So sue me!

I am just not the kind of person who wants to come home after working all day to work some more to clean the house and make an awesome dinner. I'm the type of person who WANTS to be the type of person who wants to come home after working all day to work some more and clean up the house and make an amazing dinner. Because of this, Cory and I have routines. First one is we eat pretty much the same garbage every single night. And the Second one is Thursday we have to have a MAJOR cleaning evening. By the time Thur comes I'm so stressed, and wishing even more so that I was the type of person to have everything at home in order (and secretly wishing that I was pregnant so that I could stay home and make that my full time job) that we break down and clean our butts off!

However, the whole awesome dinner thing was getting the best of me. I finally broke down this week and made a list of 12 meals. I went through all the millions of cookbooks that were gathering dust in my cupboard and picked the first 12 that caught my eye. Then I made a LIST(Cory's exact words, " I can tell your stressed because your writing lots of lists") of everything that I needed to make those meals. Then I made another LIST (pretty pathetic huh?) of the category or aisle it would be in at the store so that we could get in and get out that very night.

Its been so nice the past couple of nights. Cory texts me right before I come home, after looking at the list and lets me know what sounds good to him (that way I don't have to spend the whole dinner asking him, "Did you like it?" or "Why aren't you eating anything") and then I come home and quickly throw it together because of course, I'm on the ball and have everything I need. And then both my husband and I agree that we just had an AWESOME dinner, rather than the same ol Velveeta shells and cheese or tomato soup (which still gets an A in my book)

We've only had 2 of these nights so far. But let me just tell you, the ham chicken roll ups and tator tot casserole were absolutely to die for (I don't know who's tator tot casserole that was, but thanks to the Rifle 1st ward cook book). And on top of that, for some reason, its an easier mess to clean up.

So, even though I'm not a very good house wife yet, I'M LEARNING!!! If you have any favorite recipes post them so that I can start my next 12 meals list.

Turkey Shoot 2010

One of the things that I love about being married is the fact that I get another family! Two great families... how lucky? And that with the new family comes new traditions. The Waters family has the Turkey Shoot, every year the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Cory says that its his favorite day of the whole entire year. He really couldn't sleep that well the entire week before. We started out on Friday with Cory and Stockton picking me up from work. Cory decided to tie Stockton in the back of his truck to see how he'd like riding in the back. He said that he had a lady and a cop pull up along side of him laughing and waving... you just cant help it with our "build a pup". I LOVE this picture. Cory said that Stockton just kept running from side to side propping himself up on the side, like a bigger dog does. Look at his little head barely peeking up over the side!

Well, it started out waking up at the crack of dawn. We had to be up by 6 because Cory wanted to get a good start to get back down to Ogden Saturday morning. Then we found out it didn't even start til 10! Cory didn't care...

This is Jared's last year before the mission!

And my first year. And dont you even worry, I was signed up in the shoot with the best of em.

Brad had a convention in Salt Lake and wasn't able to make it. But he couldn't resist and made a quick trip to at least watch everyones first shot! Can you tell how much this day means???

This is Sheila filling up the gun powder

This year was a bust because none of us got a turkey! Cory said this is the first year he can ever remember not getting one! I must be bad luck! But dont worry... next year we'll represent!

We got home right as the storm was coming in. But not before getting some good shopping in.

Playing Scrabble in the warm house!


Stockton got to enjoy his very first snow storm. He loved it! He was marching around the backyard and eating snow. It was so funny because snow balls would get stuck in his fur!

Its always hard to leave Preston! Its one of our many homes away from home! Cory's parents are so great and amazing to let us come and stay and play whenever we want.

P.S. I STACKED UP ON NEW PROJECTS THIS WEEKEND! CANT WAIT TO SHARE!

Yes! Its already on my door!

Oh... and if any of you would like one but dont have the time/ energy/ desire to make it. I'm making a bunch at $25!!! Just let me know.

Dinner and a Craft with MEGS

My bestest friend Meg came down this past Tuesday night to hang out with me. We never seem to have enough time to chat when we only have a few hours. It was so fun to go out to Noodles and Co. and then work on a craft.

We got these wreaths at WalMart for $4. This is the before picture...
This is Megs posing for the "during" photo... the ornaments were super cheap as well.

And here are the two of us showing off our super cute, super cheap, super fast and east Christmas Craft!

Now all they need is a bright red bow to hang them from on my front door! THANKS MEG FOR THE AWESOME NIGHT!!! I'm always down for a craft/dinner/gab fest night.

Isn't it about time???

