Five Minute Friday

REST

I am learning to rest.

My body.  My mind.  My spirit.

I've always had this idea that I should just keep plugging along and push through it.

Whatever "it" is.

"I'm strong."

"I'm tough."

"I can handle it."

Until I couldn't.

Until I was so tired and beaten down from the hard things in life,

that I couldn't even enjoy my life.

Everything, even the good things, just felt like too much.

And then I had to rest.

That meant sleep, of course, but also time just being quiet.

Saying no to even good things.

Music!

Finding (remembering?) my talents again and actually using them.

Even Christ rested.

And remember the story of Mary and Martha?

Rest.  Find rest.  Heal.  Rest.  

Painting My Tush Off is Hard Work

Family! It's Kayla! Brace yourselves for a VERY long post. I apologize ahead. As you know, I moved! To Tetonia, Idaho. Population 300-something. It's tiny. But it's got a bar, a church, a post office, a gas station, a park, and a shop full of rustic mountain-y wood things. And people are a little CRAZY for rustic mountain-y things here because Tetonia is a cute stop on the way to one of the biggest tourist attractions in the region if not the country. If you walked through the grocery store (the next town over), you'd think you were surrounded by mostly hobos. Don't be decieved, there are several huge ski resorts nearby. They're just a bunch of ski bums. Funny enough, they sound and look like beach bums but they traded out their surf boards and salty hair for snowboards and ski caps. I'm not exaggerating.

The other part of the population out here are very nice ranchers and farmers mostly. The parking lot of the grocery store is filled with really. big. pick up trucks. In an overwhelming majority, the people are ridiculously nice. Even at stores, people will have random conversations with you and wish you luck on whatever ventures you're having. I've really had to pretend I'm not shocked when people talk to me and actually expect an answer. I suppose part of that is also the family I married into. I'm now related to a LOT of people. Who I don't know. Who know who I am because of Sue, or they were at our wedding, etc. Also, the Tetonia 2nd ward is probably the best ward I have ever been in. Ever. It is so great. AND I have some people waiting to take lessons from me! I just need to finish my house.

Which brings me to the reason for posting. Mom has been waiting for these pictures for a long time. I have to put a disclaimer on these pictures which are mostly befores (I'll make sure to get an awesome camera for after pictures): these were taken with the camera I had available- my phone. The quality is horrible and often they're blurred. That just means greater afters right?! Yep... So without further ado, a tour of my before-house in no particular order:

The whole house kind of felt like this stove.

A good close up.


In the house's defense, a nice old man lived here for a long time and got too old to take care of it. And then he died... and that's why we got to live here. Best rent of life. Which is why I'm not complaining too much about this stove. Chelsea, Mandy's roommate is actually the one that scrubbed it. It's beautiful now. It just didn't feel great when we got here.

A spice rack with vintage turquoise spice containers. OH MY GOSH!!
I'll definitely need ideas on how to make it cuter.

The living room. If you're wondering about the gray box, it's our heater.
Unfortunately, we can't move it. Fortunately, it works great and isn't very expensive.

Door leading to front porch/mudroom leading to front door.

Decor that came with the house. The curtains weren't horrible, but the hardware was dead.
When we took it down to paint, there was no putting them back up for temporary privacy until
I got my own curtains. The windows are huge and awesome though.
And we have a view of the Tetons people would kill for.

Kitchen from Living Room and all our paint stuff in a pile on the counter.

Front Bedroom.

Other side of front bedroom. It's really small. You're not missing anything except a window.

Kitchen Sink with dishwasher hose photo-bombing.
~By the way, the yellow sink actually looks awesome with the turquoise in the kitchen now!

Unmarred section of the kitchen floor. I love it.

Laundry area! I'm so excited to have my own washer and dryer!!
That dark doorway is the back porch! It'll probably be Kerry's
work area when he's home for boxes and stuff.
It's small, but there's a ton of storage which he needs.

