A fall weekend!

Yay for three day weekends! It was so nice to just spend quality time with each other doing all sorts of Team Blue things. We hiked at Indian Caves, carved pumpkins (and ate the seeds!), watched Ace Ventura, and I finally got a chance to break in the ole CrockPot with some hot apple cider! The only thing that could have made this weekend the ideal fall adventure would be if I got to wear a scarf--80 degree weather is just so anti-Autumn.  Here are some pictures of the lovely autumn foliage and our adventures:

Check back later in the week for....

DIY pin cushion
Wedding pictures and details
Refurnishing vintage red desk

handmade candy corn costume!

So, this weekend my friend, Erica, came over to sew her Halloween costume! She is going to be a candy corn, which is the cutest thing I have ever heard! And it's not one of those obnoxious candy corn costumes you buy at Halloween World. It's homemade! There is something so much cooler about making your costume than buying it.

First, Erica bought a white t-shirt, orange-y shirt, and a golden yellow dress from a consignment store. Then, I chopped them all up, sewed them back together, and here is the finished project!!!

CANDY CORN!!

I think it's a super cute idea! Any other homemade Halloween costume ideas out there?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MAIN SQUEEZE!!!

Some of the reasons I love this guy: 

he is the funniest person I know....

 

he goes along with my crazy ideas (like dressing up for a halloween contest...)

he is much more organized than i am. seriously.

he likes to help me grade papers. more than i do.

he knows the words to songs no one has ever heard of. 

he is crafty.

he never freaks out about the things that i freak out about. which is pretty much everything.

and most of all, i love him because he's just Aaron. and there wouldn't be a Team Blue without him!

happy birthday!

p.s. happy two months of marriage to us!!

The first time I ever called 911...

Last night, Aaron and I woke up to the extremely loud "chirping" of the carbon monoxide alarm in our apartment (okay, so Aaron was the one who woke up...I would have slept through the whole thing if it hadn't been for him...). This has totally happened to me before, when I left the gas stove top on all night in my college apartment and woke up to the creepy, computerized lady-voice in the alarm screaming "Warning! Carbon Monoxide!"

Well, this time, a loud "CHIRP!" went off every thirty seconds, which--according to the back of  the alarm--is supposed to mean that it needs new batteries. But for some reason, the alarm-red light was flashing, not the battery-green. Was this a combination of a battery malfunction/carbon monoxide alert? Was there something important we were missing in the misplaced directions? What should we do?

We did what every other self-respecting person does at two in the morning...we took the batteries out of the darned thing and went back to bed.

Now before you freak out, our better judgment did get the better of us. There is just something so uncomfortable about not being completely, 100% sure that we were safe going to sleep. So, even though we were pretty positive that it was just the battery, we decided to call 911 anyways. Now, this was a first for me, so I didn't really know what to expect, but the dispatcher was nice, asked me a few questions, and before she hung up she said the firetruck would be by in a few minutes.

Fast forward five minutes, and we hear a knock on our door. I open it up and there are three big, BIG, men standing in our little hallway. Seriously, one of them was as tall as the ceiling...I think he had to duck to get in the doorway. Aaron and I were just little midgets compared to these dudes. But their kindness and professionalism was outstanding...and they didn't make Aaron and I feel dumb for freaking out over a dead battery. Haha.

The tomato that changed my life.

Lately I have been reading the book A Matter of Taste: The Definitive Seasoning Cookbook by Sylvia Windle Humphrey. I found it at a thrift store on our honeymoon and it has been an amazing investment. It tells about each spice, its origins, recipes, etc. I have learned so much. But the most amazing thing I read in it is that putting honey and fresh ground black pepper on a tomato brings out its flavors more than salt! When I read that, I knew I had to try it. So, just last night I finally had the opportunity after I botched every other attempt at creating dinner.

It.was.so.heavenly. I ate the entire tomato.

And I'm not even a huge fan of raw tomatoes.

HOOPLAH!!!!

Over the long weekend I was inspired to do an embroidery hoop! I have been wanting to do one for a while, but never really had the time or opportunity. On Saturday, I saw one at the farmer's market and felt like it was time! I ended up finding this large hoop, two medium hoops, and an itty bitty hoop all for $2 at Salvos. For the fabric, I have a TON of garlands left over from my wedding, so I just picked them apart and sewed them back together in a circular fashion. I thought for sure it would only take me a couple of hours, but it ended up taking at least eight. So, this lovely piece of art is now hanging in our living room! Finally, some decoration!

