Connection

Today I went to my favorite place, Bart's Flea Market! I was on a mission to find the final piece for a school project which I found by the way. Anyway Bart's is kind of a scary place. You really have to venture into the dirty, sketchy parts to find the good stuff. While searching I saw this beauty. (Reminds me of something my dad would like..)

This desk summoned me to it. I have never had a piece of furniture speak to me before, it literally gave me chills! I am in love with the old character and charm it has. I don't know why by I am dying right now just thinking about it! What is happening to me! I bet this it what a hoarder feels like every time they find something they love. Maybe I'm a hoarder..

Turns out I didn't buy it because I already have a desk and I don't have room. Too bad, I know I will be fantasizing about it for awhile... I love you weird, ugly and old but charming desk. You will be in my dreams. 

I'm Obsessed

I am absolutely in love with tiny houses! I am doing a housing report and speech on tiny houses and I want one so bad! They don't cost a lot to build and they can be less than $100 a YEAR for utilities! Hello! So affordable, so cute and so perfect. These are some of my favorites..

Are these not some of the cutest houses you have ever seen! I'm in love and want my very own teeny tiny home! If you want to know more about these tiny houses go here http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/.

I am an angry person

Sometimes, well most times, I feel like there is this crazy little meany inside of me that just wants to rip people to shreds. I get super annoyed way too easily and just plain irritated. I find myself rolling my eyes at teachers and classmates because of their stupidity and making "ugh" noises way too often. It's kind of funny because most people would classify me as being a shy and quiet person. I guess I am that way so I don't end up punching someone in the throat. I think that is why I love spending so much time alone because then there is no chance of someone bugging me. 

I feel bad for Ryan because he is on the receiving end of my madness but somehow he still loves me. I am so grateful that I have Ryan to balance me out. He makes me laugh and "purposely" tries to get on my nerves just so I will laugh about it. Lately, I haven't been feeling as angry. (Please don't get scared of my crazy inner-self :) I really only hate annoying people.) Anyway, I haven't been feeling as angry which I think is because of Ryan and the crazy pill... I feel like lately we are "newly weds" again and always want to be in each others company. Isn't is crazy that we will have been married for 3 years in December! I am actually really happy with where we are in our lives. We love our new apartment and Laramie isn't at all that bad. Which is a good thing because there is a huge chance we might be here an extra 2 years... I am grateful for Ryan. If it wasn't for him I don't think I would be in school or really doing anything great with my life. He inspires me to be better which includes keeping the house clean and making dinner every night lol. I want to be a good wife for  him so I am trying my best to do the things that I don't like doing. And trying my best to be a happy person and not a scary one. 

TMI

WARNING: TMI

I just have to say that I have never been so happy to have my period in my life! Let me explain.. At the end of this month would have marked the 11th month since I have last had a period. For some reason I don't menstruate like I'm supposed to and this was the longest amount of time I have gone without having a period. So I was getting a little worried. But now I am RELIEVED! 

Bring on the mother of all periods! 

Coming Together

I am not done with this project yet but I am so excited I just had to post! 

Yesterday I went thrifting and found the perfect lamp for $3! I could not pass up a deal like that so I brought it home with me. Plus the guy threw in a free bulb.. Score! 

The first step was painting. My "go to" color lately is white so I chose a white spray paint plus primer and painted the base. I then went and bought a lampshade, taped it off, and painted black stripes. The black paint bled through the tape a little so I am working up a plan to get perfect finished edges. Not entirely sure how I am going to do that yet. Well here it is my new and improved lamp! Loving it! 

P.S. I went back to the thrift store today and found an identical lamp! So of course I needed two of the same lamp for balance and bought the second one for $3 again and with another free bulb! Double score! Both lamps are done and painted all I need to do now is fix the black lines. Yay my room is almost done! 

