December 9, 2013 by Stephanie

30 before 30 Update

One month down since I decided to do this 30 before 30 thing.

So here is my first update. I think it has been a good start to this 18 month challenge.

1. Crochet something else besides blankets or scarves-so something that isn’t straight lines.

· I have some ideas for Christmas presents, so I may have an update next month.

2. Do a 30 day photography challenge

· I need to do it in a month where we aren’t traveling a whole bunch. The hardest part is making a commitment to get the camera out ever day.

3. Visit 3 cities I have never been to before

· Well, I went to Russellville, MO for a wedding, but I am not sure it counts because we didn’t really “see” the town. But I guess I am the one in charge of this challenge so I can make my own rules.

4. Tour at least one of the distilleries in the area

· Nothing.

5. Send at least 5 snail mail a month

· I actually sent 9 letters! Also, this was a great excuse to buy new stationary.

6. Become a “professional” photographer

· This is in the works! Anybody have any photography needs? I am for hire!

One of my favorites from my most recent family sessions.

7. Run at least 5 races (any distance)

· I have plans in the works.

8. Go camping with Tom

· We have plans for this for next summer for our anniversary.

9. Pay for the car behind me in a drive through

· Not yet.

10. See Tyrone Wells live again

· Nope.

11. Tour Fort Defiance here in Clarksville

· This is more of a summer thing.

12. Water ski with my dad

· Also summer.

13. Do a 5K with my mom

· Nothing.

14. Take a swing dance class with Tom

· I am still trying to convince Tom to do this with me. This may come near the end of the challenge.

15. Read at least one fun book a month and one professional development book every three months

· I have no excuse for this one. I am still in a reading rut, but I did start the last in the Castle series this week, so hopefully I will catch up in December.

16. Take a pottery or stained glass class

· Things have been too crazy schedule wise to make this happen yet.

17. Learn how to make sushi

· No plans yet.

18. See both a Clemson and UCM football game live

· This will have to wait until fall.

19. Volunteer with MCFOTS and Special Olympics on a regular basis

· I am still waiting on some paperwork from Special Olympics. This week, I started at MCFOTS (the animal shelter we got Crosby). I love it so much! It is a good thing there is a limit on how many pets we can have on base because there were two dogs that I almost took home with me. Grace is not very happy with me doing this though. She is so mad that I have cheated on her. I will deal with her hateful stares though because this is seriously awesome!

20. Explore Land Between the Lakes

· Summer plan.

21. Ride in a hot air balloon

· This will take some work and research.Tom hates heights, so either this will take some convincing or I will need to find other people to embark on this journey with me.

22. Go to at least 10 “new to me” restaurants in Clarksville.

· We have been to two: China One and King Mao. Tom and I love Chinese restaurants, and they usually are part of our weekly date nights. It was no surprise that these were our new places, however I still think our online ordering is the best out there. Any of my Clarksville friends have suggestions?

23. Stay at a bed and breakfast

· Working on it.

24. Spend a day without electronics (phone, t.v. and computer)

· I am thinking about doing it a day over winter break.

25. Go to the Kentucky Derby

· I would really like to do this for my 30^th birthday since it is a week before my day. This would be enough time to save money too because it is expensive!

26. Go to non-touristy parts of Nashville

· I did this weekend! My supervisor from grad school was in town! We had a mini Clemson reunion downtown with dinner.

We went to the Old Spaghetti Factory and then walked around downtown for a little bit. Tom got 2 pounds of taffy from a candy shop there, which he promptly ate half of on the way home.

27.Watch at least 10 movies that I have not seen before that won Best Picture at the Oscars and at least 10 documentaries (not necessarily Oscar winning)

· I need to do some research and make a list of the Best Picture films I would want to watch and put them on our Netflix queue. As for the documentaries, we tried watching one on Zombies. Yes, this is true, but we only made it through 10 minutes before we couldn’t take it anymore. It was so absurd.

28. Sew an item of clothing from scratch.

· We think our sewing machine is out for the count, so this may be on hold or need to be changed on whether we can get it fixed or get a new one.

29. Find a church home here in Clarksville

· I believe we may have found a church that we both like. Tom and I have different tastes in how we like to enjoy worship, so this is an adventure trying to find a good mix for both of us.

