lets ride.

i got a bike for my birthday - thats just how rad my husband is.

a few saturdays back we mosied on down through the streets of provo and found ourselves buying maple bars, baclava and milk at provo bakery. talk about the perfect afternoon.

monday moment.

a few weeks back i had the chance to visit my grammy in oregon who was then in the process of being moved from her home of 30+ years to an assisted living home in salem oregon.

in short, the visit was wonderful.

i sat on her bed while she sat in her wheelchair and held her dainty, weathered hands while we chatted about memories that she had from when her and my papa met. she asked me how my love life was and i kindly reminded her that aaron and i got married almost two years ago and that i was happier than i have ever been in my life. i sat next to her while she ate dinner with three other elderly ladies from the home and watched as she wrote all of her children and grandchildren's names on her paper placemat in her infamous perfect cursive. i massaged her wrinkled hands while filing and painting each of her fingernails and laughed with her while we tried to decide on which nail to place the tiny, gold butterfly decal. i sat beside her while she and my mother and aunts sung old songs from their childhood and saw the light in her eyes as she remembered each word and note.

i love my grammy and although someday soon she may not even remember my name i am so grateful for the memories that i have made with her through the years and for the incredibly talented and supportive woman that i have to call my grammy.

image via flickr

thats right folks,

the oldhams are escaping our rabbit hole of a home and headed to warmer waters for a week. here we come lake powell, see ya later rain!
i know that you are worried about not hearing from me, but i have planned for a few posts this week so stay tuned in!

its the little things in life,

that make life worth living.

example, the moment when the below three year old opened the back door to her house and yelled "there is a pecker!".

waiting.

as i sat waiting at the auto shop for the ac to be repaired on our car i took the chance to use the camera that we have on loan from my fabulous sister in law - its funny how much more beautiful all the little details seemed from behind a lens.

shout hooray.

i had a birthday - the most perfect birthday.

a day full of french toast, bike assembling, zupas, aquarium tour, shopping, dear friends and family and best of all undivided attention from my best friend.
and for your viewing pleasure, below is a video of me talking through the three inch thick glass at the penguins, whom, might i add, i am obviously in love with.

i am so pleased

with the feedback from www! so i want to take some time and hand out a few suggestions that were requested.

Q - where do i find sweet t-shirts?
A - j.crew. there is no doubt in my mind that their t-shirts are by far the best investment because they are both well made and fashion forward while offering options from super flashy to extremely subtle. just take a lookie at the ones below.
i found all three options in the sale section for under $20 - go see for yourself (jcrew.com).

www

since none of you readers have written in with outfits/occassions that you would like assistance with, then i am left to blab on, as usual, about whatever i dang well please. sooooo - today i will talk about my go-to outfit.

every girl has gotta have their "go-to" outfit. ya know, the one that you could wear everyday of the week and sometimes do because you dont see the same people everyday. the one that makes you feel bangin even when the weather is super gloomy and its that time of the month. the one that compliments your skin tone no matter the lighting and people compliment you on your eyes while wearing it. ya, that one.

not every girl is going to have the same "go-to" though. while mine might be jeans and a t-shirt, yours might be leggings and a blouse, or an a-line skirt, a cami and a cardigan. regardless what it is, you need to find an outfit that makes you feel smokin hot so that on those not so hot days you dont have to stand in front of your closet while having a mental breakdown {does anyone else have those days?}

with that said here are a few examples of outfits that i reach for when nothin else is working for me and i guarantee if you have seen me within the past week i have been wearing one of these outfits:

fedora/forever love ($8) t-shirt/h&m ($12) jeans/old navy ($25) flip-flops/target ($19)

t-shirt/thrifed ($8) navy pants/anthropologie ($39) gold toms/nordstrom ($52) revlon polish in 'gum drop'/smiths grocery ($2)

i hope that i have proven that you dont have to buy high price items to feel great about yourself - now its your turn. what outfits make you feel the best on a day to day basis?

