"And such as.."- (guess who said it first. Moonfish, you've got this one)

Well my friends, I am sorry. I have been absent the last little while (in case you didn't notice my lack of postings) and I'm not quite sure why. I have my theories though. First off, let me just say that I have missed you. My readers and the lovely blogs I follow. They brought me cheer this early Saturday morning (where I should be in bed but I found myself unable to catch my Zzzzs after 4:30 A stupid M). So my Theory as to why I have been on blog strike lately is that my computer is still broken and I can't post pictures therefore surely no one would be interested in my blog. another Theory is that I have been having such a fabulous adventure the past little bit and I was too busy to share it with the bloggosphere. Well the truth of the sad matter is, my computer is broken and I cant post pictures, I haven't taken any pictures, and I've been so tired and drained lately. Don't get me wrong, we have been having some pretty fun adventures but I have been too tired to post anything. I have gotten some lovely comments about my blog from dear friends and that gave me the courage to "get back out there, Champ and show 'em what ya got", kind of thing. I don't want to have another blog failure like the last time I decided I was too good for this. Truth be told, I really enjoy writing. I wouldn't go as far as to say I'm good at it or anything, but it certainly gives me peace knowing that my thoughts are out there being noticed by people who care. My opinions have a place in this world. Finally.

Everything has been fab lately, thank you for asking by the way. I have found this new obsessive interest with the LDS Mag The Ensign. Did you know there are some amazing stories in there that you can actually relate to? Why had I not noticed this before? can you tell me that? Well I know that some of you may not be LDS but if you get a chance, pick up that magazine because it will make you smile. I'll even mail you one or two if you really want.

Also I got a second job. Not that my first one wasn't good enough, I just wanted/needed something to mix up my schedule a bit. I somehow found this lovely lady who wanted help with projects around her house. She is so cute and sweet and her family is adorable; of course I've actually only met 2 of the 5 children and the husband. They have a charming beautiful house. She has let me help her organize and clean different rooms and also do other household caring activities. It's so nice to have a bit of diversity in your schedule, I think, and I love being able to help other people and she is so sweet too!

Zack is still kickin' butt at school. He's a rockstar, I must say. He sure knows how to make a girl swoon with is smarts and athletic ability and that is aside from his dashing good looks.

My job is going along just great. I've been able to work on a few different projects and such that have been very fun to be apart of. Yesterday I was asked, along with 2 others in my department, to stand on a little stage and be introduced to about 60 technicians for our company. I'm pretty sure they could all see my knees shaking under my jeans. Let me also mention that I was the only girl in the whole room. Now I'm not saying that they were checking me out, but for some weird reason I can become very uncomfortable when I am the only girl. and that happens quite a bit in a department like mine where we are pretty much all of the male species.

Running has been rough lately. Zack will tell ya. I have been struggling big time! this week was the hardest. I just could not and would not run. I guess you could say I refused, but I have good reasons! Just listen. I have never really been all that into cardio. I just haven't. I really really love lifting and that sort of thing (I'm not strong at all, I just like my weights). Since I have been training for this oh-so- fun half marathon that I'm super excited for, I've gotten pretty burnt out from running. I feel like it's the only thing I can do! I have to plan everything around how many miles I have to run, even our dinner schedule is planned around my runs. Luckily today, my dear friend Sarah (she totally inspires me because she is awesome) is going to take me out for a long run. Without her, I probably wouldn't do more than 3 miles (I know that's far too but I have a schedule I need to keep up with). I'd like to say that I eventually want to do a full marathon, but right now, I absolutely do NOT! I just want to be able to do other things and not have to spend my full work out time running. I mean, like I mentioned before, I even have to wake up early just so that I have time to let my food digest and my water belly settle. Anyways, I'm super grateful for the experience and the discipline training has given me and I will be a much better person than I was before. I now feel more confident in what I do and confidence is key to success, right? So Mom, Dad (who registered me for the race), hubbers (who purchased these amazing new running shoes for my birthday)- thank you for the opportunity to run this race and supporting me all the way through.


There isn't really much else going on in our lives, besides my obsession with dogs and my desire to somehow trick our landlord into letting us have one, I haven't really been up to anything else. Work, Run, Eat. that's my motto.

Oh but I did discover, while out on a long run day, that what really helps me get through my runs is when people smile at me as I go, especially the cute older couples holding hands and walking their doggies on an early Saturday morning, and the kids that are outside in there underwear that yell "hi!!" at me across the street. Those make me happy. So please-

Smile. It helps me run better, faster, stronger.

P.S. I love you, Moonfish.

Failure to Plan is Planning for Failure- unless you're planning around the weather because your plans will change.

