We arrived back home yesterday from an amazing vacation. I had full intentions of posting about it today, but there are more important things to talk about first. I need to write about someone who has impacted my life in so many ways. Sheri Bird, or "Sheri-mom," passed away late last night from a valiant battle with Glioblastoma (an aggressive form of brain cancer, which ironically took my dear Aunt Lisa last August as well). I am so grateful I was able to visit with Sheri at Lindsay's house a few months ago. That visit to Idaho will always be a special memory to me.

Sheri will be missed. So, so, so much. But her passing is a bit bittersweet since she is reunited with her sweetheart, Keith, who passed away seven years ago. They are together again. Smiling, joking and laughing, just as I will always remember them.

Sheri had the most infections laugh. Her smile could brighten anyone's day. She always thought about others before herself.

One of my favorite memories of Sheri was in middle school when I missed the bus in the morning. Both my parents were working at the time, and I wasn't quite sure how I was going to get to school. Oh wait! Call Sheri-mom. She'll take care of me. Sure enough, 5 minutes later Sheri swings by my house wearing a bath robe and towel on her wet head of hair. That's how selfless she was -- she would take 13 year-old Camille to middle school in a robe and towel on her head.

I will never forget the brilliance with which she lived her life. I hope someday I can be more like Sheri, which includes being able to make that uhhhh-mazing raspberry tart that she would whip up anytime I came home. It's the little things you remember, you know?

But for now, my thoughts and prayers are with the Bird kids. I love you guys, more than you know.

Kitchen Window // Pendant Light

I have been searching online and in various stores for a simple little pendant light that doesn't cost an arm and a leg to hang above our kitchen sink. Why was this search so hard? I wanted to replace the boob light that was above the sink (as mentioned here with a before photo of the kitchen). There were a lot of lights I almost purchased, but then hesitated because even though they were "in style," I didn't feel like they fit my house or my style. I finally found exactly what I was looking for in my very own backyard. Ok, maybe not my backyard, but just down the street at good ol' Home Depot. That place sure has taken lots of our money. :)

   I love it! I think any day is a successful day when one more boob light has left my house. I'm just sayin'.

I even splurged and bought one of the old fashioned Edison bulbs. They are really cool looking, but I was surprised at how the light it gives off is very, very yellow. It's also not super bright, but then again since the pendant hangs a bit lower than before, you wouldn't want a really bright light right above your head.

Details on the roman shade are HERE. And for comparison sake, a before picture of the sink:

I Will Run to You

I know this video has already been around for a few weeks, but I still can't get it out of my head! I've watched it way too many times. I just think it's super sweet, romantic even, and such a creative commercial. 

Additional reasons why I love this commercial:

• I am a Nike addict. It's true. I just love their clothes and shoes. They make good stuff.
• It's about running! Yay!
• I want her running outfit
• It encourages me to keep running longer (I mean, come on, she runs across the country! ;). I have a half marathon in a few weeks so I've been racking up the miles to prepare. True to form, the long runs I've been on lately inevitably kicked my butt. At least I'm out there, right? right?
• She can run and sing at the same time! And still look pretty!

P.S. The blog got a bit of a face-lift earlier this week! It's about time!

One Year Older... and Wiser?

Yesterday was my birthday! It was a great day. Thank you to all of my family and friends who helped me feel so very loved. I truly, truly appreciate all of the thoughtful gifts, phone calls, texts, visits, and yes, even the Facebook posts. There's nothing like Facebook to make you feel like a million bucks on your birthday, right? :)

Anyway, we did most of our celebrating last weekend with my family and a few friends at one of our favorite Thai restaurants. My actual birthday included a yummy lunch with my dear friend, dusting off the ol' golf clubs at the driving range, and dinner with Russ at the Cheesecake Factory. It was just what I wanted. Low-key and surrounded by those I love.

