Friday, December 27, 2013

birthday love

Danny wanted to know what I wanted for my birthday, but all I really wanted was a 3DS and since I bought that months ago,  I said I'd think about it and get back to him.

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Birthday flowers.






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I made myself birthday brownies with peppermint cream cheese frosting topped with chocolate frosting. Mmmmm.








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OMG. Nan had this book made of Van and I. It is the sweetest, most amazing thing ever. I totally cried through the whole thing. I love it so much!



Monday, December 23, 2013

lately...

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Napping with this fatso.





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Family nap time, yes please!







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Such a sleepy bug.








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A doll all finished and ready to be sent out!








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Lots and lots of Christmas orders going out, yet I'm still not done!








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Ohhhhh look what arrived! My black friday fabric purchases came!






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I love it when our car window gets smashed!








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This is not what I'm supposed to be eating.







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This is my "I survived Union Square in the middle of December" celebratory nap.








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This is also not what I'm supposed to be eating, but it is a breakthrough on that banana cream custard I swore to keep working on and make more presentable. I put it in a cheesecake! 

We went to an Adventure Time party. So I made this "Banana Guard Cheesecake" for us to nom on while we watched.

Much success!






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My BFF from high school, Beth, is having twins any day now. Since I'm a little behind on making their baby quilts, I made these minky lined hippo blankets for in the meantime. 








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Another doll finished and ready to be shipped out!







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A surprise for the boys for Christmas. I can't wait for them to get it!!!

Monday, December 9, 2013

the robins nest

Before heading out to Utah for Thanksgiving, Nan mentioned that she was stressing over needing to get family photos taken, and how she didn't want to pay for stupid studio shots. 

So I said I'd do it. I'm not a pro by any means, nor have I done it very much, but what she wanted was low key and Mike had some idea's for poses. Or non-poses as Mike is anti-pose.




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Oh Nan, you are so pretty!






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Henry boy!!!!





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Mike, who will never look at the camera and smile. 







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And Van. I told him to put his hands in his pockets, and he did it with a smile. This kid will let you take his photo no matter what you want. Please be this way forever!






This sequence squeezes my heart tightly and then melts in into a puddle.


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Mom and Van.







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Come on Henry! Join us!







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Ok little brother, I'll help you.








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So cute!







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You guys, even though you aren't blood, you are my family through and through.









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Henry, always goooooooing.







An outtake:

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A serious face from the beginning of the shoot. 



I hope these worked out for you! 


I loved doing it, let's do it again! I need practice!

Monday, December 2, 2013

we travel to utah just to eat pie with our families

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Oh my silly silly, Lindsay loo. We all went out to brunch at Little America, for my dad's birthday since it's at the end of November.

Can you believe her poses? Such a diva.







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One of Maloree's dog friends (we call her dog training friends her dog friends) had some German Shepherd puppies, and Mal brought some over so I could see how fluffy and cute they were.


SO FLUFFY AND CUTE! This one is Absolute, and she's adorable!






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Yaaaaaaay for fabric shopping!!!!!!





Since Nick and his wife would be in Rock Springs with her family for Thanksgiving, we all had dinner together the day before at my parents house.

At the end of dinner, my mom asked me to go upstairs with Lindsay to check on the new kitty, and when I came back down, there were balloons and cake and they started singing Happy Birthday to....


...me! Since we don't come home for Christmas, and since my birthday is 2 day before, we don't get to celebrate my birthday together. 

I was so surprised! My mom and Stevie came up with the idea, isn't that awesome? My mom ordered an angel food cake with cherry frosting from Parson's, one of our favorite bakeries. It was the first dessert I'd had in over a month and a half.

It was divine.


My family had always been so good at celebrating my birthday, I'm so grateful to them for that. So thanks, family. I love you.



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Both my sister and my brother must be patron saints of rescuing animals. 

This sweet kitty found her way into the parts department at his work, and even though she is chipped, they can't get ahold of the owners, that live somewhere in the midwest. They figured that they must have come through in a camper or something, and she got out somehow. So now they have 4 cats.







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Ryker is very sad that the new kitty won't play with him.







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It's pie time! Nan came over and we made pie. Mmmmmm!

That crust was amazing. It was SO EASY to make it look great. Recipe found here.

We may have also had cake for breakfast. Nothing beats two best friends eating cake for breakfast, laughing and blabbing, while pies bake in the oven. 

I miss you so much Nan, but when we do get together it's like we've never been apart. Thank you for being the bestest friend ever!






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Danny snapped this shot of his dad at his family's feast. I think it's pretty awesome.


"Craig explains something."





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Here is my cherry pie, all ready for the oven. I used this recipe. I ordered organic tart cherries from Northwest Wild Foods and they were amazing. I highly recommend them if you are a cherry snob like me.









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My very first cherry pie (I usually stick to cobbler) along with my very first lattice pie crust. I'm very proud of myself!







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It was so amazing. So, so amazing.









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I also made this huge disappointment.

 I love banana cream pie, but I don't so much enjoy slimy bananas. All the recipes I found have vanilla custard, and sliced bananas, so I had this idea to make banana flavored custard instead, because while I like my bananas on the verge of rotten, my whole family likes them green. (ewww) 

What I didn't know is that cooked bananas turn brown, no matter what you do. So while this pie looks just awful and gross, it's not. It's heavenly.

Must work on this.








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My mom put these amazing vintage pillowcases on our bed for us to use, aren't they gorgeous???









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We had lunch with Nan, Mike and the boys before we headed out. This little guy is ALL over the place. Hey little man, wait for me!










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We were so very naughty while in Utah, we were drinking soda again. Yikes. Here we are, his and hers, toasting to our last ones before boarding the plane.



Monday, November 18, 2013

lately...

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I reallllllly wanna take a Lush bubble bath, but seeing as how we use our tub for storage, that's out of the question at the moment. I'll settle for a relaxing foot soak. 

P.S. have you smelled Rose Jam? It's heavenly, and it's limited edition. So rude, Lush. I wish they'd make their Rose Jam perfume again, I'd buy like a million bottles.








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I've cut out Dr Pepper again. So I'm trying Criobru, it's roasted cocoa beans. We'll see how it goes.





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Ugh, I'm so sick of these tiny ass cupboards! No matter how I re-arrange, I always have spices and such sitting on the counter, annoying the crap out of me.






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It's been so dark lately, I need to figure out this night time photography thing. It's the one thing I never learned- studio stuff and lighting and flash and stuff.






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I've been trying to eat "healthier"but this faux bread is terrible.






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My love bug.









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I made some cute little hair clips to match some dolls I'm making for a customer. They are so cute, I just wish I didn't absolutely hate making them, because they sell like hot cakes!




Monday, October 14, 2013

lately...

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In n Out. It's good to be home.





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Working on a new felt ball mobile...





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....and it's finished.








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I've also got some monkey shoes going on.




I started an e-course on how to use Illustrator. Here are some of my finished projects!






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Danny had a work thing over the weekend in Brussels. Yes, a 3 day trip to Brussels. Although I really wanted to go, I've learned that short trips to faraway destinations does not suit me. If he has a work trip that can be extended, then I'll go, but if not, then I'll stay home and avoid grouchiness.

He brought me home like $80 worth of chocolate, isn't he the best?