Shay Shay Shaylie Rae...

This week my littlest sister Shaylie had open heart surgery to replace her pulmonary valve. She was born with a heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot and has undergone surgergies since she was tiny to keep her heart going. She went in for surgery on Tuesday. Yesterday she got out of the ICU, and today she gets to come home!!! Not only did her procedure go amazingly well, but she has had the greatest attitude. She came out of the anesthesia with a smile on her face asking everyone around her "how are you doing?". How are we doing?! How are YOU doing, Shaylie?! I am so grateful for today's technology that has allowed my family to get to keep my baby sister. It scares me to think of what may have happened had we lived 20 years earlier. Shaylie is the most kind, angelic, wonderful girl I know and I'm so incredibly grateful to have her as my sister. Love you ShayShay.

Imagine a boy...

Who scares away the bad guys...

Who has a great sense of style...

Who takes pride in his history...

Who is a little bit secret agent...

Who can fix practically anything...

Who makes you laugh on every occassion...

And wants to take you here...


You'd be pretty happy.

Your life would be amazing...

Happy Birthday Timmy.

I love you.

My Apartment Is Cuter Than Yours: Part 1

Neener neener.

Just kidding you guys.

But really.

Our apartment turned out SO CUTE!

I'm giving you guys the bedroom first, because it has the least "work in progress" left in it.

Ta dah!!!

I love love love yellow and grey

These tile were originally the ugliest shade of green EVER. ew. Oh, with pieces of gold too.

I spray painted them yellow and they just look so yummy on my wall, dontcha think?

This lamp was also repainted. It was brown gloss before and it resembled dead bamboo. Oh, this is so much cuter! Kinda lacey looking too. If you only knew how much I love that.

Add a homemade yellow and grey flower arrangement in an old glass bottle

And this dresser (which perfectly matches our mirror, night stands, and closet doors) that Timmy's sister Jen gave us. And old yellow candles in old glass jars with old yellow ribbon (which is really just shredded pillowcase, cause I'm trying to be creative)...

and you'll have one stinkin' cute bedroom. Whataya think? and What should I do about the window treatments? comment or text me with any ideas please!

Home Sweet Home

Well, we did it! We're finally in our cute new apartment and oh, we are so in love! It's roomy and fabulous! Speaking of love, tomorrow is our Anniversary! I'm having a hard time believing it's been that long!


This was our first picture taken together. I'm such a lucky lady.

Happy Anniversary Timmy Bell.

Two Zero

Holy Moo. I had the best birthday of my entire life on Saturday :) Not only did I find out about my upcoming promotion at work, but I got to be married for my first birthday ever! It was fabulous. My adoring husband picked out this swimsuit for me...

It just shouts Kemari. That boy knows me :) Then he took me out to Carrabba's for dinner and made me a pie! How cute is that? My cute mom got me a rotary cutter for my sewing hobby. I love it! I have the most wonderful family and friends who made my day fabulous! Thanks for making my 20th birthday so perfect.

Bell & Bell Furniture Co.

Last week Timmy and I did a daring deed. I had seen these plans on ana-white.com and was SO excited that I made Timmy take us to Home Depot to buy a stack of wood and build this table. It isn't filled, sanded, or stained (or should we paint it?) yet, but you just wait! We had so much fun doing this together! I think I want to build a headboard (this one) next. I'll post pictures when we decide what this little baby is gonna look like in the end. I'm just so excited! The whole project took us about an hour, and I think it turned out so well!

p.s. This woman used a power tool.

Escaping the Elderly

In addition working with old people, I also live in a basement apartment, the landlords of which are old people. It does NOT work out in the way you'd think. I originally thought sweet, kind, bring you cookies type of old people. These ones are angry, grumpy, nosy, and loud. But GOOD NEWS!!! Cute Timmy and I get to move next month! We are moving to GreenBriar apartments in Orem, and we are SO excited! Y'all have an opportunity on your hands.

1. If you so desire, you may help us move
2. If you so desire, you may donate (or sell us) any old, unused furniture, or direct us to where we can find some.
3. If you so desire, you may help us clean our current apartment top to bottom, so we can get our $500 deposit back from these hellian landlords
4. If you so desire, you can come visit us at our new place!!!




What's that you say? You don't want to help us move, or clean? WHAAAAT???? (Please watch the hyperlinked WHAAAAT??? clip. Please)

But seriously, If you know where we can get cheap furniture, help a poor newlywed couple out, yo.

Also, I have an old people story for you.

