A Bailey for Ben

My friend, Sonja, over at the wonderful blog The Sweet Seattle Life contacted me awhile back and asked me to make a doll resembling her dog Bailey for her son's first birthday.

Here is a picture of the undeniably handsome Bailey which I stole from her blog - isn't he gorgeous? He's a giant, and I'm absolutely smitten with him. The first time I ever met Bailey I had my little dog Mobee with me. It was the funniest thing to see them standing together. Mobee could fit under Bailey completely - standing right in between his legs. He was like a Mini-Bailey. I still to this day credit Bailey for making Mobee kind of an ass. Bailey was the sweetest, kindest, goofiest dog - he let Mobee push him around all day long. He was just way to nice to remind Mobee that he outweighed him by 100lbs or give him the proper whooping that Mobee deserved. Ever since then, Mobee thinks he's hot stuff. :D

Here's the final product of what I was able to put together for her (please excuse my photos, they were taken in the evening)

I'd love to say that I whipped him up, but that'd be a downright lie. I'm not nearly as crafty as people give me credit for. I had initially pictured making something similar to what I had made my mom for her Micro Daisy Doodle and Buddy Dogs, but after sewing one up I realized it wasn't going to work for what I had in mind. Sonja takes these wonderful pictures of Bailey with costumes on for her blog - and I was hoping to capture a couple of these costumes with a few accessories that I could send along with the doll. I realized that I wasn't going to be able to get any hats to sit on his head the way he was though - so back to the drawing board. I redesigned his head with a gusset so that I could actually fit the accessories on his head.

Here he is with his little accessories

There are some things I wish had come out differently, but she seems really happy with him, and I can't tell you what an enormous relief that is. She's always been the kindest person to me (you know one of those people that you aspire to be like?) and I really, really wanted to make something she was happy with as a thank you for her friendship.

She was kind enough to send me some pictures of the adorable birthday-boy Benjamin with his birthday present

I can't get over how cute this kid is! Sonja has a post on her blog with more pictures, including the ones with the real Bailey dressed up. If you're interested in seeing them, or just stopping by and seeing more of her adorable baby boy (with his ridiculously long eyelashes), you can click through here.

'til next time... ♥

Big Girl Pants

One of my favorite things about blogging, are the people I get to meet. I've come across some really awesome, intelligent, funny women that I've forged relationships with across the miles, all thanks to this little blog. Last week, I opened my mailbox and found a very sweet, very thoughtful gift inside from one of these lovely ladies.

My friend Tab, from Geektastic, had these wonderful business cards made up for me and sent to me as a complete surprise.

The reason she sent this incredible gift was in celebration of my new domain name 

freakedoutnsmall.com

That's right! We're movin' on up! No longer will I be a blogspotter. Tab and I talked about it, and decided that it would be a great idea to go ahead and try my hand at an actual domain. What better time to do it than my 2 year blog-versary, which is coming up in February.


Having said that, I'd like to let everyone know that I'll be working on the transfer over the next few days, so don't be surprised if things are a little wonky. I'm pretty sure I can set up a redirect, but I'll let you all know about that as I figure it out. I should mention that I'm a complete idiot when it comes to this stuff, so if you encounter any problems I would much appreciate it if you'd drop me a note to let me know, so that I can work on a solution.

I shall now leave you with a parting shot of my very first order that included my brand spankin' new business cards. This little guy was sent out today and is headed for Jenn out in Knoxville.

'til next time... ♥

Lessons for a City Girl

Lesson 537: Get a truck.

What's wrong with this picture???

Nooooooooooo.  It's not the woman in her mid thirties sitting around in a raccoon hat. (It gets cold - sue me)

It's my wedding rings missing from my stubby little fingers!!!!

Okay, so it's not actually missing - I know right where it's at. But still! I feel so naked without it. My poor thumb keeps reaching over to twirl it around my finger, only to find nothing and retreat back to it's little thumb neighborhood all bummed out.

I had to take it into Kay's this weekend so they could dip it, clean it and check the settings. I've never had white gold before - evidently it starts to turn gold-ish after a bit (mine lasted 15 months before it started to get just the tiniest tinge of gold around the inside). Thank God we bought the lifetime warranty which comes with it - which is AWESOME! For $300 they replace any diamonds, repair anything on the ring and dip it as many times as you want or need each year. A warranty that you can actually use! It rocks!

