Jared's new job

It's been such a crazy month but I really wanted to remember how excited we were for this change. The thing that we wanted to have happen for years has happened! Jared got a new job!!!

He has been ready for a change for a while, but the way the job market was we couldn't find the right fit and it was so competitive in the areas he was interested in. On top of that with his psychology degree there wasn't much he was qualified for in that field without a Master's degree. So we've just kind of been biding our time as to what to do. We were looking at all kinds of options, National Guard, Going back to school to get a master's although he wasn't sure what he really wanted to get a master's in which is why we didn't do that, Police academy to become a police officer, human resources, etc. etc. But nothing ever worked out.

We were getting really discouraged because of some jobs we thought for sure he would get and didn't and then out of the blue this job at his current employer came up. He applied for it, interviewed a couple days later and heard back only a couple hours after his interview that he got the job! It was a whirlwind how quickly it happened, and I know that many many prayer's on our behalf helped make it possible.

For the first time in over five years Jared will no longer be working graveyards, and for the first time in our entire marriage neither of us is working graveyards. It's like we're newlyweds all over again! We get to have dinner as a family every night, he's home on Saturday's to help me around the house and with the kids, he will get major holiday's off, much more PTO then he had, and all around it will just be sooo much better than it has been! Already it has been such an amazing change in the small and simple things that you take for granted: I've been able to go grocery shopping without the kids, we have been able to make our bed every morning (we bought a new bedspread!), and he can help me pick up or drop off the kids at preschool or my parents. Life is infinitely better and I'm so grateful!

Be Meteors not Planets

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of a man is to live, not to exist. -Jack London

Happy New Years! How is it already 2018 already? I feel like just yesterday it was 2016 and I was having Graham and Hilton was only 2 years old still. Why is time going so fast?? (insert sobbing face here)

Last year I tried to make a New Year's resolution for every aspect of life: kids, husband, financial, physical etc. etc. and it was WAY too much. Even though I only had 6-7 goals I forgot them and just never kept up with them. So this year I'm doing one blanket goal to try and motivate myself.

 

'Take the bull by the horns'

 

I find myself in life in general hesitating and hemming-and-hawing over even minor decisions and its something my anxiety feeds off of. And so I'm going to stop the hesitating (or work on stopping it) and be more decisive and less worried about what people will think about my decisions.

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now. -Goethe

 

 

 Additionally, above is our family theme for 2018: Look Forward with Steadfastness. We're praying for some changes and blessings in 2018 that we've been working towards for a long time and I'm hoping they come together, but if not we will continue to 'Look forward with Steadfastness' for the next blessing to come our way.

 

And because our kids are just so cute...some Christmas Eve photos

(not pictured is Jared napping on the couch)

Happy 2018!

 

 

My reason for being finished with Facebook

WARNING: This is a vent session.

One thing that I have wanted to express somewhere - but not on Facebook for major public consumption - is why I have stopped Facebook-ing. Back in 2015 I stopped for about a year because I was sick of the political posts and general arguments that broke out because of opinionated posts. I started again after I had Graham because of mom groups I wanted to be part of and be able to ask questions. But again, I recently had a friend post something very offensive to me. Deeply insulting and closed minded and it really really ate at me and bothered me to the point I would fume over it randomly a week plus later. When I was telling a friend about how upset I was because she's in a similar situation to me, she recommended not getting on Facebook anymore. I mean, really what did I get from it? A way to pass time? Waste. I have plenty of things I can do to fill me time that are much more meaningful. Connect with people? I rarely did that, I really only got on to see what other people were posting (baby announcements, interesting articles etc.).

And so I stopped again a couple months ago. Do I miss it sometimes? Yes, but I also don't have random posts enraging me by how self-righteous they are.

What was this offensive post you ask? To me, it was a complete attack on my way of life. Something that I feel guilty about and yet feel validated in the choice for our family all at the same time. One of the most personal choices a mother can make. Whether to continuing working after children, or whether to be a stay at home mom. But it was far more than that. It was the posting of an article authored by a parochial white middle-to-upper class MAN preaching the opinion that mother's who continue to work after having children are only doing it out of convenience, and that all married women when first married should instead of using their income to help support their household, save it so that their family doesn't get used to a lifestyle that they can't support without the wife working.

