true story

Everywhere I go, people ask me the story of how Kirk and I met.

However, through the years, we have noticed that my version of how we met tends to be a little on the snarky side while Kirk's is a little more sweet.

Obviously he doesn't remember it correctly.

Anyway, I always have to give the abbreviated story because it really is quite the novel. (We used to live at the same apartment complex.) And since blogs really don't have any sort of restrictions on length, I shall proceed with the story to the best of my recollection.

Almost exactly 4 years ago, I moved to Utah on a whim. I really had no reason to move there other than my sister was living in Utah and I just did not want to go back to Rexburg. Who can blame me?

My sister had dated this guy named Nick Killpack a few months before I moved to the beehive state. For those of you who might think to yourself, "My, that name sounds vaguely familiar..."

That might be because he served a mission in Washington, more specifically, the Redmond Stake. Ringing bells? Anyway, that didn't really work out and they parted their separate ways... So I thought.

My sister told him about the new apartment complex we were moving into and he informed her that one of his old mission companions was helping to manage it... and maybe we should all get together and do something fun.

Ani told me about this but, we kind of didn't really care or remember...

Ok moving forward. We moved into our fresh, new apartment at the end of August. Since they were so fresh and new, they had people going around to make sure everyone had their furniture, washer/dryer etc. Kirk came to the door one glorious morning when I had just gotten out of the shower, dressed like a hoodlum and wearing absolutely ZERO makeup.

He went through the checklist and then asked for my name.

Me: "Alix, A-L-I-X."

Kirk: "Van Buskirk?"

Me: "...yeah... how did you know that?"

Kirk: "Oh, no reason..."

Awkward pause... Seriously, it was awkward.

Me: (Remembering how Nick told me his friend worked there...) "Wait, do you know Nick Killpack?"

Kirk: (Looking VERY surprised) "Yes. What? How do you know him?"

Me: (Now, I'm really confused because I thought that the reason he knew my last name was because he knew Nick, but when I mentioned Nick's name, Kirk was shocked.) "My sister, Ani dated him."

Kirk: (Looking more awkward than before.) "Ohhhhh yeahhhhhhh."

Me: (I just laughed uncomfortably)

And that's pretty much how the first encounter went down.

Can you say awkward?

About a week later, Ani's dear ex came over with Kirk and invited us to get some ice cream with them.

At that point, I kind of forgot about the whole awkward fiasco.

I asked Kirk what his name was.

Kirk: "My name is Kirk Ouimet." (sounds like WE MET)

Me: "No, we haven't met."

Kirk: "No, Kirk Ouimet."

Me: (getting quite annoyed because I KNOW we haven't met) "No, we have not met."

Then something clicked. I remembered him.

Me: "We HAVE met! Remember, you came to my apartment and you did the checklist... remember? It was really awkward because I asked you if you knew Nick!?"

Kirk: "Ummm... I don't remember that."

Now this part of the story has two different versions. Kirk CLAIMS he remembers meeting me in my apartment but I definitely remember having this conversation about how he didn't remember me. I mean, I wasn't wearing any makeup. He was basically seeing me in my rawest version. It wasn't pretty and not many people get to see this side of me... and live to tell about it.

However, Kirk also claims that the reason for his so-called awkardness was because of how things ended with Ani and Nick. (I'm sorry, I have to share.)'

Basically, Ani was dating Nick and someone else at the time and there was a crossroads where she needed to pick one guy to stick with. She liked both but decided that she was going to have to break it off with Nick. Since Nick was on a trip to Boston with his family, this happened via text message. Or lack thereof. Mid texting conversation,
Nick said something to the affect of, "Boston is great, but it would be a whole lot greater if I had a beautiful girl named Ani to share it with."

To which Ani responded with: " "

Nothing. She didn't respond at all.

Poor Nick, "Ummm. Sorry, was that too much?"

"Any response is a good response."

And that is the way the cookie crumbled.

How they maintained an ok relationship after that, is beyond me.

As time went on, I started to develop a little crush on Kirky-poo. We would sit next to each other at church, I would make special trips to the management office to pay rent or make any unnecessary complaints...

