The craft blogs of the moment

OH MY GOODNESS!! I have found so many MANY MANY awesome craft blogs! I am so much in love with each and everyone of them! There are so many new things I want to try! My brain is in overload because of all these ideas!! Even ones for little kids (and I don't even kids!!) Here are the ones that I LOVE!!

http://craftrookie.blogspot.com/

http://www.bedifferentactnormal.blogspot.com/

http://bitsofsunshine.typepad.com/bits_of_sunshine/
http://brassyapple.blogspot.com/

http://creationcorner.blogspot.com/

http://modpodgerocks.blogspot.com/

http://makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/

http://notsoidlehands.blogspot.com/

http://mmmcrafts.blogspot.com/

http://oopsicraftmypants.blogspot.com/

http://www.quiltdad.com/

http://craftycupboard.blogspot.com/

http://cuegly.blogspot.com/

http://thecreativecrate.blogspot.com/

http://kari-youcanmakeit.blogspot.com/

http://www.vanessachristenson.com/

http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/
http://theidearoom.blogspot.com/

Love to all- bry and mark

Now - with MUSIC!!

So I found this cute and cool new blog and on her blog she had music! So I scopped around and found the music player, and went to http://www.mixpod.com/ and created my own!! Yay!! It was so easy and FREE! Woot! (On her blog, she's got pictures, and she had THE cutest wedding dress ever!! It is absolutely gorgeous!!) yeah for music, and yay for the player - it's totally a Nintento paddle!! LOL!

Love., bry and mark


**The music player will eventually start, the quality and speed of the start will depend on the internet connection. (i.e : at work, I have excellent internet, and it connects right away, and I can hear my wonderful songs perfectly, at home, the internet is kinda shotty, so the songs start late and break often. Thank goodness for iTunes!!) This has been bugging me at home, sorry if it's bugging you too. :P

New craft completed!! AND a flood of new ideas!!

Hello for today! I have been crafting all weekend! I found this blog about Mod Podge!! And on this site, they create tons of things using Mod Podge, which I have recently fallen in love with. I found this recycled weave box, which I think is just about THE best idea ever!! (I bought some of the 3x3 shelves from Target, and you can buy these 12"x12" cloth boxes/drawers that go in them. Well, I have TONS of magazines around the house, about a year ago, I got duped into this National Magazine Exchange thing (chance of winning $1.2 million!) yeah, so I signed up for 12 magazines each month for the next 4 years or something... SO.. yeah, TONS of magazines aroung the house! And rather than just keep throwing them out and breaking our trash man's back and killing tons and tons of trees for no good reason - I decided to recycle those magazines into a 12"x12" weave box!! I've got some in-progress pictures, and even though at the time of the start of this post, it is not yet complete, I plan to go home and finish it up before bed! (We're at Gerrit and Angie's.... yes, again!) So, we'll just have to see how this turns out... I can't really wait until this is finished so I can see how easy it is, and how well this recycle box fits into my shelves... I have tons of these shelves, so if these boxes fit, I can totally make more!! Woot woot!!

Ok, so here are the steps I took to complete this Weave Box : I ripped apart one of my millions of magazines (I pick Glamour cuz I had 2 lying around and cuz it's the biggest), then after I ripped the pages out of both magazines, I started folding each page, into little strips. Then, stuck about 10 to little strip of paper, and then started weaving more little strips perpindicular to to 10. So, I ended up with 5 squares of weaved magazine (just like those placemats you made in kindergarten!!) And then put a handle on one of the sides (not the bottom!!) and then taped it all together. I was pretty proud of myself, until I tried to put the drawer into my awesome 3x3 shelves. Yeah, it don't FIT!! Dang it! I promise I measured it... maybe... I think I just held up one square and guessed that it would fit. Now this just goes to show, if it's my trial run of a project, I usually just run with it, and everything goes to pieces, sometimes the pieces come together, more often, the pieces just don't add up.... SO - I've got this awesome weave drawer made out of Glamour magazines, and it's just going to sit on top of my even awesome-er 3x3 shelves!! Maybe, I shall try again, but this time I will : 1: Measure measure MEASURE!! 2: not use such a BIG magazine.. and 3: make sure each square is the same!!

