Artist

I have always wanted to be an artist.  I can scrapbook alright, and color in a coloring book, and my 2nd graders think I'm a great artist (but let's be honest... they thought my 4 legged duck was great...).  I try not to be a jealous person; I try to just be happy for others.  Yet when I see someone who can draw or paint I feel a twinge of jealously start in my stomach...


Well, it's on my list of life goals to learn to paint.  It's on there twice actually.  So when I was at Joanne's with my mom and sister on Saturday and they spotted a painting kit on sale, naturally I had to get it.  And on that same shelf there was a drawing kit as well.  I was nervous to try anything because I know it was going to be so bad...  But after watching lots of YouTube videos I decided to give it my first try...


So I made my first attempt tonight.  It's not amazing (and you shouldn't look at it too long), but I feel like it was good for my first attempt.  Take a (quick) look.

 

 

I drew it from looking at a picture of Jennifer Garner.  ( I feel somewhat less proud of myself when I put the two right next to each other.  Oh well.)

Garden

In our backyard we have 4 planter boxes.  Three of them hold fruit trees that are giving us tangelos, navel oranges, grapefruit, and lemons.  (One of the trees is actually a 'fruit cocktail tree'  75% of the tree grows grapefruit and the other 25% grows lemons!  On the same tree!  Crazy and amazing, right?!)  Anyways... in the other box there was a dead tree stump.  I thought that would be the perfect place to plant my garden. 

I told my 16 year-old brother (who loves machetes and the like) that if he would come take the stump out I would pay him with the sugary things and treats from my house.  It was a good deal for both of us :)

Step one:

Burn the grass. (More for my brother's enjoyment than anything else)

Step 2:

Use a pick and shovel like crazy.

Step 3:

Pull out the stump.

Step 4:

Add lots of wonderful soil, mulch, and manure/nutrients. 

Step 5:

 Buy plants and seeds.

Step 6:

Set everything out where you want it.

Step 7:

Plant the seeds and sprouts and ....

Tada!

We have basil, cilantro, zuccini, crooked neck squash, butternut squash, yellow pear tomatoes, heat resistant tomatoes, better boy tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers (red, orange and green), watermelon, strawberries, banana peppers, purple onions, carrots, snow peas and chives.  I am so excited for everything to be ready to eat :)

My best cousin's wedding

   

My cousin Lisa and I are 5 days apart.   When we were little my mom would make us matching clothes.  and we'd get pictures together.  Last week Lisa got married. 

    

 Here we are all grown up :)  She looked gorgeous in her wedding dress.  I'm so happy for her!

 

 

The luncheon after the wedding was at Tia Rosa's.  We had the most amazing tostadas!  My mouth is watering just thinking about it!!!

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On another note, I finished lining the curtains in the living room

 

Also, my nephew is a technological genius!  He can navigate his way around my Ipod and is actually really good at the game Cut the Rope.

And coming soon... My garden!  (this is my 'super-pre' picture)

Daddy Daughter

Last weekend was the daddy daughter camp out for my parents' ward.  My mom and sister mentioned it and I thought it would be fun!  My dad and sister had things early Saturday morning, so we just went for Friday night.  We left at 4 and got there just before 5.  My mom had prepared foil dinners for us so right when we got there my dad got some charcoal going.  He set up a table and chairs and we all pulled out books and enjoyed the nice weather.  When dinner came off the coals it was delicious!  We went and sat around the fire for a few hours and enjoyed the company.  It started getting too cold for my liking and I made sure I stayed real close to the fire.  They had planned some "Minute to Win It" games and and it was fun watching the girls play.  We headed home around 9 and I had a nice chat with my dad on the way home.  It was a nice little adventure.

100

Happy 100th post.  Took me long enough!

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And this is SO random... Do you remember these things?

I have NO IDEA why, but they popped into my head today.  These things were all the rage when I was in 6th grade.  Kids walked around with them hooked to their belt loops.  Some of the really cool kids even had 3, 4 or 5 of 'em clipped onto their belt loops.  I myself had a silver Nano Baby.  And yes, it was amazing.  Oh, good times!

Stake president

Meet my dad.  He is honestly one of the best men I have even met (if not THE best).   He is kind, considerate, funny, supportive, driven, a handy man, a fabulous husband to my mom, a pilot, organized, fabulous with his grand kids, spiritual, and fun to be around.  I love him so much.  He is a good example of how to lead a balanced life.  I look up to him in so many ways.  

We belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Today he was just called to be the stake president for his stake.  He is going to to an amazing job!  I hope everyone knows how lucky they are to have him as a leader.  He's been a strong leader in my family and I know he will be a strong leader in the stake. Love you dad!

Bridal shower, a hair experiment and locked in keys

Whenever I see someone with big loose curls in their hair I swoon.  You see, my hair is naturally curly, which I LOVE.  I like that it's easy and versatile and that I can flatiron it when I want.  I have just have yet to master big loose curls.  I almost have to straighten my hair then re-curl it.  And for a long time that just seemed ridiculous... and like a lot of work...  But today I tried it!  I know ot wasn't the smartest thing to try it on a rainy day, but oh well.  It's kind of hard to see in this picture, but I think it turned out well.  And I think it will be even better when it gets a little longer.

 

Today was also my twin cousin's bridal shower.  Our birthdays are only a few days apart and we're both tall.  And that, you see qualifies us as twin cousins.

The shower was a lot of fun and it was fun to see family that I don't see often.  Since it was raining fairly hard when I got to the shower, I thought that I'd turn off the car, put everything away in my purse and use my umbrella to go around to the passenger door and get by big gift and purse.  Well, habits are hard to break and I am in the habit of opening the car door, getting out, locking the doors with my hand, then shutting the door.  I did this as normal and walked to the passenger door with my umbrella.  I didn't even realize that I had locked the door until I got to the other door and tried to lock it.  I was so frustrated!  My gift, key, phone, and everything was in there.  Luckily I have Tanner's phone number memorized, I have a kind aunt who let me use her phone, and a sweet husband who was kind enough to leave what he was doing to bring me the spare key.