Latest Crafting Adventures!

I love to craft and I am always full of these grand ideas for projects that I want to do. It's the follow through that I need to work on.  For example, I have five yards of this beautiful purple floral fabric that I was going to make a dress out of but now is just sitting in my "craft room" waiting for some other form of inspiration to hit. 

I generally craft in spurts. I will collect all of these ideas and think "I need to do this soon" or "Maybe sometime I will make something like that." Then, once I have collected enough ideas and I hit a free weekend/day, I spend the entire weekend/day crafting up a storm! 

Due to popular demand I have uploaded pictures of my latest crafting adventures: 

Funny story about these pillows. They used to be red, but when we changed our decor in our front room to be blue and green I decided they should go in the closet until I had time to re-cover them with coordinating fabric. Over the next couple of months David and I had a constant unspoken battle. Actually, I don't know if you would call it a battle. He would see the red pillows in the closet and think "Hmm... these red pillows don't belong in here? I'll move them out to the couch." And then I would see the pillows on the couch and think "What are these pillows doing out on the couch. The red doesn't match. I'll just stick them in the closet until I have time to re-cover them." This went on week after week after week. The funniest part is that neither of us ever said anything, or even really thought about it a whole lot. It was all an almost subconscious battle. Finally, I realized what was happening and decided to just sit down and make them one night. If you look at the curtains below, they match the coordinating stripe along the top. We love them!

New curtains! These aren't SUPER recent, but I don't think that we have ever blogged about them, and we love them alot. They help brighten up our house with the colors, but make it a little more formal as well.

See the stripe of coordinating fabric? We love the contrast of the two.

For the first year of living in this apartment we did not have an end table. Instead we had two filing boxes stacked on top of each other and covered in fabric. In order to make the cover for the pillows we had to get a new side table so I could use the fabric that was covering the boxes to cover the pillows instead. Plus, David never really liked the fabric/filing box thing. So we found this side table at a garage sale for $2.50 and then we painted it blue! Didn't it turn out great? We had such a great time together getting it all painted. We had to prime it with an oil paint first, and then we just spray painted it blue. (You may notice that we still have some red items around the room that haven't been converted to the color scheme yet, like the red plate. But don't you worry. It is coming along! We should have everything perfect by the time we move out in December.) Also, that lamp is one of our favorite wedding gifts but we have no idea who it is from! There was no card or name attached. So, if you know... please let us know. We LOVE it!

This is the framed "P" that I mentioned in a previous post. I just used some extra fabric to line the spray painted frame and then cut out a "P" from cardstock and spray painted it black. The little flower you see next to it was made from a zipper and has been spray painted as well. (More on that below.)

Jenna and I tried to make her a dress out of this orange material. It didn't turn out as well as we would have liked it to. *cough* Oh well. Instead we both we able to make these super cute Halloween wreaths for our front doors! I'm excited to get it out there. (But not for a couple of more days. Halloween may be my favorite season, but I do NOT support Halloween in September.)

Jenna and I both love headbands. I think that we always have. We used to tie ribbons or fabric (or string, or belts, or really anything we could make work) in our hair as a headband. However, to buy headbands it is REALLY expensive. So instead we decided to make ourselves some! The middle flowers are just hair clips. The red and black ones are made out of zippers. (You can't see the black one very well... but it is my favorite one!) The green one is just made out of fabric. We had so much fun making these together, hot glue burns and all!

Didn't these projects turn out great? I love them all.


As I was posting all of these projects, I decided that I need to put up pictures of what our apartment looks like. We really love it, and it is almost PERFECT. There are a lot of things about it that I would love to post about, so maybe I will do that in the near future.


To end: Look at this Halloween craft by the amazingly talented Tuesdee.  

Check it out on her blog at: http://everydayisacraftingday.blogspot.com/2010/09/floating-ghost.html.

 I LOVE IT!


It is definitely on my list for my next crafting spurt.


So, what are your latest crafting adventures?

Likes and Dislikes

This post is dedicated to several random things. These random things are separated into two categories, "like" and "dislike". I was going through my photos, and thinking of what to blog about and everything seemed to fit nicely into the two categories. So, here you go. In an effort to help you get to know me a little better, I give you Shantel's Likes and Dislikes...

LIKE                                                               

David is in his final semester of school! Whoo hoo! 

What could be better than that? Oh, just the fact that after we payed the amount due for his tuition (mind you, this is after all of his scholarships and other financial aid already had taken out a large chunk) we still had money in our bank accounts! Albeit, there wasn't very much money left. But there was still a little in there. That means that David and I have both made it through our undergraduate degrees, and David through his graduate degree without having to go into debt! We are so blessed and grateful for the job opportunities, scholarships, and financial help that we have received throughout our education. This has been a goal for both of us, and as long as things keep going the way they are going we are going to make it out of this with a few dollars in the bank. 

