Bathroom is DONE!!

After 11 long months of procrastination and busy-ness at least one room in our house is done! All I can say is that having a deadline makes all the difference. Enjoy!!

BEFORE


AFTER






One of the best parts about this project, aside from the fact that I am in love with it, is that the whole thing cost about $125! WOOT! I wish I could do all the rooms in my house for that much.

Randomies

Today my alarm went off and I didn't feel well. So I decided to treat myself with a day off work. Slept in until 10:30, had some food, and then went.... what do I do now??? I am so unimaginative when it comes to days off. Most of the time I just end up going to work in the afternoon because I get bored. Not today! Sticking it out this time. I have watched an episode of Prison Break, played with my dog, crafted, moseyed around the house and looked for interesting things on the internet. I know you're jealous.

I am Mtn Dew sober for almost two whole days. It feels good, peeps. Yesterday was a killer, but today has been better. Possibly simply because I slept for 12+ hours so didn't need the caffeine. Pray for me tomorrow.

I really need to stop reading feminist slash so-called "blind obedient Mormon" literature. It just really gets my blood boiling. But then I just feel grateful that I don't have those challenges of faith in my life. But mostly my blood boils.

On a related note, I am super bummed the temple is closed this week and next. We've been going often lately and when it is closed I sort of feel a void.

On a completely unrelated note - I hate it when people say "unrelentless". Or cannot possibly spell the word "definitely". Or just don't take the time to use spell check when they are posting something for everyone to see.

We had a delightful evening with Alex's grandma last night which included a 5-course "supper" :) and Indiana Jones.

The End.

More Musings on Faith

I feel like I'm getting closer to understanding what this whole faith thing is all about :) Thank you so much for all your comments, I loved them all! But I CAN'T stop thinking about blind obedience vs faith. It's all I could think of in the temple on Friday, and all I thought about all day in church. And I keep bugging everyone I know to talk to me about it, because, well... I'm a girl and that's how we figure things out!

I think the thing that has been agitating me the most is that I, for the life of me, cannot understand what people view as blind obedience. I keep running circles in my head when I think about it. It goes something like this:

"Ok, so blind obedience means that we just obey, not really knowing why. BUT - I know in my experience that even when I start out obeying a law/principle without having a testimony of it, once I start living it, it's quite impossible for me to avoid gaining a testimony of it. So, it may be blind obedience in the beginning, but it turns into something else.."

OR

"Blind obedience means that we just accept things without questioning them or studying it out. BUT - how does that coincide with having a "child-like" faith? Should people be condemned (or called a B.O.ite) simply because they don't NEED to study things out? 1 Cor 12:8-10 lists "gifts of the spirit" - one of which is faith. I think all of us know at least one person who "just knows" things. Their gift of the spirit is faith. They don't need to study it out, they don't need to figure it out logically to know of a surety that it is true. That's just simple and pure faith, right? Not blind obedience..."

So - does blind obedience even exist?? Because of the simple act of OBEYING, is that not a show of FAITH?

The latest conclusion that I have come to is that blind obedience has simply to do with intention. If you really and truly, down to your core, do something JUST because you are told. You have no intention of receiving a blessing from it, you do not ever take the time to see how it is helping you in your life, you never even give the act a second thought past just doing it. This has been hard for me to think about, because I've never known anyone in my life who acts like this.
However, this cannot be the basis of judgement for being blindly obedient, because no other person on the planet has the ability to know your intentions besides you.

*sigh* I'm feeling pretty good about this conclusion, feeling finally a little peace about understanding at least what people mean by blind obedience (even if I don't agree with the unjust label), and then I pick up page 1 of Lectures on Faith:

"If men were to...turn their thoughts and reflections to the operations of their own minds, they would readily discover that it is FAITH, AND FAITH ONLY, which is the moving cause of ALL action in them."

