Tuesday Ten- Guest Post

Hello there to you all!

My name is Allie and I blog over at Dreams & Things.

This is me!

Don't you love Natasha's blog?? I know I sure do. She and I share love in T-Swizzle.

I am visiting today to share my Top 10 Favorite Things About the Holidays

And we're off!

Sleigh bells. Not necessarily the song, but just hearing the bells chiming. The sound of joy I tell you!

My stocking! Even though stockings hold the smallest of gifts, they are always my favorite! I love that they are filled with random amazingness! I always eat all the candy before I am done with the day.

Crafts. I have gotten kinda into crafts lately and I even created our Christmas wreath this year and am working on our stockings (for me and the hubby) you'll have to stop by my blog to see how they turn out, I am really excited! They are going to be chevron. 

Our Peterson family baking party. We do this every year. It's a time that just all the girls get together  on my dad's side of the family and we bake plates full of goodies to bring home to our men, honestly, I usually eat half on my way home. YUMMY!

Christmas music. Given this can get obnoxious when on all day long, I really enjoy it when I just play it from time to time in the car or on Pandora/my ipod. It's oh so Merry, Ho! Ho! Ho!

Santa hats. I love seeing people wear Santa hats.

Jingle All the Way, I'll Be Home For Christmas, Elf, Polar Express, Grinch, and all those fun movies that you can find on TV.

Decorating the tree. We have collected these ornaments through out our few years of marriage and they are fun to put up and remember the times we gathered them. Example: our first year married ornament, Disneyland, and the ones from my grandparents.

Giving. Nothing better than the feeling I get when I see someones face light up after giving them the perfect gift. It is always fun to see my niece's especially. So excited for another addition to the family. I am getting a nephew next year :)

Christmas Eve. Jordan and I have started our own tradition where we have my brother and sister come over on Christmas Eve to watch movies and order Pizza. It is a great feeling to spend time with them.

I just all around love the Holiday season. Spending time with family, feeling the joy, remembering what it is really all about and showing love for others. I wish you all the happiest of Holidays!

Home Sweet Home & A Little Tutorial...

I was originally doing this post because I had a tutorial, but then I decided I would show you guys my front room too. Also known as basically the only room that is decorated in the house. So, welcome. 

This is where the magic happens. and by magic I mean naps on the couch with my favorite blanket, blogging, designing on the computer, dance parties by myself, watching my husband play video games, and vacuuming that dang rug that sheds more than I do. 

This frame wall isn't completely done- in fact, the frame on the bottom left broke and that's why it's empty (maybe I shouldn't have pointed it out and you wouldn't have noticed). I'm now noticing that the "H" is crooked... or maybe it's the whole collage. My couch covers also need ironed, but I'm not really sure how to go about doing that. Probably not doing that is the best way. 

Here's a breakdown of the details:

1. The "H" is from Joann's, spray painted gold.

2. The small frame with the heart has two little birds on a wire drawn on. I got the inspiration from this cute little thing.

3. The small frame on the right has a vintage map of Salt Lake City in it that I found at an antique store here. I have been meaning to embroider a heart around it, but I've been really busy rescuing endangered dolphins and stuff like that.

4. The wreathe is made of blood, sweat, tears, and probably swear words- plus two books worth of book pages and a foam wreathe. It only cost about $9 to make, but it also took about 15 years off of my life due to my hot glue gun burned finger tips, an aching back, and stress. So I hope it was worth it. 

5. Thanks to my talented friend Somer, I learned how to sew pillow covers so those are all homemade. hollaaa.

6. Here's the tutorial for the striped corkboard, although I will say her method of measuring didn't work so well for me. I just ended up having to wing it. 

As I mentioned before, this started out as a tutorial so now we'll get to that part (I don't know if you can even call it a tutorial because it's super easy). On the right hand side of the frame wall I have one of my favorite things in my whole house, a "Proclamation to the World" with a picture of me and Clint in the background. [Below is just a scanned version without the frame, so look at the pictures above to see it with the frame because it's cuter.]

[Just a few things about this Proclamation for those who aren't familiar with it. This is "A Proclamation to the World" regarding the roles and responsibilities of the family given my the presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that I am very passionate about marriage and families, and this comes from my deep rooted testimony in the gospel. I am happy to be part of a church that stands out to the world because of it's strong values in all things and it's emphasis on the importance of family.]

