Sha-la-la-la-la-la You Gotta Kiss the Girl!

When I was growing up, the Little Mermaid was one of my favorite movies.

I always loved the scene when Ariel and Eric are in the row boat during the song "Kiss the Girl".

via

I got to have my own experience like that during our trip to Idaho. Annie's dad wanted the newly weds (I still love being called a newly wed!) to row around the pond. Since we were guests at the farm, we had to do it!

We were even serenaded with Mike singing "Kiss the Girl". Jonathan, unlike Eric, followed the message of that song and kissed me.

It was so much fun having our own version of that scene.

Hannah's Clutch

About a year and a half ago, I did my very first sewing project ever. It was a clutch for Hannah. Last week, it was stolen. A very, very sad day.

My very first sewing project!

Well, two days later we were going to be celebrating Hannah's birthday. I had the great idea of making her a new one! I found some amazing fabric and sewed a new clutch!

The front of the clutch.

The back. (I fell in love with this fabric!)

The lining is the same fabric that I used on Hannah's original clutch.

 Hannah was so surprised that I made her a new clutch. It was so wonderful to see her reaction.

Jonathan's Cute Little Buddy

Jonathan suddenly became best friends with Garrett. We're not exactly sure how it happened, but Garrett absolutely loves Jonathan. We realized this a few weeks ago when Jonathan was playing with Garrett and his cars. Jonathan was teasing Garrett by telling him that they were his cars and Garrett's usual reaction to someone taking his consists of screaming bloody murder and then scowling at you until he forgets that you tried to take his car. (The kid even has dreams where he says out loud "No, my car".) Well, Jonathan didn't get the normal, ear-piercing shrieks. Instead, Garrett just laughed and said, "No, my car" and he would take it back from Jonathan. This repeated a few more times. A while later as Garrett was playing with Jonathan again, he handed Jonathan a car and told him that it was his car. It was shocking! Garrett doesn't share his cars with anyone. So, now we all know that Garrett loves his Uncle Jonathan.

Jonathan holding Finn McMissile.

A funny side note, Garrett can't say Jonathan and so for a while he would just call Jonathan Buddy instead. Well, now it's evolved to BJ. Yeah, I think it's hilarious!

Jonathan's cute, little shadow.

My Husband, The Android Developer!

It's true! Jonathan has his very first app in the Google Play store which means he is officially an Android Developer! His app is called SKU Pad and is aimed at people who use lots of bar codes (like he does at work). You can make a new note, scan in what ever you need to, and then have a list of those things in your phone.

That's my Jonathan Nelson's app!

He currently has a paid and a free version. I can't wait to see his following apps out on the market!!

A Small & Quick Project

Back in May I shared the photo wall in our apartment. It was so exciting to have it up on the wall that I ignored the fact that there were a few gaps in between some of the frames.

Jonathan was totally fine with the blank space, but I could not handle it. Something had to be done!

I was thinking of adding an old key or small little something that I could never quite figure out what it was. So, the wall stayed like that for two months.

Then, one day I was scrolling through pintrest and found my inspiration!!!

The description with this picture was "Fabric covered cork board".

It was like a light bulb turned on and knew exactly how to fill the extra space! Now, I didn't have any cork board lying around my apartment, but I did have an excellent substitute - styrofoam! I had a feeling that it would come in handy after assembling our shelves so I kept it. It helped out so much.

I decided to cut out a circle for the smaller hole, and doing it free hand did not work. On my second attempt, I used a roll of tape as my guide. It work perfectly! For the other hole, I decided to use the computer to make the right sized ellipse since free hand doesn't work for me.

This is the backside of the ellipse.

After using spray adhesive, you couldn't tell that it was really just styrofoam covered with fabric.

I took them home and got them up on the wall. They are the perfect fit for our photo wall. Jonathan admitted that the wall does look better with them up.

I can now sleep again knowing that the wall is complete!

It's Been Awhile

Well, between getting ready for Girls Camp, then being at Girls Camp, and  doing a few last summer projects before school starts, I haven't taken the time to post anything in the past few weeks. I figured I would let you know that I am in fact still blogging and will have some fun things to share!

For now here's a few pictures of my final big summer project! I am redoing the green thing (that's what I've named it) and soon it will be a beautiful navy blue chest! There will be a post all about it as soon as it's done!

Girls Camp 2012!

I had a great time spending a week with the wonderful girls! I was with the same group that I was last year and it was awesome. We spent the first three days just as the fourth years. We spent the first day playing on a lake with a sailboat, canoes, and kayaks.

The second day we hiked up to a tower that overlooks the Sierra Buttes. It was hard, but so worth the view!

Hmmm... Weird...

So, apparently Snooki follows me on Instagram...

I'm not really sure why that would happen, but whatever.

(I'm not even entirely sure who that is and PLEASE don't tell me!)

Thanks to Hannah, I probably would have never noticed.

