New Adventures!

I always thought I would keep updated more often now that I am not in school but I keep forgetting about it! Dangit! 

Anyways, within this past week I received a new job offer!  There is a company in IF that is fairly new and is growing rapidly so they have new job positions that need filled.  Genet Orme (one of my former professors and dear friend) texted me earlier in the week and passed along some job information to me.  I figured "what the heck?" and sent in my resume last Friday.  It wasn't but 4 or so hours later that I had a voicemail on my phone asking if I could come in for an interview for the following Monday!! I have never had such a fast response with a job application before! So I went in with some portfolio work in hand (I had also never had a potential employer want to see previous work before so that was fun!) and they called me back roughly 24 hours later and I had the job! Wow. I can't believe how fast it all happened and sometimes still feel in shock by it.  Part of me was a little sad because I have really enjoyed being back at the restaurant and being part of that family again, but I know this new job will be good for my career and will provide many blessings down the road as well.

Steven is still doing the school thing and the more this semester goes on the more excited I am to be done dealing with school all together.  I don't have to go to class or anything but Steven's whole life revolves around either school or work and it's getting old really fast.  Thankfully, even though he technically has one semester left, by the time we get to Christmas, most of this will be over.  He only has his senior project and 1 on campus class left after that so after this semester that will feel like a cakewalk. 

I have also recently started teaching sewing lessons to a 13 year old girl here in town.  Her mom bought her a sewing machine and needed someone to show her how to use it and teach her some sewing techniques.  So far it has been lots of fun!  She is picking it up quick and soon will be on her way to creating whatever she can think up as well!  We made a pillow case together last night and she loved having something to show her mom after that she made.  It was quite rewarding and has been a positive experience so far.

We got to spend the last weekend with most of my family down in Utah for my nephew's baptism.  It is always nice to get to see my family and am reminded at how blessed I am to have such good relationships with my parents and all my siblings. It also made me more excited for Christmas this year because we will ALL be home together for the holidays--the first time since before Steven and I got married!!! This weekend my in-laws will be in town for a short visit and it will be nice to see them as well!

Our birthday's are coming up again here soon and we will have to decide what we will do to celebrate.  We try to do something fun for a combined birthday activity as well as making each other feel special on each of our days as well. We still have no idea what we will do this year but I am sure whatever we come up with will be wonderful.

Until next time!

August: Wrapping Up Our Summer

This summer was full of lots of ups and downs for us.  I got a full time job right out of college... but then ended up quitting 4 months later.  Steven got an internship and has kept busy at his job... But finds he is super tired all the time and doesn't have the free time he wants to spend with me or to have some time to himself.  It's been quite the ride but I am so thankful that we have had each other to lean on during whatever struggle we may be going through.

Heavenly Father has really been trying to teach me patience this summer.  I have found myself trying to plan out the next year or two of our lives and I find myself at a stop because there are so many unknowns for our future.  Steven will graduate in April--that we know.  But will he find a great job right out of college?  Will we be moving next summer?  What about our family?  Would we have a baby by then?  There are so many things I find that I will have to just wait patiently to see what the future brings us.  This is so hard for me because I am such a planner.  I like to know what I am doing day to day, week to week, month to month, and so on that I am finding it so hard to just accept whatever there is to come for us in the future and having faith that Heavenly Father has our lives in His hands. 

Anyways, since I work mostly evenings now and Steven has his internship 4 nights a week, Steven and I don't really get to share a meal together much anymore. So, I started making lunches for us everyday.  Steven comes home for his lunch break from work around noon so I spend my mornings cooking us a meal (like I would when we were first married and I made dinner every night).  I have found it really fun to be the devoted little housewife once again and find so much joy in taking care of my house and cooking meals for my sweet husband.  I haven't had my house so clean in a long time and it's refreshing to always have leftovers and food in the fridge we can eat on nights/days where we may be a little busier than normal.  

I have started quite a few little projects around the house as well to occupy my time.  I am (finally) finishing up a blanket I started crocheting back in May, I have a couple wreath ideas for the front door that I am starting to work on.  I also tackled the mess of my sewing room yesterday and organized a few things.  It still has a long ways to go but I can at least stand to go in there and work on some stuff.  I also bought some really fun and cute fabric that was on sale a couple weeks ago and intend to make a few things out of that.  I also have a list of furniture things I want to refinish (the kitchen table being one---wish me luck on that one!) as well as a whole Pinterest board of seasonal crafts and other things I want to do. 

Something that is hard about the end of this summer is that this is the first fall that I will not be returning to school (SAY WHAT?!?!?).  I feel like I have been a student for as long as I can remember and I have never had a summer where I haven't felt the pending doom of returning to school in a few weeks.  Steven will be back in school of course, so our routine will change once again for a little while, so it will have it's effect on me but I do not have to ever go to a 7:45 class in the snow ever again. Whoa.

Here's to hoping I can learn some patience and help Steven keep up with school this year!

Until next time!

P.S. I cut all my hair off! Woo!

Summertime!

This summer has been a crazy one, to say the least!!!

