The Pen is Mightier than the Sword

I may or may not have a problem. For as long as I remember I have had a strange affinity to pens. I'm talking writing utensils. If I could go back to school shopping for the rest of my life just so I can buy new pens, I would totally be all over that. The gel pen craze of the 90s?  I was worse than any kid collecting Pogs, Pokemon, or Magic the Gathering. (yes, that is my nerd knowledge showing) 

I keep a case with close to 100 pens in it. That's not counting the 40 or so in and around my work desk, the 20 or so in my scrapbooking containers, or the new pack of 24 I just got in the mail. But they're all for different things, and each write differently. Some women collect purses, I collect pens.

I love to express myself in written form. In doing this I feel like it should get to look fun as well. If not, then where's the fun in that?

So what's the one thing you have to resist buying tons of, yet still manage to have a substantial collection of?

Winter

Chicago has this thing they like to call "winter." I beg to differ. I like to call this "hell freezing over." Last winter was absolutely brutal. Several days were negative 20,and if I remember correctly we even had a couple of negative 40. That's just unnatural!

The husband (sounds so weird to say) should be getting his orders soon. His detailer was nice enough to wait until his page 2 is updated to cut them. I thought that was actually really cool of him since he was supposed to have orders back in like November.

Currently we're just playing the waiting game when it comes to what to do next. Totally the Navy motto: hurry up and wait. Selling a house, waiting for paperwork, then the adventure of updating everything. 

Any one ever feel like adult life is just a series of paperwork?

When you can't stop crafting

I finally got my shipment of vinyl the other day, which really made me excited.  I've been waiting to make some decals for my friend to go with her baby's room and since the wedding is over, I now have time to focus on it.  I may have gone a little crazy in pinning all sorts of svg sites and files, and seeing what I can come up with.

The biggest thing I've learned is that assembling these guys takes a bit, but it's so much fun when you do.  I've got a dayplanner on order, and want to get that up and running when it gets here, so I'm these are my practice guys.

I made a few minions to add to things.  I haven't figured out where I'm going to put them yet, but they're too cute.  I sort of want to make more now.

I ordered a clear phone case so I can create my own case decals.  This is the first one I did.  I had a super cute giraffe case, but the corner broke on it.  This is supposed to be a tougher case, so hopefully it'll hold up long enough for me to be able to change out the decal a few times.  I have so many pinned, I don't know where to start!

And of course, puppies want in on it too!  I'm thinking I may try designing some cute military decals.  I'm not a fan of the ones that are out there now, as they seem so kitschy and overdone.  I'd like something that expresses us, and our personality.  I'm having a blast in playing with my Cricut, so I can't wait to play some more and figure out some tricks in how to create my own stuff from scratch.  There totally has to be a way, and I'm sure I'll find it.

So what's your favorite crafting sites, or crafts in general?  And if you're not a crafter, what are your favorites to look at?

Wedding Day

After Christmas there was definitely no down time for us.  The following day we met with our pastor, who is also a long time friend of mine.  He's known me since my preteen years, and has always been like a big brother to me.  Having him perform our ceremony was beyond special.  Anyway, we met with him to finalize the ceremony.

Saturday morning was pretty smooth.  I got up, ate some food, hung out some, taught my bff's mom how to crochet...nothing super crazy.  I'm not an easily stressed person, and definitely don't fluster easily.  I worked on my nails some, as I wanted to add some of my Jamberry accent nails to the manicure I had gotten the day before.  Finished my hair, makeup, and got ready.  My dress was a corset back, which always amuses me.  You totally have to have someone lace you up who is not going to be scared to pull tight.  Otherwise, you're not going to get the right support.  I got laced in and did not get nearly as personal as I had with my bff on her wedding day (either of them, actually, as there are two of them) which cracked me up.  The most recent one had a more form fitting dress, with a corset back.  I was way up her dress and a little close for comfort on that!  The one who laced me up had a more princess style dress, but helping her get her petticoat on was an adventure.  Needless to say, both have some great photos of me under their dresses!  What are besties for?

Anyway, we got on the road without any real drama.  The 405 freeway was of course its normal self.  The only real "dramatic" thing we had happen was my getting tire grease, or car dirt, something on my dress when getting out of the car.  My dress was tea length, and let me tell you, those were not tiny little streaks of black.  After some Google searching (thank you smart phones) we found that mild liquid soap and water gets just about anything out of satin.  Hello bathroom hand soap!

Luckily she got it all out, and you could barely tell that anything had gone awry.  The wedding was sweet, and intimate.  We didn't have more than 25 guests in attendance.  Afterwards we had a nice dinner, and then went for Karaoke.  We didn't want the traditional reception type thing, as that really isn't the type of people we are, and really, neither are most of our friends and family.  There wouldn't have been much dancing, so really it would have all gone to waste.  Karaoke was a blast, and every one participated at some point.  Even when we decided to bust out some Frozen songs!  All in all, it was a wonderful time, and I'm so glad we decided to do it the way we did.

The Holidays in a Nutshell

I'm glad to report that I survived the holidays, the full trip and the wedding.  We were able to get everything packed up and shipped off in time for the wedding, and in time to get everyone their Christmas gifts.  

Christmas was such a blur this year.  I know it happened, and I know that we had a great time.  But it all was kind of this thing where we blurred through it and then it was wedding time.  Christmas eve we spent with my best friend's family (who we were also staying with for this trip).  These people mean more to me than I can ever say.  These are the people who came out to see me for my bootcamp graduation when my actual parents did not.  Being able to spend a holiday with them was amazing.  So much fun and so much love was in that day.  There wasn't awkwardness, no one complained, and there was tons of smiles.  Christmas day we spent with the about to be in laws.  Super low key, and really nice.  I think one of the biggest reasons why the holiday passed in a blink is because there wasn't anything that stood out, just lots of happy.

Saturday was wedding day, which I feel deserves its own post.  There were of course a couple of "what the heck" moments, but nothing completely terrible and another great day of family coming together.  The day was beautiful, the food was good, and lots of fun was had by all.

We made it home with little trouble.  There was a scary moment with the cab driver that was super excitable, so much that we requested a new cab before even leaving the air port.  I've never seen a cab driver get so heated for no real reason.  It was scary.  But we were able to get home safely. 

Hope everyone had a safe and wonderful holiday season!  I'll fill in some of the trip later on.  Now that I'm able to sit down and take a moment, I can get back on track!