If you can't convince them, bribe them

A year ago, when Josh started his new job, I asked him to fix my bike. I've had it for years, but haven't ridden it for several years. It needed new tires and a new seat. I bought those, and then patiently waited. And waited. And waited. Until it snowed. Then I figured I wouldn't be using my bike in the winter, so I put the tires and seat away.

A few weeks ago, I started asking him to fix my bike again. As soon as the semester is over, he will go back to work full-time, so I was hoping he could get it fixed before then.

This weekend, I had a thought. Bribe him. He's been asking for a new gun for a while now. I finally told him he could buy it this summer when he's out of school. But that hasn't stopped him from looking, and hinting about it.

On Monday, I asked him, "If I told you, you could buy that gun on Wednesday, would you fix my bike tomorrow?" He asked if I was serious. I told him not too serious, but he couldn't have the gun until after my bike was fixed.

I just got a text from him:

"Bike's fixed when can I get my 7mm?"

He still might have to wait a week or two, but it looks like he'll have a new gun soon. And while he is cleaning it, I'll be out riding my bike.

Mini Album

A few weeks ago, I saw THIS post on the r house blog. Immediately I thought of Josh's cousin Garrett who just left on his mission to serve in Fiji.

I ordered the mini album from Close to My Heart.

(I really need to get better at taking before pictures. And during pictures.)

I love how small and compact it is, so when Garrett goes through transfers he will be able to fit it in his bag. I haven't attached any pictures yet. I've made the tags, but they aren't attached either.

Here it is all folded up.

 This is the front. On the first panel I will attach the labels that say "the Hanke family". Then the other seven panels will have family pictures. His family, each set of grandparents, and then aunts & uncles on the other four panels.

 The back panels have a pocket where we will each write him a message.

I'm hoping to see his mom this weekend so I can give it to her, so I probably won't have pictures of it after the family pictures are attached.

Easter Cupcakes

Yesterday I checked my email, and there was a message from Kim asking if we wanted to do Easter cupcakes that night. Of course Jessica and I both said yes. It was so much fun and they turned out so cute.

We used the grass tip to make grass with Easter eggs placed on top. I need more practice with this tip, but it was fun.

Then we made Easter chicks by frosting the cupcake and then rolling the top in coconut that Kim had dyed yellow. We had a bag of M&M's for the eyes and Kim sliced up some gummy bunnies for the beaks.

I wanted to try to make a birds nest. So I died some coconut purple (because that's more fun then brown). Then I used a round tip to pipe around the edge of the cupcake, but didn't fill in the center. Then I rolled it in the coconut to form the nest. Then I filled the center with some frosting and placed my eggs there. Then I stuffed more coconut in between the eggs to fill in the gaps.

 I love how they all turned out. We have a few more designs we want to try out, so we hope to get together again soon.  

Spring Swaperoo

Yesterday I got my Spring Swaperoo gift. I love all the fun colors of this time of year.

My gift basket included:

an apron

blank cards for me to get creative with

Startbust jellybeans

Hershey's eggs

Robin Egg candies (which happen to be my favorite Easter candy)

I LOVE the apron. Its made out of leg from a pair of jeans. What a cute idea. I showed it to all the gals at work and one lady traced a pattern of it. 

 The apron came in handy later that night. Last minute, Kim, Jessica and I decided to make Easter cupcakes and I was happy I had an apron to wear.

Spring Swaperoo package to Lyndsey

Here is the complete package I put together for the Spring Swaperoo. I had so much fun putting this one together.

Last year I was with Jessica when she went to pick up some kits from Tracy at the Idea Closet. I was so jealous because they were so cute. Tracy had one extra kit and offered to let me buy it. It was a door sign and even though I really don't care for those, I got it anyways. But then I never put it together. I thought this Swaperoo was the perfect excuse to finish it. I hope it mails okay. (It didn't. She'll have to reglue it. Sorry.) The wood glue did I were NOT get along. After holding one piece on for half an hour (and it still not setting in place), I decided to use a hot glue gun instead. Then I also tried tacky glue on one of the feet that wouldn't stay on.

 The name I drew for the swap has some young children and I thought this stuff would be fun to include for them. Great minds must think alike, because I got the same candies in my swap gift.

Since scrapbooking has been my obsession lately, I decided to include a few pages. I went through all the layout I've done with Janel's Close to My Heart group and tried to copy a few of my favorites. 

8. 15 Facts about you

1. I'm deeply in love with my husband.

2. I have OCD. One thing I notice with it is I can't stand open drawers. I'm always closing the ones in the supply room at work, even though I didn't open them.

3. My favorite thing to do is to spend time with the hubs.

4. My second favorite thing to do is to hang with my best friends.

5. I'm finally scrapbooking pictures from the family reunion in 2009.

6. My recent favorite shows are "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives." I love Netflix!

7. Even if its hot, I can't sleep at night unless a blanket is over my toes.

8. I'd like to brag I'm completely off of soda pop, but I caved a few days ago. But I am still proud of the fact that's I've only had like 3 soda pop's all month long. I used to have one or two a day.

9. I didn't think I'd like it, but I now but frozen spinach in my breakfast smoothie.

10. I wanted to get new family pictures for our 10th anniversary, but we couldn't coordinate a date. Now that I have time to do it, I don't want to because its so ugly with now snow and just mud.

11. I already miss winter. The wind blows every day and I hate it. That will be followed by the heat of summer.

12. I just took a photography class and I'm falling back in love with my DSLR. I can't wait until I can get my new lens.

13. I don't make my bed in the morning. Actually, I only make it when I expect company and the same day I wash the bedding.

14. Josh and I are talking about taking a mini vacation in May, but we're not sure where we want to go.

15. I don't think you can ever have enough cats. Case in point, even with them all lined up on the couch, I think there is enough room for one more. ;) But Josh told me no.

7. Last item you purchased

Those of you who know me well should be able to guess on my last purchase. It involved Amazon.com and books. ;) I love Love LOVE that website!

I bought:
"Mrs. Mike" by Benedict & Nancy Freedman (for next month's bookclub)
"Stardust" by Neil Gaiman (I hope I love it just as much as I love the movie)
"The Guise of a Gentleman" by Donna Hatch



I always have stuff in my basket at Amazon.com. Right now, the things I want are pretty pricey so I'm waiting for our tax return, or payday, or Easter, or until I can't control myself anymore. ;)

That list includes:
Adobe Photoshop
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens
and other various books including more fictional books and also photography books.

I can't wait until I can place that order!

Spring Swaperoo Sneak Peek

I decided to get in on the spring Swaperoo. I'm sending my package today. I absolutely love it and hope the person who gets it loves it too. I want to post pictures of everything, but until she gets her package in the mail, here is a sneak peek. 

6. Talent you wish you had.

I wish I was a better crafter. I think I do well enough, but I feel like I'm always copying someone else's idea. Just once, I'd like to think something up on my own. But a friend told me that I copy those ideas very well which is a talent in of itself and I'm grateful I can at least do that.

I wish I could sing. Not like a movie star, but better then I sing now. I'm in charge of picking the songs to sing in Relief Society and last week I decided I need to just choose songs with lower notes because I can't hit those high notes.

I know it sound odd, but a talent I wish I had would be to add numbers in my head really fast. I saw it on a show once were a guy could see like a jar of pennies and know excatly how many were in the jar. I think that would be awesome to be able to do stuff like that.

I also wish I was a better writer. I love the blogs that post something every day. Its just usally updates about their life or sharing a story, and I love it! I don't feel like I'm a very good writer and I wish I was.

5. Say something to your 15-year-old self

This is a tough one because I think the title implies I should tell myself something to keep me out of trouble in the future, or something like that. At 15, I was in high school and I hated just about every second of it until my Junior year so maybe I could just tell myself to get out of there as quick as I can because life gets better after that.

Oh wait, I did do that. My junior year was my LAST year in the horrible place. :)

A while back one of my besties had to give the lesson in YW's and she had to choose the subject herself. In a moment of bitterness, I told her to tell the girls how one out of eight of them wouldn't become a mother in their life. Mean? Yes? Uncalled for? Probably. But I just feel cheated that I didn't know about that until I was in the middle of it. You spend your young life dreaming about becoming a mother, and it was devastating when I learned we may never become parents. Had I known at a younger age, I really don't know what I would have done differently, but still I like to think that knowing it was a possibility might have helped the blow not be so hard when it did come. And also, maybe if I had know some of the causes, like PCOS, I could have gotten a better handle on it when I was younger. I thought no one could predict their next period, I thought they just came when they felt like it, be it 20 days apart or 48 days apart. I thought they were supposed to be so painful you would wish for death.

Well, it looks like we have found one of my many soapboxes....

So here is the letter I would write to my 15 year old self.

You may be miserable right now, but don't worry. In about 18 months you are going to meet your future husband, so just hang on a little bit longer. Also, go ahead and marry him the day you turn 18. You love being married. ;)

You have friends that are a good influence, but you need a more social life. Don't worry, you will find that in about a year. When you do, your friends become your life line and probably end up keeping you in line. Besides, through them you will meet Mr. Wonderful.

You will question whether you want to do school actives or just work. Go ahead and work, you like having the money. And because you work you are able to buy your dream truck during your Junior Year. (It was a Dodge Dakota :) )

Do your wedding your way. Later in life you will joke that you should have just gone to Vegas.

Building your family is going to be HARD. You should learn about infertility. It will be a struggle you share equally with your husband, so you will somehow survive. But while you are going through this struggle, don't stop living life just because you are waiting for something to happen. Also, be nice to pregnant people.

Also, be better friends with your cousins because their wives will end up being your very best friends. Try to find them sooner so they can help you through your struggles.

Love me

4. Last book you read

Just the last one? How about the books I read in the last week. ;)

Last Monday I finished "Adam's Story" by Jack Weyland. He's not my favorite author, but I figured since we read "Charly" for book club I might as well read the other two books that followed that one.

Then I started "Kissing Cousins" by Marcia Lynn McClure and had that one finished by Thursday. Once again, Marcia outdid herself and wrote a book that makes me swoon. If my house was on fire, I would go back in to save her books.

When we first started our book club, Kim introduced us to Dorothy Keddington and I have loved her books. I had just about read them all (but two I think) so Kim lent me "Flower of the Winds." Now I think I have one more of her books to read, but I need to look it up to remember which one. Rumor is Dorothy might be in our are in the future and I can't wait to meet her.

Sunday night I started Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I've only seen the first movie. Now that the last movie is about to come out, I want to see them all. But first, I want to reread all of the books so I can remember everything. I think after I finish each book, Josh and I will watch the movie. Hopefully I'll finish the last book about the time the movie comes out.

Blog Book 2010

Last year I decided to make "year books" out of my blog using Blog 2 Print. I had to wait until we had some money because my 2009 book was so big. Then I also waited until they ran a 15% off sale.

This year I wanted to do it again. I knew they run their sales every few months, so I just waited until another sale was ran and then uploaded my blog to their website. I was so excited that I didn't have to wait to far into the new year.

Here is my blog book for 2010. I decided to put my favorite family picture on the front cover and then since the kittens were such a big part of our lives last year, I choose my favorite picture of them for the back cover.

3. Something you never leave home without

I'm not sure on this. I have a few things I like to always have with me, but sometimes I still get in a rush to get out the door and I forget them. For the most part, each morning when I head out the door, I have the following items with me.

* My purse (oh, I just got a new one and it is so pretty!)

* My cell phone (I really want a new one)
* My iPod (just downloaded Angry Birds. Both Josh and I are hooked.)
* A smoothie for my breakfast
* A book (I like to read on my break and during lunch)
* My camera

Of course, I feel that each item is very important, but I get the must upset if I forget a book to read or my camera. I've learned to take a book everywhere, because I HATE having to sit and wait for something with nothing to do. Drives me nuts! So I just try to have a book when I go to dr. appointments, hair appointments, etc.

I also hate when something cool happens, or I see something pretty, and I don't have my camera with me. I now have enough cameras, that I really should just leave one in my car at all times. But I haven't done that yet because I didn't want the screen to crack in our frigid winter temperatures.

It does bother me when I forget my cell, but I hate that it bothers me. I think society has become overly attached to their cell phones and I don't want to be like that. So if I forget my phone, I usually call and tell Josh so he doesn't try to call me, but then I spend the rest of the day not stressing over it.

St. Patrick's Day Kits

Here are the kits I got from the Idea Closet for St. Patrick's Day. I didn't have any decorations before now, so I'm excited to have these done. 

 Just like the hearts I made last month, I was nervous to sew these clovers. I actually didn't get them finished until today, but now they are ready for next year. Maybe someday I will learn to not be so nervous about sewing. 

St. Patrick's Day

For St. Patrick's Day we went to Jessica & Andrew's for dinner. Josh was excited because he hasn't had Corned Beef & Cabbage in years. I on the other hand was glad Jessica had a potato bar because I don't like to try to new things and was worried I wouldn't like it. Josh talked me into trying a bite and I wasn't sure what I thought, so I just ate some cabbage and a potato. We also had green lemonade, green jello and pistachio pudding dessert that Jessica's mom made. It was such a fun dinner party. It seemed to get me back in the mood for party dinners because I'm thinking of starting my Halloween dinner back up this year. 

Jessica made these cute gifts and put them on each of our plates. 

We had such a FUN time!

2. The best part of your day

First I'll start off with my least favorite part of the day....morning. I am not a morning person. I hit snooze at least 3 times on my clock before rolling out of bed. I feel like a sleepy slug as I do my hair. Then I notice I have 10 minutes left before I need to leave, so its a mad dash to find some clothes and something to pack for my lunch.

My favorite part of the day is the evenings. I love it when I get home from work. I like my job, but really, I would rather spend my time with my sweet husband. Most night we don't do anything special, just eat some dinner and watch some tv. But its still my favorite part of the day. Especially when I come home to find dinner is already cooked, that makes it even better. (Partly because, yay, I don't have to cook, but also because Josh is such an amazing cook.)

I also love bedtime. We have already talked about our day and other things, but there is something about our heads hitting pillows that makes us think of other things to discuss. I like to think its because, even though we are tired, we still want to spend as much time together as we can before falling asleep, so we visit.

On weekends, all day long is my favorite time of the day. ;) After the house work is done, we usually just veg around the house watching movies or playing games and I love it.

One more favorite part of the day is when Zipper cuddles up to me. When Josh and I are sitting on the couch watching tv, Zipper will worm his way between us and cuddle up against me. I love that he is such a mamma's boy. He usually cuddles up with me in bed too, and that is when he sucks his toes. :)