Well hello world! I may possibly be one of the worst bloggers as of late, but I guess that means I had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend with little time to blog. I'll take it. But I would feel a little ungrateful if I didn't take a moment to jot down a few things I am especially grateful for at this time:

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+ I am grateful for our house, and more importantly the memories that are made inside of it. I love making a house a home. The sunrises and sunsets we see every day over the river in our backyard melt my heart.

+ My mom's orange roll recipe! I made it for the first time this weekend. It turned out pretty good... not as good as my mom's, but practice should hopefully make perfect.

+ My faith, the gospel of Jesus Christ and His love for me and my family. We are always taken care of.

+ Finding new music. Thanks to Spotify, new music has been flooding my ears and I love it.

+ Russell's job that allows us to live close to our families. We were fortunate enough to see both of our families this weekend -- it was fabulous.

+ My health. We have a lot of family members and close friends who have had this taken away from them this last year. I believe that a healthy body is one of those things we take for granted until it is gone.

I Appreciate Him.

This is my bearded husband enjoying three delicious scoops of Gelato from Costco. Who knew Costco could be so fancy? 

Our offices are pretty close together, so we try to meet for lunch once in a while, whether it's bringing our PB&J's to a park or supporting one of our favorite dining establishments (ahem, Costco). Yes, we're classy like that. Just get me the cheesiest cheese pizza with a Diet Coke and you've got one happy girl.

As we were leaving I was digging through my pockets to find the receipt for the lady to check and Russ was kindly holding my Diet Coke, my purse and pushing the cart. The lady looks at me and says "I bet you've never appreciated him more than you do now." It took me a minute to realize she was talking to us. Of course it wasn't until I got to my car I wanted to run back and say "Huh? What are you talking about? I always appreciate this guy! I mean, he meets me at Costco and buys me a Diet Coke! What more could I want?!?"

It's the little things that really make you appreciate life, ain't it?

Take a Seat

I have another house update to report! Casa de Lewis finally has a few more places to sit! One thing we found with moving into our house after being in apartments and renting is we are seriously lacking some furniture. We had one couch, and therefore only one place to sit and hang out in the whole house. Needless to say, we've kept our eye out for some good deals on furniture. Well this last week I'd say we hit the jackpot! Introducing our first "sitting chair":

This chair was a bit unplanned. We walked into the store looking for couches, but found this neglected guy in the clearance corner due to a broken leg. After figuring out the leg was fixable and a bit of negotiating on Russell's end, we got this guy for $75, normal price was $400. Right now it is in our main living room area, but it might end up in the front room/future piano room.

The second score was found at Down East Home. Oh this store is amazing. There were so many couches I wanted there, but this guy was the winner for a few reasons. A) it was on sale, B) Russ actually liked it even though it was "cute," mainly because he found it to be functional with such a high back, and C) it was on sale. I love when we agree :)

We have it upstairs in the loft, where we hope to get some sort of projector/movie area going on in the future. The pillows and rugs were laying around needing to be used; I don't know if they will stay here, but I didn't really want to spend any more money in this area of the house yet. You know, one thing at a time...

Sew Many Pillows

I had some old pillows that needed to be recovered, so these last few weeks I've decided to break into the world of making pillows! Most of them will probably go in the guest bedroom. I found one of my favorite Amy Butler fabrics (Midwestern Modern II Collection - Floating Buds) at Material Girls fabric store (which is my new favorite fabric store for any of you Utahns), and knew the exact pillow I was going to make. I saw THIS PILLOW a year ago from one of my favorite bloggers and it hasn't left my mind since, so I recreated it!

Just don't look too close. I'm definitely still working on my pillow-making skills. As for now, I'll go make a few more. Practice makes {almost} perfect, right?

The Monopolizer

Look at that face.

That's the face of a very, very serious Monopoly player makin' a sweet real-estate deal.

