What I do at work...

Well, right now I'm at work, and what am I doing? ... Pinning! Yes, I get to have fun on Pinterest at work. Best. Job. Ever! So, I better get back to pinning, but in the mean time, you should all check out the LDS Bookstore Pinterest page!

Follow us at pinterest.com/ldsbookstore

I'm Back

Well, after about a 6 month absence, I'm back! I can't believe it has been so long since I have updated my blog, but I'm determined to keep it updated from now on. So what are we up do these days?...

Ryan

• Almost finished with the semester at BYU - just two weeks of class left and then finals week. You can do it Bill! (for anyone who doesn't know... Ryan and I call each other Bill. Yeah, I know, it's weird - but we like it, and it has kind of stuck) After this semester, he only has 2 semesters left until he graduates next April! The end is in sight!
• Preparing to apply for Physical Therapy School next Fall - We've still got a lot to do as we get ready to start applications. But, we are excited to start the process!
• Working as a Physical Therapist's Aide at a Physical Therapy clinic in Payson - Ryan got this job right before last fall semester started. I found this sweet job for him while I was searching for jobs myself. He applied, he got an interview, and was offered the job! This was such a huge blessing, as he needs a lot of hours of experience for his PT School applications. It works out perfect that he can get his hours and earn some money at the same time. He's loving the job and all of the old ladies adore him, haha.

Abby

• Graduated from BYU for almost a year now, and loving not having any homework! Although I really do miss school sometimes, it's so nice to come home from work and not have to worry about getting homework done or studying for tests. I'm afraid I distract Ryan from homework sometimes though haha
• Working at LDS Bookstore - I started working here last September and it has also been a huge blessing. This job is just what I was looking for. While I was job searching I applied for a TON of jobs, heard back from a handful, got several interviews, and I was offered a job by one other company. The other company offered me a job before I was even offered an interview at LDS Bookstore - but it just didn't feel right. So, I had to take a leap of faith and turn the job down, in hopes that something more fitting would come up. Later that week I interviewed at LDS Bookstore and was offered the job. It was definitely a tender mercy and I have been loving the job ever since. Currently I do mostly customer service stuff, but also other things too. Right now, we're getting ready to move to a bigger office in Orem, so that will be exciting. 
• Enjoying my calling as the Primary Music Leader - I've had this calling since the middle of last summer and can I tell you it is a blast? Yes, some weeks I get a little stressed about it, but overall it has been so much fun. Back in October I led the whole primary in the annual Primary sacrament meeting program and oh man was it rewarding to see those cute kids up there, eyes on me, singing their hearts out! I've learned a lot since then and I'm excited to get ready for the program again in the fall.

Us

• When Ryan's not studying, lately we've been having fun playing games with friends, watching our current favorite TV series, making yummy food, and planning for our future. Now that it's getting a little warmer, we're excited to start doing more fun things outside.

There's a brief overview of the goings on in our life right now. Really, life is pretty sweet and we're really enjoying it - hence the updated name of our blog - Our Sweet Life. . . That just pretty much sums it up!

Create: Another completed project, another update

The past couple of days I've been working on this....

...and I finished it today! I am so excited about how it turned out :)

To find out how I made it go to this link - Burlap and Blue

Now onto my next project....

I better make this cute flip-flops before it gets too cold!

But of course when it starts to get a little cooler that means fall is right around the corner and then I can make this...

or this...

Create: Update - Jeans Hem

Okay, I've completed one of my projects mentioned in the previous post (well not really completed because I'm pretty sure I'm going to do this to all of my jeans). So I've already hemmed two pairs of my jeans. This method of hemming jeans is so awesome! It's way easy and you can't even tell at all that they have been hemmed, besides the fact that they're shorter.  I am just so excited about my new discovery... I think it is going to change my life. seriously. haha

The first pair that I hemmed. I hardly ever wore these jeans because they were so long.  I think that will change now :)

Second pair of Jeans -- skinny jeans.  These jeans were pretty long and I had to fold them up a considerable amount to wear them.  I still wore them quite a bit but I think I will wear them a lot more now.

