new blog

i made a new blog inspired by my last post about the paper cranes. You can read it at Craft Humanity

Paper cranes

A Swap-Bot friend just sent me this and I wanted to share: 
 
Fold Paper Cranes, Help Raise $200,00 to Rebuild Japan!


Mail your paper cranes to Students Rebuild and Bezos Family Foundation will donate $2 per crane. Our goal is 100,000 cranes and $200,000 toward Architecture for Humanity’s support of Japanese rebuilding efforts.
mail to:
Students Rebuild 1700 7th Avenue STE 116 # 145 Seattle, WA 98101
Visit: www.studentsrebuild.org/japan OR www.facebook.com/papercranesforjapan
print to promote more paper crane folders:
http://studentsrebuild.org/japan/Flyer_v1.pdf

the big 2-9

So, I am currently one year away from no longer being twenty-something. I was reading THIS BLOG and thought maybe I'd like to have a thirty things before I'm 30 list, but I am not sure exactly what I would do. If I come up with something, I'll post it. Happy Spring Break 
PS February was AWFUL for the no spending budget. With winter sport pictures, spring sport sign ups, spring sports gear, and gas at $3.50 a gallon,  I spent a whopping $444! Yikes!

EXCITING!

At first I was totally bummed that I would be shopping for my wedding dress with just my daughters. Don't get me wrong that would still be fun, and my daughter and I have very similar tastes, but wedding dress shopping almost REQUIRES at least one good friend or mother. 
Well, my prayers have been answered. My good friend Gini, whom I've known since junior high just moved to Austin! Bonus=my good friend Ashley is moving to Austin in the fall! Zoinks! Double bonus=THEY ARE BOTH BRIDESMAIDS! Triple bonus=The dress shop I want to go to (because they carry the designer I like) IS IN AUSTIN!!!!! How well did that fall together? :) 
For the dress: I am going with a vintage designer because I want a dress that covers my breasts. I have this huge set in stone feeling to not have my boobs showing in front of my father. I have always been that way, so I don't want to be doing the father/daughter dance with mile high cleavage (not that they are that big but you get the idea). 

Addicted!!

I have always been a crafty person but recently I have come to terms with the fact that I am completely addicted to crafting. I spend hours thinking about crafts to do. Since I don't have very much time to actually do them, they get done piece by piece when I can get to them. I guess it's better than being addicted to something bad!

Hittin' The Trail

Just before I got pregnant with my baby I was in the best physical condition of my life. Even better than when I was a high school and college athlete. My car was repo'd in October 2009 and I walked 10 miles to and from work everyday, and I only had about an hour and 30 minutes to do that. Then we moved closer in town, but I was still walking about 5 miles to and from work every day. On top of that I coached my son's basketball team 3 nights a week, then in the spring I  coached my son's volleyball team 3 nights a week and my daughter's softball team 2 nights a week. I couldn't sit still. My body always wanted to be moving. It had gotten so used to being on the move that it didn't know otherwise. Then midway through softball and volleyball I find out I am just over a month pregnant and the morning sickness kicked in BIG TIME. I pretty much spent May and June of last year ON THE COUCH! I was exhausted and sick to my stomach every minute of the day. Needless to say by the time my precious little baby was born I had gained close to 70 lbs. YIKES! and the little booger only weighed 7lbs 12 oz when she was born. 
She is 10 weeks old now and natural progression has caused me to lose some of the weight. I am also nursing which helps. Unfortunately it is not enough and besides basketball shorts, I fit back into only one pair of my old pants.  
TODAY I STARTED RUNNING! YAY! and it felt great! I didn't get very far before I was out of breath but at least I got my rear end moving!

Busy as a Bee!

I have been so exhausted lately. The baby is a good sleeper, but I have been staying up WAY too late and trying to do 50,000 things everyday. So this week I've pretty much been sleeping every time the baby is asleep, and loving our naps together. As for the wedding, I am already ready to say,'babe, meet me at the courthouse!' I just can't justify spending money on all kinds of non reusable stuff just for one 'party'. We've already changed the colors and theme. The colors are now black and white with a Rockabilly theme. I literally have not even thought about the wedding for the past week because there is simply too much to think about. By the way, the above picture is me and my babe 2 summers ago at our friend's house in Las Vegas.  
Also, Thank you for leaving me comments! I love them!

