Super(wo)man

Why would I dress as Super(wo)man in the middle of December? Because I can.

But mainly because we dress up at work in the few days before some holidays and there was no way I was going to be left out! It's such a fun thing to do and kids and adults both equally love it. A couple kids asked for a picture and a dad pointed me out while I was filling my water bottle and said, 'See, even Superwoman drinks water!" It made me want to dress up every day of the week.

Me and a few amazing coworkers. (Super-Awesome, Batman, Rudolph, Purple Flash, and me)

The night before, at 9:45, I realized that I had nothing planned to wear for superhero day and went into panic mode. After a few google searches, I decided Superman would be the easiest costume to make. I headed to my fabric box, found a red piece of fabric that was somehow the exact length I needed, and a cape was made.

I just cut a slit every few inches about an inch from the top, weaved some yard through it, and ta-da!  A cape with the perfect length to smoothly flow behind me and make me look amazing was made. I made the yarn long enough so that it could go under my armpits and tie behind my back. It made it SO much more comfortable and didn't choke me all day.

To make the S shield, I cut out the shape in yellow felt. Then, on a sheet of paper I sketched out the S while looking at a picture online, cut it out on red fabric, and hot glued the S onto the yellow felt. BAM. Pair it with some sparkly earrings from work, and shit's done. As for the belt, I just cut a strip of yellow fabric and tie it around my waist.

Total time for the costume? 15 minutes. Huzzah. I now have something aside from my cat costume to wear for Halloween! The only thing missing was a pair or red undies and some red fabric around my boots, which I plan on adding if I ever wear it for Halloween.

Bam.

Hallelujah. The semester is over! *30 second dance party** I'm pretty sure I'm getting away with another 4.0 semester, which will bring my overall GPA to about a 3.92. Damn you, two classes that I got a B in a couple years ago! There's one class where I'm teetering on the A/B border with my butt still in the A side, so we'll see. Regardless of what I got, I'm so happy the semester is over.

Today was one of the first days I've had off in almost 6 weeks between school, work, and babysitting, with the exception of Thanksgiving. SIX WEEKS. So far I've done more than I expected to. I ate plenty of sauerkraut and guacamole, finished sewing a blanket, drank pots of tea, finished Small Damages for a book club, made some paleo banana bread with dark chocolate chips and ate three of them, oh wait the fourth one just went down my hatch, and will soon be working on some fabric crowns and necklaces for my nieces Christmas present. I've also watched the first six episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. (Why did I have to watch all 272 episodes of Law & Order: SVU so quickly? Nothing compares to it, guys.)  And it's only 5:45. I feel like it should be 11:30.

I'm looking forward to lots of reading, a little bit of working, and an insane amount of crafting.

So with that, this short post is over. Hopefully I'll be back soon since I'll have massive amounts of time to fill.

*Like the Grey's Anatomy reference? I'm about to watch the new episode.

Zoinkers.

Things have been pretty good. Here are some reasons:

|| I most likely have a new awesome second job next semester! In addition to working at the place I work now selling' Pin the Penis on the Man' games, funny t-shirts, and 'Coffee Makes Me Poop' mugs, I will also be a Biology Lab Tech at my college. It still pays crap, but it'll be good experience and something fun to do.

|| I've been eating WAY too much good food.

What, how did that In-N-Out receipt get there?! And yes, that is a peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwich on homemade grain free bread.
I've been thinking of having some kind of 'healthy food for dummies' thing here on the blog. There are SO many people who comment/text/message me saying that the food I cook is so healthy and they can never do it because they don't cook, when really it takes fifteen minutes and is super easy. Would you be interested? Over the past couple years I've really grown to love good and healthy food and could talk about it for lifetimes, so I want to share it with people! For shits and giggles, here is a poll. Also, if there is anything you specifically want to learn about/how to do, leave a comment or message me!

|| This link about assumptions that reminds me of an old post. That a weird garbage bag on the side of the road contains either the whole body of a child or assorted body parts of an adult.

|| I'm reading a book that Sara recommended, Diary of a Mad Mom-To-Be. It is SO funny. It's diary style (obviously) so it's a quick read. 

|| I'll only be taking 12 credits next semester. It seems like SUCH a small amount since I've been doing 16 or 17 credits the past couple semesters. I'll have so much more time even though I'll also be working two part time jobs! I'm only taking 12 credits because this will be my last semester at the community college and I'll have the maximum amount of credits I can have that will transfer to Northern Arizona University. Woohoo!

|| I've been crafting again with the aid of my trusty side-kick who messes things up. I'm making a cute little quilt, finishing the Christmas table runner (how the heck is Christmas already so close) and some Christmas presents. 

|| Listening to this song. It just makes me want to go on a road trip with friends I grew up with and sing on repeat, even though it's not a happy song. Because hello, we all know the words to this song.

|| Family pictures with my sister, her boy, and baby girl. My niece was refusing to take pictures and kept hiding her face or pointing at the camera and shouting, 'NO!' I was so worried I didn't get any good ones of her! Fortunately, I got plenty and my sister loved them.

|| Happiness, it's all around me. Friends are happy, family is happy, things are good. Real good.

