Day 13

Day 13 - A photo of something that makes you happy

I have chosen to share a photo this fella.

He makes me happy (almost) every day of the week! :) 

And in the off chance that he's not making me happy...

This fella sure makes me happy too!

Day 12

Day 12 - The meaning behind your blog name

Well, I'm sure you would agree that I got real creative with our blog name.  If you haven't guessed it already, the blog name came from me being Keriann, Derrick being Derrick and this blog being about our lives, which are totally adventurous!  Welcome to our awesome blog ;) I hope you enjoy the adventures of Keriann and Derrick!

P.S. While you're reading this, I'm probably tubing down Apple River with the bride-to-be, Jen Seeley, having a spectacular time (but only probably since I'm actually writing this early since I will probably be tubing down a river on Day 12.)  Don't worry, I'll fill you in on all those details once I get back home!

Day 11

Day 11 - How you hope your future will be like

This one is a tough one.  I have a lot of things that I wish for in our future!  The first thing that will probably take place is getting married.  We haven't officially set a date yet, but summer 2012.  After we get married, I hope we get to take a nice honeymoon and come back to the real world nice and refreshed as husband and wife.  The next big milestone will probably be a house or a child.  I have pieces of a dream home, but that can wait for another day.  And someday we want kids, but not for quite a while.  So as you can see, after the wedding, there will be lots of waiting before the next big milestone. 

Hopefully after we get married, we can take lots of mini vacations.  I will have been working for over a year and a half, and hopefully Derrick will have a full-time job by then.  After the wedding, then we can save extra money and go see some places before we decide to buy a house or have kids. 

As far as the rest of my future goes, I haven't really had a chance to think out much further than a few years.  Maybe I'll update this with new future hopes and dreams in a couple years once these ones come true! :)

Day 10

Day 10 - Something you don't leave the house without

Literally the one thing that I absolutely won't leave without would be my iPhone. 

I can go to the grocery store with Derrick without my purse or my keys, but I will always have this trusty phone with me!  You never know when someone might Facebook you, play Words or Hanging with Friends with you, or even call you for goodness' sakes!

Day 9

Day 9 - A TV show you're currently addicted to

Well, well, well...this list could sure go on and on!  I sometimes feel a little guilty about all the TV shows I get addicted to.  In my defense, I almost never watch a show unless it is recorded and I can skip all the commercials.  That helps me waste less of my precious time, right?? 

Right at this very moment, I am addicted to three shows to the point I might cry if I miss them, and two other shows that I also watch. 

First up on the list is True Blood. 

If you don't have HBO, you're seriously missing out!  Kaylan and T.J. got us hooked on this show.  Derrick and I had to rent the first two seasons to catch up because we didn't have HBO until now, but it is such a great show!!  And it's nice because it's also one of the only ones Derrick likes to watch with me. 

Second is Big Brother! 

I'm addicted!  Most of you probably know the details to this reality show.  I get so caught up in all the drama and scandals!  Go Jeff and Jordan! :)

Third, So You Think You Can Dance!

Dance, dance, dance!  This show is great if you actually like seeing talented dancers doing all types of dances.  On a side note, I don't love Dancing with the Stars merely because they pail in comparison to these dancers!  P.S. - Derrick WILL NOT watch this one with me...

Next up, The Big C.

Kaylan and T.J. got us hooked on this one as well.  It's on Showtime, and it's about a lady who is living with stage 4 melanoma.  It's hilarious!  I realize stage 4 cancer doesn't sound very hilarious, but the show as a whole is really great. 

And last but not least, Deadliest Catch.

This would probably be one of Derrick's favorites, although I will say that I really enjoy it as well.  You watch as several crab fishing boats go out in the Bearing Sea to catch different crab.  It's crazy some of the things they deal with on the boats! 

By the time these shows end and the new fall shows premier, I could have a whole new list for you on shows that I will be addicted to then!

Day 8

Day 8 - Favorite cartoon character and why

This could turn into a pretty long post too if I really think hard about my childhood days, but a particular cartoon show that I still enjoy would be Scooby Doo.  No particular character, just the show in general. 

I wish I had a picture of a certain someone that looks just like Shaggy in his green shirt and brown pants.  Everytime Miles has this outfit on, I can't keep from calling him Shaggy at least a couple times.  It's too cute!  I'm sure I'll be watching lots more cartoons with the kiddos as they are growing up.  Ask me again in five years, and I might just change my mind! :)

Registered in Indiana!

Both our cars are officially registered Hoosiers! :)  I got my car registered here in January because that's when my new registration was due, but Derrick just had to do his in June.  Here is a picture of our cars with newly changed license plates!

Here in Indiana, you only get a license plate for the back so now we need to get some fun ones for the front of our cars.  We'll keep you posted whenever we get those!

Day 7

Day 7 - A photo of your favorite place to eat

I kind of struggled with this one.  I really enjoy going out to eat, and each place we like to go has something different that I love there. 

For example, I love Outback Steakhouse for their bloomin' onions and pasta. 

