Archives for April 2014

Twenty Wishes Progress and Giveaway – April

It’s time for our APRIL Twenty Wishes Progress Link up!!! First, if you haven’t written your list of 20 wishes yet and would like to join us, we would love to have you! Simply write your list and link it up here at the bottom of the post in the link up. For those of you that have been working on your wishes it’s time to report on your progress. You can see my progress here and Kayli’s here.

In the meantime here’s a button to add to your side bar to remind you to come back and link monthly, and to serve as a little encouragement to work on marking off your wishes!!

Truly Lovely

              

Just as a little reminder, the link up will be the last Wednesday of every month. Each month one or two of our ten hostesses will offer a little something as a giveaway for those that link with us. Your 2014 hostesses are…

Kassi & Kayli @ Truly Lovely
Nay @ Coffee-N-Ink
Kate @ Life as I Know It
Chrissy @ The Brave Wanderer
Bethani @ The Texan Pantry
Kristine @ The Foley Fam
Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures

 

For this month’s giveaway you have the chance to win a $20 Starbucks Gift Card from Nay of Coffee-N-Ink!!!
Starbucks from Nay
We aren’t requiring you to follow anyone, the only mandatory entry is linking up to this party with your list of 20 wishes or your 20 wishes progress . BUT the more you do the more entries you’ll receive and I can personally promise you if you do follow, like, etc and of these awesome ladies you WILL NOT be disappointed!
So, link your wishes and enter the giveaway through the Rafflecopter form below! The giveaway will end at midnight on May 14th. Can’t wait to see what you lovelies wish for!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 


 

 

 

Kayli’s 20 Wishes Progress: April

  April is here! Here’s my progress.

My February updates are in pink.

My March updates are in green.

My April updates in purple.

We hope you’ll join in by linking up your own list of wishes.

1. Buy a pair of TOMS.

2. Take a cake decorating or chocolatier class. Or both.

3. Get a pink or purple streak in my hair.

I did it. I actually and truly did it! I did a purple and pink ombre section. I just figured that if I’m not gonna do it at this point in my life, then when AM I?  It’s faded out already, but I have pictures! :)streak

4. Go to Julienne Jewelery.

5. Reread Harry Potter.

6. Donate Blood.

I did it! Our campus was doing a blood drive last week and I walked by the bus a million times before I talked myself into it. It was a super cool experience though. The people on the sidewalk cheered for me when I told them I wanted to donate, and then the people on the bus were INCREDIBLY nice. They were playing good music, I got to just sit and hang out, it was pretty painless, and then they gave me a Gatorade, a bag of chips, and a t-shirt. One of my best friends, Sonia, met me outside of the bus with a muffin. I felt like a champ all day. haha

7. Switch my phone to Spanish for a full week.

8. Pay for a stranger’s order in the drive-thru.

9. Try archery.

10. Paint something. Anything!

11. Upgrade my phone.

12. Go out frequently with the girls, specifically to a Karaoke night at some point.

Doing good! No karaoke yet but we’ve done dinner a couple of times so we’re getting somewhere! :)

We’ve done ice cream and dinner recently. Not doing too shabby for being so busy!

13. UPDATE: Go to General Conference in Salt Lake City. (I kind of like where I live. You can see the wish I replaced here.)

Did this too! My roommate and I took a day out of the week and road tripped it. It was probably the coolest trip EVER. So many memories, so much fun. I’ll never ever forget it. Here are some pictures of that adventure!

photo 2

The beauty of Temple Square gets me EVERY TIME.

photo 4

THIS was a dream come true! :)

14. Read The Complete Sherlock Holmes.

Started this! Hopefully I’ll finish it by summer!

15. Go to Graham’s.

16. Do the Color Run Kaleidoscope Tour.

Did this! We went in January and it was a blast! (As always)

Katie and I Color Run

Katie left, Me right
We party hard.

