Announcement!!!

Well it has been forever, I know.  I just wanted to stop by quickly and announce that my husband and I are expecting baby #2 in November!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was all God's timing on this one and if baby comes on its due date, my son and this new bundle will almost share a birthday!

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I have only done 2 craft in the last month and a half since we found out, but I have not had the energy.  Now that I am heading into trimester 2, I will be doing more crafts like I was and posting them for my friends and family to see once more.  

I will also be updating my blog for my pregnancy too each week, but not a lot of belly shots due to my belly still looking a little "beer" belly right now. :-P

Crockpot Chicken Tacos

3 ingredients, that is all you need for this awesome and may I say YUMMY Chicken taco recipe!  If you like chicken, taco's and dinner that you don't need to do any work for then this is your recipe!

Crockpot Chicken Tacos
Recipe taken from My Chocolate Therapy

- 6 boneless chicken breasts
- 16 oz jar of salsa
- 1 packet taco seasoning

Just add the salsa and taco seasoning together, stir and add chicken.  I basically coat the chicken in the seasoning, then add the salsa on and around the chicken!  Cook on low 4 hours, or if you need it to go longer cook for 6 or 8 hours, whatever you need!

For the taco's, just whip up whatever you like on them! Cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream are just to name a few.  You can use hard or soft tortilla's, flour or corn for soft!  They also make good enchilada's or burrito's.  Whatever your hearts desire. 

FamILY Glass Block

I wish I owned a cricut so I could cut out vinyl in the words and phrases that mean the most to me.  Then create something out of them with my favorite colors on canvas's or wood, even glass.  

This past weekend I went to visit my grandparents because my grandpa turned 90 last week.  Of course I had to do a little shopping since we have NOTHING here in this small ghetto druggie town.  I found a store called craft warehouse and instantly fell in love.  They had EVERY project I could ever imagine/wanted to do.  So, I grabbed a few things that were in my budget and I cannot wait to try them out!

Materials:

- glass block of your size

- string of mini lights

- iridescent tinsel (if wanted, I saw some blocks with just light/sand/marbles....)

- vinyl lettering of your choice (whether its your own or store bought)

Really the directions speak for themselves, but I thought I would write something out real quickly.  Start out by making sure the block is clean and free of smudges and finger prints.  Then position your quote how you want it and make a couple tick marks to make sure it is straight.  Then peel off the baking (if it has one like mine did) and stick it to the block, starting at one corner.  Using some sort of straight edge to make sure there are no bubbles, press down the rest of the vinyl.

Then add your lights and tinsel to your hearts desire!!  I still have half a bag of tinsel left to make another one at some point.  Also, like any lights, plug them in to make sure they actually do work.  

Voila! You have your finished product in under 30 minutes!  It looks really cool at night all plugged in!

Shaving Cream Fun

I like to experiment with new things/ideas that would make my sons world just a little bit brighter.  I cannot wait until he is older and I can implement what I was taught in college as a future teacher.

A friend found on pinterest an idea for the bath tub that included shaving cream and food coloring.  It was a hit with her son, so I decided to try it with Riley.  He had a blast, though I think my husband had more fun painting my son like Van Gogh!

You take just plain ole shaving cream, your muffin tin and food coloring and have fun!  Make sure you grab a couple paint brushes as well!  A little side note...from what I read online sometimes the food coloring can stain your tub.  It hasn't with mine, but I also wash my tub out right away as well.

You see how Riley is all painted...yep Mike's doing!

He loved every minute of it!

And one more picture for good measure, and just because I have the cutest little boy on the planet!

Helping daddy in the garage!

DIY Coasters

I seem to start these DIY posts out with "I have always wanted...".  It is true, everything that I plan on making are things that I have always wanted for my house.  This time I have always wanted a GOOD set of coasters.  Something that screamed my style.  Before we just had some cheap kind, that my son actually got into and started eating the cork on the bottom.  So, they had to go and these wonderful pinterest inspired ones I came up with!

