Wednesday, May 25, 2011

T-Shirt Re-Size {DIY}

Today at work we got some free T-Shirts for a big sale we are having tomorrow, but they were all X-Large shirts... and i know i'm not tiny, but i don't wear an XL... anyways, the other ladies at work decided not to wear the shirt. I however decided to have a little fun!! 

I'll show ya what I did, and you can try it too!!
What you will need:
  • pins
  • scissors
  • a sewing machine/thread
  • an oversized t-shirt
  • a shirt that fits you (i hope you have a few of those)

1.   Start with a T-shirt that is too big for you

2. Fold the Big T-shirt inside out and place a smaller t-shirt (one that fits you properly) on top.

 3. Pin along the outside of the smaller t-shirt, making sure to catch both sides of the big shirt.

 4. Cut around the pins. I left about a 1 in border around the pins to leave a little fudge room.
 5. Sew the shirt! I used a contrasting thread... but that doesn't mean you have to ;)
 sew. sew. sew.
 6. i hemmed the bottom of my shirt. 
To do that: fold up the bottom of your shirt about 1 inch all the way around and pin. then sew :) 
it's that easy
I also cut the collar into a v-neck to make it just a little more comfy and girly :)


But there you have it!



ps i also made those shorts i'm wearing... but that's a whole different blog post ;)

Oh, also, sorry for the gross quality of pictures... i don't know why they are so gross and blurry. 

But anyway....

I hope you found this as fantastic as i did! I look forward to altering many more shirts in the future!! have fun!! :D

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Home Sweet Home

I thought it would be a good idea to take y'all on a tour of the apartment! Lots of you haven't had the pleasure of seeing it in person and so i thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to show you all how adorable my sweet house is! 

Lets start out by saying that i LOVE LOVE LOVE my apartment! I love the size, i love the layout, i love the neighbors, i love the grassy knoll (see picture below) and i love that if something goes wrong i can just call maintenance and they come and fix your problem within the hour!!! It's just lovely! 

Okay so here's the grand tour!




So here's the door!! We are on the first floor, which is awesome!

This is the living room! Where we watch all our shows and play games and play with our kitten :)
 This is what we see right when we walk in the door. :)
 
 two couches, both free :) oh yeah!!
 What we see right before we walk out the door!!
 Looking out onto our balcony :)
 I love love love that we have our own washer and dryer!
 The grassy knoll where we play frisbee and have picnics :)
 The kitchen table and fabulous picture frame set Alex bought me!
 :)
 THE KITCHEN!!!! :)
 my favorite! like my apron?? (i made it!!)

 i absolutely adore my shower curtain!! (thanks Liz Macdonald!!)
 the bedroom!!
 my side of the room! like all my shoes?
 :)
Alex's Computer Corner!!

Well there ya have it! That's the apartment!! We love it, and i couldn't have wished for a better first place!! We already have so many happy memories! it's just wonderful!! I feel so blessed to have such a great home, wonderful husband, supportive friends, a fabulous Ward and a Demon Kitten! :) It's so fun!

Monday, May 23, 2011

10 Guilty Pleasures

This post is pretty self explanatory. So lets just delve right in :)

10.  Disney Channel Shows.
Okay so i blame this on my love for children and the fact that i worked in a day care and i was forced to watch 'Hannah Montana', 'Good Luck Charlie' and "Phenius and Ferb' for hours on end. But that is no excuse for the fact that i have continued to be obsessed with these shows (and others) ever since I left LA Fitness Kids Klub. I can sing all of the theme songs, quote my favorite episodes and I definitely laugh at ALL the cheesy humor. :) Can't wait until i have kids and then watching these shows won't be so abnormal!!

9. Zebras.
Don't ask me what it is about these animals that enthralls me, there is just something so quirky and fun about them. I think they are just so fabulous. And i'm not just talking about a love for Zebra PRINT... (While i do LOVE zebra print, and am convinced i will furnish my whole whole with zebra accessories) I love the animal in general. If there is a Zebra in a show, or a commercial I yell and get so happy! I have more than one zebra figurine (Thanks Momma McHardy!) and a Zebra Stuffed Animal named Zeke. I just LOVE them... I saw a Zebra on the side of the road in Hawaii over Christmas Break and i made my family turn around just so i could take a picture...Oh, and they have a U-Haul van with a Zebra Head on it, and I am willing to pay extra just to use the Zebra van when it comes time for me to use a U-Haul. :)

