A Hopeful's Hideaway

Our 1st Anniversary

2011-08-16T22:05:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago we had our first anniversary :) I can't believe it has already been one year since we got married!! (and I still haven't changed my name, eek!!!) We had a small get together at my parents' house. Lina helped out a lot with the party. She's such a wonderful friend :) Almost all these pictures are from her too!


via

floral arrangement from my mom

ice cream sundae table

veggie kabobs

lots of fresh fruit

my dad made wooden coasters

flowers floating in a giant margarita glass

food deck

Many things (plates, napkins, curtains) were reused from our wedding. My parents' backyard has some nautical decor, so we included that element into the party here and there. For example, those jars of lights are hanging from ship's wheels. There were tons of lights everywhere! I wish I took more pictures :( It was really pretty. We had meat & veggie dogs & burgers. Almost all the fruit and veggies were from the local farmer's market. We got a bag of peaches for $2! Plums were free from the yard. Lina made her super delicious peanut butter cookies. They were such a big hit! Everyone couldn't stop eating them :)

The morning after the party, we quickly cleaned up and took off for our lil getaway. Dale had fun surprises planned for the next two days! We stayed at a really cute B&B, ate at a yummy restaurant, went to a baseball game, and more!

Our Apartment

2011-05-08T14:18:00.000-07:00

Waiting unknowingly for the job I preferred has worked out quite well so far. First, I got the job. They called me right after the interview to offer me the position. I've been working since Valentine's Day :) Second, the hours, pay, and benefits are more than what I expected. Third, they offered us an apartment at a very affordable price (especially for the area). Furnished with whatever we needed, includes washer/dryer, all utilities paid, no commute. My commute was 40 miles, 1 hr, $5 toll everyday. Now my commute is a 1-2 minute walk across a parking lot!! My husband and I are extremely grateful for this opportunity.

Anyway this post is about the apartment. It's cute and cozy, but also pretty awkward due to the layout. We are still in the process of moving; we started about 3 weeks ago. We're really excited to make it feel like home :) Here are pictures of the place before we started putting our stuff in.

This is our little yard area and our RV neighbors.

We're planning to start gardening here.

Our front door.

Opening it for the first time.

Living room/kitchen as soon as you walk in. That hallway is the shower area and entrance to laundry room/storage.

Our challenge area; the bar/table and sleeper couch.

Laundry.

Bedroom.

Other challenge: the ledge that goes around the whole room.

3 doors, 1 wall.

Before we moved in, they painted all the wood paneling white, cleaned the carpets, and replaced the windows. The church (who the apartment belongs to) did a lot of work to make the place nicer for us. We love the white walls, plenty of windows/natural light, and built-ins.

Hopefully, we'll be able to post about our progress with turning it into a home and the creative solutions we'll need for some of the awkwardness.

Btw:

Happy Mother's Day!!

Monterey

2011-04-30T15:59:00.000-07:00

It has been quite a long time since I last posted! There are many things I'm going to post about, but today will be focused on Monterey.

A couple weeks ago my husband, Lina, and I went to visit our dear friend, Tamara in Monterey. She'll be leaving this wonderful city soon. We wanted to visit her before she graduates and gets married :)

Here's some of what we did on our little trip:

On the Wharf

Very Delicious!

Funnest Stairs

Silly Hubby

Lina & her camera :)

"Our Sea Squirrels"

We kind of crashed a wedding, with a bunch of other beach goers.

the girls

Taking a break at the fair.

cuties

Tamara making some of her yummy drinks.

We caught the ending of the Giants game. GO GIANTS!!

Most expensive candy we've ever bought... haha, tourist trap.

More delicious food!

At the Cooper Museum/Store

Even the bathroom area was pretty.

Crazy flowers!?!

Can you find us?

All the book stores were closed :(

Our amazing hostess :)

2011 Calendar

2011-02-01T19:56:00.000-08:00

Today I was searching for some awesome free calendars for this year, and I must say this one was the best so far!!

Thanks My Owl Barn :)

Day 4

2011-01-28T22:54:00.000-08:00

I have had sooo much on my mind today. I have a big decision to make concerning my future, particularly my employment... I received a job offer today. A great offer at that. Full health benefits, good wages, full time... but not at my top choice school. I must make a decision by the end of Monday. My interview for my top choice school isn't until Feb. 7. I think I have a good chance of getting hired there, but they haven't told me what the schedule or wages would be. I am really stressin over this. My heart is telling me to wait for the 7th, but my mind is telling me to take the security filled position. There is a lot to consider...

