O' Silhouette, O' Silhouette

I really love your creations!!

I'm so thankful Kaylan got a Silhouette for Christmas! It is really amazing! I finally have a project I can show you that won't be given away! :)

We each made a Halloween board! You need wood, paint, vinyl, transfer paper, and a Silhouette!



The Silhouette cuts your vinyl into the design you make on the computer. You use the transfer paper to put the vinyl on your wood, and then you paint it!!! It looks something like this in the process.


Then you (impatiently) wait for it to dry and peel off the vinyl!! Voila!!

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Sticky note anyone??

Surely this is normal...


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Old Photos

I finally just put all my iPhone pictures and videos onto my computer.  500+ of them!  Whoa!  It was kind of fun looking through all those pictures. 

This guy was my main muse.  There's too many fun moments to catch with this little man!

 Remember when he was this little??!  Me either! 

Yikes!  Somebody doesn't know what to do with real food!

 I still have this shirt, but I'm pretty sure he can't fit into his!  We need a new twin outfit!

 Rooting on the Yankees with Ti-Ti :)

O' Christmas Tree

Here it is in all its beauty!  And the presents just keep showing up in the mail!!  I did too much online shopping this year! 

Wreath Update

I feel like a mad woman with a zillion wreaths around my apartment right now.  I now have a Christmas one, Halloween one, Valentine's one, St. Patrick's one, and I'm working on an Easter one.  I also plan to make a 4th of July one, a fall/Thanksgiving one, and a summer one.  Whew!!  It's a lot of work, but I just love them! 

Here is the finished Christmas one.

And the St. Patrick's day one.  I actually still plan to put a little something to hang from the middle of them to spice it up a little bit, but I still have to paint and glitter those!

And here's a picture of the Valentine's, St. Patrick's, and Halloween.

Hypothetically speaking, if I were to sell these bad boys, would anyone else be interested?  Kaylan and I have been talking about having a booth in several craft shows, but we haven't nailed down what we would be making.  Of course, every time we make something new, we think we could sell it at a craft show...but seriously, would you even be interested in some holiday rag wreaths if you saw them at a craft show?!  Let us know!!  Your input is much appreciated! :)

Silhouette

Kaylan let me play around on her new Silhouette that she got for Christmas, and it was so fun to make some creations!  I finished what I was working on, but it happens to be a Christmas present; so no pictures for now, but stay tuned for an update!! 

Needless to say, I love the Silhouette, but it has proved to be a bit difficult to work with.  Though the things we are making are turning out super cute, they make it look a lot easier on the videos!  It's been a lot more time consuming than we first thought, but hopefully will be totally worth it in the end! 

Sorry to keep you in suspense with my project, but I'm sure I'll have more to share soon.  I the meantime, head over here to check out what Kaylan is working on!

Pot Roast Dinner

On Sunday Derrick and I invited the McCords over for a lovely family dinner.  I was able to try out my new crock pot that I got on Black Friday for $10!!  Whoooo! :)  And it worked marvelously!  I found a pot roast recipe on Pinterest and gave it a try with some potatoes. 

Here is it cooking. 

And here is our spread before digging in.  Kaylan even made a great gravy! :)

We finished the dinner off with a confetti cake (Derrick's choice in flavor!)  And we were all stuffed!

Holiday Wreaths

Kaylan and my mom made a couple of these holiday wreaths last year, but I thought I needed some now.  And since I think they're so cute, I think I need one for every holiday! :)  You can find a tutorial here. 

The best part about making these wreaths is that I had to get over my PTSD in order to make them! 

I bought that steel mesh glove right after my thumb incident, but I have been too scared to use my rotary cutter still!  I finally took the plunge and used my cutter and look at all I got done! :)

I have strips to make Christmas, Halloween, and Valentine's Day wreaths! Yay!  Kaylan and I also just picked up some St. Patrick's Day fabric, so I'll be getting back to cutting! 

I've done a little tying, but got a blister on my finger and ran out of strips.  I should really have someone check my math when figuring how much fabric to get!  Geesh!

Here is half of my Christmas wreath!  I can't wait to get it done and hung on the door!

Let me know if you make any wreaths!  They're too cute, and you'll love them!

Sour Cream Chicken

Derrick and I tried this recipe the other day, and it was delicious!  We both would definitely recommend it!
It is super easy with only a few ingredients.  You need chicken, salt, pepper, garlic powder, sour cream, and garlic croutons!  I also made my own croutons with bread, olive oil, and garlic powder, but you can always buy them too. 

You can get the chicken recipe here, and the crouton recipe here!  Let me know if you try it and what you think!! :)

Thanksgiving Recap

Wowzers! It has been a crazy week!  Here is a little recap of our Thanksgiving weekend a week late!  Derrick's family came here for Thanksgiving this year since we weren't able to go home.  They got into town Wednesday night, and we did some grocery shopping and grabbed some dinner.  We prepared the turkey, which was a whole lot of fun in itself.  Tom had to be the one to get all the "goodies" out of the turkey before Lisa or I would mess with it.  Yuck! 

