Pocket Letters, Planners, and More

When I started this blog, I had such a hard time picking a title for it.  I don't just do one or two crafts, I do almost everything.  Seriously, I will try anything once.  While it would drive some people crazy, I love that I can go from project to project very happily.  I feel like I get to experience even more of everything life has to offer this way.

So my current obsessions, in no particular order...

• Letter writing with pen pals I met from Instagram
• Pocket Letters
• my new Erin Condren Life planner
• redoing furniture I find second-hand

Here is my first pocket letter.  The premise is really an interesting one! You take a trading card sleeve and fill each pocket with different stuff, goodies, paper, whatever.  I just joined a group on Facebook where people make so many beautiful and intricate pocket letters.  Something to aspire to for sure.  

This is my new Erin Condren Life Planner.  I've been wanting one for months but just could not justify spending $50 on a planner.  So I bought a really cute Lily Pulizter planner from Amazon that I've been using since January.  I like that one a lot but it's huge and I don't care for the layout of the weeks.

I've already started decorating my new ECLP.  It starts in July, and while I don't want the summer to go by any faster than it needs to, I'm excited to start using it for reals, ya know?

Hobby Lobby just started letting spouses of employees use the employee discount without their employee spouse present so I can go into Hobby Lobby and buy stuff whenever I want and get even more of a discount.  So far I've been pretty restrained with my spending, which I'm sure my husband is very grateful for since we only have his one income.  Just one more year and I'll be making bank as an RN and can really feed my crafting addictions.

Since it's Friday, I'm off to my weekly Knitters meeting!

love & coffee,

Lulu

All the Places to Go

I have a serious travel itch right now.  Thinking about all the places I want to go, the stuff I want to see...

• Hershey, PA including the theme park and the Chocolate Spa
• Denver Mint (yes, even though I've lived in Colorado all my life)
• Seattle, WA
• Portland, OR
• Glacier National Park
• Yellowstone and the Old Faithful geyser
• Disneyworld, specifically with my husband who has never been
• an Alaskan cruise
• A Disney cruise
• Jamaica
• one of those all-inclusive resorts
• Salt Lake City for more than just an overnight stay
• Wisconsin to eat cheese
• New Orleans
• and a whole bunch of other states I haven't been to yet including Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, Idaho, Iowa, Ohio, Maine, and more.

This list doesn't even really include everywhere I want to go across the world.  I am itching to get out of here and see the world and meet new people!

Where do you want to go?  How do you afford traveling?

Well hi there...

I hardly ever post on this blog anymore.  Not that I was ever much a regular blogger to begin with, but this page has been pretty much silent for a while now.  Like I've written less than five posts in the last two years.  I'd like that to change.

So I'm not saying to expect daily updates or even weekly updates, although that would be nice.  My life has changed a lot in the year since I last posted and of course, I'm super busy with it.  But this entry is me trying to reclaim my little corner of the interwebs.

The biggest change is that I am now in nursing school!  And I left my job at the mental hospital to be a full time student! I'm currently in my second semester of four.  I'm constantly amazed at how much I'm learning, how much there is to know about the human body and people in general.  And don't worry, the hand in that picture is fake.  I'm now IV certified!

Hubby has been great through this big change.  He puts up with all my nursing school friends (who are super amazing!) constantly being at my house.  He's even friends with some of them on facebook.  Go Hubby for being great!

Now this blog started off as a craft/knitting blog.  While creativity is still a huge part of my life, it's no longer my main thing.  Nursing school is pretty much my life right now.  Thankfully I still get to squeeze in the occasional project, a few stitches here and there between reading assignments, lab hours, class, and clinical days at the two medical hospitals in town.

So if you're still reading, thank you.  I hope you continue to check back occasionally as I really do want to update more.  If there's something you'd like to see, lemme know!

love and coffee,
Lulu

Texas Travels

The beginning of February my mom and I took a two day drive to Austin, TX to help my grandmother go through her garage.  We had a blast throughout the week and lots of adventures. On the way to Austin, we stopped at the Cadillac Ranch.  It was really chilly and windy that day!

 We celebrated my grandmother's 80th birthday a week early by going to a seafood place she liked.  We ate avocados stuffed with crab meat and then the server surprised her with really yummy creme brulee.

