i am a sewing machine...

this month has definitely been craft month for me... i have had so much fun doing various crafts that include painting, sewing, sanding, and cooking... i have also discovered a new love and obsession for shopping for thrift stores.. i don't go for clothing... i go for furniture and other home furnishings... opportunity village has a huge thrift store right be my neighborhood... and its awesome... its big and clean and has TONS of furniture that is awesomely priced! but i will get more into that on another post... i bought a desk there... but haven't begun working on it... stay posted for that one.... but a couple weeks ago there was a yard sale in my neighborhood and they were selling some fun stuff... i bought this random mirror wall thing and decided it would be fun for my kitchen... it needed some serious love and paint! here it is:

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i really like how it turned out... i also went to another thrift store and found this window curtain that i decided would be pretty for a table cloth... i have a small 2 person table that you can't find table cloths that small in the store and i didn't want one to hang down on the sides where we sit... to hard to sit in the confined space... so i cut the curtain up and sewed it into this: 

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i have another big project i sewed but that post will have to wait till they receive it in the mail this week :) 

chris has also been busy around the house... he fixed out leaky faucet on our kitchen sink by replacing it.  he had a lot of fun figuring it out for himself... plus it worked when all was said and done!!

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when we got married my sister in law stevie gave us this awesome baking pan set... cake pans, cookie sheets, brownie pan... etc... but she also slipped in one of chris' favorite recipes his mom makes... pistachio dessert... he got all excited when he saw the boxes of pistachio pudding mix and saw me mushing up butter and nuts and flower... he knew what was coming but i made him hide in the bedroom till it was finished... it turned out pretty good... i needed to beat the pudding a little longer... but it didn't matter to chris... he still ate it for breakfast and dinner for the rest of the week...

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last thing for this post... i was having a rough weekend and bad day monday... nothing serious... just not having a good couple days... i had gone to the grocery store to get food (mostly cereal and milk cause chris had eaten all we had) and when i walked in the door i found the sweetest surprise... right there bam! i walk in the door and get tears in my eyes cause my sweet husband totally loves me.... he had gotten home from school early and just left it there right in my path... no way i could miss it... and now i still have it to look at for a couple days... and smile... here it is: 

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aren't they pretty?? i thought so too... i'm so lucky to have such a sweet guy in my life!

i have some other really fun projects that i'm working on and will post when they are finished!!

the dreaded trip home... cancun honeymoon... over

the morning came... i was tired so i stayed in bed a little longer... chris wanted to go out to the beach one more time and swim so he went by himself.  after maybe 30 min i was awake and got dressed... went down and grabbed a little something for breakfast and took it out by the pool.  i sat under the gazebo to read a book for a while.  it was the best shade i could find cause i didn't want to have to put on sunscreen.  after a while chris and i decided it was time to go ahead and check out.. so at noon we check the room one more time for those things you always leave behind... and left the room.  the front desk was really nice... we had to check out at noon but our airport shuttle wasn't coming till 2:20 so the front desk offered to take our bags and hold them for us and they let us keep our wristbands which gave us access to food and the rest of the hotel... we grabbed lunch and finally it was time for the shuttle to come... we loaded up and got to the airport pretty quickly.  our plane was leaving at 5:30 so this gave us 3 hours to get through customs and security... which was WAY fast! no big deal... it was only a bummer when we got inside and then had 2 hours to kill... we ate lunch and then decided to buy these giant candy bars because... well they were so giant! we couldn't resist... who could?

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the time finally came to board.. no big deal... the plane ride was fine as well... 5 hours went by fairly quickly... things didn't get bad till we got to LAX... let me just say... i hate LAX.. here's why:

when we arrived we arrived at the regular terminal... but since we were international flight we had to walk down these stairs to the outside and board a bus to take us to the international terminal... like a mile or so away.  weird... why didn't we just land there??? we get in line to go through customs... it was a long line but went by fairly quickly.. when it was our turn the guy asked us a few questions including... "christopher, where were you born?"  chris "casper, wyoming"  the guy "oh really?? this says you were born in reno, nv" chris "really huh... thats wrong..."  luckily the guy let us through... but we both looked at each other a little panicked... how is it he got this passport like 5 years ago and just now we are noticing it... he took it to europe and back with no problem... well next time they ask we will just say reno!   

