... in real life.

have you ever seen the illusionist?! dan and i watched it the other day. i was a little skeptical at first but totally and surely la-huved it. edward norton is our celebrity crush. i have just been beyond elated that they got to be together in the end and i wanted to watch it again immediately after it was over.

our life is really "real-lifey" right now. back from vacation, unpacking, cleaning, making dinner, sleeping, working, going to school, running errands, etc. but we like it. we love being in our own place that's a little more permanent. 4 months post-tornado and we finally feel settled.

dan's semester includes: ecology, biochemistry, working in a genetics lab, an online writing class, and a proctorship with reallll doctors. he is soo cool. and smart. he loves me and takes care of me when i have the hardest, worst nights and works and lets me cry to him and holds me tight. work is a little overwhelming at times (biggest understatement ever/trying to be politically correct sounding). it's the little things that get me through. like: my coworker brought chocolate to share last night. and i walked into my patients room the other morning and she cut me off mid-sentence to say "you look cute" (UGH!!! i died of joy at that moment), my patient's husband who hugged me and sincerely thanked me numerous times, when my supervisor calls me to tell me i'm getting an admission, a lady with a hairball... no big deal.

well, i'm off to bed. lots of love.

washANDdry!

we are sooo thrilled to announce...

we got a washer and dryer!!

of our own! we own them! they are in our very own apartment! we don't have to go down the hall, down the stairs, down the other hall, around the corner, and across the mile long pathway to get to the nastiest laundromat in our [old] complex that i was usually scared for my life in.

it is sooo divine. we got them off craigs list for a whopping $250! they are whirlpool. we feel like we've really moved up in the world. there's no telling what's next!!

we had the manliest truck in existence to pick them up. thank you aaron and aly!

he was the SWEATIEST creature alive from all this moving. it was great.

this the final product. the apartment we live in now only has space for the kind that are supposed to go on top of each other. so we just squeeze them in the kitchen. after we've done a wash cycle i can't reach into the washer because it's too hidden. so dan is pretty much the designated laundry man.

our next apartment has space for the side by side, so it's perfect. we've been doing hundreds of loads (it seems like) because we have to wash everything we owned because it's still full of rubble and yucky smells.

valentine time!

happy valentine's day to the love of my life!

i love it when we cuddle and giggle like two little kids. it is by far the best feeling ever.

i love him.
i love him.
i love him.
i love him!

my heart still jumps and my heart pumps when i see this sweet smile! ...

and happy valentine's day to everyone else that i love! i have the most precious family in the world. i love my mama. i love my daddy. i love my brother. i love my brother's sweetie. i love dan's mama. i love dan's daddy. i love my sweet, adorable sisters. i love my grandpas and grandmas. i love my aunts. i love my uncles. i love my cousins. i love my dear sweet friends that are so much more than friends. i love my...

you!

did you see my new blog? it's www.lovesosimple.blogspot.com :]

favorites

a few of my favorite things:

1. taylor swift's "you belong with me"

dan and i have been playing this song at least once a day,

he learned it on the guitar for me and we play&sing.

and our all-time favorite:

blasting the music video in our living room and dancing our hearts out!

spinning, dipping, twirling, slow-dancing, the whole shabang.

it. is. the. greatest.

you should try it, you will be sooo happy.

2. fruit&vegetables

are the love of my life.

the other dan day and i were talking about what it would be like if we had lots of money... like, millions.

i said... "our fridge would be stalked with an unlimited supply of fruits&vegetables."

i have a million dollars and i'm dreaming about fruits&vegetables,

they make me that happy.

in our kitch at this very moment:

apples

kiwis

bananas

grapes

blueberries

strawberries

spinach

bell pepper

cucumber

squash

tomatoes

onions

avocados

lettuce

lemons

limes

mmmmmm!

3. dreaming

about what i want out of my life,

what things are most important to me,

what kind of world i want for my children,

and how i can get it.

it is my minds favorite thing to occupy itself with.

i think it is essential to have goals for my life and really, really think

about what kind of mom i want to be and how i will raise and protect my children in this world.

cuz it's KRAZY out dare.

i might even be starting a blog on this subject alone.

my own journal to refer to, inspire me, and help me in my journey.

loves!

organization is BLISS

calling getting organized a "new years resolution" just doesn't do it justice... i have been pondering, researching, and preparing myself mentally for months to finally buckle down and get organized. i have read every magazine that mentions organizing and have organized gurus, it's the best. i need all this help because i'm not the most organized person by nature. you know what i mean if you knew me in high school or ever saw my room!

but those days of disorganization and disarray are done! i want our little apartment to be a sanctuary in these troubled times. i want to walk through that drafty front door and feel peace, coziness, and calm and see beauty and cleanliness. we may still be able to hear E40 blasting through the window in our bedroom from the parking lot and the extremely loud yelling voices from outside penetrating through our walls, but once you are in you are safe from all that confusion and yuckiness.

so, first step to getting organized...

