Just like that....it's been a whole week....

It's so easy for this to just fall by the wayside, especially when it really hasn't become any sort of habit. I've been busy working a few crochet projects. I'm working on making some more dolls similar to the one I posted previously. I've also been making my way through this cool bear. 

I'm not loving his eyes...they snap on tight and I really should have put some white around them or moved them closer together...If I could just pry them apart I might be able to fix it, but so far no luck. At least I'll know for next time, right?! And, this is a gift so as long as the kiddo loves it, who cares what I think, right!?


I started my Advocare cleanse this week. It's a 10 day program that is working to getting my body into a healthier state. I have to say I'm not a fan of the fiber drink and the first day I made the horrible mistake of mixing it with just water....oh god it was awful and I'll never do that again! Second day I used some lemonade and it really wasn't so bad. Overall I feel pretty good. I need to continue working on eating healthier, but steps are being taken at least!

I am excited that we are counting down until Lily's 2nd Birthday and I need to get my shit together an do some real planning. It's not going to be one of those crazy ones like on tv...just a simple party for a 2 year old...I think we'll go to a park, have some snack and cupcakes, play with some bubbles or balls and just let the kids run until they are tired. Nothing super elaborate....just a nice day with some fun people!

Cece Drake is A?!?!?!!??!?!

Well, I stayed up wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too late last night to watch the season finale of PLL. We now know the question that has burned in our hearts and minds for years, the story arc has worked it's way back around and many questions HAVE been answered. There are still a bazillion questions that are unanswered, but I was okay with last nights reveal. There was always a few things that bothered me about Cece, most of which I discuss with my friend Sarah. One of the main ones that sticks out is that the first time Cece meets the girls, she ALREADY knows that Hanna has a history of shoplifting...this was a nasty habit that Hanna picked up AFTER Ali was missing when she became friends with Mona. This isn't something that Ali KNEW about Hanna...at least as far as we know Ali didn't know this about Hanna...but Cece did....she knew because it was Mona who spilled the beans to her in Radley when she was taking a lot of medication and unaware of what she was saying or who she was saying it too.

One of the unanswered questions I have is who came up with this "game"....does the game have rules? Are there other people out in the world playing this game...how does one explain a game of torture to another person and that other persons is like ''oh wow, count me in?!'' I mean I saw the years of anguish that Cece was put through at the hands of her parents....although we don't see Mr. D really interact with Charles, the little that we do see is skewed from both perspectives. I am very interested to see who actually killed Mrs. D if it wasn't Cece. I think the general fandom doesn't think it was Jason...Ali was in NY with the other girls...Peter Hastings can be shady, but not sure how killing Mrs. D would really benefit him personally.

I would like to say that Mrs. D must have the good genetics...Cece, Ali and Jason are all stunningly similar even though Jason has a different father from the other too.

Well, that's about all I have time for right now...and if you aren't a fan of PLL I am sorry that you won't understand this post at all probably.

Much Love.

Another weekend passes me by...

 Friday evening I was playing outside with Lily on the swing. Daniel was inside making dinner and BBQ sauce (so mostly making messes...). As Lily was swinging she looked off to the side and I saw this red blood spot on the white of her eye. I called Daniel out to look at it. Our friend Bill also stopped by so I asked him to take a look. My first thought was that she burst some capillaries. I called my mom to see what she thought. I also called my Daycare lady to see if she fell or played a little too hard. Everyone thought I should go ahead and give the Docs office a ring. This is where I kinda ran into a problem. I called and it rang and rang and rang...No answer, no vmail. It literally rang until the phone just stopped. Okay, next I tried the emergency room. I was getting a little upset this time, especially when the lady on the phone at the ER told me they can't give medical advice over the phone. Of course my brain has already leaped to worse case scenario and I'm worried she'll go blind. My husband suggested I call a former co-worker who is a nurse...figuring she can at least give her 2 cents if we should go to the ER or not. Lily was fine btw, she wasn't crying or scratching. In fact, she didn't seem to notice it at all. After talking to my friend I calmed down and we ended up talking crochet for a little bit. I decided to just watch her carefully, but relax and call the Doc in the morning.


We got up in the morning and had an easy start to the day. She seemed totally normal and her eye even looked a little better. That made this mama feel good. I called the Docs office, not really expecting anyone to be there and someone answered this time. I was able to take her in right away. We got dressed and ready drove to the Doc's office. I'm a nervous driver most days it seems anymore. I was driving MY old car, which I've somehow managed to become afraid of driving. It's not nearly as pretty as it used to be, it has some body damage that we have been meaning to go get fixed among other problems. We made it safe and sound though, no problems. We also didn't have to wait very long in the waiting room.


