Christmas is almost here!!!!!

I'm so ready for Christmas. I've been crafting for for a while now and hopefully soon I can share all of my projects with you since they will have been given out as gifts. One more day of work left and I'm so excited about cooking and baking and crafting for a few days before heading home for Christmas. With the man. First time an "outsider" has come to Christmas with the fam. I'm excited. :) Hope he can handle us...

Candy Wreath

It's become quite the tradition each year to make a candy wreath (traditionally with mints) with my mom. She learned how to do it from her mom and my coworkers and friends have been enjoying them for a few years now. This year we had a candy wreath-making party over Thanksgiving Break and taught a bunch of others how to make them. Here's my creation for Jared's office - mints with a few leftover Jolly Ranchers from the one I made for work.

Yo-Yo Love

My grandmother taught me how to make yo-yo's - something that she has made a lot of into quilts, pillows, etc. She and I started on a project together, and while she has made probably over 10 of these, I have finished two so far. My goal is to have one more made by the end of the month so I can have a set of three out for Christmas.

From there, the yo-yo love continued. I made some two different yo-yo crafts for Christmas gift which are a secret (sorry, no picture yet).

And lastly, my newest yo-yo love! And they are so cute. Got the idea here. This is basically a giant yo-yo that before you tie them off, you stuff, then tie off, add a stem, some leaves and a vine curl. I think they turned out pretty darn cute! I made three bigger ones and three tiny ones. Too bad it's almost too late to have them out as decorations. Oh well at least there's next year.

And this is my favorite one! :)

**Sorry for the not so good photography...need to work on the lighting or staging area for pictures of all my crafts.

Crafting Bug

So it's been another long break between posts here. I'm really going to try and do better. Especially since I have so many cool projects to work on and share with everyone. Here's an update of a few things I've worked on in the past few months - when the crafting bug has bitten hard....some things can't share b/c they might be Christmas presents....but this is the majority of them.

I posted this last year, but I've just been enjoying it so much this year, thought I'd post again. Just love my fall centerpiece! After Halloween, I took out the two small pumpkins and replaced them with some turkey candle holders.

Another fall craft that I've already put away, but never got a chance to show on the blog was my Halloween wreath. Just black burlap strips and scrapbook paper-covered "BOO" letters. I got the idea from another blog. My strips are a little floppy - might need a trim for next year.

And I have some leftover black burlap for another project for Halloween next year! To be continued in 2011!

My BFF and I had a crafting day full of some "secret" crafts and these! Two different flower pin ideas.

Lastly, working on some ornaments for Christmas presents. When I went to visit Jes at the Wild Sage Homestead, she taught me how to make these. Turns out my grandmother had given me one a long time ago using the same technique. So I have four that are in the process of being made. This one is pretty much done except for the ribbon I need to add around the edge. It's the same on the other side.

Men are good to have around

Andrea just had a post on Facebook today about how it's nice to have a guy around to open jars and things like that when you can't/don't feel like/are too lazy to do yourself. I know I have enjoyed this comfort before and it's nice. And like Andrea said, they enjoy it too b/c it also shows off their manliness to a lady.

Well, let me tell you another time it's good to have a man around. When you have a mouse in your house. He chased it, looked in the closet for it (all while I'm screaming and terrified that it's IN MY HOUSE), carried the traps in the store, set the traps, checked them everyday, refilled them (a.ka. lied to me when the mouse ATE the bait but didn't get caught in the traps, but did it to save my sanity), and then came the glorious payback for the man....

Last night, we arrived home from the beach. Tired. It was about 8:15pm so dark outside and we had a car full of stuff to unload plus a kayak to take down off the car. He takes the first load in, gentlemanly enough to go first when it's dark and turn the light on outside while I'm untying the kayak. He's gone for a few mintues and I'm wondering what he's doing, thinking he must have had to go to the bathroom (long drive), when VICTORIOUSLY, he comes outside with a plastic bag and just stands there, holding the bag (with the trap inside it) up in the air! He had CAUGHT THE MOUSE. :) He just looked so proud.

I didn't have to see it, touch it, anything. That is when it's nice to have a man around.

It's been a while...

