Monkey Themed Baby Shower

In an effort to get back into the blogging game, I thought I'd share how I put together a monkey themed baby shower for my very good friend and co-worker. She loves little monkeys and wanted something different for her baby girl's shower. I told her I would throw her a shower, and we literally started finding things months in advance. It was so much fun to watch it all come together.

I made the diaper cake at home using this tutorial, and I assembled these cute little boxes from Oriental Trading as favors. They had our Mom-To-Be's favorite candy - Sweet Tarts - in them.

We had the shower at the Mom-To-Be's favorite local Mexican restaurant. I found the baby shower games we played at Party City (looks like the exact ones I bought are gone now), and made my own cute little labels for the tops of them with graphics from Very Sweet Clipart on Etsy. Here is what all the tables looked like:

 This is the gift table. Since I knew everyone would go by the gift table, I put a pink letter "A" I had painted over there for everyone who attended to sign (inspired by Pinterest). I also put the little advice cards I made over there, and after a guest filled one out they could put it in the matching "book" (photo album). I made the advice cards and the cover for the book.

 Finally, we had the cake table. It had the diaper cake, real cake, and eventually cupcakes on it too. I found a printable that said "I love you to the moon and back." on it because that was the theme of my friend's nursery. I really wanted to have personal items that she could take home and use in the nursery or to remember her special day by. I found little butterfly photo holders at Hobby Lobby that held ultrasound photos of her baby girl, and made a baby girl monkey banner with the clipart I purchased that said her daughter's name.

And I just have to show you a close-up of that monkey cake because both my friend and I were completely obsessed with how it turned out!

I was so happy with how everything turned out, and my friend was too. Monkeys can be for girls too! :)

2014 & Choose.

As I thought about 2014 last month, I just kept seeing the same old things. I was not and am not particularly excited about this year. I will be working at the same place, still taking classes to get my degree, still dealing with the same issues... same, same, same. I'm glad nothing completely crazy is going on, I'm just really ready to be at the next place. At the next stage. Doing the next thing.


My word for this year is choose. I'm excited about it. I've not yet put into words what the word light did for me in 2013, but I can't help feeling like it could've done more. Like I could have done more to put it into action. Like I could have made it a bigger part of my life. I have left so many things unfinished, I'm so tired of it. So I'm going to choose to make choose a part of my life this year. I want to get more out of this word-picking business than just doing what the prompts say. I want my word to be an experience.

So, here are my personal goals I'm choosing to set for 2014:

• Complete the Beach Body workout program I started last year that was "too hard". 
• Read one book a month (that is not a school book).
• Run at least four 5K's (Last year I only did two. When I ran in a 5K in November, I was overwhelmed by how much I missed it. I'm an outdoor runner though, so it will likely be a while before I can start training.) 
• I want to write more. I really miss blogging. When I do crafts or try something new, I always think about how I could blog it. I always get worried if I start, I will stop again and that makes me feel lazy. I'm going to try anyway. 
• Take more photos with my DSLR. I used to have hundreds of photos. Now I'm lucky if I take one hundred with my camera. Also, I need to take photos of the kids more. 

 I will start with these four goals and go from there. I don't want to overwhelm myself. Do you have any goals for 2014?

Currently.

Ali Edwards did a post a few weeks ago and challenged us in her newsletter to write about things that were going on currently. It took me a few weeks, but I'm finally getting around to this. I think it will be a nice little addition to our Project Life (which I just so happen to be working on tonight).

Watching The Voice, Revolution, New Girl, Last Resort, Go On, and Revenge. Hello fall TV.

Packing for the weekend. This has become a welcome weekly ritual for me. I spend Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights at my boyfriend's house. Cameron is always with his dad those nights, and I enjoy not being by myself during that time. Sometimes I stay Friday night too, depending on his Dad's and my schedule.

Paying attention to budgeting money (something I really, really struggle with), my thoughts (positive and negative - trying to be more positive), and my time management (I bought a planner yesterday).

Listening to a lot of Songza, at home and at work. In the car, I'm listening to the new songs on my iPhone - Red by Taylor Swift (lots of Taylor in my playlists lately), With Ur Love by Cher Lloyd, and Shake It Out by Florence and the Machine are just a few.

