Jeff had a Birthday, Shout HURRAY!

Jeff had to work like over 10 hours on his birthday, but when he got home around 9p.m. we still managed to have a little celebration.

 

I made up some simple decorations for the dinning area and Jeff's cake. I ordered Chinese delivery because I had no idea when Jeff would get home.

 

He is so freakin' cute huh. I love this kid and hope he still somehow managed to have a good birthday.

Halloween - Keeping the DIY Crafts Going

I made a resolution some time ago to DIY some type of holiday décor for the bigger holidays. It helps me keep a festive home and definitive time to site down and make something.

I kept Halloween decorations this year very simple, Jeff is always at work and it's not like we are having tons of family or friends over since we just moved so far, far away. BUT, I did manage to make something small, just to keep the promise to myself in tact.

 

I am going to have fun with fire place mantels while living here. It's a perfect little spot to give a bit of holiday cheer.

 

The item I made this year was this cute "BOO" paper fan. See, I told you it was little. I just feel silly going out and buying pumpkins or expensive decorations when it'd really just be for me. I don't think Jeff even notices when I put stuff like this up, ha ha. Maybe when we have kids I'll feel comfortable turning up the volume on holiday decorations. 

 

This plate is from my wonderful sister-in-law Natalie from one of her many worldly travels. I absolutely love it! Jeff brought home this skull from a trip he took down to California with one of his buddies earlier this year.

 

Then I brought out some of my "fall" decorations that I'll have up until Thanksgiving. Slowly adding to the collection. I actually ended up selling or donating a good portion of my holiday decorations when we moved. Now I have an excuse to craft up some more.

 

Pinterest Pickings

I'll admit that the above is barely worth blogging about, but I like to keep myself honest to my DIY resolution. Below are some links I spotted on Pinterest with some cooler DIY Halloween decorations. I'm already saving empty glass jars and cereal boxes (for the cardboard) to make us some of these.

 

 

Tin can lanterns found here . . .

 

Glass jar and tissue paper lanterns found here . . .

 

Cardboard and scrap paper sign here . . .

 

This amazing wreath has already been sold from THIS shop here, but it gives a great idea for a DIY.

 

 

 



The New (temporary) Place

Well, I finally made it to Denver. It was very hard to leave Las Vegas (here is an Instagram video of me saying good bye to our Condhouse.) I was delayed for a bit for family stuff, but I am here now with my Husband! AND we finally have the internet. It was the most complicated ridiculous process here to sign up for internet, but whateves. I am here, and now have my life blood, the world wide web.

 

You can see the mess I moved into here. Uploading a video should have been simple in this day and age but somehow it managed to waste over an hour of my life, so hopefully the link works. I took another video a few days after we moved in to show my progress, but uploading these videos is such a pain I just re-took pictures of our place now.  Not dealing with video issues anymore! (I'll have to figure it out though so I keep showing videos for my fam to see.)

So mi familia, here is our new (temporary) digs . . .

 

Our living room/dinning area is smaller than our old place, half of our old furniture was just too big and gets to chill in our garage until we settle somewhere. The smaller cabinets and settee from our office now get front room billing.

 

 

The kitchen is connected to the dinning room. Love the openness!

 

 

Off the kitchen there is a short hallway that leads to our bedroom.

 

The bedroom is bigger than at our Vegas home. It's nice, but I haven't yet figured out what to do with all the space. Especially what to do with all the wall space.

 

We have two bathrooms here, the master bathroom and guest bathroom. I really don't mind losing the extra toilet to clean!

 

 

So there it is. We haven't yet got the guestroom/office fully set up yet. We want to get this daybed from Ikea for the space. Hopefully some family comes and visits us soon (hint, hint).

Christmas in Summertime!

We are packing things up, finalizing our home's sale, and making the trip out to Denver. Life is crazy right now. Too many emotions to know how to process, so . . . I think of Christmas.

Knowing that Jeff and I might be mailing or packing and flying our Christmas presents this year has really put the pressure on to find great, nicely packaged gifts. In our family we tend to give more couple/family gifts and then give smaller items to any kids. This year, the only real “kid” we have on my side is my youngest sister, and for Jeff’s we have his youngest sister and currently lone nephew. When we start to get more kids around, I’m sure the dynamic will change, but for now it’s usually just one main gift per family. In the past we’ve come up with some pretty good family gifts as a whole, but this year I’m struggling. (I might just have to think individually, oh no!)

  

So, to get my brain moving I’ve decided to make a list of all the best and brightest family gifts that we have given and received in the past. I am so tired of going to websites and seeing inscribed crystal plaques, cheese and cracker sets, and chocolate covered strawberries as gift ideas for a whole family. I think it would be better to give something that people will actually use, even if it’s not as fancy.

 
 

#1 Camping Gear

There are so many options with camping gear if you have family that likes to get lost out in the woods. Sure, some of the items can be a bit pricey, but if you’re giving it to say, your sisters family as a whole, then it tends to break down to a reasonable price per person. Plus, there are also a lot of fun less expensive items out there as well. Some of our favorite items to receive and give include:

 
 

$$

Tents

Camping Chairs

Dutch Ovens

Hammock Chairs
 

$

Lanterns

Portable Tables

Quirky Cooking Items (think egg holders, roasting sticks, toast makers, camping spices)

 

 

#2 Beach Items

This is pretty similar to Camping items. This just works for our family because they all love to go to the beach. Last year both my older sister AND parents had the same thought on this, now Jeff and I are the proud owners of 4 beach chairs. We’ll need them all someday, ha ha.

