ModPodge Madness

Meet our poor boring wall over the sink. So sad...

I decided to make it a little less boring by using some canvas, cardstock, and THIS!
(see below)

I just painted the edges of the canvases all the same color to tie them in...

ModPodged the cardstock pages cut close-to-size onto the canvas...

Trimmed down the cardstock with a utility knife, and softened the rough cuts and corners with a nail file...

Distressed the edges with a mini stamp pad, and then ModPodged over the top of the whole thing, including the sides.

Tada! Boring no more!

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie...

The other day Kirby and I were itchin' to do something, and we discovered we had a couple bags of chocolate chips in the cupboard from several months ago.

Jackpot.

So Kirby set about making good ol' choco'chip cookies. We didn't have a recipe we loved yet, so he pulled out the Betty Crocker cookbook and used that one.

They were fabulous. Perfect.

 Photo disclaimer: We tried a couple small-sized ones, just to see how they would turn out. 

They tasted good, but didn't look incredible. Several of the cookies on this plate are the small ones. 

The one on top, though--CHECK. IT. OUT.

Well, let's be honest. He used milk chocolate chips (he hates semi-sweet), and I think they may have been better with the latter... BUT--chips aside--delish.

Turns out one of the secrets is the butter. You are supposed to use softened butter, but if it's TOO soft (especially if it was softened in the microwave), then the cookies will turn out super flat.

Also--if you add too much flour, then they don't flatten out enough!

So, Kirby, being the seasoned chef that he is (and having read the extra blurbs about butter and flour underneath the recipe), added 1/2 a cup flour less than was called for, and then added some little by little at the end until the consistency was right.

Did I mention they were fabulous?

And I usually don't like the baked result. Prefer the dough, ya know? Raw egg and all. 

(My dad would cringe if he read that...)

Don't get me wrong, we only baked half the dough so we could indulge in the raw stuff, too. But man, those cookies were good. The Sunday after we made them I think they were the majority of what I ate the entire day! :) 

Nutritious, I know.

Don't Say I Didn't Warn You!

Because she's fabulous...

You don't wanna be on the other end of that chewing frenzy... Lemme tell ya! :)

Still Kickin!

Remember that time I told you about my weight loss goal? The NOT new years resolution?

Well, I'm still working at that. And I'm making progress. 

Two days ago I weighed in at 163.6! 

Yeah. I totally squealed and did a happy jig when I saw that number...

I. AM. SO. CLOSE.

I kind of plateaued there for a week or two, so I kicked up my exercising a bit to try and psych my body out. 

Throwing some jogging in here and there... Some weights... Extra time on the treadmill at my mom's... Hopefully it has worked and I'll be able to knock off those last 3 1/2 pounds! 

Here's to hoping!

SO CRAFTY!

Ok. So not really. But I have been up to some stuff. :)

I have been staring down the barrel of a smoking gun!

A hot glue gun, that is!

Here's the skinny...

See this cute fella?

My friend Amy makes these. I think they are 120% fabulous. So clever and so cute! She has a giraffe on her fridge at home. Love. The only problem? The magnets that were on the hands and feet just weren't cutting it. So I got online and ordered 50 super strong magnets (very affordable by the way! $15, I think...), bought a hot glue gun at JoAnn's (can you believe I didn't have one yet!?), and went to work.

Then Kirby and I got magnet fever. 

Kirby got out his junk box (aka stuff that has sentimental value to him, but is pretty much useless otherwise), and we found some fun stuff to turn into refrigerator magnets! So now we have a fridge covered with meaning, instead of those cheapo free business magnets that didn't really hold much up anyways!

Check em' out!

Kirby's "Hood to Coast" Relay medal. 
Side story: He ran this without training AND with a broken arm. BWUUUT!?

This is supposed to be of the "Te quiero" rock, but we also made some out of leftover quote handouts from my YW lessons.

An old pepsi bottle cap! Classic. And yes. It's holding up an old cleaning schedule I made when I was still prego. And yes. It worked quite well for a couple weeks. 

Why haven't I reinstated it? Because I want to use it for my Choice and Accountability Value project. Yes, I'm re-earning my Young Womanhood Recognition Award along with my young women. :)

One of Kirby's mission tags. I loved this idea, because really--what else are you gonna do with them?

On a scout campout several months ago, Kirby carved me a couple of hearts. I love 'em, but didn't know what to do with em'!

We also beefed up a couple magnets we already had:

My Newport Beach magnet. There's sand in the toes!!!

Here's our Disneyland magnet. Weakest magnet we have ever bought. Really disappointing. But now it's tougher than you! ;)

And here are the leftovers. I have always been intrigued by hot glue blobs. :)

The Evidence

Kirby totally stole my cable.