The Plans Thus Far

We will be getting married in June of 2012. I will probably say this a million times-I am SO excited. The best part is: My dad is excited too. What we have planned so far is: 
colors: Blue & Silver 
theme: stripes 
Location: South Texas 

the maid of honor will be daughter #1, flower girl, daughter #2, and ring bearer will be my son. My 3 bridesmaids are my life long friends Andria, Ashley, and Emely.  
I have been watching wedding shows on netflix and I CANNOT believe how much money people spend on things. For example: a $5000 WEDDING CAKE!! say, what? My total budget right now is $1000. After committing to a year of LOW LOW LOW spending, I will be using my budget savy ways to get things done for this wedding. I will be speaking with a local photographer next week to see if I can put in some time in exchange for his services. I've got a lot of thinking to do.  
January 20th-$22 (kids' yearbook) 
January21st-$10 bill payment

I'M GETTING MARRIED! I AM SO EXCITED!

Loving the Rain

I am really enjoying the rain we've had the past 3 days. It seems so peaceful to hear the raindrops on the tin roof. Usually our rain consists of over dramatic wind, thunder, and lightning, but this is just a simple rain. Today I will be relaxing and listening to the rain. We had 3 basketball games yesterday and I am plain ol' tired.
The baby had a real stuffy nose last night. Poor thing was breathing hard trying to move those boogies out. She does a good job sneezing them out. She even sneezed one into my hair during a diaper change! Luckily, daddy was home to help get her to sleep.

A Change of Word

In the book I'm reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert-she talks about cities and people having one word. For example New York's work is achieve. She is in search of her word and eventually finds it. I let the idea of what my word is roll around in my head for a few days. Today, it came to me: selfish. Yes, I said selfish. My word is selfish. Most people would not want to describe themselves with ones negative word, but I cannot lie to myself. Instantly after I found my word, I had the thought that that word needed to be changed to selfless. This is a big change. A change I would like to work toward even though it will be extremely difficult. Change is good. Change is essential. 
January 13th-$0 
January 14th-$46.89 (post office-most of it was for an international swap I agreed to join in late 2010-this also took up my post office budget for the next 3 months.)

Needs a Little Shut Eye

Boy, am I tired today! The baby actually sleeps really well, for a baby, and I have yet to feel exhausted before today. Last night she did not sleep well and we didn't take our nap together today. Weird thing is, my body is not tired, it's my brain that is sleep deprived. Hopefully tonight will be back to normal. 
I did get an apology today. He was pretty much doing everything he could today for me because he knew he screwed up. Men, I swear, do they ever learn? 
January 11th-$0

Mail Time

Had to take a trip to the post office today. Part of craft de-stash. This means I had to spend some money. Ugh. But it is part of the exceptions budget. Plus, I will be getting things I actually need in return. I love getting stuff in the mail. Especially crafting goodies! Free crafting goodies! Have a good day. TGIF! January 7th-$18.36 (Mailing Swap-bot trades, within $20 per month budget)

Crafty McCrafterson

Been feeling extra crafty this week. I made a really cool patch to cover a hole in some jeans, made some jewelry for a swap, and envelopes out of my kids' school papers. It is fun to be crafty :) 
Are there any super crafty websites or blogs that you MUST visit frequently? 
January 6th-$0

Doctor, Movie, Book, Crafting

Baby's 1st doctor visit was today. She is exactly the weight of a sack of potatoes (10lbs). She loved the car ride though she doesn't like being strapped down in her seat. My healthy little girl also grew one inch and is now 29 days young. 
When we got home we watched the movie Kick-Ass since I fell asleep about 3 scenes in when watching it last night.It was actually a better movie than I thought it would be. 
 
One of my resolutions is to read a book every two weeks. The first one I am reading is Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. It was on my reading list for last year but my library had not purchased it. So, now I will read 24 pages a day (303/14 days) at least.  
Today I received a forgotten craft instructions from a swap I hosted on Swap-Bot. It is a pretty awesome craft called glitter painting. Basically, you take a picture, enlarge it, and cover it in glitter to match the actual colors in the photo. I am going to try it on a small scale first and see how it goes. 
Have a FABULOUS DAY. 
January 5th- $2 for daughter's field trip fee

Special Gift

Last night I came home from basketball practice to a really cool present waiting for me. My DH got me a planner. I know, you're probably thinking what's so cool about a planner? THIS planner has a DAILY EXPENSE record in the back which will help me tremendously with my no spending 2011 plan. 
January 4th-$0

Happy New Year!

Yay! It's a new year! I will be going through with the no spending this year (with exceptions). Exceptions are okay as long as they are thought out ahead of time. I have a $20 budget per month for sending swaps.  I will also have to spend money on kid stuff like school activities, sports, and clothing. Bills, of course, and supplies for my new button making business. 
So far so good. 
January 1st-$0 
January 2nd-$0 
January 3rd-$0 
I am putting an ad in the trading post part of our paper to see what happens. Have you changed any habits for the new year?