Semi-Wordless Wednesday

Snuggling with Uncle D

You can sure tell how much Derrick loves picture time.

Who needs gas?!

So I have officially run my car out of gas for the first time!  Sunday night, Derrick and I watched Miles while Kaylan and T.J. went to their small group.  When we went to leave...it all went downhill! :)

So last Tuesday on my way home from a job in Terre Haute, my gas light came on.  I didn't rush to the gas station because I didn't have anywhere to be or anything to do the next day.  I just thought I would fill it up the next time we were on the other side of town.  Then for the next five days, the only place I ever drove was to the gym (less than a mile away) or to Kaylan and T.J.'s house (also not very far away).  Needless to say, it was getting extremely low!!  It was warm Sunday when we left to go to Kaylan and T.J.'s house to watch Miles, so my car started right up.  We joked that it wasn't going to start when we went to leave their house once it cooled off again.  And we were right.  I mean it only had 55 miles on it since my gas light came on. ;) 

After a couple tries, we got it started and headed to the gas station.  We got no more than 15 feet (but certainly far enough to be past the stop sign and in the middle of the road) and my car shut off!!!  I wish someone could have recorded our faces!  Immediate panic :) "Oh my God!  It died!!!  Derrick you have to push me!"  :)  And he did.  To the side of the road which of course is the side of the road you're not supposed to park on.  So with my hazards on, we ran back to Kaylan and T.J.'s and thankfully they had a little gas in their gas can for the mower! Phew!  We put that in my tank and headed straight to the gas station! 

I don't believe that will ever be happening to me again!  I'm so glad I wasn't by myself when that happened or I don't know what I would have done!

Mom and Scott Visit

This weekend my Mom and Scott came out for a visit.  They got here late Thursday night, and we stayed up and chatted.  They are planning a move soon, so Mom has been going through ALL her stuff.  She brought out a few goodies for Kaylan and I to rummage through. 

Friday we did some shopping and lounging because Mom didn't feel too great.  We were able to take Miles outside to play in the backyard since it wasn't too cold here.  After Miles went to bed, we played the Newlywed Game.  Needless to say, Kaylan and T.J. kicked our butts!  And Derrick and I pulled up the rear. :(  I say it's because we're not even married yet! :)

Saturday we did a little running around and then went bowling in Avon.  We haven't been bowling since Miles was about 3-6 months old, and he did great at the alley.  Then the girls did a little craft shopping, and I got some supplies to make Quinn's wedding outfit :)  We cooked dinner at home, and played the Wii.  Then when Miles went to bed, we played Battle of the Sexes, and I'm proud to say the ladies won!

They left this morning to head back to Iowa.  We're glad they made the trip out!  We'll be on our way back to Iowa in approximately 3.5 weeks! YAY! :)

Grapefruit Anyone?!

So Monday I started to really take this eating better/exercising thing more seriously.  So far, I'd say we're out to a good start.  I've heard that Grapefruit a great kick start to your day, so I thought I would give it a try.  It really is as awful as they say.  Taralynn from Undressed Skeleton has said to put fat free jello on your grapefruit to make it taste less than awful.  (By the way, if you've never heard of her you should go check out her bio.  She's inspiring and a great motivator!)

I tried lime jello and I would definitely agree it wasn't as bad...but it was still bad. I think I'll try a different flavor next time.  I made it through it though and I'm still alive, so I'll try to give it another shot soon.  Today for breakfast I decided on some lime Greek yogurt.  It's much more delicious :)

My Clean Office/Craft Room!

Here is an update of my office/craft room.  I added a bookshelf in December and just finally organized it.  I also added a couple of fabric-covered cork boards :)

This corner is a bit of a disaster.  It is filled with wedding things.  I guess I'll just have to deal with it until after July :) 

Ikea Trip

Last Thursday Derrick and I headed to Ikea in Cincinnati with the McCords.  When they got their new couch last April, they had one cushion cover with a little tear in it.  So they exchanged their cover, and Derrick and I didn't need anything and were just along for the ride.

We love checking that store out with all their neat things, and we could hardly resist getting a couple new things.  We got some new coat hooks so our coats don't have to sit on the back of our dining table anymore.  Don't they fit perfectly next to our Ikea mirrors too?!

And I got a new office chair.  I bought my old office chair at Ikea too, but it was a cheap chair that I thought would do.  After much use, it just wouldn't do.  I was always uncomfortable getting any work done.  So the hunt for a new chair was on, but they are expensive!  We ended up finding a comfy one at Ikea, and so far it is amazing!

This is my old chair...

