Thanksgiving!!!

Obviously it is now March, but I still have lots to be thankful for :) I was really excited about my thanksgiving signs/bunting. They say- gather, family, and thankful. I found some "fall" fabric and sew the rectangles, then turned them and added freezer paper stencils to paint the letters. I used a bronze paint which was a little subtle but I really liked.

I hosted our "friends Thanksgiving" this year. Most of these boys(and Melanie) have been friends since about 6 grade, the rest of us have married in (or are in the process) :)
I went to Columbus, OH to hang out with my Mammaw. My cousin Shannon and I took over her living room and raided her fabric. We got a bag of designer scraps from here, and went to town. We are quite proud of our bracelet cuffs and headbands.


This is my cousin Joel, when everyone was over for family dinner.
I found these canvases for $2 each @ Michaels, I stapled them together and covered them with fabric, then used left over scraps/hot glue, I used a tutorial, but I can't find it, for my thanksgiving wreath.






Hope you still have many things to be thankful for in March :) I do!

Catching up- Colorado!

I have a LOT of things from the fall that I am going to try to slowly catch up on. :) First I am going to share some of my favorite parts of being in Colorado for New Years!

Another thing on "our list"was snowboarding. I had been a few times before, but my sisters had never been. I was finally decent enough that I wasn't miserable. Kristy really liked it. I think Kelly and I will stick to skiing from now on.-We'll see. :)
I I typically get my hair cut when I am in Colorado, one of my most bestest friends grew up their with me and usually cuts my hair. Unfortunately she wasn't home this time. Fortunately another friend from home is almost done with school and she chopped it for me :) I finally got the guts to go really short! So here is the before and after. I am still really loving it and it is still really easy.

Another thing on our list was the Stanley/Shining. We did both! Estes Park was beautiful!



There was a slight appearance of snow flurrys- my first for the Winter. (Kelly is always that excited about snow) So we were thrilled!
We went snowshoeing up near Allenspark with some family friends. My fam has gone a lot but this was my first time. It was really fun. I LOVE that Colorado has so many sunny days!


Mount Meeker (Longs Peaks Twin)
The Karpenske's- aren't we so cute!

I had a wonderful time- I giggle more with my sisters than anyone. My family is awesome!

Happy Valentine's Day/ Snow Days!!!

This is some of my Valentine garland :) This is some we hung up @ the house where I nanny. Its all over my living room too, but it took a while to get up since I got it all tangled... oops oh well. I also had another "interruption" while hanging my garland, I found out a good friend went into the hospital. She went to the ER with an awful headache on February 3, they found 2 masses in her brain and she's been in the hospital since. She had surgery last Tuesday and we are still awaiting the results of the biopsy. Her name is Johanne, she is doing well, but still in ICU. She and her husband John would appreciate your prayers.

Meanwhile... Louisville has had 4 snowdays in the last 2 weeks!! :) As a CO girl I believe that winter should either be a)snowy or b) sunny. We have had quite a bit of both this year and I am thrilled! Brooke and I built this snow girl. We were out of carrots and improvised with broccoli. She continuted to evolve, which was fun to watch. She turned into a snow bear with cute little ears and then a lot more arms were added, and I called it a snow octopus.



With extra time on my hands I was semi-productive :) I finally got around to creating curtains for my kitchen. They are a little long, but I am too lazy to fix that now. They work and they make the window look bigger :)
I also patched my favorite pairs of jeans using this tutorial (actually I used a similar one I can't find) . So glad! It feels great to more pairs of jeans again, especially super comfy ones!


Finally, Britton and I went to a Valentines banquet/ball/fundraiser for Hopeful Hearts. They providing medical and nutritional aid along with basic living necessities for orphan children. They supply orphanages in Ukraine and India, built a school in Afghanistan, and run transition homes for teenage orphans in Ukraine, and are about to work with orphans in Haiti. It was really encouraging to hear about people specifically making a difference.
This is my favorite ridiculous picture of us... kinda normal for us :)
I got to take home a centerpiece- I took it apart and it turned into 5 awesome bouquets!!! (one is in the kitchen and I was too lazy to go get it for this picture.) LOVE it!! Hope your Valentines was as wonderful as mine!! :)

February

I am already quite in the Valentiney mood. As previously mentioned I got roses last week. Technically I got roses twice last week! These are 1/2 of the ones that got sent to work. :)
I finally finished my Valentine's wreath the middle of January, I refused to take Christmas down until I had Valentine's done- real life motivation :) I had seen this tutorial. I used dollar wrapping paper from the one spot @ Target- I love Target. They took FOREVER to finish... not really once I figured it out, but quite a while to figure it out while watching the youtube video over and over :)
My wreath is more diamond shaped because I wanted it larger. It turned out OK but I am not thrilled. It will only live here until March.
These, however, turned out awesome. :) Britton says between them and the Valentine garland he feels like he lives in a classroom... oh well :) I'm festive- deal with it. I love how they look with the sunlight coming through them!


I'll post my Valentine garland soon, I haven't hung it @ home, only at the house where I nanny. Happy Groundhogs Day! I am not really anxious for Winter to end.... I am sure it will come quickly anyways, but I am flexible :)