DEAL! Evolve Day Spa & Salon

Is anyone looking for a new hair stylist? and to get a $50 gift card for only $25?

Well, I LOVE that salon AND my stylist, so I bought a $50 gift card on Groupon. Unfortunately, I didn't read the fine print when it mentioned that the Groupon was only for NEW clients.


Does anyone want to buy a $50 gift card for $25 to Evolve Day Spa & Salon?

You can profit from my mistake :)

If you're interested, let me know!!

Photography...

As many of you know, I love photography. I try to take my camera everywhere I go, even though some times it becomes more trouble that it may be worth. But, even if I get one good picture from a day, it's worth dragging around with me.

Because of my love for photography, I finally decided it was time to start taking some classes so I can fully utilize my camera and enhance my picture taking. I think I am on the right track to becoming a good photographer, I just need some tweaking. So...off to school, I go!

I started taking a night class from a local art center to show me all the awesome things I can do with my camera. It will help me to take the "perfect picture" and eliminate most of the post-picture taking editing.

As my skills grow, I hope to make this hobby a little side "job", but I want to keep it fun. For now, I'll keep practicing :)

So...I've been thinking, I need some "subjects" to photograph. Anyone interested?

M&M Wedding

After Mr. Army left, the excitement with the H Family was only gearing up. Miss M and Mr. M took the plunge and here are some fun pictures to document :)

Heather did an amazing job on the cake. Yum!

 J, Little J and Me

Not the best picture of him, but he was my PERFECT helper with the serving.

 Can't get enough of each other :)

 They even had matching shoes...impressive!

3 Weeks of Excitement!

Before Mr. Army had to say goodbye, we tried to pack in a few fun activities...see what we've been up to:

Vegas Briefings:

As soon as Mr. Army came home from trainings, we headed to Vegas for some briefings. We spent most of our time in conference rooms, but we had some spare time to hang out with other couples and just wonder the strip. We are kind of too cheap to go to shows and all that jazz, so we find entertainment in the interesting people that Vegas attracts.

During a meeting break...trying to fit in some college football watching.

 I told him I wanted dinner, and he told me to take this picture first. Pervert.

One of my new favorite pictures of him

Shooting Range:

As if Mr. Army won't get to go to a shooting range in the next year, we thought we'd take the youngin' for a little shootin'.

 Teaching little J on the Shotgun.

Sibling Bonding.

 Little Miss is not afraid to get dirty

 Love this kid.

 She has better accuracy with a handgun than her military brother...and it was her first time. AMAZING 

(and it's probably good that he carries an M-4 and not a 9mm)

I just like this picture because you can see the recoil and shell.

Soccer Game:

Little J had a soccer game, and we didn't want to miss the opportunity to support him, so we loaded up the camera and headed out on a freakishly hot Saturday. 

He is quite the defender

 I love this picture, hehe.

 Go get'um Little J!

Happy Birthday Mr. Army (only a few months early):

Since Mr. Army won't be here for his real birthday, his family decided to celebrate it now. It was a surprise, complete with silly stringing us at the front door as we walked in. Classic.

 Saluting the birthday boy

 For Mr. Army's 25th birthday I made a homemade German Chocolate Cake, and failed miserably. It tasted okay, but looked disgusting. I thought three years was enough time to lament my failure and I tried again. Still needs some work, but looks a lot better. (Little J helped me decorate)

 German Chocolate Cake from 25th Birthday...look at that sad frosting!

 What a goofy smile. Love him anyway :)

Farewell My Love:

We can't really discuss many details of his departure, but he is gone, and I miss him! 

 

Our last sunset together for a while. Aw...how cute? (are you all gagging yet?)

Miss Me, Yet?

Have you missed me?! I'll be coming back to the blogging world shortly...Mr. Army is headed out, so please bear with me.

Want pictures to hold you over? ...I took some family photos and there are even some of Mr. Army and me.

See you in a few days...I have a lot to update!

Mockingjay...1980s Blinds...Utah Football

So, the three of you that keep up with my blog know that I have been working on projects to keep busy while Mr. Army is M.I.A. Well, I can mark a few more things off of my list.

First: Mockingjay

Did you start reading The Hunger Games trilogy like I suggested? Well, if you haven't, I have all three and I'll let you borrow them because I have finished the third and final in the series. A lot of people were disappointed, but I had my closure and I still think the series was fantastic. I read each book in about two days, it was that good. My house still hasn't recovered from the messes I neglected to attend to while being so immersed in the books. Oh well, totally worth it!

Second: Utah Football Season Opener (Utah vs. Pitt)

I've been waiting 9 months for football to return into my life, and thanks to Mr. Army "attempting" to take classes, we were able to be in the MUSS again. Thanks to deployment, Emily gets to share 5 out of 6 home games with me. Poor Mr. Army, can't even enjoy the fruits of his labor to get the tickets.

In case you weren't sure, we won! 27-24 OT

Em and me enjoying the view from Row 22.

 View of the South end zone. 

 This picture makes me laugh, I guess he wanted to play too.

 Crazy lady! One of my favorite parts of home games.

Wynn working his magic in OT

 We WIN!

 Third: Bye Bye 1980s Blinds

Remember those ugly 1980s blinds in my living room that were bringing down the cuteness of my kitchen/living room? The ones that I have waited for either Mr. Army, or someone other man that could use a drill to help me remove and put up curtains instead? Well today...they were put in the dumpster.

Last night I was thinking of what my project for the weekend should be, and the blinds kept coming to mind. I have been putting it off because I "needed" someone to help me remove the blinds and put up the curtain rod. I don't really like asking for help, so I throw the idea around casually, hoping someone will say "Hey Kate, I'm going to come to your house tomorrow morning and help you." Ha, right... 