This is the second time we've used the warranty - the first being about 4 months after we bought it. I'd caught the ring on the inside of the washing machine while switching loads and one of the little diamonds came out of the wedding band. They replaced the diamond no questions asked. My only problem now is that I don't get it back until the 31st of January. They said it might come in sooner, but they were still dealing with the holiday rush (all those lucky, lucky women that got draped in diamonds for Christmas).

My poor thumb is so sad. :(

In addition to that - I look like I'm stepping out with a married man! LOL!

'til next time...♥

Snow Day!!!!

It wasn't a lot...but we finally got some! So today the nerds and I played outside in the snow for a bit...

I threw some snowballs for them - which they ate...

Mobee tried to catch some snowflakes on his tongue...

Crystal stared down every tennis ball in the yard...

We played tug of war (until Fletch pulled Mobee down the stairs on his side)

And we frolicked...

And then I looked down and realized...I'm a sexy bitch.

Boots, flannel moose pjs and snow jackets do it for my guy every time.

Hope you are enjoying your snow day!!!

'til next time... ♥

Historic Cove Springs Park

Some pictures from our trip to Cove Springs Park here in Frankfort. A historic park that was founded in the 1800s to serve as Frankfort's first public water supply. It was closed to the public until 2002 - it is now open as a nature preserve. It consists of over 100 acres - and has 5 miles of hiking trails. Todd and I like to make at least a monthly trip out here.

Several beautiful creeks run through it.

Gorgeous waterfall - hard to see, but most of that is icicles.

Came across this entirely blind snapping turtle sunning himself. One eye was missing and the other was...well, blind. He seemed to be having a pretty good day though :)

Can you tell it was just a wee bit windy? This is a water overflow tower that appears in my current header. You can find the ruins of several other waterworks throughout the park

Dogs had a really good time chasing sticks. Doesn't take much to entertain my nerds.

I can't believe that I didn't notice this before on our previous trips to the park - but there is a beautiful Children's Memorial Garden set back in the trees a bit. Has this lovely memorial statue

Stones are set so that you may sit and enjoy the beauty

Memorial bricks are laid around the statue

Amongst the memorial bricks are set marble stones with sayings - this one is pretty touching

Sorry to say, these won't be the last pictures you'll have to endure. It's waaaaay to pretty a place not to go photo crazy :)

'til next time... ♥

Um, yeah. Sorry about that.

Hi. I'm the girl that left you with the disembodied deer legs in my last post. I warned you - but I still feel kind of bad :) It truly wasn't to gross anyone out, I promise. That is just what I saw, it was stuck in my head, so on our next trip to the grocery store I popped the camera out the window and took a quick pic. Yep. On our way to the grocery store.

I don't have anything against hunting. I did when we first moved out here from California. I just didn't understand it...and I guess, admittedly, I am still struggling to understand it. But I'm doing my best to come to terms with it since we've moved here. See in California deer are like magical animals. You hardly ever see them in the concrete laden jungle of So Cal. As a matter of fact, I'm struggling to recall one time I ever DID see a deer...even camping I don't think I did (Todd has many times). They always seemed pretty and graceful to me...and like I said, rather elusive.

Flash forward to last year when we moved to Kentucky. I'm not kidding you when I say that I pretty much cried anytime I drove almost anywhere. This wasn't due to hunting - this was due to the roadkill. Dead animals everywhere! I couldn't drive anywhere without seeing at least one dead deer on the side of the road. Raccoons, skunks, squirrels, opossum and groundhogs were pretty common to see dead also. In the first weeks I was here, I was on my way to Starbucks on the other side of town...this stupidly adorable chipmunk was panicking in the middle of a four lane road - running back and forth under cars trying to get across. I slammed my brakes on and he successfully managed to clear my car...only to run right under the tires of the car next to me. He got smooshed. I saw the whole thing and got pretty hysterical. Of course I was dealing with having just moved across the country - away from all my friends and family to a place very different from home, so I'm sure that contributed to the emotions. Well, the people at Starbucks felt so bad for me (when I say I was hysterical, I mean I could barely breathe I was crying so hard) that they gave me my entire order free...and a couple of coupons for free drinks. I just have a very, very soft spot in my heart and soul for animals (and evidentally Starbucks has a soft spot in their corporate heart for me).