Who here loves Monopoly? I have a love-hate relationship with this game. When we were newlyweds of maybe a month or two and had just moved to Texas, we bought the game with a gift card from our wedding. I was so excited to find a game that we could play together. Ha! Wasn't I surprised when we sat down to play one Sunday evening and I saw a side of Russ I had never seen. The sweet, loving and light-hearted Russ turned into a super intense, deal-making, dominating Monopoly player. I admit that the fact I was getting dominated every. single. time made me not love the game so much, but let's just say the air would get a teensy bit tense and Monopoly soon became a game I hated.

But Russ loves it.

Like a lot.

So sometimes we still play. He usually dominates me, except like on Sunday when we sat down with our friends to play. You would have thought it was Christmas morning for Russ and Dave. Too bad Danielle and I totally dominated their Monoploy-playing lives. It felt good.

Have I mentioned we've had some house guests lately? One of my best friends/former roommate Danielle, her husband Dave, and their adorable son Cameron just moved to Utah from New York City and have been camping out at Casa de Lewis while they get things settled. We've had some good times. I mean, how could you not with an 8-month old who smiles and waves the moment you walk in the room??

The Halloween Half Marathon

This weekend I ran another half marathon. It was the Provo Canyon Halloween Half, a very entertaining race where a large majority of the racers dress up in ridiculous costumes. Apparently I am the Halloween Grinch and had no motivation to dress up. LAME. I ran it with two of my favorite people -- LG and Natalie (my sister in law), who dressed up as the anime character Pikachu. Awesome, right?

The race started at Aspen Grove and took us down the scenic Provo canyon complete with fall leaves, the Provo river, a waterfall, and parks galore. It's always been one of my favorite routes.

My goal for this race was to get under 2 hours. The first 6 miles flew by and I felt great. I got a little tired around mile 7 or 8, but after popping a starbust in my mouth I was able to keep going strong. And then mile 11 came, and I wasn't sure what I felt anymore, but it wasn't great. I soon found out what it was at about half a mile from the finish line. The next thing I know I have throw up in my mouth. Uh, what?!? I swallow it back down (I know, gross) and keep running. Nope, it wasn't staying down. It came back up and this time I just bent over and threw up right in front of all those unassuming spectators cheering on their family and friends. In my head I'm thinking "Alright, this race isn't ending as planned, but I think I can still make my goal if I keep going." The last quarter mile I swallowed down vomit 2 more times as the finish line was in sight. Right as I crossed the line it all came out and I collapsed on the ground. I know, that sounds dramatic, but it just happened.

Russ was able to snap the photo below right before I crossed the line. I still have no clue why that happened, but I'm assuming it was me ignoring my body's screaming signals that were telling me to "STOP." I thought it was absolutely disgusting, uber-weak, and embarrassing (who wants to finish a race that way??), but everyone I tell the story to just exclaims "HARDCORE!" Ha! I guess I'll take that over uber-weaksauce.

So to sum up this crazy race, I am so happy that I made my goal with only seconds to spare. I crossed the line at 1:59:25. Achieving another PR is such a great feeling, throw up and all.

Recently

Hello again friends! It's been a while. Honestly, life has finally seemed to slow down a bit, but that doesn't mean I've been any better with blogging and taking pictures. My apologies, here's a few things we have been up to recently:

// Bringing some of my pins to life. We've all seen the overpriced metal letters at Anthropologie. I liked the look, but didn't want to fork out the money. I saw this tutorial on Pinterest and made these letters for just a few bucks. I'm still not positive where I will hang them (as is the case with the majority of my house right now), so for now they are just resting on the counter. It never hurts to have another reminder to EAT, right? :)

// Finishing the sprinklers and spreading our hydroseed! This means a few things -- first off, our grass is growing, and second, we are done working outside for the year! We now literally just sit back and pray the grass comes in. Russ stands on our porch multiple times a day to watch the fruits of his labors grow.

// Enjoying our new patio! We decided to put this patio in last minute, and we are so glad we did. Now all we need is a sweet outdoor table set. Sigh. One thing at a time.