Hooray for jeans that actually fit! 

If you want to learn how to hem your own jeans... go here, or here, or here... they all give pretty much the same explanations, but all are helpful to look at.

Create

i love this video.

it makes me so happy.

it inspires me. it almost brings me to tears.

i want to create.

anyone else?

Lately I've been feeling rather creative and crafty.  Back in July I had two sweet nieces born within 3 days of each other. Elizabeth Ann Tucker and Ella Bay Boster. (You can tell they're adorable by just hearing their names, right?) With the anticipation of their births came the inspiration to make something cute for a sweet baby girl. I ended up making cute little baby booties... and I couldn't stop. They were so much fun to make!

pattern found on Make-It Love-It

My feeling of creativity continued when I spent a week in San Antonio, Texas with my sister Jenny and her cute family, including sweet little Ella Bay. Her mommy made her an adorable little dress out of a couple old t-shirts and I made a little flower headband to match.

Today I've been feeling the need for a new project... or few. There's just too many cute things out there! I started perusing different sewing and craft blogs, and had to add a new section to my blog list so I could keep track of all the cute things I was finding! (Feel free to go check them out... there are some pretty darn cute things on them!) Well here's my line-up of future projects... or projects to create someday. :)

Clever Jeans Hemming Method

Okay, well this one isn't really cute or anything... but I'm pretty excited about it. You probably can't tell but those jeans are hemmed, but the original hem at the bottom of the jeans was preserved.  I am one who would definitely benefit from this technique... as jeans are usually (okay always) too long for me, but when you simply cut off the length and hem, it never looks the same. I'm actually probably going to try this today. Wish me luck!

Pillows!

You wouldn't believe how many cute ideas I found for pillows! Now I just have to decide which ones to make!

Braided Flip-Flops

I've got my old yellow Old-Navy flip flops and grey knit fabric all ready to go to make these babies. Can't wait :)

Fall Craft Ideas...

Maybe a cute skirt...

I could keep going... but I might just get too excited :)

happy creating!

BYU Grad

As of last week, I am now officially a BYU graduate.  It feels SO good to be done.  I graduated with a BS in Human Development. I had such an amazing experience during my four years at BYU and I value so much all of education I gained.  Here's a brief picture tribute of my four years at BYU.... (we'll see how brief I can make this.)

FRESHMAN YEAR

SOPHOMORE YEAR

JUNIOR YEAR

SENIOR YEAR

 GRADUATION

I Like It, I Love It...

Also, I failed to mention in my last post that these upcoming post will probably be in no particular order.  So to start out with.... Tim McGraw!

A couple of weeks ago Ryan and I got to go to the Tim McGraw
concert... for FREE! It was AMAZING! :)

I had been trying to win tickets on the radio all week long. On 101.5 The Eagle they were giving away tickets EVERY day, EVERY hour... you just had to be the 10th caller. So, Ryan and I decided that we were going to win and we were going to go to the concert. We both tried every hour, every day, but soon found that it was almost impossible to even call without getting a busy signal, let alone be the 10th caller and win tickets! Ryan's coworkers soon found out we were trying to win, and so did mine, so they started helping us out. Friday was the last day to win tickets (the concert was on Saturday). I was still faithfully trying

at work and one of my coworkers decided that we should all call on the office phones. Come to find out they called almost INSTANTLY and you could immediately find out if the line was busy or if you got through. With three of us on the office phones and also on our cell phones, I thought for sure we would get through, but we had no luck. I had to leave work and when it came time to call again I was shopping at Target. I tried calling over and over again, but again had no luck. A few minutes after I stopped trying, I got a call from my coworker, Nathan. HE WON!!! AND he told the DJ that he wanted to give the tickets to a good friend of his... ME! The concert was AMAZING! The Band Perry and Luke Bryan opened for Tim McGraw. We had so much fun and I can't thank my coworker enough for winning the tickets for us!