Art Supply

Have you ever wondered where people get their really cool and random framed art?

I love this kind of stuff. Especially because all my other art is just a bunch of picture of me, Zach, and Porter. Sometimes I feel kind of stuck up when my walls are covered with me me me. haha

Well here are some great places to get some affordable art and some free art.

I got these links from Smile And Wave and she also has some great picture hanging tips.

Enjoy!

Fabulous Friday

Well we did it!

We made it to the weekend. Zach and I love waking up Friday morning and reveling in the fact that tonight we can hang out and play with Porter and maybe get some relaxing time in. Zach is just going going going all week long from school to work and back again.

Are you doing anything fun this weekend? Since it is officially Autumn there are bound to be fun, fall, family things going on. I need some ideas for my family. We are just way too content to stay home and watch a good movie (last weekend was The Lucky One and New Years Eve). Plus we don't really know what kind of stuff Provo has to offer. So if you know of any fun things for two adults and an 8-month-old to do, fill me in!!

In the mean time here are some awesome links to keep you entertained!

Enjoy

Have you seen the  World's Best Father? Love it.

Did the long week leave you feeling a little Spacey?

Maybe you just need to zonk out like this.

I love this Fun music video.

An interesting take on changing your name after marriage from A CUP OF JO (love her blog)

And some clever Halloween costumes for kids

Happy Friday!

For The Moms

So I only have one kid and he's about the easiest baby anyone could ask for, but for all of you Mothers who have more kids and thus more crazy going on you might like this idea. When we traveled from Mesa to St. George to Provo I tried this outfit packing idea and it worked really great!

I put everything Porter would need for each day in individual bags. Then labeled them of course.

Here's what I had in each bag

1. Diapers

2. Spit up blanket and rag - this was when Porter's spit ups were crazy crazy!

3. Outfit for the day - this is where it might get handy for 

older kids who need help with picking out clothes.

4. Pajamas

And that's it!

I mean this idea is not ground breaking at all I just thought it was awesome and so smart since I'm still learning with my one easy child. Our trip up here wasn't super busy or anything but I liked having a head start on kid organization. I can't imagine having two or more kids and trying to get them all ready each day on a vacation and getting myself ready too. 

Maybe I should start doing this for myself also...

Happy Thursday!

Freaking Out About Fall

I'm about to explode your mind with fall stuff!!

Ready. Set. Go!

Boots!!

Time to pack in the sweets to get ready for summer.

Fun Decor

I wish

Yum Yum Yum

Curl up and soak it in.

Pumpkin Carving cut outs are all the rave!

Yes Please!!

Petite Pumpkin Spice Donuts

Mantel Decor

Gotta get that wreath up!

Pumpkin everything please

Pumpkin Butter

Pumpkin Bread

You're Welcome... Because you couldn't find all of this stuff on Pinterest...

Happy Thursday

This Is Too Cool

You Better Believe It!

For those of you who know me, you know that I am pretty short. I currently stand at 5' 1 3/4". And even though I am always curious about what it would be like to be tall, like being able to see the top of the refrigerator, seeing above people's heads in a crowd, not having to pull the drivers seat up every time I drive, being able to see completely over the steering wheel, or having my feet touch the floor while sitting in big people seats, I'm not gonna complain after seeing these shawtys (gangster way of saying shorty). Officially the shortest man and woman in the world.

Introducing Chandra Bahadur Dangi (left), standing 21.5 inches short, from Nepal.

And Jyoti Amge (right), standing at 24.7 inches short, from Nagbul, India.

Isn't she the cutest! 

So I think I'm good with my 5' 1 3/4'. 

Plus being short is a big part of my personality and it would just be weird if I was any taller.

Happy Wednesday!! Halfway through the week yay!

P.S. Do you have something about you or something that you do that could get you into the Guinness Book of World Records?

Baby Food

I started feeding Porter rice cereal at 5 1/2 months and introduced fruits and veggies soon after that. He seemed to really catch on well to the whole swallowing concept. It was so fun seeing him learn how to eat and see which foods he liked.

I love how different babies are from each other. Porter totally has his own personality and he is changing every day. Seriously can't wait for another one! But not too seriously... 

But something I'm always up for is stories and advice. How did your baby do when starting solid foods? Any favorite recipes for mashed zucchini?
When can I give him crackers and stuff like that?

#babiesaretoofun

Happy Tuesday!!

Get Excited!

Saying I'm excited for the new Les Miserables movie is a huge understatement. I'm freaking out!

The last couple of musical movies were good but not what they could have been. I think they are really going to hit this one out of the park. The cast is amazing! Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, and Russell Crow. Can't wait!!!

For the rest of you Musical junkies here's the latest extended first look.

Enjoy

Too Cute!

I love Love LOVE my baby boy!

To Read Or... Just Watch The Movie

Have you read the book Wuthering Heights?

I've heard good things and bad things. But I'm learning to disregard any opinions of books that I came up with in high school. Come to find out the books on my english teachers' reading lists are mostly really good! Go figure.

Speaking of, I had a dream about my junior english teacher the other night. Mrs. Snyder... anyone else out there have her? She completely changed the way that I thought about learning and education. And she is british so that was just fun... I'm off topic!

Here is an exclusive trailer for Wuthering Heights. What do you think? Will you see it?

P.S. Are you the type of person who likes to read the book before the movie comes out? I recently just finished The Hobbit because the movie is coming out, but I normally don't do that.