It's really weird because yesterday I finished reading What Should I Do With My Life? by Po Bronson. I was completely inspired and ready to face my future with all the unknowns and everything. Ya know, go on the path that is based on happiness and dreams. But when faced with the choice... it is so hard!! (I recommend the book btw. Lots of stories and experiences that made me reflect on my own life and my questions and answers to life). It is rather easy to say go for what I feel is "right", but honestly my husband and I can really use the security. Oh, I really have a lot to think about this weekend!! :(

So, for Day 4 it is pretty simple... a bunch of quotes I found inspiring and am trying to use as guidance as I face my decision.

Day 3

2011-01-27T23:06:00.001-08:00

Day 2

2011-01-27T00:13:00.000-08:00

2nd day of 365 and I almost forgot already!! :(

Although I am 5 min late with posting, here it is...

I got 2 new photo editing softwares this past week and I've been playing around with them a little. As the year progresses I hope to develop some skills, lol :)

Also, today was filled with some positivity that I will be sharing soon!

365: Make Something Every Day and Change Your Life

2011-01-25T23:55:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to decide on what to do for this new project I found: 365: Make Something Every Day and Change Your Life.

My ideas were floating around these:

create a gift
create a print
draw
journal
document a "dream"
list 10 positive thoughts/quotes

I've decided to combine them all and just do something every day!!

Although my goal was to decide before my birthday... I decided today :)

1. Inspired by a birthday card from my older sister!

yeeeeeeeeey!!

2011-01-21T20:32:00.000-08:00

I'm excited, but don't wanna be!! Ahhh!

So, I've been kinda down because our plans to go to Korea aren't working out. (We still haven't heard anything from the General Conference!! Almost 2 months now!) Instead of just sitting here hoping, wishing, waiting to hear something, anything, I applied to a preschool job nearby. As I was writing an email to inquiry about another preschool job, the first one called to set up a tour of the school and meet all the teachers!! They were really interested in continuing the application process with me and wanted to make sure I like the school :) After I got off the phone with the director, I finished my email for the second job. That evening, I randomly checked my email and the second place wants me to call them on Monday to schedule an interview!! I'm really excited, but don't want to be because I don't want to jinx anything, lol. Also, I don't want to get extra hurt if both jobs don't work out.... I think it's a step in the right direction though.

Anyways, it was a great way to end a tiring/depressing week!

via hello naomi

Holidays

2011-01-05T13:37:00.000-08:00

This past Christmas it was just me, my husband, and little sister :) First time our family wasn't all together. We didn't really celebrate or go all out. Christmas is my favorite time of year because everyone is usually happy and everything is all decorated and festive. Honestly, we weren't really feeling it this year... all the commercialism and greed... it all casts a heavy shadow on the true spirit of the season. Being around friends and staying positive all help the season stay bright :) Anyways, here are the holiday cards my husband and I sent out. We used pictures from our wedding and got the graphics free off the internet. Summertime Designs and Kevin & Amanda both offer very awesome freebies. I used stuff from both of them to create our cards. Then, printed from home. We "greened" them up a bit by using leftover cardstock from our wedding and envelopes we found in my mom's stash of leftover stationary. We also made the card postcard style to use less paper! We couldn't decide on one style so we just used them all :)

Card Option 1:

Front, frame from Kevin & Amanda

Back, frame edited from Kevin & Amanda, bows & background from Summertime Design

Card Option 2:

Front, frame edited from Kevin & Amanda, bows & background from Summertime Design

Back Option 1, frame edited from Kevin & Amanda, bows & background from Summertime Design

Back Option 2, frame edited from Kevin & Amanda, bows & background from Summertime Design

Card Option 3:

Front, frame edited from Kevin & Amanda, bows & background from Summertime Design

Back Option 1, frame edited from Kevin & Amanda, bows & background from Summertime Design

Back Option 2, frame edited from Kevin & Amanda, bows & background from Summertime Design

That was a lot! I love making cards and am so grateful for wonderful people who post amazing freebies to use!! :)

A different take on Tree Houses

2011-01-03T23:59:00.000-08:00

As I was perusing the interwebs, I found this awesome article about literally living in live tree houses!! Check it out! It's pretty awesome :) Tiny drawback is it will take about 15+ years to actually grow one to live in. But totally worth it!

Here's a link to the article.

