my letter to my father in law.

while my father in law was in the hospital, we found out that we could email the hospital letters to a patient and they would deliver them for you. well, i had one written out on thursday morning, but found out it wouldn't be delivered til friday morning, i asked the hospital front desk to delete the email and i would just have my husband read it to him, and i am glad i did. although he wasn't coherent at the time, i hope he enjoyed it. it has been fun to remember all the good memories i had with my father in law even though this whole thing has been so surreal to me. 

below is the letter i wrote to my father in law. 

love you larry, i already miss you so much.

Hi Larry :)

I just wanted send you a quick note this morning. I love you so much, you are the best father in law I could have ever asked for. I feel so blessed and so grateful to be a part of the Barfuss family.

I am glad that Nick has been able to spend so much time with you over the past few years, and I am glad I got to tag along with you guys too. I am so glad I got to go to Arizona with you and Nick in March. I will never forget all those dam jokes all the way there. I am also so happy that Nick and I got to do one last temple session with you while we were there. I will never ever forget that. 

I remember all the times we took you diet coke to Home Depot and just sat there and chatted with you when you were probably supposed to be working ;) haha. 

Larry, you raised an amazing son, and I am so grateful to have Nick as my husband. I'm glad Nick knows all the little handy man things, and he learned them all from you. Because someone has to fix my car when you aren't around!

 I am a little jealous that Nick had you around for 26 years, and I only got to be around you for 4 years, but I am glad that Nick is just like you, because I will always have a part of you with me always. 

I love you Larry, and I am going to miss you more than you know. Drink all the Diet Coke you can up there, and keep up with the dam jokes.

Love you, 

Denise (your favorite daughter-in-law)

phoenix road trip {2014}

every winter my father in law heads to phoenix to stay with his sister. usually nick will end up driving him down there and he will fly back. it's always just a quick little trip, but i secretly always wanted to go with them but never said anything cause it was good father/son time for nick and his dad.

well, my father in law was here in utah for a few weeks and him and nick had planned a trip to take him back to arizona. so this time i asked nick if i could go with them this time. nick talked to his dad about it, and decided i could come with! i was so excited to be able to go on a weekend vacation with them and be able to go to phoenix to finally see where nick's aunt and uncle live. and not to mention, enjoy the 80 degree weather in march!

we left early on friday morning and of course mcdonalds breakfast was in order before getting on the road. those barfuss boys love their mickey d's. finally we were on the road, we made our usual pit stops when heading south, first stop was in beaver, our second was in st. george. 

while in st. george, nick and i decided to stop at a store called rocket fizz. we have one up in SLC, but we went there to get us some ale8's for the road. sadly, they were out of regular ale8, but it didn't stop us from getting diet ale8.

we left st. george and headed towards vegas to stop for lunch. we had to stop at in-n-out cause it is so much better when you are on a road trip! 

after vegas we decided to make a pit stop to see the hoover dam. and let me tell you, nick and larry could not stop with the "dam" jokes. i think i heard them for the rest of the trip.

 hoover dam was really neat, i hope at some point i can take a tour of it.

finally we just booked it to phoenix after that. at that point i think we were all tired and just ready to be there. we got to stacie and kevin's house around 8:30 and kandis and greg were also there and they were making cookies and playing mexican train. the lythgoe's are great hosts! it was fun to stay at their place. after eating tons of cookies and playing a few rounds of mexican train, nick, kandis and i headed out for the hot tub. definitely a perfect way to relax before going to bed.

the next morning we got up early again to head to mesa temple with nicks dad. that temple is absolutely beautiful. this was my first temple i've been to out of state and i'm glad it was cause it is so pretty!

after the temple we headed back stacie and kevin's to get ready to go to the angels vs. diamondbacks spring training game! i was so excited for this because i have always wanted to go to an angels game, so i can somewhat cross it off my bucket list, but i still want to see them play in anaheim. 

