he's climbin in yo window

Mckay was Antoine Dodson for Halloween.
 HILarious.
If you haven't seen this clip, go here.

The original plan was for me to go as Kelly Dodson (his sister) but that didn't end up happening.  After I put his make-up on I did my own, put on my pink tee and belt, and just felt stupid and weird.  We didn't have any wig for me so I just looked like an oompa loompa.  Last minute (like we should have been at the party by this time) I threw on my costume from Mckay's 28th birthday party {this} and we flew out the door to a couples Halloween party as Antoine Dodson and some funny 70's house wife.  Whatever.

Mckay won most original Halloween costume.

And then he performed the Antoine routine for everyone. Oh how I wish I could post a video of that. I was crying.  It was probably the most hilarious thing I've ever seen him do.  (Second only to his dance to "Toxic" by Brittney Spears later that night on the Wii, wish I had a video of that too.)

He really wanted to pass out candy this year, so on Sunday we sat on our balcony in the freezing cold waiting & waiting for the kids who never came.  Mckay was so disappointed, he'd even made sure we had the "good candy".

He kept saying things like, "Doesn't Glenbrook Road sound like a good road to trick-or-treat on?" and, "Maybe people around here never give out candy so the kids don't come...".  Finally, deflated and shivering and sick from candy, we retreated inside.  

Our friends came over shortly after and we watched The Nightmare Before Christmas, which I had never seen before.  Mmehhhh, the boogie man creeped me out & I felt bad for Sandy Clause.

Now that Halloween is over, I seriously cannot believe it's November.  We're excited for Thanksgiving, even though neither of us especially like Thanksgiving food... & after that CHRISTMAS!!! I may have listened to one Christmas song in my car the other day (Joy to the World) even though I have a strict (eeehhh) after Thanksgiving policy.  I couldn't help it.

Bridals

People keep asking me about wedding photos and I wish I had some to share, but we're still waiting for them. 
So here are a few of my favorites from our "pre-wedding shoot" on Labor Day.

{Mckay thinks he looks like a  predator in this one, but I love it}                                                             

I was so glad we did these.   It was a few weeks before the wedding so it was such a treat to dress up & it really got me excited for the big day.  After three hours of shooting I totally could have kept going, unlike Mckay, who was done after one hour. 

the first state

He loves when I wear my SVU shirt and cheer at the game-or at least watch the game.

Even when I am so annoyed by the fat man sitting behind us yelling so loud into my ear "GO KNIGHTS!" and other stupid things. Bleh...

We went to Delaware {above}, had high hopes for the state that boasts first to sign The Constitution, but were slightly disappointed.  Lovely homes and pretty autumn weather, but that's about it. Maybe we just didn't know what to do.

Sunday I made my first slow cooker meal (thanks to Lizzy and Dave Jensen). I did a pork roast with onions, garlic, thyme, rosemary and kale (hardly knew what kale was before I made this) and then mashed up some Yukon Gold tatoes with parmesan cheese and heavy cream. I was so proud and Mckay was so impressed. My thumb is seriously bandaged, athletic tape and all, because while chopping parsley I accidentally chopped part of my fingernail and some flesh clean off. I have super sharp knives, I love them, even when they hurt me.

I am worried that our apartment will end up looking "Grandma-ey" once I am done decorating. Uhhgg. It stresses me out. I'm torn between a classic, soft, neutral look and a chic, modern, colorful one. I'm having a hard time finding middle ground. In part, I blame the nasty pillows that came with the couches we bought. 

Work in progress... I need inspiration. 

Southern Virginia University

Last weekend we took a little road trip.  We left Thursday night and drove 8 hours down to Buena Vista, VA to visit Southern Virginia University for the big homecoming game.  Quite the deal.  Mckay was really excited, and I admitted on the way down that I was not as excited as he to watch the game, but happy to be going with him.  We got to the school and ran into a few people that Mckay knew, we overheard some type of "devotional" and they were cheering "SVU! SVU!" which just amused me to no end, seeing as how I am the least school-spirited girl ever.  They love their school so much.


