I will be back.

I just wanted to let y'all know that I will be back soon!

I have really been slacking on the blogging end while in ND - it doesn't help that where I'm staying doesn't have internet, but it's still not a very good excuse.

Anyway, I can't wait to get back to blogging - I have lots of pictures to share.

AND I'm feeling very motivated as far as crafting goes - so, I will have projects for you to try soon...

We arrive back in Alabama on January 3rd and I will be back full force :)

Oliver's program and what's to come

My nephew, Oliver, had his Christmas program the other day.

He was all excited about it - he was even going to ask his teachers if they could sing 'God Bless America' in addition to the other songs.

Needless to say, Oliver's plans changed a little...

My dad thought Oliver had suddenly come down with a double ear infection.

Look at the excitement on Oliver's face...he just couldn't control himself.

You should have seen him the second the program finished - loads of energy, talking non-stop, chatting it up with the teachers...interesting. 

 His lack of performance? We're going to chalk it up to nerves.

And a picture of myself with sweet Palmer:

He is always all smiles...and I LOVE it.

I'm staying at my parent's and they haven't made the move to have internet at home, which means my posts might be a little more scarce.

Posts soon to come:

-my dad is helping me make wood buttons this week in his shop...excited!

-my best friend and I are having an arts and crafts day today, so maybe I will have something new to share...

-AND Christmas is right around the corner and I plan on working on my photography skills with the little ones :)

Friday Five - Vol. 2

I'm back for round two of the Friday Five and am excited to be linking up on E Tells Tales - love her blog, you should definitely check it out.

1.  I bought a pack of fruity chapsticks  (bad decision) over a year ago because they were the least expensive - I didn't like them from the start, but I couldn't just let them go to waste which means I continued to use them and I finally just finished them off. 

I had mentioned to Dusty that I am on the hunt for the perfect chapstick - you know...one that you love and want to keep buying? 

Well, he took it upon himself to help me with the search and came home from work one day with seven different kinds of chapstick for me to try.  How sweet is that?  He was listening to me go on and on about chapstick and then took action...love him.  But really, who starts off the search with seven chapsticks at one time? 
Well, I guess this girl does ;)

 He also surprised me this day with a glue gun, which I am SO excited about.  He told me I can't be into crafts and projects and not have a glue gun...he's right.  There are a few projects that needed hot glue and in order to avoid having to buy a hot glue gun, I used different types of glue instead - another bad decision.

We were so dang excited about the glue gun that we were sure to use it right away.
When I say 'we', I really mean it - Dusty is oftentimes more excited about the projects than me...or at the very least he definitely motivates me to get to work on them.
I find the projects and he helps/makes them happen.

2. Dusty (I know, I'm giving him a lot of credit so far on this post, but he deserves it!) thought we should send out Christmas cards.  Not just your regular Christmas cards, but we sat down and wrote cards to only our friends/family that we don't talk to very often or maybe we don't keep in touch with them very well, but we think about them a lot and they still mean so much to us...

I encourage everyone to do this...wouldn't you just love to hear from someone you hadn't heard from in a long time?

3.  Dusty & I have a fantasy football team together and we are officially a lost cause...we are done for...one of the worst records in the league, regardless of how hard we tired and how many trades we made.

4.   I am back home in North Dakota for the holidays!  It feels so good to be home.  It feels like I never left :)  I'm loving spending time with family and can't wait to see everyone else!  More posts to come with photos of my time here...

5.  You know elf on the shelf?  Well, I have come across so many fun ideas on the internet about what to do with your elf, so I couldn't pass up the chance to get in on the action with my nephew, Oliver.
I chose one of my favorite ideas from this blog.
I thought it was going to be a hit with Oliver, but it ended up being a bust.

He was not a happy camper.
He was all smiles until he saw the paint on his nose...he was mad, and it needed to be off immediately.
It was supposed to be a Rudolph thing...the elf painted his own nose and then sneaked into Oli's room and painted his.  My sister is responsible for Oli's paint job...doesn't look so much like a Rudolph nose, but I understand...he's a light sleeper, it's dark, and the paint wasn't that great...I forgive her.
I want to do more fun elf ideas.
Lesson learned though:  as long as we don't do something to Oliver's body, it will be just fine.
He normally LOVES anything to do with the elf, so I think there's hope.

Happy Weekend!

That day when Dusty saved my life

I would like to preface this "Dusty saved my life" story with examples of how I never thought he would be capable of such a heroic act.

Example 1

While laying in bed, I spotted a HUMONGOUS spider on the ceiling (it ended up just being a daddy long legs), I made a noise (not a scream) and jumped out of bed.  Dusty, without even asking what was wrong, sprinted down the hallway and left me to fend for myself.  His defense after the fact: he thought I was running right behind him and he thought there was a snake in the bedroom. 

