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....

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...

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. 

Memorial Day Weekend

I wish every weekend was three days. I was so happy Sunday night when I knew I didn't have to go back to work the next day. With the extra day, I feel more refreshed and energized. Lucky for me summer is just 12.5 days away. Wohoooo!

Saturday we celebrated little T's 2nd birthday. We love him dearly and he gets very excited when he sees his uncle JDer.

Today (Monday) we went to Black Hills for a hike. It was our first time there and it was packed with picnics and families grilling out. We grabbed a map from the visitor's center and were off. Our plan was to hike around the lake which we were told took about an hour.  We tried to follow the map but quickly learned we weren't doing so well. The park was beautiful and we saw quite a lot of it. After asking for directions, we made it back to the car 2.5 hours later. Did I mention it was 93 degrees? We had a great time escaping into the woods, but we were beat and my tush was feeling the burn.

 We had a picnic too, just indoors. We look forward to someday owning a grill and having an outdoor space but for now we just work with what we got.

Anyone else do something fun on this holiday weekend?

In other news, I made some improvements on my baby onesies and will be back to share the details.

Root beer love

Did you know growing up my favorite soda was root beer? I still love it. A&W is my favorite brand. I used to dig through those dum dum lollipops in search of the root beer flavor. We commonly made root beer floats too. Do you get it? I love root beer.

So when I heard of these root beer sandwiches, I couldn't resist. And they're made in the crock pot, added bonus! The pork is tender, flavorful, and when topped with a sweet sauce to. die. for.

It calls for root beer concentrate, but I never buy it. I also fill the crock pot with more than 1 cup of root beer. It also says to brown the meat in oil first. I never have time for that and just throw the meat right in the pot. Still tastes great.

Hungry yet? ha. Click here, for the recipe.

Craftin' for Baby

When giving gifts, I always try to include something personal, something handmade. Remember when I made these? Seems like everyone I know is with child or just had a baby.

Our good friends are having a baby girl in June, and I wanted to include something handmade. I didn't know what until these popped up in my blogger! Thanks for the inspiration, Alyssa. I know the slightest thing about embroidery, but I thought what the heck, I'll as least try.

They are pretty easy to make and I whipped 3 together in about 2.5 hours. They're not perfect by any means. I was on a roll and didn't bother to clean up my mess until today.

I liked how they turned out and hope baby and mama Panyutin will too.

In case your wondering (which your probably not), here's the gift all put together. Love that pink bucket.

Happy Craftin!

Winner winner chicken dinner

If you've watched 21, you probably recognize the phrase in the title. If not, check out this clip.



Anyway, why am I shouting winner winner chicken dinner? Thanks to Casey, who hosted a giveaway, I won these beautiful handmade cards.

I love their unique look and vintage feel. They even come with a matching lined envelope. Casey hosted the giveaway but Jami actually made them. Check out her store here.

I love giveaways, but really love them when I win!

Thanks girls!

Mother's Day & More

If you could hear through the internet you'd hear a big sigh of relief coming from yours truly. I finished my class and last assignment on Thursday. 1 down, 11 to go. Wowza, long way to go but I hear it goes quickly.

It's been a very productive and re-energizng weekend over here.  We attended a night of worship in DC on Friday, played tennis, ate at the Melting Pot for the first time and got a lot of other minute things accomplished.

In honor of Mother's Day, I wanted to thank my mom for everything she has done and continues to do for me. If you know my mom, you know she has such a loving heart for others.  Her willingness to give and to help others in unlike anyone I know. She always inspires me because so many of us value money and earthy things, but she sees it as a way to care for others.

On a totally different note. I wanted to share two great recipes we made over the past couple weeks.

Up first:
Creamy ravioli with squash, lemon, and chives 
From: Real Simple, found here

Next up:
Pesto orecchiette with chicken sausage
From: Real Simple, found here

Sorry, no photo for this one. I forgot.

Real simple was featuring pasta, and I've been looking for new pasta recipes.  The second one was good, but I liked the first one better.

What did you all do this weekend?

Now that my life will be a little less hectic, I'm hoping to blog more. We'll see.