So yes, I'm one year older and have now entered my "late twenties" (eek!). But the wiser part? That is still up for negotiation. :) Here are some glimpses from the day. Thanks again everyone!

 From left to right:

A surprise (and amazing) gift on my porch from my dear friend Megan

Birthday balloons from my in-laws

A new purse from my sister. She has awesome taste.

Tom Flats!

A Nathan Hydration Belt to save me during my long runs

A heavenly candle and stationary, two things a girl can never have too much of :)

Makeup bag!

Remember THIS BAG I made a few months ago?? It may be one of my most favorite make-up bags ever.

Today I was checking up on one of my faovrite blogs, Say Yes to Hoboken. I love Liz Stanley's fresh and innovative approach to crafts, fashion and life in general! She really is one talented chica. Anyway, her post today was about a little makeup bag she sewed together, and I was so excited to say.. hmm... that looks a lot like the one I made! What are the chances?!? I like the idea of using a bold color zipper to add just an extra little pop of color.

These little bags are popping up everywhere. If you haven't tried it out yet, give it a whirl. I think you will surprise yourself with how "do-able" they really are. I used THIS tutorial, but Liz's tutorial looks like it is really easy to follow.

image via

Privet House @ Target

It's no secret that Target has some aaaa-mazing stuff for decent prices. I love when different designers come to Tar-jay and bring a new, fresh style to an already awesome store. I just spotted the upcoming Privet House, which is due to be in stores on May 6th. We are in the midst of pimping our outdoor space and I'm envisioning some pretty awesome summer parties and barbeques. Picture a Lewis Outdoor Oasis. Got it? Good. I'm pretty sure some of these items from Privet House are now on my Outdoor Entertaining Wish List.

What do you guys think? Will Privet House @ Target be on your spring/summer wish list, as well?

Rachey Pachey

This weekend was fabulous. My family was in town (more on that later), we celebrated Easter, and the weather was fantastic. But one little surprise visit stands out from everything else. One of my oldest and dearest friends, Rachel, came into town. She, her husband and cute little son are living in Pennsylvania (which is really far away!). I haven't seen her in years, so catching up felt really, really, really good.


Rachel and I have been through a lot together. I met her when I was a wee nine year old and we became fast friends. Some of my favorite memories that stand out:

* When she let me cut and highlight her hair. I think we were like 14. She was very trusting.
* Flying to San Diego together in high school. We thought we were cool.
* Surviving elementary, junior high and high school with the help of each other.
* Driving around in her ginormous Suburban blasting the music.
* Her nick-naming me "Happy Meal." It stuck.
* The time she came snowmobiling with my dad and me, and successfully launched her machine into a tree.
* Our Humanities Senior Project -- we danced on the stage as flapper girls. Awesome.
* Tons and tons of piano recitals, competitions and performances together as we were in the same piano studio.
* Doing her hair for her wedding! Again, she is very trusting.
* Russ and I practically running over to her house after we got engaged. She was the first friend we told, and she started crying because she was so happy for us.

... and last but not least...

* Having a dear friend who knows me better than most people I know. I can go years without seeing her (not by preference of course), but when we finally get together we can pick up where we left off.

Love you Rach!

The Puzzle

I quite enjoy puzzles. I know, I'm a nerd. Russ, on the other hand, does not enjoy them quite as much.

Still, being the loving and sweet husband he is, he gave me this awesome puzzle for Christmas. He said it reminded him of when we were in France a few years ago and after a long day of sight-seeing we finally found a little pizzeria off the beaten path, perhaps similar to the scene in this puzzle. The pizza, mind you, was amazingly delicious even though none of us knew exactly what we ordered (you know, with the language barrier and everything).

