Necklaces

I found this blog http://littlemissmomma.blogspot.com/2010/08/victorian-lace-and-pearl-headband.html , and fell in love. I love them! Thank goodness Tri Cities has a Hobby Lobby now. Best store ever! They have everything! For the one above, I just used lace and the brown one, I just bought remnant fabric from Walmart. Cheap, cheap, and more cheap!

And I found this owl at Hobby Lobby too, and just couldn't turn it down. The chain was hard to put on, it didn't look as simple as I thought. My arms are probably gonna be sore tomorrow from trying to cut it. But this necklace probably cost me a total of 2 bucks!

If you have any more ideas, please share. The more, the merrier!

(Sorry my pics are not very good quality)

December already??!!

So no pictures today, so don't cry. Pictures usually makes the posts worthwhile.

A little update about me, I graduated hair school, passed both my written and practical tests, and I now have my license! Wa hoo! I just started work this last Tuesday at G's Salon. It's a beautiful salon and will be a great place for me. I have already learned so so much! I guess there's only so much you can learn in school. My friend Angel, from hair school, will also be working with me this coming month, which will awesome! I just need to build up the clientele now. Which will probably take a lifetime. If you need a haircut or color or anything, let me know! :)

Derek just celebrated his 25th bday last week. He woke up and said he felt like an old wise man. Funny guy! He has been begging for Wii for about two years now.
(Actually funny story, the day after Christmas last year, he went and bought one! I came home and he was playing tennis, he said, "Hey honey!! Come play with me!!" I looked at the console, and was not happy. Come to find out, he only had one remote, so how could I play with him? Oh and he packaged it up, and returned it).
Anyways, so he finally got his Wii. It was a big deal! So I ordered it online, had it shipped to my Mom's house, so he wouldn't know. And yeah, don't ship to Mattawa. It takes fooorreever. So he recieved it a couple days after his bday. And you want to know his response, "Why didn't you just wait until Christmas to give it to me?" haha! Oh well. It turned out fine, cause we've been playing it non stop ever since. Now we just need more games. We also need my brother Jared to help us along on Mario Brothers. We bubble all the time, thinking that Jared will save us! haha

Hopefully my next post will contain some pictures.

P.S. I love Christmas time!!

No more room!

I just made this earring holder, and I guess I can't buy anymore earrings.
Cause they just won't fit!! Darn!
And I thought the frame would be too big. Psh. I underestimated.
Anyways, I have been wanting to do this project fooorreeevvver! And I finally completed it tonight. Wa hoo!

You need to make this too . . .

Zupa Tuscana Soup - from Worldwide Ward Cookbook. Yeah, the soup from Olive Garden!! Yummy

1 lb. spicy Italian sausage, crumbled
1/2 lb. smoked bacon, chopped. (about 8 slices
1 quart water
2 14.5 oz. cans chicken broth. (i used the cubes)
2 large russet potatoes, scrubbed clean and cubed
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
2 C. Kale (found it at Safeway)
1 C. heavy whipping cream
Salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown sausage, breaking into small pieces as you cook. Rinse and set aside (If you don't rinse, the soup will have a red tint to it.)
In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown bacon. Drain and set aside.
Place water, broth, potatoes, garlic, and onion in a soup pot. Simmer over medium heat until potatoes are tender.
Add sausage and bacon.
Simmer for 10 minutes.
Add kale and cream. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Heat through.
hmmm hmmmm mmmm!!

I've been quite the cook lately (or at least trying). I made homemade bread for my first time (finally!!). It turned out delicious. We just finished off the loaf this morning with french bread and buttermilk syrup! That stuff is to die for. Anyways, I gotta go make dinner . . . :)

These are delicious!

http://iheartnaptime.blogspot.com/2010/05/creamy-chicken-taquitos.html

I made these last night and oh boy were they good! hmmm mmm. I love Taco Time, but they are so stinkin' expensive! These taste just like their Chicken Crisp Burritos. Love them!

A few weeks ago we visited Marci and she took us to Chevy's for lunch. If you have ever been there, then you will know about their yummy Fresh Mex Sweet Corn Tomalito. It was our first time there, and I devoured that bad boy. It was so good! I found a recipe for it and tried it last night...failed!!! I am so sad. So if anyone out there knows a better recipe, please share!

