Pickin' Time

One thing I love about summer's in Ohio is, well, everything.
Summer time is definitely the best time of year here.

Going out to the farms and picking various fruits is a lot of fun, we do it as often as we can.
For some reason, we are very loyal to Monroe Orchard's clear out in Hirum, Ohio. It's worth the 4o minute drive. It's right next door to the Church site, the John Johnson Farm. It's always fun to visit the senior missionary couples. And it is SO beautiful out there in the country side, I just love it.

We went last year when all of the Clarks came out to visit. We had to have picked about 15-20lbs! It's a lot easier to pick that many when you have 20 something people helping.
This time we picked about 7 or 8lbs, which is more than plenty.

Last weekend, after Matt took a big test we drove out to pick us some strawberries!
Luke loved shoving them in his mouth faster than we could stop him.
Luckily, he only ate the good ones we had already picked.

He was actually a good helper. We'd find a good strawberry and let him pick it and he loved that.

He got really comfortable and just plopped down and kept right on picking!

I love this picture of him and Matt, I always seem to get cute pictures of these two on this part of land every time we're out here. I love it.

Here's a cute video of our little helper.

We'll be back for peaches (they are THE BEST here), raspberries, pears & apples!

a new blog for inspiration

I have so many people asking me questions about our little projects, how we do this and that. And I receive so many kind comments on blogger & facebook, that I decided to start a new blog that is devoted to all that.

On this new blog, I want to share ideas & inspire. I hope for suggestions & comments too. I love finding thrifty ways to get projects finished and want everyone to be able to do the same. I love looking at crafty blogs that are so inspiring to me, so I started my own, with hopes of inspiring others.

So run on over to my new, creative blog and stay tuned because I will be updating it frequently!

A really great dad.

So today is Matt's 2nd Father's Day.
He truly is a wonderful, fun, loving father & husband.
I'm so thankful that I met him and have married him, it was the best decision of my life. He is a great example to me, others & most importantly to our son (& future children). He is intelligent, makes good decisions and is a hard worker. I admire him and all that he does. I love you Matt and thank you for everything.

Here are some fun pictures of Matt.
Some, he may kill me for posting. hehe sorry! No wonder where Luke gets his blond hair.

Senior Prom (2000, weirdest thing is that at this time I was 12 years old, in maybe 6th grade, hahaha)...love the plaid vest & bow tie babe.

What a stud...hehe.

I wouldn't ask for a better man to be the father of my children.
You're the best hun.

Whew! ...Latest projects

My sister's & friends back at home are always asking to see what we've been working on...because we always seem to have some kind of project going on around here.

So the first two are to catch up.

I made this car seat cover for my best friend's sister (who found out she was pregnant when she was SIX months along, lucky, who's actually giving birth today!). This is the second one I made and I love the colors. They are so fun and bright for a baby girl born in the summer.

Instead of doing double flannel I did one side flannel and one a light cotton, to hopefully let it be a little more breathable for the summer heat.

You can't really tell, unless you click to enlarge the picture, but I used such a fun stitch. It's a flower stitch, it took forever, but turned out SO cute!
I can't seem to find the picture of the whole thing.Second on the list,
We had this cradle we used with Luke, before it was cream with cream bedding.
Our good friends here, are having their first baby girl any day now and we wanted to give them a nice present because they've been such great friends to us.

So, I repainted it black and made the bedding.

I think my favorite thing about it is the tulle ties.

I LOVE ORDER!

And to organize things.
The last two are much more recent. The past week I've spent a lot of time in our garage painting, painting and painting. Thankfully Matt did the harder work (I think), sanding. Thanks baby!

So as we were on our way home from picking up a FREE metal 2-drawer filling cabinet (to organize all our papers & documents...nerdy, I know).
I spotted this beauty on the tree-lawn a few blocks away. We did a drive by and figured no one was home and figured out a way to get it home, on our little car...this is what we came up with.

We are so ghetto.
The best part is that Luke was buckled in his car seat...somewhere in there.

I painted it black (3 coats), with this really crappy paint we have, and then I had to go over it a few more times with polyurethane.