Well, now that my Halloween decor is down, I thought I would blog about it. Couldn't have waited any longer could I?
This lil Project was sweet!!! I found a dead tree outside (which is still there by the way... where is HOA?) and cut the branches off and then spray painted them black. Super cheap and way fun idea!!!

Well... I'm in to big of a hurry to change the order of these pics, but a few weeks ago I got to babysit my nephews Gabe and Bridger. It was super fun! While the baby slept Gabe and I got our crafting on. We first filled our tummies with yummy pizzas that we made ourselves.

This is the finished project of our cheese cloth ghosts! So fun and really cheap! Gabe added his own touch with putting scary spiders all over them.

Gabe also wanted to draw a face on our pumpkin instead of carve it. Which was fine by me, a lot less of a mess! By brothers kids are extremely talented! You should have seen the teeth on this pumpkin!

And here is Gabe and I. He is such a great kid! Funny thing about him and I.... we are both horrible in our sleep! All my family, old roommates, companions, and now my husband can all testify to that. Gabe is the same. While I was driving the boys home Gabe and I were chewing some big chinks of bubble gum. Gabe fell asleep and I was so worried that the gum was going to get EVERYWHERE... so I woke him up (while driving) and told him to spit his gum in my hand. He was delirious and started shaking his head and saying, "NO Uh huh NO NO NO" and all the while he was chomping it as fast as he could. When all of the sudden he blew it as hard as he could and I felt it bounce off the back of my seat and knew that it had disappeared!!! I couldn't stop laughing and he went right back to sleep. ha ha ha... and no worries... I found the slobbery blue mess on my floor!

OUR NEW PUPPY!!!

Well... we did it! We went and lost our minds and bought a puppy.

THIS IS STOCKTON! Our Cockapoo!!!

He is such a good puppy! We are crate training him (thanks to some very helpful tips from the amazing Cesar Millan (the dog whisperer)) He is starting to view his crate as his den and doesn't even yap anymore when he goes in... unless he needs to potty.

Some of my favorite things about Stockton is that he is so snugly. And when he's tired he will crash even while sitting up. And then he biffs it sideways. He also loves dandelions and tries to pounce on them and eat them, and then he watches them blow away in the wind. He's also a tad afraid of the dark, and a tad bit more afraid of his shadow. I love his curls and hope that they stay tight... but shaggy would be cute too!

I also love that his ball is bigger than him, and somehow it still fits in his mouth... ha ha ha

Stockton loves Cory. When Cory lays down to take a nap, Stockton lays down right by him. Cory is very good with his puppy. I'm super proud of Cor too, because this last week he gave Stockton his first round of shots... while I cowardly waited in the back room til the whole ordeal was over. Saved us a whopping $45, thank you IFA and small town boys.

Well, its been fun to add a little responsibility to our lives. Cory cant wait to add some chillins to our little fam. But for now, we'll just give our attention to the new pup! If you wanna come play with him come on over... if he's not playing he's cuddling so its a win win!

Conference Weekend in Grover.... does it get any better?

This weekend was so much fun! Cory and I got to pack up on Friday after work (but lets be honest, we were packed on WED we were so ready for the country) and head down to Grover! We made a pit stop and picked up Tyson and Harley Jane. I'm not going to lie, this lil girly is the cutest darn thing ever! She has such a personality! Can you believe she's not even 1 years old yet?
Har Har loves Uncle Cory. And Cor loves her too. I think Harley does it on purpose so that Cory will be even more baby hungry!

Harley also has Gramps tied around her lil finger... but lets be honest, which of his grand kids don't have him wrapped?

Sarah's volleyball team finally finished up with their tourney so she got to meet up with us down there! Harley was so excited to see her mom! Can you tell where she gets that crazy personality?

Well, this weekend was great for some many reasons. Conference was amazing! I learned so much, and my favorite talk talked about putting our trust in God more. I tend to try and take everything in to my own hands... I make to-do lists and get very frustrated and ornery if it doesn't get done right! But, I have decided to try and really focus on not HAVING to be in control of EVERYTHING. Just going to work my hardest and enjoy life as it comes at me. I also loved this weekend because it was so good to get out to the country! It was incredible weather down there and just beautiful!!!

This shot is what we see as we walk out of the front porch of the cabin. Still fish for fishing in that pond. Or you can just feed them and watch them all bubble at the top!

This is out to the side of the house, those are the Boulder mountains. I wish you could see the colors more!

Well... it wouldn't be a great weekend without a few projects! Especially with the men off deer and coyote hunting! FIRST... mom and I started the canning again with PEACHES!!! yummy. These beauts are straight off of my dear ol' roomates orchard in Payson UT! Angie has been such a great friend all these years so here's a lil shout out....wha what!!!