The thing that was the most offensive of it to me though, was that the comment this mother made when posting it which was something similar to, 'I know this might be offensive but I feel like this is true and that women become complacent in having dual incomes instead of saving their income...' or something to that effect. And what I would like to say to her is:

1. You are clearly ignorant of the realities of life for individuals who are not married to a Doctor or Lawyer or a spouse who makes a six figure income, perchance because you are married to someone who does one of the above-mentioned careers.
2. You do not know my family's situation, you do not know that I bring in as much income as my spouse and without my income we couldn't even afford a proper roof over our head or food in my family's mouth plus student loans, heating, electricity, and clean water. We're not using my income to buy expensive cars or to go on lavish vacations or to buy designer clothes. To claim that 'women working do so only as a luxury to live beyond their husband's income for comfort' is the most condescending claim I have ever heard and you should stop acting like you know other's situations.
3. You should not pass judgement of any kind on mothers as to why they work: income, mental health, or BECAUSE THEY SIMPLY WANT TOO.
4. People like YOU and this obscene article are EXACTLY the reason why mothers who work and mothers who get to stay at home have a hard time relating to each other; because both sides feel like we have to explain or justify our choices because entitled self-righteous people point fingers.
5. And lastly, if you know your post may offend people...there's probably a pretty good reason why you think it will offend others so KEEP IT TO YOURSELF! In this day and age people are much too eager to post their opinion and the world could do with more restraint and empathy for others.

I do everything I do for my family, and no one should ever claim otherwise. You don't know me and you don't know our situation, so don't pretend you do. If you had bothered to ask I would have told you that I want to be able to stay at home, but I can't and that's not for lack of budgeting. Nor is it for my husband's lack of trying who has worked graveyards for five years straight to help bring in a steady and dependable income, most of that while finishing his bachelor's degree. So mind your own business and move along.

Rant over. I felt like if I didn't express my strong feelings about this I would just keep harboring them inside and I'd rather just let out the word vomit so I can stop mulling about what I would say. And this is also why I decided Facebook isn't for me anymore. I don't need to work all day, five days a week sacrificing time away from my family to feel attacked by friends with their ignorance. If you got through this whole post, good job :)

Life now

It's been a long time since I haven't posted a non 'child focused' post and let's be honest, now that I've got children my life really does revolve around them and their cute runny noses and constant demands for juice or milk (including Jared ;)). But I feel like I need to write an explanation - mainly to myself - as to why I have stopped blogging.

You see, there was something so 'out there' about the person I was before I got married to Jared while I was in college and trying to find myself. Then I was married and trying to find my new married self so I blogged to do that. I took a break from college and I started working at Nordstrom and I was struggling with our inability to get pregnant and I channeled myself into blogging to try and connect.

But deep deep down, especially now that I've been married for a while (7.5 years thank you very much), I know myself better than I ever did when I was younger. What do I know? I know that I am an introvert. People who I tell this to do not believe me, but it's true. People who I am forced to interact with - at church, work, etc. - on a frequent basis I can open up to because it's a 'safe' zone. Strangers in stores, at the park, friends of Jared's I have a lot of trouble with. I get this knot in my chest that feels like it's hard to breath and it's easier to just look at the floor or pretend I'm doing something on my phone instead of make small talk with people I don't know and who I could potentially insult by an opinion on something. Because I've been told, I have an opinion on everything (this is mainly true).

So blogging became not the primary priority once I had Hilton; and it was also a vulnerable process to blog. To share myself. Plus, I don't feel like I have that many interesting ideas or topics that would be worthwhile for people. But back to the main point, it began to make me uncomfortable. It actually produced anxiety for me and it became more about 'how many people read it' and how interesting I was or wasn't being. And honestly, who needs that? But I would like to be able to post more so that is a goal I am setting for myself. I won't even try to set a mandate of how often I will post because it probably won't happen, but I will try to post when I have time.

Life currently includes a lot of this:

 My boys and their lovies

 All the tractors in the world would never be enough for this boy!

And marbles. He LOVES marbles.

The only way I get temporary privacy in my partially completed bathroom in the morning 

Aspen's way of saying good morning is sticking her nose in my face for some morning loves (and I secretly love it)

Might Machines! I rue the day we found this show on Netflix!!! He has the ENTIRE theme song memorized

And all the snuggles from this boy who loves to be tickled just like Daddy

I sure love my boys!

