overdue

{What?! Alayna is updating her blog?!}

Hello friends. It's been a while. What can I say? Life has just been crazy busy. I'm sure you all understand. Afterall, I am not the only terrible blogger out there. But this has for sure got to be a record for me. No promises that things will get better...

Anyway, Christmas is just 3 days away. I can't believe it! No, I DON'T believe it. As much as I love living in AZ, it's just hard to wrap my head around Christmas when it's 60+ degrees. I miss the snow and cold this time of year. And with no annual trip to UT this year, it's been different.

I've had my fair share of Christmas festivities. Starting with the annual decorating of the gingerbread house with my nephews on Thanksgiving.
Such a work of art! And very difficult for me to just sit back and watch the dirty little fingers touch and/or lick everything, and place things in unusual places. My mother says that next year she will get one just for me...so I can do what I want with it. Haha. I love it!

Next item on the agenda, the work Christmas party, catering to our hispanic co-workers with Mexican food, a mariachi band and a pinata. Good times...mostly.I decided, in an effort to save some money, to make all homemade Christmas gifts this year.

Never again.

Not sure that it's worth it...and not sure that it saves on the funds. Seriously, that took up all of my time and was a huge factor into why I don't blog anymore. So for OUR sake...I promise not to do that again!

However, I am somewhat in love with the results and proud of my efforts. Hopefully my friends and family enjoy the gifts...

With that being said, my home and other aspects of life have suffered from my lack of time. I had to take a day off of work just so I could decorate my Christmas tree and clean my house! But I am happy that I can now just enjoy laying on the couch, looking at my awesome Christmas tree. Matchy matchy ornaments and white lights...makes my OCD heart happy!Other Christmasy happenings have happened, like the annual trip to the temple to see the lights, drinking QT hot chocolate on a regular basis, wearing sweatshirts and I even wore shoes one day this last week {gasp}. It's been a very eventful and exciting month!

But perhaps a near favorite event, not Christmas related, was the birth of my puppy babies.Look at sweet Frederick with our babies! I am trying to convince Freddy to give me a puppy, but let him raise it, train it and take care of it...at his house. I think he's almost convinced.

Or maybe not.

But in all seriousness, how can you deny this face? Swoon.

Speaking of babies and swooning, I have some great news! On December 16th I became an aunt...again...for the 8th time! My 7th nephew, cute little Chase William, made his appearance and swiftly found his way to my heart. I love him!
And finally, no Christmas would be complete without a white elephant gift exchange. I was lucky enough to open these tinfoil hats, made by my friend Lisa. Think of the movie "Signs" and then think of people wearing these hats saying, "So the aliens can't read our minds." That is the preface behind the hats.

So one day I brought the hats into work and my co-workers and I did all sorts of crazy things with them. Mostly inappropriate and unable to be posted, but just believe me when I say that we shed some tears due to laughter. Here is Saije and me, hiding in a makeshift cornfield, so the aliens can't find us. And here is another representation of the tinfoil hats, the bug eyes.I'm sure your imagination can take you all sorts of directions for different photo ops. I would love to hear your thoughts...

Anyway, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I hope you enjoy your time with your family and friends. And I also hope you find the time to focus on the real reason for this season, our Savior Jesus Christ. Because without Him, there would be no Christmas. That is my goal this year, to focus on the true meaning of Christmas...because so far I am failing.

I can't wait to share my homemade Christmas gifts with you...AFTER they are opened.

I will blog again.

Guaranteed.

{Merry Christmas, yo}

a little of this, a little of that...

It's about time I updated my blog with something of value.

But I've got nothing valuable to share.

So for now, I will just share some thoughts I've had lately:

*I really love "No Shave November." There is just something about a man with facial hair that makes me smile. However, I do not love girls that participate in "No Shave November." That's just nasty. But to tell you the truth, I am convinced that I can grow a beard faster than most men I know.
*I have been listening to Christmas music since October 24th. And to be honest, I am shocked that I have done this because I tend to get sick of Christmas music pretty quick. No, I am not listening to only Christmas music, but I did venture out with some friends to buy the new Michael Buble Christmas CD (at midnight, dressed in winter clothing...when it was probably 80 degrees outside)...and I can't bring myself to take it out of the car CD player. So I listen to it, everyday. And I LOVE it!

