I'm Still Alive...

I'm alive and well and surprisingly silent.

I come home from work full of energy and enthusiasm, make dinner, sit on the couch and don't want to get up. So I don't, I watch sports with Steve cuddled up in a big quilt because we are stubborn and haven't turned the heat on yet.

Maybe you'll hear more from me later. Maybe you won't. I'm not going to stress it.

I Hate Scrapbooking

As a general rule, I don't like scrapbooking. I feel like it is just way too much work to buy all the papers and embellishments and print off the pictures and then drag it out every time you want to do it and there are little paper bits all over your floor. And you have a great vision for a particular page and then you don't have the stuff to pull it off and then you have to buy more stuff and it becomes all about the embellishments instead of the memories.

My friend Julie from work told me about this cool program through Stampin Up, My Digital Studio. Its a digital scrapbooking software that comes stocked with cool papers, stamps and embellishments. So far I have just been trying to get the hang of it but I really like it so far and the program is really easy to use. Suddenly the daunting task of scrapbooking years and years of pictures not to mention the 6000+ Steve and I have taken since we started dating, seems a more doable feat.
So far I have only worked on our honeymoon and I am finding my personal perfectionism to be my greatest downfall. Also I haven't done any journaling on these pages yet but I will.

Anyway, I am excited to finally have a plan on organizing all those memories and getting my personal history underway.

And how fun is it to look back over the years and to realize just how blessed I am by all the wonderful people I have met and all the great places I have been? Its lots of fun.

Project Runway: All Sequined Out

Last night I realized why I am just not loving this season of PR. I don't really love any of the people (characters) like I have in seasons past. I feel like there are sparks of talent but nothing to really blow my mind.

Okay did anyone else get way creeped out by the all close up shots of Nicholas's excitement and glee at seeing and being so near to Bob Mackie? It was unreal. I mean, it was kind of hard to watch. I loved Bob Mackie as a judge though, diamonds on the panties, hilarious.
I am glad that Carol Hannah won because I loved her dress but again I thought Althea's was better and she should have won. I'm just glad Nicholas didn't win for another white dress. And who else is so happy that Shirin is gone? And who didn't love Tim Gunn's comment that her dress looked like a bad sixteen-year-old's prom?

And I know you all probably don't watch Models of the Runway because it is hardly worth the 20 minutes but I totally agree that Katie should smack some sense into Chris. He started out so brilliantly and then has faded into a subpar-Moulin-Rouge-ripoff-mess. Enough said.

The Nursery

Okay, are you ready for 10 pictures of half a tiny room in a two-bedroom basement apartment? Well here is the nursery side of the spare room. Other half has craft desk and computer jammed in but you don't really need to see those right? I was going to put up before shots but quickly became embarrassed when I realized that the room has been a catch all for all our crap for months.

Note: Oval frame is in fact gold and has been artfully photoshopped blue to show what it will look like eventually. And the bookcase is actually green with a black back but will one day be white when it stops raining and Steve can carry it outside for me.


So this is the view while looking in from the door, that is the little computer nook shoved in the back and our stroller and a slice of my serger. Its perfect actually because Steve can be working on homework at the computer and I can see him from the living room couch-so we can still kind of stay connected even though I'm watching So You Think You Can Dance.

Here is a better shot of the glider that I recovered and the curtains I made. The curtains were made from a duvet cover I bought at a yard sale for $2. The oval frame, found at DI, will one day have some cool initial in it once we figure out the baby's name and I think I am going to move it to another wall to make room for the original Pettis I have been promised.

The crib we got from walmart and was a gift from my parents. I love it. I love the white and the dark stain, it matches everything perfectly. I made all the bedding except the crib skirt because I was running out of steam and target had this great one from dwell studio. There are two drawers under the crib that hold all the extra blankets and sheets. Its really nice and convenient for storage. Steve helped me put the crib together-he did a great job!

This is the whole wall with the crib. Note the banner of alphabet cards. I think they were the perfect choice. The shelf is an old utility shelf that we already had and I made a cover for it out of brown fabric I had, cute Anna Marie Horner blue hexagons and the extra fabric from the curtains.Here's a close up of the animals. Steve and I chose the best ones from the pack. Steve's picks were the iguana and jaguar, I love the elephant and zebra. They are hung on some twine I had in the trunk of my car, I braided a few pieces together to make it thicker and used clothespins to hang the pictures. Here is a close up of the utility shelf. I tied the curtains back and inside are baskets for toys and shoes. Also on the top shelf I bought a dowel from the hardware store, had it cut to size, drilled holes in it, painted it blue and hung it to make a closet for hanging his shirts. Storage baskets were bought at kmart on super clearance. There is a tiny wall between the door and the closet where we have his dresser. I bought this dresser years ago at a yard sale, I think I was 16. I remember thinking it was perfect for $15 and loading it into my jeep-I actually remember the house we bought it from. It has since been stripped and stained, it used to be blue. I bought the knobs at IKEA. The germany map I found at DI and I love the colors. It rolls up nice and tidy and ties with a bow. It is one of my favorite DI finds to date. The dresser will double as a changing table and has 3 nice big shelves inside for more storage. Overall I am super happy with the way things have turned out. I also like that the apple green walls suited everything since I know Steve didn't want to repaint the room.
Its such a relief to have everything almost done. I know we still need a few items but I feel like I can relax a little bit now and just enjoy these next few months.

