Is it really October? I can’t believe how fast this year is flying by! Craziness, I tell ya!
I also can’t believe I haven’t posted in so long. And I really don’t have any reason why I haven’t. I did have my 30th high school reunion last month (I know, I know, I can’t possibly be old enough! wink!), and the planning for that took up a lot of my extra/free time. I will have to do a post about that soon, and show some of the fun decorating type things we did. It was a great time, and I loved seeing so many friends and blasts from the past!
I’ve been toying with the idea of hosting a Holiday Boutique before Christmas. Have you ever hosted a boutique? Any thoughts or advice? I’ve been trying to get my craft on, and get some things ready, but my creative mojo seems to be hit or miss lately 🙂
I have become obsessed with embroidery. And tea towels. And boxes with embroidery thread sorted by color (I’m weird). Carl has been on a different work shift the past few weeks, so he tries to get to bed before nine. That is way to early for me, so I have been spending some time stitching up a storm.
Fun stuff! I’m a total novice and don’t really know what I’m doing, but it has been a really good stress buster and relaxation tool for me these days!
Welp, no idea if anyone is out there reading anymore, but thanks for stopping by if you are! I hope you are having a FABULOUS Wednesday!
What have you been doing this fall?
Any college football fans out there? If so, what team do you root for?
Hmmmmm…..Cooking, Crafting and Getting Fit. During my 5 month blog hiatus, did I do any of those things?
Well, let's see. I posted about my Valentine's Day Cooking Exchange HERE, and that definitely involved some cooking and a little bit of crafting! In, January I crafted some centerpieces for a church luncheon we had and made some chocolate covered fortune cookies (crafting or cooking?):
I also decorated my small white Christmas Tree for Valentine's Day:
I even decorated it for Easter, but didn't take any photos!
As far as Cooking goes, let's see? I've made some of my favorite meals:
Which include clockwise from top left: The Best Pizza Evah! , Grilled Salmon, (YUM!), Lemon Vodka Pasta (I add Shrimp) from the I Love Trader Joe's Cookbook, and the always delicious Funeral/Mormon/Company/Utah Potatoes (made for Easter).
I've got an injury that I am dealing with (more on that below), so I have also been trying to be much healthier in my cooking by eating more of a clean diet. We've also been trying to drink Green Smoothies every morning. So delicious and good for you. I've found most of my recipes HERE
Other clean eating recipes and cooking:
Clockwise from top left: Citrus Grilled Chicken (you must try this!), Clean Rice Saute (veggies and TJ's Organic Brown Rice), Salad with Salsa Chicken, and more Salsa Chicken with a salad made with chick peas, avocado, tomatoes, kidney beans and cilantro and lime. So good!
Now on to the Getting Fit: Well, about 2 years ago I set out to get fit and healthy. You can read about it HERE or HERE. I was doing my favorite Zumba and GPP classes faithfully. I was happy and healthy. I've always had some random back problems which were manageable, but a bit frustrating nontheless. Well back track to last November and I woke up one morning with my left hand numb. It was the weirdest thing. It progressivly got worse, and moved up my arm. I had no idea what was wrong. Then the upper back/neck pain started. I went to my Chiropractor for treatment and ended up seeing him 3-4 times a week for a few months. Finally, when I really wasn't improving, he ordered an MRI. After getting the results, he suggested I see a neurosurgeon. I had to wait two months for my appointment with the neurosurgeon (what?, I know crazy). Anyway, the neurosurgeon confirmed what everyone thought, and what my MRI results suggested: 4 bulging discs in my neck (two moderate, two severe), with one pinching a nerve (the cause of the numbness and pain in my arm/hand), bone spurs, and degenerative disc disease.
Jealous? 🙂
So…..next week, May 22nd to be exact, I am going in for surgery. I believe the surgery is called: Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. More informtion found HERE.
So, the Getting Fit part of my life has been seriously lacking the last 5-6 months. Cue sad music!
I'm not really a quitter….but I sure feel like it in the getting fit department! I should be back to regular activity soon, right?
I do get to have one last Getting Fit adventure before surgery next week! I'm heading to the BLEND Retreat this weekend and I couldn't be more excited! Who knows how much I will get to participate, but just being there will be awesome!
I can't wait!
Okay, well this post has been long enough. Just wanted to update on the Cooking, Crafting and Getting Fit party of my life! Happy Thursday y'all!
