10 years

Matt and I went to Ireland for our 10th wedding anniversary.  it's hard to believe it's been 10 years, but it also feels about right.  what's more difficult to wrap my head around is I'm no longer a 20-something.  I think that's more of a "what?!" for me than how long we've been married.

2004

when I look at our wedding photos I always think we look so young.  I think that's because we were ;)  I was about a week shy of 20.

2009

I think the first 5 years were the hardest - definitely seemed like the longest - but we got over ourselves and got serious about having kids (I was the foot-dragger) and it's just sorta zipped by since then.

On our way!

anyway, back to our trip.  we flew to Boston, grabbed some seafood (I don't remember the name of the place but I got a lobster roll that was very fresh), and dessert from Mike's Pastry (Boston Cream pie... Matt liked it, but I thought it could use more chocolate), then flew to Dublin - longest. freakin'. day.

Dunboyne Castle

our first castle was Dunboyne Castle.  the castle was mostly a big room (that we weren't allowed to go into), and the rest of the hotel was added on around it, so it was more like a swanky hotel than a castle-castle, but the garden area with walking paths were really pretty.  we grabbed dinner at a really good place in town called The Mint Leaf and then crashed in our room.

Glenlo Abbey

View out from our window

Glenlo Abbey was our 2nd stop.  this one looked more like what I was expecting, but still felt like a modern hotel because of the add on, but the view from our back window was pretty cool.

Matt at the Guinness gates

we went to the Guinness Storehouse, then rode a horse drawn carriage around the block.  I think the kids driving weren't much older than 10-12 tops!  they maneuvered the tiny crowded roads very well, though.

 

Oak Cellar Bar

I think something I liked most about the trip was going down to the castle's pubs and eating dinner.

Kayak Polo

we went to Galway City Museum and then walked around the shops for a little while.  we stopped to watch some Kayak Polo that was going on in Eglington Canal.  locals and tourists were stopping in and sitting in the grass to watch the playoffs - it was pretty cool.

Craigboy "beach"

Matt wanted to find a beach to walk on, so we drove on some tiny, winding roads and found some water, a bunch of rocks and a small patch of grey sand.  Matt waded in the freezing water and I climbed the rocks looking for shells and small rocks.

Lough Eske

I think our 3rd castle, Lough Eske, was my favorite.  I liked their room best and the garden outside our door was lovely.

lots of pretty flowers, some varieties I've never seen.  Matt picked a pom-pom looking flower for me that was pretty much growing everywhere there.  it was in peoples yards and just growing wild along the roads.

Slieve League Cliffs

we went to Slieve League and climbed up the mountain.  I wasn't really expecting to like that, but in spite of the biting wind, I had a good time.  it was very beautiful.

Fintra Bay

on our way back from the cliffs, we stopped at an actual beach, Fintra Bay.  Matt said the water was pretty cold there, too - crazy weirdo!  they had these huge jagged rocks in the middle of the beach that were encrusted with clams and other stuff.  it was very interesting to look at.

when we left Lough Eske we found a lake hidden in the trees within walking distance of the castle that we could have gone to see earlier, oh well.  we got some quick pictures on our way out.

Cabra Castle

Cabra Castle was very cool.  it had a Victorian feel to it - I felt like we were staying in one of the historical homes we tour in Galveston.  we were on the 3rd floor overlooking the West Wing, and it was all stairs to our room.

they have two giant horse-dogs that roam around downstairs and on the golf course.  one of them is very friendly and will stop and let you pet him.  I almost got him to follow us around the golf course, but it was like he knew where he was supposed to stay.

Ames Boston Hotel

we flew to Boston on my birthday and stayed overnight at the Ames, got some dinner (we'd been craving pizza, but it was so hard to find for some reason) and dessert (Mike's Pastry again - German Chocolate Cake - so good!).  the next morning we walked around in the rain and did a little shopping for the boys, and then flew home.

2014

I'm so glad God blessed me with the perfect man for me - I'm looking forward to our next big anniversary, and the days when the time before we were together seems so short compared to how long we've been in love.

painted tote

the boys helped me paint a canvas tote to give to Nana for Mother's Day.  they loved making it, and it was fun to do with them.  Leo was so cute while we were making the flowers, too.  after each fingerprint he'd say "it's so pretty!"

we did fingerprint flowers and footprint butterflies on one side, and I wrote their names and ages underneath their heels.  I used two paint colors together on each fingerprint to give the flowers more interest, which is easiest to see on the orange/red one in this pic, but it really made the bluebonnets pop.

I wanted to duplicate the same scene on the other side, but the boys ran out of steam so we just did some handprints on the two front pockets surrounded by a few flowers, and I doodled the rest to fill in some.  I really want to make myself one, so maybe I can get around to that before they get too big!

micro macrame

I saw some really cool micro macrame on Knot Just Macrame that was beautiful!  I could only ever wish to make stuff that nice.  I had recently seen a video on a leaf friendship bracelet and thought I'd try to add beads to it and see how it went.