What would you do in a little canoe, when the moon is shining all around?

I haven't posted a 'personal' post in a while, so here I am. Except after reading it you'll probably tell me to stop being so chipper and die in a ditch already. I've just been so happy even though I've been stressed about school and money and have had to take care of my gimp husband (is the term gimp PC?) who hurt his leg a few weeks ago and can still barely walk leaving me to take care of pretty much everything around the house and feed him out of a silver spoon and wipe his ass.

I think I can attribute the happiness to the fact that I've really taken to heart the about what I've explained in this post. I've been pretty good at managing my time and have gotten SO much done. Since I wrote that post at the beginning of last month, I've just been going, going, going and trying to fill my days with as much as possible.

I also attribute it to transitioning to the paleo diet, even though I'm still not 100% there.

I've had a lot more energy and have been having fun cooking some amazing (and not so amazing) meals. Having my kitchen warm and smelling delicious is just such a good and inspiring feeling, especially when it's cold outside. Vince has been interested in this as well and has even 'gasp' talked about trying to be gluten free for a month to see how he feels. When I cook it's always gluten free, but he still eats regular pasta and sandwiches, and isn't gluten free when we eat out. We'll see if he tries it!

Lastly, I attribute my happiness to seeing every little thing I do as an accomplishment. I finished organizing under the kitchen sink? Awesome! I ate that whole bowl of pumpkin ice cream? Amazing! I brushed my teeth and finished at the exact time as the timer? I'm a champion! Start seeing everything you do as an accomplishment and I swear you'll feel like your on top of the world, even if you just managed to walk up stairs without tripping.

General updates:
School: I'm fuckin' killing it. Today my math teacher talked to me on our break and said that I had a brilliant mind (I kid you not, he said brilliant) and asked if I was going to further my math career. I told him I am going to be a doctor and he said I would be a fantastic doctor and that it was a great choice. I was speechless! I still have all A's somehow and don't see them dropping in the next month before the semester is over.

I went to the cadaver lab with my class last week and was blown away by how awesome it was. I was nervous as first because hello dead bodies, but I quickly got over that and was awestruck with how amazing our bodies are. We were able to look at four bodies and to compare them was so cool. There was a lady who died of metastatic breast cancer and it was intense to feel it in her breast tissue, and then see the other organs that were just covered in tumors. It definitely made me more conscious about doing self breast exams, as every women should.

Roxi: She's as cute as ever. I've been taking her on more walks since Vince has been sick and there are guys in the yard all the time redoing the plumbing, and she's been pretty good. I took the sheets off the bed the other day to wash them and left Vince's pillowcase on the bed. She curled up into the smallest ball and laid directly on it. I was laughing so hard and thought it was just darling!

Vince: As I said before, he hurt his leg when he was mountain biking, so I've been at his beck and call. It's not bad anymore because he's got most of his mobility back, but he wasn't able to do anything for a while! He wasn't able to drink while on his painkillers and continued to not drink, so since he hasn't had any beer he's been eating sweets, which is so unlike him! I guess his body wanted the sugar it wasn't getting from the beer. So he was sharing my pumpkin ice cream with me, but refused to admit that he liked it. When I tried to take a picture he was mortified that I would document him eating something sweet.

Purchases: I bought a new wallet from Issa.Ino and love it. I was sick of my giant bulky one and now I don't even have to carry a purse, I can just throw my new wallet in my pocket! (Oh, and she's doing a promo soon for small business Saturday!

Projects: I've been doing a lot of random things around the house to make things more functional and pretty. I've been going through kitchen cupboards and getting rid of so much old stuff that has been there for god knows how long. I also hung up some new curtains that I got from the thrift store, made a fall table runner for the table and 4 matching placemats, and sewed two new gold spotted pillows since Vince ruined the old ones with a bloody elbow after his wreck and they were forever old anyways.