your gal pal, www

mr fix it.

i had no idea that my husband knew how to fix cars - i guess i have a lot more to learn about him.

sometimes,

i get to watch this little doll.

those are very good days.

a real man.

my man, is a real man, a real mans man. if you dont believe me take a gander at the below picture.with that said here are his cliff notes from what to wear wednesday's post {see below and preferably read first}:

"this is from a mans point of view. first of all, I agree with the skin stuff... but c'mon babe, washing your face doesn't take thaaat long. I'm told that if you have sensitive skin over-washing or using a micro-bead type wash will only worsen the skin. try using a lighter face wash or don't wash every night...

secondly, with the pony. funny enough, ponys are supposed to be fast, yet these photos represent ponys that were still done by stylists and a lot of product. when I hear pony I'm thinking a light pull-back with some whispys on each side of the face and the occasional need to tighten the pony with a double-hand pull to each side. a pony is supposed to be fast, and it's always sexy.

boho hair is hot too, just do what the lady says to get that action going.

if you have flat hair, don't put too many things up there for volume. head stuff is already on its way out, at least for me because i'm old school. stick to the pony and boho. if you really want to, stick to non-trendy headbands and avoid enormous flowers unless you're the babe off the movie "North Shore."

the fake lashes are sexy, especially on you blondies, but beware they end up on your pillow and apparently need to be "filled" often. $$$ not that awesome from a man's point of view. just sayin. they do take away the tarantula-legs look though which is nice.

only do really bright lips if you can. some of you girls out there can't pull it off. rule number one for girls SHOULD be: not all styles work for everybody. don't be sad if you can't rock a certain style. there is another good one out there for you... and please find it. "

thanks,
the male

www

i wanted to start our 'what to wear wednesdays' with the basics - those small but essential items that make me feel glamorous despite what i have to choose from in my closet.

numero uno wardrobe essential - your face.
your face is the first thing that people see when they meet you, it is the emotion center of your appearance and must be well maintained. unlike most women, i hate washing my face. to me, its so much hassle - pull my hair back after scrambling to find a clip and headband, getting the water to the right temperature, then splashing my face a few times, then applying wash and scrubbing, then rinsing and after all of that cleaning and drying the counter of all residue {ew right?}.

i have not yet perfected the skincare method, but i did recently invest a whopping $5 in this little number from sephora:its called the 'precision pore cleansing pad' and it is magical, trust me. this way my gubby fingers never touch my face while washing and it feels like a mini-vacation every time i use it. regardless of your regimen make sure that your face takes a top priority when you get ready each day, clean, moisturize and care for that face of yours; you are stuck with it for the rest of your days :)

numero dos - your hair.
if your like me a bad hair day equals bad day all around. im trying not to sound super shallow here, but good hair is kind of a big deal to making sure that you are put together. NOTE: this does in no way mean that you must spend hours pulling your do together. however it does mean that if you want your outfit to look bangin, then you need to start at the top.

here are a few simple, fast and easy ideas that i recommend.
1 - the pony tail.
this can work in so many ways - see beyonce rockin the slick back look with the high pony (be confident in that big forehead;), or nicole richie with the feminine braid into low pony or lauren conrad with the elegant side part and low, side pony. test a few things out and find a go-to pony that works for you!

2 - beach waves aka "boho".
for some this look may require more effort however, i love the above picture of jessica szohr because it proves that you dont need to have perfect ringlets to pull it off. my secret? sleep with damp/wet hair twisted into a bun - wake up to waves!