8. Circle K 79c Drinks. 
 I'm absolutely obsessed with these. I think it's the best deal in the world and I would get one everyday if my husband would let me... Circle K runs are how Alex knows to cheer me up after a bad day, get on my good side before asking me a tough question, of just simply to get out of Saturday Chores! :) I always get the same thing. Even though there are HUNDREDS of different drink combos... I always always get a 44 oz. Diet Dr. Pepper with just a little Regular DP, Regular Ice, not crushed, and 3 shots of Vanilla Syrup. That's my order, just in case you decide you want to get on my good side too. :)

7. Sewing. 
 Not many people know this about me... hence why it's a guilty pleasure. haha. Alex didn't even know i loved to sew until after we were married and i asked him for a sewing machine!! Haha. I just love the ability to take something as simple as a few yards of fabric and you add a few pins, some cut outs and voilĂ , you have something Fabulous! I want to get into quilting! I am obsessed with so many quilting blogs, my creativity is about to explode from within!! I love taking old clothes and making them So. Much. Better. It's just so relaxing and fun and wonderful. 

6. Picture Frames. 
 If you know me, you know that i take WAY too many pictures. I always have at least one camera with me at all times, and i have over 3,000 pictures on Facebook. But what you might not realize is that i LOVE to get those pictures printed and put them up in adorable frames and perch them precariously on shelves and tables and counters and dressers and desks around my house... :) 

5. Nail Polish.  
I love to paint my nails. If my job wasn't so hands on, i would have a new nail color every 3 days... but since my job just chips my polish off after 5 minutes, it's not worth it to paint them... but i sure do love my nail polish. I pride myself on having at least one of every shade of the rainbow, plus lots of glittery colors and top coats. I love the smell of freshly painted nails and the feel of them, so smooth and glossy! :) :) And don't even get me started on pedicures! I love painting my toes... i can't remember a time when my toes weren't painted... naked toes make me feel insecure and weird. I buy myself a new nail polish whenever possible!!

4. Sports.  
My husband loves this one! I love being up to speed on the best teams in the league and knowing the best players, coaches names, positions that players have, stats, and game times! I play Fantasy Baseball with Alex, and it's my new favorite past time. I love watching any sport, and i especially love going to the games! I love the adrenaline rush that you get from a great play, and the stress of the last inning, last 30 seconds or the last Hail Mary!

3. Food. 
 there is just too much good food out there... lets list a few. Beefy Five Layers, chips and salsa, frozen burritos, air popped popcorn, Popsicles, PIZZA!!! french fries, cake, egg rolls, anything Chinese, rice, Pasta Roni, Subway, snow cones, chocolate anything. candycandycandy... seafood, Mozzarella Sticks, Buffalo Wings, ice cream... need i go on? no. :) food is great. the end.

2. Desperate Housewives.  
So this one is a true Guilty Pleasure... but i'm obsessed with this show. I started watching it on Hulu just for fun, and now i'm completely hooked. I'm almost done with season 2 and it's been about a month or so of watching :) okay and sure, it's racy and goes against what most mothers teach their children is considered 'quality television'... but i can't help it... there is the perfect mix of romance and humor and mystery and suspense and all good things!! It's so fabulous! The Characters are marvelous, and the story line is quite clever.  I'm obsessed, and i could care less :)

1. Country Music.  
So lots of people give country music a bad rep... But i have only good things to say. It's the best music to dance to, it's the best to sing in the car, it has the best lyrics, the best morals, the best looking singers, the cutest music videos!!  Men in cowboy hats are just dreamy... am I wrong? no, no i'm not. There is a country song for any situation in life... it's not just all about Krumping in a club and making love to your shawty, like all the hip hop songs are... (nothing against Hip Hop). I know basically every country song ever... Alex teases me all the time. we can flip to any country song on and station and i know all the lyrics, who sings is, who they are married to, and probably their kids names... :) I just love that Country singers are much more down to earth. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill have been married since October 1996!!! Brad Paisley and Kim Williams got married in 2003! Keith Urban and Nicole Kiddman, since 2006!! Joe Don (from Rascal Flatts) Married his wife in 2003, Gary (Rascal Flatts) Married his wife in 1999, and Jay (Rascal Flatts) was married in 2004!  Toby Keith married Tricia Lucas in 1984!! And they are ALL still married, and so so so happy! I just love that! It makes my heart swell when i hear these singers sing about Love, and i KNOW that they wrote their songs about their sweet wives and children! It makes it so much more personal and fabulous! Okay, so i rest my case that Country Music is the best EVER!! :D


Okay so those are my Top Ten Guilty Pleasure!! What are some of your guilty pleasures?? Tell me in the comments!! :)

