Dreaming of India

I want to go to India. Like reallllly bad. I've heard mixed reviews of it, some say it's dirty other's say it's so colorful and exciting. I think I would be one of the one's who thought it was colorful and exciting. I'm not sure where my desire to visit India came from, maybe from watching An Idiot Abroad (Funniest show ever) or maybe from watching Outsourced...or maybe I just watch too much TV? haha. 

But seriously look at this COLOR!

 I imagine the shopping would be pretty great too. Imagine all that fabric and jewelery!

 THEY HAVE ELEPHANTS IN THE STREETS. Elephants are my favorite animal EVER.

 The Taj Mahal is symmetrical on all four sides....sounds like my kind of building! And the Ganges might not be the best looking river but it would be cool to say you saw it!

 The SPICES! I love Indian flavors and I'm sure the version of Indian food we eat here, vastly differs from their authentic Indian food but I think I'd like it....A LOT. Plus I love naan...who doesn't?!

I just want to step into these pictures and stay there for an extended vacation. Today is a crazy day, baby shower this morning and this afternoon is all about getting ready for our church's YW New Beginnings tomorrow...that's why I'm blogging in the middle of the day, I'm a great procrastinatior. I've just been dreaming about India and all the fun I could have there.

Now that I think about it, I think my desire to go there happened while watching the BYU channel. they did a show about these two women who visited a leper colony and instead of giving them money for food for that day, they started a micro loan business there and helped out hundreds of people suffering from leprosy. They taught them skills and gave them business opportunities so they could become self reliant. India is an extremely poor country so the fun sightseeing things would be great and shopping in the richer towns would be cool but to help out a whole population of people would be amazing.

Well that's all for random post number 3895238579487532. I really gotta finish up this stuff ASAP.

Goulash

this post is going to be a "goulash" (in my house we call random leftovers thrown in a pan goulash...) of random thoughts, links, projects and musings.

I've been feeling a little stressssed lately. There is just A LOT to do and I have a really hard time actually doing things when there is so much to do (case and point: I'm blogging). My life is so chaotic in a literal sense. I have a pathway in my room leading to my bed, my clothes are everywhere BUT the closet. I HATE folding laundry. I can do loads and loads of it but please don't make me fold it. Since I'm an adult, I fold my own, that's why it's all over the floor...the trunk of my car is FULL of old clothes that are way too big that I need to consign or donate ASAP but haven't yet. My desk (was) a huge mess of mail, projects and random junk, I did manage to somewhat organize it yesterday but it still has a ways to go to be completely organized.

I'm babysitting for 10 days with Nicole. We are tag teaming it and it's working rather well. But when one isn't used to having 3 children and all of a sudden you're in charge of their well being it can be (and is) a big responsibility. I've been babysitting for this family for over 10 years so let's just say the kids are comfortable with me and know what buttons to push ;). Also I'm NOT a morning person so this throws my day off a bit but hey! at least I'm actually falling asleep before 11! WOW that never happens! Too bad I wake up every hour during the night.

Found this website today, it's called How about Orange brilliant. seriously. i love every post (that I've read so far) it's a crafty blog so beware.

Another website that I actually found through the Orange one called 3 eyed Bear. It's 3-D paper projects, I'd never have patience for that but maybe someday.

A necklace that I've been coveting but I'm far too cheap to buy something that "useless" for myself (common, shoes and purses ARE useful). From the website Cinnamon Sticks. 
One can dream right?!

Seeing blogs like, One Charming Party, make me want to step into a blog and never come out!

This is one part of my life I got organized yesterday. It's my YW church binder. 

Maybe that will help keep my projects and responsibilities in some sort of order.

The Valentines I'm making.

It's a print out on a sheet of 8.5x11 paper that I'm gonna cut down the middle and make into a goodie bag. Filled with what? I do not know yet but it will be filled once I sew the sides closed.

