{Thursday Thoughts 3.29.12}

Linking up with Sar at [life of love] for another round of Thursday Thoughts!

{one}

Nerd Alert: I LOVE the outdoors, camping, nature, animals that I see, etc. My local news station did a small story on a Raptor Research Project is Decorah, Iowa where this group of researchers have set up video cameras on different nests of different eagles, falcons, owls. You can watch the LIVE video feed to any of these nests. There are times where the researchers will move the cameras around, zoom in and pan around the eagle's nest for some different views. Just go HERE to site (which takes you to the Bald Eagle's nest (who has two babies that just hatched and waiting on the third to hatch) and from there, if you look to the left hand side, you can see the links to all the other cameras and birds!! Here's a screen capture I just took. She just got up a second ago to get a peek at the babies but I wasn't fast enough to get a picture! lol!

{two}

I'm SOOOO proud of my hubby, Derek! It's has been super tough not being able to see him much between his full time school schedule, work, etc. There were times during last quarter where I'd only see him for MAYBE a few hours a day and when he was home, he was doing homework. For those of you that know what I'm talking about, or can relate, you know exactly how I felt when his grades came in....and HE ROCKED THEM...I was ECSTATIC! He got TWO 4.0's and made Dean's List. There is no question that he is the one that did all the work to achieve these grades, but as a stay at home Mom, I can't help but think that what I do at home helped...and that those grades almost "solidify" that what I do at home is working. Does that make sense? Just makes all the time away from each other just that much more worth it. We're coming up on 9 years of being together and it still doesn't get easier being apart.

CONGRATULATIONS BABE!!! I love you and I'm so damn proud of you! I still don't know how you do it, but you're amazing!

{three}

Susan's Mug Swap has started a new addiction....and it probably didn't help that Derek broke one of my favorite mugs when he was trying to surprise me by doing all the dishes before I woke up...but I'm officially addicted to coffee mugs! There are just SO many pretty mugs out there. I gotta have them! LOL! Here are just a few that I've found...

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I gotta replace the one that was broken right?! :-)

{four}

Cutest thing ever - - watching how excited our daughter gets EVERY TIME when she gets to take a bath or shower. Her face just lights up, she chatters like crazy and is just the happiest little person when she's done!

{five}

Midnight ice cream/chocolate runs have become a new nightly ritual in our household! haha! I LOVE IT! Went out two nights ago to get a vanilla milkshake for me and an ice cream cone for the hubby, the restaurant's shake machine was broken so I got an entire cup of soft serve for a $1 for the "inconvenience" muahaha! I'll take a $1 cup of ice cream over a $3 shake any day! ;-)

{six}

I'm LOVING the new blogs I'm coming across! It's super fun and refreshing to have something fun to read when I wake up in the mornings with my cup of coffee or reading them while I take a moment to wind down when the kiddo goes down for a nap. I just adore what you all write! Thank you! The only bummer part is that some days I can't keep up! haha! ;-)

HAPPY THURSDAY EVERYONE!

Rainbows on a GLOOMY day

- - Linked up with Michelle from The Vintage Apple - -

Our energized little 1 year old decided that 7:45am was the time to get up today! I can't even tell you the last time I saw a time like that on the alarm clock. I'm DOUBLE spoiled when it comes to mornings because Miss K usually sleeps til at least 9am or 10am, and Derek is the one that will usually get up with her to get the day started while they let me catch a few winks! LOVE IT.

When we woke up this morning...it was absolutely depressing gloomy raining storming outside. So, to brighten up my day (and hopefully anyone else's day with weather that is similar to what we're experiencing) I thought I would dedicate my very first "Oh, How Pinteresting!!!" to...

RAINBOWS

Who doesn't love rainbows?! Or find themselves smiling when they see one? I am such a rainbow junkie because I love all colors. Which is why it's almost impossible for me to pick just one favorite color, and people always find that I can't ever give just ONE favorite color. I usually give a minimum of three colors that are my favs haha.

