Blind Dates

Do I look desperate for a man or something? (<--if the answer is affirmative, we are no longer friends)
In the past WEEK I've had two adults try to set me up with their kin. Now don't get me wrong, I am NOT complaining; I would love to go on a date with one of these guys (or both...whatev;)). I just feel like I have "single" written on my forehead. So yes:


Parents, aunts, grandparents, neighbors, random people of the street:

If you have a single, handsome RM in your family, send him my way. My number is XXX-XXX-XXXX. I like long walks on the beach. As long as they end in a proposal.


Much appreciated.

Kristen

Love it or Hate it

Well, summer is drawing to a close, but that doesn't mean these next two weeks aren't going to be a party!! I can't wait to be reunited with my dear old friends!! In keeping with my once old tradition... it's tiiiime for a little LOVE IT OR HATE IT!!!!! (<<to be read in your best Price is Right announcer voice).

Love it:
Being back in UTAH, baby!!
My wonderful aunt and uncle who are letting me stay with them for a week or so!!
So long, Texas heat!!
Dry, dry Utah replacing humid, humid Texas.

Flying over the Grand Canyon!
Flying withOUT delays!! (this is a first in like seven trips, people)
Getting messages from my friendlies
Trips to the cabin that bring back childhood memories
Wicked!!! (the book and the PLAY!!) 9 days!
Depositing a check that I didn't have to work for:)
Finding a sewing book full of wonderful projects!!
Having an excuse to buy fabric!! (seriously, this stuff is like heroin...SO ADDICTING! Not that I know what heroin is like.)
Cafe Rio, I've missed you.
Planning a trip to the Commissary!! (I love me some cheap groceries!!)
Beautiful sunsets (because of the smoke mentioned below)

Hate it:
I can't see my mountains because of nasty smoke.
Nasty smoke because of wildfires
Wildfires
Bugs
Bugs
Bugs (seriously, I had too many encounters with creepy crawlies for one day...)
How I can't figure out the new Mountain Lion OS...
Missing my familia back home
Having to buy groceries for myself...
Weeding through my packed-up-stuff, deciding what I don't really use.
Just thinking about buying textbooks.

Sometimes I Think It's Still 2010

In high school, we were inseparable. We shared books, clothes, secrets, and stories. We were the best of friends.

Katie, Melissa, Amanda, me, B. Fholer, Britt back in the day.

Then college came.

It's really hard keeping up relationships with your high school friends when you are meeting new, great people in college. Throw in being 1200 miles away? It becomes incredibly difficult.

No matter how little we talk or see each other, it is a party when we get together.



Last night, Britt, Katie, Amanda, and I met at Applebee's for dinner/dessert. It was so great to have time just to talk with each other. I love how at ease I am when I am with these girls. It's like we were never apart. We reminisce about high school and it seems like yesterday.

After we finished terrorizing the people of Applebee's, to include leaving a random phone number for our waiter (let it be on record that I adamantly opposed this idea;)), we left for Katie's house, the nearly-official "clubhouse". We sat around for a while, waiting for Britt to catch up with us. And by sat around, I mean sat on each other. A hangout is not complete without someone starting a dogpile. Once we were all there, we played Quelf. This is a great party game, folks. SO FUN. You have to be willing to do some crazy stuff (which most of the time, I am not...;)) and it produces some great laughs. It's like Cranium and Curses had a love child. Quelf: buy it for your party self.

Amanda, Katie and I waiting for Britt to join us:)

I don't know how I've gone 20 years without a pedicure, but I surely won't go that long before I get another! Today, Amanda, Katie, and I decided to spoil ourselves with manis and pedis!! My life is forever changed, y'all. I loved every minute of it. From the massage chair to the actual pedicure, it was heavenly.

Picture courtesy of Katie's instagram: Amanda, Katie's luscious legs, me

This next year will be a real test of our friendship, seeing as all of us are leaving Cove, not just Katie and I. Amanda is going to UT and Britt is going to St. Edwards. It's going to be so much harder to get the lot of us all together again, but when we do reconvene our WGC affairs, you better believe fun will be had!! I am so excited for these girls to get a taste of real college life (and the world for Katie--Uruguay!!), outside of CTC. I can't wait to hear all their exciting stories!!

