Finding Pants

Brenden just left to drive the missionaries to our church building for something. I didn't really catch what he was saying because I was in the shower getting ready to go shopping. As soon as Brenden gets back home we're heading out to the mall to go shopping. For clothing. For me.

I hate shopping for clothes for myself. Despise it. I hate clothing and fashion and malls and new Fall catalogues and the way brands market their clothing lines for winter. No one can possibly be that happy in that much snow. I don't care how cute that matching hat and scarf set is. That smile is FAKE!

Right, so anyway, shopping. I suspect a lot of women would be excited to have their husbands take them shopping. I don't actually know. I definitely appreciate Brenden for wanting to take me shopping. My goodness, he knows how unpleasant I am when looking for clothes. Why would he willingly put himself through that?

It's not that I hate all shopping. It's just that I don't want to buy myself another pair of pants when I already have eight pairs (is that a lot or too little?) Sure, they don't fit me as well as they should (too big or too small- I don't know why! They fit when I bought them.) And, yes, it's true I often complain when getting ready in the morning because of this fact. (It was actually because of this complaining that Brenden demanded that we go and buy me a new pair of jeans today.) But pants are expensive! Clothing is expensive! And I'm too short so all the pants in the store are too long for me. ALL OF THEM. And I hate having to get my pants hemmed because I don't sew which usually means that my pants will stay too long and I will wear them anyway and then they will get all torn up where my shoes step on them. And shirts? Shirts are just annoying. There are so many different designs! Button up, v-neck, crew neck, scoop neck, long sleeve, three-quarter sleeve, cap sleeve, tank top, regular t-shirt, sheer, silk, cotton. I generally stick to t-shirts because they're pretty simple and I would get them for free for going to special events. (Too bad I can't wear my old softball t-shirt to church!)

Like I said, I don't hate all shopping. I love shopping for kitchen gadgets. I like shopping for furniture. I like buying books and art supplies. And I enjoy shopping for others. I even enjoy shopping for clothing for others. I just can't stand having to pick out clothes for myself.

Can I show you something that would be embarrassing if I actually cared?
This is a picture of some of the items in my closet:

This is hardly the entire contents of my closet but I wanted to share these items because it gives you a little insight to my shopping habits. I hate shopping for myself so much that when I go shopping, if I find one thing I like or doesn't look too bad on me, I basically buy it in bulk so I won't have to go shopping again for a long time.

Here I have 7 of the same polos from American Eagle, 5 of the same long-sleeved t-shirts from PacSun, 4 of the same blouses from Macy's, 3 of the same (only 2 pictured) skirts from Macy's, also not pictured: 3 pairs of the same jeans, 2 pairs of the same corduroys, 2 pairs of the same flats, and 5 pairs of the same flip flops. There are a few things these items had in common when I was shopping: 1) They fit me. 2) They came in different colors. 3) They were on sale for super cheap. And those are my basic requirements for buying clothes in bulk.

(The rest of this post was added after my shopping trip with Brenden.)

Because Brenden and I had a Macy's gift card and very little time to shop, our shopping trip was limited to one department store. Generally, when I go shopping for myself, it is because I need a particular item of clothing. I went into Macy's looking for a pair of jeans that fit well and weren't at risk of having holes suddenly torn in embarrassing places (I have two pairs of blue jeans, one of which I've had since seventh grade. It was my best Gap buy ever; unfortunately, the pants are now very worn and thin and at risk of having holes suddenly torn in embarrassing places.) Very much to my relief, there were a ton of jeans ON SALE and I began grabbing pairs off the racks and shelves and handing them to Brenden. After I had about seven pairs to try on, I headed to the dreaded dressing room and began trying them on.

Here is one thing I hate about women's clothing: how much the sizes in different brands vary. I tried on a pair of pants that were size 5 and they were too small, then I tried on a 7 from the same brand and they were still too small. If I tried on a size 9 in this same brand, I would have to hem the pants at the knee, thereby ruining the boot cut, so they'd be short enough for me to wear. Needless to say, I gave up at the 7. But then I tried on a size 3 S (s for short) in another brand and they fit. And I didn't need to hem them. And I shook my fist at the size 7 on its hanger in my dressing room and said, "I liked you better! You were $10 cheaper but you failed me!" And I went to the counter, paid for the jeans, and left confused about what size I actually wear because, apparently, I'm anywhere between a 3 and a 9.

It doesn't matter too much, though, because I just bought a new pair of jeans which means I won't need to go jeans shopping for another ten years.

I want to build something!

I have been spending too much time on pinterest lately (again) which just further irritates this itch I have (that just won't go away) to create something big and awesome and marvelous. This itch hasn't gone away with craft projects or furniture painting projects. And it has become a little bit annoying. I lie awake at night thinking up projects I can do to fill my days, to beautify my home, to give to friends and family. And then I lie awake at night wishing Brenden and I owned a house with a garage with a workshop where I could build things.

Yes.

I want to build things. With nails and screws and hinges and knobs and pulls and wood and metal and all those other things I don't even know exist.

