Stop and Smell the Roses {Vlog::1}

I cannot believe I am finally doing this. I had seen a couple other girls here do Vlogs before but I had never really done it before. That is until last week when I came across Mandy's blog House of Rose and started following along and looking back at some things going on over there and I thought this whole vlogging thing might be fun! I had lots of fun doing my first vlog here I do notice I need to work on a couple things (looking at the right place etc) but I will let you be the judge of that if you really want to be. 

I had better quit writing and let the vlog do its job for a change, enjoy!

So I am linking up over at House of Rose for Stop and Smell the Roses and I will definitely be back for the next vlog because this was a lot of fun!!!

Roses

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saw it. pinned it. did it.

 This is my first time participating in the Saw It. Pinned It. Did It. party over at Beautiful Mess but yesterday I talked about how I have been wanting to do my own glitter deer that has been floating around all over pinterest. So after I got off work yesterday I decided to go to Hobby Lobby to see if they would have what I was going to need. My inspiration was from this pin 

All you need is a canvas (Hobby Lobby had them in a pack of two for $5.99 but I used my 40% off coupon on them because they were the most expensive thing I bought yesterday) some Elmers glue, a paint brush (I used a very fine tipped one to make sure I stayed in the lines) and a deer silhouette print out (I just googled mine).

After you print our the silhouette from Google or wherever you get yours from cut it out and then lay it on your canvas where you want it to be and trace around it with a pencil.

 Next you paint your glue on the deer part, where you want the glitter to go. This was the messy part and I now have glitter all over my craft room, I am sure Mom and Dad aren't going to like that when I move out in June and they turn it into Dads Naked Room an office. 

Next just dump the remaining glitter on a piece of paper and funnel it back into your glitter container so you can reuse it for your next project...I am seeing glittery Easter bunnies and eggs in the near future!

Next just find the perfect place to hang it up...for now mine is in the living room but I think it is going to get moved to the kitchen once all the Christmas decorations are out and it finds a proper place to be. However it is going to be out all year round because this country girl doesn't mind a little country glam all year round. 

My total cost was probably under $10 with supplies left to make many more and it only took me about 15 maybe 20 minutes. The most time consuming was the glue part and making sure I didn't leave any blank spots or get on other parts of the canvas.

Pinterest Wednesday

It's been a couple months since I last posted a How Pinteresting on a Wednesday to party with The Vintage Apple and I am not sure why I slacked off on this part because I definitely haven't slacked off on my pinning everything and not actually doing it habit.

This weeks pins have shown lots of Christmas spirit...hmm I wonder why?

oh yea probably because we have our tree up, nothing but the lights are on it and the only other thing that is decorated is the mantle (only because we decided to try something new with the mantle this year). There is still a rotting pumpkin on the front porch and my Thanksgiving banner hanging in the kitchen. Let's face it, Pinterest is so much more fun than actually decorating! 

1. My mom actually pinned this first and told me this is what she was wanting to do with the mantle this year. So of course I had to pin it then plan it..this was actually the first pin we have just decided we were going to do, went to the store immediately and got everything we need. Unfortunately the blog post where this originated from has been removed but the whole thing is pretty self explanatory.
2. Aren't these two just adorable?! The pin came from a Flikr account so the picture is probably floating all around the internet, too bad I can give credit to the respectful owner where it is due. Now if only I can get Tank to hold still and do this with him so he can be on our Christmas card.
3. I have been swooning over all the burlap stockings I am finding! I just need to bust out the sewing machine and make some of my own!! this gorgeous one came from Red Berry Barn and she had it put on her blog from this Etsy shop AtCompanyB
4. I have been seeing these Buck silhouettes all over the place and am not real sure what is keeping me from making one myself other than whenever I think about it I am at home, don't have the glitter on hand and have already been to town once. but Kelsey at Daisy Dreaming did this awesome one!!
5. I have had seen this awesome NOEL a while ago but forgot to pin and then found it again this weekend and feel in love all over again! This time I saved it. Now if I can just make it
6. I finally caved and bought a denim shirt. I have been contemplating buying one for a long time but I have an issue with wearing denim on denim and I haven't got enough nerve to wear leggings as pants yet. Well I bought one last week and immediately resorted to Pinterest to find some ideas to wear mine with. This girl totally pulls this off so I decided to pin it then ended up actually doing it on Saturday night and it wasn't too bad. I really need to break out of my comfort zone...

Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving didn't seem much like Thanksgiving this year. I don't know what it was because I had lots to be thankful for since I am gaining a whole entire other family that is pretty awesome and there was lots of yummy food, I got to sleep in a little bit and then didn't have to stress with helping Mom clean our house and cook food because we are having the big meal at Grandma Spiker's now, the weather was amazing and everyone was in a good mood. Something just didn't seem right...but we just went along with the day and at the end of the day I was grateful I didn't have to work on Thanksgiving, I wasn't planning on going Black Friday Shopping and we just went home and relaxed our full bellies. The rest of the weekend was spent re cooperating from the amount of food we had eaten, tossing the idea of pulling out the Christmas decorations, eating more leftovers from the feast, going out to eat with Mark, Aubrey and Luke, playing a couple rounds of scrabble, some mantle decoration shopping with Mom, and then last night my Monday was topped off with getting my persuasive speech outline back from the teacher with a 100%. I guess everything was good and whatever was missing out of our Thanksgiving day I am sure will either find its way or be forgotten. 

Advent Study Group

So a couple weeks ago I was going through my IG feed and came across my new IGfriend @nicolebeverly was going to be participating in an Advent study group. I quickly became interested and thought "what a perfect way to meet some new blogger friends that have a strong Christian belief like I do and I have been wanting to strengthen my religion so sign me up!" I let Nicole know I was interested and we swapped phone numbers and started texting  Well like I said that was like two weeks ago and when I downloaded my free e-book and was skimming through the materials, the start date of Sunday November 25th seemed so far away and like a lot of things here lately I just put it on the back-burner  Well my friends November 25th was yesterday and I am already behind. So I am starting tonight and at the end of the week I am hoping to do at least one blog post about my first week of the Advent Study group and my reflection of everything I have learned this week. If you are interested in joining the Advent Study group head on over to Good Morning Girls where you can sign up and get your free copy of the Advent E-Book.

Just a little heads up this week is focused on Hope and we are to read 

• John 1:1-4
• John 1:9-12
• Jeremiah 33:14-15
• Isiah 60:19-20
• Romans 15:12-13

Our bellies are still full

I am horrible, the following pictures are the only ones I took of our Thanksgiving festivities so far! 

But we did have an amazing day. It was filled with spending time with family that we don't get to see very often and of course the tradition that is becoming a norm at Anthony's family get together is shooting guns. I ate way too much food yesterday after having two different Thanksgiving meals.

Anthony and I ended the night curled up on the couch catching up on Private Practice and then watching The Kids Are Alright...can't tell you if it was good or not because I fell asleep not even a quarter of the way into the movie. 

 I am telling you I am loving wearing the flannels right now with a comfy pair of leggings.

 I was super excited to bust out my vintage mixer to make my pumpkin trifle on Thanksgiving Eve

 Unfortunately this is the only picture of food that I took...

Anthony and I after we filled our bellies and were getting ready to shoot the guns.

Hope you all had a wonderful day with your families and are still alive if you attempted any Black Friday Shopping shenanigans!

the countdown is on...

only 3.5 more hours and I will be clocking out for the day and hustling my butt over to the grocery store to get the ingrediacnts I need for tomorrow. Yes I totally forgot, okay maybe just decided to be lazy, to go yesterday and get what was needed. Last year I did the same thing and promised myself I would not be doing it again this year.... it was pure chaos and I couldn't find anything because there were carts every where people were so rude!! Here is hoping I make it out without screaming at anyone.

only 18 hours til I am enjoying the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade curled up under the blanket with my family, drinking hot chocolate and eating cinnamon rolls

24 hours til I am beginning my first Thanksgiving meal

2 Days until Ohio State makes the Wolverines cry

4 days until my Remington and I have a date in the woods!!

So Happy Thanksgiving to all my blogger friends! Hope you have a great time with your families and stay safe if you decide to hit the stores for some Black Friday shopping for deals that you just cannot resist. I myself decided I am not going shopping this year and actually volunteered to come into work. I saw a really cute pin on pinterest that I couldn't resist sharing with all of you today:

Fridays Letters

Dear TJMaxx, you have once again made me happy! I have been eyeing these two pillows for a little over a month now but could not fathom paying $25 a piece for them so for a month I have been going in and checking on them to make sure they are still there, you know just waiting there to see me for the week. Even though I wasn't going to buy them I did not want anyone else to buy them either...I guess I am a little selfish like that. So anyways on Saturday when Blaire and I were in there I found out they have a comforter in the same pattern! NO WAY!!! this totally made my whole day. The only bad part was that it was $90 and I didn't have the money to spend on it and didn't really want to either so I kinda let it go.. Well yesterday I deposited my paycheck and decided to pay the pillows one last visit and low and behold the comforter got moved to clearance and it was marked down half the price!!! Whoot Whoot  I was doing my little happy dance right there in the store. I was also able to buy a cute, super soft green throw blanket to put on my bed to match the comforter. All for under $50....it was like Christmas came early and I was just gifting myself!