Mongolian Beef, Yummm

I tried out this Mongolian Beef recipe that I found on Pinterest and it actually turned out really good! You should totally try it. The only thing I would change would be the whole breading process. It didn't really turn out too good for me but maybe I did something wrong. The yummy part is the sauce so I would just make the sauce and you can stir fry whatever you want with it.

Ingredients

• 4 tsp. vegetable oil
• 2 tsp. ginger, minced
• 2 Tbsp. garlic, minced
• 1 c. soy sauce
• 1 c. water
• 1 c. brown sugar (packed)
• 2 c. vegetable oil
• 2 Lb. flank steaks
• ½ c. cornstarch
• 3 large green onions

Instructions

• Make the sauce by heating 4 tsp. vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat. Don’t get the oil too hot. Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches. Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to medium and boil the sauce 2-3 minutes or until sauce thickens a little bit. Remove sauce from heat.
• Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/4 inch slices. Tilt the blade of your knife at about a 45 degree angle to the top of the steak so you get wider cuts. Dip the steak pieces into cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef. Let the beef sit about 10 min. so the cornstarch sticks. As the beef sits, heat up 1 c. oil in a wok (or skillet). Heat the oil over medium heat until its hot, but not smoking. Add the beef to the oil and saute for just 2 minutes, or until beef just begins to darken on the edges. Stir the meat around a little bit so that it cooks evenly.
• After a few minutes, use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and onto paper towels, then pour most of the oil out of the skillet. Put the pan back over the heat, dump the meat back into it and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the sauce, cook for 1 minute while stirring and add green onions. Cook for 1 more minute. Now at this point you can either remove the beef with a slotted spoon or tongs and discard the sauce (this is what P.F. Chang's does) OR thicken the sauce with a cornstarch-water mixture to desired thickness and serve it over rice with the beef.

 I thought it would be cool to try getting all of my 

ingredients ready before starting. It was nice!

And it turned out super duper delish!!

Enjoy!

So far there has only been one episode aired and I actually didn't even mean to watch it at all, but last night was the premier of that new show Revolution. And I am totally hooked! The whole plot just works for me. If you don't know what it is, it starts in Chicago on the day that all electricity and all machinery just stop working. Then it jumps to 15 years later and... ya things are crazy. Any way, it's on NBC on Monday night.

If you have a life you probably shouldn't start watching it. 

So one of my favorite projects since we've moved into our new apartment is this one!

Our old shower curtain was pretty nasty by the time we moved so we just tossed it.

I'd been looking online FOREVAH trying to find a cute one. And I just think it's so weird that

the super simple designs that I like are always the most expensive ones! 

I really wanted a thick striped one so I decided to make it myself.

First I got this shower curtain at Lowes.

Then I taped it with painter's tape. This was the most annoying part. 

But you have to do it well or else you will fail. Luckily I did a pretty dang good job.

I then painted my stripes! This took a while but I think if I would have used a 

paint roller it would have gone on easier, smoother, and faster. 

I used a sponge paint brush which worked fine and I painted

with acrylic paint but I added a fabric medium from Hobby Lobby. 

I took the tape off once it was all dry.

I love how it turned out! It's a little splotchy in areas but over all 

I am very happy with how it turned out. 

And so glad I didn't spend $40 or $50 bucks on one.

I also made this for my bathroom.

 Porter looks so chubby in this pic. haha

It's a magnet board to hold my makeup and stuff. 

Definitely helps save on drawer space! And I just 

needed something to hang on my wall.

Hope you like it!

Happy Monday

I Am His Daughter

Over the summer my mom got all of her young women oil lamps from Jerusalem (and they were really sent from my parent's friend in Jerusalem!) and she gave them a list of little or big things they could do throughout the week so that they could earn points. Things like reading scripture, going to the temple, saying their prayers, etc. Then every Sunday they would tell her how many points they earned and she would put that many drops of oil in the lamps.

By the end of the summer they should all have a good amount of oil! Atleast enough to light their lamps. If they did all the little things over the summer, their lamps will burn bright! I think this is such a powerful lesson for these girls. Go Mom!

So she is doing a big mutual night to close everything up and she asked me to make this slide show for her. I thought I would share it in case anyone out there wants to use it in their ward.

The song is called I Am His Daughter. Sung by Nicole Sheahan
Photography by Steve Porter (my dad)

I was having trouble uploading it to the blog so here's the Link Enjoy!

P.S. If you like what you see and want something like it done for a church lesson or wedding or anything really. Let me know! I love doing this kind of stuff and would love to help.

Henry The Flying Baby!

Have you seen Henry the flying baby?

I've seen a couple of really funny baby photos like this around the web.

I've been wanting to do something like this with Porter. Any ideas?

For more info go Here

MTV Music Awards

Sometimes I'm just fascinated with celebrities and the whole movie star/rock star scene. Either I'm like totally weirded out by all the crazies out there, and then other times I'm like... I want to be a rock star!  

Did you know that Taylor Swift is only a month older than me? This chick is MY AGE and off being the coolest girl around. Zach and I are totally obsessed with her new song "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together". Our Labor Day was pretty much her song on repeat. And it wasn't just me forcing it on Zach he actually really likes Taylor. One day I turned to Zach and said, "Me and Taylor Swift could totally be best friends". Do any of you feel like that with some celebrities? I do. #stalker?

Have you seen her new video?

Happy Weekend!!