Crafty Attempts

So, lately, I've been embracing the role of "homemaker" meaning that I have been "making stuff at home"! haha. And I have to tell you though beforehand, that I have NEVER been an crafty person...not artistic at all (except musically artistic) & I can't draw a lick so I never thought I'd like crafts because I never thought I'd be any good at them. Well, I've really been getting into them lately. Making something I'd put in my house out of nothing has become really fun for me. Here are a few things that I've done:

For Halloween:

My Terra-cotta Pot Mummies (not yet completely finished)

My Fall practically free table centerpiece:

(it doesn't show up well here, but I painted them with spray on silver glitter specs)

I have to find a cuter bowl, but this will do for now.

My other Pine cone door stopper:

My Awesome Garage Sale Find:

(the problem was they were all ugly booger green, so I had to do lots of work)

And this is the finished product. It's hard to see with the light from the window, but I painted them all Chocolate Brown.

It has been SOOO much fun!! :)

Catching Up....

So, I KNOW this looks familiar if you keep up with my blog....

Well, here is what happened about a week & a half before we left for Mexico & a couple days after my birthday & the day after Adam's.

2 wrecks in less than a year after never having a wreck before was TOO much! We were watching Josh that week while my parents were out of town for vacation & I had taken him to Seminary that morning & then was headed over to Meggan's house to babysit so she could help Ben at work. So, I was on Trinity & had just crossed over Germantown Parkway when a car about 3 cars up flipped a U-turn when he could've waited about 15 feet til the turning lane ahead, but he didn't. So, the Monte Carlo behind him slammed on his brakes, the silver truck behind him tapped him & then slammed on his brakes & my poor little car....I was sittin' so low that I couldn't see anything over the truck. So, I slammed on my brakes & they didn't stop fast enough, so I swerved as much as I could without hitting the traffic in the other lane & slammed into to truck. The damage on the truck was about the size of a golfball from my car but mine was totaled. SOOO....long story short....after some serious adjustments on my neck & back from Whole Health Chiropractic Center & once we got back from Mexico...I determined that I do NOT want to be in a tiny car at all anymore. So....here is what we got.... Check out my New Ride!!!

A 2003 Saturn Vue - 4 door - automatic windows & locks, music...and it's a BIG car!!! 

haha. I couldn't be more happy. Not to mention we got it for $6,000 & they gave us $4000 for my car that was totaled. What an awesome blessing. So, here it is! A blessing that started out as a trial. Love this life!! haha. And LOOOOOVE my new ride!!!

BeautiControl!!

For those of you that don't know it yet, I am a BeautiControl consultant. My job consists of pampering & loving on women & doing spa's. It's a blessed life for sure. I wanted to share a little something that I don't think I've shared yet...Because of BeautiControl & all the awesome things I've gotten, the most exciting thing right now that we are preparing for is the All-expense paid trip I earned for 2 to the Riviera Maya in Mexico!!

I could not be more excited!! I've never been out of the country so I'm in the process of getting my passport & it is so awesome. AND it happens to fall the weekend of our Anniversary of 2 years which was a HUGE bonus. I feel so blessed. I never thought in a million years that we, for our 2 year anniversary would be able to go to Mexico seeing how we could NEVER be able to afford it ourselves. So, obviously, you won't be surprised that I didn't have a grasp on what "all-expense paid" meant when I called the main office to ask about my plane ticket & they said "Lindsay, that's what all-expense paid trip for 2 means. We pay for your meals, your airfare, your suite, your activities & even give you spending money & matching luggage."

WOW! I was shocked. haha. So, here's a little info on our trip that is coming up quickly...

This is our suite that we are staying in that is over 1000 sq ft. which is bigger than our first apartment. haha. It's going to be incredible. But, I need your help...We get to choose between a bunch of activities & we're trying to decide. What do you think? Here are our choices...

Golfing with the President

The Tour of the Ancient Mayan Ruins

Xel-ha - A Huge Waterpark

A Tour through the Caverns

Ziplining above the jungle

What do you think? Let me know your choice & why so we can decide!

