Merry Christmas and PJs

I will admit it folks, I struggled with the Christmas spirit this season. A lot of it had to do with being stuck in broke student status and not being able to get people gifts like I wanted. The other half is that I really felt uncomfortable, pretty much since black friday, about how consumer driven holidays have become. This fantastic beautiful intelligent chick Alycia at the Crowley Project nailed the Christmas sentiment on the head! The days leading up to the 25th were spent reading scriptures and watching documentaries on the Christmas story.

My family is in the bay area so my mom and I made the seasonal trek west. My mom has also never seen the Oakland LDS temple lights so I made sure we had time to check it out. It being Christmas eve the grounds were bustling. The Oakland temple is especially beautiful at this time of year and is packed with people from all walks of life to marvel. Some of those folks happened to be my best friend Kristen and her family. Small small world it is.

When we got to my Babas I got to open presents! We didn't want to truck a bunch of stuff to my aunts where we have dinner. Somehow I acquired a collection of awesome pj sets which is exactly what I wanted!

Mikey ceremoniously cutting the prime rib

My aunts Gullivars Corn. The best in the land!!

My aunt and uncles Hawaii themed tree. So cute!

Christmas was really great. I got to spend quality time with family and particularly my cousin Mikey and eat some great food! There are some things I'd do different next year. All in all I'm glad its over and we can get on with normal life. I'm just going to try and ignore that valentines day stuff is going up in stores. Sheesh!

An Outfit Post (the first of many)

Has anyone else noticed this return to grunge? Maybe some of you aren't horrified by it. I am not one of those people. I cringe when I open Urban Outfitters catalogue lately. Maybe because back in the 90s I was old enough to remember how awful the fashion was (even worse than the 80s in my opinion).

This past Sunday I decided to embrace it....a little.

Deets:

Dress: Deseret Industries thrift store $4!!; Tights: Urban Outfitters Gift; Shoes Francesca's 

Collar was a big seller for me. I've been obsessed with collars

Gotta have a hipster beanie!

Hopefully in the future these posts will be better quality. Taking pictures with the camera on self timer hanging from the TV hutch was a feat in itself!

The Best Day of My Life

Love this chick. 

Its no secret I'm a mormon. If you didn't know now you know...ya know (get it?). If you are interested in my conversion story I'd be happy to share just comment and I can email you. On December 17th 2011 I was baptized. So this last week was my one year mark as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS). To celebrate I made a trip through the temple. I tell you what, when I first joined I didn't understand for the life of me why these people were so into temples. I mean people would make a trip to walk around OUTSIDE! Whuuuuut?! Oh boy do I get it now! Every step of my journey has brought me closer to a heavenly father who I am sure knows me personally. This step was one of them.

Something that helped me understand that better was the people that were around me on my special day. Let me tell you folks (get ready for some bragging) I have the best girlfriends! These girls are the closest thing to sisters I have ever have. Kristen and Tiffany have listened to me complain about boys, clothes, dealt with my stubbornness, and STILL answer my phone calls. Thats true love right there. Their faith and examples have been the biggest inspiration to me ever. Not to mention I have been spoiled with the best bishop, his wife, and presidency in all the land.

 I have trouble letting people in. The things I've experienced over my life have taught me its safer to keep people at a distance. Recently I have been struggling with that. This church and God have brought me to some of the most loving, caring, patient people I have ever met. I've learned that I am not a burden on people because we share in each others burdens and joys. I've learned that those silly kids on bikes with name tags and change your life (not to mention are someones son so don't be so hard on them pleeeeease). It is so worth opening your mind and heart to people.

(#)Caught Being Crafty

I made it through my first semester at big kid college. Not only did I make it through I pulled a 3.7 GPA for the semester! Go me! Now that the semester is done I have a bunch of time to do whatever I want...right? Yeah, well that. For the past two weeks I've been juggling two jobs. Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining at all! I needed a change of pace big time. That being said I no longer tutor children diagnosed on the autism spectrum disorder. Today was my last day! So now I really do have some free time. Here is a taste of more to come.

I decided to do at least two Pinterest DIY projects a week until school starts. Here are the two I chose for last week.

Their Version

My Version:

I only had larger sized doilies so I only needed two. I love how it came out. Plus, it only took me 5 minutes to put together and everything I had laying around the house. Which is how I prioritize my crafts. If I can make it with things I have on hand it happens first.

Next was this quick craft:

Via

Here is my version:

 I loved this! For the past three years I've been getting a real christmas tree. So this craft was as simple as snipping some sprigs off my tree and filling up some jars I had on hand up with water. Top it all off with a tea light and voila! The only thing is the water gets kinda gross after awhile. Needless to say the longevity of this lovely X-mas deco is not long.


I'm excited to pick the next two crafts. I'm thinking glitter and peter pan collars. Most definitely busting out the sewing machine this break. I will teach myself to sew if its the last thing I do!

Why I swore off weddings

Its starting to become a "thing". You know, one of those internet cliches? Every girl, married, single, and obviously engaged has a wedding board on Pinterest. I can't even tell you how many wedding blogs I follow. I could do some investigating and spew the numbers at you. How many pins are in my wedding board (:: cough::192) or how many blogs I follow (countless). But I wont bore you (or out myself).

Via

Part of the reason is because in a perfect world I would DIE to be a wedding planner. A MFT friend of mine had me take some personality test for fun once. After asking a bunch of questions about what I'm good at and what I like she said something to the effect of, "so basically you should do something where you are surrounded by pretty things and dresses." Yup. That is what I dream of.

Via

However, as a single girl with no prospects I kind of started to turn bitter. After I would go on these wedding "Pinges" (my own terminology for a Pinterest- binge) I'd just feel bad. I'd think why can't this be me? Dare I say I angry pinned?! HEAVENS! I made the conscious decision to halt my wedding pins and obsessions. Just because I'm single doesn't mean I should obsess or even aspire to have these insane weddings. I want to spend this time enjoying every moment I can get with myself.

Via (the amazing! Sloan Photographers)

Needless to say my fashion and fitness boards are really getting the love now. How do you guys feel about your pinning? Have you noticed any wedding pressure or push here on the webz?