What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I am loving that December will be here tomorrow = my birthday will be 28 days away!  I will be 23 and for some reason, that kind of depresses me and makes me feel old.  :-/  However, I am very excited to celebrate with my hubby!  He has something planned...but is keeping his lips sealed as to what!

I am loving my husband a lot right now and am learning to really encourage him and rely on him.  We are going through what could turn out to be some HUGE changes in our life, and it's teaching me a lot about marriage and myself.  Oh, and this picture reminds me...I'm loving that my hair is getting so long!  It's even longer now...this picture is from our honeymoon!

I am loving all of the fabulous Christmas presents I have picked out for my husband!

I am loving that Zombie gets to wear his new Christmas outfit!  :)  And in general, I'm just loving Zombie.

I am loving ADORING hearing so much Christmas music!  I don't know about y'all, but I listen to the old stuff!  Classic Christmas music from the 50's and 60's.

I am loving all of the fun crafts I've been working on!

I am loving decorating our FIRST home for our FIRST Christmas together in our FIRST year of marriage!  Did you know (I'm sure that you didn't..) that decorating for Christmas is the ONLY, yep - ONLY - thing we are doing together this year that we also did together last year.  It's pretty crazy.

I am loving that my brand-new-baby-blog is up to 9 followers!  Hooray!  I have really enjoyed getting involved in this amazing blog community.  I have been repeatedly pleasantly surprised at all of the CHRISTIAN women out there who blog.  I've enjoyed reading about your lives, marriages, and families.  Blogging is so much fun!

I am loving that since I'm doing an 8-part-mini-series about our love story, I get to relive every precious memory we've made in the past year.  I have had a lot of fun digging through our past.  :)  Love stories are the greatest, aren't they?

I am loving all of the scrap-booking I've been able to do lately!

I am, as always loving Pinterest.

I am loving that Christmas is right around the corner.  It's such a special time of year.  My birthday is right there on top of it all, but my anticipation is mostly about Christmas.  This will be the first Christmas in many years that I have considered myself a Christian.  I am so excited about watching God move in my life during this special season!  My husband and I are running a "bakery" for our church's Live Nativity we are putting on for the community.  I am very excited about participating in something so much bigger than me.  I hope God uses the LN to touch people who are long hardened by the world.  I am looking forward to celebrating this Christmas as a season of GIVING for the first time in a long time.  I used to regard it as a season of receiving.  I am looking forward to spending a very romantic Christmas under the mistletoe with the godly man my Lord has so generously blessed me with in the form of my husband.  I am loving all of the excitement in the air that comes with new traditions, old traditions, Christmas trees, and nativity scenese.  I am loving this season!

What are you loving?  Go visit littledaisymay.blogspot.com to link up!

Oh, How Pinteresting - Christmas Crafts!

For the third Wednesday in a row, I am linking up for the Pinning Party over at The Vintage Apple.  If it's something you've never done before, go check it out.  Her page spells out the instructions very well and it's a whole lot of fun!  :)





This week, all of my pins are about Christmas Crafts!  More specifically, they are about Christmas crafts that I actually think I can do before Christmas.  This is so important.  It's actually a very serious post.  I am feeling quite overwhelmed every time I look at the calendar.  Especially if I look at my to-do list AND the calendar at the same time.  Stroke.  So...here ya are!  The crafts I hope to complete ASAP!  :)

Fabric Garland

Some of you may recall that we have a TON of fabric left over from our wedding.  We used a lot of burnt-orange in our wedding, and even had a 50 foot aisle runner made out of orange iridescent fabric.  Whoa, that sounds tacky.  It wasn't.  I promise.  It was gorgeous.  Here, look!  (I know that it's hard not to look at the bride & groom...but check out what we standing on!  And all of these pictures were taken before the wedding...before most guests arrived, but we did have a small wedding.)

Fabric Garland for their Christmas tree was one of the crafts Ashley made for their tree.  I admit, I had pinned a few different fabric-garland ideas, although I had never seen the garland on a tree before.  I loved it!

I took a piece of fabric down to the living room.  I am sorry the picture turned out so blurry... but I laid the fabric out on the floor.  Do you see the lines from where it was folded?  Those are the lines I cut along.  I like the longer pieces of fabric for garland over short, stumpy pieces.  It is all a matter of opinion.