30. Become a mom

· Working on it. *wink wink*

So there you have it. Not too shabby for my first month. We’ll see what I can mark off this month. December is going to be pretty nuts since we have so many things planned for the holiday time. Wish me luck!

Anyone want to join me on any of these excursions?

December 8, 2013 by Stephanie

Holiday Decor

We have plans to be with family for a good portion of December, and Tom and I are pretty practical home decorators. Not that we don’t love the holiday spirit, but we didn’t want to spend a whole lot of time decorating when we wouldn’t be here to enjoy it. Plus we don’t have room for a tree, so we decided to keep it pretty minimal on the Christmas decorating.

So the 2 tubs of holiday decor has stayed packed away.

However, we did want some holiday spirit, and we needed a new wreath to replace our fall one.

This was quite a craft affair. It was one of those times that you can’t get your idea to pan out as you plan.

We tried putting ornaments on an old wire hanger, but we didn’t have enough. I had already spent 10 dollars on this bunch, and I didn’t want to spend anymore on another box.

Then we tried wiring it to another wreath thing I already had. We also tried hot gluing it.

Continued failure. Ugh. This has been the story of our crafting life this week. We tried getting our sewing machine to work for almost 4 hours on Friday and another hour on Saturday. We think the thing has died or the repair is going to cost more than what it is worth, which is awesome because I have used it a total of 3 times.

So admitting my defeat to the ornament wreath, I broke down and bought a 4 dollar wreath.

Final supply list:

ornaments
string of lights
wreath
picture hanging wire

We didn’t use the peacock feather ornament. That was supposed to be part of the original plan, and it just didn’t work with this one.

First, I wrapped the wreath with the lights.

I grouped 4 sets of 3 balls with the picture hanging wire. Then I just tied them on the wreath like a twist tie. Super easy!

I did a couple single ones too.

bingo, bango, bongo

This is a really easy project once we figured it out. It looks classy and simple with the same color scheme. We have several of the balls left over so I may make garland with it in the future.

It looks so great! And it is such an up-lifter coming home to this on the door.

December 6, 2013 by Stephanie

Friday Filter-Movie “Catching Fire”

Last weekend, we finally saw Catching Fire, the second in the Hunger Games series.

Poster of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

All I can see is wow.

Ok I can say a little more. This movie was phenomenal in every way. It was a great book adaptation. They hit all the major highlights without losing much of the integrity of the story. Obviously they don’t go into all the details that the book does. However, it is hard for me to realize what wasn’t said in the movie because it was knowledge I already had.

The story occurs in a dystopian future where 12 districts are at the mercy of the Capital. The Capital keeps everyone in fear and constant control. The storyline follows Katniss and Peeta as the victors of the 74th Hunger Games, which is a competition (death match) put on by the Capital with two “representatives” from each district. Peeta and Katniss have to do the “victory lap” within all the districts. All the while, they have to pretend they are in love to keep up the facade they started with the whole “berry” incident. As they are on the tour, they see glimpses of the other districts and the beginning of a revolution.

President Snow feels threatened by Katniss, and with the urging from the new game master, they made the Quarter Quell one for the history books by recalling old victors to be tributes once again.

But little does Snow know that this is the beginning of the end for him.

And that is all I am going to say about the story.

I just loved it.

It was packed with emotion and action, and snippets of humor.

My favorite characters are Haymitch and Cinna. I am also Team Peeta all the way.

I cried twice-once when they showed Rue’s family, and then when Cinna had his misfortune.

The cinematography was fantastic. I hate when they make a movie with CGI that you notice, and this was not the case with Catching Fire. Those monkeys scared the daylights out of me. I also don’t like when they are two quick with the camera action that you can’t keep up with what is going on. They did a great job keeping you focused on what you needed to and highlighting whatever emotion of the time.

The cast was phenomenal. I want Jennifer Lawrence to be in my inner circle.

It sparked more conversations about rebellion and the “end of the world” prep in our house. So it is safe to say that Tom enjoyed it too.

The genius of Suzanne Collins (author of the trilogy) was brought to life in the most fantastic way. Although, nothing in my opinion can beat actually reading the book.

I highly recommend this series to anyone!

Have you seen it? What are your thoughts? Team Peeta or Team Gale?

