Team Collard: Our Style

about today

2012-01-27T18:26:00.000-07:00

So today has been a crazy run around day! It's been fun and crazy.

So Shark got home today and I took him to school then headed out to run my errands. First I ran to Smith's. I hot gas for the car, plus there was a deal on energy drinks. {Shark takes them to work and drinks them when he's super tired. He hates how they taste, and prefers that they taste terrible so he doesn't start liking them and drinking them for fun}

Next I ran to Best Buy. Shark's phone finally gave up the ghost. Won't turn on, won't do anything. So I picked him up some random pay as you go phone, since we don't want to renew our contract with our current carrier, and we only have to hold out for a few more months. I also got an invisi-shield for my Kindle, and I got an Amazon gift card.

Next was Walmart, where I almost lost my wallet, but cashed a check for Shark's holiday pay from his previous employer. Then picked up some more food and stuff.

Then Danger and I ran to JoAnn's for some flannel for a baby blanket. Danger started fighting me at JoAnn's and we got home so I could feed him.

After feeding him, we went to the library and picked up a bunch of audiobooks because our external hard drive just bit the dust. Then, we made it in time to pick Shark up from school.

We got home and Danger took a nap, while I sewed patches on Shark's pants. Then I made dinner. I found it somehow, and it's from Martha. It's called Baked Penne with Chicken and Sun-dried Tomatoes. I fudged the recipe a little, but it was so dang tasty!!

Danger grabbed one of his link toys today. It was the one that makes the music start. He was playing and all the sudden the music started, and I was like, What?! It was pretty cute.

We've been trying to get him to sleep in his crib lately. It's been working, I close the door completely, and then turn the baby monitor down low so I don't twitch over ever squeak. Today he even went to sleep on his own, he cried for about 5 minutes then was out! Yippee!!

Recipe Thursday

2012-01-26T21:55:00.000-07:00

I figured you all like to eat, cuz I know I do. I love food. I've decided to share some of my recipes with you.

My first recipe to share is : All American Cheeseburger Soup

I found this recipe in Better Homes and Gardens. I tried it, and we love it! Ooh, eat it with pickles!

Cheeseburger soup
1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 stalk celery
2 T flour
(2) 14-oz cans beef broth
2 medium potatoes
(1) 14-oz can diced tomatoes, drained
(1) 8-0z package shredded cheese (2 C)
(1) 6-oz can tomato paste
¼ C ketchup
2 T mustard
1 C milk

Toasted buns
Cheeseburger toppings: pickles, onions, lettuce

-In stew pot, cook beef, onion, celery, & garlic over medium heat until meat is brown & veggies are tender. Drain. Sprinkle flour on beef mix, cook & stir 2 minutes.
-Stir in broth & potatoes, bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat. Simmer, cover for 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
-Stir in tomatoes, cheese, tomato paste, ketchup & mustard. Cook & stir until cheese is melted & smooth & soup comes to gentle boil.
-Stir in milk; heat thru.
-Serve with toasted buns and cheeseburger toppings.

*We highly recommend with pickles, it’s tastes pretty dang good.*

This is not my personal recipe, I got it from Better Homes and Gardens. Also, I didn't take a picture because whenever I take pictures of food, it always looks bad. So I didn't even try this time. :)

Challenge accepted

2012-01-16T22:27:00.000-07:00

So this past week for my 52 week challenge, it was Clean out your cupboards!

I rocked it. Well, really, I started on Saturday, and kinda finished today, but I still rocked it.

Shark built me a pot rack! Which I have pretty much always wanted in this house. {I found some random shelves at IKEA, in their AS-IS section, for $2, and bought them. I decided I wanted to make a pot-rack out of them when I saw pot-racks cost like $70.}

I organized my tupperware cupboard. And got rid of bottoms without tops and all the lids that didn't have a bottom.{I even re-used some of the bottoms to organize my other cupboards!}

I have a "mix" cupboard that drink mixes, pudding mixes and taco mix goes in. I re-used some tupperware to organize it.

I have LOTS of bakeware, and muffin tins and pie tins and stuff like that. I moved the tupperware to it's cupboard and put the cookie cutters on top of my shelves in my pantry.

We got tons of formula for Christmas, so I have been shoving it in the cupboard above the stove with my Bosch. I moved my Bosch to the shelves in my pantry, and dubbed the cupboard above the sink, Baby Cupboard.

I feel like I got loads accomplished this week, and it feels really good to open my drawers and cupboards and find what I'm looking for rather than digging around.

Here's a video of the little man smiling and talking to me at 7 this morning. {He slept for 7 hours last night! Which is freaking awesome!!} Sorry the picture is kind of terrible, my camera has been dropped a few times, and again, it was 7am...

Love!

two months and what not

2012-01-12T21:28:00.000-07:00

So Danger is now 2 months old. He weighed in at 11 lbs 1.5 oz, and is 23 inches long. We actually decided to start a "height wall" thing, and drew a line where we stood him up. :)

Also, things have been crazy around the house. Along with his 2 month appointment and being just awesome, they gave him his shots. He hated them. The dr's gave him Tylenol at the hospital, so he didn't cry too much, and when we got home, he ate and then went to sleep. He slept for a long time! And when he woke up, boy, was he mad! So, I ran out and got some infant tylenol. He calmed down after a bit, and finally went back to sleep.

I haven't done my 52 week challenge for this week.... Yeah I'm totally a bum. I have at least 3 baskets of laundry folded but just hanging out in my living room. I started 2 projects yesterday. I finished 1 : a little case for my Kindle. It's not pretty. Not at all. So I'm not even going to show you how it looks. Trust me. And then I started making a big swaddle blanket for someone. I make the blanket with 2 pieces of flannel sewn together...If I have time, maybe I'll crochet around the edge, but seriously, I feel like I don't have time. {I started making dinner at 4 today, I filled up my water cup and realized, Oh I have to pee....But I can't with food on the stove. The next time I realized I had to pee was 6:30! Who forgets they have to pee?! SERIOUSLY!}

Here's tomorrow's plan :

1. Get folded laundry put away!
2. At least finish sewing blanket, so crocheting can start anytime I feel like it.
3. Put sewing machine AWAY!
4. Clean out at least 2 cupboards and 2 drawers. {tupperware and bakeware, measuring cups.}
5. Pay some bills.

Those are all pretty easy. Not hard at all.

10 on 10 January

2012-01-10T18:22:00.000-07:00

So I've decided I need a little bit of a "pick me up" because I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately with Danger. So I've decided to participate in 10 on 10 with a bit of sunshine.

Here's my 10... or close to 10..

Started the day smiling and playing.

Messed his diaper, his clothes, his blanket, his socks!

Fell asleep after eating!

Still congested so we Vicks-ed him and bubbled him -- he hates being bubbled!

2 month Dr appointment today! 23 inches, 11 lbs 1.5 oz!

Yes we were there for an hour, he got his shots today. :'(

Sleeping in the carseat after we got home, I left him in it until he woke up on his own.

I basically do a load of laundry each day - today's load was...well....loaded! {sorry, I needed a chuckle}

He hung out in his swing, and napped all afternoon {Bandit did NOT bark at the mailman today!! yaya!} Danger woke up around 4:30 and screamed and screamed and screamed.

Finally, I ran out to the store and got him some baby Tylenol, and after crying for a LONG long LONG time, he is sleeping!

And Shark is heading over to Texas Roadhouse for our dinner. We got a giftcard for Christmas, we were going to go and eat cuz I have coupons {it WAS my birthday last week} but we decided to get it to-go cuz Danger seriously cried for an hour....

It was a crazy day, but {when I remembered to take them} the pictures ended up being fun. I also realized I'm way more boring than I ever thought.... I'm linking up to ten on ten January 2012!

Organize my kitchen

2012-01-07T13:06:00.001-07:00

So, this past week was Week #1 of the 52 week Challenge!

And I did it! Now, I had to clean off my counters AGAIN to get the pictures, but it wasn't too bad. {I had craft night at my house on Thursday and nothing was picked up from it...}

Kitchen Table

Counter Top Island

Counter Top - It's our bottle making station. Plus, Shark and I each have 1 cup each day and we wash it out and set it back on the counter. :)

Bakers Rack

Next week is cupboards and drawers... it should be interesting!

organizing

2012-01-04T18:01:00.000-07:00

So this year I'm planning on de-cluttering and organizing my house. I guess it's THE wagon to jump on this year. I've found all kinds of info about organizing and de-cluttering.

My secret is : every year I plan to organize my house and de-clutter it. And every year I fail.

But not this year. This year I'm going to make it happen. This year I'm going to follow thru and kick some organizing booty.

Ive found a few blogs that are going to help me out.

A few months ago, I stumbled upon Home Storage Solutions 101. {pretty sure via pinterest..}

And I subscribed and I decided to participate in the 52 week Organized House Challenge. At the beginning of each week, I get an email describing this week's challenge, and also reasons why that's our challenge. {it makes alot of sense when she's tells us why!}

Over at Six Sisters' Stuff, they have an organizing post with a WHOLE bunch of great links to organizing posts!

And who can think of organizing without thinking of Heather over at Decor-ganize Crafts? I love her car organizer using a shoe organizer! And, I know her in real life. Yeah, she's pretty awesome.

I've also found some pretty good ideas and plans over at IHeart Organizing.

Over at A bowl full of lemons, she had a 21 day organizing challenge.

Ok, so there's my inspiration. Right now, I've decided to only do 1 at a time. And right now, that 1 is the 52 week challenge from Home Storage Solutions. Because, even tho organizing is important, I really need to de-clutter my whole house. I'm throwing away TONS of stuff! :)

And technically, I'm counting this as #80 on my 101 in 1001!

Love to those whose resolutions never change, just get more desperate thru the years. :)

how bad

2012-01-02T12:29:00.001-07:00

So how freaking bad am I?

We just, {like seriously YESTERDAY!} started our "fat-off" diet/get healthy thing. And of course you know I've signed up for every single free birthday coupon under the sun.

Chili's sent me a free Red Velvet Molten Lava cake coupon.

Texas Roadhouse sent me a free appetizer OR free sidekick of ribs coupon.

Krispy Kreme has free donuts on your birthday.

Applebees sent me a coupon.

How freaking bad would I be if I went to all of these places and just chowed down?

Did I mention Shark's family is taking me to Rodizio Grill tonight for my birthday?

I'm terrible.

New year

2011-12-31T22:53:00.000-07:00

So every year we go thru this. We make resolutions and try to remember to do them thru January. I don't even think I made resolutions last year. I've been working on my 101 in 1001 list, and that has been plenty of resolutions.

Although, this year, we're planning on making some resolutions. Shark's family is having a Fat-Off. We're weighing in tomorrow and having a weight-loss race that will end sometime in July. I heard something about family pictures being taken around that time, but it might just be rumor... :) Anyways, even though I don't need to lose a whole bunch of weight, there is some baby weight hanging around that I would like to get rid of. {I would really like to fit into my pre-pregnancy skinny jeans again...} But really it's mostly about getting healthy and fit. {I'm sure it wouldn't hurt my heart if I got in shape.}

And I found this blog {ok, I've known about this blog for a while} called a bit of sunshine, and she does this photo journaling thing called ten on ten. Here's the d's : once a month on the tenth taking a photo an hour for ten consecutive hours. Finding much life and beauty among the ordinary things of our day! <-- Right from her blog. I love that idea. So I plan on trying to do that. Also, even though I talk all big, like I would never get depressed and I could kick the "baby blues" in the behind, I've kinda been struggling this past month. It's been hard. Frustrating. Overwhelming. Exhausting. Don't worry too much, I've talk to Shark about it, and I really do have plenty to do. SO I'll probably be putting an alarm on my phone for the 10th, and then for each hour. {ps: January should be fun, Danger has his 2 month check-up, I'm pretty sure that's the one where they give him shots....}

AND - I was reading somewhere on the blogosphere about Write Every Day. You write just 1 sentence about your day, each day, all year long. I've even seen some little books/cards with the day on them and you write on each year. I saw a Notecard ring-binder thing at Wal-Mart that I think I am going to go get, it would be super fun to go thru and read what happened on that day 3 years ago, 10 years ago!

So, Resolutions for 2012 :

Kick my 101 in 1001 in the butt!! Just do some of the crap, girl!
Get back down to my fighting weight.
Participate in ten on ten, and link up!
Do more crafts on BOTH blogs! LINK UP!
Write every day, something about life/my family/myself...
Blog more. About everything and anything.

So yeah, that seems like alot, but I think I can do it all... I might even try to do quarterly check-ups. Hmm... I probably won't remember to do that... But I'm writing these down and I'm going to put them on my mirrors, in my car, by my computer. So I'll always see them. {I should put one near my tv too...}

Here's me, being a terrible poster :

Danger's 1 month pic!

And some cute ones of him and Shark!

Anyways. Happy New Year to everyone! And have fun kissing! I will kiss the love of my life when he gets home tomorrow morning! ♥

Maternity

2011-12-29T11:34:00.000-07:00

So, the week before we had Danger, our friend Angie {from over at Angie's Creative Corner!} took some maternity pictures of Shark and I (and Danger). Here's some of my favorites.

Ok, it wasn't that I didn't want them, I just felt I didn't need them, that the maternity pictures weren't something to really worry about. But now, I AM really really glad I got some taken. Angie, you were right, and thank you so much for taking our pictures!

wheres Danger

2011-12-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

So I realized I haven't been very good about taking pictures of Danger. So here is your fix for a while, some of these pictures are from whem my mom came out after he was born, up until just this morning!!

Hey ladies!

My plan is working! Muahahahaha

Is that your final answer?

He's just so freaking cute!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T09:39:00.001-07:00

**LOTS OF PICTURES**

*Apparently, I cannot win with Blogger, my pictures NEVER freaking EVER are turned the way I want them to be!!*
If anyone can help me figure out how to get the pictures to turn the correct way when I upload them from my computer, comment or email me...

Ok, this is my annual Christmas gift post.

My mom's gift this year was :

An apron in her kitchen colors!

A keyring with pennies from the years her kids were born. There are 6 of us. And I put another jump ring on it with seed beads for Danger, her first grandchild.

Next is Gwen:

Hot pads to match the apron from last year, along with some new recipes.

Redneck wine glasses!

My younger sisters, Alex and Meg got :

plastic bag purses and jewlery holders! (I apparently only took pictures of 1 of them, the other bag is red and white with yellow stripes and the other jewlery holder is yellow.)

Heather's gift:
Alright, apparently, I was terrible at taking pictures of my Christmas gifts this year! I made Heather an apron to match her kitchen, green, yellow and red. I was kinda nervous about it, but it turned out way freaking cute!

Earlier this year, Heather mentioned that she wished someone would create a book of FHE lessons for a whole year. Well, I found a place that has that and I made her a binder for Family Home Evening for 2012. I found this blog, called a Year of FHE on pinterest and compiled lessons from 2010 and 2011 to fit the months and weeks for 2012. I bought her the Primary Children's songbook on CD and the Gospel Art Kit so she's prepared for her lessons. I printed out the lessons and the printables that went with them, and put them in a binder, divided by month and added a calendar for each month, with the lessons written on each Monday. I also printed out extra printables/handouts so she can copy them if she needs more.

Whitney :

I made an ABC book!

I also made her a hat that has braids on it. But it didn't fit, so I'm going to make her another one, a bigger one!

Sammi :
She got baby things :burp cloths, peepee teepees and a diapre clutch. She had her cute little boy at the beginning of this month!

I also made her some hot pads to match last years apron, and some recipes!

Jena :
She got a Recipe binder, to match the apron I made her for her half-birthday.
And a plastic bag purse to fit a binder in! Her's had orange and yellow stripes!
I also helped my MIL with a picture frame for her!
Katie :
She got headbands, crocheted and sewn. She got more recipes, and a chicken wire board!

She also got hot pads to match her apron from last year!
Katie's girls have been in LOVE with the movie Tangled. The girls have been tying scraves together to make long "hair" - so I crocheted Princess crowns and attached long LONG "hair" to the back, so now each girl has a 2 foot train of hair! They loved them!

My dad :
I made him an album of the ultrasounds and pictures of Danger.

The boys:
So Shark's brothers were watching The Michael Vick Project, and there was a shirt on it that just said VICK. The boys said it would be awesome if they had shirts that said COLLARD on them.

Even Danger got one.

Earlier this year, the brothers were obsessed {yes, really obsessed!} with Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long blog (Netflix it, but there's some language in it, so you're warned.) and the boys all got Captain Hammer shirts.

Danger got one for Christmas!

My family :
Shark and I made marshmallow shooters for my family. I even spray painted them! They had loads of fun.

Ok, that's all the gifts I can think of right now. I'll post more if I can remember them and if I can find pictures!

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

birthday

2011-12-19T12:03:00.000-07:00

So, I completely spaced (it's been that kind of month, year actually!) My brain has been missing since I got pregnant and clearly hasn't returned now that I'm no longer harboring a fugitive...

Shark had a birthday on the 5th! I went all out and made him a cake! From scratch! I can totally check off number 65 on my List! I made the cake from scratch AND the frosting from scratch!

I used Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate cake recipe. And I used the Chocolate frosting recipe at the bottom of the cake recipe. Both turned out great tasting.

I did have an oops, tho. I didn't take the cakes out the pans after they cooled a bit, so they got stuck in the pans. I shook 1 round out of its pan, but the other 2 would not budge, so I ended up scraping them into a bowl. Shark ate the cake bits with frosting and thought it was awesome. Also, I doubled the frosting recipe because it says it makes about 2 cups... and in my head, 2 cups is just not enough frosting for a cake. So I had a TON leftover frosting.

It ended up turning out pretty good. I used the cake bits and the left over frosting for my holiday Cake Balls. I love making these, they are delicious! (That'd my hand not his!)

I got Shark really big peanut butter cups! They were a 1/2 pound each! I found them in the Christmas candy aisle at Wal-Mart. Delicious!

Love to birthdays! ♥

so it snowed

2011-12-16T23:40:00.000-07:00

It's December. Yes. I'm only starting to be okay with Christmas music this year. I worked at a home decor/holiday decoration store last year, and they started playing Christmas music sometime in November, probably just after Turkey Day. I went to Wal-Mart on the 1st of November this year, and BAM - they were playing the Music.

