My Little (very humble) Abode

Well this my home! It is tiny & nothing too exciting, but it is where I live. Enjoy the pictures (& FYI it is always better in person, pinky swear--better come visit)! 

da bedroom! 

vanity with all my jewelry hanging pretty

I really do love my shower curtain! 

My very boring, boring sitting area. I am going to do an awesome ceiling medallion art display & possibly a couch if I get a little crazy

One view of the kitchen, door that's open leads to my bathroom & bedroom

Kitchen merging with living room, I am quite proud of that bookshelf, might I add

I still have a lot of things to do with my place but it's slowly getting there. Gotta love all the boring white walls, but that's what I get for renting! Y'all are welcome!

Oh, and I have brown hair now...FYI

What I did between jobs

After I stopped working for the Triangle C Ranch at the beginning of this month I took a much needed vaca to the highly popular tourist location of Caldwell, ID! For the entire week I spent all my time hanging out with my momma, learning to cook bread & cinnamon, crafting, drinkin' large amounts of pop & getting ready to make my big move. I wish I had more than a week to spend with my family but I had a blast! 

I MADE A WREATH! Saw this little festive beauty on Pinterest & knew I could do it, so after taking all of Wincos' stash of candy corn, I bought a wreath & hot glued about a pound of candy corn to the wreath. Attached with a ribbon & viola! I have a Fall wreath! 

I made another awesome craft & even dappled in some paint...pictures to come when I can move them into my new apartment (also pictures coming soon of that!). 

My parents front yard

The house

The view that seriously almost made me cry when I first saw it after 6 months!

Boise ID LDS Temple, the open house started the day I was leaving home so I stopped in on my way out of town, it it was amazing & absolutely beautiful! Now I know more than ever that this is where I will get married. Cannot wait to get my endownments out, hmmm St. George is only 49 miles away....

A glimpse into my life

WARNING: this post contains large, and I mean large, amounts of photos...I have a problem :)

My phone got a little upgrade & it came with a panaroma feature for my camera, PERFECT! Well here are some shots of the lodge & the beautiful scenery that surrounds it. I am going to miss these breathtaking views.

 Dining Room at Triangle C Ranch 

View off the deck (minus the bendiness) 

Lodge

About 10 minutes down the road from the Ranch by Dubois, lots of pretty farms & ranches

Very oddly colored photo of the break room/Wrangler Room

My mouse-infested cabin

& these other ones are just some awesome views I had on my way home from a date. Now don't get too excited mom, I hadn't left the camp in close to a week & was going stir crazy, so I took myself out to dinner, a hike & then watched a movie with a big slice of pie & ice cream. Things went really well & I think I am going to go out again! 

High 5 for Friday

Just 5 highlights from a great week:

1. I have finally done it! I can now French braid my hair with out the aid of hair spray or bobby pins, boo yay!
2. This is what I do...all day....every day, good thing I found this little gem, a foot rest!
3. Took a drive through a near by canyon, I LOVE FALL!!!
4. Reason #2 for loving Mexico: Mexican Coke, in a class, contains REAL sugar, & is 10x more delicious.
5. I found a gem, the funniest Pinterest humor board, check it out HERE! Don't have to work out tonight because I was laughing so hard from this.

I'm a big girl now!

Okay, I can't hold it in anymore...I AM MOVING! I am leaving Wyoming! I am getting a new job! I am going to live in a home! I am going to be an adult finally! I was thinking of saying it in some elegant & mature way, but you know what? I am too excited to hold it in! 

So here is the story:

When I got this job at the ranch I think I always knew it wouldn't last. It was the right choice, but I started feeling out of place & unsettled, & when I get that feeling I know that a change needs to occur. I started looking for work at the beginning August, I wanted something that would utilize my degree & place me in an environment that was uplifting. 

As I was sitting in a hotel room in Salt Lake City with all my sisters I found a job listing for a public relations writer for Southern Utah University in Cedar City, UT, but it closed that night. I hurry & filled out an application, wrote a cover letter & tweaked my resume, about a month later they called me. I thought they had forgotten about little ole' me! 4 days later I had a phone interview & literally 2 hours later they called & asked if I would come to Cedar City for another interview. I calmly said yes but y'all know I was screaming on the inside! 

But then came the hard part: telling my bosses (all 3 of them) my plans & how it didn't include them. Gosh, it was worse then breaking up with a boy! Normally for me I would only have 1 boy to break it off with at a time, & after an awkward goodbye you don't see them hopefully ever again. But with a job, you give them your notice & you have to stick around & endure awkward silences & weird looks. 