DISLIKE

I seriously HATE when people sneak into pictures that you are taking. I think that it is immature and rude! Take this picture for example, we were at the USU football game with Kayla and Tyson and had Tyson's brother, Matt, take this picture for us. It is such a great picture, except for the boy who was sitting in the row behind us who decided that he was going to jump into the picture. Now, I realize that sometimes you can't avoid catching people in your picture, and I know that I have been in the background of many pictures. But it is different when you purposefully get in someones picture. What is this kid thinking? Does he think he is funny? Does he think that I WANT him in my picture? Because I don't think he is funny, and I don't want him in my picture! It makes me sad to see this picture because it could have been so perfect and the boy really bugs me.

Rude. 

LIKE   

My sweet cousin(cousin-in-law?), Jessica,  finally had her little baby girl! The top picture was taken at her bridal shower and the bottom picture was taken at the hospital soon after little Claira Rose made her grand entrance into this world!  So precious! Honestly, seeing Jessica pregnant made me REALLY not excited to be pregnant. (She was miserable!) However, little Claira Rose makes me wish that I had a little baby just like her to hold in my arms and call my own. (This is not an announcement, just stating how much I love my little cousin-niece Claira. If you think that David and I should start having kids, then you need to talk to my little sister Jenna. We cut a deal that we would start having kids as soon as she got engaged, so that our kids would have cousins to play with.)

DISLIKE

Over the past couple of years I have become a font snob. 

To quote a fellow font snob, Julie:

I love fonts.
I study fonts.

I know the names of way too many fonts.

I am a total font dork.

Some really, really bug me.

Some make me really, really happy.

You may think that I am kidding, but I can name almost every font that is used on any wedding invitation (and most advertisements).  I love the different effects that come as a result of using different fonts. I LOVE to write in fonts with a serif (like the one I am using right now, Georgia, - they have the little lines at the end of each letter). I HATE to write in sans-serif fonts. (like Calibri, who ever thought to make that the default font in Word?) However, when I design, I like to use the sans-serif fonts (without the little lines at the ends) because I like the way that they look. Take this blog post for example, My writing is in Georgia, but my headers are in Helvitica. 

Helvitica is better than Ariel.

Papyrus is much loved by many, (so don't be offended) but WAY overused. It drives me crazy.

Comic Sans is... ugh. In fact, if you disagree, let me back up my argument. There is a website dedicated to those who hate of this font, a font called "I Hate Comic Sans," and an article you can read about how Comic Sans came to be hated so much.

Curlz = the loss of all credibility.

Scriptina is the most used wedding font out there. Over 50% of all wedding vendors (it doesn't matter what area) will use this font somewhere in their marketing campaign. A large amount of these people will actually incorporate this font into their logo. I'm not going to lie, it's a pretty font when used correctly, but is extremely overused and is difficult to read when you get a word with too many loops! I makes my heart hurt to see it being mis-used! 

(Don't be offended if you like these fonts. I really only have issues when professional designers are misusing these fonts!) 

LIKE

Going to the pool with awesome friends! 

 Um, yes, these photos are from Pioneer Day. In July. 

Better late than never, right? Love these people!

DISLIKE

 

I seriously can not believe the amount of trash that is left in the stands after a football game. David and I have gone to several games this year and plan on going to many, many more. After every game, I am sickened by the amount of garbage that people just leave behind for someone else to clean up! Next time we go to a game, I will post a picture of it. (This one is just pulled off of the internet.) I think that it says a lot about our society that people feel fine about leaving piles and piles of garbage without a second thought. It's like people don't take responsibility for their own things, they just expect everyone else to fix whatever problems/messes that they create. 

I am going to start taking a garbage bag to the game with me and I am going to clean up our area ten feet around us. 

LIKE 

One of my goals for my college years was to try every flavor of Aggie Ice Cream.  I am happy to announce that as of this week, I have succeeded! 

That is right, I have ordered all 26 official flavors, as well as many different manager specials.  

Caramel Cashew, Aggie Bull Tracks, Chocolate, Chocolate Almond, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Chocolate Chip Mint, Chocolate English Toffee, Cookie Fudge, Cookies and Cream, Cotton Candy, French Vanilla, Lemon Custard, Maple Nut, Midnight Munchies, Mint Cookie Fudge, Orange Sherbet, Peppermint (this is David's seasonal favorite), Praline Pecan, Raspberries 'n Creme, Raspberry Sherbet, Rocky Road, Strawberry, Strawberry Cheesecake, Toffee Crunch, Vanilla and last but not least:

Aggie Blue Mint!

This is my very favorite of all of the Aggie Ice Cream flavors.  There is nothing more delicious than Blue Mint ice cream with little Oreo and white chocolate bits. Mmmmmmm....

