these are a few of my favorite things...

I should add a disclaimer to that title.  These are a few of my favorite things...lately.  Just thought I would share!

• Cee Lo Green's song,  Forget You -- I just cannot get this song out of my head lately! It's so catchy.  Although I will say that I was appalled when I found out what the unedited version of the song was called.  But the edited version is a fun workout or drive with the windows down song for summer.  The link above is my friend Chris Cendana's cover of the song (edited version for the record).  He's a great artist as well so enjoy!

• Speaking of Cee Lo Green, I am so far really loving the show The Voice.  I'm not an American Idol fan, so I wasn't sure how I would feel about another singing contest show but I was intrigued by the fact that they wouldn't be able to see the contestants while they sang, so I watched the first episode.  I like that people who don't look like your typical pop stars or American Idol contestants have a chance on the show simply based on their talent (don't get me wrong though, there are a lot of attractive contestants as well).  Guess I'll keep tuning in after one of my other fav shows, The Biggest Loser, to see if the goodness continues. 

• This shirt! I got it when we were in Charleston at the Gap Outlet and I love it.  I am a huge Saved by the Bell fan so when I saw it I had to get it.  They also had a New Kids on the Block and  a Michael Jackson Thriller shirt and I wanted them all, but I restrained myself.

                  

•  Reading for fun! I've been fortunate to have some extra time now that I am done with school to read some books I enjoy. 

I just finished this book. I got it #1 because it was about knitting and #2 because it was on sale at Barnes and Noble.  It was really good although surprisingly not as lighthearted as I had imagined.

I also recently read this book and can't wait to see the movie! I hope it does the book justice.  Of course, Reece Witherspoon is always one of my favorite things so I don't think it can be bad.

•     Bird designs.  I don't know why, but lately I have gotten into the bird craze.  One of my friends got me a bird necklace for my birthday (see the pic at left) and I loved it.  Since then I have found myself collecting other bird items, like this throw pillow:  

 

 

 

Okay, enough of my favorite things for now.  Hope you get a chance to enjoy some of your favorite things this week!

getting crafty

Things have been tight for us financially lately, mostly due to some unexpected expenses that all hit us at once as well as the expense of selling our house and moving.  So when gift giving (and usually money spending) occasions come up, my new motto is "when money gets tight, I get crafty." ;)  I actually love making gifts for other people.  I think it adds a personal touch and it's lots of fun.  Hopefully, people enjoy receiving my handmade gifts as much as I enjoy making them.  Last night, I made this purse for a friend's birthday: 

You can find the pattern here if you are interested in making your own.  I made a few modifications to the original pattern, including making it bigger.  I'm the type of person who carries pretty much everything in my purse so tiny purses just don't work for me, but the original pattern size does make a cute clutch. 

Does anyone else out there like to make gifts? If so, what are your favorite handmade gift ideas?

Happy crafting!

Update on some of the 29 at 29

Just a brief update on a few of the 29 @ 29 (I won't bore you with the whole list again until the big 3-0).

#5 - grow out my hair
Totally loving this one! My hair is probably the longest it's been since my freshman year of high school.  My favorite part has been playing with styling my hair and finding that it will do things I thought it would never do (think it was mostly styling error on my part in the past).  I even figured out how to "curl" my hair with a straightener so that it looks more wavy and less fro-like than my previous curling attempts (see pic below).

#11 - get back to my crafty roots and spend more time doing creative things
My latest crafting hobby/obsession has been knitting.  My first knitting project kind of turned into a disaster which I ended up unraveling most of, but now I am back on the knitting train and working on a scarf.  You can see my tiny bit of progress below.

#15 - get a Mac
If you can't tell the above picture was taken with photo booth on my brand new Macbook Pro! My parents bought it for me as a graduation gift and I absolutely LOVE it.  I'm so thankful for my parents' generosity and the blessing of having a functional (and awesome) computer.

Last one friends, I promise....
#20- go skiing
I did it! This winter I went skiing for the first time in 10+ years and it was a blast! I went with Jamie and our friends Kent and Sarah.  We had a great time.  Definitely thankful that I got to take advantage of the opportunity this winter since we won't be living nearly as close to snow in the next three years.

New hobby

I have always loved photography and photo editing but my newest passion is making photo mosaics....so much fun! Luckily I was able to find a free program online called Andrea Mosaic to help support this passion as I don't have the money for a fancy program like Photoshop (although a girl can dream). Here are a few of the ones I have made so far (click on the picture to make it bigger and see all the smaller pics):

I made this one for my friend Sarah's graduation

This one was for my friend Mary's wedding

And this one is just for fun

While studying for Step 1 (which I finished on Monday....yay!), I often dreamed of what it would be like if my job were just making photo mosaics all day. In the meantime, guess I will continue it as a hobby, but if you know someone who wants one tell them to get in touch with me and we can work out a price! ;)

Tagged

I have been tagged by Andrea Salamanca who is pretty much the coolest mom of (soon to be) 2 that I know :)

Here are the rules:

1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer.

2) Select the 4th picture in the folder.

3) Explain the picture.

4) Tag 4 people to do the same.



Here's my pic:

Hilarious that this is the pic that was in that folder. This was taken sometime around my 26th birthday, so in September of 2007. I came home from work (yeah, somehow I always work on my birthday) to find a mini surprise party, complete with cookie cake. This is my sister Ashley's husband (boyfriend at the time though), Adam with icing from the cookie on his beard.