Matt has needed a dresser ever since he moved here (3 yrs ago!). The past year or so he's been using some plastic bins (see them off to the side?). So we kept the ugly handles...because we are lame & don't want to buy any right now, but it's functional, works great and makes me feel good to have his clothes put away!
We didn't do our best on it, but it turned out just fine!

Total for this project: $10 for the polyurethane.

I think what I was most excited for about this project is that I got the bins he was using for my FABRIC!!!! YAYAYA.
Yes, I am pathetic. I looked forward to organizing my fabric for two days.

This six-drawer stack will be moved to the porch soon, but here she is in all her glory.
My tower of fabric.
Ahhhh.

My "baby" drawer.
I have a problem where I LOVE to buy fabric, but I'm not that quick at actually sewing it. I just love to have it. I must be turning into my m-in-law, who practically has a fabric store in her basement.

And my most favorite, latest project...

This is the baby changing table/dresser we had for Luke before. It was sturdy, worked great and free (someone gave it to us), but it took up a lot of space and didn't hold a whole lot.

So, we replaced it with this dresser, that someone gave us too! I love free things & tree-lawn finds! I wish I would have taken a before picture, but I forgot. It sat in our garage for 2 1/2 months and we finally found time to sand it down and repaint it (4 times).

One drawer was broken, so we fixed that too. It had stickers, pen marks and was an off-white color...but I saw past all of that. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it.

I'm aware that the picture looks a little small and lame now...I'll have to make some changes.

I think it would go PeRfEcT in a little girls room.

It had some flimsy, old handles and we got rid of those and we don't really want to buy new ones at the moment, so I improvised and used some fabric that I am planning on using to make a quilt for Luke, when he's in his "big boy" bed. It didn't turn out as cute as I thought it would, but it works for now.

Oh, and it's so nice because the drawers work, hold more and it doesn't take up so much room, AND it matches his crib.
Total for project: $23
-had the paint
-had the fabric (thanks to my awesome m-in-law)
The $20 was because we "invested" in an electric sander.
And $3 for the wood glue to fix the drawer.
So it was a very inexpensive project, thank goodness!

Can't sleep...too many great ideas!

My head is swirling with so many wonderful decorating ideas I can't handle it!
I love it when this happens.
I have this notebook were I sketch out all of my painting, sewing, crafting, etc ideas-or else I will most likely forget.

Anyway, we have just finished refurnishing two dressers (one for Luke & one for Matt) that we found off the tree-lawn. They turned out great, I will post pictures soon.

This evening we brought Matt's up and had to do some major rearranging of our little bedroom. Four pieces of furniture (side tables, my dresser & our headboard) are a dark brown, his new dresser is black....so it looks alright mixed, I guess.

Well, since we moved in (2+ yrs ago) I have HATED our bedroom. The door always stays shut, because it has no color (it is all browns, blacks & creams)and needs some major TLC...that there isn't room in the budget for, so it stays on the back burner.

Well I decided this is going to change. From our selling things and what other little income we make on the side, I'm going to re-do our bedroom. I skimmed through my beloved Pottery Barn magazines and found all the inspiration I need!

Here's how it's going to go:

First, I decided on the main color to be yellow.

I love this room (not so much the matching curtains though).

I absolutely LOVE the bedding and think it would go well with the browns and blacks in our room.

I'm thinking of painting one, maybe two walls a light yellow. Possibly like the pic below, maybe a tad lighter..what do you think?

By the way, I love this little work station...ahhh someday.

I'm hoping to find some yellow & white fabric similar to the picture at the top to make a duvet cover and some pillow shams. I also loved this, I don't know what you call it, quilted pillow sham look, only I think I'll leave the two ends open and do ties, like I will on the duvet cover.

I want to sew a white bed skirt, this style.

Last year I made something of a headboard for our bed out of wood, padding and fabric. I'm thinking of maybe putting another thin layer of wood on the back and adding a white frame around it (the wall behind would be painted yellow). To make it look similar to this picture.
I LOVE this room, for a little or big girl!

