Asheville

I just got back yesterday from spending the weekend/week with my sister in Asheville.  I absolutely love that town.  It is so quaint and peaceful.  The people there seem pretty awesome.  My sister got to see her niece, who absolutely loved spending time with her.  It was so cute to see my daughter laughing with my sister.  She discovered Kaya's tickle spot and got her to laugh a couple times.  We ended up spending the fourth at her friends house grilling out and watching one of her friend swing fire, which was AWESOME!!!  I hope everyone had a safe holiday and got to see a lot of fireworks.  Kaya loved the fireworks so much.  She wasn't scared at all by them, which is pretty surprising.  You would think a 5 month old wouldn't like loud noises, but not my daughter! 

Asheville in the morning

I am heading to Asheville, NC in the morning to visit my sis.  She has seen my daughter since she was a few weeks old.  I am so excited.  I wish my husband could be here for the 4th to watch the fireworks...and help me clean the house :)  That is how I am spending my Saturday night....cleaning.  I can't wait to see my sister and take some pictures of the fireworks in the mountain.  This will be Kaya's first time seeing fireworks.  I am hoping it doesn't scare her too bad.  Ugh, I have to finish cleaning and doing laundry so I can pack in the morning.  I HATE CLEANING!!!  Now if I can only stay off Facebook long enough to get some stuff done!  Here are some pictures of my friend Courtney visiting this past week.  She is seriously an amazing yogi.  I need to take lessons from her!  I wanted some pictures of her doing yoga with my daughter.  Here are the results: 

Pool time

Today, Kaya and I went to our friend's Ashlee's house for some pool time.  It was a fun time.  They have a salt water pool and I am now determined that any pool we might have in the future will be salt water!  Kaya had a ton of fun....after she got over her initial freak out when we first got in.  She is getting better with water other than her bath now.  Yesterday, we went to Tybee Island to meet up with my friend, Courtney.  She was so good in the waves.  I think mostly it was the sound of the waves because it was almost the temperature of bath water.  Other than the random thunderstorms we get almost every day during summer, today was a pretty great day.  Wish I had pictures to post of the pool.  I could have kicked myself for not bringing my camera.  Of course all the cute would have been pictures happen when you do not have your camera.  BOO!

I promise

I promise to blog more.  I am going to shoot for every day, even if it is just a small paragraph tell you about what happened to me today.  I have been missing my husband quite profusely.  If those of you out in blog world don't know, my husband is an Army Ranger.  He is deployed right now.  I can't tell you where or I would hafta kill ya!  But needless to say I have been down for a little bit.  We have been through deployments multiple times.  But that doesn't mean each time gets easier.  Well it does compared to your first deployment, but it still SUCKS!  This is the first deployment since we had our daughter, Kaya, so it is a little rougher than normal.  I was just getting used to being a mommy and boom, I am doing it alone.  Rick has been so helpful as much as he can.  I have also relied on my parents and his mom, who are only a few hours from us.  They have definitely been a life saver.  Okay, enough of the excuses :)  On to my blogging...

So this weekend, my friend Dwight's family came into town.  They had a condo on the beach so we spent almost all weekend down there.  It was a lot of fun.  However, I missed a phone call on Friday from my hubby and almost missed one on Saturday, but Dwight answered the phone and saved me from crying the rest of the night :)  It is so amazing to hear his voice.  You really don't realize how many little things you miss when you are separated from the love of your life.  Even his voice can be the best thing you hear all week.  Today (well technically yesterday since it is 2 o'clock Monday morning), it was a quiet day at home...minus the trip to Home Depot, Walmart, and PetsMart!  I had to go grab cat food and dog food for my lovely babies.  Actually, NO, my dog is not lovely!  He is an @$$!!  He likes to shred boxes or paper if I leave him (even for 20 minutes).  So he has been experiencing kennel time this past week.

While I was at PetsMart, I got the urge to hit up the Home Depot next door.  I had to get a staple gun so I can redo my couch with some vinyl fabric.  My parents are coming down in a couple of weeks to bring me a leather couch so I am redoing our broken-arm couch and putting it outside instead of just trashing it.  Rick's Ranger buddies decided that propping themselves up and jumping on the arms of the couch was a good idea.  So a not too old couch is pretty much done for.  Except when you live with a crafty person like myself.  I will promise to take pictures of when I redo the couch.  I found some cute orange and white vinyl table clothes with fabric on the back at Home Goods.  It is going to go under the gazebo I am getting so that if it rains, the vinyl should protect the fabric underneath.  I don't really like the thought of sitting on a soggy couch....So yeah, I hit up the Home Depot and got a staple gun and some staples.  Then it was off to Walmart (with a brief trip to Sonic for happy hour for a slushie).  I got a couple of bags of dirt to plant my tomato plant I had.  I saw they were having a sale on their tomato plants and herbs so I ended up getting two more tomato plants.  Three plants should definitely take care of Rick, Me, and Kaya for the rest of the summer and hopefully into next year seeing that I planted them in HUGE pots.  I am planning on moving them into the garage when it gets to cold and hopefully I will have tomatoes all year round! 