My husband (bless his heart) and I took turns cutting up about 20 million strips of fabric.  Each strip of fabric was between one and two inches wide, probably.  :)  It's all about what "look" you like best.

Then, we took turns tying the pieces onto the hemp string!  I made a loop at each end so that it would be easy to hang and hold on to.  Here is my hubs being a silly goose after we finished!  :)

We put it on it tree....but it looked really dumb.  Since we used longer pieces of fabric, the garland kind of covered up the lights on the tree.  That's what we get for using extra long pieces of fabric & not tying them to a strand of lights!  ;)  But, we feel like our creation will be very versatile and we can use it year-round!  :)  Here is the finished product at the end of the stair case...for lack of a better place to put it as of last night.

We spent about two hours working on it and we started & finished it all in one night.  It was very simple.  :)  We both love it!  It is also a unique way to preserve some of our wedding cloth.  Hooray!  

So, tell me.  Do you have any ideas as to what we could do with this strand of fabric garland?  It can't stay where it is...we use the upstairs of our home fairly often.  My craft room is up there!  :)  I'd love to hear your ideas!  

XO's! Thanks for reading!  Merry Christmas!

Our Love Story: Part Three

[Part One] [Part Two] 

So, Mr. Robinson had left town.  It hurt me...it broke my heart to know that I had caused him that much pain and had caused him to leave town and move back in with his parents.  We still worked together, his parents only lived about 45 minutes away from town, but things were different.

We missed each other.  

Slowly, we started spending time together again but we went super slow and took the babiest of steps.  He was afraid of being hurt again, I was still afraid to commit to someone like him & I was afraid to cause him any more pain....it was a delicate situation that we handled with a lot of care.  He still picks on me because once, out of frustration, I asked him why he couldn't just be gay.  I missed him, you know?!  I wanted him in my life but I couldn't be his girlfriend.  His deep feelings for me meant that a simple friendship was impossible...and it was frustrating.During this time, I learned that he could draw.  I had been wanting a new tattoo (at that time, I only had two) and asked him if he would draw something out for me.  I gave him an idea of what I was looking for in my next tattoo....and he came up with a sketch.  He had been wanting another tattoo as well, so we took off a day of work & went to go get tattoos together - as friends.

On January 24, 2011...I had a picture my best friend drew for me tattooed onto my rib cage.  Holy Guacamole, it hurt some kinda bad!  But I love it!  We can't find the original drawing, which just breaks my heart, but I guess the tattoo is a permanent reminder.  :) 

He'd been working on a sleeve for a while, and it's still in progress, but on this day he had the vines added.  

Later on down the road, he told me that while we were getting our tattoos, he kept waiting for our sketched-out artist to ask if we were together.  He'd prepared an answer.  "No, but I've been in love with her for a long time."  =)  

Our friendship was really starting rekindle.  I knew that he loved me, and I knew that I was falling for him.  However, I really enjoyed our day together.  I enjoyed his company.  I know that this time, our friendship was here to stay and that I would NOT be messing it up.

Read Part Four next!  

This Might Be An Overwhelmed Christmas..

I am feeling a little overwhelmed right now.  I did something bad.  I looked at my to-do list and my day planner at. the. same. time.  This is our first Christmas together, y'all.  I want need for it to be perfect.  I hope you don't mind if I just list, real quick, all of the things I want to accomplish.

I want to make garland out of strips of fabric.  I want to make this out of the cloth we used for the aisle runner at our wedding.  We have so much of it left over.  So I need to cut up fabric, and tie it to...something.

I want to make heart-shaped rice bags that are small enough to hold in your hand or slip in your pocket.  I want to make these out of our aisle cloth, as well, and give them to people who are very dear to our hearts and shared the special day with us.  So, I need to figure out how to do that.  I need to also buy rice.  I also need to practice.  I haven't sewn by hand since freshman year of high school and I do not have a sewing machine.

I have made homemade sugar body scrub.  I put it in mason jars.  I painted the tops of the mason jars with chalk paint.  I need to label them, make them cute, and gift wrap them.

I need to finish shopping for my husband.  So far, I've only bought him three things.  I still have money left to spend on his gift!  $123 left to spend, actually!

I need to figure out what we are buying the rest of my family.

