My Baby Birdies
When we finally decided to take down one of Christmas wreaths that was still up in March we found that a bird had started to build a nest so we left it up.
Now they’re gone and I’m experiencing empty nest syndrome.
Black Nail Polish Fiasco
One of Lily’s bottles of nail polish jumped out of the cabinet this evening. It got everywhere. The floor, the sink, her shirt, the wall, under the vanity, and even a streak inside the mirror. She had to clean it up with cotton balls, a tooth brush, paper towels, and a whole lot of nail polish remover. And of course it happened at 11:30pm on a school night.
When mom saw it all she could say was, “It just had to be black.”
Masquerade Mask
A friend of mine is having a masquerade birthday party so I decided to make my mask.
Bow Back Shirt
My sister found a cute bow back shirt on Pinterest, so I decided to make it.
You’ll need:
- Plain shirt
- Scrap fabric
- Fabric scissors
- Fabric glue
The first step is to cut lines across the shirt. I measured mine four inches apart, but that all depends on your size an how anal you are.
Once that was done I used strips of fabric from something else. You can, if you want the shirt shorter, cut a strip off the bottom, but I wanted the original hem and I liked the length. This is where the fabric glue comes in to play. Use the glue to secure the strips closure around the bunches of fabric. Let it dry and voila.
This will be cute for the summer and can be worn with a bandeau top so that bras and tank tops aren’t seen.
Scarf Organizer
My scarves used to just sit in a drawer all disorganized. Then, one day, I saw an idea on Pinterest for a scarf organizer.
What you’ll need:
- Hanger
- Shower curtain rings
- Hot glue gun
- Scarves
- Decorative string or fabric
It’s really pretty easy. Just glue the rings on to the hanger.
I didn’t like the way it looked so I tied some spare fabric around the glue spots. This isn’t necessary, it’s just about what you want it to look like.
When you’re done and the glue is dried, put your scarves on and hang wherever you like.
DIY Pen Organizer
This is a craft I saw on Pinterest. Or rather, there was a 50 things to do with toilet paper rolls and I liked this idea because my pens are currently disorganized in a large shoe box. Anyone that knows me knows I have way too many pens, so this project just made sense.
What you’ll need:
- a shoe box
- Elmer’s glue
- an abundance of paper clips
- a bunch of toilet paper rolls
- spray paint
- a ridiculous amount of pens
- wrapping paper or other decorative paper
- Mod Podge
Basically, I started by finding a box and saving toilet paper rolls when we finished them. Of course I’m impatient so I asked Joe’s mom to save them from her house too. She loves recycling so as long as they’re not in the trash she’s willing to help. It took me maybe a week to collect all the rolls. I’m not entirely sure, I wasn’t keeping track.
I started off by putting a little Elmer’s glue around the bottom of a roll and the sides that would be touching another roll or the wall of the box. In order to make sure they stayed secure while drying I paperclipped the whole thing together.
Once the glue was dry I spray painted it because the box and rolls are ugly. I just used whatever spray paint I had left from previous projects.
I didn’t like the look of the spray paint so I covered it in wrapping paper to make it look a little more interesting. Once all that was done I put my pens in and voila.
Believe it or not, I didn’t have to buy a single pen or pencil to fill it. I couldn’t even fit all of what I do have.
Winter Loom Knit Set
Yesterday I posted about the loom knit kit I purchased. Instead of making a hat, like I had originally said, I decided to make a winter headband to match.
Loom Knitting
I recently bought myself Martha Stewart’s Knit & Weave Loom Kit and two large balls of cheap yarn. I made a scarf and I’m going to make a hat to match.
Life Achievement
Today I got into Michigan State University’s Masters of Social Work program. It’s being run through SVSUs campus so I don’t even have to move. I’m so excited! I believe it starts this July.
I’ve also lost ten pounds in the last month and a half, looked at engagement rings with Joe and will graduate Summa Cum Laude in May.
This is my year.
Six Years
Joe and I are celebrating six years together today. It’s very exciting. I never thought I would find the person I want to be with for the rest of my life so young. Joe makes me the happiest girl in the world.
Lilo Cricket
My little girl is so cute. In fact, she’s so cute I thought I’d share a few pictures with you.
Candyman: The David Klein Story
A documentary about candy seemed very fitting to the sugary mood I am in tonight. I am making lots and lots of cookies, so candy just seemed to fit.
The story was about David Klein, the inventor of Jelly Belly jelly beans. However, this isn’t a happy story of success. He was tricked into selling his rights to Jelly Belly and his royalties were small and have already run out.
Dragon Ball Z Marathon
Instead of a movie tonight Joe and I are going to watch a lot of episodes of Dragonball Z. We’ve been working on watching the episodes on Hulu since November. We’re 166 episodes in and are nearing the Cell Games. So I decided a bunch of episodes of DBZ would make up for my lack of watching a movie.
Man on Wire
I decided on a documentary tonight. Man on Wire is about Philippe Petit, a high wire/tightrope walker. The movie talks about his various high wire experiences. More specifically, the movie talks about and explains how he and a team broke into the World Trade Center towers and walked between the towers in the 70s. Unusually told, but very interesting.
The Karate Kid
I had planned on watching The Incredible Hulk tonight but the DVD wouldn’t read. I tried in the DVD player, nothing. I tried in my Xbox, nothing. I tried in my laptop and I had to restart it to get it to eject.
Instead of the Hulk I decided to search Netflix. I stumbled across The Karate Kid. The one from 1984, not the one with Will Smith’s son. It’s from the 80s so it’s cheesy, but it’s a classic, right?
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
About two weeks ago this movie was on tv and I had to leave Joe’s house so I only saw maybe 20 minutes and it was interrupted by commercials. My sister said she thought I’d like it because I “like nerdy things like Star Wars.” It looked interesting enough so why not. Who doesn’t love a good action flick?
Rango
After browsing through Netflix I decided on Rango. I wanted to watch something less serious and a shorter movie. I had also been wanting to see it for a while so it seemed like a good choice.
It was interesting and funny. And it wasn’t a total kid movie. I mean, it’s definitely a kid movie, but I enjoyed it too. Besides, who doesn’t like a rattle snake with a machine gun for a rattler?
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Tonight’s movie was Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. It was a very interesting story about a boys search for a lock to a key that his father, who died in the twin towers on 9/11, left behind. It was not at all what I had expected. I was pleasantly surprised. I definitely suggest you watch it.
Dragonball: Evolution
Tonight Joe and I watched Dragonball: Evolution. We’ve been working on watching Dragonball Z because it’s on Hulu and thought we’d see what the movie was all about. It was pretty ridiculous. Cheesy and didn’t follow the story. However, it was a short movie and I’m sure a drinking game could be made out of it somehow.
The Avengers
Last night Joe and I went to see Joss Whedon and Marvel’s The Avengers and it was epic! Seriously. I may see it again while it’s in theaters. It was the best comic book movie I’ve ever seen not to mention I love Joss Whedon.
Anyway, I’m counting The Avengers as my movie for Thursday and I’ll watch a different one tonight.
Grizzly Man
Tonight I am watching Grizzly Man. Yeah yeah. I know it’s after midnight but I haven’t gone to bed yet so it still counts. It’s a very interesting documentary about a man that spent thirteen years studying grizzly bears only to be killed and eaten by one. Very intriguing.
The Ghost Writer
The first movie for Movie a Day May was The Ghost Writer. It was suspenseful. I honestly didn’t think I would like it and figured it would be good background while I clean my room. I didn’t get much cleaning done. It’s one of those movies you have to pay attention to and I enjoyed it.
We’ll see how well I can keep up with this challenge. I’m certainly going to try though. I’ll have to make a trip to blockbuster for the weekend. Not all the movies I want to see are on Netflix streaming.
Movie a Day May
I have decided that since I only work a few hours a day and will not be taking classes this summer that I wanted to watch some movies that I haven’t already seen. Because of this want to see more movies I made up ‘Movie May.’
My end goal is to watch a movie I haven’t already seen every day in the month of May. We have Netflix, a handful of movies that we own and a few movies saved on my computer so it shouldn’t be tough finding something I haven’t seen.
