Becoming Martha Stewart

Learning New Things

2011-10-02T00:50:00.005-04:00

In the last three days I decided to try to make a couple of things I haven't made before. I made slippers for Duncan out of some of his old fleece PJs. I used the darling diapers mini mocs pattern.

He put them on first thing this morning and walked all over the house just staring at them. He liked how the non-skid bottoms sound on the hard floors. He kept them on all morning and I would see him look down at them and smile every now and then :) Now I need to make a pair for Audrey. She was quite jealous.

I also looked up how to make baby leg warmers. It was so fun I ended up making 6 pairs!!

I made some of them shorter because I thought that they would be better for an itty bitty baby, but now that I'm looking at the long ones, I'm not so sure. I think I'll make more long ones and just let her grow into them :) The fuzzy ones were hard to work with, but I love the finished product!!

O and I also discovered what happens when you serge a pin. Yikes! I broke my knife! The whole top knife broke off and went flying over my shoulder. I don't have any replacements on hand so my overlocker is now out of commission until I get some :(

Itty Bitty Fluff!

2011-09-25T23:19:00.002-04:00

It's so tiny and squishy!!

O NO! I'm Going GREEEEN!

2011-09-19T22:35:00.006-04:00

It all started about 1.5 years ago. I was sitting at work and my friend who sat next to me started researching cloth diapering. I was soon interested as well. The amount of information was immense, and I soon found myself overwhelmed. Cloth diapers have come a long way since the time of diaper pins and rubber pants. There are all kinds of cloth diapers out there now from your basic prefolds with a cover to waterproof all-in ones. I decided it was too late for me to cloth diaper Audrey and actually save money so I quit thinking about it for a while. Well now that I'm pregnant again I've decided I'm going to cloth diaper this baby. While researching all of the different types of diapers out there (again), I came to the realization that I could just make them. I am thoroughly enjoying myself as I learn! I started out using scrap fabric and old T-shirts and after making a few different types, I decided all-in-twos (AI2s) are what's going to work for me. They are basically a diaper with removable inserts (the absorbable parts are called inserts). This way they resemble disposable diapers enough that the hubbs will be able to use them without having to take a class first (read: He'll actually do it). My first few attempts went all right, but weren't all that cute due to the fabric I was using. Then I made this one:

It's a cotton outer with hidden PUL (waterproof fabric) and pink minky dot on the inside. Audrey only wears diapers when she sleeps now so my testing opportunities are limited (I wasn't ready to potty train!). When I went in to get her this morning she was wearing it and she told me, "It's comfortable!" Of course she jarbled the word all up. It was real cute and made me feel good. She's never told me a disposable diaper was comfy!

I also made a wetbag tonight:

I like how it turned out. Next time I'll make the handle shorter. It was my first time sewing a zipper. I don't think I did so bad.

So now I just need to sew a whole stash of newborn and one size diapers!

Hmmmmmmm

2011-07-01T23:39:00.002-04:00

That's the sound of me thinking (No it doesn't hurt. Okay maybe a little). I've been thinking about revamping my blog and you know, actually blogging. I started out thinking my transition to being a domestic diva would be fun and exciting and possibly entertaining. Turns out it's not as action packed as I thought. It's not boring in and of itself, it's just that I got bored writing about it. I want to write about other stuff too. At least I'm thinking about writing about other stuff too. I am currently in the process of revamping my life and I keep finding myself wishing I was writing stuff down. Anyways, I've started thinking this may possibly be the place I could do it (like all the qualifiers?). No matter what though I'm going to find that damn summer pot roast recipe I posted about years ago b/c that's the only traffic I get to this here blog, and I don't want to disappoint anymore pot roast recipe Googlers. Good day.

Finger fat

2010-10-13T02:07:00.005-04:00

I haven't blogged in a while, I know. However, something has been eating at me and I need to get it off of my chest. How the hell do you lose weight in your fingers? I haven't been able to wear my wedding ring since I was 5 months pregnant with Audrey. That's almost 2 years! I'm down to my pre-Audrey weight, but no-go on the ring. Does anyone know if they offer lipo for fingers?

Are there little finger exercises I can do? What gives? And because a post without pictures is boring, here's one:

Updates Galore!!!

