Expanding the family

The winner of the $30 Jessica's Gems gift certificate is Jessica G! Congrats! For eveyone else, remember the 50% off sale goes until May 31. Use code SRPING50.

Both the girls LOVE dogs. They will chase them down the street to pet one. JM has wanted to get a dog for a long time and I've been resistant. I've been working lately on not letting fear dictate my decision making (more on that later). This last week I decided that I was more afraid of the work of a dog than the benefits of one.

Once I was on board for a dog I really got puppy fever and started looking for dogs. We decided to go with a German Shepard. We visited a local litter and was really impressed with the parents and the puppies were so adorable (ok, what puppy isn't?). This is the little guy we picked out.

BG is thrilled to get a puppy. We haven't brought him home yet. He still needs his mommy, so we will pick him up in a few weeks. We are all pretty excited about it.



How can you not love this face?! We are still working on names. BG suggested Rainbow or Sprinkles, but I think we'll go with something else.

I may have freaked out a little after we got home, realizing that we had just purchased a sweet little puppy that will quickly grow into a BIG dog, but I'm doing better now. We are happy to add this boy to our family.

Funny story: While we were visiting the puppies Blanche was walking around. She wasn't quite sure what to think about the puppies. She loved them from a distance, but got nervous when they got too close. She was backing away from the dogs and fell right into the water dish and soaked herself. She was not too happy about her mid-morning bath in the dog's water. We took off her pants and that cheered her right up.

Room remodel: Part 1

Looking for the jewelry giveaway? Click here.

We are remodeling our room. We started with the closet and love the way it turned out. We bought a new bed and got bedding a while back too. This is what our bed looked like for many, many years. In our entire married life, we have never had real bedding. We bought this white down comforter a few years ago to keep us toasty warm in the winter.

As much as I like the physical warmth, it wasn't doing much for me style-wise. After we got our new bed, I was pretty adamant that we get some real bedding to go on it. This is what I found and loved it. I wanted something with some natural lines, but nothing too "girly" since I do share the room with a man. Despite my best efforts, JM doesn't love it. He tolerates it, which is what makes him a great husband. He knows it's important to me, so he let me get what I wanted.

Real bedding! On a new bed! My mom is a quilter and suggested that a comforter will last longer if it's been properly quilted. Most of the time when you buy them from a store, they are only attached in a few spots with only a thread or two. Mine was no exception, the front was barely connected to the back. So I took it to a quilter who machine quilted the whole thing. Now it will last longer and not not fall apart after the first washing.

Next up on the list is paint and molding. We plan to do crown and chair rail and maybe even wains coating. We'll see how that goes. I'll keep you posted.

Sale plus giveaway

Hi friends. Have I mentioned how I'm holding a huge jewelry sale on my Etsy shop? This isn't a rinky-dink 10% off sale. No, this is the real deal, 50% off. Half off! It's not often you can score that kind of deal. But now, through the May 31 you can get 50% off everything in my shop by using the code SPRING50 at checkout.

Have you seen some of the newest things I've posted in my shop? Here's just one beautiful example.
Some of the items in my shop are listed as SALE, but with the code SPRING50, you will get half off everything you purchase.

I'd love your help in getting the word out about my sale. To reward you, I'm giving away a $30 gift certificate to my Esty shop. I won't even make you jump through hoops to get it. Just comment on this post that you want to win. You can also get extra entries by spreading the word. There are four ways you can enter to win a $30 gift certificate. Leave a seperate comment for each one.

• Comment here saying you want to win.
• Blog about the sale.
• Post on Facebook about the sale.
• Tweet about the sale.

Please make sure your email address is enabled on your account or leave your email in your comment in order to win. Your gift certificate can be used in addition to the 50% off, making it really worth $60. Contest ends May 23 at Midnight MST. The winner will be announced on May 24.

As if you couldn't come up with your own reason to buy something sparkly, let me give you some more ideas. Graduation, Mother's Day (get what you really wanted), family pictures, the start of spring (or summer if you are lucky enough to be somewhere warm), days that end in Y. The list goes on and on! Happy shopping.