17. Set up and go on at least one double date. They’re so fun!

I went on a double earlier this month and it was awesome. Seriously though. But I’ll leave this uncrossed for now.

18. Start a letter album for Klara.

19. Finish my quilt top.

20. Learn how to play Poker.

A little at a time! If you haven’t joined us yet, you still have time! (:

xoxo,

Kassi’s Twenty Wishes Progress – April

If you are unfamiliar with our Twenty Wishes Project here on Truly Lovely we want to invite you to check out the prior link for the what and the why and then join us by writing up your 20 wishes list and coming back here on Wednesday, April 30th to link it up with us! For those of you already in on the fun, it’s time to share your progress for April 2014!!!

Updates for April are in pink. Updates for March are in blue. Updates for January and February are written in red.

Kassi’s Twenty Wishes Progress – April 2014

 

1. Visit Disneyland with my little family.
Counting down the days now! Just over a month away!!!
Reservations have been made! We’re going to go with my husband’s family this coming summer! We’re nearly to the single digits for weeks until we head out for our vacation! 😉

2. Paint my master bedroom.

3. Plant an upside down Mulberry tree somewhere at my house.
My tree came!!! It’s actually just a little guy, sitting on my living room coffee table. The hubs and I were both sick with colds all weekend, but hopefully getting it planted will be my first to do of May!! 😉

4. Visit Build a Bear and build a bear for Klara.
In January we made a visit to Build a Bear at the Chandler Mall. We had the best time picking out a little cowgirl bear for my Klara. You can read all about our visit here.

5. Send a handwritten letter, note or card to someone via snail mail once a month.
I literally just sat down to write this post and realized I hadn’t sent a letter for this month! SO, I got out my cute stationary and sent a handwritten card to my friend Bethani in Texas, you might know her from The Texan Pantry. Girl, if you’re reading this, check your mail in a day or two! 😉
I sent a handwritten card and printed a few photographs to my grandpa for his birthday in March, when I called to wish him Happy Birthday he said he’d received the card and was happy to see I’d sent pictures of Klara too. 😉
So far I sent two handwritten birthday cards in January and a handwritten Valentine card in February.

6. Save for and buy myself a tablet of some kind. Maybe an iPad or a Surface. I’ve always wanted one… 😉
I happened to mention to my husband that I wanted to save up for a tablet. I decided I wanted a Surface because they’re more like a little laptop and I thought that would be better for blogging. The morning of Valentine’s Day when I went in to turn on my work computer, I found a brand new Surface and a Valentine note from Nate sitting in my desk chair. Yep, I married a keeper!!! Any Surface users out there? What are your favorite apps, etc?

7. Complete my reading goal of 55 books in 2014.
So far I have read 22 of my 55  book goal, putting me five books ahead. I tried putting the widget in like I always do and couldn’t get it to work right… :( But you can see the books I’ve read here if you’re interested.

8. Host and/or participate in a Google + Hangout with some bloggie friends.
So I made an attempt at this one this last month… I tried hosting one during the afternoon on a weekday and had two girls log/attempt to log on. I discovered I can’t do a hangout on my Surface which is a HUGE bummer, so I had to use my phone. Google, please make an app for the Surface!!! Thanks. But in the meantime, friends, say hey to Megan of Shaping Up To Be A Mom! We “met” in “person” via Google+ Hangout! I plan to try hosting another hangout sometime soon with hopefully more attendees! If you want an invite, comment below. 😉

Megan

9. Have the carpet in my house professionally cleaned. I know this sounds like an ought to do versus a want, but I ought to clean the carpets myself… I WANT to have someone else do it!! haha

10. Make over my guest bathroom.
This is a work in progress. I already ordered a new shower curtain and floor rugs. When Kayli is here over her spring break she has promised to help me paint!

11. Take Klara to The Color Run for her “second” time. Technically last year she was just riding in mommy’s tummy. This year I plan to take her in her stroller!
We did our second color run in Tempe, AZ back in January!! It was a blast just like last year and Klara did so well! You can read all about it here.

