Who needs Pottery Barn when you've got ME! (she: Steph)

(This post was featured on "Or So She Says" and KSL's Studio 5)

My name is Stephanie,

but you can call me Steph. 'cause we're tight like that, I can already tell!

I am married to the most wonderful man in the world...and sorry ladies, I sleep with one eye open so don't even think about it. And I have two beautiful children that light up my life!

I’ve known Jessica since she and her family entered into my childhood on Faurot Drive back in 1991.Thank you Jessica, for thinking I’m “witty” enough to be a guest contributor. However, that is one thing I’ve never been accused of so yay!

So here it is:

We all know money doesn’t grow on trees…esp these days. Right? So, in my quest to pursue all things awesomely cute, I discovered a piece of art from Pottery Barn that made me just tingly all over. Okay, you caught me...pretty much everything from that devil of a place makes me turn green...BAD!

So, since I didn’t want to fork out $216.50, I forked out $13.50. yay!

Here is what you will need:

Here are some optional touches you may add:

Step 1: Choose your buttons and colors. I color-coordinated my buttons but you don’t need to! I’ve seen it done both ways and the product is cute either way.

Step 2: Paint Canvas (if you choose to do so)

I chose my base color, then chose a 2^nd color super close to the base shade to give it just a subtle faux finish.

Step 3: Once paint is completely dry, spread your buttons out on canvas.

(sorry 'bout lame pics...having trouble figuring out the color issues on my camera)

Start playing with the shape and arranging how you want it to look.
I started with the right side, working top to bottom, so I could then just mirror what I had done when I got to the left side.

Measure canvas to make sure everything is where you want it to be symmetrically.

Step 4: Begin Gluing.

I used Tacky glue. My friend used Elmer's school glue...I just don't know the life span of the school glue and I thought the tacky glue would last longer.

Don't worry about a little extra glue seeping out from the sides or through the center holes... here's what before and after looks like justsoyano.

Immediately after glue ... 12 hours after

Too much glue

This step is where your tweezers will come in handy!

Let dry.
Add any extra touches you want to make it your fabulous sparkly goodness of art!
This is where I added dabs of glitter glue on antenna buttons.

Now hang it in your little girl's room and ENJOY!

Check It

Here's my Post..click it:
Butterfly Art

Why I'm Happy Today...

I thought I'd begin a new tradition in my blogging journal where every Sunday I'll just jot down a few reasons why I am thankful.

I can't say I came up with this idea on my own...
wish I could.
But, I got the gist of the idea from my bloggy friend Busy Bee Lauren...
she's freakin' hilarious!
Well, okay, she really doesn't know she's my new BFF.
Buuuuuuuuuuuut that's okay. She'll come around :)

This way, I figure I will be forced to have some positive reflection time in the midst of all my woes and worries about the state of our world since, my predictions about the end of the world seem to be coming true.
(okay, not really...)

So here they are:
1. My husband's bum in all it's glorious juciness. It makes me laugh! Esp when it dances for me! Yes, it dances for me separate from Luke.

Weird...I know

2. My violin playing skills...not because I'm good, because I'm not. Its an outlet for me.
Thanks Mom!
3. The abundance of such yummy food that the Lord keeps providing for us.

Brrrrrrrrrr

Ever wonder how you should dress for bed when you have a 70s-style fire-hazard that's a piece of poop for a heater?

First you take a hot bath to warm you thru 'n thru in preparation for your naked run through the house, which inevitably follows because you forgot to bring your clothes with you.

Layer 1: Diaper,
Depends, OR (my Fave) "Oops I Crapped My Pants"
Layer 2: Tights,
leggings,
spandex,
long-johns,
lederhosen,
tight-rolled jeans,
whatever will fit snuggly under the next 2 layers

As you can see, she loves hers.

Layer 3: Favorite pajamas, preferably tight enough to see your chubbylicious rolls so your caretaker can chase you around all night pinching and squeezing the cuteness out of 'em.

Layer 4: Fleece Pajamas
OR
Fleece Jacket & Pant combo as Luke prefers to do.
He thinks he's on to something...we'll just let him think what a fashion icon he IS :)

Layer 5: Hilarious looking fleece blanket-bag-thingy.
OR
your Snuggie...'cause you know you have one.

TAH DAH...
TUH DA...
TA DA...
TAH DUH...
WHATEVER
...backoff, I was homeschooled!

Recipe for W.T.

One Dirty Sock?
check
Haircut that looks like a Flowbee got the better of him?
check
Drink in need of a Koozie?
check
No Pants?
check
Blurry lense with drab lighting and a random baby?
check

White Triznash all the way baby!~:)

WAIT ...

Jane Fonda, come back! 1980 called and they want us back.

Minus all the wires...

Isn't this the best view ever!?!

I Feel The Baby Kicking!

Just Kidding.

It's just gas.