I have always loved treehouses since I was really little. I can remember trying to draw them (along with my castles filled with booby traps that could spring treasures of candy or dump you in a swirly moat). One of my favorite Polly Pockets was my treehouse one that you could open up. It even had a working swing and slide in the tree trunk! Those mid-90's Polly Pocket days were the best :)

via

A New Year & New Beginnings

2011-01-01T22:42:00.000-08:00

Lately my hubba bubba and I have been discussing our future plans a lot. While these discussions can be terrifying, they are also exciting! Who knows what the future really holds, right? For example, the past several months we have been planning on going to Korea to teach English. As the application process started, we were immediately hit with an extra huge hurdle. The program we are trying to go through is a religious one and one of the requirements is you have to be baptized in their faith. My husband is not. Now we are waiting for approval from our region's General Conference... and we have been waiting for weeks and no response. We have been forced to come up with a plan B if the whole Korea thing doesn't work out (I'm definitely not going without my husband). Coming up with a plan b is both terrifying and exciting :)

So far, part of our plan includes starting an etsy shop!! We have been gathering our items, taking pictures, working out details, and hopefully our shop will be up this next week.

On another note, I must admit I am regretting many things about our wedding. Mainly the location and date. We were deciding between August 1 and January 23. But we are already married and I am happy we are! Maybe we can have a special party on the 23rd instead :) January Wedding by the Avett Brothers is a really cute song for anyone getting married in January. Even though we didn't get married in January it's still one of our songs, hehe.

2010 was a great year in many ways and I'm excited to see what happens in 2011! I hope it includes a visit to this really awesome place:

Out'n'About Treehouse Treesort LLC & Treehouse Institute of Takilma

At the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk...

2010-08-30T11:48:00.000-07:00

... in the warm California sun!

Last week, my husband and I treated two of our dearest friends to a trip to the boardwalk. They helped us out a lot with the wedding and we wanted to do something a little extra for them.

Here are some pictures of our fun summer day.

This attraction was free! Yay for the Costco package :)

Going on the not-so-scary ride.

trying to see how many jumping jacks and push ups they can do before the wave comes

looks like the wave got him :)

Fright Walk was really fun with these guys!!

On the top of the Ferris Wheel. This by far was the scariest ride ever!

We had lots of fun! We went on a Tuesday and they had some awesome deals, like $3 attractions and $1 hot dogs. We are excited to go again next summer :)

I'm Back!!

2010-08-19T10:26:00.000-07:00

Yay! The honeymoon was so relaxing!! :)

I have plenty to catch up on. There are a lot of posts I want to do. Everything from the bridal shower to wedding stuff!! Better get started soon.

It has been so crazy the past month. Usually, I have things planned out, written down, and am very organized. I have no idea why I was the worst when it came to the wedding :( I feel really horrible about it. I didn't get to do everything I wanted because of it and much much worse is that I know it stressed out those around me a lot :( I will definitely know how to help my friends when it's their turn to get married and I hope they will learn from my many mistakes... There were many people who helped us out a lot and without them we wouldn't have had a wedding! I am so very extremely grateful for them!! Including Lina and her mom!!

At the end of it all, I am most happy about the fact that everyone came together and had a good time! My family has been going through something really intense the past 7 months and having a wedding was hard on us. To see my family all happy and having fun on the wedding day was one of the best things ever! Also, finally being married to the man I love! :)

Bridal Shower Nightmare

2010-07-07T13:40:00.000-07:00

So long story short... The bridal shower is this Sunday and the planning is starting today! 2 of my bridesmaids were planning my bridal shower (weeks ago), another bridesmaid wanted to take over last week, they reluctantly let her and gave her all their info... and nothing has happened! Now the rest of us are scrambling to pull it together... Another challenge to tackle.. *sigh.

Color Palette Inspiration picture:

from here

AHH!!

2010-07-06T21:59:00.000-07:00

25 days left!!! Wow! :)

I'm really really excited, but of course, super duper busy! I have sooo many projects going on right now. We finished making our napkins a couple weeks ago. I'll post about them later. Right now we are currently working on coffee filter flowers for ceremony decorations. Next, we will take on ribbon wands, flower garlands, program fans, and a few more, lol.

The invitations turned out great. We made them ourselves! Yay! I'll post more about them in detail later. Here's a quick pic:

It's 8.5 x 11 inches... we folded it into thirds and it became the envelope too! I think we spent around $100 to have them printed.

We sampled our caterer's red velvet cream cheese frosting cupcakes yesterday and they were extremely yummy!!

I'm so excited and just as stressed out! Hehe! So much is going on, it's pretty crazy! I can't believe the wedding is so close now! We have a lot left to do.

