Not Enough Time in the Day

It seems like we've been going non-stop over the past month with projects, social outings and such. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have asked to do it differently, I just can't figure out where the month of June went to amongst it all!

Our Project:Revamp Kitchen has been going very well. My dad was able to lay all the tile and grout one room in 3 days, while Justin's dad came up the final day and helped grout the other room (since Dad wouldn't take any money from us, we figured we'd save him one trip). We couldn't be happier with how things have turned out!

the sunroom

the kitchen

We're still in the process of getting the trim around the bottom down, the door and window framed back up and trimmed around and probably a new ceiling fan put in, but we're taking it one little piece a day at a time.

Justin was able to get the garage cleaned back up and put back in one piece a few days ago, thanks to some help from the newest addition to his garage organizing shelves. I bought him a cabinet for his birthday last year and he bought a floor cabinet the other day to put underneath it. I'm pretty sure his Camaro was happy to be back in her home after being parked in the driveway for so many days in a row (and now I won't set her security alarm off every morning when I start the GTO).

I've been spending time building up some inventory in my second attempt at a shop on Etsy.com. The first time around I really didn't know what I wanted to do and after a few months of selling random handmade things, I cleared it out and was just a buyer for a while (I bought most of my Christmas gifts from there). When I found the pattern for fabric flowers, I knew they were going to be my new direction. And I've recently expanded from the full sized flowers to include miniatures that can be used for brooches, magnets, embellishments or hairclips.

And this weekend is a 3 day long holiday one, which I'm very excited about! I didn't realize until this morning though everything that we'll be doing. Tonight is a birthday celebration for our friend Brian, then I'm having the Krav girls (we're like a gang, lol) over while the boys are out doing they're thing. Tomorrow I'm heading home to visit the family and attend my cousin's 6th birthday party. Saturday we'll be planting the fire bushes we bought last week and then heading over to Nick and Nicole's for a 4th of July cookout. And Sunday is Justin's family reunion. Whew! I get tired just thinking about it, lol. But it's going to be so much fun packed into every day that it's entirely worth the needing to take Monday off to rest up :)

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week. Never seen a Not Me! Monday! post, not sure what it's all about...here's what MckMama has to say... "Are you feeling guilty for pretending not to notice your toddler playing with the dogfood? Feel like a slouch for staying in your jammies all day? We'll don't! Not Me! Monday was born out of my desire to admit some of my imperfections and reveal a few moments I'd rather forget. You may find it therapeutic to join in and do the same thing!"

I did *not* leave Justin and my dad, on Father's Day nonetheless, to work hard at laying tile in the kitchen in order to help my friend Nicole shop for pretty flowers.

I also did *not* leave the leftover pizza from lunch out on the table overnight because its easier to heat up from room temp than out of the fridge.

Lastly, I did *not* compare my boyfriend to Jacob Black (after becoming a wolf in the second Twilight book) because he's always warm like Jacob is. I also did *not* continue on to explain the difference between a werewolf and shape-shifter, citing the Animagi from the Harry Potter series as examples.

Becoming Part of the Herd

On April 21, 2007, I purchased my first car. My first new car. My first owned only by me car. It was almost exactly a year after graduating college and finding a big girl job. And was a goal that I'd had set to accomplish by that time. A year of saving and about a month of looking bought me a silver 2007 Toyota Rav 4. And she was beautiful.

This past Monday I passed my Rav's keys over to the nice dealer man at the Toyota lot and in exchange was given a set to a 2005 Pontiac GTO. A pretty 2005 Pontiac GTO.

Admittedly, I was a bit emotional. There were several instances of Justin and I standing outside on the lot talking about the trade when I'd have to stop in order to keep myself from shedding a few tears. Because my Rav was a great car. But as much as I loved her, there were other interests at play in my mind.

For a few months now I've been set on finding a vehicle a bit more on the sporty side. Blame it on Justin, blame it on watching Fast and the Furious too much, say what you will. The bottom line was that I wanted something with a little more ass and rumble to it. And Justin happened to find it for me last weekend.

Painted in Impluse Blue Metallic, my new Goat drives and rides beautifully. She's pretty much everything that I was wanting in my toy yet serves well as a daily driver. Although my Rav was nowhere near being old (nor was I anywhere near really needing a new car), I felt that this was the point in life to have a few more liberties with things such as cars as later on in the future practicality would reign supreme. I don't feel that I gave a lot up in trading the Rav (albeit slightly odd to be back on the ground again in a car). And I've definitely garnered several compliments from Justin's car buddies over the choice of machine and color.

Just a few little things over the next little bit to add to her (tinted windows and an exhaust) and she'll be perfect. Oh, and did I mention she's also getting a personalized license plate? I won't spoil the suprise, but it was one of Justin's more creative moments in coming up with the idea :)

Bringing out the Crafter in Me

I'm a crafter at heart. Well, really I'm an old lady at heart. Give me a blanket to cover up with and something to sew and I'm golden. I love the feeling of accomplishment when I take several pieces of regular fabric and turn it into something beautiful like a baby quilt or my newest hobby, fabric flowers.