I am tagging: Katy Whitehair, Derek Roberts, Meghan Baird and Angela Harding

bullet point update

Well, Katy, is this random enough for you? Instead of doing 6 random things for the third time, thought I would give a quick bullet update as opposed to the intense posts as of late :)

• One of the shows I somehow find myself watching lately (usually on Saturday nights when I am studying and waiting for Jamie to get home from work) is 17 Kids and Counting. The name pretty much says it all, but as crazy as it seems to me to have 17 children and 1 on the way it is also very interesting to see this HUGE family living absolutely debt free...makes me reconsider my own financial situation.
• I love music but every now and then (like now) I go through these phases where I don't want to listen to any music because nothing seems to fit quite right...weird, but true.
• I tend to have a love/hate relationship with running and despite that fact that I am training for a half-marathon that I will be running on Jamie's 29th birthday (Jan. 18) I am currently in the hate phase...maybe it has something to do with my weird music phase and the fact that I can't seem to get distracted no matter what music I listen to. Or maybe it's just that it's so cold.
• "A Lot Like Love" is on TV right now and I had forgotten how much I like this movie and its soundtrack. The Aqualung song "Brighter Than Sunshine" is one of my faves and consequently is the ringtone that plays when Jamie calls me.
  
• Our puppy seems to love dirty laundry. Below is a pic of him in his current favorite napping spot, our laundry pile....now if only we could teach him to actually do laundry...
• 'Tis the season of pumpkin ice cream! Edy's brand is amazing and only in stores for a limited time so I highly recommend trying it.
  
• I am getting excited to decorate a "real" house for Christmas as opposed to an apartment. Hopefully we will be getting a real tree...YAY!

randomness...take 2

Well, once again I have been tagged for randomness....this time by Janine and Nicole both of whom are doing some amazing work in Kenya so check out their blogs as well as the Nuru website! Since Janine always wants update on my life, I will try to keep these more recent than my last random post.

1. My new favorite Starbucks treat is the Peppermint Mocha twist for a couple reasons: #1 It is very holiday-ish which I love #2 I actually hate coffee and for some reason Peppermint Mocha is the only coffee I can stand #3 it has fun whipped cream with some kind of pepperminty sprinkles.
2. I feel a little like Napoleon Dynamite these days because "my lips hurt real bad." As the temperature has decreased and winds have increased in the fall to winter transition my lips have become so cracked and dry. Guess I should just ask the school nurse for some chapstick....I'm sure she has like 5 sticks in her drawer ;)
   
3. I have been reading the gospels lately and have been noticing how much the word "immediately" is used, especially in the book of Mark. Still trying to flush out the significance of this but if you have any ideas or know about the word in the original language, please comment and share :)
4. Man, my abs are sore today from running a 3 mile hill run yesterday -- that's how out of shape I am....but, working in getting back in shape and training for a half-marathon in January.
5. Even though my birthday was 2 months ago, I still frequently forget how old I am. When people ask, I'm usually like, "26? Oh no, I mean 27!" Not sure how long it will take me to get used to being 27, but I'd say by that time I will probably be turning 28...
6. I think I must be one of the clumsiest people in the world (and I'm pretty sure Jamie would agree)....An example: The other day I was running around the house so the puppy would chase me (don't ask, he likes to play) and somehow managed to slide across the kitchen floor and fall into our dining room table and chairs, meanwhile hurling into the air the ketchup and mustard I was holding. The end result was me laying in the floor crying (have no idea why) and Schroder whining because he thought I was hurt. I bet it would have been hilarious to watch. Hopefully it will be on my blooper reel ;)
   

I am not going to tag anyone else because I think everyone I know has already been tagged and I can see this vicious cycle of tagging and re-tagging continuing on for eternity.

I do have to give Janine props for inspiring me to use the colorful blog posts. Never even knew I could do that until I saw her "coat of many colors" blog ;)

Tag...I'm it

My friend, Lauren tagged me and I am supposed to write 6 random things about myself. Luckily, this works out well for me because randomness is my favorite (as you can see from the pic of Janine and I above) :)

Here are the tagging rules:
1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Write 6 random things about yourself
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post
4. If you're tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag


My random-ness:
1. One of my biggest fears is popping balloons....maybe because my grandma used to tell me the pieces would hit me in the eye and blind me??

2. I hate tomatoes but love ketchup, tomato sauce, salsa and even tomato basil soup...weird, I know.

3. The first career aspirations I had were to be a chocolate engineer....and I wanted my sister to be a snow engineer. I didn't know what an engineer was but I knew my dad was one...and I really liked chocolate (that part hasn't changed)

4. I hate ironing so much that when I was single and made a list of characteristics I would like in a future husband "can/will iron" was one of them :)

5. When I was young and used to spend the night with my grandparents (who read the Bible together every night....cute!), they would let me pick a passage from the Bible for them to read to me and I always picked the story of the rich man and Lazarus from Luke 16....it was my favorite....I have no idea why.

6. I have the hardest time spelling Philippians. I always want it to have two L's and one P for some reason: Phillipians....I know it doesn't look right and yet every time I try to write it I try to put the two L's in.



I am tagging:
1. Andrea Salamonca -- love your randomness anyway!
2. Katy Whitehair -- because she may be one of the only people that reads this blog...ha
3. Billy Williams -- gettin' the guys involved :)
4. Meghan Baird -- because she's a cool chick whose blog I just discovered and we're almost birthday twins
5. Angela Harding -- because she just rocks
6. Janine Dzuba -- great way to start your blog!

these are apparently my celeb lookalikes....what i do when i am avoiding studying

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

i'm yours

so, if you couldn't tell already from the proposal slideshow, "i'm yours" by jason mraz is one of the songs that jamie and i consider special to us. guess you could say it's one of "our songs" if you were gushy like that (which i'm not...ha). so i'm semi-stoked and semi-bummed that it is jason mraz's newest single off his upcoming album. stoked because he is finally officially releasing it and there is a video....bummed because now it will turn into one of those overplayed pop hits on the radio. at any rate, check out the newly released video and let me know what you think ;)