The spice must flow...

This is the spice rack I made today. I intended to sell it, but, it was really time-consuming. I just didn't think anyone would pay what I would potentially have asked for it...so I'm keeping it. 

It looks awesome in my kitchen anyway.

Just some stuff in the garden

A few things in the garden...as they are today. With all of the storms/scorching heat, I don't see how anything survives long in Texas.

Avocado Skin Seedling Starter

Every week I try to think of something to do with all of the avocado skins I have after making baby food. I decided to try using them as seedling starters. 

I'm not sure how quickly they biodegrade, but I am going to try putting it directly in the ground when I plant the seedlings outside. 

Let there be tea lights

I've been making lanterns like crazy. The yard is going to be covered in them soon. It's staring to look like freakin' Lothlorien out there.  

this is not a mom blog

I love being home with Annalisa. Even if most days, I haven't got much else to talk about besides her. 

An antique thread stand David bought me. 

<3

craft therapy

I'm not sure if crochet is actually therapeutic for OCD or not, but it certainly seems to be. 

tiny love stories

(From left to right)

This is the ring that he gave me underneath a waterfall in North Carolina, while we sat listening to children playing and laughing in the woods. He promised that our life would also be full of laughter, and full of children. 

This is the ring that he gave me in the parking lot of a job that I hated.  He asked me to marry him, and I said yes. It was two sizes too big, but I put scotch tape on it and wore it anyway. 

This is the ring he had made with his mother's diamond. This is the ring I wore down the aisle on the day I promised that, no matter what, I would always love him.

This is the ring that he gave me, after I gave him the most precious and perfect daughter anyone could ever hope to have. 

This is the ring that will belong to her someday. 

Hey jute...

Making more plant hangers. This one might not be able to withstand all the crazy Texas wind, but it's still cute. Maybe I'll put it inside with some houseplants.

Wildflowers

Easter weekend was great.  Mom had some bluebonnets on her land, so I didn't even have to trespass or subject the baby to any dangerous wildlife for her bluebonnet photo. 

I'm not normally down with bugs and rattlesnakes, but I faced the dangerous plains to be a photographer.  I also wore very thick rubber boots. 

Working on Annalisa's Easter photos today :)

AWWWWWRIGHT!

Things are bright. 

baby beet

Our first beet sprout, for our new garden. I never new beet sprouts were magenta. 

I'm not a huge fan of beets, but, if I can actually pull off growing them, I'm going to eat them. 

What jute doin'?

I've been messing around with a lot of jute twine lately. We have a really small house and I needed some hanging planters (the cans), so that's how those came to be. The the mason jar hangers were just second thoughts from leftover materials, but they look pretty cute too.  Would be cute for an evening garden wedding, or something of that nature. 

Also, they're available for purchase ON ETSY!

Wisteria and Spring storms...

I ran outside just a few minutes before a pretty horrible storm to snap this photo. I'm really glad I did, because the whole vine is on the ground today, damaged from the winds.

Side note: I learned yesterday that wisteria flowers are edible, and apparently delicious. The entire rest of the plant is toxic (not deadly, but makes you very sick), but...either way, I really don't think my neighbor would want me to go eating her wisteria. 

Easter crochet projects

Trying to handmake all of the Easter junk this year. No more plastic eggs and made-in-China plush animals!

best friends

best friends

Working on these wedding pics...

Busy busy busy...

Editing editing editing...

I love editing photos, but I need coffee. Staring at pixels...is not stimulating. 

Kia and Adam's wedding was great :)

My beautiful best friend, Esther Kia, was married this Saturday, and I was the matron of honor. I will never be anyone else's matron of honor, though. It's pretty hard work. 

I also did the photography, which was tricky since I was in the wedding, I was exhausted and sleep deprived from all of the preparations, and I had a sleeping infant upstairs. My husband is wonderful and agreed to shoot the ceremony, so it all worked out. 

Congrats to Kia & Adam Hallock! 

The rest of her bridal portraits can be seen here on my facebook page. 

Hopefully I'll be done editing the wedding photos soon. So much work, weddings are!

Unfinished Business

When my grandmother died, the daughters and granddaughters divided up her craft supplies. I ended up with a few skeins of yarn, and a few odd pieces that look like the starting of blankets. I always wondered what they were, and who they might have been for. Maybe they were gifts for me. Was she making me a shawl? A blue and cream christmas tree skirt? I'll never know. 

Whenever I buy those random bags of fabric or yarn from yard sales and thrift stores, I always find these same types of odd unfinished pieces, and wonder what they were meant to be. Against my better judgement, I always imagine the person fully intending to finish the project, and just up-and-dying before they had the chance. 

If I die today, here is a photo of all my unfinished crochet projects,  Every single one of them I started while I was pregnant, and each one was intended to be a baby blanket for my (now one-year-old) baby. 

Two Birthdays

                   

Our daughters, Cara and Annalisa, are 14 years (and 3 days) apart, so we had a hard time finding party ideas that suited them both.  What we learned was that, no matter how old they are, if there is cake, it's a good birthday.