So, maybe you can kind of see how hunting affected me. We have some avid hunters in our family out here also. And one of my best friend's, Mel, swears by deer meat. I've never had anything more than a tiny bite of deer meat (I was kind of tricked into eating that)...I've managed to successfully avoid having to eat it, even though the majority of our family out here does. I think the family understands that I'm a bleeding heart hippie, and while they make jokes they no longer pressure me. I still express my thoughts about it though (in a diplomatic way). In my opinion, if I have to listen to how you hunt deer, then you can listen to me about how I don't hunt deer. And oh boy - everyone talks about hunting out here. That's what they do. They hunt. For many reasons. One is to cull the deer population. Another is they just like the taste of deer meat. I'm sure some are just stone cold killers. Some people eat nothing but the meat from their deer kill most of the year. So while I don't necessarily agree with it, like I said before, I'm coming to terms with it. And after being here for just over a year I can drive by the dead deer (saw three on the way to the park yesterday) without crying. I do notice them though- I always notice them. I wish I didn't. For some reason, I'm like a damn dead deer detector.

There are deer everywhere out here. Every-freaking-where. Herds of them on the side of the road. So I understand we're not going to run out of them anytime soon. Anytime I/we see them, it's a stop the damn car and let me take a picture moment... So here are a few of the pics (most blurry because I'm in the car).







I hope no one took offense to this post or my last one. And I do want to make it very clear that I am not a vegetarian. I eat prepackaged, store bought hamburger, chicken and pork... This seems like a total hypocritical post now that I've said that, I'm sure. But for some reason it seems okay to me to do that. That is how I was raised, and it's already dead. Do you see my conflict here? My views aren't perfect and don't always make sense...but I'm working on them. And I don't look down on anyone who hunts. Let me say that again - I do not look down on anyone that hunts. I'm just working to come to terms with it in my own screwed up head. Truth be told though, I prefer hunting to roadkill. At least with hunting the animal is being used for a purpose, whereas roadkill is just the waste of a beautiful animal - left to rot on the road. Not that anyone chooses to wreck their car or body by running into a damn deer.

Wow - if you made it through this rambling, disjointed post, I commend you. As always, please feel free to express your opinion here - I take no offense to anyone disagreeing with me. Just please be respectful while expressing it :)

'til next time my friends...♥

Not a pretty sight - fair warning

I'm probably going to get loads of crap for posting this.... But what the hell?

This is seriously the shit you see around here on occasion. Four deer legs sitting in the gutter on the side of a main street - smack in the middle of town (the fourth leg is just up the road a bit...didn't really think two pics were neccesary though...you get the point).

Where the f@%k is the rest of the deer?

This isn't the weirdest thing I've seen here either.

The dead deer on the side of the road without heads are the ones that freak me out the most. I promise though - I will spare you from any of those pics.

Anyone interested in venturing a guess here? :)

'til next time... ♥

I'm not too sure what to say...

Seriously? After the overwhelming response and support I received yesterday... Wow... I don't really even know what to say. When I say overwhelming I mean OVERWHELMING - in the best possible way. Like, I laid in bed wide awake for hours last night just thinking how far off the mark I was. How could I have been so blind not to see that there are actually people out there that read this tiny little blog, and care! Care enough to take a moment out of their day to comment.

I'm probably one of the most socially inept people out there... So for right now, this is the best I can do for a response...

And I mean it.

On a side note - anyone ever try to take a picture on your laptop whilst sitting on the living floor?

What about with a Fletch around?

No?

Well let me show you what you mostly get...

And with that, I'll sign off for the night. I must get started on a present for a friend. I'm quite nervous about it because I don't know if she'll like it or not - also a little nervous that I won't have it finished in time. I've mentioned my medications several time on here, and how tired they can make me. I've never talked about why I take medication... Always been very, very afraid that there might be repercussions if people find out what for... maybe that's another thing to conquer this year. On the other hand, maybe not. We're going to play that one by ear. Anyway, I've been dragging ass lately, so I need to put my nose to the grindstone and get working on this little number.

Again you guys, thank you so much for your support. It really means the world to me ♥

A Look Back...

I’m going to kind of pour my heart out here.

If you’re here for malicious reasons…if you’ve come back to stalk my blog again (you know exactly who you are), to try and illicit information that you can then misconstrue to try and use against us/me - try to hurt us with, then leave. This is not for you and you are not welcome here. 

