Little black dress

I have been thrift store shopping a lot lately. I have always enjoyed thrifting, and I find that I enjoy it even more now that I have learned a lot more about altering clothing. When I go to the thrift store, I love to just walk down each aisle and feel the clothing. That is usually how I determine if something is worth looking at more closely. Most thrift stores are packed full of cheap knit shirts that are usually stretched out and faded. They have a lot of that stretchy polyester stuff too. I pretty much never even glance at those. But what's great about thrift stores is they also have a lot of older clothing, and often older women clothing, which means it was probably bought at a nice department store and is something of better quality. Sure it may be six sizes too big, but that is where sewing comes in handy these days. Rather than pay the fortune for the same nice quality by buying it brand new, I can just buy it gently used and make a few alterations.

Here is my most recent project:

As you can see, there is nothing too great about this dress. At least at first glance. It is way too big, too long, and overall looks pretty terrible on me. But, it was perfect for what I wanted. I found that my closet was lacking a plain black dress, and decided that was something I could probably find at the thrift store and alter. I wanted a basic shift dress, so I bought an oversized dress so that it would give me some extra room and not be too tight once I made the needed adjustments (although you cant tell by the pictures, this dress would have been fitted if worn on the right body). I also always have the problem of finding dresses that I love, but that aren't long enough for me, so it is helpful to find a dress with lots of extra length so I can tailor it to fit my long legs. The fabric and construction of this dress are also in excellent condition. It isn't lined, but is a thick fabric that drapes well when worn and doesn't require any extra layers. Plus, no lining makes it infinitely easier to alter.

Here is the finished product:

Ta-dah! A basic black shift dress that cost me $8 at the thrift store and a few hours of sewing. Not too bad if I do say so myself. Can't wait to find my next project. 

Don't compare

Not long ago I wrote a post about why we wouldn't be buying a house yet. I still 100% agree with everything I wrote in that post, and yet I must admit that there are times when I look longingly at other peoples' homes and dream of the day when we will own ours. We live in the most darling community. It is only about 10 years old, so pretty much everything is new construction. We are surrounded by brightly painted craftsmen style homes and modern condos. I love taking Luke for walks in the morning and looking at the cute homes, surrounded by neatly trimmed lawns and only blocks away from parks and community gardens.

Only problem? It's easy to start the comparison game.

When we moved into our apartment, just three months ago, we couldn't stop talking about all the features it had that we loved. Our previous two apartments were much older and therefore a bit run down, not to mention small. This complex was built only 3 years ago, so everything still feels new and clean. Plus, it's big. 1200 square feet, 9 foot ceilings in every room, big windows, an open concept kitchen and living room, wrap around balcony. We felt like we were "living the dream" by finding a place as nice as this.

I now am realizing however, how quickly, if you aren't careful, the charm can wear off, especially if you pay too much attention to what other people have.

The fact is, there will always be someone who has nicer things than us. That's just how the world works, and honestly I'm glad its that way. I wouldn't enjoy my morning walks nearly so much if every house on the street was the same.  Many of the reasons we fell in love with this apartment had to do with the fact that is was different than everywhere we had lived before.

So how do you keep from trying to keep up with the Joneses?

1. Count your blessings. That may sound cliche but its true. When I stop and think about all that we do have right now, I think a lot less about all that we don't have. 
2. Find like-minded friends. "Friends" doesn't have to actually mean people you hang out with (although that's important too). A few of my "friends" that help me keep things in perspective include: bloggers who live a similar lifestyle, books that inspire me, Pinterest boards with decorating ideas for our space, and Dave Ramsey (I know, nerd.)
3. Clean up. I have found that it is more easy to become discontented when our apartment is messy. When I take just a few minutes to clean things up, I see all the charm again that I loved in the beginning. Using a space well will always make you appreciate it more.

I am lucky to live such a good and happy life; I think most of us are. We just have to remember that, and most of all, don't compare.

A few things

One of my goals this year is to improve my sewing skills. I have been sewing more from patterns lately as well as learning better alteration techniques for ready-to-wear clothes. As I have learned more I have been able to duplicate a few things that I have seen online but could never bring myself to spend the money on. And since we are on a definite tight budget these days, sewing and altering my own clothes has saved lots of money while still allowing me to get some new things. 

The first big project was inspired by this dress:

Dress seen on Corilynn

I loved it, but priced at $145, it was just too much. 

So, I found a similar pattern and fabric and made my own:

Not a perfect match, but for my first time making something like this, I think it turned out pretty well (also note that I am not a model nor a photographer, plus Luke likes to be in the pictures too).