Whoa.
Tell me what this says to you. Please. Because to me it says that ANYTIME we are EVER moved to action, it is because of faith. Therefore, blind obedience does not exist. (?) Do you interpret it differently? I'd LOVE to hear your thoughts! I am learning so much about this topic, and about myself, and I really appreciate you helping me :)

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I. Love. Baking.
Even after a super long day when I'm really tired, I have so much fun baking. I don't know if this will be interesting to anyone, at all, BUT I had fun doing it so I wanted to share this recipe and the photos I took while making these awesome cupcakes!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour - sift it before you measure it.
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 oz. red food coloring (two bottles) (this is a lot of coloring, but it’s worth it! The color is gorgeous!!)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside. In a small bowl, mix food coloring and cocoa powder to form a thin paste without lumps; set aside. (I love this part :) Put the cocoa in the bowl first, and watch how cool it is when you pour the coloring over it!)

In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about two minutes.

Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla (my Mexican vanilla! This souvenir is alone worth the trip!) and the red cocoa paste, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go.
Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.

In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda. Be careful - it will fizz up. (I tried to get a good picture of the fizz - it didn't work. Also, I used WAY too gigantic of a bowl for this. Don't be dumb like me.)

Add vinegar mixture to the cake batter and stir well to combine. Using an ice cream scoop, fill cupcake cups with cake batter (they should be 3/4 full).
Place muffin tins on the middle rack of a preheated 350 degree oven. Bake for approximately 20-22 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. (I like to clean up my kitchen during the baking. RESIST the temptation to sit down! Because there is nothing as awesome as fresh baked goods AND a clean kitchen, at the same time!)
Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Check early and don't overbake. (Mine only took 18-19 minutes)

Cool the cupcakes in their tins on a wire rack for 10 minutes then remove and allow to cool completely before frosting. Frost cupcakes with cream cheese icing - recipe below.

Cream Cheese Frosting

16 oz. cream cheese (2 packages), softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter (one stick), softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
pinch of salt

With an electric mixer, blend together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Turn mixer to low speed and blend in powdered sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Turn mixer on high and beat until light and fluffy. Use immediately or refrigerate, covered, until ready to use. If refrigerated, the frosting will need to be brought to room temperature before using (after frosting softens up, beat with mixer until smooth)

There you go, hope you love the recipe like I do - it's one of my favorites.

Random tidbit from the day: our super duper cute dog, Norman LOVES scratches/rubs. Sometimes when you won't rub him, he'll go down to your feet and push himself up against them to get you to scratch him with your feet. Today he went down by my foot, stood underneath it and for several seconds moved his butt back and forth, scratching himself on it. I died. I am basically in love with that dog.
Also - best music from the 2-hour kitchen dance party: Ke$ha, Will Smith and Da Dip by...who knows? Also, Linda Eder once things started to slow down. If you've never heard her, prepare for an awesomeness comparable to a kick in the face. An awesome kick. (You can skip to 2:00 if you don't want to listen to the whole song. And you will still be kicked.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWP7l0OTXJI

Blindness - Good or Bad?

Several months ago I read someone accusing Mormons of being "blindly obedient" (which I will sometimes refer to as b.o. - just because I think it's funny), and this was not meant as compliment. I've read many publications and opinions that share this sentiment; people see Mormons as people who don't ever question anything and just go along with what they're told, not knowing why.
I can't stop thinking about this, mulling it over in my little brain over and over.
So here is the $25k question:
What is the difference between blind obedience and faith?
Is there a difference?

When I think of "blind" faith, I think of Adam when he was cast out of the Garden of Eden. He built an altar and offered sacrifices, and when he was asked why he humbly said, "I know not, save the Lord commanded me." Would this be considered by these same people as b.o.?
Because isn't this essentially what we do, as Latter-day Saints, on a daily basis?
Why do we visit/home teach?
Why is it so important to keep the Word of Wisdom?
Why do we have family home evening?
Sure, there are the Sunday School answers to these questions, but if someone really grilled me about the reasons, and they weren't satisfied with my SS answers, I would say to them: because the Lord commands it. And that is good enough for me.
So does that make me a b.o-ite? Hehe :)

For me, the difference between b.o. and faith is that I know I will be blessed for keeping the commandments, no matter what that command is. If I'm commanded to not wear the color red for the rest of my life, I would KNOW that by following this commandment I would be blessed. I would KNOW that God expects it of me for my own benefit, and for my greater good. And without knowing WHY, in any shape or form, God asked it of me, I would know that it is because He loves me and wants the best for me. Is THIS what people see as b.o.? So what is their definition of faith?

