plants, parades + sunburns

we had a great memorial day weekend! the plan was to travel but there was just too much to do and too much going on. saturday we had RS/YW service day, gathering in the grove, a baptism and chris went to see terminator with his guy friends. that morning we went to flower days at the farmers market and then a green house. we got several of our favorite flowers and plants for the yard.

our branch president had us over to watch his small town parade. it was so cute and a great way to remember the veterans on memorial day. they have a beautiful piece of property and we enjoyed yummy food and great company. we forgot the camera and have not pictures of the weekend. the weather was so perfect!

after the picnic we spent the afternoon planting and then realized we both had a little sunburn. a bad one and a farmers tan at that.

the kitchen is still a mess but slowly it is getting it done~slowly. a few surprises have arisen like taking down the panel like board and finding old tile gule that no one cleaned up they just covered up. yeks!


a lilac


a peony


we have gotten so much rain lately! and the flowers are blooming....

a hydrangea


the backyard.

we have a few day lilies and planted a new one up front along with the star gazer lilies. they are chris' favorite.

a little fern

we have seen several rabbits in our yard!

and it begins....

this weekend in fact! a simple kitchen update.

we have the ugliest kitchen there is...with a flower stencil, brown cabinets and yes-carpet. we love making this our first home our own. and a few things have to go....

some things we are not going to change right now but just to be able to live with this kitchen we have finally agreed upon the following.

YES! that is two (not just one roll) of wallpaper...I totally won. after a year in the house i broke chris down and we found a red and off white toile that chris can stand...yeah!!!

the fabric is april cornell and i have carried that little fat quarter for months trying to work it into one room or another so it will most likely be window treatments and perhaps seat cushions unless we find a coordinating pattern.

the paint is netural but the walls will be a little darker than the cabinets. I hope that it all works out like we want.

a more purposeful life..

we had the best sunday this week...it was stake conference and chris had no meetings! none. in fact besides our role play with the youth of the stake on friday we had no responsibilities for this weekend. it was a broadcast from SLC. so nice.

so we went to church together, sat together and then left together. awesome. i do not remember the last time this has happened. so simple but so sweet. what a great day!

our home teacher invited us over for lunch with other members of the branch. we had a great time laughing and telling jokes. we are surrounded by some amazing people and friends.

such a cutie-i love you so much and am grateful for the person that you help me to become! we laugh so much and have too much fun together.

we enjoyed time outside in the sunshine, the hammock and with a good book!

I loved the messages of this conference. we came away from this weekend so uplifted, motivated and inspired. Our favorite session has become the adult saturday because the speakers and messages are wonderful. it is the best kept secret!

one decision we made was to live a more purposeful life each day....no great changes but a more focused effort to keep and live our covenants, to remember the savior in small ways each moment and love and enjoy life with all it's ups and downs. i feel like it just kinda carries me and time passes. there are so many things i want to do and so many things i need to do better.


more holiness give me...more patience in suffering, more faith in my savior, more strength to over come, more longing for home, more purity give me, more blessed and holy, more savior like thee.....

in one of my favorite areas in brasil + bestest companions...we served with a ward mission leader how had a perma-duck face! he was so great and loved us so much. his family was not active but man he was there at every appointment teaching and singing with us and feeding us at least once a week. my companion and i made hours of jokes around this face but soon picked it up ourselves and still chris catches me making the irmao pedro duck mouth!
good memories.
and good sundays...

the lilac festival

we had a great time this year at the lilac festival.....i think the blossoms get more beautiful every year!



the japanese cherry blossoms

many different kinds of lilacs; blue, purple, white and deep pink!

we used to live right by this park and loved running through it. so many memories on elmwood!

there are all kinds of venders with homemade items, jewlery, photography and other crafts.

this year there was a pretty famous country singer--jamey johnson (not a huge fan but fun to listen to for a while)

these are my favorite...bluish-purple and they smell so good...

happy mommies' day!!