2010-07-14T23:10:00.006-04:00

Well, there is so much to catch up on! Two weeks ago, I took the kids camping at Mammoth Cave by myself. Well we met some of my family down there, but Brett couldn't come. My Aunt and her 3 kids camped next to us. We were tent camping without electricity on what happened to be the hottest week of the year so far. Let's just say it was sweaty. There is a lot to do near Mammoth Cave, and we went to Dinosaur World first. Duncan had a blast!

This is my Aunt Jen holding Audrey. She just loved holding a baby again (her youngest is four).

After I took this picture I realized Duncan is talking to the mammoth. I'm not sure what exactly he was saying, but they were buddies.

Here are all of the kiddos. Duncan had tons of fun playing with his cousins.

We also went caving. One day Duncan and I went on a short self-guided tour. The next day, we went on the two hour historical tour with everyone. Grandma Carol watched Audrey for me while we explored the cave. It was a long walk to the cave entrance, and Duncan decided he needed to take a break.

Once we neared the cave entrance, we could feel the cool air. It was so nice since it was in the mid-90s that day. It was ~54 degrees inside the cave.

Duncan though the cave was pretty cool.

On our way back to the campsite a deer was standing right next to the road. He came right up to the car. I guess people must feed them often.

Today we went to the Kenton County Fair. Duncan had a blast. He rode tons of rides. The Dragon Wagon was his favorite!

Audrey had fun pulling up on the gates and watching. She also liked pulling out handfuls of grass.

The fun slide was Duncan's favorite last year. This year it must have been really waxed because it was fast!!!!

While we were standing in line waiting for Duncan to ride one of the kiddy rides I heard Brett yell "Duncan!" I looked down and Duncan was standing there peeing! I panicked and just tried to stop it. That resulted in a handful of pee on my part. Oy. So I took him to the bathroom real quick and we stayed on the other side of the park for a while because I was so embarrassed. I don't care who you are, that's funny.

Miss Audrey is now 10 months old and is on the move! Here's a little video. Brett's in the background telling his mom about the pee incident at the fair. :P

As for me, I have some wonderful news. I gave my 6-7 week informal notice at work! That's right, August 31st is my last day of work...FOREVER!!! I'm going to be a stay-at-home mom! I am just so excited. I will be helping Brett out with our store a little bit, but not enough to actually say I work. I can't believe I'm actually going to get to do this! Ever since I informed my boss, I've felt like I am floating on a cloud. :)

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Ring Bearer

2010-04-28T22:19:00.003-04:00

That's what Duncan referred to himself as when we told him about being a ring bearer in cousin Angel's wedding. The wedding was this past weekend, and he was quite the handsome little man. He wore the tux Maemae and Popsie gave us last summer. It fit perfectly! Unfortunately my camera is acting funky, and I can't seem to take a good picture. :/ I did get one of all of us together.

I also snapped one of Duncan and the bride. Well, the bride's knee anyway.

I didn't get any pictures of him walking down the aisle b/c I recorded it!

I have finally unpacked my sewing machine (I know, it took me a year!), and I'm starting to sew again. While I was out buying machine oil I found some of the cutest fabric on clearance. It's cotton flannel which is perfect for receiving blankets. I bought enough to make a large blanket for each of the babes. I made Duncan's first because he seemed very excited about it.

While it's not perfect, I think it was a great first project.

Brett likes it too. :P

Do Over...

2010-04-27T17:46:00.003-04:00

Well, here I am again. I took a very long break from blogging (about a year!), but I'm back now. I went back to school and earned my degree. I've been working full-time as a geologist since, but I miss my family tremendously while I'm at work. I recently cut my hours to 32/week, and that has helped some. It has in fact, freed up enough time for me to start blogging again! Along with blogging, I'm starting to feel creative once more. So my goal with this blog hasn't changed much. While I'm not chronicling my attempt at becoming a housewife (yet anyways), I will be recording my attempt at juggling it all (kids, husband, and career) and some of the frustrations that can come with it (hopefully not too many). Soon to come.... Duncan the Ring Bearer!

