today is the day!

I marry my Brandon TODAY!

Hello Mrs. White!!

I'm all sorts of excited :)

but I really should be sleeping right now...

see you in a week!

(we'll be honeymooning in Mexico!)

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Mrs. kitty white

my glory days.

I've been more coherent lately and shared this story with my mother who thought it was hilarious. So I'm sharing it with you (in hopes to make up for my totally downer post yesterday. optimism! optimism!!)

Let me give you some background:

{or just cut to the good part, labeled "THE GOOD PART"} hhehe

So one of the major problems with my whole princess and the pea episode (aka: kidney stone) is that I have extremely low pain tolerance. I'm a wimp. I try not to be but it was just the way I was made: fragile. So taking my pain meds was vital. If I missed the time by a few minutes the pain would surface, I'd get nauseated and wouldn't be able to keep the pills down. And the wicked cycle would begin until it resulted in one of many ER visits to stabilize me.

Basically the toilet bowl and I became very VERY close.

Brandon would come visit me and stay with me for hours (bless his heart) while I barked orders or moaned or cried or (unfortunately) threw up.

On one particular occasion (this is the good part) I was throwing up. And it wasn't pretty. Brandon was in the bathroom with me trying to help. Really there isn't much one can do...but in-between gasps of breath I managed to asked him to grab a headband from my room so I could keep my already disastrous hair out of youknowwhat. He ran back with his hands full of a dozen headbands and...

my prom queen crown.

laughing and throwing-up don't make for a pretty duet.

I'll tell you what...

But it made me smile (something I wasn't doing much of)

and I loved him for it :)

He managed to make me feel like a princess,

complete with her royal thrown!

And after all of my insides came up, he told me I was pretty.

Oh what a husband he'll be!!

the crown

{which i have to say was only out in the open from all this "moving". It's not something I display. and it's all bent now and lost it's plastic diamonds.}

and while I'm at it:

THE DRESS

which I proudly wore to 3 proms (I loved it that much) and had one friend get married in it. My mom did amazing alterations (sleeves and hours of beading) cause she loves me that much :)

If you want an idea of what my wedding dress looks like than think of the exact opposite of this dress. No frills. No lace. No beads. ABSOLUTELY NO POOF. Unlike my prom dress it is extremely simple. Comfortable. and totally me :)

sleep.

sleep.

lets talk about it.

So sleep and I haven't always been the best of friends. I was that kid who couldn't fall asleep because she was worried about volcanoes and orphans. Now I'm that "adult" (if you will..) who worries about more practical and relative things. Like weddings, and kidney stones. Funny thing is...now I can barely stay awake.

apparently this surgery I had gave my kidney quite the beating.

apparently this takes some serious recovery time.

apparently that kidney stone wasn't being very thoughtful about timing.

MY WEDDING IS IN 4 DAYS PEOPLE!

I'm tired of being dizzy

I'm tired of being nauseous

I'm tired of being totally winded from walking up the stairs.

I'm tired of being tired (for crying out loud!)

I want to be a "blushing" bride.

not a "flushing" bride.

bleh.

but ya know what?

I shouldn't be complaining.

If there is one thing I've learned from this whole experience it is that I am LOVED.

which I sorta thought I already knew.

But I was wrong.

I had no idea I was loved so much. And surrounded by so many great people.

{Guess God thought I could use a good reminder.}

This wedding,

is out of my hands.

{luckily my wonderful mother and martha-stewart-of-an-aunt-only-better are doing everything for me. including cleaning my bathroom. while I sleep. for hours and hours. it's really weird.}

I hate feeling helpless.

true.

but I love feeling loved :)

thank you for all the prayers and well wishes!!

I WILL be a blushing bride!

I Will...

i think...

i hope...

images from memorial day

{had to say thanks to my Great Grandma for her wonderful taste in jewelry :)}

In Sickness and In Health...

to my sweetheart,

Hey Love. It's me, your soon to be wife. Right now you are at the house, our house, refinishing the sink. You finished the tub. Put up blinds, sanded, painted, and spat your sunflower seeds all over the floor. You did this all while listening to that funny music you listen to. That music that you sing to me. And you did it while looking so rugged and handsome. You've been doing this for the past few weeks. This past week I've laid in bed (or on the bathroom floor), feeling pathetic and helpless. You came to me and brought me sunflowers and stool softener (as a remedy to my reaction to painkillers). You brought me my favorite limeade and your favorite candy. You stroked my hair and kissed my tummy better. You put a headband on me while i was throwing up to keep the hair out of my face. You held my hand at the hospital, told me i was pretty when i looked my worst. rubbed my stinky feet. prayed for me and blessed me. Woke up to my calls in the middle of the night and built me up. Wiped away my tears but let me cry. Cause i needed to cry. A lot. Encouraged me. Loved me.

You know what? This past week has been the hardest of my life. And you know what else? It has been the greatest of blessings. I hope you know how much i appreciate you. I'm sorry I haven't been all coherent this past little bit. This drug induced stupor will end soon (i hope).

What i do remember is you.

You by my side.

I love you more now than I ever have before.