Then we stuffed some butter and herbs under the skin, put an apple, orange, and onion inside and called it good!

Thursday morning Derrick had to work at Target, and I got up to put the turkey in. 

We had invited the McCords to join us for Thanksgiving since they didn't go back to Iowa either.  T.J. and Miles both ended up being sick all night Wednesday night, so T.J. decided not to come over.  I was doing great all morning, and then right before all the food was ready, it hit me. :( I was sick too!  Kaylan ended up being sick Friday, and Derrick got sick Saturday.  It certainly made the rounds through us all pretty quick! 

Needless to say, this is what I ate for Thanksgiving :(

We did have tons of leftovers, so I eventually got a proper Thanksgiving dinner!   Here is a picture of Derrick carving his first turkey!!

It was a bummer that we were both sick which his family was in town, but we made it work.  I rested for a few hours on Thanksgiving, and then felt a lot better.  We even managed to squeeze in a game of poker!  I refused to miss Black Friday shopping, so Dylan and I headed out around 11:00 p.m. to get some good deals!  What a trooper he was too!  It was madness!

Right when we walked in the door, I knew it was a horrible idea.  We ended up getting only half the things on my list, and waiting in line to pay was the worst part!  We gave up after striking out at Kohl's and decided to go to bed. 

Derrick had to work at TSC Friday for Black Friday.  And after lots of rest, I met up with his family for lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings and to watch the Iowa game.  After Derrick got off work, we headed downtown for dinner and the annual tree lighting on Monument Circle.  We ate at the Indianapolis Colts Grille, which is a new place downtown.  It was delicious!

Here's the monument/tree before the lighting.

And here is the tree after the big countdown!

The streets were packed with everyone out to see the lighting of the tree!  Some EMS people we saw said it was the largest crowd there has ever been because it was so nice out.  After the tree lighting, we went back to Plainfield and called it a night. 

We met up with D's family one last time for breakfast at Flapjacks in Plainfield before they headed back to Iowa.  We're so glad they were able to make the trip out for Thanksgiving! 

I also managed to get our Christmas decorations out Saturday too.  We don't have a ton of decorations for Christmas, so I sure hope I can find some good deals the day after to pick up some more things! 

Only one more month until we'll be making the trip back to Iowa to celebrate Christmas!  January can't get here soon enough!  I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving too!

5 Years (and 3 days!)

Derrick and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary this last Friday!  It is crazy that it has been 5 years already!  He got me these beautiful flowers :) and a massage!!

We spent the day apart because Derrick had to work all day at Target and TSC, and I was babysitting Miles and having a bad day with work! Yay!

Here's to starting the counting over next year after we get married! :)

SRA Christmas Party

Last night was my first Stewart Richardson & Associates Christmas party!  It was held at Euphoria downtown at the end of the canal.  It was a really neat place and had a great location.  We did some major mingling since this is one of the only times we're all together all year and then sat down for a great dinner.  It was great catching up with everyone! 

Here is Kaylan outside on the patio (because it was 50 degrees here last night) overlooking the canal and downtown! 

BINGO!!!

The apartment complex that Derrick and I live in has been having a window BINGO game for all the residents.  They gave us a card, and every day they post a new number in the window of the clubhouse.  It turns out we're a couple of lucky ducks because we won!!!  BINGO!!!  I drove by the office today, and it happened to have one of the four lucky numbers we've been waiting for! Our big prize is a $25 gift certificate to Logan's Roadhouse here in town! Gee, after winning a TV and now winning bingo, I feel like we may need to buy some lottery tickets to end the year with a bang! :)

I have a TON of other things to blog about, but I don't want to throw them at you all at once.  So get ready for a few days of updates! 

[Semi] Wordless Wednesday

Derrick and I babysit Miles {almost} every Sunday night while Kaylan and T.J. go to their small group.  This last Sunday, I brought some glow sticks over that I just happened to have leftover from Jen's bachelorette party.  We put some in the tub with him and turned off the lights.  Needless to say, he loved it!!!  (Obviously, I got this idea off of Pinterest!)  I will say it wasn't too much fun getting them away from him at bedtime.  He seriously loved them!! 

If you want to try this, go to Target and check out the dollar bins.  I can always get glow sticks there for $1 for 15 bracelets.  Trust me, it's the cheapest you will find them!

Another new hair style that I LOVE!!

I can't tell you how much I LOVE finding new and especially easy hair styles.  I feel that I would rather spend my time doing other things than my hair half of the time, which results in boring hair most of the time.  This is super easy and I found it on Pinterest (of course!)  There is a tutorial here, so you can see how to do it also.  The video is seriously like 30 seconds long because that's how easy it is!!  Check it out!

Here are my results!