Yes, he thought I saw a snake...which scared me more than anything.  I was all "what?!?!  there could be snakes in here?" We had the giggles for a good 20 minutes after Dusty did high knees running from the 'snake' and then I made Dusty convince me that we would NOT be seeing any snakes inside...ever.

Example 2

When Dusty and I go on walks, he gets scared of dogs not on leashes AND dogs on leashes.

I guarantee I would be pushed in front of him if a dog came running at us...either that, or he would sprint the other way and I would be left standing there...rings a bell, right?

The time Dusty saved my life:
It happened after the screening of Prairie Love in Mobile.
We walked into the lobby and heard what sounded like a gun shot.
A few people (not Dusty, of course) stepped outside to see what the sound was...they found an older man on his motorcycle REALLY intoxicated trying to drive away...his motorcycle had backfired so badly that the headlight had blown out.

After realizing what had happened, everyone thought it would be safe to step outside...but, as we stood on the sidewalk outside of the theater, the man came straight at all of us on his motorcycle.

Before I could even react, Dusty was facing me, with his hands on the front of my shoulders and started pushing me away from the situation.
So, he's running forward and I'm running backwards because he's pushing me and we run like this for a whole block.

His back was to the situation, but I could see it all happening...so I kept asking him 'what the heck he was doing?' while we were running down the sidewalk.  I could see that the man had fallen off his motorcycle and it skidded to a stop right before hitting anyone, but Dusty just kept running/pushing.

After he felt that we were a sufficient distance from the incident, he stopped running.
Once our hearts stopped racing, we laughed really hard.
I'm sure we were a sight to see...everyone else just stood there and watched the motorcycle crash, but not us, we escaped the chaos/near death experience :)

Here is a terribly drawn diagram so you have a visual of the situation:

 He likes to bring up this incident quite frequently..."Remember the time I saved your life?  I would do anything for you."  He obviously wants something when he says this :)

I have a feeling this might be one of those 'had to be there' stories, but I still thought I would share it with y'all.

DIY Yarn Wreath

I mentioned on a previous post that I was in the process of making my Grandma a wreath for her Christmas present.

I found the diy link here and couldn't wait to get to work.

After talking to my Grandma for a while and interrogating her about her favorite colors, she finally said she would maybe like something lavender  for her door.

I headed to the store, found lavender yarn, and then felt colors that would match.

Dusty was so sweet and completed the yarn wrap around the straw wreath...he was just going to start it, but then got hooked and kept going...no complaints here.

On the diy link I posted, I know it said imperfection = perfection, but then I came across a photo where the yarn wreath was absolutely perfect...no overlaps while wrapping.

So, I asked Dusty if he could please try to make it 'perfect'...poor guy tried his best, but parts of the straw wreath inevitably were showing through...so, another layer was added where it was needed & then it turned out perfectly :)

We both made the flowers and experimented...it was so much fun!

The final result:

I know the yarn looks like a different color than in the first photos, but I'm assuming it's just something with the lighting.

Anyways, I think my Grandma is going to love it :)

Alabama Sleigh Ride

Well, we did it - we went on the holiday sleigh ride through the park in Orange Beach.

And we stayed true to my thought mentioned in the Friday Five and brought along hot chocolate with a little something extra in it.

Rich & Rare whiskey you ask?
Well...it's the cheapest of course :)

I broke out my winter jacket for the first since I've been here - kind of exciting.

We were both glad that we ended up going.  We showed up and there were cars everywhere and a long line to get on the 'sleigh'...pretty impressive for it being the first year of the event.

Also, I was mistaken...we weren't pulled by tractors, but instead by good ol' trucks.

We were only on the road for a little bit of time and then we hit the trail with the Christmas displays.

It was hard to get good pictures since it was dark, we didn't have a tripod with us, and everyone/everything was moving...which explains the lack of photos to share.

We saw light displays, carolers, mini plays/performances, a little fake snow, Santa Claus, Rudolph, AND then free hot chocolate and cookies were handed out to everyone along the route.

and to leave you with a pic showing our excitement before the sleigh ride...

Friday Five - Vol. 1

One of the bloggers I follow - E Tells Tales - is doing a link up on her blog today.

So, I thought I should participate...

I think I'm going to do it every Friday - it's just a little list of thoughts/things to wrap up the week.

Here goes:

1. I was walking on a trail by our house yesterday and came across a sign that said there would be sleigh rides on Friday, December 9th.  Naturally, I got excited and wanted to go - Dusty's not thrilled about the idea and I don't blame him...I have a feeling it might be a little lame & probably moreso meant for kids, but I want to do something Christmasy.  I was hoping for horses, but unfortunately we will be pulled by a tractor.  Maybe we should bring a little spiked hot chocolate to make it more exciting :)

2.  I will be subbing on Monday at the high school again - and I'm pretty happy about it.

3.  I have declared today to be cleaning day, but for some reason I'm at my computer blogging instead.  Once this is published though, I'm turning up the music and getting to work...music makes everything so much better.

