Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving already? Wow! What a great day. I'm so thankful to have Ethan around. I am so secure with myself around the holidays now. He truly does complete me. We spent this thanksgiving with my beautiful parents. I made an appetizer and a desert which I will post later, stay tuned!

I seriously could not have had a better time than I did. Everyone was so happy and relaxed. The aroma of all the food just made me smile. The game was on, my mom and I were in the kitchen, and kids were running and giggling non stop. It was just.... PERFECT.

 They are so cute! 

 <3

 Her face is priceless. 

 Stuffed mushrooms!

 NOMNOMNOM

This Makes Number 8

This tattoo has more meaning than any of them.
I'm having a few problems health wise and I'm really stressed about it. Without going into depth I'll just briefly say Monday I'm going in for a slight procedure and if that doesn't fix it I go in Friday for a serious surgery. I am terrified and stressing. To relieve the stress I figured a trip to Frankies would do me some good. So I got the tattoo that I have debated about since I first started getting tattooed. With everything going wrong and difficult in life I can always count on a tattoo to just distract me for a while. So here is tattoo number 8.
( See my puncture hole? I've had so much blood taken it's not even funny )
BTW, getting tattooed after you've had blood drawn for the last three days is really painful because you are bruised underneath. 

 "There is no love without the Knowledge of pain."

The meaning behind this goes so far back that I don't really want to go into it too much, so just know that this is a scar cover up tattoo. This tattoo is for my biological mother who has caused so much damage in my life. The skull represents her and how I feel about her. The yellow roses were her favorite and they are wilting away. I wouldn't be the strong woman I am today if she hadn't been the way she was. I'd also probably be a normal person without the issues I have if I'd grown up with my adoptive family.
That's a little insight on my life.
And I am so thankful for Dave at Frankie's. The fact that I can tell you my feelings for her and just a basic skull with roses and then you come out with this just amazes me. He portrayed the feeling perfectly.

If you ever read this, or if you ever find me I want you to know, after everything you put me through I just wait for the day I hear of a methhead in SLC who passed away. One who gave up on two of her kids and kept the middle one for her own fucking selfish reasons. I hope you rot. At the same time thank you, the abuse, the hurt, the prostitution, and the drugs has taught me how to survive. That's exactly what I am, a survivor.

DIY Glitter Cups!

With us preparing to move I've been doing everything I can to prepare and have places for everything. My bathroom is the most disorganized room in our apartment. It's my fault. I'll admit it, I have a problem with smelly good things. There is my confession. So most of the drawers and cabinets are filled with yummy lotions, sprays, soaps and things like that. I don't have a lot of room for make up stuff in my bathroom. I came up with a simple solution! Make a cup to put my brushes in so I'm not losing them in a drawer of lotions. Also decided to make one for ponytails, bobby pins, and barrettes so I don't have to dig every morning.

Cute right? I originally saw this on Pinterest, here.

But her way didn't work for me! ): ( which is why the purple one looks like crap. )

Here's what you will need: 

Mod Podge, Brushes, glitter of your choice, a bowl with cling wrap lined in it, and some simple jars from the dollar store or walmart had some for 67 cents! 

I used a mason jar from Brielle's birthday party.

Next pour some ModPodge in your bowl and dump some glitter on it. Like alot.

Stir it up!

Swirl it around the jar.

I just let this one dry and it didn't turn out but my others one I sprinkled more glitter in the jar and it got way more coverage!

The purple one was used for my makeup brushes. The silver one is for my bobbypins and the blue and silver ( my favorite ) is in my room just to be cute :p

I love these! super easy and super cheap!

What's in the Package??

I can't even tell you how excited I am to finally have this arrive at my parents door!

( I can't have things sent to my house because they get stolen off my front porch ): sad, I know)

I love Etsy. Always have. I ordered an adorable bracelet and it only took 4 days to get here!

I ordered it from Candy Couture Shop on Etsy, which is one of my favorites.

I seriously want to buy one of each color. 

It even came in a hot pink envelope. How special. ( I'm seriously over excited. ) 

I really wish I had a picture of it on but I just didn't have time. This really is a beautiful piece and it's so simple! 

Get ready for a DIY tomorrow (;

Menu Monday

I found the most delicious spinach and artichoke dip. Super easy too!

