moving

this is week is the big week

we are moving.

i'm so excited to finally get to enjoy this house that we have been paying for 

and slaving over

it's been such a blast working on projects with sam the last couple weeks 

we spent this last weekend painting until about 130 AM

naturally we were both a little loopy and slap happy, everything we said was hilarious

it's so rewarding to see things come together

but i've never really moved before 

so send your tips and pointers my way as we get prepared 

over the weekend

over the weekend we shared these with our families

let it all begin

tis the season for traditions, parties and events galore

we can't wait to spend the night at home tonight

 after a week of Christmas events every night

my family has been doing a tree for the festival of trees for the past 8-10 years

it's turned into a family affair

our theme this year was on giving 

everything was centered around things you'd give as neighbor gifts

                      

after months of working and crafting we were proud of our tree

all my sisters went on bid night together and were so pleased our tree had more than one bid

when bidding was about to end we had two crowds wanting our tree 

bidding war

we were thrilled to have earned money for the primary children's hospital

and thrilled that our tree turned out so great 

do you remember?

do you remember last year on this day 

the storm of the century

we all got to leave work early, 

I went home and prepared for the worse 

and then it never came... 

kinda wish we had that threat today, i'd love to go home. 

tears

do you cry every time you read a birth story
or at least get teary eyed

Source: Uploaded by user via Amie on Pinterest

i'm totally guilty of blog surfing during quiet moments at work
whenever i stumble across a birth story i have to read it
and no matter what it says i shed a couple tears.

yesterday i read one featured on the daybook from the rockstar diaries
it's the second down if you read it today

http://www.thedaybookblog.com/

on happy note my sister in law is in labor as we speak!!
so excited for her.

hair woes

yesterday my kind sister informed me that out of the four girls in the family i have the worse hair

'jeepers thanks'

but it's true i was blessed with fine thin hair with nothing fabulous about it

Source: Uploaded by user via amandajayne on Pinterest

don't worry she didn't just flat out say that 

I was asking her what she thought i should do with my hair 

I have a hair appointment on Friday(seriously can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!) 

and i'm kinda fed up with the do 

I want to try something new

Source: google.com via Anna on Pinterest

whenever I ask for feedback on here I never get any 

(yes I wrote that to pressure you into saying something)

what hairstyle should I try 

Source: myfashionaddictions.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

things you should know I don't like to go too short 

I love wearing my hair natural wavy/curly and when it's too short I feel so limited 

also I'm really having a hard time deciding about the bang issue

seems like the new trend is the part in the middle and no bang, 

I think it's really cute but I've had a bang for so long 

Source: google.com via Katie on Pinterest

obviously I'm torn here! 

help!!

Source: google.com.br via Wendy on Pinterest

pictures are possible ideas but definitely not limited to 

stolen

Just a couple days ago we were having a conversation with the family about having something stolen 

I've had a couple things of mine stolen in my life, my first experience was my camera

I'd just returned from my study abroad and two days later my camera was stolen

I hadn't uploaded my pictures yet, which was the worse part someone not only had my camera but 

200+ memories that could never be replaced. 

A couple of years ago Sam's bike was stolen off campus 

he'd been studying for a organic chemistry final for a few hours and packed up at about 1130 PM

he went to hop on his bike and it was gone

cable cut and nothing left 

One time I drove my parents fancy car to teach a class at the U and thought I'd locked it 

it's so fancy schmancy I didn't realize I hadn't locked it 

someone walking by must have noticed and stole an iPod and my tithing money 

which both had been stashed away in the center console

the worse part of that was feeling completely violated

someone that I didn't know was rummaging through the car when I wasn't around 

Well unfortunately we have a new stolen item to add to the list 

sunday morning we left our house early for a church meeting at 7AM 

Sam 'couldn't find our car' because our bike rack was stolen

someone in the middle of the night decided to maneuver our rack off the top of our car 

I should add that the rack is locked onto the car and it had to have taken some skill to get it off

we are extremely grateful no real damage was done to the car 

but again I have that violation feeling 

someone was touching my stuff 

needless to say we can't wait to have a locked garage in a couple weeks 

Seriously though... 

