Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Earth

Matt and I went to a relationship seminar at the Sandy Institute a couple months ago and we have not gotten around to blogging about it but we were entertained and impressed with the speaker, Matt Townsend. Matt T. is a local Radio and TV personality known as the "Communication and Relationship Expert". He also happens to be LDS and so FUNNY! And he has these "date nights" where he talks about how to have fun and strengthen your relationship.

These are our notes from this seminar:

• Differences between men and women and why God probably made them this way
• Men are monotaskers and probably because they are supposed to focus on protecting and providing. "Can you imagine a caveman trying to watch out for beasts while he's frying up eggs and doing laundry?"
• Women are nurturers and multi-taskers (possibly to prepare for having children). 
• Men have big egos because if they didn't, no one in their right mind would go up against large beasts. Because of their egos, they don't like to talk about embarrassing things, or ask for directions.
• Men bond in action, women talk to bond. Men talk to transfer data or to maintain hierarchy.
• Don't bring up something that might lower a man's hierarchy. Their mom was probably the last woman to have hierarchy over them, which is why they relate you to their mothers. 
• Men hold a gaze for an avg. of 3 seconds, women gold a gaze for 12 seconds. This makes them more attentive to be better nurturers.
• Women's brains go right to left quickly. Men like to sit in the left brain (makes them very literal). Men's brains are as slow as a 3-legged asthmatic donkey.
• Men don't understand why women talk about things we aren't trying to fix. Let men help you.

• We fight about the smoke in our relationships but we should really be fighting about these things:
• 7 Needs All Relationships Need to be Met

1. Safety (emotional, financial...)
2. Trust
3. Appreciation
4. Respect
5. Validation
6. Encouragement - be in their heart and help them become what they want to
7. Dedication - "If you want to feel like someone is dedicated to you, you have to feel like you are more important than any people, place or thing".

• He offered the following advice:
• When you can't talk anymore, serve each other.
• Don't mess with souls
• Beware of Facebook - see Matt T's 10 Rules of Facebook. You cannot have emotional affairs or you mess with souls. Read Elder Holland's talk "Souls, Symbols and Sacrament".
• Have cuddle time, go to bed together, be careful
• Be vulnerable - let your partner see you cry
• When you are fighting:
• Men - go think of what you or your wife will say to the Savior if he were right in front of you
• Women - go think of what your husband  will do when he sees your Savior
• If you can feel that now...that is what it would feel like to be the Savior - the love, the peace and the compassion.
• Write it down and go back to it when your partner upsets you.

Things KerMatt loved in 2010

Miscellaneous things Matt and I loved during 2010:

• Mint Oreos and milk
• Texas Roadhouse rolls
• Cafe Rio pork tacos
• Sleeping in 
• Rock Band
• Kneaders "All You Can Eat" French Toast
• Playing "Just Dance" at the Leatham's
• Listening to Dave Ramsey and Dr. Laura
• Papa John's Meatoverload Pizza with fresh Pineapple
• Church at 1 PM
• The Geico "Little Piggy" commercial and the Kia Soul Hamsters
• Antoine Dodson and "The Bed Intruder"
• Minions
• Watching old seasons of friends
• Sweet Tooth Fairy cupcakes

Songs/artists we loved

• Day & Night - Kid Cudi
• Animal - Neon Trees
• The music on Glee

TV Shows we loved:

• Modern Family
• Parenthood
• Community
• Supernanny
• Undercover Boss
• The Buried Life
• Jersey Shores & Jerseylicious

Movies we loved:

• Despicable Me
• StepUp 3D 
• Life As We Know It

Things we did not like:

• This season of American Idol 
• Rarely actually making it to Kneaders by 11 am on Saturdays for their "All You Can Eat" French Toast
• The plot lines on Glee
• Sinus infections from the inversions of Salt Lake

Happy New Year from KerMatt & check out our holiday card

KerMatt’s 2010 Highlights

• Keri’s awesome new job raising $ for Primary Children’s Medical Center 
• Matt’s GRADUATION from BYU with a Bachelor’s Degree in ISys
• Matt’s acceptance into the Master’s Program at the University of Utah and finishing his first semester with fabulous grades
• Celebrating our first year of marriage in May with family & friends
• Fun times with friends at the Boyz II Men Concert in September, Keri’s time with her bud Dawn     Stratton, karaoke with Nicole & dressing up as Kia Hamsters for Halloween ... Doo Da Dippity
• Keri’s opportunity to sing in a special choir during the October LDS General Conference
• Matt competed & placed in the Adobe Web Analytics Competition
• Our travels to visit friends and family - NorCal with the Adams for Keri in March, the McGhee Family Reunion in Park City in May 2010 Hoopfest in Spokane with Brad & Sharee, San Diego for the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving & Christmas
• Matt accepted a job offer from Deloitte in the Bay Area for Fall 2011
• Matt growing a BEARD since he is no longer a BYU student
• Our newest adorable nephew, Jackson, & the love of our three other awesome nephews & nine beautiful nieces who make us feel like the coolest aunt & uncle in the world!
• Football for Matt, of course, especially his chance to compete in a football-throwing contest at an NFL Monday Night Football Chargers game in November