1. GET RID OF STUFF!

... this step is crucial, absolutely... might be the most important step. this stuff includes things you haven't used in years, knick-knacks, memoirs, random appliances you "might use someday," something with sentimental value that you never use, look at, or even remember until once every two years when you are trying to clean things out, etc... this is a problem because all this things do not have a place. everything in your house needs a home or it will end up on the floor, in the junk drawer, in the junk room, floating aimlessly, or stuffed in the closet or garage where it lays there lifelessly and without purpose, living a long, painful life until it's eventual death... when you finally realize it's time to move on.

so move on! "but it's that calendar i made for my extra credit project in pathophysiology that took me so long and i love it!" solution: take a picture of it, every page and angle if you'd like... and put it in a memories folder... where it can live forever! and throw it away. you will feel AMAZING.

clothes. if you do not LOVE it, get rid of it. that's my policy. [if you don't love it, don't even buy it in the first place... even if it's on sale!] i was going through my clothes and was having a hard time saying goodbye and sending them off to a thrift store of unknown origin so i gave them to a girl who i knew could use them. now my day is brightened every day i see her and know that my clothes will live on!

you have to be ruthless! you have to be strong! if you are feeling weak, watch an episode of hoarders and it should scare you so bad you will go throw away a fraction of your belongings (that's what i did).

don't be afraid to say no. "do you want these shoes? they don't fit me right..." well, i don't love them, but i might wear them sometime... "no thank you!" or "here honey, take these washcloths and old winter coat, you need all you can get when you're a newlywed" (good-hearted mother here with good intentions, who is also trying to rid herself of years of accumulated STUFF)... "those are nice, mom, but no thank you! we already have plenty of washcloths"

2. Buy boxes, shelves, bins, etc...

you will need supplies. everything needs somewhere to go, so buy a home for it! you can do this without spending too much, and it is ever so worth it. just make sure you think it through and find the most efficient system for you.

3. dedicate a day!

you will need at least a day of uninterrupted organizing to truly tackle the task. plan on it, make sure you will have everything you need, recruit your husband, and oh how lovely the results will be.

on new years day dan and renovated our second bedroom. we were starting to call it our hoarders room because it had gotten so bad. "i'm tired, we'll get to it later..." and "i'll unpack this suitcase tomorrow" and "just put it in here for now" all piled up and before we knew it we refused to even open the door out of sheer horror. that room was not being utilized or appreciated.

and now it is beautiful! we leave the door open and would be proud for a guest to see. i wish this was all i took. but i've learned being organized must be a daily activity. it must become second nature. and i really am working on it.... by the time i have kids i will probably have my own organizing show or blog or magazine. everyone needs a success story, right? i even bought a whiteboard calendar that has given us a whole new outlook on life... i won't get into that right now.

wow! who knew i could write so much about organization! i guess i knew i could, because it's been one of my most passionate subjects lately. i get giddy over bins and drawers and organizing units at target.

and thank you margi for the most beautiful bookshelf in existence!!! we couldn't love it more. how nerdy are we to get sooo excited about a bookshelf? mostly me that i literally would scream and yell "I LOVE IT!!!!!" everytime i saw it for the first two days.

lovelightlovecolor.

there is no way to describe the inspiration & awe that color brings to me. just color, something so intricate in our daily lives, but if used right can alter your world and the feelings it puts inside you.

my apartment was constructed in the 1950's. the architecture/design is somewhat puzzling. massive living room& green bean sized hallway kitchen. ceiling fan and light above the kitchen table, no fan/absolutely no lighting in the massive living room. only a miniature window that very insufficiently lights up our little dwelling.

disclaimer: i am not complaining, i am simply planning &dreaming. i love our little place. there is just one things that particularly erks me...

the lack of light. we have two lamps in our living room, yet i am still shocked with the dungeon-esque aspects i encounter when i swing open the door after being out in the light of the sun. there have often been times we have people over &i am frantically turning on every light in the house trying to help the situation, to no avail.

our rexburgian abode had an entire side of the house made simply of windows&doors with beautiful green trees on the other side; i miss miss miss miss MISS. there is something about natural light that ignites my senses. artificial light can not hold... a candle.

how lovely would you feel perched on this little chair pondering life? [because that is surely what you would do in room like this:]

the light&color makes me just feel so light & fluffy in the happiest sort of way. we are not in the position to paints the walls of our apartment, we can not bust out any walls and add windows, i am trying to figure out how to brighten my little place.

my current ideas:

:: paint our currently black TV stand red [or something other beautifully bright shade]

:: bright pillows on our brown leather couches

:: prints on the walls, i like these:

{click}

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cozy craft.

picture project! we've been meaning to do this for months, finally got around to it! we used fishing line and baby paper clips that i painted. we love the color it brings to our apartment. &now all our friends who come over can see some more pictures of our families/friends/lives.

this is our other picture wall in our kitchen:].

mac vac.

no one has ever been as excited about a vacuum as we are. we recently purchased the Hoover Platinum Lightweight Bagged Upright with Canister. It was rated #1 vacuum in Consumer Reports.

we have been needed a vacuum since we got married, but desperately since we moved here, since we didn't have anyone to borrow from. there were still pines on the floor from our Christmas tree a few days ago. no matter how much we cleaned, it still didn't look totally clean.

thanks to all of our wonderful friends&family we payed $60 for vacuum that would have been $330 with shipping&handling! this vacuum is the mac of vacuums:].

we're must be the cheesiest [best] married couple.

why i love home.

1. my dad makes hot n naughties for us every night. unbeatable. &he is so proud of them :]. &should be.

2. having TV with all sorts of fancy cable &starz and movies and rewinding &pausing!! it's so much fun.

3. wearing shorts &a t-shirt on december 15th.

4. trying on quite the funnest& fanciest outfits at urban outfitters with my husband/prancing around mandalay bay/luxor.

5. the winter wonderland my house is! it's so decked out. in a classy &beautiful way. we never want to leave the living room.

6. a fridge full of FRUIT! i'm so content. not to mention the box of chocolates under the fridge.

7. having the funnest/cutest guy to hang out with me all the time. we played bocce ball &frisbee at the park today.

8. having the FUNNIEST/best/most hilarious/cutest parents this world has ever seen.

9. the "i'm on holiday" shirt my mom bought me! i'm sooo on holiday. :]

10. love. there is lots of it here. :] &jared gets here on THURSDAY!! we can't wait!