One thing that changed was that I got a new job in September. I worked at the Utah State Athletic Ticket Office for a few years and thought I was done since I was graduating but my boss quite kind of suddenly and my other boss got promoted so there was suddenly an opening for a full time, salaried assistant manager and I got the job! Its a big time commitment but it is so nice to have a real paycheck and great benefits. I feel so blessed to have a good job and to be able to save up for a bit before our next big adventure. I really feel that this whole thing was an answer to prayers and blessing from the Lord. I have really loved being able to spend more time with the people I work with, they are so great and it is fun to hear how things are going. I really missed them so I was excited to go back. Ross is teaching third grade now and he is enjoying it. He was surprised at how much of a change it was from first grade but he is liking it. We recently got put in the YM/YW in our home ward and we are excited for that new challenge. It is strange being back in YW but it is an adventure and will be a growing experience. So things are going really well for us, we are loving life and are very blessed!

Our New Addition... :)

The other wonderful thing that happened to us this summer was we got a cat!! I know that some might not see this as wonderful but I have always wanted a cat and it was just a really fun aspect of being married, like I had crossed a major thing off my bucket list. Plus, its nice to know I can take care of something other than Ross. She is pretty crazy but we have a good time and its nice to have something to come home to for Ross and I. I gotta post a few pictures!



This was the first day we got her. She was so tiny!

She loves Ross! I am pretty jealous! She loves to sit on him and watch him play the wii. She loves to lay on his stomach.


All I asked for was a stripy cat! And look at those stripes!

Her belly is one of my favorite parts! Her spots are so cute

Riding to my parents house, she loves to sit behind you and watch the road.


She loves when I fold laundry and always has to sit and watch
My mom bought a costume and lets be honest, I couldn't resist! Hahaha the stinger is my favorite part!

Creative Juices

I kind of can’t believe how long it’s been since I last wrote, but at the same time I kinda can because it has been a crazy few months. So this is going to be another catch up post but its better than nothing. I admire all the bloggers I follow who update so often—I am working on following in their footsteps. Ross is hosting the teacher’s quorum for a movie night and I am here to make sure nothing to bad happens so I am here typing and monitoring. I figured I would make use of my time.

This summer was so wonderful; we spent a lot of time with family and enjoyed extended vacations. I was able to express some of my creativity in refinishing furniture. I discovered that I really really love it!! And Ross has been so supportive of me and was totally fine with the mess I set up in the kitchen for 4 months. So here are a few pictures of my creative adventures as of late.

This is a hutch that Ross got for free. It’s pretty much the best thing ever! I love it so much. I sanded it because it was so gross and it did not go easily! Ross that he was pretty funny taking picture of me when I wasn’t looking (hence the face). I ripped the back of and replaced it with some bead board and then painted it turquoise. The outside I painted two shades darker and then glazed it. I took a class at the Home Depot about cabinet refinishing that taught me so much and so I was excited to test out the new skills I learned. My mom built the doors and put the chicken wire, which are amazing! She did such a great job and I am so proud of her and her skills (maybe someday I can be like her). All in all it turned out AMAZING and I totally love it. I was inspired by the opportunity to make something ugly look beautiful and to create something from scratch. It was wonderful.

taking up our WHOLE dinning area!


The almost finished project, still needs the doors.




Last winter I got the itching for a head board but I was unwilling to pay for one, so one day my Mom, Ross and I were in a furniture store and I fell in love with this bed set and had to have it. So I took pictures and Mom and I started to plan. Well once she got some time we busted out a replica and it turned better than what I saw in the store! I didn't take any before pictures (I think I get too excited to paint to wait to take pictures!). So this is the end product. I did a pea-soupy green (which I think Ross and my Mom were skeptical of) but it turned out exactly what I had hoped for. Here are a few shots.


My next adventure was to make the pillow cases and decorative pillow shown here. It was really fun to have a sewing lesson, and went A LOT better than any of my previous sewing lessons for 7th grade home ec. So sewing is on my bucket list for the future, but my attempt turned out quite well (thanks only to my mom, which is a familiar theme in this post)


Speaking of sewing...I saw this baby on the side of the road at a rockin consignment shop and I could not live with out it. Ross was sweet enough to consent and I rushed to get it. The only problem is that it is ridiculously small, with short stubby legs (which I didn't notice until I got home) so I am still working out how to fix it. I think I am going to paint it and learn to reupholster it. But now with my new job it is on the back burner.
My newest and most exciting project is a secretary desk that Ross saw at a garage sale (we were on our way to the temple so the Lord must have blessed me because I have been dreaming of one forever!). No pix yet, but I am thinking black with a natural wood interior. I have to hurry and sand it down before it gets too cold. But I am so excited to try some new techniques

Four Birthdays and a Wedding

it was a crazy week with ross's birthday and sam's wedding. both were great events. for ross's birthday i decorated the apartment with balloons and signs and made him his favorite cake. i also had lunch with him at his school which was fun to be able to spend that time together during the day. he asked for a wii game and a remote control jetski (haha yes he turned 27.....) so i wrapped up the game and set it all out for him to open when he got home. the jet skis should be pretty great at lake powell, i got him two so he and the other "grown up" boys could race each other.



