I used to say that two small words changed my life… I do.  But I would like to amend (I like the word amend… you can “amend” something and don’t have to acknowledge any fault.  Anyways… I am amending a Kelsism…  which almost never happens because in a Kelsism, I am the ruler and amending is almost not existent.  13 years has gone by and although it is still very accurate that “I do” changed my forever… you know the really really good change… the one you pray never ends because it is just that good.  And Ty… he’s just that… too good to be true.  He’s my listens to me and he love’s me… all of me… even the crazy, spontaneous, day dreaming, perfectionist, OCD… like ridiculously OCD side of me.    I’m the girl who is still deciding if the glasses are in the right cabinet (wish I could say I was kidding). He’s my everything.  So back to MY WORDS.   The day I married Tyler was the best day of my life.  The day I said “I do” was magical and the fairy tale began.   I said “I do” and then Ty did all the heavy lifting. So what did I say “I do” to?  Well… that’s an easy one.  I said…I do feel special because of how he makes me feel.  I do love how my entire body fits perfectly in his arms.   I do feel so safe and protected… I know he will always take care of me.   I do smile every time I think about him… I can’t say his name without “the smile”… unless I am mad and then it’s crazy easy not to.  I do feel like the luckiest girl in the world!   I do promise to thank God every night for having him be my forever.  I do secretly fear he will someday realize he seriously got the short end of the stick… for someone who is crazy smart and educated, I still can’t believe I tricked him. I did marry my prince charming and I do promise to spend the rest of my life trying to be be the wife he deserves.  I do promise to be the women he already thinks I am (he’s still under my spell).  I do promise to love him and be obsessed with him for forever and 2 days.

But fairy tales don’t end like that people…. what the crap really happens after the end anyway.  Because the honeymoon is great… but when the trip is over and the suitcases are full of dirty laundry life begins… someday they need to do a reality show and follow up on Cinderella and Belle because I know they are up to more than waving goodbye in their horse drawn carnage.  So just as “I do” was and is the best two words I have and will ever say…. life, as it always does… goes on.  So… it’s time to do a little follow up… a life in the eyes of Kels.   So my fairy tale doesn’t have an ending…  just lots of new beginnings.  Lots of I am really sorry I screwed up, lots of what the F did I do this time… lots of laughing (mostly at my own jokes because Ty seriously isn’t very funny).  Throw in some tears good and bad, life lessons that sting, moments that are so good I never want them to end.  So there is no end because fairytales (at least my fairy tale doesn’t have an end… it has eternity and not even that is long enough). SO without any further ado, I would like to introduce the 1,2,3, that has made my fairy tale so good it must be a dream.

1 word: Yes! … 2 words: I do … 3 words: It’s a boy!  I am going to jump around a bit.. so just pretend like your in a pin ball machine bouncing around and it will make more sense… (try not to get car sick… I have that affect on people).

2 Words: I do…I said “I do” and then Ty did all the heavy lifting… PS. I am aware I repeated that line.  I was really impressed with my wit and am never shy to let anyone know when I am impressed with something I did. … don’t worry… it’s on “my list”.. somewhere. . So what did I say I do to? Well… if you were paying attention I already really covered that one. Please refer to paragraph one… the introduction… the one that sets the stage for how amazing the rest of my story is going to go.  So now that we have covered “I do” it’s time to move on.  

3 words: It’s a Boy…  06.06.2008 forever changed my life. I got to be Carter Tyler Lyon’s mommy.  He came to the earth and my life started.  At least the life that had a greater purpose…. one that had a purpose… my purpose and I didn’t even know I was missing anything.  My baby Lyon makes the world turn. I secretly miss him when he goes to sleep. He thinks I am perfect…. he tells me how beautiful I am.  He forgives instantly and never stops smiling.  He has traveled the world and his favorite… scratch that OUR favorite thing to do is lay in bed and talk about anything, everything and sometimes nothing.  We call it special time.  He has taught me the simplest things are the most important things.  He loves me for who I am.  He is honestly perfect… perfect for me and I can’t believe God trusted me with him.  I want to be just like him when I grow up.