I'd really love your input on this.
Have you ever been accused of being blindly obedient? If so, how did you respond?
How do you think faith is different than blind obedience?

KITCHEN REMODEL = SUCKING

Yeah, it's been a long time since I've blogged, and I have no excuse other than I feel like I never have interesting to blog about. So I'm just going to pretend like we're still friends and you still want to read my blog sometimes. Yay!
So, as you can tell from the aforementioned kitchen remodeling, I'm a little frustrated. When I was envisioning all my home decor, I was really feeling retro-y. THIS is what I was going for in my kitchen.


But it turned out looking more like a bad piece of Anasazi Indian art. I really just hate it, more and more by the day. I really despise the thought of having to paint the whole wall again - even though I didn't even do it in the first place (thanks, In-Laws). Just, painting is hard work and it takes forever. But it will be worth it to have a kitchen that doesn't make me cringe whenever I walk in to it.
So - now, what color? I've been agonizing over it for weeks. I'm torn between trying a really light turquoise like this:


OR
a light green like this:


I'm really leaning towards the green, because I feel like I can do a lot more "vintage" accessories, and it seems like there is so much more freedom that way. With the turquoise I feel it's a lot more retro, and I think that's part of the reason it doesn't work in my kitchen - it really clashes with my wood floors.
I'm jazzed about going vintage, because I can put anything up on the walls, and it goes. Old frames, keys, mason jars for lights, random junk I find at garage sales. I just think it will be a lot more versatile.
So, what do you think? Thanks for any input :)

RAW!

In January Alex and I did a “raw” diet for a week and we really liked it so we wanted to try it again.
Today is day three and it has been quite the adventure so far.

Day one:
Morning went well but it was all downhill after that. I got SO hungry during church and when I got home I was just pissed. I shouldn’t be this hungry!! I don’t really remember the steps that I took to get to this point, but before I knew what I was doing I had cold leftover steak in my bare hands and it was half-eaten. It was not amusing at all in the moment, but I get a good chuckle out of it now, thinking what I must have looked like: crazed cave woman, mumbling about the ridiculousness of being starved. That night we had family dinner and I was proud of myself for just having a salad... and then my brother walked in with banana splits. Seriously?! Splits are one of my favorite things on the planet. I sat there looking at everyone and getting more and more angry that I couldn’t have any!! So.. yes, I had some. And, yes, it was delicious and made me very happy.
Raw status of the day: 50%

Day two:
Most of the day went very well. We were starved for a good part of it, but where we really hit the wall this day was wanting to get out and do something on our day off, and all we could think of was food! When we want to go out and have some fun, we go get pretzels.. go get Orange Peel.. go get dessert. Isn’t it crazy how much our lives revolve around food?! We did well for most of the day, but we gave in and went to Winger’s for dinner. I restrained myself and did not get the asphalt pie, which I see as a huge feat.
Highlight of the day: eating cherry tomatoes and strawberries straight from the ground at the greenhouse.
Raw status of the day: 70%

Day three:
So far, my hunger has been a lot better. It helps to be at work and not sit around and think about food all day. I’m drinking a lot more water, which helps as well. The worst part has been the caffeine headache. It’s been going strong for about 3 hours now. Only seems to be getting worse. The day is more than half over and I am 100% raw so far! Girls night tonight, let’s hope I can stay strong!!

Lots of Happenings Lately...

Holy cow, so much has happened in the last few weeks and I simply have not had time to blog about it all! So we’ll play a little catch-up today.


