Etsy Love

So...I spend a lot of time on Etsy (etsy.com).  Way more than I should.  Way more than any person should.  And almost none of the time is spent updating my own site...maybe if I spent more time there than on other people's I would have more sales :]  But I just love looking at all the craftiness of others!  Some days, like today, I feel my Etsy surf time was totally worth it...because of great finds.  Today I stumbled across Jane Joss - the cutest Etsy site!  Look at the amazing things she makes!

How cute, right?

You can visit her at janejoss.etsy.com.

I definitely want some of these cute decorations for my house when I have one!

Sometimes after looking through Etsy I feel down on myself for not being quite so crafty.  Most of the time I do nothing about it.  Tonight I decided to brighten my spirits by being crafty myself.  And I came up with this:

I feel a little less down on myself.  Maybe not quite so creative as Jane Joss but I love it nonetheless!  The best part?  $4 necklace find at a second-hand store + 2 handmade flowers = about $6.  What a deal!

My Secret Pleasures

I like to look at the bright side of things.  While I really miss Thomas I have been able to come up with a few things that I'm loving about being home alone.  Then I realized that most (or all) of them have a downside.  But the bright side is what keeps me happy until he returns.  And so I give you...

My Secret Pleasures (while Thomas is away)

• Not shaving my legs.
• Downside: It did bother me today when my leg hair was sticking out of my nylons. SICK!
• Eating In N Out while watching Friends.
• Downside: My burger was cold by the time I got home and started the DVD.
• A whole weekend of "girl time" with my sister.
• Downside: Sleeping on a couch and helping to clean up Emma's vomit.
• Not having to pick up Thomas from class late at night.
• Downside: This means he never comes home...which, in turn, means I'm lonely.
• Wearing ragged, old pajamas to bed (so NOT cute but SO comfy!)
• Downside: When I look in the mirror, I think my self-esteem drops about 10 bars.
• Not being told to clean up my messes.
• Downside: The house is a DISASTER.  And I will still have to clean it all up...it will just be all at once and will take me a couple hours instead of a few minutes each night.  Go me.
• Not having sports on 24/7.
• Downside: I don't know if there is one...
• Making SUPER easy dinners.  Salad, Cereal, Pasta, In N Out.  I have not made anything else in 5 days.
• Downside: again...there may not be one for this.  i LOVE it!
• No video games.
• Downside: that means there is nobody here to play them.

With that said...I think I could do without the video games, sports, and fancy (if you can call it that) dinners but I would rather have Thomas here and have to shave my legs, clean up my messes, wear cute pajamas, eat In N Out @ In N Out, pick Thomas up late from class, and have a "husband" (instead of girls) weekend than be without him for a week.

It's a...

...PACKAGE! (i wish i was saying boy or girl but tom says no...blame him if you are disappointed!)

when this appeared on my doorstep i was sooooo excited. because i've been waiting for like 6 days for it to come!...and i've been waiting even longer to buy this.

my very first sewing machine!!! yes, it's tiny. yes, it was cheap. yes, it works. just like a real one. it's the singer pixie plus and it's so cute and i LOVE it. i've never used a sewing machine before in my LIFE and am so confused looking at all the thread and little buttons but i think there are directions included...(hopefully)

my hair accessories are going to take so much less time when i don't have to hand-sew every little stitch! and i have so many projects saved in my favorites on google chrome that i've just been dying to make when i finally got a sewing machine. it is going to be one fun crafting week without thomas here! perfect time for my new toy to arrive :]

Recently :]

...and by recently i mean like the last 5 months...or since the last time i blogged. usually i try to go back and blog by date but that always really overwhelms me and i end up not blogging at all. proof: look at the last date i blogged. so i decided to finally just sit down and do everything at once. it might (probably will) be all out of order but here it is.

most importantly, thomas has been offered 3 second interviews for internships with three of the big 4! EY in sacramento, PwC in sacramento, and KPMG in san francisco.  we are so excited and i'm so proud of him! all the hard work is paying off.  he flies to sacramento on tuesday (november 2) for all his interviews. and i'm so jealous because he gets to stay for a whole week! we should find out shortly after who offers him an internship. and then (if he is offered more than one) we'll choose where to go.  BIG DECISION. but very exciting!

