Check it out...

Things have been pretty crazy the past couple of days. David and I have a million things to do before school starts... including doing laundry so we can wear clean clothes again, editing pictures for my little brother and sister's senior pictures, home-teaching, visiting teaching, cleaning our house, tackling the back bedroom, resumes, work, and 991,000 other things.

However, I have been slowly catching up with the blog world. Key word: slowly. However, I want to give a shout out to one of my friends! Shawnee just recently started her own etsy business and it is wonderful! She makes her own headbands, necklaces, earrings and other unique items. Seriously... I love her headbands and would LOVE to get one for my birthday (hint, hint). 

Her business is called "my fair ladee." I think that is such an adorable name, and it fits Shawnee so well! Check out her etsy shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/MyFairLadee. Or follow her twitter here: https://twitter.com/MyFairLadee

Seriously, you won't regret at least taking a look. There is some serious eye candy over there!

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I wish that I had more time to write a post, but Utah State's Connections is this week. Right now, all of my fellow managers are working in the Information Technology booth at the Connections Fair... without me. I decided that I needed a break, but break time if over and I am heading back to our extremely crowded booth. Wish me luck! 

Missed us?

Great news! As of two weeks ago, David officially finished his classes for this summer!  He has worked incredibly hard to keep up with two jobs, classes, homework and taking care of me. He doesn't start school until August 30th, and you better believe that we are making the most of every moment! 

In fact, the reason you haven't heard from us for the last week and a half is because we were here:

 (We went to Mt. Rushmore, Black Hills, Independence Rock, Devils Tower and lots of other places with all of my family. We had an awesome time, and loved every second of it.)

and here:

 (We went to Glacier National Park with some of David's siblings. Everytime we told anyone that we were going to Glacier, they are said"Oh my goodness, it is so beautiful there!" They were right! It was beautiful and we had a great time.)

We are very grateful that we were able to spend so much time with our families, and that we have such great jobs that we are able to take the time off. (Special thanks to my boss, who didn't find out that I was leaving on this trip until the day before we left when we tried to assign me a rather large project. And thanks to my surprised co-worker, Allison, who covered for me and took on the project. Oops! I just forgot to tell anyone in the office that I would be leaving!)
 
 There is plenty more to blog about, but for now... I am just happy to be home and be clean.
  

Today's thought...

Compliments of Volume 25.
Check her out at http://www.etsy.com/shop/vol25


Thank you to all of you who impact my life in so many ways. Thank you for reading my blog and commenting to let me know what you think, and that you care.

I love you for who you are, and you should too.

Flashback: Caution - Explosive Gas

I realize that the title to this post may seem a little out of character from my usual vocabulary. However, there really isn't any other way to title today's post.

You see, my Dad is smart and good with his hands. In addition those fine characteristics, he has a great sense of humor! When you combine all of those attributes together, you sometimes come up with things like this:

You see, my dad was eating lunch with some guys from work, and this little outhouse was sitting on the table. My dad, being the inquisitive person that he is, was like "That door looks like it opens!" So he reached out and pulled the handle. Immediately the entire thing exploded! Everyone at the table jumped and after they figured out what had happened they started laughing.  My dad figured out how they had put it together and came home and made one of his own! (That is where the "smart and good with his hands" part comes in. He can look at anything and basically figure out how to replicate it.)

Here is a video of the action! (I hope it works.)

p.s. Don't laugh at me. I'm not an actress.

p.p.s My dad really did grow up with an outhouse instead of a real bathroom.

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My dad is so funny. This little house sits on our front entryway table so anyone who comes in and is too curious for their own good gets quite the surprise! It is quite entertaining to lure some unsuspecting person over to open the door. (The video above is a parody of this.) However, somehow my grandma (who has a history of heart problems) was lured into the trap. I think we were all freaking out as she was putting her hand out to reach the door, because we were afraid she would have a heart attack. She opened the door and the house exploded, and I think everyone about had a heart attack. Thankfully, she was fine... just a bit stern to my Dad for trying to kill her.

(I am trying to get my Dad to make one of these for David's Dad's birthday/Christmas. I think that he would love it. So for those of you in the Peaden Family who are reading this... don't show Cal this post!)