Easter Sunday we found out that my sweet, sweet Grandma Palmer left this earth to be with her eternal companion again. We were planning on going up north that weekend anyway for wedding stuff, so we went one day earlier to attend her funeral. It was a wonderful memorial and it was so fun to see so much of my family. I was SO moved by the amazing legacy this woman left. She has over 80 grandchildren, over 65 great grandchildren and even a few great-great grandchildren! And she has touched every single on of their lives with her sweet spirit. I was especially moved to be part of a choir that sang a song in her memory, as she was the one who instilled in so many of us a love of music.

The rest of the weekend was filled with lots of fun family and friends time. We love getting to spend time with our super fun friends, Jake and Kelli Brandon. Jake was Alex’s MTC companion and Alex has some crazy stories about their experiences together.

The main event of the weekend was attending the temple with Alex’s family as his sister attended the temple for the first time. We had never been to the Salt Lake temple before and it was awesome! Definitely different than the other temples we’ve been to, and that’s cool!

Then this last week was just a whirlwind! I feel like it went by so fast and I was exhausted the whole time! We made a goal to finish our freaking cabinets that have been 5+ months in the making by Wednesday, when I was hosting Bunco. So we were planning on doing a big chunk of it on Monday but then my family wanted to have a preparedness meeting so we couldn’t do it that night. So we literally screwed in the last door as the doorbell rang for the first of the bunco girls on Wednesday. But we finished!!! HUZZAH!! I love how they turned out, but I’m not so sure about how they look with the blue wall.





My original thought was a bright turquoise with a bright red, but the turquoise turned out more blue than I planned and the red turned out darker than I expected, so now it just looks Mexican-y. And that is NOT what I was going for. I’m seriously considering re-painting the wall, cuz there is NO way we are re-doing the cabinets!! Any comments/suggestions would be mucho appreciated!

In addition to all that, I had the opportunity to do Alex’s sister’s wedding book so every spare moment last week was spent doing that. I’m really pleased with how it turned out and I will try to get some pictures up here of some of my favorite pages. Poll # 2 of the post: do you think a wedding book is something that people would pay someone to do? I’m considering starting a little business with it because I sure love doing it. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s basically a collection of scrapbook pages that you use as your guest registry instead of the boring old “write your name”. It’s super fun and Alex and I still look through ours all the time.

Then this last weekend was filled to the brim with wedding! It was all absolutely gorgeous, due to my amazing mother-in-law. I sure love attending sealings and remembering how blessed we are to have the covenants we do and the wonderful blessings that come with them. The church is true, everyone! Just in case you were wondering :)

Don't forget to comment with your thoughts on the blue wall and the wedding book idea! THANKS!!

I Heart Antibiotics

I am having a love affair with my antibiotics.

On Tuesday I woke up with a little swollen tonsil but just started repeating positive affirmations to ward off a cold like I usually do. It kept persisting through the day and that night I was having trouble sleeping because it had gotten so bad. Finally I woke clear up and thought to myself: “self, I think we have strep throat”. You see, I know what this feels like because I had strep throat almost exactly a year ago! Ugh.

I woke up, went and looked at my tonsils and knew immediately. If you’ve ever seen tonsils with strep, you know there’s no mistaking. It looks like this: (look away, faint of heart.. and faint of butt... Props if you know what that is from.)



So... don’t tell my doctor, but I had a few of the antibiotics left over from last time and I took one of those in the middle of the night and first thing in the morning. Strep is probably the worst sickness/pain that I’ve ever had. It is so sucky I can’t even describe it. Can’t swallow without it hurting my entire body, feel like I’m going to hurl and having nightmares about how intensely painful that would be on my throat, aches all over, fever. Worst. Ever. I am SO – SO glad I had the old antibiotics because I started feeling better by that afternoon, right around the time I had gotten my new prescription filled. So I would’ve been insanely miserable for another 12 ish hours had I not had the old antibiotics. Yay for cheating on stuff!

Moving on from that epic story about sickies, life is grand now! I feel almost 100% better today and I am in love with antibiotics. Can you imagine getting strep or something like it in the early 19th century? If it would’ve happened to me I think there would have been two options:
a – I would have died.
2 – I would have killed myself because of the pain.
Either way I would’ve died.

