Wedding Do-It-Yourselfers

Jordan woke up (really early) this morning and asked me, "Do you know what day it is?"
My groggy answer, "Uhh, I don't know."
Jordan's reply, "It's the 28th. One more month till our wedding!"


Kinda cute, huh?


I am trying not to get too excited or stressed about it because I don't want to jinx this second attempt to walk down the aisle. Jordan's aunt, Lori, and her friends have been amazing and have helped me take care of the cute little details that make a wedding special. I don't want to give too much away, but here is a little project Aunt Lori started.

CAKE POPS!!! 

And they are super cute, handmade, and homemade! She thought it would be a cute idea to have for dessert at my rehearsal dinner in lieu of having a plain, boring cake. Aunt Lori put her friends, Sandy and Sue, to work today! Sorry the pictures are kind of blurry... she is not the best photographer, especially not with her iPad (Kidding!).

Sandy and Sue hard at work with no wine. Tsk tsk.

Since Aunt Lori was hard at work trying to perfect the cake pops this afternoon while I was running around doing fun things, I got kind of inspired (or felt guilty) to start my wedding favor project that I have been putting off for about two weeks now.

Since the wedding got moved from the fall to the spring, I didn't think my caramel apple wedding favors would be appropriate, so I decided I wanted something floral or plant-ish for the spring. Well, sending all my wedding guests home with a plant or a flower is not such a bad idea in theory, but a majority of our guests will be flying or driving in from other states. So, traveling with a plant could end up being a little awkward or cumbersome. One of my best friends, Meredith, gave me the idea of seed bombs or seed paper.

A seed bomb is a little ball made up of compost/clay/paper and seeds. Seed bombing is a way to add a little life and beauty to industrial or heavily concreted areas. If you want more information about seed bombs, here is a great little article with FAQs from The Ecologist, a green living/hippie website.

I ordered a DIY seed bomb kit from a shop on Etsy called Recycled Ideas. 

My seed bomb lab, aka the kitchen table.

I started this project thinking it would be a piece of cake, and it definitely is; but, the it is very tedious and monotonous work so I called it quits pretty quickly. I thought I would be able to fill up a cookie sheet in no time, but you can see I didn't get very far. I think I'll wait until tomorrow night to do it when Aunt Lori comes up and I'll recruit her and Grandma to help me with it so I have some company. 

I'll post an update when I finish my project!

A Little Goodie

I was going through some really old pictures I had on this laptop trying to find some shots of the barn and the creek and I found this little gem! Pap scanned it and sent it to me probably five years ago.

September 2, 1982 - Jordan eating an apple and sitting on the cart with Pap.

Jordan was barely over not even a year old in this picture! He spent a lot of time out on the farm and in the woods with Pap when he was growing up. I never got to know or spend very much time with either of my grandfather's the way Jordan got to. I know Jordan has a lot of love and respect for Pap, even though sometimes he doesn't act like it. Some of my favorite characteristics about Jordan he got directly from Pap. 

If Jordan ever tries to tell you he's not blonde, remind him that this picture exists!

Dollies & Doggies

Years ago, Jordan's mom kind of taught me how to crochet. She really only knew how to make one afghan that used the basic single crochet; but, either way, she's the one that got me started and my interest in crocheting took off from there. Then, a couple of years ago, Grandma's beautician and friend, Pat, taught me how to make a baby afghan using the "idiot stitch." It is a really basic pattern, but the blankets turn out beautifully because the way you work the stitch makes kind of a basket weave pattern.

While I was recovering from my accident, I decided I was going to try projects other than blankets. I started off with hats -- I think I made a hat for just about everyone I knew! Somehow it evolved to making dolls and stuffed animals. I got the idea from my friend, Stephanie, who made a doll for her daughter as a stocking stuffer. My first attempt was successful and I made my niece, Eve, a little dolly named Annie. 

Annie doll made using a Lily Sugar 'n Cream pattern.

Well, of course, Eve hated the doll and pawned it off on Pap. Being the tomboy she is, she told me she wanted a dog. So of course, I made her a little stuffed dog that she named Snowy (but then later re-named Parker after Aunt Lori's dog!). 

Found this free pattern on Ravelry, but I added the bandana myself using the idiot stitch.