But it feels like it.

I had ya for a sec, didn't I!?!

p.s. that picture is kinda creepy

Thanks, Becky...

at least , I think I was the "Steph" you tagged. I'm just gonna go ahead and assume that I'm not self-centered and it was me. :)

Here are the rules for the Honest Scrap award -

The honorees are to:
A) first list 10 honest things about yourself - and make it interesting, even if you have to dig deep!
B) pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you feel embody the spirit of the Honest Scrap.

So here go my 10 honest things.
1. I have given one of my sisters a black eye...by punching her...accidentally. Oh, I know what you're going to say....but it was so unsatisfying at the time (sorry, Cyd) that had I given her what she deserved and what I wanted, I prob would have given her a broken nose too. I'm really not a violent person, swear :)

2. My husband and I had only spent about 6 weeks of face time together before we married. (we met on internet and lived in different cities, and he deployed while we were engaged. Making our engagement 7 months and our knowing eachother 18months)

3. Since having children, skipping church has become such a real temptation and luxuriously therapeutic escape when I succumb to it.

4. I detest showers! Or the act of getting clean and primped. Oh! it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. not really. But really, I'm dreading my next hair day....tomorrow. With the act of showering, shaving (if you're lucky), blow-drying, and straightening, and then possibly make-up, it becomes a 2hr chore! I used to love the act of primping....back when I was child-less and felt like the primping could make me sexy. I have my hair days down to 2 a week now.

5. Luke introduced me to true, real love. One of the first times I realized he was fur realz, was when he discreetly told me to smile, gave my tooth a quick swipe with his pinkie-nail, and said "I got it. You had a little piece of food..."
Knowing me, it was a huge piece of spinach or tortilla chip.

6. I'm scared of too much success. I'm not sure why certain levels of success scare me deep-down but I think I sabotage myself when I get scared of being too successful. (i.e. after working for so long to "make it" in the modeling world, I was offered a gig with MiuMiu and Seventeen, among others, and instead flew home from Milan and ate myself into chubby)
I need therapy.

7. I pass gas. And I think I may suffer from narcissism.

8. I can't imagine life without Luke...I'm a mess when he's on deployments and I'll oft use the excuse of songs to cry (songs like Toby Keith's American Soldier) out my fears/frustrations. I don't like that there is a higher price on his head than most. But I know that he is a born soldier and would be happier fighting for his family and country, than sitting at home, letting his "brothers" fight for him.

9. I (this is what makes me think I've got narcissistic tendencies) get more worried thinking about myself dying than Luke. Nobody can love my children like I do. And I wouldn't expect Luke to not re-marry, so I can't help but think about how they might be raised with anything less than my love.

10. Out of everything in the world....I think children behaving "badly" stress me out more than anything. weird. My heart starts beating faster, sometimes I sweat in places that I didn't know you could, and if the kids are really lucky, I'll turn red.


Now I am giving the honest award to:
Shauna H. (as if there's another in my life)
Diane B.
Leah V.
Jessica S.
Megan D.
Desiree V.
Nicole S.

MY spaghetti sauce could beat up YOUR spaghetti sauce...

For those of you that can't identify all of the ingredients in the picture because you don't have mad chef skills like myself pshyeah, up until last year, I had no idea what a Leek even was. So don't worry yourself, there is still time to reach my level of superiority in the kitchen.
they are:
1. Parsley
2. Garlic
3. Bell Pepper why "Bell?" anybody?
4. Eggplant
5. Basil
6. Leek
7. Tomatoes after they were pureed
8. Zucchini
9. Carrots
10. Lentils
11. Onion
That's...count them... 11 vegetables in my "Hide the Vegetables from the Toddlers Sauce" And it is OH-SO-YUMMY!!! Luke even loves it. Oh, and the finishing touch is Mascarpone cheese.

Cinque y Dieci

5 and 10

10 years ago: January of 1999, yikes, I was studying at ASU and about to lose my status on Deans Honor roll. Oh, and how could I forget. I was serving (or apologizing for spilling trays of drinks on customers) at my first restaurant Macayo's.

5 years ago: January of 2004, I was a freshly made house-frau of 2 months. Probably sulking somewhere in the corner of our 500sq ft. apt. because I had no friends, no car, no job, no family, and it was gloomy in Coronado. And we all know how I need my "happy" places.

5 months ago: I was unpacking and celebrating Porter's 2nd birthday with Daphy-doo.