Today I am full of gratitude for the modern medicine that I do believe in (which is, to be truthful, a slim category). It is a lovely day out and I’m glad I get to enjoy it and the awesome weekend that lies ahead!

We Got a Puppy!

We have been wanting a puppy for a long time but they are sooo expensive and we couldn't justify spending several hundred dollars for the breed we wanted. So last week I was just looking around on Craigslist and found this little guy! He is a Maltese.


I e-mailed the lady to see if he was still available and the more I found out about him, the more perfect for us he sounded.
We got him Sunday night and we've been loving getting to know him!


Sometimes he tries to eat our faces...
Just kidding :) He was just yawning.



He is super cute and loves to cuddle and be rubbed.



We are so glad he is part of our family!
We still haven't decided on a name...
First he was Archibald, and then he was Fred. And then he was Winston. I still like Winston but Alex doesn't. We're also tossing around Nigel, Gunther and Terrance.
Hopefully we decide soon! I'm sure he's getting quite confused as to why we are calling him all these different names.

Hmm... maybe I should blog

Wowsers, it's been a while, eh?
Well, work was INSANE for a few weeks before we took our vacation, so that's my excuse for then. I was working 10, 11, 12 hour days and some Saturdays. I love being busy, but it got exhausting really fast. My husband is amazing for supporting me through times like that. Actually, just always. He almost always does the dishes AND the laundry.
*Sigh* I am so lucky.
Some highlights from March: (that I only remember because of the scheduler in my phone)
-My nephew CJ's baptism. He's getting so big!
-Seeing Al's little bro in a Shakespeare play at school. He was awesome and the show was so, so funny. (I'm totally trying to mask the fact that I cannot remember the name of the play... loser).
-Getting my nails done at A Seron Style on Bluff Street. I love them and I got a great price. I haven't had my nails done in forever and it was fun to feel girly! I also got some SUPER cute decals put on them from a company that we work with at Rainbow. Check out her amazing product at www.sheekee.com
-GOING ON A CRUISE!!
Our week-long vacation could not have come at a better time for us, especially with how my work was going. I was beyond stressed and was more than ready to get away.
Here are just a few highlights from the amazing week with our friends, Seth and Jamie Price.

Best. Tacos. Ever.


Freaking awesome sand... thing.


All the dessert I want?? Yes, please!


Am I really excited about free ice cream all day, with sprinkles?! Yes, I am.


He is totally putting out the vibe.


Lots of this:


Puerto Vallarta


Legit elotes! YUM!


So that is our awesome vacation in a nutshell. I'm still not quite back in the groove of regular life after that.

Conference was amazing and I continue to be humbled by and so grateful for my membership in this true church. I have many new resolves to be better in several areas!
...Including blogging more often :)

I enjoy being a girl. . .

Womanhood has been on my mind a lot lately. I heard a sad story about a woman who felt like God did not love her as much, just because she is a woman. I couldn't believe how foreign this was to me, and I wanted to document how lucky I feel because of that. So here are some random thoughts on being a woman.

- I have always known that I am a daughter of God and that He loves and cherishes me so much. Never have I felt like I was not as respected or revered because I am a woman. My mother taught me young that men have their place in the church, and so do women. Both share equally important responsibilities.
- I have never been offended by a man opening the door for me. I see this as a sign of respect and I truly believe that this is the way Heavenly Father would have His sons treat His cherished daughters.
- I have always loved the idea that Heavenly Father does not mention Heavenly Mother because He cherishes her so much that He does not want her subject to the disrespect He knew He and His son would receive. (That was a lot of pronouns. . . .)
- Ever since I was young I have been excited to be a wife and mother, with all it's cliches. I imagine myself being the "cool" mom that makes snacks for her teenage boy and his friends when they come over. I want to be a soccer mom. I want to do my kids' laundry and be home for them whenever they need me. I will feel so blessed if this is possible for our family.
- I love being unique, special and having "womanly" abilities and instincts. I love being able to multi-task!
- I have always felt an awe and respect for the women of the church from it's leaders.
- I know with all of my heart that God respects and trusts me so much because He is willing to let me raise His children. What else could illustrate this so thoroughly? I also recognize that this ability/responsibility is very comparable to holding the priesthood, and never once in my life have I wanted to hold that priesthood because I see motherhood as my role to fulfill.
- I am totally guilty of asking for help from a man when I could probably do it myself, but I love being the woman and allowing the man to be the man. Have you seen the look on their face when you let them lift something heavy for you? It's adorable.
- I don't know if I'm just really lucky, or if I view the world through different eyes than some women, but I have never felt disrespected or looked down upon because I am a woman. Don't get me wrong, I have definitely felt those things, and more, but I haven't felt that it is a direct result of being female.

