The cartoon version of myself. . .

I was taken quite by surprise when our IT team posted this for the new year.  It is some of our staff turned into cartoons/avatars!  I have never been turned into a cartoon before, I kind of like it!

Can you guess which one is me? haha!

I am at the bottom with the wavy hair and fur collar.  My company does really cool things with DNA and can help you find your ancestral past!  For more info go here.

{ Birthday } Girl

My birthday was incredible this year.  Not in the big blown out of proportion kind of way, but in the feeling content with my life, happy, and realizing more what is important kind of way.

I always thought I would freak out a little getting older every year, and a do a little, but I am finding just the opposite out.  I am in the very exact place I should be doing the exact things I am doing.  I find it hard to believe sometimes that my life will just continue to progress and I will become more and more happy as the years go by.

I have this friend who is incredible at writing in her journal, { you know who you are chick :}, and she is always inspiring me do keep one.  Well over the last year I have kept better journaling habits than any other year and I am amazed how much my thoughts and actions have grown just in one short year of time. 

It is an incredible thing to look back on things { you } have written and see yourself change.  I finally get what she is talking about and I love it.

Thanks to all of you for the bundles of phonecalls, texts, emails, birthday cards in the mail, presents on the porch, facebook wishes, and love over the years.  I am truly blessed to have so many special people in my life and I know my life is better because you are in it.

The week ended with a new summer dress, some twinkly vintage earrings, red velvet cake, homemade cafe rio salads, walks on the beach and lots of good times.

I am soooo ready for 26... bring it on :)

25 on 25

Hello Friends!!!

I know I have been pretty bad at blogging lately :( But I have great excuses I promise :) You will all just have to wait to hear what I have been working on!

But I won't be around tomorrow to blog about this especially important life event so here it goes. . .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

I am 25 years old on May 25th! So it is my golden birthday! That is either today, or tomorrow depending on when all you are reading this :)


I know this only happens once in a lifetime so I am living it up! And for your reading pleasure here are 25 facts about me and what I have learned for my 25th birthday on the 25th! I know, I am too much sometimes :)

My mom has always asked us on each birthday what we have noticed about turning one year older so I guess it is just habit now!

1. The older I have gotten, the more I realize I have so many more things to do before I leave this earth. I am working so hard on becoming my best self but there is still so much further to go!

2. No matter how old I get, I will still love pink, shopping, glitter, pageants, dancing, fashion, chocolate, kissing :) , friends, makeup, and movie nights!

3. I never thought I would feel REALLY ready to have children, but by George! I feel it!

4. In my last 25 years I have really truly defined what it means to be happy. Really happy.

5. Growing older has taught me lots of things. One thing I have really loved learning is who I am. It is a beautiful thing to really know yourself and love it.

6. I love the phase of my life that I am in right now. I swear being married, doing yard-work every Saturday, walking our dog late at night, doing laundry and seeing Brian's cute mission shirts, snuggling and laughing hysterically multiple times a day, eating dinner by candlelight in our "own" kitchen, having our own garden and house to cultivate, is the happiest and most fulfilled I have ever been.

7. I don't regret anything that has happened to me in my life anymore. I used to but then I took a good hard look and realized that everything I love in my life came from those trials. Now when I am going through something really tough, I know I will be blessed with something amazing if I can make it through it!

8. I have always have had so many dreams for myself. Careers, business ventures, personal goals, creative ideas, and they have seemed so unattainable at times. But for the first time, I have started some and surprised myself at my capabilities to actually do them!

9. When I was little I wanted to grow up to be superwoman. . . I still feel the same :)

10. Now more than ever, I believe in living in the moment. Experience has taught me that memories are priceless!

11. Money goes, and it goes quick! Even when you are really smart about not using it! :}

12. As I get older, I have seen more lines blur. I don't really catagorize people and places and things anymore.

13. I have always liked to dwell around good things. But as I have aged, I now find it impossible to be around anything otherwise. I don't waste my time on it either like I used to for fear of judgment and I don't feel bad about it. I don't feel bad for not listening to people that are not good for me, that don't uplift me and make me better. It has never been easier to choose then now.

14. I have really realized how fragile life is and how quickly it can slip through your fingers.

15. Stilettos are becoming less and less comfortable and less and less functional, but does that keep me from wearing them?!?! HECK NO!!!!

16. Watching loved ones make crucial decisions in their lives is pretty much my breaking point. Being older and knowing the importance of choosing wisely now, it is really hard to watch people struggle.

17. People will always see you differently than you see yourself in the mirror, but what matters is that you are happy with your reflection.

18. I have realized who my real friends are as I have gotten older and they are so special to me. They are the ones who call and ask how I have been through all of my health problems in the last year, and the ones who send cookies, make me dinner, text, email me, and send notes in the mail. I am loved and I am so blessed and grateful to be surrounded by these amazing women!

19. I love working and have always thought of a job as a way to make money. Now as I age, I am focusing more changing jobs, and being paid to do what I love. It is not an easy change to make, but will be well worth it in the end.

20. I have accepted that there are things I am talented at and things I will never be good at and I am ok with it.

21. My relationships with family members have gotten much more meaningful in the last few years. I love choosing to spend time with them and learn more and new things.

22. I learned I am old enough to save for retirement and was momentarily freaked out! LOL!!!

23. The older I am, the more my parents become my hero's. I have no idea how they do it all so I am watching closely.

24. I have learned that I will be much more happy and feel WAY better if I keep eating right and exercising every SINGLE day.

25. I have learned that aging doesn't freak me out anymore. I used to not want to get older and have to go through some of life's different stages, but I know how important progression is now.

I love all of you so much! Thanks in advance for all your sweet birthday wishes and comments. I am so happy and truly blessed to know you!

Love and birthday cake!

