Filed under Family, Life, Summer

It’s been over 3 months since I last blogged. Much has happened since then, with the biggest being my complete move to the great state of Washington. I now live in the city of Spokane which is a wonderful and beautiful city. I didn’t realize how much I hated living in huge city until I came here. Spokane is like a big city in a small town..with a population of around 205,000 people, yet all of the great entertainment and nightlife a big city would have. Back in Houston you could not go anywhere without sitting in traffic for 2 hours of your busy life, and on top of that there is a whopping 2.3 million people that live there, making it the 4th largest city in the United States. I absolutely love it here. There are parks all over the place. We actually live 2 houses down from one of them and I don’t think I have ever seen so many evergreen trees in one place. It’s amazing! There’s also a major park smack dab in the middle of downtown called Riverfront Park. Andy and I live about 5 minutes from there. It not only is a park, but is also a small amusement park. There’s an IMAX theater as well as other small attractions. All of it is situated right on Spokane Falls. The river looks awesome, especially when the water is high. Over all I absolutely love the area.

One of the drawbacks of me moving so early is the fact that I am basically living out of my two suitcases. My mother has slowly been sending me things. I received my computer, bedsheets and some more clothes just a few days ago. Surprisingly it only cost $13 to ship with FedEx. Since it’s so cheap I’ll definitely be asking her to send me some more stuff!

My brother is getting married on October 12th. The wedding is taking place in Fort Wayne, Indiana which means I have to take a plane for a weekend out there since I’m a bridesmaid. Thankfully I can take advantage of this opportunity and ride back with my grandparents to Texas so I can fly from there with 2 more suitcases filled to the brim with more of my fabulous junk! not only that, but I will have my cat Maximus with me as well I miss him so much!

Since I have my PC back, I definitely will be updating more often. I have the chance to finally update many of the pages on my site that have been broken for months. I can assure you I have a huge to-do list when it comes to my little abode on the net. As for now, I will just take it slowly and get things done little by little.

  Filed under Crafty Monday
Recycling things is not only good for the environment, but can be great for sharpening up your crafting skills as well! This weeks Craft idea was originally supposed to be last week’s craft, but I had to delay it due to not having the main supply I needed: A box! I finally got my hands on a used postal box and started my craft today.

I’ve been in desperate need for somewhere to store my scrapbook papers, construction paper, and all that neat stuff. This home-made box is perfect for that. There are numerous other things you could make it for: An awesome personalized gift box, art supply holder, Picture box, or you could stuff anything imaginable in there. Boxes can always be extremely useful. Not to mention you are taking something that would ordinarilly end up in the garbage and putting it to good use!

If you read my last Crafty Monday post, I used a different method of explaining the craft than in my first. I’ve put that method to use in this one as well. You can click on the image below to enlarge it.

Materials:
- 1 Box of any size you choose
- Cute & pretty patterned papers that will fit on your box
- Scissors
- Glue, preferrably a glue stick. Paste is too liquidy!
- Ribbon of your choice
- Tape (I used HD clear box tape)
- Hole puncher (optional)

1. Gather your materials. Here I have pictured all of the materials you will need. Not necessarily a step, but I figured I would put it in there anyway!
2. Open one side of your box. Cut on the left and right side of that side of the box, but leave the last side uncut. This creates a flap.
3. Here I have pictured what I mean by a flap. Now, your box will still be open on one side. Take some tape and tape the side of the box shut, minus the part you just cut. You have just created your box’s Skeleton! Now it needs some skin!
4. With a pair of scissors, cut your papers to the sizes needed for your box sides. I decided to use a different pattern of paper per box. Paste them on using your trusty glue stick.
5. Ta-da! Box is all covered. If you want, you can line the inside with paper as well. I left mine un-covered because I like the idea of showing that I made this box out of a plain old mailing box!
6. With your hole puncher, or you can use scissors if your puncher isn’t sharp enough to pierce the cardboard, make two small holes on the front flap of the box.
7. Cut a 12″ (or longer if you prefer) piece of ribbon and poke them through the holes as shown. On the box directly below the two holes you made (I marked the spot on my box with a red dot) create another hole.
8. Cut a 6″ piece of ribbon. Now this part can be tricky. Make a loop in the ribbon and stuff it through the hole, going outward. You’re creating a Vertical loop on the front of your box. Tie a small knot inside the box to keep the ribbon from slipping out.
9. Tie the top ribbon through the loop you just made into a cute little bow. Now here is the part where you can garnish your box. Place stickers, pictures, ribbons, or anything you would like on your box to make it look more decorative and even more original to your own style. Finished! Don’t forget to put all the stuff you want in your box before you tie it!

I figure the instructions I’ve typed out might be a little confusing, so if any help is needed you can contact me and I will see what I can do!

  Filed under Benefits, Family

This Sunday is the 2010 AIDS Walk Houston, happening downtown. I wasn’t sure if I was going to do it this year due to my job but it turns out I can. I’ll have to be up by 7AM Sunday (HISS at DST on Saturday night!) to get ready and head downtown to participate! I’m somewhat excited because this will be my first benefit walk I’ll be in. The team I joined as currently raised $500! A good thing is that today is my last day of work for the next 9 days due to Spring Break. I’m definitely excited for that! I’ll also be taking care of my grandmother’s cats from this upcoming Wednesday to April 8th. That means if I decide to stay over at her house for a few days, I will have it all to myself. It’s going to be nice!