Friends

In case you can't tell... That is our little black dog on that dark brown pillow. Sherman LOVES Cooper and Cooper doesn't know what to think.

Coming up for air.

Lots have been going on around here! The days are getting longer and the sun is shining. I have been getting the spring fever and haven't even had a chance to sit down and blog! Here are some random pictures of things that have been happening.

I got to meet Amanda's baby Oliver! I am super excited that we were randomly put together has roommates our freshman year of college. Ollie slept the whole time. I had the magic touch I guess. hehe
I also got him this little shirt. Long story short, Amanda and I call each other hussy and any boy who can grow chops (side burns) is called a dandy. This is the closest thing I could find. It is going to be awhile before he can fit in it though.

This weekend we went to mom and dad's house. Sherman is really interested in being friends with my parent's dog Rusty, but Rusty has a bad attitude about it. The dogs are either barking at each other or ignoring each other. I have tried many times to get a pictures of them together but that never happens! We were playing games on Saturday and I said, "Where is our dog?" I go to the living room and see this!

I guess they made friends for the moment. There were too many good soft pillows and blankets to pass up!

Sunday we went to Scott and Caroline's to celebrate Lily and Sofie's birthdays. (*side note. Between February 27-March 16 Jeff and I have 4 nieces and nephews birthdays, Jeff's birthday and one more niece or nephew to come at the end of this month. LOTS of partying for us! hehe) I can't believe I am saying this but Lily is 9 and Sofie will be 7 this week. 9 AND 7! I just can't believe it. I thought this picture was super cute of them.

Here are the girls with their birthday gifts.

Meanwhile, Sherman and his best friend Cosmo played and played and played. Sherman was so covered in slobber that he got a bath the second we got home last night.

I will be putting this picture in a frame for sure! Comso is by far Sherman's best doggie friend =)

I have saved the best picture for last. Last night I was looking through my old pictures and I found this.

I wonder if Caroline knows... hehe It made me smile for sure.

Have a great week!

You're Late... and Smell

So it happened. Our dog, who is a total flight risk, ran away. Don't worry, this story has a happy ending, although, I was ready to see him run for the hills after what he put me through.

We rescued Sherman. The rescue farm had found him wandering around town. We already knew he was a flight risk. I got gutsy with him. Jeff was reluctant, but when the snow kept falling and Sherman kept just staying in our yard, Jeff was on the wagon too! The snow has since melted, the rabbits are still living under our deck and there are MANY fresh smells for a dog.

I was right on time for work. Sherman went to the door this morning instead of his cage so I let him out. He sniffed around the deck like usual. Then he went over to Louis' (our neighbor) yard. We know him, so I followed through the back yard yelling his name. Sherman sniffs, trots along and doesn't come near me. Off to the next neighbor's house.

I have no idea who they are.... I go through their yard. Sherman hops along and decides he would rather see the front of everyone's house. I follow.

Sherman spots a young doggie lad across the street and doesn't want to be rude. He goes over to say hello. I follow.

Sherman realizes he had to go to the bathroom. He goes to a nearby lot to relieve himself. I follow.

The dog is super pumped to see Sherman, so he goes back over to have a conversation. I feel bad at this point for going through everyone's yard like an intrusive cat. I had Jeff on the phone and in a panic asked what I should do. I couldn't go through one more yard. The neighbor is outside and yells for me that I can come get Sherman. I walk in yet another yard.

She is holding him until I get there. I state that he will forever be on a leash from this point on. I pick him up and hold him against my bright white shirt and walk through the piles of doggie doo in my black and white striped zebra shoes.

I remove the shoes when I walk around to the back of our house, still carrying Sherman.

I put him in his cage, change my shoes and suddenly I am 20 min. late for work. Too bad I don't drink coffee. If I did, I would be making it Irish this morning.

The verdict is still out whether the shoes will make it through this tragedy. The life of a dog owner is never boring.

Have You Been Shopping on Etsy?