As I was about to start planting my tomato plants, it started storming of course.  Oh well, it will get finished tomorrow.  I ended up putting Kaya to bed and started editing some pictures for my photography business, Irie Images.  Rick finally got online and I was so happy to talk to him on AIM.  It wasn't his voice, but at least I know he is safe when he gets to talk to me.

Tomorrow should be a busy day.  I have to go renew Rick's SUV, because he didn't renew his registration before he left.  But I have to go get his power of attorney on base :(  I try to avoid going on base at all cost usually.  I don't know why, I just don't really like going on base.  And then my friend Courtney is coming to the Island to hang out on the beach.  So hopefully we are going to get up together.  I have very few friends that I would consider a soul-sister, but she is one of them.  My friend Billie is the other one.  So needless to say, I am pretty excited to see her.  Goodnight in blog world!!

The Green Life Pages

So I am a new writer for the website The Green Life Pages.  It is a website dedicated to making your life greener and healthier.  They recommend businesses that follow their eco-friendly lifestyles and have articles about amazing recycling ideas.  I am writing articles that pertain to making your child's life greener and healthier.  So stay on the look out for my articles and of course, the other articles from the amazing writers on there! 

I won a Giveaway!

So recently I entered a giveaway contest at The Little Birdie Blog. It was for a $30 gift certificate for Scentsy, a company that specializes in making your house smell nice and yummy. I had a friend that sold this when we lived in Columbus, GA. Her house always smelled so great! I had even expressed interest in perhaps selling it. The company is kind of structured the way Mary Kay and Avon is with representatives that work from home and schedule appointments or parties at people's houses. Well life got away with me and it never happened. When I saw this giveaway, I couldn't help but enter it. Well guess what?! I WON!!! So Rachael emails me and lets me know that I won and immediately I jump on the Scentsy site and choose my items. Her Scentsy representative lets me know that it could take a couple of weeks for me to get my order....haha, it was less than a week! SCORE!!! I ended up choosing the "Enchanted" burner and the "Satin Sheets" which is a combination of sandalwood and vanilla. IT SMELLS AMAZING!!! Even my husband commented that it made the whole house smell great. Scentsy has a customer for life. Something else that is cool. I put the wax/oil cube down about 1 or 2 o'clock in the afternoon and it is now 4 am the next day and it is still burning oil...off one cube!!! Seriously it is better than any candle I have owned (including Yankee Candle) or oil burner! I might end up selling it....even if it is just for the sweet representative discounts ;) Here are some pictures of my burner!

So it is true that you can win something from these giveaways on people's blog. I am now the proud owner of an amazing burner!

TORNADOES!!!!

Oh My Goodness!!!!  It is about to storm here in Savannah.  Tonight has been a bad weather day for all of us in the South.  There have been a bunch of tornadoes popping up all the way from Mississippi to Georgia and it is supposed to go all the way up the East Coast.  I am not a newbie when it comes to bad storms.  My mom, grandmother, sister, and I huddled in my grandma's house when I was a kid during Hurricane Andrew (one of the worst hurricanes in decades to hit the East Coast until Katrina).  I was seriously traumatized from that incident.  I have also been through other hurricanes, as well as tornadoes.  I had to seriously hit the ditch one time when I was on the road to a music festival.  We also have a house right outside of Fort Benning, GA and we would always get bad storms there.  My husband was such a great guy.  If he was working, he would call me and warn me about an approaching storm (cause I don't watch the news).  A few times he has had to calm me down when some of the storms got really bad.  Well he is not here tonight :(  He is training right now.  So it is only me, Kaya (my daughter), and our three animals.  I guess we will be huddling in my shower tonight.....and I will post pictures of my animals to show you why I am not looking forward to sharing that small space with them.  My dog, George, is a Presa Canario and about 140 pounds.  My cats are HUGE too.  And my one cat, Luna, hates anything besides humans.   My other cat, Marley, and George are best friends though and like to sleep together.  It is actually really adorable. Ugh, alright, I am going to get all my "storm supplies" together.  Hopefully I have batteries for my flash light in case we lose power....I know I have like 1,000 matches so if worse comes to worse and we lose power, I can burn some candles! 

George

George

Marley 

Luna in the bucket we were bathing our daughter in.  He likes to claim anything that is hers as his stuff! 