Easy Fall Recipe

Every 4 months or so Steve and I rotate our go-to meal. This fall it seems like we are constantly eating this easy, super quick and cheap meal. In fact, I am having it for lunch today.

First go to the store and buy this cornbread mix. If you cheap out and buy the Jiffy mix I will come hunt you down-seriously, you're not a freshmen in college anymore.

Make as directed and once in the oven, get your chili on.
This is the best chili, so simple and easy and spicy and hearty. It is everything good about chili plus it comes in a packet. I can't believe people eat chili out of a can. (If you're in the valley, you can only buy this at Smith's and sometimes I have Steve go in and buy every packet they have so I don't have to think about it.) Oh and you can substitute northern beans for the white beans because they are often cheaper and no one can tell the difference.

Make the chili with the corn option and use frozen corn because corn out of a can is disgusting.

Your cornbread and chili should be done around the same time and within 40 minutes. Dice up tomatoes, grate cheddar cheese and throw it all in a bowl.

And BAM! a homemade dinner is done and you'll feel that much closer to fall. For dessert eat crisp apples dipped in caramel. This wondrous chili packet was brought to my attention by la.

Thoughts on Pregnancy: Round 3...Fight

I took Friday off (hence no project runway post) to drink my 50 grams of sugar, give blood and get my rogam shot. Hooray for being Rh negative! And since all of that took way less time than I had anticipated, I was able to finish up the nursery except one thing and go see a friend and her cute new baby. I also celebrated officially making it to my third trimester.

(Steve has a night class this week so I was left to my own devices to photograph myself, I think this picture is hilarious, I don't know why. Me at 28 weeks)

Since I haven't really posted anything about being pregnant lately I thought I would take the opportunity now. Don't worry, nothing gross, so keep reading, Natalie. (bytheway, hi Natalie! I hope you're having so much fun in NYC)

So things are still good and honestly this is going to sound weird but I often forget that I am pregnant. Not like I am off doing hazardous things or anything but I don't feel any different than normal.

Albeit, I am starting to get a little more uncomfortable with this growing body and the baby who some days insists on kicking the hell out of my insides. But its not too bad at all.

One weird side effect is that my skin is really dry and itchy and not just my stretching stomach. I think part of this is the onset of winter but I have never had dry skin this bad. It is so bad that I keep a travel sized lotion in my bag and have been known to lather up in the bathroom while running errands. Accomplishing this is quite the feat... but I don't have any stretch marks yet!

Sleeping is fine, I still don't wake up to go to the bathroom and only slightly toss and turn in my 2 feasible positions.

Clothing is great now too and I have a post all set for later this week. I have started this project to motivate myself to actually put thought into my clothing which has worked and I know it sounds lame but if you feel good about how you look, you just feel good.

Another lame self portrait but there I am and note the vanity as side table in the background and way cool red birdcage that I rediscovered buried in the spare room. Guess where it was? Covered in a years worth of dust! haha, sometimes my homemaking skills are seriously lacking...

Also I would like to thank kellymccaleb for posting about my crib bedding on her blog, I truly feel so honored and a teensy bit famous.

Also I have a skirt tutorial coming this week, hint, its the skirt I am wearing in the pictures. And I have some other stuff up my blogging sleeves like the nursery and my solution to hating scrapbooking. Stay Tuned!

Nursery Sneak Peek

This is mostly for my mom but more photos to come after one final push to clean and organize this weekend.

Tutorial: Bleached Dress

Now why would I post a tutorial about laundry? Why yes, I was a professional laundress all through college and can mangle with the best of them but this is totally different and definitely more artistic.

