Simply Living {And Rambling}

Sometimes I swear I could just live in my bathrobe. 

Making a shirt from scratch is more time-consuming than I thought. But I am persevering. Maybe you will get to see it one day.

I made the MOST. COMFORTABLE. PENCIL SKIRT. EVER. {tutorial soon!}

My little bro graduated high school.

How is he even that old??!

At primary last week a little 5-year-old very seriously stated as he shook his head, 'Man, I hate dying."

{seriously. dying is just the pits, isn't it?}

It was just about the most hilarious thing I've ever heard. 

Despite only needing one house out of all that are being sold, it is impossibly hard to find that one. House-hunting for 4 months now and I say ugh. 

How does life go by so fast? June is over! But that means my birthday month is almost here. {Yippee!!!}

I want an awesome one-piece swimsuit. Suggestions?

Uninspired

You guys, the last part of this month has been blah.

I am feeling incredibly uninspired. And I keep waiting for it to break with a clever craft project, or a sewing refashion, or a tasty recipe or something. Anything.

But my motivation lately = a big fat zero.

{help.}

Sewing is Messy

Sometimes, my husband comes home to this all over the living room.

Because, you know, I require a lot of space to be creative.

There's a First Time for Everything

Since I'm still working out how to post my pictures from Photobucket {that site is NOT happy with me}, I decided to do a little Q&A for you. I saw this on another blog and I think it's kinda fun.

You're fascinated already, I can tell.

1. First thing you do when you wake up in the morning:

Blink like a madwoman {why are mornings so bright?}.

2. First thing you do when you get home from work:

Honestly? Usually I have to pee.

3. First kiss:

I thought it was incredibly romantic-- it was in the rain. Although, technically, we were inside. Eh, but who cares! It was my first kiss. ;)

4. First home:

The first house I remember growing up in was a duplex in Bountiful, Utah. My first home after I moved to college was in Cedar City, Utah.

5. First car:

The awesome little '93 Honda Accord that now belongs to my brother! Yep, she's still running.

6. First car accident / traffic violation:

My first ticket was on the freeway heading home one weekend from Cedar City. It was totally unfair.

7. First thing you wanted to be when you grew up:

The little mermaid! Baha!

8. First choice of beverage:

Orange juice. Deeeeelicious.

9. First choice of dessert:

Now that's a tough one. Mmmm....at the moment I'm feeling Mountain Dew Cake.

10. First choice of restaurant:

For fast food: Taco Time. For sit-down, Olive Garden.

11. First song that comes to mind:

Two Black Cadillacs, Carrie Underwood.

12. First major purchase:

Its happening this week! The Christopher and I are buying our very first brand-new washer!

13. First job:

I scored the glamorous job of sales associate at Old Navy.

14. First time you flew on a plane:

I think it was for the choir trip in high school. New York, baby! Wait...maybe it was San Francisco...

15. First real "grownup" job:

Copywriter! I was super lucky to score my first freelancing job last year; this year I'm working on my second! It makes me very excited.

Well, there you are. Fifteen firsts. Did you learn something new?

Still Adjusting

I love Christmas. Like, looooove Christmas. 

In past years, I've dragged Chris with me to all sorts of Christmas-y things: the Festival of Trees, the Tree Jubilee, Temple Square to see the lights, ANY park to see the lights, sleigh rides, walking down Main Street in Cedar with cups of hot chocolate....

I'll take almost anything, people. 

But this year, with Chris working every night and me working most of them, I've realized we won't get the chance to do the Christmas things I love so much. 

And it will be a big adjustment for me. 

I miss a lot of things from our life in Cedar. 

I miss our giant Thanksgiving parties.

I miss seeing people I know around town.

I miss the cute cafe's that are open late.

I miss being able to get a freakin' scone. {SERIOUSLY. What kind of city doesn't have a good scone place??}

I miss the random late-night hangouts with friends.

 I miss friends, period.

I miss going through the drive-thru on Taco Tuesday with ten people shoved into the car. 

I miss the un-plowed roads in the winter, the cops who have nothing better to do than bust up our bonfires, and I even miss ducking my head to avoid my professors in the grocery store {because what can we possibly have to say to one another, anyway?}. 

But I suppose this move has given us a few things, too. 

