Kitchen Attempt #1

In our small apartment there is not much organizing we can do, and not too much storage either. We are learning to be creative with how we are organizing everything, it’s fun. We have two cabinets that we can put pots, pans, cutting boards, and other containers, so we have decided to have one for our rectangle things, and the other is for circular. It’s working well for us, our things are stacking better, and we are able to fit more in the cabinets. I love it, and Nathan knows where everything is too.

Our dishwasher is me, mostly, so it makes it hard to have the dished caught up all the time. But it is getting a bit easier with our organization, and that I am able to be home a little more so I have more time to keep up on the cleaningand do projects like this one. 

Before…                                      After..

Since I have done this project our kitchen feels a lot more clean, and is staying.

~linnley

Projects

 

It is that glorious time of the year, that my favorite seasons are coming about, the sun is shining more, flowers are starting to come up, and we get to look forward to planting a garden. There are so many joys to having Spring and Summer as a part of our year, and I am so grateful to have these wonderful warm seasons to look forward to each year.

I am extra excited this year because we have applied to get our own garden plot at our apartments, and I have volunteered to help them divide them and get them ready to plant. I have never been one to enjoy planting with my parents, but there is something so special about it being yours, and to be able to share it with Nathan is so exciting.

As I am still trying to add things to my bucket list, I have decided to do a projects list. These are going to be things that I need or even just want to do to prepare for the wonderful seasons ahead. Each week, or maybe twice a week I will fulfill a project, and blog it. (My sister in law Jessica is so good at this and gets her adorable children to help, in which I have taken the idea from her and getting ready for spring and summer). This will give me something to do in my spare time, and will help me better organize my home, and to use the things I do already own and know where everything is.

I look forward to starting this week. Stay tuned for details on the new projects for 2010.

 

~Linnley

Crafts??

I've been trying to discover my creative side, especially when I worked at Emerson Elem. School, I did a lot of crafts with the kids. I just have not been able to accomplish a project that worked. When KC or Mackenzie or even the boys would show me up always. It was embarrassing, and rather discouraging. I have quit (not because I could do the crafts, but other reasons) and now waiting to start my new job, I have time on my hands and I have made some fun things.

On Saturday I got a final wedding gift from Pampered Chef, it was a cookie press, and I was just so excited to make some spritz cookies. So, Sunday afternoon I made some Spritz Cookies, chocolate and regular. Nathan actually enjoyed them quite a bit! I was excited.

After finishing the cookies we decided to take some around to our neighbors, we don't have much to take them in, so I put them in sandwich bags, but luckily they turned out pretty cute! I put a few cookies in each bag, with cinnamon hearts, as well as some fruit sours, and to top it off I tied a pink ribbon around them to add a little more valentines twist.

My creative days are not totally over yet. Today I decided I wanted to make my valentines cards for my family, and for Nathan. I found myself at Roberts Crafts today, and it was all so overwhelming. So many pretty things, and hard to pick the things to make cards out of. I called my mom to get a little help of how to pick, and just to talk to her. It was so great to get her help, and just to talk to her too.

After an overwhelming trip to Roberts Craft's I was able to make a decision, and make two cards to start off with. I am rather excited at how well they turned out.

I am so thrilled at how well they turned out, and am looking forward to making more, and hopefully, getting a hang of the whole crafty creative side of things. I am so so excited to show Nathan and to see what he thinks.

A word to everone, crafty or not, there is some spark in everyone, but for some of us it may be a bit of work, but it's there promise. If I could make something like this, then anyone could make something.

~Linn

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2010, it is time to look forward to a new year, a time for more adventures, laughter, fun, as well as a time to learn, grow, and love. I am excited to start this new year with Nathan, and that we are able to start traditions, goals, and help one another improve.

It wasn't until this week did I get to understand the value of having a spouse to help me figure out what should be my new year's resolutions, and the areas of my life that are important that I need to work on, and to have his support and love at this time.

