Monster Bathroom Project

My friend Tara has a blog called, Once Was Junk. She inspired my next project (and my kitchen back in the day if you remember). She's always getting me into trouble.

We got granite counter tops a few years ago, but they've always looked weird against our old oak cabinets. I've always wanted to paint them white. $28.66 for a bathroom cabinet makeover. Not too bad.

Tara helped me to replicate these bathroom prints from The Land of Nod. If you are really nice to her, follow her blog, and comment with your email, I'm sure she will help you adapt them too. (I'm sort of lame for working at Adobe and not being able to use Photoshop to do it myself. WHATEVS.
The frames are thrift store frames painted white for $2 each.

The Monster decals are from Kohls Monster Bath Collection. I put them in some fun places, and then let Axton put them wherever he wanted.

And I had the shower curtain and sewing project towels from before.
Done and Done.

Thanks Tara. I might do good staying away from your blog for the rest of the Summer! ;)

The Fruit of Our Labor

Remember when we spent an entire weekend planting a little garden? Today Axton and I harvested
the world's smallest strawberry.
Axton was so proud. We cut it in half and shared it.

Independence Day Food

If you're like me, you are invited to a BBQ or family event over the 4th of July weekend, and you are tasked to bring something.

If you're like me, you want to find a show stopper item to bring, but it's gotta be
QUICK, CHEAP, and EASY.

Just so you know, I'm queen of QUICK, CHEAP, and EASY. I won't lead you astray. ;)
Lets start with desert:

Star Studded Mini Pies from Our Best Bites:

*Use pre-made pie crust from the grocery store, and canned filling. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and even though it took you MINUTES, you'll be the star for sure.


Hello, beautiful Patriotic Berry Trifle from Made Famous By:


Famous Dave's Mac n' Cheese
Have you ever been to Famous Dave's and had their Jalapeno Mac n' Cheese? OH SO YUMMY. A kid's dish made adult. I've gone there and gotten a side of Mac only (it's that good).

INGREDIENTS
*1 box of Stouffers mac-n-cheese thawed
1 cup of cut corn
¼ cup of jalapeno slices then chopped up
1tsp of parsley
1tbsp of brown mustard
1oz of Parmesan shredded cheese
1oz of cheddar cheese shredded

Empty mac-n-cheese into mixing bowl; stir in corn, jalapenos, parsley, mustard, and cheeses Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until temperature of item reaches 165 degrees or more.

*This is super cheap to make in Utah (have any of you been to the Stoffer's Outlet in Spanish Fork? I got the mac and cheese there for $3 a box. Email me for directions to the outlet: norwaymeg@gmail.com


That goes well with Root Beer Pulled Pork Sandwiches from The Girl Who Ate Everything:
I made this and the Jalapeno Mac for Lake Powell this year. EASY-PEASY, and it all freezes well.

Lastly, if you are super desperate like me in a lot of cases, you can run to Costco on your way to the Independence Day weekend BBQ, get ANY finger-food, and top it with these cute, free printable tags from Bella Grace Party Designs:

*Just remember to bring scissors for your kids to cut them out, tape, and some toothpicks to stick them into your last minute, pre-made, Costco dish. (hey, who's gonna notice?)

More Free Printables for the 4th of July HERE.

Porta Potty Peeper

Really -? A man from Boulder, CO crawled down inside a porta-potty at a yoga festival to peek at women's privates. A woman reported to a security officer there was someone down in there...but the peeper ran away covered in feces before the officer could nab him. He was later apprehended (I bet the officers followed their noses) and also admitted to peeping at women through holes he drilled in the walls of local Boulder restrooms.

This is so sick on so many levels! I have to wonder what ever happened to this man (maybe in his childhood) that would make him inclined to do such a thing? (potty training gone wrong?)

And what about us women - like we don't have enough cautions and fears drummed into us?(don't jog or walk alone, be careful walking to your car at night, beware of fake traffic officers...) I guarantee most women avoid porta-pottys anyway - but worse, now, if we have to - we'll look down in there before we use it. Yuk! I've acquired another fear. Thanks, porta-potty peeper. You stink. -Really!

