Girls Weekend

Lucky for me two of my very best friends live here in Utah. We get to see each other on a regular basis, but if I'm being honest I would love to see them every day. We met our freshman year in college and still have remained super close. We decided that we needed a girls weekend. Luckily, Claudia has an amazing husband who watched Asher for us and we headed to Park City for 2 days! 

Our main plans were to shop, talk, and eat! We were successful!

We hit up the outlets, Main street, and Newpark.

 We fell in love with this tiny red house and the beautiful fall views.

 I was oh so tempted to rock these boots this winter. They were straight out of Dumb and Dumber!

Blast from the past... 

April 2005 - Moab

Hopefully we will get a chance to do this again soon!

Quick and Cheap

I have a small landing at the top of my stairs. We have a cute red couch there, but nothing on the walls. I couldn't figure out what exactly I wanted to do in that area, but quickly realized it needed something with color! After looking on Pinterest for ideas I found that I had pinned a lot of church quotes from conferences. As I clicked on them I realized they were FREE! Hello! Who doesn't love a free printable! I printed of a bunch and then figured out which ones went best together. I headed to Walmart with my gift card and picked out some black frames. I thought they were on sale, they weren't... they are $7.99 each (which I realize is very cheap). Since I needed 6 frames though it was going to get a little pricey. I decided why not check the Dollar Tree! SCORE! 6 frames for $6! Done!

I'm really happy with how they turned out, especially since it only cost me $6 to do the whole thing! I also love that I can easily switch them out with anything throughout the years!

My advice if you are looking for something quick and cheap....check the dollar store first!

Thoughts...

I have so many thoughts running through my head right now. I've had a lot on my plate for awhile now and things haven't always been super great, but I'm learning a lot about myself. I saw this quote on Pinterest today and it pretty much sums up my most recent thought...

 

I'm very far from perfect, but I'm trying...

I struggle everyday with so many things...

BUT

I deserve good things, we all do!

Life really is challenging sometimes and I don't always understand why we must go through the things that we do, but I'm working on being okay with it more and more and having faith in the Lord's timing. He loves me, He knows me, He will bless me.

Vacation = Slave Labor

My parents love me! I've always known that, but they proved it this weekend! They flew to Utah on Thursday and stayed until this morning. I worked them the WHOLE weekend. I had done a ton of projects on my own, but needed some help with a few bigger projects and then installing, hanging, measuring, etc. 

I put together my tv stand one morning. I thought oh it will probably be hard, but not too hard. Then I opened the box and there were 24 wood pieces and at least 100 pieces of hardware. It was a little crazy. The instructions were amazing though so although it took 4 hours, it was actually very easy to do. Just time consuming, but I love it!

 My dad is awesome and measures EVERYTHING! Day one was hanging a lot of things up for me. Everything is centered and level now! My mom got started on some pillows and bathroom curtains for me. She made two floor pillows in California, 1 floor pillow, 4 couch pillows, and two valences. She has 3 more valences to make in California. (Oh and she made 5 pillows for Amanda last night too!)

 I made this Home Sweet Home sign and the coat rack to go above my shoe bench by the garage.

 My mom's handy work! I showed her a picture on pinterest, we went and bough fabric, and an hour later I had a curtain!

 I had seen this idea on Pinterest to hang old recipe cards. I asked my mom if I could have some of my Grandma Mutin's old recipe cards. Some of my favorite memories with her were sitting on the stool watching her cook or helping her make yummy things. I think these make a perfect addition to my kitchen!

 These are the couch pillows my mom made!

 This is back by my garage. Caldendar, mail, notes, etc. will all go here!

 The WALL! 

I have a large wall in my dining room that I really wanted to make a focal point. I had lots of ideas and have been thinking about this for months. I finally decided on wainscoting. Lucky for me my dad said he was pretty sure he could do it. 

We started with a plan, which included lots of measuring. We bought the wood and it all fit in my car! Dad did more measuring, hammering, measuring, cutting the wood, leveling, measuring, filling holes, etc. It was a long process, but he was a champ. Once he was done I was able to go back over it all and paint it a light aqua. It turned out exactly how I wanted it. I hope soon I can find a buffet to put in front of it and add some decorations.

It was a busy, but awesome weekend! It was so nice to get to see them and to have so much help!

Greatest Parents on earth!!!

Soccer fan in the making!

I've always loved sports. I can watch, play, etc. just about anything. Growing up I never played soccer, but in high school I did enjoy watching some games. I've had boyfriends in the past who have played and watched, so little by little I have learned parts of the game. I am No expert though that is for sure. Thanks to Bobby though, I am becoming quite the fan! 

Bobby has incredible seats! I've gotten to go to 3 games this season!