12. Get a front screen door for my house.

13. Get together monthly with at least one friend. Dinner, shopping trip, lunch, etc.
Klara and I were popular in April! We went on our first lunch date with Klara’s Aunt Brianne AND had a lunch date with our friend, Kayce! Yay for getting out of the house and seeing our friends!!!
This month Kayli and I went shopping here in town for some new TOMS shoes when the ones I ordered didn’t fit… FYI, be careful ordering TOMS online. The sizing can be really weird!!!
In January my sister, sisters in law and I went to Tempe for The Color Run, we went out to the mall the night before, had dinner and did some shopping, so I’m counting that. 😉 February we went with the entire family to the steakhouse in town for my sister in law’s birthday. We took Klara with us and she got to have her first apple sauce and ‘meal’ in a restaurant. 😉

14. Visit here in Safford. I’ve wanted to go since they opened, but haven’t ever made it since it’s across town!
Done!!! You can read all about our trip to Caboose Frozen Treats here! Oh, and bonus, here’s a picture of our whole group that the guy at Caboose took and shared on their Facebook page! Yep, that’s me holding Klara on the right… squinting into the sun… haha.

CabooseFrozenTreats

15. Figure out a system for organizing and saving the baby clothes and items that Klara has outgrown.

16. Get tickets for and attend the 2014 National Finals Rodeo.

17. Build a container garden of some sort for my backyard.

18. Pay off my credit card. I’m SO close!!! I’m sure I can have it all paid off by the end of this year.

19. Take a photography class or workshop.
At the beginning of March Kayli and I attending a photography workshop held at the local college by Impact Photography Group. They are a husband and wife team that is well known and highly popular in our area. We both learned a ton of good information and can’t wait to attend the next one they host. Here’s a photo of my sister in law and new nephew that I took the afternoon of the workshop putting to use some of the new things I learned while attending. It’s straight out of my camera, no editing involved other than adding my watermark. Yep, so worth it! If you’re interested in seeing more of my photography check out my website or .

Safford_AZ_Newborn_Photographer

20. Throw a surprise party for someone.

Again, don’t forget to get your list written and come back here on Wednesday (April 30th) to link it up with us!!! Past… There’s a giveaway if you share your 20 wishes list and/or progress so far!!! 😉

Fancy This Fridays #173 and Features

What a week! My girl had her very first cold this week… I talked all about it here… SO glad she’s almost all better now. Except yesterday morning both me and her daddy woke up with it. Sad day. I HATE being sick… But who doesn’t, right?!

So here’s to a fun weekend and better week next week! AND the features from Fancy This #172.

First up, I know Easter is over but I couldn’t pass up sharing these fun Egg Shell Candles from Angela at About a Mom! I am so pinning this for next year!!!

Egg-Shell-Candles

Next, these Brownie Magic Mallow Bars from Krystle at Baking Beauty are calling my name!! Don’t they look scrumptious!!!

BrownieMagicMallowBarRecipe

And last but not least, Maisy of Becoming Alice shared these cute little DIY Ladybugs made from recycled walnuts! They would be fun to decorate your yard or potted plants with!

ladybugs 00

Here’s a Featured on Truly Lovely button for you three mentioned above! Hope you’ll grab one and share it over at our own blogs! 😉 Don’t forget each of these features gets pinned to our !! Check it out for past features and some fun ideas!!

Truly Lovely
Truly Lovely

Now onto this week’s party!!!

Fancy This Fridays Rules:

1. Please link directly to the project post on your blog.
Not the blog itself.
2. Please link only your OWN posts.
We prefer to see what YOU have been up to… not someone random.
3. Please grab a button and display it somewhere on your blog. On your sidebar, on your posts, on your linky party page. We aren’t picky!
4. We would LOVE if you would comment on at least one other link.
Just pop over and say “Hello, coming by from Truly Lovely”, or something more clever… You know…
Truly Lovely
Truly Lovely

 

Thanks for linking with us lovelies!!! Hope you have a safe and fun weekend!!!


