Nesting... For the Non-Pregnant

This weekend I have been on a organizing, heavy cleaning, getting rid of clutter KICK! And do I mean KICK! I was joking with Matt about nesting for no one because of how much I wanted to get things organized.

I think it started because Matt and I had a white glove (cleaning check) on Saturday and I had just gotten back from my trip and felt a little unorganized.

For white gloves Matt and I usually clean pretty well and I do a deep clutter clean at the end of every semester, but this time I could not wait until after Christmas!

I felt like the clutter was taking over our small place. If you don't remember, Matt and I live in a studio apartment with limited amount of storage.

I cleaned out/ organized our storage shelves and drawers.
I threw out old papers that we no longer needed.
Donated stuff we don't use anymore.
I organized the bathroom cupboard.
Organized our important documents.
Scrubbed our house down.
Shoot I even planned our November Dinner Menu and I set up a Blog Calendar (this will help keep me organized and more focus during my blogging!) CRAZY I KNOW!

I may not have worked on any work stuff, but I feel a lot better about our humble abode! Luckily, I have Monday and Tuesday off, so I can work on my work stuff.

In other news, Matt and I picked up some new picture frames so we are working on a new frame wall! (Pictures coming soon!)

Thankful Thoughts- Day 4

Happy Sabbath Y'all! 

Day 4: 

I am thankful for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

I think this is natural, but the older I become the more I appreciate the church and the lessons of the gospel. There are so many blessings that have come into my life and I am glad I am a member of this church. I usually don't go into my religion a lot, but I feel like if I didn't mention it now it would be ridiculous. I am where I am right now because of the church. 

Don't get me wrong- there are many things I struggle with and most days I feel like I am not doing that great of a job being a member, but everyday is a process. I think it is the effort that makes the difference.

If you have no idea what I am talking about please check out this wonderful website!

Favorite Things: Keep Calm and Carry On

I thought I would do a new blog series on my FAVORITE THINGS. A lot of bloggers do it and I thought it would be fun. So here is my first Favorite Thing and it is really a mixed favorite thing.

This phrase Keep Calm and Carry On is everywhere right now! And I love it and I hate it at the same time.

Let me explain. I have known and understood this phrase since middle school. I have always loved history and in the 8th grade I went to London with my parents. This trip started my love of all things British- including history.

One of the greatest things about the city of London is that it is very obvious that a war was fought in this country. England does not hide that fact that they were severely attacked during WWII- they keep buildings with bomb damage so they can remember the war and al those that fought for the cause.

But I digress... during that trip I heard this phrase for the first time and I learned the history behind it.

For the past year or so this phrase has been everywhere! I love that I can find posters.. pillows... cell phone covers... whatever with this phrase, but it annoys me that no one seems to know the background behind this! I think the blogging world is to thank for this!

So while I love it- I hate it! And I will admit being a little snobbish about it- I get really frustrated when people buy something with this and have no idea what it is! So my end thoughts are I love it for me and my decorating needs!

For those of you that have no idea what I am talking about here is a history lesson: (Just skip the red writing if you don't want to know!)

Keep Calm and Carry On is a catchphrase that originally appeared on a World War II-era British public safety poster. After one of the original posters was recovered and placed in a British bookshop in 2000, the inspirational message was shared online, sparking a series of image macros centered around the phrasal template “Keep Calm and X.

The Keep Calm and Carry On poster was commissioned in 1939 by the temporary Ministry of Information in England, following the printing of two other inspirational posters stating “Freedom Is In Peril. Defend It With All Your Might” and “Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution Will Bring Us Victory.” It was intended to be used to strengthen morale in the event of a large-scale attack or occupation, which many considered inevitable at the time. Though more than million of these posters were originally commissioned, after the war ended they were kept in storage where most were destroyed.

In 2000, Stuart Manley and his wife Mary found the poster folded at the bottom of a box of old books they purchased at an auction for their Alnwick, England bookshop, Barter Books. Not knowing its origins, the couple had it framed and hung it in the shop, where they began selling prints of it the following year. According to Mary, they had sold over 40,000 copies by March 2009. As of 2012, Barter is not the only place that houses original copies of the poster. The Imperial War Museum in England has approximately six and fifteen additional copies were found in February 2012, where they were appraised on the television show Antiques Roadshow.

Source: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/keep-calm-and-carry-on

Another thing that is happening is turning this phrase into different sayings like:

Keep Calm and Play Tennis

Keep Calm and Eat Cupcakes.

Keep Calm and Teach On

ECT, ECT, ECT! They are everywhere!

And to be honest with you I actually like these- I find them very funny! So I guess I am not too snobbish!

So here it goes:

Thoughts anyone?????

Thankful Thoughts- Day 3

Day 3: 

I am thankful for my family! 