Content

I haven't posted in quite a while, mainly because I feel like we don't really do anything incredibly interesting that's out of the normal for our family. But I definitely want to keep posting so I can document my families life, and so I feel like even if I post about the hum drum things I want to at least do that for hubs and my little man even if everyone else might think it's slightly boring. I promise to get on here a bit more and maybe even post some up to date pictures :)

...

Content. Is this what heaven feels like? I'm so happy and comfortable in life currently. Not that days aren't without there challenges and it's like I don't have things to work on personally. Because I definitely have days where I know I could have done better. But I'm happy. I love and appreciate my job, and I feel that is reciprocated. I love our neighborhood and where we live. No I do not love all my neighbors, and yes there are projects around my house that are on the if-we-had-a-million-dollars to-do list, but still I love our house and area in which we live and the freedom being homeowners gives us. I have a new car that I don't worry is going to break down on the freeway or loose a tire as I'm driving home (that really happened) and is a wonderful mom car. Most important of all I have the greatest husband who just graduated from Utah Valley University with his bachelor's and is such an amazing provider for our family, and the most precious curious happy little boy to fill my days with wonder and opportunities to be the best mom I can be.

But the only way I can appreciate these things and people is because I have experiences to compare to when I didn't have them in my life and struggled without them. The first three years of our marriage we lived in four different apartments each one worse than the last. We dealt with obnoxious neighbors, ridiculous rent charges with utilities on top, and ultimately lack of control over our own living space. We recently got rid of our Subaru, which was nothing but trouble from the beginning (and a terrible purchase but don't tell Jared I said that) and made me worried driving Hilton around because I didn't feel it was reliable. I dealt with a terrible time dating, I never had a good or healthy romantic relationship until I met Jared and I truly was meant to meet him as he has made these past five years wonderful. And I feel I can still appreciate Hilton even on his terrible no-good very bad fussy days as I know what it was like to cry wanting a baby for so long. There is no way without these hard experiences that I could appreciate all the many blessings that my life currently holds. My challenges that Heavenly Father blessed me with have helped prepare me to appreciate what he wanted to give me, and I'm so grateful for those experiences. I know I have been so incredibly blessed with these people and things in my life, and I'm constantly worried that I will blink and it will be gone. My husband and Hilton are the reason I get up each day and try to be the best person I can be.

All of these things make me the luckiest woman ever, and I don't want to ever forget it.

Changes

We knew that starting a family would bring lots of sacrifices with it, and because we couldn't exactly pick when we got pregnant we couldn't pick the sacrifices either. For example I would have preferred to get pregnant at the end of the summer so I could run my Wasatch Back 2013 and the half marathon I was signed up for, and to beat the heat of the summer. Don't get me wrong I'm very very happy we're expecting, I just have had to rearrange or cancel a lot of plans but good things have come of it too.

For example thank goodness our secondary vehicle broke down AFTER we found out so we could plan for car seats and needing more space. And so we researched and decided a great starter family vehicle would be a Subaru and thank goodness we found a great deal and mileage on a wagon that would be useful for us.

So far I'm loving the drive even though each time I come out to look for my car I have to remember it's not a red one and I think, 'oh yeah, it's that mom car over there'. I'm sure as I get more pregnant I feel like I need the space and once we have the baby it'll be perfect. I plan to baby this car since Subaru's that are well taken care of live into their 300,000 miles. Having a secondary car payment stinks but we think both our current cars will last long past they are paid off so hopefully we won't be buying any new cars for A LONG time.

Thank You

I was very grateful for the love and support I received with coming out regarding our infertility on the blog on Monday. I honestly expected nasty comments about how we barely 'struggled at all' or 'were too stressed about it' because I've honestly heard those to my face from others before. I felt so much love and understanding and I really want to say thank you. To those that we associate with on the big blue known as facebook, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the love and outpouring of congratulations and compassion we received. Announcing was honestly incredibly scary while very exciting at the same time. Not a lot of people knew about our struggle except for a few chosen friends and the majority of our coworkers, and though they were the first to know and we had to announce sometime I honestly considered putting it off longer. It just felt like this huge expose into my soul and my pain throughout this journey. But again, thank you for your uplifting words they made my heart feel overwhelmed with love all day.

Secondly thank you to those who do follow this blog for being so patient as I wasn't posting from firstly lack of desire and secondly constant miserable nausea that made me want to stay in bed curled in a ball all day (don't get me wrong, I'm very happy for the nausea since it means a baby but it still isn't fun). A couple of friends informed me that a month was a bit to long to be away and so thank you for being patient. I'm back and going to try to not completely overwhelm you all with pregnancy/baby obsessions but I'm probably going to do it a bit. Maybe a lotta bit but I'll try to keep it under control.

