Monday, May 17, 2010

Long time, no see


After weeks and weeks of not having a stable internet connection, I have finally found one long enough to peek into my blog world and say hello. It's sure been a while since I've been here, but here I am!

A lot of crazy things have happened in the last month. I hope this blog post doesn't take up too much space with all the Meine happenings in the last little while.

Number one: my brother Joe is not married.
I know I didn't really talk much about this whole situation but the bottom line is, Joe was very brave, and didn't feel right about the situation, so he decided to call off the wedding. Michelle is obviously upset, and it was a pretty dramatic week, but all in all Joe (and everyone else) knows that he made the right decision. It was hard, but it was most definitely the right thing to do. I was fortunate enough to be able to go out there and visit everyone the week the wedding was supposed to happen and help with the stress. We had such a good week! Joe made it through that dramatic week with flying colors, and at this point we've all got to, "just keep swimming, just keep swimming"

Number two:
The night that was supposed to be Joe's wedding night we all needed an upper, so we decided to go and see this little gem. I'm telling everyone now, this movie was one of the best movies I have ever seen in my entire life. If you haven't seen it yet, GO! And if you have, GO AGAIN! Someday I will be the proud owner of this DVD and I can't WAIT to have it in my home. Sweetest story, wonderful characters, amazing images, and be prepared... it will make you wish you had a dragon yourself. Two thumbs way up from me!

Number three: More crafting!
These cute little things are my most recent project. I turned old children's books into wall storage folders!

They were so much fun and so easy to make, I made three of them. One for Ander's school papers, one for finances, and one for coupons. I found the idea on another craft blog called gingerbreadsnowflakes. Super easy and super cheap. What a way to go!

Number four: Interwebs
Ander and I have decided to bite the bullet and pay for internet. It sucks because we don't want to fork out the money, but we are so tired of being completely disconnected from the outside world because the wireless connection we have near us is so bad. So, in the next couple of weeks Ander and I should be floating around in the deep abyss that is the internet on a regular basis.

Number five: Denise Austin is my hero
It's finally happened! Last week one of my friends told me I looked like I had lost weight and I looked really thin. Music to my ears! I have been doing Denise Austin workouts three to four times a week since January, and now I think somehow my body has begun to really change. I feel a lot stronger, and I have more stamina, my abs are beginning to show and all of my clothes are fitting better. I can't believe I've stuck with it for this long, quite honestly. But I have now gotten to the point where I enjoy my workouts because I feel so good afterwards. I'm even more toned than Ander is! And that's saying something.... he's so lucky, he's just a bean pole by default. I've definitely been working hard but I feel like it's finally starting to pay off and I'm loving it!

Number six: Broken Bells = musical intoxication
Broken Bells. Favorite. Band. Ever.
Well, that's pretty much the last couple of weeks in a little nutshell. We still love Austin, we love our ward, and hopefully this summer will be a transitional summer for both me and Ander. (somewhere in the job area) But I'll talk more about that as it happens... no point in getting ahead of myself. Now... stop reading this and go and see How to Train Your Dragon!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

A time for celebration

The day: Friday April 23rd, 2010
The time: 9:50pm

I finished the 1460 pages of the Unabridged Count of Monte Cristo. It was wonderful... I feel as though I could have just read the Bible.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Never thought I'd see the day


Yes friends, it's true. I feel strange admitting it. I'm not quite sure when it happened, but... I love cream of broccoli soup.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Swim little fishies

Me and my Mod Podge strike again! This is my latest project, our medicine cabinet. Ander found this thing out by our dumpster in near perfect condition. All I had to do was decoupage the crap out of it and we finally have a place to put all of our medicine! We've been storing it all in a shoe box in the kitchen... that needed to end.

I found the cutest little fish collage online and decided to use that for the shelves and the outsides since our bathroom is fish themed. "La mer" is "the sea" in French

For the back of the cabinet I actually used my OWN artistic talents! I drew different sized bubbles all over sheets of white paper

And ta-dah! The final finished project!

I believe I have an addiction to decoupaging, but I feel like that's okay. It gives me something to do while I'm home in the evenings. I feel the creative tingles all over my body. What to do next? Nothing is safe from me and my Mod Podge...

Monday, April 5, 2010

Roses are pink


I have just finished literally crying a river...

When Ander and I were in high school we hung out a lot during lunchtime. I was head over heels for him and he knew it, but we never talked about it. We were just friends. One day I was having a seriously bad day and told him that in our 2nd period class together. I think I had failed my written driver's ED test, and blah blah blah, high school girl drama. He wasn't around at lunch, which bummed me out even more, until the very tail end: he caught me on my way to my last class and handed me a single pink rose. " I knew you were having a bad day, and I saw that rose at the store and thought of you." I was rooted to the spot and positively beaming at him. I've never forgotten that day.

I had a dream while Ander was away on his mission that he came home early and came to surprise me at school. In this dream, when I saw him outside I ran to him as fast as I could, and while I was running he opened his arms wide and was holding a bouquet of pink roses in one hand. Right before I got to him I woke up. I wrote this down in a letter and sent it to him.

When Ander came to visit me AFTER he came home from his mission he parked right in front of my house and called me on my phone, telling me to come outside. I hadn't seen him in two years and I ran from my front step to his arms. He opened his arms wide, and was holding a bouquet of pink roses.

I had a bad day today. I don't feel like my work out is doing anything, I need some new clothes, I don't have anything to wear to Joe's wedding, and so on and so on... I told Ander about some of these things earlier but I cleaned the house and felt a little better. Ander left for work at 5 and I decoupaged my next project. When he came home...


I burst into tears.
Me: *sob sob sob sobbing sobbing sob* "Is this what took you so long to get home? You bought me these?"
Ander: " Yup, I started thinking about it on the way home and decided you needed them today"
Me: *sob sob sob sob sob* "This reminds me of when you bought me that single pink rose in high school"
Ander: "That is why all of you roses will forever be pink."

So...
MY roses are pink, violets are blue,
Ander, you are my prince, and I love you.

Happy Easter!


Easter was so wonderful this year! General Conference, a relaxing weekend, and a huge Easter dinner with my good buddies! Plus Ander's gift of Bluebell Cookies and Cream ice cream... it doesn't get much better than that. I hope everyone's holiday was full of love and yummy treats, colorful eggs and spiritual food. I know mine was.

My Texas family! Starting from left to right we have: Trevor Walsh, Ander, me, Taylor Hartley, James Hartley, Radge Harrison, Amber Harrison, Joe Lowry and Tracy Lowry. Michelle is taking the picture. We were all stuffed by the end of that dinner!

I just realized my shirt in this picture makes me look pregnant, which I'm NOT. Anyway. In the back to the right we also have Jen and Danny Rich who just had a little boy recently. I didn't want to leave them out.

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!