Sunday Dress

If I had a Christmas party to go to here's what you'd find me in! I would love to have a sparkly gold skirt, or green! Or a sparkly shirt, love me some sequins. But I don't. In fact as I was looking for something Christmasy I realized I don't have much green... or red.... I've got plenty of every other color but not a whole lot of Christmas going on. I'm pretty happy with what I ended up with though, a Christmas outfit all from my little ol' closet, no shopping required.

Dress: F21

Belt: F21

Tights: Thigh High Compression socks!

Shoes: Top Shop

Earrings: H&M
Linking up with Shanna, The Pleated Poppy and Alison

Easy like Sunday Afternoon

After church we decided to get outside and enjoy the few hours of sunshine that were left. The trees finally got the fall memo and while a few decided just to drop their leaves right off the bat, some decided to put on a show. We miss Michigan falls but we do love that we can still do things like this at the end of November.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Finn the Human Climbs!

St. George decided to be quite mean to us this weekend. It rained on us for three straight days. Those of you in snow can stop laughing at me now. I have become very accustom to sunshine and warmth all day every day. 

We had made plans this weekend to climb our little hearts out and you really can't climb wet, slippery rock. It's hard enough when it's dry. So we had a Friday date night at home instead that basically included handstands, learning new knots and teaching me the basics of lead climbing.

 

Saturday continued to pour on us so we turned to cookies for comfort. We had two visitors that were more than happy to play video games and eat cookies.

 

Then blessed Sunday rolled around with all it's sunshiny glory and we headed out to the rocks! We made up for being inside all weekend by climbing for 7 hours. We were one of the first people out there and one of the very last to leave. We started in multiple layers and hats, stripped down to tank tops and then ended in all our layers again.

 

Chad climbed a ton of pitches since he has to set up a top rope for me and then clean it after I climb. I climbed my first little overhang and crack. It was amazing and exhausting and I can't wait for the long weekend to get here so we can climb some more!

 

After we hiked out of the gorge we saw this beauty. It was a gorgeous way to end our day. We really are lucky to live in such a beautiful place. 

 

Welcome, Welcome Sabbath Morning

Our morning started bright and early at 5:30. Miss barky pants, aka Rukia, started to whine and cry. Now this is nothing too new. If we both happen to wake up in the morning and she sees this she will start to whine a little. She wants to play, go outside, go potty or just jump into the bed with us.

As for the "hair free zone" Rukia has wiggled her way back into our room. She sleeps on the floor though and it has worked out nicely. Anyone with a golden doodle will tell you that they don't do well if they can't be with you. She follows us from room to room and won't go outside and play on the patio with the cats unless we are there. She's a people dog. Anyways... back to this morning.

So as usual, we petted her a little then Chad kicked her out of the room so she could huff and puff on her own, get bored, and then go back to sleep smashed up against our bedroom door. Instead the lovely aroma off poop wafted into our room 2 minutes later. Apparently home girl wasn't kidding with all that whining. But that's what happens when you've been crying wolf.

So at 5:45 we are cleaning up dog poo, washing the carpet, taking her outside to poo some more and trying to get the poo smell out of room. In all fairness, Chad was mostly in charge of this while I sleepily watched and stood around.

But wait.... there's more. Mad that I was up at 5:45 with dog poop all over our stairs, I decided to sleep in as long as possible. The sun was shining through our windows, birds chirping and the breeze was perfect. Finally I peeled my butt out of bed around 11. I stumbled into our bathroom and stepped into... dog vomit. But not just vomit. Dog throw up that had been covered up by the bathroom rug. Our poor pup feels so bad when she gets sick in the house now (diarrhea, vomit, poo) that if she's given enough time she will try to hide it.

I see her curled up in the corner by the stairs giving me the saddest puppy dog eyes and between the eyes and the cover up attempt I can't manage to be mad at the poor sick girl. So I start a load of laundry and throw in the two rugs from the bathroom, clean up the vomit that's covering the bathroom floor and take her outside to poo some more. Because there's nothing worse than cleaning up diarrhea off carpeting. Or maybe there is, I don't know, I'm not a mom, just a fur-mom. We head back inside where I then have to wipe her poopy butt like a little baby, proceeding to get more poo all over me again.

So congratulations to all of you with kids out there, you can stop laughing now :)  I really don't know how you handle all the sick kids you have... or the potty training... or the bed wetting...  or any of that really. Because I can barely handle my dog.

Sunday Dress

Shirt, Skirt, Belt: Thrifted, Shoes: Charlotte Russe

 
Sometimes we stay up too late watching movies and eating ice cream.
Sometimes Chad decides to clean the whole house by himself.
Sometimes he then goes on to do all the laundry too.
Sometime we spend our whole Saturday night skyping with family.
Sometimes I wake up sandwiched between my hubby and my doggy.
Sometimes thrifting is just a nightmare with endless sloppy clothes that should be tossed.
Sometimes thrifting is a dream come true and I leave with gems like this skirt, belt and shirt.