More updates soon! :)

Calling All Readers!!

So, this is just a post to see who all is out there... I comment on blogs when I read them because I want the authors to know that they are being enjoyed & read, but besides my sisters & occasional friend...I have NO idea who else is reading. So, here's another scrapbook page...let me know what you think & if you are reading this...send me a quick shout out just so I know someone is listening! haha. Love y'all!

So You Think You Can Digital Scrapbook?!

Well, I'm trying so that's all I'll say. Here are a couple pages I've done this week. Trying to play catch up on all of our memories. I'll post some more Girl's Camp Pictures & such as soon as I get them. I've decided seeing how I'm awful at keeping a journal & at blogging regularly & at scrapbooking frequently, I'm just going to combine them all & scrapbook as soon as I can after the experience & keep a journal for that part too. I'm also getting Adam to write on the scrapbook pages when I create them. I'm excited about being able to do all my journaling with the pictures so I can check that off my "Things to feel guilty about not completing" list. haha. Love y'all & let me know what you think. I'm still new at this!!

Left Side of Page:

Right Side of Page:

Heading to Girl's Camp!

So, I'm heading off to Girl's Camp tomorrow to be a cabin leader & to spend time with our girls in our ward. They started requiring the Young Women's Presidency to go to Girl's Camp to be the chaperone's & cabin leaders instead of the moms because they said "You'll get closer to your girls in those few days together, than you would a whole year of mutual activities. They will get to see a fun side of you as well that they've never seen before." Well, I don't know of anyone (off the top of my head anyways) that is MORE enthusiastic in 110 degree weather than they are in an air conditioned church building, but I'm going to try my darndest to be just that!! I'm REALLY dreading the hot, wet, sticky heat (doesn't help that they've predicted it to be the hottest week so far this year) but all in all, I'm excited. It's going to be fun! :)

So....as I'm finishing up the last few CD's we're making for our ward girls, I'm lovingly listening to the sweet sound of my dear husband snoring in the next room, with some game is going on the TV, as he has helplessly given up the fight of sleep vs. waiting on his wife & wanted to share a little "Adam Nugget".

Now, to those of you that might not know Adam well, you're missing out. He is a quiet, but deep man that just so happens to be my most favorite person in the whole world. He puts up with me day in & day out & manages to do it with a boat-load of patience & a smile (sometimes..haha). Among TONS of reasons why I love this wonderful man, the one I want to share today is that of laughter. He makes me laugh harder than anyone I've ever met! Sometimes he comes up with things that are so quick-witted & clever that it floors me & makes me cry with laughter. Here is a little nugget I want to share of Adam with all of you.

A little background: He used to do the first part when we first got married & then one day he did the latter & I just HAD to get it on tape. Enjoy!


Oh, Adam....I'm going to miss you this week. :)

Camera Cord Found...Holiday Catch Up!

Well, with Memorial Day past, I wanted to take a minute to update our blog with some holiday pictures. I haven't been able to find my camera cord, but I did get a new printer that you can plug your memory card into, so now I can update our blog with pictures. Here's just the short & sweet seeing how I'm SUPER far behind! haha.


Valentine's Day:
We did some cute crafts for enrichment this year which I was SUPER excited about seeing as I have NO decorations for ANY holiday in my house, so I was all too excited (not to mention a little over-ambitious considering Enrichment's only an hour or so). Thankfully, my mom stepped in & helped & I finish the rest at home later. Here a few things that I did for Valentine's Day!

And this is what I found the next night from my sweet husband. 

He is SO wonderful!

Poor Adam, he never realized until we were married how much of a big deal holidays are in my family & he is really mastering it now. 

I love that man.

Easter:

We have decided just to do baskets for each other & it was really fun. As you can tell, I got good pictures first thing in the morning & it was fun to wake up to baskets & then be able to stay home & watch General Conference together all day. Easter was a great day & conference made it EVEN better!