Updates

2010-06-02T01:37:00.000-07:00

Just like pretty much everyone else, I have been crazy busy this month! So here's a quick post before I go to bed :)

So weight update: I've lost 8lbs total as of this morning... not to great but better than nothing, especially for my super underachieving attempt. I must make major improvements here, although I am glad I'm not obsessed with it!

Dress update: I got it!! yay :) I felt so much pressure to get one right away so I did. And I've been having second thoughts about it, but oh well... its just a dress & I like mine. It was pretty random how I found it. My fiance and I were at the mall (looking to register at a department store) when we walked past a kid's formal wear store. I saw some cute flower girl dresses so we went inside to take a look. Well, in the back corner they had a few bridal gowns! One caught my eye, tried it on, and liked it. 1 week later we went back to check it out again and ended up getting it! We had a delightful surprise when we saw it was 60% off. The thing that makes me pretty sad is I kinda compromised on my beliefs here... but I do plan on selling/donating the dress after the wedding. Here are a couple pictures:

(the corset back was undone here)

(here the back is half done)

(close up of the front, waist area)

I love how it has some sparkle and lace... also it has a small train which is perfect for the lawn.

There has been some drama going on with a MOH (both of my sisters were asked to be MOH). Long story short, I haven't told her yet if she is still gonna be part of the wedding... it's pretty ridiculous.

My dad has been working in the backyard almost everyday and I've been trying to help him as much as I can. We changed and moved around some stuff. We made a "greenhouse" and planted some stuff. I will have to post some pictures in a couple days.

Invitations! I have been working on those this past weekend. We are making our own and taking them to a printer. Fiance has almost completed the guest list with all the addresses too! We weren't quite sure what we wanted to do about invitations until we saw this one:

found here

Isn't that such a great idea!?!!? That's hint to what we are doing... actually, pretty much the same thing, lol.

Well, eyelids are gettin heavy. Time to hit the hay :)

Dress Shopping Day 2

2010-05-06T11:38:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to David's Bridal with 3 of my bridesmaids and my fiance :) I had a lot more fun than the first time I went dress shopping. There were also more dresses that felt more like me. Here are some pics...

I guess it's pretty obvious which was my favorite :)

We are going shopping again tomorrow. I originally was so sure about buying a pre-owned dress, but after shopping and talking with some of my friends, they are starting to sway me into thinking it's okay to buy a new dress. I am by no means a saint, I try to follow my beliefs and values best I can... but I know I fail sometimes. This is a perfect example. I have an idea of what it takes to make a wedding dress, where it comes from, who made it, how it got here, etc. plus this is a 1-time wear dress (couple hours for that matter). I find really hard to justify buying a new one. I've been shopping just to see how dresses fit, but it's starting to turn into more than that... I hope I don't cave in... The idea of making my own dress is getting smaller by the week... btw, only 87 days to go til the wedding!!!

Great news, exciting news: my future in-laws are wanting to give us $5,000 for the honeymoon :D I wasn't expecting anything because we didn't want to rely on others money... but we aren't going to reject their offer, lol.

Weight update: I've lost about 5 pounds so far, haha... it's really hard to tell, but the scale doesn't lie I hope! It's pretty good considering I have only worked out about 4x since setting my goal. Although, I have been trying to watch what I eat (not going crazy strict, but making small changes).

Location Decision: We are going to stick to the original plan and have the wedding & dessert reception where we booked, then we are gonna have a celebration party in my parent's backyard. The party is gonna be a potluck dinner and we are gonna have dancing!! yay :) best of both I think. Here are some pics of the wedding venue:
Ceremony Location: This is one of the prettiest places on campus. If the ceremony starts around 2, we might have shade problems, doesn't help the wedding is in summer, hehe.

Dessert Reception Location: This is the room with an attached kitchen and courtyard.

The guy in the pictures is a groomsmen and the girl is a bridesmaid :)

Dress Shopping Day 1

2010-04-30T00:15:00.000-07:00

Shopping for my wedding gown was quite stressful... I know my wedding is really soon and I know that I started shopping late (according to the industry's standards), but I really didn't need to be reminded all day. Honestly, I never planned on purchasing my gown from a bridal store. I only planned on trying on dresses so I could know what to look for online. I really want to purchase a pre-owned gown. Spending a ton of money on a 1 time wear dress (a couple hours for that matter) doesn't make sense to me... but here are a couple pics from my first time shopping yesterday.

It was pretty fun trying on dresses, after I got over the regret of not losing weight yet... lol. It was just motivation for me to continue to try, try harder.