And lastly again, thank you to those who supported us through this journey (you know who you are) you really kept me afloat and hopeful that it would happen sooner rather than later.

Thank you.

And now for your viewing enjoyment: my first belly photo

Ok, a bit of background on this photo: we are pretty darn positive there's only one baby in there (my OB double checked at our first ultrasound), and no that is not fat (I can still feel my abs and I've only gained 5 lbs. so far) but yes that's after lunch. I am very aware I look like I'm about 16-17 weeks for a typical first pregnancy, but the OB says I'm probably just carrying really far forward. 

In good news to report my nausea that started around week 7 has gone away almost completely-it comes in early morning and late night still-and my appetite has come back so I'm no longer living off gatorade, cherrios, or just cheetos. 

Now we can add cheese sandwhichs, spaghetti, and pizza. Much healthier right?! Jared thinks I need to be eating salads for every meal or something. He tried to convince the OB that my eating cheetos was going to kill the baby or severely make it handicapped but the OB sided with me on that one while I was super sick. I still can't even look at meat without gagging, but my edible food list has increased and I'm very very glad for that. Any suggestions moms and other pregnant women? Any good ways to get your protein intake? Because I am struggling with that.

In bad news to report since I have a history of migraines on a bi-monthly basis before being pregnant, now that I am pregnant I have one about every week or two. However I think I've pinpointed the migraines to following when I've had high salt intakes. For ex. one night we went to a movie, got a huge tub of popcorn of which I ate the majority and the next day I had a killer migraine. So I'm working on controlling salt intake closely.

So far that's the only huge major changes, other than the fact I can't fit into ANY of my pre-pregnancy pants and half my shirts either. Definitely time to go maternity shopping! Any cute places other than motherhood maternity?

I'd love lots of tips and advice cute mommas!

Love, Adi and Aspen

Dad, we barely see you anymore. Mom says it's because of something called 'finals'. We have no idea what that is but we figure its bad since it takes up all your time.

Mom is no fun today, she won't get out of bed and doesn't like it when we bring her the ball to throw. So right now we're cuddling her. Maybe she'll want to throw the ball later.

Dad, bring home treats. Preferably something with peanut butter in it. We love peanut butter.

p.s. mom's feet smell. don't tell her we told you so.

Largest Pet Peeve EVER

I apologize for this angry, mud throwing post but I just feel I should state where I stand with this.

You have been warned.

You see in Utah especially I feel like dog parks or parks that even allow dogs on leash at all are incredibly rare. There are really only two in the greater Salt Lake area the first approximately on 9600 S. and the other is Tanner Dog park at 2100 S. That's a difference of 75 blocks equivalent to 20 miles! It's clear that Utah's non-dog owners have a monopoly on the parks in the area and that they feel dogs are NOT welcome.

Well apposed to what most people think the majority of dogs are sweet, well-tempered, people friendly animals, who don't jump/bark/chase/be aggressive; but there are those few dogs who ruin it for everyone else. Actually let's not blame them: it's clearly the OWNERS that are at fault. They let their dogs get in scuffles with other dogs, let them jump on others/harass others (I've had a number of dogs sniffing my butt to close for my comfort and the owners do nothing), and today of all days I had a dog steal Aspen's tennis ball, snarl at Aspen when she tried to take it away, then run up the hill and promptly bury it and the owner's reaction? 'Sorry, dog's will be dogs.' No you fickle minded ass wipe the correct saying is 'Irresponsible owners should be shot at first sight.

On more than one occasion at the Sandy dog park there were majorly aggressive dogs-one in particular was a pit-bull-and the owner's didn't have muzzles on them and never tried to correct their behavior. I shouldn't stereotype pit-bull's as the only aggressive type: but it always seems that its a type of hunting dog that is the one initiating aggressive behavior. I mean seriously, when was the last time you saw a Golden Retriever, or even tempered Collie being aggressive?

Oh and also, if your dog snarls or tries to nip at my dog and you do nothing, you'd better bet your brass bottom covered ass I will smack your dog. This is my right if your dog is being aggressive to mine and you don't do anything. If mine growls at another dog I correct instantly. And if I don't you have full permission to smack mine as well because that is your right. That is part of being a responsible dog owner, you have to correct incorrect behaviors and encourage good ones. Dog's become well rounded in this aspect if you can communicate with them what is inappropriate behavior and what is acceptable.

