New Years

I know I shouldnt be thinking about New Years Resolutions (AKA things I "think" about doing, but never actually do), but I cant get a few things out of my head. Things that I want to do, but keep telling myself "after the holiday" because I am too busy right now to do them. So... they are kinda like resolutions.

What I can't get out of my head? Granny squares!!! I want to crochet granny squares and make cool things. I have tried the whole knitting thing and its not for me. but crochet? I think I can handle. I cannot wait to get cozy on my couch with a cup of tea and a movie I have seen a hundred times. Picture it, its freezing cold outside, I have a batch of cinnamon rolls in the oven, and I am crocheting granny squares!! OMG!! Crap I am getting old.

The cricut. Since this silly little machine has came out I never pictured myself getting one. I have a small scrapbooking supply, my house is small so I have to keep it to a minimum, and I am fine having it that way. But in the last year, I find myself more into cardmaking rather than scrapbooking. I think the Cricut would take my cardmaking to another level. Okay maybe just to level 1, since I dont really have a level of cardmaking right now. I make some cards, they arent really cute. Anyway, the Cricut is really expensive, and so are the cartridges. So... I dont know when, or it, I will ever get one.

Oh and just because this is always at the top of my "after the holidays" list.... LOSE 500 lbs!!!!!

So.... how is your December going so far?

Craft Day

 

I have been checking out some Thanksgiving crafts lately. I saved a few ideas, and today we spent a few hours putting together some cool stuff. We have 3 Thanksgiving dinners each year. Den's mom, my mom, and my grandmother on my dad's side. I thought it would be cool to bring a little something homemade by us, to grace each of our Thanksgiving tables.

Today we made a bread basket that looks like a turkey!

Isnt he cool?? I just crack up everytime I look at him. And he was very easy to make!

Then we made these turkey napkin rings!

We have a whole gaggle of them!! Harley did most of the work on these napkin rings. They were a little more complicated, but worth it.


Tomorrow we are going to work on some place cards.

I found all of the ideas on this website.
They constantly have awesome craft ideas for all seasons. Family Fun

Inked

I finally got a tattoo! Can you believe it? Most people are suprised to know that I dont have any, especially if they know my boyfriend, because he is covered in them. I have wanted one for soooo long, but I have been soooo scared to get one. Couldnt really decide what I wanted, and if I could handle the pain. Right before I turned 30I decided that I am getting one this year. My best friend and I planned to get one together to "celebrate" turning 30. We made the appointments months ago to get inked on October 22nd, which also happens to be Dennis's birthday, so he joined in on the fun too.

Mandie went first. She already had her first tattoo 12 years ago when we turned 18. She has never really been quite happy with it, and I think you can see why.

Jerrett drew out a couple more dolphins to add, with a sunset, and some water. He's a great artist.

and here is the finished product!


Then it was my turn. Man was I nervous. I actually had nightmares for weeks prior to this day. I dreamt I would just lay there and cry, or even throw up. Even though I asked a million questions, I just had no idea what to expect.

I knew I wanted something on my foot. I love daffodils. They are my favorite flower, and also the flower of my birth month. So, Jarrett drew me out a beautiful daffodil.


Right about now is when I started really freaking out. I just sat on the table and closed my eyes. Heart was pounding out of my chest! Had to keep telling myself to breathe. He started on the outline (which I heard was the worst part). It wasnt as bad as I anticipated. It did hurt though. It felt like i was getting burned!




But I laid there and took it!

For a while.....




Yea, so it hurt pretty bad. The outline wasnt the worst part. It was the easiest part. It only took a little over an hour. And in the end.....

I am left with this!!



Not the greatest photograph, but its the only one I have.

Then the camera battery died, so we didnt get any pics of Dennis's tattoo, or him getting it done.

The tattoo is healing nicely. Tattoos on the foot hurt really bad! lol. But I am already planning other tattoos, including one on my right foot. I heard they were addicting, and its true. Now that I have "broken the ice" I am ready for more.

So you think you can dance?

