Etsy Find: Too-True Dish Towels

How many times have you said this phrase in your lifetime?

I'd like to think that these dish towels would make me want to do the dishes more, but...

probably not. 

7 Valentine's Day Ideas

1 plantable valentine // 2 heart marquee light // 3 washi tape dixie cup vase // 4 "i love you to the moon and back" printable // 5 a manly gift // 6 no sew sequin heart sweater // 7 diy date idea arrows

Oh hey, guys! It's time for some festive diy ideas to celebrate Valentine's Day. I have a confession, though...I'm usually too lazy to make any of them. I just love finding them and looking at the pictures. But if I weren't too lazy, I'd definitely do #7, the date idea arrows. It's a no-excuse way to always have a date planned. I put these up a few days early so you have time to make them before Thursday. If you make any, I'd love to see pictures or hear about it. 

Winter Workout: 5 Ways To Get Moving Indoors

I don't know about you, but I am having the hardest time getting motivated to workout this winter. Last winter, I had a lot of free time and was excited to look smokin' hot for Matt when he returned from his mission. This year I'm pretty sure I have found every excuse in the book to not weather the frozen tundra and get my butt to the gym. 

I figured if I can't muster up the energy to get to the gym, I'm gonna have to start working out in my apartment. So here are some videos/tips to help you me get moving. I tried out (most of) them and I already feel more energized, happier, and excited to be healthy.

1 // JOG.FM 2 // The World's Fastest Workout  3 // The Five Minute Workout 4 // The Earn Your Shower Workout* 5 // 25 At Home Exercises

*50 jumping jacks

5 pushups

20 crunches

20 mountain climbers

30 second plank

My 2012 in Review

What's that? You want a re-cap of everything that happened to me this year? Okay!!

Check out highlights of this year after the jump...

End of the World Favorites

Happy End of the World! We are safe and sound in California. It's been a great 14 hours so far, and no Zombie Apocalypse! Here are a few of my favorite things this week:

Look at this octopus!

Paint your own matryoshka dolls?!?!?!?!?!

Super fun wrapping ideas for kids presents.

A gift that anyone would love to open.

72 years of Batman logos on a single poster.

If the Apocalypse actually does come today, I hope that I am holding this when it happens.

Oh my gosh, look at this print!

My friend told me she was attending an End of the World Party. What does an EOTWP look like, you ask? I guess people bring their favorite food and do fun stuff that would look cool if you were found dead...that's actually a guess. They probably just played Wii or something. Either way, FUN. What are you doing for the End of the World????? (I'll probably spend it trying to make my nephew love me more than my husband, and eating bacon.)

9 Cute DIY Christmas Decorations

one / craft stick snowflakes / two : glitter reindeer art / three : candy cane wreath / four : miniatures in a jar / five : sparkle branches / six : dollar store fake fruit + glitter = centerpiece / seven : 25 awesome advent calendars eight : handmade christmas trees / nine : peace garland

Tradition .... TRADITION!

I think I mentioned earlier that I am trying to find some new family traditions that Matt and I can share together. I love my family's traditions, and I love being a part of Matt's family traditions, but I think it'll be fun to have our own. Being newly married puts a big old magnifying glass on everything I thought was normal. Turns out, some things are normal for me, but not for Matt. The things I did growing up are not the same for Matt. Talking to people about their holiday family traditions has either proven that 1) my family is weird or 2) my family is awesome. I am wholeheartedly choosing #2. 

Here are some awesome Rowland family traditions that I am excited for this Christmas:

1) Watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. This is the only movie that I have seen more than 7 times. (Other movies that come close are Titanic, My Little Pony, and Sex + the City).  My father loves it. He quotes it all year long. It's a given that this will be on in the background at some point during Christmas vacation..........Do you see what I did there?

2) Chinese food on Christmas Eve. I think this tradition might have started because my mom was getting too stressed out about cooking a perfect meal on Christmas Eve, so my dad took away the stress by ordering Chinese food one year. I love that he gave her the perfect reason to relax and enjoy the family instead of slaving in the kitchen. We have done this for a few years now, and I look forward to it. It's a nice treat for us and for my mom...(BTW, she cooks amazing meals all the time and we love them). 

3) Mom's Annual Bathroom Reader Giveaway. That's right. I don't know how this started, but my mother buys literally every single person in our family a new version of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader every year. I always pretend to be grossed out, but those books are actually really interesting. I just keep them outside of my bathroom...