Next, I saw this dress (also inspired by a more expensive ready-to-wear dress):

Dress seen on Merricks Art

 I decided I could use my same pattern from above, tweak it a little and make it my own.

Here was the outcome:

I have learned so much from working on these projects, and it has really improved my sewing skills. 

I'm looking forward to doing more in the future, and will be posting pictures soon of some alterations I made to a $4 thrift store find. 

Until then, happy sewing!

Luke lately

Amidst cooking, cleaning, shopping, and a few DIY projects here and there, I mostly just spend my days taking care of Luke. Even though he wears me out a lot of days, I am always happy to get up each morning and start again. He is at such a fun age right now, and as first time parents we pretty much adore everything he does. 

Luke is getting smarter everyday. He already knows just what to do with mommy's phone. 

He had a hard time getting used to the weird, cold weather in Utah, but he's getting adjusted.

 Daddy is his favorite person. He kicks his feet and waves his arms every time Phil gets home from work, and he even likes dressing like him.

 Luke mostly just wears onesies everyday, but every now and then I dress him up. You can see why I just can't resist.

Enough said.

 We had a visit from my grandparents, and Luke loved Grandpa Jerry's mustache.

 He is also trying new foods all the time, but like all babies, he loves Cheerios more than anything.

 His hair was getting so long again that we had to get it cut for the second time! 

He is making new friends.

  

 He loves to swing. 

And is as curious as can be. 

I don't think I can ever get enough hugs and kisses and snuggles with this little guy. Being a mom is really the best job I could ever have.

A post about women's ordination

For some time I have been following the events surrounding the Ordain Women movement and its founder Kate Kelly. Kelly has recently been excommunicated for her actions, and while my heart breaks for her and her followers, I can't say that I didn't see it coming.

I feel sad knowing that there are so many women (and some men too) who have such a deep misunderstanding of the Priesthood. Its not wrong to wonder why women aren't ordained to Priesthood offices, I have had the question myself. But my questions led me to study the scriptures and teachings given by modern-day prophets. Rather than become convinced that women deserve to be ordained, I have gained a greater appreciation for the differences between men and women and their roles in the church, family and society.

We hear the word "equality" thrown around a lot these days. There is always someone, somewhere insisting that they should be treated the same as someone else. The fact is, "equality" and "sameness" have two distinct definitions. While the world may have its own definitions, in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, being equal means that all people, men and women, have the same opportunity to receive exaltation.

"...and he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile." (2 Nephi 26:33)

The Gospel and its blessings (including Priesthood blessings) are for all, but no matter how hard some may try, men and women will never be the same.

"All human beings--male and female--are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose." (The Family: A Proclamation to the World)

If gender is essential to our eternal identity, is it so hard to believe that gender roles are also essential? Men and women are different and therefore have different roles. I am not just talking about statistical differences in everyday life, (for example more men tend to work as engineers while more women tend to be hairstylists). I am talking about roles, such as Priesthood ordination, given to us by our Heavenly Father when he created us.

On her website, Kate Kelly has a link to the letter that she sent to her Bishopric before they held her disciplinary council. It talks about her life and feelings and why she believes so strongly that her movement is necessary. At one point she talks about her baptism as a child:

"While I loved that day and felt so special to become a member of the Church, one of the things I remember most vividly is that the only thing to wear in my ward building was a white jumpsuit for an adult man. Even as a small girl I was very particular about what I wore. I was very upset that no one had thought that a little girl might be getting baptized and prepared something for her to wear. As I look back I realize that is just a small reflection in my memory of the way in which adult men are treated as the standard mold in the church and everyone else is an 'other.'"

Even as an eight year old, Kate Kelly knew that as a girl, soon to become a woman, she was different than men. While she may have only been focused on a baptismal outfit in her size at the time, her reflection that she did not fit the "male mold" is significant. Men and women are different and those differences matter. But, instead of embracing the differences between men and women that she began to notice that day and seeking to fulfill her divine roles as a daughter of God, she has instead spent years trying to obtain for herself roles appointed only to men. 

What will these women achieve by ordination? They state that they seek equality in the church, but equality already exists. They can never be the same as men, and so their efforts to obtain Priesthood ordination only appear demanding and exhaustive. 

