Break Time

I just want to let everyone know that I will be taking a little more time away from the computer...as I'm spending more time creating and crafting. I apologize for the lack of reading material, but I'm very motivated right now and I have the juices flowing as well as a horrible allergy cough and sinus head aches, so this week will be spent focusing on my projects, and resting up. I'll be back next week with lots of goodies, pictures and updates on my exciting life. So have a great week y'all...take care and check back on Monday please, but who knows what I might find to quick post at any time. Don't hold your breath!

Award!

I have recieved a friendship award from my friend Allie at Finding Inspiration In Food.

It comes with this message: "These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated."
So I should pass this on to some friends...

Kat at Kat's Corner

Nicki at the life of C.A.N.

and Scotti at SMOX Creations
Thank you Allie, and I really adore all my friends blogs, they keep me entertained!

Giveaway

I've been selected to host another great giveaway. I'm gonna make this one short and simple.

Yoplait for Kids helps build strong bones, enabling healthy and active bodies. Perfect for a fun-filled day for your active children. Three lucky winners will get the Yoplait Get Active Prize Pack that includes a travel cooler (to take your yogurt on the road), a jump rope, a water bottle and an outdoor game set that includes a beach ball, paddle ball, Jai-Ali and a Frisbee. Either way you can get a great coupon to anyone that clicks here.

To enter the giveaway please leave me a comment on what you love about spring, or what your Easter plans are, or just how horrible your allergies are right now. Whatever you want to comment about. To get a second entry follow, and leave a second comment that you follow.

Good luck everyone! Thursday night is the deadline, I'll announce the winners on Friday based on Random.org.

Lets go Banana's

I took my chances on a recipe I found last week on two peas, and I was totally impressed. I have just recently been introduced to Nutella...and I LOVE it! So I wanted to share how mine turned out, and encourage you to try them out too! I'm copying the this recipe right off of the two peas blog...but please don't hesitate to check out Maria's site...it is awesome. She has amazing stuff on there that inspires me to get in the kitchen. Now if I could just get the sewing machine to fit next to the cutting board.

Banana Cupcakes (Muffins) with a Nutella Swirl Adapted from EveryDay Food and Spork or Foon
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 ripe bananas), plus 1 whole banana, for garnish (optional)
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Jar of Nutella
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a mini muffin tin. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Make a well in center of flour mixture. In well, mix together butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Stir to incorporate flour mixture (do not overmix). Dividing evenly, spoon batter into muffin cups.
With a toothpick swirl in the Nutella, about a ½ teaspoon each.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely on a wire rack.

I made mine in the extra large muffin tin I'm in love with, so I baked a tad bit longer than this. Just like banana nut bread without the nuts Dal hates.

It's Spring at my nest

I must confess I had left the christmas glitz in my apocrathy jars all this time.

So today was the day to update for spring. And possibly longer. Who knows when I'll decide to do something different. So here's what they have in them now. eggs (yes plastic easter eggs I painted to be more natrual and match my decor)

butterflies from feathers and this little birdy that also happened to get a paint job

So happy spring for my home!

Sew Sew Sew....

Mocha
Is my friend Allison's dog. She's a total cutie...but she tore up her dog bed pillow cover and needed a new one. So Allison being the trusting friend she allowed me to try out my skills on a new one.
So the big reveal:

Yes I did that zipper! Oh yeah, happy dance.

I also made some crayon rolls which will be available on my etsy store soon. But if you want one just tell me and I'll get you one!