Celebrating passing my Business Law class. One class closer to my degree.

Savoring the newness of my relationship with J. Relationships take a lot of time in the beginning. I'm enjoying every moment of getting to know him. I'm thankful we were friends prior to dating. He is wonderful.

Planning for Christmas and the holidays. I am scaling back big time this year. I have decided what I'm getting/making everyone, I just need to make it happen. Debating on whether or not I want to decorate this year. The idea seems overwhelming to me right now. We'll see.

Dreaming about running the St. Louis Half Marathon in April 2013. I'm seriously considering doing it. It's been on my mind since my 6K in early September.

Working on Project Life. I'm on break from school this week and next week. Hoping to put a serious dent in this stack of photos.

Loving Cameron's ever-expanding vocabulary. My favorite things he says right now are "wait a minute-second", "I be right back", and "really?!" (He got that one from me. :)

Reading blogs again. Sometimes in the evening, sometimes at work when I need a break from sales numbers. Desperately wanting to start a few new books I got on my Kindle app for iPad. Maybe tonight.

Bundling up. It's that time of year here where you are hot when you are in your car or office, but chilly if you are walking in between the two. Dressing a bit like summer still, but wearing jackets. I got my fall clothes out of our storage unit last week. I'm ready now. C'mon fall.

Hello.

Long time, no blog.

I'm a really bad blogger, I know. One of my goals is to get back into the habit of blogging. I can make time, I just don't. I choose to watch Gossip Girl usually instead. :)

Things have been going well here for us. We have settled into our new life, our new routine, and our new home quite nicely now. Frankly, being able to do what I want to do, guilt-free is pretty amazing. Cam and I can go visit my parents, or we can stay home. When Cameron is with his Dad, I have all the time in the world to do whatever I want. (During the my school term, it's usually home work.)

This past weekend that free time meant quite a bit of crafting. Christmas time got pretty hectic, but before then and, now, after Christmas, I've found some time to make things. It's been so nice. I've really enjoyed decorating our place. I get to pick out everything without having to hear the opinions of someone else. I never had my own place, I've always lived with other people so it's really great. I'm learning I have to do it slowly, but it's getting there. One week I buy curtains, the next I buy curtain rods, the next I make a wreath. One step at a time.

A lot like how I'm taking life these days. Sometimes I get overwhelmed. With all of my responsibilities. With how long I have before I finish school. With the financial aspects of both. It's scary being on your own. But then I think of how proud of myself I am. I'm doing this. Yes, I have help sometimes, but a lot of the time I don't. It's just me and Cam. And God, of course. He always makes sure we are taken care of. We are so blessed.

I promise to make more time for this in 2012. One step a time.

A Blog About Blogging... And Stuff!

I miss blogging.

It was something that was a very large part of my life when I was staying at home with Cam. I enjoyed doing reviews for different websites, posting recent scrapbook projects, and other life randomness. I shared a lot on my old blog. Since my divorce, I have shared a lot less about my life except with those I am closest to. I'm pretty sure some people still don't know I'm divorced, actually. I am in a very different place in my life now than I was even 6 months ago. At the end of the day though, I control what I share here and I think it's silly to sacrifice something I like doing. So I made this blog public, and I'll just share what I want when I want. I don't have a lot of time since I work full time and go to school full time, but I want to make an effort to at least post once a week. (Someone hold me accountable for this! ;)

We have quite a bit going on around here right now. I've been at my job almost 7 months now and I still love it. I often say that they are going to have to drag me out of the place before I'll leave. ;) There are days that I am frustrated, of course, but it is so rare to find a place to work that you love so much. I have learned so much, and I am so grateful I applied for that job online in March and that I stuck it out through those first few weeks when I wasn't sure what I was doing.

Cameron is doing great. He loves his preschool and I love it even more than he does, I think. He has the best teachers and has learned SO much since starting there in June. He is working on potty training now. So far he has gone 3 out of the 4 days he's been there this week. :) I am so proud of him. He knows a lot of his numbers and ABC's, and he knows a lot of animals and their sounds. I worried about him being behind when he started in his new class, but he is doing so well!

All in all, we are happy with our new life here in our apartment! :) Hopefully I'll get it together enough (and tidied enough) to show it off to you all sometime in the near future. ;)