*I can't seem to get enough crafting in these days. I think it all started when I had to begin preparations to teach the Relief Society lesson this last weekend. The lesson was on "Tender Mercies" and I threw in "Gratitude" too. We decided to give each of the girls gratitude journals to take home and I LOVED creating them. I made my own (which I stare at and smile at everyday) as well as a "Tender Mercies" sign to display throughout the month (that is our Relief Society theme for November). Wanna see?Honestly, I had such a hard time preparing my lesson because I just had to keep sneaking into my kitchen to look at my creations. Yep, I'm weird like that. Are you the same? You make something cute and can't pull yourself away from staring? So now I have switched my focus to Christmas presents. I have stayed up near midnight the last two nights because I am so in love with what I am making and CAN'T STOP! But at least it is a worthy cause...

{I am out of thoughts}

Halloween '11

Halloween 2011. It was a good one.

I decided to try my luck at making a handmade costume (or 2) this year...and I was pleasantly pleased with the outcome. My costumes were different than the norm, but very much pertinent to my life and sense of humor. You see, I dressed up as a candle:and as a Peeping Tom:

Why I chose to dress up as these two items you ask? Well, it's sort of an inside joke between my friends and myself with our dear friend Jay Frederick. You see, Jayfred is a very private person. He will let us into his home, but REFUSES to let us see into his bedroom. Not only can we not step foot in there, but we can't even peek our head in. Anywho, one day he sent us pictures of his bedroom, just to satisfy our curiosity. And what did our eyes behold? Countless numbers of candles...EVERYWHERE!!! And an Energizer Bunny on his head board (but that's beside the point). We joke that he is shooting porn in his bedroom. So the candle was a MUST.

The Peeping Tom is because for the longest time since I have known him he always jokes about how his dogs bark everytime he starts undressing in his room. He says it's because I am in his backyard, watching him undress through the window. I think it's because the dogs are crying in anguish, seeing him get undressed again. Anywho, that is why this costume was a MUST as well.

Flash forward to the Sunday before Halloween. The girls and I decided to have a little get together (because you shouldn't call it a party on a Sunday) and invite some friends over to eat snacks, play games and show off costumes. A few friends came to my house, and here are their fantastic costume choices:Mrs. Pacman (Cara), the Candle (yours truly) and a Roman Goddess (Daja)Mrs Pacman (Cara) and her hubby, Blinky the Ghost (Justin)Jayfred...dressed up as a shaggy red-neck (or atleast that's what I told people that he was)Dr. D Capitate and his trusted assistant (Zach and Alyssa)Snow White (Lisa)Wonder Woman (Mari)

There were other folks there, but I don't have individual shots of them and/or they didn't dress up. We mostly hung out and laughed about life, but we did play a fun game of toilet paper mummy wrapping (is that what you call it) and Smurf.

Good times. Good times.

But perhaps the highlight of my night (and dare I say it, Jayfred's too) was the re-creation of Freddy lounging sexily on my bed with a candle flickering in the background:Haha. I die.

Look how HAPPY he is when I get a little closer...

The actual day of Halloween was interesting. We had our work Halloween party and I chose to wear my Candle costume. I won a prize for the costume contest. Jay was proud.

That night was the Branch Halloween party. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures...but it was a pretty fun activity. Apparently the mummy wrap is the hit game of the season, because we played it again. Here is poor Andrew, forced to eat the empty toilet paper rolls. Doesn't he look squishy?And speaking of Andrew, I had to post this eerily awesome pic of him because I think he looked HOTT dressed up as Stefan Salvatore from Vampire Diaries:We did take a pic of us together with him pretending to bite my neck, but it was taken on his cell phone and I don't have it. Oh, I guess I should mention that I dressed up as the Peeping Tom for the Branch Halloween party...AND won the prize for the most creative costume.

Woohoo!

