An Adorbs Independence Day :)

Gearing up for the 4th of July here in Utah is sooo fun! :) Race's little sister, Grace, and I are getting creative and making "totes adorbs" nail art, skirts, and treats to celebrate this special holiday. :)

I LOVE doing stripes and polka dots to my nails! This looks way cute and patriotic, not to mention wayyy easy!

Strawberries dipped in hite chocolate and blue sprinkles. Yum!


Same idea as the strawberries, just on pretzel sticks. :) My mouth is watering!


I also LOVE making fruit pizzas, and this one is too adorable!

The skirts will be in an upcoming post :)


I  just want to say how thankful I am to live in this country. I cant stand to hear people bashing our country when we are obviously better off in so many ways compared to the rest of the world. We are so blessed in so many ways, and I hope each of you will take a second to think about all the wonderful freedoms you have. I hope everyone has a wonderful Independence Day! :)


xoxo-Kat<3

What's Been Happenin'

Whew! Crazy past few weeks! Girl's Camp, days at the lake, family coming in, project after project! My bestie Alyson and I took on the challenge of making the Father's Day treats for the dads in our ward. Although it was a little stressful trying to make bags, a banner, and bake brownies when my siblings and their families came in (no one told me!!) it was totally worth it to see our end result and to mark off another project for Personal Progress :)
 
My sweet 6-almost-7 year-old niece Emma helped me bake :) We looked super cute in our aprons! The one she is wearing is one I made in Young Women's, and the one I'm wearing is just a cute one my mom had and got it monogrammed for me :) Thanks Mommy!

 
The yummy chocolate chip blondie brownies we made :)


 
 
We decided to play a little joke on one of our favorite elders, Elder Heeb. I was experimenting with these cute bags and cut one off too short. How could we waste it? ;) Hey, there's nothing wrong with being short... ;)

 
Two cute BFFs and our adorable treats :) WSC!!




I got a babysitting job for the summer with the Benitez family. I love these kids sooo much and we've had a blast together. We've had indoor campouts, tea parties, scrapbooking, doing hair, outside games, and after I come back from Utah: a "carnival" ;)






Speaking of Utah... AHHHHHH! I am so EXCITED! :) When I last went in November, two weeks before I left I would randomly scream or laugh and say, "I'M GOING TO UTAH!" while i was in the car with my parents. I  made them jump several times haha ;) We'll get Jambas (cause there ain't no Jamba in Tenn-uh-say! ;) ), go to Moab, spend a day or two at 7 Peaks, hike the Y, 20 mile bike rides with my brother Russell, go on long walks with my best guy friend Race, run my first half-marathon, make Independence Day skirts with Race's little sister, watch fireworksand sooo much more! :) I will leave my house at 3:30 AM Saturday morning, get to the airport at 4:45, and the plane leaves at 6:45 out of Nashville for Las Vegas, and from there to SLC!!! Woohoo! :) I will be blogging and posting pictures like a mad woman, so be prepared! ;)
Tonight at church we are doing an activity on Women in the Scriptures. I volunteered to be Ruth, and I've learned so much from researching her and reading in the scriptures. She was such a faithful, devoted woman to not only her mother-in-law, but to her Heavenly Father. I'll be dressed as her (well, kind of) and I've made super cute handouts and will be baking wheat bread to slice up and put in a basket. Pictures will be posted :) Have a wonderful week! :)
 
xoxo- Kat

Time to Kick Off Summer 2012!

I LOVE going to the lake during the summer. Other than EFY and the beach, it's my absolute favorite place to go. I invited some friends from church, school, and the Cross Country team to come kick off the summer with a day at the lake, great food, and a shaving cream fight. :)

My crazy friends, Ella, Adam, Jennifer, and little cousin Noah :)

 Quick&Easy Fruit Salad

We were running short on time, but I wanted to make a fruit salad sooo much! I made this seriously in less than five minutes. I purposely bought fruits that wouldn't require any cutting, slicing, or peeling (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, grapes [red and green], and bought-already-chopped pineapple chunks). I literally just threw it all together! And it was sooo yummy (and pretty!) :)

 Strawberry&Vanilla Frozen Yogurt Drops

Spoon yogurt into a plastic bag, snip off the corner.

Drop onto parchment paper, stick in freezer for 30 minutes. (you can tell which ones Jennifer made haha).

Sooo good!

