When I'm wearing THESE bad boys?!

Yayayay! So like I said in the last post, I bought a bunch of fabric to make skirts out of, and so far, these are all the "pattern" technique/style. I have one more fabric that I'm going to be trying out a different pattern for, and I'm excited! But, in the mean time, I have created 2 more skirts! (Yeah I keep crankin' em out, they really are so easy!! And I'm going to plug the tutorial again : Grosgrain 20 Minute skirt, and I can't remember who I found this tutorial thru or I'd plug them too! :P) Anyways, I made the red polka-dot one yesterday (to wear to work today, I cheated and wore the pink butterfly one again on Monday, to work) and then I just finished with the black one (to wear to work tomorrow!)!! I was so excited for the black one! I had in my head, how it would be, and how cute it was going to be, and it turned out!! I am so excited and happy!! The red one is cute too, I like how it has just an inch of white peeping out from under the skirt!! And the black one is the shortest of them all, and by short I mean falling about mid-knee cap, the other 2 are below my knee, which is perfect!! But I absolutely ADORE the "pattern" and how the skirts turned out! I kinda changed the red one a little from the butterfly skirt, I took off more fabric, so it didn't bunch as much. I love them all, and I am so excited to find it was that easy to add to my Sunday wardrobe!! Yay for cute and easy things!! I also have a great idea with how to use the scarps from the skirt. But we'll have to see how they turn out, I'm way excited to try this new idea. :) So you see, I am so very excited about all my crafting ventures! And I'll try my best to share them. :) Don't forget to check out that tutorial, this skirt really is simple and easy! I'm going to see how many of them Mark will let me make ;) I've also included a picture of all the fabrics together.



*Oh! And these skirts are way stretchy!! The waistband is elastic, so I'm thinking they would be wearable well into a pregnancy, if they're cute enough ;) Just a cute little idea for those of you expecting ;)

Love to all, bry and mark

Ta Da!! (It's a skirt!)

And now for the finished product of my Sunday! In the last post, I said I was planning on making some skirts, and I bought the fabric yesterday and had plans to make them today, well, I made ONE today, it really didn't take that long, but I kept measuring and trimming and cutting and trying it on and everything, so it took longer than it said in the Tutorial from Grosgrain. But it turned out *WAY* freaking cute, and I wore it to church today! :) So I am very excited about making the other skirts :) and hope they turn out just as cute, if not cuter!! I've already got ideas popping in my head on how to change it up a little and make it better (meaning, what is more comfy, more/less pleats, more/less elastic, more/less fabric) So yay! I love this new skirt! Well, I feel like I accomplished something, now, on the beating Mario!! :)

Love always, bry and mark

There's a giveaway and a tutorial here : Grosgrain: 20 Minute Simple Skirt Tutorial AND GIVEAWAY!!!!

Company Picnic Y'all!!

So, the company picnic was Western themed, so Mark wore his cowboy hat, belt buckle and his plaid shirt, he looked rugged. I wore my denim vest and a bandana in my hair. Well, I was pretty excited when they announced the start of the door prizes (last year we got a $50 gift card to Home Depot!) So when we got to the last 2 prizes and they still hadn't called my name, I started to get nervous!! But, then they pulled out my name! And I won a voucher for a FREE plane ticket!! Sweet deal! (Yeah it's only 1, and Mark and I usually travel together, so, we'll end up buying 1 ticket anyways, but buying 1 is better than buying 2!) So, I was pretty stoked about that!! LOL! And we played BINGO again this year, but only 6 rounds, rather than last years 10 or 12, and I didn't get lucky at BINGO and neither did Mark, but still, a free plane ticket is a pretty good haul for the day! :) SO yayay!! (Yes, I brought the camera, but NO I didn't use it, sorry!)