The answer to that question is yes, but not recently. If you aren't familiar with etsy.com then I suggest after reading this blog you mosey on over there. WARNING... You will be there awhile!

Below are the results of bad weather and an antsy girl! Only one of the projects was planned.
Last week I was snowed in for 2 days. Every time I went outside I would fall. (Serious.. it hurt) So, since I was on temporary house arrest because of old man winter, I decided to do some crafts. This one took me about 15 min. The cost: $0.00. I already had all the supplies.
The are just little paper roses. Which, even if you don't have a craft mind. You can do this craft. If you are interested message me and I would be happy to give you directions. Which is like 2. ha! Lily, my soon to be 9 year old niece, made these ALL WEEKEND!

We collect box tops for education for our nephew Jack. We keep them in an old cashew container. I was really tired of staring at it, so I jazzed it up.

I tried to make it look like an actual box top. This project also cost me $0.00. It took me about an hour, but no cost! haha

Because of a co-worker, I have been using Stumbleupon lately. This is probably one of the greatest inventions since the Internet. Basically you put in your likes and hit the "stumble" button and it takes you to a random website based on your likes. When you are tired of that one, you "stumble" again. I have gotten a TON of great websites from there. Below is actually a product of stumbleupon.

Jeff and I have been planning out our week of dinner on Sunday evening. We have found in doing this we go out less because we know what we are making. All I did was buy a picture frame, some stickers and a dry erase marker. A nice addition to our kitchen and a fun place to write our dinner plans. This picture is actually our dinner for this week. Thursday I have a date with Jodi, so Jeff gets leftovers! haha Total cost of this project: $3.00

Caroline and the girls came up for the weekend. We ALWAYS have fun when they come. Caroline and I were busy making the boutonnieres for the wedding. (Picture in a min.) While we did that, I bought canvases for Lily and Sofie to paint with the colors I use in my kitchen. Lily's is on the left. Something super cute about these is yesterday when I was hanging them up, I noticed that Sofie put a small hand print on hers. You can't see it in the picture though.

total cost: $10.00. (I had paint, but decided to buy washable paint. good thing because we found some on Jeff's shoes later.)

Also on Stumbleupon, I saw this cute tutorial for floral headbands. Once again a superduper easy project. Each headband took about 10 min. Serious. I made one for me and the girls. Caroline requested a button so I did! Say hello to our accessories for Valentines Day!

Sofie sporting hers. Please be mindful that we spent the whole day in our PJ's working on the big project. This is why our hair is crazy!

I took an up close and personal picture of mine so you can see the detail. Total cost of this project: $5.00

Finally, the pride and joy of our crafting extravaganza! I saw in a Bridal Magazine how someone did button boutonnieres (by the way, this is the hardest word to spell. The person who invented these should be kicked in the shins for the awful name.) If you know me, I LOOOVE buttons and polka dots. Caroline makes a lot of jewelry so I told her my idea and she said she could totally do that. The ones I saw were cool, but not AWESOME. I did some research and found pieces from three different ones I saw and we put them all together.

Our table was full of buttons.

I was most excited about this organizing thing I bought for all my buttons. I am so lame!

My colors for the wedding are black and white. The color comes in with the girls' shoes. Each girl has to pick a different color shoe. So technically I don't have a specific color, which I never thought I would love as much as I do. I don't have to stress at all if it is the correct green or not.

Here is Jeff's on his suit. His is yellow, not because of my shoes (mine are blue) but for a different reason you will have to see the day of the wedding!

Here is a picture of all the boutonnieres together. Aren't they awesome?!?! I can't stop staring at them.

The one on the top left is Lily's She was upset we didn't use any of her creations so Jeff agreed to wear that one on our rehearsal night.

Total cost for each one came to about $6.00. This is a $4.00 savings from what the florist quoted me to use real flowers. I chalk that up as a success!

Everyone we made we would say... "ooh this is my favorite!" Honestly.. I can't choose. They are all so unique in their own way. I can't WAIT to see how snazy all our men look in these on our wedding day! I am, as Caroline puts it, "PUMPED!"

