Chanel perfume on a Spring Day...

 Coco Chanel Perfume…I've missed being able to wear this. Since being pregnant, my tolerance of smells has been anything but forgiving. I used to love perfume and would wear so many different types, but now I’m limited to mostly deodorant or light rose scents. That being said, today I was getting ready for work and saw my old bottle of Coco Chanel Mademoiselle that John had bought me nearly 2 years ago. It seems crazy that it’s been so long since we were dating and falling in love in Salt Lake City. This particular bottle of perfume has profound value to me because it was the day I knew John was the one for me.

The story goes like this. John and I had been dating regularly and been having a great time. I loved him, but still was hesitant to fully give my whole heart to him. Past heartbreaks have a way of making you wary. City Creek Mall had just opened up and John took me on a little day date to see this feat of architecture and couture. The first place we stopped was Macy’s and John, impish smile intact, promptly took me to the perfume counter and said, “Ok, pick one!” I just looked at him like ‘you've got to be kidding me!’ No one I have ever dated has done anything like this before. I asked him again and again if he was sure; to which he just smiled and said yes. I looked at every single bottle (none of them cheap by the way) asking him which one he liked, telling him how much fun it would be to work with perfumes and just being the happiest girl alive.

I finally settled on this beautiful bottle of Chanel:

I couldn't believe how special John made me feel. I had mentioned how much I loved perfume and he remembered. But not only remembered, made my day extra special. Here we are married and it’s been nearly two years since that day and he hasn't changed a bit. Even the small, ordinary things he makes special. He treats me like I’m something to be treasured and I’m so lucky to have him be the father of my daughter. Just wait Olivia, your childhood is going to be fantastic.

Playing Catch Up

Ok, my New Year’s resolution is to keep this thing updated at least once a week! I am so sorry for not posting in such a long time. A lot has happened to us since we left off. I’ll do a list for you here instead of going into detail:

• We got pregnant! Olivia Ephra Kelley is due on May 1^st and we are so excited.
• We moved…across the street. After tripping down those dang stairs one too many times, we decided maybe a 1 level is for us and it has proven to be an excellent decision. 
•  John has switched majors and we are both very happy with his decision.
• We got rid of Oliver, our one time guinea pig. Pets are for people who a-have time, b-have money and c-have their own homes. His new residence is with our friends and their two boys love him.
•  I am cancer free for almost 1 whole year! I feel immensely fortunate and so much more at ease.
• We got another car! Denise sold her “green machine” to my brother Kambren who in turn sold it to us. Blessings just keep pouring in.

This should sum everything up. I’m sure there are more updates and I’ll try to remember them as we go along, but for right now this catches you up.

How have you all been?

Weekly Menus and Shopping Lists

John and I love to eat out at restaurants. We love the atmosphere, the friendly service, discovering new favorites and just the idea of having a fun night on the town. However, going out frequently and then trying to save money? You can't get two more opposite hobbies. That's when I found an article, which unfortunately I can't find again. But all the recipes I loved I saved on Pinterest.

If you go to my Pinterest account you will see the board that I named "Food Truck Recipes". If you aren't following me, do so and I'll approve you right away so you can see my brilliant pinning life.

Anyway, these are cheap, easy and for the most part, not terrible on the calories. There are ways to dial back the fat if you want but I like them just how they are!

Here is what our Menu and Shopping list look like. The Menu is taped to the back so I know exactly what I'm having and have all the ingredients right there. I wrote the price and where I got each ingredient as well which will make shopping in the future easier. Hopefully. Is there anything you do to help make the weekly chore of shopping easier?

Wednesday night was Chicken Po Boy for dinner and lunch for today. I figure it's a lot easier to make a lunch with stuff you already have out than try and have inspiration during the morning rush. Therefore, save money, time and give you a couple extra minutes before you run to work. Here is my creation. Didn't have the bun, but I had everything else, so whole wheat bread it is!

Next Up: Getting rid of the clutter in our closets.

The Kelley's are Organizing!

I'm doing a number of projects. Experiments on the subject of continuous improvement, if you will. I'm excited, but feel like I may be trying to organize too much too fast and will hit a wall pretty quick. Then again, I'm able to breathe easier, sleep better and have a sense of accomplishment everyday. Doesn't sound like burn out to me, sounds like I am "The Girl on Fiiiirrree!"Watch yo back Katniss. You may be able to kill me, but I'll organize the crap out of anything faster than you. 

Since my blog has been lacking lately, I'm going to start a post on each thing that I've done.

First off, I have extreme pillow envy when it comes to Houzz.com houses. I want colorful pillows to adorn my neutral couch! I love the flowers, stripes, eclectic feel to a couch full of puffy pillows. So, I took my inspiration and went to the $1/yd aisle of Walmart and went a little crazy. Here are the before an after pillows. Keep in mind I made 7 of those pillows for a total (including stuffing) $30. Eat that $15/pillow stores! Yes, I'm pointing at you TJ Max.

Ok, so by final I mean final...ish. The flowers need some rearranging, we have another lamp on the right hand side and that side table has been removed. But, it's coming a long really well and soon I'll have what the room REALLY looks like. The purpose of this post was to showcase the pillows. I feel that at least has been successful.

Next up: Menus and Shopping Lists.

Cancer Part II

Cancer Part II

It has taken me a long time to finally write this post. To be honest, I have been afraid to write in a way because the writing I did in Part I was so descriptive and full of emotion; I’m afraid I can’t duplicate it. But, it doesn’t matter. If I can or can’t in the end because the important part is that the story is told.

My beautiful family came to Logan the night of my surgery and stayed with me. My mom, Jarom and Jaisha made the unbearable bearable and fulfilled one of John’s very important goals…Fast and the Furious marathon. Yes. While suffering on the couch, wallowing in my own misery I was forced to watch all of the Fast and the Furious movies and you know what? I love those movies! I always will. End of story.

My arm was bandaged up really well and I was told not to shower for a three or four days just to let the stitches heal. After my family left two days later and instead of wallowing in misery I was stewing in my own post surgery nastiness…I decided that three days was long enough and got into the shower.

Letting the water rain down on me, washing away the grime of the past couple days and just standing there made me feel a small sense of comfort. I was warm, I was loved and I was getting clean. It felt like this was just a step on the way to my future. The bandage started to get soggy so I started peeling it back and started screaming for John. The stitches were black and jagged and my skin red and angry underneath. The string was actually plastic and just looking at it nearly made me throw up.  My arm looked like someone had carved a chunk out of it and then did a medieval hack job at sewing me up. John came bounding up the stairs to my rescue and I just stood there freaking out and pointing at this nasty on my arm, crying. He looked at it with disgust and told me it would be ok. I sobbed and got out the shower. I had never felt so ugly in my entire life. Not in middle school when I was fat and had a really hard ugly stage, not on my mission when I was taller and bigger than anyone in what seemed like the entire country, nothing. This was the pinnacle moment of hideous.

I decided that long sleeves were the order of the day. So, I had john help me into a comfy shirt and went back to the couch. I couldn’t lie on the side with my wounded arm so sleeping or lying was a little awkward but after a couple days, I got used to it. John was so wonderful. He brought down a mattress from our bed and made the living room into our bedroom for a week or two.

Having had surgery, but still being the breadwinner at the moment meant that taking more time off of work was out of the question. My pitiful salary had to stretch far and one missed day could mean hard times. So, Tuesday after my surgery I was back at work. I had medication and my job was very accommodating as far as patience and helping me with some basic tasks but I felt more of a burden than a help and really just wanted to go home.

Time passes and with it healing comes. When you can’t use your dominant arm, some things are harder than you ever realized. The prime example is using the restroom. Just try doing a decent wipe with your nondominate hand. It’s like a freakin’ yoga pose just trying! Also, ponytails were out. Hair is down all the time and blow-drying takes some talent. I had to sit and let my useless arm rest while my left and did all the work. Needless to say, my hair had seen better styles during the month of Feb. and into March.

Well, March rolled around and I was waiting for the results of my lymph node tests to come back. I had the arm chuck missing and also they took some lymph nodes from my arm pit. If the verdict came back and the cancer had spread to my lymph nodes, aggressive action had to take place. If it hadn’t, I was clear!

I was at work the day I got the phone call. I had started to fear my phone ringing at this point J. Anyway, I was there and I got the call from Dr. Bowles telling me that they found the cancer in one of my lymph nodes. I had a really hard time focusing after that. What I did hear her say that it was a small amount and would be taking my case to a group of specialists to analyze and see if we needed to do surgery or if chemo would start. I thanked her, hung up the phone and just felt completely worn out. Tears started forming and ran down their well defined course on my face.  I worked with a woman whom I know didn’t care for me and well, I didn’t care much for her either but in a moment like this, it didn’t matter. She came and gave me a hug and held me while I cried. We are after all sisters in the eyes of God and just that moment helped me see her as such.

I took my lunch and started making the calls. John was the first and hardest call of all. Next it was family and especially my mom. That was hard too. Then it was done. I had to wait.

This is part two. Part three will be coming out soon.

Blazzin' Challenge

A lot of things can make a person happy after a long day. Retail therapy, getting a massage, venting to a friend or even just taking a walk. Well, for Mr. Kelley, what makes him happy is food and food challenges! Last night we had to drop off our brand new car at the dealership to have the crankshaft point sensor replaced (thank goodness for warranties) and pick up our rental.

For those of you who have followed along our journey, we haven’t had the best luck with cars but I honestly feel like life is going to slow down and be a little nicer to us from now on. Just me but I really do think it’s going to happen. Is this the talk of a woman who has reached her breaking point and has finally drifted off into madness? No, this is a woman who has finally gotten her anxiety under control and can see clearly now the fog of dread has dispersed.

So, after dropping off our car and heading home, Mr. Kelley was feeling really frustrated and I wanted to ease his suffering so I took him to Buffalo Wild Wings for the Blazin’ Challenge!

12 super hot, super drenched-in-fire-sauce wings in under 6 minutes. He’s got this.

The first thing we had to do was sign a waiver that told him that the restaurant and its subsidiaries, etc, were not held accountable for sickness or death and basically you are on your own if you try this. Comforting. But, John’s blue eyes sparkled with Irish mischief and I knew he’d be fine. 

Once the waiver was signed, 2 waitresses and a waiter walked out caring a flashing red light and the platter of hot wings to a roaring crowd. It was a bigger deal than I had imagined that’s for sure.  The crowd cheered as the waitress put the wings in front of John and started counting down, 5..4..3..2..1!! 

John dug right in, licking every wing dry and didn't even seemed phased by the sauce that has caused lesser men to cry. The restaurant was cheering and while filming, kept shouting his name. I was so proud of him! 

1 minute passed and so did 3 wings. Still trucking along, John kept a solid pace. 2 minutes, 3 minutes and finally 4 minutes passed and all but three of those fiery wings had found a new home in John’s belly. At 5 minutes he was making his final chews and proving he had indeed devoured everything set before him with no water, no wiping and leaking eyes as the sauce finally got to him.

5 minutes and 11 seconds and John has a free shirt and a title claimed!

So, even though the day was rough, life has been hard, we are happy and finding joy in our journey.

Love you John.

Easter in Millard County

I am a true testament to the fact that if you don’t write something down right away you’ll forget about it, details wise. Now, having said that, I would like to tweak that fact just a little. Here’s my version: “If you don’t write something down, something else is  going to happen that’s dramatic and you’re going to feel overwhelmed at the idea of writing.” So, let’s start with the most recent turn of events and work backwards.

Easter weekend was not what John and I expected. While we arrived in Fillmore with no scratches, we left with significant body damage. Our family tradition is to go four-wheeling, picnicking, horseshoe playing and sun bathing. We always go to Sugar Loaf in Millard County. This is an old volcano that has been asleep for hundreds of years and is now more or less a four-wheeling track.

Sugar Loaf Volcano

The View

The Windmill Project a.k.a. stonehenge

The trail is not for beginners, but since John had come with us last year and nothing had happened, I figured let’s go for it again! We both hopped on a machine and took off with my cousins and brothers. My mom said “be careful” and looked me right in the eye. It felt like she was saying this more forcefully than usual, but I ignored the feeling I had off we sped into the great wilderness desert.

We took some hills, bunny rabbit is what I call them, and were having so much fun!

After a while, John wanted to drive so we switched places. He tried to do a U-turn and the four-wheeler started tipping a little. I was freaked out, but John said he’d be careful so we took off. He drives a little slower when I’m with him and for good reason. I don’t like to go fast on something that isn’t entirely in my control. That’s the reason I don’t like horses. I like to look at them and pet them but I do not enjoy riding them.

We started up the incline that leads to the old windmill project from the 30’s (people say it looks like Stonehenge and they are right). The project was supposed to provide energy for the people of Millard County and was going to revolutionize the town. Unfortunately, the designer took all the money and ran once the Great Depression hit and the project was abandoned. My dad told me the story last year.

Anyway, so the trail is steep and you ride along a narrow path with volcano on one side and a sheer drop on the other. I’m no judge of distance, but I if I had to put it into perspective, it’s like falling off a 4 story building. Maybe higher. Our four-wheeler didn't have the best brakes, but we figured we’d be alright. As we turned to face the hardest part of the journey, a large boulder is partially revealed and once you ride on top of it, you are on more level ground which makes the final stretch a level shot to the windmills. The boulder is treacherous though. Imagine a path that has loose rock and gravel all around it and your one hope of not falling off the side of a mountain is the boulder that is about 30 degrees higher than the trail you are already riding. You square up your four-wheeler, press the gas and hope that you have enough grip to climb the rock to the level ground above. My palms sweat just thinking about it. If you can’t make it on the first try, you have to squeeze your breaks and gently roll down the boulder until you are back on the trail and then try again. There is no turning around, no backing too far down because if you do, you fall. End of story.

Well, John went to square up the boulder and unfortunately didn't get enough grip the first time. So as he went to squeeze the breaks, they failed. We were rolling off the side of a volcano, 4-5 stories down a gravelly slope of mountain which I was certain would be the last trip we ever made. The four wheeler tipped and since I was on back, I went first. I slid off the machine, screaming for help and landed on my behind. My pants slid up, something really hurt my wrist and I tumbled until I managed to stop.

I turned around and saw this 900 pound hunk of metal roll on top of my husband as he waited helplessly for it to pass. I thought he was dead. I was hysterical, crying and screaming but not able to stay where I was because this beast of a machine was rolling towards me. I tried to run, tried to move but wasn't able to do more than scramble to one side. Time seemed to stop and slow as I watched in horror as this rolling mass threatened to smash me into the ancient rock. I felt I had angered the mountain or did something wrong. How could I have been so careless to assume that I was invincible? My body was not exempt from pain or mangling, my cancer had taught me that.

I waited for the pain to come, but it never did. Instead our four-wheeler was stopped by a tree that was miraculously growing just in the right spot to create a barrier not to be crossed. This miracle was viewed in hindsight because all I could see was my husband’s face before the machine rolled over his helpless body. Tears streamed down my face as I screamed in anger and defeat. Dirt was inside my mouth, eyes and stung a cut that had formed from my split hand.

Suddenly I saw John sliding towards me asking if I was ok. I was so shocked all I could do was cry and ask him if he was alright. I sat, stunned and just sobbing. John went to inspect the four-wheeler as Jarom, my brother who we had followed up, ran towards us to assess the situation.

I was useless as they and other men who had traveled the same trail came down to help us out of our predicament. The other men were just some travelers from a neighboring town who were doing same Easter tradition as us. They started the four-wheeler up (miracle) and John helped them guide it back up the mountain. Jarom hitched a wench to the back of John so that as they traveled down this cursed volcano, he’d have some breaks.
At this point, was still crying, wondering why this had happened. Hadn't John and I been through enough? I failed so see the hand of God blessing us with help and a random tree to stop the four-wheeler and not to mention despite being squashed by an 800 pound machine, John emerged with little more than scratches. I was angry and sad, not to mention bitter at the circumstance but having had time to look over this I realized how lucky we were and how so many angels must have been on alert to help us.

We are loved. Heavenly Father has not abandoned us and despite our trials we are better because of them. John and I are strong and we will continue to be strong because of the love and faith we have in our God. Not to mention the wonderful family I have been born into. You could not find finer parents and more loving siblings than what I have; though I wish everyone were so lucky.