Cards and Holidays

Hey guys!

it's been a while. So sorry for the lack of commitment I've shown to this blog... a lot has happened, and I have quite an earful to tell you (or perhaps an eyeful for you to read???). So in my last blog, I told you about the huge memorial day BBQ we were going to have at my parent's house... well, after said BBQ, me and Clint decided to move back into the Casita (the nickname bestowed by my sister, Britney, to the guest house on my parent's property). So I had put in my 2-weeks notice to MDA and within a week or two, we were all moved out. In the middle of this process, we had devoted all of our free time into remodeling the Casita. We tore out the carpet and old flooring and put new wood floors into the bedroom and stained the rest of the floors. We painted all the rooms and replaced a few outlets, and all the plate covers. It was a dusty, dirty, tiring process, but it was well worth it.

After moving in, we were both unemployed for a few weeks, so we both spent all our time decorating and trying to find proper arrangements for our furniture along with job hunting. Clint got a job as a painter for his mother's apartment complex, and I am now a key-holder at Hallmark. I really like my new job, and I love the group of people I work with.

In January, Clint will be starting school. He will just be doing his general education classes, but he's thinking of studying something in the Medical field. I'm so proud of him for going to school and the choices he's making.

We're all ready for Christmas and I will be posting pictures once Christmas is slightly closer ;) We don't have room for a big real tree like we did last year, so this year we bought a little 3-4' Martha Stuart tree from Home Depot. It's already decorated with gold lights, flowers, and ornaments. It's really gorgeous!

So that's the majority of the update on what's going on in the Carpenter home. I will try to update again real soon! See you later!

Great Things in Store!

So, as I stated in my previous post, darling Clint was laid off. However, he has already had one job interview, and he has another one coming up this week! It's a pest control position, and it has great benefits, Plus, once he learns how to efficiently do his job, he can apply for other open positions around the country!

And for those of you who don't know, neither of us want to live here in Bakersfield, CA... So we're both excited about that possibility of moving. He already met with the owners and they really like him. SO he's going in for an official interview this week. Please keep him in your prayers!

Tomorrow we're having a huge BBQ at my mom's house with my family and Clint's family. There's gonna be about 30 people! That's like the biggest party we've ever thrown! At least the biggest one I can think of... It's gonna be a blast! I will take pictures and post them on here. So good happy thoughts about that event!

Speaking of happy thoughts, I have a handful of friends that are pregnant! It's so sweet to see how their lives are changing for the best (not that their lives were bad or anything, but a baby is always a plus!) and the growing bond between them and their husbands. One of those friends is coming over tonight for tea and cake! :D Sam, Ashley, and Tawny (the soon-to-be-mommy) are all gonna come over for a quick visit! So exciting! They're all on their way over now. So I'll blog again tomorrow and update with lots of pictures! See ya later!

Life

Hey there!

I haven't been here in a while, and I believe it is time for an update from Mrs. Carpenter! Well, the biggest (and crummiest) news is that hubby got laid off from his job. Times are hard, and his employers couldn't afford to keep him. Though, one of the bosses said that if things pick up, he'd call him and invite him back into the work. So there's a silver lining on this ominous dark cloud...

Some brighter news: my sister FINALLY got her house! Britney and David have been fighting to get into a house for a long time! And it's finally happened! Hooray! Some more great news in my small world: I have multiple friends that are pregnant! And my mom bought me a sewing machine for my birthday, so I'm going to practice making baby quilts and clothes for my friends so that by the time WE have children, I'll be all pro-status!
While I'm on the subject of sewing, let me just say this... I am scared of sewing any part of my hand to fabric. Is this a real possibility? Probably not. But does that large sewing needle, moving up and down at a rapid speed, scare the living you-know-what out of me? Yes. Very much so. And because of this fear, I cannot sew a straight line to save my life! I must conquer this irrational fear and become a wonderful seamstress!

Moving on... Clint busted out his meat smoker and decided to see if he still knew how to smoke a tri tip over at my parents house. We ended up having a smoked dinner two nights in a row over at my parent's house! Smoked tri tip one night, and smoked chicken breasts the next! Clint still has a knack for smoking meat! And I greatly benefit from it, ha ha!

My parents have been lending a huge helping hand to us while we've been struggling... Clint's been working part time at my dad's shop and my parents are helping us in every way they can. My mom has offered to buy us food, and we've eaten over at their house almost every night. They've even offered their back house to us rent-free so we could both work and earn an income. My job only provides the apartment and utilities. I don't really get much of a pay check. So there's no way I can support us. But you know, I really am not too worried about it. Clint served a full-time mission for the church, we got married in the temple, and we're trying our best to keep the commandments of the gospel. I really do think Heavenly Father will take care of us.

Clint is thinking of going back to school, and he's thinking of a medical career. I fully support whatever he wants to do, and I will do my best to help him bear his burdens with whatever path he ends up on.

 Artistically, I'm struggling a little bit right now. I'm in a funk and I can't seem to draw or paint anything right. I know it will pass, but it's endlessly frustrating. I feel like it's happening more and more often. I'm not really happy with my art style either... I want it to be somewhat more realistic looking. I'm working on it... Slowly but surely I'll get where I want to be, I'm sure. However, on the other hand, our apartment looks freaking cute and I'm proud of it. I'm thinking of trying something new... I have a bunch of scrap book paper and I wanna tear pieces of it up and make an autumn tree/forest scenery with the shreds of paper... Maybe I will try that sometime within the next couple of weeks.

Oh, I finished my mom's shed too. Here's a picture of the before and after... 

Everyone that's seen it thinks it's the cutest thing ever. It blows my mind. Like, yeah I think it's cute and fun, but I don't think it's something to sell myself on. My mom's friend want to make an ad for me on craigslist.com saying that I can paint murals and stuff for like kid's bedrooms... Making money off of my art would be fantastic. But I don't think I'm quite at that level to sell it yet... Maybe in a year or two.