No, I haven't bought these things off Etsy, but Caroline and I joked that we should start a shop. No thanks, then it is work and not fun!

Ice Storm Warning + Electrical Engineer = an Over prepared house

It all started this morning when Jeff woke up to an email from his company saying first thing in the morning everyone needed to gather for an emergency plan meeting. All day I was telling everyone at work about how we are getting this ice storm and how we need to prepare ourselves.

On my way home from work I was excited at the thought that we might get a day off work or at the very least, a day to work from home! This was about as far as I thought. Jeff took all the stress from preparing at work and brought it to our house. This is what I walk into tonight...

First we have some candles set out. I wouldn't have taken a picture, but he specifically said... "We will burn these if needed!"
Next I see the Thermostat was at 70 degrees and rising. (That sounds like that cheesier 98 degrees cd name.. 98 degrees and rising. ha!) This is in case the power goes out!

When I came home, almost out of breath he goes.. "Oh I need to fill the bath tub right away with water so we can use it to flush the toilet when the power goes out!"

*Notice how he even put a bucket beside it to carry water.

Next we have a flashlight by each side of our bed. These normally aren't here. I also thought mom would be proud, because if you know her at ALL you know she is obsessed with flashlights. That isn't an understatement either! (love you mom!)

I come into the living room and Jeff has pulled his tote of camping things out. This puppy is filled with all kinds of lighting things, etc.

Then we start on the light substitutes. This one is currently charging for said power outage.

The far back one here is for light. The one closest to you is for heat. Don't worry, in the middle of cooking dinner this evening, I had to stop and watch him turn in on in case he isn't here when I need it!

The hot tub was turned on earlier than normal tonight to make sure it doesn't freeze as well.

My brother called to check and make sure we understood what was about to hit us. He asked if we were ready. To that I said... "Do you even know who I am marrying?!" =) The sleet has started and if it follows what everyone has been saying, next will come snow, then more ice.

Once I noticed that the ice had started, Jeff wondered out loud if he should go and put his truck in 4 wheel drive in case he needs to go into work. To that I threw up my arms and just starting laughing at him. He is honestly a kid waiting for Christmas. He doesn't want people to get hurt obviously, but loves to be needed by the people of our town!

Well I am off to go learn how to churn butter by the candlelight. The way the news people are talking, we will never get to leave our houses again!

Thank you

How awesome is this?!?! Just for being a Shutterfly member I got to order these for FREE! If you aren't a member already, I am not exactly sure why!!

Thanks Much Blush Thank You 5x7 folded card

Unique party invitations and announcements by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

The Life of a Cupcake Maker

When Santa asked me what I wanted for Christmas this past year, I said "Anything dealing with cupcakes!" I have recently been obsessed with making cupcakes. Santa was extra good to me this year and I got decorating things, a cupcake book and a stand to display my masterpieces (which sadly I don't have a picture of.) Two days after Christmas I started my journey into the cupcake making world. I have mostly had success, but the first image is a semi disaster. We found this idea in the book and thought it would be super cute. I didn't take into consideration that I had to figure a way to transport them. Needless to say, one fell on the floor of the garage. Jeff looked at me, I looked at him and without skipping a beat he picks it up, dusts it off and says, "welp, this one is mine." haha

These are just a simple confetti/dirt and worm combo. They were just fun to make.

This one was fun! I got to learn how to put filling in the cupcakes. This was not an easy feat.

Note for the future. Never EVER put a sparkler on top of a cupcake. It gets black stuff all over it.

*one cupcake was harmed during the filming of this blog.

This on is my absolute favorite! It is really easy to make but looks challenging. The only sad part about this masterpiece is that the bottom cake layer is pretty much destroyed by the time it is all said and done. So the next small get together I am having with no more than 10 people, I will make this again!

I had to put this picture in here. Every time I make something, Jeff ALWAYS tries to steal one. He hardly ever gets away with it.