Ooooh!! But I DID finish something way cool! Rememeber those gum wrappers I've been saving?! Well, I went to Wal-Mart today and bought a $1 vase (I know, I have a TON of vases around the house, but I really really wanted a cylinder one, and it was cheap, and it's a first try!!) And I MP'd those wrappers to the vase! It looks so cool! (Sorry, no before pictures, I was too excited to just go ahead and start this one!) I love how this turned out!

So Angie, you're going to have to show me how to upload using Picasa!! This single-pic-load thing is killing me!!

Love always, Bry and Mark

Status report for today :

My Status Report for August :

Sitting . . . at Ang's house, we just got done with the Fantasy Football draft. I think I've got a pretty good team, for my rookie year.
Drinking . . . Mountain Dew - Hey! It was the draft tonight! I had to stay awake!!
Moving . . . really sluggishly, we have to "wake up" in 3 hours to throw papers. ugh
Reflecting . . . On the past week of work, how much I got done, and the crafts I have completed and the ones I have concocted....muahahhaha
Planning . . . This Labor Day weekend, looks like tons of sleep and some crafting.
Looking Forward To . . . Tomorrow around noon when I'll wake up next to the best man in the world and snuggle with him, and the last migraine (whenever that will be...)
Wanting . . . to finish the craft that Bandit chewed and start the new ones... :)
Hoping . . . That the finaces work out, the migraines go away, and Bandit decides to be a good pup.
Regretting . . . signing that contract for this stupid paper route...
Stressing . . . bills, bills, bills, bills!! Oh and how the paycheck for the route was $15!! WHAT?!
Surprised . . . That I'm not as tired as I should be, I should be so so so tired, but I am wide awake, I don't get it?!
Studying . . . My CAD manual, and how to complete all my desired crafts....
Frustrated . . . with just about everything having to do with $$$$
Eager . . . to get debt paid off!!!
Enjoying . . . spending time with my husband, and being able to snuggle and both of us enjoy it!! yay for love and finding someone to share my life with!
Missing . . . the Office and LOST, but coping because we've discovered Burn Notice

This list was borrowed from here at Bits of Sunshine, she says she copied it from someone else, who got it from someone else, so it's gone around and around. I like these Minute Posts, quick and easy. I think I'll do these Status reports at the end of each month. Plus there are some Quick Question posts I think i am going to try, but I think I'll try those at the end of regular posts, we'll see what happens. Also, it's a point to note this is Bryana's status reports, not Mark's. I'll talk it over with him and see if he wants to do this with me. :)

