he got home, and he made it just in time to go to prom with me. I can honestly say that made my entire senior year. The only thing that would have made that night better, would have been if I wasn't recovering from my car accident still... Yep... ONE night... ONE NIGHT before Ethan got home I swerved trying to avoid a dear, and instead, hit the side of a mountain, then my car somehow landed on the other side of the road 6" from the cliff, at 11:30 at night, while my phone was dead. To make it better I was in both sides of the road, and in the middle of a bend, right in that sweet spot where no one would have seen my totaled car as they're driving around that corner. I was trapped in the car some people found me there after what felt like an eternity later. My car was totaled, which really made me panic because I had no clue how I would move to Oklahoma anymore without a car. The left side of my body, and my entire rib cage hurt very badly, and it made playing the saxophone for band a little harder ;-). But when I got to see Ethan the following day in the airport, all of that stress, and pain went away and nothing else mattered but being able to hug him tightly for the first time in 5 months. He got to spend almost a month home, and when he left I was about 2 weeks away from graduating and about a month and a half away from moving to Oklahoma to be with him again. Unbeknownst to me, within the first couple weeks of him being in Oklahoma he was buying an engagement ring! 

Graduating was a big thing for me. I wasn't really the best student, and I had gone through a LOT during high school. Though that's no excuse; I slacked off for a long time and wound up having to work 3 times as hard as I would have to be able to make up missed credits from missed school, and it's something I'm not proud of, but I AM proud of the fact that I made it. I worked hard and I made it. 

The couple of months between my graduation and my move across the country would be some of the hardest months I went through this year. Without airing my dirty laundry I'll just say I left home on not so good terms, and wound up staying with a few of my siblings for a while. The emotional stuff I was going through, and the scared feeling I had about leaving everything I'd ever known to go to a place I'd never stepped foot in, and the stress about finances put me in a bad mental place. I was hurting, and I didn't know what to do about it. I prayed and prayed and God eventually showed me in a very obvious way what to do (after I got to Oklahoma). The last few days I spent in California were saying goodbye to all of my friends, and camping with family. Then my soon to be father in law drove me to Reno where I stayed at my cousin's house, and they drove me to the airport. The entire day I was so concentrated on seeing Ethan and my flights seemed like an eternity. When I stepped off the plane in Oklahoma I was thinking about nothing else than being at home in Ethan's arms again, so when I stepped off the plane I forgot I should have been expecting the humidity... That was... shocking to say the least, stepping off the plane and immediately feeling moisture in the air... and it was so HOT! And if any of you know me, you'll have already known that I got lost in the airport looking for Ethan. 

So I find him and he drives me to my new home, and tells me to dress more comfortably for an outdoor date (as I was in a dress and heels.) He wouldn't tell me anything about where we were going or what we were doing. So we drive to Oklahoma City and parked in a random parking lot, and get out and start walking. We wind up in the Myriad Botanical Gardens, and there's an event going on where there is a movie playing outside on a huge screen. We watched the movie (Big Hero 6) and by the time it was over it was around 10:00 at night. After the movie we walked around the gardens, and by the river where tons of coy fish swam around. There was a huge cylindrical building behind us that was changing colors from bright blue to bright pink. The gardens are such a beautiful place too; it was so amazing. Any way, we stopped at a bench and sat down and talked for a little while. Ethan was saying this long romantic beautiful speech that was melting me, and then we stood up, and he took my hand and said "Katie..." and got down on one knee and continued "Marie Irene Kincaid..." (inhale of breath from me as tears formed in my eyes) "Will you marry me?" Whereas I replied with something like "WHAT? OH MY GOSH YES!!! YES YES ABSOLUTELY, YES!!!" crying all the while.... I was... excited :D After what was the best night of my life at that point, we explored around Oklahoma, We got engaged just 3 days before his 19th birthday, which I was so happy we got to spend together. 

The next 3 months was filled with wedding EVERYTHING. Wedding planning, pre-marriage counseling, and making sure everything was ready for that special day just around 90 days later. There were times where I felt overwhelmed with everything, especially when he was on TDY (a short deployment-like training) while I was trying to find the bridesmaids dresses at the same time being on a busy schedule with work and trying to figure other things out in my life, but everything worked out perfectly. 

October 24th was the best day of my life up to date. I got to marry my close friend of 6 years, my boyfriend of 10 months, and my fiance of 3 months. 

We went on a week-long honeymoon, where we traveled all down California (and some of Oregon.) We started in Shasta the night of the 24th, at this adorable place called the Strawberry Inn (all of this is already in one of my blog posts about the wedding.) and went up to Oregon the next day to see some of the Shakespeare festival. Then drove down to crescent city where we stayed for 2 nights at the best hotel I've ever stayed at (we had an ocean view room) and went to the redwoods too. We made a stop in Fort Bragg and made our way down to Universal Studios where we stayed 1 day, and then to Disneyland for the next 3 days before we went another 24 hours on the road back home, where Ethan would now be living, and we'd be husband and wife. 

About 2 weeks after we got back from our honeymoon we adopted our cute little chief who is just the best dog... Who has a lot of learning to do but is the best dog nonetheless. And a month after we got him, he threw us into a panic where he sliced his side open on some glass and we had to take him into the animal hospital where he went into emergency surgery costing us $700 just a few weeks before Christmas... that was a bit stressful. But we can only be grateful that our pup is doing well now, and has made a quick recovery. 

Then we got to spend our first Christmas together as a married couple, which was so very wonderful. I've been learning how to cook since we got married and I was very proud when I made a delicious ham cheese and potato casserole for Christmas dinner. It was a calm day that we got to spend in each other's company and it was all around amazing. 

I have high hopes of 2016, for I feel stronger than I ever have, and I get to spend the next year, and the rest of my life with Ethan by my side. I'm excited to see what the new year has in store for us and our little family. I know I have some goals on trying to enhance my writing, and posting a lot more in the blog, everything from updates to just late night thoughts. I'll cut this post off before it gets too long by saying I hope you all have an amazing year in 2016! 

Animal ER

Well, today wins. I'm ready to throw in the towel and sleep it all off, with a hope of a better tomorrow. Am I being dramatic? Maybe a little bit... But, I'm exhausted and my nerves are shattered. This post gets better I promise. 

As everyone pretty much knows, we're moving out of our apartment and into our first house right now. Tonight is our first night in the new place, and we've been super busy packing and cleaning and getting everything ready, on top of balancing work, and volunteer stuff and everything else. So today in particular was even more so busy. Well, today also happened to be our first emergency. A picture frame that we had bought with a cute little "welcome to our home" picture inside of it was broken, so I threw it away, not knowing that in 6 hours that little picture frame would throw us into this huge panic. As the trash was being taken out, chief got excited, thinking maybe it was his time to go for a walk... Without a leash... And so in trying to escape, he squeezed himself between the door and the trash bag and stopped a few feet from the door. Immediately I'm thinking "that's not like chief... He usually tries to keep running..." And so Ethan walks over to catch him and I hear him say "oh gosh" and in my head maybe chief is limping or there's some huge bug that the dog is interested in or something like that, so I head out there to see what's going on, and I just see this big gash on chief's side and blood pouring out of it. Ethan immediately grabbed some paper towels and put pressure on it, tossed me the keys and told me to drive to the pet hospital, the entire way I'm quietly crying and I feel shakey (yeah I don't do well with this stuff... That puppy is my baby, I can't stand seeing him in pain) and the car ride felt like it took forever, (also today happened to be the grand opening of raising canes a block away from our old apartment which is where we were so we had to get through traffic because of that *rolls eyes*) and when we get there they find a shard of glass still in his side, which terrified me because that means... There's more. They tell us he needs to go in for immediate surgery to see if there are more fragments in him, and they need to stitch him up, so they need to sedate him. They sent us home for the night and told us they would call us with an update when he's out of surgery. I just got a call from them 10 minutes ago, saying he's out of surgery, and awake. He seems to be doing fine, that; yes, there was a few pieces of glass still in him, but he should heal perfectly fine. There were no puncture wounds in any organs but he did have some damage in his muscle on his back leg, he just needs to take it really easy for a little while which... Oh boy, chief taking it easy? 1) he's chief... He doesn't know what it means to be calm, 2) he's a 10 month old puppy... He's always hyper, so we'll see how that goes. I'll be keeping him laying down a lot for a while for the wound to close, and taking it slow to regain that muscle, but in the end he turns out to be doing just fine. I just feel so horrible for it happening. Praise God it wasn't worse. I definitely feel a little more at ease knowing that he is and will be okay. 

Wedding catchup part 1

Just some pictures from the wedding. Ill be adding more once I get them :-)

Mis(CHIEF)

There's a new addition to my cute little family! His name is chief. He's an adorable little 9 month old puppy that loves to play, sleep and eat constantly, who's paws are too big for his body making him klutzy in the cutest way and who's the biggest snuggle bug ever! 

We rescued him from the shelter. They say he is a lab mix but I can't tell. To me he looks like he's got some pitbul or boxer or something like that in him. Either way he's a beautiful pup with gorgeous brindle markings. We fell in love the second we saw him and knew there was no way we were leaving that shelter without him. 

