Little Projects

January has been full of organizing, and little projects on the fly. I wanted to make the most of my time off from school and now I also have Mondays school free until 6:00pm so I can get a fewmore chores and projects done on Mondays. Here are some of my projects from January with helpful hints if you like them...

For Christmas we used some gift cards and other generous gift money from family to buy this TV. Well, we didn't want to break the budget on a stand and accessories, so everything you see except for the tv was already in our home. The TV stand is a bookshelf that was ugly wood, it was in my kitchen before. I slapped on some paint that I had and I love how it turned out. The little white table was also "blonde" wood so I painted it up and put a new stainless steel handle on it. I am very happy with our new thrifty TV display.

BEFORE

AFTER

Never-mind the horrible interior of our cupboards, the kitchen remodel hasn't happened yet. I am just thankful that I found these white bins buried by the mess. My next goal is to use all of those cleaning products up so that I can make my own and only have one or two safe cleaners. I am also a little OCD about the white containers, I buy these because Walmart has had them for years so all of the organizing containers match throughout my house. Weird, I know, I only use white hangers too.

Homemade laundry soap is amazing! I have to give credit to Jenae, check out her amazing blog at www.littlehomeinthecity.blogspot.com. She has made some awesome things! Anyway, I am hooked on homemade laundry soap. This two gallon container lasts at least 4 months and is way cheaper than any detergent on store shelves. It is also faster to make than a trip to the store. Tyler helped me make this batch, it was fun to do together!

This is my version of "dryer sheets." It is a cap full of fabric softener and the rest is water. I spray it on the clothes before I start the dryer. So much cheaper than dryer sheets and less waste too!

My jewelry used to be in the bathroom, but recently I re-did our closets and dresser storage and I had a few extra drawers. After looking at some of my favorite blogs I noticed quite a few of my favorite designers had great jewelry storage in their bedrooms. So, the necklace holder is actually a hand towel holder. And the ice cube trays are in the top drawer of the same dresser. One pair of earrings per spot and watches in the white basket. The boxes around the sides are studs and special jewelry that I keep in the box. I love having my jewelry in my dresser like this. It makes picking it out so much fun and so easy to keep track of everything. No more tangled messes for me!

Greatest day!

Tyler and I woke up at 11:00am, yes, 11:00am on Saturday. We spent the night at his parents house but everyone else took of early for a weekend in Yakima. We stayed behind in Idaho and decided to have a lazy day.

After waking Tyler read a book in front of the fire for a while as I continued to lay in bed "resting." From there we made a bed of blankets and pillows on the living room floor and watched "P.S. I love you." It was so fun to just be close and enjoy a movie, and good call to put Gerard Butler in the movie because Tyler willingly watches since he was "King Leonidas" in the movie "300."

Then we cleaned up his parents house a bit and headed back home. Tyler took the dogs to the lake while I showered and cleaned our house a bit. Then we headed to Bed, Bath, and Beyond for some kitchen must haves. Meanwhile, we got a call from a good friend and his wife that they were in town from LaGrand. We met at Costco to eat and then headed to ColdStone for ice cream.

Since parting from our wonderful friends and ice cream I have puttered around the kitchen, making room for my new waffle iron from my mother-in-law and Tyler has watched a football game and played his new video game (yes I know, videogame, but everyone needs their vice. Mine are probably trashy shows on ABC).

I also did some editing on PhotoShop and watched a few tutorials for some new tricks. What fun! What a wonderful day, no complaints from Tyler or myself, just a wonderful lazy day between lovers!

Holiday blues

I don't want the title of this post to concern anyone. Christmas is amazing, wonderful, and one of my favorite times of the year. Even with all of these good feelings about Christmas, the holidays are a hard time for me. I think I blogged about this last year too, but here it is again, making me an emotional cookie baking crazy lady!

There isn't really one thing that makes me feel sad around Christmas, but just the absence of secure/fond memories. I haven't had a Christmas with both parents since 8th grade and because of this I don't really have any traditions that I hold near and dear to my heart. Yeah, I can remember some of the things we did when I was younger, but sometimes they are hard to remember without remembering the later years.

My heart often feels "hurt" during the holidays, I don't know how to explain it. It is a literal, tear-jerking, pain.

So how do I get past this? I'm not really sure. I know that I obviously need to pray about it, year round! It is only God who can bring security during the holidays, not Tyler or my own will.

How sweet it is....

to be loved by Tyler!

As you read below, last week was an important week. I had three interviews for audit internships with top accounting firms. About a month ago my mom bought me my first suit...a pinned striped black skirted suit. I planned to break out the suit for the interviews, and what is a suit without heels? I usually park about a 12 minute walk from campus...and the interview site was about a 10 minute walk from the buildings I am in on campus. So I was concerned about all of the walking. And no, wearing tennis shoes to walk around in with my suit was NOT an option.

Tyler had the day off so he drove me to campus, dropped me off, and picked me up at the end of the day. Campus is a 25 minute drive from our house on a good day. I realize more and more that it is the little things that Tyler does to show love. He didn't have to drive me in, he could have told me to stop being such a girl and wear different shoes...but he didn't! What a sweet man.

Later in the week he told me that he was trying to do anything to calm my nerves and make the week go smoothly. Wow, to put my needs ahead of his own for a week without me thinking about him much at all. How sweet it is to be loved by him...

I was selected for second round interviews with two of the firms. I have one in Boise on Tuesday and I fly to Spokane on Wednesday for a Thursday interview. I am thankful to the Lord for giving me the opportunity to interview...what a blessing!

1/2 marathon, 10 days away!