I need to finish wrapping Christmas presents.

We need to finish decorating the tree.

There are a million Christmas crafts I'd love to start & finish.

We still don't have the house like I want it...

I/we need to finish making our handmade ornaments.

Our church is doing a Live Nativity and I really need to get everything straight for the booth that we are manning.

and I have to cook for the Live Nativity.  

I am selling cakes and baked goods at work this holiday season to make a little extra money.  I need to bake some samples tonight so that people will taste the food, know I can cook yummy things, and buy food from me!  :D 

I need to work on our Christmas journal constantly.

I have this goal...I want to start writing letters to people!

I need to finish up our wedding thank-you notes.  (Actually, no.  WE need to finish those up.)

We need to start decorating the house!

I really need to straighten up my craft room...

AND I've gotta cook dinner.

Being a wife is hard work sometimes.  But his XXXXX makes it worth it.  ;)  Oops.  Was that explicit?  

My b.

XO's! 

  

Christmas Memories

I wanted to create a Christmas Memories Journal to keep track of pictures, recipes, and traditions that we form around Christmas but I wanted the Journal to be large enough to accommodate every Christmas.  I ordered a ton of scrap-booking supplies.  Once all of the supplies I ordered came in, I started working on the cover.  I wanted something simple because our journal will be used for the duration of our lives, and I don't want to get sick of it.  I was going for a classic, timeless look.

What do you think?!  It was very easy.  I used two different types of scrapbook paper, a few embellishments and buttons, and mod podge.  To give the book some depth, I krazy-glued down a tiny picture frame that I've had for about 7 years and had yet to use it.  I love it because the frame was not a Christmas frame...but it kind of looks like poinsettias, doesn't it?!  I wrote in the journal's title by hand.  After all, this is a JOURNAL and most of the information in this special book will be handwritten.  I wanted it to have a special, warm feel to it.  I normally would not want to title a book in my handwriting, but I found it appropriate here.

I'd love if you leave me a link showing me your very own cover!  :)  Every Christmas book I've ever seen looks so different!  It's fun to see all of the variety.

After I finished on the cover, I cracked open the book and got to work!  I hated how plain the inside of the cover was.  It was just plain white.  Normal, not festive.

 I cut shapes out of magazines and traced them onto scrapbook paper.  I cut them all out by hand while lusting over buying a Cricut (haha).  Then, I used my scrapbook paper cutter to slice a piece of paper into thin strips to look like string.  I mod-podged my "ornaments" to the inside of the cover, and went over it with about 4 or 5 coats of pod podge to keep everything secure.  How 'bout that?!

My next step was to start working on the actually journal, silly rabbit.  :)  I came up with a plan.  I decided that our first year would have 3 pages of space, but each year after that will only have two.  I needed room to talk about what happened last Christmas AND this Christmas, so a little extra space was required to fit everything in.

Below is the first page of our journal!  :)  I ordered some solid green stationary, wrote in the card what happened between us last Christmas, put it in the envelope, and glued the envelope down to the scrapbook paper.  :)  I like this idea because it will really help save space, while still acting as a journal and looking pretty.

I wanted to be able to distinguish between the "years" like Chapters, but I wasn't sure how to do that...my biggest fear was our book turning out tacky & disorganized-looking.  I played around with a few different ideas before finally deciding to use one scrapbook paper pattern for each year.  So...it's 2011 and all three pages for this year's Christmas entry will be on the same scrapbook paper.  Next year's two page entry will have two of the same scrapbook papers, and so on.  The pages themselves will be embellished differently, but they will have the same backdrop.  Does that makes sense?  I hope so!  :)

 These two "Merry Christmas" pages the pages we will be using for this year!  :)   

And these are two other types of paper that we will use as we get to them!     

I also decided that each "year" would get room for 12 pictures.  At the end of each "year", there is a 12 x 12 page that has spaces for 6- 4 x 6 pictures.  See below:

I am very excited that this project has finally started!  I've had a lot of fun adding a little bit to it every day.  For those of you interested in doing this on your own (it is a great alternative to buying a journal that may not give you as much freedom as you'd like!) these are the questions I'll work on answering each Christmas season:

For our first year of journal-ling, the first questions is "How did we spend last Christmas?".  the rest of the questions will be the same every year.

