Shoe pictures 5, 6, and 7

Lol this is on the new floor in my bathroom (still needs to be grouted) how is that for a tease?

I really like this one because it is more artistic than I normally am. I'm a boring centered straight on picture takers who would never crop off the edges of something on purpose. But then again that is why I'm doing this right?

These two pictures really make me smile they are all things from our wedding. The back bottle of wine was a gift and the wooden wine holders were bought on our honeymoon in Honduras and Belize. The of course the shoes.

Oh and there was no editing done to these pictures except cropping.

Eating Raw Thoughts

I'm sick, I have the sore throat, stuffed nose, ear pain, sinusitis thing going on. Here is the interesting part, while I was eating raw I was on the edge of this I could feel the pressure in my ears but I was fine, a little stressed out and pushing myself but not sick. Now that I'm eating out more frequently (we are finishing up the bathroom and cooking takes time) and eating less raw I've been feeling worse and worse until Monday morning it hit me. I could barely swallow let alone talk. It seems awfully coincidental that this happened at the same time that my eating habits changed...

I believe that we should be eating as natural as possible, our bodies weren't created to eat all of these processed foods. They stress out our bodies an make it harder for it to do other things (like take care of cold and flu viruses before they take us out and we need an outside chemical to help us out, antibiotics. I think we shroud be taking care of ourselves in order to introduce as few outside chemicals as possible.

So this leads to the issue of organic vs current growing methods. I think organic is great, however for the majority of Americans it is just not financially possible. Therefor as much as possible I try to buy organic when I can and believe in the "dirty dozen" from the Environmental Working Group:

12 Most Contaminated
Peaches
Apples
Sweet Bell Peppers
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Pears
Grapes (Imported)
Spinach
Lettuce
Potatoes

12 Least Contaminated
Onions
Avocado
Sweet Corn (Frozen)
Pineapples
Mango
Asparagus
Sweet Peas (Frozen)
Kiwi Fruit
Bananas
Cabbage
Broccoli
Papaya

Spring wreath.

I saw this wreath on Tater Tots and Jello earlier this year and decided I wanted it to be my spring wreath. So I craft-lifted her idea made a few tweaks and made my own wreath. For her wreath and institutions you can go to her website here:

1. First buy a wreath of any size just, remember the bigger the more flowers you have to make. I chose a 16" wreath and in my craft store it only came in the flat style not the rounded shape. Then cut strips of burlap 2"-4" wide depending on the size of your wreath. Hot glue the end to the wreath and start wrapping. Repeat this step till the whole wreath is covered.

2. Using various round objects cut out different sizes of burlap and fabric circles to make your flowers with. I used a plastic cup (left over from the wedding) a candle lid, and a few other things. Fold the fabric a few times so you can cut out 4 or 5 circles at at time. I cut out approx 25 of each size in both burlap and scrap fabric. All together it was around 100 circles if I had to guess.

3. Now start making your flowers . Its easy just build them from the bottom up largest to smallest alternating burlap and fabric. You can change it up on how many layers and if you want fabric on fabric or burlap on burlap just make a variety. Fasten them together with a brad. Most of the flowers I could poke through by hand but a few were thick enough that I used my big bite to punch a hole.

I also made some small folded bunches that you can see in the bottom left corner of this picture. I took two circles of the same size and put them back to back right side out then I folded it accordion style two or 3 times and fastened it with a brad.

4. Next I went through the pile and made about 85% of them have some texture and volume. I used hot glue and made a few folds here and there and then glued them together to give them more dimension.


5. Now just glue them to the wreath! I had a lot of one particular yellow fabric (since I was using scrap) so I put those flowers in their own pile and made sure to spread them out between the other flowers. I saved the little rosettes till the end and used them to fill in the bare areas.

There you have it!

A few notes:

This is made out of styrofoam so make sure if you hang it outside it is in a safe from rain area (ie on a door between the storm door or under a larger overhang.)

I need to start remembering to take pictures before its dark out or when I don't have time to upload them so I take them with my phone. Come back tonight for better pictures.

I had everything but the wreath and the burlap on hand. Plus I bought those to things with coupons! That made this a very cheap project!

If you make one please post it some where and either send me the link or a picture or put it in the comments I would love to see it!

