Friday, January 22, 2016

F O C U S

Last Sunday we had an awesome Relief Society lesson on peace and how to find it. The entire time the lesson was being given, the word focus kept coming to my mind as well as the question,

"What am I focusing on?" 

At the beginning of the lesson, the teacher started out by having us list synonyms of peace on the whiteboard. And then we made a list of oppositional words. It was crazy to me how much easier it was to come up with words that are the opposite of peace than words that are similar to peace. This is where the word 'focus' began to circulate in my thoughts.. Why was it easier to write the list of antonyms to peace? For me it was a direct result of what I find myself focusing on on a daily basis. I already know that I complain way too much and I've realized that its because of where my focus is. It's sad to me that I am constantly thinking about my 23 year-old "aches and pains." My hang nail. The fact that I have to cook dinner AGAIN today when I just cooked last night. How my eyelash extensions are falling out.... it's really quite pathetic.

And honestly, there is always going to be something to complain about. Something negative to focus on. But in addition to those negative things, there is always going to be little joys, small victories, and moments of peace to focus on instead! Like the fact that we have actually had more than one home-cooked meal this week!! I think I've finally somewhat broken my caffeine addiction (we're getting there, ok? SMALL victories, remember?). And the fact that I get to work from home in the mornings which means I get to wear sweats to work.

So finally at the end of the class, I just had to raise my hand and comment (not something I typically do. I'm more of a listener than a participant...) about how important our focus is when it comes to finding peace and happiness. I mentioned how easy it was for us to come up with words like stress, anxiety, hatred, and distraction rather than peace, quiet, harmony, and love! And how we aren't going to find those moments of peace if we aren't looking for them or if our focus isn't in the right place. We can't have peace in our day if we are constantly acknowledging the negative aspects of our lives.. its just not going to happen! We've got to make a change to seek out the good even when it seems like our lives suck at the moment. (getting preachy, I know)

Later that day I got a text from my friend from church and she said that she loved what I had said during the lesson and that focus was going to be her 'word' or 'theme' for 2016 and I loved that idea! So here I am, sharing my 2016 theme with you!  F O C U S.

Do you have a word or theme for 2016? I'd love to hear it!

Also, the longer you look at the word focus and the more you say it the weirder it seems.....

xoxo, Chelan

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

How We Wore It | Felt Hat

We decided to make this whole 'How We Wore It' thing a monthly series, woot woot!! So this month we are styling the oh-so-popular felt hats!

The whole point of these 'How We Wore It' posts was to find an inspiration photo and recreate our favorite elements of the look using clothing we already have in our closet. I'm the type of person that when I wear a certain shirt with a certain pair of jeans and a certain pair of shoes, then that's all I wear those things with with from that point on. I'm not super adventurous when it comes to my clothing choices. So this series is a great way to break out of my normal clothing habits and try something new with the clothes I already have!

This was the photo we used for inspiration this month. It's Eleni McMullen from Convey The Moment blog (located out of Calgary! Go Alberta!!). I love everything about this outfit. From the hat, to the chunky sweater... it's cozy, but put together. That's another thing about felt hats that I love, they are always the perfect finishing touch!
Felt Hat
Photo found here
Here is my version of this look!
Felt Hat
Felt Hat
Just thinking about how awkward it is to take pictures of yourself in your home office/second bedroom/storage room because its fetchin' cold outside and your hat kept blowing off when you tried to take photos out there. 
Felt Hat
LOVE my 'P' necklace. I wear it pretty much every day.
Felt Hat
Totally faking this laugh lolz
Felt Hat
Notice the different hair styles that work with a hat. It's awesome. 
Felt Hat
Felt Hat
Parker called this my Michael Jackson pose. 

This hat. I had put a felt hat (specifically a burgundy one) on my Christmas list this year and can I just say how glad I am that I didn't get a burgundy one?! Not that I have anything against burgundy.. but I can literally wear this tan hat that I got with pretty much every outfit. It's so versatile! And let's not even get into the fact that with my current hair washing habits, hats are a necessity! My mother found this hat for me for Christmas and it really is perfection. From its color, to its size, to its firmness (some hats are way too floppy for my personal tastes)... I have no complaints!

Hat: Ross (similar here)
Cardigan: Bargain Barn in Cardston :) (Loving this cardigan with elbow patches!)
Top: American Eagle (old, similar here)
Jeans: American Eagle
Booties: Jennifer Lopez from Kohl's (similar here)

Links & Friends
Hannah, Fay, and Eden from Twinnerpated
Brittany from Brittany Lowry Blog
Jordan from Jordan Cidelle

Also, if you are reading this and think, "Hey. That looks fun. I want to join!" Send me a message! We would love to have you join us in these monthly posts! Don't think you want to make a monthly post commitment? No problem. We'd love to have you even just once. The more the merrier! Thanks for reading today!

xoxo, Chelan

***
To see our previous 'How We Wore It' collaborations, click here

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Project Life Catch Up!

It has been a while (a whole year!) since I last posted some Project Life layouts that I've done. A couple of months ago I printed off all of the pictures from after we got engaged up until summer of 2015 so I've got a loooooot of catching up to do. But I've got all the photos which is a huge start! So it's just a matter of putting the pages together! For now, take a look at my latest pages :)
 ^^ This photo was of one of my favorite days on Baldhead. It didn't fit in any of the pockets so I put split it into two different pockets and I love the end result!
Some fun details along with my handsome man :)
^^ One of my favorite pages haha I saw something like this on Pinterest and we watch enough TV that I could do a page (or 3!) on our favorite shows! 