So let's move on to the instructions:

1. Print any 8x10 picture that will allow the words to show easily. 

2. Print "The Proclamation" on vellum (a translucent type of paper that you can get by the sheet at any craft store for less than $1.) Normally the proclamation will print as an 8.5x11 (regular paper size), so obviously this won't fit in an 8x10 frame. Because I love you, I resized one for you. Just click here to get it.

3. Place the printed proclamation over the picture, put it in a frame, and you're done! Super easy and cheap Christmas gift. The vellum and the print will cost you less than $4. Let me know if you have problems with the print out!

xo

Natasha

*Update: Sorry I'm still new to sharing files that I've made, so if you tried to click on the link for the proclamation, it didn't work because it was private. I fixed it and it should be ready to go. Please let me know if you have problems so I can work them out :)

I'm Thankful.

Normally by this time, we would just be getting started on our first Thanksgiving dinner at my in-laws house. With some of the best Thanksgiving food you've ever tasted, we would be gathering around the table and watching my sweet mother-in-law fix my table setting because I've always been horrible at that (you know, fork on the left, knife on the right. or maybe it's the other way. see, I told you). We would be saying a prayer, and going around in a circle saying what we are thankful for.

After dinner with my husband's family, we would be headed to my grandparent's house where my entire extended family on my dad's side has Thanksgiving every year. My sweet sweet grandma would be working hard in the kitchen just like she does every year, despite the fact that her hands shake now from years of hard work. All of the grandkids, who are now grown for the most part, would be watching their kids play together. We would have some of the traditional American Thanksgiving food, but we always looked forward to the spring rolls, rice, and other Vietnamese dishes. We would rowdily watch football games after dinner, look through Black Friday ads, and a lot of us would fall asleep on the front room floor. And I would sit back in amazement once again at how close my extended family is and all of the trials that my grandma and grandpa have gone through to bring their family to America. I can only imagine the happiness they feel when they look at their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren all gathered together. 

This year is a bit different. Clint and I celebrated earlier this morning with friends from church, having a Thanksgiving breakfast feast. And now during a time where we are normally with our wonderful families, Clint is at work and I am alone. We are 1,300 miles away from home and spending Thanksgiving in a completely different way than we have in the past. But I am ok with that. 

I am ok with that because there are people in the world who don't have a loving husband and family to spend the holidays with, but despite the fact that we are apart, I do. I am ok with that because I watched my dad work countless holidays growing up, not only to support our family, but to protect others as a police officer- and now I watch my husband doing a job just as honorable and I'm proud. I am ok with that because even though we aren't together today, my husband has a job that supports us while others struggle to put food on the table. I am ok with that because my husband will come home tonight, whereas there are wives or husbands with spouses overseas who will be gone much longer than one holiday. I am ok with that because I know that our loved ones in Utah are thinking of us, and wishing we were there just as much as we wish we could be. 

This year has truly made both of us reflect on our blessings so much more than we have in the past. We talk about in on a weekly basis. Being miles away from home and loved ones truly makes us realize how blessed we are to have each other, how blessed we are to have loving, amazing families who are our very best friends, and how blessed we are to have our Heavenly Father guide us and make this time away from our family a little easier. 

We have so much to be thankful for.
To our loving family and friends, thank you for giving us so much to be grateful for. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

xoxo. 

Natasha

Tuesday Ten: Instagram Life.

1. My outfit for church on Sunday, which is basically the only place I get to dress up. You can't keep up with this wild life I've got going on.

2. New favorite necklace. I've been looking for one like this for months and it was love at first sight.

3. Bad hair days have been a pretty regular occurrence lately. But baseball caps are cute so sometimes I don't mind.

4. Some glitter hearts I made out of book pages. I am planning on stringing them together to make a little heart garland to hang in our living room. Sometimes I forget that there's a man that also lives here but I'm sure he's a big fan of hearts with glitter. 

5. My mom was in town and managed to snap this shot of me doing dishes while wearing heels and a bow in my hair. Which is most definitely not a regular routine, but it makes me look like a really legit wife.

6. This book is so interesting! Has anyone read it? It's a psychology/cognition book but I think anyone would enjoy it. It talks about the way our mind subconsciously makes the best decision very first, and as a result most of our snap decisions are the best ones. It gives examples of successful people who use this strategy and why and how it works. I would definitely recommend it and I am excited to read his next book.

