craft fair despair.

i wont lie, i'm disappointed. all those hours of work sewing and hundreds of dollars spent on supplies feel very wasted. I did not sell one christmas tree skirt at the craft fair this past weekend. sad day.

but hey- you never know unless you try, right?

there are two reasons that i personally think they didnt sell-

1. only like 500 people total came, for a two day craft fair that is extremely low. Compare this to Santas workshop where they get like 2000 a day!

2. none of the vendors did very well, everyone was just looking, not buying. add the fact that my items were on the more expensive side and its not surprising that it didnt go well.

but i KNOW that it is not because people didnt like them. Everyone who walked by was saying "wow those are beautiful!" "did you make theses?" and "they are gorgeous!".

one thing that surprised me was how many people said they didnt put up a christmas tree. LAME!

i am not going to give up! I've got more shows lined up and mini bazaar here i come!

HILARIOUS

cruise to mexico

we just got home from mexico! to be honest, i have some mixed feelings about our vacation.

reasons i liked it:

it was fun to get away!

i loved spending so much time with vic.

zip-lining in cabo san lucas was amazing!

the beaches were beautiful.

i got to eat a lot of ice cream.

i was better at gambling then victor.

we saw dolphins swimming next to the ship!

reasons i didnt like it:

being stuck on a boat in the middle of the ocean can get lame real fast.

there were drunks EVERY WHERE.

even though we didnt pay for our tickets, we still spent a bunch of money because hardly anything is inclusive!

the food was mediocre.

it was so hard to leave buster (plus we had to pay for a pet hotel) and i missed him so much!

but in the end it was just good to leave because it made me appreciate home so much more!

this was taken on the first day of the cruise in front of the window in our cabin! it was cool to look out at the ocean every morning.

this was our cabin... tiny... but we slept wonderfully with the ship gently rocking!

formal night was fun! we went to a comedy show and ate dinner in the fancy restaurant with everyone else from silverline.

this was on the beach in cabo san lucas after we went on our shore excursion! i would put up pics of it but they wouldnt let us take our cameras because they wanted us to buy the pictures that they took... lame! it was really amazing though, we got to zipline across a beautiful canyon, hike through the forest, cross rope bridges, rock climb and repel! it was so much fun!

our next stop after cabo was ensanada. we took a bus to a place called "la bufadora" which means "the blowhole". Victor decided that that would be a good name for my bum and now calls me la bufadora.... great.

buster and i missed each other so much that we had a cuddle session when we got home. it was wonderful.

well that was our trip! it was fun! glad to be home!

BUSTER WILSON

aw buster, i would not have survived the summer without you. here are just a few of the reasons why i love you:
1. you get me out of bed in the morning!
2. you always give me something to do, like cleaning up your messes...

3. you make me get a whole lot of exercise! walks, runs, and roller blading every day!

4. you take me places to meet new friends! i've met so many new friends going to the dog parks every day.

5. you make me smile. every time i walk in the door, whether i've been gone for four seconds or four hours, you are always happy to see me!

i love you baby buster!!

fun fabric flowers!

Step one: Pick up to six fabrics that look good together. I usually only use one or two fabrics.

Step two: Use the bottom of a glass to make a circle pattern. I make three different sizes...
Step Three: Use one of the patterns to cut out six circles...
Step Four: Fold the circles in half and iron themStep Five: Fold the half circles in half again and iron so you have six quarter circles.
Step Six: Tie a knot at the end of some regular sewing thread and sew three stitches on each "petal". Use the same string for all six petals so they are all connected.
Step Seven: When all the petals are sewn together, scrunch them all up and shape them into a circle. With the same thread, stitch the two ends together so the circle shape will stay together.Step eight is to sew a hair clip to a small piece of felt and hot glue it to the back of the flower.
Step Nine: Pick out a cute button that is big enough to cover the middle of the flower and hot glue it on!

new places, new things.

it all started when i woke up in a terrible mood thanks to my irritating job and missing victor while he is gone all day. I decided to try and distract myself by going somewhere new! I didnt know exactly where i wanted to go, but i did know that i wanted to head to downtown baton rouge. the only problem was that i didn't have the gps because victor uses it for work. Sssoooo this is the story of my journey last wednesday.....
first of all, I was so distracted by trying to take a picture of the amazing bridge over the mississippi that i missed downtown all together, after turning around, i took a random exit and was feeling a bit forlorn, thinking i would probably just have to turn around and head home before i got hopelessly lost when i saw an artsy looking store sitting on the corner. here are a few of the neat things i found inside:






after seeing the art, antiques and other nik-naks, i walked to the back end of the store and saw an old, bearded man putting away a violin. I walked up to him and asked how long he had been playing for. the short version of the story is I made a new friend, who is amazing at playing the violin (and guitar and banjo...) To be honest, I think he was feeling a little bit lonely that day too. It cheered him up to have someone interested in his stories and it cheered me up to see how happy i made him and to listen to his beautiful music. When i asked him if i could photograph him as he played, he absolutely beamed. It made me happy.

so, it turned out to be a pretty good day. I went home happy to have seen a new place and new things and met a new person.

LOUISIANA!