Love always, Bry and Mark

Today's adventure

I left the house at 6:30 am, well, traffic sucked horribly! Apparently there was an accident on or around the exit I needed to take. And I'm guessing it was pretty bad because it involved a firetruck and 8 cop cars, at least that's what the radio said. So my appointment was at 8:00 am but I was supposed to be there at 7:30, I rolled in around 8:15, not really that late but still, I was late. I did use the free valet parking they have at the hospital, I felt kinda of guilty because I am fully funtional in both my legs, but I was late! Oh, and then the lady at the front desk sent me to the wrong floor! She thought I said Urology, when I really said Neurology, come on! They don't even look or sound alike!! J/K, I should learn not to mumble.... My headache today is at a 5. Well, I didn't sit for very long, then my name was called. I got my vitals taken care of, and sat in a room. The doc came in and started asking me questions right off the bat, I then handed her my newly cute'd Migraine Journal, and even though she didn't comment on how darn awesome it looks, she said it was very useful information (Yay!), and she took it to get copied. We went thru the neurology tests with pins and cold things, "does this feel different on the left or right?" "Does this change temp as it moves up your arm?" "How many times did you feel the pin?" and then we walked. She checked my balance and my strength in my arms, legs, hands and feet. (Yes she touched my feet! I don't even let Mark touch my feet!!) She told me there are 3 groups of medications they can give me that won't effect my heart : Seizure meds, blood pressure meds, and anti-depressant meds. Then she went on to tell me 3 things of what could be causing my migraines. 1: Lack of oxygen when I sleep. She's going to schedule a Sleep study where they watch me sleep in a totally non-stalker kind of way, and take all these tests and stuff. 2: Lack of seratonin in the brain. They would put me on a "mild" anti-depressant. 3: Slight blood clotting due to a hole in my heart (yes, that would mean a different hole than the ones they fixed back in February.) They put me on asprin daily to see if that has any effect on the migraines, if it does, that means it's #3. If no, then we go onto something else. Then I told her that I moved here from Utah last April, and she did this "Oh" like that was causing my migraines. She then said that the oxygen concentration is lower out here, and if I had an OSAT of 96 in Utah, I might have an OSAT of 91 here, not much difference, but when it comes to oxygen in the blood it really does make a difference. Understandable, but doesn't adjustment to the altitude take about a month or so? None of this year business! But I feel like this was a much needed step in the right direction, and that progress is being made, now it's time for action. We're in the trial process of some new medication, so we'll see in 3-4 weeks how that's treating the migraines. Things are good though, and things could always be alot worse (knock on wood). I just really really want to get this migraines taken care of. Maybe it could be something not related to anything physical, maybe it's an emotional or spiritual thing? The thing is, I am so worn out from fighting this migraines, I've just learned to deal with them, work thru them and get past them. I'm at my rope's end of things to try, and I don't want to stop trying. Last time I tried to figure out what was wrong resulted in discovering a 2 inch gap in my heart and open heart surgery. Things are good here though, we just keep looking up and praying for things to get better. We know that, in time, things will get better. That's just it though, it takes TIME! :) Love to all who have been there for us, and helped us out, love to you all!!

Love, bry and mark

The glory that is Mod Podge!!

So I had a rough day today... Well work wasn't the rough part, it was when I got home to find the gate knocked down and the house completely terrorized. So, in order to release some anger, I decided to get creative with the Mod Podge. I had a few ideas that I wanted to try with out leftover wedding napkins. I have a ton of vases (1 year of marriage + a surgery/hospital stay = vases coming out my ears!) So I combined the two! (I still have at least one vase I want to try something with...) I like how this turned out, even though I probably won't be putting real flowers in it. Now I've got more ideas brewing... so we'll jut have to see... :)









Next, I have a whole bunch of Steno books that I write things down in. I have one for my Migraine Journal (exactly what it sounds like), one for my Crafty-ness-all my ideas are in this book, and one for the bank account-cuz I worry all the time and feel that writing it down will somehow make it all better.... And, even though I have written on them and doodled on them in permanent marker, I seem to keep grabbing the craft book when I'm reaching for my migraine log. (is that a sign?!) So I decided that, since I have tons of scrapbook paper around (never seems to get used....) and the wonderous bottle of Mod Podge, I would create an amazing book that is now attractive to the eyes.... :) The ugly no-color eye sore on the right, is the BEFORE picture. (Sorry for those of you who like how Steno books look, I look at them all day at work... ugh!!) And the glory that is on the left are the finished books!! (Mark came in and asked where I got the orange one and the green one. Silly boy should know I don't buy anything that looks like this anymore! I can make it!! Muaahahahha!) The orange one is my Migraine Journal, the green on is for the Money, and the napkin scrap one is for my Crafty-ness!!! Yay! I'm excited that these books turned out so cute! I'm glad all of this only took me a 1/2 hour! I'm excited for the little things in life that can change your day from bad to good!



