Decorating-Vintage Revivals Style

Hey all,

I know that I usually blog about Jared and myself but today I hafta give a shout-out to Mandi atVintage Revivals.  She is pretty much an amazing DIY-er and has freaking amazing ideas.  (Even if her style isn't really your thing, you still can't admit she is just an amazing person.  Just check out her real life story.

Anyways right now she is helping us newbies find our decorative style and personalities through a series of challenges.  (All of us participants are part of the FFA (Fearlessly Finding Awesome club)-see my button to the right).  So right now we are on challenge 2 in finding our style (so its not too late to join up on the fun) which is to take an amazing quiz by store Homegoods.  I mean, she said it was freakishly accurate and so I tried it out and it is.  I hafta say its quite nice to have everything finally summed up nicely.  Here is mine and jump on over to her post and see what your style is defined as!

Jennifer, You Are A COUNTRY CLASSIC

You have a naturally refined sensibility with an appreciation for tradition and history. You value beauty, craftsmanship, and family heirlooms, but you like to open things up with pretty, easy-going pieces like painted wood or distressed furniture, lovely florals and other patterns, and bunches of fresh flowers that give your home a breezy, relaxed feeling. You love unique finds, have a thrifty, creative side, and can make these things work together.

You value order. You feel happiest if your home is well organized. You understand that when your house is in order, your mind feels clearer. Rather than a lot of meaningless objects or overly-designed items, you are happier with a few well-placed things. Your home is your respite from a busy life. Try to avoid letting things into your home that you don't really love.

First time for everything

I know, I know. I have some catching up to do on here.  Besides have a wonderful time with family and friends this past Holiday season, not much has been going on (holidays take up a lot of your extra time) haha.


However, this past November and early December, Jared did two tings he never had before: grow a beard (No-Shave-November) and went hunting with my father and myself.  They were both quite their own adventures in and of themselves so I wanted to document them as well as I could.  For the beard-growing process, I ended up taking a picture about every 3-4 days for the entire month and here is how it went:

(before hunting)

(after hunting-seems like is brings out the ruggedness in a man)

The shaving process-had to take a picture of the mustache!

All clean again!

Jared enjoyed the experience but doubt he will grow another soon.  He didn't like the itchiness (or the fact that my hair was constantly stuck to it) and he hated the prickly feeling that he got when the hairs hit is lips.

Hunting was another interesting experience.  Jared calls it 'a nature walk in the woods with a gun'.  Though I wouldn't necessarily call this year's experience a 'nature walk' and you can see why:

I don't know if you can see that thermometer but it says 25 degrees...

Basically it snowed at least a foot and a half, so practically all the wild life (aka elk) were gone, bedded down where we couldn't find them.  We were both disappointed for a failed hunting trip (number 4 for me) but we had a lot of fun with my dad and it was nice to see the snow again after 2 years.
Maybe this year we will try again!

Just a little addition....

Hey all!

I just wanted to update you on my wreath thingy.  I took my sister's advice and added an "N" to it (for our last name) and it turned out great!  I'm very happy with the results:

Though there is always room for improvement, I am very happy :)

I also went to SAS today (an awesome whole-sale (by the pound) fabric store off of Apache and McClintock) and got some fabulous fabric that I want to make into a maxi skirt.  It is going to be awesome, but I am just hoping I will have time to make it soon because school has been crazy!  Well thats all for now.  Love ya!

Fall Wreath

So, I really love Fall.  Even if things don't really change around here, the weather still becomes amazing and there are so many fun things to plan and do!  So, we don't have a whole lot of room to decorate for the holidays (and in general) so I wanted to at least make a wreath for our door.  So while I was browsing Pinterest, I was inspired by this:

http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/2009/12/chrismas-paper-mache-ornaments.html

I loved the simplicity and the ability to make it all by being thrifty so I set out.  I grabbed a 1 dollar frame from Goodwill and waited until Michael's had a sale to get my fall foliage.  I don't have any pics of the beginning, but what I did to make my frame interesting and seasonal looking was I followed this crackle tutorial (found viz Pinterest as well):

http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2010/05/crackle-finish-with-elmers-glue.html

It worked really well but I started off putting WAY too much glue on and since my frame has a slant, it would collect and I had to wipe it off and reapply it in areas that were drying too fast.  Next time I will probably buy a sponge brush to help make the glue spread better.  I used a dark brown base coat and a lighter orange-y color for the top (each of my own mixing) and I got this:

Not bad for my first try huh?

