GOOD EXCUSE FOR SOME SERVICE!

Okay, I saw this on a the blog of a friend of mine from my home ward. I think it's a great idea and I need some reasons to make time to do some crafty stuff (I actually love doing crafty stuff, its one of the few things that is 'girly' that I actually enjoy!) Here it is:

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me!
My choice. For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year.

{might be a little while, especially after summer begins, that's my busy season!}
4. You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be srapbooky, or sewn or maybe even some creation I haven't even invented yet. I may draw or paint something (but I'm not artsy like that, so chances are slim). I may bake you something and mail it to you.
Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.


The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!

Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

Finally did it!

I'd been thinking about it for months!

but I decided to do one thing at a time and cut my bangs first...

you can't have too much change all at once!

it was a good decision, I needed to get used to the bangs (I still am a little).

It had been long enough...so I FINALLY did it:

It's been about 10 years since I've had my hair above my shoulders.

I LOVE how long it takes to get ready (so much less time).
But some days I still don't really recognize the person in the mirror!

Over-all, I'm happy with it.

Basketball!!!

The last two Saturdays we've managed to venture out and actually enjoy some ball games. For some reason this year we've had more going on and haven't made it to as many games as we'd probably like to (especially that Rand would like to.)

A couple Saturdays ago we headed up to Salt Lake to see the Jazz play the Hornets. We had nose bleed seats...but I've become accustomed to watching the games at the Delta Center that way. We went with some friends and met up with Rand's cousins. It was definitely fun to see them! It happened to be the first game after Larry Miller had passed away, so they did a tribute to him before the game and it was pretty cool.

After the game we noticed that coach Jerry Sloan gave the ball to Derron Williams and had him take it to Larry Miller's wife. That gave me a lot of respect for Sloan. He easily could have walked it over himself to someone he is obviously friends with...but he wanted one of his star players, and team leaders, to be the one to do it. I think he wanted Derron to set a good example to other players and to fans watching. And sure enough, on the news that night they highlighted Derron giving her the ball and gave him all the credit (but we're going to give credit where credit is due!)



Then this last Saturday we headed to the BYU vs Utah game (the big rivalry). One of the guys I work with set up a tent on Wednesday afternoon and camped out until Saturday so he could get good seats. Other people at my work, as well as Rand, all took 'shifts' at the tent so we could all get good seats. We ended up in the seventh row and it was a blast (especially because BYU won!) It was a 'white-out' game so everyone wore white. Some guys behind us also painted themselves all white too. That's a littel much for me!
Amy and I

Dinner with the WVC (dub-V-C) Crew

Rand wanted to have all his friends that he grew up with over for dinner, so we finally got to putting it together a few weeks ago. It was a blast and we really enjoyed seeing everyone (especially all together, it always increases the fun!) We were missing a few people so hopefully

they'll be able to make it to the next one!

Thanks to all those who came!

Ellie's Birthday

My niece, Ellie, had her birthday a few weeks ago. Because her birthday is so close to two of her cousins (Sam and Ben), they had a combined family get together. I sometimes feel like an extended member of their family (my sister-in-laws family) because I've occasionally join in on the 'combined' family get-togethers like this one over the years.

In order to practice my cake making skills I volunteered to make two cakes for them.
Ellie wanted me to recreate my pink and purple flower cake for her (it was yellow cake with chocolate pudding in the middle). Then I also tried out a soccer ball cake for the boys that was chocolate cake with chocolate (black) and buttercream (white) frosting on top. Because the ball cake is so thick, it didn't need anything in the middle and it still turned out really moist.

This cake took forever to decorate (your hand gets tired from all the 'stars')...but I thought it looked pretty cool when it was done!

And a side note on my 'food crafts': I decided to try my hand at making candies. My first attempt was for Valentine's Day for Rand. I was surprised at how simple it was...yet still time consuming to make. But they turned out pretty good (who doesn't like chocolate?!)

Not sure why this picture turned sideways when I imported it, but oh well.