Crafting

Annee came to town and inspired me to create one of the yarn wreaths that's making the blog rounds. This is my before picture and once I make a stop at the fabric store tomorrow I can post an after picture!

This week is going to be super busy at work. It's not supposed to be busy season but c'est la vie.

I need to start pinning bookshelf styling inspiration photos because I have several to-do and need help!

I can't believe it's already July. Where is this year going!

Post edit: Hayley, check out this other 4th of July wreath idea!

Source: thecreativeimperative.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Sister Update - It's been a while.

I think the last sister update happened about a month ago, which is no good. Here's to getting back in the swing of things! Also, please note the addition of Ana!! We're so glad to have you join us! (Side note, for some reason I can not turn off the italics at the beginning!! So the first two sections are italicized. Weird, sorry!)

Rachel

Last (Few) Week(s)

• Returned from vacation, returned Steve's car (thank you!!!!), got home and went to bed.
• Felt sick Monday (as I had since Thursday) but went to work anyway. Quickly realized that was a bad idea. Turns out I had strep & pneumonia. What the? I didn't go out for my morning stroll and get caught in a rain storm a la Jane Austen. Whatever. Ken got sick too which was really sad.
• Didn't go back to work all week. But a week off at home wasn't what I always dreamed since I mostly only slept. Which was boring.
• Had Jill over for dinner one night. So good to catch up.
• CZ popped in but mostly didn't hang out.
• The overhead A/C broke during the hottest week of the year which had me resorting to wearing a swimsuit in doors. It's fixed now, thank goodness! And they keep it super cold. We'll be bundled up all summer.
• Tried 5 new crock pot recipes, including Crock Pot Mac N Cheese.
• Spoke in sacrament meeting. It was scary preparing, but I think all my blog reading has helped me become a better story teller. I really had fun with the talk in the end.
• Finally changed my name!! New social security card, started the process at work. The new license will come eventually...

This Week

• Need to get back into the full swing of things at work. I feel so out of it.
• Go back to CrossFit. It's super intense. I hope my lungs are ready.
• We scored tickets to the US Open on Thursday! For those who don't know (aka me) this is a big deal golf tournament and we are super lucky to get the fancy tickets from a partner in my office so we are definitely going even though it may be very hot. :-)
• ANNEE'S COMING TO VISIT! Well, she's coming to go to a barn sale which I hope is worthwhile. Just in case, what else would make the trip worthwhile Annee?? Too bad she wasn't here for the super huge spring market Ie Li and I went to last month. Oh well, hopefully it's still good.
• Try not to be bored and blah. I can't remember what I used to like to do? I'm mostly just blah.

Ana

I am attaching one of the most recent pictures with me in it. Being pregnant I try to avoid shots where there aren't other people around to hide my girth. :)

Last week

• *Took lots of deep breaths and tried my best not to hyperventilate that we are moving across the country, leaving friends, have no job, will be losing health insurance while I'm pregnant.
• *Took lots of deep breaths and tried my best not to hyperventilate that we are having a baby this fall and I will never be well rested again.
• *Took lots of deep breaths and tried my best not to hyperventilate that I am actually using the phrase "We are moving in with family for a while until we find the right job" Ugh. That sounds so lame.
• *Took lots of deep breaths and tried my best to keep out of the house every day for a few hours so Zack could focus on his job search.
• *Went in for a follow up ultrasound. The baby is healthy and happy, but I still have complete placenta previa and need to take it easy and schedule a c-section.
• *Spent my first night alone in this apartment while Zack took Jack to his first Father Son Campout. They had a blast but Jack came home and immediately started dry heaving in the toilet. I wish he had inherited something other then my weak stomach from me.
• *Took Jack to his first gymnastics show despite the dry heaving episode. I may or may not have crushed up a small Zofran bit and forced him to eat it beforehand. He was one of the only kids in his class that didn't get stage fright and to top it off he didn't throw up all over the mats. I was so proud of him.

This week

• *Finally booked a moving company. Too bad we were so slow that our best quote went up $1000. Ugh.
• *Finally booked a car transport company. After hours or researching reviews of car transports on line, we decided to go with a company one of the moving guys recommended, and realized only after we had given then our credit card number and been charged in full that we never actually bothered to check their reviews. Turns out they are awful. Like total loss awful.
• *Finally booked our Palmyra/Niagara Falls trip. We have been hoping to get to Niagara Falls and Palmyra since we moved here. We figured our last full weekend on the east coast would be the perfect time for the road trip. I hope it goes better then our 15 hour drive home from North Carolina went two weeks ago. Highlights included me being ill the entire day, and Jack throwing up all over the gas station floor.
• *Pick up medical records for the entire crew (minus Zack, he never gets sick).
• *Realized a huge error had been made at work by someone else which has created a ton of extra work for me this week. I hope to finish up by our Niagara trip so I don't have to miss out on any of the fun.
• *Find a time to get to the temple before it closes for summer cleaning.
• *Saw my doctor after my ultrasound and got permission to fly to San Diego which I am so happy for since the fore-mentioned weak stomachs could not have stood up to a week long cross country drive.
• *Say goodbye to our dear friends the Whitaker on Friday and help Jack adjust to life as a single child with only one family again. I am so not looking forward to them leaving.
• *Zack made some good progress on his job search. Nothing finalized yet, but fingers crossed I might be able to deliver this baby on regular health insurance and not government assisted Medi-cal. (Another phrase I never thought I'd utter)
• *See what creative meals I can come up with to clean out our fridge, freezer and cupboards and save on groceries before we move and have to throw it all away.
• *Try to participate in the Sisters Update again next week.
• *Take lots of deep breaths and NOT hyperventilate.