Today, a poor, rickety old lady came down to the lobby of the facility in her nightgown, shaken to the bone with fear. Nearing tears, she explained to me and my buddy that "there's a man who came into my room and sat at my table and won't leave". My first thought: This is a crazy old lady who's imagining things. My second thought: This is the ghost of her dead husband. So, my coworker says "Was he wearing a green shirt?", thinking that maybe her CNA came to help her (we wear green shirts) and frightened her. But no...then she said he was an old man. My third thought made me giggle: there's a crazy old man in the room a few doors down from hers. So we walk up there and sure enough, there's Mr. *Smith*, sleeping at her kitchen table.

"Mr. Smith, this isn't your room",
"Well, it's not hers either".
"Yes it is, and you frightened this little old lady"
"yes, I know, I saw her"
"Well, let's go back to your room, okay?"
"No, I'm not gonna".

Oh, poor old lady. She was so scared.

But it was so funny :)

Crazy Woman Brain

Every woman has "fat days" right? Days where that little stomach pooch seems more noticable, your heiny jiggles more than you remember it doing, and you try not to let your legs touch whatever you're sitting on, becaus then they smoosh flat and look HUGE! Today is one of those Crazy Woman Brain days. I tend to wear extra make up and do my hair extra cute on these days, to make up for everything, until Timmy tells me I'm crazy and makes me look up my BMI on an online calculator, to prove to myself that I'm ok. (even though BMI is totally useless. According to BMI, Shaquille O'Neil is morbidly obese). What a cute hubby...

Mrs. Bell - Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

Mrs. Bell is my alter ego. She is domestic, incredibly sweet, calls her husband embarassing things like darling, sugar, and stud muffin, and does other super wifey stuff. (picture an apron, a polka dot dress, and a 40's pin-up hair do ) Regular me is stubborn, staunchly independent, and would never give her husband a food pet name. Well, Mrs. Bell got a-cookin' tonight, and I TELL YOU WHAT!!! It was so much fun!

Chicken Pot Pie ala Kemari

1 can of cream of chicken soup
carrots, frozen peas, chicken, or anything else delicious (celery or corn would be good!)
corn starch to thicken your filling

pie crusts (I usually make mine, but you can buy ready-made dough that works great too.)

On the stove, combine veggies, soup, and cornstarch. Make sure you mix the cornstarch with water before you add it, or it clumps and turns to a gross rubberish lump. Gross. Boil this until it gets thick and dark.

These are the dishes I use. One is Pyrex, one is Corningware, but they both work well.



Put your pie crust in your dishes and trim the edges. Save the extra dough. Be sure to prick the bottoms with a fork and press the dough firmly to the sides of the dish. You should leave a little bit of dough poking up over the sides.

Ladle your soup/filling into the pie shell all the way to the very top. YUMM!!

Roll out your leftover pie crust scraps into the tops of your crusts. Cut steam vents in the top. How cute is this? Press the edges together with a fork or your fingers and cover them with strips of tin foil to keep them from burning in the oven. Bake for 25 minutes at 450 degrees.

Voila!!! It's so pretty! This takes a long time to cool, so plan accordingly.

Ah, Mrs. Bell is so domestic.

And oh, what a cute apron.

Have a Mushy Gushy Valentine's Day

With tomorrow being V day, I'll go ahead and fill you in on a few reasons why I love Timmy so much.

• Timmy is one of those people who's good at everything


• He can (and will) fix anything no matter how many times I break it


• He is a great dresser


• Timmy teaches me new things


• He always makes sure I know he loves me


• He substitutes my name for words in every song he sings


• He is super handsome!


• He always surprises me by doing little things around the house. He gets so excited for me to notice too.


• He is my best friend.

I love you Timmy Bell. Happy Valentines Day

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for...

Belle vs. Bell

"Well, it's no wonder that her name means beauty- her looks have got no parallel" la la la...Hmmmph. This is Belle of whom we speak. Belle lives in France where, if you didn't catch this, her name means beauty. The Bell who is writing about the Belle of whom we speak lives in Utah, where her name means "no makeup, gaining married weight, and getting lazy with keeping herself up". Actually, if you're curious, Kemari is a form a japanese soccer/hackysack, but that's beside the point.

I feel like this comparison is upsetting.

I did NOT used to let myself go like this >>>

The point is that I'd like to make Belle and Bell more similar. First, I need to work out. I noticed this today when I got out of the shower.

There are mirrors ALL OVER my bedroom. Full length mirror, vanity mirror, giant hangning mirror, bathroom mirror etc...and in ALL of these mirrors, I saw my naked reflection as I stepped out of the bathroom. It was horrific. Terrifying. I put clothes on straight away. Lets just say that things...danced...more than I wish they would. ha ha

Second, I need to stop being a lazy bum. I probably ought to start doing my hair once in a while. Good idea? I think yes. I should probably spend more than 5 minutes on my makeup as well. The Kemari that Timmy married was super cute and was always "done up". That needs to happen more often, for the sake of my confidence levels.

