Valentine

As much as I love love, you can imagine that Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays. I'll pretty much take any opportunity to be & feel romantic so I put together a little Valentine gift list with a few sweet & small gestures to 'treat yo self' to for the occasion.    

1. Cat Rings
2. Roses Candle
3. Cristina Re Designer Tea Cups
4. Too Faced Makeup Brushes
5. Love Letter Necklace
6. Chanel Eau Tendre Perfume
7. Kate Spade New York Watch



Today I feel incredibly rewarded & so thankful that I have Trev as my partner. I am overwhelmed with the thought that I have someone to love each day, someone to laugh with, someone to cry with, someone who knows more about me than even I know sometimes & someone that I can rely on, be there for & learn more about every day for the rest of my life. I had never imagined my life being so fulfilling, so adventurous & so worthwhile as it has been since I've met & fell in love with him & I can't envision where I would be without him. 

I love you, my Valentine.

Highlights of 2013

2013 was truly a year for the books! It was a tremendous year filled with lots of love, learning & happiness. Some of the highlights of 2013 for me were:

1. Buying a house. We were not looking for a house by any means. We were almost up on our lease at our apartment & when Realtor friend wanted to show us this house that just went on the market that he thought would be perfect for us - mainly because it's so environmentally safe & 50% off the grid. After looking at it one time, we knew that this is where we wanted to be permanently. The place we wanted to make our memories in & have forever. 

2. Seeing Germany. Ever since I was in 5th grade I've had a weird obsession with Germany (I think it started because my then best friend Alex J's step-dad was incredibly German & I loved it when he would speak German to his parents). I would research things about WW2, medieval towns in Germany, The Berlin Wall, etc. & when I was in 7th grade, I started learning the language in school. So needless to say, most of my life I've wanted to go Germany & never did; until this year, & it just so happens that I was also proposed to there, in the courtyard of the Neuschwanstein Castle. 

3. Getting engaged. This was something I've actually never thought would happen for me. Throughout my life I always wondered what it would be like to have someone love you so much that they ask you with all of their heart to spend your life with them. Which is part of the reason why Trev's proposal was such a surprise and such an incredible event that I will always hold dear.

4. Real Salt Lake made it to the MLS Cup! I know this may not be a big milestone for a lot of people reading this, but this season for RSL made me see them, & my friends in a different way. Our team worked so hard & it was such an amazing feeling to celebrate their success with them & with my friends. It's such a wonderful sight to see all everyone, including my darling fiance, faces light up with pride & hope. We didn't win the cup, but it was such a fun ride all the way to the end. I can't wait for another season & another year of celebrating their success & hard work. 

5. Overcoming personal obstacles to become a better step-mother. This one is a hard one for me to explain. Going from being a 23 year old single gal doing as I please, to instantly becoming a parent was not easy to say in the least. The challenges I faced were some of the hardest things I've ever had to overcome. Now, I want to be clear that it was NEVER hard to be Aiden's friend. There hasn't been a moment in my role in his life that I've wished I wasn't in the situation I'm in. Aiden is an absolute miracle for me &  I am so very thankful for every moment I get to spend with him. I'm mentioning this as one of my highlights for the year because I've worked REALLY hard to establish my place in Aiden's family & to be someone in his life that he can count on, can love, & to be someone who understands him & his many relatives (step families & otherwise). I am quite proud of myself for this because, sadly to say, this is one of the only times that I've ever had to set my feelings, my needs & myself aside to make someone else happy & unafraid. I still continue learning & establishing my role, & I'm sure that will never stop, but it has definitely become easier along the way.        

All in all, I'm very happy with where my life is heading & with who I am becoming. I still have so much to look forward to & I'm trying my very best to recognize & appreciate every moment.    
  

Nailed!

Those of you that follow me on Instagram, Facebook & Pinterest might already know that Trev & I recently got engaged! I'm not sure if everyone got the full story, & I do love to tell it, so here it is: 

3 days into our Germany trip (August 19th) we visited the Neuschwanstein Castle (a lot of people -Americans- refer to it as the Sleeping Beauty Castle). After buying our tour tickets, riding the bus to the ground entrance & walking up the beautiful tree lined path under a shared umbrella in the rain, we arrived at the castle. Waiting for our scheduled tour, we walked around reading signs & taking many pictures. We walked up a set of stairs that lead to the main cobblestone courtyard when the rain briefly cleared. Posing for a picture, I felt him slightly pull a way & when I looked, the love of my life was stark white, shaking, & down on one knee. I wish I could tell you everything he said in that moment, but I was in such an absolute shock that all I remember was him asking me to marry him. & I, of course, said yes.  

Weekend Project No. 1

Now that I have the leisure of doing what I want to the house (because I own it.. still so weird), I've been compiling a To Do List of Weekend Projects. Since I haven't owned a house before, & have very little experience working on a house, I decided to start out with something small & easy; yet very important... I painted our master bathroom pink!! 