Looks delicious right?!

Secret: Found it on Pinterest. Seems these days everytime I cook something new my recipe generates from pinterest. This one I found at Natashas Kitchen on Pinterest! 

Ingredients

8oz cream cheese (reduced fat is ok)

• 16 oz light sour cream
• 1 stick (8 tbsp) unsalted butter
• 2-3 Cups shredded Parmesan cheese
• 14 oz quartered artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
• 10 oz frozen spinach (thawed and drained)
• 1 Tsp. Garlic Salt

Instructions

1. In a medium pot over medium heat, melt together 8oz cream cheese, 16 oz sour cream, 1 stick butter and 1.5-2 cups parmesan cheese, stirring frequently until melted and an even consistency. It should start to bubble.
2. Stir in coarsely chopped artichoke hearts and drained spinach. Finally, stir in garlic salt. 
3. Serve hot with chips or crackers or toasted baguettes or pita chips. 

She used jalapenos but Brielle wouldn't have eaten it if it was too spicy. She also used real garlic cloves, I would have too but, I didn't realize I was out. I was not about to run to the store midway through cooking this just for garlic cloves. Not happening. 

Also, when trying to drain the artichoke hearts I was squeezing them to get the excess juice out and WOW, that is a mess. So I gave you fair warning. 

Let me know if you try this and how it turned out! 

Also follow me on Pinterest! 

Steal Deal Saturday

Shopping was an almost perfect success! So happy with everything I got.

I did not find my jacket so I will probably just order it off of 6pm which is fine. 

I didn't find those exact flats or anything close but I found some even cuter ones that I am beyond pleased with! And instead of burgundy I picked up maroon ( according to Ethan there isn't a difference, but there is! Right? ) jeggings that are super comfy! Picked up a cute shirt with a leather collar and pocket which I think just make it all sorts of fancy (:

The thing that started all this was not only my stressful week but this fortune cookie!

New Shoes, YNot! $17

5 for $7 at Rue21! Didn't even have to break out my Angels Credit Card by VictoriaSecret

These maroon jeggings that are beyond comfortable were also Rue21 for $20

Shirt: Rue21 $8 on SALE!

I had found this shirt at oasap.com a couple weeks ago and refused to spend that much. Look how similar!

Ethan took me out to dinner as well to Corbins Grille, so delicious! 

 Quite possibly my favorite thing from our shopping adventure is this wonderful case 

that I got for only $4. Incredible! :D

 I am officially a couponer! I

Finally Friday!

To say the least I have had a very stressful week. 

To start I was late to work every single day this week. On Thursday I had to do a live meeting with our dev team which was basically an hour of me talking and explaining the advantages of different plugins and we needed to add onto those plugins that they can go on ahead and get started on it. I am not a developer, I do not write code. This was a very high stress task. Thirdly I have been a week with no smoking and it just doesn't help. Lastly, I found out some news that just really sends me over the edge. I feel if you can't support the child you have now, DON'T HAVE ANOTHER. But spite my opinion people still do and I just find it incredibly unfair to the unborn child who won't be cherished or loved, the already born child who is already not taken care of, and that persons family who now has more responsibility to take care of there kids. CRAP! On the drive to work this morning I was on the phone with my oh so wonderful mother who is very patienet and eventually she just shut up and let me vent and basically the whole conversation was "That's crap! This is crap! Holy crap!". End rant. but after that I was just over the top and ready to go home. 

Ethan ( as wonderful as he's been ) hals seen my stress, anger, disappointment, and fear this last week and offered me to go to City Creek. 

No hesitation came from that yes, haha I made a funny. 

So! To prepare myself for this all night adventure I have been picturing what I need to add to my wardrobe. Hopefully I can find some good deals! If I do I will post on Saturday for Steal Deal Saturday! 

Some sweet flats similar to these ones on ModCloth ones.

A sweet new jacket similar to this one off of 6pm which has been a favorite lately

And last but not least I have been dying for a pair of burgundy skinny jeans similar to the ones at H&M

Hopefully this goes well and I don't break my bank this week :p

Ashton Gray and Her Beautiful Family

Got a family to do pictures with! I'm so happy with how most of these turned out! 

Thanks guys for giving me this opportunity. 

And I do have a Facebook page to check out or contact me if in the Utah area!