Two costumes, two awards! Who would have known that Freddy would be such a great inspiration and good luck charm?!

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a Peeping Candle:

{Boo}

monday night madness

For the longest time my friends and I have been having what we like to call "Monday Night Madness." Basically we go to Family Home Evening at the church each Monday night from 7:30 until about 9:30, then after we get together and play. In the early beginnings of Monday Night Madness we would stay up until 3am-ish just playing around, etc. Well lately our Monday nights have been pretty lackluster, and we just watch a movie and/or talk. While I love just doing those things too, I miss the good old days of getting crazy. So this last Monday I decided to have the girls come over to my house and I pulled out my box of Halloween costumes.

And then we pulled out the camera.

The following pictures make me smile:

It was a great night and I hope to have many more like it! It feels good to be a freak again and there is not a better feeling than laughing so hard you cry! Thanks for the fun night girls!

{keep 'em coming}

more craftiness

I have been in such a crafty mood lately it almost makes me sick! All I think about is sewing or making things for people...which is a good thing, but it makes it that much harder to actually do my work at work! Haha.

Well, ever since I got my new calling at church, I knew that I needed a new tote to carry my plethora of books and supplies in. I saw several handmade totes on Pinterest and decided that I would make one. I knew that my tote needed to be something that would match with anything, and since I wear mostly black and brown to church, I found some neutral colors and got to work. And this is the end result:What do you think? Are you as in love with it as I am?! I bought a pack of 3 totes, so if anyone wants one, I'm your girl!

{I am an official bag lady}

in love

On Sunday my nephew turned 5. When trying to decide what to get him for his birthday, my brother (knowing that I am strapped for cash) suggested that my nephew would be thrilled to get a box of candy. So I went with it. But, being the ridiculous person that I am, could not fathom just giving him a box of candy. So I took the liberty to decorate the boxes of candy. I chose a football theme because I had already purchased a mini football for him before my brother suggested candy. Aren't they cute??

On his actual birthday my mother and I went over to his house for cake and ice-cream. I was so in love with him that day because he was so adorable! He loved the candy and loved putting the homemade boxes on his hands as well. We started playing chess together, well Jake's version of chess, and then he started playing some games on his mother's iPhone. It was comical because Jake wanted me to watch everything he was doing, so he would get right next to me. And then Ty, his brother, wanted to watch too so he would sit right next to Jake. I would ocassionally scoot over, and within seconds Jake would be moving to get closer to me. I tried to capture a moment of the boys just to show how cute they looked right next to each other, but my flash came on so this is what I got:

I love those kids! Later on that night Jake dumped out all of his candy and we sorted it by color. I asked him if I could have a red Skittle because they are my favorite, and he said I could. As my mother and I were getting ready to leave Jake said, "I don't want you to leave. I want you to stay and play with me." That boy definitely knows how to tug at my heart strings! I wanted to just hug him and take him home with me. However, we did have to leave and he seemed ok with it. After he hugged me goodbye and as I was turning to walk out I felt a little tap on my leg. I turned around to see Jake, holding one red Skittle with his hand outstretched to give it to me.

{love}

the place i always go...

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to go to my favorite vacation spot: Utah! Ok, so maybe it's not my favorite vacation spot, but definitely the place I use most of my vacation time on. But I do love seeing my friends and family and getting away from the heat of AZ on ocassion.

This weekend trip was a little bit different because I had some AZ friends with me, so it was fun experiencing Utah with them. The first day there was hands down my favorite day. We woke up in the morning (after getting a few hours sleep) and headed to this beautiful place:I LOVE the Salt Lake Temple! So breathtaking! And the gardens were in full bloom and beautiful. Here we are before we went in the temple to do an endowment session:After the temple we made our first of several trips to Crown Burger. My friend Cara is in love with this place and it was pretty much the only reason she wanted to come to Utah with me. Can't you just see the excitement on her face?! I was glad that I could indulge in this with her. That place is quite delicious!



