Summer Picture OVERLOAD

Let me start out by saying...we are addicted to Blue Bell Ice cream! Addicted I tell you. It was on sale at the grocery store the other day and I had a few coupons I printed off their website, because that's what I do, and so we got a week supply of Ice cream. Just kidding it's more than a week but it sure goes out fast.

If you haven't tried

Blue Bell Ice cream
you're missing out!

James and I took a week and spent some time in Utah for a number of reasons...

1) Becky and Peter (his brother) got sealed to their family
2) Richard (his brother) was going to the MTC for his mission to Virginia
3) Pierson (nephew) was turning two
4) Visit Dawna and Nik
5) Go to Temple Square
5) Do some shopping!

James and I did almost every tour at Temple Square. One of my favorites was the Beehive house. It was a lot of fun. I love going through old things like that, plus I learned a lot, and I love hearing other people's questions! One of the kids rooms below is where the sister missionaries explained where the phrase "sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite" came from. Because they would have to tighten their bed ropes before going to bed so they wouldn't fall through. One girl on our tour heard only some of this explanation and clarified by asking "what they roped themselves to the bed?" James and I had a polite laugh about that.
This was in the kitchen of the Beehive house...LOVE the sink!! I want it.
This was the step Brigham Young used to get into the horse carriages.
Brigham Young used to sit in this area to think...the wall's surrounding are all original.
Okay The Lion House Rolls are truly amazing. I found the recipe online and CANNOT wait to make them!
This next picture is from the top of the Joseph Smith Building. James and I had lunch at the Garden Restaurant which was so lovely and delicious. And they had FRIED PICKLES. Loved them! When I'm pregnant I think I'll crave fried pickles and blue bell ice cream...for sure!

James and his brother Richard playing on the dinosaur at the gas station.
This is little Nathan. He turned two. And his mommy and daddy had a little party for him at the park. It was a lot of fun and great to get together with the family.

Love the red lips.This is Pierson. He was glad to "get" all these new toys too!

Richard and Grandma! Pierson loves playing with and going for rides on Grandma's walker.

This is the beautiful and newly sealed family coming out of the Salt Lake Temple. It was such a blessing that we were able to be there for their sealing. It was such a beautiful thing to see! We love them and are so proud of them! After we left Salt Lake/Layton area we spent the day and night in Provo where we visited Dawna and Nik (the newlyweds married just a week after us.) They took us to a Brazilian restaurant called Tucanos. It was very yummy. But my heavens was I full after!!
Next stop was the Grand Canyon. James and I both have never been there and so we made plans to stop by on our way home. We got there about 2pm and spent the rest of the day there. I didn't expect much but we were both pleasantly surprised. We found this next image a little funny. Can you guess why?
I was having a small heart-attack with James that close to the edge. And seeing him later dangle his feet off! So many people die each year at the Grand Canyon, but he said there wasn't a drop off. Fewf.
After leaving one of the view points this "MOOSE" walked right in front of our car. And we coudn't get our camera on fast enough! But everyone stopped to take pictures. Ha such city people. And to prove that point...It was an "ELK," my mom informed us later. Haha. A MOOSE. please. We are such city people apparently.
This was us getting ready for the sun to set. What an attraction. It was very pretty. I don't think I have really ever sat and watched the sun go down. It was cool.

This was the other side of the view point before the moon rose.
Our trip was a lot of fun. And I loved spending time with James and seeing our family and friends. We are so blessed to be surrounded by so much love.

Thanks for reading ALL this!