I feel truly blessed to be a woman in this day and age and hope to become the powerful woman that God would have me be. Not person, but woman. I have unique abilities because I am a woman, and I know that God expects me to use those to rise to my full potential.
I scanned through a few talks from the general authorities on womanhood, and felt such love from them and my Heavenly Father, and this quote solidified everything I have ever felt about the power of women:

“Without the devotion and absolute testimony of the living God in the hearts of our mothers, this Church would die.” - Heber J. Grant

Yes, try it again... only, without the "oops"

Sum up of the last week in 7 words:

Monday: Talking, talking, talking with Dew and friends.
Tuesday: Celebrating memories with balloons, music and food.
Wednesday: Realizing I'm not ready to be mommy.
Thursday: Independence Day rocks and coughing up lungs.
Friday: Really, Aunt Linda? You suck really bad.

Some insights from this week:

The hangover from NyQuil is worth it if it means I got a few hours of sleep.

I love using music to soothe people's souls.

Aliens are bad and scary, but we'll be okay if we have Will Smith on our side.

No matter how tired I am I can argue politics like it's nobody's business. And I always love it.

Life is short. Really short for some people. And really long for others, but really it's all about the people who surround you. I'm so glad to be surrounded by people I love and who love me.

Spitter scags are the worst.

I make a killer stroganoff.

I'm excited for the weekend!

The end.

Disney Advocates Dysfunctional Families

First of all, let me say that pillow talk is one of my favorite parts about being married.
This is how our pillow talk went last night.
Me: "Don't they kill the mom in Dumbo?"
Al: "Yeah."
Me: "Ugh. That's why I don't like it. Bambi, too."
.....moments of silence.
Me: "Dude, there are tons of Disney movies that have single parents, dysfunction, adoption, etc." (I didn't really say etc... does anyone ever really say that? But it makes my point.)
We then proceeded to spend the next 10 minutes spouting off all the Disney movies we could think of. Check this out.

Pinnochio - single dad
Dumbo - single mom, killed
Bambi - mom killed, dad was not in his life for childhood
Cinderella - lives with stepmom and crazy stepsisters
Peter Pan - orphan
Jungle Book - orphan
The Aristocats - abandoned, orphans
The Rescuers and Rescuers Down Under - boy is an orphan
Fox and the Hound - orphan
The Brave Little Toaster - abandoned by "master"
Oliver & Company - orphan
The Little Mermaid - single dad
Beauty and the Beast - single dad (plus, he's crazy)
Alladin - orphan boy and single dad for Jasmine
Jungle Book - orphan
Pocahontas - single dad (at least I think there is no mention of mom)
Toy Story - single mom
James and the Giant Peach - orphan, parents eaten by rhinoceri!
Tarzan - orphan
Lilo & Stitch - orphan
The Santa clause - divorced
Finding Nemo - single dad
Chicken Little - single dad
Meet the Robinsons - orphan
Ice Age - little boy is orphan
Up - single mom

I do not consider myself to be a Disney expert, and may not know some of these stories entirely, so correct any misconceptions that I have. And this is by no means a full list of Disney movies, but mostly what I've seen. There were a small handful that I had seen that had traditional families - Hercules (although he gets adopted), Mary Poppins (though there is dysfunction in the home in the beginning), The Incredibles. Those are really some of the only ones I could find.
Just some food for thought.
Maybe Disney is the reason the divorce rate is so high. Subliminal messages, my friends. They are powerful.




