How Much Fabric? Card GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

I want this!

How Much Fabric? Card GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Hello Brittney, I'm the real world. Welcome.

The past few weeks have been filled with more changes than I have probably experienced in the last few years combined.

First, on September 12, 2009 I married my best friend :D! You may remember that we had a civil ceremony in Guatemala in June, but this was the real deal. We were married in my home church in Bakersfield, CA. It was a wonderful weekend that allowed us wonderful sweet time with friends and family. It was beautiful. My only regret....I didn't eat cake.

From there we went to Mexico where I am convinced we had the most incredible honeymoon anyone has ever had. When we arrived at the hotel they were doing a little bit of construction. To make up for this "bother" they sent us on two days of free tours. During this week I conquered two of my biggest fears. Well maybe not conquered but...


And this was the view from our room...

So after two weeks of bliss in Fantasyland during the wedding and honeymoon the real world came rudely knocking at my door.

The day after we got back from the honeymoon I began working at Colegio Han Al Americano. I teach 3rd/4th grade. I have 6 students, 5 of which are boys. Most of the students at Han Al are Korean, so this makes for an interesting classroom dynamic. It is a struggle, and I often question whether or not I am a good teacher, but I really do enjoy it.

The best moments are when I see those eyes light up with understanding when they finally get what a run-on sentence is or remember who fought who at the Alamo. I have learned that 8-9 year old boys think anything is fun if you put crazy motions to it.

The funniest moments are when I get questions like, "If water floats in space, what do they do when they have to go to the bathroom?"

These kids really do bring joy to my heart everyday, even if they are getting on my last nerve. They are already gone for today, but I will post a pic of their smiling faces soon.

Life outside of school has been good. Luis and I have enjoyed putting our apartment together. Its about halfway there now, and still lacking furniture, but its on its way.

We got a another blow from Mr. Real World again last night. On our way home our little car decided to start having problems. We knew the car would have to go sooner or later, but we were hoping for a little later. Thankfully our great friend, neighbor and my coworker Linda lives in the same building and was able to give us a ride today. This weekend we'll look for a new car. This has its own set of challenges in Guatemala, but we are trusting that God is going to lead us to the right car.

I'm hoping that once life gets settled I'll be able to get back to the things I love, like sewing, baking, and crafting. I know it would be such a great stress release, but right now there just aren't enough hours in the day.

Please pray for us. We are doing well. God is good and has provided us with many blessings. But, there are always challenges and we just need to wisdome from above as to what to do.

Another great giveaway....

So I have been following tons of craft/sewing blogs in the last few weeks. One of my favorites is Little Blue Boo. Today she is doing a giveaway from an adorable fabric store called This and That from Japan. These fabrics are so cute and retro, but also so expensive :P. So hopefully this extra blog post entry might win me some. I will also have a post soon showcasing all my sewing exploits and my new baby :P. Check back soon!

More totes!

So I know that I promised pictures of curtains next....well with all the running around for the wedding I haven't gotten to them yet. However, I did sit down tonight and whip up two more totes. I'm particularly happy with these because I adjusted the pattern a little bit. Messing with a recipe that had worked felt a little risky, but I'm glad I did it. They came out so cute!
I think they will make the perfect gift for two little flower girls, don't you?

Great Give-Away!

A post two days in a row. I have to say this post is a little selfishly motivated. I was perusing my ever growing list of must-read blogs (which I found the greatest thing I never knew about, the Google blog reader. Check it out!) and I came across a new blog and a great give-away.

It's called The Lovely List (http://www.thelovelylist.com). It's a great collection of really inspiring blogs that give great ideas for anything and everything you can think of. Right now they are giving away my dream....an adorable white and pink beach cruiser, with the basket in the front. For those of you who knew me in Arkansas you know how much I loved my bike and how sad I was to leave it behind. I don't know how I would pack this one up and get it down to Guatemala, but whatever I had to do it would be worth the effort!

Go check out the blog!

Martha wanna-be

So, I know its been a long time since I've been disciplined enough to collect my thoughts and put them into words on this blog. I guess nothing that exciting has been happening. Oh there was that one thing....
We got married! Well at least in Guatemala. It was a beautiful service thanks to our wonderful family and friends who were so sweet and gracious to make this nice for us. My mom and step-dad got to be there, and we proved that smiles and love are a universal language.

While in Guatemala I got a job! WOO HOO! Rachel Castlen-Estrada helped me find it. I will be a teacher at an American style school, with 90% Korean students, in Guatemala. Go figure....I got to substitute for about a week while I was there. I think its going to be a great fit and never leave me lacking interesting stories to tell people back home. We also found and apartment! We'll be living in the same building as Rachel and her husband Jose (another JBU alum). Here's a pic of the apartment and our view.

I am going to love living closer to the equator....

Our first home...awwwww :P.

I came back to the States July 3rd. Just in time for my last 4th of July in the good ol USofA. Since then I've been up to my eyeballs in wedding planning and life stuff, getting ready to move to Guatemala. I've been enjoying spending time with my family and just relaxing.

