Valentine's Crafts and Love Languages

 

 Over the weekend, I was invited to a Valentine-making party! It was so much fun! I have not tapped into my elementary side in quite some time.  My friend Mary Jo did such a great job hosting this party.  She had incredible food, fun decorations, and even included a sweet note for each girl invited that included what she loved about them.  I know that Valentine's Day can be a hard day when you might not have a significant other, so why not use it to make someone feel special by giving them a Valentine? It always a great feeling to know that someone loves and accepts you. 

I know that a lot of people think that the whole idea of the 5 love languages is cheesy, but I kind of love it.  My top love languages are words of affirmation and acts of service with quality time close behind.  What are yours?  You can found out here by taking a short quiz.  

Another love language of mine? This Red Velvet Cheesecake Milkshake.

Brunchin' It

I have a new love-brunch.  Last weekend I hosted my first one for my good friend Mary Jo's birthday! I was nervous as the evite swelled to 15+ people (and two babies), because the meal was to be held in our 750 square foot duplex. We were all nice and cozy.  I love birthdays and now I love brunches too! This brunch turned from a winter brunch to more of a spring themed one.  Good thing it did, because it was sunshiny and 60 degrees outside in January! 

 

 

 

  

Bring on spring!

Date Night

 

This post is actually a little delayed, but last week Mark and I took advantage of our Ruth Chris gift card and Restaurant Week in Charlotte and went Uptown. We each ate a salad, filet, garlic mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, and a dessert trio of chocolate raspberry torte, cheesecake with fruit, and raspberry sorbet! Talk about delicious!

 I still love being married to Mark after almost a year and a half and that I still get to go on dates with him! This month has been an extremely busy time for us.  Mark took three classes in three weeks, and it has been an adjustment getting back from the holidays.  I am looking forward to life slowing down or at least getting in a groove again to schedule more date nights and time together.  You know your life can be a little hectic when you have to set aside time to just be together.

Here are some other fun ideas for making date nights a priority if your life seems as hectic as ours.

I hope everyone is having a restful Sunday!

Entrepreneur?

Lately, I have been dreaming about this fall.  You might want a little background first; it has been an interesting year for Mark and me.  Mark took a semester off of school to decide if seminary really was his calling. During this time and over the course of the year, he has had close to ten different jobs.

 I really do love that about my husband, that he is quite the risk taker and tends to act first and think about things later.  Me? I am quite the opposite, while I would love to pride myself on being able to take risks and be spontaneous, most of the time I have to think things through before acting on them.

That being said, when Mark and I thought we would be moving sooner and Mark would be finished with school, I informed my boss of this so he could make room to hire someone to replace me.  However, now it has turned out that we will be sticking around for at least another year.

This means that, starting Sept 1, I will be going down to a part-time job and losing my health benefits.  In the wake of this, I have been learning to trust the Lord all the while conjuring up other potential job possibilities for myself to put Mark through seminary.  I have numerous friends who have different connections and could help get me a retail job that would include health benefits, but this situation has made me start thinking about some other opportunities.

I turned to a career aptitude test to see if it might provide me an alternative career route.  One would think most people figure this out in college.

My top careers were:
1. A cosmetologist: This is humorous because my sister, step mom, and stepsister all "do hair."  The test did have valid points though.  I would love to have a creative outlet for work and love working and talking with people.
2. A social worker: I do have a large desire to help and serve those that sometimes can't do this for themselves.  However, I think I would really struggle with whether or not pulling children from homes would be the right thing.
3. A teacher: I have enjoyed aspects of teaching when I worked with my ESL class in college, but I just don’t know if I have it in me to never be able to turn off from work like I feel many teachers aren't able to do.

All of those things considered-other avenues that I might explore include working with coffee again or really pursuing photography and becoming an entrepreneur of some sort or all of the above.