 
 

$$

Beach Chairs

Beach Umbrella

 

$

Beach Towels

Beach Blanket

Snorkeling Gear

Toys (Sand Castle kit, Frisbee, Volleyball)

 

#3 Religious Items

We are Latter Day Saints, and with that there is a smorgasbord of items that many LDS families like to decorate or have in their homes. These also can be on the more expensive side, unfortunately, however there are some more affordable options with books and movies.

 
 

$$

Statues (Christ, Temples, or Prophets)

Art Work

Family Book of Mormon
 

$

Inscribed Hymn Book

LDS Movies & Music

FHE Workbooks

Past Years General Conferences on CD (big hit with Grandparents)
 

 

#4 Kitchen Items

Yes, these may be just typically given to the lady of the house, but in most of our families homes both the women and men do the cooking, so it really is a present for both of them. In a house were just one of them in charge of the cooking, then it might be better to give kitchen items to just that one person.

 

Crockpot (w/cookbooks)

Immersion Blender

Kitchen Aid Attachments

Cutesy Measuring Cups (think Anthroplogie)

Marble or Raw Wood Edge Cutting Board 

 #5 Entertainment

For some of our more extended family and close friends that we exchange gifts with we have some pretty regular standbys. I’d like to switch it up every once in a while, but these always seem to hit the mark.

 
 

Movie Bucket (Some cool new release (w/ gift receipt), Soda, Popcorn Bags, and Treats)

Board Games (We have family that actually is in to the latest board games, so it works)

Fast Food Gift Card (think something like Sonic, where $20-$30 can still go a long ways or just get everyone a treat) 

#6 Handmade Items

For a more personal touch, these items may be less expensive but more meaningful because of the time put in. Tears of joy can be a factor with these types of gifts.

 
 

Blankets (This does not have to be complicated, just use fleece in a more modern pattern)

Picture Calendars (We have family members that do this every year on both sides and LOVE it. We can keep up on whose birthdays are coming up and have wonderful family pictures from last year to look at.)

Picture Books (I made my parents one of those photo books from Blurb with pictures of their wedding)

Knitted Beanies or Scarves

Family History Workbooks or Old Journal Copies

Family Video Compilations

 

Movin' On Up

I thought I was going to be a really good blogger this summer. I was sure I was going to record every vacation, every wedding (there are 3 sibling just this summer!), and get tons of things accomplished. But then something came up, something big, something that is taking a lot of my time.What could it be?

WE ARE MOVING TO . . . .

source

 

COLORADO!

A suburb of Denver to be exact. We are looking in the Littleton/Centennial/Parker area.

 

I haven't said anything on the blog because I thought if I did I would jinks is somehow. But now I can officially say, we sold our HOUSE and I better get a movin' on finding a place to live in Colorado! I have so many mixed emotions about it. I am so nervous, terrified, excited, and everything else all at once. I have never really lived in such a big city away from my family. It is just very strange and I'm not sure when it will sink in.

 

Jeff was offered a promotion out there for his job so we decided to be adventurous and just take it. We should be moving at the end of the month. It is seriously so crazy!!! I worry that me and my family wont be able to visit enough, I worry that I haven't started to look for a JOB yet, I'm sad about selling my most loved home, but I am happy to be with my handsome husband again. He left for Denver way back in May. It was a last minute favor to his bosses when someone else fell through to train employees at a new store his company opened up out there. Well, they liked him so much they asked him to stay, with a promotion! It has been touch and go, up and down all summer long, trying to sneak in quick visits with my sugar buns and figure out what was going on with his job. Seriously stressful, but I'm hoping it has a good reward eventually.

 

I hear only good things about Littleton, so I am excited to explore a new city and have some serious adventures. I'm trying to take this curve ball and sit back and evaluate my own career, see if there is maybe something else out there that I want to try. Maybe, just maybe, when I am so far away from my family I will blog more, and just maybe (though very unlikely) one of my family members will read this blog one day. Haha, we will see. Off to pack more boxes and get things settled on the Nevada home front.  



Pinterest Pickings- Yards and Yards

Me and a couple of my lady friends (holla) are having a multi-family Yard Sale this weekend. It is one of those things keeping me very busy as of late. It is a lot of work! And I probably won’t make much, but man, cleaning out this ol’ house feels liberating. And I’m always game for having a sale (and donating the rest) rather than trashing perfectly good items. It’s been a couple of years since I had a decent Yard Sale and another one is definitely needed.

In honor of my hours and hours of sweat putting this thing together, this Pinterest Picking is full of Pins on how to have a successful Yard Sale.

Advice found here

& here

 

 

Tips here

 

 

Genius ideas here

 

 

 

Tips & printables here

 

 

Some of the tips repeat themselves and then some of them were like 'Ah ha'! Hope all goes well this weekend!

 

If you would like to come to our Yard Sale, check out our post on Craigslist for more details.

Music Monday- what I'm listening to lately

I love finding new music (or new to me music). I'm constantly listening to something at work to make it through the day, or using it to calm, pump me up, or energize myself as needed. It is a great tool. I've been stressed lately, with lots of things to do, so these guys below have been the perfect albums to listen to, upbeat tempos but still calm and collected.

Bastille- Pompeii


Two Door Cinema Club-What You Know


Ellie Goulding- Joy

The Neighborhood- Sweater Weather


They also seem to be swaying on the British side. I'm feelin' it.

I have lots to blog about, lots of changes happening in the Bame house, but will have to wait a little while to blog about it. First I NEED TIME and things to get a little more settled. Enjoy the tunes :)