// Rockin' out to new tunes, and in particular Coldplay's new album Mylo Xyloto. You better believe that Best Buy was the first place I went after work yesterday. I was smiling ear to ear the whole drive home. You guys, this album is amazing. Every Coldplay album is a new experience, and this one is full of energetic beats and catchy melodies. I foresee many of these songs being new favorites on the ol' running mix.

// Which brings me to my next point. I've been having lots of quality time with just me and the road as I've been training and preparing for yet another 1/2 marathon. The big day is this Saturday, and I'm just hoping for the best. My training started out great, but as the race has been getting closer my runs have been getting worse and worse. One word: FRUSTRATING. I did a 12 miler last week and just about died. Sigh. I sincerely believe running is just as much mental as it is physical, so I'm still feeling optimistic and am hoping for the best. :)

Holy Cow

One thing we love about living in our little town of Lehi is that we are 5 minutes from the freeway, there is an abundance of stores and restaurants, and it is quite a central location. On the other hand, I can hop on the trail that backs up to our yard and run past horses and cows. I even ran into a fox once! Yay for wildlife. Usually I can see these cows out in the field while on the trail, but on my run last night they just wanted to cheer me on. 

And that they did. These guys were cracking me up. All of their heads would follow me as I ran past, so I did it a few times just for fun. Luckily I had my phone so I could snap a quick picture. After I spent a few minutes hanging out with these guys, I figured I better get on with my run. I turned the corner and saw this.

It took my breath away for a second. The sun setting behind Eagle Mountain, the clouds' reflection on the Jordan River, and the fading blue sky ready to retire for the night. It was like God smiling down on me telling me He loved me. I love nature and seeing God's creations, even if they are smelly and "mooo" as you pass on by. I am grateful I have a body healthy enough to get out and see nature. It's taking these breaks from the craziness of life that keep me sane.

Distraction.

I have a feeling I'm not the only one who gets distracted with modern-day "things." You know... phones, internet, TV, etc. Maybe I'll try this next time I really need to "get down to business" and be productive. I'm sure it is quite effective. 

Chipboard Canvas "Tutorial"

Last night Russ was out in the yard doing last minute adjustments to our sprinkler system. Before you jump the gun and call me lazy, I tried helping but at this point it was all electrical work (meaning I was no help at all). So I sat down on the couch and turned on some good ol' weeknight television. One word: Parenthood. {I'm obsessed}. Anyway, I then worked on the most perfect lazy night craft. I barely had to get off the couch to finish it. It was great. Here's a quick "tutorial," or more like here's how I did it, and perhaps some ideas to do it better next time.

I was inspired while I was browsing Pinterest one night (surprise!) and found this chipboard canvas. I wanted to make one with a phrase that meant something to us. Once one of my favorite Beatles songs popped in my head I couldn't think of anything else. I found the canvas and chipboard letters from Hobby Lobby for a whopping total of $10. I bought two different sizes of chipboard letters to give variety, but you could make all the words the same size if you wanted.

I arranged the letters and as you can see, I didn't have enough cork letters since duplicates were needed. There was no way I was going to run to the store so I had to improvise. (hint: "more" looks a bit funny, doesn't it?)


If you are in the middle of the project and are also too lazy to go to the store for more letters, just clip pieces of leftover chipboard to make your letter of choice look like it should (i.e. your "c" can become an "e", the "b" can become a "o").

I probably should have used more appropriate glue than jewelry glue, but again, I was being lazy and that's all I could find in the short span of a commercial break. :) I'm assuming a hot glue gun, super glue, or some other strong adhesive would work great.

I wanted to make sure the letters were straight but didn't have a ruler handy, so I used the nearest Martha Stewart magazine on the coffee table. Call it pathetic, but I call it resourceful. :)

And voila! You're just about done. I was tempted to leave it as is because I kind of liked the "natural" looking letters, but decided to stick with the original vision I had in mind. I found some white spray paint in the garage and sprayed the canvas in the middle of the street under the street lamp. Can we say ghett-ooo?

