a million things

CRC

2012-01-07T20:20:00.000-05:00

My certificate arrived today... I am a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor!

I couldn't be happier that I don't have to retake the exam... and now I can update my business cards! :)

looking forward to 2012

2011-12-31T16:54:00.000-05:00

So much to say.... Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! And so on! But I'll keep this brief.

We are looking forward to a year of no school (yay!), my long-awaited gainful employment (yay!), and much more time for creativity! YAY!

I have plenty of projects that have been on hold while the dust has settled this year, so I am looking forward to a 2012 full of crafting. Stay tuned! Thanks, everyone, for your patience and understanding!

Cheers!

love what I do

2011-08-16T21:29:00.001-04:00

I'm a bad blogger... my apologies to anyone out there who has been terribly lonely in my virtual absence. BUT, good news, I am really finding my stride on my new full time work schedule and have actually been contemplating some blog-worthy projects! More on those in the near future, hopefully.

The topic of this post, though, is just how much I love what I do. A big part of why I love my job is the true good I see in people, especially my coworkers. Yesterday a veteran was coming to a meeting we had set up when he realized that he had not planned for the parking meters downtown; he called me to ask if I knew of a solution to this problem, so I asked him to hang tight for a minute while I worked it out before calling him back. I consulted my coworkers, thinking perhaps I could find a way to grant him access to the building's limited parking deck just for that hour. Without missing a beat or giving it a second thought, both of the people I was talking to dug in their pockets and desk drawers for coins. Within 15 seconds I had more than $1 in change for my veteran to use to plug the parking meter. I was inspired and proud - this is why we're here. We help veterans... whether that help comes in the form of more training, employment services, or a handful of change.

my how the time flies...

2011-05-15T22:16:00.000-04:00

Here we are halfway through May - I can't even believe it. It's been a blur since my last post. After much discussion with Joel about where we see ourself in a few years and what kind of plans we want to make for the next six months or so, we landed on staying in the Indianapolis area. I declined the interview in Oregon and threw myself into efforts to stay here in the area; primarily, that has consisted of lining things up to hopefully fall into a position with the VA working full-time doing the job I currently do as an intern. Though I graduate in two months and one week (trying not to start a countdown, getting closer!), right now everything is fluid and it could all completely change at any time. I'm working hard to stay cautiously optimistic and hope for the best without hanging all of my hopes too completely on anything yet. On a brighter note, with my slightly less taxing summer schedule I should have some time for sewing and crafting and such! Joy! Stay tuned. :)

dum spiro spero

2011-04-09T11:53:00.001-04:00

Hello! It's been a while. My life is crazy and I run around in a daze trying to get everything done, with only partial success. School is going well. Work is going well. Job applications are going well... and I have been invited to interview for a job in Oregon. Oregon! What an adventure that would be! At this point it is all up in the air, though, and I have no idea where we will live, what I will do, and how our life will unfold in a few months. Right now all I can do is move forward and keep hoping.

As Cicero said, dum spiro spero: While I breathe, I hope. I learned today that this is the Doran family motto, and it made me smile. It made me... well, hopeful. Life is hard sometimes. Personally, I sometimes have to deal with things I would rather not: school stress, work drama, personal identity crises. I don't always know what the future holds, and that certainly causes me anxiety. At the end of the day, though, I know everything is good. My main piece of evidence that things are good overall? Joel. Joel is wonderful for me and I think we are an excellent team. I guess the whole point of this paragraph is: my husband is an amazing man and I am lucky to have him. Joel, thanks for being you!

In other news, where the heck is spring? It's a little warmer here today, but I am not any more motivated to go outside due to the rainy, stormy weather out there. Come on, couldn't we have ONE day of decent temperatures AND sunlight? I will be beside myself with joy when that day arrives.

Unfortunately I have nothing else much to report, probably because my connections with the world outside my bubble of stress have been difficult to maintain lately. If you are reading this and I haven't returned your call, e-mail, or smoke signal, I apologize. I hope to emerge from my haze sometime soon! At the very least, in July I will be done with school, so we can all look forward to that. :)

Happy Weekend!

a gift for baby Anna-Belle

2011-02-24T11:24:00.001-05:00

Having (finally) gotten this gift to its recipient, I can now post pictures of it here! Hooray! Baby Anna-Belle was born on January 12, but I JUST delivered this little stuffed octopus to her (and met her for the first time) on Sunday (yes, that was February 20th... almost six weeks later... can I still call it a birth day present?).

I was very happy with how this turned out - I found the pattern and instructions here and thought it was really easy to follow, though those eight little legs were not exactly a picnic to make and attach! So cute, though, and completely worth the effort.
I wanted it to be a meaningful gift, so I constructed this little cutie using fabric from the bridesmaid's dress I wore in the wedding (I rarely wear dresses so it wasn't that difficult for me to decide cutting it up was a good idea)! I hope sweet little Anna-Belle loves it.

having a job will be like being on vacation

2011-02-21T11:37:00.000-05:00

I can't wait to have a regularly scheduled full time job! It will be so amazing having weekends to use as I please, evenings free to enjoy some down time, and NO HOMEWORK! I can't even imagine what I will do with the time I now spend reading textbooks and writing papers... it will be just like a vacation!

This rant brought to you by Presidents Day, which my VA coworkers have off but I am spending at work and class. Sigh.

take 5 minutes and vote!

2011-02-17T15:36:00.001-05:00

Voting is happening now for a fun contest - follow this link to the post: Craftaholics Anonymous - You Know You're a Craftaholic When.... Lots of people finished that sentence and the top 65 entries are up now for voting; I'd love it if you'd go vote! Both of my two entries made the cut (#12 and #14) and #12 is my favorite: You know you're a craftaholic when your husband gives you a stack of paint sample chips for Valentine's Day and they make you feel more loved than flowers ever could. (Joel really does give me paint sample chips as gifts and I am always thrilled - he knows me so well!)

Of course it would be fun to win so I'd be pleased if you vote for mine, but there are some seriously hilarious entries so I have to say vote for whichever entries make you laugh! I had a great time reading through all of the entries. Voting is open through the end of the day Monday, 2/21.

this and that

2011-01-26T08:15:00.003-05:00

Well, obviously blogging is not my number one priority lately - more than a month without a single post. Sad. In short, the past month has included: finishing the fall semester, picking up some extra hours at my internship, welcoming baby Sarah to the world, visiting Washington, D.C., with Joel and my wonderful in-laws, celebrating Christmas with my family, returning to school, and generally having my days be completely full. Most exciting on that list is definitely baby Sarah, who is beautiful and such a joy to everyone she meets! I'm only sorry Joel & I can't be closer to babysit more... seeing videos online is both wonderful and tough sometimes because I'd love to be able to make some dinner to take along and stop by to see Sarah and chat with Ann. It's a little stressful right now to be thinking about graduating in 6 months(!) and looking for a job, because the midwest is definitely our preferred region of the U.S. and I'm not sure how well I'll be able to keep my search to this area. A job in Illinois or Indiana seems like it would be best, but I realize that my first job might take us somewhere completely different. Generally, I'm not opposed to moving somewhere totally new (I actually think it would be really fun right now while we're not "tied down" anywhere in particular yet), but being close to those we love is absolutely a priority if I can manage it. Only time will tell, I suppose, so I'm trying not to get caught up in the anxiety of where we will live and focus more on finishing the degree and finding a good job that I can enjoy... and that will help me to recoup my grad school expenses. :)

sixty-six percent!

2010-12-14T09:12:00.000-05:00

66% done with grad school... hooray! This is the last Christmas season I will spend in school and I couldn't be happier. The end is starting to feel closer!

Maybe I can actually do some fun crafting-type things now that I don't have dozens of school-related things to do for a few weeks...

first snow

2010-12-01T09:14:00.000-05:00

Hooray! Today is the first real snowfall of the season here in east central Indiana, and it is beautiful. Beautiful! I am so excited! We're looking forward to getting a Christmas tree soon, too, following the usual tradition of picking one out on Joel's birthday (12/10). Lucky man has his birthday on a Friday this year... I'm jealous. Mine seems to always fall on a day preceding the due date for a big project or a giant test, and he gets a weekend.

time is flying... yet also creeping by...

2010-11-22T10:15:00.000-05:00

It's always shocking to see how long it's been since I posted here because it feels like things are moving SO slowly most days... there's just too much to do and the things I look forward to seem to take their time getting here. Is it Christmas yet? I could use the break.

November 11th

2010-11-11T12:15:00.001-05:00

- - - - - Thank you veterans! - - - - -

I have to brag a little...

2010-11-09T13:33:00.003-05:00

When I was an undergraduate student at UIC (the University of Illinois at Chicago), I worked in a psychology and law research laboratory for two years. I spent hundreds of hours helping Dr. Bette Bottoms and her doctoral student mentees work on their research in the Behavioral Science Building (BSB). That's also where I took almost all of my classes, so this was practically home for those two years! That's the building in the right hand corner of the picture- you can barely see it peeking into the frame. I sloppily labeled it in paint... forgive me my lack of skill. The tall rectangular building in the foreground is University Hall, which is where the administrative offices and many department offices are housed, and you might recognize that tall black building in the background as the Sears Tower. Looking through pictures for one to post here made me miss UIC and Chicago a little bit! Aw. :)

Excitingly, one project we were working on in the lab during my time there was actually published as a book chapter this year and I'm credited as a co-author! Yay! The book, Protecting Children from Violence: Evidence-Based Interventions, can be seen in Google books here! You can either search for my last name (Doran) in the search bar on the left side of the page or just go to page 193, which is where our chapter (chapter 9) begins. You could also buy the book, of course, but I don't get any royalties from it so no pressure. :) I was especially involved with the included tables indicating which states require registration- I spent hours scrutinizing states' websites, e-mailing the proper authorities in each state, and making calls to state officials. Grueling! It was all worth it for the completion of this chapter, though! I'm pretty excited about having my name in print!

Hope everyone is having a great day!

another baby shower game

2010-10-29T10:08:00.001-04:00

I was liking the TV game shows here... :)

Hollywood Squares

A baby shower game starring the mother-to-be

SETUP:

- Divide the group (except the mother-to-be) into 2 teams, “X”s and “O”s

- Draw a 3x3 grid on a posterboard or piece of paper and number each

square as shown. Be sure all players can see it during the game.