• What is the first thing that put us in the Christmas Spirit this year?
• Where is home?
• What has happened since last Christmas?
• Did we send out a Christmas card?
• If so, include an extra card
• How much did one stamp cost?
• Who took the picture or where we get the cards from?
• When did we decorate for Christmas? 
• When did we start?
• When did we finish?
• What songs did we listen to?
• Who did what?
• Did we use a theme idea?
• Include a picture of the tree
• What new or special Christmas ornaments do we have?
• Did we go looking at Christmas lights?
• If so, where did we go?
• Did we go with anyone else?
• How much did it cost?
• Did we see any Christmas shows?
• If so, include the ticket stubs!  (This means picking up your tickets at will-call, not printing them out at home!)
• How much did it cost?
• Did we go with anyone else?
• Describe the show.
• What Christmas movies did we watch?
• What was the weather like for the month of December?
• How did we celebrate with our families and the people we love?
• How did we spend Christmas Eve?
• How did we spend Christmas Morning?
• what time did we start?
• what did we eat for breakfast?
• what gifts did we give each other?
• What was the weather like?
• How did we spend Christmas Day?
• How did we recognize Christmas as Jesus' birthday?
• What pets did we have this Christmas?
• Did anything bad or funny happen?  (These stories will be hilarious some day!)
• What new Christmas song came out this year?
• When did we take the Christmas tree down?
• What do we want to do differently next year?

I want to make sure that we cover EVERYTHING...and that years down the road, we can look back and recall exactly what happened Christmas 20XX.  What do you think about the ideas I have so far?  Do you have any suggestions or questions I could add to my list?  

For those of you who have been married for a while...if you could go back and start keeping track from the very beginning of your marriage or relationship, what things do you WISH you had remembered or kept track of?  

Our Love Story: Part Two

[Part One]

Mr. Robinson and I were really starting to enjoy each other.  What started out as a game for me was causing us both to develop feelings for each other.  However, neither one of us could ignore how incredibly wrong we were for each other.

In November, I began waiting tables at Ruby Tuesday.  I finally graduated the hostessing program!  ;)  I remember sitting on the floor of the kitchen one night crying, and Mr. Robinson brought me a little cup of Coke-A-Cola (my favorite..he'd been paying attention).  My first time closing down the restaurant, the other serves left early without helping do ANY of the tasks they should have done.  Mr. Robinson came in that night, on his night off, around 11 p.m. to help me clean and finish up.

The next few months were quite painful for the both of us as we got closer, because I got scared every time and ended things.  It was hard to ignore all of our differences.  I was not accustomed to being treated so well and it terrified me.  It was something different and...the unknown is always scary.  I was used to being in dysfunctional relationships with drug dealers and bartenders...Mr. Robinson was different in all the right ways, he was everything a girl would want...but when I say I was terrified, I mean that I was absolutely scared to death of him because I had no clue what to expect.  He was different, he did the unknown, he was unpredictable to me, his motives were pure and for some reason pure motives caused me to doubt him....it was horrible.  Haha!  Isn't that ridiculous?!  

So we would be hanging out, trying to see what would happen between us....and I would push him away & call it all off.  Then I'd miss him, I'd long for his company...and he would miss me too and we would start spending time together again and everything would be perfect.  Then, fear would strike and I would push him away.  This happened at least 6 or 7 times... I knew that he loved me.  He had tried to tell me several times, but I forbid him to utter those three little terrifying words.  I'd heard those words from all the wrong guys.  Every guy that had a reason to love me and expressed that love...did not have the actually love for me in his heart.  Now Mr. Robinson, who has a million reasons not to love me is dying to say those words that I associated with lying, due to no fault of his own.  Things would be going well, and for some reason, something inside of me wanted to run away.

The last time I pushed him away, I called him one night while I was drunk and out at a bar with a bunch of my friends.  It hurt him...he tried to talk me out of it, but I was drunk and said some pretty hurtful things.  He decided that he couldn't be around me and the hurt anymore, and he left town and moved back in with his parents.  He said he needed to be in an encouraging and loving environment.  All of his friends discouraged him from spending any time with me because they knew and saw all of our differences.  His parents knew he loved me...and he needed sympathy.  He couldn't stand to be hurt anymore.  He moved away.  He left.  He came to work and told me goodbye.  I cried.