Last week I decided I hate teaching in Primary. I seriously cannot stand bratty kids. They drive me nuts. there's a couple of kids in there that I absolutely adore, but... I want out. I want out now. Me and Clint are still struggling with liking and fitting into our ward. The only people I really know are my visiting teachers. I really like them, they are super nice... but the rest of the ward I could really care less for. I am seriously debating asking to get our records switched back into First Ward. If I knew Spanish, like Clint, I wouldn't even mind going into La Cresta Ward. I hate that I'm so bitter towards my new ward, but I honestly just don't enjoy a single minute of church while I'm there. I have never felt the spirit (and maybe that's my fault because I'm so bitter) while attending that ward. We look for any and every excuse in the book to go to a different ward. We crash First Ward all the time. I miss my Young Women and my calling in the YW organization. I feel so much love and devotion for those girls, and I miss being excited to teach a lesson or to go to church and see their sweet little faces...

Well, I believe this is just about all I have to say for now. I'll try to be more attentive to my blog and share updates in my life as they happen, instead of dumping a whole lot on you all at once. Thanks for stopping by and reading through! :)

The Greatest Decor in Life is Cheap...

Okay, so this blog entry will be a sort of tutorial. Unfortunately I don't have step-by-step pictures. BUT, the great thing about this project is you really can do it however you want!

So this is what I made...

All this consists of is the following:

• Twine
• Clothes Pins
• Water Color Paints (the kiddy kind in the tray)
• Paper
• Thumb Tacks/Push Pins (whatever you decide to call them) 

This project was under $10.00. And the greatest thing about it, is you seriously can make it into whatever you want! : )

So my kitchen really has no "theme" to it... Just colors. I guess "Colors" would be the theme. I don't have any set of particular colors, I just want my kitchen to be bright and colorful. And I wanted to have SOME sort of decoration on the wall.

First thing's first, you gotta decide how it's going to hang on the wall. I can't even really tell you how I did that pattern with the twine... I hung it up a while ago, and I don't remember step-by-step of what I did to get it that way... However I CAN tell you that I wrapped the string once around each tack so that it wouldn't wiggle or fall off.

Then, depending on your wall pattern that you've just created, you can calculate how many little images you can/want to put up on it. Originally I had three on the top and bottom and four in the middle, and they were all the same size. But it's been a few months and I got bored with it, so I decided to change it up today. Solid colors are very simple and anyone can do them (regardless of if you consider yourself artistic or not). All you do is paint the paper a solid color. That's it. If you want to add design to it, then by all means go ahead. Use stamps, stencils, or free hand it. 

Then you just hang up the pictures with the clothes pins! Simple as that. Add your own personal touch to any room, any way you like... FOR LESS THAN $10!!!!



If any of you decide to do this, I'd love to see what you do with it : )

Owl

Okay, so I was lurking around on Pinterest and I stumbled upon this adorable idea...

How cute is that? I thought to myself, "Dang, I could totally make something like that really quick..." and I looked around my apartment and decided my living room could use a little extra flavor. Now, the "theme" (i guess that's what you could call it...) for my living room is Owls. I sat there and thought for a minute and decided I was going to take the concept of the flower picture above, and use scrap book paper to make an owl instead of a flower (But I still totally want to make a flower too!). 

Yesterday I went to Beverly's Crafts and bought 5 pieces of double-patterned scrap booking paper (one one side was one pattern, and on the back side was a different pattern). Then last night I picked out a 16"x20" canvas from my art room (more like a junk room, but still), and painted it yellow. Then this afternoon I gathered together my pretty papers and I got out my oval hole puncher. I used just about every inch of all the papers. I still have half of 2 papers... So it really doesn't take much. Then I got to work trying to figure out the pattern and order of the papers, the placements of everything, and where the heck my glue was! 

After I found the glue (it was on top of my desk the whole time...), I began piecing my owl together on the canvas. Long story short, this is the end result!

For the eyes, beak, and ears, I just used my x-acto knife. Scissors would work just as well, but I was too lazy to get up and go get them from the kitchen. My knife was just sitting there on the table, so yeah... I used that. But yeah, this was really quick and a fun little project to do. I recommend it to everyone young and old! It's super easy and fast.

Flowers and Trash

okay guys. I'm going to vent a little bit, so if you're not interested in hearing this... move along. Or, you know what, if you're a new-ish parent with a child, just take this into consideration PLEASE.

As you know, I'm an apartment manager. My complex is small, just 19 units, and we have a couple of nice little gardens that we are trying to get started; one in the front all along the building, and one inside our courtyard. Well, there are families that live here with children. I like all the families and every one pretty much gets along. Well, there are just a couple of children in particular who have decided to go out and make friends with EEEEVERYONE in the neighborhood. Good for them. I'm honestly very glad that they made friends. HOWEVER, I am not okay with them giving out the front gate code to all the kids in the neighborhood. The kids they tell the code to tell other kids and adults. So the whole neighborhood can get in. Which is not what we want. I have children running around here all day long. Some of them should be in school. There's a few of them that are 5-6 and they're just running around the neighborhood (mostly here) and they are destroying our gardens.

The kids will come inside the courtyard (which is not very big...) and they will play football or tag, and all thirty of them will run and trample all over the flowers and plants. "Play out front!" I have told them over and over. Well, guess what? As soon as I leave, BOOM. They're back inside. My residents are getting irritated, and some are even wanting to move because of this. Our courtyard looks like crap. It's all dead and gross. And all the apartments face the courtyard. So everyone can hear how loud these kids are.

Well, my darling husband came out one night after I had gone off to run some errands and he asked the kids (along with some adults who don't even live here) to go out front to play. "Oh we're just finishing up." One of the adults said, "Okay, finish up out front. I'm not asking. I'm telling you to." Clint tells them. Well, this is about the time when I get called. Clint tells me what's happening and continues to tell me that no one even went out front. Everyone stayed in the court yard.

I don't want to tell you how to raise your children. That's not my place. But I am going to ask all of you to please teach your children some respect and some manners. It's not okay to pick flowers on private property, and there are reasons why adults and authority figures ask children to do stuff. Like playing out front. It's so frustrating. My property looks like crap. My garden flowers are limp and some are completely ripped up. These kids are so disrespectful and destructive. They've messed with our sprinkler system, broken a sprinkler head, killed our grass and flowers, broken a part of our tree, and they leave their toys/shoes/trash all over the place! It's horrible. And I'm quickly loosing patience with it. I filled up an entire trash bag full of cookie wrappers, ziplock baggies, chip bags, band aids, and all sorts of other crap that those stupid kids have left around the property.

This is so stupid. This is how much trash I gathered out of just one of the area's in the front garden.

 I changed our gate code today, so hopefully this wont be as bad as it has been. Hopefully my poor garden perks up and lives. I don't freaking understand how some of these parents can just let their kids run around all day unsupervised. I had one adult come over and say "My nephew plays with the other kids here in the pool." I told her "Ma'am, we don't have a pool on this property." So then she just walked away confused and calling out for her nephew. I was shocked! Who does that!? I would like to know where my child is at all times, or at least know that my child is with another adult that I know and trust. Ugh, it just sickens me how some of the adults in my neighborhood genuinely seem like they could care less about their children. I don't know that to be a fact, that is just my opinion that I've gotten from observing what's been going on.

Some Thoughts With Some Pictures

Okay guys, I'm totally in my office right now with not a whole lot to do, so I'm using stumble upon and I'm coming across some interesting, inspiring, hilarious, and beautiful things. And, of course, I'm passing it on to you. : )

 Recently I just blogged about beauty. This picture would have been perfect to throw in with it. If you have not read my beauty blog, read it here. Also, I totally agree with this picture. Everyone needs to smile, because every one is beautiful or handsome in their own way.

 Okay, now I know we all have our judgmental points in our life, "Oh my, why would anyone let her out of the house like that?!" Sitting in my little office that over looks my entire neighborhood, I find it quite hard to not be judgmental sometimes. Often times I end up texting Clint telling him "Please, don't ever let me wear/do ____." Which is honestly silly. Why waste energy focusing on all the wrong in the world? I am going to challenge myself and all of you to say something nice about someone, whether it's out loud or just to yourself, when you are tempted to criticize. We can do that!

Now, I can think of someone right off the top of my head that is a perfect role model of this. President Deiter F. Uchtdorf. I love that man! He's always smiling and he delivers such sweet, simple, and loving messages. For those of you who are unfamiliar with President Uchtdorf, he is a leader in the Mormon church. He's such a sweet and happy man. Clint and I were discussing what it would be like to meet him, and Clint said, "There's no way you could be upset or angry the moment he walked in the room. He's just so happy all the time, he'd completely turn around the atmosphere and everyone would have joy in their hearts."

 Now for a little humor to end this blog. I don't like drinking. I'm completely opposed to it. People do stupid things when they drink, and this little comic kind of highlights some of the stupid things people have done. It made me laugh. :D Haha!

Moral of this blog:

1. Smile, you are beautiful.
2. Challenge: Don't be so judgemental.
3. Be so happy it rubs off on people.
and finally 4. Don't Drink.

A New Project

Hello everyone! So lately my mom has been wanting to get her back yard all nice and fixed up. She has a nice long patio in the back that stretches across the full length of the house, and she has a nice sized pool with a little storage shed next to the pool, a pool house was all call "The Casita," and a back driveway that is unfortunately half covered with some of my grandfather's tools and other junk (but it's all stored inside a tent/shed contraption he built so it's really not in the way). Well, my mom came to me and asked me if I could paint a mural on the little shed next to the pool.

Honestly, I'm so excited! This will be a new challenge for me, and I'm sure I'll learn a lot from it! We went to Home Depot to buy all the paint for it yesterday. Did you guys know that Home Depot has CLEARANCE PAINT!? Normally the sample sized cartons of paint are just under $3.00, but on clearance... $.50!! So we got a ton of the clearance paint and saved a bunch of money! It was awesome! We got 5 medium cans, 1 gallon, 3 bottles of spray paint, and realistically about 10 sample-sized paints, along with a few painting supplies... all for less than $100!!! My mom and I were pretty pleased with ourselves, because Paint is freaking expensive, and we got everything we needed (and more) for less than $100.

Oh! you know another fabulous thing i found out this week? My sister, Britney informed me that Amazon.com has a clearance section! "This opens up a whole new ball game!" I freaking love clearance shopping! I'm so ridiculously cheap, it's ...well, ridiculous, hahaha! But Clint doesn't mind it. He likes that I try to be frugal with money.

So hopefully today, I'll get started on the shed. I'll take pictures from beginning to finish for you, and I will have to post them in a later blog. :)

Bye, for now!

The Image of Beauty

Okay, so I don't really know why this is on my mind this morning, but I've decided I'm going to blog about beauty, or at least my interpretation of it.

I believe beauty can be classified as an outer imprint of what lies within someone's heart. Yes, there are some very attractive people that are maybe not so nice... like Megan Fox. Megan Fox is very pretty. She's got the body, the looks, and talent. However, I'm pretty sure the character she plays in the movie "Jennifer's Body" isn't very far from her natural behavior. Do I know this to be a fact? No. I don't honestly know Megan Fox at all. All I know is a lot of trashy people I knew growing up were in love with her. My opinion on that matter is that you attract people similar to you. Megan Fox knows she's hot. And she flaunts it. I don't agree with that behavior.