My crackle paint supplies (I used acrylic paints)

With the foliage I first unwrapped the base so I could snip them off there.

What I harvested. The extra grass was too green for what I wanted so I didn't use it.

My crackle paint technique wasn't flawless (the top of the frame wasn't that great) so I flipped the hanging mechanism so the top became the bottom and the bottom became the top (so I could hide the not so great parts with the foliage).

I pulled out all the pins that are used to hold the back of the frame in because I didn't want a back drop.

Rewired the wire to make my flip complete! :)

So I gathered up my foliage in a bundle formation that I liked and bound it together using brown thread.

It took my awhile to figure out how to attach it though.  At first I was thinking of doing it in the front and using a ribbon or something, but I felt that it was all to busy and that the ribbons were the wrong color.  So I nailed the bundle to the back of the frame and I really liked the effect.

Side view of the nail.

And there we go!  I kind feel like it needs a little bit more, so I am open to suggestions (ribbon? burlap? word message? pumpkin?) but I love how it has turned out so far!  Yay for my first try at being cool and crafty!  Love ya!

Behold the glory of Frankenfoot

Hey, you all have probably just been dying to see my stitches right?!! Well wait no more, cuz here they are:

This is just a couple of days after (like one or two)

Same day as above

I took this picture about a week after.  I wanted to see how the wound had changed.  And it has a bit, the skin has stuck back together almost completely (as you can see the left side is being a bit stubborn).

Well, thats all for now!  Next up time I want to show something I made recently (with a mini tutorial too!)

Midnight Adventure (and back from hiatus)

Hey everyone!  Sorry for not updating all summer!  Jared and I just worked cuz he wasn't qualified to get time off until August but then school started so we just got creative and had fun mini adventures.

But enough of that, I need to talk about our adventure last night in the ER.  Thats right, the ER.  But lets start at the very beginning, cuz you know, its a good place to start :P (note: all pics are from my cell so they arn't the clearest)

So in our shower there are little shelves that are just made out of a piece of tile.  So I was trying to move some of the conditioner around in its bottle and I ended up not thinking (I admit it) and I smacked the bottom of the bottle on the tile shelf and this is what happened:

And thats not all, because you see, my foot was under that large piece of tile and the tile won.

I didn't realize I was bleeding for a bit but when I did we hurried and got out of the shower and wrapped my foot in one of our towels.  We feel that the Lord really blessed us because, somehow we got the bleeding to stop quite quickly.  We got dressed as quickly and carefully as we could and ran out the door to Banner Desert's ER. (I had conditioner in my hair the whole time).

We got in pretty well enough (around 10:30), though we totally had a Brian Regan moment when we realized that the ER didn't have valet parking and I couldn't walk....it truly is one of the biggest oversights of our universe.  But all was ok, Jared just wished they had gone a bit faster because I had an open wound, but I felt that everyone was nice enough (especially after they gave me some Vicodin : D).  After around 45 min and a lot of information giving, we got back into a room.  During all this we felt so blessed again because one of my classmates from school is a ER tech and was there and we really feel that he helped speed things up for us.  So they took X-rays to make sure nothing was broken or severed.

After that my friend came in and asked how we were doing and if we had seen a doctor yet.  Since we hadn't he went and got some stuff he knew they would be using (saline and a suture kit) and he went and got  the PA on the floor.  She was really nice and numbed my cut (which hurt but was way worth it) and then explored it a bit to make sure again nothing was severed or really injured.  There was some white tissue exposed but is was just the covering of the muscle, not a tendon so she then left and my classmate (Ben) used a liter of saline and cleaned my cut.

 Sorry if I gross you out...