But it has been returned, so I can share these with you!

Sometimes she takes her time flipping over, kinda like this:

Other times, I look away, look back, and BAM! Okay, so this one isn't QUITE that fast, but it's quicker than the first... :)

I think it's so funny when she pushes off of her mat! :)

Pictures to come!

(You should no by now that there is no escaping them!)

The Mobility Begins

That's it. She's done it. Rolled over. 

Both ways. 

I was just going through my google reader, with her in the living room on her little play mat on her back. 

Reading... reading... reading...

Glance over at Emily who is playing so well.

And she's on her tummy. 

It has happened a couple times this past week, but this was a really quick one!

Reading... reading... reading...

Glance over and she's on her back!

BWUUUUT!?

Out of control. 

We have been trying to catch it on video for this past week, and haven't had much luck, but yesterday and today I was just lucky enough to have my camera nearby and ON!

So yeah. I've got video. Buuuuut... someone has taken off with the cable that connects my card reader to my computer. Strange. This has never happened before, and I think I blame Kirby. 

Emily's not quite THAT good at rolling yet...

Jane Austen.

I've got a chance to win again.

Hard-cover of Emma, the BBC Pride and Prejudice, and the family crest necklace.

I've been wanting the BBC P&P forever, now, so I hope I win that! If not, I'll just have to purchase it! PAH!

My entry fee?

Blog my favorite Jane Austen novel.

SERIOUSLY?

Okay. So it's not that easy. And I haven't actually read all of them. 

But I love Emma. And Pride and Prejudice. 

Love the characters. Love the story. Just Love. :)

Which one is your favorite?

And, seeing as I haven't read them all (let's assume I haven't read ANY, which is barely not true), which ones would you suggest I read first?

So this one time...

I made a post with videos. And I was so proud of myself because I created a YouTube account so that the movies were easier to upload and to view, etc. etc. etc.

Being the incredibly intelligent woman that I am, I thought it would be a good idea to make them private. Because I don't necessarily want the world watching my family movies.

So I did.

Only... it turns out that then you can't see them, even if I have the embedding profile to use on my blog. Thought that would work.

So I deleted it and decided to try again later.

Only it must have still showed up in google reader, or something, because I have had several people let me know that they want to see the movies and couldn't!

So, I got right to work fixing the problem. Wouldn't want to disappoint!

I figure I'll leave them public for a little while, and then make them private after a month or something. Unless there is someone who knows a little more about YouTube and how you can semi-privatize things without completely shutting people out, or requiring and invitation to see the movies...

And yes. I know there are lots. And it's only one post. But I had a lot of catching up to do. I promise I won't load them up like this again... :) Just little bits at a time.

But you should still totally watch them all. Because Emily is darling. :)

So without further adieu...

Here is Emily's incredible acrobatic abilities. And yes--she can do this standing up, too. I just haven't caught it on video. One time my dad saw it from a distance and about died. If you know my dad, I'm sure that doesn't come as a surprise... ;)

This next one is darling, but longer. Worth watching, in my opinion, but then--I'm super biased. Emily talks like crazy. This is a video from early on, when her talking was a little more subdued. I love how she stops halfway to take a break and sucks her thumb.

This is more what her talking sounds like now--shouting. And she's learning that she can sound like a raptor. Bahah. So funny. Except when she does it over and over while I'm trying to give the visiting teaching method....

Experimenting with her voice...

I'm sure this is the one everyone was DYING to see.... :) The soda thief. Oh how I love it...
As a side note... This was shot at the American Pizza Cafe on University Parkway in Provo. It's a shoot-off of Craigo's in Rexburg. If you haven't been, you should. Mer--did you know about this place yet? Delicious pizza buffet.

Occasionally we like to bombard Emily with Kisses. When Kirby did this the first time Emily had the cutest look of shock/surprise, but she never really did it again for the video, but it's still darling. :) Watch for her mad eyebrow skills towards the end...

FINALLY

I can hear semi-normally out of my left ear. I have been trying to get it to pop ALL DAY. 

Which also means I have been yawning all day.

I think I am finally getting over my blasted illness. Started out as a classic cold. 

When the cold decided to depart, it left me with a sinus infection. Not cool. 

Sinus infection = sinus pressure = constant headache and feeling like the entire forehead portion of your face is a giant zit. 

You know... The ones deep down that hurt like crazy, but you can't really see? 

Yeah. Awesome. 

Please note :: I do not, in fact, have a zit the size of my forehead. I was simply drawing a comparison.

The pressure is letting up, though, and I can at least breathe through my nose. But the fact that I finally got my left ear to pop (which has been bugging me at least the last two days) has officially made my day successful. :) 

Last night as I was going to sleep, I could feel the pressure shifting in my left ear. It would change depending on my position. Pretty crazy. Kinda cool. But really annoying when trying to sleep!