We found a bridesmaid option at Target! $25 too!! We are thinking about getting that dress and returning if we change our minds. Target is great cuz they have a 90 day return policy... and seeing how our wedding is gonna be around that time, it works out :)

Tomorrow we are going to David's Bridal! I hope I find a dress I'd actually consider buying... Goodnight :)

Changing the Location?!?!

2010-04-25T00:33:00.000-07:00

When we first got engaged I wanted to have the wedding in my parents' backyard, but threw that idea out after considering the guest list. So, we set the date at the college we both attended. That place has a lot of meaning to our relationship.... seemed like a great place. There is a lawn lined with trees, it's really pretty... But tonight, my dad talked with my fiance and I about having the wedding in the backyard. He knows we originally wanted the wedding there... and he successfully convinced us that it could actually work out really well. I feel really hesitant to change the location, especially because the wedding is in less than 4 months away. If we do change the location, we won't be losing any money... so that's a good thing... I know the wedding at the college would be really nice, but so would the wedding in the backyard. The wedding in the backyard would also be meaningful and closer to most of the guests. So much to think about!!!

Here are a couple pictures of the backyard:

We could change whatever we wanted in the backyard... clean it up real nice... the more I think about it, the more I remember how much I wanted to have the wedding there.... *sigh... decisions, decisions!

Hospitals... Wedding....

2010-04-22T20:45:00.000-07:00

My mom just had a hysterectomy. We were at the hospital for 2 days. I am so glad everything went well and we are home. That hospital had pretty bad service. Her surgery was supposed to start at 12, but that didn't happen. We waited for 2 hours before anyone talked to us about why she hadn't gone in yet. Actually we had to call a nurse to tell us what was going on. This whole time we could hear nurses talking about what they were going to have for lunch, what they had for lunch, gossiping, etc. It was the same deal after her surgery. The nurse hardly came in to check on her, they were never on time for specific things, and we had to wait at least 10 min anytime we called for a nurse. Meanwhile, there were at least 8 people in the hallway chatting. It didn't help that this hospital had nursing students there too. The majority of the time we could hear the nurses explaining things to the students and spending more time with them than attending to their patients. To top it off, when the nurses did help us they were not friendly. It really seemed like these people were there just to do their "job" and they weren't enjoying it. I know being a nurse is "hard" and draining, but really? You signed up for it, at least be courteous to your patient. Oh! I overheard a lady ask one of the student nurses where the gift shop and cancer center was. The student nurse responded, "I don't know where the cancer center is, but the gift shop is on the 1st floor near an elevator." Ahh! Okay, okay, they are just a student... but they should know their way around the hospital! And if they don't, they should ask. The student should have found out for the lady, instead she let her wander around to find out from someone else. Maybe I'm just grumpy from being in the hospital the past 2 days and from being stressed out about my mom's situation... sorry, I just expected more. At least her doctor was really nice, friendly, and helpful! :) I am very grateful that she is okay, her surgery went well, and she is at home recovering.

So, I looked on our wedding website account and.............. there's only 101 days left until the wedding!!!! We have soooo much to do! It would be nice to have something to look back at on the planning of the wedding. Please, bear with me... I am going to try to blog everyday about what's going on with wedding plans and preparing for the wedding.

I have a couple goals:
1. Try to be as "eco-friendly" as possible.
2. Don't give in to the wedding industry, with all their "must-haves", etc.
3. Stay under $10,000 (including all pre-wedding events, wedding, & honeymoon)
4. Keep the bigger picture in mind - "community celebration"
5. Lose 25 pounds :)

The hardest goal will be to lose the weight. I have been trying, but I haven't been consistent. Eco-friendly mindset is probably going to be the easiest. We will see how it all goes... lol.

I never blogged about our Engagement Party! Well, it was on March 28 at my parents house. The party was kind of a spontaneous event. I'll do a recap through pictures.

This was the invite we handed out to our friends.

They were about 4 in. x 4 in. We used scrap paper that was printed on one side and left over construction paper for the backing.

My dear friend My-My made these signs for the party. We used the cardboard that comes with a calendar.
This sign was on the front door.

These signs were on the side gate. The side gate from the front yard leads to the backyard and deck.

(I need to upload pics of the sidewalk from the gate to the deck. It's actually a pretty cute garden walkway.)

These are flowers that were picked from the yard. They grow abundantly and the yellow ones are considered "weeds". We thought they were beautiful and we have so many, we didn't feel bad cutting some for the table.

