T

T is for Trips.


Trips together.


Yesterday we went to Fossil Beach at our favorite Virginia State Park (in honor of Spring and Easter and Earth Day). We went easter-egg-fossil-hunting. We took plastic easter eggs with us and filled them with the fossils we found.

Together we found over 50 shark teeth, so it was well worth it!

We got there a little after 12 or so and stayed until around 5. It was fun and the weather was nice (even though I think I sweated buckets). There were a few other families coming and going but they didn't know what to look for..most of them had little kids so they were just out there enjoying the scenery/weather.


We saw some silk worms, toads, ducks, and bald eagles. I also saw a bunch of butterflies and managed to snap this photo:




On the way to Fossil Beach is a nice little hike.




The new community center before you start the hike is really nice. We've been there a couple times since it opened, it is really neat.















I also finally signed that letterbox that is there..and used the stamp in the letterbox to sign my letterboxing journal. Hope to find more letterboxes soon!

S

S is for Sweets.


Sweet cake pops. SO MANY cake pops.

I have been whipping up cake pops so fast lately..so many people have been placing orders and I love it!


Here are some of the orders I have done this past month:


Several VCU themed pops were ordered: (devil's food cake with vanilla frosting)


They had these Rams on them that I made, for the occasion:


These were ordered for a family birthday party: (yellow cake with vanilla frosting)



4 dozen of these were ordered for a huge 50th birthday party: (lemon cake with lemon frosting and yellow cake with chocolate frosting)


Here is the same order bagged up:


I made these for Earth Day to take to the office:



And these are for Spring/Easter:



I love putting bunches of them in small mason jars and giving to people, and/or displaying them like a bouquet in the jar. They are so colorful and cute. Tons of fun to make! I love giving them to everyone.

R

R is for Richmond.


Richmond is so diverse. Not just the people, but the landscaping, too. The surrounding counties are gorgeous. Whenever I am driving around I always end up seeing something beautiful. Here are some favorite Richmond photos of mine.

Q

Q is for quilt.


This is our wedding guest book quilt:



My husband's second cousin Mary Clare made this for us. She is a very talented quilter (it's a hobby of her's). I picked out and purchased the fabric and she worked with me on the design, and made it for us. There is even a leaf quilt pattern on it. The backing is leaf fabric. I think it's my favorite detail from our wedding. Much better than a dusty old book with some names in it we'd probably never look at again. This quilt we see every day and every time I read the messages I seem to discover a new one or one I didn't notice before. Sweet.

This is what it looked like before our wedding:


During our wedding:



Now:


It is full of messages and signatures. It now hangs above our bed. Once we have a house, we will find a better place for it. I want to have a real wedding wall one day, so it would most likely hang on a big wall and be surrounded by framed wedding photos.


This quilt here was a wedding gift from my sister Bonnie and her husband Nathan. They got it for us in Ohio, where Nathan's family lives. One of his Amish relatives actually makes quilts and this was one she made. It is gorgeous. When we have a house, this will most likely be in a guest room, either hanging or on a bed. I love the turquoise and cream colors in the design.

P

P is for platypi. and pandas.


Baby platypi and baby pandas are so cute. I could not resist sharing this here. The platypus is one of my favorite animals..they are so unusual.

Source: animals-zone.com via Sandra on Pinterest

Source: None via Vanessa on Pinterest

O

O is for origami.

And Oh my god how are we not selling any of our origami bouquets..or bouts..or anything else we can make.

Goal this weekend: list some origami things on etsy. finally.

My etsy shop link: http://www.etsy.com/people/MrsOrigami?ref=pr_profile

N

N is for neat things.



I had a huge order of cake pops I delivered on Tuesday. I had some extra cake pops after I filled the order, so I decided to make some earth day cake pops. Simple but adorable! They really do remind me of earth.


Another neat thing:


NOW

My christmas cactus is still growing and doing well! I am glad I have been able to keep it this long.

M

M is for mornings. Monday Mornings, that is.

I like sleeping in on weekend mornings. This past weekend I didn't get to sleep in as much as I would have wanted to. In fact, the last few weekends have been like that. Monday mornings are not so bad anymore-I get to reflect on all the things I completed over the weekend.

