Since I'm usually hanging out on the floor with my sweet baby in the morning, I'm thinking that my spill-proof travel mug should just be the new norm...  Playing coffee musical chairs is getting kind of old. :)

And if you're looking for a great travel mug, I'd highly recommend the Contigo spill proof (this isn't a paid advertisement).  You have to push the button to open the spout, and once you release, it closes.  No forgetting to close your spill-proof mug and defeating the purpose.  I've had mine over 3 years and still love it :)

Coffee Perfection... Almost

... Well at least in my opinion.  I know there are about 14 gazillion "Perfect Iced Coffee" recipes out there, and I've tried several... Today I decided to throw it all out the window and try something completely from scratch, no "recipes" in mind... Because all of the recipes I've tried just haven't cut it.  They're good.  But not great.  And I'm so over paying $4 for iced coffee at the local Yuckbucks.  Side note: my church now has a coffee shop - Jitters, and they get their beans from a member whose hobby is roasting his own beans. Oh. My. Goodness.  Seriously.  After having Jitters for a couple of months, I ran through the drive-thru at the above mentioned chain coffee shop and literally wondered if they had run out of coffee and gone outside and dug up some dirt to replace it.  I love strong coffee.  But I don't love strong bitter coffee.

Well let's get back to this morning.  What I made this morning was really good, but I would still probably tweak it a bit, so here's what I did and what I would do next time.

I used my french press (it's a small, single serve - I think 12oz) and added 3 level scoops.  Next time I'm thinking more along the lines of 4 or 5 heaping scoops of ground coffee (especially if you're going to ice it).  I also added 1/4 tsp. of dark chocolate cocoa (I get this at the local Spice Merchant) before I added my boiling water.  While it was brewing, I added 2 tsp. of good, rich vanilla from Mexico (the only way to go when it comes to vanilla!) and 2 packets of Splenda to 1 cup of skim milk.  Next time I think I'll start with 1 tsp. vanilla and 1 packet Splenda.

After 3 minutes of brewing, I mixed the coffee and milk, added a bit of ice and voila!  I was pretty excited that it turned out, not having any idea how the cocoa and vanilla would taste together (although very rare, sometimes too many good things together don't turn out good).  One of the best parts is that this comes in around 90 calories - and those are just from the milk, so they're "good" calories :) - especially if you're like me and don't like to "drink" away your daily calories (unless of course they're in the form of melted chocolate ;)
 

{this is only a portion of how much it made... I made it to last the whole day}

Like my straw? It's a sneak peak at one of the things that will be at Emmalyn's First Birthday party - which I'm having a blast planning and crafting for!  Can't wait for you to see it all!  But you'll have to wait until after October 13th :)

Grand Lake 2011

 Every other summer, Chris' grandparents - Grandpa and Grandma Ludlow - treat everyone on Chris' mom's side with a family reunion at Grand Lake.  This year was the third year, and I'm already counting down until summer '13 :)  We tried a new resort, and while the facilities were newer, Grandpa wasn't able to sit on the deck and watch his grandkids (and great grandkids) play in the water like previous years... Big bummer :(  

It worked out to where Chris, Emmalyn, and I were able to go down Thursday after work with Tera (Chris' sister) and Brian (her BF) and stay at Brian's grandparent's cabin that night.  We got up Friday and had the whole day to start vacation off right :) 

My dad had told me about "Little Blue River" in Disney, OK and I thought it would be fun to make a little family trip there. So Friday morning we got up and headed that way... Well, it's definitely a "you have to know exactly where you're going" place; you're not going to accidentally stumble on it :)  Thanks to the friendly local gas station attendant, we finally found it! What a great little place!  Reminded me of Pillsbury Crossing for all of you K-Staters :) 

 {so beautiful!}

 {I now realize how white trash I made E look by just taking her pants off, ah well}

As we were walking deeper and deeper, she'd try and "step over" the water by bringing her legs up higher with each step :)

Another place I wanted to explore was Lendenwood Gardens, which happened to be about five minutes from the place we were staying!  It was warm and muggy, but beautiful as well!  Good memories, and great photo-opps ;)  To say that watching Em experience new things is "awesome" would be putting it lightly... I could watch her all day exploring new things of this world... I love seeing the wheels turn in her head... Soaking it up, taking it all in...