I don't know if this is really meant to be a table cloth, but we used it as one. I bought it from the Thrift Center in town, I got it for $0.99.

I sewed some buntings from leftover fabric. The colors went well with the deck and canopy.

The pink buntings are from Christmas. We were able to reuse them :) We hung two bedsheets to act as a divider. Behind the sheets are a bunch of stuff that's normally on the deck that we didn't want showing during the party. I got the sheets for $0.99 each from the Thrift Center.

I made these fabric flower garlands out of the same fabric I used for the red, green, blue, etc buntings. I got the idea from Cakies, she has a great tutorial on how to make them.

We used all "real" dishes for the party. Thanks to Mom for letting us use her cups, plates, etc. We ate a bunch of pizza and pasta from Pizza Hut. The chicken alfredo pasta was pretty darn good I must say. Also, crazy bread from Little Caesars.

Please don't mind the scary heads, hehe. I didn't want to post pictures of people without their consent... lol.

After we ate, we played a bunch of games. For example, wedding taboo, vow mad libs, etc. My friends Che, Mar, and Jelly made up the games. Then we went inside to play Crack the Case and eat some yummy ice cream!

The food cost us around $60. The fabric (which I bought a month before, not really for the engagement party) cost around $3. So it's safe to say that the Engagement Party cost less than $65. Not bad...

Thanks Lina for most of these pictures!!!

HAPPY EARTH DAY EVERYONE! :)

It's Been a While...

2010-04-09T13:18:00.000-07:00

Wow, I haven't blogged in a couple months... but I have good reason (at least I think so anyways). I am engaged!! My boyfriend proposed on our 4 year anniversary :) It's kinda hard to surprise me, but he totally did. It was really sweet. He had a whole day planned for us. Of course, I thought everything was for our anniversary, but no! I was definitely pleasantly surprised... I shall post pictures soooon.

Well, here's one of the ring... it's the clearest I could get it.

* we do not support "blood/conflict diamonds"... or any gems & metals for that matter... we also do not see rings as absolutely necessary for a marriage...

Postponed Post

2009-12-31T22:19:00.000-08:00

I have a few hours before the new year starts!! i have been busy these past couple weeks and have been putting off blogging. it really is better to just post right away or else it all adds up and i can't post all i wanted to... but here are a few highlights since i last posted...

for christmas, my boyfriend took me to san francisco to see the nutcracker!!! it was awesome. there were a lot of families and everyone was dressed up all christmasy :) it was funny because my boyfriend didn't know anything about the nutcracker, but half way through he told me "darling, this is the kind of stuff that goes on in your head, huh?" hehe.... well, we had our own little adventure in the city that day. we found a great donut shop and yummy teriyaki... it was wonderful fun and i wish i took more pictures to capture that day.

and of course christmas came and went rather quickly! this was the first year our family didn't have a christmas tree. it was a bit sad, but i was actually really happy. lately, i have been depressed with our country's need to consume and turning almost every holiday into something it's not... on a happier note, i had fun wrapping gifts in more creative ways than the typical one time use wrapping paper... for example, i made a collage of pictures for my parents and wrapped it in an extra christmas pillowcase we had, i used some leftover lace to hold it together and scrap paper for the gift tag... another thing i did was make little felt pouches for some rings i got for the girls in my family... we definitely had a "greener christmas"

*these are yummy yummy cookies our granny made for us. she makes them every christmas :)

*these are hair clips i made for some of my girl friends

2009 was kind of slow for me. i have been trying to figure out what i want to do with my life and its an intensely taxing process... i wish i was one of those people who just knew... but there are many career paths that have caught my eye and i just cant decide... i hope this new year i will be able to continue my journey of figuring it out. i am excited for this coming year. many projects in mind and new responsibilities coming up!! good bye 2009 hello 2010 :D

Unexpected Delightful Surprises

2009-12-16T16:35:00.000-08:00

This past week has been superbly wonderful! One of my best friends came home from being in another country for years... Also, we had our church christmas concert on Saturday. Which is great because it means no more practices!!!

Usually I am not this happy during finals week. However, I have been quite lucky so far. I got excused from a final! It was for History of the Philippines. All day I had been contemplating whether to study or not for this final, and chose not to, lol. I really wasn't feeling it. The hour before the final I started to become extremely worried and wish I would have studied. I showed up for the final and waited while our professor took attendance. When he called my name he noticed I had no absences. He asked if I had been taking notes and I said yes. He then asked to see my notebooks. He looked through them, seeing what I had written. He told me I took good notes and saw I was taking this class seriously. He then handed me the final and told me to go home. Really?!?!! I was shocked! He repeated himself, "Please go home." WOW!!!! what an amazing surprise!!!!! In the car I took a look at the final... and oh my... I would not have done well if I took it.

