Challenge completed, but…

I mentioned earlier this month, that I was accepting a Pinterest challenge to attempt 10 projects and 5 recipes that I had found on Christmas, between December 1st and the 24th… 
Here are the Pinspirations I chose, and my feelings on them… 

 1}

 It’s a little complicated to see, I know. this project was really complicated, as there was a lack of specific instructions. My husband and i both worked on it, but as cool as it seemed (using a gift box and a milk carton, as shown), it wasn’t. Real issues didn’t develop until we started trying to apply the fabric. Cool idea, poor way to do it. We plan on retrying it, in the future, but using foam board instead.

2}

 Nail polish painting bobby pins.
Yeah.
Seemed like a GREAT project for kids. Gen was beyond excited to try it. Even with high quality nailpolish, it’s a gummy, sticky mess.

3}

 I made several ferments. I was really excited to try them, but we resulted in issues when the items kept rising to the top. (which takes them from super healthy to severely dangerous.) We eventually dumped them and decided to save up and invest in actual fermenting jars.

4}

 Adorable project! We loved them! Gen and i made a bunch of these little trees, for cards to pass out to neighbors when we delivered cookies…
WIN!

5}

 I know this hardly counts as a project… But I loved it. We did do this, only using snowflakes, over stars.
It’s a win, regardless of how “like cheating” it seems.

6}

Another win! I loved the envelope book I made, as a gift.

7}

GREAT project! Really adorable, BUT (BUT!!!) Don’t use Stampin up paper, (or any other paper with water based ink. HUGE mistake.)

8}

 Adorable.
It doesn’t work.
But, it’s adorable.

9}

 What do you make for the guy who has everything? (made of paper anyway, which seems to be the only skill you have at making anything.)
You make him this jar. And it’s awesome.

10}

 We reserve the right to try this project again. I was REALLY excited about this project but $30 in online paint investments later- they were never the right paint. Majorly bummed.

11}

 Yep. See? Paper… If it’s paper, I’ve got it covered.

12}

Yeah. Maybe it can be done, with more patience. this project was a mess and i realized i did not have time for it… 
13}

 Maybe i am just really naive. The idea of homemade marshmellows just seemed so BIG. The whole process, in reality, was a bit like magic and i LOVED it. super fun!
(And delicious)

14}

 My favorite project of them all. It’s almost the same color too, though a LOT smaller because I don’t have near that much jewelry. BUT- i love it…

15}

The worst project of them all. this project was complete hell. My engineer husband, who can figure pretty much everything out AND is blessed with the patience for anything- got fed up and frustrated. We tried for hours, to perfect it. 
EVIL project. 
So I did 15 projects instead of 10. Here’s how the recipes went: 
1}

 YUM!

2}

 Good, but a bit soupier and more “fall apart” than the picture would indicate.
Probably wouldn’t do it again.

3}

 YUM!

4}

 I ended up making a ton of alterations to the recipe, so much so that you may say it ended up completely different… BUT the ones I made were AMAZING!

5}

 BEST THING EVER. Oh my gosh. In hot cocoa. In cupcakes. By itself.

6}

So delicious!!!! serious yum!

7}

Good… Not nearly as amazing as the photo though.

8}

 What else do you give the man who has everything? these.
and he will thank you.

9}

ok. It was good. It wasn’t the best steak we’d ever had. It wasn’t easier than grilling. It was kind of the messiest way we’ve ever made steak and we might try it again, and tweek some things, though I doubt it. 
So there you go! the challenge was really fun, and as always- it’s nice to use Pinterest for more than a pretty set of things to drool over. 
For the exact pins and the direct links for each pin, you can go here
post signature

Engraving…


Charlotte Bacon

Daniel Barden

Rachel Davino

Olivia Engel

Josephine Gay

Ana M. Marquez-Greene

Dylan Hockley

Dawn Hochsprung

Madeleine F. Hsu

Catherine V. Hubbard

Chase Kowalski

Jesse Lewis

James Mattioli

Grace McDonnell

Anne Marie Murphy

Emilie Parker

Jack Pinto

Noah Pozner

Caroline Previdi

Jessica Rekos

Avielle Richman

Lauren Rousseau

Mary Sherlach

Victoria Soto

Benjamin Wheeler 

Allison N. Wyatt
post signature

Escaping the sometimes…

I went to bed super late, crying over Parenthood– of course. That show has that effect on pretty much everyone who watches it. My husband, who has avoided it like the plague, suddenly decides (this season) he wants to “get into it”, so I imagine we will now be watching Parenthood, in our downtime, from the beginning. 
Not right now though, right now we are watching Homeland. CRAZY raw and intense. So glad there are only 12 episodes…
This post really isn’t about television, that was sort of a bunny trail. You see, while i went to be super late because of a tv show, I also woke up crazy-early. Initially i was annoyed at my body’s far-earlier-than-normal prompting, but that annoyance soon turned to gratitude.
My husband has a really hard few days ahead, at work. He’s beyond stressed about them, (a mounting stress) and a lot is riding on the success/failure of them. It was really nice to spend the early morning talking to/listening to him. 
I also got the RARE opportunity to facebook chat my son, who is currently deployed in Afghanistan. 
Sometimes I get overcome with the “I don’t want to’s”. 
Sometimes I groan, and mumble, not wanting to crawl from my warm bed. 
Sometimes I gripe and complain, not wanting to leave the house for ____________. 
Sometimes I pretend there is nothing better to do, and spend evening after evening watching tv. 
Sometimes I hit an afternoon lull and the idea of making dinner seems torturous, so I request Chw to pick up something convenient, on his way home. 
Sometimes… 
But isn’t it during these times that life happens? No amount of warmth in my bed would be worth missing out on the opportunity to be there for my husband this morning, or to connect with Lucas. 
As much as I may feel, in the moment, that I’d rather laze in the moment- I want to be so much better about living this gift of life that I have. 
I am grateful for the chance…
post signature