This challenge includes new releases and old releases as long as I haven’t already seen it. Those are pretty much the only requirements. One previously unseen movie per day for the entire month of May. 31 movies in 31 days. I can totally handle that.
My New Puppy
A few months ago Joe and I learned that his cousin’s dog was pregnant. I was lucky enough to go over to her house the day the puppies were born and immediately fell in love with the black one. We talked it over and looked through our finances and decided that we wanted to bring her home.
Her name is Lilo Cricket, because she is so bouncy. Joe picked Lilo and it fits well. She has a white stripe on her chest and belly and has some brown spots behind her ears that Joe’s mom thinks look almost like bows. She is a poo-shi-pom. Half poodle, quarter shih tzu, quarter pomeranian.
She likes to bite, but she’s still teething. She’s been very good about potty training and is learning to let us know if she has to go. She likes to chew on drawstrings, small bones and my chapsticks. She also loves to run around and wrestle with Joe’s sister’s pomeranian.
DIY Hair Accessories
My sister and I have recently joined Pinterest, which is thoroughly addicting. Well the DIY section has tons of ideas and we found one that we liked along with an idea we came up with on our own.
What you will need:
- ribbon
- buttons
- plastic headbands
- decorative ribbons or chains – if you want
- elastic hair ties
- bobby pins
- a hot glue gun – lots of extra glue sticks
First is our idea – buttons on headbands and bobby pins.
Then we made bows and even put one on a headband.
The last idea was one we got off of Pinterest. Make your own headbands. Although the big fat one was a five strand braid that my sister made.
All of the stuff is pretty easy and fun to make and cute to wear. Be careful when using the hot glue gun. It’s called hot for a reason.
Pizza Crescent Rolls
I came home from work one day wondering what I should eat and saw these ingredients. What came next was delicious.
Cute Knit Winter Headband
I’ve been on a knitting binge lately making various things with my mass amounts of yarn. I thought, ” Hey, the hats I’ve been making lately are too small so I’ll try something else.” I’m fond of the basket weave pattern. My sister also thought a flower would be a nice touch, although I think this one is a little too small. Anyway, this is what I came up with.
Hats Hats Hats
I like knitting and I like making things for myself and others. After finding a great ribbed hat pattern on a different blog I’ve been making quite a few of them. Well two so far, but I’m on my third and this one isn’t even for me. I want mine in blue. I just can’t remember what size needles I used to make the others so I figured my sister could have this one. Then I made it and realized that it won’t even fit her. Thankfully I know a few people with kids.
Here’s my progress:
Here are the other hats I’ve made:
Who Has the Best French Fries?
Lily and I decided to test all the french fries from fast food restaurants in town and rank them. Lily even made a chart that we could use to rank the fries from 1 to 10 on saltiness, crispiness, sogginess and overall score. Then we added it all up to see who won.
The final rankings are as follows.
Amra:
- Rally’s
- McDonald’s
- Wendy’s and Arby’s
- Burger King
Lily:
- McDonald’s
- Wendy’s
- Rally’s
- Arby’s
- Burger King
Pumpkin Pie
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. This is because of the delicious foods, specifically pumpkin pie. My grandma and my uncle make it the best. This year I have to work on Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, hospitals don’t close on holidays so I have to work. And my mom and sister are going are going out of town without me.
This will be my first Thanksgiving entirely with Joe’s family. I have decided that since I cannot have Thanksgiving without homemade pumpkin pie that I am going to make it. My grandma taught me how to make it so I think I can handle it. However, I will not be making the crust, that’s just too complicated.
Anyway, here’s the stuff you’ll need to make it:
- 30 oz. Libby’s canned pumpkin (one big can or two little ones)
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 3 1/3 cups whole milk
- 2 pre-made, uncooked pie crusts
This recipe will make two pumpkin pies.
First you’re going to need to set your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, then put all four eggs and the two cups of sugar into your mixing bowl and mix them well.
Then add your pumpkin and mix it thoroughly.
