oh the places you will go

Sunday night, we finally got around to putting up these guys. They are our four favorite places: Italy, Oregon, Utah, and New York.

 

Look how good we did without any measuring or rulers! We're pretty proud of ourselves.

In other news, we decided to upholster our outdoor furniture in snow.

Hope you like it.

This is our Christmas tree.

We decorated it this weekend. And when I say "we decorated," I mean I threw those beads on. Only I didn't just throw them carelessly on, I actually tried really hard to make it all even and cute. So let's just pretend it actually looks that way, mmK?

At any rate, it's something to put on top of the doorlock (that's what we call this piece of furniture, fyi).
Chas kept asking me last night for some "figurines" to put underneath it.

thankful weekend & living room

I loved everything about this weekend. Everything. And because I'm a firm believer in pictures saying a thousand words...here ya go. 

 

Maybe I'm a little obsessed with my parent's newly remolded/furnished house. But seriously, it's pretty amazing. I think the living room is my favorite. Probably because I was the genius who suggested that pumpkin orange color for the sofa. 

We kinda have a lot of artists in the fam so my mom wanted to keep the walls really neutral and let the artwork be the focal point, like an art gallery theme. Almost all the art hanging is my dad's. Great, right?

Being at their house this weekend was like being engulfed in my mom's interior design skillzz and my dad's painting skillzz...and stuffing/cranberry sauce/turkey/pie...all at once. Woah.

warning: love dove post ahead

This year, there is oh so much I have to be grateful for. And I'm not just saying that. Starting in January, the 30th to be exact, my life has been...basically bliss. And I'm not just saying that, either. The gratitude, the happiness, and especially the bliss is all thanks to January 30th. 

  

So this Thanksgiving, and probably many, many more hereafter, I am thankful for a very happy, very healthy, very blissful marriage. I honestly can't think of anything I would change about Chas or our relationship. And sometimes, when I think it couldn't possibly get any better...it does. I know how rare of a blessing something like this is. I know what it's like on the opposite side of the happy marriage spectrum. And, let me tell you, this marriage, this love, and this life together is worth all it took to get here...a thousand times over.

matchy patchy

Remember when everyone was changing their facebook profile pictures to their celebrity doppelganger? (Trust me, you don't look anything like them...) Remember how I'm about to do that exact same thing? Don't judge me.

Before Chas and I even started dating (actually, I think it was like the second time we had hung out together), we saw Monsters vs. Aliens. In the first scene, Chas turned to me and whispered, "Hey, it's you!"

And then a 6 year old kid told me the same thing today. 

So I guess that makes it official. I'm Ginormica.

good for what ails ya

There are two boys who will always make me feel better.

First, is this love:

And then there's this little sweet roll:

Hands down, the best stuff for my soul right here.

sick boots

I really want these boots. Really. 

The last two Mondays I've been home sick. Weird. Today is worse than last week. 

A part of me wonders if it's all because I don't want to go into work starting at 9am on Monday mornings and this is how my body rebels. Whatever. Next week, no matter what, I'm there. Once I'm working I almost always feel better. Plus, staying home is boring and I feel kinda guilty for not being out, making moola like Chas. 

I don't think that boy has stayed home once from work since we've been married. Sometimes I try to convince him to take the day off with me and have a mid-week play day. Still no luck. I guess someone's gotta be the responsible one.

you spin me right round, baby, right round

I remember there being lots and lots of twirling hugs this time last year. Probably at least one a day.

Then I painted a surprise for Chas. 

This is us twirling under shooting stars. Our first kiss was under a meteor shower. Chas served his LDS mission in Italy. "Ti volgio bene per sempre" means "I want good for you always." Cutest.

Then we got married and this happened:

This is us outside the Draper, Utah temple. Most newlyweds do a dip kiss.
Not us.

We don't twirl nearly as much anymore. But the sense of grabbing onto that boy so tightly, giggling, and spinning fast is kinda how every day of my happy, happy life feels. 

5 girls

My sister Hailey is an amazing artist. And get this- she just minored in art. Sometimes I don't think she understands how legit her skillzz are. 

A few years ago, she painted each one of the sisties. And now they are finally hanging up in my parent's house. All together, in all their glory.

 Dang jiggity.

Also...Hailey comes home a week from today. 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

pumpkin snickerdoodles

So what if I basically ate my weight in this dough? It. is. yum. in. my. tum.

As you may or may not know, Chas and I are pretty much obsessed with all things pumpkin-flavored this time of year. Actually, we're into it all times of year. But apparently, for most people/restaurants/grocery stores/the rest of the world, pumpkin flavoring is only seasonal. Lame.

