So Thankful! :)

This blog post is dedicated to how thankful I am for all the blessings in my life, like my apartment and my husband.

A week ago, Tuesday, May 24, we were evacuated from our apartment because of a horrible wildfire very close to our apartment.  Thankfully, there was no structural damage in Midland at all.  I praise God for that completely.  When we were packing up things in our apartment before we evacuated, I realized it was one of those moments everyone talks about, but you never really think you're going to live it.  The "if you had 5 minutes to get things from your house, what would you grab" moment.  I grabbed pictures, clothes, and my computer.  I was frantic and freaking out.  Then there was Nathan.  Perfectly calm, cool, and collected.  He was already at the house when I showed up, and he simply hugged me and told me everything was going to be ok.  He was perfect.  He made me feel safe again.

After we were able to come home, we said a prayer of thanks for watching over Midland and saving so many homes.  Nathan and I drove around the areas that were burned the next day, and it was almost sickening how close the fire got to homes, churches, and some businesses.  I kept asking over and over, "How did they put the fire out?  The wind was horrible, how did they do it?"  Nathan simply answered, "God."  I completely agree with him.

I don't think I could be more thankful for my husband, and the blessing he is to my life.  He makes me want to be a better person and brings me closer to God through his walk with Christ.  Thank you, Lord for Nathan!!!!!!  :)

Nathan found an aerial view picture of the fire, and our apartment is circled and were the fire was stopped is pointed to by the arrow.  Just thought you would be interested.

5,000 acres burned.

"The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;  my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.  He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety."  Psalm 18:2

So Thankful, 

Kait Rio

Some Wedding Pictures! :)

We got our wedding pictures back today, and I wanted to share a few of my favorites with you!  I loved our wedding so much.  It couldn't have been better!

My Girls!!!!  Erika, Jessica, KatyAnn, Haili, Meagan, and Natalie

I love how fun this picture is!!!

Nathan's Groomsmen.  Some good lookin' guys!

sooo cool!

I love these jumping pics!

POCKETS!!!!  That was my favorite thing about our dresses!!!!!

My Little Crockett!

Our New Family!

First Dance.  Always and Forever.

I was excited, obviously!

Leavin' the wedding!  I wish it didn't go by so fast!  I loved it!

A special thanks to Ashley Kerby Photography for photographing our wedding!  We love you, Ashley!

Kyler's 21st Birthday! :)

This last weekend was so much fun!  On Friday, we helped with a Reading Rodeo at an elementary school in Midland.  The kid's AR points counted as money, and at the Reading Rodeo they used their points to buy food, candy, games, face painting, or stuff at the General Store.  I loved it!  The kids came out to the Rodeo at different times, and the Kindergartner's came out at 8:30.  Let's just say those kids started buying cotton candy, cokes, and funnel cakes at 8:30 am!  I wouldn't want to be their teacher when they had to go back to class at 10:00am.  haha, poor teachers!

Friday night we drove to Lubbock!

Saturday was my little brother, Kyler's, 21st birthday!  I can't believe he is 21.  He is supposed to be my baby brother!  AHHHH!  Kyler and I went to the TL draft for Summer Excitement that morning.  We had so much fun, and now I am very excited for Summer Excitement!  For Kyler's birthday, we had a dinner at Poppy and Gran-gran's house.  It was nice to be with my family.

After dinner, the young kids went to Kellen and Jessica's house.  We played cards.  Guess who won poker????

I'm a Winner!!!!!  :)

Kyler and his birthday present on his hip!

We has so much fun with my family and celebrating Kyler's birth!  I love getting to see them!

Trip to Ft. Collins and other things! :)

Since my last blog, a lot has happened in our fun life!  Last Wednesday, Nathan left for El Paso for a training for PDAP, and I left for Ft. Collins.  It took me allllll day to get there!  I left Midland at 7:45 am and got there at 8:45. (9:45 our time!)  I felt like it took forever, but it was so worth it because I got to see my bestest friend KatyAnn!!!!  KatyAnn graduated from Colorado State this last Saturday, and that is why I made the trip.  We had so so so much fun!  Here's a few of the dumb pictures KatyAnn, Brittany, and I took hanging out in Old Town celebrating KatyAnn's awesome accomplishment!

You have to be really nice to the Colorado bears!

"We are the three best friends that anyone could have...!"

Nathan flew in to Denver on Friday afternoon, and I picked him up at the airport.  I didn't even have to use my GPS to get there, and I was very proud of myself! haha.  We just hung out on Friday night to be ready for Katy's big day Saturday!  

On Saturday, KatyAnn had a graduation party with two of her friends and it was so much fun.  We got to meet some of her friends, and I loved getting to talk to them.  After the party, we just recuperated at Katy's house and got ready for her graduation.  Her graduation was so much fun, and we definitely yelled really loud for her!  She graduated Cum Laude, and we were so proud!  We got some great pictures of Saturday night!

Shaking hands with all the important people!

My two favorite people!

YAY!!!!!!  KatyAnn's a CSU Alumni!!!!!!!

All of our school signs!
 (Luke made his up b/c his school didn't have one!  haha!)

It was wonderful being in Colorado with our best friends.  We are so blessed and loved every minute of that trip.  Yes, Nathan and I even loved the drive home!  We were in the car 12 hours together, and we still loved it!  haha!  On the way home, Nathan got some pretty good shots of the mountains, and I wanted to share those too!  They are so beautiful!