Snowy/Parker was a success!

My friend, Ellen, has two nieces and she asked me to make the girls each a dolly for Easter. I decided to branch out a little and looked up patterns for different outfits for their dolls to make them fit each of the girls' personalities. I made a red-headed cowgirl for her niece, Piper, and a blonde school girl for the other one, Anna. 

Piper and Anna dolls using Lily Sugar 'n Cream patterns.

Major difference from the first Annie doll to the dolls I made for Ellen's nieces -- my skills have DEFINITELY improved because the faces don't look weird and crooked! I'm done with all the stuffed animal projects I've started and now I'm looking for a new crocheting project to master... Any ideas???

Steak Salad Dressing Take 1

I am always on a quest for an amazing steak salad. So far, the best one I have ever had was at a restaurant my friend, Stephanie, and I went to up in Williamsport called Rivals. Rivals is actually more of a sports bar, but they have a killer steak salad. I've come to the conclusion that the sweet and sour dressing they have there is what makes the salad. 

Threw together a quick steak salad for me and Jordan for supper tonight. Supper was kind of interrupted but an unexpected and slightly unwelcomed guest, but the salad hit the spot anyway.  

I kind of played around with a vinaigrette recipe I got from Lucinda Scala Quinn's Mad Hungry book and tried to make it sweeter and this is what I came up with.

Steak Salad Dressing (Take 1)

Ingredients

1/3 cup good olive oil

3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

3 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Whisk all ingredients together until well combined. This dressing can be stored in the fridge for up to two weeks.

The dressing KINDA hit the spot, but still wasn't like the dressing from Rivals. I'd make it again because I could use it on regular salads, but I'm going to figure out the Rivals dressing one of these days.

The "Tulip Bush"

I have been trying to stay inside the past couple of days because my allergies are out of control. My eyes are puffy and watery, I have an itchy throat, I can't stop sneezing and I have gone through two boxes of Kleenex this past weekend alone. I don't remember the last time they were this bad because I usually nip it in the bud and start taking Claritin once springtime comes, but everything started blooming so early this year. I started taking Benadryl and Claritin, and they are BARELY working! UGH! 


Jordan requested that I post a picture of our "tulip bush" on my blog because it is already blooming and it looks beautiful, so I ventured outside this afternoon and snapped a couple of pictures.

So pretty!!!

Last year, I didn't know what the "tulip bush" was until Grandma told me, but after I started doing some research about possible trees I wanted to get, I found out that our "tulip bush" is also called a Magnolia tree, so now I'm not sure what it's correct name is. Either way, it is a beautiful tree and I'm really glad we have it. It is supposed to get down in the 20s tonight, and I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that the blossoms on the tree don't die.

Still trying to figure out what kind of tree I want to get. I think I have to make a phone call to a landscaper to get a little more advice. Also, I don't really want to get my tree from Lowe's and there are not many tree nursery's around here so maybe contacting a landscaper is the way to go.

Spotlight Thief!

Here's a little wedding preview. Jordan's niece, Eve, is one of our flower girls. Our other one is my cousin's pretty daughter, Ella; but, unfortunately, I don't have a picture of her in her dress.

We love this little girl! How could you not? She is perfection! Getting her into her flower girl dress has been a long time coming. She is such a little baby doll, but she does NOT like dresses -- she would rather be in jeans and a t-shirt! She is definitely her mother's child. When she first saw her flower girl dress, she bawled and threw a fit when we tried to put it on her. I worked on it a bit by shortening it and changing the sash out from ivory to purple and she ended up liking it because now it was a "little dress." 


This past weekend she came up to Pap and Grandma's, picked all of Grandma's hyacinths, put them in a basket, and practiced being a flower girl. She was even looking for her dress, so I went and got it and put it on her. I snapped this picture of her while she was staring at herself in the mirror. I took her to pick out a head band and she picked one for her and Ella that has a purple flower on it. She said she picked it because it matched the bow on her dress! Maybe one day I'll make a girl out of her. Who knows...?!?!


Anyway, I know that my flower girls will steal the show from me at my own wedding but I am 100% okay with it :)

Hair-ology

The other day I was at Pap and Grandma's house (as usual) and one of our neighbors stopped by to drop off our daffodils for the American Cancer Society's Daffodil Days.