I really realized when he was cleaning it, how lucky we were to get it to stop bleeding as fast as we did.  He estimated it to be 2-3cm deep (about an inch).  After he finished cleaning the PA came back in and stitched me up.  I got two catgut stitches inside (catgut is biodegradable so they will dissolve after 5ish days) and 5 outside.  The stitches hurt cuz my skin wasn't really numb but it I didn't want to get stuck with a needle again (they already had done it twice) to get stuck with another needle so I just toughed it out and it wasn't so bad.  

Ben then came in and wrapped me up and after getting my prescriptions for pain meds and antibiotics we were gone!  And it was only 1 o'clock!  Yay!  

 The end result (forgot to take stitch picks)

The towel we wrapped my foot in.  Luckily not too much blood, eh?

We got home and in bed around 2 and Jared (bless his heart) got up at 7 to go to work.  I slept alright but in the morning my foot was so sensitive it felt like it was burning.  My lovely Mom came right over and got my meds for me and took me over to her house cuz I almost fainted while she was at the pharmacy.  So here is sit.  Drugged up and on my bum.  

I am very thankful for the little blessings we were given, because we really feel lucky that we live close to a hospital, I didn't cut a tendon, I didn't bleed too much, and we had a friend in the right place.  We had a crazy night but don't worry, all is well.  All we have to do now, is be patient and tell the story of our midnight adventure.  Hope you enjoyed :)

Spring, Spring, Spring!!!!

Hey all! Lots have been going on with Jared and I this past couple of weeks so let me fill you in realy quick.

We planted a tomato plant and here is our first tomato! Yay! I can grow things.

Sadly, I do have a problem with breaking things. I was terribly distressed about breaking one out our bowls....at least it didn't shatter everywhere.

Oh look! our tomato plant again! Here he has two tomatoes but he actually has 5-6 now. We are very excited to have fresh tomatoes. Oh and we named our plant Timmy, the Tomato Plant. :)

For our date night last Friday we dyed Easter eggs! It had been awhile for the both of us so it was a ton of fun making the colors and drawling on them with a white crayon to make designs. (Jared had never done that before!)

Here is a close up of our eggs. Jared gets to eat them all cuz I dont like boiled eggs (yuk!)

Well, other than that we have just been studying like crazy (finals and MCAT are in 2 weeks), working hard and enjoying having the Easter Pageant right outside our door! (though we are glad its over, traffic=nightmare!)

Love you all!

Jennifer

Getting Away!

Spring Break could not have come at a better time for me. I felt like my mind was on the verge of a total meltdown with all my different classes and their varying levels of 'fun'. So when that blessed week rolled around, Jared (who was equally tired) and I ran away from the city to the family cabin in Christopher Creek. Needless to say, the first couple of hours we were up there we were a bit shell-shocked. The combination of the quite, lack of internet, and having real nature all around us caused us to wonder around for a bit just soaking it all in.

Luckily, adjusting didnt take too long, and soon we were off experimenting with food (we made pot stickers and stuffed bell peppers for the first time), learning some of the games we got for the wedding, taking walks, and sleeping :) It was great. After 2 'worldly detox' days we were rearing and ready to go down and tackle the rest of this school year, work and the MCAT. For reals, we are very thankful for Nana and Papa for letting us go up there and unwind. It was absolutely what the doctor ordered, and we can't wait to go up again. (though we can wait to get that worn out again)

Jen

(Oh, did I mention that we did masks too? Haha!)

When the Lord wants to tell you something...

So we got a pretty clear message from the Lord last week, but before I just tell you what it is, let me see if you can fill in the blanks yourself:

So our Bishop called Jared up to give a talk in church, but we didn't think much of this one because he had been asked 2 weeks before but that was when we were babysitting the Freeman girls so he couldn't. So this one was just a supposed make-up. His topic was 'The responsibility of members to do _______'.

Then we got a call from a Sister in our ward. She asked us if we could feed these two people in our ward cuz someone else bailed on her. Despite being in the middle of a stressful week, we agreed.

The we got another call from the Bishop because he wanted to meet with the both of us. So we went down and met with his two Counselors (he was sick). They extended a call to us, asking Jared and I to be the Ward ________ Leader and a Ward _________!