I believe humble beauty is the most attractive personality trait someone can have. Now, don't judge me for what I'm about to reference... But the new boy-band, One Direction, sings an adorable song called "What Makes You Beautiful." Now the first time I heard this on the radio, I was taken aback. This song mentions nothing about boobs, butt, body, or sex. SHOCKING! This little song talks about a shy, humble girl that doesn't know she's attractive. And the boys sing these lyrics:

 "Baby you light up my world like no body else. The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed. The way you smile at the ground, it ain't hard to tell you don't know you're beautiful. Beautiful, if only you could see what I can see, you'd understand why I want you so desperately. Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe you don't know you're beautiful."

Now, personally I love this song. It's sweet, and it's got a catchy little tune. If you haven't heard it, I advise you to go to youtube right now and look it up. I think girls should be hearing more of these type of messages in music today. Growing up in a society that demands perfection is hard when you are far from perfect. When I was growing up, I was overweight, hairy, and one of the only white kids in my elementary and junior high. I was teased and poked at a lot. It sucked, and the media back then wasn't nearly as bad as it is now. My little sister-in-law is a beautiful young woman. She's blonde-haired, blue-eyed, thin, pretty and smart. She came up to me after school one day and told me that some girls were teasing her because she didn't shave her arms. "Wait... you have hair on your arms?" I asked. She has the blondest, finest hair. It's practically peach fuzz. You can't feel it or hardly see it on her. I couldn't believe it.

Another example which I will use my sister-in-law for is make up. Girls, you really don't need it. It's fun to wear, yes, but it's not necessary. My sister-in-law went to a giant pool birthday party last weekend and when she came back, she looked like a little raccoon. I kind of poked fun at her and asked "Why on Earth would you wear make-up to a pool party?" Her response: "I'm ugly without it."


HOLD THE FREAKING PHONE.


Okay! That's the saddest thing I've ever heard! All these stupid ads on television promoting girls to hide their naturally pretty faces under ungodly amounts of makeup and powders has burnt messages into young girl's minds! "I'm ugly without it"?! Bull. Absolute bull.

I understand if you want to cover up some blemishes, but girls, you have to understand... every one has pimples. Celebrities have them, dogs have them, I have them, Men have them... EVERYONE. It's a natural thing. Now if you want to wear a little bit of makeup to enhance one of your features, like eyes, sure. Go ahead. But don't over-do it. Please. Too much make up makes you look trashy, and I'm pretty sure you're not going for that kind of a look, right?

Now, call me a die-hard harry potter fan if you want, but I absolutely LOVE Emma Watson. I think she's beautiful, inside and out.

She's got the natural look. A little bit of make up around her eyes, and, lets be honest, she probably has a little bit of foundation on too. She's famous and this was a photo shoot. BUT, she has just enough make up to enhance her naturally pretty face. I'm pretty sure she looks just about the same without make up on. Another thing I like about Emma is the fact that she isn't made of plastic. She's all natural. She doesn't have gigantic fake boobs, or a badonkadonk (like Niki Manaj, good Lord... ) and she gave the following quote wich made me forever love her to pieces!

Click on the image to make it bigger if you're having trouble reading it, but basically what she's saying is that the whole idea of being "Sexy" is kind of silly. Girls that go out with everything they have hanging out is just ...well, gross in my opinion. Emma kind of agrees, and states that "less is more." Now, no, this isn't what you're thinking. By saying "Less is More," she isn't saying that the less clothing you have on, the more attractive you become, no that isn't it at all. Emma's saying that the less skin you can see, the more people can wonder and appreciate the sacredness of your beauty.

In today's world, fashion is key. However, most of the options for clothing are highly immodest. Short shorts, low-cut shirts, backless dresses... they are everywhere and popular. So girls buy them and wear them, leaving very little to the imagination. Girls, you are SO much better than that. Your bodies are sacred, don't flaunt everything you've got to everyone on the street. It's honestly not appealing to the right kind of crowd. Girls, think back to when you were little... You probably had dreams and wishes of your very own prince charming who would love you and think you were the prettiest princess in the whole wide world, right? Well you're not going to find prince charming by letting your boobs and butt hang out. You'll probably find a guy who may come across as a charming young man, but really, if someone approaches you because they like what they see (and if you're wearing immodest clothing, they may only be seeing some things that are not meant to be seen in public) he probably doesn't care at all about who you really are. He just wants you for your body.

You need to find someone who will fall in love with your inner beauty before your outer beauty. Sure, a pretty face can help attract people, but your personality and your heart are what keep your Prince Charming around forever.

You don't have to be model-thin, or have a sculpted face all painted up to look like someone you're not. Try wearing LESS make up- "less is more!" and show the world who you really are. Instead of worrying about your looks and comparing yourself to others, I want you to look in the mirror and complement yourself. Do it. Do this for a week straight, find something new to compliment your foxy self on each and every day for an entire week! Or if you're in for a bigger and better challenge, try it for a month straight. I promise, you will love yourself and appreciate your own natural beauty that you were born with more than ever before. Another thing you can do that will make you attractive is something so simple and so overlooked, people forget about it... Just be yourself.

You can try to be like someone else, sure. That's okay, I guess... But you need to take the time to remember, there's only one of you. You are an original. No one else can be you, no one else can see you if you are not simply being you. Be a role model. Maybe not for looks specifically, but attitude-wise. Be nice to people, compliment others, and smile more. I have a quote on my living room wall that says, "The happiness you feel is in direct proportion to the love you give." I fully agree with that saying. 