Panic and

I was thinking that I might be expecting a package but that I didn't look on the front porch today for it. So, I open the front door and look out to see if something is waiting for me. Nope. And Short Leg Floppy Ear No Name Dog goes running out like lightening. HOLY SMOKES! I'm running after his wild @$$ in bare feet down the street with no leash. Once he gets all the way to the end of our street my fat jiggly rear gives up and I run back to the house, grab his leash and a pair of flip flops, keys and leave the garage door wide open and my crying child in the living room to go after that BAD BAD dog. Oh I'm in full on panic mode. He runs to the playground, and I jump out of the car go after him, and some teen trys to help however he's scared of males, so that only made it worse. He runs another two blocks towards a neighborhood with more traffic. I'm screaming at him, following him in the car, and praying I don't loose him. How he has this much energy, or move that fast with those short legs is beyond me. The whole time I'm freaking out, totally freaking out about Neely being in the house. Or mostly hoping she wouldn't go outside trying to come after me or looking for me. So my overweight rear is running, driving like a maniac, screaming for my dog that doesn't know his name, and having a mini heart attack at the though of my child possibly being in the road or someone seeing her and thinking "oh cute kid..." Finally an angel in white (a white ford) blocked the road to keep cars from coming and let his kid out to help me. Which is great 'cause the dog loves kids, and we managed to get him pinned between two houses and the fence. Oh Sooo annoyed and angry. I get home to find my poor baby girl sitting in the living room chair crying (as I knew she would be) and watching House. So needless to say I'm highly annoyed with my dog tonight...yet he's been asleep on my sofa pretty much since he got home. Yeah I'm out of energy too!

So we're all in the house now...doors shut good.

Stuff We Did on Saturday:

Sleep in, clean up dog pee from living room floor (WTC?! Though he was housebroken), and get dressed to head to Brenham, TX.
We wanted to visit the Blue Bell Creamery, check out the local shops, and take some pictures of the bluebonnets. I'm glad to say that we in fact got to do all three of those things.
However the creamery doesn't give tours on Saturdays, but we got to enjoy some ice cream just the same! I love Bluebell, hands down my favorite ice cream, really I think if anyone is from the south it's their fave. How could it not be?
We left the ice cream heaven and headed for the downtown area. If you're from Texas you know that all the small towns have a downtown area with unique shops and such usually wrapped around the city hall or courthouse. I have to say that Brenham has quite a few, seems to be a very active area...I was impressed and inspired by some of the items I saw in the shops. Oh I need more time to create! We had a delicious lunch at a cafe, that served this amazing herb bread. I really need some recipes on spicy/ herb bread. I'm wanting to try to make some soon. After lunch we headed back down HWY 290 towards Chapel Hill (a one stop light town) to a field covered, stress on the covered in bluebonnets for a little picture time.The whole day Neely was excited to go get pictures taken in her new dress, that I made, but once we got there I couldn't get a freaking smile from her for the life of me. Grr! So much for nice new spring pics for everyone, you'll all just have to get crappy upset looking depressed goth kid in flowers. Super! So we left to head towards the Washington On the Brazos state park to get some play time in for the kiddo, and I was hoping to enjoy the historical goodies it has to offer since I was like 12 the one time I ever went and could have cared less. Half way there (like 15 miles) I realize I lost my phone in the flower field. Oh (insert sailor language here)! So we had to turn around and go find it. I'm about to puke at the though of loosing my phone it's got so much info on it I can't imagine living without as well as the cost of replacing it. Lucky for me I found it no prob! Helped that I could use the hubby's phone to call my phone. Wheeww! Relief. So back on the road...and we arrive at the park;
with a tired ticked off kid, and an allergy infection-ed husband, and exhausted me.
We went right for the playground and left it at that. And that was pretty much our day. Not so bad if you ask me.
I've been working on my pictures and would like to invite you to check them out at:http://picasaweb.google.com/lauraallmon or just click here!

Okay Okay...

So I've managed to get the sewing machine to work. I'm not going to say that it's not frustrating just the same...I'm not patient, and it requires a lot of patience. Thread needle, thread bobbin, thread needle, cut string, thread needle, cut cut cut, oh man I sewed that backwards! You can see where this could be an issue. Quite honestly I'm horrible at a straight line, I'm worse at a curve, and I have no idea how to do a zipper, button hole, or a trim= so I have no idea what I'm doing!
However aside from my lack of skill, I have a bit of determination I stress on the bit part.
Well I've made a few things that I'll share with you next week.
I'll also catch you up on Leroy's transition to our home. But I'm going to spend my weekend with my family, and that means limited computer time. We're hoping to get out of the house and into the sun... and I'll also have pictures to share from our weekend in the next week too.
I've also bought my first bottle of Modge Podge, very excited about that! I can't wait to start using it. I've got an idea that I'm kicking around in my head, but I'm still searching for just the right thing to make the project perfect!
So have a happy weekend, go enjoy the wonderful spring weather, and spend it with the ones you love!