Ang talked us into a new style of peaches that we weren't all to familiar with. But lets be honest, we're not all to familiar with the details of many peaches, but these are delicious and beautiful. I cant remember what they're called though... crap!

And next we got to the crafty project.... Here is the before picture...

and some of the process of it all. Its nice to have Cory and Daddy-O around to help with things such as chain saws and rusty hammers and nails!

Scraping and smoothin

And of course, we all had to have more than one of these awesome crafts! Here's the priming and painting phase (oh how nice to have a garage to work in (0:

AND HERE IS THE AFTER.... ta da!!!

Just a cute...super cheap... super HALLOWEENY!!!! decoration!

RECENT PROJECTS IN MY LIFE!!!

My number one project, my husband....HA HA HA.... I joke I joke! He's a babe huh? (yummy cupcakes!)
My dad is AMAZING at handy man work! Seriously he always does an incredible job at everything he does. He made these old barnwood frames for my wedding and I had him frame every single picture at my wedding! So after we decided to sell some of his favorite art work in his amazing frames at the Farmers Market in Orem. It was super fun, but turns out that everyone in Orem would rather look than buy. ha ha ha...starving students.

I actually cant take credit at all for this project. My amazing mother in-law Sheila gets the credit for these bad boys ( have two). Some old boyfriend of hers gave her two lamps long ago... she painted the base yellow for us and Cory and I found the lamp shades from good ol IKEA for super cheap! I LOVE THEM! and I LOVE THEM MOSTLY cause there's a story behind them and a makeover to them!

And last but not least... my dresser drawer! I have seriously had this dresser for my whole life. I wish so bad that I would have taken a before picture of it. But it was white with little pink flowers all over it. Its new outer beauty def adds a splash of color to our yellow/gray bedroom!

Well, thats about all of my projects updated for you! I have a few more in the makings, but they aren't done yet. I'll have to update you and let you know! And just so you know if you ever want to "project", give me a call! I'm a little obsessed!

WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

This weekend was so much fun! I love having something to look forward to. I could hardly stand the last hour of work on Friday cause I knew that my sister and Har Har were coming up for the weekend. Friday night Sar and I did a lot of shopping (baby food, stuff for salsa, decorations, clothes, etc.), dancing with Harley (who is not only walking around like a champ, but also dancing... she's not even a year old yet!), and eating pizza and watching movies.

SATURDAY rolled around and momma showed up to teach her girls how to can SALSA! I was at the disadvantage here because my mom is a veteran in this area and Sarah canned last year. They were both crackin comments about how funny this was going to be and how I wouldn't be able to handle it.... little did they know that I have the advantage on them of cutting onions!!! ha ha ha..... THANK YOU SPANISH MISSION!

You cant really tell with this pic of mom... but she was dying!

This is a classic of Sarah! Her tears were black because of her makeup and her nose got all stuffy. I wish I would have taken a picture of her by the window trying to suck in some fresh air!

This is the start of our delicious brew!

And this was after we had finished! I am so greatful for such an amazing mom who seriously knows how to do EVERYTHING! She is so kind and always willing to teach her daughters who either dont have the patience to figure it out or dont have the talent to make it beautiful. Lucky for us mom has both those things and is always willing to work with us to work it out! Also, I'm lucky to have such a great sister! The three of us always have so much fun together! I cant wait til the next canning project.... PEACHES!!!

Then Sunday rolled around and Cory and I decided to jump in the car and head to Preston for the day. We wanted to suprise Cory's parents so we got his little brother involved. We couldn't have pulled off such an amazing SUPRISE!!! without him. This pic was taken in the canyon where the leaves are already changing!!! It was beautiful!!!

I'm such a dope and forgot my camera the rest of the trip. Cory got a new gun and we all drove up, even farther into the canyon to shoot it! It was so much fun to be able to spend time with both of our families this weekend. We are so very blessed by their love!

BEFORE and AFTER

One of my favorite blogs ever is allthingsthrifty.blogspot.com! Pretty sure I'm a little obsessed. While we were in Preston for a few weeks I had to find a project. I went down to the DI and found the nastiest kitchen table and chairs and bought them. (Turns out I love the Preston DI more than any other). My poor mother in-law took one look at them and thought I was crazy, they were not in the best of shape. BUT with all the time I had on my hands I had to try something new!

After a lot of work and lots of learning we had the AFTER! You'd be surprised at how easy this was! And I absolutely love that I have my kitchen table and chairs for a mere $35 !!!

I wont lie. I've got a nasty bug now... one where I keep finding new projects and cant think of anything else! I'll keep you updated on some of my newest JOBS!!!