ps.

Here's a birthday 

shout-out to my beautiful and AMAZING

sister who turned 22 last Friday!!!

Happy 

Birthday 

Whitney

I LOVE YOU!!!

holiday spirit.

{My favorite place in the whole wide world!!!}

I SURVIVED ANOTHER BLACK FRIDAY WORKING IN RETAIL!!! I'm happy to report that I only had to deal with like THREE mean customers. It was a pretty crazy day to say the least, but it sure got me in the holiday spirit :) I love working at Big 5 during the holidays because I get paid to listen to Christmas music!!! Seriously, life could not get better.

Meanwhile, if I'm not working I can be found here...

{Santa's Workshop...the presents are already starting to pile up!!!}

Yes, I'm spending lots of time in Santa's workshop and I love it :) My goal this year is to have most of my Christmas gifts for everyone HANDMADE. I figured since I have a sewing machine I better put it to good use. And I have lots and lots of fun fabric that needs to be used as you can see in the picture above. I'm finding lots of the tutorials and patterns for my gifts on Pinterest. I don't know what I would do without Pinterest...probably have lots and lots of free time!!! Anyway, it's been a really good learning experience for me to use what little sewing knowledge I have and also to learn lots of new things about sewing. I have made some really silly mistakes...like attaching the interfacing to the WRONG side of the fabric {OOPS} and stitching a pocket CLOSED when it is supposed to be open {thank goodness for a seam-riper}. But from those mistakes I learn so so SO much. I'm really excited to sew and I'll put up pictures of the things I make AFTER Christmas. Just in case, certain people are blog stalking me :) Christmas is supposed to be about surprises, right???

I hope everyone is getting in the holiday spirit!

contacts and mascara.

{make this banner}

You always realize what you take for granted in life when all of a sudden you cannot use those things or you don't have those things anymore. This happened to me this week in regards to my contacts and mascara. For the past three days, I have had a stye on my right eyelid. I get styes every once in a while mostly due to lack of sleep so I have done my research and know how to take care of them and get rid of them as fast as possible because they hurt a lot. One thing that I can't use when I have a stye is my contacts. Instead I have to wear my glasses. I am grateful for my glasses because if I didn't have them I would basically be blind, but I prefer my contacts. The other thing I can't wear is mascara. I'm not a girl that has to wear makeup all the time, but I do like to look presentable {especially at work} and mascara makes my eyes look better and so much more awake. So please forgive me Big 5 Sporting Goods for looking 'sleepy' these past few days at work. THE GOOD NEWS IS I CAN FEEL MY STYE GETTING BETTER. HOORAY! It used to hurt all the time, but now it only hurts when I close my eye. I think by tomorrow my eye will be stye-free :) 

In the spirit of Thanksgiving and to end this post on a happy note: I am grateful for my glasses and contacts and mascara. I am also so grateful for my vision. I know I don't have perfect vision BUT I can still see. Every day I am able to see magnificent things and recognize the beauty of the earth. Even in the morning when I'm waking up and not wearing my glasses or contacts, I can see a very blurry husband smiling at me. That makes me happy!

rainy weekend.

I didn't have to work this weekend so instead I stayed busy INSIDE making these cute cards...

{valentine's}

{christmas}

{just because}

{happy birthday}

{sentimental}

It was so much fun to put them together. Some of the cards I made up and some of them I got the ideas from another person or pinterest. I'm trying to make lots and lots of cards because you have to admit that handmade cards are so much better than store bought cards. 

...AND this gives me an excuse to send all my wonderful friends some snail mail :)

{ps. don't forget to check your mailbox!}  

it's snowing!!!

{...so many memories of Rexburg are flooding my mind...}

surprise visit.

Last week my dad flew out from Virginia for a surprise visit, SO I have been busy spending time with him and showing him the fun things that Oregon has to offer. It was really great to see him and do lots of fun things with him. It was perfect timing for my dad to come out here because we had some really exciting things going on that he could do with us.


FUN THINGS THAT HAPPENED WHEN MY DAD WAS HERE:

1. Paul and my dad played lots of disc golf. My dad is really competitive and was trying
really hard to beat Paul, but that did NOT happen. Paul is still the family champion!!!

2. My dad came to Big 5 to visit me while I was working and he got some new shoes.

He thinks he is so cool now that he has a pair of SKELE-TOES.



3. We went to the Medford Oregon Temple AND the Portland Oregon Temple.

It was so wonderful to spend time at the temple.

4. We watched Marley and Me!!! This is one of my all-time favorite movies.

LOVE IT and still cry every time!

5. My dad and I took a special trip up to Multnomah Falls near Portland on the Columbia River.

It was so incredible. This is the second tallest year-round waterfall in the United States.

{It was so awesome to have my dad here to visit and to travel with him. It made me think back on when I was growing up and we would go on trips together. My dad is so fun to be with and can always make me laugh. The best part of the trip was when we used the self checkout at the store 'en español'...he was like talking to the machine!! He is always trying to improve his spanish. It was so funny!!! I wish my sister Whitney was there to laugh with me :) oh and I also got him addicted to Redvines. LOVE YOU DAD!!!}




...AND Paul is so happy that the Oregon Ducks won against Stanford :)

   Oregon 53      Stanford 30