1	2	3
4	5	6
7	8	9

GAME PLAY:

The two teams take turns picking a square, using tic-tac-toe strategy to choose their squares. The mom-to-be is asked a multiple-choice trivia question by the game leader and gives her answer (the right one if she knows it or a best guess if she doesn’t). The team who chose then has the option to agree with her if they think she is right or disagree if they think she is wrong. If the team correctly agrees or disagrees, they get the square- use a marker to draw an “X” or an “O” on the grid in the square that has been won. If the team agreed or disagreed incorrectly, the square remains available and can be chosen by either team during another turn (this is different from TV rules in order to make the game last a bit longer because this baby shower game will be played as a single round). A team wins by getting three in a row as they would in a tic-tac-toe game; a team can also win by getting the majority of the squares (five).

QUESTIONS:

1. What is the greatest number of surviving children from a single birth?

A. 9 children
B. 8 children

C. 6 children
D. 10 children

2. When does a baby get her fingerprints?

A. shortly after birth
B. three months after conception
C. six months after conception
D. eight months after conception

3. About how many diaper changes will a child need in his life?

A. 2,000-5,000
B. 7,000-9,000
C. 12,000-15,000

D. 19,000-20,000

4. In England, a pacifier is also known as…

A. a sucky
B. a binky
C. a dummy
D. a bumper

5. In Russia, what is thought to be bad luck before a baby is born?

A. Friends and family buying baby gifts
B. Parents choosing a baby’s name
C. Parents setting up a nursery

D. Friends and family feeling the baby kick

6. Which of the following is not a natural born reflex of a baby?

A. Sucking
B. Fanning toes out when touched
C. Flinging out arms as a jolt
D. Rolling over

7. How many years does it take a disposable diaper to decompose?

A. 50 years
B. 120 years
C. 500 years

D. 800 years

8. What’s the average number of diapers a newborn goes through in one day?

A. 3-6
B. 8-12
C. 15-20

D. 20-25

9. Which of these means you’re having a girl (according to old wives tales)?

A. the unborn baby’s heartbeat is lower rather than higher

B. your husband gains weight rather than gaining no weight

C. a pendant swings back and forth over your belly rather than in circles

D. you have sour food cravings rather than sweet food cravings

10. How many other people does the average child share his/her birthday with?

A. 1 Billion
B. 225 Million
C. 9 Million
D. 300,000

11. A baby is born around the world...

A. Every 3 seconds
B. Every 20 seconds
C. Every 90 seconds
D. Every 2 minutes

12. The average toddler will take how many steps per minute?

A. 100 steps
B. 75 steps
C. 175 steps
D. 220 steps

13. The greatest number of children ever born to the same mother is

A. 30
B. 21
C. 69

D. 47

14. The largest baby ever born weighed how much at birth?

A. 19 pounds
B. 23 pounds
C. 15 pounds
D. 21 pounds

15. How much would a designer diaper bag from Louis Vuitton set you back?

A. $1,500.00

B. $599.99

C. $2,200.00

D. $1,199.00

16. Which celebrity named her baby girl Coco?

A. Courteney Cox
B. Demi Moore
C. Gwyneth Paltrow
D. Julia Roberts

17. How old was the oldest documented woman to give birth?

A. 46
B. 56

C. 66
D. 76

18. How much did the lightest baby ever born weigh at birth?

A. 6 ounces
B. 9 ounces
C. one pound
D. three pounds

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ANSWERS:

1. B - 8 children (born to the "Octo-mom" in January of 2009)

2. B - three months after conception

3. B - 7,000-9,000

4. C - a dummy

5. A - friends and family buying baby gifts

6. D - rolling over

7. C - 500 years

8. B - 8-12

9. B - your husband gains weight (all of the others are supposedly signs of having a boy)

10. C - 9 Million

11. A - every 3 seconds

12. C - 175 steps

13. C - 69 (a Russian woman in the 1600s gave birth 27 times, each time to multiples!)

14. B - 23 pounds (born in

Canada

in 1879)

15. C - $2,200.00

16. A - Courteney Cox (married to David Arquette, daughter is Coco Arquette)

17. C - 66

18. B - 9 ounces (exact weight was 8.6 ounces; one of twin daughters born in Chicago in 2004)

baby shower gift revealed

2010-10-25T10:40:00.000-04:00

I haven't done much woodworking in my life, but it is something I dearly wish I were better at. Prior to the project I am about to share with you, the last woodworking project I put together was a step stool for my cousin; I was 11 and, don't worry, I was quite thoroughly supervised. Fast forwarding to today, I still felt in need of some supervision... my tool box consists entirely of hand tools except a drill, so that complicated things as well. Luckily, my dad is a good sport and agreed to spend a day with me working on my project. I think it went really well and I was very happy with the results! Plans for this project were found here.

Here it is! Not perfect, but made with a lot of love and, I think, clearly recognizable as a toy bin.

Just to be sure, we filled it with toys before we wrapped it...

Joel picked the toys and did a fantastic job. They looked so cute in the crate!

Hopefully I will be able to tackle more building projects in the future- I really enjoyed this one!

giveaway WINNER!

2010-10-15T17:44:00.000-04:00

Time to announce the winner of the birthday giveaway! Randomly chosen between 1 and 6, the winner is...

Lucky number 3, Chris! Congratulations Chris and a big thank you to everyone for playing.

Happy Friday to all!

a baby shower game (and don't forget the giveaway!)

2010-10-09T21:49:00.001-04:00

Don't forget the giveaway! Go enter if you haven't! :)
- - - - - -

A baby shower is in the works for Ann & Baby Hart- exciting! Today I was trying to think of cute baby shower games (the "smell this candy bar smashed into a diaper" game is not my favorite) and I decided that it would be fun to do a "Price is Right" themed game. A short internet search later, I had a list of some of the simpler games from the show ready to be tweaked for a baby shower. I actually hardly had to change any of the games or their descriptions because they all lent themselves pretty well to this particular use. This really could be done for any kind of party or shower because the only thing you would have to change is the list of items being priced. Here it is:

The Price is Right

Baby shower games inspired by the pricing game show

Check-Out

Each person is asked to individually price five baby items. After each person’s five guesses are tallied, the actual prices of the items are revealed. Whoever has guessed prices with a cumulative total closest to the actual total of the five grocery items’ prices wins the game; that person gets a prize and the items go to the guest of honor.

Possible items: baby food, eating utensils, bib, baby socks, wipes, bottle, baby hat, baby powder, baby soap/shampoo, etc.

Coming or Going

Everyone is shown the price of a single item, but the digits might be displayed in either the correct order or reverse order. In order to win, the players must choose which of the two possible prices is correct. All of the people who are correct then draw cards from a standard deck; high card wins the game. The winner gets a prize and the item goes to the guest of honor.

Possible items: pack of diapers, portable changing pad, small bottle warmer, etc.

Easy as 1, 2, 3

The players rank three baby items from least expensive to most expensive. The players who correctly rank the three items draw cards from a standard deck; high card wins the game. The winner gets a prize; the item goes to the guest of honor.

Possible items: baby food, eating utensils, bib, baby socks, wipes, bottle, baby hat, baby powder, baby soap/shampoo, etc.

Hi-Lo

The players are shown six baby items and asked to choose the three they believe are the highest-priced. The players who accurately choose the three highest-priced items draw cards from a standard deck; high card wins the game. The winner gets a prize and the items go to the guest of honor.

Possible items: baby food, eating utensils, bib, baby socks, wipes, bottle, baby hat, baby powder, baby soap/shampoo, etc.

a celebratory GIVEAWAY!

2010-09-30T00:01:00.004-04:00

So, it's my birthday! Yay! I made some things that I like to share with the people that I like - you! Here's what I made...

...a simple stretchy wooden bead bracelet

...some cute blue earrings (I love these, I actually made a pair for each of my sisters, too!)

...and my favorite of my three projects, a ten cent Euro coin necklace. So cool!

I've been wanting to make something out of my European coins for a while, I had just never worked up the courage to try to drill a hole through them. Well, this seemed like the right time to try it, and it worked beautifully! I had so much fun making all three of these things. Obviously they don't go together, but who cares? It's my birthday! :) I'll do whatever I want.

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on this post! I'd love to hear about your favorite birthday treat or tradition. I always have angel food cake or a plain white cake... without frosting. I really prefer the cake to the frosting, so why even add it?! You don't have to follow my blog to enter, but I'd be flattered if you want to become one! It's not at all required, though.

I'll use random.org to pick a winner on October 15th so everyone has time to enter. Good luck!

come back on THURSDAY for a GIVEAWAY!

2010-09-27T11:05:00.000-04:00

To celebrate my birthday (which, as you might have guessed from the title of this post, is on Thursday), I'll be having a GIVEAWAY (also obvious from the title, hehe)! My blog isn't the most-read on the internet, so I'd imagine the odds are going to be pretty good on this one. :) Check back Thursday!

Cheers!

to Russia, with love

2010-09-15T09:15:00.000-04:00

When I was in middle school, I participated in a program that connected people in the United States with pen pals in the former Soviet Union. I had two pen pals, one in Russia and one in Latvia. I loved writing and receiving letters and receiving trinkets in the mail. I especially got some wonderful things from (and I'd like to think I sent some pretty neat things to) my pen pal in Russia, a sweet girl named Lena. Well, more than ten years later, I decided that I would try to reach out to my pen pal. I was so excited when she responded- we've been able to pick up (practically) right where we left off! With the help of the internet, we've exchanged photos and started to catch each other up on our lives. It's so exciting! I now have a full sheet of $0.98 stamps and am looking forward to sending lots of mail to Russia.

