A Little Project: DIY Window Seat

Nick has been working late pretty much every night for the last 3 weeks...and a girl can only read so many books (especially when she's in a bit of a reading slump -- more on that later). Anyway, as I've been clearing out our home of stuff not going to New Mexico with us, I came across a little shelf in the garage, decided it was serving no practical purpose and decided to re-purpose it. This is what I came up with:

And this is what it looked like before:

 My thought was that if I'm going to try my hand at upholstery, I wanted it to be a no regret situation, just in case it went south. So this is actually a Walmart shelving unit we bought years ago for our specific needs and has been collecting dust and junk in our garage since we moved to our condo. If I ended up destroying it, nothing lost!

Which brings me to what I did and how I did it. Well, I followed this tutorial which was featured here and then I adapted it to my needs (like sanding everything down and then painting the unit because there was scuffs and chips and exposed particle board on the bottom of each shelf and the unit itself...we're cheap like that).

About the paint: I got a quart of Glidden Smooth Stone in Satin from Home Depot which ran me about $13. I wanted the color to have both grey and cream in it so it would mesh with whatever room we put it in (and there's quite a bit left in the can). I also took the 1/2 yard of fabric I got at Hobby Lobby for $2 so I could see them side by side.

The rest of the project was just like the tutorial, except I did end up buying the 1" thick roll of 6' long foam from Hobby Lobby, and using my 40% off coupon it ran me like $11. So the total cost for the project ended up being about $30, which I can do on my budget. Plus, I'm just pretty excited about how it turned out!

I know it's nothing really to write home about, but it filled two needs in our house (de-cluttering the garage and a small place for a few books in Alexa's room). It also filled a creativity and exploration bug in me, so now I'm cured for a while (until we move into a new place hopefully). Plus, with all that extra foam, it looks like I'm going to have to try another upholstery project!!

And now I can say I pretty much can woman-handle a drill. BAM!

AND I also proved once again that Pinterest can actually be a useful endeavor! YAY Pinterest!

(Speaking of...did you see our new social media buttons I put up on our sidebar?? Now we're a little social!)

Let's Get Established, Yeah Yeah Yeah!

"Who, being loved, is poor?" -Oscar Wilde

Okay, cards on the table: I got married when I was 19-years old. Yup, I was a baby, and I looked like a baby, too. See?

It's crazy to think how young I was, and when I tell people, even those of the Mormon faith who tend to marry young anyway, I usually say my surprising young age with a quiet and ashamed voice. Not because I think I made a poor choice, but it seems to me that the world thinks I missed out on a lively single-life experience or that because of my marrying age divorce is inevitable or something along those lines.

Well, amid the sea of statistics and opinions that say Nick's and my marriage (he was only 23) is destined to be ridden with regrets and separation, a friend found and shared an article with me that helps me lift my head with pride about my decision to marry young!

"The fairytale wedding is [seen as a] gateway into adult life. But in my experience, this idea about marriage as the end of the road is pretty misguided and means couples are missing out on a lot of the fun."

 

The article goes onto say a lot of other things, but the jist of it is that since we all have to get financially established and secure our place in the world anyway, why not do it married to your favorite person and enjoy that establishing period all the more??

Good question!

The first example to the contrary I can think of is Scrooge in The Muppet's Christmas Carol who had someone he really cared about and lost her because they didn't have enough money for a descent home.

You maybe snickering to yourself because that maybe a juvenile example, but it's one that is not far from how some people choose to go about their single life -- alone AND poor. How sad! Why not be poor WITH someone who makes poverty a lot more pleasant??

A close friend asked us yesterday if we've been in school our entire married life, and we confirmed their suspicions. You could absolutely say that for the past 7+ years of marriage Nick and I have been getting "established." We don't have tons of excess resources. Neither of us ever spent a summer backpacking through Europe. Our birthday and Christmas gifts have usually been very small and inexpensive items. More than once we've bailed each other out of tough/expensive fixes using creative methods. We have had to say to each other many times four of the most loving words one mate can say to another: "We can't afford it." 

