My holiday top ten

I have always loved the holiday season. I love curling up in big cozy blankets and drinking hot chocolate. I love driving around and looking at the festive lights. I love wrapping gifts and decorating the house. But I really really love spending time with the ones I love the most. 

This Christmas was our first as parents! Having a baby makes everything more fun. I find myself rediscovering the magic through Isabelle's eyes. The sound of Christmas carols, the smell of cinnamon pine cones, and the touch of cold snowflakes. 

We had the best Christmas loaded with lots of family time (minus a couple family members 😢). We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with both of our families. What a blessing!! 

There were so many wonderful moments and highlights during this holiday season, but I'm going to try and narrow it down to my top ten...

#10- Decorating the tree and condo. Izzy was intrigued by the lights and ornaments!

#9- Doing "The 12 days of service". For each of the twelve days before Christmas we did something to serve someone else. It helped us focus on our Savior and the true meaning of Christmas as we looked beyond ourselves to think of others. 

#8- Speaking of The true meaning of Christmas… These videos:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uzjFEMmM0Xs#

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PrLoWt2tfqg#

#7- Seeing the Christmas lights. We didn't make it up to Temple Square this year, but we did get to see the tree of life in Draper Park. It was a beauty! I also loved just driving around and seeing all the beautiful light displays in the neighborhoods.

#6-  Our anniversary is on December 15 which is so fun and magical. We celebrated by going out to dinner and seeing Justin's brother in a musical. I love having our anniversary at such a beautiful time of year. (Darn it, we forgot to get a picture!) I love you Justin! Happy three years!

#5- The Christmas Eve talent show with my family. Isabelle and Justin did a joint talent this year showcasing their incredible ability to stand while holding onto the door frame. We didn't get a picture from that night, but here's a picture of Izzy doing it by herself. What a funny girl! 

#4-  Holiday shopping with my little sweetheart! 

#3- Bowling as Elphaba on New Year's eve. Apparently the party lights brought out my emerald complexion. 

P.s. I look like this in all the pictures! That green light wouldn't leave my face. 

#2- Justin's face when he opened his gift from me. He was so surprised- especially because I was very very sneaky and completely threw him off with what I said and how I wrapped it :-).

#1- And finally, the thing I loved most of all this Christmas was... 

Seeing this sweet babe of mine enjoy every second of opening and playing with her presents!

We hope you had a very Merry Christmas and wish you the happiest new year! 

The chair

Since I'm not teaching this year, I wanted to find a way to still bring in a little extra cash, plus find a fun hobby I could do while I stay home with babes (I couldn't bring myself to sub like I had originally planned to). So... I decided to do something fun and completely different than anything I've ever attempted. 

Upcycling furniture. Or flipping or repurposing... Whatever you want to call it. 

I fell in love with the idea of taking something old, ugly, and run down and making it bright and beautiful once again.

I spent hours researching online, reading lots of blogs, and watching YouTube videos. YouTube is my best friend these days. Seriously you can learn anything you want online, at home, in your sweats. It's divine.  

I felt like I was finally ready to try my hand at this thing, so I started looking at KSL classifieds for a simple chair to do my first makeover with. I found an awesome chair for cheap and so my honey and I went and bought it. Then that same day I found two more I loved (for dirt cheap) so we bought them too. We came home with three chairs and I was like, "oh my heck, I'm so excited but I'm terrified. I have no clue what I'm doing!!" 

We decided to just dive in with the chair that was in the worst shape. This scared me because I had no idea what I was doing plus it was in bad shape to begin with but I figured if we could do the one in the worst shape then we could do anything! Ha ha. 

It was nasty. Well, the seat was nasty.  Every time I looked at it, let alone touched it, I felt like I needed to wash my hands a hundred times. It had mystery stains, crusty stuff, and who knows what else on it. Justin had to stabilize the chair because it was a little unstable and there was a spring that had come out of place and was basically hanging under the seat. BUT it had beautiful bones and I could tell it would turn out gorgeous. I had a vision and I couldn't wait to transform this chair into a little French beauty. 

