Planning Ahead

So, I recently got some free cards from Shutterfly.com and decided to plan early this year for Christmas cards... What do you think?! I got this one for some of my free ones, but might order some different ones later in the year... Depends on if I can get a list and some addresses together. 

(sorry it's not centered, the Shutterfly site wont let me change it)

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Believe it or not, Ben and I are pretty excited for the holidays this year... I made a goal to celebrate each one to the fullest! I'm working on Fall decorations that will work all the way through Halloween and Thanksgiving. Then, on December 1st, we'll put our wreath and tree up. I got some new Christmas decorations from work so hopefully we'll be in the holiday spirit starting October 1st! Any suggestions for Fall decor? I have tons of JoAnn's coupons, so I might go buy some fall decor this week! 

California Solo

At the beginning of August, I took a trip to CA to visit my family. Yes, just me. Ben had to work. (bummer, right?) Anyway, I spent a week just chillin with my mom and helping around the house. We were able to dye my hair, finish Emmas quilt, fold laundry, do dishes, cook delicious food and hang out with the family. It might be weird, but I really love just coming home and 'taking care' of my parents. they probably don't see it that way, but I like to help around the house more now than I ever did as a kid. Maybe because I know what a relief it is to not have to worry about the house being a mess and what is planned for dinner...

We did a dinner with the Eitel cousins and it was great to see them! I got to meet baby Noah and just hold him all night long. He's going to be so big next time I see him and probably not want to be held. :(

One of the days I was there we were able to go to my cousin Jazz's sealing.
Just the girl cousins with Gpa... cute!

Jazz and David after the sealing and my mom and her siblings/dad. 

Me and mom. We had dyed my hair just two days before and hadn't had a chance to trim it yet. That's why it looks kinda gross (in my opinion). Oh yeah, and it was like 105 that day (or felt like it).

On my last day in town we tied Emma's quilt. She has been working on this for a few years now and it's finally [almost] done! (Just the binding left) Aunt Ellen, Jill and cousin Meredith came to town to help and we had a great time all together!

Me and my chunky little friend for the day, Noah.

Mom and Emma with the quilt at the end of tying! It looks awesome, right?!

All in all, a great week in CA. I missed Ben tremendously, but only cried once. The Olympics kept me pretty good company along with the great family I have. Just as a little side-note, I left Ben a note/surprise for each day I was gone. Some were mailed, some were hidden around the house. Between the notes and the meals I prepared in advance to help him during his busy week of work/school, I think he was well taken care of. It was really hard to go on a vacation without Ben (especially by choice) but hopefully we wont have to do any more of those. Although, seeing his face after a whole week was a great feeling! Kinda made the missing him worth it.
Does that even make sense? oh well... 

That's all for the trip, can't wait to go back at Christmas time. Especially since Halie and Kendall will be there! We haven't seen them in over a year!

2 Years!

Can you believe it's already been two years!!??

haha. I love how inappropriate this picture is. It's one of my favorites from our wedding (sorry mom!).

Each year, whether it's a birthday, anniversary or Christmas, we always tend to ruin the surprise of the gifts we have planned for each other. How/Why you may ask... it's simple. We can't figure out what to get one another, so we just ask and talk about it during our family budgeting discussion. Once we set the budget for gifts/the holiday, we try to decide what we'd like that is within the budget. Lucky for me, Ben knew exactly what he wanted... and lucky for Ben, so did I. This rarely happens because when we want/need something, we usually just save for it right away and buy it a few paychecks later. It's kinda sad that we don't have many surprises in our gift-giving, but we're both OK with that right now. 

So, to celebrate the completion of two years on the road to eternity, Ben asked for some power tools (to make me awesome stuff, of course) and I asked for some family pictures (to remember how precious we are). Yes, our family is still just the two of us, but I love this time that we get to share with one another. Just the two of us. Everyday I treasure our time together because I know someday it will be hard to come by. When I was home in California for a week (Ben stayed in UT for work) I absolutely loved being around my family and the wonderful chaos that came with it (blog post to follow). However, nothing compared to that moment when I walked into my tiny, clean and quiet apartment where Ben was there waiting for me. (Well, he was doing homework, but I like to think it was a multi-tasking effort.) I hope I can enjoy these quiet moments we have together before the chaos of eternal progression comes along  (aka children).

Well, enough mushy stuff, here's the pictures that my wonderful friend Merrick took for us. Thanks to Ben for a wonderful two years and many more to come. And thanks for the gift, I love my pictures!

p.s. on the actual day of our anniversary we went to Goodwood BBQ for dinner and then saw the movie "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" followed by huckleberry shakes at Arctic Circle. It was a perfect date night and I loved it! Also, that movie was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Everyone should go see it right away! It's truly heartwarming. Be ready to laugh, but bring tissues, too.

OK, OK, now I'm really done, here are the pictures:

(one of my favorites)

(one of Ben's favorites)

(probably going to be used for our Christmas card)

precious, right?

 Well, that's enough for the blog... I love them all and can't wait to get some of them printed and framed. Happy Anniversary, Ben! I love you more than those three little words can express.
Thanks for being the best husband a girl could ask for! 

Camping with the Chamberlains

When Thomas got home from his mission, Ben suggested that we go camping with the WHOLE family. We hadn't gone camping since 2009 when he and I went to Camp Nauvoo with my family, so we were LONG overdue for a trip. In the search for a location, I told the men of the family (planning the trip) that I could survive without a shower for a few days, but I needed a toilet. That was my only request, and they delivered!  Once I was assured I would have a toilet, I got really excited to go.