Me and my friends are all a bunch of silly goobers, but we are happy and we love life. We may not all be perfect, but we are perfectly content.

Don't bother worrying about what everyone thinks you look like. Don't compare yourself to popular girls or famous people. Just be you. Love yourself and appreciate your natural beauty.

90-Day Inspection

So earlier this week my boss shoots me an email stating that I had to meet with her in a sort of another interview to see how I'm doing with this job. So what do I do? Panic. PanicPanicPanicPanic. I emailed my friend Connie, who trained me when I first started as an apartment manager, asking her all sorts of "What do I do" & "What's going to happen," type of questions. She told me to relax and that it would be a cake-walk. Connie said that it would basically be an interview where I ask question on things I'm uncertain of, and where my boss will let me know if I need to improve on anything.

Okay, I got this.

Well this morning I woke up nervous. I got up with Clint this morning at 6:30, ate a waffle, cleaned the house, paced, showered, got dressed, put make up on, and then proceeded to stare at the clock. Time seemed like it was standing still. So in order to make time move faster so I could get this nerve-racking event done and over with, I played some Skyrim. It worked. I played my video game for like an hour before I had to leave. So, off to the office I went!

When I got there, my heart started pounding. I kept thinking to myself "this is silly, why am I so nervous? Kerrie (my boss) is so nice." I went in and suddenly, my heart stopped pounding against my rib cage. I was completely calm. Woo Hoo! I went into Kerrie's office and sat down. We chit-chatted a little bit back and forth and then we got down to business. Kerrie asked me how I liked the job, if I had any questions, or if I needed any supplies... I told her I honestly loved my job, and I asked her a couple of questions that I had, and the only thing I needed from her was.... brace your self.......

Paper Clips.

We both kind of laughed at that. She told me that I was doing a fantastic job and that I really picked everything up pretty quickly. She then asked me if I'd ever be interested in managing a larger complex or working full-time. I told that I would be able to work full time and that I'd be greatly interested in working larger complexes. Kerrie was super glad to hear that.

I love my apartments that I work at right now, and I'd love to stay here for a while. But within the next few years, I think I'd be able to tackle a big complex (which would mean moving). So I guess for now, I will just continue to learn and gain experience here and if I end up moving on to bigger and better things, then I will welcome it with open arms! : )

Happy Endings

Hooray! My book that I was reading had a happy ending. There was so much sadness, and then it gradually picked itself back up again. So now I'm happily digesting the story of the Story Sisters. : )

I was so worried that it would all just crash and burn... well, it did, but then a ray of sunshine peered in and the story became something new. It was such a good read! Elv had a baby girl and completely turned her life around. Sorry, I spoiled something for those of you who were possibly going to read it. But that's not even the best part. So ...that can just be your light at the end of the tunnel for when you get to the depressing part of the book.

Breast Feeding

So I opened up my web browser and on the Yahoo home page there was a link to this Time Magazine Cover. Now, okay, my first thought to seeing this was "Oh that poor kid... When he gets older, he'll be known as the 'boobie kid.'" Honestly, I support the idea of breast feeding. It's natural, and very beneficial to the baby. However, taking a picture of it happening, and letting the kid feed for that long... I don't think so. Clint and I discussed it and we both decided that once the baby can start asking for it verbally, then it's time to switch to bottles. Another thing... Why on Earth would you do it in public? Couldn't that be counted as indecent exposure in public? Like, yeah it's a natural, beautiful thing, but I also believe it's personal and should be kept private.

If you watch the video in that link, you'll see a little bit of the debate on breast feeding. My personal opinion on the matter is: Yes. Breast feed if the baby takes to it. But if you know you're going out for more than an hour, pump some of that magic stuff into a bottle! It will taste the same, it will have the same nutrients and texture, and that way you don't have to worry about flashing every one around you.

As much as I dislike Kim Kardashian (or however you spell her name...) I agree with what she says in that video clip. I don't want to see boobs when I'm eating.

I want to enjoy my Caesar Salad and Dr. Pepper, the company of my friends/family/husband and the atmosphere in the restaurant. I can't imagine indulging in my salad, looking up from my plate and seeing a boob and thinking, "Aw, that's totally okay here." No. It would be more like, "AW. I'm not hungry any more." followed by a sad face. I said earlier that breast feeding is beautiful. I still stand by that. But you know what else is a beautiful thing? Making love. BUT YOU DON'T SEE ANYONE DOING THAT IN PUBLIC. Or at least, I HOPE you don't... Some of life's most beautiful things are personal and sacred. So let's keep them private, yes? I think so.

Books & Books

Okay, so a while back Borders went out of business here in Bakersfield... it was horrible. I love Borders! That was harder than coping with losing Mervyns! Anyway, while Borders was going out of business, everything in the book store steadily became dirt-cheap. First I bought some art books... then I went back and bought a couple more. Then when everything was like 85% off, I went and attacked all the novels. I ended up buying 13 books for $20. Great deal, right? WRONG. I WANT BORDERS BACK. (but yes, I do love being able to pay less for things I want...)

 ANYWAY... I didn't touch any of the books I bought (except the art ones... occasionally). No, they sat and collected dust. Why? Because I didn't find the time to sit down and get lost in a book. I was busy with school and work. However, now that I'm taking a break from school, and I have a descent job that I only have to devote 13 hours a week to, I decided to finally pick up one of those books.

The first one I've picked up is called "The Story Sisters" by Alice Hoffman. It's about these three sisters, and when the book starts the oldest one, I believe is only 13 or 14. They are very young. These three sisters have their own made-up world and language that only they know about. As the book progresses, the girls all get distinct personalities and their world becomes more detailed and extravagant. The oldest girl, Elv, decides to face her fears that separate the "Human world" from the "Arnish world" (their made-up world). She ends up becoming completely fearless and decides to try everything to build her immunity to humanity.

