Happy Birthday to My "Other" Sister

Today is one of my VERY Best Friends Birthdays! We have been friends since our freshman year of high school...13 years!!! She is one of my absolute favorite people and I do not know what I would do without her in my life. She is one of those "everything" friends....the one I talk to/text on a daily basis, cry with, do nothing with, laugh till my stomach hurts with, tell everything too, be brutally honest with, have inside jokes with...you get the idea! I LOVE her to death and would do anything for her! We have been through so many different phases and stages of each other lives and I look forward to all those that are still to come!

Happy Birthday Jewlz!

Here's to celebrating another 50+ Birthdays together!!! Hope all your wishes come true! Love You!!

We celebrated her birthday a few days early with a Girl's Night Out at our favorite country bar! We met at her house for some pre-drinks, appetizers, and cupcakes and then all headed out for a night of boot scootin!!!

The Pre Party Spread

Happy Birthday CupCakes

Me & the Birthday Girl!

Amy, Jewlz, & Me

Carey, Jess, & Me

We LOVE those Self Portraits!

Group Shot

Having a Lil Fun!

Funny Conversation ~ Look Alikes

My husband and I have several conversations on a daily basis that make me and him laugh outloud hysterically...sometimes together, sometimes at one another. Last Night while watching American Idol we had one of those conversations. This is how it went....

Me: Awe I really like Lee Dewyze...I love that raspy sort of voice

Husband: Ya, but you think Casey James is HOTT

Me: No. Actually, I think Lee Dewyze is HOTT

Husband: Very Matter of Factly That's because he looks like me huh!

Me: laughing hysterically, trying to compose myself. Ummmm no he doesn't babe

Husband: Yes, he does...rewind it and look as he proceeds to get up and put his face next to the TV

Me: Hmmmm....I guess he sort of does hahahahahahahahaha

These are the conversations that make daily life with my husband so much fun!

My Husband



Lee Dewyze





Hmmmm....its hard to tell in these pictures, but I do see it....just a tinsy tiny bit :)

Nine Months Down

This past Saturday, March 13th, marked 9 months of marriage for Robert & I. It is crazy how fast the months have flown by...before we know it we are going to be celebrating our 1st anniversary!!! I really am trying to savor all of this "newlywed bliss" and while I am looking forward to celebrating our 1st anniversary as a married couple it makes me sad, in a sense, that our 1st year will be over! I find myself constantly reflecting on what I was doing last year at this time...deep in the wedding planning, finalizing the details, registering for gifts, preparing for our couples shower and my bridal shower, looking for a place to call "home", and anxiously awaiting our wedding date. At times I wish we could do it all over again. I LOVED our wedding and all the planning, time, work, effort, and money that went into making it such a special celebration and a fun party with our family & friends. I don't want to do it again to do it differently...well maybe I would tweak a few things here and there :)...but I just want to do it again because it truly was the BEST day of my life to date. (I know there are probably quite a few girls out there that feel the same)

Anyway, here are some of the things I LOVE about being Married:

• I LOVE that I get to spend everyday with my Best Friend!
  
• I LOVE that I have someone to share those mundane, everyday tasks with...cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping....we are a GREAT team!
  
• I LOVE having someone who challenges me emotionally, physically, and mentally on a daily basis making me the best "me" I could possibly be
• I LOVE that I have someone to share my hopes, dreams, wishes, desires, fears, and secrets with without judgement
  
• I LOVE laying my head down at night and waking up next to my husband every morning
  
• I LOVE getting goodnight and good morning kisses each and every day
  
• I LOVE having someone to laugh, cry, be happy, and be sad with
  
• I LOVE having someone who knows me better than I know myself
  
• I LOVE having someone with a shared adventure for life
  
• I LOVE being authentic with someone
  
• I LOVE that we have so many past experiences together with 8 1/2 years of dating under our belt before marriage and that we have a lifetime of shared experiences to look forward too
  
• I LOVE the comfort and reassurance that is felt from a simple hug or holding hands
  
• I LOVE having someone to do all the things I like to do with, someone who loves doing them too...snowboard, hike, backpack, camp, wakeboard, run, workout, watch sports on TV, play sports, etc.
  