 They win every time I go!

 Meet the Players Night!

By default I got to go to this last night. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I surprisingly found myself very excited to meet these players. I took a few things for the Painter children to get signed.

 There was a lot of waiting in line, but worth it! 

I got to see my 3 favorite players which made me happy!

I wish we had time to get around to all the tables, but we did make it to a lot of them!

I am very disappointed I didn't get a picture of the coaches though...OH MY GOSH! That was a table of beautiful men! Bobby just laughed as I walked away in awe of them. I'm pretty sure I was drooling! Look them up...they are pretty good looking!

I hope there will be more RSL soccer in my future!

Around the House

I OWN A HOUSE!

 I realize that I have said that multiple times, but sometimes it's a little crazy to me still. I have always loved houses and decorating. My mom and I use to walk through model homes just to see all the fun things that they did. It feels so good to finally be able to work on my house and do all the things that I have wanted to do for so long. There are still SO many projects to do, but it has been nice to make a little bit of progress while off track.

Home Depot and I have become besties. Thank goodness it isn't very far from my house because on a good day I only go twice...

I have this tiny area that I call my mud room! Ha ha! I really wanted to put a shoe bench in there and hang a little purse/coat rack. Ashlee and Mel were nice enough to help me put it together and I love it! It is exactly what I wanted and I love the pop of color in the little bins too.

 Blinds suck... just fyi! I was so nervous to put these in. It was a process too. I thought I found the right size, but I didn't. Then I finally found 15 of the right size at Walmart only to realize that they weren't the rights size. I had to return those and then with the help of a good friend go to Home Depot to get the right size! Finally we were able to install the first two. Once she showed me how I let her go back to her family and throughout the week I finished up the rest. For sure one of those moments where I was shaking my fist and saying, "This is what HUSBANDS are for!"

 This is me, installing my last blind! In the end I was VERY proud that I did it by myself and that I now have a new skill. It did make me smile when Gabe looked over and said are you doing that? When I said yes! He just smiled and said good job! I think my Dad was pretty impressed too that I was doing it on my own!

 GABE! This guy is a gem! My cable was located on the opposite side of the room from where I wanted it. With my couch it just works better on the main wall. I was seriously bummed when I realized where it was, but Gabe came to the rescue. He does this type of stuff for a living and was a life saver!! He came over and did it in no time at all. I will say though that it was extremely scary to watch him CUT A HOLE into my wall! My beautiful wall had a hole in it. Thank goodness he knew what he was doing and you would have no idea that he had switched it. 

Oh did I mention that I've met Gabe twice and that he still willingly came and did this for me the day after my friend Melanie asked him to? Yup... He is a WINNER!!!!

 I was in desperate need of a dresser. It was going in my closet so I didn't care too much what it looked like. I just needed it to function. I decided to look on KSL for a used one since I was going to paint it anyways. I came across this one for $5! Yes it had a missing drawer, but I knew I could figure out something!

I bought two cans of yellow spray paint and got started. I didn't bother sanding it or anything fancy. Again it was going in my closet so I didn't really care too much. In the end I loved how it turned out. I moved the missing drawer to the bottom and put two black bins with winter scarves, hats, gloves under the dresser.

 It's very hard to tell, but I painted my bedroom GREY! I really wanted to do this, but I wasn't sure if I had the energy. After realizing the first coat wasn't taking very well I got very discouraged. I really had major thoughts about just painting white over it and calling it good. In the end I'm glad I didn't give up, but I hate that it took so long and so much paint! Textured walls are a killer!

 I think my living room is now the happiest place in my house. I love the almost aqua that I chose for the wall. I'm a little surprised I went for it, but in the end I think it is really fun and bright without being overwhelming. Plus it is calming and beach feeling which is what I wanted. Plus I found that adorable bin for $12.00 at Walmart and I couldn't pass it up. I quickly grabbed it and decided it would hold all my blankets for the living room.

It has really been so nice to get these projects done around the house. I currently have a list of about 10 other things that need to get done in the next week and a half. My parents come in a week and I'm so excited to have them here to help me!

Reminders

I've been a little down lately and have been blessed with a few reminders of how wonderfully blessed I am by a loving Heavenly Father.

I love the Oquirrh Mountain Temple! It was been such a blessing to have it so close to my home for the last 3 years. Who wouldn't love that view?

My friend Melanie went through the temple and this was the view as I drove up that morning. Needless to say it was an amazing session!

The next day in church I got a little distracted in Sunday school and came across this passage and the quote I had written above years ago. Just a simple reminder that I need to watch and pray always!

I don't always have the faith that I need to have, but I do know that no matter what I have this amazing gospel to get me through the really tough times.