Is this work or play?.....

This is most definitely PLAY!

I was soo excited when this treasure was put in my garage that I started my project that night! I knew from this awesome blog
                       http://www.domesticimperfection.com/2012/05/paisley-stenciled-table/ 
 what I wanted to do and I was ready to put it into action. In fact I was soo excited I forgot to take a before picture so below is pretty much what my table looked like before I got my hands on it. 

First we primed the legs, and sanded the top. Then we painted the legs and let it dry overnight. All the fancy stencils online were around $50-- which was NOT in the budget, but I was able to find a cute one at Michael's that I like and with their 40% off coupon I scored it for $8! Then began the LONGEST 3 days of my life. Stenciling can be easy--- and can be hard. I bought a removable spray adhesive to help hold it in place. That helped a lot but there was still some bleeding. In the end I learned to just go very slow which was not easy for me because I wanted it done-- but it worked out.  below is the stenciling before I stained it.

 

I sanded the top a little bit just to make it smooth and even and then stained it! I cannot wait to put this in my kitchen! 

I have a secret....

I have a secret little hobby I picked up right around the time I quit my full time corporate job to stay home and take care of my little dolly. I want to have a cute house but we became even poorer then we originally were (I really didn't think that was possible) so instead of going out and buying things that caught my eye I now have to make them. This isn't really too big of a problem for me because I love all things crafty, but I never realized (until Pinterest) how much I can really create and how easy it really is!

For my first big project I ventured out to our local DI and found these beauties:

I wish I could really show you all the awful stains on these babies. They were pretty rough and I seriously considered putting on gloves to my elbows before touching them. However after a little pep talk I put on my big girl panties and dug right in taking off the seat, ripping apart the fabric, and separating it from the foam. I unpicked the seams and made a pattern out of the original

From there it was easy! I lucked out because the original foam was miraculously still good so I picked out some cute canvas fabric from the store, cut out my pattern, sewed it up,fit it over the foam, and stapled it to the seat underneath. I also gave the legs a little TLC and gave them a fresh coat of paint. The results were just what I wanted and I couldn't be more proud!

Easter!

Jocelynne's 1st Easter was a success! We woke her up early and gave her her Easter basket..

She is a bit spoiled!

We live across the street from Wheeler Farm and signed Jocey up for their annual Easter Egg hunt. Unfortunately it was right at her nap time so she was semi-cranky. She didn't care that I was trying to make memories here! -- oh well.. I think we still go some good pictures.

                                                                           Cute Hubby!

I love this little girl soo dang much!

This week has been a crazy one!  We finally made it up to the new City Creek Shopping Mall yesterday and loved it! It was nice because it wasn't too crammed with people. I wasn't feeling too good and had been stuck in the house all day so it was nice to get out and walk around for a bit. Jocey got a new pair of shoes for our Disney World trip in May, and we ate at a yummy restaurant in the Aves called Pagoda. I am starting Ignite again tomorrow and cannot wait!

Day 4

Day three complete and down 9.5 lbs and 8.5 inches! Feeling great! I have an igniter who started the same time as me and on day two was down 7 lbs! soo excited for her!

Day four has been hard for me. Weekends in general are hard for me because I am off of my daily schedule and have a little bit more time on my hands. I am a late night snacker and tonight Jocelynne went to bed early and Alex is working. I have tried to keep myself as busy as possible but I would give anything for a bite of those cinnamon rolls my mother in law made today. AHH!-- NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD AS SKINNY FEELS!!

So question of the week-- "Corinne what the heck have you been doing to lose weight?"

I have been getting a ton of questions about what I am doing so I decided to have a Meeting for anyone who wants to come to learn more about the products and taste them. They are all natural and have many benfits besides weight loss! -- but that is my favorite one :o)

Please come and bring your friends and family! No obligation-leave your checkbooks at home.

Thursday April 5th at 630 pm. I will hopfully have a location finalized this week and will update everyone.

