V-Day

Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays. Not because I want to get spoiled with jewels and flowers from a muscle clad man, but because it is such a great reminder to let those you love in your life know how much you care for them. It wasn’t always my favorite holiday, I use to hate it. Fake plastic hearts, pressured statements of love, and all that. But once I figured out what I wanted the holiday to mean to me personally, I really started to enjoy it.

Unfortunately, this year I have been totally bogged down with those not-so-fun parts of being an adult, responsibilities are really over rated. It made Valentines take a bit of second seat this year, but that’s okay.

I always give my sisters a little somethin’ somethin’ for Valentines and this year wasn’t any different. I gave them each some homemade bath salts that were rose scented, each in a different corked jar from Michaels. I only got a picture of the one, because I forgot to get a picture of them all together, but the girls liked them. They said it made them smell good all day


For my man I made him one of his favorite dinners (which is a treat because I don't cook), gave him a good back message(at least longer than 5 minutes), and I gifted him some random items that I know he’d been needing along with a pre-ordered FUN CD and Shin tickets (for anyone who likes FUN you should check out the lead singer’s old band The Format. They were awesome.)

(Pic: Chicken Alfredo, Garlic Toast, Brussels Sprouts, and Sparkling Cider. Chocolate covered strawberries were the dessert.)

Jeff surprised me earlier at work with my favorite color of roses (yellow) and took me out to lunch. I was so happy to see him; I just really needed it that day!


Later that night he gave me his official Valentines gift which included a few movies (two were Muppet movies, I’m sure those really were for him), clothes, and wait for it . . .

Eddie Vedder Tickets!


I am so excited to go see him! I’ve never seen him solo without the band. I can’t wait to see him and just melt by his voice. He is so wonderful. Jeff is so wonderful, Eddie of course is great too, but I mean Jeff is so wonderful for getting me the tickets. I was kind of sweating how I was going to pull off buying both The Shins & Eddie Vedder tickets. So. So. Excited!

Office Problems

Almost a year ago we did a mini over hall on our office. It looked so much better, it was so much more functional, and I was excited to purposefully finish it off with accessories. You know, make a color scheme, make some big plans, and decisively purchase and make items for this room. Well, you know what happens with me and BIG plans? They don’t happen. Our office has been sitting basically untouched since our mini over hall nearly a year ago!


I did my usual, paralyzed about choosing the right color pallet, too cheap to purchase any big art/accessory statements and blah, blah, blah. Hence, nothing happened.


When I realized how long it has already been since I was supposed to have finished this room, I got a little queasy. No wonder it is taking me so long to get my house looking finished and/ or presentable. I thought about the “Dude, get on that already” challenge over on YHL they started. If they can take on extra projects with their busy schedule, then I should be able to do something about a sad forgotten office. I had to do something about it! That is when I remembered picking up some sweet contact paper a couple weeks ago. I had no idea what to do with it at the time, but it was really cute and only $6 so I bought it.

I started with the white metal IKEA boards we picked up over the summer. Even though they kind of look like white boards, you actually can’t write on them, so I wouldn’t be losing any of their functionality by covering them with contact paper. It was really easy to purtty them up. All I did was . . .


Presto! And I was done in about 10 minutes for both boards. They look a little happier in there now and the whole place looks a little less sterile. It may not be a forever fix (or knowing me it may very well be a forever fix), but I’m hoping that it will bring a bit more cheer to the room until I get a more motivated to update the space to reals.



Then I turned my attention to the other side of the room. The one improvement since the mini over hall was the purchase of the settee which we also bought over the summer a few months after painting and making the desk area.


All I did for this side was hang a map that I had crafted up for Christmas (trying to channel this gorgeous map from Emily Henderson).



and I put contact paper the fronts of our old and dented file cabinet, and hang up a cork tile that I made into a changeable monthly calendar with more contact paper.


All in all it is okay. Nothing spectacular for sure, but it is a bit more cheery until I get myself together to really finish off this room. For $6 and 20 minutes total, it is a good enough improvement.

Just so I am clear with myself, in order to really finish off this room I will need to:

1) Accessorize: meaning buy or make large art pieces. Buy or make shelves for the East facing wall. Shop the house for some cute chochkees.
2) Get pillows for the settee.
3) Recover or purchase a new desk chair.
4) Put down a rug.
5) Install the ceiling fan we’ve purchased and is still sitting in the garage.
6) Paint the legs of the settee a dark gray.
7) Purchase a new computer since ours recently died. It is odd to have an office without a computer!