Earth Day and Crafts

2010-04-17T22:49:00.003-04:00

I took Duncan and Audrey to Cincinnati's Earth Day event and we had tons of fun! I forgot my camera though so no pics :( I've started eating vegan to lose weight, and I haven't had meat or dairy since Monday night! I had the best vegan chicken wrap while I was there. We also bought some Grateful Grahams (vegan graham crackers), and I really liked them too. After dinner, I made a couple of hair bow holders my SIL Jessica posted on her blog. It didn't take very long, and they are super cute. I even made an extra one for my co-worker. I'm either going to hang it on the wall in her bedroom or on her armoire. Now I have a place to put all of her bows without losing them! Thanks Jess!

What a Productive Day!

2010-04-14T21:27:00.003-04:00

Today after work, we worked on our gardens. I was pregnant last growing season so I didn't get a lot of landscaping done. All I did last year was throw some annuals into this patch of garden in front of our front porch. Today, I planted evergreens. I planted Heller's Japanese Holly. The reason I picked this particular plant is because it was the only evergreen shrub at a reasonable price that requires only morning sun. I'm sure there are more out there, but they weren't at Lowe's. :) I'm going to plant some annuals in front of the shrubs, but I haven't yet decided which ones. I know it's definitely not going to be impatiens. Last year I planted a row of impatiens along the front border and the NEXT MORNING they were all gone. Only little twigs remained. Apparently deer think they are very yummy. I had no idea we even had deer until the case of the missing impatiens.

When I finished with my garden, Brett started on his. He has built a raised garden for veggies and herbs. He had two scoops of topsoil delivered today so he got busy carting it back to his garden. Duncan was happy to help with his little blue shovel.

Seeing my two guys hard at work was a photo opportunity too sweet to pass up. Actually, it was what inspired me to write this blog in the first place.

Audrey was happier playing inside where she could sit on the ground and play with her toys. I'm sure she'll enjoy gardening when she's more mobile. :)

Hey!!!!

2010-03-19T21:19:00.002-04:00

My blog is still here!! Well I have great news. Starting April 1st, I am cutting my hours down to 32/week. I am seriously considering revamping my blog.....

For Berkey

2009-04-12T21:54:00.004-04:00

Berkey, your comment on my pic made me feel all mushy inside. Here you go. It's the best I can do.

And this is just to show you my big 'ol belly (18 weeks today)!

:(

2009-04-01T06:57:00.003-04:00

So I would love to show everyone pictures of our new house and how it's coming along but our camera is lost!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I haven't been able to take a picture of Duncan in weeks! Even worse, I believe there were a whole bunch of pics on it that I didn't get a chance to upload.

Yay! We really are going to close on this house!

2009-03-17T14:09:00.001-04:00

And we're only three days away!!!!!

Progress On Our House

2009-01-24T21:52:00.004-05:00

okay so I lied

2008-12-23T00:05:00.008-05:00

I didn't get arond to posting pics of Duncan's B-day party. It went really well. He had 11 grandparents there!!! So here are some pictures of the party and some more recent ones too:

He's just like his daddy... when we used to have to go to a laundry mat, Brett would put my undies on his head while he was folding clothes!!
Broccoli...

and here is what our house looks like today!!!!

The outside...

This is looking in from the entryway.

Brett is standing in our formal living room.

This is our dinning room.

This is our kitchen.

This is my pantry! I'm so excited to have a pantry!!

These are the sliding doors in the bay window in our kitchen.

This is the wall of windows in our great room.

This is the other side of our great room.

This is the great room viewed from the hallway upstairs.

This is the master.

This is the hall bathroom.

This is the master bath.

Here is the basement. These are the sliding doors.
And this is my husband! He's contemplating the best placement for a pool table :)

Hi!!!

2008-11-07T23:45:00.004-05:00

Okay so since I've started school I have been completely neglecting my blog!! :( O well, come June I will have more time :) Anyway, here are some pictures of Duncan on Halloween and some other misc. pics. I will try to post some pics from his party tomorrow night, but please don't hold me to it!!!! ;)

Catching up....again

2008-08-21T22:30:00.010-04:00

So we went and got family pictures taken a little over a week ago. That was my first experience paying for professional pictures. Boy did I underestimate what we were going to spend! Or maybe it was that I overestimated my ability to say "No, I do not want that picture of my beautiful, sweet, cuddly child". O' man! I was completely unprepared. These types of things are what should be in the What to Expect books. Alright, anyway, I'll cut to the chase. Here are a couple of the pictures. The rest are here.

