New Year!

I've been having the best start to 2013 that I haven't had much time to write a post. I started it off by going on a fun new hike with Kristen last weekend. We even came across a cheerful cactus with some left over holiday cheer. It was all spiffed up!

Then I got to pick up my awesome boyfriend from the airport after 2 1/2 weeks of not seeing him while he spent Christmas with his family. Isn't it a great feeling to see a loved one after a period of absence? Even better when they fly back the 31st so that you can be together to kick off a new year. Spent NYE not only with him, but with some great friends gathered together laughing, playing competitive games while having delicious appetizers & wine.

This first week of the new year has been spent hanging out with Kelly while not at work. Perfection, simply perfection so far in 2013.

Below are pictures of Kristen & I on our fun hike. Also pictures of Kelly and I wandering around walking downtown before and after watching a movie & grabbing a drink. Life is great!

DIY Frame

I saw this frame at Pier One for $28 and thought it was easy to make myself for a fraction of the cost.

I found a frame at Goodwill for $3 and bought a sample can of white paint at Home Depot & painted the frame. I purchased a picture hanging kit for about $3.

I found some washi tape at Target for about $2.50 each & bought 2 different style rolls. I already had a small paintbrush, sanding block & clothespins on hand.

I first sanded down the frame a bit as it needed it. Then I painted 2 coats of white paint & let it fully dry. I cut 3 pieces of wire the same lengthy. I attached some of the nails in the picture hanging kit level on the back of the frame.

I then tied one side of the wire and slipped 3 clothespins per row then tied the other end of the wire tightly. I cut pieces of the washi tape just a little longer than the clothespins and stuck them on making sure to smooth out the tape.

Voila! I was done & ready to grab some pictures. I used 4 x 6 horizontal pictures.

Christmas & Yarn

Since I had so much downtime during Christmas I decided to work on a goal I've had this year; learn how to knit. I turned to good 'ol Pinterest to help me tackle this intimidating goal. Previously I'd pinned a "how to knit" tutorial for beginners on my personal Pinterest. I love this tutorial, it was fairly easy for me to follow.  Here is the link to the tutorial.

It took me some practice, but below are pictures of my self taught progress.  I know it's not much and there are definitely some noticible errors, but the important thing is I'm learning.

I've decided to continue my knitting education in 2013 (it's on the resolution list).  My year end goal for the coming year is to knit a beautiful thick English cable knit style comforter with some matching pillows. We shall see....

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Time!

This Christmas season I am spending time with my mom. So far I have done a little baking. I made some peanut butter cookies, one for human consumption & another that is four legged furry pet friendly.

For the dog cookies I followed an awesome recipe that is only 4 ingredients and one of the ingredients is hot water, how great is that? To keep with the festivities I used holiday cookie cutters for the dog cookies as well.

I love, love, love peanut butter and chocolate so what better recipe to make than Peanut Butter Kiss cookies.

Bon Appetit!

Puppy Love

This weekend was a weekend where I just stayed indoors while it poured rain outside.  I snuggled on the couch with  my loves (aka my pups which are really not pups because they are a few years old so technically dogs, but they're pups in my eyes forever).  I watched countless movies in leggings and an oversized knit sweater while drinking hot chocolate made with milk.  It was heaven.

I also made a recipe I found on Pinterest for pepperoni monkey bread.  It was delicious.  I didn't take any pictures of my creation but the original recipe maker has great pictures on the website.

http://www.jasonandshawnda.com/foodiebride/archives/7195

I did snap a couple of cute pics of my loves, Molly and Austin.

Tour of some AZ lakes

This past weekend Kelly and I hopped in the car and took a mini road trip through the Salt River & it's lakes. The roads we took included some fun ghost towns. I stopped several times on road sides to take landscape photos.

The trip got really adventurous when the pavement ended and the speed limit dropped to 10mph complete with windy curves that are suppose to be for a vehicle in each direction, but were wide enough for just one car. Keep in mind since Roosevelt Lake is a larger AZ body of water, large boats can be attached to some big trucks. Getting the scary picture now?

The heart pumping fun continued multiple times when approaching one lane bridges and trying to decide which car would cross first without initiating a game of chicken. Although the picture of the bridge below is of the Roosevelt Lake bridge which is not a one lane bridge thankfully.

Below are pictures(in random order as I STILL can't figure out how to keep the pictures displayed in the order I upload them.)

Chalkboard Mug

Craft Day this weekend at Kristen's new house went well. Below are pictures of my new blue chalkboard mug.  I also snapped a picture of Kristen's mugs that she painted. She bought her mug set at Home Goods and decided to paint a thick stripe.

We used the chalkboard paint from Martha Stewarts craft paints.  Even though both of our ceramic mugs were already glazed by the manufacturer the chalkboard paint still went on without a problem. We both used 2 coats.

Instructions are pretty easy.  Just cover the part of the mug you're not painting (we used painters tape). Grab your brush and dip in some paint. Paint your first coat and let it air dry for at least an hour before painting the second coat.  After letting your second coat dry for another hour put the mug in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Turn the oven off and leave the mugs in the oven for an additional 30 minutes. Take them out and wait 72 hours before coating the painted surface with a light layer of chalk. Now the mug can be used.  I used the instructions in the following link for my mug:

 http://somethingturquoise.com/2011/12/09/diy-chalkboard-martini-glass/

I personally am in love with all of the mugs!