I probably should have sanded some of the rougher chipboard letters before I spray-painted, but I just sanded them down and applied one more coat of spray paint as well as a top-coat to add a bit of shine. This is a matter of preference -- I think next time I might hold off on the top coat for a more "matte" look. It's totally up to you. Chose your phrase, sit down in front of your favorite show, and go to canvas town!

Dirty Dashin'

Last weekend I was dirtier than I've ever been in my whole life. I'm talking literally dirty, as in I was finding dirt in places I didn't know dirt could go. But it was so. worth. it. My extended McLaws family (dad's side) had a little reunion this weekend, and keeping with McLaws tradition, it was not your run-in-the-mill reunion. When was the last time you got dunked in a pool of mud by your aunt?

My cousin Megan's purple wig looks all clean and shiny in this picture, but I assure you, she was covered in mud in about 3.2 seconds after this was taken. This is the last "mud pool" before the finish line. I'm in the front row second from the right... that shirt I'm wearing was white at the beginning.

We all registered for the Dirty Dash a while back, all being as unsure of what to expect as the next person. This race was a blast, and probably the most "easy going" race I've ever participated in. By "easy going" I don't mean it was easy, because it wasn't, I mean it was NOT competitive, NOT serious in the least, and I was the LEAST anxious I've ever been for a race.

The reason we all look relatively "cleaner" in this picture is because it was mid-race. I don't know why being muddy makes us feel like we have to flex our muscles?

Before the race started you heard a man yelling these sort of phrases over the microphone:

"For those of you stretching at the starting line, yeah, I'm going to make fun of you"
"If you ask me what your time was when you cross the finish line you are stupid"
"Water is overrated. Go drink some chocolate milk and eat donuts!"
"If you are keeping track of your mile splits, you are dumb"

I'm totally serious. I loved it. It was a 10K (6.2 miles) of hills, obstacles courses, and yes, MUD. With that said, I truly think anyone -- a runner or not -- could do this race. Next time, and there will be a next time, I will make sure to dress up and wear the nastiest shoes I can find, because the thought of keeping the shoes you wore in this race is out of the question. You can watch this video for a good idea of what the Dirty Dash really means:


* Both photos taken by my wonderful Grandpa Bob. Thanks Grandpa!

Pinning Away on Pinterest

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Is this true, or is this true?? I admit that I am completely obsessed with this "social network." I even think it would be safe to say it's taken the place of facebook-ing and {most} blog-stalking I used to participate in. Even though this quote above is so true, I do give Pinterest a lot of credit for inspiring projects galore. And those recipes I actually have tried? All have been delicious. So I will keep pinning away. Some recent finds:

For a future baby shower I throw // A Shower Baby Shower

Finding inspiration for a paint color in our bedroom (so my whole house isn't gray) // Blue walls

Some day we will have a baby, and if the nursery looked like this I wouldn't mind // Amazing Nursery

Are you drooling yet? // Caramel Brownies

Getting excited for the holidays // Stockings for a Family

An entryway I would die for // Photo Collage wall to disguise the thermostat

So here's to hoping I can find some time in the near future to actually conquer some of these amazing Pinterest projects and recipes. As for now, I should probably just get back to work. Over and out.

PS. The blog got a face-lift! It was way past-due. But do not fret, I will probably be tweaking things here and there till I'm happy with it.

The Superhero in Me is Tired

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This is how I'm feeling today. Yes, TIRED. It's been a crazy busy week, and I think I've hit the end of my rope, the cape stopped working, I hit the ground, you get the gist. It hasn't necessarily been a bad week, just one of those weeks where I felt like I got nothing accomplished yet ran around like a chicken with my head cut off. I think we've all been there, haven't we? I'm pumped it's the weekend, but have a sneaking suspicion I won't start Monday morning any more rested than I am now. My tentative weekend plans look a bit like this:

Tonight: Family reunion!
Tomorrow morning: As part of the family reunion, compete in the Dirty Dash -- Bring on 6.2 miles of running through mud and overcoming obstacles. I'm super excited, but also have no clue what to expect!!
Tomorrow afternoon/evening: Try to recover/clean my muddy body in time to hang out with some awesome friends from Texas who are in town!
Sunday: Church, family gathering at Russell's parents, crash
Monday: start all over again.

