Fall 2012 Pinterest Challenge: Baby Shower Ideas

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Apparently 'tis the season for pregnancies and I have yet another baby shower I am working one. This time I am the host along with my mother, and I am having a blast planning an intimate girly affair.
When I saw that it was time for another round of the Pinterest Challenge, I knew it was a perfect time to get started on the handmade pieces of the party.

The $300 Kitchen Remodel: Progress

I think only one photo is needed to show
the work we had cut out for ourselves.

So it has been a while since I did a remodel update. Frankly, there hasn't been a whole lot to update. We were gone most of August and then Luke started his new job. I had a busy spurt with work and we just pushed home repairs to the back burner. Well, my Aunt is coming to visit this week so we finally did a good fall cleaning/unpacking session last weekend. That means our kitchen, though not complete, looked good enough to share photos.
And since it looks so much better than it did before, I am ready to share a before photo as well.
And ready to see what we've done so far?

The Demise of the Wedding Blog

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Now maybe it is because I am no longer in wedding planning mode, but for the past few months I find myself not even reading  my old favorite wedding blogs. I kept feeling like I wasn't seeing anything new, but the same wedding regurgitated over and over again since 2009.

Things I Love: Custom Sock Dogs

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Not too long ago, I stumbled across Original Sock Dogs on Etsy, and fell in love. At $85 they are pricier then I normally would spend, but the art and love that Stacey puts into each one makes them totally worth it. I already told Luke that at some point I want to have our girls immortalized in this fashion.

Menu Plan Monday: October 22

Since it's toward the end of the month, I shopped our freezer meat supply for the menu this week...

Rio Grande Valley Sombrero Platter
Beef fajita cooked with onions, bell pepper, topped with Mexican melting cheese and cheese quesadillas. Served with chips and guacamole.
Tortilla Soup
Slow Cooker Creole Chicken
Stir Fry Al Pastor
Slow Cooker Chicken & Dumplings
Skinny Spaghetti
Toss pasta with 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil, breadcrumbs, parsley, lemon juice, garlic powder salt, and black pepper.

Need help menu planning this week? orgjunkie.com has hundreds of user submitted plans each week!

The First Girls of Baxter Academy by Pamela J. Roskin

The First Girls of Baxter Academy by Pamela J. Roskin
Self-Published (November 29, 2009)
ASIN: B002NKLNSS
161 Pages
Ages 12+
Buy Here for $2.99
My Rating: 4/5

DIY Date Night Jar

So in my late night perusing of Pinterest the other day, I found the adorable idea of making a date night jar. There are some pretty cute ones making the rounds right now. And fortunately for me, I had all the supplies on hand to make our own.

Adorable DIY Baby Gifts

J&J are full time ministers like me and Luke, so when I was deciding on their baby shower gift, I knew I wanted to make Baby Ethan something that would fit his mommy & daddy's spiritual lifestyle. Of course pinterest helped me find the adorable idea of velcro bow ties and a onesie. I thought they were too cute and they weren't that hard to put together. Plus I love that they are completely machine washable, since we  all know the messes babies love to make :)

A Hand Crafted Monkey Baby Shower

If you follow my Instagram feed, you have already seen the photos of the weeks of preparation Ana and I did for J&J's baby shower last weekend. Even put them to work on the invitations and paper monkeys.

Crossed by Ally Condie

Crossed by Ally Condie
Dutton Juvenile (November 1, 2011)
ISBN-10: 0525423656
ISBN-13: 978-0525423652
367 pages
Ages 12+
Buy Here for $12.18
My Rating: 1/5

My Reading Wishlist

So I have a massive "to-read" list but today I am going to share the books that I absolutely want to read asap...

Identity Protection and Personal Security in the Land of Social Networking

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I find that it is so true that the older you get, the more concerned about internet security you are. When you are a teenager you don't really think about such things, but as you get older the dangers become red flags everywhere.
I find this to be especially true for me. This past summer I joined Instagram to share photos with friends. I keep my pictures private and limit the people who can follow me to those I actually personally know in real life.
But I keep noticing more and more younger teen girls who don't take such precautions. I'm sure this comes from a misguided place of the desire for popularity and high follower numbers. But what they don't realize it what easy targets they are making themselves.
So today I want to take a few minutes to show how easy it is for a predator to find you from some basic info you share on social networks and how to protect yourself from this...

My First Foray into Maternity Photography

On Saturday, I attended and helped setup a baby shower for some close friends. I hope to share some of the projects we did later in the week but today I wanted to share a few maternity photos I took after.

Currently

Loving:

Flipboard and Pocket - These apps have made keeping up with my reader list 100 times easier. I flick through Flipboard in a matter of 5 mins every day and am amazed that I have reached the end of my blogroll so fast. That has never happend to me before O_O Such a time saver!

Reading:

Watching: This ISR video on YouTube. 

This is one if the best things to teach your baby. We will do this.

Thinking About: Our busy weekend. I am launching Poetry on Demand at the McAllen art Walk tomorrow and then we have the Alaniz baby shower this weekend :)

Anticipating: This weekend, the Special Assembly Day next weekend, Syn coming to visit at the end of the month and Lani possibly coming down this winter. Also being debt free within a couple months :)

Listening to: The A/C unit next to me. But I have really been liking my Eisley station on Pandora.

Working on: Finishing my secret job order that I can't wait to share pics of after November and some other smaller orders. Also trying to stay on top of my intentions.

Wishing: This sinus infection would go away!

Miracle by Elizabeth Scott

Miracle by Elizabeth Scott
Simon Pulse; (June 5, 2012)
ISBN-10: 1442417064
ISBN-13: 978-1442417069
224 pages
Ages 14+
Buy Here for $10.98
My Rating: 3/5

What being a Parent Means to Me?

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As a married couple in our second year of marriage, Luke and I get the question "Do you guys plan to have children?" a lot. We have our response planned and rehearsed. And the conversation usually goes one of two ways. In our current area, it's usually a pro-children conversation since families are the norm here. In Dallas and amongst our more spiritual-goal-oriented friends, it's a "You should wait, children are a burden" conversation.