In my last post I talked about how hard it is to transition to the professional world... Well... After much thought (and some insanely stupid situations at work) I quit my full time job. It sounds really stupid when I say that out loud but under the circumstances, I could not stay.  I was miserable. Unhappy. Depressed. Tired. Exhausted. No one's job should ever make them feel the way I felt at the end of that experience.  I dreaded waking up in the morning.  I never wanted to go.  I had never experienced an anxiety attack before in my life, but I experienced numerous ones during the final weeks of my job.  It was not a fun experience.  

So I have humbled myself, quit that job, and returned to my job at the restaurant waiting tables.  All this happened in one week.  Whoa. 

Despite all of that.... We celebrated our 2 year anniversary this weekend!!! I can't believe we have been married for 2 years already!! These past two years have gone by so fast and have been crazy but I wouldn't have wanted to spend them with anyone else!! 

Until next time!

Life Beyond the Safety Net

I always have been good at school.  Regardless if I really liked school or not at certain points of my life, I have been quite good at it.  It has seemed somewhat easy for me to accomplish things in a school setting and I seriously could be a professional student.  

I have discovered lately that I am struggling to make this transition into the professional world.  I am slowly working my way there and have been slowly becoming more comfortable with my new job.  But I struggle with keeping work at work and only focusing on home and my personal life when I am off the clock and with accepting the idea that there really isn't a "break" from work.  Even during my slower seasons, I will still have to go and put in my 40+ hours every week, unless I request vacation time, which I discovered is hard to get away from because of the responsibilities I hold there.  

Regardless, I do feel so blessed to have a good job that is helping us out financially and that  supports our family while we really get started in the real world.  And hopefully, I won't have to continue to work after we get settled wherever we end up when Steven is finished with school.

Steven has landed an internship with the local news station this summer!  I think he is super excited to learn lots and get his internship out of the way for school.  We hope that if things go well that this internship could turn into some job opportunities in the future, whether there at that station or that the experience will set him apart for another place.  He is finishing up a broadcast performance class this semester at school and has really enjoyed learning his way around a news set and has really improved his performance on camera! Sometimes watching his clips, I forget that he is just a student learning because he sounds so professional!!  It would be fun for him to get to do some of that for his future career. 

Despite how busy we have been with school and work... We still find time for each other as much as possible!

Ready for the drive in movie!

I love a great date night with my sweet husband!!! Dating him never will get old!

Until next time!

Life Update

Work has been crazy busy, but it is the height of our busy season and it will probably stay that way for the remainder of the summer.  I just got back from my formal training about 2 weeks ago and had a great time in Arizona learning the business of alterations!  I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a temple session in Mesa while I was there and had such a wonderful and spiritual experience!! It is such a blessing that temples are all over the world and that I can go there and feel the spirit and feel the calmness and warmth of heaven here on earth, and that no matter what my responsibilities are that may be weighing me down, I can feel ultimate peace in the House of the Lord! 

Reunited with my sweetie after my business trip! Felt good to be home!

Steven is still keeping up with work and school. I am so proud of my sweet husband and how hard he works to finish up school while holding on to a good full time job to help provide for us!  I know some days he just feels tired and overwhelmed but I hope he always knows how much I love and appreciate what he does for me. He will stay at work all night sometimes if he feels he needs to so he is sure he has enough hours in and I never want him to think that goes unnoticed. I love you, sweetie!

Speaking of him working hard to provide for me, today we bought a new car for me to commute to work!  It was our first car purchase since we have been married and it was really nice to be able to pick out a car we liked for ourselves.  We have been so blessed by our family to have had decent cars given to us to use while we started out.  But it felt really good to pick out something we wanted!

And I got my hair cut again!

Until next time!

Graduation, Real Life, and what we have been up to!

Hello all!  
Sorry it's been so long since I have written last.  My last couple of semesters of school were quite busy but now that I am finished and settling in to my new job, I have found more time to myself and figured I better be keeping this up as well!

As most of you know, my fashion show was just last month and it went SO well!! We had a great turn out and events like this do so much good for the clothing design program!! I made a wedding dress that was modeled by the bride at the show.  It was so fun to create and equally as fun to have it modeled at the fashion show. I felt so professional and had so much fun!! 

The runway 

That's my dress!!!! WOO!

Graduation was also such a fun event! It was great to shake hands with President Clark during his last duty as President of the University and to receive my diploma! It was also SO great to see all of my family!  My brother and I walked at graduation together so our entire immediate family made it out to see us!

The girls from my department who graduated with me this semester! 

Selfie with my momma!

As a graduation present from my parents, I got a serger!! I was so excited as I have never had one of my own before and always had to rely on the ones in the lab on campus!! Steven also got me a professional grade steaming iron!!!!! I feel like a professional now! I have all the equipment I need to do any sort of home sewing business I need! 

However, since I am now working at David's Bridal, I am not supposed to take on bridal/formal wear alterations outside of work as it conflicts with my job and creates competition for them.  I have done a few simple ready-wear fixes here and there but while I am at David's I have to keep home alteration business on the back burner. 

There's my steaming iron!!