Don't get me wrong, when we take that annual Christmas Lights drive, I'd like to listen to Christmas music. BUT - I don't listen to the Music for fun. I enjoy it during the week of Christmas, usually not before.

It snowed this week. I'm kinda happy about it. I love snow. I love looking at snow. I hate driving in it. I hate walking in it. I hate when I get up to get some food and I step in a puddle of melted snow that my dog tracked in. I'm going thru socks like crazy this week!

I'm used to driving in it. And I remember how to drive in snow from last year and the year before that. I took my drivers test in the snow. Yeah, I'm that awesome. But for some reason, it feels like I'm the only one (including my family and friends, they're smart) who remembers how to drive in the snow. The rest of the population seem to have forgotten from last year.

As soon as the white stuff flies, there are tons of accidents, and Shark has to give an extra HOUR of drive time to get to work. Yeah. Not cool.

But, since there is now snow on the ground {not a whole lot, but still it's there!} it really feels like Christmas is soon. I have completely spaced that Christmas is NEXT week! Holy crap! I have just a few more presents to get done. And I can finish most of said presents from the comfort of my couch!

So, it's starting to feel like Christmas. I'm excited and happy about it. I really do love Christmas. Every year, I look back and see how very blessed I am. (this tradition is fairly new, like since I've been married) Marriage, heart surgery, moving, getting the house... And this year, having Danger. He's freaking awesome!

When I think about him, I see God's hand in my life. I created that little guy, but it wasn't my design. No way could this little person just come to be. With all the intricacies and tiniest of details. His heart, his eyes, his lungs, the fact that he will grow 300% in the next year! No way could this design just come to be cuz some atoms collided or whatever. This was designed and planned by someone greater than me. I see how very blessed I am just by Danger's being here. I love it and I love him!

I watched my first Christmas movie today while I finished wrapping gifts and packing them in boxes to ship to the Wisco. I watched A Christmas Story, cuz it's hilarious, and cuz I really didn't need to watch it on TV to recite it word for word, but because I really needed background sound and my modem died on Tuesday and that meant my Netflix was down.... It was great to watch, it made me laugh. Fa ra ra ra ra.

Love to those with Christmas cheer, remember to spread it! ♥

Danger

2011-12-06T12:16:00.003-07:00

So, while we were dating, Shark made it very VERY clear not to mention any future plans or dreams. I guess you could call him committment shy. Yeah, here's a picture for you : He asked me to marry him in February of 2008, like the very END of February. I made him a Valentine's Day meal, and it was pretty awesome! I made stuffed ribs, very delicious. One thing to understand about me, when I first moved to Utah, I had this tough-girl attitude, I had some walls up (I moved out here alone, I didn't know anybody!) and I told him that I would never be the crafting and baking type of girl. (HA!) So when I got done making these aweomse ribs, and he thought they were delicious, I smiled and said, "See I can totally be a cute little housewife."

Oops!

His eyes went wide, and he froze on the spot! Total deer-in-the-headlights! Yeah, all I meant was, See I can bake something!
Well he asked me to marry him 2 weeks later. (I guess I really can cook!) It was pretty cute when he asked me to kiss him for the rest of his life. :)

Now my memory has been kind of dodgey lately... But the way I remember it is : He asked me to marry him then like 5 minutes later he said, "so for boys names I like ____, ____ and _____."

I'm pretty sure it happened like that.

Anyways, back to the story. Since we've been married, Shark and I have been so excited to have kids. We were especially excited to have a little boy. When Shark was little he had a lisp, he still kinda does and it's still way cute.

One day we were talking about our future children when he asked me what they might sound like. I told him I thought they'd have his lisp or at least that really cute lisp where R's turn into O's.

So he said it'd be cute and awesome if we named our little boy Danger. So then he could say in his cute lisp, "No my middle name weally is Dang-o."

So we bumped knuckles on it, our first boy would have Danger as middle name! I loved it! I was pumped! Then I got pregnant with a boy, and I got even MORE excited to name him Danger!

Then, in my 8th month I started to get nervous about it. Rethinking it. Shark and I talked and made a decision.

So when he was born we named him after Shark. Both Danger and Shark have the middle name David. I wimped out. It was all me.

Everyone still calls him Danger and I think it's a freaking awesome nickname.

That is why his name is Danger on the blog, I know I had it as Little Man or even Mancub before, but I really think it should be Danger. Shark loves that I call Danger Mancub! Shark and I don't know a whole lot of songs, but we're always singing that song King Louie sings on The Jungle Book. I wanna be a man, mancub.

Love to nicknames! ♥

Not so crazy

2011-12-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

So when I first found out I was pregnant, I started thinking of what kind of mom I was going to be. In all aspects of motherhood.
I figured I wouldn't leave the house for 3 months after he was born. I was never leaving until at least the end of January. At least! There was no way I was going out and about and exposing my boy to RSV!!
But this Mancub has been all over! We have been to stores, the library, restaurants, seriously ALL OVER! I'm not all that worried. I don't just whip him out when I'm in a store. I keep a blanket over him the whole time. And we haven't taken him to church.
I guess I'm not as crazy as I thought I was going to be. At least so far. And things have been going pretty awesome. He has been way cranky and fussy lately. But I also knew it wouldn't be just sleeping and eating all the time. There had to be some crying sometime.

Here's to being not as crazy as I first thought I'd be.

This old house

2011-12-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

So we bought a house last year. I love my house, I really do. But sometimes I do not. We bought it short sale, so everything was AS IS.
That means we shouldn't have been surprised when pipes froze and burst last winter. Or when the water heater started leaking. Or when the tub upstairs stopped draining. Or when the dishwasher died. Nor should we be surprised that the hot and cold water are switched in every faucet in the house except the original upstairs bathroom. Yeah. {when I go to other houses, I have to stop and think which is hot and which is cold!}

All of the windows are single pane and very drafty. I'm hoping the windows are going to be one of the first major renovations we do, when we start doing renovations. Yeah, windows or AC of some kind. We got a used swamp cooler we can install this next spring.
Most the appliances came with the house: stove, dishwasher, fridge. And we were given a used washer and dryer when we lived in CO (thanks Chris & Jess!!) and when the dishwasher died it took us a while to get another one. One of Shark's coworkers got a new dishwasher so Shark asked for his old one. I love having a dishwasher, I don't care where we end up as long as we have a dishwasher I'll be just fine.

One thing we realized we didn't have was a microwave. The apartment we lived in right when we got married had one in it, and so did the house we rented in CO. So I went to the DI (thrift store) and got this baby.

Oh yeah. No buttons, no clock. We went old school with the turn dial. It doesn't "ding" when your food is done but it does have a light. And it really is tiny. (I put a pint size jar of jam next to it. At least I think it's a pint...) We love it.
So this little story got started because the power went out last night. The only indicator was our alarm clock. No clock on the microwave or stove to blink at me while I fixed Mancub's bottle. Only our alarm clock. I love our "simple" life.
I know how blessed we are and I am so very grateful for it. We're blessed with family who has helped us on emergencies and has provided for us. I am so very grateful for the home we live in and I'm grateful for the opportunity to make it ours. I'm excited to raise our family here.

PS: there was (still is) a raging wind storm last night. Our windows have been howling all night. Shark was driving home and semis were tipped over, branches everywhere. He passed a store that had it's windows blown out. They eventually shut down the highway to semis. It's been really windy, kinda scary windy. Everyone be safe today.

Here are my sleepy boys.
Love love love and happy December!

Slackin

2011-11-30T18:06:00.000-07:00

So I've been a total complete bum. I sit on the couch all day, next to my Little Man. In fact, I'm even blogging from my couch via my iPod cuz my Internet is fixed!
I did get my Christmas tree into the living room. I never took it down last year, I just put it upstairs in Shark's Killing Room. I started to put my Christmas decor around the living room, and I put my wreath up. But there was {and still is} alot of crap in my Christmas boxes. I'm getting ready to clean out those boxes and get them organized. Soon they will be cleaned out. Soon.
Little Man has been fussy and cranky lately. We switched up his formula a few days ago, (we've switched back) and he did NOT approve. He projected his disapproval very loud, very frequently, and with very much mess. Lots of loads of laundry have been done this week. Lots.

We switched back to his preferred formula and I'm pretty sure we will never deviate again. No deviating from the plan.

So yeah I've been a complete bum lately. Just sitting on the couch, with my cranky Little Man next to me, just chilling in his boppy. It's either sitting in his boppy or having me hold him.
So now I just need to get the rest of my Christmas stuff up and my decor bins organized and cleaned out. Ooh yeah I also need to finish my Christmas presents. Yup. I got most of them done before Little Man was evicted but there is still somethings I need to finish up.

So ta ta for now. I'll post again soon with some interesting stuff, hopefully. And pictures. :)
All the love! ♥

why hello there

2011-11-23T19:25:00.000-07:00

So.... Little Man had his 2 week appointment today. He is 20.5 inches long now, and he weighs in at 6lbs 15.5oz! He started out at 20 inches and 5lb 12oz! He eats like a champ, and it's great!

I've been kinda lame on the whole blogging thing these past 2 weeks. My mom has been out here helping me with the little guy. And we had alot of stores to get things from while she was here... ;) She went home on Monday, which made me sad, but I'm also kind of relieved. Now I can just chill at the house with Little Man and not be out and about everywhere. I am so grateful she was able to come out and help me! It was such a blessing to have her here!

So, to get back into the swing of things, I've been crocheting baby hats and adding a crochet trim to baby blankets. Yeah, like a mad-woman, I have been crocheting everything! I'll get pictures once I've got things done. Hopefully, that's tomorrow.

I also recently updated my internet explorer to the new 9. I don't know how new it really is, but it's new to me. And it took an embarassingly long time for me to figure out how to get my Favorites Bar back up top! I really really wanted my PIN IT button back! But I got it figured out! Whew!

Anyways... Things are good here. I'm just relaxing with my baby before the big food day! Food and football, what could be better?!

Now for the cute!

Love to all and HAPPY THANKSGIVING! ♥

Welcome Little Man

2011-11-16T20:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it's been a while since I've been around. {Maybe not as long as I think it has, but it feels like a while!}

Last Wednesday, we welcomed our Little Man into the world! Yayayayayayayay!

It really was an awesome experience! And, if you'll bear with me, I will share the story.

We had an induction time and date. I was set to go in Tuesday, November 8th at 8pm, to start PREPARING for the induction. The induction was planned to start on the morning of the 9th. They had me take a pill that would help get me going, and hopefully dilate to about a 2. Well, they gave me the pill at 8pm, when I got there, and my contractions were 5 minutes apart.

They were planning on starting pitosin (makes you dilate real fast!) around midnight... My water broke at 11:26pm. (I know, cuz I was texting my mom all the info) They checked to see how dilated I was at 12:39, and I was already at a 7! I got my epidural in when they checked me. The contractions were way bad!

All the nurses and doctors around were impressed and surprised that everything was happening so fast. The doctors and nurses came in at 1am, and got everything ready to have a baby. My epidural was a great one, I couldn't feel any contractions once it was in, and they had to tell me when I was having a contraction so I could push. 5 pushes later, Little Man was in the doctors hands. We had him at 1:21am, he was 5lbs 12oz and 20 inches long!

Shark even cut the umbilical cord. I was sorta surprised, he's kinda sqeemish. But he took it like a champ. Little Man had a few little things that were not bad really, but not good. His heart rate was low (due to the medication I am on) and his glucose was low, so they put him the nursery for 2 days and had him on a glucose drip. Because of the medication I'm on, the doctors don't want me to breastfeed, so formula it is. We went to the nursery for every feeding, and Shark was {and still is} so excited to help out with that part of parenthood.

Shark really does enjoy every second of it,

We got to take Little Man home at a normal time, neither of us were in the hospital longer than normal for a birth. We went home on Friday!

My mom has been here to help me get used to being a mom, and she's been taking some pictures of the little guy.

Both Shark and I agree, he's been alot of fun. Both of us are so in love with the little guy. It certainly doesn't help that he has been a pretty easy baby so far. He eats like a champ (already up to eating 4 oz!) and he's past his birth weight. {The dr said it usually takes babies 2 weeks to regain their birth weight, but our Little Man is already above and beyond his!} He sleeps like a champ, 4 hours at a time! And of course he's pooping like a champ too!

It trully is a blessing, having him. We are so grateful for all the prayers and well wishes. I'll try to keep up on posting pictures of him. Really the only hard thing about it is choosing which pictures to post! I know I can't post them all!!

Here is his 1 week picture. I'm planning on doing the laundry basket picture at least once a month so we can watch him grow!

Here's his first bath!

And a few of his cuteness! Love you all! ♥

Ready or not

2011-11-08T15:52:00.000-07:00

Here we go!

We're finishing up some way last minute things, and then getting ready to leave.

We're leaving early, cuz we've got a gift card for Macaroni Grill, and that's going to be our "last meal" as newly weds! ;)

I just have to make it to the hospital by 8 pm for my induction.

We're hoping to see the little man in the flesh tomorrow! We're excited!!! I can't wait to tweek his little toes.

We're excited to hold him and see him.

This Little Man is already loved so much, we are so very very excited!!

Love - all of us, soon to be Shark, Girl, Little Man and Bandit! ♥

go pack go

2011-11-04T22:58:00.000-06:00

So, I found some cute little crochet tutorials via Pinterest {what haven't I found on there lately?!} and I decided to make one. I found this way cute long tailed munchkin hat over at Oodles4Noodles. I skipped the fpdc on the trim, cuz I honestly couldn't figure out what the directions were, I ended up doubling my stiches, so I took both colors of yarn and did 1 more round of dc. I think it turned out cute, Go Pack Go!

Even tho, sometimes when I look at it, I think of Buddy the Elf... Maybe I'll end up crocheting a white G to go on it. :)

There are few other things I'm sort of working on. Not like working really hard, but kind of in the mean time. I've been busy putting books onto the computer, I get them from the library and importing them into iTunes so I can put them on his iPhone so he can listen on his way to work, and sometimes while at work.

I've also been working on Christmas presents. :) It seems like I'm always working on Christmas presents... But I am getting closer! I've only got a little ways to go. I should be done soon. I am remembering to take pictures before I send out my presents this year. :)

Halloween-ie

2011-11-01T20:17:00.000-06:00

So this year's Halloween was kind of a bust. I LOVE Halloween. It is one of my favorite holidays. {You get to dress up and get *free* candy!} I usually deck the whole house out with Halloween decor.

This year - I wasn't in the mood to put up a whole bunch of Halloween decor just to take it down. Especially since I'm a week {{yes, ONE week, 7 DAYS!! wow}} to giving birth to the Little Man. So, I put up a few things, like my wreath and my little Mason Jar Monsters, and my flashing skull.

We carved pumpkins Monday afternoon. Yeah, well, we bought the pumpkins on Friday, and bought candy the day before that. {If I buy candy too far ahead, I eat it all...} So, it was all kind of last minute I guess. Mine is the cyclopes on the right, and Shark's is the smirking one on the left.

I made my Halloween costume before we carved pumpkins, so it had time to dry. I went as a skeleton. Even Little Man made an appearance! :) I shamelessly copied the idea (and the little baby skeleton!) from Make It and Love It. I found the idea on Pinterest. :)

Shark went as Captain Hammer from Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog!

Bandit went as a Unicorn. He was pretty cute for a dress-up dog.

We had a good turn out of Trick-or-Treaters, and I'm glad I bought as much candy as I did. I was a pretty fun night. We were going to watch a Halloween movie, but I'm really a big wuss, so we ended up watching Tron Legacy, instead. It was weird but it was decent. Neither Shark nor I have seen the first Tron, so we didn't exactly know what to expect.

All in all, it was a pretty HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

race ya

2011-10-28T23:38:00.000-06:00

Ok, so when Shark is working (from Wed-Sat) for some reason, I subconciously stay up as late as I can. Not sure why, or how really, but for some reason I stay up late when he's gone. Last night was no different. I'm trying to finish up my Christmas presents before Little Man gets here.... Yeah, I'm sure it'd go lots smoother if I stopped added little random projects to my list.

Anyways, last night, I was ready to head down to bed, and I randomly asked Bandit if he was ready. {yes, I talk to my dog like he's a person... he guards the door while I'm in the craft room.} When I turned to pet him, he wasn't there. He wasn't down in the living room either. I figured he was outside telling the neighbor dog to stop barking. When I got down to my room, Bandit was already there, in his bed. He looked up at me, as if to say, Well, it sure took you long enough!

In preperation for Little Man's arrival in 12 days {gasp!!} I've been cleaning up things, and throwing things out. (NOT tons of work, just some lazy work, really) Well, I've been searching Pinterest for organization ideas. And really, that's all they will ever be, is ideas. Maybe someday when it doesn't hurt to sit in a chair for an hour or when I don't have to use the bathroom every 15 minutes, I'll find time to get more organized. I know I'll need to get more organized eventually. Right now, I just want ONE solid place to put all my mail. I've got random piles all over the kitchen and living room.

SO that is my goal. To put the mail in 1 spot, 1 box or basket. And then once a week, come up to the office/craft room, and divide it into the filing cabinet. So, my first step is to make the box where all my mail will go. I'm thinking that shouldn't be too hard. I'm planning on doing something like this Mail Organizer from There's A Hole In my Bucket. But I'm thinking, I might use one of the *free* Priority Mailer boxes I take from my post office. We'll see what I come up with. :)

And have I given a shout out to the public library lately? We're back on our roll of getting audiobooks by the bagload. Now that Shark can listen to them at work again, he's going to need tons of them. He's working that 12 hour shift and says he'd love to listen to books! So I went today and got a whole new load of books. Shark's been into the Wheel Of Time series. Longest. Series. Ever. Seriously, I just imported 1 book of 34 cd's! Yeah, total listening time of 1.7 days! Granted, he'll be done with it in 4 days of work, but still, that's a lot of listening!

Oh, so I learned a trick. :) While up in my craft room, sewing a project and importing books onto my computer, I was listening to my iPod. I put my iPod in a bowl and it acted like a mini-speaker! It was awesome, cuz iPod's only go so loud, but putting the iPod in the bowl made it lots louder. I might have learned the trick on Pinterest or something, who can tell?