Christine

Last Week:

• Left the beach which was a sad day, I really loved being there with everyone and basically just want to live at the beach forever.
• Spent a couple days in Chapel Hill with the Earnests and Wileys before they headed back to Utah. I was happy for a few more days with family.
• Got my bags all ready for my Israel trip and ran any last minute errands.
• Flew to Amman, Jordan!!

This Week:

• Spend a day in Amman, a couple days in Petra, then cross the border into Israel where we will be for a week. I'm actually updating my blog! (Or at least trying to.) So check there for the more detailed updates.

Ie Li

Last week:

• Revived our geraniums after our absence. The wind had blown one of our hanging baskets to the ground and it landed upside down. It's starting to grow the right way now. Plants are amazingly resilient.
• Moved our cantaloupe and green bean plants to bigger planters. They probably should have been moved two weeks ago, but I think they'll be okay.
• Blogged about beach week.
• Turned my $6 XXL striped maxi dress from Target into an Ie Li-sized maxi skirt. I like it much better now.
• Hemmed the curtains in the kids' bedroom.
• Decided that I am going to run the Richmond half marathon in November. Steve's going to do it too. I'm still not sure about the Ragnar Relay. I don't know why I'm so hesitant. I've done it before, I'll be training anyway, what's the big deal? Anyway, there will be a registration price increase on July 1 for the Richmond races, so does anyone else want to do it?
• Made our first trip to the pool. We had to walk home in a downpour.
• Organized our storage. There is more work ahead, but I'm so pleased with the progress we made.
• Celebrated Mei Li's birthday on Thursday.

Next week:

• Sew a couple of skirts for gifts.
• Swimming lessons for Mei and Stephen
• Finish unpacking from beach week!
• Move some watermelon and cucumber plants to the backyard garden bed.
• Have dinner with the missionaries.
• Start planning a friend birthday party for Mei Li.
• Start running again.

Sarah

Last 3 weeks:

• ON VACATION!!! NYC, Boston, Chapel Hill & OBX


Successfully navigated party of 6 through 5 airports, 7 airplanes, 6 places to sleep, 2 rental cars, taxi, ferry, bus, DUCK boat, jetski, and subway rides, museums, historical markers, famous sites, interesting sites, cultural experiences, countless restaurants and public restrooms and souvenir shops, seeing old friends, strangers, extended family, and best of all plenty of togetherness and happy memories.


RECOVER from all of the above


Start summer vacation! Seven peaks, cub scouts day camp, baseball games. Better freeze some otter pops
• Laundry, unpack, grocery store, back to baseball, back to work.
• catch up on rooftop concert series finances - need to reimburse and pay people for the June 3 show I missed

Next week:

• new round of swimming lessons at the pool that does swim team - it's a step
• update blog
• plant window boxes and garden. major weeding


Meet with planning committee about the next rooftop concert on July 1st
• get Brenden ready for "Camp Bigsprings" next week (Provo's version of Wrightwood)

Annee

I just can’t seem to remember how to do this. I don’t know what my problem is. Perhaps it feels like all the weeks and days have blurred together into indistinguishableness. But, here we go, trying to distinguish and remember...

Last Week:

1. It was the last week of school! That involved two days worth of field days. A 5th grade dance. A whole day worth of kindergarten graduation activities. A board game day for Jane. Buying last minute thank-you gifts for all the teachers. An awards assembly for the boys, followed by 5th grade graduation for Henry. I mean, does all of that count as number one? Should I have spread that out over numbers 1-4? I just don’t know. It was madness.
2. One week ago today the Wileys flew back to Utah. We hosted them for just two nights after our week together at the beach. We took the boys one day to one of those crazy laser tag/indoor fun type places. I hope they remember how nice their mothers were that day! Then we met up with Darin, mom and Christine for a UNC campus tour. We had to keep the campus tour brief. We were all at risk of melting in the heat!
3. George played his final baseball games of the season. Though they played with lots of heart all season long, they never managed to win a single game. But they were still allowed to play in the first round of the play-offs. We were certain it would be their last round of the play-offs, but to everyone’s great surprised, that round was also their first big win! Including a great base hit from George, which also got at least one runner home (or was it two). We were so, so happy for him!! To top it all off, his cousins, grandma, and aunts were all there to see it.
4. On Thursday before mom left to go back to Utah, we snuck away for the entire day to go to the great furniture Mart in Hickory, NC. It was so much fun to feel like we had the entire day to just wander and roam at our leisure. Mom had a specific brand of furniture in mind. Which was actually a very helpful strategy in a place like that. It would be so easy to get lost and overwhelmed by all of the furniture offerings. We found a few great pieces! It was a really fun day. One of the highlights was a stop we randomly made at a Starbucks on our way home. Mom introduced me to some frozen double chocolate chip, non-coffee drink. She bought us two of the largest size they make. It was so incredibly tasty, I’m still thinking about it!
5. Laundry. I feel like the washing machine and dryer ran none stop throughout the weekend. Literally. Not a joke. I think I finally just unloaded the very last basket of folded clothes into the children’s bedrooms tonight.