So I have always been a runner, but never worked too hard at it or enjoyed it or kept with it on my own accord. It has always been an easy way to stay in shape. Did you know to start burning fat you can run for 15 minutes or walk for 45 minutes. No thank you to walking for 45 minutes to just start burning fat. Ugh! Not that fat burning is a big concern, but why would I do anything for 45 minutes that I could do in 15?

My best friend, Hannah, lives in Portland and I haven't seen her since the early part of the year. So in an effort to get her to come to Idaho I decided I would see if she would run a half marathon with me. Hannah is a personal trainer and actually enjoys this type of thing. Haha, so needless to say, I didn't have to do much convincing and she was already planning on coming over the same weekend.

Let the training begin, 10 weeks ago. I started running and have averaged 4-5 runs per week. Until this week, which I will blame on school and lazyness, and will title "tapering." Haha! It has been pretty fun, at week four I wanted to give up. Hannah decided we needed to email our workouts to each other. From then on, fear fueled my ambition. Hannah was running her miles much faster than I was. Yikes! So I have worked harder and brought my times down.

I ran my long runs with a friend here in Idaho, and what a blessing that was. It has been fun spending more time with Jenny and we even went on a double date to Olive Garden with the husbands. Every other run, except for one, has been by myself.

Anyway, this is a long post to say, I am excited. It is going to be a lot of fun, and I am interested to see how I race compared to my long runs, training, etc. Most of all, I am so pumped to have Hannah all to myself for 13.1 miles. Hopefully I won't be sucking too much air to chat with her!

Life lately...

School has started and I love it. One of my harder semesters but I have awesome profs. My accounting prof is great...he was a partner at one of the big 4 accounting firms for 29 years. I won't bore all of you with more accounting details or stories he has, but to me, they are amazing.

Tonight we are going to Olive Garden with Jake and Jenny and then to play games at their house. Should be a great time. I am looking forward to it since my evening after work consisted of being so tired I didn't do anything, being so tired I couldn't nap, and cleaning up to piles of dog puke from Tyler's parent's dog. Oh joy!

Tyler was sick this last week because he has been working so much lately. He worked 84 hour last week. Yikes! No thanks! He is working so hard and I am so grateful. Great things are coming his way...hoping to post about them soon. :-)

My mom and her husband came to visit for a couple of days, it was a lot of fun. Mom and I did a little shopping and she bought me my first suit. It is going to come in handy with interviews and other accounting functions. Yay...it is a classic black pin stripe with a skirt instead of pants. Love it!

Also, Tyler and I spoiled ourselves and got Blackberry's. 3G, didn't know I was missing out on so much. If you haven't crossed over, don't. It is addicting. Pathetic, I know!

Hope everyone is doing well. Lots of pregnant ladies lately...wish you all healthy pregnancies! I am happy to report that I do not currently have baby fever. :-)

Crazy Good Love - 2 Year Anniversary

Tyler surprised me by cleaning the house while I was at work. Not the way most guys want to spend their day off! He did such a good job too...vacuumed and swept...the whole bit! He also gave me the beautiful roses...they are such a pale pink it is cool!

I am amazed at what these two years have been. It is hard to describe...far surpasses my greatest expectations. I don't know if I ever really believed I would be this loved and this happy. Let's be honest, Tyler is a boy, and I am a girl...so we have our differences. But I can go from wondering what he is thinking to smiling and laughing like no other time in my life. It is very clear how God has used Tyler in my life and I pray that the Lord blesses Tyler with me as much as I am blessed by him.

We exchanged gifts...which we didn't plan but we both did. Then went to dinner and on a walk with Josey on the greenbelt. It was really wonderful. We are relaxing and watching some TV now. When I asked Tyler what one of his favorite things about marriage is he said, "Sleeping next to you each night." I agreed, it is a great feeling to sleep next to someone you love.

First Harvest

I have been picking Sugar Snap Peas for about a week and a half. They are amazing in salads. Today I picked our first cucumber. I put some in a salad and Tyler had his with salt. It was great. Having a garden has been so much fun...almost weird how much fun it is. I am already looking forward to next year. I will have a much bigger garden, in raised garden boxes, and in a different location. I have learned a lot this year, trial and error.

I am also doing herbs in my kitchen, mostly basil and parsley. I am hoping to be just like Giada, minus her amazing boobs (ha, who am I kidding, I just need the name of her doctor) and the TV show. :-)

Friends of summer

This summer I have been fortunate to hang out with some pretty cool people. My handsome husband, cousin Travis, Paige Fast, and Mrs. Elizabeth Thomas.

Libby just married one of Tyler's friends and we couldn't agree more with his choice of Libby. She is such a neat girl, makes you feel welcome right away and I have enjoyed spending time with her at a baseball game, their wedding, camping in the mountains, and Sushi/Graples.

I took Paige to a block party and it was a blast. She loved he bounce houses, but not as much as a person in a dog costume. She loved that thing!

Tyler, Travis and I have done tons together this summer. We are so glad that Travis moved to Idaho and are thinking of ways to keep him here forever. Him and Tyler are like twins, so sometimes I can't get a word in or I get picked on...but they are such great guys it is worth it. Haha!

I haven't seen some of my favorite people this summer...hope to soon. I am going to make a point of it in the next couple of weeks.

June 2009

June was a great month. Tyler and I did a lot of fun things around Idaho...along with our cousin Travis. He is renting our basement from us and he has been so much fun.

We went to a Renaissance fair at the beginning of June. It was much more fun than I expected...but Tyler and Travis knew it would be awesome all the time. Seriously, Tyler was looking forward to it much like a 9 year old boy would have. So cute!We went to a Greek Food Festival...yum! Tyler liked it too....his first Gyro experience.

We also went up to Spokane for Hoopfest. What a blast. Tyler's team didn't do as well as we hoped, but we had two other family teams that won their divisions. Neato! Ashley Puga met us up there too which was a lot of fun.