All in all I feel like I am a great dog owner, I love them as if they really were my children and I'm equally as protective over them, but I definitely yell if they get up on the table and they get punished if they snarl at anybody. I will not own an aggressive dog and I don't make this so by getting rid of dogs that disobey or act out, I bend their will to mine until they yield because at the end of the day: they are a dog and you are their master.

End of story: Don't let your dog be your master and don't let your dogs go willy-nilly at dogs parks like that idiot did today or someday the city may take away our two dog parks because of complaints.

Rant over.

On the move again...

I told you a couple days ago that I would explain why I've been so MIA and here it is. We are going to be moving in a little over a week. Our apartment changed the pet policy, and since we're the only tenants with pets we were asked to move within a month period or get rid of our dogs. Since we'll never be getting rid of our family members/children we decided to move on short notice.

While that seems like a bitter pill it actually works out really well so that we can start seriously saving money-more than we previously have-for a down payment on a house. Jared's mom has generously invited us to move into her house since she's rarely ever home and that way we can save the money that would have gone to rent and put it towards a down payment. We're definitely looking at this in a positive light because we've been wanting to move anyways and it will give us five to six months to save up.

Huge upsides of moving is that Adi and Aspen will have a whole backyard to play in and when it warms up they'll be able to stay outside instead of in their crate, and I'll have tons and tons of space to garden to my hearts content. We're also going to help Sherrie refinish the backyard slowly over the summer. I'm really looking forward to being back in North Salt Lake close to our parents and old stomping grounds.

Huge downside is that we are moving away from all our couple friends that we do double dates with, and that Jared is going to have to commute even farther for the rest of the semester. But he's got his Associate's degree so he's going to transfer up to the U for his Bachelors' so that commuting will only last for a little over a month.

Here's to packing, cleaning, and moving!

Our second D.I. pile just keeps getting larger and larger. We've already taken three full trash bags already, but I'm highly motivated to truly do some deep cleaning since I don't want to have to move all this crap!

p.s. packing up all your crap is time intensive and sucks

p.p.s. cleaning up after you've packed sucks even worse

p.p.p.s. fresh starts and change are always the bright lights at the end of the moving tunnel

Target Practice

Jared is officially trying to get me ready for my carried concealed class that I probably will take sometime in March. He got the gun that I will carry as my CCW for me as a Christmas present and this was my first outing shooting it.

Jared was clearly a very proud husband.

Pinterest Pin Test: DIY better than shellac nails

For any girl with chronically chipping nails you know yourself how exacerbating it is to have them chip the same day you paint them. And I've also been amongst those who drop $20 plus to have fake nails put on monthly so I didn't have to worry about re-painting my nails on a daily basis. When Shellac nails became popular I got rather excited to only be disappointed. Not even they could last more than five days and they still cost $20 plus per set.

Well wait no more, because I tested this pin out for the past week and my own DIY home gel nail set are still going strong. I found this idea here, and was even more happy that I wouldn't have to buy a stupid UV lamp, plus splurging lots of money of special nail polish's for a shellac set and not mentioning the top and bottom coats: only one $5.99 product was needed because I could use it with my own favorite polish color.

Necessary Items:
favorite nail polish
Gelous Advance Nail Gel Coat (available at Sally's)
Quick Drying Top Coat

Steps:
1. Layer of Gel 
2. Layer of color
3. Second layer of color
4. Layer of Gel
5. Layer of quick dry top coat
6. Let dry and enjoy!

You can bet I'll be doing this from now on! No more wasting money at Nail Salons for something I can do myself.

Aspen became an adult today

I dropped her off bright and early at Orem Spay and Neuter Clinic to have her fixed. Hope she doesn't hate me when I pick her up. I honestly felt so guilty leaving her, she looked so scared. And she's my little baby, even though she was 'Jared's' she's really become mine.

Loving on her rawhide bone...she's possessive of that like I am of food and that's saying something

We were a little late to the game getting her fixed. I waited and waited after she turned six months old to make the appointment because I was hoping that could wait until she was a year. But after sitting a friends male dog who kept (innocently) humping Aspen even though he was smaller, I decided it was time.

'Good morning mom...WHAT do you want?'

So here's to caring for a loopy puppy, and here's to Adi probably harassing Aspen when she's not going to be too groggy or in pain to move. And here's to her having accidents the next couple of days...oh joy!

