Just some Voodoo :)

This is the requisite monthly puppy post. :)  When you don't have kids, you tell stories about your dog. 

And take lots of fun pictures.  But I'll spare you and only share a few.  :)

This is Voodoo telling me to STOP digiscrapping and notice her, already!  :)

This is how Voodoo and Paul watch TV together.  Obi doesn't seem to register anything about the TV, but Voodoo watches it with us sometimes.  And now she's found a comfy seat to do it on!  :)

She didn't totally love wearing Paul's shirt...but she sure looked cute and cozy in it!

These are the moments I don't regret having puppies around.  :)

Melted Crayon Art, Take 1

I've loved the melted crayon art floating all over the internet since the first day I saw it, but it quickly became a fad and I wanted to make mine a little more special.  I came up with an idea I'm really excited about, but I wanted to experiment with this whole melting process first...so, once again it was Pinterest to the rescue.  A little pastel inspiration, and here's what I came up with:

 It was a lot of fun to make--I bought a HUGE foam board and cut it down to the size I wanted with an exacto-knife.  Then I just hot glued the crayons down like I wanted, turned them upside down to blowdry (MUCH messier than I had anticipated--even with three trash bags laid down, I will still have to do some SCRUBBING in my bathroom tomorrow!  Next time I will do it outside), and hot glued my giant, bright gerberas.  Voila!  Instant springtime.

I LOVE my new spring decor for the mantle!  Now I just have to figure out what else I want to make to go along with it.  Stay tuned for take 2!

(And if you love that Easter egg button art and/or the felt bunnies, check out the original post HERE...there's a link to the original tutorial from Auntie Lolo Crafts!)

Curry Pineapple Fried Rice with Cucumber Relish

Thai food is our favorite.  The fact that they always blend and balance multiple flavors--sweet, salty, sour, and bitter--all in the same dish is a BIG thing for us.

Tonight I attempted a dish we LOVE to buy from a local Thai place...WITHOUT a recipe!  Curry Pineapple Fried Rice, with cucumber relish on the side.  It didn't really turn out *exactly* like I wanted, but it's still pretty awesome and definitely reminiscent of the original...and it makes a LOT, even for big foodies like us.  I think it's authentic enough to share.  :)  So, if you want to try experimenting with what I'm about to share, feel free...and if you perfect it, let me know!

First up, the cucumber relish, because you'll want to make it ahead of time and keep, covered, in the fridge for a while before you serve it.  This is a STAPLE side dish and soooo very delicious, we always order an extra side of it because it's gone before you can say, "YUMMY!"

CUCUMBER RELISH
Equal parts white vinegar, hot water, and sugar (for this recipe, I used 2/3 c. of each).
A pinch of salt (optional).
3-4 small cucumbers, peeled (optional), seeded, and roughly chopped.
1 c. roughly chopped carrots
1/2 small red onion, cut into thin slivers

In a large bowl, mix vinegar, water, sugar, and salt together until crystals dissolve.
Stir in chopped cucumbers, carrots, and onion.
Cover and allow to sit in fridge at least an hour or until veggies are chilled.
Serve cold.

(Serves 6.)

Next up, the main course: Curry Pineapple Fried Rice with chicken!  (It has peanut stuff in it, but you can easily omit that if you're allergy-conscious.  It's still good.)

CURRY PINEAPPLE FRIED RICE
(Again, this is without a real recipe, so you can guestimate on all of it and change it to your tastes!)

2 c. uncooked jasmine rice + water

1 can coconut milk
1/2 c. olive oil
2 Tbsp. (or more to taste) curry powder
1 Tbsp. peanut butter (optional)
dash soy sauce

1-2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin slices
1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced about 1/4" thick
1/2 small red onion, sliced in thin wedges
1 can chunk pineapple, drained
1 large tomato, sliced into thick wedges

1/2 c. shredded coconut (sweetened is fine)
1/2 c. cilantro, roughly chopped
1/2 c. green onion, chopped
1/4 c. chopped peanuts (optional)

1. Cook jasmine rice according to directions.
2. In large wok or pot, mix together coconut milk, olive oil, curry powder, peanut butter, and soy sauce over medium heat until it JUST starts to bubble.
3. Meanwhile, sautee chicken slices in medium pan until cooked through, then add in green pepper and onion and sautee for 2 minutes or just until SLIGHTLY softened.
4. Once sauce is bubbling in wok, add in chicken/peppers/onions. 
5. Stir in pineapple and tomato.  Taste it and see if you want to add anything (more curry, esp...the coconut milk makes everything so sweet and mild, I added the rest of my little curry powder container and even a few crushed red pepper flakes to add a little heat.)
6. Stir in cooked rice until every grain is soaked in sauce.  Shape into a small loaf on each plate, if desired.
7. Top with coconut, cilantro, green onion, and/or peanuts.

