you can't start a fire without a spark

Hello everyone! Happy Monday morning to you! I hope your day is going great, mine is going...weird. Last night at around 9pm my husband, who was at the Gym, called me and said, "Hey, I need you to come to the gym, the car's on fire."

WHAT!!!!

That;s right, my very beloved carolla. The Car whose praises I would sing unrelentingly, burst into flames. While my husband was in the car!! I'm trying not to think about how close I was losing the love of my life, because was ON HIS WAY TO THE GAS STATION! Thankfully, he never made it out of the parking lot of the gym. The Lord totally had this whole situation under control. Here's why:

1) The car stopped in a part of the parking lot where no one was around

2) Nathan had plenty of time to get out of the car and get to safety

3) It caught fire in the parking lot, and not while we were driving on the Freeway from Stockton!

This picture is extremely difficult to see, but I took it with my cheap-o cell phone. The front of the car is totally burnt out and melted. The Hood had to be cut open for the fire department to put out the fire. The car is completely totalled. I spent about 30 minutes on the phone this morning with my dad getting the claim together. Good greif. What a mess.


Anyways, what happens after this is pretty vague at this point. Luckily, this will probably be covered by my insurance as a "total", and we'll get a check for the value of the car. What the value of a 1998 Toyota Carolla LE is, I'm not overly sure, either way, the Lord is taking care of all of this. The real bummer is... My dad just washed it!

Anyways, thats about it for me today! If you're thinking about, I start work in literally 6 days, and I'm going to need a vehicle, because I have to commute. If you could pray for Nathan and I that something works out quickly, that would be awesome. Adventure is always chasing us! See you soon!

That was before, but this is after

Ugh, what a fun week!

Hello everyone! I hope you're having a good Sunday thus far. I've actually been up since 6am, and besides the fact that I left alllll my make-up at my parents house, and had to run to Target and buy e.l.f replacements (just mascara and blush all you really need), I'm doing great!! I wish I had had time to take out my camera while I was in San Francisco, but I was having so much fun!! Sorry everyone! I'm a terrible blogger!

Anyways, As I told you last week, I got a hair cut!! Finally. Did you know that it's been almost 2 years since I got a hair cut? If you're bored or interested enough, you can tell through this blog the chronicles of trying to grow out a really super short pixie cut. It was short, even for a pixie cut! This is the before  & after shot. I cut off about 3 inches, and added some thickness to my bangs.

I don't know if you remember or care but, I had those pictures of the 3 girls, and silly me, none of them really pleased me. The one I ended up showing Megan, My AWESOME stylist, was a picture of Alexa Chung. Lets be honest. We all secret wish we could be her identical twin. At least I do. But back to my awesome Stylist, her name is Megan, and she is at Valez in Lincoln Center in Stockton. I tried to find someone in Sacramento, but when you find someone you love and trust you gotta stick with em! It's only an hour drive, and it was worth it! IF you live in the Stockton area, and you need a cut or a color (remember my Blondest Blonde from my wedding pics? That's allll Megan!) She's your girl!

Well... thats about it for me today. Very brief today. I got lots of fun stuff in San Francisco, so there will be outfit posts soon!!

there is no sure-fire do-it-yourself kit

Hello everyone!! Hope you’re having a fabulous Wednesday. I start my babysitting job again, and I’m so glad.  It’s been almost three weeks since I’ve seen my little buddies, so I’m excited. We have a lot to catch up on, like… Comparing the last three Spiderman movies to this new one, which I thought rocked. I think Gwen Stacy was a way better girlfriend than Mary Jane, not to mention, that I have a celeb girl-crush on Emma Stone. How can you not? She’s so adorable? Also, in Spiderman she wears boots with EVERY outfit. It’s just pretty obvious that we were meant to be best friends.

ANYWAYS! Enough with that. Onto other things! I’ve been playing around on pinterest, looking for fun DIY projects that someone like me, who loves crafts, but doesn’t have the funding for supplies, to try. And I found one! It was like it was calling to me. Bright beautiful colors + costume jewelry? Yes please.

