I went down to Bloomington about a month ago for a 'girls weekend' with my closest friends from college.

While we were there, we became obsessed with yarn wreaths that we first found on etsy. Search for 'yarn wreaths' on etsy.com and you'll see what I mean. I've also seen others that have made them on various blogs I follow.

Kyle went out of town this past weekend for work, a prime opportunity for me to spend some time on various projects. So, I decided to attempt making my own yarn wreath.

I wanted something that had a winter-ish look but wasn't for Christmas. Here is what I came up with:



Here's a close up:



I'm pretty satisfied with my first try. I love how the yarn reminds me of a winter tree branch. I found a great and super easy tutorial here about how to make the felt flowers. Just a heads up: wrapping the yarn around the wreath form is VERY labor intensive and I would NOT suggest using an 18 inch wreath form like I did. Larger wreath form = more time spent wrapping yarn. However, the best part of all, total cost was $9. (They sell on etsy for $35+)

I would say my crafty weekend was successful!

First snow fall

Our first snow fall of the year occured this weekend. We ended up with about 3 inches or so.

Snow makes everything so serene and clean and magical. You can't help but smile and feel like you're in a dreamland of some kind.


And we had a little fun with Emma outside :)

Graduation

Emma graduated from her obediance class last night. She has been in a class for eight weeks here learning basic commands. We are overall very impressed with her skills. She no longer pulls my arm off when we walk around the block, she'll walk nicely beside me. If we tell her to "stay," she won't move a muscle, even if we have the front door wide open, drop treats next to her, bang objects together, etc. She sits and will lay down on command. Emma has always been very laid back and has a gentle personality, but its nice to have her be more responsive overall. We would highly recommend the training center that we used!

Here are some pics from her graduation night:









In other news - -

December 1st brought our first snow fall. And more to come this weekend. Hooray!

Happy pumpkins

Thoroughly enjoyed a first Halloween in our house!

It was a classic midwest Fall evening: almost too cold for kids to be out much past dark. We had friends over, made a big bowl of chili, and waited for the trick-o-treaters to arrive. They didn't come by the masses but we had plenty of cute characters show up. :) I personally think they wanted to see our happy pumpkin...




ps. Another blog I'm stalking, you should check it out - younghouselove.

Confession

I'm a huge bargain shopper. And I can get super excited over a good deal. For instance, I was with two close friends this weekend and we were shopping at Target. I had seen a super cute tote a couple weeks ago but didn't want to pay full price and had totally forgot about it. But as we were shopping, we saw the tote on clearance for $3. Needless to say, it is now in my possession. :) Woot!

And I am starting to realize more and more how much money I can save by making things, especially decorative items. I've become a frequent shopper of Joann Fabrics (ha!) and love browsing through all the material. Today I came home with a sample of fabric that happens to match pillows (which I almost got rid of) and framed artwork (that had been sitting around unused) I already have! Hooray!

I think the fabric might be used to cover a couple plain white lamp shades I have...and of course I'll follow the handy dandy tutorial of my friend Tara! I've been stumped on decorating our living room and now that I have some things that are starting to coordinate, I think it'll give me a jump start! Is it totally dorky that I wish I had a couple days off to just sit around and do crafty projects?!

Oh well, there you have it.

success!

So, Tara came over this weekend to help me with my first sewing project. Its been a long time since I've used a sewing machine. I do vaguely remember a sewing class I went to when I was younger...but it really has been awhile. And that "gem" that Mom VB is letting me borrow turned out to be a wee bit finicky! We just couldn't figure it out! I lovingly nicknamed the sewing machine 'Grandma Singer' mostly due to her age, crotchetiness, and lovely smell. ;)

Anyway, we spent most of the afternoon trying to unjam the bobbin. And then finally later that evening, after reading the ENTIRE manual online multiple times, I got her working correctly. She just needed a little love. :) Ahhh, sweet success! (pics to follow after the project is complete!)


Sunday afternoon we spent watching the World Cup Final and were disappointed that the referee made some terrible calls and the Netherlands did not win. I even showcased one of Kyle's orange Netherlands jersey to the pub where we watched the game! Sad end to the world cup, although I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the games over the past month! Woot for soccer! :)

A small treasure

Look at this gem I brought home from Michigan...



It's a (super) old sewing machine that Mom VB is letting me borrow. One day I will purchase a sleeker looking one (and one that doesn't weigh 50 lbs!), but for now this does the job. :) I was even able to download the original manual online. Who knew?

I can now start on some long awaited sewing projects. More updates on that at a later date!