Cowboy Caviar

Son Cade & daughter-in-love Heather have a HUGE 50-year old avacado tree in the front yard of their California home. When I went to visit & help after Heather's brain surgery, I stuffed my luggage on the flight home with as many avacados as would fit...(I was 1lb. under the weight limit ).

There are tons of things to do with avacados, but I thought I'd share my favorite:

COWBOY CAVIAR

3-4 avacados, diced
juice of 3-4 fresh limes
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can black beans (or black-eyed peas), drained
1 red onion, chopped
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
3-4 fresh tomatos, seeded and chopped
2 T. ground cumin
dash of Tapatio (or other hot sauce)
Salt to taste
3-4 fresh jalapeños, finely chopped **

**our family likes it hot...the hotter the better! You can use whatever amount of fresh jalapeños suits your taste.

There is a lot of chopping in this recipe...my favorite kitchen chopping tool is Pampered Chef's chopper. It is the best! There are a lot of "knock-off" choppers out there, but PC's is worth every penny. Use plastic kitchen gloves to handle the hot peppers, and don't wipe your eyes after!
I serve the Cowboy Caviar with blue or white corn tortilla chips. Yumm!

*picture borrowed from soupbelly.com

Mom in a Swimsuit!

Lake Powell, a bikini wax, and now I'm talking about swimsuits. Do you see the theme here?

Finding a swimsuit only became an issue for me after I had kids. Two factors make it a problem now: 1) My body isn't where it used to be. 2) Kids pull straps, grab boob, and require a lot of bending over.

In no particular order at all, here are some sites for swimsuits that might help you keep things covered in a cute way:

Diviine Modestee - My friend Cami introduced me to Diviine Modestee a few years ago when no one had ever heard of them. Now you can get them at the Orem Costco.

DownEastOutfitters

Land's End

Old Navy - These guys came through for me in a big way this year. They had some cute one-piece swimsuits, and they were on sale for $10 each. YESPLEASE. I wore this one almost every day and the strap broke. What can you expect for $10?


Lime Ricki - My friend Kristy sports Lime Ricki. I found this one that I love on their site. Way modest (and would make for a sad tan) but I could see a mama water-skiing, wake-boarding, and tubing in this one!

Hapari

My friend Christy does Hapari. They are cool because all of the pieces (including swim skirts) are interchangeable. I swear she has a different swimsuit combination with cover skirt for every day of the week!


TARGET always comes through in the swim department.


Lastly, and believe it or not:
WALMART (Although their online store sucks) Kim rocked a few show-stopper swimsuits this year and I about hit the floor when she told me they were from Walmart. AWESOME.

Happy Swimsuit Hunting!

The Bikini Wax

I tend to blog a lot about this, I know. But the stats show you also like to hear about it, so here goes:

I've been through a lot of bikini waxes in my life. I've had some good ones, and some bad ones. When I find the right gal, I like to commit to her for awhile. Going to a new esthititian for a bikini wax is like starting a new job - it totally sucks.

My gal moved last Summer.

A friend at work went to a place called WAX ME TOO to have a Brazilian done (her first time). She reported that it was a good experience overall and that I should try "her" new gal Shannon. Really? A good experience with your FIRST BRAZILIAN and FIRST TIME WITH A NEW GIRL? Impossible. She must be good.

She was good.

1) Shannon sets up appointments via text. That works for me. Have you ever been sitting at a cubicle while trying to make a bikini wax appointment? Text is just the best way to go there.

2) She had me lay on my side instead of putting my legs up in the air. Remember the last experience?

3) She went above and beyond and did some extras that I don't like to have to ask for.

4) She only does waxes - all day - every day. She knows what she's doing.

She was good.


Go to the site and book your first Brazilian with Shannon at the Draper location. Let her know I sent you ;) She and your husband will thank me. ;)

Free Father's Day Printables

I don't know about you, but I'm downloading THESE Father's Day Printables, having them printed at Costco, picking them up on my way to my inlaw's house (need to pick up avocados and cheese too), and then cutting them out on my way there. Who said you can't look like you have it all together on Father's Day when you just got home from a week at Powell the day before? Who said?!

