New Blog

This blog has moved over to my new page "The Rich Life" now that I'm married and it's not just my blog. :) See you over there!

I now have a site where you can download free Silhouette Studio cutting files I designed. Check it out!

I broke a rule

I broke a rule.



The missionary handbook specifically councils against catching or touching animals while serving a mission. However, how could I pass up the opportunity to come in closer contact with an animal that has long been my favorite? Yes, I caught a hedgehog. The spiky little friend was crossing the street on a rainy night and as soon as I realized what it was, I yelled to my companion to stop the car. I flew out of the still rolling vehicle, not minding the drizzling rain, and ran to where the animal had hidden under a car. It was hiding behind the wheel, but I decided I had to at least touch it. I reached around the tire.... and it let me pet it! So I carefully reached around it's side and started to reach under it to pick it up. As soon as my cold fingers found it's soft warm belly, it curled up to protect itself. I picked up the surprisingly heavy ball of spikes just as my companion ran over to me after finding a parking spot.
I convinced her to snap a quick picture before the weight of the creature pressed the spikes any harder into my hands and gently let it go near a hedge. (I thought it might feel at home hiding under it's namesake.) It was a short-lived adventure, but one I had secretly wanted to check off my "mission bucket list." It felt to me as though God had given me this little moment with one of his beloved creations to show me that He knows me and my secret wishes, and loves me. :)

Watch General Conference 

There I was, eating a banana-flavored twin pop and listening to my favorite tunes, gawking at pins on Pinterest, when it hit me -- It's going to take a lot more work to cure my Pinterest addiction. (And possibly my sugar addiction, as well.)

Here's my pathetic report:

I admit it. I gawked. I repinned a few friends' pins. I gawked some more, and even justified bookmarking the pins' links. "That's not the same as repinning, right?" I blamed others. "Why do my friends have to have such great taste and similar interests?!" Yep. Relapse, withdrawal, denial, frustration - it was all there. This is a full-blown addiction!

Perhaps I need a cold-turkey approach? I'm not very good at just limiting myself. But I should also point out my progress. That's healthy, right?

Results of my little experiment:

Pin: Homemade Sidewalk Chalk

Result: Lots of fun for "ZuZu" and "Eener Beaner"

I have decided to do a Pinterest Challenge. I spend way too much time on Pinterest, dreaming about crafts I never seem to have time to make, food I shouldn't make, places I'd like to go, and useful tips I should put into practice but never seem to remember. This thought has often occurred to me: "Maybe if I stopped wasting so much time gawking at pins on Pinterest, I'd actually have time to use some of them!"

So. What is a Pinterest Challenge, you ask? Below are the rules I've outlined for myself.

1. Thou shalt not gawk at thy friend's newest pins.
2. Thou shalt not pin new pins.
3. Thou shalt not spend more than 20 mins looking at pins previously pinned.
4. Thou shalt find at least one pin (already on an existing board) per day to actually utilize in some way.
5. Thou shalt blog about it. :)

Ok! I'm ready! I think. Hmmm.... Maybe I'll start tomorrow so I can be sure to have some amazing pins to use when I start...  NO! I'm starting as of this moment!!!  Wish me luck! And be sure to check back for updates so I feel obligated to keep this up. Right now my goal is to keep this up for a month, but we shall see.

Devil's Playground

My brother (we'll call him "J") always manages to find the most out-of-the-way, uncommon, awesome adventure destinations. This time he took us to a place called Devil's Playground. Who would have known that the Devil's Playground is practically in our back yard?! (Ok, so not really, but it's in Utah.)

What it is:  A grouping of fantastic rock formations in the desert of western Utah made from hard, scratchy rock that's almost like granite - grey with sparkly bits of quartz in it. They look almost like granite version of Goblin Valley, only cooler. Some are like giant hollow Dinosaur eggs, some are like swiss cheese, and we even found some that resembled sharks, turtles, and the ghosts on Pac Man.
Since they're really indescribable, I'll just post the pictures so you can see for yourself.