Valentines Decor

And I ask you, has there ever been a better time to own a giant pinkish red mirror? 'Tis definitely the season.

I wanted to jazz up our front room a little for Valentines. I still feel like it's lacking...something. Or somethings. I'm not really sure.

I copied some pinteresters with the doily-masonjars-twine idea, kept our Christmas lights up (yay!), kept the giant pinkish red mirror up (yay!), and made the little banner with a bunch of paper and stickers I already had on hand (yay!). And this super cute lovebirds printable, I got here. Mini paper globes idea came from here.

What am I still missing? I need help. Maybe a cute wreath or something? Also, not the greatest picture, I recognize. Oh, well.

Here's Emma Again.

Here's another guest post from my little sister, Emma. I hope she'll keep sending these to me, because I like reading them. :) Fun fact about Emma: she received her mission call this week to serve as a full-time missionary in Cusco, Peru. That means she'll be there for 18 months, teaching people about our Savior and His Church.

The big white envelope containing the mission call came on Friday. Friday night, we all skyped in: Grandma, Mom, Dad, Brigham, McKay, and Mary from Colorado; Emma, Sam, Elise, and some of Emma's roommates from Utah; Dana Lee, Kyle, & Breckyn from Colorado; Chad and me from here in Louisville; and Taylor & Jenny from Atlanta. It was so wonderful to hear her read the words, "You are hereby called to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You have been assigned to labor in the Peru Cusco mission."

You may or may not know anything about how mission calls are assigned (or what Mormon missions are all about, for that matter). In a nutshell, the 12 Apostles (or some of them? can't remember.) meet together and review each and every missionary application. They pull up the picture of the applicant on a big screen and look over the needs for missionaries in the different missions in the world. (this is a big deal, because there are usually 50,000+ missionaries at any given time, and the number of applications has skyrocketed since the announcement that girls could serve at 19 instead of waiting til 21). And then, through prayer and revelation, they determine where each individual missionary is to be called. I know this process is directed by God. I just do. If you have ever opened a mission call or been present when someone else opens theirs, there is an overwhelming spirit there just letting you know this special assignment is from Heavenly Father. I've also heard that being a part of the call-making process is pretty darn special.

Anyway, I am so excited for Emma. I know she will be a diligent, studious, fun, & loving missionary, and I can't wait for her to fall in love with the people of Cusco! Here's what she sent me this week (this is a weekly assignment for her Book of Mormon class at BYU, and I offered to give it a home on my blog).

"This week in Book of Mormon the assigned reading was Alma 43-56. One of my favorite parts of that reading was Alma 48:17. At this point in The Book of Mormon, Mormon is telling us a little about Captain Moroni. Mormon says, “Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.” I love this description of Captain Moroni because it is such a powerful statement. I don’t know that I could replace my name for Mornoni’s in that statement because I still have a lot of things to work on, but it is inspiring to know that this could have been said of a mortal man. It means that it is possible for us to live in such a righteous way that Satan’s temptations will be to no avail. It is also a reminder that the devil can only have influence in our lives if we allow it. Since Moroni was so steadfast, the devil wasn’t even able to get a foot in the door. The same could be true for us if we live like Moroni. I also like this scripture because it gives us a small glimpse of what it may be like at the Millennium when Satan is bound and has no power over us. Why not start working towards that now?"

Bedroom Makeover, Part 3

Just an update. Curtains are done, lamp shade is touched up, furniture is arranged how I want it. I am SO happy with how it is turning out. I have two things left on my wish list: an accent rug, and something(s) to fill up the one wall that is completely bare. (I am so needy). I LOVE this print on etsy http://www.etsy.com/listing/55086613/clink-illustration-print-rosy-pink?ref=sr_gallery_1&ga_search_query=clink&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_search_type=all&ga_facet=clink and have been eyeing it for a while now. Isn't it so cute? I love the little people in it. Then I started wondering how successful I would be at creating my own little cartoon Chad and me. I think that will be this weekend's project. I may end up buying the etsy print after all, depending on how it goes. :)

Bedroom Makeover, Part 2

Worked some more on Project Bedroom today. Sewed up these curtains, along with matching throw pillows, and painted the top of this little lampshade (although, it needs touching up--I wish I was better with paint). Fun, fun! If only I didn't have to go to work now...

Bedroom Makeover, Part 1

I have been DYING to decorate our bedroom. Since we moved in, it has pretty much been on the back burner as far as decorating goes. Suddenly, about a month or two ago, I became overwhelmed with wanting to get the UGLY out of the bedroom. Mostly, it was just boring. White walls, beige carpet, brown door/door frames/window frames, and a BLACK bed frame (black and brown, cringe). Oh, and a hideous  bright red dresser I picked up at a yardsale last summer.

My main goals for the room: I want it to be calming, coordinated, and creative. Three c's. I've done some thrifting, fabric shopping, and rearranging, and I think it's time to start showing off a piece or two a day on the blog. Hooray for making a beautiful place to live!

So, here is the ottoman I picked up at goodwill. It actually doesn't look too bad in the pictures, but it was pretty dingy (the fabric, in particular). I had looked around at ottomans at target and walmart, and liked a few of them, but *didn't want to spend $100. (Note: "didn't want to" and "do you think money grows on trees?!" are used interchangeably here). I think it turned out pretty nice! I'm really excited to pull the rest of the room together with what I've got. Stay tuned!

before: cute little frame, dingy fabric-covered foam pad on top.

after: looking good, right? painted the legs green and upholstered with some fabric that  I'm hoping will tie the brown and the little bit of black together (if you can't tell, the fabric is a little of both). 

Let the training begin!

Today was my first official training day for the half ironman on June 1st. I say first "official" day because I've been running now and then, but today I swam. For the first time in--YIKES--several months, at least. I stuck to the goal on my training plan, which was to consistently swim 750 meters (.47 miles) for the rest of January (I'll move up to 3/4 mile in February). Swimming half a mile today was definitely a stretch, but I'm glad I did it. I was able to push through the moments of fear and the ridiculous parade of thoughts like, "What if you drowned right now?" and "The half ironman is going to be a lot harder than this. Just the swim alone might be too much." (I also couldn't help but think about the recent in-flight magazine article I read about the hoards of people who died last year doing the swimming portion of triathlons because of some swimming-induced heart condition no one knew they had--yikes). I think I was able to reassure myself because I've trained before, and I know how much easier training--particularly the swimming-- gets once I've done it a few times. The first time is always a little scary, though. Glad it's done!

Bangs.

I did something impulsive today. I was getting ready for work and thought, "It's time I trimmed my bangs." (referring to my side-bangs, the very non-daring kind that are just long enough to get swooped back behind your ear if you don't want to know they're there for a day). Then I thought, "No, I actually want to try those straight-across bangs." I've wondered what they would look like for a while now. My interest was rekindled over Christmas when I saw my sister-in-law Deanna's new straight-across bangs, which I thought were adorable.

I had straight-across bangs in 7th grade, and all I remember about them is a) not being able to get them to lay how I wanted them, b) using lots of hairspray just to have them get blown around by the wind and then c) having them get stuck in odd positions because of said hairspray and said wind.

But I felt brave today. Also, I think I've learned a thing or two about my hair since 7th grade. Either that, or 13 years have been long enough for me to forget the pain!