2.12.2012

tragic.

i hadn't heard about whitney's passing until late last night while i was talking with my sister on the phone. it is tragic. but her life has been tragic for a long time. i like that when i think of whitney i just remember the bodyguard whitney. and this is my favorite whitney song. she will definitely be missed, but luckily she left us with some fantastic music.

this time last year.

in perusing the blog, i came across this post that i did two years ago. i liked it so much, i figured i would do it again. and it seems that february is the month for yearly reflection posts. you'll get over it.

1. what did you do in 2011 that you had never done before?
i drove to l.a. just to see jay nash play. and i would do it again in a heartbeat. i lov-uh him.

2. did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for the next year?
of the eleven resolutions that i committed to last year, i feel that i was successful on five of them. i feel like i did an okay job on three of them. i completely bombed on the last three. such is life, i guess. it gives me something to work on this year.

3. did anyone close to you give birth?
my closest friend at work had a baby boy in the spring. and my baby sister had a baby girl at the end of august.

4. did anyone close to you die?
on of my grandma's sisters died. i wasn't close to her, but my grandma was. obviously. i know there were other people, but i can't think of any.

5. what places did you visit?
i visited las vegas and southern california. i went to l.a. to visit my friend jaime and to see jay nash. i also went on family vacation to newport beach, ca. it was a good time. and then i went to vegas three times. also, there were lots of trip to the salt lake valley to visit my sister and her family.

6. what would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
better health. i feel like i was much more sick this last year than i have been in a long time. i would also like to have some stability...or rather, what i view as stability. sometimes i feel like it could all get swept out from under me. i don't know what it means. i know that is a weird thing to say, but sometimes i feel like my jobs and where i live are temporary. i mean, i hope my living situation is temporary. but feeling that my jobs are temporary is a little unnerving...especially since i'm the awesomest person that works there. hahaha.

7. what dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
seeing jay nash at hotel cafe with jaime. the week family vay-cay in so.cal. vegas with adriane to see tfdi. and all the concerts i saw.

8. what was your biggest achievement of the year?
i'm not gonna lie...my homemade christmas was a pretty gigantic achievement. i was pretty excited about that one.

9. what was your biggest failure?
the fact that the three resolutions that i didn't achieve were the most important to me. i obviously need to reevaluate how i can make those happen. and then i need to work on them again this year. it will be done.

10. did you suffer illness or injury?
yes...so many colds. and stomach flues. i am such a baby.

11. what was the best thing you bought?
i wouldn't necessarily say i bought one thing that was the best thing...i would say that it was a culmination of things...all my crafty things were my best purchases.

12. whose behavior merited celebration?
i think i am going to have to ditto my answer from two years ago. there are many people in my life, both personally and professionally, that deserve to be celebrated. and the reasons vary from personal to professional. there are also a couple of teens moms that proved the stereotypes wrong and they need to be celebrated, too.

13. whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
again, i can say that there were people both personally and professionally that surprised me. while this list is not long, it is still disappointing. and maybe at times disturbing, but i try not to focus on it.

14. where did most of your money go?
gosh...if i knew the answer to that i'd be a lot better off. bills mostly, i guess. and crafting. and concerts. one of my goals for this year is to budget much better than i have been. i'll keep ya posted. if you have any tips, i am all for tips.

15. what did you get really, really, really excited about?
there were a few things that i was excited for...mostly shows...concerts...also the family vacation was exciting. mostly anytime i got to spend with friends and family.

16. what song will always remind you of 2011?
till i get through by jay nash. when i stop running by tfdi. girls gather round by the milk carton kids.

17. compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder?
eh...probably the same. maybe a little happier.

b) thinner or fatter?
ugh...same.

c) richer or poorer?
the same.

18. what do you wish you’d done more of?
i wish i would have spent way more time out of doors. i need some serious camping gear. i am hell-bent on going camping this year...it will happen.

19. what do you wish you’d done less of?
less procrastinating. and doubting myself. i wish i could always remember that i am capable.

20. how did you spend Christmas in 2011?
i worked christmas morning and then spend the few days after christmas with my sisters and their families at my oldest sisters home. it was a blasty-blast. i always love spending time with them.

21. did you fall in love in 2011?
nope. can't say that i did. except for, i did fall in love with crafting. but that's not what they were asking.

22. what was your favorite TV program?
there were way too many...i would say justified, sons of anarchy and burn notice. i also became obsessed with the national geographic channel...nat geo...i'm a big fan of border wars.

