Goals

How do you keep up with daily goals and to do lists? I picked up this cute notebook at Hobby Lobby for $3 and added some tabs I picked up at Staples (along with my new lime green tape dispenser).

Wordless Wedne.... Err Friday...

Key lime cupcakes

Here is how I made the key lime cupcakes from this weekend.
I found this pin which took me to this blog post.
I had to improvise a little bit when I realized that I needed lemon cake and I was using just yellow cake mix... BUT I had some lemonade drink mix! So I added 2 of those, in hindsight I might only use 1. I followed the blog for the rest if the cake ingredients (oil, lime jello, oj).
Them comes the icing. I didn't think the cream cheese would be what I was looking for so I made a buttercream and mixed in some oj. It was a major fail! It kept separating...
Plain cupcakes it is!
They were perfect for after spicy crawfish and sausage. Just the perfect amount of tang.
~ Tamara

Weekend wrap-up

I got to see the Lorax Friday night. It was cute and funny. I'm a sucker for cute dancing fuzzy bears.

Saturday I made key lime cupcakes (I'll show you how tomorrow). And we went to a crawfish boil. I had never had crawfish before. I prefer shrimp. Lots of spicy food!
Then I went bowling with my sister. I broke 100! Good times.

Sunday was spent cutting up thrift store finds from a month ago. I'm prepping for two craft fairs next month. I may have to make it just one. Next month is also 4 friends birthday's.

I got exciting news that Jexica is transferring to UALR for next year! Now I can steal her more easily for craft days. Yay!

Hopes and dreams?

Do you ever have daydreams of what you really want to happen in your life? But you are afraid to voice them because life has dictated that anytime you have ever wanted something you either don't get it at all or you only get it after life has kicked you around....

I'm going to motivate myself into getting more things done. To work towards the goals. All the while still being afraid to say out loud what those goals are.

Does this make any sense at all?

Maybe I can make them happen, then tell you all about it.

~ Tamara

Things I love

I am loving my new scent from Bath and Body works. And my new super comfy Kenneth Cole Reaction wedges.

~ Tamara

Wordless Wednesday (technically)

2012 Goals

I've been thinking about goals lately and my direction. Somehow yesterday morning I woke up with super motivation to do something that scares me.

I happened upon the blog less cake more frosting while on Pinterest yesterday morning and her 2012 One Word Goal really inspired me. 

It put this idea in my head and I've been jotting down ideas all day yesterday and today. Basically its a crafter workbook focused on goals, lists, self evaluation and exercises.
I'm going to work mine into the Smashbook that I bought last summer and haven't really used yet. But I'm also going to work up printable medallion type pages so you can add them to any scrapbook of yours. And maybe an ebook (maybe for a couple bucks on Etsy) that can be printed in it's whole and spiral bound at the local copy shop for a book all to itself.


 ~ Tamara

Currently

Currently:

Obsessing over: life. As in the big picture. Scott and I have been taking about engagement rings (my favorites pictured below), houses, wedding, honeymoon, and most importantly how much we want a dog.

Reading: Hungry Girl 200 under 200 cookbook. Some of the recipes are looking totally yummy. Combine this with "Not My Mama's Meals" on the cooking channel and eating healthier looks totally doable.

Feeling: Jexica helped me with this earlier today... Joy. I feel joy. Life is good.

Needing to: craft. I need to get some of this creative juice from talking ideas with Jexica and actually MAKE something.

Listening to: that song from the Roberto Cavalli perfume commercial.

Working on: nothing. That is a problem.

Wishing I was: out of my lease. I would love to be able to go house shopping.

Anticipating: all the good movies coming out soon. Hunger Games!

Thinking about: using the Sharpie Stain pens I got to decorate a plain white tote.

Drinking: Donut Shop Decaf coffee

~ Tamara

Pinterest

I have seen this done several times on Pinterest so I decided to try it. Just take yogurt and dot it on some wax paper and freeze. It is supposed to be better than Dots.
Review on it later when they are frozen!

Edit: they were frozen enough to try before I left to go back to work. YUMMY.

Quick bracelet diy

I made myself a quick bracelet today with some elastic ribbon and a button. It matched my outfit perfectly!

Shopping for Jexica's wedding

This week I took of the days to help my friend Jexica do prep work for her wedding. And I tried on  probably 14 dresses (probably 40 between all five of us) for options for the bridesmaids. I personally love the dress she picked (it has pockets). Then watched her try on a good 40 dresses. Including every lace dress that David's bridal had. Then we went to The Bridal Cottage and she tried on five dresses and then we all cried.
But it has to be altered and the sales woman said the first thing the seamstress its going to ask is if she has her shoes. And since poor Jex its trying to plan this during her spring break that meant we were on a shoe mission! Cut to six stores later... Really, nobody has blue shoes? So the next day we hit up five more and low and behold, DSW to the rescue! Not only did they have several shoes in blue but we also found bridesmaids shoes! Which I also love!