• I LOVE planning our future together
  
• I LOVE knowing and experience unconditional love (aside from that of a parent) on a daily basis

These are just a few of the things I LOVE about being married...most of them simple pleasures but things I LOVE nonetheless. It would be interesting to see how my list compares in a few years from now, 5 years, 10 years, etc.

Lastly, here is us on our wedding day...9 months ago....My how time flies when you're having fun!

2 Years Ago Today......

I was made the happiest girl in the world as Robert asked me to spend eternity with him! I wrote a brief recap of the moment HERE but wanted to take the time to tell the entire story for our own memories in the future.

March 5, 2008 we were driving up to Mammoth for our annual Winter "Hilzek" Family Vacation. It was a Wednesday and I had just had 2 1/2 VERY crazy days at work. I had been traveling on Monday for a New Hire Orientation in Texas, flew home Tuesday morning and after 8 hours of travel put in another 8 at the office, and then worked a half day on Wednesday....I worked like a crazy women to get all of the new hires set-up before leaving for vacation! I did but needless to say it was a little crazy and by the time we were on the road Wednesday afternoon I was exhausted and a little grumpy :)

The Nemzeks, our family best friends, were ahead of us on the drive up and my parents and sisters were behind us. When possible, we try to caravan but apparently this was all part of the Grand Scheme EVERYONE was in on except ME! I slept on and off throughout the 5 hr drive and later discovered Robert was constantly texting my sisters and my friend Kristen (Nemzek) to make sure we all stayed an adequate distance apart from one another on the drive up. Robert wanted to make sure we would be alone when arriving in Mammoth and knew that if anyone was close to us I would insist on waiting for them to grab a bite to eat before heading to the house we were all staying in.

As we were leaving Bishop (the last town which is about an hour away from Mammoth) I checked in with my family and they said they were just coming into Bishop and were going to stop there and eat. Since we were already on our way out of town we weren't going to turn around just to eat. I then got a call from Kristen and they were up in Mammoth already and had unloaded the car and everything at the house. She said that her and her brother were going to go to a bar and grab a drink and wanted to know if we wanted to meet them when we got there. I said "ehhhhh I am really tired and think I would rather just head to the house, get unpacked, and settled for the night". The conversation ended at that....or so I thought....apparently Robert immediately texted Kristen and said do ANYTHING you can to make her agree to go. Kristen was then incahoots with her family and my family to come up with a "plan" to get me to the special place! In the meantime, Robert was asking me "Are you sure you don't want to go? I bet they have food and I am REALLY hungry...aren't you hungry?" I sort of just blew it off and replied with something to the effect of "Yes, I am but I would rather just eat something at the house. I am tired and just want to get unpacked and ready for an early start tomorrow". Needless to say I was being a bit of a pain in the rear :). Just as we were getting off the highway in Mammoth I get another call from Kristen. This time she tells me that her and her brother got dropped off at the bar because her parents needed to go to the grocery store and wanted to know if we could meet them, grab something to eat together, and then drive them back to the house. I relentlessly agreed and we headed to the bar :) At this point, Robert had a huge sigh of relief and figured 1 obstacle down, 1 more to go :)

We ended up parking across the street from the Village where the bar/restaurant was that Kristen and her brother were supposedly at. Robert was trying to hurry me out of the car but I was trying to find my jacket. He came around the side of the car and said "I have something for you". I was still leaning in the car trying to find my jacket and without paying any "real" attention to him or what he was doing I said "What do you mean you have something for me? I just drove in the car with you for 5 hours....why didn't you give it to me before". At this point my jacket was on and I was getting ready to close the door when I looked at him standing on the sidewalk and noticed he was holding something behind his back. I said to him "What are you doing. What's behind your back???"

From behind his back he handed me a teddy bear (a build a bear to be exact) dressed in a tuxedo. He proceeds to hand it to me and says "Press the hand". At this point my mind began racing, things started clicking and I KNEW what was about to happen!!!!! I grabbed the bear and squeezed the hand....it was Robert's recorded voice saying "Will You Marry Me". As Robert got down on one knee I was so surprised and shocked that the 1st thing out of my mouth...technically the 1st several things out of my mouth...were the words "shut up" and "I can't believe you are doing this...RIGHT NOW!!!" Both of which I repeated several times before I said 'Yes'....or 'let me see the ring'...or 'put it on my finger already'...we aren't really sure which...it was kind of a blur after the million shut ups I uttered.

