My Road to Graduation

I was 11 years old the first time I set foot on Brigham Young University. As I stared in awe at the beautiful and exciting world around me I knew, even as a young girl, that this is where I was suppose to be. From that moment on I was determined on doing whatever it would take to get into BYU and obtain a college education. Six years later I was moving my belongings into a dorm room in Heritage Halls getting reading to start my first semester at BYU. As a new freshmen straight out of high school and far from home I naturally felt a little lost and homesick. Several semesters went by and my excitement of being at BYU slowly started to diminish. Not really knowing what degree or career I wanted to pursue, school began to seem dull and pointless. Feeling like I needed some direction I scheduled an appointment with the school's academic counselor which turned out to be the turning point in my college career and my life. My session with the academic counselor lead me to the public health major. After starting the program my education came to have more meaning and going to school was something I really grew to love.

While it was not always an easy road, I've accomplished what I set out to do nearly 10 years ago. April 26, 2013 I graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelors in Public Health and a minor in Gerontology. I will always treasure my years at BYU and all that I learned during that time in my life. Over the last five years I have learned how to do hard things, I have found what motivates me and what I am most passionate about, and I have learned more about myself and my purpose here on Earth than at any other time in my life.

I am so grateful to my parents for always supporting me and pushing me to reach my full potential. I am grateful to my loving husband who has always supported me in my goal to gain an education especially during those long stressful nights of studying when I felt like quitting-- he has always believed in me. And I am grateful for all my family, friends, teachers, and classmates who helped along the way and made the road to graduation a great one. I love you all!

And congrats to my brother you graduated as well!

Pinterest Challenge Finale!

After a busy six weeks, I finally finished the last of my Pinterest challenges over the previous weeks.

Week #4 - Washer & Ribbon Necklace

Week 4 of my Pinterest challenge was THIS washer necklace from Nestled blog. This was actually one of the first things I pinned when I joined Pinterest over a year ago which got buried under all my other pins. I'm so glad I discovered it again for this Pinterest challenge because I love statement necklaces and it really was a inexpensive, easy project!

Week #5 - Garlic Butter Pasta with Roasted Broccoli

Coming up with meals to cook for dinner can sometimes be challenging which is why I love to try new recipes. THIS recipe is so simple to whip together and contains many of our favorite foods. I started preparing an hour before dinner time thinking it would take a while to prepare but it was ready to go in a half hour so I made some garlic butter wheat bread-sticks which made for a perfect side.

Week #6

So this last week was suppose to be that old rake turning jewelry holder, but I haven't landed my hands on an old rake yet so I decided to do something else I've been dying to try. When I was looking for a new pair of flats I came across a pair of mint flats with silver tipped toes. I loved them, and probably would have purchased them had they not been all sold out. However, I loved the idea of have a silver metallic tipped shoe (you know how I like my metallics) and I had a pair of heels that need a little sprucing up. So I went to the local hardware store and picked up some metallic spay paint. Upon reading up on how to do this most people suggest fabric or floral spay paint but being in a small town my options were limited.

I taped off where I wanted the silver tips to be and wrapped the rest of the shoe with plastic so insure the paint didn't get everywhere. After two coats of paint and a couple of hours of drying I was left with a trendy new pair of heels!

Well that wraps up my 6 week Pinterest Challenge. Happy pinning (and doing) everyone!!

Don't forget to check out Hanna and Annelise's Pinterest Challenges too!

Birthday Blunders

Our baby turned 1 today! I know I say this in about every post about Addie, but honestly I don't know where the last year has gone. It feels like yesterday that we were bringing our precious baby home from the hospital. While being a parent has its challenges of many sleepless nights, changing dirty diapers, and almost always putting yourself second; I wouldn't have it any other way. I loved every minute of helping and watching Addie develop and grow this past year. And with Addie being our first child, her first birthday has been an exciting milestone for our little family.

We threw Addie a joint birthday party last weekend with my cute little niece, who's birthday is just 10 days after Addie's. While we would have liked to have warmer weather, the party was a lot of fun filled with great people, yummy food, and probably more presents than Addie or Mia knew what to do with!

Although Addie had her birthday party last weekend...and probably won't remember anything about it when she gets older... I still wanted to do something special on her first birthday. Nothing big of course but I invited the family over for dinner and cake to celebrate. What's a birthday without a cake right?!