Is anyone else's superhero-inside-of-them a bit tired? Anyone have plans for some R&R that I can envy?

Seattle et al.

Well our girls weekend came and went as fast as you can say "it's Monday again!" We had a blast doing a whole lot of nothing. And by nothing I mean wandering around the streets of Seattle, stopping to eat whenever we wanted, shopping, getting lost... you know, the usual. I think my favorite part was taking the ferry to Bainbridge Island. What an amazingly beautiful place with the quaintest little shops. It sure was a fun adventure. These are the only two pictures I took the whole weekend... and they were from my phone. Yes. Slap a sticker on my forehead and call me LAME. Oh well, I've got those memories in my head, and you were spared from an over abundance of pictures you probably wouldn't care to see anyway. See? I was just doing you a favor. :)

If you're still reading, I have a few other things to say:

Many of you know or know of my beautiful sister seen in the picture on the right. She's one of my favorite people on this planet and probably the strongest person I know. If you happen to remember, she and her husband could use your prayers. I'm trying to build a praying army, cause prayers work. I know it.

I can NOT get this print out of my head. I feel it is especially appropriate due to my French heritage, no? It means "Choose Joy" and would be a wonderful {and pretty} reminder everyday.

Who else is obsessed with Mumford & Sons? I know I'm not the only one. I can't keep my foot from tapping when those catchy tunes come on my I-pod.

Speaking of my sister's husband, you Utahns out there should come to the Velour tomorrow night to help Fictionist celebrate getting signed by Atlantic Records. We're all pretty pumped, I assure you.

And last but not least, have you ever seen The Sing Off? I watched it last season and was surprisingly into it. Well I am for sure watching this season since I know someone on it! For real! BYU's singing group Vocal Point is in the competition, and a guy I work with is in the group. And I may just know how it ends, but also may not be able to say anything. My lips are sealed.

Happy Tuesday everyone.

My bags are packed

image via Ruche

... and I'm ready to go! Ok, not quite yet. I most definitely will be racing home from work to throw this-and-that in my suitcase, but I catch a big jet plane this afternoon to Seattle for a much needed break from reality. There's nothing like an old-fashioned girls' trip with my mom and sister. This trip was totally last minute, but when my sister proposed that my mom and I meet her up there (she's going for work) and Russ said we had a voucher that needed to be used, I figured "what the heck?!" Life is for living. We have nothing in particular planned (which sounds amazing) but will most likely be doing lots of eating, shopping and talking. Have a fantastic weekend my friends. See ya on the flip side!

PS. In case you haven't heard yet, go HERE for some exciting news about some guys in a band I know. You wouldn't want to be a stranger in the dark, now would you? (Ha! Get it?)

Trenches to Dig and Berry Tarts to Eat

How and why do weekends fly by at an alarmingly fast rate?! It's Sunday afternoon and we are trying to soak up any last amount of relaxation we can before another crazy-busy week starts. Today is September 11th, ten years after the day. We are watching memorials and documentaries about the fateful event that changed, well, everything. I am feeling so grateful to be an American. I am grateful for my freedom. I am grateful for opportunities. I started this post wanting to whine about the fact that every spare second we have had as of late has been digging trenches in our yard for sprinklers. And then I thought, "I'm healthy and alive. I am safe. I am lucky to have a yard to dig trenches in."

 

We are now to the point of covering up all the sprinkler pipes to get ready to spread top soil. That means Russ got the sprinklers to actually sprinkle! Yahoo!!! One step at a time, people. Russ is calling this adventure "one big experiment." And that it is. Yesterday Jace came over to offer some additional manual labor, and he even was lucky enough to see the big black truck come and dump piles and piles of top soil. It's amazing how all men will literally stop what they are doing and stand in awe at a truck. It helped that it was shiny and black, I'm sure.

We did stop and have a bit of fun yesterday. We had some {new and awesome} friends from the neighborhood over for a BBQ, and to watch the BYU football game. Sadly, they lost... by one point. Next time, cougars. 