Long story short, she starts sleeping around, gets tattoos, starts smoking and gets involved with drugs. Bummer. Elv alienates herself from her family and everyone around her. No one understands her and her sisters gradually become strangers to her. I'm at a point in the book where things can either keep spiraling down into a burning heap of sadness and anguish or where the situation can be completely turned around.

I'm so curious to see what happens... I can't tell you exactly what's going on, because some of you may want to read the book. It's written very well, very captivating. But it's at such a depressing part in the book, I kind of don't even want to bother... It brings me down. I don't like being down... screw gravity! My only real peeve with the book is that occasionally the f-bomb will come into play. Honestly, it could do without it. But, it is about teenage girls... which I have come to rediscover have very limited, uneducated vocabulary.

My old digital arts teacher, Daniel Binsfeld, asked me to help teach some of his current students some tips and tricks for photoshop. So I've been helping out High School students all week. It's fun, except for when they talk. If they were all a bunch of mutes, it would be perfect.

So getting back to the subject of my book that I'm reading... I'll definitely have to reblog and let you guys know if it gets happier or not. Then I'm sure I'll be on to the next book, and I'll post about that one as well. Maybe when I'm done helping Daniel's students I can write a post about that too... It's interesting and I'm sure that by the end of next week I'll have a couple good stories to tell. So until then, see ya!

Fancy Unicorns and my Husband's Birthday

Okay, so my little sister is online all the time and she came across a clothing site called thread-less t-shirts or something... Anyway, she found a contest in the site. The contest is to design a shirt/bag/wallet/etc. with something original on it. She called me super excited and told me I should enter the contest. I was going over to my parent's house later, so i told her to show it to me when I got there.

So we came over (for Clint's surprise birthday party, which I will give details about later on...) and Kaitlyn showed me the contest. The prize for first place is $2000 cash, a $500 gift card, and $500 each time the design is printed. Being somewhat newly-wed still and kind of tight on money, this intrigued me. A LOT. So since Kaitlyn introduced me to the contest, I wanted her to have a hand in the design. Long story short, this is what we came up with.

and here's the link to the site http://www.threadless.com/submission/419712/Fancy_Unicorn



okay, so now that I've told you about that, now it is time to tell you about my Husband's 26th birthday (his first birthday home from his mission). I tried figuring out what to do for his birthday... I am a horrible planner and I have an extreme lack of imagination when it comes to making plans. SO... i just asked him, "Clint what do you want to do for your birthday?" He thought about it for a while and then decided her really wanted to go to the temple. So we were off to Los Angeles!

We had a picnic on Temple Grounds...

I surprised him with a little chocolate cake and sang "Happy Birthday" to him...

We did a session in the Temple...

...and then Clint and I wanted to take some pictures around the grounds. So here's a few of my favorites...

It was a good day! He really enjoyed it. Little did he know this was just part one of his birthday...
At the end of the night, we came home and had panda express for dinner. It was around 7pm when we got home. No visitors for Clint... no phone calls... just food then bed. So the next morning Clint calls me and tells me that he's a little disappointed that his mom didn't come to see him on his birthday. In my head I'm thinking :Well, you'll see her tonight...At the surprise party we're throwing for you!!!" It almost came out.. (I'm horrible at keeping secrets, too) but I kept it in. Barely.
So the game plan to get Clint to come over to my parent's house was for my mom to call me at 6:30 panicked and distraught over Kaitlyn who "broke her arm." It worked. Even though Clint was kind of questioning how on Earth she broke it... I told him she fell out of her tree house (which isn't even 6 feet off the ground) and Clint argued, "well that fall couldn't really break her arm, could it?" So what do I say? I say, "She hit the ladder on the way down." then we both visualized it in our heads and both chuckled a little bit. I was trying very hard to focus all my energy on looking upset and worried aside from the giggles. It worked, Clint kept looking over at me telling me to calm down and that my sister would be okay.

We get to my parents house and I unlock the front door. It's dark and Clint walks in behind me. Immediately I ask about Kaitlyn and my mom tells me she's in the back of the house calming down. Then we get past the first room, the lights come on, and everyone yells "SURPRISE!!!!!!!" Clint looks over at me and smiles from ear to ear. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. MY HUBBY IS HAPPY.

He wasn't expecting it, and he loved it. All his family members who live in town were there, and so was my family. My mom planned it all, and she did such a good job, especially doing it all while she was sick! So an extra "Thank You" for my mom. :)

Clint's first birthday home was wonderful. He loved it! Everyone is so happy to have him home again!

Flowers

Okay, so my most FAVORITE flower in the whole wide world is Orchids. And this month marks five months of being married :D and on the 11th, my sweet husband came home for lunch and he bought me a stem of White and Purple Orchids with Orange and Yellow Gerber Daisies! I was completely floored! I love my hubby so much!

Aren't they beautiful?

He's so sweet. :)


Just wanted to share my pretty flowers with you. I'll try to post a more adequate blog to update on what's been going on lately another time. Maybe tomorrow... :)

Sweet Surprise

Clint is such a sweetheart! He brought me home some hand-picked flowers that were just gorgeous! I'll just let the pictures do the talking. :)

He just came home with those one day and gave them to me. He gets me flowers every month, but I must admit that these are my favorites so far! He said he was working on a vacant house and there was a whole bush full of these flowers, and he said they reminded him of me. Isn't that sweet? I have the greatest husband ever!

Dreams

Okay, so I've been having some pretty darn strange dreams lately. I had one dream about some gigantic worms and another dream where Beyonce was a man!

Yeah. Strange, right?

