too blessed to be stressed

(This picture was taken at "Beer Cans" Beach in Aptos, CA. It reminds me of good times.)

If you've been around me at ALL lately, then you've heard the following phrases more than once:
"I just don't have time."
"I can't, I'm too busy."
"I'm so stressed, I have papers to write, summaries, articles to read, etc."
"I'm sorry, I want to sooo bad, but I have to work!"
"My head hurts."
"I didn't have time to eat."
"I can't talk right now, I'm almost finished writing this paper."
"When I finish school, things will be much better. I'll have more time."
"I can't wait until Friday."
...and more.

I have a few things to say about this. First of all, "I" am the subject of each one of these sentences. I've realized that I spend so much time thinking about me, and my problems, and the things I have to do, that "I" don't have time for anyone or anything else.

Time management is definitely one of the hardest things for me right now. I can't seem to find that balance of work, school, play, "me" time, volunteer work, church responsibilities, etc. I'm really trying to manage my time better, but it's not working out as I had hoped. I miss hanging out with my friends, being lazy and working on various projects. Summer went by way too fast.

For the time being, I've resorted to looking forward to the destination rather than enjoying the journey. I know it's wrong to have that kind of perspective, but for me, it seems to be the only thing that's working right now. I look forward to Fridays more than anything in the world, and that's what gets me through the week. I also have other things to look forward to, such as parties, the dashboard concert (Trav bought me tickets!!!), Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas... etc. Just don't remind me that I have a short while left, because that adds more stress, thinking about all I have to do in the meantime, instead of how little time left I actually need to endure.

I got 3 letters from my sister this week. (For those of you who don't know, she is on a mission in England.) Her letters always come at the perfect timing, and she is always so positive and full of advice. It's what I look forward to, I think even more than Fridays! She always has a scripture or a quote for me to read and I love (and need) her encouragement.

Today she said the only thing she wants is for me to be happy. She said, "I just want to know you are happy. I know you are crazy busy as you always are, but try to remember to be grateful for what you have. I hope you have a great week, and don't get too stressed. Remember: You are too blessed to be stressed."

She couldn't be more right. When I really think about all the positive things we have right now, I am so grateful, and it eases my burdens a little bit. Things could always be worse, and right now, I'm doing pretty dang good, all things considered. Everyday I try to see the positive in the little things, and I let myself dwell on them for longer than usual. From finding a parking spot close to school, a friend buying me jamba juice (thanks Callie) to looking at the changing color of the leaves, I enjoy the little things, and they really do make me happy.

So that's my message for today. Enjoy the little things, and remember: You're too blessed to be stressed. Thanks to Lizzie for the reminder.

such a grown up

I am proud to announce that we finally have the internet! Yay! After 4 1/2 months of not having it, I sure was ready! We did not get cable or TV, but we did get a netflix account, which has become our past-time now-a-days! We can instantly stream several videos to our Xbox, and since we have super fast internet, it works out great! We're catching up on the Office seasons 4 and 5 right now. :)

Also... (and this is the reason why we feel so grown up) we have a HOME PHONE!!! Oh my heavens, I always wanted a landline I could call my own, and now we do! It's so fun! So far no one has called us on it, except each other. I'll be upstairs and call the home phone and make Travis answer it. We like to play around with it!

Anyway, I'm glad we finally have internet and a phone service. Now we can give our home phone number to the ward people instead of our cell phone numbers. hehehe. (Am I so bad?)

before pictures

I realized that I didn't really take any "before" pictures! I only have these two, but it still gives you an idea of how it used to look before we made the changes. AND, you can see how outdated the old couches are. SO glad we put slipcovers on them!



See below for the after pictures!

long awaited!

Here's some pictures of our recent upgrades!! Last weekend we did a ton of work! We painted, changed light fixtures, doorknobs, hinges, etc! It was so much fun though!! We replaced the "grandma" looking ceiling fan that was in our room, with this nicer sleek looking one. :) Much much better!We painted 3 of the 4 walls in our bedroom a light gray color. It looks better in person.