oh happy day....this was a nice day at church. we ran out of time because the last speaker was sick and the branch president called on several YM and an elder to bear testimony. it was really sweet and brought back some great memories of my own mother.

i remember my mother always taking us to dance class.....in utah we would drive i think to odgen from mantua, changing in the car! i was so embarrassed to do that. but my mom always came to recitals with flowers and doughnuts after--krispy kremes. yummy! those were great days....

on sundays she always made homemade bread and we would eat that with homemade jam! how lucky were we and ah how i miss that.....on my mission in fact one particularly hard week because my companion had surgery and we were stuck in the apartment for weeks it seemed. and a sister from the ward brought us homemade bread and jam....it was an answer to prayer-really. i know and could feel the powers of my own mother's prayers for me thousands of miles away in brazil....

cross country trips in the minivan, late night illnesses, cheerleading camps, trips and games! So many things....

thanks mom for ALL the late nights and unconditional love.



chris made me yummy tiramsu!...mmmm

mother's day for me is not an easy one especially at church. chris has helped me celebrate this day as a woman's day and the eternal nature of being a woman. which means having a "mother heart" as sister beck calls it.
there are so many women who have never had their own children who are wonderful mothers to those around them. i am grateful for many women throughout my life who have influenced me and taught me, and am especially grateful for my own mother.

Happy Mother's Day!!

ten things...

this last week i went to the 1st ward for a mutual (sunday) yw lesson. they have more attendance at week day activities so they wanted to teach a more spiritual lesson. it was on finding joy in our divine potential. and several other women came as well to talk about being a woman.


my dad is cute!


i learned two things:

~that our value in the sight of Heavenly Father is not dependant on our life circumstances--whether we have a boyfriend or not, married or not, how many children we have, whether we served a mission or not! Our value as children of our Father in Heaven is unconditional and eternal!!! And our individual talents, gifts and personalities are needed in building God's Kingdom on earth no matter that "state" in life.

~that no matter the stage in life we can find JOY.....in fact (this sounds so simple) but i think that in and of itself may be our purpose in life in spite of what happens in this life; to seek out and find joy. We have to work at it. Happiness does not arrive when we can date or when we get married, finish college or have children but we can seek out peace, happiness and joy despite anything that does or does not happen to us.

so ten things that make me happy

1. fun and unique fabric
2. any time i get with my husband (just hanging out at home)
3. yummy chocolate


i love his photography: check out more here....

4. art, photography, crafts
5. the YW + it program-i lose myself and all that selfishness
6. travel + the anticipation of a trip somewhere new
7. seasons and the colors, smells and tastes of each
8. tv shows-30 rock, amazing race, project runway (i know a waste of time but it makes me smile...)

9. the random and funny things kids say and do
10. working and serving with others

a little sewing

I had fun making a seat cushion for my sewing chair this friday. i love this fabric and it goes really well in our blue craft room! (this is our green living room and my kitchen chair so it does not fit perfectly)

I did not have a pattern but it was really easy to measure the seat and then just added the ties on the back. i am still painting the sewing chair i just wanted to see how it looked.

I am so excited that it turned out well....

I added some antique buttons from my grandma's sewing kit and love how it turned out. now to finish painting....

This is our rocker on the back patio. it needed a seat cushion as well. i like the first one better but it will work.

Again another vintage button in the middle

and just one tie in the back


i think i can move on to seat cushions for the kitchen chairs. we picked some fabric and i think chris is even ok with the wallpaper that i like for ONE wall in the kitchen! it really needs to be refinished-the flowery stencil is still on the wall from the previous owners-not really our style! one room at a time.

too many ugly T-shirts...

Saturday we had several things going on; Brighton town cleanup and the 4th ward corsage fund raiser, and BYU ballroom dance team.

I got to hang out with the YW to make flowers for Mother's Day! They worked so hard and made 120+ corsages. I was so proud of how hard they worked....