Friday Filters offer a review that are my own opinions. I was not contacted by anyone associated with these works or compensated for my review. My review has not been influenced by anything other than my love for entertainment and art.

December 4, 2013 by Stephanie

Crocheting Props

A couple weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to photograph some friends of ours and their sweet family. I made this blanket/throw in a few days for the family shoot. With all the military families around here, I felt that I could use this as a prop for various shoots.

I ended up using the family’s blankets more than this one, but I am glad that I have it now for the future.

Hobby Lobby had this “Old Glory” yarn which made it really easy to make an American blanket without switching skeins. I am all about convenience.

I did break my rule of not trying a new stitch or pattern, but I was trying to make it simple so it wasn’t the main part of the photo. I also needed to make it quick, so I alternated a single stitch row and a treble stitch row for the entire blanket. With the color switching yarn, you don’t want a lot of details anyway because it can get lost lost.

And per usual, when I try to take my blanket photos, Grace feels the need to be a model. She is pretty cute.

This is the only time I can get her to sit for photos. Crosby was no where to be found, or really just taking advantage of having the couch to himself.

To end, I leave you with some crafty videos from Ellen. These are my two all time favorite segments from the show!

Happy Hump Day!

December 3, 2013 by Stephanie

Happy Birthday Dad!

My dad turns 57 today!

I have some pretty awesome memories of this man who raised me.

a daddy’s girl

Growing up, whenever we had to write about “a hero” or the person we wanted to be when we grew up, I always wrote about my dad. He was funny, smart, knew how to swim, played basketball, and sang. This was pretty much every essay I “wrote” in elementary school.

I thought he was so cool. And there wasn’t a subject that my dad didn’t know about. I thought he was the bomb{dot}com.

Our apple tree…and ranger panties circa the 1990s. Also don’t judge that my brother and I have the same haircut.

I still do (even with the hair halfway down his back).

He taught me how to work hard for everything, and he never seemed to give me a break no matter how much I pouted for it.

He showed us how to be compassionate, encouraging, and care for others. I saw this in how treated our babysitters and his basketball players growing up and how he gave meaningful gifts to our teachers every year.

He was my coach for basketball and science teacher for several classes in high school. He never just let me have it and made me search for answers on my own so I could be independent. (Which at the time, I was so teenage angsty about it, but now I am eternally grateful.)

He was always there for me when I asked him to be, and yet knew when I needed my space to grow up a little bit. Or those times when I didn’t even know that I needed him and he was there. Like my birthday when Tom was at basic training and he and my step-mom drove 3 hours with my favorite ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins in dried ice just so I could have some piece of home.

Can you tell that I am his daughter?

He never gave us special treatment, but always managed to make us feel special.

He kept us grounded in morals and taking the high road. Like that time in third grade when I ripped my neighbor’s shirt and beat him up at recess after a game of Power Rangers went horribly wrong. He and my step-mom made me go apologize to his mom that night. My one scuffle at school…that apology made me never want to get into trouble again.

(My step-mom, dad, and I)
One of my favorite things growing up was watching sports with my Dad. He loves all things KC, so naturally I am a Royals and Chiefs fan. We have spread out into college teams now with Clemson, Mizzou, and ISU. We text constantly during our favorite teams’ air time with the lows and highs of the game.

He taught me so many things: how to fish (although I’d much rather do the swimming that he taught me), the Glinn dance, that nothing in life is free, how to drive a bike/boat/car, how to perfect a jumpshot, how to crochet, how to laugh at myself, persevere, forgiveness, and most of all love.

My fondest memories are:

reading bedtime stories like “Shepherd of the Hills” and “Anne of Green Gables”
going camping
making Malt-O-Meal on Christmas and jello and chocolate ice cream whenever we needed a pick me up
ice cream on the first day of school
anything basketball
Chinese food Sundays
our trip to the BVI
church mission trips

Happity hippity, hopppppyy birthday!

I take on a lot of traits of my dad (other than his head of hair and blue eyes), and I couldn’t be happier about that!

He’s cool, he’s happening, he’s hip, he’s now. (Whenever my dad is trying to emphasize he is not getting older and can still relate to the younger crowd, he says this to himself and anyone who will listen)

Here is to many more birthdays! Happy Birthday Daddio!