 When thinking about the word entrepreneur, I think of words like risk and initiative. Entrepreneur is a term applied to a person who is willing to help launch a new venture and accept full responsibility for the outcome.  These are intimidating words.  I don't know if I am willing to make a risk or take full responsibility for something if it fails...

However, I did find an encouraging link here on Design Sponge that gives you 5 steps to turning your passion into a paycheck. 

Mark and I have countless interests so I am curious to see where our gifts and the Lord take us in the upcoming year. Granted, seminary might not be the best time to try out some of these things, but then again, it might be the perfect time.

Craftiness Abounds!

Because I have mostly seen my husband in this position lately studying his weekly intensive Hebrew, I have been feeling craftier than usual and wanted to share some of the finished products and the websites that inspired me.  Please note that these things have been overtime.

Pom Pom Flowers

 Hand Sewn Seat Cushions
Here are some hand sewn seat cushions that took ages.  I have already threatened Mark's life if he spills something on them (Although, they are envelope pillows and can be removed and washed).  I combined these two tutorials.  Here and Here. I really have loved learning to sew!

Wooden Frame with a Photo Transfer
I made these as gifts for family.  I transferred the photo on wood using this YouTube video.

Mark also received a fancy saw horse for Christmas and constructed a new pallet bookshelf next to his old one!  The holidays and New Year have been so good to us! It was nice to have some time to create and be with family.  We are glad to be back in the swing of things and look forward to 2012!

No Bake Nutter Butter Nutella Pie

Do yourself a favor and make this pie for the upcoming holiday festivities! It is amazing and so easy to make! I found the recipe here.

FOR THE CRUST:

24 whole Nutter Butter Cookies

¼ cups Butter, Melted

FOR THE FILLING:

16 ounces, weight Cream Cheese, Softened (2 Packages)

¾ cups Granulated Sugar

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

½ cups Nutella

½ cups Whipping Cream

FOR THE NUTELLA GANACHE (optional)

¼ cups Nutella

¼ cups Whipping Cream

• 
  Spray a 9-inch pie plate with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
  Place Nutter Butter cookies into a food processor and grind until they are fine crumbs. 
  Stir together with melted butter.
  
  
  
   Press into prepared pie plate. Place into refrigerator to chill.
  
  
  For the filling, whip cream cheese and sugar together until well blended. Stir in vanilla extract and Nutella. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Stir in cream and then increase speed and whip 3 minutes or until very thick.
  
  Pour into pie crust and smooth the top. Refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours.
  
  To serve, prepare Nutella ganache by microwaving Nutella and cream together until a thin sauce forms. Drizzle over pieces of pie.
  
  Just look at this yummy stuff!
  Here is the finished product:
  
  Let's pretend this was my picture here:
  
  And the best part about this is, you don't have to bake it! Feel free to use this to impress your family, husband, or party guests!
  
  

Lumberjacks, Babies, and Farmhouses

Last night Mark and I made the hour and a half drive to Clover, SC for a friend's lumberjack themed baby shower.  Our other friends live in a quaint little farm house, and I loved so many of the adorable details! This is a homemade light fixture that is Pinterest worthy! 

 I loved the long line of different mugs and the bead board!

 

Everyone involved decided that our party should have been documented as an American Eagle ad.

Here was our long family style table where plenty of yummy corn bread and chili was consumed.

Look at this adorable little girl and her homemade airplane rocking horse!

There was also time for a haircut.

The picture above shows a new baby shower game for me.  It involved drawing what the future baby would look like on a plate on your head.  Mark definitely won this game except his future baby looked more like a PAC-Man. I loved being with friends in this laid back country atmosphere with a bonfire and smore cupcakes! I even learned a new game the guys were playing called Kubb, which was very fitting for the lumberjack themed party.  Kubb is a Swedish lawn game where the object is to knock over wooden blocks by throwing wooden sticks at them. This was a great time to spend together with friends before everyone parts for the holidays.  We will start our travels next week and can't wait to be with friends and family! I'm so thankful for the holiday season!