One day, I went to the management office to pay my rent and Kirk was there to take my check.
I was just about to walk out of the door when Kirk said, "Hey tell Ani, we need to get together and watch the office or something."

Blow to MY ego! He liked Ani and usually there was no coming back from that. Plus, Ani and I had the same guy as our first kisses... We don't share very well.

I made an executive decision not to pass the message along.

Decision made.
This part of the story also has some discrepancies between Kirk and I. Kirk CLAIMS the reason why he told me to relay that message was because Ani had stopped him in the parking garage the night before and told him they needed to hang out and gave Kirk her number. When Kirk was telling me to relay the message to hang out with Ani, he was only following through. Kirk ALSO claims that our dear friend Nick was trying to set Ani and Kirk up. To this day, Ani doesn't remember ever talking to Kirk in the parking garage or giving him her number... interesting.

A few weeks later, Ani and I were hanging in the heated pool. One of Kirk's friends, Ryan approached us and asked if we would like to go to a Jazz game with him and Kirk.

We agreed to go but I was unsure who's date was who's. The comment Kirk made about wanting to get together with Ani was still haunting me and I was SURE that Kirk was intending to take her out. To this day, I still give Kirk a hard time about this. I was annoyed that he didn't ask me out, but instead made his friend ask BOTH Ani and I out... making it unclear who we were supposed to be with. Kirk claims he told Ryan to make sure we knew who we were going out with but Ryan DEFINITELY did not.

As the date went on, I slowly started to realize that I was, in fact, Kirk's date. That little stinker.

We ended up riding home together and singing rap songs all the way back from Salt Lake. Kirk says that's when he knew I was the coolest person he ever met... when shared my skillz of singing all of the words to "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" by Bone Thugs N Harmony. I was hardcore.

And that, my friends, is MY version of how Kirk and I met.

Officially official.

Listen up ya'll!

(ok I'm totally not southern at all, wish I was, but I ain't. Oh, there I go again.)

We have set a date!

Give me a fabulous March 10, 2012!

We have spent months deliberating on this verdict and although when I tried to set our date with the Oakland Temple, they said they only book 6 months from the date. However, with Kirk's new business venture and his busy busy schedule, and my tendency to procrastinate, we feel as though this is the best date and we couldn't be more excited!

It's all becoming so much more real.

We do realize however, that this means we will be engaged for a good 7 more months and I am feeling only a smidge anxious about it, but I mean, we have been dating for 4 years. We could practically write a book about it (hey, there's a million dollar idea!).

I have a feeling that when we get married, I will still be weirded out with myself - the one who will probably never give in to growing up. I seriously still feel like I'm wearing someone else's ring and every once in a while have to convince myself that I AM actually old enough to make these big decisions.

With such decisions, I am having quite the battle at deciding on all the stupid little things.

For example:

What color do I want to use?

What kind of flowers?

Where will the venue be?

Should I even HAVE bridesmaides?

What food should I serve?

I seem to have all the answers to the things that I don't want, and when I have those conversations with people who want to help, I can feel their frustration as I'm saying "I DON'T want daisies. I DON'T want regular wedding food. I DON'T want all one or two colors."

Such answers do not narrow down any lists.

Whatever, I have always marched to the beat of my own drum. And I always get things done when I need to. I hope I don't procrastinate the entire wedding. That would be my nightmare. I know I have full control over procrastinating. But, I always have the dream that my wedding is tomorrow and nothing is planned.

I have a few other plans to finish before the blessed day.

I want to get into shape. Obviously, this will not be a quick fix. It will definitely take determination which, with my track record, has been lacking. I HATE working out and I LOVE food. Not the best combination. I think there are some people out there who possibly hate working out as much as I do... but I have always hated it. When I was on dance team and cheer and would be on regular work out schedules, I still loathed it. Some people say you gotta get over that hump and then you start to crave the work out.

This has never been true for me.

However, the time has come to suck it up and do it anyway. Whoever said being sexy was easy?

Here's to the countdown!

7 months and 2 days!

oh my word.

I discovered these youtube videos that these guys made of their children retelling stories they heard their parents tell of themselves.

They are a series of 6 episodes and they are absolutely HILARIOUS.