Enjoy hot!  (Serves 6 hungry people.)

Funny story.  So I tried toasting the coconut in the oven, because that's how they do it at the restaurant--but I almost caught the house on fire after 30 seconds.  Paul had to use our fire extinguisher on the tray of coconut, and then I had to start all over again because everything in the kitchen, including my food, was covered in the sour-tasting CO2 stuff it spewed out.  THEN, because the dogs were scared of the smoke alarm and the smoke/mist in the air and all the fans and sounds of outside, Voodoo pooped on the carpet--and when she's scared, it's not too solid.  What a night I had cleaning up after this fiasco!  So, moral of the story is, don't cook the coconut.  It's just fine as is and you won't regret it one bit.  :)

Happy cooking!

Liebster Award!

So, I guess there's this thing given to bloggers from bloggers (as long as they all have less than 200 followers) and it's called the Liebster Award.  Somebody who is NOT RELATED TO ME gave me this award!  I feel so honored.  Eilis at My Heart Lives Here has some awesome ideas about decorating your home--my fairy garden was inspired by her post--and it's just kinda cool to be nominated by someone you don't personally know, so thanks!

Here are the rules of this oh-so-prestigious award:
1. Post about your win on your blog (check).
2. Link back to the blogger who presented you with the award (check).
3. Copy and paste the award to your blog (working on it!).
4. Present the Liebster Award to 5 blogs that have less than 200 followers that you think deserve to be recognized (see below)!
5. Let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

Well, it was difficult, because all the blogs I follow are either friends/family (nothing wrong with that!) or have like a thousand followers...or there wasn't anything anywhere that told me HOW MANY followers there were (so I assumed by the number of responses/comments their posts get).  I thought I'd have a lot of teaching blogs, but frankly they're all too popular to qualify.  Maybe I'll have to do another post sometime about my favorite blogs in general.  :)

SO, in no particular order, here are 5 blogs that I think definitely deserve to be recognized:

1. Amelia at Impressions of a Would-Be Artist.  It's a newer blog all about her adventures in stained glass.  Even though the subject is limited, don't be fooled--it amazes and inspires me in other crafts/artistic pursuits.  :)

2. Jame at JAME.  I'm honestly not sure how many followers she has, but she definitely needs more comment love if she's over 200.  It's a very versatile blog with recipes, crafts, date night ideas, and more.  There are lots of fun tutorials and tips and I really just love it. :)

3. Katy at Done is Better than Perfect.  I adore this girl anyway, but her new blog chronicling her efforts to beautify her home and entertain her twin boys/husband is just awesome.  She puts her own spin on things she finds on Pinterest, and, let's be honest, we could always use more ideas for boy-ish things.  :)  Check it out!

4. Jessica Bateman Photography.  I love her ever-evolving style, and among all my photographer friends, her stuff is my favorite.  :) 

5. Art With Aubrey.  I'm a BIG believer in teaching the arts, and Aubrey goes beyond the usual elementary projects to inspire creative expression with a variety of mediums--often linked to a great book study or something I could easily incorporate into a classroom or with my own kids.  I wish I could take a class/workshop with her!  :)  I love, too, that she explains everything on her blog in such detail you could EASILY attempt your own art at home.

If you've been nominated, and want to accept the award, post links to your own 5 favorite small blogs!  Thanks again, Eilis, for the nomination!

Rainbows, Hunger Games, and More

So, one of my birthday gifts was tickets to see Hunger Games in IMAX last night.

We had quite the adventure.

First of all, the sky looked like this as we departed:

 Which turned into a crazy thunderstorm that was on-and-off all night long.  BUT, because of the rain and the sunshine, we saw a double rainbow!  These pictures do NOT do the colors justice--it was SOOOOO bright.

 AND we saw the whole arc...here's the other end!