theoretically, it’s just a cord…

Like us, our neighbors opted to not put up outside Christmas lights. They aren’t quite as outside-unfestive as we are though, as they have a huge light-up wreath on the front of their house. From dinner time to bedtime their wreath shines a beautiful blue-bright. It’s the sort of pretty that makes Christmas songs instantly pop into one’s head. 
I like that kind of pretty. 
During the day though, when the sun shines bright, and Christmas lights are (or at least should be) unplugged, our neighbor’s wreath has a fat, ugly cord that stretches from it’s circle, across the siding, and lands near the plug. 
Truth be told, it’s kind of tacky looking. (And the very reason my husband can’t seem to get me to agree to mount our television, even though we already have the bracket… but that’s a whole other story.) 
I got to thinking about how incredibly human AND society Christmas like that actually is. 
We stretch ourselves thin, skip utility bill payments and charge hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars worth of excess stuff- and love how beautiful it looks, shiny and bow-clad under our trimmed evergreens- but in the cold, harsh light of January we begin the year with ugly, tacky guilt. 
Is it worth it? 
I don’t know. While I really like their wreath in the evening, when the cold light of day brings that cord back into sight- I just want to draw my curtains tight and imagine a lovely landscape on the other side. 
Is it too much to ask that we have the gorgeous wreath AND no chord? 
No. It’s called batteries and/or running the wires through the wall. 
It can be done. It just takes some effort. Some time. Some planning. Maybe some research… 
 If you think I am bagging the whole “big, elaborate Christmas” thing, I am totally not. Just the whole idea that we have to wear ourselves thin and go into excessive amounts of debt for stuff. I don’t like it. I’ve been there. I have lived the life of shame that the fat ugly cord lives everyday. We’ve done it. Our family does not do that anymore, and honestly the reason was that sick, guilty feeling I felt when the bills rolled in. Christmas may have been fun, but I don’t want to spend most of the next year recovering from a holiday that should be about love, life, family, gratitude and generosity… 
post signature

Put a bird on it…

I have had a few instances in the past few weeks where someone has learned something about me and remarks “really? I NEVER knew that about you!”, or something similar… 
I also, (no joke) got an email from an in-real-life-friend about a concert they thought I would like to go to because “____________ said you love them and always see them when you have the chance.” It was most definitely NOT true. 
It seemed a fine time for a random fact share. 
1} I feel as though I mentioned this before, here, but this was one of the “things”, so here goes… I LOVE made for tv Christmas movies. Granted, I am the world’s toughest critic on mainstream films, but when it comes to Christmas movies- The more made for TV, the better. {Person who did not know this: My husband Chw himself!}
2} I aspire to be an amazing cupcake baker. I have romanticized the idea for so long, (without actually baking any cupcakes) that it will likely be a HUGE disaster when I do. At least I know I can make some darn good muffins… 
3} I wish I sewed. I have everything (EVERYTHING) I could need to sew beautiful things. I lack sewing confidence. (And cupcake confidence apparently!) 
4} The absolute best thing that could happen in my day, (any day) is personal mail. There is nothing that speaks love to me more than opening an envelope to a handwritten letter or card. 
5} My favorite game, in the whole entire world, is Bingo. Since I was single digits in age. I LOVE Bingo! I wanted to grow up and go to Thursday night Bingo like my grandma did. I never get to play bingo, so I have a game on my phone. I literally count the hours (24 to be exact) until my credits renew and I can play a few games again. I LOVE bingo!
6} I LOVE Thai rice. 
7} I used to be 50 times craftier than I am now. i don’t know if it’s laziness, or emotional exhaustion, but the idea of doing something* crafty makes me feel wiped out. (Or sewing, or baking cupcakes) This is making a very small, handmade Christmas a challenge. Ironically, in 2008 we had a 100% handmade Christmas for twenty people more than this year, and it went really well. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME???
8} I can’t boil eggs. There. I’ve said it. Yes, I am embarrassed. 
9} I NEED to have my toe nails painted (even if it’s chipping, but i’d rather it not be.) but can’t stand anything other than clear polish on my finger nails. 
10} I love wine. I say I love wine, but in reality I probably like 1% of the wines I have tried. Now, that 1% I REALLY love though. 
11} I can’t stand movie theater popcorn. That being said, I love the popcorn my mom Julie made. It was awesome even several days later. (that’s probably what ruined me!) I also like Target’s popcorn, though I never get it. Best of all though, is my husband’s popcorn. I COULD (but don’t) eat it every single day! 
12} Some of my favorite movies are really awful, low budget, critically booed movies. {A few examples are: Surviving Christmas with Ben Affleck and Christina Applegate, and Grease 2}
13} I also really love Vignette movies like New York, I love you, New Years Eve, What to Expect when You’re Expecting, and Valentines Day.  
14} I love birds. In life, in photograph, embellished on home decor. 
15} think laughter is the greatest tool we have, in the whole world. 
post signature