Why not instead seek to better understand their roles as women? Why not try to understand why Heavenly Father has chosen to only ordain men to Priesthood offices? Why not consider that perhaps there is a reason that Christ's church is organized with separate meetings for men and women? Why not find ways to serve with the skills they already possess as women? Why not use the powerful force that they have obtained in the media and internet to teach the world that men and women should be different, should have different powers and abilities given to them, and should each contribute the skills they have to attain one great goal--that is to build the Kingdom of God? 

I rejoice in the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love the light and hope it brings to my life. I appreciate the wisdom of our Heavenly Father who has created each of his children with their own unique gifts and talents, and I especially am grateful that men and women do hold different responsibilities so that they can better support and uplift one another. I don't know why women are not ordained to Priesthood offices, but I do know that as a woman I have very specific and important roles ( roles that men do not have!) that I must fulfill. I can't waste the time given to me on this earth wishing I had what my husband has. 

Ultimately, I am sorry that there is so much confusion on this issue. I don't think a loving Father in Heaven would ever want his daughters to feel less important than his sons. I hope and pray that any who may question the truth of the doctrine of the Priesthood will find the answers they need and come back to the true church of Jesus Christ. 

Another makeover

I've spent the past week working on a new dresser/changing table for Luke's room. It sure was a good decision to choose an apartment with a big balcony, because I have been spending a lot of time out there with a paintbrush lately.

In our AZ apartment we had a twin bed set up in Luke's room for when family came to visit (or if I was just too tired to make it back to my own bed) and since we didn't have a changing table, we usually just kept the changing pad on one end of the bed and would change Luke there. When we moved to Utah we decided that we didn't want to keep the twin bed anymore, but without it we lost our makeshift changning table and have just been changing Luke on the floor. I have been on the hunt for the perfect dresser that could also double as a changing table, but then just be used as a dresser again when our kids don't wear diapers anymore. Again, ksl classifieds provided just the item I was looking for.

Before:

While it definitely needed some work, I loved this dresser for lots of reasons. It is a good sturdy piece of furniture and just the right height for changing diapers. The  changing pad fits perfectly on top and the railing along the back and sides helps it from sliding around. The drawers needed a little tightening up, but they have plenty of room for diapers, clothes, and extra blankets. And best of all, it only cost me $30. 

It took longer to complete this project than the desk I did a few weeks ago because it needed a little more work. I wanted to change all the pulls to knobs, so I first had to fill the extra holes and drill new ones in the top drawer. Then I tightened up all the tracks on the drawers with gorilla glue and added new side guides to help support them whne they are pulled out. Painting the primer took the longest because the dresser was stained such a dark color and I planned to paint it a light color later on so I had to get it covered really well. I initially thought I would paint the dresser white, but in the end went with a mint green color. It doesn't exactly match Luke's other decor, but it's neutral enough to look nice in his room now, and work for another baby (boy or girl) later on. 

After:

I'm really happy with the outcome, and especially happy to be up off the floor when changing diapers. I'd call that another DIY success.

Why we aren't going to buy a house...yet

Lately we have been asked a lot if and when we are going to buy a house. This questions almost always immediately arises after we tell people that we are living in an apartment. We never got this question in any of our previous apartment homes, but I guess now that Phil is done with school and has a "real" job, apartment living is not considered very cool.

I get it. Owning your own home is part of the American dream. It's a step into adulthood and responsibility. We want to own our own home one day too. But, we have decided that it's going to be a while before that happens. Here's why:

1. We already have a ton of debt. There is no reason to take on more debt when we are trying so hard to get rid of the debt we already have. If we can achieve our goal of paying off our student loans in 5 (or less) years we will start looking to buy a house around that time. 
2. We don't want the extra expenses. Sure, renting can be a hassle at times. You don't get to paint the walls or remodel the way you want. You have other people living literally all around you. You usually don't have a yard. But owning a home can mean a lot of extra expenses that you don't have when renting. There are HOA fees, property taxes, maintenance, and insurance to pay for and those things add up fast. 
3. We don't need or want the extra space. Yes, you read that correctly. We are Americans who don't want an enormous home. Why? Because then we have to furnish that enormous home. Having a smaller space helps us avoid the desire to get more things, which inevitably costs more money. We like to live a simple, minimalistic lifestyle, and we hope that our home and possessions reflect that. Obviously, not all homes are big, so we could buy something small and upgrade later, but that just doesn't make sense to me. It's fairly easy to move into a bigger apartment when you run out of room; it's not always so easy to sell and move out of a smaller home into a bigger home whenever you want. 
4. We like apartment living. I know that sounds crazy to a lot of people, but for us apartment living works at this stage in our lives. We like having someone else do the maintenance. We like the amenities such as a swimming pool, fitness center, and playground. And despite arguments that renting is just throwing away your money, we don't mind paying the monthly rent. The way I see it, paying rent isn't all that different than putting gas in your car. You fill up at the beginning of the month and drive your car everywhere you need to go. Once the tank is empty you don't think, "well that was sure a waste of money", because it wasn't. The money you spent on gas provided you the means to get where you needed to go, just as paying rent each month provides us with a roof over our heads and a nice place to call home. It is money well spent. 

