Buttons are Back...Oh yeah

Rob and I have been making some serious plans for our little jewelry business.  I am happy to say it is back!  We had to take a break when we moved to Texas, then things just got all sorts of crazy after that and the future of my buttons looked a little bleak.

But the sun is out!  I have contacted both Quilted Bear and The Wandering Wardrobe and am waiting to hear back.  I am also looking into selling at some city days as a vendor in the Utah Valley area.  Here are a few photos of my work this evening. 

My fingers hurt.

And just to end this post with yet some more fabulous news from the Lee residence:

Look at this sweet photo I took of Rob on Saturday just before a rousing game of one-on-one at our apartment basketball court:

Mmmmmm-hmmm!

Let the Seven Peaks season begin!

See for Yourself

I make rolls.

Rob says they taste good.

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies too.

But the rolls are the important part.

We're so happy I quit my job.

Because now I have time to make rolls.

The Woman's Body

I have been thinking about how I feel about my body lately.

I have been thinking about the idea of what is real and what is not.  I thought of the movie, "Inception" that Rob and I watched the other night.  In the movie, Leonardo DiCaprio uses a "totem" (a spinning top) to help him identify whether he is in reality or a dream.  For some reason that really resonated with me and the battle we women have with our bodies, living in a society that completely sexualizes and morphes them into what is perceived as the ideal, but are also unattainable and fake.

I don't write this post because I think I am different than other women, but because I believe most of us are very similar and sometimes I wish we talked about it more.  How do you with deal with the pressure?  What is your totem?

Here's one of mine: Are the choices I am making bringing me closer to or further away from my Heavenly Father?  Am I loving my body, including taking care of it, in a way that shows respect for my body as a temple?

Answering those questions serve as a well-balanced reliable totem for myself.  Because that is our reality, correct?  The eternal perspective of who we are, where we came from, and where we are going.  And we are beautiful.  We are women.

May we all keep that totem handy for a time when we might need to do a reality check for what is real, and what are the lies of the adversary.

What is your totem?  What do you do when you start to feel pressure about how you look, whether it is through one negative thought alone, or whether it is a constant battle?

Give me your good thoughts.  Let's start the conversation.

I highly suggest the following lecture found on YouTube, "Killing Us Softly" by Jean Kilbourne, if you have never heard it before.  There are four parts, four videos.

Julie's Beauty Boutique

I really like to be organized, but I really don't like to spend money on organizer containers.  I used a few of my old wool scarves that I never wear to organize some of my accessories today. I am a big fan.

My earrings:

 My headbands and flower clips (thank you Briana forever)!:

Lessons Learned

I have checked off another one of the items on my life list.

I graduated from college.

Interestingly enough, my last semester of college ended up being the hardest of all of my semesters at BYU, maybe even combined.  And while I wish I could say I would do it again, well I just don't know.  That's what makes having it over and done so great-I did it and I never have to go back and do it again!


Better yet, I did learn a few things.

Freshman Year

1. College is a whole different experience when you are living at home: move out.
2. Grades aren't everything. 
3. Sundays are wonderful.

Sophomore Year
1.  Choose the boy over the roommates.
2. It is good to eat meat occasionally.
3. Apartment curfew is at midnight, but the laundry room often forgets to get locked.
4. Three girls sleeping on one twin bed is not comfortable, but worth the memory.
5. No matter how "good" you and your fiancee try to be, girls you don't know will still make up truly disgusting rumors about the bad things you do: just ignore it.
6. God knows you.

Junior Year

1. Small and simple things can be made great and strong.
2. Avoid telling people your age...that is if your husband is in a singles ward bishopric.
3. Make time for dates, even when the Junior Core says you shouldn't.
4. Listen to Sherry's stories more attentively-one day there won't be anyone from her generation to tell them.

Senior Year

1. Your grades really aren't going to matter after graduation.
2. Be sensitive to girls at BYU who approach graduation and aren't married, it's a hard one and it probably would be for you too.
3. Not everyone in your program who is married is pregnant, even if it feels like it some days.
4. Don't ever let someone make you feel inferior about yourself.  Get out before you do.
5. God often answers prayers through people.
6. No husband and wife should be apart for a month.
7. You can do hard things.

Just a few of the loved ones who helped me get there:

 

Eric graduated with his master's degree in Civil Engineering!  Rock on.

 Our accomplishments thus far:

 Sweet Mom and Dad.

Thank you, thank you.  We did it.

Two Years is Better Than One

 I could not let the opportunity pass without sharing some happy thoughts about our anniversary this year.  April 23, 2012 was a crazy day, consisting of moving and more moving.  By the time Rob and I moved all our stuff into our new apartment and returned the 24-foot truck we rented, it was close to 7 pm.  We were tired, but not too tired to take a walk to one of our favorite restaurants-Brick Oven.  Yum.  It was a sweet way to kick off our summer in Provo and celebrate the awesomeness of our marriage.

It is incredible to me how our life together has already turned out so much different than we planned.  I look at our wedding pictures and think, we had no idea what was ahead of us, even in just the first two years.  But that is not a bad thing, I don't think.  We have had a wonderful start to our marriage, full of unexpected transitions, which has brought us closer together than our original plans probably would have.

That night we cuddled up and watched a movie in our new apartment.  And I have to tell you, after recently being separated for a month and finally having a place we could call home, that was the best celebration we could have had on such a day.