count your blessings,

name them one by one.

arrested development streaming on hulu.
husband visiting on a lonely work day.
anticipation of a four day weekend.
new hair cut that turned out exactly how i wanted, thanks to tiff.
my parents, no matter how far away they are.
vegetables in every variety.

belated monday moment.

i have not been the greatest blogger as of recent only because i have been trying to be the best wife, friend and employee as possible. now i have a little time to breathe and want to catch up on those monday moments that i hope will bring me back to reality weekly.

you may or may not know, i am our ward choir director - please refrain from laughing, i know this sounds ridiculous. the past three/four months i have been working on 'come thou fount of every blessing' with the choir and, this past sunday, we were finally able to unveil my wonderful choir members and their fantastic talents, during our ward conference. now, my intention here is in no way to brag, but honestly the choir sounded fabulous. i could not be happier.

after our performance i walked back to my seat not only thrilled that all of the hard work paid off, but immensely overcome with the spirit of music. the first thing that aaron said to me when i sat down was "i had no idea that you got so into it!" {apparently i was failing my arms like a complete manic the whole time}, but aaron is right. i am SO into it. i truly love music with all of my heart. i love listening to it, i love singing it and most of all i love being a part of its production. being the ward choir director has really been a test of my musical abilities, but i have grown close to the members in our ward in the best way i could possibly imagine, through song and music.

music is the common thread in each of us and although some dance to the beat of their own drum, we can all hear the beat. Even those who cannot hear the beat phycially can feel it in their soul and dance right along with the rest of us.

in the words of my favorite elf, "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear."
*above are the beautiful words to the song that we sung on sunday.

out with the old -

in with the new . . . me.

i have doing a detox for the past 14 days and although i have not lost the weight that i expected, i feel so dang good. one of my beyond fantastic sister-in-laws suggested this detox after she had done it herself and so i took her advice.

read up on it and i seriously suggest giving it a try. i have never felt hungry while on it and my cravings for bread {my favorite thing in the whole wide world} were curbed after the first week.

have you tried anything that has been a really successful weight loss tool and has made you feel fantastic?

i am -

so proud of my husband.

he works his trash off 24/7 and all the while still knows how to love me and more importantly knows how to make me happier than i have ever been.

wanna know how he works for YOUR happiness as well - i bet you do. welp check out this new website. register as a user and find out how a real estate agent can help you and more importantly change your life forever ;)

take a chance.

my friend heather, super mom, friend, wife and blogger extraordinaire, agreed to humor me this week and has posted a give-away from my new strawberry fields forever etsy shop!

so why don't you migrate over here and take a chance to be a winner and support my up and coming shop? thanks a million pals <3

my life is average.

do you ever feel like life get mundane? welp i do.

dean, a fellow co-worker of mine, determined to break this mundane cycle, sent me a link to this site. and the genius just seems to keep flowing.

exhibit a: "Today, my girlfriend recommended that rather than arguing to deal with our disagreements we should just get foam swords and have epic sword fights to determine who's right. She's a keeper."

exhibit b: "A few years ago, I got a call from my grandmothers nursing home at about 3 in the morning. The nurse frantically explained to me that my grandma had taken an older man hostage, requesting chocolate milk for his safe release. You go, grandma."


here is to the mundane!

i know

that i have been posting like crazy about all of these deals that i have been finding . . . but i know at least my dearest lindsay {who shares an undying love of j.crew fashion with me} will really appreciate this little gesture.

*coupon + many more j.crew deals found here

anyone up to hitting the park city outlets this weekend? hit me up.

im on a kick.

with winter around the corner and all of the new winter lines coming out at our favorite stores i cant help but look. however, since i am a bargain shopper i have been doing my darndest to find new winter fashion at a super stellar price either on sale or through thrifting. thus you can imagine my excitement when i found 6pm.com. what is this you ask?

6pm.com is an overwhelmingly large website filled with bargains for the frugal fashionista in all of us. you may have to sift through this years 'grandma' collection and filter out the 'porn-star' editions {im no hater of either, to each her own}, but i found some pretty rockin deals.

lo and behold. the loot.

mind you, each item listed above is under $70, uh-huh. *click on the shoe to go directly to 6pm.com and purchase in your own size.

now this is something -

that i could get behind.

i have never been an avid genealogist, but my mother and mother-in-law certainly are. i thoroughly enjoy these pretty and modern family tree charts.

is that not darling? make sure to check out www.mytreeandme.com and order your own family tree for your living room or nursery.

its official.

halloween is over. christmas music is on.

bring out the bing crosby and n*sync holiday albums that we all know and love. did anyone else listen to these old vinyls with their parents - cause i have never been a huge of barbra streisand, but it just tradition to listen to her album and i have to be honest, i love it!




{dont tell, but i have been listening to christmas music for about a month now. how can you be in a bad mood while listening to 'santa baby'?}

looked who joined us in their ghastly attire.

super host lindsay and myself hosted a halloween dinner this year complete with table decor and fine cuisine.

the candles were lit, the plates were set, the bows were tied and the places were assigned . . . *thanks to emily, we even have these pictures!

the people were dressed and adorned in their most horrifying attire . . .

the food was prepared and consumed with love . . . too bad we didnt get any pictures of the yummy food. note to self: take pictures of every minute no matter how annoying it may come across.

thanks to all how came and to lindsay and rob for opening their home to all of us halloween crazies!