T.G.I.F.

Lots has been going on around our house lately! Here's a re-cap through photos (that are not all good quality, sorry! Anyone wanna buy me an awesome camera??).

Baby Shower:
My cousin Jillian was in town and her mom and sister threw a surprise baby shower! It was a lot of fun, and we had yummy authentic Spanish food (my aunt is from Spain). So fun! Makes me excited to have my own babies one day.

me and my adorable grandma (sorry for the horrible photo quality. I'm holding out until the day we can afford/are given an awesome new one haha) 

It was my cousin's son's (how do I say that) birthday that day. This .gif was basically all my attempts to get a pic of him with the balloon. Love this boy! 

My cousin Eileen had us all write fun/funny things on diapers for those late night diaper changes that will happen often .

Happy Birthday! 

My cousin got him an Ironman suit. He calls it his "fireman" suit :) 

15 Minutes of fame: 

Last week Tay picked me up from school and I just thought his outfit was so cute. Those are his classic white chucks that he works to keep in pristine condition. I kept trying to get just a cute, normal photo of him, but he resisted. (note: he likes to wear things on his head like that a lot, not sure why...:) 

Me straight up feeling like the paparazzi following him just trying to get a quick cute photo of him. 

Finally after getting the mail he got really into the photo shoot mode and started to give me his best "fashion blogger" poses (no hating on anyone or any blog, it was just so funny to see his perception of fashion blog poses). 

Partners in Crime: 

Ok this isn't what it looks like. Ok, yes it is exactly what it looks like. I mentioned in this post that my dad liked to teach his girls about cars. One thing my dad loved to do (and always did) was have me or one of my siblings time him while he would lock a car door, narrate a scene where he's a bad guy and the cops are coming so he has to hurry and "break in" to the car by unlocking it from the outside. If he didn't like his time he was able to unlock it in, he'd do it all over again. I'll be honest, I knew what a Slim Jim was, I understood the concept (sort of) but I never paid a ton of attention of how to "break in" to cars because I figured my dad would just always be there to do it. I remember it wasn't long after he passed away that I locked my keys in my car at school and needed to unlock it. I walked into the all boy auto shop class and asked the auto mechanic teacher at my school for a Slim Jim and any tools he had to break in. He asked if I needed help, and being a little prideful and feeling all "girl power" I told him I could do it. Let's just say there was no way I was going back in that classroom and saying I couldn't do it. It was like a test; I had to think back and try to remember what I had seen and learned when my dad did it. Anyway, long story short, I now carry a tool in my car (hoping I don't lock the keys in my car ever or else I'm in trouble) and I unlock cars for people quite frequently. Tay has now mastered the skill so we do it together :) Things like this, though simple, remind me of my dad and make me smile. Go here to learn a little more about my dad :). 

My dad would be so proud I have a man who has the "skill" as well :) 

Rivalry Game: 

Since we'll be moving in about a year for grad school (hopefully) I've been feeling all sentimental lately as I keep thinking "on this day next year I won't be in Provo anymore!". It actually makes me really sad. So this year since the BYU/Utah game was here in Provo, I tried to convince Taylor that we should spend the $80+ each to attend the game since we didn't buy season passes. He thought about it, and was responsible enough to tell me that we didn't need to spend that money. Instead, we decided to invite some friends over and have a little game-watching party at our house. 

I worked the day of the game and of course had to don my cougar blue. Then I ran into sweet Jenny who worked with me at Allyse's Bridal. She happened to be wearing red so it was a perfectly fitting photo for the day! 

THE CONTRACT:

Ok, remember my "shopping fast until Christmas" I was on? Ok, well, I sort of broke it. Twice. Ok, let me explain. First of all, I really was in need of new jeans and didn't realize it until after I started my little fast, so Tay & I (ok really just I, Tay just kind of rolls his eyes and laughs) made an exception because it really was a need and they were really cheap. I bought these cute Edyson jeans from Nordstrom that were on sale. But don't worry guys, the shopping gods were watching. The UPS guy came on Monday. Tay didn't remember I was expecting a package and he was still sleeping because he worked a graveyard so he heard a knock but didn't get it in time. So the UPS guy came the next day when I was at work. So then he came again, and I was at school. Long story short, my pants are ON THEIR WAY BACK TO IOWA. Whaaaat? Yeah, lame. But Nordstrom said they'll send them back when they receive them. Waste of postage if you ask me. 