I'm trying to think of some cute things that would fit in a standard envelope... any ideas? She's expecting a baby boy later this fall (yay!), so at some point I'll be sending an actual package with some baby things, but in the meantime I'd love to put some little things in the letters I send her. All I've been able to think of is stickers, which are cute and fun, but I'd like to have some variety in the things I send. Any ideas would be appreciated!

an adorable nursery for Baby Hart

2010-08-31T21:53:00.001-04:00

What a successful painting weekend we had! I didn't think to take any before pictures, but the room was initially all white so just imagine that as the "before." Because the sex of the baby is to be a birth-day surprise, the nursery is going to be a cute and gender-neutral combination of green and yellow.
Here's the room half white, half "warm sunshine."

On to the green half of the room -Ann, the mama-to-be, looks happy about her color choice!

More green edging- that's me in the foreground (sitting on my feet so they'll fall asleep faster, haha) and Gabe (soon-to-be-daddy) in the background edging the more difficult parts of the room in the dormer.

I apologize for the ever-changing lighting in these pictures- they don't really do the colors justice, they are absolutely adorable and very cheerful in person. These were taken at night after the whole painting part of the project was done. Amazing!

After we left, these two crazy go-getters actually put up the chair rail. Now that's taking the initiative! It looks great- the chair rail is white and separates the two colors on the wall. The whole room looks really polished and ready to go. All that's missing is a baby! Ann assures us that she is working on it. :)

our first pet!

2010-08-27T20:17:00.002-04:00

We found a kitten! She is a gray tabby cat who is four months old and a total sweetheart, though she still still occasionally acts on the kitten instinct to play using her teeth. She's improved in that department already, though, and we've only had her for a few days! We named her Suki, which the internet tells us is Japanese for fondness or liking. She purrs constantly, eats and drinks when she needs to, and knows how to use the litter box. Works for us!

This weekend will be her first car trip as we are headed to central Illinois to help the Harts paint their nursery... yay Baby Hart! We can't wait for Suki to meet the Harts' cat, Ares... hopefully they will get along because they are destined to be best friends whether they want to or not. ;) Looking forward to seeing you, Ann & Gabe!

looking for a cat

2010-08-20T10:53:00.000-04:00

Joel & I have been talking for a while about how we really really want to get a cat. With school starting back up for me on Monday, I didn't know if this would be the best time to get one, but further examination has resulted in me thinking that perhaps this is the perfect time to get one. Because I will be gone a lot, it will be nice for Joel to have the cat at home to keep him company during the gap between the time he gets home and the time I get home. He has never had a pet and so is extremely excited about it, which is pretty adorable. We're planning to take a trip to the local shelter this weekend to see what kind of options we might have if we adopt a shelter animal, so hopefully we will meet the perfect addition to our family! If we get a cat I will certainly post pictures. Fingers crossed!

leather scraps (a.k.a. Freecycle is cool!)

2010-08-10T14:38:00.000-04:00

So, Freecycle is pretty neat. If you haven't heard of it, look it up, because you can get some seriously cool stuff from your neighbors for free this way! It's a great way to find a new home for some of your no-longer-in-use things, too. Recently someone in my area posted free leather scraps- cool! I don't know anything about working with leather, but I'd love to learn, so I responded right away. To my delight, they were still available and were mine to pick up! I arrived to pick up "some scraps" and ended up with an entire paper bag full of them! It's a good thing Joel doesn't need a lot of closet space, because this kind of thing seems to happen a lot! hehe. So, now I have a paper bag's worth of leather scraps and no real inspiration yet... they're mostly long, narrow strips, so I'm thinking I might do some leather jewelry (cuff bracelets, earrings, etc.) because that would allow me to use these small pieces. If anyone has any suggestions, though, I'd LOVE to hear them! Oh, and Freecycle is cool. :)

Sara's pillows

2010-07-28T14:22:00.002-04:00

Here are the pillows I made for my sister Sara- these are photos taken by her, in her apartment, with her couches. She picked the fabrics, the ribbon, the design, and everything else about them... I just assembled them. They are simple envelope back pillowcases. One of these days I'll have to hop over to Denver to see them in action!

I think they're cute, and very fitting with her style! The purple couches are also very her. :) Hope you love your new place, little sister!

one year

2010-07-25T17:47:00.000-04:00

July 25, 2009

One year ago today! Hard to believe. We took a photo to document the day today! Ok, we took several...

... and later Joel is cooking me dinner! He's so sweet.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! We are. :)

we've moved!

2010-07-21T11:43:00.002-04:00

Home sweet home is now in Anderson, IN. We couldn't be happier! It's still not our own house (someday we'll get there!), but it's so much nicer and we love it. We have an additional bedroom, more closet space, and an apartment on the top floor- no more listening to the upstairs neighbors as they pace back and forth at 4:00 a.m.! Life is good. I'm trying to get our new address to everyone who might need it, but if I missed you and you're reading this drop me a note so I can send it to you! :) Cheers!

a giveaway from Missie Krissie!

2010-07-14T12:13:00.001-04:00

The amazing Missie Krissie (whom you might remember from this post!) is hosting a great giveaway to celebrate 300 posts AND 100 followers! Head over to her most recent post to congratulate her- while you're there, become a follower and leave a comment to be entered to win this gorgeous and unique ring!

Is that not amazing? Handmade! Go say hello to the talented Missie Krissie!

sigh.

2010-06-30T12:04:00.000-04:00

While I am a graduate student paying more than I make we are living on a budget. Part of that has involved living in a less-than-ideal apartment for the past year. I haven't really had a problem with the ugly and very old carpet, incredibly cheap cabinets, hole riddled walls, and tiny living space. I do expect, though, that I be respected by the landlord and staff and taken seriously when I make a maintenance request. The tub upstairs leaking into our bathroom, the completely non-functioning dishwasher, the door being just warped enough to not seal and let in the copious amounts of secondhand smoke from the neighbor across the hall (who also happened to be the maintenance man), the lack of washing machine in the building for the past four weeks, and the latest issue of rusty brown water exploding from the kitchen ceiling (through the light fixture!) have all clearly been repairs for which the landlord is responsible. Yet, when I call to request said maintenance, the person answering the phone says she is "only the bookkeeper" and that "there is no one for me to tell about the problem." I am told that I could be doing something myself to fix it: "It's your dish detergent, change that." "It's the water in this town, run a couple of loads of vinegar through the dishwasher."

Yesterday when torrents of rusty water fell from the ceiling into our kitchen, I came home to see the aftermath. A light fixture full of water, a spray pattern down the walls, standing water in my cabinets and on the floor, and containers full of murky water on the counters clearly told the story of what had happened. I immediately called and requested that a maintenance man be immediately dispatched- I had limited time at home before I needed to be back on campus and I couldn't leave the kitchen soaking in brown scum for the day. I was told that someone would be "right there" and hung up. Twenty minutes later, I called back and asked when I could expect the maintenance man as I felt the situation constituted a maintenance emergency and I needed to know what was going on. The exact response was, "I'm sorry, can you tell me what it is you're referring to?" No maintenance man had been called. No note had been made. The person who took my call had, according to her replacement, had to "handle an emergency situation involving the cops." No record of my call had been made. As it turns out, the maintenance man was already in our building... in the apartment above ours, CAUSING the flood. Apparently in de-liming the dishwasher upstairs he had created a huge puddle of disgusting backwashed filth from that dishwasher which came cascading through our light fixture. It didn't occur to him to come downstairs to tell me? Leave a note? CLEAN IT UP?

I apologize for the rant, I just needed an outlet for the rage. It's unacceptable and we will be moving at the end of July. I don't care if we have to live in a hotel while we find somewhere to live... I will not stay here a moment longer than I have already paid to.

I hope everyone else is having a nice day- I actually sewed some throw pillows for my sister (whose big move to Denver is officially happening this coming weekend!) but forgot to take pictures. Maybe she'll send me some of them in action on her couch so I can share them here.

fabric exchange

2010-06-18T15:46:00.000-04:00

I've never done a fabric exchange before, but I just participated in an international fat quarter swap and it was fun! I just got my wonderful envelope of goodies from South Africa and it was the highlight of my week! Here's what was in the envelope:

Isn't that fabric great?! It's Shweshwe fabric and there's a skirt panel there as well. I'll definitely be making a skirt for myself in the near future! So fun! I am just thrilled with what my swap partner sent- truly the highlight of my week! Thanks Fleurette!

Happy June!

2010-06-04T14:41:00.002-04:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day! We spent the long weekend near Rochester, NY, with some of those near and dear to us. We were so glad to be able to see Joel's parents, brother, and aunt- it was a wonderful weekend!

We went to a local market and got some plants (we have some oregano, basil, and lemon verbena growing on our patio now)!

Here's one of my wonderful mother in-law & me... she is one of the sweetest people I've ever met. I'm so lucky to have in-laws I love!

We then got to experience Wegmans, a grocery chain in the eastern U.S. It was exciting! This place is fancy, with a smoothie bar and a variety of premade food options. We took some food for a picnic along Lake Ontario, which was beautiful!

Joel & me at Lake Ontario!

To round out our Memorial Day Weekend, a walk along the Erie Canal. They have a lovely trail in Fairport, NY, that runs right along the canal. We even found a cute gelato shop and had a delicious treat to complete the day.

... and then Joel took a nap. Isn't he cute? I love his hat.

And, because I'm so late posting this, it's the weekend again already! Hooray! Have a good one!

camera's first photos

2010-05-22T20:13:00.001-04:00

I made a bag and took pictures of it with my new camera- I'm just thrilled to be able to post these pictures without having to have an epic battle with my camera! Here's the bag...

It's for my sister, so it isn't exactly the combination I would choose for myself but it's really cute! The lining is that same pink and there are a couple of polka-dotted pockets inside

I used these instructions and thought they were quite user-friendly. I also put together a little zippered pouch because I had some of the pink fabric left over after all was said and done.

Happy weekend everyone!

Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway Day!

2010-05-19T09:58:00.001-04:00

If you didn't already know (though you probably already do because you're all wonderful and knowledgeable people!), there's a huge event happening this week in crafty blogland- Sew, Mama, Sew! has organized a giant giveaway day and hundreds of bloggers from around the country and around the world are giving away some great handcrafted loot as well as crafting supplies! Go check it out! There are three different lists of bloggers who are participating. I wish I had been a bit quicker finding out about this Giveaway Day so I could give something away... I'll keep a sharper eye out in the future, I think it would be so fun to participate in this event! Now, go win yourself some amazing stuff and have a great day!

summer break!