They are really low quality because the portrait studio would be down right silly to give me high quality electronic copies of all of the pictures :) Well we bought enough to share with all of the grandparents (They will be sent shortly, I promise). Since Duncan is so fortunate to have so many grandparents, we couldn't buy for aunts and uncles too. So all of you aunts and uncles, if you would like to purchase a sheet or two, get in touch with me before November 7th and I will tell you how. Edited to say that I believe we are going to purchase enough wallets to go around. Therefore the above statement applies to larger photos.

Duncan is so darn cute, huh? And recently, he has started to look like me.... well alright that might be stretching it. Look for yourself.

Can you see it? huh, can you??? He has curls!!!!! Yeah! He is my child!! (Please ignore the carrots)

I have been neglectful in thanking my SIL Jessica for the hairband I won on her blog. Thanks Jess! I like it a lot. It is really well made.

O yeah, Brett likes it too...

We went to Brett's cousin Amanda's wedding this past weekend. This is a picture of the father/ daughter dance:

Randy (Amanda's dad) cried here and when he gave her away. He was promptly kicked out of his fantasy football league.

A couple of days ago I discovered that Brett twitches if any of the kitchen cabinets are left open. So of course I have been making sure to keep them closed. He worked 16 hours today and will be home soon. I, being the wonderful, loving, caring wife that I am, have left him dinner in the fridge and on the counter. See:

Hehehehehehehehehehehehahahahaha! I can't wait! I'm so baaaaad!

Anyway, I better get upstairs before he gets here and the joke is ruined. I will leave you all with a few pictures I found when I unloaded my camera for the kitchen shots.

A turn of events...

2008-08-03T01:11:00.007-04:00

So I have bought more fabric for the curtains that I absolutely love. I actually sewed a whole panel tonight! Well minus the tabs of course. 1 down 2 more to go. I am not going to post pictures of my progress because I want the color to be a surprise. Brett doesn't seem to like it. I think he is having trouble picturing it as curtains. It is a bright color, but the sewing room is pretty dark, and I think the sun will filter through these curtains very nicely. I promise to keep you updated.

Tuesday night Brett started talking about going back to school, and I started getting all nostalgic. Before I knew it I had applied to Northern Kentucky University and was requesting my transcripts from UC! So it looks like both of us are school bound. I love school. I love geology. I love being a house wife. I love being a mom. If only there was a way I could be a stay-at-home mom and a geologist! I know this whole blog is about me learning how to be a housewife, but I feel like I need the degree. I am 2 maybe 3 semesters away from my degree. I feel like I will regret it if I don't do it now. Before I know it I will have more kids and it will be that much harder right?

Well it's late and I am tired (can you tell?) so I will leave you with this:

And because my FIL asked, here is the nugget playing ball:

Blog giveaway!

2008-07-29T20:33:00.004-04:00

My sister-in-law is having a giveaway on her blog!!! Check it out!

A house full of unfinished projects.

2008-07-27T22:24:00.009-04:00

Well, my quest to become the next Martha seems to have come to a halt. I started out with such large aspirations, but now I feel overwhelmed. I bet Martha never gets overwhelmed. She would probably tell me to stop whining and get to work huh? Whenever I get overwhelmed with a problem at work, I break it down into smaller pieces so I am better able to see what needs to be done. Here goes:
This is our guest bedroom. It is still full of all of the stuff that was downstairs when it flooded. Books fill an entire corner and cover the bed. Notice the tiny baby CPR dummies in the bottom left? Is it me or does a pile of naked babies on the futon seem a little weird? They are Duncan's friends. :) See the luggage? It is still not put away from our vacation in JUNE!! sigh...

Here is my sewing room (the former office/ catch all). (See my baby Gizzy hiding behind my "sewing table"?) This room is probably the one project I have come the closest to finishing. However, there is still more in the garage...

As you can see it is still not possible to park a car in here (DUH right?). We are going to throw the couch away as it got ruined in the flood. The key to finishing this project is finding the time to do it. Both of us have to be home and the baby will either have to be asleep (which means we have to do it quietly) or occupied (with a grandparent maybe???? hint hint hint) ;)

These are my curtains. If you remember, this project got side tracked when I found out I didn't buy enough material. So now I've decided that I am going to find some more material I like for the sliding doors downstairs and use this material as the lining.