Ever since I was little, I have loved trips to Home Depot and Lowe's. I loved seeing the lumber, the hardware, and the power tools. I imagined the things I would create if I had unlimited resources and actual skills. At first, I wanted to build a dollhouse and then I wanted to build a playhouse for the backyard and then a treehouse like that one in Home Alone. And now I want to build a bed, an armoire, bookshelves, a real nightstand with drawers and everything! When I was younger, I would see my dad take sheets of plywood and two-by-fours (along with those metal things that held it all together- nails, screws, etc.) and create things in our garage- cool things like bunk beds and dining table chairs. I regret I hadn't spent more time watching and learning from him when I had the opportunity. I was too occupied with musical theater and dance and softball and school and friends to actually spend time watching my dad build stuff. And girls had no place around a circular saw anyway, right?

What was I thinking?

Maybe I thought the power tools were too loud. Maybe I was too scared I'd lose a finger or end up with a screw in my toe. Maybe I was JUST STUPID.

For Christmas this year sign me up for a circular saw, a sander, a nailer and stapler (don't worry, I already bought myself a drill), and a few gift cards to Lowe's so I can buy some materials. And if you're feeling particularly generous, a new house with a garage with space for a workshop.

It's alright, I know you're probably thinking it.

Yes, I'm crazy. Puh-leeze, I already knew this.

All Hallow's Eve

Did anyone else ever wonder why we never got Halloween as a day off from school? I think every year I was in elementary school as the holiday approached, I got excited about the prospect of no school. (I also thought I got the summer holidays off from church.) And then the week of Halloween, I'd look at the school lunch menu stuck on our fridge at home and realize that they were serving lunch AT SCHOOL on HALLOWEEN which could only mean one thing: we would have school on Halloween. Of course we had Halloween parties and we were even allowed to dress up sometimes but why didn't we have the day off? It's something I got used to by the time I was in middle school though I still can't believe that professor my freshman year at BYU who assigned us a paper due the DAY AFTER HALLOWEEN. I mean, seriously, what was he thinking? My roommate (who was in the same class) and I decided we would write our papers quickly so we could go out and celebrate but then Brenden invited us to do something and we abandoned our homework until later that night when we stayed up late typing our papers and kicking ourselves.

Our Halloween this year began on Friday when we went to our ward's Halloween party. Brenden and I were in charge of the bean bag toss game. There weren't a lot of games there so we usually had a little crowd around us which included its fair share of ducks, vampires, witches, and even a Storm Trooper with a lightsaber. Unfortunately, the party was outside and it was cold and drizzly. When it started pouring, our trunk-or-treat was quickly relocated to the pavilion where the children walked up and down the rows between the picnic benches. Some kids thought they were slick and kept coming back for more candy. I recognized them, called them out, and gave them candy anyway. They were cute and really good at the bean bag toss-- why shouldn't they get more candy?

I wore my go-to Halloween outfit for the event. I wore it last year and the year before that. But this year, I changed it up by adding a cheap (and by cheap I mean poorly made and relatively inexpensive) witch's hat. Brenden wore jeans and a Batman t-shirt and called it good. He didn't want me to include the picture with both of us in it. Probably because he wishes he looked this awesome.

Brenden insisted I put a broom in this picture.
Also, my hair is super long and I don't know what to do about it.
On Saturday, Brenden and I worked on a project that we've been putting off for awhile now. We haven't finished it yet which means we have an unfortunate looking piece of furniture sitting on top of a plastic sheet in our dining room. Hopefully it will be done (or at least out of the room) before we have dinner guests next Sunday. Also, the Georgia Bulldogs beat the Florida Gators on Saturday, 24-20. I mention this because it is significant. We didn't get to watch it but from my ESPN phone app, it looked like it was an exciting game.

On Sunday, Brenden and I finally carved our pumpkin. And even though this is our fourth Halloween together, we've never carved a pumpkin with each other before. We decided to make it something more complicated than we'd ever made during our separate pumpkin carving experiences. It took us awhile but we were proud of ourselves when we finally finished. It was pretty cool.

It's a Georgia Bulldog! Because we are suddenly very school-spirited!
Unfortunately our Bulldog didn't get to see much daylight before he became this:

Some stinky kids that we PROBABLY gave candy to destroyed him while we were eating dinner. We know it was during dinner because we set up our decorations outside before we sat down for dinner and then after dinner we went outside to light them up and our pumpkin was already in the street. I was so sad. At least we took some pictures of our guy during our short time together. Next year, we'll put our pumpkin in the window.
Here's what our place looked like before our pumpkin died:

Our landlord somewhat recently had the exterior of our place painted, including our front door. Unfortunately, the guys painting the door broke the door numbers when they removed them and have yet to replace them. Brenden and I are considering keeping up our door decorations a little longer just so friends can easily identify which place is ours. "Our address is _______. Our door has a scary face on it. No, really, it does." I think my favorite part about the eye placement on the door was that the little peep hole was right between the eyes which meant when I checked the door, it was like looking through the eyes of my monster!

Our rearrangement of decorations and our lit ghosts:

We also had a few decorations in our house that Brenden made almost ten years ago.

These guys sat on top of our fireplace mantle. Fancy.
I copied Brenden's costume design and wore a t-shirt and pants for my Halloween outfit. Unfortunately, in this picture you can't see the bright red pants I was wearing. Not exactly pink but close. Go go Power Rangers!

We didn't do much besides give out candy, eat candy, and catch up on The Walking Dead but it was a good Halloween. And tomorrow is All Saint's Day which means if I was still in elementary school at Galveston Catholic, I'd be dressing up as a Catholic Saint for a special Mass tomorrow. This year I'll just be out running errands while Brenden's at school. Boring.