2010-05-13T15:15:00.000-04:00

This is my only week off between spring & summer semesters, so I've been running around like mad trying to make the most of the time! My last day of work of the semester was May 5 - Cinco de Mayo! I wish I'd done something more exciting than work! I then spent Thursday and Friday getting organized and spending some time working at my practicum site (Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services). On Saturday, my talented and brilliant sister Sara graduated from Illinois State University, so I was in Normal for the big event. Joel stayed home to hold down the fort, which, I might add, he did splendidly.

In addition to graduating successfully, Sara also landed a job... in Denver. We spent Sunday driving there (yes, that's 1000 miles, give or take, in one day), Monday driving around looking for her new place (which we successfully found by 2:00 p.m., thank you), and Tuesday driving back so as to avoid being potentially delayed by an incoming snowstorm predicted for the Denver area. In retrospect, it was craziness! It didn't seem quite so ridiculous at the time, I promise!

At any rate, I'm back now, I have a new camera(!), and still have two days to do some fun projects and gear up for classes (which start Monday).

a sigh of relief

2010-04-30T15:44:00.000-04:00

I made it. The spring semester is over (well, it is for me... sorry to everyone who still has finals!) and I'm just so glad to be able to look forward to a weekend free of studying!!! It's been a tumultuous few weeks but everything has worked out wonderfully. I don't have class until May 17, it's beautiful outside, and everything is right with the world. This semester held some tough decisions, both personal and professional, and I feel good today knowing that everything is as it should be. Life is good! I hope everyone enjoys their weekend as much as I know I'm going to!!!

the home stretch!

2010-04-21T15:33:00.001-04:00

All that remains of the semester: three papers, one presentation, and one test. There's a light at the end of the tunnel, which isn't far away but is certainly full of work. Off to accomplish things!

juggling

2010-04-14T12:39:00.000-04:00

It's tough to keep everything together during the last few weeks of the semester! I'm pretty much running around all day every day feeling crazy and pressed for time. I can't wait for it to be May! One benefit of graduate school is that I don't have finals during finals week most of the time, so I'm done with school a week earlier than the undergraduate students! Of course, I still have to go to work during that week because I work for the university and all of those undergrads are taking their tests. Also, I should add that I have to take finals and finish up projects and papers, my deadlines are just earlier. There are pros and cons to everything.

In other news, it's GORGEOUS outside here! We decided to spend some of our tax return on new bikes and they should be here in the next week or two. Hooray! I can't wait to get outside and enjoy the weather even more! We've been taking walks as often as we can, but most weekend evenings find me in class until well after dark. I'm really looking forward to being on a daytime schedule this semester- at this point I have zero evening classes, but I might end up with one. One night a week is much better than three!

I hope everyone is enjoying the springtime and looking forward to summer as much as I am!

oh sad camera...

2010-04-09T10:52:00.000-04:00

My camera is just so sad. I know I complain about it all the time, but truly... it is terrible. I made some really cute sachets that I think will be used as Mother's Day gifts and I'd really like to show photos; alas, I cannot. I will be in a wedding this weekend (the one I referenced here, here, here, here, and here!) and would love to have some photos of my own to share; again, no chance. It's all just so sad. Sad! There's no other word to describe it, really. Hopefully I'll have more to share and stories about the wedding soon... until then, apologies for my uninteresting post full of more complaining. At least it's Friday! =)

another record made into a necklace

2010-04-01T21:56:00.005-04:00

Here's another recycled record bib necklace... the structure is the same, but the decoration is different. I pulled out all of my white buttons, filled in with a few black buttons, and added a single gold button. The only thing I would change is to use black ribbon instead of blue... but I like it anyway. :)

ribbon ruffle cuff

2010-03-29T10:20:00.001-04:00

I've made a few cuff bracelets out of my vinyl records- they're beautiful on their own, but because I have so many I've been thinking about how to dress them up and make them unique. I really like the way this turned out and I'll be making more of these! All you need is a cuff bracelet and some ribbon!

First things first: choose your ribbon! My ribbon is roughly the width of the cuff and is sort of a mesh ribbon... as you can tell by the spool it is on, it's one I picked up from the Christmas supply section. I love the diamond pattern on it and the black & silver look great together.

Cut a piece that is about twice as long as your cuff bracelet's circumference. I wrapped the ribbon around the bracelet twice to determine how much to cut.

Next, ruffle the ribbon so that it is the same length as the bracelet's circumference. My ribbon was wired, so no sewing was required- I just pulled the wire on one side until the ribbon was ruffled to the correct length. Once you have the length you need, hot glue (or sew, if you're going that route) the ends together so that you have a nice, ruffly circle.

Hot glue the gathered edge of the ribbon along the edge of the bracelet:

After my ruffle was in place, it stuck out at some awkward angles along the unsecured edge like so:

I wasn't a big fan of that odd pucker at the top of the picture above, so I put dots of glue at about 1" intervals along the unsecured edge and pressed the ribbon down, arranging it as I went.

It was all worth it because I ended up with this:

I love it! It could be made as casual or as fancy as you want, depending on the cuff you use as a base and the ribbon you use for the ruffle. I'm definitely planning to make a few more... I especially like that I can make them to match what I'm wearing!

I'd just like to tack on a note that the ribbon is much prettier in person... it's just the right amount of sparkle without being obnoxious. Love it!

vinyl record transformed

2010-03-26T09:53:00.002-04:00

I've been saving some broken vinyl records for a while because I felt sure that I could turn them into something amazing. After some experimentation and internet research, I figured out how to relax the vinyl in order to cut and mold the records into whatever I'd like them to be. I cut and reshaped until I came up with this:

A super cute necklace!

Now, I'll admit that I was skeptical about bib necklaces when I first saw them- they didn't seem like anything I'd ever wear. As time has gone on, though, they've grown on me. What I like about this necklace is the combination of the shiny, modern-looking black base and the vintage-y feel of the fabric flower & buttons. It turned out much better than I'd hoped... I was just playing it by ear, so I'm happy that my first attempt didn't end up in the trash (as it sometimes does).

I'd welcome thoughts & suggestions for the next one, or for other projects using my records... I have plenty!

I linked this tutorial to...

This week...

2010-03-24T17:16:00.010-04:00

1. I learned that not all birds have finely tuned internal clocks. There is a tree right outside the window with a happy little bird living in it, which is lovely... but that sweet bird has no sense of time at all: it chirps from 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. Yes, that's nighttime, but this particular bird is undaunted by the darkness. I guess I admire it's spirit and cheerfulness, though I'm having a difficult time appreciating the singing as much as I could!

2. The daffodils are blooming! Love them! Happy, vibrant, and bright yellow- my favorites without question!

3. LOST was awesome! If you watch the show, you know what I'm saying. Richard has been a mysterious character throughout the series and I'm glad to FINALLY know more of the story from his perspective... though, I must say, there are still many unresolved plot points for which I need to know the explanation! Come on, the entire series is almost over- I need answers!

4. It's become very clear that vinyl is an awesome crafting material... if all goes well (ok, even if it just goes decently), I will share some of my recent vinyl record recycling projects. Even if the end result isn't what I'd like, the process is just cool!

5. There is a Habitat For Humanity "ReStore" here in our current city- excitement! I have big plans for a weekend adventure with Joel to see what sorts of awesome things are there... I'd love to find some cabinet doors for a project I've been wanting to try. Fingers crossed!

6. It's almost April! Gahhh! With that realization at the forefront of my brain, I now have to go do some scholastic things in order to prevent myself from failing graduate school.

Raspberry Streusel Muffins

2010-03-20T10:14:00.001-04:00

These muffins are delicious, so I thought I'd share the recipe! I apologize for the lack of photos- I never think to take any during or after baking, and these muffins don't last very long! They really are fantastic.

MUFFINS:

1 ½ C flour

½ C sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

½ C milk

½ C (1 stick) butter, melted

1 egg, beaten

1 C fresh or frozen raspberries, divided

In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, and baking powder.
In a separate bowl, blend milk, butter, and egg.
Stir milk mixture into flour mixture just until moist.
Spoon about one tablespoon of batter into each of 12 muffin cups lined with papers.
Divide half of the raspberries among the cups.
Top each cup with remaining batter, then with remaining berries.

STREUSEL:

¼ C brown sugar

¼ C flour

2 T butter, melted

Combine ingredients.
Mix until topping resembles moist crumbs.
Sprinkle over muffins.

BAKE at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until golden.

Let stand for five minutes, then serve.

$5 Challenge, Project 2: Super simple fabric boxes

2010-03-19T13:40:00.001-04:00

Another five-dollar-or-less spring decor project: simple fabric boxes in spring-y colors! This project is even easier than the first- all you need is a placemat or two and some ribbon! I had this gold ribbon on hand, but because the placemats rang in at $1 each, I could have afforded to buy some new ribbon if I'd wanted to and still have come in under budget. You have to love that!

First, measure your placemat(s) to determine how much ribbon to cut (mine were 14"x18"). You'll need two lengths of ribbon that are 8" longer than the long side of the placemat and two lengths of ribbon that are 8" longer than the short side. So, for one of my placemats, I used two 22" lengths of ribbon and two 26" lengths of ribbon.

Next, lay the ribbons out in a tic-tac-toe grid on the placemat; place them 3" in from the edge and make sure they are parallel to the edges of the placemat. Pin in place and then sew.

This is what it will look like when you've sewed the ribbons in place:

See? Like a stretched out tic-tac-toe board. Now simply tie the two ribbons on each corner in bows, and there you have it! A lovely fabric box to decorate AND organize the home this spring.

I made two- for $1 each, why not? One holds mail, pencils, and odds & ends on top of the microwave:

and the other is a prettier way to store toilet paper:

I love them and they took literally minutes to make. Cute & functional!

flower template

2010-03-17T11:00:00.008-04:00

Just in case anyone would like it, here is the flower template I used to make my wallflowers. I just printed it out in two different sizes (mine are 3" and 5") and used it as a stencil. I had great luck with this shape but I am sure other flower shapes would work, too!