She is such a kind, sweet lady who has been friends with Jordan's family for years and she sits behind me and Jordan in church. Every Sunday, without fail, she touches my hair and says "Oooh, I wish I had long, thick, beautiful hair like you!!!" I typically don't like people touching my hair, but she is such a nice lady and she doesn't do it in a creepy way.


Anyway, she went on to tell me that she has such thin, fine hair and she has to wash it everyday because it gets greasy so quickly. Well, my quick retort was "It get's greasy quickly because you wash it every day. Every time you wash your hair, you strip it of the oils and your scalp over compensates and produces more oil; THEREFORE, you end up having greasy hair."


If you don't believe me, you can read this article from NPR about it and even listen to the broadcast. I heard it on the radio a few years ago when I was in college and commuting on the 405 freeway. It was like divine intervention. Ever since I heard that piece on NPR and essentially "trained" my scalp not to produce as much oil, my hair has been extremely healthy. 


Also, I think using the right kind of shampoo is really important too. I try to use only shampoos that are sulfate and paraben free so that my hair doesn't get weighed down and look dingy. I used Iden Bee Propolis shampoo for years and then switched to Aveda Brilliant for the past year and a half or so, but a friend of mine found a line called Simply U while she was shopping at Walmart and I decided to give it a try.

So far, I like it well enough for the price. It is only $6 for about 25 ounces. It kind of smells similar to the Iden shampoo and conditioner and my only gripe about it is that my hair is not as soft when I let it air dry compared to when I use Iden and Aveda. 


I am very blessed and I have thick, dark Asian hair and I get complimented fairly frequently. It really means a lot to me because I am kind of a plain Jane and I don't do much to it besides blow drying it and running a flat iron through it every couple of days. Now that I'm not working, I really only wash my hair once a week. You can think I am a dirty bird, but read the NPR article and you will be enlightened.   

Trees on the Brain

Yesterday, my (almost) father-in-law, Jeff, told me he would like to get me and Jordan a tree as part of our wedding present. He thought it would be fun to watch the tree grow as our marriage grows. I thought it was a WONDERFUL idea. Sometimes Jeff surprises me with this sweet, mushy-gushy stuff because you would never think he could be like that. He's a big, burly guy with a deep and kind of scary voice! 


I cannot stop thinking about trees! Jeff told me I could choose whatever tree I wanted, but I have to make sure that it is a tree that will last. I originally wanted a flowering plum tree, but Grandma kind of made me shy away from that since hers have died after only a few years and she has already had to plant new ones. My thought was "a tree that dies fast = a marriage that dies fast." Bad omen, so I'm going to skip the flowering plum tree.


My cousin's husband posted this cute youtube video on my Facebook timeline since I voiced my worry about choosing a tree that dies quickly so publicly on Jordan's wall. So fitting and adorable!

Anyway, this decision is killing me since I am the most indecisive person to walk the planet, but I think I have narrowed it down to two kinds of trees: a dogwood tree or a weeping cherry tree.

Dogwood tree.

Weeping cherry tree.

Both trees have white and pink blossoms, which just makes my decision even harder. Decisions, decisions... HELP!!!

Spring... Has Sprung!

Happy first day of spring! It actually feels like spring on the first day of spring, too. It was kind of rainy this morning and stayed cloudy most of the day, but at least it was in the 60s.


Started my day off right and had coffee and breakfast with two of my favorites at The Corner Room in downtown State College. 

My lovely breakfast dates, Ellen and Ashley.

The Corner Room has awesome oatmeal. In fact, it is the only thing I've eaten from there. Who eats oatmeal out at a restaurant, you ask? Well, I do -- and Ellen and Ashley do too! :)


When I was driving home from town today, I noticed that a lot of people's forsythia bushes and hedges were blooming. We have three bushes on the acre we live on so when I got home, I went around back and noticed that ours were blooming too.

Our three forsythia bushes with the barn and steer in the background.

I love forsythia bushes! They are some of the first signs of spring and their bright, cheery color kind of screams "Bye, bye Winter!" 

My favorite of the three forsythia bushes on our acre.

