One year. Booyah

Jake and I celebrated our one year anniversary this weekend. It was so nice!

I can't believe it's been a year already! Holy cow

It really makes a difference when someone is your best friend. Really

I can honestly say Jake was my best friend before I married him

PS- post later on our weekend get away

10.29.11

One year ago (today) we boarded the ship for our honeymoon to the Bahamas

Here are our hands in the Bahamas sand

Thanx (mom) for the cute Pinterest idea

We had so much in Florida before and after the cruise. Loved it

what a difference the east coast beaches are, compared to west coast

We hope to (one day) go back to the islands. I'm just glad we aren't there right now

We would've left in the middle of a big hurricane. Dodged that bullet!

If you all didn't get a thank you (post) card from us, I'm sorry

I tried to keep track of everyone's addresses. But just in case...

here you go 

We truly appreciate all the love from our family & friends. Thank you!!!! 

It's been a great first year. We've been through a lot, and from what I hear, it never really stops. It's a journey we're on together though, and I can't imagine going through life trials without this guy by my side. He is my everything and means so much to me. He's my best friend and will never know the love I truly have for him. Though I may have a hard time expressing it sometimes, I really do cherish how lucky and blessed I am, to have found Jake. Third times the charm, right? (or three times tried) 
We talked about goals, we have for this year, on the way home from our weekend get away. Those are very personal things I choose to not share with others, and will only journal in my personal space though. I'm very excited about said goals. This year will be another growing year for us, as every will be. I look forward to sharing some of these growing experiences with you and cannot wait to photograph more journeys. Here's to our first year of marriage and being sealed to my best friend for all time & eternity. SLC | October 29th, 2011

I have found

I have found a lot of things lately. Not things like items

but things in general that I've discovered

I guess a better post for this would be I've discovered a lot of things

I feel good. I feel accomplished. It took me awhile though

Oh well. Better luck next time?

I have found that it's okay to have different friends for different things

I used to not think this was okay. I used to consider it cheating

or even couples cheating

Seriously guys. I'm sure you all have found this too

You're just too afraid to admit it. And that's okay. I'll be the first

but I have learned (and am now admitting) that it's okay

There's certain friends (I have found) who I call for different things

I call certain friends for shopping

I text certain friends to vent

(you know who you are)

I Facebook certain friends for hanging out, when they Facebook me first

(you don't want to come off as a snob, rubbing it in someone else's face)

I call certain friends for running brief errands

I vacation dream of vacationing with certain friends

I have found- this is okay

While I can go to a concert with one friend, I may not want to with another

We may not have the same style of music. They may be calm, reserved, etc.

Same with crafting. I have found some people like crafting while others say they want to craft and they never do

Instead, I just see things on Facebook or Instagram, of their adorable project later

It's okay. No feelings hurt. Just don't tell me you want to do something with me ever again

Ha. I'm only joking

but seriously :)

I have found it's okay to have different friends for different things

and I'm okay with that

now :)

Trust me- I wouldn't ever want to put all my friends together in one vacation spot for a long period of time anyway.

Hello- That just screams chaos. Am I right or am I right?

Too many personalities. Just too many, I have found

I have found it's easier for me to have one or two close friends

(who I totally and completely trust 100% with every bit of information)

and then have other friends on the side, who I just do random things with

I have found it's easier to trust and it's less hard ache

I am still heartbroken when trust is broken with a friend. I'd rather avoid it

hence the different friends for different things

I like it and I have found to love you all for different things

Bug

Last weekend, I got to see my sister

.Bug.

She is the youngest of the three girls and I just love her

Well... I love her and her twin the same, so I guess I adore them both

:)

I get really excited when I am able to hang out w/just one sibling

this very rarely happens, especially with the twiners 

(they tend to travel in pairs)

So Kelsey Bug came down from Idaho w/her art class

and of course I had to see her

Jake and I met her on BYU campus

Museum of Art

hahaha this is funny

When my younger brother (Tyler) was younger, he couldn't say Kelsey's name

So he called her Kashi. 