LA!...................................state, not city

these are our apartments, they're really nice! i enjoy spending a lot of my time here -->

there are really big bugs like this one....
ew gross, i just searched pictures of the bugs that look like the ones here and they are just too nasty to upload.

people are friendly here and no one has incomprehensible accents! hooray!

i miss my family... and victor is gone all day.... but i guess its worth working really hard for four months so we dont have to work hard for 8 months!

it's a new year!

yes, its a new year and a lot has happened! first of all, it was jacob's birthday! 10 years old!

second, we had ANOTHER birthday! victor is now 26! i got him a pair of new basketball shoes and my family gave him a wii! we are obsessed with it! super mario bros is the funnest game of all time.

third, i got a new job! i still work at downeast home, and now i also work at gymboree! so if you want baby or kid clothes, i get 40% OFF. call me and use my discount! please! i dont have any kids so you should take advantage of this opportunity! everything in gymboree is absolutely adorable! its hard to pick a favorite, but this is definitely mine:

FOURTH: i've been workin on some more furniture! my mom bought me this sewing table from my bestie, katie johnson! to be honest, it was lookin a little rough at the beginning....but it definitely had potential!doesn't it look adorable?? i love it!! NEXT PROJECT: red couch pillows to match!

and last but definitely not least:
the newest addition to the wilson family!!!

isn't he adorable??? i love him! he is so soft and cute. i rearry rearry rike him.

well that's all folks!

new favorite recipe!

i know its been a while since i last blogged, and even though i have tons of stuff that i could tell you about, i chose food. of course, right?

so my friend invited me to her house to make this deeeeelicious toffee! and guess what the coolest part is? the main ingredients are saltine crackers!

Ingredients:

• 40 saltine crackers
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups milk chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup chopped almonds
  

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line cookie sheet with foil. Line cookie sheet with saltine crackers in single layer.

In a saucepan combine the sugar and the butter. Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes. Immediately pour over saltines and spread t cover crackers completely.

Bake at 400 degrees for 5 to 6 minutes, or until toffee is bubbly. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Let sit for 5 minutes. Spread melted chocolate and top with chopped nuts. Cool completely and break into pieces.

my latest endeavor

one day while rummaging around the DI I came across two ugly, cheap chairs. I managed to look past their unsightly appearance and saw hidden potential!

BEFORE.....

and AFTER....

aren't they pretty??? victor thinks they look like grandma chairs..... and i agree... BUT i still love them and i am very proud of myself. :)
i dont know exactly where they're going to go yet... i think i might make a little violin/music area in our bedroom with a little table inbetween and a music stand.
how quaint.

Jake gets beat up

This is what happens when jake gets a hold of the camera. one word- HILARIOUS.

some interesting observations...

things i have not seen since we left idaho:
-albertsons
-dogs in the back of trucks
-cowboy hats/cowboy boots
-sno shacks
-canals
-mo-peds
-walgreens
-pot-bellied men wearing camouflage
-liquid food coloring... i cant find it any where!

things i had not seen until we came to maryland:
-trees. you have not seen trees until you come to maryland.
-gangstas! real life ones.
-ritas! ice, custard, happiness.
-the homeless man that lives on our corner with a tumor larger than his head.

finding strength beyond my own

this summer has been really hard for me. while being married is the best thing that has ever happened to me, it's also been the most difficult adjustment. this may be due to the fact that we moved far far away to a strange land. the past four months, i have had to learn how to:
1) work. work a lot, long and hard.
2) compromise, and not just the type of compromise you learn from sesame street.... this is the type where you give up the way you think things should be done and let someone else take over very important things, because you trust them. scary? yes.
3) patience. this lesson hit me like a ton of bricks. not only did i have to learn to be patient with other people, but i've learned to be patient with myself and my life. things don't always come when you want them to, BELIEVE ME. people dont always do things the way you would, but it all works out. i've learned how to sit patiently at home all by myself for hours and hours until victor comes home from work. this has been so soooosooo hard for me. so hard that im crying as i write this. but its okay, because it's a lesson that has made me a better person. i've still got a long way to go, but im on my way.
4) self discipline. i can't count how many times i've been in the grocery store or target or ross and wanted something so badly but told myself no.

its hard to live in a place where you have no family, no friends, no favorite places, no comforting memories. it's been so hard to be without my family, i miss them so much.

but ya know what? i wouldn't trade this summer for anything. the most important, but also difficult, lesson that i've learned this summer is how to rely completely on my savior and father in heaven. that's how i've gotten through these trials.

2 nephi 4:20-23
"my god hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions... and he hath perserved me...
he hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh.
he hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me.
behold, he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the nighttime."

so, with the sales season coming to an end in a little under 2 weeks, and things still undecided about where we'll be going... i'm scared. but i find comfort in the scriptures, going to the temple and victor. i swear, victor was made to ease my fears, he's very comforting.

amazingly disturbing ads!

Drink that cocoa, or this clown will murder you in your sleep.

it's never too early!

"Pears Soap- now with such a soothing lather, you won't notice that your baby has gotten into a horrible accident!"

suicide sausage!

this girl is a little too excited about her jelly.


i enjoyed these, hope you did too!