five days worth of slacking

day 22- trees

day 23- sunset

Sunsets are pretty lame here in the Midwest. You know where they aren't lame? Sanibel Island, Florida. That's why Justin and I decided to get married there at sunset five years ago :) so romantic!

day 24- a smile

day 25- sun flare

 

I didn't even know what sun flare was. I like it! I like all the pretty colors it makes!

AND FINALLY!!!

day 26- something old

My friend Amanda picked up these fabulous 70's owls for me. I can't wait to hang them in our nursery!

pillow case to dress :) finally

You might remember these pillow cases I found at the Goodwill outlet a few weeks ago.

I have since turned them into a pretty fabulous dress. (The original post says tunic top. I didn't think they would be long enough for a dress. I'm glad they were!)

Also in the original post I said I would do a tutorial... unfortunately, I'm one of those crafty minds that can create, but cannot explain how I created. It's frustrating I know. I will try to come up with something if anyone is interested :)

What do ya think?

day 21- pretty pattern

day 21- pretty pattern

I love these hexagons. I have been working on this afghan since Spring. I wanted something a little brighter and happier on the back of my couch for the summertime. (I'll admit I was over ambitious thinking I would be done by summer, lol) I love how there are intense colors in the middle, but it doesn't look overwhelming. It's gonna be great when it's done... well, I hope it will :)

My bosses are getting a squeeze box for my classroom. (No, not an accordion, follow the link. I didn't know what it was either.) Anyway, a HUGE part of my day today was spent converting youtube videos into mp3's, so I will have plenty of music and stories for my kids. I got almost every story Eric Carle and Dr. Suess wrote, and I got some other familiar classics like Stellaluna. In my search for stories, I stumbled across this one. I think I love it, but I'll have to see what the kids think. I let Justin listen to it, and he said he couldn't believe the dad's reaction lol.

 The Tiger Who Came to Tea

And I found two amazing new (to me) kid's songs both are by Eric Herman.

The Elephant Song

 

Blackbeard, Bluebeard, and Redbeard

So I hope you enjoyed these videos, with your kids or maybe just with your inner child :) After downloading, downloading, downloading.... all... day... it was really nice to just sit and work on my afghan again.

AND- here is one more bonus video. This is my number one "adult" jam of the moment. Gotta love Ingrid Michaelson!

 You and I

Ok, my puppy wants to play! Ta-ta for now.

days 18-20

day 18- in my bag

This one gave me some trouble. I don't usually carry a purse or bag... I'm a keys, phone, wallet kind of girl. I thought about showing you what's in my teacher bag, but that's not all that interesting. I could show you what's been in my shopping bags here lately, but no. Here is my "bag" : my back right pocket.

day 19- where I slept

 

This is one of my favorite pictures ever! Saturday morning snuggles in the Raney house. 

day 20- what I read

More accurately what I am reading. I just finished Wuthering Heights I'm working my way through the Bronte sisters. I still like Jane Eyre the Best, but this is pretty good too so far.

day 17- on the shelf

day 17- on the shelf

I really need to work on my hutch displays... not today :) I love my 60's pedestal tea cups. They are so bright and happy!

day 16- what I ate

day 16- what I ate

Dinner was pretty yummy tonight. The hub's had a belly ache, so my plans for guacamole and queso dip got pushed back. I made clam chowder (from a can, yeah we are fancy like that), crescent rolls, and sliced an Asian pear. The chowder has some french fried onions on top, you know the kind you use for green bean casserole? It was really good that way. We've never done it before, but I felt like experimenting. I sprinkled a little ginger over the pears. It was definitely a success :) It's not real fancy, but at least it wasn't Ramen noodles, lol. We finished up watching season 1 of Top Shot on Netflix, and we are getting ready to snuggle in and read together. Good times :)

days 14&15- flower and my shoes

day 14- flower

I'm not big on growing flowers. If I'm going to grow it, I want to be able to eat it. This is German Chamomile. It's part of my tea garden.

day 15- my shoes

These are all my favorite shoes.All but three of these were thrifted :)

Ugh! In other news, I had a long, long day. We are switching classrooms at work. The bonus is I'm getting a bigger room... but I still have to move all our stuff. Ugh. So tired. I didn't get to play with my class today, just one game of duck, duck, goose. I seriously missed them. I wanted to play and teach them about Indians. Oh well, tomorrow we are gonna make a tepee (in our new, big room).

I'm going to FINALLY go see Harry Potter tonight! I'm really excited about that! I just hope I don't fall asleep in the theater, lol. I am seriously beat after moving all day today.

days 12&13- close up and from a distance

I decided to combine these two days because I am using the same subject.

day 12- close up

This is an extreme close up of the bottom of my vase. I picked up bags and bags of these beautiful rocks along the shore of Lake Michigan. You kinda have to get up close and personal to see how beautiful they really are.

day 13- from a distance

This is my favorite view in our house. This is what I see when I walk in from work each day. (Minus my shameless photo-creeper. I only took two shots before she weaseled her way in. Oh well, at least she poses pretty, and I have to admit, she kinda makes the shot.) I am really proud of my upcycled artwork above my little cabinet. It was featured on Better After. You can see the vase I took the close up of on the right hand corner of my cabinet. It also has driftwood I picked up along the banks of the Mississippi River. I tend to kill flowers, so my rock and stick arrangement suits me well.

My husband wants FOOD!!! Lol, he isn't being too obnoxious, but I have heard more than enough "are you done yet?"s to know I really should feed him. At least he doesn't poop in my shoes when he's mad. (To which he replies, "Maybe I should start doing that. I'd probably get more accomplished.) Let me go feed him. I'm a little hungry too, lol.

