Washington DC

Eric and I travel to a new place every year that we are married. This year we were able to use our Skymiles to go to Washington DC. It's one of those places that you have to go to once in your lifetime, and now I can cross it off my bucket list.

The first couple days were spent site seeing. Luckily it wasn't too hot, so we were able to hit up the major sites pretty quickly. 



The White House



Jefferson Memorial



Part of the World War II Memorial

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial is only about a year old. This one was Eric's favorite because it's different than the rest of the memorials. 

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

The Korean War Memorial was probably one of my favorites. It was cool to see actual veterans looking at these. One of them pointed out that all these statues are wearing different uniforms because more than one military branch fought in the war. 

Korean War Memorial

This one looked exactly like it does in the movies!

The Lincoln Memorial



The Washington Monument taken from the Lincoln Memorial.

What would a trip to DC on an election year be without protestors?



Eric was able to get us a private tour of the Capital. Funny enough, our Kansas tour guide was a student from BYU Idaho. She pointed out a lot of interesting things that we wouldn't have heard on the general tour.

Every state has a statue held in the capital. Our guide showed us Brigham Young for Utah! Apparently Kansas is going to get an Amelia Earhart statue soon because no one knows anything about the current guy.

We didn't want to spend days looking at the Smithsonian, so we just went to the National Air and Space Museum. 

We headed to the Archives to check out the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Apparently it is not the entrance and they only open this door on the 4th of July. This picture is so funny to me. 

Eric also got us a tour of the Pentagon. That was a bust. They don't really show you anything, but the one cool part of the tour was seeing the 9/11 Memorial. For the rest of the vacation, we went to the Arlington National Cemetery, went swimming, ate lots of food, and relaxed.

The night before we left, there was a nice thunderstorm. Eric took TONS of pics before he got this great shot!

The Washington Monument from our hotel window.



We can't wait for next year's trip!

Repurposing Objects

One thing I have learned from my love of HGTV is that the best way to decorate on a budget is to repurpose items. After passing by this basket in my hallway every day for two months, the thought finally occurred to me that I should repurpose it!

While the basket sits in our bathroom holding my hair dryer and straightener...

I had another idea for the lid!

  Two nails later, the lid is now my jewelry holder. Thank goodness for the little imperfections that stick out so my necklaces can hang nicely. Hey, it's definitely better than getting tangled up in my dresser drawer. 

Not bad for FREE!

Wreaths of Fun

After months and months of refusing to give in to Pinterest, I finally gave it a try. I'm trying to be better at decorating for holidays to get into the spirit, so I thought this simple Valentine's Day wreath would be the perfect start. Plus, my door was looking empty after taking down the Christmas wreath. I combined 2 different ideas off Pinterest to create this simple and CHEAP wreath. 

Here's what you need:

-Old cereal box

-1 roll of crepe paper

-Hot glue gun and glue sticks

-A scrap of ribbon

The first thing you do is cut open the cereal box. With one of the largest sides of the box, cut out half of a heart. Then trace the shape onto the other half of the box and cut it out to create this...

Be sure to pay attention to the side you are tracing so they match up. You'll see later that I didn't do this at first. Luckily I had two cereal boxes handy!

Next you'll want to cut the crepe paper in strips 2 feet long. I used an entire roll that I got for $1! You might want to buy two rolls if you plan on making a thicker or a bigger heart.

For more of a "rose" look, crumple up each strip in a ball so it's not so crisp. Unfold the strip and start rolling the crepe paper by hot gluing at the stem every few turns. 

Told you I made the heart wrong at first :)

 After you have glued all the roses and they have had time to cool, it's time to start gluing them on!

 In order for them to stand up straight, you'll want to cut off the stems before hot gluing them on the heart. I also pushed down on each rose so they looked more realistic.

 And after they are all glued, attach some ribbon on the back with more hot glue. I just had a strip lying around so this didn't cost me anything. 

 For a total of $1...here is the finished product!

I think it turned out pretty well for what it cost. Eric thinks I should make a green shamrock for next month lol.

And for your viewing pleasure, here is my Christmas wreath I never posted.

 Eric came up with the idea to wrap ribbon around the wreath. It definitely tied everything together! What a good hubby :)

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Kuck

On January 14th our little sister Holly got married! She was the last one to go on the Walker side. I knew it would be a beautiful wedding because Holly and Phil are such an amazing pair. Eric and I were able to fly to Utah for a few days to support them. We wouldn't have had it any other way! It was great to spend more time with everyone after our short Christmas visit. 

The day before the wedding the girls got mani-pedis! The guys were busy doing "man" stuff at the shooting range.

