We.Are.Alive

We have survived our first semester of law school. It's a holiday miracle!!!

And this is what I REALLY learned...

You know you're in finals week of law school when:

You have lost any and all sense of time, seriously it's like living in a time warp, it was literally study, sleep, eat, study, eat, sleep, repeat for two weeks.

Gained a minimum of 2 pounds a day by mere lack of a life.

The only thing that seemed relevant was how many hours were left until the next exam-AND there were never enough.

Having chinese delivered to the library seemed like a good idea...never again.

EVERY dish we owned was dirty and somehow washing them never got on the priority list.

Brains can actually turn to mush

AND

We can do hard things.

It was brutal, but we made it. Unfortunately we will not find out how we actually did for another month, but count your blessings at least our scores can't ruin our Christmas, but fingers crossed it will be good news. In any case, it is a BIG relief to be done- one down, five to go. Utah here we come! Please have snow and mistletoe....

Viva Las Vegas

I have neglected my poor blog...surprise, surprise. But after a whirlwind summer of going on every vacation we could possibly squeeze in to the 15 weeks of summer--this included 3 trips to Lake Powell. Our heaven on earth. A few trips up to Bear Lake and minimal amounts of working. It was awesome, I have never been so tan in my life, and we expected nothing less from our last summer as "kids." We have now started law school and will be growing up any minute now.

We moved to Vegas three days after we returned from our last Lake Powell trip and two days before school started. I was not kidding when I said we squeezed those vacations in.

School started and all we do is READ. We are taking Torts, Property law, Criminal Law, Lawyering Process and Civil Procedure. It is a lot of work but we both really enjoy class...at least when we're not getting called on-neither of us are very big fans of this socratic method thing. But I am honestly pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoy classes and being back in school. Plus we have the added bonus of being together 23/7...we only have one class not together. It is the greatest thing ever! I haven't got to be around my husband this much since we got married.

The only thing I am sad about is that I will miss driving through Sardine canyon when the leaves change in a month or so. I absolutely love fall. But we will not be getting snow so I won't complain. We are loving Vegas so far and we're lucky enough to have some visitors already!

Jarom, Kristin and of course Jaxson came to town and after inviting ourselves to hang out with them a few nights we decided to head back to Utah for the labor day weekend and let them enjoy their vacation. But it was great to see Jax, the kid is as cute as they come. I swear I'm going to start taking pictures one of these days so we can look back on the great memories we're making.

Another Round of Photo Dumping

I have saved so many pictures on my comuter at work and since I am starting to train my replacement I decided I needed to get them all off the desktop and into here so I can have them forever. :) So here is a big ol' photo dump once again of everything from my folder.
(I NEED a pinterest...something fierce.)

I am not quite sure how I got this obsession with nurseries but I love them. I love the color scheme in this one. And I am a fan of the fabris hoops possibly a DIY I can handle.

Yellow and Turquoise feels so happy and cute and cozy.



I love this pillows. Also a DIY (from Emily A Clark) I am determined to tackle one day...

Photo crush from my first trip to Wisteria online.

Pottery Barn inspiration on how to make a tv look cute...or at least cute-r

More pottery barn. I might try this one since I have a few clocks from my stash of wedding gifts

Pottery Barn inspiration on how to make my ottoman look cute. I've decided I need a tray of some kind.

Or a giant book.

And the grand finale some of my favorite kitchen inspirations...I really need to keep better track of where I find things but I swear I not trying to steal anything-this is definitely not my house!

But I love the plate rack above the sink.
And the small tile backsplash.

This was the most recent find. Keri Russell's home via recycledconsignanddesign.blogspot.com I love the dark wood. I love the white countertop with the dark cabinets. I love the wire chairs. Please be my kitchen when I grow up...

And last but not least

I used to have earrings kind of like this that I absolutely loved. So when I came across these little babies I thought "I bet I could make those." So welcome to my next project.

As soon as I get a Michael's or other craft store coupon.

;)

So although I am not quite ready for swim suit season. It is coming, let's face it Spring in Utah is like a week long and then it's on to summer. And I'm looking out at the sunshine today (finally) and dreaming of boating in 90* weather.

I absolutely love these swimsuits, I got one last year and it was awesome-didn't stretch out, fade and was long which is a must for me.

Check them out at http://www.hapari.com/

I'm hoping to be sporting this one at Lake Powell this year!!! Hopefully won from

http://theprudentpatron.com/ or http://cuckooforcoupondeals.com/ or else it will have to wait for my birthday...

Dear Spring,

I am ready for butterflies, bird cages and pretty pink things.