On Wednesday, my friends, I established Saturday of this week to be my long run day. 12 miles. Crazy, I know. I had to prepare for it. On my long run days I have to prepare very well. I have to be sure I have enough time for my food to digest, but not too much time so that I'm hungry right before the run. Also, I have to have time to hydrate and let the water settle so that I don't have a water belly (I hate that feeling). I knew that I wanted to get my run finished early today and so I planned my time out like this:

(*Times are all in the AM)
Wake up at 5:45- Eat breakfast
6-7:15- drink lots of water!
7:25- take ibuprofen (not too much water though)
7:30- get dressed, warm up and stretch
8:00 head out the door

I set my alarm for 6 because waking up in the 5 o'clock hour on a Saturday is pushing it, really. I rolled out of bed at 6:04. Made some peanut butter toast at 6:15, grabbed a water bottle and stared my computer up.

I looked out the window and noticed a suspicious amount of dark clouds.

This is not what the weather had in mind yesterday. . .

I checked weather.com (you know, the most reliable weather website) and it said the stupidest thing I had seen in a long time:

"32 degrees and stupid rain all stinkin' day because we don't want you to run"

Something to that effect, well that's how I saw it at least.

Seriously?! I planned this 3 days in advance and you're telling me, the day of, that it is going to rain? Weather.com, this is getting out of hand. Please, don't let it rain today!

For those of you who live in Provo, Utah, you know that when it says it's going to rain all day it doesn't. and if it says that it will be cold, it will be. Further more, if you check the weather the night before expecting everything to go as planned, it won't.Because you know why? the weather demons are out to get us, you know. They don't want us to be out in God's beautiful world enjoying the blue skies and Utah construction.

I am going on strike against these demons! I'm going to go out into the "rainy weather" and conquer a 12 mile run (only because now, an hour later than when I first looked out the window, the clouds are parting and I can see the sunlight). That'll teach them that they can no longer mess with my weather!

This morning when I logged on to my computer, she kept freezing up and I would have to turn her off. This happened twice before I decided to use the Hubber's computer. I don't have any pictures from the last day or so on this computer so unfortunately I don't have anything pretty for you to look at. Please come back later today and I should have something sweet for you!

I hope you have a fabulous Saturday. Let me know if you have fun plans! I might join you because, well, after my run my apartment is due for some TLC (Tedious, Long, Cleansing).

Not Fun.

P.S. I love you.

Date Night! Whoo!

Last night there was reason for celebration. Zack had been juggling so many different assignments and tasks with school that he was beginning to feel a bit over whelmed. But last night he completed a test that he had been studying so hard for and finally- it's done. and he didn't do so bad, if I do say so myself.

So to honor the great achievement, I decided to take Zack out for a treat {really it was Zack's suggestion and I tried to talk us out of it because I didn't work out that day, but it didn't work. Zack wanted a frosty and I couldn't honestly resist}. A frosty from our friend Wendy's. It was delicious, as expected.

{This is a reenactment of the balloons that tried to attack me}


{I tried to frown while eating a frosty one time, it didn't work out so well}


{Makes you want a frosty right now, doesn't it?}

We also had a bishops interview last night. He asked us, "do you have regular weekly date night?"
"We have date night every night."

And I love it :)

Mostly our dates consist of some sort of sporting event such as basketball or football, and food, of course. Sometimes our date is Zack studying and me reading or surfing the webesphere so there isn't much conversation, but you know, we feel the love.

This makes I wonder what other couples do for their official date nights compared to just a regular old evening. There have been talks in church about how important it is to have a date night weekly. Is this meant for families with children when a husband and wife won't have time to themselves?


Also I have been wondering, why do they have to put swear words in movies? I mean honestly it doesn't add much to the story and a lot of times it sounds out of place. I'm okay with a word here or there I guess but when they drop the "F-Bomb" every 5 seconds that's when it gets ridiculous. Even in kids movies it's sort of used casually, maybe not direct profanity, but poor vocabulary skills.

Another thought, last one, what should I have for breakfast...?

A Thought From Me to You

So here I am, just minding my own business watching the make over episode of America's Next Top model (I'm not a regular, but if I were this would be my FAVORITE episode to watch every season) and on pops a commercial (as expected because this happens when the show reaches a climax point and decides to drive you crazy by throwing ads at you). This commercial is featuring a close up on a 40-something year old wearing too much eyeliner and gorgeous hair. As they slowly pan out they show her escorting two children. They are showing all these men around her gawking, crashing their bikes, tripping- you know, that's the way men act when they are around pretty woman , I guess. I've never actually witnessed it. At the end of the commercial the say something to the effect of "Be confident after you have plastic surgery" and the contact info for "(bleep)Plastic Surgery" flashes the screen.

The very next commercial is showing a house wife, typical mother looking at pictures of past memories and her going through and "erasing" the flaws that she sees with her body. And the contact information for that plastic surgery company comes on the screen, different from the last one.