23. what did you do for your birthday in 2011?
oh...i worked. birthdays are a little overrated these days. this year is a big one and i'm not psyched for it at all. not at all.

24. what was the best book you read?
one of my resolutions from last year was to read more and while i did do that, i can't really remember any as being the best. i really did like the girl with a dragon tattoo series...i read all three. i have some classics on my list for this year, so this question will be better answered next year.

25. what did you want and get?
i wanted to feel more at home where i am and i think that happened. as far as material things...nothing.

26. what did you want and not get?
there isn't enough time.

27. what was your favorite film of this year?
i really, really liked crazy, stupid, love. i would peg that as my favorite for the year.

28. did you make some new friends this year?
i'm always making new friends. maybe not so much that i made new friends, but i really worked on the relationships that i already had. i also let some slide, but i think that is to be expected.

29. what one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
if i would have won the lottery. problem is that you have to play the lottery to win the lottery...maybe i will learn how to play the lottery this year. not.

30. how would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
i don't have one. for real.

31. what kept you sane?
my family. and friends. and crafting.

32. which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
i really like that cute little emma stone. she was my favorite in crazy, stupid, love. i really like her.

33. what political issue stirred you the most?
i steered clear of politics this year. i figured that i would get enough of it this year, i couldn't force myself to get into it last year.

34. who did you miss?
my mommy. and my daddy. mostly my family. and jaime.

35. tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.
i learned that you have to keep on keepin' on.

how was your year?
anything noteworthy to discuss?


that's all.

2.11.2012

bullets for you.

you know how much i love a bullet list, so i thought i would share some things via a bullet list. these are things i have been thinking about, things that have happened, things that are going to happen and things i find interesting. i'm sure it will be the most profound bullet list you read this week...maybe this month. or not. whatever.
  • i do laundry at my apartment complex's laundromat. it is super ghetto but it is cheap and convenient, so i utilize the facility. the only thing about it is that there isn't a change machine on the premises. i used to go to other laundromats to get change. now, i have discovered all of the change machines within a mile radius of my house. if you are in need of quarters, i can hook you up. i went to get quarters the other day and i realized it is a weird thing to know where all the change machines are...isn't it?
  • i am sick. again. for the third time in three months. and not just a little sniffle sick. i have had full-blown debilitating colds and coughs and earaches. the last two days have been miserable. i am frustrated because i didn't think that i was that susceptible to illness, but this year is proving me wrong. i decided yesterday that it is probably because i haven't been taking my vitamins. i stopped taking them a few months ago. i clearly am an idiot. i guess i will start taking them again.
  • i am over the fact that we aren't having a real winter. i am especially over it because chances are we are going to have winter weather in may. mark my words. it will be super annoying. but we need the moisture, so i guess however we have to get it.
  • i just found out this last week that the head and the heart are going to be in utah in may. i am ecstatic about it. i absolutely love them. and i'm excited because it is at red butte garden...nothing beats an outdoor venue. let's just hope that i am not right about the weather, though. oh...and i'm super psyched that i have friends that i can email just a date and they are all in...love ya, ade. (and bob, too.) oh...and if anyone else wants to join us, the tickets go on sale on february 20th here.
  • even though my team did not win the super bowl (i don't want to talk about it), i did get to experience another kind of big win. remember awhile back i told you about a musician that i am obsessed with, tony lucca? (if you don't remember you can refresh your memory here and here.) well, he auditioned for the show the voice on nbc and all four judges turned their chairs around. i hoped one day he would be a star. and i love that i can say that i knew him when. good on ya, tony...best wishes, dude. (if you missed it, you can check it out here: audition, interview, interview.)
  • we all know how much i love pinterest, but i got super annoyed by another pinner this week. to preface, the point of pinterest is to bookmark websites that have ideas, recipes, decorations, crafts, quotes...anything really...that you like. i am super good about making sure that everything i pin links back to the original source or to a source that has the original source linked. earlier this week a pinner repinned one of my links to a valentine craft. she also commented "how did you make them?" well, if you looked close at the picture, you could see that it said marthastewart.com at the bottom. also...do you not know how this pinterest thing works?...not everything i pin, i made. i don't know why it rubbed me the wrong way, but i was super annoyed. i did comment back with a snarky remark. it didn't make me feel better, but it helped.
  • a couple of weeks ago, my sister brought her kids to visit and we went out to eat lunch. i talked my sister into going to an oldie but a goodie, el sol. i cannot remember the last time i had eaten there, but i vaguely remember it being with my baby sister and she had either one or two kids at the time. either way, it was years ago. and it wasn't half bad. it was pretty decent considering it was el sol...aka hell hole. why we called it that but continued to eat there will never make sense. love trips down memory lane.
  • my grandma paints. growing up, we had a painting that she had done in our living room. it was one of my favorite wall hangings in our whole house. (and if you knew my house growing up, you know this was no small feat.) just after christmas, i was at my grandma's house and i mentioned that i wanted her to teach me how to paint. she said she didn't remember, but i thought it would be good for her to do something from long ago...it will help with her memory...maybe. i told her we would have to arrange for a time. i have been busy since, but i've kept it in my mind since. last week my grandma called me at work (something she has never done) to ask me if i still wanted to paint with her. i love that she remembered...i've gotta make that happen asap.
  • i have so many blogging ideas. i need to start writing them down so i can remember them. then i need to start blogging. the ideas written are useless, i suppose. i'm working on it.
what's new with you?
anything exciting?