Thanks Frugal Girls for your help!

The one's I found on pinterest wanted me to use resin!  One, I do not have the time or patience for that and two it looked TOO complicated for me.  So I searched the internet for a different solution and found it: Modpodge!  All I needed was modpodge.  A few of the blogs I looked at said that, so that is what I went with.  

Materials:

- tiles (HD or Lowes has them sold individually)

- Modpodge (matte or glossy, I use Matte)

- Felt for the bottom (you can find already precut circles or buy enough to cover the bottom)

- brushes

- pictures

- clear coating spray (I used polyurethane)

I first started out by cutting my pictures down to just a little bit under 4 in x 4 in, the same as my tiles.  I did 4 in color and 4 in black and white.  My husband got me 10, so I did 2 as a starting point to make sure it was going to work/how it would turn out before I did my 8 real ones.  The extra two are in my bedroom on our nightstands!

Next I applied a generous coat of modpodge to the tile so that the picture would stick and stick forever!  I laid something moderately heavy on top of the picture so that it would set well with the modpodge.

Once it was dry and set to the tile, I applied a good coat of modpodge over the picture and let that dry for about 20 minutes or so.  Applying a couple coast over the picture makes sure the picture will not come up over time.  Let the last coat of modpodge dry a good half a day to full day or so.

If you are somewhat impatient like me and want to start using your pretty and awesome coasters, you only waited about half a day! ha ha  I went outside to a well ventilated area, which was my garage (with the garage door open).  Spray in an area you do not mind "water proofing", and apply a thin coat of the spray.  Then wait 10-15 minutes (or whatever it says on the can) and apply another thin coat.  Do this 2-3 times and let the tiles dry over night/24 hours until you can completely use them.  Store in a NOT cold weather environment or else they will come out sticky.  So bring them inside to dry!!

Once they are all dry, get out your hot glue gun and glue your felt to the bottom of your coasters.  I just cut out 4 small squares and placed them at each corner of the bottom of the coaster, or you can cut out a full square and place it on the bottom.

Once they are done, put them somewhere you will be proud to display them!

Riley is 15 Months!

I cannot believe that my little boy is 15 months old already! This time last year he was so small, drinking out of my boob, and just finally getting used to lifting his head for more than just a few seconds!

Riley on his 3 month bday 2/28/2011 ROAR!

I miss that pudgy little boy, though we have nicknamed him chunky monkey right now because he still has those cute cheeks and eats like a pig!  He wasn't even mobile then, now he is trying to master running since he has mastered walking!

Riley LOVES gym daycare, getting to play with his little boy friends and seeing his girlfriends.  He is the mascot for Health Sport.  We have dubbed him!  haha ;)  

He loves playing chase with his daddy and hitting Mommy and Daddy thinking he is Thor with his hammer.  

He loves his lightsaber now that he knows where the ON/OFF switch is and pretending he is a Jedi.

He loves making a mess of his legos and balls from his ball pit.

He loves bringing us books to read and in the middle of the story, go get another one for us.

He loves figuring things out for himself and being independent.

He loves throwing balls and kicking them!

Riley can only say Mama and Dada for right now, but he "talks" ALL the time.

He loves to eat Mac N Cheese, watermelon and pineapple.  Those are all his FAVORITES.

Mr. Boy has 8 teeth and currently teething!

I love you Riley, always and forever.  You will always be mommy's baby no matter how big you get and how much I embarrass you!

Superhero Growth Chart

    Usually you see markings on the walls of the houses you rent/buy, but have to cover up because it just ruins a wall, unless it is actually your house.  For my family, it was on our downstairs door going into the kitchen.  Being an Army wife, buying a house it hard to come buy, especially when you are active duty.

    I have always wanted a growth chart for Riley.  Have him stand next to one and do the whole pencil mark thing a few times a year to see how they have grown, get all excited when they have a new tick mark, etc.  That is, when they can stand still long enough for you to do that.  I hope that will be soon because I know have one!