For those of you who tons of old prom “diamonds” laying around, OR if you were in a university choir that required to you wear sparkly sparkles (pretty from far away, tacky with anything other than your choir dress), then this little DIY is perfect!!

All you do is take your old jewelry, your favorite nail polish, and paint away. It is a little tedious, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t get a little head-ache from this project. You should probably do this near and open window, or a fan. The fumes get a little crazy. Also, probably not a great idea to have the nail polish directly under my face... Also, look how think my lashes are! Maybeline Falsies is to thank for that!

This is my necklace from Choir from 2010. I decided to go with Revlon’s Minted (No. 85).

 I put on two coats of nail polish to give it a more plastic look.

 I hung it on the arm of my piano stand to let it dry. Unfortunately the journey from the couch to the piano was a messy one, but you really can;t tell now.

AND here’s the finished product! How cute!! I will probably wear this with something that has no print or anything. I decided to model it with my plain coral colored dress. Thanks pinterest, for your never ending supply of fun things to do! I’ll be keeping my eyes out at the thrift store for more like this J 

Well everyone thats about it for me today! If you decided to try this DIY, I totally wanna see it. Well, now is this time for me to be productive. We'll see. Tomorrow is the day of truth... my first real haircut in 2+ years... It's so weird to think that there was once a time when I went to the salon faithfully every 8 weeks. Maybe now that I have a real job that day will come again...I liked those days. Anyways... see you soon!

When I was 11, I Audited My Parents

Hello everyone, Happy tuesday to you. It's been a pretty dull day. I haven't even had my coffee yet. So besides being dull as of now, everything is kind of a blur. I did however manage to watch The Other Guys and beat my high score in Solitaire. Yes. Very exciting things happening with my this morning. 

But lets get something out in the open here, Emily chose Jef!? Weird. I've always been pretty good at decifering which guy the bachelorette was going to pick, but I have to admit. I never saw that coming. My pick was Sean, I knew he couldn't win. He was too nice, too American. So. American.

Anyways, here's what I decided to wear today. I've be wearing my hair in a bun every single day for the past 6 months I feel like. I dont enjoy my hair down right now. It desperately needs a little bit of a styling. Thursday can't come soon enough. However, I did attempt the center part today. It's never too late to be late to the party I guess.

 I am obsessed with the color Coral these days. One of my dearest friends chose it as her wedding color way back in 2009 (our anniversary is 5 months apart, and she flew alllllll the way from New York to be in my wedding. What a blessing to have lifelong friends), and I was skeptical, but I was proven wrong when every single. very different looking, girl looked absolutely glowing in their dress. Whit was so ahead of the times :) She still is.

 Are those blue cherries? I can't really tell, but I dont care. Also, here's some lacey-lace for your delight. Just a little bit of trend over-load. What of it.

 Here's a few pictrues of our weekend adventures. When my parents came for the weekend they took us to Thai Food, Freestyle, and then last but not least, arguably the best ice cream on the west coast: LEATHERBY'S. If you are ever ever ever in the Sacramento area, you have to go there.  The ice cream is insane!! They also have food, but who cares about food when there's ice cream? I sincerely believe that.

 This is a lovely picture of my parents...behind my tower of ice cream. I shared (meaning I totally ate most of it myself) with my wubby. This creation is the chocolate sundae with Peanut Butter sauce. Yes this does exist, and I do now have type 2 diabetes.

 Sunday after church, we went to Lucille's for lunch. good food and obviously, better company. This is my best friend, June. We're best friends.

Also, I thought I would share with you this picture. This is my husband. At work. Holding a Thor hammer, and his best buddy, Jordan, In...I honestly don't know. The Puffy shirt from Seinfeld? Either way, they get paid to do this. Lordy...Look at those ridiculous boots!!

Well thats about it for me today!! I gotta check the mail and somehow be productive. There's dishes in the sink...I could add that to the list of very exciting things to do today :) See you soon!

I gotta have some of your attention, Give it to me!

Hello everyone! I'm just sitting...blogging from the Launder-mat! The laundry facility at our apartment is kinda sketch, so logically, I drive my clothes 10 minutes away and do my laundry there! However, as weird as this seems, the launder-mat has free wi-fi so Im actually able to get a ton done. Also, they happen to play my favorite radio station and right now Stevie Knicks is playing...so win win!