Please hurry!

Love,

Me

Law School Update

We interrupt my attempts to win throw pillows for an update...

I wanted to wait until we were more for sure on where we were headed, but we're PRETTY sure we will be heading out to Lincoln/Omaha Nebraska. And by that I mean scoping out apartments sure. Flat lands here we come! Our kitchen table is currently buried by all the letters and packets we've received from schools. Nebraska was always one of my top choices. I have heard good things about Omaha and we're hoping my time spent at Farm Bureau will bring us a big payoff in getting us in-state tuition there.

We have been acccepted to the following thrilling and exotic places:

Creighton Unversity- Omaha, Nebraska
University of Idaho- Moscow, Idaho
University of Mississippi- Oxford, Mississippi
Texas Tech University- Lobbock, Texas
University of Nebraska- Lincoln, Nebraska

We have thus far been wait listed at:

University of Kentucky
University of Utah- cross your fingers and everything else you got for us!

And were rejected to:

Brigham Young University :(
Arizona
Baylor

and the only one left to hear from is:
University of Las Vegas
(probably not good news at this point)

I am SO excited about going to law school!!! Ry has been calling each and every school figuring out how to get in-state tuition and where we would live, etc. What would I do without this man! I can tell you exactly what--- fall to pieces. Left up to me I would spend all my time going back & forth between schools and when I finally made up my mind at the last minute we would be left to wing it (and not a fun and carefree wing it-I'm talking a panicked, frustrated, kicking myself in the butt, hopefully Someone will help our lives fall into a good place wing it), yes I will always go with the much more stressful...and procrastinated, unplanned plan. But at least our kids will have half his DNA and a fighting chance at a good "planning, on-the-ball" gene- and while I'm at it I hope they also get the "no stupid phobias gene" I have a list of ridiculous phobias-the phone, worms, telling people they have food in their teeth, killing bugs that might make a crunching sound, and the list goes on. Heaven help them.

The perfect Pillow Giveaway!!

I just entered The perfect Pillow Giveaway!! at a new favorite blog, Live.Like .You. Can you tell I have no money to buy pillows, but I want some soo bad. I'll have to post a picture to prove how much our living rooom needs help :)

THROW PILLOW GIVEAWAY! One of my favorite blogs Honey we're home has a giveaway from the Milk&Cookies etsy shop for two free pillows. My living room needs them bad. I am so excited about this giveaway I already know exactly what I want....I hope I win.

More Photo Dumping

Almost forgot these two pretties. Both Sarah Richardson creations. She is good. I decided I have to put turquoise and red together somewhere in my house becuase of how much I loved this. And this is my perfect master bathroom. Clean. Light. White cabinets. Bathroom perfection.

Ok now i'm done.

Photo Dump

My latest obsession is interior design blogs. Anytime I have ANY down time at work I am jumping from blog to blog of gorgeous, fun and fancy rooms designed by some awesome designers. So here are some of my faves. Honestly my main purpose in compiling all these is to have inspiration for one day when I have the time and money to decorate my spaces. Because one day I just know I will actually OWN something... First is the bedroom with a stenciled or wallpapered wall. I am imagining a big fancy print like this in gray or silver behind my headboard. And here is my dreamhouse...yep I'm pretty sure I could live happily ever after here.

(Meghan Morrow from When I grow up...) I have decided I have a kindof traditional style I like the clean, natural, cozy look of this room. And I love the bookshelves/cabinets on each side of the fireplace.

(Sara from August Fields)

The thing I like about this kitchen is the circle tile backsplash, the lantern light and the cool wood on the island/bar.

(Sarah Richardson)

I was super excited when I found this design plan by Emily A Clark because it is the exact colors that I have going on in my living room. Fate.

I absolutely love the striped drapes in this dining room and the tan and red combo. I have a renewed desire to learn to sew and graduate from the pajama pants level I have been stuck at since 9th grade.

And in honor of Kayla, Marissa, Jac and all the other pregos out there...I had to include this cute girly nursery.

This was another great idea from Emily A Clark to frame art work from children's books. Clever.

Well, at least that is out of my system now. Maybe I'll start having some focus in my life again, but probably not.

Ten Books I Want to Read This Year

I recently got my very own Brigham City Library card!!! YAY. Ry keeps making fun of me, just because he is not cool enough to have one...

So after reading through Oprah's Book Club list I have decided on the ten books I want to read this year, and probably will have to get right on this since I'm sure law school will get in the way come September.