Our friend Lisa left us for the rest of the weekend to go to a missionary reunion and to spend time with her family. That night Cara and I met up with a couple of my favorite people:and went to one of my favorite places:to watch one of my favorite things! Have I mentioned that I LOVE FOOTBALL?! Well, I do. It makes me so very happy!!! My family went to BYU games my entire childhood, so I have so many fond memories of going to the games and couldn't wait to get back in that stadium to watch a game again. Add the fact that BYU was playing my Alma Mater, Utah State, I couldn't pass up the opportunity.

Even though we missed the first quarter of the game due to a late departure and horrific traffic, it was still worth every penny. Once we got to the stadium, we were shocked to see that our tickets were the farthest away from the entrance, and on the very top row of the stadium. Needless to say, we were a bit short-of-breath and sweaty by the time we actually got to our seats:
When I purchased the tickets it showed a view from my seats, and it certainly didn't look like they were in the nose bleeds. Oh well. Live and learn. It was an awesome game! I cheered for BYU, but happily sang the Utah State fight song everytime they scored. I also got to sit next to an Aggie fan, so we had fun going back and forth, trash talking. Cara must have been confused because she kept cheering for ASU...The Aggies put up a good fight, but in the end my Cougars came out victorious. A nail biting ending, makes for some good football and a happy Alayna.

The rest of the weekend was difficult because it was General Conference and there wasn't much time in between sessions to do much. On Saturday I introduced Cara to Taipan. And we may or may not have gone to Crown Burger too! That night Cara and I met up with some of my friends for a potluck and reminiscing. It was good to see friends, but hard at the same time. I felt bad because my AZ friend was there and I wanted to make sure she fit in, but then my UT friends are at different stages of life than me so it was hard to make sure I fit in. All in all, it was a good night and I am lucky to have such great friends in both states!

Then Sunday I dragged Cara with me to my brother's house to say, "hello" and to take some pictures for a Christmas project I am working on. My brother was less than thrilled to take a picture with me, but I really enjoy this one:And this picture just melts my heart:I love my family and am so lucky to get to see them so often! And I am also grateful that Cara has a nice camera and was willing to take the pictures for me. Thanks Carafun!

And then it was Monday morning...and time to head back to AZ.I don't know how people wake up at 3:30 in the morning to fly home in time for work on a Monday morning, but I am hoping it's not something I will ever have to do again...

When all was said and done, I am grateful that I could go to Utah for a quick weekend trip. I am grateful that I could spend some quality bonding time with my pal Cara and that she could be introduced to the people I love and adore in Utah. Oh, and General Conference was amazing as well!

{Yay for Utah!}

DIY lamp shade

I am trying my hand at posting my first DIY project...just for the sake of pinterest. Haha.

I wish I could take credit for this brilliant idea, but alas I cannot. I stole the idea from my co-worker's super talented wife Heidi. Ready to get started? Let's go!

First, just take any ordinary, lifeless lamp you have laying around. I have had this lamp for approximately 10 years and have hardly used it. I knew I wanted a lamp in my new craft room, but this lamp just wasn't gonna cut it.
Next, cut several strips of fabric. The length of the fabric and width of the fabric depends on how big you want your strips to be and how thick your lampshade is. I used some fabric I had off of a jelly roll, so I believe they measured about 2.5" tall. I just folded the strips in half (with the raw edges meeting in the middle) and ironed them to keep them flat. If you were an over achiever and/or less lazy than me, you can actually sew the wrong sides together to form a tube that you will press flat. Next, just use your sewing machine to sew right down the middle of the strips, pleating every once in a while. Please, there is no need to pin. Just relax and make pleats as you go.

Next, get a hot glue gun and glue those pleated strips to your lampshade. Super easy!

Once your lampshade is covered, feel free to add some awesome fabric flowers, leaves and/or buttons to the lampshade with hot glue. I added one large pleated flower and two smaller fabric roses (which I just made up because none of the tutorials online made sense to me), then threw in a few leaves and glued some sparkly things to the flower center.

All in all, I am very pleased with how it turned out! My fabric was a little crazy, and I would probably make another one with less patterns and/or more muted fabric.

Now, go decorate a lamp shade...I dare you!

{Happy Crafting}