I almost feel more sad for the person stealing things than for the victim

how sad that someone is so desperate that they take other peoples things

they have no self worth, or self integrity. 

I've always been taught when faced with a temptation ask myself

'is it worth my integrity' 

the answer is always no. 

hero

meet james

he's my 8 year old nephew.  

i was so lucky to 'nanny' james and zachary for about 4 straight years 

sometimes i feel like i have a special bond to them 

we love having them and their sister hazel over for sleep overs 

this last april when james was baptized i was shocked to have james ask me to speak 

last week james had to think of a hero to talk about in scouts 

we assumed he would pick someone like obama, because he's just that kinda kid

well turns out that he picked sam to be his hero

 

I couldn't have thought of  a better person

sam was super flattered to hear that james picked him as his hero 

james said sam was his hero because 

'he always makes everyone in the family happy' 

whenever james is around you'll find him glued to sam's side 

they have a special bond and friendship that is so fun to see. 

movie anyone

have you heard of TRAVELZOO?
Sam and I have gone on a few weekend getaways thanks to travel zoo
they have some great deals
every Wednesday I get the top 20 email
this week had a deal too good to pass up.

here's the link
http://www.travelzoo.com/local-deals/deal/7991

It's a two for one movie pass from fandango.  Pay $12 now and get two tickets of your choice
you just gotta go the movie before January 12, 2012

What a perfect low key date for a cold winter night.

struggles

I was looking so forward to our extra hour of sleep this weekend
but now I'm having a hard time adjusting to the new hours
by the time I get off work the sun is close to setting.
I think I have a small case of the winter blues.
After we eat dinner my body just wants to go to sleep because it's so dark and cold!
Hopefully my body will adjust quickly so I can get back to a more productive lifestyle.

How do you cope with the lack of daylight.


After talking to my mom about this last night she told me her favorite part of the day is between 5 and 6
she said it's the most beautiful part and feels so peaceful
i'm going to try to enjoy it today.

keys

we did something scary on halloween 

however it wasn't the typical spooky halloweeny scare

we closed on our first house!!!

we felt like we kinda signed our life away after autographing about 40 pages 

but after spending some time at the new house over the weekend we are thrilled 

we are so excited to have a place of our own

our living space has at least doubled 

we couldn't be happier about living in sugarhouse close to so many things 

driving to work has been cut in half because of awesome freeway access 

we are planning on moving sometime in december 

we're having some work done on the house especially in the basement 

we are going to be renting it out so if you know anyone getting married over the holidays 

if they need a place to live ours will be brand spanking new and in a great location

let us know!

it's funny to think how much life changes 

in january sam and i made all of our goals together 

none of them included a house, the opposite to have 'x' amount saved 

needless to say i think we would have met our goal if something better hadn't come along 

we'll definitely have a house warming party most likely the first of the year 

so keep posted!

looking forward

we are back to Friday's off at my office

i'm looking forward this extra day a week

words can't even begin to explain!

this weekend i'm looking forward to

making some of these and trying them out

Source: macheesmo.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

picking out a color pallet and finding some paint chips

Source: design-seeds.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

Source: marthastewart.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

hanging out in something cozy like this

Source: hush-uk.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

crafting with my sisters, for the Festival of Tree tree

Source: scrapbooksetc.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

plus I just got asked on out a date! can't wait for that especially.

anything that you are looking forward to?

even though...

even though everyone is cursing the colder weather told
especially the snow
I kinda enjoyed it

Source: wildnatureimages.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

of course i am sad to say good bye to warmer days and warm day activities
but something about the snow is magical
it's mesmerizing
just like watching a fire crackle
i could watch it fall all day long

Source: bergoiata.org via amandajayne on Pinterest

every season has it's time
i feel super lucky that fall lasted until november
and i know that winter will end eventually too
bringing back our warmer weather
until then i'll try to embrace the beauty around me

Source: flickr.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

disclaimer: I probably won't have this attitude come March!

yet another birthday date.

I had planned a couple options for our October date. 