Holly and Phil were married at the Jordan River Temple. They were kind enough to have the ceremony later in the day so I could get my beauty sleep. 

Waiting for the bride and groom after the ceremony. 

And finally...Mr. and Mrs. Kuck!!

Doesn't she look beautiful!?

Don't be fooled by the great pictures. It was FREEZING that day. I guess it could have been worse...but there's my two cents :)

After a short break (pictures always take so much longer than anticipated) we headed off to Sleepy Ridge Golf Course for the reception. The decorations were absolutely gorgeous! I was a little jealous haha. 

Where's Eric?

Us with the newlywed!

What's a wedding without our adorable nephew, Christian? Lauren and I slipped away to have a little photo shoot. 

And how could I forget about Eric?! He was the MC at the reception and did a fantastic job! Many compliments were made about this guy's skills. So proud!

 We are so happy for you, Holly and Phil!! We know you will have a wonderful marriage just like ours :)

Christmas, Christmas, and Christmas

Last year Eric and I had a quiet Christmas at home. I didn't want to bore Eric with goodies and another Criminal Minds marathon, so we decided to spend Christmas with our families this year. Five and a half days and two states later, Eric and I had 3 Christmases under our belts. 

We started off by spending a very early Christmas in Provo with Eric's family. Everyone was able to take work off for "Christmas" so it was pretty legit. Eric got an iPod nano watch that he gets compliments on everyday. And me...well I was a little spoiled with a new camera! Now I have lots of pressure to be an awesome photographer. I'll get there one day, I'm sure :) Here are some pics from our Provo Christmas.

Eric sporting his fancy new Christmas PJs. 

Holly was obviously shocked to open her new iPad. 

We were able to spend time with our nephew Christian who we had only seen once before this. 

What could be in this big box?

Classic. Enough said. 

The day after "Christmas" was another "Christmas" in West Jordan at my mom's house. My sister Wendy and her family were able to come too! I was excited to spend a Christmas with my favorite little niece, Amora! It was nice to see my family and also my mom's new house.

The parentals were chilling.

Typical Amora face: explaining something to Jeremy.

Eric and I during present opening.

My siblings Jeremy and Wendy!

Haha. Adam was not amused. 

And last but not least, the day after our second "Christmas" we hopped on a plane to spend Christmas Eve at my dad's house. My sister Audrey flew in from Florida to spend it with us. For some reason I didn't get many pics in Salem, but we had a great Christmas and an even greater day after Christmas shopping! 

Traditional matching Christmas shirts. Yes, the star blinked. 

Tis the Season!

Eric and I couldn't wait to set up our new Christmas decorations, so we got to work the day after Thanksgiving. Eric probably would have decorated in October had I let him, but I'm a firm believer in decorating AFTER Thanksgiving. Each holiday needs its own day, after all. I also don't believe in listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving, but I let that one slide during Thanksgiving week (mainly because it was Eric's birthday and I can't yell at him during his birthday week). I'm pretty sure he's been trying to sing Christmas songs since the summer. 

Anyway...like I said in the last post, we got new Christmas decorations! All of our ornaments are brand new. We went with the theme of red, green, and gold. It just jumped out at us when everything we liked happened to be in those colors. We love our new ornaments. Eric especially loves not having pink ornaments anymore. So if anyone is in need of pink ornaments and a star topper that changes colors, they are waiting for a new home! 

Eric and I had a plan to get a new specialized ornament every year. I decided that we aren't very good collectors because that basically ended this year (there's still a little time left). However, Eric gets a new nutcracker every year! Here's his first and best one yet! And also his Mexican Christmas decorations that I hate. But I have agreed to give him a Mexican corner so it doesn't mix with my other decor!

This is a pre-Mexican corner picture.

And along with our new Christmas decorations, we found new ornaments and topper for my tiny tree. We got the tree skirt last year that I couldn't resist. You'll see how small it really is in the next pic. I just love when things are miniaturized. 

My sister Audrey gave me this tree my first year of college so I could put one in my dorm room!

 And here is our beautiful Christmas area! I've always wanted to put garland on a stairway and now I finally can. I think it turned out pretty cute for being on a student budget! It's SO much better than last year if you look at that post. 

Christmas corner with the light on.

Please note the tiny Christmas tree on the bottom left. If you can't see it then it's because it's so BRIGHT. Apparently the lights don't come small enough.

And dramatic affect with the lights turned off!

Even if you don't think our Christmas decorations are very impressive, we still do! We love Christmas and all it brings. I can't wait to see our families this year!!