Cute, Cute Camera Bag!

I have been using the same old camera bag that I bought out of pure necessity for y e a r s. I think this is the year I replace that old camera bag and get one that I love...like this one from Janine King's Design Shop on Etsy.

Perfect Stocking Stuffer

I stumbled across an Etsy site and found an absolutely adorable stocking stuffer for my kiddos. I thought any of you that actually still read my sporadic blog and just happen to be looking for a cute stocking stuffer for Christmas (or a cute gift for any time of the year), I've found the perfect and reasonably priced gift! Check it out! Click here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Handy Turkey Poem

Blog Addition!

Okay. I admit it. I am a quote junkie. I have been collecting quotes and short stories since I was about 12 years old. Up until this time, I have kept all of my quotes organized into a notebook, but now with the prevalence of the beautiful digital age, I've decided to slowly work all of the quotes I've collected to an online blog. This has been up online for a little while, but it's needed a lot of tweaking. It still does, but at least now it's somewhat decent. So. if you're ever in need of a quick quote of short story for a talk or just a little pick me up for the day, well then, feel free to stop by my new blog: Common Hour Quotes!

The Sarcasm I Feel

So, I've been here at my sisters for nearly 3 weeks now, and just yesterday a magnet on her fridge caught my eye. I read it and laughed so hard I was almost crying! I love my children dearly. But, sometime this sarcasm that seeps from this artwork rings all too true! Must find and purchase said magnet! Okay. Real photos coming soon! There are a TON! 

Candy Wrapper Belt Link

Okay, so the kids are asleep and I found myself doing some blog surfing this evening and I stumbled upon the cutest candy wrapper tutorial. Perfect craft for an older child, YW's Mutual Activity or Girls Camp Craft, OR if you're my old high school friend, Linsie who apparently consumes Tootsie Rolls while honing on her creative writing skills. Anyway, I just had to bookmark for future reference and thought I'd share with the rest of the blogger world out there.

Projects, Projects, Projects!

I don't think I've ever been obsessed with anything as much as I am with sewing (okay, okay, maybe I have). Here are a few of my latest projects!

A: Reversible Fabric Book Covers - Oh so easy and fun! I made these up for the YW in our branch as a little farewell gift. I used the Composition Books so they could use them as Journals.

B: The Miss Madeline Dress from The Handmade Dress - Another super easy, and super fun project. I plan on making more of these dresses before I have to pack up my sewing machine and ship it across the world.

C: And a little something for myself. A Reversible Wrap Skirt. This one was met with a few hic-ups; but, hey it wasn't too bad for my first go around. I had just made it too short, so I had to go back and add another piece of fabric on the bottom of the skirt. I actually like it better that way!

On a separate note...just 3 MORE WEEKS until I leave! I can't believe it's coming to an end already! Me and the kids are getting geared up and excited to see our family again this summer and look forward to the *unknown*. Meanwhile, I'm busy trying to get organized, sewing like crazy, getting caught up with some late nights of Family History, and watching my kids grow, grow, grow (AJ has two teeth coming in - Ouch!)!

Mom Points

In every mothers quest to be "cool", today I totally earned "cool" points with my preschooler. I found and downloaded this album on iTunes today.

This album is awesome! Kami and I were listening it during dinner tonight (very informal dinner tonight...chicken nuggets and peas (I threw the peas in there because I thought, "Oh yeah, gotta be healthy". Nice. I know.)) and we couldn't help but get up and start moving. My personal favs: "Wheels on the Bus", "If You're Happy and You Know It" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider".

Two Talented Artists

Here's the latest from the collection of "Women of Inspiration" by Artist Megan Rieker. I just cannot get over how beautiful this painting is! I was fortunate enough to get to know Megan while stationed in Germany and see some of her originals from this collection and some works in progress. She is such a fantastic woman and talented artist.

Dixon Leavitt is another talented artist that I know and like to keep tabs on. I actually have a print of this painting...it's one of my favorites. Click here for ordering any of his prints!

Changes

I've been debating with myself weather or not I wanted to give you all a sneak peak at a little early Mother's Day Present that my kiddos gave me this year (okay, okay, with lots of influence from me! ;^) But, instead of doing that, I thought I'd share the link to the fantastically talented designer who is redesigning my blog for me. I linked to her personal blog over a year ago through SugarDoodle for some creative YW lesson and activity ideas and have followed her as she's shared her talent in logo designs on her blog. I am amazed every time she comes up with something new. And part of her business is also redesigning blogs, so I emailed her about the possibility of giving my blog a face lift and she happily accepted the job!

All I have to say is...WOW! I am so excited! I consider my blog my little "home" on the Internet. Drew and I live so far away from our families, it's not as if we can pop on over to our parents homes or have lunch with our siblings/cousins/nieces, etc. This is the closest thing I've got to sharing our families comings and goings with those we love the most. So, I wanted my blog to feel as welcoming to the family and friends and others that may come and 'visit' as they do or would in my own home. I think Angela has created just that for me.

So. Stay tuned! :^) And if you're in the market for design work, I cannot say enough good things about Polish Designs . They have my highest recommendation!

A Movie Worth Seeing

If you haven't seen this movie yet, I highly suggest seeing it! I thought it was absolutely fabulous!

Projects Galore!

So. This Christmas I became the owner of one fantastic sewing machine. For those of you who didn't know, I have fantasies of actually becoming good at sewing things. And as any good crafter who fantasises about becoming a good crafter would do, I've begun my collection of things I want to make!

Drumroll please! Here they are!