7. This was the first day I was finally able to wear a fall outfit here in Texas. It didn't happen until late October, and you better believe I busted it all out the second I could. (However, today it is supposed to be back up in the 80's).

8. A fun little corkboard project I did with my friend Somer. This is before I painted the lines on (the white in the picture is just tape). You can kind of see the finished project in the picture above (don't mind the Halloween banner). And the cute thing behind the corkboard is my favorite rug from Target. I scored it for $80!

9. For our anniversary, I filled these balloons with little rolled up notes (and precious air from my lungs), and then wrote or drew different things on them. The one towards the back has the seconds, minutes, hours, weeks, months, and years that we have been married, There is one that has a picture of Utah on it with a heart around St. George (where we met) and memories from that time period, and there's a calendar on the right that has a heart around October 15th.

10. Coach and polka dots. You can't go wrong.

And I have a question that has nothing to do with this post. What mascara do you lovely ladies swear by? The main thing I am looking for is something long lasting! Any tips would be appreciated :)

xoxo.Natasha

To follow me on instagram, click on the icon on the left side of the page, or search my username natashavu14

First Time for Everything.

This weekend there were a lot of firsts for me:

First 5k race I've ever done. And now I believe I'm addicted. [I also saw an old man with a cane literally running the 5k and it was the cutest thing ever.]

First phone call from my mom, asking me a question about cooking. If you can believe that. I basically felt as if Martha Stewart was calling me to ask a question about Mod Podge. 

First movie marathon ever. Literally 7 hours of Twilight movies with my friend Elizabeth. And literally zero ounces of shame. (I typically measure shame in ounces, just like everybody else.)

First time hanging out with a group of new friends (Yeah, I'd say we're making some progress since this time period. Bless my awkward heart.)

First time using coconut oil on my hair and now it feels like a unicorn's tail. That means it's really soft for those not familiar with unicorn anatomy.

Tresmme's latest ad. probably.

First time reading Mindy Kaling's book, "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)" and it is absolutely hilarious. I was literally laughing out loud in the bookstore. Which was also a first, and again, zero ounces of shame ;)

First time seeing a guy with a shirt on that said "I've got 99 problems, but my swagger aint one."
...That was also the first time I almost threw up in public.

First designs made for some super cute work out shirts I am going to start selling to the ladies from CrossFit and my running group. Depending on how well it goes, I may start up an Etsy shop for them. I'm so excited to get some pictures up once the designs are finalized!

So that's about it. Hope you all had a great weekend- with swagger not being any of your 99 problems. I know it never is for me. I'm not sure what that means.

xoxo. N

The Thought Process of a Man

A True Story & First Hand Account By Natasha

Our friends invited us over for dinner last month for their son's birthday party. I'm all ready to go with my hair done and my new favorite sweater. My dear husband has on basketball shorts and goes into the closet to get dressed. "I'm impressed he's changing," I thought to myself. As he is trying to pick out what he should wear, I stand there fascinated as I literally see the narration that is occurring inside his male brain.

"Right now I have basketball shorts on, I'll just throw on a T-shirt."

*Reaches right hand towards T-shirt section.

"Waaaait a second. We are going to a birthday dinner! I couldn't possibly wear a T-shirt and basketball shorts. Plus I will get points from my wife for her not having to tell me to put something else on. Totally. Awesome."

*Reaches left hand towards polo section. Exits closet smiling, clearly pleased with his thought process and quite convinced that he has most definitely stepped it up a notch by pairing the basketball shorts with a nicely fitted polo.

Business on top, party on bottom. Rock on, men. Rock on.

So true. Yet so adorable.

 love that guy.

Tuesday Ten: Health Tips

[A little background]: Sophomore year of college I took a health class, and my health habits have never been the same.  I wish I had a good before and after picture, but since high school and early college I have cut my pant size in half, gained a lot more muscle (especially since starting CrossFit), and lost 15-20 pounds. (While we're on the subject, let's talk about how I can now also wear the same size bra as my 13-year-old sister, so take that as you will.)

Being healthy brings me a lot of happiness and satisfaction with myself. I've also learned that I'm stronger than I ever thought I was- both mentally and physically, that it is possible to have the discipline to go to the gym at 6 a.m., and that there is so much more to being healthy and fit than being stick thin. I want to be fit and healthy for myself, but also for my future kids. What it comes down to is that I was given a body that is fully capable and healthy, so I feel like I don't have any excuses not to try to be the best I can be.

