My First Sewing Project

So remember when I said that I procrastinate studying and homework? Well it's very easy when you have other fun and exciting things to do...like learn to sew! I could've started studying for my midterms next week, but this was too tempting. I caved. Cait made a cute dog bed for Tess last week and she offered to teach me how to make one. So from 5:30 pm till 11:00 pm last night, that's what we did. Rue already has a dog bed but for some reason, she only likes to use it downstairs. So this one will stay upstairs! We'll see how that works out. 

Cait was so patient and is such a good teacher. She answered my incessant questions and was very confident in my abilities. I've always been petrified of sewing machines, but it was a lot of fun once I became a little more comfortable with it. 

So we actually made the pillow and stuffed it, instead of just buying one already made. Cait saw a genius idea on Pinterest of using tissue pattern to draw out patterns. This part took the longest. I was using the slowest setting on the machine. 

Cait cut the fleece while I finished the pillow and then it was time sew the outside pieces together. I let her do the zipper though. I'm still too much of a noob to attempt that! Everything cost about $30 (which is pretty good for such a large dog bed), but I had leftover fabric so maybe I can make a blanket, too! I was so happy with the finished product. And Rue definitely loved it as well. She loves loves loves pillows and all things soft. And so far, she's used it much more upstairs than her other dog bed. Weird pup. 

I had a lot of fun making it and I hope this is a start to me really learning how to sew. I couldn't have done it without Cait, telling me what to do every step of the way and watching me. She taught herself how to do all this stuff. Impressive! I also had a ton of fun with Cait (and Chloe too while she was there). We just chatted away the entire time. I'm glad that we're friends beyond the fact that she's Blaine's friend from Delaware :) 

Thanksgiving Break

So I feel like ever since Thanksgiving break, time has gone by super fast! I've been slacking on keeping up with the blog. Being super sick hasn't helped and neither has the fact that I've had a ton of homework to do. But today was the last day of classes and I'm FINALLY feeling better. So, it's time to get back on track. 

It was SO nice to have a break from school and work. Idaho is perfect for relaxing since Declo is so tiny. We only have a limited number of things that we can do so it's definitely a stress-reliever. I was determined to go running while on vacation and took Rue with me. She did great! I'm sure it helped that there was nobody on the road when we ran. That way, she wasn't distracted. She gave me consistent 9-minute miles! I need to run with her again now that I feel better. 

One night, Mekhi was able to sleepover. We played Monopoly Deal and Hangman. Mekhi actually beat me at Hangman several times. One of the words he chose was "Cuban" and I couldn't guess for the life of me! Mekhi is one funny and smart kid. We loved having him around. He and Blaine also played tons of video games together. 

On Thanksgiving morning, Blaine FaceTimed with Keith, Brian, Kim, Aston, Chase, and Tucker so that Grandmom could see them. It was so neat to watch. You can tell Grandmom really enjoyed it. Technology is seriously awesome. 

Thanksgiving dinner this year was smaller than other years in Idaho. It was just us, Aunt Jan, Uncle Lynn, Grandmom and PopPop. But Aunt Jan didn't scale the food down. There was enough food to feed dozens of people. We cooked for 2 days for all the food to be ready. I learned how to do almost everything since it might be the last Thanksgiving we spend with the Idaho fam. My favorite dish that Aunt Jan makes is her sweet potatoes. They are so good! I also made my first pumpkin pie, along with 2 coconut creme pies and a pumpkin cream cheese roll. It was all so delicious. We had leftovers for days on end. 

After our Thanksgiving lunch, PopPop and Blaine sat in front of the TV for the rest of the day. When football is on, these two can't seem to do anything else. The Redskins beat Dallas and Blaine was ecstatic for the rest of the day. 

During the rest of our stay, we did what we usually do. We help everybody with whatever they need around the house and listened to Grandmom and PopPop tell stories. I love listening to them. These moments with them are cherished and very precious to Blaine and I. 

After Thanksgiving, Aunt Jan and I got into Christmas-decorating mode. We made several wreaths and decorated the entire house. Uncle Lynn and Blaine helped us with the tree. I love her tree! It's gorgeous.

Rue had a great time in Idaho as well. She got to play (almost non-stop) with Rusty. We also had Chester (Janae's dog) with us for a couple of days. She was in doggie-heaven. One day, Uncle Lynn took her to the farm and she rode in the tractor with him all day. He said she loved it. 

She also got to cuddle with Grandmom. They really like each other :) 

On Friday night, I started learning how to knit. Aunt Jan bought this yarn for us to make scarves for our big family picture in December when the whole family is going to be together. I was intimidated at first and made several mistakes that required me to start over. But after a couple of tries, I really got the hang of it. I didn't want to stop till I was done. Blaine had to take it away from me so that I could go to bed one night. But I woke up the next morning and finished it before it was time to go. I love it! I'm asking for knitting needles and yarn in my stocking for Christmas this year :) 

We had a great time in Idaho, except for the fact that Blaine started getting really really sick towards the end of our break. We decided to leave a little bit early because it was going to snow and Blaine didn't want to drive sick in bad weather. I can't wait till everybody gets here in December. Grandmom & PopPop are going to be so excited. It's going to be great! 

Halloween Party

On Saturday night, we hosted a small Halloween party. Every year, I get frustrated around Halloween because there isn't anything going on for young, married couples. I love Halloween and hate not celebrating it. Growing up, Halloween was always a big deal. My family loves to dress up. Now that we have a bigger place, I decided that instead of waiting for other people to throw a party, we'd do it ourselves! 

The menu consisted of a candy corn veggie tray with dip, edible pretzel eyeballs, frankenstein pudding cups, spooky drinks and jack-o-lantern pizzas from Papa Murphy's. 

