Bring on the Beach Bummin Baby!

Okay readers, I realize my posting consistency has been a little crazy lately... we'll I don't think it's going to get better any time soon!  This summer {like most others} is going to be pretty crazy for us!

This is where the hubs and I will be bummin around for the next five days to celebrate our one year anniversary!!!  =D

Yes. Please.

True testament to the fact that you can vacation, and vacation well, on a budget.

We will be paying just a few bucks a night to camp at the site that has cold water rinse showers and restroom facilities near by.  The only other costs will be groceries and maybe going out to eat for our anniversary dinner... I can't wait!!!

I've never camped in sand before, this should be fun!

(And probably more comfortable sleeping than hard ground!)

We leave tomorrow morning... so excited!!!


PS...
An update on our precious Bayley Rae:
 
She's doing much better.  Here are some pictures of our recovering patient. =)
(Oh, and don't worry, she is in very good hands while we are away!)

I took the cone off of her when we got home.  Really, she was just desperate to lick... her paw was still all bloody.  =(  I gave her a little sponge bath but she continued to bath herself for probably the next two hours! =)

 Once she was content with her cleanliness, we crashed on the couch to watch our favorite lazy day movie, Pride and Prejudice.  =)

 We put the cone back on her right before bed time since we wouldn't be able to make sure she wasn't chewing her bandage.  She's inviting daddy to join her in the cone!  hahaha

My sweet baby!  So glad she's doing better.  =)  Definitely back to her cheerful self!

WARNING: Weak Stomachs Proceed With Caution

Last night Miss Bayley had a bit of an incident.

We were running her around in the field while we watched the sunset -- she runs like a bullet.  She's so stinking fast!  So far, she has been able to out run every dog she's met in her one and a half years.  =)

Well after capturing some beautiful stormy sunset pictures while Bayley took several laps in the field, ran the length of the fence out and back and circled a few final laps through the parking lot, we were ready to go in.  My Hubs had her sit to put her leash back on then looked at me and said, "Babe, she's bleeding..."

"What?"  Then he lifted her front right paw up and it started gushing like a fountain -- crazy.

He scooped her up, put pressure on the gash and we both ran back to the apartment.

We tried for a while to stop the bleeding... We wrapped it up, it bled through in about ten seconds... then we realized, this is really serious.  Twenty minutes and it wasn't slowing down.  If Mark pulled his thumb away for a second blood was spilling everywhere.  Finally we decided we couldn't wait until morning, made peace with paying an after hours charge at the vet and called our Bayley's Dr.

Here's a pic of Mark in the car with her.  We were sitting at the vet's office, waiting for the Dr. to arrive...

Well it turns out she was cut straight through her tendons, muscles and a major vein which was why we couldn't get the bleeding stopped.  We're glad we took her in.

The Dr. put her out and took her into surgery to get everything put back together.  Called us about an hour later to let us know it went well and she was starting to wake up.

*sigh*

It was a stressful, tearful night.

I'm supposed to be able to go pick her up here in about an hour.  They said "lunch time" ...11:30 qualifies as lunch time, right?  I just want to go get her as soon as possible!  I miss my baby.  =(  Not to mention, there was a huge, loud storm last night that I'm sure she was terrified of, locked up in a kennel {she is terrified of kennels too} at the vet's office.

I'm ready to go pick up my baby.  I'm sure she'll have one of those stylish cones on her head so that she doesn't pick at her leg... I'll post some pics of the patient when she returns home.  =)

DIY Wedding style...

So I'm working on a custom ring pillow and flower basket for my friend Kristin's wedding.

These are some of the Kristin approved ideas and colors I am using for inspiration:

Starfish on this pillow are adorable...

She said really liked this shell design...

My turquoise obsessed friend of course loves the color of this one...

The pearls on the shell are cute here and the sand ribbon on this one is also very unique...

She wants to use white sand pails for the flower girl baskets {so cute!} and I will decorate them a bit to coordinate with the ring pillow.

I will of course keep you posted as I begin working on her pillow.  I'm looking for a way to incorporate the sand ribbon with starfish and a neat pearlescent shell design with at least a little bit of that turquoise she loves.  We'll see what happens as I get started!  =)

The Curvy, Windy Detoury Road of Life...

Well my friends, just as I was getting back into the rhythm of things my life highway took another curvy little detour!

