operation decorate

Ever since i moved back into my parents house a couple of months ago, it has been really hard trying to figure out exactly how i wanted to set up my room. Because this room can only be arranged basically one way (due too built ins and sliding glass doors) , it kept looking exactly the way my room looked all throughout my childhood(which i didn't want) . So after much trial and error I finally decided on where i wanted everything....it is totally still a work in progress and needs much more organization, but i thought i would share with you guys some pictures of my favorite parts of my old/new room thus far. 

 Love my pretty flowers thanks to phil that are on my bedside. they make me happy

 some decor on my mantle

 fire place area....i still need to find something to go above my fireplace.

 love my little "mailbox" i store lots of my letters from past deployments in there

 I have these built in cabinets in my room...that are filled to the brim with tons of dolls that my mom has collected over the years and refuses to get rid of (she says that they are for her future grandkids..any who, i tried to figure out a way to cover all of it..so i covered the glass in letters from phillip from afghanistan/Iraq

  Small stache of books ...i have them everywhere

 one of my most favorite parts of this room has always been the closet space...i turned the bookcase into shoe storage...and yes it is already a mess and filled to the brim! love me some shoes!! (ps...please note my stack of spice girl barbie boxes at the VERY top of my closet....yes I was/am obsessed with them)

 Dexter got a haircut today and i just couldn't resist sharing pictures with you guys

 can you believe this sweet face was found in the animal shelter!!

 Seriously?! so cute now that he is less scruffy!

 i also made a makeshift headband out of random nicknacks i found while cleaning my room today ...trying to be resourceful here haha!

Beauty and the beast

My grandma and grandpa went on a little vacation this past week and I told them that i would babysit their little dog belle. Im thinking hey the thing maybe weighs 4 lbs and doesn't do a whole lot..how hard could this be. I now sit here half awake due to the fact that this dog hasn't allowed me to have a good nights sleep since i've been watching her. she doesn't sleep well unless she is in bed with you (which i am not a fan of) and instead of just curling up and going to sleep....she runs around the bed for a good 20 min until she finds where she wants to sleep. then once she fines her oh so coveted sleeping destination she lays down and manages to groom herself for another hour. this involves lots of licking herself and nibbling at her grubby little toes ...gross. after a while we will both fall asleep and then soon enough Belle decides that this place she has slept for the past 3 hours is no longer comfortable and moves her little body to the most inconvenient places possible....then starts her whole routine all over again. Dear little belle....you're really sweet and all, but i can't wait till you go back to your real mom and i can get some real sleep.

                              obviously the look of pure joy having this in my bed in the morning

p.s. i think this officially reminded me that i am so not ready for children yet

xoxo or lack there of

Hi bloggy friends!
I hope you all have had a wonderful couple of days! I am a little late on the whole Valentines day post...i was really unsure if I wanted to even post one because my day was highly uneventful....but i decided too anyways! So here we go! 


Ever since phillip has been in the military...and the whole time we have been together, we have yet to share a Valentines day with one another. This has been the 3rd year that we have had to deal with this whole forced separation thing(thanks army)..which pretty much stinks. So when valentines day rolls around, our day usually ends up looking quite different than other "lovers" do on this oh so wonderful holiday...usually the whole day is filled with constant reminders that one of us (phillip) is at war...and each of us are missing each other like crazy. BUTTTTT even though valentines day is usually really difficult, we try to make the most of it and make it a special time for the both of us. I didn't want to sit around and mope this year so i tried to stay busy and occupy myself the only way i know how...lots of coffee and shopping!! 
   I woke up and started my day with a heavily cup of coffee courtesy of my french press, thank you jesus for coffee. As I headed back towards my room i saw that my mom had left me a box of sees candy and a starbucks gift card. YAY for really sweet mom's who totally know their way to their daughters heart! That started off my morning wonderfully and i decided that i wasn't going to screw that up by just sitting around all day doing nothing...so i decided to drive to the mall and tj maxx and hit up all my other favorite joints . on my way out of town i stopped by starbucks with my handy dandy gift card and got myself some more coffee...this time it was iced so thats how i justified my coffee addicted...and it was valentines day so who cares right?
when you live in a little town it takes basically 30 min to get anywhere interesting so i had lots of time to rock out in my car , which is also a favorite past time of mine. trust me if you were riding with me you would have sworn you were in the car with Adele mixed with whitney houston (RIP). My driving/singing finally brought me to Target where i walked around for a good hour and walked out with nothing. I then went next door to TJmaxx in search of my perfect solo valentines day outfit...and ended up finding way more than my little wallet could afford. I ended up walking out with 2 shirts, and a maxi skirt that i have been eyeing for quite some time. yay me. my valentines day 2012 was looking up. 
once i got home i was greeted with a lovely box that i suspected contained flowers from my sweet boyfriend. I opened my box and sure enough it was a beautiful arraignment of pink roses and plum calla lilies. loved it. Also i was spoiled with a Large gift certificate to treat myself at the day spa....AHH this boy also knows the way to my heart. smart guy!! 
To polish the day off ...me and one of my favorite Gals, Taylor, went and got coffee...( i know i have a problem) ...ate dinner...and then layed in bed and watched episodes of Modern family! Oh and i got to talk to my boy on the phone which was wonderful and always a treat in itself! Although my day was spent without a boy or valentines day plans..it ended up being a really great day. I'm thankful for being with someone who makes me feel so loved even from thousands of miles away...and I'm thankful for friends who waste their valentines day with me being silly and also enjoy adding to my coffee addiction haha. Hope each and every one of you had a great day as well... even if you didn't have a special someone to spend it with!!