I like being close to family. A 45-minute drive is immensely better than a 4-hour one. 

I like not having a bunch of single, loud, pretending-they're-not-smoking guys living above us.

I like learning to explore by myself. 

I like developing closer relationships with the few people we do know here. 

I like not having I'm-falling-off-the-edge-of-the-world gutters on every street.

And just as of a couple weeks ago, I like having my first-ever calling that does NOT involve playing the piano {i've literally only had piano-involved callings for the last TWELVE. YEARS.}.

So I guess I'm not really complaining, but I'm not really celebrating, either. This move has been full of lots of ups and downs, and I suppose I'm just going to have to learn to live with it. 

Because hey, c'est la vie.

{those four semesters of french weren't entirely wasted.}

Success Story

Yes, this is actually my hair. 

{proven by the crappy pictures.}

And people, I have zero skills when it comes to hair. I only learned to french braid like, a week ago.

It's called the Gibson Tuck, and it takes five minutes. Ten, if you're picky.

I'm so proud. 

{try it yourself here.}

Nothing Much

Seems like life is so much busier these days.

BUT. At the same time it's like nothing much is happening.

It's weird, you know?

So I was trying to think of something interesting to write about to keep my blog up-to-date, and then I started thinking about why nothing interesting has really happened. 

It's because all my time lately has been spent unboxing, working, rearranging, working, visiting family, hanging pictures, working {yup, again}, and even interviewing for a new copywriting job. 

Oh, and working.

My life is definitely a lot busier than it used to be. Apologies for the extreme lack of interesting projects to post about. 

However, here's what's coming up:

 

I have strong designs on  making a new maxi skirt with some material I scored at a thrift store for TWO. DOLLARS. 

We are going to Tuacahn!!!! Warm weather....not having to make the bed....frozen lemonade....so excited.

{and most exciting of all} Hawaii. Yesssssssssssssssssss. 

{ps--what do you wear to a wedding on the beach?}

I will get much more interesting soon, I promise. 

Um.....Yeah.

I totally turned 24. 

Wow, how old does that make me in cat years? Like, ancient. 

Because of course it matters how old I am in cat years....

Oh and by the way, my birthday was last month. Yeeeeeeah.

I've been busy, okay? 

But here's the lowdown:

I got to have dinner at one of my favorite places, the Olive Garden:

And I really wish that I could somehow describe to you the absolute amazingness of the dish I chose. Alas, words will not suffice. So go, eat the Parmesan Chicken {not the same as chicken parmigiana}.  It's imperative that you try it. Your life will change. 

As we were driving home, I was suggesting movies we could rent, ice cream we could buy, and various other things to take up the rest of our night. Little did I know that Chris had a surprise waiting for me.

We walked in the door, and out popped a bunch of our friends! With CAKE! 

Just because 'cake' is in caps and 'friends' is not it doesn't necessarily mean that one is more important than the other.

 {or maybe it does. i mean, it was funfetti cake...}

We chatted and ate {ridiculously} giant pieces of cake topped with delicious ice cream. 

It was a sweet birthday.

And now I'm old. 

{and slow.} {as evidenced in the amount of time it took me to post about this.}

Listed

INJURIES ACQUIRED TO DATE IN THE MOVE:

Giant bruise on right thigh.

Multiple small bruises on both knees.

Two bruised toes due to being squished by a piano.

Gash down the side of left big toe from the sharp corner of a mirror.

Stabbed thumb from the sharp teeth meant to cut packing tape.

Random bruise on left bicep.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS MADE TO DATE IN THE MOVE:

Living room, kitchen, and craft corner all arranged to my liking.

Computer desk painted blue. {i love it}

One bookshelf painted white. One more to go.

New fan installed. {definitely not by me though}

Orange cat lured out from under the bed for two consecutive days.

New job started.

REALIZATIONS MADE TO DATE IN THE MOVE:

We have a lot of crap. 

We are addicted to buying fish. Before we hit the grocery store, we stop by the pet store to oogle.

Living closer to family means family gets to prevail on you to do odd jobs around the house/yard.

The Walmart here is a much scarier place than the one in Cedar. {what do so many people have to talk to themselves about?}

And lastly, despite a hugemongous DI pile, we still have a lot of crap. 

