Unexpected Destruction

On the way to my car this afternoon.. ready to head to work.. I found that the driver's side window of my car had been broken. Although the words demolished, busted, and destroyed would work just as well, I suppose. 

I am not sure if this was a random act of vandalism or caused by the storm that came through last night.. lightning strike maybe? All the doors were still locked, there was glass in the front and back seats of the car as well as on the ground outside, and nothing was taken.. not that there was anything worth stealing from my car in the first place.. except for maybe the car itself. 

Oh well.. I am getting it repaired tomorrow morning.. and hoping that the weather or the individual responsible.. which ever is the culprit of this destruction.. doesn't decide to strike again.  

Midnight Breed Series

Having caught up with the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J. R. Ward, I started reading a new series this weekend, the Midnight Breed series by Lara Adrian. I finished the first book, Kiss of Midnight, last night.

This series is also about vampires and puts a slightly different spin on the vampire legend. For example, all vampires are male and are descendants of aliens.

Like the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, the vampires are born as vampire (not created or subject to an outbreak or disease), but in this series they are born from human females who have a birthmark identifying them as "breedmates". The Midnight Breed series currently has 12 books in it, with #12 recently released in February of this year.

Happily ever after...

A little while ago, mom asked if I would make her a couple signs for some weddings she had this summer. We bought a 8' board and grandma cut it into 2' sections and mitered the edges so they looked pretty... mom the painted them with some left over paint and I slapped some vinyl on them and wa-la!!

Pillows cont.

I completed another pillow this morning to go along with my current quilting project. There are going to be a total of three pillows altogether.. here is number two.

This one is 14" x 16" round and has ties on both ends for easy removal. I used black shoe strings for the bows because they are somewhat easier to thread through the small pocket. Once inside I cut them to an appropriate length and tied knots on each end.

I plan on completing the third pillow this coming weekend..

Angels of Mercy

Finally Book #4!  I have got hooked on the Angels of Mercy Series by CJ Lyons, to my happy surprise this morning book #4 the final book arrived on my Kindle this morning!  The Series follows 4 women through tough times.  The books follow an ER resident, a med student, a charge nurse and doctor. I can't wait to get my hands on the last Medical Thriller!   

T-Shirt Project

This weekend I also turned one of my Indiana T-shirts into a tank top with adjustable straps.

The tutorial provide by the website says to use the bottom of the shirt for the straps; however, I used the bottom of a different black t-shirt that was too large for me. I also made the straps one long piece of cord that tries on one shoulder instead of on both.  

I got this idea from Pinterest and website: http://followpics.com/refashioning-a-t-shirt-into-a-tank-top-i-dont-wear-tanks-but-i-imagine-that-ill-be-making-many-of-these-for-my-kiddos/

Pillows

Just finished a pillow this weekend to match the quilt I am currently working on. I used a sewing machine to quilt around the leaves and tree trunk after ironing each piece on with applique. I will also be making a matching pillow with red leaves and a round pillow with stripes in brown, red, and green.

I got the idea from Pinterest and the website: http://www.addicted2decorating.com/30-diy-decorative-pillow-tutorials.html

5K Training cont.

After taking the day off yesterday to let my body adjust to the idea of running (the tops of my thighs and hips screamed at me all day -- it was hard to get myself up and out of a chair) I ran another 1.2 miles today and am feeling a lot better. I am focusing on distance (as opposed to time) because then I can take as long as needed to reach my goal at my own pace.

It was already a little warm out at 7:45 AM this morning, so I am going to try to get up earlier to be out on the trail shortly after 7 AM. It is suppose to rain here all weekend, but I will be back on the trail on Monday morning -- if the weather cooperates. Sharing my progress is a great motivation for me and I hope others are inspired to run as well. 

Quote: "Do a little more each day than you think you possibly can." - Thomas Lowell

5K Training

I got up at 7 AM this morning for the first run/jog/walk of preparing for the Patoot 5K Fun Run, which I will be participating in June.

Ryan and I ran on the Bloomington B-Line trail for 1.2 miles. It was a warm 34 degrees this morning and frost covered the ground. We bundled up and waited for the sun to warm up the temp a little before we headed out at 7:45 AM.

I didn't realize how out of shape I was until I was walking with my hand pressed into my side trying to pull air into my traumatized lungs about 300 ft. into the start of my run. I ended up running about half of the 1.2 miles and walking the rest. We will see how things go when I run again tomorrow morning...

Goal: The entire trail is 3.1 miles long and I would like to be able to run/jog the entire thing by the end of June (fingers-crossed).

Sidetracked Purchases

Went to Wal*Mart this morning because we were out of the essentials--milk, bread, lunch meat, juice, chocolate, etc.-- I got a little sidetracked and ended up in the entertainment section somehow... blame Ryan on that one.

However it turned out to be a good thing because I left with two great purchases:

1) the DVD Singin' in the Rain. I have been looking for this movie forever!

2) a mini-controller for the XBOX 360. I am always complaining that the regular controllers are too big for my tiny little fingers (I am also a little prejudice because I mostly play PS3 games) not anymore! After work tonight I plan on playing the Witcher 2 with my new mini-controller.

Side note: I also found the movie My Fair Lady on DVD but that purchase will have to wait until my next trip. 

5K Patoot Fun Run

On June 29th I will be running/walking in the 5K Patoot Fun Run in Peterson, IA with at least three of my family members. I am not an avid runner and haven't been involved in any major physical activity since I was an undergrad. So, beginning tomorrow morning I will begin running on a regular basis and gearing up for the end of June. I am looking forward to sharing this experience with my family and would like to be able to run the entire event - wish me luck!

Event details found at: http://www.nwiarun.us/events/3-patoot

Book Review: Dead Ever After

I finished Dead Ever After, the final book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, last night, and I would give it 3 out of 5 stars as far as finales go. I was hoping for a little more from Eric's character and more action overall. I won't give any of the major plot points of the book away, however, I felt like this book was more of a reunion of characters from past books - and not to strengthen the story line - but simply because it was the final book.

As a result, if you haven't read the first 12 books you will be missing a lot of background information on the characters and their relationships with one another - on the other hand - if you have read the first 12 books (like me) you might be disappointed with the book's overall story line because it is less exciting / adventurous then the first 12.

Picture Box Project

The project I completed today is a picture box to collect all the tickets from the trips, movies, races, shows, etc. that Ryan and I attend.


1) I bought a 12 X 12 frame picture box at Wal*Mart (pic right).

2) I stapled a number of ticket stubs that I have been saving to the back matting of the box for a background. 

3) I took some left over scrap booking stickers and spelled out "Admit One" on the front of the glass. 

4) I used a box cutter to put a rectangular hole in the back of the frame and matting (pic left) -- so that I can just slip tickets into the back of the frame as I collect them. 

5) I hung the picture box on my wall (pic below). I am looking forward to filling it up with memories over the years! 

I got the idea for this project from Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/pin/379146862349406096/. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Since I won't be able to spend much time with Mom on Mother's Day, we've spent most of today being crafty and baking. It's been really nice. I don't get to hang with Mom often. The day started with Mom's cinnamon rolls for breakfast! Yum! We then experimented with this recipe (Thanks Pinterest!!) http://www.annies-eats.com/2010/08/06/raspberry-swirl-cheesecake-cupcakes/

Mom wanted to make mini versions of these cupcake cheesecakes... And she wanted to half the recipe... I'm not the best baker so deviating from a recipe in anyway is terrifying! Anywho... The first batch was... it wasn't acceptable to serve to others, but good enough to eat at home... So we attempted a 2nd batch and got them just about perfect. Those will get served at church tomorrow for Mother's Day.

We also made German Chocolate Caramel Bars, Banana Breads, and Raisin Cream Bars (not pictured)

While doing all this baking, I was also dying old hotel sheets for my rug. I ran out and to dye them at the apartment would be slightly expensive. $1.00 to wash half a sheet is a bit steep when I can wash for FREE at mom's :) 4 sheets and 7 hours later, I have these beautiful sheets waiting to be ripped apart and made into my beautiful kitchen rug!

On top of all this I painted my gravy cans so I can complete this lovely planter for my patio (Thank you again Pinterest!)

Here are my cans:

Thinking of painting some polka dots on them... Today was not the best day to be spray painting outside... Lil windy!

We also polyeurathaned (is that a word?) mom's sign for the garden. Also used some of my sheets to braid the ribbon to hang it!

Last things I don't have pictures for are the two signs mom needs for wedding gifts. We got them painted; they need vinyl yet and a picture frame mom wanted painted for the guest bedroom!

Phew! We're exhausted, but had a blast all day! Love you Mom! You are the very best!!

White Chocolate Snickerdoodles

I am finding more and more that I like baking... before I just liked eating but I'm finding a kind of theraputic quality to the creation of these yummy bits of life :)

Thanks to Pinterest I now have an endless supply of super yummy cookies and bars that need baking...

And to say my staff enjoy being my guinea pigs would be a gross understatement...

So this cooking adventure led me here: http://www.somethingswanky.com/white-chocolate-snickerdoodle-pudding/

Super easy! Super yummy!

These being my first "pudding" cookie... I was skeptical, these are just plain good... and they stay soft for at least a day... I don't know past that because they didn't last that long...

Give them a try!!

Library Jobs

So I was looking at possible library jobs that would relocate me closer to the northwest Iowa area (home), and ended up wishing I already had my library science degree. Reason being -- the Milford Memorial Library listed a job posting for the position of Library Director -- applications submitted before May 17th are given priority. Think they would wait for me to graduate in December?? 

Fantasy/Romance Series

I was able to find the time to read a number of books this past school year from one of my favorite genres: Fantasy/Romance. A few of my favorites are:

The Mercy Thompson Series (#1-7) by Patricia Briggs as well as its companion The Alpha and Omega Series (#1-3).

The Night Huntress Series (#1-6) 

by Jeaniene Frost.

The Black Dagger Brotherhood Series (#1-11) by J. R. Ward. 

I am still reading this series and am currently on on #7.

The Final Sookie Stackhouse Novel

I just bought the newly released 
(May 7th, 2013) Sookie Stackhouse / 
Southern Vampire Series novel (#13) 
by Charlaine Harris. 

Guess what I will be reading after work tonight!

Past Quilting Projects

(Twin Bed Blanket; 3 inch squares)

(Baby Boy Blanket; 1 inch squares)

(Baby Girl Blanket; 1 inch squares)