    I wanted one that would fit our personality/his upcoming room theme which will be The Avengers (since Mike is ONLY Marvel fan).  So, Riley got a superhero themed growth chart, all logo's daddy approved of.  I know that Transformers isn't part of the Avengers, but I didn't like how the Iron Man logo turned out and the Hulk didn't have a logo.  So, I went with another favorite of ours and It still looks awesome with the others.

This would be my first project of 2012!  I decided to do 2 projects a month with each paycheck.  It gives me something to do, plus I get to implement all my ideas and thoughts into projects.  Pinterest is no help either.  I have projects up thru May!  This was my project for January 15th, but I ran out of spray paint and I went home to WA so it got put on hold until after we got taxes back.

So, yes, my monogrammed was for February 1st and got done first, but that took me all of a couple hours to make.  I still had a couple coats to put on my growth chart, which is why it came second.  Ok, enough of my jibber jabber, on to how I made it!

My "tools"

    - ruler/straight edge

    - scrapbook paper/cardstock paper

    - pens/pencils/sharpie

    - measuring tape

    - printed out logo's/numbers

    - modpodge/brushes
    - spray paint
    - 4-5 ft long wood

I forgot to take pictures as I did it step by step, but it is easy enough to just explain real quick.

1. Cut your wood for however long you want your chart to be.  I did mine a little over 4 ft.  Went from about 2 ft to 6 ft.  I then sanded down the rough edges to be ready to be spray painted.

2.  I spray painted a few coats on the wood, making sure to get the sides and top and bottom as well.  When it was all done and dry (make sure you do it in a garage/well ventilated area so you don't get high from the fumes!) I sanded down any rough spots on the area I was going to modpodge/sharpie so there was nothing that was left uneven.

3. While you wait for your paint to dry, print out your letters you want to do your name in.  Find a font you like, the right size and cut it out and trace onto your scrapbook paper/card stock.  I decided to go with the Army font since it fit our lifestyle! :) After I cut them out, I traced it on my card stock paper and cut those out.  All ready to be modpodged onto my wood board.

4.  I used my tape measure to get the markings an even inch apart.  Then I used my ruler/straight edge to make the hash marks.  Once they were all even on all accounts (due to my perfectionist personality) I was ready to darken in the lines.  You can do this with the sharpie or paint, but I thought the sharpie was dark enough and I could use the straight edge.  All was well.

5.  With being a perfectionist, I layed out my pieces on my board before putting them down.  I put down the logo's first in the order I wanted them to be, then I modpodged the letters after the logos.  I put on the numbers last and let everything dry for a few hours.

After it was all dried, my husband and I put it up in my sons room!  I thought it turned out really well and am very happy with the end result!

Monogrammed Initial Wall hanging

I have always wanted my own Monogramed wall hanging made with me and my husbands initials.  I finally just went to Michael's and got the stuff to make my own!  I haven't put it in it's place yet, but I need to go back to Michael's and get a frame holder to put it up on top of my bookcase

To get started I just went to Michaels and got my supplies.  We ONLY have a Michael's so that is what I had to use, but I love the store anyways, so it was all good.  My supplies were:

           - wood plaque (I got the "french style, LG)

           - wood letters

           - scrapbook paper x2

           - Modpodge

           - whatever color paint you wanted, I had some old ones lying around

           - brushes

I first put a light coat of modpodge on my wooden plaque and set it on top of my scrapbook paper.  I matched up my scrapbook paper so you wouldn't see the crease and it came out perfectly.  I then set the plaque on the paper and held it down for a little while, so that it would bond and stick together.  I then took my x-acto knife and cut the remaining paper out.  There were some imperfections, but it only made it look better, IMO.  I even did a light layer of modpodge over the top of the paper, sticking down the sides a little that weren't stuck down.  