However, like the article said: we have also had so much fun!!  There's not a thing about my financially poor life with Nick that I would change because it has not felt like it was lacking in anything that truly matters! Oh how I love cuddling up with him at night and reminiscing about the life we've established together -- side-by-side, hand-in-hand, as we smile and laugh because we haven't had waffles in months since there are no extra resources to replace our broken waffle iron.

As I look ahead to our 10th, 15th, 20th, 50th, etc. anniversaries, I think how precious these "good ole' days" are going to be to us! How grateful I am to have found my eternal mate so early in my life and to have had the extraordinary opportunity to get established along side him!

While We Were Out...

Hi All! You may or may not have noticed I've taken a bit of a hiatus from blogging for a while, but all that's about to change. James is now 9.5 weeks old and I am starting to figure out how to be a mom and wife without sleep and with 2 kids. Every time I've sat down to post recently I just got this nagging feeling that I should focus on my screaming kids instead of the blog.

So, here is my super lame post about things I should have posted more in depth about during the last couple months:

1. Nick fake graduated and got a 3-year post-doctorate position at Los Alamos National Labratory in Los Alamos New Mexico!

2. Nick will really graduate in August and defend his thesis after which we'll be moving to Los Alamos!

3. We planted our garden! This year it's peppers, strawberries, and onions.

4. James turned two months old! HOLY COW! He weighs 9 lbs. 6 oz., and is a happy and healthy little boy.

 
5. Alexa still really loves James, nearly to his death a few times, but it's all good natured and no one has been permanently damaged...we think.

6. I have some catching up to do but I'm sticking with my goal of reading 50 books this year! I'm about 40-60% through about 5 books right now, so it's not over yet!

7. Nick went to France back in April leaving me at home with a 3 week old and a 2-year old for 8 days!

 The obligatory "Just in Case You Die" photo

8. The loneliness wasn't too bad though because my sister, Cindy, came out to visit for a few days. We had such a great time!

9. I finished my recreational women's soccer league last Friday and dominated the game by scoring 2/4 goals for our team. I'm really going to miss those ladies!


I'm really sure there are more posts I meant to do, but please, for now, consider me caught up and I'll fill you in on a need-to-know basis! 

Got a post already for tomorrow, so I'm serious this time that I'm back in the blogging world! Woot woot!

Applying for Jobs is Complicated!

Nick has been applying to a number of jobs in a variety of fields across the country, and so far has a couple of offers. We're so thrilled! The problem is that now we have to make a lot of serious decisions, and decision-making is not my forte. 

Living in Oregon right next to our family was never really an option for us, simply because Nick has always wanted to teach at a major research university, and Oregon only has a couple of those. But now we have to figure out our preferences for salary, career path, and location. Like how far are we willing to live away from our family in Oregon and for how long? Are we willing to sacrifice salary for preferred career path? And the questions go on and on...

Additionally, we have some birth family in Colorado to consider and that we'd really like to be close to them as well. And of course, recently spending time in Oregon with our families is not making the decision easier. I mean, how are we supposed to keep our kids away from this kind of love in their lives?

We'll keep everyone posted on job updates when we can, but until then, just enjoy your homes,  families, and not packing for the time being. That's what we'll be doing!

In Your Patience You Posess Your Souls

“Patience means accepting that which cannot be changed and facing it with courage, grace, and faith. It means being 'willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon [us], even as a child doth submit to his father.' Ultimately, patience means being 'firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord'  every hour of every day, even when it is hard to do so.”  President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Continue in Patience, emphasis added

Thursday was one of those times that was really hard to be firm and steadfast, only because waiting for good things is just not fun sometimes.

So today I will make the situation I cannot change better through gratitude and work. That is my goal today: to lose myself in work and service and to express my gratitude for all that I have, both to God and those people around me.

I will begin by saying Thank You to Ray and Melissa, because they brought me this moment during a walk Alexa and I took recently.

Every moment I have with her is because of you, so thank you for this particular one! My heart is always full of gratitude for you both and the decision you made nearly 2-years ago! I am a mom because they had the love, faith, and courage to do what they knew was right for their daughter. Words cannot express my heart...

Last night in my prayers I recommitted myself to prepare for the arrival of our next child. When I have the opportunity to be a mother of two, I want to be ready for it! If in my patience I posses my soul, I hope that all this patient preparation I am doing is refining my soul into the person the Lord needs me to become. 