P.S. I hope no one takes me seriously on this, I don't want fiery comments about being a Disney-hater! I just thought it was really funny to find SO many movies with the non-traditional family! Even a lot of the older ones, too, when it was so much more the norm. Maybe Walt was an orphan...

Anniversary Weekend in Brianhead

Alex and I really wanted to do something fun/really cheap for our anniversary this year and we ended up getting hooked up with a free room at the Cedar Breaks Lodge in Brianhead for the weekend! Woot!

So Thursday night we hung out with our besties, the Telfords, and I started feeling really weird/nauseated/sicky/headachey, so I went to bed early, especially after Alex told me I had a fever. BOO. I was trying SO hard to fight it off because I didn't want our weekend to be ruined. So the next morning I was totally raunchy because I felt awful, but knew I had to go to work because I already told them I was leaving early and I KNEW that if I called in sick they would just think I wanted to leave early for vacation. Nobody wants that. So I went in and sickied all over them. I had a fever and sinus congestion all day. I left around lunch time and Alex and I started to get stuff ready for our trip. He was really tired and I was so sick and we both wondered if we should go but we knew we'd regret it if we didn't.

So... I passed out for the whole trip up, mentally punching Alex's throat whenever the car lurched enough to wake me. He was so sweet to drive the whole way and let me sleep. But he still deserved some throat punches.


Then we got to the lodge (no, we didn't take ANY pictures. FAIL.) and I passed out again and started feeling SO much worse. On top of the sinus pressure/headache/intense body aches, stiffness and pains/sore throat/stuffy nose I started to feel really sick to my stomach. Ugh. When I woke up after tossing and miserably groaning for an hour or two Alex gave me a blessing and I was able to fall back asleep and felt so much better after waking. Yay for the priesthood! I was even hungry, so we went to the on-site cafe, which we loved! It was so yummy and not even over-priced at all. I have much love for people who don't over-price things just because they can.

So I got a salad.

Bad. Choice.

I felt totally fine going to bed and then the middle of the night the "oh my gosh, I might die or maybe just throw up my intestines" feeling came back again. Kept me awake and whimpering for an hour, then I went and threw up. Salad. SICK. But then I was able to sleep - yay!

So that's the really long account of the sucky first, very non-romantic, night of our weekend. I was weak for the rest of the time and still had a sore throat and stuffy nose but felt much better. I would like to tell you of fun adventures and awesome things we did, but we seriously did nothing all day Saturday. Nothing. We watched TV (it was Nazi day on the History Channel!), played games, read books, slept on and off, took baths and showers (the bathtub had jets!) and looked out the window at the icicles, waiting for them to fall and seriously injure someone below. Not as a sick, sadistic wish, but that maybe we might have a millisecond to yell "SIR! Look out, a 3 foot icicle is about to strike your head from above!" But really it would just come out "Bleahhhahhhaaaaaaaa!" If you can name which comedian I am referencing your "I'm a rockstar" meter will rise by 10 points. Post a comment and I will notify the winner of their current standing on said meter.


(Side note: I got this from a news story titled "Falling Icicles Kill And Injure Record Numbers In St. Petersburg". See, this shiz is real.

Then we came home today and played video games and forgot what time was.

All in all, a pretty rockin weekend.

I Like Breathing

I got a massage last night. Dee-licious.

I feel really pretty good about life right now. Alex and I are getting away this weekend for our anniversary, work is great, we have some amazing friends, my back isn't killing me and I'm guzzling a Mountain Dew.
All these equal happiness.

Plus these things is the assurance that Alex and I can indeed afford to live in our house. The bills are in place to pay for our first normal month of living there and it looks like we will even have some money leftover for food. Yay! I have been so, so stressed about this and I'm just glad that I know what to expect now.

