My life lately

I've noticed that since I got my iPhone that I take pictures pretty much daily just like I used to. I mean, I love my SLR, but it usually seems like too much hassle to pull out to take pictures of everyday, and I'm usually afraid to go just anywhere with it, because I'm afraid of it getting broken or stolen. But since my phone is always with me, and it takes really great pictures (for a phone), I'm once again enjoying capturing the little things of life. So here are some glimpses into my life through iPhone pictures.

Me and my friend Carolyn at her bridal shower last Tuesday. I so wish I could make it to her wedding, but it'll be all the way in Pennsylvania! *sighs*

My post on Facebook the day before Valentine's. I truly had a great day too with my siblings. :)

My yummy breakfast for Valentine's included coffee with marshmallows, biscuits and honey with a fried egg. Mm-mm! 

This was while we were trying to play a board game. Matthew climbed on Mark's shoulders all by himself. Here's Mark trying to look mad. ;) 

mint sweatshirt, bubble necklace-both $3 at Cato, mint hoop earrings-part of a set at Charming Charlie's, pink undershirt-given to me, jean skirt-$3 at a thrift store in Florida, nude flats- $20? at Payless. 

teal tee, royal blue undershirt, flip flops, and polka dot scarf - all from Walmart for $2 each, hair flower and initial necklace- gifts from friends, jean skirt- $3 from thrift store, earrings- $2 from Goodwill. 

scarf- given to me, from Cato, bracelet- made by me, earrings- part of a set from Charming Charlie's.

peach shirt- gift, $5 from Walmart, jean skirt- $5 from Goodwill, mint undershirt (not shown) - $2 from Walmart.

blue tee, black crop jacket- at Cato (long time ago?? Not sure of the prices), skirt- $6 from Clothes Mentor, a thrift shop, zebra necklace- made by me.

Another great thing about my iPhone is how much easier it is to take outfit pics and upload them so I can use them on here or on Modern Modesty. I know, I almost sound like I could do an advertisement for Apple! ;)

This was the weather we had today. Yes, you have permission to be jealous. ;) I was so excited to see the warmer temps again that I pulled out my short sleeve tee and flip flops to go grocery shopping ( I was wearing the outfit with the polka dot scarf today.) 

And this amazing stuff is what I'm going to be attempting to make tomorrow morning. Praying that it comes out ok and I don't waste anything. 

What have you been up to? 

Catching up {Post 1}

Well, obviously lots of stuff happened in 3 weeks. Which means quite a bit of catching ya'll up. It might even take 3 or so posts. So here's the first. :)

1. In the first week, my dog Sarah died.

I decided to go ahead and get out my saddest news from the past 3 weeks.

I won't tell you how she died, except that she had an awesome last week of life that any dog could have. She was reunited with her original owner who spent a lot of time with her in that last week. I cried of course, but I'm kinda glad that I wasn't there. Because I know I would've fell apart. I know a lot of people have something against pitt bulls. She was part pitt, but the only time it showed through was when she became protective of someone she loved. She was sweet, loyal, clumsy, and a wonderful companion.

I miss you, Sarah.

2. I got a Kindle.

It's a Kindle keyboard, and even though it may not be the latest and greatest, I love it. It fits my needs, and that's all I asked for. I wanted a small device that carried a lot of books. I really liked the

e-ink idea, because I read outside or in the car a lot. So for me it's perfect.

3. I made a jewelry hanger.

I had been seeing cool personal jewelry displays on Pinterest, and got the urge to make one. Something I could see all my jewelry on while picking out an outfit. I had a list of supplies I needed, then decided to do the frugal thing, and use only things I found around the house!

The supplies I used were:

an extra shelf that came from a bookshelf that wasn't being used.

a dowel rod that has been sitting in my closet for years.

wire hangers

nails from my dad's tool box

paint that was sitting in the shed.

a frame that's been sitting in my mom's closet unused.

lace my Granny gave me years ago.

Here are the results.

Here's a few lessons I learned.

Paint your pieces AFTER you make all your cuts. Don't think you're a good enough carpenter to not mess up the paint.

Have a strong guy (dad, brother, etc.) to cut the wire hangers and do any sawing. It's harder then it looks, and you will probably end up hurting yourself, like I did. (i.e. dropping the saw on your bare foot.)

Start your project in the morning. Not around dinner time when you have to keep stopping, then end up in a rush to finish before bedtime. Take two days if you must. Trust me.

Over all, I had a blast doing it, and got a lot of laughs from my family.

I was free entertainment. ;)

4. Mark's birthday

Here's the birthday boy with his cake. This thing had to be pure sugar. It was a chocolate chip cookie with chocolate icing and sprinkles on top. But he loved it.

I still can't believe that my little brother's 13. I remember when he was born.

Oh, and he's now looking me eye to eye. ;)

We ate at his (and my) favorite restaurant, Jonny Carino's. It was awesome. :)

 

Well, I'll leave the rest for my next catching up post.

 

I'll be talking about my Bible College, Kart Ranch, some jewelry I've made recently, and some more about Camp Liberty.

 

Until then, Adios!

The girl that didn't bake.

There once was a girl that didn't bake. She never really cared for sweets, and her mom never baked, so she never learned. 

But once when the girl was at a youth camp, she was forced to bake. She was given a simple job, mashing bananas for banana nut muffins. After a time of hard work, the girl was discouraged that the bananas were not mashing. She talked to her counselor, and explained her problem. The wise lady counselor tried to hold back laughter as the naive girl demonstrated the way she had been trying to mash the bananas. In a calm way, the lady showed the girl her mistake. She had been stabbing with her fork at the bananas rather than mashing them. The girl then volunteered to wash the dishes for the rest of the baking session. She knew she couldn't ruin that. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, the girl in the story decided to learn how to bake. So today, she baked her first batch of cupcakes. Here is the results.

Everyone loved them, and now there are barely any cupcakes left.

In case you're wondering, yes, I am that girl in the story.

If you're thinking these don't look like the normal cupcakes, you're right. My Mawmaw taught me that using pudding rather than icing is not only healthier, but won't make people sick like icing can. It cuts the pure sugar taste, and adds a really good flavor. 

Plus, you have regular pudding left as an extra dessert.

I also made vanilla cupcakes and vanilla pudding, but I didn't get pictures of those. 

So have you ever tried or heard of using pudding instead of icing?