Wednesday Pick-Me-Up: Laura Marling

Laura Marling is one of my favorite artists of all time. I discovered her music when I started listening to Noah and the Whale (before she branched off to do her own thing) and I fell in love with her folksy style and powerful voice. I don't think many musicians have as much talent as Laura Marling. She writes incredible, beautiful, poetic lyrics and performs them with perfection. I read once that all of the songs she writes are first drafts. She never edits them. That in itself is amazing.

I've been obsessed with this song lately, listening to it on repeat constantly. It was a bonus track she released on her album Alas I Cannot Swim. And yes, she is performing it with Marcus Mumford, her then boyfriend.



"Work more, earn more, live more, have more fun."

The Haps

Ya, ya, I know I sick at blogging lately, but if you saw all the finals prep I'm doing you'd be surprised I'm still alive. Thanks to my studying I can tell you that my previous statement was hyperbole. On a different note, I'm going to rock my literature final. Anyways, what I'm trying to say is sorry. This has been the craziest semester of my life and I will try to be better about blogging this summer. Until then, I figured I'd post some pictures of what life looks like lately:

Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. Yes, the were amazing.

My latest favorite outfit. T-shirt and flats: Target, sweater: Old Navy, Jeans: Torrid

The close up. I love these earrings. I have no idea when or where I acquired them.

Date night

We are starting our seedlings for our garden indoors this year. Doesn't that dirt look delectable? I love me some rich dirt.

So many potential veggies!

I'm taking an online painting class and this is my first painting ever. That's a pale pink and the blues are more turquoise than they appear to be.

 Not pictured:
-I'm still working with my personal trainer and she's making sure I can't move at least 3 times a week.
-We visited Karl's family in Price a couple of times.
-We are squeezing in Law and Order SVU whenever we can. It's our coping mechanism for stress.
-I've hardly taken my nose out of my biology book. They should just graft it to my face. I will not fail this midterm and final!
-I've been trying to focus some of my energy in a creative way, hence the painting class. I'm also keeping a creativity journal that I work in once a week. I collage, draw, etc. I love it.
-I desperately can't wait until the semester is over an I can have my life back. I can't wait to work out more, redecorate my bedroom, and read a book for fun (Ender's Game).

Well, that's life lately. Sorry some of the pictures are blurry. Google bought out my photo editing website and incorporated it into Google+. It's not very good though.

How are you all doing? Do you ever get so stressed out you want to scream? How do you cope?

The Problem with Pinterest

On Pinterest women are pinning an abundance of other women wearing next to no clothing. There are phrases like "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." There are boards titled, "motivation" that are just pictures of women making sexual poses, photoshopped to the hilt. It's not doing anyone any good.

Sometimes it's easy to forget that the way that we treat ourselves has the biggest impact on how we see ourselves. If we're just pinning pictures of half naked women, are we really valuing our own bodies and our role as women? The answer is no. Degrading ourselves doesn't lead to happiness or healthiness. That is why, I thought I'd show you some images that I've pinned that have really been inspirational and motivational for me.

Source: designeditor.typepad.com via Kristie on Pinterest

Source: inspacesbetween.com via Kristie on Pinterest

Source: piccsy.com via Kristie on Pinterest

Source: tumblr.com via Kristie on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Kristie on Pinterest

Source: motivationintohabit.tumblr.com via Kristie on Pinterest

Source: lovetruong.tumblr.com via Kristie on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Kristie on Pinterest

Source: shelovesmagazine.com via Kristie on Pinterest

Source: nourishing-the-soul.com via Kristie on Pinterest

Source: kazzsjourney.tumblr.com via Kristie on Pinterest

So let's all stop the fat/thin/tall/short/ etc. shaming and get to loving ourselves and not judging others, k?

If you'd like to follow me on Pinterest, you can do so here.

Honey an the Moon

Digging this song so incredibly much right now. On a completely unrelated note, I hate when songs I like don't actually have videos so some Schmo makes a lyric video. Anyways I now present "Honey and the Moon" by Joseph Arthur.

Paw de Deux

It's Saturday! Thank goodness! I don't have anything fun to blog about as finals are coming up and teachers are burying me in work. This video is the only thing getting me through. I die every time.

9F

I started this blog toward the end of 2008. I was 19, living in Utah with my best friends, and generally just living it up. Had I started this blog sooner, you all would have seen a lot more of that. To say that my friends and I took a ton of pictures back then is an understatement. We chronicled everything and I'm so grateful we did. Now for a little bit about my past.

