Evolution

I have evolved over the years.  

 

I used to have two rules when walking into a thrift store: 

Rule #1:  don't buy used 

underwear/leotards/unitards

  

Rule #2:  don't buy used shoes.

I can't quite put my finger on what made me 

change my mind a few years back....

about rule #2 that is ... don't worry ... 

rule #1 is still very much enforced.  

You better believe I buy all my unitards brand spankin' new.

I was making the rounds at DI the other day ... and I heard something whispering my name.  "Erin, Erin, over here."  I turned around and saw these loverly shoes.  Cute. Comfortable. Stylish. 

  

 

  

I mean, just look at them.  BRAND NEW.  And for 5 buckaroos. Then I looked at the size. 

11.  Oh dangit.  This was one of the few times I wished my feet were size 11.

Unfortunately my petite little size 10 feet are just a tiny bit small.
 

I bought them anyway.  

Maybe I'll just wear some thick wool socks with them.

 

 Side Note:  This next picture is the 2,349,201th reason I love Mitchell.  

He said he wanted to make dinner the other night ... and this was what he came up with. 

LOVE.

Current Events

-  Mitchell and I don't sing. 

And that is the reason why I 

actually laughed out loud when 

we were asked to be the new primary 
choristers. A tag team duo if

you will. We can now do "Head 

Shoulders Knees and Toes" backwards 

and in our sleep.

- I am surprisingly still employed 

with my temp job that was supposed to end around Christmas time.  Knock on wood.  Mitchell recently got a job as an HVAC tech with Whipple.  I love a man in uniform.

- Our neighbors thought it would be
cool to purchase an awesome 
subwoofer. 

Not so awesome for us.

- Mitchell and I were cursed with a 

curse last week. We had to throw out 

not one but TWO failed attempts at

cinnamon rolls. 

- We had a Chuck Norris Walker 

Texas Ranger birthday party for 

Craig in honor of his Texas mission

departure.  It was complete with a

Chuck Norris face garland and 

homemade fortune cookies filled 

with Chuck Norris jokes.

Mitchell's workplace party was a
breeding ground for bump its. I 
have never seen so many bump its 
all in one place, at one time.
My mouth was 

seriously ajar.

-I scored a really- nice- practically

- brand- new winter coat for $12 at DI. 

  Thrift stores make my heart leap for joy. 

It's the thrill of the hunt I tell you.

They Don’t Even Make Buttons This Cute

cute

/kyut/ Show Spelled [kyoot] adjective, cut·er, cut·est, adverb, noun

1. Ellie and Kien Hicken

2. attractive, esp. in a dainty way; pleasingly pretty: a cute child; a cute little apartment.

3. affectedly or mincingly pretty or clever; precious: The child has acquired some intolerably cute mannerisms.

Ellie 4 months

 

Kien 3 years

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Baby In Me

 

Photography.  Love it.

Mitchell understood and understands this slight obsession.

Now, I usually don’t like it when people mush, gush, ooooooze and brag about their spouses and all the awesome things they do … but I can’t help but oooze for just a couple seconds.  Mitchell somehow managed to save bit by bit enough money to buy me the camera of my dreams.   He wanted me to learn how to use it before Christmas and couldn’t wait for me to open it … so I may or may not have opened it about 2 weeks early. 

I don’t usually cry.  I didn’t cry when my parents said goodbye at the MTC.  I didn’t cry during Charly, The Notebook, or The Lion King (when Mufasah gives up the ghost … so sad, but no tears).  Nor do I cry when chopping onions.  But I DID cry after I opened this present.  Not once.  Not twice.   But thrice.  

I was shocked.  Surprised.  Touched.  Ultra happy.

This camera has more buttons, levers and toggles than a 747 cockpit.  I’m waiting for the Cliff Notes version of the manual to come out.  Basically I have NO idea what I’m doing.  I thought I took decent photos before and now I realize just how little I know.  Taking good photos is a lot harder than I thought. 

Poor Mitchell has been my Fabio for the past couple weeks. 

( I personally think he could give Fabio a real run for his money. )

 

The title of this photo is :  HAWT

 

My friend Seara was nice enough to pose for a few shots as well.

 

 

So I might be calling upon some of the readers of this blog and their children to be my guinea pigs …

Man in the Mirror

Mitchell and I felt strongly about creating this post.  We want to share our experience in hopes that others may learn from our bad decision and not make the same mistake. 

It all began quite innocently as we were in Bed Bath and Beyond looking for a Christmas present.  We were approaching the front of the store when a certain aisle caught our attention.  We should have turned and walked away at that point … but we didn’t.  Like a moth to the flame.

We each grabbed a mirror and took a glance.  We both just stood there.  Too shocked and mortified to run away after what we saw.  Everything magnified by 1.3 million.  Every pore.  Every hair.  Every blemish.  It shook us up good.  We walked into the store thinking we were a little above average looking people and left feeling like the scum of the earth.   Mitchell and I quietly shuffled out of the store with our heads down, not speaking to one another.  If the world saw what we saw that night … babies would cry … our own mothers would turn their backs on us.

No words can describe.

The battle between good and evil is raging.

Evil won that night.

Decking the Halls

 

Mitchell was so excited to wrap and display some of the presents he got for me … one problem … we didn’t have a tree to put them under.  Mitchell solved that quickly … and boy do we have a tree. 

You may have to treat this picture like one of those I Spy books. 

This tree is very portable. Fold it up and it can fit in your back pocket. It helps cut back on the electricity bill. And since we don’t use those trendy reusable grocery bags or plant a tree each Earth Day we were feeling a little guilty. So we thought we would give Mother Earth a break. Instead of chopping down an entire tree … we are using a mere 1/8,333 of a tree. Just trying to do our part in reducing our carbon footprint people.

 

Mitchell also wanted to display our classy reindeer. After all it does say that it is for INDOOR/outdoor use on the box. We received this as a wedding present if you remember … click here

Mitchell opened it. 

Shock. Dismay. Crushed dreams.  Tears.

The reindeer was no where to be found. For those of you who don’t have your thinking caps on … yes that means we didn’t really officially  open this wedding present … ever. For 1.5 years we believed we were the proud owners of this festive decoration.

Heartbroken?

Maybe a little.

But we will get over it now that we are the proud owners of some authentic oriental dinnerware. 

Bring on the egg drop soup.

Hot Tubbin’

Erin Fillmore: Hot Spring Specialist. 

I have researched every hot spring in Utah known to man within the last week or so.  One day Mitchell and I will trek down to Spanish Fork to visit the mother load of all springs

The Fifth Water Springs

But for now Mitchell and I had to settle for the hot springs in Ogden.  How the heck did we live in Ogden for an entire year and never know about this?  Such a shame.

What better way to spend your Thanksgiving morning than soaking in a poor mans hot tub? I don’t think there is a better way.

I’ll admit, I was kinda sorta maybe nervous to embrace this murky hot abyss when it came right down to it. Visions of dead animal carcasses, bacteria and poop filled my head … but when you are standing in single digit weather with a slight breeze… you don’t care.  You just want in.

I don’t think it would pass the white glove test  … but it was surprisingly clean. 

It was a balmy 12 degrees as we headed out on our hot tub adventure.   The whole hot spring mist thing mixed with hair and icelandic type weather made for frozen/crunchy hair. 

 

Now getting out of the spring and into dry clothing again was a entirely new adventure/challenge. 

 

I must say, our first encounter with a hot spring was rather delightful. Mitchell and I will be back for more.