But there's more to this story. This puzzle turned out to be ridiculously hard. Note to self: impressionist art becomes incredibly difficult to put together when broken into 1500 pieces. I spent the first few months of this year working on the puzzle piece by piece when I happened to be watching a show or a movie. I was anticipating finishing and framing this puzzle as a piece of art -- partly because we think it is pretty, and partly because I never want to do it again. :)

Little did I know, I was going to do it again. One day my ever-so-precious nephews and niece were over. Soon Russ realized the house had gotten a little too quiet. He runs upstairs to find Brigham (who is almost 18 months) literally dancing on my puzzle. His dance moves were so good he successfully broke the whole puzzle into 1500 pieces once again! :) Call me crazy, but I may have wanted to cry. A lot. But since big girls don't cry, I just smiled and said we would do it again.

This story has a happy ending! As my family was over this last weekend watching general conference for my church, we all worked on it together and got it done in TWO days! What a testament to teamwork, eh?

Isn't it pretty? Perhaps I could say that I thought it was so pretty I wanted to do it twice. :)

And that is the end of the story about my puzzle.

Kitchen Window // Roman Shades

You know how sometimes you feel like you are running around like a chicken with your head cut off? That's me these days. For the last few weeks I just feel like I can't get ahead, and at least once a day I catch myself trying to catch a breath because I've just been going nonstop. On top of the daily must-do responsibilities, I've had a growing pile of projects that I've been itching to start and finish. Last night I finally crossed one more thing off the list! My roman shade for the kitchen window! Hooray!

When we first moved in, we put blinds on all the other windows in the house except this one. This window gives you the perfect glimpse to our view of the river and mountains, so I was hesitant to slap some wood blinds up there especially since we don't have any backyard neighbors. But then we started realizing that at nighttime it is kind of creepy because if there is someone walking on the trail along the river they can see us... but we can't see them! Hmm... not ok. I wanted something functional yet decorative, and most of all I didn't want to spend a lot of money.  I found this tutorial (thanks to Pinterest, of course), and knew I wanted to try my own roman shade. 

But the fabric! Oh the fabric. Why was this such a hard decision??? I knew the general look I wanted, but I was tormented on if I wanted a bright color, neutrals, pattern, solid, etc. The fact that my wallpaper is also in the kitchen made me hesitant to bring in more crazy patterns. Finally I found the chosen fabric. It is interesting yet still subtle enough not to distract from everything else in the kitchen. I had been eyeing the Imperial Trellis print for ages now and finally found an affordable option on Etsy.

All in all, I'm completely happy with the results -- it's definitely not perfect or anything, but it works for me. Best part? It was totally affordable. The whole project only cost me about $40 in supplies, including the fabric, mini blinds, and a few other supplies. Bonus!

Life Lately, via Instagram

I'm a new-ish member of Instagram. Hooray! (If you have Instagram, find me! My username is camille_elise). Anyway, life lately has been super crazy and hectic, so if it weren't for camera phones I would have no documentation! I love real pictures, but luckily the phone is always there for spur of the moment shots, which are sometimes my favorite.

Here's a rundown of a few things I've been up to lately --

Cooking! I've been a on a cooking kick lately and have spent lots of time in the kitchen with new recipes (which I love!) Two recipes I highly suggest trying -- Puffed pancakes and Martha Stewart's apple crisp (served with vanilla bean ice cream, of course).

Running... a lot. As they say, running is quality time with me and the road. I'm not signed up for any particular race yet, but there are like a bajillion half marathons coming up in the area, so only time will tell what I do.

Spending lots of time at the piano, both with pieces I am working on as well as teaching students. I am now up to 5 students! They are adorable, and I am loving teaching.

Heavily perusing pretty fabrics, both online and in some local fabric shops. There are way too many projects brewin' up in my mind, so hopefully some will come to fruition soon. Don't worry, I'll keep you posted.

Today was a day.

We all have 'em. Some days are filled with happy moments of sunshine. And then there are days where those moments are nowhere to be seen. It sounds a bit depressing, but I guess it's just realistic. Family and friends help me find that sunshine, but sometimes I also think we're allowed to have "those days." Everyone has trials and everyone's pain is real, no matter what it may be for.

