Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Second Day of Spring!

Happy second official day of spring!... NOT! Whereas some places are already enjoying some spring weather, us here in good 'ol Madras, Oregon are not. We are enjoying a ton of snow! it's been snowing all day and hasn't shown signs of going away. I am wishing for warm weather, sunshine, and the ability to leave the house without looking and feeling like the Michelin Man....Oh well, maybe I'll just crank the heater up to the 70's and pretend that it's spring, or sit on the couch in a blanket and watch TV or read a book while sipping some hot tea. At least I'm not the only one not liking the snow so much. My dog hated the surprise she had when she went out this morning, so I had to take a picture of her!

this was right on the bottom of our back porch, she didn't wander much further than here since the snow else where was about as deep as her

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Lactose Intolerance

I know that being lactose intolerant isn't the end of the world but I have to say that it sucks! I've always been sensitive to anything dairy, but I could still manage to eat it and not feel like I'm dying. I always thought that I would out grow it sooner or later, but it seems that the opposite has happened, I can now eat nothing with dairy in it without getting really sick or puking. So I've been trying to cut out all cheeses and anything with milk in it but sometimes you just get the craving for ice-cream (sherbet doesn't always cut it) or cereal or yogurt. So I've been on the search for good tasting dairy alternatives, now I've tried soy milk and I've got to say...I can't stand it, it just tastes icky to me. But I found something that I like and is quite yummy. I'm super happy to able to have cereal as an option again!
Pacific Natural Foods

This stuff to me is the closest texture and consistency to milk I've found so far, but I am going to try all the other milk alternatives I can to see what is better tasting. Now that I've got my cereal back I wanted to find ice-cream that I could eat and that would taste good. So I gave this a try...

So Delicious

and I love it! it tastes pretty close to real ice-cream without it having any dairy in it, I could seriously eat this all day! It beats eating only sherbet whenever you are craving ice-cream, and they have more flavors than just vanilla and chocolate to choose from so I'm super happy about this awesome find! I'm excited to try all the other flavors and other types of dairy free ice-cream too. Now I was walking down the refrigerated section at my local health food store and saw this...

amande

yes it's "yogurt", I've got to say I was pretty nervous to try this and excited at the same time because I used to love yogurt. Now when I first opened it up and looked at it I about just threw it away it looked nasty, but after I mixed it up really good, it looked edible, no it didn't really look totally like yogurt, but it smelled like yogurt and it tasted pretty good. It had small coconut chunks in it and as long as I didn't look down at it I was glad I was able to eat "yogurt" again. Now they had different brands of "yogurt" so I might give them a try, but for now I liked this one. I'm excited that I can have some of my favorite foods back!



Monday, March 19, 2012

Brownie Frappachino

This is in loving memory of Brownie
 {3/16/2012}



Sunday, March 18, 2012

Sunday Quote

I don't know about you but I LOVE quotes! I love pinning them to my wall in my office and everytime I feel like I need the extra motivation I love being able to just look up and read them! So I have decided to share with you some of my favorite quotes.



Thursday, March 15, 2012

How to Hem Jeans and Keep the Original Hem!

Have you ever come across some super cute jeans that fit you perfectly and you can just imagine yourself being completely awesome in them...except for one thing...they are too long!! So you put them down and walk away. Ugh, I don't know about you but I'm kind of short (5'2" on a good day), and I have lost count how many times I've had to just walk away from the perfect jeans that were too long, even jeans that say "short" on them end up being slightly too long and I end up stepping on them. Well no more will I have to walk away from too long jeans! ( I must be the last person on Earth that hasn't come across this sooner) But I Googled for an answer and Google threw a billion answers back, I looked at some pictures and then ran to my sewing machine with jeans in hand went at it! Ok well there was a few steps involved, here they are!


Try on your jeans and fold them up to where you want your length to be, remember to be wearing the type of shoes you wear the most when trying to find the perfect length for your jeans.
 
Now take your jeans off and measure how much you folded them up

Now divide the measurement in half and unfold the the pant leg and fold it to your new measurement and pin. Repeat for the other leg.

