Figuring it out…

Even though the big event of finishing our backyard isn’t going to happen for another month, I figured it was time to start looking for the best prices! It always helps to have a FRIEND who does this or that and can hook you up when in need, so far the only help I’ve been able to come up with for a cheap expense is my little brother (who is willing to work for a good meal) in which he use to be co-owner or a sprinkler installation business – So between him and Casey, we have that one covered…If anyone knows of any good deals or an inexpensive business that carries any of the following items – PLEASE SHARE!
1) TREX – decking and fencing.
2) A Backhoe
3) Sod – any ideas what the best kind is? We don’t want any course grass that hurts to walk bare footed on.
4) Boulder rocks, like these…

There are some other things too – but I have already figured those out…any ideas?

Fixations!!!

I have a secret fixation…3 if you want to know the truth!!!
Fixation # - Lip smacking desserts!

I could seriously make candy, delicate desserts or desserts of any kind all day, everyday, if I could! I get a couple magazines that are always packed full of dessert ideas made from scratch and I seriously get SO much personal enjoyment going though them and picking out which ones I am going to make! This new found love of mine just started in December with my recent subscription, so if you ever need any killer recipes let me know…I would love to share!
Fixation #2 - Jeans!

What would it be like to go get a new pair of jeans every week? I seriously LOVE trying on jeans. I didn’t realize how many pairs I really have till Casey and I moved into our new home and I organized my new closet…! But for some reason…I keep buying more! Unfortunately for me…jeans are the one item of clothing that I am willing to spend big bucks on, sure I can find some killer deals, but because I am so picky with my jeans they are still like three times the amount Casey would fork out for his jeans. However, in my defense, a killer pair of jeans can make any girls confidence boost!
Fixation #3 – Shoes!

I have a four tier rack of shoes perfectly displayed under my winter shirts and dresses in my closet - that four tier rack has sufficed until recently where I have become totally obsessed with shoes…they are now taking over the floor of my closet, not in the neatly fashion like they should either. Even perfectly lined up side by side it looks messy! What is going on? My mom would vouch that all growing up she could never just go out and buy me a pair of shoes ‘just because’ – because about 90% of them I wouldn’t like. They were “too girly” or “ugly” – all I wanted was a pair of tennis shoes and my cleats and I was good to go! However, I finally hit that mark…and am now my moms FAVORITE shopping buddy (right mom???) – but especially for shoes! We went to the DSW at the district when they were going out of sale and hit it perfectly! I found 2 pairs of shoes that I really did need (yeah right)and then found out that the total would actually be 40% less than what the clearance tag read…what did we do? Went and found 3 more pairs!!! It was amazing! I can wait till spring so I can actually where my opened toe ones! Geez!
All I have to say about this is: one hot pair of stilettos with my favorite pair of jeans = one blissful me!

I heart my new ward!

Casey and I moved into our new ward right after they got done “splitting” it and everyone’s faces looked new to everyone anyway…so it has taken a while to get to ‘know’ a lot of the families in our ward…so last Sunday Casey and I ventured out and made some homemade valentine cupcakes and met some of our newly moved in neighbors and visited with some old! We seriously have been blessed with such down to earth neighbors who we think are AWESOME! A lot of our friends and some family complain about there neighbors and we seriously don’t have one to complain about…its great! Our newbie next door neighbors just moved in about a month ago and we were so worried (not really) about who was going to buy that house…the first people that came and looked at it like 20 times had “lds.org” on their license plate and about a bazillion “CTRRU?” “LDSRU?” stickers on their bumper…that was the last thing we wanted, nazi Mormon neighbors! Don’t get me wrong, as if you didn’t know, Casey and I are LDS and have firm testimonies of our faith, but some push it too the extreme and sad to say, those are the ones that judge the most and make our less active friends not want to come to church…lesson today…don’t be that member!!! Anyway, not that I would ever let a person sway me from church, there is nothing in the world that would hold me back from being spiritually fed on Sundays, I enjoy relief society way too much! Oh and if you were curious…me “newbie” neighbors, aren’t the family I just described above…they are darling!
Well, I totally went off on a tangent…I HEART MY NEW WARD!!! Lets get back to that! We have so many amazing ladies in our ward! I swear at least every two weeks we have some kind of activity and they are so fun…last week we met at the church and made these SUPER CUTE vinyl lettering plates for Valentines Day and last night we had a card exchange (which is right down my alley) and I seriously got the cutest cards!!! Talk about some talented people! Then the 12 of us that did it, just sat around and talked like we had all been friends for ever, when in all reality, only three people actually knew each others name at the beginning of the night. It was fun! A much needed girls night out for me, talking about the dumbest things and giggling over everything…I love those nights!
Not to mention that we have 4 nurseries in our ward…yeah that’s right, I said 4!!! And hardly any young men and women. So all the sports that usually go to the young women/men are now formed for the Relief Society and Priesthood…We just finished Basketball and Futsol (that’s soccer, just in case you didn’t know) is next…then come spring, its coed volleyball and softball! Get cooler! I’m totally stoked!
What is even cooler than this…are the testimonies that have been born in our ward the last two months. It is amazing the love our ward has for each other. If you know where I live, that little community that you turn into to come to our house is our ward and that’s it, so everyone always knows what is going on with everyone…As with many families, a lot of people in our ward are going through some tough times with lay offs and not making bills ect and at Christmas time TONS of families donated money to the Bishop to disperse as needed to those families, and the testimonies and heart felt thank yous that have been shared over the pulpit are very touching! I am very excited to get to know these amazing people!