Imagine this for a second:

You are a freshman in high school. Its homecoming week, and you are looking forward to your very first pep assembly. You have heard a lot about all of the competitions and games between the classes. Pretty cool huh? What if you were asked to be a part of the freshman team for the dance contest? What if you were only asked 1 day before the assembly? What if you said yes? What if you and your team of 3 other dancers were getting ready to go out in the middle of the gym and perform in front of the whole entire school? What if your 3 teammates chicken out at the very last second, almost causing the freshman to have to forfeit from the competition? And what if you, volunteered to go out there by yourself and dance?

So there you are, on that giant basketball court, bleachers are full to the max!

Oh, and I did I mention... you are also the smallest kid in school?



true story.

Meet Buttercup!

 

Yes, the Kitchen-Aid arrived today!!! I have actually been having second thoughts about it. We went with the Professional. I always thought I would just get the little Artisan. But QVC was running a special on the Professional, so Dennis talked me into it. All this time I was thinking oh crap what did I do? Its too much for what I need. Its going to be too big. etc, etc.

But then, I pulled it out of the box, and it was perfect! Love at first sight! I was boiling potatos for dinner, so I thought hey, I will just stick them in and mashed them on up! It was AWESOME! Easiest potatos I have ever made.

I am so excited about the new level my baking is going to go. I absolutely love baking, especially this time of year. Last year I burned up 2 hand mixers making my Christmas cookies for my cookie plates. This year... not gonna happen!

I also bought some fall/halloween decorations today. This weekend the kids and I are going to decorate, and do some fall-ish stuff.

Awesome Autumn

Oh I love this time of year. September through Christmas goes by way too quickly. October is usually when I start to welcome the changing of the seasons. I start wearing hoodies to work, drinking LOTS of hot tea, and get the baking "itch".

Things I am looking forward to this month, October 2009:

*getting out my fall decorations
*carving pumpkins with my family
*Dennis's birthday
*making caramel corn with Harley
*new Scentsy smells
*crock pot meals
*hot oatmeal for breakfast
*getting my first tattoo, oct 22nd. Nervous!
*going to the Harvest Festival at the Country Mercantile in Pasco
*date night with my babe. this weekend!
*making our Halloween costumes
*my new Kitchen-Aid. Due to arrive any day now!
*UFC party with friends
*doing some crafts with the kids
*wearing black nail polish. okay so I do this all the time.

Peace out!

Weekend Review

If it wasnt for the horrible headache I am sporting right now, I could say this weekend was pretty close to perfect.

It was just one of those weekends where we didnt have a bunch of plans. No expensive projects, or shopping trips. Not a ton of tedious chores. We just kicked butt! I did all the laundry and cleaning on Saturday.


Dennis washed my car! And oh boy did it need it!!


I organized the kitchen cupboards. Here is the before....


Yes, I am one of those people that need to have the peaches seperated from the beans. Each "food" has it's own "row". I cant help it. And this way I know what exactly what I have in stock too.


It's nearly October and I am still picking these almost daily!


Dennis and Bubba have been working on this model car. Its a replica of Dennis's hotrod. They are doing a pretty good job on it so far.



We scored this entire microscope set at a yard sale for $1!! It came with all kinds of slides to look at.



Oh here is my new couch. Its so big. Its the best couch ever!




Oh, I also went through a box of very old pictures. Can't wait to scrap these!


I hate to see the weekend end, but it was so nice to relax, bbq with friends, take a nap during the Seahawks game, snuggle with my dog, iced lattes with my sweetie, etc etc.

Goodnight!

20 things

20 things that are making me happy right now:

*the new afghan my mom crocheted for me
*my new couch, that matches my afghan perfectly
*new season of 90210
*learning to make Dawna's Mudpie Brownies
*my completed home projects
*my vaca coming up next week
*the long nail on my right hand ring finger
*facebook on my phone
*Scentsy (luxe vanilla and grapefruit pomogranite)
*the hot Vigoss jeans that I bought at a yard sale for $1
*the fact the that $1 jeans are a size smaller and they FIT!!
*the gold butterflies hanging in my bathroom
*getting over my flu/virus/whatever the heck it was
*foot massages
*flirting with my hot customers
*Nickelback
*Wii Fit
*My new Nike's with the iPod chip, saweet!
*fudgesicles
*naps

Look who came to visit!!!