I love this dog. He's put his paw prints on our hearts for sure. It's the best to see Ethan with him too ;-). We took a little while to figure out his name, and finally came to chief. Soon after we realized that chief was short for mischief. Oh yes this little pup definitely knows how to cause it. One if his favorite hobbies is redecorating our apartment with stuff he's chewed up (even though we've bought him plenty of chew toys.) he's also come to the conclusion his favorite mid day snack is our phone chargers! (We're 2 down) (oh yeah and our shoes...) and because of his big clunky adorable paws his "playful rough housing" can be quite painful. Despite all of his puppy behaviors that we are working on fixing, we still love everything about him, and are so happy he's part of our family <3 

Saphora and Paul Mitchell academy

I'm not sure how to start this blog entry off because I don't know what I want to say first. I'm just excited about this all and am hoping it goes somewhere. I've always been really into makeup, and hair and everything that has to do with it. I was never so good at it because I wasn't able to expirament around with it too much because it's an expensive habit and so on. But now that I'm older and can play around with it some more, I've found it to be one of my favorite things to do. SO, after much thought and prayer, Ethan and I have discussed some options for me. Basically we have to wait for all of this moving business to be done and somewhat well behind us, but I'm seriously looking at attending Paul Mitchell Academy and getting my cosmetology license! I've already applied at saphora for a position that I could get right now too, and it looks like the odds of me getting hired are very good. It was always something I've thought about doing but I was more concerned with jobs that were closer to nursing or counseling or something that helps people but I quickly realized that makeup artists/ advisors and hair stylists help people too. They help people to love themselves. To feel sexy and cute and beautiful and I think that is SO important, especially since I KNOW how hard it is to let go of your insecurities and really not only accept but to embrace who you are and how you look. If I can put my art on somebody and send them home loving the way they look, completely boosting their confidence, then I could only see myself absolutely adoring my job. So as of right now I'm waiting to hear back from saphora, and I've got an interview at the Paul Mitchell academy and a tour of the campus next Wednesday and I'm just praying that God guides my ways and shows me where he wants me. Right now I believe it would be my best opportunity, because time and money wise, I'm not sure if I could complete a 4-6 year course to become a teacher just for 1 or 2 years before Ethan and I have kids. But I know God will put me on the path that is right for me and he'll provide, like he always does :-) 

Anyways that's just a little update on what's going on with me, in other news, not a whole lot has been going on. Ethan has been doing well at work, and we've just been... Hanging out I guess. We've got a couple holiday events coming up that I'm looking forward to and we're just preparing things and getting ready to move again. So right now our life isn't so crazy, it is however, so wonderful ;-) I'll try to keep the blog updated with everything and I'll probably be posting a bunch of wedding pictures and stuff here soon! 

Busy? Pshh

I made it! I'm a Bevan! I'm my best friend's wife! While it is impossible for me to describe how happy I am, I can describe some things that have happened the past couple weeks. The wedding went smoothly (mostly.... Except my wedding band... And a little mishap with the flowers... But GOD IS GOOD and I wouldn't change a single detail about that day) it was a day filled with love, family, and fun, and I will cherish every moment of it forever. The reception was fun as well... And if you would have asked me prior to the wedding if silento's "watch me (whip/nae nae)" would play, I would have laughed and said no, but that would have made me a liar, and shockingly it is one of my favorite memories (though there are VERY many). The honeymoon was amazing as well, and all completely spontaneous! Very little was planned, and that gave it that adventurous feeling I love! We started out in Shasta at an adorable little inn (right next to an awesome coffee shop 😍) and the next day we drove up to Oregon,   checked out the Shakespeare festival, and that same day we drove down to crescent city and stayed there for a couple nights. We went to the aquarium (which I LOVED) and went swimming in the ocean (Ethan teases me because apparently he doesn't consider what I did to be "swimming" but in my defense it was a really windy day and the waves were coming in nice... ;-) ) and after that we went to the redwoods and took a bungalow up through them. While we were on the bungalow I mentioned without giving it much thought that Disneyland & universal studios sounded fun and within the next hour we were on our way down to L.A.! We spent 1 day in universal (and our entire boat got stuck on the jarassic park ride :-) ) and 2 days in Disneyland. Saturday came a little too quick for both of us but at the same time we were ready to be back home to rest and unpack. He went back to work and I've been learning how to cook... (Side story... I asked him if he could pick up some garlic bread on his way home from work and his response was "yeah sure thing!" Then he got this puzzled look on his face and asked; "where is garlic bread sold?" ;-) it was adorable.) and everything has been going great! I'm so thankful for everyone's help with everything, it has been such a blessing to us. I'm beyond happy to be married to my best friend. I'm excited to have our first HOUSE next month (though I love our little apartment too) and I'm ready to be done moving for a while ;-) that about covers everything! Ill be posting again hopefully soon. 