I've got the XYNGULAR bug!

I seriously cannot get this company out of my mind!! My end results were 7lbs and 7 inches in 7 days... hmm.. 777 thats has got to mean something. I am going to think it is lucky-- hey at least it wasn't 666.

Since I ended my round of Ignite all I can think about is when am I going to get back on it again. I was initially going to take a week off and then jump back on but I cant wait that long! I have been taking the products XYNG , Accelerate, and Flush the last couple of days I have been off Ignite and feeling good. My mood is the main thing besides the weight that I am noticing changing. I cant believe what a slump I was in before hand. I feel happy and energized and SOCIAL.. which is weird because I normally try to avoid people.

I know that you might think I am crazy for being soo excited about this but seriously take this for a week and tell me that you don't feel any different.

I am going to start Ignite again tomorrow! I will most definitely keep you updated!

ps: please please please feel free to ask me any questions about the products or the company. I want to share without overwhelming people.

The Truth

I was an average little girl, but a fat child. I have tried to remember when the change took place - I keep trying to rack my brain for maybe a specific incident that would have lead to me gaining weight, but nothing comes to mind. I was never blind to the fact that I was heavier. I always knew, and I always hated myself for it. When I would look in the mirror I would see a stranger and pass every judgement imaginable. My soul is bright,beautiful, talented and skinny, but my body does not reflect the girl inside. I cannot tell you how irritate I was at this imbalance. I grew bitter.

Going to school as a heavier kid was rough. I isolated myself somewhat because of my low self worth but also because of some very vivid hurtful comments I remember to this day. Those comments haunt me and still run through my head on bad days-- taunting me. I started dieting around Jr. High, and I'm pretty sure I have tried everything imaginable!   My dad and I went on a cabbage soup diet once -- not only did it not work but to this day I cannot eat or be around vegetable soup! Another time my mom paid me $100 to not eat candy for a year. $100 was like $1million dollars to me as a kid so I jumped at the chance. -- want to know the outcome? I was a chubby kid $100 richer! -- Didn't quite work the way my mom had planned. And with my diet attempts and fails I began to face to inevitable truth... this is who I am. I will forever be the chubby girl with a pretty face. The wing man for all of my girlfriends, always the "friend".

Then I graduated high school and a new, fun, confusing world opened up to me. I met someone who accepted me. He changed my view on life, and religion, and myself. We would have conversations that would last a life time. He made me happy--- something I had not felt in a long time. I was able to see a different girl when I was around him. I liked that girl. Well.. life happens and as hard as I tired to make that boy my husband God had different plans for us both. So to get over my heartache I started running off the emptiness. The more I ran the better I felt. It was my escape from the world and from myself. It was soo unlike (chubby) me in every which way and I thrived on that. I wanted to leave my life and this girl- I wanted to be someone else. Running is not easy for me. It hurts! From my head to my toes it hurts, and I felt pleasure in putting myself through the pain. I became addicted to the results. For the first time in my life I recognized the girl in the mirror, and I found a good place in my life. I had direction and focus and it was life changing.

Then March 30, 2010 happened. My last 1st date. I had known my (now) husband for a couple months prior and had no idea of what was in store for me that year. We were engaged on May 27th 2010 and Married August 13th 2010.  I was in love and happy. I looked the best I have ever looked and met the love of my life!  My dreams were becoming a reality I gain some pounds through our engagement but thought once the wedding was over I would get back on track.

Nine months and three days after our wedding we welcomed a gorgeous baby girl to our home! Neither one of us were expecting her to come soo fast. Finding out I was pregnant caught me off guard and I got scared. Being a mommy is something I have wanted and it was finally happening. I was afraid something bad would happen and I hibernated for 9 months. 80 lbs later I was a brand new wife and mom and a mental case. Lucky for me I lost 40lbs right away. The second 40 was not so easy--I am still working on that part. So now I have a wonderful, amazing husband, and beautiful 10 month old daughter and have once again lost sight of that girl in the mirror.

I know what it takes- I've done it before and it is hard work and determination. A lot easier when you are single with no life. After 40 hours of work a week and the rest of my time spent trying to be a good mommy and wife I have failed at taking care of myself.

Then came along a blessing! I found an amazing company called Xyngular. I am ready and committed and it is already proving to be worth it. Today was day 4 and I am down 5 lbs and 7 inches all around. I put on a pair of jeans this morning that I haven't fit into for over a year, and for the most part have been in a great mood because I feel good! My house has been getting cleaned and with the good weather and my energy boost Jocelynne and I have gone on many walks this week.  I plan on posting my results on Facebook and on my blog to fill everyone in on how I am doing. I honestly want to share this product with the world and whoever will listen because I am having such great results all around.

Has it been 6 months already??

Wow! 6 months sure does fly these days! I cannot believe Christmas is almost here again and this year I get to share it with 2 of the most important people in my life. I am soo blessed to have such a loving husband and a beautiful baby girl.

Life is a bit crazy right now and I am doing everything in my power to keep on swimming. Alex is working full time at Jet Blue (yeah!) and I am still at Miche Bag full time. Between the two of us we are able to pass Jocelynne back and forth most days, but there are a couple days a week where our schedules overlap and we have to find someone to help us out. Alex's family has been great at helping us out, but I think we are going to have to hire someone --unless I win the lottery, which is REALLY hard to do in Utah!. I am having a very hard time with the fact that I might have to hire a babysitter. For one I feel like I am letting Jocelynne down and I am not fulfilling my obligation as a mother to watch over her. For two I can't afford to pay $60 a week. I would give anything to be at home with her. I pray I will be able to work something out soon.

Speaking of Jocelynne she is getting bigger by the minute! She has her 6 month check up last week and weighed in at 17lbs! She is such a happy girl- most of the time- and LOVES to learn and do big girl things.  Her favorite things at the moment are eating whatever I am eating, spitting, saying baba, giving slobbery kisses, putting her binky in her mouth by herself, making friends with strangers at the store, and rolling all over the place! She has been sitting up by herself for a good month or two and had her first big girl bath tonight! Her absolute favorite thing in this world is baths! Her least favorite things are getting her nose wiped, teething, being alone, and falling off the couch. -- you'll have to ask Alex about that one.

The dreaded 9th month...

I know my due date isn't until May 22nd, but the anticipation is killing me! Maybe because I have been dilating and having irregular contractions for the last 2 weeks, but I am just ready to get this little girl here. It might also be because my swelling is getting progressively worse and it takes all I have to carry around these weights on my legs. Either way it is time.

Between friends, family, and the Internet people have been most helpful about giving out ideas on how to induce labor. I can honestly say I have tried ALL of them to no avail. -- except drinking Castor oil. I'm just not going there. --  The doctor has stripped my membranes twice and this first time I actually thought it had worked. I woke up at 4:30 am with stronger contractions that seemed to be consistent, so around 7:30am we went in to see, but they sent us home because I wasn't really progressing. So the next Dr's appointment she stripped them again and said I have a lot of water. My blood pressure is also going up as well as the swelling so if we don't have her this week she will induce me on Tuesday! I would love for her to come on her own, but I want to make sure we do what is best. I am still planning on not having an epidural. because I am already dilating pretty consistently she thinks it will go fast once labor does start. We will see!!

 As of today this little girl just wants to stay right where she is at. I know she is getting bigger and more uncomfortable so I have been talking with her about how much room she will have out here. I really hope this isn't a reflection of her personality!

I married a Prince!

With all the hype about the Royal Wedding Alex has been getting a lot lately that he looks like Prince William. I have to say at first I couldn't see it, but then more and more people started to tell him and I took a second look. It's true! receeding hair line and all. lol

Happy BIRTHDAY!

Happy 25th Birthday Alex Hector James Klc!

On Friday it was Alex's 25th birthday. I think I was more excited then he was because I was begging him to open his presents all week. I am not very patient and he was very firm in telling me his birthday was April15th and that is when he would open his presents and not a day sooner! So Friday morning I woke up bright and early and woke him up with a bed full of presents! I decided to go the practicle route this year and get him some good clothes. Plus I scored big at sears and found their clearance isle! So he got a pair of pants, shorts, 4 shirts, 1 sweater, 2 jackets, and his most favorite gift....

isn't he soo cute?

For his birthday dinner he wanted to go to Joe's Crab Shack. I am not a fish/seafood person at all but Alex LOVES the stuff and since it was his day I couldn't say no. My mom was in town for the weekend so she met us at the restaurant. We were relieved to know they had a non seafood portion of their menu as well. It wouldn't have mattered anyway because he was soo happy to just be there --it made my night. After dinner we made a Walmart run because the new Harry Potter movie had just been released on DVD (more postings on his obsession soon to come!) So we bought that, went to Menchies for Frozen yogurt and then back to the house to watch HP7. Last year I was still deciding if I wanted to date him or not so I just bought him a silly souvenir from Oklahoma. This year was the first time we really got to celebrate and I hope he had a good day.   

I have heard the first year is hard... luckly we have eachother.

I dont know which phrase best suits me this week... When life gives you lemons, or dont cry over spilled milk. We can't control the inevitable. Bad things are going to happen, and the timing is usually impecable. I just want to yell and scream and get it all out. I want to cry and say why me, but it wont do any good. There are life lessons that are unavoidable.

About 2 weeks ago Alex went to work to find out his department had been sold to another company that wanted to pay him half of what he was making the day before. He declined and his old employer handed him a final check. Poor guy. When he called me I could hear the stress in his voice and I tried my hardest not to let him know I was upset. I wanted to be strong and say all the positive things a wife is supposed to say, but then a small little voice reminded me we were having a baby in 7 weeks and I burst into tears. Mostly tears of fear-- the unknown is a scary thing for me. But when I got home that night we updated his resume and appliued for many jobs and tried to stay positive. My main concern is that I did not want this situation to weaken us as a couple.This is something we couldn't control. Alex was one of their best employees and such a hard worker it was just the luck of the draw. It came down to money. It always does. I remember laying in bed with tears slowing running down my facing just thinking about how much I loved Alex and there would be a door open for us somewhere.

There was a tiny crack in a door a few days later when his old employer called and asked if he could work a couple hours here and there for the same wage he was making before. He immediatly accepted because it is better then nothing, but to be honest I was not thrilled. All I could think about is what they put us through the last couple of days and now they are calling asking him to come in because they know he is such a valued employee!? Alex immediatly set me in m place and said there is no need to burn bridges. We need to thank god and take what we have been given. So its not the hours it use to be, but atleast it will provide until we can find him something better.

This past friday we drove up to Idaho to visit my parents and have a baby shower! It was just the getaway we needed and we were soo excited to see everyone. The night before we left Alex's clutch went out in his car and we got a lovely estimate of how much it would cost to get fixed. The car isn't even worth the money it would cost. So now we are in the situation of trying to figure out what to do and  I am asking again why me?? This again was unavoidable . Just another life lesson... I keep telling myself.

I am writing all this down not to be a Negative Nancy or for anyones pitty. I really just want to look back in 10 years and remember these times. I know that we can get through it. Honestly it could be worse, and I am soo grateful for all that we have been given. The shower in Idaho was a bit overwhelming for me. Everyone was so generous and gave us the cutest little things for Jocelynne. We are very blessed. Jocelynne is the light of our lives right now and she isn't ever here yet. She has given our lives more meaning and has filled our hearts with more love then we thought was possible to possess. I can't believe we are only 6 weeks away from meeting her. I cannot wait. In a world that looks a little grey these days we couldn't be happier for this special gift we have been given. I hope I can live up to her's and Alex's expectations as a wife and mother.

