"The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosum of my family." --Thomas Jefferson--

Well not much big has happened since my last post, just a lot of hanging out with the fam, playing with the kids, more sewing, some picture taking, some shopping and then some painting at Momma's. We painted her entire red wall that stretched across the kitchen and dining room and a bit more :) It's a darn big wall and took three of us to do it but it looks great! I like it a lot better than the red. (Sorry no pics, forgot to take some....) It's been on and off nice so when it is nice we go to the park with the other youngin's. Monie came down this last week and Evelyn has been enjoying her time with Kady. They were super cute together at the park with Jeremiah the other day. Evelyn was so excited to be at the park and was non-stop playing. She just keep going and going, like the energizer bunny :) She'd go up the play area, go down the slide, run around to the stairs, go up again, and down the slide again. Silly girl...

Other than chasing Evelyn around, following mom and sisters around, I've been doing more sewing. Emily bought a purse pattern the other day and we made our purses, which turned out really cute. The pattern was fairly easy (to do and understand, which I hate reading patterns! some of them are so confusing but Amy Butler's was great!) and they turned out great! I did alter the second ones I did by adding more pockets to the inside. The one I made for Monie turned out the best I think, great feeling, nice and stiff and soft, and the pockets turned out great.

my first purse! LOVE this fabric!

My second purse, which I used a different interfacing and it came out softer ;(

Monie's purse

My favorite project of this week is this dress I made for Evelyn. Normally I'm not a fan of bubble dresses but this pattern was a dollar the other day and I couldn't help but make it for her! It's SO adorable and turned out pretty darn good! I was worried it would be too big but it actually fit her just perfect. I made some matching shoes and wa-la! Perfect Easter outfit! Next time I'll have to make the bigger size so she can wear it longer.

SO freaking adorable!! She loves to spin around in it and dance, so cute!

One other thing I did was take some pics of my sister and her step-sis, they went to a JROTC ball and I took some pics for them, which turned out so cute! I was pretty excited to do something different than take pics of Evelyn, not that I don't love taking pics of her but it's nice to expand my reportoire. :)

Cutie pie Carmen! She's so pretty!

cute vintage style edit! I was having fun with photoshop with these pics :)

so cute!

another vintage style edit

and the original version of it :)

This week we're getting ready for our biggest trip of the deployment...we're leaving Wednesday for California and spending time with Annie and her fam, then going down to Santa Rosa to visit fam there and then we're going down to the Bay Area to visit more family there....then the first of May we're headed off to Utah for a whole week to visit friends and family and topping it off with my bestie Maria's wedding! Then we'll make it back to MO in time for Mother's Day dinner :) I'm SO SUPER excited for the whole thing though and can't wait to see everybody! It's going to be a long trip and I'm not sure Evelyn's gonna love it as much as I am but she'll just have to deal with it :)

Anyway, I'm still being a slacker with the whole blogging thing but I still don't have internet....I DID call the guy to help me work it out but he never called me back and now I'm about to leave for three weeks and I'll just deal with it when I get back. So I probably won't blog til I get back either but I'll have lots to post so be excited! Also I'm working on a new blog for my photography....I've got a few families lined up when I get back so I'm trying to get that stuff going and I want a place I can show people my work so new blog! That won't be fully up though until I get back but just fyi, it's coming :) Oh, and some more fyi...Mark is doing well, super busy, they work six days a week and Mark has quite a few job titles that keep him busy so I'm glad for that. We miss him a lot but are keeping busy ourselves which helps it move along quicker. So yeah....I think that's all I have for now! I'll see some of you in the next couple weeks so get excited! :) Love you all!

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A VERY VERY LONG POST, I’ve decided to be lazy and just throw in all into one post instead of separating but a three absence from blogging will do that! :) ENJOY!

Evelyn and I have been in Missouri now for almost three weeks and it certainly has been a busy time! Right from the get go we were busy with projects…first we had to clean and paint our new place, get all the furniture situated, unpack everything, organize some more, and we’re still not done J Mainly cuz I’m working on the cutesy decorating aspect now, I can’t have bare walls! Not for 9 months anyway :) So far it’s still a mess so I’m not posting any pics but it’s coming along pretty good, perfect for our needs anyway. I also still need to get my internet set up but every time I think about it I’m doing something else and then when I’m free I don’t remember. Luckily I have my trusty new iphone and internet access at my parents so I’m not completely cut off.

Over the past few months I’ve been perusing crafty blogs and making a nice big list of stuff I want to work on and do these next months while Mark’s gone. I’ve done a couple already, some I’m going to redo or do my way and some have turned out good the first time. I found a trusty new Singer sewing machine at an antique/flea market place (for $25 too!). I just need to replace the needleplate and it’ll be working perfect. I’ve been using my Granny’s old Singer Featherweight in the meantime, perfect little machine right there…still truckin’ along after years and years of use! Gotta love those old machines.