Kyle's sister Erin got married this weekend. Although a whirlwind of events (as most weddings are), it was a great time. I spent a lot of time with Kyle's Aunts getting last minute details done. Both are from Colorado and we rarely get to spend more than one meal or a few hours a year with them. It was great to have several days working side by side on projects and just talking about life and family. Kyle's younger cousins, Ethan and Caleb LOVED Emma. They would wrestle in the basement for hours with her while we attended luncheons, the rehearsal dinner, etc. We also got to see Kyle's great Aunts, Marion and Jeannie, who live in Ft. Lauderdale. They have so much energy and even drove the 21 hrs to Michigan! Bravo!




The wedding was outdoors and there is something about it being outside that always stirs me. I never thought I would get married outdoors until my own brother's wedding. God's presence at their wedding felt so tangible to me. There was a holiness and a sense of something so sacred that it even persuaded me that I wanted our own wedding to be outdoors. I had the same feeling on our wedding day. And then again this weekend, I felt that same sacredness. It moves me to tears everytime. I can't accurately describe it but I truly believe when relationships are committed to the Lord, He chooses to show up in extra special ways, and His presence is truly felt at such events to bless those unions.


[Erin & Tyler with siblings/ushers]






[Emma loves road trips!]

Summa time!

This summer has begun just as I had pictured it would in our first house:

We grill out nearly every evening. Kyle is quite the chef on the grill! Do most men have a natural instinct for this?!

I have begun frequenting our local Farmer's Market every Saturday morning and am learning new recipes for the fresh fruits and veges I get every week. I might be obsessed. :)

On the less humid evenings, Kyle and I take Emma for walks through our neighborhood and the adjacent one, eating popsicles as we go!

Our next project is to re-screen the back porch (from when Emma busted through it twice) so we can sit out there on evenings, minus the bugs! And I've recruited Tara to help me make shades to keep out the rain that has a tendency to blow in and make large puddles (resulting in a muddy doggy).

I heart summer time.

Naughty Emma

I think we've been shocked about how well behaved Emma has been so far. She's still a puppy and we figured would be getting into more mischief. But besides being playful and full of energy, she's fairly obedient and cuddly.

However, she must not have been happy the other night that we left her on the back porch because we came home to two large rips in the screen:



The good news is that we were planning on replacing the screen anyway. However, despite Emma's usual good behavior, we are reminded she can still be "naughty emma" at times. The joys have having a puppy!

4.26.06

How appropriate that I would be able to spend the evening at Taylor with close friends on the anniversary of the accident.

I cannot believe its been four years. I remember every detail as if it were yesterday. Such a life changing event.

If you've never read this book, you need to.

Moving in...

We are happy, happy homeowners who love our new house!! :)

We are not yet completely moved, in fact our entire living room is full of boxes with very little furniture. Alas, hopefully that will change in the upcoming week.

You can picture our neighborhood as one large square-ish circle, with a pond and fountain in the center. Last night, we took a walk around the neighborhood. I love Spring nights that still feel so crisp and cool. I was amazed at how quiet and peaceful the neighborhood was. We came back and sat on the porch swing for awhile and I hope we enjoy many more spring and summer evenings this way!

Our yard is also starting to come to life with beautiful blossoms everywhere! I've been dreaming up all the landscaping items we could do...can't wait!





My newest project has been painting our front porch lights from an ugly, tarnished, gold color to an updated, brownish copper. See below for what I have accomplished so far. I'm pretty excited about the outcome.

Spring is arriving...

...and so is the rain! We have had gobs of rain! Although I don't mind because the grass is starting to turn green and we found buds on the trees in the backyard of our future house!

And speaking of future house, here are some initial pictures that we took at the inspection. We are still all set to close March 31st. We are SO thankful for what has been such a smooth process. Not much else to do besides wait...and pack. Yes, I began packing up some things this weekend. I know, such a dork! :)


(kitchen and family room)



(living room)



(backyard)



(one of my favorite features - front porch swing)



(master bedroom)

So much going on...

Whew! Life feels like a whirlwind right now!

Most recent happenings...

...we went skiing in southern Indiana this past weekend. I know, skiing in Indiana? It was quite the adventure! It reminded me of high school youth group winter skip trips to NC. Not the best snow, and definitely small hills...but still loads of fun! Matt and Alisa went with us - it was Alisa's first time skiing. She was a pro by the end of the trip!

