Woes of a Repentant Wife

She: Honey I can't use our toothpaste anymore.

Him: Why?

She: Because I just remembered Crest burns my mouth. It feels like I'm brushing my teeth with acid.

Him: Ok.

She: What? Ok? This is not ok. Did you hear what I just said? Acid, honey. It's awful. I'm buying new toothpaste.

Him: Ok.

She: You need to be more sensitive to me. You should be caring about my toothpaste problems.

Him: Baby, I'm sorry it burns your mouth. That must be really hard.

She: Ugh nevermind. I don't want your pity sympathy.

The teeny tiny rice bag explosion.

Life is just hard sometimes.

You know what I'm saying?

Toothpaste makes your mouth feel like crap (not literally). Rice bags aren't as durable as you once thought. Muddy buddies only sound good for breakfast.

So it's important to keep things in perspective.

And show a little Gratitude.

For a husband that doesn't take himself (or me,obviously) too seriously.

One who knows when to surrender.

Always has a trick or two up his sleeve.

Isn't afraid to give life a roundhouse smack to the face when it needs it.

But, perhaps most importantly, is there for me on the rainy days.

So if you need a little cheering up. If today, or yesterday, or tomorrow, end up not going as planned and get you a little down..wise up and give some love to those who love you when you need it most. You'll be feeling better before you know it.

"God gave you 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you"? "

  -William A. Ward

I also liked this one..

"The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you." -John E. Southard

So to the man I love...

Thanks for being so bomb-diggity awesome. I heart you.

Count your blessings..name them one by one.

Hair Destiny

I think it's obvious that I've been blessed with incredible hair.

I mean just look at those thin, little strands. Even at the age of 18 months my hair was destined for greatness.

If ONLY I could've known what the future held for me and my locks of l-o-v-e.

 Calm down ladies..I know your jealousy is raging as you see how amazing I look in an up-do.

Can you blame me for being born with a perfect bedhead?

 I'm thinking because I was a cheerleader at the age of 5 that this was a mandatory style for the team? Fortunately, I recovered from this hair tragedy and moved on..

The Perm.

Age couldn't stop me from change so I went dark brown.

And then back to blonde.

Long and luscious.

Short and strikingly similar to 5 year old bedhead me.

Curly..I just can't make up my mind what I want.

But I have news for you people.

This Monday I will no longer just be fulfilling my own hair dreams..I'm going to Cosmetology school!

And I'm seriously considering getting Dredlocks. I'm sure someone will need the practice.

To dred or not to dred. That is the question.

Just close your eyes and hope for the best

So about a month ago I went to IKEA and found this standing lamp in the "as is" section..

I thought $9 bucks was a pretty good deal.

There wasn't a lampshade with it. But luckily, several months ago this crazy woman we bought couches from unloaded her truck filled with lamps and shades onto our front yard so I just happened to have one lying around.

Obviously I'm not the type to be satisfied if I couldn't paint or do something to it.

We love this quote, but I couldn't figure out where to put it in our house.

 I taped the quote to the inside of the lampshade.

 Dark brown paint that was from other house projects.

I took a small, very fine paintbrush and just went for it.

Not too shabby. Only took me 45 min from start to finish.

I like it.

I love it.

What say you?

The whoopie cushion that saved the day.

I think I may be part owl.

Do you ever have nights where you just lie in bed, so tired, but you can't seem to fall asleep?

Well, this is me almost every night.

So last night, while Andrew snoozed, I played with my newest favorite phone app.

A Whoopie Cushion.

It's pretty entertaining if you like that sorta thing. Or if you have some W.C memory that makes you laugh while lying in bed around midnight.

Like this one..

While serving a mission in Wyoming, my favorite Australian companion and I were invited to dinner at a family's home that we had just met. The four of them seemed really nice and weren't too familiar with missionaries so we wanted to make a good impression.

Tucek had recently acquired a whoopie cushion and was making good use of it everywhere we went.

We thought it would be a great way to break the "ice" or "wind" I should say, by sharing the toy with our new friends.

After careful planning we went to dinner and were greeted by this sweet, unsuspecting family. After the opening prayer, my compy just started letting it rip.

My role was to act embarrassed and upset whenever she couldn't hold it in. I spent most of dinner giving apologies in the most serious of tones.

Francey, the mama, finally couldn't keep silent any longer and starting say things like, "We are so glad you feel so comfortable with us!" and "It's alright, we all do it sometimes!"