What an amazing God we have!

I wish Midland looked like this!

God blessed me today!  I got a job!  I am going to be a summer teacher at a daycare here with school-aged kids.  I'm very thankful that I found something for this summer, but now it's time to start looking for a teaching job in the fall!  I'm excited about the things that are coming up this summer for us.  Kyler's 21st birthday is this Saturday, which is very weird because he is my little brother and is supposed to be little forever!  The next weekend is Thomas and Marisa's wedding and it is Memorial Day.  Then the next weekend is Rustin's baby shower!  Needless to say, we are going to be very busy with all the weekend trips!  I just consider us to be very blessed!  :)

Love to Everyone!

~ KPR

Playin' Catch Up! :)

I have already been slacking in the blog department.  Sorry!  I'm playing catch up with this one.  Last week we invited guests into our home, and we loved it.  It was so much fun, and I can't wait to invite more people!  This weekend we went to Lubbock.  Friday was Marisa's lingerie shower.  It was so much fun, and I loved getting to be with my friends.  Saturday, Studer and Lauren Sportsman graduated.  YAY!!!!!!!!  I was so happy to get to be there for them!  I love those girls.

Sunday was lots of fun because it was Mother's Day, and we got to be with our Mothers.

Today was interesting.  I applied for a couple jobs, but they don't look too promising.  We continue to pray for a job for me.  I just hope one comes up quickly.

The Rockhounds played tonight, and we went to the game.  They are the AA affiliate for the A's.  We like them.  There was a storm building during the game, and I was jealous it was raining somewhere else and not here.  (We pray for rain a lot too)  Look how beautiful the clouds looked with the sun setting.  :)

Terrific Tuesday!!! :)

Today was a great Tuesday.  :)  I bought some little plants, because we have a window box for plants.  I thought it would make our little apartment brighter.  I only got 3 plants, because I don't have the greatest green thumb.  I think they are cute, and if they survive a couple weeks, Nathan said I could buy 3 more.  Yay!  Hopefully I can keep them alive.

I have them all on the left side, because the tree provides better shade there from the hot, hot sun!

We also went to our sweet cousins tee-ball game.  It was the cutest thing!!!!!  They are so precious, and they say the funniest things while playing and yelling at their parents from the field.  There was one little boy that asked his mom if she had to go back to work after the game.  She said, "Yes, I do.  I have to make money to buy you things."  The little boy replied, "Like new shoes, YES!!!!"  It was so funny!  Korbyn, my new little cousin, played so great.  He got 6 kids out and hit the ball to the fence twice.  We were very proud to call him our cousin!  Here are some pictures of him!  (I love that is says Riojas on the back of his shirt, don't tell Nathan, but I can't wait until we have little kids with Riojas on the back of their shirt!)

Korbyn fielding the ball, and he got the kid out at first!  Best one on the team!!!!

Hitting it to the fence!

My favorite picture!  He was waiting to bat.  I love that you can see 'Riojas.'

This is Korbyn's sweet little sister, Adyson.  She still isn't sure about me sometimes.  Haha.

Overall, It was a great Tuesday.  I'm still looking for a job, but I'm happy because my shingles are almost completely gone!!! YAYAYAYAAA!!!!  Tomorrow I'm excited because Nathan's Aunt and Uncle are coming over, and I'm cooking dinner.  I'm nervous.  I hope my food is good, I'm still learning!  :)  Then Erika and hopefully Kanyon are coming over on Thursday to celebrate Cinco de Mayo!  Yay!  Erika told me she wanted to be with her favorite Mexican couple on May 5.  It made me laugh!  I just love her.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Tuesday.  Love and prayers to everyone! 

~Kaitlin

Wonderful Weekend :)

This weekend was so much fun.  My parents came down to see our little apartment.  It was so cool to have them come visit our house.  This weekend was wonderful because we were the hosts.  My parents came to our home and stayed with us.  It was so awesome.  I love being married and showing off my husband and our little apartment to my parents.  I am so blessed!!!!
My parents took us to eat, and we went shopping all together.  My mom even bought me some shelves for above our kitchen sink, and Nathan put them up tonight.  We don't have much to put on them right now except our awesome Fiesta coffee cups!  :)  I love these swirly shelves!

They are so simple and perfect.  LOVE THEM! :)

My mom also took some pictures of our bedroom and bathroom, and I wanted to share them.  I like posting on this blog because it makes me feel close to my family and friends, so y'all can see our home and hopefully visit it one day.  :)

Our beautiful bedding.  I love it.

Mom took this picture.  I think it looks so cool.

This is our beautiful shower curtain.

If you haven't already noticed, our apartment is mostly black and white, with bright, bold colors.  I love the contrast, and I think bright colors are so much fun.

I'm calling a couple different places tomorrow about possible job opportunities, and I would love prayers for the situation.  I feel very positive about my job search because Nathan has been optimistic and keeps reminding me that God will provide.  This morning we visited Golf Course Road Church of Christ, and we liked it.  There was a visiting preacher, so we are going to go back to hear their normal preacher.  

I am so thankful for this weekend.  It was so much fun, and I loved having my parents here and visiting a new church.  Midland is a wonderful place, and I am happy to say it is my home.  :)