My Tree Skirt (I'm so domestic!)

Ok, so this tree skirt was super basic and it didn't even require a sewing machine, I just sewed everything by hand, but I am dang proud of it. It's a little lopsided, the stitching is a little off, I failed at ever making the french knots that I originally intended on using for the berries and parts of it are already fraying...but hey, it's my first sewing project. :) I decided I was going to do it and I did! The fact that I finished a project is an accomplishment in and of itself!

I was originally planning on stitching multiple little holly leaves, but got really tired after doing this batch. So I thought " maybe I'll add a batch every Christmas and make it a tradition" aka "i'm really tired of doing this and I don't want to stitch any more holly leaves."



Our Ward Christmas Party!

What Great Who- Parents!

      Tonight our ward put on play based on the famous children's book How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It was a great play with amazing costumes, props and sets. Since Jason and I were on the activities committee, we got to help out a lot, including being part of the play! Between setting up, making food and buying last minute items, I was running around like crazy this week, but it all turned out very well. I'll admit, I'm super glad it's over because now I can focus my attention to other things... like sewing my very first Christmas tree skirt! woohoo!!!

 

This is a glimpse of what the set looked like. The Grinch is on the left, playing the role of Santa Claus at this point and those two girls in the middle were two our  "who-children." 

 And I can't forget to mention that this ward party marked a very significant event for me: I made my very first funeral potato casserole, a true Mormon tradition. I have now officially been inducted into Mormon culture!

Webinar on Turning Pictures into Paintings!

On December 7th, my mom is going to be hosting an incredible webinar explaining how to turn pictures into digital oil paintings. She is incredible. As an illustrator for 20 years, she has a lot of experience and I know she is going to do great in this field. She is a self-taught digital painter  and her paintings her beautiful. I am so excited for her!
Here are a few of her websites:

http://inapainterlyfashion.blogspot.com

http://www.melissagallophotography.com

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is a snow version of Uncle Ico!

       There is nothing like having the family together for the holidays. Maybe it's because I'm just getting older and therefore more mushy and sentimental, but I really like being with family. I wasn't always like that. There is no group of people I would rather be with to celebrate special occasions than with the one that knows me the best, can share the longest running inside jokes and who I can give noogies to!
      It snowed again today--another weird occurrence for this area. Dad, Rachel and Jonny went outside to play in it while Mom and I got to cooking ( and boy did we cook!). They built this big snowman which they then carried up in pieces and assembled on our balcony. It looked just like Uncle Ico! By the afternoon it had warmed up enough so that the snow started melting, but there was enough on the ground to create the holiday "mood."
      Naturally we stuffed our faces, like the gluttonous Americans we are, then we went on a scenic drive to show everyone how beautiful it is around here. When we got back, because we hadn't consumed enough calories, we busted out the apple crisp pie and pumpkin pie with ice cream and whipped cream. Hmm Hmm! What fatties!  I went ahead and put up our little Christmas tree too! Happy Thanksgiving!

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

Me and Laverne! First snowman of the winter.

                   Living in Provo I learned quickly that snow is not that big of a deal. It snows, the snow plows come, the salt is thrown on the ground. Done. However, when we moved up here to the Seattle area, we were informed that such is not the case here. Apparently there are a total of like 4 snow plows for the whole county and let's not forget that salt is bad for the environment so the greenies up here wouldn't dream of putting that on the roads!     
               So when it does snow, it's a big deal. A BIG DEAL. In fact, it's a fiasco. Jason received orders at work today to go home early because it was snowing, even though there was maybe a millimeter on the ground. Jason's boss a few weeks back told him to stock up on food storage ( and he's not even LDS!) because if it snowed, the roads would be shut down! Then there is the matter of keeping an eye out for crazy Seattle drivers who are swerving, going way too slow or simply just parking their cars on the side of the road because the 1/2 inch of snow is more than they can handle.

I Can't Wait for My Family to Come!

             The Gallos are rolling into town this next week to spend Thanksgiving with us! How exciting! Haha, we are all going to be staying in our one room apartment so it's going to get a little on the cozy, snug side. But it's all good, we'll make it work. The plan right now is for mom and dad to have our room, Jason and I are going to sleep on a air mattress in the living room, Rachel will have the couch and Paul and Jonny can either share another air mattress or fight over who gets to sleep on the other couch ( not that it's very comfy). It might get a little tricky with only one bathroom though...
            In preparation I gotta clean our little house ( which doesn't take long) and do a big grocery shopping to get enough food for Thanksgiving and to feed all the hungry mouths! It's all worth it because I am SO excited to have my family up here to see our new place in Washington. :)           

The Perfect Plate of Fudge

This is what we would like our finished product to look like! So far it hasn't...

Jason and I have been trying to master the somewhat difficult art of making fudge. We are trying to exercise our culinary prowess in time for Christmas. Our plan is to make lots of holiday cookie plates for people and, as is tradition, no good plate should be without  a couple of pieces of holiday fudge. So we've been practicing... The first batch was...bad. Never solidified and it was super grainy. The second batch actually succeeded in solidifying...a day and a half later. It at least had the smooth fudgy texture. We will keep persevering!