After my cousin's grad party in southern Mo I got a call that my wonderful mom-in-law was in the hospital with a blood clot, so instead of heading back to TX, I headed north to KC where I have spent the past four days hanging with her and the fam at the hospital.

Clearly not ideal circumstances, but I won't lie; I rather enjoyed the excuse to make an impromptu visit and rather extended stay in KC with family and friends.  It was also quite a joy to have the opportunity to help and serve my in-laws in any way I could as they have done so much for Mark and I.  =)

Well, she was released this afternoon and is back home as we speak, resting and recovering.  =)

It's so great to see her doing better, I love her so much!

Tomorrow morning I will finally head home, anxious to reunite with my hubby and puppy.  =) Say a prayer for me that those Oklahoma and Texas panhandle tornadoes hold off until I've arrived!

So there's my update and excuse for my absence... will this require a doctor's note?  ;)

Womack Wildness!

Today I am heading out to go visit some family and celebrate graduation with this beautiful cousin of mine.  =)

So excited to see some of my amazing Womack family!  A Womack party is always a crazy time!!!  =D

Yummy in My Tummy...

Tonight we're having one of my faaavorite chicken dishes for dinner.

Parmesan Chicken.

Not just any parmesan chicken, the most wonderful parmesan chicken EVER invented.

I found the recipe about a year ago here.

Doesn't that just look amazing?

Well it is.

{My extra little secret, I use a heaping cup of parmesan cheese instead of just 3/4 c... I did it on accident once and it turned out to be the best batch ever!}

This chicken is so good, I don't even make any sauce to go with it... no need. 

Well, it's about time to pull it out of the oven so off I go!


~*~*~Just found out about this amazing giveaway at Craftaholics Anonymous sponsored by Allegro Arts.  Beautiful, handcrafted silver oragami jewelry... amazing!~*~*~

Ocean Beach Bonfire: Saturday, Day 3

After we enjoyed the beautiful flowers and scenery of Balboa Park, we moved on to our long awaited bonfire at Ocean Beach.  =)

Don't let us fool you, it was chiiiilly... especially with that ocean breeze! 

We're bundled up!  =)

Staying close to the fire but having a ball!

An adorable picture of my primas and amiga!

Sarah and Karissa walked down to the water... 

And once dinner was done, it was time for S'MORES!!!  =)

LOVE this picture of the boys.  =) 

Remember my friend Kristin who's engaged?  Well she came too!  I was so excited to see her!!! 

And I finally got to meet her boyfriend who is now her fiance!!! 

It may have been a little chilly, but we had a great time with great friends.  =)  It was well worth it!

 

Happy Mother's Day!

With mother's day approaching {and the budget still minimal} I was desperate to find some kind of gift for our moms that wouldn't break the bank.  I just couldn't handle only sending a card to such amazing mothers.

Thanks to my new friend, Stephanie Lynn at Under the Table and Dreaming, I found a great gift for each of our moms here and here.  I let them choose their scent, though they didn't know what it was for.  =)

I didn't take very many pictures but here are the scrubs that I made...

 First of all, this is the perfect gift on a budget because 1) it's actually something that the recipient will love and 2) you most likely already have everything needed in the pantry {I did!}

Supplies Needed {to make both recipes}:
Canning Jars
Ribbon and/or Twine
Tag or Label of Some Sort
Granulated Sugar
Brown Sugar
Oil (Canola or Sunflower Seed & Extra Virgin Olive)
Vanilla Extract
Lemon Juice

I already had two canning jars on hand, so I decided to spray paint the lids to make them prettier.  All I had on hand was Krylon Plastics Black, but it worked!  =)

While those were drying I mixed up my ingredients for each recipe and spooned them into their respective jars.  Then I used my new {to me} Cricut to cut out some tags for the jars.

{The first project I've used my Cricut for ~ YAY!!!}

The lids were dry by now so I sealed up the jars.  Then wrote on my tags with Sharpie, "Vanilla Sugar Scrub" and "Lemon Sugar Scrub" and tied them onto the jars.  I also used some black ribbon I had on hand to give them a little more of a feminine touch.

I think they turned out really cute {and I used a left over sample of each scrub so I know they're both great!}

I hope our moms like them!

 

My Mom is a Rockstar...

Seriously, my mom is amazing.

There are so many incredible things I love about her.

I love how much my mom loves life... she always gets really excited about doing fun and new things...

She has always been there to support me in everything I do...