I don't even know how to start explain how amazing my family is. I have always been close to my family, but moving away to Hawaii in 2007 really made me appreciate them more. This post would be really really long if I talked about every single person and the impact they made on my life- let's just say I am one LUCKY lady to have such an amazing family. 

Like all families we have our ups and downs... but at the end of the day we love each other and would do anything for each other. 

Every part of my personality is made up of traits from the members of my family. I love to plan parties and organize like one of my aunts, I am type A and driven like my mom, I love family and Thanksgiving like my Abuela, I am political passionate like my Papa (regardless if we are on the opposite side of the spectrum).... I could go on and on! 

Thank you family for being so awesome! 

(Back row: Barry (my second dad), Mom, Papa (holding baby Ava), Aspen, Beau, Coda, Sara, Abuela

Front: Oliva, Sage, Jud) 

Thank you for reading and stay tuned for tomorrow's Thankful Thoughts. 

And I challenge you to find your own! 

Friday Flashback #25

In honor of this weeks festivities:

October of my senior year of high school my aunts, mom, and Abuela decided to on a 'Girls Trip' to New York City... seeing as I didn't want to be left out... I tagged along (read here- forced myself along)!

One of the things we wanted to do was get on the Today show (you know- be the obnoxious people in the background waving at the cameras). So we came up with the idea (and by we- I think it was just my Aunt Nickie- the one with the orange hair) to have matching shirts relating to Halloween. So we did different witches that start with W. (Wise, Wild- Aunt Sara-, Wicked, Wacky, and Waggish) Nickie also created a candy gram all about the Today show and us... it was great!

I am pleased to share that we got on the Today show... not just once but TWICE and not just for a second... for a lot of seconds!!! It was awesome! It was freaking freezing and we had to get to the studio at like 4:30 in the morning, but it was such a great experience and I am happy to have shared it with these fun ladies! I usually don't like being such an obvious tourist, but it was fun to just let my guard down and be the obnoxious Southern in the Big Apple.. plus I was on T.V. which is just awesome.

Thankful Thoughts- Day 2

Day 2 of my thankful journey. Just a recap: November... Thanksgiving.... Thankful Thoughts

Day 2: 

I am thankful for my education. 

December of 2011 I graduated from BYU- Hawaii. Now my experience with BYU-H had a lot of ups and a lot of downs. I got homesick A LOT! I got into many arguments with the admin office! I dated a couple of duds! But at the end of the day- I got a great education! I never thought I would go to a BYU CHURCH school, but it was a great opportunity! 

I loved all my History professors. I loved being able to study in a great field that was not a very popular major so the classes were super small! Most of all I love that my education prepared me enough to be able to get a job in my field  right out of school! 

And on the really good side I went to school in HAWAII!!!! I was able to experience living in a place that had a different culture... I was able to live right on the beach... and meet really great people.  And I got my degree!!!! 

Yay for education! 

(I mean how awesome is it that I went to a place where THIS is the tradition!) 

Thank you for reading and stay tuned for tomorrow's Thankful Thoughts. 

And I challenge you to find some of your own! 

Thankful Thoughts- Day 1

Seeing as it is now November - the month of Thanksgiving- I thought it would be appropriate to blog about what I am thankful for. Some of these will be preplanned because they are always on my mind and some of these will be just random things that I noticed throughout the day- just to mix things up! Plus, sometimes the small things in life you are thankful for are the things that make a difference between a good and a bad day!

I love Thanksgiving and I love November, so it would be selfish and lazy of me if I did not do this. Plus, I think at this time in the year people start to get a little HOLIDAY CRAZY and forget what this time of year is all about... So here it goes 30 days of Thankful Thoughts!

Day 1: 

I am thankful for my job. 

Let me explain why I have put this. As most of you know, Matt and I live in Hawaii- one of the most expensive places in the U.S. to live. After I finished school, there was a period of about three months where I did not have a job. It was summer break for the schools here in Hawaii and no one was really hiring. As June turned into July, I was really really worried that I would not find a teaching job and if this did not happen- I was not sure how Matt and I would continue to be able to live here while he finished up his program. 

Luckily, I found a job at one of the best schools on the island- Mililani Middle School. This is where I did my student teaching... and it was the same grade level.... with the same subject (Hawaiian and Pacific History)!!!! So I was able to reuse a lot of my material. 

I know without a doubt I was hired because of all the prayers and fasts that my family and friends did for Matt and me. I also know that I owe a lot to my education program and the fact that I was ready to be a teacher. 

I am so thankful to be able to work at a school with good resources, good people, and good kids (most of the time)! I am also thankful that I am able to bring home a consistent pay check for my little family of 2. 

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the rest of Thankful Thoughts.