Neglected

Dear Poor Neglected Blog:

I am only a little bit sorry for ignoring you. I have had a lot on my plate the past couple weeks.

1. WE MOVED.

Do you have any idea how much crap stuff accumulates while you've been living in the same place for over 2 years?

I have to sit down just thinking about it.

It only took us weekly truckloads packed to the sky, a U-Haul, an Expedition, and all the extra space in my Buick to get it all up here. No biggie.

2. WE MOVED IN.

Yes, that is a separate bullet point, because it is just as much work as actually moving. 

But believe it or not, after only 2 days, I have my kitchen put away!

There are probably a few unlabeled boxes floating around somewhere, but still.

Did you notice the dishwasher???!

Oh. Heaven.

What was I talking about? Ah yes. Neglect-ence. 

So sorry about that.

But honestly, the real victims of neglect here are my eyebrows. So stop complaining.

P.S. We now live within acceptable friend distance of two people whom we love very much.

{yesssssssssssss!}

I didn't even take a picture when they came over to help because there's no way a photo could contain all my excitement.

Summer Treasures

You know what I've discovered about myself so far this summer?

I really like polka dots.

And I really like braids.{despite my extreme lack of braiding skills.}

And I think that {most of the time}Blake Lively has a pretty sweet style.

Also, that I consume ridiculous amounts of sugar when left alone at night. 

And that I have a serious addiction to loud music when there's no one else in the house.

And that, when my husband is gone, I have no desire to ever brush my teeth. Ever.

TMI?

BIG.

Something big is coming.

We are moving.

To the Salt Lake area.

After months and months of searching and praying, Chris found the perfect job. He'll be working in a troubled youth home. Decent starting wage, great benefits, close to family.

We are so {flippin'} excited.

I have been in Cedar for six years now. Six years. That's a long time to get to know a place. 

And in about a month {and after we actually find a new place to live}, I'll be leaving it.

How weird is THAT??! 

Groovy

Do you Southern Utah people ever go to Groovefest? 

It's, ya know, pretty cool.

Lots of music, lots of food. Purely wonderful.

Chris & I had some free time on Saturday, so we headed over to the park to check everything out. 

I love walking around and looking at all the different booths--there was artwork, hand-crafted jewelry, and every some handmade clothing. One serious-looking cowboy had a booth entirely dedicated to horseshoe sculptures, glorious things like giant "welcome" signs and 40-foot cactuses. 

Yes, 40-foot cactuses {cacti?}.

Apparently they take several months to create.

Although they definitely did not make me as happy as this giant spool of cotton candy.

When was the last time you had cotton candy?? Can you even remember?

...of course  I don't have an overactive sweet tooth...stop thinking that...

I also managed to turn a $3 thrifted men's polo into a super-comfy {like, super comfy} top.

{tutorial}

It has buttons in the back, which I thought were cute, but which makes every other person I see ask me if I have my shirt on backward. Including my husband.

Next time I'm just going to say it's my head that's on backwards, not my shirt.

I hope you've seen this movie.

Otherwise it's like I'm not funny at all.

Re-Dye

Never be afraid to try something new.

I tried my hand at re-dying fabric, and now I'm totally pro. {ha....not.}

See this shirt?

Once upon a time I accidentally got some bleach on it. 

And I promise it's really an olive green shirt, not a gray one.

When I was at JoAnn's the other day, I saw that they had fabric dye on sale! So I picked up some color remover for 97 cents, and some dye for a buck-fifty, and set out to save my bleach-stained shirt.

After soaking my shirt in the color remover for twice the amount of recommended time, I decided to use bleach to lighten the shirt the rest of the way.

Color remover got me this far....

And bleach got me to a nice neutral cream color.

After I'd rinsed the shirt in cold water, I re-dyed it.

Ta-daaaa! New bright color PLUS no bleach stains.

Awesome.

I also tried my hand at some chevron nails....

....which I love. 

Just use tape to mark off the designs!

Now go try something new. {shoo.}

Happiness is in the Little Things

In taking long rides in the Jeep.

In the color blue.

Cold apple beer.

Making something new out of something old.

My wedding ring.

Good books.

And most of all, happiness is in roses picked by the side of the road.