Linking up with: All things Alisa, Your Whims Wednesday, Rae, What I Wore Wednesday, Sunday Style, Rubi , Transatlantic Blonde

Sunday Dress

Happy Monday! While the rest of the world is at home sleeping in, making pancakes, playing in the snow and napping, I am at work. To make matters worse the Dr. said if he knew how s-l-o-w of a day we had he would have just canceled and we all could have stayed home. Would-a, Should-a, Could-a. That of course made today even more unbearable, knowing I could have been home under my heated blanket snuggled up with the fur babies and Chad.
 

Sunday was a recovery day. Recovery from last week and recovery from my birthday surprise on Saturday. After church in the morning, lunch, and playing with the camera for a while we napped. And when I say napped, I mean slept. Because when you sleep from 4:30 to 9:30 you can't consider that a nap anymore. We had a glorious dinner of corn pops when we woke at 9:30, let the dog out and then headed up to bed to fall back asleep.

You would think after a million hours of sleep I would have been ready to go this morning. You of course would be wrong. I am tired and I am working... but I also have another gift certificate to a restaurant in my pocket and new birthday boots on my feet. So, really, I guess this Monday isn't that bad at all.

Shirt & Belt: Thrifted, Tights: Kohls, Skirt: TJMaxx, Boots: Ralph Lauren

Linking up with: All things Alisa, Your Whims Wednesday, Rae, What I Wore Wednesday, Sunday Style, Rubi , Transatlantic Blonde

Sunday Dress

Shirt: TJMaxx,  Skirt: H&M,  Shoes: Target

Sunday is the one day of the week that I get an opportunity to dress up. Not just dress in my "dressy" jeans, but actually pull out a dress and some heels and look good. Heels and I aren't exactly BFF's so they are definitely a Sunday Only item. I can get through about three hours of wearing them, especially if I'm sitting down, but that's about it.

"Danielle, your young, your newly married, you have no kids! You can dress up and go out anytime you like!"

And go to Chuck-o-rama? Applebees? Ooooh, I know, Target! Our options are pretty limited in a small town of where to go once you actually get dressed up. So for now I'll focus on turning up the volume on Sundays and really knocking the socks of those nursery kids!

I've linked up with ModernModestBeauty and Marionberry

Meatless Monday: Blueberry Muffins

While we didn't go out night shooting this past weekend Chad had his first photo shoot! First photo shoot with someone other than family that is ;)  I was his lovely assistant and he rocked it. Now he's editing photos while studying for tests. Hopefully he'll have some pictures to share soon!

In other news Chad is being social and making friends in our ward, finally. I am still struggling to survive the nursery. Another lady is now working in the nursery, so there are three of us. She is super excited about it though and loves it! Which works out well since me and the other girl have exactly the opposite attitude.

Sunday afternoon was spent watching the best Peter Pan made for TV special ever. Neverland. Chad found it on Netflix. Seriously, this was good stuff. Now, it was long, it literally took up our whole Sunday. But only because we took a nap during it, make a donut run, and just took our dear sweat time in general. If you don't have 3 hours to kill it's worth it to at least watch the part where Peter "flies". Pure Awesomeness. The boy looks like he's having a seizure in the air. Chad and I reenacted it after the movie until I was in tears and Chad was convulsing on the ground yelling in a british accent.

Here are my favorite Blueberry Muffins! My mom would always make us these for Christmas morning, who wants to sit and eat a big breakfast when there are presents to open? I was lazy last Sunday and didn't make muffins, which required us to get up earlier to make our own breakfast, which means that we didn't eat breakfast last week :(  Lol.

So yesterday I whipped up a double batch of Panera's Mac and Cheese for Chad's lunches and a batch of these awesome Blueberry Muffins! I forgot that I halved the recipe last time so we now have muffins coming out of our ears. They are so good though that we'll blow right through them in no time. If anyone lived close I'd bring some over to you but sadly no one does so we will sacrifice and scarf them all down ourselves!

Mom's Christmas Blueberry Muffins:

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 2 c sugar
• 1 c vegetable oil
• 1 t vanilla
• 4 c flour
• 2 t baking powder
• 1 t salt
• 1 t baking soda
• 2 c sour cream (I used plain greek yogurt)
• 2 c blueberries

Directions:

1. Beat eggs and gradually add in sugar.
2. Add oil and vanilla.
3. Combine dry ingredients.
4. Add dry ingredients, alternating with sour cream.
5. Gently fold in berries
6. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes

Oooh, I almost forgot, this is really the best part! Combine 1/2 cup of well chopped nuts, 1/4c brown sugar, and 1/2 t cinnamon to make a topping for your muffins! I didn't feel like chopping up nuts so I just mixed together brown sugar and cinnamon to sprinkle on top before baking them. Mmmmm.