So the first dream was about some girl's that i've never even seen before. They were twins, and they were trapped in some building (i think it was like an abandoned hotel or something) with Clint, Britney and David, and Tyler and Nina. All 5 of them were walking down a hallway together, but then one of the twins stopped and looked over her shoulder at a door they had just passed. Without saying a word, she walked over to the door and opened it, and inside was just this huge void full of giant worms! Not only were they huge and fugly, but these thing could self-reproduce by vomiting. Yeah. VOMITING. They just choked out full-sized worms from their mouths. Nasty. Absolutely nasty.
So, anyway, one of the worms like, ate her, I guess, but then it spit her back up and she went all nutso and possessed. She walked back out into the hallway and followed my group of friends/family, and she grabbed Ty by his shoulder and they all warped to some outdoor BBQ party. Ty and David started doing some karaoke, and then the possessed twin started killing people. Her weapon of choice: half of a broken glass plate. No joke.
And I even made a picture, haha.

'Kay, so the next dream involved just about the same group of people, minus the twins. So it was Me, Clint, Britney, David, Ty, and Nina. We're all in Britney and David's apartment, just chilling, and then Beyonce busts in the front door and tells us about some rave party. She's also wearing a full body, sequin, spandex-type suit. She mentions Disco balls and Britney is bound and determined to go to this thing. Britney convinces David to go, and then she asks me and Clint. Clint wasn't exactly thrilled about the idea, "I'm kind of tired, I kind of just want to stay in tonight." Then Britney gets her sad puppy face on, and Clint feels bad, "Fine. I'm in." I kind of didn't want to go, but since Clint said he'd go, I decided to go to. Then Ty and Nina were more than willing to go. So off we all went with Beyonce.
So we're in some crazy rave party place and Beyonce starts dancing all crazy and powerful-black-woman-like, and she does some sort of head roll move, and then her hair/weave flies off and all of a sudded she kind of looks a bit like Gary Coleman. And then there's some obvious manly-parts starting to show in her sequins and spandex. So in a deep manly voice she pleads with us, "You can't tell anyone about my secret! If everyone found out I was a man, my career would be ruined!"

Then I woke up.
Sorry, guys, I don't want to paint what I saw in that dream.






WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON IN MY SUBCONSCIOUS MIND!?!?

So the "J" makes an "H" sound...

Okay, so for those of you who don't know me as well as some others, I am seriously the whitest chick ever. I can't roll my R's very well (hardly at all, really), Mexican food hates my guts (I'm allergic to it or something), I can't tan anymore for some unknown reason, and I'm pretty sure all my friends are white. Yeah, now that I think about it, all my close friends are, indeed, just as white as I am.

Okay, so I was lurking around on the internet one day, and I forget what site I was on... But someone had posted a comment that was pretty laughable, and I was reading the responding comments. Some were "oh that's funny", or "LOL," but there was ONE... ONE COMMENT... that I just didn't get.


"Jajajajaja"


Me, being the white girl that I am, read it as it looked. I read it as the J making a J sound. "JAJA!? WHAT IS THIS JAJAJA!? I DON'T GET IT."

So later that night I was talking to my friend, Kiersten, about it. And describing to her my confusion. She was laughing, because I was being pretty animated about how stupid it was and how it made absolutely no sense at all. Then I had an epiphany. I stopped in mid-sentence, and told Kiersten, "Holy crap! I GET IT! it's not 'JAJA', it's 'HHHHAHHHA', like the name Jose!" (thought I said the name "Jose," more like this, "HHHHHHHHOSAY")


so there you go, my dear readers: my Spanish epiphany.

Guestbook

So my mother-in-law is getting remarried this weekend, and her theme for her reception is "Spring," so my mom and I are trying to make that happen for her :)

My mom is having so much fun planning this little reception (less than 50 guests) and I had SO MUCH FUN making the guestbook for Susan and Sean (my mother-in-law and her fiance)!

What I did to make this was very simple.

FIRST: I got out a 16"x20" canvas, and sketched where I wanted things to go

SECOND: I busted out my oil paint and my brushes, then went to town on that canvas. I seriously only used like, four colors; red, two shades of brown, and lots of white.

THIRD: I had to wait two days for the paint to get dry.

FOURTH: I cut out the paper oval "Cherry Blossom Petals" for the guests to sign, and hot glued them to the canvas

Fifth: I cut off the fabric cherry blossoms from some fake flower stems, and hot glued the blossoms to the canvas.


TA-DAH! Now I just hope no one messes it up at the reception.

Smell is Important to Me

Okay, so you know when you walk into someone's house, you can instantly smell whatever/whoever lives there? Well, I've walked into some pleasant-smelling houses, and some not-so-pleasant smelling houses. So I'm an absolute nut about how my house smells. I'm really stingy with my money, but I will (and have) splurge on things like those little Glade plug-in oils, air fresheners, fabric sprays, and cleaning products that smell absolutely delicious. Like, for example, I have citrus scented swiffer pads, my trash bags have a lemon-fresh scent, and I have at least 2 glades in each room. Not to mention three scentsy warmers; 2 in the kitchen/dining room area and one in the bedroom. I don't want my house to be all stanky. I will not be "that woman with the horrid smelling house." I won't.

And I'm not! WOO! Every time someone knocks on my door, they comment on how good my apartment smells. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

I've explained to Clint (my husband) how much I enjoy pleasant smells. He laughed about it a little at first, but after I explained how nice it is to not walk into a bad smelling house, and how nice it is to walk into a really good smelling house, he agreed with me. He knows I'm incredibly cheap when it comes to shopping, but I think he finds it somewhat amusing that I have almost no standards when it comes to spending money on something that smells good. I mean, I've been pretty good about waiting for things to go on sale. But if I need/want some more plug ins or new room spray, I will usually just get it if I'm already at the store.