We do want to own our own house one day, and we will. But for now, we are happy to call our apartment home. 

New things and projects

Something about living in a nicer apartment makes us want to have nicer things. I guess that makes sense. Most of our furniture is either hand-me-down from one of our families, or thrift store finds, so none of it really goes together and most of it is pretty beat up. We decided that the couch we had was no longer practical (it was really more of a love seat and could only fit two people comfortably) and since something about sitting on a used couch (and by used, I mean a couch that comes from a stranger or Goodwill, the couch we had was used by Phil's brother, but that was ok) grossed us both out we decided to splurge on a new couch and then save money on everything else we wanted by  painting or refinishing in some way.

After a couple of weeks of looking around and comparing prices. we found a couch we really liked. And, even better it was on clearance. Normally priced at $1000, it was marked down to $499. Plus, we received a $250 gift card when we signed the lease to our apartment, so we used that toward the couch and so only paid $250 for it! I love good deals.

Old couch Before (in our AZ apartment):

New couch After (I'm planning on sewing new, colorful throw pillows soon):

With a nice couch that will hopefully last us forever (because we aren't going to have money to buy another one anytime soon) I have been trying to find ways to update our other stuff. My first project was our desk. I wanted to get it done first because it sits in our living room and is noticeable right when you enter the apartment. It is a desk that Phil has had since high school, and nothing too special, but I sure love how it turned out (although I don't think these pictures do it justice).

Before:

After:

I had originally hoped to replace the knobs and pulls with shiny silver ones, but I haven't found any I like yet (and that don't cost an arm and a leg) so I just reattached the original hardware. It doesn't look too bad for now (I also am thinking about just spray painting them silver, but haven't decided yet).

My next goal is to finish up Luke's room with a dresser-turned-changing table project that I will hopefully be able to start this weekend. Happy 4th and DIY! 

Home sweet home

So far we have been really happy in our new home. We still can't stop commenting to each other on how big it is compared to our old apartment. I have been enjoying unpacking and getting things hung up on the walls, as well as a DIY project (pictures to come). We left our old couch in AZ so our living room is a bit empty right now, but we found a new couch for a great deal and should be getting it delivered sometime today. We want a few other pieces of furniture as well, but are on a tight budget, so I have been scouring ksl classifieds (Utah's version of craigslist) every day in hopes to find some good pieces that I can refurbish. 

Phil loves his new job. He fits right in with the company culture and feels confident that he will be able to grow with the company and have a lot of opportunities. Plus, they gave him a MacBook Pro to work on, so he's sold. It's nice to have a more normal life again. No more studying or working nights or weekends. We can just spend time together as a family. 

After two weeks of sleeping in all kind a of strange places (including the closet and bathroom) Luke was so happy to have his crib again. The first few days after we put it up all he wanted to do was just roll around in it like it was the coolest thing in the world. I guess even babies can appreciate being back in their own bed. 

Nothing quite like your own home sweet home.

To avoid looking like a hypocrite...

Yes, I temporarily reopened my Facebook account. I'm not sure how long I will have it open, I'm trying to decide if its worth it or not. I opened it to let people know we were moving back to Utah, and get some suggestions on places to live. I checked for responses a few times, always avoiding reading my newsfeed so as to not get sucked back in to all the things about Facebook that I am trying to avoid. I realized pretty quickly that I wasn't missing anything. Just glimpses of my newsfeed made me feel like a gossipy teenager again.

The internet is so weird. The world right now is so weird. When did it become normal to post every detail of your life online for all to see? Honestly, most of my Facebook "friends" are not really my friends. Thats not to say that I don't like them, but I just don't actually talk to them in real life. Heck, I don't even talk to them on Facebook. I just read about their life as they post it. Doesn't that seem a little stalkerish to anyone else? I mean, think about it, we "follow" people. We "like" their posts. We see pictures of all they do, know about everywhere they go and everything they eat, but we don't actually have conversations with them. Most of them we haven't even seen in person for years. Just saying...stalkerish.

