Gallery Wall on a Budget

Operation beautify flat continues with this gallery wall on a budget! 

Type in "gallery wall" on Pinterest and you get all of these AMAZING creations that probably cost a fortune.  I wish we were rolling in the dough but we just aren't. I'm not embarrassed to tell you that all of these frames are from Poundland (the Dollar Store for England). I am also not embarrassed to tell you that I made that flower out of plastic spoons and cardboard. I'm on a strict budget and that's how things get done around here!

I am not particularly experienced with Photoshop or other design programs so free printables are the way to go! Check out where I got my pieces from, below. 

Without further ado, here it is!

Excuse the poor lighting and photo quality. Amateur hour over here. You get the idea though.

Spoon Flower Tutorial here

"Choose Happy" print here

Chevron Arrow print here

Pineapple print here

"Love is a verb. Love is a doing word" print here

"Home is wherever I'm with you" print here (My dear friend Catherine made this for me. THANKS CATH!!)

I can't find where I found the "Be Kind" printable. But honestly, you could just make that one yourself.

A Toast to the Whites

Today, is a very special day for this girl. Abby DeLawder, soon to be Mrs. Abby White. Although England has been wonderful so far, my heart is breaking because I am not able to be there for her special day. For this reason, I am going to write a little toast for Abby and her soon to be husband Mr. Patrick White.

First off, I have been around for Abby and Pat's journey from the day they met. At the time, Abs and I were doing an internship together in Salt Lake. We looked like this every single day. Cow & Jumbo 4 life...

 I remember hearing how fun and great this guy was so I told her I had to meet him! 

When we finally nailed down a day, it didn't go as planned. 

During one of the first conversations Pat and I had, we started talking about sports. 

(I'm such a dude sometimes)

I may or may not have told him to "go die" because he mentioned his devotion to the Lakers. Disclaimer: I HAVE NEVER IN MY LIFE TOLD ANYONE THAT. I CAN NOT BELIEVE IT CAME OUT OF MY MOUTH.

 I have since apologized, but our start was rocky to say the least. 

The next couple years their relationship blossomed, and they had their ups and downs. During the downs I was not a fan of the man who was hurting my best friend. 

I mean come on, friend code 101= be on her side, always! 

But look at them now.... they are beyond happy and I could not be more ecstatic for them!!

So here's to you Abs... Here's to you not having to spell your last name out ever again. To moving to the back of the alphabet. To always having a partner in crime and a date to everything. To having your best friend by your side forever. To finding the man of your dreams! To Mr. & Mrs. White!!!

Love you Abs. I couldn't be more happy for you two. Welcome to the married club! :)

Commence jokes about having babies. Too soon?

Why you don't go running

Because you don't live in a place like this....

I don't mean to brag, okay fine, yes i do, but this was my morning run. 

England, you have my heart.

Swoon. 

That is all.

Dreaming

I love dreaming. It's a free adventure every night! Besides the point. The real point is, there is not one decoration in our entire flat. We couldn't exactly bring any with us, given our packing limitations. The bank account and the husband would also not appreciate it if I spent money on expensive decor. This left me with one option: make it yourself. Yay crafting, right?

I'm starting with our room. Over the bed to be exact. Nothing fancy. Super simple.

It's so so easy to make too! All you need is:

I found the actual letters for free here. I printed them off and glue dotted them to the colored paper. (Secret... I used glue dots to mount the clothes pins to the wall too).  I wish I had twine to hang the thing. I couldn't find any in the city and didn't want to order it online, so string worked just fine. I tripled it up so it was a little thicker on the wall. 

Honestly, easiest craft of my life. I love how it turned out!

Side note:
I listened to this song on repeat while making the banner. LOVE IT. Not sure if it's popular in the States, but I'm all about it.

How to Be Happy

Lately, I have been in a little bit of a slump. Why, you ask? But Callie, you have literally traveled the world and had AMAZING opportunities the past six months! How is the heck are you not happy?! Yeah, yeah. I know. 

Life has changed lately. I used to think that I was okay with change, that it was good. I still believe that change can be good. Change is required for progression, but change can also be scary and hard. I found myself writing in my journal this week, "I feel like I have lost myself a bit." That's a scary sentence. Hear me out though...  I had to quit my job, leave my friends, (miss my BFFs wedding... love you Abs) and move to the other side of the world. 

With all that said. Let me tell you that I found the answer to happiness this past weekend. 

(I don't know if I really found it, more like rediscovered it). 

I had a little help from a little thing called General Conference. Haven't heard of it? Well let me tell you all about it! Did you know that we have prophets on the earth today? God speaks to us through them just like he did with prophets of old, like Noah or Moses. General Conference is one of the instances we have to hear modern day prophets and their counsel from the Lord. 