after the game we headed back and had a relaxing night of sitting in the hot tub, eating yummy hamburgers, a DQ run and also discovering that our flight home was not booked for the next day... it was for next sunday, march 16th.

woops!! but everything worked out, we got the money refunded {for a small fee of course} so my father in law got his money back, and was also able to book nick a flight back in april for cheaper to bring him home.

so we ended up renting a car and driving back on sunday. so we still got home the same day, just not the way we had planned! but the drive is always fun with nick and it went by so fast.

even though our trip to phoenix wasn't super long, it was still so much fun. it was so fun to hang out with family all weekend, get my first sunburn of the season, and finally be able to see what phoenix is all about! hopefully we'll go to phoenix again real soon :)

next time i go to a baseball game in phoenix, i probably shouldn't wear a necklace...

kaliope, the one and only territorial cat.

earlier this week at work, i saw this cute cat playing outside. come to find out that the owner was actually looking for someone to have him. my owner, brenda, had talked to the owner of the cat and told her i might be interested in taking him. so i made a quick phone call to nick to see what he thought. we agreed that we would want to try taking home the cat to see how kaliope would react. yes, we know it can take a while for cats to get along and get used to each other. but today... was a long day with the both of them.

today we finally brought the new cat out without being in his kennel. kaliope freaked out. she more than freaked out, she went hostile. this is how kaliope is at the vet. it is most definitely not a pretty sight, and she just looks absolutely evil. and kaliope is not like that at all, kaliope is a very loving cat, she cuddles with me and nick, is always waiting for us at the door when we come home, etc. 

today made me think of the quote "if it's not broke, don't fix it" kaliope was never broken, kaliope didn't need a friend. we were a perfect family of 3. it was reeeally hard for me to see kaliope act like this, especially towards another cat. he doesn't deserve it. i don't like having him locked up in our 2nd bedroom so he doesn't have to deal with kaliope. he is also an indoor/outdoor cat, he is dying to go outside. but i just don't feel comfortable letting him out where we live, it's too busy, we have construction going on across the street, so it scares me.

i also today googled information on the breed of cat that kaliope is, here is what i found:

In addition to their distinctive coloring, torties also have a reputation for unique personalities, sometimes referred to as “tortitude.”  They tend to be strong-willed, a bit hot-tempered, and they can be very possessive of their human.  Other words used to describe torties are fiercely independent, feisty and unpredictable.  They’re usually very talkative and make their presence and needs known with anything from a hiss to a meow to a strong purr.

that basically sums up kaliope. so bringing in another cat into the picture just won't work right now. i'm very sad that we will have to return the new kitty. but i know there is someone out there that can provide him a better home than we can right now. i will always remember him even though it was a short lived time that he was here, but right now i am perfectly fine with my family of 3. just me, nick and kaliope. 

my second home

ninth avenue salon is my second home. seriously.

i haven't even worked there a month and i feel so incredibly blessed to have a job there. the feeling of looking forward to going to work every day is just absolutely amazing. this is the first job in a long time that i have had that feeling. 

the feeling i had when i walked into the salon for the first time was definitely different than any other salon job i applied for. it was a... warm fuzzy feeling. i felt like i had walked into someones home. i loved it. 

this salon is no ordinary salon. ninth avenue salon has been around for almost 40 years. we still have clients coming from when the original owner worked there. we definitely have a loyal clientele. i have met some amazing people over the past few weeks and can't wait to meet everyone else from the ninth ave family. 

i also feel so blessed to be working with such an amazing owner, brenda. i've never met anyone like her. she is absolutely amazing. she is so dedicated to that salon, she loves everything about it. and she is always so happy to be there. she is always so helpful, i love her subtle way of giving us advice on things such as roller sets (definitely need my practice with those!) i love that she wants me to succeed.

i feel like i have known her for forever. i'm pretty sure brenda and i could text all day if we wanted. there is never a dull moment at work and we can carry on a conversation for hours. she already is one of my very best friends.

i also am so grateful that i get to work with someone i went to school with, travis. i couldn't ask for a better co-worker. he is so amazing, and incredibly talented. he definitely livens up the shop when he is there. he is so fun to talk to and is absolutely hilarious. we have had fun practicing roller sets on each other and just chatting the day away with brenda.

i can't even begin to describe how grateful i am that i get to work at such an amazing salon. it's already been so much fun and i can't wait to see what my future brings me there. 

to team ninth ave,

i love you guys, and am so glad i know you guys and get to work with you both every day!

come on in and check us out, you won't regret it!