I also bought some fabric to make some skirts. Once I have them made, I'll post the finished products. I'm pretty excited about making skirts, the patterns seem way easy, Grosgrain has a really cute one I'm going to try. Crafty Chic as a cute one as well! And this Sewing Skirt Patterns site had lots I wanted to try, The Wrap Skirt, and the Circle Skirt! So, yeah I'm pretty excited about this next project (I'm still in the middle of one, but it's on pause for now, at least until I get the final piece from my brother! So, yeah, we'll see how my skirt endeavor turns out. :)

Lots of love, bry and mark

Rockies Game!! (Game 1 vs the Giants)

So, we got invited to the Rockies game last night. It was a lot of fun! Mark and I have never been to a Rockies game, and it was my first pro-baseball game in the stands (we watched it on TV all the time when I was growing up. Go Cubbies!!) It was pretty fun being in the stands. I took a bunch of pictures with the camera my mom got us as a wedding gift. It's a pretty awesome camera!! The pictures are good for another reason, Row 12, Section 143! We were down in front and it was awesome, we were a little ourfield to the Visitors Dugout. It was pretty awesome!! And I have discovered, that no matter who is playing, if I go to a sporting event, I instantly become a Fan, I'm cheering and hollering and yelling! It's pretty fun, I enjoy it alot!! I'm posting some pictures, not all (I took 45!) But a few! It was tons of fun! Thank you so much for inviting us!!

And now, it's on to my company picnic, I'll try and get more pictures there, but who knows. The baseball game was like the first time I have brought my camera and actually used it!! So, we'll see!!

Oh, and we let Felix the bunny go, he kept trying to jump out of his cage and he ended up mashing is nose all bloody, so we figured, since he really really reallly wanted to be free, we'd grant him that. (Any one know how to teach a turtle to jump?)

Love always, bry and mark

Latest capture, I mean, addition

Being aware of Mark's job as pest control field technician, I assume you are aware, also, that Mark loves animals creartures of ALL kinds. (We have a snapping turtle, a painted turtle, a few baby catfish, 2 crawfish, and a few little Colorado fish (not sure really what kind).) Well, given the opportunites that Mark has to expand our menegerie of wildlife, he never fails to cease any opportunity, especially if I will approve of his catch. Well, that latest catch was so cute, I decided to keep him for a while. Mark came home Thursday night with a little tiny baby bunny (promptly named Felix) and after 2 failed escape attempts (1st he jumped out of the 1 foot high box we had him in, and the 2nd he got out of the same 1 foot high box with a crate on top of it) Felix is now living in a racoon trap in the spare room. (He has food and water and towels in there too.) But he is THE cutest little thing, aside from our Bandit, of course. He's so soft and fluffy! Bandit is sure excited that we got him a new toy that moves on it's own! We don't let them play together, don't worry, so far they have only smelled each other, but it still makes Bandit go crazy. We'll just have to see how this one turns out.

Love always, bry and mark

So close, yet still so far!

SO!! I've said before that I am still working on getting my wedding photos and album from the photographer. (It's all me, we've had trouble keeping money in the account for things, "emergencies" keep popping up!) Well!! I made the final payment this month! (Yes, I know it has been a WHOLE year!!) AND! They have received that payment! AND! My brother-in-law, Kurt, just went to go pick up my album and the negatives!! He just sent me a text telling me he has the album in his possession!! Now, all I need is the album in MY possession!! So, I've asked him to send them to me! So you see, I am so very close to getting and seeing my album (all put together!) and yet, still so far from getting and seeing my album. (I'm so impatient!!) So now, I'm reduced to waiting by the mailbox again. (I sure hope this wait ends fruitful, unlike the last time I sat waiting for package to come, but never ever did. Those dirtbags stole my $24.95!! Oh well, fingers are crossed anyways!!) Yayayayay!! I really am so very excited! My stomach has been in knots all day! I'll let everybody know as soon as I get the album here in CO!! Yay!!

Love always, bry and mark

I am weilding a PAIN-t BRUSH!!

LOL! So the title is just fun. I was weilding a paint brush, no pain involved really. We got the paint for free thru Glidden (they had their Paint Give Away about a month ago, Thanks to Kari at U Create for the info on the free stuff!) Well, we finally painted the wall in our bedroom. I went for the colors at our wedding, yeah, cuz I'm a dork, but mostly because I still really like them. (I have an idea to have the whole house themed in those colors, so I can move things around to different rooms and still have it look awesome!) So, we got the paint, and painted this afternoon after church. (I'm so impatient!) Mark helped tons, he actually painted it while I cooked food and cleaned (my sister is coming out to visit for the week!). Here are the before and after pictures. I added a little bit of my own "flair" (AKA: Dorky-ness) and put some of my lame looking free-hand stars up in the corner. But it does look really cute, and I only say my stars are lame and dorky because they are, and I don't care. If I cared, I'd quit making them and just buy them. :p So here are the pics. Ta Da!! I love the room, it looks so good! I like the stars and how they add that touch of "me" and I also think it makes it look like a teenager's room, oops. But it's fun, and that's how we are. I like the added color.

