Monday, January 14, 2013

The Mushy Gushy Post ;)

 So between work, school, sleep, cleaning my house that never seems to stay clean, my church calling, spending time with Dustin, and everything else... getting on this blog consistently has ever so subtlety slipped through the cracks.

And I thought being Super Woman was easier than this....
what the heck?  ;)  

Luckily for me, I've got an AWESOME husband who is a major helper -- this boy can mop and sweep faster and better than I can...wish I was joking there. haha.  He does dishes, laundry, makes our bed, cleans our kitchen, vacuums, changes the oil in our vehicles, fixes mine and everyone else's computer problems, inspires me to develop my talents and follow my big dreams, AND helps me with my crafts--sanding, painting, and vinyl lettering.  He definitely has some major skills.
 
 And sorry ladies, he's not for sale. Or rent ;)

Awhile back, one of our close friends once jokingly commented that Dustin and I are too in love.  ....hmmm....Is that even possible? ;)  haha.   I mean, if a person were to go on and on and on about the person they're completely in love with... I can see how that could fall into a mushy gushy category that some people tend to want to stray away from and thus deem "too in love" ;)... ..BUT I guess that's the good thing about this blog (and the heads up with the title of this post) is that it's all mine so I can say whatever I want right? haha.  And unlike conversations you may get stuck in the middle of where you have no other option other than to listen, people can read....or not to read this -- that is the question ;)

On a serious note, I got to thinking about what our friend said ...not really pondering on the thought that I just may be TOO in love with Dustin, but pondering more on how much I show/tell/express to Dustin how much I love him... Do I say it enough?  Do I show it enough and all the time?

So...with fair warning, I begin my Mushy Gushy Post:  ;)

I remember 10 years ago when I was 14, I wrote out a list of qualities I wanted in my future husband. 
Doesn't every girl do this? ;) 

...I still have that paper in my journal. I don't remember all the things I wrote, but off the top of my head I remember some of them.
  1. I wanted a person who was helpful and who helped around the house every once in awhile when I was tired.  
  2. I wanted a person who was kind and who wouldn't put me down, and who joked around with me.
  3. And I wanted someone who was my best friend -- that would sum things up.
Yep, that should take care of it right?....I thought that as long as he hit the BIG points, I'd be happy. I didn't need anything else...not that I didn't WANT it but I couldn't expect him to be perfect or anything, because I surely wasn't. ....

But then I "met" Dustin, (and I say "met" because he lived right next door to me LITERALLY for a some 15 years before I even really took interest in him), at my little brother's Eagle Project.  A bunch of family and friends went out to the desert, camped, and then woke up early the next morning to clean up weeds, rocks and all sorts of stuff... I distinctly remember being very impressed with Dustin's work ethic. He didn't complain and was a super hard worker who when others whined, he jumped in and got the job done.  That's when I was like, "heyyyy, so.........we should go out."  haha.
 
From there, I won't say that our dating life was perfect or easy.  I am 2 years older than Dustin so I decided to move out and get a job while his plan was to go on a mission.  I studied abroad in Mexico for 5 weeks, then came home and moved to Mesa where we long-distance dated (2.5 hrs away) for a few months before he went on a mission to the Philippines. When he came home unexpectedly due to medical reasons, I was dating someone else.. ...yeah, totally not the happiest time of my life there figuring out how that was supposed to work out.  The other guy quickly showed his true colors, of which I was very much not impressed.  I said farewell to him, and felt the awkward and sad tension between Dustin and I....me feeling very much like I didn't deserve him and therefore not sure how to "run back" or if that was even the right answer..  After much prayer, and counsel from my dad, the answer was simple: Did I love him?  Yes.  Did it feel right to be with him? Yes.  Then there was my answer.  And once I decided on my answer, things fell into place.

And I am VERY happy to say that things did.  I truly could NOT be happier being married to Dustin.:)


That ten year old list was JUST a snippet of what kind of man I wanted my future "Mr. Perfect" to be.  Dustin not only checked off my list of "hopeful qualities" but has completely outdone it, becoming the husband I never knew I wanted and needed.

Dustin is:
  1. Someone who will clean the whole house to surprise me when I come home, who will pack my lunches in the morning while I am still getting ready.  Someone who always asks me how my day is, how I'm feeling, and what he can do to make things better. Someone who asks me what I would like to do/where I would like to go without giving a thought to where HE wants to go. 
  2. Someone who I can completely be myself around, and be fun and random and crazy with, because he is JUST as crazy as I am.  He laughs at my jokes even if they are super lame, and makes me laugh and smile, all the time.  He NEVER puts me down, and is constantly throwing out ideas on how he can help me fulfill my dreams of getting my craft and musical talents going into something bigger.
  3. Someone who is my best friend. For life and for forever.  I can rely on him, trust him, cry to him, laugh with him, and enjoy spending all my time with him.  Sometimes I just want to run away and spend a few weeks...or months.... just us somewhere fun.  Retirement is going to be AWESOME! hahaha.