Jordan kind of got ambitious this year and decided that he wanted to try and grow some vegetables. There is a small, but nice, garden area on our acre that we kind of let go to the wayside last year. Jordan's great uncle got it roto-tilled for us and we're going to try onions, cabbage, head lettuce, tomatoes, and maybe some potatoes and red beets. This is a huge undertaking for us because last year we only tried two tomato plants and we ended up killing them. 

I went over to the Amish green house and picked up some goodies to get our garden started. I got candy onions, great lakes lettuce, and two kinds of cabbage. 

Kind of a bad picture, but I have them sitting on our covered porch on my newly painted wicker coffee table! I closed all the windows and hopefully I get kind of a greenhouse effect. Once they are big enough, Jordan will transplant them into the garden. I'll be ecstatic if I just get a few onions, but I'm hoping that we have a successful year!

Cheesy Enchilada Casserole/Mexican Lasagna

After Jordan and I got in from working on the yard this afternoon, I decided I was going to try a recipe I got from a friend a few weeks ago. I'm a good granddaughter-in-law and brought some up to Jordan's grandparents too. They live just about an eighth of a mile up the road from me and Jordan and I try to do as much as I can for them, but it will never amount to everything they have done for us. 


This recipe was from Taste of Home, but my friend found it on Pinterest. It's called an Enchilada Casserole, but think a more appropriate name for it is Mexican Lasagna because it really tastes nothing like an enchilada and also calls for way more ingredients. 


Cheesy Enchilada Casserole/Mexican Lasagna


Ingredients:

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 large onion
• 2 1/2 cups salsa (I used fresh salsa, not the kind in the jars)
• 1 can (15 oz.) black beans or red kidney beans, rinsed and drained.
• 1 1/4 cup frozen corn 
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup reduced-fat Italian salad dressing
• 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 6 flour or corn tortillas (8-inch rounds)
• 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend, or whatever cheese you want to use
• 1 cup shredded lettuce
• 1 medium tomato, chopped

Directions:

In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in salsa, beans, corn, sour cream, dressing, taco seasoning, and cumin.

Spoon a generous layer of meat mixture on bottom of a square-shaped 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Place a flower or corn tortilla on top of meat and cheese layer (For each layer, I cut 2 rounds in half and covered the meat). Next, layer a third of remaining meat mixture and sprinkle with cheese. Place tortillas on top and repeat meat, cheese, and tortilla layers one more time. The last and final layer should be the remaining meat mixture and a generous amount of cheese. 

Cover with non-stick foil, or foil sprayed with Pam. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, or until it is hot and bubbly.

Let it stand for 5 minutes before cutting into it. Top with lettuce and tomato if desired. Taaadaaa!

Not the prettiest meal, but nothing that cheesy really is, right? We all really enjoyed it anyway! It was simple and quick and I would definitely make it again. 

A Mountain to Climb

Last fall, I was in a horrible car accident a week before our wedding that broke both my femurs, my right tibia and fibula, cracked a rib, and punctured a lung. It was the scariest and most painful thing I have ever experienced, but going through it made me a more positive and faithful person.


Well, fast forward to today... I'm still on disability because my right tibia isn't growing, my surgeon won't let me go back to work and there is a huge possibility that I will have to go in for more surgery to repair the area that isn't growing back. Going from working over 40 hours a week to essentially being a stay at home (almost) wife took a lot of adjusting, especially now that I can actually walk and get around fairly well. I keep trying to find ways to make the boring days go by faster, and since it is so sunny and beautiful out so early in the year, I decided I was going to re-mulch my flower beds. 


Jordan and I woke up super early and went and picked up mulch from a local landfill before he had to go into work. We got a MOUNTAINOUS pile for less than $40 and it's just sitting on my lawn waiting to be used.

I put a little dent in it while Jordan was at work, but trying to do yard work on a broken leg is pretty rough. I fell trying to push a wheel barrow, so I have to be extra careful and not load it so that it is heavier than I can handle. I'm hoping I can finish this project by the end of this week and post some pictures. 

Being at home all day and trying to recuperate is so frustrating and terribly boring. My last doctor's appointment was in February and when he broke the news that my tibia wasn't growing I was pretty hysterical. It is terrifying knowing that there is a huge chance I will have to go in for more surgery. It's one thing to go into surgery while you're sedated... but it's a whole different ballpark when you knowingly go into it. I have this phobia of being put under, but I guess I gotta do what I gotta do to get better. 

