iPhone Photos Friday

Back by popular demand (really, just Mom and Dad said they really enjoy the pictures), here's another addition of random photos taken with my phone.

Warning: Be prepared for an overload of blurry pictures with awkward smiles.

My favorite meal in the past few weeks. I made this pizza on the fly and it was SOOOO tasty. Refrigerated pizza crust drizzled with olive oil, garlic, and rosemary. Then I created a "sauce" with olive oil, Parmesan cheese, minced garlic, and pepper. I topped the pizza with bacon, spinach, pre-cooked chicken (free from a sale!), fresh basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, parsley, red onion, and Monterrey jack cheese. It was amazingly tasty.

My little owl friend that I've been working on. He needs some minor surgery done for a leg length discrepancy and a tumor on his hip. Otherwise, I really like him/her.

One of Grandma's favorite chores!

Another favorite meal from a few weeks ago. Chicken and White Bean Enchiladas. I topped it with green onion, fresh cilantro, and lemon juice. I had avocado with salt, cilantro, and lemon juice on the side. Tasty!

Grandma enjoying modern technology. She's talking on Skype with Michelle. She really enjoyed it and it was so cute to watch!

I bought this dress at a consignment sale and love it. It's very comfortable and modest. I love the buttons all the way up the top. The way I'm standing in this picture makes my shoulders looks super broad.

I snapped this picture a few weeks ago as I was walking out the door to some garage sales. It was the first time that week that I had put real clothes on (i.e. something other than my workout clothes).

Silhoutte Projects

I bought a Silhoutte SD cutting machine a few months ago with money that I had saved from Christmas and my birthday. It had been on my "wish list" for quite some time and I was so excited to be able to buy it. I've had a lot of fun working on little projects using it.

I made these little candle holders for a friend as a graduation gift. The words (glorify, magnify, and praise) and little swirly thing were cut out of vinyl using the Silhoutte.

This little wall hanging was for the same friend. I painted a simple wood frame purple, cut a piece of scrapbook paper to fit inside, and used the Silhoutte to cut "rejoice" out of purple vinyl.

More candle holders I made for myself. I bought this beautiful vintage tablecloth last fall, but didn't have anything to put as a center piece on the table. I chose "springy" words to cut out of vinyl (alive, refresh, bloom) and put some green glass stones in the bottom.

A close up

At the beginning of this year I was on a hunt to find some type of to-do list/organizer/chart. I had seen some that were just a notepad and you used one for each week, but I couldn't find a perfect one. Chris came up with the idea to just buy a dry erase board and make my own. What a genius idea! I love this board so much. It is very multi-purpose. It helps me keep track of what needs to be done each day and I use it to plan the menu for the week. I'm a little bit crazy about my to-do lists. Some days I write the simplest things on there, simply because I wouldn't remember to do them otherwise. I often write down tasks after I have completed them, just so I can cross it off and see that I've accomplished something in the day. This is really helpful on days when I'm feeling unmotivated or unproductive.

I made this little clip board for a friend's birthday. She's a 5th grade teacher and teachers always need a clip board! I painted a plain clip board so the edges would match the paper. Then I used scrapbook paper and some mod podge (the homemade version of glue and water) to cover it. I cut out the name using vinyl, again, with my Silhoutte.

The back of the clip board. I tore the paper down at the corner, so I just cut out a little embellishment with the vinyl and stuck it over the tear. Cute and covered!

Herbs and Flowers

My attempt at gardening is my herb and flower bed. I have flowers planted on one end and herbs down the other. I also planted some morning glories. They're growing like crazy, but have yet to flower.

I planted some cheap, easy to care for flowers....petunias, moss rose, impatiens, and something else that I can't remember the name of. So far I haven't had any casualties. :)

The pot has my basil plant in it. It's not looking too good, so I decided not to take a picture of it. The rest of the herbs are at the end of this row.

A look at the herbs in a row.

Chives. The chives had a bit of a rough start and they're slow to get going. Stupidly, I planted them in a spot next to some pesky weeds/small trees that I still had to get out. I kept stepping on the chives while trying to dig the weeds and trees out.

Thyme

Parsley (with my morning glories in the background)

Rosemary. It was a lot fuller, but I've been using it quite a bit.

My favorite...cilantro!

Oregano

I really need to cut the dill and start drying it. Actually, I need to do this with several of the herbs.

Garden 2011 Update

It's so exciting to watch the garden grow and start to produce. A neighbor commented the other day that we have the nicest looking garden she's ever seen. Chris works hard taking care of it and making sure it looks great. I appreciate him so much!

Little bitty tomato.

A tiny jalapeno pepper! Yum!

Tomatoes and peppers.

I think those are the cucumbers and the squash.

View from a different angle.

Beans and black-eyed peas. The beans have little buds all over!

There are a few squash blooms too!

Kitchen Renovation

We have a LONG list of house projects, which is to be expected when you live in an old house. Last Friday and Saturday, Chris decided to tackle the kitchen. The main purpose of the kitchen renovation was to put in a dishwasher! In order to put a dishwasher in, we also had to put in new cabinets, sink, and counter. We decided (or finances decided) that we would only do part of the kitchen for now. We're hoping to complete it in steps over the next few months.

Before pictures of the kitchen:

The kitchen is galley style. You can see part of the stove in the corner. The refrigerator and a small baker's cabinet is on that side as well.

Grandma built the cabinets by herself many, many years ago. They held up
fairly well, but it was definitely time for something new!

View from the other end of the kitchen.

Progress made after working on Friday:

Old stuff ripped out, tons of bugs killed, new cabinets, sink, and counter installed. Chris also had to run some new electrical.

Finished for now:

Do you see that dishwasher!?!?! It's wonderful!

We're going to paint the cabinets white once we have them all in. Up next is to get upper cabinets. Then we'll work on the other side of the kitchen.