Kyle in his olympic style tuck position. :)


Ski experts ;)






...we found a house we LOVE in Fishers. Its a Cape Code style and so far everything has been agreed upon. Hopefully we will close at the end of March! We have felt the Lord in this process from the beginning and have seen His timing throughout our search process, even when a house we thought we wanted fell through. We are pumped to put our own touches on the house and can't wait for friends/family to come visit! Kyle and I joke that we feel so "adult-ish" going through the home buying process. :) We will post more pictures as we are able to...

BFF's

All my closest girl friends from Taylor were in town this past weekend and we had a blast!!

We've been making it a point to get together every few months since we all still live relatively close by...at least in states that border each other. That probably won't always be true. Have to take advantage of that while we can!

Spent most of our time shopping, eating at cute restaurants and laughing!

Below: we indulged our inner rock stars by playing Rock Band for wayyy too long. :)




So thankful for these girls:

Spring? Where are you?

My thoughts exactly...

Oh snow!

Snow seems to be in abundance this winter. Not only for Indiana but for most of the country as well!

We've had quite a bit in the last week. 8 inches last weekend, another 4 inches early this week.


The most memorable snow storm I can remember happened at Taylor my senior year. Let's just say I did not use my car for quite awhile...

Winter days...

This is that time of the Winter that I began to hate. The sun doesn't come out for weeks on end. Its not just cold, its frigid! It just feels plain gloomy.

So, I have to resort to creating "sunny" days even when they don't feel that way. It definitely forces you to be creative.

Some things we've been enjoying recently...

...our gym has a hot tub. Lets just say we use it constantly! :)

...have you ever played Super Mario Bros. for Wii? You will laugh yourselves silly! It's worth it!

...I've been trying one new recipe a week. So far, it's been very successful and I am growing more confident in my cooking skills.

...I'm a frequent visitor to our local library...for both books and DVD's. I have now watched every single episode of the The Office thats ever been created. :)


Kyle has been exercising his creative side as well. He and best friend Joel have a radio show on blogtalk about Arsenal that has become quite the hit! They have had more than 2,000 downloads of their episodes since starting in November. They currently are working on creating a store selling apparel and finding an advertising sponsor. Check out the website: http://www.arsenalreviewusa.com/.


In other news, we have begun our house search again. We'll let you know how successful/unsuccessful we are as the process continues... :)

Tragedy

[Quick note: The high school Kyle coaches for posted an article about the success of the donated cleats. You can read the article here that was posted on the high school's web sight.]

This past week has been marked by tragedy. I think its safe to say our (Kyle and my) lives have not been characterized by very many tragic events. We are so grateful for this and yet mindful that is not true of others. Upon first hearing the news of the earthquake in Haiti, I felt a heaviness on my heart, a desire to want to help in some way, and yet a profound realization of helplessness. Its difficult to sit and watch events occur that you can't control and which physically are located far away, making them seem surreal. Its hard to know how to pray or what to pray for when the devastation is vast and looking at the future seems bleak at best.

I think God's heart is grieved by tragedy. His heart is not malicious towards us, yet at times events do not seem fair. In a very strange way, I have felt His sadness and heartache this week. I have not sensed any answers but have been comforted by simple truths.

"Have no fear of sudden disaster...for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared." Prov. 3:25-26

"The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."
Rom. 8:26, 28

"When I awake, I am still with you." Ps. 139: 18


Check out this song: JJ Heller "Your Hands"

The holidays

Christmas break for us was spent in Colorado, the first two days in Ft. Collins and the rest in Colorado Springs. Every time we visit family in Colorado, we ask ourselves why we aren't living in Colorado yet! Its still a dream we will wait to see if God has in store for us.

We were grateful to see Grandma and Grandpa Tripp, who we don't get to see very often. We spent our time there doing Christmas-ey activities:


I (Stacey) am always fascinated by how close the deer come in the backyard. They love being fed pellets off the deck.


The rest of the time was spent in Colorado Springs, with the Foster side of the family. We are currently obsessed with our new niece, Sadie. She is so precious. Stephen and Sarah are excellent parents already! We continue to pray that someday we might live closer to them, Mom/Dad, and Jenny! See below for our stellar family photo:


And one of Sadie with Uncle Kyle :)



On a side note: we got 'bumped' on our flight out to CO and ended up with $630 in Southwest vouchers. Score!

An (overdue) update

As an update to the last post...

...we received the following pictures from Cason after they had given out some of the cleats. He also informed us they have not lost a game since receiving them!





Cason's family will be bringing several suitcases full of the remaining cleats later in January. We feel successful! :)