All that being said, I have found Facebook to be a useful tool when it comes to keeping in touch with long distance friends or getting out information, which is why I am now trying to decide whether or not to leave my account up. If I do, I need to set some ground rules, which so far consist of the following:

1. Don't get the Facebook app on my phone or add the Facebook link back to my favorites bar. This will help prevent me from just opening it without thinking and then wasting a ton of time. 
2. Unfriend everyone who is not actually my friend. This probably sounds mean. But, let me be honest for a minute. I have a lot of "friends" who are only my friends because I am curious about how they turned out after high school. (I know I am not the only one...) That is no longer a good enough reason for me. I want Facebook to become something positive instead of continue to be negative as it has been in the past. Using it to see what so-and-so is doing these days only makes me tend toward judging others, and I don't want to do that anymore.
3. Do not post or participate in controversial discussions on Facebook. I already talked about why that is a bad idea for me in my previous post. I have plenty of opinions, if you want to know what they are, we can talk about it in person, or I will share them here. 
4. Only use Facebook as a platform to share my blog, important information, or uplifting messages.

I may add some more rules as I go along. Or I may just shut it back down. I'm not sure. I'm just trying to figure out what is best for me. I'm sure this won't be the last you hear of it.

Here we are

We made it! Amazingly, we managed to pack up our entire apartment in Glendale, drive up to Utah, unload the truck into a storage unit, go apartment hunting, find an apartment, sign the lease, reload the truck, and unload the truck into the new apartment, all in exactly TWO WEEKS!

Whew! What a crazy adventure it has been.

Phil started his new job yesterday, and even though he hasn't done much yet, he already thinks he is going to love it. I have been busy trying to get our new place in order (and take care of the baby, of course) and more and more I am so glad that we chose this apartment. Everything has really fallen into place only giving us more confirmation that we made the right choice in coming back to Utah.

We are also feeling incredibly grateful for all of our friends and family who helped us make the big transition. We had so many friends come and help us not only load up the truck but also clean our apartment. Thanks guys. Phil's family has also been a huge help. We stayed with his dad's brother in mesquite (our halfway point on the drive up) and his mom's sister in South Jordan all last week while we searched for apartments. His brother Dave and brother-in-law Mark also helped us unload, reload, and unload again. We definitely owe them.

We chose an apartment in South Jordan, in a newer development called Daybreak. The apartments here are only a few years old, have really nice amenities, lots of space, are affordable, and close to Phil's job. We really can't complain.

We initially hoped to find a three bedroom apartment because we were starting to feel a little crammed in our two bedroom in Glendale, but all the three bedrooms we looked at (that actually had nice, updated features) were more than we want to spend right now. But, in the end, the two bedroom we settled on turned out to be better than everything else we saw anyway. It is 1200 square feet, and so nice with 9 ft ceilings, granite countertops, new appliances, huge balcony, pantry, laundry room...basically everything we wanted. We feel so lucky.

Its still a huge mess right now, but here are a few "before" pictures:

And a few "in the middle" pictures ("after" will be when everything is unpacked and cleaned up). 

More updates to come soon!

Surprises

Phil and I have loved our time in Arizona. We made good friends, learned the area, and even adapted to the heat. But as Phil's schooling began to come to an end, we started wondering where life might take us next. 

Phil began applying to jobs all across the country around the beginning of the year. He had some good interviews and we felt like we had so many possibilities ahead of us. While he did look at jobs from the west to east coast, he focused more on the southwest region in hopes to find something not too far from family. He applied to a lot of jobs in Texas and we were feeling pretty excited about the possibility of moving to a big city like Dallas. 

Phil also applied to several jobs in the Phoenix area. More and more we were liking the idea of staying here. We like the weather, have family nearby, and moving just a few miles away wouldn't be too rough either. 

As usual, however, The Lord had some different plans for us than we had for ourselves. One of the jobs in Dallas that Phil applied for was with a company called Lanyon, and after several interviews they offered him a position as an analyst. Only surprise? The job was for a position in their Draper, UT office! 

We took some time to think about it before accepting the position, but ultimately felt that despite other offers, this was the best opportunity. We never thought we would move back to Utah, not because we didn't like it, but because it didn't seem like the place that we could have the best opportunities for our family. Phil didn't even look for jobs in Utah and I was busy apartment hunting in Phoenix, not Draper! 

But, now that it's happening we can see the Lord's hand in our lives and know that we are going back to Utah for a reason, even if we never know what that reason is. 

We have been packing like a couple of crazy people and will be moving in three days. We are looking forward to seeing what the future will hold for us! 

Cousin love

Enough said.