Officially accomplished one of my year goals of reading a book from start to finish! I have finished reading The Hunger Games. Now hopefully I can accomplish my new goal of finishing the other two books by the end of the year.
Category Archives: Vanessa
Pinterest Did: I Love You Frame
Not too long ago I saw this awesome idea on pinterest to buy a frame, print off a sheet of paper, and use a dry erase marker to write reasons why you love each other to your special someone. For Valentine’s Day I made one for Drew and I, and we’ve been using it quite often. It’s just a fun little reminder to express to each other that we love them and some of those special reasons – heartwarming or just fun.
Here is the original idea from A Content Housewife:
Here is my version I made for Drew, and how I’ve used it:
To make our version, I bought a 4×6 frame from Walmart for $1 and then I designed the photo/print out myself. Then put inside the frame and found a dry erase marker we had laying around our house.
Our friend Serah asked for a copy of the download to make for her husband, and I thought others would appreciate it as well! To make your own, I included a copy for you to download and print off, and put inside any 4×6 frame! Click here the image below for a high res version!
Drew’s Graduation Announcements
Drew will officially be a graduate of Milwaukee School of Engineering on May 26th, and we can’t wait! We are so excited I designed our own unique grad announcements instead of getting the standard white ones that the graduation cap and gown company gives you. We also wanted to update our friends and family about Drew’s job at Milwaukee Tool as well.
I also took some photos to use on his announcement and include a blooper reel, he’s pretty funny and is always making me laugh.
Photo Friday: Growing Leaves
So I made this succulent garden awhile back and one of them was super overgrown that I had to cut it back. However I did a little googling and found that you can grow new succulents from their leaves, who knew? You just have to…
1. Carefully remove leaves.
2. Let them lay out to dry for a few days and hopefully the leaf callus-over and start to form new roots.
3. After a few days, put them in soil like this photo and spray them with a mist of a water bottle so they don’t dry out and shrivel up.
4. Keep checking on them for root growth and once they’ve got that established you can replant and grow a new succulent… I’ll let you know if this works!
If this does work, I was thinking of making small succulent gardens for my mom for mother’s day and also for my sisters.
Here are a few resources on leaf propagation (the official term)…
Mr. Brown Thumb
Martha Stewart
Straight from the Garden
eHow
Spring Blooms 2012
Spring made an early appearance this year in March, which I love. However I think it did have a negative effect on the flower bulbs I was forcing from work (Holland Bulb Farms). We did get lots of colorful additions to our indoors, however some refused to open due to the lack of cold temps. But here are some photos of the blooms that graced our apartment – Can’t wait until I have an actual garden!
I also helped my mom plant lots of bulbs in the fall – so I’ve been stopping over at my parents often to take a look at what’s blooming there:
Photo Friday: 6 Years
This past Sunday was my birthday, and Drew and I celebrated by going to Mama Mias for their awesome garlic bread and pizza. 6 years ago (while Drew and I were dating) we went to the same place with my family to celebrate my birthday. Here you can see how much we’ve changed. Craziness.
Willard & May Launch
Exciting news, at work we just launched a new site in late February for outdoor living and gifts, named Willard&May – www.willardandmay.com. We’ll be selling items such as pottery, planters, garden tools and decor, chimeneas, firepits, water fountains and much more!
Check it out:
We also have a blog that we’ll be posting about DIY outdoor projects, outdoor living ideas and ways to enjoy your backyard more. So far I’ve been creating most of the posts, so check it out as well and let me know what you think!
Photo Friday: Toes
March is surprisingly warm this year, and I love it! I could go for a winter like this every year! It was so warm, I decided to paint my toes outside – and good thing I don’t do this for a living.
Goals 2012
With the start of the new year comes new goals, not just new years resolutions, but real life goals. Here are some of our biggest goals this year:
TOGETHER:
1. Pay off Vanessa’s School Loans
2. Take a vacation
3. Save up for a down payment on a house!
4. Get better at doing our laundry and keeping our house clean
5. Go rock climbing together
6. Start to pay off Drew’s loans
DREW:
1. Graduate MSOE
2. Start at Milwaukee Tool
3. Relax
VANESSA:
1. Read a book in entirety
2. Blog more to document our lives
3. Sew something
4. Do less freelance
Pinterest!
Wow – I had no idea what I was missing all along – not jumping on the bandwagon of pinterest. Its basically a visual bookmarking system for me. I’m pretty good at bookmarking things, however when you bookmark too many within your browser, it basically defeats the purpose. BUT I love Pinterest in that you can categorize them, view them visually and search your pins and others pins. So if you are on pinterest, follow me (Vanessa) or let me know you are on so I can follow you!
