Redo, like new

When Brett and I first got married we found a great deal on a couch and loveseat off craigslist. It even came with cream colored slip covers. These slip covers worked alright in our old apartment but since we moved they have caused me heart ache. Our living room is easily my least favorite room in this house. Since we live in the basement the lighting is dull. Additionally, it is an awkward shape that isn't conducive to two couches and a TV. Consequently we have moved the TV to the bedroom and have rarely spent time in the living room. Lately though, I've been longing for a cute, put-together and homey looking/feeling living room. You know, something that feels good to come home too. And so I decided to change it.

Step one was to add some color to the drab area. The walls are a cream color and the couches blended right into them. Sure we have a few pieces of black furniture, but the black and cream combo make it look very blah. Fixing this problem left me with two options. 1) paint the whole living room or 2) change the slip covers. Painting seemed a little too daunting and I like the color of the walls, so it wouldn't be worth the time. That left us with the task of changing the slip covers. I looked around to buy some new ones, but the price for new ones were more expensive than we paid for the couches initially. I didn't want to invest more into the couches because, lets be honest, they aren't the most comfortable and some day we'll buy new ones. So, I decided to dye the fabric.

Before I show you how it turned out, lets show you a picture of the before. (disclaimer: I couldn't find a better picture of the couches, I guess I really didn't like them enough to take any pictures with them. This picture Brett took on moving day at our old apartment in August. Please ignore the mess.)

I chose the "Wine" colored Rit Dye. It is doing its thing in the washing machine right now. So stay tuned to hear how it turns out. It looks promising!

In the meantime I am Mod-Podging a clip board. I'll be sure to get that picture up here also.

Two Facts

Fact #1: I got a cute plaque from a co-worker today that said "Friends are the Chocolate Chips in the cookie of life"

Fact #2: I'm not particularly fond of chocolate, I often pick out the chocolate chips and throw them away.

Conclusion: ...?

Fall Fun

In the realm of Social Work (and in many other professions) there is a rule of thumb that says "If you don't document it, it didn't happen." I've learned this lesson well at my current job. I document every visit, every phone call, every conversation about the case and certainly every disclosure from the client. However, if this adage holds true outside of the office then I'm in trouble. According to my "documentation" (ie: blog posts) I have been doing absolutely nothing all day everyday. Now, I know that isn't true, but as the saying goes, if I don't write about it no one will know that it happened.

There is another saying I like to live by. It goes like this: "A picture is worth a thousand words." Okay, so maybe I don't live by that saying, but it sure holds true when it comes to blogging.

Enjoy the pictures. (click on any picture to enlarge)

These first few pictures represent my love for Brett.
These are two of the cards he has gotten me in the last month or so. Are the pictures just precious!
Fun hanging out together.


Our 6-month anniversary dinner date.


These are from our 2nd annual halloween date with Brittany and Rob. Somehow we made it through the night without getting a picture of the 4 of us. whoops.


We were so blessed to be able to get our new car. I count my blessings everyday when I get into it to go to work.


Our car took us on a Thanksgiving road trip. Through the whole state of Oregon and back.


While in Portland Brett, played in the ward Turkey Bowl. My dad was one of the refs and Brett was the all-star QB of the 2nd half.


We also got to go to a Blazer game and sit in one of the boxes.


After our time in Portland we traveled back through Baker. We got to watch Dekker play an awesome game of football that opened the doors to his team playing in the State Championship game. Way to go Dekker!


This picture is out of order, but Brett went hunting recently. Look at those big guns!


We returned home to a Kitchen. This may not seem like a big deal but we were doing some projects in the kitchen prior to our trip that put it out of commission for almost a month. We were very grateful to have in back.


We decorated for Christmas!! In addition to our silver and red ornaments you'll notice the Santa and snowmen. Brett's grandma gave us these last year. Thanks! I was going to make a bunch of homemade ornaments to add character, but never got around to it. If you have any good ideas, send them my way!