Sometimes there are Thursdays, days when you'd give up if you could, but you have no choice but to continue in patience. But today is Tuesday, and today I am going to do all I can to possess my soul through this time of necessary patience!

My Thoughts on Teen/Single Moms

Remember that one time before Alexa (I barely do sometimes...) that I was working? Well, I was, and I worked for this non-profit in Denver that helped run an alternative high school for teen moms. Maybe you've heard of it: Florence Crittenton High School? Ring any bells?

Well, if it does ring any bells, it might be because that high school is now the subject of the new TLC show High School Moms. I haven't been able to watch any episodes yet, but I've seen clips and interviews and mostly the school looks just as incredible on TV as it does in real life.

While I was working there, seeing all these pregnant or parenting teen moms, and at that time very much wanting my own children in my family, the question I got most often was "Is it really hard working there?"

I don't know this student, but I know the nurse and she is one of the most fabulous people ever met!

I must admit that some days/situations were harder to bare than others, but mostly I found so much unexpected love, admiration, respect, and joy for those moms and their children! I was planning on going in there, doing my data analysis work, and going home. The problem with that plan was that as I spoke with the students and learned of their love and dedication to their children and families that it was so easy to fall in love with them and their children! My whole experience there made it possible for me to let go of my jealousy and envy and anger towards single moms who choose to parent and embrace them as loving mothers, just like me.

My sister was a teen mom and parented her daughter (Abby), and is now a wonderful mother to her three children. She is married to her children's father, and they have created a wonderful family together of which I admire and strive to emulate on a regular basis.

 Me, my niece Abby, and my Sister Cindy after a trip to the mall.

I hold no resentment towards teen moms or single moms, like Hayley, who choose to parent their children instead of placing them for adoption. They're not preventing me from parenting my own children, they're just loving theirs. How can I be angry when their biggest crime is that they love their children too much to let them go? My only hope is that I can help them through their challenges as a mother, as I hope they can also help me through mine. Lord knows my life has been immeasurably blessed by teen/single moms, and I am so grateful for those moms who have shown me so much of what being a loving mom is all about.

***Disclaimer: Alexa's birthmom does not fit that single or teen mom description at all, so I maintain that my admiration for teen/single mom's is unbiased and extremely reliable. I have not been compensated for this post, nor will I be because, honestly, no one is willing to pay me for it.*** 

Making My Workout Spiritual

The more I study the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the more I realize that it is so profound in its simplicity. It's all about transformation.

Transforming sinners into saints, men and women into Gods and Goddesses, individuals into families, carnal into eternal, and, in this case 151.4 lbs. into 135 lbs.

151.4 lbs is what I weighed in yesterday morning, I think the most I have ever weighed in my life. I honestly don't know if other people can tell I weigh that much (I am quite muscular), but I can sure tell, and I don't like it.

And you know, I've said it before, I can do hard things, and so if I don't like something about my life, I can change it!

I have tried eating healthier and running daily in the past, and the thing with eating well and exercising is that when you do it consistently, it actually works! Two summers ago I weighed 135ish pounds and felt great and got compliments from people on how I looked. I had eating healthy goals and ran 2 miles 5 days a week (I know around here that's child's play, but back then that was a lot for me).

Back then I had been told by my Reproductive Endocrinologist that exercising daily would help the cysts on my ovaries chill out a bit and help the crazy medication he was giving me work better. So that was my motivation when I wanted to be lazy instead of run or when I got tired while running. I would push myself and say "This is for you little baby. I'm going to be better for you. I'm going to run faster for you. I'm going to run harder for you." And so on and so forth. It was all about becoming a mother, which worked as motivation for me back then.

Once we decided that adoption was our Plan A, my running eventually tapered off and became extremely sporadic, and became a decision I had to make everyday instead of one I had already made. For me losing weight cannot be just about the weekly weigh-in, because I won't lose weight everyday/week and sometimes I'm willing to sacrifice a pound or two for a delicious slice of cheesecake or a mountain of French Toast.