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I find it comically ironic that the first two pictures I post have to do with coffee. Can you tell what's on my mind? I haven't had my morning cup yet!

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How FUN would it be to have a rainbow party!? I don't think there's an age cut off for something like this...am I wrong?! If I am, don't tell me, you might make me cry! ;-)

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If this picture above doesn't change your mind about liking rainbows (or make your heart melt), I don't know what will! My daughter actually has a pair of these leg warmers :-) 

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More power to anyone that can pull off hair like that! 

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I will make a rainbow quilt someday! Here is one that I've already made for myself that's pretty much a rainbow quilt...

Made With Love by Caty

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 Can my home library look like this, please!?

HAPPY PINTERESTING WEDNESDAY EVERYONE! :-)

{Mingle Monday/Tuesday 3.27.12}

I love my blog. It's true. Why? Not only is it a place for me to get away from posting things to Facebook and having people complain about my posts, it's also a place for me to get away, share my thoughts, triumphs, disappointments and not be judged or criticized for how much I'm posting. Not to mention all the drama that Facebook seems to bring with it. The beauty of a blog, if people don't want to read it, they don't have to, but it's there for everyone to read and interact with.

What I love even more about my blog, is the fact that I've met so many amazing people along the way since I started blogging back in July 2010. And a lot of you have become my new support system, my new little family, my shoulders to cry on. I've found myself crying when I've read some of your posts, wishing I could be there with you to get you through those tough times with and smile and Starbucks, or to be right there to give you a huge hug and squeal over your recent engagement, or have you as a workout partner, because I feel like you guys are family to me!

All I can say is that I love each and every one of you. I love it even more when you all take the time to read what I have to say, and genuinely WANT to read it, instead constantly complaining like those on Facebook about how much I post about things, etc. I'm a social person, I LOVE having conversations with people and sharing things are what I love to do. So, what I'm trying to say is THANK YOU. Since I've come to love blogging so much and the people I've met along the way, I've made it a point to really focus on reaching out to other bloggers and gaining new friends and followers.

The perfect way to do that.....MINGLE MONDAY!!!






Meg over at Life of Meg, is hosting a linky party called Mingle Monday where everyone can go to meet new people and gain some new followers to their blogs.

Will you be joining us?! :-)

{Dear Monday 3.26.12}

Link up with Megan at H a p p yDay! :-)

Dear Monday...I LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU! I love you because you're kicking off a FULL week of having my hubby home because it's Spring Break! WOO HOO! Miss K and I have missed him terribly.

Dear Inlaws...we are SO happy that you were able to come visit us this weekend! We knew we wouldn't have been able to handle waiting to see family members until May...just wasn't possible ;-) Thank you guys so much for everything you did for us while you were here and we can't wait to see you all again in 5 weeks!

Dear Susan...thank you so much for hosting a Mug Swap, this is my first swap and I'm having SO much fun with it!

Dear Cookie Dough...you were the highlight of my evening and almost the demise of my evening! LOL! I have no self control when we meet! ;-)

Dear Easter Bunny...Thank you for the unexpected experience you brought us. While we were at the mall with my Inlaws, we came through an entrance that had the Easter Bunny set up right next to it, I thought for sure Miss K would be terrified of the bunny because she hesitate with Santa this year for pictures. We had no intentions of getting her picture taken with him during that visit. As we walked by, the Easter Bunny walked right up to Miss K and handed her a bunny mask. She did okay but wasn't too sure about him. After we walked through the mall for a while we stopped at a coffee shop that was right by the Easter Bunny, as Miss K was running around the mall with her grandpa, I looked up and next thing I saw was Miss K sitting on the bunny's lap and getting her picture taken! haha! She had gotten through the fence that surrounded the studio set up, ran right up to the Easter Bunny and got right up in his lap! How could my Father in Law NOT get her picture taken at that point?! This was the final result...

 We couldn't be more excited for something so unexpected. I've come to face the fact that our child is a little dare devil! LOL! 