I was worn out! But I think she got so much done. And as evidenced by the crowd at dinner Wednesday night, she has plenty of help!
~ Tamara
Ps. The dress in the picture is not THE dress, I can't ruin the surprise.

Of campfires and pride

This weekend I went camping. Wait… Let me rephrase that… Scott took me into the woods… that doesn’t sound good either… Lets just see how this went…

Saturday:

We got up and got packed and ready and headed over to Brad & Jexica’s to group up. Stopped at Kroger to  get some food. MMMM S’mores! Then we headed out… We went to a part of the Ozark National Forest that Scott is very familiar with. His family has hunted there since he was a little kid. We stop and look out at a few different spots. 

Then we head down to where we are going to start hiking to go see a waterfall. Now here is where it gets… interesting… You see, I don’t hike much. I walk on small trails, like Petit Jean mountain… Where the path is dirt and stones set to be like stairs… That is NOT where we are Saturday. We are straight up just walking in the woods. I don’t see a trail… Do you see a trail?

I had to learn proper hiking. Like going down a steep incline with your heel and the side of your foot so you fall backwards and not forwards if you do happen to lose your footing… After years of Flagline drilling in “point your toe” it was difficult for me. Not to mention the fact that I had on some Nike running shoes and not proper hiking boots. Oh and of course the fact that I am severely out of shape.

We did see some awesome stuff…

They climbed a big rock…

Then an even bigger rock…

 

Then came the part of getting down to the waterfall… This was extremely steep, and not only do you have to get down there… you have to get BACK UP the mountain…

I was determined to see the waterfall, it could have been bone dry for all I could care but I was not going to sit behind like some … there really isn’t a proper word here… city girl?

So I did it, I climbed down… And got to see some pretty water and trees…

Then it took me 3 times as long as Brad & Jexica to get back up. If Scott weren’t there saying how proud he was of me for doing it I probably would have broken down. I had a mini melt down at one point when I kept slipping and couldn’t get footing and skidded down some rocks and hurt myself. But I did it. I made it to the top of the steep part… and then of course the 2 mile hike back to the trucks…

Once we made it back we headed down to our campsite. And I have to say, someone says camping and I am all for it. I grew up camping. But not the way Scott grew up camping. I grew up with Tents, then progressing to the pop up camper, then the pull behind, and now my grandparents have a slide out side 5^th wheel camper. So camping for me is just going to the lake and going without some of the nicer modern conveniences…  Camping for Scott is no electricity, no water, no tent. We slept on an air mattress in the back of the Jeep. We started a fire for warmth. And we cooked dinner on a tiny propane stove (now the stove I am familiar with, it’s how Memaw always made her coffee).

It was cold. So cold. Our campsite was beautiful though. It made me wish it was warm enough to go swimming.

We had some good ole s’mores and told stories of my Thursday night of playing wingman (heehee). And quoting movies and comedians and just good ole down time. And putting up a canopy, that Scott didn’t realize he bought a pink one! (But now I have a pink canopy for craft fairs!)

Sunday:

My back, thighs, calves, ankles, and feet are so sore. 

Poor Brad & Jexica their air mattress had a hole in it and they had to just sleep in the back of Brad’s Tahoe. Jexica snuck in some zzzzzs by the fire in the morning. 

But I got breakfast in bed...

Isn't that beautiful sight to wake up to?

Then we packed up and went to head out and my boyfriend decided to be a boy… and did this….

He is paying for it now though. He punctured the oil pan (after just doing an oil change) and Brad had to tow us up the mountain to a point when his dad, John, could get a trailer in to haul it back. Full amount of damage has yet to be seen.

Brad & Jexica brought me back to Cabot and we stopped off at her Grandpa’s to check out the land where they are planning on getting married. 

I got to pet some horses, one of them kept sniffing my head, it was weird. Lol.

 Ignore my chipped nail polish...

Lesson of the weekend: I can do it. After climbing a mountain, a 30 minute visit to the gym should be no problem. Walking up the stairs at my apartment? Pffst… I climbed a mountain… I realized I can do it. Don’t get me wrong, I hurt today, but I am so proud of myself. And that is priceless.

Not to mention that I got to see my boyfriend in his element. And I fell in love with him even more. I got a good one.

~Tamara

Hair inspiration

I've been trying to decide if I want to go back to my hair being red and so many pictures on Pinterest have inspired me to seriously consider it. And I saw this today and I've decided I want my hair like this. Lots of red highlights on my naturally dark base.
Thoughts?
(ps. I totally plan on trying the style too)