Where Has the Time Gone? April Already? My Explanation in Photos...

I realized it has been a month since I have last blogged and I am embarrassed. I know that hardly anyone reads this darn blog, but when one of your friends texts you and tells you that you need to blog, you start feeling a little guilty, because I must provide some good laughs of pity for somebody. 

So let me explain exactly what caused this hot mess to happen, and why I have put it off so long to come up with a new post.... ( get ready for a LONG long post)

I started to feel a little bit sick, sleeping when I should have been studying, and feeling awful. I just thought it was a cold...

Turns out... I had the flu. Dang it! Why didn't I get that free shot they were giving away on campus?? I also had to run to some dear friends so that they could play mommy and doctor to me...In the meantime, I spread my disease to their daughter....this little cutie... Poor gal.

I skipped class and decided to go visit my parents so that my real mommy could take care of me... she was dog sitting for my older sister, so I spent a lot of time in bed, watching tv, with Leila dog staring at me...

On the bright side, Easter candy is was the bomb.

Eventually I had to go back to school/home even if I wasn't feeling the best. But the weather was nice for a day or two, and then....

It got ugly!! What kind of Pre-Spring Break weather is that??! Yuck.

Some of my friends got married, which of course is always cute, and I love getting mail.

I just had to make some of grandmas brownies during spring break. Who wouldn't??

Then I decided I would spend my entire spring break baking every single day, concocting new recipes and getting chubby. Ok, so it probably did not at all affect my health, but I made these awesome snicker cookies... not to be confused with snickerdoodles. These babies were sooooo good I made them twice. My husband LOVED them. Go figure.

Also on spring break, I got to spend lots of time with Justen, which was much needed. We went on some pretty fun dates. My favorite was going to see OZ, which by the way was really good, and I despise hate sitting through movies because I get so antsy.  Also our taco bell date was pretty stinkin cool. HAH! Did you know I have only been to Taco Bell like 5 times in my whole life.? This time I decided to compare the Doritos tacos. BOY were they delicious. Personally, I like the blue, but would totally order one of each if I go again.

Also, my oldest sister is getting married in just about a month, and we all went to one of her Bridal Showers. She got lots of goodies from Crate & Barrell, so her kitchen will be decked out! This is a picture of Me, my older sister Elizabeth and my youngest sister Abby.

HOLD THE PHONE. We finally bought a car!! Yeeeehaw! Seriously, it felt like it took forever to try and find one that we liked/could afford/ was in the state of Kentucky. Talk about a challenge, but everything came together and now we are the very very proud owners of a Ford Fusion. This makes 2 cars for the 2 of us, and Justen is clearly quite happy to have his own car finally. 

Easter time means sweet baby chicks at the Rural King (yes that is a version of Tractor Supply) and I love to go see them and listen to them all chirp and talk like crazy babies do.

Justen and I dyed Easter eggs, which he had not done since he was like 6 years old. What the heck is wrong with him? Am I the only 21 year old who has done this every year since birth?

We had a lot of fun though, and made a few teeny tiny messes. haha....

Recently, I have been dying to make some spring things for my closet. So I went perusing at Joann's Fabric the other day, and cannot wait to show you how it comes out!

One of the really cool perks to my job is that I get to go run around town and collect donations at a bunch of different businesses for my school. I actually came across the Oscar Mayer Weiner mobile in Louisville, and could not resist stopping to get a picture and a weenie whistle. Yes, I had to sing the O.M. song to get the whistle and I knew every word. The weather was wonderful this past weekend wasn't it??

So as you can see, the flu + Spring Break + work + 21 hours of class = neglected blog and crazy busy lady. I am just thankful that I only have 4 more weeks of class until sweet sweet Summer! Yahooooooo

-Sara Jacqueline

The Week the Cookies Crumbled

 This week it was nuts with homework, and busy with class and kindergarten and wild with bumps in the road and also has a lot to do with cookies. Call me crazy, I know its the truth. Here shows how it all went down, in picture form.

I made these Girl Scout Cookie inspired bars, that tasted super close to the chocolate coconut Samoas. I will have to share the recipe later, cause you will need it!

Pay day and pick up your GS cookie day all in one day of the week?! Woahh, that is just dangerous. What's a girl to do with boxes of cookies and a nice chunk of change? 

You probably already can tell, but I have quite a memory attached to these GS cookies. I used to be one of the super selling goody two shoe wearing girl scouts around the age 8. I was the girl who won the t-shirt, the sleeping bag, and the light up singing jump rope. A.K.A I sold a TON of boxes, and no I don't mean like a hundred or two. It might have something to do with the fact that I can fundraise like nobody's business for my school.... not to brag, but I am pretty good at my job.