I had to mess around with it, but I finally worked out a color and bead pattern that looked like what I was going for, and once I figured out the first one the second one was easier to put together.

these were fun to make, and I like how they turned out.  I wish I had more time for more of all the things I've been doing lately!  I'd really like to make some more of these... maybe I'll move this to the top of my when-I-have-nothing-to-do list ;)

foot frints stool

Leo and Jack helped paint a step stool for my mom for Mother's Day.  they really liked painting, and it wasn't as messy as I thought it might be.

it rained the day I needed to get this done, so I spread out a disposable table cloth left over from a party onto the kitchen floor.  I let Leo do most of the painting because he had more patience for it than Jack did.  they held the brush and I helped dip it into the paint so I could control the amount they were putting on.

we did each color as a layer, so Leo started with a green base coat, switched to a smaller brush and did blue, then Jack did a little purple, and Leo finished it off with some gold.  I did their foot frints (this is how Leo says it right now) and edges in black.

they both loved the foot painting part and they were very cooperative, which I was not expecting, so I think I'll try some other painting projects with them this summer.

Mother's Day 2014

we went to Matt's mom's house this Mother's Day for a cookout.

the boys ate too many Cheetos, pulled out every toy their Grandma has, and played in the sandbox until they were thoroughly gritty.

 

 

 

 

Leo played badminton for the first time, and he did pretty well!

 

 

the boys weren't too agreeable to sit long enough to take pictures, but I think these that I happened to catch at just the right moment are my favorites - they remind me of pictures I have with my dad and Grandpa Gene.

 It was a great Mother's Day :)

crazy quilt

I was asked to make a quilt with a bunch of random fabric for a charity sewing group I'm in, so I thought the best way to make all the fabric work together and use up as many scraps as I could was to make it totally unorganized and mismatched - I even turned some of the fabrics the wrong side up - I know, I went a little crazy on my crazy quilt!  I love how I could just throw stuff together and really didn't have to worry about anything except making straight cuts.  I even staggered the rows so I didn't have to match the blocks up O:)

I did some free motion quilting with my new darning foot and just doodled away with a multi-colored thread.  it really popped against the black sashing and really tied the blocks together.  this took a while, but it also went kinda quick because I enjoyed doing it - it passed the time, and the more I did the more inspired I was to finish.

I don't know if I could do one like this every month, but sewing for the past couple of weeks has made me want to sew some more between the crocheting I've been doing for the group.  I saw a video for quilting as you go that I really wanna try next time!

eternal waves

I made myself some friendship bracelets (I just realized that sounds pretty sad as I was typing!) since the bracelets I made 8-9 years ago in Mexico that I'd been wearing every summer since had seen better days.

after I finished off the boys bracelets, I still wanted to make more so I tried this pattern from friendship-bracelets.net that looked interesting and doable.

I made one to go with a top I wore on Easter.  I thought the colors went good with the blouse, and they looked good in my head, but when I started making it I had to convince myself to continue because I wanted to abandon it partway through!  I don't know what I don't like about it, but this one just wasn't what I had in mind.  I do like the button closure (even though it's not the button I wanted to use) and the two braided, tassel-like tails that hang down were probably my favorite part.

I tried the pattern again with just one color and I liked it a lot better.  I also was able to use the button that I originally wanted to use for my first one on the second, so that worked out.  I added some beads this time to give it a little extra something.  I probably should have added more but I thought I'd just see how it went first.

the pattern comes out really cool, but I thought it was a little difficult to keep the tension the same throughout the bracelet to make sure all the outer threads looked the same, and it didn't curve to one side.  I think adding more beads to those threads might make it look better, but I'm still happy with how they came out.

friendship bracelets 2014

the weather had been going back and forth from cold to hot so I wasn't thinking about bracelets for the boys until a friend of mine sent me a picture of all these bracelets she's been making.  I felt so behind!  it took me two weeks to finish all 6 of mine (why did I decide they need 3 each??) but I got it done.

I was looking for some interesting new pattern ideas and I really liked this rainbow zig zag... then I realized I did that one already year before last in yellow and black!  with gradient colors it gives it a different look so I did it again, anyway.

Scarlet King Snake colors/pattern (red on black, friend to Jack) is a must now so I did some framed chevrons to represent snakes - I think these are my favorite.

I did each of their names in gradient colors with some accent triangles for a tribal sorta feel.

when I gave Leo his first bracelet he wore it for a little bit and then asked me to take it off :(  I was pretty bummed, but he came around and asked for it again later.  every time I had a new one to put on them they both held out their arms and patiently waited for me to tie them on, then went back to playing.  I would love to still be making friendship bracelets for them years down the road, but I know one day it'll come to an end when they decide they're too cool for mom's dorky crafts, so I'm glad they are willing to wear them for now!

another flip flop project

last October my mom and I worked on some flip flops for our vacation craft, and I just finished mine over the weekend!  that's how far down on my to-do list completing them was.

I watched this video (it's not in English, but you can see what's being done) and thought it looked easy enough that my mom and I could tackle it in a few days (well, she was able to!).

it's a basic macrame knot around the straps, with beads strung on one of the ribbons.  I used the thinnest ribbon they had at the craft store, 6/0 seed beads, some polymer clay beads I made forever and a day ago, and the middle beads at the toe were just flat glass beads.

if I'm lucky, I'll be able to do another pair this summer, but I really wish I had the time to make a pair like Luis Quintero - I love watching him macrame sandals, even if I have no idea what he's saying!