DIY Coasters

DIY coasters.

There are picures of some of the coasters I made for girls at work for Christmas. Although it is a little time consuming, it is super easy, and you can make multiples at one time to get all your gifts done at once. I was really excited to see how nicely they came out!

Supplies:
Scrapbooking paper – you can usually find whole books of scrapbooking paper for
$9.99, normally $20.00 (50% off at
JoAnns/Michaels)
Tiles – from Lowes/Home Depot $0.10 ea
Mod Podge
Shilack Spray
Small round stick on felt pads – Lowes/Home Depot $3.99 for
85 count

Directions:
I cut out scrapbook paper 4in X 4in and curved some edges,
some I left the edges sharp
Glue down the paper to the tiles with the ModPodge. Let dry
for 30 sec – 1 min
Put a medium thickness layer down over the whole entire
tile, including the edges. Let dry for
3-5min
Repeat
Put a Third layer down over entire tile using a generous
amount, paying close attention to the edges of the paper so that they are
completely covered and will not come up.
**If you have thick scrapbook paper with designs, you may
need to hold the paper down between layers to keep the paper from curling up.
Allow ModPodge to complete dry, 1-2hrs – should not have any
tackiness to it.
Spray a thin layer with Shilack OUTSIDE. Spray the first two layers on lightly,
letting a couple minutes to dry between layers.
The third layer can be put on thicker, couple hours to dry.
When all finished, apply four small felt pads to the
bottoms. Tie together with ribbon.

CBUS

So i've been looking at new ways to decorate my home and how cool is this! I could totally get some letters, "C-B-U-S" and modpodge them with a black and white map to put up on the shelf in our family room. I am really excited I love the whole "map" look and when we get out our place we can incorporate it into our office with all the other black and white and old looking things and books. I'm so excited. Anyone want to craft night with me?!

eeeeeeeeeeekkkk!!!

Vintage Votives

This girl is amazing!! I can't believe I am just now finding her blog, but thanks to Pinterest I can find many things. She is so inspiring to let my creative side shine!! I really like the twine votive and the lightly fancy lace but some of the others one look a little "old fashioned" for me. Now...if only I could find time...

Annaboo's house: Vintage Votives: A simple algorithm : Empty jam jars and charity shop tumblers + vintage lace trims and garden twine = elegant vintage votives

Looks like i'm going to be taking a couple of trips to the goodwill for the next upcoming weeks!

Taco Chili Soup

I am so thankful for Pinterest. It is the biggest help on my journey to become a better cook, not only that but a healthy cook. I can search blogs very easily looking up various recipes and going through the ingredients and nutritional facts to make healthier choices.

To the point...

I found a recipe on Pinterest that is called the Crock-pot Tortilla Soup. If you are anything like me, I have a slight obsession with Max and Erma's Tortilla Soup, and there is nothing like it's cheesy goodness! With that being said, reading the ingredients I was happy to see that it looked very healthy and hoped that it tasted close to the real thing. As I was making it, I added and took away in areas that I thought would make it very similar. The blog with the website for the recipe HERE but I will give you my recipe which makes it more similar to a Taco Chili soup with all of the beans. It was amazing and tastes great with the toppings (use the cheese sparingly if concerned about added calories).

Tortilla Chili Soup

24 oz canned chicken
1/2 c chopped onion
1 pkg ranch dressing mix
1 pkg spicy taco mix
1 can green chiles
1 can pinto beans
1 can hot chili beans
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can seasoned diced tomatoes
dash chopped cilantro
dash chopped green onions
crumble tortilla chips
shredded mozzarella cheese

Mix all ingredients in pot or crock-pot and let simmer for 1 hour or more until hot

Notes: I used little to no onion since my husband is sensitive to onions, and used more green onions to make up for it. I used Mexican seasoned tomatoes to go with the theme. Since it has so many beans, it is easy to customize it to your liking like I mentioned earlier and it will still taste great!!

Happy Cooking!