I am not really up and up on those fancy printing machines..something like a cricket..a ladybug..I don't know... but both of my best girls have one, and I got to play along this week too! We made these fun painted signs with cute little quotes on them. I am actually pretty impressed that it turned out good, however I think I am going to paint that khaki border white.

Again with the girl scout cookies. Actually this has more to do with what it says than what it is. I really really miss Mexico, everything about it. It was an experience I will definitely forget, and lately I have just been wanting to go back super bad...and take Justen with too! Heck that would be a crazy trip. It's nice to dream, huh?

As soon as March 1 hit, I yanked down that Valentines Day wreath and refashioned it into this nifty spring wreath.  I love Easter, it is so bright and cute, and kinda gives me hope to finish the spring semester up. Also, that little sparkly monogram egg was 97 cents at the Walmart and I thought it was perfect to represent these two Turleys- score for cheap crafty stuff! 

( I owe all my bow making skills to Lauren)

This was my Saturday. We had a fun date all day long. It started with an elementary science fair, and after walking into and out of 6 restaurants(literally, I am the most indecisive person), we settled on Chipotle because Justen was gonna murder me if I asked to go to Chick-Fil-A one more time. Turns out our meal stunk, and after we left, he was begging me to go to Chick-Fil-A. We shopped till we dropped, got some free stuff ( yay for gift card stock piles) and cheap stuff. Finally we made it home for dinner! 

(His serious face is a complete lie by the way.)

-Sara Jacqueline

Woah February, Woah.

I just realized... like yesterday, that February is about over, which means it will be March, which means it is almost time for Spring Break, then Easter, then Schools out!! This is how my brain thinks when I am taking 21 credit hours and working 25 crazy hours. I think in Holidays and countdowns. What comes next so I can give myself some motivation? 

So here it is again a week in Instagram pics. Sorry I didn't find time to post this past week... I am not sure what happened to Monday through Thursday, it was all a whirl.

For a recent baby shower, I made some newborn skirts. This is just one of them, the other photo got deleted by a certain almost 2 year old who likes to see "peetchas" (pictures). I paired them with some plain white onesies, so hopefully she will have something cute and comfy to wear to church during this spring and summer.

Am I obsessed? Maybe. Or is it just that I am stuck in Morehead, where there is literally nothing  entertaining, and so I typically hang out with baby ballerinas....hmm. I guess she does have a pretty cool Mom too... 

  She is just the sweetest. If we could have her as our own, I would be first in line.....except Justen would beat me, and win because Miss K has a big crush on him. She loves to play with me, but never fails to ask where Justen is.

This little yellow dress has my name written on the tag. It says: made for Sara, with Love, Target.

Gee thanks!

He really hates when I study... HAH.  I cannot wait until this semester is over, and I will be student teaching for reals. Trying to read a history book while he is watching movies is not cool.

Lastly. Target has done it again. I drool over their holiday (teachers do that ya know) aisles. They are so fun and magical, and I know you people know what I am talking about. You go in to the store for one little thing, and spend a whole hour walking all over the store playing with new home stuff, cute holiday things, candy, clothes, shoes...the bizarre dollar section. All of it makes you want to break that piggy bank and put your nose up to Walmart for good. I am just glad I made it out before I had to get a get a semi to haul out my goodies.

Happy Last Week of February!!

-Sara Jacqueline

A (Fake) Snow Day

This past weekend, Justen and I went all out and headed up to Perfect North Slopes to try out snowboarding before it got too warm. First of all the weather is crazy here, so I figured we better go now, because it would be my luck that every weekend after this one it would be 65 degrees. No kidding, it is sunshine and shorts one day, and parkas and blizzards the next here in Kentucky. 

Also, I have never been snowboarding or skiing in my twenty year or so long life, so Justen was pressuring me to try it out. My parents were always the type to take us to the beach, or on a boat. They are definitely not cold winter sports people. This is not at all like surfing in Mexico, or tubing down the Kentucky river. I was not prepared for the pain hangover.

The easy part was tubing. The lines were fairly long, however we were there on a Saturday, so I would not suggest that unless you have a lot of talking to do..hah. It was actually really fun, but we could just as easily go sledding in Morehead with enough snow (which we happened to do last weekend). Very fun, and super fast, but next time we will bring like 10 other people to go down the hill with, cause it really is for little kids mostly, or large groups. 

As you can tell this is how I felt about tubing only 3 times in 2 hours (long wait time)....

...And this is how Justen felt... Poor guy, he really likes a little bit more adventure, so lets talk about the snowboarding.