3 - classic straight.
if your hair has body, embrace it! dont try to flatten that natural volume out. if your hair lays flat naturally, embrace it! accessorize with headbands and add volume with style, but no matter what figure out what works best for you!

numero tres - eyes/lips.
you gotta pick a team here people - you either like your lips better or your eyes. either way make sure that you are emphasizing ONE of these daily (never do flashy eyes, flashy lips at the same time - trust me, its too costumey). ie. powerhouse eyes, nude/light lipgloss. bright red lips natural eyes.
i have always preferred my eyes and so for that reason i invested in eyelash extensions {email me for more details and my girl's info. it will change your life}.

ladies, i only say all of this stuff because this is what makes me feel beautiful, not because i think that this is the only truth about feeling beautiful. was this helpful? do you disagree with what i said? what is your regimen for feeling like a rockstar when you are running errands during the day? do tell!

your gal pal, www

what to wear.

do you ever stand in front of your closet and wonder what provoked you to buy those things staring ominously and coldly back at you from three season ago?

ya i have those days too.

in fact, we all have those days.

as a woman and former fashion design major i try to take pride in staying current on the fashion trends of the now, but also try to find that delicate balance between making comfort my top priority and staying within my financial means, all the while dressing for my curvy body type.

if you are like me {and by 'me', i mean not eight feet tall and not mistaken for a clothes hanger or a lamp post} then you know how difficult it is to find clothes for every occasion in your life that are both comfortable and fashion forward all while flattering your body and catering to your own personal style. (can i get a hallelujah?!)

so why am i going on, and on about this awful predicament we are all in together? welp, i want to find a solution. i want to be the girl that you go to on those not so hot days when you look in the closet, the mirror, the pocketbook and wonder, "what do i do now?".

welcome to 'what to wear wednesdays' or 'w.w.w.'!

you and i will dish about events, problems, body types and circumstances that put you in a fashion brain fart {per say} and iron out all of those kinks. i will provide you with weekly suggestions pertaining to new topics, but all surrounding the fashion conundrums that you, my marvelous readers, face daily.

so, bring on the dish. email me at kaytidan{at}gmail{dot}com.

may day.

today is the first of may and i had every intention of gallivanting around a may pole this afternoon, but of course it snows this morning. needless to say those plans were averted.

may pole dancing or not, i am still excited for may - all of these recent april showers are bound to bring may flowers and green grass which will in turn bring bike rides and picnics. besides that my birthday is in 27 days {not that i am counting} and i really love birthdays.

i havent bragged

about my husband in a little while, so for those of you with weak stomachs, i do not suggest reading any further.

aaron has been a realtor for almost three years now and has worked extremely hard each and everyday, he has proved time and time again that he could be successful despite what the news portrayed about the real estate market and most importantly he has worked hard for each of his clients regardless of his compensation and has treated each of them with respect. during the highs and lows of the past three years aaron fought through and he has prevailed with his chest held high.

i am so proud of him - proud of him for never giving up, for taking heat from people who said that the market wouldnt be fruitful, for staying educated and current on all real estate information throughout the years, for tolerating people around him making money without working half as hard as him and for doing all of that with a smile on his face and knowing to take everything in stride.

as a couple we have been so blessed from him hard work, but as an individual i could not feel more gratitude or pride to call aaron my husband and best friend.

girl talk.

this might be a little graphic, but i am just going to throw it out there - does anyone else have troubles finding and maintaining a bra that fits? that both holds up the girls, but stays in place (you lds women know what i mean)?

i am in need of some advice.

getting somewhere.

finally.

i have finally lost some poundage. not in a "wow you look great" kinda way, but in a "the scale tells me so" kinda way. regardless i am really proud of myself. i have been working really, really hard and i know that i am the strongest i have ever been in my life. i am going to start posting my workouts and hopefully use the blogging world to find and provide encouragement for my struggle to look the way i really want to.

what do you guys do to make yourselves look the way you want?

a'muse'd

forgive the title, i really couldnt think of anything better and it really does fit because last monday aaron and i went to see muse in concert.

aaron got off work a little early, we drove through JCW's for burgers and headed to the e center in salt lake. both of us had been anticipating the concert since we heard they were coming, but didnt commit to buying tickets until a few days before so we were very, very elated about our purchase. aaron had seen muse live a few times by himself and i had seen them once on a date with another guy so it was time for us to share the life changing experience {if you have ever seen them live you will know what i mean} together.