4.  In addition to it being cleaning day, I've decided to try a new recipe tonight.

Don't they look yummy?

5. I need a dog.  I think about it constantly.

How could you not want him?

I feel like I'm really missing out on something by not having one...I know I will fall head over heels in love and wonder what took me so long to get him.  Dusty and I are seriously talking about getting Otto  (we have had his name picked out for a long time now) when we get back from our time in North Dakota.  I get giddy when I think about it.

My lists will get better, don't you worry.

Happy Weekend!

Home for the Holidays

I will be leaving Orange Beach and headed to North Dakota in five days!

I cannot believe it.

I am beyond excited.

I haven't been home since July and I can't wait to see everyone.

And the little ones? My stomach hurts from excitement when I think about seeing them.

I have seven nieces & nephews and boy, do I miss them.

2010 Family Picture

If you can believe it, I'm also excited for the snow.

2010

I admit, it doesn't feel much like the holidays down here without snow and below zero temperatures.

I think I'm going to appreciate the weather up north more this year...maybe only for a day or two, but nonetheless, it will be appreciated more than last year.

I want to go ice skating, sledding, walk around the neighborhood at night and look at the Christmas lights, sip hot chocolate, bake goodies, and most importantly, spend all my time with family and friends.

AND I really can't wait for kisses from the little ones...I'm going to ask for them quite frequently - bribes will be used if needed.

Also, I'm working on a wreath for my Grandma's gift - looking forward to sharing it with you soon!

Sunday Cooking - Dip, Cookies, & Chili

We had plans for Sunday to be a cooking day.
 We wanted it to feel like a cold winter's day and have chili brewing in the crockpot while staying inside from the 'cold, snowy' weather outside.

Well, we went to get groceries in the morning on Sunday.
We opened the door and were hit with heat and humidity - it felt just like summer outside. 

So, in order to make it feel more like winter?

Crank the air up, close the shades, turn the Christmas tree lights on, light a candle, turn football on, and make it feel like December inside.
And then start cooking/baking and make the house smell delicious.
It was such a fun day - I loved every minute of it.

Yummy Dip:

Recipe (given to us by Dusty's friend):

1 lb ground turkey

1 box Velveeta

1 can no bean chili

2 cans mild rotel

1 small can jalapenos

2 small cans green chillies

The dip is delicious...like super good...it's hard to stop eating it.

  I'm making it for everyone when I'm home for Christmas.

Next up on the menu (also making these for Christmas):

White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Recipe for cookies found here.

These were a hit.

I loved them and Dusty could not get over how good they were - he had eight of them on Sunday.

Last up:
Beef Chili - Crockpot Style:

Recipe for chili found here.

We are adding this one to our recipe box and plan on making it again in the future.

It's really good - would highly recommend it!

A day spent in the kitchen is rewarding I tell ya - I suppose it helps when your boyfriend raves all day about how good everything was.

Anyways, we have lots of leftovers and will be eating dip, cookies, and chili for at least a week.

DIY Coasters

We have started drawing names for Christmas in my family because it just keeps expanding!

I have my Mom this year and she mentioned she would like some coasters for outside on the patio furniture.

I'm sharing this project now because my mom doesn't seem to mind if she knows ahead of time what her present is...I am not this way, but she is, so I'm going with it :)

So, I bought card stock that I think my mom will really like and I happened to have all of the other necessary components.

Supplies:

• tiles (got mine from Lowe's because it's closest, but can be found at other places too!)
• mod podge
• brush for mod podge
• card stock
• exacto knife or scissors to cut card stock
• felt pads
• clear spray paint

Step 1:  Cut card stock to desired size (didn't get a picture of this step)

Step 2:  Apply mod podge to tile

Step 3:  Place card stock on tile after mod podge has been applied - be sure to press paper down all around & get any creases/bubbles out

Step 4:  Let dry for about 10 minutes

Step 5:  Apply a coat of mod podge on top of card stock

Step 6:  After letting the previous coat dry, apply about two more coats (allowing about 15 min. between each coat to make sure it's dry & ready)

Step 7:  When the last coat is dry, grab your clear spray paint and put a layer on

Step 8:  Allow for the spray paint to dry and then put one more coat on

Step 9:  Place a felt pad in each corner and you're done!

Finished Product:

The super cute tag?

Found it here & I LOVE it.

It's a 'Naughty or Nice Tag' - would be adorable for the little ones.