Let me just tell you that if you have never been before, then the easy hill is not so easy. I think that fake snow is 18 times more slippery than real snow. Seriously, I was sitting down at some points and going just as fast as a sled ride. Ridiculous. 

I have to admit, I fell a lot A LOT.... And it hurt even more. During one voyage down the hill, I fell a total of 11 times. However, the next time I only fell 8 times. HAH. Yes, I was keeping track to see if I was improving. I know Justen was having a blast laughing his butt off at me busting mine. Snowboarding is a lot of hard work, and no amount of watching the winter olympics prepared me for this. People who are as tall as me are not meant to balance on a popsicle stick and go down hill at a super fast speed.

Not to mention....

Did you know they don't strap you in on those lift things? What?!! What if I was a baby child eight year old and decided to slip and slide off that thing? It was like 40 feet down...right? These are my teacher thoughts. Good thing I had somebody to hold me down.

Even though I was in pain a lot of the time, and for a whole day afterwards, it was a lot of fun, and I would consider going again. Maybe to a different place, and maybe with a pillow stuffed booty. Everyone who I have talked to since told me skiing is easier, so I have a feeling my sister Abby tricked me...hmmm..

-Sara Jacqueline

A Crisco Disaster.

Welp this week was quite entertaining......
Follow me on Instagram !

Justen( f.y.i...my supa sweet huband) holding his favorite friend Kayden; it is very true that she likes him more than she likes me. Maybe it is because he offers the best snuggles?

It really did snow like 6 or so inches, and we had a blast! Although my car got a little stuck in the driveway, we enjoyed sledding, baby tubing, and rough housing in the snow. Did I mention it was beautiful??

UGH! Warning: DO NOT buy the Crisco butter flavored and expect it to work the same as Crisco. It will make your cookies flat, ugly, nasty and seem like Paula Deen tore up your kitchen. I was so disappointed with the outcome, so I am never buying that kind again.

About 3 days after the crazy snow storm, we have 60 degree weather, blue skies, sunshine.... Check out that landscape. Cool huh? There are a few perks to living in the middle of noooowhere.

That face. She is so cute, and lovable, and I cannot come up with an excuse to not stop by and see her every time I have a free 15 minutes. We play, we throw stuff, we scream a little, and her Mommy makes fun of me. Its a pretty good time all in all. haha..

Woah..... I think there is something going on in the Walmart. Too many bears, not enough shelf, too many chocolates, not enough bear....I think the Valentine Hurricane has hit us.

-Sara Jacqueline

A Super Simple Baby Gift

Holy Cow it is cold outside!!... and it has snowed all weekend long here. We really have enjoyed the snow and made sure to bust out our sleds. I also got out of school on Friday, so I really cannot complain at all. 18 degrees has it's perks sometimes...

Lately everyone I know has been having a baby ( including my sister-in-law which makes me an Aunt!), and my cousin is next up! She is having a baby boy in the next month, so I whipped up a cute blanket that I hope she will love. She has requested a sock monkey theme so I was so excited when I found this killer cute fleece at Hobby Lobby.

This is probably the simplest baby blanket you could ever make, and its really a boring project, so don't think this is what I do all day...seriously, I got more skills than this. But if you are in need of a fast gift or maybe a beginner project, go for it!

(Note: The picture quality is horrible and I know it.) 

1. Get some super adorable fleece, or other cozy baby fabric. 

Sock Monkeys = Classic.

The first step is to cut your fabric into the size you want. Typically with baby blankets, I make them about a 45 inch square, which is 1 1/4 yard of fabric, but this fleece was a little misshapen so I trimmed it up to the size I needed

2. After trimming I took a round plate and my rotary cutter to round out the corners. You don't have to do this step, but I felt like it, so I did...

3. I used some blanket binding that I also found at Hobby Lobby and pinned it around the entire edge of the fleece. I chose red because it just stood out the most and really made the monkeys pop.

4. Sew the binding on the fleece along the edge. Be careful not to stretch the fleece too much, or else it could cause the binding to pucker. But really, this blanket is very forgiving.

5. Get cozy with your blanket! Or give it to a friend expecting a baby.

Yes seriously, it is THAT easy. 

 I paired the blanket with a little sock monkey/toy/blankie that I found at Cracker Barrel. Of all places...weird, but very fitting to go with my sock monkey blanket.

Well I really hope my new Baby Cousin will love to snuggle up with this blanket! It really did take me like half an hour..... clearly I am a busy lady right now which is why I resorted to such a simple, but sweet project. More on my life later. Hah.

-Sara Jacqueline