While I'm posting...
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Eat some green treats for me!

$5 Challenge Project 1: Wallflowers!

2010-03-16T10:30:00.012-04:00

When I saw these beautiful magnetic wallflowers, I instantly loved them. They're simple and clean and embody everything I love about spring... freshness, cheerfulness, blooming flowers... perfect. Upon seeing them, I immediately started working out a DIY version; as it turned out, this is one of the simplest projects I've ever undertaken! I got beautiful results for a tiny fraction of the cost of the original version. Here's what we're making today:

So, without further ado, here is the tutorial for my first $5 Challenge project!

Step 1: Gather your materials, which is easy because all you need is: some craft foam in your desired colors, a magnet or two, and some thumbtacks. So inexpensive! I found my supplies at a couple of different dollar stores and spent $3.50 total.

Step 2: Find a shape you like (and would like to have in large quantities on your wall) and make a stencil. I just printed mine out on cardstock and it worked beautifully. Trace it on the foam as many times as it will fit or until you have your desired number of flowers- I ended up liking the look of 28 flowers.

Step 3: Cut out all your beautiful flowers! This step is a bit time-consuming but completely worth it. Look how lovely they are, and even before they're done!

Step 4: Glue a small piece of magnet to the back of each flower. I cut my magnet into strips and then cut the strips into small rectangles; they're not holding up much weight and they're sticking to the heads of thumbtacks, so they do not need to be very big at all. It's not even necessary to buy a magnet- you could just recycle a couple of old magnets and be even thriftier!

Step 5: One at a time, fold the petals in toward the center of the flower.

Take a few seconds to crease each petal; this is what gives the flower its shape to give the whole display some texture once it's on the wall.

Step 6: Lay out the flowers as you'd like; place a thumbtack in the wall where each flower will go. Attach each magnetic flower to the magnetic thumbtack and... done!

This next one even includes bonus views of the very stylish doorstop (we rent so I can't change it) and the edge of my dresser. =)

Done! A cheerful, bright, and spring-y wall art installation for less than $5! You can use ANY color you want- it would be pretty classy in all white or all black like the inspiration piece. This would be especially perfect for a little girl's room any time of the year, too! Just for fun, here it is in all pink:

You can also put these flowers in other places around the house, like...

...on a lampshade! Just put the magnetic flower on the outside and another small magnet directly on the other side- they will stick together and the flowers will stay put! They look cute whether the lamp is off or on.

...on the refrigerator! These look much prettier than the usual array of advertising magnets and magnetic chip clips that decorate my fridge. It's a breath of fresh air for the kitchen!

There you have it! You can welcome spring and decorate your home for just a few dollars. Enjoy!

Update: Hooray! This project was featured at One Pretty Thing today (3/16/10)!

a sneak peek

2010-03-14T18:05:00.001-04:00

Here's a hint at what I'm working on for the $5 Challenge at Living With Lindsay!

The challenge is to create a spring decor item using a maximum of $5 worth of materials from a "dollar store." I love the way my project is coming together, and the only supplies are those you see above (foam and a magnet) and some thumbtacks! These supplies had to come from a couple of different stores (I learned that each dollar store has quite a different supply of products!) but they were still pretty easy to find. Stay tuned to see what I made and how it's done!

My first how-to: Ruffle Shoes

2010-03-10T21:13:00.003-05:00

Turn these

into THESE!

Well, here we are at my first ever tutorial. I gave plenty of project demonstrations in 4-H in my time (I was a member for ten years and learned most of my domestic/crafty skills that way... thanks, 4-H!) so I understand the logistics of breaking a project down into steps that can be understood by others. However, this situation is very different in that there aren't any people who are actually HERE and, as you may recall from my previous complaining, I am using the saddest camera in history. I DID manage to take some pictures along the way, and I am DESPERATELY hoping that they will be enough to illustrate the steps! If you have any questions please feel free to comment/e-mail because I'd love to explain it for you if I didn't make any sense in my first attempt.

Ok, disclaimers done with, here we go. I've mentioned before that I am a bridesmaid in a wedding which will take place April 10th; as part of the dress code, we are wearing silver shoes. While there are plenty of silver shoe options out there, I'm not really in a position to spend a lot of money on shoes at this point. So... I decided to re-vamp some plain gold shoes to make them the perfect silver bridesmaid shoes. Here's the plain, gold-colored before picture (I beg again that you forgive the terrible, terrible photos):

The first step is to decide what color you'd like your shoes to be and spray paint the shoes in that color. In this case, my desired color was silver, which was an easy enough color to find in the paint section of WalMart. Obviously, if you have a pair of shoes which you like the color of already, there will be no painting required. Lucky you!

Once I had painted the shoes silver, all I had to do was make and attach my ruffle. Sound simple? It is! First choose the ribbon to be the ruffle on your shoe. My ribbon was 1.5" wide and already a metallic silver/gold color (depending on the angle of the light); these would look cute with a ruffle of a different color, too! I might try this on another pair of shoes using a bright & happy color for the ruffle... maybe yellow or royal blue, just to add some color to a plain pair of shoes. You need two lengths of ribbon, each piece 18" long, to make a full ruffle for the top of your shoe. Cut one end in a half circle and one end straight across. Here's a picture of the silver shoes and one of the lengths of ribbon after it's been cut:

Use a lighter or match to heat seal the ends of the ribbon to keep them from fraying:

After the ribbon is cut and the ends have been sealed, sew a gathering stitch down the center of the ribbon. I tied a knot in the end of the thread and then started at the rounded end of the ribbon. Here's a close-up of the gathering stitch:

Next, gather:

Make sure the ruffle is the same length as the top strap:

Do this for both lengths of ribbon, then secure the gathered ruffle with hot glue (this was a really difficult picture to take, sorry it's blurry):

And now it's as simple as using hot glue to attach the ruffle!

And there you have it- a totally new look for a once-boring pair of shoes!

Again, PLEASE let me know if that was confusing or if I can make it clearer! Thanks for reading. =)

I linked this tutorial to Tea Rose Home's Link Party.

the finished product

2010-03-08T18:15:00.001-05:00

Well, no in-progress pictures. My camera can barely stay alive long enough to take a single shot of the final result! Anyway, here are the pillowcases I made! It was surprisingly easy once I got all of the pieces correctly measured and cut out- I used these instructions from Sew4Home.

Now I want to make some for myself!

spring break 2010

2010-03-05T18:00:00.003-05:00

I've come to terms with the fact that my spring break is going to be perhaps the least exciting break in the history of the world. Oh, it will be a break... but it will be structured and productive and definitely not exotic. I have big plans to read, sew, bake, and generally enjoy myself. I'm resolved to not do anything school-related if I can help it, though I'll probably put some hours in at my practicum site because I'll have the time. I really AM going to enjoy sewing, baking, and reading, though! Some scrumptious cinnamon rolls are on my to-do list, and I even bought some fabric to get me extra excited about sewing. Here's the fabric for the first project I'll be working on... maybe I'll even take some pictures along the way! I always seem to forget the in-progress shots, but I will try to remember this time.

Midterm week again

2010-02-28T20:34:00.002-05:00

It's midterm week again and I almost can't believe it. The first half of this semester has gone by really quickly; spring break is only five days and a couple of tests away... hooray! I fully intend to spend my week being productive with regard to everything BUT school. I'm planning to do some sewing, some baking, some movie watching, and some recreational reading. Joy! =)

Fireworks from Missie Krissie

2010-02-25T15:06:00.002-05:00

You have to check out Missie Krissie and her amazing skills using Fireworks. You can find your letter of choice here! It's so generous of her to share her beautiful work.

Look at how beautiful this "D" initial is! I love it, and the shades of blue are just perfect. I'm already planning how I can use it in my decor... maybe just in a frame to display, it's that pretty!

... and the long version!

2010-02-22T15:35:00.001-05:00

Brace yourself... I'm not kidding when I say this is the long version! The bridal shower really was a success, but we did have one relatively major hiccup along the way. I had a fair distance to drive from Indiana to Illinois that morning, so I left around 7:45 EST. I made pretty good time and got there at 11:40, which is 10:40 CST. We bridesmaids had agreed that 10:30 would be a good time to begin setup for the 12:00 party, so I was feeling pretty proud of myself for my punctuality (especially considering the distance I had just driven).

I pulled up to the location, the home of the bride's father, to find four girls standing in the driveway. I should have been suspicious when none of them were wearing coats... but that didn't really register until a bit later. I got out of my car, we all said our hellos, and I asked what we were doing outside. "Well..." the bride responded, "We seem to have locked ourselves out of the house." Ah. That's not so bad, I thought, because surely by now relatives have been called and a key is on its way. "The problem is," she continued, "All of our cell phones are in the house." I laughed that she had spent the past five minutes visiting with me and not just directly asked for my phone- she's just that sweet & friendly! I gladly handed it to her and she began calling every family member whose telephone number she knows (which was an impressive number of people, I must say). Here are a few of us on the driveway! That's me on the far right striking an awkward pose. :)

Despite calling everyone she could think of, my poor friend had no immediate luck in locating a key. Perhaps the greatest complication in this situation was that her father, the actual homeowner, was in Iowa for the weekend and so could not come rescue us; it was at this point that we decided drastic action was called for. We walked the entire perimeter of the house and tried EVERY window to see if any was unlocked and we could climb in somehow. The most exciting part of our window-testing was the point at which we decided we couldn't call it a complete effort without testing the basement windows, too. The basement windows were full-sized windows, so the window wells were literally six feet deep. Our solution was to lower the bride into the window well so that she could test the window; it actually went remarkably well, and she didn't even get dirty. That was the real miracle- the snow was melting and there was mud and slush everywhere, so imagine what the bottoms of those window wells were like. I only wish I had a photo to share of that part of the adventure!