My Christmas craft this year was to make stocking for Brett and I. I designed them in my head and aside from a few minor details they look just like I wanted them too. (sorry I forgot to rotate them)

Reasons to Smile

I've been in a mood for most of the day. Life is hard and it was getting to me. For reasons not worth posting about, I was nearing a break down just a few moments ago. I have a few things I tend to do while trying to cope. The first, find a way to be productive. This feeling of productivity usually makes me feel better. The problem with this plan today was that everything I tried to do to be productive brought about another difficulty. And so I tried plan b. Plan B includes music and reading blogs online. Thanks to Pandora, the music was not only easy, but it was helpful. The words of the first few songs spoke to me and calmed me down immediately. I'm amazed at how perfect they were for me and for my situation. Pandora, you might just be inspired. For that small blessing I am so grateful. And so I shall share with you a few of the lyrics. Hopefully they can help you in some way.


"You feel like a candle in a hurricane
Just like a picture with a broken frame
Alone and helpless
Like you've lost your fight
But you'll be alright, you'll be alright

Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
You might bend, till you break
Cause its all you can take
On your knees you look up
Decide you've had enough
You get mad you get strong
Wipe your hands shake it off
Then you Stand, Then you stand"

"When you figure out love is all that matters after all, it sure makes everything else seem so small"

"Every dinner doesn't have to be candlelit
It's kinda nice to know that it doesn't have to be Perfect.
Real love and real life doesn't have to be Perfect."


I've also recently stumbled upon a website that helps lift me up when I'm feeling down. Its full of short experiences that people have which give them, and me, hope. Its good to know there is still good in the world, despite all the bad.

Check it out:

http://www.givesmehope.com/

Dear Life...

Dear Life,

I wish you gave me more time to blog. My readers miss me. Trust me, my mom told me so. But life, you're lucky because I'll forgive you. After all, you've been really good to Brett and I lately. Namely:

• We love our new car. I feel so spoiled driving it... who knew they made cars where the heater actually works?? (A 2007 Toyota Corolla Sport, dark blue, tinted windows, spoiler.)
  
• We also love each other. We feel so blessed to be celebrating our 6 month anniversary this weekend.
  
• We loved our weekend get-away to Boise a few weeks ago. A much needed relaxing weekend.
  
• We love my job. A paid holiday in the middle of the week, could life get much better? (Veteran's Day)
  
• We love that it is officially the holiday season. My super cute handmade Christmas Stockings are going to be, well, super cute.
  
• We also love that the holiday season means time with family. Portland and Baker, here we come! (Portland= Thanksgiving. Baker= Christmas.)

So there you have it, Life. Considered yourself warned about me wanting free-time to blog. Until then, feel free to keep blessing us. We appreciate it.

Love,
Kirsten

Feelings

It is interesting how many different feelings one can experience in a short period of time. I know some feelings can not be felt simultaneously, but is that a general rule or only true for some emotions? Can girls, who are the masters of multitasking, actually feel multiple emotions at the same time? I'm not sure the answer to this.

In the last 60 minutes I've felt...

Loved
Frustrated
Forgetful
Foolish
Hopeful
A sense of lost opportunity
Excitement
Giddy
Longingness
Anticipation
Stress
Worry
Disappointment
Friendship
Reminisce-ness
Optimism
Ambition
Gratitude

Life is so full of experiences: good and bad. I'm so grateful that I can feel and experience so many different things. Although it can be a hassle, I wouldn't change my emotional sensitivity for anything. There is something beautiful about being in-touch with my emotions and able to feel them so completely. I hope I never become so calloused that I can't feel the good, along with the bad. I'm also grateful for my ability to treasure the peaks and work quickly through the valleys. I'm far from perfect at this emotional regulation technique but (I hope) I'm getting better everyday.

Life is hard. It is full of disappointment and frustration and stress. But it is also beautifully amazing. It is full of love and excitement and growth.
Treasure the good...
. ...learn from the bad.

Embrace. every. moment.

Summer Nights

As the fall air settles over Utah, I'm left missing those warm summer nights. Last week I spent an evening watching Brett's flag football game and I was thankful I remembered to bring a sweatshirt. Tonight we are going to the BYU game (go cougs!) and I'm worried that once the sun sets the temperature will drop also. And before we know it we'll be scraping car windows in the morning and shoveling the walkway to our apartment. In remembrance of the wonderful summer nights, and the memories that happened then, here are some pictures from our favorite summer night activities.


Watching shooting stars is a perfect summer night activity! The Perseid meteor shower happens in August of every year and has become a late-night tradition with Brett and I. (disclaimer: I did not take this picture. I wish! haha)


We went to the Sandy City Amphitheater for a concert and had a blast signing along to our favorite Darius Rucker songs.


The sunset was beautiful the night of the concert.

We took a drive one Sunday night up to the Draper temple and made it in time to watch the sunset behind the temple.



Mid-summer fireworks are always fun to watch and Utah has an ample supply of firework shows.


Of course, firework season wouldn't be complete without getting some friends together. The boys shot off the "real" fireworks and us girls played it safe with our sparklers.


Brett played on a few intermural softball teams and had some awesome big hits!


We spent one night sitting on the berm at an Owls baseball game.


And Brett caught a foul ball! He aced out a whole group of people by being able to read the bounce and the ball just landed in his hands.

And of course, hiking in the canyon is always a good summertime activity that is even better when done late enough that it is not too hot outside!


Oh summertime, how I will miss thee.

Updated Update

I added some pictures to the previous post. Check it out here.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes

I'm currently sitting in the Wilk. I'm surrounded by lots of noise and hopeless flirting attempts and boys focused on the BYU soccer game and families getting ready to bowl and freshman, lots of freshman. Oh BYU, how I don't really miss thee.

I also just spent the last 2 hours catching up on internet related things that I have fallen behind on. I decided that a lot of the blogs that I read are better distractions in small portions rather than all at once. I also decided that it is sad how dependent I am on facebook and blogs to keep up to date with my friends. Oh friends, how I really do miss thee.

And so we see, that because of my lack of internet access I have been lacking in my blog updates. Consequently, many of you are unaware of our terribly exciting life as of late. And so I will briefly update you.

In the last month...

• I ate some {read: two bites} of the fish that Brett so lovingly brought home for me.

• Our beautiful hand picked yellow sunflowers successfully covered our kitchen table in pollen.
  
• We packed up everything we own into moving boxes and marveled at how much two people could acquire in 3 short months of marriage.

• We tricked Brett's parents/brother into traveling to Provo and helping us transport all of our stuff across town.
  
• We spent our date night one week deep cleaning our old apartment. How romantic....
  
• We attended our first temple sealing as a married couple. Such happy memories.
  
• We finished teaching our Temple Prep class in our old ward and lovingly bid ado to our friends.
• We realized we made more friends than we had thought and promised to keep in contact.
• I remembered why I have no desire to hike the Y ever again.
  
• I accepted a job offer to work for the state and timidly gave my two weeks notice. I start mid September as a caseworker with DCFS!
• I realized I was doing better than I expected at my current/old job and will miss those boys dearly. I also realized that a raise, better hours, and benefits are quite convincing.
  
• Brett started school and now diligently attends classes, writes papers and studies powerpoints.
• Brett decided that working part-time at the MTC is much easier and takes much less time than working full-time.
  
• Brett set up a winning team for intermural flag football and is already working on the basketball team for next semester. Unfortunately sports = injuries and Brett displayed a pretty sweet black-eye for a week or so. (the picture hardly captures how tough it looked)
  

• We attended our first concert together. Darius Rucker was AMAZING!

• We took lots of pictures and then I foolishly forgot my camera at home when making my trek up to campus to steal the internet.

Stay tuned for more detailed updates, pictures and more pictures.

Fishing Trip

Brett refuses to write in the blog about his fishing trip, so I'll write this post for him. :) He spent last week up in Oregon fishing for Steelhead on the Deschutes river with the boys in his family.

Dekker and Brett showing off their fishing skills. When I first met Brett, his facebook picture was him holding a fish. That picture was almost a deal breaker for us... and yet here we are a year later and I think these are awesome pictures of my handsome hubby.

The weather didn't cooperate with their plans to camp and fish. It was so windy that Brett's dad's tent broke practically in half.


The teenage girls in camp were excited to see Dekker roll in. This gem of a note was left on one of the coolers the first night. I was just glad they later referred to Brett as "the guy in the wadders". I gave him strict instructions not to flirt with 16 year old girls. He gladly obeyed and enjoyed giving Dekker a hard time about the note.


The boys made it back to Baker safely with two fish to show for their time and efforts. Good job guys!