I love having weekends off from work. It's a nice perk and gives me time to unwind and do whatever things I want to do around the apartment, or out and about in Richmond and sometimes other places. Daniel works every weekend unless he asks for it off..which is fine, because he's got 2 jobs now. (he is now teaching piano..so his regular days off are now teaching days)

Anyway, mornings are actually not so bad. I realized I get so much more stuff done when I wake up early in the morning. I'm done doing things I planned to do by 10 or 11, and that gives me the rest of the day to do whatever I please. It's actually not bad at all. Of course, it's simple math. But, it's nice seeing things get done.


Roundup of this past weekend:

-visited the Clean House yard sale on saturday
-went to an antique shop and a thrift store on saturday morning
-cleaned the entire apartment (vacuumed, cloroxed, took out the trash, put all dishes away, Dr. Wily's box got a thorough cleaning, things got picked up and put away)
-dropped off some clothes to goodwill that we didn't need anymore
-cleaned out my car
-talked to my mom on the phone for 23 minutes saturday morning
-talked to my dad on the phone for 2 hours and 40 minutes saturday afternoon
-spent some time on pinterest pinning and repinning things..inspiration!
-baked 2 cakes on sunday night for a cake pop order I need to deliver on tuesday (lemon cake and yellow cake)
-replaced the light bulb on our front steps
-returned a plant bracket to home depot and repotted/planted some seeds and a little cherry tomato plant
-modgepodged a wine box i got from the CHsale
-spraypainted the spinning rack i got from the CHsale
-went to the Richmond craft mafia Spring BadaBing sale on Sunday morning
-brunch with my sister and friends after the craft show (Kitchen 64), and icecream after that (Sweet 95)
-went to some more shops (class & trash, these4walls) and drove around some parts of Richmond
-rolled up vcu tshirts and labeled with tags, packed up and made them ready to ship
-watched Top Gun with Daniel over dinner sunday night

L

L is for LOTS of fun!

Today I went to the Style Network's show CLEAN HOUSE YARD SALE. it was lots of fun!



Who wants a Cleeeeean Houuuuuse??


A friend told me about it the other day (it was mentioned on the local news). You can read/see the news article here: http://www.wtvr.com/news/wtvr-richmond-woman-gets-home-makeover-bon-air-home-named-messiest-in-america-20110414,0,3871092.story
This house is the messiest home in the country, so they were filming that episode..crazy that it was right here in RVA!


Anyway, anyone who knows me knows that I love that show. I love Niecy Nash and I loooove the cast on the show and everything that goes on. I used to love watching the episodes back to back when we paid for tv..anyway now there is a new host and some different cast members, but today I did get to see Matt Iseman and high five him, which was cool. I am sure I will be able to catch myself when the episode airs on June 29th..it'll be fun to watch.

The sale was from 9 to 1 at the Showplace here in Richmond..and let me tell you-the Showplace was packed full of things to sell. I was amazed at the great job the crew from the show did putting the sale together. It was a lot of fun seeing it all in action and getting to see people from the tv show. I got there a little before 9 and stood in line, and a friend of mine got there in line with me. We got to go in around 9:30 (they had groups go in one at a time, probably b/c there were so many people there) and there was sooo much stuff. It was unbelievable..

I bought 7 items, most of them were brand new, for $16. Yes, just 16 bucks!





Here's what I got:

metal spinning rack thing-I plan on spray painting it and using it for my craft stuff and maybe displaying cards and/or stuff to sell when I do some shows.

rolling pin with dough sheets-the pin is pretty much brand new, I don't think it was ever even used. it's awesome (daniel hates our tapered french pin so i thought he would like this one better)

microplane grater/zester thing-brand new.

canvas storage bin- new

huge glass jar-going to use for storage or as a big vase. i love jar vases.

wooden wine box-probably never used, but will be decoupaged and used for fossils or other treasures.

kuhn rikon decorating kit-i have wanted this for a while now and got this one brand new!




