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Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

Friday, January 28, 2011

Random bits

..Still going through my vacation pictures..

I went to The Wood Connection the other day and picked out these adorable letters!! I made this, and now I'm working on xoxo. The best part about that whole ordeal is the fact that it's a wood shop. They just happened to be fresh out of the "O" that I needed. Instead of me waiting for the next "shipment" to come in, the kind man went to the back of the shop, and cut me some O's within about 5 minutes. I cannot tell you how happy this makes me!! Love it!



Pictures from phone 068

A week or so ago, I decided I'd start to build up an inventory, so I bought some words to stock up. I wanted to work on them a little each night. As it turns out though, this is still what "Home" looks like. I got another order early this week that I've been busting out, and I had to hurry and finish the Valentine's Day letter set before the season passes! Maybe one day I'll be able to casually work on "home".



Pictures from phone 015

I ordered some earrings from Etsy so I could see how they were shipped out, if the lady sent business cards, how the pictures compared to the actual product, etc...And well...it turns out that my picture (below), looks a little (lot) more like the actual product than hers did. I was actually *so* excited to purchase these earrings. I thought the little rock piece was going to be bigger than a quarter. In reality, they're smaller than dimes. :( Oh well though...I'll still sport them. It's just crazy how pictures can be so deceiving!



Pictures from phone 012

My little guy always sits in the most relaxed positions, and I love, love, love it. So much that I have 34389 pictures of him sitting in the same position. It never gets old! This one, however, is one that we've never seen before. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. We are so lucky to have this little guy as our doggie.



Pictures from phone 011

My sister went to her first Opera performance (Hansel and Gretel), and she looked so beautiful!! A good friend took her, and they had a wonderful time. I asked her how it was when she got home and she said "It really was just like the movies...the whole time it's like Oooohhhhhhh...AAAhhhhhhh.....OOoooooo..." (Sung in her best singing voice).



Pictures from phone 010

I ordered this case for my phone a few weeks ago. It was from a site where you can create and submit any design, or use designs that other people have uploaded. You stretch it, resize it, and position it to get the perfect look! I love how it turned out!!



Pictures from phone 005

So, remember my first sale? Well, I got my second one and they want the exact same thing! So, I've started making this again. :) It will be slightly different as they want theirs connected! I'll post pictures when I get it all done! I'm excited to finish it tonight!



Pictures from phone 002

We were at the store the other day, and Kassi noticed the "Make your own jewlery" section. She was overly excited! "Jess!! Let's get these, and make our own earrings!!" I agreed, so we purchased a few to give it a shot. Once we got home, the mood changed a little. Kass decided she didn't want "us" to make our own earrings...she wanted "me" to make "us" some earrings. So that's just what I did! We love how they turned out, and I can't wait until "we" can make some more!!



Pictures from phone 001

And, last but *soooooooooo* not least. I officially have a new home for all of my crafts!!!! Yesterday my Aunt and I met with the booth coordinator at *The Quilted Bear* in our local town, and she totally loves our stuff!!!!! Our booth will be ready mid-February, and we'll be in business. Literally. The Quilted Bear is a store that I've admired for so long. It's for handmade crafts (sort of like Etsy in real life, I guess), and it's one of those stores you can get lost in. I've spent so much time there, and I cannot believe that now I'll be spending more...not because I'll be shopping, but because I'll be *stocking*!! I cannot wait!! I'll definitely post pictures once we get everything all set up!

(This picture is one of the locations about a half an hour away. You can kind of see what the inside is like though.)



quiltedbear



Friday, January 21, 2011

2011 goal--get your first official sale.--DONE!

I know I'm in the middle of my "Vacation" post series, but I have to take a quick break from that and show this!!



FirstEtsySale

That, my friends, is my first sale in Etsy! I made it for a Neapolitan color theme wedding.

Oh, and if you look kind of closely you will see that I have business cards now!!!

..basically official and stuff.

PS..I made my business cards..in Excel. I have some others currently in mail transit, so I'll post when I get them! I'm all sorts of excited!



Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Trip to Alabama--Getting there!

Let me preface this by saying *Please note: It has been at least 7 years since I've left the Utah/Idaho area. You will notice signs of a severe rookie during this post. You will also notice that I took a lot of pictures. Please refer back to the first sentence in this note.*

Now, let's begin!!