Before I got into a post for this years resolutions I wanted to take a moment (a very looooooong moment) to reflect on last years resolutions:

Stay happy - Probably my biggest fail. I made my resolutions in the very early part of January. On February 19th, during a trip back to California to meet my niece for the first time, I managed to piss off the majority of my family…and they haven’t spoken to me since. I don’t understand how this has happened. I know the circumstances that lead up to it. I can see the events unfold in front of me… But I can’t stop them from happening now, just like I couldn’t stop them from happening then. I miss my mom, and my sister, and my grandparents… My mom and grandma were the biggest influences in my life. Hard to feel good about yourself when the people you look up to want nothing to do with you. I don’t think it’s possible to be entirely happy when you have such big holes in your life. That was a really personal thing to put out there… But at this point I’m not sure I care. I've kinda come to terms with the fact that nobody reads my shitty little blog anyway. I’m not a bad person - I know this with all my heart. But a happy person? No. Not necessarily. Not all the time. 

On a positive note - My father and I managed to come back into each other’s lives full force. We’re learning that we weren't necessarily the people we thought we were. I have a new found love and respect for that man. He’s such an incredible person. Constantly urging me to write. "Write, write, write” he tells me. He says that I have so much to share… Not too sure he’s right about that - but it feels so good to have a person with that much faith in you. I love you, Dad and miss you terribly.

Blog more frequently - Holy crap! A resolution I managed to stick with!!! I blogged over three times the amount I did in 2010... My blog is something I love. And whether or not it’s shitty, whether or not people read it, it’s mine. It’s my little corner of time that I can freeze - I can say I was here. I existed. It encourages me to get out and do things so that I’ll have something to talk about on it. Without it, I don’t know how isolated I might be. I mean let’s face it. We just moved to Kentucky last year - and we know only two people in this state (Hi Dee and Nancy, if you happened to stop by!)

Love this man as much as possible every single wonderful moment of my life - Wow - that was a smarmy one wasn't it? “...every single wonderful moment of my life”??? ***snort*** Okay, smarmy or not, this one was a cake walk. How could I not? I owe this man everything. He stood by me when everyone else walked away…He is the air I breathe on many a day. He makes me laugh. Compliments me on things I didn’t even know I needed to be complimented on. I never thought I’d be so in love with someone. The blogosphere is such a fake ass place sometimes. I know a lot of people (myself included) try to keep their blogs positive and uplifting places to stop off and visit…however I feel very strongly that it creates an air of fakeness. No one is going to tell us about the fight they had with their husband over his erratic driving skills, or the fact that he is constantly leaving his dirty clothes on the bathroom floor. They want to tie it up with a pretty little bow and present it as if it was a perfect package. I’m here to say - this is not the case with Todd and I. We are a very real couple, with very real fights. I annoy the crap out of him and vice versa. But I love him, and he loves me. We’ll never be a perfect package with a pretty little bow. We’re just going to be us. That’s the only thing we know how to be. We’ll work on our problems as they arise - together. We’ll never turn away from each other. This is a resolution I’ve realized that I’ll never need to make again. To love this man (in all our imperfectness) is just a way of life.

Expand the craftiness - This one turned out pretty good too! I actually opened my etsy store (holy crap I‘ve even made 11 sales!!!)… Finished a quilted tree skirt…made a billion pom pom banners….Ugh. Whatever, lol! I’m satisfied with this one.

Finish projects - Nope. Still have a pile a mile high in my office. :)

Live healthier - We managed to eat much, much healthier this past year. I’m becoming quite proficient in the kitchen and I make dinner more nights than not. And even though I resolved to not eat any more McDonald’s (the picture of that perfect burger that had been sitting out on that woman’s counter for six months still haunts me) we ate there a handful of times over the last year…I’m okay with that. It was better than eating it four times a week like we were. I started an exercise regimen that lasted about two days. I hate exercising - ♪♪♪hate it♪♪♪ - and it’s even harder out here when the summers are sweltering and doing their damn best to kill you with bugs and heat, and the winters don’t allow you to spend anytime outdoors. My weight is never bad. I'm 5'6 and I weigh usually between 105 and 120...depending on my medications at the time - but damn my cardio has suffered severely. Especially since I’ve not been working for the past couple years. My ass has become way to acquainted with my couch.

Send spectacular packages to my loved ones - you know exactly how many spectacular packages I sent out? Zero. None. How’s that for keeping a resolution?

