my life lately....

December is always busy. I always think that somehow I am going to have some kind of handle on things and be able to handle multiple projects and what not. I need to stop kidding myself.

For the most part I am done with Christmas gifts. AND they are almost all wrapped. The only one that is NO WHERE NEAR being done is Lindy's quiet book. In my head it's all easy and stuff. In reality? This project is HARD. Nevertheless, I will finish it. Now, it might not be done on Christmas, but since we don't see her until the day after it doesn't really matter. ;)  I'm hoping to get it done during the weekend while in Logan with Allan and his family. :o) I think that should be manageable. Hopefully. :P

Anyways, Allan and I have also had other fun things happening - we went to my work Christmas party which is always SO FUN. This year they had one of the newer employees here take pictures of all the couples and such. This one is my favorite:

In other news my photographer that I wanted to use for my wedding is no longer available. :( I am still looking for a replacement. sigh.

It's weird having to send Christmas in a box to my family. I've never NOT been with my family during Christmas. Not that I don't love Allan's family...but things are just going to feel different. I guess in the long run that's okay - different is good. It helps us learn and grow and stuff. Anyways, I'm sure there will be a blog post Christmas at some point with all of my adventures and such from that day. :o)

In other news Allan and I have officially been engaged for a month now and in some ways I can't believe it's been that long and at the same time I look back and wonder where in the world the month has gone! I love being called his fiance/calling him mine. Granted, I will be happy when I call him my husband instead....but being engaged is awesome. :o)

Anywho. That's about it from me for now. Merry Christmas!

November Goal Recap

note from the author: ya know, I meant to post this 20 days ago. :P sorry y'all! I kept waiting to get some pictures of some things....and well.....yeah, that's not happening. so just use your imagination. or something.

Remember that one time that I made a goal to try and do eight things that I've wanted to try for a really long time? Yeah...me too.

Remember that one time that I got really sick for like a week and couldn't do some of my goals? Yeah...me too.

Regardless, here is a little recap of all the things I wanted to do and how I fared with them. Don't laugh, this was a first time experiment that will probably be repeated in the future....maybe. Perhaps after a wedding happens? ;)

Anywho....here you go! (also, please disregard that this is coming so many days after the month started...December is busy yo!)


1.  Fix my Kitchen-Aid Mixer. - using this tutorial. 
Result: DID IT! Finally! I was so proud of myself. This was fairly easy (but not easy waiting for it to dry! gah!) The "tattoo" or pattern I put on my mixer didn't turn out exactly how I wanted, but oh well. C'est La Vie. Regardless, I now have a much better looking mixer and it makes me happy to have it black and not....yellow. :o)

2.  Make an advent calendar for December. - I want one that isn't just a fun activity but includes service activities, stories to read, etc.
Result: DID IT! With some help from Allan (it was something we worked on together....) we got this done. It  might not have "officially" been done until December 2nd....but it was mostly done. :o) And now I have an advent calendar with activities and a scripture to read each night leading up to Christmas. :o)

3.  Make Lindy dress-up princess skirt. - I bought some cute sheer fabric from the remnants bin at JoAnn's and now I need to make good on using it. :) 
Result: ALMOST finished it! The skirt itself is mostly done, but I decided to add a trim to it and I have that pinned on, I just need to pull out the sewing machine and finish it. Which I will do....one of these days before Christmas. :o)

4. Make Betty Crocker Mixes - using these websites:
 http://fakeitfrugal.blogspot.com/2012/02/fake-betty-crocker-cookie-mixes.html
http://fakeitfrugal.blogspot.com/2012/04/fake-betty-crocker-brownie-mix.html
Result: I got sick. So this didn't happen partly because of that, and also because I just decided I didn't really care about doing this. Great idea? Of course. But really I like to make my cookies from scratch in the moment, so I decided this one is getting crossed off the list. :o)

5. Do a detox drink for a week: http://mom2mycrazy2.blogspot.com/2012/06/detox-apple-cinnamon-water-pinned-it.html  I think this is a really good idea to do right before Thanksgiving - then maybe I won't feel so bad eating all that pie. ;)
Result: Sort of did it. I did it for like two days and decided I really don't care for the taste of this detox drink. Plus....It's a pain to cut the apples.

6. Make Lindy a quiet book. - I grew up having one of these for Church and I know it was beneficial for my mother. I want Lindy to have one too - I will probably enlist a little bit of Mom's help for this. :)
Result: Started it. Brainstormed for this project, got the "sketch" drawn up and got all the materials. (or most of them anyways...) Now I just need to prewash the fabric and get going! :o)

7. Make other Christmas gifts. - Several of the gifts I am giving people are going to be handmade and I don't want a stressful December. :o)
Result: The people on my list for this are no longer on my list (we decided to do something else for Christmas.) So...this one gets knocked off by default. Or something.

8.  Start wedding bouquet. - I have this vision in my head that my bouquet will look something like this one. So I want to start working on it. There's still no wedding date...but I want to be prepared. ;)
Result: Well....I bought the fabric. Honestly, this probably won't really get started until I get Christmas gifts done for peeps, but the hard part is done. I think. :P


So there you go! I'm really happy with how well I did...this was a good project for me and I'm excited to do it again in the future. I know I'll for sure be working on Pinterest things anytime Allan is at drill - especially his 2-week training in the middle of the summer. :P Anywho....now to get Christmas gifts done. :P Until next time! Ciao!