Concert

I've been a little caught up in other things, which is why I haven't posted in a little while. Moving, sickness, wedding plans, among other things; but I have a cool story for y'all tonight ;) 

So Ethan and I went to our first concert together yesterday, (his first concert all together) and it had several Christian artists that we really like, including one of our absolute favorites (David Crowder) and the whole night was just a blast. Everything was awesome, and after the concert was over, Ethan and I decided to stay a couple minutes later to let the auditorium clear out a little before we left. Now; him and I did not have VIP passes so we couldn't stay long because everyone with their passes was getting in line to meet crowder, and we were thinking, man... We should have bought some. So as soon as we stood up, these 2 guys came up behind us and asked if we had VIP tickets, and when they found out we didn't, they offered us theirs because they had somewhere else they needed to be, so gratefully, we accepted, a little shocked at God's hand on that ;) 

Before I go into this next part, I need to explain a little bit. Earlier on in the day, there was a couple outside of the church where the concert was held, and they had kissed each other right when Crowder stepped off his tour van, and he teased them and said "why don't you just marry her?" So the guy got down on one knee (after crowder already walked inside) and proposed to her right there and then went inside to see the concert (awwwwh right?) 

Now... Ethan and I are standing in line, and this couple is right in front of us, and they go up and meet crowder and explain to him what happened, and said to him: hey... We know you're ordained, since you're what made us get engaged today, will you marry us tonight? 

And the smile that came across Crowder, and Ethan and I, and everyone else in line who heard what was going on was of pure happiness. We all watched in giddiness and excitement, wondering if Crowder would accept the proposal, all the while, Ethan and I are looking at each other, and we can see we're both thinking the same thing "hey... We're engaged.... Why not get 'married' by Crowder as well?" 

David wound up giving them marriage counseling and told them to wait to the side while he finishes up his meet and greet, and they'll talk afterwards. 

Ethan and I are up next, and we're excited about meeting him, and we get our picture and everything, and after we're done, we decide to wait to the side, and just have a nice little chat with him after he was finished. 

We stay and watch while he meets with the other couple, who had decided it would be smarter for them to wait to have their families around and to be dressed for the occasion of a wedding and all that jazz, and so he prays over them, and after that his security guards said in a firm way that it was time for him to get to bed, so Ethan and I didn't get a chance to talk with him about it or anything, and we walked away a little bummed but still excited about the opportunity we got to meet him. 

When we get outside though... Guess who we run into? None other than David Crowder! We explain to him our situation and how we're getting married next month, and asked him if he would bless the marraige. He said absolutely, and then asked if he could pray over us, and we eagerly accepted, after he finished we got to talk for a few minutes, and he left us off with the advice of "it'll be hard, but it'll be gorgeous! God bless you guys" 

And as we left that night we of course were excited about the fact that David Crowder just blessed our marraige and prayed over us, but we also left thinking of all the advice he gave us and everything he mentioned during his prayer, and it was just, so very neat to us. The entire concert was such a blessing and we were in a daze the whole night abut what had happened and how it went down, and David Crowder is definitely such a cool man. It'll definitely be a fun story to tell in the years to come 😊 (left to right: Crowder, Ethan, me, and Lauren daigle who was another artist we got to meet) 

Catch up!

Back in July, I packed up all of my belongings, hopped on a plane, and moved to a place I had never stepped foot in, 1,700 miles away from the place I had called home my entire life. No job. No relatives. Only person i knew was my boyfriend. The night I arrived, Ethan took me to the myriad botanical gardens, got down on one knee; and asked me to be his wife. With tears in my eyes, I said yes. We will be married on October 24th of this year, and I couldn't be more excited. A week after I got here, I scored a job at a great 50's style diner a few blocks away from my house. Working there has been a blast, and has been a great opportunity to make some good friends. Ethan and I went on some pretty cool adventures, including our first baseball game, a horse carriage ride through brick town, and the Oklahoma City zoo, to list a few. 3 weeks ago we found the church that we will be attending during our time in Oklahoma, and have made some wonderful friends there as well. The past few months have definitely been a blast, and I'm so grateful to be spending it with my best friend. 

Welcome!

Hello friends and family! Thanks for checking in. I created this blog for several reasons. 

One: how cool is it going to be to look back on these posts in a few years from when Ethan and I were first married? Time capsule full of memories. 

Two: friends and family. Living over 1,000 miles away from anyone I've ever known can be tough sometimes. This blog can be a way of communication; keeping people informed. I'm a talker (as I'm sure people know by now) so if you are interested in what's going on over here, and you can tolerate my frequent rabbit trails, corny jokes, and ramblings then stay tuned! 

Three: my obsession with writing... About everything... A lot... Writing down my thoughts make me feel a little more in control, and a little more organized. Words. Wonderful things aren't they? 

Many more reasons come to mind, but I feel as though the main ones have been said. I'll be posting a 'catch up' here soon, let y'all know what's happened so far :) thanks again for checking in! God bless.