Anyway, the first non-house thing I worked on was an etsy order for five pairs of baby shoes…which are always quick, easy and adorable! This lady just wanted a bunch of plain shoes to go with multiple outfits for her baby and I was happy to oblige her…nice little profit to cover my new sewing machine and more! They turned out cute, as always, and she loved them.

Next I did a purse I’ve had in my files for a while…I found this fabric in Mississippi and LOVE it so I thought it would be perfect for this project, unfortunately it is one of the ones I want to redo…mainly to make it bigger (the tutorial pic looked a lot bigger than it is!) and to reinforce some areas to make it sturdier. For now though it’s a cute little purse that I can use on the few occasions I don’t have Evelyn with me. Aren’t the colors so yummy? (I’ve been using that word to describe a lot of my fabrics lately, which might be an odd word but it really is true! I was at a store in Nauvoo last week and the fabric there was SO YUMMY…I coulda spent forever there and TONS of money and gotten in a lot of trouble but it woulda been worth it… :) )

Next I worked on a little craft/work area in my new place. Annie and I have been drooling over these scrapbook/craft rooms we’ve seen online so I decided I wanted to do a smidgen of my dream work area. I wanted it mainly cuz I’ve been in a scrapbook funk for months now, mainly cuz I have SO much stuff and hate having to take it all out every time I want to work on a page or do something. It sucks cuz you don’t know what you’ll use or need til you’re working on it and having to go back and dig around every time I have an idea just makes it frustrating and not as fun. I’m so jealous of these craft rooms which have a space for everything and everything is easily accessible and oh so cute too! I made this little area to put out the most common supplies I use as well as having space to work on pages and having easy access to the other supplies not seen. This little counter space was perfect for it and I’m pretty pleased with myself. I found these adorable containers at Target (LOVE LOVE LOVE Target!!!!). They were only .50 and I wish I had gotten more!

After I got those I decided to make a hanging strip where I could hang these cute little baggies filled with ribbons, ink, etc. I used the same pattern as I did for Evelyn’s little baggies, I thought they were perfect for a craft area, and so cute! I used the turquoise/brown/red colors from the Target containers and put little flowers on them and then put Velcro on the fabric strip I hung up and voila! I can easily take them off to get what I need and then hang them right back up and out of the way! I also found this office organizer at Wal Mart that was on clearance for some of my bigger/bulkier and things I don’t want Evelyn to have easy access to (aka. Scissors, Cricut Cartridges, etc.). That’s all I’ve done so far in that area but I love it! I think next week I’ll actually start scrapbooking. I’m waaaaaayyyyyy behind and need to catch up before I get even further behind!

A lot of the projects I have revolve around Evelyn. There are just SO many great ideas out there for little girls and the blogs I’ve been reading are particularly awesome and so thrifty! These women do a lot with reusing old shirts or shirts and things from thrift stores. I have a tutorial I’ve set aside that takes a man’s button up shirt and you use it to make a little girls dress. So cute! I haven’t finished mine yet cuz I was getting settled but I did manage some time to work on these cute little shirts.

I got this free tutorial from (well and decided I wanted to make one for Evelyn! She didn’t particularly like it the first time I tried it on her but Tani did (she and Evie are best friends btw…they are so cute and Evelyn just LOVES her! They are SO funny together too). So I made Tani her own shirt…pink and purple at her request cuz they’re two of her favorite colors. She looks so cute in it! They look more like nurses shirts though to me rather than kimonos but oh well! Still cute!

Well I think that’s all the projects I have finished so far. I have one drying on my floor that I need to hang up but they aren’t ready yet so you’ll have to wait for that one. These next few weeks look a little calmer so I’ll have plenty of project/craft time.

Other than moving and crafting I took a little trip up to Nauvoo with my mom and sisters, which actually got cut short due to family stuff which I won’t go into cuz it’s kinda crazy and chaotic, as most family stuff is, but most of you know anyway and everything’s good now so no need…anyway, we went to go to a Nauvoo Women’s retreat but only some of us ended up going. We went to one talk and then Emily and I were able to go to a temple session, which was what I wanted to do the most anyway and it was wonderful and perfect and just what I needed. The temple is always wonderful but I particularly LOVE going to the Nauvoo Temple, it’s just so utterly beautiful (they all are) and so much history and family ties and we got married there and it’s just wonderful to go back.

We got to spend some time with Monie while we were there, which is always nice, and lil’ Kady, who’s adorable and getting ready to be a big sister this summer! If I haven’t already mentioned or you haven’t heard, Monie is due in July with a baby boy. We’re all excited for that, me especially cuz I’m doing a photo shoot for the little tyke when he comes. I’ve been looking at lots of photography blogs and have lots of fun ideas to do. I can’t wait! Anywho, we got to go to a couple stores in Nauvoo, my favorite of course being the fabric one. :) Fabric is my new obsession, with scrapbook paper quickly following. I just LOVE the patterns and colors and everything yummy about them. J Moda fabric is my fav. They’re patterns and colors are the yummiest of all!!!