Laundry area floor. At some point Dick (the old man who's house this was) decided he didn't like the linoleum on top of this stuff in the laundry room so he ripped it up. And not the adhesive. It's not sticky, just cement-like. Sue and Leon have some extra stuff they offered to give us to cover it. Yay!

Bathroom. This room is a whole other post. I'm not even going there today.
Holy moly, it's a disaster.

Except there's a window. I LOVE having a window in the bathroom even if it's in the shower. haha!
At a super-awkward-for-ladies height... hence the mini shower curtain.

We have a new-ish but oddly short fridge.

The crown jewel of all 70's living room lights. We had already raised it so Kerry didn't hit his head.
It was actually the first thing we did. And then we took it down completely and took it apart...
Also notice the recessed light in the background and the yellow stripes on the ceiling.

Have you noticed the whole house was covered in dark wood paneling.
You just can't escape it.  It's in every. single. drawer and cupboard too.

Our attempt at taking off the really old vinyl wallpaper. We took off the rest of this chunk of wall,
but I just painted over the other side of the room. It was like taking off normal wallpaper difficulties times a hundred. Horrible!

This bug (the brown spot is a bug) is convicted of trespassing and attempted vandalism.
(He got in my paint.)

Of my beautiful lights. They look awesome on the wall. They were $5 each at DI!!! I LOVE WHEN THAT HAPPENS!

This is the fabric I want to make my living room and kitchen curtains out of. With such big windows and at $9.99 a yard... it'll take some saving. Did I mention my front windows are HUGE? They're huge.

Underneath the kitchen sink. I painted it, but we decided to just rip it out.
My wonderful husband is going to be putting in new bottom shelves in the whole kitchen and bathroom.
They're really that gross.

My bedroom painted. I thought I'd leave the drawers and cupboard, but the more I look at that fake wood, the more uncomfortable and unhappy I am. I'm thinking I'll paint it white with a gray or green pattern on them. And put a lot of accent colors on the wall because the pink is not exactly what I had in my head.

I left out both porches and the back bedroom because at the moment there's nothing to see. They're jam-packed with our stuff so we have enough space to paint and clean and fix everything else. Eventually, the back bedroom will be our huge walk-in closet. Yes. Closet.

Any ideas are welcome! I'll post the bathroom and in-progress bedroom pictures tomorrow. And hopefully soon I'll be done enough that I can post after pictures! YAY! Having a house to actually live in will be awesome.

Fatty fatty two by four rant #1

Well hey there family! So this is a really silly, random, blog post. I am doing great in case anyone was wondering. Seriously! I am loving college well the little bit I have experienced.

How I feel about college...(picture says it all. Ha!)

I can't wait for next semester! You know what I can't wait for even more?!?!?!? To go home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am getting into Minnesota on Saturday! You know whats even better? They got like three feet of snow there today. So, when we go get our Christmas tree, there will be snow to tromp through! Whoo hoo!

So anyway, the reason I decided to post a blog today was I had a good rant to get off my chest. No no, don't freak out it's a good one. AND IT"S REAL!!!!!!!!!!!!

 With all my time off this semester, I have had a  lot of time to browse the web. Something I come across extremely often is the debate of plus-size models VS. normal models. Everyone seems to be demanding plus size-models. To those people I want to say.... WHOA!!!! You don't know want you are doing stop!!!!!! Holy guacamole!!!!!! Okay I have a reason for this reaction.

Now this semester I have really come to appreciate my body. I am just going to say it so you all know. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my body. It's gorgeous and perfect and me. ITS ME!!! I am so  glad I have discovered this so  early in life. I hope everyone who reads this can come to the same conclusion about their body. Before you do read this though, I am warning you, if you can't handle the truth, stop reading now.

So, there is this HUGE war going  on in the modeling world and the dispute is all about plus size models. Now I  hate to burst anyones lovely bubble but, WHY IS ANYONE ARGUING ABOUT HAVING PLUS SIZE MODELS???? Hmmmm.... A very good question. I agree.