We saw this sign at the BYU Museum of Art 

:)

It was a great night. I got to see my seester and beautiful fall trees

Epic Weekend

I think this title should speak for itself. Epic weekend

My parents came into town for conference weekend and my best friend and I went to a concert. (not in that order)

And not just any concert. Garbage.

that's right

This was Friday 10/5

My best friend and I have been to so many concerts/shows together

from left to right photo below

OkGo, VH1 Big in '06 Awards, Chris Daughtry, Gwen Stefani, Ace Young, Click Five, No Doubt/Paramore, The '07 Grammys, and Mandy Moore

The American Music Awards is where it all started in 2006

best friends forever

So my parents (and youngest brother) got here early afternoon on Saturday

We went to dinner (to celebrate my dad's birthday) at Texas Roadhouse 

and then... bowling

oh yeah

Dad was is a youngen. What a trooper!

Aubs and Shorty  mom

Youngest brother (Austin Bubba/Mr.) Jake and dad

I got some (much needed) best friend/girl time in too. Sigh

I love this girl. Please. Please. Please. Move to Utah

Leave LA. It's not that great :)

Kellie and Aubs. Best friends foreverrrrr 

I'm already planning on going out to California for the 2013 Grammys, and cannot wait! Kellie and I (for sure) have a lot of fun together & every time we get together, it's like we pick up right where we left off. It was really nice seeing my family, even though they were only up here for 24 hours ;) It was nice seeing you all! I love everyone posted above 

365 days ago

 I cannot believe that we sent out our wedding announcements a year ago

Wow! Time has sure flown by

I still remember the first card/present we got in the mail. Post later on that

I love looking back & reflecting on this time/journey we had. Oh boy

If we only knew what we were in for :) Just kidding of course

These cards (pic. below) were so special to me in our invites. If you got one= You're special

PS- I know it was a lot to ask, for you guys to arrive 30 minutes prior to 8:20

On a Saturday might I add

Trust me when I say- I know. We had to be there earlier than all ya'll 

The wedding announcements were a bit of a hastle. Let's just enjoy them

or we can talk about them so you know

:)

I originally had a very talented friend design them. Epic fail

Not the friend. Not the designing. Me. My indecisiveness 

I wanted everything to be perfect. I wanted to top everything

Most importantly, I wanted to make everyone proud

This was all me. No family was here to help me. No mom, other than phone

Just me. It had to be something that showed all my work

This is the best I could come up with

 The announcements were supposed to be a tan background. Not green

Oh well. Everything else came out decent. I loved the font/color of our names

they were the perfect color of coral, to go along w/the wedding colors

I loved the brown scroll work too. That turned out great

I loved how we worded the announcement too. We announced ourselves :)

(that's proper etiquette for when you're throwing your own wedding)

I spent many hours on Google, trying to figure out proper etiquette 

this is what we came up with

Photo taken on my iPhone

We did beige envelopes to match the wedding colors as well. Loved them!

I found the stickers @ Hobby Lobby (duh!) and they just matched perfectly

so naturally I had to get them to work as envelope seals 

we used clear address labels to address the guests & as return addresses

Photo taken on my iPhone

I loved every bit of sending out the wedding announcements. It was so exciting to me! Even staying up late the night before, stuffing them all in our living room and double checking to make sure the right people got the right sealing invites, was exciting. Ha! I'm exhausted just listening to how much work it was. And we only invited like 50 people to the sealing & sent out like... I dunno- A good couple hundred invites? Yeah- So it wasn't even that many we had to invite to the actual ceremony. But, super paranoid me had to double check everything (twice) just to make sure! We didn't want Joe Shmo coming to the ceremony, and not grandma. Oh- I could just see nightmares in the future.  
Also- We sent out two different pictures. These pictures had to be perfect. Any bride knows this. Your wedding announcements say a lot about yourself. I wanted people to know the theme (vintage) and the colors (coral, tan and brown), by looking at the announcements. I hope I accomplished this!
I also didn't want people (who hadn't ever met me yet) to judge me negatively, when they first look at my picture! Oh- The 14545243284663 thoughts that ran through my head. (is that even a number?)
PS- I've always thought it was tacky to announce where we were registered. Everyone figures you're registered at Target and Bed Bath & Beyond anyway, so I didn't feel the need to put it on there. An announcement, is simply a way of telling people (family/friends) "Hey, we're getting married. Come help us celebrate at our reception and if you're cool enough, we'll send you an invite to the actual ceremony." That's all a wedding announcement is. So, I chose to be less tacky and not put that on there. I just wanted people to know we were tying the knot. 
We still received plenty of gift cards (in the mail) and at our wedding reception. Both, of which were extremely useful/helpful. Promise! And- Sorry if I offended any of you readers out there, by calling you "tacky." I just didn't want people to think that's why we were sending out invites. 
* side note * I've been on Pinterest several times, looking for ideas of what to do w/extra wedding announcements. Nothin yet. My creative juices need to get rollin on this! I have OCD when it comes to storing things for a certain amount of time. They must go, all!
And- if you're reading, I hope we sent out an invite to you. If not- I'm sorry. We have plenty of extra invites, that I could send to you 365 days later? 

