Well let's talk about things I love

Well- I thought I would share what I love these days:

This.  I love Garth Brooks AND George Strait.  Both of them together last night at the ACM Awards was pretty awesome.  Nothing beats REAL country music (which has long been dead since about 2001)

Something else I love is a Sprinkles cupcake.  AMAZING!  Don't try to argue with me.  You will not win.  They are the best cupcakes IN THE UNIVERSE.  No- I am serious.  They are amazing.  And the best part is... very soon I will no longer have to drive 300 miles to partake in one.  A Sprinkles is opening in Las Vegas this year!  No joke- I kind of teared up when I heard the announcement.

I am also digging Mad Men season 5.  We don't have cable and so we have to wait SUCH A LONG TIME for the past seasons to show up on Netflix.  The show is such a soap opera but it has amazing sets and costumes.  And I have a crush on Rodger Sterling.

I am beginning to be obsessed with succulent plants.  I mean- they are the best plants ever pretty much. They don't need much care, they are beautiful, and there are so many varieties that it is insane!

Trail Mix.  My love for trail mix comes and goes in waves.  When I want trail mix it is ALL I WANT! Morning, noon, and night I want the mix.  I have been particularly fond of the Costco brand trail mix because it has cashews.

I also love our cats.  A lot.  They bring such joy to my life.  They are our fur babies.  I love that even though they are animals, they have distinct personalities and sometimes I think they act like human children.  Hey- don't judge!  I am not a weirdo.  I bet if you talked to anybody that loves their pets, they think the same thing.  Our cats are great.  Be jealous that they are not your cats.

The last little while

Hey you guys!  (think of Goonies when you read that... except Harrison says that I am not allowed to make funny Goonies references because I hate that movie... which I do).

Well, it has been a really long time since I posted.  I am sorry for that.  As I say every time I have quite a bit of time in between posts... Life just gets away from me sometimes and I forget to post.  My dad texted me this weekend asking when I would update my blog because he likes to read it.  That made me feel pretty good!  I know at least one person that I love reads my blog... which is enough to keep me going.  THANKS DAD!!

Well, there has been quite a bit that has gone on since I last updated.  The biggest things are JOBS!  Yes- you heard right... J.O.B.S.  Harrison and I are officially employed!  It was a scary journey, but it was worth it.
Harrison officially graduated with a Master's Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from UNLV last December.  His goal is to have a successful private practice here in Las Vegas.  He has an office here in town and we are in the process of getting it off of the ground.  In the meantime, he is working for an EAP company to bridge the financial gap while he builds his practice.
I received a job offer from the ARIA Hotel and Casino in late January.  I am an admin in the Convention Services department.  I am so happy.  SO HAPPY!  I really do love my job.  It is so wonderful to be working in a positive atmosphere again with individuals that are career minded and overall driven people.  I get a lot of questions about what I do exactly.  I work with two Convention Service Managers (like account managers) and as a team we ensure that our convention accounts have successful events that run smoothly.  I do a lot of reports and a lot of running around the convention center area.  Here are some pictures of the last two months of my new job.

This is me in front of of the hotel.  I absolutely love where I work.  It is quite pretty and just a really great place to work.

There are days that I walk A LOT!  I have to wear high heels everyday and this lower picture is the result of running around the hotel for about four hours.  My poor little socks are just thrashed.  

One of the best things about my job is the perks.  I get paid to eat lunch!  There is an EDR (Employee Dining Room) downstairs and it is a buffet style cafeteria.  It is a really good perk!  I always find at least one thing that is really yummy to eat.

I get to meet some really cool people with my job.  One of our groups was the NASCAR executives during the NASCAR race here in Las Vegas.  I was put in charge of making sure the meeting planner was happy with her stay during the race.  So, I was able to to go to the race and bring some pretty special people with me.

I took Harrison and we also invited his dad, Frank, to come down and enjoy the race with us.  Frank is a huge NASCAR fan, and it was like seeing a little kid on Christmas the whole time we were there.  We were able to sit in the official NASCAR box seats and meet the president of NASCAR, which was pretty cool.  Best news is... our client was very happy!