{she love, love, LOVES riding on dad's shoulders}

 

Unfortunately, that's about the extent of my pictures... We did a lot of relaxing, which isn't really photo-worthy, and actually would be quite boring for anyone else to look at.

  

{Quality book reading time with Grandpa Shields before bed one night}

Mama always said "Better Safe Than Sorry"

I know it's been about 12 ions since I've posted, and this isn't a "fun" post by any means... I promise I'll get to some fun posts soon.  But I thought I'd give a free PSA reminder to all my bloggy friends! :)

Story of Relevance #1:  Recently a friend had her purse stolen out of her husband's car :(  I've had my car broken in to in high school, and Chris' truck has been broken in to in the last few years.  You feel SO violated when someone has been in your personal property (car, house), and took something of yours.  Ick :(

Story of Relevance #2: Chris and I were recently at Target. We split up because I was getting non-fun stuff (ie toilet paper), and I always feel pressure when he's with me (I like to take my time to make sure I'm getting exactly what I want, especially now that I coupon).  I know this "pressure" is ridiculous because he couldn't care one hoot, but it's just how I feel.  Anyway, so after figuring out the price per inch (or something like that) on toilet paper, I went on to do my other shopping.  When we met up again, I realized my phone wasn't with me - I asked if he had taken it, which he hadn't, so I went to retrace my steps.  I start [kind of] freaking because in my whole life of owning a cell phone I have never EVER left it anywhere. Ever!  Even with crazy mom brain - and I didn't even have the kid with me this time!  As I was coming up on the tp isle, it looked as if someone was looking at a phone kind of curiously and started walking away with it.  I was too far away to say something, so I figured I'd just follow them.  Thankfully they took it to customer service, where I retrieved it 3.2 seconds later.  My whole life is on that phone, so THANK YOU whoever you are for being a responsible citizen! :)

Point of Story #1 and #2:  Both of those stories compelled me to do what I did today... And I'd highly suggest you do the same! Crazy weird things happen, and you'll say "I wish I would have..." when they do!

 I took everything out of my wallet (except the checkbook and cash - which is never in there anyway, so don't have to worry about that!) and scanned the front and back of everything into my computer, where it is now safely stored.  If anything ever happens to my wallet, I have an accurate account of everything that is in it.  This has made me go through my wallet and take out unnecessary items.  When Emmalyn was first born, I had to give her ss# all the time it seemed, so I still had her card in there! NOT necessary!!  One suggestion I'd offer, if you have a smart phone, I'd highly recommend a "Password Keeper" application.  You have to enter a password to get into the app (so it's secure!), and it stores everything you could need or want!  I LOVE it :)  One last thing, write down all of your information from your cards (DL, credit cards, debit cards, bank acct info), and the phone numbers to those places.  If anything does happen to your wallet, you can quickly and effectively call places to have them put holds on your accounts.  This may seem like overkill, but I promise you won't regret it if something happens.

This is one sheet of my scanned cards...  Yes, I scanned my rewards cards (and sorry, I didn't want a picture of my important cards floating around the internet, no matter how much I "erased" on them).  I'd rather just glance at a document, rather than trying to rack my brain of all the places I have cards :)

DIY Crib Rail Protectors

I have to say I'm kind of disappointed.

Before starting to write this blog I looked up "crib rail protectors" to make sure I had the correct terminology, thinking that I would find those plastic tube-looking things.  Oh how wrong I was.  I found fabric tie-ons similar to what I thought I had ingeniously (more or less) thought up all by myself.  So just to clarify, my tie on crib protectors I thought up all of my own.  This is my virtual pat on the back.

So moving on.  With the babe's teeth coming through, she's already found them useful for perfecting her woodchuck impersonation on the crib.  I wondered what the brown specks on her shirt the other day were...  Lovely.  So I scrounged around and found everything I needed around the house.