Well, hello there! I know, I know…..it's been a minute (or a million) since I last blogged, but life got Ca-Razy there! But, it's time I got back at it. I've got a ton of things to blog about, but the first thing I have to tell you about is the FABULOUS weekend I had in Kansas in November! I first blogged about going to Craft Weekend back here in August. Well, the weekend finally arrived and I had the time of my life! Seriously, I really did! So much fun! This post may get a bit long winded, with tons of pics, so please bear with me! First of all…..the hostess with the mostess:
Meg Duerksen is awesome. So nice, spiritual, down to earth, creative, funny, etc. Just FUN!
We were picked up at the airport by these two girls (the helpers for the weekend):
Megan from Contented Sparrow and Becky from Farmgirl Paints, two of the hippest, funnest and coolest girls I've met! They had never met in person (only through their blogs) and they were seriously soul sisters! Loved their connection!
When we drove up to the house, I about died. Look at this beauty? Gorgeous, yes?
We stayed up late, late, late…..into the wee hours of the night. Taking a break on Friday night to head to the local donut shop around midnight for fresh, out of the oven donuts! And on Saturday night it was cheesecake!
Oh my. Soooo many treasures to be found. My main goal was to find a nice, hand stitched quilt. And find one I did!
Here it is on my bed back home. I need to try and get a better photo. The yellow is more of a creamy butter yellow, not at all neon or bright. I love it!
We made a quick stop at Sonic on the way back to the Craft House, before getting back to Crafting. Sunday was spent taking photos, and saying our good byes. It was so much fun getting to know such fun girls! My roommates, Joanna and Jill and I:
All the girls with our aprons on:
I really did have the time of my life! It was the experience of a lifetime and I am so thankful that I was able to attend!
Go read Meg's post HERE about the weekend to see even more photos and get more fabulous information!
Also, I think YOU should sign up to attend Craft Weekend! Do it! NOW! Go READ THIS and sign up! You won't regret it!
Hello friends! Sorry about the lack in posting this week! My internet modem died last week, and we just got a new one yesterday. Finally, internet again!
I haven't talked much about crafting lately and I don't really have too much to say today, except…….
I have been on the waiting list for this fabulous weekend for almost a year. Only 12 crafters per weekend, and you are picked via lottery. I will be going in November. I couldn't be more excited!
Check out Meg's Craft Weekend blog, to see what this is all about! So many fun projects! I can't wait!
So, I have this super cute friend named Traci, that I met through Zumba. She is seriously, one of the most thoughtful girls I know! I truly feel blessed to call her my friend! She is the one that gave me the awesome gift bag in THIS post during HELLTH Week.
Well, Traci did it again! After Zumba on Monday night she gave me this cute bag:
The bag was full of all this CUTE orange stuff!
An orange notepad, orange glass, orange slices, orange flower, orange vitamin water and more! This was her take on a cute idea she saw on Pinterest!
She also included this:
Her sweet, thoughtful gift totally made my week! Thanks so much Traci! You are the best!
TLC’s new show Craft Wars, hosted by Tori Spelling aired this week. Did you watch? Being the crafty crafter than I am, it was a no-brainer for me! Of course I watched!
After seeing all the promo’s for the show the last few weeks, I also noticed some familiar faces of bloggers I stalk follow. Christy Tomlinson, Becky @ Infarrrantly Creative, Brooke @ All Things Thrifty, and Mandi @ Vintage Revivals to name only a few! I was pretty excited to see what the show was about.
Well, it was pretty good!
The show starts out with three crafters competing in a one hour Pop Challenge. Two contestants then move on to the five hour Master Challenge. In the Master Challenge, the two crafters (Christy Tomlinson and Cheryl Burchett) were challenged to build playhouses.
This is Cheryl’s Playhouse:
And this is Christy’s playhouse:
They were both pretty amazing! I can't imagine the pressure of coming up with a design, and putting it all together in just 5 hours! My heart was with Christy, mostly because I’ve stalked her for years and years, being a scrapbooker and all! But, Cheryl ended up being the winner and taking home a cool $10,000! Her playhouse had so many fun details! It was reallyl creative!
All in all, I thought it was a fun show, and I can’t wait to see future episodes.
Does anyone else think it’s so weird that Donna Martin is a crafter? I love it!
TGIF friends!
What are your plans for the weekend? I hope it’s something fun!