Miss Lily weighed in at 31 lbs. She got to do the big girl scale this time. They didn't do height this time around since we came for a specific reason. We'll do all of that next month at her two year appt. We sat in the waiting room and waited for the Doc. She played with some toys and checked out a book.

 She finally let me get a picture of her eye. It's wayyyy better in this picture than it was when I first noticed it. The Doc said we were all right with what it was. Burst capillaries. I asked the different causes of something like this....he said even laughing too hard can build enough pressure to cause this....also straining to poop. Either way I was glad she was okay. She did a good job.

We got home and had lunch, played a little bit more and she took a nap. That gave me time to work on a project. I'd made all of the pieces of a doll during the week and needed to sew her together, which is my least favorite part, mostly because of my not so great sewing skills.

I really had a great time making this doll. I tried sewing eyes on using yarn, but I just couldn't get it quite right, so I scrapped that idea and just went with a blank face. While this is a bit on the boring side, the person this gift is for is a small baby and it's probably best that I don't include small pieces that could be chewed off or swallowed. I choose the colors to match the little princesses' room. I'm so excited for Christmas. I hope she loves it as much as a baby girl can!

   Part of the reason I got this pattern was for the hair. I've never done hair like this on a doll before because quite frankly, I didn't realize HOW to do it...once I got the pattern I flipped straight to this part and had a half & half, DUH/A-HA moment. It was so easy...why hadn't I thought of that before??? I stuffed the bun a little bit extra and gave her puffed sleeves as my ode to Anne of Green Gables. The only weird thing about this pattern is the unevenish number of points it creates. When I was sewing the arms on, I was trying to fold the blanket part so I could space them evenly and realized it was a little off. Oh well, She's a lovely doll and I'm excited to make more!

 I'm happy to report that I started another doll last night and I've already finished the dress and arms. I'm going to need to hit up the craft store to get some more flesh colored yarn. I also need to look into the various shades I could use. I want to make some that are made to look like the Princesses...and then some that are just themselves. I found a great pattern for what I'm hoping will be the more boyish version of a doll...although I don't care who wants a doll boy or girl. As long as they are loved and happy, that's the most important thing I could ask for.

I'm getting excited for the quickly approaching craft show time. I need to lock in some more dates and get real about this happening this year. I spent a little bit of time over the weekend going through some of my items from last year and the even we did earlier this year. I needed to get an idea of what all I really need to make. I have a lot of left over items, so I'm not going to panic, I'm going to fill in gaps and make some fun items that I really hope will sell. I know this isn't a full proof way of making extra income, craft shows can go great or not, but I have so much yarn on hand already, I mind as well give it the old college try.

I somehow found a little bit of time this weekend to watch a few movies. I watched a few of the X-Men movies, The Hobbit, The Life of David Gale, and I didn't quite finish J. Edgar, but I was enjoying it. I also finally finished PLL book #4. Although I've already read the 5th book, I'm going to read it again now that I am going in order. I still have a ways to go before I run out. I'm super excited for the summer finale tomorrow, but sad the season went by so fast! At least by this time next month I will be part time and I can watch a full 6 season binge. Daniel will hate that. LOL.

Oh, according to GMA this morning I'm in the 1% of people still using LOL....my birthday is creeping in fast and that didn't help me in the 'I'm getting old' department.

My nephew had an accident and had to have surgery last week. He's doing well and he's been released. My sister in law and family will be staying with my father in law for a while. It's probably for the best and I wish him a very speedy recovery. I was excited to be able to send a stuffed monkey, coloring book and crayons up to his room to help keep him occupied during his stay. He's a strong boy, I know he's going to be okay. His mommy reports he's been a total champ!

I'm kind of going through this weird melancholy state right now where I'm not really able to get excited for anything. I'm not really sure if there's a good way to explain it in words, other than the bigger part of me is okay with things staying the same way they have been on a day to day basis...and there's just this little tiny voice that's begging for some kind of change...I can just barely hear it sometimes, but I know it's always there. Hopefully, I'll snap out of this blah mood soon...Starting today I'm working alone in the office and in less than a month I'll be part time, so that's something great to look forward too, but at the same time I see all of the things I need to do to get from A to B and I'm right back to blahhhhhhh....being able to just put it out in words does help a little bit, makes me feel not so lonely about the whole time. It's hard to explain to people that nothings wrong I've just lost my mojo for now.

Wow, I'd hate to end on such a downer, that's no good...um, let's see....OH! I've gone most of a week without drinking Mt. Dew and I didn't die or kill anyone! YAY!

Much Love.

An update to yesterday's events...