2013

in 2013:

nick and i moved to salt lake {our 5th move}

our friend pam visited from germany 

i participated in my schools hair show

went to the bon jovi concert with my friend sari

went to wendover with nick, my sister and her husband to see gabriel iglesias

went on many bike rides downtown

dressed up like an 80's girl and ran around salt lake valley playing spy games with my school

quit my job at sweet home chicago pizzeria 

i turned 24

i graduated hair school

i went to vegas for the first time with my bestie and my instructors from school

went to kentucky with nick and my parents {nicks first trip there!}

got a job at cookie cutters

nick quit his job at the rec center {hurray!}

got a letter from myself 10 years ago {i was in 8th grade, and wanted to be a hairstylist then too!}

had a friend from hair school pass away, i've never felt so close to my TA family {miss you all the time ashley}

left my job at cookie cutters, got a job at hip salon

did a service project in memory of my sweet nephew jack

chopped my hair off {its growing back super fast!}

nick turned 26

went to the relient k concert with my brother

helped my sister in law decorate her tree for the festival of trees for jack

went to the kurt bestor christmas concert with my family

got nick a gun for christmas

went to the hockey game for new years

and to top of the last of 2013, got a new job closer to home

i'd say, 2013 was a GREAT year! so excited to see what 2014 brings us!!

here's to a new year! bring it on 2014!

new salon, new start

well as i posted on my facebook about a week ago, i am leaving cookie cutters to go work at a full service salon in west jordan called hip salon.

i'm really excited to start this new adventure and start building a clientele, learn new things, and put my skills to use!

i would love to have you come visit me in my new salon :)

i will be working:

mondays

tuesdays

thursdays

fridays

and

saturdays.

message me for pricing, and the hours i will be working. if you want to set up an appointment, i will be starting november 1st from 12-7. you can call the salon at:

801-282-1576

i'm so excited to start working at this new salon :) although my time at cookie cutters was short, i learned a ton there and am glad i was able to start there. i know it's time to move on from cutting little kids hair and going into the big hair world at this new salon. i can't wait to meet new people, build a clientele, learn new products, learn new techniques, go to continuing education classes, and just have a new start!

i'm so grateful for the support that i have from my hubby as i start this new adventure, i couldn't do it without him!

be still my soul

Be still, my soul: The Lord is on thy side;

With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.

Leave to thy God to order and provide;

In ev'ry change he faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav'nly friend

Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

last night, one of my very best friends sang that song at a candlelight vigil. last night, i've never felt so close to my TA family. 

about a week ago, a girl i went to school with was in a tragic accident. she had been in a coma since. on sunday, her family took her off life support. i can't even imagine how difficult that must have been. but i know Heavenly Father has been with them every step of the way. and i know ashley has been with them.

last night at the school, we wrote messages on balloons and sent them up to ashley, had a candlelight vigil, told stories and memories of ashley. we laughed and we cried, but it was perfect. i know ashley was there with us.

i love my TA family. i'm so grateful for all the friends i've made there and all the memories i have there. 

i will always remember ashley. she was always smiling, always happy, and always trying to make everyone's day at the school. she would always tell you that you looked pretty, that she loved your hair, your outfit, anything. she was always positive. we all need to have a little bit of ashley in us.

rest in peace sweet girl. heaven got one amazing angel. enjoy paradise with that sweet baby of yours. can't wait to see you again and meet your baby. 

love you ashley :)

Ashley April Holtkamp
March 23, 1991 - September 8, 2013