Anyways, this morning after the gym, I made a trip to the Target for the curtain rod, and got to work on removing the blinds. When I started, my thought process went like this "Okay, I'll get as far as I can and then I'll call John and beg for help when I can't continue alone, and I no longer have any window coverings." Thankfully, I must have listened when Mr. Army taught me how to use my drill because I was able to make it through the whole project solo! Though, I will not lie, putting up the rod wasn't as easy as I was hoping. I can put a screw into the wall, but it is those stupid little screw covering things that protect the dry wall gave me trouble. (don't you love how I don't even know what they are called? I'm so mechanically minded, not.)

  A picture since I don't even know what they are called.

BEFORE: advice-when the blinds are older than you, it's time to update.

 AFTER: the curtains are actually from when I lived in one of my apartments, and they match the wall PERFECTLY!

That is about as exciting as I get for now...but stay tuned, I'm sure I will get bored and try something else :)

Nightstand Make-over

A few months ago, I was on the hunt for cute black nightstands to match my bed and dresser, but was not really excited about spending hundreds of dollars on a table, with a main purpose of holding my alarm clock. 

So, Mr. Army and I were taking a little grocery trip to the Walmart (don't judge me),  and we met this lady in the parking lot that was selling all of the furniture from her storage unit because she was moving. The fact that we even stopped to talk to her was out of the ordinary for us, but I saw the nightstands and wondered how much she wanted. I ended up paying $60 for the pair of real wood nightstands that just needed a new paint job.

I've had these nightstands for probably 5 months and every time I looked at them, it would make me cringe. I like when things match, and I have an idea of the way things should look. Therefore, a change was in order. I think I was hinting to Mr. Army to complete this project for me, but he kept saying "Kate, I don't think they look so bad..." aka 'These are ugly, but I'm only going to tell you they look okay so I don't have to paint them myself.' 

Well, with Mr. Army gone, I have projects and an agenda. Last weekend's project was the nightstands. $6 worth of spray paint, and a little sandpaper...I'm extremely pleased with the result. Check it out!

Before

Loving the sun bleached top?

After

 a few nicks in the wood...already there, but I think it adds to the effect :)

 Ta-Da! I think they turned out to be pretty cute alarm holders.

Time Consuming...

So, being that I am alone most nights since Mr. Army is gone, I am trying to stay busy with different hobbies.

Hobby One: Cooking (more like Baking)

Last night I made what I like to call "Bite Size Candy Cookies". I used this recipe , but since I'm not a huge Rolo fan, I decided to mix it up. I ended up using Rolos, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, and Snickers. Personally, I could eat the Snickers ones all day long. Someone, please come visit so you can take these off my hands!

Also, if anyone has fun recipes, please send them my way. I love to try new recipes.

Hobby Two: Reading

When I went to the Shakespearean Festival a couple of weeks ago, we went to a bookstore where "The Hunger Games" caught my eye. I know that a lot of people think I'm so behind the times, but that's how I roll. Wait to read the first book until the last one is about to come out. Now I only have to wait two weeks, while the rest of you have had to wait forever. :) If you haven't read these books, please please please look into reading them. I finished both in a week and can't wait for the third book on the 24th.

What books have you read lately, that you loved?


Hobby Three: Goals

I've decided it's time to really start watching what I eat...again. I do well for about six months and then somehow fall off the wagon. I've written down goals that I'm trying to accomplish with my weight, and work out schedule. Yes, I'm dorky enough to even make a chart and put it on the fridge.
Also, I have wanted to work on other personal goals to keep me motivated and progressing in life. Sometimes getting in a route, which we all know I love to do, ends up putting me in a rut and I lose track of some of the things I love to and/or should do. So, I have daily goals, and more long term ones that I'm working on. I'm a little OCD, it's okay to think that :)


These things are definitely keeping me busy, but I can't pretend that I am not totally wishing away the last month of Summer. I miss Mr. Army and September is not coming fast enough, but I'll enjoy my time to improve on all the things I love.

More Condo Updates!

I'm working on several different projects in my condo to make it more "Kati", and I'm far from being finished, but I thought I would show some of the ones I (meaning Mr. Army and I) have finished.

Remember here and here where I mention that I have this awesome TV that my amazing boyfriend mounted to the wall, but I refused to take a picture of, until said boyfriend put the ghetto cords behind the wall? Well...he did it! and he was even impressed about how good it looks.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I must say that Mr. Army saved us a lot of money by being so handy with his "inventive" skills. Now I'm ready for ya'll to come over and hang out with me!

The master bath was really lacking in the decorative department and since I am super picky about how things look, I had a hard time finding any art I liked, to put in that bathroom. My sister and I went to the Farmer's Market one Saturday morning, and one of her friend's has a booth there with his photography. I saw this picture and could not pass it up. If I had more money, I would buy all of his photographs.

Since Mr. Army has left for training and then will be leaving for deployment, I've been trying to figure out what to do with the Army junk room. I'm leaning toward an office, that might have a futon or something in case anyone needs a place to stay. So, this is my first piece of furniture for this room. As of now, it will house Mr. Army's clothing that won't be used for a year, but it might turn into something else later. I think it is so cute, and for $65 on KSL.com, I can't complain.

Currently, I'm working on changing the 1985 blinds in the living room to curtains, and will hopefully switch out the 1970s closet doors eventually. If anyone has any ideas of what doors I should put in there, please let me know! I'll keep you posted on new condo improvements :)