Sneak Peak

Here is a sneak peak of my bedroom makeover! So last week I was driving to one of my primary boy's baptism and I saw this dresser by the dumpster a couple house down from where I live. I went to the baptism (the entire time thinking about what I could do to that dresser! Especially because Ryan and I have never had our very own dresser..) and drove home hoping the dresser was still there. Luckily it was! So I dragged my poor sick husband, who has mono and is now finally recovering, out of bed and made him help me carry this dresser down the street and to our apartment. 

I recently bought a new bedspread that is turquoise and that inspired me to have a coral and turquoise bedroom. I found what I thought was coral in the "oops" paint section at Walmart and painted the dresser. I was horrified at first because it is more pink than coral. I am still debating on painting it gray or a dark turquoise but waiting until we get moved into our new place. The bottom drawer was damaged so I yanked the front off and painted the inside. I bought two baskets that will be our "sock" baskets and new black and white striped knobs from the Hob Lob. 

Now that the baskets are in and the new knobs are on I am liking the color better. Once I see my new room all put together with the bedding and side tables that I am planning on making I will decide if I will change the paint color or not. But for now here is a sneak peak for what's to come. 

What do you think about the color?

New Apartment

Because we are moving in August I decided that it would be a great time to redecorate! I am so excited because when Ryan and I first got married I was in a "black" stage and wanted all black decor. That is not what I want now. I also bought a bunch of stuff that isn't my style at all, I guess I just wasn't sure how I wanted my place to look. Well, now I do and I want to pursue a career in interior design so this is good practice for me. 

THE PLAN

Starting now I am taking $15 out of every pay check and saving it in a special decorating envelope. I want to redo my living room, bathroom and bedroom. Here is my budget. 

Living Room: $100

Bedroom: $50

Bathroom: $50

I created a mood board for the living room so I can get it out of my head and so I can start sleeping again and so I don't forget what I want everything to look like. Below is what I am going for. I want to use navy, grey, white and a little yellow for the living room. Right now I have orange (don't ask) and lots of black so my goal is to save money by painting and recovering items I already have. Here is the mood board.

I already have the couch which is sort of an item I regret getting because it is not my style at all. But since I don't have the budget, the couch stays. My goal is to spend the least amount of money for a high end look. I am going to get two Ikea side tables ($7.99 a piece!) and set them side by side to create a coffee table. The biggest dilemma I am having right now is what I should do about the rug. The rug on the left is from Ikea for only $19.99 and it is a decent size or I could get a more expensive rug with the exact color and pattern that I want. So my question is, does the Ikea rug look good with my stuff? Opinions please! 

I am so excited about this project and actually creating a home! Kristen this means we are going on a shopping spree when I visit in July! 

Update

It's official, we got the apartment! We are going in on Thursday to sign the lease. I am so excited to live in this place and get out of this bad situation with our current landlords. Yay!!

Apartment

We found an apartment! This is actually the first and only place we have looked at but I love it. It is not ours yet because the Realtor is still trying to get a hold of the people who are living there now. When we went over it looked like they just up and left the place, the mail was overflowing out of the box and it was kind of a mess. So hopefully when they finally turn up they will be leaving so we can have it. 

This apartment is the very top level of this house, 2 bedroom and 1 bathroom. The entrance is the door to the right and the apartment is up some stairs. It has a loft like feel and all the ceilings are valeted which I love because it gives the space character and it has a dishwasher and washer and dryer! Two things that I haven't had for 2+ years. It is also only a couple blocks away from UW so we can walk to school! This place is on the other side of town from where we are now so we will be moving wards for the third time since living in Laramie. I will be sad about that because I have really grown to love our ward and our primary class so it will  be hard leaving. This will be our third move since being in Laramie and our seventh in 2 1/2 years of marriage. I am so ready to stop moving and get settled. We will be living here for the next year in a half (If we get it!!) and I would love to call this place home. Cross your fingers!

Upset

I am feeling very upset and anxious right now. Ryan and I are currently looking for another apartment because our lease ends in August and we do NOT want to stick around with our current landlords.