Dusty & I did this project a while ago as well and made coasters for ourselves.

We made our own designs on ours and here's what they look like:

We have gotten A LOT of use out of them and of course, we love how inexpensive they were :)

AND you have to love the fact that you can make them look however you would like!

Gift Idea - Chalkboard Vase

Our friends were kind enough to have us over for Thanksgiving dinner.

After the invite, I kept trying to think of a gift as a thank you.

The hostess LOVES things with chalkboard paint.

I have this thing for reusing wine bottles.

The solution = paint an empty wine bottle with chalkboard paint,

(I searched for chalkboard spray paint and it was nowhere to be found in our area, so I used regular chalkboard paint & put 3 coats on)

write a message on it,

put a 'Happy Thanksgiving" tag on it,

(I found cute Thanksgiving tags here, and printed the one I wanted on cardstock)

and then we picked up some fresh flowers for the vase.

I like how you can switch it up and write/draw whatever you would like on the vase.

 

Weekend Getaway

We are on a bit of a weekend getaway.

We are still in Orange Beach and Dusty is actually working, but it still feels like vacation.

One of Dusty's friends owns a condo on the beach and asked him to shoot video and take photos of the unit to help with the renting process...which means we get to stay for free all weekend :)

The view looking down from the condo.

I'm loving it here...I could really get used to this :)

My favorite is having the patio door open, feeling the breeze, hearing the waves, and looking out to see endless water...

So, our evening consisted of:

Sitting out on the deck and relaxing...

a walk on the beach, so Dusty could get a few photos in...

watched the sunset...

and then rocked some take out.

We capped the evening off with a movie and multiple episodes of House Hunters - that show can get addicting...we always end up watching more episodes than we had anticipated.

And I will leave you with this beauty:

After being by the water for hardly any time at all...this is what happens to my hair...I arrive with straight hair and leave with curly, frizzy hair - it actually looks a lot better in this picture than it did in real life.  I looked scary.

And my glasses are crooked - I accidentally melted them on a heater 5ish years ago...just go with it.

Oh, and one of us together:

I hope y'all are having a great weekend!

P.S. I have been fighting the embracement of the term 'y'all', but I think I'm done fighting...it's quicker and easier and I'm all for that.

Chef Gray

Gray had his heart set on making a blueberry pie.

I, for one, have never made a blueberry pie...or any kind of pie for that matter, so we didn't have the ingredients on hand for this project.

He made up a song to remember the ingredients & to try to convince me that we COULD make it:

♫ blueberry crumble, sugar and flour, and carrots on top ♫

Just so you can kind of hear it in your head...he drug it out a bit and his voice would get higher as the song went on...ending with a really high note...it sounded glorious ;)

He ended up straying a bit from the recipe.

Chef Gray's Ingredients:

-water

-tabasco

-sugar

-vanilla extract

-pickle juice

-sauerkraut

-chocolate chips

-lemon juice

-Parmesan cheese

-and an ice cube to chill it

He named his concoction 'Sour Pie'

After mixing the ingredients, he then transferred it to his cooking dish.

This beauty 'cooked' in the oven for 30 minutes.

Gray insisted on trying it first...

Dusty was brave enough to try it after Gray...for both of them, it ended with a bit of gagging.

I went ahead and passed on the taste test.

Look at how proud Gray was of his dish...

Note the little bit of Sour Pie on his nose :)

I hope your meals turn out a little tastier than this one.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Wine Bottle Vase

In the previous post, you may have noticed the empty wine bottle I was using as a vase in the background.

I have always thought of it to be temporary - I thought it needed more.

So, yesterday, I went outside and spray painted it.

Spray painting things gets addicting - such a quick, fun, and easy solution...and I had that leftover gray spray paint from the 'Love' wall art we had just finished.

Anyways, I wanted to try something new...so, I put rubberbands around the bottle before I spray painted it.

And the result:

I used primer spray paint because it was the only gray paint they had at our local hardware store...it worked great and I only had to do one coat.

I am on a project roll - my mind is racing, trying to think of what I should do next!



Wall Art

I have been a pinning machine lately...that site is so addicting.

I came across a piece of art that was similar to the one we ended up making.

However, for just the screen print alone, it cost $25. 

And then you would still have to purchase a large frame which can be spendy.

We found our frame at a garage sale for $5.

I came across bulletin letters in the clearance section at Target for $0.62!  And you get 180 letters with that deal...I had a feeling they would come in handy.

We had white spray paint on hand and bought the gray spray paint for $2.50.

Our bedroom is white, gray, and yellow, so I guarantee we will be using the gray paint again..which means it will not go to waste.

Total = $8.12

It was so easy - spray paint the frame, mat, and letters white.

We just spray painted the cardboard that was in the frame gray...and we are loving the end result :)