Lifting Burdens: The Atonement of Jesus Christ

In church today, we watched this great message on the Atonement. I am so grateful for the cleansing and enabling power of the Atonement. Take a moment and watch this message of hope. Hope found in and through Christ.

Phelps with the Fin!

I mean Phelps with the WIN!!!!

As attractive as this was after Jason Lezak made a magnificent comeback to help Michael (yes-we're-on-a-first-name-basis) win his 8 gold medals in Beijing:

here

It was much sweeter to see this reaction after winning his record breaking 19th medal and every race after that:

here

Okay, maybe he looks a little too much like a puppy dog in that one... How 'bout this one??

here

You've grown up to be a great man, Michael Phelps. Sad to see you go. But you have been beautiful amazing to watch.




P.S. Am I the only one who hadn't heard the word "threepeat" until this week??

Love It or Hate It: New Tradition?

It's days like these that make me want to stay home all summer.

Love it:
Trying new things from Pinterest (^^ no heat curls? We'll see..)
Having lunch at the PX with the madre and padre
Making cookies
Spending time with Dianna-my-favorite (that's her name in my phone, obviously)
Almost, but not quite, having a cookie dough fight with Dianna
Talking about BYU with Dianna
Dianna
Watching the Olympics
Talking about boys
Boys
Missionaries
Summer
Finding a new, wonderful blog to stalk, I mean follow

Hate it:
Feeling compelled to read every single post of aforementioned new, wonderful blog
Realizing how long that ^ would take
Texas heat
Calories (seriously, can't cookies be zero cal?)
My blog's new font isn't working...and I can't update it to anything other than this drab serif??


I love it when my love it column is longer than my hate it column. That's how it should be. It also means I'm in a good mood. Ha.

Ruffled Lampshade Tutorial

A blog isn't a blog unless it has a tutorial...! (not really, but anymore it seems that way). So here goes!

A while back, I saw this cute lampshade on Pinterest. I thought, that looks easy enough for an amateur crafter such as myself, so I gave it a try!! And I loved the finished product, so I decided to make yet another! So here it is!!

Consider it helpful or annoying, but I've included nearly step by step photos for this craft. You can thank me later ;).
And please excuse the iPhone quality photos.

Materials:
plain lampshade (I got mine for $8 at Home Depot)
lamp base (again, Home Depot saved the day with a $10 base)
3/4-1 yd burlap (depending on the size of the lamp shade)
hot glue gun

Start by covering the lampshade with burlap. I pinned mine in place using bobby pins so that it wouldn't be tugging the entire time. Also, since the burlap isn't completely solid, some of the hot glue comes through. Apply the hot glue to the inside of the lampshade, then lay the burlap on top. In order to push the burlap completely against the shade and create a secure bond, I used an old bobby pin to push along the line of hot glue to save my finger from the heat. Unless you got a perfectly cylindrical lampshade (most are slightly angled), the burlap won't lay straight across the shade. No worry though, it will be covered up anyways!!

Next, cut your burlap! I cut mine to be a generous 1 1/2 times the height of my shade and about 2 1/2 inches wide. Depending on how deep you want the ruffles to stand from the lampshade, you can adjust the width from 2-3''.

Now a trick when you're cutting your strips:

Watch the fabric specialist at the craft store you go to as he/she cuts the burlap. There's a easy way to cut a straight line! If you cut the "thread" of the line you want to follow...

....then pull that thread out from each side of the cut...

...you have a nice straight line to guide you!! I promise you, this helps a ton. Burlap tends to unthread and unravel very easily and this prevents lots of little pieces from sticking out on the finished product! I didn't try this on my first lampshade, and after finishing my second I could really tell a difference!! 

After you cut your strips (I cut about 25, then started gluing because I'm impatient and wanted to see some sort of progress), fold a strip in half, hot dog style. Start the wave shape of the ruffle by creating a curve in the burlap. Line the crease with hot glue and stick it to the shade!! Hold in place for about 15-30 seconds. If you start to let go and notice it moves considerably, the glue hasn't dried yet and you need to hold it a bit longer.

Continue gluing until the whole strip is attached to the shade. I found that 4 inch segments fit easily in my hand and I could easily adjust the ruffle pattern before the glue began to set.

Repeat these steps of creating a curve and gluing until the shade is covered!! I tried mixing up my ruffle pattern every 5 strips or so, just to create a little texture to the ruffle.

 Assemble the lamp and put it somewhere to be marveled at!