I love spray paint!!

So lately I have been a huge fan of black spray paint. Everything I see, I just want to spray paint it.
I should probably consider different colors, but everything looks so much better black!
Above is a shelf I found at a yard sale for a buck, the bird from the dollar store, and the fake plant from a yard sale for 75 cents. I spray painted them all.

I found this picture frame at Goodwill for $3. I loved it! It is super heavy duty and sturdy. I wanted a cute black and white pic for it, but I had a hard time finding one, so this pic will do for now.

Above, I found this stand at a yard sale for 3 bucks. I think I might sand it and rough it up a bit.
Below, this candle stand came from Goodwill for $1.50.

This bad boy came from Goodwill too. I love it! And it's not black! I love all the detail. I sanded the edges a bit to add the rustic look. I don't really have a place for this, but who cares, it was $4! I think originally it had a glass top, so in the future I might add that and use it as a coffee table.

This mirror came from a yard sale, $1.

Candle stand came from Goodwill, $1.50.

Pear frame came from Goodwill for $2. I liked the 3D look. And it's perfect for the kitchen.

And this, my friends, is my latest project that I need to work on. I want to paint it and make a cushion for it and use it for the end of our bed. Sort of like an ottoman. It's really sturdy and heavy.
Yard sale for ONE DOLLAR! I asked the lady how much she wanted for it, thinking about ten bucks, and she was like, "ooohhh, a dollar?" Psh! I'll take it!!

I have a few other projects I have, only if I had more time!!

Hailey

So I was looking through these pics and I just had to share them. I love her!! And I sure hope she loves me back.

I think this looks like a Kevin face! So funny.

Snot and all!

Guess what happened a year ago!!

We did it!!! One year of being married . . . check!

This is how yesterday went:

I made Derek his request for breakfast, and off he went to work. He had to hurry out to rake hay, so he took it "to-go". And I had to get off to school.

At school I had to do a pedicure on the grossest feet I have ever seen in my entire life! I hate pedicures. I don't even like my own feet. And I had to do it to an 80 year old creeper guy that always comes in, I think he has a crush on me. Anyways, they were repulsive and stinky, my stomach was churning the whole time doing it. And get this, he only had 4 toes on one foot. I had to count a few times to make sure. And some of his nails were growing wrapped under his toe, I know, weird!!

Anyways, later on at school, I was just chatting with a few girls and here comes in this huge beautiful vase of flowers! Oh it was beautiful! I was so shocked, and it had the cutest note from Derek with it. I loved it!! And the pink tulle was the exact same color as my wedding color. Derek isn't really a type of guy that buys flowers often, so it was a great surprise. I guess that's what makes it more meaningful.

And then a few hours later Derek told me that he was coming home already. (I was planning on spending our night out on a tractor baling hay.)
AWESOME!!
So I hurried and ran some errands after school and picked up some items to make a "romantic" dinner. (I am not a romantic person at all.)
We ended up having alice springs chicken (Derek's request & fave), baked potatoes, salad, corn, rolls, and sparkling cider. He loved it!
We then hurried on over to the movie theater, I purchased the tickets earlier, which made it easier. We had the best seats, which we were worried about. We watched the new movie Knight and Day. It was a good, I got scared a few times, but than laughed a few times too. So it's that kind of movie, suspense & comedy combined.

All in all, it was a perfect day . . . minus the pedicure. :)

Here is Derek with his "romantic" meal.

We take horrible pics together, so this is the best one we could capture.

Thank you Derek for such an awesome year! I am so lucky to have you in my life. And I can't wait for the many other years ahead of us. I love you!

(I wrote him a card/novel, so you don't have to read the mushy gushy stuff. ) ;)

SEASIDE!

A couple weeks ago we had the chance to go to Seaside, Or with Derek's family for a week. Since Blake is leaving for his mission and Mitch is home, they wanted to do something fun as a family. It was a great time. I am glad that we were able to go. And I give you permission to just skip through this whole post, cause there's a ton of pics!! Tons. So go ahead and just browse through.
The one above is our room at the beach house. I thought it was so cute and beachy. The house had a lot of cute decorations.