 DISLIKE

I dislike allergies.  I sneeze all the time, wake up with an itchy sore throat and have 5 rolls of toilet paper stashed around the house because I blow my nose so often. But the worst part is how itchy my eyes are. Last night, after rubbing and scratching and itching my eyes until I thought they were going to catch on fire and then fall out of my head I finally got online and googled "Home remedy for itchy eyes." As I looked through the answers on my screen through my red incredibly itchy eyes, the first item on every list I found was "Resist the urge to rub your eyes!"

Umm... oops.

We didn't have any cucumber and rose water handy, so I settled for a cool compress. Well, I alternated the cool compress with not being able to control myself, removing the compress and rubbing my eyes until they were raw. What? I don't have very good self control.  I never thought I would say this, but... I can't wait for winter to arrive so that I can get rid of this terrible itchiness!

LIKE

 I like this boy.

An update on the interview process?

Applied to 13 Accounting Firms

Received 11 Interviews
(One firm hasn't gotten back to us yet.)

Already has two Office visits. We will find out about the rest of them within the next two weeks.

Can you say amazing? Add that to working three different jobs, classes/homework for the final semester of your masters program, and trying to take care of a wife who really likes to spend time with you and you get one very busy boy! 

p.s. Please forgive the wacked out spacing in some places, I've tried to fix it and it just doesn't want to be fixed!

Random Thoughts and Catch Up

Have you missed us?

Life has been crazy for us lately, but we are enjoying every second of it. David has been working extremely hard to get ready for recruiting season. He has been spending lots of time researching companies, working on his resume, and focusing on getting a job. The recruiting season for Accounting is basically just during the fall. It's a make it or break it time of the year. All of the companies come to Utah State to recruit; they hold these little "nights" to get to know the candidates (i.e. Bowling Night, Bingo Night, Deloit Night etc...), and then they interview on campus. You have to apply to get an interview and only about 8-10 of the people who apply will be given an interview. THEN if you make it through the interview, they ask you to come to their office and interview again. Some of these interview sessions at the offices consist of 12 half hour interviews. It's basically an all day affair! David, being the amazing person that he is, has nailed 9 of the 12 interviews that he applied for. This is a big deal. I'm so proud of him! He has been interviewing all week, which is exhausting and exciting at the same time. We will probably know in a month where we will be moving in December! Hooray!

I have been really busy as well, I am still working on campus at the IT Computer Labs as the Public Relations Manager. I'm so grateful that my boss has let me stay on here! It's such a great job. Plus, I get to work full time, make my own hours, and work on some really cool projects. We recently just had a staff meeting where we sent our 80 staff members on an "Amazing Race" around campus. There were 14 stations where they had to complete different tasks before moving on. It was supposed to be this huge team building activity. I think that it was pretty successful. I hope so anyway... I worked REALLY hard to make it great. I've also been doing a lot with Red Ladder Design. It's almost time to get started on all of the "end of semester" weddings, and I am super excited! I will be attending the USU Bridal Faire this Saturday so wish me luck! I love what I am doing, and am so excited to continue. Things have been going so well and I feel so successful!

I realize that is a lot of writing, so i'll break it up with some pictures. Here are some other things that we have been up to:

August 7, 2010 

One of my dearest friends, Kellie Rebecca married Nick Fawcett in the Manti Temple. David and I were so glad that we were able to go down and be there! It was an incredibly windy day, but beautiful nonetheless. I was able to take some pictures of them for Kellie, and it was a great photography experience. I LOVED IT! Here are some more pictures that I took. (I pulled them off of her Facebook because I'm at my work computer, so please forgive the bad quality.)

Some long awaited pictures from the Black Hills trip with the Walkers:

and the Glacier National Park Trip with the Peadens:

Utah State vs Fresno State football game with the Hall's

Also, did I mention that last week was my birthday? And by last week,  I mean we celebrated ALL week long! I figure, there is only one chance that you get to celebrate yourself, and I don't know why anyone wouldn't jump at the chance! I was talking to one of my friends whose birthday is the week before mine. I texted her on her birthday and she said something to the effect of "It's been a good day I guess, I don't really like birthdays. They are just like any other day." And right then and there I decided that I didn't agree with that kind of thinking and that my birthday was going to turn into a birthday week and it was going to ROCK! And you better believe that it did! It started on Sunday when David's parents, Cal and Sue, and his siblings Jeff, Kevin, Michael, and Melissa all came up/over to have a party! I can't believe how lucky I am to have married into such a wonderful family. Michael and Melissa drove all the way from West Valley to Logan on Sunday afternoon just for a few hours. Everyone who was there made me feel so special and I am so grateful for them! 

(I have pictures of this, but they are on David's camera. Big surprise. Sorry!)