Friday, May 20, 2011

Just Another Love Story

So as stated before, i'm a HUGE blog stalker. And as such i have read a lot of really adorable bloggers love stories. Mind you, these are stories from perfectly good strangers, and yet, i'm enthralled by their lovely little anecdotes. I laugh, I cry, I swoon, I get butterflies... it's pathetic, and yet, really sweet. And i figure, since i'm not a creative, random, awesome storie telling blogger, like Hope, or an amazingly analytical critic of all things beatuiful, annoying and hilarious like Katie, or a fabulously cute, intelligent and spunky writer like Collett, I have to make do telling my love story. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with this... it just feels a little lame compared to all things my blogging friends blog about... 

And now, without further ado... 

{My lovely little love story}
<also, I apologize in advance for all the pictures... i couldn't help myself...>

Once upon a time I was a VERY broken hearted girl. A boy (who will remain un named) lead me to believe that he wouldn't break my heart, but in the end ended up hurting me worse than i'd ever been hurt in my entire life. After much crying, chocolate, and cursing... okay maybe not cursing.. but some not very nice words, I began to mend. Slowly but surely, I was becoming myself again.

(Side note: you may be thinking, this doesn't sound like a love story. But just bare with me... I'll get to the mushy stuff, i promise.)

Okay so anyways, i was mending... I'm sure you've all been through heartbreak, so you know what i'm talking about. I got a haircut, listened to some good 'pick me up'/ man hater songs, ate lots of carbs and told myself that it would be a really long time until i gave my heart away again.

Fast Forward 5 months to April. I get asked to sing in a Special Musical Number in Singles Ward... Well I woke up sunday morning with this persistent thought of "YOU MUST GO SING IN THAT SPECIAL MUSICAL NUMBER!!!" Wow.. okay then. Turns out cute Altos are always in high demand! So I headed down to the practice, and was stuck in between two amazing tenors.
(Oh yeah, my husband is a tenor.. be jealous)

After Singing, I sat down next to Alex, and we chit chatted, he told me about his mission to Mexico, I told him about living in Spain <hooray Spanish Speakers>. He told me about his family, i told him about my friends. We shared hobbies, interests, and schooling plans. And somewhere in all of that He told me that he managed to get my number!

We texted lots, he showed up at choir concerts, we watched sports together, snuggled, he surprised me with candy and Dr. Pepper (i'm convinced that is what made me say yes to his marriage proposal)and somewhere in all of that we fell in love. 
We saw each other basically every day from the day we first met! It went something like this:
Day 1: Special Musical Number
Day 2: Jazz concert/ in-n-out (held my hand)
Day 3: Watched a movie at my house (had out first kiss)
Day 4: brought me presents (dr. pepper & Peanut m&m's)
Day 5: Met his Family
Day 6: More stuff... 
<this next part i wrote like i am talking to Alex... just so you aren't all confused> 

May- well i finally gave in to your impeccable good looks and charm and decided to be your girlfriend. This is by far the best choice i have ever made. you immediately made my life so much happier, and always went out of your way to let me know how much you loved me. :) 
June- One month had flown by and I couldn't be happier. You got me through my finals and we jumped head first into summer. I loved that you didn't have a job yet (terrible i know) and that we would have lunch together, and play games, and go swimming, and just be together whenever possible. I remember how excited i was for our little "one month" date. this was a monumental day because <cue hallelujah chorus> you got me a flower!!!  You took me to Wendy's and then we went star gazing and snuggled and just fell more and more in love.


July- MY BIRTHDAY!!! you bought me the most beautiful ring, treated me like a princess, helped me learn patience and we talked about getting married. it was a monumental month. I was falling so in love with you, i knew that i would never want to spend my life with any one else. Also, at my birthday dinner, you  danced with me, and since i know how much you hate that, i knew that you were special, that you would do something for me simply because you knew it would make me happy. my heart swelled. :)


August- This was a tough month. we had a lot of downs. you weren't quite sure that you wanted to be with me, of if i was worth the effort. With the Magic issues, the WoW conflicts and my hate of curfew, there were many reasons why you would want to leave me. but somehow, something inside of you convinced you to stay with me. :) i was very happy for this, and i learned how to be a lot more selfless, and i knew how a REAL relationship functioned. i lot of give and take, lots of communication and a ton of compromise. Our courtship flourished after this, and i began to become more of the person that I am today. Also, august 18th was the day we went to Payson. This was the day (i assume) you decided that i really was the girl that you wanted to spend eternity with. this was the first day we looked at wedding rings! :) :) :)
September- September was again a happy courtship month. cardinals games, house sitting, photoshoots, my first trip to Ci-Ci's, bike rides, crashing your car into dumpsters... surprise trips to go ice skating and dinners at olive garden. dollar store hats and purple sunglasses! hahaha. we were just so in love, and every moment that we spent together just reiterated the fact that i couldn't imagine myself with anyone else. :)