SO THEN....Ok, so I've been wanting those Steve Madden 'Intyce' boots forever and ever. I'm embarrassed at the price because I neverrrr spend that much on really anything. However, my handy dandy Facebook ads creepily knew I had been eyeing them online so one day I was just innocently on Facebook when I saw a promo code for Steve Madden on my side bar. The promo code (I think) still works (SMSEP5) and it gave me 15% off AND free shipping. WHAAA? I had to get them, right? But wait. THEN I go looking online for other promo codes, and I found ANOTHER, BETTER promo code since the boots were more expensive and it was 20% off AND free shipping. Oh gosh. So literally for DAYS I had been contemplating because I didn't want to splurge but I was never going to feel good paying full price for them another time. So I asked around to people who bought Steve Madden a lot and the consensus was that it was a good idea. So I talked to Tay and he just told me to decide. Then after I made dinner last night (guys, I cooked a really good meal. It's been a while) I come out and see this "contract" that had just printed out. Pretty much it is a written form of what I had already said: I'm not shopping until Christmas for any clothes, with the exception of fabric for my sewing class where we make clothes (score!), including black friday. Tay had me sign my name and stuff. It was so funny and quite cute on his part. But I am excited to re-start my challenge. I've been really trying to look at what's in my closet with new eyes. I also found this challenge I am going to do from Plane Pretty. It's going to be so fun. I'm sad I have to start over on my little fast, but let's be honest, these boots were worth it. Also, I'm going to re-fashion a few things I own. I will post about it. 

I'll post a close-up of the contract later. I'm not sure how my phone came up with this little collage, but it's cool I guess. 

 Well, that's all folks! Sorry for such a long post. I need to find the balance between posting too much and getting behind on stuff. Things have been fun around here lately. Tay was recently contacted by one of the admissions people at Pacific University in Oregon who saw that he had started his application. It just made things super real! He's shadowing an optometrist today. He looked so cute in his "optometry office" clothes he picked out (he's wearing a blue & white pinstriped shirt and some nice slacks and a navy tie). So cute. I love that guy lots. Guys. Dr. Hibbs. Doesn't that sound so cute?? Ahh! Well hope you all have a great Friday!

Introducing...

I have an announcement to make! Sorry friends (Madie & Andrea :), I'm not pregnant. But I have another type of baby, my new shop! It's officially open :) You've heard a lot about it being in the works, but it's here! I've had a couple sales already (one before my shop even opened...she found me on Pinterest! Yay!) so things are going well! Thank you to everyone who has already been so supportive and who has helped me spread the word. Please go here and "like" INKH.Designs on Facebook if you'd like!

The name: To be honest I had the HARDEST time coming up with a name for this shop. I had literally be brainstorming for months, and everything I came up with was already taken or just didn't sound right. So after a handy-dandy FB post, my sister's awesome mother-in-law suggested using "InKH" because it's like "ink" but includes my initials, KH, (minus the "B", but that's ok :). I loved it and it stuck!

 Many of you know my goal for the future is to be a stay-at-home mom (blogging about that later), so I'm trying to get this shop off the ground and Just Buttons & Bows back in action to help me have a little consistent job at home now that can continue in the future when we get to that point, which is why I really appreciate everyone's support! I have always liked being creative and crafty, so I have loved opening my shops and getting to do what I love from home, on my own time, in my own way, and helping bring in a little money to help our (little) bank accounts. It's seriously a dream doing what you love as a part-time job. 

Right now I obviously have designs up and for sale, but I also really love doing custom designs! Let me know if you have an awesome idea you want to create a custom design for! I have done some trade work as well in exchange for some advertising, so if you're a blogger and interested in doing that let me know! 

Here's one of my favorites I created. I love the old bridal tradition of "something old, something new..." and I'm slightly sad I didn't completely follow through with it on my wedding day, so I decided to make a bridal shower invite with that theme!

Thank you again to everyone for their kind words and support! Also, thanks to everyone who put up with my little bad day the other day. That was rough. I've had some more "fun" experiences with that class but we'll save those for later, haha.

We had such a fun weekend and Tay was contacted by someone from one of the schools he's applying to, but more on that later! :)

On Being Kind

 I'll be honest. Today I am grumpy. Now I know in the world of blogging it's almost socially unacceptable to be down-to-Earth about how you're really feeling sometimes, but that's the beauty of having your own blog...you choose your own words, and those who read it are choosing to read. So, I promise this post has a good moral to it.

I've been struggling since school started to stay organized. I thought that my schedule this semester would be a breeze seeing that I am only taking 12 credits and normally I take 15-17. However, all of my classes are back to back in a big chunk on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and then I work Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays (yes, the church pays me to work on Sunday...come on though, it's the MTC! :) Anyway, I'm a lot busier than I realized and I've really struggled to stay on top of things. I've joked and mentioned before that I have A.D.D., which is true. And I'm so used to it that I'm not embarrassed, secretive, or awkward about it, but it is a real struggle for me. Attention Deficit Disorder. It's a struggle, but I've been working through it.  Basically since I was 14 I have had a hard time learning, staying focused, staying organized, and remembering small tasks and getting them done. There are those who "don't believe" in A.D.D. and for them I am happy that they have never had to deal with it enough to know it is real. Anyway, I've been medicated for it since I was 14, and it really helped me during the school hours to stay on task, remember the little details, and get work done. Recently the medication I was taking was starting to give me some health issues and I wanted to learn to battle A.D.D. on my own so I came off of it. This is my first semester of school since I was 14 battling living life with A.D.D. without the help of medication to help me in school.