Such a curious little buddy

p.s. any tips or tricks to helping them relax and recover?

Say What?: bottom of a purse

In following up with the last Say What? and the fact that I'm giving in to my germaphobe-side I remembered hearing about this a couple years ago and didn't really want to believe it. But after doing the research I got really grossed out. Rather typical.

Following up from not only my new purse, and the fact that its flu/cold season but the fact that the bottom of the average purse has more germs on it then the bottom of your shoe makes sane minds try to contemplate how dirty the bottom of their purse is.

source

From E. Coli and fecal matter, to viruses that cause skin infections and multiple strains of the cold or flu viruses the average purse has anywhere from hundreds of thousands of germs on the bottom to tens of millions. Think about it: everywhere a woman goes so does her purse. On a normal day my own purse touches the floor of the car, to the lunch tables at work, to my locker, to the floor while I put on my coat, to the check out stand or floor while I check out at multiple stores, and back home to my kitchen table.

You may be thinking, "Well that doesn't matter, it's not like I lick the bottom of my purse" but think about where you're transferring all those germs into your own home...kitchen counter, passenger car seat, couch, chairs. and then you or family members might touch those surfaces and then accidentally touch your face or mouth or eyes. And these germs don't die because they're not on a living thing, if that was so no one would ever get sick. Flu or cold virus can live longer than 48 hours and you would think it doesn't survive as long on hard, plastic, or metal surfaces and you'd be wrong. It actually lives longer than on fabric and soft surfaces.

It's really very easy to keep this bacteria and virus transport system ineffective. Just clean the bottom of your purse, and make sure to use Clorox wipes to kill those tough viruses as well. Genius idea right? But honestly, I can't tell you that I've ever regularly done that. Clearly I need to start.

p.s. Worried about hurting your leather purses? There are special cleaners for those.

Pinterest Pin Test: deep cleaning your washer

Yet again, I am all for easy cleaning solutions where no elbow grease is required for successful results. I found this pin really by happen-stance and since we've only had apartment washers that have been in them for years if not decades, thought that this would be ideal to clean them from now on when we move in.

 Here's where I found a great explanation of the how-to which was quite short making it even better.

1. Fill washer with hot water and add 1 qt. of Chlorine Bleach
2. Let agitate and cycle
3. Fill washer with hot water and add 1 qt. of Vinegar
4. Let agitate and cycle

How easy is that?! Love it! Honestly, to see how gross the water was before it drained was NASTY. Anyone who moves into an apartment should definitely do this, and than everyone should do it yearly at least if not more.

Happy Maniac Monday, clean away!

Pinterest Pin Test: moldy showers

As part of my blogging NYR's I wanted to do something that was applicable, and informative. If you're on Pinterest you know that there are tons of how-to's for easier cleaning or DIY's. You may be pinning interesting things, but I want to know that they actually work. So this will be a testing and revising process for those nifty little tips to see if they actually work so you don't waste your time with them if they don't.

The Pinterest Pin test that I selected for this week was something that I was really really hoping would work. It was pretty simple concept for removing the black mold/stain that occurs in the caulking of the tub. Ours was kind of bad when we moved in, and after a year of living here it got to be horrendous! It drove my OCD side nuts looking at it every time I got in the shower, and made me deathly embarrassed if anybody saw it. I was determined to give this one a fighting chance but I was honestly doubtful the whole time. My pin led my to this blog, where it explained pretty basically how to do this project.

All you need for this is bleach, and Beauty Coil from any Sally's or Ulta type store and I would also suggest a disposable bowl to soak the Beauty Coil in which is essentially a 10 ft. cotton ball. Also get the smallest package of Beauty Coil you can find, mine was a 10 ft. box and I barely used up three feet but also it depends on how extensive the stained area of your tub covers. You can always keep the remaining for the next time you need to do it.

Directions:
Fill your bowl with bleach
Measure out the Beauty Coil piece that will cover your black caulked area
Soak the Beauty Coil in the bleach and gently put it on the area, completely covering it
Leave for 45-60 minutes depending on how bad your mold stains are

The 'set up'. Be aware it made the bathroom potent so I left the fan on the entire time.

 

My before picture

And my after picture

Amazing improvement right?! I was kind of suspicious that it was that easy, but definitely the best cleaning trick I've found in a long time. 

Result: It works folks!