(P.S. Journey is a good dog, and does not poop in my shoes. I had a cat once though...)

post 11- something fun

This is one of my class's favorite books :) I read "I would not eat them..." And the kids yell as loud as they can "ANYWHERE!" It's really, really fun!

day 10- something I made

I can't believe we are already 1/3 of the way through. I'm having lots of fun with this 30 day challenge. Today is going to be one of my favorites :)

I made everything in this picture, and I'm pretty proud of it :)

• I sewed the quilt
• I embroidered the pillow
• I designed and crocheted the robot
• AND I upcycled the bed. (It used to be ugly and rusted)

This is a pretty good showcase of my various crafting abilities. I wanted to jam all of my crafts into one picture, but it started looking a little junky and cluttered. Here is another picture that shows a few more of my creations.

In the background I hung up some necklaces I made. There are three other amigurumis (crocheted dolls/food). The yellow monster is based off a drawing a kid in one of my classes made me. Next to him is a tiny clam with a pearl inside. Next to the robot is a cheese burger with all kinds of pieces. I just didn't like how cluttered this one looks. I also sew and crochet garments, scrapbook, paint, etc. I LOVE art!

day 9- faceless self portrait

This picture actually tells you a lot about me. I drink tea every single day. I crochet. I wear two rings on my left hand: my wedding band is three interlocking gold bands (me, Justin, and Jesus) and a bird ring made from a seashell that I got at flea market (It reminds me His eye is on the sparrow). And yeah, that's one of my boring "STAFF" shirts, lol.

This post would not be complete without two YouTube videos :)

And just because I can't watch this video without out wanting to watch this next one.... wa-la!

Ok church is out :)

(P.S. the tea was constant comment)

day 8- technology

Ahhh, technology. This started out as a really tricky day. Justin and I went to go look at a new car for me (possible Honda CRV in my future, holy cow are they nice!), and it got me thinking about my poor old, utterly dead, Ford Taurus. You are reading the odometer right. There are 579,888 miles in it! I ran this poor car into the ground. Up until two months ago, it was still my primary mode of transportation. Two months ago the transmission died, and died hard. This car was good to me, it ran long and hard. Parts of it were duct taped on, but on it went. I loved this car. It was a really good bit of technology. I will miss it dearly until I'm speeding down the road in my CRV :)

days 5, 6, 7 (8 who do we appreciate?)

day 5- someone you love

I really wanted to post a picture of my husband. I love him more than anyone in the whole world. He's my best friend, and I'd be lost without him. That being said, the silly man just can't stand still, lol. He's always working, or playing, or sleeping. I love that he is active, but it does make him hard to photograph. You know who else I love, that is always (and I mean always) right by my side whether I like it or not. Our dog Journey. She is a doll, and a very good dog. This week she played, and played, and played, and played with my friend's two year old son. She was patient with him, even when he got a little rough and tried head-butting her or pulling at her whiskers or tail. And as her amazing baby-sitting payment she got a huge treat bone and this loving spot in my photo challenge countdown. I really do love this pup. She's the greatest!

day 6- childhood memory

 

Every summer when I was a kid, I would go to Grandma Hilda's. The first day we were there we would go grocery shopping, and she'd let us pick out whatever food we wanted. I always got a bag of mint milanos.I liked to dip them in my tea. (Yes, I drank tea when I was a kid.) This is one of Grandma's cups that I used back then. AND yes, I am dipping my milanos in my tea and enjoying it again today :)

day 7- something new

One of the little girls in my class went to Maramec Caverns with her mom. They brought me back this beautiful glass flower necklace. I really love it, and it was totally sweet and unexpected.


There we go :) all caught up. Also, my sweet (active) husband got me some new camera batteries, so my pictures won't be all camera phone blurry and disappointing, hooray! Thanks babe!

wonderful news!

My friend Abby and her two kids are popping through this weekend to stay at my house! I can't wait!!! (They are on the road now and only two hours away!) I'm sooo excited. I haven't seen them in months! What this means for you... well it means, I will be playing with babies and chatting about Victorian literature lol. Don't worry I won't neglect the photo challenge. (I'm having so much fun with it so far!) I just will have to combine today and tomorrow most likely. I need to drink some tea and try to be calm. (Yay babies!)

day 4- my favorite color

 My favorite color of all time is sunshiney yellow. I also love blues and greens. I like pink and orange. My favorite neutrals are grays, browns, and off white. I do not like red, purple, or black.

day 3- clouds

Today was water day for my class. We got to play in a sprinkler, with water guns, and with buckets to dump on each other. I change into my swimming suit too and play with the kids. I took a quick picture break, and asked a few of my girls to help me spot some pretty clouds. Here's what they wanted me to get :) good choice girls!

day 2- what I wore

My work wear is a tee shirt with "Children First" on the front and "STAFF" on the back, and jean shorts. (Not so much fun, but in the winter I wear cute cardis over the work shirts. The one thing I do to set myself apart in the sea of "STAFF" shirts, is wearing a different necklace every day. The kids in my class love it, especially when I get new ones. This is one of my favorites. My mother-in-law gave it to me shortly after I graduated.


p.s. my dog Journey is a HUGE photo creeper. She heard the click of my camera phone and came in and jumped on my shirt and necklace, which I had laying just so on the bed. BAH! and as pay back...

Wa-haha! I dressed her up in my work outfit and took a bunch of humiliating pictures to put on facebook! (No animals were hurt during this post, just aggravated and annoyed :) but she started it)


OH! and I used up the rest of my good camera's battery yesterday taking self portraits, so I'll have to make do with my camera phone for a while. So yeah, these are gonna be a little fuzzy and not so good...

day 1- self portrait

 

     

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all.

Emily Dickinson