McGhee Family Reunion - pics

We finally had the chance to upload pics from our recent McGhee Family Reunion that took place in May. Below are pics that highlight our adventures together in Park City:

2010 McGhee Family Picture

KerMatt pic - We took the family pic opportunity to document our first year of being married & still smiling :)

Though the weather this weekend was not that great, we spent a lot of time playing together in the pool

With so many little kids, we tried to keep them busy with all sorts of projects. You can see how serious Matt and I took our coloring :) Kathy & Bekah were fantastic about thinking of so many activities to keep the kids entertained.

As you can see, bead animals became quite the project for whole fam.What we also didn't document was Johana teaching Bekah and I how to make earrings as well. 

Speaking of a hit, the newest McGhee addition, baby Alicia, was very popular with all. With all that hair and those huge eyes, who wouldn't want to hold this little bundle of joy. Congrats to Bekah & Skyler!

One of the nights we sent the boys out bowling and threw a little princess party for the girls, complete with makeovers, nail painting and even a parade around the hotel we were staying at.

But no matter what we planned, nothing could stop us all from picking on each other and horsing around. Matt usually being the catalyst for this.

Good times at the park, except when I got stuck pushing both Carys & Calay on the swings simultaneously. My arms were sore for hours afterwards :) But I just couldn't resist those little laughs and shouts of "faster!"

Matt and I introduced the McGhees to the wonderful game of "Minute To Win It". Oh the silliness and laughter this provided and in fact, we had to shut it down pretty quickly when we discovered that our raucousness was going to wake the sleeping children.

Word To Our Fathers

 

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

 To Our Wonderful Fathers 

 Lane & Barry!

Why are men reluctant to become fathers?  They aren't through being children. 

~Cindy Garner

My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person: he believed in me. ~Jim Valvano

Shout out to our fathers today! We have learned much from our dads throughout the years - some good habits, some not so great :) but we want to thank them for being the great dads that they are.  We know what a thankless job being a dad can be, especially when the mothers get most of the love, but we really do appreciate the important life lessons our fathers have taught us.

For Keri, it was about the importance of working hard. My Dad has worked hard throughout the years to support our family of 7 children and I know that wasn't easy. He made me get a job when I turned 16 and I have been working at various jobs ever since. And I have a strong work ethic to show for it.  Thanks Dad!

For Matt, it was the way my Dad taught me to look at everything with a gospel perspective. I always knew that the most important thing to my Dad was to live a Christ-like life. When I was a teenager, I didn't like getting up early, even earlier than my paper route and seminary class, for family prayer and scripture study.  But I knew that it was important and now I appreciate my Dad's efforts.

Two little girls, on their way home from Sunday school, were solemnly discussing the lesson.  "Do you believe there is a devil?" asked one.  "No," said the other promptly.  "It's like Santa Claus:  it's your father."  

~Ladies' Home Journal

Just to highlight a few more of the many great things that our fathers have done, we'd like to share some of our favorite memories of our dads:

• Matt:  Dad has always been interested in new technology and I'll never forget when he brought home the first family computer - a Gateway desktop with a 1 MB hard drive (if I remember correctly) and a 56k modem. You'd think he would be have caught on to text-messaging a little earlier :)
• Keri:  Dad taking me to "K-Mawt" to buy new toys or clothes. Yes I'd like to blame my early interest in shopping on him :)
• Matt:  Saturday morning cartoons and pancakes & waffles in special shapes (capital M, pancakes the size of the frying pan and funny shapes) and homemade maple syrup with my Dad  
• Keri:  Dad rolling up to family Thanksgiving Soccer games in his newly purchased neon-yellow running suit only to play for 10 minutes and then sit out with Grandma Goss.
• Matt:  Dad always being my Scout leader and Young Mens leader - teaching me the finer points of being a young man such as wilderness survival, backpacking, cooking, hunting, being an Eagle scout, being a righteous priesthood holder, sacrament duties, blessings and the importance of doing home teaching. 
• Keri:  Dad mentioning in every talk at church he gives that "he used to pray for more money and instead kept receiving more children so now he is going to start praying for more children and see if he receives more money". And Dad always being that guy in the ward who gets up before every Memorial Day, Veterans Day and 4th of July to remind us all how important our freedom is and to remember the troops. 
• Matt: Dad also regularly coaching my soccer and baseball teams. He taught me all about hard work, strategy and team work. 
• Keri: Watching 90210 and Fright Night Theater every week together with all these horrible shows about Killer Bees, Killer Spiders, Killer Frogs, etc...
• Matt: I have never heard my Dad say a bad word, unless you count him calling bad drivers "boneheads" and "knuckleheads".  

A father carries pictures where his money used to be.  ~Author Unknown

We love you both! 

-KerMatt

Word To Our Mothers...What!

 

"Mothers of teenagers know why animals eat their young." ~ Author Unknown 

(HAHA we loved this saying and if you knew either of us as teens, you know that we were not easy to raise. Keri - " I was pretty loud, stubborn and obnoxious...and wait, I still am, just a little more grounded hopefully. Thanks Mom!"Matt - "I liked to break the rules and basically tried to sleep through high school, if  Mom would have let me").

Since we are still waiting to hear about Matt's Masters Program acceptance what else can we talk about but our mothers. We are truly blessed to have the best mothers (and mothers-in-law)! And we just can not thank them enough for their love and endless support. We have both kind of gotten hooked on Talk Radio lately (namely Glenn Beck and Dr. Laura) and after each listen, we can not walk away without being so grateful for the family that we have and the values that our parents have instilled in us.

Top 10 List To Our Mothers - Linda & Kathy

• You have taught us both how to be good, hard-working people
• You feed us anything we want - even when we ask for Belgian waffles, bacon, eggs, Orange Julius, and cinnamon pull-aparts all in one meal 
• You have shared your musical talents with us and helped us find our inner rock stars...or barbershop stars  :)
• You have a unique and creative approach to all you do 
• You show us what it means to live unselfishly - you truly forget yourself and go to work
• You indulge our crazy hobbies like playing Rock Band with us or going hiking with feral cows
• Your make each family member feel like they are your #1
• You are our biggest cheerleaders (next to Matt & I, of course) and you've also been one of our best coaches...but also a pretty good referee
• You teach us what is right and you always know what we need...sometimes before we do
• You live each day with never ending love and patience 

"A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie." ~ Tenneva Jordan

Just to highlight a few of the many wonderful things that our mothers have done, we'd like to share some of our favorite memories of our mothers:

Keri: Sending my brothers and Dad off to Father & Sons Outings and having Girls Night - shopping for    

matching outfits (mine pink of course, and Tori's yellow) and watching "Cutting Edge", "Pillow Talk" or "Pure Country" over and over. 

Matt: Mom trying to spank us with the wooden spoon and having it break on our butts. She would get so mad and we would just keep laughing.

Keri: Singing around the piano while Mom plays anything I want - or performing together at ward talent shows, care homes, etc...(Tori & I singing, Mom playing the piano)

Matt:  Mom makes my favorite food for me every year on my birthday...especially chocolate eclair cake and she made these awesome caterpillar cakes when we were little. Mom also used to have after school snacks for us when we got home every day. I wish I still had those now. 

Keri: Mom always being involved in whatever I was: being my room mom, my soccer mom, PTA president and talking me into being the only kid PTA secretary in history, selling candy to raise $ for my marching Band, bringing cupcakes or peanut butter ice cream rice crispy treats to my classes for my birthday, helping me make clam chowder for my 4th grade class to get an A on my report on clams...and campaign manager when I ran for president in 7th grade - even coming up with an awesome slogan like (Jon Adams, Jon Quincy Adams...Keri Adams - it just makes sense).

Matt: Mom helping me with school work when the assignments were hard or when I needed creativity...like dioramas and poster boards and what not. And also taking care of me when I was sick and teaching me the BRAT diet which consisted of Banana, Rice, Applesauce or Toast.

Keri: And let's not forget touring Europe together - Mom keeping the peace between Tori and I always as we battled between shopping and art museums (snooze), taking us to Les Miserable twice & Lion King, and Mom busting our her high school Italian to tell our Rome taxi driver whats up.

God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers.

- Jewish Proverb

We love you Mom and Mom and hope you both have a Happy Mother's Day! 

- KerMatt

Merry Christmas from KerMatt!