then we waited to grab our bags... they came pretty quickly.. but then we had to wait in another long line to get through another check point.  after this things got really weird and confusing... there was a wing that said connecting flights... that was us! but it was closed... we figured maybe because it was now midnight... so we asked someone how we got back to the regular terminal for our connecting flight to las vegas... we had to go outside... again.. and walk... back to the main terminal... so lame!!! once we got there we printed out our boarding passes and went to check our bags... where the lady informed us we had to pay $50 to check our bags... we were like... um no... we haven't had to pay for our bags yet and we have been to cancun and back all flying with delta.. why would they charge us now?? lame!! we were not about to pay $50 for our tiny 45 min flight back to vegas.. after 20 min of her looking at it she decided to wave the charge for us... thanks! and then she looked at us confused because our flight was for the next morning.. yes we know it was the soonest flight you had back to vegas... we had always planned on sleeping in the airport... no big.. so she took our bags... we walk up to security... and they let chris through but look at my ticket and say sorry this is for tomorrow you can't come in...  close the airport from 1:30 to 4... i was like... you just let my husband through... so they made both chris and i leave... finally someone told us we had to just stay downstairs where you first check in... gross! it was cold and noisy and i was just so tired... 

we found a seat and i just broke down.. i was tired and gross and so frustrated with the whole thing that no one had explained anything to us till then... but i did finally fall asleep.  when 4 finally came we went upstairs only to discover like 30 people up there sleeping... yeah... they had probably come in late and had a connecting flight from the us... so they got to stay!!! so lame! we found our gate and i went ahead and sprawled out on the floor exhausted and annoyed... i quickly fell asleep... we got on our plane and went home... chris was asleep before takeoff and woke up just before landing... he said it was the shortest flight ever... ha! i slept a little... i was so glad to get home and shower and then we spent the rest of the day in bed... not even kidding... all day sleeping... much needed.  the whole trip was so amazing!!! it was sad to have this last bit put a damper on our fun... nevertheless we got home safely... and with all our stuff.. and we had a good time the whole week.. it was fun to have people call us honeymooners in their mexican accents and fun to play on the beautiful beach and just relax and enjoy each others company.  chris and i get along perfectly... and the trip was perfect (minus LAX) .

day 5 of cancun honeymoon...

day 5 was a pretty fun day... it was also our last full day in cancun... we took our time getting up and eating breakfast in the morning and then ventured off the hotel property by ourselves for the very first time... we walked maybe 5 minutes to this little place called sunrise marina... here we were scheduled to take a little 2 person boat out across the lagoon and then out into the ocean to go snorkeling... chris was so excited. he had never been snorkeling before and was really excited to get out there... i was excited but had been snorkeling before with my family when we went to hawaii in x-mas 1997... i was more excited about riding out in the little speed boat.  we arrived in typical marilyn and chris fashion... WAY to early... like an hour early.  we hung out and i made chris put sunscreen on... especially on our backs since it would be facing the sun for a while.  it was finally time to go... there was our guide in one boat.. the two of us.. and then another couple in their own boat... we followed the guide across the lagoon and out into the ocean... it took about 50 min to get to the place we were going to snorkel... this part was soooo fun!  the whole trip... every time we hit a big wave i would get splashed in the face... the salt really bugs my eyes after a while... but it felt really good to have the cold water splash my face and the breeze blowing the whole time...

once we "docked" with a big metal bouey... we put on our flippers and snorkel mask... and life jackets and jumped in the water... i had a little bit of a panic attack.  i have always had problems putting my face in water, but then trying to not freak out as i breathe with my face under water.. yeah i panicked. i didn't say anything to anyone because i knew it would pass... but it probably took 5 min or so to slow my heart rate and get back to deeper breathing... after that we had a great time!!! we swam around for 45 min.. what we saw?? it really looked like a dessert of coral reef... it was mostly brown and tan colors and the fish were brown in tan... in hawaii its all rainbow colors... but it was still really cool!!! we saw a huge fish... like 3 feet or so.  after that we got back in the boat and took a scenic route home... this time chris got all the waves splashing him in the face... pay back for him calling me a wuss for saying anything about the waves splashing on me.. ha!

once back at the hotel... we slept.. took naps for an hour or so.. then at 5 we were scheduled for couples massages... we were not going to do anything at the spa... chris had never been massaged before and i didn't want to spend the money... that all changed when we got a bunch of coupons and it was really cheap... we were in a dark room... i had a lady massaging me and chris had a guy... mine was super relaxing and awesome! i loved it... chris on the other hand... he thought it felt good except for wanting to scream bloody murder when he massaged his calves and forearms... apparently it was too much pressure and hurt really bad.. hahaha... i told him he should have said something.. but lets be honest... he's a man... he's not going to say anything and sound like a wuss.

after the massages we got ready for dinner and went back to the old barn restaurant.. this time i ordered beef juice soup and chris had cream corn... ha! much better this way.  after we finished our steak we went to the show for that night which was a "retro show"  meaning it was american music from the 70's.. mostly... lots of dancing and lip-syncing.  it was pretty entertaining.. and short... thanks goodness cause we were wiped out and wanted to pack since we would be leaving the next morning...

