{INSPIRED} Favorite projects of 2012!

I credit Pinterest for rejuvenating my craftiness and love to be creative. Where has this website been all my life?! I have always loved being creative, but after my freshman year of college ended, {and life got crazy} I found myself putting craftiness as less as a priority! What I have found, is that I NEED to make time for this. It is one of the main things {bedsides running} that truly recharges me!

Among my numerous crafty projects in 2012, these are my favorite ones:

I found this previously gold painted antique mirror at a garage sale this fall for $10.00. 

All I did for this was:

1. Cover the center {mirror part} with a large plastic bag

2. Tape the edges down around the inside {making sure the tape was under the edge of the frame}

3. Spray painted 2 coats of black paint on the outside! 

I think this may be one of my favorite projects & it was very simple! 

I had a bunch of old mason jars- so I grabbed a few to have some fun with!

1. I squirted some acrylic paint I had laying around inside of them {enough to fill the whole bottom of the jar to about 1 cm}

2. Twirled the jar a bunch to move the paint around

3. Tipped upside down to sit for a few minutes on an old  bag so that the paint would move downward

**I occasionally had to add more paint, and repeat these steps a few times in order to cover all of the glass!

I think this is my favorite thing I made all year! This precious picture now resides in Addie's room! 

All I did for this was:

1. Paint a couple coats of acrylic paint on a blank canvas for the background

2. Get Addie's foot and handprints on there {as mess free as possible} with a different color paint, and then paint the heart in the center

3. Paint the quote with a 3rd color of choice! 

4. Staple some ribbon on the back of the canvas so it can be hung

I hope she is inspired by these words and chooses to live by them as she grows older!

"Act Justly, Love Deeply, Walk Humbly"

**Click here for the link to the blog post who inspired me to make this!

This was another Pinterest inspired project!

1. I cut out a 4x6 scrap book piece of paper, and decorated it as "manly" as I could

2. I stuck it in a 4x6 frame, and added a white board marker

3. Tadaa! now I have a fun way of telling Sam all the reasons why I love him!

I had the honor of making the centerpieces and programs for my best friend's wedding this past September! Wow, was is fun to do this! For the centerpieces- I was on a budget, but still wanted it to look fun & classy {just like the bride!}

1. I collected the mason jars that I needed {many of them were empty cleaned out jars from old food items that I got clean with Goo Gone, and others were store bought at Walmart-  the cheapest place to get them}

2. Tied pieces of colored raffia around the top of the jar

3. Cut off a flower from bouquets I found at the dollar store

4. Hot glued a penny to the bottom of the flower {where the stem would go} so that they would sink in the jar.

5. Added floating candles found at Ikea {which was the cheapest place to find these!}

All in all I think they turned out beautiful and were VERY inexpensive! They turned out to be less than $1 per jar! 

This one was EASY and FUN! I had a bunch of old keep sakes from the time Sam and I started dating until now... and never quite knew what to do with them! So I found this idea on Pinterest as well, and went with it!

1. I bought a large frame 

2. Then I collaged all of our tickets etc. onto the fake picture/ piece of paper that comes with the frame, attached with rubber cement {so the paper wouldn't wrinkle} and that's all!!

My aunt's dog was apparently being feed multiple times without the other family member knowing that she had already been fed! She came to me, needing something simple they could use to let the other family members know if the dog had been fed or not!

1. I bought a small wooden square, acrylic paint, small wooden dog cutout, twine, and brass hooks {with screws on the end} from Michael's

2. I decorated each side with paint and hot glued the painted dog cutout on as well

3. Then I tied the twine onto each of the 2 hooks, and screwed them into the top of the wooden square.

They hung this above the dog food dish, and now all they have to do is flip the sign around to the appropriate side!

This is another one of my favorites, and was inspired by Pinterest as well! {click here to see} 

It was made for my best friend and her husband for their first married Christmas together!

1. I copied and pasted the words to their "first dance" onto a word document, and repeated the words  until the page was full.