My Easter Surprise for Adam:

Adam's Easter Surprise for Me:

Isabell's Surprise for Adam: 

(she never does this except on the paper, which made it EVEN funnier! 

Yes folks, he stepped RIGHT in it! hahaha)

Happy Holidays Everyone!!

Couponing Heaven!!!

So, just a quick update about this past week...Lately I've been getting into couponing (as in the past week or so) & I am SOOO excited about all the steals & deals & freebies I've gotten!! :) Here is just an example of my shopping trip this past week! :)
I went to Kroger with coupons & knowing the deals of the week & stocked up on some pretty incredible stuff!! Here is what I got first!
Last weeks biggest deal was their cereal. You buy what's on sale that week & stock up with plenty so you'll have enough until they go on sale again. So, we've never gotten brand name cereal cause they were too expensive, but with the deal & the coupons last week, here is what I got on my first trip to Kroger:

5 boxes of any Kellogg's Cereal that I wanted
4 boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch
4 boxes of Original Cheerios

Total Paid: $11
They gave me $4 back on my next purchase, so it cost me $7 total for 11 boxes of cereal!!!
The real amount it would've cost me was $36 & some change! :)
Saved: $29!!

Now, my next shopping trip was more for what we needed cause we haven't been shopping in FOREVER!! Because until couponing, I've HATED grocery shopping! haha. Now, it's a game & it's fun to see how much I can lower my total!

2nd trip:
5 Kellogg's Cereals
4 Cinnamon Toast Crunch
4 Original Cheerios
2 bags of hot dog buns
1 Gallon of milk
1 Pert Plus 3 in 1 Wash for Men
1 Dial Men's Body Wash
1 head of lettuce
2 Bags of carrots
2 loaves of Sub sandwich bread
1 pack of cheese slices
1 pack of deli lunch meat
1 pack of Sausage
2 Ball Park Franks
2 packs of Playtex tampons
1 bag of Puppy chow (out of necessity - not sale unfortunately haha)

Total: $136
Total Paid: $52
Total Saved: $84!!!

Can you believe it?!?! I got all of that for $52!!! Now, I was really excited because that was WITH all the produce & milk & puppy chow & bread & meat & cheese that I didn't have coupons for & I can't WAIT to see what my next shopping trips will be without those!! :) I was SOOO excited!! I've been an avid reader of www.savingabundle.com & have been loving all the deals she's been posting. She's actually a member of the church in the Memphis 2nd ward & we're going to a class she's doing this Friday night. If you're interested, let me know & you can come, but seriously, this is saving us SOO much money & it's somethings I've gotten REALLY excited about! Let me know what you think!!! Check out everything I got!!

I couldn't even fit all the cereal on the dryer the first time!! :)

Feeling "Tabby"

I just wanted to take a minute & make history first of all for posting twice in the same 7 day period ever & also to just share a quick glimpse into my night.

I'm sure you're probably wondering (well, that is, assuming someone actually reads my blogs anymore...not that I'd blame you if you didn't...one can only bare so much neglect & disappointment from checking & never seeing any update)....I'll start again considering how much longer that run on sentence went.

I'm sure you're probably wondering what feeling "tabby" means...well, let me explain...
Long story short, when I first got my AWESOME Mac Desktop a few years ago, I was cleaning it & accidentally spilled some of my water on my keyboard (within the first week of course) & ever since, my tab key on my keyboard hasn't worked.
Now, many of you might think..."What's the big deal? Why even blog about something so trivial?" To you, I say in a "tabby" tone ('tab-by' meaning a spinster) You try to go even a day without using your tab key & see how hard that is! haha. :) In all honesty, it is really a pain, especially when you're trying to log on to your bank account or filling out applications for freebies online (true story)...instead of just tabbing to each new line, you have to

L-i-n-d-s-a-y (lift hands from keyboard - move them to mouse - click to next line)

B-l-a-i-n (lift hands from keyboard - move them to mouse - click to next line)

& so on & so forth. So, I sucked it up & took it like a man. haha. Now, to end my story with a happy ending. My Mac hasn't been working right since I was working on Cortney's Christmas present & it shut down randomly & I just haven't had time to get it looked at. Finally, I took it last week to the Apple store & while there I saw this beaut!!