Since we hadn't ever gone camping as a married couple, we still needed a tent and some sleeping bags. Ben found us some great deals on both! I handled the bug spray and water bottles (tough, I know) and with a little help from grandpa, we were set to go.

Anyway, as the weekend got closer, I looked at the forecast for Tropic Reservoir and RAIN was on the menu. This made me VERY uneasy about going camping. (Whenever it rains and I'm in a tent, I end up being SOAKED and miserable, Halie can vouch for this, but she did have to remind me of these traumatic memories. ha!) So, as we packed up the car and Ben tried to calm my nerves about the rain, we set off for our trip.

We arrived Thursday evening and got everything set up. Ben's parents and siblings were there to greet us. We had dinner together and made sure things weren't going to get rained on too badly, and headed off to sleep. Little did I know the rain that night would wake me up (rain from inside a tent is unusually loud) and make me have to go to the bathroom (the sound of water does nothing good for me in the mornings, hee hee).

Friday morning we woke up and ate a delicious breakfast and prepared for our hike. Here's a pic of us before the hike and in front of our MASSIVE tent (you can't see half of it).

The trail was beautiful and there wasn't that many bugs (a huge plus!) Here's some pics of the hike:

II'm not sure who, but someone found a tiny toad of some sort and McKay ended up with it... It was kinda cool how comfortable it was in the palm of his hand.

About two-thirds of the way through the hike, we got to a great look-out and were able to take a group picture. Not too bad since the camera was hanging from a nub on the side of a tree, huh?

Keyhole Arch (above)

Hiking in Southern Utah is SO gorgeous! I wish these pictures did it justice.

Katie, Ben, Me and Thomas with the sign.

We got back we had walking-tacos (delicious) and played UNO in the tent while it rained some more.

After the rain stopped (for a bit) we went down the the reservoir and skipped rocks and just hung out. Dan and Sharla were brave enough to go swimming and it was hilarious seeing their dog trying to decide whether or not she was going to get in or not. Turns out she hates the cold water, so she chilled with Tom and stole my seat multiple times. :)

Just hanging around the camping stove after we returned from the reservoir. Because of the fire restrictions, we couldn't have a campfire (lame!) but it was still fun to sit around and talk. 

Not pictured: multiple hours worth of horseshoes, more card games and the dog staring down/chasing the chipmunks. All in all, despite the rain, we had a GREAT trip! It was so much fun and so nice to relax away from all the distractions of life. When I was younger, my family would go camping at least once a year (it felt like) and I always remember enjoying it. I can't believe we don't do it more often. Now that we have some of the gear, we will definitely be going more. Most likely not until next summer, but still... if/when we do go, it will be great. 

(Rob and Jami couldn't make it, which was a bummer, but Cal would have been miserable in the rain...Maybe next year.)

Picnic Blanket, Wreath and Fireworks

Growing up, we always had a blanket that was designated the "Picnic Blanket". I cannot recall ever having an actual picnic on it, but we definitely took it everywhere. We would lay on it to watch the fireworks, hang out on it at the park, use it for forts, etc. When I went home at New Years this past year, my mom had a ton of extra fabric she was willing to give me, so she said, "Here.. take this. Make a picnic blanket." 

and that's EXACTLY what I did.

Just the top at this point.

Tying the blanket on Gpa's quilt frames

Somehow I convinced Mer to help me :)

Ben and Mer were both great sports. Ben has super long arms and enough muscle to help pull the dang needles through the quilt and Mer was willing to push them back up from underneath... It was fun to have company while doing this. I haven't tied a quilt in probably seven years.

The back/binding.

I am so happy with the result! We've used it a TON since it's been finished. Baby Cal loves to roll around on it and wrap himself up in it. It's also nice because it can fit at LEAST four adults and a baby. It's wonderful!

My next project was the firecrackers to send to my mom and sister as a 4th of July gift. I bought all the stuff online (in a kit) and when I showed Ben he looked at me like, "You spent money on that? I could have made it for you for half price!" I wish I would have thought about that sooner. Oh well, now I know that if anything I want to do involves wood, I should ask Ben first! :) Although I think I knew what he was thinking, he never said anything negative. He thought it was nice that I wanted to make something for my sister/mom for the holiday. I love how supportive he is when I want to make something or do a craft. I guess he knows how bored I get after work (while he's doing homework) and is happy when I find something to keep me busy. :)

During the painting process and deciding how to arrange them before they shipped.

This one is mine, I LOVE how it turned out! I'm trying to think of what I can make that is similar to this, but for a different holiday... ideas?? Time to search Pintrest!

My last project was this wreath. I saw it online a while ago, and then my friend Shanna did one for her front door and posted a pic on Facebook. It was like a week or so before Independence Day and I couldn't resist! So, I took my coupons and went to JoAnn's to get the felt, stars, and to the dollar tree to get the noodle (used to make the circle). HERE is the tutorial if you want to make your own. I'm going to leave it up until Labor Day!

p.s. I didn't follow the tutorial exactly... I used hot-glue instead of pins. The glue was more difficult to work with, but I didn't want mine to fall apart like hers. I want it to last FOREVER! haha. (or at least until it is too dirty to keep any longer...

Well, that's all for now. Next up: Our camping trip with Ben's family and.... something else, I just can't remember at the moment. :)