This is the back patio. This project is so old I blogged about it on my former family blog. Just to detour for a second. My family blog is also an incomplete project as I haven't blogged on it since... I started this project actually. Anyway, my plan was to clean this patio up, add a flower garden and make a sitting area.
I got as far as a small flower garden...
However, it needs to be weeded. My calla lilies are doing well...

So is the weed I threw away the last time I weeded. I keep forgetting to ask Brett to put that bag in our garbage can (it's too heavy for me), and now it's sprouting life!!

Golly am I disorganized!!! This is so unMartha of me! Can you see why I am little flustered? As I sit here typing this, I am spotting more projects I want to do such as treating my living room windows and filling empty picture frames...sigh. :(
I need your help. Where should I start? What should I do? (running far far away is not an option!)

Not that I am itching to change the topic or anything... but I just need to share this picture:

Peekaboo! Yes, that is his morning hair. Want more? Here is a video of my little dare devil:

I made curtains!!!! (kind of...)

2008-07-22T23:14:00.006-04:00

I now have pretty curtains in my dinning room! I did sew part of them... :) I was admiring Brett's aunt's curtains last week, and she gave me the two that she wasn't using. She's so nice isn't she? When we got home I noticed that the two panels were sewn together. So tonight I ripped the seem and used the tieback as a tab for the top. I know it is so simple, but I now have the biggest sense of accomplishment! Am I a nerd or what??? :)

Also, our neighbor gave us this cute wicker chair yesterday. I think I am going to use it as my sewing chair so Brett can have the computer chair when we get the office together.

Lots and lots of...things

2008-07-19T11:22:00.010-04:00

Hello everyone! My wonderful boss has found a loophole for me to extend the deadline for my paper! So now I have the time and the energy to do the things I like to do... like blogging! Alright, I finished a pillow right before I got sidetracked by work. I didn't exactly follow the directions...I mean they're like rules, meant to be bent right????

Well here it is:

This is the other side.

Now it's not perfect...

I had a little trouble getting the material to lay properly in the sewing machine after I stuffed the pillow.

So one side of it looks a little funny...

And this was my first attempt at a slip stitch so one end looks at little uneven...

but hey, it's functional...

I haven't gotten any farther with the curtains than folding the material and putting it up. :)

Onto other topics, I am of the unfortunate victims of the Jardine crib recall :( :( :(

When I called in, and they told me that the people at BRU would be very helpful in finding another crib to match my other furniture as I bought THE WHOLE SET!!! Well the nice lady at BRU told us to go online!!!! I emailed BRU.com about the difficulty of comparing finishes over the computer, and they kindly replied telling me that I was right!! They couldn't compare very well either.... I'm trying to hold it back... O I just can't! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR... I love this crib! I have never owned a set of matching furniture and now that dream is gone... for now. :( :(

(I know, I know, I'm 3 months behind on his first year picture frame...shoot me;) )

Goodbye pretty crib... I have no idea what I will replace you with :(

I have happy (if not boring) news. A paper I co-authored was published online at the beginning of the year. Well now it has been published in print! It is in a special edition of Environmental Science and Technology (ES&T) entitled "The World's Water" The title of my paper is "Occurrence of Contaminant Accumulation in Lead Pipe Scales from Domestic Drinking-Water Distribution Systems" If you happen to be an insomniac, it will help you sleep, I promise. If anyone is actually interested, but can't stand the thought of actually reading the thing, here is a news article on it. FYI, the guy they keep quoting, Mike Schock, is my boss. The paper I am writing now is a second installment of sorts... blah! Alright, I think I have caught everyone up. I thoroughly apologize for the boring work talk. I hope I didn't drive any of you away!!!

2008-07-15T22:31:00.002-04:00

I had a couple of minutes and the motivation to unload my camera. This picture was so cute I had to make the time to share it:

This one too! Duncan is staring at CheyAnne, my mom's next door neighbor.

I'm not dead...I swear!

2008-07-15T08:22:00.004-04:00

Hi Guys! I am still here. I'm getting hammered with a deadline at work so I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off, pulling my hair out. (Or I guess it would be feathers huh?) I just want you to know I haven't forgotten about you, please don't forget about me!!! My deadline is this week so I will be back soon! I can't wait until I am a real housewife! (Said with the same zest and yearning as pinocchio...)

Two of a kind...