It was scary at first to even think that I deserved to have all of my computer keys restored back to health & happiness, especially after they had been broken for SO long. I almost didn't even remember what it was like to have all of my keys back. But, the more I thought about it, the more I remembered that the reason I was in that situation in the first place was because I had broken an appendage, well, of my keyboard that is & I was kind of thrown into that effect from that cause in the first place. So, after I made the decision to finally change something from all the agony I was going through & reach for what I was almost sure I deserved (even before anything action had taken place), I felt like a load had been lifted & I could be free once again to type & tab all I wanted to! I even started feeling more like myself. haha. Hence the reason why you have 2 posts in the same week!!! :)

I know it's silly to blog about a silly seemingly small joy, but life is made up of little tiny things that make us happy & that make all the pain & struggle seem TOTALLY worth it. This tab key I'm referring to is literal & could have some symbolic meaning for something bigger going on with us right now, but.....hmmm....you might hear about that one later once the storm is over. :)

Thanks for listening....haha. :)

Welcome to Adulthood!

Along life's road, there are many milestones that map a person's life that seem to assure you that you are growing up, learning & gaining ''experience''. Among such milestones are first steps, first words, then bigger events like graduation, marriage, first real job, first child, etc, etc, etc. So apparently, there is another hidden list that I was unaware of...probably filled with other dark things that symbolized wisdom & growth...

Well, right before Christmas, I was informed of an unknown milestone that I crashed RIGHT into! Here is the conclusion....

Now, here is the story...
It was a completely out of the ordinary Friday morning. I had woken up on my own at 6:00, with a full night's sleep, took my time getting ready, even had time to put on my make up completely before I left the house...none of which EVER happens on any other normal day. I left the house a little early (another occurance that doesn't happen regularly) & as I was driving to work, I took my normal route. Rush hour traffic even seemed to be lighter that day as well. Moving on, so I'm on Sam Cooper getting off on Highland. I pulled up to the stop sign behind a SUV of some sort & patiently waited for her to stop & then turn right onto Highland. This is what I saw:
Brake lights....Stop...pull out       .....brake lights...stop...pull out....
Each time she did this, she was driving past the stop sign & by the 2nd time, she was already IN the lane with the oncoming traffic (which there wasn't any...the only car even visible was in the other lane heading the opposite direction....see...another abnormal occurance!)
After the 3rd "Brake lights....Stop...pull out", I mistankingly assumed (seeing how only her back right tire was the only thing in front of the stop sign & she was moving) that she was making that incredibly crutial decision of pulling onto the road. Well....obviously....I was incorrect. I made sure she was moving, stopped & then glanced left, well, frankly to make sure the world was still turning...& as I was turning back, I let off the brake & BAM!!!! My car crunched UNDER her car! Whiplash just about & all.
So, what's my first reaction...call Adam to inform....then call Dad & ask him what I should do. haha. My dad has always taken care of us girls & I knew I could call him & that he'd be understanding & help me figure out what I needed to do next. My dad is SO good at that.
Here's how our conversation went:
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah...I think so. What do I do now? I think the lady called the cops."
"Well, just wait for them to come & they'll just write you a ticket & you can call your insurance company when you get back to the office."
"Um...yeah, I think so. It kinda looks like....well, you know that part in Tommy Boy when the hood of their car....well, yeah, it looks a little like that."

"(Laughing...) Is your car still driveable?"
"I guess...as long as the hood stays down. That would really freak me out!"

"Just drive slow. (pause) Well, your mother just told me that this is your first wreck. I didn't know that. Welcome to Adulthood, honey!"