Here is my problem. No one  person looks alike. Every single woman on the planet is shaped a little differently. Seriously. Like, there are people out there shaped  like what society tells you to be shaped like and then there is everyone else. Did you  know only about 8% of woman have an hour-glass shape? hmmm? Does society have absurd expectations? YUP! 100%!

Anyway, you know what I think of, when I think of a plus-sized model. A really tall women who is just filled out. (Think a viking, I know this cause My ancestors were vikings) She is shaped just like a normal model just on a bigger scale. In my opinion this is totally absurd.

Why do all models have to be shaped exactly the same? Why can't a pear shaped woman who is 5' 4" be a model. Or a woman who is 5'9" who loves cakes and is an apple shape be a model? (let's be honest we all love cakes...) Some of us are just luckier about where the cake decides to go. Most woman are rectangles! It's a proven fact! Well technically it's "banana" shaped.

So my question to the modeling world is why on earth do you have giants; skinny  or normal, modeling. Why don't average woman star in magazines. You know normal sized ones? I don't know about you, but I know tons of girls that are size 12-14 that are drop dead gorgeous. So that's all I want. I want to start a revolution. who's with me?

As a side note. I am hatin all the hating going on. Fat people hatin on the skinny people. Skinny people hatin on the fat people. All over the web!!!! And yes. I know  Fat is a harsh word. But so is skinny. It's not about fat or skinny, folks! It's about healthy and happy. And not that I am an expert, but coming from a really happy healthy girl I feel like I am seeing both sides. So that is my rant. Trust me when I say I could go on and on but I will spare you the novel. I hope you enjoyed!
Love,

Bah ha ha... gotta have a cat picture in there somewhere.

the MIA!!!!!!!

P.S. A rant for next time: FAT ROLLS ARE NOT CURVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GAH! also I am sorry I couldn't figure  out how to put more than one picture up. Boo... :(

The plan

Hi, this is Kayla.

I wasn't sure where to write my feelings and I just feel this strong need to share them. Since as a family we're all far away I especially wanted to say something, as I'm sure, does everyone else. Since Grandpa died this morning, our family-aunts, uncles, cousins, Grandma, and us- will surely be going through turmoil, sadness, grief, and maybe even anger. But I can't help but feel joy. Almost every fiber of my being is filled with joy and as Emma worded wisely- relief. I am so relieved that Grandpa isn't suffering anymore. I'm so relieved that he's with Grandma Rosemary. I'm so relieved that he's not stuck here listening to his family struggle with more emotions and actions than I'd like to list. He's home. I would think he's pretty happy. And I also think he's expecting us to be good so we can be with him. 

A phrase keeps going through my head. It's not eloquent or detailed, but it has just run through my head for hours. "The plan is real." It's REAL. This is not some made up thing from my head. My whole being confirms it. I am determined to be kind. I am determined to share my feelings. I am determined to keep this feeling. How many people in the world don't know what happens when you die or think there's nothing and you leave this life miserable and that's just what you get? I know so many people who struggle with family members dying and don't know how to feel and just know that they don't have that person anymore. Because I know what I know, I will always choose Grandpa's relief over my own desire to have him near me. Every time. 

I feel really grateful for what I have. I have the most amazing family ever, that loves me. I even married into a family that loves me. I have the gospel in my life. I have faith in Christ. I'm not struggling immensely for anything that I need. I was able to graduate from college and learn something that I love and know I can serve and touch people's hearts with it. I live in a country where I can express my feelings and pursue anything I want. My body is healthy and I don't have any disabilities. I can be forgiven for all the dumb things I do in life. And there are a whole lot. I have three sisters who live near me. I have the Holy Ghost guiding my life when I'm trying to do the right things. I have a calling that I feel quite passionate about. I have a job. I'm warm in the cold November weather. Not everyone has these things. A lot of people don't have a lot of these things. And having an eternal perspective has probably made my life better more times than I even know. 

