A Heart Full of Love

I just wanted to do a post about my WONDERFUL husband. I know he will never read it, as he could care less about my blog, but I just wanted to share anyway. I can't believe I got so lucky! Especially being married at 19. Scary, seriously scary. Looking back on it, I was WAY too young, but it all worked out. I am just so grateful to him for everything he does for me. I was reading New Moon, and I realized that all the things I like best about Jacob (Yes, I am Team Jacob) are the things I love about Jason! He always makes me laugh. He makes me feel better just by being near him. He is super supportive. He loves me and worships the ground I walk on. He doesn't have any expectations of how I should act or feel, and he loves me just the way I am, problems and everything. I am just so grateful that I have such a wonderful husband who cares so much about me. And works so hard to provide for me. And appreciates that I want to stay home and be a housewife. There aren't many guys I know who would be willing to do that, especially if the wife in question doesn't have any kids. So, I just wanted to let you all know what a great guy he is.

Stressed!!!

Why is it that some days, everything just seems so overwhelming? Even if you aren't really busy? I mean, today I had nothing to do. At all. Except for fun things if I chose to do them. Instead, I spent most of the day (from noon to five) in the bathtub, attempting to relax. Then, a crying jag. What fun, no? Oh well. I guess it's better to be mega-stressed for one day than just normal stressed for every day. I just feel like everything is piling up, and I have no idea how to deal with it. I am sure I will feel better about it tomorrow. Here's hoping!

The Acostas

As a HUGE favor, the Acostas came over yesterday to help with our flooded room. They lent us an oscillating space heater that is working wonders for the floor. And of course, they decided to stay and hang out for a bit, and -surprise, surprise- I fed them. It's a compulsion. The first thing the Jasons do, any time they get together is pull out guns. This time they did some mystery thing and reloaded some ammo.
Jack had a lot of fun. We played on the piano quite a bit, and I took a really cute video, but decided not to upload it, as he is not actually my child... so here's a photo instead.
Then, while I was cooking, the Jasons were reloading, so I decided to let Jack help me. Here he is, cooking like the little chef I am sure he will grow up to be, if genes count for anything. (Don't worry, the stove was not actually on. Well, his side, anyways.) He also washed his hands every time I did, ate plenty of veggies, and cut when I did. (With a butter knife.) It was gosh-darn cute! Also, not cute, as I look awful, but eh! And somehow he figured out the pepper grinder. I am sure they will be finding pepper in his clothes for weeks.
Then, Heather came over after work, and we ate us some artichoke chicken. I love how she stuck her finger up her nose.
We are so lucky to have such great friends that do us crazy favors.

Our Flooding Adventure

So, we had quite the adventure today. Right before we left for church, Jason discovered that the window in my bead room was leaking, BAD! I am talking POURING out of the window audibly. It sucked. We put a towel in the window, and it was still dripping out. There's a metal well behind the window, and since it was so much warmer lately, and it's been raining, there was quite a lot of water. So, we had to move all of the beads away from the wall. As shown here.
Lots of beads, right? Yeah. I have a problem. Anyways, we used all of our towels trying to soak up water, and then started the dishtowels. About a third of the room was so wet it crunched when you walked on it, after all the towel soaking.
After the dish towels, we did the towels again. Jason had to run the towels to the laundromat to dry them, and it seems that everyone does laundry on Sundays, because there were only two dryers available. Ay, ay, ay. No fun. Luckily, Heather and Jason lent us a heater so we can attempt to dry it out after a few days. I just hope it works! Here is the window that started it all.

Ho-Hum Life

So, I thought I would regale you all with a lovely tale of my day-to-day life, since I know you all think it is SOOOO fascinating!
9:00- Alarm goes off. I don't want to get up, since I know I have to clean
9:30- Jason gets up.
10:00- I get up and hop in the shower.
10:30- I am dressed, and begin cleaning by sorting the laundry that I did on Wednesday, or maybe Tuesday. I find I do not have enough hangers for all of our shirts. Maybe I should buy some more.
11:00- I start cleaning the bathroom. I put cleaner in the toilet bowl, and promptly forget about it.
11:30- I start cleaning the kitchen. I begin by clearing off the table, and then start the dishes.
12:00- Jason and I fight over who has to sweep and mop. Okay, not a real fight, but still. I lose, but Jason has to clean the living room.
12:30- I realize I am all out of clorox wipes, and I cannot survive without them.
1:00- I take some time to read blogs and do facebook. I have tagged you all in a note, so be sure to check yours!
1:30- After trying to call Lauren all day so I can see if I can borrow her fondue pot, I decide to just head on over to ask her. We decide to take some empty boxes to the trash as well.
2:00- No success with the fondue pot, so we head home. I watch some TV- the Food Network. A little of Everyday Italian, Barefoot Contessa, and Food Network Challenge.
4:00- I call my Mom to get the rules for Oh Heck! I begin getting ready to have Dan and Faith over for fondue. This is also when I discover I forgot to scrub the toilet, so I do that as well.
4:30- Faith and I go to the grocery store to get stuff for fondue. I also pick up some more clorox wipes, toilet paper, and some DELICIOUS 100 calorie fudgesicles.
5:30- We do Fondue! Swiss cheese, then oil, then chocolate. We also have a great time chatting, playing MarioKart DoubleDash and playing Imaginiff.
11:00- I check facebook again, and decide to blog about my fascinating life.
Now don't you all wish you were me? Haha! Just kidding. I have a pretty tame life. At least it's fun, though!

I am a Fat-Burning Machine!

So, I just wanted to do a little bit of bragging. Since reading all of your wonderful comments about how thin I am looking, I decided to weigh myself in the middle of the week. I try to only weigh myself once a week, but sometimes you just can't resist. And I found out I have lost a total of 12 pounds! Whoo-hoo! In only 2.5 weeks! I am feeling really, really great about it. And I still have just been counting calories. I am ever so grateful for thedailyplate.com. It's so fantastic! Honestly, if I had known that losing weight would be this easy, I would have gone on a diet like 5 years ago, if not more. So, I just wanted to share that happy tidbit!
Also, I went in to get my x-ray thing done yesterday, and everything was fine, so I am on to the actual event next month! Wish me lots of luck!

My New Sexy Look!!

So, I chopped my hair off yesterday. I am really, really loving my new look! Why did I ever decide I wanted to grow it out? I can't imagine. It's hard to tell, since these are all self-portraits, but it is an A-Line cut, and it looks super cute in the back. I absolutely love it!

What a Week!

Well, I have been sorely remiss at blogging lately. Luckily, I have a fantastic excuse, so you can all forgive me! :) Last Tuesday, my Mom flew in, and we took off to visit Nampa, and all the family around there. We only got to stay for a few days, but it was loads of fun! The first night, we all played games. We had so much fun!
In order from left to right: Julie, Kristen, Maegan, Mom, Katie. We played Last Word and Apples to Apples. As it got later and later, we got weirder and weirder, and this was one of those many moments. I would like to point out the food all over the table. (Yes, all of it junk food.) I didn't eat any of it! Well, okay, I did have a small piece of pie with ice cream, but who can resist that? It was delicious!
The next day, we all went over to Kara's house for lunch. All of us being: Britta and Sam, Kara, Shawn, and Jack, Laura, Clyde and Alice/Gertie, Maegan, Elena, and Kristen, Mom and Me, Julie, Jeremy, Nora, and Opal, Katie, Atticus, Thomas, and Violet. It was very full, and very fun. We made Korean Pancakes (basically grated veggies with egg and some kind of Korean sauce), Paninis, and Monte Cristos. It was delicious! Laura went through all of her jewelry, and brought a piece of jewelry for everyone. She also brought me a bad of jewelry that is either broken or strange to remake, and I can't wait to get started on it!! I am really excited, and you can expect to see pictures of them as I make them.
Then, Mom and I went to my Grandma's grave site, which was nice, although we had a bit of a hard time finding the cemetary. Then we went to Britta's to say hi to Morgan, Jared, TJ, and Hunter. Then we headed over to Katie's for more games. However, on the way was a bead store, so you know we had to stop. I was pretty good, and got some great stuff. Once we got to Katie's, we ate some delicious dinner. Pizza and Fruit Salad. The fruit salad really hit the spot. It was soooo good! With cantalope, honeydew, watermelon, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and grapes. It was delicious, and I ate a ton of it. Then, we decided to do a bit of beading. Katie made this beautiful piece with Labradorite and Pumice (or Lava or something):
Unfortunately, you miss all the cool parts of the piece with the camera. The smaller greyish stones have a beautiful bright blue shiny thing. Kindof like cat eyes in the dark. Then my mom and I had a beading contest where we both had to use the same stones as a base. You have to tell me which one you like better and which one you think is made by who. The base stones (featured in Necklace #1)
More Necklace #1:
Necklace #2:
So, don't forget to tell me your thoughts! Then we played Rummikub, which was great fun. Some photos:
This is a very typical photo of my mom. Not so photogenic. She is wearing the beautiful pin Laura gave her. It doesn't match so well, but it's a gorgeous pin.
This is Katie. She looks a little weird in this photo. Or maybe she just looks like that all the time! Just kidding!
This is Julie, who Jason thinks looks just like my mom. I don't really see it. Anyway, the last half day we were there, we hung out at Kristen's. We looked through a whole bunch of stuff from my Grandma, and there was alot of cool stuff and heirlooms. We also looked through an old catalog from the 60s that had us rolling on the floor. There was one page of coordinating outfits for yourself and your husband. And they were exactly the same! One of the sets was blue jumpsuits (can you say Janitor?) Another one that was great was the swimwear. I think they just used the same bottoms for both, which looked really hilarious. Then we had to head back to pick up Dad and Dillon at the airport, since they were coming to ski. We had a great, but busy, few days with them. They were pretty uneventful. Nevertheless, it was a great week. Sorry this post is so long! I guess I just had a lot to say!