I was lame enough to get only one picture of the evening -- the dessert. I call this the "End of Summer Berry Tart." Mmm mmm good. I would highly recommend whipping it up, it really was simple and fast.

{The End of Summer Berry Tart}

Adapted from Betty Crocker

{Crust}

10 oz. animal crackers, crushed in a blender or food processer

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 Tbsp sugar

{Filling}

1 8 oz. package cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 cup whipping cream

1/2 pint blackberries

1 pint raspberries

1/2 strawberry jam

1 Tbsp orange juice

Heat over to 350. In medium bowl, mix cracker crumbs, butter, cinnamon, and 2 Tbsp sugar. Press into bottom and up sides of an ungreased 9" tart pan with removable bottom. Bake 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. 

In large bowl, beat cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar and lemon juice on low speed until combined. Add whipping cream and beat on high for 3-5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Spread onto tart crust and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. 

Microwave strawberry jam for 30 seconds or until warm. Add orange juice. Drizzle glaze over berries. 

Enjoy!

Disguising the Green Stuff

Russell's parents have an amazing garden that is producing loads and loads of delicious tomatoes and zucchinis. We are some of the lucky beneficiaries of this garden. :) Before this summer I've really only used zucchini to make zucchini bread. I guess you could say I was a novice to zucchinis, so I've started looking for other ways to use this vegetable. Last night I made some yummy waffles for dinner and a after a few bites Russ exclaimed "what are these little green specs??" Mwwahahahaha! Besides the green flecs here and there, he couldn't even tell that I loaded one extremely large zucchini into those waffles. I do love vegetables, but I love them even more when they are disguised in some scrumptious waffles slathered in syrup.

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So if you have zucchini's that need to be used or feel the need to disguise some greens in your family's diet, I dare you to try this recipe. Zucchini may become your new favorite food. 

// If you do happen to try this recipe, I ended up adding another 1/2 to 3/4 a cup of flour. The first few I made were a little limp and were asking for some more substance. Just a tip. //

Hello September

Isn't it ironic how we always want what we can't have? I'm mostly speaking in terms of the weather this time, but I think it would be safe to say that statement applies to many other aspects of life. Anyway, the point is that I am so excited that today brings in September! Queue the autumn weather please!!! While it's been lovely and hot outside, I cannot wait to wear some cozy sweaters and boots. But come next March when we've been inundated with snow for months on end, I know all I will wish for are some 90+ degree days like we've been experiencing as of late. Such is life, I guess. 

With that said, I was browsing the Shade website and was quite smitten with some of their new fall looks. It made me that much more excited that September has come. 

Even though I could stop by the store, for you non Utahns I did happen to see they have free shipping & returns. Pretty sa-weet, don't you think? So what do you guys think? Any items you would add to your wish list? Or am I the only one excited for fall weather? (I'm especially thinking of my friends down in Texas -- you've got to be feeling that fall fever...) 

Lately

Well holy cow, has it been a while or what? Can we talk about how these last few weeks have been insanely busy? Life has been flying by at 100 miles an hour. Russ and I are sitting in a dark room on our bed watching the lightening light up the room as the storm of the century slams our little blue house. I'm feeling so exhausted, finally calm, and extremely grateful for the last few weeks we have just experienced. Let me try to do a little re-cap.

1. Celebrated the life of Lisa and attended her funeral. As is to be expected, it was very, very sad and my head hurt from crying so much, but at the same time the whole weekend was such a beautiful tribute to such an amazing mother, daughter, wife, aunt, and friend. We were with family, and family makes everything better, doesn't it?

2. Attended girls night with some of my favorite people -- my own mother, my mother-in-law, and my two amazing sister-in-laws -- eating burgers at In-N-Out and seeing The Help. It doesn't get much better than that. And just for the record, I absolutely loved the movie. After reading the book you never know how it will compare, but it did. Go see it, you won't regret it :)

3. Helped throw a bridal shower for my cousin Megan (daughter of Lisa) who's due in just 5 weeks! She's such a cute little pregnant woman and I can't wait to meet her little son, Lincoln. We also got to play with the daughter of my other cousin named Megan, Frankie Jane, who's just a few months old. Oh my, that little girl is adorable. Look at those big blues.