1. Jane Eyre- I decided I needed to read this after watching Definitely Maybe
2. Battle Hymn of A Tiger Mother- I'm just intrigued on why all asians have to be over achievers
3. Freedom- my mom bought this book, so it must be good
4. I think I love you- the title alone
5. The Catcher in the Rye- apparently a classic
6. The Biography of Marjorie Pay Hinkley- because I love her and I bought it 2 years ago...
7. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day- movie looks cute, but there's no way I'll get Ry to sit thru it
8. Joseph Smith's Lectures on Faith- was an institute class I never took and wish I did
9. Cold Sassy Tree- I'm cheating. I started this in Dec, it was a fun Christmas read
10. Standing For Something-started & used in church probably ten times without ever reading it all the way through

And now I have to admit that I have actually finished #s 1, 7, and 9 thanks to my job at the USU extension here in Brigham City. But, I quit that job last week (one down two to go). So now I will probably start moving a LOT slower. But for my last week I read Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day in two sittings during my classes! I loved it, it was just what I needed to get me through an uneventful week in March.

Leona Lewis - Run - Full Studio Version

I have no idea how but I have become OBSESSED with this song today. So i'm slightly in love with the dramatic and over-the-top theatrical performances. sue me.

I think I somehow stumbled upon it in this order-paul potts-six yr old singing over the rainbow-leona lewis live performance wows simon....curse you youtube. ANYWAY

I found myself alone at work for the last couple hours of the day and was definitely repeating this over and over on youtube at a not-so-professional level. And apparently/obviously was so enthralled I didn't notice a client come in...*BUSTED* how awkward.

Dear Blog World,

Hello there.
TodayIfind myself wishing...
wishing I had $$ to go shopping
realizing even if I did I would have no idea what to buy...
I feel like I have somehow plucked myself out of the cuteness realm of the world and I am just BLAH. Yes. The word for me today is blah, or blaeghtttt.
Has that ever happened to anyone else?
Not to be a downer, I just really want to do something totally cute and creative, BUT i am at a loss.
Cooking? pass Sewing? ha probably couldn't even remember how to thread the machine Scrapbooking? who am I kidding Painting?Decorating?Photography?Take Flying Lessons?
I am trying to get into blogging so I guess that's something. I did change my background..i think
Welp I think I will go make Ryan amuse me now or else wander aroung Tai Pan...I hope it's still open
Goal: I will find myself a project.

Farewell 2010

Looking back at 2010, it was a year of milestones.
Milestone 1 We were married 2/5/10
Milestone 2 I became a college grad
Milestone 3 I got my first 9-5 job and then a second 5-10 job

Since I didn't jump on the blogging bandwagon like I had hoped after I got married...
Here is 2010 in a nutshell:
January- Wedding, Wedding, Wedding-pretty much all I had on the mind.

February- Our wedding day- It was flawless. I loved every minute of it

March- We had a spring break honeymoon to the Mexican Riviera aboard the Mariner of the Seas

April- Back into school, Ry commutes to Logan or Sandy from Kaysville EVERY day and works selling Comcast for what feels like all night! Ry turns 23!

May- I became a college graduate, Ry is one year away and finally quits the Sandy

June- Ry's first trip to Hawaii! We went with my mom's whole family, Ry cut his foot and was stitched up by Dr. Costley right on the beach and had to wake up every morning for class at 5:00 am not the MOST relaxing trip for him but we had fun. We also moved to the "LBC," Lil Bigham City.

July- Spent the 4th of July with R's family at Utah Lake and Aunt Lisa's for a BBQ. And squeezed in a trip top Lake Powell

August- I turned 22! And got my first real 9-5 job at Farm Bureau Insurance

September- Ry heads back to school in Logan, Utah State hey aggies all the way!

October- I get a second job as a facilitator for USU, I love it. We also take the LSAT for the 1st time...yes there will be more to come! Had a fabulous halloween party at the Forsyth household. We dressed up as Chris and Natalie in high school complete with cheer uniform and letterman's jacket.

November- Went by in a blur, LSAT tutoring every Monday+work+school=zero time! We did manage to hit both houses for Thanksgiving!

December- LSAT round 2. Christmas was wonderful, my husband spoiled me rotten! We spent Christmas Eve @ Costley's & had an awesome nativity in their barn, complete with jumping goats, spent Christmas Morning at the Brian's and made it to the Forsyth's to see the end of Jaxson's extravaganzaa. Then we ended with the phone call from Elder Forsyth, love him!

And that was our 2010!

Our goals for 2011 include:

Taking more pictures
Blog at least once a month, this will also include learning how to change my background...
More Temple visits
More "date nights" with friends
& P90X...alot of it :)