Awkward and Awesome Thursday

Awkward: Wearing a tail and pretending you're a werewolf.

 Awkward:

• People at church still asking who I am. People I have introduced myself to 3 or 4 times. No lie, no exaggeration. Remember the lady from months ago who tried to trick me into standing up in Relief Society to get introduced for the 2nd time? Yeah, she comes up to me in nursery on Sunday and says... "now I don't think that we've met". Yeah, we have... 3 (new to you) times. And that's kinda what I said, minus the whole 3 times before thing. Maybe she'll remember me now.
• Not to sound like a broken record but 2 weeks ago when the senior and junior nursery combined the woman who was in the other nursery asked when I had moved in. Yeah.... 6 months ago. Let's just be real here. This is happening on a weekly basis and isn't really that awkward for me anymore. It is however awkward for the people asking and that makes me happy.
• The Bishop asked me my name again and my calling, again. At least he didn't ask me where I was from.
• The names crack me up: Diamond. Atticus. Taizley. Strider. And no, Diamond is not a stripper but a teenage boy. Your welcome for brightening your day with that one.
• The boss and wife are on vacation for the next two weeks (awesome hours for me!). They are slightly nervous about leaving me in charge of it all when they are gone, probably because they've really only known me for a couple months, but mostly, it turns out, because of past employees. They told me before they left that past girls would have their boyfriends in the back and would give the massages. Awkward when patients would walk into that. Awkward when patients tell the Dr. about that. Hopefully it made them feel better when I informed then that Chad has waaaaaay better things to do then come to work with me early in the morning for a couple hours. Like sleep, or eat, or go to class, or study, or anything else really.
• Frying our garden. It literally burst into flames from the intense heat of the sun. Ok maybe not literally, but as soon as things were starting to look really good it got really hot (and we left for Hawaii.... the poor little girl who watched our house watered the heck out of our garden to no avail). And our garden shriveled up into a brown, crispy mess. No fresh tomatoes for us :(

Awesome:

• Fumbling my way through an entire phone conversation in Spanish. Yes, it was mostly me just saying random words with absolutely nothing connecting them into phrases but she understood me. Or at least pretended to, and that's good enough!
• While Chad was in a meeting after church I sneaked into the primary room to play the piano (I haven't played since we moved so it was interesting). The bishop popped his head in and after chatting for a hot second asked if I would like a key so I can come up and play whenever I want. Um... YES! He's totally redeemed himself from asking where we moved from fifty times.
• There is a little girl in the nursery who has hated me since I've been there. Would hide under tables from me, refuse to talk to me, and would sit in the corner and stare at me like I was just the stupidest person she had ever met and couldn't believe she had to spend two hours breathing the same air as me. Then this Sunday she came over and smiled and wanted me to help her make the craft we were working on. She smiled, and talked, and played with me and sat on my lap when we sang. It was a good Sunday.
• When we were at the Dole Plantation in Hawaii we (of course) had some of their famous Pineapple Dole Whip ice cream. It was amazingly delicious. You apparently can only get in there and Disneyland (Disneyworld? both?). Anyways, you can also get it here in good ol' St. George. Now it may be some sort of rip off or whatever but it tastes pretty darn good. They've got it at a couple places and our taste buds are super happy with us right now!
• Mmmmm Sauce. I have been reading about Mmmmm sauce ALL OVER the internet for a while now. In our quest to not eat candy, redbull, and pizza every night for dinner eat healthier I thought we should give this a try on top of our stir fry's instead of just dumping a bunch of soy sauce all over it. It did had some weird ingredients (nutritional yeast anyone?) that ended up being really tasty! Mmmmm sauce for the win! When has the internet ever led us astray...?

I'm a Barbie Girl

I used to have the best calling ever.

You can't argue with proof like that!

The top 6 things we miss most about the Clarkston Ward

In no particular order we miss...

• Kaylie's crazy enthusiasm in wanting to answer every single question. She was always our best singer in sharing time!
• Gage always telling us how much he loves us, how we're the greatest and constantly giving us hugs. He was quite the self esteem booster :) Oh, and him occasionally asking if we had any gum. 
• Gavin sitting back looking at all of us like we had literally lost our minds. He would make faces sometimes like he had walked into crazy town and needed to get out ASAP. After 2 years though he finally seemed to jump on board the crazy train with us!
• Brooke and her refusal to sit on an actual chair. The table was her seat... at least she was sitting! She was Chad's spell checker and would always organize the rest of the class to hide in the dark classroom and "scare" us as we came in each Sunday.
• Tyler was our newest addition and fit right in with us. He quickly became Chad's best friend and was always by his side.
• Joel was constantly drawing and is quite the artist. Much like Brooke he could NEVER sit still, although he could manage to stay "in" his chair. He would be upside down, backwards, hanging off, I think he was actually a Chinese contortionist!