Well, my little dog thinks it's time for bed. Time to race him downstairs! Good night! ♥

rawr

2011-10-26T21:08:00.003-06:00

Ugh. So lately have been all kinds of crazy.

Little Man is not behaving. I'm not sure I'm ready for the whole mother-hood thing if he's not behaving. My mom is probably going into some hysterical-evil-master cackle. Yes, it could probably be karma. But really, karma, already? I expected karma to hit me sometime in high school. He does make me giggle. He just rolls and kicks and moves and plays his air-guitar or air-drums or however he rocks out and makes my tummy bounce and ripple. Oh, and he kicks Shark already. It makes me smile that Shark gets kicked sometimes.

My Halloween costume still isn't done. We haven't even bought pumpkins this year! I bought Halloween candy today! I usually buy candy at the beginning of the month, eat it and then have to buy more. This year I controlled myself, which considering I'm 8 months pregnant it was really really hard to control myself when browsing the aisles of delicously priced Halloween candy!

Just recently (ok, so it's been about a month now) I've been snoring. And not like little snoring, like really snoring. Like going to town on those logs. Like waking Shark up with my snoring. Yeah, imagine that! Me, waking Shark up with my snores! I noticed a few months ago that my breathing at night has changed. Like for some reason, now I can't breath thru my nose, at least not really well. But I've woken Shark up a few times with my snoring. His family will laugh cuz he's the worst snorer of the family. They were all kinds of worried when we got married cuz he snores so bad, they were worried I wouldn't be able to sleep. Thank goodness I'm a heavy sleeper. I mean, our whole little family snores. Shark snores, I snore, Bandit snores, pretty sure Little Man will snore, too.

I've had a few projects totally tank lately. I ironed a velcro patch, totally melted it. I was almost done with the project. ugh. I used up 2 sheets of awesome color vinyl only to find I cut too deep and the vinyl wouldn't stick anyways. And some projects are just freaking taking FOREVER. Like there's no end in sight, but there HAS to be an end! I'm having a little wrinkly baby in 2 weeks. I need to finish my Christmas presents. It seems I have time to do all these little projects, like laundry soap, but no time to do the big things. I'm such a bum.

Food and baby things

2011-10-26T12:10:00.000-06:00

Alright, so the past 2 weeks I've been kinda busy, well, not really busy but I've been doing stuff.

I made Pear Raspberry Jam. It tastes really good, I can't really taste the pear, but that just means the next batch will have double the pear in it. ;)

I made Butterfinger Blondies. I was so excited to try this recipe because I found it on Pinterest (and I've been working at MAKING things from Pinterest, not just pinning things!) and beacuse I LOVE Butterfinger! These blondies tasted amazing, and the buttercream frosting with the Butterfinger on top way absolutely delicious. The blog this recipe is posted on has TONS of amazing looking stuff, so stop over at SixSisters'Stuff!

I made laundry soap. Yeah I know, I'm ever so ambitious! BUT, I seriously can make a TON of laundry soap for way freaking cheaper than buying a small bottle. So, I have my soap making pot, grater, funnel and spoon. Plus, to make this first batch of soap, I had everything on hand. Sweet deal, huh! So yeah, I bought a 2.5 gallon water dispenser with a spigot to dispense the detergent. The recipe over at WhyNotSew said to put the detergent in 2 milk jugs, but I wanted something easier to get the detergent out (I can lift the spigot and pour soap into the cup ONE-HANDED!! So easy!)

I've made up some of the nursery decor. I've had these frames from work but they had some odd artwork in them that really wouldn't fit with any nursery scheme I could have come up with, I really bought them because of the blue frames. I got TONS and TONS of blankets and I decided to fix up the artwork.

So two weeks left until Little Man comes. Monday he gave us another scare. I was just sitting in my NST, playing on my iPod, when the nurse came and freaked out. Now this nurse has been freaking out over every thing, so I kinda just blew it off. The nurse turned me and moved me around, hoping to get his heart rate up. She had another nurse watch me while she went to find an OB. My OB came in, looked worried (which got me worried!) and said Little Man's heart rate dropped significantly for a long period of time right after a contraction, so they decided to keep me in the hospital for the day. So, they wheeled me into Labor & Delivery to get me a room, more for protocol and "just-in-case" anything else happened. Well, let me tell you the reception SUCKS in the L&D wing, and I had the hardest time getting a hold of Shark or anyone for that matter. So, as strong as I thought I was, I broke down shortly after the nurses hooked me up to the IV and all the monitors. The nurses came in, and dialed Shark from their desk, and transfered him to my room. I was crying into the phone and he was definitely freaked out and worried. I told him it wasn't an emergency, but they were watching me pretty close. So after 4 hours of watching what Little Man did (nothing else happened) they let me go. Shark and I walked around the Temple once we got out. It was a beautiful day and it was so nice to spend it together, once everything calmed down.

We found a cute little path that neither of us had ever seen. There were all these trees that had cute heart-shaped leaves. So yeah, now we're just waiting 14 more days until our cute little man gets here. We're hoping he waits that long. {please wait that long!!} So I've decided to be a complete lazy bum for the next 2 weeks. Pretty sure I'm planning on finishing up the Christmas presents and finishing little things for his room.

Love to all who have ambitious lazy days!

really 18 days

2011-10-21T10:07:00.000-06:00

Ok. So, I know the ticker on the right side bar is counting down. And my last post didn't help clear things up at all, but really - I have 18 days left until I go into the hospital to get induced....

Yeah, I'm kinda freaking out.

The doctor's set the appointment for me to head into the hospital Tuesday night, at 8pm. Hopefully we'll have a kicking, crying Little Man on the 9th. But either way, that still means I'm going to be a mom next month. :)

I'm excited and nervous.

I've been going to appointments twice a week for the past 3 weeks. They've been kind of stressful. I know everything is fine, but the nurses all freak out cuz Little Man's heart rate doesn't accelerate to what he "should" get up to. I told them, I'm on a heart rate regulator, it caps my heart rate, it caps his heart rate. They looked at me and flatly said, We can't assume it's the medication. We have to assume something is wrong with your baby and just order more tests.

SOO - on top of the now-pointless tests, I have to go in and do MORE tests. Ultrasounds every time I go in. Ultrasounds are fine, I get to see my Little Man! Which is pretty fun, but seeing him on the screen is just making MORE impatient to get him HERE!

So, I've been trying to not freak out, all while trying to remain patient. {Cuz, you all know I am such a patient person! HA!}

(Yesterday, he stuck his tongue out, yawned way big, and grabbed his nose!)

So, in 18 days, my brothers and sisters will become aunts and uncles. My mom will be a grandma and my dad will be a grandpa. I will be a mom, and Shark will be a dad!

We are all excited for our newest leaf on the family tree to get here! {and to start kicking someone else for a change!}

Love for all things new! ♥

PS: mom, I just have to address my thank you, and stamp em, and get em out! You should be smiling!

38 Days

2011-10-14T23:47:00.000-06:00

So basically Little Man has 38 until he gets his final eviction notice. I don't think he'll last the full term. Neither do either of my doctors. My OB is planning around Nov. 7th, which would be awesome, cuz my cardiologist is the attending that week, so it would work perfectly! Anyways, here's an update of what's been going on lately.

So I've been going to the Dr's twice a week for nonstress tests for baby. This is my 2nd week going, I started going last Monday. And to technically pass the test he has to get his heart rate up to 155 and then back down to 130, twice in 30 minutes. The nurse's freak out because he just barely gets up to 150 and then just hangs out at 150 for a while. They try everything, they buzz him, they move me around, I poke him and jab at him, I drink soda, I drink juice, trust me, we try to get him to move around and acelerate his heart rate! So they're all worried that he's not moving for funtioning enough, and after the first test, they called me back in to do an emergency test. He passed that one no problem.

Well, I talked to my cardiologist, and asked him if the heart rate regulator medication I'm on could be limiting his heart rate as well, he confirmed that it could and it probably is. He also said, the nurses and aids will have no idea what's normal for me and my condition, and they will freak out and get all worried, but until my OB gets concerned, I've got nothing to be concerned about. This past Monday, baby decided to nap all day, during all the tests, and my OB was kinda concerned about his movement, until I told him, this kid moves NON-STOP. As soon as they shut off the ultrasound machine and I sat up, he got the hiccups and did a few summersalts, but he didn't do it while the Dr's were watching. I told the Dr's that he kicks, punches, rolls, moves, gets the hiccups all the time. My OB is no longer concerned. He said to keep counting little man's kicks and movements, and when I notice a decrease or less than 10 in an hour to call and come in.

Thursday's tests he totally rocked at and moved the whole time. Shark and I had a game plan for yesterday. Food. Baby moves whenever I eat something. So I ate a big sugary breakfast, then stopped at BK and got a burger and soda on the way to the hospital, and before my last ultrasound yesterday, I stopped at the cafeteria and got some pizza. He put on quite a show. In fact, I don't think he's stopped moving for 10 minutes today. He's just been switching sides and rolling and punching me and putting his knees in my ribs. Restless. Shark and I aren't worried, I just wish the nurses wouldn't freak out. I told the doctors, it's kinda hard to not get worried when nurses are throwing around words and phrases like "snot moving, could be still born" and "come into the Emergency OB, we need to check to make sure you're baby is still functioning" - Mark and I have talked to the cardio dr and my OB, and they aren't worried and trust us to let them know when something doesn't feel right, so we're not worried.

Shark asked my OB what the procedure would be if something were wrong, the OB answered, we'd deliver him. And to make sure there aren't any surprises, the carseat is in the car, and I have a bag packed, in the car anytime I go to the hospital now. We don't need ANY surprises like we had on Mother's day where the Dr's decided to keep me there! So we're ready.... :)

My dad sent me some funny commercials that are airing in WI.

This one makes my husband glad we don't live in WI, and that I don't have a Packers Checking....

Love to all!♥

Diaper Hanger

2011-10-12T17:22:00.000-06:00

So, my SIL has a way cute diaper hanger. She's got a whole matching room decor set. I love it! But I also know that I wouldn't be able to find a diaper hagner that matched his blanket.

So, in my wanderings on Pinterest I found a tutorial for a diaper hanger.

I found the tutorial on SewDangCute Crafts. I skipped the ruffle, and the piping. I did a totally basic one. And I used remnant fabric from making his blanket!! I didn't have to buy any fabric!!

Shark looked at it and said it was cute and a good idea, but that'd we'd have to refill it every day! ♥

Baby's Room

2011-10-08T19:59:00.000-06:00

Alright, so I technically finished the baby's room. I just have to finish the curtains (and by finish I mean start on!) and I have to finish the mobile... Yeah, I'm still working on that one, I might be almost done... We'll see.

I took pictures of the room, and kind of circled around, so I got the entire room.

I love his room. Shark tells people, The baby's room colors pretty much sums up my personality. I love his room, and am so excited for it to be HIS!!

I've got to do some little things still, like get a hamper, get bins for under the crib, curtains, do some decorations I can't make until he's born. Just some little things. I'm excited for Little Man!!

Love to all who love babies! ♥

Baby Blanket

2011-10-07T21:25:00.000-06:00

So, I've been working on Little Man's quilt. I've been working on it for a while. It's taken me a while to get it done. The pattern I love is the Wonky Log Cabin I found from Quilt Dad. I found this pattern back when I made a blanket for my niece. I love this pattern because it's very forgiving and easy to work with. Plus, I get to pick like 12 fabrics that I can incorporate, which makes it playful and fun!!

Here are the squares as I got them done. The finishing dimensions of this part of the squares is 9"

Once I got the squares done, I put on a 3" floating white border. Then I cut the square down to 12". {This is the only thing I regret about the blanket, is that it's small. The blanket I made for my niece was bigger. The Wonky patterened squares were 12", and the the final dimension on the white float border was 15". Oh well...}

I cut out Little Man's name on the Cricut and then used those letters to cut out fabric letters. I layered the fabric letters with blue fleece (from an old project).

I sewed these letters on the flannel backing for his blanket.

I sewed a square between the white float border and the patterened log cabin to secure the backing to the front {quilting style}.

And here is the finished product! I really do love how it turned out! At first I bought green binding, but I'm REALLY glad I went with the blue!! I really do love this blanket. It's not heavy enough to be a quilt but I love that it's a small blanket, something he can carry around with him as he gets older!! :)

Love to all those who love babies!! ♥

Bear Lake

2011-10-01T16:11:00.001-06:00

So this past week, my MIL booked her time share up in Bear Lake. The boys had to work and shoot things, so they weren't there, so the ladies crafted all week. :) It was pretty fun!

I made some headbands. I used this tutorial from Happy Together!

Some Tinkle Tents, Pee Pee Tee Pees, Wee Wee Wigwams - whichever you call them! I used this tutorial from Make it and Love it.

I made a whole bunch of burp cloths. I used thos Tutorial from Cloud9!

I made football onesies! I saw this on Pinterest. I dyed onesies brown using Dark Brown Rit dye. I ironed some Heat-n-Bond onto come white fabric, cut the white fabric into 1" strips and then into 6" and 1.5" strips, then ironed them on. Then I took the very taxing task of sewing around ALL the edges of the white strips. I sewed down the vertical one, then across each of the horizontal strips. And in true football style, the horizontal strips cross OVER the long vertical strip. :)

I also got started on a Christmas present. I'm not going to show you that yet, but eventually I will. I'm trying to remember to take pictures of everything this year!! We'll see how that turns out.

It was a pretty fun week. We went swimming at the pool (the lake was REALLY cold!). We watched movies, talked, had famous Raspberry shakes, and made tons of stuff!

Ta Da! Love to those who could craft all day long and not be bored! And to those who couldn't! ♥

Wisconsin Trip!

2011-09-22T12:09:00.000-06:00

Alright, Shark and I went to Wisconsin last week. Shark fished all week and hung out with the family. I hung out with the family. My mom also threw me a baby shower while I was there. It was alot of fun!

**LOTS OF PHOTOS**

My parents have a dog, Allie. She's a collie, and she gets lost easily. :)

My parents also have deer. They feed the deer, and have for the past 7 years or so. One morning, Shark and I woke up to 2 fawns eating. Photo taken from the kitchen.

My parents have a pond. My dad stocks the pond with bass, blue gill, perch, and rainbow trout. Shark was having the best vacation ever, waking up to fishing every morning!

Our family has a tradition of sorts. Most summers we go look at waterfalls. We have usually gone with another family, my mom's best-friend-in-the-whole-wide-world's family when they come to visit. This year we went just us, but my dad came! We went to Dave's Falls State Park. It was a nice hike (yes I did it!) and tha falls were beautiful. Shark and my dad started trying to get lures and bobbers out of trees at the end!

My mom threw my a baby shower, with the help of my sisters! It was alot of fun! More pictures would have been taken if we hadn't had so much fun talking to the girls!

Shark was kept busy by my dad and my brother. He and my brother started throwing the football around. They threw it from the trampoline, they played 500 off the roof, they threw it to the dog. My dad needed Shark's help with the basketball hoop installation. Now, if he only gets that court paved, he'll play some ball.

Our trip to Wisconsin was loads of fun, and very relaxing. We got to sleep in as much as we could, and fish as much as we wanted, and just hang out. It was so much fun! Thanks mom and dad!!

Love to the family! ♥

Understanding

2011-09-10T10:00:00.000-06:00

So, Shark's new schedule is a rough one. He works a swing shift. 3 days off, 3 days on, 4 days off, 4 days on... But he also works the night shift : 6:30 pm-6:30 am. It's not that hard once you get used to it, but it really takes some time to get used to. He still needs more time, I think.

Everyone asks me if it's hard for me to deal with. Eh, yes and no.

NO - because we needed this job. I'm able to stay home, take care of the house, and the baby when he gets here. This job pays our bills and allows Shark to go to school still. I have plenty around the house to do and keep up with. Also, he's working in the field he's studying in. This is what he'd like to do when "he grows up" and he's working for a company that would allow him to move up. He's already excelled at the job he's doing and learning more about other jobs there too. He enjoys it. He likes his job, and a rough day means he's got to find and wash more cans, rather than the rough day as a driver meant picking up 3 pallets of 100 boxes each, and each box weighs 47lbs. His rough days aren't so rough. And my schedule is going to be changing here in 10 weeks or so. Once Little Man comes to town, times are going to completely change!!

YES - because I wish I had more time with him. {NOTE: It doesn't matter what his job or shift would be, I will always want more time with him. Even with his last job I wanted more time with him, even when we were in CO and we both had days jobs, I wanted more time with him. Wives always want more time with their husbands!} The hardest part, and I've already talked about this with him, is the few minutes we get to see each other awake. Those sleepy minutes when he gets home at 7:30am {he drives an hour each eay to and from work} and I'm still in bed, I read and pray and he snuggles into me to get warm {motorcycle!} right before he starts snoring. And those rushed hurried minutes where he jumps in the tub and then out quick and then I feed him something to eat before he has to rush off and beat traffic and construction. That's what's hard. But really, that's only 3 nights a week, 4 on a long week. It just feels like a very LONG time in between seeing him.

We still make time for each other, tho. We have a date night, where we either go out to the dollar theatre and see a movie that neither of us knew was out yet, let alone in the cheap theatre. Or we stay in a watch a movie, either from The Collection or from Netflix. This week, we did both. We watched Toy Story 3, and went a saw Transformers 3 with some friends. This morning, he brought me flowers. :)

And starting tomorrow, we're going to be on a vacation. We're flying back to WI for a while, and Shark will be able to fish every single day, all day long! And I get to do baby stuff with my mom and sisters!! Yup, we're both pretty excited.

Shark and I have come to an understanding. We still talk to each other, and hold each others hand and kiss and eat dinner together. Right now, we are so grateful for each other, and the sacrifices we're both giving. I'm grateful for him, and how hard he works, and how much he's doing to provide for us. I'm grateful for his strength and love for me. He's grateful I do laundry and cook, and keep the house clean-ish. He's grateful for my strength and contentment with being home, and my love for him. {We've talked about all this.} He means the world to me and I am so happy that we found each other!

