Bippity-Boppity, Give Me The Sopity!

Rewind to our long layover in San Francisco before arriving in Idaho. I looove San Francisco! When I was a little girl, it was family tradition that on every special or monumental occasion, my parents would treat our family to an It's-It bar. It is heaven on earth between two chocolate covered oatmeal cookies - found only in San Francisco. So obviously, I was bound and determine to eat one while waiting for our plane. My husband told me there was no chance in finding one since they are a "downtown" commodity. What my husband didn't know is that I am the type of woman who, if I know what I want, and I want it bad enough, I will do whatever it takes to get it. (And I usually totally and completely embarrass him along the way.)

As I was contemplating how I was going to get my It's-It bar without missing my flight, I was approached by an airport worker. Because I have a big mouth and I talk to anyone in sight (a lovely blessing from my mission), I struck up a conversation with this worker. Me: Hey listen, do you know where I can get an It's-It bar? Airport Worker: A what? Me: An IT'S-IT bar! Airport Worker:(Laughing) Oh yeah! But its under security around here. Me: (Leaning forward, in a hushed voice) Do you have an inside for me? Airport worker: ::silence:: Me: ::silence and way too intense about an ice cream bar::: Airport worker: Uhm...yeah. Give me the money and I'll get you one.

My husband had just walked into the end of the conversation and I told him to give the guy $5 dollars. With a confused look on his face, my hubby passed a five dollar bill to the worker and the worker took off like lightening. After explaining the situation to my husband, he shook his head and said " Well, there goes five dollars!" After reassuring my husband that the worker was going to come back, after 10 minutes I began to wonder if I really had been duped. We both had a good laugh about it until we saw the airport worker coming back with two It's-It bars in his hands and our change! My husband's jaw dropped and I was grinning ear to ear. Needless to say, my faith in humanity prevailed that day! That airport worker got an awesome tip that day and my husband now knows not to underestimate the power of a determined woman with a plan!

The Love that Binds Us Forever...

This weekend we took a trip to Twin Falls to do some genealogy work. In our religion, we have beautiful, large white buildings we call temples. Inside of them, we perform work to link our families together forever. Terrence was able to help his family with this and it was an amazing experience. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity we have on earth to bind our families together forever. I feel so much love for my ancestors who have gone before me and created a legacy for me to be proud of. Although death in this life (at some point) is certain, I know that if I remain faithful to what I have promised my Heavenly Father, I can live with Him and my family again.

What more could anyone ask for?

The Pile of Dirt I Call My Backyard

What to say about our backyard...well, it is probably the size the computer desk you are sitting in front. Literally. Pros: We don't have to mow a lawn or maintain a large yard regularly. Cons: We dont have enough area to even have a lawn (picture me cutting our grass with scissors because a lawnmower won't fit - its that small!).

So, I've decided to do something to somewhat beautify it until we can do something about it! I found some hanging planters at Goodwill a while ago. They were lime green and pumpkin orange. While those are awesome colors, it just didnt mesh with the look I was going for. So I gave them a little bath in black spray paint and pulled out some artificial flowers I saved from my wedding. I hung a wreath in the middle to pull it all together and complete the "fall" look. Those of us from Arizona know there is no such season as fall here, so fake fall will have to do!

Why the close up shot? Because the far away shot looks like this...

Yikes! See that burnt weed? My husband and I joke about decorating it for Christmas. It is the only "growing" thing in our yard. Something is better than nothing, right? I removed the planters and wreath for now since the temperatures are still scorching hot! Remember these wreaths? The ones that get the most sun time aren't really green anymore! So, I think I will wait for Mr. Sun to take a vacation before I hang my backyard decorations up again. I certainly don't need more brown plants in my backyard!

A Picture Says 1,000 Words (Or Much Less..)

My name (almost):

Place I'd like to travel to:

Town where I was born:

My age:

Past Love:

Favorite Color:

Favorite Food (minus the beer):

Favorite Animal:

Favorite Place:

Past Pet:

Favorite Object:

Bad Habit:

It Doesn't Get Better Than Free!

In the middle of moving offices at work, a set of small candle holder found their way to my desk. Since we moved into a very small space, I asked my very next door co-worker where they came from. She said she one of the maintenance men placed it on my desk and forgot to throw them away. Since nobody had claimed them, I decided to give these homeless candle holders a nice spot in my empty home. Instead of using candles, I decided to put fake apples on the candle holders to add a little color. Since my walls have nothing on them (!), I hung a sign that was given to me by my previous young womens leader as a wedding gift. So after investing $2 at Dollar Tree for the fake apples, my end result looked like this..

It turned out a lot better than I thought it would!! It was actually my husband's idea to place the candle holders next to the stove. I must admit, my husband has some awesome ideas on how to decorate our home. Funny, he usually isn't around when I do home projects. I think its to avoid being volun-told to hold up my projects on the wall in various parts of our home so I can "picture" what it would look like hanging ! (Burner Dictionary: Volun-told = Volunteered + Told) He's always so sweet to help me out, though!

