Crafting?

So I had every intention of still updating this blog with craft pics. But with the move and my hectic life there hasn't been alot of crafting. I've forgotten to take pics of what I have done. I resolve to be better!! Here is a quick pic of a custom piece I just finished!!

Thoughts??

New Blog

I decided to just go with a whole new blog address it's

covertaffairs1998.blogspot.com

Come over there and follow me. I'm excited!!

New Name!!

So my mother is a genius. If you read this blog then you already know that. I decided to rename it, she came up with the greatest name ever!! Are you ready to hear it? Covert Affairs... How stinking cute is that?? So it shall be known, except I'm not sure how to change the name.... Anyone got any tips?

Open to suggestions....

So since I'm selling my house I won't have a craft cave anymore. I think maybe the blog needs a new name, it really isn't about crafting so much anymore anyway. And who knows at the next house maybe I will have an airy Craft loft, or a Craft nook. So help me rename the blog. Love you all madly!!

Happiness

Today I am happy and it feels good not to be stressed. I can't believe how much more I like my house without all the clutter!! It will be interesting to see if I can live like this in the future! Today I am getting some paperwork together for the Realtor, and then I will continue with packing things up! I truly believe if I pack like I'm ready to move the house will sell fast. I feel like my little family is on the right track and I haven't felt this way in a long time. Love to you all!!

House

So we were supposed to list the house today, but it turned out Chris had to work. We are pushing it back a week and I'm actually a little relieved. It is getting there, but I feel like every room is almost half done! I'm getting really excited for a new adventure. Even though everyone keeps telling me what a horrible market it is and that nobody's houses are selling, I still feel like ours will sell. We will be listing it a week from today for 185,000 if you know anyone who is looking and wants a great home, send them my way!! It is in Hyrum so it qualifies for the rural housing lending. It's about 2600 sq feet, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2 living rooms, upstairs laundry room, craft room, tons of storage, 2 car garage, almost 1/2 an acre with mature trees, huge shed out back and a basketball pad out back. It also has a sprinkler system, new water heater, furnace and central air are only 6 years old. So everyone keep thinking positive and sending me good vibes!!

Changes...

We have spent all day... Most of all week getting the house ready to list. Talk about an exhausting experience!!! I am loving not having as much stuff in my house. Maybe in the next place I will be all minimal and stuff... Except for the fact that I just hauled about 15 rubbermaid totes full of holiday deco to my mom's house to store, and that isn't even half of my stuff. So minimal and I will prolly never be used in the same sentence!! I am getting excited to sell this house. I will miss it, but I am excited for our new adventure!! For those of you who don't know, we have decided to sell after this tough financial year for us. We are probably going to live with my parents for awhile so we can save up a big down payment, and then we will buy somewhere in Davis county. I hear the schools are great and we have some amazing friends there!! Chris is in Riverdale working now and we want to be close to that area, and be close to SLC at the same time!! So we are selling alot of our "extra" stuff. Let me know if you are in need of some; couches, tv cabinets, shelves, children's desk, older model tvs, dvd players, baby crib, surround systems, gas grill, chairs, wood burning stove, or a sofa table!! I will sell them to you cheap!! I really appreciate all the support that has been give to Chris and I this last little while... It means more than you know!!

I suck...

My blog is lame. I'm not keeping my goals very good, and I'm trying to sell my house.

Goals

As a part of Chris' new job he has had some amazing motivational and sales training. It has been fun to have him tell us all about it. Part of the training included some goal setting, I thought maybe I should set some goals. Wanna hear them? That's what I thought!! So here goes... First I am going to drink enough water every day. I fight being dehydrated and this should help. Second I am going to get on the treadmill every day, this is going to very hard for me. Third I am going to try and get my house on a cleaning schedule. Think I can do it? They're pretty easy, but I can be fairly lazy so we shall see how it goes :)

New adventure.

As most of you know the last 14 months has been really hard for us. Ever since Chris lost his job in January of 2010, he hasn't been able to catch a break or find a decent place to work. He has gotten laid off 3 times in 14 months. The car industry in Cache Valley is a tough place to make a living! Well we have been feeling for a long time that we needed to leave the valley, it isn't a decision that was taken lightly or spur of the moment. Chris just started a new job in Riverdale at Ken Garff Nissan! He is actually moving over to Sales! This is a totally new chapter for us and we are very excited about it!! The plan right now is for us to stay in Hyrum for another year and then look seriously into moving. We have always loved Layton and we have found an area in West Layton that looks like where we are making a goal of moving to. As an added bonus we already have some fantabulous friends that live there. We are very excited and positive about this new experience and really appreciate the love an support we have received from friends and family!! We love you all :)

So I'm done with work for the school year... This is the first year I'm not excited :( Chris is out of work and we are both looking but there just aren't any jobs. I can't tell you how many applications and resumes and interviews and nothing seems to be panning out. I'm pretty sure we are going to be leaving good ole cache valley, but have no idea where we will end up. So if anyone wants to buy my house or hears of an amazing job for my amazing husband please PLEASE let us know!!!!!

