#6. Make Homemade Gifts for a Year

For this goal, I defined it by saying I will make a homemade gift for each member of our immediate family at least once during the year, either for birthdays or Christmas.  Yesterday was my cute sister-in-law's birthday.  I decided to make her this little coin purse/mini wallet.

 I had a lot of fun with this little project and will probably make more.  I especially liked picking coordinating fabrics and am in love with the ones I ended up picking.   

The finished product measured about 3.25 x 5 inches.  I put wallet sized photos of her adorable niece inside. 

I think it would also make a great gift card holder.  It's perfect for IDs, credit cards, coins, feminine products, etc.  It was such an fun and easy project and I am so pleased with how it turned out.

#7. Make Abby a Quiet Book

For Valentine's Day I decided to make Abby a book called, "Who Loves Abby?"  It maybe isn't technically a "quiet book," but I'm counting it to cross that item off my list.  I got pictures of my family as well as Landon's and put them in a little photo album for her.  I Photoshopped everyone's names on their pictures for fun.  I am so pleased with how it turned out.  I think it will be perfect for church and it will help Abby recognize faces.  Here are some pictures of the book.

Happy 1st Valentine's Day to my baby girl!

Then & Now

For Day 3 of my photo class, the assignment was "then & now."  I was supposed to take a photo that would show change from the past.  I decided it would be fun to document "the diaper change" change.
 

 The top one is from when Abby was 3 days old and still in the hospital.  I remember I was scared to change her diaper then because she was SO small and would scream when you took the blanket off.  The bottom picture was after I changed her diaper today.  She is about 10 pounds heavier!  Her changing table may have to be retired soon because she moves around so much.  I had to be careful as I took these because I was worried she would jump right off. 

My photo assignment also included "cropping in tight," which is maybe displayed better in this photo.  I could definitely crop it (in Photoshop) more, but didn't feel like the mostly blank wall was distracting.

This is my assignment from yesterday, which was "what they look like."  The idea was take a picture of a loved one as they really look, good or bad, and to position yourself so that the subject looks right.  This is a definite Landon face/posture. 

What They Do

I'm doing this free online photography class this month.  Thanks for telling me about it, Emily!  If you are interested, you can still sign up.  Today's assignment was to catch someone... doing what they do, and also to find good lighting in your home.  I love watching Abby read books and am so grateful I can now remember it forever.
 

 

Wedding Bliss

My favorite photo from this week was not one that I took, but one I edited.  In order to save some money, I hired a good friend to take our wedding photos.  We were pretty pleased with the way they turned out, but after he had edited a bunch something happened to his computer and he lost everything he had edited (or something like that).  He still had all the original files and at that point we just didn't want to wait any longer and took them as is.  

I recently decided it would be a good project for me to go through and edit them myself.  I'm mostly making minor changes to the majority of them so that they still look natural, just with a little more zing.  But for some of just the two of us I am doing more dramatic effects in addition.  I always wanted to like this picture, but our hands looked lifeless and dull.  I think I was able to bring some life into them and am much happier with the way it looks now.

Argentine Burgers

My husband lived in Argentina for two years while serving a mission for our church.  And if you know my husband, you probably know how much he loves hamburgers.  When my mom found this recipe (from Bobby Flay?), she decided it would be a great thing to make for him.  It was my first time having chimmichurri  sauce and I loved it and thought it tasted great on a burger.  The chimmichurri sauce can be made a ahead of time, just bring it to room temp before serving.  If you are looking for a way to jazz up a burger, this is a great way to do it!

  Argentine Burgers

Chimmichurri Sauce

• 2 cups packed flat leaf parsley
• 1 Tbs. fresh oregano
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp. smoked paprika
• 3 Tbs. red wine vinegar
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste 
  
  Make in a food processor. Combine parsley, oregano and garlic and pulse until coarsely chopped.  Add paprika, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Process until smooth.  Transfer to a bowl. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.

Burgers

• 1½ lbs. 80% lean ground chuck
• salt and pepper
• 1½ Tbs. canola oil
• 4 slices manchego cheese
• 4 buns, toasted
• ½ medium red onion, sliced in ¼ inch slices

Prepare burgers in the way you choose. Add cheese to the tops of the burgers during the last minute of cooking.  Serve on buns topped with large dollop of chimmichurri sauce and onions. 

Revisting "Old" Music

Ever since I got married I have not been an active participant in the music scene.  I'm not very good at seeking out new music for myself but mostly rely on my brother to tell me about new great stuff I would like.  My brother did move over 2000 miles away from me about the time I got married, so maybe that has something to do with it, or maybe it's because I've been really busy with school, pregnancy, and being a mom.  Regardless, I still feel music just isn't that spectacular right now.  I'm happy to be wrong, though, so if you have amazing suggestions I would love to hear them.

With that said, I just wanted to share a favorite album of mine that I recently listened to and was reminded of how much I like it.  This band no longer exists and were not extremely well known or popular.  But I think they are great and I had a blast when I saw them in concert.

Introducing, Dog Problems, by The Format.

This is The Format's second album.  I recommend both of their albums highly, but I think I would have to pick this one as my favorite.  Some of my favorite songs are "Time Bomb," "Dog Problems," "She Doesn't Get it," and "Oceans."  Really, I like every song on here quite a bit.  If you have never heard of them, check them out.  You'll be glad you did.

*Neither Nate nor Sam paid me to blog about their old band.