It's been a long time since my last post. This summer flew by and was filled with the craziness of summer camp, trip to Maine, and lots of fun times with friends and Jared (as I type he's in the kitchen cooking me up a deliciously smelling pesto tomato pizza with basil from the front yard)! :)

I've been meaning to post one of the recipes that has become one of my absolute favorites lately. It's a super simple salad dressing but I never need another dressing - this one is just that good. So here you go -

Spring Greens Salad Dressing
3/4 tsp fresh lemon juice
3/4 tsp white wine vinegar (I just use regular white vinegar)
1/2 tsp minced shallots (I just use one "clove" of shallot - probably way more than 1/2 tsp but I have a newfound LOVE of shallots lately)
1/8 tsp salt, divided
Dash of sugar
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 tsp olive oil
2 cups packed spring mix greens

Combine juice, vinegar, shallots, 1/8 tsp salt, and sugar; let stand for 15 minutes.

Add tsp oil and 1/8 tsp pepper to shallot mixture; stir with a whisk. Add greens; toss gently.

That's it! Could it get any easier than that? Try it, you'll enjoy that's for sure. :)

Ok I'll try and update more frequently. But I am alive, I am very happy, and looking forward to the weather cooling off soon!

Appreciation

I really appreciate my boyfriends willingness to support my cooking ventures. I got a yellow squash from Bubba at work (he brings in ALL kinds of stuff from his garden to share) and a zucchini - was all excited to cook it up and try some new stuff. Last week I made zucchini bread for the first time ever. First time making bread in fact. I hated it. Jared, he liked it. Or at least said he did and ate some of it. :)

Then, the yellow squash. He warned me as soon as he saw it that he didn't like squash. At all. Said to make it anyways and not to make him another side. So I found a recipe for yellow squash casserole. Decided to make it last night to go with the fish we were having. Not only did he eat it last night, but ate leftovers again tonight - and had seconds. Even though he didn't like squash before, he tried it (and it did NOT look pretty), and I think actually liked it. :)

#160 - Hydrangeas

#160 - Hydrangeas

Bought these lovely flowers yesterday at the farmer's market. I love them! Thinking about planting some in front of the house where the big bushes are now.

#159 - Lake Matoaka

#159 - Lake Matoaka

Jared and I took advantage of our first Lake Matoaka concert. Apparently it's what all the locals do. I won free season tickets about a month ago but we just hadn't been able to get to one (they are every other week). But it was really cool! We brought in a picnic and enjoyed being outside sitting on the grass listening to the music and watching the crazies dancing!

#158 - Water Bottles

#158 - Water Bottles

This also excites me. This year we went with colored Klean Kanteens and they are awesome! I can't wait to give them out to the campers. So cute!

#157 - Silly Bands

#157 - Silly Bands

Silly bands are taking over the world - at least the K-12 world in Gloucester County, VA. ALLL the kids have them. They are sold everywhere. Kids from elementary school to high school are wearing them. They are all type of shapes - animals, words, letters, planes, etc. They trade them. It's like the pogs of their generation. And I just got my first four! One of my future campers gave me some at the lab the other night. She was so cute. They are all marine animals too. Gonna wear them to camp to be like the cool kids.

#156 - Olive Oil Galore

#156 - Olive Oil Galore

Stopped in Charlottesville on the way back from Shenandoah to do a little lunch/shopping/sightseeing with Andrea and Jared. Stopped at this olive oil store. Very cool how they had it stored on the wall for you to pick some out.

#155 - Camping Day 2

#155 - Camping Day 2

Day 2 of Shenandoah was awesome. Went on a waterfall hike and climbed to the top, sat in the tent while it rained and played games with some friends, saw a chipmunk, some BEARS, and hiked to the top of this overlook where the view was awesome! Ended the day with a delicious dinner and S'mores!

#154 - Camping Day 1

#154 - Camping Day 1

Right after getting to the campsite, this deer walked RIGHT across our little driveway at the site. Had antlers that still had velvet on them. Good start to the species list for the weekend.

#153 - Tent Practice

#153 - Tent Practice

Practiced setting up the tent in Jared's living room before our big camping trip to Shenandoah. Wanted to make sure we knew what we were during before we got there in case it was dark. Just BARELY fit.

#152 - This excites me

#152 - This excites me

One of the tasks for the summer educator was to make some crayon shavings for a craft project for camp. Came into the lab to find this - all organized by color - just beautiful! Makes me really excited to do the craft.

#151 - Memorial Day Pie

#151 - Memorial Day Pie

So I've been really slack with the blog lately. And I have a feeling it will be hard to keep it updated on time during the summer. So there may be some days that are skipped in here. I won't be ending on New Years Eve - 365 days after starting. But I will finish 365 photos. :)

Made this pie on my day off after the beach trip. Lovely peanut butter pie. So yummy!

#150 - Watching the Garden Grow

#150 - Watching the Garden Grow

Check out the plants that Jes gave me for the new house! Two tomato plants and a pepper plant. They are getting big. Even since I took this on Sunday (it's not Thursday), they are both above the stake! Excited to see the fruits of my labor (hahahah, pun for Andrea).

#149 - Bald Cypress

#149 - Bald Cypress

Saturday at First Landing, checked out the Bald Cypress trail. Awesome!

#148 - Dragonfly

#148 - Dragonfly

Took a trip down to VA Beach to First Landing State Park with some friends for the Memorial Day weekend. First day, after unpacking and getting settled, Jared and I took a walk around "the neighborhood" and over to the bay side to sit on the beach. On the walk back, we found this HUGE dragonfly in the middle of the road. I think it was hurt b/c it wasn't flying around when touched.

Osprey Adventure

So we got to go out on Jug Bay after the meeting on Wednesday with the naturalist that has been there for over 30 years. We're talking some serious knowledge this guy had on the place. He does a lot with birds on the reserve, including ospreys so he took us to a nest with babies that were just 13 days old! I got to hold one - hopefully will get pictures soon from the person that took one of me.

Here's our trip down Jug Bay!

#147 - IKEA

#147 - IKEA

Seriously, one of the greatest stores ever. Who else would have thought of decking that you can put together like tiles and take apart if you ever move? Perfect solution for apartment dwellers and those new homeowners that aren' tsure they want to spend a ton on changing their patio to a deck!

Going to try it out in a test spot this weekend for the housewarming and see what people think and then might have to go back and buy some more!

#146 - Trails

#146 - Trails

During our strategic planning day, we had some time to walk around Jug Bay's trails at the MD reserve. Awesome stuff! Here are a few of my favorites!

In this last one, if you look to the right of the lily pad looking plant in the water called Spatterdock, there's a little water snake.

#145 - Another hotel shot

#145 - Another hotel shot

Been staring at this picture for the past two days trying to figure out where it was taken. I like the picture looking through the gate. Reminds me of Charleston, or New Orleans...

#144 - Silver Spring

#144 - Silver Spring

Staying in Silver Spring, MD for three nights this week for a meeting. Lovely hotel room - always nice to see after a long drive and knowing this is home away from home for a few days.

#143 - Marine Science Day Part 2

#143 - Marine Science Day Part 2

So after the Paper Parade, we headed to our beach station. Couple of pics from that day.

I gathered sand (the theme for this year's MSD) from a bunch of the reserves and then put them around a map of the reserves. People seemed to like it! :)

Snapped a pic of this cutie on the beach! Somehow captured just one kid - the beach was covered in them.

#142 - Marine Science Day Part 1

#142 - Marine Science Day Part 1

Crazy day but here's a few pictures from the day.

Kids getting ready for the parade - trying on their masks and getting all lined up.

Walking in the Paper Parade.

Winner of the Best in Show costume! Soooo cute!

#141 - Masks

#141 - Masks

Prep day for Marine Science Day. Moved the masks from our spring break camp over to the other building so it'd be ready for the next day. So excited to see the kids with them on in the parade!

#140 - Eastern Shore

#140 - Eastern Shore

Sally and I took a trip to the VIMS Eastern Shore lab to do some scouting for our summer camp and for a meeting. Always fun to have a "professional development day".

Little back story on this picture - so Sally's middle name is Ann. We pass this road on the way down a tiny road in the middle of nowhere, Eastern Shore of Virginia. Near Pungoteague where we kayaked. Decided we should stop and take a picture on the way back b/c really, when will we be back there? So we do - pull into this dirt road, almost get the truck stuck in the middle of nowhere, to which I tell Sally I'm nervous b/c I do not want to have to call people to have them come get us in the middle of nowhere, to which Sally says 'we're in a truck'. Like nothing can happen to us in a truck. It was hilarious - might have had to be there. Other fun phrases from Sally Ann that day "like a 300 pound poker chip" and "those are some BIIIIIIIIIIG rocks".

#139 - LVORNG

#139 - LVORNG

Saw this car on my way into Green Drinks this week and thought of Rob Russo - one of my closest friend's husband (and close friend himself). He loves orange so thought he'd like it.

#138 - Sea Robin

#138 - Sea Robin

Did a little seining to take more pictures for the field guide. Got a great one of a sea robin and the variety of flatfish that we have in the Bay (besides the windowpane).

#137 - Funny Note

#137 - Funny Note

Summer employee from last year is back - left us this cute note on the table instead of using a piece of paper. Used chalk I think. Just fun to find it when we got back from teaching at one of our schools.