This one is one of our favorites (and episode 4.)

But just watch the part when they are trying to sell candy... and one tries to get you to guess what song he's singing.

Enjoy.

I know you will.

holy cow!

I seriously can't believe it's September already.

Like, Ani changed her calendar and I was all, what the heck? It's September?!

I feel like there were things that I forgot to do last month because September crept up so quickly!

However, in true September fashion I have a musical snack for you:

Fall is freaking HERE!

Get ready for costumes and leaves and cooler weather. It's my second favorite season after all.

I just wanted to thank everyone so much for the supportive and kind comments, emails, texts and phone calls. I know I have some good friends and people who really care and love me and my family. I seriously feel so loved and am surprised at how many people who have offered their help with wedding planning. I am overwhelmed. In a good way.

Ani and I are planning a small trip to California sometime to pick out a venue and hopefully meet with a few caterers and flower people. I think once I pick a place, everything else will probably be easier to choose.

I just have so many ideas but I'm not really sure how to

A: Execute them.

B: Pick the ones that I like best...

If you look at my PINTEREST you can see that I have gone a little hog wild with the wedding category. (I love pinterest... I spend a lot of time there. Don't judge.)

In other news, I have found another new obsession.

Instagram.

If you have an iPhone, I highly recommend this app. I'm not sure if it's available for other smart phones but I am seriously in love with it and want more friends to follow so download it! I love it!

The last thing I have been up to is moving Kirk into his new apartment. Which will ultimately be OUR apartment when we get married. Kirk didn't have a single thing for a place so we had to do quite some shopping for furniture, kitchen stuff and a bed! We got a lot of things from Ikea and I don't know if any of you have gotten anything from there, but you have to put together EVERYTHING by yourself.

I'm not joking when I say we spent a whole 4 days putting things together. I am so SICK of building. HAHA! But we finally finished last night and everything looks great! The last thing the place needs is a woman's touch. That's where I come in. I can't wait to decorate it all and make it beautiful. Right now, it just looks like a bachelor's pad. Boys don't decorate. And in Kirk's mind, everything has to be black, white or grey. Soon it will be time to add color and I am dying!

I also want to get some highlights and I am loving Minka's color. Anyone know of a good colorist around here... that doesn't take months to get in?

this is going to be sad.

Tonight I am feeling very overwhelmed.

This is the first time since being engaged that the hype of it all has kind of settled and I am now faced with this seemingly exciting task of planning a wedding.

I am excited to get married and be with my one and only, don't get me wrong.

I am just feeling sad that I will be planning this wedding without my mom.

I know she is physically here on earth, but the mom I knew isn't.

There are still moments when she is here. We see glimpses of it and it's like nothing has ever changed.

I miss that.

It's hard for me to think about let alone talk about it.

People ask, How's your mom?

And all I can really do is smile and say, She's doing well.

That's all I want to say. Because every thing else is too hard to talk about.

I will just start to cry.

There are times when that's all I want to do. Sometimes I think I don't remember what she was like. Sometimes I feel like I don't know who she was and people have to remind me.

And I hate it.

Sometimes I wish I could call her and have a conversation. I wish she could take over during moments like these. She was good at that. She always knew when I was feeling overwhelmed and was there to help.

Sometimes I feel sad for her. I know it's frustrating for her. Sometimes I wish I knew what she was thinking. And sometimes I can't go there.

Everyday I wish I could take back all the fights I had with her. I was such a bratty teenager. I wish I never said anything negative to her. I wish I let her know how much I appreciate her and how much I love her.

People expect me to have it all together. To go to school. To move on with my life. Which I am trying to do. But, there are moments, moments like these when I don't want to. Because I don't want her to miss out on all the things she was looking forward to.

Graduation.

My wedding.
Her first grandchild.

I just miss her.

I know God has a plan for everyone.

I just hope that someday I will be able to find peace and understanding through it all.

I mean, I know I will someday.

and he's all mine.

It seems as though I have stirred up quite the controversy with my last blog post.

I must ensure and inform you all that no date has been set however, it looks like March is "WINNING." As Charlie Sheen would so aptly say.

I would like to mention a few important things about the impending marriage between Kirk-master-five-thousand and myself.

