Valentine's & Tay's Birthday!

Hello! 

I've been slacking at the blog. Things have been nuts around here. But first, let's talk about this first photo... My phone loves to randomly apply effects to the most random pictures on my phone. To be honest I have no idea how this photo even got on my phone (it's from my computer), but I thought it was perfect for writing about Valentine's! (ps you know technology is taking over the world when your phone outsmarts you). 

I hope you all had the loveliest of Valentine's Days! I have always loved Valentine's, even when I didn't have a significant other (hello super fun girls nights!), so it's extra fun now that I have a forever Valentine! 

Valentine's this year was a little different because Taylor was in Houston for a grad school interview for most of the day. However, I sent him off with some gifts, and he surprised me at work with a yummy and pretty Edible Arrangement! I'm new at my job so I was a little embarrassed but 100% excited and flattered. I picked up Tay that night happy to have him home (by the way they accepted him to the school less than an hour after his interview!).

Just SOME of the treats passed around at work that day: 

My gift sent to work from Tay!

 Tay has brought me home some goodies from each of his trips. Yessss.

Some of our gift giving. PS that huge stack of paper is the gift I talked about here . It took a LONG time but it was worth it!

And of course, Tay had a birthday! I decided to throw a little surprise get together the Sunday before his birthday since he has been traveling a lot and super stressed with school. Taylor is really hard to surprise so I was so nervous, but it turned out! We just had some different cakes and ice cream. Thanks to all who came! 

Then the celebrations continued! 

Taylor's dad bought us a Ruth's Chris gift card for Christmas so we were super excited to use it for Tay's birthday (he love steak almost as much as he loves Costco). The day before Tay's birthday we saw Enless Love then drove up to SLC for dinner! 

And then came his actual birthday! Since we'd eaten out a lot for dinner we just decided to do lunch. I have NEVER liked seafood, but since dating then marrying Tay, I've little by little started to like SOME things. I finally felt like we could get our money's worth going out for a sushi lunch (I'd learned to like enough rolls), and you guys. I LOVE sushi. YUM! 

Other than that we've just been busy working and figuring out where we're going to go to school for Taylor! Oh, and going to Costco of course! :) 

25

Today my favorite person turns 25! I realized that I mention Tay a lot on here, but there's probably many of you who don't know much about him!

^^The picture above is my favorite picture of Taylor. Three years ago when my roommates, friends, or family would ask to see a picture of the boy I had a huge crush on, this is the picture I would show them. Something I love about Taylor is his smile and this picture shows it perfectly. I probably FB stalked a little too much back then just to see this picture.

So here's a little bit about Tay: 

He is a great cook. This is probably why I don't like/am not good at cooking. He loves it and he's good at it, so sometimes I just let him :).

He can catch on to any foreign concept very quickly. If I can't figure out a sewing pattern or how to resize something on Photoshop, or even if I get "writer's block" when designing an invite for my shop, Tay can take a look at it and help me figure it out.

He is very much a homebody. We love to stay in and cuddle and watch movies together, and it's my favorite.

He LOVES steak. So much. And he has turned me into a red meat girl.

He speaks Spanish after serving a 2-year church mission in Guatemala. I try to practice with him but I think my horrible Spanish accent makes us both just want to speak English!

He is VERY good at math. I'm so grateful because I haven't taken math since my junior year of high school. Hopefully our kids will be well-balanced and get English skills from me, and math skills from Tay! My favorite is taking Taylor fabric shopping with me when I'm doing a project because he can calculate fractions (for how much fabric I need) so incredibly fast.

He really, really loves Costco. People who know that about him laugh when I start a story with "when we were at Costco the other day...."

He wears shorts and "slippers" (flip flops) outside in the winter. Unless it's SUPER damp outside and if it's not a total blizzard he does it.

He was born and raised in Hawaii. He love seafood, spam (yuck), and raw fish (yikes!). He is always missing home!