Sunshine Yellow

I had a super good day yesterday and so I shall share it with you!

• My husband is home, safe and sound and we got to spend the afternoon together.
  
• We got to see our new home again, and we love it even more!! For those unaware, which is actually most people, Brett and I got an awesome opportunity to move into a bigger, nicer apartment for less money! And it is still in Provo. A huge shout-out to my awesome older brother Tyler for setting it all up.
• Speaking of Tyler, he gave me an awesome late birthday present yesterday. A beautiful diamond necklace which I love. Thanks!!
• I spent time nurturing my crafty side. I've been attempting to update a couple old lamps. I spray painted them black a few weeks ago and yesterday I went to the craft store to get new fabric for the lamp shade. Unfortunately the black paint didn't mask the awkward base shape, and the fabric color doesn't quite match our decor. I think this project has been doomed a failed attempt but it was fun to play with my new glue gun in the process.
• We made delicious French Toast for dinner! Yum Yum!
  
• While out and about last night, Brett and I spotted some beautiful sunflowers and he cut a whole vase full for me! They add just the right brightness and color. I love them! Thanks hun!

To-Do List

As mentioned in my previous post, today needs to be spent being productive. In attempts to increase my productivity (and as a way to delay starting) I have decided to make a list and post it to my blog (because, well, because I want to).

Note: the following are in no particular order.
Update: The ones italicized have been completed! go me!

• Dispose of my birthday flowers that are now wilting and dead
• Consider taking a drive to find wild sunflowers that I can pick to brighten up the house. --Is that legal?
• Make my bed for the first time since Brett left so that when he comes home tomorrow he thinks I've been making it like a good wife.
• Double check my "gift list" to make sure that I wrote thank-you's to everyone from my half from the wedding and clean up the mess from finishing (!!) that.
• Contact my brother to finalize our plans to move at the end of the month.
• Cook a real meal (since I get dinners when I work I haven't cooked since Brett left).
• Wash the bowls I've used for breakfast and put away the box of cereal that has lived on the table all week
  
• Deposit my first full paycheck from my new job into the bank!
• Work more on my Temple Prep lesson about symbolism that I have to do all by myself because Brett is out of town .... :-/
• Clean out the mud (slash possible dog poop) that is stuck in new my running shoes
• Clean the bathroom, bedroom, kitchen and living room (aka the whole house) so that it looks nice when Brett comes home.
• Organize my closest.
• Go for a bike ride
• Rock out to music while doing all of the above

Okay, well that is all I can think of right now. Any other suggestions or ideas???

Q & A

Q: What are you supposed to do on a Friday night, after working for over 13 hours straight, when it is 12:30 in the morning but you do not feel like sleeping and your husband is out of town?

A: Read all the blogs on your reader. Check facebook. Skim all of the blogs linked on your friends' blogs. Check facebook again just in case someone else is awake at midnight and posting interesting, yet unimportant, facts about their life. Convince Pandora that you are not "an empty room." Play two player Tetris online until you get frustrated with how good other people are. Pout. Decide to blog about it all. Spend entirely too long writing the blog that few will read and even fewer will comment on because there are no baby pictures. Give up on trying to entertain yourself and go to sleep with grand intentions of how productive tomorrow shall be. Fall asleep trying to convince yourself that "being productive" is almost as good as "spending time with your husband".

Officially a Utahan

I just got my Utah license in the mail.

It is official.

I am no longer an Oregonian, now I am a Utahan.

Sad day.

My Birthday Month Extravaganza

I had an awesome birthday day and month!

Join with me, for a minute, as I reminisce back to a year ago. My 21st birthday. Brett and I were "barely dating" but I already knew that he would always take good care of me. You can read my blog about that day here. I found it interesting to remember back and compare how much things can change in a year. I remember being very very hesitant to mention Brett in my blog, afterall that was a BIG step. If I remember correctly, that was the first blog where I truly talked about him (and only the second post where I mentioned his name). And now, here we are with a blog together where I mention him in every paragraph.

