9.25.2012

saving fall 2012

well... it's that time of year again. 
fall. 
unlike most people, i have pretty neutral feelings toward the fall season.

more accurately stated, i have this weird almost borderline-phobia of fall.

sure, i enjoy an occasional leaf-stomping session. and i love a good excuse to add pumpkin to every recipe (pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin snickerdoodles, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, etc.) and yes, i'll admit. my heart tingles with joy at the thought of reuniting with my uggs.

but in reality, fall just means that winter is coming.
... and i hate winter.
the leaves falling from the trees are just a sick foreshadowing of the snow fall that is soon to come.

the only remedy i can find for this pessimism of mine is to buy fall-scented candles. because come on, THEY ARE THE BEST! (even deserving of my shouty capitals!) so as i realized fall was upon me, i traveled over to target and bought a lovely "pumpkin spice" candle.  the first of many this season, i assume.  i was so giddy i almost skipped the whole way home.

one day my candle wouldn't light. the wick was burnt down to the bottom... but almost 1/2 of the wax was still remaining! see for yourself:
right?! how ridiculous is that?
i was trying to be positive about fall (despite the 49 degree weather i endure every morning on the way to my car) and this is what happened. i considered taking it back to target. "I DIDN'T PAY FOR HALF OF A CANDLE!" but i knew those stingy red-collared creeps wouldn't take pity on me. too bad it wasn't from costco. i furrowed my brows in disgust and after some pinterest searching, plopped said candle into a pot of water.
slowly all of the wax turned to liquid.
with a 40% off coupon in hand,
i made my way over to Hobby Lobby and bought a wick.
my record-breaking grand total was $1.70
i know. i was ecstatic, too.
i carefully crafted a very advanced mechanism to hold the wick in place while the wax re-hardened. 
 and after a few hours in the fridge... smiles, smells, and light were restored to my kitchen.
now i can sit back, smell the spice, and smile at my cute husband in his fall sweaters. 
bring on the hot chocolate. 

9.22.2012

"falling in love many times"

A few days ago, I hung this printable up in our kitchen
right?!
how cute is that?
i am in love.
(yes, with both my person and this printable) 
seriously, this is so true.
you can't just get married and then live happily ever after by paying bills, going to school, and working. 

you know what i mean?
couples need to keep the spark alive.
still act like they're dating.
still do nice things for each other.
and i mean, they don't have to be big things.

example a.
scotty always kills the spiders for me.
sure, sure. this task may seem small or insignificant. but i think my heart swells as big as my whole body when i watch him take charge and kill the nasty little things. i'm a weenie and a squealer. scotty is neither. after a spider is safely disposed of in the toilet and hands are washed, i run to him with a beaming smile and give him the chest-crunching hug he deserves. my hero. 
example b.
scotty quotes mean girls.
it's not just that he quotes mean girls, it's the fact that he quotes mean girls because he knows it's my favorite movie and he knows it makes me happy and he knows it makes me laugh. he had never even seen mean girls before we met!
he obviously loves me.

example c.
he is dedicated to my happiness and well-being. 
... and that is why he spent over 15 minutes moving furniture and trying to retrieve the neosporin that i accidentally threw behind the dresser. 
i love this guy and all of the little things he does for me each day! i am so lucky. 

9.17.2012

VMA 2012

yeah, yeah, i know i'm late.
what else is new.

school is borderline impossible.
BUT, i just got around to looking at the VMA reviews and pictures.
and i gotta say,
there is ONE person whose look i absolutely adored!

... not miley cyrus.
looking at boobs isn't really my thing.

not emma watson.
it's just too much going on. hurts my eyes.

 not katy perry, not rihanna, definitely not nicki minaj,
and i'm still up in the air about t swift.

missy franklin... let's not be ridiculous. i'm proud of you for representing our country. but your gold medal belongs in a glass case in your living room. do you wear it to high school and the mall, too? 

my favorite outfit of the VMA's belonged to...
*drumroll, please*
GABBY DOUGLAS!
oh my heck.
have you ever seen a dress so sparkly?
so classy?
and so MODEST?

here is someone who probably has the most banging body out there, being so in shape and all, and she chooses to wear a knee-length, half-sleeve, glittery ensemble of perfection.
not to mention, her shoes are awesome.

i'd wear it.
bravo, gabby douglas. bravo.

9.10.2012

girl, you crazy.

to quote the late karen carpenter,
"rainy days and mondays always get me down."

normally i would agree with her.
i mean, in my opinion, anything involving a monday automatically sucks.

"hanging around, nothing to do but frown."
it's already hard enough to bring happiness and smiles into a day of work and school. but on a day of work and school after two days of relaxation and freedom?!?
almost impossible.

