time to get serious...

this post is inspired by these boots...

which are currently in my closet... i love them... however, they are not so comfy on the calves right now... 

last year my neighbor and i were on a mission... we each had a goal in mind... things were going along great... i was down 25 lbs. and was feeling so much happier... and healthier...

i rewarded myself with these boots... which then, being 25 lbs. lighter, fit over my calves nicely...

i was walking regularly... like, crazy walking... and eating better... grilled chicken was my new bff...

then i had to have surgery... my decrease in appetite caused me to lose an additional 5...

i was happy... down 30... woo-hoo! 

then... due to recovery time...my exercise level went to zilch...

then i started to feel better... and with that came eating more and little by little it crept back up... so here i am a year from when i started to lose the last time, and i'm right back to where i started... disappointing... to say the least...

this blog has already become a space that has kept me more accountable... i'm finishing projects left and right... ones that i've been wanting to do for a long time... i'm hoping that since i'm putting this out there, that i will be accountable in getting to a healthier place in 2013... {plus, i don't want the cute boots to go to waste}...

so today is day one for me... time to get serious... i started off with a nice big glass of water... and some oatmeal... i know it's maple and brown sugar but that's better than a half a bag of double chocolate milano cookies... {which is what i had yesterday... for real...}

how have i never noticed this line marker on the packet? that's a handy little tidbit to know... am i the only one who's still been getting out the measuring cup?...

i'm also pulling out these jars again... they're already set up... 30 stones in the left jar... nada in the right one...

 for each pound lost, a stone will go into the right jar... it's visually motivating...{i think some cute tags that say "here" and "gone" are in order}...

this will take some time... results don't happen over night... but i'll be patient... and focused... and in the long run... healthier...


wish me luck!

have a happy day~
angie

let's paint...

it's snowy and very cold out here in ohio... so i got out the paints this morning... it was the perfect time to let the girls create...

a sweet friend of mine liked the polka dottie heart art that maizie and her friends made at her birthday party... maizie was excited to make one for her so that's what she worked on today...

let us show you how...

make a heart template and lightly trace the shape onto watercolor paper {even though we are using acrylics, i still like to use watercolor paper because of the texture and thickness of it}...

 select the colors that you want to work with and put a small amount of each onto some paper plates {makes for an easier clean-up}...

 get started filling in the heart with random colored polka dots... using the eraser end of a pencil as your paintbrush...

 keep going and going until your heart is nice and filled in...

{love}

maizie can't wait to get to the post office... this little bit of happy mail will be heading off to someone special very soon :)...

while she was busy with her heart, marina decided to paint a flower... {still working with acrylic on watercolor paper}...

 i love to watch her little hands creating... she concentrates so hard on what she's doing...

 she said... "look mama, do you like the details on my leaves?"... yep, i sure do!...

 {beautiful}

 i decided to work on a little something, too...

i painted a flower first... using the acrylics... and then i did a little series of connected circles...

 

while that was drying i gathered up some of my tie-dyed crepe paper that was left over from the simple valentine garland that i made...  i ruffled it up and sewed it down to a sturdy piece of card stock... then i stitched around and around the center of the flower... finally i used my tiny stamps to spell out "create" in the circles... and i tacked that part down... 

{create}

 i think i'm going to use this as part of the cover for my creative journal that's in the works... a place to store all of the ideas that i have floating around up in this noodle of mine...

it was a fun morning...

so tell me, how did you spend yours?...

have a happy day...

angie

cake batter cookies...

today i made some cake batter cookies... they are pretty easy and my girls love them so i thought i'd share the recipe with you... i originally saw them here... {i adapted it a little... using a yellow cake mix instead of a vanilla one and only 1/2 cup of sprinkles instead of a full cup...}

ingredients:

~ 1 yellow cake mix  {18.25 oz.}

~ 1 tsp. baking powder

~ 1/2 cup vegetable oil

~ 2 eggs

~ 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

 ~ 1/2 cup sprinkles 

  mix the cake mix and baking powder in a mixing bowl...

mix the oil, eggs, and vanilla in a small bowl... once mixed add it to the cake mixture...

stir the ingredients together... once stirred... add the sprinkles mixing them throughout the dough...

drop by teaspoon full on cookie sheet...

bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes...

it's my aunt's birthday today so while the cookies were cooling, i gathered up some cute packaging supplies... a canning jar, a polka dottie cupcake liner and i made a happy birthday tag laced with some mini-ball fringe trim...

once they were cooled... i packaged them up...

i placed the decorative cupcake liner over the top of the jar before placing on the silver lid... then i added the tag...

and there you have it... a fun birthday treat...

enjoy!

have a happy day~

angie

from my heart...

i have no pictures to share today... i'm just writing from my heart...

yesterday i went to visit my aunt who is home from texas... i look forward to that when she's home because it's always so nice to sit and talk with her... while she's here she stays at my grandparents house...

while i was very excited to see her and catch up, it's getting harder for me to see my grandma g. these days... i'm very fortunate to still have my 3 grandparents... but my dad's mom has been sick for quite a while... i have always been very close with her and it just makes me so sad to watch the decline... i pulled away a bit because it was hard for me to see her getting worse... that is selfish on my part... i recognize that... i think we all deal with things differently and i am not a fan of change... it kind of scares me... and the changes i'm seeing over there are scary ones... i went two weeks ago and it was rough... she couldn't hear me which made me so sad... and she barely spoke... the one thing she said to me was "where did the years go?"... she closed her eyes and tears streamed down her cheeks... all i could do was sit and hold her hand and cry with her... 