Sisters

As Blanche gets older, more and more people are saying that she looks like BG. I just don't see it. Then again, their personalities are so different that it is hard to see any physical similarities. And I just don't think they even look much alike. For a while I've been thinking I need to compare pictures of them at the same age to see if they look alike. I finally pulled out pictures of BG so I could have an equal comparision at the same age. Here they both are on their first birthdays.


Aside from matching chubby cheeks (we grow them fat 'roung these parts) I still don't see it. What do you think?

A sale, a sale, a half off sale

Remember how I held a fabulous jewelry trunk sale back in April? Well, several of you people who don't live within 5 miles of me asked if I was going to hold an online sale. So here it is!

Now through I'm not really sure yet, there is sale happening on my Etsy site. When you use the discount code of SPRING50 at checkout you will get 50% off your purchase. Half off!! That's like getting two pieces for the price of one (assuming they are the same starting price). NO matter how you slice it, it's a great deal. Since I haven't decided exactly how long this code will be good for, I suggest you shop early. I've added a bunch of new stuff to my shop and will keep adding more, so check back frequently. Here is just a sampling of what is there right now.





Pretty right? One of these pieces (or another one just as nice) can be yours. Pop on over to my Etsy shop and have a look. Don't forget to use the code SPRING50 for 50% off.

The Difference of a Decade

Ten years ago I had just finished my freshman year of college. The world was mine for the taking and I was ready for an adventure. I had great summer plans to move across the country and live with some relatives. I had several job possibilities lined up and was ready for a change of scenery.

My Dad and I packed up his little truck and started the cross-country drive. The plan was that he would drive me out and fly home so I would have a car over the summer. We made it about half way to Virginia when the accident happened.

I had driven the early morning shift. About 8am we stopped for some breakfast, called my mom and trading driving. I climbed into the make-shift bed in the back of the truck and went to sleep.

I woke up screaming, the only time in my life I've done so. I smelled burning rubber and I could tell we weren't moving. I climbed over boxes to the small window to the cab. When I slid open the window my dad was lying across the bench seat on his back. When I asked him if he was ok, he said "I don't know". That was enough to send me into a full blown panic. My dad, my rock, wasn't sure if he was ok. How could I possibly be ok if he wasn't? I pieced together that we had been in a accident asked if it was our fault. Dad told me no.

I made my way to the back of truck and opened the gate to let myself out. There was a woman there with a cordless phone, and I recall thinking that was odd. We were out in the middle of nowhere and she had a cordless phone, not a cell phone. I finally felt the pain in my body, my neck was screaming and I sat down. The women with the phone came over and started asking my questions about myself. She started rubbing my back, I'm sure as a comfort measure, but I couldn't handle anyone touching me. I yelled at her to stop.

An ambulance appeared and the paramedics asked me where I hurt. When I told them my neck hurt, I was strapped to a backboard and loading into the ambulance. Even though I don't remember it, I'm sure I cried. While in the ambulance, I wiggled my toes. I knew if I could feel my toes, I wasn't paralyzed.

We arrived at the hospital where I was treated by a very cute doctor. There are blanks spots in my memory, but I remember the cute doctor! I was taken for X-rays, which was the most painful part of the whole experience. The tech had to position my body and neck in what felt like torturous contortions for the right picture. Finally a spot of good news came when we discovered nothing was broken.

Dad also was doing fine, nothing broken, although he had compressed the vertebrae in his back and was in pain. Once I got some painkillers, I felt much better. We discovered that we were in a little hospital in Boone County, Missouri. The accident was caused my an elderly woman who was in the next curtained area. We listened as the police interviewed her. She had cut-off a semi to make a rest stop, slammed on her brakes, and started spinning. Rather than try and correct, she took her hands off the wheel and her legally blind passenger tried to control the vehicle. While spinning, she ricocheted off the semi and forced us off the road. It's a miracle we all survived.