Next, we have a chair very similar to these ones, that Matt found on the tree-lawn (love that place), he sanded it, varnished it and reupholstered the seat. I'm thinking of repainting it (sorry Matt) and making it look just like the blue one and then placing it in the corner of the room, next to the window. Does the blue go as an accent color to the yellow well?My other small projects to add to the room will be, adding a yellow curtain over our bla..brown one, keeping the brown one because we like the darkness in the early morning. We also have a glass door that goes out to our "indoor" porch, that I think I will make curtains for.

There is a rug (I couldn't find a pic of) in the same magazine that I think I am going to actually do a painting of the print on the rug onto wood to hang on the wall next to the bed, maybe in yellow or the blue? or a light green??? Not sure on the color.

And lastly, I am going to recover our lampshade next to our bed. It's currently...you guessed right, cream and brown! I want to recover it to be white (with a dark brown base).

Whew! Those are all my ideas that I am in love with.
If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!
I had to get that off my chest.
Off to bed now...and to the paint & fabric store tomorrow! Yeee!

trying new things and learning as I go

What do you do with an almost 17 month old toddler?


Good question.
Let me know when you figure it out.

This crazy kid is so energetic, can't do one thing for longer than 3 minutes and is always on the go....I've run out of ideas of how to entertain him.
We've spent hours outside, on walks to the library, to the park and trips down the slide in our backyard every time we're out there...but that's not enough.
He's too busy playing outside to notice he has a bloody knee...until I stick a band-aid on it.

So this morning I woke up and thought I'm going to figure out something to do other than watch Sesame Street (which he loves, but I only like him to watch one episode), read books, play with toys and eat crackers.

First, we got some thread and strung some Cheerios on it. He didn't like that much, because he was too impatient and just wanted to eat them. So I hurried and put them on. At first he was mad they were on there, but I told him to eat them and he thought that was pretty cool. A minute later his mouth is stuffed and I can't find the string anywhere....maybe in his diaper later on?

Second, I let him stand on a chair and play in one side of the sink with a couple of dishes and bubbles. He thought that was pretty cool, but he soaked himself, the chair (it has a cushion), the rug and the floor.

Meanwhile, I was cooking up something salty...homemade play dough! I gave him a ball of it and some kitchen odds & ends. At first he thought it was weird and didnt' like it. Then I made lots of little balls out of it and he loved it!
It kept him entertained for 30 minutes!
He tried eating it a few times, but I think he learned his lesson.

Later we went to the park, kicked the soccer ball around, played on the swings, went down the slide.
Came home, read some books, played on the piano, chased each other around....and at the end of the afternoon, with a few hours left...I was out of ideas again.

I always feel bad when we aren't doing something! (I must be crossing over to the Clark side...).

If anyone has any good ideas for a little toddler and some fun activities we could do at home, don't hesitate to tell me!
Thanks!

what a party!

With the help of these lovely ladies, we threw an awesome baby shower for my good friend, Marilyn and what a party it was!
I counted 22 people there, maybe more or less. So it was a great turnout!

We played some fun games and ate some great food!

We also devoured this amazing-chocolate w/raspberry filling-cake, it was so pretty too!

One of the games was a bottle chugging contest, haha.
It was pretty entertaining.

Marilyn got hooked up with a lot of great gifts!

Here are some pictures of some of the guests.

And the crew with Marilyn.
Thanks Diane & Kristy for all your help!

It was a fun party and made me realize that we only have one year left here.
I've made so many great friends, it will be hard to leave!

The First Cut

Luke had his very first hair cut this past week.

I've been meaning to cut it the past little while, but have been putting it off.I feared it would be a traumatic little episode for him, but he didn't mind at all-lets hope it stays that way for future cuts. I let him hold the shaver while it was on (I am not good enough or dare to just use scissors), so he'd get used to it. When I started buzzing I gave him a little dumb-dumb sucker and he didn't even notice what was going on.

I've never cut hair before, except for Matt's, but that's easy all I do is buzz the whole thing.
It was easy, but I only cut it in the back.
So you really can't even tell that he lost much hair and I forgot to take a before picture. But it was long in the back and starting to become a little mullet. Matt thinks I need to blend it more, but I'll probably just wait until he needs a hair cut again.