Go to Part Three! :) 

McCormick Red Velvet Cupcakes

This photograph is from my kitchen, as I'm sure you could have guessed.  I know it's not glamorous or perfect, but this is life.  My kitchen is not always photoshoot-ready!  I felt like I should at least share a picture of my work since I am sharing the recipe.  :)  I made mini-cupcakes with some leftover batter I had.  I tried to do a cupcake-topped-cupcake.  It looks a little silly, but it's okay.  :) 

My husband loves red velvet cake.  I really wanted to make him some red velvet cupcakes, but I was a bit nervous.  Rumor has it, you see, that red velvet can be a little tricky to make.  With the baking soda and vinegar reacting together, I've heard of people failing miserably at making this delicious cake.  I decided to try it anyway, and BOY am I glad!  This recipe does not call for vinegar, to my surprise!  And so the baking soda does not have to react with anything, and the whole baking process was very smooth and uneventful!  :)  Well, other than the fact that this recipe produced absolutely perfect cupcakes.

So, here is a clickable link for you hungry devils.  McCormick Red Velvet Cupcakes.

Our Love Story: Part One

My husband and I met at Ruby Tuesday.  It was September of 2012.  I was the head hostess (and had been for about four long, dreadful months) and he was the newest waiter.  Both of us were students at the local Universty, but had somehow never met before.

When he first started, there were no fireworks or butterflies or anything spectacular.  We didn't have much in common.  Mr. Robinson was a Christian and I... I was a pot head dating my drug dealer.  Mr. Robinson was surrounded my people who loved him, looked out for him, and attended church with him.  I was surrounded by people who I either smoked with, bought marijuana from, or partied with.  We were so different.  We were on two totally different paths.  It amazes me that this love story includes a wedding.

Mr. Robinson got the job at Ruby Tuesday through his roommate, Jeff, who had been working there for a while. Jeff was a Christian and everyone knew about it.  I remember asking Mr. Robinson, once, if he was "like Jeff" and his answer was "yes."  I kind of laughed it off.  I didn't believe him.  While Jeff talked about God all the time and sort of pushed his beliefs on everyone, Mr. Robinson did not such thing.  Not to mention all of the tattoos he had.  Christians don't get tattoos, or so I thought.  When Mr. Robinson started showing me his tattoos and explaining how most of them were scripture related, I started to understand.  He wasn't quiet about his faith and he wasn't hiding it.  I realized that day that we had never really talked before.  I started to realize that I was a little stuck up and it was a hard thing for me to realize.

A little bit of time passed, a couple of months or so, and nothing eventful happened.  I remember making a little bit of an effort to speak to him and be friendly.  I didn't like learning something negative about myself and wanted to change it.  It's amazing because being with Mr. Robinson has made me a better person on so many levels, and looking back on how it all started makes me realize that it started with him unconsciously inspiring me to be a better person.  {And now...he inspires me to be a better person every day.}

I will always remember the first time he flirted with me.  I will remember it because what he meant as flirting was interpreted as an insult, and I accepted it as a challenge to make him want me.  While I was hostessing, I made a habit of wearing low cut shirts.  I was not a very good person, and I'm not too proud of the way I once was, but without honesty, I can't tell you our story.  So, back to the story.  I have big boobs and I liked to show them off.  I enjoyed the attention.  One of our coworkers made a comment about my boobs being being, and Mr. Robinson proceeded to tell me that he thought my boobs were gross.  Looking back, this is hilarious.  He was trying to flirt with me, but was so adorably unsure of himself that something a little awkward came out.  I was upset over the notion that he was unaffected by my low cut shirts, and silently vowed to drive him and his hormones crazy.

I flirted shamelessly, I wore the most risque tops I could get away with at work, I would press myself up against him when the opportunity presented itself.  I hate to say it, but I enjoyed tempting him.  I enjoyed knowing that he wanted me even though it went against everything he believed.  But somewhere along the way, I realized that I was starting to actually enjoy talking to him.  I started to genuinely look forward to seeing him and working with him.  We started to spend time together outside of work.

Click here for Part Two! :) 

Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday!

