TLC...and the magic of TV!

Don't believe everything you see on TV! I love TLC, HG-TV and all those home improvement channels, but I think they may have given me an overambitious take on decorating. This, along with my thrifty budget (call me cheap if you want), made Di and I think refinishing some dressers would be a great project. So, Di and I found some "solid pine" dressers on craigslist for $25 each...what a bargain! We hunted down a friend with a truck to help us move them to our new house (after attempting it ourselves in Di's Civic...and failing miserably!)


To our surprise, the dressers were laminate particle board, definitely not solid pine. We had driven a half hour to get them, and we were going to pay $40 for a tupperware dresser, so we decided they were still our best option, real wood or not. Here's the before, notice the unaligned knobs...NICE!!!

We got the dressers back to our house, which we thought would be the hardest part...WRONG! We bought all the paint supplies the good ole' Home Depot man told us we would need...a can of primer, some sand paper, a couple cans of black spray paint some new hardware, and some putty to fill the old unaligned knob holes, all for $60 bucks...perfect, or so we thought! We removed the knobs, filled in the old holes, drilled new holes for our cute new knobs, and sprayed on some primer.

Di and I decided to test the spray paint on some night stands we had purchased at Bed, Bath and Beyond before attempting the larger dressers...good idea! Our little nightstands each took a full can of spray paint (and yes, the Home Depot expert had assured us one can would cover a WHOLE dresser without a problem) and the paint didn't go on very evenly, although our night stands did look okay. Unfortunately, we used all our paint and our dressers were now primer gray...

We took our sweaty, painted selves back to Home Depot (our third trip) to get more paint and of course, we ran into some boys from our ward...which never happens in Virginia (unless your looking your worse). These expert boys told us to forget the spray paint and use the real stuff, so we dropped another $40-buying a can of paint, paint brushes and paint supplies, along with more spray paint to finish off our nightstands. Talk about a mess...

We finally got our dressers painted...three days of hard work, $150 later, and we have BLACK DRESSERS!

Ta-Da! Here's the finished product...they look better right?!? (that's what Di and I keep telling ourselves to make our Labor Day weekend project worth it!)

So, the next time you're watching "Design on a Dime" and you think..."hey that looks easy!" remember the "magic of TV" makes everything look easy!

Good Read...

If you have a few extra minutes (and you haven't been sucked into the "Twilight" series yet) check out "A Thousand Splendid Suns." This book is amazing! A coworker recommended it to me, and I read it in about 2 days (and considering I am on month 7 of trying to finish "1776"-2 days is quite an accomplishment.) Be prepared though, because as soon as you finish reading it, you'll probably cry...and wish that there was something you could do to help the women of the world more! Just a little background information, to peak your curiosity...it's about 2 women in Afghanistan, one born in the 1950's and the other born in the early 80's, and how their lives are changed following the political and social changes in Afghanistan and the subsequent civil wars that follow. It doesn't focus on the war or the politics of Afghanistan, but mostly the everyday lives of these two Afghani women, and their struggles and hardships. Read it...you'll end up crying in your closet, but it will be a good cry and if nothing else, it will make you realize how blessed you are to be a woman in America.

Honesty IS the best policy!

So tonight Di and I headed out to the Stake Center for the General Relief Society Meeting, which was amazing. For the first time I was the person they always mention watching the broadcast over satellite in distant lands (although still in the US-Virginia is about as far from Utah as one can get!) It was nice to think that although I am thousands of miles from all the sweet women in my family, we were still watching the meeting together! It was a great time...and my stake really goes all out-they passed out cute little bags of Lindt truffles to all of us, along with feeding us a yummy dinner. Pretty much a great time!

Anyways, we left the broadcast and decided to hit Wal-Mart (which is a rare treat out here-we hardly ever get to go) on the way home. We shopped around, got shave gel all over ourselves and the store, spent way too much money and then headed home. As we pulled up to our house, Di asks "you got my purse out of the cart, right?" I, thinking Di was playing a little joke on me, reply "uhhh no...I thought you had it." Oh no, this was no joke...Di's purse was in the front of the cart when I pushed it into the cart return. She of course thought I was smart enough to have noticed it...and I of course, was not. So with both of us holding our breath, feeling extremely sick to our stomachs, and praying with all our hearts for an honest person (I mean really, we DID go to the broadcast- that had to count for something!), we rushed back to Wal-Mart (normally about a 20 minute drive...I think we made it in 10). Di was extremely calm considering her entire life was left in the parking lot of Wal-Mart. I was frantically trying to get someone at Wal-Mart to answer the phone, while feeling like a total idiot for being in LaLa land and leaving her purse for any one of the crazy late night Wal-Mart shoppers to walk away with! Definitely some very tense moments-the ride was pretty quiet-which for Di and I is a rare occurrence.

Luckily about halfway to Wal-Mart someone in customer service finally answered the phone, and believe it or not, someone turned in a big, red purse! RELIEF! What a great feeling to know that people are still honest! We recovered the lost purse, with all its goods inside, and felt extremely blessed to have it back! Our prayers were answered and our hope that people are, for the most part, honest and good was renewed! So, to whoever found our big, red bag and did the right thing...thank you! And to everyone out there...remember honesty IS the best policy!