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i had no problem falling asleep... but was really dreading the trip home... little did i know it was something to dread!!!

day 4 of cancun honeymoon...

cancun... or as our tour guide had told us... "snake pit".. the word comes from mayan word kan kun... which means snake pit... appropriate for the place where many college craziest go for spring break to party and what-not... luckily we didn't see too much of that.  chris and i were hanging with the old timers... we were up earlier.. like 8:30 and down to the beach... usually first there... and then left at 3 when the sun got too hot... then we would shower and go to dinner at 6.. usually first ones there... and in our room by 9... about this time the "spring-breakers" are just getting into cabs and buses to head out to nights clubs for the rest of the night.  we are only 26/27... but we apparently live like the old people.  on the fourth day we just did the beach thing again... all day... at the beach... slathering on sunscreen and staying mostly covered.  chris was really frustrated because the waves were huge and the life guards wouldn't let anyone go out very far and play in them... it was a little overcast and windy... but i guess the undertow was really bad or what ever... after a while chris decided he didn't want to play in the water at all if he couldn't play in the biggest waves... ha! i just laughed and read my book :)

 the best part of this day was going to dinner and the show... for dinner we went to "the old barn" which was an imitation american bbq restaurant.  it had antler chandeliers, country music videos playing, and pictures of john wayne on the walls... the food was pretty good.  we started with soup... i ordered creamed corn.. and chris orders beef juice soup... when we got them he stirred his around for a minute with a very confused look on his face... he finally asked me... where's the beef???? i busted up laughing... and asked what did you think it meant when it said it was beef juice?? it meant it was just the juice of beef not beef stew... haha! he was disappointed in his beef broth and i didn't love my corn soup so we traded and were both much more satisfied... but i couldn't stop laughing at chris and his beef juice! haha after that we had steak. it was pretty good. mine was too big and i couldn't finish it.

after dinner we went to the highlight of the night... the michael jackson show!!!!! i was so excited... i have always michael's music and his dancing and what not... i was a little sad when he died... but was very excited to know he wasn't dead... he was living in cancun as a mexican!!! this guy was awesome! he had the perfect wig with curly hair hanging in the face... something on his nose to make it small and pointy... and make up on his face to make it look more angular... his dancing was actually really good!! he put on a good show... i loved that he was lip-syncing... but since english was obviously not his first language... he wasn't quite getting the words right.. haha... he was using wrong consonants... but... i still loved it.  they did thriller and beat it and my favorite... the free willy theme... which brings back my own fond memories of dancing to that song at bunker dance... but now i realize we shouldn't have worn those hideous white spandex dresses... but outfits the represented the world... like a junlge man and uncle sam... and a cowboy... as they had done in this show!!

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i have included this short video so you can get a taste of the awesomeness that was michael jackson in mexican form...

day 3 of cancun honeymoon...

on day 3 we decided to get out and go see one of the mayan ruins that was near us... so we got on a tour bus and headed for chichen itza... as our tour guide stated several times... its not chicken pizza... its chichen itza.. ha! we got up bright and early like 6 am grabbed some breakfast to take with us and waited for the bus to pick us up.  once on the bus we drove for an hour and a half till we reached this natural sink hole in the middle of some mayan village... people could jump into it if they wanted... the sink hole was like 20 meters down and then the water was 12 meters deep... i think... ??  but anyway you can walk 112 steps to get to the bottom... it was really pretty.  we didn't swim... it looked like a bath with 200 people in it... then we shopped a little... chris saw this really neat chess set that was like 80 bucks... but we decided to wait and get something at chichen itza instead... but i did buy a really pretty green necklace...  then we went to lunch at some buffet place where all the tour buses go... it was ok... chris didn't care... he was hungry and had seconds.. haha.. typical...

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i was really excited once re arrived to the ruins... they are sooooo neat!! sadly 4 years ago they decided you aren't allowed to climb up the steps anymore.  apparently its the new 7th wonder of the world.  but there we some really neat things about it... the place was huge with the temple itself being this giant calendar... 91 steps on each side (equaling 4x91=364) plus the big step on top made 365 for the days in a year... it also has this crazy snake shadow that appears ONLY on march 21st and september 21st... how did they know that stuff?? crazy!  but they also did a lot of really weird stuff.  they were required to sacrifice their first born baby... and throw them into this other sink hole filled with holy water... they say they sacrificed 400 babies a day! and they also made daily slave sacrifices on top of the sacrifice tower which was across from the temple..  they say the sacred sink hole is filled with like 9 meters of bones... creepy!! when we were visiting the sports arena there was this tiny mayan woman waling around selling little hankie... hand stitched... but i could not believe how tiny she was!! she is in the picture above... i am 5'2 and she barely comes to my shoulder... she was under 4 foot! so i bought 2 from her just cause she was so cute! 

the sports arena was way neat... it was built like a natural amphitheater... you could hear the other side talking and it was really far away!! 