Flashback - Nathan's Baptism Day

Another Flashback. Hooray. 

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Remember this announcement that I made for my nephew Nathan?

 Well, David and I were lucky enough to make it down to his Baptism a couple of weeks ago. (And by a couple of weeks, I mean like a month. It's a flashback- give me a break.)

Nathan is such a sweet boy and I am grateful to be part of his family. He is sometimes a little shy around me, but will always give me a hug if I ask him to... and will play games with me. (Unlike his two younger siblings, whom I am still trying to bribe for their love.) 

 This is the Rencher family, and I adore them. Wendy is David's oldest sister and I we look up to her and Sam so much. I hope that we can raise our family in the same pattern as they have used. 

I am the oldest of my family (as everyone who is reading this probably already knows) and I have no nieces or nephews of "my own." However, I gained 6 of them (the majority of which are seen above) when David and I got married and two more have come along since then! I have loved being an Aunt, and am excited for my siblings to start having kids (No pressure to my siblings! I want you to graduate high school and get married first!) 

We had a blast with the family celebrating Nathans Baptism. 

The funniest story from the whole trip involved this sign: 

This is the story:

(Note: This is the story as I remember it. For the most part it is 100% accurate-ish.)

Wendy and Sam woke up one morning to see several of these signs posted around the house. The boys had made the signs as well as campaign buttons sporting the phrase "Support Proposition 1." After Wendy asked them what "Proposition 1" was, Josh (the oldest) handed her a document titled Proposition 1. It explained in great detail that the boys wanted to change the way that they did the dishes as a family. Instead of each of them having one day a week to do the dishes, they proposed that each night everyone would help. Each family member would take his/her own dishes to the sink, rinse them off and put them in the dishwasher. Then the boys would split up the remaining dishes into thirds and each tackle their section. That way, on the night that was yours to do the dishes... you wouldn't have to stay there for the 45 minutes it took to do the dishes alone. 

I thought that this was hilarious and really showed how clever Josh is! I made him take a picture with me so I could show him off to all of you. 

Unfortunately the ending isn't as happy as Josh wanted it to be. His brothers realized that with Josh's plan, they would have to do the dishes EVERY night instead of just once a week and pretty much abandoned him. That, on top of the fact that the Rencher home is not a democracy... well...  you get the picture. However, if Josh ever chooses to run for president... I would vote for him. 

Here are some other pictures of our weekend. 

 

 

I absolutely love this picture. The end. 

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This is beside the point, but as I was typing I got myself thinking about my word usage. I realize that I say things a little differently than most people do. A lot of times when people proof read my papers and things they ask me "Why did you word it like that?" The truth is, I don't know. I just write the way I think. (Which may be scary.) You may notice that I use parenthesis a lot, as a means to add in my side comments. This actually happens in my head. I will think something, and then have a side thought immediately after. It makes sense in my head... but the only way to make it semi-make sense in writing is to use a lot of ( ) and ...'s. Yikes. I'm sorry for those of you who have a hard time following me. 

Also, ten points to the person who noticed that I said "pretty much." There was a time in my life that I said "pretty much" in pretty much every sentence. It rivaled the word "like" for the #1 spot in my vocabulary. It's funny to have flash backs to old words and sayings. Yesterday, on Facebook, someone said "I'd tap that." It threw me back to middle school. In fact, I was sitting in Mr. Halling's shop class and Dexter Rowley was saying "I'd tap that" and all of his friends were laughing. Talk about flashback. Weird. It made me laugh though. 

When I was student teaching, I used the word "shafted" in a sentence when talking to a group of girls after class. I said "he shafted me". (Yes, I was telling them my dating story.)   They all laughed, but I could tell they were confused. One of them finally said: "What does shafted mean?" I was aghast!  How could they not know what shafted meant? Shafted is a part of normal language right? I totally felt the generation gap, and I am really NOT that much older than these girls. I guess that is what my parents felt like when they would say out-dated words and I would just be like... really? (Which, if you know my parents, you know this encouraged them to start using "hip" words like "Diggity-Dawg" and "Home Fry" and things like that. I loved it.)

