Love this idea...

I haven't had much time or energy to do much crafting, but I definitely miss it. Once we move and get settled and things start calming down a little...I'm getting back into it!

I absolutely love this blog!!!

This woman is seriously talented. I've spent the evening looking through her entire blog and I am so blown away! I hope that someday I'll be at her level with my crafts. I think it's just the coolest thing to be able to make everything yourself and it's thrifty too! Check it out...if you love crafts you'll be glad you did ;0)
http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/

The coasters...

Here they are...I'm still not 100% happy with them. I need to find a way to finish them off a bit neater...but for my first set of crocheted coasters they aren't too bad. I really like the yarn I used. It's a creamy/oatmeal color with gold thread running through it (hard to see in the pic but it's there).

Around our home...

I don't know if anyone remembers how cluttered our little apartment was before...but I've been doing a lot of cleaning, organizing, throwing out, etc lately. We took out that large table and chairs since usually it's just the two of us and we end up eating dinner at the coffee table anyway. I'd like to maybe get a little dinnette eventually for the area across from the kitchen (where the desk used to be), but we'll wait and see. I think that even when we move it'll still be a good investment because it's always nice to have one of those in a kitchen even if you have a formal dining room...but honestly that's more of a want than a need right now. I'll post more photos as I make my way around the home and take the pics. I'm definitely hoping to do something with our bedroom (or lack thereof) at the moment it's a mattress on the floor (terrible mattress!) with a bunch of clutter that I don't know where else to put.

These photos also show the new pillow cases that I made recently. I really like them. I was worried that Josh might not like them because the pattern isn't very neutral (I was totally prepared to use the fabric for something else) but he actually seems to really like them. :0) I'm planning to crochet dark brown pillow cases to go with them (there is brown in the pattern) because the rose color yarn was too much pink....so we decided to go with dark brown instead...much more balanced that way. I'm still working on finishing those coasters....I'll post photos as soon as I get done. I'll also post photos of the office/craft area (former dining area) as soon as that's done. I need another shelf to store my craft supplies on. I'm almost there.

So there you have it. :)

The apron...

Here it is...I love it! Although next time I'll make the sides a little wider. I removed about 4 inches from my original design (which was way too large for me) but after I cut it...I guess I should have only taken off maybe 2?! It's pretty basic, but it serves it's purpose. Other than that though it's great. Not to mention I LOVE THE FABRIC. It matches my green theme in my kitchen.

Friday Recap...

This week was Josh's first week working in Miami. I'm happy to say he's made it home safely every night which is my biggest concern. He's definitely exhausted...3:30 AM comes way too early and he's basically added on another 4 hours each day to his workday if you consider the drive. I'm so proud of him. He's such a good man, he works so hard to provide for us. Thankfully this weekend he'll get some rest as he's still adjusting to his new schedule...but I think he'll be working overtime the next several weeks. Good for us financially...but he's going to be so tired.

I finished my apron and some new pillow covers (2 of 4)...I've also finished two coasters so far, and I'm going to start the third one today. I'm also still working on reorganizing everything in our home, it's quite the process. I really need to invest in some storage boxes and such. It would make this process much easier and would look much neater.

We also are happy to say that we were able to sponsor another child from Compassion International this week. We have been praying about it for quite some time now and GOD has provided the money for it...so we're taking that leap of faith again. We've been sponsoring our little Nissi Nicole for about ....well....almost 3 years, I think. She's been such a blessing. Watching her grow and watching GOD work in her life through the money we've been able to provide her family is such a rewarding experience. I'll never forget when GOD laid it on our hearts to give an extra amount one month for her to buy a pet (we always write her about our kitties and in one of her letters she mentioned how she really wanted a pet of her own as well)....when she sent us a picture in her next letter with her little bunny rabbit in her lap...I welled up with tears of joy!
So this year we welcome Puji Lestari into our family :0) She is a precious 16 year old girl from Indonesia. We're looking forward to getting to know her and hoping to be a blessing to her.

I hope that someday we'll get to visit the girls in their home countries (compassion actually offers that option...it'd be so neat to go see them!)

I highly recommend Compassion to anyone who is interested. They're a wonderful charity.

www.compassion.com
(It's $38 per month per child)

So that's about it....everything is well with us...lots of praying still for direction and wisdom...but
we're trusting that GOD has it all worked out already. We're very thankful for all he's doing in our hearts and our lives. We finally feel like we're figuring it all out.
Happy Friday to you all!

Monday Monday....

So....I've finally started an apron!!! Yes I did. I've been wanting to do it forever but I was afraid to...I had no idea what I was doing, nor did I have a pattern to go by. Friday, I guess I finally worked up the nerve to do it and I just kinda took the scissors in hand and went at it. I must say...I LOVE IT! I love the fabric I chose and the size and shape worked out perfectly. I'm not quite finished yet, I still need to add some ribbon to tie it in the back, the belt and such...but I'm almost there. I'll post photos as soon as I am finished.

Saturday we had a lovely lunch with Josh's parents and went back to their house and they attempted to teach me cards...it was fun. Although I still have no clue what I'm doing! Haha. We also looked at a bunch of old photos...of Josh and his sister. He was sooo cute! I totally would have dated him in high school! :0) Wish we could have gone to the same school.

Today is Josh's first day working in Miami...it's quite a drive for him from where we live (about 2hrs), but thankfully he and a coworker are able to carpool for now. I'm praying that GOD keeps them safe on crazy I95!!! Other than the drive it's not bad...I just feel bad that he has to get up at 3:45 AM so I can drop him off for the carpool. He's been working so hard for us, but I have to say it's paying off. We definitely feel blessed that GOD is providing for us. We are very thankful!
We're excited to see what the future has in store for us. :0)

Hope everyone is having a great start to their week!

Friday Recap...

Well...nothing noteworthy happened this week. I spent most of my week going stir crazy sitting on the couch ...sick. Along with the cold I've had a migrane for three days. I'm hoping it'll be gone by tomorrow. We're supposed to go to luch or dinner with Josh's parents and I'd like to be able to enjoy it. I mailed out my sisters pillow cases that I made her. Also finally finished my blanket for the couch...it's SOOO COZY!!!I started a pillow case for our livingroom and some coasters. It's hard to tell from the pictures but the yarn for the pillow is not that bright it's more of a dark rose color (the border for the blanket has some of the same shade in it) and the yarn for the coasters is oatmeal with gold thread through it. Very pretty. So other than chores (which I must say I didn't do that great with this week (but in my defense I didn't feel very good so rest was needed) there isn't much else to share. Hope everyone had a great week! :0)

Wonderful Home Wednesday...

Here are the pillow covers I made for my sister. The purple one is 12x16" crocheted...the white one is 16x16" sewn out of a white floral fabric. The pillows to go along with the pillow cases can be purchased at Walmart between $5-10...depending on the size of the pillow. The fabric cost about $1 and the roll of yarn was about $3 (of which I didn't need more than 1/2). So the pillows overall are very affordable compared to what you would spend if you bought a finished accent pillow at the store.