After that was dried, I took my black paint and painted the embellishment of the plaque.  I didn't care if I got some paint up on the paper because it gave it sort of a distressed look.  I let that dry, then took a small brush and gave the top portion a little silver brush over.

While the plaque dried, I went onto painting my letters.  I first coated all 3 of them in black paint.  I had left over acrylic paint, so it dried in like 10 minutes.  I then took a few colors and got a real nice medium teal color and brushed it over the top of the letters.  Once that dried and it was to my liking, I painted all the sides solid teal.  

Once the letters were dry, I modpodged them to the plaque how I wanted them.  I know traditionally the wife's name goes first, but with our last name being a 'B', putting the 'M' after it made it look off and uncentered.  With my OCD, that wasn't going to happen, so the 'M' had to go first (for my husbands name Michael), and the 'A' (for my name Allison) had to go second.

PB Choc. Chip Cookie Bars

For the longest time, I have been looking at healthy dessert recipes, but too scared to try them because of some of the ingredients in them.  Well today that ended!  I found these Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars and they are SO good!  I wanted to bake, so I made these for myself and PB Choc. Chip Cookies for my husband (from Tollhouse, homemade).

 Make sure you cut the wax paper enough so that it doesn't touch the rack in your oven!  Unless you want smoke to come into your house!  I didn't cut mine enough, but wasn't enough smoke to do anything.  Just the smell of a little wax burning! :P  Also I had to add some extra time because it wasn't cooked all the way in the middle, so I think it cooked something like 35 minutes or a little more

They are so good, even my son LOVED them.  Granted he is only 14 months and will eat anything sweet, he devoured the one I had in my hand. I didn't have to give it a second thought giving them to him because they are somewhat healthy and I didn't feel guilty after eating 2!  These are diet friendly ladies!!!!

 

Seriously, these are so good!  The best part is I didn't find them on Pinterest! haha I was just searching the internet for something peanut butter/chocolate-y yumminess after finding my husbands PB/CC cookie recipe.

Now that I have a lot of whole wheat flour, I think I am going to start baking with it, or at least half all purpose and half whole wheat.  Bring it on, bring it on!!!!

My Baby Boy

I wanted to make something that would showcase how special my little boy is to me.  You see all these amazing prints online (pinterest, and etsy) and think I wish they had one that would cater to my style.  You are afraid to ask if they would do it this way or that, so I took it into my own reigns.  I took his birth stats and played around. These two projects are what I came up with!

I made both of them in photoshop elements!  I am so proud of myself, with little help, figuring out how to  put projects together like this!  I have wanted to for so long, but only knew how to edit my photo's.  Also, now that I have templates, I can rework them for friends and family that want them.  I am also thinking of selling them if people like them enough!

Today, I made 2 more.  Both are for one of my best friends for her little boy, Frankie who is 5 days older than Riley.  I can also tweak these ones for whoever may want them (at a price)!  

Frankie loves anything superhero, just like his uncle Marcus, so it was suitable that I do his birth stats like I did.  

Wedding Memories

I have started to expand my knowledge in my photoshop beyond just editing photo's.  It is an awesome feeling to finally get something accomplished that I have been wanting to do for years now!  I will show you a few selections tonight.  Thanks go pinterest I have compiled 3 wedding memories as I like to call them.

The first is one of my favorite photo's from that day, our saying and our date!

The second is our wedding vows we took to each other.  Yes, I had a little trouble getting them out due to all the tears. ;) 

The third is our first dance.  I wanted to put our first dance picture in the center, but I didn't have a good one, so I did my second favorite picture of us on the beach.  Our song is "I Don't Want to Miss A Thing" by Aerosmith, so it was only fitting to have our first dance to it as well.  

 I am thinking that if enough people like them, I will sell them to my friends and family that want to preserve the memory of their weddings as well.  Each one will get a frame (if wanted) and mailed very safely.  I need to figure out a price, but if anyone wants one, please, let me know! :)

New Year, New Beginnings

This year, I will try my hardest to write more.  I have started project 365 again, so a few times a week, I will post my pictures for that as well as catching up.  I want to as well post new recipes I make, along with those photo's of the food.  My goal for the new year is to lose the rest of the weight and master the manual on my camera.