2. I then cut out a tree shape with those lyrics after printing them out on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of white card stock

3. I cut out a small rose from her wedding bouquet, as well as two small hearts from red card stock

4. I tied 2 pieces of thin twine around one of the branches

5. I hot glued the hearts on top of the ends of the twine

6. I stuck the flower in-between the loop holes of the twine

7. I then put the sheet of paper {with everything attached} inside an 11x14 frame that had space between the matting and the glass.

Hooray for fun homemade gifts!

Hopefully you can be inspired to create something yourself, whatever that may look like in your life!

 {Note: some of these projects were inspired by other blogs/ users on Pinterest. Credit is given to those with links attached to the "pin"}

A NEW year, A NEW you!

I cannot believe that 2012 is already over! WOW- did this year move by in full speed or what?! It was a good year. No, it was a great year! I am happy to say that for the first time in our marriage, we did not have an major changes, moves, or big events happen! (Want to an overview of what happened in our lives in 2011? click here!) In 2012, it felt so good to just be! We were finally able to focus on being the best 'us' we can, as individuals and a family. Rest assured, we have A LOT of growing and bettering to do but it was a good start! 

Last year, for the first time ever I made a list of what I called New Years Goals…I have always been hesitant to make these because I didn't ever want to be just another person writing down a bunch of idealistic things that I would:

A. Forget come June  

B. Never achieve. 

So when I made this list, I meant it. 

I am a firm believer that if you don't have goals, you will never achieve them. This year, I daily (almost) worked toward these goals, and can honestly say I achieved them! I even exceeded one of them by running a FULL marathon instead of my goal to do a half or 10k!!! I only hope to continue on with these lifestyle changes and increase them as the years go by. 

This year, I made another list for 2013. I had been thinking for a long time about what things I could do to better my life in major ways and grow as a person. Here is what I came up with. You better believe that everyday will be spent working towards these goals!

Cheers to continuing to grow to be a better person not only for ourselves, but for our God and those around us. 

My little girl in her "party ballerina outfit!"

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Gearing up for Christmas!

The December birthdays had past.

The lights and decorations were hung. 

The snow had fallen, with even a snow storm behind us.

(Almost) All the presents had been bought.

...And now it was time to enjoy a few more special moments/ traditions before Christmas arrived! We really try to soak things in around here…sometimes we fail, but other times we succeed! Here are some of the successes that we were able to capture with the good 'ol iphone!

Addie, Theo and I braved it out on the deck during the huge snow storm in order for her to have her first full fledge snow experience… So, I set her down….and she sat still…and did not move. ever. lol Oh well! There were no tears and this was the most expression I got out of her! At least we have the first one under our belt! 

We complain and complain about the cold winters in the midwest, but sometimes I don't think I realize how much I actually appreciate them. Even though the roads are NOT fun to drive on, the snow is absolutely beautiful! I loved this view as I was driving into my neighborhood, and just had to snap a couple pictures!

After getting Addie's 1 year pictures taken by a wonderful friend, we made some more Christmas cookies! Sam and I have done this every year since we have been married. We love doing it…However every year we find the need to make a simpler cookie recipe. Not because we don't have the time, but because of our severe lack of baking skills! Either way, we have fun doing it…and this year we got to show Add the ropes! 

Us girls had one last trip to the Mall of America to wrap up the last of our gift buying and ended up scoring some AMAZING deals for ourselves too…oops :) We always have so much fun together though- we make a great team!

We decided to make it a tradition last year (when Addie was just 3 weeks old) to try and make it Downtown Minneapolis and look at the Macy's 8th floor display. I think every year I go, I forget how short the display actually is, and that they don't change the theme each year…but again we went, and it was great! Addie is at such a fun age, and was so fun to watch her be mesmerized by everything!

I think she pointed at things 95% of the time! It's been her new thing, and I adore it!

Of course one of us had to catch the stomach flu, so I took one for the team! Addie very much enjoyed the empty bottle of sprite that remained though!