I love Logan's Roadhouse (think Texa's Roadhouse) for their steak and delicious rolls (and peanuts too). 

I love Chili's for their fall-off-the-bone ribs. 

I love authentic Mexican restuarants (La Cabana, Newton & El Jaripeo, Plainfield) for their cheese dip with chips and salsa. 

Trust me, this list could go on forever!  BUT something I find myself swooning for quite often these days is an amazing chicken fettuccine alfredo that I had at Frenchy's Rockaway Grill in Florida! 

Here is a picture of us eating at Frenchy's in January 2010. 

It was the best alfredo I have ever had.  And if you know me at all, you know I am a sucker for some delicious pasta!  Maybe someday again I will be able to have that scrumptious dish!

Day 6

Day 6 - Your favorite movie

I will definitely say that my favorite movie ever is probably Dirty Dancing.

I seriously used to watch that movie a zillion times a day when I was a kid.  So much that I wore the VHS out and mom had to start hiding it from me on top of the refridgerator! 

However, the best movie I have seen recently would be Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II. 

It was amazing!  I definitely see plenty of HP marathons in my future!

Paint Chip Art

To go along with my thumb post, I would like to show you where I got the idea to make my paint chip boards and how to do it. 

I found the link to make the paint chip art here.  They only made the circle one in the middle.  Derrick and I had nothing on this wall above our couch, and we have really high ceilings in our apartment that really made the space look bare.  We knew we wanted something big to hang here, so when I saw the circle art, I knew we could make it any size we wanted.  Then I decided that I could dream up two other patterns to go with it too. 

To start, Derrick and I went to Lowes and bought a large piece of chipboard and had them cut it into the size of the three main parts of the boards.  We also bought some small 1 x 2 pieces of wood, cut it to size, and placed it on the back to make them a little thicker.  (Sorry I didn't take a picture of that part.)  We used a staple gun to connect the top to the boards on the back. 

Then we went to Wal-Mart and raided their paint chips.  The circle art has a specific way to make your template, but the other two I just guessed and went from there.  After I got all the pieces cut out, I used Mod Podge to glue it onto the wood.  Once all the pieces were on, I then did two final coats of Mod Podge over the whole thing. 

On a side note, I had the circle one and the square one all done and I was almost done cutting out the zigzag one when I cut the part of my thumb off. OUCH!!  But finally we finished them, and I love them on our walls!

If you decide to make some of these on your own, I would recommend using sissors and not a rotary cutter!

Day 5

Day 5 - Something you will never forget

VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED!!!  Some of these photos are a bit gory.

Well, some of you may have heard that while I was creating these beauties -

I cut off a part of my left thumb.  Needless to say, it was by far the worst injury I have ever had, and I sure hope nothing like that ever happens to me, or any of you, ever again! 

Now for the photos: "Chronicles of my Thumb."  I'm warning you - they're gross!

This is while we were at the emergency room, which was my first visit there.  They finally got the bleeding to stop after trying a couple of different procedures, both of which hurt horribly. 

It doesn't really look that bad in this picture because it's a little blurry, but it's a pretty good chuck and some of my nail is gone too.

Note:  If you look at the rest of my thumb, you can see that it is stained red from all the blood that I lost.  The rest of my hand looked like this too.

 This is the picture of how they got it to stop bleeding.  After trying some medicated styrofoam stuff, they resorted to using silver nitrate.  What's that you ask?  I don't really know, but it came on the end of a stick (think of what a giant match would look like) and he had to press that end on my wound to transfer the silver nitrate.  Magically, it stopped the bleeding, but there were lots of tears shed at this particular moment.

This picture was taken a couple days later during a cleaning.  I had to wear a gauze bandage over it for a couple days and clean it once a day with soap and water.  I am not one that is weak in the stomach when it comes to things like this, but while cleaning it the first week, I had a couple time I had to sit down for fear of passing out. 

The skin grows back from the outside in.  That's why there is a little hole in the middle where skin hasn't yet grown back.

Kaylan and TJ were great doctors helping me clean it for the first few days.  I couldn't have done it without them. 

 No, it's not infected in this picture.  That is my new skin, and the red spot is where the hole is not all the way healed shut yet. 

The black ring around my wound is just dried blood that had seeped into my good skin when I first cut it. 

On another note, I slept on the couch for two whole weeks because that's the only way I could ensure not bumping it on anything. 

 This picture is from the same time as the one above.  It healed weird with this bump sticking out, but eventually that went away.  You can see that part of my nail is missing in this one.

It's finally starting to feel better by this point. 

This happened on Wednesday, June 15th.  I was off work for exactly two weeks.  Thankfully I was able to go back to work then since it is on the inside of my thumb.  I definitely have to appreciate that my hands are what keep me working, and I will be taking the appropriate steps to make sure I don't lose a finger making any more crafts!

This is at the same time as the one above.  I finally am getting my shape back in my thumb by this point, which the doctor said should completely come back.  I sure hope he's right!

 This picture is three weeks after the accident.  It's white like that because it's all dead skin that will eventually fall off.  I could do pretty much anything with it again, but I definitely was still babying it. 