I am so happy that it is Wednesday again!  This week, though, I'm happy to see Wednesday for 2 reasons.  (1) The participate in this pinning party! and (2)  Today is my last day of work until Monday!  

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving full of family, friends, and food!  None of my pins are Thanksgiving-themed and I hope that's okay!  Here yeee are, my favorite pins from the week!

DIY Chalk Container

As per the usual, I found something I liked on Pinterest and decided to make it myself!  :)  My favorite crafts are the ones that I can make without having to buy anything new.  So, here is my pinspiration!  :)  And after that is what I came up with for our home based on this picture.  

  

Source: reneweduponadream.blogspot.com via Amie on Pinterest

To make my own chalk canister, I started out with a tin can that once held canned tomatoes.  Am I the only one who obsessively saves all of the tin cans I could be throwing away?  I hope not!  They are so versatile and I encourage you all to start saving them!  (I'm such a pack rat..)  So anyway, the can I used is short and fat.  This shape works best for the type of chalk I have (which are also short & fat.  My adorable husband bought the wrong kind, but it's totally okay!)

    

I washed the can first.  I usually take the paper off of my cans, but I left the paper on this one so that I wouldn't have to use primer before painting with chalk.  Ultra sneaky.  :)  

I do not have spray paint chalkboard paint, but I do have the regular kind!  I love it!  I've used it a TON!  I painted the paper label with chalk paint by using a sponge.  :)  Two coats was all it took.    

I ordered some liquid chalk pins off Amazon.com and they are amazing!  I used them to write the word "chalk" on my can after letting it dry overnight.  *It's very important to let the chalk paint sit & dry COMPLETELY before writing on it!*

My chalk was once stored like this in a cabinet.  : /  It was very sad, messy, and pitiful.  It was also ugly and forced me to keep my chalk hidden!  How dreadful!  

BUT NOW...it is stored in this beautiful tin can!  :)  

I set it next to the HUGE chalkboard that's in our foyer.  You can find the Fancy Chalkboard Tutorial by clicking here!   It's my first tutorial, the first DIY project we completed for the new house, and it's also my FAVORITE thing in our house!  :)  I hope you'll check out that post because frankly, this picture is horrible. I apologize.  But you can see the little can at the bottom!  :)  

 As always, thank you for reading!  Have a great day!  :)

Once Upon A Time: Zombie

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there was a girl who was dating a boy.  This boyfriend was all wrong for her, but she was young and silly and foolish and knew no better.  This boys mother bred Chihuahua's and when she could not sell off all the puppies from a particular litter, she "gave" one of those ugly little rats to her son and his girlfriend.

The girlfriend was very upset.  She did not like Chihuahua's and she did not want to get stuck taking care of HIS dog!  

But then...she began to notice how cute the little fella was!  It all started when she bought him a snuggie...

The bond between this dog and his daddy's girlfriend grew and grew!  The girlfriend ended up being the little pooch's primary caretaker, and when things went south in their relationship...the girlfriend KEPT THE DOG!

Did I mention that this story is about me & Zombie? :)  

I mean, really, how could I give him up?  He is so adorable, even for a little rat dog.

 

For a long time, mommy looked for the perfect daddy for little Zombie.  Finally, Mr. Robinson came along and today, Zombie has a daddy who loves him very much!  :)

It's crazy, but Zombie completes our little family.  :)  I take him almost everywhere with me - even to work!  He loves keeping my company in the craft room....he was being particularly photogenic the other day and I just had to share the pictures!

Since he so tiny, he gets cold very easily (even though it's been in the 70's here this week!) so he likes to lay near the little space heater I use to heat my little room, or in the sunshine by the window.  :)  He also thinks he is a princess and has to be laying on the biggest pile of pillows and/or blankets in the room.  :)  He is just precious to me!

You'd love him too!  I mean...seriously, just look at this HANDSOME FACE!  :)  Isn't he photogenic?!

I'd love to hear about anyone else out there who happens to be equally obsessed with their pets!  Are your animals a part of the family, much like a child?  My husband and I do not have any children quite yet (we may decide we never want kids), but we both regard Zombie as our offspring.  Maybe it's a little weird, but he requires a lot of attention and time.  Tell me about your life, love, & pets!  :) 

Car Titles & Car Insurance!