What? Why do we have to resort to going under the knife to feel pretty? I see billboards around here that say "Love your legs, love your life". Umm I wouldn't say I love my legs. in fact I hate my skin on my legs and even on my arms but hey, it's my skin and I love my life still!

So why are there so many ads telling people, more specifically women, that what they have right now is not good enough and they will not be happy? There are shows out there about weight lose and I think that is a better approach rather than puncturing skin.

Shows like Biggest Loser and Shedding for the Wedding, are done by showing people that it's a lifestyle change to achieve the goal that those Plastic Surgery doctors promise.

I don't know, maybe I'm not one to talk. But I can say that ever since 9th grade I have had body image issues. I won't go into details but I'm learning to just be happy with what I was given. To be happy with what I can control. I can't make my feet smaller, my hair longer, my eyes prettier. But I can take my husband's word when he tells me he thinks I'm beautiful.

I just want all girls to feel pretty. Everyone from 2 to 108 years old deserves to feel pretty. What can we do to help those around us feel prettier? I always like to think of what I would like myself to make me feel pretty. I was at a store one time waiting in line to check out and this complete stranger told me she thought my hair was gorgeous. It was so ugly that day! but it made me feel so good. How many times do we go about our day looking a girls and thinking how good they look, how cute their shoes are, how lovely their skirt is? And do you always tell them? Some times I do. Some times I get the guts to share my feelings to that model pretty girl rockin' the gorgeous waves of blond hair flowing down their shoulders, but most of the time I am guilty of holding back.

So I am challenging myself to speak up more. I'm going to share my compliments. I don't want them to come across as fake (as some girl in high school so kindly labeled me as). Would you like to join me in this challenge?

I love these little suckers!
Sometimes Clara tells me I'm a princess :)

P.S. I love y.o.u.

Breakfast for Dinner? Anyone?

Alright so call me a bad wife if you must, but I think having breakfast for dinner 2 nights in a row is a good idea. 5 stars if you ask me because, well, I heart breakfast. So pleasing to my tummy.

Last night, Friday. I did make dinner and we ate at 5, a pretty normal time, right? Well Zack went off to play basketball and some how between 7 and 9 pm I worked up a pretty hefty appetite. With it being 9 pm and all, I was not going to whip out another dinner? so it was Honey Nut Cheerios (well the store brand, Honey Nut Scooters just doesn't sound as good) with bananas. Yumm, I know you agree, yes?

And tonight, we went to Subway and ate a late lunch/early dinner. That was about 4 pm and there we were starving by 7:30! Okay, Zack wasn't starving, but I was. Man, I get hungry fast.

I was so desirous to consume waffles so I had no choice but to convince Zack that he would be hungry for blueberry waffles by the time I got them cooked and dished. May I brag for a second, please? These were the best waffles I have ever eaten in my entire life. I don't know what it was about them. Perhaps it was the blueberries I added? or the cinnamon? No, I think it was the raspberry syrup I made. It was so good! My waffles didn't turn out as good looking as Zack's (the darn thing was sticking to both sides of the iron and split in half, crappy waffle iron) but I can tell you that mine tasted far better than his.

I wanted to invite our friend Carly and Court over to join us for waffles but something about them being 12 hours away held them back. Tomorrow I will get back into the real world and out of this breakfast fantasy I have created for myself these past 2 days. Chicken and mashed potatoes. Doesn't sound as good, does it?

Have a Happy Sunday.

We're going to watch Pretty Woman. I love that movie.

P.S. I love you

I Must Confess

I have something I need to get off my chest. I lied. I told you earlier this week that my living room in my apartment was complete. Well it's not. I added tons. I painted a lot. I reorganized. I reduced, reused, recycled a bit. I think now it is complete. well maybe I'll keep adding to it as we go on but I am pretty stinkin' pleased with it. Zack is pleased as well.

This is a little guy that was sticking out like a sore thumb no matter how far we shoved him in the corner!-

I swear spring is here, it really is! while I was out there sanding and painting the quail birds where walking around trying to find a place to nest, bugs were out 'a flying- landing on my fresh paint too! But no matter, I was happy to be warm and outside I wasn't even wearing a sweater. No sir, I wasn't. Short sleeves and, well, my trusty old painting jeans.

And this is what the dude looked like after-

(not so manly now, is he?)

One of the best parts about this whole project was that it only cost me $11 and some change, real deal, huh?!

So here is what you need to achieve this task:

1. find an old basement apartment in a college town, such as Provo, UT
*be sure the house is owned by an amazing land lord.
*make sure there is a lot of what people would call "junk", such as old doors, broken tables, out of date pictures of painted flowers in gold frames, you know, stuff like that
2. live in the apartment for over a year and a half and then decide it is time to decorate and make it feel like home.
3. dig out the old "junk" and find a way to sand and paint it so that it looks happier
4. love the items you bring in your home
5. continue to have love for your home
6. Love God and express it in your home (cheesy, I know, but it make a house a home!)