This one I've actually started and am nearly finished with! *applause* I know! I know! Thank you! The only thing I've got left to do is sew on the velcro (self-adhesive velcro doesn't work if you're going to sew it, too. Believe me. *wink*) and put in some elastic in the next strap and sew around the apron. Okay. So the only thing I've really done is sewn together the neck strap and waist strap, but those suckers took me an entire afternoon! Anyway, this is a FREE pattern that you can get at: Sew Liberated

And....an apron for myself! I saw this at Pink Chalk Fabrics, and fell in love with it! I'm saving this project for when my mom comes next week! It looks a little tricky and I think I'll need her help!
And lastly, this is going to be a dangerous site, I can already tell.You Can Make This.com has SO many absolutely cute patterns! Here are the ones I've got waiting on me to do!

A reversable skirt for myself. I've got the fabric that I want to use, however, I'm participating in a base wide "Biggest Loser" competition with Drew and a couple guys from his work (Go Team 2BUCU!!). I thought I'd wait to make this to see what results come of this competition.
And here's another FREE pattern that I got because, well, it was free! Why not, right?
And another project that I'll probably need help with, but I've got visions of making these this summer for Kami and her cousins. We'll see, Rachel! ;^) So. I'm off! Stay tuned for actual finished projects in the next few weeks, months, years, eons! And while I'm at it:

Attention Scrapbookers!

http://www.scrapbookfactorystore.com/

So, the super cool scrapbook store that I used to work at now has kits online! Wahoo! I am so excited about this!!! These kits are put together by a group of uber-talented ladies - I miss them all so much!!!! Anyway, go on over and check out their new store! The kits are sold unassembled with everything you need to complete a 2-page layout. You can use the designers idea exactly as the pictures shown, or add your own little flair here and there! Yay! Congratulations Scrapbook Factory on your "dot com" expansion! :^)

Attention Twilight Fans!

Okay, for those of us who (like myself) have ants in their pants waiting for the 4th and final book in the Twilight Series to come out in _____________ days/hrs/mins/secs/(see sidebar for how much longer!), you have got to check out this blog ! Holy smokes! This guy is so funny! I was trying not to laugh as hard as I wanted to because Id've woken up Kami in the next room! So, for our reading enjoyment while we wait, here's one guys take on what'll happen in the upcoming book! Enjoy! :^)

In the Mail...

Check out how absolutly cute this is! What is it? You wonder. It's a nursing poncho from Busy Baby Nursing Wraps! And I just got one in the mail yesterday!!! It is so cute and I am so excited to use it! Kami would always pull off the blanket I used with her or it would slip off and I always flet like I was smothering her under the blanket. Where were these when I was nursing her??? Anyway, yeah - I'm stoked! I ordered it from a super cool website called The DoupaShop (woohoo! Shout out to my sister whoes a Dula! Check it out, Rach, you'd love this store!). I have to say, their shipping was so fast and the fact that they also threw in a 15% off my next order coupon and two bags of skittles, I'm definetly ordering from them again!

They also carry a product that I used when I was pregnant with Kami called Belli. My super loyal Visiting Teacher from church in Illinois (she came ever single month for three years!) gave me a sample pack when I finally got pregnant with Kami. Her daughter and her daughters husband actually own the company and create/oversee the product line. I would recommend their product to anyone! It is fantastic! And they've expanded quite a bit in the last 2+ years. So. Yay! More stuff to buy! ;^)

Anyway. That's my advertising blurb for three absolutly wonderful companies to all the prego/nursing mommies out there!

Sew, That's It!

Alright, for crying out loud, how cute is this?????


I found this blog called Pink Chalk Studio that has the cutest patterns! She has instructions you can purchase and everything. Anyway, this sooo makes me want to learn how to sew! I would totally go out and try to make this today, if only I had a sewing machine!! ;^) Anyway, for those sewing crafters out there who do own sewing machines, I thought you'd enjoy the website!

Mary Jane Socks Boy Alternate

So, okay. Are these not the cutest alternate to the Trumpette Mary Jane Socks?? They're called Johnny Golf socks. Yep. I'll be buying these for AJ! Our little future golfer!

Chinese Birth Calendar

Okay, so my friend Bernie sent me a link to this website that 99% accurately predicts your baby's gender. I'm super curious. If you have kiddos, check out this website and see how accurately it predicted your children's gender. It was accurate with Kami, and if it's accurate with this baby, Drew and I are going to have to battle out girls names. :^) Let me know what your results are!

http://www.webwomb.com/chinesechart.htm

Cute Cousins

So, just before returning to Korea, Kami and I made a stop in Seattle to visit my sister, Rachel and her family! While we were there we hired one of her photographer friends to take pictures of our girls together! They turned out awesome! Here's a sampling of one and the rest you can visit her website at: http://carriestroudphotography.blogspot.com/

Twilight

Okay, for those of you who are just as obsessed about these books as I am, this post is for you!

There's not many times when a book is so good that it captivates my attention enough to read an entire series in one week. Yeah. Obsessed. I am not kidding when I say that this book was glued to my nose and there were a few times when sleep evaded me and I stayed up reading (uninterupted) until 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning. Crazy, crazy crazy! I usually have a hard time staying up past 10 PM (just ask my husband). Anyway, I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for the fourth and final installment to the series coming out in August. For those of you who live in Osan, Korea and are also obsessed with these books I am seriously contemplating having a book release party then, so stay tuned! ;^)

Also, for those fans who are, like I said as equally obsess as I am, you'll also be excited to know that there is a movie coming out in December (See, I told you, it's a sickness! Beware!) and they've cast the entire Cullens family. Here's a picture from Stephenie Meyer's website.

Alright. Enough about my latest obsession. I'm truly getting in trouble from my husband because I haven't posted any pictures from Florida on the blog yet. I guess I better get on that today! So. Stay tuned. I'm still here. I'm still well. Just enjoying the sunshine, shopping and lazing around!