Apple Crisps

I'm not sure if the label "Craft (s)" is applicable to this post, but I'm doin it

I decided to make apple crisps, the other day. It felt perfect for fall

Hubster hasn't been feeling well & work was miserable for him, so I got in the kitchen

I posted pictures on Instagram and Facebook & some were asking how I did it

I don't have a dehydrator, but I know now I want one.

Anyway

here's how I made the apple crisps:

Pre-heat oven to 350

Slice two Granny Smith apples, into small (thin) slices.

Each slice should have this design in the middle (as shown in below photo). That's how you know you sliced them the right way :)

You may have to poke out the seeds with each slice. I know I did!

photo taken on my iPhone

I (then) soaked the apple slices in a few cups of Apple Juice

(you may have to get a large mixing bowl for this)

I (also) added Cinnamon 

Let apple slices soak for 10-15 minutes then put on a baking rack 

You can (then) put the apple slices in the oven, to bake for about 25 mins.

Depending on how thin you have your apple slices, some slices may burn

(I definitely experienced this!)

Some slices may fall beneath the baking rack. That's okay

Place a baking sheet underneath, just to make sure. It works perfect!

After the slices are done baking, I turned off the oven and took out the slices

After the slices cooled for about ten minutes, I put them back in the oven

Remember: Your oven is off. The slices are just sitting in the warm oven

After the slices sit in the off oven for a few minutes, they were ready to enjoy! YAY

Yes, it's that fast. That easy. AND without dehydrator 

I used my favorite accessory, to store them in. A mason jar.

Yes- These are my favorite and have been for the last year or so

I'm obsessed w/mason jars. They are good for so many things and more!

I crafted up my jar a bit and Wa la! It was ready to be delivered to my honey

Photo taken on my iPhone

I always have extra mason jars lying around. I (also) have extra scrap pieces of material, so I can (pretty much) craft at any time. Ha (maybe this isn't a good idea?) Twine is always good to have on the side. Scrap paper also. Man- I have too many bits and pieces, odd and ends, here and there. If you looked in our spare room and or my craft hall closet, you'd think I'm crazy for storing all these odds and ends. But trust me- They always come in handy. Always. (hello- perfect example above). I did not have to purchase one thing the day I made these apple slices. The apples were already bought, earlier that week, from grocery shopping. We have gallons of apple juice on hand (because I'm addicted- no really). Cinnamon is a basic baking essential (in my opinion), so really- all these things should naturally be lying around one's home. 
An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Right?!?!     (enjoy)

home is wherever your something special is

We've been hanging out a lot at home lately, due to my husband's health

so I decided to warm things up a bit and make it feel more homie

ya know

There's the saying "Home is where your heart is" but I've learned...

home is wherever your "something special" is

For example: Your husband, dog, etc.

Home is where my husband is. And any house is a home

even an apartment

so

There was this shelf. In our kitchen. That I had hubby & his brother hang for me.