Christmas season was upon us, and soon to be here! We tried our best not to hurry the moments so they didn't slip on by!

When the going gets rough…

Man…sometimes life is just tough. There is some nasty things that happen to us and those around us, and it sure is hard to "act like everything is ok" and that you "have it all together" all the time. 

In a world consumed with things like Facebook/ blogs/ etc, it is even harder because it appears that everyone else's life is all peachy, and their biggest problem is what paint color to choose for their brand new house. When reality is, we all have junk that we have to endure. However, it's so easy to believe otherwise. Maybe it is just me, but it seems like we are so consumed with giving off the facade that our life is great. We have so many guards up that even those we would call our closest friends are not aware of the things we are going through. This is not okay. 

When the going gets rough {because it will}, we have a choice. We can either seek after God or be consumed with fear and sadness. I for one have a habit of doing a combo {leaning a lot more to the latter of the two}. That's human, I know…but that is still not what we are supposed to be doing. 

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

Isaiah 43:2

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33

welcoming 2012 with open arms!

Well... It has been a long while since I have updated this on my life, and what a few months it has been!
Lets start from where I left off:

At the end of August 2011 we were grateful enough to be able to temporarily move into my parents house in Lakeville, MN. This was as a result of the extensive mold/ water damage that we continued to find in our recently purchased house. We weren't sure what we were going to do with the house yet, but one thing was for sure, it was not safe for me (being pregnant) to live there anymore. My parents welcomed us with open arms, and thankfully it was less of an adjustment than I had anticipated it would be. Not sure what we would have done with out them!

As we continued on with our 45+ minute commutes to work, we sifted through what were were going to do with the unfortunate situation at hand. With my belly enlarging week by week, it was a reminder that  we had to decide something soon! December was soon approaching! We decided to start looking for a town home to rent for the time being. We looked at a few places, and fell in love with one in Hudson, WI. Neither of us could believe we would actually be living in the state of Wisconsin ;) (ok, its really not that big of a deal I guess...but it seemed weird with it always being a rival state and all) The price was amazing, and it was available right when we needed it (at the start of November). We are so happy here and feel completely blessed and provided for!

With a little over a month to get settled and ready for this baby to come, I got decorating and organized real fast! Here are some pictures of her room, which is of course...animal themed!

I was working full speed ahead everyday! Also, being on my feet so much at work made me exhausted, but it was good to keep so busy doing something I love! As thanksgiving approached, I was readier than ever for this little girl to come into the world! However, I didn't REALLY think I would get that lucky to have her just shy of 37 weeks...so I continued to be active and waited... My mom and I still did our crazy all night black friday shopping, and got all ready for Christmas, 'just in case!'

Fast forward one week, and its my 25th birthday! I had a wonderful morning with my husband and got to see my best friend, then spent the evening at work. I was hoping to share a birthday with our little girl, but again, realistically did not think I would be that lucky to not have to wait until 40+ weeks. However, I did not give up hope or stop doing everything I could to get her to come! And...

Surprisingly, the next morning at 7 am on December 2nd my water broke! We were both a little in denial, but it went pretty quick and at 6:18 our beautiful little girl Addison Joy was born at 7 lbs 3 oz!

Its a month in, and I have so many thoughts/ emotions I cant even put into words. Overall, being a parent is the most rewarding and incredible things I have/ will ever do. I am trying to cherish each moment and stage of her life. She has started to be awake more, is staring at people/ things more and is growing every single day in so many ways! It is amazing!!! The crying and tough times are worth every second of it... I still cannot believe she is a month old already!

We have been keeping busy and going on a lot of outings to keep me from going insane from being in the house for so long. 5 1/2 weeks left until the dreaded time when I have to go back to work :( It is going to be so hard!

Overall, 2011 was a pretty tough year for many reasons...but it sure ended with something GREAT! Hoping and believing for a better year, yet thankful for the strength I have gained though everything!

I have promised myself to blog/ write things down more this year so expect more frequent updates and vent sessions in the near future :)

-Christina