October- I learned how supportive you are. you came to concerts, drove me to flagstaff to see Abby in LIGHT, came with me to photoshoots, took me on dates, dressed up with me (in three different costumes) for halloween. So many happy memories! This is also when you came and talked to my dad and asked him for my hand in marriage... :) :) :)


November- well I voted for the first time.... oh right, and we got engaged!! i don't think there is anything that could top that. :) we had fun adventures in Utah, and again, lots of fun dates. mini golf with brennan, sports nights, thanksgiving with your family in Tucson :)


December- Your birthday. I was able to dote on you for once. I went out of my way to make you feel as special as possible. We went to the institute dance!! You came to more concerts for choir, put up with my crazy grandmas :) and throughout all of this you put up with ALL of my craziness. my desire to be with you 24/7 and my missing you while i am out of town. I don't know how you do it, but i sure am glad. :)



January-  Sunday was perfect. you came to my rescue, and comforted me. You held me all day long, and just made me realize that I am honestly marrying the most perfect man in the whole world. you are my everything and i can't believe how lucky i am.
February- We were anxiously waiting for this month to be over, but we had fun along the way. We got our Engagement pictures taken! We went to Utah for an Open House and to take out my Endowments in the Jordan River Temple! We spent time with out extended families and We moved into our apartment, went shopping at IKEA, painted furtiture, and just for closer and closer to being able to live out lives together! 



March- I don't really think this month needs any explination. We got Married!!! March 4th was a blissful day. Honestly, it was perfect. I get a little teary eyed just thinking about how perfect the Temple Sealing was, and how the whole day is basically a blur besides you. Your face stands out. Your smile, your lips, your hand with the ring on it, the sparkle in you eyes as you looked at me. Honestly my wedding day was probably the most perfect one in history. Perfect weather, beautiful pictures, i LOVED my hair, LOVED my dress, the timing of everything was perfect, all my favorite people were there, dinner was great, and the wedding night was wonderful, and my HUSBAND is perfect. :) Like i said, the most Perfect wedding EVER... :) Also in March we went on our honeymoon! Which was a blast because it was your first time in a hotel, and your first time on a cruise! It was a blast to share those moments with you! 










April- I got a new job!! We were so happy to have the extra cash! Such a blessing from paying our tithing!! :) You were finishing up school, studying hard, and trying to keep me satisfied and being a newlywed there are still a few bugs in the system and a few kinks that we have to work out, so honest to say it wasn't a blissful month. But it was a month that made us stronger and made us respect one another more.

May- Here we are!! Life is great! You finished your first year at ASU with flying colors!! <go sun devils!!> You are working at Desert Schools and LOVING it, i'm working at GMS and LOVING it! We have a Devil Kitten who we both love so much and we just love being together. Date nights are a blast, but i just love cuddlimng up on the couch watching all our fun show! Modern Family, House, Outsourced, Traffic Light, Perfect Couples, Firefly, 24, SNL... the list goes on and on!! And i love playing on the PS3 with you... even if you always beat me :P  So far this summer is turning out to be a fantastic one!! 


I can't wait to see what adventures await us!

:D

From our first date to Taco Tuesday
to the day he told me he Loved me at Fountain Hills



to the day he asked me to "do him a favor, and marry him"

 To the day we said our "I Do's"
 It's been a blast. 
 
And don't get me wrong, it hasn't been all kisses and rainbows and happy kittens. Oh no, there have been tears and hurt feelings and apology letters galore!! But the fact that we can disagree, communicate, come together, and become stronger and better is what makes us such a fantastic couple!

Things I love about Alex:
  1. His Laugh. Seriously it's just so silly and cute and infectious.
  2. His unforgiving nature
  3. His Brain. He's a stinking genius.
  4. His hands. 
  5. His spontaneous nature.
  6. His willingness to serve me.
  7. His voice. Whether he is reading to me or singing in the shower... i love it.
  8. The love notes he writes me.
  9. His sense of humor
  10. His Family. I love you McHardy Clan!

-- And okay, there are TONS more reasons... but i figure 10 is good for now --
So there ya go. i'm crazy in love. <3