Valentines Weekend

Nice one!!! I totally didn’t take any pictures on Valentines Day…whatever! That officially makes it my 2nd year in a row with NO valentines day pictures in our scrapbook!
Casey and I had quite the relax-ful weekend! We woke up Saturday morning and I made him heart eggs inside toast…it was my first attempt and it was actually really good and cute! And then we headed over to my little sisters jewelry party! She is SO talented! If you haven’t ever been to one of her parties you should let me know if you want to come! Her stuff is pretty inexpensive, original and AMAZING! She made $800 this weekend (did I mention she is only 15?)…props to you sister, you are incredible! Then Casey and I made our way to the Taconos! Our place of choice! We make it there 3 times a year…both our birthdays and Valentines Day. They gave free chocolate covered strawberries for Deseret – YUM! Another one of my favorite indulgences! We stuffed ourselves full and didn’t feel a bit of shame for it! Then we went to our coed soccer game and lost 15-10 but had tons of fun losing! I mean seriously, the last time I played in a game with that high of a score was my Junior year in high school when we beat Copper Hills 13 to 0! It was fun…last week Casey was playing keeper the second half, saved a goal, rolled the ball to himself than ran down the court and scored…what the? AMAZING! We have tons of fun playing together! Neither one of us had ever played on a coed team before and want to start our own that starts in about 2 weeks…any takers???
We also went and saw the movie TAKEN…SO GOOD! I cant believe that people actually feel okay doing what these horrible men do to these young girls in the movie…but the dad is RAD! Totally worth the money to see it in the theaters (if you want my review).

Spoiled Rotten?

I know I have said this so many times already…but I seriously have the BEST honey in the world! We have been on this protein shake and sausage kick for like the past 2 months but I never have time to eat breakfast in the morning so Casey so willingly makes them “to go” for me EVERY morning! And then he packs me snacks and a lunch and everyone is always so jealous at work that I am eating such yummy food! Those that sit close by have started asking me “what’s for lunch today spoiled?” Would you really consider that ‘spoiled’ or ‘loved’? I just think you love me death honey and just want me to be happy…however, I also know that you would give me whatever want if I asked!!! – So I think it is a little of both!!! To top things off, yesterday I was having a bad day…it was meeting after meeting, worry after worry and poor me decided to take it out on Casey! When he called he asked what was wrong, but all it was, was just stress… an hour and a half later he called and asked me if he could take me to lunch in 20 minutes…of course he could…Zupas is right across the street and I love that place…All it took was 45 minutes with him and I was much happier…but it didn’t stop there! As I started getting out of the car he said “wait, I brought you something” and pulled from the floor of the back seat a beautiful bouquet of spring flowers…they were SO pretty and smell divine – I cant wait for those Lily’s to bloom!!! THANKS HONEY!!!

Time to re-evaluate!

For those of you who ‘know’ me and for those of you who don’t… I don’t know why I LOVE to constantly be busy, but the last 4 months (and this may be too much information for some of you!) I have had some sort of nasty teen break out on my chin – I was told by a dermatologist that chin acne is caused by hormones…I took a moment to think of what could possibly be causing me stress, anxiety and who knows what else, and then I opened my planner! I work 40+ hours a week at my loved HealthCare Insight job and I currently have two “side” jobs I’ve picked up for fun…My Photography business that I absolutely LOVE – its more of a hobby than anything, an enjoyed hour with many I don’t know and having a play date with little kids who think I am the coolest lady ever BC I would do absolutely anything to get a smile on there face…and then selling Mary Kay just so I can have all my makeup for free and did I mention that I applied at a store in the mall last week to work an additional 16 hours a week??? What is wrong with me? Needless to say, when I prioritized my life…working my life away wasn’t part of it! I actually got the job, but they wanted me to also work Friday nights and I wasn’t willing to give that night up from my honey!
I don’t know why I constantly think I need to be doing something, there are pros and cons to it indeed! One of the pros are: I can multi task like no buddies business and can get any task done in half of what someone thinks it will take me…But why am I not running out of things to do? And then the con: I don’t have any free play time unless it is scheduled like a week in advance! The Relief Society Presidency came to my house two weeks ago and walked in with me as I was coming home from work…I was having a little anxiety about what the house might look like or if I remembered to fold the blanket up and what not and as we walked in I thought to myself “don’t worry, it doesn’t matter what the house looks like” and to my surprise the two counselors (at the same time) said…”your house is beautiful”, then one continued on saying “It is spotless in here and smells delicious!” What in the world? I stepped back a minute and really looked at my house…it was pretty clean but I could instantly see what needed work! I told Casey about it when he got home from school and he just smiled! He kind of giggled and said that “our house is always like this, you just like freak if one thing is out of place” … Do I have some sort of OCD? This was a wake up call for me!
So Casey and I signed up for Netflix!!! Every other night (or so) is now “Movie Night” at our house…we turn the fire on, grab the pillows and a blanket and make our divine vanilla steamers and snuggle up!!! We usually end up falling asleep…well, at least I do, but for some reason, movies just help you get all that junk out of your head that “you should be doing”! All in all, my “hormonal” acne is finally going away – and there isn’t anything better than snuggling up next to my honey! Now you all know me a little better and some my take this post as “wow” or “this chick has issues” but, what can I say…everyone has the ‘there thing’ right?