Next you want to add in the spices. And again, mix well. Then you’re going to add the milk. Do this slowly otherwise it will slosh everywhere, which I learned the hard way.
Next you’re going to want to set up your pie crusts in your pie dishes. I put mine in, cut off the excess crust and pinched the edges a little to make it kind of pretty. I bought a generic brand, but I don’t suggest it. It was all that was available at 10:30pm the day before Thanksgiving. The Pillsbury crusts have always been good to me.
Be careful when filling the pie crusts, because it is easy to make a mess. And fill them to the brim, it generally is enough to fill both pretty high.
When carrying the pies to the oven make sure the oven is already open and nothing is in your way because spilling is easy and you don’t want to waste any of it. Remember your oven needs to be at 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Set your time for 15 minutes. After that 15 minutes DO NOT open the oven. Simply change the oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Set your timer for 50-60 minutes, depending on your oven. My pies were in for about 55 minutes. Take them out and set them on whatever you prefer to set hot things out on. Our wire racks were out because my sister made cookies earlier in the evening.
After letting my pie sit to room temperature I like to put my pie in our lovely pie tuperwares and set it in the garage to chill for at least a few hours because I prefer my pie cold, but really, that’s up to you. But at least let it get to room temperature before enjoying. You don’t want to burn yourself.
Enjoy the pie a.k.a. my favorite part of Thanksgiving!
Changing (School) Sides
About a year and a half ago I decided to transfer from one university to another. It also happened that the two universities were rivals. I was attending Grand Valley State University and switched over to Saginaw Valley State University. The schools are on opposite sides of the state and practically have the same name.
On the other hand. I’ve been a fan of the University of Michigan my entire life. This is because my mom attended U of M for her bachelors. If you like U of M you hate Michigan State University. I have recently learned that MSU will continue to run their Masters of Social Work program through the SVSU campus so that’s where I’ve been thinking about getting my masters. I guess I just like to switch sides.
The End of the Semester
Why is the end of the semester always a massive clusterfuck of stress and sleepless nights? Oh yeah. I procrastinated on just about every assignment I had. Why do I do that to myself?
I honestly have no idea.
But I do. The worst part it is that some of these final projects are group projects, which I hate. The bright side is that I’ll have almost a month off in about a month. Woohoo!
My Next Cell Phone
In March I can get a new phone. We have Verizon and for some reason it’s darn near impossible to find a decent phone that isn’t a smart phone. I’ve checked. All the non smart phones look like the my last phone from two years ago. It’s like they’re forcing people to either choose a smart phone or back peddle a few years. Since I don’t want to set two steps back I’m going to have to take one step forward. I don’t want something with an Android platform. My mom has a Droid and I just don’t like it. So, I have decided to give in to my Apple love. My nest phone will be an iPhone and I am so excited. I also want to get it a crazy awesome Star Wars case.
Perhaps the End is Not in Sight
Today I learned that there’s a decent chance that I may not be admitted in to the field work next fall. I mentioned in a previous post that I was getting close to graduating, but that dream came crashing down today. When I was accepted in to the Social Work program we mapped out my progress and based on my minor and progress at the time I wasn’t supposed to enter the field until Fall of 2013. I changed my minor and took summer classes because I was under the impression that I could possibly get in the Fall of 2012. Unfortunately, I was mistaken. Now there seems to be a very slim chance that this will happen.
I have already looked up alternatives. In my year of waiting I could take on another minor. Most minors only require 18 credits, which would be easy. I also thought that I could change my Criminal Justice minor into a major. I would only need 21 more credits for that. That still not going full time for those two waiting period semesters. I could definitely make that happen. And that is my more likely scenario.
I guess we’ll see. I’m just sad school will probably take me another year. But only time will show how this ends up turning out. The head of the Social Work department said he’d talk to the board about my situation so we’ll see. Hopefully my good GPA and being almost done with pre-requisites will help. But again, we’ll see.
Hair ADD
I have a tendency to get bored with my hair fairly easily. It’s been dark, it’s been light, it’s been long and it’s been short. Lately it’s been short, but that’s only because it doesn’t grow. I mean, it grows, but barely. I got my hair cut in June and it’s grown maybe an inch and a half. A normal persons hair grows closer to three inches in that time. And I want long hair. It’s no fair.