good morning valentines day!

mmmmmm

best mom award

heading to get my 1st start bucks of the day

Thought i'd share with you one of my favorite parts of our town...we have tons of palm trees

content

my pretty flowers from the best boy ever

ended the day with a beautiful sunset outside my bedroom window

yay for friends..and yes that was my 3rd coffee of the day

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

Encouraged. blessed. Grateful

Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God's presence. So please don;t lose heart because of my trials here. I am suffering for you, so you should feel honored. 


When i think of all this, i fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all god's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love it. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully, then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever Amen. ephesians 3:12-21


I absolutely love Paul's words and heart here throughout this passage. It is one that i come back to time and time again when i feel down or need to be encouraged by truth. Its so awesome to know that ALL of us can have power through his Holy spirit...and its not just only for those who are elite or mighty....but its even available for the lowly and unworthy ones like myself. As we continue to Trust in him That is where we will find our strength..and I'm so grateful that its not something we have to muster up by our own strength (praise god)...cause really I'm pretty weak on my own. But as we continue in him this inner strength will become a natural outpouring of the work that his is doing inside of us. 
 I love that we will never be able to fully comprehend the love of God....that forever we can go on learning more about him and grow in him...and yet still may only be able to see a stroke of the entire portrait that he has painted. This is the God that i serve...the one we can serve... He is the Lord who is infinitely more great and loving than I could ever be even  on my of best of Days.too glorious for comprehension..and yet still, he makes his dwelling place my heart and fills me with more riches that this little life Deserves. I'm GRATEFUL . 

Feb product obsession

For my 22nd birthday one of the presents that Phillip spoiled  me with was my new pink Clarisonic mia face cleansing system! I was just as  excited about this as i was about my diamond earrings he also got me! This has been one of those things i've been wanting for such a long time but never wanted to spend the 120 bucks on it....but now that i have it, I wish i would have dropped the ball and gotten it years ago! here is why i love it, and why i think you all will also!

1) It feels like you are getting a wonderful facial every time you go to wash your face. all the little bristles feel like you are getting a little massage all while cleaning your face
2) the mia is pretty small and can travel pretty easily...its also quite light
3) i usually have dry patches of skin...especially during the winter time...the harsh conditions don't work well with me. BUT this little guy has totally changed my complexion . I was reading information on the clarisonic and it was saying that since it cleans 6x more than nomal face washing ...your pores are able to then absorb more nutrients and moisture from your hydrating creams..or whatever other products  that you apply to your face. How about that?!
4) It works on all skin types...from the oily to the dry
5) and finally it comes in a ton of fun colors...mine happens to be light pink

theres many more reasons why i am obsessed with this product but i felt like i was starting to sound like a used car salesman so i thought i would stop!

Olive orchard

While phil was home one of the fun things we had planned was to Go take a mini road trip up north to Chico ,to visit one of our good friends and her husband who just recently moved up there. We spent a lot of time shopping and walking around the super cute downtown, and the last day we were there we went olive oil tasting at lucero. It ended up being so much fun and we also learned a ton! On our way back home..jackie, who is also a photographer snapped a few impromptu shots of me and phil in a pretty olive orchard! I really love the way they turned out...even if it does look like an engagement session haha! Enoy! Also check out Jackie's website...she is a wonderful photographer and an even more amazing friend! you can go here or to her blog here

 This is my beautiful and wonderful friend jackie! Love you jack...thanks for the awesome pictures, i love them all

Happy Anniversary Stev and Kayla!!!

A year ago tomorrow, Estevan and Kayla tied the knot, and it was by far the most amazing wedding i have ever been to...and I am not just saying that because they are two of my best friends. I was looking back on pictures and thinking about their special day and i had to share some of it with you all. 
  This wedding was so great for so many reasons but one of the biggest things that stood out to me was the amount of love that was being displayed...christs love. The gospel was proclaimed loud and clear during there ceremony in front of many who may have never heard it before. It was a testimony of the love that stev and kayla share...a love that can only be given and received when you have the christ life living inside of you. It was the love that was shared between the body of believers who rallied behind this couples back for weeks and months prior,  in order to make their day so perfect. it was such a great day and an awesome testimony to all who were there! 
   Here are some of my favorite pictures from their day! YAY STEV AND KAYLA! can't believe its already been a year! thank you guys for being the best friends ever and for being an awesome example of what a christ centered relationship should look like! I love you both! ps. thanks for letting me be a part of your special day! 

 Seriously....isn't my friend the most gorgeous bride ever?? 

                            

looking good guys

                                                   

  

 * Thanks for letting us wear super comfy shoes kayla 

* All photos by Shannen Norman Photography