 Here is me, pumped about the Hunger Games experience I was about to have.

 Little did we know it would be so difficult.  We bought our tickets online thru Fandango, which never sent us a confirmation email.  And, because we'd paid with PayPal, our card didn't register as having anything on it (even though our bank WAS charged).  So we went all the way to Indy and had no tickets.  We decided we were hungry and wanted to see the movie no matter what, so we broke down and bought two more tickets in NOT-IMAX.  Which turned out to be a blessing, because the shaky cinematography would've probably made us sick in IMAX...and all the people coming out of the theater had guest passes in their hands, which makes me think something happened and they didn't get to enjoy the movie completely.  So maybe it worked out for the best.

ANYWHO, we had over an hour 'til the next available showing, so we went to Macaroni Grill for dinner.  YUM!

 And this is us FINALLY getting to see the most-anticipated movie in our household in three years!  (Can you guess what the last movie was?  Hint: May of 2009...a week before our wedding.)

 P.S. The movie was as good as the book--no joke!  Of course they had to skip over a few things or change LITTLE things here and there to make it into a movie, but mostly it kept to the book and we loved it enough to talk about it for the entire hour-long ride home. 



Carpet Cleaning

Our poor Obi is sick.  Last night she vomited in three different places--two of them after we'd gone to bed, so they had all night to sink into the carpet.  Yuck.

I decided to take this opportunity to try the laundry miracle stain remover that's all the buzz of Pinterest and such, 2 parts hydrogen peroxide to 1 part blue Dawn dish soap...with a little baking soda sprinkled on for scrubbing power.  I did this on one stain, and our usual Resolve Pet Oxy on the other.

I let each stain soak in its solution for an hour before I touched it.  And the results are in.

The Resolve was a lot harder to do.  It took about ten minutes of cycling through spray, scrub, sop up, repeat.  In the end, it still has a slightly dark stain on the floor, but it blends in well with the shadows of the carpet around it.  The smell is gone, but it is replaced by a chemically smell.

The Dawn + Hydrogen Peroxide solution foamed up as it set, which was kinda cool.  And since I broke my spray bottle halfway through application, I just poured some of it on...which, an hour later produced this:

It literally lifted away the stain where I had poured it, so if I had known that earlier, I would have poured/sprayed heavily more early on and maybe I wouldn't have had to scrub at all.  Much easier than the Resolve.  It left my carpet very clean.  But the smell?  Awful.  It still smells like vomit and such.

So.  It may be a miracle solution to your laundry needs, but it's about on par with other cleaners...has some pros, has some cons.  In case you're curious.  :)  I will probably let it all set for a while longer and see what I think then.

Fairy Garden

I didn't get inspired until, like, yesterday to do this, and fundage is low because of all the birthday goings-on...but still, I think my fairy garden to welcome in spring turned out awfully cute.

The whole thing.  Right out of our patio was a little space that, I assume because of the giant rocks forming a barrier around it, the former tenants used to garden flowers.  So I pulled out almost all the weeds (I liked the little white flowers on the one in front, though, so I let it stay), tilled up the soil (LOTS of worms in there!), and put my pots down...the leftover flowers went on either side.

Check out this adorable park bench and the picket fence!  (Though it looks like I may have to glue them together.)

This cute little bookshelf (only $2.47) came with lots of little books, complete with titles--I stole a few for the bench and tucked the rest on the shelf in another pot...fairies can fly, after all.  ;) 

Just another view.  For reference, those viola flowers are not even the size of my thumb.

I just want to curl up on this bench.

Aerial view.

I went to Dollar Tree for all the pots and dirt and such, and Hobby Lobby for the miniature things (oooooh, I wanted to buy EVERYTHING on that wall!  Next year my fairy will have a tea set in an outdoor dining area.  And she'll do a little gardening herself.  And this park bench will get a streetlamp behind it...), and got a few cheap, small flowers from Walmart.  Next year I'll save up for better stuff, but for this year, I think I welcomed Spring in today just fine.  :)

This is going to be my new Spring tradition! Or you could do this for Earth Day.  Next year I'll have Caida help me.  :)

Some free LDS downloads, made by yours truly!

Made with love.  :)

I've been having a TON of fun working on some stuff for Primary (or just for myself, as I've been inspired to do).  Feel free to download any of these things--for personal or church use only, not for profit.  :)  All links are directly below the images.