*Can you fill in the blanks yet?*

Everything thing is about MISSIONARY WORK! I'm a ward missionary now under Jared, the new Ward Mission Leader! So all in one week Jared gave a talk on missionary work, we got a call to do it all the time ourselves AND we fed the Elders. *phew*

So in this case, the Lord hasn't been very subtle in what He wants us to do. We are a bit daunted cuz the ward has been really dead in this aspect lately, but we are sure we will be able to make some sort of difference because if the Lord took that much time and effort to tell us He is serious about this, then He is going to make a way for us to get done what He needs us to.

Girls, girls, girls!

So last weekend we had the pleasure of babysitting/housewatching for my Uncle John and Aunt Sarah. While they had a much needed little vacation to San Diego (Uncle John had a medical conf there), Jared and I became the parents of 5 girls! (from 13ish to 2).

We had a blast! The girls and I had so much fun, we had a great time playing together and going to the park, baking brownie stuffed cookies, coloring, making puppets and valentines. But when Jared came home from work, things exploded! (where the 3 youngest were concerned)

The moment he got home, they would run through the house shouting "Jared's home!" and then proceed to jump on him and demand games of hide and seek, tag, and to see whatever they had made that day. *sigh* The poor guy was so tired already but it was so fun to see him run around with all the girls and to see them so excited. haha (He did tell me, though, that we arn't having all girls haha)

The youngest, 2 1/2 year old Emma, took a particular liking to Jared. She took it as far as to tell him "You're not married" and to later profess her love to him! She would tell me that he wanted Jared to help her with something and once, when he went to the bathroom, she kept knocking on the door telling him to come out and when he didn't, she went to the outside door (of the bathroom) and kept knocking there. When I would try to get her to come back inside, she would tell me that he was in there and she wanted to wait ("Just one minute").

Also, on most occasions, whenever she would catch us hugging, she would squeeze between us and push us always and/or pull on Jared's arm to pull him away! Haha it was cute (but I'm the one who got to take him home in the end! HA!) :)

Jared and Emma

Julia and Emma playing on Jared

Jared and his ladies

Our little weekend family

In the end, while we decided that we loved every minute of it, we decided that we would like to have one at a time, rather than 5 all at once!

First things first...

OK! I'm back up people! Wooo, its been one heck of a ride here these last couple months. Planning the wedding and taking finals, getting married and moving in, and now figuring out how to be a wife and still be a good student! Feew! Haha.

So I have been wondering about what to blog and I decided to do a list of some "not-your-ordinary list of firsts", so here we go:

First Crock Pot Cooking in a Hotel Room

(First Eating Chicken and Potatoes on the Floor of said Hotel Room)

First Vortex Visit (Sedona)

First Organic Pizza (and soda) Experience

First Jared Buying me a Christmas Present with me by his Side

(First and Last Antique Store Shopping with Jen Experience for Jared)

First Using a Bakery's Wireless Internet while Sitting in our Truck while Raining

First Rose Petals Scattered Dramatically on our Table at Restaurant

First Montezuma Castle Visit for Jared

First Asking Random People to Take Photos of Us

First Playing N64 since the 2000 (Jen :) )

First Craigslist Purchase (and it was an awesome one)

First Time going to Ikea (Jared)

First time Assembling Ikea Purchase Incorrectly but Leaving It Anyway

First Experience Discovering How Long the Hot Water Lasts...burrr

First Reading "Idiots Guide to Gourmet Cooking" Together like it was a Novel

First Leaving Oven on for 2 1/2 hours after Baking was Finished

First Experimental Substitution in a Recipe (didnt work :S)

First Occurance of Spastic Fire Alarm Going Off while Cooking (nothing was burning)

First Attempt at Rice Cooking (the Automatic Timer didnt go off...)

First Husband Feeding Me Ice Cream (as we speak....haha)

Chao!

Hahaha sooo.....

So, I know its been well known for a while, but I guess its time I actually blog about it (schools been crazy!) But I'm ENGAGED! YAY! To Jared! (aka The Boy in some of my previous posts..yes I'm weird like that). He proposed on by birthday, Oct. 8th, by taking me out to breakfast (I don't have class till 12 on fridays) and there he began to give me my birthday present.