Wanna know some secrets?
- Taylor Swift songs make me cry.
- I hardly ever stay interested in something for too long. I'll play video games with Alex every day for a month and then not play once in 6 months. I'll do a craft 3 times a week and then go for 3 months without doing one.
- I have a reall small bladder.
- I want to make time to meditate every day but I can never wake up until I absolutely have to.
- I hate showering. Hate it.

And now, I have to go to the bathroom. See? Small bladder.

2 WHOLE YEARS!

Happy Anniversary to me and my hubby!!
I could do a whole post about how amazing he is and how I fall more and more in love with him every day, but you would all toss your cookies because of the mush. And cookies are good and meant to stay in the tummy, so just suffice it to say that I LOVE being married to my man that is perfect for me.

So.... trying to get back into blogging is hard because I feel like I don't know what to write about. How about I complain a little bit? I'm sure my hubby is sick of hearing about it, so I'll vent about it to the blogging world where no one has to listen if they don't want to :)
K, I am tired ALL the time. Seriously, all the time. No matter how much sleep I get, no matter what time of day it is. It is really rare for me to feel like I have any real energy whatsoever. I am really, really sick of it. I went to get my hormones tested and they said everything was normal, except for some pancreas stuff, but that doesn't affect energy. I can't figure out what is wrong with me. Even when I was on the raw diet, still nothing. I take vitamins and Juice Plus (basically two capsules of a gazillion grams of vegetables and fruits broken down into powder form) every day. No difference. What gives, body?!
On top of this I feel like I have been falling apart in the last few weeks. First, I think I got black mold exposure so I had crazy allergies for a good week and a half. Right during the move. Then my back started hurting so bad that it just goes numb sometimes. And sometimes I just go into the bathroom at work and cry for a minute cuz it hurts so bad. Seriously, I feel like I'm 30 years older than I am! Ugh. I hate, hate not being in control of my body.
Any suggestions, 10 people that occasionally read my blog??

Hey, did you know that we have a roommate? We do. His name is Khol. Not Kohl. Sometimes we call him K-hole. But not to his face. He is a super nice guy and we feel like there is a reason that everything fell into place exactly for him to come live with us for a little while.

That's all I can ramble about for now. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things soon and find things to blog about...

Getting Back on the Grid

Hello, again!
I think I'm ready to start blogging again, as life is once again approaching a semi-normal pace.
Since my last post we have bought a house, celebrated Christmas and New Years, sanded, stained, painted, cleaned, worked, bought, shot guns, vegged and just been all around happy with life.
Some pictures to prove it:

Alex working so hard and being so manly. I love him.


Alex showing off the fruits of the stellar Rainbow Sign & Banner Christmas party. I have the best workplace ever. I look forward to the Christmas party all year long :)


Building a gingerbread train with our adorable nephew, Gabe. He did most of the decorating on his own. This is him eyeing his handiwork critically.


Shooting! We are both wearing our Jimmy shirts :D Joy.


Part of vegging. Alex makes amazing Molletes. It is a bolillo (just basically a roll) hollowed out, filled with refried beans and topped with Mexican cheese. Stick them in the oven to broil til the cheese melts and top with Alex's famous pico de gallo. YUM!


The sexy shotgun Alex bought me for Christmas!!!


I bought Al and his dad matching Glenn Beck t-shirts. They are so handsome ;)


Christmas Eve karaoke party with the Theo's!


Christmas Eve with my whole fam.




Our sexy new bed. I'm pretty much in love with it. But I'm more so in love with the fact that my amazing husband makes the bed and even puts all the pretty pillows up every single day. Every day. Amazing.


So there is the last month summed up in pictures. I will post the before and after pictures of projects once we get them done - HA! We still don't have doors on our cabinets... But we did get the drawers done! Woot! No more silverware on the counter.

We just feel super lucky to have been blessed so much as of late, and we are super excited to celebrate our 2nd anniversary on Monday!
And now I will sign off because our freaking awesome friends, the Telfords, have dinner made for us and just got here! Our life rocks. ROCKS!!!!