And that is how I got to here:

Well this obviously isn't my whole apartment, just a corner.

So either it looks cute or it looks like junk, either way I like it and that's what matters since I have to live in it and all.

I found this gal in our drive way. This isn't the original "before" picture, this after I demangled her, cleaned her off, and sanded a few corners:

And this is what she looks like after:

So I decided it probably looks like a really crappy paint job instead of distressed. Hmmm.

That was a fun project for me.

P.S. I love you

.expressing.

The truth of it is, I am in constant need of some sort of project. I'm not a crafty person by ANY means. But I have this desire inside of me to be reorganizing, decorating, designing, painting, writing. Anything to get out my creativity (or lack thereof). Yesterday I was feeling very low. I was very emotional. I'm talking tears streaming down my face while I tried to explain my feelings to Zack. I was a mess. A total mess. My plan was to go to the grocery store and go home to wallow in my tears while watching HGTV.

But instead, I decided this would be a perfect time to go thrift store shopping. I really needed to find things to make me happy and feel good. Shopping alone can't do that-it's when I go to a second-hand store where I can make old things beautiful and save loads of cash. Shopping at any thrift store is more work than shopping at any other store. You see, at other stores, lets say Forever 21, you could easily go online and see what outfits their designed have already put together and find the items, "add to cart", "check out", bada bing! Done. Will recieve in 5 to 10 business days. Or Anthropology, go in, see all they have to display, match exactly what they have because they have 5 of the same piece in stock, put it all together head home and set it up the same way they had in the store.
But see when your thrifting, you're on your own. You can have an idea of what you want, but who's to say it will be there? How do you know what will look good together? You really gotta have confidence in yourself that what you're throwing together will be of value to your home or wardrobe. I've done it before, came home from DI with this dress that I thought I could make cute wore it once, hatted it the entire time and haven't worn it since.

And so, I did it. I went to DI. The Provo DI is picked through by tons of cute girls decorating and creating and dressing so cute. But I thought, maybe I'll get lucky. As I walked around the "knick knack" section, ideas started rolling through my head about how to decorate this coffee table we've so desperately needed that my dear friend donated to our cause. I wandered and wandered until I found the most perfect pieces and laid them all together. I was getting giddy just thinking of all the ways I could decorate and not spend more than $10!

Our apartment is cute and cozy (I'm certain I've told you) but it very much lacks any sort of theme. It looks like a college apartment. I mean text books, shoes, dirty dishes in the sink, clean dishes out on the counter to dry; you get the picture, right? (I hate explaining my apartment's flaws. She tries so hard to be nice). But I have been trying to slowly get it to have a purpose. While I was at the store I thought to my self that I was finally going to have an apartment that looked complete. Just like all the other Provo wives.

So as I was gathering my treasures I decided to check out the dress rack. See if there was anything inspiring. And there most certainly was! I found this GORGEOUS dress. I'm so excited about it. I had to try it on right away. I feared it would be too small. I found myself in the dressing room trying to wiggle it over my hips and then trying to zip the thing was another story. The zipper is super old. I finally go it up. Wasn't a perfect fit but I could still breathe. Just don't ask me to bend over.
"I'm sorry babe, I can't pass this dress up. It's gorgeous and best of all, only $8!"
Sent with this picture to "My Love" contact:

Please ignore the angry look on my face- I'm not very good at taking pictures of myself in the mirror, I have to concentrate.

Turns out, it was only six bones. Steal! Well actually I text, "score!" to just to emphasize the deal I just got.

I still had to run to the grocery store because that's where I told Zack I would go. I made it the quickest trip ever! After picking up the table from the friend and driving as fast as I could knowing I couldn't get pulled over (so at the exact speed limit) I finally made it home with my goodies.

I put put the groceries away and put my design together. Although, the apartment was still kind of messy so it didn't look right. So I had to clean. I even cleaned the bedroom even though nothing new was going in there. Except the dress will go in the closet probably. Eventually. I went back to storage and grabbed whatever I could find to pull this together. Hard covered books, candles, large plates, a clock that doesn't work, a German Hymn book. I put it altogether. Rearranged it over and over about one hundred 'n sixteen times. Done. I am well pleased. I wish I had before and after pictures but I didn't know I was going to have a sudden urge to decorate. but here are a couple snippets of what I discovered at the thrift store:





The roses are from Zack, I dried them and have been trying to figure out how to decorate with them. Do they look OK?

So for a total of $12.25 (I make that in less than an hour at work) I got a newly decorated coffee table which then inspired decorating the rest of the room and a new dress that I will attempted to wear but will look like a poser. But I am happy.

P.S. I love you.