Drinking: Lots and lots of Yogi Chai Rooibos Tea with a splash of milk and a bit of honey. Vince and I are both in love with it (thanks to Sara's suggestion!) and I can't see it leaving our diets anytime soon. Pots and pots of it are made each week and all throughout the day since it's caffeine free.

Cutest little girl around: I got to hangout with my niece today and holy heck she is getting so big! She'll be two in January, and it doesn't seem possible. She's starting to talk a lot more and is so playful. When Roxi is happy, she makes a long sigh/groaning sound, and Alyla kept going up and putting her nose on Roxi's and making the groaning sound. Today we went to the park and played on the 'sings'!

 

Thankful for art!

I'm thankful for people in my town being creative! I went to coffee with a friend before my tattoo this weekend and we both fell in love with the new art that's been put up recently. It's something that's been on the rise in downtown over the past few years (although it's probably been around for a long time and I only started noticing it then!) and it's so fun to walk down the alleys and see new art.

I'm also thankful that I am a creative person. I'm quitting my full-time job in January to work part-time (in case you didn't catch that the other 5,000 times I've said it!) and I'm on a very limited budget right now. I've been making a lot of things for Christmas and I've made them relatively cheap but of high quality! I'm very excited and will post some more pictures after Christmas. Some people say they aren't creative, but I am SO thankful I can call myself creative!

The scarf I made for Vince with a handy iPod pocket built in at his request.

Oh, look...

...a new blog design!

There have been a few people in the blogging world changing things up and I was inspired.

I've also been doing a lot of changes in my house which I am SO excited to blog about soon. Sometimes I'm just too damn lazy to get up off the couch, though, so instead of my house, I change my blog! Vince probably appreciates me sitting on the couch until 1am doing blog stuff instead of nail-gunning the headboard I'm making, which is what I'm about to do after I eat some dinner...

I'll be sure to post about the big changes in my house as they continue to progress. This is something I am extremely excited about and am so glad I've somehow found the inspiration for it! I've been focusing on our bedroom that has never had a single thing hung in it. I'm creating some art for the walls and a headboard, and I'm figuring out new dressers, bedspreads, and curtains.

I've also had the itch to blog more again, so be ready for me. I've got tons of DIY posts that I have to do from wedding stuff as well, like the fabric bouquets in mason jars I made for the wedding. Aren't they adorable?

Photographer: Tulasi Devi Photography & Design

So anyways, what do you think of the new design? I might change it up a bit still because I think it needs more color, but we'll see...

Cramps and wedding stuff...what?

Today I FAINTED at work. What from, you ask? Because I was having menstrual cramps that were so painful. Stupid, and it makes me hate being a girl. Luckily I felt it coming on before it happened and I went on my break and sat down on the floor. I felt horrible because I had to call my boss in to cover the last hour of my shift because I just couldn't do it anymore.

When I got home I did a few yoga moves that helped tremendously, but not nearly as well as laying down makes me feel. If you want some good yoga poses to help cramps, try this site. My absolute favorite that ALWAYS helps is the wide squat pose. When I get cramps it spreads to my back and my thighs which totally sucks, but this pose helps quite a bit. My stepmom taught me that years ago and I'm so glad I know about it!

So now here I am, laying on the couch with an enormous amount of energy, yet I'm not able to do a thing about it.

So I'm going to show you a few things that may be wedding accessories. To start off with, the wedding colors are seafoam blue/green and deep plum.

I want all the flowers to be fabric because I like the look and the cost better, but I haven't decided on any yet. I've made a couple of them, but I think this style might be my favorite:

I made these flowers for a necklace for my bridesmaids using, and I think I'll have my ladies come over and make their own one night. (I can't find the link to the tutorial, but if I find it again I'll be sure to link it!)

I think they are super pretty and will go well with the black dresses we've picked out! I've added a black chain to it to match the dresses.

After I made this necklace, I made another one with the same style flowers but the blue flowers are a different size than the plum ones, which I actually like better. I didn't take a picture of the other necklace because it was after dark, and I definitely don't want to take any today, but I'll post it up soon! It's the one I'm probably going to go with anyways, or maybe a small scale version of this one.

Also, to bring more color to the bridesmaids black dresses, I like this flower for the rings:

I made it using this tutorial, and I'm in love with the ring. I want to make a bunch more in different colors just to wear! I wrapped the silver band with the plum fabric, but I'm not quite sure if I like it. I'll probably just let the bridesmaids pick what they want.

Annnnd that's all I've done for the wedding aside from invitations, which I plan on posting about later. Ya, considering it's LESS than 6 weeks away I should probably get a move on it, but whatev. 

I'm great under pressure!