that's all.

2.06.2012

best and worst decision.

(i'm well aware of the fact that it has been over two months since i last posted here. i'm also well aware that christmas has come and gone and this little post is a little late...but not really...because it's my blog and i get to make the decisions around here. and i decided that i want to share. and i really am going to pick up the blogging reins again. because i want to. so there. and thanks for reading.)

...but really, it was my best decision. the process was just a little time consuming and, at times, annoying and annoying. let me explain.

sometime mid-november i got a wild idea about doing a homemade christmas. this is something i have never done...nor have i ever considered. in my pre-crafty days it almost seemed insane to try and accomplish a fully homemade christmas. but i was up for the challenge. clearly, i had no idea what i was in for.

i decided to make it as simple as possible. i decided to make a lot of the same thing. it really started with pinterest (most things start with pinterest, but that is another post for another day). i saw this darling no-sew scarf. i am a sucker for craftiness that requires the least amount of energy. i figured that i could make these scarves for all my nieces. and even though my nieces range in age from five months (although, i didn't make a scarf for her) and nine years, i figured the scarf would be something all the girls would like.

the scarf wasn't terribly hard to make. except, i tried to make it super fancy and i tried to cut out flower shapes instead of circles. fleece is the hardest thing to cut out, especially if you are trying to cut out flowers. i made one scarf (for the nine-year-old) out of flowers. i revised the plan after that and did circles for the rest of the girls. and for the baby, i am making a car seat blanket (it isn't done yet because my sewing machine stopped sewing two days before christmas and i haven't attempted to sew again...it stresses me out to think that it isn't working because it is less than a year old...i will try to see if it works soon).


then i had to think of something for my nephews. i'm not gonna lie...it is a little bit harder to be crafty for boys...at least it seemed that way. and then while perusing the internet i found this...a hollowed out book. my nephews are way into legos...especially legos with lots of little pieces. i thought that they would think a hollow book would be a super cool place to hide said legos and that it would be something they could keep forever. but i knew that my two youngest nephews (two and three) wouldn't really appreciate a hollow book as much as the older boys. so i cheated and bought them both toys. (i guess i should say it was almost a homemade christmas.)

a word to the wise...making hollowed out books is not hard, but it is super-duper, annoyingly time consuming. so, so much more time consuming than i imagined. but i would definitely make them again. and a suggestion...don't use really old books. i had a book that was significantly old (i got all my books at the thrift store, btw) and the pages of that book were not very sturdy...kind of "crumbly" if you will. and because i was trying to finish the books in such a short amount of time, this particular book started falling apart and it became impossible to make a decent hollowed out book. unfortunately, one nephew currently possesses an i.o.u.


for my sisters, i made this magical lotion and these little pieces of art work. they were way fun to make, so i am planning on making more of them. i had seen something similar, so i borrowed the idea and tweaked it to make it my own.


the bro-in-laws didn't get much of anything. i just couldn't bring myself to craft for the guys. maybe next year...when i have more time to plan and make it not so cheesy. i'll have to find something to craft that doesn't seem so crafty.

all in all, it made for super fun gift giving. i was afraid that the kids wouldn't love getting something that wasn't a toy. i especially thought the boys wouldn't like the books. before they opened the gifts, i let them know that they weren't getting toys, so they weren't as disappointed. and just to make sure they weren't' totally let down, i did sneak some cash into their gifts. hahaha. i'm the kind of aunt that apparently buys love. and i'm okay with it.

can't wait to do it again next year. with more time to plan, it should be even that much better.

are you crafty?
do you give crafty gifts?


that's all.