Materials I used:
- 1 yard of fabric
- Extra fabric for padding (optional) - I used two layers of flannel-type material
- Ribbon (I would suggest one with a little texture as opposed to the silky stuff I used)
- Non-slip shelf liner "NSSL" as I'll refer to it from now on (found with the contact paper, it's kind of foamy/squishy)

There aren't any "in progress" pictures.  It was late.  And I was preoccupied watching episodes of The OC.  Please don't hate.

Some random facts:

For the front piece, I sewed two pieces together since my crib is longer than a yard.

I could probably have spent a bit more time and sewn the ties on inside the two layers of fabric, but the way my crib is made, you can't even see where the ties are sewn on, so I just sewed them on the underneath side.

The silky ribbon probably won't stay tied as well as a textured one would.  But with my few layers of NSSL, it hasn't moved yet.

the two side pieces

 I thought one piece (the long skinny one) of NSSL would be enough, but after a couple
times of babe standing up in the crib and messing with them, the non-slip stuff wasn't
doing its job.  I suggest a couple of layers, at least one cut nearly as thick as your bumper)
so it wraps over and around the side.

Finished! And, if I do say so, cuter than what I could have bought :)

Any projects on your radar at the moment?

Inspired Vignette

I'm sad to say that the past few years I have hardly been garage sale-ing / antiquing.  I'm sure I've passed up countless deals and cute stuff because I've had a "it's all just stuff that'll collect dust" attitude. Shame on me, I know.  And my house poor shows it.  Looking around the other day, I realized that  - aside from a few clusters here and there - my house doesn't feel as homey as I'd like it to {my Mom disagreed with me and said it does feels homey}.  But I think I can step it up a few notches for a few dollars.   In fact, I stopped at a garage sale today and came home with a couple of treasures.  I'm excited to find them a perfect place!  I'm thinking about spray painting the basket a dull black... I'm not digging the green.  What do you think?

I've been perusing Google Images for spring decorating ideas {no joke, I could be on GI for days and not get bored}.  Now my virtual "Design Ideas" folder is busting at its poor gigabyte seams.

My goal for the next couple of weeks is going to be the mantle.  It's been pretty "wah-wah" with black frames and a few tea lights.  But we're taking baby steps here until I can come up with enough fun stuff to fill it.  Enter, the bathroom and it's new vignette:

What do you think of my paper doily wrapped soap pump?  At least for a few days until it starts getting splashed.  But hey, a package of 40 was at the dollar store. No complaints when it does get wet and ruined.  I think some lace ribbon to tie on the top of my lotion dispenser would add a nice touch too.  Bonus: see that little empty space between the broach and hair pins?  A place to put my ring at night!  

What are your favorite places to go antiquing/"junking"? 

Coming Soon - My "Inspiration Board" for Emmalyn's first birthday! :)

I Hate the Circle of Life...

... Especially when it happens in my backyard.

I went to let the dogs in tonight, and Chelsea had a baby rabbit on the back porch... After finally getting her to leave it alone and go in the house, I hollered for Chris to come get it thinking it was dead.  But worse yet, it wasn't.  It's back end was dragging.  I start crying.  Wonderful husband "took care" of it (I definitely couldn't have done it). I have to tell myself it was best/only thing for the poor thing. Still sad :(  Stupid dogs.

Reminds me of a very vivid memory I have of when I was little.  A baby bird had fallen out of the nest.  I wanted so bad to take it to the vet.  I just knew that they could help it.  But my Mom assured me there was nothing they could do for it.  I remember sitting on her lap crying.  And hearing her heartbeat.  It was so comforting.  She told me that not even a bird dies without God knowing about it.

I've always been sensitive when it comes to animals, especially baby animals.  And I'm pretty sure being a mom now makes it about ten times worse.

I'll leave you with a funny story of the same subject.  When I was younger, we went through our fair share of hamsters.  When one in particular died, I remember burying it in an old check box in the backyard.  I put food in the box, just in case it wasn't really dead.  Hahaha.  That's the extent of what I remember.  But apparently I dug it up a couple times... Well, every time the story gets told, my brother adds more times that I dug it up.  It was not seven times, or eight.  Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure I dug it up to put food in the box, then maybe one more time to make sure it hadn't "woken up" and started eating the food.  Ahh, kids.