Two Things I Love Today

Thing I Love No. 1- Sarah's House

Sarah's House is the best home design show on television.

It's beautiful. Sarah is so talented and likeable. She shops second-hand and at Ikea. Tommy is hillarious (thanks to Tommy, even Kelly enjoys watching it). And best of all, Sarah's sense of style is completely in-line with mine.

Here are several Sarah's House images that couldn't be more perfect.

Thing I Love No. 2- Ross Dress for Less

Speaking of home design, I went to Ross today and saw so many tasteful, well-designed home pieces that were 100% affordable.

Here's what I spied at Ross today-

Fantastic rug- $8

Pretty Frame- $6

Beautifully shapped vase- $6

Art that I would actually hang in my house- $13

And pretty glass beads that I couldn't resist!

Valentines with Buck Jr.

I got Kelly one of these for Valentine's Day. Pretty romantic, eh?

He'd rather have an actual trophy on the wall, but I can't get that for him! (He wants to shoot it himself, with his own gun.) These are all things that I have always been adamantly NOT interested in. No guns in my house, thank you very much!

Believe it or not, this is where the romance comes in. . .

I went to my friend Lissa's house to see her new baby. Along with that cute, dark-headed baby boy, she has a trophy head and a gun already hanging up on her wall. We laughed about the things we never would have expected to be part of marriage. Who knew that 'happily-ever-after' might include a few trophy heads. Sure, I expected compromise-- just not guns!

I appreciate that Kelly goes out of his way to create my brand of happiness too. I'm sure he never pictured himself springing for a pretty vintage apron, or buying arranged flowers when they seem like such a waste compared to a plant-- with roots-- that won't die next week.

I love being married to Kelly!

I hope you enjoyed a happy Valentines Day, and maybe even some"romance"--- whatever that word means to you!

President Wilson Goes to Washington

We have some sweet news to share today. . .

My Dad has been called to serve as mission president of the Washington Everett Mission. We are so excited for Dad, Mom and Nathan and Emily who get to go too! They will begin their service on July 1. Dad will be responsible for nearly 200 missionaries. (A LOT more than I had guessed!)

The 2010-2013 missionaries of the Washington Everett Mission are pretty lucky! My Dad has so much wisdom, and my Mom is so compassionate; they will certainly do an amazing job. I am excited to learn from their example and experiences from afar.

My family will be living just a few miles from Kelly's brother's family, so we will get to visit both at once for the next few years. I certainly can't complain about visiting the Seattle area more often!

Re-purposed

I have enjoyed this little vignette all fall and winter. I hate to take it down, so I thought I'd immortalize it here.

I originally assembled it for our anniversary dinner (pictured above). And then re-purposed it for Thanksgiving dinner. And re-purposed it again for Christmas (with santa figures and mini pinecones).

It's been quiet lovely and versatile. I need to find something as fun and flexible for the spring/summer.

In case you're interested, the birch cylinders are from Small Stump. (Sorry to say, they've gotten more popular and pricey than when I found them.) The olive dish was from Pottery Barn, but I don't see it on their website. Everything else was thrifted or found.

Run With It

While on my run last night, this song came up on my ipod shuffle, so I had to add a few twirls and fancy steps into my run (see video).

Moral of the story-- I am bored out of my mind on my runs these days! I'm looking forward to running with my sister-in-law April this weekend.

New Year 2010

Three more posts and I'll be caught up!

We had a fantastic New Year at the cabin with my family. I should really take more vacations with nothing scheduled to do or see!

Kelly and I drove up a day early and stayed overnight in Manti. (Sorry, no pictures of this part-- the camera was burried in the car and it was cold outside!) We enjoyed a session at the Manti temple and the opportunity to see amazing pioneer craftmanship and appreciate the ship/roof that was described in this talk.

The next morning we had a REAL small-town breakfast at the Satisfied Ewe Cafe in Ephriam. Seriously. The owner was a true, salt of the earth, Utah rancher. After chatting it up with the locals in the booth across the room, he came over to take our order with his pencil and notepad in hand and just looked at Kelly. No sense wasting words! (By the way, breakfast was delicious.)

At the cabin we are voluntarily snowed in. We have to snowmobile the last 2-3 miles from the main road. The boys spend the whole trip on snowmobile (mis)adventures and the girls spend the whole trip cooking. That's not a stereotype; that's just the way we like it! I always go out for one good ride, but I really prefer the fire and something to read.

This is your typical afternoon at the cabin. Bryan and Craig have recruited folks to play a game. Dad is coming upstairs from checking on pumps or the generator in the basement and Nathan is playing the Wii. (Notice the New Years party decorations in the background.)

Suzzie was our fire queen. The kids were quick to call her everytime they noticed that the fire as no longer blazing.

Kylee and Caleb helping make popcorn.

The boys loading up to head home.

A few highlights of the cabin weekend:

-Arriving to a warm cabin since another family had just left that morning

-Trying out the solar panels

-Running out of solar power since the panels were covered with snow! (We were back in the early days when our cabin only had a few propane lights.)

- My brothers and their board games

- New Years decorations created by Madelyn, Kylee and Caleb (with help from Grandma)

- Cafe Rio salads for dinner

- Entertainment from Enzo and Paublo (the dogs)

- Peterson caramel popcorn

- Sharing plans for 2010

What Type are You?

Typophile? Even if you aren't, this is a delightful quiz to take: What Type are You? (The password is "character")

I am Marina Script.

I am also going back to hear the 'type' descriptions for other typefaces. Very clever.