Riley turned 1 on November 28th, 2011.  He had such a great time eating the cake!  We may have to have it more than once a year for him! ;)

Here is my first 365 photo!  January 1st, 2012...Lightsaber Fun/Jedi Training!!!!

Wednesday Thoughts...

My birthday came and went without anything horrible happening.  haha  I am now 25, a quarter of a century old.  I cannot begin to say how blessed I am.  I have an amazing family and friends who love and care for me, like I do to them.  I have the bestest husband in the world, and the most handsome baby boy that God could have blessed Mike and I with .  Of course I got many good things for my birthday, the best being after 5 years together and missing 5 birthday's of mine, I FINALLY got to spend it with Mike!  I am so glad that there was no moving to Germany, Iraq, NTC to get in the way of it this year.  Lets see I also got a new pair of jeans, waterproof jacket, Adobe Elements and a very awesome editing program from MCP actions.  I can finally just add that POP of something all my pictures need.

I also got a job, but most likely will not be sticking to it.  It is unfortunate, but daycare is just too expensive and I do not want to work just to make enough for daycare, which a lot of them do not take younger than 2, and the home care ones are not good here.  I have had a few moms tell me they cannot be trusted.  This is such an emotional subject for me and have been going back and forth on it for a while now.

We also got flea's from the stupid people who lived at this house before us and it is bad.  I have 2, 2 boxes of bombs that I hope works.

Mike sold his Asus and drumset and is now getting himself a desktop computer and going to build it himself.  he is like a kid in a candy store!  He cannot wait for the parts to come so he can build it this weekend.  This benefits me in the fact that it is a 1 Terabyte system and has an awesome video card so I can do lots of edits besides my husbands love of his games.

those are my thoughts...

Riley

I just wanted to give a quick update on what has been happening with Riley since it has been a while.

Lets see, he has started rolling completely over and mastered it in a snap.

He started saying his "baba's", "dada's", "gaga's" and such!  He would combine a lot of them and it was the cutest thing in the world.  he also said "blah".  Though now, like anything he does comes and goes, so he doesnt do it as often.

He has become a screamer now, especially when you do not pay attention to him.  We are trying our hardest to start "No" since it is so loud.  haha  We know, it too shall soon pass.

He can sit up 90% of the time without falling over.  He falls over when he forgets what he is doing. :)

He can Army crawl very FAST!  He is almost crawling crawling, but like rolling over, he is just taking his sweet time.

I think that is all for now.  He is becoming such a little boy!  Oh, he loves anything electronic, cords and shiny things.  :D

it's been a while...

Wow, I didn't realize with everything going on that I had not updated all my loving followers in a while! :D  So, I will try my hardest to update you all as short as I can...

Pretty mama Audrey and Frank

In the last couple weeks of Mike being at Recruiting School, I went home and enjoyed a wonderful week with my family and some amazing people!  One being one of my best friends, Audrey who has been wanting me to come home forever (I did too of course) who I actually pulled off surprising her at her door step!  It was epic, there was crying involved!  Riley and Frank had a good time playing together for the short time we were together.  I saw my pregnant lady Jen and got to touch the bellay known as Savannah!  We had

Frank and Riley playing

fun at Armed Forces Day that we went too a year ago while I was pregnant with Riley!  Riley loved hanging out with his uncles and Papa and Grandma.  I also got to go to my Church in which I saw many pretty ladies who I missed as well! I really do miss home and how it makes me feel there.  I can't wait to go back in July for the Beach!!!!

all loaded up

Mike came home and started clearing so we could leave by the 15th of June only to find out we couldn't leave until the 25th due to Ft Stewart wanting to PCS everyone in June.  Since I had a little bit of extra time, I went and saw Melissa and  her beautiful girls!  Riley and I will miss them very much!  After I got back, we organized and got ready for the Army to come pack us up, put it away and make its way out here to Cali.