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by the end of the day we were super hot and sweaty and tired... we slept a lot of the bus ride home... and then once we got back he got ready and went to dinner... we went back to the fancy shangri-la... this time was terrible!! our waiter was sooo scatter brained! he forgot to get our drinks and then didn't bring the bread... and at the end he asked if we wanted dessert... we said yes, he took my plate... and walked away... not taking our dessert orders... and then never came back! haha needless to say we didn't leave a tip that night... and didn't really feel bad about it considering he had totally forgotten us... we had no problem falling asleep after the longest day and longest dinner....

cancun honeymoon.. day 1 and 2

chris and i had to wait to go on a honeymoon since he was already in school when we got married... so we decided to go for his spring break instead... which happened last week!! so on saturday.. very early in the morning we got up and went to the airport.  our first stop was to the LA airport.. we hung out for maybe 3 hours had something to eat and then boarded our plane headed to MEXICO!!! the plane trip was fine.. it was about 4.5 hours and fairly smooth.  once we landed and made it through customs (which was WAY easier and faster than i expected) we grabbed our bags and headed out of the airport.  after being solicited by several people wanting to give us rides, we found the ones we had actually already paid.  Once we got to the hotel and checked in we were off and exploring.  our room was awesome! on the top floor (6th) with an ocean view and balcony... and a giant bathtub/jacuzzi... they had rose pedals all over the room and a fruit plate.  outside they were having a bbq by the pool which we enjoyed and then walked on the beach.

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 the next day we decided we just wanted to be on the beach all day.  we slept in... had breakfast... and then went to the beach... which only took 20 steps to reach.  it was BEAUTIFUL and had turquoise water!! it was clear and warm water. amazing! being a natural red head with freckles a white white skin... i am also the sunscreen police.  immediately i made chris put it on... which he strongly protested but i didn't want to get burned and be miserable especially on the first day... besides... skin cancer is not cool.  then we just sat and read for hours and hours with breaks in between to jump in the ocean and play in the waves for a while. that night we had dinner at the fancy restaurant Shangri La.  it was the kind of place that you really only know what half of the menu is... so you stick with things you know... like beef.. or chicken leg... we also had really good desserts like the creme brule and some apple thing. that night we went on a really long walk on the beach to check out the hotels near us... we even went up and walked around their pools... we ultimately decided we liked ours best! but really it was a good day!  the next day we basically did the same thing.  all day on the beach with a quick trip to the other hotel... it was one of those sneaky timeshare speeches where they say its for a club thing and we will give you t-shirts and 1000 pesos to use at the hotel spa... so we went and listened to the speech.. they took us around the big hotel that is sisters with ours and then at the end we spoke to the sales manager... some creepy lady with BAD bleach blonde hair and who has been smoking since she was 10... bad HUGE teeth and creepy dirty finger nails.. she had some crazy accent like from the south... and she spoke real loud and with a drawl said "oh-kay" at the end of everything.. she was a terrible sales person.. didn't even really tell us perks about it or anything just went straight to money... of course we were never going to buy a timeshare... but still... she was right in our face with her hands like she was going to almost touch us but didn't... it was torture! haha never knowing if she was really going to touch you or not... what a character... we went back to our hotel and to the beach for a while and the to dinner at the other restaurant called sumo.  it was way good! that night they had a show in their small theater that was a history of mexican dancing... it was fun with all the big mexican dresses and stomping of the shoes and yelping... chris said they sounded like the girls off of avatar.. haha... both days were amazing! cause really what beats 2 days on a beautiful beach??!!

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stay tuned for the next 5 days of the trip i'll post at  a later date.... 

murder mayhem high.. the 80's

chris and i were invited to a murder mystery party that took place at "mayhem high"  the setting was prom night and was to take place in the 80's.. so chris and i headed over to savers thrift store where we found his suit which was way too short on the legs, but perfect... and some shoes to make it look like michael jackson... and t=i found 2 dresses that i combined into one for a little material girl vibe and then found an awesome cut off jean jacket that i took the liberty of bedazzling the back with pom pon captain as that was my characher... i was the dance team captain and chris was the star quarter back... bobby backer and dolly dancer.  oh i also made our corsages out of tissue paper and hot glue and our homecoming pins as we were royalty... actually king and queen.. thats right... we won.. ahha

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chris ended up being the one who dies... the whole night was great fun as our friend tara had decorated the house with black plastic covering the walls and silver stars hanging from the ceiling and 80's music videos playing the whole time... everyone played their part and others just tried to steal your fake money the whole time, but we enjoyed ourselves.  the only bad part of the night was i had come down with a cold and my nose would not stop running... it was gross and i felt bad talking to anyone for fear of getting them sick. other than that we had a blast.... and i always love dressing up so that was awesome as well...