After being married for 2 1/2 years, I still get that giddy school-girl feeling DAILY when I get to see him after work.  People tell me that's called "the honeymoon phase" and that it will wear off.

 I say loving someone is a choice.


It's a choice whether you let things get old and repetitive, or whether you stop going out and having fun, or whether you let things overwhelm you to the point of snapping. It's a choice to be happy despite negative circumstances that may rise up around you. It's a choice to fall into that every day rut of "nothing's great and nothing's new or exciting."  So ya know what?  MAKE IT exciting.  MAKE IT something new and fun.

I'm not the most creative person in the world...I TRY to be creative, yes.  But ya know....it's a lot of work.  I honestly love people who willingly share their creative ideas because that not only saves me time, but saves me the stress of figuring out every little detail.  I came across this website called "The Dating Divas" where people have submitted their date ideas -- If you're looking for something last minute, fun, simple, cheap, elaborate, expensive, fancy, creative, funny, or ANYTHING, this is totally a good website to check out :)

Dustin and I have pulled 6 ideas off this website so far.  In fact, for Christmas Eve, I did THIS idea. I bought all the items I needed at the dollar store, and it was a huge hit! Dustin loved it :)


So in my mind, I got more than I hoped for.  He's definitely better than I deserve and I'm very blessed to have him.  He's not perfect. But he's perfect for ME :)

So, if this post has been way too mushy gushy and you only made it through about a fourth of it, that's cool. I'm not offended. Unless your name is Dustin...then you have no excuses ;)

I love you Dustin!  Here's to the next 70 years of marriage + eternity...which is kind of a long time.... but I'm perfectly ok with that ;)

Thursday, January 10, 2013

That Made My Day

So I get back to my desk at work and my co-worker, Dalton, is laughing so hard he is crying.  I of course want in on what is going on, and he tells me about a student’s application he just reviewed.  (To preface, when students are not currently employed they can list information of a person they know who is employed.)  So this student wrote about her employed friend:

Name: Sally Smith
Place of employment: Taco Bell
Job Title: Crew Member
Description: Fast food restaurant. She hates it.

???????   ....hahhahahahahhaha.  On a student application, you're REALLY going to write that?  .... ..hahahhaa,  That pretty much just TOTALLY made my day. ;)


Wednesday, December 12, 2012

"Little" News ;)

So the secret's out, and we're super excited:


Yep! ....WAHOO! :)  I'm 15 weeks and this is our first baby so of COURSE she is going to be spoiled! ;)

Yes, Dustin, I said SHE cuz it's going to be a girl.....  well ok, actually we don't OFFICIALLY know yet. We may find out next week. If not, then at next month's doctor's appt.

Dustin thinks it would be cool to have a boy first.  I think it'd be super fun to have a girl first.  PLUS I'm all prepared.  I may or may not have a little stash of clothes and cute things I can't wait to use for her ;)  haha.

No matter if it's a boy or girl, it will surely be smothered with love! :)  Our little June baby.  Can't wait! :)

Monday, November 19, 2012

All Shiny and Bright!

Just thought I'd share an amazing little cleaning tip I tried awhile back
using VINEGAR!

Here's our kitchen sink faucet BEFORE.
Check out all that hard-water build-up!! Gross!!!

 The crazy thing is this is even AFTER I scrubbed it with my regular household cleaner.



I soaked some paper towels in vinegar, wrapped them around the faucet and left them there for about an hour.  Removed the paper towels, gave it a rinse, and VOILA! :)

 AFTER:

MUCH much better :)

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Taking down the Halloween Decor

Ok, I guess it's time to take the Halloween decor down.....

Ya know, not gonna lie, I'm not real into Halloween.  Spiders, skeletons, blood, gore....yeah, not a fan.

The only thing I like about Halloween is dressing up and going to pumpkin farms and corn mazes :)

I don't even like haunted houses.  I don't know...being scared by a guy with a chainsaw? For some "weird" reason---not my thing.  So naturally I'm not a fan of a lot of the decor out there with this season --- spiderwebs, crows, skeltons... yuck.

So my Halloween was done up on a much CUTER scale ;)  (of course).

The pumpkin is from Michael's. I spray painted it white, then added yellow polkadots
The "Boo" sign I printed off Pinterest for free. It did have an orange border, so I threw it in photoshop and changed it to yellow to stick with my "theme." So picky I know ;)

This little branch tree with tags I actually made for last year's Valentine's Day. 
It DID look like this at the time:

I changed it up a little by spray painting and glittering the red hot candies and hanging tags that I added washi tape to. The branch/tree is actually a branch off a tree in our backyard. haha.