2008-07-02T19:28:00.005-04:00

Nothing new on the Martha Stewart front, but I feel I must share these two pictures...
My father-in-law...

My husband...

Need I say more????

Catching up

2008-06-29T23:07:00.005-04:00

Alright, I haven't posted in a few days so there is a decent amount of catching up to do. On Friday I made my first meal ever without a recipe. It actually tasted good too! I basically just used anything in the fridge that needed to be eaten before it went bad. Here's a picture:

Since then I have been immersed in trying to figure out how to sew... grrrrrrr... Last night I spent 2.5 hours cutting material for curtains only to find out that I didn't buy enough material... grrrrrr. So I decided to start on a pillow. It's not finished yet but I have gotten farther on it than the curtains. I have actually turned the sewing machine on! :)

Here are some pictures I like...
Look how big Mathew is compared to Duncan :)

Watch out! She knows how to use it!!

This is Duncan and his great-great-grandma!

Do you want to see more????? Here is a link to my web gallery.

Sheba

2008-06-25T23:19:00.004-04:00

Today was full of visits. I worked yesterday and was too tired to post. I went in to work today, but got a call an hour after I got there. It was my mom calling to tell me my grandma's dog, Sheba, died this morning and my Gammy was inconsolable. I promptly left work and spent the day with Gammy. Brett, Duncan and I went to my little sister's softball game later tonight. They played really well, but it got dark so they decided the game with a coin toss!!! Can you believe that? What a way to win or lose! I forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures to share with you. I do have lighthearted news... I bought material yesterday so I can start learning how to sew! I was very excited to see that Walmart has a decent selection of $1/yd material. I went a little crazy and bought 31 yds of different patterns I liked!!! I do have a picture of that :)

I also bought patterns for window treatments and pillows. I bought 'Window Treatments for Dummies' and 'Decorative Pillows for Dummies'. I like the Dummies books so I figured that using Dummies patterns would be a good place to start. However, I started reading the directions... I think this might be quite a challenge, but I'm up for it.

I am the pie queen!!

2008-06-23T22:26:00.004-04:00

Success!! I made steak tacos for dinner tonight and for dessert...(drumroll please) blueberry pie! I made the filling from scratch, but I used a box to make the dough (sue me). I was a little worried but it turned out great! Brett even brought some to our neighbors!!!

On to other topics, I spent last night reading the instruction manual to my new sewing machine. It was actually kind of interesting. I even felt a little inspired when I read about the decorative stitches. As I just typed this I can already hear Brett, "Not only are you a rock nerd, now your a sewing nerd?" hehehe I guess so. If the shoe fits right? Besides he wasn't making fun of me when he saw how well I sewed up the crotch to a pair of his scrubs we he? That's right, I said crotch. That man has busted the crotch out of every single one of his scrub pants. I would hand sew it back up and he would come home with it busted out again :) One day he even busted the crotch out before he got out the door!!!! Now I promise you it wasn't my sewing. I would stitch over the length of the hole a minimum of three times and at least triple knot it. He says that it happens when he has to squat down, and no his pants aren't too baggy. My theory is that his tiny hiny won't hold a pair of pants up and scrubs have no belt loops. :) So anyway I sewed another pair last night but I got to use my sewing machine. It didn't take me long to figure out how to wind the bobbin or sew his pants. He was very appreciative. As for his pants, let's just say I'm going to keep that bobbin wound with white thread.

Trials and Tribulations

2008-06-22T19:10:00.007-04:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a couple of days. Becoming Martha Stewart is wearing me out!! :) Okay so here's the update. On Friday I didn't get much done except dinner (what else is new?). I grilled chicken and new potatoes and I steamed broccoli. I also grilled corn, but not well. I thought you could just stick the corn on the grill in the husk. My mom told me yesterday that you have to soak the corn for 6 hours first. So it's no wonder my butter disappeared into my corn so quickly! Brett ate it anyway and even went so far as to say it wasn't bad. Yesterday I grilled pork chops, roasted asparagus and boiled the corn. The corn turned out all right but I over cooked the asparagus. Brett ate all of it and even said it was good! I decided I don't really care for crunchy asparagus :) I have such a sweet husband don't I? I have a picture of the chicken dinner, but not of the crunchy asparagus dinner:

I bought a sewing machine yesterday!!! I have decided that the empty room downstairs is going to be a sewing/craft room, and the guest bedroom is going to become the guest bedroom/office. I am sooo excited! Now all I have to do is learn how to sew...