Hence, the title. Now, my car is fixed & fine & I got them to fix a few other things while they were in there & we had it back after we got home from Florida. $500 deductible later...everything is ALL good! haha.
Seriously though, it could've been a lot worse. It could've been a crazy person with no insurance & a gun that could've popped a cap in me or something, instead of a nice older lady wearing a green turtleneck & a Christmas vest. Didn't even know they made those past 1990...I stand corrected. Plus, I wasn't hurt at all besides my self esteem..haha.

Moral of the story is:
  1.) I will never, no never wear a Christmas vest with lights & reindeer dancing even if I think no one will see me. I just might get in a wreck. (I think that should be applied also to that clean underwear thing that I've always heard old people tell me.)
  2.) Try to find a shorter car if I'm gonna hit em so i can total it instead of just ending up with an embarrassing hood that clearly states that I got dominated!
  3.) I ain't been to work on time since! Are you brave enough to tempt fate?! I'm not....haha.

Christmas Adventures

So, it has been QUITE a while since I've updated this thing, so I figured I better do it now!

I promise though, once we start having cute babies that do cute things we'll have more to talk about & I'll update a lot more, but until then I guess you'll just have to hear about our day to day lives. haha.

So, we had an INCREDIBLE Christmas break. We truly get the best of both worlds. On Christmas day, we got to go over to the Kennedy's & watch Kate & Luke open presents (which was SO fun) & then did our Gift from the Heart present exchanges (which is always full of heartfelt, loving tears).

So, with the crying headache in full swing, haha, we headed over to the Blain's. We had breakfast which was delicious & Fried Oysters which is a Blain family tradition. Anyone that knows me at all knows that I have this thing about food textures. I'm not a big fan of slimy...even if it is a "once-was-but-is-no-longer" slimy type delicacy, I am STILL not a big fan. haha. But, being the open-minded, mature woman that I am, I have decided to brave the storm & not toss tradition aside carelessly & be the one that breaks the family chain of fried oyster eaters. Soooo....I of course tried a part of one again this year (I can hear the crowds cheering for my great self sacrificing...or at least I choose to). But Mama Blain totally busted me. She said "Girl...you're not new anymore. You're part of the family now. You're past just trying a piece. You should be up to a whole one by this year." haha. I love her. So, I told her I'd work up to it next year. haha. We finished breakfast & got to talk to Taylor (one of Adam's twin brothers on a mission) & then got to open the incredible amount of presents awaiting us under the rainbow tree. :) It was an incredible Christmas. We really are so blessed to get the best of both worlds. Mamma & Daddy Blain gave us wonderful presents: clothes, books, a picture of Christ, 2 folding dining chairs (cause we only had 4 & that was not enough when we invited them to our house for dinner..haha), a big mirror, $ to take to Florida & tons more. It was an incredible Christmas.

The day after Christmas, we got to continue our holiday by heading down with my family & Meggan & Ben & the kids to Destin, Florida for a week. It was SUCH a great trip! We all shared a condo really close to the beach which in it's self was a fun adventure. We loved it. It was like a week-long sleep over! haha. We went shopping (A LOT), played cards all week, watched movies, read books, slept in, played Wii, played old school Nintendo, played with the kids, cooked out, took pictures, ate Seafood, & just had a total blast! It was the best trip to Florida we've ever been on. It's so cool now that our family is growing up & getting married & having babies that we all still go on trips together & surprisingly enough is even MORE fun than when we were younger. Now we play referee for sybling rivalries instead of cause our own. Haha. It was a blast. It would've been even better if Sam & Cortney could've come, but they got their own Florida trip the week before us which I know they loved for sure.

Here are a few of the INCREDIBLE pictures Meggan took of Adam & I. Meggan is really incredible. She has started her own business & is SO incredible!

She made us look good! haha. Even though I wasn't feeling good & Adam was missing a basketball game (We all appreciate your sacrifice Adam ;) ) we didn't look half bad. haha.

Check out her website: http://www.mebsphotography.com/

It was an incredible Christmas this year!