 Dear Gallery Walls,
Originally I was just going to leave the one wall up by my bed but the headboard area was too bare without anything and I really wanted to used my Cowgirl Up sign because soon enough when I come the Mrs. I know the Mr. will not be wanting a Cowgirl Up sign hanging in our bedroom so I might as well milk the last couple months as long as I can. So last night I did some rearranging and all I need to do is get some other pictures to hang on my chicken wire frame. But I am loving waking up every morning to the pictures hanging and thanking God every morning that nothing has fallen on me throughout the night!!

Hope everyone has an amazing weekend and today Mom and I are heading to the Flower Factory to hopefully get all the flowers for the wedding all picked out followed by some shopping at Easton and maybe even lunch there too!!

Today I am going to be a little random as I don't really have anything special to talk 

about but I am just really in the mood to write...and why not write to people who are going to actually read and listen to what I have to say? 

So yesterday I was super sick.

I got up to get ready for work and I was already having cramps because lovely Auntie Rose is visiting for the month...grrr. On top of that I was really nauseous and thought oh its just the normal thing but after getting my shower I could not leave the bathroom. I swear to you I was stuck in there for like an eternity, okay maybe just 45 minutes but come on already. I was running a fever and then the cramps got even worse. I ended up having to call off of work which I did not want to do because next week I will only be at work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday because our office is closed for Thanksgiving and I am not working Black Friday and those bills just don't pay themselves people!! 

I am trying really hard to get my credit cards (yes credit cards, as in more than one) paid off before I become Mrs. Fry but it is so stinkin hard. Especially when I get these bright ideas to make gallery walls, challenge myself to do a bunch of Pinterest projects for the whole month of November, Christmas shopping to do, oh and did you know I am planning a wedding?! 

I really need to come up with a way to make some more money on the side but nothing is really coming to me other than making some Christmas decorations for people... baaahumbug

I ended up sleeping all day yesterday from 8:30- sometime around lunch then back to sleep from like 3:30-7. My stomach was cramping so bad and I could not get in a comfortable position to make it stop. I am telling you people if it is anything like what child labor is going to be like, count me out!! 

Just kidding, I cannot wait to have a little small Fry or two running around the house (when the time comes)

Anyways...I have been racking my brain for ideas for our family Christmas card for this year. Mom really wants to do one because it is the last year of it being the four of us and next year Anthony and I will have our own Christmas card to send out! I was thinking about doing the traditional route and making them myself then putting a picture of our family in the cards and calling it that but I also wouldn't mind coming up with something cute like a letter to go along with it or a really funny picture... Any ideas?

Holiday Madness...

I don't really like complaining about things on here (unless it's complaining about Friday not getting here soon enough or that winter came too fast) but today I really need to talk to someone (even if you choose not to comment or even read it, typing it and publishing it just gets it off my chest)

So ever since I was 7 or 8 years old my Mom has hosted Thanksgiving at our house. That is until about four years ago all in the same week our hot water tank broke and our gas was not working, conveniently the same week as Thanksgiving. So plans changed and Thanksgiving that year got moved to my Grandma Spiker's house. Long story short some important family members decided they would stay home for the day, not joining us for lunch and not bother calling. Lots of feelings were hurt and since then some things have been made sort of bitter along with other incidents happening at other events. Anyways Thanksgiving got moved permanently to my Grandma's because it is larger and there are toys and more room for the kids to play. Well this year Thanksgiving for my Dad's side of the family is being moved to another member's home an hour and a half away at the same time as the one my Mom hosts for the family. For whatever unknown reason that was made to split up the family on this day and then to have the whole family traveling all over the state of Ohio is beyond me but I just do not know how Anthony and I are going to manage this whole day...
I know it is not physically possible to please everyone and that we obviously are not going to be able to make it every where during the day so we are just going to have to make our own traditions and just stick to them...

