busy-ness

right now i've got this image as my phone lock screen. this quote and the memory of this past week are a reminder to stop taking on extra things.

lately i've been feeling pretty overwhelmed with school, work, and everything else in life. it's been a hard adjustment for me to be working full time again. we had volunteer training this week that we were totally not prepared for and that left me feeling pretty stressed. i was supposed to present part of the training but i panicked at all the last minute changes to the curriculum and chickened out. luckily my co-workers who are expert presenters bailed me out. we also had to submit a MAJOR proposal this week that could bring in around a million dollars! this would also secure me three years of guaranteed work. (it's out of our hands now so please pray that this proposal will be approved! we could help so many people being released from prison with that money.)

i also decided it would be smart to take a condensed summer class. normally i think this would be totally do-able but this class in particular is killing me. there's four week left and we haven't started on any of our big assignments yet. i'm starting to freak out.

besides those two major stressors we also had our first softball game this week. 'softball?' yup! 'why?' i don't know, ask my brother-in-law raymond. they needed more girls and somehow i ended up on a softball team. i don't really mind though, just this week i was too busy to enjoy it.

anyways, all that to say: that's enough! i am at my limit, my plate is full. it's time to start saying 'no' to those extra-curricular activities!

ps. you can download that wallpaper here and lots more cute ones!

date-a-versary.

today is the four year mark for mine and david's relationship. fooooouuuuurrr years! david spoiled me with a bottle of wine, some tasty calzones, the frozen dvd, and two skor bars. he knows me so well.

in honour of the occasion i thought i'd share a few things you may not know about david:

he talks. a lot. to people who don't know david that well this may seem like a shocker but it's true i swear! in public he's quiet and serious but when it's just the two of us david will do at least 75% of the talking. he talks about work, airplanes, school, and any other thing that pops into that handsome head of his.

his favourite movie is miracle. not exactly a shock but you may not have known that!

he writes fantastic poems. david writes the sweetest rhyming poems for pretty much any occasion. i love them so much. it makes my day when i find a note tucked away in my lunch bag.

i feel so lucky to be his wife!

and because every blog post needs lots of pictures here's a picture of us from each year of dating/marriage!

pre-dating:

one year:

two years:

three years:

now:

(excuse the incredibly gimpy arm in the last one, it was the only picture i had of the two of us in the last month!)

the end.

so true.

around the house lately.

there is no real purpose to this post, i just want to show off a few things around my house.

first up: my flowers aren't dead!! we've had them for a few weeks and they've grown so much.

i even added one to the collection, a mint plant and put it in a pot i got for two dollars at the thrift store.

after target disappointed me with their weak sandal selection they made up for it by offering this sweet candle holder for four bucks. win.

i am also SO pumped that we finally have nightstands! david has been promising to build some since we got married but hasn't had the time. so i thought i'd make it easier by lowering my expectations. we picked up these shelf brackets at ikea and stuck a piece of 2 by 12 on top and called it a nightstand. i think they look pretty fantastic and they only cost 10 dollars for everything. and more importantly: i finally have a place to put my alarm clock, lamp, and charging cell phone. win, win, and win.

me and david have also been getting our creative juices flowing to make some art for our bedroom. we have this ledge above our bed that needs some serious help. i'll do a full post on this later maybe but here's a sneak peak of one of the things we made.

bison! i'm in love with the little fellow and it was a pretty simple project to make. got any suggestions for cheap diy art?

that's all for now. i hope you are enjoying your long weekend!

the great sandal hunt of 2014.

i'm the kind of person who owns as few pairs of shoes as possible. i own one pair of boots, one pair of ballet flats, one pair of walking shoes, one pair of runners, and until recently, one pair of sandals. on one of the first warm days we had this year the toe strap on my beloved sandals broke. after a few days of mourning i set out to target (obviously) to get a replacement. and for the first time ever at target i couldn't find anything i liked and that came in my size (tens can be hard to come by sometimes).

so now it's been a few weeks and i still haven't been able to find a pair with the right combination of comfort, style, and affordability (i'm also the kind of person who spends, on average, $20 for a pair of shoes). i also need sandals to have a back strap because i drive a standard car and my shoes need to stay put.

my last resort is to scour the internet for something. here's what i've found so far...

saltwater sandals

decent on the affordability scale and i hear they are super comfortable and last a long time. i also like that they are real leather. buuuuut, ankle straps never seem to work for me and i will i get sick of doing up that buckle all summer?

toms

these are way over my price limit but i really love them!

these from american eagle

i love this style but again with the ankle strap...

or these

the ankle strap on these is a little bit looser, i may even by able to slip them on and bypass the buckle!

which are your favourite? i'm torn between the first ones and the last ones because i think they'll be the best everyday kind of shoes. i'm going to hit up american eagle this week and try a few out. and if they don't work it'll have to be the saltwaters!!

*** UPDATE: i went to american eagle after work and they didn't have any of the ones i liked! soooo i stopped by the boathouse just to check things out and i picked up these bad boys for $20. i'm gonna test them around the house to make sure they're comfortable but i think we've found a winner.

on organization.

have you ever had one of those moments when you literally couldn't continue with anything until you cleaned up your workspace? i had that today. i got back to my desk after a few days off and my brain literally couldn't compute anything until i got myself organized. it didn't help that i had a million things waiting for me and i couldn't decide what to do first. the answer? none of it, ignore it until after you've cleaned!

so i de-cluttered my desk (and my mind) and made myself a massive to-do list.

i even checked off a bunch of things on the list this afternoon. now i'm feeling much more in control! now i just need to find the time to actually sort through all of my files and come up with a legit system to stay organized. 

next time i'm feeling overwhelmed i'll try keep this in mind:

i made this.

since school's been done and i have a bit more time on my hands i decided to get crafty! i've had a diy list in mind for a while and when i saw this fantastic planter holder on vintage revivals i knew i had to bump it to the top of my list. it had everything i look for in a diy: brass, leather, and affordability!

the tutorial was pretty easy to follow and the supplies were almost all easy to find. the one problem i ran into with this project was finding a bowl that fit the holder. when i looked at the original tutorial i pictured it much larger than it turned out to be. so when i brought home my supplies the bowl i had was waaaaay to big. it took forever (and by forever i mean six stores) to find one that would fit. the one i landed on was $3 from superstore.

anyways, without further ado, here's my planter!

pretty good replication don't you think? it looks lovely hanging in my window sill. i even saved a bit of money by not buying the tube cutter and using a little saw (thanks grandpa!) instead. worked like a charm.

now i just need to keep that succulent alive!