And this is my new chair!!  UPGRADE! :)

Sorry about this messy pictures.  My office/craft room really WAS that messy until a couple days ago.  I'll update you on that next ;)



Valentine's Day

It seems to be that Derrick and I will make a tradition of celebrating Valentine's Day on February 13th instead of the 14th.  Derrick had to work on Valentine's Day until 8:00, so we went out for dinner at Stone Creek on the 13th.  It's a fancier place in Plainfield that we hadn't tried yet, and it's at the mall.  It was delicious and right across the road was Coldstone, so we had that for dessert of course! :)  We also rented Abduction with Taylor Lautner in it, and I would say it was a pretty good movie.

On the real Valentine's Day, I had a job in Terre Haute and an evening date planned with my other Valentine!

Kaylan and T.J. got tickets to go to the Pacers vs. Heat game, so Miles and I spent the evening together :)  Once Derrick got off work, he came over too.  We had a romantic Taco Bell dinner, and we watched Gran Torino on TV. 

When we finally made it back to our apartment, I had these beauties waiting for me :)

Derrick spilled the beans that they would be coming since we weren't sure if either of us would be home when they would be delivered, but it was still a lovely surprise :)

Wordless Wednesday

Herringbone Art (Tutorial)

Here is the tutorial on how to make this Herringbone art.  I have had this giant canvas that will be going in our bedroom since Thanksgiving (because I got it on sale, of course!)  I wasn't sure what I wanted to paint on it until I found this amazing inspiration on Pinterest here.  I knew this was what I wanted to do with my canvas.

First up for the tutorial is you need to cover your canvas with paint in the colors you want.  Pretty, huh?

Then I just covered a couple more times until I could not see any white under the paint. 

Next, take your colors and start layering splotches of paint all over.  I think our room is going to be gray with a purple accent, so those were my main colors.  Then I added in a couple blues and a green to add a little spice to it :) 

This is my final product before starting the herringbone process, which quite honestly was the easiest art ever.  And I actually could have left it like this because I really liked it like this too! 

I used Edge Lock painters tape to do my strips.  I laid a few pieces out on my cutting sheet and used my rotary cutter to cut straight 6-inch pieces.   

Then I started to lay them on my canvas.  I didn't know it when I started, but I literally had to measure each piece of tape to make sure my design wasn't going to get all wonky. 

This process too FOREVER!!  Like we're talking 4 hours FOREVER!  It was hard and painful on the old back, but totally worth it! ;)

Finally covered in tape. 

Next I took a few of the tape strips away to have some extra white boxes in the painting. 

And then it's painting time!  I had to do a few coats of the white to get it to cover over the purple.  The only problem with that is I think that lead to a little more bleeding of the white.  One super thick coat of white may have been better. 

Then peel the tape off and voila!!!  A finished canvas!   

Well, almost finished.  I still need to do a final coat around the edge before we can hang it.  There are some imperfections that, of course, I would love if they weren't there, but it gives it character; right?  I think it turned out great and I can't wait to hang it!!

Chalkboard Wall

Also while Kaylan was painting Miles chalkboard desk, she decided to finally paint the chalkboard wall in the house for Miles. 

It was a hit!  Kaylan and I drew Miles a little picture for him to see when he woke up from his nap and then he went right to town coloring too!

Food Reviews

Well, we have been trying some new Pinterest recipies lately.  On Super Bowl Sunday, we had a pizza day with 8 different pizza, two of them being desert pizza that we found on Pinterest here.

It was delicious!  I give it 5 stars!  It was super easy, and I definitely recommend you try it! 

On Monday Derrick and I tried this Doritos Chicken Cheesy thing, and it was a bust.  We were not huge fans. 

I did think it was good and had good flavor, but it was just a lot of mush and not much substance.  We won't be making it again.  However, if you want to try it yourself, here is this link.

And Tuesday we tried these French dip crescents with Au Jus. 

They were good.  I would give them a 4, but that's mostly because French dips aren't my favorite thing.  I think we'll have them again!  Here's the link.

So all in all, Pinterest is serving as quite the recipe builder with just a couple of fails!  Let me know if you have any Pinterest recipies you love!

Goodwill Saturday

This last week was Goodwill 50% off Saturday.  We missed the half-off Saturday in January because we were back in Iowa, so we were really ready to get some great deals!  Not quite as ready as these people standing outside!

We got there at 8:59 and couldn't believe people actually waited outside, in line for half-off Saturday!