Linds

{ Be my guest }

From the moment I was little, I dreamed about having my own house, and making it beautiful. I just never knew how hard it would be and how long it would take!

So when I met Brian, and we got married and he already had a house all I needed was his permission and he gave that up pretty easily! :)

And the next thing I was most excited about was having a guest room for friends and family to come stay in, since we live kinda far from everyone else!

So I started. We picked the bedroom across from ours and painted it red. REALLY RED!

I decided I wanted it to be a vintage inspired room so I started collecting vintage frames and objects from thrift stores and refinishing them! Designing on a budget!

Then we started collecting things on sale and at a really cheap price. We bought the rug for 6 dollars on sale at walmart, and lots of the decorations came from hobby lobby at 50 percent off! Can't beat that!

The desk started off so cute and elegant, but when I got a sewing machine from Karen (mom in law :) for Christmas I traded pretty for functionality! Plus I use it all the time!

This candleabra was an ugly green bronze color so I painted it black and added candles. The candleabra is SO vintage so I have lots of them in the room! Cheap too! $2.75 for all!

The room was really coming together and really personalized too! These pearl letters I found at michels in the dollar bin and would be adorable for a little girls room! B for Bunker! lol. . .

Then, I decided this dressy room would not be complete without a chandelier!

But most of the ones I found online were over $350 and I was trying to design on a budget so that wasn't going to work!

After reading many how to's I decided I would refurbish a vintage chandelier and hang it in the bedroom.

I found this beauty for 8 dollars at deseret industries! Can you see the layers of gunk and dust!!?!? LOOK CLOSELY! ICK! I think I see a dead moth!

It took loads of work, but I cleaned it, polished it, sanded it, tightened it and then primed it with white.

This isn't the same chandelier, I didn't get a picture of the one I was working on before I finished it! Too eager I guess! But this is to show the primer!

And after primer had bonded for 48 hours then I sprayed it black with a mixture of matte and satin so that it wouldn't be too shiny or too flat! I was going for an aged rod iron look. . .

It took three coats to get everything done and then it dried in my backyard hanging from a tree for a couple days. I found some crystals I attached with thin wire from home depot and WALLAH!!

What do you think?!?! Pretty neat huh?

We had to tweak the wire a bit to hang it and get all the lights to work, So before you buy a vintage light ask them to test it first. I didn't so I am lucky I have a father who is multitalented!

This completes the room I think and these pics do not do it justice! Everytime someone sees the room in person and turns on the light I hear WOW!

This room to decorate, paint included was under $200. That obviously doesn't include the bedspread, curtains, or the furniture from my childhood, but everything else, yep.

Pillows, sheets, shelves, paint, photos, vases, candles, figurines, rugs, iron works, ALL!

Economy Friendly!!!

To decorate a room and give it the best makeover for your buck, I would. . .

* Give it some fresh paint. Paint is the cheapest way to redo a room! Around $18 a can!
* Start looking everywhere for decor, ON SALE!!! It can be done! Collect slowly. . .
* Buy vintage and refurbish, it will save you loads and give your decor some character!
* Find a look you love and stick with it!
* Be patient. Sometimes you will not find what you are looking for! I looked for a chandelier for over a year!, But saved hundreds!!!

I love this room so much now! And I love having a pretty room for guests to stay in. . .

I hope your inspired!!!!

Love Linds!

Now I can't wait to do a nursery! :) Someday. . .

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!!

I know the title sounds a tad self aware, but hey! What other day can you actually say that and act that way! I rest my case :)

My 24th Birthday was awesome! Since it was on Memorial day this year, we all headed up to Bear Lake for a fun filled weekend!!!

Here are some pics and such from My Birthday weekend!

The weather this weekend was pretty stormy and rainy! So we ended up playing tons of games!

Here is the gang playing spoons! We had 9 people in the circle! That is the biggest game of spoons I have ever played!

Court, Mandy, and Gabie!!!!

Ness, Me and Daddy!

Tassia, Ty, and Brian!

It started to get a little wild and crazy!!! We all couldn't stop laughing!!!

Ty doing a "typical" siebenhaar thing. We are an EXTREMELY funny family! He kind of looks like a martian!

The next day we were really lucky and got to go Four wheeling and we had seven machines so there was one for each of us! It was too fun and the trail was beautiful!!!

This was up in the canyons at bear lake!

Ty and Tass! Strike a pose!

Ride Em! Birthday Girl!

My Baby unloading the bikes!!!

The parentals. Mom and Dad look like parents but act like kids! jk. But it is possible they are the cutest parents ever!

Court is ready for our adventure!

Not quite sure what I was doing here but we all laughed at this picture because it is so ugly, so I had to do the right thing and share it with all of you!

Court stylin as usual. . .

We went through areas that were dark and foresty! There was even times that there was a whole bunch of snow. It was pretty cold!

And areas where it was warm and sunny and no snow. It was a beautiful trail! We had such a blast on this trail and after we were up there all day we realized that there were so many more trails we would like to explore! We will have to do this again. . .

Here is my Birthday cake! Yellow cake with rainbow chip frosting! YUM!

This picture 24 is up-side-down but I think you get the idea! 24 candles for 24 years!

And then Brian gave me my birthday present! A university of utah workout suit and AMAZING tickets to taylor swift!

Not only were they tickets but we got exclusive backstage access to hang out with taylor and her mom! It was an incredible experiance! I will post about that in a few days!

Overall it was a fantastic birthday!

With all my loved ones!

Tassia and Gabrielle, Thanks for coming!

We missed you Grandma, Ron, Lish-Fish, Ryrie, JD, Abbie-Normal, Linda, Trav, Gramps, and Denny! Hope you can come next time!

And we will miss you too Bear Lake. . . . . Until next time. . .

Linds