 (the view from our box seats)

Going back to work was kind of a weird adjustment.  Harrison and I had about six weeks together after he graduated.  He was not able to see clients while he waited for his licensing to be finalized and I was still out of work, so we spent lots of time together.  I wasn't so sure about spending all of that time together, but it ended up being one of the best months of our marriage in my opinion.  We were able to get lots of things done around the house, we went on vacation to Grand Junction for Christmas together, we talked, we laughed, we slept in, we woke up early... it was just good times.  But the day came when we both received job offers and we were headed back to work.  It has been such a blessing to be working again.

My sister, Laura, was married here in Vegas in the LDS Temple.  It was a fun weekend.  We had about 25 people at our house that Sunday.  Laura was married the day before and our sister, Charnae and her husband Dayle, blessed their beautiful baby Camille that day.  We had grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, brothers, and sisters all in our house.  It really was fun to see everybody together.

I love my blonde brothers.  So much.

 Our last meal with Laura as a single woman!

 The blonde boys playing XBox.

 Mr. and Mrs. Grant Butler!  Congrats you two!

 Would a family photo shoot be complete without me being creepy?

 And it definitely wouldn't be complete without BUTT SISTERS!

 I was able to spend some good time with my other married sister!  

Charnae and I had good times!

 We took Brok down to the Strip for his FIRST STRIP EXPERIENCE!

It was super fun seeing him get excited about the sights!

We have decided to make our house more of a home.  We have decided to get our back yard all fixed up.  Harrison has been working so hard on it.  I am so thankful for him and for his hard work and dedication.... and all of his runs to and from Home Depot for more parts.

It will be so awesome to see how it all comes together.  I will keep you posted.



I love the season that we are in right now.  I love Spring.  It is such a happy season.  It is the awakening of nature after the dark and lonely winter.  Anybody who has read this blog for any amount of time or knows me at all... knows that I HATE the winter.  I am a fan of really anything having to do with winter (other than being able to wear comfy pj's and sleep under ALL of the covers at night).  But that is all over with for another year!  We are in the season of hope.  The season of change.  The season of rebirth.
I am thankful for the Easter holiday that we just had.  What a gift the Savior's atoning sacrifice is to all of us.  My Young Women's Sunday lessons were centered around the Atonement for the entire month of March.  It was a really amazing topic to study the whole month.  I know that I learned more by preparing the lessons than my girls probably got out of me teaching them (which I feel is one of the points of this new curriculum put out by the church).  I have a greater appreciation for the wonderful gift of the Atonement.  Forgiveness is the biggest topic and virtue that stood out to me this last month.

As Jesus Christ was on the cross, suffering, He cried out to Heavenly Father to forgive the men who had tortured and who were ultimately killing Him, crucifying Him.  I learned a great lesson from that.  How often do we hold a grudge or get mad at somebody?  Often, right?  And when do we forgive?  Usually it is after we have stewed about it or found out that our trespasser has "earned theirs" or "paid the price".  But think about The Savior.  He didn't wait until he "felt better" about the situation or until "he had revenge"... He forgave the men that crucified Him RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ACT!  Right in the middle of his darkest hours, His loneliest hours, his most painful hours, HE FORGAVE!  Without another thought, he forgave those that trespassed against him.  This is such a powerful message to me.  Forgive!  Seven times seven times we should forgive.

I hope your life is feeling as happy and as amazing as mine is right now.  I am so thankful for the answers to prayers and for the blessings that I have in my life right now.

Spiritual Thought Sunday

My heart is full today.  Today we had a special Stake Conference.  It was announced about a month ago or so.  We were told that a member of the Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints would be coming to speak.  We were all excited.  A couple of weeks ago it was re-announced that we would also be privileged to hear from Neil L. Anderson, an apostle of The Lord and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  So exciting.

Well, we had that special Stake Conference today.  I was so excited that I actually was able to hear Elder Anderson speak last night as well as this morning.  What a special experience to have an apostle in the same room speaking and testifying of the truthfulness of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  It was very powerful.

Last night I attended a meeting with the Priests and Laurels of the Henderson, Nevada area.  There were hundreds of teenagers gathered to hear the message.  It was a great time.  The overwhelming message I took from the meeting was "You are not yet who you will become."  He spoke about becoming great in the sight of the Lord through a Monarch Butterfly analogy.  It was really good.  I also loved his message about looking beyond ourselves to better our future generations.  A question he asked was, "How can i make my life better than something of me?" We really do get caught up in the feelings of "ME, ME, ME" a lot.  We often say things like, "I was wronged." and "This was not fair to ME because....".  He taught us that it was time to look beyond ourselves and think of others.  Not only the others around us that our Heavenly Father also loves, but our future generations.  We need to be doing the things that we know to be correct and true to benefit our future children, children's children, and so on.