Thank you, Shindig Parties TO GO and Made Famous By for sharing!

Just Got Back From a Week in Lake Powell

There were some firsts:

1) One of our kids caught an oar to the face and had to go to the Bullfrog ER for stitches. (I'll wait to hear your guesses on who that was)

2) A huge (100ft by 30ft) chunk of rock fell in the canyon we were parked in (Crystal Canyon) causing a tsunami. We had kids on tubes in 8ft waves and a neighboring houseboat had wave runners pushed 20ft up onto the shore.

3) A flu bug went around the houseboat throughout the week, and by the last day 11 of our 23 people had gotten sick at some point and vomited.

4) For the first time in McMullin at Lake Powell history, we had a recovering brain surgery patient on the boat for the week. She did not step on the speed boat more then once - that one time being a stealth midnight fellow houseboater overtake with monster noises on intercom. Totally worth it. You'd have to be there.

I'll have more with pictures later (I actually forgot my camera for the week - another first). We had a great time - one of the best ever, for sure!

That's My Boss, Baby!

Lessons From Jared

I know I'm blogging a lot about Jared lately, but for having known the guy for only a few months, he has impacted me in such a big way.

Before Jared passed, I thought about him often. I couldn't believe how much energy he had, and how many things he had going on in his life - not to mention the fact that he was the best at everything he did. Frankly, it was exhausting. Every day I would find out something about him that surprised me, and it would make me feel even worse about the level of mediocrity in which I perform various tasks throughout my day. Day after day, my mediocrity and lack of enthusiasm becomes my life.

I would wake up late every morning. I was exhausted. While I was getting ready, I would often think to myself about Jared popping out of bed every AM at 5:30 and working out first thing. How did he have the energy to do that? He was meticulously careful about what he ate, and ridiculously ritualistic about working out. After he worked out, and before he came to work with the rest of us at Adobe, he would frequently have deliveries of Budge's Honey to make at Harmons. He did all of this before I woke up for the day.

He had so much energy in the office. He would sing, dance around, pound his desk when he spoke with enthusiasm, and jump up every chance he could get to write something on his dry-erase board. I literally wondered to myself how he harnessed the sort of energy and passion that he had, and whether he was able to maintain that passion throughout the day with everything he did.

He had a wife and kids who adored him, a side business producing, bottling, and distributing Budge's Honey, was an active member of the LDS church and a youth leader, a keyboardist in the band, "No Limits", an avid health-nut, and a full-time employee at Adobe traveling 2 weeks out of the month.

I found out today at his funeral that he did in fact maintain the same passion about everything he did, right down to each conversation.

His last post on Facebook before he died said, "The GREATEST blessing in my life is my awesome family and incredible friends. I love you ALL!"

As I said before, his last email to the team read, "You guys are the best. I LOVE my job and I LOVE working with you all. PLEASE let me know how I can help and support. (Insert GROUP HUG Here)

JB"


After collecting my thoughts about Jared and attending his funeral today, I conclude that the one characteristic that Jared had that I most want is his PASSION. One person read this poem during their talk, and I felt that it described Jared perfectly:

Credo by Jack London

“I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark
should burn out in a brilliant blaze
than it should be stifled by dry-rot.

I would rather be a superb meteor
every atom of me in magnificent glow
than a sleepy and permanent planet.

The function of man is to live
not to exist.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.”

...

I'm going to put my heart in it. Whatever I do, I'm going to try and remember to do it with PASSION like Jared would. Whether it be reading a book to my kids, kissing my husband goodnight, or scrubbing the kitchen floor, let my heart and soul wrap around it and carry it out with enthusiasm. Let every atom of me burn in magnificent glow so that I don't waste my days in mediocrity.

Let me remember Jared.

I LOVE my job and I LOVE working with you all.

