Room Makeover!

This last weekend Brent went camping. I didn't know what I was going to do with myself so I decided to re-arrange my room. Why? Just because. Change. I had my room the exact same for 3 years. It was long overdue. Plus, I have been watching a lot of HGTV lately. Shows like Divine Design and Rate My Space (which is my favorite) has inspired me to use my creative juices to spice up my room a little bit. So that is what I did Friday night and part of Saturday and was finished by the time Brent finally came back from camping. I don't know if I like my room better now than before. I liked the way it was before which is why I kept it that way for so long. But having change is good.
Here is the before picture of my room.... the way it has been for 3 years....


Here is what it looks like since Friday. Which do you like better?


I did a few other things to spice the room up a little bit. A couple more craft projects (which you know by now that I love)

This is a cool mirror that Lolly gave me as a house warming gift when I moved away from home for the first time... long time ago. Cool mirror, but to make it look new and fresh, I decided to spray paint it black! I love it!
Before

After
I also had this big collage frame.... which I was just really over. So I decided to make something new out of it. I got some scrapbook paper and some ribbon and blew up and picture of Brent and I and this is what I got. It has become the focal point in the room and one of my new favorite decorations!
Before

After
So it turns out the only thing that I bought was the scrapbook paper and ribbon and then a couple of more fun pillows for my bed. Everything else was already there and I just changed it. Or something I found around the house that I thought I could add. It was kind of fun... but not something I would want to do on a regular basis.

Travelers Map

I don't remember when I first wanted to do this.... but I am sure I had not been to many places (which I still have not compared to some.... like my roommate Ashlee for example), but I just kind of forgot about the idea. One of the times that I was on the plane traveling to I think Colorado I decided to flip through the Sky Mall magazine. They had a travelers map you could order in there.... except that it was like $150 or something outrageous like that. So I decided it would be one of my craft projects.
I told my roommates Ashlee about it and I guess it was something she always wanted to do also. So we got on Amazon and ordered this antique looking map (we happened to want the same map out of all the maps out there) and I ordered the map. They told me that it would be to my house by that next Tuesday. That day came and went and I still did not see the map. By Friday I decided to check on Amazon at the shipping status. To my surprise it said that it was delivered on Tuesday like they said.... and someone named B. Brown signed for it. I was so confused of where my map could be. I called FedEx a couple times to try and find out where they delivered my map. On the second call I found out that it was delivered to the address 355 S 600 W. Which they told me was "The Auto Zone". So... I had to go pick up my map at the Auto Zone... which was interesting. I am just glad they kept it. They could have thrown it away.
Once I finally had my map, Ashlee and I went to Roberts craft and found these nice frames that were the size we needed and even better, they were 35% off. Done and done! Then we bought some pins. We put our maps in the frames and took out the glass (which makes hanging so much easier because it becomes so much lighter. We then put pins in the map everywhere that we had been in the world. It took Ashlee a while to do this, me.... not so long. But even though I don't have that many pins in my map.... it makes me excited to travel every time I look at it.
I decided to have certain pin colors for my map. White = the different states I have visited. Black= the different countries that I have been to. Red = places I have lived. Green will = places that my future spouse and I have traveled together. So there you have it. Another fun project done, and I will be so excited every time I can add another pin to the map!

KACIA is Back!

Last summer I was asked to be in a band. We mostly practiced and not so much performed.... well... we performed a couple of times. Anyway, the band totally died during the year and I wondered if KACIA's days were over (by the way our name came from Kalli, Tracy & Julia... I know, how clever are we?)... But then we got an e-mail from Kalli saying that we were wanted to perform at a stake function. It was a dinner party for the stake presidency, bishoprics and wives and any other people that had stake callings. So we got dinner AND we got to perform. It was a great crowd! They loved us! But I am sure they are also biased since the majority of our band is made up of members from the stake. Oh well... we will take what we can get. KACIA lives on!

P.S. I have tried to put a video of us performing... but for some reason blogspot is not letting me. Sorry.

Water Fountain

So I was telling Brent one day that I really wanted to make a simple water fountain to put out on the patio and that I really think that would complete it for me. I love the sound of running water. I think it is so relaxing. So I showed him a picture of what I wanted and he got all excited and said he would help me make it (aka I would tell him what I wanted and he would make it for me). So one night we went to Home Depot and I picked out a pot I liked and we got a pipe and a water pump and then Brent went on a search for bamboo (which he finally ended up finding at Quilted Bear) and we put it together. It turned out just how I wanted it. Brent is so talented. We make a great team. We bought some water plants as well to put in there. We also bought a few gold fish... but I think we should have waited to put them in.... because they all died. Sad. I may try them again later after the

The Boys are Back in Town!