Duncan was looking at me with such a funny face I just had to take a picture. He was cracking me up...then I found out he was pooping. :)

Summer Pot Roast

2008-06-20T00:07:00.004-04:00

Well I called it. It did take me almost all day to cook dinner! The shopping trip took just over an hour and it took me 4 hours to cook. I made summer pot roast (recipe courtesy my grandma Hill) so I had three hours to do things while it simmered. We just got back from a week long vacation so Duncan hasn't adjusted to being home yet. He was very needy all day and protested every time I sat him down. He wouldn't even take a nap alone! Despite this, I did get three loads of laundry washed (washed is the key word here ;) ), the fridge cleaned out, and the new carpet fuzzies vacuumed up. The really good news is that Brett told me my pot roast was the best dinner I have ever cooked for him. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Now I have to figure out what I am going to cook for the next two nights...

Here is a picture of my pot roast:

I also served salad and crescent rolls. I'm not tooting my own horn or anything, but I thought it tasted pretty darn good :)

First thing's first....

2008-06-19T00:01:00.000-04:00

I have many creative interests that I am looking forward to pursuing such as photography, sewing, crafts, and interior design. Hopefully I find that I am good at at least one of these things :). However, when I think about my largest obstacle to becoming Martha Stewart, it is not creativity but organization. Martha is a very put together woman, and I think if I am going to become a domestic goddess my home should at least appear to be somewhat put together. Right now it is nowhere close. Our home is a very cluttered place, I guess if you where being nice you could call it "overly cozy". Now, the messiness of our home is not because we are pigs I assure you. In fact, I LOVE a clean house. It's just that mine never seems to quite get there. I am convinced this is because I am not organized. Everything I own does not have a place, and some things I shouldn't own are taking up too many places (Does anyone out there feel me?). So my first project is a large one: organize my home! I think I am going to break this down into rooms, or maybe even projects within rooms. The room I would like to start with is the family room as that is where we spend most of our time. However, two weeks ago we had a series of huge storms which resulted in our lower level flooding. So now I have a newly carpeted empty room where once was a cluttered office. All of the furniture and junk that was in this room is now in the garage. So the need to park my car in the garage again has made this room priority number 1. Here's what I'm working with :

I don't really like the wall color, but I don't think I will be able to talk Brett into helping me paint it. I don't like the curtain for the sliding doors either. That may be an easier fix...

I need to find a way to put all of this stuff in the office neatly or get rid of it...Well hopefully I will be able to get a start on it tomorrow. Although tomorrow is Brett's first day on 1st shift (he just switched from 3rd shift) so I am going to attempt to cook dinner... that may take all day :) Either way, I'll let you know how it goes.

Credit where credit is due

2008-06-18T23:38:00.000-04:00

Before I continue I need to stop and thank my mother-in-law Tricia who helped me set up this blog and came up with the name. I think this is the perfect venue to keep track of my transformation into a domestic goddess. Actually, Tricia and her daughters Jessica and Megan have been an inspiration to me. They have shown me how fulfilling life can be without work. So a big thanks to all of them because without their example, I could still be unhappily trudging my way through days filled with classes, homework, and work.

-Moo

It's time to live

2008-06-16T17:04:00.000-04:00

This is the place where I am going to chronicle my home projects and cooking experiments in my quest to become the next Martha Stewart. This is interesting to me (and hopefully to you) because I do not seem like the typical "Susie Homemaker" (though I really want to be). I have recently stopped attending school in my 5th year as a geology major and am currently working 18 hours a week as a contractor at the USEPA. I am just being introduced to the world of blogging and find myself intrigued. My goal in life is to quit working all together and work full time at being the best wife and mommy I can be. Although I have spent the last 5 years of my life submersed in math and science I do have a creative side (it needs nurturing if you haven't guessed). Some of the projects I have in mind include sewing, gardening, writing and learning how to cook. My goal for this blog is to be as honest with my readers and myself as possible which means recording my failures as well as my accomplishments. Anyone please leave me comments or suggestions if you feel so inspired. Hopefully the path that lies ahead will be full of as many laughs and smiles as bumps.