The trip was long, but only took 4 days to get to Sacramento for Mike to sign in with Battalion and get squared away.  Riley did awesome on the trip.  He was such a trooper to mostly be fed bottles and

spoon fed IN the truck.  Pulling the car behind the

Riley taking a break from being in his car seat!

truck was an adventure in itself as well.  We have been here in Eureka for a little over a week, almost a week and a half and cant wait to get into our house!  We found it quickly, but couldn't decide on taking it or not.  In the end it was always there when we couldn't find anything else so we choose it.  3 beds, 2 baths, awesome house to live in for the next 3 years.  We were supposed to get it yesterday (Saturday), but these relaters are very slow and like laid back, and do not keep us informed of anything.  Come tuesday tho, that house is ours to move into.  Tuesday comes DirecTv, and Wed is our HHG!!!  I cannot wait to sleep on my own bed and get Riley back in his crib!  being in a hotel for the past 2 weeks is UGH.  haha

I think that will be all for now.  I will update you all about Riley tomorrow if I get the time.  haha  He has been keeping us on our feel lately.

My Self Guided Tour of the "Army Wives" set

Yesterday, Mike, Riley and I went into Charleston, SC where I would say about half or ALL (dunno where their actual sets are) of the scenes are shot for the show "Army Wives".  YES, the show has its flaws, but it does an amazing job at the portrayal of the emotions that we go through.  We couldn't find the old Hump Bar, but Mike said before we leave the East Coast, we would go back and find it (now that we know where it is :D).  So, here are ALL the pictures that I got...

First was off to find the new Hump Bar that Roxy took over after Betty gave it to her and gave it the name Betty's. :D (on Meeting St next to a Fine Rug store and cross road is Algonquin).  The old Hump Bar is down on King st (one street over from Meeting st) across from the vehicle drop off place (for people going OCONUS).

The gate on the side of the "trailer"

Mike noticed that behind the Bar on King St., that there was an Army tent and a couple vehicles, so we decided to investigate.  Upon our investigation we found that it was the Iraq/Afghan set they used (inside was bare of course, no trespassing and a casting office! haha) AND the sign for Piedmont Place.  Their dressing rooms/trailers were parked in the area as well.

the Tent and next to it was the vehicles (not pictured)

the Iraq/Afghan set

Just the sign, couldn't find the actual Piedmont Place

Brigid Brannagh's parking spot

Sterling Brown's spot

and the YUMMY Brian McNamara's spot

Next we went to go find the houses and the Park where a lot of the scenes are shot, but there was a Gay Pride celebration going on, too many people at the Park, so we are going to pursue it another day!!!  All these locations are seriously RIGHT next to each other in N. Charleston on an old Navy Yard (I believe it used to be a small base since there was a gate and old military housing, etc).

Frank and Denise's House (on Hobson and Turnbull)

Their front door!

Claudia Joy and Michael Holdon's house (on Verdum & Marne)

Their gazebo!! 

Roland and Joan's house (down the road on Verdum Ave)

The General's parking spot

The beautiful Admin Building (Everglades and Navy st)

 I wish they hadn't boarded up the windows so soon after they stopped filming since it looks so silly, but it was still awesome that I got to see the "set".  Also, no one can find Pamela's and Roxy's house, so that was out of the question.

If you go visit Charleston, SC anytime in your lifetime (haha get it ;) ), you should go find these places.  It is easy to spot the houses because they have the orange markers and private property (don't stand on grass) signs!!  Downtown Charleston is absolutely beautiful.  They have tours of Ft. Sumter, Ghost Tours, and supposed to be an awesome Aquarium.  I cannot wait to go back and just walk around downtown and enjoy it more.

Now, to resume watching this weeks "Army Wives".  :D :D