There are a lot of diet, exercise and fitness tips out there, and so many of them are straight up crazy, so here are a few that I believe in:

1. You've heard it before- but drink water water water. A good rule of thumb is to drink half of your body weight in ounces (if you weigh 120, drink 60 ounces of water per day). Something that has been super helpful is to always carry a water bottle with me, and this reminds me to drink up. On that note, I rarely drink any soda, juice, or sports drinks- mainly because I like food too much to drink my calories. minus hot chocolate.

2. I think there has been a diet fad of every kind. Don't eat carbs, don't eat meat, don't eat. period. I definitely try (emphasis on try) to stay away from processed foods, but other than avoiding those- I don't listen to the "don't eat this or that." One day I read that you shouldn't eat fruit because of the sugar, so at that point I stopped listening to all of that nonsense and started listening to my body instead. I also think it's important to not measure your success only by the numbers on the scale. I have gone down in size so much since starting CrossFit, but I only weigh a couple pounds less due to the increased muscle. It's important to remember that muscle weighs more than fat so that you're not getting discouraged. Try to do before and after pictures, body fat percentage, measuring inches lost, or even judge simply by how your clothes fit rather than (or in addition to) numbers on the scale.

3. A lot of "low fat" foods are really just replaced with a lot of freaky chemicals to be able to maintain the taste or texture of whatever ingredient they omit to make it "healthier." Low fat typically means high chemicals. Read your labels and watch out for those nasty guys. Also on the chemicals note- I rarely buy shredded cheese. Have you noticed the saw-dusty looking powder on store bought shredded cheese? That's cellulose, also known as "wood pulp." so basically, describing it as saw dust is right on the money. yum. (it's also in a lot of your low fat foods to keep the creamy texture.) If you don't recognize the name of something in the ingredients, that might be a good sign you should stay away from it. 

4. Grapefruit in the morning can help boost your metabolism. I also have been adding cinnamon into my protein shakes because that is a metabolism booster as well.

5. I talked about my love for hot chocolate above. An alternative is to heat up Dark Chocolate Almond Milk.

6. My all time favorite blog for healthier recipes is SkinnyTaste. I have tried so many recipes of hers, and have loved them all! Some of my faves so far have been her Chicken & White Bean Enchiladas, Light Cajun Chicken Pasta, and her Cream of Asparagus Soup (sounds nasty, right? it's not, I promise.) She also has great dessert recipes. I've tried her pumpkin banana bread and chocolate chip cookies.

7. Two awesome apps for health are MyFitnessPal & Fooducate (both are free). MyFitnessPal allows you to input both your food and exercise in order to calculate your calories eaten and your calories burned. The awesome part is that most foods are already in there, so you just search them and all the nutrition info pops up. Fooducate gives your food a grade based on how healthy or unhealthy it is. You can either scan a bar code or enter a name, and it will give you a grade and even gives you the option to click on a list of healthier alternatives for that food.

8. I love cereal. I know there are way healthier breakfasts out there and I try to eat those, but for those days when cereal is necessary, a good rule of thumb to go by is that it has to have less than 3 grams of sugar, and more than 3 grams of fiber.

9. Preparation is key. This is one that I have recently realized is so powerful. When you're hungry, a lot of the time you'll go to the fridge or cupboard and eat the quickest thing you can find. If you prepare healthy and easily accessible snacks/lunches ahead of time, you're less likely to grab things like crackers or granola bars that are highly processed and often loaded with sugar.

10. Breakfast speeds up your metabolism, gives you more energy, and helps you concentrate (basically what I'm saying is your mom wasn't making this crap up). One of my all times favorite breakfasts is steel cut oatmeal. Holy. If you haven't tried it, I promise you with all my promising strength that you are missing out, and the answer is no- regular rolled oats do not even come near to my beloved steel cuts.

If you cook steel cut oats on the stove it takes about 20 minutes, and according to the directions you are supposed to stir constantly. Who wants to wake up 20 minutes early to stir a pot of oatmeal? Not me said the wife from 2012. Well here's the best tip ever: make the oats in the crockpot the night before.

Directions:
1/2 C. of steel cut oats (I use Bob's Red Mill that you can purchase at Whole Foods or on Amazon. If you're lucky enough to live in Utah, you can get them at WinCo in the bulk foods section.)
1 1/2 C. of water
Put the measured water and oats in a bowl or pyrex dish that is small enough to fit into your crockpot. Then fill your crock pot with water (I usually do it about 3/4 of the way of the dish that the oatmeal is in). Set the crockpot on low and they are ready in the morning.

