warning; I got crafty :)

Want to see what I've been up to for the past couple of days??

Even though Eric thinks my wreath is lame (men) I freakin' love it! And I better love it... because this was a 2 day project! I'm not a crafty girl, I want to be, but I'm just not. But when I saw this project on Taylor's blog I just knew I had to try it, and I'm so glad I did! (Even though I whined and complained, was super slow at everything, and messed up more than once.. haha) I've decided to make one craft per holiday, and with the help of crafty friends I'm pretty sure I'll make it happen :)
Speaking of Taylor, I want to give a big thank you and shout out to Taylor and Emma for for mentioning me on your blogs! I am totally feeling the bloggy love, and I'm definitely feeling blessed to be making so many new friends!
While I'm at at, let's talk about friends :) The past couple of months I have been feeling extremely blessed, very satisfied with my life, and simply happy. I dare say northern Utah feels like home now. And I owe a big part of that to all of my friends!

Plus so many more that aren't pictured.

I was so worried when we moved up here that I wouldn't make any new friends and that life would be miserable. I was so wrong! It has been so fun to live by old friends, grow closer to other friends, and to gain new friendships that I know will last throughout my life. If and when we move away, it's going to break my heart to put distance between my new friends. But I'm just not going to worry about that right now :) I am looking forward to having a much happier winter, thanks to the help of all of my friends! I am so blessed!

a simple date night + my pinterest

Sometimes when plans change (and you have no control over them) a simple date night with friends/family (we'll claim them either way- ha!), delicious junk food, and adorable little nuggets makes for the BEST night!

Can you tell how much she loved having her picture taken?? She is the perfect amount of girly... and I need one just like her :)
We truly are blessed in the friends/family department!

P.S. I'm finally becoming addicted to Pinterest! You can follow me here

Beware: this may not surprise you at all... but most of my pins are food ;)

I confess...

I am just in rambling mode today. I'm using Rissy's idea to say what's on my mind..

I confess: I've been you tubing songs I used to play on the piano. I miss it so much. My fingers are literally aching to touch some piano keys! I'm sure that if I had access to a piano and my music I could sit there for 3 hours straight, minimum, and play my little heart out.
I confess: sometimes I shock people with  my language. I say "freakin'" and "pissed" a lot. People say I look too innocent to say those words :) I really should clean up my vocab.
I confess: I want to be competitive with running. Now that I have goals to run races, I want to run them really fast. In fact, I wouldn't mind coming in first! That's not going to happen with my 10k, because I'm rushing to train in time, but someday I want to be fast. You see, I've never excelled in anything. I've been good or great, but never the best. I'm not saying I will become the best, but if feels good to know that I AM going to put forth my best effort. And I really think that I can excel :)
I confess: I really like rap/hip-hop music. That one always shocks people too. It motivates me when I work out!
I confess: I would totally go dancing with my hubs every weekend if there were places to go. Maybe we'll have to do a ball room dance class, someday? I think that would be so sexy to know how to dance like that with each other! tmi??
I confess: I am extremely baby hungry. I want a baby, like now. Alas, when the time is right, we can get going on that :)
I confess: I'm about to get crafy (Halloween decor!) and I'm excited about it :) Maybe this will put me in a happy mood for fall, haha!
I confess: I love Eric. But you already knew that :) I mean, I love Eric for loving me his way, instead of the way I think he should love me. His way is perfect. 

 I confess: I've been teasing teasing Eric with the idea of chopping my hair off. Then I saw this picture, I'll definitely continue to grow it out instead :)


And that's all I've got for today :) Totally random, but I'd love to know what's going on inside your head! Also, a huge thank you to Laynah, Ashley, and Carlie for mentioning me on your cute blogs! I seriously have the best bloggy friends!

my car + a double whammy

So last week we paid my car off.. woo hoo! Awesome feeling :) Anyway, I felt compelled to share a couple stories of what my car has been through... at the expense of my amazing family members :) So please, enjoy!