notice that they numbers are different, that would be because i got him a 6 instead! haha luckily i realized it when i was picking up the balloons


i used red frosting to write happy birthday and of course put some hearts on it but it kinda melted and the hearts started bleeding (haha a little bit more halloween-y than birthday, but, being the sweetheart that he is, he didnt mind)



i couldn't bring myself to not get him something that had a recommended age over 12 so i made him a frame that says "i love you because..." and then you write things with a dry erase marker so you can put new things. at first he was kinda confused but i think he appreciates it now and its been good for me to make more of an effort to come up with different reasons to tell him how i love him. all of the boys in the wedding party got together that night so i was all alone for a while, so of course i got all my paint stuff together and put a few more coats of primer on my work-in-progress cabinet. (cant wait till its done!! sooo excited! turquoise.....love it) the cake turned out really good, thanks to mallory's cream cheese frosting recipe!

the next day was sam and erin's wedding at the logan temple. it was nice to have ross for the whole day in the middle of the week! i went and got my hair done so that it wouldn't be ruined when it rained that day, it was fun to get all dressed up and have my hair done, since my repertoire extends to ponytails or braids. my mom brought up my AMAZING turquoise shoes (i think i have a wee obsession with turquoise lately) and it was love at first sight! they are so great! and thanks to erin for letting me wear them since they didn't match the colors of the wedding (she's pretty great!!) . the wedding was so beautiful and it was so wonderful to be there with the rest of my siblings watching sam make a wonderful choice that will bring him so much happiness! erin is a great woman and we are a so excited to welcome her into the powell fam. plus her family is so great, it was fun to get to spend two days getting to know them better. i had so much fun playing with hudson and ellie! they are so big and talk so much! ross and i had fun chasing them around and playing with them. ellie is so cute now that she can talk a little bit. it was so great to get to see them again. so the wedding and dinner and reception went off without a hitch! it was a great few days. the reception at thanksgiving point was funny because all the people i knew didn't recognize me! there were so many people that thought i was a cousin who looked just like me (kinda weird i know), i guess it was the dark hair....

one year married! wahoo!!!

the man of the hour....look at that bow tie! so great
brett and mikalla came all the way down to lehi for the reception and it was so great!!! we had a lot of fun catching up and my mom is grateful brett took all those pictures for her! haha

ross took this picture of hudson and i. haha we were showing off our teeth, i love hudson's fangs! they are so cute and just like my dads. we had a blast playing with them
but many people said that marriage must agree with me because i looked so happy. that was great to hear because i am so happy and it does agree with me! haha. it was fun watching sam and erin because it made me think of the past year and my decision to get married to ross. i am amazed at how great it has been and what a great choice i really did make. (not to get mushy or anything) he is so great and i am so lucky that he picked me out of all the girls who were competing for him! marriage has been a new challenge but i am so glad i took that step and trusted my heart and Heavenly Father because i have been rewarded greatly! it seems so weird that our first year of marriage is over! its great and i am so excited for they years and challenges ahead.

the saturday after the wedding we had a party at the menloves for liam, grandma rudd, ross and becca's birthdays.. it was so much fun!! sara is a wonder-mom who threw an adorable train themed party which we joined in on. the food was wonderful and the company even better! it was nice to see everyone and to catch up. its crazy to me that porter is walking now, he seems so big! we went miniature golfing and that was really fun. the ski ball was calling my name and ross and i played a few rounds. i won the jackpot on a different game and got 890 tickets! i was pretty proud but not surprisingly there wasnt any thing good for all those tickets! so we are saving them so we can go back and play some more skiball! we had a lot of fun at the party and appreciate the chance we had to spend time with the menlove clan.

it has been a fun few weeks and we are now looking forward to st george and lake powell, so i am sure i will have more to post shortly

P.A.

Ok so one of the main reasons why I took so long to post was my new found addiction to a certain web site introduced to me by a coworker….pintrest.com. I am now looking for a pintrest anonymous aka P.A. cuz I need one! This site is so great! It is a bunch of people posting things that are interesting or things they like. There are cool pictures and good ideas, there are funny signs and beautiful things. There are tutorials and great recipes. Well I am all full of crafting zeal now! I have to many great ideas that I am bursting to try out. Instead of spending my time at work updating my blog I spend it searching for interesting things….ugh. well all I can say is I am glad I didn’t come upon this before I finished school because it would have been even harder to concentrate on homework! But keep in mind you have no control over the content and there are some stupid things people post (of course a good thing is always spoiled) but I had to post some of my faves that I have found. I am sure this will become a frequent post since pintrest is like internet crack to me now.

so, so true

haha hello college?? totally sums up pintrest!!

Shout out to Jake and Jen

hear hear!

this makes me think of Ross

i am in love with this. i makes me laugh every time i see it! someone is very clever

this one is for my mom. the caption said cat storage. :) i want a cat so bad it hurts and this web site has made it worse! (if that is possible)

genius!!

this reminds me of Ross

i have a new found love of buttons! i want to a) raid my mom's and grandma's button collection and b) try this!

GBH I miss you

this one i HAD to post cuz it totally reminds me of my mom (especially the last bit)

totally want to do this

sheep made out of cauliflower! so clever

hahahhahha i LOVE this! i hope i have a kid with big cheeks so we can do this someday

stinkin cats! i want one!

hahahahaha i love love love this one! so true and makes me think of my wee bro sam every time. it says "sometime in your life you'd wish you were british and no one really knows why that is"


k--i totally cant wait to have a girl who loves dress up and we can do this. its so cute!

this one was in honor of mom and Katie at work....he he he he