This Week:

1. After last week, I kind of didn’t want to do anything. Literally. I wanted to sleep in everyday, and do nothing once I woke up. That hasn’t actually been working out that well. In the end, I actually like to try to stay busy. So I do have a few goals.
2. We switched over at long last to morning swim team practices. We like this schedule SO MUCH BETTER. The practices are so much less crowded, the weather is agreeable. I go in my running clothes, while the kids swim, I run around the neighborhood. It’s lovely. We’ll have perfect attendance this week. That’s the goal! We are 2-0 so far. Way to go Earnests!
3. Run 5 times. I sadly realized that my secret dream of running the San Francisco marathon on July 31st was indeed only a dream. There are not enough weeks left to get in enough long runs. Since it’s been nearly four years since my last marathon, I need to do a good job training, and I’m at risk for injuries, so I have to do careful build-ups. But still, I never take these sorts of realizations lightly. A fall marathon will takes it’s place. I still hope to find a way to make it out to San Fran in the nearish future to see best friend Liz’s new baby!!
4. Get reunited with my sewing machine. Since Liz is about to give birth, she will go on maternity leave from the sewing blog. I need to have a bunch of material ready to show forth, to keep the blog alive while Liz is gone. It’s the least I can do for her! I hope I won’t fail. I have so far made one dress. Thank goodness it’s only Tuesday. And thank goodness there doesn’t ever seem to be a shortage of ideas of what to sew!
5. I’m going up to DC for a super fast weekend trip. Every since Rachel has been talking about these furniture barn sales, I’ve been dying to join her for one. I think the stars have aligned, and I’ll finally get to be there this weekend. She’s probably over them by now, but she’s being nice enough to be excited about taking me :)

May 16 - Sister update - Including a special guest!!

Sarah

Last week:

• This was the week of pre-trip errands - most importantly to find new jeans for Oliver. We threw out his last two pairs once the holes in the knees were big enough to fit his whole leg through, and unfortunately discovered Target was no longer selling his favorite kind (Shaun White brand skinny jeans). So we went on a hunt - every store/brand every type of skinny jean and none of them were skinny enough. Or else those that were weren't the right color or didn't have the adjustable waist and were too big around for him. So plan B - try girls jeans - back to every store to find skinny jeans with no flowers/sequins/frills. Jackpot back at Target with their Cherokee brand. Shhhh don't tell anyone they are girls jeans. He's actually quite enjoying the extra stretch.
• Finished cutting out the dead wood from the roses out back. Buds are forming. I'm sad I will miss the great blooming while we are away. I think I'll miss the blooming of the dogwood tree too. This happened last year too - we need to stop planning trips for the first week of June.
• Made major progress on my work project. Need to do more this week and demo to my boss before we leave.
• Brenden's first baseball game!
• Cub scouts committee meeting. Rooftop planning meeting. Sharing time lesson. Tons of laundry. Ate out too much.
  

I really need to accomplish a lot this week before our trip. Inefficiency or disorganization is not an option.

• Knitting store - get supplies for George's stocking
• Tailor - drop off 2 pairs of Scott's pants and one pair of my jeans for a hem
• Plant window boxes and vegetable garden
• Update blog
• Finish (?!) and demo work project
• Mountains of laundry
• Transfer all the supplies and responsibilities for the June 3 rooftop show
• Pack!

Annee

Last Week:
I feel like this was another banner week where I accomplished the goals that I aspired to last week. Sometimes goal setting really works!

1. All four kids practiced five times by Saturday afternoon! There was an incentive. If EVERYONE would meet the five-time goal, as a family we could go out to dinner on Saturday night, to their favorite restaurant. It’s Sweet Tomatoes, otherwise known to the Z’s as Souplantation. We have one in Cary. It takes about 30 minutes to get there, so we don’t go often. But the kids dream about it! It was the perfect incentive. I should use incentives more wisely.
2. I ran 5 times! It was hard because I was trying to do a lot of different things this week. Running is easy to push to the back burner when there is no specific race to train for. But since I had said to my sisters that I would run five times, I really felt like I had to do it!
3. I sewed Monday-Friday. It was epic, and awesome. In truth, I do not usually sew every single day. I usually just sew a few times a week. To sew for a few HOURS everyday, was a rare treat. I completed seven different articles of clothing for the girls (sorry boys!). They almost all worked, or will work. It was so much fun. I blogged about it daily at Made on Maple.
   
4. I did sub all day long on Friday. I am the regular sub for one of the first grade classes at our elementary school. Whenever that teacher needs to be out, she calls me. Its’ kind of cool to be so familiar with the class. It no longer feels like you are a stranger walking in to an unknown, rather, I’m a part of that classroom. The kids know me, I know them, they act excited on the days that I join them. It’s fun. I never thought I’d be an elementary school teacher. But now, sometimes I wonder...
5. The laundry is caught up!!!! I did a major clean out of the girls drawers and closets. The only things left available to them are seasonally appropriate, and in their size! I made them help me gather up all their laundry, do it all, and get it all back into place. The boys are learning to take responsibility for their laundry too. I really don’t see why I should be the only one in this house who does laundry!
   

This Week:

1. I need to keep running. Though I ran five times, they were not always quality runs. They were runs, because I said I was going to run. I hope to have a few more quality training sessions.
2. Sign all four kids up for swim team. It starts this week! I hear it’s a huge FAMILY commitment. We still have baseball going on, and Henry’s basketball session, and piano. To add on two hours of daily swim practice sounds kind of exhausting. But I REALLY believe in the value of swim team. I REALLY do. I’m just signing them up. That’s all. We do hard things around here. Get used to it kids! It ends mid-July. I can do anything for 9ish weeks! Right?!!
3. Finish some quilts! I have three in the works right now. I just started my beach quilt tonight. I still have my queen size one, and a baby one not finished. It is very clear I do not enjoy the “quilting” phase of quilting. I will conquer that hurtle this week. One of those quilts will be completely done by the end of this week.
4. I really should try to rally some enthusiasm for Beach Week Book Club 2011. I tried about three years ago to get everyone to read “Persuasion” in time to have a Beach Week discussion book night. I think no one thought I was serious. Or maybe no one had time to read, pre-beach week. Does anyone this year? A family book club is sort of my dream. Any takers? CZ, I kind of think you at least have time to read a book with me. No?
   

Ie Li

Last week:

• Preschool, swimming, story time
• Finished listening to Charlotte's Web with the kids.
• Planted basil and green beans. I am obsessed with my garden. I love to sit by my plants and stare at them.
  
• Mei Li, Mi Na and I had a girls' night with friends while the boys went camping.

Next week:

• Plant some more seeds! Why not?
• Preschool, swimming, story time
• Visit with an old friend.
• Visiting teaching
• Listen to E.B. White's Trumpet of the Swan with the kids in the car.

Rachel

Last Week:

• --I got a brand new iphone! Apparently they have an unofficial "one free swap to keep the customers happy" policy. Amazing! Downside: my apps didn't transfer correctly leading to 3 hours of re-finding and re-sorting etc.
• Worked in the office 1 day so I was able to run home 1 day. I've enjoyed Chantilly, but I am really looking forward to running home from work again. It makes me so happy.
  
• Anniversary ebelskivers on Thursday evening. 6 months, woo!
• A hugely productive weekend including pulling out the fridge, defrosting it, fixing a leak, cleaning the entire thing inside, outside and underneath, replacing the old gross microwave, finishing the bedroom photo wall, hanging the tie rack.
• Cooked a pot roast using herbs from my very own herb garden!
• Made it through 2.5 seasons of Gilmour Girls (while cleaning, organizing, cooking. Basically an audiobook substitute). Trying to finish it all in time to give the DVDs back to Sarah at beach week.
  

This Week:

• Spend more time on my hair, but in new ways. Three new hair styles is my goal. Through Pinterest, I discovered this new website Hair Romance with tons of great hair ideas. I may need to buy new bobby pins.
• Make bruschetta for enrichment on Thursday
• Test out this awesome Groupon-like website for DC restaurants called Village Vines. We're finally going to try Acqua Al 2 but for 30% off the entire bill! Excited.
• Lucketts Spring Market on Saturday!
• Work BBQ on Saturday in Chantilly. Which reminds me, why is gas still so darn expensive. The price of oil has gone down $15/barrel but gas hasn't moved. When oil goes up even $1 a barrel the next day gas prices are higher. I think there's something fishy going on...
  

Christine
(Picture may be coming later?)

Last week:

• Finished three assignments for my independent study class. That means I only have three left to do! Unfortunately I chose to do the easiest ones first, so the last three may take some more time, but still shouldn't be too bad.
• Worked, a lot. I guess compared to a real job it's really not that much, but when you add in all the driving I had to do it takes up a lot of time, leaving me feeling like I don't have time to do much else. It's also helped me realize that I really don't think I could work in retail long-term.
• Got a ticket booked for my Israel trip (thanks to mom doing all the research for it) and got all of the little details for my travels for the summer hammered out. I fly to Boston on the 24th, then down to the beach on the 28th, then Jordan on June 11, returning to DC on June 27. That means I have to be moved out of my house by the 24th. Luckily I don't have to sell a contract or anything, no one had signed for my room for the summer, so my landlord was ok with me just staying for the month of May.
• Saw Jane Eyre Friday night with Addie. I knew nothing about the story, so I was a little creeped out at times and was getting the impression that it was a scary movie, but in the end I liked it good enough.
• Had my last Sunday dinner with Wiley's and parents since they're all leaving out of town for my real last Sunday in town. Makes me pretty sad to think about leaving them, mainly I just don't really let myself think about it.

This week:

• Work 30 hours Monday-Friday.
• Try to get in some combination of yoga/riding/hiking the Y.
• Actually start packing up my room. I'm now into crunch time, and really it's not just my room, there's stuff all over this house that will need to be packed up that I'm afraid I'm ignoring. Along with packing up my room I need to decide what to pack into my suitcase that I'll be living out of for a month+, which will include time in Boston, DC, at the beach, and Israel, etc. That could be a tricky task keeping it all down to one suitcase.
• Finish two more of my assignments.
  

***********************************************
And now, introducing our special guest - Summer Little.
It's hard to write a thorough introduction to someone so near and dear to my heart. Summer and I met in 2nd-ish grade and have been BFF ever since. Which really is an understatement. I don't have hardly a single memory from elementary school and high school that does not include Summer. I firmly believe we were placed in each others lives very intentionally and specifically to help us both become the people we needed to be. You don't get many friends like that in this life so I am forever grateful.


This morning while getting ready I remembered: Summer is the person responsible for my switch from a center part to a side part which heaven knows my face needed. Summer also helped me realize how important mascara is to my color-less eye lashes and sleepy, squinty eyes. Thank heavens for friends like that, right?!