Mother's day!!

I decided to do some Mother's day necklaces for gifts this year!!

I made this for Chris' Mom.

This one is for my mom.

I busted out a quick charm clip for Em.

This is a fun clear one for my mom!

The one where I get a titch bit political...

I'm a democrat. I voted for Obama. If that bothers you, you should probably stop reading right about now. I usually keep my politics to myself. I understand that where I live my voted doesn't really count but I cast it anyway. All that being said, I am oh so supremely annoyed right now I felt like I had to write some of this down. This felt like as good a place as any so here goes!

When did people in this country stop respecting the office of the president? I am totally fine if you don't like who it is, you can say it just be respectful. I couldn't stand G.W. Bush but I never in a million years would of said or posted negative ugly things about him on the Internet or facebook.

How did the killing of Osama Bin Laden become another excuse to make jokes and tear down the man in the oval office. And for that matter why is it ok to celebrate a death? Yes I'm glad and relieved he is gone, however celebration doesn't seem appropriate. Do people realize that there were women and children present during the raid? Some of them were injured! Those are people with no rights. Yes I know it had to be done and done in the way that it was. I'm glad it was a success and the bastard is dead. I just don't like how people are using that as an excuse to bash the president.

These are my 2 cents whether you asked for them or not.

Stop me when this gets boring.

So white seems to be popular lately. Tell me what you think...

I made this for me. I'm in love!! White earrings for Kar.
A blue band I have been promising to a friend for a really long time.

Kar's white bracelet.

OH and aren't these pics about a thousand times better? I stoled Emily's Iphone I need one!!

A titch bit of craftiness.

My mom has a friend at work that has ordered a few things here and there from me. About a month ago she brought in a bag full of old watch bands and said she was tired of watches and wanted me to make her some new stuff with her beads. I forgot to take pictures last time, but here are some of the things I did today. Also I took the pics with Emily's iphone and we can chalk it up to user error as you can see I got progressively better. Much easier to get them on my computer!!

Have you missed me?

I need to blog more. I love reading all of my friends' and family's blog's. They are such a good way to keep updated on all my peeps!! The last 2 weeks have been so crazy. I was getting used to my blood pressure meds and Chris' Grandpa Heaps passed away. I KNOW he is in a better place and so happy where he is at. The transition is still difficult. Now that things are starting to settle down and get back to normal I am noticing all of the things I have neglected the last few weeks. My house is a disaster, my laundry is driving me crazy and my entire house needs scrubbed... I am so glad that next week is spring break and I can possibly tackle a few of these things that are bugging the crap right out of me!! I hope we can meet up with friends and do something fun as well... You listening Kar?? Oh also I got a recumbent bike.. So far I love it, I hope I keep loving it and it will help me lose some weight!!!

Feeling sick & a fun day!

I have been feeling sick for a while now. I have been fighting dizziness for weeks. I was finally able to go into the doctor, I was convinced I had high blood pressure. Well guess what? I was right... 180 over 120. Holy crap!!! The doc told me the 3 major causes... stress, weight, genetics. Check, check, and check. I have been overweight my entire adult life, I was the fat girl who could go all day and get up and down off the ground and was good. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 28 stuff started to change, I have a harder time doing everything. It is time for a change, so I feel good. So I can teach Lily right choices. I will get there but it will take me a long time. Oh how sometimes I miss the high school phen-fen weight loss!! So here is to me hoping I can make the necessary changes to feel the way I want!! Wish me luck.

Switching gears now... You with me? Ok good... Today was a great day! Met up with some pals at The Bluebird, had the chicken it was fab.u.lous. Then we went and got pedis and went for a titch of shopping. Fun, fun and fun!!! Then we met back up with the husbys and all our kidlets and went to Angie's for dinner AND we cleaned the sink!!! On the way home we stopped at my favorite WAL-MART to pick up a few things. I randomly decided everybody needed a new t-shirt just for fun and we all look oh so super cute!! I also picked up some of these fabulous natural corn-nuts and dried fruits they had in the produce section. YUM go get some... NOW!!!

Less than 3

Ok so this is so funny I have to post about it, forgive me for so many posts so quickly. I love my Mom, she really is my friend and I am so thankful for that. She cracked me up hard tonight. So a little back story, when my mom first started texting she thought lol meant lots of love. So a text would go something like this;

Mom: some funny comment or something..
Me:lol
Mom: Oh I love you too!!