Off that tangent again…..that’s pretty much the bulk of what I’ve been doing so far! We’ve been able to email and skype with Mark a lot, which is wonderful, and he is doing well so far. The time difference sucks (14 hours ahead he is!) and he had a bit of a hard time adjusting but he’s good now. He got there and jumped right into working and settling in but said things are slowly down to a normal pace and he’s doing well. We miss him lots of course but are doing fine despite his absence. It’s wonderful to be home with family and to be with my mom and sisters and nieces and nephews again. Evelyn loves all the kids and getting to play regularly with them. She was a bit lonely the last part of Mississippi.

Speaking of family, yesterday (well Wednesday now...) Michael and Jessica Erwin had the wonderful happiness of adding a new member to their fam, little baby girl Erwin arrived yesterday prevning, is utterly adorable and cute and doesn’t yet have a name but we’re all excited she came and is healthy and mom is doing great and yay for babies! Congrats again you guys! Can’t wait to meet her!!!! (They have a name now too, Charlotte Anne, so cute!)

Well I think that was long enough….I’m actually typing this on word and am gonna go to my dad’s to post it and I have a full three pages of typing, haven’t even added pictures yet! :) Kudos to all those who made it all the way through, Love ya all!

Home Sweet Home!

Evelyn and I have been in MO for about a week and half now and have been keeping pretty busy. That with the lack of internet in my place yet is the reason behind my lack of blogging but this morning I had a minute at my parents to use their computer so here's a quick note! We're both doing well, Evelyn has a bit of a runny nose and is taking awhile to adjust to all the people (she's being soooo clingy and such a momma's girl! She freaks out if I leave the room, poor thing!). Luckily she's warmed up to Grammy real quick so I have hope for the rest of the fam :)

I've been busy cleaning, painting and organizing our place as well as doing an order for 5 baby shoes, shopping for stuff we need, spending time with fam, and settling in! Tomorrow we leave for Nauvoo, there is a Women's Retreat thing there and my mom and sisters are going so we're going, as well as to visit Monie :)

Mark is doing well, got to Okinawa after a couple days delay and jumped right into working. He said that's going good except he's still adjusting to the time change. He's 13 hours ahead of us in MO, which makes it a bit of a challenge to talk to him but we've skyped a lot and talked which is soooo great! I LOVE SKYPE! Best thing ever, especially for deployments!

Other than that there isn't much to report. I don't have time do anything else either but will probably update more after I get back from Nauvoo.

You can hear the footsteps of God when silence reigns in the mind.

A couple weeks ago I started a project for Evelyn (it's a quiet book for the trip/church/traveling/etc) and got almost all the way done with it when my sewing machine broke so I had to take a break from it til it got fixed. I finally got it back today and finished the cover and now I'm done! It didn't turn out nearly as neat and finished looking as the original person's tutorial example (Serving Pink Lemonade) but it's still cute and hopefully will keep Evelyn entertained! I found some other pages on another blog that I want to add later on but this is what I've got so far. I've been finding some awesome tutorials and projects on the new crafty blogs I have on the right side of the blog and can't wait to get settled in MO so I can start on some! These ladies have some amazing ideas and are SO creative and just amazing!

The Outside Cover

Inside Cover...both front and back covers have pockets for extra pieces.

This first page is a mailbox, of course, the face comes down and you can put letters in it and the flag moves :)

Balloons come off on this one and the color wheel turns.

Seasonal tree! Three sets of things to go on tree, flowers, leaves, and fall leaves

Tennis Racquet- You can lace and unlace the laces :)

Ballet shoe- Tying a bow of course! Some of these I know she can't do yet but they're still fun!

Little Roadway Layout- The car can go in the garage and all the signs are movable

Fish and seaweed are movable (most of these are just movable ones which might get old for her but they're so cute!)

Movable flower petals with numbers! And the flower pot holds the petals that come off :)

More movables! The easel is so cute though!

Gotta have a dress up doll!

This is one I came up with myself! Evelyn LOVES the map from Dora so I did a little Map page to go to Grammy's house! :) See? Red barn house and all!

One of my favs...the template had the red barn, which opens and holds Finger puppets, unfortunately it didn't hold all the puppets I made so I made another farm page with a fence that happens and wa-la! There's the other puppet! :)

Evelyn was very excited when I finally finished and went through the book with her. Hopefully it keeps her entertained and that she doesn't pull things completely off! :)

This last pic is another project I've been wanting to try. (Tutorial found here). It's a nice substitute for using sandwich bags all the time for Evelyn's little things and so much cuter! I plan on making more but for now here it is! I want to use it for her crayons and stuff for the trip...easier to keep track of! I'm also thinking of using them for scrapbook gadgets and such and sewing stuff, perfect little bags for them and the plastic vinyl is pretty darn cheap by the yard!



Well that's all for today! I'll try to do another post in the next couple days, I've been behind on one event a couple weeks ago but if not then I got too busy packing and getting ready to leave! Less than a week left here now! Holy cow, I can't believe it!