I miss sewing....

I made this dress back in April for my little niece Kahri right after she was born. I made it a 6 month size so she could wear it in the fall. Well, fall is here and she finally fits in it! Yay!

I wish I could actually see her in it (in person). But, I don't think I'll be making another trip to Switzerland any time soon, unfortunately....

Oh, and here is a dress I made for my little niece Emery who is 2. I made it for her back in June before we moved. I never heard if she ever wore it or not....mabye it didn't fit. Oh, well. I thought it turned out cute.
This was before it was completely finished (not hemmed yet, and no zipper).

Then, this was when it was finished (except I hadn't trimmed the ribbon tie yet...)

I like how it flares at the bottom.

Anyway, I miss sewing. Haven't been able to do any since I got here. Maybe some day....

Camping!!!!....????

So, I returned home from work last night at 9:30 and found this in my living room....

Wha Wha Whaaaat?????

That's right folks, its our tent. In our living room

: )

What a cute husband I have.

He left me a message telling me to pick the entertainment for the evening. And there on the couch were a bunch of DVD's to choose from. He had "rented" them all from the library. Who knew you could get such good movies from the library.... and for FREE!

So, I picked Bucket List. Then, I decided to go get my pajamas and what not and get ready for the camp out in the living room. I was suprised to find something missing in my room....

......the mattress off the bed! I had thought that it was an air mattress out in the tent. I didn't realize he had brought our real mattress out there!!!! If you look closely at the picture of the tent, you can see that the tent is actually sitting on top of the mattress. Hehe. Cute Steve. So, we slept comfortably. And had a good camp out in the living room.

I love cute suprises like that.

Thanks Steve.

Update

So, if you wonder why I don't do much updating on my blog... it's because.... well.... there's not much changing in my life! It's the same thing every week..... work at shoe carnival 5 days a week, go to church on Sundays, go to Young Women activities every Tuesday night, cook a few times a week (check out my food blog), sleep every night, and every once in a while I spend time with my husband and the occasional friends.

I did make these crafts at a craft night for Relief Society the other week. I was quite proud of myself, because I NEVER finish crafts! And that night I came home with TWO finished crafts! Hooray for my "Give Thanks" sign and my three square pumpkins! (Steve thought it was hillarious that the pumpkins were square.... I think they are cute)

I did dye my hair this week. I find that often when I feel like my life is just too... stagnant, no exciting changes.... I often do something different with my hair... because that makes me feel like I had some control over making a physical change in my life! Sounds crazy, I know....

Anyway, I was also starting to notice way too many gray hairs, so dying my hair was a definite need.

So, I picked out the color.....

....got messy....

...and, there you have it, my hair is now slightly darker with red in it! (I've had my hair colors similar to this before, but I haven't dyed it for a while, so it is kind of nice).

If you can't remember what color my hair was most recently, here is a glimpse.

I think that is pretty close to my natural color....not sure....

Steve is "enjoying" school. It is a lot of studying... but he likes just being able to focus on school and not having to worry about working or anything. He got a high pass on his first test and has his second one on Monday. So far he seems to be doing well at balancing his time. He makes time to excercise and lift weights, spend time with me, and eat. He is also a ward missionary so he goes out with the missionaries maybe once a week. Oh, and he has gained 10 pounds since we got here!!! YAY for Steve!!! This was as a result of hard work on his part-- lots of excercise and weightlifting, eating more, and using protein... stuff. Anyway, good job Steve. You look great!

Oh, so you know the hurricane disasters in Texas.... and how they had that mandatory evacuation of Galveston island.... and all that mess. Well, as I was hearing about all that I was thinking "Wow..... THAT is one of the reasons we ended up in Ohio instead of in Galveston, Texas! What a blessing!" Galveston was one of the three schools we were on the alternate list for, and Galveston was actually the place Steve most wanted to go. But, we ended up feeling best about Ohio and taking the offer from Ohio when we got it. But, if we had ended up in Galveston... all our stuff could be destroyed right now! I was laying in bed that night before the center of the storm was supposed to hit and I was thinking about which things I would have loaded up into the car to save..... Sure glad we didn't end up there : ) All we got here was some awesome heavy rain and wind as the aftermath of hurricane Ike.