When I was 18, I graduated high school and high tailed it to Utah. I knew I wanted to go to college, but the whole financial aid thing didn't work out and I had to wait a year (to become a resident) before I could go to school. Despite this, I knew Utah was where I needed to be. Unfortunately, not being able to go to school presented a living situation problem. I wasn't going to be living in the dorms, I knew that, but who would I live with?

My sister went to the University of Utah and put an ad for a roommate on the bulletin board at the Institute. While she was there, she ran into Andrea who was from Colorado and also looking for a roommate. They exchanged numbers and Andrea and I talked on the phone and stalked each other on Facebook. There was no way I was going to live with someone who didn't like punk/emo music, obviously. Haha. After deciding that she looked alright, we decided to room together. We still needed a third roommate though.

Me and Andrea pulling the typical "College Girl" faces.

Dixie saw my sister's posting on the bulletin board and called me. I remember that she used the word "Groovy," which I love. She was the perfect fit and I loved her immediately. Andrea and I agreed and soon we began apartment hunting.

Me and Dix being girls.

Lois Lane, Barbie, and Minnie Mouse (the original roomies) at our Super Pumpkin Palooza Extravaganza.

We found a big two bedroom in a rundown apartment complex that I don't even remember the name of. My best friend, Robyn also moved to Utah at the same time as me. She fit right in with my new roommates as did Dixie's high school friend, Natalie. The five of us began calling ourselves the "9F Crew" (our apartment number was 9F). Eventually our crew grew to include our guy friends Austin, Bryan and Kelly too. We were like our own little family.

Nat, Robby, and me

Left to Right: Robyn, Dixie, Kelly (Kelso), Austin (Fabio), and me

Bryan (BryBry) and Kelly (Kelso)

We had parties, movie marathons on my blow up mattress in the living room, late night escapades to the Belgian Waffle, and best of all, we celebrated Christmas as friends, what we deemed "Friendsmas."

Friendsmas at 9F! Left to right: Dixie, Andrea, Me, Robyn, and Natalie

We love each other.

Wow. Are you still with me? Congratulations if you are. Haha. Anyways, after some time we all began growing apart. Some of us got married, some had babies, some moved far away, and some started successful careers.

Robyn came to visit this week for her brother's wedding and the old 9F Crew decided to get together. Unfortunately, Natalie is couldn't make it (she's too busy being a glowing newlywed in San Fran), but we still met up.

Getting together felt so right. We all just slipped back into our friendships. We talked about everything and anything. We reminisced and laughed and felt a little sad that those days are gone. We are all happy in our lives, but we are all so grateful for those brief years we had as best friends and soulmates. I know none of us will ever forget those amazing times.

Now for pictures of our reunion!

Robyn and Andrea lookin hot!

Dixie and I rockin our shades at night!

The obligatory group shot. We're just missing Natalie!

And there you have it! Everything you could ever want to know about my best friends! Do any of you have a group of friends that it just feels right to be around, no matter how long it has been?

In Love

Yes. I am in love with this dress. I want to wear it while I bake peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. I want to wear it while I take my math test. I want to wear it in the bathtub. I NEED this dress.

Also, every time I see the Titanic 3D trailer it takes me approximately 30 seconds to start sobbing. One time we entered the movie theater mid preview. By the time we were seated I couldn't see anything, I was crying so hard. I know. I KNOW.

Life Lately (Mostly just pictures of cats)

Life lately has been less than exciting. We're just doing homework all the time, avoiding cleaning, watching Law and Order SVU, working out, and adoring the kids (Kitten and Ponce). So ya, this is what life looks like around these parts.

They love to cuddle

We like to call this "cat snake." Also, I love Kitten's paw placement.

Kitten looks sprawled out, but it's really just Ponce's back leg.

What lunch looks like lately. Spinach salad with sugar free cranberry juice and strawberries.

We went to Lava Hot Springs, ID a couple of weeks ago. It's obviously bustling.

After our horrible hotel experience last time, we shelled out more money and got a better hotel and the honeymoon package. There was a giant mineral bath in our room. Amazing.

I indulged Karl and we had breakfast at the Chuckwagon. The food is less than desirable.

On the plus side, we were in town with a bunch of Mountain Men for a tomahawk throwing competition. And we also got in a personal battle with a Mountain Man over pull tab lottery tickets, but that's another story.

Now back to kitties! Ponce likes to longingly stare into the backyard through the blinds.

You watch those birds, Ponce Baby!

Also, sometimes Kitten chills like this. We love her.

Thanks for indulging my cat-lady tendencies. Life has been pretty uneventful, but we will be redecorating the bedroom this week and I'll post pictures when it's done! Have a good week, friends!