CTR BOOKMARKS
These are intended to be printed off as a 4"x6" prints, then cut down the middle to make two 2"x6" bookmarks.  Laminated is best, of course, but not necessary.  All bookmarks made from free-for-personal-use kits from various designers in the LDS Blog Train Blog from January (themed, appropriately, Choose the Right!).  We're distributing these as we visit children in their homes this year--great as a gift, incentive, or just for keeping your place in scripture study!

Download Link

Download Link

Download Link

Download Link

Download Link

PRIMARY SONG SUBWAY ART
This is my first attempt at Subway art...it was a lot of fun to make, and I didn't even venture into my hundreds of fun fonts!  Be on the lookout for more of these in the future for sure.  There's an 8x10 print link and a 5x7 print link, so be sure to click on the right one!

8"x10" download link

5"x7" download link

LDS PRIMARY POSTCARDS
We want to send a spiritually-themed postcard to kids that are sick and missing primary each week, but looking around online, I hadn't really found anything...don't get me wrong, there's lots of CUTE stuff out there about missing the kids, but we wanted basically a nice LDS picture with a short quote or scripture on it so that if they were to keep it and put it up in their room or on the fridge, it would remind them of the Savior and of the temple.  The pictures are either from the LDS.org image site (which allows you to copy for home or church use) or from an awesome blogger who offers LDS artwork for free for personal use.  So here are a few postcards to print--just print on cardstock, write your message on the back, and send out!  :)  (I love that you can send almost ANYTHING through the mail.)

First Vision 4x6 Postcard link

Jesus Loved the Little Children postcard link

I Love to See the Temple Postcard

29 Things You Might Not Know About Me

I did this last year for my birthday, and it was fun (for me, at least).  As challenging as it was to come up with 29 NEW things you may not know about me, here goes!  And happy birthday to me (yesterday)!  :)

1. Most textures don't bother me, but I CANNOT lick batter off a wooden spoon without gagging...because of the texture.  Similarly, I cannot dry off only one wet hand on a towel if my other hand is dry...I always have to get the other hand wet, too, even if I didn't have to before...because of the texture difference.  I know, I'm weird!

2. I've been to Disneyworld once...and, except for Epcot and seeing Mary Poppins in the flesh, I hated it.  EVEN THOUGH it was on my 16th birthday for a band trip and I LOVE Disney!  Hating it was more about the time of life and the people I went with than the place, I'm sure...maybe someday we'll go back and I'll enjoy it!

3. Even though I always say I'm the oldest of nine, I actually have an older half-brother about two years my senior.  The reason I don't count him is because I didn't know about him at all 'til I was 19--he was adopted into a different family before I was born and my parents never found the right time to tell us...until we ended up at the same college, 1500 miles from my home and 1250 miles from his!  Yeah, my growing-up-family is crazy.  In the most wonderful way, of course.  :)

4. Thai food--particularly curry pineapple fried rice--is my comfort food.

5. Whenever Paul and I are driving and we cross state borders, we always say, "We're in Illinois...NOW!" and we shout "NOW!" as soon as we pass under the road sign.  (Thank you, Brian Regan, for inspiring this family tradition.)

6. My favorite family tradition of ours so far, though, is that the cook gets kissed on the cheek after dinner.  I actually get really sad if I don't get that kiss!

7. I was once allergic to the cold for six weeks.  Like, hives and swelling allergic.  For reals.  Turns out it's a legit thing, probably linked to a nasty virus I caught that semester--check it out!

8. You probably DO know that I love to read.  But did you know I love it enough to always have a book in my purse?  And this was true even before I started subbing.  :)  You never know when you'll be in a super long grocery line, stuck in traffic (while someone else is driving, of course!), or get stuck somewhere really boring (like a high school math class where they're just doing a worksheet all period, every period).  Right now, the book in my purse is a collection of Grimm's fairy tales.  That's extra nice because each story really only takes a few minutes to read through, which is perfect for little spurts of free time that never seem to last long. 

9. I took two semesters of American Sign Language at BYU (in between all my French), and I still remember about a third of what I learned.  I would love to teach our kids to sign...so maybe I'll have to practice more.  :)

10. GoodWill has spoiled me on great prices.  I will never pay more than $2.00 for a book or $5 for any article of clothing ever again...probably.  ;)

11. I used to be really into silk flower arranging and crafts, like, enough I wanted to have my own business on the side of teaching (during those summer months), but that was a phase and I'm over it now...for the most part, anyway.  Could be because I have too much else to do and no silk flowers just lying around to work with, though.

12. While I tend to be drawn toward lighter-toned procedural dramas/shows ("Bones," "Castle," "Psych"), I'm also recently quite into "Once Upon a Time."  Go figure.

13. I don't mind one bit that Paul has more dominant genes and therefore our children will probably not look much like me (I mean, c'mon, I married a good-lookin' guy!)...but I secretly hope that blue eyes are still possible for at least one of our children.  I've heard that if his heritage is Spanish (and at least part of it is), then it's very possible. 

14. I LOVE strawberries, and I LOVE chocolate...but I don't really like them together much. (Christi, last night was the exception!  I've got to find out how you made that chocolate...it was like frosting, but better!)

15. Speaking of strawberries, I have to eat them cut in half.  This is because of an unfortunate incident when I was in college involving a huge, bright red strawberry and a spider living inside of it...you can fill in the blanks.  :(

16. I have a mental block about car stuff.  The second people start talking about car parts and mechanisms and brands and ways to fix things, my mind just tunes right out even though I will it not to.  It's not because I'm a girl, but because some part of me just could care less--have the car get me from A to B, and I'm good.  Some of my best female friends, including my mother, are better about car stuff than most men I know.  But I'm not one of those women.  I also get panic attacks in the car in heavy traffic, which really bugs Paul.  I can't wait 'til we live in a city with better public transportation, or when I can just walk or ride a bike anywhere I need to!

17. I used to consider myself an athlete.  :)  Of course, this was back in junior high...but still.  I did volleyball and basketball and was active outside my country home until I got older and got into music and reading and crafts...then my athleticism just sort of rusted away.

18. I didn't get my drivers license 'til I was 18.

19. As much as I love making and putting up decorations for holidays or parties, I HATE taking them down.  We once had our Christmas tree up until June.  And our Valentine's decor?  Still very much there.  Someday I will be on top of things and decorate for every holiday, but for now, letting a few take over all year long is worth it for me NOT having to clean it all up. 

20. I have a goiter.  I used to tell a little boy in primary that I swallowed a frog, and I would make it move as I croaked, and every week he would always stare at it and then tell me multiple times (to make sure I understood) not to swallow his cat.  :)

21. I used to be thin. Well, thin for me. I have gained 70 pounds since my hip injury/thyroid problems!  And I am determined to find a way to lose at least half of that before I turn 30.

22. Some days I really get sick of being crafty, or even just being associated with being crafty.  Some days, I really just want to hang up my glue gun and call it quits, find another hobby...something to make me more interesting.  :)

23. I'm a believer in letting kids get dirty.  My favorite memories when I was little involved playing in potholes, mud, and other people's yards.  I also used to be able to walk/run on our gravel road barefoot.  Some days I miss those callouses. 

24. My bucket list involves, among many other things, whale watching, riding in a hot air balloon, learning the guitar for REAL, getting published, teaching Paul to love camping, building something made of wood with my own hands, and taking a cooking class with him.  Tonight, he's making one of those dreams come true.  Can you guess which one?  :)

25. I only like cake on birthdays.  Even then, some birthdays it's a stretch.  :)

26. As much as I love my puppies, dog barks and dog whines are two of the most ANNOYING sounds on the planet, and I have no patience for either of them!

27. Some days I really feel like I'm still 12 years old.  I don't know when that magic moment is that you feel like a grown-up, or when people realize you are a grown-up.  I was told it was when you're 28 that other people take you seriously as an adult, but, I dunno...maybe not getting married 'til I was 26 and not having kids or a steady job yet has delayed that moment a while longer?

28. I'm not a spontaneous person, and I'm a homebody, so it's hard for me to change plans last minute and it's hard for me to schedule more than one thing in a day without feeling overwhelmed/overstimulated and just wanting to go home and nap.

29. Even though my birthday is the day after St. Patty's Day, I am not really into that holiday much.  When I do something--decorations, or treats, or anything really--it is very forced.  Maybe having children will change that someday, but for now, it's just the day before my birthday and it lasts FOREVER.  :)