I've also become mildly obsessed with the idea of DIY. I'm reading lots of blogs and itching to get to Guatemala where I can decoupage and refinish furniture to my heart's content. As of yet I've taken on various sewing projects. See below....

This was my first of many tote bags and a coin purse.

This is a closeup of the coin purse. I love this vintage fabric. This was almost my first attempt at using a zipper. Not perfect, but ok for my first shot.

More totes...

My next challenge is going to be dressing my new nest. I'm taking on making a bunch of curtains for our apartment. This is the fabric I got today to do that

Check back soon for the finished products.

Once....

Since watching Kris Allen's performance on American Idol's Songs from the Movies episode a couple of weeks ago I have been dying to watch Once. I shot it right to the top of my Netflix queue and was delighted to see the red little envelope in my mailbox yesterday. Let me say it did not dissappoint.

The film follows a young Irish guy who fixes vacuum cleaners for a living, but is really a brilliant musician. He meets a young girl from the Czech Republic who encourages him to quit selling him self short, to put himself out there with his music and his love life. Besides being impressed with the soundtrack I was also captivated by the storyline. I think the reason I liked it so much is because the characters did the right thing, even if it was hard. There was obviously feelings between them, but they didn't go down that road. It was realistic. I think its probably one of the few movies that didn't lie about love, but showed the good the bad and the ugly.

Anyways, I would highly reccommend this movie. DISCLAIMER, this takes place in Ireland and they have pretty colorful slang if you know what I mean. So, don't say I didn't warn you.

Silverware and Groceries

As I was unloading/reloading the dishwasher tonight I realized something funny about myself. When I put silverware into that little basket I must put like utensils together, so spoons must be in the same section with spoons, forks with forks, etc. It doesn't bother me if other people mix them up, but if I am loading dishes I will always separate...isn't that weird?

Another little quirky thing of mine....when I load my groceries onto the conveyor at Wal-Mart I load them by where I will put them away (all the frozen stuff together, cookies and chips together, and don't forget the bread goes in the fridge so that's gotta be with the cold stuff too!)

So yeah if you wanted to know if I have some weird neurotic things beneath my laid back exterior there is your answer....

In other news, this Friday and Saturday we're having a garage sale. It's amazing how much stuff I have accumulated in 5 years.

I'm finally feeling a few twinges of sadness about leaving. Luis was here this week, and last night he was commenting on how it was sad that after so much time, so many memories and friends, that we were finally moving on with no real reason to come back.

He's right. So much has happened in this little Arkansas town. When I think back to the girl who moved here five years ago I can't believe how different I am. I was insecure and unsure of my direction in life and really toying with my faith rather than making it my own. While I can't say that I have all the answers or even have my faith journey totally figured out I can say that the people and experiences that started here have set me in the right direction. Wow, I'm so thankful, so very very thankful to the professors, friends and others who made this experience possible. You know who you are...thank you!

In two weeks I will drive away from JBU, maybe for the last time, but the memories will always be here. Check out the pictures below for a walk down memory lane!

Sweet Sunday

So after a really long week I promised myself that Sunday I would do my new favorite thing BAKING! So I kinda got a late start and ended up rushing towards the end, but I think they turned out cute. If you can't tell they're grass with Easter eggs and little rabbit rears and feet :P. I made something else, but they are a surprise for Luis who is coming on Tuesday!!!!!!! So I'll upload pics after he gets here. Tomorrow is going to be a super long day but after that I think that things are really going to start winding down...I can't say I'm not ready. Home sweet home very soon!

Seriously????

Every year when the daffodils bloom around Siloam Springs I tell myself I'm going to take pictures of them. But since daffodils are not a very long suffering flower, I usually never get around to it. But this year was my year.

Here is a couple of shots of these beautiful flowers!


















So how did it go from Spring to this view out my window????? That's right....I woke up this morning to big fluffy snowflakes creating a blanket of white. As you can see it has quickly dissipated, but regardless, it's almost April and it's snowing. That is pretty ridiculous in my book.


But even more than trading in Winter for Spring, I'm ready to trade this view (above) for this view (below). This is the view from The Cafetalito, a coffee shop in a mall in Guatemala. What you can't see are the beautiful green mountains. I couldn't get enough of the sunshine and the warm air (not to mention Luis :)). I'm ready for this!

iTrend

I have never been one to fight being "trendy." At five years old I had New Kids on the Block bedsheets even though I could not name one of their songs. In Jr. High I Kissed Dating Goodbye, so as to keep the youth group status quo. So, I guess that at 24 it is only appropriate that I love ironic humor, own a Macbook, and now am starting a blog.

I'm not quite sure yet what this blog will turn into. Maybe it will chronicle the upcoming changes in my life, maybe it will be an outlet for my opinions, or maybe I'll just post my favorite LOLcatz. Keep coming back though, I hope to post something interesting on a fairly regular basis. If you think of a blog niche I can fill I'm open to suggestions.

Tip for the day....Watch 30 Rock. It's that comedy that has never really caught your attention, but wins all the awards. That's because it's hilarious! Watch it, you won't be sorry you did.