Living in this apartment has been a nightmare at times. For starters maintenance has walked into our apartment without warning two times (that I know of). The first time I was in the shower when two men walked right on in at 8:30am! Do they just figure that people will be up and ready at that time of day without warning? Anyway, luckily Ryan was home so he warned me not to come out of the bathroom naked and he locked the door. The second time Ryan and I were out of town and came home to misplaced things, include my loofah! Who touches another person's loofah, needless to say I threw that sucker away! Both times we got no call, no notice and hardly a knock on the door.

I would also like to add that these people's customer service is horrible. The ladies in the office are totally rude and ignore you. They always sound "put out" by us renters.

The problem is that these people own the majority of rentals properties so it is almost impossible to rent from someone decent. The reason I am so upset right now is because I just finished reading the google reviews for this company and I am devastated. Renters rarely get their deposit back and everyone else has had horrible services like we have. I wish I read the reviews before we rented from them!

To top it all off I have to be out of my place tomorrow morning by 9am so they can show our place. At least they made an effort and left me a message because it is my day off and would have been in bed when they arrived. Besides they sent a notice saying that they would "try" to contact us when doing showings "if it is even possible..." So at least I got a call right??

Sorry for the ranting I just want to remember all this so I can add to the "fantastic" reviews on google and write a letter to the better business bureau.

Have A Laugh

I just came across this site via Pinterest and I just had to share a couple of photos that made me cry... and pee a little.

The page was titled...

50 People You Wish You Knew

Whoever threw this tennis ball at this dog's crotch

Whoever these basset hounds belong to

Whoever this kid getting eaten by a camel is

Whoever fell asleep like this in class

And my personal favorite..

Whoever had to sit in that seat

These seriously made my day! To see all 50 super funny pictures go to http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/people-you-wish-you-knew-in-real-life you wont regret it!

Baby Projects

No these are not baby projects for me but for my friends who recently had their babies. I took an idea off of Pinterest and made it my own and adding embellishments to onesies is now my new favorite baby project ever! I love this project because onesies are inexpensive and I use scrap fabric from my very large fabric stash. So all the expecting mothers that I know will be getting their own personalized baby onesies too.

My first attempt was with this cute little birdie onesie for my friend Jenaca's sweet baby girl Brindy. I just have to say that Brindy is absolutely adorable! She is so teeny tiny and I just love her already. Since both Brad and Jenaca's families live in Cody I am officially claiming Brindy as my adoptive niece (I still need to inform Jenaca of this plan)...

I pieced this little bird together with scraps, zigzagged the edges and added a button eye. Sorry the pics are so small! I don't know why that happens.

The next little baby that received some onesies is Courtney's baby boy Karsten. Ryan and I just went over today to give them to Courtney and once again he is adorable. He has blonde hair and just slept in my arms the entire time I held him. So cute! (Can you tell... I'm a little baby hungry!) Courtney and her little family will be moving to Arizona and I am sad that we didn't get to know them better while they were here. I learned my lesson, I need to be more friendly and hang out with friends more before they move away!

Here is a little car. The tires have little buttons but its hard to see in this tiny picture.

And I made a monster! Ryan said he looks like Mike on Monsters Inc.

And my favorite, the whale!

With this project I discovered Heat Bond! Why I have never used it before is a mystery.. Why nobody ever told me about it is also a mystery. It is the absolute best invention ever! If I didn't want to sew anything I don't have to! But of course I love adding the little zigzag around the edges to make it look finished and extra cute. I am so obsessed with making these and it is so easy. I plan on making some for my four nieces (one on the way) and one nephew next. Then my own when that time comes.

Bangs

Kristen has inspired me or got me thinking about bangs. Right now my bangs are getting long and I push them to the side. They look exactly like the picture below. Boring and blah.

Should I get a full side bang?

Or front bangs?

Decisions Decisions.