I absolutely love Mumford & Sons album "Sigh No More." One of my happiest moments was last summer with my family on a houseboat in California. While there we celebrated my sister's birthday. My brother gave her this album and we all danced around the houseboat listening to the album. During one particular upbeat song Brittney even danced an Irish jig. If you know my sister you would understand how uncharacteristic that is of her. We all laughed and totally got into the moment. I love thinking back on that glimpse of time. It was carefree. Happy. Full of sunshine.

But today the album spoke to me on a totally different level.

I've been dealing with some "stuff" lately. Some days it hurts a little more than other days. I got home from work a little early and was sitting on my couch feeling sorry for myself. "Forget this," I thought. I got in my car and drove to Target (why not?). On my way there, the song "After the Storm" by Mumford & Sons came on, and it literally brought me to tears. The melody and message was exactly what I needed to hear.

And after the storm,

I run and run as the rains come

And I look up, I look up,

on my knees and out of luck,

I look up.

Night has always pushed up day

You must know life to see decay

But I won't rot, I won't rot

Not this mind and not this heart,

I won't rot.

And I took you by the hand

And we stood tall,

And remembered our own land,

What we lived for.

And there will come a time, 

you'll see, with no more tears.

And love will not break your heart, 

but dismiss your fears.

Get over your hill and see 

what you find there,

With grace in your heart 

and flowers in your hair. 

The Best Banana Muffins Ever

These may be my most favorite muffins to date. Yup, I said it. They are sweet without being overly so, and can act as your breakfast, mid-morning/afternoon snack, or even your dessert. Needless to say, these little guys don't last very long in the Lewis household. This was my second time making them, and I fell more in love with them than before. Point is -- TRY THEM OUT. You probably have everything you need in your kitchen. Those are my favorite things to make.

For the muffins:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3-4 ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten (simply crack the egg in a small bowl and mix the yolk and egg white together first before combing with the rest of the ingredients)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the crumb topping:
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp. butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly grease a muffin tin.

2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour (the all-purpose and whole wheat flour), baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together mashed bananas, sugar, egg, vanilla and canola/vegetable oil. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Stir in the chocolate chips. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin. (I have found this recipe makes 11 perfectly-sized muffins :)

3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 Tbsp. flour and cinnamon. Cut in 2 Tbsp butter until mixture resembles course cornmeal. (I used my hands to thoroughly integrate the butter into the sugar/flour mixture)

Sprinkle topping over muffins.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

*Adapted from A Hint of Honey

A Yellow Shelf & New Kitchen Paint

Last summer I bought 2 shelves from KSL (an online classifieds thing here in Utah... similar to Craigslist) with the intention to repaint them. 

It is now March. And I just finished one. Go me!

I fell in love with these shelves when I saw them online. They had a lot of character with the crown molding and planked wood in the back. And they were even REAL wood! Hooray! The set came with this one you see and a horizontal shelf that is upstairs in the office... still unfinished. One step at a time people. Part of me was hesitant to repaint over the beautiful wood grain, but there were some minor scratches (as you can see below) that I wanted to disguise. 

I used Kilz to prime the shelf. I love this stuff because you don't even need to sand! Now if that isn't music to my ears I don't know what is. I loathe sanding. I ended up applying almost 3 coats, however, because the primer just kept getting soaked up into the wood. But once it was sufficiently primed, I only needed to do 1 generous coat of color.

My original intention was to paint this guy a turquoise/robin's egg blue color, and then with advice from my Mom and Russ who both thought there would be way too much of that color in the kitchen/living area especially due to my wallpaper, I went with my next favorite color -- yellow! The color is "Bees Wax" by Sherwin Williams. It's a really pretty buttery yellow. I had originally bought a color called "June Day" that was a punchier yellow (aka WAY TOO BRIGHT), and because Sherwin Williams is the best paint store ever, they gave me a new gallon with the "Bees Wax" color that turned out to be perfect.