I love it!  It's nothing too fancy, but way better than pulling it into a regular ponytail or a bun! :)

P.S. I tried it the other day with all-the-way-dry hair, and it didn't work the greatest.  I had to use about 20 bobby pins, but I think it was because I just have a ton of hair.  Today I did it when it was halfway dry, and it was really easy and only took 4 bobby pins, which resulted in a not-so-sore head!! :)

Mouthwatering Monday - Sushi

So last week I went out with a couple girls from work for dinner, and we went to fourty-five on Mass Avenue. They each ordered sushi, and so I decided to "grow a pair" and try it.



Sorry for the picture of a half eaten one...it was a little crazy with the seaweed. The whole one was actually pretty good.

This was a big step for me, so you should all be pretty proud of me! Maybe next Monday I'll have a more mouthwatering thing to share with you!!

Have a great thanksgiving everyone!


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Visit from Jen & Curt!!

This week has been a little crazy!!  Jen and Curt came for a visit last Friday and stayed until Sunday, and it certainly wore me out!! :)  Since moving to Indiana, you could say we've slowed down a little.  They got here Friday night at around 7:30.  We took them for dinner at Logan's Roadhouse and then out for drinks.  Except we haven't ever gone out for drinks in Plainfield, so we did some exploring with them.  The first place we went was KT's Pub.  It's a bar and grill place, but you have to be 21 to get in.  We decided that was for a different crowd than we were looking for, so we headed over to Firehouse Bar and Grill.  It's a small, older looking building, but it's closer to our apartment.  We ended up really liking it there.  Friday night is always karaoke night, so that was a good time.  And they have a couple pool tables and darts with plenty of room.  We ended up staying until around 2:30 and called it a night! 

We had a late start Saturday but went and had lunch at Dave and Busters.  I don't think they have them in Iowa, but it's a dinner/arcade for adults.  We spent a few hours there and then showed them around the city.  We had to make a stop at our favortie little ice cream shop on the way downtown, Brics!  If you ever come for a visit, we'll take you there! :)  Then I was able to take them up in my office building for a view of the city.  Then we headed back to plainfield.  We hung out at home for a while, and we decided to try another new bar to start the night off.  We headed to Bubba's Bar and Grill, which ended up being a primarily young crowd.  We stayed for a few hours and headed back to Fireside for the rest of the night.  When we got home, we decided to make a pizza and mac and cheese, but, of course, Jen and I were the only ones to eat it!!  Derrick and Curt were just going to take "little naps" while it cooked and then have some...but this is what happened!  (Curt at least chose the couch!)

Sunday we went out for breakfast at Bob Evans, and then Jen and Curt headed back to Iowa!  We're so happy they came for a visit!  We had a great time and can't wait to see them again when we're back in January!!

P.S. Sorry for the lack of pictures!  Jen is the smart one that brought her camera!!! 

Swinging and Chillin' in the Recliner

Tuesday I babysat Miles for a few hours in the morning.  During that time, we got lots of playing in!  It has been really nice here (and I was sweating inside playing!), so we went outside for a swing.  After about 20 minutes, Miles got his hat off and looked like this.

Then we went inside and watched a little Sesame Street!  He LOVES the theme song.  If you play it, he will stop whatever he's doing, plop in front of the TV, and do a little dance for you!  It's too cute.  Today he climbed up in his recliner for the first time, so we watched lots of Sesame Street!



Wordless Wednesday

(Semi) Wordless Wednesday

Derrick got his new toy yesterday!

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Tutorial Tuesday - dying fabrics

I have been dying fabrics around here like crazy!  Kaylan and I did it earlier, which you can see here, and I still needed to dye a few more things. 

First I gathered all of my supplies. 

 Shirts and things to dye purple with the Rit powder dye.

 And shirts to dye "green" with the washing machine dye. 

You start by getting all of your fabric wet in hot water.  Then fill a sink with hot water, mix in salt (directions are on the package), and then place each piece of fabric in the dye.  You're supposed to stir this constantly  for 15-30 minutes.  You then have to wash and dry your fabrics.

 The washing machine dye is much easier.  You get your fabrics wet with hot water.  Then you fill your washing machine with hot water (only enough to cover all of your fabrics.)  You then have a packet to mix in with your water, and then add the fabrics.  I let mine sit in the washer for 15 minute, and then I start the wash cycle so it will mix all of it all by itself.  Then you just run the rest of the cycle and then re-wash your shirts with detergent to make sure they won't leak colors.  I then just run a bleach cycle in my washer to make sure all the color is gone. 

This is what I came up with when I was done.  The purple ones were tie-dye looking, which is not the look I was going for.  And the washer ones came out being nice and evenly colored but a neon yellow-green color, also not the look I was going for. 

 So I headed back to JoAnn Fabrics to pick up some more dye.  I decided to do just washing machine dye, since it turned out a lot better.  They make a "color remover" packet.  I picked one up, but ended up not using it and just dying right over the colors I already had. 

 After I went through the washing machine process a couple more times, this is what I came out with.  Nice purple and green fabric, just what I was hoping for!!