Red

I guess I am like my mom when it comes to red hair. She has always loved red hair and lately so have I. Every time I see someone with natural or awesomely colored red hair I wish I had red hair. But I am not sure I could pull it off.. I really really want red hair but red is a scary color to mess with. Maybe someday I will go for it.

Love natural red hair.

And I love this bright colored hair. This I really don't think I could pull off but I love it.

I guess this is just another case of hair envy.

Fingers crossed... hopefully my future children will come out with red hair! Ryan has some red hair that has gotten darker as he has gotten older so I can only hope that my little kiddos will be carrot tops.

Panic

I had a little moment of pure panic this morning. This is what happened...

The very first thing I do when I get out the shower is clean my ears out with a Q-tip. It drives me absolutely crazy if I have water in my ears. So I got out of the shower and stuck a Q-tip in my ear, when I pulled it out the cotton was not on the end of the Q-tip but still in my ear! My initial reaction was to put the stick back in my ear. I think I was hoping it would magically stick back onto the stick and come out but that was not the case. The only thing it did was push it in further! At that moment I was panicking on the inside. I had to say out loud to myself, "Do NOT panic, stay calm!" I was thinking oh great, I am going to have to go to the hospital to get this cotton out of my ear. That was when I spotted my tweezers. I picked them up and stuck it into my ear, grabbed that little stinker and pulled it out. The entire incident lasted less than a minute... a minute of pure panic and anxiety. What a positive way to start my day!

Note to self: Never buy dollar store Q-tips again!

Birthday

I am now 21!

I had a great birthday this year. The Friday before I invite some friends over and we had pulled pork sandwiches and lots of other goodies. It was my first time making pulled pork and it was delish! Sunday was my birthday and I got to leave church early to see my sister Jenny and her family! They were driving home from Texas and stopped in Laramie to see me. It was so wonderful to be able to see the girls and visit with them for a little bit. And Ryan took care of the lesson and our primary class so I could see my family. After they left Ryan and I decided to drive to Denver to celebrate. We stayed in a brand new hotel for the night, went out to eat, and went swimming. The hotel was completely empty so we had the pool and hot tub to our selves and got some much needed relaxing time. Then I did something that I have never done before in my life! I watched 3 zombie movies in a row! I hate scary movies and for some reason I just couldn't change the channel and kept watching. The movie was actually pretty good... for a zombie movie. (Really I have never seen a zombie movie before). Because I stayed up pretty much all night we slept in until checkout which was noon. Before we headed home we did some shopping which was truly an amazing gift from Ryan because he HATES shopping and it is so hard to get him to go with me. I got 2 pairs of jeans (much needed) and a new top. The drive home was stressful... it started to snow and get slick out. We drove past a tipped over truck on the side of the road as we were leaving Denver so that was just the beginning to a horribly anxious ride home. But we survived and made it home in one piece.

It was a wonderful birthday and I am so glad that I got to spend it with my favorite person.

And now for some sad news.. I am now officially a Wyoming resident and my new Wyoming drivers licence is in the mail and on its way to my very sad wallet. I have been avoiding getting a Wyoming licence for 2 years and it finally caught up to me. So now I have 2 Wyoming registered cars and a licence to match. Sad sad day for me and my unhappy wallet.

Quick Fix

It is my birthday on Sunday so tonight I am planning a little get together with some friends. I am making pulled pork sandwiches (with 2 cans of Dr. Pepper!) for the first time and I am so excited to eat it! Because I have friends coming to my apartment I HAD to deep clean. Once I had everything nice and tidy I noticed an eye sore... My fridge. I have too many things on my fridge and not enough magnets so that leaves one magnet holding at least 4 different items. I decided to fix this problem by making some magnets with things I already have. I already had the actual magnet part from the last time that I made cute magnets so all I needed was something cute to glue them to. I also have a ton of flowers from making bows so I just decided to use what I had. It took me literally 2 minutes and it was a quick and cute fix to my problem.

So here they are.

Now each picture has its own magnet.

Note: Don't feel TOO weirded out if you happen to see your face on my fridge :)