5 things on my list of things to do tomorrow:
1. Figure out why little Cholo still hasn't received her social security card...I know she looks like she's a little alien, but she's legal, I swear.
2. Change Porter's inevitable big bertha diaper.
3. Work my saggy but out
4. Brush my teeth and put my bra on (drag)
5. Enjoy Luke's day off

5 bad habits:
1. Eating when bored
2. Eating when lonely
3. Eating when stressed
4. Complaining about eating too much
5. Not learning from my weaknesses

5 places I've lived:
1. Florida
2. Boston
3. Italy
4. Arizona
5. China

5 things people don't know about me:
1. I met my hot hubinskies on a dating website. Yes, that's right...I paid a magical internet fairy to help me
2. I was a snowboard instructor at Park City Mountain Resort
3. I'm gonna be the next big hip-hop dancer. You can start calling me S-2-da-tizzle anytime. Fo shizzle
4. I have baaaaaaaaaaaad eyesight but refuse to wear contacts
5. I used to be so in-shape that I'd workout with some of the men's AZ rugby team doing strong-man competition training...can't tell anymore (sigh)

I will now tag:
1. Daphne
2. Ally - because you need an update...bad
3. Jen H.
4. Emily L.
5. Shannon J.

MLK Day

...not to be mistaken with "Milk Day" of course. Whatever that is.

Train ride through the Redwoods


what can I say

Little scrumptious Cholo adopted from Mexico.

Twilight anyone?

She told me she has found her calling in life...I support it.

No, the trees aren't really blurry, you've had one too many drinkies

Fun, gorgeous day!

Ahhhhhhhhhhh.....

MUCH better!

Look, you can actually see all the yummy nutritious goodness this time! And it's not stuck to the bottom of the pot, either! Yippee!

Beans, Beans, the not-so-magical-fruit

I was going to make a tasty 15-bean cajun soup with chicken sausage, tomatoes, onion, lemon juice and garlic. Made it before. Had to be careful when and where I ate it, though, as you can imagine. Was looking forward to eating this highly nutritious, organic, fiberous, protein-rich goodness and then storing the rest as back-up for those nights I feel like being more lazy than I already am.

Uhhhhhh....what the BLAZES happened?!

As my best friend Napoleon would say, "Gosh!"
What will have to soak over night:

So I made this instead:

And ate this:

same nutritional value, right?

Martha Stewart's Apprentice

'Cause that's what I am!

Not really...but I wish.
Well, not really again.

But, I have felt like I am on my way to being the next Martha. Perhaps I could be called Martha-Stewfer. Did you know Luke knew (dated, to be more exact) a mother-daughter combo named "Martha-Lu" and "Martha-Sue?" Ya, he did, and no, he only dated the product of Martha-Lu. But how funny would that have been had he dated both.

This new 9month adventure, at first, threw me for a loop. I didn't know what to do with myself. "WHAT!?! NO Pottery Barn Kids??? {oh, the outrage} AND NO Gap Kids??? {Haauh? Blaspheme!}" So I was forced to start being crafty...much to my chagrin of course. But now, I am so proud of what I never thought I could do. Yes, I'm being prideful. The exact thing I was trying to help my husband overcome by posting his fabulously groovy dance moves for all to enjoy. Looky at the stuff I've made with my two stubby little hands:

Tutus

My very first quilt- a Rag Quilt 60"x80" -wanted to keep it but gifted it

Antique Pillow case Dress

Tiles for Christmas gifts



Can you tell one of my biggest "Love Languages" is "Words of Affirmation" ?? Ya, poor Luke, I'm always seeking out the all-too-elusive-for-me-pat-on-the-back "Honey, I brushed my hair today. AND I'm wearing a bra!" So really, I'm not being prideful :)

Snyder's Anyone?

Oh wait.
I ate them ALL.
Yes, the entire bag.
And when I complained about my tummy hurting, Luke says
"Do you have a problem with sitting down and eating the entire contents of bags? I've noticed a trend.

Geez. No sympathy?

It's not like I have control over my addictive personality gene.

And contrary to this picture, which was the only one I could find, I did NOT eat a 12pack. Not that that makes my fattyfatfatness disappear.

"Toy Story" Song

To enjoy Porter's composition you must first sit through a preview entitled "Afton's first Zweiback Encounter"


**Notice how the pack-'n-play keeps moving around the room from picture to picture? Yeah, we still haven't found a spot for Afton. We bought a hammock and are thinking about hanging it from the ceiling so we have more room. settle down, you safety freaks :)

Ward Christmas Party

So, As you can see, I am not one to blog on my vacations. I hate those of you who are. Not really, just jealous and agitated that you have to set the bar so high for those of us that are competitive but not competitive enough to blog while vacationing. (You know who you are) So, for what it's worth, here are some Christmas photos...they may come in spurts, they may not. Guess you'll just have to keep checking back to find out. Love ya!

Afton was only interested in his beard. Santa wanted to keep her. Porter was a little weirded out, but not bad for a typical 2yro. Way too difficult to try to get a good picture....you'll have to imagine.

The moment before I realized my accompaniment was not only partially blind, but deaf too.

Cheesters

My little fashionista...often imitated, never duplicated, always accessorized!
...oh lookylu! there's my accompanist!