He had always wanted to get married in the Laie Hawaii LDS temple, but he told me that once he started to like me he realized he was OK getting married in exotic Provo, UT if that's what made me happy :)


Well I hope you all enjoyed hearing a little more about Taylor. He is my best friend (so cheesy, but true!). He is a very hard worker and he is always thinking about what is best for our family. I'm grateful to have him as my companion forever!

Happy Birthday Taylor!

Enduring Love

Happy Tuesday! I don't know about you, but Tuesday is one of my favorite days of the week. It means we all got through Monday and NOW the week can officially start. My favorite shows are also on on Tuesdays! 

Now, as "love week" continues, I've been thinking a lot about what love is. Being a linguistics nerd, I love thinking about words, connotations, etc. The meaning of love has changed over my lifetime. I've loved seeing so many new meanings of the word in my life as I've made new friends, improved old friendships, gotten married, etc. 

Here is another tear-jerking video about "enduring love". I absolutely love this video. I think it portrays the epitome of love in the most perfect way. 

Easy, Simple Valentine's Day Gift

Happy Love Week, friends! I love Valentine's Day. I kind of always have, even when I wasn't even dating anyone. I just love all the pink and red and candy (oooh the candy) and just the celebration of love.

DEAR HUSBAND IF YOU'RE READING THIS, STOP. NOW. THANKS! :) 

February and March are busy for me as far as finding/buying/making gifts because we have Valentine's then a few days later Tay's birthday, then a month later is our anniversary. And on top of that this year (as mentioned so many times, sorry!) Tay is traveling a LOT...as in to five different schools in five different states for grad school interviews, and we have get to pay (trying to sound more optimistic!) for all the flights, hotels, rental cars, etc. So I've been having to be a little more creative and think of some less expensive gifts that will still mean a lot to Taylor.

Growing up my dad would always write little cards, notes, etc. to my mom, as well as to me and all of my siblings. Those meant more to me than any gift I received from him, especially after he passed away. So I decided I wanted to start doing more things like that for Taylor because you can keep stuff like that forever!

SO this is where I came up with this crazy idea. I decided to come up with 365 reasons I love Taylor or things I love about him. That way he'll have something to read every day until next Valentine's day. I say this idea is crazy because 365 things is a LOT of reasons to come up with on the spot, no matter how much you really do love them! But it has seriously been sooo fun to come up with so many things I love about my husband, and I think it has really helped me to focus on all of his positive attributes instead of the few small imperfections we all have and sometimes notice, right??

So I've put on here the template I'm using in case any of you need a last minute Valentine's gift for your loved one! These are 3.5"x2" (standard business card size). There are 10 little notes per 8.5x11" page (reg paper size), so if you just print 37 copies (just 37, that's all! haha) and cut them out you'll be set! I plan to have mine printed at a local copy shop and use their cutter because there's no way I'm doing this with scissors! I also plan to hole punch (I want to find a heart hole punch!) each of them and put them on a little key ring for Tay to keep. Because of that I'll probably use a light-medium weight card stock (normally I'd do heavy but I'm poor!) Feel free to do whatever you want with them! Also, if you want the heart a different color, or a different font used, I can basically use any font you find since I'm not using these commercially. Just comment below or email me with requests! I'm all for helping people give the perfect gift!

Oh, and I almost always print using .PDF files, so if you prefer that just comment or email me and I'll send it to you. Blogger doesn't let me upload .PDFs so these are .JPEG, which will work, I just love .PDF. OH and I have two different versions depending on how/what you want to write. :)

Enjoy!

And just to help us get in the mood for this fun week, watch this! I absolutely love this video because you see couples at all different stages in life and what they do to express love to each other. I watched this when Taylor and I were dating and it made me notice all the little things he did to show me he loved me. Soon after we said "I love you". Now look where we are!

Extender Slips: Fancyslips!

Happy Sunday! I'm so sad the weekend is over. It was a good one.

