Hm, how to title the title-less post....

I feel so much pressure after my last post....as though finally coming to write it is somehow going to fulfill my great desire last week.  I can assure you, it will not.  I have just been busy enough now to have other stuff to report.
I find myself less than enthusiastic about another weekend.  So soon? Last weekend's holiday fun bled into a snow day on Tuesday, thus making it THE longest holiday weekend ever...one that would have been more fun and less stressful had my husband not been out of town.  We are going on two weeks here and his return date is still "slushy".  I don't need to tell you that him going on business trips evokes some kind of repressed trauma in me.  I naively though we were kind of done with that sort of thing.  And while I do get to talk to him daily, it ain't helpin' put the kids to bed, if you know what I mean.  It has been an exhausting couple of weeks for me.  Just when I thought my brain couldn't get any mushier, yesterday I fell off the treadmill at the gym and today I called tech support for loss of internet (only to find out, sheepishly, while on the phone with the tech guy that I had indeed checked the wrong power cord earlier.  "Yep, the plug had just fallen out.  Thanks, you've been a tremendous help!") The treadmill incident went mostly unnoticed by those around me-I am really good at making it look all casual-like.  I was trying unlock the iPod strapped to my arm and didn't even realize I was moving back until my shin scraped it's way off the back....I liken it to what it must be like to get in an accident while texting on your phone and driving.  I was totally oblivious.  I am so smooth, sometimes it hurts.
One good thing that I can say about Clark being gone is that I sure accomplish a lot.  I finished projects left and right this week.  I guess I have a lot of free time when I am not spending my evenings gazing into his lovely green-blue eyes.  And though I would have loved to discuss Civil War horses, or how awesome each of my sisters is, I will show you pictures, because that's why we all read blogs anyway, right?  Besides, my sisters need a post all their own...you'll get it my little pretties, just wait and see.
Before I get to all that, I have discovered a new blog called "knock off decor" where she showcases projects that people have done, inspired by other things they have seen.  I love to copy instead of spend money where I can.  It is validating and invigorating to create.   My sister Sarah hit it on the head when she said that creating replenishes us as women...creation in all forms.  So I will share what I was copying if you promise to like mine better.


Project #1: I saw this

 

And put our Texas spin on it. (It's brighter when there is actual sunlight in the room.)

I thought it would be appropriate for our "places we have lived" wall, seeing that even though we have lived all those other places, Texas is "where we hang our spurs", so to speak. (We haven't lived in NYC, but Clark proposed on top of the empire state building so it is in its rightful place of honor.)

 (And just for clarification sake, we have South Carolina, Seattle, Virginia Beach, Texas and Connecticut all represented there...many of those places have been lived in multiple times.)

 Project #2: I found this little gem at H&M.  I am a sucker for polka dots and a bargain so when I saw this dress marked $5 I bought it on the spot.

 See that $5 tag? Isn't it adorable?

 However, since I am not 4'9 and 100 pounds, I had to do a little altering.  It was about 4 inches too short as a dress so I made it into a shirt.  Not the cleanest sewing job, but it'll do.  Remember the part where I told you it was $5?

Project #3: I can't really take credit for this one since I ordered it.  But I did put it up, that counts for something, right? I have wanted this saying above our door for some time but my Cricut can't do the connected letters. 
It's a sailor thing and it makes me happy to think it in my mind, as if wishing everyone well as they leave our home.

We'll just call this Project #3.5 since it is not finished.  You see, all of these other projects were super fast...like under and hour fast.  This quilt was started at the end of last summer and has yet to be completed.  But it will.  Oh yes, it will.  It's going to be a huge TV blanket and I love the colors and patterns.

 Project #4: Matching hooded bath towels for the girls.  I was sick of looking (and smelling) all their other really old ones that were not-so-soft-and-cuddly anymore.

 Project #5: Though I am very grateful to have a laundry room that isn't in the basement, it is the least happy looking place in our house.  Think "old ugly 80's wallpaper and disgusting linoleum".  Now combine that with what you actually have to do in that room and it is very unpleasant indeed.  I needed something to happify it just a tad. 

Project #6: We gave Haley bangs.  She's been asking for a while and I caved.  Hey, it's been known to happen in extreme moments of boredom.

 Project #7: My sister Abby sent me a picture of the above board that she saw in a boutique in Utah.  I loved it and felt instantly inspired to do something with the two canvases that have been sitting in the corner of my office for two months now.  I had to alter it some but I am fairly pleased with the finished product.

Project #8: I saved the picture of this pillow a long time ago.  I just love it.  I may still actually do a pillow someday but in the meantime I used the other blank canvas.  I have a thing for lone trees so this was perfect and I had all the supplies on hand.

 How could I resist?

 And this can't really be considered a project since all I did was take down my other arrangement of frames.  I am moving the big pictures of my kids to my bedroom and decided to go with the lines of pictures in my office instead.  I have too many favorite photos and thought this would be a fun way to display as many as I wanted...I am adding to it daily as I come across some of my favorites from the last several years.

And that, my friends, is that.
I'm off to tackle the quilt project some more and try to NOT watch Inception that came from Netflix today.  I promised Clark that I would wait for him...there had better be something else on that is really, really good.