Last week we added apples in the night before and that was delicious. You can also top it with fresh fruit, cinnamon, or brown sugar in the morning. I add a bit of milk/almond milk to make it more creamy.

This is enough for two people. Sometimes I up it to 3/4 C. of oats and 2 1/4 C. of water for the two of us (in other words, you'll do three times as much water as oats.)

So there's my Tuesday Ten. I also want to point out that I don't restrict myself 100% of the time. I am by no means one of those wild health fanatics that eats straight chicken breasts. In fact, as I wrote this post on health, I was simultaneously eating a Snack Pack that I stole from Clint, so...

You can't win em all. That's my motto.

xoxo
Natasha

This Post was Inevitable.

And it's also really dramatic and exaggerated, but sometimes that's totally necessary.

Here are two tragedies for ya.

Tragedy #1. I get the new Taylor Swift CD. Keep in mind I had waited almost a week to get it because I wanted to wait until we could drive to San Antonio and go to Target so I could get the one with the bonus tracks. So here's how it played out: Get to Target. Zone in on electronics section of store. Bam. There it is. Swiftly make purchase (lame pun intended). Get to car and open CD. In all my excitement, I didn't even realize it's not the bonus CD.  Which I could have purchased at Wal Mart this entire time. But too late because I already opened it. dummy. 

Tragedy #2. That's ok, I'm still going to allow myself to enjoy the sweet music to my ears on the car ride home. Luckily Clint is driving so I can read all the lyrics and ponder on who these lyrics could possibly be about. Possibly my favorite game ever (ps go here if you're into this too. actually just go to it regardless). That's when the second tragedy really struck because as I am trying to analyze the lyrics and get way too into it, naturally I have to share my excitement and my love for each clever line with my husband. At first he tries to act interested, but then by the time the 1.25 hour drive ended, he was over it and was listening to some sports shenanigans with his headphones in. I felt as if I had just discovered the lost island of Atlantis, and even found out that Tupac was alive and well- living on that very island, but I had no one to tell about it. And that right there is no exaggeration

Anyway.

Favorite song: "All Too Well." Basically I feel like I'm vicariously living her and Jake Gyllenhaal's relationship through this song. She always has one song on every CD that's an even greater lyrical genius than all the rest, and this is that song. it's a big deal. (I think "Dear John" and "Last Kiss" are the lyrical genius songs of her last CD, if you're wondering).

"Maybe we got lost in translation, Maybe I asked for too much. Maybe this thing was a masterpiece 'til you tore it all up. Running scared I was there, I remember it all too well. You called me up again just to break me like a promise, so casually cruel in the name of being honest. I'm a crumpled up piece of paper lying here, cause I remember it all too well. Time won't fly it's like I'm paralyzed by it, I'd like to be my old self again, but I'm still trying to find it. After plaid shirt days and nights when you made me your own, you mail back my things and I walk home alone. But you keep my old scarf from that very first week, cause it reminds you of innocence and it smells like me. You can't get rid of it, cause you remember it all too well."

ok whoa Tay, stop right there before you make me cry or something.
oh and ps.
Bam. 

Also, how could I not love rocking out to the song "22"? After all, I don't know about you but I'm feeling 22. Literally though. And I only have one and a half more months of officially being 22 and being able to sing this song without feeling like an imposter.

Other favorite girl anthem rock out songs: "Holy Ground" (obsessed) and "State of Grace."

Here are some awesome pieces of completely useless info about the song "We Are Never Getting Back Together." In the music video she is wearing a bracelet almost identical to the $100k bracelet Jake bought her, so let's put two and two together here. Plus he was supposedly in a movie where there is a giant rabbit, thus the reasoning for the creepy giant rabbit in her video. She's so good at being subtle. (if you're as lame as I am, click here for even more good hints as to who the song is about. You'll die.)

I'm going to stop right there because I'm not getting paid for this and I should be. And I promise I won't mention the heartbreak queen herself for at least 5 posts. or maybe 3.

Should I get this pictures framed and put it on our family picture wall or...

♥ N.

Star Crossed Lovers.