Today is a big day for us!  Other than us updating our passports, this is the last and final step we will take to completely combine our lives together as husband and wife!  Today, I'll be taking off some time from work to go into town and pay property taxes on both of our vehicles, then I'll be going to the DMV to have the titles to our cars put in our names (they are currently in our parents' names), and then create our own car insurance policy.  :)

I know that going to the court house, the DMV, and State Farm probably does not sound like a fun day to most people, but what can I say?  I'm not most people.  We have only been married a few months, and sometimes it still blows my mind that he is my husband, and I am his wife.  It's an amazing feeling.  After all, I was SO excited to marry that man!  Just check out this facial expression, captured by one of our guests..

And after the nuptials?!  Oh man, was I ecstatic!  There is nothing like a smile that makes the veins in my neck pop out.  That means I am the happiest!  :)

The girl in purple...she is one of our mutual friends.  I went to high school with her, and Mr. R knew her from college.  We were in the same place SO many times, we have too many mutual friends...I'm living out our destiny.  :)  She has nothing to do with this story, though.   

I love being married to such a great man, even if he drives me a little crazy at times.  Our wedding day was the happiest and best day of my life.  We've only been married a little over 2-months and it still feels a little surreal.  I guess we are still getting used to it.  After all, the whole thing came out of the blue and was rather sudden!  :)  This time last year, we barely knew each other!  

So...yes, it's off to the Court House, DMV, & State Farm for me today!  I know that would make most people groan, and SC isn't exactly known for their swift DMV lines.  (Not to mention that the strangest people in the world all happen to go to my DMV on the same day I have to go!  What's with that?!)  But I really don't mind it all that much, because it's just another reminder of our life together, the fact that I'm a married woman, and the fact that we are growing up...and I don't mind growing old as long as I can grow old with him.  

I can wait to see his wittle face all wrinkly!  :)   

A Simple Craft

Source: makeandtakes.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Source: marthastewart.com via Kristina on Pinterest

I like it...but it struck me as a little bit..perfect?  Is that the word?  I just love pieces of furniture or a type of decor that has CHARACTER, things that seem a little "off" until you realize they are perfect, too!  So...I found a "Warm Apple Pie" candle at Wal-Mart for about three bucks.  I picked up some sticks in the yard, those were free.  The green ribbon?  Oh, it was free.  I ordered something off of Etsy & it came in two bags that were tied together with a piece of green (as pictured below) ribbon!  I saved it, of course, knowing it would make a come back.

I started out hot-gluing the sticks to the candle.  I quickly learned that hot-glue does not stick to wax.  :)  So, I just began gluing the sticks to each other around the candle. Haha, it was actually kind of funny.  The sticks kept falling off and I kept struggling.  Eventually, the sticks made a shape that clung to the candle and even though the sticks are not ONE with the candle, it works.  :)  It's not like I could ever light the dang thing anyway, not with all the firewood around!  Yeesh!  

I finished up gluing the sticks around the candle and looking quite silly doing so, and I tied the green ribbon around the middle.  Ta-da!  

See?  As I promised in the title, this is a simple craft that I made for my MIL.  :)  Have you made anything out of sticks lately?  :)

A Thanksgiving Letter to My Husband

Mr. Robinson,

Happy Thanksgiving!  I am so excited, blessed, and privileged to spend this special holiday with such a special person.  This entire month, this season is about being thankful for the love and life you have in your life.  With this being our first Thanksgiving together, I wanted to make it extra special by expressing my extreme gratitude, love, and thankfulness for you.

The other day while I was cooking and bustling about the house, I had a country music station playing on my radio.  Typical.  George Strait's song "Our Love is Unconditional" came on the radio.  The first verse starts out with "Our love is unconditional, we knew it from the start."  I've heard that song millions of times, but this time, it left me with tears in my eyes.  It really got me thinking, baby.  It made me reflect on us, our love, and our marriage.  I am so blessed to have you as my husband.  I am so incredibly thankful for you and I hope you know it.  Your unconditional love has continually made me a better person.  I remember when our relationship was just starting.  I was so flawed, so messed up, so beneath you.  You loved me even though I was doing horrible things and living a horrible life.  You are the only non-family member who has even showed me unconditional love and that unconditional love changed me and made me a better person.  I am so thankful for the way you love me, and I am also thankful for the changes your love for me brought about.  I love you with my whole heart, and I can't wait to spend every Thanksgiving for the rest of my life in your arms.