PS come back tomorrow for some more 100 possibilities project pictures!

Sunshine Rolls

This isn't hard, maybe a little time consuming, not very healthy and very yummy. It's sunshine rolls!

This is a recipe from a great family friend they are a big hit with everyone. They are even fun to make with others, I've made these with help from my husband, cousins, brother and just on my own. Here is my brother and I making a batch a few years ago.
Set out 2 large eggs

Mix together:
2 C Bread Flour
1 Pkg Rapid rise yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C Sugar
2 Tbs vital wheat gluten (in the baking or health section)
2 tsp Cinnamon

In a sauce pan mix:
1 1/4 C Milk
1/2 C Butter

Melt together to 120-130 degrees on a candy thermometer
( Have a helper? They can do this at the same time you are mixing the dry ingredients)

Mix with dry ingredients then add the 2 eggs at room temp.

Next add in 2 C four and kneed till smooth (I use the dough hook in my stand mixer for 5 min)


Roll out into a rectangle shape cover in 4 Tbs melted butter and 1/4 C sugar add cinnamon to taste. Roll into a long tight snake and cut into 12 pieces (I cut of the ends first.)

In a sauce pan mix:
1/2 C Butter
1 C Brown Sugar
1/4 C White syrup.

mix till smooth and just starts to boil, pour on to a 11x24 pan covered with parchment paper.
( Have a helper? They can do this at the same time you are rolling out the dough)

Place cut ends of rolls on the pan 3x4 and cover with a towel let rise overnight.

The next morning bake at 350 for 18-21 min depending on pan and oven.

Yumm

He is alive!

This is it, without Christ's death on the cross bearing our sins we would have no change or living the sin free life we would have to in order to get to heaven. Today is the reason I know Mark is in heaven. Mark believed in Easter, he believed in the cross and resurrection and that belief is why he is in heaven healed rejoicing with the angels right now.

But what about those on earth? As a friend of mine pointed out "

Most of us think of the Easter as when Jesus died and rose again; many of us even think of Jesus as being God; but how many of us tie the two together and think of "God" dying?" ~Shawn T.

Just think about that for a little bit as this Easter season comes to an end.

Things I love

Something Green:


Can I just tell you how much I love these, wow oh wow. They are double layered and very well made. Not to mention as green as you can get compared to the plastic bags at the store. These you can use over and over again and they are so bright and cheerful. I've tried a few different kinds and these are my favorite by far. I'm going to get a second set now that I'm eating more raw (and my dog may or may not have eaten one or two.) Check out Love for Earth and see what they have in stock, oh and her shipping prices are amazing and each set comes with a cute tote to keep them in!



Something To Do:
Its spring and last summer my boats didn't make it into the water I'm so excited for our first paddle!




Something Old:

these are my favorite silver shoes,as you can see they have been well loved too. They are stained and have a hole in the toe. Its time to replace them but I just can't seem to find anything good enough.



Something New:

Oral-B tooth brush- I have weak teeth and a sugar habit lets just say I'm more than a little cavity prone. I just switched from my Sonicare to this Oral-B. My teeth feel like they just came out of the dentist office squeaky clean! Plus with the smaller replaceable heads than my Sonicare there is less waste.




Something Yummy:

Caribou Coffee Passion Fruit-Green Tea Smoothie (just had my first one this year)




Something techie:

The map on my Google Analytics it says people from the:



USA

Canada

United Kingdom

Australia

Spain

Belgium

Malaysia

Romania

Philippines



have all visited my blog how cool is that!


Someone on Twitter:

@Gadgetmom6 is as addicted to tech and such as I am but she knows more than me and has helped me with a lot of questions recently about switching phones to one that actually works. I know many people love their blackberrys but I'm over them.

Thoughts on Thursday

"Spring is here"

A lot of things change when it starts to feel like spring, our eating habits change to lighter meals and more grilling , cleaning habits change to purge out the old and get deep down clean. Outfits change to shorts and tees and brighter colors, sandals come out boots are put away. We bring out the lawn mower instead of the snow blower....you get the point right?



How about a fresh start to your marriage too? Just like our first grill out (above) this can be a time of new and firsts in your life. Take some time to sit down and discuss what you would like to change this spring. Think of it as a frest start.