It was so cute I didn't have the heart to tell her it meant laugh out loud. I liked this better anyway it was sweet. Well she obviously has figured it out by now. Well she is now on facebook and we had a family member that had a tragedy and a lot of his friends were making comments on a post of his with this symbol... <3 She asked some co-workers what less than 3 meant, she couldn't figure out what his friends were trying to console him with. I guess they couldn't figure out what she meant so she had to show them. And they told her to turn her phone to the side... Light bulb!! It's a heart... I love her sometimes she is too smart for her own damn good!! Less than three... It is my new favorite thing!! I LOVE YOU MOM!!!

Cheer Scrapbook

Emily has to do 2 pages for the Cheer scrapbook. I have known about it for awhile however the deadline crept right up on us. She has to do one about the swim team, and we haven't gotten that done yet. She also had to do one about whatever she wanted. She picked some cute camp pictures and we just used supplies I already had on hand. I haven't scrapbooked in a really long time and this page only took us a few minutes. I feel the bug to get back into it!! I thought it turned out really cute!!
I really like how the colors are "Mt. Cresty" without being in your face. What do you think??

Wahoo!!

So I "think" I feel better. Well close enough to normal anyway. Chris' new job seems to be going ok. It is still new so we will see!! I have a very good feeling about it all though. I have been stressing on my tax return and I finally called the tax commision and guess what? There was an error, it probably would of sat there for another month... The tax commision guy fixed it and I should get my refund within 10 days. I just KNEW there was something wrong and I am so glad I took matters into my own hands and called to figure it out!! So to sum it up life is going ok right now (knock wood... seriously, I'll wait... did you do it? good)

Love you all!!

Sooo I haven't blogged in 2 weeks... Let's review Aunt Flo cam with a vengance, she's gone now it was an ALMOST normal visit. The biznatch better not show her face around her for at least 3 weeks. I've been fighting a nasty cold and some awesome dizziniess that I can't quite decide if it is high blood pressure or something to do with this virus I can't shake. Oh and Chris got fired, but he starts a new job on Tuesday. We had to cancel St. George and I'm ok with that. It has been a blessing he hated where he was and it happened when I actually had money in the bank. Let's all just cross our fingers that the new place will be better!! So I feel like that is 3 very solid reasons for not blogging... Let's hope the next 2 weeks go better than the last 2.. MMM'KAY??

My lesson learned... FINALLY!!!

This isn't my first post about housework. I'm positive it won't be my last. If you know me at all, you know I really do NOT like housework... AT ALL!!! Somewhere around the time Chris started working 2 jobs, while I only work part-time, I realized I needed to step it up. i.e. Make dinner once in awhile, clean more regularly, just make it easier on him to be in his home. Now don't get me wrong if you walked into my house before this epiphany(sorry for the big word, Kar ;) It didn't look dirty, it's always been organized and rather clean. It was the little stuff, a pile of laundry here, a dirty molding there, the fridge needed scrubbed or the toilet had a ring.. It was most definitely not piles of garbage and such. We have pets, but it didn't smell. It just needed to be cleaner. Know what I'm saying?

Ok so back to my point the last 8 monthsish I've been trying harder to be more pro-active, it may have taken 12 years of marriage but it started making sense. Even in the last month it has really started falling into place. I've started tackling "BIG" jobs. Well today I found mouse shit in the cabinet the little bastards made a nest out of a box of tampons in my bathroom... I was pissed, tampons are expensive!!! So I ran up to the Family Dollar(don't get me started, I LOVE that place) and bought some Lysol Dual-Scrubbing wipes(amazing!!!) and some Lysol spray just to be safe. Well I scrubbed the crap out of that cabinet and but down some poison and found new homes for the stuff that was there. Then I scrubbed the bathroom moldings and door. I thought I was done for the day.

I did Emily's taxes for her. I went and picked up dinner and took it to Chris at the gas station and ate with him. I came home and watched a movie and folded 4 loads of laundry. I decided to go unload the dishwasher and the wipes were sitting on the cupboard... taunting me.. to wipe off the cabinet doors. Now I have been putting this off for a. very. long. time. I don't want to say how long... LONG... I have been actively thinking about scrubbing them for a month. A MONTH!!!! The insides were clean, I just needed to scrub the doors. If I've been thinking about cleaning them for a month they have probably needed it by a normal person's standards for 6 months, by my Mom's a year, and by Karli's a HELL of a lot longer than that!! Well guess what? I scrubbed them. Yep ALL of them. Guess how long it took me? 45 minutes... 45 G.D. minutes!!! And they are as clean as they can possibly be without being repainted.