Like, last week, Target had a sale on all their room freshener products. I bought four or five packages of Glade oils. The sale wasn't really significant. But it was a sale nonetheless. I spent like $20 on just that stuff alone.

I only burn the scentsy after I cook food. Cause it's really strong and it works really fast. The rest of the time I just have my plug ins and I use room spray whenever I clean (usually every other day). And I feel so pleased with myself when someone tells me that our apartment smells good.

Good Lord, the other night at the pizza parlor, Clint came to eat dinner with me on my break and when he sat down next to me, I got a big whiff of him, and I said, "Oh man! You smell so good!" then I smelled him. It wasn't cologne, it wasn't body wash... IT WAS THE SMELL OF HOME! Clint and I had a good laugh. We are both so glad that our home doesn't smell like Rusty's Pizza. No offense... but no greasy smells. PLEASE.

Speaking of Clint...
He uses that old spice swagger body spray... and it is so cracktastically delicious smelling. Screw that crappy axe brand! OLD SPICE ROCKS! The first time he used that, I kept following him around the apartment because he smelled so good. He laughed at me and asked what the heck I was doing. My response was, "Don't ask questions, just accept me for who I am." We have a very funny relationship. I love my husband so much. (and his old spice.)

So yeah, moral of the story, a good smelling home (and husband) makes for a happy fulfilling lifestyle. Life is good when it smells good. Hahahaha!

Jars

Okay, so I've been collecting sauce jars (I had no idea why....until now). I've been trying to figure out something cute/simple/cheap to do with them. well this morning I had an epiphany! Fabric.

Even though it shames me to say this... I went to Walmart. I needed a hot glue gun and some cute fabric. As much as I hate that store, I will give them points for having good fabric selections. I even got a cute little pink hot glue gun for like $2! :D

So here's a step by step process of what I did to my jars:

First I had to clean out the jar and I had to soak it for about half an hour to get all the paper product off of the outside of it.

Then I had to choose my fabrics and matching ribbon. Then I wrapped part of the fabric around the jars and cut out the amount I needed. Just kind of pick up an edge and hold it against the jar, roll, and when the fabric meets, I gave it an extra inch to over lap, then I cut out the fabric for the jars.


After you have your fabric, just make sure your glue gun is ready to go, and bada-bing, bada-boom! here's the end result!

Super easy, super cheap, super quick. Now I just have to figure out what to put IN the Jars... great.

I'm back to my tumblr addiction

I have 15 minutes before I have to go to the office. TIME TO SHARE TUMBLR LAUGHS!

SO MUCH MORE TO SHOW YOU...SO LITTLE TIME.

Awaiting Chipotle...

So Clint called me and we're gonna have lunch together at Chipotle. I'm so excited!
I don't know why I'm blogging about this though. I think I'm really just bored and trying to keep my promises of updating this thing. So anyway, I'm one day closer to my freedom from Pizza. I told a couple of my buddies at work last night and they were all bummed out, which made me kind of sad. But then once I started to clean up the kitchen, that sadness went away and my brain was pretty much like, "SEE YA SUCKERS!"

Oh man! I am getting so excited! I will have so much more time to paint/doodle/who knows what else! ......and so much more time to find stupid crap on the internet that makes me laugh uncontrollably! LIKE THIS!

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
It reminds me of my mom's relationship with my cat! hahahahahaha!

Married Life and Crafts

Sorry, I've neglected my blog for quite some time now. Life's been busy and fast-paced! I am now a married woman and I love every moment of it! My husband treats me like a queen, and He constantly shows his love for me. We got married on November 11th, 2011 (11-11-11) and so each month on the 11th, he goes out and buys me flowers and spoils me with lots of tender little kisses. :)

So, I've moved to a new apartment with my dear hubby, and it took a while for us to get it up and decent looking. I mean, the apartment it gorgeous, it was just remodeled, but what I meant is that it's taken us a little while to get it to look like a home. But I think it's just about there! We still have a few things left to do, but it's getting there...

So this week, I put in my 2-weeks notice at the pizza parlor. I can taste the sweet freedom now! Don't get me wrong, I like the job, and i like the people I work with... I just can't do it anymore. I'm so done with it. I close almost every night I work, and I'm exhausted. My husband works all day, then he comes home and I'm usually going out the door when he's walking in the door. So I took on another job so that things could possibly work out better for us. I am now managing our apartment complex that we live in, and so our rent and PG&E and all that stuff is paid for and as soon as I'm done at the parlor, We can have dinner together more than once a week! I'm so excited! I also told my hubby (Clint) that I'm so excited to be able to paint my nails again. He laughed and I said, "It's the simple things in life that make me happy, dear."

So back to making my apartment a home...
Thanks to my mother and my older sister, I've done a couple of simple projects that I have just fallen in love with!

The first one my mom gave me the idea for. We were at Pier1 and I found a picture rod (it almost looked like a curtain rod, but it has little wires wrapped around it and making loops to hold/pinch pictures on), and she said it would be a good idea to hang fabric from one side and put pictures on the other side. So I went to the fabric store and got 2 yards of fabric, then sewed a little curtain (by hand... ouch!) to hang from the picture rod. Then I developed some of our favorite wedding pictures to put on the top.

The second project involves my sister's input. My mom had bought me one of those wall art stickers. It said "Live Every Moment. Love Beyond Words. Laugh Everyday." And I really loved it! However, when Clint got home he read the directions and pointed out to me that it wouldn't work on flat paint. Dagnabbit! I was so bummed out. But then My sister came over and gave me the idea to put the word on the glass of a picture frame and to put fabric in the frame. GENIUS! So off to the fabric store again!

HUZZAH! :D I'm so stinkin' excited about how these things turned out! and they were so simple to make! Well, hopefully I wont neglect my blog so much (especially after I get so much more free time!) and I'll keep this thing updated. :)