Due to the fact that life likes to throw completely random/difficult curveballs at you all of the time, my Aunt decided to pick up everything in Alabama, and move 30 hours NW. Finally back home!! She flew out there to pack things up, and prepare for the 30 hour drive back. No one wants to/can drive 30 hours by themselves, so that's where I come into play on this "vacation".

Deciding which flight to take was an easy call for me. I could leave Monday December 16th at 8 PM, or I could leave Tuesday morning at 5AM. Easy peasy. I'd take a night flight over a morning flight *anytime!!*

The only issue with this night flight, is that it was a red-eye flight. Meaning that I left at 8PM, and would arrive to my destination at 10:15AM...the next day.

Yeah, I still chose the 14 hour flight.

Whatever. So, I'm not a fan of mornings, and would rather take a 14 hour flight as opposed to taking a 6 hour flight. No biggie.

I knew it would be an adventure, and I was so excited!! Excited mixed with a little bit of stress. It was just a couple of weeks before Christmas, and I needed to shop/wrap still. I worked Monday all day, meaning I had to have my bags (for a week) packed and ready to go on Sunday night. I was out of town with work the week prior, so that left me the weekend to make sure I had everything ready to go! Also, apparently there is a 50 lb bag limit for your luggage, so I was just a little stressed over that as well. PS--It's a good thing Auntie Tammy had the wonderful idea of weighing yourself, and then standing on the scale with the bag. Genius. I would have never thought about doing that!!

Every time I'd talk with the family about the trip/flight, they'd give me advice.

"Make sure you take your stuff with you everywhere you go!!! Even if it's to use the restroom!"

"Find your gate before you explore the airport. DO NOT miss your flight!!!"

"If you get lost, follow the crowd, you will be fine."

And my favorite--from my Grandpa--"Jess, make sure you have quarters. Do you need some quarters? You don't want to go without!" --which reminds me, I forgot to tell my Grandpa that they take debit cards on the plane!! My quarters are no good there ..Technology, crazy..

Turns out, navigating the airports was pretty fun and not hard at all. The fact that I had 3.5 hours per layover really helped the situation, too.

I did get a kick out of my first adventure at the SLC airport though. This time "the crowd" was going in the opposite direction. I totally felt like a rebel.



Walkthisway

So..I had it all planned out. I took (too many) some pictures of this guy because I was really worried about having to take my shoes off in security. I was not a fan of being barefoot on a floor that lots of other bare feet were on. Ew.

I had to do it anyway, but I saw this man after and thought I should totally use him as my inspiration, and not freak out about taking my shoes off for a few seconds. I mean, he was rockin no shoes throughout the airport!

Fast forward almost a month later and I'm watching a show with Travis when all of a sudden **I see this man!!! On TV!!! He is famous!!!** Trav said he hasn't worn shoes in over 10 years, and that's his way of life! Crazy. Anyways, he has his own show on TV. It's called Dual Survivor. I guess it makes sense now. During the time I was having a personal photoshoot with him, without his permission...Some lady went ballistic when she saw him saying "Oh my God!! I love your show, can I shake your hand?!"

I guess you could say in a way I met someone famous, and out of all of the states I went to...it was in my home state!! Awesome!



FamousMan

I had *plenty* of (worried family members) time to kill at the SLC airport before my flight left, so I decided to grab some grub in case they didn't offer anything on the plane.

I enjoyed a delicious BK salad!



EatinginSLC

And then it was time to board the plane!! Remember, it's been a really long time!! I'm sure everyone else could tell, too. I sort of wanted to be one of those people who just sat there on the plane with their head back, resting their eyes, waiting for the flight to be over. Or like the ones who peacefully read with their personal reading light assisting them.

Instead I was the one on the edge of her seat, freaking out a little because she couldn't wait for take-off. I was the one who took a million pictures out the window...even though every single picture looked the same as we were still on the ground. I was the one who took pictures of the mini pretzels because I thought they were the cutest things in the world. I was the rookie..but I loved it!