Anyways, doesn't this dress remind you of some sassy waitress? You know like the Pretenders Brass in Pocket kind? That has to be one of my favorite songs. I found it at Freestyle the other day when my parents came to town. It came between this dress, and a much more form fitting one, like a date night dress, and when I asked Nathan which one he liked more, he said this one! How precious is that? What really attracted me right away were the colors. What a cute teaching dress right? Thats pretty much all I think about right now.

 I actually did take pictures of this dress at home. I wanted to take them at the launder-mat, but there were too many people around, and people at the launder-mat are VERY talkative...in and good and bad way. I probably won't go by myself ever again. But now I can say that I did it!

 Shameless ring bragging shot. Also, you can see how extremely buff I am.

Well thats about it for me today. Someone has to start cooking dinner, and since there are only two people who live in our apartment, and Nathan is currently on his way home from work, I guess that someone will have to be me. I am so excited for this week. I kind of go back to normal life this week...kind of. I'm really stoked to go back to babysitting. I only have...2 weeks left! As excited as I am for my new job, I have to confess, I'm a little bit devastated in my heart to no longer watch the Ruscica kids. Anyways, fun times ahead for this week!! See you soon.

PS!! Look at that little guy down in the corner!! I guess I've somehow forgotten that I'm on pinterest! I have been for a few months, and I can't get enough!! You know those condesending Wonka memes? I feel like he is talking to me every time, and it hurts me feelings every time! Anyways, follow me! I'll follow you!

If you can sing with a Creed voice, You can do all sorts of cool stuff

Hello everyone!! So I am back for reals from the fire. What a crazy experience! Gail says that it's easy to catch the "fire bug", and she is so right! I was only making copies, but let me tell you, making copies has never been more fun...or meaningful. I know it sounds kinda silly for making copies to be meaningful, but we make copies of very important documents, and we really help the people who are protecting peoples' homes and loved ones! Let's just say, there's more to the job than I realized.

Anyways, since I'm back, I thought I would usher in my return with a fun feature! I've partnered up with the clothing site Solilor, and this is the lovely top that they sent me! How cute are these birds!! 

 I haven't really done my hair or makeup in about a week, so I feel really super glammed up, even though I'm totally not!

 Also, I've finally mastered the Sock Bun. I know, super late to the party, but you have no idea how happy I am about this, since I'm gonna be commuting and will need an easy hair do in the morning.

 Sometimes, you just need to wear extremely uncomfortable shoes from UO for the sake of looking cute.

Well thats about it for me today. I really hope Nathan and I do something fun this weekend. I don't even really know what that means, but sitting around watching Parks and Recreation is definitely not what I mean. Also, it started to rain while I was taking pictures... what the! weird! See you soon!

Something I Never Saw Coming

Hi Everyone!! So, I know I've been promising you outfit posts, but everytime I get something new or cute, something comes up that I think is way more fun, and I have to tell you about it! I got called to work on the most random thing I could have every imagined: a forest fire. You read that right. For the past few days, I've been working at the base camp for the US forest service as the firefighters work on the massively huge fire in the Mendocino National Forest. No, I'm not suiting up and wielding a fire-hose. My job is much less dangerous. I make copies and print important documents, and make fun signs for the camp. I got the job through the family that I babysit for. The Ruscicas...I've told you about them right? Well, if I haven't, then you're missing out, because you'll be a better person for having known them. They are wonderful. I got the call at 8:30 am, and by noon that day I was driving to a rodeo grounds in the teeny tiny town of Stony Ford, CA. Our base camp isn't anywhere near the beauties of Mendocino, CA, but Stony Ford is beautiful in it's own way. Here are few pictures of the fire! Next post I'll show you what I actually do :)

This is not cloud cover. It's smoke! It was so thick when I first got there. It turned everything orange-y. It was really surreal. Ash was everywhere. There is a  Slip Skate Shop sticker on the back window of my car, but you would never know it now!