I tried to plan something that wasn't Halloweeny because October is always filled already

However our two options that I planned conflicted with the UofU football schedule 

BUT if you know anything about us at all then you know we(Sam) can't miss a game 

so I had to think on my toes and plan something new 

we headed to a pumpkin patch, 

I've always wanted to go and it turned out to be quite fun 

not to mention it's beautiful... I'm a country girl at heart 

I love rows of fields and crops and tractors.  

we found some pumpkins with character and later carved them 

Happy Halloween. 

daily rant

A couple months ago we were chilling with some friends
they were telling us how they just got their auto insurance lowered
they told us how much it was and it was like 40 bucks less than us

I'd been feeling like we have been paying too much for awhile
but this motivated some serious action
Sam called our agent and told him the scoop
the guy 'made some phone calls' and said that we were getting the best deal out there

Source: None via amandajayne on Pinterest

well a couple months later...
we were shopping for home insurance
our loan officer introduced us to an insurance broker
she helped us get home insurance for about 200 dollar/year less than through our other guy
so i had her shop around for auto insurance.

Source: None via amandajayne on Pinterest

drum rollll.....

our auto insurance will be cut in half
starting monday

Source: cheyennemeetschanel.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

yes that's over THREE THOUSAND dollars extra we've paid throughout our marriage
that's a really nice trip
or a baby(i've heard they cost about that much)
new bikes!
a lot of work on house
etc. etc. etc.

Source: thevirginiabelle.tumblr.com via Francesca on Pinterest

so if you think you are getting ripped off, you probably are
even if your guy says your not ask an outside source
then celebrate!

The pictures added are what I'm buying with my new saved money!(a girl can dream)

people

last week was a big week here around the office 

it made me a little embarrassed for any small complaint 

because some of my fellow coworkers were enduring much more 

and with much more class than i ever could.

If you are ever in need of reading an inspiring story click on 

kris and kecia 

blog on the left hand side 

earlier this year they began the process of adopting a down syndrome girl from ukraine

they already have one down syndrome girl of their own and felt inspired to adopt

by the way this is after kecia had miscarried 3 times!

so after spending a crazy amount of time and money they finally got their girl

watch the videos on the blog and you'll be balling

well shortly after they got home they found out they were pregnant 

with twins!

3 new kids in 1 year

they are thrilled but just went through a scare of almost losing the babies 

last week they had to fly to LA for a procedure to save the babies 

it worked, but kecia's on bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy 

it's truly inspiring to read their stories 

it's truly uplifting to read her stories 

i'm sure you know what i'm talking about 

it's great to read nie nie or rockstar diaries but reading someone who you rub shoulders with 

it changes it drastically.  

it makes you want to become better 

appreciate more 

and give.

baby

sam asked me; aren't you worried people think your pregnant since you have a baby board on pinterest?

nope I'm not nervous because nursery's and anything baby for that matter can be some of the cutest things  to check out.  It's going to be challenging decorating a nursery some day so many different directions you can go. here are some of my favorite pinterest nurseries/ baby items. 

Source: None via amandajayne on Pinterest

i love everything about this nursery, the colors, the feeling, the warmth, the bold rug

Source: None via amandajayne on Pinterest

awesome

Source: maryelizabethinspire.tumblr.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

such a cute and affordable wall statement

Source: decorpad.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

pom-poms

Source: None via amandajayne on Pinterest

awesome

Source: None via amandajayne on Pinterest

Source: None via amandajayne on Pinterest

getting ready for the cold

the one bonus to cold weather is wearing cold weather clothes

i love boots, sweaters, coats, scarfs, hoodies etc.

Source: iamagreedygirl.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

doesn't that hoodie look devine?

Source: sahalie.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

love love love boot socks

Source: None via amandajayne on Pinterest

yes please.

Source: None via amandajayne on Pinterest

loving trousers and belts

Source: vi.sualize.us via amandajayne on Pinterest

rugs

pretty soon we are going to need to invest in some rugs for hardwood floors
I've never had to purchase a rug
it's total pressure because it can make or break a room
do you have rugs?
where'd you find them

Source: google.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

Source: google.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

Source: design-elements-blog.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

Source: house36.wordpress.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

Source: hollymathisinteriors.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

Source: fivedaysfiveways.com via amandajayne on Pinterest

Source: mymodbaby.blogspot.com via amandajayne on Pinterest