Adventures at Dinnertime...

On Saturday I decided to try my hand at cutting up a real chicken.

My reasoning behind this brilliant idea was because it seems cheaper. I was shopping for chicken when I saw that Jewels had a whole chicken on sale for $0.99/lb. I was like "Whaaat???? That's way cheaper than buying chicken already cut up!" I was not daunted in the least about having to cut the chicken up myself. I mean, jeez, I have a Taste of Home Cookbook!!! It tells me how to do everything!!!

Yum...

So, the whole experience turned out to be somewhat successful. Aaron said I could work for the CIA, I was so good at torturing the poor bird. The most disappointing part was realizing that after I was done, there was about three pounds worth of bones n' guts that I couldn't eat and had no clue what to do with. So it was almost a waste of $3.00 (my obsession with frugality just can't stomach losing that  $3!!!)

Overall, I think next time I'll leave the hacksaw in the toolbox and let the butcher cut up my birds for me. But the meal turned out to be delish, and my Mr. did ask for seconds, and so it made it all worth it.

Happy One Month of Marriage!!!

A lesson in patience...

I certainly did not have the smoothest of mornings today. It all  began with me just being late. And tired. And sickly. (Yes, the second week of school and I already have a cold.) At any rate, I left eight minutes later than I normally do and it really made a WORLD of difference. It's called: the bus. Why do we always call school buses "the bus" by the way...surely there is more than one, right? Anyways, I happened to get behind one while driving down a one lane highway, so I couldn't pass it! And it stopped every twenty feet! I was so stressed about getting to school on time. And then my husband calls and tells me that I left my Special Star supplies at home! This week I am the Special Star, which means I can bring in pictures or collections or anything really cool that I own and I forgot everything! At this point I was devastated. So Aaron sweetly told me that he would get in the car and drive the thirty-two miles to my school so I could still be the Special Star.

While I did make it to school before it actually started, it was a close call. And then I was sitting at my desk intently looking over the math lesson for today when my cooperating teacher, Mrs. Fink, said, "Sweety, what are you doing?" to one of my favorite students (a really rowdy tike who can't sit still and is ALWAYS the last person to finish.) And I look up and there he is tiptoeing around the room--I didn't even notice! And he says, "I thought she was sleeping!!" Oh my, that was so precious! It really put a smile on my face after a lot of non-smiling just moments before!

FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL!!!!

So, I just completed my first week of student teaching! It was exhausting, eye-opening, and heaps of fun! My little third graders are adorable and they were super excited about reading, which is my favorite thing too!!! Best quote of the week: "You have a health ribbon on your foot!", in reference to my ichthus tattoo. Hmmm...never got that one before.

At any rate, my home is slowly, slowly coming together.I can't wait for it to be done and I can show you all pictures! But for now, you will just have to hang in suspense. Also, my sewing has drastically been put on hold, except for a forever-long project making a shower curtain. I thought for sure a shower curtain would be easy peasy, but it's taking me forever! Does anyone have any advice on using grommets? It's the last step, but they just don't want to work with me.

Massive update...

 I know, I know, this blog is hardly up and running yet, but one of my goals after getting hitched to my Mr. was to start blogging. And now that I am no longer planning a wedding, I have a smidge more free time! 

Our wedding day was the most beautiful, perfect day...everything that I imagined and wanted came to life! It was so crazy to see my vision become a beautiful reality. I have so many people to thank: my grandparents, my sisters, my best friends, and my amazing in-laws! Anways, pictures to come soon!!! 

We also had a super fun honeymoon! Some highlights were:

hiking up Peaks of Otter (my daily bike rides during the summer could not have prepared me for this!):

grilling outside at our lil' home away from home (thanks for the camping grill, Grandma and Grandpa W!!!)

 

 

 

 

 

going to Charlottesville, doing some shopping, eating at The Nook, and going to a winery!!!

Anyways, since being back in Kankakee, I have moved in with my Mr., sewed a shower curtain, been amazed by how many dirty dishes two people can generate in one day, and have started my student teaching. 

Oh, and one more thing....

CHOPPED MY HAIR OFF!!!!!