Drum roll please....

The super sniffer has arrived. Sadly he just got neutered, and is feeling under the weather. He's not a barker or a howler, but he's a cryer. I could tell when the pain shot was wearing off later in the evening...he's really good at the high pitched wheeee wheee wheeee. In fact as I'm writing this it's my background music. He's apparently very true to his breed on the hound smell, as well as the sniffer. It's nice outside so we leave the windows cracked, which he can't stop going up to and smelling the incoming air. He's afraid of men...which has been interesting with Dallas. Every time Dallas gets up, or walks around, Leroy runs from one spot to the other, sofa, his bed, the front door all while keeping a watchful eye on Dallas. Every time Dallas goes into Neely's room with her, he waits 'til Dallas leaves and then goes and looks in the doorway. So he's leery. He'll get past that soon if he's any kind of lazy. Wears me out just watching it. Responds VERY well to no, and any command such as "come" in a stern tone! Absolutely amazing on his potty training. It's hard to keep him from wanting to lick his wound...and he's not eating due to the medication from earlier today. In a way I wish that he could have already had this part taken care of. I hate that his first day here has to be in agony, he'll probably resent me for it. It seems he likes to sit on the sofa, not a cuddlier but loves any attention you give him. So we'll see how things go from here. I hope to teach him about the dogie door on Sunday, and hopefully his day alone with Dallas will get him to warm up to him. More updates to come. And I guess we're sticking with Leroy, however Neely will only call him Lerow.

Bookcase Up-do

We have a bookcase in our living room, and I sorta despise it. I hate how it always looks like a cluttered mess. I'd love a fancy new one with the sliding glass doors, but my budget says NO! So I ran across a bit of inspiration in the Serena & Lilly catalog.

I love how all the books are covered to match, I've actually seen this done in a few catalogs, where they are covered to match the decor.

So I set out to give my bookcase a bit of an up-do: and this is what I have accomplished so far...a work in progress, so use your imagination I haven't made it to the bottom half.

Hopefully I'll get around to finishing the bottom part soon.

A while back

I made this box a while back for a gift using clip art and some cute scrapbooking paper. I thought I'd share with you guys, since I've been feeling a bit under the weather and I haven't come up with any new creations.

Alright I couldn't for the life of me get the card picture to rotate...but you get the idea.

A few more

things I love from the catalog previously mentioned.

Really I love everything in the catalog, but these are some really cute and unique ideas that I would love to replicate (some day).

I'll have a drink

and a line of blow!
You may think to yourself, oh come on, what could possibly be that bad? There's nothing that should drive you to drinking and drugs.
Well my friend there is, and it's a freaking sewing machine. It makes me want to kill someone or something.

Advice-
Stay clear of the mad crazy woman with scissors and the stitch remover/ eye ball poker outer. She's likely to take out all that rage on you....because if you haven't noticed the culprit is laying sideways on the table. Yes that table the one of there covered in all that thread and material...the one with the big mess. The big mess she is too pissed to worry about cleaning up.

It is beyond me how it is sooo difficult for me and my sewing machine to work together, or whatever. All I know is we are NOT making sweet music, or anything at that!!! So in my violent rage of anger I'm going to sign off and watch my recorded TV shows about knocked up teens so I can be reminded of how much better off I am than those characters.
Oh and maybe do a bit of research of local repair/ lesson shops.
As for now, screw crafting...this is now officially my everything but crafts blog!

Waiting, and it's no fun!