Speaking of this new job... We went to Buffalo Wild Wings after my first day to celebrate!  I am just on the alterations team for now but by the end of May I should be moved up to Management!!! I am really excited for the experience and everything this job will bring to our family!

We wanted to try a bunch of flavors... So we did!

And now I am done with school I have more time to work on some projects I really have been wanting to do.  My first project was to refinish this dresser and repurpose it for a new entertainment center!! I was getting sick of our old one that was black glass because it showed SO much dust!!! I was tired of cleaning it just about every other day just to keep it looking decent.  So this was definitely an upgrade.  Also, this is solid wood so it is definitely a higher quality piece of furniture as well, and can support a larger TV if we decide to upgrade in the future (Steven thinks he needs a big screen to watch football).

Before...

Before

Before

Before

Sanding that oak finish off! 

Fresh stain!

Stain and primer coat

After!

UNTIL NEXT TIME!

Big Update on Life

Not that there's anything special to announce or blog about, I feel like I have been slacking extremely on the blog-isphere here so I apologize in advance for my post that may seem lengthy, or vague... I'm going off memory here of the little things in our lives for the last 3 months.

Almost the week after my last post I took Steven to the ER.  He woke me up in the middle of the night writhing in pain and we couldn't figure out why but he felt like he was going to die.  I ain't having any of that so I escorted him to the car and drove him to the emergency room at 3 in the morning...

Of course... When we got there I stopped by the doors to let him out (he could barely walk because the pain was so intense).  And then when I returned to the car I couldn't get the driver side door to open. I was getting impatient (and admittedly, quite emotional with everything that was going on) and it didn't help that night was the first big snowfall of the season.  So there I was, locked out of my car, in the blizzard, while my poor husband could be DYING in the lobby of the ER... I finally just crawled over from the passenger side and drove the car over to where I could leave it parked and ran back inside to help finish signing Steven in.

Steven was propped up on the counter in front of the receptionist so I told him to go sit down and I'd finish.  The nurse called him back to the examination room before I finished to get him laid down and hooked up to all their machines.  When I went back he was a stiff as a board on the table.  His feet were flexed and he was still writhing in pain.  The nurse was trying to ask him simple questions which he answered through gritted teeth.  I took my seat next to him as she began to hook a vile of something up to his IV.  She told him it was a dose of morphine and explained some of the side effects he might feel as she gives him the dosage.  Steven responded like it was like mana from heaven!  I could see the muscles in his body begin to relax little by little until his feet finally relaxed on the hospital bed.  

Apparently before I arrived he had done a urine sample which by this point, the doctor came back in to let us know that Steven had blood in his urine indicating that it was a kidney stone.  (And at this point I am thanking God that he isn't dying, nor in any condition that is too scary)  The morphine did the trick and we went back home and went to bed.  Thankfully for Steven, he passed the kidney stone later that day.

My poor honey in the ER... This was after the dose of morphine.

Also, last semester I was working on my fashion show for my senior project. It. Went. So. Well!!!! I couldn't have asked for a better turnout with the show itself and how smoothly everything went that day.  I was expecting some sort of chaos and drama... but ZERO, ZIP, NONE! Hooray!  We made more than enough money to cover our costs and have hopefully left an impression on the student body (and the local patrons) to create great expectations for each semester in the future.  This semester we have tossed around the idea of combining with the floral department some to do one big bridal show (seeing as there will be 16 wedding dresses/brides modeling in the show in March).  The floral would do the bouquets for the brides and a few displays out in the lobby.  We would also have the advanced cake decorating class display a few of their cake creations in the lobby as well.  March 28th! Save the date!

After the fashion show. I designed and constructed this dress myself!

Also, here's the short video of the fashion show!! There is a full length one but way too large to upload. If you want to watch that one just let me know!





We spent Christmas in Washington with my wonderful family!  It was so nice to go home since I hadn't been back since our wedding a year and a half ago!  I got to see my best friend from back home and spend some good quality time with my folks.  The weather was also quite agreeable while we were there as well.  Steven and I wandered from store to store while we were out shopping without our coats!  Some people thought we were strange but going from our negative degree weather here to 50-55 degree weather there was so refreshing!  

Eating at Miners of Yakima!

Steven breaking the ice for the kids at our ward Christmas party

Our Christmas gift from Steven's parents! Fully supplied with beef as well! :D

We spent New Years alone together at home. I actually had to work that evening but we closed down the restaurant early (around 8) so I was home by 9:30-ish.  We watched movies and celebrated with popcorn and sparkling cider at midnight. Nothing too extravagant.  

New Years Eve

This semester, Steven is off-track so he has been working full time sandblasting (and the company has been rather busy this January which has been so nice since usually they are extremely slow this time of year! It's been so helpful to the paycheck!) and I just have 13 credits left and then I am graduating in April!!! YAY!!! It still hasn't really sunk in that I am finally graduating from college here in a couple months, but I am excited to finally be done with school and perhaps looking for a real job in my field!  I will be a college grad here in just 3 months! Woo!

I love this goofy man!

I chopped my hair off!

Temple date before school started for me

Until next time!