More smoke. Look at the mountains way in the back, aren't they beautiful? We are stationed right where the fire trucks get fueled up before they go out to the fire. It's really crazy seeing how many trucks get sent out.

 This little circle is the sun! I wish the picture would have taken better, but it was bright red! Talk about apocalyptic! It was nuts!
 This the view from our sleeping trailer. Those are the rodeo grandstands. We work 16 hour shifts, and then sleep for 8 hours. My shift last week was 11am-3am. I know it sounds grueling, but there's down time where we can just sit and relax.

This is the view of the fire from the grandstands. It its CRAZY! I could see the flames!! When I asked Gail how close to the fire we were and she replied "You don't want to know....Dont tell your husband!" hahahaha! She really super funny. In fact, everyone that I've met has been wonderful. I'll say it over and over, it's not really the actual job that makes this fun, it's all the nice people you meet who make this fun! 

Well, those are my pictures for now. I will definitely be taking and posting more, but thats what I got for the time being. There are two downsides: 1) I'm away from Nathan for a few days, and I hate that. 2) I miss out on the Bachelorette. But everything else is great! I'm excited to go back and see how things have changed :) If you're curious, you can go to this website on the Mill Fire in the Mendocino National Forest and check it out. It's crazy!

Life Lately

Good morning everyone! How are you? It's been wayyy too long. I've been in a weird no-blogging mode for a while, and I can't seem to snap out of it! I dont know! Anyways, Let me just give you a little update on life while I'm thinking about it!


Let's start off with the only think I've been able to thinking about: I have 29 days until I start at Vacaville Christian High School. Let me tell you, I am slaving away over lesson plans and taking in all the teaching wisdom I can before those students come through the door of my two classrooms. I also get a little office! I'll have pictures of my class room soon. This is the view from my desk. Look at those hills, have you ever seen anything more beautiful? Me neither. Thanks Lord :)

One of the bajillion blessings of this job is also the fact that I'll be issued an iPad! Crazy right? All of their text books and things are loaded onto their iPads as apps! Obviously there are lots of rules in place to keep the kids from using Facebook/Twitter/Updating their blogs :) in class. I'm really hoping that I'll have the option of upgrading to 3G, that way I don't have to get the internet, and I can still do all my online teaching stuff from home. Yep it's true. Nathan and I don't have the internet in our apartment. With as many places that offer free internet, it's actually not that much of an inconvenience.

This is my Choir and Drama class room. Yep, that is a grand piano you see there. Can you believe it? for those of you who are just joining, I'm gonna be teaching Bible, Drama, and Choir. Could life get any better?

I'm currently in the process of pining over scores and scores of... scores! Choir scores! haha. Wow. Worst joke. My iTunes is filled with choir music now. There's so much more to directing a choir than just waving your arms around. A lot of what I have to work on for both choir and drama won't event be able to be done until I meet my students! There's so much to consider! I'm also in the process of reviewing musicals for spring and picking out a show.

Enough of teaching stuff, Onto the next thing: besides lesson plans and stuff, I've been hanging out with these people! There's one missing, but he was at a play date with a buddy of his. This is at the new Library in Roseville. This playground rocks! There's no sand (yay!), and there's a little mist-er thing that will cool you off if you're getting too hot! The only bummer is, sometimes you could drench yourself in water, and it won't do you any good on a playground that might as well be on the surface of the sun.

Last but not least. I'm getting a new haircut. It has been...seriously two years since I've gotten any significant cut, and it's grown out from this:

thats me on the far right there (obviously)
to this:

And while it's not a bad cut, It's two year-old-non-trimmed-straightened -plit-end-y hair. Also, I cut my own bangs on a whim, and it's painfully obvious. I haven't even had it colored in...who knows how long. But I like the natural color of my hair, and will probably just stick with it. These are the cuts that I'm considering. What are your thoughts? I hate the picture of the girl with the yellow hair, but I feel like I could make that cut work. Give me some feed back. The old taylor momsen is the hair cut I had right before I chopped it all off. It was platinum and everything. I'm leaning towards the girl on the right. Who knows. 

ANYWAYS!! Thats about it for me today. Thats life as I currently know it. Church starts in about 20 minutes. I'll see you soon :)