One of my favorite talks was given my President Dieter F. Uchtdorf during the General Women's Session. He gave us a recipe for happiness, peace, and eternal life. I mean really, what else could you want?

"The Creator of the seas, sands, and endless stars is reaching out to you this very day! He is offering the grand recipe for happiness, peace, and eternal life!

To qualify for these glorious blessings, you must...

1) Humble yourself

2) Exercise faith

3) Take upon you the name of Christ

4) Seek Him in word and deed 

5) Resolutely stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places"

I needed to hear this. I was looking inward and not upward and outward. I can be happy when I serve others. I can be happy when I look to my Heavenly Father and trust in His plan. The answer is simple. I knew it all along. I had just forgot. Sometimes we need a little reminding from our loving Father in heaven, and that's okay!

Are you feeling down? Need direction or uplifting? You will find it here. 

How to Move to a Foreign Country

Brace yourself... it's a long one!

1) Pack your life in two suitcases
Okay, fine. Three. We payed the whopping extra $200 for two extra bags. This is not an easy task I tell you! Packing literally everything we need for the next year (maybe more) of our lives... stressful. We made it work though. Tips: roll your clothes. They fit better. Use every single ounce that you are allowed on that plane. WEIGH YOUR BAGS TO CHECK. Use those baggage cart things at the airport. You might feel like people are judging you for having so much stuff, but you will feel more awkward trying to lug around three suitcases and a backpack without it.

2) Settle in for a long plane ride
After our adventures this summer I feel like I could fly around the world three times and it wouldn't phase me. Things that help though: Spend the money and buy a donut pillow. It's worth it. Get a good book. Or two, or three. Fly an airline with personal TVs on the back of your seat. Just watch a couple movies, a season of Suits, and you are there! Wear whatever you freaking want on that plane. (I know some people have strong opinions about looking classy when you travel. Me? Forget that. Wear sweats and your nikes. Crazy pants and a t-shirt. Whatever is comfortable. 14 hours is a LONG TIME to be sitting in a dress.)

3) Research Research Research
I feel like we could have done this a little more thoroughly. I mean, they speak English in England but pretty much everything else is different from America. They drive on the left side of the road. They call underwear pants. Yeah... we've made that mistake a couple times. They don't tip at restaurants. The list could go on and on. Luckily, we've made some really great friends who have showed us the ropes. If we hadn't we would be struggling.

4) Find a network 
Whether this is through your job, community, church, or neighborhood, having a network of people is huge. We found this through our church. The people here have been amazing. We had someone to pick us up from the airport, somewhere to stay until we got on our feet, and even a personal chauffeur to drive us around at first. Seriously... what a HUGE help. We've already been over to a ward member's house for dinner, and made tons of friends. It's so nice to have a support group in a place that is so foreign.

5) Find a home
Whew! This one was a doozy! We have been looking online for months for a place to live before we even got here. We felt uncomfortable with wiring money oversees for a place we hadn't even seen yet though. We decided to just look when we got here. Ho-ly Cow. The market in Birmingham this time of year is crazy. A property would come on the market and 9 people would see it and want it that same day. Just be patient and resilient. Keep making appointments and when you see one you want do what you have to to get it. Since Austin is a student and I am technically unemployed we had to pay more money upfront for the rent. It was a bit of a pain, but if it meant we could have a place to live, we were in. We have finally found something and move in tomorrow! YES!

6) Find a job
Lucky for me, my visa allows me to work. I don't really have much to say on this topic since I am still unemployed! They use CVs here not resumes though. I'm applying all over the place so hopefully I'll find something soon.

7) Eat the food
Chocolate. British chocolate is $. There are little shops everywhere with fun new food. We love to walk around the city center and try new things. Food is actually not as expensive as I would have thought. It helps that we are in Birmingham and not London. I would say you can find lunch for $6-8, and a nice dinner for $10-15. It's pretty reasonable.

8) Explore and ask questions
Honestly, you kind of have to wing it for a while. We've done lots of walking around the city just to explore. We ask questions when we have them and almost always people are willing to help. We're excited to be here and look forward to learning more as we grow.

We haven't taken many pictures yet, but here are a few.

Cheers!

"The Beach"

I realize at this point people reading my blog (probably just loads of people) think we are the most spoiled individuals alive. Mexico, Ghana, Japan.... blah blah blah. Well disclaimer: here's yet another update on our ridiculous summer. In our defense though, this was just a mini weekend away.

Austin's family has an epic beachfront house in the Lincoln City area. Please understand though when I say "the beach" in Oregon, even in the summer, there's no guarantee there will be sunshine. Lucky for us, we a day or two CLOUD FREE. It was a wonderful few days of games, kite flying, yummy food, and family. YAY BEACH!

SUN!!!

Flying Kites

First Timer ^^^

The Boys

Beautiful Sunsets

I promise our lives will now be relatively boring for the next month or so.