DIY Project!

Okay, so while in Memphis last week we stopped by my Mom's Uncle's "Junk Shop". He bids on storage units that need to be emptied and he takes all of the things that he wins to his "junk shop" and sells them. It's a creative person's dream store! My sister-in-law and I were loving it! So of course, we got some fun things to work on. We each bought some big mirrors and I also got a little clock. Take a look at how it went:

First we cleaned off our frames and then taped off the glass from the paint. 

This one is my Sister in Laws but I thought I'd include it since it's gorgeous! 

Next we sanded the frames down so that any flaky, unreliable stuff won't be falling off later leaving us with a blotchy frame. 

Paint time!

Voila! 

Finished Product! I would like to switch out the interior of the clock and see if I can make a new background on it, but that's a project to be done another day.

Feel free to ignore the reflections in the mirror! Just focus on the frame :)

Before and Afters!

Now I want to find more junk shops and do another project! I would not mind at all making this my new hobby! There is something deeply satisfying about taking something ugly and outdated and making it cute and fresh looking! Hopefully soon I'll find another project and post it. Thanks for reading!

Miniature Golf Date Night

I went out of town last weekend to Memphis but before I left Tyler and I fit in a quick date. Here are some typical pictures you'd expect from a mini golf date:

Best pic of the night! 

So my Mom and I rode down to Memphis together for my Great Uncles funeral. It was a good trip and the ceremony was nice as well. It was fun to see my Grandma and all of her siblings get together. They definitely are a hilarious group. It's funny because it was such a southern feeling weekend. We just sat on the back porch the whole time and talked. It was nice and slow paced just like something you'd hear in a country song. :) 

Woooo Pig Sooie!

So just in case you haven't heard the good news, I'm officially a razorback! It's kind of old news but since I haven't been on here in a while I figured it's worth posting. I received my acceptance letter, I've spoken with my adviser and I start August 26th! Oh, and i'm going into the interior design program. I am excited and a little nervous because I'm not sure what to expect, but none the less I'm excited to be back in the classroom for my schooling and not online!

Wish me luck! I'm a "Hog" now! :)

Sooo... It's Been A While...

Hey friends and family,
Sorry it's been so long since a post! It's been really busy around here! We've got work, school and a lot of summer play going on! We wouldn't have it any other way though... well maybe more play :) . So a lot of the news in this post is kinda old but I figured I'd include it just in case anyone hasn't heard.

So on July 4th (a while back, I know!) we went for a day camp-out with my sister and her family. It was a great little get away! We played with the kids, played on the teeter totter, went fishing (p.s. I caught one!) and had our lovely campfire and smores.

My first successful catch! 

We love spending time with Kelly and her family. Her kids are adorable and we always have a fun time with them! 

Speaking of my nieces and nephews I thought I would include some pictures that have been sitting in my phone dying to be seen. What little goofs!

Silly Jack and oreo faced Noah. What a handful.

P.s. Take a gander at this lovely old photo I found the other day... Merry Christmas in July - from my 14 year old self! 

Temple Trip and Girls Camp

I figured these two experiences belong in a post together because the girls camp theme this year was "Oh to the Temple We Go!"

So the other weekend Tyler and I spent our day off and drove to the Kansas City Temple. It was built about a year ago and neither I nor him have seen it yet and it had been a while since we had been. It ended up being a great trip! (Minus the fact that our air conditioner didn't work...Booo) It's a gorgeous Temple and it's always an uplifting experience that lasts when we leave.

Okay, now for the girls camp updates! As many of you know, I was a "camp Mom" for the Spanish Ward girls at girls camp. Let me just say that I had NO IDEA how much work the leaders did prepping for camp when I was a girl! Thank you to all of my leaders from back in the day! Thank you Thank you! I definitely had my hands full with picking up enough food and supplies to last for a week for a group of girls, getting all of their treats and devotionals and other misc. things ready on top of helping them prepare for their skits, cheers, themes and all of the other mounds of things to do. 

You can see the picture below from when I went to Sam's Club. I seriously could not even push my basket around it was so full (and it only had 1/3 of the supplies from the list in it). I ended up having to drop it off with some nice lady that worked there and continue shopping with another cart before having a bag boy help me push everything out to the loading zone. We were both surprised everything fit into the  little Rio.

If you can't tell, my car is literally packed to the max from my Sam's Club trip for groceries.
 Front seat, back seat, trunk. All shoved full with food. 

This is just some of the little goodies and treats for GC.

So once I got to Girls Camp I had a great time. My girls were seriously perfect! I would hear about how there was drama in other camps between the girls or the leaders and I had no problems whatsoever with it. The Spanish Ward girls were so sweet, had no drama with each other or me and the other leader and we're so helpful! I felt more like a girl than a leader! I ended up spending majority of my free time hanging out with them at the pool and talking and playing games. Seriously. So fun! My only complaint would be that it was so humid and hot! But, it was definitely worth it.  Now as a little disclaimer before you see the pictures below, all of these girls are gorgeous and have really good style! But when at camp and preparing for a skit, good style and makeup goes out the window! Enjoy!

Just for the Record, she was playing as the grinch in our skit ... hence all of the green. :) 

See this hairstyle... after doing this for one girl, I ended up being asked to do it for pretty much every girl... everyday. Luckily I like doing hair so it was no problemo. :) 

When I wasn't looking some girls decided to play with my phone... thanks for the little surprise girls! ha!

This is our camp flag which one of our girls made. (The one with the pink Tutu and huge hair in the above pics)

Busy busy busy! 

If you can't tell it was crazy but fun. The girls did a great job on their skits and cheers and I loved testimony meeting night and hearing how much their testimonies had grown over the week. It was an amazing and touching experience.

Now I don't usually do this, whether it's because I don't want to make others feel awkward or if it's just because I feel a little embarrassed but I don't want to let there be any doubt about how I feel. I have a testimony that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church. It's a gospel based around families and progression and I know that we can be sealed to our families so that those relationships and bonds don't end after our time here on earth is up. I know that we have a true and living Prophet on the earth today who receives revelation from God about the things that pertain to us in this day and age. The more I learn and grow in this gospel the more it makes sense and brings peace to my soul. I know that God is forgiving and wants us to succeed and that what Jesus Christ did for us allows us to repent for our sins so that we can have the opportunity to live with God again. That goes for anyone, anywhere.  I know that God loves me and knows me personally and the more I try to be closer to him and build that relationship, the more I feel and know that he's there. I have seen first hand the joy and peace that this gospel brings to those who let it be apart of their lives. I am now seeing friends learning about the gospel and they heard about it through different sources and, while feeling SO happy for them, it makes me sad that I didn't speak up sooner, out of fear to offend or have awkward moments, to let it touch their lives. I know in my heart and mind that this is the true gospel. I'm a little nervous posting this because I have never typically been good at sharing my testimony outside of church but I felt all week like I needed to, so here it is! Maybe there is someone out there needs to read it...who knows. Thanks again for reading and I hope that you all have a good week this week!

- Rif

Tyler's 25th Birthday!

So Tyler turned 25!! But... that happened back in May. Sorry to be so slow on the update! I surprised him and had his Mom come up from Houston without him knowing. When she showed up and knocked on the door, Tyler saw her out the window and leaped off the couch yelling "What the heck!? That's my Mom!" Ha, needless to say, he was happily surprised!  We spent the day showing her around and just catching up with her and then the next day while he was working, she and I went to Crystal Bridges and then worked on getting everything together for his surprise birthday party that evening. I would say that the party was also a success. :)

So after our fun surprise weekend we spent his actual birthday (Sunday) grilling up some yummy steaks (thanks Susan!) and then meeting up for a quick cobbler and for another round of the "Happy Birthday" song. Haha poor Tyler, he told me that he didn't like all of the attention being on him. He'll have to adjust to that because from here on out his Birthday is an extra big deal... I'll make sure of that ;). Love you Tyler!