This was around the first time I was able to play with Miles again.  It was an awful three weeks not being able to snuggle that little guy!

This is when the dead skin started to fall off.  I literally didn't think it was going to stop taking over my good skin.  And of course this was happening right as we were heading back to Iowa for the annual Baxter Fun Days!

And five weeks after my accident, this is what my thumb looks like.  It's still really tender and has a really small scab on the end, but at least I know it's almost back to normal!  However, I am not so sure that my nail will ever be the same.  I can't wait to see what it's like to be able to use my left thumb all the time again!! 













Sorry for the picture and info overload.  This was a pretty big event in my life that just took up half my summer.  I felt the need to document it properly. :) 

I hope you all have a great weekend!

While Miles is napping...

I thought I'd share some pictures of our apartment.  I did some cleaning this morning because I knew Miles was going to be coming for a sleepover today, and I wanted him to have a nice, clean floor to crawl around on.  And since the apartment was clean (I say past tense because it is already a mess again), I decided to take some pictures to post on here. 

This is what you see when you walk in the front door.  You walk right into our living room.  The living room is on the right, and a hallway is straight ahead leading you to the rest of the apartment.  Notice the three boards that we made.  I think they look really nice on this big, plain wall!

This is a picture of the living room looking from the dining room.  That is a picture collage with lots of pictures of our family in them. 

 Picture looking from the living room back toward the main door.  Notice the awesome Ikea mirrors we purchased!!  I love them!

 Here is a picture of our dining room looking from the living room.  The kitchen is to the right behind the counter.  Check out our sweet wine racks from Ikea and that lovely H that I made! :)

 Another view of the dining room looking from the office/craft room. 

 Everyone has seen a kitchen, but here's ours!  

 It's small, but I think it feels bigger with the bar cut out of it.  I like to be able to at least see other parts of the house and Derrick while I'm in the kitchen. 

 Miles got to our apartment just in time to help me take the last few pictures.  He LOVES our kitchen.  I think it's mostly because of the hard floor.  He loves banging his toys on the floor or throwing and chasing them in the kitchen.  This is actually a picture of our laundry room that is just through the kitchen. 

 This is our extra bathroom. 

 Here is where I get all my work done.  This is the office looking from the doorway. 

 Here is another view of the "office" which I also call my craft room! :)  This is my craft table with lots of craft things on top and to the side of it.  Also notice that this is where we store Miles' toys and highchair when he's not over. 

 Another view of the office.  I set up my old keyboard since we had a place to put it.  I've only played it twice since we've lived here, but Miles likes to play it too so it has to stay up!

 This is the closet in the office.  I am slowly (but surely) making it more organized.  This whole shelf is full of craft things and reference books for work. 

And last but not least, here is our bedroom.  This is the one room in the house with almost nothing on the walls.  I really need to figure out how I want to decorate in here.

 And we have a sweet old TV that hopefully someday we will be able to upgrade!  And the golf clubs had no better place to go, so we put them in our bedroom?!

 This is the view of our bedroom, bathroom, and closet from the window in our room. 

And this is our master bathroom.  It's nice and huge for us to share :)  It also has a closet to the left, but I didn't think you needed to see it. 

That is the end of the house tour.  Now you all need to come visit us so you can see it in person!!! 

Miles just woke up from his nap and said to tell you all hello :)  Now we're going to go get some serious playing in. 

EAT & H

I have two more recent crafts to share.  Since Derrick and I have gotten our own place, we need some serious decorating!  The dining room is the newest space that I have added a little decoration to. 

First off, I made this EAT sign that I found here. 

I loved the idea of it, and it was the easiest craft I have done in a while!  All you need is cardboard letters that you can find at most craft stores, scrapbook paper, sissors, and Mod Podge. 

Next up on the agena was this washer art that I found here. 

I have been wanting to make this forever, but was debating on what to create out of my washers and worried I would mess it up.  (That's the perfectionist in me.  If I don't start a project, I can't mess it up!) 

Here are the supplies you need to create your own washer art.

Canvas in any size you want
Washers in three different sizes
Paint
Polyurethane
Sand paper
Heavy duty glue

As you can see, my canvas is no longerwhite (at least I kind of remembered to take this picture.)  First you paint your canvas whatever color you want to show through the sanding (or you don't have to paint it at all like the original post.)  I chose to paint mine like this to match the colors in my EAT sign and to have a little bit of craziness in it. 

After that was painted, I sprayed a coat of polyurethane on it to keep that color from coming off when I sanded it.  Then I painted the whole canvas two coats of black.  Once that had completely dried, I went outside and sanded off some of the black so I could see the color through it. 

Once it was sanded, it was time to place the washers where I wanted them.  This was definitely the hardest part.  Since I had three sizes, it just wasn't coming together so easily.  It really was like a puzzle.  Once they were where I wanted them, I started to glue them down.  I used Quick Grip which I think worked really well, but it should be used in a ventilated area (think rubber cement.)  Once that is done, you end up with this!

Here is our dining room with the EAT sign and the H! :) 

Our apartment is finally coming together!