George "protecting" Kaya during the first week she was home.  She had jaundice really bad so she had to be on a light machine.  

Organizing My Life!

So lately I have been reading one particular blog lately, IHeart Organizing. 

I have been inspired to tackle the Family Binder suggestion she blogged about at the beginning of this year.  I went out today to Walmart and stocked up on a ton of folders, paper protectors, and these cool zippered folders.  Unfortunately the zippered folders do not have holes punched into them for me to put in those binders, but that is where ole' trusty 3-hole puncher comes in!  I found some simple scrapbooking paper in my tons of paper that I could put on the front and on the side of the binder.

Like I have mentioned I have also been setting up my craft room in the formal dining room that we never used.  I had nowhere to put all my new folders, as well as my fabric swatches, so I brought my old bookcase out of my husband's office, which was being used as a landing strip for everything from books to mail to my old laptop.  I cleared off everything and surprisingly my dear husband took inspiration from me cleaning and offered to bring the bookcase out to my crafting room....either that or he wanted me out of his office so he could play WoW without me huffing and puffing.  A little insight into my "can't throw anything away" syndrome....I have had that bookcase since I was a teenager.  I have lugged it from apartment to apartment and from home to home.  It still looks decent after all these years.  Unfortunately, now I have all unmatching furniture in my crafting room.  They range from a cherry wood to an oak color to a light tan color.  It is my goal to eventually paint everything on one of these beautiful Savannah spring days....before it gets over 100 degrees in the summer.  So now I have a place to store my family binder, my taxes for both my businesses, and previous taxes and receipts from my husband's and my previous taxes, as well as all my scrapbook papers, which I am using a 2" binder and my sheet protectors to contain! 


I also bought a large pizza pan today.  When I got home from the store, my husband helped me unpack all our groceries and saw this.  He got onto me for buying it since we just put our pizza straight on the rack.  I told him it isn't for pizza of course!  I have been inspired from another blog, Liz Marie







In one of her post, she blogs about organizing your make up at Makeup Storage {Part 2} .  I just need to find the right fabric for my bathroom.  I will hopefully find some fabric that will match my shower curtains.

Eventually I am going to get a vanity so I can do my makeup in my big master bedroom instead of in our tiny bathroom.  That is the one thing I miss....a big bathroom with a tub.  I have a tub in my daughter/guest bathroom, but I want one in MINE!  Right now we just have a stand up shower, which is pretty big, so I guess that is a plus.  I also was inspired by her other post about organizing my makeup brushes, Makeup Storage {Part 1}.  I bought two small vases and some decorative sand (the vases were under $2 and the sand was about $3).  I have yet to make the cutouts "Face" and "Eyes" to paste on the vases, but I will eventually get to that.  Hey at least I got a place to store my brushes instead of in my travel bag where I have to dig for them!

I have a lot more to do on my "To Do List", but I will eventually get to all of it.

So I have finally I have set up an Etsy Account to sell my little creations!  I have been procrastinating because personally I kind of fall in love with all the stuff I create.  I have a beautiful daughter and I started making accessories for her, but some of my friends encouraged me to sell them.  That was a great recommendation since I work at home.  I am a medical transcriptionist, but I can always bring in more money into the home.  Anyways, if anyone wants to check out the cute little hair accessories and tutus I make, check out Irie Children

Storage Jars

So I have an obsession with collecting jars and vases.  I don't know why I do it, I just do.  My cabinets are full of them.  My husband at one point convinced me to stop saving the glass POM juice and now I am sad they don't sell the juice in glasses any more.  I should have never listen to him!  Anyways, so I have decided to put some of these jars to use since I am setting up my crafting room.  I need places to store all my little decorations I do for my tutus that I make.  This will be my first, but definitely not last, tutorial.  

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

• Jars, with lids
• Scrapbook paper
• Scissors 
• Mod Podge glue

WHAT TO DO

1. Take the lid of the jar and lay it on the white side of the scrapbook paper you have decided to use as your decor.  (The picture shows the decorated side, but remember to glue the white side of the paper to the surface of the lid). Cut an additional inch around the lid so that you can fold the paper on the sides of the lid.  
2. Once you have cut out your paper, take a paintbrush or sponge and brush mod podge glue on the top of the jar lid.  Lay your piece of paper down onto the glue.  Do not put glue on sides yet.
   