We got to meet our new kid on Saturday. He's much cuter in person than he is in his pictures. He's really sweet, shy a bit, and very calm.
He got comfortable after being at our house for a while, and made himself at home on the back of the sofa. I guess he's picked his spot already. Sadly he's got to go get "fixed" and then he can come live with us. We're all pretty excited.
Apparently Leroy hasn't been his name for very long, and he'd respond just as well to any other name, so Neely's been frantically asking "can we call it (insert any random object or made up noise here)?" That's become quite annoying and I truly regret having said anything. If and I doubt we do change his name I'd like for it to be Mason since I'm totally digging the mason jars these days, and it's a good country name. But Leroy is pretty country too!
So in an effort to keep Neely calm about the wait, I took her to Petsmart today to pick up a few items we need to prepare for his arrival. We had to get 1) collar 2) leash 3) food and water bowls 4) rawhide's, 5) ball 6) treats. I skimped out on toys, they are soo very expensive there...so we'll hit up the dollar stores, and make use of some of our old ones from before. I'm going to wait until I see him again before we pick out a dog pillow-bed. And we've got to train him to use the dogie door. Other than that, we're all set.
So keep checking back for pictures and updates on his transition into our crazy family.

Giveaway

http://makingmyamericandream.blogspot.com/2009/03/twist-review-giveaway.html

Go to this giveaway! These suckers are cool!

Just a little something I made

I received a great catalog in the mail a while back. LOVE it. Can't afford one single item from it. But I've hidden it in a special place to refer to for inspiration.
Well they had this awesome Note Holder Frame, and I said to myself "Self you can make that!" So here is my much cheaper version of it. I used a $4 frame from the church resale shop, some jute twine, and a few binder clips. Simply just tacked down the twine, and I'm ready to go. (Okay Okay, being me I spray painted the frame black to match everything else I have!) So overall savings $35!

Tada!

So here's the pictures of our paint job. (this picture makes it look a lot lighter than it really is, the first one is a more acurate picture)And here is a pre- paint pictures from when we first moved in.

We're trying to adopt...

This super sweet baby:Leroy!
I really hope that this works out, we're waiting on a call to set up our in home interview/ inspection. Please wish us luck, and keep us in your prayers. Dallas isn't against it (totally) but I think we have a great home and I know we can give him some lovin' and attention. Aren't those the sweetest eyes you've ever seen?

Brushed Up and Rolled Out

Well Friday night I worked on a portion of the painting, then Saturday morning we started out. It turned out to be a huge disaster in my husbands eyes. Basically it set the groundwork for a horrible weekend together. Yes that's right I'm freaking pissy! But all his b*tch*ng aside, and my sore arms, I learned a few things about painting that I had not realized before.
1) Although that blue tape barely sticks when you want it to get a dab of paint on it and it won't peel off for anything. Horrible that there are little sections of blue tape still stuck to the trim of my house. Perhaps someday I'll get fed up with it and get a knife and start scraping.
2) More important than the paint or the rollers or that crappy tape is carpet cleaner. I know, I know, why didn't you use a drop cloth? Those suckers are a huge mess to deal with, you have to unroll, lay out, move around, hope not to smear the paint that's on it onto the floor or furniture...not to mention that it sticks to your feet when you walk around on it. So my reason for NEEDING carpet cleaner. - Not that my carpet isn't horrible as it is, I mean we had that little dog (RIP) that refused to use the doggy door when he was mad, and I have a three year old that eats anywhere in the house she wants to.
3)I learned that 11 ft ceilings, a 6 ft ladder, and 5'5" girl with a fear of heights doesn't work out real well especially when trying not to paint the ceiling.
4) Guilt will occur when you happen to decide to paint the house in "Not a color your husband would choose" and he gets pissed because painting sucks..lets face it it's not a day at the playground.
5) Those really big refrigerators have wheels, Amazing...too bad I can't get the water to come out the door.
6) Prison cell grey does in fact bleed through one coat of Toasted Coconut. 2 layers of paint are required.
7) Spongy brushes are a waste. As are any product that is "for corners"
8) Apparently the paint they sell these days aren't strong enough to get you high...making the whole process a lot less fun.
So all in all I sacrificed my child's cleanliness in order to finish my project. I didn't make her take a bath on Friday night. I know I'm a terrible mom! I pissed my husband off real good, by making it to where the TV was unplugged for more than 5 hours. And we didn't get the bedroom done. So more to do next weekend! On the upside I don't have to look at Prison Cell Grey anymore (except in my bedroom).

