Lately in our mediocre lives.

Recently I was going through my old instagram photos from last year and it made me sad. I've always said that our life was mediocre, but really until we got to Idaho, it wasn't. I mean we lived in England for 3 months, then we lived in Savannah for a year and there was always something fun to do. The beach, good eatin', historical landmarks, events at the park, going crabbing, St. Patricks day festival, New Years Eve, 4th of July, road tripping to Charleston, kayaking, fishing etc.

It's not to say that I'm miserable here, it's just you never realize how good you have it until afterwards, and perhaps, I hope I will feel that way about Idaho when we leave. (Cross your fingers that one day we leave!)

And now, the purpose of this blog was to update with the actual mediocre things that we've been up to. Which most of you, I will warn you, it is boring, but it's for my personal records. Since Taylor is always printing our blog at the end of the year, our book from 2012 was much smaller than our book from 2011 (and it had four months less!) So I am going to make a better effort, maybe.

I'll start from where I can remember in February
I started a new job! Nothing fancy, but I definitely don't hate it, and that's important. I am a full-time receptionist at a car dealership here in Idaho Falls. I've been here for about a month now and it's going well. But it's given me a reason to hate Mondays again, so that's fun.

My BFF!! came to visit me all the way from Vegas. Well technically she only came from Lehi, but still. It was a blasty. We love eachother and her baby is the COOLEST! and best dressed, even Joan Rivers herself couldn't deny it:

After that weekend Valentine's day was approaching, and to be honest, I don't really care about Valentine's. I think it's much more fun when you're a little kid or you have little kids. I don't HATE Valentine's it's just silly that it's a commercial holiday that gives women a sense of entitlement to expensive gifts. But still Tayl got me roses, which looked like regular roses so I didn't take a picture of them because nobody really cares, except me. And ON Valentine's I threw this little ditty together in like 30 minutes:





 Then the following weekend we headed up to SLC, because said BFF's parents were having their mission farewell. That was sad for me because they are literally like Chicken Nuggets to me. and Chicken Nuggets, is like my family. The trip up there was ridiculous because we learned that Roscoe gets car sick and so he barfed like 12 times. Twice on me.

The last little bit of February, the dogs were a real hassle. Roscoe kept losing his teef. And then one day I came home for Lunch and the dogs had gotten into some of Tayl's specialty dark chocolate I gave him for Valentine's SO, I was freaking out and had to rush them to the vet. Which was 0% fun and 100% expensive. But they are alive.

And other that near death experiences and visits from loved ones, nothing else new exciting.

Oh and I made this wreath on Saturday and BARELY took down the Christmas-y one. At first I thought it was too plain. Because I literally went to Michael's and randomly grabbed stuff. But it turned out pretty good. I like it much more now that I've gone in and out of my door a few times:

That's all the mediocrity for now, folks.

wifed up wednesday: DIY "glittering landscape"

I found this project on apartment therapy. I saw it awhile ago but the other day I FINALLY got the last of our wedding gifts and left over decorations in mail from my dad. I found a couple of strands of Christmas lights and remembered this project.

So I went at it.

Here's what you need:

Mini Christmas lights
stretched and stapled Canvas
Hot glue or craft glue
Awl
Pencil
And optionally, you can paint the canvas before working with it.

This took me about 5 hours. Which, as you probably guessed, I was watching Mad Men so I didn't even realize how much time had passed.

First you need to mark where your lights are going to go. You can do this with a pencil on the back of the canvas.

Once you know where your lights are gonna go punch the holes in through the back with the awl (or whatever you have to punch holes). Then stick the lights through and secure them with glue (I used hot glue)


It's a pretty simple process, just time consuming.

 If I were to do it again (and I think I will) I would be a little more careful about where I put my lights AND I would have painted the canvas beforehand. Mine kind of looks abstract and random, but the lights still add a cool ambiance to whatever room you put it in.

wifed up wednesday: sigh, tissue pom poms.

today i realized it was wednesday. i came home from work and i got distracted by video games. because i'm not really a good wife, i just pretend.

i was going to do a picture tutorial like last week but then some other things happened so i made this video. i realize that probably everyone on the planet knows how to make these.

sorry that i look disgusting and sorry that i'm so large. and sorry about my weird hair. and sorry about my dog. but really i'm not sorry about any of it. but i'm truly sorry for the aeropostale hoodie, I don't even know where it came from. i think my friend's exboyfriend. awkward.

here you go! enjoy. next week will be better, i swear.