Awhile ago too, might I add

So this shelf. Didn't have anything on it. At all

I would try to put something on there

then I'd leave and walk away

then I'd come back and hate what I just put on there

Then I'd switch it again and... Anyway. I just wasn't happy with it

Maybe because there was no color? I always had just black & white items on said shelf

Why black and white? They were safe colors. I always know I can accent anything w/it

HOWEVER; This was not okay with me. I'm done with playing safe. Just done

I've had red and black plates, in our kitchen, for awhile now. Love

I bought a red shag rug, for doing dishes by the sink. Love again

I even commit to painting our knife block red. Love again 

Obviously red and I have a relationship

It's nice and classy and I know it'll never go out of style. Red, that is

All the other colors (Tiffany blue, white, etc.) will soon come to an end

and I can't afford to keep changing things up (although I do like the sound of it). I can't

I know red and yellow are really in right now and I can change that at any time, with these things I made

which makes me feel good, since I obviously have commitment issues 

here's my touch of red:

This was really easy to make BTW

total cost: like $3 

no joke

I went to Hobby Lobby (my go-to craft store) and bought a wooden oval

just a plain wooden oval

then I took my wooden oval home and painted the outer ledge, black

(to make it look like a frame)

then I Mod Podged the red & white striped paper on the wooden oval 

(I traced around the inner side of the oval first, then cut it, obviously) 

Then I drew my version of California (the state where my husband and I are from)

(I wish this drawing were more accurate, but I had no patience and just wanted this done)

The drawing of California was on a different piece of paper, obviously, for contrast

Then I Mod Podged the state onto the red and white striped paper. Wa la!

I also added a little red heart, where our home town would've been. Aw

There's a lotta red goin on in this craft. I just realized 

these next few pictures are of items I just added to the black said shelf for color

I already had this clear glass. It was supposed to be a candle holder

so done with that idea

Since I was going for red & yellow themed colors, I added lemons to this jar

The lemons came from Hobby Lobby as well. They're obviously fake

I figured lemons gave the kitchen that fresh, clean look. And you can switch them out w/anything else, if one has commitment issues (cough cough- ME!) and wants different accent colors

Lemons are a perfect accent color/decor; Especially for the kitchen

This is a home-made pasta holder made out of a Pringles container

no joke guys

I just Mod Podged scrapbook paper (that would match my kitchen) and Wa La!

I keep all the vases my husband has given me flowers in. I know right?

This is one of the vases and I just used paint (for glass) to paint it yellow!

It just spices up a clear vase and adds color! It also hides flower stems

Oh yeah- The flowers came from HL as well

I hope my wedding flourist (and good friend) Ashley, would be proud! 

When everything is all done and comes together, it looks like this: YAY

Yes. It looks like YAY

The "home" sign was given to me (by my mom) a couple years ago (with a few other Christmas gifts). I just never knew where to put it, 'cuz no place ever really felt like "home" with room mates and cheap, random decor (ya know). So I decided to add this little guy to said shelf. I'm not sure if it would've been better on a living room shelf, or in a hallway/walkway, but I felt it was best here. It was hard enough (for me anyway) to decide what was okay to go on a kitchen shelf, and what wasn't. 
I've learned you want to keep things clean, and simple. So keep that in mind when you're picking colors and or patterns for one's kitchen. 
Also, just because this is a shelf DOES NOT MEAN IT'S OKAY TO PUT BOOKS ON HERE unless they're recipe books of course. (I originally had some old vintage lookin books on said shelf, and it just wasn't working- Hence why they came down). You want things to be nice and warm and clean looking, so one won't lose their appetite while eating in your kitchen.  
I plan on adding two somethings to both sides of the shelf. I'm not sure what, yet, but something will be going there, just to warm it up a bit. Maybe mirrors or some frames painted w/chalk board paint? I'm not sure. What do you think?

First day of Fall

Since today's the first day of fall, I thought I'd post my fall decor

I didn't want to paint, or glu on these letters (as seen in below photo), because I thought it'd be best to reuse this banner for multi purposes.

I can add, or take away the triangular pieces, and add whatever letters I need.

The letters came from Hobby Lobby and were just a cardboard brown color, so I painted them black.

The triangular pieces (also) came from Hobby Lobby (pack of three), so I bought two packs. 

This banner hangs in our front entry way. I love it!

This pumpkin (also) came from Hobby Lobby. They have already pre-made vinyl lettering there...