Well, it's more like a few reasons why Kirk can be categorized as "soul mate" material in my eyes.

Kirk allows me to call him all sorts of nicknames and if you are close enough to us, you will be able to experience the generational nicknaming that happens if you have grown up in my household.

I, for example am named Alexandra. However, if you call me that, most likely I will not answer. Alix is most preferred.

My little sisters are BeBe and Dolly. Nicknames that don't have much to do with their real names.

And don't even get me started on Ani's name.

Kirk let's me call him all sorts of things. And doesn't blink an eye. Literally, he just stares in disbelief: "Did you really just call me juicy-cakes?"

"Why, yes I did."

Another reason why Kirk is awesome. He's a master of electronics or more specifically, computers. Don't let my blog fool you, he is quite the web designer/entrepreneur/developer. I can't tell you how many times he has fixed or hooked my family up with some sweet software. He knows things we mere humans do not.

I enjoy cooking and Kirk enjoys eating. Yin and Yang people. Yin and Yang.

Kirk also is a goofball to the extreme. Although he may not be so outward with it around people, he is with me and I can seriously laugh until I pee my pants (talk about awkward.) He does these very interesting dance moves and facial expressions that I wonder sometimes, why we are even together. But, it's ok because sometimes I do things that are quite unattractive with my face and the feelings become mutual.

Kirk is an optimist. And I say this with the most extreme sense of the word. I consider myself to be a skeptic and a realist. Some may even refer to me as a pessimist. Whatever. But, Kirk's mantra is

"Life will find a way."

And for him, it always does. And sometimes it makes me jealous of his optimistical ways. But mostly, he makes me think positively even when life sucks. And I am grateful for that.

Kirk is a scientist. This is a blessing and a curse. He never wants to follow recipes or sometimes the rules. It can drive a lady crazy. I can remember the time Kirk thought it would be the best idea ever to mix real pureed strawberries into Diet Coke. It wasn't a good idea. He loves to create experiments and discover new things. I love this about him because we love to do this together. We are curious creatures and enjoy adventures.

Kirk and I can talk for HOURS. We love conversing with each other and telling each other the strange things we encounter each day. Trust me, there is always something to tell.

Lastly, Kirk is my best friend. He knows exactly what to do to turn my frown upside down.

Am I making everyone here jealous?

Well back off ladies... Because he's all mine.

they're magically delicious

Welp, as it turns out, I was getting quite bored of blogging the NYC trip. And let's be honest here, I'm sure you were all too. So the break from the recount of NYC has been extended.

Don't act surprised, ok?

It's not like you have really seen me finish or follow-through with much. I mean, how many times have I said I'm going to give this blog a makeover? And how many times have I said I'm going to buckle down and get into shape? And how many times have I said I'm going to do this, that and the other thing, and have not done it?

My point is simply this: I acknowledge my shortcomings and have little to no desire to really change them. I'm getting married. All my personality flaws are no longer flaws but are endearing quirks that my fiancee just loves. That's how it works, you know. Anyone will tell you that.

For any other engagement or marriage advice, you know where to find me.

Wedding planning is moving at the rate of a tortoise race. For some reason, Kirk and I are not keen on making any sort of decisions and this my friends, is why you have not received a "Save-The-Date" or heard any news on the matter.

The following is a conversation Kirk and I had on picking a wedding date.

Kirk: You chose a date, and we'll stick to it.

Me: March 17, 2012

Kirk: No, St. Patrick's day should be left for St. Patrick. Not for us. We can't share a holiday with a leprechaun. What about all of the parties we won't be able to go to because it's our anniversary?

Me: Listen, when have you ever gone to a St. Patrick's day party? And think about it: it's the best excuse in the world to say you can't go - it will be our anniversary!

Kirk: I am just not a fan...

Me: I am. And we can even put a cheeky pot of gold somewhere at our reception in honor of the holiday. It's totally good luck. AND... who doesn't want to be lucky on their wedding?

Clearly we are on the right path to choosing a date AND a theme for decorations. I brought all my best arguments to the table and we still couldn't agree.