Getting Back on Track

I had a dream last night. One that I am not so sure it is one to share...but it was disturbing to the very core. It shook my dreams, my realities, and my beliefs...and it nearly shook my faith in myself and dare I say my husband. I haven't been sleeping. 6 or 7 hours of sleep every night and somehow I wake up exhausted. I come home from work exhausted knowing I have so much work to do, so much housework, cooking...just being a wife, a friend. I haven't seen a friend or even talked to one for well over a week. I guess what I'm getting at is that I know that Satan is trying to get at me. When everything seems so perfect and things are finally starting to settle down...he doesn't want me to be happy and he's trying to get to me in my dreams. Scary huh? Whats even more scary is that I am still feeling that uneasiness 8 hours later. Time to pray, time to confess, time to fast...time to do something. Something that is giving back to God and making my like meaningful to those around me. I have been making excuses that I am not settled in yet...and I'm not. But in a couple weeks I will be painting (yay) then after that I'm sure I'll have another project, and another. I need to make this a priority. It's funny how God puts little hints in your life here and there-people or events or advertisements or fliers for different events...my eyes aren't open...until now that is.

It's time I open my eyes to where God wants to lead me and not where I think I should be going. God led me this far with the man I love, I'm pretty sure he knows what I want more than I do.

First things first...finding a life group. This is not my favorite area, I'm shy and I don't like sharing my personal life with people that I haven't "sniffed out yet." Yeah I know, kind of an awkward way to put it, but if I feel that someone might judge me or think different of me, I don't want to put myself out there only to be hurt. I haven't had the best track record of christian friends but hey I guess that's what trusting in God is all about.

Goodmorning world

So much has changed. So much yet not much at all. I accepted a new job at Thirty-One Gifts on May 23, 2011. It is amazing how one woman can start a business years ago with so much faith in God, that she founded the very business on Psalm 31. Seven years later, that company is growing into a billion dollar industry, yet still holds tight to that very core. I have never seen anything like it. People love each other for who they are, for their talents, their ambitions, and even their faults. We celebrate, encourage, and reward each other on a daily basis, lifting each others spirits and becoming one large family.

What it must be like, what it much feel like to be Cindy Monroe, the founder and still the CEO of the company, to see such a dream to turn into millions of womens dreams. To see success for all of our "sisters" and now "brothers" in Christ.

I am so happy that I was able to have such a job, something that lifts my spirits and makes me feel blessed every single day.

Values vs. Career

I have been in a very tough spot these last couple of weeks. We have been short 2 full-time people at the front desk and one part-time person short in my department. So managers have to fill in when and where they can. People are taking leave, vacation days, etc. It is starting to put strain on an already emotional feeling I have about my job. Nothing has changed as far as my tasks go, but because we are short, I now have to occasionally work the front desk on top of all of my duties putting my in overtime for the past two weeks. In my department, being short one person shouldn't stress everyone out as much as it is. My dept is acting like they are falling apart, yet I shouldn't be surprised as they are much older and are working overtime as well.
Now that all of this is going on while being at work, I officially don't like not only my hours and days that I have to work, but don't like actually working either. It is stretching my patience thin and is causing me to look at my values and question if they are really important to me anymore. Everything that is very important to me, my family, my friends, my fiance and his family, God and church and my church family...all of that is a very small part of my life now. If I get to spend any time with them, it's on a weekday or weekend night, in which I have to get up at 4am the next morning. I am then exhausted at work and have even less patience, yet I continue to do it. I shouldn't have to question myself about what is important to me, yet I can't seem to make a decision about what is more important. Do I start job searching for something that better suites my lifestyle? Or do I stay in my current position until the possibility of a promotion or job transfer opens up. There is so much I miss being able to do but it is hard to decipher what I have to sacrifice for my job because it is a part of growing up. Is graduating and starting a career always this hard? Do people really throw away their lives and things they love and enjoy for a job? I just don't want something having that much control over my life. I miss/will miss especially this upcoming summer:
Saturday college football
Sunday at Church and after church with the family
Small Groups
Volunteering at church
Weekend trips to Cinci to visit my friends
Weekend trip to Dayton and Urbana to see my family
Weekend trips anywhere...
Weekends to spend with my friends
Date nights with Johnny where I DON'T fall asleep during the movie or in the car, lol
Just being able to schedule anything on a weekend

Not to mention all of the wedding plans I'm going to be doing, and the people that I have to work with

One thing that is really bothering me is that I will miss Easter Sunday for the first time every this year. Not only church, but after church easter egg hunt for the nieces and nephews.

My fiance moves back in 3 weeks and I am soo excited, yet I feel a bit anxious that due to him being in school, weekends is still going to be the only time we can spend time together. Prayer is the only way to be sure of a good decision.