That all being said, these first few weeks have been really fun extra-curricularly (word?), but it's been a struggle school-wise. This morning I woke up a little late but I was excited to have a good day. I got to my first class literally two minutes late. This class's syllabus and assignment instructions aren't very clear, nor are they worded super well (studying linguistics makes me go by the books on exactly how someone words things, so if wording is ambiguous, it's a problem for me, even if the teacher "thinks it's clear). I asked a question in class about when the next quiz was due (obviously because the syllabus wasn't clear) and the teacher just referred me to the syllabus. Thanks, teacher. Then the teacher was having us get in groups to work on something, and as he walked by I asked him a quick question about our assignment we turned in today because at the beginning of class he made it sound like some of us may have done it wrong (not a huge deal, but I was bugged that I did it exactly how his example showed and that I was maybe wrong). He was very short with me and told me to talk to him later because he was obviously in the middle of doing something and that I should've asked at the beginning of class (my hand was up for this question but he didn't see me...my bad). I mentioned to a girl sitting by me that his response was kind of rude and she starts to tell me how he's the teacher and he has other things to do so he can't just answer my question. Ok, thank you, girl next to me.

 So my morning started off by a couple people turning the silliest, simplest comments into unnecessary cold, unfriendly, and snarky comments.

Later I realized that I forgot to do something for my sewing class (do you see my frustrations with A.D.D.) so during my next two classes I'm cutting out patterns, taping things together, etc. when I see that I failed a quiz in my Old English class (look up Old English....it really is another language it's intense!). So my day was just a little rough and I was just feeling bad about myself that I just can't get it all together like other people seem to do. I decided to just email my teacher to get my questions answered that I didn't get answered in class. My email was seriously really nice and even included a smiley face. I just wanted to clarify things so I could do well in his class.

His response, whether intentional or not, was rude. It was cold, and it was unnecessarily snarky and unkind. He mentioned that I was late to class or else he would have loved to answer my question (it was literally 9:02 when I walked in. Class started at 9:00. My bad). He mentioned that he felt like his instructions were pretty clear, but he guessed not. That didn't make me feel very smart. He asked me to elaborate on how I didn't understand what a specific line in the instructions meant. His email made me feel stupid.

I would go more into what he said but it's not worth it, and it will just make me frustrated. I won't lie that it made me tear up when I read his email because it was just unnecessarily unkind. Even though my life isn't that hard and I'm not going through that hard of a time with my A.D.D. struggles this week, if a couple people had just chosen to speak a little kinder, it really would have made my day just a little better. I know that we can choose whether to let things and others' actions and words affect us or not, but the situation just mad me think about the concept of kindness.

Something I've learned from working at the MTC answering phone calls from worried/angry/frustrated/emotional/etc. parents (especially moms) is that you can say the same thing to someone two different ways and you're still giving them the same information, but you can really influence their mood, day, whatever just by how you say it.

I'm not blaming my teacher or that girl in my class on my "rough day", but their words really reminded me about being kind and, if it's not a big deal, how changing the way you say something and going slightly out of your way to be a little kinder can really make someone's day.

So that's my message for today. Be kind to people. You never know what they're going through or how your small compliment, kind help or explanation, or even just simple chat with them will make their day.

Once Upon a Time, Shakes, and...slight outfit post?

You guys. Where did the weekend go?? Since my last post (yesterday) we've watched even more Once Upon A Time on Netflix, which I'm secretly hoping will replace some of the football that is watched in this household (I bet you can't guess who's guilty of that one, huh?). Just kidding, football isn't too bad, I just didn't grow up in a big football household.

Anyway, last night we went to a fall retreat for Taylor's work. It was a lot of fun to see all the security guards together. It was a nice reminder of how important the security within the Church is and how neat it is for them all to be a part of it. I really need to get to writing about my experience working at the MTC so far because really it is amazing to see the Lord's work in progress. And guys, the majority of the missionaries going through the MTC right now are born in..(get ready)...1995!!! I know I'm not that old, but I remember what was going on in my life in 1995! Yikes! Anyway, the sisters and elders are fun to work with. Tonight I got bribed by one to break a rule for him....hmmm. Obviously I said no, but this kid was dead serious about paying me... (he just wanted me to "look the other way" so he could keep his sheet music for good that he had checked out).  They really are only 18 haha but they truly are serving the Lord (still adjusting to maturing a little for some :) ) and it is just so neat to watch.