You can see the difference with the 2 shades of gray

The dresser and some decorations

Our bed

The room looks pretty bare, but we are adding some accessories and decorations pretty soon. It's been such a blast adorning our home!!

Now, for my next favorite room! Our front room, the living room. We painted the wall a great purple color *(called purplicious) and it is gorgeous! We're making pillows and curtains. We have some fabrics picked out but we're on the hunt for more.
Here is the pic of most of the room, including that awesome mirror and chandelier!! We got slipcovers for our old couches, and I have to say, they look great! (Slipcovers can be difficult sometimes, but we found some for a GREAT price!)

awesome rug we found for 50 bucks!

The chandelier. We found this at an AMAZING antique shop, for a super good deal It's so pretty!! It has some cute crystals already, but I think I'll add some more sparkles to it.

The end! I'll add more pictures when I make the pillows and curtains. It'll really change the room to add some trinkets, color, and more patterns with details. I LOVE decorating my house, it is soooo much fun! Thanks to Callee for helping me out, and thanks to Trav for letting me do what I want, and not complaining. He may not see my vision at first, but he always thinks it looks good after we put it all together. More to come!

we didn't start the fire!

Actually, I did.

During conference weekend I made french toast and bacon. Someone told me that our house isn't really "ours" until we cook bacon in it. So, I decided to take their advice and make some. Besides that, I really do LOVE bacon! Travis doesn't care for it. (Weirdo!) I only cooked about 6 pieces, since I was the only partaker. I had a few left over, so I put them in the fridge.

Yesterday morning I was in a hurry and decided to nuke the bacon for a bit and then take it on the run to school.

I pressed "quick min" and I thought I would just watch it and take it out after like 7 seconds. Well, I got distracted and went into the other room. When I came back to the kitchen, there was a distinct fettid smell coming from the microwave. I opened it up and there was a small flame!! I literally burned my bacon. Sad. I put out the fire and opened ALL the windows to air out the room. It smelled so bad! Luckily the smell has localized only to the microwave, but still, everytime I open it, the fumes come wofting out and sting my nostrils.

Needless to say I will be watching my mircowave more closely in the future.

I have been so accident prone lately! When I was 13 I was a horrible wreck! Falling, tripping, bumping into things and people, dropping things, burning everything, etc. I had more than 5 bruises during any given time. I complained to my mom one time and she said, "don't worry honey, you'll grow out of this awkward phase."

I never did.

I'm still waiting.

don't touch your eyes

Yesterday Travis and I went to my parents house for dinner. My dad decided he wanted to teach me how to make some salsa (HIS special way). It was raining like M-A-D yesterday and he said we needed to go out and pick some tomatoes from the garden. I looked at him like he was crazy, but we ran out into the pouring rain and picked several tomatoes for the salsa.

Drenching wet, we came back into the house to cut up all the ingredients. Tomatoes, onions, cilantro...etc.

Then, the peppers.

My dad said, "Whatever you do, don't touch your eyes." Every time I brought my hands anywhere near my face my dad would quickly tell me not to touch anything.

Even inhaling the fumes from the peppers was enough to agitate my lungs! We kept coughing and wheezing!

We finished the salsa (which was amazing by the way) and I went to get Travis to come taste it.

For a split second, I forgot that I hadn't washed my hands.

Then.

I.

touched.

my.

eye.

I didn't even rub it, I just touched the corner of it for one second!

I instantly started screaming, "DAAAAAAAAAD!!!!!!" He comes over to me and he knew exactly what happened. I washed my hands while my eye was watering and it hurt so bad!

I was laughing and screaming at the same time, totally embarassed but I thought it was so funny!

My dad said, "Now you know what pepper spray feels like!"

Oh man! My eye was swollen forever! My mom gave me some eye drops and it instantly neutralized the sting. SOOOO painful!

I was being so careful the entire time, until the very end. Shoot.