Here are a few pictures from Halloween. I dressed up as Katniss and at the last minute, I told Clint to wear Peeta colors- the polo isn't too convincing. 

We went to our ward Halloween party/trunk-or-treat and we had a lot of fun. We love our ward here, plus Clint is really popular with the kids around these parts of town

My costume- thrown together the day before, I might add. Even Clint was impressed. I can't help it that Katniss and I have similar minds. Minus the killing people part. maybe.

I had asked Clint if he could figure out something for a bow and arrow while I was at work. I told him it wasn't a huge deal so I wasn't sure if he would, but when I came home from work this bow and arrows were on the counter and this note was on the white board.

I married a total gem.
xoxo.

lights the sky.

I made this little guy to put in a frame on my picture wall. I just absolutely adore this quote and think it's precious.

I've had some questions about the program I use for these, and so I'll fill you in! I use Adobe Illustrator- [thanks to my sis-in-law, Becky who taught me her ways] and since we've moved I've tried to teach myself a lot more. The program is expensive, but if you're in school I know you can get it from the school book store for cheaper.

Using the program, I have made quotes to hang in my house, greeting cards, our Christmas card for this year, my graduation announcement, and I plan to make a few things for Christmas presents as well. This is also how I updated the look of my blog [although I'm still not completely in love with it.]

I absolutely love this program, and am now trying to teach myself to use Photoshop- but the two 600 page books I got from the library have been sitting on my desk for over a month now and are way too intimidating to crack open. So we will see how that goes. 

Anyway...Have a great Sunday everyone!

N.

Doubling Up.

I recently received the Liebster award from two different lovely ladies, Allie from Dreams & Things, and Ashlee from 3 Words, 8 Letters. 

Here's how it works:

The Liebster award is given by bloggers to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

What is a Liebster?

The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.

1. Each person much post 11 things about themselves

2. Answer the question the nominator made for you and also create 11 more questions for the blogs you nominate

3. Choose 11 people and link them to your post

4. Go to their page and tell them.

5. No tag backs!

But I'm breaking some rules:

It was hard enough to make up 11 facts, so I am combining these two! 

Also, I don't know very many bloggers with less than 200 followers who haven't already received this, so I'm just going to make up 11 questions for anyone who wants to answer them in their own post (Cass, BJ and Meg- you have to!)

Sooo... I'm actually breaking all the rules.

and now for the Natasha information overload:

Eleven Facts about me:

1. I'm a total girl's girl. I love slumber parties, girl talk, sparkles, bows, pink- all of that wonderful stuff. 

2. I was on the drill team in high school, and then played soccer my senior year. I hadn't played soccer since I was 6 and somehow managed to barely make it. (I was awful, but it was so much fun).

3. I love shopping, but I'm the guiltiest shopper ever. I will leave the tags on something for weeks until I decide whether or not it was a good purchase. And sometimes I even keep tags on it after I've worn it because I like that it feels new. My mom makes fun of me for it. 

4. Even if it's a Saturday where I am not going anywhere, I have to get ready or else I just feel lazy.

5. When I was little I was so shy that I would cry when people sang "Happy Birthday" to me. 

6. I took 3 years of sign language in high school and college.

7. I legitimately believe that unicorns used to exist, but they just became extinct like dinosaurs. Because who would even make up a horse with a horn on it? One day they'll find evidence and you'll stop laughing. 

8. My mom understands me better than anyone in the world.

9. I am considering going to graduate school for Marriage & Family Therapy because I'm extremely passionate about the importance of families.

10. I can be a little sassy sometimes. on accident.

11. I play the piano. But I don't tell them that at church because I'm way too scared to play in front of people. 

Questions From Allie:

1. What is the scariest thing you have ever experienced?

I think I told this story on my old blog, but long story short- Clint and his friend from work were out of town so his wife Vanessa and I were having a sleepover (holla!) They didn't tell us they were coming home that night from the trip. They pounded on the door in the middle of the night, turning the door handle and pretending to be intruders. My heart has probably never pounded faster in my entire life. And yes, the cops were called. no big d. 

2. What is one thing you wish you did, but you didn't?

I wish I learned how to play the guitar.

and I also wish I invented Post It notes or Mac & Cheese or something that made me a lot of money. 