Oh yeah, and I also painted the kitchen last Friday evening (nothing like a hot date, right?). I wanted the subway tile back-splash and the molding to stand out a little more, but still wanted to keep the kitchen light and bright. The living room is painted "Cobblestone" by Martha Stewart, which is the perfect "greige." I  wanted the kitchen to be in the same color family as the living room since they are practically one room. One thing I need to work on is my paint-picking skills. I'm terrible at picking paint. But after almost picking another color, I ended up going with "Crushed Ice" by Sherwin Williams (at 75% strength). I couldn't be more happy with my choice! {queue sigh of relief}

I think this little corner is one of my new favorite areas in my house. I am slowly accumulating fun serving dishes, bowls (such as the West Elm modernist bowls I purchased a while ago), and cake platters to display. They just make me happy. Not to mention that letterpress calendar by Snow & Graham. It really is the little things in life, right?

Finally, here is a view of the corner from the fridge area of my kitchen. And yes, I still have my Valentine's hearts up in the window. Don't judge.

So how about you? Have you worked on any refinishing projects? They are always pretty time consuming, but oh-so-worth it! 

We Love Them Utah Mountains!

Last fall we bought a bunch of 2-for-1 tickets to Snowbird, our very favorite ski resort. We've been holding out for a big snowstorm when we could experience the true beauty of Utah snow. It looks like our wait was worth it, because yesterday we had such a perfect day on the mountain. Our patience was tested even further when we were driving up and had to wait almost an hour to get in the canyon due to an avalanche. I'm so glad we didn't turn around (like so many other cars), because screaming down the mountain in 2 feet of light, fluffy powder may be one of my favorite things to do. Ever.

And doing it with Russ by my side just completes the experience. 

From left to right: 

On the lift with Russ -- do you think he is having a fun time? 

Waiting at the mouth of the canyon, antsy as can be!

Feeling like sardines in a can while we took the tram to the top. 

Russ wiped out. I found him like this. I had to capture it.

Arizona Adventures

A few weekends ago we hopped in the car and drove to sunny Arizona. It was a very welcome get-away. Our main purpose in going was to spend a few days with our good friends from Texas, Morgan and Karen and their cute little 1-year-old Carter. Karen threw the cutest little birthday party. We sure do wish we lived closer, but I'm so glad we are close enough to see each other a few times a year. Other highlights of our weekend include:

Riding beach cruisers on a perfect Arizona evening

Russ seeing the Hoover Dam for the first time -- and loving it

Eating an orange straight from a tree! 

Playing Buck Hunter with Morgan and Karen. Brought back old times.

Scoping out the highly anticipated store, Last Chance, and all of it's crazy glory. I have to admit, I was slightly disappointed. 

Hitting the craziest snow storm EVER on our way home. Russ's Prizm is a champ.

Last, but definitely not least, sneaking into the Grand Canyon.

...

Ok, let me explain real quick.

I have never seen the Grand Canyon. I feel like living within driving distance doesn't give me much of an excuse to have never seen one of the 7 natural wonders of the world! So on our way home we planned to drive through. As we are getting closer it is literally SNOWING. Are you for real?!? When we get to the pay station the lady tells us it is $25, even just to drive through. As we see the sign that says "poor visibility," we decide to save the cash and come back another time. 