I'm it!

Jobs I've Had
~Kalli's Babysitter (my favorite ever!)
~Research Fellow at USU
~Lancome Cosmetics at Dillards (Pretending like I knew how to put on make-up!)
~US Senate...intern
~KSL Channel 5...intern again :)
~Staff Assistant for Senator Bennett

Movies I Could Watch Over and Over
~Two Weeks Notice
~Breakfast at Tiffany's
~Ever After
~Pride and Prejudice

Places I've lived
~Riverside, Utah
~Logan, Utah
~Saint-Joriox, France
~Arlington, Virginia

Favorite TV Shows
~Law and Order
~The Food Network...pretty much anything on there!
~America's Next Top Model
~So You Think You Can Dance
~The Office
~and of course, the News

Places I've Been on Vacation
~California
~Mexico
~Italy
~Switzerland
~France
~New York City
~Virginia

Favorite Dishes
~Chicken and Rice
~Lasagna
~Steak and Potatoes!
~Five Guys Burgers...greeeeeeasy!
~French Fries...with fry sauce of course :)

Websites I Visit Daily
~KSL.com
~Facebook
~Drudge Report
~Tremonton Leader (every Wednesday!)

Places I would Rather Be
~In Utah with the fam
~On vacation in Europe
~Shopping with my grandma, mom, and Kalli

I'm Tagging...
Anyone who actually reads my blog :) (mom this probably means you should start one!)

Metro Etiquette

Well, here goes my first ranting post...and the topic is PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION! What a blessing and a curse! The DC Metro does get me to work everyday...so thank you metro, but it also makes me late for work quite often...so no thank you! But that's all beside the point...I prefer to focus on the etiquette I feel everyone who ever uses a metro/subway/public transportation system can control! So here it is, my Top Four Rude Metro Riders (in no specific order of annoyance)...



#4-The Pole Dancer
Okay, so pole dancing on the metro is rare, but people that lean against the pole and use the entire thing to rest their sweaty behind, back and head on might as well be! Nobody else can steady themselves with the pole when someones entire body is resting on it...rude!

#3-Seat Hogs
I'm not a large person by any means, so I tend to keep my body within my allotted half of a metro bench fairly easily. I understand there are others out there who have trouble keeping within their bounds (I mean we are talking about Americans here!) and I totally don't mind if someone honestly needs a little extra space, but people that can keep their butt within one seat should make that effort! For example, the other day as I sat on the metro making my way home after a long day in the office, this woman decides to sit next to me. I'm all about sharing so that's great, but she decides to back into the seat butt first...okay not a big deal until she backs in and sits on my lap. This woman was a fairly fit looking woman...and yet she felt it necessary to sit sideways in the seat with her derriere on me! That's just gross-keep your booty and your body to yourself!

#2-Escalator Jumpers
Everybody (except tourists-gotta love 'em) knows to stand right and walk left on the escalator. Hence, the line to get on the left side of the escalator is normally a bit longer than the line on the right-but in the end you make the time up walking on the escalator, UNLESS people cut into the walking line. Don't sneek up in the standing line only to cut over onto the right at the last moment...we're on to your little tricks, and we don't like!

#1-Where's my Card?
To get ONTO the metro, you need to slide your fare card, and in order to get OFF the metro, you guessed it, you need to slide your fare card! Every metro rider knows this-so why is it so hard to have your fare card ready to go when your gettin' on or off? I've been there...digging through my bag to find that elusive smart card, but not standing right in front of the ticket gates! Move to the side!

The sights, sounds, and wonders of the metro are less than appealing, but if we all work together to change the little everyday annoyances the metro can be bearable-maybe even a pleasure (ok, that might be taking it a little too far)!

Chinese Food with the Congressman

Who could turn down Chinese food and the chance to chat with Congressman Chris Cannon? So after years of forming my opinion of Cannon from the media and the stories of others, I finally met the man for myself, and he made a good impression. He really likes shale oil (if he had to quit Congress right now-he'd get into the Shale oil business). He's very personable and he's quite intelligent. Overall, I'd say he's a pretty good guy...and that's not just the Chinese food talking :)

Oh my 22!

So I don't know when I started getting so old...but here I am, 22-years old! WOW-time really does fly! If my birthday is any indication of how the year is going to go-22 will be great! Some great co-workers/friends took me out to lunch at Capitol Brewery-yummy pulled pork sandwich, and the BIGGEST ice cream covered brownie ever! The celebrating continued at work, with a little office party-more brownies, homemade oreos, and Lofthouse sugar cookies...YUM!

My sweet roomies (including Shannon) threw a little pizza party that night, complete with more sweets-cupcakes this time. Then we got ready and hit the town...Club Ultra! Here's where Liz shines...she got us all in, without waiting in line, and for free-way to go Liz! So I love dancing, hence the clubbing, but I often forget how much I hate sweaty crowds of people...the club was fun for the night, but definitely not my scene! Anyways, 22 is going to be great-even if it is pretty OLD :)