False Alarm

When we first moved here we thought we would go to the beach at least once a week. That lasted about...a month. We don't always make it to the beach as much as we want but I feel like we have gone a lot lately and it's been wonderful. I just love where we live.

a juicy-juice and a sandy bum. what a life

"bye ball!"

This is my buddy Cam. He decided to pull the fire alarm at our church when we were over there the other night. The fire department never came and they didn't answer when I called so I had to quickly call 911 to get ahold of someone to come turn the alarm off. I felt bad calling, they always sound so panic-y (always like I call them all the time haha!). I can't imagine the emergencies they have to deal with on a daily basis.

operator: what is your emergency

me: hi it's actually not an emergency, we just had someone pull the fire alarm and we can't 

get it turned off 

operator: okay so a pole is on fire?

me: no somebody PULLED the fire alarm..

Some fire peeps finally showed up, passed out some hats, turned the lights on for us and showed off the huge hose. It was great the kids loved it. We just then had to make it clear to never do it again ha. It actually was a blessing that Cam pulled it because we found out our church's fire alarm isn't even set up properly which is why the fire department wasn't notified immediately. 

I don't know who was more excited, the kids or the sister missionaries :)

 Speaking of those darn cute sister missionaries. We lost another goodie a few weeks ago. They do such hard but great things with the best attitudes.

#bigthingsin2015 

This year is the year. I have always thought of taking my love for pictures to the next level. I finally gained some courage after I took my sisters bridals in the fall. I am going to start up a small little photography situation (see?! I can't even call it a business, just a situation haha). It's terrifying and if I ever think about it for longer than five minutes, I start doubting it big time. But I just have to hold onto the pure joy that I feel when I take pictures for people. It's literally a high for me. I am going to start out very small and take it as it comes (if it even comes). There is just so much room for an amateur like me in this area. Right now I am in the process of making a blog for it but I am still brainstorming a name. 

I was so excited when my friend asked me to take pictures of her kidlets. They each have their own personalities which makes it crazy a blast! And I'm obsessed with that little babe, it's ridiculous. 

We Built This City

I love birthdays. I try to think back to why I love birthdays so much and I think it has to do with my Mom making our day just that--OUR DAY! Breakfast, lunch, and dinner was your choice (lunch was usually some fast food that you requested, delivered to the high school. Oh boy, did you look cool with that wendy's bag or what!) And my personal favorite: my birthday in 9th grade where my Mom had flowers delivered to my class and everyone was ooo-ing and ah-ing asking me which boy they were from. *Should have just made up a name, Nicole. Make up a name!*

We always blew out candles. I have so many memories of turning off all the lights so the flames would shine bright. Then your family sings happy birthday (with the added line "and many more..on channel four..your pants will ripppp!" did anybody else experience that?) Then that moment where you blow the candles out and the whole room is completely dark and you just think, "dang. i love birthdays."  

People seem to come out of the woodwork on your birthday. People that you haven't heard from in a quite a while reach out with a birthday salutation and some small talk. That is one of my most favorite things. I am reminded how many amazing people there are in my life. Birthday's are just so fun and should be celebrated. So let me buy you a balloon on your next birthday. Seriously, you'll be doing ME the favor (haha)!

Now that the tangent entitled BIRTHDAY is all finished...moving on. Shaun's birthday is the 8th, our anniversary is the 10th and my birthday is the 20th. March is a craaaazy month. But a month of fun. Shaun took me to Cinderella, which was adorable by the way. And then we threw a little birthday shin-dig for the both of us. We went to dinner with our super cool-fun-awesome-rad friends! Then we made them all do a lip sync battle with us. They were all so amazing and such good sports. I don't know what I would do without these people! They make me laugh constantly, they are always supporting me and in their own little ways pushing me to be a better me. Not to mention the rock-star Mom's they all are! Such great examples. And their husbands are okay too I guess... :) Also a special shoutout to that cute saxophone player in the middle for making the most scrumptious birthday cake ever!

Annie Sloan Round 2

It's that time again. That time where I endorse Annie Sloan Chalk Paint like my life depended on it. If you remember last year, I blogged a post about an ugly coffee table I did and how easy it was. Just to recap, here are the reasons I love this paint:

• totally avoid sanding, de-glossing, priming, sealing etc
• I am able to paint in my house without dying of the stench
• how fast the paint dries
• the lustre look the wax gives

SO when my mother in-law was in town we decided to start tackling my kitchen table.

(I thought I got some good before pictures--guess not). 

We decided with the colors duck egg and off white. Last year, I just used the clear wax. But we thought we would add some dark wax to this project to give it a little more rustic look.

Tip: the clear wax can act as an eraser if the dark wax comes on too strong for you. Just add the clear wax on top of it until you like the shade. Below you can see the dark wax added to the right side. I had to lighten it up quite a bit after I took this picture.

Then after the wax dries for 24 hours you can start buffing it uppp. It takes about 30 days for it to completely "cure."

I am still working on the chairs but so glad we no longer need to have a living room picnic for dinner. For more tips and detailed tutorial, check out my post from last year.

one fine day

Shaun went out of town last night (just for a day) 

and I have come to some conclusions while he's been gone:
(yep, just one day and all these conclusions)

||i am boring||

||shaun truly entertains me 99% of the time||

||i am a talker (it's taken a lot not to talk to myself)||

||it would be completely miserable to live alone||

||if you do a school assignment before it's due, you have a whole day hw free!||

(i of course knew that one, it's just been a while since high school...)

||the stepford wives is a weird movie||

||i like Shaun's side of the bed better. Which actually used to be my side.

but he somehow won that side when we got married||

||there are no good chinese take out places in this area||

||i swear by annie sloan chalk paint. it's so easy. i

 can't wait to post about my kitchen table makeover that's in process||

||i had too much time to look at pictures from christmas break

of my delicious niece and nephew who are now ten times bigger||

thirty.one

happy birthday to my handsome!

sj turned 31 yesterday. 

I am so thankful for him and the joy he brings to me and our life together.

I am trying to learn some things on a new camera so being the generous person that he is,

he let me do a little birthday shoot with him 

{i don't have kids what do you expect haha!}

what a hottie young 31 year old.
i love his young looking genes.
although in about twenty years
when he looks like my son, i sure won't! ;)

Heros in a half shell--turtle power! (taking SJ back to one of his faves)