I Cannot Wait Until January!

I am hooked on Downton Abbey thanks to my mom. I have probably watched it 2 or 3 dozen times! The first season covers 1912, when the Titanic sunk, through 1914, when Britain declared war on Germany. The second season covers WWI and closes in 1920. This period of time is fascinating to me for a couple of reasons. First, I love history, but unfortunately don't know too much about this time period. Masterpiece does an amazing job with getting the costumes and sets perfect to the time period to really make it feel like you are really there. Lastly, this is the time period of when my Grandpa and Grandma Machen were born and raised in. (Sure they were raised in the United States, but I like seeing what the world was like when they were children.)

I have also been drawn into the lives of all the characters. I feel like I know them so well, almost as though they are my own friends. I love watching it with Jonathan. (Yeah, he even likes it!) I can't wait to see what will happen in season 3!

The Crawley sisters.

I Am Truly Blessed

Lately, I've been feeling so blessed for a decision I made almost two years ago. I honestly feel like I have married the perfect man for me. 

A few weeks ago, I wasn't feeling good and so I had a lazy day with Jonathan. We had a Harry Potter movie marathon. I kept telling him that 13 year old BJ was swooning (yes, I've loved Harry Potter since I was in elementary school and I still love it). Now I am on a Harry Potter kick. I started reading the 5th book. Jonathan read a chapter to me. It was wonderful. 

Jonathan never read the books,

so I will let him read them to our children. 

He will love it.

Sometimes (or most of the time) as we get ready for bed, I get an added boost of energy. It usually leads to a tickle fight and lots of laughing. I think it happens because I just get so excited that we don't have to say good bye every night like we did before we were married.

Jonathan and I are so similar. It is a wonderful thing. It's uncanny with just how much we think alike. There are many times when we predict what the other will say. I've been doing it for awhile now, but lately Jonathan's been doing it more (sometimes it's creepy, but that's to be expected).

Something I've always loved about Jonathan (even before we dated) is how easy it is to talk to him about anything and everything. Our first date was about 15 minutes of eating ice cream and 2 hours of talking.

I am so grateful for my sweet Jonathan. He takes such good care of me and makes me feel so loved. I am so grateful that I get to have eternity with him. It will be so fun!

Some Thoughts

I woke up early on Friday morning, and couldn't fall back to sleep. Jonathan was sound asleep next to me, and I decided to get on my phone. I saw someone refer to a shooting in Colorado and I didn't know what they were referring to. I went ahead and looked for it on the news and there it was.

A shooting in Aurora that happened during a midnight showing of the new Batman movie.

I was stunned by what I was reading. It seemed so unreal to me. That sort of thing doesn't happen in real life. People don't just go around shooting and killing random people doing everyday things.

After the initial shock, I started to think about what I would do in a situation like that. Would I think clearly or would I just freeze? Would I try to stop the person or would I be a shield for the people around me? How would I react if someone I loved had been killed?

I don't know the answers to those questions. All I know is that there is a plan laid out for us, but it is up to us to find it and then stay on it. I read an amazing blog post written by a woman that was in the theater with her two daughters discussing the idea of God being merciful if he allows senseless violence to occur. I would encourage you to read it. Heavenly Father loves us perfectly and He allows us to make decisions, even if they are bad ones. He is there for us and as soon as we turn to Him, He takes us in His arms and assists us back onto the only path that leads to him. I am so grateful that I am loved by our Heavenly Father even though I am imperfect and make dumb decisions. He is always there for us, we just need to turn to Him and work a little harder at being the person He knows we can be.

Seriously, read it!

Garrett and Beebee!

I love spending time with Garrett. He is such a little goofball! I can tell that likes spending time with me too because he gets a sly little smile on his face (unless he just woke up from a nap). He started calling me Bee Day a month or two ago (j is a hard sound to make) but it's evolved into Beebee. (It's rather confusing since he thinks that anything that flies is a bee and yells it so everyone can hear.)

Anyways, we love spending time together. Playing with trucks, trains, rocks, or little apricots that fell off the tree, we can have fun. There are times when I prefer the company of child more than adults. Here are some pictures of us playing around.

We were watching Cars and Garrett got excited when Lighting McQueen's tire popped. He had to act it out!

Yes, Garrett still thinks the only purpose of my existence is to play with him.

Something's Missing

After finishing up all of the posts from our Idaho trip, I have been missing my playful Seth and sweet Clara! Thankfully, these two will be moving to California at the end of the month!!! I am so excited and can't wait to spend more time with them.

That's also when Taylor, Kenzie, and Mercedes will be getting home from their trip to Utah. The Nelson home isn't the same with them gone, but they will be back in just a few weeks!

Before they get back however, Hannah will be home this weekend!!!!!!! Let the fun begin!

She's almost done with another semester of school!!!

It will be so wonderful to have our family home again!