I made this sign for our YW theme this year. it's the cover to my fancy dancy binder. Our theme is the 13th article of faith. I keep trying to keep it in my mind (especially this week;))

For our New Beginnings at Church I am making these necklaces for the girls. This is showing a penny pendant but we are using quarters so they're a little larger. I also have to get a slide show down which means scanning pics for the next 4 weeks (not really but there's A LOT)

I got this book from the library. Bad news bears. All I want to do it shove everything aside and just make every single project in this book. Bad idea prolly.

I think that's it. I have wasted enough time today. I gotta go start and finish some projects so I can calm down a little. It's possible I'll post pictures after I finish some of these mounding projects. We'll see though. oh no I just remembered a whole other list of things I gotta do...OY. Wish me luck!

Zombie Fever...

bahaha get it...fever? oh, you're not obsessed with zombies like our household is? Oh well then...let me introduce you to our little obsession! Disclaimer: I KNOW this is weird just go with it...

This is a book set in the future when zombies (or the unconsecrated as they call them) rule the earth. The humans are confined to small areas where they are guarded by fences. This is one girls story of how she wants to see the ocean but is trapped...it's good.

This is the 2nd book in the series and it follows a different character (won't spoil it for ya) who has to figure out where she fits in her world. It's a continuation of the first book but in a different way. Not as good as number one but still ok. 3rd book comes out next month

Yes please. More for my brother Sam than myself. He's WAY obsessed with zombies. He has several shirts and is just plain obsessed with them. I thought if I got this book I could make him gifts for life ;). I have it on hold from the library.

I've checked this book out from the library too. It's a different sort of humor but all the patterns really are creepily cute. I have no idea how to read the patterns though so I never made anything from it.

I got this book as a gift this last Christmas from someone I work with. It is pretty hilarious if you're into that sort of thing, here's a small exceprt:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Rudolph, the zombie reindeer,

caught the virus through his nose.

and if you ever saw hom,

you would even say he's gross...

I realize zombies are not everyone's cup of tea, some prefer vampires, others werewolves, a spattering might enjoy books of the wizardry sort. Who am I to judge...it's just a phase of life I'm in right now. Perhaps in a year I'll be into porcupines how do I know?

Hallelujah

I am obsessed with Leonard Cohen's song Hallelujah. I have probably even posted about it before. Maybe I've listened to different covers of it 24 times today maybe I'll have it stuck in my head for the next 4 weeks, I'm ok with that. I thought I'd share in the madness so here are my favorite covers:


  Kurt Nilsen and others. This video was a big lesson in not judging a book by it's cover....the first part is a little iffy but once that one guy starts singing it's all over. I would never in a million years think that voice could come out of that guy and I feel bad for thinking that but I'm just being honest. I'm thoroughly impressed with him and might have youtubed him and listened to other songs he's done.
 



Rufus Wainright did a version for Shrek and his version is ok...not my favorite but it's still good



Random Youtubers this is prolly my favorite unknown cover. They are amazing.



Jeff Buckley. duh. THe first cover of this song that I loved and it will always be one of my favorites



another random Youtuber. This lady was the last one I found and I think she has a good voice too. Anywho...

Have fun not watching all those videos haha. I just LOVE this song.

Sew it Seams

Really I don't sew that much, I just like to buy fabric and look at it. For some reason I HATE cutting fabric and seeing it all be used up. Which is dumb because DUH I'll get more use out of something I sew than just several yards of rolled up fabric...

I happened across this site today, bad news bears...

also don't click here if you like damask patterns... don't say I didn't warn you!

 umm hello, elephants, heck yes! don't worry they have all sorts of colors for this wonderful elephant fabric.

 I'll take 100! I am obsessed with this, if I could get a couch made from it I would. No Joke

 Owls...nuff said.

 I would totally rock a snuggie made from this. or anything really. i've always loved giraffe print

OHKAY...ummm ya...I'm obsessed with this and I want to make a whole house based around this fabric. any takers? ;).