The two teenagers couldn't stop laughing. I remained embarrassed and would periodically turn to Tucek and whisper loudly enough for everyone to hear, "Stop that, it's disgusting!"

Finally, we couldn't take it anymore and once dessert was served we spilled our secret and proudly showed off our whoopie cushion as proof that Tucek didn't have some sort of medical condition.

They thought it was hysterical. And every now and then I get an email reminding me how much they love us and how awesome that night was. 

Oh how whoopie cushions can bring a little more love to the world. 

So, because it has absolutely nothing to do with whoopie cushions or staying up late, here is my newly updated Guest room!

See...I can be simple.

This creates a feeling of "Italy" not..."Provo"

My $5 nightstand...thanks Goodwill!

I feel like a mirror (of any size) is essential for a guest bedroom.

My friend Steph painted this for me..isn't it AWESOME?

Two of my favorite little girlies made these for me when I had my surgery. So cute.

I kind of like the 2 closet idea.

My most favorite painting in all the land.

 

 

 

Remember this post about my once cantaloupe room? What do you think of it now?

Awesome Possum

This weekend we're busy watching General Conference.  The time of year when the Prophet and Apostles speak and remind us how much God loves us and wants us to be happy.  I love it. A whole lot.

We're also...

*Pondering life decisions.

*Partying (soooo righteously) because Provo, Utah is getting another Temple. Yeah baby!

*Visiting with mission buddies and old friends. Loooove.

*I've smoked Andrew in every card game we've played this weekend..and it rocked my socks.

*Falling in love with Ellie as we do everyday, because she is the bomb diggity and gets cooler by the hour.

Hope your weekend is as sweet as ours!

The awesomeness of Women

Women.

Why are women so awesome?

-We are multi-taskers.
-We are creative.
-We look better in dresses than men. I'm just stating facts here.
-We make the best chocolate chip cookies in all the land. Or at least my mom does.
-We have children. Enough said.

You see I have a newfound respect for women these days.

But I have an even greater amount of respect for women who are willing to do the things that I refuse to do. Not because I can't. I just...how do I say this...don't want to.


Canning.

Pears to be exact.

I had never attempted canning before this year. And to be completely honest..all I really did was peel some pears. But that was enough for me.

Lots of them.

Not that I don't appreciate family time and all. Or pears. But canning is not fun. No sir.

Aw look how cute she is..so happy to be canning.

My sister in law...she could've been a pioneer with those skills.

The women in my family are so...womanly. We all chatted while peeling and jarring our pears and it was right out of a 1950's movie. But all I could think about was, "Why the heck do we do this? Do I really love pears so much than I'm willing to spend hours preparing them for winter months? Isn't that what the canned fruit section at Fresh Market is for?"

Also does canning really save $$ because when you add up buying the jars, lids, produce, sugar, canning equipment, and hours of labor..just wondering.

Even baby Hugh was loving it.

Am I so unwoman-like that I hate this tradition? I am even willing to admit that it's a great one..just not when I have to do it.

So I have officially decided I was not meant to be a pioneer. Because not only would I be forced to beat our house rugs outside with a stick and (or while) churning butter...it would probably be required that I also participate in the glories of canning so that our family wouldn't starve. This led me to informing Andrew last night that we most definitely WOULD starve if that was the case. I have rights.

That's why I would now like to publicly declare that I'm happy to be living in 2011. A time where I have options. And a Fresh Market down the street. I like the canned fruit aisle..even if I never go down it.

And I'm happy to settle with only eating what's in season. I vow to not complain about my barren peach tree.

Women. Ahem. Other women..the canning type of women, are awesome.

Leaves and Marshmallows

"Come," said the Wind to the Leaves one day.
"Come over the meadow and we will play.
Put on your dresses of red and gold.
For summer is gone and the days grow cold."

Tonight we went up Little Cottonwood Canyon to spend some quality time with the fam.  It was gorgeous.  Fall in all it's glory.

Love love love

Ahh can't you smell the fresh mountainy air?

 I couldn't get enough of it..I really should go camping more.  Maybe when it gets warmer..ha.

Family time is always a good time.

We just sat around for hours eating tinfoil dinners, s'mores, and freshly picked Utah pears.

Who doesn't l-o-v-e fall?  Send them to me..I will make them a believer.

Elle was in heaven...marshmallow heaven.

"If you want to be happy, be."