Ooh, enough of the mushy stuff!! :) I've been making Little Man's baby blanket!! I've got all 9 wonky squares done, now I just need the white fabric for the border, and the flannel backing for it. I'm pretty excited with how it turned out. The wonky log-cabin is such a forgiving pattern {not sure if it's really a pattern, maybe more of theme..} and it's very versitale. Plus it's lots of fun and looks great.

This is me finally making good use of the craft table in my craft room!!

Here are the flowers Shark got me! When I asked him to take them upstairs (so I didn't step on them when I got out of bed) I said, "Now, I'm not trying to mean or evil, but you don't have to put them in water cuz we'll just be leaving in the morning and they'll die next week." Our plane takes off at 8:30am tomorrow, Shark will be heading to the airport straight from work.

And I painted my nails yesterday! I love how they look. I've had this bright magenta nail polish forever, and I bought a silver glitter polish yesterday to go over it. I love it!

So far that's what's been going on. I think the week after next, I'll get some white fabric and some flannel backing for the blanket and finish it up!

And I'm ending on a picture of what Bandit does while I'm in my craft room.... Making sure no one sneaks up on me!

Love to all ♥

The List - A MUST for Engaged Couples

2011-09-03T16:52:00.002-06:00

So, when Shark and I got engaged, I bought 1 bridal magazine. It was huge and full of all kinds of ideas! In this 1 magazine, they had a 3 month checklist. {Which was great, because most Mormon couples aren't engaged for longer than 3 months!!} But it also included The List.

Shark and I come from different family situations and backgrounds. My parents are divorced and I was raised by my stepdad, his parents are still together. I was raised in Wisconsin, 45 minutes from my church building, and members being the minority; he was raised in Utah, 2 blocks from his church building, and members being the majority. I have 5 brothers and sisters, we fought all the time; he has 3 brothers and sisters, and they are best friends. We both had different opinions and thoughts about marriage and raising a family.

The List helped us get on the same page about marriage, duties, chores, holidays and family. The List is a series of questions, questions I never would have thought to ask, never would have thought mattered. We found out later, these questions really did matter, and they made all the diffrence in the world.

I still have the pages from the 1 bridal magazine. I did NOT create The List. We added our own questions to fit our relationship. I am NOT taking credit for The List, but I feel I had to share it. I'm not trying to deny anyone the credit for The List. The name of the magazine I got was LatterDay Bride. Pam Fullmer wrote this article, and she did a wonderful, amazing job in writing the story for The List and The List itself.

Alright, without further ado, here is the link to The List!! I put it on my Google Docs, cuz Google Docs is awesome and easy!

I am also giving you the link to the 3 Month Checklist! It was helpful for me to have a checklist, I was flying back everyother weekend to plan a wedding!!

One thing I also found helpful, was the Wedding Workbook. It gives a checklist, a budget planner, a guest list planner, a photography planner, a music planner, flower planner (with which flowers are in season!), and a reception seating planner!!

Shark and I had our own set of questions on top of the ones in the sample. Do you steal covers? Snore? Creamy or crunchy peanut butter? White or wheat bread? Will you go grocery shopping with me? How do you want us to greet eachother when we get home? What do you do to relax? How do you organize stuff? What do you NOT eat or drink? What smells do you not like? What color would you HATE to wake up to? Sleeping in on Saturdays? How clean do you want/expect things? What do you want to do together? Seperate? What things should we not do so our kids don't do them? Will you help me pick out furniture? Will you talk to me about problems? About your good days and your bad days? How do you handle confrontation? How do you handle anger? Will you confide in me? Medical history?

And those are just a few. We had 5 pages of questions we came up with together. We made a big date night of it, a mega Determine The Relationship date. But we only did this mega DTR after he asked me to marry him, so it didn't catch either of us off guard or make us uncomfortable. We were preparing to share our lives together, so these questions were completely appropriate.

I truly believe that answering these questions strengthened our relationship and helped prepare us more for marriage. We were mostly on the same page when we came out of the Temple that beauutiful day in June. I don't think anything else could have prepared us more or gotten us more prepared.

I figured I'd share The List. I've been thinking about it for a few months now, and finally FOUND it! Trust me, I lose these papers so often, I'm kinda surprised I found them! I hope you enjoy The List!

Love to all in love ♥

Swing of Things

2011-08-31T12:14:00.000-06:00

Alright, so last Saturday was my official last day of work. Once I get that "vacation" feeling gone, which I assume will happen next week, I'll up and at 'em. Don't get me wrong, I've been doing stuff. I've been keeping the kitchen clean, and the laundry done. I've even made dinner 3 nights in a row! That's awesome for me, who usually just tosses some mac'n'cheese in a pan. But next week, I'll start organizing the house, decluttering it and everything. I want to organize the house, I want it to be clean so we don't have to scramble to clean it when someone is coming over. I know decluttering is going to take time, but that's what I've got lots of these days.

Also, budgeting. I've been working really hard on that. This week was an epic fail... We had a few unscheduled payments come up and totally blew my budget out of the water. BUT, just because we failed once doesn't mean we're going to give up. I've got some good plans I just need to put into place. We've been talking to some neighbors who have some pretty good plans.

And don't worry, I'm not trying to do too much, just enough to keep the house in order and money in the account and food in the fridge. I'm not trying to be WonderWoman or anything, there are things I want now that I have time to control them. I know all the time will be gone once Little Man gets here, but I might as well try while he's still cooking.

Shark and I went on a date on Monday. We watched a movie from my stash that we hadn't seen and then went to get ice cream from Subzero. It was pretty neat. They add all the ingredients in liquid form and then blast it with liquid nitrogen to freeze it. It tasted awesome too.

Shark has been getting used to his new schedule. And he's been able to do things early in the week. He fixed his motorcycle and even reupholtered the seat. Then we went for ride. I've been kind of iffy about the motorcycle since I've been pregnant. I'm iffy with them to begin with, I'm not a fan of leaning and turning.... But he asked if I wanted to go for a short ride and I said yes. We went up to the park we got our engagement photos taken. It wasn't a very long stay at the park, we walked across 2 kissing bridges and then got back on the bike. Shark said having a hot girl on your bike is one of the best things ever. But having a hot pregnant wife on your bike is THE best thing ever. :) He makes me smile.

Little Man has just been moving and rolling and elbowing me all over. It's been lots of fun tho. Lately he's started kicking me under the ribs, which is new, he usually kicks me on the underside of my belly. He's just a squirmy little guy. It really has been fun to just feel him move and kick.

Lots of love from us over here♥

the truth

2011-08-24T13:52:00.000-06:00

So, Shark's mom invited me to Education Week down at BYU last week, and I went. Shark and his brothers have a few names for Education week : Mom Camp and EFY for moms. It really was EFY for moms, but there were dads there too. It sorta felt like all there was were pregnant ladies and moms. It was pretty fun. So we walked around BYU campus all week, learning about the gospel. It was way fun! The food was amazing!

Maple Bar with bacon!

Butterfinger donut!

Last week Shark started his night shift at work. He'd been training the week before, but last week, he got going on his shift. It was rough starting out, but I think he's got the hang of it. He works tonight, and he's sleeping. So he should be rested for work. He likes his job so far. Monday he had a zone get together at Boondocks, we went to that. He got to know some of his coworkers more. It was pretty fun.

This week is my last week at the Trading Post. I'm happy and sad. I have been exhausted lately, exhausted on a level I never knew existed. Yesterday I was too tired to stand up and make some sandwiches for us for lunch. Thank goodness Shark stepped in and made them. I'm sad about work because I love my job, and I love the people I work with. I'm happy because I get more time to get things ready for Little Man, and I get to rest as much as possible. Most of the things I have to get ready still are things I can do from my couch (which are always the best things to have to do!)

Lately I've been playing music on my phone, and putting it on my belly. Little Man just kicks and rolls and moves around. It's pretty fun. I love feeling him move around and wiggle. It's been so much fun to move my belly and have him retaliate and kick. At night when I lay down, he starts his tumbling routine, and I love grabbing Shark's hand to feel him move around. I love Little Man already and am so very excited to see him in 3 months. I love being pregnant. I love showing off my growing belly. And even though all I really do is complain about him kicking me ALL DAY, I really do love it. It's a feeling that I can't really explain too well, and it really does feel weird, but I love it. {He still has room to roll and twist and he kicks all day. Next month he won't have so much room, and he'll really be kicking me all day long!} It's fun to see Shark's face when Little Man kicks his hands. I haven't even met this little guy yet and I love him and adore him.

That's it so far. Oh that, and I'm seriously considering a trip up to Idaho Fall for some Buffalo Wild Wings. That's the closest one... Any one up for going with me and Shark one of these Tuesdays?!

You gotta have what you love!♥

quickie

2011-08-12T13:09:00.000-06:00

So this post is more or less just an update post about everything that's been going on... or not going on.

I babysat for a neighbor yesterday. I watched her 10 month old little boy for a few hours. We watched Sesame Street and threw plastic Easter eggs around while he chowed down on Kix. It was pretty fun, and made me even MORE excited to be having a baby than I already am. {I didn't think it was possible to be MORE excited!}

Little Man has been kicking me {or punching, or even head-butting me, I'm not really sure!} like he's Chuck Norris in Lone Wolf McQuade... He likes to hang out low, and push as far away from my spine as possible, so it feels like I've got rocks on my beltline. He reacts to music and sounds, like when I put my iPod on my stomach and play music, or when Shark talks to me while laying on my stomach. By reacts I mean he kicks me.

Shark passed his extremely hard Calculus II class. {By extremely hard, I mean almost everybody in the class was on their 2nd round cuz they failed the first time.} We are so excited to be done with that hard class! Not so excited to move onto another semester of hard classes.

Shark started a new job on Monday! More hours, more pay, great benefits, and in the Electrical Engineering field he wants to go into!! It's working nights, but it works with his school schedule, so it's all good. He'll just need to get into a routine with the hours and stuff. He likes the job so far, even though it's just been training this week. The job is an hour away. I know out here that is such a long commute, but honestly, it doesn't seem that bad to me. We had to drive an hour to get to the closest Wal-Mart when I lived in WI. Everything was an hour away : church, clothes, restaurants. So it's not that big of a deal to me, but everyone we talk to are like : That is sooo far for him to drive. He's ok with it, I'm ok with it.

Next week is the BYU Education Week. Shark and his brothers call it EFY for Moms. I think that's funny, but it's true. I'm way excited to go. {It also means I will be missing for a week!}

My uncle is getting married tomorrow! Our whole family is excited! Yay for weddings, boo for us not being able to go. I'll take pictures of the gift we're sending them and I'll post them!

August is my last month working at the Trading Post. We're not really sure what my heart is planning so we figure it's best if I take a step back from working for the last trimester of cooking. I am going to quit working when I have the Little Man, and this way, I don't quit right in the middle of the all the holiday action. Plus this gives me time to finish decorating the room {again, I'll post pictures when it's done} and get his blanket done and all the little things I've been planning to get done. I also want to get the Christmas presents done before it even gets close cuz I know I won't wanna make anything once I have him. :) I've got it mostly done, I just need to finish up the last few things.

We went camping last weekend up at Whitney Reservoir. It was a very pretty drive, and the lake was in the middle of the mountains. It was gorgeous. It was alot of fun to go camping with Shark's family. We brought our 4" memory foam mattress and it was heavenly!

Everything with my heart has been fine. I haven't had any complications or wig-outs since the one last month. I've got 5 days left on the Lovenox and I just refilled my presciptions of Sotalol. I have a heart check up {my monthly appointment} next week. We have a fetal echocardiogram {where the check out Little Man's heart} at the beginning of next month, as well as a my glucose test and another ultrasound. He sure is an active little guy, and that convinces me we're not going to have a timid, soft-spoken child. We're pretty sure he's going to the opposite of Steve & Feather's daughter. But we're ok with that. :)

Shark and I are back on the library kick. I've been checking out 10 audiobooks at a time and putting them on his iPod so he can listen while he drives to work. We've got most of our series' and now we just need to start clearing the shelves alphabetically. ;)

Love to all who know I'm still around, and that I'm just totally a slacker!! ♥

Oreo-Stuffed Chocolate Chip cookies

2011-07-29T20:41:00.001-06:00

I'm posting the recipe and some pics.

It's not like you need a tutorial if I include the recipe right?

Here's the story of how I found these :

PINTEREST.

{sigh}

I love it. I got hooked on it and for a week solid I was logged in and pinning everything I saw.

When I'm on Pinterest, my computer bogs down. Like I have never had a computer bog down.

I used to work with 3D graphics programs, like 3 at the same time, to coordinate pipe, and those NEVER bogged my computer down. Ever.

But Pinterest does. Not sure why. Myabe because of all the MILLIONS of awesome freaking ideas and wonderful people on there loving and pinning the same things (and different things) that I do. Maybe...

But I found this blob of amazingness.

WE LOVE THEM!

I make them as ~~bribes~~ treats for my coworkers. I also made them for Shark's Going-Away Party at work. Next Thursday is his last day, and apparently parties are FRIDAY things.

RECIPE :

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together with a mixer until well combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
In medium bowl mix the flour, salt, and baking soda. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined.
With a cookie scoop, form balls with the dough. Place one ball on top of an Oreo cookie, and another ball on the bottom. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo cookie is fully enclosed with dough.
Place onto parchment or silpat lined baking sheets and bake cookies for approximately 13 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 package Double Stuff Oreo cookies

I used too much chocolate chips {I can't belive I just said that!} but the only reason the dough fit around the Oreo is because Shark was molding the dough around them. Pretty much forcing it to do his bidding and cover that Oreo.

At first we put 6 on a pan cuz I wasn't sure how big they would get. It turns out, the normal 12 on a pan works great.

Enjoy your awesome treat! They really are amazing!

Love to those who share great recipes! ♥

new wreath

2011-07-27T22:32:00.000-06:00

Alright, so I've had an itch lately.

I've been wanting to make a new wreath for my door.

Not a fancy one or anything, just a summery one.

I bought tons of pinwheels at Dollar Tree last year, hopeing to make a wreath. My first idea never turned out the way I wanted it to, so I gave up last year, putting it off until we got our own door and I could think of a better idea. I bought all the supplies for a pinwheel wreath.

This year it hit me.

I decided to wrap yarn around a floral wreath, and then stick pinwheels on that.

What you need :

floral wreath (Dollar Tree)
Yarn (I have a stash)
Pinwheels (Dollar Tree)
Hot glue (stash)

First, take your yarn and tie it around the wreath. Start wrapping yarn around the wreath.

I would twist the yarn after I looped it around the wreath. I twisted the yarn so it was a tighter wrap and there weren't any spots where the wreath was showing.

Now, if you're like me and don't know you're own strength, you might end up breaking the wreath at the seam {oops} I was thinking of hot gluing it, but hot things have never worked on the floral foam wreaths for me, so I duct taped it. I wrapped the yarn around the taped seam so nothing showed and you can't even tell I broke it!

Now, I teased my dog with the wreath while my husband cut the pinwheels.

I had him cut the pinwheels sticks short, but with some stick left still. In the end, I cut all the way up to the 90 degree elbow.

Then I put hot glue ont he elbow and stuck them on the yarn wreath.

I made sure they didn't touch, so in the event I get a breeze here, they will spin and not hit eachother.

I debated on adding a ribbon to hang it from, but decided against it, I can never get my wreaths to hang flat on the door when I put a ribbon on, so I just set it on my wreath hook.

Enjoy your wreath for the rest of the summer!

Love to all who love making things! ♥

wanna know something

2011-07-21T11:55:00.002-06:00

So, this past Sunday (the 17th) my heart went back into atrial flutter.

{the top ventricals were beating faster than the bottom ventricals...}

Monday I went down to SLC for an EKG. They called, told me I was back in flutter, they ordered a prescription of Lovenox shots.

I started taking the Lovenox shots Monday night. yaaay.... :(

Wednesday they scheduled an appointment with my cardiologist. They called back 15 minutes later saying doctor wanted to try cardio verting me, again. {just like Mother's Day}

Shark didn't have to work yesterday, so we went down to SLC, got there, they did another EKG, I was still in flutter.

They hooked me all up, the big HUGE 6" shock pads on the front and back. Then started putting in the anstesia. {I warned the nurse this time, saying I get really mouthy and funny when I go under.}

Next thing I remember, is the doctor walking out the door and the clock on the wall still moving like the Price is Right wheel. {true to my word, the nurse and Shark said I was a talker, and I was hilarious.}

The shock worked, I am out of atrial flutter but back in junction rythum. No harm done to me {besides 6" sticky pad marks on front and back} or to Little Man {pretty sure he kicked me the entire time.}

The doctor said I slipped back into flutter because I forgot to take me meds {big NO NO, and it won't happen again} and because of the stressful week I had before.

So no more stress and way more pills.

I'm telling everyone now, because this week was not supposed to be my week. My sister-in-law was supposed to find out what they're having this time, the doctor couldn't tell. My friend Sammi was supposed to find out what she's having : a boy!

I didn't want to take away from their day with everybody asking about me. Shark and I weren't really stressed or worried about heading to the hospital. There were plenty of prayers on our behalf, and everything worked out fine.

Love to all ♥

bought

2011-07-14T12:21:00.000-06:00

So this post is a little behind. But only by 1 day (or 2). We have been car shopping since we sold my red truck. I know on my 101 in 1001 it says to buy a 4Runner, but I am counting this little car as buying it because we just really needed something to fit babies in. This totally counts!

We sold the red truck on Tuesday. Wednesday we bought a new car.

Yeah, we jumped right in and pulled the trigger. We saw a really really good deal and jumped on it. We drove home from SLC on Wednesday seperately. Not only did Shark have to go to work, but I drove my brand new used car home!

Yesterday I went to go get it registered. But it didn't pass the safety. The brakes were low on it. So I bought a set of brakes from Autozone and Shark installed them. I was mad yesterday. I just wanted it done. I wanted it to be really mine....

So today, we went and had the guys recheck the car, it passed. And then we got it registered.

Then driving home, we saw Smitty at Autozone buying brakes for his car! We stopped and Shark whistled at him. It was pretty funny.

This week is Heritage Days, and I have been helping out again. Although, not as much as last year. Which is fine, I'm pregnant and slow this year. I try to walk fast but I fail horribly at fast. I was scorekeeping a game last night and a girl asked if I had named my car yet. I said no.