Last weekend I made myself a quaint little jean skirt made from an old pair of jeans. I have no patience to finish the bottom though so no picture. I'll just buy a jeans skirt cuz i'm not too happy with it. I have a huge stack of fabric that I keep acquiring and not making anything with. Well except I did make those onesies but that doesn't count. I want to make a few baby slings and stuff but we'll see.

Anyone wanna invest in the Amanda wants to buy all the fabric in the world fund? Or the Amanda goes to India fund? I just think I would really like India, it's a very colorful country. Thanks.

Talents

I have this really bad habit of being jealous (or coveting?) other people's skills and talents. I wish I could be a good singer, I wish I could play the piano, I wish I could still play the violin, I wish I could be a painter or sculptor, I wish I knew how to make jewelery, I wish I could be a runner and a hiker, I wish I could be a good cook who makes up recipes, I wish I could be naturally organized, I wish I could be all sorts of things that I'm not.

This is hard for me, I know we all have our talents and skills and not all are the same. Not two people in this world are alike. I know that's for a reason and I know that's what makes the world go 'round but oh how I wish there was a little checklist I could mark to choose what I could be good at! I have to give myself little reminders to not covet those things and to not be secretly jealous of those around me with those talents. I've gotten better and I am genuinely happy for all these talented people around me but sometimes I just wonder, What if...

I don't know why I'm writing this blog, probably because I'm bored and don't have much to do right now. ...

This train of thought reminds me of the Dr. Seuss book, If I Ran the Circus. I have NO idea why but I oftentimes relate real life issues or scenarios to Dr. Seuss books...weird, maybe, but it makes sense to my crazy backwards brain. Oh that's another thing, I wish I could be a writer, of anything really. Maybe children's books, or cheesy juvenile lit or even just a random column in a newspaper would be fun.

My point is, I do not have these talents and if I want them I have to do something about it. I can't regrow my voice to become a good singer so I won't even bother and my brain is not hardwired to be organized all the time and that's ok too. But there are other things I can learn to do. I don't have to be the best at them or even good at them as long as I feel some sense of accomplishment I think that will be enough for me. I can run my own circus.

That is all. I really have no idea what this post is all about but I rarely do!

Oh MAN!

DO NOT click on the following links:

Mila's Daydreams
One Mom's Imagination

SHOOOOOOT. How do people come up with this stuff? P.S. I give you permission to click on the above links after you take a few short breaths and promise me not to convulse with envy....

Ummm how about I go to the store and buy myself out of house and home to take photos like these? Sounds good to me! Actually lots of the props she uses are just from around her house. My mind is REELING. I wonder if anyone around here would be interested in letting me borrow a baby who really likes to sleep and doesn't wake up easily...

If I could do things like this, it could be great for business! haha...maybe the investment would be worth it...

They are just too cute.

Oh

My

Gosh.

My favorite: Princess and the Pea

I could do this...

I want to do this...

Any takers?

Maybe I could buy a doll and use it to practice...

I've also seen them with older kids...let me find the link...

Ok Click here now...

ya. I can dig it.

70 days.

What would you do with 70 days? There are many things one could do with such a plethora of time. My next 70 days will be filled with eating boring, albeit healthy foods and (hopefully) lots of exercise.


In order to reach my goal of losing 35 pounds I need to do the following:
Sign up for a gym membership
Actually go to said gym
stop overeating
no more SUGAR (once you get one taste, it brings on all sorts of cravings and is just not good for you) walk around the kitchen (contrary to popular belief, you do not need to eat something every time you walk through the kitchen)
Find a wooded glen to punch dance out my anger at not being able to eat what I want
Learn to be healthy all over again
Find a gym partner so I can be somewhat accountable (but not someone who will judge/make fun of me when I make a fool of myself)
Keep lists and charts and graphs to keep myself organized and on task
Make a really good workout play list and invest in some good headphones
Find some workout clothes
cutout pictures of clothes I'd really like to buy and glue them on every surface available
learn to be active (not necessarily working out but finding other opportunities to get outside and be one with nature)