Painted a little chevron pumpkin :)

Last year's dollar store pumpkins that I spray painted white. Here's to re-using :)

Overall, I think it turned out pretty cool :)



Saturday, November 17, 2012

August Adventures

Yes I'm alive! :)  I know, it's been awhile.
 I've  had some things come up which I'll go into detail about later.

I was looking back through old pictures and realized that I need to stop putting them in folders on my computer to post SOMEDAY and just do it NOW!  It's time to get life in order ;)

They may not be the best pictures....but today, right now at this very moment  I decided that I just don't want to take the time to make every one of them look perfect so.....ok, NONE of them are getting edited, haha.  And I'm ok with that.

In a nutshell, here was our August adventures:

 Mission Farewell
Our good friend Christopher Heywood got called to serve a mission to Tallahassee, Florida for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. As our "farewell" present, we took him sushi (which he loves!) and a singing card that sang "arrrrgh, I hearrrrd yer leavin" in a random piratey voice. We also got him a journal that had some writings of Joseph Smith on the front.  I almost cried a little :) when he brought it to work and had everyone write their addresses in the back of it cuz he was taking it on his mission. Glad he was already putting it to use! :)
 
Christopher is a special friend who I met at my job.  He sat next to me and was the ever-so-privileged one who got to listen to my million-and-one questions, and randomness. He got to know me and decided that I can be pretty crazy, and he still liked me just fine :)  He even came to mine and Dustin's wedding :)

Date night!
99 cent rootbeer floats, a walk in the park, then fun at the National Comedy Theater = a super fun night :)


Camping with the Family on Mt. Graham
Setting up our "tent" aka mattress in the back of our truck + tarp hung above us to keep the rain and bears out...maybe ;) Dustin and Jason set it up. I supervised by taking pictures. haha.

"Hey Jason, climb that tree so we can jimmy-rig the tarp up off the ground.  Shaleice doesn't want the tarp touching the ground cuz she doesn't want bugs in her bed!"  
Grandpa was SO nice to point out that the bugs can still climb up the tires and end up in the bed.

TA-DA!! :)
I'm happy to report that we didn't get any bug bites :)

Using a rope we made a volleyball net and had a little competition :) Even mom and dad jumped in.

Eating smores with HUMUNGUS (I have never spelled that word out in my life. hahaha) marshmallows that cousin Emily bought.

 hahaha, this cracks me up :)

Cousin Riley Woods (somehow related right?) was camping with his family.  He said they were boring so he came to hang out with us. haha.

Roasting starbursts.  They get gooey on the inside and carmelized on the outside. Pretty bomb :)

Crafting in the trailer with grandma. :)  Mom came in later and made some of these too.  We just painted and glittered pinecones. These were actually pinecones from my front yard...yep, all the way from Mesa.
I later went over to grandma's house and saw these on display for her fall decor. Man, I'm so inspirational! ;)

The most hilarious part of it all is that we used grandma's dog, Lulu's pee pads so we wouldn't get glue and glitter on the table. hahahaha.  Oh we are SO creative ;)

Dustin's photography skills...not exactly at his best. ha. He was "so excited" to take these pictures of us crafting  ;)



 My favorites were the ones painted white and then glittered.  The little pinecones in the back are from Mt. Graham.  I will be taking more pictures around Christmas time when these babies are on display! :)

And that's a wrap :)


Thursday, November 8, 2012

DEC 8TH - CRAFT BOUTIQUE!


Calling All Crafters! :)
I'm having a Craft Boutique!


Looking to make a little money for Christmas by selling some of your
homemade items, baked goods, or antiques?

and/or

Looking to buy Christmas gifts, house decor, antiques,
or something for your house or yourself?

WELL, I believe I can help with that :)
Come to and/or join my Craft Boutique!
 


Anyone can sell their items or just come shop around!

  • If you'd like to sell your items, please contact me (info above). You don't have to stay for the whole day and you'll want to bring your items to me beforehand so we can price them and set them on display.
  • If you're short on ideas, take a look at the pictures on the invite and review the idea list below. All items must be hand-made /hand-crafted /re-done, OR antiques:
  •  Furniture chairs, dressers, tables, etc.
  • Jewelry necklaces, rings, earrings
  • Sewed items purses, clothes, diaper bags
  • Quilts/blankets
  • Crochet/knit work potholders, blankets, socks, beanies
  • Painted items signs, picture frames, chairs, wood items
  • Food -- baked goods, salsa, muffins, cookies, etc.
  • Crafts kids crafts or other crafted items
  • House décor lamps, picture frames, mirrors, curtains, signs
  • Clothes/hair items iron-on, hair bows and clips, headbands,
  • Holiday decor ornaments, pumpkins, trees, signs, frames
  • Baby/kid items (blankets, appliqued onesies, hairbows, burp cloths, homemade toys)
  • Re-purposed items
  • Antiques
Please let me know if you'd like to sell! You have a month to prepare! Get to craftin! :)