Almost the last visit

Today I went to the dentist this morning. :D good news because im almost done ! I've overcome the hardest things this month. I've gotten my teeth cleaned, two crowns, a root canal, and the last thing I am going to get next week will be a filling that I urgently need before it gets worse. If I could and I hadn't maxed out my dental insurance for the year I would get everything done- a couple more fillings, and my teeth whitened. Ha ha I guess you could say that I've become mildly obssesed with wanting to get my teeth fixed but I needed to. I think after next week I'll be done with my teeth for the rest of the year, hopefully.

Im not going to lie at first I was feeling very overwhelmed with everything that I had to get done. I almost cried in the dentist office. Luckily my dentist and assistant have been very nice and helpful. They're so patient and explain everything to me just like I want them to. The more I went the more I became confident and comfortable.

So Monday is my next appointment and its going to be a piece of cake.

Ill wrap this post up with a picture of the time I went to get my root canal taken care of and I was very numb and soar on one side of my face. Can you guess what side I had the root canal at? I'll give you a hint I'm trying to smile in the picture but this is how all my pictures turned out and no matter how hard I tried they all looked the same.




Love ya!

Getting better at this..

It feels so good to accomplish good things and to make time for really important things. Chris and I have been doing so much better at reading scriptures. We've read almost every day for the past week. I can see how it brings us together and how it really protects us against the adversary. Throughout the year and half that we've been together we do read scriptures from time to time. I would say sometimes a few times a week and sometimes we just fall asleep before we know it. There's one thing that we score a TEN out of a TEN at and that is praying. We have been so good at that. We pray at least twice a day if not more. That has helped us out so much with everyday trials and decisions that we have to make. It makes a huge difference and I promise that if you do this with your partner you will feel the love stronger and it will help you overcome anything. It's amazing we dont have to have any money or be popular to communicate with the Lord it's amazing. He loves us all and I know that as you bring him into your family and marriage, or simply your life he will be there guiding you and holding your hand when things get tough.
I know that the more we try to be better at attending church, listening and taking it in unto your own understanding, praying, reading scriptures, committing to your callings, doing what is right, paying your TITHING, and serving others; we will be happier and find a greater meaning of why we are on earth.
I know that we can't stop life from happening and giving us a hard time from time to time but when you build a strong foundation you will be able to overcome anything. Keep Satan far away from you as you can, and invite Heavenly Father into your life. It's the best thing you can do. I am so thankful that I married Chris in the Temple and that we are sealed for time and all eternity. What a beautiful blessing. It feels so good to know that if we do what is right, the promises Heavenly Father makes will all come true. I miss going to the Temple just within these two weeks that it has been closed. Next week I am going to try to go at least once if not twice. I am so excited.
I've missed the Temple so much you have no idea. Temple dates with your husband or your family are the best.

love this pic

See what I mean? She's so precious and I couldnt get enough of baby Sophie. Merik and Chris were playing, singing and just playing rough like boys usually do. While us girls were busy talking and relaxing. It was such a good Tuesday.
Enjoy the cute pictures. More to come stay tuned.
Chris is such a natural with kids. I've been noticing that more and more as I see him play and interact with children. There's no doubt in my mind that he will be the best father in the world someday.
Love you baby Chris. You amaze me.


LOve,

Monday Night FUN and then some.

We got a chance to celebrate Papa Kirks birthday with them. We had dinner with them and got to catch up. In case you don't know my father in laws name is Kirk and I like to call him papa Kirk. :)
He's such a good father and I look up to him so much. After dinner with our Rudd family we went home and Chris did some work on the computer while I took my dear buddy on a walk/run. I say walk/run because it's been a while since I've been out there and it felt good. I decided that Buddy is such a fun partner to run with because he has so much energy and he's super fast. I know he will help me out with my speed. Im also really considering doing the Mesa triathalon in October. So I better kick it up to high gear so that I will be in good enough shape. It's still not a 100% final because I need to figure out my schedule and see if I really want to do it because you know everything costs a ton of money now a days. Im hoping that I'll be able to do it. It's been like 9 months since I did a tri, the last event w did was Ragnar- and that was a lot of fun. It was the hardest thing I've done but it was so much fun and well worth it. Im hoping we'll do it again with couple in the future to improve our times and now that we know how its done we'll be much better prepared.
On tuesday I got to work!!! I've been workng on several photo shoots and photography business that I need to do. I'm really close to being done but I still have some things to do. So between the computer, tv, and chores thats where half my day went. Although it was a little bit of a lazy day I was being productive. I even cooked a very good dinner for Chris and I. We've really been trying new foods and we've been doing awesome at succedding in all our cooking. Sunday- Chris made some delicious friend chicken with mashed potatoes and yesterday I made Salmon seasoned by me and some rice to go along with it. For my first time it wasn't half bad, we almost finished everything but we have a few left overs. I have to admit that it feels so good to make a good meal and sit down and enjoy it.
After dinner we were relaxing and got ready to visit our good friends Amy and Drew Stewart. We got to finally meet their baby girl Sophie and she was a doll!!!! I got to hold her for about 4 hours. :D She is the cutest baby girl I have seen in a long time. I took about a million pictures of her because she is precious. The entire time she only cried once!! And that was so we could change her diaper and give her some more bottle. I am so happy for the Stewarts and Im thankful for their example to our family. I hope to raise children as beautiful and obedient as theirs someday. The last thing we did last night was visit my family. We got to talk and hang out with them for a little while. We then went home and fell asleep so fast. Ha!