Anyways what do you and your families do for the holidays? Do you have to run all over the place or do you just spend it the two of you lounging around the house?

Weekend Recap

I had a pretty good weekend, I just forgot to take pictures of some of the stuff we did..

Friday night we watched the new Spiderman movie then we went over to Hendershots for a fire

most likely the last one of the year ):

Saturday I met my bestie Blaire for lunch at Chipotle then we decided to go to JoAnn Fabrics which led to Homespun Treasures to walking around the wall to going to Sally's, Payless, TJ Maxx and the new shoe store. By the time we were done window shopping (I only say that because we didn't buy anything) it was 4:00 and that only means one thing...Happy Hour at Applebees. So we went there.

 creepy Christmas decorations at TJMaxx

 Saturday Night we ended up going bowling with some of Anthony's friends which I didn't do too bad at!! We really should go more often because we never do and we always end up having fun while when we do

Sunday we ran some errands in the morning then we hit the tree stand for the remainder of the day. The weather was perfect, I got halfway through my book and I even got a little tease from an 8 point but he ended up going around us and didn't get close enough. I was super excited, shaking and buck fever definitely kicked in!

 After we got out of the tree we stopped by Anthony's Moms to get some of his mail and visit with her and Bob for a little bit. Oh and meet these little cuties!!!

they are only two weeks old and are going to be ready to go to loving homes just in time for Christmas...December 21st!! you know you want one (:

Fridays Letters on Saturday

Dear Turbo Fire,

you are kicking my ass hiney! but I LOVE it because I know it is working. I cannot wait to be less fluffy and toned, hopefully just in time for my big day!! I have never been one to be able to stick to dieting and I feel like if I can bust my behind I will be more appreciative of the shape of my body and where I am at at that point and stick to it! and the awesome part of all of it is the support group behind Beach Body and so many success stories and the girls that are in the group I am in are so motivational and encouraging!

 Dear Dryer,
Please continue shrinking Anthony and JK's flannels because that means I get to wear them to lounge around the house in in the evening with a comfy pair of leggings and my moccasins. Nothing beats this!!! especially when they are super cute ones like this!!

 Dear Fancy Nancy,
its nice to that you are finally coming around to be a snuggler and cuddling with me on the couch. It might make Tank a little jealous but I will keep you safe pretty girl as long as you keep those claws outta my stomach....ouch!

 Dear God,
Thank-you for your sweet reminder of your precense with us everyday. Even though the elections did not go the way I had favored it to be I was comforted by this amazing sunset and the reminder that with You I will get through anything!

 Dear Healthy Eating,
all of this rabbit food is really starting to grow on me and I am enjoying getting creative with different salads and toppings. I do not suggest apple chunks with cheese and tomatoes, yea not real sure what I was thinking

Dear cute bracelet from Singapore,
I really really like you and the other one I got for a friend but really must you take over a month and a half to get here. Looks like I really need to start paying attention to where things are coming from and keep it in the United States.

Dear Tank,
yesterday morning I wanted nothing more than to just climb back into bed with you but  I had to get ready for work. Luckily it was just my half day and I was able to come home and take a little nap with you.

{Pinterest November} DIY Chalkboard

On Saturday night I started my first project for the Pinterest November series I am doing.

If you are just jumping into this make sure you read up on yesterday's post I made explaining what I am doing and what projects I am going to get done this month.

This project is what I have been wanting to get done ever since I saw Jessica Garvin's amazing maternity chalkboard posts and I even have a whole pinterest board dedicated to Chalkboards.

So it was long over due and I bought some chalkboard spray paint and got to business.

 I have a whole bunch of old picture frames in a box that my Grandpa Price got me at an auction that has been sitting in the storage room for a couple years now and I decided to go through it to see what was in there to work with.

I ended up finding an old frame that had a canvas in it already that looked like someone had attempted to do a sketch on but it was really light/faded and I decided to just use it for the chalkboard. 

My friend Shelby used a canvas for their chalkboard for their nursery so I knew it would work.

One little mistake I made was not taping off the frame or just taking out the canvas and I just sprayed right over all of it so last night I had to put a couple coats of blue paint on the frame to cover up the overspray of the black paint. I might end up putting more on it to cover it up better.

After the paint was all dry I put the Command Velcro strips on the back and put it on the side of our refrigerator. Yesterday morning I put up a little reminder to everyone in the house to vote!! 

Now I just need some practice with drawing on the chalkboard...

this crazy lil idea of mine

Yesterday I mentioned my little idea...

well I guess it isn't so little but stick with me please.