It was at this point that we realized that we would make terrible criminals- our fingerprints are all over every window and door and we are still standing outside 30 minutes into the process. If we were at all suspicious (instead of being a group of harmless looking young women), some neighbors would have undoubtedly called the police by this time. After those 30 minutes of making calls, testing windows, hiking around in the mud & slush, and wondering what to do, we decided it was time to call the local law enforcement ourselves. Hey, police will sometimes help you unlock your cars when your keys are locked in, maybe they'll help in this situation as well! The one side of call to the police that we heard went something like this:
"Hello, I am calling because I have locked myself and several of my friends out of my father's home. He is currently out of the state and so he can't come let us back in... it's pretty cold outside and we have been out here for about half an hour. Is there any way someone could come help us get back inside? No? Yes, I understand why that would be something you can't do... yes, a locksmith would be a good idea. Thank you. Goodbye." Yes, we all agreed, a locksmith would be a good idea if we had no other options, but we were still hoping for a miracle callback from a family member in town to save us the $75 or whatever fee a locksmith would charge.

Here's a shot of the door that gave us so much trouble!

It's a fancy door that can be opened from the inside even when it's locked, so no one realized that when they shut the door they were locking themselves out. Oops!

Suddenly, a miracle DID occur! One of the emergency contact people called to say she had the garage door opener! To make the miracle even more impressive, she lives only a few blocks from the house! The bride hurried to retrieve the garage opener and returned, thrilled at her success! She pushed the button and.... nothing. Not a thing. Nooo! Impossible! After 40 minutes of being locked out, we finally had a means to enter the house and it didn't work! We had to laugh... what luck. Sighing, we began to regroup to find another solution... when suddenly a SECOND miracle occurred! One of the other bridesmaids had just been clicking the button nonstop at different angles and it had worked! We were ridiculously excited... wouldn't you have been after all of this?!

HOORAY!

... and we had a lovely party and the day was enjoyed by all. Here we are, 7 of the 8 bridesmaids and the lovely bride (front & center in the jacket). I'm at the back center looking short because we're all squatting and scrunching together... 8 people is a lot for a group photo!

I can only hope that the wedding weekend is just as much fun but much less frantic. =)

the short version

2010-02-21T16:18:00.007-05:00

The bridal shower went well! Here's a quick recap (it's the short version... I'm hoping to share some more pictures that were taken by the other bridesmaids, I just don't have them yet).

Overall, the decor turned out pretty well. It all went up pretty quickly; we had the shower at the home of the bride's father, but were slightly delayed in getting into the house to set up. We did get to hang up all of the poms, though, and strung the crepe paper around as best we could in a hurry. Everyone seemed to like the decorations, so I'd call it a success. The first picture is of the lovely bride-to-be opening her gifts.
The second picture is just a zoomed-in shot of gift opening... the groom's sister actually wrapped that tall chair with the crepe paper and added a little crepe paper flower to the left corner, which was adorable. We wanted Jo to open her gifts in this chair, but I think the height made it too challenging to actually do it that way. :)

The "wrapping paper as table runner" idea actually worked out splendidly. You can see in the first two pictures that it covered the coffee table nicely; we also covered the cake table (which I forgot to photograph and am kicking myself for) and the countertop where we displayed the fruit and veggie trays.

The pom-poms looked pretty adorable hanging around the room, too! You can see them hanging from the kitchen light fixture in the first photo and here are some in the living room:

It was a really enjoyable party (and absolutely worth the commute between states!), and hopefully I'll have more pictures and be able to share the long version of the story soon... it involves snow, mud, a telephone call to local law enforcement, and a garage door opener. I couldn't even make this up! Check back for the full story, coming soon!

Bridal Shower Gift

2010-02-17T16:31:00.003-05:00

I mentioned the upcoming bridal shower in my previous post, so I am adding this post in order to show you the gift I am taking. Something that Joel and I use all the time is the couch (we love watching movies and reading together in the living room) and it wouldn't be the same without our throw pillows. They just make sitting on the couch so much more comfortable and cozy! With that in mind, I put together a set of three throw pillows for my soon-to-be-wed friend. I didn't take any action shots of the construction, but they're pretty simple so I'll just give a brief explanation for each.

The first pillow I put together is the simplest. Made of a light tan corduroy, it's just a 16" square pillow with four panels on the front and one panel on the back. I sewed the four panels together with a zigzag stitch for some decoration.

The second pillow is probably my favorite (don't tell the other two). I used a faux suede fabric and added a single ruffle to the front of the pillow. All I did was make a ruffle out of the fabric, sew a thin piece of the same fabric down the middle of the ruffle to keep its shape, and sew it onto the front panel of the pillow. It is also a 16" square pillow.

The last pillow is a rectangular pillow which measures about 24" long by 12" wide. I used both fabrics for this one in order to tie all three pillows together. I made the front and back panels out of the corduroy and added two strips of the suede material as an accent.

And there they are, three lovely throw pillows! Making these made me want more throw pillows for our couch... so cozy.

Bridal Shower Decor

2010-02-15T11:38:00.006-05:00

One of my dearest childhood friends is getting married in April and I was honored when she asked me to be a bridesmaid. We go way back (like 2nd grade way back) and we have quite the story to tell when people ask how we know each other. The short version is that we went to grade school together and were inseparable. She moved away when we were both in the 6th or 7th grade, though, so we didn't see much of each other through middle school and high school. Toward the end of high school, we reconnected and e-mailed back and forth to practice our Spanish writing skills (yeah, I've lost a lot of those skills by now). Our friendship was really rebuilt when we both attended a weekend retreat for Catholic college students during our freshman year (Koinonia, for those of you who know what I'm talking about). I'm so thrilled to have rediscovered my dear friend and am even more thrilled to be standing up with her when she gets married SOON! It's all so wonderful and exciting.

After my not-so-short story (I tried, I'm sorry... I am kind of detail-oriented and have a hard time leaving things out of my storytelling), I'd like to share some of the decorations for her bridal shower which is this Saturday. Her primary wedding color is green (it's the color David's Bridal calls "clover"), so I definitely wanted to include some green in the decor. There isn't a theme for the party, so I decided to just decorate with a color scheme. Green, white, and light pink were the winning three colors.

I learned how to make tissue paper flowers in high school Spanish, appropriately enough, so I wanted to incorporate those into the decor. I have seen these flowers popping up all over the internet lately in the form of hanging pom-poms... what a great idea! I made a dozen tissue paper flowers in several sizes using green, white, and pink tissue paper. I picked up some pink and green crepe paper streamers, too, so the room should be looking festive after I'm done with it. Here are the poms in a pile on the table- they're actually lovely even thrown in a heap like this, though the photo doesn't really show it... the colors look a little off here. Unfortunately my photography skills are not that great and my camera is at least ten years old, so please forgive all of my terrible photos.

And here's one hanging from the ceiling (try to look past the obvious piece of tape, I do have a solution for hiding that but this was just my test run to be sure the tape would hold for an extended period of time):

I also got a package of pale pink napkins and stamped each one to make it more personal. Some are hearts and some are the bride's & groom's initials (J & R).

I'm not sure what the room will look like exactly (I have never been to the location and I am not sure what the furniture setup will be), but I wanted to have something to put on the tables but didn't want to put together elaborate centerpieces for such a casual event. I found a roll of wrapping paper in the color scheme - a white paper with pink & green flowers and flourishes on it - and will be using that as a table runner. I used some of the wrapping paper to fold some origami flowers and hearts, which I will be scattering on the tables along with some Hershey's kisses.

The flower pattern I chose was the lotus, and you can find the instructions I followed here.

I'm hoping to get some good pictures of the decorations in action, at which point I'll post them here!

Beautiful Artwork!

2010-02-14T19:50:00.002-05:00

Oh my goodness. I was completely speechless when I saw the finished sketch Justin and Cassity from Remodelaholic- unbelievable! It is so beautiful and looks even better framed and on the wall (even if we can't paint the walls because we're currently renting)!

There it is! We love it so much... it's a beautiful and one-of-a-kind piece of art that reminds us of our wedding day whenever we look at it. We look at it often- how could we not?! Thanks again Cassity and Justin for everything.

maps as envelopes

2010-02-12T15:04:00.001-05:00

The internet never lets me down... here's another fantastic website! This one generates a print-and-assemble envelope with a map as the interior! Just go to the site, Map Envelope, and fill in the blanks for the desired location and the custom message. Preview it, print it, assemble it, and mail it! I love sending and receiving mail, so if you're looking for a pen pal to whom you can send your fancy new envelope, let me know! I'd be happy to volunteer. Here's mine- I entered the Hagia Sophia as my location because I would LOVE to visit, as indicated by my personal message. This is what my envelope would look like printed, folded, and ready to stuff & mail! Amazing!

Valentine's Day Fun

2010-02-09T20:26:00.002-05:00

I just found a website that puts YOUR phrases on .jpg images of conversation hearts! I think this is just so cute. Go make your own hearts!

P.S. I made this one for Joel... it's a line from the movie Once, which I highly recommend!

a 4th birthday gift

2010-02-04T09:58:00.002-05:00

Our niece Kiersten turns four on February 21st and I have to admit that I wasn't sure what to make for this occasion. She is having a party, but unfortunately we cannot attend (we're several states away, in case I didn't mention that before) so there was no question that it would have to be mailed. The constraints, then, were size and weight. She has already received a few dress-up things and a mask, so why not continue the trend? I decided to do a fun shirt for her. I can't take credit for this idea- I saw these "snappy tees" on Martha Stewart's website. I do have to give her credit for knowing her stuff (or, at the very least, hiring people who sure do make her look good)! At any rate, it was perfect for what I wanted to accomplish and I set to work. I made seven shapes so that, in theory, the same shirt could be worn for an entire week but appear to be a different shirt each day (I think I need one of these for myself... I am not great at deciding what to wear and this would really simplify things). I had an especially enjoyable time with the cupcake due to the shiny seed bead "sprinkles," but my favorite is the flower. Joel likes the panda best, which is why it gets to be the first snap actually on the shirt. I value his opinion highly and so he gets to decide these things! I think if I make another snap shirt I might try to do a theme... maybe an underwater theme or a food theme... mmm... yes... a food theme. That can be the one I make for myself. =D

hearts

2010-01-28T16:22:00.002-05:00

I've never really been crazy about Valentine's Day, but seeing some of the great projects others are taking on for the holiday has inspired me. I decided to put together valentines for our nieces, who are adorable and deserve some hearts for the holiday. I made a valentine for Marie (17 months old) first- it seemed easier because I think everything makes her happy. She's such a sweet and smiley baby. Here's what I came up with:

I was completely winging it but I'm really happy with the end result. I wanted to make something with texture and a little bit of sound, so I found some pink, white, and red buttons and some crinkly plastic. I cut two large hearts out of red felt (they were cut out of a 6x6" piece, I know you can't really tell size from this picture), then attached some smaller pink felt hearts and buttons to one of them. I cut some crinkly plastic into the same shape and size as the large hearts (I actually used a plastic shopping bag that had some "crinkle" to it... I'm using this word a lot and I'm not sure if it's an actual word... oh well). I stacked the pieces with right sides facing each other and the plastic in between (as I was laying it out on the table to pin it, it was: front facing up, plastic layer(s), back facing down). I sewed around the whole thing leaving a small seam allowance and keeping 2" open to turn it. Once I'd finished sewing, I turned it right side out, folded in the edge at the opening, and topstiched the whole thing. I just used a zig zag pattern that I liked for some decoration and to be sure the folded-in edge was caught by the stitches. There you have it- a cute crinkly heart. Joel was entertained by it, so I'm hoping Marie likes it as well. ;)

For Kiersten, who is soon to be 4, I wanted something a little more functional. She loves dress-up (you may recall my Christmas gift project from December) so I wanted to make something for her costume collection. The result:

I cut out two mask pieces first. I used some embroidery floss to stitch some swirly lines and bright flowers on before I sewed anything together; also, if you look closely, there's a little "K" at the bottom of the heart on the right. Once I'd finished embroidering and was happy with the way it looked, I went to work on the strap. I cut about 19" of elastic and then made a casing out of felt to hide the elastic. I attached the elastic and casing to the outer edge of each side of the front mask piece, then hand stitched the front and back together. This way, the elastic is sandwiched in between the front and back mask pieces and doesn't stick out of the side to bother her face. There you have it- a festive mask for Valentine's Day. Both of these projects were done without any real directions, so I'm very relieved that there were no huge disasters along the way... and actually they both look pretty cute, in my opinion. :)

What good luck!

2010-01-22T18:05:00.023-05:00

I am feeling especially lucky lately... an amazing thing happened to me! I frequently read the blog "Remodelaholic" and love it. Even though we're currently renting and I don't have much artistic license with our space, I keep track of all of my favorite give-your-space-a-facelift ideas that don't break the bank. Cassity at Remodelaholic has so many great projects and I especially enjoy seeing the "Before & After" projects she and her husband have completed. I can't wait to have a place to spruce up and some of these ideas are at the top of my list! Anyway, in addition to being excellent carpenters/decorators/crafters, the brains behind Remodelaholic are exceptionally generous and recently hosted an amazing giveaway. Cassity's husband, Justin, is a fantastic artist (check out some of his work here), and will be doing a sketch of a building that means something special to the winner. Unbelievably, I won this amazing prize!!! I'm feeling so incredibly lucky! I'm especially excited because the building that I immediately thought of to have sketched is the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria, Illinois, where Joel & I were married. It's a beautiful building that is the location of so many of my favorite memories, so getting to have a sketch of it to keep forever is just making me giddy. I cannot wait to see how it turns out and want to say a huge THANK YOU to Cassity and Justin for their wonderful work, entertaining and informative blog, and their incredible generosity. I'll be sure to post more about it when it's done!

back to school

2010-01-13T20:31:00.001-05:00

Grad school, round 2! Already my schedule is a bit crazy, but it's going to be good. I'm working on campus, have a full course schedule, and am completing 120 hours of counseling experience in the community. I'm too afraid to add up the total number of hours per week, so I'm just going to cross my fingers and hope I survive! I know it will be a little frantic, but I'm looking forward to another successful semester.

the new year begins!

2010-01-05T00:03:00.003-05:00

We had a great time at a friend's New Year's Eve party and I've spent the past couple of days baking cookies and relaxing. It's really been delightful! I've also been catching up on all of my blog reading; I just love all of the crafty blogs I read/follow. I really need to step up this blog so that I, too, can have a popular blog that everyone follows and loves... I'll work on that. :)

gift box beautification

2009-12-30T17:41:00.001-05:00

My wonderful mother in-law sent me some lovely gifts for Christmas (I am so lucky to have such sweet in-laws... I love them!), but one of them in particular caught my eye due to its unique packaging. The box was a trifold box, with a square middle segment and two rectangular segments on the sides. What can I say, I see potential in everything lately! I am running out of closet space for every scrap and supply about which causes me to think, "I have to keep this, what potential!" but I can't stop myself. On the bright side, this box was too perfect a project to be put on hold; I spent the better part of a day painting, trimming, Mod Podge-ing (Can that be a verb? I feel like it must.), and beautifying. I am pretty smitten with the final product! I have very concrete plans to pack a few nice things in it and send it to a friend, which is good because I really and truly don't have space to store it... as much as I would like to just keep it and admire it. Admittedly, it could have been more perfectly executed, but I didn't really do much planning before I began the process so it could probably have been much LESS perfectly executed as well. =) Here are some photos! I should have taken some before pictures, but I was just too excited.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-28T23:52:00.001-05:00

I realize I am a few days late... the holiday has been keeping me busy! We've had a wonderful Christmas and are still enjoying the season. Though we didn't have a white Christmas, it has been snowing nonstop since Sunday! So close. It looks beautiful, though, and I have nowhere to be that requires bicycling, so I'm happy. I hope you are enjoying your Christmas season as well!

O Christmas Tree

2009-12-15T23:25:00.005-05:00

Here it is decorated & lit up! We love it.

a birthday tradition

2009-12-12T21:00:00.003-05:00

Joel's birthday was Thursday; for as long as he can remember, his birthday has been "let's-go-get-a-Christmas-tree" day. His mom started the tradition when he was young (he can't even remember a birthday when they didn't go get a tree, and I think it's really sweet. We were especially excited to go pick out this year's tree in honor of his birthday, and had a wonderful trip to a local tree farm. There was snow on the ground, the sun was shining, and we found the perfect tree! Amazing! We ended up with a 6 foot tall Douglas fir tree, and it really is lovely. Real trees just seem so much more festive than artificial- our whole apartment smells like the Christmas tree and I LOVE it. We took this picture before we cut it down!

It's all set up in the apartment now and we're working on decorating it... it's going to be perfect. Happy birthday, Joel! You made the perfect choice for this year's tree!

First snow!

2009-12-07T17:01:00.001-05:00

Today was our first snow of the season! It looked beautiful this morning when I woke up... though of course I neglected to take any pictures. I hope we have a white Christmas! Snow is really the only thing on my wishlist this year... so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Two Christmas presents down!

2009-12-06T02:24:00.002-05:00

I finally finished the costume pieces for our nieces- they turned out adorably! This project started with our typical Christmas gift for the girls: books. We picked a book for each girl and then I started thinking. What would go well with these books? Costumes with which to play dress-up, of course! I used the books as inspiration and made some age-appropriate costume pieces for them.

For the nearly 4 year-old, we chose "Mirette on the High Wire." I've read this book and think it's a nice story for young girls; while it may yet be a bit advanced for her to read on her own, it comes with a cd so she can listen to the story until she actually can read it. On the cover of the book, Mirette is depicted wearing a blue shirt & skirt set with white trim. I took the color scheme and made her a fleece cape that looks similar to Mirette's outfit (inspired by this post at Ruffles And Stuff). I dressed up a plain headband with a floppy bow and constructed some white felt slippers to complete the ensemble.

For the 15 month-old, we chose Eric Carle's "1,2,3 to the Zoo." I just love his illustration style! Any Eric Carle book is a favorite of mine. This particular book has no words, just pages of animals to count. The book counts to ten and includes a variety of animals. Because putting on clothes isn't as easy for such a small child, I put together four animal headbands to go with the book. There's a lion's mane, bear ears, elephant ears, and a feathered "bird" headband. I must confess I think the gray elephant ears are the cutest, though the feathered headband is probably the most fun.

I 'm pretty happy with how it all came out, especially because I was making most of it up as I went. Hopefully I can find time this week to get to the post office to mail everything!

December!

2009-12-02T17:19:00.001-05:00

It's December! Yikes! Lots of school things to finish up in the next two weeks... including a paper to turn in today. Good thing I just finalized it in time to type this post and then go to class! :) I've been working on Christmas gifts for our two adorable nieces, ages 1 and 4, and I'm pretty happy with what I've come up with. We found them each a book we think they'll love and then I made some costume pieces to go with their books! I'll post pictures sometime in the near future of how it all turned out... stay tuned!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T22:01:00.001-05:00

After a super fun pre-Thanksgiving feast and celebration with our friends on Saturday, we were glad to have a couple of days to just stay in and do nothing. We even went grocery shopping on Tuesday to make sure that Wednesday and Thursday were as stress-free as possible! Nothing would have ruined our low-key holiday more than running out of milk... Joel would have been pretty upset. He will never have bone density issues due to the impressive amount of milk he drinks on a daily basis! We had a great "weekend," with no work nor school to interrupt our movie watching and computer game playing. It was pretty delightful. We even watched a bunch of the extra features that come on the many discs included with the Lord of the Rings special edition DVD set... and it was great! I learned a lot.

Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for a wonderful day spent with my favorite person. =)

rain, rain, go away

2009-11-19T15:47:00.001-05:00

I normally don't have a problem with rain, but it's been raining on and off this entire week and it makes it pretty unpleasant to ride my bike to school and work. It would be great if it would stop. Please? =)

under the weather

2009-11-10T14:51:00.001-05:00

I've spent the past 3.5 days drinking gallons of water and taking lots of drugs in an attempt to both survive and rid myself of the truly killer cold I've contracted... it's working, but slowly. At least my fever has subsided. I had to call in sick to work this morning, which I hate to do, but I am still coughing too much to feel ok about being in close contact with others. I'd feel pretty terrible if even one other person got sick because I shared my germs with them. I am especially hoping that Joel doesn't get sick, but our apartment just isn't that big... I will continue to obsessively wash my hands, cover my mouth, maintain my distance, and pray for him to stay healthy.

a baby gift

2009-10-26T16:25:00.009-04:00

It's great to have midterm week behind me and the apartment in decent shape because that means time for recreational crafting. I have been working on a baby gift for some friends expecting a baby boy soon. So exciting!