I think we figured out a name today. The car zips in and out of traffic pretty good. So I'm thinking the car's name will be Zipper. It works pretty well for it. I don't know how often we'll call it Zipper, since it's The Car but at least it's got a nickname, right?

Now it's back out to Heritage Days!

Love to those who name their things and to those who don't. ♥

sold

2011-07-12T15:22:00.000-06:00

Since my sister had to post about her awesomeness, I decided to try to show her up. {Mine isn't about saving money tho, it's about spending it....}

Alright, so for those of you who were still looking for the sign {me selling my little red truck means we're ready for kids!} it happened!

We've had a For Sale sign in the windows for about 3 weeks. But yesterday we put a listing up on KSL (it's like craigslist.com but for Utah...). Basically I hit enter to post the listing and within 5 minutes Shark was on the phone. {seriously, I hardly had time to put it up on my Facebook too!!} Shark gave them our address so they could some look at it.

They were here for about an hour, and I figured after the 30 minute mark, I needed to search for the title. {thank goodness I found it right away!} This little old man was looking for a truck for his granddaughter. We told him the little issues with it, and he asked who to make the check out to.

We sold the red pickup within 1 hour of posting the listing on KSL!! {that truck got me out here from WI!}

Now we're in the hunt for a 4-door sedan, low miles, late model.... We're going to look at some today..

As I was looking this morning for cars, I did my nails.

A few girls at work have tried these Sally Hansen Nail Polish Strips.

And I had to try them out. Why?! I haven't bit my nails in a LONG time! They're growing and they're long! {ok long-ish..}

Apparently my color is called Frock Star....

Bountiful Baskets

2011-07-09T07:56:00.000-06:00

Alright, for those of you who know me : you know I am NOT an early riser. Not a morning person. I'd love to just sleep until noon every day! (sigh) But alas, that is not possible.

It certainly wasn't possible this morning! We've been talking to people at church about a food co-op program called Bountiful Baskets. Well, I figured I'd take a look.

I registered and then ordered my first share of fruits and veggies. The pick up time was 7:00 AM this morning. It wasn't very far to go to my "team site" - there are lots to pick from depending on how far you want to drive I guess.

So my alarm went off at 6:30, I got up, put my contacts in, and hopped in my truck. I took the red truck, we're trying to sell it, and who better to sell it to then people who are food co-op, right? (Ok, my thinking was, these are frugal people, if they need a vehicle, they aren't going to be buy it new, so might as well drive that once, in case one of them is looking for a new little red truck!)

I waited in line, got my 1 basket of fruit and my 1 basket of veggies and loaded into my laundry basket then into my truck. I started on my way home.

I get home with my heavy basket of produce and I called Shark upstairs to see me bounty! It really is a ton!

Then he says, "I drive that truck all over, for hours a day and not one person ever calls. But you put a pretty girl in a truck with a for sale sign, and bam! The phone starts ringing!" Apparently, on my way to the co-op, some one called him (it's his number on the truck!) to ask him about the truck.

Next time, I'll have to remember who people would be calling! Anyways, this Bountiful Baskets thing seems pretty awesome. I'm excited to do it. I don't think we'll do it each week, because we don't eat tons and tons of fruit and veggies. (Maybe once we have the Little Man and he starts eating foods and stuff, we'll do it every week...) But I think for now, every other week, maybe. I mean, $15 a week for awesome produce is NOT bad at all!

Go to BountifulBaskets.org to find a site in your area and to learn about more!! It's not just a Utah thing, they've got this program all over. It doesn't hurt to take a look!!

Love to those who are eating good in the neighborhood! ♥

get set go!

2011-07-06T15:47:00.002-06:00

Alright, this week I'm 20 weeks into my pregnancy. Half way.

Last night was the first time I felt Little Man move. I'm pretty excited. I'd be even more excited if him moving wasn't punches to my kidneys or bladder or stomach - but I'll take what I can get.

This week is the first week I "contributed" to Bountiful Baskets. It's a nonprofit organization that offers fresh fruit and veggies. We've heard via friends from church that you get tons of fruits & veggies. I'm excited to see what we get.

I finished 2 projects yesterday! Yayayayayay!

First one : A purse crocheted from plarn (plastic yarn) ((other plastic bags!)).

Here is a link on how to make plarn. Here is YouTube video on how to make plarn. I basically didn't use a pattern, I just made it up as I went along. But here's a pattern for a basic bag. I used a single crochet. This pattern uses a half-double crochet. Probably makes it stronger and more durable.

My next project is : A baby swaddler!!

I found it on Shannon Makes Stuff! I fell in love with this, because everybody says it's so hard to keep babies swaddled. This seemed to solve the problem. My only issue is : I made it too big. I did NOT follow the measurements at all on the pattern. {In fact, the first time I started cutting, I cut big 8 in squares out of the corners... Then I looked again, EPIC FAIL!!} SO if you make this, be sure to click on the link for the measurement post.

Mine could swaddle a 2 year old.

So there are my finished projects for the week. Hopefully, I'll have more done. I'm also hoping to post a tutorial on how to make plarn and start a bag! If I post it on my craft blog, I'll be sure to link it up here!

Love ♥ to those who made this Indepence Day possible. All the men and women serving this country, in the past, present and future.

livin the dream

2011-06-29T12:02:00.003-06:00

So, lately I've been not busy but also not very motivated. It doesn't help that

1) I discovered yet another series on Netflix... Numb3rs. Oh and That 70's Show. {HELLO WISCONSIN}

2) I was given an entire box of bags from work.... I've been making these :

3) I have a real reason to clean. My family is coming out to visit.

4) Our house has no swamp cooler and no AC. {that is, until yesterday. We got an AC put in!}

5) I discovered these at KevinandAmanda.com. I call them Smothered Oreos... And I am well on my way thru the 2nd pan I've made in the past week...

6) My garden has been overrun with some mysterious creeper plant. It's so tall because it's eaten a tomato cage. My peas are on the left side of the picture, holding their own against this creep. I don't think my spinach, my beans, my tomatoes, or my watermelons survived tho....

7) I have been on the verge of tears for the past week. Hormones or what, but I have felt like crying. Even while watching My Name is Earl (so not a sad show!)

Those are my excuses for this week. And in case you were wondering, no, I'm not just sitting up here on the computer. I'm cutting out vinyl right this second. I've got to put vinyl up on some trucks today. The vinyl cutting is just taking forever cuz it just takes that long to cut vinyl.

Also, I'm getting up whenever my butt starts hurting {which happens way more often than it used to!} and picking some things up out of the next room.

Ooh, I also have to show you my craft room organization!!

I got these black shelves from the same lady I got the craft table from. We screwed the shelves to the wall so they don't tip over and I had Shark drill some holes in the sides to I could put some dowels thru and make a ribbon ladder. (Real ribbon ladders are way expensive, the shelves were free and the dowels were .16 cents a piece, I got 2!)

When we bought the house, I had to pick a room to make my craft room. At first I picked the room across the hall, then noticed it didn't have a hook up for internet. So I moved to the room I'm in now, which used to be the master bedroom before they remodeled the basement. There are 2 closets. Shark's dad came over one day and built me some custom shelves. Custom fit for LAUNDRY BASKETS!! I love them! They fit {almost} everything! I've started labeling my containers.

This was my Christmas prestent from Shark last year. I told him I wanted shelves or cabinets of some kind. I got these {awesomeness!}, they've got 2 huge drawers on the bottom and 3 way nice shelves! ♥ I put some little plastic handeled baskets on the shelves. When I go downstairs and craft something, I put everything I need in a basket and take only a basket with me.

Believe it or not, my craft room used to be way WAY messier. At least now, I know everything has a shelf. I don't just randomly put it someplace. I have an entire laundry basket for yarn, kitting needles and crochet hooks. A binder for patterns is coming, I just need to go to DI and get one. I have a laundry basket for my plastic bags... I have TONS of bags! My paper is semi-organized in some file folders my mom sent me. I still have a laptop box filled with paper kicking around. I have my vinyl on the shelf in a closet so it doesn't bend. I have a box of frames in the other closet. My computer table looks like a paper store threw up on it. {That's why there's no picture!}

Little by little my area is getting organized. My problem is this : I have TONS of stuff, and little containers aren't enough for everything. It's a pain, but I can complete most crafts and ideas without even going to the store.

One thing you probably didn't know : I do not own an ironing board.

Love to those who can multitask {even if something else is doing ALL the work!} ;) ♥

opening up

2011-06-20T15:34:00.001-06:00

Ok, so I have come to realize that I'm outgoing-ish and kind of a nerd. I'm a follower, but I've always known that. Here is why I am the way I am.

I was born in 1987, with a heart condition. Transposition of the great arteries. Here's the easiest way to tell people so they understand. My heart was born backwards. In normal functioning hearts : the function of the right side of the heart is to pump the de-oxygenated blood from the body into the lungs. The left side pumps oxygenated blood from the lungs into the out to the body.
In my heart, the roles are reversed. The left side pumps the blood to the lungs and the right side pumps the blood to the body. Meaning my right side is doing really hard work it's not made for.

When I was 2 years old, (1989) the doctors went in and performed a Mustard procedure via open heart surgery. They created little traffic tunnels for my blood to flow thru so I would get the right amount of oxygenated blood to my body.

I went to the doctor's every year from then on. I always went to the Pediatric Cardiologist, there were no adult doctors for patients with my condition, because there were no adult patients with my condition.

Now, I'm 2nd oldest os 6 kids. I was born and raised in Wisconsin. We were raised in the LDS Church, and had come to enjoy going. In middle school, I kinda fell off the wagon, I guess you could say. I had no idea what I wanted to be or who I really was. I struggled for a long time. In high school, I had some good friends, but again, I was a follower. I did whatever they wanted me to. I had so much fun going out with them and staying out all night and drinking. In high school, I had figured out I wanted to work with computers, not just work with, but be a drafter. I dated a few guys who I thought I was in love with and who I thought was in love with me. (They proved me wrong, on both sides, BIG TIME.) I got my first tattoo just after I turned 18.

In 2005 I headed out West to go to BYU-ID, which I failed at horribly. I was asked to leave beacuse I didn't follow the Honor Code at all, due to drinking and boys. After getting kicked out, I moved in with my aunt in Utah for a few months. I got my 2nd tattoo while staying with her. Moved out to some of those month-to-month rent places until my car died in fall of 2006. I moved back home to WI.

In Spring of 2007, I got a job offer back in Utah. I drove back out West. I felt like I needed to be there. Like I was going home. I started going back to church. I knew I needed to change/fix things. I met a boy on a blind date. I thought we fell in love. Until I revealed my past to him, told him I wasn't ready to get married.

Summer 2007 : I started going to a single's ward, and met the boy who would forever change me for the better. We were night hiking (I don't hike, see heart condition above) and he went to the activity because a date cancelled on him. He has one of those personalities where you can't tell if the people around him are good people or if they're good people because they are around him. I wanted to a good people, so I started hanging out with him. One day at church, he jumped in my truck and asked for a ride home (2 blocks away). We exchanged numbers and started dating.

Early 2008, we went snowboarding (which I am still not good at) and he asked me to marry him. In November of 2007, I had my first Temple trip in over 4 years. I was ready to marry him. I said yes. He knew everything about me. I told him right away about my tattoos and how I was working on going back to the temple. He understood, and held my hand and gave me a hug. He said he loved me for me, for everything I was and everything I am.

In June of 2008, we were marriend for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple (every out-of-Utah Mormon girl's dream is to get married in that temple), surrounded my his family and mine.

In Fall of 2008, 3 months after getting married, I went in to the doctor's because I had had a migraine for a solid month. I wanted to figure out what was going on. They did a bubble study (where they shoot a tiny amount of tiny bubbles into your vein to see how they flow thru your heart) some of the bubbles went one way and a few went a different way. That's how they discovered I had a hole in my heart.

In early 2009, I went in for my 2nd open heart surgery. I didn't have a 3 CM hole like the doctor's thought. The hole ended up being about a 2 IN gap in between the chambers of my heat. (So, NO blood was NOT pumping to the rest of my insides.) They fixed it.

In March 2011, we found out I'm pregnant with our first child. After a little bit of a heart scare in May (atrial flutter, resulting in a electric shock of my heart the day before Mother's Day) everything is perfect. My heart is fine, baby boy is doing good.

Yesterday was our 3 year anniversary. Everything we have gone thru, all my medical issues and past mistakes on both sides, we have such a strong relationship. I could not imagine being where I am right now, if I had married anybody else. He is my everything and I need him.

You know how people always say "I don't know where I'd be today if I didn't have the gospel." I know exactly where I'd be. I'd be sitting in a bar, my mom would be watching my kids, and I'd still be searching for someone to really love me. I know exactly how my life would have turned out.

I believe in second chances (or 3rd or even 4th!) because that is what I got. I believe in having to figure out what makes you happy first and formost, before you can even think about making someone else happy. You have to love yourself before you can love anybody else. The easiest way to be happy and love yourself is to know that the Saviour loves you, no matter what. I found the path I'm supposed to be on, and I'm grateful that Shark is on this path with me. I believe in me.

So there, that's me opening up. That's my story. That's why I am the way I am.

Love to all who have their own story! ♥

Snips and snails

2011-06-15T20:21:00.000-06:00

and puppy dog tails...

So, we're having a boy!

We're pretty excited.

Shark gets a hunting and fishing companion, and I get a mini-Shark! ♥

But now, I just have to figure out some cute boy crafts to start making.....

Oh I know they're out there, those crafts are, and I will find them, have no fear.

Love to all who were impartial ♥

Paint Job DONE

2011-06-06T13:55:00.000-06:00

Ok, so we finished painting.

Leaf green and snot green.

I love it.

Shark says it's totally me. {Whatever that means!}

Pretty sure our kids are either going to LOVE green or HATE green.

Apparently, my love of the Green Bay Packers, is way more deep-seeded than I ever imagined....

Love to all who think adding a coat of paint, could really change the world. ♥

painting and saving

2011-06-02T09:30:00.000-06:00

Ok, you know how everyone and their SIL is trying to save money these days? Trust me, it's happening! Well, our cell phone plan is kinda pricey {at least I think so!} and I called them to see about getting a cheaper plan with the bundling and what not they've got now. No dice. We have this magical plan that they stopped doing. Remember the MyFaves plan, and how big that was, and everybody had a Faves plan, some even went up with 20! Well, apparently, we're like the last people on the planet to have a Faves plan and it makes our plan cheaper than what they can offer us.

So, to get the next cheapest plan, we'd have to bump up by about $20. Not happening. We'll just continue paying and talking. He did say, if we cut down on our minutes used by 500 each month, we'd be able to bump down in price.

I'm pregnant. I don't forsee us cutting back on minutes anytime soon.

Looks like we're just going to eat Mac-N-Cheese for a month to save money. I don't mind in the least!

Oooohh! I started painted yesterday! Last week, my work schedule was filled up completely! Then they cut some hours and now I've got 3 days off in a row! I decided to paint the nursery!

Radioactive Snot Green!!

I've just got 1 coat on, I'm doing and 2nd coat today.

Then tomorrow it's going to be the stripes in the darker green.

I'll post pictures along the way. I've got all kinds of ideas for the room, and I have most the stuff I want to put in it. I'm just searching for a few more things!

Love to all who love to paint! ♥

no ambition

2011-05-20T21:30:00.000-06:00

So, I have been a major slacker lately. Seriously, I haven't even gone to work. I've been resting in front of my TV for the past week.

I have thoughts every now and then to get up and do something useful or creative. But... that's all these thoughts are.... THOUGHTS.

I have no ambition. For anything. Not even crafts!!! I have a slight idea why.

I'm :

On blood thinners. {Blood thinners carry less oxygen at one time to your body.}
On a heart rate regulator. {Your heart beats slow.}
Cooking a child. {Ok, building or whatever. But still!!}

Lately, I have just been exhausted.

I'll tell you one thing. THESE

are the bane of my existance. Twice a day.

And they make me hurt {yes it hurts, not so much the stabbing in, but once in, and the fluid ejected, it feels like it turns into 7 other needles. Rubbing doesn't help!}

And these shots make me bruise bad.

I really didn't try to poke out my belly, apparently it just does that now.

Good news : The doctor said I only have to take the shots for another 2 weeks! They said they keep patients on blood thinners after shocking their heart into a normal rhythm for 4 weeks. So YAYYAYAY! I'm not placing bets or anything, I'm just hoping really hard they don't renew that presciption!

Good news : I'm 13 1/2 weeks and haven't had major morning sickness. I haven't really been feeling pregnant at all, aside from being tired and starting to get pudgey. Oh and my back has hurt {hips really} since we found out I'm pregnant. {what's up with that?!}

Good news : I'm back to work at the Trading Post. It's been good. Slow cuz it's summer now, but good.

I figured I'd share my pictures with you. I'm sorry I've been a bump on a log lately.

Love to all who are thinking of us, we are thinking of you! ♥

Ooh Baby Baby!

2011-05-09T11:40:00.000-06:00

On Wednesday before all the heart excitement, we were excited for another reason. I had my first ultrasound. We saw baby move and wiggle!

We saw little feet and a little nose.

The pictures aren't the greatest {there were better ones she took} but this is what we got.

On Saturday, the nurse came in with a Doppler, and we heard baby's heart beat! We are so very excited for baby!!

Love to all moms and moms-to-be out there! ♥ Happy Mother's Day!

Hospital-ness

2011-05-07T07:46:00.000-06:00

Ok so today is Friday. I've been in the hospital since Wednesday after my OB appointment and after my cardiologist appointment. They admitted me right after my appointment. I have an atrial flutter they're worried will result in a clot which is NOT a good thing in any situation.

They have started me on a blood thinner called Heparin, which is totally safe for baby and me. They've also got me taking a heart rate regulator called Sotalol, also safe for baby and me. My heart rate has already dropped back to a safe and normal level, all of us are happy about that.

Yesterday they did an ultrasound thru my throat. They sprayed my throat with Lidocaine {tastes how cleaners smell} and that's all I remember from that. They tell me I had to swallow the ultrasound camera and they tell me I got really really funny. I got back up to my room and was perfectly fine. I felt good the anestesia wore off right away. No clot was found so they started me on the sotalol.