The rest of the week was awesome. David did little things every day to make my Birthday Week special. On Monday he brought me chips and queso at work (my FAVORITE kind), Wednesday we went out to lunch etc...   We had a great week, and even though we were really busy it was perfect. 

The night of my Birthday, my parents came up and took us out to dinner at the Bluebird. 

Have I ever told you how much I love the Bluebird? Well I do. That is where we had our Wedding Luncheon and it was wonderful. It was fun to go back with my parents. I tried to impress them with my "in the know" knowledge, but we ended up joking about it for the rest of the night. If you don't know what I mean by "in the know" let me fill you in. There are a couple of things at Bluebird that aren't on the Menu that you can request. Only people who frequent the Bluebird often are "in the know." I haven't been to the Bluebird in a long time, but I used to go there really often on dates and such. Here are my two favorite things: 1- When the waiter brings out your rolls, ask for the raspberry jam. They won't do this unless you ask, but if you ask they are happy to bring it out. It is divine. Really. I love their jam. 2-When you are ordering your meal, order a "half-order". For example: "I would like a half-order of Bluebird Chicken, please." The amount of food you get is still insane. Seriously: Soup or Salad, Roll, Vegetables, Potatoes/Rice, Main Dish. I always get this and there is still enough food for me to take home the next day. 

Now I am 23. It feels kinda strange. In fact, I feel like I skipped being 22. Even up until a month before my birthday, when people would ask how old I was I would say 21, then have to awkwardly correct myself because apparently I couldn't remember how many birthdays I have had. I also think that after you get married, people don't ask you how old you are as much as they do when you are single. I feel like I am skipping from 21 to 23. Or maybe I still feel like I am 21. 23 feels so much more like an adult. Haha. I don't even know if I am making sense. 

To end, how about a little football humor? Football is a huge part of our lives right now. The Aggies are doing better than i've ever seen them, and we are excited for their season. 

Lets just hope they never pull one of these: 

(Haha, makes me laugh every time.)

Gmail and Labor Day

Sometimes I get really excited about small things. You know, just little things. 

For example, when my little sister was in Logan hanging out with me this weekend we spray painted a little square picture frame, put in some fabric that matches my curtains and framed a black "P".  I love it. Every time I walk into our living room I get excited. 

Another thing that I am really excited about lately is Gmail.  I love everything about it! I love the chat feature, the key commands, the search function and the tasks bar. It really is everything you could ask for in an e-mail. My only sadness has been that I already have a gmail account for my business e-mail, and I would HATE having to log out and log back in everytime I wanted to switch from my business e-mail to my personal e-mail. Because of this, I have just kept my personal e-mail over at Hotmail (yeah, the e-mail that I created when I was in middle school). Hotmail has been slowly but surely getting worse and worse. The last "update" at Hotmail finally pushed me over the edge. It's a mess.

However, the heavens have parted and have left a beautiful gift at my doorstep. It is called "Multiple Account Sign-in", and it allows for me to be signed into to several gmail accounts at the same time. 

Two words: Goodbye Hotmail! 

Unfortunately, this change comes with some slight inconveniences. One of these is that my blogger account is actually associated with my hotmail account. Which means, because I am switching to gmail, I need all of you Private Bloggers to add me to your lists as shantel.peaden@gmail.com 

I know it's a little inconvenient, but it will make my life SO much easier. 

And for all of you who are stuck with a hotmail account, or are interested in learning more about gmail... check this link out: An Unofficial User's Guide to Gmail. It outlines all the really awesome features that gmail has. 

Also, feel free to send me a little e-mail over at shantel.peaden@gmail.com. Like I said, I get really excited about little things.  I keep checking my e-mail over there, but no one knows to e-mail me there. I haven't even started getting junk mail yet! I would love to see an e-mail from you.

Other than personalizing my g-mail account, I have very little planned for today. I'm so excited that it is labor day and that neither David or I have school or work! I am going to make some pillow covers for my living room couches, and I am very excited about them. I have been meaning to make them for such a long time, but haven't gotten around to it. Jenna came up this weekend and got my creative juices flowing and so today is the day! (It was so fun, we made headbands, washer keychains and necklaces, Halloween wreaths, chocolate mereingue cookies, and we even attempted to make her a dress!) I may even post a picture of the pillows when I am done. 

I hope you all have a fabulous Labor Day! 

p.s. Did you know that if you say the words "I have attached" or "Attached is..." in your e-mail and then forget to actually attach the document that you meant to attach, Gmail will actually give you a little pop-up after you hit send that says something to the effect of "You said you were going to attach something and then you didn't. Would you like to go back to your e-mail and attach your document before sending?".  That is probably one of my favorite features. Seriously, how many times have you meant to attach something and accidentally sent the email, only to realize your dilemma seconds after clicking send AND THEN having to send ANOTHER e-mail with your attachment and a note about being an idiot? I have done this more times than I can count. Thank goodness for Gmail.