One thing I've noticed for a while actually, is that Bandit looks like Falcor, the Luck dragon from The Neverending Story. :) It's just one of those things I've noticed. :) Have a great day!

Love always, bry and mark

Little moments....

So we decided to go the Temple today after work, Mark had to work in Denver today, and got done pretty early, so he just chilled around the neighborhood I work in, for a few hours before it was ok for me to leave. We left Mark's truck at my work and took mine down to Centennial. We then went to fill up the gas tank and then be on our way. Mark statted pumping the gas then went in to get cash for renting clothes, buy me a water bottle and use the restroom, he came out, got in the truck and took off. (Note: I was sitting in the passenger seat the whole time. I didn't even unbuckle my seat belt.) We get a little ways down the road, and people are pointing, this lady gets over on the passenger side of the truck and is pointing at us, Mark rolls his window down (he's driving) and then I roll mine down. She says, "You have a gas pump in on your truck, the pump thing is in your gas tank." Mark looks in the side mirror, and sure enough, there it was, the gas pump still in the gas tank. And sure as breathing, there was a police officer, the only time you can't find one is when you really need or want one! He had his lights on, pulled up next to us, Mark said he just saw it and we were heading back to the gas station now. The officer assisted us to make a U-Turn where it said you couldn't. We went back to the station, I was mad, I figured we'd get tagged with a ticket and a charge from the gas station (you know me, always expect the worst.) Well, we got back to the gas station, the officer still behind us, Mark walks in to the lady behind the counter and hands her the pump. She smiled, like it happens all the time, and said Thank you. Mark asked if there was anything else we had to do, she said Nope, she had it taken care of. (The pump and hose was a quick release pump, so if any pulling force was put on the hose, it comes off at the top. Diamond Shamrock has had this happen before!!) Mark walked back to talk to the police officer, he told us to have a nice day! So we then went on our merry way to Centennial. No pictures, I don't have my camera with me all the time (hey! I WAS at work!!), and besides, we were both pretty mad at the time. But it was very fortunate for us that we weren't ticketed or fined. Bad things always seem to happen with you have something planned. Always! But things turned out pretty good in the end. :)

Love always, bry and mark

Grand Canyon on a whim...

So, back in April, I had started looking for a puppy. I had my heart set on a German Wirehaired Pointer (that's the kind of dog Mark had growing up) and I looked everywhere. Well, around in Colorado, all the people selling the pups think only people with tons of money want puppies. I found someone selling a litter down in Arizona, for way cheap. So one weekend (when Steve and Heather were supposed to come visit but got snowed out) Mark and I headed out to Camp Verde to pick up our puppy. On the way back, Mark wanted to see the Grand Canyon, since it really didn't seem like it was out of our way. Well, after 2 hours of driving to the Grand Canyon (2 hours off our intended route home) we made it!! It was our first 3 hours with our new puppy (we decided to call him Bandit!) and his first outting with "Mom and Dad" was a visit to the Grand Canyon! (My parents NEVER took me there! It was my first time, and I loved it!) It was a very fun trip! Bandit was such a good puppy and

he didn't make a mess in truck at all!Pretty good for a 16 hour trip home! While going thru New Mexico, there was this ostrich farm I noticed on the way to AZ, it had a bunch of dinosaurs eating "people". So on the way home, we stopped and got ONE picture, it was all we had left! The trip was a lot of fun! :) We enjoyed to roap trip to pic up our newest Collard! :)

All the love, bry and mark

Monkey and Puppy!

So, this is our puppy. Bandit has been so much fun to raise and play with! He's learning all kinds fo things, like how the softest place to lay down is in our room, right on top of MY clothes, and how to get what he wants all he's got to do is slopper on us or look at us with those sad eyes (which is just how his eyes look apparently.) But he's learning important things too, like how to point, and how to fetch, he's learning all the main commands, sit, down, off, NO, and he's being good about putting his ball on the floor and sitting before we throw it. It doesn't seems like he has grown that much, but when looking at pictures, he has grown SO much!! It's hard to think back to when we got him, back when his face wasn't fuzzy all over and he didn't have a beard!! Yeah!! It has been great to see his moods and his personality change. When we first got him, he didn't want a thing to do with us, but he has changed so much. He's the cutest puppy ever, and I love the little guy!! Mark's been working with him to train him to be a bird dog, but he hasn't been picking it up really. We went to Wal-mart and got a $4 laser pointer, and we play in the yard at night with that, and Bandit pointed at it all night last night. We didn't train him to do that, he just does it! It is so amazing how smart he is!! He follows us around the house, and he'll just be in the room Mark and I are in, just to be around us. I feel bad leaving him home all day, but he's got his doggie door and he has the backyard (it's fenced) so when we get home, we just have to play with him! And with those eyes, we can't really say no!!