Third, Belle reads a lot. Remember when she was reading by the fountain ( "OH!!!! Isn't this aMAZing? It's my favorite part because you SEEE!!! Here's where she meets Prince CHARming....etc") and the sheep are eating her book pages? If I had sheep, they would have no access to any book pages because all my books have been closed tightly for ages. Lets fix that, shall we?

Fourth and Last, Belle loved the beast. For those of you who do not remember, the beast was hairy hairy fuzzy fuzzy. I feel like I should stop bugging Timmy to shave. ha ha

Welcoming a Teeny Bell to the Family...

Well, guess what. No, I'm not preggers, but we DID get a fish! Timmy surprised me and covered my eyes all the way into PetSmart, and we picked him out. Timmy liked the red ones, and I liked the blue ones. Guess who won. We also spent a great deal of time choosing between purple, blue and green gravel for the bottom of the bowl. Our fishy is not super exciting, and he doesn't cuddle me like a puppy or a bunny might, but I like him! His name is Wonton. I really like people names for pets, so after debating over the names Stanley and Ralphie, we chose Stanley. Then when we were decorating his new home we remembered that we had bought him a tiny Buddha statue. Stanley was no longer a suitable name. He needed an Asian name. I liked Daniel-son (see Karate Kid, the original), and there was talk of Bejing or HongKong, but Timmy suggested Wonton, and I busted a gut. I think it was a sign. Welcome Wonton Bell. I hope you feel at home swimming with your purple rocks and Buddha figurine. Also, I hope you feel alright about the fact that we picked your ethnicity for you...and named you after a delicious soup ingredient.

Aged to Perfection

I love old people. They're always so sweet, honest, and they always have a good bit of advice (no matter how outdated it might be) to give you in any situation. The difference between me and any other anybody who loves their grandma is that I love old people FOR A LIVING. Let me tell ya, I have the most hilarious job EVER. It is my job to entertain every elderly man and woman's every whim. I do everything from bathroom trips, to massages, to explaining to an old man why he can't just pinch the female CNA's hineys. I have a theory that getting old is a lot like getting drunk. Your personality stays the same, but it becomes 100x magnified. An old man who may have been slightly suspicious in his youth suddenly becomes a conspiracy theorist, yelling out "NAZI!" during Dieder F. Uchdorf's LDS conference address, and asking me to lock his bedroom door so that scary tall girl can't come murder him. (This actually happened. He also believes that the history channel is the news...) The woman who may have been somewhat of a packrat in her early years suddenly feels the need to stuff her pockets with jelly and butter packets, keep 7 copies of the daily schedule from ever day in the past year, and collect Christmas ornaments from every other residents' apartments. These past few months have been especially entertaining. Some of the things I have heard from these sweet people's mouths include the following:

- In regard to an Elizabeth Smart related news report

"I'd cut his stuff so teeny he couldn't even see it. Not even with his glasses on."

- In regard to a question about why she doesn't like me

"Well, I know what you did, and you know what you did, and someday your CHILD WILL KNOW WHAT YOU DID!!!!"

- In response to my asking her to put her pajamas on

"I hope you die very soon."

- In response to a "How are you doing today?"

"Well, I haven't felt very 'how' all day! I'd say about a 2.8"

- I said "Wow, it's sure windy outside!"

She said "Yeah, I hope it kills you"

- "You're sitting right on my baby! You crook!" (reached down, picked up an invisible child and set him on her lap. Began to comb the child's invisible hair.)

- me: "Did you remember your teeth?" Her: nods at me and says "YES!" with a big, toothless grin. She is so cute.

Obviously, I love these people more than these people love me most of the time, but boy, is my job interesting. Off to work...we'll see what kind of death threats I get today.

Take One...

Well, this is it. My first ever blog entry...dun dun dun. At this point, I don't have much to say, but that's okay, because this is mostly an intro. I am Kemari Faye Williams Bell and I am married to the most wonderful, cute, perfect husband alive. No, really, it's true.

This is Timmy.




Cute, huh?

Timmy and I go WAY back. Growing up, every Sunday at church, I'd wait for Timmy to sneak in the back. My familiy would tease me about having a crush on "cute Timmy". Well, at this point I'm willing to admit...I have a crush on "cute Timmy". Sorry Copper Hills 1st Ward girls. He picked me. Neener neener ;)

We got married on May 1st in the Oquirrh Mountain LDS Temple. We had the dang cutest wedding ever. The best part is that I still feel like we got married yesterday. I still get excited for him to come home from work, we still stare at eachother all mushy-like, and I only recently had to start picking up his socks.

Cute Timmy and I both go to Utah Valley University. He's majoring in Engineering, and I'm going into Special Education. We're so excited to get "real jobs" and have kids and not live in a basement apartment with orange armchairs and carpet anymore...