This is where making my workout and "diet" (I put it in quotes because 2,000 calories is what I should be eating, I'm just going to be more diligent about it) spiritual is so important. Weight loss goals come and go, but living physically well is a lifestyle, just like living spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually well are. It's about transforming the self that is "acted upon" by cravings and slothfulness into the self that acts upon those things with self-control and determination. (source, verse 14) It's about transforming the self that is eating too often to tidy the house into the self that is able to serve others because the new self has her life in order.

Source: happilymaintaining.tumblr.com via Rachel on Pinterest

I'll share more about the specifics of my workout and diet plan soon, I just thought I would pontificate upon some of my thoughts as of recently in regards to my body and how I am trying to accept it for what it is as well as make it the best I can! And as a parting thought, here was something I found extremely funny on Pinterest the other day. Enjoy!

Source: facebook.com via Rachel on Pinterest

PS As a little bonus, if I continue to get up at 6am daily and workout 6 days a week, I get to cross off a couple goals from my 101 in 1001 list. YAY!

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

One of the songs I sing to Aly when I put her to sleep says the following:

I'm trying to be like Jesus;

I'm following in His ways.

I'm trying to love as He did

In all that I do and say.

At times I am tempted to make a wrong choice,

But I try to listen as the still small voice whispers:

"Love one another as Jesus loves you.

Try to show kindness in all that you do.

Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought,

For these are the things Jesus taught."

Typically this song is sung by children. In fact, I sang this song many times as a child, which is why the words still resonate with me. It wasn't until I was a teenager that these words really sunk in. For the first time I realized this is how I hope I live my life, all summed up in one little song. 

And so I sing it to my daughter, because this is how I hope she lives her life. 

There are many other things I really want my daughter to know. Of course a knowledge of Jesus Christ is the center of that, but I hope she learns many other wonderful things as well. I was just watching a commencement speech given by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Inc., to Stanford graduates in 2005. He concluded his comments with the phrase

"Stay hungry. Stay foolish." 

Sidenote: Aly is hungry almost every 3 hours to a T, so I hope if she stays that hungry she learns to feed herself.

I imagine he means to stay ambitious, hungry for life and opportunities. Alexa is hungry for formula, but she is also so eager to search and absorb new things. She loves being outside, despite the bright sun. That girl is hungry, and I hope she never loses that.

Alexa is also very naive. She has no idea about the foreign oil crisis or that the Missouri tornado death count reached 116, making it tied for the deadliest tornado in America on record [source]. And to be honest, she doesn't care. All she cares about is that when she cries someone is there to meet her needs, and if we're really good, we meet her needs before she cries. Of course I want her to have compassion for others, but I don't want her to lose focus of what is really important in life, and for the moment she has that down! She knows her mommy and daddy will be there to help her no matter what, and that she has to nap even when she thinks she doesn't want to nap. That's it. Steve Jobs called it foolishness to believe the world is as small as your 900 sq ft condo. I call it focus.

As she grows older and learns new things, she will grow more hungry/passionate for specific things, first bubbles then horses then boys then who knows. As that hunger grows, I hope her foolishness/focus grows with it. I hope she believes that she can go and do anything her passionate heart leads her to do. And it's my job, as her mother, to nurture her with all the tools she needs to get her there, and I think the least of those tools is money, and the greatest of those tools is love.

That's what I wish and hope for my baby girl. To stay hungry, stay foolish, and stay with God. And I'll love her every moment, especially as that hunger and foolishness leads to heartbreak and frustration, and as that devotion to God leads to service, compassion, and unavoidable sorrow for the pains of others. And her daddy will do the same...probably trying to help with money because he's a pushover!

What do you hope for your children?

The Sun Is A Fun Place To Work

I am a graduate student and research assistant at the University of Colorado in astronomy and physics.  My research involves making computer simulations of the interior of the sun to study the sun's magnetic fields.  Like the Earth, the sun has a magnetic field but since the sun is a plasma the magnetic field interacts with everything, not just magnets.  Here's a cool example of this from the surface of the sun thanks to a solar telescope in Italy (click to enlarge):

Each of those little lines is a jet of 5,000 degree plasma several hundred miles wide and several hundred thousand miles long moving at over 30,000 miles per hour.  The magnetic field creates a tube the makes all of the gas flow in the same direction. 