So that's it MY. LESSON. LEARNED. Just do it already. Hopefully tomorrow I'll scrub the hallway walls, doors, and moldings. MAYBE someday I'll actually enjoy it...

Friendship

I have been thinking a lot about friendship lately. I hope I am a good friend, I try my best to be there and listen. There are times I monopolize attention or am distractable with my A.D.D. brain. I am learning that people that really love me, love all of me. They.get.me.period.

I had the strangest Friday, I had a person who is no longer in my life attack me through e-mail out of nowhere for no reason. Followed up by dinner with some awesome friends. It was such a strange thing to have a seriously annoying afternoon, followed by a rocking good time that night.

I don't know if it is the maturity of age, but the lost friendship doesn't even bother me. It probably should, but that person was so toxic in my life and being truly done with her feels like a boulder has been lifted from shoulders.

I have also learned I really should of listened to my mother about a lot of things... Especially friendship.

I am really lucky to have some amazing girls in my life that build me up and are truly there for me! I truly hope I return the favor!!!

Necklaces!!

This is for my good friend Kar.

Without the charm clip.

This is a work in progress for myself. It isn't quite right, suggestions?
Oh and I figured out how to take pics with my digital camera. They aren't fabulous but better than the last post.. yes??

Actual Craftiness!!!

I haven't done a crafty post in awhile. I was waiting until I could get better pics. But I had so much fun crafting the other night, I really wanted to show some of the stuff I did. So here is some of my latest stuff, sorry the pictures suck!!

This one was for my friend Liz and I needed to fix it, so I snapped a quick pic!

These are for a couple ladies I work with.
Valentine Earrings my mom just bought!

Charm clip, I'm just getting started on these, but it sold so dang fast I will probably be doing quite a few more!!

Valentine Bracelet $10.00

Valentine Watchband $15.00

Valentine Watchband $15.00

Face has already sold.

Mustang or Broncos spirit!!

I can add most sports charms if desired!!

$15.00

I accept Paypal so hit me up if you need anything or are looking for something custom!!

Loves,

Jess

Housework

I hate to clean. I mean HATE it. I'm also not terribly fond of cooking. Thankfully I have and amazing husband that has picked up alot of the slack over these last 12 1/2 years (yep it's really been that long). Somewhere in about the last 6 months this has all started to change. Since our world was rocked a year ago and Chris' employment situation went into a huge upheaval and he started working 2 jobs(he's such a rockstar). I have had to pick up alot of the slack in the cooking area, and you know what it's been kind of awesome to realize I can do it!! But here I am with my A.D.D.(shocking yes? I was diagnosed in 2nd grade) brain digressing from the actual topic of this blog. HOUSEWORK such an ugly word. Don't get me wrong it's not like an episode of Hoarders or anything, my house is (fairly)organized. It doesn't exactly scream "I'm dirty" and people don't say anything but nice things... But I know it could be cleaner, my mom would tell you how bad my moldings and doors need a scrubbing(love you dearly mom). I have cleaned more in the last 6 months than I probably did in the 1st 12 years of our marriage. What I am having the hardest time with is the organization of it. My usual routine is to just clean it when I notice it's dirty, however that seems to be the whole house at once and it's overwhelming me. So basically all my dear friends what I need is advice, how do you handle your housework? I know I have some next level crazy ladies that keep their house's spotless that read this blog. I want, dare I say need, your advice... So lay it on my friends, how do you handle it? What is your cleaning schedule?

P.S. What is your trick on Granite?
How do you keep hard water stains out of your toliet?
How do you clean the little orange stains around the jets in the tub?

TGIF

Hey there friends,

How was your week? I had Monday off because of MLK. I celebrated his honor by driving down to Layton and going to lunch and a titch of shopping with my friend Karli. It was a smashing good time!!

The rest of this week has seemed to drag on forever. Why does a 4 day work week feel like 6? Short weeks always feel crazy long!

I haven't looked forward to a weekend like this in such a long time. I have absolutely nothing planned. Lily is going to a friend's(fingers crossed) house to play tomorrow after dance lessons. Other than that, there is nothing on the schedule. If you come to my house please don't be shocked by my lack of a bra or the fact that I am still in pajamas. I promise to shower but those jammies are going straight back on!!! I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!!!

Love,
Jess

Lily

I love this child more than I can express into words. This school year has been a crazy hard adjustment for her. She has had THE hardest time with other girls and making friends. It's not something I can help her with, it is something she has to do for herself. She has a friend over today and we are going on 3 hours with no drama. I'm sitting in my room with my fingers crossed... I didn't organize this playdate, I didn't have to. Maybe we're getting there?