If any of you know me very well... you will know these boys are a big part of my life. Now we all live apart in different states... but these boys are still very dear friends to me. We met about 5 years ago when I dated their roommate Scott. Scott and I obviously didn't work out, but I did become best friends with his roommates. So we left Scott behind and me, Brad, Steve and Nate all moved from the Riviera apartments over to the Devonshire together. We did EVERYTHING together for those two years. They were my home away from home. We had so much fun together. I care for them very much. Since then Brad moved to NYC, Steve moved to California (Bay Area) and Nate and I are still in Provo.... in fact Nate is the one that got me my job at Novell (Thank you Nate!). But we still all keep in touch and every time Brad or Steve come to town... we always get together. And I have gone to visit both Steve and Brad over the past couple of years. It has been so fun. Brad and Steve go on rock climbing trips together... so this last weekend they were in town on their way to go rock climbing. So we got together. Brad skipped out on our dinner, but at least he came and visited me that morning. It is always so good to see them and it brings back so many good memories.
2004

2005

2006


2007

2008

They ALWAYS give me zerberts everytime they see me. I can't avoid them. This is something they have done since the beginning when we became good friends.

2009

Happy Fathers Day

I know this is a couple days late. Just so you know, I did call my dad on Fathers Day... but I pretty much knew how that would go. He is not much of a talker and doesn't feel like it is different from any other day... so our conversation was short. But I wanted to give him a shout out on my blog... even though I don't think he reads it. But at least everyone who does read my blog will know how much I love and appreciate my dad.

My dad is such a great guy. Everyone loves my dad. He cooks every Sunday and invited a family over for dinner every week. Everyone is always welcomed into our home... which I always loved and how I try to be now. My dad loves kids. He was the candy man at church for a while.... kids would come up to him and shake his hand and he would give them candy. It was really cute until the parents were concerned about how hyper their kids were during church... so he stopped. My dad loves his grand kids so much. It is cute to watch him play with all the kids. And they all LOVE their grandpa Mills. After all... he takes them to the "Hamburger Store" as my niece Reanne calls any burger place. My dad has always been a great example to everyone around him and made a difference in the community. Growing up my dad was cooler at my school than I was. Not that I didn't have a lot of friends, but my dad ran a non-profit organization for the teenagers in our town called "The Living Room" which was a place for teenagers to hang out and listen to bands and such in a drug and alcohol free environment. A place for teens to go where their parents know they won't be getting into trouble. Everywhere I went people knew me as Larry Mills' daughter. I even had a shirt that I wore that said "Larry Mills is my dad" with "The Living Room" logo on the back... cause my dad is that cool. My dad has always been very good to our family, providing for us and teaching us right and wrong always helped my mom with the dishes. And we always knew that we could take anything to dad if it was broken and my dad would be able to fix it. It was awesome. He is a great handy man. He also made sure we had fun as kids. He built us a platform to jump off of to our trampoline, he would set up our tent in the back yard and let us camp out there, he built us a two story play house and so on and so forth. My dad is an amazing example of service. He is always there for anyone who needs help and he has certainly always been there for me when I needed help. He has always been supportive of me and who I am and the direction that I have taken in life. He also has taught me a lot of life lessons and how to be responsible and to relax with things don't always go according to plan. I could go on and on about how awesome my dad is. I love him very much and am very blessed to have him as my father. Thanks dad for all that you do for me. I love you!


I found this old picture of my dad and I. Growing up people always told me I looked like my dad.

HCG

Now that I am done with the HCG diet, I thought that I would blog about it. I first heard about the HCG diet from my friend Nate. His parents did the diet it a few times and lost 50 pounds. I thought that was pretty amazing. I have always struggled with my throughout my life. I have never been happy with the way I look. I had visited doctors to try and see why I had such a hard time. There were never any answers. A couple of times I lost 20 pounds when I was not trying... but didn't really know what I did to get there, so I couldn't seem to keep it off. Whenever I would try to lose weight... I would never have any progress no matter how hard I watched what I ate or how much I exercised. It was very frustrating. I always prayed that I would find someone that loved me for who I was... fat and all. But I always blamed my weight for the reason why I was one of the only ones not married out of my friends. Then Brent came along and proved me wrong and told me I was beautiful just the way I was. Maybe he was one of the reasons I was able to do this. I don't know. But I am so thankful for Brent.

Anyway... after hearing about the diet from my friend Nate, I was interested. I was always interested in losing weight. But when he told me that you only ate 500 calories a day, and it was very specific what foods you are able to have, and you couldn't wear make up, or use lotion, or cook in a microwave and so on and so forth... it sounded too hard and I didn't think about it much more. Plus that... after the diet was done wouldn't I just gain all the weight back anyway? That is what everyone says with these diets. I soon started working at Novell with Nate, and he himself did the diet and lost 30 pounds. Now I have known Nate for about 5 years and I know that boy can eat a whole pizza in one sitting. I figured if he could do it, I could do it. And I couldn't believe how much weight he lost in 26 days. So after a lot of support from Nate, he gave me the lady's number and I paid the $100 to get the drops.

This is what I looked like this last December!

I was lucky enough to be doing it at the same time as a co-worker of mine, so I had support and someone to talk about it with. And my roommates and Brent were very supportive of my decision to do this diet even though it sounded crazy. But even with that said... it is hard! Not necessarily because you are hungry, (the drops are a hunger suppressant and just burns your fat to fuel) but it is hard to smell and see foods that you can't eat. As soon as you can't have it, you want it. You realize how much our lives revolve around social eating. Also... the first week of the diet (and this happened to be both times I did it) I was so tired the first week with getting used to only eating 500 calories. It is not an easy 26 days. I had to keep telling myself that if I cheated... what would have been the point of doing the diet? What a waste of money and effort that would be. So I never cheated... I stuck to the rules, and every morning when I got on the scale... I would weigh around a pound less give or take. When you think about that, it is quite amazing. I believe anyone could do it, you just take one day at a time. You realize you wanted that cookie, but you didn't eat it and you got up the next day and survived. Then a week goes by... pretty soon it is over. And in the end, you have lost a lot of weight. The first time I did the diet I lost 20 pounds. This was a dream come true for me.... it was what I always wanted but I knew I had a lot more to lose... so although it was hard and not fun, I knew the time would pass and I decided to do it again. I just finished my second time on the diet and I lost 15 pounds this time.... which makes a total of 35 pounds lost! (because no, I didn't gain any back on my 6 weeks off in between doing the diet again).

This is pretty much what I ate everyday on the diet.
I love hearing the compliments that I look thinner. It makes me proud of my accomplishment. But I hate the comments that I get from people who think I am crazy and as soon as I am off the diet am just going to gain all the weight back. It is true... this CAN happen, if you stop caring and just eat whatever you want as much as you want. There is a 3 maintenance to help you get back to regular eating after such an intense diet... but if you follow all the rules, you should not gain it back. This diet is a cleanse, it helps your body process food better and it boosts your metabolism. So I noticed that even when I was eating normal again... as long as I was exercising.. I could eat whatever I wanted and I would not gain the weight back. Something this diet did for me though is made me more aware of what I am putting in my body. Things that help me keep it off? I try to get exercise in almost everyday. I don't eat when I am not hungry. I try to stay away from too many carbs. Don't eat after 8. And don't overeat when I do eat. Now when I eat things that are super unhealthy... or if I eat too much my stomach hurts. So there you go. Sorry that was so long. It has been what I have been doing with my life since mid March... so I guess I have a lot to say about it. Socializing is harder because so many people want to go out to dinner or whatever... but I have also gotten used to it, so it has become easier. Now I don't plan on doing the diet again as of now, but I would still love to lose more weight... but I am ok with it just coming off slowly now with my new life style. :o) But instead of focusing on where I want to be, my co-worker Paula (she is awesome) tells me that I need to give myself credit for how far I have come and what I have accomplished.... which is why I wrote this post. Thank you to everyone who supported me and told me I could do it!

I love lost 35 pounds and dropped two pants sizes and this is what I look like now!

Friends!

I am thankful for good friends (new and old) that are always there for me when I need them. If I didn't have these good friends.... I am pretty sure that I would be paying for therapy. I am the type of person that really needs to talk things out. Anyway, I got together with Desiree and Andrea tonight. They are so great. They totally made my night! So fun to be around... I really miss having them around. We met in my ward a few years back and have stayed good friends since. Love you girls!

Recipe Book Project

I wish that I could say that I thought of this idea... or even made this, but I didn't. However... I do think it is a fantastic idea. My sister Lori made gifts for all the girls this Christmas. She made us all our own personalized cookbook. They all had our first initial on it and then decoupaged cute colors and patterns for each person. Mine is of Costa Rica.... because Lori and I went there together for two months. It will be something we get to share together that is really special that I don't feel like a lot of sisters get to do together. So it was very special to me. And it looked so cool. She used this poster that she bought while we were there. And then she added some of their currency for more design. I thought it was very cute and clever.
Anyway, I decided that I love this for a few different reasons. 1) I don't like my writing, so I don't like looking at recipes on the cards 2) I don't feel like cards are as organized 3) these have sheet protectors... so your favorite recipes will not get ruined 4) Typed up and in a book, the recipes are easier to read 5) When you get a new recipe... it is so much easier to type and print it out rather than writing it. Better yet, I just print recipes off the food network website anyway. And finally 6) you can always add to it. Or take something out, so it is not as permanent.
Bottom line, awesome Christmas present idea. Thank you Lori! I am now in the middle of transferring all of my cards to the book. I am about half way done. I love the feeling of being productive and finishing projects.

Validation

This is my new favorite video. It is worth 16 minutes of your time. It makes me want to be a better person. Thank you to my brother-in-law Billy for posting it on our family website. I love it. Hope you do too!

My patio Garden

For the last few years I have looked forward to the spring/summer season. Not only because it is warm after a long cold winter and full of fun activities.... but I discovered that I love to garden! Of course potted plants are different than having a real garden, but it sure makes my patio look a lot more nice and I enjoy sitting back there more. I also find it relaxing to water my plants every day and watch them grow. This year Brent helped me clean the whole patio (it gets pretty messy after fall/winter) and helped me plant some of my flowers. The patio looks SO much nicer now. And it smells great when you come in the back gate too. Here is what my little patio looks like... and here are some close ups of some of my flowers I plated this year.

You will notice on the side that I used cinder blocks to plant in. You don't need anything on the bottom... just pack the dirt in and it works great and looks good on a patio. Now... I planted sun flower seeds in every other cinder block. They have started to grow... but I will be excited when they get tall and flower!

Bangs

To have bangs or not to have bangs?.... that is the question. When my friend Colette did my hair, she cut it so I could have the side bangs, or bangs across my forehead. I don't think I have had bangs since I was in the 3rd grade.... so I was pretty hesitant about this idea. But I told her I would try it at least once, so I did this last Sunday. Not sure if I will do it again though.

Camping in the Uinta's!

This was our first camp out of the summer! The guys wanted to go up to the Uinta's which is beautiful, but I was a little worried about how cold it would be since it was still so early in the summer. We went anyway, it is beautiful up there. Everyone at work told me it would rain on us. It did not, which I was very thankful, but it did get VERY cold that night. It was hard for me to leave the camp fire at any time even though the smoke from the fire was pretty bad, and even always being next to the fire, I couldn't feel my toes because they were so cold. Thank goodness Brent knows I am not prepared for this cold of camping and is always looking out for me. Before the camp out he went and bought me warm socks and thermal under clothes. They were a life saver for me that night.... otherwise I don't know if I would have ever been able to sleep. To top it off, Brent's roommate Braydon bought hand and feet warmers. He gave me and my roommate Ashley a pair of each. Without these things, there is NO WAY I would have been able to sleep because it was so cold. You better believe I gave them both a big hug the next morning. Besides that, Brent made some awesome Shrimp in the dutch oven (something on the camp out I could actually eat because of my diet) and we had fun taking "light pictures" with Braydon's camera and just enjoyed hanging out with each other in our beautiful surroundings. All the guys that went are very funny, so I was constantly entertained. It was awesome. The next day we drove up to Provo River Falls (which I had never been to before). The falls are awesome. And just as we got there, there were some extreme kayakers that were going to go down it, so we stayed and watched them go down. It was pretty fun to watch. Then we headed home.
I really enjoy camping for several reasons. 1- I love to be out in nature 2-You really get to know people and become better friends because there is nothing to do but talk and be together 3-It is nice to get away from cell phones and tv, etc.. 4-I love the smell of the tree's and fresh air and looking up at the stars away from city lights 5-When you come home the next day, even though it was only one night camping, you REALLY appreciate getting clean 6-you REALLY appreciate your bed and you sleep SO well in it. There are many other reasons, but that is just to name a few. Anyway... we all had a blast and you better believe that there will be more to come. Next time it will be when I am not on a diet which will be that much more enjoyable! :o)