Maybe one day I will get to it. Some magical point when I have the free time and money to accomplish all that needs to be done. That will indeed be a good day!

Sorry again for the bad pictures, I'm still using my phone as I don't have access to a computer to put my camera chip into.

Impromptu SOUPer Bowl Party

This past Sunday we had a little Impromptu Super Bowl party with my family. We have the good fortune of sporting the best TV in the fam’ (at least the best one that is currently set up, Mat and Lora just moved into a new house) so it just ended up that people needed a spot to watch the game and we were it.

I am glad it actually just kind of just fell this way because if I had too much time to prepare I would have driven myself nuts planning like I always do, and I have been WAY too swamped lately to get into all of that. My simple and quick menu was Chicken Tortilla Soup for the Souper Bowl (Oh man, I’m such a dork. Have to have a theme even when putting things together on a whim). Jeff made his scrumptious guacamole dip and my sister brought by a 7 layer bean dip a little later on to fill out the menu.

I got the soup recipe from “Not Your Mothers Slow Cooker Cookbook.” It was really good, definitely a keeper for the future.



Jeff even thought up a little game for us to play, he knows me so well. Starting after the half time show we started to rate all of the commercials on a 1-5 scale, five being the highest. I made these quick little rating cards, not very cute, but they got the job done. My youngest sister, Jade, who is modeling the cards however is way too cute!

Our favorite commercial was the Greek Yogurt commercial with John Stamos. Runners up were the Acura, Honda, and Fiat commercials. I guess my family likes car commercials. Overall though we thought there was a serious lack of funny commercials this Super Bowl, nothing like last year.

It was a pretty sweet night, good game, good food, and I loved spending time with the family. We had everybody over plus some just a couple weeks ago for Lora’s Birthday too. I could easily get use to hosting these family gatherings. I really love having my house full of those that I love the most!

(Sorry for the pictures. I'm still out of a computer so I'm filtering my camera photos to try and hide their poor quality.)

Getting RID of the Expensive Phone Data Package

I recently noted that I am going to be getting rid of the data package on my phone in an effort to reduce my monthly bills, and honestly, I just don’t want to pay for Internet on my phone anymore!

But, recently I got some bad news. My home computer is totally dead. As I don’t think I can just due without the Internet completely (how sad is that?), I have been trying to brainstorm some ways that I can knock out my $30 a month cell phone data package but still have some mobile Internet to use with my home WiFi connection. We are saving our pennies for a new computer, but that big of a purchase may have to wait a hot minute or two (plus, it won’t be very mobile, will it.) So I did what I always do, made lists!

Pros: It works off of WiFi, no packages to buy. I can store and listen to my music, email, Facebook, etc. It has video recording, games, and apps, apps, apps. I can use Facetime to chat with my family, who all have iphones or ipads. (This is especially nice since my sister will be off at college next year.) I can browse the web when a WiFi connection is near (and for places like in the car traveling on vacation I can just borrow Jeff’s iphone).

Cons: I don’t think I would have access to Word software, which means all the stuff I do for Church in regards to newsletters, handouts, etc. will still have to be done on a borrowed computer. I could maybe get an app but it’s not the same. Pros: Again, it works off WiFi, no packages to buy! It pretty much has all the benefits of an ipod touch on a bigger screen, faster, and more storage. I would be able to blog and such, do anything I wanted on the web. It has Word compatible apps that I could maybe use for church stuff. As my Dad calls them, they are the world’s most expensive scriptures.

Cons: The price. Seriously, I might as well just buy a laptop. I think they are fun, but for that much money I can think a numerous other things that I would want to buy. I keep it on the list however because I could get a refurbished one for half the costs and still get the same warranty as a new one. Even still, I wouldn’t really have Word software.

Pros: The price. I get to play on the web, keep using my beloved android apps, and I can easily store books and such. It still has Quick Office, not real word software, but I just don’t think I will get that without a real computer. It is bigger than the ipod but smaller than the ipad, used it before and I like the size. I can email, keep notes, Facebook and all.