i went back over to see her last week and spent some time there today... when i asked her if she wanted something to drink, i wasn't sure if she even heard me... there was a little delay and when i turned around all i heard was "how about a hi-ball?"... she made me laugh... my whole life i don't think i've ever seen her have a drink, unless it was a small glass of beer with salt in it on a really hot day... when i looked back at her in her hospital bed, which is now in the living room, she had a big smile on her face which made me smile, too... then she rested her eyes again...

sometimes in life we have to do hard things... this is one of those times for me but i know that this time is precious and i am so very thankful for the time that i am spending with her...

always hold your loved ones close... 

have a happy day~
angie

hoop wall art project...

i slept horrible last night... fell asleep on the couch... never made it upstairs... woke up to the 2 hour delay notice which threw me into a tailspin... 

missed my classes again today... that made me feel irresponsible... and grumpy... it was not how i wanted to start off my day...

once the girls were off to school i tried to focus on things that needed done around here... i threw in a load of laundry {which has been piling up} and then i began wandering from room to room... do any of you do this? busy yourself about the house but you're really getting nothing done? that was me today... it was very gloomy out... the freezing rain from last night left the view from my windows a slushy, dreary mess... 

so i decided to make something... i figured that would make me feel better...  i've been wanting to make a hoop wall art project ever since i saw the liberty of london fabric hoop wall on the purl bee site years ago {you can check that out here}...

i bought these little felt flowers the other day made by basic grey {they are from the serendipity and shine on collection and the fact and fiction collection}... love the colors...

 i gathered some cute fabrics... wrapped my hoop... and began laying things out... i came up with fabric stitched on stems and leaves for the flowers...

 i wasn't really sure the look i was going for... but before i knew it, i had it assembled... and it turned out like this...

pretty cute... i think :)...

 i like the dimensional look of the flowers from the side... and the trim at the top of the bunting is braided which added some interest {that was maizie's idea :)}...

this was fun to make and i can see more of them in my future... i need to turn this into part of a grouping for our wall... that would make me happy...

now... time to focus back on my mountain of laundry...

have a happy day~
angie

sunday to sunday...

last week i did a sunday to sunday post ... i kinda like the idea of it... a little recap of the week so that i remember the little things... 

on sunday i was thankful for little, helping hands in the kitchen... her idea to help me dry and put away the dishes...

we all enjoyed having monday off from school... it was a lazy day at home, hanging out... worked upstairs a little more... tackled another pile of fabric...

tuesday was a snow day... the girls and i were so happy to have another day off together... we worked on valentine projects {you can read about those here if you missed it}... and i made some washi tape clothespins... 

and then... there was wednesday... ugh! 2 hour delay + 2 girls having to be at 2 different schools at 2 different times + myself missing 2 out of three classes and having to email 2 professors = me being 2 frazzled to take many pics during that day...

thursday was good... john and i had breakfast at panera and then grocery shopped... we were out of e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g... felt good to come home... clean the fridge and get everything put away... one thing i'd like to be better with is meal preparation... it's so hard though... any tips? pointers? recipe ideas? please share, if you do...

later that night i continued turning this...

into this...

can't wait to share what it will be when it's done...

after my classes on friday,  i met a friend at panera for lunch {obviously i couldn't get enough of that place this week... ha!}... then i spent a little time at the tj maxx... and then headed to joanns to pick up some things that i needed {and a few other items that weren't on the list somehow found their way into my cart}...

{can't wait to turn these fabrics into something cute... my mind is kinda swimming with ideas... i'm really looking forward to sewing more... i had so much fun when i was making the children's clothing... and i think i'd like to start doing that again... we'll see...}

saturday is another picture-less day... it was spent doing things around the house until later in the evening... john and i had a date night... we met friends that we haven't seen in forever at V2 {downtown}... can't believe i've never been there... it's a really nice place... fun atmosphere... for my local friends reading this... if you haven't been there... you should try it... the calamari is delish!

and... back to sunday... the girls have been wanting to do something nice for our neighbors that live on either side of us... they really are great people... they help with snow blowing, leaf removal in the fall, always bring us fresh produce in the summer and are always very good to our family... i love that the girls wanted to do something kind for them...

we decided to bake some chocolate chip cookies...

maizie and marina took turns adding the ingredients... {you have to keep everything even stephen around here :)}... and when they were finished... maizie stamped brown lunch bags with the word "cookies"... and i made some tags that said "for you"... we wrapped the packages up with a little bakers twine and went and made the deliveries... 

the neighbors were so thankful and the girls were smiling from ear to ear... a little kindness goes a long way...

tonight my heart is full...

have a happy day~

angie

valentine touches here and there...

little touches of valentine's day are making there way about our home... thought i'd share a few of them with you...

{jar of hearts... going on my dresser}

remember these hearts?... i sewed them together... 

now they're hanging from the chandelier in our breakfast nook...

and i made little tags from these supplies...

 i thought it would be cute to clip these to the front of a wire caddy that holds milk bottles that my mom and dad surprised me with a few years back... it's one of my favorite things...

i covered some mini clothespins with washi tape and clipped them on...

and i bought myself some tulips... i think that they are the prettiest flower... and look... there were 7 in my bunch instead of 6... what a happy surprise when i got home...

*****************************************

now... i have an announcement... the hand knit dish cloth giveaway winner is...

 congratulations, sylvia!!! please email your info to oopsiemaizie@yahoo.com so i can get your happy mail sent out to you...

thanks to all who took the time to comment and enter...

have a happy day~

angie