Do you think you'll try it? It's so easy I absolutely suggest you do!

Smith's Christmas 2012

We had a lovely Christmas, and hopefully you did too. We got up early and helped the dog's open their stockings and then opened up ours. My gifts were all picked out by myself, Jared just wrapped them so I wasn't expecting any surprises but he never fails to do a surprise gift on Christmas morning.

Aspens angry bird toy

an SR22 to be my concealed carry once I take the class 

After we finished our own little family Christmas gift opening, we went up to my parents for our traditional Christmas morning luncheon of egg's Benedict and Wassail and exchanged gifts. I got not only a new Dyson vacuum but also a wonderful jewelry box. Afterwards went to see Les Miserables. Honestly I was only semi impressed by the movie but maybe that's because I wasn't comfortable and I had to go to the bathroom twice. There were some wonderful moments but a lot of watch checking dullness as well.

 

 

 

Afterwards we hurried to the Smith's house and had Christmas dinner. I made my amazing Cherry Pie and we exchanged our white elephant gifts then watched Brave. I forgot to bring my camera to the Smith's, so I have no pictures of the Smith side darn it.

  Delicious looking huh?

Overall a wonderful day, and I surprised Jared with quite a few things we was not expecting at all including Black Ops 2 and some blue suede shoes. He's going to be the best looking date ever!

P.S. it's totally crazy to believe that this is Jared and I's FOURTH Christmas together! Where has time gone?

Adi and Aspen: you can teach old dog's new tricks

Mom taught me how to do this a while ago, I just really wanted to show grandma and grandpa what a good girl I am and that I can be calm...even if its never at their house. I can't help myself, those chucker birds are so fun to chase!

Maybe if you bring a good enough treat when you see me next I'll do my play dead trick. Maybe.

Elder and Sister Mills

are home! I can't tell you how glad I am that they are home. Even though we were able to have two very nice trips to Hawaii to visit them, I missed them terribly. This year has gone really fast, and yet at the same time it was really slow not being able to see my parents every week like we had been used to in our first year of marriage.

I picked them up from the airport with my Step Sister and her cute girl's on June 21st and so far the time has flown by since they've been back.

They're homecoming talk was a couple sunday's ago and they did a spectacular job. We had a family party to celebrate their homecoming and it was quite a get together too. Thanks to all the family that came to celebrate their return, it was so nice to have you there and see you!

So glad my parents are back and that I can now go up and see them whenever I want. Welcome home Elder and Sister Mills!

Our first big purchase

as a married couple was both exciting (we LOVE the car) and downright scary (car payment? ah!). Thank goodness we had a great salesman (go see Mike at SouthTowne VW) who talked us through the scared silly parts and got us to see that it was worth the purchase - and while I may have thought he was biased at the time - I now completely agree with him even though my heart hadn't been set on a Jetta TDI.

A little bit of background we knew for quite a few months before my parents came back from their mission that we would need to get another car because Jared was driving my parents only working vehicle while they were gone. We had discussed the need for getting a high fuel efficient car because we commute over 60 miles each day to school - yes we didn't really think that through - and we drive up to see our parents in North Salt Lake weekly as well.

So my heart was set upon a Prius which boasts 48/51 MPG and as far as I was concerned we could really use that to lower our gas costs. I did tons of research in the month leading up to my parents coming home and had found a suitable Prius with a good price. After watching Jeff Dunham's skit about Prius's - plus the fact that it isn't a manly car - Jared adamantly refused to drive it if we bought one. So I bargained I would drive it, and Jared could drive my Mazda.


Well needless to say we get to the dealership with the check in hand to pay for it, Jared test drives it and had a little bit of a freak out. I didn't understand until after test driving the Jetta TDI why he was so unhappy with the Prius. When he test drove the Prius in his mind all we would be paying for was the economic statement and an complicated battery and then besides that there was nothing special about this rather pricey car. When I stepped into the Jetta TDI I feel in love with the standard leather interior, seat warmers, automatic window controls on all the windows - not just the drivers, and tons of special safety features. And it still gets 45 MPG and even better the diesel engine is expected to go more than twice as far as a typical gas engine.

In the end I feel like we got a lot more for our money and are so happy with our choice. Even though it was really overwhelming to take on a car payment and become real adults, I wouldn't choose any other car to pay one on. Now every time we see a Prius on the road we laugh to each other that we were actually considering one.

P.S. The dogs love the new car too :)