I just put the finishing touches on it last night and took some pictures to post. These shoes were fairly simple to make, actually, and are pretty adorable. Joel helped me pick out this polka-dot patterned cotton fabric- thanks Joel! It ended up being the perfect choice for the project. I used yellow terrycloth to line the shoes and make them a little thicker and softer, though I realize that it is improbable that the newborn will be walking while wearing these shoes. =) The pattern is at http://stardustshoes.blogspot.com/2006/10/cloth-shoe-pattern.html and I highly recommend it.

I have to admit that I didn't sew the little fleece jacket, but it was too cute to resist. I made a giraffe applique out of some of the polka dot fabric, fused it to the jacket with iron-on webbing, and sewed around the whole thing with a tight zig-zag stitch. Twice. That giraffe isn't going anywhere! This may have been overkill as I doubt the 0-3 month old could rip it off if he tried... but the thick black outline really makes it stand out.

Here's one more picture of both together... pretty good, if I do say so myself.

midterm week!

2009-10-14T23:04:00.002-04:00

I have too many tests to take and things to think about to write a real post, but in short the last week has been packed! We drove to Chicago on Thursday, Joel went to Joe's bowling bachelor party, we attended Joe and Katie's rehearsal and rehearsal dinner on Friday, the wedding was Saturday, and we drove back to Muncie on Sunday. I had an exam on Monday, work on Tuesday morning, a meeting Tuesday afternoon, studying Tuesday evening, studying this morning, an exam this evening, work tomorrow morning, exam tomorrow afternoon, class tomorrow evening. After that I will probably need a break, so we're planning to go out with my classmates again tomorrow night. Hopefully I will be alive and sane at that point.

too much to do

2009-10-02T13:19:00.001-04:00

Clearly, it has been some time since my last post. Things have picked up a bit as the semester has progressed, and I've been spending much more of my computer time researching/writing/reading for class than writing entries for this blog. Midterm week is fast approaching and there are several large tests, a couple of papers, and a minor project due in the next two weeks. Surprisingly, though, I'm not feeling terribly stressed about school as it has all been going very well. I am really enjoying (most of) my courses and have gotten to know some of my program mates better. We actually all went out for a beer last Thursday after our night class ended. Joel came, too, and got to meet some of the people with whom I spend so much time- it was a lot of fun!

Fall is here and the leaves are beautiful. We went for a picnic on Wednesday to celebrate my birthday and had a great afternoon outside. Joel was completely in charge and packed a great lunch and found a great spot! It was fantastic. It couldn't have been better timed, either, because it got pretty cold and rainy yesterday. I hope the fall weather returns!

car-related things

2009-09-17T21:31:00.001-04:00

I think it's safe to say that our poor little Civic is past its prime. Yesterday it was hesitant to start, but luckily a nice neighbor gave us a jump and we made sure nothing was running to drain the battery when we turned it off. Joel even cleaned one of the terminals with a baking soda paste- we thought we had it all under control. Unfortunately, getting in the car this morning and turning the key didn't do anything. Not a single sound came from the engine and the car was clearly not moving... so we had to call AAA for a jump. We made it to Wal-Mart (which is conveniently located about 1 mile from us) and bought a new battery; we waited for an hour and wandered through the store while we waited, and that was our excitement for the day. Humorously, the battery will probably outlive the car!

Also in automotive news, we are now licensed Indiana drivers and the car is registered here as well. It was quite an experience getting an Indiana driver's license as they have two very specific ID photo requirements: no glasses can be worn and no teeth can be shown. Joel & I both now have the worst photos ever taken of us which we must have with us pretty much all the time. Apparently looking ridiculous helps the police to identify us. In summary, if you ever need a laugh, ask to see my driver's license.

branching out

2009-09-13T22:00:00.002-04:00

I did some things this weekend other than attend class and tutor!

I just started working with a local program called Caring Arts and I love it. I volunteer for four hours every Saturday morning as a counselor for kids with emotional disabilities; I work with the 4th-6th graders, and basically I get to do art projects and yoga and spend time hanging out with the kids. It's great because these volunteer hours count toward hours I will need to spend doing my practicum (counseling experience) next semester. The time I spend at Caring Arts is added in as "group hours," so my total time commitment next semester will be reduced. It's great to be getting a head start.

Also this Saturday, Joel & I put on some red clothes, went to the Ball State football game, and were excited to be outside watching a game in the great weather. Unfortunately, the team appears to be very very bad. The highlight of the game for me was the point at which the quarterback turned around and took off sprinting toward the end zone behind him rather than passing the ball forward to a receiver. It was painful to watch and we left after the 3rd quarter; I don't think we'll be paying for admission to a game anytime soon.

In other news, my name change is nearly final! I just need to get a new driver's license, which I'm hoping to do tomorrow, and then I should be all set. As it turns out, changing my name in the BSU system was the easiest- I just had to show up and ask them to change it. I was anticipating more paperwork, so it was a pleasant surprise.

the grand tour

2009-09-06T21:50:00.011-04:00

We finally feel settled- we have most of our furniture, everything is hung on the walls, and our kitchen is more or less stocked. So, without further ado, the grand tour!

First, the entryway. The front door, shown here, opens to reveal a wall of our greatest treasures! Joel's diploma is both the most valued and the best looking. :)

Immediately to the right when you walk in the door is the kitchen; it's a little small, but everything just fits and we have everything we need to cook some delicious meals. Our dishwasher is quite the luxury for me after spending two years in Chicago washing dishes by hand! The full size refrigerator also makes me happy.

The dining area is much more complete with some borrowed folding chairs- my grandmother is generously allowing us to use these until we find our own set of chairs. The beautiful oil painting on the left side of the picture is one Joel got from a local artist in Italy... we really need to get a nice mat for it.

Here's Joel at his computer! We're both excited to have the desk chair, as it is much more comfortable and space-efficient than the Tupperware container it replaced. The theme in this corner is Star Wars- there's also a nice picture of Mara Jade to the right of the black shelves that didn't quite make it into the picture. This part of the apartment sees a lot of use, especially as Joel has been teaching me to play Diablo II for the past couple of months and we play over the LAN.

You can see from Joel's elbow how the living room is laid out with relation to the computer desk; this couch has worked out wonderfully, so if you're reading, thanks Kelly! We have managed to put up every wall decoration we own, and a lot of it is on this wall (also see the picture of the entryway).

This wall is opposite the couch; on the other side of the wall is the kitchen, and you can see one of the folding chairs in the dining area off to the left. The TV is kind of old but still works, and that's what counts! We should print out some wedding photos soon to fill the empty frames we have up, too.

This is the dresser and chair in our bedroom- this dresser is one from my childhood, actually, and it wasn't in great shape. I refinished this myself with a few tips from my dad, and it turned out even better than I thought it would. I do need to clean the mirror as the remnants of a sticker applied years ago are still in the upper right hand corner, but overall I think it looks fantastic. The hanging lamp is also a project of mine; it's an old lamp that I rewired and refinished years ago for 4-H. It fits pretty well in the room.

The last stop on the tour: the bathroom! We love this shower curtain & the hooks (both part of a wonderful wedding gift from Will, formerly known as Merlin) and we actually have a really cool wall sconce with candle that didn't make it into this photo. Come visit and you can see it!

another week gone by

2009-09-04T18:21:00.002-04:00

Really? It's Friday again? For some reason this week passed quickly for me. I spent a lot of time in class and logged some hours at my new place of employment: the University College Learning Center. This semester I will be working a few days each week as a tutor; I work for the "study strategies" desk, so I'll be helping students work on their time management/note taking/study skills. Next semester, I'll be joining the staff as a graduate assistant. I'm really looking forward to it (and the tuition waiver that comes with the GA position- out of state tuition is pretty brutal).

My mother and grandmother are coming to visit us tomorrow, which we are looking forward to. It will be nice to have some company and, a huge bonus, they are bringing the desk chair. No more sitting on a giant Tupperware container in order to use the computer! I will never take a decent chair for granted again. I'm sure I will be even more excited when we find kitchen chairs and a coffee table... but one victory at a time is ok with me.

A slight tangent: don't ever waste time viewing "Repo! The Genetic Opera" as it is pretty terrible. All of the dialogue is sung (it is an opera, sort of) but the songs have no tune and I wasn't impressed with the vocals. Additionally, the plot seems to move really slowly... we watched 30 minutes and couldn't believe it hadn't been longer. If this is your favorite movie ever, I apologize, but would be glad to hear what you love about it.

a rainy day

2009-08-28T19:40:00.002-04:00

After finishing the first week of class, it's actually kind of nice to have a rainy Friday evening at home. We did some errand-running earlier today, so we're ready for a stress-free weekend. We're hoping to spend some time enjoying the outdoors at some point this weekend, though, so hopefully the rain will only last for a while tonight.

In other news, the students and faculty in my department have all proven to be extremely kind and warm people... and it's only been one week. I'm really hopeful that I will be able to make some strong connections (both personal and professional) and make the most out of our 2 years here while I'm in school.

here we are

2009-08-25T17:07:00.002-04:00

Joel & I are official Indiana residents now; we made the move from Illinois and everything's going well, though moving has been a crazy experience! Things are settling down, though, and my first semester at of grad school began yesterday. I'm working on my MA in Rehabilitation Counseling, which will qualify me to be a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC).

In recent news, we just signed up for Netflix and have only positive things to say so far. We're really enjoying spending time together watching movies and it's nice to not have to leave the apartment to pick one up or worry about having to return it. We'd love suggestions, too, so let me know if you see a really fantastic movie and would like to suggest it!

The new apartment is coming together nicely and we feel at home here. Unfortunately, we do not yet have kitchen chairs or a coffee table. This makes meals a bit challenging, as we could happily eat while sitting on chairs at the table OR sitting on the floor around a coffee table... but alas, as I mentioned, we have neither chairs nor a coffee table. We will continue to keep our eyes open for a good deal at a yard sale or online.