Yay For Me!!

I just wanted to post quickly, because I am excited! I weighed myself today, and after one week and two days, but only one week of calorie counting, I have lost 5.5 pounds!! Yay!! I am so excited! I can't believe it's working that well. Okay- I know that your weight fluctuates some, but still!! I am really excited! This month's necessary weight, already lost! I am on track!

The Reject Pieces

These are the other projects I submitted to the beading contest. Admittedly, some of the photos could be better, but not too bad, right?
This one I designed around Jacob Black. (I know, I am loser.) But it totally goes with him, huh? I submitted this one for the heart category. (There is a heart in the center-ish piece that I stuck in just so I could submit this one. It's better without it.) It's made of horn, sunstone, pyrite, and assorted fibers.
This one was for the gemstones category, and is probably one of my favorite pieces. It's agate, turquoise, and black crystal.
This one was for pearls, and it is pearls and adventurine. (I think. Green stones give me some trouble.) The pearls are a lovely peach color, which is hard to see in the photo.

So- What I want to know is this. Do you think they picked the right piece? Or rather, which piece is your favorite?

I'm Famous!!!

Well, let me set the scene here. In May (I think. Maybe April.) I found out about a beading competition. I decided to submit a few pieces. They had categories, and you submit one piece for each category (or however many you want.) I had picked out all my favorite pieces, and submitted them to the appropriate categories. I was looking for anything I had made that might work for the remaining categories, and I found a piece for plastic. Not super cute, but hey, why not, right? So I submitted them all and anxiously awaited for results. Judges picked the top twenty in each category and then people subscribed to a beading newsletter voted on those to determine the winners.
Imagine my surprise, when I am nominated! Oh- I was so excited! Which one was it? I bet it was this one, or maybe that one. So, I find out. It's not any of those. It's the PLASTIC one! What!??!?! That one isn't even that cute! Oh well. No accounting for taste, I guess. I was still excited. So, I won an honorable mention and a free subscription to a beading magazine of my choice, which is pretty cool. But, the coolest thing is that this contest is for a beading magazine that comes out once a year and features all of the winning projects. So, I am in BeadStar Magazine! (You can get it anywhere currently. Or just look through it or whatever.) Here are some photos of it.
This is the page I am on. Whoo-hoo!
This is the piece that won. They messed it up. It's supposed to be asymmetrical.
This is the photo I submitted for the contest. Showing the earrings and the way the necklace is supposed to look. Lots cuter, huh?
This is a close up of my little bio. Oh- how famous am I?

