My Crafty Side

Obviously a lot has happened in the last few months that I haven't blogged about. I hope to be able to, but I'm not making any guarantees. In short the holidays were amazing and we got to spend a lot of time with family! It was so nice not to be in the midst of a wedding and enjoy the time with everyone eating and playing games. We also celebrated our one year anniversary on December 30! I can't believe I am married to such an amazing person! It seems like we've always been together and that's such how it's supposed to be, but this year has also flown by. What a fun, crazy adventure! Along with all the fun, we've been working away and dealing with everything life has thrown at us.

A couple of weeks ago as things were slowing down and I had Martin Luther King, Jr Day off of work I decided to humor my crafty side and spend some time with my mom. Months ago I had picked up some fabric to make an apron, so I decided to actually do it. I have to say I did most of the sewing myself, but my mom helped me throughout the whole process and did a lot too. I think the apron and matching oven mit we put together are pretty awesome. The pictures don't really do them justice. :(

I also wanted to do something fun for my good friend Foss for her baby shower, so I crocheted around a burp cloth and bib for her too. She was my guinea pig as these were my first crocheted baby items, but all things considered I think they turned out alright.

Close up of the crochet stiches on the burp and bib.

The whole finished bib and burp and their coordinating backs.

Close up of the oven mitt lying on the apron.

The oven mit

The whole finished retro ruffle apron!

It definitely looks better in real life, but this gives you the idea!

Who knew I had a crafty side? It is all thanks to my mom. She is such an amazing seamstress/quilter and a patient teacher. I definitely wouldn't have a crafty side without her. Yay for Moms!!

My New Favorite Song!

For all you who need a reminder :)

I'm Thankful for...

America and all of her freedoms! The last year and a half I have been able to spend a lot of time back East immersed in American History. It was so fun to be able to experience so much of our history, and it has really made me more grateful for the miracle of freedom. While Aaron's family was visiting us in Baltimore his brother shared this YouTube video with us and I still love it. The men who stood up for our rights at the risk of their own lives and livelihoods are such an inspiration. Thank you to all who have made our freedom secure - from the past, present and future!

To all you pregnant people out there

Does anyone else ever feel like they don't have anything to blog about that anyone would want to read? Today is such an occasion for me, so I decided to pass along something I ran across on a blog the other day. This is particularly for all of you pregnant friends out there, but if anyone else sees another use for this no one is stopping you! :)

I found a "free offer" promotion code for nursing covers on a health blog the other day and it looks like a great deal. All you have to pay for is shipping and you get one of these:

Although I'm still not sure how I feel about the name of the brand, Udder Covers you can click for the website: http://www.uddercovers.com/

The promo code is "Thanksgiving" and will take $32 (the cost of the cover) off at checkout. You can also use this to get the 3-piece gift set - it will just cost you$5 plus shipping.

It didn't say when the promotion would end, so it could stop at anytime. I just thought I'd pass this along to those of you who may be interested. Enjoy!

Back to the Gym?

As background let me explain that the building I work in has a gym that is open to employees really inexpensively. When I started working there in August I thought it would be a great way to break up the day, and as a bonus we were allowed 30 minutes of work time 3 times a week to. Awesome, right? Those were my thoughts exactly.

A couple weeks after I started I brought a bag of gym clothes and meant daily to sign up for the gym. I kept forgetting and putting if off until one day my friend and next door cubicle neighbor invited me to go try out the boot camp-type workout class. I hesitated a little as I hadn't been feeling the best and I had only eaten a little breakfast pretty early that morning (and it was now noon). I rebuked myself for procrastinating once again and decided to go...

It seemed to be going well for a while. The class was pretty intense (even the people who go multiple times a week said it was intense), but I was impressed with myself for how well I was doing. I was only going to stay for 30 or 40 minutes, but as I got into it I just decided to stay... and that my friend was the beginning of the end. About 45 minutes into the class I started to feel a little light headed. I figured I was just over doing it a little on my first day back to the gym, so I went and got a drink. I came back to the floor and starting again but the light headedness got worse, so I sat down. The teacher immediately rebuked me and told me not to sit down - that all of my blood would go to my butt. So I stood up and got another drink. The next thing I know my other friend was telling me I don't look so good and I'm slowly making my way to the floor once again as I tell her I'm not feeling that well. The teacher freaks out as I tell her I'm fine I just feel like I'm going to pass out so I'm going to lie down. I think I almost gave the poor woman a heart attack. I told her I was fine that I probably just hadn't eaten enough today since I had a small breakfast so early this morning, but she was worried. I almost died of embarrassment, but I recovered, changed and made it make to my cubicle.

The teacher came up to check on me and I had to reassure her that I was fine. She said that she wanted me to come back to the class, but she made me promise to get a physical first just to make sure everthing was ok. I agreed to both and although I have been to the doctor for my not-so-yearly physical I have yet to make it back to the gym. Maybe one day... maybe.

Wow! It's Been A Long Time...

So after more than 2 months I hope that people will still read our blog. I can't believe I've let it slide for so long. I'd like to say my neglect has been because I've been so crazy busy I just haven't had time, but I can't even think of a great excuse. So I'll just jump into what's been going on.

We did make it to the State Fair and it was a blast! Complete with pig racing, deep fried oreos and the big yellow slide! :) It lived up to all my expectations as usual.

For Labor Day the Madsen clan (sans Melissa & Chris) migrated south. We landed in St. George Friday night to see Tarzan at Tuacahn, and it was awesome. It was such a great venue to showcase the gorillas and all of the trapezee-ing, etc. We even stayed around after the show and got pictures with the cast. I'll have to track them down because some of them are pretty awesome. From St. George we continued south to Las Vegas to play with the Newson family and celebrate with our good friends Liz & her new husband Dave. They are so cute together and we're glad we could come down to join in the festivities.

Aaron's grandpa, Aaron Bruce Mendenhall, Jr passed away on October 1st. It was sad to see him leave us, but it was amazing how everyone could feel it was his time. His whole family gave a beautiful funeral service and it was a great experience to learn of his influence in so many people's lives. Aaron's sisters came in from England and Detroit for everything and it was good to be able to spend some time all together. We also got to meet baby Aspen for the first time and she is a doll!

We made it to our first BYU Football game of the season (and probably only live game this year). It was the rainy Wyoming game, but it was a win so we'll take it! :) It wasn't bad once we got there and we sat it the awesome Madsen seats! So no complaining here! Go Cougs!

Halloween was quite exciting as well. We were quite the party animals as we made it 2 parties and were too late for the 3rd we wanted to go to. It was a lot of fun. My friend Jessica lent me an awesome pirate wench costume and then Aaron found all the makings of a pirate costume as well, so we were quite the fearsome couple. :) The pics of the two of us must be on Aaron's camera, but here are Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf (aka my parents) and two of my sisters Carly, Erika and me.

We've also had some fun playing with our nieces and nephews lately. We've had a lot of fun building forts in the living room. One day we'll build a really good one, but this will work for now as our hiding place from the evil skeksis (see The Dark Crystal if you don't know what that is :)).

More will follow and in better time than before (although that won't be hard to do). May you all have a happy feasting season! Bring on the holidays!