I am excited to help him, to drag him to the gym with me a few times a week, and to remind each other what we should be doing, not that it is going to be hard, but it will be fun. Nathan is a good hard worker, but also loves his play. It's been a great break for him to play Xbox everynight with his brothers, though it's not always been enjoyable for me, it has been nice to keep him busy and preoccupied with it, rather than pestering me ;)..

I want to wish everyone a happy new year from Nathan and I. I hope that it will be as fun of a year as it will be for us.

Happy New Year.

~Linn Sweeney

Snow Day

All this snow has covered our homes, our cars, as well at the roads. Traveling in the slick roads has not been fun, but sure has been interesting. After a long day of work for both Nathan and I, we were able to relax at home and stay out of the cold snow. I was excited to be home and rest, but Nathan must have had too much sugar or something because he was bouncing off the walls saying all sorts of crazy stuff trying to be annoying.

Wanting to take a nap or just read, I sat on the couch with Nathan, but that didn't last long. With all the snow we had recieved he wanted to go sledding. I've not been the biggest fan of sledding, tubing is fun that is different, and being in the snow when you actually have snow clothes is more fun than jeans and sweats getting wet. After much asking, I gave in at we took our green and blue saucers out in the snow to sled down the hill next to our apartment.

It was getting a little dark out, but we were still able to see pretty well. We weren't the only ones out in the snow, a couple of kids and their dads were out sledding with them. It was rather funny to watch. As a two kids were walking up the hill another kid procceded to go down on their sled taking out one of the others, now if that was me I'd be laughing, I actually was when I saw it. Much to our dismay he started to cry, which was surprising because he was probably 10 years old, once he got up the hill after he finished being a baby, he told his dad "Sledding is more dangerous than it is fun." I thought it was funny, only because it is true, every time I've gone I've gotten hurt or someone I was with has.

We went down the hill a couple of times, on our bums, and on our stomachs, then we discovered a jump that had been made last time it snowed. Nathan went off the jump and loved it, so I ran in grabbed the camera and tried taking a picture of him going off, I kept missing him, so he had to keep walking up the hill. He was getting tired and complaining but that's when I thought it was funny was when he had to keep walking up the hill. He got a picture of me going down, I do have to say that jump was pretty good, I had a lot of fun going down it. Though your hands get cold, your bum starts to freeze, it's quite fun being able to sled for a few minutes just right outside our apartment.

Being a recently married couple is fun, we get to enjoy things with each other and when we want to, for the most part, but we can come back in warm up and have some soup when we are ready. The adventures we get to have are great, and I look forward to many more.

~Linn Sweeney

~HoLiDaY AdVeNtUrEs~

Happy New Year!! It is now the end of a decade, and so much has happened, not just in our world, but in our own lives. I can say that in these last ten years, so much has happened and I have changed so much, I am positive Nathan could say the same. Just in this last year even in the last 6 months so much has happened and it shapes us each and every day.

We had the opportunity to celebrate Christmas with my family, all my siblings as well as my parents were in town, and we got to play games, watch movies, read our christmas book, and enjoy each other's company. Though a lot of people in the family (my nephew, sister, mom, brother-in-law, grandpa and his wife, as well as nathan's niece Cindy) got the flu. Despite all the sickness we were able to remember christ, and what the holiday's are about. Being married certainly puts a twist into things, like who's family thing are we going to do, do we just want to do our own thing, or what, but I have found through this that I am learning a lot. One key thing is to pick your battles, not everything matters that much. I am so grateful for Nathan and that he helps me see these things. It deffinately takes a lot of work.