So that’s it - my resolutions for 2010. Not a complete success (not even a remote success) - but I’m not going to beat myself up over them. To be completely real with you, I forgot about them for most of the year. I’m not too sure what my resolution(s) are going to be this year yet. I’ve had things bouncing around in my head and heart for awhile now. Actually, that’s a lie. I know what they’re going to be… I’m just trying to figure out the best way to word them…so I don’t sound more like a sentimental idiot than I need to.

Photo ♥

‘til next time… ♥

Off to a pretty good start!!!

I've introduced you all to my pal Tab before. She's from a corner of the blogosphere called Geektastic. She is always hosting the coolest, most innovative giveaways! Well, guess who was the lucky winner of her last one? That's right! Moi!!! I received a huge box full of the neatest goodies last week and I just had to give her a big 'ol shout out, because I had a blast opening it and going through all the items.... Forgive me while I show them off for a minute :)

First off were these awesome martini glasses from Crate and Barrel and Tipsy Crantinis. Todd and I used these to ring in our New Year! Don't they look delicious?

Next up is the adorable Hallmark Countdown to Christmas Calender that will make it's appearance on our fridge next December. I've never had an Advent Calendar before, so this is going to be fun to use.

It so cute and sparkly!

Who wouldn't go crazy over this little Sock Monkey ornament?? Still have it sitting out because I'm in love with it!

Todd made a claim on this bad boy the second he saw it! I believe his reaction went something like this "No freaking way!!!!"

We love Star Wars in this house.

There was also this insanely beautiful mug from Anthropologie (C for Colleen!) that she completed with this delicious Snow Geisha White Tea and a Crate and Barrel Tea Infuser.

In addition to everything featured above, she included a bag of toys for my animals from her cats Sullivan and Darby. (I'd totally put a picture on here but they're seriously scattered to the four corners of my house at this point!!!).

What a stash!! I can't thank you enough, Tab! I had so much fun with everything. ♥

If you haven't stopped by her blog, you should! She's a fabulous person and really fun blogging friend to have. :D

'til next time... ♥

Well Happy Frickin New Year

Hi there! Remember me? I used to blog.

Holy cow! I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since I've posted anything. It's almost like I had nothing to say! (pffffft, we all know that's not true).

I'd intended to take a small break for Christmas, but then ended up having one situation after the other come up...kind of waylaid me. For instance, last Thursday, the 29th, I ended up in emergency for five hours due to a migraine that nearly killed me (well, if  you ask me it nearly killed me...I doubt the doctors would've concurred).  I was shot up with painkillers and something to stop my vomiting, given a CT scan (which was just fine), fluid through an IV and then sent home. Wasn't fun. And I have a nice bruise from the IV that is just now starting to fade...

See?

The migraine was brought on by stress (thanks AT&T) and a medication change - I'm almost positive. One of the reasons I was going to take a small break from the blog. I am pretty much useless when any of my medications are changed.

Flash forward to Friday evening - my in-laws came to stay for the weekend and to celebrate the New Year with us. I use the term celebrate loosely, as I was much too much under the weather to be any fun. I could barely keep my eyes open, but I really enjoyed having them down and we spent a quiet and relaxing weekend at home watching movies and playing games. Can't wait until we can see them again. I'm so fortunate to have Vern and Sandy in my life. They are truly the nicest, most caring people I've ever come across and I love them dearly.

The snow that I had desperately been wishing for? Finally came yesterday... It's cold, and not as much fun as I remember. But alas, it's almost gone. This freak weather we're having is just straaaaaaange. Snowing yesterday, but it'll be in the 50s tomorrow. Go figure.

Todd had Monday off, so we played a simply ridiculous amount of PS3...the man got like, six games for Christmas...and we ate these...

Bacon Covered Maple Bars..... It's okay to be jealous.

Crystal was :D

Oh, and while the in-laws were here they brought their little Boston Terrier/French Bulldog mix, Pierre. One day we found Pierre sleeping in our laundry basket... Crystal apparently thought this was a GREAT idea. This is where I've found her for the last several days

Yep. That's my girl.

At some point I'm going to have to coax her out so I can wash the clothes in it...

Well, that's me for now... Hope everyone's New Year started out fabulously. I'll be back later with the dreaded resolution post, lol!

'til next time... ♥