So far it's been kinda boring. Which is good, we don't want anything exciting to happen while I'm here. The heart flutter is exciting enough. I've been watching tv for a few days just having the doctors watch me. Also there is nothing good on around noon. Trust me.

Sharkhas been hear with me at nights, which is an awesome thing. He has been an amazing and wonderful. I love him so much and I couldn't do this without him.

Now for some awesomeness: how about baby pictures?

Love to all who have been thinking about us.

Sunday Surprise!

2011-05-02T15:40:00.000-06:00

*WARNING : This post is scary, BUT EVERYTHING IS FINE!!!*

OK, so be sure to reread the warning if you start to get concerned. Trust me, I've already had to. Here goes my story.

Sunday morning, Shark and I got up, and I started making scones (by started making, I mean I took the frozen rolls out of the freezer and put them in the oven to "fast thaw". We cooked them together, made our honey butter than watched some Scrubs.

Around noon, I took a bath, and got out around 12:30. When I stood up, my vision went all white, and I got dizzy. I went into the bedroom, and noticed my heart was beating way way fast. Like faster than I can remember it beating. I called Shark away from his game of Metroid to come and take a look.

He came down, and my heart was still going crazy. I laid down, he took my pulse, and after about 5 minutes, my heart rate went back to normal. I stood up to find some clothes for church and my heart started going crazy again. After I laid back down, Shark asked me what I wanted to do.

Now, I'm not a panic-er, but I really felt like we needed to go into the hospital. Shark agreed, and he got everything ready for us to go. He even carried me up the stairs. We got in the truck and headed to the hospital that's 2 blocks away.

We went to the ER {it was Sunday} and sat down and talked to a nurse. My heart rate was about 80 when I was talking to her, and then just as she was going to take the 'finger pulse thing' off, it jumped up to about 160. They put me in a wheel chair and took me in.

*WARNING : This post is scary, BUT EVERYTHING IS FINE!!!*

They put an IV in each arm, so I could get tons of fluids all at once. Then they came in and did and EKG/ECG to get my heart rate and a print of it. It was normal. Then I got up to go to the bathroom, when I came back, my heart rate was up again, they asked for another EKG/ECG and they took 2, the first was about 150, the 2nd was 211 beats per minute. {211 is NOT normal!!}

They had me lay there for a long time, then they had me go down and get an Xray. I came back, and my heart rate was up yet again. They sent me to get some mini-CT scan, each time I stood up, my heart rate went way up. Like I was running a marathon each time I stood up.

They called in an "electrical cardiologist specialist" who deals with heart rhythms. He checked out my chart and my EKG's. When he came in to talk to us, he said:

**Rapid heart rate is normal when dealing with Transposition of the Great Arteries patients who are pregnant. {That's me!!} He said if the bout of rapid heart rate lasts longer than 5 minutes, that is not normal and to get in and see someone. The rapid heart rate is NOT life threatening to me or the baby. And they would like to put me on something, but feel like the 1st trimester is NOT the time to do so. I will be fine until Wednesday when I see my cardiologist and OB's down in SLC.**

Then they discharged me, we went home, and Shark's family was there, cleaning up our house.

Even today there is still the rapid heart rate, but it is NOWHERE near what it was yesterday. Everything is fine, I'm watching TV and playing Nintendo, drinking tons of water and eating pizza {of course}. Things are good, but feeling like I've run a marathon totally exhausted me. So I've been relaxing all day. Everything is fine.

Shark started his summer semester today. He went to this class this moring, came home and took a nap {a day of worry is exhausting too!!} and now he's at work. There will be some relaxing days to come this week, where we will just be napping.

Everything is fine. And I'm not just saying this to hide anything, everything really is fine. I'm just exhausted. Nap time again!

Love to all who are thinking of us and who we are thinking of. ♥

Just blah

2011-04-28T19:19:00.000-06:00

Alright, so I've been MIA lately. And for no reason really. I've just been feeling Blah lately.

Part of it is : These days have been THE LONGEST DAYS EVER!
Another part of it is : Even though I'm not fat {and don't technically know how far along I am!) I hurt all over. Which is ridiculous! Totally ridiculous!!

I mean seriously! I'm not even showing and my back hurts all the time, and my hips have been in some crazy pain every time I walk!

I'm not tryin to be a whiner-49er, but dude, this stinks.

And I went out and bought a huge bottle of Zantac because I've got heartburn like I ate buffalo wings, 3 burritos, and some nachos. Ugh.

I did buy paint. so we can get started on the nursery. It's going to be the same color for boy or girl. Green. Jungle theme. I've had the idea for a while, and told Shark, and he's down with it.

But Shark and I did buy a memory foam mattress top. Which is freaking awesome. I love it. ♥

I have also been taking Bandit for walks some days when I get off work early. Today we went to a new little park and he ran and ran and ran! I just walked around. It was pretty awesome.

Well, that's what's been going on lately. Much love to all who are just dealing! ♥♥

eating things and Easter

2011-04-25T11:45:00.000-06:00

So, we've come to discover that we have such a weirdo little dog. While Shark was digging the garden (which was ALOT of work) Bandit was out there "helping" him. I got some video.

He eats dirt.

And he whines whenever Shark uses a shovel.

He's a pretty funny puppy dog. After a while, I would lock him in the house, so Shark could get some work done. He hated it, and was running from every window to every door, trying to get out. I don't know if he thinks we were having so much fun or what, but he loved "helping" in the garden.

Yeah helping.

We also discovered that he eats plants.

He has some flowers inside the yard that he likes to nibble on.

Easter this year was a pretty good deal.

Shark got peanut butter eggs and Cadbury carmel eggs.

Girl got cookies and cream bunnies and Cadbury cream eggs.

Bandit got bubbles and some rawhide.

Then we went over Shark's parents' and got even more candy! Now to clean up all the mess from the wrappers!!

Sprouts and beds

2011-04-23T09:05:00.000-06:00

So, I started a garden a few weeks ago. I don't really remember when cuz lately all my days have gone SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO slow! But, I started the garden by planting the little seeds in cups. (Angie over at Angie's Creative Corner gave me the idea.) She didn't post it, because she's been doing the same type of "crafting" that I have been lately... But once my little seeds turned into kind of big sprouts, Shark and I planted them outside.

Before we could plant them though, Shark had to rip out some bushes, and part of a fence, build another part of a fence {the Bandit escapes!} and then turn over all the dirt.... It was so much work, and my husband is amazing!! ♥

So our garden is planted, and we even watered it! We're well on our way to eating some good fresh food this summer!!

Also, I've found that my back hurts. Already! I don't know what the deal is, but I guess it's "spacing" - my body is making room for the baby. Ugh. All I can say is I'm not even showing yet and my body is shifting! It kinda sucks. I walk like an old woman. My hips always hurt and my back hurts! So.... Shark and I bought a memory foam mattress off eBay.

I love getting mail, but this mattress is so exciting! I can't wait!! It says it should be there this week!! Yayay!

Egged!

2011-04-19T22:00:00.000-06:00

So Shark and I egged people last night. It was pretty dang fun.

I made some cookies yesterday. I made my Sugar Cookies, and my basic buttercream. But then, just for kicks, I put a yellow chocolate flavored melt-disc somewhere on the cookie, to make them look like eggs!!

I put the eggs on plates, and got those ready for delivery.

I had a whole bunch of plastic eggs left from my egg wreath (and my announcement to my parents!) and put jelly beans in them. I taped the eggs shut since the dollar store eggs don't always close securely.

Then last night, after we were done hanging out with Shark's mom, we terrorized the neighborhood. Actually, we terrorized quite a few neighborhoods. None of our friends live close to each other!

But, it was pretty fun to put the plates of cookies and the little plastic eggs on their porches. I'm not being as sneaky as I was when I Heart Attacked some of our friends. First of all, this idea is way cute! And it was lots of fun!

So, yes, it was us. And yes, we are just that sneaky.... Muahahahhaahhahaha!

not really cravings...

2011-04-18T21:34:00.001-06:00

So, today, Shark and I were talking. And I interupted myself and said, "Ooh, I could really go for a KFC bowl, with the mashed potatoes, corn, chicken and gravy... mmmhhmm.."

And Shark replied with, "I don't think you're having cravings, cuz your just listing off things you already like."

I thought about it.

And it's true.

I haven't been craving anything I don't already like (pizza, steak, buffalo wings, pizza, mashed potatoes, pizza, and salad) but it just seems that lately, I want it all. All the time.

It could just be that, yes, I am pregnant. Or it could be, that being pregnant is my excuse for eating whatever I want, whenever I want. Yeah I think the 2nd one is right. (I'm pretty sure I've already gained 10 pounds, which is almost impossible for me normally....)

Shark is convinced we're having boy cuz of things I want to eat.

But aside from being either 1) starving or 2) so full I'm about to expode, ALL THE TIME, I feel pretty good. I haven't been throwing up or anything. But it is just 1 or 2. No medium, no "Oh, I just feel good..." It's either FEED ME or ROLL ME OVER!

I've been trying to stick to the pregnancy diet in my What to Expect When You're Expecting book, it's hard cuz I don't usually have 3 full servings of green leafy vegetables in my house as any given time. Plus, if I leave bananas on the counter, my dog eats them. Weirdo.

But I have been so good about drinking water lately. I have to get up in the middle of the night EVERY NIGHT. And I try to eat a bowl of cereal or a sandwich or something every morning. {If I don't eat something in the mornings, I buy junk food from work, and junk food makes me feel like a punk and get fat.}

I'm hoping it stops snowing {that's all I want, is it to stop snowing!} so I can take the Weirdo dog for a walk every now and then. I have some books on the iPod that I can just plug in and go. So, please, stop snowing.

That's the run down of it all lately. The days are going to slow. It's kinda awful. ♥

Not a Jimmer

2011-04-14T10:00:00.000-06:00

Ok, sorry to dissapoint the entire state, but not all children born in 2011 will have the name Jimmer. Not going to happen, and if it has to stop with me, oh well. I'm not crazy with Jimmer-Fever, so it's not even an option. We joke about it, but it is far far FAR from being serious. Now Aaron Rodgers.... That's a name I could consider...

My brain is alreayd all wrapped up in baby stuff. What we need, how I want the room to look, the theme, what I could make, where to get the best deals. I woke up this morning thinking about the nursery, and how I am going to get the stripes *just right* and I had to go talk to Shark about it. I also have all kinds of ambition to clean the house and get organized. But where am I? Blogging. See how far my ambition took me? Up to my craft room to stare at my computer and all my stuff. Yeah... Although I do have a list of things to-do for today. I just have to find it.

We're both pretty excited, considering we don't really know how far along I am. Yeah, we're still guessing. And we won't know until the first Wednesday in May. That's when I have my next appointment. They should be able to measure the rice bean. I haven't been really sick. My stomach is always in knots, like I'm about to throw up, but I haven't. So we're knocking on wood that this continues in the fashion that it is. And in the mean time, I am following my What to Expect when You're Expecting book.

I will post about things I make and updates on the rice bean. :)

Love to all who love rice. ♥

Different kind of crafting

2011-04-12T02:26:00.001-06:00

Ok, I've been avoiding Blogger, posting anything, calling anyone, or even being on Facebook. I've been acting like I have nothing to say, like nothing is happening.... When really, I have so much I have to tell you!! I have had a secret for a little over a week, and it kills me to not say anything. Seriously, it kills me! I hate having secrets kept from me, but I hate keeping secrets more!! Trust me!
I have been avoiding Blogger because I feel I can't keep it in anymore!

Shark and I are going to have a baby!

I started the glucophage in February hopefully to get my cycles going again, get my hormone levels back up. Well, I guess it started to get things going again, and then we ended up pregnant! We couldn't be more excited! But since the doctor's don't know when my last cycle was (I think it was December...) they just kinda guessed. They think I am about 7 weeks, maybe. We're not really sure. And it's too early to measure the little rice bean, so yeah... They haven't given me a due date yet cuz we're just really guessing.

I've got plans in my head of things we want, how I want the nursery to look like. What I have to do to clean it out, and where everything is going to go. I posted the news on facebook a little while ago, yeah everybody is pretty excited, but not as much as Shark and I are!

Now, to make more pizza!! ♥

Making things cute for my house

2011-03-28T10:02:00.000-06:00

I've seen tons of these jars, well, canister sets.

And I decided to add some color to my white set.

Here is my set BEFORE.

And AFTER!

I couldn't just do 2 colors! I had to do all 3! Ready for a close up?

That's what I got done last week. Little did I know, that my SIL Heather put vinyl on some of her containers, she used brackets too. :)

I also made another jean skirt. I added lace to the hem on this pair. It's so cute. I love my new shirts! ♥

Love to those who are so busy being bored, they can't find time for anything... ♥

Good deeds

2011-03-23T11:48:00.000-06:00

So, this morning, Shark woke up and started getting ready. We let Bandit out of our room (well, we didn't LET him do anything, he just does it) and he went upstairs and started barking at the door. I walk upstairs, peek out the window. There's a truck in our driveway {No, not our trucks!}!!! I run downstairs (I was in my pj's!) told Shark who went upstairs and no one was there. After I decided to get up (about 2 hours later) Shark had left for school, and I checked the mailbox, thinking if someone was in our driveway, they probably dropped something off and put it in our mailbox. And there, in all it's awesomeness, was Shark's ID cards for work. I didn't even know he lost them. I called him, and he said he lost them yesterday on his way to work and that he figured they were lost forever on the freeway. He already told his boss he lost them. So, thank you stranger who scared the crap out of our dog and me, thank you for bringing back his ID cards. Thank you for knowing where we live and being awesome and bringing them to us.

Ok, here I am, on my 3rd day off this week. I'm trying hard not to be bored out of my mind. Don't get me wrong there is plenty to do around the house, part of me is lazy, the other part just doesn't really want to do anything. For the past week, I've been hurting. Like cramp hurting. Which sucks but is also good. I wish the cramps would go away and everything would just go back to normal. I find solace (and no pain) in watching Netflix and cutting things out on my Cricut. {Speaking of which, why is it cutting sooooo slow?!} I also have my plans made for Christmas. Not things made, just the plans. I will hopefully get them done by Christmas this year. Again, I will be making them. I'm pretty excited. I'm glad I'm getting the ideas early this year. I have everything ready for Easter. I even made a new wreath on Sunday.

I have everything bought for our little baskets. I tired not to go crazy, I know Shark's family gets us an Easter Basket. So I got a few things for us.

Anyways, I gotta get cracking on somethings. Getting more plans together so I can just sit down and work. :)

Love to all who wake up early even tho they don't like it. ♥

What a week

2011-03-21T14:40:00.001-06:00

Ok, so for the past week or so we've been watching a friend's dog. Bandit has been so excited all week! All they do it play.

It's been absolutely crazy. If we thought Bandit was sneaky and smart, he is nothing compared to this new one. Daisy snuck out no matter how hard we tried to keep them in.

Daisy came with a kennel. And when Daisy started climbing on Bandit's bed, Bandit climbed into the kennel.

They were pretty cute.

Shark put in the garage door this week. It's been a pretty crazy week. It's been raining and windy all week. But the doggies have been cute and somewhat good.

Today I was driving around town and stopped at WinCo food, I got some bulk food, which is awesome because it's cheap and I get tons of food!!! Right around the corner from WinCo is this vinyl place. I've been meaning to stop in and check out their vinyl. I got tons of scraps.

I got all this for $20. Freaking awesome! I put my shoe in there so you could see just how awesome it is.

Jean Skirt

2011-03-11T08:40:00.002-07:00

I have long dreamed {envisioned, if you will} of making a pair of jeans into an awesome skirt that I would love forever and ever. Plus, it's totally one of my goals!! Woot woot!

TA DA!!

You need :

Jeans (that still fit around the waist & butt)
Seam Ripper!!!
Sewing machine
Thread, matching or contrasting, it depends on how *flashy* you want it.
Scissors

First thing first!

Measure up the hem of the jeans to a length that is good to work with. This is NOT the final length. I measured up 12 inches. Draw a line across the legs of the jeans with a pen, and CUT the legs off.

Now to rip stuff :

Ok, turn the pants inside out, find that inside inseam, (the inseam is the seam that goes from inside ankle to crotch.)

and start ripping.

Now turn the pants outside out, and start ripping that next seam!

Ok, there is a THIRD seam, go attack that one too.

Rip all the INSEAMS on both legs!

Now, you're going to want to rip open the front seam. Rip it up to the bottom of the zipper. Don't destroy the zipper, that's still needed. And flip over the jeans and rip the back seam up to the belt loops/pocket hem.

This needs to be done so the jeans will lay flat.

Now that your jeans are completely open. Go get the legs you cut off, and start seam ripping those. Start with the bottom hem.

I ironed my seams flat, it makes them easier to work with, I highly suggest it.

Once your entire denim material is flat as can be, put your "flattened leg" under the open "leg seam". Pin in place. {I centered my leg seam with the peak of my open seams}

Next, start sewing outside out, so you know where the edge of your seam is. I used white, cuz ~~I had white on my machine~~ I'm flashy.

Flip it over, flatten out the crotch crease and pin in place then pin the "flattened leg" out under the open seam.

Sew up the back!

**I double-stitched. I make 1 running stitch on the edge of the seam, and then did another one just inside the first one.

You'll probably have excess "leg" on each side of your skirt. Find a length you like, and trim the extra length off. If you have a skirt that you LOVE where it falls, length-wise, use that one to measure the length of the skirt you're making. (I used my old jean skirt, I lowered it a bit for a better length.)

Flip it inside out and trim off the extra demin on the inside.

Make sure everything looks good inside out, and double check the hem, make sure it's what you want.

Now, put in a running stitch to hem it a little. I again, did a double stitch.

Now you're totally ready to rock your skirt!! I'll post a picture once Shark gets home to take one of me!

Love to those who try new things, and find out they aren't as hard as you imagined!! ♥

Fondant and a week

2011-03-06T20:42:00.001-07:00

So, I've had plans to make fondant for a while. And it's been on my mind more lately, well, ever since my niece's 1st birthday. My SIL made a cake for my niece with fondant snowflakes. So I picked out a few recipes for fondant, and picked the easiest/quickest one. If I have learned anything in my baking and making, it is this :

NEVER USE THE EASIEST RECIPE!

It never works out. And in this case, it was true. The recipe I used sucked big time. BUT! I made fondant, and for the most part, it worked the way fondant is supposed to. Mine was more pliable and flexible, droopy, and heavy than I wanted it to be. I would have liked if it held it's form better, more of a sheet of paper than a wet washcloth. It filled in every crevis and divot in my cake, and let's be honest, I'm not THE best at frosting cakes.

And, my stove cooks things oddly. {Now I'm just making excuses} My stove leans forward, so all my cakes (and cupcakes) are lopsided, and I still haven't figured out how my oven cooks. Sometimes things need more time, and others times I burn stuff! It's awful.

So, it really has been a while since I blogged. For some reason, I just haven't been feeling like blogging. {Weird, I know} But lately, it's just been work and clean. Shark has decided to start working late again. We have discussed it, and decided it was best to work hard now, so later in life we can take it easy {please cross your fingers for us!} Also, it feels like we can't go anywhere {ok, I can't go anywhere} without spending money. So, I have been staying at home, watching TV and trying not to feel too lame and useless. Someday I rock at not feeling lame, others, eh, I don't even worry about getting dressed.

I just started taking the medicine twice a day, and I'm still not used to it yet, so my stomach still hurts and I still get dizzy and feel tired. So, yeah sitting in front of the TV and making food (I try to make dinner every night, even if it's mac'n'cheese.) is the perfect way to spend a day. Hopefully as I get used to the medicine, I'll start to feel more like myself.

Also, like usual, we're trying to get a hold of our finances. For some reason, month after month, we still cannot seem to grab our bank account by the reins. It really is frustrating to have more month at the end of the money, even after we keep setting a 'game plan.' I took out my Dave Ramsey book {AGAIN!} and have it next to my bed. I found a "One for the Money" pamphlet at my in-laws, and am going to read thru it and apply it. I keep feeling a prompting to go to Provident Living.org and work on that site to get things figured out. Shark and I have made a pact to stay within the budget.

Here's to making things work. Love to those who keep trying... ♥

So blue

2011-02-26T09:43:00.000-07:00

GREEN and ORANGE!!

Ok. In our house, we have a little bit of space above the cupboads. I have been trying to figure out what I want to go up there. I was thinking holiday stuff, but then came the thought : Then I have to change it for every season.... AND buy stuff for every season to go up there! Nope. I was at the Post quite a while back, and they had these orange green and blue soup mugs, I bought them. They had these orange green and blue mixing bowls, I bought them. Then it started happening all over the place. Orange green and blue things I just HAD TO HAVE! So I bought them. The theme of my kitchen is : Blue green and orange! I think it's way cute! This last go-round, I think I finished it. I went to the Dollar Tree and bought loaded up on Orange Green and Blue items. I went to the Dollar Store on Tuesday. Call it depression or what ever you want, I had to get stuff. So here is a peak at my kitchen.

Soup mugs.

Giant Clothes Pins.

Family Plate.

Cutting Boards.

Boxes.

Mixing bowls.

Measuring cups.

Ice cream cups.

Tumblers.

Just the tops of the cupboard are done, I have a few more things to go up around the room, but we're not to that point yet. I would still like to paint the partion wall and get a desk.

Pretty sure I love my kitchen! It's so much fun!

That's just a peak for now! This a random post, I am working on something, but it is taking me FOREVER!! I'll post when it's done. Hopefully.

Love to those who love snow, and those who would love to send it someplace else. ♥

Dr visit

2011-02-23T09:37:00.002-07:00

Ok, so I debated posting this little bit of news. As most of you know, {ok, really anybody that talks to me knows!} Shark and I are trying to get pregnant. And I went to the doctor's office last Monday (Valentine's of all days!) and got a whole bunch of blood drawn and all the good stuff. I feel good about this doctor, he was sincere with his concern when I told him about our situation. Ok, it's not really a situtation. Here's the little story : we haven't exactly NOT been trying to get pregnant since we moved back to Utah last March. Not really trying but not really trying to prevent it either. So, this doctor was concerned that we have been off contraceptives for a year and not conceived yet.

Well, doctor called yesterday to give me some news. Well, there are 2 hormones girls need to get pregnant LH & FSH. Normal levels are 1/1. Mine are at 16/6. He ran thru some info, and said with levels high like mine and with the symptoms I'm showing, I most likely have PCOS (Polycystic ovary syndrome). So I immediately looked it up on Wikipedia. {That's where the link goes too} It says that having a PCO no long defines PCOS, but it's a symptom. Meaning : women with a PCO don't always have PCOS, and just because you are diagnosed with PCOS doesn't mean you have a PCO. So, some of the symptoms of PCOS are : are obesity, anovulation (resulting in irregular menstruation) or amenorrhea, acne, and excessive amounts or effects of androgenic (masculinizing) hormones. So, I start on glucofage today.

Ok, so that being said. I am glad we have an answer. Rather than just not knowing. I'm glad we have a reason as to why we aren't pregnant yet, and that this doctor is taking care of it. :)

Tonight is the Blue & Gold Banquet for scouts. I got my new shirt yesterday! Yay!

Love to those who are on their way to finding the map! ♥

waiting...

2011-02-22T10:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a little story about a girl and teh credit that broke her heart. There once was a girl from Wisconsin, and she got a credit card. When she was living with her parents in the castle, she was careful with her money and her card. But, a dark day was coming, when she would no longer be under the protection of her parents, or their castle. That day came, she went to college and she thought she was still smart with her money, she was buying smart things, like groceries and smooties and tanning packages. She figured, I can just charge it, I won't have to worry about paying this until I'm old, or my awesome parents will pay it for me! Then things got worse, and she was abover her credit limit, way above! And it looked like things at school were ending, and she had to move somewhere else. And this time she really NEEDED that money, but she didn't have it. {Darn tanning packages!} And just when she thought she was done, another credit card came in the mail! Oh joy! So she opened that credit card account as well. New money, now she could pay for gas to drive to work! Then after about 5 years of paying off this card moderately on time, she thought she finally has it under control, and for the most part she did. {Her parents bailed her out of a few other things, and she is eternally grateful, but those credit cards are hers to deal with...} She met a boy, who's only credit history was buying a truck, and eventually a ring. They eventually combined their credit, and that meant, they had low scores, his didn't really have a score and her scores were awful. But they TALKED about it, and now, 3 years after they met, they are getting these credit cards destroyed! They haven't touched these cards in years, and are using an awesome plan (Dave Ramsey) and some amazing friends to help them on their way. They are now down to 1 credit card, the card with the truck and the ring. And that is how they like it! The End.

Ok, so that is my little story about credit cards. I just sat on the phone for 30 minutes waiting to talk to someone about closing my account. Well, apparently, I was so abusive to this card, they closed it a few years ago. I said, pay the remaining $1.02, and get rid of that card account number please. Don't put any more interest on it, I'm done! Whoo hoo!! It feels so good! I have actually 1 card left, but that will be paid on the 28th, after we get paid on Friday. We've set up a budget, and I've got all of our stuff on auto-pay. But now we're just waiting. Waiting for everything to be paid off, and not worry about it any more!

The thing about waiting for it, is that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We're so close. And that's exciting!! We are almost done with it!

In the mean time, I've got a talk I've got prepare on Forgiveness. I talk this week in church, or maybe it'll be bumped to next week since we didn't have chuch last week!! Hmm, I'll prepare my talk anyway.

Love to those who are impatiently praying for patience. ♥

Early Day

2011-02-19T08:32:00.000-07:00

Well, since Shark bought the motorcycle on Thursday, he made plans with his brother Steve to go get it this morning. But, they made plans to go ice fishing first. Well, of course he got up at the butt-crack of dawn, yet again, and got ready to go. Well, it's raining, so the boys decided to stay here and play Donkey Kong Country Returns. Steve brought his dog. Bandit + Trigger = Trouble! The play really loud, and they run around and wrestle LOTS, so I'm sleeping downstairs, but not for very long cuz the dogs are crazy. The boys were actually really quiet this morning. So, I figured I'd get up anyways and burn my Books on CD to my iTunes. I'm also heading into work early cuz I'm going to buy stuff. :)

So, last week at church the topic was GOALS. (Our ward is very spread out in age. We've got the largest nursey in the stake, and the oldest average high priest age, which is weird cuz the 2nd counseler is in the High Priest and he's in his 30's....) We had one very old gentleman get up and talk about goals and then a newlywed man get up and talk about his goals. It just so happened, I brought my big list of goals. You know, the one that has been sitting in the left margin, mocking me for the longest time. Yeah... I didn't make any more goals, I made a list of ways to accomplish my goals, what I need to get these things checked off. So now, it's just a matter of sticking things on my mirror to make me remember. Some of the goals just need a little planning and prep, but all of my goals are abtainable. A few of the goals are like "Try to continue" and plan traditions and things like that, or making things for future people. For instance, #13, I got 2 library cards a while back. I figure if I can learn Italian for free, that would be awesome. I know it's probably going to be basic Italian, but basic is really all I'm looking for, for now. But I went to our local library's site, and they have an online sponsor for learning languages, called Mango Languages! It looks pretty legit, and I'm excited! Maybe I could even kill 2 birds with 1 stone, and work out on the Wii and learn Italian on the iPod at the same time!! Ehh!! I might be too ambitious for my own good. I figure I'll wait on that 2 for 1 thing, I have to start working out on the Wii first, right? But either way, what I'm trying to say is : My goals are within reach! And that is super exciting! We'll have Shark's truck paid off within a year! Plus, he just bought the motorcycle, and that means we can start fixing up the little red truck to sell that.

I was telling Shark last night, that everything just seems to be falling into place. But it's kind of a "don't see the forest for the trees" situation. When I look at each event individually, I go HUH?! But when I step back and look at it all as a whole (at least partial WHOLE) it looks all lined up. And I like that. I also like that it feels like we've got a game plan. In general, things are going good. :)

Love to those who feel in control of things, even if they really aren't! ♥

Thievery

2011-02-17T10:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm not even sure if that's how it's spelled but that how I'm spelling it. Today, Shark got up at the the butt-crack of dawn. Like seriously! He doesn't have his Physics lab today, so he had a free morning. He has been looking at motorcycles online for a week now, and been setting up appointments to go check some out. Well, this morning, he drove down to Orem (about 2 horus away) to look at 2 motorcycles. When he got there, those losers sold the bikes last night! I think I'm more mad than he is. He's annoyed. I asked him if he called them any dirty names (that's how I try to fix things by making it worse.) and he said no, he just scuzzed both guys. So, he told me that he is sitting at a McDonalds, using their Wi-Fi, to search for more bikes to look at. I'm mad those two jerks didn't call, send a text or anything to let him know, "Hey bro, I sold the bike you are driving 2 hours to look at." Ugh... Oh well.

Ok, so we paid off 2 credit cards (yayay!!) and now we're just working on the rest of our debt! I'm excited because it doesn;t look that far away. We just have to save our pennies, and shop smart. I've got plenty of crafty things here to make and do, so I really don't need to buy anything else. And I've been making things from what I've got. I've bought a few things, but not lots. I'm glad we've got a game plan, and that things are working out. I'll be excited once we get a motorcycle, that'll save us about $100 a month on gas, which right now, would be awesome!

Love ♥

Day off

2011-02-16T18:36:00.000-07:00

So, I've been having lots of days off in a row. I don't mind really. It means I can get things done. Or at least try better than I usually do. Well, I did (and am still doing) a truck load of laundry. The hard thing about laundry is putting it away...

Also, I've been crafting today. Granted, that seems to be all I do as of late, but it's fun, and I can craft AND watch TV at the same time! Awesome, I know! Well, a week or so ago, I cut out some filigree for my mom, but I also cut some other things at the same time.

I cut out KISS THE COOK. Anything I can do to solicit kissing from my husband is always awesome. He appreciates getting a "Free Pass" to kiss me anytime I'm cooking now. I had a piece of tile around the house (trust me, I have tons!) and some cute ribbon. I moved the clock over my stove, and after figuring out how to use just 1 piece of ribbon and a hook : I got it hung!

Remember that random frame I got? Yeah, the big one? I hung it on our green wall with orange ribbon (it doesn't clash near as much as it sounds like it!) I've been trying to find some awesome quote or hymn lyrics to put on the wall... Well, Shark and I were in church, and I was flipping thru the hymn book, and came across "True to the Faith"

and I absolutely fell in love with the chorus. "Soul, heart, and hand, Faithful and true we will ever stand." So I cut that out and put it on the wall today. I love how the "Ever stand" is outside the frame, and stands out! With a plus, this wall decor, plus my newly posted wall decor checks a goal off my list. #11 to be exact! Yay!

I also attempted to make a St. Patricks day sign, and I got the vinyl on. But once I put the clear coat on, the vinyl shriveled up, and it looks bad now... So I'll be figuring out something with that next week.

Oh, I had a doctor's appointment on Monday. He gave me some new things to try, and they took 5 vials of blood for testing. So we'll just have to see what's going down. I'm hoping to set up a dentist appointment for next week, yeah I'll keep you posted. Oh, here are the flowers that Shark got me foe Valentine's Day!

Love that boy!

Love to all who have successes among the failures!

Cereal Treats

2011-02-13T12:19:00.002-07:00

So, Shark and I had a hankering for something sweet and easy. Rice Krispy treats are by far the easiest thing ever to make. My only problem was : No rice krispies! So, I emprovised.

Ingredients :
3 Tablespoons butter
1 (10oz) bag of marshmallows
6 C Rice Krispies (or cereal)
1/2 C semi-sweet choclate chips

Directions :

In large sauce pan, melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Stir in chocolate chips.
Add cereal. (I used 4 C Corn Chex and 2 C Golden Grahams) Stir well until coated.
Spray 11x13 pan with cooking spray. Dump mix into pan while still warm. With buttered spoon, press mix down so it's flat and entire bottom of pan is covered. Cool, then cut!!

I melted just a little bit more butter, cuz the Chex and Golden Grahams are larger than rice krispies. Shark loved the added chocolate! These are definitly on the KEEPER list!!

Love to those who love chocolate! ♥

Bad Day

2011-02-09T21:07:00.000-07:00

So, today started out going good. I got to sleep in. :) Then as I was preparing for my day to really start (meaning, I had places to go!) I hit a bump, I sat in front of the computer ripping CD's so I could take the book back to the library. Yeah, my bad! Then, I got ready and in the truck, pulled into the library parking lot and turned to grab my bag of books. No books. Ugh! I decided to make my run for Jo-Ann's anyways, well, I ended up stopping at home first to get the books, I figured I'd hit the library on my way back home. I hit up Wal-Mart first, and wandered thru their Valentine's candy and the ridulously marked down aisles. I was crouching down looking at folders (10 cents!!) and I stood up too fast and was standing on my purse. Snapped the strap off! O-F-F!

My birthday purse!! I then went into Jo-Ann's, what I wanted was NOT on sale, boo. Then as I was driving past the library, my final stop! I heard a whole bunch of popping, snapping, clicking or something coming from under the passenger side of the truck (I thought it was gunshots! Silly me!) and I parked teh truck, got out to look. Only to find that my front passenger tire was leaking, I could hear it, and there was this thick metal wire in the tire!! Flat tire!!

So, I called Shark, he said my best bet was to try to drive it home since it was a sort of slow leak. Well, I took the scenic route home! Good heavens, I did NOT know that many streets did not connect thru! Well, I made it home, walked to scouts (2 blocks away) and my awesome amazing husband picked me up! I went in the house, to find my dog in the trash! Caught him!! Today hasn't been all bad, but it hasn't been all good either. One good thing for today is, we're having FHE tonight, since it hasn't worked any other night this week!

Ooh! We payed off a credit card last month!! Woohoo!! And by next month we'll have a paid off another one!! Yeah!!

Love to those who see the silver lining and to those who are the silver lining!

Stats

2011-02-07T21:35:00.036-07:00

So, did you know that on the Dashboard (of blogger) there is a STATS tab? If you have a blog I seriously suggest going to check it out. It's pretty awesome.

So I found out who visits my blog (not by name, but by browser!), which country they are from, and which site they came to mine from! It's pretty awesome.

I mean who would have thought that THIS blog had 529 visits last month alone?! (Ok, so the majority of that was me, checking on it to make sure it looks good, plus, I changed some stuff, so it was messed up a bit...) But this month will be different, I clicked the link that says "Don't track your own pageviews" so now, I will not be counted.

I can see where people check out my blog from! I didn't know this blog was a world traveler!! I think this is awesome!

And from May of last year, I've had 2,286 hits from the US, 87 from Russia, and 80 from the Netherlands!! That is freaking awesome!!

I think it's really interesting to see where people are visiting from, which sites they traveled from to get to mine.

I went back and clicked on some links, specifically the Russian search engine. I didn't even know my blogs was ranked!! NetworkedBlogs.com! Awesome!!

How about the stats for the past year?

Needless to say, I think it's all pretty awesome. That is my totally random topic for today.

PACKERS WIN THE SUPERBOWL!!

Love to those who love sports, but mostly, love football!!

just my luck

2011-02-01T01:02:00.000-07:00

So, remember me saying I would never change my background again! Well, adding a new blog = changing the background! Ugh! I messed everything up for a while. Also, I think the *free* website I set up so I could have my awesome font at the top kicked me out. Has it already been a year?! I might try expirementing with new fonts, just to keep that site from closing. Thank goodness no one else wants bryandmark.webs.com!! Woohoo!! Oh, and if you go to that site, DO NOT REGISTER or sign up, it's really just nothing, I'm not working on that one at all. It seriously is just for my fonts. :) Also this little font adventure took me longer than it should have, I thought I was smart and I skimmed/skipped ahead, and I ended up having to go back and read the ENTIRE things to make sure I didn't forget any steps! Oh, I was on KevinAndAmanda.com, searching out tips on making my blog cute, again. Now my brain hurts, and Shark's been sleeping for about an hour or so. Mmm, that means the bed is warm!!

Love to those who learn things from TV, for instance, C-4 smells like almonds. ♥

Stuffed French Toast

2011-01-30T17:08:00.000-07:00

I posted this on the craft blog this morning!!