Funny Love Story

James and I have been planning for a number of weeks now our trip to Utah. We are really excited and I have been trying to get things ready like a madly organized wife. A few nights before we were supposed to leave I was getting everything together like our itinerary, printing out all the conformations for the rental car and hotel, printing maps, etc. Not to mention James decided we should visit the Grand Canyon so I had to figure all that out too! Needless to say I was stressed! The day before we left (Friday) I planned on getting all the laundry done and going to the store to get all the snacks for the car trip. Also, James was planning a nice dinner for us

Well Friday morning comes around and James calls me and wakes me up. He was like "babe, are we planning on leaving tomorrow?" I of course said "yes" thinking duh we have been planning this for a number for weeks now. He then told me he just got off the phone with his dad and was asking him if he was leaving Saturday for Utah he said yes August 1st and James said you mean tomorrow and his dad is like no August 1st. James was like oh-my-gosh I have to call Melissa. So he calls me and informs me August 1st is another whole week away!!!!!!!!!!! We couldn't believe it we were laughing so hard. How does that even happen? I can't tell you how many times we looked at a calendar the night before trying to figure out the best deals we could get for the hotel and car rental. How did I not realize there was a week left in July?? Guess my laundry and shopping is put on hold for another week.

Since our two month aniversary is the 30th (only two days before the 1st) he thought it would be nice to make us dinner. However, I didn't know that was his plan I just thought he was making dinner to be nice. Well, he came home with red roses and said "happy anniversary" and it made me laugh so hard. We had our anniversary dinner a week early because it was already planned before we found out we have a calendar deficiency.

Here our some pictures from my husband's great dinner...

photoshop

I was playing around with photoshop today trying to learn some new tricks and this is what I created...

Redo

I am a blog stalker. I can't help it, it is so much fun! There have been two blogs that have inspired me to start redoing projects. The first one is Older and Wisor and the second one is Thrifty Decor Chick they both have fun ideas and tips to help along the way.

I was thrifting with my friend Emily the other day and ran into this coat hanger. I kicked myself for not taking a before picture (that is an important rule in redo projects) but it was a dark stained wood before, nice, but needed a "redo."


I got some great advice from a number of other blogs about using liquid deglosser/sander.


This stuff is way inexpensive and works really well. [Side story: the girls at Lowes said they had never heard of liquid sander so they decided together they didn't have it. I was a little annoyed and was like "Umm I am quite sure you have it!" Well guess what they did! Thanks to the most helpful young man I have ever encountered at a home improvement store. Lesson learned-be aggressive when you know you're right!] Not sure how it works, but it seems to add a layer of whatever it is to the item which creates a paintable surface.

Since this is my first "redo" I was running into some spray painting issues. Some areas were more glossy than others, some had paint splatters from holding the can sideways and I was getting frustrated. Frustration=no fun! So I decided to sand it by hand in the areas I didn't like well this showed scratches and repainting it didn't help (very frustrating). So I tried to put a little deglosser on it again and painted it a little heavier. It was good enough. Here is how it turned out.

I am going to find some things and/or make some things to hang on it and put on the tiny shelf above.

My next project isn't really a redo, but something I think is really cute. I got the idea from Just A Girl.


I am going to try and make the paper behind it saying things I want it to say. We'll see how it turns out.

Summer Update

Hello. It has been a really long time since I have written in my newly started blog. I think I am going to try to be more proactive in writing. Since the engagement pictures (which was my last post), James and I were sealed together in the Mesa Arizona Temple on May 3o, 2009. Here are a few pictures from our big day!






This summer has been good so far. I took a summer school class which was demanding, but now that it is done I have been enjoying sleeping in until 11 and staying up till 2.

For the 4th we went to Pinetop to be with my Mom, Sister and her boyfriend. It was a lot of fun and great weather! Here are a few pictures from the time up there.

My mom was very proud of her cute decorations!

Our jumping attempts. Really we were just trying out the new camera.

Watching the Show Low parade.

James, Cassidy and David were practicing their Sling Shot skills. My mom set up a water bottle for them as their target. It was pretty funny.

The famous big chair that everyone has a picture of who has been to Pinetop. If you don't you're missing out!

4th of July BBQ!

My mom made homemade ice cream and these cute brownie stars!

Fireworks and Show Low High School.

I hope to continue to add more from the summer. We have some fun adventures coming up!