Charming Charlie

While we were in Denver, I came across my new favorite store... Charming Charlie. It's a fashion accessory boutique, and I'm absolutely in love with it. I think the main thing that I like about it is that it's color coordinated, so all the red jewelry, purses, clothes, etc. are in one section, the green stuff in a different section, and so on. Brandon doesn't understand my obsession with it, mainly because I don't wear a lot of big jewelry, I just wear the same few things all the time! Oh and it's pretty cheap too!!!

But anyway, if there's a location near you, I HIGHLY recommend that you check it out!

Summer Project : Fabric Art

These were next on my Summer To Do List and I've been thinking about these for months! I've just finally gotten around to making them. Now, I think this is an original idea...I just thought of it while sitting in church one day, but if I have seen them somewhere else, I don't remember it! I'll be making a few more, but they require sewing, so they are farther down my list at the moment.

All you need is:

art canvas

really cute fabric

OR you can use plain fabric and add flowers, buttons, etc

shot glue gun

staple gun

For my cute fabric frames, all you do is cut it and staple it. Super easy. I like to buy fabric that is cute enough to be by itself, so the lemon frames will go in my kitchen.

For the other frames, I wanted a bright yellow and then made the flowers to glue on to it. I glued and stapled everything, so there was no sewing required.

So these were super easy! I'm not sure why it took me so long to get around to them...now I just need to hang them!

Sundance Moonlight Ride

Last Wednesday, there was a full moon and the Coffey's invited us to go to Sundance with them to take a late night ride on the ski lifts. Well, my camera wasn't liking the darkness, so I didn't get very good pictures! This is the back side of Mt. Timpanogos.


And here is the full moon....the clouds were covering it most of the time. So we basically took a dark ride on a ski lift.
We did learn a few lessons though:
1. Take a blanket and dress warm...it's cold up there!
2. Groups of singles go on these rides and they're really weird...you should try to avoid them, especially the dudes or they will sing you weird songs from Princess Diaries in order to impress the girls they are with. ("Oh, he's so sensitive because he watches Princess Diaries!")
3. Take snacks, it's about an hour long ride.
4. Some people make out on their lift. It's hilarious because we will be having a casual conversation and then as the make out couple passes us, we go silent and then giggle after they pass us. They have to know people can see them!!!

All in all, it was a great time and we'll definitely have to do it again this summer!

Goodbye, my favorite sunglasses. EVER.

Last week, we went out on Utah Lake with Jeff and the girls. Being paranoid about losing things, I chose to take a pair of sunglasses that I didn't really care much about instead of wearing my favorite sunglasses. See below. They are gold aviators, I bought them in Mexico for $19 on the street, and they may or may not have been real Ray-Bans. Brandon will tell you that they are not real, but it doesn't matter, they are my favorite.


WELL...Brandon lost his nice sunglasses last summer and has never gotten another pair. So he said, "Well Bri, I'll just wear yours." And I told him no, that I wasn't even wearing them for fear that they would be lost. He came back and said that he wouldn't fall in AND he has a freckle in his eye, so he has to wear sunglasses. UGH. So I was nice and let him borrow them.

Well, I think you know where this is going. We were riding the waverunner together and he slowed down to turn around. He was going too slow and turned sharp, and of course, fell in. (I didn't fall in, for the record) Well, my glasses went in as well, and neither of us realized it until a few minutes later. Lots of yelling followed.

He claims that because they are not real Ray Bans (which I still think they were) that it wasn't a big deal. They were still my favorite though....and I'll NEVER forgive him!

Guess I'll just have to go to Mexico to get another pair!

Summer Project : Entry Table

This summer, I'm hoping to complete a lot of different little projects around our house. I have come to the realization that if you OWN a home, you can do whatever you want to it to make it awesome! So here's the start of my summer projects: our entry table. (I actually did this before school got out, but it was on my "summer project" list, so I'm counting it!)

This is the before shot. We got this about a year ago at Ikea for $12 and it's actually a barstool! I wanted something tall (so Cooper can't get things from it, although he still can) and simple looking, but never really thought about painting it! However, I've recently become obsessed with the color gray. I'm not sure why, but I LOVE it! I bought a gray nail polish for my toes and I loved it so much on my toes that when I went to the store to buy table paint, I was literally holding paint swatches to my toes to try and match. Yes, I got some weird looks!

So here's the finished product. It's a pretty easy one to start with, I know, but I'm excited to have more gray in my house and I'm glad that table has a bit more life now!

Meet Conan

Conan is the newest addition to our family. He moved in with us on March 28, 2011. He and Cooper are actually half-brothers (they share the same dad).

Conan was born, December 20, 2009 and was adopted by another family. He lived with them for about a year, but then was returned to the breeder because they couldn't keep him anymore. Well, our breeder posted his ad on facebook and I instantly wanted him! We had been thinking about getting another dog because Cooper needs a full time dog friend in our house. Bran thought it was a bad idea and was not excited to go and meet Conan because he knew that I would probably want him. We took Cooper with us to see if they would get a long and they were instant BFFs. So we brought him home!


The only problem was that he was not fixed, so he had dominance issues and wanted to mark on everything! But we were willing to take him in and get him fixed, which we did very quickly!

This is Conan, post surgery.

Conan has tuned out to be such a sweetheart. He listens better than Cooper, doesn't really mess with stuff or tear things up, he has incredibly good balance and he's really gentle with little kids and other dogs. He and Cooper play all day long until they are too tired to play anymore. When they wrestle, it looks like they are really fighting, but that's just how they play! They actually have become a little pack. Our breeder said that beagles are pack dogs and they are better in packs, rather than alone. We even got them a giant crate and they sleep in it together. We also got them this leash thing that connects their harnesses when we walk, so they have to walk together. It's quite cute how synchronized they have become!



And I love when they are fighting and they both stand on their hind legs and kind of hug each other, while at the same time, they are biting each others faces. (Like the picture below. This was taken on Conan's first night with us.)


He loves to look out the window...well they both do actually...especially around 4pm when I come home from work! In the afternoons, they love to lay on our bed and look out the window.


And as soon as I get home, we MUST go for our daily walk and then once we are done walking, they like to relax in our front yard.


Most people ask, "Isn't it tough having 2 dogs?" and to them, I say "Absolutely not!" It's almost easier, because they keep each other entertained! It's been a lot of fun, and since we got Conan and both dogs now sleep in the same crate together, that means that we have our bed back to just us, and no dogs! Also, people ask if he is named after Conan O'Brien or Conan the Barbarian, and I'm not really sure! His last family named him, so I just say Conan O'Brien, because I love him!

Jobs for everyone!

Employment has been a bit of an issue lately for Brandon and I, as well as for other members of my family. However, within a week of each other, Brandon, my mom and I all got jobs!

Bran got a job first! He has been lucky enough to not have to work the entire time we've been here in Utah, and he wanted to get a job this summer to keep himself busy. Well, he wanted to get a job at BYU so that he could continue working during school and they would work with his schedule. So, he got a job cleaning stone floors from 4-8 am! It's a bit of an adjustment for the both of us, but it's building character...and bags under our eyes.

Next, was my turn. I had interviewed at several schools and was beginning to lose hope. I desperately needed a full time contract for next school year and I ended up getting my first choice. I will be moving out to Vista Heights Middle School next year. It's in Saratoga Springs, which is a bit farther than what I'm used to (about a 30 minute drive) but it won't be so bad! I'm really excited because it's a brand new school and the entire staff is pretty young.

Then, my mom got a job at a dental office. She's been wanting to get back into the dental field since she moved here and interviewed at a few places. Finally, an office hired her on and she really likes it!