... almost.
maybe karen just didn't know that you can make any day a good day.
regardless of the sun not shining & regardless of the monday blues.
it's all about perspective.

today i am thankful for:
sleeping in past 8
kisses from my sweet husband before we parted ways
nutella
scoring an exceptional parking spot
instagram
my college job that does not involve cleaning toilets
a dishwasher
candy
justin bieber's album "believe"
mascara
eyes and ears to fully enjoy the rain


click here for karen's jam.
click here for my jam.

happy monday, friends.

9.06.2012

¡ que emocionante !

i'm sure all of my fellow human beings out there have once sat and thought to themselves, "wow, i'm getting old!" 
this unwanted yet foreseen phrase can be appropriately said all throughout a person's life. 

examples: 
my feet touch the ground when i sit in a chair. wow, i'm getting old! 
i survived my first unchaperoned dentist appointment. wow, i'm getting old! 
i graduated from high school. wow, i'm getting old! 
i live with a boy. wow, i'm getting old! 
and more recently... 
i just listened to my little brother read his mission call. wow, i'm getting old! 
my heart was pounding tonight as he ripped open that huge envelope! 
i really thought he would go to australia. 
if not australia, i just wanted somewhere foreign. 
... he did too. 
he ended up getting called somewhere closer to home... 
but still out of the country! 
CULIACAN, MEXICO! 
(which is approximately right here...) 
i am so happy! 
i'm happy that he will have one more christmas. 
i'm happy that he's getting out of the USA. 
i'm happy that he'll learn spanish (totally handy in the post-mission life!)
i'm happy that he is choosing to go serve the lord instead of anything else for the next 2 years! 
elder barnes, we are getting old! 

9.05.2012

swiss days 2012

every year, the city of midway has a little "swiss days festival"
okay, i guess it's not little.

there is a parade, a swiss miss competition, along with crafts, works of art, lots of yodeling, scones, braids, and cheese galore!
i've been the past 3 years, and i just adore it.
i am always amazed at the creativity and hard work of so many people!
this year i had the pleasure of introducing my family to swiss days. 
they came up for labor day weekend, and we had so. much. fun. 
my mom and i were in heaven. 
my dad kept himself busy by counting 63 pregnant ladies. 
and who knows what mitchell and tanner were doing?
there were a lot of things i had my eye on, but i made scotty proud and walked away with a single roll of mustard chevron wrapping paper... I KNOW! aisles and aisles of frames, paintings, coat racks, home decor, homemade body scrubs, hats, dresses, vinyl stickers to decorate my kitchen aid, and i only brought home ONE thing. but might i say that the next time i give you a present, it is going to look fabulous. after the wrapping paper, there was just ooone more thing i had to take advantage of before we left: 
delicious. 
aside from the buttery, cinnamony, melting-in-your-mouth, once-a-year-for-a-reason scones, the best part about swiss days is visiting the assortment of cousins in midway. i love these people! 
debuting on the blog for the first time is little two-week-old ms. aubrey westra! 
and i can't explain why every time charity (hereon referred to as chair-bear) and i get together, we take a minimum of 20 pictures. the girl cracks me up! she doesn't like her new glasses, so she put them on her thigh instead. i love my girls and i sure do love swiss days. i had so much fun this year, how will next year even compare?!? 

9.01.2012

comfort food

do you ever have those mornings where you don't feel like you're at your top game? maybe you hit the snooze button in the early hours and forgot that you have a job and school to go to. maybe after that, you woke up and remembered those two commitments, and that you were supposed to leave five minutes ago.  and maybe once you got into your car, you realized that your gas light was on and you probably wouldn't make it all the way to provo. and maybe before you even merged onto the freeway, you got flipped off by an 80-year-old woman riding a bicycle.

and maybe all day you just feel gross because you didn't have time to shower (or even put mascara on, for that matter), and your dress shrunk in the wash so it's almost too short for comfort.

and maybe you're thinking about other things that happened throughout the week; working overtime, getting approved for $0 in pell grants, almost losing in a fight-to-the-death battle with the biggest spider you've ever seen, and last but certainly not least, accidentally saying shit in front of all your coworkers.

you know those mornings?

i do!

so i came home yesterday, after fighting my short dress and an ambush of wind gusts, and needed something to comfort me. since scotty works til 7 and i don't have OWN network, i turned to food. and not just any food, this food:

some warm homemade rolls accompanied by cheese & broccoli soup.
recipes found here and here.
i'd do maybe 1/4 or 1/3 cup of green pepper rather than 1/2.
a little overpowering. but still delicious.
to top it all off, fell asleep around 9 :)

now it's saturday and i get to spend the entire weekend with my beautiful family!
i'd say things are definitely turning around.