4) New Year's Empanadas. Growing up LDS outside of Utah means no LDS friends (except for my trusty sidekick, Jeannette). I obviously wasn't allowed (or invited, let's get real, I was a total nerd) to go to parties, so New Year's Eve was always a family night. We started cooking Empanadas every 31st while we watched the countdown. Now that I'm away from home, my new tradition is to spend New Year's with the very same sidekick Jeannette, no matter where we live. 

My favorite New Year's was the year before Matt left on his mission. We went to a party in SLC, but it was lame, so we went and watched Benjamin Button. That movie was so long that we had to run to get back to the party to see the fireworks go off at midnight. We were running through the deserted streets of Salt Lake and missed the fireworks because the buildings were so tall, but they reflected off of the buildings across the street. We stopped running and just stared...and then I got an asthma attack.

5) Three Christmases. My extended family is very small. And we all live within an hour radius of each other. We see each other all the time. Thanksgiving is always at my house, and Christmas is always split up between my mom and dad's sides. Christmas Eve: immediate family. Christmas afternoon: Mom's side. Christmas night: Dad's side. I had never even heard of a family reunion until I moved to Utah. We never needed them. 

6) The wrapping party in the laundry room. My mom usually stays up wrapping Christmas gifts late into the night. My sister and I loved helping her wrap presents growing up. I love giving gifts, and I love giving pretty gifts even more. I would try to make every gift look different somehow. We have a whole closet in the laundry room dedicated to wrapping supplies. Boxes of gift tags. Bows upon bows. 10 different kinds of wrapping paper. Bag and bags and bags galore. Wrapping the gifts for me was almost better than Christmas itself! I loved staying up late with them and talking or listening to Christmas music. When we had dogs they would come in and walk all over the presents, but we loved them so much we didn't care anyway. Good times.

7) Stake Christmas Choir. I don't do this anymore because I can't be at rehearsals beforehand, but in HS, I was always in the Stake Christmas Choir every year. We always sang at a special Christmas fireside a few Sundays before Christmas. I love singing, and I love Christmas music. It was so fun to be a part of a singing group that sounded pretty dece. Nothing brings the spirit of Christmas to my heart faster than singing Christmas music.

8) James Taylor Acoustic Christmas. Once my dad figured out how iTunes worked, I'm pretty sure James Taylor Christmas was the first album he bought. And then he played it loud enough for the whole house to hear. I would be in the bathroom and hear that guitar start up and I knew exactly what was going down. "James Taylor is such a good musician, but man, is he messed up." Who cares...his voice is like butta.

9) Late-night Mexican food runs. Somehow my brother found the most ghetto authentic Mexican food in Fullerton and craves it annually, at 2am. It's the kind of place where all the cooks expect you to order in Spanish. Since we both inherited the night-owl gene, we'd be the only two up and he'd ask me to go on a Tacqueria de Anda run with him. Of course I thought it was super cool when I was in high school to hang out with my cool adult brother, so I usually went along. One time he tricked me into eating a brain taco. I think that was the end of the late-night runs for me for a few years. I hope we go again this year.

NEW HARDIN FAMILY TRADITIONS: 

- Buying a new ornament every year when we go on vacation. 

- Decorating the tree together for FHE
- Small gift at Christmas. Use the saved money to go on a nice summer vacation.

- It's not Christmas yet, so I still have time to think of some more + execute them.

What's your favorite Christmas tradition? 

How I feel on a day off from work

Am I the only one who likes being home more than being outside? I work crazy hours sometimes, which means I get days off in the middle of the week. Normal people might use those days to run errands or go to the gym, or see people or even go outside, but not me! A day off for me means waking up when I'm ready to wake up, blogging, reading, catching up on TV shows and not putting a bra on.  

What can I say, I love being at home! I need that time to rejuvinate and prepare myself to be at work for the rest of the week.

I realize that days like this won't last forever. I feel like I've caught a magical unicorn. There is no homework to stress over, and no kids to take care of yet. I do my work at work, and the days off are  magical stress-free days that I know will go away soon. So I'm relishing them!

7 Thing I Love About Christmas

Friday Favorites

Happy weekend! Not gonna lie, this was the longest week ever. But, at least we are all kinds of ready for Christmas around here! On Monday (for FHE) M + I may have sat around in our unmentionables and watched The Voice...but then we decorated our Christmas tree! We're all about keeping it real. I'm so excited for Christmas that today's post will be mostly dedicated to my favorite holiday. Here you go! 