All of Hobby Lobby's fall decor is 50% off right now 'til I dunno when

I've had these (plastic) little guys for awhile now. They just sit by our entertainment center on the floor

I made this wreath awhile ago and have had it hung since. It just screamed fall a little bit

This wreath was so easy to make. Cheap too!
I didn't even glu the strings of beads. I just poked them through the wreath :)

I love fall weather. It's not too warm, and not too cold. It's just right. The reds, oranges, yellows, and browns, are so bright and warming to me. I love pulling out my boots and cardigans, and can't wait for a drive in the Alpine Loop, to see all the pretty leaves! My Scentsy warmer is decked out for fall too. I've had a fall scent (Amber Road) going for awhile now, and it smells wonderful around here! Happy first day of fall everyone! 

Keys- craft

This summer has been full of crafts. No really. 

I'm okay with it. I love crafts. They keep me sane

And I enjoy looking around our home, admiring things I've made. 

I made a holder, for our keys. I got the idea off Pinterest so I can't take full credit

If you're anything like my husband, you like to set your keys down as soon as you get home. Argh 

I knew I had to make something by our entry way for him

I realize you all might have seen this on Pinterest, but thought I'd post my own version w/step by step instructions

here we go:

I started out w/four little block squares from Michaels

I borrowed some Liquid Nails from my brother-in-law

If you don't have Liquid Nails, wood glue works just the same FYI

On the Pinterest link, it says you can buy ABC blocks (that already have the letters on them), but I had trouble finding those

so I made my own

I bought pre-cut out letters from Michaels

sorry for the unfocused picture

I glued the letters (individually) onto the wooden blocks from Michaels

I guess you could make it so it spells out anything

but in this case, I wanted mine to be clear that this was for keys

After the above photo dried, I screwed in (little) silver hooks from Lowe's

The hooks were gold, but you end up spray painting them anyway, so it doesn't matter

I then spray painted everything. The letters on the blocks, and the screws

Then I glued the wooden blocks onto a bigger block of wood

I actually already had this block of wood, from a previous craft. Recycle right?!?!

Here's the finish product. Wa la!

As you can see, this block of wood is not that thick. Anything should do

Oh yeah- I painted the block of wood (red) before I glued on the (four) individual blocks. You can paint it any color, but red matched our living room and or kitchen, so I figured this was best for my craft. 

I (also) took a piece of sand paper to it, to rough up the edges and give it that rustic look I love. 
I hung it on the wall, by using 3M Command Velcro Strips. I always have these in my craft hall closet. They come in handy. You can purchase them from Wal*Mart, Target, or Lowe's or Home Depot (I believe). 

ENJOY! 

Utah State Fair

Last weekend Jake and I went to the Utah State Fair in Salt Lake before it left

I love fairs. The people, food, sound, smells, and lights

Seriously- People watching is amazing and I love taking pictures at dusk!

We watched the divers dive into a ten foot swimming pool. Talk about shallow!

Here are some photos that summed up our night:

We ate delicious corn dogs for dinner. Mmmmm

We walked around aimlessly trying to find my friend Aly and her little fam

We had a funnel cake before we left. Yummy!

We walked around all the exhibits. My favorite!

And we (of course) looked at all the animals. Jake's fave

I guess I'm a huge fair person. I never thought so before, but I think I realized it when we were at the fair on Friday. I had to take pictures of everything and I had to thoroughly look at all the food, to strategically organize how/what I was going to eat that night. There's just certain things that must be eaten at a fair! I also love looking around at all the exhibits- The collections, the things hand made, and most importantly the photography. I just really soak up the whole atmosphere and love it! We met up w/Bryan and his date for that night and had a lotta fun walking around, watching them get henna tattoos. We (also) ran into some of Jake's old mission buddies. Usually it's me who runs into random people, but this time it was Jake. Seriously- He was Mr. Popular from the second we walked into the fair. He received a text message from someone who served in his area (Jen) saying, "Hey, are you at the Utah State Fair in SL right now???" Jake was really confused and figured she must've spotted him! We ended up meeting up w/her and her cute 'lil boy, and her friend. It was a lot of fun, and I always enjoy meeting people Jake served his mission with. It's (also) always fun running into people (who I've already met) who he's served with. 
Utah State Fair- You were great to me this year. I'm glad Jake finally got to experience this great place. Until next year :)