Despite the fact that we had been together 7 1/2 years at that point and we had looked at rings and talked about getting engaged I was completely shocked!!! I TOTALLY did not expect it to happen at all at that point which made it perfect!

Rewind 2 weeks to a conversation Robert and I had at a Ducks game where I casually said "I think it would be neat if we were engaged by the end of May so I could show all my Friends from the Masters program I just completed in December at graduation" and Robert replied with a worried look "Oh, I wasn't planning on doing it before then. Geez, now I feel pressure" Which I responded with "Oh my goodness, No, no pressure, I was just saying! Whenever you have it planned for is fine." I later find out that he already had asked my Dad, already had the ring in his posession, and already knew EXACTLY when he was going to propose. He was just trying to throw me off! Mission accomplished!

I am a self proclaimed 'hater' of surprises but I LOVED that one and was so glad that I was surprised (it actually gave me a little change of heart about surprises, but shhh...don't tell anyone....haha).

Back to the story....there on the sidewalk in Mammoth surrounded by snow and twinkling lights from the village Robert asked me to be his wife, to spend a lifetime making and sharing memories, to become Mrs. Kurz. Although, I hate to admit this I don't remember anything he said while down on one knee before putting the ring on my finger...I was in shock and amazed and caught completely off guard. We laugh about it now but just to be sure, leading up to the day we got married Robert asked me several hundreds times (actually probably daily)..."Will You Marry" and I have Replied Every Time..."Yes"! We hugged and kissed and I stared at my ring and we hugged and kissed some more! Then I was like "Oh my gosh....my family...do they know????" He told me they did and that I should call them and tell them to come meet us. I said what about the Nemzeks and he said they knew as well and actually weren't even at the bar/restaurant, they were at the house and were just trying to help Robert get me to this place :). Tricksters!!! All of them haha!

I called my parents and they were just driving into town and were going to come meet us with my sisters. Robert and I went and waited in the restaurant and ordered some champagne to toast to this new journey we were about to embark on! When my family got there my sisters gave me a build a bear to match the one Robert gave me except this one was a girl in a wedding dress and he birth certificate read "Leslie Marie Kurz"....my soon-to-be new name :) It was soooooo sweet! I made a few phone calls to my grandparents, Aunts, and Best Friends before enjoying the rest of the time with my parents, 2 sisters, and my fiance!!! We eventually headed to the house where I got the chance to tell the complete version of our engagement story for the first time (as opposed to the synopsis I told to the family and friends I called) and we toasted with beer this time with the Nemzeks...our 2nd family...thus the "Hilzeks"!

Toasting Our Engagement!!

Calling Some of My Family & Best Friends!

Me with the Leslie Marie Kurz Bride Bear :)

The Soon-to-Be Mr & Mrs Kurz

Celebrating at the House!

The Bride & Groom Bears

The next morning we received flowers from Robert's parents congratulating us! Since they couldn't be there they wanted to send us something and it was sooo sweet of them! The rest of trip was such a blast and I was beaming the entire time!!! Robert did such an amazing job selecting and designing my ring....it is perfect and I LOVE it!!!!


My Ring!

Mammoth has always been a special place to me and the "Hilzek" family as a whole....a place where we travel every Winter for ski/snowboard trips and every Summer for a camping trip...a place of great memories and funny stories...a place of family bonding....a place of growing...a place filled with experiences I will never forget and which have helped make me the person I am today...and a place that I truly LOVE vacationing at! The fact that Robert proposed to me there just makes it all the more special! It is the place where the next chapter of our life's began and a place wehere we can celebrate that promise and milestone everytime we go back!

Playing Catch-Up for 2010

2010 got off to a great start! Husband and I started the year with a little over 6 months of marriage behind us and 12 months of funfilled adventures to look forward to. Since we are nearing the end of February I thought I would hi-light the first 2 months of 2010.
January:
~We rang in the new year at our friends Nate & Kim's house. It was a night filled with good food, good friends, and few friendly games of beer pong!



~New Years Day was spent watching football and eating some of my dad's famous "Kiowa Chili" It is the BEST and I honestly look forward to it all year. He normally only makes it once a year since it literally takes all day to make...between the prep and cooktime...but is is sooooo woth it! The plus is he normally makes a quadruple batch so there is always leftovers to freeze and eat throughout the year! Late that night we headed to the in-laws to spend time with them too!!!