1 Word: Yes.  Oh yea…  Yes!  Yes includes but is not limited to agreeing to whatever adventure great or small that my boys want to set sail on.  I am not much of a risk taker, when it comes to stepping outside of my comfort zone I don’t do amazing (my boys would say I do terrible).  The only thing in my comfort zone is loving people, talking way too much, designing, shopping, eating ice cream and houses…(buying, selling, decorating, renovating… anything house).  Side note: I am WAY more comfortable buying a property than signing a cell phone plan.  Not even pretend kidding… so if you want crazy random make no sense Kels… here I am!  Focus Kels!  Back to the story…  If it was up to me I would never leave my home.  I’m so serious… and with Amazon Prime it would be possible.   However.. my boy’s love adventures.. they are risk takers they live for the moment and get lost in their own make believe.  I love quiet, nothing, boring work on your project and pretend your going to relax days.  I secretly like it when my phone dies or when it just doesn’t ring.  But what I have learned about saying YES to their crazy ideas is that once the panic wears off I start to enjoy it.  I learn more about my boys and life than a lifetime of never leaving the safety of my own walls.  Boats are safe at the harbor but they were built for the sea.  We balance each other out… they would never stop and I would never go… and that’s where the magic comes in.

There is something magical about out of your ZONE. I learn more on our travels than a million years of my safe life would offer.  I have learned what I am capable of.  When we set sail we create memories that will last a lifetime.  I see a different side of my boys… and they get to see that other side in me.  Something you can’t know until your in the moment.  Perfect example:  We were in Cambodia and our credit cards wouldn’t work. We had to eat room service everyday because (TYLER didn’t take extra cash like I told – scratch that DEMANDED him to do because we should have learned our lesson in Thailand).  We had almost no money and somehow made it work.  It was like living the real version of the tv show The Amazing Race.  I wouldn’t recommend it… but it was legit. You don’t know what you’re made of until you have no other choice but to figure it out.  I am learning how to relax, live in the moment, do things “just because”, not over think everything (just 79.5% of everything) and live… live every second to the fullest.  YOLO!  I’m a work in progress on the relax part but I’m getting there… sort of.

So now that we have covered the basics of my 1,2,3  it’s time to get to the cute part… the Fairy Tale… and what girl doesn’t want to be a princess in her own story.  We have one life to life.  SO be true to your ROYAL…. don’t let the world decide what story you write.  We all have “spells” in our life… good and bad.  Believe in your dreams, reach higher than you can see and don’t let other’s decide how it ends.  We all want to find our happily ever after.  We are all living our owns lives.  But I refuse to call it my life.. it’s my fairy tale.  NO MATTER WHAT IT, IT’S MY OWN…. AND I AM LIVING A FAIRYTALE.  I am living my dream don’t be fooled…. dreams require a little give and take, they require flexibility, they require us to fail…get up, and fail again and again.  I call my “to do lists” different names…. it makes them more fun.  For example if it’s something at my home I call it my “I love my family list”… it makes cleaning toilets more glamorous… or at least puts small things into perspective of why you do them.  I clean my home because I like it clean… and I love that when my husband comes home to a clean house it says… relax… you work so hard… I love you and thank you.  (My house isn’t always clean… my office never is but it’s clean most of the time and I try.. so thats good enough for me).

Dreaming takes courage.  A dream isn’t doing the things you are already good at… it’s stepping outside the ZONE and not settling.  Live a dream that takes courage, faith and reaching so far you think your arm may fall off.   When I have a crazy idea that I am probably going to do but need to test the waters I call it a day dream… but I really mean my to do list if it doesn’t get shot down.   I also have a someday list… this list usually costs a lot of money and I must time it perfectly to get Ty on board.  (I have always wanted gable garage doors…  they are apparently not a NEED but now that I broke our garage door on accident I NEED a new door so why not make it the one I have always wanted).  See people… its all about the timing.

We get to decide our Fairy Tale and we write the ending.  Sometimes I pinch myself… I fear I will someday wake up.  But day after day I wake up next to the most amazing man in the world.  A man who knows me, he listens to every word I say and most importantly hears the words that hurt to bad to even say.   He loves me for me.  And he makes me who I am.  That doesn’t mean that we don’t have disagreements… but that’s all they are if your living a dream.  (A “disagreement sounds so much better than a fight… and we made a law to not let them last for more than 60 min…. trust me.. you can do all the damage you want in 60 minutes).  When the time is over… they actually last more like 12… I am pretty efficient I go back to pinching myself to make sure he REALLY SAID YES TO ME!!   Don’t make “disagreements” last… never go to bed alone at night.  Live each day like it’s your last.  Say I love you every chance you get… you can never say it too much.