At the end of his talk, he bore his testimony.  At the end of his testimony he said, "I AM a witness of Jesus Christ...".  I was overcome with the Spirit of Testimony.  I know without a single doubt that he IS an apostle of Christ.  He has been given special Priesthood keys.  It was amazing.

This morning his message was about opening our eyes to the gospel and also testifying of our Prophet Thomas S. Monson.  He used a story that President Monson told about a man who had severe cataracts and had a surgery to heal them.  He was able to see for the first time in a long time.  He related that to our own testimonies and our view of the gospel.  He urged us to SEE the gospel and to VIEW it purely.  He related this message through a few stories about our beloved prophet.  

I want to testify to each of you reading this today that I know Jesus Christ lives.  He loves us.  His gospel has been restored in it's fullness to the Earth.  We have a living prophet today that is living on this Earth, just as in the days of Abraham and Moses, and Nephi and Helaman.  Our prophet has  Twelve Apostles on this Earth today just as Christ did in His days on the Earth.  I know that our prophet and apostles are true witnesses of Christ.  They are given revelation from our Lord that they teach us.  It is a wonderful thing.  We live in a wonderful day and age.  I feel so blessed to live at this time.  I also feel very blessed to be able to share my testimony with you.  I know that there aren't a lot of you who read this, but I am so glad that at least one of you will read this.  

If any of you reading this would like to learn more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, please click HERE and HERE or leave me a comment with questions or thoughts!  

I love you all!

Thankful Thursday

Hey peeps!  I hope your week has been fabulous.  Mine has been pretty good.  Here are a few things I am thankful for this week:

My BOY COUNTRY Pandora Station
It has a bunch of country music from the 80's and 90's that I grew up with.  It has really been fabulous.

Time to do whatever I want
It seems so silly, but I really love it.  Since I don't have a job yet, I have been able to clean the house, do the laundry, finish projects, read, and take naps when I want.  It has been really great.

7 Layer Dip
Seriously.  It has been a one true love this week.  I have eaten almost this entire 8x8 pan myself this week!

Spiritual Thought Sunday

I had the opportunity to teach the lesson in Young Womens today.  I am so excited about the new "Come, Follow Me" curriculum that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has put out for our teenagers (to learn more about what I am talking about click HERE or HERE).  It has been a joy to learn about this new curriculum and to prepare lessons so far this year.

This month we are focusing on The Godhead.  We are teaching and learning about God the Father, Jesus Christ, and The Holy Ghost.

My lesson was on Jesus Christ.  I felt impressed to explore with my girls the importance of Jesus Christ's atonement and what it means to us.  Even more specifically, how He has felt our every sadness, heartache, and burden, and through his atoning sacrifice, we can find peace, comfort, and even understanding in our trials.

For those of you who are teachers of any kind, you know that by preparing a lesson you will most likely learn way more than you can ever convey or teach to your group.  It was no different in this case.  

The girls in my class are all between 16 and 18 years old.  Which to me is the HARDEST ages as we grow up.  My girls are all facing hard times.  At home, at school, with their families, and with their friends.  They are all struggling with finding out who they really are and what they really believe and what their place is in their families and this big world.  Even at 28 years old, I still struggle with a lot of these things.

I want to testify to each of you who are reading this today that Christ lives.  He loves each and every one of us.  There is nothing that we feel that He has not felt.  As He suffered in the Garden and bled from every pore, He felt every single heartache, physical ache, trial, burden, and sadness that we will ever feel.  At those times when we feel that there is not a single person who understands what we are going through, I testify that Jesus Christ does.  He knows EXACTLY how we feel.  We can pray to Him for comfort and understanding.  He will reach out to us in our times of need.  He loves us.  He is waiting for us to reach out to him.  Through Him we can find happiness and solace.


This picture brings tears to my eyes every time I see it.  It is Christ holding someone. He is weeping with them.  He is comforting them.  This picture can represent each of us.  

Here are a few of the scriptures and quotes I used in my lesson as well.