Cons: I can’t store my itunes. This is a pretty big bummer for me. I don’t have any music from Amazon’s music shop. IT doesn't have facetime to talk to my sisters or recordings and such.

I think as of right now I am leaning towards the iPod Touch, just because of the price and the fact that it has almost everything I want. It's basically like an iPhone, just without the phone part. So I can go back to my cheap phone plan and just get all the perks for free. My younger sister just got an iPhone, so I'm trying to talk her out of her iPod Touch. (That is the kind of nice sister I am.) Plus this is very portable so I can take it anywhere.

I'd like to get an iPad, of course. Who doesn't want one of those babies, but I just can't get pasted the price. A birdie in the IT world told me that when the iPad 3 is released the iPad 2 is going to dramatically decrease in price, so maybe one day I will dole out the benjamin's for one.

* note: Jeffery, your wife is amazing and awesome. Please note that all of the above devices would make a wonderful Valentines gift. Don't you think your wife deserves nice things for ALL the things she does for you everyday? Let me tell you, she does.

* note 2: Jeffery, please do not feel guilty if you only end up giving you wife a card for Valentines day. It will still be a great gift. Maybe not as great as it could be, but great. (just kidding about that last part. Kind of.)

New Years Resolution?

I don't really do New Years resolutions (mostly because it is just setting myself up to fail), but if I did do resolutions, there are a few goals that have been on my mind lately.

It's not like there are little voices inside my head at the beginning of the new year encouraging me to better myself or take on new goals, seriously, that is completely NOT happening to me. Totally above and beyond that at this stage in my life. I'm not finally giving in and making a fitness board on Pinterest, and I'm definitely not writing secret lists of projects I should complete.

{Pic}

But if I were making New Years Resolutions they'd look something like the list below.

1) Be better with my diet:

Breakfast- Diversify to more than toast or skipping it! I'd love to start making a protein shake for Jeff and I in the morning. If I could make them a couple days in advance and freeze them it'd save me some time in the morning.

Lunch- I plan to always keep at least three different options on hand (my favs are salad, soup, and I'll admit it, lunchables). Keeping it simple with different food traits (cold, warm, fun, quick) will help me actually have something I want to eat everyday. . . hopefully.

Dinner- Okay, I have something really sad to admit, I don't really cook. Like at all. It's not that I can't cook, it's just that Jeff is soooo much better at it then I am. Jeff has been working a lot more nights lately, so my goal is to cook dinner at least one night a week. Stop it with the cereal already lady! I hope I can start out with just one night and keep to it.

2) Another food related goal is to not eat after 8pm. No more nighttime munching.

3) Next goal on my mind is decreasing my TV viewing, so my goal is to not turn on the TV until at least 7 at night. The first hour I get home I have to do my chores! I can turn on music or the radio, but no more TV distracting me.

4) Lastly, my final goal is to make something with my hands at least once a month. Now I am well aware that I am not a crafty or talented person, but that doesn't mean I can't be. I really enjoy making things, even if no one would ever want it but me. It just makes me happy. And how do I think I 'll improve if I don't practice anyway?

So there it is, my list of non-new year resolution thoughts. If these were ACTUAL resolutions, I'm glad I kept them so simple and easy, increasing my chances of sticking to them. That would be so smart of me.

In other news that may be only exciting to me, I have someone looking at the computer today. I am crossing my fingers that it is an easy fix so I can have my computer back and upload all my Christmas pictures finally!

Window Shopping Wednesday- Modern Metal Chairs

You may remember my back yard patio inspiration I had this past summer. I fell in love with this modern and rustic patio table and chairs. So lovely!

I got some rustic wood for a table top when I went to go visit my family in the sticks, I mean, in Eastern Utah. My hubster is still working on getting that table made for me, so my next duty was to try and get the same look of a modern metal chair for the patio/backyard. (Hopefully we’ll have everything together for the patio by spring.) I went online and did some window shoppin'.

I found these chairs as follows:

1. Knoll for $539.00 each. This is the real, original Bertoia chair. Just a little out of my price range- ha ha

2. Amazon for $100 each. Amazon is great for a good knock off, and the difference in price from the original is pretty amazing, but this is still a bit pricey for patio furniture in my taste.