I will share pics as soon as I take some.

Too Busy Thursday

After a full busy day at work..and what day isn't? I came home and got to work! I was modivated!

I've decided and convinced my husband that we need to paint the inside of our house this weekend. Right before we bought the house the last people painted it this light blue grey color...and it depresses the heck out of me. It's like a cloudy winter day everyday. So in an effort to speed up the process I started taping off the trim and areas we don't want to get paint on. That blue tape doesn't stick very well. I have a feeling I'm going to come home tomorrow and re-tape the whole thing over again. I did most of the area's I will need taped off, so a small percentage of the way there.

I washed a small bit of clothes, which I refuse to fold, or switch into the dryer until later. So Yeah, what I'm a little lazy?!

I made a wonderful little dress for Neely, because that's right I got my sewing machine figured out! Very excited. however I feel like such a spaz because I have so many half started, planned out not started and needs to just be done projects...so you can't expect too much from me. This took me maybe an hour. Glad it was a quick project. She's such a little show off.

I also cut a slip of fabric to put in her new cup that I bought her, it's one where you can decorate the paper on the inside. So she will be sporting her new dress and matching cup to "school" tomorrow.

I also saw the cutest idea on The Shabby Nest...and it was like the answer to my prayers (or at least frustrations). I have a dresser that we repainted and use for our TV stand..and it holds almost all of Dal's Cd's so it's perfect...however when I repainted it I took off the hardware, and once they dried I put them in a grocery bag to put back on later...long story short, Dal thought it was a bag for trash, and I no longer have pulls for the drawers. I've not been able to find any that fit the holes either. So I used this twine I bought last week to make some pulls. I like the rustic, casual look. I'm sorry for the poopy pic. It's dark!

So I feel very accomplished that I have completed not one, but THREE Projects as well as a small bit of cleaning.

Tomorrow I will purchase my paint, and attempt to start painting the small areas with a brush. Wish me luck...I think the eleven foot ceilings might be an issue. Poor Dal doesn't have a clue what this project will entail. So wish us luck. Updates to follow!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

All the candles are blown out...

And I want to thank all my wonderful friends and family that made my birthday super duper great.
In case you haven't heard, my wonderful husband let my buy a new laptop, just for me. Ahh a dream come true. I've complained a lot less (as in not at all) in the past two weeks about the crappy computer not working, or the pop ups. Or all the other nine million reasons I hate the old computer. Yes it is in fact so great to do whatever I want on the computer in my bed. He also took me out of town last weekend for some R&R, fun and site seeing... we had a great time just being together. He took me out to my fave resturant, and yes, he lived through the ballet.
The ballet was really an experience. I could see where going could get addicting. I enjoyed every second of it. I thought it was amazing how it told the story and showed so much emotion without using any words at all. The orchestra was an experience in itself. The props and costumes where absolutely inspiring...that alone had to take an insane amount of time and talent. The lighting being used to push the story along and replace words, working alongside the music and motions...flawlessly might I add...breathtaking. And that's not even touching on how awesome the dancers are. I read somewhere that they can only wear their shoes for one performance! I can't imagine having to buy (or in their case have) enough shoes for each day. I can't say Dallas had as good of a time as I did...and I must say I wasn't just jumping out of my seat, but who does that sorta thing?! I'd love to go again sometime, and I encourage anyone that can to go at least once.
Anyhow, back to my birthday...It sucks working on your birthday. It's like the whole world should be allowed a paid day off for birthdays (may be your mamma's too). But Allison really knows how to make a birthday at the office the best. She made the most amazing cupcakes in the world. Melt in your mouth to die for. And thank goodness no singing that horrible song this year. Gene (a man from the office) took me out for a nice lunch, which I loved! Allison also got me this genius ink pad for my stamps...and I've already been enjoying it up a storm!
My Dad and Step Mom sent me something that I've always wanted, yet never told anyone. Probably because I could never justify spending money on: A MAGIC BULLET! I know, it's corny but I fall in love from those infomercials. I'm very excited about this...I believe it really will revolutionize the way I cook and prepare my meals. Sadly I haven't had a chance to fire her up...but I'm kicking around ideas of things I can puree and juice, and blend...just a matter of making the time. If you have one already and something super awesome you make, share it with me!
My Mom and Step Dad sent me some cold hard cash! Only because I had a list of things I wanted and she didn't want to have to choose...well I've used it for the dremel style rotary tool, and when I get around to it, I'm going to get a new printer so I can start printing from my new computer. I've already made great use of the dremel...and I will share that project with everyone soon.
I'd say all in all I had a pretty kick @$$ birthday...and it's all because I have the best people in the world in my life. Thanks everyone for everything...but mostly for feeding into my creative and artistic desires!