The island where people forget to die. What?!

12 healing foods to cure headaches and other ailments.

Christmas is coming! I'm more excited this year than any other year! Here's a list of things to do in November to get ready for crazy December Christmas-month.

Have you heard of renter's wallpaper? I kind of hate those sterile white walls that come with rented apartments. I might have to get some of this myself...

Wondering what to get me for Christmas? I knew you were! Let's start with these vintage Santa matryoshka nesting dolls. Oh boy!

Look! A free, cute, printable DIY Christmas calendar.

One of my Bucket List items: Sleep under the Northern Lights in an ice igloo in Finland. Yes, please!

Need a neighbor gift for Christmas? This is super easy and better than cookies.

The Monica Closet

Have you guys seen that episode of Friends where Chandler finds out that his OCD clean-freak wife has a closet that looks like a tornado hit it? It's where she keeps all her clutter! Everything else in her house is immaculate, except for this closet.

Chandler: He-he-he-he-he. You're messy.

Monica: No, you weren't supposed to see this!

Chandler: I married Fred Sanford!

I consider myself to be mostly a clean person. I feel less stressed out when my house is clean. I wash my clothes after one use. I don't let the dirty dishes pile up too high before cleaning them. There is definitely a threshold that my house has to cross before I will get the cleaning bug, but once it hits that threshold, I'm cleaning til my house feels good again, and NO ONE CAN STOP ME! 

Well, guess what? I have a Monica closet. 

Yeah, I said it. I have a Monica closet. That one closet in our apartment where everything useless goes to die. Board games. Winter coats. Leftover wedding invitations. Scrapbooking + artmaking materials. Matt's fishing gear. Dirty clothes. Clean clothes. Wedding presents. I hit the threshold, clean the whole house, get to that closet, and just slowly close the door. I can't seem to get it together long enough to organize that closet. 

If it weren't our bedroom closet, I'd probably lock it up and throw away the key like Monica did. 

Do you have a Monica closet? 

How To Live With A Boy

This is your one and only warning that this post is going to scream newlywed.

Matt and I have been married for over five months. My, how the time goes quickly! When he was gone, I remember counting down hours in days, for two whole years. Now that we get to live together, time just flies.

Living with a boy has proved to be...interesting. I was having Ms. Lippy time in the lunch room at school today, and a man walked in and started up a conversation with me. He saw my ring and asked how long I've been married and replied, "Oh, the first year is always the hardest." I have heard that phrase so many unsolicited times in my life that it is now a platitude. Everyone keeps saying it, but they never go into detail! They never explain why the first year is the hardest. YOU SNEAKS! What do you even mean?!

I didn't even have to ask why before the guy said, "I mean, you have to get used to living with someone of the opposite sex." Thank you, kind stranger, for telling me the truth. And the moment he said it, I immediately agreed with him! I felt like I had caught a snitch or a unicorn or something!

Being married is the best. It's way better than having roommates. I've never lived alone, so I can't have an opinion on that one. You get to live with your favorite person in the whole world. There's someone to come home to at night who is so excited to see you. Being married to Matt really does make me happy.

That being said, there are certain adjustments to be made when a boy and a girl live with each other for the first time.

Here are a few things I have learned about Matt & myself since we moved in together:

1. He really really likes waking up early. To go fishing. On Saturday. Like, 4am early.

2. He cooks more than I do. I'm going to blame that one on my own laziness. And my full-time job.

3. He likes going to the gym after work 3x a week. This is a good motivator for me, but also makes me feel guilty when I'm too tired to go. I'm like, nah, I'll sit this one out.

4. I can only go a day or two with a messy house before it starts making me feel anxious and weird.

5. I hate taking out the trash more than most things. I think I've only taken out the trash a handful of times since we moved into our new apartment. The bin is so far away! Matt is the best at it.

6. Sometimes he surprises me and cleans the house before I come home on long work days.

7. Apparently I am the worst at taking naps. My idea of "taking a nap" means relaxing in bed and vegging on the computer. His idea of taking a nap means laying down in bed and falling asleep 8 seconds later. The days when I actually want a real nap, I just lay there infuriated, and he wakes up and I'm like pinterestfacebooktickldbloggerobsessed. "Hey, babe."