That being said, I think I have beat the ants into submission. I got some ant killer that is supposed to kill the entire colony. 

Home Depot had about 6 different kinds that claimed to do this. Figured I couldn't really go wrong. 

If one didn't work, they were cheap enough that I could try a different one.

You know how I finally decided? I bought the one that said it had a peanut butter base. 

Just cause it sounded cool.

For anyone interested, the kind I got was Ortho's AntBGon...

I actually just saw a lone little ant crawl out from under my desk, but he looked like a scrawny lil' guy. Probably the best they have left.

I created a YouTube account today so I can more easily post movies on my blog.

It just takes too long to upload them through blogger!

Plus--since I"ve switched to their new posting thing-a-ma-jig, I can't find where to upload movies through blogger anyways. 

SO! Look forward to some fabulous movies, uploaded privately to my YouTube account. :)

Musings of a Sicky

Yup. Things around here have been pretty icky sicky. Kirby is finally getting over his cough/nose thing, and I think/hope I'm just coming down from the peak of my throat/nose thing, and Emily I think is finally getting better from her cough/nose/maybe throat, but she can't tell me thing. I gotta tell you, though, this sinus pressure is killing me. I don't know how I made it through two straight years of sinus infections in jr high/high school. Yuck.

I had an interesting drive home from dropping Kirby off at work today. There was this poor guy in a lifted, souped (?) up truck trying to get ahead all the way home on University Ave, but he kept picking the wrong lane. At first I thought it was funny because he kept switching, but then I started to feel bad for the guy. In all fairness, there were two cars going super slow, one in each lane. I wasn't in a hurry, though, so it wasn't really bothering me. I had my music, and life was good. He finally had the chance to best us all once we got onto 800 N. He pulled up next to me at the light by the golf course, and he was inching forward, waiting for the green, so I decided to add insult to injury by racing him off the line. 

And boy did I show him what our little Protege can do. It was my driving thrill for the day. :) 

 Yes, it's a stick. Obviously. Cause they're the best.

THEN, as I pulled up to another light, just a block or two from our place, there was a guy who kept watching me in his side mirror as he sucked his life away on a cigarette. I wanted to hold up a sign that said, 

"You know I can see you watching me, right?"

Then, as I turned at that light I passed a church where some guys were doing stuff. You know, taking care of the lawn and trees? Stuff? Yup.

Anyhoo, one of the guys looked up and our eyes met and he grinned and waved. Genuinely. And watched me drive down the road. No, I did not know him. A block past him, my cynical side though, "I wonder what he's up to? No stuff-worker-guy, working in the rain on the side of the road should be that happy... Are they breaking into the church?" And then I laughed out loud at myself for being ridiculous. 

When we got home Emily was asleep. She startled a bit when I closed my door, but then fell BACK asleep.

Never. Happens.

Ever.

So I let her sleep a while just sitting in her carseat (inside the house, obviously.) She looked so cute, see? Couldn't resist.

 And yes. She falls asleep holding her toys. She just loves them that much.

Too bad the sound of the shutter woke her up.

But she's asleep now, and that's what counts, and as soon as she wakes up and eats we are going out on the town! Home Depot for Terro (for the ants), and then to JoAnn's for... well... something. Paper, probably. It's coupon commotion week! :)

Oh yeah. Those ants? I thought I had gained the high ground. Scared them into submission. Then a night or two ago I set my purse down by my desk. On the floor. Guess who had a piece or two of popcorn that had accidentally found it's way into my purse? Thank you, movie theater popcorn!

I had ants all over my purse.

I wanted to cry. They were in the inside of the magnetic shell, too. So I went on a rampage. I vacuumed them off my purse, took the shell off and vacuumed up the ones on the inside, and then proceeded to vacuum the entire kitchen floor, followed by the living room carpet. 

The ants hid their nasty little heads for about a day, and when one or two dared venture forth, they were squished in a timely manner. I felt like I had them under control again. 

Until Kirby didn't realize he'd dropped a chunk of cheesy goodness from his leftover pizza slice RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY DESK.

Even I didn't realize it was there. Until I STEPPED in it. With ants all around it.

I have abandoned my squishing. I have reverted back to my vacuuming technique. Because squishing is so much less time effective when there are hoards of ants. I actually have the vacuum sitting right next to me, plugged in and ready for use at a moment's notice. 

But I'm still buying ant killer tonight. No matter how scared I have them.

Words of Wisdom...

So, there is this jewelry maker I ADORE. And she just came out with a new piece, and so she's having a giveaway. 