Today I'm talking about slip extenders! Basically these slips are made to wear under dresses or skirts that might need a little extra length or just a little extra texture or frill. Being 5'9" and having legs longer than my husband and many other people taller than me, I always need help in the length department. Sometimes something may be long enough, but because I have a curvy build, things ride up when I bend down, walk, etc. so I like having a little extra coverage just in case!

About three years ago I made my own extender slip (look at the end of that post), which I loved! It was less expensive to make one than to buy one, but if you take into consideration the time it took to make, it's basically just as good of deal to buy one and save on time and labor.

About a year ago my mom found this new company called FancySlips and she purchased one for my little sister. I saw it and loved it and wanted my own! I've gotten so many compliments on it. Their slips run between $30-35 which is just about $10 more than I spent making my own.  I've seen several small boutiques that sell "extender slip" for $19ish. Let's just say that what I've found with extender slips is that you get what you pay for. These less expensive "extender slip" were cheaply made, and were practically the same length as the skirts I needed to lengthen, so they weren't extenders at all. Taylor and I have found that there are some things we can save on (generic brand this or that), and there are some things that are ok to "splurge" on (buying the slightly more expensive one for better quality). This is why I've become a loyal customer to FancySlips! I pay a little extra for GOOD quality slips that I love. I own the Patricia in cream and the Diane in taupe. I'm currently eyeing the Bethany in black and in ivory. Oh, these slips are also made in the US! I won't lie, I'm not one to ONLY purchase US made products, but I feel good when I can support companies from my own country. FancySlips also hosts a contest each month on their Facebook page with a FREE Fancyslip as the prize! All you have to do is post a photo of yourself wearing your new Fancyslips slip, get at least 10 'likes', and whoever has the most likes at the end of the month wins! It's a fun incentive to style your slip in a creative way and share it on their page.

My little sister and I put together a few outfits to show how we wear our FancySlips. The outfits we chose didn't need a ton of length, but they add some texture and give some "just in case" coverage. The mustard dress I'm wearing has a pretty high slit in the back, which is why I first thought to add the slip!

Excuse my awkwardness. :) You know I don't do outfit posts much!

These slips are my favorite! Modesty is something I strongly believe in and I love that it's as easy as adding an extender slip to make something modest. 

Good, Bad, Awkward, Awesome

It's FRIDAY, friday, gotta get down.....ok yeah I'll stop haha. But really, Rebecca Black has forever tainted my mind whenever I think about it being Friday. But really, I'm so glad Friday is here! 

For this post I decided to follow after a pattern my good friend Ashley writes in for her emails home from her mission in Santa Maria, Brazil! I love her little writing pattern because it keeps things interesting when it comes to updates and such. 

So here was our week! 

GOOD: 

*I started my job this week! I'm just in training but it comes complete with free product, easy hours, and no school on top of it. 

*I found out I get paid time off and some benefits for said job! A real grown up job! 

*I have finally found a salad that I like. I really struggle loving my greens (I know I sound like I'm 5). But we went to dinner up in Heber last Sunday and I LOVED the salad they had. It was pretty basic, but it was mixed greens (not just all one type), with sliced cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, blackberries, avocado slices, and an apple cider vinegar/olive oil/a little italian seasoning packet dressing. Sooo yum.

BAD: 

*A very long story short, a scholarship that we were really hoping for Taylor to apply for/possibly get stopped taking applications early (before the deadline they gave us). Tay couldn't submit his application until he had been officially accepted to a school, which happened Tuesday, but it was too late. This scholarship would've paid for all 4 years of grad school, so we're working hard to come up with a new plan to pay for school. 

AKWARD:

*I bought a pair of pants that I LOVED from JCREW online, but they were on clearance (hence the fact that I could buy them), so they are final sale. They were a Tall size which I thought would be perfect since I have really long legs. Yeah, they're like 4 inches too long. 

*Sometimes I really, really crave Costco muffins. But we had willpower and didn't buy them. 

*Then sometimes I crave these: 

I know. But sometimes they make me sick. And no, I'm no pregnant. 