Once I was home from work and able to watch the news, I found out more information about the move theatre attack yesterday. The guy was not 51 years old, he was 29. He had been committed 4 times in the past. His family reported him missing a few days ago from  Murfreesboro which is about half an hour down the highway from where I live. He gun he drew on police was an air soft gun...but I can understand the reaction of the police to shoot. The entire situation lasted about 41 minutes from the time he entered the Mad Max movie til he was down. The whole thing is really sad. I'm thankful that no one was severely injured. Once man was cut and a few others suffered from exposure to pepper spray type chemicals. What happened to this young man? What transpired in the few days he was missing to lead up to this incident? We have to take better care of ourselves and each other.

Much Love.

Too close to home...

I just found out about 45 minutes ago there was a shooting/hatchet attack at a movie theatre near my house. I don't spend a lot of time in that shopping center, but I spend enough. They just redid this area and part of the mall as part of a revitalization effort...the library, playground and ice rink are beautiful. I spent some time out there with my girl friend and our babies a few weeks ago. We both talked about how nice everything was. Since I'll be part time in about a month I've already started looking into programs and activities in this area to do on my days off with my daughter. This is so frightening! I mean seriously some scary stuff! I'm not going to get on a soapbox about guns and violence....I'm just going to say that this needs to stop. WE HAVE TO FIGURE OUT OUR PROBLEMS WITHOUT LOSS OF LIFE!



http://interactives.wkrn.com/photomojo/gallery/36816/1/


http://wkrn.com/2015/08/05/heavy-police-presence-at-antioch-movie-theater/

It's only Tuesday.

Yesterday we had my car was in the shop getting looked at. We had to go pick it up kind of late last night when Dan got home from Lodge. I'm not a fan of driving on the highway, but it wasn't too bad on the way there, so on the way home we went the same route. I had Dan drive in front with Lily. I didn't feel the normal anxiety that I usually feel driving on the highway, it was a combination of the music on the radio, the cool night air and light traffic. I haven't felt that free driving in a long time. I ended up getting in front of Dan to let a truck entering the highway have room to merge. Once I got out in front, I lead us the rest of the way home. This may seem silly to some people, that's fine. We all have something that we feel uneasy about....this is my thing (well, one of them!). I was thankful for the safe passage all of the way home. Lily was ready for bed when we arrived. We put her down right away and sunk into the couch and watched one of the newer X-Men movies.

Today I'm full of ideas for craft fairs...one of my problems is that sometimes my ideas are so big, they are hard to accomplish. I managed to get a great pattern for a Princess style lovie for a baby. I was actually having a difficult time choosing between two...the main differences other than the colors had to do with how the hair is attached. I picked the method I hadn't done before. Once I read through the pattern and realized it's a very easy trick my wheels started turning...so my big idea right now is to make several sets of all of the parts of the doll...there's a head, two arms, the hair and the blankie/lovie portion...if I had all of these pre-made in various colors, I could let kids pick out the parts and I could just sew them together on the fly....but what would I charge? How long would it take to actually sew? Would I have time at a craft show to do all of that? What if they don't sell? What if I don't have enough? or the right colors? So many things just bouncing around inside right now...and then, of course, what about little boys? This pattern is more feminine....styled to look like Disney princesses if you follow the pattern....but I can make them more generic or specific just depending on what colors I choose...but still, what about the boys?! What kind of fun, pick your piece thing can I make for the little guys? Should I even worry about it? Who knows. I have so many projects on my plate right now, but I'd hate to pass on a great idea at the same time. I might have to see where I'm at after I finish a few Christmas presents up....

I'm very please with how this project is coming along. It's for one of Lily's cousins. I'm loving the colors so far. Not sure the pictures are doing the charcoal gray justice, but it's going to be very nice and I hope a fun gift to receive!!!

I just have a few more rows of the blue to go, then back to gray until I get to the end. It's going to have some orange accents which will include a border among other things. I'm having a lot of fun with this one! Still work on the playmat for Jase...I need to finish up some more pieces for that soon!

This month is going to be very busy for Daniel. He has a lot going on at the lodge and we are both kind of winding down at our jobs. I'm excited for Fall. I like that I get to be part-time and spend more time with Lily. I'm also excited for the upcoming Craft Shows and I can't wait to head out to the pumpkin patch, although it'll probably be almost 2 months before we get to do that. I've already scoped out storytime at our local library for some fun Mommy/Lily activities. I've also just barely started planning her birthday party. I'm still working on the guest list, so far, it's all boys....what am I going to do with a bunch of boys? LOL

I'm excited for tonight's episode of PLL. There's only a few left before it breaks for the summer. I'm excited to see where it goes from here. I'm still working my way through the books, but I've had a busy couple of days. Maybe I'll get some good time in tonight before bed time!