~I travled to Las Vegas for work the second weekend of January and Robert tagged along with me. Even though it was a short trip...Friday Night to Sunday Morning...and Saturday was spent working ALL day we managed to have a little bit of fun. We ate at Toby Keiths I Love This Bar & Grill and hung out at the Carnival Bar gambling and dancing to an awsome live cover band!





~The next weekend was spent in Phoenix, AZ. Robert & I traveled there with my parents to visit my sister, Emily, that lives there and to paticipate in the PF Changs Rock n Roll Marathon. It was a GREAT weekend and Robert, Emily (my sis), & my Dad all did an AMAZING job running the race! It was so fun too since one of my Best Friends...Kristen...was there running it with a group of girls and another one of my Best Friends...Amy...was there running with her Dad and Husband! Amy was also running it in hopes of qualifing for the Boston Marathon...which she DID!!! We were all so proud of her....she is my running HERO!!! Mom & I were the cheerleaders. I have to admit though...there is something about being there with literally thousands of runners that is so inspiring! It was my first marathon experience and I LOVED IT!!! Hopefully I'll be participating in the next one....ha :)!

The Runners at the Startline Bright & Early

Robert at Mile 6

Dad at Mile 6

Emily at Mile 6

Emily Crossing the Finish Line!

Robert Crossing the Finish Line!...I missed getting a picture of my Dad :(

All 3 Superstars after 13.1 Miles!!!


~We also celebrated one of my Best Friend Carey's Birtday...the first of the girlfriends to turn 27!!!! We have all been friends since High School, some longer than that!! It was a fun night spent at our favorite Italian Restaurant...Roman Cucina...filled with delicious food, amazing wine, and awesome company!!

Jewlz, Jess, & Carey The Birthday Girl

Me & Steph

Me & Amy


~The last two weeks of January were just as eventful! Dinners out with friends, Sunday dinners at my parents, Monatana's Night...our favorite country bar...with a great group of friends, Movies with friends, Church, and Robert played in a few softball tournaments! I have no pictures to commemorate any of these fun events though....I need to work on that!

February:
~ The first weekend was Super bowl weekend! Saturday was spent celebrating my mother in-laws 50th birthday! We had a great night with the family and some close friends celebrating her and making her birthday special! Superbowl Sunday was spent at my parents. We had a "mini" superbowl party with our family and some close friends! It was a great weekend and yet again I have NO pictures to show for it :(

~The second weekend was Valentine's weekend! Our first Valentine's as a married couple!!! Friday night we went to the movies to see Valentine's Day with some of my girlfriends and their husbands/boyfriends! There were 12 of us total and it was so much fun!! Brought us all back to our high school days as there were many weekend nights spent at the movies, with a big group, taking up half a row in the theater!! The movie was cute and it was a GREAT way to kick off the weekend! Saturday I attended a scrapbook workshop a friend was hosting and then headed to Robert's softball tournament. I rarely go to his games anymore and I sort of miss watching him play!! It was fun and they won the tournament so it was worth sitting in the cold for a couple of hours :). Sunday was a VERY lazy day! We went to church, went out to lunch for Valentine's and then spent the rest of the afternoon at home hanging out and watching TV. We decided to go to lunch instead of dinner to avoid the crowds and it is rare that we ever have a lazy weekend so it was a nice change of pace for one day! We made dinner and called it night pretty early! Again, no pictures....

~I had Monday the 15th off of work for Presidents and enjoyed every bit if it! Husband had to work so I had the entire day to myself!! I decided to have some of my girfriends over that night to watch the bachelor and spent the morning cleaning and cooking some treats for us that night! I made pasta salad and funfettie cookies....YumO!!!! That afternoon I went to the movies with my mom and saw Dear John. It was very good and made me a little misty eyed in a few parts. I am a HUGE Nicholas Sparks fan so none of his movies quite compare to the books but this one was definatly very good considering. Wayyyyyy better than Nights in Rodanthe for sure!!! I think it was the one I liked the least! I love The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, and Message in Bottle. I had a great night with the girls watching the Bachelor, drinking some wine, and eating! My friends mean EVERYTHING to me and I LOVE having girlie nights like these!

