Feeling closer to {Home}

For the past month I have been anxiously awaiting the Grand Opening of the new… ONLY Dunkin Donuts in Ames, Iowa. Back in December they opened one in Des Moines, Iowa which is an hour from me and I hoped that they would expand… and they did.

Seriously I think it was fate. I was driving into work on day and as I was about to turn the corner to the parking lot I saw a small sign on the building on the corner that said “Soon to Come…

DUNKIN DONUTS”!

Ames, Iowa is not the smallest of towns and here it was… a Dunkin Donuts to be placed on the corner of where I turn almost every day to park and walk into work. Imagine that.

My boss thinks I’m hysterical because my eyes get huge and you can see my excitement at just the mentioning of a Dunkin coming here to Ames.

So I started thinking about it and realized it’s more to me than just another Fast food place opening, it’s the memories associated with it.

We lived a quarter mile from a Dunkin growing up and Dad use to bring them home after Church almost every Sunday. It was where my friend Sarah got me hooked on my first coffee as a Junior in high school… mmmm “Dunkacino”. It’s where I stopped most everyday on my way into school to teach to grab an iced coffee.  Then I moved to South Dakota and bam I was left with notta.

I don’t think people who have lived in their own little world for their entire life realize that every little thing that you are familiar with vanishes. I have had to let go of so many things that when the smallest hint of “familiar” comes back into my life I just want to squeeze the life out of it and say… thank you god for giving me one more piece of my old life back.

So today I’m celebrating all my memories of living back east by walking into the Newly opened Dunkin Donuts here in Ames and grabbing my regular… Vanilla Iced Coffee with Cream and Sugar & an Everything Bagel Toasted with Cream Cheese.

{Note to self: This will not be an every day meal…. just a treat during the harder weeks}

Wednesday Hump: Photo Dump

Hello There! Who’s pumped for Valentine’s Day?!? Not this girl! I like to go into these “holidays” now with the littlest of expectations so that way the disappointment is far less obvious when nothing happens.

Is that sad… or is it real life?

Some would say it’s settling but over the past two point five years I’ve just gotten less anxious about if my husband is going to get me flowers or take me out for dinner. When it comes down to it, if I have to beg for that stuff then is it really worth it?

I’m also more secure in my relationship aka marriage then I’ve ever been. I know my husband loves me very much. If I asked him to buy me the moon… he would ask how much it was, why would I ever want it, say that I don’t really want that, but at the end of the day he would get it for me… unwrapped in a plastic bag.

Maybe my expectations are higher than just one day? I expect my husband to show me love every day.. in small gestures of course.

Some of those every day appreciations are:

• Making/Turning on the coffee making every morning before work
• Putting away the dishes in the dry rack that I cleaned the night before
• Before he leaves for work, I get a kiss and a have a good day
• When he gets home I let Winston out to greet him… you should see his face light up
• Help cleaning up after supper

All of these things make my life a little more pleasant. :) If I get flowers or a nice gift it’s just an added bonus :)

Here are my photo’s from the week :)

•  

1. Went to Bacon Fest on Saturday
2. Photo of our new King Bed quilt and pillows galore
3. Photo of King size bed… I can’t believe we were using a Full #nevergoingback
4. Went to the Home/Garden show in Des Moines… Love this upcycled green house
5. Small envelope pillow for the bed that I made.
6. An awesome upcycled Chevy truck turned bench. Pretty awesome
7. Finally found an address book #kickitoldskool
8. Winston loves the bed… Yes, were one of “those” people who let the dog sleep in our bed
9. Driving home yesterday on C Ave… nothing but back country roads

Wednesday Hump: Photo Dump

Wow… I’m about two days behind because I forgot to publish my post after writing it!

I now declare Wednesday the official Hump Photo Dump day of my week. I take photos through out the week an then never end up sharing any of them!

I’m excited to finally post some projects I completed. I was waiting until they were successfully delivered to their new happy homes!

These were made for my Bestie back in PA

{ Reversible Tote & hanging plastic bag holder }

I made an awesome denim apron with the same material to outline it but forgot to take a photo :(

The next two were sent off to Maryland to my husbands Cousin’s Family … that’s a lot to say … I should just leave it at family.

Anyway, they just welcomed a new little girl to their growing family and well since I don’t have kids yet I get to send adorable stuff to people that have kiddos!

When I saw the giraffe “duck” cloth at Hobby Lobby on sale for 60% off I had to get it! I mean seriously… how cute is it! Then I decided to use yellow since that’s pretty neutral, I heard that baby girl and big brother were sharing a room so I didn’t want to go to girlie. The size of the basket is perfect as a diaper caddy too.

Big Brother is in love with cars so when I saw this fabric I thought it would be cute to keep some toys in… or coloring books, crayons, really whatever they want!

I found another fun fabric with lots of traffic signs and thought it would make a good lining to compliment the outer fabric.

 

 

{Other Photos from the week}

1. The Jeep hit 77,777 miles last week!
2. The high last Thursday, Jan. 31 was 7*degrees but felt like -8
3. Portable lunch crock pot… I know right! Why didn’t they think of this a long time ago!
4. Patched up a pair of jeans for the hubby
5. My favorite pair of black flats {Blow Fish Cherie Flats }
6. They were originally only $16 but I loved them and had them for 2 years :(
7. Did you know you can shred chicken breast with your Kitchen Aid Mixer!?!
8. Fabric from The Fat Quarter Shop 
9. I looked up from the couch and Winston was sitting just like this… I had to take a photo op!

 

Enjoy the Weekend!

Love Crafting? You’ll LOVE my new find!

Over the weekend I stumbled across a website or two I have not yet heard of and have been obsessed!

The first is called Craftgawker…

It’s got the same layout as pinterest but it is strictly crafts only!

  

Why I love it over Pinterest:

When you are on craftgawker you can browse via latest, popular, category, & random. So if I just want crafts related to sewing then I click category – sewing. On Pinterest I would get random Pins about sewing… or with the word sewing in it so this is specifically for crafters and I’m in love. <3

From exploring craftgawker I came across this next site,

which I’m even more ecstatic about!

 

Ever wanted to learn how to sew a bag or take a crafting class but you were too shy or couldn’t find classes in your area? CRAFTSY is the site for you! They offer online craft classes from baking, to quilting, gardening, photography, etc! You go at your own pace with screaming videos. Pause to take a break and return later to pick up where you left off.

You can even purchase patterns through the site and much like Pinterest & Craftgawker you can browse through the project section to get inspired!

Want a free class? Earn points by creating a profile and linking up to your blog, facebook, & Twitter.

With an account you can easily keep track of your patterns and classes and once finished projects post them and leave reviews about how well you like the project.

My first project through Craftsy.com was this iphone slip cover from Charmstitch.com

Here is my finished result:

I used fabric from my new favorite online shop The Fat Quarter Shop: Click the fabrics to go to the site

These are the other fabrics I purchased and with the help of my new friends at

Craftsy & Craftgawker I’m sure to find some use for them!

 

Happy Crafting

* I just wanted to note that although I would be happy to advertise for these sites they had no impact on this post and my views.