(Pretty sure my car hasn't been washed for a couple months, oops!)

Over 3 years ago my parents went on a cruise for their 25th anniversary. They left my younger brother home alone but asked if Eric and I would stop in to check on him. We stopped by the night they left, and pulled into the drive way because who would need to get out of the garage? Well my little brother had to run an errand and decided to take my dad's car. (Side note: someone ran into the back of my dad's car a couple weeks before this and he'd just had the back bumper replaced. Brand new bumper.) All the sudden my little brother ran into the house, swearing in a panic, telling me he'd just backed into my car. You've got to be kidding me. Sure enough, my car had missing paint and an ugly dent for proof. My dad's car looked even better, that brand new bumper had a hole torn into it. Yes, I just said a HOLE! I have no pictures for proof, but I promise it happened. And I promise I wanted to kill the brother. Alas, insurance saved the day and fixed both of our cars.

(via)

This isn't my dad's car, but I had to show a picture of the type of car he had to make the story more tragic. I think the Infiniti G35 is so pretty. And my dad loved it and was so careful with it :)

Last summer we dropped by my parents home for a few minutes. We pulled into the drive way because we were sure no one would be leaving before us. Turns out, my dad had to go run a quick errand. He wasn't gone very long at all before we heard him come back inside the house. "Courtney, I just backed into your car." Deja-freakin-vu. You've got to be kidding me. We go outside and sure enough! The same dent was put back in my bumper, and more paint was scraped off. I have to admit... we all shed a tear or two over this one. You see, my dad had upgraded by this point. And this beauty's paint was all over my car...

My dad's new car and the drive way that no one should ever park in.

We all felt sorta sick to our stomach's about this one. Poor pretty car. And, as if my car hadn't been through enough drama the first time around!
Even though my family has taken their turns abusing my car, it has been so good to me! I'm grateful to own such a great, trustworthy car. And I shall never ever park in my parents drive way again. You'd be wise to do the same :) 

 P.S. Dad, Derrick, and all other family members, I'd really appreciate it if you'd learn to look behind you BEFORE backing out. Preferably before I have children ;)

weekend highlights + a recipe

-Dinner with my bestie, my little bestie, and the boyfriend. We approve, Ash! :)

-Hanging out with my little bestie is my favorite thing in the world. LOVE that little diva!

-Ice cream makes us lose control.

-Just some baby lovin'.

-Do you see what happens when I interrupt Eric's ice cream time with a picture?

-Saturday with more of our bestie's! All of our friends have babies or are pregnant... are we missing something? ;)

 -Basically... it was an almost perfect weekend filled with bestie's, food, and babies. The only thing that would've made it better was if it was WARMER! I'm not wearing that jacket because I want to. Yuck! Summer, please come back?

Speaking of food, want the easiest, yummiest sweet pork recipe?? I know you do, so check out my guest post on Kyna's blog!! Then come back and tell me your favorite guacamole recipe PLEASE :) I need to learn how to make it!

because we all like to talk about this... ha!

Warning: I am posting some pretty NOT cute pictures of myself... don't be scared, and please continue to be my friend :)
 
So, today I am talking about my fitness. Last winter was pretty tough for me, I was a little depressed, and I liked to eat as much crap as I could. There was no way I was leaving the house to work out (even though I needed it) in the awful winter weather. No way. This summer I realized I'd become a little more squishy than ever. I guess eating junk and not working out actually does make a difference. Who knew?
Anyway, I decided it was time to get back in shape! The squishy body was definitely incentive to get back to work, but honestly I made this decision because it just.feels.good. My winter depression was a result of multiple reasons, but a part of it was sitting on my bum all the time. I totally believe that working out is good for the mind, body, and soul!
I still eat all the junk I want, I'm not good with self control. But I make it a point to work out 5 days a week. A fab body surely is a perk of working out (not that I have one,but I wouldn't mind to have one someday ha) but I think the best part of working out is feeling like I have a powerful body. It feels so good to know that if I need to lift a heavy object- I can. Twisting off a water bottle cap is another story, that's what husbands are for :) If I need to run- I can run. You get the point? Women should feel powerful, so I'm not letting this go. I'm going to continue to work out because it feels good, because I like it, and because I'm doing it for me.