Summer naturally became a member of the family joining us frequently for sleepovers, dinners, vacations, etc. We decided to include her this week as an honorary sister. Summer lives in Georgia now with husband Travis and two kids, Finley and Nash.

When I get home I may update this with a vintage Summer and Rachel photo :-) Here's my visit to her last year.

****************************

Summer

This week:

• Went to the grocery store 4 times! I never go more than once, but the grocery store was offering a $10 dollar gas card with every $25+ purchase and I just couldn't pass it up. So, I split up my shopping list into $25 increments. Ca-razy, I know. Couponing has changed me.
• Got a car wash. Easily, one of my favorite things (especially post children).
• Sewed a pair of knit shorts for Nash from an old t-shirt. Just practicing.
• Made 8 cards and attended card swap club.
• Went strawberry picking with our little preschool group and used the strawberries to replenish our freezer jam stock.
• Hosted Activity Days at my house. This was our first meeting after splitting the girls into two groups. I now only have (9) 8-9 year olds instead of (18!) 8-11 year olds. I really appreciated the smaller number.
• Went to the Atlanta temple for the first time in almost two years!!! The Atlanta temple closed for major renovations in June 2009 and was finally rededicated on May 1, 2011. It was so fun to be able to participate in the open house and dedication festivities. I'm so grateful to have the temple within 25 minutes again!
  

Next week:

• Dance class, tennis, preschool...the usual song and dance.
• Swim team starts on Monday and runs Monday thru Friday for 6 weeks. I don't know if I am ready for the everyday commitment/struggle. Supposedly, Finley will learn how to swim?! She'll have to get in the freezing water first.
• Have someone come repair our leaking sprinkler. Boo.
• Apply WD-40 to Nash and Finley's doors. It must be done.
• Sew something. Linen pants for Nash?
• Get a haircut! First time in 9 months. I could cry.
• Exercise? Who am I kidding?
• Super, bonus points, will-never-happen goal: Clean and fill the (3) 55-gallon water drums we have for our food storage that have been sitting empty in the garage for months years. I can dream, right?
  

May 15 -DC Date night

Saturday night.

All dressed up. Waiting with drinks.

!
My favorite weekends include some time downtown.
His favorite include steak.

Can you see all those darling little Staub pans?
We love Staub.
And think we probably need all these little tiny ones to complete our collection.

Lipstick. And a frozen yogurt night cap.



And last, a PSA. Don't do this:

We stopped at Best Buy this weekend and parked next to a car with the back window rolled all the way down. Can you see what is directly inside the window? A shiny new iPhone 4. What were they thinking? That is dangerous! It started pouring shortly thereafter. I looked around inside for anyone with a toddler so I could warn them about the window but no luck. When we came out 40 minutes later the car was still there, as was the phone (and the rain), but I am worried about how the story ends.

May 14 - Scott Wiley - Producer extraordinaire

Now, I know this may embarrass him. But I can't resist posting this!!

So in January I started streaming The Mormon Channel while at work. There are only 3 hours of Dr Laura per day and Pandora channels play the same few songs over and over and I felt like I should give God more air time than NPR so I started streaming LDS radio. And much to my surprise, it's actually pretty good!

Anyway, there's a radio show called Everything Creative, where they've covered a wide variety of topics such as Mommy Bloggers and Creative Ways to Show Love (awkward), and Orchestra at Temple Square to name a few.

Imagine my surprise to hear my very own brother in law, the one and only SCOTT WILEY featured on a whole episode! As one who has listened to A LOT of MC, I can say this was a particularly great story! I may have even teared up at one part. I am so proud of him. What a great interview to have captured for posterity. Click on over to have a listen.

The upside to the humidity of NoVA - the plants thrive!

P.S. I also really enjoyed this cheerful interview with Heidi Swinton, the author of Pres Monson's biography and oh my gosh this interview with Meg Johnson had me WEEPING on my laptop, how does she stay so positive?! Actually maybe I should list all my favs in a separate post...

May 13 - This is a joke right?

Do you see that forecast? I'm not sure my plants can make it through that onslaught. I mean I know they're native to the outdoors and all but still, that's harsh!

With all the rest of blogdom I had a post up yesterday about our 6 month anniversary that has disappeared. Maybe it'll come back soon.

Today I was late to work because I ran out of gas on the way there. Lame. Also, today was Ken's last day at the US Court of Federal Claims! And this week he finished the current batch of Kaplan class teaching! Next week he begins his daily LSAT prep class during the day and won't be teaching at night. Which means for two whole blissful weeks we will get to hang out between the hours of 6-10pm without conflict of tax return or standardized test!! I am so excited.

Now if you'll excuse us, there's one last episode of Mad Men that's calling our name. :-)

May 11 - Not much to say today

Just a regular day.

Ken had a doctor's appointment at our fancy Executive Health place
through work which is basically a spa where they take your vitals and
also feed you breakfast. He came out to Chantilly and met me for
lunch, we chose Chick Fil A because people here just LOVE that place.
It was a beautiful sun-shiny day. I stopped for an eyebrow wax after
work, picked up the rest of the knobs needed for the kitchen and
watched more Gilmour Girls until Ken got home from work.

Just a very regular day!

May 10 - I'm sorry Banana...

But this pretty tiny headband is not worth $30. Can you believe it? Sad. Because it was really pretty. But only like $5-8 pretty.