Anyway, I hope the homeowner had a successful sale (I am sure she did considering what I witnessed today) and I hope she really appreciates everything the Clean House crew has done and will do for her and her house. It's going to be a great episode!!

K

K is for kitchens.

I love kitchens. and I love thekitchn.com. It's an apartmenttherapy.com site, so that makes it automatically awesome. There's always great recipes, decorating ideas, new gadgets, and tours of peoples' kitchens on the site. It's lovely.

One day when we have a house, I hope to have an awesome kitchen. Gotta have lots of windows. And a big sink.

On pinterest I have found a bunch of inspiring photos of kitchens and kitchen things. Makes me day dream.

Source: thekitchn.com via Ashley on Pinterest

gorgeous.

Source: 11magnolialane.com via Ashley on Pinterest

most brilliant pantry idea ever.

Source: bhg.com via Ashley on Pinterest

for some reason i love this. retro.

Source: coastalliving.com via Naomi on Pinterest

i think this one is my favorite so far. amazing.

J

J is for Joy.

and things that make me happy.




Making cake pops for people. People love these and they look so sweet wrapped up like little bouquets.




Dr. Wily and his little sleepy face. How can anyone be sad when such a cute creature like this exists in the world?




Vintage pyrex..especially fridgies. They are perfect for making gift size quick breads!




Memories from our wedding. Such a happy day.




My christmas cactus. I should take some new photos of it because it has been growing. That makes me happy.



Cool & fun DIY projects. We have a lot of projects going on right now and I can't wait to reveal them here on my blog.




The beach. Any beach.




and animals. all kinds.

I

I is for imaginary.

Like imaginary friends, and big imaginations.


When I was little, I didn't have any imaginary friends. My twin brother was there, and I had 2 sisters to keep me entertained. I did have a big imagination though. Us kids were always playing games growing up.

We made mud pies and served them through the "drive thru" we made at our back yard swing set.
We made complete villages and towns in the dirt/soil.
We did the same with legos. We even made up our own lego restaurants and theme songs/jingles.
We had a doll house that we used to make stop motion videos out of (called "The Doll house Family"), and made up all of the lines (my sister and her cool video camera back then was the director).
We used to rollerskate in the basement, and we made up fake shops/stores and sort of had a little mall going on down there. My dad's area with all of his tools/automotive supplies was called "Gerry's Auto." We even called the deep freezer down there a grocery store (we made it up). And the laundry area was a laundromat. Even more-we put paper traffic lights up and obeyed traffic laws as we were "driving" (rollerskating) through "town."
When we visited Smith Mountain Lake, we would pretend to be mermaids when we were out there swimming in the lake.
We used to play "school", and actually got graded.
We also played "store" and would actually buy things from my sister.
We played "radio" too, and had our own radio shows going on (recorded on cassette tapes back then).

So, we had a pretty good imagination growing up. We made up a lot of things to keep busy. We had lots of things growing up, I will admit that, but thinking about it I seemed to enjoy the imaginary things more.

H

H is for history..

family history.

I was playing around on ancestry.com yesterday and decided to upload some photos from my uncle's books on my mom's side of the family. While I was doing so, I discovered some other photos another member of the website had already loaded..it was neat that she put photos to some of the same people in my tree..


I want to share these photos here because they represent my family history and my ancestors. The first 2 are from my uncles' books and the rest are from other ancestry.com members.

This is my great grand father, B.H. Runyon, on my mom's dad's side of the family.

My great grand mother, Lillian T. Reed with her Grand Union Tea Co. truck. My grandfather (on left) and his brother Russell are hanging out the window looking out. I would like to get some more information on these tea trucks..


Some ancestors..just look at their clothes. Fancy.



1901, upon the occasion of their wedding; Charles & Lelia Kagey. This just looks like a scene out of Back to the Future..fancy! These are distant cousins of mine.



This man, Noah Good, was born in 1823 in Shenandoah, VA, and died in the same town in 1903. He was a day laborer, and married to Julia A. Campbell. He enlisted in the war at the age of 40 in 1863, on the confederacy side, and he served in Virginia. He is my 4th great grandfather on my maternal grandmother's side (my great great great great grand father). Pretty neat piece of history.