And then we realize in order to get to the highway we have to drive through the Grand Canyon, that is if we didn't want to backtrack a few hours. Dang. We decide to ask a Park Ranger if there is any other way that will get us back to the highway besides going south again. After Russ smooth-talked him for 5 or 10 minutes, our most favoritest (yes, that's a word) Park Ranger then proceeds to say "Well, technically you don't HAVE to pay to get in the Grand Canyon. They don't want me to tell people about it, but I figure you guys are just driving through anyway." After telling us the side road that sneaks us in, we go on our merry, happy way. After a 20 or so minute off-roading experience in Russ's prizm (note to self -- we need a bigger car), we pull into the back of the Grand Canyon. Miraculously it had even stopped snowing and the fog had cleared. I'm so glad it all worked out. That sure was a GRAND canyon! :)

Results of Craft Night

I got together with some of my favorite girls for a craft night last week and we started these fun little "fully lined zippered pouches" using a tutorial found HERE. Because things always take a bit longer than planned, I finally finished it up yesterday afternoon. I think this is one of my favorite crafts I've ever done. I absolutely love this little bag!!

Picking the fabric was a lot of fun. Of course  you can never go wrong with stripes (in my book). And those turquoise pulls make me happier than they probably should. But my favorite part? Opening the zipper to find another fun fabric! Little surprises are the best.

My makeup now has a new home and my old nasty, dirty makeup bag from high school can finally retire! If you are wanting a fun sewing project, give this a try! Trust me, if I can sew it you can too. :) I'm definitely a novice in sewing land.

{Again, click HERE for the awesome tutorial. }

"Oh Hey Valentine"

That's how Russ answered the phone when I called him on the morn of February 14th. It made me smile. "I'm someone's Valentine!"  I know I'm a few days late on posting about Valentine's Day, but no need to fear, we had a fantastic day. 

Random thought: I love when you make a spontaneous decoration one year, and then you reap the benefits for years to come. That is the case with these little lovely hearts I made last year. They make me happy every time I walk by them.

We had spent the weekend out of town (more on that later) and pulled in late Monday night, so we spent Valentines "in". It was just what the doctor ordered. We enjoyed a lovely dinner (if I do say so myself). The menu consisted of:

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Chimichirri

Green salad with apple, pecan, and bleu cheese, topped with blush wine vinaigrette dressing

Sourdough baguette

Peach Sparkling Cider

Peach Crunch Cake with French Vanilla ice cream on top (of course), while settling in to one of my favorite movies -- You've Got Mail, which believe it or not, Russ had never seen. (gasp!)

We also received a little surprise from some of the cutest girls in our neighborhood. They are some of my cute and eager piano students. They are also in our Primary class at Church. The note cracked us up. Let me make sure it is documented correctly:

"The 1 on top is for both of U, The 1 that says "2 hot" in the middle is Bro. Louis's & other is Sis. Louis's." 

Haha! Gotta love cute, little 9 year old girls :)

For My Music Lovin' Peeps

Oh how I enjoy falling in love with new music. Finding a new favorite album or artist is like Christmas morning. All three of these albums have been on repeat for a good while now. 

I do have to say the National // High Violet is probably my reigning favorite. I cannot get enough of that album. I gave it to Russ for our anniversary last July. We blasted the album as we drove from Sundance through the American Fork canyon (nothing like taking the long way home) and oooh-ed and awww-ed over the stormy summer clouds and reigning peaks of Mt. Timpanogos. It was slightly magical. That album has been my go-to ever since that night.

Have you heard of Spotify yet? If not you may be living under a rock. It's the best. Sign up (for free!) and listen to a few of these tracks before making any purchases. Other tracks that have been my recent favs:

* Radical Face - Welcome Home Son
* Ryan Adams - Dirty Rain
* The National - Exile Vilify, About Today, and Cherry Tree (like I said, slightly obsessed)
* Wilco - One Sunday Morning
* Bon Iver - Calgary (actually the whole Bon Iver album...)
* The Moon Song - Gregory Alan Isakov
* Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers
* Florence + The Machine - Shake It Out
* Gabe Dixon Band - All Will Be Well
* Radiohead - The Daily Mail
* The Black Keys - Howlin' For You
* Geographer - Night Winds
* Cold War Kids - Hang Me Up to Dry
* Jonsi - Tornado

Sorry for the music overload, but hopefully you find a few new songs that will make your Tuesday that much better. :)