Think about any fairy tale you have ever seen… Cinderella may have run from the castle but her prince charming came after her. He found her. He saw through the gown, tiara and perfectly crafted gorgeous shoes (seriously every girl needs a pair of golden glittery heals).  What if Cinderella hadn’t believed in herself and gone to the ball.  Sure the dress and makeup made her feel beautiful but thats not what the prince fell for… he fell for the true beauty he saw in his princess.

True beauty makes makes us princesses. (I could have said Queens… but the princess always has the best dress and sparkly tiara).  The same rule applies to the guys… being honorable, loving, kind, devoted boys transforms them and they become our Price Charming.  The more they cherish us the more royal they are.   I love that Ty picks out Carter’s clothes.  I used to do it (and he dressed so much cuter.. nothing amazing about basketball shorts and colorful socks) but Carter wouldn’t have it any other way.  He wants to be his daddy… not because Ty is good at baseball or because he loves having nerf gun fights… he doesn’t want to be like him…. HE ACTUALLY WANTS TO BE HIM. And I want him to grow up to be the man that his Daddy is too.  Carter sees his daddy work hard to provide our life… he sees him leave crazy early only to fight an hour of traffic each way so we can live in our beautiful home in this amazing town and be surrounded by some crazy amazing people. He sees the daily sacrifice and feels the endless… unconditional love and hard work. His DNA makes him Carter’s father… living in the moment and for the moment makes him his daddy.

One more Fairy Tale to drive in my point… I don’t take no for an answer.  Your life is a Fairy Tale right now if you let it be… the someday is now.  Just look at it from the right angle.  Ariel (The princess on the Little Mermaid if your not up on your disney princess moments) didn’t have an easy road… she knew what she wanted… she was willing to pay the price.  She wanted to walk so badly in the sand with her prince that she gave up her most prized possession… the girl who had the voice of an angel didn’t even hesitate to give it up to get her fairy tale.  Legs really?… she gave up her voice for legs to walk with Eric… just a walk on the beach… but she didn’t see it as a walk on the beach. She saw it as a moment.  A dream is full of moments…. My moments are full of I love you’s, I am sorry’s, they are full of endless good bye kisses that aren’t really good byes but can’t see you soon enough kisses.  They are full of tears, smiles, laughs, tender moments, overcoming the impossible and lots of dreaming next to him at night only to wake up in the morning and to live another day of OUR dream together.   Dreams require never making anything but forever an option.   My fairytale is living… loving… falling and picking each other up.  After all why waste your day dreams… make them happen.  I see dreams as a brainstorm when I am asleep.

Live like you believe.  Live your life the way you want your children to live.  Don’t tell them.. show them!   Push the limits… when you fall down don’t just stand up, jump up!  If you get good at this people will wonder if you planned the fall…. (another trick to looking like you are amazing).  Know your plan… believe in your map and enjoy every minute of this crazy, beautiful, hard, heartbreaking harder than anything you have ever imagined and anything than you could have every dreamed life. Make your habits something your proud of.  Stop analyzing your minutes and own your today!

Until we meet again…. Seize the day!

Take Away- You don’t have to wear your shortfalls on your sleeve to be in the “I am human club.”  My life is a Fairytale… AND it’s real! Full of really hard days… really normal boring days and a ton of really… this MAN chose me days!  I am one lucky girl.  Just living the dream….. maybe not your’s but mine and that’s all that matters to me in my own little isolated Amazon Prime world.

Full disclosure- This post almost didn’t happen.  I allowed the day to sufficiently beat the crap out of me and was feeling sorry for myself.  Then one of my faves (aka very favorite people) stepped out of her dream to help mine along.  She listened to the words I didn’t say.. and said the words I didn’t know I needed to hear.  She was brave… traded her voice away to Ursula just to walk with me on the sand… and now that I think about it I don’t even think she likes the sand.   But I will never know. She was vulnerable and real… she threw herself out there in hopes to pick me up.  And I am grateful she did.  Tonight when I thank God for the day I will include her.  She let me cry and then told me to soldier up.  Her quiet words pierced me and I heard her.  PS- The next time your down.. really down… jam out to: I need a hero… a little footloose is good for the soul.  Believe in yourself but BE HUMAN… to everything there is a season.  Its your turn to think…  I’m to tired to think of anything …   The end… or maybe the beginning.  PPS. I hate that I talk too much.  As always… the more I try to be quiet the more I talk… I have actually counted in my head to allow for others to interject their opinion…. didn’t work.  People zone me out and don’t even notice if I pause for input.  AND that’s ok… because I never stop talking and they don’t know how to hit pause.