The future-Larsens came by dressed as Aphrodite and the Joker from Batman. They had to leave early because they had another Halloween party. We were bandits and Rue was security. I saw that security costume on sale at Petsmart and planned the rest of it from things we had at home or that I could easily make. They didn't have her costume in her size so I ripped it open and added some elastic bands to it. Our doggie is no longer a medium! She's getting so big. It was a lot of fun to put together. Homemade costumes are the best.  

The Monsons came as a podiatrist and his patient. Trent was accepted to podiatry school in Miami so they will be moving in April! We are so excited for them. Matt and Nina were a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I loved their costume. They are so funny! 

After we ate, we took pictures at the small "photo booth" that I created out of an old bed sheet. I saw the jack-o-lantern props on Pinterest and Etsy. They were so much fun to make and even more fun to pose with! Hopefully, they will be put to use in future Halloween parties, too :)

We missed some of our friends due to their work schedules, but we had a lot of fun. It was so much fun to have our friends over in costume to celebrate Halloween with us! 

Pumpkin Date

On Friday, Matt & Nina came over to carve pumpkins. Blaine and I already carved one earlier on, so we decided to do something different and used a drill on our pumpkin. Matt & Nina did a cool design with their future daughter's name - Luna, which means "moon" in Spanish. 

The boys cleaning out our pumpkins.

While the boys were doing the dirty work, Nina and I worked on a zombie shirt for her. She works for a pretty fun company and they did a flashmob dance of Thriller at the Riverwoods on Saturday. The shirt came out pretty gross and creepy! 

After we finished carving our pumpkins, we headed down to The Riverwoods for their 1st annual Pumpkin Parade. They had a bunch of pumpkins on display, bouncy houses, free pumpkin cream cheese cupcakes, and free hayrides (even though there wasn't any hay). We went on the hayride and just walked around. It was a little cold, but not too bad. It was the perfect fall weather. 

Here are some pictures of our favorite pumpkins: 

It was a fun night. I've really been enjoying The Riverwoods lately. They have had a bunch of cool activities and events this year. We love it!

DIY Bib Display

When we started running, Damaris said that if we ever really started running 5ks and other races that she wanted a bib display. It's such a cute way to display, organize, and preserve your bibs. She saw some on Etsy, but those can get ridiculously pricey. And come on, most things on Etsy can be made at home (keyword - most). So we decided that I'd make some for us.

It started off a little rough. I decided to paint the letters instead of using vinyl. At first, I created a stencil and tried spraypainting it. Fail. I was so frustrated. I had to recoat the plaque with gray. Not fun. I became slightly discouraged and was thinking about just getting one from Etsy. 

But after I recoated it, I decided to hand paint it instead. It came out MUCH better this time around. I also had to paint the bottom hooks to hold the (future) medals because they were a gold-ish color and didn't look right. 

After I finished the first display, the second one was a breeze. I kept it pretty simple and clean-cut, but I definitely like the look of it. I was thinking of doing a girly one, but I have hope that Blaine will someday run with me. So just in case if he does, I'll want to display his bibs on here too. Bruce has already started running with Damaris. Go Bruce! 

So this was a little project that I did while Blaine was working on a Saturday. He started his jam job again, but this time, he's just doing demos. This will be a lot less demanding than what he was doing before. The only downside is that I miss him a lot on Saturdays! Having projects like this help the hours go by till he gets home. 

Last Weekend

Last weekend was a good one...so I better write about it. First things first:  Blaine's sister, Demery, called us Saturday night to let us know that she is engaged! We are SO happy for her and Kevin! This is the last of the Dawson kids to get married. Kevin and Dem are so perfect for each other. We like Kevin a lot and are excited to have him as an official part of the family! They are looking into a fall October wedding. Can't wait! 

He did an amazing job picking out the ring!

We had Matt and Nina over for a yummy roast dinner on Sunday after church. We love having them so close. We hang out with them so much and barely have pictures of us together...so I'm trying to capture some. Half the time we're all looking tired and look like we're wearing pjs. But that's what good friends are all about - being there for each other and not caring about how we look!

Michele was also in town last weekend. She stayed at our place but was in and out visiting other friends in Provo as well. Saturday night, we stayed up till like 2:30 AM (the latest that Blaine and I have stayed awake in forever) watching YouTube videos and just talking. It was a lot of fun to have Michele around. Sunday, she did my nails, eyebrows and she even did my make up for church. Having Michele as a friend is like having a free, personal beauty salon. She started ironing my hair back in high school and has never stopped since then. Other than the couple of months when she was at BYU and I wasn't, having her in SLC is the farthest we've ever lived from each other. I'm glad she spent some time with us! 

While we were talking and hanging out Saturday night, I made these little guys. They're basically free decorations. All you need is a Sharpie, milk jugs, and Christmas lights. They're so much fun to make. Some little neighborhood kids knocked on our door asking for permission to touch them and asked how I made them. They were so cute, and now we have new neighborhood friends. One of the little kids' names was Dawson. How random is that! 

After Michele left and dinner with the Stevensons was done, Matt and Amber (who are getting married in December), invited us over to carve pumpkins and watch a movie. We decided on a simple Jack Skeleton face. I love Jack Skeleton and have always wanted to do this. I was so proud. Growing up, I never really carved pumpkins because I thought it was nasty. This is like my 2nd year carving pumpkins (no lie). So this is a big deal for me. But Amber's pumpkin was amazing and she wasn't even done by the time we left. She was etching a face into the pumpkin. Super. Cool. She's so talented. I need to get a picture of her finished product. It was that good and she was only halfway done.

Even though I miss my Floridian friends a lot, I'm so grateful for the lifelong friends that we do have in Provo!