Look at that smile! Adorable!!

 One afternoon we spent in downtown Austin in an eclectic neighborhood that is quintessential "Keep Austin Weird".  We found a food truck that served only fancy cupcakes, for $3 a piece at that but delicious and worth it.

Then one of the highlights was an amazing costume and vintage shop called "Lucy in Disguise" that was huge and full of treasures.

Of course no trip would be complete without some great before and after shots.  Here is what my grandmother's garage looked like when we started working.

And after! We went through all but a couple boxes and threw away over 8 boxes of paper trash!

We came home with our SUV packed full of memories, photographs, and housewares.   We put all the seats down to fit everything and had things placed just so.  I haven't even photographed all the beautiful things I brought home.

It was fascinating to sift through 85 plus years of family history.  Whether you like it or not, you are like your family members.  The more I dug through old boxes, I realized how much I am like my mother and how much she is like her mother, even if nobody wants to admit it.  It really is quite fascinating I think.

The best part of the whole trip was spending time with my mom.  We had lots of time to chat, bond, and laugh.  I'm so lucky to have become such good friends with my mom.

Who knows what future adventures we will embark upon.

Loving My Life

2014 got off to a very interesting start...

For a couple weeks, we thought I was pregnant.  That was exhilarating and terrifying all at once.  A couple different blood tests confirmed that I'm just me with crazy hormones.  This made us realize that we totally do want a baby, and probably sooner than later.

My work schedule changed from working five eight-hour shifts to three 13.5 hour shifts.  I only have worked one day of my new schedule since I am getting over a wicked sinus infection.  I have Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays off now and am loving getting more time at home.  Let's see how I feel Thursday night though about working 40 hours in three days!

  

Yesterday was an awesome day.  I made hot wings and nachos for my family to munch on while we watched the Bronco game!  I love watching football games with my dad; he always has a running commentary which is so funny.  Plus, Denver is going to the Superbowl this year!!  Hubby, the dog, and I all had our Bronco shirts on so we looked stylin'.

Speaking of my awesome husband... He took such great care of me when I was sick this last week.  Our marriage is ten times better than it was just 3-4 months ago and I'm so grateful for that.  His depression is getting better and you can really tell.  I hope we can keep hanging on to the good feelings we have right now.  I know it will get hard again but I hope that's not for a while.

Lots of different projects are in the works.  Lately, our biggest project is getting organized in the new year.  I own a LOT of stuff and most of it is probably worthless.  I would rather have fewer things but have really wonderful things than lots of stuff I'm only feeling half-hearted about.  Let's see how that goes for us.

Love and coffee,
Lulu

A New Blog

I know I hardly ever...ok pretty much never...blog on this anymore.  It's amazing how busy adult life is!

My husband and I are starting a new blog of our very own and this is your official invitation to check it out!

Mental Illness in Marriage

The title is a work in progress.  My goal for this new blog is a safe place for us to explore how our depression impacts us and our marriage.  I hope you take some time to check it out and leave some feedback.

As always...

Love and coffee,
Lulu

Planes, trains, and automobiles...and a big boat

My husband and I recently came back from our honeymoon, during which we went on our first cruise!  The entire trip was a real adventure.

We drove to Denver to stay the night before flying to Atlanta.  We rented the smallest car I've ever driven, a Ford Focus, and drove to Charleston, SC where we would be meeting our cruise ship.

We stayed the night in Charleston and ate breakfast at the Waffle House.  We have a Waffle House an hour north of us, but I think they are so much better in the South!  As my friend Rosemary puts it, they really know how to use grease!

Next we got on our cruse ship!  We took a cruise on the Carnival Fantasy.  Hubby thought it was really big, but we realized when we saw other cruise ships docked in the Bahamas that it was a pretty small ship.

   

We spent Valentine's Day on the ship.  They had a fancy dinner and we ate delicious lobster.  I think one of my favorite parts of the cruise was trying so much different food!!  I love the shirt Hubby is wearing in this picture.  I picked it out for him from Kohls and thinks he looks sooo good in blue.

I would really recommend a cruise.  I think in the end it was a great deal, especially since we tried to watch where our money was going.  The most expensive thing we did was our shore excursion in Freeport, which was $90 per person and totally worth it, but more about that in another post.

love and coffee,

Lulu