With Love From Your Wife,

Mrs. Robinson 

Homemade Pizza

It's very important for you to learn how to make homemade pizza.  Thank goodness you found your way here.  Let's get started.  :)

Ingredients for the Dough:

3 - 4 cups all-purpose flour (I'll explain later)

1 packet of yeast or 2 1/2 teaspoons (I like to use PIZZA yeast, but regular yeast works just fine.)

TWO PINCHES of sugar

2 teaspoons of salt

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 1/2 cups hot water (not boiling...just hot.)

Garlic Salt

Ingredients for the Pepperoni Pizza:

2 tablespoons olive oil (extra-virgin olive oil is best for this, but not necessary)

about 3 cups of sauce (spaghetti, tomato, whatever..)

2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese

2 cups of shredded mild cheddar cheese

pepperoni

Before you go any further, I want to tell you that this recipe is for a stand mixer armed with a dough hook.  This recipe for dough takes almost exactly one hour.  It's totally worth it.  

Steps

In the mixing bowl, combine the yeast and water.  Let it sit for 5 minutes to activate.  Meanwhile, take out a separate bowl and coat it with olive oil or cooking spray.

Add 2 teaspoons salt, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and  two pinches of sugar to the water/yeast.  Mix on the lowest setting for one minute.

Start adding in the flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough forms a ball on the dough hook.  You do not want the dough to be stiff or sticky.  Once the dough has formed a ball, rub some oil on your hands and remove the dough from the dough-hook.  Place the dough in the olive-oil-lined bowl you set aside earlier, and punch it down.  Cover the bowl with saran wrap first, then with a dish towel.  Place the bowl in a warm place and allow it the rise for about 45 minutes (or until the dough doubles in size).

TIP:  I always stick my bowl on top of the dryer & turn the dryer on.  :)

After 45 minutes, go punch the dough back down.  Re-cover and let it sit on top of the dryer (or in a warm place) for another 15 minutes or so.

TIP:  You've got another 15 minutes!  I spend this time pulling out all of my pizza toppings & getting them ready!  :)  I have been known to cut my pepperoni's into a heart shape...but this is a good time to prepare your toppings.

After the final 15 minutes have passed, you can start shaping your dough into a crust.  Go ahead and pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Place the dough on a counter top covered in olive oil or cooking spray.  Using a rolling pin, flatten the dough out.  Spray a pizza pan with cooking spray or coat with olive oil.  Place the dough on your pizza pan and press it out with your fingers.  I always have to spend about 10 minutes doing this and stretching out the dough.  I've even been known to make heart-shaped pizza when the dough wasn't forming right.  :)  Again, you don't have to do this either.

Now that you've shaped your dough, you have two options.  You can bake the crust alone at 350 for 8-12 minutes.  Add toppings, bake again at 350 for another 8-12 minutes.  OR you can put it all together and back it one for about 30 minutes at 350.  Whatever you choose...apply your toppings like this:

Start with olive oil.  Rub it ALL OVER the pizza crust.  This is the secret to an amazing pizza.

Sprinkle Garlic & Wine Seasoning from The Melting Pot all over the crust.  If you don't have this, get some.  If you can't get any, use garlic and salt.  It makes the crust SO delicious!

If you're adding crushed red pepper, this is also a good place to add that ingredient for an extra kick.

Spread out a LOT OF SAUCE.  Another secret to an amazing pizza is an amazing sauce & lots of it.

Then add your cheeses & toppings.

TIP:  You don't want your cheese on top..it will burn before your other toppings have a chance to cook!  While your pizza is cooking, it's a great time to clean up your kitchen!  I know some people don't like to clean as they go...and that's fine.  This is just how I do it because I hate cleaning after I've eaten.  I like to be lazy after I have a full tummy.  

Here is a picture of my heart shaped pizza...just for reference and because it is fabulous.  :)

 

This is my favorite recipe for homemade pizza!  Be warned...you will probably never want to eat a frozen pizza again!  Even buying frozen dough loaves and making pizza from them isn't good enough anymore.  Sorry for "ruining your life" when it comes to pizza...but it's worth it.

Enjoy!