{Fill in the Blank Friday 3.23.12}

 

You know what to do! Link up for this week's Fill in the Blank Friday on Lauren's page at the little things we do :-)

 

1.  My favorite color is      blue    .

2.   My home decor color palette includes      black, greens, tans, browns - - not what i always wanted but it just happened haha  .

3.  Other people always tell me I look good in the color      pastels. always pastels. my hubby says red is his favorite color on me, but if i ever get a compliment, i'm wearing a pastel color    .

4. The color I detest is        the August birth stone...peridot?? that pukey green...no thank you.

5. If you were to look in my closet most of the colors you'd see would be   a million different shades of blue...which i didn't even notice until this very question .

6. A color that I simply cannot pull off no matter how hard I try is   any bright, neon type colors....oh lordy   .

7.  The color of my favorite dress is    brown. it makes the girls look FABULOUS!  ;-)

 

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!!!

{Mug Swap?! ABSOLUTELY!}

Hey All! 

If any of you have read my 101 Things in 1001 Days list, you would have seen that one of the items (#53 to be exact haha) was to participate in some kind of blog swap and I finally found one to participate it, that wasn't already closed!!! WOO HOO! I've had the worst luck with coming across blog swaps that are still open. I felt I was never going to find one lol! 

The swap I'm going to participate in is on Susan's blog Suzel Says and the theme of this swap is.....

.::COFFEE MUGS::.

To join in on the fun, head to Susan's blog ASAP and sign up! You can find more info HERE. 

Did you decide to participate too?!? Let me know if you did! :-)

{Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2012 - Update #1}

http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/p/rsc12.html

A little while back I mentioned that I was going to try to participate in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2012 at SoScrappy.

For those of you just hearing about the RSC, it works like this...there is a color theme picked for each month of this year (which isn't announced until the beginning of each month).

January was RED, February was GREEN and this month's color is PINK!

At the end of each month SoScrappy does a link up to where you can showcase what you've made for the month. You can either make something each month, or if you get too busy, you can try to participate when you can. I love that there is no obligation and that this is for FUN! :-) I missed to make scrap projects for January and February but I WAS able to get my life together enough to enjoy some sewing and wine with my friend Whitney and we busted out our projects for PINK! Here is what my PINK scrap project was - Soft Baby Blocks! (I know most of you have seen these in a previous post, but I'm just now getting around to what the reasoning is behind me making them haha)

I still plan on trying to go back and create projects for RED and GREEN, just not sure when! I want to make a block of Granny Squares of each color and make a quilt of them at the end...

Made by Obsessive Crafting Disorder

...but with the big move coming up, not sure if I'll get everything done. If I don't get a chance to make the quilt squares, I would like to make Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day "mug rugs", AKA - coasters...

Made by Pin.Sew.Press

I've been really wanting to make and collect decorations for holidays. Since my daughter is getting older, one of the things I've always wanted to do with her is get her excited about all the holidays, big and small. I miss getting excited about wearing green on St. Patty's Day, making valentines and waking up each morning to open each day of the Advent calendar for Christmas.

If any of you have a sewing machine out there, you should join in on this challenge and participate in the link up!! :-) Head on over to SoScrappy's Rainbow Scrap Challenge to find out more :-) Here is the link up for PINK! If you have a project to share, please don't be shy! I'd love to see!! :-)

p.s. if you haven't voted yet, head up to the top right part of my blog and vote on what you like to read about most on my blog! Thanks so much! :-)

It's Your Turn!

Hey All! :-)

I've been helping one of my best friends get her blog going for her bead work business, Threes and Fives, and I came across some gadgets that I never even know Blogger had! You'll have to forgive me when it comes to keeping up with technology...I really suck at it :-)

Anyways, I came across the "POLL" gadget and I could NOT resist trying it out.

So, I'm asking all of you...what do you like to read most on my blog??

Directly to the right of this post, you'll see where you can vote! :-) This is your chance to let me know what you love to hear from me about :-) I hope you all take seriously advantage of this.

The poll will be up until March 31st.