I'm so lucky to have an awesome husband who continues to take such good care of me. I was spoiled this year again. We used my birthday as an excuse to buy me multiple things throughout the month. Some of my favorites were a new bike and running shoes so I can be stylish as we workout in the mornings. On my actual day of birth, Brett spoiled me extra. We ended up eating more than our stomachs could handle thanks to the yummy food at Costa Vida and Olive Garden. Not to mention the yummy birthday cake that Brett made- rainbow party chip of course. We were also lucky enough to be able to spend the afternoon at 7 peaks water park. It is so nice to have season passes because all we did was sit in the shallow water of the wave pool and enjoy each others company while soaking up some sun and staying cool. Oh, and of course he surprised me with some flowers! It truly was an enjoyable day!

Thanks again to everyone who sent cards/presents/birthday wishes! I love you all!!

No news is good news

There hasn't been much to report on the last few weeks. Since starting work I see a lot less of Brett which means we don't get to do as many fun things which means there isn't much to blog about. Additionally, my free time has been cut so I don't need to blog as often to keep me entertained. BUT... I know you are all dying on the inside because you haven't heard from us recently, so I decided to give a little update.

BRETT:

Brett finished umpiring for the summer. He went out with a bang by doing some state championship games! (that means he is legit!) Because it was a championship there were multiple games going on one right after another. He was a trooper and did it all afternoon and evening last Tuesday. I brought him dinner and watched one of the games. It was during this game that I finally saw first hand what happens when Brett makes a call some people don't like. You see, there was a runner who came home but never stepped on home base. Brett called him out, much to the dislike of the parents. I was sitting in front of a really vocal father who kept yelling at Brett. So what do I do? I turn around and yell back. "No sir, YOU are blind! Your son never touched the plate!" Okay, so that was a lie. The truth....I didn't do anything. I sat there quietly hoping that it would all be over soon. haha. So much for sticking up for my husband! whoops.

Even though baseball is over, Brett is still working diligently at the MTC. We had a little get-together with his work buddies the other night so that was fun. (minus the super spicy Mexican food they served) He is also playing on two intramural softball teams. He is their "big-hitter" and his experience in baseball is undoubtedly helping the team. Brett has also stepped up around the house and is picking up the slack that I've been dropping since starting work. Thanks hun! You rock!

KIRSTEN:

I'm literally thinking, dreaming and living my new job constantly! I'm loving going into work and I love expanding my knowledge base while I am at home so I can better help the students. I could live without the dreams though, since most of them are nerve wrecking. But overall I couldn't be happier with the job. The people I work with are great. We had a bon-fire the other night with the employees and I felt very welcomed even though I'm so new. My learning curve is finally reaching the climax which is nice. The first week was very overwhelming as far as learning new skills and trying to put them into practice while still remembering small details about the students so I could chart on their behavior. I came home with a headache every night. But this week has been smooth as butter and for that I am very thankful!

Other than work, my life is pretty routine. Since I don't have to go in until 1:30pm I still get to sleep in, keep updated on my blog reading (very important), and most days I get to see Brett for about half an hour before I run off to work. Oh the joys of having opposite schedules. Also, my brithday is in less than a week and Brett has already started spoiling me! Did I mention that I have the best husband??

Well today is the 24th of July. If you are in Utah or from Utah you'll know what that means. If not, what it means is that most people will get today off work. I say most because I still have to go to work and Brett actually picked up another shift for someone tonight, so he is working twice. Nothing like working on the holidays. But we both have tomorrow night off to play, so that will make up for it!

Enjoy your holiday/ weekend! And I'll try to be better at updating with shorter posts in the future. :)

Back in the real world

Since getting married I've been on vacation, or at least that is how it has felt. I've been able to sleep in and play with Brett whenever he was not working. And I'm not going to lie, it has been nice. Sure it also involved numerous hours spent looking for job openings, dozens of e-mails with my resume attached (one of which resulted in my new (!) e-mail getting spammed. I now get 20-40 unwanted e-mails a day. yes, every day. Luckily Gmail has an excellent filtering system and I never have to see or deal with any of them), and more than a handful of interviews. Oh and then there was the boredom that was inevitable and the frustration with the economy and the moments of concern about my future. But even with all of that, my laid-back lifestyle was pretty dang good. I say "was" because it is no more. I am now officially a working woman again! Don't get my wrong, I was enjoying my "vacation" but I'm super excited for this new adventure!