We stopped by the Apple Store for FHE because 1-the map feature on my phone stalls when I need it most and I've come THIS CLOSE to chucking it out the window and 2- my computer and Ken's computer are both about to bite the dust and so he has stars in eyes about a MacBookPro or an iMac or something like that. Personally, I'd rather go to Bermuda but we'll sort that out later!!

I've started a preliminary layout for the photo wall in out bedroom. The pictures will be swapped out for gooey wedding ones and I'll add more frames and move things around a few more times, but posting a "before" now forces me to finish and post the final "after" product later.

The photos below are a bit of my inspiration...

Source: littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: rowboatpress.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Now that I see the two side by side, I think I should mix bigger frames into our wall and space them closer together. Can do.

Although, I also love this look below. Maybe I should be doing something like that on our wall instead?! We could easily put up black or white shelves.

Source: habituallychic.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Did you notice that came from my Pinterest account? I can't stop pinning! It just makes so much sense. Can I follow you?

May 9 - I won!

Can you believe how lucky I am??

This gift card will make Luckett's barn sale Spring Market next weekend SO much more enjoyable!!

If you're in the area, want to come with me?

May 8 - Welcome to the No Fritter Zone

Obv, I don't mean apple fritter.

Since we've been married, Ken has developed a love/hate relationship with the word fritter. It took me a while to articulate just what I meant, but finally at the end of a Saturday full of no lists or accomplishments, I explained to Ken as I plunked down despondently on the bed, "I just really, really hate FRITTERING the day away." And thus No Fritter Zone Weekends were born.

Luckily, I heard a talk by President Monson (given at BYU, talks about the 5 "gates" of life, must find link...) where point #2 was "Don't fritter your time away. You must have a plan or life will pass you by." With the prophet on my side there's just no losing!

I don't know where it came from, but I really need a list and a plan and usually a schedule to feel accomplished. The items on the list don't need to be substantial (ex. Item 4 on today's list "Watch Laker's game") but there needs to be a plan for the day. Especially days without any structure like Saturday and the latter half of Sunday. Without a plan, the day just slips away with Pawn Star reruns and cuticle cutting. I really hate getting to the end of a day or a weekend without getting anything done, especially since free time is so scarce these days. This doesn't mean days are full of work only, the list frequently includes "Get a pedicure" or other such leisure, but at least it's written down and thus more likely to actually happen. Is this so crazy??

This weekend, we tackled our two storage closets. We had done a preliminary sorting and stashing when we moved in, but I've been dying to do a full sort and purge ever since. Today was finally the day!

Did we realize we had NINE suitcases in our closet!? Each of these has a smaller bag inside. Wow! We must move a lot.
And oh the hangers. I really, really hate buying hangers. Because why should they be so expensive? And who has to buy hangers?? Hangers are just one of those things that exist in your closet, until you leave home and no longer have hangers and must face the fact that 1-you don't have a home anymore and 2-why is a 10-pack almost $10 and 3-what if need more, isn't CZ moving here soon?? We whittled the extras down to 1 small box. Perfectly reasonable.


In the end, 5 boxes were driven to a dumpster and (illegally) tossed under cloak of darkness.

When we got home Ken said "You know what we didn't do today?"
Me "What?"
Ken "Fritter."

Ahh.... He loves me.

Ie Li has posted our sister update of the week HERE.

Did you see Annee's posting of the sister post last week? It features vintage graduation photos, which means I sorta hate the post, but I'm dealing with that...

May 7 - This morning the sun was calling

Today was a spectacularly beautiful day. Ken was up early to run and go to work so it was up to me to make it a day. After thoroughly sleeping off the work week of deprivation, I got up and started tidying the house. When I stepped outside to throw something to the trash, I was literally stopped in my tracks by how nice the weather was.

Back in the house, running shoes on and I left with no real destination in mind. A mile in I decided to head to the antique store to see if they have received another of the type of chandelier I'm stalking but somewhere along the WO&D trail I made a wrong turn because a few miles later I crossed over the freeway which is 100% opposite of where I was trying to go. Oops!

The upside was passing DePaul's Urban Farm. Their sales must increase 5000% percent on sunny days in the 70's. How could you run past this shop without buying a few plants for your windowbox, and maybe this cute little planter box of herbs and oh how about a hydrangea plant, they do so well in DC humidity.


I closed out the day with Jane Eyre, a strawberry shake and some delightful company.


Tomorrow will have a hard time topping today!

May 6 - Wait I wasn't ready take it again

This year has been a blur.

In my defense, I do operate in a total time warp. Very frequently I have to stop and verify not just the day of the week but what YEAR it is. I guess that's what happens when you spend all day, everyday of 2011 going through records from 2010 preparing returns for the "current year." What we call the "prior year" is actually the 2009 return which was actually completed sometime in 2010. Combine that with the fact that PwC is about to enter year Fiscal Year 2012 for all internal deadlines and you end up with one very confused me.

I cannot believe 2011 is almost half over. In my mind there are only 10.5 months per year because beginning in mid-November it is Christmas and really the year ends when Christmas begins, you know? So the year is half over, and I feel like I just woke up from a very long nap in which I dreamed a daily existence of wishing I were asleep. Ha! That is not really a joke, but who ISN'T tired all. the. time.