Thank you for taking the time to vote!

{One Year, 52lbs Update #2}

For those of you that just recently joined my blog, back on July 15th, 2011 I vowed to accomplish a HUGE goal: One Year, 52lbs. I figured that was a great amount of weight to lose in one year because 1 pound a week is a HEALTHY weight loss.

I dove right in, created an account with My Fitness Pal (if you have an MFP account, look me up - cblakley0531) and was off to a great start! In about 12-14 weeks I had lost 17lbs. I honestly couldn't believe it! I felt amazing and people could notice the difference.

Welp....major rude awakening two days ago...stepped on the scale and saw a number that was just 4lbs down from when I STARTED my journey :-( I was extremely disappointed in myself. I DID make excuses whether I wanted to believe it or not and the worst part was that it took seeing that damn number to reevaluate myself, my original goal, and what I really wanted out of all this.

I asked each and every one of you to hold me accountable...you did, I made excuses. Makes me sad. I told myself that I would be strong during the holiday season...I failed miserably. I said that I was going to get out and walk at least 4 times a week...then when Winter hit...I never walked out the door once to go exercise. BUT after going back through my blog today and reading the post where I made my vow to love 52lbs in one year has restored my motivation and excitement to get healthy and fit! I've dropped 2lbs in just two short days, so I'm back to being down a total of 6lbs (if that doesn't paint some kind of picture of how badly I was treating my body...2lbs in TWO days?!!? And, no, I wasn't starving myself lol. I was just putting that much unnecessary junk in my body).

Let's just say....this girl learned her lesson. I won't make my original goal of losing 52lbs by July 15th, 2012 but I'll lose 18lbs by then ;-) I'll take 18lbs and a new attitude to get this going again! haha!

I have a dear friend and fellow sorority sister, Meghan, that has been documenting her "get healthy" journey on her blog Skinny Up and I plan to interact with her on her blog more. She has GREAT tips and recipes that would get anyone excited to eat healthier and exercise. I highly recommend checking our her page if I were you guys ;-)

Thank you SO much for those of you that constantly supported me and tried to push me! I appreciate it SO much! But I definitely need to WANT to keep up on it in order to be successful. I'm just so blessed that I had readers, friends, and family that held up their end of the deal when I asked for all the support I can get. I hope you haven't lost your faith in me and that you'll continue to help motivate and support me.

And if there is ANYTHING I can do to help support and motivate you during your journey, don't you dare hesitate to ask me! :-)

HAPPY HUMP DAY :-)

{Thursday Thoughts 3.8.12}

Linked up with Sar @ [life of love]

{one}

While having a random conversation with my brother and sister in law about the Blake Shelton concert they're going to tonight...I had a thought...how in the heck does he manage to stay sane while being married, touring AND being on The Voice?! Superman??

{two}

My camera decided that it needed its sensor cleaned for the first time...during the worst time possible! UGH! 

{three}

Twitter has become my new addiction, even though I've had an account for a while now! It REALLY IS a great place to connect! I follow Joann Fabrics and with it being National Craft Month, I'm tweeting like a crazy person. I've also found a TON of great blogs/bloggers participating in National Craft Month. Not to mention, connecting with a lot more people after discovering Handmade Ryan Gosling...HILARIOUS! Following his Twitter page makes me want to craft MORE, just so I can share it and see the response I'll get haha! 

I made these soft baby blocks....

 

 ...shared them with Handmade Ryan and this was the tweet I got back from him...

 HAHA :-) 

{four}

 It's really sad when I think 55 degrees is a nice day! SO ready for Summer time!

{five}

 Already re-watching HIMYM! It's just THAT good! ;-)

{six}

I have once again I've been blown away by the amazing support I continue to get from my friends, family and fans of my little business Made With Love by Caty. I've been receiving some really amazing feedback from my customers telling me how much they love my products, fans of my Facebook page constantly praising my works to new fans/customers and then after people networking about my stuff throughout my community, a friend of mind encouraged me to contact a store owner of a small boutique that she talked to about my items...so I did. On Monday, I added to the list of stores that I sell my merchandise out of....I'm up to TWO stores now and I'm still in complete shock. My stuff is REALLY out there!! I'm SO blessed and thankful! 