While you were out

Alex works every Saturday from 12pm to 11pm. I hate it! So after I did some laundry, cleaned the kitchen and picked up the bathroom I decided to make myself feel better and get a new best friend to pass the time. And it was delicious!! Every pregnant lady has to do this at least once. Jocelynne and I enjoyed the whole dang thing and didn't feel one ounce of guilt! I have a Dr's appointment on Tuesday let hope Ben and Jerry's doesn't plan on hanging around for the long haul.

Baby Klc

31 Weeks along and finally getting around to writing again. In my defense carrying around another human being is quite tiring which leaves less time in the day to get things done. Another excuse is that we are poor and have crappy Internet, and the cherry on top of that is that my computer cord has a short and sometimes doesn't like to charge my laptop. Good news is Alex and I got sick of the computer cord shorting and decided to take measures into our own hands. I am quite proud of the splicing we did! With a little electrical tape to cover the wounds it is now working like a charm!

On to more important things.

Alex and I are soo excited to have this baby girl in our arms. My whole pregnancy has flown by and then hit a brick wall right at the third trimester. Now time is ticking by because I am actually keeping track. To be honest being pregnant has not been half bad. I am proud to say I have not thrown up once, or had any extreme bouts of heartburn. I considered myself pretty dang lucky until my legs started to swell and I now have the pregnancy waddle. Because of the swelling and my Dr's recommendations I am now the proud owner of thigh-high support hose! Which I wear daily.... but by the end of the day my legs and toes still look like sausages hooked together by a tree stump. So I have put myself on bed rest when I am not working and am trying my best to drink plenty of water! I am soo lucky to have such a wonderful husband. Honestly. He not only puts up with my mood swings, but rubs my feet every night and doesn't complain. I am soo blessed he came into my life. I really don't think anyone else could have the patience with me that he has. I know he is going to be the best daddy ever!

Here are some fun pictures over the last couple of months. We have some really great friends that let us borrow their bassinet, and swing and I had Alex put the bassinet together.

We also chose a name for our baby girl. We were going back and forth between a few and then Alex starting calling her this one day. I loved the way it sounded when he was talking to her... so it stuck.

Yesterday we also finished up our Hypnobirthing classes! That's right... this girl is going to go all natural! I am really just intrigued by the whole process and really fell in love with some of the concepts from hypnobirthing. So we are going to give it a try. Alex is very supportive of my decision and is going to make a great coach. Now all I have to do is convince him to cut the cord!

Ready or not....

So about a month after we were married some weird things started happening.

I got sick at the smell of these... and anything fried for that matter...

I couldn't get enough of these little guys....

And especially LOVED these.... Rootbeer is my FAVORITE flavor!

 The most annoying thing that started happening though was nothing being able to find my car in the parking lot. It's like I can't remember anything anymore.

I also started get VERY sleepy and taking lots of naps and going to bed early.

SOOo.....

We bought one of these...

And it said PREGNANT! 
(I tried to upload the picture for an hour and then gave up)

So we have been waiting, waiting, waiting, to go to our first dr's appointment on November 10th. I am soo excited to finally hear a heartbeat and know there is really something in there swimming around. Alex is pretty excited to. I don't quite think he understands that the baby has to go through the newborn stage to get to the fun walking talking stage but he will learn quick. We are sooo excited and feel soo blessed. This year has been full of many good changes!!!

New life....

About a week before my trip to Oklahoma my world changed upside down. Although I did not know it at the time, I was falling in love with a funny, charming, handsome man named Alex Klc. After dating 2 months Alex proposed to me on my lunch break at Gardner Village on May 27th, 2010 and we were married in the Salt Lake city Temple On August 13th, 2010.