We played games non stop. When it was yucky out, we played games. When we just woke up, we played games. When we were so tired, we played games. I learned a few new ones, so that was awesome.

It was Mitch's bday on our first day there. Had some ice cream and cake for him. The big 22!

One day we had a ton of rain, so we headed to Tillamook and toured the cheese factory there. Blake and Derek make a great farmer and cow.

We HAD to have ice cream there! Yummy!! Bubblegum and Cake Batter is what I chose. The bubblegum was actually really good. I was like the only one with "kid" flavors.

Played some baseball out on the beach.

Captured a pic of Derek and I. Like my sweater? :)

What a beautiful family.

We rented bikes and raced them on the beach. I actually won one time.

Oh goodness!! So . . . Derek actually bought that hat. He loved it so much. And he wore it around town! And golfing! It was so funny hearing the peoples comments about it when walking by. And one time we saw a guy with the same hair, but real, so Derek hurried and hid. Embarrassing!

Mitch bought his hat too. Looks sort of real on him huh?

Of course we had to watch the game. Derek sported his Celtics jersey all day.

Keston being silly.

Golfing on the beach, with fake hair.

The last full day there was beautiful!!! We were able to get in the water and play in the waves. It was a blast!

Keston and his sand castle, that Blake did all the work on. We attempted making one, but than a huge wave came in and ate it.

BBQ 101. Learning how to cook.

The End!!

Thanks Bruce and Shauna for a fun week!

Boulder Resort

I know this happened like a month ago, but I came upon these pics and wanted to post them. We had a family reunion at my parents house this year. It was such a good time!! Oh I loved it!! The only thing I didn't love was when it came to an end. :( Anyways, here are a few pics. The one above is so funny! My dad rocks. They were all matching (not planned) so I had them get together, and this is what they did!

Here's the men looking mean and tough. They had their fun paint balling. They loved it. Kevin got a good battle wound from it too. Derek is wanting his own gun now...we'll see about that one!

We went on a memory scavenger hunt around the house, to all the places where we used to play. We told the grand kids the stories and what we used to do. Here's Derek with his little snack baggie.

And here is my awesome Mom!! This was on the scavenger hunt, she was saying how the girls used to pretend they were singers on this rock. She looks dang good in this pic, way to go Mom!!


It was a great time and we can't wait until the next time we all can get together!
Thanks Mom and Dad!!

i did it!!

You all probably didn't think I could do it, but I did! No bread for a whole week!
Woo hoo!!
There was a time when I forgot and right as I was about to swallow, I remembered.
So I hurried and spit it out, phew!
And then there was another time, we were at Derek's house for dinner. Shauna placed these hot homemade rolls right next to me, very tempting. But I didn't fall.
Oh and that situation happened twice.

This week my goal is no candy, chips, and pop, aka junk food. We'll see how this goes.
Might be a tough one, I like my candy.

alfalfa

This is what Derek has been busy with lately. And for the rest of the summer.
Oh joy!!!

elder roylance!

As you may know, Derek's brother Mitch was on a mission in Mexico and came home on Monday. So here is what went down...
The plane schedule arrival time was 8:20. So we all piled up in the RV to head to the airport. And on our way, we got a phone call from a "fellow passenger". Someone who is flying with Mitch, he said that the plane is delayed and will land at 10:20! That's past my bedtime! ;)
We weren't too fond of the idea, but we couldn't turn around.
We had to make phone calls to all the family that were planning on being there, and then had to make a plan of what we were going to do for 2 hours.

Keston and I making our mean faces.

We ended up just hanging out at the mall until the mall cop and garbage man kicked us out. And then headed over to the airport, and it seemed like good timing because we only waited for about 30 min.

Here we are getting ready for his arrival.

Derek and his cousin Riley. He leaves next week for his mission in West Virginia.

Can you see him??

Mommy and Son hug.

Keston was so excited!

And so was Derek!

The whole family.

So last night Mitch said he had gifts for all of us. And look what we all got! He also gave some other sweet gifts. I got a sweet authentic blanket (the one on my lap).

The brothers. Derek didn't get the memo to wear white shirt and tie :).

Well it overall was a great experience. Great to finally meet my other brother in law. Glad he's home safe and sound. Now let's hope he can get adjusted to the "normal" lifestyle.