This is Marley! Very precious mini yorkie that belongs to Dennis's mom.


And Aunt Danielle!!! (den's little sister)


The kids loved having Aunt Danielle here. And so did I!!


This is Mike!! Dennis's stepdad. He is quite the handy man.

The main reason for his visit was to help us to some work on the house.


The three of them have been here since Thursday morning. Mike installed a new floor and toilet in the kids' bathroom, and replaced some wood on our front porch. He also built me a couple shelfs in the kitchen. It has been so much fun having them here. We have cooked awesome food every night. Fresh BBQ'd brats, hamburgers, carne asada, pasta salad, brownies, etc.


Tomorrow I am making a french toast farewell breakfast. So much appreciation for Mike and Danielle, they have been a huge help, and a blast to hang out with. Last night we played Guitar Hero, and this morning Danielle, Harley, and I headed out yardsaling for a few hours. We all found some great treasures.

And this is what these 2 precious pups did most of the time.... watched their dads outside working....

Give us dirty laundry!

I know you are all excited that I am "blogging" again, but believe me, you will get tired of seeing all these home improvement posts.

So this weekend was the laundry room, and unfortunately I wasnt around to take pics before most of the stuff was emptied out of the room. It really wasnt that bad, just a bunch of clutter that needed organizing.

All the yucky stuff that hides under the washing machine.... (and the holes that Dennis cuts in the wall when he decides he needs to "fix" something) note: he doesnt do that anymore. :)




That's the door that goes out to our back porch. We never use the door, and there used to be a white shelf in front of it with a bunch of crap on it. I really wanted to get rid of it because well if there is ever a fire I would like to be able to get out of that door if we need to. So, that will stay unobstructed from now on!





What a difference new linoleum can make!


And a fresh coat of paint!



No more holes!


before touch ups...


The painting has been all touched up! Just have to paint and hang the cabinet doors, and move in the washer and dryer.

Moved the big storage shelf back in tonight!



Oh! And this here is my "liberal propaganda station!" (Carrie, omg HAHA!)


Will post more pics when I get it all back together, it wont be this empty for long, we have a lot of stuff that needs "stored". For now I am off to take care of my coupons, and a fruit fly situation.

Oh boy.....

Alright, this is a pretty big step for me, this whole "sharing" thing. Honestly, this is freaking embarrassing. I am not really one to "air my dirty.... bathroom" but in order to show the drastic-ness, I have to show the before pics. And, ugh, its hard.

Yea, I took baths in here. The caulking always bothered me, and have always wanted to do something about it. But, I am a busy person, and believe it or not, it was easy to ignore.

 

 

One of my goals (even though technically this isn't MY house) is to get rid of all the wood grain in this house. I absolutely hate faux woodgrain. It's all over the place in these 80's mobile homes.

 

 

I never really thought much of the sink. Its so crazy the things you get used to, even if they are totally beyond what is considered "normal."


One last peek of the overall bathroom lameness....



So...... without any further adieu..... My much improved bathroom situation:

It would have been great to just get a new tub, but we dont plan on living here forever. Any improvements we do to this place we call the "3 yr plan" just buying us a few years while we plan for owning a real house.
We did get all new knobs, and spout though.


And a new sink, with new faucet!








Bye bye wood grain. Painted cabinets with new hardware. I wanted glass knobs, but Dennis wanted handles. So we met in the middle with these.


New mirror (it looks gold, but its actually wood.... sshhhhh.)


So, I had a vision, and I gotta say, it turned out just like I wanted it to. Its clean and modern, with some vintage touches. I still have another mirror to hang, and paint that 3 tiered basket thing because right now its forest green and doesnt match a thing. I also need a new rug or two in there.

And there you have it. Next weekend: Laundry room!