It's FALL!

I must admit I am getting Christmas decorating fever! I blame it on the fact that last year I didn't get to decorate because we were moving and therefore feel that it is high time to brush off the dust and break out all my fun Christmas decorations! A week ago I had made up my mind that I was going to decorate for Christmas early... after all it is MY house and I don't have a ton of fall decorations anyways... but once I voiced my plan I was immediately told not do and to enjoy the fall while it's here... I must admit... Fall is my favorite season so I guess I should embrace the time. Only problem was that I had very few decorations and due to our circumstances I didn't want to rush out and buy more.... HOWEVER.... today I got the urge to go to Michaels after work and was, to put it lightly, absolutely thrilled!

I only spent $26!


All of the garland was only .99 cents a stem!I got the big pumpkins for $3 each and the little pumpkins for .35 cents each!

I love these cream glittered ones! They go great in my downstairs bathroom.

I got this arrangement for $3 and the vase for $5. They are my favorite colors and trust me, this picture is not doing them justice!


This beauty was only $1.99!!!


I found these at Target last year and waited until they were on clearance for $4!

Two years ago I made myself, my mom and my mother-in-law this FALL sign, it was so fun! Also so much work!

These candle holders were also on sale!

Gosh I LOVE FALL and all the SALES!!!

The table runners are a little project I have been working on, they are double sided, one for fall and the other is Christmas color striped. I still have to take them and get them pressed so they are flat but I think they turned out well. :-)

My Husband Can SEW!

So ever since we got our puppy Baxter, Brian has asked if at some point I could make him a bed. Well we ended up buying multiple beds for this pup because it was cheaper and easier in the short run… well those did not last…. Baxter likes to play this game where the second we leave him alone with his bed it becomes this monster that he absolutely has to rip to shreds as quickly and efficiently as possible. Four beds, one comforter and multiple pillows later we discovered this lady who makes dog beds out of duck canvas material that is “chew proof,” only problem is that they are $80 each! Well we succumbed and bought one and by no fault of it’s own it shrunk when we washed it…. Not to mention that all of the pillows that were in it got demolished soon after… I absolutely refused to buy him another bed for a long time… well last week Brian went to Joann’s with my mom to get fabric for our Halloween costumes and found duck canvas! So he bought some maroon duck canvas (for a lot cheaper than the first one we bought) and brought it home. The very next day I get an email with a picture attachment that looks like this….


I couldn’t believe my eyes! Brian not only mastered my sewing machine, but made a professional looking dog bed, zipper and everything! He even wrote his name on them. AND if that wasn’t enough, he salvaged some left over material and made a SECOND one for his office! I think we know who the seamster is in our house! Great job honey!

Oh and incase you’re wondering why his foot is all taped up, it’s because something pricked him on one of our walks and then made the toe swell, we took him to the vet and they cut it open to make sure nothing was in there. He is fine now… THANK HEAVENS for puppy insurance!

My new HAIR!!!

I wanted something different and I think I definitely got it... What do you think?

Brian's Office Surprise

A couple months ago Brian went up to Washington for a few days to help his mom with a few things around her house. While he was gone, I decided to surprise him with a fully decorated and renovated office. I got an old desk from a lady at work for free and with the help of my dad we were able to sand down the top and front and stain and seal it, then put new hardware on it to make it look good as new. :-) With the help of HomeDepot.com I found my inspiration for colors and then enlisted my dad to do the actual painting. He was the BIGGEST help! I also had the help of my Aunt Jamie and cousin Missy, they came over the night before and put together this huge memo board... unfortunately it didn't go with the room as I had imagined so I had to scrap it. :-( Sorry girls! I still really appreciate the time you two put in! On the day of Brian's arrival the chair I ordered came in, only 2 hours before I was to pick him up from the airport. What I didn't anticipate was that the chair wasn't assembled, so I had to call my dad last minute and have him help me put the thing together. Well all in all let's just say that Brian was indeed surprised! He was completely shocked when he got home, and poor guy had to hook up all of his cables and transfer all of his stuff from his old desk to his new desk, but he really enjoys his new space and all of my efforts! :-) Here are some before and after pictures... hey, I'm no photographer...

Before

After

What do you think?!

Sushi Night

Last night we had our friends Cort and Lyndsey Clater over to make Brian's favorite... SUSHI! The four of us went to an Asian market and got all of the ingredients and had a great time looking around at all the cool things that were there that we had never seen before. Then we went back to our place and made our very first attempt at making sushi... the result? Pretty good! Surprizingly, it was really easy to make, we used sticky rice, imitation crab, shrimp, salmon sashimi, cucumber and avacado. Here are some pictures of us making the sushi and then with the rolls we created.

Update

I know, I know, I need to update more often, it's just that I don't know what to write about and then I find something and forget about it before I pick up my computer.

I just got a new calling in our ward at church, I am now the CTR9 teacher. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one had I am excited to see my mom more than just for a few minutes because she is the Primary President, and no she didn't choose me for the calling, she just approved it. On the other hand, I am kind of bummed because Brian and I have been put into callings that take us away from getting to know people. I have loved going to Relief Society every week and especially with my Grandma Neilson, it is so fun seeing her every week and being able to chat. I feel like we just get closer every week and I love that! So we will see how this all goes.

For those of you that don't know yet, Brian lost his job a couple weeks ago and now we are living on just my income, which isn't much. Luckily he can collect Unemployment so that little bit helps. This has been a challenge for us to adjust to to say the least, I know this is just a trial we have been given and it's all in God's plan, but that doesn't mean we have to enjoy it. Brian has actually been looking for a job since April because he knew he was going to graduate and wanted to get a jump start on finding a new career. Unfortunately he is finding it harder and harder everyday to find something... ANYTHING... He got his degree in Criminal Justice because he wants to be a Fraud Investigator but there are no positions open because the budgets for state jobs has been slashed. He has applied to FBI, CIA, ICE, Secret Service and Newport Beach Police Department... all with no avail. I know that we will be ok, and everything happens for a reason, I just hope he finds something sooner, rather than later so we can keep up with our mortgage and everything else...

I am still working at Genpact Mortgage Services as an office manager. I have been training to move into Accounting for the past couple of months and if everything goes right then I should be able to transition in about 6 months.

Last weekend we took a little break and drove up to Yosemite with my Dad, and brothers Cameron and Isaac. It was beautiful! I am not a fan of camping whatsoever but for some reason this time I had so much fun. We went biking and hiking and made an amazing Apple Cobbler.

Brian had fun freaking me out by climbing to unsafe places, I kept thinking he was going fall.

The is us on our way to our campsite. The views were exquisite.

Brian is king of the world!

Our hike to Vernal Falls.

The yummiest, easiest Apple Cobbler ever made!

Well that's it for us... I completely understand if you just skipped all the writing and went straight for the pictures.. :-)

I did it!

For years now I have been wanting to run a 5K run but never found one to do. A couple weeks ago I found out that our stake was having one for Pioneer Day. I was so excited! I filled out the registration form and sent it right away. I originally wanted to run the whole marathon, but thought that was a stretch since I had not been training. So we signed up to walk/run but mainly walk... Well today was race day, I got up, got ready and hit the trail... and guess what?! I ran the whole way! Well, I walked like 5 minutes toward the end but that doesn't count. :-) I was so excited and couldn't believe I did it! I can't wait until another one comes around, I think I will train beforehand though so I can be a little more energetic towards the end... :-)