T also had a birthday -- 25! Pictures at end.  This was the day he found out about the second interviews so it was a very happy birthday! my family was in town because my brother got home from his mission the day before and they came to utah so the girls here could see him! we took family pictures then went to dinner at cafe rio and then had cake and ice cream. i gave T a jacket, an xbox football game and a sweater. i'm pretty sure the football game was his favorite. i have to say that was my least favorite. :]

as said...my brother came home from his mission in Chicago!...and he already has a GIRLFRIEND. i don't know if it's a secret or anything but he doesn't read this so he'll never know i blogged it. in fact, they went on a date the night he came to utah (the DAY AFTER he got home). yes, they met on the mission. her name is rachel and we like her :] ryan spent a week with us in utah (no pictures for proof...except for family pictures below). we had fun and are looking forward to our family vacation to disneyland in early december.

oh. i got a job. oh wait. first of all...i don't nanny anymore. first grader started school. i did not want to be their maid during the day as was their idea of my new responsibilities so i found a new job. oh but not before i told them i was going to look for other opportunities and then they let me go with only 24-hours notice. and so i applied for unemployment insurance and qualified. and was on that for 2 weeks before i found a new job. oh and then they appealed that decision and i had to do a phone-appeal hearing and the judge determined i deserved the unemployment insurance. because DUH i did! you can't just let an employee go for no reason just because they say they are going to start looking for a new job. and then not even pay them for at least 2 weeks. i think people with a lot of money forget that some people need their weekly paycheck to survive. anyway it's finally ALL over and i don't have to pay back the unemployment insurance and i have a job. the only sad part of it all is the parents hate me now and have cut off all connection i had with their kids. they even took their daughter off my soccer team. it's sad.

anyway my new job is as a secretary at a christmas light installation company. it's...well, boring. but it pays the bills. it's temporary through february 2011 and then i have to find something else. not looking forward to job-hunting again. i hate starting new jobs.

halloween! we didn't do much. went to the woodland's to pass out candy while they took emma trick-or-treating. watched max for a little bit. hung out for a little bit. went to our ward party.

oh kelli and i went to idaho to see our cousin, jenna, who goes to BYU-i! we had so much fun! we went to the byu-i gardens, the temple, bear world (where you see bears up close and personal--cool!), sammys (a cute little diner!), craigos (delicious pizza buffet). oh and we stayed up all night talking. it was a really great girls' weekend. we can't wait until jenna transfers to BYU!!

oh i also reupholstered a rocking chair. proof below. looks good, don't you think? i tried to sell it (we don't have room) but i couldn't get what it was worth. probably because it isn't worth what it's worth to me. i invested too much money and time to get enough from it. so i think i'll keep it. for a nursery...one day!

okay if i think of more i will add in a later blog post...PICTURES (you will have to guess what is from what):

Temple Square

My mom and dad are in town this week for EFY session directing in Logan.  They flew into Salt Lake today and we all (Thomas & I, Laurin-Mark-Emma-Max, and Kelli) met them for lunch at Cafe Rio then we all went to the Museum of Church History and Art.  After that, the Woodlands headed home and the rest of us went to temple square to see this cool to-scale model of the Salt Lake Temple (it shows how the inside looks).  We also searched out Ali Teerlink who just barely started her mission on Temple Square and we also found Nellie Mackey who just barely started her mission too!  It was fun to see them and talk to them for a little bit.  After temple square we went to Cold Stone and enjoyed yummy ice cream!

 

At the museum they had some gold plates that were the same estimated weight as the ones Joseph had to carry while he ran from the thieves/attackers.  You could (try to) lift them and they were SO heavy!  I could barely hold them up and definitely can not imagine having to run with them!

 

the ship bunks.  Thomas can hardly fit!