Yay me

 

Not that this has anything to do with anything, but here's a screenshot that I found on the laptop today (Mark is busy hogging the desktop playing Mount and Blade Warband) of the game Minecraft, representing many many many many many hours of work by my dear husband. It is the Chinese symbol for "Toy" which is his familial last name, or was before his dad was adopted by Yoders 60 years ago. Mark created it out of sand blocks and made it a minor land mass, visible from the sky. 

You can go ahead and leave congratulations and virtual pats on the back in the comments section for this accomplishment. You know...so all that work won't have been for nothing..........

Anyway, look what I got!!

 

My friend Jen, of the witty blog Rowena's Rants and the fabulous sewing/quilting blog Stitch Hack gave it to me, and I got all sorts of warm fuzzies when she did. She and I grew up in the same neighborhood, went to the same schools (she's a year ahead of me though) and I've known her husband for nearly as long, too. She may have been feeling a little more charitable towards me than usual because I just gifted her the two Star Wars onesies from my last post for her cute new baby. Whom she had at home. On purpose. And the little stinker was six days late and over nine pounds! Oooooouuuuuucccchhhhhh.

She said I didn't have to do this next part, but y'all don't know how much I've been dying to share useless bits of trivia about me!

1. I am a photic sneezer
2. I have six favorite colors: deep red, hot pink, red orange, pale yellow, aqua and spring green
3. If I ever have a dog (which I probably never will), it will be named Ralph
4. If I ever have a boat or a yacht (which I probably never will), it will be called "The Zephyr"
5. When grocery shopping, I stop right in front of the corn tortillas and SNIFFFFFF. One of the best smells in the world! The laundry and baby aisles are subject to sniffing, too.
6. I don't like to buy the same shampoo/detergent/lotion/soap twice in a row. Unless it's Dove bar soap, which I always buy.
7. My life goal is to go to Europe. I have it narrowed down to visiting Austria, Denmark, France, England, Italy and Germany. That's doable, right??? But in the meantime, I watch Lidia's Italy, New Scandinavian Cooking, Adventures with Ruth and Rick Steve's Europe to tide me over on PBS. Mark doesn't want to go to Europe, he wants to go to the Caribbean to go surfing.

I'm supposed to highlight six other blogs that I deem stylish, and I just happen to have quite the lineup of talented friends and family:

Brooke from All Things Thrifty has created quite a name for herself with this DIY decorating blog. She lived across from me six or seven years ago in Cedar City at the good old Northfield Apartments. We were visiting teaching companions and she had just started having kids and dipping her toe into home design. She'll blow your socks off with some of her projects!

Do you remember my friend Michelle, who did a hair & accessory booth with me last year at the July Jamboree? She used to sell the most fabulous hair bows, etc. but has since created her own crafting/cooking blog called Loving Every Second. She likes to design free printables for every holiday--so check her out! She is so fun to hang out with, and her husband (who used to work with Mark as a medical assistant) is now working towards being a PA. We love their family.

This is my cousin Natalie! Our moms are super talented at EVERTHING, so we got lucky to get some crafty genes. Natalie just had a regular family blog, but once she started posting about her adorable, colorful projects, the creativity just hasn't stopped, and now you can follow along at NatSprat. She is a mom to three beautiful kids and lives in a small mountain town in CO. She even home schools, which right there is enough for an award. She makes the most awesome hair accessories that Madelyn wears all the time.

This is my friend Chelsea's website called Aqua Poppy Designs for free blog backgrounds (like the apple one I'm using now). I'm sure you've seen her stuff around--her designs are really popular. She also takes photos and designs custom greeting cards. Her husband used to work with Mark at the hospital in St. George. She just had her third adorable baby a couple weeks ago, and then her husband had to have an emergency appendectomy hours after her delivery. Go check out her designs and give them a try!

This is my cousin Emily's new home decor blog, ReMarkable Home. She lives in Las Vegas with five boys and has some serious cred as an interior designer. She loves to make jewelry, throw beautiful parties (you should have seen her wedding!), spruces up furniture and always has something clever and inventive up her sleeve. She also posts recipes and has something handcrafted to sell every Saturday.

 Delectable Blogs is my sister-in-law Nikki's brand new site! She has some really cute free blog backgrounds available on there. She's trained in graphic design and was responsible for the Luke's amazing birth announcements. I think she still freelances, but I couldn't find her portfolio....I'm sure she would love to design something for you!

 There are so many other sites I'd have liked to feature--there's so much talent out there. I love that we have the internet to share creative ideas. Are there any must see blogs you want to tell us about?