The Gallery Wall

I finally finished the gallery wall in our living room! Hooray! I took my time slowly accumulating art, pictures and frames, and then arranged and re-arranged the frames on the floor until it finally made sense. One day I was home sick from work and just started hanging frames. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

That Robert Abbey lamp is another new addition. I sold our hand-me-down floor lamp a while ago on Craigslist, so I've kept my eye open for a lamp. It was hard, however, because I felt that corner needed something slightly larger than most lamps I was finding. And then I saw my amazingly cute and talented friend Candace's house, and knew that lamp was exactly what I was looking for. Candace was even nice enough to tell me where she got it, so I wasn't completely an annoying friend -- at least she knew I was copying her. :) Hey, it's all a form of flattery, right??



I wanted the pictures to mean something. Explaining some of the art, starting clockwise from the top left picture:

* "The learning print," by Caitlin of Hue and Hum
* The blue L for Lewis! I bought the letter at JoAnn's and painted it a light blue (I just had a sample here in the house, so I thought I would use it)
* "It's Better Tandem," by Fifth & Hazel. I gave this to Russ for Christmas; it's especially meaningful for us, not just because Russ loves to bike, but because Russ proposed to me while we were on a tandem bike ride.
* Canvas photo of us by the lovely Sada Lewis.
* Watercolor print of the Salt Lake City LDS Temple by Birds of Ashmae
* Print of Cadaques, Spain by Salvador Dali. We picked this print up when we visited Cadaques a few years ago. I love that we have stood in that exact point of view.

So there ya go. Our gallery wall is done, and the room is one more step to being "complete." But the funny thing is I don't know when it will ever be fully complete. Does anyone else feel this way?! Making a house a home is definitely a slow process, but every step of the way feels like a huge accomplishment.

Over and out!

Reminiscing in Idaho

I spent the weekend by making a quick jaunt up to Idaho to see some of my favorite people -- Lindsay and Sheri (who is valiantly fighting an aggressive form of brain cancer -- click on the link for her story). Lucky for me, my mom was there as well. While she took Sheri to her chemo treatment, Lindsay and I spent the day playing with her little baby Sam and being as lazy as humanly possible. It was exactly what we needed.

We reminisced back from days as little dumb tweens, high schoolers, college roommates, and now as married women with husbands and families of our own. We laughed. We ate. We caught up -- on everything.  Life sure is crazy and unpredictable, but you can always count on "those friends" that will never change. Thank goodness for that.

Thanks again for a fun weekend Sheri, Lindsay, Sam and France!

Winter Running

Since we moved to Utah from Texas last year, this is my first winter in a while where I have had to get used to winter running. But luckily, I love it!! I love the feeling of the crisp, cold air against your face as your body is nice and warm (as long as you are dressed accordingly, of course :). I also love that I don't get hot when I run. It makes me feel like I can run so much longer... as long as I'm watching where I'm going and don't wipe out on some ice!

I got a few new running toys for Christmas. Other runners out there can understand how exciting running toys are. Russ gave me a heart rate monitor. I feel so official now! You wear a strap on your chest that accurately tracks your heart rate, which is displayed on a watch. So far it has really helped me to know when I can "step it up" if my heart rate just isn't as high as it could/should be while running. I probably should have taken a picture when I was actually running. According to the heart rate below, I am dead. 

{And yes... winter running means you layer up. 2 to 3 long sleeve shirts/fleeces, gloves, ear warmers, you name it!}

I also got a new pair of Nike Frees! I have a bad habit of running way too long on the same pair of running shoes. I was still running on my Nike Frees I got early last year (that I loved!). These have been my favorite running shoes to date. No blisters = happy Camille. As you can see I went with the bright orange and grey, cause why the heck not?

