Seattle Fun Day

My mom and I partied hard, here are some snap shots of our wanderings.

We love Seattle,

And apple cider,

And the Rocky Mt Fudge Co,

and Beecher's Mac n' Cheese.

Sewing Galore~

One highlight of traveling home was picking up my old sewing machine.

Sadly, it didn't have a power cord and I almost broke into a panic attack.

However, my momma the awesome Goodwill Shopper she is, not only found the exact needed cord for dirt cheap, she found a twinner machine brand new for like $20, saywhat?!


She's amazing.

And so is my grandma, who patiently taught me how to sew my own hotpack.

And for Shawna and Kaitlyn for letting me borrow their supplies in a pinch!

Red Robin Bash

Before leaving WA, we had a little family bash at Red Robin.

Cevi came along and we ate some amazing burgers.

Oh, we love burgers.

Vacay Home!

I took a much needed vacay birthday trip home in January.

I love going home.

I love my family.



And I seriously love Washington.

I just had ohsomuchfun with my momma.

Twenty-four and counting

I had a birthday, shout "Hurray!"

I love love love birthdays.

I tend to celebrate with vigor.

This year I made a homemade chocolate to die for cake [in.sane.ly delicious]. Props to addapinch!

There was meatloaf and mashed potatoes, poppyseed dressing and salad galore.

Oh, and the presents.

Thank you for the presents.

I'll be having some glam skin with my new Clarisonic! Thanks Georgia and Mike!

PS We also went to Red Robin for my free birthday dinner that week.

I love me some Bonzai burger also.

Perhaps they sang to me too.

Family Pics 2012

Family pics are always a highlight of Dalby gatherings.

Here are a few gems from this past Christmas season:

Christmas Day 2013

I'm not sure how we have absolutely no pictures of Christmas except the ones below.

Let's be real.

We did do more than eat Georgia's divine pumpkin pie, but for some reason that's the only memory we captured that day.

Cute, we know.

PS Isn't this a great one of Brynny and Tay?!

Christmas Eve 2013

We celebrated Christmas Eve 2013 before flying out to O-Hi-O bright and early Christmas morning.

I got Taylor a slew of bulk candies he desired.

I got many a sock/clothes/books, etc.

Also,

Dad got us both new iphones!

We've finally hit the technology age!

Text us.

For real.

PS. That's a homemade tree right there.

Hand painted.

Pinterest Projects

In November I discovered Pinterest.

And then.....craziness ensued.  

I made these fun plaques as Christmas projects for my family.  I loved them so much I made Taylor and I one..and then another..and then another.

One for each state we've lived in.

I love DIY Home Decor. 

This is the beginning of a lovely relationship.

Trader Jo-jo's

Green t's

Nails/Hammer.

Christmas music.

You can't get more "Santa's Workshop" than this...

Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving.

We love ham.

Taylor made a beautiful dinner; I had the time off.

We ceeellleebrated simplistically.

DIY Projects

So I've had this dresser for 15 years

(I can't believe I'm old enough to say I've had anything for that long)

It was this unfinished wood dresser which still works great. I think it was partially stained once upon a time, but never finished.

I've been planning to paint it for months but hadn't decided on a color until recently, let alone had time to start said project.

Anyway,

I needed to feel crafty.

So I just did it.

Our 1 bedroom apartment was a disaster for about a week. The dresser was in the kitchen, and the kitchen was in the living room, and all our clothes were all over the floor. It was a bit ridiculous.

But, Thanks to some borrowed paint supplies, a Home Depot clearance sale on handles, and a lil' grease work-I'm quite impressed with how it turned out.

Check it out!

Before

And some sanding, 

Then some priming,

And one coat of paint,

A few action shots,

        

A final coat,

A few new handles and BAM!

We really love it. The picture really doesn't do it justice. I'm so happy with it!

We're thinking there will be more wood-painting projects for us in the future..

Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day

I had it off.

Tay and I woke up fairly early for a nice hike at San Felasco Hammock State Preserve (a mouthful).

It was alright, definitely nothing like Washington beauty, but somewhat pretty in its own right.

Also to be noted. After deciding I needed a quick pee break prior to starting our hike, I chose to use the Port-o-potty nearby (the restrooms were "Out of order").

I would have rather peed in the bushes. Or not peed at all. Or have gotten a bladder infection.

Worst experience of my life. I left dry heaving, and puking in my mouth. True story.

...And I'm a nurse. So that should tell you how bad it was.

Annnnnnnd after our hike we did some neighborhood scoping. Pretty houses.

And THEN we ate Chinese food (first in Florida) and I picked up my handles for my awesome project to be discussed soon ; )

PS Don't mind my drunken sleep deprivation stare, and Tay's Harry Potter scars. I think I was switching from nights to days and Taylor got into some Softball incident and scratched himself.

We're quite the pair.

PPS We love our Vets!
Thank YOU for serving.

Halloooweeen!

This year Halloween was smack dab in the middle of the week/school/and work.

We played it pretty low-key, and I surprisingly had the evening off.

So, we went to Willy's for dinner. Did some window shopping. Target exploring. And relaxed.

It was a pleasant holiday.

I sure miss trick-o-treaters, decorations, and costumes.

Our ward did their trunk-or-treat the night before (I was working) and no kids come around at our complex for treats.

So depressing. Maybe in a few years we'll get to resume true Halloween festivities.

Tia n' Tio go all out for Hallowwweenie-I'd love to spend a Halloween with them in TX. Seriously.

Their house is the one ALL the kids go for . ...dreamy.

'Til Then,

Happy Halloween!

Cupcakes

My sister in law got me this killer cupcake mix for Christmas two years ago (shout-out to Brynn).

I've thought about making it like a bajillion times, because I LOVE cupcakes, especially fancy ones.

They were just so perfect in their cute lil' tin with pretty wrapping, I kept thinking I had to have some Crazy awesome reason to make them..

So at first I thought. I'm making these when I graduate...when I pass the NCLEX...when I get a job.

Blah.blah.blah.

One night I decided, whatever. I'm dying for these. And they.were.divine. The cream cheese frosting recipe they came with was delic.

PS I shared them.

It was my first ever red velvet cupcake batch.

It did not disappoint.

Now if I had made them 2 years ago, maybe I'd have been purchasing Dots Cupcake kits for the past few years...

So dumb. But so so good.

Fun Runs

I did the Healthy Hearts 5k Fun Run with a few gals from church a couple weeks back.

We had so much fun.

I LOVE races.

LOVE<LOVE<LOVE them.

Tay and I decided to stay for the results announcement and believe it or not, I placed first in my age division. What what?!

I'm pretty sure it was the lack of contestants in my division that allowed me the honors, however, I still got a cup out of it.

Taylor calls it my Champions Mug. 

I'm okay with it. 

Also, the race was near a lake, so I let Taylor feed my victory bagel to some crazy geese and ducks.

Fun times.

Dinners and Dates

We love this restaurant called Leondaro's. 

It's between Midtown and downtown and makes bombdotcom pizza. 

If you come visit, we'll probably take you there. 

It's a fun, almost-hole-in-the-wall location. 

The catch is you have to get it HOTT.

Also, their rolls were change your life, and your pant size. No biggie. Totally worth it.

The BIG LEO, is really big.

Also, on a side note, Taylor took me to dessert after a splurge dinner.

I was craving ColdStone.

For real, I was still on my "I passed the NCLEX, I'm a nurse, please treat me to something delic," high. Perhaps juvenile, but I got a good run out of it.

Who doesn't love some Birthday Cake Remix, or Cookie Dougn't You Want Some.