We stayed with Taylor (Mckay's brother who is going to school there) and his wife Lauren Thursday night.  Friday Mckay played in a golf tournament and I spent the day with Lauren and we got to know each other a little better.  Friday night we had dinner with one of Mckay's old football coaches and his family.  They were super nice and Jill (wife) gave me the recipe for the most delicious dessert.  I believe Mckay's words were, "YES! I love being married because now I have someone to make {looks across the table at my face}... someone I can make dessert with!" YA.


Saturday was the homecoming game.  I ended up asking for a green SVU shirt to become one with the obsessive football/school spirit.  I know.  We watched the game and thankfully they won.  I actually quite enjoyed myself (so much so that we're headed Delaware to another game this weekend... oh my life!).  After the game we went out to dinner with Coach Fitz and our good friends Ben and Holly. 


It was a great weekend; even though the whole time Mckay was trying to convince me to move to the tiny town-population 6,000.  We'll have to find a happy medium one day.

Open House, Friendswood. Home Sweet Home, Stamford.

-My sisters-in-law made the most beautiful and elegant cake I've ever seen.  I loved it.  It was so classic and simple, not to mention delicious. Italian cream with coconut and pecans and cream cheese frosting... it was mouth watering.
- They also worked so hard all day decorating the entire house and it looked lovely.
- My parents flew down for the weekend, I was so happy to have them there with me.
- I got to wear my wedding dress again! {But only for 1 hour, the heat got to me and all of a sudden it felt more like a straitjacket than a wedding dress, so off it went}
- I was finally feeling better after being so sick on our honeymoon &  thankfully so, my brother-in-law BBQed delicious sausage, brisket and chicken for all the guests, yyuummm.
- I met lots of new faces.  It was fun to visit with people Mckay has known for such a long time.  They were all so happy and friendly.
- Mckay was nice and tan from our day and a half (sigh) in the Mexico sun. He looked good.
- Spent more time with the Dunn side, enjoyed that, especially my new nieces and nephews!
- Got to open a few more gifts down in Texas, yay!

{love}

{1. my handsome/beautiful parents. i am so grateful to them for everything they did for us and this wedding. they've taught me so much over the years, and lately i am thankful for their example of a loving, happy and selfless marriage. 2. the lovely cake. 3. my brand new baby niece Alyssa, isn't she precious? i love that tiny thing a lot.

The next day we went to sacrament meeting with his fam and then we were off to Connecticut.  Although it was a wonderful, busy and fun month, I was so ready to be home.  It felt good coming back to our little apartment.  Since we've been back we've working hard getting everything together. I've cooked dinner like 3 times now. Uuhhh, ya. That doesn't sound too impressive, I'm working on it though.  The love nest is slowly but surely becoming the cutest, homiest, most yummy smelling, feng shui home on the block. So give us a few more weeks and then we need some visitors!

We're both working and grateful to have good jobs.  We watch Glee and The Amazing Race and Modern Family every week.  We try and make time for the gym.  We go to BB&B every day (it feels like) to buy this and return that.  We are looking for a new car.  We love being married.  We love having each other.  We love this new phase of our life!

the honeymoon

this is basically how it went:
monday we played in the pool and splashed around in the ocean all day long. it was perfect and warm and lovely and blissful. i sunburned my stomach, we ate really good food and went to bed happy.
tuesday i woke up sick.
wednesday i was worse.
thursday i was miserable but did manage to drag myself out of bed for a few hours to lay in a covered beach chair so that mckay could get some sun.
friday i was feeling better, but we left mexico at noon.

for real.
i got tonsillitis and a very bad stomach ache thingy. just the thought of it makes me sick. i'm sure the room service people were amused at room 2645 ordering oatmeal, cranberry juice, toast, bananas, hot tea, vinegar and honey all week long. mckay was wonderful and took such good care his yucky, sick bride.