I started yesterday working at a residential treatment center here in the state. I can't say too much without breaking confidentiality, but I will say this. I've spent all day reading 45 pages of the training manual (there are over 80 pages total) and I'm actually enjoying it! It is great to see all the values and principles I've studied being put into action. I'm far from experienced with implementing many of the techniques but I'm excited to get the practice -- hopefully not at the students' expense. Right now the position is just over part-time (about 25-30 hours a week) but there is room for advancement and as I said before, it will be great experience! I get practice interacting with the students, writing case notes, following their therapeutic intervention plans, and hopefully making a positive influence in their lives. Plus, they are always doing fun things. They have recreational therapy and other off-campus events all the time (ie: biking, fishing, movies, horseback riding, hiking, swimming, park visits, sports etc). And yes, I get to participate. Sure there are some downsides. One being that I work Friday nights and Brett works Saturday nights. But that's nothing that we can't work around....Tuesday night is now our official date night!

I'm just so excited and grateful. Once again, God's plan has surpassed everything I expected. :)

In other news...

• We finally got a desk for our bedroom
• Corn on the Cob is our new favorite side-dish
• I'm officially addicted to playing Mexican Train Dominoes online
• Yesterday was my dear mother's birthday (mine is in 2 and 1/2 ish weeks!)
  
• BYU now knows that Brett and I are married (another BYU success story documented)
  
• And we aren't dead yet.
  

Lots of good news :)

Fourth of July Festivities

Food, fun and fireworks. What more could you ask for in a weekend??

The fun all started out on Friday when we went to the Oquirrh Mountain open house. We went with Susie and Steve (Brett's aunt and uncle who live in Sandy) and his Grandparents (who were visiting from Baker for the weekend). It was beautiful, both inside and out.



The Angel Moroni was recently hit by lightening and you can still kind of see that his arm is a little blackened.


Elder Perry was touring the open house at the same time we were. We saw him a few times inside the temple and then again outside.


After the open house we went to dinner at a place called Bonsai (?). Its one of those restaurants where they cook the food in front of you. Very fun and very yummy! The good eating didn't stop there though. I made a big breakfast for Brett Saturday morning before he had to go to work. And then in the afternoon we went with his family to Tucanos- a Brazilian restaurant that specializes in meat. All you can eat meat. YUM!

After we over-ate at Tucanos we all headed over to BYU's football stadium. Aunt Susie got us all tickets to the Stadium of Fire. (THANKS!). We were lucky to be sitting on the west side in the shade. I felt bad for the people on the other side (as shown in the picture) who were just roasting in the sunshine.



Last year for the Fourth Brett was out of town. Spending the day with him this year was much better!



The show started off with a fly-over. Thanks to all those in the armed forces that work so hard to protect us and especially those who sacrificed their evening to fly these awesome planes for our enjoyment.


Cami (Brett's cousin) was one of the Stadium of Fire dancers. We enjoyed watching her dance from a distance. Luckily we had binoculars that we used to pick her out of the crowd.


They flew a large American Flag by cranes. We learned later that this flag has been through a lot but that the only time it ever flew free was that night. It was quite the sight.


These helicopters made a couple of flyby's as well during the show!


SheDaisy was there to perform a few songs which I really enjoyed.


But the main attraction this year at the Stadium of Fire was... The Jonas Brothers! woot. Actually this was probably our least favorite part of the show but I just had to document it. And they did play a song "for the parents in the crowd". Brett and I got up and danced to that one just to show how old we really are.... closer to the age of the parents in the crowd than the teenagers. Well, not technically, but definitely when it comes to music tastes.


And what would the Stadium of Fire be without fire? Here you see the fire dancers...


And the fire trees...


And of course, the fire works! (The ones on the right are my favorite! They sparkle so much. Brett likes the loud ones.)


An additional fire display this year was the burning of the large American flag (as seen in a previous picture). It was worn out and custom dictates that the proper retirement of a used flag is through burning. They placed the flag in the large incinerator on the left which fueled the flame in the torch on the right. What a sight!


I happen to think that the Fourth of July is one of the more romantic holidays we celebrate. Hopefully you spend the whole day with the one you love and then you get to cuddle in close as you watch the fireworks. We definitely had a great day!



Hope you all enjoyed your holiday weekend and were able to celebrate with family and friends. We enjoyed ours!