Happy Birthday Nolan!

Today my little brother Nolan turns the big number 4!!! You can read all his exciting adventures over at Kat's Korner. He truly is an amazing little guy, plus he's really funny...with the most handsome smile!

Sobbing Sunday

Sunday we stuck around the house. It was so nice to be able to relax after a full week of go go go. I woke up pretty early, and decided to watch a movie that I rented, while Dallas was sleeping in. Didn't think I'd subject him to the ballet and chick flicks all in one week.
Rental of choice: The Secret Life of Bees... I have no idea if I was just feeling extra emotional, a total sucker for sad stories or what, but I freaking cried so much during that movie...I'd have to say it was a close second to P.S. I Love You on my sob fest meter(by the way listened to the audio book of this once and couldn't stop crying the whole time either). If you haven't seen it, and I doubt anyone really has...it really was a great movie.
So anyhow I was the good little wife and I made a pot roast and cooked up some cornbread for lunch, and we spent pretty much the rest of the day working on our hobbies, me: writing out some recipes for Pillsbury and baking some of those recipes. Dallas: playing play station, surfing the net, whatever guys like to do.
I decided come late afternoon that I'd like to watch the other movie I rented, ALONE as well. Rental of choice # 2: Fireproof. I had to see what all the hype is about, and I don't want to be a total hypocrite to follow the book but not see the movie. It was really okay once you can get past the preaching and "after school special" feel to it. I will say it too brought tears to my eyes...I guess it's a story everyone no matter what can relate to in some since. I'd recommend it to someone that's okay with made for TV quality films, but it's more about the story that the production.
Anyhow..my self diagnosis will be that I was extra emotional, making my Sunday a Sob-fest.
As for those recipes, I need prayers that they get me to the grand prize because I've got big plans if it does!

Crudy Service

It seems like everywhere we go lately we get crappy service. I feel like I need to start a running tab of all the places that I go that have horrible service or rude staff. Just in the last two weeks this is what I've put up with (that really struck a nerve enough for me to remember to be upset about):
A few weeks ago at the Mexican place(Cafe Adobe), we waited almost 20 minutes for our check. Something that really drives me nuts.
Friday I order nuggets at the drive through (Burger King), only to find that I payed for them but they weren't in my bag when I got to my destination and looked in the bag.
Last Tuesday we had to suffer through Taco Bell for dinner on our way to the basketball game, since I got beans and rice I needed a fork, the self serve area was out of sporks, so I ask the cashier for one, he's looking for one and his manager looks at me and says to him, tell her to get one from out there. WTC? Do you think I'm really too dumb to not look by the napkins for one? And can you please bring your fat rude butt up here and show me how to eat rice with a plastic knife? D-bag. That really had me heated up.
Last night we go to a local bar for Crawfish, I order a drink and wait ten minutes for it, we waited almost 40 minutes for our Crawfish, only to find that they are micro is size. Almost to the point they weren't worth peeling.
I made a quick run by the grocery yesterday to pick up two whole bags worth of stuff, and the bag boy just stands there while I put my stuff in the bags for him!
I'm just highly frustrated with the horrible service we get everywhere.
Sooo, I'm just going to add to the lack of confidence in consumer spending because everywhere I go I get garbage for service. So why does the economy suck? The retards at the restaurants and trashy b&b's
Late Addition:
http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/customer_service_2009/index.asp
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/10-best-companies-for-customer-service.aspx
it's good to see someone is trying