Justin screwed off the seat. The inside was a nightmare. I researched how to make it all good again, then took off the nasty old fabric and reupholstered it with this beautiful white and yellow damask fabric I found.

Then I painted the frame with two coats of chalk paint (homemade chalk paint that is... So simple and a thousand times less expensive!). And I did a wash of a nice tan to bring out the detailing. The final step was applying wax to the whole frame. Do you like my huge work space? It was just steps outside of the condo while Isabelle was napping haha. 

Before we screwed on the seat again, I had to put it next to the other chair. What a difference! 

The finished product! 

The before and after. I couldn't be happier with how my first chair makeover went! 

Welcome, Fall!

I can't believe it's already fall. Where does the time go?? 

We said goodbye to summer with Justin competing in a triathlon in Ogden. He did such a great job! Especially since it was freezing in the morning. I was so glad I wasn't the one getting in the water to swim! 

Isabelle was such a sweetheart and just went along with us as we went to all the different locations. 

We all celebrated by immediately getting ice cream ha ha. Not sure that's the best post-triathlon recovery food, but it tasted yummy! 

This little one sure loves getting out and about. She's so happy when we're on the go and will take great naps when we're not home. But... She really dislikes sleeping in her crib during the day! She would much rather stay up and play. 

I can't believe she's half a year old already! Her favorite things include sucking on everything in sight, cuddling, reading books, sitting up, standing up (with help), bath time, looking in mirrors, touching faces, playing in the door jumper, going on walks, being outside, and being held. Izzy, you are the sweetest girl!!

Oh my heck, this face! 

We're loving the weather, the pumpkins, and the sweaters. Here's to a happy autumn! 

Summer, do you really have to end??

We have all had just a little too much fun this summer. Justin went to school in the spring, but had summer term off. Plus he was only working part-time which meant we had Tuesdays AND Thursdays together. Talk about living the dream! We actually got to see each other!! I was in heaven playing with my baby and family and not stressing about getting ready for another school year. And Justin was feeling free and easy without loads of homework hanging over him. 

We had LOTS of sunny swim days. 

What's more American and summery than going to a parade? 

We went shopping while Justin went camping with the young men. 

Girls day to the Thanksgiving Point Gardens. Gorgeous. 

Exploring the new museum...

Swanson grand kids are just too cute! 

Just a few darling moments...

Izzy girl has become quite the giggler and squealer. She can hit notes I didn't even know existed! 

Ok so we are silhouetted. But... we went to Wicked!! And loved every second of it. It was Justin's first time seeing it. I could see it every day if I was rich enough. Thank you mom and dad!! 

Ryan and Baley made a pit stop in Utah before going back to Indiana and we loved spending time with them. I hope they can move back the second that smarty pants is done at Notre Dame because we miss them so much. 

We spent an afternoon showing Izzy the Bean museum on campus. She didn't get what was going on, but she was sure happy! 

A little day trip to Salt Lake. Izzy loved Temple Square. 

First BYU football game was victorious!! Phew... Justin is a happy man for now...

Go cougs! 

We celebrated Labor Day by going on a fun and beautiful hike up the canyon and then having a cook out for lunch. Nothing beats the fresh mountain air. 

Justin carved our initials in a tree and Izzy helped. 

Birthday s'more! I even got to open a couple presents around the campfire since it was my birthday eve. 

Justin had work and started school on my birthday but I went out to lunch with my mom and sister and went shopping which was so fun! And Justin surprised me with dinner at P.F. Chang's-one of my very favorite restaurants! I was sooo spoiled this year. My love gave me a road bike!! It is so beautiful and rides like a dream. My family spoiled me with such nice gifts and I felt so loved the whole day. Love you family!! 

This summer has been one to remember. As much as I hate to see it end, I'm just a little excited for fall leaves and candy corn :).