After 2 new magazine subscriptions, 3 weeks of research, HGTV, Pinspiration & a battle with our laziness, we went to the glorious Home Depot & purchased all of our painting supplies & 1 gallon of Behr, VOC-Free (Volatile Organic Compound) paint in a pink shade called 'Frolic'. 

It was a lot more work than I thought it would be because I, of course, think that I'm the most coordinated person on the planet & it turns out to be quite the opposite. Luckily, I had Trev there to bring me back to reality & help me tape all the places that shouldn't have paint, that I would most definitely have gotten paint on. 

After the long process of taping, situating our Eco-Friendly drop cloth &  making sure our curious cats stay out of the bathroom, we finally got to painting!

& this is how it turned out:

The day I started this project, I saw a Home Depot commercial where a lady paints her bedroom bright blue & bright green. As soon as she finishes & shows her husband the result, she quickly stands up & says "I wan't to paint something else!" - Well the whole time I was painting, that commercial was playing in my head & I kept thinking, 'That b!%$*! How could she be so excited to do this to more than once? I'm never painting anything ever again!' - But now that I'm finished & walk into my lovely pink bathroom every day, I really can't wait to paint more rooms in our house!

New-New Castle

We bought a new house! 

We've lived here for 2 weeks and we're almost all the way unpacked. It's been really fun finding a new place for everything, including getting the arcades out of the living room! I'm excited to start our weekend projects and our painting and decorating. 
This home ownership thing is a first for us so I'm sure we're going to be learning from our (many) mistakes along the way. & we obviously have loads of gardening to figure out, but I think it's going to be an incredible life here with my darling egg & his little. 

The Castle

I've had on the back of my mind so many ideas & thoughts for changing our living room [our whole apartment really] I've been SO sick of what it looks like, lately especially. I have progressively been rearranging furniture [in my mind and in real life], until finally about 2 weeks ago, I couldn't take it anymore. Naturally, I looked to Pinterest, & you know how women on Pinterest get [especially us Capricorns], & came up with some wonderful, do-able, affordable solutions to my living room problem. 
So last night, Trev & I went to Target & RC Willey. We got new curtains, a new rug, and a gorgeous new ottoman. We set it all up last night [sans curtains; that's tonight's project] & I am feeling SO much better better about the way it's starting to look. I still have a few things to do to get it all together, but with the changes made so far, it feels a lot more comfortable and relaxing. 

I'm not going to post a picture of our actual living room in this post because [I'm a dummy] & forgot to take a 'before picture' so I'll have to look through my old phone for one. Also because I want include the new curtains in the after pic as well. BUT here are some photos I found & used for inspiration. 

I'm Back!

I tried out my other blog for a while, & maybe it's just because I'm not as internet savvy as I thought I was, but I just couldn't figure out how to work WordPress. After all of the frustration & multiple temper tantrums trying to figure it out, I gave up & let myself get out of the blogging habit. Having recently looked through this blog, & remembering all the effort I have put into it & all of the fun I've had with it,  I really missed it & I just can't give it up. 

So, since it's been quite a while, here's a little update on me & mine. No major changes (other than two weeks ago, I cut my hair to shoulder length, which I'm still not used to but I do like the change.)

Work: I work at the same place that I still absolutely love, & about 6 months ago, I was promoted! I am no longer the receptionist! I've moved into my own office, which I still need to decorate & have been obsessing over on pinterest. 

Love: Trev & I celebrated our 2 year anniversary on October 23 (which is Mole Day, so we had a science themed party; pictures soon). After returning from Paris, we moved into our new apartment, which is absolutely incredible. It's been so fun to decorate & organize our little home together. I feel like I have more love for him than I ever thought I would have for anyone. <3 font="" nbsp="">

Family: Aiden is still the most incredible, impressive kid I've ever met. I am so proud of him every day & still get blown away with how his mind works. He's also becoming more and more like his father than I ever expected or thought possible. We got Aiden a gaming chair, one of the best gamer headsets you can buy & a pro gamer Xbox controller for Christmas. Recently, he's joined a very prestigious Black Ops 2 guild and it's become so fun to watch him play.  

Nerd Life: I am now an iPhone 5 owner. My D&D (Dungeons & Dragons) character (the Drow) is almost level 5. Trev is starting to build arcades; we have 2 in our house now & 1 at his work. I've been reading like crazy! At least 1 book a month, including one I've always wanted to read; Ender's Game. I started playing WOW (World of Warcraft) & my Draenei Hunter is level 89, (Max level is 90), & I'm hesitating on leveling to end game because then I have no idea what to do (N00b). 

Soccer: I've been getting way more involved in Trev's soccer supporter's group Salt City United. Since the group has gotten REALLY big over the last year, I've been involving myself more & trying to help Trev keep things organized. We've been working on something for the new season & I can't wait to get it finished! We've been watching the preseason games, but we're SO excited for the First season game on March 3rd & the first home game is on March 16th!

So over all, life has been really good & I'm glad to be back.