Then for my Human Biology final, all the multiple choice questions had the answers highlighted! Somehow they made a mistake while printing our exams... Our teacher simply said it was too late to do anything and "Merry Christmas!" lol... he joked that now some of us actually had a chance to pass now... and that if we did bad on the final we needed to seek professional help, lol....

I will not push my luck and will take my last final seriously. It is on Friday, which gives me a good amount of time to study. It is an essay type test where I will have to write atleast 2 essays... so I really need to prepare for that. (U.S. History)

On another note, I made 3 buntings last week. My little sister said she would like this year's christmas decorations to be in pink, white, silver, etc. So I did "peace", "joy", and "love" in some pink and white materials I had from previous projects. First time making these, next time I won't space them out as much and make the letters centered better... Oh well...

I also made this brush roll kit for my friend...

Little Creations

2009-12-03T19:42:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to post some lil creatures I made.

Well, I didn't make the cute little hello kitty... but I did make that lil treasure bag she's sitting in. :)

I am so excited for Christmas! It's my favorite time of the year. The beautiful twinkle lights and cheery spirit... I am in the process of making some ornaments... here's one so far:

I am planning to make a bunch of those hearts (white and green ones as well, white maybe with "peace" and green maybe with "joy" or the other way around, lol). Inspired by Lina's wonderfully cute bunting, I hope to make a christmas one! I wish I had a lot of time to sew...

I must get ready to go to my little sister's basketball game!!

Discouraged...

2009-11-30T12:48:00.001-08:00

i often wake up with great thoughts or they come to me while falling asleep... perfect timing right? hardly remember half of them... mostly just remember that i had some kind of good thought... what it was? idk...

this morning i woke up thinking about how some people call themselves environmentalists, caring consumers, social justice activists, etc... when really arent all those things connected? i guess some people like to focus on one specifically, nothing wrong with that... however i have a really hard time understanding how someone might say they care about animals soooooo much and yet eat meat.... i am definitely not judging here... i know i do it... i know its something i struggle with... i care about animals and the earth and yet eat meat... that has got to be one of the most hypocritical things i do. there is no way that eating meat is good for the earth or caring for animals. anyways, it got me to thinking how society in general likes to voice out issues and promote causes, but yet are breaking the same PRINCIPLES they are tyring to promote but in different ways... if that makes any sense... lol... its so easy for us to get onboard with issues or projects as long as its CONVENIENT. i guess what we accomplish even if its out of convenience, is still better than nothing... but it makes me sad. it is missing the whole point of instilling values and changing lifestyles, instead we have trends. just like how environmentalism has been commonly marketed... i understand the idea/concept of making things "easy" for people in order for them to see that everyone is capable of something, but where is that missing link? the link from "okay here are all these reusable bags that you can so conveniently purchase and hopefully use" to "why does it even matter/whats the point and what does this mean for other aspects of my life". have we become so dependent on being spoon fed all the options that we no longer think for ourselves? i love living in america. there are very many wonderful things about this country. but the superficial focus and consumeristic lifestyles are plain old disgusting and rather embarrassing to be associated with... and sadly, many people in this country - especially california - are like this... no i dont know everyone and no i dont know what is in their hearts or what their intentions are, but i think it is undoubtedly true and obviously shown... i want to be part of the solution, but sometimes i feel these issues are too big or hit too deep that it is overwhelming to think about let a lone try to come up with ways to implement solutions...i feel so small and i cant find my voice... like i have no appropriate reason/authority to even be trying to voice opinions on some of these issues... who am i? a 23 year old, still living at home, no job, sheltered background, small town girl... i dont know... this world is such a beautiful place why do we fail to see it? why do we forget to be grateful? why do we have pride in individual accomplishments when we can do so much more together? maybe thats part of the reason i feel so powerless, its because i feel alone.