And I'm pretty sure my mom gets just as excited about things in my life as I do.  =)

She worked so hard to make Mark's and my wedding day perfect and beautiful.  Oh, and PS, she looked amazing at the wedding.  

My mom is super hot.  =)

She's never afraid to be seriously strange and goofy with me...

 Oh, also she helped us move to Texas...

Then put her life on hold when she came back down to visit me three weeks later because I was sad and lonely...

I love that my mom is afraid of heights... even when she's just kneeling on the porch railing... lol

And she plans the most amazing surprises like taking me to see Wicked!

My mom always has been and always will be one of my best friends... as you can see, she's pretty much amazing.

Oh, and did I mention that she's gorgeous?  Well she is.  =)

I love that I look like my mom, act like my mom, talk like my mom, think like my mom....  I mean, let's face it, she's incredible.  So if I'm going to be like anyone, I'm proud to be like her.

I love you so much, mom!  

Happy Mother's Day to a truly amazing, beautiful, selfless mom.

xoxoxo

Jenna's DIY Birthday Gift!

Soon after getting coming into the blog world, I became inspired by my fellow blog friends and started looking for unique frames at the thrift stores I frequent.  When I came across this one a few months ago, I knew almost instantly what I was going to do with it!  =)

I used the unique frame I found to make a fun name plaque for my sister.  Her birthday was last month but I wanted to wait long enough to post it so that I wouldn't spoil the surprise for her.  I hope I waited long enough! =)

Mrs. Tischer Name Plaque

Supplies:  Frame {thrift store}, Krylon Plastics spray paint {Walmart}, Placemat {Walmart Clearance}, Wooden Letters {Walmart}

Love the shape and texture, hate the gold.

Nothing a little spray paint can't fix!

Cut out a piece from the placemat to fit on the mirror...  

I had originally planned to use burlap but our Walmart started a renovation process and cleared out ALL of their fabrics (and we live an hour away from Joann's)... I was lucky to find this beautiful placemat on the clearance rack for $1!!!  LOVE the stripes.

Hot glued the material onto the mirror (keeping the glue line as close to the edge as possible to prevent "bumps" from showing inside the frame.)

Still love the shape, still love the texture... now I love the color too!  Look at the texture on the placemat, I love it!  =)

Laid the letters in place then hot glued them and ta-da!  I love it.

My sister is a grade school teacher so I am hoping she might use this on her door or in her classroom somewhere.

I really wanted to glue on some fun colored ribbons and buttons to make it more "school house-esque" but I wasn't sure if that's what she would like.  So I left it plain so that she can add what she wants to it if she wants.  =)

I thought it turned out adorable, I am definitely pleased!

Calling All Creative Bloggers!!!

Hey friends!  Okay, remember my friend, Kristin, who I told you about?

Well she and her fiance are looking for an idea of something really different to use in the "unity candle" portion of their ceremony.  They're aiming for an idea that doesn't involve candles, water or sand...

{...their wedding is a sort of a classy beach theme if that helps...}

Any ideas???

A little bit of everything...

Well it's been a few days so allow me to update you on the latest happenings of life...

Last Saturday I chopped over a foot of hair off...

I'm not going to lie, I already miss my long hair {as I knew I would} but I also love my fresh look and summer do.  =)

I also got a text from this beautiful friend of mine, 

 Miss Kristin Joy, notifying me that she is soon to be wed!  She called me later that afternoon asking if I would like to be a bridesmaid; an honor which I was of course overjoyed to accept.
I am so super stoked!!! 
She is going to be a beautiful bride.
Also, check out her fab photos here and here.

{Kristin was our wedding photographer...

our blog header is a showcase of her superior talent!}

Then, just a little later on Saturday, I got a phone call from my fab mom-in-law saying that she found a Cricut at a garage sale for $50!!!  

YES PLEASE.

So she's calling it an early birthday present... my birthday isn't until October.  I told her this means she's really not allowed to get me anything else...
I'll be reminding her monthly until then.  

My in laws are super wonderful, they spoil me way more than they should.  =)

So yesterday when I was sent home from work early I took advantage of some unexpected time to get to know my new Cricut! 
A result of my piddling around...

This brings us to today...

I've discovered a lovely DIY Mother's Day gift for both mommy's on a fellow blogger's site... though I clearly cannot post how my creation turned out until the shipment has reached them. =)