here is the resort, it was so beautiful and pristine. pity we paid a pretty penny to stay in the room all week long... and not the good kind of staying in your room all honeymoon long-just the sick, miserable kind.

here is what mckay did most of the week:

*that's sitting with me quietly and reading his book in really bad light so that i can sleep. what a man. he's even smiling! i would post the picture mckay took of me, but no one should ever have to look at that.

here is a funny story:
mckay was calling room service to get me some oatmeal and a few other items. he asked the lady if they had any apple cider vinegar (for my throat) she said, "yes, could you hold me for one minute?".  i was sitting next to mckay and heard his side of the conversation, "yes, i could hold you for a minute" (keeping his laughter under control) i burst out laughing and continued to giggle over that for a few days.



despite being sick and miserable, but it wasn't all bad. we watched tons of movies, ate lots of yummy food in bed, ordered coconut ice cream a few times, he drank about 10 pina coladas, we bought a pretty vase for the apartment and even made it to a few of the delicious restaurants.  i also got spoiled with tlc from mckay. 
{we might just have to plan a re-do in the future...}

take my whole life too

Sealed in the Logan, Utah temple

on September 17th, 2010

It was a perfect day. 

There is a lot to tell & I have a few specific requests... I'll get to that later.

For now I'm just content to sit in my furniture-less apartment and dream up what to do with it.

& in an hour I'm meeting my HUSBAND (oh yes. oh my. oh wow.) for lunch.

Week 3, 2, 1?

Life got a little crazy.  I forgot to keep track of my goings & doings- here is a quick recap of what I can remember...

I moved out of my employers house, said tearful goodbyes to Kelly and Ariana, got a speeding ticket on the way to our apartment (uuhggg), moved my stuff in when it was 100 degrees outside (no air conditioning), & cleaned like crazy. 

{How cute is she? Watching Dora in a basket and "helping" me pack up my room. She said, "I will miss you so much Nick", over & over again, heartbreak!}

I slept at the Bishop's house for a few nights, picked paint colors with his wife, bought better cleaning supplies and cleaned some more, shopped for a rug, helped Mckay get packed and moved in and bought a ton of "stuff" from Target for our place.

We ate pizza on the floor.  This is a standing Craven tradition-when we move into a new house (2 times and counting)... we order pizza and sit on the floor in the dining room to christen the new home. Mckay was a good sport and I think he even thought it was cute, so we ordered Domino's and stuffed ourselves with pizza.  After dinner we got to open a few wedding presents, so fun!  

Once I got barely settled in Connecticut we took off to Utah. I'm now home until the wedding, Mckay stayed for the BYU game and to take bridal pictures with me on Labor Day and is now back to work in CT.  

My Mom's mother died on Wednesday September, 1st and on Saturday the 4th we had her funeral.  It was a very tender and spiritual experience.  Grandma was diagnosed with cancer almost a year ago and on the 1st she was released from her mortal pain to return to Heavenly Father.  All of her granddaughters sang the primary song "I Often Go Walking" at her funeral and that song will always have a special place in my heart.  My grandma was a woman of extraordinary character, a great capacity for love, endless patience, and a sweet sense of humor. 

My bridal showered was scheduled for the Saturday of the funeral so that was obviously canceled.  After the funeral, we all went back to my Aunt Lanell's house to visit (favorite McAffee past time) and I was so sweetly surprised by my aunts and cousins with a spur of the moment bridal shower.  I couldn't have asked for anything more perfect or needed than to be surrounded by the women who have meant most to me during my life. And I suspect my sweet Grandma was looking down on us from heaven, pleased that we were happily celebrating together!  The women in my family amaze me, it is so good to be with them.  There is always lots of laughter and love, even in the "December of our lives".

And today is ten days from my wedding day. 

Still lots to do.

Mom & I are a little overwhelmed, but going strong.

I don't think I'll blog again before the wedding.

Till October:]!