I just love you.

xoxo

your (almost) wife

(photo by Matt Clayton (duh) doesn't he look soooooo dashing?! :)

I'm Alive

{My best friend just got back from London and brought me this print. Couldn't think of a better motto for myself right now. It's amazing what good friendship can do to the spirit. I feel loads better already :)}

I'll be back soon and re-cap my whole "Princess and the Pea" episode. But now, I'm going to finish the bridesmaids headbands and watch a movie with Kaitlyn :)

xoxo

Kitty

Hello again. Kennedy...again! Well, Claire's kidney stone, known to our family as "Spike" has not been behaving as he should. He should have been out a long time ago but continues to cause severe pain to Claire. We took her back to the ER on Thursday and they re-hydrated her, pumped her full of pain killers, and monitored her for a while. Then home again with new and BETTER!! pain meds that don't cause nausea. (she had been unable to keep any substantial food down for 4 days.) She has been able to eat a little bit these past few days, but is still extremely uncomfortable, and, as should be expected, fairly depressed about the whole thing. We went to a urologist this afternoon (Monday) and after looking at new xrays of Spike (and his siblings) they have determined that the best thing to do is surgery. She will go to UVRMC tomorrow morning, they will scope up through her bladder, into the ureter and locate the evil culprit and either net him, or zap him and then net him and get him out of Dodge. Or out of Claire, rather. They will probably leave a tube in the ureter for a couple of days to make sure that any irritation caused by the scoping does not close off her kidney functions. Then, in a couple of days, another office visit to remove the tube. (!ouch!) And hopefully, a full week to recover and be that beautiful bride and sweet Claire that we have missed this past week. Can you believe it? A whole week? I'm peeved, but at the same time, relieved. We want her well. We want her happy. We want her to be the blushing bride she was meant to be. Please send prayers, good wishes, and positive thoughts her way! I will update tomorrow. GO! FIGHT! WIN! CLAIRE!!

PS FYI Spike is about the size of this o, 2 mm. You would think it wouldn't be such a big deal, but he's named Spike for a reason. He is barbed. I'm putting that on my list of questions for God when I see him. Right up there with mosquitos.

Mom T

Hello everyone. This is Kennedy, Claire's mom. I figured I better do an update to Claire's blog since her last entry was rather mysterious. She began having some stomach pain Tuesday and figured it was something she ate, or as it progressed, possibly a flu bug. By late Tuesday night she was in severe pain and we took her to the ER. They did a CT scan and found she had a kidney stone that was working its way down slowly and very painfully. They medicated her, kept her a few hours for observation and discharged her. We were back within 2 hours. The medication had worn off and she was vomiting from the pain and unable to keep the Lortabs down. This time she was VERY heavily sedated and was kept for 4 hours observation. Again, she was discharged to go home and wait for the stone to pass. This is normal procedure for kidney stones. So between the Lortabs and the suppositories (to control nausea and vomiting) she has been a groggy, drug induced state going on 3 days now. She was able to sleep some last night but woke to pain, and the cycle begins again. Pain=nausea=vomiting=unable to keep pain pills down. She is currently sleeping on the bathroom floor, for convenience sake, and I will have to wake her to force some liquids (so important with stones) and some food so she can try the pills again. I know this sounds so feelingless, and emotionless, especially coming from her mom, who would, in normal conditions, blog only of happy things and love. Those are still there, just being temporarily overshadowed by this darn bad luck. I will ask for some prayers for her. She is weak and discouraged which is so unlike her. AND SHE IS GETTING MARRIED 2 WEEKS FROM TODAY!! Let's get this stone a-moving, people!!

Her Mum, Kennedy

It's been a rough few days.

I've got to go throw up now.

Stacy's Bridals

Ok so I know first things should come first (I still have two weddings to post about) but I just got so excited about this bridal/groomal shoot from last wednesday. These two love birds are...well...in love. And as you all know, I love love. So naturally we get along just fine. And they also get along with my camera quite nicely...

{favorite}

*sigh*

So my announcements are going out at my newly developed standard time:

LATE

{i hope this lateness wears off after all this wedding hooplah...it's so not like me...)

but hey...

they were well worth the wait :)

I'm in love with:

the colors

the texture and weight of the paper (yes...the weight)

the fonts

the layout

the GORGEOUS botanical peony

the photo

the way the envelope seal doesn't come to a point

my mothers lovely handwritten addresses...

blah blah blah

love it all :)

which makes me a happy bride and therefore makes everyone else around me uber happy (and relieved) too :)

Happy Bride = Happy Everyone Else

{funny/sad how that works}

I'm not ready to show every inch of them off yet. (it's the selfish bridezilla in me or something....) but I couldn't help but snap some photos of them. mind you...the color is a little off...but you get the gist.

oh yeah...and I had a fetish with square frame today. different.

love. it.

my name belongs next to his.

{isn't that tiny corner of his face just so hott? gah...!}

peonies.

*friends/family: they are coming! I promise!

walk-about

I've been needing some fresh air.

no, not the kind you can find when you walk out your front door...

no, the fresh i'm talking about can't easily be found.

I learned that after I went searching for it on my 45 min run around the neighborhood.

nope, that wasn't the fix i was looking for.

so my dad and I went up provo canyon to stewart falls.

for a "real" run

and "real" fresh air.

but I have to be honest, the run didn't last long.

it turned into more of a

walk-about

if you will.

real fresh air can do a lot of good for the soul.

My dad always says "If God has something important to tell you, he'll tell you on a mountain." or at least something along those lines. he's a mountain man. And he knows these sorts of things.

he was right.

the closer we got to the top the more relieved I felt.

and then when we finally reached the falls

I felt myself let go.

I let go of worries

and stress

and burdens.

It's like the spray from the falls was washing it all away.

and I feel nourished.

physically.

spiritually.

mentally.

and finally today:

emotionally.

It's like I was Allison in Wonderland. I had lost a bunch of my "muchness".

But I think I've gotten most of it back...

So I'll probably be stopping in more regularly.

...I've got a lot of catching up to do...

Hope you all are having a lovely saturday :)

xoxox

Kitty

p.s. if you've lost your "muchness" I suggest a walk-about.

dear world,

I'm as twitterpated as ever.

tehheheh

{i think this is a worthy excuse for my lack of posts and commenting lately don'tcha think!?}

xoxo

Kitty