Oh, and the best part? I sat next to one of those people who were like "Ugh..just another flight. No biggie. I'll just sit here and read." She was cranky, and sort of annoying. Also, this flight was only around 45 minutes long, so the plane was very small (unlike my neighbor lady). It was sort of awkward, but we made due. Didn't say one word to each other. I was also going to note that we didn't even look at each other, but the glare she gave me when the kind lady said "Phones will need to be put away in 5 minutes or so" counted as a look, I suppose.



Rookie--WindowPretzel

I worked on Monday, so I started my 14 hour flight out in my work clothes. Ha..bad idea. Well, not horrible bad I guess. I looked good for the first little while (40 minutes), but definitely changed at my first layover in Denver.

My under the plane bag had rollers on the bottom of it, and I thought I was so cool. Next time though, I'll definitely be cooler if my carry on bags (aka--the bags I'm dealing with for 14 hours) have rollers. I can't even explain how much of a pain in the ass it was to cart those things around everywhere!! They were so heavy!!

(You'll see a random picture of a Vegas gate. I seriously considered a quick trip during my layover. That would have been delightful!)



HeavyBags

The first layover was around 3 hours and 40 minutes. It was after hours so everything in the Denver airport was closed!!

The airport was crazy huge though, so at first I walked around and took some pictures.

Then I realized that I was *carting* a ton and decided that it was time to get serious and 1--change, 2--sit down!!

I finally found a map, and secretly wished that I'd need to take the train in order to get to my gate.

--My wish came true!!



DenverAirport

So, I boarded the train. The train of humiliation is basically what it ended up being.

Because of that fact that I was 1--exhausted 2--excited to take a picture on the train 3--a rookie, I sat on the bench at the veeeerrryyyy back of the train.

..and took a picture. I thought the tracks looked cool.



Pictures from phone 166

So, I took a few more pictures.



Pictures from phone 165

And then I realized I could see my reflection and thought to myself "Self, it'd be super awesome if you could catch a picture of the tracks *and* your reflection. Oh, and it'd be cool if you were like smiling or something in the picture."



Pictures from phone 164

So, I took my advice and took (way too many to admit) a few pictures.



Pictures from phone 163

It was pretty hard to capture a good reflection.



Pictures from phone 162

And then it dawned on me. Just because I was at the back of the train, didn't mean that I was back there by myself. In fact, what it meant was that everyone on the train was staring at the girl who sits by the window of the train and takes pictures of herself the entire time.

I know this is true because when I turned around....yeah....you can probably guess what happened.

It was sort of awkward. I simply smiled, and tucked my phone into my coat pocket. Then I was on my way!



Pictures from phone 160

Once I finally found my gate, I had about 2 hours to kill. At this point it wasn't super late, and it was my first layover so I was kind of excited. I found an outlet, and got all comfy. There was a couple about my age who sat pretty close, so we were able to keep each other company for the biggest part of the layover. It actually flew by!

Another lady was sort of escorted to the gate by one of the security guards. She was in a wheel chair so he helped her with her luggage and all of that. It was really nice. I talked to her for awhile too. She was a sweetheart.

About 30 minutes before boarding, someone came around and told us that the gate was switched, and we had to move everything to the new gate. I instantly wondered what the lady was going to do. The man took the wheel chair when he left.

I noticed her grabbing her cane, so I went over and told her I'd grab her bags for her and take them over.

I hadn't even planned on mentioning her, but I noticed that when I took the pictures of the second plane I was in (soooo much nicer and roomier), she was in the pictures!!

If you look closely, she's the lady in the red vest type thingy, with a white shirt under it.

She was such a sweetheart! :)



Biggerplane--LadyIHelped

By the time we boarded the plane taking us to Charlotte, I was tired. It was around 4 in the morning and I hadn't slept yet. This was going to be the longest flight, so I'd planned on sleeping for a couple of hours.

There were three seats accross on this plane, which was so fantastic!! I was at the very back of the plane, and for the first 5 minutes or so of boarding, *no one* sat down next to me. I was so hoping that I'd have all three seats to myself so I could really get some sleep. Plus my first experience with a neighbor wasn't the greatest.