Our week is already filled with exciting and wonderful moments I cant wait to see what the rest of this week brings. Hopefully we are productive on Saturday do our house chores we want to do and then have some fun in the evening. We are thinking about going to the movies.

Have a good week!

Love,

Lovin the weekends

Friday
was a success!!! We ordered pizza, I had salad all set up, some snacks and I even bought stuff for sundaes. I detailed the entire house so good. I was pretty dang proud of myself. Usually I make someone help me like my sister, or hubby. But this time it was all me. The house looked great, and I made sure I didn't miss a spot. The only things that stinks is that I forgot to take pictures of the night because I was so busy and time went by so fast I completely forgot. I was bummed because I would've loved to take pictures with some of my favorite girls ever. We had such an enjoyable time and got to eat and chit chat.
Lets back up a tiny bit, in between the cleaning and running errands I took my poor baby Mac to get neutered. I felt so bad for our puppy but it had to be done. I've never taken a dog to get something like this done, so I was pretty nervous for him. I kept wanting it for it to be time to pick him up. Im thinking that the my other two are next. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

So here's a pic of my baby Mac on the way to get neutered. Isn't he such a cutie? I sure think so.

The funny thing that happened to me on this day was that Mac was being such a bad boy on our way out. He was trying to run away and not listen to me. I was getting a little MAD, because I had to get ready for the girls night party and I was soo hot and annoyed. I felt like I would never get home, seriously took me about half an hour to get from the clinic to my car. HA ha . It was hilarious to watch im sure.


Saturday
I had a photo shoot super early so I had to be up and going at 7 am! ( the night before I was up soooo late so I was super sleepy and already for a nap by the time it was 10) So as I was getting ready I heard my husbands loud deisel truck. I automatically run outside to go greet my handsome hubby. * The reason why I was so excited was because he was out of town for almost three days. This was the first time that my husband has been away from me longer than a day. * I am very much in love with my husband and I have every right to show it to him alright, so dont hate. After seeing my handsome I went to the Temple and had an awesome time with my friend Ivette and her family. They were so adorable and were all matchy matchy. I loved it! It wasnt too warm once we got there but once we got going and moved around we felt it towards the end. I was so glad we finished before it got even toastier. Then I hurried back home so I could get some kisses and hugs from my baby. I loved seeing him. We had such a wonderful day together. We watched movies, we talked talked and talked, and then we got ready for a hot date. He took me to Cheesecake Factory and then we walked around Chandler Mall. It was a fun sweet night. We tried to play a game and ended up falling asleep very early. Gotta love the married life :)

Sunday

We got to sleep in and catch up on some sleep, watch the news, and watch a movie. In between we went to church of course and got to play with our adorable nursery kids. Every Sunday I love them more and more. We love our calling very much and we're very grateful for the oppourtunity we have to teach the babies. They keep us busy we play, sing, snack, and try to learn lessons.
Sunday night I got to play around with some more photography and I got some really good shots of the lightning. These are some of the best ones I captured.



I know that Im getting better and better at perfecting my photography skills and it feels so good.

After we went inside we ate some food and then we heard the rain pouring down. I have to say perfect time on our part. It was such a beautiful weekend and night. Chris and I are loving every moment of free time that we have together.


Love,

Courtneys Bday

My bestie had her birthday last weekend and because of her big 23 we treated her to the river with all expenses paid, and bought her dinner at the Señoras. Wait .. it doesnt end there. On Sunday early morning we made her the best breakfast ever. We got to all eat breakfast together and that never happens here so it was very nice. :)

I think we gave her the special treatment and made her feel like a princess. Here are some pictures to prove it.

Did I mention we are also having a girls night tonight?? We are having pizza and ice cream sundaes. YUM!!! So excited to have some good friends over and have some fun. I will post pictures from tonight some other day. Here's to a good night and a good weekend.
We love birthdays at our house, its the one time a year you dont have to do chores, no dishes, no cleaning, and you get treated like youre a queen or King



Love,

Lake second time

Last weekend went by too fast. Life seems to be flying by lately, and I cant tell you how much im looking forward to next month. It'll be birthday month in the Rudd home. My birthday is August 15 and Chris is August 22. So as you can see I just can't wait so I am very excited.
Saturday Chris did more boat things while I caught up on my sleep. Last week was rough for me. I hardly slept and I was so thankful to sleep in on Saturday. I can't tell you how relieved I am to get rid of the toothache. I am no longer on pain killers and that is a great sign!!!! I dont wake up to my tooth throbbing every 2 - 4 hours. After we got ready we went over to my in-laws and we hung out over there. We helped Mandi and Marcus move for a few hours. ( And let me tell you IT IS TOOO HOT to move!!) once we finished we got to eat some delicious chinese food. After visiting the family we started getting ready for the lake. We went around 3 and stayed at the lake until like 7 and got to watch the sunset. It was a beautiful drive home I loved the view we got to watch. The night ended with us eating at this Mexican food restaurant and then us falling asleep with all the lights on. HA HA we were exhausted.

We had one of the best weekends we've had in a while.

Love,