The Not-So-Humble Tree Skirt

It's finally done!!!

I'm probably biased, but I'm pretty sure I just made the world's cutest Christmas tree skirt. Like for reals. Here's proof: 

I can't remember the last time I was so pleased with a project!

Kamber told me about Small Business Saturday and we went to Pine Needles and got this beautiful fabric, and the best part is, I only spent like $4 in the end.

It's good quality material and I like knowing that the fabric feels wonderful as well! (sort of like how I always was content with fake pearls until I got the real thing...I blame my in-laws for that one!)

Anyway, I saw a tutorial online on how to make a tree skirt and I started doing exactly what she did until I realized that my sewing teacher would haunt me if she ever saw what I was doing. So I went to a lot of extra effort to make sure there were no unfinished edges, and ended up making a much better product. Now I can sleep at night. :) Seriously though, if I had done it the sewing-teacher-will-haunt-you way, this would come apart the first time it was washed!

Thanks to Riley for helping me gather the insane amounts of fabric that went into these ruffles. I started thinking about how fancy I would feel if I had a skirt like this to wear, even if would look silly!

I sewed each ruffle on with a double needle, and because I somehow lost the box with ALL my sewing feet (the one on my machine is actually my mother's) and sewing machine accessories, I did not have an extra spool holder. Nothing my Gingher's and a trusty old paper clip can't fix!

Here's the bias tape I made of the outermost fabric and used to finish off the innermost circle and ties.

Voila! Finito! This was not necessarily hard, but it was quite time-consuming. Mark kept telling me at my most exasperated moments that I could put it away and finish it next year. I love him! He's so supportive.

Here's our humble tree, with our not-so-humble tree skirt. Gotta give it room to grow!

{I'm not sure I want to put the presents on top of it!}

Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Christmas by Lantern Light

Last night, Mark and I attended the Christmas party of my home ward in Emigration Canyon. I will always feel welcome at that ward and return just about as often as I can.

As we had just finished our hors d'oeuvres (French is so beautiful) and were moving to another room for the musical entertainment, the power in the building went out. Everyone got out their cell phones and illuminated the paths as we gathered in the chapel.

My family had not yet arrived, so Mark and I sat in the Walsh's usual bench, hoping they'd find us there (reminds me of counsel given to me about what to do in the event you get separated from your group- go to home base and wait for them to find you). It worked! They found us. Joy of joys.

Once we were all settled, we all sang Christmas hymns and it was truly special. I'm grateful to those who can play any hymn at any moment, and for the unexpected blessing that loss of power provided. By cell phone light, we remembered our Savior's birth and the reason that we're celebrating this time of year.

We even got to sing one of my favorite Christmas songs, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." It speaks so much peace and hope and joy to my soul and I love it. Were tears free-flowing down my face? Of course they were. It was such a special moment to me.

Luckily the soup was already warm, so we moved into the cultural hall (what a weird name) and ate by the light of several lanterns. I loved it so much! I was rather disappointed when the lights came back on at the end of dinner.

Why is it that dim lights calm me and help me to feel the Spirit?

College Version of Myself

Do you ever miss prior versions of yourself? I'm currently longing for the college, specifically undergraduate, version of myself.

If you were my roommate at any point, I know you understand this. Laughing until you cry and your abs are tired? Comparing biceps? Running on obscene amounts of sleep, every single day? Sharing life stories for hours on end?

It could look like this...

Yeah, I still got it.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a....

I have no idea what it is. I can't see it. I'm only 27 years old and I'm seriously losing my vision. Maybe I need to get a job that doesn't have me working in front of a computer all the time.

I know what you're thinking. Just go see the eye doctor. Been there, done that. I've worn contacts/glasses since I was like 10 and my mother discovered I couldn't see the sacrament hymn numbers, even though we were in the third row (shout out to my wonderful mother- aren't mothers amazing!!!!???). Thanks for helping me live a better life, Mom!

My trusty eye doctors told me I had a stigmatism. Ha! Caught you. Wrongo! It's actually astigmatism. Did you know that? (side note: did you also know that aprons used to be called naprons? It's true. Same with norange.) It's never been a problem until now. For some reason, my prescription hasn't changed, but my astigmatism has decided it wants to be noticed. I tried the contacts to correct astigmatism and I seriously felt like scratching my eyeballs out all day (and I even tried 3 different kinds).

Sadly, as I sit here at my computer, I am squinting to see the words and I've already increased the text size a couple times. Lasik, here I come!!!! That is, once I can afford your cruel, cornea-slicing ways.

Pure Workout = Pure Exhaustion

I can hardly move my fingers to type these words. So. Tired.

