Ballerina Dress

We watched this little gem this weekend. Whenever we watch her we ask her what she wants to do. I've been on a sewing kick lately and asked if she wanted to make something. She wanted to make a Cinderella dress, and Aurora...and Belle...etc. I said she could pick one. So she changed directions and said she wanted a ballerina dress that was pink with purple polka dots. Lately everything is pink with purple polka dots. We went to the fabric store and let her pick some extremely sparkly (seriously there are still sparkles EVERYWHERE) fabrics. She was a little confused..."Uh, Jen, this isn't a ballerina dress pink and purple polka dots." I explained we were gonna make it together...I don't think she quite got it until it was done.

I let her cut the pink tulle herself (not the greatest idea but she would have been bored if I did the whole thing) as well as iron some creases. She also traced all the circles and thought she was running the sewing machine (I couldn't give that one to her). It turned out super cute. I wasn't so sure the polka dots would work out but they ended up being way cute.

She loved dancing in front of the big mirror in the guest room (which she thinks is her room). It belongs on the wall in the guest bathroom...we just haven't gotten around to hanging it. We also painted some wooden beads and made a necklace, played at the park, played games, and watched bits of "Ariel" (the only Disney princess movie we own...thanks to Aliese).

It was nice to get a little break from making curtains and make something a little more fun. Poor AK had to work on his paper most the day so he only joined us for painting fun and helped me attempt to de-sparkle the house. Lyv called them sprinkles and loved that they were all over the place. Now her parents can deal with all the sparkles!

TODAY is my first morning off...I don't go to the senior center anymore. I got a lot done...although our house is still a bit of a disaster (seriously, it's amazing that all you moms manage to keep your houses clean...one day and ours is a wreck). I got to do a little blogging while eating some amazing Cinnamon Life and I get to fold some laundry (I really like doing laundry). I miss the olds but it sure was awesome to have a few hours to myself.

My Little Olds

I've been hanging out at a senior center for the past four months. At first it was a school assignment...four of us taught an exercise class. But we ended up hanging out more than we taught. Today was our last day and the seniors decorated the center with thank you balloons and made us cards. We even managed to squeeze in one last game of balloon volleyball.We ended up growing quite fond of our little olds and they were not at all thrilled at the prospect of us leaving. Two of the girls in our group are from Ireland so they're pretty much leaving for good. I think I'll visit a bit though. On our last day they gave us all hugs and kisses and were a bit weepy. It was harder to leave them than I thought it would be.
I was surprised to find how attached we grew to this group after only four months. Last night, one of our elderly ladies passed away. They all knew she had terminal cancer but nobody told us. She gave us little ceramics to paint with her. She was adorable. It kind of put a damper on things but also helped put life in perspective.
I'm gonna miss these guys. This was such an awesome experience. I recommend volunteering with seniors in your area. They really need people to talk to and are rather hilarious.

A whole year!

...not us, our house. We closed on our house a year ago yesterday. I can't believe we've owned and lived in this house for a whole year (okay, so we didn't move in until June, but still, it was ours). I never thought we'd buy a home in EM but we did and I'm glad we did. I love it here. And I love our house. I have been knee deep in little projects to homey it up but they have been in competition with school and AK and other priorities. Once finals are done I'll find some time to post pics of our li'l house to celebrate our one year of ownership. Hurrah!

Yesterday was great fun (besides the realization that we can be responsible adults for one whole year). We started the day with a 3 mile jaunt around EM. There are tons of awesome paths/trails around these parts. Then we got some mega Spring cleaning done. Not as fun but definitely an accomplishment. After some lovely lunch, we met up with Stumanchu and his buddies for some raucous ultimate frisbee. I love frisbee. I have been craving some frisbee fun. I am so psyched that Stuart made it happen. It was rad. I was the only girl (not often a good thing...boys don't throw to girls if they can help it) and they didn't think I was playing at first. I showed them. After some frisbee fun we mixed it up with a little kickball. Yup, kickball. When is the last time you played that? It's been a while for me. It was SO fun! After all this plus some shopping, craft time, homework, and hanging with B and M we had a long, rad, tiring day.

Seriously, I'm gonna post some great pics soon. Finals are just a week away.

What do David O. Mackay and the Shooting Star Saloon have in common?

They both got there start in beautiful Huntsville, UT.


We have heard good things about the hamburgers at the Shooting Star Saloon. So we planned to journey on up there and given them a try last Thursday (AK had Good Friday off). Across the street from the Shooting Star was a really lovely building which I pointed out to Adam. He said, "I'm glad you like it because we're staying there tonight." Whoa! I thought we were just going to drive back home after burger fun...but no, thoughtful ol' AK planned ahead and reserved a lovely room at this historical building turned B&B. We have always been a little hesitant to do the B&B thing but it turned out to be one of the coolest things ever. We stayed in the Log Haven room. It was beautiful and they had the night sky (constellations and all) on the ceiling (sounds a little tacky but I swear it was lovely).

So...we checked in to our room (we were the only one's there...a little awkward...but really kinda nice to have to place to ourselves) and then headed over to the Shooting Star to give the Star Burger a try. We were also the only people there. I guess Huntsville isn't hopping on Thursdays. There was a giant dog head on the wall (The Beethoven kind of dog) which once belonged to a guiness book sized massive dog. It looked like a bear. Also on the wall...a shout out to David O. He was born in Hunstville so there was a plaque thing about Hunstville being the birthplace of David O. Mackay...I thought it was a little funny that it was in a bar...but I'm sure plenty o' LDS's have seen it...cuz let's face it, you can go to a bar just to enjoy a lovely burger (not booze).

When we got back to our room we watched a ridiculous kung fu movie. It was rad. We got to sleep in and the nice man brought us some lovely brecky. French toast and such. We then decided to take a drive through all the beauty that is Hunstville and visited the local monastery...it looked like Twinkies. We wanted to go in but didn't know if it would be rude...Good Friday...we don't know the rules. So we just peeked and then left.

The rest of the weekend we did our best to catch conference (no tv or radio reception at my casa...we had to go on drives to listen to it). We also played a little poker with some pool friends and more. I won! I love a good long weekend with my fella. I can never get enough time with him. Sweetest, coolest, funniest, hottest guy I've ever met.

Thanks for a great great time sir!