Chris got up early to lead a cleanup crew in Brighton. they took a section of the road to pick up trash and overall clean.
anyway-they all wore and got to keep t-shirts....very thoughtful since the road was a busy one and i guess the oncoming traffic could not miss the workers in such a bright color. the city did not realize however that if you give chris a free t-shirt he will continue to wear it....

check out this glow in the dark green shirt and one day i might just "help" it disappear in the wash.

he also got a bright orange one from the flag football league, who won the champainship game! and yes he has worn it out many times.

i try to be nice about it since chris is cute no matter what but man....there should be a line for ugly T-shirts! they were free but that does not mean that you have to keep them and wear them.

The BYU dance performance was really good! I ran into an elder from my MTC district-so funny. And then we had two co-ed's stay the weekend with us.

these two weeks have gotten away from me....

"My earnest prayer is that you will have the courage required to refrain from judging others, the courage to be chaste and virtuous, and the courage to stand firm for truth and righteousness. Your life will be filled with love and peace and joy."
~president monson

We are trying to taking control of our time better and use it more wisely. it seems like time passes without my decisions and everything else just creeps in. we have a good life just a busy one right now....may is especially full and we just started.

my uncle brian came for a work related visit but we were able to visit with him last night and enjoy a yummy dinner at magnolia's deli + cafe. so fun to see him.

Regional Sacrament Meeting:

our seniors were invited so it was a big long weekend that started with an early, early saturday at the temple.

CES fireside=elder bednar gave a fabulous fireside this last sunday. really everyone should read it when it comes out!

Read it---it is fabulous!!

Saturday night activities. it was really fun! but i finally went home at midnight telling chris to call me when they were done because it was dead tired. and then after 1 am he started walking home because it

His home away from home

our leadership training meeting went really well--more on the YW blog but the treats were so fun and yummy! Laurel had the best recipe

our unit conferences are finally over and now it is back to tuesday nights with the units. 4th ward had a great activity with the missionaries on testimonies. very fun!

1st ward did a remember your divine potential and brockport is doing one next week on class presidencies!

I am back to my running schedule and hopefully will be ready in June for the 5K with the YW

Amy Butler is one of my favorite fabric designers but she also has a book of patterns and ideas which i have been playing with these last two weeks. This was a one night project that ended up having a few issues but that is what makes it homemade right.

i have the durrant blood running through my veins for two reasons....i have to sleep with a fan on no matter the season! and two i take baths almost every day!

i found this cute little fan instead of our cheap walmart plastic one and it fits perfectly into our bedroom....

we have some of the best little shops in our neighborhood..this one metro retro was a new find this week and i just had to stop in. park ave, university and east ave are fun little side streets with cafes, shops and the streets are lined with big trees...

work has been crazy! our funding is a little iffy since the economy has declined. we have all been asked to increase our family files, take on more outreach and spend more time with children in the community. i love it but feel stretched to the max some days.

i travel most days to different locations and this is one of my favorite streets to take so i snapped a picture last week....these are magnolia trees and they were covered with bright pink blossoms.

i have enjoyed my course through cornell but the last two weeks two ladies in my class feel the need to tell their personal opinions on everything and like to disagree. it would be one thing to share opinions but no one is allowed to disagree. it just put a sour taste on class and now i leave feeling rather irritated than empowered!

i did do a presentation in class about "mormons" and that was wonderful to be asked questions and talk openly.

and today we started self defense with my co-workers. we had way too much fun with it! and it really did not help that our netflix movie was Kung Fu Panda. our poor instructor just had to shake his head!

Spring has arrived!

every year i forget how beautiful it is in upstate NY....everything has color!

we were talking about what a sweet spirit this season brings. new starts with the new growth. probably why we celebrate the resurrection in the spring time. it is a great reminder of the gift of the atonement.

our lilies are coming back all six of them...thanks mom + tina (we got them last year at the public market)

FHE

Monday was FHE at our house--we played games outside, hung out in the hammock + shared a short lesson on "What manner of men ought ye be." it was fun and what a blessing the YSA are in our lives....

today i enjoyed the 70 degrees on the hammock with a book....chris always says "you know it is spring when the toes turn red!"

this was really random but it is what we have been up to lately!