Recipe here.

twinkle twinkle little tree

This willow stands in front of my dear in-law's house. It's the most magical tree in all the land.

We spent the weekend here. Friday night, Chas had to literally pull me back inside the house. I could stand underneath this tree forever.

 

 

I decided this is what my heaven will be like. Exactly. 

 This cute person will also be there. 

Yup. Just me, the tree, and that face is all I need.

In 12 days...

little sister Hailey (far left) will be back from her LDS mission in Independence, Missouri! She's been gone for 18 months and comes home the day before Thanksgiving. Perfect. As littlest Liz would say, we're all "over our bridges" with anticipation.

We'll still have to wait another year or so before all five of us can hug our daddy-o again, though. Rosie just left this summer for her mission in Mesa, Arizona. 

Even though I'm the oldest, I've always looked up to my younger sisties. We're talking amazing examples of virtue, faith, and good old fashioned hard work.

All that plus good looks?! Jeeze louise, some people...

hi.

Sorry about the little existential crisis. I'm feeling much better now. Last night, I went into work and led a really great group. Feeling confident and capable as an art therapist fills me to the brim with satisfaction.

Working and being busy has always been a good thing for me.

Hi ho, hi ho. Now it's off to work I go.

thoughts on thoughts, power, and self-love

Does anyone else find themselves thinking and thinking and thinking about so many different things that you suddenly feel very overwhelmed (and maybe a little depressed)? Mostly, I think about things of little consequence. Dumb, random things. Sometimes I wonder if I'm kinda a bit crazy. Racing thoughts? I think about that, too. 

Yesterday I thought a lot about power. I've been asked to be a guest speaker for a YW group. They want me to talk about the underlying reasons behind girls breaking the law of chastity. This article has some wonderful insights on the subject.


Our standards nights and chastity lessons usually focus on the dangers of strong sexual desire. Young men are told to bridle their libidos, which we describe as wild beasts that must be restrained until domestication in marriage, and we caution young women to avoid arousing and indulging the young men -- tempting the beast out of its cage, so to speak.

In an address about the law of chastity, President Ezra Taft Benson said:
"I recognize that most people fall into sexual sin in a misguided attempt to fulfill basic human needs. We all have a need to feel loved and worthwhile. We all seek to have joy and happiness in our lives. Knowing this, Satan often lures people into immorality by playing on their basic needs. He promises pleasure, happiness, and fulfillment."

To put it simply, thirteen-, fourteen-, and fifteen-year-old girls don't have sex because they desperately want sex. They have sex because they desperately want something else.

Do you have power? Do you sense that you’re in control of your own life? Do you feel you have the right and ability and the opportunity to get what you want and what you need?

The shame is not so much what girls do when they break the law of chastity, but why they do it. It’s a shame we collectively bear, the shame of creating a world where too many women opt to trade sex for power because they don't see any other convincing options. All of humanity suffers every time a woman, young or not, uses her body not to express herself, but to secure a self; not to feel pleasure, but to gratify another's; not to share love, but to barter for it.

Love it, right? This information would have been soooo helpful not only as a teen but also...ummm...2 years ago? Shhh...let's just pretend I was more self-aware then, ok?

Anyways, as I was preparing my thoughts on this topic, I started thinking a whole lot about where I turn to find my own power. This is something that I've struggled with for a long time. I have a strong inclination to look to things outside myself in order to feel worthy, important, and...powerful. At times it's been basking in attention from guys. At times it's been recognition as an art therapist and college professor. Things like wanting to see that little blog follower number keep steadily increasing. Embarrassing, but true.

The good news is I actually know why I struggle with this. But we won't go into those reasons here. The bad news is it's hard to change something that feels so natural and easy but is ultimately, not good. External approval can be very fake. It leaves you continually grasping for more and more of those feel-good validations that you have such a hard time giving to yourself. It's tiring. When all is said and done, when everything is stripped away from me, I would really love to be proud of who my inner, core self is. And, here's the kicker- I want to feel those feelings of worth, importance, and power irregardless of what anyone else thinks. So this is what I'm wanting to know:

How do you love yourself from the inside out?

Italia & Chas' wish!

Behold. 

Thanks to QADesign, this one will arrive with Utah, Oregon, and New York. Then all four will hang together in one big, happy family.

Oh yeah. Did you notice the color of that little heart inside the cobalt blue Italy? QADesign did that on their own. Believe it.