Ok, so I love IHOP's stuffed french toast. Like, seriously LOVE IT! I decided to try my hand at making my own. I searched high and low for a recipe, and then I lost the recipe. So this is my homemade version of stuffed french toast.

What you'll need:
Eggs
Milk
Bread
Cream cheese frosting
cinnamon
Chocolate chips (optional)

Betty Crocker's cream cheese frosting recipe :

1 package (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1 Tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 Cups powdered sugar

In large bowl, beat cream cheese, milk and vanilla with electric mixer on low speed until smooth. Gradually beat in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until smooth and spreadable. Refrigerate any remaining frosting.

Source : Betty Crocker Cupcakes

So I made the frosting first, while my griddle was heating up (350-400 works great!!). I found about 1 loaf of bread (we found 2 bags of bread, neither were full or even half!).

I guessed at how many eggs we'd need (ok, I only had 6 in the house!) then I added milk (about 1/2 cup) for the french toast coating. Which was the perfect amount of eggs for the amount of bread I had. The number of eggs will go up if you use more bread.

Spread the cream cheese frosting on 1 slice of bread, put another slice of bread on top, then dunk it in the french toast coating. Then when the "sandwich" was coated completely, I put it on the griddle and sprinkled cinnamon on the side that was up.

Shark has been on a "cream cheese and chocolate chip" kick lately, so I put some chocolate chips in 2 of the sandwiches. He was grateful, and said they were amazing!

hen we flipped them over so the other side would cook. We then put the done toasts on a plate. Be sure to put the sandwiches flat on the plate, the frosting inside is "molten lava hot" and makes the bread slide all over.

Then, grab the milk, and the maple syrup (if you desire more sugar!) and dig in!!

Shark put maple sugar on his, I ate mine without, I was in heaven!!

Love to those who love copycat recipes for food they love! ♥

New Blog

2011-01-29T22:11:00.001-07:00

So, I started a craft blog. Collard Greens & Homemade Things! Something for just baking and crafts. That way, this one can be more "family stuff.' In the event we have kids, I'd want this blog to go private. That's not happening YET so don't worry. But here is the link to the new blog : http://www.collardgreenshomemadethings.blogspot.com/ Could I make it any longer? I could have, but some of you might forget it! I'll still post on this one quite a bit, especially stuff with friends and, of course, any news. In fact, the craft blog is probably just going to be a duplicate of this one, but less kissing. :)

I wanted a place to go nuts with the crafting and cooking. I figured I'd get started on a craft blog now, that way I don't have to delete or change lots of stuff down the road. The craft blog is not tied to this one at all. No links, nothing. :) I hope you enjoy both the blogs I've got.

Love to all who like reading and doing. ♥

Free Valentines Day Printables

2011-01-29T10:22:00.001-07:00

So, I put on my Facebook status : What is your favorite love song? I'm making Valentine's Day decorations... I got some responses back, and today, since I was up wicked early {Early for me!!} I searched those songs out and made them into printables!! I used Photoshop, although there is an awesome tutorial here : I am Momma Hear my Roar.

**The first 2 printables, Keep Calm and Kiss me AND Keep Calm and Love on, I DID NOT MAKE! I am not taking credit for them! **

I created my printables at 8x10. Just click on the picture, or right click to open a new window/page whichever is easier for you! {And yes, I really like that font!} Enjoy!

Keep Calm and Kiss Me!

Keep Calm and Love on!

My love - By Sia

I don't wanna miss a thing - Aerosmith

The promise - Tracy Chapman

I'm Yours - Jason Mraz

I want you to - Weezer

Bubbly - Colbie Callait

1 2 3 4 - Plain White T's

Are you gonna kiss me or not - Thompson Square

And last but not least, is the Subway Art printable I made :

I customized it when I gave it to the girls, this one says BOY & GIRL!

~~I'm going to check these right away. Let me know if any of the links don't work, this is my, uh, first time...~~
I checked them all, the links all work!

Love to those who love *free* things!! ♥

famous

2011-01-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

So, last night, I was making my Manicotti (which turned out awesome by the way!) and my sister called. "DO YOU HAVE CABLE?!?!" No I don't, but I have Netflix, why? "CUZ SCOTT DANGERFIELD IS ON AMERICAN IDOL RIGHT NOW AND HE IS AWESOME!! Sorry I missed it Scott. But, I YouTube'd it and found it and even linked to in on Facebook.

Yes, that is him! I know him! I dated him actually. He went to my Junior Prom with me.

See!! Ta da!!

So anyways, I had to post about him, because he MADE IT TO HOLLYWOOD!! I think I might just watch American Idol this year.... :)

Love to those who follow their dreams!! Even if you have to steal Steven Tyler's lipstick... ♥

nothing today

2011-01-25T22:35:00.000-07:00

So, today I did end up making cupcakes. Shark thought they were pretty dang good. I made Devil's Food cake mix, then once the batter was in the cups, I put a dollop of cream cheese with chocolate chips (and some sugar mixed in) in the middle. While they baked, the cream cheese mix sank to the middle. They were pretty delicious. So delicious in fact, all I did was sit around and eat them.

I watched a whole bunch of movies on our Netflix. And, Shark's folks got me Salt for my birthday. So I watched that. It really does end abruptly, like right in the middle. Now, I'm just waiting for Shark to get home. I kinda don't like days off. All I do is sit around the house. At least last week I got some library cards. This week, it snowed, and I hate snow. No, I hate cold. I went out in the snow, to get stuff for cupcakes, but that is it!

Oh well, all I know is that my head hurts right now. And I think I am going to go lay down before it gets worse.

Love to those who like making cupcakes and to those who like eating cupcakes. ♥

Store credit!

2011-01-22T09:55:00.000-07:00

So, I randomly get random texts on my phone. All the time. Last night as we were out to eat, I got this wierd little text from GameStop. The text said, Hey, if we're texting or calling you it's because you might have trade-in credit! So go to gamestop.com/credit! So I did! And I found out I have $13 in-store trade-in credit!! WooHoo!! How have I not known about this?!?! Unlike Shark, who has no clue when or why I would have trade-in credit, I know exactly when I went in and got credit! I don't know the date specifically, but I know everything else. So are you ready?

It was our first Christmas together, 2008, and we had gotten a duplicate game from my family. But if you recall, I had my heart surgery in Feb of 2009 {yeah, it's almost been 2 years!! wow!}so we were all nervous and planning for that, plus Shark and I worked super hard while we were in CO, so we didn't have time to go trade it in. Gamestop wasn't really close to where we lived. So when I had the surgery, my mom and Shark's brother Kurt came out to visit and help me out. On one of our field trips, we went to GameStop. Kurt wanted a new game, and I found it the perfect time to trade in mine. Kurt found a game, but I couldn't find something I really wanted, so that's why I have trade-in credit still. And, maybe, since we can't find our MarioKart Wii game, and Shark's parents's game doesn't work, and I can't keep borrowing Angie's, maybe we'll put that credit towrads MarioKart Wii!! yayayayay!

Tonight is Whitney's 1st birthday! I'm heading to the party after work, Heather asked me to take pictures. So here goes. On to work, my friends. I'll post some pics tonight!

Love to all who have just discovered that I'm a gamer, and to those who knew it all along! ♥

L O V E

2011-01-21T23:12:00.000-07:00

So, last night at craft night, we made these way cute LOVE frames. Super easy, and super cute. In fact, I was thinking of all kinds of ways to make them for ever season, until I fell asleep. :)

How cute is that?! Amy bought frames at Dollar Tree, and some tissue paper. We then Mod Podged on the frames and then scrunched up the tissue paper, so it is SUPPOSED to look crinkled and not straight! Then we added all kinds of cute details and embellishments!!

Yup. Way too cute! It just sucks that my bloggers is being a dork, and not letting me upload pictures correctly. What up Blogger?!?! Also, I just organized my photos and when I go to upload, the BROWSE doesn't reflect the changes/moves I made to my pictures!! Get with it!!

Pretty sure I'm in love with these frames. Now, I just need to find space to hang them....

Oh, and since my sister is now addicted to craft blogs, here's another one to try on. It's not really a craft blog, and I only found it 2 days ago, but she (whoever she is) has said something along the lines that she's not going to blog anymore. But seeing how it's a fake blog, I don't know if we can believer her or not. Seriously So Blessed!!

Love to all who come up with awesome ideas! ♥

Yes Yes No

2011-01-20T18:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, so today I went to the Weber County Library, I got a library card, helped a little girl find her mom, and an armful of books. I'm so excited!! In fact, I already finished 1 on the books I brought home. Yeah... Addicted, remember?!

I also went to the Davis County Library, and got a library card from them, too. Davis county has lots more eBooks and audio books on their site than Weber does. So that will help Shark out. He loves audio books. I brought home yet another armful of books.

So after 2 yes's today, I had a meeting with an Aflac agent, to discuss supplemental health insurance. {Basically, a premium is paid, and then during a hospital visit, the insurance company pays out a certain amount.} Well, in talking with the agent, we went over the underwriting, and apparently, you are supposed to answer NO to all the questions. Well, for each policy's underwriting, I answered YES to 1 question. "In the past 3 years have you been hospitalized for a consecutive of 5 days for congenital heart defect correction surgery?" Yes I have. How did they know?! They came out and asked me, and not in a general way either! It's like they planned it specifically so I could not get insurance!! Ugh!

Ok, so I know that's not really what happened, but it feels that way! Sometimes things just don't work out. But the supplemental health insurance was just for peace of mind, so I'm not so stressed about finances and money. We just need to make sure we budget everything, and if it's not in the budget, then we can do without it. Right?!

Now, on to craft night. I'll be sure to take pictures and post them when I get home.

Love to all who find being patient stinks and just because something is in the plans, doesn't mean it's what's going on. ♥

And books too

2011-01-19T23:18:00.000-07:00

Not only am I addicted to video games and digital things. I love books. Nay, I ♥ books!! I love Barnes & Noble. I love cook books, church books, kid books, self-help books, saving money books. {Although, I really did NOT like Twilight... I went to the movies cuz it was a girls night thing!} But, back to books. If I had the budget {which we all know that I DO NOT!!} I would spend $100 a month on books. And I would probably read them all too! While working in Colorado, I discovered AudioBooks. I fell even more in love! How awesome is it to work at a computer {or drive around like Shark did} and listen to books. We drove across WY listening to Harry Potter. It was amazing! Well, to save my budget, I'm getting a library card. The most awesome thing ever!! Oh sure, I'll take free books any day! {Cuz you know I love *FREE* more than anything, even books, even chocolate cake... Unless it's free chocolate cake...} Lately the books I've been getting have been cheap, but also useful. Like The $7 a Meal Quick and Easy cookbook. Or, 1,000 Easy Household tips. Or, the one I bought today : What to expect before you're expecting. {See that?! BEFORE!! That means : NOT YET!} But I did also buy the 4th book in my Peter and the Star Catchers series... But I have recently been reading Covenant Hearts, it's a good book about marriage and why we get married, not just for us, but for society. And how to tackle the changes and views of the world towards marriage. I'm always finding new recipes and cookbooks. I recently picked up a CrockPot cook book, and 2 Cupcake cook books. Hopefully, we'll be making some cupcakes soon. Shark will tell you he's been dying without cupcakes, and that is completely false.

So yes, I love books. And tomorrow I'm going to get a library card so I can enjoy books for Free!! Plus, that will also help increase our AudioBook collection. Shark loves AudioBooks. But yes, I really do think I'm addicted. But they help. When I'm reading, the stress goes away, and I have to focus on what's going on {or the message being taught} in the book. I can't concentrate on my life and the book at the some time, which is awesome. Everything else I do, I can think of other things while I do them, meaning, my brain never shuts off. Trust me, it's kind of awful. But reading helps me to ignore/forget what's going on. :) So bring on the books!!

Love to those who admit to being addicted to ridiculous things like books, or Wii. ♥

Addicted...

2011-01-17T23:51:00.001-07:00

So, I'm only pretty sure I'm addicted to the Netflix on our Wii... Facebook... and Blogger. Yeah. But only pretty sure. I was sitting there, watching the 2nd season of Cake Boss, when I got a text on my phone. {I knew it was a text cuz Optimus Prime told me to "Roll out!"} Well, it wasn't just any text, it was a Facebook notification. Saying a friend from CO {Jess!} posted something on her wall. It was a link to an article. About a non-Mormon lady who reads {well, can't stop reading!} Mormon Mommy blogs. Here is the link to salon.com for the article. And I of course started to read all the blogs she has named in her article. And I now cannot stop reading those blogs. Now I follow each of those blogs, plus my "usual" 20 blogs. Yeah... Too bad I'm not funny or really crafty. I mean I make stuff, but it's not really my idea... I did buy something today at IKEA, that IF my idea works, it'll be pretty awesome... Here's hoping!!

Ok, now if you need a laugh. Watch this. {Just remember to pause the music on the right-hand side!}

Even Shark laughed. Mostly at the Diversity part and the 18, clueless and baby-hungry part.

But my weekends have been pretty awesome. My Pack is 2 games away from the Super Bowl, and the Pats are out. Come on, Rodgers!! Woot woot!

Love to all who just have to go out and buy something, and all those who bleed green and gold! ♥

Making things

2011-01-15T22:16:00.001-07:00

So, Shark and I had a big dicussion about debt and money. So we came up with a plan. A plan, that really, we've had all along, just not come out and said it. At least I don't think we have... So, I am going to make a Game Plan board. Where we chart out the debt, how long until it's gone, where the money is going to go, and something big for each of us when we are out of it! Making things happen.

I was sorting thru my craft room. I found a whole bunch of gift cards in a box. I'm pretty sure these gift cards were given as wedding gifts. {Yes, that means we've been packing around gift cards for the last 2 and a half years...} Well, I called the numbers on the back, went to the websites and found the balance of these cards. We were pretty excited when I found $172 in gift cards! I found a Cabela's gift card, a Macaroni Grill. Applebee's, Wal-Mart giftcard and I found a coupon for free paint. So Shark and I planned a date day. We're heading down to Cabela's on Monday the 17th, because Shark doesn't have to go to school and he works at 5 that day. We're going to stop and get my free paint on the way down (I love FREE!! And I love paint!) then we're going to eat at Macaroni Grill. It's going to be a great day. Making plans.

One of Shark's friends is getting married. So I'm making them some wedding gifts. :) I love making gifts, but I love making wedding gifts. I love putting her new last name on something for their new home. I know how excited and how much I loved having my new last name all over my home. In my head, every new wife feels the same. :)

On Friday night, Shark went to the wedding reception for his friend. I didn't go, cuz I had to close at The Post. Well, I was turning off the highway, I was almot home, and while I was talking to Shark, he goes, "Can you do my a huge favor? Go and get a gas can and some gas, I'll start walking." He ran out of gas. Well, there is no short version to the story. The only gas can I could find was a 1 gal. Who needs 1 gallon of gasoline?! Really?!? Well, I went and filled it up, picked him up, and then we went back to the truck. Well, that 1 gallon of gas was just enough to get him to the on ramp. Not off the on ramp, just to it. So I went to get more gas, while he started pushing the truck. I found another 1 gal gas can in the truck and filled both up this time, it was enough to get him to the gas station. Then we went and got some IHOP. Thay have the All-You-Can-Eat pancakes. :)

Oh, and I found a box of walk decor. So i've been hanging that up all over the house. Here are the pictures from that!

Love to all who like being saved and like saving others. ♥

UnLazy!

2011-01-11T09:35:00.000-07:00

So, last night I finally moved my tree out of my living room. When I say moved, I mean all I really did was move it downstairs inton an "unused" room. I did NOT take it down, I did NOT remove any of the decorations. I just took it downstairs. And this is where it will stay, probably until next year, unless we need to use that room. And my first thought when I finally got it down there was : Hmm, I guess now my family will be able to see my tree. :) {Cuz they are coming out to Utah in July!!}

Also, here is the set of shelves Shark got me for Christmas. I got him to set it up in my craft room. Oh, and with all my birthday money, I bought containers and bins for my shelves. Now I just need to organize all my stuff.

In my devious plans to decorate my house and keep it clean-ish, I wanted Shark to set up our little "couple's table" for the front window. Then I could rearrange my little cube shelves around, and get my tables organized in my craft room.

And recently, I found some cups at the Trading Post, in the colors ORANGE GREEN AND BLUE! I was so excited when I found these, that I had to buy them right away. These cups have been shuffling around our house for about 3 weeks or so. Well, then I found another set of hooks at the Post, but with 5 hooks instead of 3. So I switched out the 3 hooks from the bathroom downstairs for the 5 hooks, Shark likes hooks. And I took the 3 hooks upstairs, Cuz I wanted my cups on those hooks. My sister-in-law Heather, gave me a sign for our first Christmas, it says our last name and Est. 2008. I hung that sign in my kitchen, and underneath it, I hung my hooks and my cups! I love it! It looks like someone with decorating skill did it!

Oh, and a while back at the Post, they had these frames on sale for $10. Not really sure why I needed one of those frames, but I did, and so I got it. Right now, it is just a blank frame hanging on our wall. I have a few ideas, but I just need to get off the couch and follow thru.

On my Ikea trip a while back that reaffirmed my love-hate relationship with the store, I bought some awesome mirrors, that have been sitting up in my closet for a while, and neither Shark or I really felt a need to put them up. Well, this past weekend, I wanted those mirrors, and our picture up in our room. Shark kindly obliged and put them up! I love them! He's the best husband ever!

Shark went back to school last week, it's been a hard 2 weeks for both of us. Shark's weeks have been hard because he's been walking to school early in the morning for his first class, he stays at school all morning, goes to his 12:30 class then walks him to eat a sandwich and then drive off to get to work at 3, then stays late each night. My weeks have been hard because work has been riduclously slow and that means hours have been cut slightly, but that's not the hard part, the hard part is sitting around the house with Bandit. I've been doing all kinds of laundry and folding and putting away. But it's hard being alone, and it seems like everytime I get in the truck, I spend money, and we can't have that! So basically, my weeks haven't been that hard, just kinda boring. There are plenty of things for me to do, I jsut need to prioritize. :)

Love to those who are lost in their own boredom... ♥