Craft Bug Strikes Again!

Foreword: I love Pinterest. It gives me ideas for many things that I would never think of on my own. It might be addicting, but I am eating some delicious meals and crafting some cute stuff because of it.

Holly and I decided to make our own wreaths out of Christmas ornaments this year. We had a Christmas candle burning, Christmas music playing (which was later replaced by the movie Hook), and Cinnamon Streusel muffins in the oven. The atmosphere was perfection.

We both went to Target and picked out some cheap plastic ornaments. 8 for $1 - not too bad! I think we both ended up using 72 ornaments on our wreaths.

We used old wire hangers to make the circle for the wreath.

(Can you see the wire?) :)

After hot-gluing the tops on the ornaments for a more secure hold, we simply threaded them onto the wire, "squishing" them together as we went to get a full look.

We used 3" wired ribbon to make our bows. She went for a more frilly look, and I did mine with long tails.

Total cost: $12ish. Hardest part: Wrapping the wire back around itself to hold the wreath together - pliers were exceedingly helpful.

It was a great way to spend my Saturday afternoon! Now I have to go start pinning again...

Giving Thanks

This year we hosted Thanksgiving for both sides of our families at our house. 3 weeks after we moved in. Can I just tell you - it was awesome? We loved having everybody here! And nothing broke! (yay!)

I prepared 2 turkeys, stuffing, gravy, and mashed potatoes, and everything else on the menu was provided by other family members. Everybody was very willing to pitch in and bring something. The turkey recipe I chose to try was quite a hit. I can't take all the credit though - it is an Alton Brown recipe, has nearly 4000 reviews, and 5 stars. So I figured it was going to be awesome! It will probably be the one that I make for ever and ever.

I enjoy having had the experience of hosting such a large gathering, because now I know that I can do it without going crazy!

New Explorations

In a moment of ponderment that has lasted for oh.... a few weeks, I have begun seriously considering trying my hand at being a personal chef. If I cannot find some company to start out with, I would try it on my own. Basically I have decided that, for several reasons, being a banquet server is not for me. At all. Not even a little bit. But pursuing something else is something I want to do. Although the relaxation can be nice, I am not all for having close to nothing to do all day every day. I yearn for the feeling of accomplishment.

I have searched for other jobs, but there is nothing that I can find in this area that will suit my needs and wants. Mainly because I am not okay with stupidly inconsistent and sporadic hours. (Shifts until later than midnight every night? No thank you.) Also, I did not go to and graduate from college to brew endless amounts of coffee, set and clear tables, count soda cans, starve myself because there just is "not enough time" to stop and eat, throw away gargantuan amounts of edible food, clean walk-in coolers, or listen to higher-ups who think they know everything because they work so hard that their children hardly know them. (I do not find that commendable in the least.) You might say that I feel a little over qualified.

I would like opinions. If I were to start such a business, do you have any suggestions on how to spread the word (for free)? Is it something that people would even want to use?

Hopefully I can use my culinary skills soon!

Our Castle and Our Keep

Things are settling in quite nicely around here. There are still some lovely odds and ends that have yet to be settled, but I would say our home is very livable these days. We have one more week until we have company for the first time here - so hopefully things will come together with more completeness this weekend.

I did, however, feel comfortable taking some pictures so that the small group of you who are curious as to what it looks like can be satisfied. I left out the 2 spare bedrooms that are either bare or filled with boxes, guest and main floor bathroom, and the basement. Somehow I think that is okay.

Starting from upstairs... we have the master bedroom. We were excited to be able to fit our larger dresser in it.

Master bath: We are still trying to figure out where exactly to put the towels for easy access. Right now they hang above the tub... on the opposite wall from the shower.

Guest bedroom:

Formal living room: we bought this set from a catalog without actually seeing it. Luckily, it looks great. Except for that crazy accent chair. We didn't order that - they gave us the wrong one and it should be rectified shortly.

Dining Room:

My Kitchen: Excuse the mail being sorted on the island :)

Darling Kitchen Nook:

Family Room:

And last but certainly not least: The washer and dryer. This is the first time we used it. We were mesmerized by it, and actually stood and watched it for about 5 minutes! The best part: the cute song they sing at the end of their cycles. I hope I never get tired of it!

Ryan watching the clothes being washed:

So there it is! I am already feeling like this place is home. We have gone back to the townhouse twice to clean it and get it looking nice for the next tenants, and I can't help but feel like that is not our house anymore. Which it isn't. I just thought that feeling would take longer to come I guess.

Quick sidenote: In case you were wondering how my super long shift went last Friday (you know, the one that I was dreading to no end), it was fine. I actually had fun because my coworkers were cool. And the event we were running was a lesbian wedding. So that made it just a little more interesting.

Life Stuff

So. We have moved. Our house is beautiful and I love it, but it is hardly put together so pictures will have to wait for just a little while longer. Additionally, we don't have internet yet so posting pictures wouldn't be as easy. Hopefully by this weekend I'll feel like the inside of this abode is worthy of some still frames.

In the meantime, I have been up to some stuff. I started a new job on Monday at the Westin Hotel in Westminster as a banquet server. I'm a full-time employee. Can I just tell you that I have never before worked "full time" hours?? I have worked 24 hours so far this week. And the rest of those full time hours will be completed on Friday during an 11-hour shift. Yay. It wouldn't be THAT bad (I have worked 13 hours straight at Outback before), but this shift ends at 2 AM and I'm going to be outside a lot of it. Yay again. Okay so I'm not trying to make my new job sound totally awful. I don't mind the duties I have to perform, my feet aren't doing too badly with the constant walking, my coworkers are pleasant, and I get free food. But I am beyond dreading this shift. I hope that the next time I post something I can tell you it was better than I thought it would be. At any rate, I'm glad to be broadening my horizons by getting hotel experience.

I have tomorrow off work, and I can't tell you how excited I am to relax.

Today

Today is a special day for us. It is the last full day we will be living in this townhouse. Tonight we will finish packing up all of our treasures. And tomorrow we will load as many boxes as we can into our cars and go to Erie. To our new house. We will close on it at 12:30, and be official homeowners.

I have very much enjoyed our townhouse. I loved converting it from a bachelor pad to a cozy home for newlyweds. I loved painting the walls to our very own specifications. I loved having fires in our wood-burning fireplace.

But in our new house we will BOTH get to park in the garage. We will have the experience of landscaping our own backyard (next spring). I will be able to host large gatherings and not freak about oven/counter/living space. We will have plenty of room for a family someday. We can have overnight guests and not make them have to walk up the stairs to use the bathroom. And we still get to paint the walls to our very own specifications.

The only downfall to this? It is supposed to snow 4-8 inches tomorrow. And again on Saturday - our big move day. Pray for our safe travels!