So here is the decorated part of our kitchen. It's amazing how creative you can be when you get things for free! I never imagined hanging candle holders next to my stove, but now that they are there, I can't imagine anything different. So next time something free crosses your path, think twice before passing it up! You never know how it can add beauty and elegance to your home!

Lighten Up!

When I saw this project from Joy of Joys of Home I knew I wanted to duplicate it to add beauty to my own home. I had a little bit of trouble finding the necessary parts, so I'll tell you where I got mine in case you want to do it yourself! It was so much fun seeing this project come together. Here is what I started out with...

I found some fake candles at Savers (a local thrift store) - I bought three, but only two worked! From this, I learned a valuable lesson - always ask about the return policy. I tried to return the one that didnt work a day too late. But since I got them at $0.99 a piece, I just chalked it up to a beginner's mistake. After spray painting the fake candles, I bought 4" socket covers for candelabras (I got mine at Home Depot for $2.98 and they come in a package of two) that looks like a melting candle. For a light, I went to JoAnns Fabric Store and bought their "Best Value" silicone candle bulbs. It cost $0.98 for a package of two (!), which was a pleasant surprise. I expected them to cost so much more! Joy has pictures of the packages on her website, in case you need more of a visual on what you are looking for!

Project total : $ 6.93

And my finished result turned out like this...

This project was so simple and inexpensive! Even my husband was amazed at how great the candles looked without hardly any work and money! If you do decide to do the project, be sure to thank Joy on her blog for her inspiring work! And of course, let me know how yours turn out so I can share in your creativity!

Wood Canyon Lake

Last weekend, we went camping and fishing with the Craig family at Wood Canyon Lake. We had so much fun with them!

It was so nice to get out of the heat and away from stress at work. Lets do it again real soon! :)

Oh My Goodwill-ness

Confession : We have been in our home for over 1 year and I can count on one hand how many things are hanging on my walls. Yikes! And with a small "home beautification" budget , a girl has get creative in order have things to put on the wall! I went to Goodwill the other day and found these little treasures.

I saw these and instantly had a great idea. And no, the idea was not to hang them in my home in their present state! Lets take a closer look...

Doesn't this look like the well that freaky looking girl from "The Ring" crawled out of?! When I brought this home, I was just waiting for my TV to flip on with a static background and see an unpleasant visitor crawling out of my thrift store find. (Don't mind me. I let my imagination get the best of me most of the time!) Anyhoo, so of course I didn't want my home to be decorated like a freaky prop set to a horror show (a little dramatic, are we?). I knew these little treasures needed a little spray paint and scrapbook paper make-over.

And wallah-

Much better. Now to find the perfect little home for them on one of my blank walls (and yes that is my terribly painted toenail job in the bottom left of the photo). There isn't anything that a little creativity can't fix to make a thrift store treasure your own. This whole project was completed for $12. And I still have a whopping $13 left to beautify my home this month! :) Who says being cheap isn't any fun?!

Joy To the World!

I have been follow a blog, Joys Of Home, for quite some time now. I don't remember how I found it, but I'm glad I did! She has excellent ideas on how to beautify your home on a small budget. I truly appreciate her creativity because it has sparked mine! I love how she uses her gift to inspire others on how to beautify their Zion on earth in their own creative way! I don't ever comment - just silently soak her ideas and thoughts in. When you visit, be sure to take a look at her past posts too! One of her many creative inventions : an entertainment center built out of old doors. One of Joy's creative ideas involved painting and mounting a wooden letter on a plaque. I've had a large letter "B" hanging around since my wedding. I have never been quite sure on what to do with it. Once I read her post, my creative juices started flowing and I knew what to do with that letter B!

So, the project started like this....

And ended like this...

I am really happy how it turned out! My scrapbook paper wasn't large enough to cover the plaque (!) so I had to improvise. I think I'll cover the part where the paper doesn't exactly meet up with ribbon or something. But for now, its the creativity - not perfection - that counts!

Oh What Is A Girl To Do With A Wreath On Sale?

I love this wreath! I believe its beauty comes from its natural elegance. I remember admiring this wreath at spring time but not being able to justify the price tag of $29.99. And since our budget only allots $25 a month to "home beautification", this wreath was simply out of the question. I chalked it up to "it was never meant to be" and continued my search for the perfect wreath. Imagine my surprise when my most recent shopping trip brought me face to face with this beauty again. Since I always shop the clearance first, I was anxious to see what kind of deal I could get on. The price tag wasn't on the wreath so I asked the woman behind the counter to do a price check. I nearly died when she told me this beauty was $4.25! I quickly grabbed the last four, texted my husband to make sure he was ok with it (which, as always, he was) and made my purchase. Why four you ask ? For each one of the windows downstairs, of course!

I couldn't get a good picture of all four together because of the way my house is positioned but I snapped a picture of two hanging in my windows to give you an idea of how it looks. By the way, this picture was taken at 6:30 am - the sun is bright and shining already at our house!