3. Do you have a dream career?

YES! A million, actually (see here). If I could do any one thing, I think I would start a magazine or at least be high up in the magazine editing business. I'm a little bit obsessed. I love looking at the layouts of magazine pages and have since I was little. [I even have old magazine pages that I loved that I saved when I was in middle school. hoarder.] I absolutely love feature stories on individuals- something about the way they are written intrigues me. And of course, I have an appreciation and love for writing in general. 

4. What color scheme is your bedroom?

blegh. We are still working on that. I've only decorated one room since we've moved here. I have a super cute yellow bed spread but haven't done anything else with my poor room. 

5. Have you ever pulled an all nighter?

Multiple times! Some of my favorites were in college during finals week while my roommates and I were trying to make up for our procrastination. 

6. Who do yo wish you could meet? 

My ancestors. Taylor Swift. Ellen DeGeneres. And my future babies :)

7. Anything you are looking forward to?

I actually just did a post about that here! 

Other than that, I'm really excited about life in general. Cheesy, but true. I love living.

8. Do you have any pet peeves?

Lately it's probably American people who take this country and it's freedoms for granted and don't realize how absolutely amazing it is. 

9. Favorite TV show?

I get bored of them pretty quickly. Maybe The Office, but only before Michael Scott left.

10. What was the last thing you bought?

T Swifty CD. And a post coming up about that soon. It's going to be intense.

11. Song that you are liking?

Funny you ask. Since we're on the subject, I love Taylor Swift's song "All Too Well." And every other song for that matter. 

Questions from Ashlee:

1. What is your favorite dessert?

chocolate chip cookies. 

2. If you won the lottery, what would be the first thing you buy?

I would buy my dad a new car. He has always bought us everything and never spends money on himself. 

3. Do you prefer sun or snow?

Sun that's not too hot, and snow only on days that I want to see it (like Christmas). I'm a little high maintenance when it comes to weather.

4. How did you meet your husband or significant other?

Here is our story. [Don't make fun of the old blog, by the way.] Of course there are so many details left out because it's hard to write about all of them, but that's the cool thing about your own love story. There are certain things that only you and the one you love can appreciate for the amazing journey that it was. 

5. How many kids do you want?

I hear they're pretty intense creatures. So I think 3 will be my max. I really hope to adopt, so maybe more. 

6. Are you more of a dog lover or a cat lover?

I'm not much of a dog or cat person to be honest. According to some people that means I don't have a soul. But I do have a soul- and it's a soul that doesn't like the smell of urine on carpet and hair on my clothes. I like other people's dogs, but I don't love them enough to have my own.

7. If you could re-do anything, what would it be?

I would have learned Vietnamese when I was young so that I could communicate better with my grandparents. 

8. What is your biggest dream?

To live in a giant neighborhood that has every single one of my family members and friends in it. You can move in if you want.

9. What is your best memory?

That's such a hard question! Some of my absolute favorite memories are the little moments that seemed insignificant at the time. 

10.What is your favorite thing to do that is for you?

Buying magazines (I'm so cheap, I rarely buy them), working out, reading, taking naps, and writing.

11. If you could move anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Salt Lake City, Utah of course ♥ 

and now my 11 questions for you:

1. What do you feel was a moment that defined your life or made you who you are?

2. What Taylor Swift song describes your life right now?

3. What do you feel is your biggest accomplishment in life?

4. What makes you feel feminine and beautiful? 

5. What is the most thoughtful thing someone has done for you?

6. What is your favorite quote?

7. What's your favorite thing about your significant other? If you don't have a significant other, what is a trait that your future husband must have?

8. Describe yourself in three words. (Does this make you feel like you're at a job interview?)

9. What do you like most about your personality and your physical appearance?

10. If a movie was made about your life, who would you want to play you?

11. What would you tell your teenage (or younger) self?

holy crap. I have to get checked for carpal tunnel now probably, so love you bye.

xx.

Something Beautiful About It...

Over the past few months, I have really come to a deeper appreciation for the beauty, divinity, emotions, and just overall nature of women.

One of the things I have thought about is the fact that many things that the world sees as flaws in women, really just root from a deep, and maybe even instinctual, need and desire in women to better themselves individually.

Think about it. Jealousy, comparing ourselves to others, stressing and worrying over little things, perfectionism, insecurities...

We can't say that women aren't well known for these traits.

Each one of these is a "flaw" that most women deal with, but looking deeper, the reason that we do all of those things is because as women, we are constantly trying to better ourselves; trying to progress.

and I think that is absolutely beautiful.

xoxo

Natasha.