*This: 

Yeah, Costo had THIS many Ephraim's Rescue movies for sale. Unfortunately the movies weren't on sale, so I'm pretty sure these won't be selling out any time soon. PS I'm obviously a newbie using the panoramic setting on my phone. 

Can you tell we went to Costco today? 

AWESOME: 

*I found out that if you get candle wax on your wall and side of a cabinet (oops) from your candle warmer, doTERRA lemon oil can clean it up! 

*This movie: 

Tay and I rented this from Redbox not knowing what to expect, but it was SO CUTE. It's mainly in Spanish, so we just watched in in Spanish (what it was originally filmed in. Many characters speak English though) with English subtitles (for me :). It made us both cry! So good. 

*Today when I was tweaking some things on my blog, Tay decided to help and did awesome, fast, complicated math to help me figure out how to make things the perfect size in inches AND pixels. I should hire him to do some of my photoshop work. 

*Taylor got accepted to Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, Tennessee! Yay! So that means if he gets accepted no where else, at least we know we can go to Tennessee! 

*Taylor got invited to interview at Ohio State University for optometry school. As with many of their other programs, Ohio State has basically the best optometry program. Although this means that's one more weekend Tay will spend away from me, I'm excited for him to check it out!

Well, I hope you all have a great Friday! I get to wear jeans to work! #winning 

Everything Will Work Out

Sometimes things don't go as planned. And that's ok. But it's hard! I've had many experiences in life that have taught me this lesson, yet every time my expected plans change, I'm still always thrown through a loop and caught off guard. You'd think I'd learn!

I found this quote and I really love it. I feel like President Hinckley was always so positive, and I love his sweet words of inspiration. I designed this print, and I want to share it! Feel free to save this if you want it for personal use. This is a .JPG but if you want the .PDF file for printing, comment below with your email and I'll send it to you! Please no commercial use :) I just thought it would be nice to spread some uplifting words.

I hope you're all having a great week! It's almost the weekend! 

A Weekend in Memphis

We had a fun weekend here at the Hibbs home. Tay spent Thurs-Sat morning in Memphis, Tennessee to interview for grad school. Shout out to my old roomie (long live Chatham #26!) Lauren for hanging out with my while Tay was gone. It was fun to go to dinner and catch up!

Of course I made sure Tay documented his trip when he could so that I could get a feel for the city:

On the trolly in the city: 

Southern College of Optometry 

After I picked Tay up from the airport we got some Waffle Love. You know when you go somewhere and you just get really good service and/or your food is just perfect? Well the owner of Waffle Love was there so he was making sure all of the employees were making the waffles/putting on toppings correctly so ours were SO perfect. Yummy! Shout out to Waffle Love for winning our hearts and bellies.

I started my new job today! (so long, Netflix, sewing, and my excess free time!). I'm excited to get back in the swing of things. However, I was so nervous in my sleep (anxiety much?) about not waking up on time this morning that I woke up THREE times to ask Tay what time it was. If you know me you know that I am a DEEP sleeper. I'm starting to feel bad for people who say "I just couldn't sleep last night".  I may or may not have woken up at 10am when I was supposed to be at work at 7:30am at the MTC once. WORST DAY EVER. And that's why I have anxiety about waking up.

Today Taylor got invited to interview at Ohio State! I'm super excited for him 1. because Ohio State has one of the best optometry schools in the nation and 2. because Taylor has now been invited to interview (aka met all of the academic requirements) at of all of the schools he applied to! I'm so proud of him/relieved it's not me going to grad school because watching him prepare to graduate/go to more school stresses me out a little. It'll be an adventurous next couple of months!


Oh also, when we were driving back from the airport, part of the front of our car (I don't know the name??) just up and flew off. We're trying to avoid buying a new (or second) car for as long as possible, so this just made us laugh. We're already missing hubcaps (one on each side) so this just added to the "poor college student" look. Love it.

Well, that's all folks! I've been told I need to update my blog more so I'll get on that. Right up there with working on my {horrible} cooking skills. :)