I will tell you that planning a wedding, at least in my eyes, is not my favorite pass time. I will leave those duties to wedding planners. However, finding a place for Kirk to live (and me to move into later on) is proving to be quite exciting. Much more fun than deciding if we should hire the town leprechaun to host our beloved event and if we should serve Lucky Charms as the main course.

If you, or someone you know, has amazing taste and loves to plan weddings, please contact me. I just don't even know what to do with myself and my indecisive fiancee.

Bridesmaid dresses anyone?

one proud fiance

I have decided to take a little break from my lovely recount of the NYC trip and talk about something else.

Please put your hands together for this man:

(He will be so happy I posted this picture.)

And his fellow teammates:

Garrett Gee

and

Ben Turley.

They have made this fantabulous iPhone app that scans these little things called QR Codes.

They look like this:

Now that you have seen this pic, you will see them EVERYWHERE!

Yesterday as I was checking the daily stats on their app, I saw that they were placed

#10

Out of 400,000+ apps in the app store!

Talk about AWESOME!!! They were above FACEBOOK!

Let's just say that the future for these guys is looking pretty bright and I couldn't be more proud!

More news to come on their business!

Congratulotions you guys!

(Yes, congratulOtions.)

NYC: DAY 2

Yo people.

Day 2 was all sorts of awesome.

I slept in until noon. Some of you may think I'm crazy because who would do that in a new city? The answer to that is ME. I would. I sleep in on trips. It makes for a much more smoother trip when I am well rested and happy. OK?

Little did I know, this was a good thing because Kirk was working out all the kinks and details of the proposal.

We finally got outside and did some adventuring.

Kirk's friend mapped out a TON of things we should do and we literally did ONE of those things. New York is not a city of many things in one day unless you start early in the morning.

Kirk and I wandered around Wall Street and saw Ground Zero.

Kirk's friend Nick (Nick is probably the person we can credit for our recent engagement... actually probably to credit for the entire relationship. Maybe a blog post on the story of Kirk and Alix is necessary. If you are all interested.)

Anyway, turns out, Nick was in NYC and so we met up with him for a little lunch around the Hudson River? (I'm not sure, but it was a waterfront.)

Nick took us to his hotel room where he had an amazing view of ground zero. That place is breathtaking. I stared at it in awe... the fear and emotions from that day were palpable.

After that, Nick took us on our first ride on a subway. I recommend a tour guide for New York. Especially the subways... I don't know how people ride those things everyday - mostly in the summertime. It. WAS. HOT. Kirk likened it to walking into the pits of hell. Kirk knows...?

But seriously.

We made it to downtown and did some shopping at H&M. It was magical. I got many awesome things and so did Kirk. It was one of the first times Kirk and I had enjoyable shopping experiences together. Usually I shop by my lonesome. :)

After doing some damage at H&M, we walked up 5th AVE and happened upon Rockefeller Plaza.

We took the elevators to the very top and the elevator was SO cool. They make the top clear and you can see inside the elevator shaft as you ride up and down. It was weird and made me a little nauseous, but awesome at the same time. The views were AMAZING. This city is GINORMOUS! We spent a long time up there just soaking up the views and feeling the energy - the hustle and bustle even at 10pm.

I secretly wished we would see a famous face but no such luck. Not many celebrity sitings occur on Sunday nights at 30 Rock.

After 30 Rock, we ran into a nice little magician man who stole our attention... he showed us a few card tricks and made me a lovely balloon animal. I believe his name was Merlin (how original.)

We walked over to Time Square and it was nuts! SO MANY PEOPLE! It was like daytime in the middle of the night.

Kirk got sucked in to get a caricature of us and it turned out looking nothing like us! haha I tried to warn him!

At this point, we were exhausted... we tried to take a subway back to the hotel but one of the trains closes after midnight and we could not figure out how to get back. Well, I'm sure we would be able to figure it out I mean, I had a map and all... but, it was so dang hot.

(the subway, almost unbearable.)

We had to jump to different subway entrances and Kirk had enough of the million degree subways. His lips were all white and he was really pale... He looked like he was going to pass out. So we gave in and took a cab to our final destination.

WHEW! We were happy to be in a nice air conditioned room and happy planning our next day. :)