Last year I experimented a little with the website Etsy. I had been an avid reader of the Weddingbee blog and many of the brides to be would brag about their finds on Etsy. In case you're not familiar with it, Etsy is basically like an internet shopping mall full of items that are handcrafted by each store owner. You can find pretty much anything and everything that you could think of there, and have the satisfaction of knowing that someone put their heart and passion for creating such things into each item in their shop.

After taking some time away from the site (as a seller, but definitely not a buyer lol), I came back a few weeks ago to revamp my spot and take a gander at selling something a little different than before: my fabric flowers

These are two of my girls, all named, all different personalities and all waiting to find that perfect home with someone. They look great as embellishments on pillows or purses, hung on walls for your very own flower garden, or attached to a dowel rod wrapped in green to create a bouquet for any room that never dies :)

Because I'd pretty much taken over the kitchen table as my own for the past few months, I was finally convinced by the boy that a good use for my birthday money was purchasing a craft table. He had seemingly gotten tired of having to move the sewing machine every time we sat down for a meal. After being kind enough to help me put the thing together, we moved it into our sunroom which has now been dubbed "The Shana Cave"

It's got great natural lighting through the two huge windows and in about a month, I'll be rockin' some brand new tile on the floor as part of a general house renovation project. It's exciting times.

So if you want to see a few more of my creations (and more awesome handcrafted items on the website) check out http://justshana16.etsy.com/ and then browse around to your heart's content. And while you're around, check out christiecottage's BNS in the Promotions Forum. I've been involved for only a little less than a week but can vouch that there's great stuff in each of those shops listed and they're all great people :)

Quarter Century Club

It's been a week today since I turned 25 and it's still a little unbelieveable to me that I've made it to this marker. As I've said before, it feels like I should still be sitting at around 19, enjoying college and everything that comes with it. Yet here I am- 25, playing house with my boyfriend, getting ready to celebrate my 3 year anniversary at work, my 3 year anniversary of not living at home, 7 year anniversary of having graduated high school and 3 years of having graduated college. It just doesn't seem possible.



My 25th year has definitely started out on a good note. My birthday was a busy one here at the office, as it always is. They make up for it by throwing me a big party on the 15th though, so it's all good :) A friend of mine suggested that I either find a new job or a new birthday but I really wouldn't want to leave either one behind. I like being a diamond baby and I can't imagine there'd be too many other small firms like this one that I'd feel as comfortable in.



It is funny to go back and think about the things I had planned to happen around this time in my life though. My vision at 18 was to have been married for a few years at this point and being ready to start a family. More than likely living close to my hometown and in turn, my family. I wasn't set on a specific career at that point though, so I had no idea about what job I would be working. And although all that would have been well and good, I'm perfectly happy with the way things have gone instead. Some odd years with relationships that just weren't what I was looking for in the overall that lead me to Justin. A lucked upon interview with an accounting firm that I'll probably be with for years to come. No marriage in the extreme near future (nor children for that matter), but content to know that it'll come along when the time is right. An hour drive from home, but able to make the trip every other weekend to see the family. A slightly different outcome from what was expected but one that I imagine I am much happier with than what could have been.



So here's to the coming months and what they may bring. Happiness, laughter, philosophical conversations, maybe a few disagreements, good food, good friends/family and love. All the things that make my world go round.


*and you can find that rockin' hat at zazzle.com

No Words Needed

Trace Adkins' performance on the ACM awards this past weekend. All proceeds from downloads of this performance will go to the Wounded Warrior Project. God Bless our Soldiers!

Kitty That Goes Mew

Isn't it just the cutest thing you've ever seen? As I remind Justin every time (and that's no exaggeration) we see a tiger, cheetah, lion, lynx, wildcat, enter any other catlike animal type here, they're all just cute kitties that go mew. Of course he tries to tell me that they're really not cuddly and would nom my face off in about two seconds, but I swear people- these animals would love me.

For some reason, I've always had one of those silly daydreams where one day I'd be gifted with an adorable little Tiger cub and would get to raise it in my home and be its "mom". I'd get to bottle feed it at first, and as it got bigger wrestle with it in the living room floor like you would a puppy. I'm pretty sure it would quickly outgrow being able to sleep in the bed with me (if Justin wanted to sleep in the same bed anyway), but it'd make a great foot warmer in the winter while watching tv. Plus, it'd purr. A lot. My tiger would be the best behaved and most loveable tiger ever. EVER.

Of course, everytime I see this video I get a little choked up inside. Partly because I'm an animal lover (they're a part of the family) and partly because they proved the naysayers wrong (And although it's a great song by itself, please don't let the cheesiness of the song with the video ruin things).




Sigh. Well, you know, it is almost my birthday. Maybe there's still time to hint around at what I really want...