I'm also super excited that my AdvoCare cleanse product will be coming in the mail soon. Daniel and I are going on this adventure together...I'm excited to see where it leads us. I know we both want to get healthier in our own respects...I'm glad we can do that together.

Much Love.

Wonderful weekends!!

I have to say that I have a very pleasant but busy weekend. I started off Saturday morning doing the dishes and cleaning off our kitchen table (that is very rarely used as a table). I played with my Lily girl in between and we managed to get everything clean enough. I let Lily help me to mix and prepare some bread to bake. It was a very last minute decision to make bread, and I was lucky to be able to use things I had on hand (although I would have preferred to buy them fresh). We made the dough and let it move through the different stages of rising. We stopped at a garage sale to pass some of the time. Lily got a few baby's to play with a little box great for crayons or little toys on the go. We colored and had lunch...then some cuddles before nap time. By the time she was napping, the bread had completed it's 3 stages of rising and I was able to pop it in the oven and have a few quiet minutes to myself.


Pictured here is the 2nd rise:

Pictured here is after the 3rd rise:

Pictured here is fresh out of the oven: 

This is where I got the recipe for the bread: http://commonsensehome.com/french-bread-recipe/

Before Daniel left work for in the morning we went out and did a harvest of our veggies. This is the most we have brought in at one time this year. There's several kinds of peppers and two kinds of tomatoes. I am most excited for the Tomatoes! I've already eaten several this year...They just taste better when they are home grown!!!!





I ended up making some steak in the crockpot, corn on the cob, apples, the bread, and veggies from the garden for dinner. I was very please with how everything turned out!

Saturday/Sunday was considered to be the first of the three harvest holidays...so making bread and eating of our own garden really helped to pull that idea together for a great family meal...plus I mean, it's been ages since I made a nice family dinner. It really felt good to do that for my family. Lily helped when she could, and Daniel helped by staying out of the kitchen (which was pretty easy since he was at work most of the day). 

On a whim and out of a book I was reading from I decided that all this food wasn't enough and that we needed pie. Now there's something you need to know about me as a person. I don't eat pie, I've never had pie, I had to wish for pie...so the idea of me making a pie seemed a little bit crazy, but I went with it! I had my hubby bring home the freshest blackberries he could get his hands on and a pre-made crush. The bread baking went well, but I didn't want to push my luck trying to make a pie crust with out a clue of what I was doing. 

As soon as he got home I went to work mixing the ingredients and using a little bit of  "guess and check" which is my normal method of operation for most things. While I do admit I overfilled the pie....I'm sticking to the fact that I've never made a pie to get me through that one. Also, since there was so much filling I let it bake a little bit too long (in our crazy super hot, needs to be scrubbed clean oven). Daniel and his friend Bill both offered to eat some and both agreed it was a great first attempt, but less filling and a bit less cook time could be the improvements to make for next time.

I washed up all the dishes when everything was done and still got to bed at a good time. It was a really nice evening with the family and good food. I'm glad we were able to spend that time together celebrating the harvest.

Sunday was a bit slower paced for me. Lily was a very hands on player and wanted me sitting right next to her for most of the more. We had a lot of giggles and cuddles. I've been looking for TV shows that aren't well...stupid kids shows for her to watch. I was able to locate a show on Youtube called Mythic Warriors (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPJBovmveOA&list=PL2998z5ux8Zq7RgMo3AMR5Fw0apyP_xEH) We watched several episodes together. It's pretty amazing when my almost 2 yr old climbs up on my lap to snuggle and just watch TV. We don't let her watch too much TV right now because she's so young and we'd rather she play with toys. She already has a great imagination and takes very good care of her baby dolls. This show is fun and somewhat educational...and mommy liked it too. :)

We also found the series David the Gnome (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=navva7LA-0g&list=PLrEuz9dJQmAkIYkhcB4iZpoOlUDnMNDif ) 

I loved David the Gnome when I was a little girl....I watched 3 episodes while the baby was napping and honestly, I wasn't disappointed and it was exactly how I remember it. You can't say that much anymore...and it was a great comfort!

Other highlights from Sunday include a 45 min beautiful drive to take my car to the shop, stopping at not my usual Kroger and finding some great deals (and only spending $45) and coming home and making ANOTHER full meal for the family...not only did I make dinner again last night, but I also cooked turkey legs and pre-made chicken and noodles for my lunches this week....at one point I was cooking turkey, chicken, and hamburgers all at the same time. Daniel was quite impressed and confused by this. Love that guy.

I'm glad to be on this upward swing and I hope the feeling continues. I'm excited to be starting my cleanse soon. Honestly, I think the Spark! I was drinking hand something to do with me being able to accomplish so much in a short amount of time! It really does work!