The last time it was longer
First time cutting it short
Dyed it dark
Cut it again
Longer and lighter
Dyed blond-ish
Cut short again
If you have any suggestions I’m open to them.
Things I Shouldn’t Be Thinking About Yet
There are a lot of things that I have been thinking about lately that are currently impossibilities. Joe and I have been together for almost five and half years so there are lots of relationship-y things that I think about.
For example, I would absolutely love if Joe and I could buy a house soon, or even just live together just the two of us. But we are both too broke for that so we both live at home with our mothers. It’s definitely nice that our moms will still let us live at home, especially mine because I moved out for two years then came back home. But we’ve started saving and a house is my money top priority. By the time I graduate I’d like to be able to buy one. And Joe will be done with classes after the Winter semester, all he’ll have left are his internships. It’s a possibility, right? And we know what we want. Two stories, and enough land for him to build a separate garage with an apartment on top.
The other big thing that I think about is getting married. After five and a half years I think I’m allowed to think about that. But again, Joe and I are too broke to make that happen. I’m so excited to get married and be able to call Joe my husband. I have also thought a lot about the wedding itself. Well, not the ceremony, but a lot about the reception. Joe has a huge family so it has to be for a lot of people. I really just want a big party with good food, good booze and good music. I even have a theme, decorations and a dress picked out. 
I’m a bit ahead of schedule with that since we aren’t even engaged yet, but it’ll happen eventually.
The last thing I think about is having kids, but I mostly think about how I don’t want to have them right away. However, I also think they’re going to be very cute and I’m excited to play with them and all that jazz. Let me make this clear, I do not want kids now or any time soon. Joe and I have decided that we will have a kid by the time he’s thirty and he’s two years older than me. Seems like a good time to me.
Nerdy Shows
Joe and I have taken a liking to watching more nerdy tv shows together. So far we’ve watched Avatar: The Last Airbender, which is now my favorite cartoon ever (I love Zuko). And Firefly, which Joe was reluctant to watch at first but is now sad that it’s over. Currently we are watching Dragon Ball Z because it’s on Hulu. I’m excited for the episodes with Cell because I remember watching those when I was little.
A New Hat
Yesterday when it was snowing/slushing I didn’t have a hood so I had to borrow a hat of Joe’s. Coincidentally, it was the hat that I had made him. I really liked wearing that hat so I decided that I’m going to make one for myself. It’s a really simple pattern too that I saw on a different blog, however I have made mine out of cotton. I have now made one for Joe and one for my dad and now I’m going to make one for myself. I will post pictures of the progress as I go.
This one is my dad’s
Feeling Accomplished
I am currently in my fourth year of college, which, for many people is their last year. This is not the case for me. For my first year and a half I was working towards a Psychology major. I had a sudden epiphany, which I won’t get in to, and changed my major to Social Work. Then after the change of major I decided to change schools as well. I decided to transfer from Grand Valley to Saginaw Valley, which I talk about in a previous post.
After some set backs with credits transferring and major prerequisites being completed I am finally close to being done. At SVSU the field work for a BSW is a Fall to Winter school year long. After registering for classes for next semester I will have my minor in Criminal Justice finished along with the two Social Work electives and the last major prerequisite that I need. Which means that I can possibly get in to the field work next fall. Unfortunately there are only 80 spots open and far more than 80 students that try to get in each year, but my GPA is up and all of my Social Work professors have liked me.
I’m just happy that I can finally see the finish line. To top it all off, MSU is going to continue to run their advanced track, ten month MSW program through the SVSU campus, which means, if I can get in, that I can get a masters in less than a year without having to move away again.
The Strangest, Most Inconvenient and Funniest Places My Dog has Decided to Sleep
In a cubby
In a cardboard box
Against a wall
On a suitcase
On the back of the couch
On the dashboard of the car
In the middle of the floor where everyone walks
On a sewing project
On another sewing project
In my lap while I am working on a sewing project
On a chair, on feet, under the kitchen table
In my sweater
On me while I'm sleeping
Under Lily
Cookies!