it was a really great night. the show was fabulous {duh} and the company was fabulous {double duh}, but all in all i just re-realized how fabulous it is to be married to my very own rock star.



above is one of my all time favorites and classics from muse. i dont know why i allow myself to forget how good they are, but they are all that has been motivating me at the gym recently. so very good.

i feel like -

i just need a big bonk over the head. like one of those in the cartoons where after a big whack the words "pow" pop up and then little birds start flying around in a circle. ya, i need one of those. and not because i have a headache or because i need a headache, but because i just feel stuck in an attitude rut of sorts.

i lost touch

with this blogging world. and i dont even feel bad about it. it is a good thing when "real life" things catch up with you and you forget to open up your laptop and just word vomit all over the world wide web.

on top of it all i have writers block. all i can think about right now is how crabby i am {ever have those days?}. even listening to the smiths isn't inspiring any witty, thoughtful or clever banter, so i will just curtsy and say 'adieu'. {oh, and post a current picture taken by the ever fabulous Meredith Carlson. man that woman is talented}

looking forward.

staying at home and making my own schedule has made "hump day" aka wednesday, sort of irrelevant. however today has really made me look forward to the following things:

• spin class tonite and another tough workout with lindsay
• dessert with my cousin and her family this evening, who are visiting from out of town
• meeting my new personal trainer on the morrow and figuring out why i have gained six pounds since this whole fiasco began
• sunday. the only day that i have the husband to myself, sort of

what are YOU looking forward to?

monday moment.

for the sake of time i just want to make it very clear that i am so proud of my husband. i think that i could scour the face of this earth on a search for the hardest working man, only to find myself right back in my own bedroom; or possibly the orem windermere real estate office.

you can probably tell from the above picture, but he is kinda a big deal. man i love him.

apology.

i think i need to apologize for rambling on for the past little while in my posts. everyone knows that no one actually likes reading these things.

so, for your viewing pleasure, here are some images from the valentines day shoot that mere took for aaron and i!

on to . . .

phase three: inherit children

this may seem like a weird phase title, but it fully encompasses what has been filling my time recently. right after i quit i was lined up to watch my nieces and nephew for a week, and although it was tough going from zero kids to four in one week, i really had the time of my life.

the youngest is three and she was home with me all day while the older three were in school. we had many talks through the day about why she prefers the peels cut off of her apple slices and had a few melt downs due to her refusal to take a nap during the day. below are a few of the conversations we had with her that aaron and i still laugh about today:

- i was sitting at the kitchen table with her eating lunch together and i poured the contents of a diet coke into a glass filled with ice. after taking one sip and setting it down, she looked up at me like she longed for a sip of my drink, but then quickly remembered and shared that, "that drink is diarrhea for my bum" and then nodded her head in a matter of fact way.

you and about a million other people honey.

- aaron and i had to run an errand and so we left the older kids at home for a bit and took the youngest with us. in the car on the way she started talking like a robot saying things like, "dont laugh! i am a robit!" so aaron decided to play along with her and talked to her like a robot and everything that he said she mimicked. they were going back and forth for a while, aaron saying one thing and the youngest mimicking back, but then aaron got a genuis idea; her parents have been trying to potty train her and so while we were there we really tried to encourage the big girl attitude and get her to go in the potty. with that said aaron tried tricking her into saying what he said by saying in a robot voice "i am a big girl and i go in the potty!". without skipping a beat she called back to us, "i am a baby and i go in my diaper!"

it was worth a try right?