So where does the magnetic field come from and how does it get out to the surface of the sun?  Those are the kinds of questions I'm trying to answer.

What to write....

To be honest, I really don't know these days.

Since I started working, I get up at 5:15ish, off to work by 6:45, get home around 5pm, make dinner, and hangout with Nick or do one of the billion things on our agenda for that day. Life is super busy and I have hard time figuring out what would be interesting for you to read about.

Therefore, I am coming to you! Please help!! What would you like to know about, see, or hear on our blog? I realize I've been lame recently, but I honestly put so much effort into each post that it is difficult to find an hour or so that I have to dedicate everyday, or even every other day. I'm not even on Facebook or even my computer that much anymore.

So please, questions, thoughts, suggestions, prompts, hypothetical situations, likes and dislikes about the blog or us are all welcome! (I am really hoping I get a lot of comments or questions on Formspring because at the very least I could use a jumping off point for a couple posts.) Help a sista out!

This Is How I Roll

The following is a video about the organization I work with, Florence Crittenton Services. I love all these girls, their children, and the people I am privileged to work with. I know I was brought to this organization to gain a love for these people and gain an understanding of what good mothers, students, employees, friends, family members, and citizens they are. Enjoy the video!

Saturday Seventeen #1: Confessions

I know I am a couple days late, so I thought I would make it up by doing something you're all going to love: 16 confessions about me (and maybe some from Nicholas).

1. I didn't shower yesterday, but I got 3 compliments on my hair, so I don't feel bad about it at all.

2. I YouTube pretty much every Glee song after I watch the episode because I love them but am too cheap to purchase them all. I only get the ones I REALLY love.

3. Because Glee does a lot of covers of songs, I try to buy the originals if the Glee version isn't better because, well, I just think that's the right thing  to do. (Like Single Ladies, Halo, Hate On Me, etc.)

4. I would happily go without honey if it meant I could rid the earth of bees. I really am freaked out by them and hate them so much and am disgruntled they are trying to build a hive outside of of our sliding glass door and even though we've tried to kill them twice, they just won't die!

5. I get honestly excited when a song comes up randomly in iTunes that I haven't heard in a long time. If I am looking to be really excited I put on my playlist entitled "Old School."

6. Recently, my book reading has become scarce, and I feel guilty that I've been watching so much of So You Think You Can Dance and America's Got Talent, my two favorite shows recently instead of reading.

7. Last night we watched Clash of the Titans but I REALLY didn't want to until the girl at Blockbuster said that she's not really into that kind of movie, but it wasn't bad--not life-changing, but not bad. I feel the same way.

8. I nearly laughed out-loud in an employee training yesterday when I was described as having "strategic vision." I know it was supposed to be a compliment, but I had no idea I had that.

9. I have practiced learning how to spell "supposed" without spell-checker, and I think I got it!

10. Nicholas and I slept in until almost 10am today. It was pretty perfect!

11. I'm surprisingly not as discouraged as one might think I should be that we have been trying to have children for 4 years. Seriously, I'm a little surprised myself, but I have so much hope and faith in the future, there's really nothing to be discouraged about. At least not today.

12. Nicholas is currently doing the dishes and I feel a little guilty for writing a post instead of helping.

13.This past Thursday (one of the reasons I didn't post then), was because a church activity was scheduled to be held in our home so I spent 1.5 hours sweeping and moping and tidying and wiping...and only one person showed up. That's okay though, we had a wonderful chat in a pretty clean home.

14. I kinda really want a fish. I'd prefer a dog, but we really don't have the space for a dog right now, so I kinda want a fish, but don't know if I can justify the expense of getting all the stuff when we don't even have a little kid to enjoy watching it. Plus, I know I'd talk to it when Nick wasn't around, and I'm not sure I'm okay with that.

15. As I am typing this post I keep on thinking of this song (from Glee of course, I don't really like this one, but it's true):

"These are my confessions!"

16. I don't wear nail polish on my fingers because I find them very distracting. Seriously.

17. Originally this post was only 16, but I wanted to show this picture I've recently snapped so I added another one. I love it!