 4. Did yard work in practically every free second we could find. We pulled more weeds than I thought possible. We got bit by more mosquitos than I've ever been bitten by. And we dug more trenches for sprinklers than I hope to ever dig again. Let's just put it this way -- we will really appreciate the yard once we have it. :) Thank goodness for the ditch-witch and those amazing friends and family who helped us out. You know who you are -- we really appreciate it.

 5. Successfully found the perfect "greige" paint color for my living room and finally painted an outcome I love. I know, you were all worried. Pictures are soon to come.

6. Attended my other cousin Melissa's mission farewell (another daughter of Lisa). She leaves to serve for our church in Warsaw, Poland in just a week and a half. She will be amazing. Oh wait, she already is. This is my "little" brother Jace next to Melissa. He's really tall, and she's really short. He just got home from his mission, she's just leaving. Precious, no?

7. Hung out with my family. Lots. And loved every second of it.

Point of the story? Life has been insanely busy, and honestly, I can't wait till summer winds itself down and we can settle into our routine. But I am grateful for the memories that have been made, and I couldn't have gotten through these last few weeks without the amazing family, friends, and husband I have been blessed with. Sometimes life throws you some curve balls, but the people you are surrounded by can really make everything just a little brighter.

The storm is ending, and it is now time to sleep. Goodnight to you all.

Magnets

Russ and I are back to being daily "workers," meaning we get ready for work in the morning together, kiss each other on the way out the door, and say "hello again" at the usual 5:30 or 6:00. Yep, we are workers. It's good to be in a routine, and most of all, we are grateful for jobs. Those few months I wasn't working were fun... for the most part. You really start feeling like "heck, I need to be productive." So yes, we are grateful for work.

With that being said, during the day I take a few breaks to let my mind relax. Most of the time that involves anything on Pinterest. There are hundreds of inspiring images that get my mind carried away of what our house could look like someday. But I also love the random images that make me chuckle out loud. I've started a little trend where I send Russ a daily email with a funny image I saw on Pinterest. This image was from today. I think these little magnets would suit us perfectly, no?

Lisa

I have been putting off this post for many reasons, mostly because I don't even have words to describe the feelings inside of me. But before I avoided it completely, I reminded myself that this blog's primary purpose is for documenting life, and with life comes death. I know, that is quite a somber difference from the kitchen's face-lift. But as we are so humbly reminded, life is a gift not to be taken for granted, for it can quickly be taken away. Such is the case for my beautiful, sweet, amazing Aunt Lisa who passed away last Friday after a valiant fight with cancer. She was 46 years old.

This picture is of Lisa with her husband Jerry and 3 of her 4 children on my wedding day, taken by my Uncle Craig. (Megan, who is approximately my age, was on a mission for the church at the time). Looking at this picture reminds me how Lisa quietly worked behind the scenes on our wedding day to make sure everything was put together at the reception. She tied bows onto chairs and arranged table settings with a smile, serving with kindness as she always did. I have always said Lisa was one of the kindest people in the world. In the 25 years I have known her I never heard her raise her voice or talk negatively about anyone. She was truly Christ-like and always thought about everyone but herself.

She was diagnosed with Stage 4 Glioblastoma (a certain type of brain cancer) less than a year after this picture was taken. Merely 1 year and 3 months later she went home to our Heavenly Father. When we heard the news Friday night, my initial feelings were of frustration and anger. WHY HER?!? Why that family?!? After crying it out for a bit, I was overcome with the most calming feeling. I had the distinct feeling that Lisa was in the Lord's arms, literally being embraced by Him. She was home. She was free of pain. She was happy.

We will all miss Lisa so much, but her mission on earth was complete. I am grateful to have known her. Aunt Lisa's legacy of Christ-like service will always live on in my heart. I love you Lisa!