First, he made my think I was getting my ring at the restaurant (I knew he had it), but I actually got a different jewelry box which contained a fresh water pearl bracelet! It is so pretty and I love it :) Also inside the box was a key and a note. The note read:

Go to the church on First and Center

Take this key that you may enter

Go up the stairs and take the first door

check the windows I implore

So after we finished eating we went on our way to the church and I followed the instructions and subsequently found the box that holds the ring box sitting on a window sill. I gave Jared a 'oh my gosh, is this it look?' and walked towards it. I have to admit that I was checking the room out, seeing if the ambiance was what I always imagined. I deduced as I reached the box that it was adequate and reached down and opened the box. To my surprise, disappointment (and

relief...my judgment on the room was very forgiving), the box was full of chocolate and another note. Now this part is one of Jared's favorite because he says (and is probably correct to day that) my face fell when I realized it was just chocolate, which I ha

ve to say, I am not a avid eater of. so the next note said.

Go to the temple

To the south side we'll flee

Between two aged ones

Find our Noble tree

Now this one was a toughy. We went to the temple as directed and I just sat there and looked around. I thought the aged trees might mean olive trees since they look so old but I could only

see one and you cant have anything between one, so I was back to ground zero. Then, while looking at some younger trees, I saw something black in one of them. I then suddenly remembered that Jared once pointed out to the trees that his brothers planted at the temple for the Eagle Scout Projects. I asked him if those were the same trees and basically he answered 'yes' (he was trying not to help me) so I walked over there and lo and behold the ring box was in one of the trees! (he had been texting his father, so it had just been placed there). the only problem was, was that it was place rather high up and the blouse I was wearing made it especially hard to raise my hands. So Jared promised to catch it when if I poked it out (he wouldn't get it for me) so he did and in one fluid motion went down on one knee and proposed!

And naturally I said 'yes'!

Jared and I (with my presents and notes)

Quick Update

Hey everyone! Just checking in so you know I'm alive! School is challenging and keeping me busy! And when I do have time, I usually spend it with Jared or Mom, so basically I have no free time! Ahhhh. Haha its all good! I'm just excited my birthday is coming up so I have a excellent reason to not do homework for a day! YAY!

Well see you all around!

9-9-2010...what a day!

So yesterday my world almost ended. And it didn't only because I received many blessing and with some coming from my the most wonderful friend and boyfriend ever. So what happened you might ask...well here is my story:

Yesterday I had a test in my 7:30 class. (Statistics) But also yesterday my homework in the class was due. On my way to class I remembered that I hadn't printed out some graphs I made for my homework and so thus my homework was in complete. I didn't have enough time to go to the computing commons and print it out as this was like 10 min before the test so I went to class and explained what had happened and asked if I could turn it in later that day. Blessing #1: He said yes and was super cool about it. So I took my test.

I then went to my next class, which is immediately after the first, trying to figure out what to do. My graphs were on my laptop and half way through class I realized that I had left it at home because I wasn't going to need it that day since I had no breaks to work on stuff in. And then I realized, though I had enough time after school to go get said laptop, I realized that the institute parking garage gets full on Tues/Thurs and if I left I wouldn't be able to get back in. I texted Annessa to see if she had class after our mutual institute but she did and couldn't take me because she would have been in the same situation as I. And Mom was gone in Cali visiting Melissa and Craig. 'Twas then I realized I had a boyfriend. So I called him after class and told him my problem. He was so wonderful about it. I told him how to get in my house (haha) and he had that laptop at the Institute in like 20 min! Blessing #2

So I haven't really had to print at school before cuz I usually don't forget so I didn't know what do to and how to pay for it because I don't have any money on my Suncard either. So my wonderful friend Annessa escorted me to a place where I could print and walked me through the steps (well really she did it pretty much all for me and even paid the 30 cents....haha well I know how to do it know...did I mention I'm a junior? hahaha) and so lo and behold I had my completed homework. Blessing #3

So now I hopped on my bike and rode to a far away place on campus called the Brickyard to where my Professor's office is. Well actually he is an adjunct prof (so he has a real job and just teaching my class on the side) so I actually had to go to his business. But the door was locked and no one would answer the doorbell! I didn't know what do! I knew he wasn't in his school office but I had no idea how to find him. So I was about to go riding around to look at his school office anyways when I had a distinct impression that I should look at my syllabus to see if he left us his work number. Blessing #4: I looked and lo and behold it was there and he answered and he opened the door and thus my homework was successfully turned in.