~This past weekend began with a triple date night dinner at our fav...Roman Cucina. We met up with our dating friends Chris & Candice and our Engaged friends Bryan & Kate. We see Chris & Candice on a regualr basis but it had been wayyy too long since we had seen Bryan & Kate and had lots to catch-up on...especially since they are moving to North Carolina in a month and are getting married in May. I had been dying to hear details and specifics for their wedding and to hear all the plans for North Carolina! After dinner we decided to walk to a bar and get a drink...we weren't ready for the night to be over!!! We love hanging out with them and are sad that they are moving so far away! It does give us an excuse for a mini vacay to North Carolina though!!!

Excuse the Frizzy Hair...it started raining on us when we wer walking to the bar...haha


We are sooooooo excited for them as they prepare to begin their life together! And are hoping we get a chance to get together before they move at the end of March.

Saturday night we went out to dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant to celebrate my Dad and My Aunt's Birthdays. It was a great night filled with lot's of laughter, great company, and amazing maragritas!!! Sunday was filled with church, grocery shopping, and dinner at my parents.

On a side Note...Congrats to the US Olympic Hockey Team for beating Canada!!! It was an awesome, nail-bitter of a game!!!

I think that catches us up...for the most part anyway. Until next time...

Let's Try This for Real....

When I started this blog back in May 2009 I had high hopes of keeping it up and using it as journal of sorts to document the "Beginning of Our journey Together" as Mr and Mrs. With my wedding a little less than a month away I figured postings my first couple months would be few and far between. I did not think, however, they would be non-existent! As luck would have it, the last 6 months of 2009 were extremely busy...a whirlwind of sorts...and at times I don't even know where the time between our wedding and Christmas went! Now that we are almost 2 months deep in 2010 I have decided that it is time to give this blogging thing a shot for real! There are so many "firsts" I want to document, funny stories I want to share, and experiences with my husband, friends, and family I want to be able to look back on. I have "stalked" other peoples blogs for months....if I have time to read about other peoples lives I most certainly should have time to write about my own here and there, right? I think so!

So this is it! My attempt....for real this time....at this whole blogging thing.

It's On....

The Final Countdown to the Beginning of the Rest of my Life that is....my wedding Day!!! I got engaged last March (2008) in Mammoth on our annual Winter "Hilzek" Family Vacation. Despite the fact that we had been together 7 1/2 years at that point and we had looked at rings and talked about getting engaged I was completely shocked!!! I TOTALLY did not expect it to happen at all at that point which made it perfect! I am a self proclaimed 'hater' of surprises but I LOVED that one and was so glad that I was surprised (it actually gave me a little change of heart about surprises, but shhh...don't tell anyone). So surprised and shocked, in fact, that the 1st thing out of my mouth...technically the 1st several things out of my mouth...were the words "shut up" and "I can't believe you are doing this...RIGHT NOW!!!" Both of which I repeated several times before I said 'Yes'....or 'let me see the ring'...or 'put it on my finger already'...we aren't really sure which...it was kind of a blur after the million shut ups I uttered. Just to be sure, though, my Fiance has asked me several hundreds times..."Will You Marry" and I have Replied Every Time..."Yes"!

Anyway....I cannot believe how fast the last year has gone by or how truly time consuming planning a wedding really is, especially when you are working full-time and have a fairly active social life. I have done all of the planning myself with the help of my wonderful and most amazing mom, fiance, and close friends. The planning process has been so much fun though! In the beginning, I wasn't exactly sure how I envisioned my wedding but as I started planning, chose the venue, chose vendors, found the bridesmaids dresses, etc it all just sort of came together and it is Perfect...or it will be Perfect...I hope :)

The one thing I have heard from numerous people is "Your wedding night is going to fly by" which is the one thing I am NOT looking forward to!! And, I am not doubting any of them....I had my Coed Shower...it flew by, Bridal Shower...it flew by, and Bachelorette Weekend...it flew by. After each event I have been left saying...."It went by so fast" and "Can we do it again?" Which I am sure I will be proclaiming as soon as my new husband and I leave the reception and head to our hotel room. He has already been warned by both me and my mom to expect some water works that night and on our honeymoon...what can I say, I tend to be slightly emotional sometimes and once I start crying it is really hard to get me to stop.

12 Days and Counting till the the Happiest Day of My Life! I still have quite a bit to finish up and get organized but I am staying on track...for the most part anyway. I am just sooooo looking forward to becoming a Mrs!

ps. I am hoping to start blogging more regularly