We called my mom around 10 am. She knew immediately something was wrong. We didn't have cell phones and we were only calling at rest stops. It was too soon for us to be at our next stop. We explained what happened. I'm sure she felt helpless being a thousand miles away while her husband and child were in pain.

We were stranded in Podunk, Missouri without a car. We spent most of the day in the hospital, because there was nowhere else to go. I spent a lot of time in the chapel because it was quiet. My neck was too sore to stand for very long. I must have been quite the sight. A 19 year old laying on the floor of the hospital chapel in a neck brace.

After some time and many phone calls we were picked up by a local LDS family. They were either relatives or friends of someone in our home ward. I don't remember their name or even what they looked like, but I'm so grateful for their charity. On a minute's notice, they gave us a place to sleep, helped us retrieve all our belongings from the truck and arranged for transportation home. I think they even mailed home the rest of my stuff after we flew home.

Sleeping was not easy in a neck brace. As much as I hated the brace, I needed it. My head was too heavy for my injured neck to hold for any length of time. I was anxious getting into a car and onto the freeway. We went to the tow yard to see the truck and collect our belongings. It was crushed. There was a huge indent in the front where we had hit a light pole. The grass was long at the accident site and our path was easy to see. We found part of the bumper on the other side of the rest stop lawn. A concrete stucture had been narrowly missed. We took pictures of everything.

Flying was painful. Dad asked me if I wanted to fly home or fly to VA. I knew I needed to recover so I gave up my summer adventure in lieu of the comfort of home.

I was in and out of physical therapy for the next two years. My neck is still not the same, but is much better these days. I'm humbled looking back now. Ten years ago I could/should have died. Instead, I got to finished college, get married, have two kids and live a wonderful life.

The Destroyer

Blanche is adorable. She is 15-month bundle of energy. She is NOTHING like BG was at her age.


When BG was 15 months, she was not yet walking, not even crawling. If she wanted to get around, she scooted on her bottom. It was so cute to watch. She was a pretty mellow child, obedient, and happy. We never did much baby-proofing because BG didn't really get into things. If she opened a cabinet, I would tell her No, and she would find something else to do. It was that simple.

Blanche on the other hand, is the complete opposite. She has been walking for months, loves to run and get into any trouble she can find. She loves to climb and open cabinets. In the last week alone she has learned how to climb on top of the kitchen table, open the dishwasher and climb in, and push a stool over to the door, climb up and try to open it. I can't leave that child alone for any length of time without her cleaning out the drawers and putting half the contents in her mouth. She finds all of this incredible amusing.

She is giving BG ideas. Shortly after the table climbing incident, I turned around to see BG standing on the table. What!? She has never done this. I can tell already that Blanche is going to be a bad influence on her sister. She is intensely curious and smart. That can be a dangerous combination. She is sure going to keep us on our toes. It's a good thing she's cute!

It's a Baby Cage!

Anyone out there a fan of Scrubs? Yeah, I know it's no longer on the air. But back in the day, we used to watch it all the time. There was a great episode where Carla is pregnant and having a baby shower at work. The Janitor gives her a dog crate and proudly proclaims "It's a baby cage! And a really good one too. Not like the one I had. This one has windows and everything." It's pretty funny.

Since pretty much everyone I'm related to is currently pregnant (ok, slight exaggeration), I've been working on baby shower gifts. These are the latest that I put together using my Silhouette.

We (meaning the Silhouette and I) did have a slight disagreement while working on this project that nearly resulted in a two-story fall from a window for one of us (it). However, I took a few steps back, waited a few days and tried again. The second time it worked much better. Just know that you should use the sticky carrier sheet when trying to cut freezer paper. It makes life much easier.


Ca-ute right? A green tie, blue boat, and orange helicopter. I'm thinking about writing "Fly Boy" under the helicopter, but we'll see if I have time before the shower. I like my Silhouette again, all if right with the world.

PS- If you happen to be the recipient of these adorable onsies, act surprised. :)