Sew right along the existing hem, not on the hem. Remember to align your side hems so that they match!

Take the pins out and fold it down so it looks normal and iron the hems flat! TADA!! Perfect fit jeans that are not too long!


Monday, March 12, 2012

Latino Dance Festival at COCC 2012



My husband and I take bachata lessons every Wednesday and this weekend our dance instructor performed at the local college for the Latin Dance Festival! So I took a video with my phone so I apologize for the poor quality.

Birthday Cupcakes

Well my brother's 21st birthday was this weekend and for his birthday I decided to make him some cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes with raspberry filling and whipped cream frosting (chocolate is my brother's favorite), and then I made some honey and spice cupcakes with whipped cream frosting topped with some toasted almonds. YUM! I topped them all with a little cupcake topper that said "happy birthday".


Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Happy Birthday Doughnut Card

My brother's birthday is this weekend, he's turning the big 2-1!! And since I know that he loves desserts and sweets I decided to make him a doughnut card. Yup a card in the shape of a doughnut with sprinkles.



Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Crayon Roll How To

So I know that there are a million and one tutorials on how to make a simple crayon roll but I will show you the way I did it, I hope I make sense :)

Materials Needed:
  •  2 (two) 5.5 X 5 inch pieces of your main fabric
  • 1 (one) 5.5 X 5 inch piece of a coordinating fabric
  • a button or whatever you want to use as a closure
  • sewing machine
  •  
 
first I cut two 5.5 X 5 inch pieces of my main fabric that I wanted to use

then I cut a 5.5 X 5 inch piece of coordinating fabric and I ironed them all nice and flat


I folded one of my main fabric pieces lengthwise and it ironed flat. Then I left myself a quarter inch seam allowance and then marked in one inch intervals where I wanted my pockets to be

then sew along your lines

now turn your fabrics facing the right way (I forgot this a couple times and had to rip it apart) and sew them together all along where you already sewed


if you want to attach a button do it now on your main fabric piece. Then put the two fabrics facing each other and sew along the edges, make sure to leave a good 3 inch opening on one side so you can pull your fabric through the hole


after you pull your fabric through attach the rubber band or ribbon or whatever you are using as a closur and sew the hole closed securing the rubber band in. Now iron it all flat and stick some crayons in there and you have yourself a crayon roll!


I was on a roll and made a few crayon rolls :)


Monday, March 5, 2012

Zumba Basic 2 Training

Yup I did it I finished my basic 2 training! I LOVED IT!!! We learned the basic steps for Samba, Belly Dance, Tango and Flamenco! I LOVED LOVED flamenco and tango! Samba...it nearly killed me, and we were doing it in half time!


Friday, March 2, 2012

Cozi

Hi my name is Karina, and I'm a bit of a control freak... I like things to have order and structure. I like to plan (I am usually packed and ready to go a week ahead when we are getting ready for a trip), and I like to make lists of everything. I am constantly trying to find ways of making planning easier as well as sharing those plans with my husband (sometimes having them posted on the fridge doesn't work). So while I was going through apps on my phone I came across this app called Cozi, and it's amazing! I don't know how I've lived without it! You sign up, and it's totally free! You can add as many family members to the account as you want and you can share your personal or family calendar with them, share to-do lists, grocery lists, your family journal, and even the diner schedule! And the best part is that you can send them all these things to their phone in a text reminder or through email, they could even call in and listen to the things scheduled to them. You can use the app on your phone to access Cozi or use your computer! You can easily color code each family members appointments and events on your calendar and then print your calender! So if you are a control freak like me you should really give Cozi a try, so far I am loving it! Here's the link and a video for Cozi. Happy scheduling!!


Thursday, March 1, 2012

The Crayon Roll

I bet you have seen them floating around the blogosphere, they are cool! What a neat idea, I mean really, each crayon has it's own little pocket to call home! They are perfect when you are traveling with a little one and you want to keep them busy. You just roll it up when you are done using them and ta da the crayons are put away in a super cute way! This is a pick of the one I made! I love it!! Sure, I have no kids, and I don't color that often, but I might just make time to color with crayons just so I can use it!! :D