It has been snowing for the past 3 days so I decided to make a nice big pot of Creamy Chicken Noodle soup and rolls, which also happens to be a meal that Addie really likes. As for the cake, I found a recipe on Pinterest that claims to be the "best chocolate cake EVER" so I thought I'd test it out. My experience with cakes usually involves a box mix but this one was completely from scratch. Between making dinner and tending to Addie it took me nearly all afternoon to make. When I was finished it looked almost as beautiful as those cakes you see at the bakery and smelt divine. I was so proud of my work that I just had to get a picture of it to show everyone.

Long story short, in my effort to take the perfect picture of the cake I slaved over all afternoon I accidently knocked it off the counter onto the floor. The glass cake stand that it was sitting on shattered sending little shards of glass into the cake making it completely unsalvageable. I wish I could say that I laughed and then went about cleaning it up, but instead I went outside and cried for a little bit. It was Addie's first birthday, it was suppose to be perfect. After sulking for a few minutes I began to realize how silly it all was. While it was, and still is a little frustrating that I spent a whole afternoon on a cake we didn't even get to eat, it was the people we spent the day with that made Addie's birthday special. Sure the day didn't go exactly how I envisioned  but it still turned out to be perfect. The "perfect" day is what we make of it.

Happy 1st Birthday Addie! We love you!

Pinterest Challenge Week #3

Origianlly my challenge for this week was this stripe shirt from Cotton and Curls blog, but I decided to tweak a few things. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE stripes but since I already have several striped shirts I wanted to do something a little different.

 

 

I used this tutorial to create a flattering tee out of an oversized men's t-shirt and instead of painting stripes I decided to stamp a design onto the poctet. Being in a small town, crafting supplies are often very slim so because I could not find any fabric paint I bought a textile medium which transforms acrylic paint into a washable fabric paint. And being obsessed with metallics right now I went with a gold paint and used this heart stamp I had to stamp a design onto the pocket.

 

 

Sorry the pictures are not the best, but here is the final product! It is so easy-- I think everyone needs to try this one!

Car Owners!

A monumental moment happened the other night for our family....we paid off our car and are now proud car owners! Hooray! 

Making our last payment!

Cookies and a Haircut

For those of you who have been anxiously awaiting the results of weeks 1 and 2 of my Pinterest challenge, wait no longer! Over the past two weeks I have: enjoyed a relaxing weekend home with my family, took a fun vacation to my sister's house, made some truly out-of-this-world cookies and got a great new haircut!

Week #1 The Brown Butter Snickerdoodle

While the end result was quite literally the best snickerdoodle I've ever tasted, that is not to say that I didn't run into a couple hiccups along the way. As I said before, this was my first time making snickerdoodles and in my inexperience I seemed to have picked the most complex  snickerdoodle recipe.

The party I was originally planning on making these cookies for was cancelled at the last minute but they looked too good to pass up. So after we put the baby to bed, Collin and I decided to whip up these cookies and watch a movie. Little did we know, these snickerdoodles took a little more time to "whip up". After getting through about half of the recipe we discovered that the dough needed to chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, and since it was already after 9pm we just decided to let the dough chill overnight and bake the cookies in the morning.

While it seemed like a long process for a cookie, it all paid off in the end. This recipe from the Ambitious Kitchen blog is definitely a keeper!

Week #2 The Long Bob

I've been growing my hair out since before I got pregnant with Addie almost 2 years ago...WOW it seems crazy that I really haven't done anything to my hair since then! Anyway, you know when you've had the same hairstyle for a while and things seem a little drab? Well that was me. I loved being able to do a lot of different things with my hair but I felt I was lacking structure and style. Plus with spring right around the corner I wanted a fresh look. I've been rockin' the straight bangs for a couple of months now which is why I instantly fell in love with this long bob and thought I'd give it a go.

So for this week's challenge I called up my friend who is in to hair school right now and made an appointment. Going from long to short is always an adjustment but I really love how it turned out! Leah (my friend/hairdresser) really gets my style and did a great job!

Photo by Hanna Caldwell

Photo by Hanna Caldwell 

The Pinterest Challenge

If you've been over to my sister's blog, then you've probably heard about the "Pinterest Challenge". My sister originally got this idea from Merricks Art and convinced me to take on the challenge with her. Pinterest has become a captivating...and often consuming...resource where we can gather and share ideas and inspiration. However, if you are like me you spend most of your time pinning and not actually making those recipes, doing those projects, or wearing those cute outfits. So here is the challenge: pick out six pins to work on and complete over the next six weeks.

Here is my line-up of things I will be working on over the next six weeks:

1. I'm a huge sucker for desserts. If you've seen my food board on Pinterest you'll notice that more than half of my pins are in fact desserts. My husband loves snickerdoodles, not to mention we have a party we are going to this weekend, which makes it the perfect opportunity for me to make these. I've never made snickerdoodles so this will be new for me.