One thing Nathan and I are doing is splitting the movies we watch from Netflix. One week it's a Nathan movie the next it's a chick-flick for me. This week we watched Julie &Julia, I would recomend it to anyone. I loved it. After watching that movie, it has given me some inspiration. Last December my sister helped me start my own blog, it's about triathlons, fitness and health, I didn't get very far with it, and just left it hanging back in May. My new goal is to write everyday something new I learned either at school about a fitness thing, a health idea, anything that I learn, I will seek out to find this stuff so that I am learning as readers get to learn as well. Peoples comments and questions would help me with my search as to what I should write. I am excited about this new goal, and in a year from now as we are preparing to ring in 2011, we will be able to see what I've learned, the progress I have made with my career, and how much I have improved on my self, as well as who ever reads it I hope they too will benefit. I am excited about this, and I want to invite you to check out my blog and see if it is something of interest. It is linnleyscott.blogspot.com it is called TRI for Life, I will be writing about my passion, as what Julie did in the movie but her passion was cooking.

I am excited for this adventure I have ahead of me, and I hope that you will find an adventure this year to excite you and motivate you to finish. Let's not start our year with resolutions and finish with out completing them. Let's make 2010 better than 2009.

May you have a safe New Year, and fun filled!

~Linn Sweeney

~ Our Escape from Winter ~

Black Friday is known for the shopping, but our black friday this year was spent on a long flight to Hawaii. We were able to ride on a big plane, there were 7 seats per row, we sat in the middle row of three seats. Which we didn't mind much too much, it would have been fun to sit next to the window as we flew into Hawaii, but it was still great. The coolest part of the flight was the personal t.v's we had. On the back of each seat there was a touch screen t.v that we were able to pick what we watched, played games or even just listened to music.

We watched some movies, first we started watching I love you Beth Cooper, it ended up being a stupid movie so we both shut it off, then we watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Can I say stupid! Sorry to all those Harry Potter fans, but that was a dumb movie, and it was sooo long. After I finished that movie, I watched Four Christmases, now that was a funny movie!

It is so smart for these airlines to have the personal t.v's it keeps everyone entertained. They have movies for kids, and adults, also the movies that they do play are edited so it makes for good movies. We had a little boy named Luke sitting in front of us, and I do have to say he was the best behaved kid I have seen on an airplane. He was maybe four, and never fussed, he did get out of his seat and lay on the floor, it was cute. I do know that, that family was LDS so I can say that I think he learned to be well behaved in situations like that from church, and probably from flying before too. I was impressed. He also told me he was going to see a shark, so when we saw them at the beach our first day of snorkeling I had to ask him if he'd seen any before I got in.

After waiting several hours in the Hawaii Airport we met up with DeAnne and Karl (nathan's parents), that's when our true vacation began, and we headed off to our hotel. We stayed in the Ko Olina Marriott, the villa we stayed in was so nice, probably two and a half times bigger than our current apartment. The view was beautiful, especially at sunrise.

Saturday we spent snorkeling and grocery shopping. It was great to be on the beach and spend time in the ocean. The water was a bit chilly, but the fish were cool. We saw yellow fish, striped one's like on Finding Nemo, we also saw skinny fish that looked like light blue sticks. We also went snorkeling on Monday at Hanauma Bay. It was beautiful. There was a lot more coral, but the water was still cold and it rained, but it still made for a beautiful day in Hawaii.

Nathan and Karl went snorkeling together while DeAnne and I warmed up on the beach. While they were out, they saw a sea turtle, and fulfilled Nathan's wish to see one. My wish was to go by and see the temple, which we accomplished on Tuesday, when we went to the PCC.

One of the funniest parts of the trip, well for me, was when we were heading to the PCC I saw the motel I stayed in with my parents, I pointed it out to Nathan. He and his parents thought I was joking, because it had been condemned, and grafiti had been done all over it. Sure enough it was the place we had stayed, my parents laughed when I told them.

Our trip to Hawaii, was an great adventure. We went to the beaches, we went down a scary, dark water slide at the hotel, we went to a swap-meet or otherwise known as a flea market. We drank a pina-colada, sat in a hot tub by the ocean, got lost on the roads of Oahu, kayaking, surfing as well as the Pinapple Plantation. We had a blast. Much Thanks to DeAnne and Karl for their hospitality and great love!

Our new goal, to go back to Hawaii :)