Speaking of TV.... Now that I'm done Parenthood, what other shows should I watch?! I need suggestions! Thanks for reading! 

Saturday, January 9, 2016

2015 Year in Review!

I've sadly seen so many people saying that they hated 2015 and that they can't wait to leave it behind... Lucky for me, 2015 was one of the best years of my life! Seriously though, it was filled with SO MUCH GOOD AND FUN AND FAMILY!!! So that has inspired me to write down a list of all the wonderful things that 2015 consisted of. Also, I know that this is kinda late but life happened, my friends.

+ We started off the year with me asleep on the couch (lame I know!) at our family friends' cabin while Parker was playing ice hockey on the frozen Blaine Lake. We were on the annual McMurray family ski trip! (If you want to see a funny video of me skiing... or rather falling while trying to ski, click HERE. It's a super long video, so watch from 8:50-10:30 for the best footage of my pathetic skiing abilities hahah)

+ Back to Provo for Parker's last semester of school! I pretty much watched Netflix, cleaned, read books, blogged, and did nothing for a few months as I couldn't work while waiting for my green card to come through and I had graduated in December.

+ Parker started working at Tute Genomics part time!

+ Parker interviewed in California and I tagged along cuz WHY NOT?!
+ Parker also interviewed in Ohio the same weekend that his brother got home from his mission so he left me for 5 days and it was probably the most bored I've ever been in my entire life.

+ We celebrated our one year anniversary by going to the Ballet in Salt Lake City (tickets courtesy of our good friend, Alan. How nice is that?!!) and then getting sushi afterwards. My parents were coming through town that weekend so they brought our wedding cake with them so we could eat it on our first anniversary!! It was even tastier than I remembered!
Anniversary Sushi!!!

+ I got my work authorization and was able to start working at a call center (which sucks as badly as you would think it does, btw) and a couple of dance studios!

+ Cody and Rylie got married in California so we made another trip out there!
+ While in California we went to San Francisco with the gang the day after the wedding. Parker and I got separated from everyone without a car after going to see the Golden Gate Bridge so we wandered and walked for several hours. After walking up the steepest hill I have ever seen, we came across the Full House House! And then we walked some more to get to Japan town where we ate some of the best Japanese food I've ever had!
Nasty photo of me but its the full house house so it had to include it!

+ We went to Arizona for spring break with my family! Post with video about that HERE.
+ We GRADUATED!
+ We went on a Southern Caribbean Cruise and it was the funnest!
+ We went camping in the Spanish Fork Canyon with some friends and found some awesome hot springs!
+ I had little tap dancers perform in a dance recital!

+ We packed up/sold all of our belongings so we could move to Canada for the summer!!

+ We had THE BEST SUMMER EVER!!! We didn't work so we had tons of time to just play with our families and friends. Parker's family was also in Canada over the summer so we had SO much fun with everyone. We went camping in Montana multiple times. We went to Blaine Lake and Flathead Lake. We went jet skiing and tubing and knee boarding and surfing. We got super tan. We went to Matlin's high school graduation. We went to Wally's beach numerous times and we went to Beazer. We ate so much food and lived with Parker's grandparents. We played spike ball for dayz and lots of other games, too. Parker and I both celebrated our 23rd birthdays. We reread Harry Potter. Parker went to Guatemala. I read a ton of books. We went golfing. We went to Bear Lake in Idaho/Utah for a Cosgrove family reunion. We played tennis. We went fishing. And to top it all off, the weather was incredible!! It was so hot and NO WIND pretty much every day. Ya.... I think you get it. #bestsummerever
+ Parker got accepted to medical school!!

+ Then we packed up all of our belongings again and drove across the country to Ohio!
+ We got settled in Ohio and then took off on another adventure to Florida to visit Harry Potter World. Post ALLLLL about that incredible vacation HERE!
+ Parker started school and had his white coat ceremony and I looked for work.
+ I finally got a temporary position at another call center and happily didn't have to finish there because I got the receptionist position at the dance studio that I currently work at.
+ We went to Parker's parents' house in southeast Ohio for Thanksgiving, along with several other weekend trips in the months between summer and Thanksgiving and those were super fun and always a nice break from school/job searching! We loved getting to see family every month!
We got to be there for Balls' homecoming! It was so fun helping her get ready. She looked stunning, as usual!

+ I surprised my family by coming home a week early for Christmas break while Parker stayed behind to finish up finals. See the videos here and here!
Haaaad to add this one cuz guys, I've been outdone with ugly faces by the one, the only, matcat_22. 

+ Parker joined us in Canada after he finished his first semester of medical school (which went SO FAST!).
And we practiced our couples yoga. It's coming along nicely haha!

+ We had a magical, white, Canadian Christmas.
Terribly blurry photo, but it was all the McMurray side after skating on Christmas Eve day!
+ We then went on the #mcmurrayfamilyskitrip2015 to Montana again and I didn't entirely suck this year!!
+ We rang in the new year by eating finger foods and playing a close game of aggravation in our matching pajamas and I wouldn't have had it any other way.
Obviously, 2015 was so good to us and I can't wait to see what's in store for 2016!! Happy New Year everyone!