This is a long way of saying it's time to start documenting life again. Everyday life. And even though this is the first May in about 5 years that I will not be leaving the country, I am going to resume my Photo A Day In May. Who knows, maybe we'll go to Canada just to keep the streak alive.

On Monday I got TWO calendar invites for dates this weekend. And I'm not talking dates to Costco. How lucky is that!

Anyway, goodnight.

Spring cleaning inspiration

I was reading through Good Housekeeping (random) while getting my hair done today when I read this quote about keeping memorabilia:

IF EVERYTHING IS PRECIOUS, THEN NOTHING IS PRECIOUS.

That just makes so much sense to me! And seems like something great to keep in mind while sorting through old boxes of ticket stubs and rose petals.

Scissor Sisters - Say that 5 times fast.

Did you see last week's update? I think the outfits were especially good. And, um, the headstand photo?? Amazing.

Ok here's the sister update of the week!

SARAH

Last week:
* bought plane tickets for our east coast trip! it's official (5/21 SLC-JFK, 5/26 BOS-RDU, 6/7 RDU-SLC)
* went to bed at 10pm one night
* did some yardwork - re-routed honeysuckle vines, weeding
* did some work to organize volunteers for Rooftop series so I can effectively delegate
* decided not to delegate much of the Lower Lights work. I enjoy it too much to give it up.

This week:
* start new work project. If I don't do it soon, I'm going to be in big trouble.
* practice forearm stand and hand stands for yoga
* work on photo wall - goal to be done before graduation visitors
* don't spend any money this week (wouldn't that be nice?!)
* time to go back to THF

Annee

Last week:

1. By Tuesday afternoon, Darin and I had taken apart the existing twin beds, rebuilt them into the bunk beds. Moved our old queen bed up stairs to Henry’s room, and completely rearranged all the furniture in George’s room to make room for the bunk-beds. Darin had to take his second shower of the day when we were done. It was a tremendous amount of work! When the boys got home from school, they were both so excited about the new bed situation that they volunteered to have some “quiet time” in their rooms that afternoon. Both of the girls came running to find me in tears, because nothing we “new” in their room. You cannot win as a parent. You simply can. not. win.
2. On Wednesday I realized that my most recent pay check had been deposited for the days of subbing I had done last month. Suddenly all I could think of doing was going to buy the longed for sewing machine! Of course, when I got home I was instantly intimidated and wondered if I’d ever figure out how to sew on it. But by Friday I had already sewn two of the three pillows I wanted to add to Henry’s bed, so we’re making progress!
3. By Friday when I had sewn two of the three pillows I had mentioned sewing last week, and bought the sewing machine, and moved all the beds around, I thought that goal setting was my new religion. But then I remembered that I had only run 15 miles thus far in the week, and the week was nearly over. Y’all, we just can’t do it all! And also by Friday I had realized that though I had diligently devoured all four season of Friday Night Lights in just a few weeks, that season five would not be immediately available to me for a while yet, and that had me all sorts of disgruntled y’all.
   

This week:

1. Try my hand at my very first value quilt: http://www.stitchedincolor.com/2010/07/inspiration-value-quilts.html. If a quilt is too ambitious, I will accept trying the technique out on a pillow. Just keeping it real.
2. Attend my first of six machine mastery classes that came with the purchase of the new machine. Tuesday is going to be super fun!
3. Run the tar-heel 10 miler on Saturday. I was sad to hear that I will not finish the race with my face on the jumbo-tron in the stadium because the stadium is in the process of getting renovated! Despite my disappointment, I will still lace up and run my best race, but just know that I’ll probably have to have a repeat performance next year for the big stadium finish!
4. Attend all 3 of George’s baseball games! That’s right guys, he has three games in one week. I’m kind of thinking we signed up for the super ambitious league?!
5. Somehow my weekly goals seem rather superficial and light weight. Seems as though I’m giving myself a pass for the week. Oh well, some weeks are like that, right?!
   

Ie Li

Last week:
-made a new friend at swimming lessons
-did better with P90X
-story time at the library
-maintained tidiness for three days straight
-Cherry Blossom Festival and General Conference

This week:
-visiting teaching
-do better with P90X
-swimming, preschool, and lunch with new friend
-try to relieve some of Steve's tax season stress

Rachel

Last week:

--I worked 83.7 billable hours. Which I only say to explain why I don't have much else to report.
--We didn't get to take any cute pictures with the Cherry Blossoms this weekend, which makes me sad. But there wasn't anything cute about working til 3am on Saturday before an 8am race, you know?
--I did make some hard cuts to my wardrobe. And I cleaned all the floors in the house. Feels great.
--I made cupcakes for Ken to take to the court tomorrow.
--I got a check from the state of Virginia with a $120 refund from my 2009 taxes. Which really doesn't make any sense to me, in fact I fully expected that I would owe more, but I'll take it!
--I didn't pull any April Fool's Day jokes on Ken, but next year I REALLY should. He kept falling for other tricks all day long. I'd get a text about a friend who was in a car crash or a job the law school just posted at a courthouse on a tropical island. But they were all jokes he totally believed. Haha thinking about it still makes me laugh.

This week:

--Really, really try not to work past midnight any night.
--Celebrate 6 years with Ken on Wednesday.
--Make a pot roast on Saturday. It's been way too long.
--Stop by Anthropologie and start planning purchases for the Employee Appreciation Sale which starts April 15.

I know that's a weak list, but it actually feels pretty ambitious!

