My Manly Man

The day I got back from California after visiting John during his internship our front passenger window broke and wouldn't roll up. So for a week while I was in Utah bymyself I was driving with a plastic bag taped over the window. You cannot believe how annoying and noisy driving with a plastic trash bag over the window is. Then exactly a week later a few hours before John came home back to Provo the Driver's window broke. I couldn't believe it! Both of our front windows within the same week.

I also failed to mention that while John was in California a rock hit the windshield while I was on the freeway which left about a foot long crack. I must be bad luck for our jeep Champ because it ALWAYS breaks when I am driving and John is out of town.

After doing some research to have our windows repaired we were shocked at how expensive it was going to be to fix it. The jeep dealership said the part alone was $260 then another $150 for labor. And that was just for one not two. But John being as resourceful as he is found both parts for $120 total.

So we went to my grandparents and John used Youtube and my Grandpa and fixed both windows himself. Yup he is awesome and so talented! He was so proud of himself and so was I. I love my manly man!

Back to the Grind

School started last week which is good...I think. John found an on campus job that he loves and even though he doesn't make much, income is SO welcomed since neither John or I had jobs for July and August. He is working at Y-serve which is section of BYU that organizes and advertises for all types of service groups and activities.

He wears a shirt and tie to work everyday and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! SO handsome and SO hot!

I started teaching at BYU! I'm teaching two beginning level ballroom dance classes. 180 which is social dance and 184 which is beginning ballroom or standard. It is a blast! Although it proves to be quite difficult and I really have to plan well and then be on my toes for whatever my class presents me with that day. It is so interesting how the personalities of the people in each class really shape the class. Before I go to my classes to teach I can't think to much about it or I get nervous! But I just remember a few things

• I don't know everything
• it's ok to make mistakes
• and I'm still learning too....LOTS

School is great so far. John's schedule is super busy but we have every evening free which is an astronomical improvement from last winter semester. Last winter semester we never had an evening together because I worked from 3pm-8pm and he worked from 8pm-11pm. Then I had rehearsal at 7am so I would go to bed before he got home. It was awful. But I am so grateful that is has worked out this semester that we have every evening together! And so we had decided to always eat dinner together and to set everything from the day and the days to come aside while we eat and that is our time and our time only.

I'm so lucky to have John. He is the biggest blessing I have ever recieved!

Jalapeno Poppers

I had never heard of jalapeno poppers until John saw a recipe for it in my favorite cookbook and wanted to make it. As we were making them John says, "Chels, I don't think you are going to like these...there is almost nothing in here that you really like other than the bacon." But to my surprise they were pretty good. We shared them with our friends Katy and David and they loved them along with John. Definitely a success we will have to repeat at sometime!

HOW TO PREPARE

1. Cut jalapeno's in half, cut of membrane and seeds

2. Mix Cream Cheese, shredded cheese, sliced green onions and fill jalapeno

3. Wrap it in bacon, stick a toothpick through it and then cover it in bbq sauce.

4. Bake in the oven at 275 for 30 or 40 minutes or until the bacon is sizzling!

5. Then Enjoy!

Mud Speedball

We learned to play Speedball from our friend Brice. Don't worry he is drinking creme soda!We played with Mike, John Doxey, Megan, and Dan. The sun was out and then all of a sudden it started raining so of course we resulted to diving sliding and getting all muddy.The best slide definitely went to Dan who scored by sliding into the basket with the ball in hand and ended up wearing the basket in pieces on his shoulder.
He only had a few scratches but because of the rain and wet grass the blood was all over his arm which made it look pretty robust and very manly.

Second best dive goes to Mike who dove for know reason during the game just for his own satisfaction.

Refinished My Kitchen Table

I can't believe I actual took this task on all by myself! Well actually I can't take all the credit myself cause my grandpa helped me out a ton. I forgot to take a picture of the table before I started but the chair is the same color as the table was originally.

I first sanded the whole top of the table top which took forever and the lightly sanded around the edges of the table and the legs.

I put two coats of this on. First using a paint brush and second using my grandpa's sprayer.
Then I put three coats of this on with a foam brush. In between each coat I sanded it with 220 sandpaper to smooth it. Unfortunately I should have used an oil based, not a water based finish because the paint was oil based so now we have to wait like over a week for our table to cure. So don't make the same mistake.

Anyways it took a long time and I tried to surprise John and do it while he was in California but he looked at our bank account and saw the charges to Home Depot and guessed that that it was I was doing. So he cheated and blew his own surprise.

But here it is! It definitely isn't perfect but I think it turned out great especially for my first time refinishing something.

These pictures make it look a little more red than the table actually is.

Mine and Maggy's First Spin

At home without John and my new sewing machine I was excited to start pretending I know how to sew. So I decided I'd make curtains. All strait lines right, can't be too hard.

Here is my little kitchen window before I did anything. I bought a curtain rod and one 84in long curtain. I came home cut the curtain in half and then made two small curtains.
Super easy, measure, cut, fold and iron, pin and then sew! The hardest part of this whole thing was remembering how to thread my bobbin. No joke it took me 4 or 5 tries and I threw away so much thread! Had to learn somehow.To add something extra I decided to put ribbon at the bottom of my curtain.

And Voilà here is the finished product. Who ever knew I could actually be domestic!

Sexy vs Modesty

"I find the whole concept of being ‘sexy’ embarrassing and confusing. If I do an interview with photographs people desperately want to change me - dye my hair blonder, pluck my eyebrows, give me a fringe. Then there’s the choice of clothes. I know everyone wants a picture of me in a mini-skirt. But that’s not me. I feel uncomfortable. I’d never go out in a mini-skirt. It’s nothing to do with protecting the Hermione image. I wouldn’t do that. Personally, I don’t actually think it’s even that sexy. What’s sexy about saying, ‘I’m here with my boobs out and a short skirt, have a look at everything I’ve got?’ My idea of sexy is that less is more. The less you reveal the more people can wonder. - Emma Watson

I read this on my girlfriends blog and loved it. Hope you love it too.