You guys are the best. I LOVE my job and I LOVE working with you all. PLEASE let me know how I can help and support. (Insert GROUP HUG Here)

JB

That was one of the very last notes we got from Jared as a team. Below is his obituary:

Lowell Jared Budge, 45, of Cedar Hills, passed away Tuesday, May 31, 2011. Jared was born March 12, 1966 to Lowell and Deanna Budge in Walnut Creek, CA. He married Monica Montoya on December 15, 1986 and was later sealed to his wife and children in the Oakland California LDS Temple on June 22, 1999 for time and all eternity.

Anyone who knew Jared knew about his passion for life. He lived and loved with 100% of his heart, always trying new things and constantly pushing himself to be the best. Jared spent a lot of his time playing music, playing with his “toys,” exercising, reading, befriending the world, and countless other endeavors. However, more than anything, he was always the happiest spending time with his family. He was so looking forward to the birth of his first two grandchildren. Jared was a loving husband and father, devoted son and brother, and the best friend you could ever have.

Jared is survived by his wife, Monica; five kids: Mandy (Eli) Adams, Melissa (Jason) Hruban, Jacob, Joshua, and Miranda; mother and father, Lowell and Deanna Budge; and four siblings: Tracy (Ken) Ward, Todd (Lori) Budge, Shelly (Frank) Crespo, and Sesly (Donny) Constantineau.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, June 4, 2011 at 1:00 p.m. in the Manila Ninth Ward Chapel, 3785 West Box Elder Drive, (corner of Box Elder and Canyon Road) Cedar Hills, Utah. Friends and family may attend a viewing prior to services from 11:00-12:45 p.m. Interment will be in the American Fork City Cemetery under the direction of Olpin Family Mortuary, Pleasant Grove, Condolences may be sent to the family at www.olpinmortuary.com

Only the Good Die Young

I'm not going to get much done today, so I figured I may as well write down my thoughts about my boss, Jared Budge. He passed away as the result of a car accident last night. He was out on a drive with a buddy in the car of his dreams.

My first experience with Jared was on my interview day with Adobe in late March. He came to the front desk and greeted me wearing jeans and a giant smile. During the interview we talked about me and about him. He told me that he liked me.

I started working for Jared, and enjoyed it. He was always upbeat and happy, but found a few choice moments to share heartfelt experiences with me. He and I cried as he told me about finding out while shopping at Costco that he needed brain surgery, and the call that he made to his wife that day. He took special interest in my sister-in-law, Heather, and asked about her progress after brain surgery every day.

We had a baby shower for a guy on our team, and went around the table sharing advice. His advice was to show your children how much you love your wife, because they will treat her with the same respect that you do.

Jared has a giant picture of his car hanging in his office. He loves that car. One day he took his bicycle into work and I commented on what a nice bike it was. He said, "boys and their toys!" He suited up in black and yellow spandex that day to go on a bike ride for lunch. Black and yellow was significant because he owns Budge's Honey. He was the Budge's Honey Bee.

I remember a few times coming home from work and telling Danny how much I liked my new boss, Jared Budge. Dan accompanied me to see Jared play in his band at the Provo Beach Resort one night. I was proud to point up at him singing and playing the keyboard to say, "that's my boss!"

Starting on Friday Jared wanted our team to push for 3 more appointments by the end of the quarter so that we could hit our commit number. He played, "3 Is the Magic Number," for us all to hear. If we did that, he would shave his head. Yesterday, I hit 3 appointments and went running into Jared's office. I danced and jumped around in his office as he opened his email from me saying that my 3rd appointment had been approved. He smiled, and sent the team an email saying "Megan just delivered her 3rd since Friday! Boo-yah!"

Then we all jokingly sent emails back and forth telling Jared how good he was going to look with a shaved head (jokingly because of his brain surgery scars).

One of my last emails to Jared said, "I like it Jared. You're a little crazy and I like it. ;) MEG"

I can't remember the last thing I said to Jared yesterday before I left the office. I didn't know it would be the last time that I would see him. If I could do it over, I would say:

Jared, you've changed my life in a lot of ways. I love you, and your love for life. I think you are an amazing man. I'm a better person for having known you.