Nicole and I meet each morning between 6-6:30 for our run. We have witnessed some of the most beautiful sunrises ever! I'm going to have to start running with my camera to capture some proof! #crazyblogger
Confession: I don't have a twitter, I've never even seen a twitter, but I've always wanted to do that hash tag thing haha!
Want to hear some exciting/crazy news? Nicole and I will be running a 10k next month. I figured if I'm going to kill myself, I  may as well be thorough and skip the 5k :) Wish us luck! Because we all know I definitely need it haha!

I'm the complainer in this relationship... obviously.

We had already been doing Jillian Michael's No Trouble Zones dvd (LOVE it) and when I saw 30 Day Shred all over blog land we decided to give it a try. It is SO great! So great that I never have the violent urge to punch Jillian Michael's in the mouth. Sometimes work out videos have that affect on me.. Tony Horton anyone?? Anyway, we definitely recommend both of those work out DVDs to everyone! Try them, you'll be so happy you did!

Running, spin, free weights, work out DVDs, these are all a huge part of my life now. My day, my body, and my attitude are all better because of them. Feeling powerful is much more important to me than feeling skinny, THAT is why I am loving getting back in shape.

blond or brunette?

 

I've never been really adventurous with my hair... crazy words coming from a hairstylist right? :) Shortly after Eric and I got married I did cut 15 inches off... and I loved it. Of course, I don't really have pictures to show off... blogging has really changed my life when it comes to documenting and picture taking :)

Anyway, I've really been craving a change (without chopping the hair) and this is the result! I know it's hard to tell by pictures, but I added quite a bit of brown through my blond locks, and it's changed my look quite a bit! More than I was expecting :) I've always been blond, and I love it so much, but I'm thinking I could add a lot more brown. I guess we'll see what I come up with next... and hope the husband still loves me if I'm no longer a blond! ;)

Park City

Friday night was so perfect for us! Our dinner at The Roof and cute room at the Anniversary Inn... just what we needed! Saturday was the perfect day, we went to Park City! We shopped at the outlets (I'm seriously never going to be able to pay full price for clothes after all the deals I've been finding!) and spent some time at the Olympic Park.

We took a break from shopping and snacked on Pretzels. I don't know why, but I neeeed to have those every time I shop. They are disgustingly good! Obviously Eric agrees, he couldn't stop chewing long enough to take a picture... sorry about his manners ;)

We were lucky enough to catch the last freestyle ski jumping show of the year! That was so neat to watch- but I personally think these people are crazy. Or just brave :) I could never have the guts to do these jumps!

The pictures aren't awesome, I was more focused on watching the jumps instead of making sure it looked good through the camera haha! Oh and if you ever find yourself in Park City (call me, so we can meet up duh.) go eat lunch at Good Thymes. They have the best sweet potato fries and rueben sandwich... YUM!

Eric woke up feeling pretty crappy Sunday morning so we ended up just relaxing and being lazy Sunday and Monday. But overall, we had a great Labor Day weekend :)

Salt Lake City

Yes, our anniversary was in May :) But we were in need of a special stay-cation! So we enjoyed a delicious dinner with the most perfect view. And we stayed in the cutest room ever. We'd highly recommend it! The best part of all, spending a romantic night together, just the 2 of us!

Need I say more?? ;)

husband lovin'

God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
And for when I think I lost my way
There are no words here left to say, it’s true
God gave me you...

Listen to song here

 

If only you all could know just how true this is.

every.single.word.

And each night I thank God for my Eric.

I love him so much.

If you're in the mood for something a lot less cheesy go check out my guest post here.  You may or may not learn a little about my childhood :) And you'll hear the best workout song I have on my ipod, check it out!