The Home Stretch

In the craziness of traveling the past month, I somehow forgot to mention that Matt successfully completed his THIRD year of Medical School!
Yes, that means we are only in dear old Cleveland for ONE more year.

The first and second year were pretty relaxed as far as how busy Matt was, because he got done with school by noon and studied at home the rest of the time. Oh and did I mention that I wasn't even here for most of the first year (lucky me!), because we got hitched over his spring break.

The third (the longest, it starts in March 08 and ends in May 09) was busier and harder. He worked in the Clinic & Hospitals for long hours, but he had good experiences. During that time he was able to deliver TWO babies. Which has lead him to the decision of going into Obstetrics & Gynecology (if you ask him he'll say he's still only 99% sure...until he applies to residency will it be 100%).

Now we have a new and exciting year ahead of us with applications, interviews, traveling, 8 weeks of vacation, Match Day, an away rotation and most of all GrAdUaTiOn!!!!

Good-bye third year, thanks for all your ups and down, it was worth the ride...but you won't be missed.


Congratulations Matt!

Utah Part III *Park City*

If you haven't been to Color Me Mine, you have to go!
For the Ohioans, there is one in Columbus.

My friends and I made a little trip and it was so much fun! You pay a sitting fee, pick out your piece of pottery and paint away!!! It's hard to see our paintings in this picture, but after they fired up the kiln, they turned out all pretty and glossy. I can't wait to go back.

My friends, Dani, Liz & Andrea

By the way, thanks for making the trip from Cedar City to see me for the day Andrea!!!!

The final part to the trip.
After the wedding, late that night we headed up to Park City for non-stop fun!
Here are some of the highlights:

Sunday we drove down to Bountiful for the blessing of the newest Clark member, McKelle. It was beautiful. We had some great food at Meg's parents house afterwards, and then went back to Park City.

The Clark Family & the Flint's.If you didn't know, the Clarks ADORE soccer and enjoy other sports.
So there were a few soccer games and other fun outdoor games.

Another thing (some) of the Clarks like to do is hiking.
We ventured out on two different hikes.
Here's a pic of most of the family members.

Other fun things we did while we were there, were lots of shopping, presentations (those were interesting), eating good food, having a few movie nights, free babysitters (thanks everyone who helped out) and driving up and seeing all the celebrity homes/cabins.

There was lots to do at the hotel. We played ping-pong, giant-sized chess/checkers, played pool, swam, went hot tubbing a few times and worked out at the gym. There was a room for kids, which was great, the kids played with toys, there was an X-box (which Matt loved and made two-probably 12 yr old- friends), Wii fit tournaments and all sorts of fun crafts for the kids.
BBQ'n=gooood food.

Littlest Swimmers.

McKay & Lukers.

LOVE. THIS. PICTURE.

The Apline Slide!
It was a lot of fun, nuff said.

On Thursday we drove back down to Salem to see Matt's little sister, Sarah, gradate from the new~Salem Hills High School~
It was pretty cool. They had a parachuter land on the football field, with the flag and another one flying in with all the dipolmas. It was nice and not too long.
Way to go SARAH!

Those of us that came:
Charlie, Rachel, McKay, Doug & Katie, Me, Matt & Luke, Adrienne & Ma & Pa Clark

Friday we checked out of the condo and went to the Clarks, where Anne loaded us up with a lot of goods (one of the best things about coming home!). THANK YOU!!!!!
Later we went to my house to have a final BBQ with some of my siblings and their fams.
The worst about going home is the part where we have to say good-bye.

Early Saturday morning Anne took us, along with Doug & Katie (leaving on their honeymoon...sorry we had to ride up with you guys!), to the airport. Thankfully, Matt's other brother, Dave, was on our first flight to help us carry our very heavy (40lbs) duffle bags on. He was a lifesaver!

Thank you to everyone, especially our AMAIZING parents for allowing us to have an awesome trip! You know we are having too much fun, when we don't want to leave.
We have the best families.
Miss you & Love you all!