I can't imagine my life without this man, and am soo happy to be his wife. So here we are one month later in our cute basement apartment trying to figure out the ups and downs of life and the amazing blessings we have experienced in a short amount of time.

Currently I work at the Corporate Office of Miche Bag in the Customer Service department , while Alex works at America's Incredible Pizza Company as an busing supervisor. We both have been hard at work and it seems to be paying off because we have received promotions this month! I am moving over to an Account Executive position while Alex has moved to being the Assistant director over Customer Service. We plan on registering him for school in January and filling up all of out extra time with fun side projects!!

I am committing to be back on the blogging wagon. I hope to have wedding pictures up within the next week so stay tuned!!

Oklahoma Trip. Day ONE

I am a single 24 year old women who has zero dependents and a full time job. My daily routine pretty much stays the same and my biggest choices during the week is what to wear, what to eat, and when to go to the gym. I love sleeping in my big queen bed and taking up the whole thing, and my alone time is something I cherish. I would say I am very close to my family. I talk to my parents every week. My mom every day sometimes 3 times a day. my brother Scott is my therapist, motivational coach mixed in with a good dose of sibling rivalry.I go to church every Sunday to a singles ward where I sit peacefully, and depending on the speaker I contemplate the meaning of life, or Sunday dinner.

So in February my mom flew out to Oklahoma to take care of the cutest kids on the face of the earth. --Yep. No exaggeration. -- Scott, and Janna went to Arizona and Nana got the kids all to her self. This is something that is prized in our family. In fact she was the first to get this opportunity. And she loved to rub it in my face every chance she got because Scott and Janna never went away without there kids before and this was a unique opportunity. So the person who got to stay with the kids was the whos who of family members. Scott told me that I was in a closed 2nd or 3rd on the list. But I knew I would never get to opportunity.( Last summer I made a few driving errors he got to witness) But I was happy. Although I lost, at least I was in the running.

So it was quite a shock when he called a couple weeks ago and said that Janna's mom couldn't make it to watch the kids while they went to Florida and was wondering if I could take off the time from work and fly down. I, of course, said yes and before I knew it I was on a plane.

Destination: Oklahoma.
Mission: To take care of 4 kids ages 2, 5, 7, and 9 and make sure the house and the kids are in one piece by the end of the weekend.

Wednesday April 7th Arrive at Tulsa airport at 10:30 pm
Scott is waiting to pick me up. He did something to his back and is walking a little crooked. By little I mean a lot. I couldn't help but laugh..which only made things worse.

Thursday April 8th
7:00 am
I wake up to two cute boys jumping on me. They leave for school and Scott takes 2 Lortab for his back. I drive him out to his work to finish up a couple things. He was soo excited to get the drugs he forgets to eat and gets a bit sick which makes me laugh more. So now he is not only in pain but nauseous AND in pain. Me and Janna start plotting a way to have me pose as him so we can sit on the beach while Scott stays home and recovers. Sadly the drugs finally kick and and Scott and Janna leave for the airport. We say our goodbyes and now its me, Caden, and Abby.
The rest of that first day went rather well. I tried to get Abby down for a nap but the only one who got a nap was Coco. I woke up to Abby's face right next to mine saying "Coco wake up!" The older boys got home around 4 and I took them to McDonald's to make them love me more and I hoped the Fun house would wear them out so I could sleep good. I got this brilliant idea to go through the drive through and order all the kids meals and then take the food in and play.I am still pretty proud of this idea and it went flawlessly. Although Taylor reminded me, as he did the whole weekend, that this was not the way his mom did it. I just smiled and said, " I know. I'm not as cool." We rented Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeakquel after dinner and had a movie party and then went to bed. Apparently Abby is potty trained, but I woke to a wet child and lots of laundry to do I was thinking they lied.

St. Patty's 5k

Beat my PR by 12 minutes but still no a fast runner... Its okay its the end that matters.