Adventures in Weight Loss

In January of 2011 my husband and I decided we were bound and determined to lose weight. 

 {source}

We had both gotten pretty heavy 

When i got pregnant with my daughter he had all the sympathy symptoms, it was pitiful. 

(and I know some women would cringe at me feeling bad for him, but, I truly did) 

When i gained weight, he gained it too. 

when i had heart burn, he had it too.

When i had back pain, so did he.

And so on...

"Pumpkin Better Than... Cake" success

Let me start by saying, 

I love finding an awesome recipe on Pinterest 

And then discovering that I already have ALL the ingredients!

That was this case with

Something Swanky's "Pumpkin Better Than Cake"

This looked so gooey and yummy I just had to make it

I had no excuse not to!

I had everything!

Well Almost Everything...

My New Smug Monster

I favorited this shop quite some time ago on Etsy

and I had some money just sitting in my pay pal so i went back through ALL my favorites 

And i saw this little guy

And I thought to myself I just HAD to get him 

not only is he friggin' adorable but

he also matches my new bedroom color scheme!

Wet Sunset

If there's one thing I love 

(besides the obvious of course: my husband my children and pizza)

It's a good rainy day.

I never really liked the rain until we lived in Jacksonville, NC for a few years

It rained super often since we were so close to the coast and 

It got to where i really looked forward to just cozying up inside and listening to the rain...

Another favorite thing of mine about rainy days is when it just pours all day long and starts to clear up just in time for the sunset 

Hoofbeat Plantation

So, on Tuesday we went to the park for a relaxing afternoon and a picnic

(See Things I Learned Yesterday)

On the way home from that park there is a really cool WMA

(wildlife management area)

in Warthen

called Hoofbeat Plantation

it's a deer farm consisting of red and fallow deer

it is VERY cool!

we got to see a bunch from the road 

and as many of you hunting savvy folks might know the rut is on!!

we got to see the bucks chasing does around and calling to one another, it was so cool!

Here are some pics I took from the truck:

This guy was staring straight at us.  

Things I Learned Yesterday

Yesterday I kept Tristan out of school by request of my Dad and his wife, Linda.

(and before I hear anything about it being irresponsible to keep him out when he's not sick, 

let me say that some of my fondest memories are of my mom keeping me out for a "mental health day"

and it never did me any harm.  

in moderation i believe this is a good practice.)

Anywho.

We went to spend the day having a picnic at Hamburg State Park

I had never been there before and it's a really nice park.

Seeing as it was a tuesday the place was completely quiet and empty.

Which was ideal.  

Because Maggie-Moo got to run around free!!

I learned that she was supposed to be on a 6 ft leash in the park

But what the park doesn't know doesn't hurt them.  

Walking Stick

Yesterday morning I went out to our shed to grab a couple of folding chairs to take with us to the park

On the door jam was this little guy

We've seen him around the house/yard several times

how do we know it's the same one you might ask??

Croc Blanket Progress & a Small Project on the Side

Hello Lovelies!

For anyone Interested in my progress on my Croc Stitch Blanket

Here is a slightly up-to-date photo of where I am on it.

(nevermind the poor lighting and weird coloring in this photo, I took it from my phone inside @ night.  

So obviously, the worst possible conditions)

It's to the point now where it makes me hot to work on it

(get your mind out of the gutter!)

This thing is getting so big and heavy!  

When i lay it on my lap to work on it i'm completely covered and I get to sweating!

Vintage Chalk Message Board

I bought this old message board at a local thrift store for a bank-breaking $0.50!

It was pretty cool anyway, but definitely needed a little help.

The chalk board portion was really suffering and the cork part was even worse.

So i taped off around the chalkboard portion and spray painted it with Chalkboard 

Paint

Copper & Bronze Chalkboard Trays

There is a lovely lady named Rosie who bought a quilt from me a few years ago and loved all my craft stuff that i make so she asked if she could sell some of my items in a booth she had in a very nice upscale shop in town here.  

I of course was completely flattered!  

like whoa!  

Anywho, she would always keep an eye out for cool things for me at shows and stuff and found me these awesome trays to make magnet boards out of...

Well it turns out these were NOT magnetic so we had to think of a new plan