Craft time!

I am now hooked on Pinterest. There are just so many cute ideas and delicious recipes that I can't help it! Because I have been ooing and awing over all the creative things I've found on Pinterest, I have been dying to do something crafty. So, with the help of an idea off Pinterest, I decided to make a fall wreath. But I didn't want to spend a lot of money. Here's how I did this easy and cheap  Argyle Wreath:

Materials:

Foam electrical wiring tubing (Ace Hardware - $1.50)
Brown yarn (Walmart - $1.00)
1/8 yard of yellow and green flannel (Walmart - $0.62)
Thin orange ribbon ($0.69)
Buttons (the extra buttons off two different jackets - $free)
Duct Tape
Hot glue gun

Step 1: Form the tube into a circle and duct tape it securely. Put duct tape in various other spots along the wreath where you can hot glue the yarn once in a while to stay in place.
Step 2: Wind the yarn around the whole wreath shape. (It takes a while, but once you have the rhythm down, it goes pretty quickly. Hot glue the yarn down on the duct tape once in a while to maintain a tight wrap.

Step 3: Cut out diamonds in both the yellow and green flannel material just big enough to cover the width of the front of the wreath. Hot glue them down every other color to cover the whole front side.
Step 4: Wrap the orange ribbon around the wreath crossing over the diamonds. Once you've gotten to the end, flip around and wrap the ribbon the other direction, this makes the argyle design.

Step 5: Make fabric flowers how ever way you want. (I cut out a strip of fabric and do a basic loose stitch along one of the edges, then I bunch up the material and form it into a circular shape and secure the back side. It forms a simple flower shape.) Glue buttons onto the flowers, then glue the flowers onto the wreath.

Step 6: Fasten a ribbon to the top and hang on your front door.

If you look closely, my tubing is a little lop-sided, so I covered that part with the flowers. But I don't think most people will notice that it is lop-sided. :)

It was fun and easy! I also made homemade Banana Streusel Muffins. It was a great Homemaking day! :)

The Simple Joys in Life with my Husband

Yesterday I got off work two hours early and surprised Spence at work. He was happy to see me because he was going to walk home. We took a lovely nap on the couch and ate a delicious lunch. It started raining and we just felt like doing something out on the town.

We got in our car and the first stop was to Subway to get fresh hot chocolate chip cookies. Three for a dollar! Then we took a drive around town in the rain. We love just taking drives and talking about life. The conversation was centered around our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and how it has been in the news lately stated by several that we aren't Christian. We talked about how a lot of people still don't know a lot about our church and we wished people could truly see that we are followers of Christ and we pattern our lives after Christ. It was a great conversation.

Then we headed to the dollar theater to catch the showing of Harry Potter 7. We saw this last Harry Potter movie at the midnight showing but hadn't seen it since. For some reason the cash register wasn't taking any cards and they asked if we had cash. Well, lucky us we didn't but said we would run to the Wells Fargo down the street. It was raining cats and dogs outside though. So we RAN AS FAST AS WE COULD. Spence pulled me along WAY faster than I would have normally run. We dodged raindrops, cars and people and made it back to the theater in a jiffy.

As we were watching the movie I realized that I must have fallen asleep for about 20 minutes during the midnight showing and I had missed the whole explanation about practically the whole series! I turned to Spence and I said, "Now I get it!" (Yes, its true, I stopped reading the books during book 5). No wonder I was confused at the end of the movie last time. I was glad we saw it a second time.

It was a great date out on the town with my wonderful husband. Although it wasn't anything big, it was so much fun. I loved taking a drive, I loved running in the rain, I loved the great conversation, I loved holding hands during the movie. It was so much fun!

Happy Birthday!!!

Today is my oldest sister, Heather's, birthday!!! She is THE BEST oldest sister. She's always there for me. We can talk on the phone about nothing but not get bored. She is a great mom of my two adorable nieces. She is an amazing photographer and I can't thank her enough for taking beautiful wedding pictures for us. I love her so much and am so grateful that I have her as an example.

I love you Heather!!!

P.S. Heather is excited because for her birthday my brother-in-law got her a puppy! Enjoy your new dog Heather!

My Go To Meal When We're Hungry

Everyone has those food dishes that they make over and over and over. For me that dish is usually either stir fry or fried rice. It is cheap and quick and easy. My recipe changes every time because I use the veggies that I just happen to already have in my refrigerator. Both Spence and I love it. It's healthy for the most part, just a little olive oil and soy sauce. Here is how I made it this time.

Jamie's Chunky Fried Rice:

1 green bell pepper
1 cup baby carrots
1/2 medium sweet onion
1 cup frozen sweet corn
1/2 TBS fresh grated ginger
1 glove garlic, minced
2 eggs
1 Turkey Kielbasa sausage (This sausage has practically no fat and is still delicious.)
Soy sauce
Black pepper
Chili powder

1. Cook either white or brown rice in a rice cooker, or stove top.

2. Meanwhile, cut all the veggies and sausage into very small pieces. Mince the ginger and garlic. In a big frying pan or wok heat olive oil. Add veggies, ginger and garlic. Add pepper, chili powder and soy sauce. Saute until they begin to be soft. Add the sausage to brown. Continue to cook until the veggies are soft and cooked fully. Take off the heat and set aside to stay warm.

3. Scramble two eggs and either cook in the microwave or in a small fry pan. Cut the egg up into little pieces. Add the egg to the veggie sausage mixture.

4. When the rice is done, add the rice to the pan with all the veggies, sausage and egg. Add soy sauce and more black pepper to flavor the rice. Add ginger powder if you need more ginger flavor. Mix all together until combined. Pour all of the fried rice into a bowl and EAT UP!!