   
   
   
3. Once the glue on the top is dry.  Cut the excess paper into strips all the way around the lid.  This will allow you to fold the paper down and glue the sides of the lid without getting bumps or weird folds.  
4. You can now put glue on either the excess paper or directly on the side of the lids.  I prefer to glue the paper that way when you fold the paper down the sides and into the lid, you won't have to brush more glue on the inside of the lid.  Allow glue to dry.  
5. Once dry, I like to brush a thin layer of mod podge glue on the paper to seal it.  You can also brush a clear acrylic sealer after you apply the mod podge sealing coat.  
6. Depending on the size of the jar, measure another piece of scrapbook paper and cut it in a strip.  (Mine measured about 2 1/2 inches).  Write with a Sharpie marker the item being stored in the jar onto the strip of paper.  Mine says "Rhinestones".  Turn paper over and brush on mod podge glue onto the white side of the paper.  Attach paper to the middle of the jar and hold for a few seconds to make sure it sticks.  You now have a place to store all those little items that get lost at the bottom of your craft drawers.  And you have saved a jar from cluttering up our landfills! 

Here Is My Jar

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Crafting Room

So even though I work at home, I have no home office....or a place for my sanity :)  I would share my husband's office, but I am not too keen on hearing him yell at the guys he plays with on his videogames online.  Plus when I like to do crafts, I like to spread out...something that would be impossible to do with us sharing the small room he has as an office.  For months, I have been wishing I had a room to call my own.  Then I was on a crafter's blog and read where she turned her formal dining room that they never use into her craft room.  PERFECT, I HAVE ONE OF THOSE!!!  Seriously, we NEVER use it even when company comes.  We have a huge living room, which we sit around the coffee table for dinner.  So yesterday, I moved our bar-height dining room table into the kitchen.  Unfortunately, it doesn't match the kitchen, but we rent the house and I love dark wood furniture so there is no way I am painting my beautiful espresso-colored table.  I guess I will just have to live with the unmatching colors until we move.  

What is cool about all the furniture in my now crafting room is that it is all recycled furniture (for now...I still want to buy some more stuff or go dumpster diving when the SCAD students leave for summer break).   Our ex-roommate was going to trash this dresser she had when she moved in with us.  I DON'T THINK SO!!!  I scooped that right up and have been using it as a "china cabinet".  I have moved all the dishes back into the kitchen and the dresser is now my storage for all my crafting supplies.   As my crafting table, I have a table that was given to me from the ex-roommate's ex-boyfriend.  The restaurant they were working at was just going to throw it away, so he rescued it and then when he knew we needed a "kitchen island", he gave it to us.  We then inherited when my roommate moved out.   We had been using it as a table we threw everything on when we came into the house and to put the cat bowl on so our dog George didn't eat their food.  It is a work in progress still, but I will post pictures soon.  

For now, here are some pictures of my flowers overfilling their storage case 

Welcome to my blog!

So in honor of my first blog, I thought I would tell you a little about myself.  My name is Sarah.  I am what you would consider a hippie....dreadlocks and all!   I am probably what you would consider an old soul and should have grown up in the 60s.  Ironically, I married a wonderful guy who is the man of my dreams (although I didn't know that when I first met him).  You might ask why I say that.  That is because he is in the military, an Army Ranger to be exact.  So we are obviously COMPLETE opposites.  We met through friends and he kind of cyber stalked me, finding me on myspace.  We started a friendship online and eventually he asked me to come with him to a party over Thanksgiving.  We have been together ever since.  After about 4 1/2 years of dating, we finally got married, January 23, 2010.  

Of course we totally had a non-expensive, non-stressful wedding.  We got married 3 1/2 weeks after he asked me to marry him.  I ended up getting my dress while David's Bridal was having their $99 dress sale.  We ended up getting married in front of a river FOR FREE.  When I had called wedding venues, they were outrageously expensive.  So I was like forget that, lets do it at a park.  I had recycled material with my mom's tulle to wrap around the staircase leading down to the river and as an aisle since there was Georgia red clay leading to these huge flat rocks.  Needless to say, I loved the way we got married.   Fast forward four months later....We find out that I am pregnant with our daughter, Kaya.  I wanted to have her completely natural and with a waterbirth.   Well, she ended up giving me high blood pressure a week and a half before she was due (which was supposed to be on Valentine's Day)....so no water birth for me.  I did get my wish to have her completely natural though.  I refused epidurals and I had what I would call a pretty easy labor/birth.  My daughter, Kaya, was born on February 04, 2011.  

Now I have always been thrifty.  I would make things all the time.  But ever since I had Kaya, my supermom talent has come out of me.  I wanted to make a lot of my daughter's clothes.  I started making flower headbands and then beautiful little tutus.  So I started thinking this is so much fun and I feel like my stuff is pretty good that other mommies might be interested in having some of these outfits for their little girls too.  That is when Irie Children's Boutique was dreamed up.  I now (in between naps) make cute little things for girls of all ages (and yes, sometimes adults like wearing tutus and cute little headbands too!).  I hope that you guys enjoy my blogging about my life and the crafts that will be coming to light through here.