Oh, one last thing. Mark had a softball game tonight. I went and wasn't all that excited about it, but about 1/2 way thru Mark came and sat by me and asked if I could start heckling the other team when they didn't swing at the pitch. I said Sure (I love to heckle and usually do when I'm feeling good.) So I started hollering at the opposite team "This isn't Co-Ed! You gotta swing at the pitches!" and "Don't break a nail now!!" and "Alright, sister, keep your eye on the ball." - now to most, these are rude and mean things to say, but these guys were not swinging at all! And it is common knowledge and practice to swing at pitches you can't hit and strike out, than to do the walk of shame to first base, come on, this is Men's Slow-pitch, it's not like it's baseball, or even competetive, might as wel put all of it out there! Well, the game was winding down, and the spectators for the next game started showing up. All the wives from the team have babies/kids, and most bring their kids when they come to watch their man. Well, there was this small group of people standing right behind the wives/moms and smoking. I can't stand the smell, and from the looks of nausea on the moms, neither can they. So I asked the moms if it was that bad for them too, they said yes. So I turned to this group and said "Excuse me, can you please move? It's the smoke, and there are babies." This lady shot back, "It's not hitting them, it's not hitting them, we can smoke if we want." I was real nice, and I was in a bad mood and everything! But the group moved, and they weren't quiet while they talked trash on how I asked them to move. Oh well, we can't all be friends, right? Two things I will never understand: Why do they allow smoking at parks that have a playground?!?!?!? And why do they allow smoking but I can't bring my dog?! If I ever have a pull in the government, I'm putting my money down to make that a law! NO SMOKING IN PARKS THAT HAVE A PLAYGROUND!! If you smoke, please be considerate and think of those around you. Imagine if I had my dog pee on your leg, you wouldn't like me sharing that with you, would you? Didn't think so. Ok, that's my rant for the week...



Doctor appointment in the morning... Oh joy! I'll be bringing my newly awesome'd Migraine journal!! Woot woot!



Love, bry and mark

Cheetos, a FREE pie & doctors

I love cheetos, the crunchy kind. I live for those! They are always so dang delicious. I could eat them all day long, the only drawback is then my fingers would be orange forever! I got the orange dust all over my keyboard today at work... And it's not coming off very easy. Oh well, the things we do for love.... :)


Buy one MARIE CALENDAR pie get one for FREE!! Meaning, Mark and I bought 2 Marie Calendar's Razzleberry Pies for $4.25!! Freaking awesome! We went shopping, and we have a ton of ads (and newspapers!!) around the house, so I glanced thru a bunch of them, and saw that the MC pies were B1G1 at King Soopers. Well, instead of making 2 trips, we went to Wal-Mart and did the price match, and TA DA!! Free pie!! Mark loves me even more now! We only went to 1 store AND he got pie out of the deal!! (Note: Mark HATES shopping, he pouts, so he usually goes over to the hunting counter and picks up those season books, we have tons.!)

Late nights or Early days... or something like that. Lately our days have spread out, I can't remember if it's been 4 days or 2 days... It feels like the weeks are so long lately. Mark and I decided to try out a paper route. After 2 weeks of waking up at 2 AM to roll papers, toss 140 M-W, 240 TH-F, and 370 SA-SU, we called it quits. Hey we tried at least. Oh, and to quit we have to put in our 30 days, so it's not like we could just drop it cold turkey, we're still going at it until the 29th of September. It has been horrible for our beauty sleep. I deal ok, cuz I just sit at work, but Mark (who is perpetually tired, has it rough, he's walking around all day in 90 degree weather, ugh, it's horrible!) So, yeah.... we're done with that.

Neurologist....Hmm, so about these darn headaches... Yes, I still have bad headaches. Yes, I have tried taking all kinds of things (Excedrine Migraine, Advil Migraine, Excedrine Tension Headache, Tylenol Extra Strenght....) and nothing has worked. I went to my (new) PCP and he said to write down all my headaches in a little book so later we would be able to see if there is a pattern. So far, no pattern besides headaches being a constant. I write down what time it hits, what I take for it, how much I hurt, where I hurt, what the hurt feels like, what makes me hurt more, what I eat/drink, what time I wake up, and if it gets worse. BUT- I have an appointment with a Neurologist on Thursday, so we'll have to wait and see what's going on... I'm kinda nervous, they haven't told me what they are going to do yet, test and stuff. So I really have no idea. I have tried everything: dentist, eye doc, new glasses, change my diet, change my excercise, change my work habits, even listening to/not to certain types of music, optimism, prayer, medications, baths, chiropractor, heart surgery(!!!), and so far, nothing has worked. So i am at a loss until Thursday (I hope!!). I'll keep you posted.

Love- mark & bry