Don't forget to share what you all are up to!! :-)

HAPPY THURSDAY!

{Fill in the Blank Friday 3.2.12}

Linked up with Lauren at the little things we do :-)

1.  The highlight of my week was   when my hubby surprised me with flowers after he got home early from class :-) Just love that man to pieces! But a close second was a visit from our good friends Alex and Melissa Brancheau!!

2.   If I had to classify my interior design aesthetic it would be   oh gosh...I'm seriously the worst at putting into words what my style of interior design is. Mostly because I feel that I pretty much like EVERYTHING...so I'll let some pictures do the talking! I feel like I'm all over the place with what I like...God help me when I finally get a house...it could get ugly try to decide! haha!

3.  My first vehicle was   a 1986 four door Honda Accord, which I'm very proud to day I worked in high school to buy her myself - RIP Blue, I miss ya!

4. An item I need to have in my day in order to function is  a cup of coffee...hands down.

5. My favorite way to waste time is  Pinterest, Facebook, Etsy, Twitter, and Angry Birds...not necessarily in that order haha.

6. Right now I could really go for   Rosa's cheesebread and a venti salted caramel mocha from Starbucks.

7.  This weekend I will be   hanging out with my little family and getting in some much needed "no obligation" sewing time in with one of my favorites, Whitney!

HAPPY FRIDAY TO YOU ALL! Have an amazing weekend! 

{Thursday Thoughts 3.1.12}

linked up with Sar at [life of love] :-) 

{one}

That moment where you get mad because there isn't enough time in the day to get all the chores done AND get to do fun stuff! UGH! Let me just say, it has been KILLING me, that I haven't been able to do as much sewing as I'd like these days! haha! 

{two}

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful Grandma "Turkey" (yes, we actually call her Grama Turkey - that's another story in itself lol) and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my best friend's youngest, Jayda, who turned 2 today! I met Jayda for the first time when she was just a couple weeks old (my bestie and I live a few hours away from each other so it's been tough crossing paths over the years) and not she's TWO...where does the time go!? Not to mention it's March. MARCH. What the heck?!

{three}

How cool would it be to have a Leap Day birthday?! Or would it be not so cool? haha

{four}

Best thing in the world to cure a crappy or sad attitude - randomly having your toddler running full force at you making the "kissy sound" because SHE wants to give you one and not because she was asked for one. BEST. THING. EVER! 

{five}

To my iPod Touch - I'm so glad we're friends again!!! I honestly thought you quit working and BAM you turned on and worked like a charm...maybe you just needed a year of rest haha! Angry Birds, you're my new addiction! Ladies - any of you that have Apple products....(**warning to the gentlemen, if you're reading, this next part is for the girls! LOL!**) I found this app that tracks cycles and I found it to be pretty freakin cool! It has a predictor for when to anticipate that dreaded time of the month! I don't know about all of you...but that predictor thing is seriously AWESOME! I'm in a wedding this year as well as photographing a wedding...so to know that I wouldn't be moody and what not...was MUSIC TO MY EARS!! The name of the app is...Period Diary.

Here's a picture of the icon circled in red...

**DISCLAIMER - for those of you seeing the "My Pregnancy" app...I am NOT pregnant! I signed up with Baby Center when I was pregnant with my daughter and I like the weekly updates it sends about her haha**

Only I could get excited about something like this, right?! ;-) Thanks for humoring me by listening to me share ;-)

{six}

Have you ever had one of those moments where you catch a whiff of a certain smell and it causes you to have a flash back?! TOTALLY had one of those moments the other day, took me back almost 8 years to a certain time! It was pretty crazy!

{seven}

Can it be spring break yet?! I'm ready to have my hubby home more!! :-)

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY THURSDAY!!!