We are glad to be here in Ohio. No hurricane disaster. Plus, if we weren't here, we might not have great friends like these ones......

Jon and Keriann Felt

Here is Jon in our Luv Sac. He enjoys lounging in it when they come over. Come over any time Jon! Thanks Jon and Keriann for being our friends! Keriann rescued me this week when I got sick at work and my employer wouldn't let me drive myself home because I was dizzy. Keriann left in the middle of what she was doing and came and picked me up and took me home. I felt bad to inconvenience her like that, but it is so nice to have a friend like that. Usually when I am in a situation like that I would call my mom to come get me.... this is the first time I've had to think.... "who am I gonna call???" (we only have one car and I had driven it to work and Steve was at school). My first thought was was to call Keriann. Thanks Keriann.

Oh, this week for our Young Women's activity I taught the girls how to make my grandma's cinnamon rolls. Check em out. Cinnamon Rolls We had fun. Speaking of Young Women activities.... I started a blog for my young women, but then before I even had anyone look at it, I was informed that we are "not allowed to do that" : ( So, I am now going to kill off that blog. But, I figured I'd transfer the two posts from that blog onto here, so I have a record of those activities we did : )

Modest is Hottest!

On September 9th, we learned about modesty then made modest "prom" dresses out of toilet paper, newspaper, tissue paper, and ribbons!!!

It was so fun to see what different designs the girls came up with. Beautiful dresses girls!

Lexus, Ashley, and Kaitlyn

Back to School!

On September 2nd we got ready for the new school year by making goals. All the girls wrote a letter to themselves, listing goals they had for the upcoming school year-- spiritual goals, physical goals, social goals, ANYTHING! We sealed the envelopes and will give the letters to the girls at the end of the school year. Alexandrea

After that, we made some locker magnets, using pictures out of magazines. We all had a great time and the magnets turned out super cute!

Lexus

Kaitlyn and Cortney

Missing my family....

My family is partying in Florida without me.....
(nephew Kyler, niece Kahri in stroller, sister Megan, bro-in-law Brady, brothers Daniel and Jordan, and my lovely mom Denise)

I took these pictures of my niece back before we moved out here and before my sister headed back to Switzerland. I just had them printed for my sister to pick up while she is out visiting again. As I've worked on them, I've wished I could see this cute little babe and give her a squish! This has been the first week I have started to feel some real tinges of homesickness. My family is all out in Florida right now on a vacation while my sister is visiting from Switzerland, and I wish I could be there with them : ( But, can't do everything.
However, thanks to our wonderful parents, we will be flying home for Christmas! Mine and Steve's parents are paying for our plane tickets to fly home. We will fly out December 21st and stay for 2 weeks, returning to Toledo on January 4th, the day before Steve goes back to school.
It feels kind of strange to already be making plans for Christmas! But, it will be here before we know it. I am excited already... I love the holiday season. I have already started listening to Christmas music. Not all that "HO HO HO" stuff--- REAL Christmas music.... I've quite enjoyed it : )

Bamboo Bathroom

BEFORE

AFTER

So, I wasn't a huge fan of the blue bathroom... I mean, it was cute... but not really me. And it didn't match all the bathroom stuff I already had! So, I am in the process of painting it. Two walls are now green. I am still trying to determine what to do next.... What color do I paint the other two walls.... and what color do I do the window frame and trim/moulding/whatever that strip of wood is that goes around the room!???

Here is the wall across from the shower (notice the reflection in the mirror)

Then the other wall just has the door on it.

I was thinking either paint the other two walls a light beige-ish tan color(like the color of the towels, picture below) and then do the trim stuff a darker tannish color (like the trim on the towel). Or, vice versa.

Suggestions please! I am no good at this!