Also, yesterday Chas told me he used an eyelash wish for me. His wish? That I'd get more blog followers. How much do you love him?

new living room friends

For the past year now, my parents have been doing some major remolding at their house. Turns out this is good news for us. Just check out the awesome loot we inherited. 

Exhibit A:

Fancy mirror & mini-hutch-desk-thing (?). We'll probably end up painting that big guy black or something. But for now, it works just fine, don't ya think?

Now we just need to figure out what to display on top...Hmmm...

Any ideas?

♥

Chas is gone for the weekend on a shoot. Everyone and their dog's mom is at the Utah football game. I'm just at home. Sounds like a sad story, right? Well, I've decided otherwise. 

Outside feels glorious. The weather is an absolute perfect temperature. The leaves are falling steadily in the slight breeze. It looks like the sky is full of confetti. Do you ever feel like what you're seeing is so beautiful that suddenly everything moves in a gentle slow motion? I just had to soak up the moment so me and my pinky shoes went for an autumn time walk.

Seriously though, I felt like my heart was going to burst during this walk. I'm noticing that my greatest moments of pure joy come when I'm all by my lonesome. 

I also decided on this walk that even though I sometimes have mixed feelings about blogging, I really do think it's a worthwhile activity for me. It helps me document and honor all the little things that wouldn't get near enough air time otherwise. Things that make me happy, things that make my life full. Things like pink shoes and yellow leaves. 

Another request

Remember how I asked you to boost my self feel goods and click the FOLLOW button? Remember how you did? Love you. 

This is my cutie cousin, Lauren's, punkin. It's in Threadless' top 20 awesome punkins.

Maybe could you be cool and go to the facebook link here and "like" her punkin so she can win? (You have to first "like" Threadless.) The contest ends soon so she needs your help pronto! 

Thanks!

Yikes!

This is my just-waiting-for-a-huge-crobar-to-come-smashing-through-the-wall-in-front-of-me-any-second face. 

The meth lab across the hall from us is getting renovated. I love trying to write to the tune of mass demolition all day. Yesterday, I had to take down some things from the walls because everything was shaking like an earthquake. I also went out and tried to gently remind the workers that the only thing that's seperating their flying hammers and me is a very thin wall. "No comprendo." 

Ah, crap.

some hard stuff

Look how long my hair used to be. I miss it. 

Also, that charming little argyle number Chas is wearing in this picture is no longer with us. We recently discovered moths had gotten to it along with the most perfect Jcrew blue sweater he rocked on T.V. We haven't been able to bring ourselves to totally throw either sweater out yet.

Let's not talk about it.

Yesterday, I spent almost all day in front of the computer working on my book. I started from the beginning and am going through, sentence by sentence, making small and large edits. It's pretty tedious but I think I like it better than having to come up with the original content. It's nice to have something already there to work with. The downside is I'm having to spend hours and hours immersed in every teensy tinsey detail of hard stuff- stuff I don't like thinking about. I had a little tummy ache by the time I got to page 18 and freaky deeky dreams last night. Actually, my dreams have been pretty crazy intense ever since I started this undertaking. It's ok, though. I can deal. All good, important things require some level of sacrifice from us, right? Right.

Tuesday night time

For our Halloween activity, Chas and I snuck into apartment #1 Sunday night. The previous tenant was supposed to be all moved out but still had tons of stuff everywhere. The place was destroyed. Seriously looked like a meth lab. With flashlights in hand, we tiptoed around inside. It freaked us out. 

 

I've had a bad cold for three days now....Aaachhoo! It's weird how stuffy my head has been and how I can't seem to connect the dots when I'm speaking. All I can say is, it made sense in my head.

Tonight, after scripture study, I told Chas how a chocolate shake sounded really yummy. Five minutes later, he was happily out the door to buy some milk for said shakes. I love that man. 

Remember those little stripey prints? Well, we're getting them- custom Italy included. 

Little sister, Hailey, comes home from her mission this month. I. can't. wait.

Tonight we realized how much we spent eating out in October. Gonna see if we can go the whole month of November without eating out. We're a little nervous. 

There's a girl in my class who totally rocks the cutest bleach blond dreads. Every Tuesday night, I leave class wanting those same dreads. My hair is so boring.

One of my good friends from grad school is starting this week at the hospital. I'm trying to convince her to live in the Avenues with us. Having a good friend close by would be so nice.

The book is over 85 pages now and starting to come together. Three people have read the roughy rough draft. So far, so good. Just gotta keep chipping away at it.

If you read this blog, you should show us some love and click the "follow" button on the right. Ya heard? Word. 

That is all.