Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Cookie Wednesday

JD has been gaming away at work (which is actually a lot more than just playing for fun) and has enjoyed the many perks of his company. I have always heard that video game companies treat their employees well, but now I see it first hand.

Not only do they have a full cafeteria with a personal chef but each week they treat their employees to krispy kreme Friday and cookie Wednesday. They bake trays full of fresh cookies which leads me to this goodness...

It's an oero. cookie. Not the typical black and white oero cookie but cookie dough with bits of oero mixed in. I love it when he brings them home.

Besides recovering from a migraine and a massive bug bite that got infected and spread (that I'm treating with 14 days of mega antibiotics...weird right?), I'm enjoying summer and looking forward to some pool time.

In other news that doesn't involve cookies or bug bites, I've been on the hunt for some side tables. I've been looking online and found a bunch that I love...


However, all are over $100.00-the top one is $575.00. I like the wood/metal combination but these are out of my price range. I'm thinking about making my own. I found this tutorial on Lowes but feel it looks a bit cheap. I might try to tweak it. Who knows. I'm also building a desk...I'll be back with that update in about 2-3 weeks.

Anyone else ever make any furniture? Now if I could just learn how to use some power tools.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

the move. a week late.

A week ago today (Saturday) we moved. Let's rewind... 
School ended last Friday.
Saturday we moved.
Sunday we spent the day painting and cleaning our old place.
Monday my week-long grad class started. I had class for 8 hours each day and 2+ hours of homework each night. It was a geometry class. Anyone want to know the relationship between an inscribed angle and the portion of a circle it cuts off? What about explaining the proof for why corresponding angles are congruent? Yea, I didn't think so.

So, back to the move even if it's late. Better late than never.

Thanks to my amazing family and their big muscles, we packed everything into a 26 foot uhaul and then unpacked everything. If my mom was a super hero she would be called Super Maid. She is most dedicated cleaner and will not stop until everything is done. She cleaned both bathrooms, scrubbed the kitchen and then cleaned until 10pm at the new place.





It was actually pretty cool to think that the same kind folks who moved us in 3 years ago helped us move out, with the addition of little Tommy.

I am so thankful for my brothers and their willingness to always help and for my parents who will drop anything to be there for us. And thanks to Katie who played photographer and who also made us dinner. We appreciate you all so much.

Here's the outside of our new place...
We are about half way unpacked and are loving every minute of our new home. When were a bit more settled in I'll share the inside pics. Until then envision a lot more space and light.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Boxed in.

Before the big move this Saturday, I wanted to drop in and give you a glimpse into our moving madness. We've been packing, packing, and oh yea, packing. Who knew we'd accumulated so much crap stuff in three years?
I'm not sure what compelled me to climb in this box, or do I? Yes, I do believe I was going bonkers from the never ending packing. Perhaps looking for some comic relief.
This is me giving JD the cut-it-out sign meaning put. the. camera. down. I suppose someday this picture will help us remember the move or just provide a good laugh. Side note about the boxes. We didn't spend a dime. We asked Giant to save us boxes and indeed they did. We have more than enough and are pleased with our money-saving idea.

We also played a word game (and even caught some of it on camera) during a packing break. I made a video to share with you all but the video did not get approved for the blog. Hmmm....wonder why? Maybe if you all plead and beg I can get that decision overruled.

After we move, the goal is to unpack as much as possible in the 48 hours before I start my week-long, 8 hours a day, summer class. Should be fun, right? Nothing sounds better than going to class for 8 hours on my first day of summer.

Until then, we'll be packing....

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Peace Out

As many of you know we call our little, 850 sq. foot home a cave. Yes, a cave. When you look out the windows we are parallel to the ground. We live half above ground and half below ground. We receive very little natural light and at times it can be quite dark.

One time we even captured a squirrel on our window.
Here's a better look at the view from our window.
All of this brings me to say...WE ARE MOVING. Don't get me wrong, this condo has been perfect for us in so many ways. The location. The price. The memories. We will never forget life here. It was our first home, our first space to decorate and re-decorate, home of our first Christmas tree, first time we painted, first time we paid rent....

Even though it has been all of those wonderful things, we will not miss the noisy neighbors, police action, or darkness.

I've been scouring craigslist everyday in hopes of finding a new place. Long story short, we found a place we loved with a pool, gym, lots of windows, more space (1300 sq. feet), in a nice area, but with a bigger price tag (this sound explains it all)...

Do we really want to pay more, like a couple hundred more, a month? Is it worth it? But...I could use that pool all summer! It's bigger. It has a fireplace. We both went back and forth as we battled the pros and cons. In the end, we prayed about it and had total confidence it whatever happened. We were mentally prepared to not get it. Quick side note- we were up against 2 other couples who were willing to pay the full rent, but since we are both negotiators, we couldn't walk away without attempting to score a deal.

Are you still with me? Let's quickly recap...
2 other couples willing to pay full rent + us, not offering full rent = slim chance at winning but with peace in the outcome either way.

Since you already know the outcome, we won. Crazy huh? The real estate agent told us the landlord chose us because I am a teacher and he teaches in the same county. Goooo teachers!

So....in less then 2 weeks are packing up and moving out. I'm excited to decorate, lay by the pool, work out, and welcome whatever new adventures we encounter in our new home.
Get ready for a summer of more decorating and fun...

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Baby Onesies: Round 2

Back in this post I shared with you my first attempt at making some custom baby onesies. My good friend and fellow blogger Alyssa was making some, so I thought I'd give it a try too. I really went in completely clueless and was hoping for the best.



Last week, I attempted to make a few more and had a better idea of what to do. In case you want to make your own or add fabric to anything, here's what I learned...
  • Wash and dry the onesies so if they shrink they will be pre-shrunk before the fabric is added
  • Wash and dry the fabric separately (I then ironed it so it was smooth and wrinkle free)
  • Use applique paper to eliminate fraying
I never heard of applique paper before last week. Alyssa told me about it and then the kind lady at Jo-Ann's further explained it to me. It is basically two-sided paper with glue on both sides. It keeps the fabric edges from fraying.

While at Jo-Ann's I picked up some new fabric. I was looking for fabric with large patterns, so I could cut out large designs for my onesies.

So with my 3 new fabrics and 1 yard of applique paper, I spent $9.26. Here's what round two produced:


Everything I read said to reinforce the fabric with stitching. I hand stitched the border. The fruit one is my favorite. The paper makes for a smooth edge and more "finished" look.  As long as my friends keep making babies, I'll keep making onesies. I'm learning as I go.