Jen and Adam

Sun-In!! :)

Kara, Noah, and Ella

My bestie, Alyson :)

Jen, me, Kelsey, and Alyson :)

Cool shot of Bryce right after he let go of the rope!

And we had to go diving off the rock island!

I know, I'm way cute... haha

 "Princess Water"

-2 scoops raspberry sorbet or sherbet

-ginger ale

-top with fresh berries

It started pouring rain, so we played games until it let up.

Gave Al a fishtail braid :)

Had a blast with my friends. So glad we were able to get together and have fun :)

Have a great summer! :)

Healthy Start

I LOVE this easy, protein-packed smoothie for breakfast. Made with simple already-in-your-house ingredients, this smoothie doesn't require a trip to the store for anything special.

Here's what you need:

- 1 c. milk

- 1 banana (the older the banana, the sweeter the smoothie)

- 1 heaping tsp. peanut butter

- 1 handful dry oats

-ice

Blend!

               Enjoy!!! :)                  

 

My Weekend

This weekend has been pretty fun and relaxing, not to mention school is OFFICIALLY over (it's not like I skipped the whole last week of school anyway-- when exams end, I leave! No point in sitting in empty classrooms watching movies for a week when I can be earning money and actually having a life.) Friday night was graduation, and although I am going to miss a lot of the seniors, I think I'll be a little more sad to see next year's seniors leave, since I'm closer to them. Honestly, I wouldn't have gone to graduation had the band not been asked to play Pomp and Circumstance (ya know, that song you always hear in high school-themed movies for graduations? haha) But it was fun anyway :) Saturday I got paid, and after putting tithing money to the side, the total came out to exactly the amount I needed to buy my new camera! Ahhh! :) Happy girl right here :) And today, Sunday, was Ward Conference, which was an amazing one if I do say so myself :) During sacrament meeting, the Young Women sang "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing," one of my favorite hymns, led by Sister Holly Caten. I love the leaders in my stake. They are SO much fun and really care about the youth. Sister Dodge gave an awesome lesson and I had to give her a hug (or two!) after closing prayer. Sister Kaelberer and Sister Parker are just amazing, for lack of a better term (because that sure doesnt sum up how great they really are!) They're some of the leaders over Girl's Camp, and I'm so excited to see what they have planned for us this summer!

Before graduation (aka, before I cooked in that cute little black dress because it was 90 degrees outside!)

My hair! :) Loosely curled (U-Curl Wand) side-twist pony with sparkly silver flower clip.

My Nikon Coolpix L810 camera with, ohhh yes, 16.1 megapixels!

I was amazed at the resolution of this camera. You can see the craters on the moon!

My Sunday outfit. :)

Dress- Belk

Cardigan- Hollister

Shoes- JCPenney

Earrings- Factory Connection

I love these shoes! I've had them for a year, and they're still as white as the day I bought them!

I guess you can say I had a little dress up afternoon once I finished cleaning. I saw this outfit in my mind before I ever put it on, and loved it instantly!

Top- Belk

Belt- Old Navy

Shorts- Papaya

Shoes- Journey

Adore the colors!

My parents and I have a tradition during the summer that we go walk at the Greenway after lunch. It was a gorgeous summer day <3

I saw a picture on Pinterest of a girl doing this pose with a camera, and had to do it. I had fun hanging upside down haha ;)

Perfect way to end the weekend: Chocolate Oatmeal "No Bake" Cookies

2 c. sugar

1/2 c. milk

1 stick margarine

3-4 T cocoa

1/2 c. peanut butter

2 1/2-3 c. quick cooking oats

1-2 t. vanilla

Boil sugar , milk, margarine, and cocoa 1 1/2 minutes (after reaching full boil). Remove from heat, add peanut butter, oats, and vanilla. Beat until blended. Drop on wax paper by teaspoonfuls. Let stand until firm. Makes about 3 dozen.

This week:
-Memorial Day at the lake with cousins Cole and Noah, and family friends Adam, Craig, and Jamie.
-Lake party on Tuesday with my friends :)
-Wooorrrk at the nursery, along with babysitting my baby cousin, Eli (sooo much fun!) :)
-Relay for Life on Friday with Alyson, Dad, and other family and friends. :)
-Saturday morning: TEMPLE TRIP! :)

Be prepared: next week's post will have LOTS of pictures! Can't wait for the excitement ahead!

Love always,
Katherine