I don't know. I realize this doesn't have a point. But there are so many words that I use, or used to use, that have changed. Things are in, and then they are out. Like the "woot woot" thing. I never really got into that, but the other say I was talking to someone on the phone and I was like "Wooot!" in my head. Then I stopped and I was like, "Where did that come from!?" These words just tend to get into your head. Vocabulary is such an interesting thing! Even just the other day, I was talking with a old friend and we were discussing how we both say "head" or "face" at the end of an insult. Like, Meany-head, or jerk-face, or grumpy-head. We figure that we must both say it because we used to spend so much time together! (Also, I add "pants" to the ends of words. Does anyone else do this? Mean-pants, grumpy-pants etc...)

(Notice, that my use of "like" is still going strong. It may have lessened from when I was in high school... but it has not disappeared.) 

One last thing about words: sometimes words change for the better... like... well I can't think of an example right now. (Leave me an example in the comments and I will update and give you credit.) HOWEVER, sometimes words can change for the worse. For example: Pregnant turning into Preggo. Oh. My. Heck. I can't handle it. It is the ugliest monstrosity of a word change that has ever happened. (Sorry to those of you who use this word and enjoy it. I still love you. I hate your word choice.) Preggers is just as bad. Ew. I feel dirty even for typing it. I really dislike this. Other words? Lurve. I believe that this is trying to spell love. (Which really isn't that hard.) And... I can't think of anything else right off the top of my head. (I'm sorry, I have very strong opinions. I hope I didn't offend anyone.) 

Do you guys like these words? If you do, speak up! I would love to hear the reasoning behind them so I don't get so upset when I hear them. (If I can understand something... I deal with it better. I just don't understand these words yet.) 

What about words that you miss? I was trying to think of old phrases that I used to use... but was drawing a blank. 

Haha! I'm sorry, my side thought turned into a post all of itself. I told you, I just tend to write what is in my head. It's not my fault! I am excited to hear your feedback on the vocab issue. Maybe if you are lucky I will even post about my font likes and dislikes. (Like I said, I have pretty strong opinions!)

{a beautiful little blessing dress}

Alrighty ladies and gents! Here is the moment you have all been waiting for. (Okay, not really... but I have been really excited for this post for a long while. It's taken me a long time to put it together just the way I want. So thanks for your patience. I am really happy with the way the dress turned out!

So here is the story:

It was the end of the month, and because I am a Visiting Teaching supervisor, I was texting all of my girls to get their reports. I was about to text one of the girls from my list, Lauren, when I remembered that she was supposed to have had her baby around that time. So I jumped on the internet and after a few clicks I was blog-stalking away. On her blog I found this post where she asked if anyone knew someone who would be willing to make a blessing dress for little Bridget out of her wedding dress! As I read her post, I was like "Me! I could do that!" So I texted her and offered her my services. Within just a few short days I was at my house, with Laurens wedding dress and just an idea of what Lauren was looking for.

The front of the dress.

It's actually pretty cool. When I was getting married, a lady in my home ward told me that she had made her daughters blessing dress out of her wedding dress. Ever since then I had kind of toyed with the idea of maybe someday cutting up my wedding dress to make an heirloom for my daughter. Maybe even using pieces of my dress to make all of my daughters blessing dresses. My thinking is that my daughters are not going to want to wear my dress when they get married, so all it will do is sit in a box or bag forever until someone finally decides to get rid of it. So, instead... you could take a piece of the dress and give it to each daughter to treasure forever. I love the idea, but am not sure that I would actually be able to commit to it. This was a great way to practice cutting up a wedding dress and turning it into a blessing dress without actually having to commit to clipping up my own dress! (Sounds terrible, I know. But I was really excited.)

Lauren and I had just briefly discussed what she was looking for, so I went on a quest to figure out exactly how I was going to make the idea a reality. My sweet sister-in-law, Amy, helped me scour the Quilted Bear for an example (Lauren had seen one that she liked there), and when we finally found it... she helped talk me through exactly what I would have to do to make a blessing dress like that. Then I went to the fabric store and bought a blessing dress pattern that looked simple enough that I could modify it without much problem.

