Versatile Blogger Award

I have been given the Versatile Blogger award! Pretty impressive since I have been MIA for 4 weeks. Let's just say it came from a good friend with kids of her own so I thank her for that :) 

1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them.
Stevie, mother of Moore Babies has been my friend since a few days into college at Clemson. I was her bridesmaid, she was my matron of honor, she became a mom (twice) I became a mom (once), and she now has a blog where she writes about fun activities she does with and for her daughters. Too bad for me she lives all the way in Florida which is not close to Maryland!!

2. Tell seven things about yourself.

 1. I am currently on maternity leave with my son. He is wonderful and amazing and all of those things new moms think about their children. There are select photos of him here and here (he had a little jaundice after birth).

  2. My husband and I donated the home we purchased to the Smithsonian and it is going to be in the new museum of African American History. No, I am not kidding. Our name is going to be on a plaque and everything :).

  3. I like gardening...flowers and vegetables, but this year everything is slightly on the back burner due to the new baby. I know my husband wishes I'd be more into the gardening this year, but it is tough. Last year we had some beautiful flowers and delicious vegetables.

  4. I'm not a big fan of driving at night.

  5. This past winter I hit a deer (at night), but since my driver's door was damaged, I had to climb over the center console of my Pontiac G5 with a long puffer jacket on 6 months pregnant to survey the damage. That was a sight to be seen on the side of the road!

  6. I love my Kindle! It was a Christmas gift from my husband after I was a sore loser in a holiday raffle and didn't win one at a holiday party. It i great, especially with the baby since I can read one handed.
  7. I cherish my friends...there are a few that have been with me through all sorts of times and they mean the world to me. I hope they know who they are!

  3. Pay it forward and award the Versatile Blogger to 15 bloggers. I am selfishly cutting this back to five (awful I know...) because I awarded a handful of bloggers the stylish blogger award before and W is up from his nap and I want to finally finish this post!...

Go check out these fabulous blogs!!
 1. Hanna @ Bouffe e Bambini
2. Emily @ Choose Joy
3. Abbi @ Dear Abbi
4. Lyndsy @ lgriffis
5. Billie @ The Unexpected Mother


4. Contact your everyone and let them know they've been awarded! 

Spring has Sprung

As my family and friends in Connecticut experience a fluke end-of-March snowfall, I can't resist sharing photos of our spring blooms at our home in Maryland. I know it doesn't look like much now, but considering most of the plants were rescued from choking vines in our woods and "split off" from a friend, I am very happy to see everything coming back strong since this is the first year we have seen them come up on their own. Maybe I am better with flowers than I thought :).

I am still waiting on our trees: cherry blossom, peach, apple and walnut, but here's a glimpse of the signs of spring so far.

Daffodils

Hydrangeas

Lilies

Sedum

tree (don't know the kind)

another tree

We planted our vegetable seeds a few weeks ago indoors in a Burpee container that was successful last year. This way, our veggies have already started growing by the time we put them outside in early May (depending on the weather). We start everything from seeds except for our Butter Boy tomatoes. This also makes it practically free. We also planted carrots, onions and lettuce into the vegetable garden already as seeds since they are more hardy.

Crazed Fan Weekend Hop

It's All About the Bump

A few photos courtesy of my husband:

Confession

My creative juices have stopped flowing. Okay, that's not totally true, but the projects I have in my mind are taking much longer to come to fruition. Today while my husband and I were out looking at "antiques"/rummage sale I actually turned down two reasonably easy project pieces because I remembered the projects in line upstairs in my craft room.

It isn't for lack of materials. No, I have already spent the money on the fabric, backing, paint, etc. It is just an issue of motivation which is unfortunate because I am not sure how much of it I will have once we bring a newborn home from the hospital.

I even have photos of a completed project and photos of another one in the works, but alas I haven't blogged about them which is shameful. I should be taking this time to create a backlog of posts for when baby arrives, but that hasn't happened either.

So my apologies go out to you, my followers, for the disappointment. I hope you continue to "follow" me because I will not let you down, but I just need a little extra time and some motivation.

Christmas Card Saver

 How many years worth of Christmas cards do you have? My mom told me she has years and years worth, from when my college-age cousins were in elementary school. My husband and I began receiving cards as a couple in 2007 and I have the cards to prove it. Our friends have gone from singles to engaged and married and now their dogs have been replaced by children in their pictures.

I decided it was time to do something with our cards, and I came up with a pretty simple six step idea shown in the photos below.

1. Sort

2. Stack

3. Cut

4. Punch

5. Decorate

6. String

1. Sort. I did this by size and put 4x8 photo cards first then other photo cards (by size) and then all non-photo cards sorted by size.

 

2. Stack. I stacked all greeting cards by size so the smallest was on top and largest on the bottom.

3. Cut. Cut pieces of cardboard slightly larger than your largest card for the front and back cover.

4. Punch. Using a hole punch, punch a hole in the same corner of each card. To make sure mine were all in the same place, I inserted the corner of the card as far as it would go into the hole punch.

5. Decorate. Using scrapbook paper I already had, I cut sheets to cover the front and back cardboard covers (four sheets per year). 

I used Mod-Podge on the cardboard to adhere the paper to the cardboard and then used another layer of Mod-Podge on top of the decorative paper to seal it.

I used more cut paper and some alphabet stickers to label the books.

Front and back of my 2009 and 2010 books.

6. String. I used thin holiday ribbon to string the cards and covers together. Make sure to pull the ribbon tight before tying it off so there is less stress on the holes in each card and it all stays stacked better. I originally planned on using metal binder rings, but cannot find them sold loose anywhere.

I put our Christmas cards as the first card in each book and plan on putting out these books each year to see how much everyone has changed and remember those who are no longer with us. I think it will be fun to have out with the album of old Christmas pictures I made earlier this year.

Linking up: Making the World Cuter Mondays, Just Something I Whipped Up, Craftastic Monday, Motivate Me Monday, DIY Holiday Showoff, The DIY Showoff, Mad Skills, Get Your Craft On, Tip Me Tuesday, Blue Cricket Designs Show & Tell, We Did it Wednesday, Mid Week Mingle Blog Hop, Hookin Up with HoH, Paisley Passions, It's So Very Cheri, Craft Catwalk

Christmas Past

Not too much text in this post since it is Christmas and I have plenty of relaxing and celebrating to do (confession: I did not actually write this post on Christmas Day). Earlier this year I started an album of old Christmas photos of my husband and I. I am going to take it out every Christmas when we put up the tree and add photos every year. We are still gathering our childhood photos, but here are a few from then and a few from the more recent years - enjoy!!

my precious husband at 5 months old

2 years old

5 years old 

(Mom, if you still have that nightgown, it is probably worth some $$ now!)

8 years old

Yes, our pajamas coordinated, I know.

1st Christmas with my boyfriend >> husband

1st married Christmas 

(At my in-laws since we didn't have a tree in our apartment)

2009 family gathering

2010 Christmas card

Anniversary

This week my husband and I celebrated our second anniversary. As one of my friends put it, "it feels like your wedding was a long time ago" and happily/sadly I feel the same way. I am sad that looking back two years later already seems like a long time ago, because the time is only going to grow and I always have fears that I'll forget things. My husband on the other hand remembers everything. And he wonders why I take so many pictures and videos?! It is also happy to feel like it was years ago because we have settled into our life as husband and wife (and soon to be baby). I find a great deal of comfort in loving the home we live in, enjoying our lives together and looking forward to experiencing new things at each others side.

Here is a brief glimpse back at Nov. 1, 2008: