Sunflowers, My Favorite!

Ever since Collin came into my life I've had a new-found appreciation for sunflowers. I've always enjoyed and liked them (especially since my best friend and sophomore year college roommate loves them) but Collin really made me appreciate their complete beauty.

Do you know about the Golden Ratio? I'm not going to get technical on here, but basically it's 1 : 1.618....(the number is infinite). And this ratio is apparently the most pleasing ratio to the eyes. There is SO much in nature that uses the ratio and artists and architects actually use it to make their work more visually appealing. It's even used in music! You can read a little bit more about it here. I just think it really proves though that their is a God because no "coincidence" could be so amazing. God most definitely knew what he was doing when he created nature and this pattern.

Anyway, all that to say that the "swirl" pattern that you see in the center of sunflowers is the Golden Ratio. And my dear husband loves and is fascinated by this ratio. It is something to be pretty impressed with! And because of that he loves sunflowers and when he explained it to me it deepened my love for them as well! Plus, they're just so beautiful!

Last Saturday I really wanted to buy some sunflowers to have in our apartment. And I really wanted to buy them locally. So I headed on up to a shop that the Amish have set up and bought myself a bunch of sunflowers! And I couldn't resist taking some pictures of them. And since I told you I'd share them this week, here you go!

Anyway, I'm still enjoying my beautiful sunflowers! I love late summer/early fall because they are everywhere! I hope that this brings you a new-found appreciation for sunflowers and nature!

Cindy

(Semi) Wordless Wednesday

After a weekend of almost constant rain it's been so glorious to see bright blue skies and big fluffy clouds so far this week! And we had the most beautiful sunset on Monday evening. =)

Hope you are having a lovely Wednesday! It's almost the weekend! Only one more day for me! And it's a 4-day weekend! Hurray for Fridays off and a Monday holiday! =D I'll be back tomorrow to share some more pictures of my bunch of sunflowers!

Cindy

A New Addition...

We've added a new addition to our little family! And no, it's not what you're thinking... we're not having a baby. But we did add a "baby" to our family. This weekend we adopted a kitten! =D He is the cutest, sweetest, most playful little thing! We picked him up on Saturday afternoon and have been loving having him around ever since. Stank hasn't been *too* happy but he's warming up to him. His name is Seabass. It's short for Johann Sebastian. =)

Last weekend we had stopped by Petco just to look at the cute kitties they have for adoptions there every Saturday. We saw this adorable little orange and white kitten and even held him but we hadn't discussed adopting before going there (we go all the time so it wasn't unusual). But we fell in love with this kitten. We took some contact info and went home and talked about it and decided we did want to add to our family. So we made some calls and everything was all arranged for us to pick him up this past Saturday at Petco!

Anyway, other than getting our new kitty we did have our great date night on Friday! We had a delicious dinner at Chick-Fil-A followed by filling our cart with the things from our list at Target. And Saturday evening our friends Jeff and Jeannie came over and we played some games. Then Sunday after church my parents came over for lunch and we also played a game with them. It was a great weekend!

I bought this beautiful bunch of sunflowers from the Amish on Saturday morning!


Snuggling with my Stanky-boy while waiting for Collin to get off work on Saturday

On the way home with the new kitty!

Stank was just kind of staring at Seabass the whole day on Saturday. He would hiss any time he got too close.

Seabass sitting still for the first time since we brought him home.

At this point everyone in the apartment was taking a nap except me. haha!

A GLORIOUS morning sky on the way to church. It was especially beautiful because it rained all day on Saturday and then stormed pretty much the rest of the day on Sunday!

Seabass actually fell asleep on the couch next to me yesterday for a few minutes.

Funny sleeping position on Sunday evening while we were lounging on the couch watching a movie.

So all in all I'd say it was a pretty fantastic weekend! We're looking forward to getting to know Seabass more and watching him grow and develop his little personality; and for Stank to finish warming up to him (he's finally stopped hissing at him every time he gets close)! I hope you had a fantastic time as well!!

Cindy

Fill in the Blank Friday

Hello, Friday! I am so glad Friday finally came this week. It has been much too long of a week and I've been much too excited for this weekend and its events!

Because it's Friday, I am participating in Fill in the Blank Friday and linking up with Lauren.

1. My favorite thing to do on Friday is have a date night with my hubby. It doesn't really matter what we do just that we do something the two of us together and preferably out of the house.

2. This Friday I am having date night with my hubby! We are going to have dinner at Chick-Fil-A and then go to Target to purchase some things we've been making a list of throughout the week. I love it because this kind of date night brings me back to our first date!

3. The best thing about a weekend is relaxing! That and spending time with friends/family. And of course not having to work. For me anyway... poor hubby works 5 hours every Saturday. =/

4. Now that summer is almost over, I'm feeling excited and super anxious for autumn!

5. The best thing I did this summer was have lots of little fun adventures with Collin.

6. The thing I'm looking forward to about fall is everything! It's my favorite season and I can't wait for all the wonderful goodness.

7. If I had to be stuck in one season for the rest of my life, I would choose autumn. Though I like all the seasons for their own reasons I would choose autumn because of the colors, the smells, the cooler temperatures in the evening yet it can get semi-warm during the day. And all the wonderful things you get to do in autumn!

Happy weekend lovelies! I hope you have a glorious time and I'll see you back here next week!!

Cindy

(Semi) Wordless Wednesday

I love these guys so much I hardly have words to express it. I figured it was a great picture to share for Wordless Wednesday! Have a great middle of the week!

Cindy

Making Cards

I've been stamping/card making for about a year now and I LOVE it. My collection of supplies to make cards is slowly but surely growing and I love being able to find new things to make and new products to use. Pinterest has been a great help in giving me design inspirations for my cards! I have a board called Cards to Make and I love being able to explore and find neat cards.

Another thing I love about card making is it's really fun and easy to do with friends. My friend Jeannie and I get together and make cards every once in a while! In fact, this past weekend she and I got together with some other ladies and had a card making day. It's so much fun to do because then you not only get to use your supplies but we all share our supplies with each other so my options get even larger!

I love being able to have an occasion that I need a card for and being able to sit down and take some time and make exactly what I need. Plus, in the long run it's a lot cheaper than running to Hallmark and buying a card every time I need one (which I used to do and I was spending WAY too much money per year!). The upfront cost may be a lot for making your own cards but once you've got supplies it's way less expensive!

Anyway.. I wanna show you guys some of the stuff I made this past weekend! I have some other cards I've made that I wanna share but for now I'll show off what I made this weekend. I don't want to inundate you all at once. =)

This is a birthday card for a friend.
This is a really cool new technique that we tried out at our workshop this past month!

Another birthday card for a friend in its first state.

The other state of the card. I found this technique via Pinterest.

These were a set of note cards that I made as a gift for a friend. I had so much fun making these! They're all similar but still slightly different. They are approximately 3 1/2 x 3 1/4 or something like that. I don't remember exactly what size I cut them as. However, next time I do this I'll make them 3 x 3 so I can buy actual square envelopes that they will fit in. I didn't have the time to make envelopes and the tiny note card size ones they sell in Michael's were only 3 x 3.

If you want the instructions for how to make the first two cards, send me an e-mail or leave a comment and I'll be sure to get you the instructions! They turned out really neat and I will definitely be making these styles again! And I love the little note cards. They might be a go-to gift of mine!!

Cindy

(Semi) Wordless Wednesday

Sometimes God chooses to speak through a fortune cookie. Some days I forget this and get really frustrated at where I'm at in life. And then days like that one God sends me this reminder to let me know that I'm not where I'm supposed to be yet. This is just a stepping stone for the plan He has for me!

Cindy

Crescent S'mores

Yesterday I told you all that I had a delicious recipe for my Crescent S'mores that I concocted over the weekend! Well, you don't have to wait anymore! These were RIDICULOUSLY simple to make and just as equally ridiculously delicious!

Ingredients
Graham Cracker Crumbs
Hershey bars
(I used the fun size bars)
Mini Marshmallows
Can of Crescent Rolls

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. Unroll your crescent rolls and place them on a baking sheet.
3. Sprinkle as much or as little graham cracker crumbs as you'd like onto your crescent rolls.
4. Top with one fun size Hershey bar at the base of the crescent roll.
(If you have regular sized Hershey bars use 1/4 of a bar or 4 of the mini rectangles.)
5. Add mini marshmallows to top of chocolate.
6. Roll up crescent rolls and cover as much of the chocolate as possible with extra bit of crescent.
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until crescent rolls are golden brown and chocolate appears soft.
8. Serve warm and enjoy!

If you try these let me know! I would love to know what others think about this. And if you have any variations or suggestions for other crescent roll desserts, let me know! I love dessert!

Oh, also, I wanted to tell you guys that I wrote a blog post for Meagan at Local At Last and it was posted on her blog today! Go check out my guest post all about summer here and leave Meagan (and me!) some love!

Cindy

And It Was Just Right!

We had such a great weekend!! It was filled with fun and friends. And we got to do much relaxing and get some things done around the apartment. It was wonderful!! I think it was the perfect weekend to give me a boost to get through the week and onto the next weekend. =) Friday evening Collin went and got his haircut and then we headed over to Yo Kool to get some frozen yogurt. They didn't have my new favorite flavor (Caramel Salted Pretzel) so I was adventurous and tried the birthday cake flavor. It was good! And I of course paired it with chocolate. And this time they had a new hot sauce dispenser so I got both hot chocolate and hot caramel! Delicious! I even topped it with some Oreo's. Collin almost always gets Butterfingers in his. He likes to layer it.


Saturday I didn't take any pictures but I got to go to a stamping workshop and we made some pretty cards. It was fun but it always is fun when I get to stamp and make cards! I am getting together on Friday with some ladies to do some card making and I'm excited! After the workshop was over I went home and cleaned around the apartment a bit! It was much needed because I'd been a little lazy over the week and I like to spread out my "chores" throughout the week. Collin and I did run some errands in the afternoon but the evening was so fun! We went to dinner with Jeff and Jeannie and had a delightful time! Then we went back to their apartment and just hung out and relaxed. It was so nice to just be able to spend time with them yet not really be doing anything. That's how I know we've got good friends. =)

Sunday was a great and RELAXING day! Church went really well and I got to talk with some friends that live in West Virginia but come every so often with their relatives when they're in town. The weather was BEAUTIFUL so we took a walk around our neighborhood after lunch. I got most of my laundry done and Collin swept away the spider webs around the outside of the apartment and sprayed some stuff that's supposed to prevent bugs and spiders from getting into your home. I hope it works because I'm so tired of finding spiders all over the apartment! I mean, I understand we live in a kind of wooded area but it's ridiculous the amount of spiders that we find inside. But that's about all we did really. We watched tv, Collin played video games, I baked and made a pizza! Then after dinner when the sun was a little lower in the sky we went and played frisbee golf!! It was the first time I'd played since our anniversary trip because it's just been so, so hot and the ticks had been REALLY populous and I just wasn't risking it. We had a REALLY nice time playing though. It was quite delightful!

That was a delicious pepperoni pizza! Yum yum yum!

Crescent Roll Smores. I totally just made this up but it was SOO good. I'm sharing the recipe this week for sure!

So all in all it was a great weekend! I hope you all enjoyed your weekends as well! Did you get to do anything fun?? I'd love to hear about it!

Cindy

Fill in the Blank Friday

Today for Fill in the Blank Friday we're celebrating Lauren's birthday weekend so the blanks are all birthday themed! Which is great because I love birthdays! Happy Birthday Lauren!

1. The age I will be on my upcoming birthday is 27! Wow! I feel so old!

2. The best birthday present ever would be a trip to somewhere really neat.

3. My favorite birthday to date was probably my 21st birthday. And no, I didn't get hammered or anything. I barely had anything to drink. But I had asked some ladies to a Mexican restaurant for drinks and appetizers with me and we did that but about thirty minutes after we got there a whole slew of my family and friends showed up courtesy of my mom inviting them and it was just so awesome to be surprised and surrounded by so many people that I loved!

4. Birthdays make me feel excited! I love celebrating life and so birthdays are fun! And I'm not just talking about mine. I love celebrating anyone's birthday!

5. The worst birthday I ever had was probably this past year. Now don't get me wrong, it still had great moments, but my actual birthday itself was kinda blah. I had to work, no one asked me to lunch so I ate alone at home. Collin had to work all day and didn't get off until 7:30. I did get to spend some time in the evening with my parents which was really nice and mom did make a yummy dinner for us once Collin got off work but just in general it was an uneventful and blah day.

6. When I was born it was 3:33pm after 33 hours of labor. I weighed 6 pounds and 11 ounces and I was blue because the umbilical cord was wrapped completely around my neck. It was also 2 days after The Challenger exploded and that is what set my mom into labor with me. Plus, it was in the middle of a snow storm and my parents had to cross a bridge to get to their hospital and they were THE LAST CAR to get over the bridge before they closed it due to unsafe driving conditions.

7. So far my favorite age has been probably 24! That was the year we got married, I fell in love with the Crystal Coast of North Carolina, we went on our first cruise, and I finally lived on my own for the first time (well, with my husband!).

What a fun set of blanks this week! Tell me about your birthdays. What has been your favorite birthday so far? Have you ever gotten a REALLY awesome birthday present? Tell me about it in the comments!

Happy Friday, friends! Enjoy your weekends!!

Cindy

Summer Flowers

I mentioned on Tuesday that I had some photos of the flowers at my parent's house that I had taken on Sunday. I wanted to share with you guys some of the photos I took. My mom's Crepe Myrtle was beautifully in bloom and the butterfly bushes, though near the end of their peak are still really pretty and I even caught a butterfly on one of them! I thought that was a pretty great accomplishment for this little amateur photographer! =) Enjoy the pretty nature!

I hope you've had a lovely Thursday! We are currently without water! There was a water main break up the road from our apartment complex and when I got home this afternoon it wasn't working and apparently it will be out for another couple hours. =/ Good thing dinner didn't require water! =) See you all tomorrow for Fill in the Blank Friday!

Cindy