Tay edited this video for me. I am grateful but I wasn't supervising so weird things happened.

Also, I took way too long and the camera cut off so there's no ending. but here is the end result, in my mouth:

i really hope i don't make a habit out of this video thing or it will defeat the purpose of a blog...

wifed up wednesday: reusable dryer sheets

are you ready for wifed up Wednesday round 2? I hope so, because I put a little more effort into this one.

This is something I actually learned about long ago, and something we have [kinda] been doing since our entire marriage. (A WHOLE 10 MONTHS!) 

A while ago when we were still dating Tay bought me this craft book at Urban Outfitters. I must confess that I have done next to NONE of the crafts in the book yet (but I marked the ones I would like to try. That's what life was like before pinterest.) Except for this one thing.

reusable dryer sheets.

So, here's the run down. Basically, dryer sheets are made of the same stuff as fabric softener. Therefore, all you need is some kind of vehicle to get the softener up in there with your clothes while they're in the dryer. To do this, most people just go to the store and buy dryer sheets. Does this sound like you? Because it was me. But we can change that! Wouldn't you like to save money and help the environment just a smidgen? (It's really a win win.) You would? Then keep reading.

To do this, here's what you'll need:

One yard of cotton fabric

or random pieces of fabric that are big enough to cut out 8X8 squares.

Scissors, or rotary cutter

or laser cutter, whatever, just some way to cut the fabric.

Sewing Machine or Serger 

Don't get discouraged, this is actually optional

Bottle of your favorite fabric softener

or the cheapest, or whatever kind you have.

Empty spray bottle 

They can be found for like 99cents in the travel sized item section at Target

Choose your fabric.

Cut your fabric into 8x8 squares (don't worry if they're not perfect.)

This step is optional, but I ironed my squares, to make sewing easier.

rather than just leaving the squares as is, like in the book, I chose to double up on the squares. I did this because reasons. You don't have to do this, and obviously you can't if you're not sewing.

Then I sewed the edges for two reasons, 1) to sew the two pieces together. 2) to keep the edges from fraying over time. You can also use your serger on them. If you have one.

I have a serger, but it's in the garage, so I just tried out some of my different sewing patterns.

Then, you fill your spray bottle up with softener, keep the sheets and sprayer near your dryer. Right before you start drying a load just moderately spray your sheet and toss it in with the clothes. Pretty simple right?

*WARNING: if your laundry room has tile or hardwood floor, careful where you're spraying because the softener WILL make your floor slippery. I learned this the hard way.*

I actually came across a blog where they posted about the reusable sheets but instead of spraying they soaked the fabric in softener and water for like two days. I'm sure it works but that seems like a unnecessary amount of work. Whatever floats dat boat, I guess.

When we first got married and into our first apartment in South Carolina, I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get all of our household items under control. I had remembered the reusable dryer sheets idea, but I didn't have any random fabric so I decided we could try to use some cheap wash cloths  instead. It actually worked pretty good for awhile until the wash cloths started to be used for other things like cleaning. So I think if you wanted, you could just use cheap wash cloths, or even cut up an old t-shirt. Get creative. I just felt like making something pretty.

A lot of people ask if this also eliminates static like dryer sheets, I can't really say YES IT DOES! But since we've been doing this, we haven't had any problems with static. So.

Try it out, and tell me what you think!

shocks. pegs. lucky.

this isn't going to be my full post about Christmas, but rather a quick little post to brag about one of my Christmas gifts.

That's right you crafty ladies, It's a Cricut 2. And for those of you who have no idea what that it is, it's basically a die cutting machine. Top o' the line die cut machine.

Taylor totally surprised me with this one, I didn't even ask for it. I mean, I have said off and on throughout the year that I wished I had one. But, you know what I'm saying.

Anyway, I don't scrapbook. I don't have the money or the patience for it. I think this is mostly used by scrapbookers. But I feel like the possibilities are really endless for me.

I used it for wrapping our nieces birthday presents for their first birthdays that are coming up. I realize a 1 year old will not care about the wrapping job, or even probably care about what's inside. But this is mostly for me OKAY?

Oh yeah, I have also gotten into making my own bows. Did I mention that yet? It's super easy and fun and cheaper. You can find the tutorial by clicking HERE.

I am excited to get down to some serious crafting business after the holidays are over.

In other news, we are still down in Valdosta and I am sick and Taylor has bad allergies. Boo. I woke up the day after Christmas super sickly and I mostly laid on the couch all day. Lux was my super cuddly buddy.

Also, Thomas: