Things That Make Me Happy

- Lab being over :) I took my lab final yesterday. I didn't do as well as I would've liked but it's done! Now for the lecture final on Wednesday...

- Homemade chocolate bundt cakes with creamy chocolate frosting. I've been wanting to try this recipe for a while. Aunt Jan gave it to me, and everybody knows that everything from Jan is heavenly. So after a long week of studying and tests, I made it. It was fun because I got to use my food processor to make the frosting. It was so good!

- Shower curtains. I haven't had a shower curtain till recently. We just had the liner. And it was driving me insane. But I just hadn't found the right shower curtain and I wasn't going to settle for less. Blaine picked this one out at Bed Bath & Beyond and convinced me that it'd look great. I loved the ruffles but wasn't sure about the green color. Once we put it up, I became obsessed with my shower curtain. It now matches with our bathroom and our bedroom. It ties the two together perfectly!


- Completed bedroom sets. We finally bought our bed and one more dresser from Ikea. Blaine picked it up with Matt while I was in class. I was so excited to come home and set everything up. We opened up the box with the bed and, surprise!, it's black -_- I was so so bummed.We had already moved our bed and our room was just a mess that night. We had to sleep on our futon! Anyway, we were able to build our tall dresser. So Blaine had to go back the next day, get the right color and realized that he was also given the wrong bed size. By the time I got home from work, I had a bed. He didn't tell me that he was going to get it that day. I love it when Blaine surprises me like that.

- Good books. I just finished reading The Infinite Atonement by Tad R. Callister. It was such a great book. It got repetitive at times, but I feel that repetition with the Atonement isn't a bad thing. It really helped me learn more about this most important sacrifice. It expanded my knowledge and increased my gratitude for my Savior, Jesus Christ! Also, there was a time when I'd justify not reading for leisure because of school work. But I realized that as I read for fun, it was easier to read textbooks. It was a good balance for me.


- Flowers. My little morning glories bloomed. All of them. Unfortunately, they are not looking too hot right now. I won't have anybody to take care of them while I'm gone, so I knew they weren't going to last forever. I still have some seeds and more soil, so I'll have to try the whole thing again sometime! It was a neat experience to watch them grow. Blaine loved it too!

- Random smiley faces. So I was washing a huge pile of dishes and came across an unusual smiley face. I was having a pretty rough day and seeing this really brightened my day. Silly, but true.

- Getting compliments. I made my first homemade wreath the other day. It was an interesting experience. I saw this wreath on pinterest that looked easy and nice. I was absolutely sure that it would come out just like the picture. I followed all the instructions perfectly. When I finished, it wasn't what I expected (don't you hate it when that happens?!). I felt so craft-impaired for failing at such an easy wreath. I decided to hang it up anyway. I've been wanting a teal wreath for a long time and haven't found one. This would have to do. My best friend Michele came over just to hang out. Michele has been my lifelong friend. She's blunt, opinionated, crafty and she won't tell me something is nice just to make me feel better. When she said that my wreath was nice, I was the happiest person. The next day, my visiting teacher commented on it, too! I guess my failed wreath wasn't so bad after all.

   

 


- Promotions. Blaine was promoted in his jam job (I didn't even know that that was possible!). His boss recognized that Blaine has more to offer than just selling their product. He will now be like a financial assistant, helping with calculations and all that good stuff that he's learning in the business school. I'm really excited for him to put these things into practice

- Babies. On July 15th, Baby Jason became our newest nephew! He was born pretty early. We were afraid that he was going to be very tiny, but he ended up weighing 7.1 lbs! Jason has experienced a lot in his 3 weeks of life. He has been in the NICU all this time. He has been on ventilators, an ECMO machine (pretty crazy technology - check it out), and all kinds of medication. Kerri was able to hold him for the first time a couple of days ago. It was an answer to many prayers. We are very excited to meet Baby Jason in just a couple of weeks.

- Vacation. Less than a week left! I cannot wait!