And then the very last person got on the plane, and his seat was the aisle seat of the three. We had an open seat in between us, so that ended up working out really well. He was about my age, too. A lot better neighbor...in fact, I didn't sleep at all on that flight. He ordered some pringles, and I ordered some lightly salted almonds, and we talked the entire time. He was from Colorado, and taught guitar. He was facinated about Utah, and the different laws and such. It was good times, but we were both sooo tired. It's just really hard to actually get some sleep on a plane.

I got to Charlotte around 5am. That was nice because the stores were actually open. It didn't do me any good, because all I really wanted to do was sleep..but I did walk around a little. I loved the Charlotte airport. It was really cute.



CharlotteAirport

I got in line at a breakfast place and got a little something to eat. Everyone in front of me ordered "grits" so I figured I'd do the same. Bad call. They are not so neat.

The coolest part about the Charlotte airport was the rocking chairs!! They had a huuuuggge row of white rocking chairs. Next to each one was an outlet. It was the perfect setup!

I sat down on one after I ate, and wanted to take out my laptop and kill some time but the fact that I'd have to take it out, plug it in, and put it away in a short time mixed with the fact that I hadn't slept yet, and was exhausted killed any motivation, so I just sat in the rocking chair...rocking. I stayed there for about 30 minutes. At one point I took out my phone and wrote a few notes down. Sort of like a mini blog I guess...

"Pensacola is the next and final stop!! I have three hours to kill at the Charlotte airport but that's okay. It's adorable and I found some rocking chairs!! The best part? They don't cost 7 dollars! Everything costs 7 dollars, I swear! Other than that, North Carolina is freezing!! They said it was 11 degrees today, and for some reason they don't believe in heaters in this airport. The people are different here. It's hard to explain. It's so much more diverse. I love it! It's cool to hear the different languages and see the different styles. Man, some people think things look good. I wonder if they look in the mirror before they leave.

PS..note to self: Next time you fly for 14 hours, please bring a pillow, an apple, and a toothbrush. Also, invest in a rollie bag. Even long rides on the escalators start to hurt."



GritsinNC

Then I tried to sleep. It was so cold though, and *so* not comfortable. Also, I was really worried about my bags being by themselves while I slept, and that if I fell too asleep, that I wouldn't hear them announcing my plane boarding, so after maybe a 15 or 20 minute power nap, I got up and took pictures of the sunset...which was sort of cool because at the same time, a plane was landing so I watched that as well.



CharlotteSunrise

Another short plane ride (which I was actually able to sleep for a good 30 minutes on) I was no longer the picture taking rookie. I was definitely the Ugh..another flight type.

Except for when we got into Florida! I was wide awake, and excited!! I was finally there!



IntheairFlorida

Next, I'd grab my luggage from the bag claim, and go meet AK outside! It was time to bust out a vacation in only 3 days!! (...and off of an hour of sleep)




Friday, January 14, 2011

What's Christmas season without the Temple lights?!

...The answer is "Not nearly as good"

The lights downtown SLC around Christmastime are so beautiful. I went with the fam a few weeks ago to check them out!!


lightsCollage2

There were 12 of us this time! (Me, Kass, AK, Auntie Tammy, Uncle David, Alexis, Daniel, Katie, Megan, Jo, Her Mom (Sorry!), and Sam!)


KassnI

Besides the freezing factor, it was fun! We stopped on the walk back to the car and got some hot cocoa, compliments of AK. SWEET!!


MeganwarmKasspose

Megan came prepared with hand (nose) warmers, and Kassi came prepared to pose.


TempleLights1

It was a lovely adventure during the greatest season out there!!

PS..if you're keeping track, that just about completes my Holiday pictures. Next up, *vacation pics!!!!* I've been so excited to go through and edit and post and remember and wish I was still there and document this trip!! Coming to a blog near you very, soon!! (Keep in mind though...I was able to document close to 1000 memories during that trip. Lucky me!)


Wednesday, January 12, 2011

The pink dots on the D are my favorite.

Update:
Since they're my favorite, and it's kind of hard to see them on the picture below, here are the pink dots! A. dor. a. ble. Right?



dance2

I've mentioned this recently, but I'll mention it again. I was a busy. busy. busy. lady around the holidays. My cousin Megan hinted a few times that she wanted the letters "Dance" for her room. I knew the first time that she'd mentioned it that that's what I was going to be making for her for Christmas.