In other news: it was Kai's birthday last Tuesday, and Ang reminded me on Monday, so I went back to work and then tried to find a pattern for a stuffed animal, I couldn't find one I wanted! So I created a pattern for a stuffed monkey (named KaiKai!! ;) And went home Monday and created KaiKai the Monkey out of fleece I had left over from a blanket I made. (Disclaimer: This is the FIRST pattern I have ever created, so sorry if it looks kind of "wrong" - just keep in mind, this was not factory manufactured. Thanks!)
Alright, so far, that's all the deal. I've got another post coming up :)! Thanks everybody!

All our love, bry and mark

Lake Powell..... hip hip HORRAY!

Lake Powell is a place I have only ever heard about, so when Steve and Heather said some friends were going this summer and there was a spot open for us, we were totally excited for the trip! I waited to find out if Mark could get the time off work before I took my time off, I really didn't want to go without him. :) So when he was able to get the whole week off, we got even MORE excited!! A whole week in Lake Powell, on a house boat, no work, no cell phones, no
worries!! We had worked out the details with Steve and Heather, and we headed out for Utah Friiday night (we stopped in WY for some fireworks, hey it was over the weekend of the 4th!) So we got to the Collard's house at 2am, and went to bed at 3am, and Steve came to wake us up the head down to Powell at 4am. So after the first sluggish really slow day, the weekend took a turn for the best- it was amazing! Lake Powell is so gorgeous! I've been to Southern Utah before (Bryce Canyon and Escalante) but the Lake is so pretty. Mark took a video of the Cave we were in. (His own sound effects and everything!!) Our houseboat was in the shade all day, the only time we were in the sun was when we wanted to be in the sun. It was way nice to be out of the sun. BUT-- it didn't matter because I got sunburned the first day anyways, so yeah... Oh and, I DID put sunscreen on right away, even before we got out of the car at the Lake, I had to SPF 50 slathered on. So BAM, sunburned right outta the gate. So I was a thinker, and brought the Aloe Vera (just in case some dum-dum got sunburned....) I also brought ear plugs, Steve had joked with Mark and I about bringing earplugs because apparently Mark snores (who knew?!) so I brought a bunch, not so much for the snoring, I can't hear it, but also because there were babies on the houseboat, and it saved many nights. So, I also brought my camera, but yeah, you know me, and it stayed in my duffle bag the ENTIRE time, except when Mark took the video, and for the trip down to Powell. So most the pictures on here are from Steph Chugg (Thanks Steph!) We went wakeboarding, surfing, tubing, waterskiing, kneeboarding, swimming, cliff jumping, fishing, napping and reading! It was tons of fun. It was way nice to just relax and not have to worry about deadlines, emails, or getting prints. We enjoyed spending time with Steve and Heather, and it was so much fun to get to know their friends. It was such a fun group of people! We had such a great time! We stayed up late playing game everynight. We learned some new card games (Werewolf and Hand & Foot) and we played a bunch of group games, and it was so crazy fun (GREAT GROUP!!) It was just a bunch of laughes, hilarious times.

Our 4th of July was pretty cool. We went down to Lehi to spend the holiday with friends and the family. We went up to Harrisville early to visit my family, they hadn't seen the Bandit yet. In Lehi, we watching the Thanksgiving Point fireworks show, which is pretty awesome. We lit off a bunch of fireworks with people in the neighborhood, they were having a block party. It was pretty fun. The guys tried to dunk Ryan in the Dunk Tank, they threw from the Ninja Line, which was way far away. Steve dunked Ryan first and it finally came out what everybody already knew: Steve is a Ninja. We had lots of fun in Lehi. And Mark and I finally understand what everybody is talking about when they say Wipeout! The show is freaking funny!! LOL! We were laughing the entire show!! Sunday, we celebrated Steve's birthday (which was on Tuesday) and had cake, and then we headed home. It was really a great week and weekend, we had tons of fun! Thanks for inviting us!

Love, bry and mark