I think it's darling, but quite honestly, most of her stuff is. So... every time she has a giveaway, I enter. No matter what. :) And we get extra entries for facebooking, and blogging, and stuff. For this, we are supposed to share a bit of wisdom. My wisdom? Well, I stole it.

Find joy in the journey--NOW.

Yup. President Thomas S. Monson cannot be beat. :) I'll spread his words of wisdom any day.

And yes, I will forgive you if you enter the contest, too. This jewelry is too fabulous not to share. :)

The Beautiful Blogger Award...

Kristin nominated me for the beautiful blogger award! How crazy awesome is that!? I feel a little bit silly, seeing as I just barely changed my blog template entirely... But I do love it... SO. Thanks, Kristin! She also has a blog all about cool crafts and sewing projects she's doing--so fun. You can check it out HERE! Anyhoo!

As a recipient of this award, I must:

1. Thank the person nominating you for the award.

2. Copy the award to my blog.

3. Place a link to their blog.

4. Name 7 tidbits people don't know about you from reading your blog.

5. Nominate 7 bloggers.

6. Place a link to those bloggers.

7. Leave a comment letting those bloggers know about the reward.

Who do I nominate? This was actually tough. I went and looked at the blogs of all my buddies and I thought they were all so fun! But here are my seven choices:

Obviously, their actual blog is beautiful and cute and everything--I just wanted to add some extra tidbits about why else I love their blogs. Just for fun. 

1. Meagan--cute blog, plus she's an amazing writer!

2. Amy--amazing craft-ster. Yup. I made that up. I'm just. that. cool. 

Plus, she's one of my favorite people ever. Also--awesome laugh. :)

3. Adriane--my sister. AND hilarious. Love.

4. Sarah (private)--one of my besties from high school. 

I LOVE the yellow Hawaiian print. It is just plain ol' fabulous. :)

5. Melanie--her kids are hilarious. Love the stories and videos.

6. Rachel--she and her husband Nick are trying to adopt right now. 

Go to their blog and add their button to your blog to help them out! 

Also, their "It's About Love" profile can be found HERE.

7. Lyndi (also private)--she has the most fantastic shamrock template right now that I ADORE. 

I wish you all could see it!!

Tidbits About ME!  

1. When it comes to getting dinner on the table, I stink. No, really. And I've only gotten worse. I like to blame it on the fact that Kirby is gone half the nights of the week at work, so it's hard to fall into a schedule. But really--I just forget to plan ahead, and then suddenly it's dinner time and we don't want to make something--at least not anything that takes more than 5 minutes. This is something I really want to change now that little Emily has joined our family. I'm a firm believer in the importance of a regular dinner time, and all that. So! Any recipes anyone wants to share? :)

2. The hair on the back of my head grows out in zig-zags. It's hard to tell when it's grown out like it is now, but if you look at the roots--Yup. Zigging and zagging all over the place!

3. I have a new found love of tuna fish sandwiches. We have a TON of tuna fish in our pantry thanks to WIC, so one night I bought some sweet relish at Kirby's request, and he mixed up a delicious sandwich--mustard, mayo, relish, and tuna. So. Stinkin. Good.

4. I love to get Kirby surprises. Only problem is, we think it's fun to tell each other when we have a surprise up our sleeves, and Kirby usually figures mine out before I give it to him. BUT--I've got one in the works right now that I mentioned in passing, and I don't think there's any way he'll guess it... :)

5. I want a cake. Right now. Chocolate cake. Chocolate frosting. Delicious. 

6. My favorite flower is probably the gerber daisy. But I also adore white roses. And sometimes--I'll see a flower bouquet arranged so beautifully that I want it so bad, just so I can look at it all day.

7. Speaking of looking at things... I have this funny habit of buying scrapbook paper. Do I scrapbook? No. I just like to look at it. Mmmmm...

The. End. :)

Under Attack

There is an army of ants marching on our peaceful little basement.

I am most seriously displeased.

Last night I was putting a load of Emily's sheets and clothes into the wash and I went to throw in one of my workout shirts, too... I bent down to pick it up, and there were probably 10 ants roaming around.

Probably doing reconnaisance.

I thought, "Fine. Let's see if you survive the washing machine." No ants in the clothes afterwards.

This morning I am washing our sheets and pillows. Just put them in the washing machine, as a matter of fact. Guess what I saw. 

An ANT walking casually around the top of the spin tower thingy (you know--where you put the liquid fabric softener?) like he OWNED the place.

No respect. 

This calls for drastic action. No more of the wimpy vacuuming (or clothes washing, apparently) of the intruders. I have armed myself with an entire role of toilet paper at my desk. (They seem to be coming from underneath it? Cause, you know... that's where all the tasty stuff is... Bwuuut?) Squishing is the only viable option.

I already have a mound of ant corpse encrusted tissues in my garbage can.

Let the war begin.