 

Sniffles and Heartbreak

We’ve been really lucky… Klara made it all the way past nine months before catching any yucky sicknesses. In all reality she’s not exposed to very many people on a day to day basis, so there haven’t been many opportunities for her to get any germs. But even still, it finally happened. Last Friday morning my girl woke up with a cough.

It’s been 4+ days of coughing, sniffles, sneezes, wiping her poor little red nose… It’s also been 4+ days of this mama’s heart breaking for my sick little girl.

Klara's First Cold

The other morning she wanted so bad to be happy and play with her toys like normal… She really tried. Finally she just climbed up into my lap and fell asleep! That never happens. Klara fights sleep until the very end!!! Her daddy says she’s like me in that she never wants to miss anything. 😉 I can’t blame her for that! But you know she’s sick when sleep comes so easily.

I know this won’t be the last time that she’s sick… Kids are magnets for sick germs, but I pray every day for a healthy, happy baby girl. Not only for her benefit but man it’s hard on a mama to see your kiddo feeling so bad. Especially when they’re this little and there’s not a whole lot you can do for them but offer comfort.

Today finally she woke up acting more like her spunky, funny little self. So glad to have my girl back… Even with a cough or two still plaguing our day it’s better than nothing until she’s completely well.

Klara's First Cold 2

What’s your favorite method for comforting baby while they’re sick??
Klara loves baths and rocking in our recliner. 😉

Linking this here.

Fancy This Fridays #172 and Features

Happy Good Friday and Happy Easter weekend!!! In case you missed it I finally shared a craft for the first time in months!!! Check out my daughter’s Personalized Hanging Hair Bow Holders here.

Now, onto the features from Fancy This 171! Easter is this Sunday in case anyone out there missed the memo… 😉 That being said, this week’s features are all fun Easter ideas that you can still put to good use this weekend!

First up, with just a few ingredients from the grocery store your family could make these adorable and yummy Peeps Houses from Joy at Yesterfood! So fun, right!?

Peeps Houses by Yesterfood

Next, Jen from The Suburban Mom shows us how to whip up Homemade Easter Egg Sidewalk Chalk. These would be fun to make and stick in the kids’ Easter baskets!

DIY-Sidewalk-Chalk-Eggs

And finally, Stephanie of Spaceships and Laserbeams shared these cute Easy Easter Treats! They would be fun to whip up this weekend!

kids-easter-party-food-rice-crispy-sprinkles-easy

Here’s a Featured on Truly Lovely button for you three mentioned above! Hope you’ll grab one and share it over at our own blogs! 😉 Don’t forget each of these features gets pinned to our !! Check it out for past features and some fun ideas!!

Truly Lovely
Truly Lovely

Now onto this week’s party!!!

Fancy This Fridays Rules:

1. Please link directly to the project post on your blog.
Not the blog itself.
2. Please link only your OWN posts.
We prefer to see what YOU have been up to… not someone random.
3. Please grab a button and display it somewhere on your blog. On your sidebar, on your posts, on your linky party page. We aren’t picky!
4. We would LOVE if you would comment on at least one other link.
Just pop over and say “Hello, coming by from Truly Lovely”, or something more clever… You know…
Truly Lovely
Truly Lovely

Thanks for linking with us lovelies!!! Hope you have a safe and fun weekend!!!


 

Personalized Hanging Bow Holders

It’s been a long while since I’ve shared a DIY or tutorial here on le blog… So it’s about time for one don’t you think?? That’s what happens when you become a first time mommy and the rest of life completely takes over. 😉

Way back in August, a month after my girl was born, she had a ton of cute bows, flowers, barrettes, etc. and no real place to put them. Especially a place where I could easily see them and pick one to match her outfit. So, I decided to make her very own bow holders. Plural because one just wouldn’t be big enough for all the pretty hair accessories this girl had already collected!

