Crafty, Crafty

This project has been a few weeks in the making. The last time I was visiting my parents I was feeling a little bit crafty and decided to put my obsession to Pinterst.com to the test by making one of the craft projects I found on there. Seeing how all of my jewelry is currently tangled up in a bowl on my dresser I decided to make a 'jewelry board' in hopes of organizing my tangled mess. With a little help from my Daddy, this was our finished project that I just had to share. It was actually pretty simple with the correct tools (and a helpful dad). All it really took was an old piece of wood, some paint, a few door handles and a some power tools! Enjoy. 

Finished Project! Kind of sparse, but it was all the jewelry I had at my parents.

"Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future" -Oscar Wilde

Book Worm

As nerdy as it may sound, one of my favorite things to do is curl up with a good book. As crazy as it sounds, I normally read at least one book a week (besides my text books for classes). People's common response to this is "How do you find the time?" For me it is just a necessity, it's my daily 'me' time that I normally get by just crawling into pjs a half-hour early to read before bed. Anyways, I wanted to share the two books that I just finished up and recommend them to my fellow book worms out there. 

The first one I read was a memoir, The Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard. For many of you, the name Jaycee Dugard probably rings a bell. In 1991, at the age of 13 she was kidnapped and spent the next 18+ years a prisoner to her kidnappers. She was subjected to unbelievable abuse, which included not being able to speak her own name and being locked in a backyard prison. She was forced to become a mother at 14 and later bore a second child to her abuser. Her story made world new is 2009 but it took her until 2011 to publish her version of what happened during those 18 years, in that backyard prison. Dugard's memoir is one of unbelievable survival. I will not lie there were passages that were stomach wrenching and hard to get through. Yet, I found it inspiring how someone who suffered so much, at such a young age, can come out of the situation so positive and filled with life. Highly recommend it to anyone who likes biographies, autobiographies, and/or memoirs. Or just if you want to discover the real story of Jaycee Dugard. 

Next up, is The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks. I picked up this novel because they are turning it into a movie. due out this spring and after seeing the trailer for the movie it is definitely a chick-flick I do not want to miss. I have found reading the books before watching the movie gives me a much greater understanding of what is taking place on the big screen, it's like I have the inside story of the characters that others do not. The author, Sparks, has also written other books that have become Hollywood hits such as, The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, The Last Song, Dear John, Nights in Rodanthe, among others. So my point is, the man knows how to write a good romance novel. This book in particular was no exception. It is about a young Marine, Logan Thibault, who finds a photo of a women buried in the dirt during his tour in Iraq. This photo seems to be Thibault's lucky charm and he begins to carry it with him everywhere. When he returns to the US he sets out on a search to find the women in the photo and thank her. He is caught off guard by the strong attraction he has to the women he encounters in North Carolina--Elizabeth, a divorced mother of a little boy named Ben. Thibault keeps his 'luck charm' a secret and it soon comes back to haunt him and threatens to tear him and Elizabeth apart. The ending has a remarkable twist...But I'll stop there as to not ruin the book or the movie. It took a little bit for this book to get going but once it did, I found it was hard to put down. It was a great story about the surprising paths our lives often take. Great for anyone who wants a heart touching, easy read. 

"Your feet will lead you to where your heart is" -Unknown

Ahh-hhaa Moments

Happy Sunday everybody! So this past weekend Pbers and I made the 3 hour trip back to my home town to see my family. Saturday was one of my nephew's 3rd birthday parties. As I was sitting at the bowling alley, where his party was taking place, I could not help but feel a little old. I was struggling to get over the fact that he was turning 3! I felt like he was born yesterday (I'm sure his parents had this feeling much more then I did) I could remember going to see him as a tiny little newborn baby in the hospital. And now here is my big, blonde haired, blue-eyed, happy, rambunctious, little man of a nephew blowing out the 3 candles on his Cars birthday cake. Insane! I now can say I understand my mom's old saying, "Thank gosh I do not age as fast as my kids!" haha


After the big birthday celebration, my parents and I were off to attend a benefit for a family friend suffering from cancer. Again, I had another "Ahh-haa" moment. As I stood among the sea of hundreds of people I could not help but feel the compassion in the room. Yes, there we were at a bar that had very loud band, dancing and adult beverages being enjoyed by the vast amount of people. Yet, the amazing thing I found was that all these people were there for one simple common cause: to show their love and support for a great man suffering from a horrible disease. I know, I know, you are all probably thinking "Well, duhh Gabby. You were at a benefit what do you expect." But I cannot tell you how it warmed my heart and honestly brought tears to my eyes to see all the support and watch all these people rally around one man, down on his luck. Made me proud to be able to say I come from such a caring community and know that I have grown up knowing a network of amazing people. 


The video I attached this week is one showing the passion of people coming together, much like I got to watch a community come together for my friend on Saturday. Enjoy!

"It's about love. It's about compassion. It's about kindness and faith. It has nothing to do with luck. You get what you give. So give good." -Unknown

Irish Blood

The boys representing their Irish Blood

Today in the car after picking the boys up from school, Jag, the youngest of my nanny boys, asks me if we can make an art project. I said yes and proceeded to ask him what he would like to make. He responded, "Can we makes somefing that is like my blood?" This response caught me off guard and sort of disturbed. Trying to discover where he got this idea of blood, I encouraged him to explain further. His continued to explain to me, "Gaffy, you know my Irish blood that I get from the leprechauns. Can we make somefing like that?" I could not help but laugh, realizing that Jagger was not talking about the red nasty blood of a crime scene, like I had originally thought. But rather he was referring to his Irish heritage...which in his 4 year old mind  came in the form of blood from leprechauns! I was glad to find Jag's comment one of comic relief rather than one to be worried about. As we continued our drive home my mind raced to come up with a creative "Irish Blood" art project that we could throw together quickly after dinner and before bedtime. The one I came up with was Leprechaun Heads. For those of you with little ones looking for a fun St. Patrick's Day project with limited supplies and time this is as simple as it gets and the boys loved it. 

How to make your own leprechaun head:

Materials:

Paper Plates

Paint (we used water colors = less mess)

Markers

Glue

Colored paper

scissors

Have the kids paint the outside rime of the plate while it is laying face down. Once the paint is dried have them cut the edge randomly, this will become the leprechaun's beard. Next, I had the the boys cut hats out of green construction paper, complete with belts (black/brown paper) and gold buckles (yellow paper). They then glued the hats onto the top 1/3 of the plate and drew on the leprechaun faces. That's it! The easiest way to make your own leprechaun. :) 

"If there ever comes a day that we can't be together, keep me in your heart and there I will forever stay." -Winnie-the-Pooh

First Crush

Okay, I know I already posted once today but I cannot help but share this with y'all. A video of my boy Kenny Chesney on Jimmy Fallon last night. For those of you that have known me for years know that Kenny was my first ever crush, since the first time I saw him in concert at age 12 I was in-love. Last year when I attend his concert at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, I was reassured that my love for this many is unwavering. haha There is just something about the sound of his voice that feels like home. I suppose it doesn't hurt that the man is drop-dead gorgeous either. Either way he will always have a place in my heart as my "First Crush"! 

"Well I am what I am, and I am what I'm not. But I'm sure happy with what I got; I live to love and laugh a lot and that's all I need." -Kenny Chesney

Sno-errr-Slush Day

Pbers was even disappointed with the yucky weather
and would not leave the porch

So upon waking up this morning I was bummed to discover what the weather channel had predicted being a foot of snow, turned out to be inches of slush. It made for a very white-knuckled drive to work at 4 a.m. Due to the treacherous road conditions I was late arriving to work, something I pride myself on never doing. But I was happy to discover that my "nanny-dad", was in no hurry to drive in the inclement weather himself. So we sat down at the kitchen bar to have a cup of coffee and watch the morning weather. As I attempted to regain feeling in my hands, which were in a death grip on steering-wheel only moments before, when I hear the news broadcaster announce that all River Falls Public Schools were closed for the day. Which meant, even though my nanny children go to a private Montessori in the area, that they too would not be having school. Thus, causing their dad to stay home from work with them so that I could attend my classes. But more importantly what I thought of at that minute, was that I had to get back in my car!! Ahh, I was less the thrilled to say the least. 


But I said my goodbyes and climbed back into my little Grand Am to brave the storm again. It took me nearly an hour to get home the roads were so horrible. I was convinced that the University would be closing campus for the day. Sadly, us college students had no such luck. My roommates and I were not excited at the thought of having to attend class in this weather. But by some weird chance, I decided to check my email before trudging off to my 9 a.m. class in the slush. I discovered I had two emails from my professors cancelling my classes! I was ecstatic to be having a sno-errr-slush day. I decided to treat myself by crawling back into bed and snuggling up with Pbers. I spent rest of my day catching up on homework and reading, a perfect way to spend a yucky weather day. 




"She went out on a limb, had it break off behind her and realized she could fly!" -Kobe Yamada

World's Wide Open

So this week has been one of crazy firsts and realizing how much I am growing up and how fast time truly does pass. I signed a lease to a one-bedroom apartment this week. It's crazy to think this will be my first time living all alone (well Pbers will be there too, of course). I also, enrolled in summer courses and discovered that being that I am planning on graduating in December, that this will be my last "official" summer as a student. Meaning that I have zero idea where I will be a year from now. Eeeks! Talk about scary business. 


I feel like these last 3 years of college have flown by. In what seems like a few short months I will be sending out job resumes and applying, for what I have dubbed "big girl" jobs and embarking on the next chapter of my life, leaving college behind. Causing me to think about my future and where I want to go. There are so many options. I told my mom on the phone earlier this week that I am having a life crisis trying to plan out my life after college. It is truly over whelming and at the same time a little exciting. 


This is where the Jason Aldean music video that I posted fits in. The song Wide Open popped up on my Pandora Radio the other day after talking to my mom. I could not help but connect to the lyrics. My favorite line is: "She's okay, not knowing. She's young and the world's wide open." This line made me think, "YES!" I do not need to know right now where I am going after college. The world is huge and filled with infinite possibilities. I do not need to limit myself. I can go anywhere or do anything. After all the World's Wide Open!




"To succeed in life you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone, and a funny-bone." -Reba

I'm Back

So everyone has been bugging me about my blogging. To be quite frank, I have not been blogging since I left Colorado last year. After much contemplation, I have finally decided that it is probably about time to get back into it! For those of you that followed my last blog this one is going to be much like it, filled with what I'm up to as well as different things I find interesting and blog-worthy along the way. For those of you that are new to my blog, thanks for checking it out. Welcome Aboard, Y'all!




"Life is not about finding yourself, it's about creating yourself" -George Shaw