I have good days and bad days dealing with my leg. The worst part of it all is the anxiety of not knowing whether the bone is growing or not. We keep hoping and praying that it is growing in, so fingers crossed all is well when I go back to see my surgeon in  April. 

Peanut Butter Pie

On Friday night, Jordan and I went to a spaghetti supper fundraiser for his cousin and I ended up buying this awesome peanut butter pie. I gave half of it to his grandparents so that we wouldn't eat the whole thing ourselves, which we could have easily done!


Yesterday afternoon I was talking to his grandma about wanting a good peanut butter pie recipe and, of course, she pulled one right out of her recipe book. We had all the stuff to make the pie so we whipped it right up and I actually think it is even yummier than the pie I bought at the fundraiser because it was a little creamier. I'm usually really against using store bought pie crusts, but his grandma had a chocolate cookie crust she wanted to use up before it expired so we cheated a little. I think this is a great pie to bring to a picnic or church function because it calls for a lot of basic ingredients that most people already have in the kitchen, it's SUPER easy, and really fast to make. 


This recipe is from Taste of Home.


Peanut Butter Pie


Crust:
1 1/4 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (20 cookies)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted


Filling:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter (We only use Jif in our family!)
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream, whipped


*Grated chocolate or cookie crumbs optional


Combine crust ingredients; press into a 9-inch pie plate. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool.


In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar, butter and vanilla until smooth. Fold in whipped cream. Gently spoon into crust. Garnish with chocolate or cooke crumbs if desired. Refrigerate.


Jordan ended up sneaking a piece before supper last night because it looked so good. Here's how it turned out:

Farm Life

Yesterday, aside from doing the tasks I set out to do (laundry, cleaning out stuff from my in-law's attic, etc.), Jordan suckered me into helping him do some of the farm work. 


Ok, so I am not opposed to doing stuff around the farm, but as the years go on, I have realized that I am most helpful when I just stay out of the way. I'm not saying I had do anything overly strenuous yesterday but it did involve this cute little Farmall H tractor:

Jordan's dad had spread manure (not as gross as you might think!) on the fields earlier in the week to get them fertilized, so Jordan had to go and pick up any large rocks that ended up in the field to avoid any flat tires or ruined farm equipment. My job was to pull the wagon along SLOWLY so that Jordan could just dump the rocks in. Here's a partial view of the farm from the field while I was sitting on the tractor:

Love living on a farm! It was a pretty big shock to my family when I told them I wanted to move to Central PA, but I think the quality of life is better and it is an awesome place to raise a family. 

So, that was my little adventure yesterday. I whined and squealed most of the time I was running the tractor, but Jordan's Pap told me I did a good job! If you don't believe me, here's the proof:

Cheesy because I was kinda posing! See my green sunglasses for St. Patty's Day? The most shocking thing about this picture is that everyone in Jordan's family said I didn't even look out of place... YIKES!

Testing... Again!

Playing with this blogger app for my iPhone. Hope it's pretty easy because I am NOT tech savvy. Seems ok so far!

First Official Blog Post

Okay, so I'm going to consider this post my first official blog post. Jordan is kind of against this whole "blogging about my life" idea, but too bad! I need something to occupy my time. 


First of all, Happy St. Patrick's Day! This March has been unreal! It has been consistently in the 60s and 70s for about two weeks now... I can't believe it. Last March, it was still cold and snowy in PA. I've already started hanging my laundry out on the wash line and I've started about a thousand projects outside. I decided I am going to re-claim my covered porch and started by putting a fresh coat of white paint on my wicker furniture. With a little help from Jordan and a lot of help from my brother-in-law, Ryan, I got it done and now I am itching to decorate! 


It's my father-in-law's, Jeff, birthday on Sunday and the only thing he wanted was for me to clean out Jordan's baby mementos from his attic and move it into ours. Not looking forward to it and I'm already procrastinating by starting this blog. Jordan's grandmother and I are also making rueben sandwiches for supper to celebrate Jeff's birthday and St. Patrick's Day. Should be yummy!

Testing 1, 2, 3

Testing, testing, testing... Fingers crossed that this works!