I bought this dress from Express years ago, it was navy blue and relatively modest, in fact my roommate had the same one. Well as it is years old, it was starting to show some signs of fading but it still fits and is super comfy over my expanding body. I decided to bleach it, hence the tutorial.
1. Select item of clothing to bleach. A word to the wise, only do this on something you don't care if it doesn't turn out, like it was already in your Goodwill pile. Also I think knits and 100% cottons might work best.
2. Change into crummy clothes, you are working with bleach, this isn't the time to be wearing your favorite jeans.
3. Gather supplies: bleach, water, bucket and article of clothing. Also you'll need something to stir everything with and its probably a good idea to get gloves since my hands stuck for days afterwards.
4. Do not put bleach directly on fabric! Bleach weakens fibers (if you've ever bleached your hair, you know what I am talking about) so it needs to be diluted. Fill bucket with enough water for clothing to move around freely. This is important. If the bucket is too small then you'll get a weird tie-dyed look. Add bleach and mix thoroughly with water. I don't have a recipe, I just kind of guessed but I would say that it is about 1 cup bleach to every gallon of water.
5. Add clothing, make sure it is totally submerged and then promptly move bucket outside or you will slowly asphyxiate you, your husband and your unborn baby.
6. Check bucket every 30 minutes or so until desired color is reached. To go from navy to pink it took the better part of a saturday. The water will also start to turn a funky orange color as the bleach breaks down the dyes in your clothes.
7. Rinse clothing in sink and machine wash. I had to wash my dress about 3 times before it no longer smelled. If you're using the washing machine, wash the item by itself first just to get all the extra bleach out.

And you just made yourself a new dress (shirt, skirt) and it cost you nothing.

Motivated and Uplifted

We had a great weekend, watching conference, putting up cribs and taking a load of junk to DI.

Okay so not cribs but A crib, yes! and it is super cute. I am loving the way the nursery/spare room is turning out. (Thanks again Steve for all your help in assembling and shuffling things around and for constantly responding to my ridiculous slew of questions about whether things look good or not.) I can't wait to put up pictures but I am going to hold off until things are a little more finished looking. Empty walls just feel so sad and abandoned to me. And the crafty things are back in full force, after a week of taking it easy, I have sewn and stuffed and machine quilted to my heart's content. Things are really starting to come together and I am getting even more and more excited for the baby to come out. I know that some mothers love their child from conception but I haven't been one of those women. Not like I was worried about loving my child but there is something about preparing that is helping me feel connected to this little person. Nesting, it works.

In the spirit of starting traditions, Steve and I made doughnuts on Sunday morning. Steve was a good sport and did all the cinnamon and sugaring. Because I knew we'd be busy and tired from moving furniture around, I used this easy recipe from Paula Deen. Next time, we'll be making dough from scratch. These were actually pretty good and super simple. Scary simple. Like, it won't be 6 months before we make them again.

Conference was inspiring and uplifting. I love that I feel all motivated to do good and be better right now. I'm sure it will pass but I love that high feeling. My favorite talk was from Elder Bednar about being consistent as a family.

Oh and in case you were wondering, I did find room for my vanity in the living room (it is now a side table) and I am adjusting to getting ready, standing up in the bathroom. I think besides vacations it has been over 7 years since I have had to do this.

Project Runway: Giving me the Blues

So I was way disappointed in Project Runway last night. I hate commerical, mass produced challenges. I know that promotes them being sellable but it really makes for boring tv, the kind you brush your teeth through and kind of wish you were in bed instead of watching.




The only tolerable outfit was this one by Irina which I would actually wear but everything else was boring and way too ruffled up. I'm happy that Louise is gone and I am even happier that their threat of double elimination ended up being empty.

And as sad as it is to see the designers cry (Chris) he just looked like an idiot. I mean, it wasn't even a good cry like the meltdowns of Ricky's from the old days.

And, the lady from INC looked sick in her too tight blazer (!) and its really her fault that Chris and Epperson were in the bottom because she was the one who originally liked their designs. So isn't she saying that she has no clue what a woman today would wear?

I did like Michael Kors being back last night and appreciated his tattered loofah comment.

Peace out, have a good weekend.

Realizations

Realization #1.

This morning my car windshield was frozen. Yes, I went outside, started the car and then came back inside to take this picture. The best part about the baby being born in January is that the 3 worst months for scraping your car will be during my maternity leave. I cannot tell you how many mornings in the past I have secretly wished I was a stay at home mom where I could avoid scraping my car every morning.

Realization #2

None of my jackets fit around my belly. For now I am supplementing with scarves but I might want to look into getting something warmer to wear than a cardigan. Which is excellent news because I love new jackets!

Realization #3

My work chair sucks and its attributing to all my lower back pain and discomfort. And since my work place won't buy me a better one without a doctor's note, I took the initiative and found this beauty off ksl classifieds. Thanks Denny!

Realization #4

My new work chair is so comfortable I might either slip into an afternoon nap or relaxation- induced coma.