And finally, somehow I managed to convince this guy below to run with me. Ever since reading THIS POST, I'm a bit spooked to go running by myself outside. But ironically, I've never been a fan of a "running buddy." I've thought long and hard about this, and I think it's for a few reasons. 1) I hate feeling like I'm slowing someone down or they are slowing me down, and 2) I am not very good at being set to run at a certain time and place. For instance, I had full intentions of getting up and running yesterday before work, but as soon as I woke up I knew that was NOT going to happen. But sure enough, all I could think about at work all afternoon was going for a run. I've found, with myself at least, I enjoy running so much more when I don't force a run in just because it's scheduled. (Obviously sometimes I just have to go for that run when I have the window of time, but you get the gist).  

But in case you were wondering, Russ is a good guy to have by my side, even when running. :)

A Blog About Love

Have you ever stumbled upon a blog/website/book/show that you just could not stop thinking about? When that happens you just want to tell everyone you know about it. Well that's how I feel about my most recent stumble, A Blog about Love. Their blog really is all about love -- how to love, what to do when you don't feel loved, how to be a better spouse, family member, friend, and so much more.

One night last week I just could not sleep. I was upset, angry, sad, frustrated, among other things. Basically, I had a lot on my mind. So I sat in my bed and started reading their blog from the beginning. I woke up the next morning and already felt like a different person. Without sounding too corny, I really feel like this blog came into my life for a reason. I am 100% inspired by these two people, and within the 5 days I have devoured everything on their blog, I truly feel like I'm one step closer to the person I want to be. I'm happier. Less things "bug" me. I'm choosing to be happy, because let's be honest, who wants to choose the opposite?

These two have definitely been handed their fair share of trials. Long story short, Mara's husband of 7 years left her (after years of going back and forth between telling her he didn't "really" love her or wasn't attracted to her), all the while dealing with infertility for nearly 5 years. After she was divorced, her friend introduced her to Danny Kofoed by a friend (who's wife of 4 years had also left him). They lived in different cities so their relationship basically started out via email. They fell in love quickly. They were both so excited to be in love once again. Their outlook on life was incredibly positive, and continues to be that way, even after dealing with infertility once again. Like I said, lots of trials.

Some of the posts that have been my go-to for inspiration as of late include:

+ How to keep a marriage glued
+ Choosing to not be offended by silly things people say
+ Best Beauty Secret in the world
+ AMAZING marriage tips
+ Feeling Spirituality in your life
+ The "Little" trials of life -- we've all got 'em
+ Working on being the best {future} mother I can
+ Being grateful for what I DO have, not dwelling on what I don't
+ Learning how to not react in a negative way

... And so much more. Seriously, I kind of want to be her BFF. Her writing is so genuine, kind, and honest. And come on, she's got rockin' style. Just give the blog a try, won't you? I hope you enjoy as much as I do. :)

Surprise Party!

Russ had a birthday, shout hooray!!

When I asked Russ what he wanted to do this year for his birthday, he shrugged his shoulders and said "oh, we don't need to do anything. I had a party last year." .... hem hem .... queue awesome wife duties and plan a surprise party! I do have to say that Russ is so much fun to plan a surprise party for because first off, he's totally oblivious to the quiet planning and running around I was doing all week to get everything together. He was legitimately surprised. For example, I completely ran out of time by Friday night, but I still had to make my little "poof ball" decorations. The problem was that Russ was home all night with me and I made them in front of him. When he asked what I was doing I just told him I was making them to put in the guest room. He just looked at them, a bit confused, and said "ok." Really Russ?? Paper poof balls in the guest room? I just let out a sigh of relief that he never pries and totally trusts my design decisions. :) Second off, he loves parties. He had a perma-grin the whole time. It's the best.

The party was so much fun. Thank you to everyone who came and helped surprise Russ. He loved every minute of his 28th birthday party. We are so grateful for our amazing family and friends.

(Seriously Natalie, I couldn't have pulled this party off without you!)

Happy Birthday Russ! I sure do love you!