After Tay's work party Tay knew I'd love my favorite cookie dough shake from JCW's so I regretfully ate the whole thing (hello small stomach ache) then we watched some Once Upon a Time. Today was nice/weird to be back at church after traveling for a few weeks then having stake conference last week.

Again, gotta love taking pictures with your phone. Also, that large white thing is my shake spoon in case you're wondering haha. 

Here is my new dress I got (right after I made my vow not to shop until Christmas). I loved wearing it and got lots of compliments. I don't really own Navy so it was a good addition to the wardrobe! Also, those shoes, my favorite! From Macy's...and only $5. Yes, $5!! Gotta love sales. 

                                                       I hope you all have a great week!

CPK, Pepper Spray, and other fun things.

Hello! It's been a great weekend so far. Yesterday was super fun. After school Tay and I just hung out at home and literally just relaxed and talked for a couple hours, which doesn't always happen since we're usually really busy. It was nice to just spend time together with no place to go or rush to right away. I was craving California Pizza Kitchen and even though Tay wasn't super hungry at the time, he took me there for dinner. Such a sweet guy :). I decided to try something new, so I asked the waiter what his favorite thing was: the Jamaican Jerk. I tried it and it was pretty good! Also, for those of you who go there frequently enough to notice, they changed their bread! It was more like how the bread is at Macaroni Grill. Super yummy.

My cute cousin Morgan just got home from her mission in Georgia, so we made signs and took pictures of ourselves with them to post on her Facebook wall (she lives in California). As you can see from the photos this task wasn't super easy to do ourselves (holding the sign, both fitting in the picture, then taking the picture).

My sister sent me this photo from school. She's a cheerleader and they had to each make a big poster to but hung around the stadium. I may or may not have helped a little (just a little!) so it was fun to see it hanging at her school. She's the youngest so it's crazy seeing her already in high school!

My sister's (the one on the back) school mascot is the Thunderbird, so Tay helped us come up with this saying for the poster! 

Taylor and I possibly made a mistake yesterday...we started watching the ABC series Once Upon a Time on Netflix...and now we're addicted. Seriously though, we stayed up until 1am watching it when Tay had to be at work at 6! (ok, Taylor stayed awake. I, as usual, fell asleep on his shoulder).

After a couple episode's we went to Taylor's Intramural football game. The other team had to forfeit because one guy didn't have his ID (they're required to show that they're the one who actually registered for the team). They still played just for fun, and it was fun to watch. While I was just sitting watching, some girl came up to me and told me I was really pretty. I share this because it makes me have faith in humanity that some people just do or say nice things just because. It was really sweet of her and it gave me a little confidence boost! I'm gonna try to pass that on to someone else!

Oh, the joy of taking photos on your phone. If I had an awesome camera these shots would've been great. Tay played a great game! Plus he wore orange to stand out so it was easy for me to find him playing :) 

My cute boy getting ready for the game

just chilling and wishing I'd worn rain boots because it was wet! 

Shameless selfie. 

As I've mentioned before, Taylor works as a security guard at the Missionary Training Center where LDS missionaries are trained before they serve their missions. The other day they had a pepper-spray training. In order for the guards to carry pepper-spray they have to be sprayed first!!! It is optional, but required if you want to carry pepper-spray. And for those of you wondering if it would ever be necessary for them to use it...you'd be surprised at some of the people they come across! Last year Tay couldn't make it to this training so he didn't have to worry about deciding whether to do it. This year he told me he was going to do it....let's just say I almost embarrassed myself by the amount of worry I had for him ALL DAY before the training. I feel like it might have been similar to how mothers feel when they have to take their babies to get shots. You're just letting the person you love get hurt and you can't help them! I was a baby about it. So he went, and he was sprayed. He said it was really bad, but he recovered pretty quickly. That was an interesting adventure. Oh, and I'm still sitting here wondering, why don't you have to be shot by a gun in order to carry a gun? Not to get all political...but who knows!

I've made it another week without buying clothes. Sometimes I see really good deals on Facebook (have you checked out GroopDealz? They are AWESOME!) and then I have to remind myself of my goal! But it's all good. I did get a really fun new curling iron/wand...not really sure what to call it. I've been curling my hair with my flat iron for the past four years, which works but it sometimes takes long and is a little tricky sometimes. I'm still deciding if I like this one (pretty sure I do), but it's been rainy so I haven't really been able to use it and see how the curls stay because it just rains. I'll show a good pic some time soon and see what you all think.