We hit up the usual 3 Goodwills that day and got some good steals!  The best part is Target takes their stuff there, so you can usually get brand new things from Target for sooo cheap! I didn't do as well as I hoped, but my best buy was a brand new game of Life for 50 cents!  You can't beat that.  I also got the Newlywed Game for 50 cents, and I decided to give it to Derrick for Valentines Day :)  Don't tell him!

Kaylan, however, hit the jackpot by finding this Kitchen!  We have been talking about making one for Miles for forever, but who can turn down a cheap brand new kitchen?!

Let me just say putting it together was a chore!  It was at Goodwill because a couple of the parts were missing.  But we improvised and I think it turned out great!  And Miles loves it! :)

We are anxiously awaiting the next half-off Saturday in March! 

Desk and Window Painting

During Super Bowl week, we were really slow with work and it was soooo nice here, so Kaylan and I got lots of stuff done!  We painted Miles' big boy desk, his little cabinet that was Kaylan's when we were kids, and my window!

Here is the desk all painted orange and the top being primed.  I don't have a completed picture of it, but imagine it orange with a sweet chalkboard top!  It's adorable! 

Here is the window I started out with.  Mom brought this home from the glass shop she used to work at a couple years ago, and I'm just not getting around to doing it!! Geesh!

Here is final product!  I love it, and I can't wait to get it hung up! So easy and so cute! :)

Super Bowl XLVI (Picture Overload!)

The Super Bowl this year was on February 5th, but they started the celebration here in Indy on January 26th.  While Kaylan and T.J. were out of town visiting friends, Derrick and I headed downtown to the DJ Pauly D and Bret Michaels concerts. 

 DJ Pauly D

Us waiting or Bret Michaels

Bret Michaels



The concerts were great and it wasn't even too packed :)

We went to the NFL Experience on Monday afternoon with the McCords.  We walked down Georgia Street (Super Bowl Village) to get to the Experience, and there was lots to see and do.

 Concerts and Games

 Ice Sculptures

Super Bowl signs everywhere! 

The NFL Experience (Indiana Convention Center) with the Zipline right in front of it. 

Indy Cars.  There's one for every NFL team, but we only got to see these ones. 

Zipline! 

Countdown to the Super Bowl!!!

We each got to be a player for our favorite teams :) 

Miles didn't want to be a Bears fan!  Just wait and see who he wants to root for ;) 

Go Vikes! 

That's right!  He roots for the Vikings, and he waves too :) 

Some famous announcers.  I couldn't tell you who they are, but Derrick and T.J. were freaking out! :) 

Rides with Uncle D are the best!

And he wasn't even scared of the giant bird! 

There were tons of activities to do inside the NFL Experience, but this was the only one we did. 

You were supposed to throw your football fast and in the hole, and they clocked how fast you threw it. 

All the team flags 

They had a Wilson football station where they actually were making footballs.  You could get one that had your name or family name or anything on it, but it would cost you about $175 for a football!! YIKES!

We just watched :) 

She was sewing them right there!  She said she does about 170 a day, and that's for 10 hours.

She's lacing them up. 

We decided to participate in a little commercial for fun, and they gave us these stickers.  Isn't he so cute as a little football player.  Little did we know, those things are awful to come off.  I think the babe might be a little traumatised from that! 

We even were able to check out the locker rooms!

Bears locker room.

And AP in the Vikings locker room! 

They had all the Super Bowl rings here too.  And this guy is just an added bonus :) 

AFC Championship trophy 

NFC Championship trophy. 

There was a crazy line to get up close and personal to the Vince Lombardi trophy, so we just took a picture from afar.   

All the guys got drafted too!

Derrick, of course, to the Vikings. 

And T.J. to the Bears. 

And looky here, Miles even went to the Bears, and he doesn't seem so mad about it! 

Here is the Zipline tower up close.

They had these heaters all down Super Bowl Village so you could warm up IF it was cold out.  We just happened to have great weather for most of the week! 

Another one of Derrick's favorite things.  You could come here and watch them do shows for ESPN. 

The big Super Bowl letters at Monument Circle. 

Me and Derrick 

The McCords 

Here is the JW Marriott downtown.  This display of work was quite amazing. 

And for the grand finale, this is what downtown looked like Friday night before the free LMFAO concert!! Craziness!  I'm so glad we stayed in.  

That was the extent of our Super Bowl experience.  We relaxed at home on Sunday and tried to avoid the city at all costs.  However, the guys thought it would be cool to go downtown Sunday to "see if they could see anything while they were driving around."  Needless to say, they couldn't get too close.  They did see policemen on horse, parking for $200, and a whole lot of helicopters flying overhead.

We sure hope they bring the Super Bowl back to Indy in a few years!  It was quite an experience!