News Update

Well, I have not been too great about updating my blog lately. I would apologize, but I really have nothing super exciting to post. Honestly. Well, I did get to see Dallas, Emily, and their cuties when they stopped by on their way home. I fed them some lunch. I made Wraps. They were really tasty, and I think everybody enjoyed them. Except for Sophie, who was upset that the stuff kept falling out, as she was biting the sealed end. Oh well! But Dallas really liked them, so I guess I will just be satisfied! It was really fun to see them, though. And I even got a few kisses from Gabe, who hasn't learned to pucker yet. Awww- I love baby kisses so much!
Also, I am excited to be heading out to Nampa next week. I will only be there for like two days with my mom, but I am really looking forward to it. I should go out to visit more often. But, it will be loads of fun!
Ummm... I am also thinking about chopping off my hair. I am not brave enough to go below chin length overall, but I am really in need of a change. Any suggestions?

Calorie Counting

I am really impressed with my ability to stick with this whole calorie counting thing. I still haven't been exercising yet (I am too busy. Okay- enough excuses.) But I have been counting calories the last few days. I have never stuck with it so long, so I think it will actually happen. I just wanted to share this amazing website:
THEDAILYPLATE.COM
Here, FOR FREE!!, you can find out how many calories you can consume based on age, height, weight, activity level, and how much you want to lose. Then, you can use their database to find any foods you have eaten and enter them in. It automatically tells you how many calories, carbs, sugars, fat, and other stuff you have eaten, and how much you can eat for the remainder of the day. It is so cool! You can also plug in any exercise you do, and it will allow you to eat more calories, if you want to. Or you can just lose extra calories. It's pretty cool. If you want to lose weight, I would definitely check it out!

Some weird products....

There are some pretty strange products out there. Here are some I have experienced lately...

This is some sort of fishing camera. Don't ask me for what. FISHTV I guess.
I guess the camera is shaped like a fish so it won't scare the fish? Who knows...


These are some cookies from Japan. Wait a minute... what does that say?
Translated: White Chocolate and CAT TONGUE!?!?!
Here are the opened cookies. I forgot to take a photo of the actual cookies. They were really good. I guess Cat Tongue is a type of biscuit-y cookie or something. They were really good. Thanks for sharing, Heather and Jason!

Winter is a time of trials...

Winter has arrived, AGAIN, and I thought I would post some photos of the many trials it brings to those in my household...

I am forced to look like a character from "Fiddler on the Roof." Okay- I made the scarf and it's not too bad....

"Please sir, can I have some more?"
This is my wonderful husband doing some shoveling. All this snow was in one afternoon. (Well, all the stuff he's shoveling at least."
Check out that awesome chore!
Kitty footprints in the snow. They are probably freezing to death.
Here is Ashie. I love that you can see that it's snowing!

This is Ashie again. I am pretty sure she is begging me to let her inside with her demon eyes.
So, to keep them warm, we bought a heating pad. I don't think I have seen Callie outside the cat box in days.
Ashie will only eat if we're watching her. I think. And there is Callie with the heating pad.

I guess she will only come out if she thinks they get to come inside!

Hmmm... What to say...

Here are some random photos I like that I have taken with the new camera.
I promise, I actually had no idea what he was doing. I was too worried about whether or not we were even in the shot. Haha- I think it's a pretty funny photo though!
I posted this one just because I think I look a TON like Penelope (my cousin) here. Right, Emily? Especially when she's tired.
This photo I just think turned out incredibly gorgeous. And yes, it is an eye photo. I have loads more!

Well, I have been wanting to post for a while, but for some reason I can't think of a thing to write. So, here are some really unexciting things I have done recently. This morning, I made French Toast. Okay- so it was more like lunch time, but any time before Church is morning. I had been craving French Toast for like a week, so it tasted really yummy to me. Mmmmm... Just thinking about it is making me drool. Pavlov, anyone? Anyway... Jason and I also went and returned a whole bunch of stuff. We took back the SCUBA lessons. Mostly because I didn't think at all when I bought it and forgot that you can't SCUBA if you are pregnant. Don't worry, I am not pregnant. I will certainly let you know when I am. But, if you are trying to get pregnant, it's better to avoid things like that. And then we went and returned the wedding band Jason got me for Christmas. (It pinched, and didn't work with my ring.) We were originally planning to trade it in for a new ring, but we decided not to do it. With all the threats Obama is making towards the oil companies, we are really starting to get worried about Jason's job. And there is never as much work in the winter anyway. So, we are trying to be very frugal. I think we are doing pretty good, personally. We have been living on ONE half-check for about a month. We haven't gotten our Christmas check yet, as Jason has not been to work. Pretty impressive, though, huh?