Chocolate chip cookies are one of my favorite cookies. I’ve been told I make some pretty good cookies so I’ll share my recipe. Here’s what you’ll need:
- 2 eggs
- 2 sticks of butter
- four
- sugar
- brown sugar
- baking soda
- salt
- vanilla
- chocolate chips
- mixer
You’re going to want to let the butter and eggs sit out for a few hours so they can get to room temperature. Once they’ve been out for a while drop the butter into a mixing bowl.
Then add 3/4 cups of sugar and packed brown sugar and mix them well, scraping it off the sides occasionally.
Add two eggs and a teaspoon of vanilla and keep mixing.
Once the sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla is mixed in, scrape it off the sides and add 2 and 1/4 cups of flour and a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of baking soda.
After these mix for a few minutes scrape the excess ingredients off the side and mix them again.
Finally you’re going to need to add the chocolate chips. I like to use one cup, but some recipes call for more and some call for less.
After eating some of the dough I like to let it sit in the fridge over night, or for a few hours, to let it chill. It really does make a difference.
If you decided to bake them instead of just eating the dough you’ll want to turn your oven on to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. After spraying your cookie sheet with a non-stick spray place 12 one inch balls across the cookie sheet and bake for 8-11 minutes depending on how you like them. With my oven 9.5 minutes is perfect.
Don’t let them cook all the way in the oven though because they will continue to bake a little while cooling on the cookie sheet.
After cooling for a few minutes on the cookies sheet let them cool on a wire rack. Then enjoy as you like.
Joe and No Shave November
Joe has a tendency to only shave every other four days and his hair gets so prickly so fast. This year I thought, “Hey, maybe he should do ‘No Shave November.’ I’ve been wondering what he looks like with a beard.” He likes the idea of not shaving or having me nag him about shaving so he’s willing to try it. He said he’d give it a week and see if it was bothering him. So his official last shave was October 29th.
Unfortunately we never took a before picture, but I will have an after picture.
Evil Dr. Vacuum
Dr. Vacuum is the evil mechanical menace that Sneakers tries to defeat for us. He does a pretty good job at fighting him off. He waits, then he attacks!
Lack of Motivation
This semester has been rough. And not because it’s actually been tough. Actually, most of my classes have been pretty easy. I’m just burnt out. I took twelve credits and worked damn near full time throughout the spring and summer semesters.
My summer break consisted of three weeks broken up between the beginning and end of the summer.
I blame my lack of motivation to do anything school related on this. I have homework that I save until the last minute all the time. And I would normally do that, but not quite to the degree that I am procrastinating this semester. It’s a special kind of procrastination and it’s leading to some seriously backlogged homework. I honestly think that the only thing that will fix it is for this semester to end so I can get that three week winter break from school.
My Storm Costume
I seriously love this costume. I plan on saving all of it in case I ever need to dress up like a super hero again. This is definitely the best picture of the whole costume.
The Flintstones Costumes
Joe’s cousin and her husband just moved back to town. She was excited that she was going to make it to our Halloween party this year because she hasn’t been able to make it the past few years. She knew what she wanted to be and she enlisted me for help. She wanted the costumes made out of fleece so that they could stay warm.
Turns out, Fred Flintstone’s costumes is the easiest thing I’ve ever sewn. Fold it in half, sew up each side, cut some points on the sleeves and the bottom. Then we spray painted the spots on with two different size stencils from cardboard. Wilma’s dress was a little more difficult and she had to keep trying it on for me to get it right, but I think they turned out well.
Joe’s Beer Utility Belt
Joe is not quite as big in to costumes as I am so he didn’t want anything too intense or difficult so we decided on Batman. I found a Batman logo shirt at JCPenney and a cheap Batman mask from the Halloween store. Then I already owned a black cape that he can wear. However he still needed a utility belt. I wanted to make something I knew he would wear throughout the evening. Joe had a black belt and a few black beer koozies. I went out and bought a clip flashlight and attached the koozies and the light to the belt and bam! Utility belt.