2. I've spent the last year and a half growing out my hair, but with spring right around the corner I feel the need for something a little different and fun. I love this long bob haircut with straight bangs and am excited to give it a try!

3. I am in LOVE with the striped fashion trend that is going on right now...you can never have too many striped shirts, plus I've have my eye on this project for a while now.

4. Also trending right now are statement necklaces. This washer necklace looks easy to make and is unique. I love adding a great accessory to spice up a simple/basic outfit!

5. Since moving home (updates about this to come), I've volunteered to take two nights a week to make dinner so I'm constantly on the lookout for delicious and easy recipes. Me and my family have also been trying to be a little more health conscience in our food choices which is what first inspired this pin.

6. The minute I saw this I immediately knew this was something I wanted to have. I love the rustic, chic look of this old rake used to hand jewelry from. My goal over the next six weeks is to find one to transform into my own necklace holder.

There you have it! I can't wait to get started and show you all my end results!  Also check out my sister's blog HERE so see what she will be working on over the next six weeks.

Playing Catch-up

Hi everyone! I know, I know....I've got some serious catching up to do. For starters, somehow between my last post and now I've found myself with a crawling and very active 9 month old! 

Addie started sitting up by herself about the beginning of October. We would set her basket of toys in front of her and she'd play for hours. It is so fun watching babies explore things for the first time. In the midst of  doing something I'd often find myself watching her playing-- it was so cute!

Halloween was rather uneventful for us this year; however, we did not miss the opportunity to dress Addie up for her very first Halloween. She made the cutest little pumpkin! (A little something I whipped up for the ward Halloween party).

November started a busy couple of months for us. Towards the beginning, Collin traveled to Chicago with his research group to present at a big research conference (I forget the name). While he was gone exploring Chicago, I spent a couple days at my sisters house. After that we were only home for a couple of days, long enough for Collin to take the GRE, and then we left to spend Thanksgiving with Collin's family. As always, Thanksgiving was filled with people we love, great memories, and lots of food. Once we got back from Vegas I was in a mad dash to complete all my classes by the end of the semester and Collin was busy putting together graduate school applications. With everything I had put off till the last minute those last weeks of the semester were brutal, but with the help many wonderful family and friends I was able to pull it off. I am most grateful for my mom who came in to watch Addie while I finished up all my classes. She has always been so supportive and willing to help regardless of the circumstances. I am now done with all my coursework at BYU and am one step away from graduating! 

Once finals were over with we could finally relax and enjoy the holidays, which started with getting a Christmas tree and visiting Santa-- who Addie loved by the way!

(Notice Addie's little teeth and complete excitement to see Santa!)

We spent Christmas a my parents house this year. We all had a great time; however, I managed to go the whole trip without taking any pictures. Luckily my sister was there with her camera and got some great shots. To save time and energy copying them all over to my blog, you can see them here. Due to Collin's work schedule we came home two days after Christmas. While we love being able to spend time with family, it was nice to finally be home for awhile. Over the holiday break Collin and I also celebrated our 3rd anniversary with all-you-can-eat sushi and Les Miserables. 

2012 was a very memorable year for us and has brought us more joy and happiness than we have ever known. I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life and for the many blessing it has brought me. While we don't have much in terms of money and worldly possessions, our life is richly blessed with loving and supportive families/friends and a beautiful healthy baby girl who we adore to pieces. Addie continues to be very happy and playful, full of smiles and funny faces. Collin is still in the process of applying to graduate school programs and on the lookout for a new job. I have just started an internship with Friends for Sight and have plans to graduate in April. While we do not yet know what this new year has in-store for us or where we will end up, we're excited and trust we will end up where we are suppose to be. Happy New Year...make it a great one!

Family Pictures

Don't you just LOVE fall!? It is such a beautiful time of year and the weather has been perfect. With all the changing colors and brilliant scenery I'm sure everyone would agree that it is the perfect time of year to have family pictures done. Lucky for me I know a great photographer who always exceeds my expectations and I'm not just saying that because she is my sister. I'm grateful that she is always so willing to capture some of our family's treasured moments. I hope you enjoy them as much as we have!

And you may have noticed my new hairstyle...bangs! I have felt rather drab lately and finally just decided I was going to be daring and try something new. So I had my friend Leah cut me some bangs and I do not regret it one bit. It is funny how sometimes a new hairstyle can completely liven up your world! I guess you also noticed Collin's new "hairstyle" for that matter too...his mountain man beard. I can't say much towards Addie's hair situation because she still doesn't have much, but she is still adorable nonetheless! We just love her and her many facial expressions!