Personalized Hanging Bow Holder by Truly Lovely Blog (1)

The materials needed include:

  • Wooden Craft Plaque (I used two purchased from Hobby Lobby for $2.99 each)
  • Craft Paint
  • Paint Brushes
  • Vinyl (for the personalization, I cut Klara’s name out of white vinyl using my Silhouette machine)
  • Glue gun and glue sticks
  • Ribbon
  • Flat head thumb tacks
  • Craft rhinestones

Personalized Hanging Bow Holder by Truly Lovely Blog (2)

Step 1: Paint your wood craft plaques. I painted mine pink and purple with brown accents to match the other colors of Klara’s bedroom.

Personalized Hanging Bow Holder by Truly Lovely Blog (3)

Step 2: If you’re like I was at the time, take a moment while your plaques dry to enjoy your sleeping baby and a cup of tea… oh… and the drying laundry hung over the dining table chairs. You do what you gotta do as a new mommy, right?! 😉

Personalized Hanging Bow Holder by Truly Lovely Blog (4)

On a side note can we just take a minute and sigh over how tiny my girl was at one month old!!! She’s nine months old now and there’s no way she’d fit in that cute little bed anymore, much less stay in it… haha

Step 3: Once your plaques are completely dry, add the vinyl lettering for the names. I chose to use Klara’s first and middle name. Again, like I mentioned above, I cut out the names in white vinyl using my Silhouette machine and then applied them using transfer paper.

Personalized Hanging Bow Holder by Truly Lovely Blog (5)

Step 4: Hot glue a strip of ribbon to make a loop on the top of each plaque for hanging. Then hot glue three strips of ribbon to the bottom of each plaque for the hair accessories. After I hot glued the ribbons I added the flat head tacks for added support. I just really wanted it to hold up well. {Side note, so far it has! 8 months + later and there are WAY more hair accessories on them now!} The ribbon I used was a cute set of cowgirl ribbon, to match Klara’s bedroom theme, also purchased from Hobby Lobby.

Personalized Hanging Bow Holder by Truly Lovely Blog (6)

Step 5: After hanging them up as they were at this point I decided they lacked sparkle and hot glued three rhinestones to each plaque to fancy them up a bit… Much better! Then just hang on the wall and had your hair pretties!

Personalized Hanging Bow Holder by Truly Lovely Blog (7)

Your turn: Do your girl(s) have tons of hair accessories? How do you store or display them?

Check out where we link up on our Party With Us Page!

Fancy This Fridays #171 and Features

Happy Friday!!

Check out the features from Fancy This #170, and then we hope you’ll share a link or two of your own in this week’s linky party!

So this week, the theme kind of just leaned towards eggs… Easter is coming up in a few weekends! Although, these egg features aren’t necessarily all Easter related…

First up,  I think these Lace Doily Easter Eggs from Cassie at Little Red Window are so pretty! And they’d be perfect for little ones to find that aren’t so good with keeping real eggs in tact… Or even just for a pretty Easter decoration!

DIY Lace Doily Easter Eggs

Next, Chrystal of Happy Mothering shows us how to make Egg Cups: An Easy Make Ahead Breakfast! I’m all about easy and make ahead especially if it helps the chaos of a week day morning!

egg-cups

And finally, here’s a cute Framed Easter Art Project from Angela at About a Mom. It’s easy and quick enough to do, you could whip one out this evening to display for Easter!

Framed-Easter-Art-Project

Here’s a Featured on Truly Lovely button for you three mentioned above! Hope you’ll grab one and share it over at our own blogs! 😉 Don’t forget each of these features gets pinned to our !! Check it out for past features and some fun ideas!!

Truly Lovely
Truly Lovely

Now onto this week’s party!!!

Fancy This Fridays Rules:

1. Please link directly to the project post on your blog.
Not the blog itself.
2. Please link only your OWN posts.
We prefer to see what YOU have been up to… not someone random.
3. Please grab a button and display it somewhere on your blog. On your sidebar, on your posts, on your linky party page. We aren’t picky!
4. We would LOVE if you would comment on at least one other link.
Just pop over and say “Hello, coming by from Truly Lovely”, or something more clever… You know…
Truly Lovely
Truly Lovely

Thanks for linking with us lovelies!!! Hope you have a safe and fun weekend!!!


 

Fancy This Fridays #170 and Features

Well hello there weekend! So nice to see you! 😉 In case you missed it, I shared a fun little video of my sweet girl that’s sure to make you smile this week. I also marked off another of my Twenty Wishes!

Let’s jump right in to the features from Fancy This #169!

First up, in case you haven’t realized this … So when I saw Garage Sales R Us’s post on DIY Newborn Photography Props I was sucked in. She took some beautiful images of her baby niece all with props she whipped up herself! You’ll want to click over just to see this sweet baby girl! 😉

DIY Newborn Photography Props

Next, I’ve seen the idea of Cinnamon Roll Belgian Waffles floating around on Pinterest. Lora of Two Kids and a Coupon makes a great point that it would be an easy project to cook up with your kiddos! And they sound so yummy!!!

Cinnamon Roll Belgian Waffles

And finally, this Two-Side Chalkboard Play Mat from Cheryl at Sew Can Do is genius!! She even shares a few tips for sewing with the specialized fabrics you need to make it.

SewCanDoChalkboardPlayMat_zps2771baff

Here’s a Featured on Truly Lovely button for you three mentioned above! Hope you’ll grab one and share it over at our own blogs! 😉 Don’t forget each of these features gets pinned to our !! Check it out for past features and some fun ideas!!

Truly Lovely
Truly Lovely

Now onto this week’s party!!!

Fancy This Fridays Rules:

1. Please link directly to the project post on your blog.
Not the blog itself.
2. Please link only your OWN posts.
We prefer to see what YOU have been up to… not someone random.
3. Please grab a button and display it somewhere on your blog. On your sidebar, on your posts, on your linky party page. We aren’t picky!
4. We would LOVE if you would comment on at least one other link.
Just pop over and say “Hello, coming by from Truly Lovely”, or something more clever… You know…
Truly Lovely
Truly Lovely

Thanks for linking with us lovelies!!! Hope you have a safe and fun weekend!!!


 

A Trip to Caboose Frozen Treats

14. Visit here in Safford.

Another wish marked off my list of Twenty Wishes for 2014!!! While Kayli and some of our nieces and nephews were here for their Spring Break last weekend we paid a visit to the frozen yogurt caboose!

It is such a fun little place!!! It looks like an actual caboose for one thing, and the inside is decorated like a train. You get to choose your frozen yogurt from several flavors, then choose what toppings you want from a little bar of goodies. The kids loved it! And I’ll be honest… I loved it too! 😉 I got New York Cheesecake frozen yogurt then piled on a little of almost every topping…

{Sorry for the bad cell phone photos… Should’ve taken my camera. 😉}

Kayli, Kassi and Klara at Caboose Frozen Treats

Kayli, me and Klara at Caboose Frozen Treats

Little miss Klara Beth got her first taste of frozen yogurt. She kind of balked away from it at first because it was cold, but once she really tasted it she wanted more. :)

Klara_Frozen_Yogurt

If you have a fun little place like this in your area I really recommend you take the time to make a visit. Caboose Frozen Treats has been open for years and we had never made the time to go. SO glad we finally did and took our nieces and nephews, MeeMaw Tammy, shown below with Klara and sisters in law. It made for a fun little afternoon outing!

Tammy and Klara Frozen Yogurt

And like I said before, another wish marked off my list!!! 😉 How are your 2014 wishes coming along? Haven’t written your list yet?? Write it up and join us for the next monthly link up the last Wednesday in April.