I hope that your days are filled with joy and gratitude.  I also hope that each of you will take advantage of the precious gift of the Atonement that has been given to each of us.  It is a wonderful thing.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Well most of you are probably thinking about the Christmas song with this line in it right now, right? Well- that is not the time of year that I am talking about. I actually mean VALENTINES DAY! It is seriously my favorite!

I love it more than Halloween and definitely more than Christmas!

Last night kicked off the Valentines Day crafting and decorating extravaganza. The last 24 hours have been so much fun!

I love everything about this holiday. The colors, the idea, the LOVE! Here are some photos of the bits and bobs I was able to use to make my lovely wares. There are also a couple of pictures of some of the finished products!

Fabric Flower Tutorial

Hey there!  I posted this picture on Instagram and Facebook and I had a lot of people ask how I made this cute flower.  So- here is a tutorial.  I had a ton of fun making them.  It is pretty easy but the steps can take some time.  It took me about an hour per flower (I haven't made very many, so I may get faster as I make them more).

Materials Needed:
-  Synthetic material (taffeta, chiffon, or something like that.  It needs to be synthetic so that it will melt.  Natural fibers will not melt, they will just catch on fire)
-  Felt
-  Fabric scissors
-  Thread
-  Sewing Machine (you can also sew it by hand if you don't have a machine)
-  Cutting mat
-  Acrylic ruler
-  Rotary cutter
-  Lighter (a candle burns too hot and will leave smoke marks on fabric.  Just stay away from the candles if at all possible)
-  Hot glue gun
-  Hot glue sticks

Step 1: Cut strips of fabric to desired width (I am showing a 3" width here).  For a "palm" sized flower, it will take about 48" of fabric.

Step 2: Sew strips together "long" ways to make one very long strip.

Step 3: Adjust your machine's stitch length so that it is on the longest stitch possible, or a basting stitch.

Step 4: TIME TO SEW! Fold your strip in half "long" ways and sew your basting stitch on the folded side of the fabric.  **Note: you can sew the raw side together instead, but it will make the cutting part quite difficult.

Step 5: TIME TO SCALLOP! Cut raw side of strip (or opposite side of seam) into scallops to make petals.  Do this the entire length of the strip.

**Note: don't worry about the scallops being even.  It is better if they are not even because it will give the flower character and it will melt "prettier" if they are not even.

Step 6: TIME TO BURN!  Take your lighter and wave it over the very edges of the scallops.  The edges will melt and curl into fabulous petal shapes.  Not only does this create the petal shapes, but it melts the edges so that there will be no frays and loose threads to worry about.  Melt all the scallops down your strip of fabric.

Step 7: TIME TO RUFFLE!  Take ONE thread at ONE end of your strip and tug until it comes free.  The fabric will start to gather.  Slide the ruffled fabric down the length of the strip until the entire strip has been ruffled.  This can take some practice.  **Be sure to tug gently so that the thread does not break mid-length.

Step 8: TIME TO GLUE!  Take small sections of ruffle and glue them around each other to form your flower.  You will glue the ruffle around in sort of a spiral shape.

**Note: I found that gluing about a petal to a petal and a half at a time was just the right amount.  It wasn't so much that the glue was dried before I finished placing it together, but it gave me enough to work with so that I could see progress.

** Your flower should look something like this on the bottom when it is finished.

Step 9: Cut a circle out of your felt that will cover the ruffled part of the back of your flower.

Step 10: Spiral hot glue on the felt and stick it to the bottom side of the flower.

TADA!  Your flower is done!  Isn't it pretty!?  It is now ready to have a pin, clip, or headband added to it.  These can also be glued onto picture frames, made into garlands, or sewn onto clothes or a bedspread.

Have fun!  Don't forget to play and experiment with your project.  Try different fabrics, patterns, sizes, and petal shapes.


This is a picture of the difference between a 3" fabric strip and a 4" fabric strip.  The flower on the left is a strip that is 3x48 inches.  You can see that the flower has many more petals and it is a more flat shape.  The flower on the right is a 4x48 strip.  There are not as many petals and they are larger, making the flower a little puffier.

Let me know if you have any questions.  Leave me a comment below and I will be happy to answer questions or comments on ways to improve my tutorial!  

HAPPY FLOWER MAKING!