I decided that I am tired of pinning all these ideas on Pinterest and not actually doing them and after seeing a couple other bloggers creating parties and link ups dedicated to finishing pinterest pins I thought I would jump on the band wagon and start finishing some of my own too. 

I went through all my Pinterest boards and pulled out 20 different projects to get done during the month of November and of course I am going to blog about them and give credit where it is due. 

So here are the projects I picked to get done:

• lace camera strap for The Decorista - unfortunately there is no tutorial on this one so I am going to figure it out myself and hopefully do my own tutorial on it!
• DIY chalkboard from Domestic Imperfection - there are tons of these tutorials all over pinterest...I actually have a whole board dedicated to chalkboards and I have been wanting make one for a really long time so why not get it done this month
• adorable potholders from Prudent Baby- there is an awesome tutorial provided for these and I am thinking these will make great Christmas presents for some people in our family 
• If Your Not God or George Straight Take Off Your Boots sign from Trimble Crafts etsy shop - I love these signs and they definitely look easy enough to make my own so I am going to give it a little try
• birthday board as a Christmas gift to one of my Grandmas from The Cozy House etsy shop
• awesome serving tray with bottle caps from Sweet Something Designs 
• cute photo christmas tree ornaments from The Crafting Chicks
• menu board from Style Me Pretty for the wedding
• pet silhouette pictures from The Modern Cottage 
• the cardboard letters covered in yarn unfortunately do not have a reliable website however the pin itself has the tutorial. My plan is to use some yard and also some jute string or bakers twine.
• frames for the fridge from How Does She
• burlap DIY tree skirt from Done Over Decor
• doiley garland, no reliable website provided through Pinterest but the pin is pretty self explanatory
• suitcase card box for our wedding from the Wedding Bee
• tree pen holder from the Homen Stead etsy shop
• Just Lovely has the best ever wedding binder guide 
• pretty pretty filing cabinet from over at Two Twenty One's blog
• driftwood christmas tree - the blog is in Spanish but Google let me translate it Laloleblog
• I absolutely love Ashley's coffee station and want to create one similar to it because our coffee/tea station at the house is a complete mess and I always find myself cleaning it up and I don't even really drink coffee (ok go ahead and tell, Anthony already does every morning, that I am not American) - Its Rustic Living
• seating chart for the wedding from The Paper Walrus etsy shop

So here is hoping and praying that I can finish all these projects this month..I am already a little behind because November has already started but on Sunday I started out by doing my first DIY Chalkboard...I will post more about it tomorrow!

Weekend Recap

We didn't do too much of anything this weekend

and as you can tell neither did Tank

And he wasn't really up for having his picture taken either...

Friday night Anthony and I went and hungout with Shelby & Josh. We ended up going out to eat at Damon's then went back to their house and watched The Book of Eli. I cannot wait til we have our own place so we can have people over for dinner and watch movies or football!!

Saturday, Anthony had to work the whole day and I delivered a Christmas banner to a friend for her to use for her Christmas card photo sessions. Unfortunately I did not get any pictures of it before I gave it to her but she is going to get me some when she gets a chance. Saturday night we ended up watching The Campaign with JK and Shalene and just spent most of the night cuddled up under blankets in the warm house.

On Sunday Anthony DID NOT have to work!!! I was so excited. He has worked on Sundays for the last couple of months. We ended up going to 7 a.m. mass at our Church. Father Hayes had an amazing sermon about treating everyone the way we would want to be treated and I thought wow what better time than right now with the elections at full fledge and people backstabbing others. If only some of them could have gotten the same message as we got on Sunday morning. After Church we went to Donald's Donuts and brought some home for Mom, Dad & JK. 

Saturday evening Anthony finally got a chance to take me hunting!! 

I love spending time in the blind with this boy, even if we don't see anything. 

So that was our weekend! Not too much of anything fancy and as always the weekend went too fast!

Yesterday I got this big idea, I am so tired of having so much stuff pinned on my pinterest that I never get around to doing and I have noticed a couple bloggers doing a "Saw it, Pinned it, Did it" party. Well I am not very committed to joining parties on a regular basis but hopefully I can stick to this idea of mine. I took some pins from my own boards and made a new board called Pinterest November. My goal is for the month of November to get done the pins I do and of course blog about them. So feel free to check out my board but tomorrow I am going to post about the different projects I am going to do!