Before too long I had measured out exactly where I was going to cut on the wedding dress and was ready to get snipping! David was sitting on the couch doing some homework, and I was sitting on the floor trying to prep myself for what I was about to do. (I was really nervous!) Our conversation went something like this:

Shantel: Hey David, I am about ready to cut into the dress.
David: Yep.
Shantel: No really, I'm going to cut it up. A wedding dress.
David: I know, we have talked about this for a couple of weeks now.
Shantel: I mean it! These scissors in my hands. They are going to cut into this dress, which is a wedding dress. After I start, there is no going back. I will have ruined this beautiful dress that someone actually wore on their wedding day.
David: *gets up from the couch, comes over to where I am sitting* Are you nervous? Because I know that you are going to do a great job.
Shantel: I'm a little nervous. *Starts cutting the dress along the designated line*
David: *Goes back to the couch and continues working on his incredible interesting accounting homework.*

I guess I just needed some moral support to actually start cutting the dress. As soon as I made the first cut I was fine.  

(David was so incredibly supportive of me throughout the entire process. I am so grateful for him and the fact that he never let me forget that he knew I was capable of success.)

Here are some more pictures of the dress before I so cruelly took shears to it!

The back of the dress. Isn't it gorgeous?

A close-up


After the cutting was completed, the really intense part started! I cut everything out and started piecing it together. (Cutting out is my very LEAST favorite part of the entire sewing process.) It was fairly slow going, but bit by bit it all came together! (A special thanks to Amy and my mother-in-law Sue, who helped me figure out how to put the beads on each bunch, and how to do the lining.) After an epic battle with an invisible zipper and a midnight run to Wal-mart to get pinking shears... the dress was finally completed. I am so happy with the way it turned out!


And now... for the final reveal.... 

Here she is!

 I realize that many of you may be astounded by the number of pictures that I am going to now post of this little dress. I just hope that you understand that when you spend so much time, effort, and love on something... it creates its own little space in your life. Besides, these pictures are all I have of this little dress now... so just bear with me.

A little closer, so you can see the detail. The three little beads around the neckline turned out really cute, but were actually very necessary. There was a little pucker right at the front of the neck, and the beads did an excellent job at disguising that little piece of, ahem, character.

 The front again, with a little bit of fence added in.

This picture is simply so I can pretend that I am a super-cool blogger that can take crazy angle shots of the subject and get away with it.

The back. Please, please, please be impressed with the invisible zipper.
Please, please, please don't judge me because the ribbon in the back doesn't match up.

 Here is the blessing dress by the wedding dress. The dress had a super long train, so I just used the fabric from the train to make the dress. That way, if Lauren decides she wants to preserve her dress after all, it is still mostly intact.

Closer up of the two dresses.
(And of the almond bark in the background. I had just finished making the most delicious Oreo Truffles. Trust me, they are divine.)

See how proud I am? I love the way it turned out!

And now for those of you who would like to see little Bridget in the dress:

(I stole these from Lauren's blog, but don't worry... I got permission to post pictures of her baby on my blog. Head over there to see more pictures... I only pulled off a few.)

Doesn't she look adorable? I was really worried about the dress being WAY too big for her. However, I think it turned out pretty good. It's a tiny bit big, but not too terrible.

This was such a great experience. I'm grateful that Lauren trusted me enough to give me her wedding dress with just the promise that I would do my best! (I felt like I should give her a resume of past sewing projects that I had completed successfully.) Lauren is gorgeous, and her little baby is incredibly beautiful.

Many people have asked me whether this experience has made me more or less likely to make a blessing dress of my own out of my wedding dress, and my honest answer is: I don't know. I still love the idea, and am definitely more likely to make the blessing dress than to buy one. However, I am still a little shy of committing to the idea. I loved the way it turned out for Lauren and Bridget. We will just have to see if it happens for me!

Thanks to everyone who helped me and encouraged me through this. It doesn't seem like a huge deal, but it really was a big deal to me. I hope you have enjoyed looking at the pictures of the final product!