That's all I can think of for now. Sitting in front of me is a small stack of paper the number I'm looking at is 70 and the last number is a big red 1 (realize I should have done 0 but whatever). Everyday I will remove one paper from the stack. Maybe on the back I'll write something that was hard that day, or something that I accomplished and keep them. For some reason when I lost 60 pounds last year I didn't have that hard of a time keeping up with it but now that I've slipped the last 3 or 4 weeks (and gained back 5+ pounds...UGH let's not talk about it), it's really hard to find the motivation to start again. One of my main goals is to eat what everyone else eats (to an extent) but less of it. Portions are crazy hard for me. Or maybe I'll just live off of cottage cheese, eggs and salad for 70 days who knows.

Wish me luck! I WILL achieve my goal! I also must find something that I will reward myself with after. It will be good...or maybe I can just get a new outfit or something. Hopefully I'll need more clothes after all is said and done. Why is it so easy for some people?! Also why is it so hard to take it off but SO dang easy to put it on?! The million dollar questions I suppose. I'll be putting a tracker up above (not sure that I'll know how to change it but oh well.)

Mustaches and Onesies oh My!

So my aunt is having a baby at the end of February. I decided since her baby shower is next weekend, I'd better come up with a gift idea and fast! The first thing I thought of was a diaper cake. I haven't made one yet but I got some real good directions and hopefully I'm able to make a really good one! I also started a blanket to match the baby's room but who knows if that'll get done either! But just in case those don't get done, I bought a pack of plain onesies, some black puffy paint, and a roll of heat-n-bond. 

Here is the result of about 20 minutes:

Cat eye glasses Onesie

 I had wanted to use black shiny fabric and heat bond it instead but couldn't find any black shiny fabric. So I bought some puffy paint. Then printed a pair of cat eye glasses from the internet and cut them out. Then I traced lightly with pencil the outline and filled it in with puffy paint. Then made little dots with the paint so it's like a chain. I'm not sure how this will do in the wash but hopefully it survives ;).

A Onesie

 Next I decided to give the heat-n-bond a try. I immediately wanted to do a big A since her name is going to be Alexa. We have SO much fabric downstairs and we have a large pile of perfect size scrapes so I picked out one I liked. Then I used my cricut (you could also just print it out from your computer with a font you like) to cut out a large "A" which I then traced onto the back of my fabric, cut it out, then followed the heat-n-bond instructions. SO SIMPLE! SO EASY! SO CHEAP! haha the heat-n-bond was like 6 bucks for a huge roll, I got a 5 pack of onesies for 5 bucks and voila!

Heart Onesie

Then I decided since the A was SOO easy, a heart would be even easier, why not right? I just used a piece of paper and did the old kindergarten trick and made myself a heart. Then traced it onto my fabric cut it out and followed the same steps as before. This was done in like 2 minutes. This is miracle stuff I tell you!

Mustache on a stick anyone?

 These next two things are props I made for a photo shoot I have on Monday. My aunt wanted some pregnancy pics done so we are going to meet and do those. I wanted it to be fun and not so serious. I had been eying all these people with mustaches on a stick so I bought some felt and wooden sticks and used a little hot glue to make myself some. I made one for each member of their family so hopefully it's a fun photo.

Yarn heart

Finally I made this little heart out of a piece of cardboard I cut out (poorly mind you) into the shape of a heart. Then I grabbed some red yarn I had laying around and wrapped and wrapped and wrapped some more. It was a little more time consuming than one might think but I'm pretty excited for it. I saw a friend on facebook who made a similar prop for her photography and I LOVED it. So hopefully this will work out for Monday as well. I also bought some large and in charge balloons that I will have filled up with helium. SOOO excited for her baby shower and photo shoot!

Keaton

There's this guy, his name is Keaton Simons... he's a realllly good singer so you should find him on Youtube...here's a video:

All of his songs are good though but this was just the first one I ever heard.

ah man now I gotta go be a productive member of society...drat. it's so overrated!