To clarify...She told me starting in Septemberish about the dance letters.

To admit something that totally shows who I am...Her letters were finished on Christmas Eve. Whew. I don't like to cut things close, do I!

I had a couple of other requests, and ended up making hand made gifts for a good chunk of the fam. I had a great time doing it, and loved the way they turned out! It's so nice to watch someone's face light up over something you made with your own two hands.



XMasProjects

I was able to post these examples in my Etsy shop, and guess what?! I got my first sale!!! I've had my Etsy shop open for awhile now, so makes me all sorts of giddy.

Oh, and speaking of Etsy, I made this really cute (I think) collage of pictures (mostly from my vaca to Alabama) to use as my default Etsy pic. Maybe the picture of my flip flops with beach sand on them triggered my first sale. Sweet!!



etsyme

While we're on the Etsy topic...I was fixing up my blog a little the other day and accidentally deleted my etsy shop button!! Boo! That will be coming back shortly. Hopefully.

In the meantime, if you want to check out my shop it's definebliss.etsy.com.

Love you all!! Have a great Hump Day! (How is it not Friday yet?!) Be back soon!



Monday, January 10, 2011

Christmas 2010

We started Christmas a little early this year. Trav, Trey, and I did our Christmas on Christmas Eve (Mainly because the suspense was killing me..) Also, because it was hard to keep Trey's treats from him any longer! He enjoyed his new toys, and still has his bones. I don't know what it is with him. One bone lasts a few months, lol...


TreyXmas

Christmas Morning Kass and I woke up early and started at Mom's house. Levi got a bike, and a 360!! Lucky duck! Next, we went to Dad's, and finally to Grandpa Wootens.

It's still a very hard adjustment (and still hard to believe) to not have Grandma there. She would have been proud of us though, we did it. Everything was great. The food, the family time, giving presents, the games. Everything. We love and miss her sooo much, and wish she was still with us. We are however, extremely thankful that we did have the time we had with her. The memories are something that each one of us have. She was a special lady, and has a special place in the heart of every person she ever met.


FoodCollage

HanginOutCollage

Catch Phrase was one of the games we played this year. It's a must each time we sit down to play games!! Some of the others this year were Scattegories, Pit, WhoWhatWhy, and Last Word. We love our fair share of games!!


GamesCollage

There was plenty of help needed this year. Christmas came sooo quickly, and I was about 7 states away from Utah (with my Aunt--Pictures coming very soon!) just a couple short weeks before Christmas!! That meant when we got back, there was lots of shopping, and wrapping to do!!
Kassi even did her part, wrapping until she was blue (red) in the face!!


WrappingCollage

We managed to get everything all done, and as always everything turned out wonderfully!


PassingoutPresentsCollage

Opening presents collage

I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas this year!!




Tuesday, January 4, 2011

But the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be on your own front door!

It (was) beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!ChristmasDecorations
Everywhere you (went)

ChristmasDecorationsCollage

Soon the bells (did) startChristmasTreeCollage
And the thing that (made) them ring is the carol that we (sang)

VillageCollage

Right within our heartsOutsideChristmasCollage
A little late, but better late than never right?! More to come about our Christmas this year, but this is what it (looked) like at our house this year. We (I) had everything out and setup the day after Thanksgiving! I went out of town the week after and came home to outside lights! Trav was nice enough to hang them while I was gone. ..Now, if only he'd be nice enough to *un-hang* them this weekend.

We had a little more room this year so I was able to set up a village. Most people (I think) don't do villages as much anymore, but this is something that has been passed down as a tradition from generation to generation. In fact, most of my *village* this year was provided by my Grandma throughout the years. I know she'd be proud, and I can't wait to keep adding to it each year!

We had a real tree this year (same as always). I took it down New Years Day, and woah. Now I know why Trav is not so much a fan of real trees. (I'm not going to tell him it was a pain, though. Definitely not telling.) I didn't want to take precious vaccuuming time away and use it for counting pine needles, but I bet there were a million spread out on my carpet/rug...so.glad.that's.cleaned.up.

I'll be going through Christmas Day pictures this week so stay tuned!!



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