Happiness & Horror

2009-11-25T14:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my wonderful little sister's birthday :D she turned 17!!! makes me feel even older... my boyfriend and i took her to a local thrift store (instead of driving 40+ miles to go used bookstore shopping, we were also pressed for time) on monday... she got around 5 books and 3 shirts... he too got a couple books and i got 2 childrens books, 3 bedsheets (yay more fabric for sewing!!), a shirt and a cardigan... we found some great stuff for marvelous prices! we also went to the library... one of her absolute favorite places...

then yesterday my mom, older sister and i took her to the mall... she got a great winter wool coat, lots of long sleeves, a couple scarves... and thats all i remember, lol... we also stopped at in-n-out on the way home...

about a month ago i found a journal that was perfect for her... i was finally able to give it to her yesterday :) .. i sometimes have a really hard time keeping surprises, i just get toooo excited! it was awesome because the other present i got her came in the mail on her bday!! it was a little flip book of pictures of family and friends...

i love her a lot...

but on to the horribleness..... i was loading my thrift store finds into the laundry and what did i see when i looked up???

ahhh!!! it was soooo scary!!! it was just my little sister and me home... so we didnt kno what to do... we dont like to kill spiders anymore cuz thats not nice... but we were too terrified to try and catch it... it took us about 30 min to muster the courage to just do it... but we did and we are waiting for someone to come home to release it outside...

today we are planning to help our older sister pack some stuff... waiting for my boyfriend to get here so we can all go help out...

My New Friend's Birthday

2009-11-17T23:12:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was my friend's birthday. Since my Human Biology test that was supposed to be on Thursday got postponed to today, I had some extra time to sew. What did I do? I made her a reversible apron and a tote :) This was my first time making a tote... I hope it works out for her...

The reversible apron... the lil birdie is a pocket...

The tote... with 2 lil pockets on the base of the handles...

I call her my "new friend" because although we grew up in the same church, we never spent that much time together outside of church. However, this past year that changed. We are both part of a small worship group that meets every week outside of church. Not only has this group allowed me a place to discuss relevant religious topics with peers, but to spend time & get to know people better. I am glad we have become better friends Lina :D

On Saturday night, a few of us went to Bay Point to spend the night at my friend Joelly's new house. We ate at Chipotle for dinner... I really do love eating there. I am having a hard time resisting meat. At least when I eat there I know its "food with integrity" and naturally raised beef... Anyway, we went to Coco Swirl after... then watched Up when we got to her house... We woke up early to head off to the Green Festival in San Francisco! I was overwhelmed at first... there were sooooo many vendors and people! It was awesome seeing all the great ideas and products.... I wish I could have spent more time there.. and honestly with less people... it was too crowded for my taste, lol. But I guess its an amazing thing that there were a lot of people.

Lina's puppies are soooo adorable!!! I wish I could have a puppy and it would stay a puppy forever :D

Today I took my Human Biology exam... ya... it was pretty bad... I guessed on almost half of it. It's my own fault for not studying much... This class is actually pretty cool. I like learning about the body... but I want the semester to be over already!!

I have a big project due on Thursday and a paper due on Monday. I really should be focusing my time on those two items. Despite that, all I feel like doing is sewing and reading A Little Princess! I spent most of today ordering prints from Snapfish... Oh! and my little sister had her first basketball game of the season today. They played P.Hill.. at half time the score was 11-34... final score was 20-35?... Napa lost :( It's weird watching the "younger generations" play... especially at the schools I attended... I saw one of my high school classmate's dad... its been a loooong time since we've seen each other... he asked if I was married?!?!? Wow, it hit me that yes, I am at that age... Time just keeps going by faster and faster. Well, after watching their game, I want to start running. I am the opposite of what I was like in high school. I am so out of shape now and back then it was a different story... my journey with athletics has taken a different road than what I thought... I'm not sure why and how I got here, but don't feel like digging up those buried issues...

It's getting late. My boyfriend keeps texting me... I should go... Nighty nite world...

Ecstatic about Sewing!

2009-11-12T15:52:00.000-08:00

during this past year i have come to the realization that i enjoy sewing

i have done a few projects in the past (making a pair of boxers in my 9th grade home ec class, a fairy dress for my 12th grade winter festival, a couple pig puppets and bean bags for student teaching, etc.)

but this past year i have made several aprons. for example, these two were for my dear friend tamara

a couple of these travel bags for "feminine use" - 2 without the strap

a ladybug costume for my church's fall fun festival

a markers holder - easy to throw in a bag

also my first quilt/blanket - i got the patchwork panel free from my church garage sale and added the rest from fabric i already had... instead of using batting, i used 2 layers of fleece :)

i can't seem to stop! after i finish this blog im gonna attempt to make a tote for my friend...

i like to shop at thrift stores and see what treasures i can find. lately ive been obsessed with buying fabric (bedsheets, pillowcases, anything) last week i bought a bunch of fabric and can't wait to use them!!