It may of been a very small thing (even though it was our biggest homework of the year) but it was important to me and I an very thankful for the wonderful people around me and for the Spirit and for the subsequent promptings I received.

I had a very trying yet blessed day, wouldn't you agree?

An End of Summer

So thus ends my summer. Twas a fun and eventful one. Lets see...since I last I wrote I have started shadowing at a place called McCleve Orthotics and Prosthetics where they 'dun dun dunnn' fit and assemble prosthetics and fabricate orthotics. Its pretty cool. I really like how although it seems like things get repetitive, each patient brings a unique twist to each order so nothing is really repetitive about it.

In my spare time I have been rereading the whole Harry Potter series because I wanted to get a feel for the whole journey. I'm halfway done with the sixth right now and its been fun! (its also been great to catch alot of foreshadowing that I've never even realized!) hahaha good times :)

Other than that, I'm just doing my usual: hanging out with Mom and helping around the house, getting ready for school, going to the office, and spending time with the Boy. (and yes I realize that I actually named him...I thought I proof read my last post but not well enough I guess :) )

But anyways, thats all for now. I will see you next time with an exciting recount of my new classes! YAY! so exciting huh?

Utah with the Boy and his Family! (dunn dunn duuuunnnn!)

So earlier this month I went to Utah with a certain boy for his family reunion, and I really had a good time. I had met this side of the family before but still to spend like 4 days with them...I was understandably just a little anxious, but, like I said above, it was great. So lets see what went down: (get ready for some picture overload ;))

So first we visited Sunset Crater by Flagstaff, and it was awesome! The lava flows were soooo cool!

There were plenty of large crevices for the boys to play around in...

And I joined in a bit as well ;)

Us.....:)

After the crater we went and visited some old Native American ruins and they were awesome and educational.

Then we went to the Grand Canyon (which, though I am a pure Arizona Native, I've only been there once). It was beautiful and very, very windy. This is one of the few pictures in which my hair is not all over the place! PS we visited the North Rim.

He took my sunglasses....

Us again...I had to take another pic cuz I was tired of taking them at the edge where my hair was crazy.

After the Grand Canyon, the next major destination was Zions National Park. There we sight-saw a bit and hiked the Narrows.

There is just something about caves.......

.....that just makes you act all feral! hahaha

There was this quaint waterfall...

...though small it was very pretty

So hiking the Narrows is basically walking up a river as the surrounding canyon gets steeper, more narrow and more smooth.

It gets pretty deep sometimes...I got wet all the way up to my belt line and I was careful (I've heard that water and cameras dont mix well). Jared swam a bit just cuz he wanted to and some people floated down the river on the way back.

The canyon was gorgeous!

And when it got narrow it was even more breath taking!

But we still managed to goof around ;)

**RANDOM TANGENT!**

there were like a million squirrels in the park!

And they were not shy either!

Quite the opposite in fact! I think I was around 5 inches away form this one! (I think he was posing for me)

** **

So after Zions we did some stuff in St. George (where we were staying), but then for the last two and a half days we retreated to a lodge near Zions. I didnt take many pics here but there was a large pond out the back were you could canoe, a volleyball net, a ramada with games, and tarps that you can make a slip-and-slide with.

the pond

A Noble celebration about our Nation's founders and stores how they were inspired and also prophecies of our nations by ancient prophets. (Jared played Moroni)

Us reading (although you cant tell, we are matching and all I have to say about that is that I got dressed first!ha!)

Well thats all folks! Im sorry about so many pictures but I couldnt think of anything I could cut (besides the squirrels but that was fun). It was a fun and exciting trup! YAY!