8. I am the worst at adjusting to new wards. I always feel like DERP until I get to know everyone...a year after I move in.

9. Matt's car is the worst. Period.

10. I think he would ask me to shave my head, just to get rid of all my long hairs everywhere, if shaved heads on girls were sexy. I think he would.

The new iPad Mini commercial just came on. You know, the one where the two Minis use the piano app to play chopsticks? Without even looking at each other, we just started harmonizing the parts. MFEO, baby.

Home Away From Home

It took me a long time to consider Utah home. I have been living here for over six years and still consider myself a true Californian. Once I realized that I might be spending the rest of my entire life here (ok, maybe just like four or ten more years), I figured I better start stay-cationing my new home! BTW, stay-cationing is what delusional people call vacation. I am in that category. It's a great way to feel awesome about not having any time or money to go somewhere far, far away and forget your real life for .5 seconds. Luckily, my real life is pretty great + my adventurous husband and my job allow me to see a fair share of this state. 

Rachel and I have started taking advantage of our long trips together. We have made a goal to visit every LDS temple in the state. When we have an overnight trip somewhere far away, we try to schedule a temple session if there's a temple nearby. 

I have loved the peaceful feelings the temple brings. I learn new things every time I go. It's also nice to visit somewhere that feels like home when we are three or four hours away from our real homes. It makes heaven seem so much closer, and I am always in a great mood every time I leave! It's a great time to feel close to God and ponder my purpose here on earth.

We were on our way home from Logan, so we stopped to see the new Brigham City temple. 

Rachel didn't have a skirt because this was an unplanned stop, so we tried to walk somewhere to buy her one! Brigham City may have a temple, but they are apparently not up on the skirt scene. We went to the only dece store in walking distance, and it was being renovated... and the store owner pulled skirts out of a cardboard box in this unfinished loft area. Plus the skirt didn't fit, so we pulled a Liz Lemon and shut it down. Hopefully we'll get a chance to go inside soon when we're more prepared! 

I don't have pictures, but so far we have gone to sessions at the Logan + Manti temples. 

We go to a lot of small towns. We have driven through Nevada, Arizona, and now Wyoming to get to some towns! We see a lot of old buildings on our way...

 We went to a school that was right across the street from a farm. We had some time, so I took a walk to say hi to the cows and they just stared at me.

I realize that farms and cows and being in the middle of nowhere are not new things to some people, but I still can't get used to it. I think I will always prefer cities to small town life, although it's fun to visit.

 My BFFL Jeannette is on a crusade to save the world, one folk opera at a time! Matt and I hosted a sleepover last weekend so she could have a flyer party for her upcoming show. We got up "early" on Saturday and walked around Provo posting flyers for all to see! Hopefully it worked. Matt and I walked around putting flyers on each and every door until we realized we could just post them in big complexes on the mailboxes. Sometimes being smart and lazy go very well together.

Matt hates pictures of himself. I think his biggest fear is that I will turn into one of those blogger wives who takes pictures of her food at every meal and whatnot. And to that, I say, I do what I want! 

The sleepover was a great time to catch up on old Jacob Lake stories. We may not see them a lot, but our JL people feel like family. 

Amy + Steve are having their baby girl soon! I told Amy that I am going to be the first person to hold her baby. She wasn't happy, Bob.

Game night at the Hardin house! Another home away from home. We are so lucky to have family in the same town. If only my mom could convince my dad to move up here, we would never have to leave! OK, on second thought Mom + Dad, stay there so we can go visit you! 

I may or may not be temporarily addicted to MacDo's Monopoly. I got obsessed for a minute and FOR SURE thought I was going to win a million dollars, if not, a fancy trip or some fries or something. I even got everyone on our road trip to St. George in on the game and convinced them to give me their winning pieces. The jig was up once I realized I would have to ingest the products I bought (because I cannot see food go to waste). My grandmother trained me to pour cereal, then milk, and eat what was there, then only put more milk in if I needed it, so the milk wouldn't go to waste. Morgan Spurlock has also ruined me. My Mata and Morgan Spurlock are officially the reasons why I am not a millionaire. Once I had that epiphany, the game was over. Unless anyone wants to trade... :) 

For more information on why Mormons build temples, go here, or watch this video. 

I am grateful that the most important thing about a place is that it feels like home. And I'm lucky that I have a lot of people (our friends, Matt's family, my family) and places (California, Utah, the temple) that make me feel at home!