- she and i were sitting on the stairs watching the other kids run around the house and she just started making up stories to tell me. her: "there was a boy named Jesus Christ who died."
me: "thats right. do you know why?"
her: "because he got in a car wreck and then he had to get a wrap on his leg, so then he was ok."
me "oh really?!"
her: "ya, but his father was very sad."
me: "what is his fathers' name?"
her: "Heavenly Father. and he was very sad. and so was his sister."
me: "he has a sister? what is her name?"
her: "dora. and she got in the wreck too, but she was ok. she didnt need a wrap."
me: "well thats good, im glad that she is ok."
her: "ya, but Jesus Christ had to get a wrap, but he is going to be ok." *smiles and runs away.

at least she understands that Heavenly Father is Jesus Christ's father :)

i wish so badly that i could find a picture the above mentioned kids - they are so darling.

oh and then i got to watch this little munchin for a couple days.
i know your jealous. so many cute kids.

moving on with life.

first of all, thank you for all your suggestions and advice from the previous post. i have been taking one step at a time and trying to soak up the wonderful moments that i have with friends, family and myself.

which brings us to . . . phase two: make myself a priority.

we all watch 'the biggest loser', yes? well throughout the seasons the most popular reason that the women blame on their weight gain is 'losing themselves'. i know that there are hundreds of thousands of mothers out there who can relate to that statement and although i have no children to blame, i can say that i have lost sight of myself and most importantly my health.

alas, that is no more!

the day after my last day at work aaron surprised me with an adventure and we headed out on the quest to find bicycles. both of us were really excited about the whole situation; finding a new way to travel that saved the enviroment and promoted our well-being. however, after looking through all the bike shops in utah county our discussion about our quest turned more into a challenge for the both of us to get healthy.

long story short; we have gym passes and i have a personal trainer. my first day with the trainer he asks me to warm up on the treadmill for 10 minutes. ok so, by minute five i was ready to quit. my heart was beating so fast and hard that i was sure that the dude running next to me could hear it, but it also could have been the heavy panting that made him look over at me quite a few times. overall those 10 minutes were an embarassment, but not as bad as what ensued. after i hopped of the treadmill i forgot about that feeling you get when you are walking on solid ground, you know that feeling like you are moving at lightening speed? well i walked with my lightening speed legs over to the weight section of the gym to meet my trainer who gave me two exercises. emphasis on the 'two'. mind you, before i even started these exercises my nose was running profusely and my heart was still beating out of my chest. so i do some sort of whimpy push up thing for 30 counts and then an ab exercise for about 15 counts and i stand up to catch my breath . . . aaaaand then abrubtly sit down. no lie, i thought that i was going to pass out, my vision didnt go completely black, but it was pretty dang spotty. on top of it all my nose would not stop running and so to make up for it i just tried snorting it back up so that i could continue with my workout. i was a vision impaired, snotty, exhasted, hot mess. i tried to play it off but the trainer knew better; he took me back over to his desk, handed me a box of tissues and concluded that i was a skinny-fat kid. lesson learned.


since that awful first day, things have gotten a million times better. i feel so good. i love the confidence that i gain as i push myself further and further. i love the challenge each morning of getting up and pushing myself to the gym and then the worn out feeling after i have completed the spin class. i love the energy that i have gained and the strength that i am continuing to build on.

here's to the fat kid in all of us!

in the meantime.

oh golly its been awhile. like a real, long while.

the past month or so has been madness and instead of rattling off in one long post - i am going to break it up into phases. lucky for you huh?

phase one: employment finale

im done.

after giving my two weeks notice and then sitting out another four weeks it was long overdue, but i mustered up the strength to send my boss a letter regarding me officially leaving. (by 'letter' i mean email and by 'strength' i mean waiting until the very last minute of the monday workday and pressing send before practically running out of the office. baby steps.) my email clearly stated that i would work the remainder of the current week and then i was outie.

february 19th was my last day. although that day was bitter-sweet for me, i had no idea what an incredible adjustment it would be for me to go from days packed with never-ending task lists and appointments to days where my tasks where limited to the chores in our little home. it actually been really tough on me - emotionally and physically. in some ways i feel like i just need more things to help pass the time, but mostly i just want to know that i am contributing to our family and that i am putting in my fair share of work.

each phase from here on out will explain what i have done to reconcile this issue, but what i really want to know is have you ever felt this way? what did you do when you came to a cross roads in your life?