First Aid Kit

We all know how much I love Target! 

Well, this week Target is promoting first aid with this special offer:

FREE Johnson and Johnson first aid bag when you buy 3 listed items. 

I used this blog to help me prepare my coupons. And then I bought the cheapest things that I didn't already have. I may never use them, but let's just call it insurance. Plus, I am sure it will be a lot more handy when bite-size Eatons enter the scene. 

Using this list that came in the bag, I gathered my materials.

What's in my first aid wallet (Following the list):

Clean

-Alcohol Wipes

Treat

-Antibiotic Treatment

-Disposable instance heat packs (I hope it's okay so substitute hot for cold? Incase it's not, I added some hot/cold rub stuff, also.)

-Pain Reliever (I am partial to Ibuprofen, even though Acetaminophen is cheaper.)

Protect

-Adhesive Bandages (one size fits all)

-Sterile Gauze Pads (one size fits all)

As for the accessories, we'll just trust that we have our swiss army knife around. I did, however, add other things I found in my medicine bin: 

-Band-aid Blister Preventer (not the official name)

-Hand Sanitizer

-Tissues (not pictured)

After assembly:

Ready to go! 

And it coordinates perfectly with my car :-)

Dresses

Just a little update on my #2 summer goal:

Last week, I wore a dress 5 out of 7 days!

I don't have pictures of every day (what was I thinking?), but here's some proof:

Dress 2: Birthday celebration with the fam.

Dress 3: Birthday!!

Dress 4: (the one I'm pulling out of the bag) Bachellorette party (not pictured)

Dress 5: Wedding

About when we hit Macon, it hit me that we had forgotten our hanging clothes! Oh man! So, we went to Ross and I got ANOTHER DRESS! And Kevin got another pair of dress pants and another dress shirt. 

I have gotten 4 new dresses in the past week. Good thing it was my birthday! Good thing I made my summer goal!

Disconnect

Last night we returned home from Atlanta. The trip was great! We attended a beautiful wedding of great friends, at which we were also able to catch up with old college friends!

I attended a pretty crazy bachelorette party, filled with giggles and fun. We visited and caught up with friends, and also met new friends! We were able to meet with some people to share about joining our ministry team. We scouted out Kennesaw for places to live. And we even got to visit the Atlanta Historic Center for National Public Gardens Day!! What a treat! Check this out:

I didn't even think about missing Zorro! ...I always miss Zorro.

Don't be fooled. He never misses me.

It was a really great trip and I had a lot of fun!

However, as we drove home, with each mile my heart got tighter. At first I thought I was just worn out from all of the social interaction, but it was more that. I didn't want to be alone to rejuvenate; I wanted to be around the people who know me. We came home to an empty house on Mother's Day- no mother, no father, and no Zorro. I felt lonely. And the scary part is that this will be my life in x months. I trust that the Lord has a plan and that it is good, but I am preparing myself, knowing that it will be hard.

There are so many wonderful people in Atlanta, and I look forward to building friendships with them! But in the meantime, I live in a perpetual state of disconnect.

Man, I never knew I was so socially crippled until I hit post grad. Watch out, grads! It'll getcha!

Summer Goals

Normally I don't like to set goals. Not because I don't have goals, but more because I prefer to have the freedom to change my mind :-)

However, I have decided to set a few summer goals:
(I figure summer is a short enough time that I should be able to manage it)

1. Do some kind of athletic activity every weekday, even if it just going for a walk.
2. Wear a dress at least once a week. - The only way I can justify continuing to purchase dresses is to wear them more regularly. Husband thinks this resolution also includes shaving my legs... we shall see.
3. Reach 100% ministry funding. - This is mostly out of my hands and in God's, but I can do what I can do.
4. Move to Atlanta. - Again, Lord willing.
5. Spend quality time with my favorite people and make sure they know how much I appreciate them.
6. Have a niece.
7. Spoil my niece.
8. Love my niece to pieces. Nieces Pieces.
9. Learn to respect my husband well.
10. Pray every day.

There are other things that I would like to happen, but I'm taking baby steps people!

Tomorrow I turn 24 years young. To many people that is young. But life is happening here, and I don't want to miss it! It's time for me to get busy! (Ya, busy's not really my style, but you get the idea.)

Daisy's Baby Shower: Cupcakes

Originally, we were going to get daisy cupcakes from Publix or Sams. However, being the family that we are, we decided "we can do that!"

And we did.

About a month ago, I began the endeavor of creating a professional quality cupcake (or at least the look). 

We bought a Wilton cake decorating kit and I began to practice. Let's take a look at the past 4 weeks, and 3 attempts. 

Attempt #1: Canned icing

When i realized that I was not gonna get the look I wanted, I sought alternatives.

I did some research and realized I needed to make my own icing. 

Attempt #2 I have no pictures of, but things went terribly wrong. I experimented with 2 batches, and concluded that I needed fresh ingredients. 

Attempt #3 came out well; though the icing still seemed to melt quickly, it tasted good. During this attempt I learned the difference between cake decorating tips and cupcake decorating tips. If you are trying to create the lovely cupcake swirl, you need large or jumbo tips. For our final result, I used a Wilton 32 star tip. It may be even easier with a larger tip. 

I used this cream cheese frosting recipe and her decorating tips which I found through Pinterest. 

Fourth and final attempt: Moment of Truth.

Cutting mini marshmallows in thirds created these daisy petals which were the prefect accent! (I got that one from Better Homes and Gardens!)

I was very satisfied with my work, but am not sure I would want to make a hobby of cake or cupcake decorating! I suppose it is a handy skill to have though. 

Daisy's Baby Shower: ModPodge Letters

I wanted to make something for Daisy, and decided on something for the nursery. I knew that Deb wasn't really sure what she wanted in there, but I was pretty confident that she would like having Daisy's name. So I created this:

I bought these white wood letters from JoAnn's. They were on sale! Also, they had several letter styles and sizes to choose from! These were the only script type, and just the right size!

My other sister had left these leftover scrapbook pages in her room which I now occupy. (She gave me permission to use them.)

Purple, green, and blue daisy pages.

Step one, trace the letter on the back side of paper. Since my pages were small, I had to use pieces. 

Here is the top half of my "s". 

Cut over the traced lines, and it should fit perfectly to the top of the letter, like so.

To cover the corners, I lined up my extra paper on the edge, flipped it over, and traced the remaining piece needed. 

To attach the paper to the wood, I used diluted school glue. Just mix it up with water like pancake mix. Not too liquidy, but thin enough to spread around. Apply like mod-podge: first under the paper to affix to the wood, then on top of the paper to smooth it out. Wipe away any excess glue so it's not lumpy. I used a sponge brush. A paint brush works also, but is a little more streaky. 

I can't believe I didn't get a close up picture of the finished result.  I will try to post pictures  of it in the nursery when it is complete.