Joy is what this life and the next and our very existence is all about. We're here to struggle and toil and hurt so we know just how much joy we can have in exchange. Without being here, we would have no idea how blessed we really are. Lets spread that joy. Lets be the uplifters. Especially in our family, its been hard. But lets do what we can to be the joy. Its what grandpa wanted for our family, its what we want, and its what Heavenly Father wants for all of us. We are here to be happy! The plan is real! And we will see Grandpa again and it will be even more awesome than we think because we'll miss him so much now. I think we can all agree that Joseph Konnad was one of the awesomest dads and grandpas ever.

Awesome videos about Christ that make me feel great and uplifted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R5VwxvUUvI&list=PL4A73DDEE675FBC39&feature=plcp

Blogging

Hey Family! My blog is here. You should follow it!
blueberryonastik.blogspot.com

REXBURG: A place of strangely homey basements and killer sidewalks

Well hello there family. It still really hasn't hit me that I live in Rexburg. It's kinda weird. I have been here for a week! I wanted to post of a few of my happenings and what my room looks like.

MY BED!! WHOO HOO!!!

So this is my room. It is really quite fabulous. Although I was accused of being a serial killer because I live down there. Personally I don't think it looks like a serial killers lair.... Too many cutsie things. The curtain in the window is going to become a t-shirt dress when I no longer need it as a curtain. It's super cute

fabric.  

My wall with all my stuff


See those cute baskets On The table below the mirror? I bought those at the dollar store and they are really cute. One has my makeup, one has my jewelry, and the other is my hair stuff. Then the green basket underneath has miscellaneous items and I bought a pop-up hamper! I am very pleased with my room!

T-shirt dress material? I think so...

MY fabulous table and Closet!

This Yellow table is soooo cute. I have stored all my random things in it!

So this next one would be my disgust at my toe. Last night after having a fabulously fun day with Mandy I was walking home alone in the dark. Rexburg has horrible sidewalk in some places. And these pictures are the result of Mia stumbling on some evil crumbling sidewalk.

Needless to say it was really gross and TMI: My sandal was COVERED in blood. Freaky!!!!!!

That really is all the rest of anything that has happened so far. Church was great today. It was nice to have somewhere to be and they were overjoyed that I can play the piano! So I am excited! I am going to an ice cream social on Thursday hopefully I can be super social lady. Well until next time! I love you all! 

Love,

-Mia

Sweet Family Moments

There are moments- sweet, tender moments- that visit all of our lives.  They sneak in quietly while we are busy living, and make us who we are, shape who we become.  They come to us, fill us up, make us laugh, make us cry, and change everything in the world. 
I remember being in the grocery store and pushing one cart full of children, and pulling another full of groceries. I remember sweet cheeks, rosy with sleep. Going to the purple and green park. Princess costumes. Trips to Thumb Tum (Tom Thumb)  to buy gummi watches as please-go-potty-in-the-toilet bribes. Never seeing the bottom of the laundry piles. I remember reading Madeline so many times I knew it by heart.  Scrambling for change because the Tooth Fairy needed to come. Buzz Lightyear.  Dandelion crowns. Chore lists. Afternoons at the beach.  I will never forget sewing Halloween costumes and Easter dresses.  Cloverland and the Grandfather Tree.  First days of school where I was the one who cried.   Concerts. So many concerts. Superhero costumes. Marching band.  Art projects.  Learning to drive!  Braces, prom, dates, friends.  Carving pumpkins. Decorating the Christmas tree. The Stockade. 
Working together, moving together, laughing together, making music together.  Oh, the music!  All of the precious moments, together.  It was happy.  And hard.  And wonderful!  Fleeting, fleeting moments that feel like forever, and then are past. 
 There is no way to prepare for how quickly they go. 
Just cherish the moments. Revel in them and save them in your heart and mind. 
Because in a flash- a turn of the head, an intake of breath- the moment is gone.  On to a new one.
There are moments in all of our lives. Sweet, tender moments that are here and then gone, but that change us forever.