KerMatt's 2009 Highlights

• Getting engaged at the top of Mt. Soledad in San Diego on Valentine's Day after 21 months of dating
• Keri - Busting out my road bike and thoroughly exploring the trails of Salt Lake County with co-worker, Rachel
• Keri - Playing with my girls at my awesome bridal shower in March and bachelorette party in April
• Matt - Finishing the ISys Core Program with good grades
• Getting married in the San Diego Temple in May, having two great receptions with fantastic family and friends, and enjoying newlywed life
• Honeymooning in Florida and especially spending a day lounging on the beautiful white sand beach at Honeymoon Island
• Visiting Redmond, WA in October for Matt's 10 year reunion and Keri spending much needed time with Brad & Sharee in Spokane, WA
• Matt - Accepting a summer internship with Ernst & Young in San Jose, CA
• Matt - One word... Football! - BYU's 10-2 Football Season / Charger's 11-3 record & #2 Playoff Seed / 1st Place in Fantasy Football (Friend's league)
• Spending Thanksgiving in Fairfield, CA & Christmas & New Year's in San Diego with family & friends

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Honeymoon in Cancun... or Orlando

Our dream Cancun honeymoon was cancelled the day before our wedding thanks to the wonderful swine flu shutting Cancun down.

So instead Matt and I postponed our honeymoon a month and a half and ended up finding an opening for his parent's timeshare exchange in Orlando. We wanted beach and warm, sunny weather and it worked out. Though I'm still dying to get to Cancun.

We headed out at the end of June and spent a week in Orlando and then another weekend at Clearwater Beach (near Tampa Bay) to get our beach fix.

While in Orlando, we stayed in the Marriott Grande Vista timeshare, which was a HUGE resort. The room was nice for us and we loved having our own little kitchen. I think we made 2 or 3 trips to Walmart for groceries - loved our Oreo's, yogurt, and nutter butters.

We had a wonderful Honeymoon and enjoyed Florida, but don't know that Orlando is a fave of ours. It is definitely made for children and tourists who like to pay a lot of money. One of our first lessons as a married couple was learning the differences between our travel preferences. Matt was completely content with staying in our hotel ALL DAY - watching movies, playing games, TV, sleeping, and relaxing (emerging only for sun and food).

I get more antsy though. I put up with a lot of relaxing but I can only take so much and around 2 pm every day I would start getting anxious to go out and play. Overall I'd say we had a great mix of relaxation and adventure though.

Our resort with its many pools

And its many lakes

Highlights of Orlando:

• The warm weather - minus the random hurricane warnings and rain
• All the theme parks
• The funny names of Florida, including their millions of random lakes. Matt & I had a game of yelling out the names of the lakes that we passed including: BOO BOO LAKE & TURKEY LAKE
• The food mostly - such as Pina Coladas at Bahama Breeze, BJ's Pizza pizookies, the Waffle House, Bubba Gump
• Timeshare presentations - which we took full advantage of and ended up getting a huge discount on 3 day Universal passes and even $75 cash
• Watching movies and relaxing in our hotel
• Our cab driver, Tito, who drove us home in a sweet Chrysler 500 and talked all about his time in jail, his local Ruff Riders motorcycle club and couldn't understand why we weren't going out dancing

Quirks of our time in Orlando:

• Keri forgot all of her garments so we had to hit up the Orlando temple
• Flying in at midnight, not getting to our room until 2 am and starving! But our resort was all shut down and a good 2 miles from food. Luckily the front desk hooked us up with a local pizza joint who delivered pizza at 3:30 am - only to be the thickest pizza dough we have ever had
• THE HUMIDITY
• Our rental car - a red PT Cruiser. Matt felt like an old man!
• All the cheesy tourisms
• Almost getting talked into a timeshare program - yep suckers

BJ's Pizookie - manna from heaven

Tito's sweet ride

Matt trying to sleep

Me not letting him sleep :)

Our nightly entertainment at Bahama Breeze - we ate there or stopped in for a drink several times during our week

The beautiful Orlando temple

Wedding Night @ La Costa Resort

We wanted to show you how fabulous our hotel stay was after our wedding at the La Costa Resort in Carlsbad (thanks to the help of fabulous friend and past co-worker of Keri's at the Hotel Del Coronado, Cerelle).

We stayed in a little bungalow suite which was by far the most gorgeous room we have ever stayed in. We felt like royalty in that fabulous room, complete with a king-size bed, fireplace, a bathroom the size of our whole apartment, a full kitchen and private little patio/courtyard.

Cerelle even had chocolate-covered strawberries and a cold bottles of Martinelli's sent to our room, which just added to our wonderful experience. Cerelle, you are the bomb.com for sure :) and we can not thank you enough.

We didn't get to stay long enough by any means (2 nights) because Matt had to get back to Utah for school, but we got to stay long enough to relax a bit from all of our wedding weekend craziness.

I have some pics below but I don't even think they do it justice.