3. Onsugar for $160 each. This chair is beautiful, but again a bit too much dough.

4. Crate & Barrel for $199 each. I thought I would have to get off the Bertoia knocks off because they were just too expensive. I fell in love with this guy at Crate & Barrel, but still no dice.

5. Overstock for $136 for a pair. Once I found these guys on Overstock I knew I had found the right website. I wasn’t too crazy about the style, but I was in love with the price.

6. Overstock for $205 for a set of 4, yes I said 4 chairs for just over two hundred dollars! Baby I was in business!

I picked up a set when I bought my rug from Overstock a while back. I really like them so far. They may not be as elegant as the originals, but I love the modern metal look of them, and they are pretty darn comfy to boot.

An extra plus is that I can stack these babies up under the pergola when it rains and keep them dry. When you have a small house and small back yard something like a chair being stackable is a major bonus! Here is a little beaut’ in my back yard (one of four):


On another note, I still do not have access to my crashed home computer, which means this picture and any recent pictures are from my phone. Sorry for the poor quality. To dig myself in an even deeper hole I decided that in an effort to save some benjamins I am going to go back to my old non-smart phone.

That means no emailing myself pictures, no checking my personal emails at any time, it means I may go crazy. But, it will help me save some money. And with my goal to cut back our bills by 15% I really needed to take off some money from somewhere. I’ve only had a smart phone for about a year, it can’t be that hard to go back to a normal phone can it?

I am hoping that if I am really REALLY good and my husband loves me so SO much, that just maybe I can get a laptop, ipad, or Kindle Fire for my birthday this summer. Until then I’m not really sure what I’ll do for photo uploading and general playing around, but I’m sure I’ll still find a way to entertain myself somehow. Anyone have any suggestions? Anyone buy some neato patio furniture for the spring?

52 Weeks of Clean

My computer is still down for the count. Hopefully we can get someone out to look at it this week but it’s not looking promising. Which means all my Christmas pictures and everything are still locked up in my camera, I’ll have to catch up on some of the Christmas stuff later. This also means that Jeff hasn’t made his annual End of the Year CD Mix that he normally makes; it’s amazing how much we rely on our little home computer to entertain us! Haha!

Any who, I made a project back in the summer (when I was all amped to clean every inch of my house in the nice weather) that seems to be pretty relevant to the New Year. I noticed I was utilizing a lot of those cleaning projects that I found on the web to try and keep me up to date on all my regular and seasonal deep cleaning, but they weren’t exactly right for those problem areas I have in my house.

I spotted this one on Pinterest:


Awesome, but maybe too broad? I don’t remember things that aren’t written down very well, so I need a bit more detail.

This one was from Martha Stewart:

This lady has way too much time on her hands to clean, I found I needed the abridged version of this!

I was starting to feel like Goldie Locks, needing to find a cleaning schedule that was just right for me. Knowing it would probably be impossible to find it, I made my own DIY version. A weekly (all 52 of them) cleaning to do list (with some daily chores that are harder for me to remember, and one or two deep cleaning chores that I need to do periodically).

Now this is just right for me, or if it’s not quite right, I always have the option of changing it up. I like making it just for me, and it worked out really well for a while too. It all kind of started to fall apart and I found that I was weeks behind once it started to get closer to the holidays, but I think having something written down to reference is just what I need to keep me on a better cleaning track. I am determined to try and stick by this cleaning calendar this year (again, making any changes that I need to along the way).

This may not be perfect for everyone. I know some people that change their bed sheets every other day, or someone else might think it’s odd that I clean my walls. Everyone has their own cleaning must do’s, since it is just Jeff and I in the house (okay, and the cat too) we really don’t get things too dirty, and try to take a more laid back approach to cleaning. I know that may seem odd, since I spent a few lunch hours trying to perfect a cleaning calendar, but really this was just something to put into place so I wouldn’t forget to wipe down the base boards or dust the fans.

Feel free to steal mine for yourself and edit it to your heart’s desire. You could probably make it cuter too, this was made for a very utilitarian purpose for me, I wasn’t really worried about doing any bells or whistles. I just printed mine off, cute it out on the lines, glued it to some small note cards from the dollar store, punched a hole in the corner and put them all on a circle key holder thingy. It is hanging in my kitchen so I can quickly look at it anytime and remember what I need to get done that week. I am hoping for a cleaner and brighter 2012!