Christine aka CZ

Last Week:

- Went riding Tuesday and Thursday.

- Helped out at a horse show Friday and Saturday.

- Had dinner at a delicious little French cafe/bakery in Salt Lake, Gourmandise, in celebration of Beth's birthday. It was pretty delicious and our waitress was actually from France, so it felt pretty authentic.

- Enjoyed conference and French Toast casserole at the Wiley's.

This Week:

- Write a group paper for my strategy class.

- Submit any missed assignments for my Spreadsheets class to get caught up before the final.

- Go to yoga.

- Remain in denial about the fact that it's cold outside and there's snow and pretend that it's warm enough to wear spring clothes. I'm hoping that if I just act like it's warm, it will be warm. Not so sure it works that way but I'm giving it a try.

We are alive!

What a month it has been. I formulate blog posts all week long but of course when I sit down to write something, my mind is blank! Boo.

Time seems to be flying by. It doesn't feel very long ago that I hung my calendar open to January on the wall with just a push pin figuring I'd actually nail it up "soon"... I still have dreams (nightmares?) about wedding planning, but we've almost hit 6 months. Crazy!

The good news about time moving quickly is that means there are only 2 more weeks of madness at work. I think I can make it. Then we get to go to Utah for graduation and Easter. And before you know it Christmas will be here, I've started planning exactly how we will decorate the house.

I finally settled on an armoire for our guest room. And Ken built a shelf in the laundry room, totally from scratch. I was so proud of him!



Check out the sister posts of the last few weeks, wherein I talk about wearing my hair in buns, making crock pot recipes and wearing jeans to work. I'll be posting this week's sister update next.

Sister update.

CZ has posted our update this week. Check it out here!

Huh?

I know I owe a real post... but I just must comment. Alice Lane has finished the re-do of Nie Nie's basement playroom and the pics are all over the blogosphere today.


But when I look at the pictures, I don't think it actually looks that good. There is so much conflicting madness! These pictures mixed with the luke warm experience mom has had with AL in her house and I'm left scratching my head. Why does everyone hail them as design geniuses? If you take a really critical look at what they do, it is really all good? Maybe I should just keep that opinion to myself.

Sisters.

Let's try something new here. In an effort to stay connected with each other, we're going to try to keep in touch in a different way. Not sure how often it'll happen, or how long we'll keep it up. But here's a start.

Sarah

last week's agenda:
-took huck to dr - double ear & double eye infections
-2 lower lights shows
-brenden's wax museum project
-oliver's first blue & gold banquet
-rooftop concert series planning meeting at courtney's house


this week's agenda:
-15 loads of laundry - I'm determined to get it folded as soon as it's clean - don't let it sit in a pile on my floor for a week
-lower lights go on tour on friday - pick up tshirts, make itinerary, prepare & train tour manager
-get back to yoga - i'm determined to start up my 6am yoga routine again

Annee

Three things that were on my agenda from this past week:

1. Substitute taught for the Elementary School music teacher all day long on Monday. Not my favorite class to sub for. It was kind of awful.
2. Hosted a Sewing Soiree with a bunch of ladies at my house on Tuesday night.
3. Took George on a date to see the Alvin Ailey Dance Performers on Thursday night at Memorial Hall at UNC campus. Everyone should put on their list of things to do in a lifetime “watch an Alvin Ailey dance performance”. It’s one of the most beautiful performances you’ll ever witness. This was the second time I’ve seen them perform. I hope they’ll be back to UNC again soon.
   

Three things on my agenda for next week:

1. HAIR CUT AND COLOR!! (All caps and tons of exclamation marks...it’s been far too long and my hair is awful!)
2. Run 10 miles at some point in the week.
3. Substitute teach a couple of days at the elementary school.
   

Rachel

Last week:

--I went on a date to a show at The Kennedy Center on Friday night.

--I ran home from work 3 times. That's one of the best things about living closer to the office. I hope it's warmer next week!

--I made 2 comments in Relief Society so people will know I'm there. Adjusting to a new ward is always a little awkward.

--I hung all the dresser trays from our wedding in a collage on the wall in the family room. One step closer to done!

--I tried a new recipe: lemon bars. I feel like as a bonafide Mormon woman I need to have a go-to lemon bar recipe. Better keep searching…

Next week:

--I want to go to the movies. It's been way too long!

--I want to craigslist a big armoire for the guest bedroom. I need to get my clothing situation squared away ASAP.

--I will distract myself from missing Ken while he's in Utah Wed-Fri by working a lot.

--Ask Grandma for the secret methods to her chocolate covered peanuts.

Christine

On agenda last week:

• Ethnic Tuesday dinner with Addie
• grading quizzes
• lots and lots of sleep to get over my current sickness
  

On agenda this next week:

• Sunday dinner with roommates and friends (including a BYU basketball star...)
• finish spreadsheets exam and study for individual taxes exam
• snowboarding and a visit to the Midvale Ice Castles

Oh my goodness I have tons of questions!! Sarah - wax museum project?? That had to be rough.. Are you going on the Lower Lights tour? Annee - how are your knees holding up this time around? Also, is substitute teaching your school's form of having parents get involved? Or is this like an official job? CZ - what did you eat for ethnic dinner? What are you making for Sunday dinner? And.. basketball star?! Further questions and replies in the comments! I'm glad we did this. I love you all.

Next week let's get mom, Ana and Ie Li on board too!

As inspired by this.