Last Saturday I left the ranch with my slacks neatly pressed & all sorts of nervousness in my belly. This could either change my life or just be a really long road trip. After staying a night with Emily in Rexburg, I left early Sunday morning for Cedar City. Quite a long trek down there, but it was beautiful. The trees were alive with color! Fall has gotta be my favorite season! 

That Sunday night I went out to dinner with my potential supervisor Jen Burt & Dean, vice president of communication. I hadn't eaten real good all day & I was starving when dinner came around, but I was so dang nervous I would spill on my shirt or get broccoli in my teeth I literally only took 8 bites. Dinner went well & I celebrated by eating at Wendys with a massive hamburger. 

The next round of interviews started in the morning & I was already. Met with a committee of people, took a writing a test & then had a campus tour (campus is beautiful by the way). While I was there I just knew that I was going to live there. Everything felt so right, I just knew I had to get down there! 

That afternoon I got back in the car & headed back to Wyoming. Driving through the Lagon Canyon to Bear Lake was breathtaking! I love fall! (Whoops, did I already say that, oh well it need to be shouted over & over again!)

After spending the night in Lagon & getting back to the ranch Tuesday afternoon, I only worked 3 hours when I got a phone call. They told me it would take a week! But only after a day they called me back! They offered me the job! I know God has had a hand in all of this & he is watching me walk down this path. 

"Do not fear the future. Go forward with hope and faith. Remember that supernal gift of the Holy Ghost. Learn to be taught by it. Learn to seek it. Learn to live by it. Learn to pray always in the name of Jesus Christ (see3 Nephi 18:19–20). The Spirit of the Lord will attend you, and you will be blessed. We have deep and profound faith in you." -Pres Boyd K Packer

Sorry for the large amount of text! It won't happen again. 

Home Sweet Home

French Country, it has a billiards room & a master bath I would cry over! 

Y'all maybe thinking, "Say, what is a picture of a beautiful home doing on Jess' blog?" Well my dear friends I have quite the obsession lately. Home planning. Yep, it's a problem. Since I am living in a tiny cabin that is infested with mice in Wyoming I have been craving to be in a home! Where I can have a kitchen, living room, carpet & bedroom I can decorate. The simple things, ya know?

& since things here on the ranch have drastically slowed down I have a lot of time on my hands, so I found this little gem. Eplans.com, an amazing site! I love it!

English Country, back view, AMAZING! 
 
You put in your preferences: construction style, stories, how many bedrooms & bathrooms, even square footage & BOOM, you have about 200+ options of homes! They give you everything! All these different drawings & photos & even floor plans.

Floor plan of one above, do you see that master bedroom? Yeah, that's what I want for Christmas.

So when that day comes & I marry a super rich doctor & we can build a freaking mansion, I just want to be prepared.

The small things have become great

In the scriptures they always talk about how "by small & simple things great things are brought to pass." I have never understood that phrase more than I did exactly one week at 2:34 a.m. My boss had asked me to move into a different cabin & I was totally cool with it because it has an actual heater, working shower & right next to the lodge, SAWEET! But as I was unpacking I started see these small & simple things, crawling out of holes, sneaking around my dresser & sniffing at my blanket. Mice. My cabin was infested with mice! MICE!

As I went to bed that night I really didn't worry too much, but I had no idea what was in store for me. At exactly 2:34 a.m. I felt something scratching my head, very tiny scratches. I freak! I start screaming, but that really nasty man scream every woman has at 2:34 a.m., classy right? And this continued the rest of the night. I would hear scratching & clawing &  squeaking & then CRACK! Mouse trap & then more scratching from said almost dead mouse. It was the worst. Needless to say I didn't get very much sleep. This cycle went on for another 4 hours, until I went to sleep at 6:30ish & had to wake up at 7:30, yeah I was late for work.

That morning I caught 6 mice, next 2 days 4 mice, then it has slowly dwindled down. I can now say I have slept the entire night for 3 straight nights, it is amazing! But even more crazy, was when a mouse almost crawled down my pants, DOWN! Never felt so violated, stinky little fellow! Y'all know it had to be boy mouse! But as it has gotten colder, reaching about 20 degrees during the night, the mice are slowly going away, hopefully dieing.

But now you may all call me Jessica, the Master Mouse Slayer! Killing 24 mice & 1 pack rat in just a week. Yep, putting that on my resume!