Mark and I got a groupon deal for Pure Workout for 6 weeks of exhaustion... I mean, training. We've only been to 3 days and I am not sure how we're going to do 5 1/2 more weeks of this. The sight of any stairs right now makes me want to cry. :) But for reals. It's super pathetic. I honestly considered sitting down and scooting my way down the stairs into our basement.

On the up side, I really like the trainers there so far. I hope we always have those same 2 guys because they are knowledgeable, friendly, and they motivate me. All things I want in a trainer. (Do you ever make lists like that and then imagine taking a survey that asks you the most important qualities of a trainer? I do. Too much survey development as of late, I'm sure). I also like to train in a group setting, and I like to make my muscles stronger. I am a Walsh, after all.

I've done this kind of training before and it put me in the best shape of my life. I like it. I crave it. But only after my body accepts the pain and growth. :)

If you see me groaning and hobbling along, don't make fun of me. It's taking every ounce of energy I have to walk, stand, etc.

Nap time!

Dear chlorine, we are not friends.

A couple weeks ago I went to the pool with a blue hair elastic in my hair and it dyed my hair blue. No joke. It stayed like that for a while and didn't wash out until I used baking soda a couple times (so weird, I know. But it worked...thanks Heather!). By the way, the baking soda feels so weird in your hair and makes it seem like your ponytail is 5" in diameter. 

I went to the pool again today and it happened AGAIN! Except I wasn't wearing a blue elastic, so that clearly wasn't the problem last time either. I thought I was so clever and would never have that happen to me again. Wrong-o! 

I'm not sure what's going on with that pool, but there's either a serious chemical imbalance, or the blue sides of the pool are infiltrating my hair. Back you fiends! 

And it's time for a baking soda wash now. Perhaps it's bad for your hair to keep washing it in sodium bicarbonate?

In other news, here is Jenny doing sit ups. Pretty funny. Love her. 

Mustachio Madness!

I know, I know. I never post anything. Why, you might ask? Plain ol' insecurity. How will I know you'll enjoy reading the things I write? Why do I feel the constant need to entertain? Probably because I'm a Walshling and being one of eleven kids means that if you're not standing out, you're forgotten. (Not that I hold that against my family, because I don't. I LOVE my family so much, and I understand that things just work that way in big families. My family is crazy, but they're my kind of crazy). To the point- I know I shouldn't overthink it so much, so here goes...blogging in the online sphere and on to recent adventures that have me so smiley just thinking about them. 

I'll be honest. I'm not sure where the mustache craze started, but I do kinda enjoy it. I will also admit that we have the best ward ever! It is so much fun and everyone is so nice and all social-like :).

Yesterday we welcomed in summer by the longest party ever (10 am - 9 pm), although Mark and I only made it to the BBQ in the evening. What made this party so awesome, you might ask? FACE PAINT!!!

Everyone knows that anything is better with face paint, right! Ok, probably not, but it still made for a good time for us ladies. Lisa Soffe, in our ward, is incredibly talented and after making seriously awesome replicas of the Spiderman mask on the wee ones in the ward (and Tyler Healey...rumored to be at the request of his darling wife so she could have her upside down kiss with Spiderman fantasy finally realized!), the mustache madness ensued. 

First one daring soul, then a few more, and then there was no stopping it. Here I am with Markle and our matching facial hair. I know, I know. Super adorable. I've never looked better with facial hair. 

 The guinea pigs. 

An awesome face by Miss Courtney

And then Jeanette trying so hard not to smile. So funny and so hard!

Why do I post all these pictures that really aren't that different from one another? Because each one brings precious little tears to my eyes and great joy to my heart. 

And now I think most of us fancy, facial-haired women are here, and some who claimed they already had a mustache that they worked so hard to get rid of. :)

Can't wait for more good times like this. :) Hooray for summer and for "Carole Addition" and "Win Del" (apparently this is where we live according to the iphone).

Ah, I love it. So funny!

Chevron vs. Herringbone

I think I'm crazy. I get bothered by the littlest things. I can tell it's a problem because my friends will say something and then are paranoid that they said it incorrectly in front of me. I'M SORRY. Don't worry. I'm not perfect, I don't expect you to be either.

So, back to the point of this post. I love looking at Pinterest. There are so many beautiful things! I love prints like herringbone, houndstooth, chevron, etc., and they can be found everywhere on Pinterest. :)

Here's the problem though, and I know this is so stupid but it does bother me. There is a difference between chevron and herringbone. You don't love the chevron pattern like you say you do. You love herringbone.

Let me show you. This is a chevron pattern (from google images). It's beautiful. And I love it. Perhaps that's why I'm bothered. Because some ugly herringbone things are being called chevron and chevron doesn't deserve that reputation. Notice how the "v" pattern is continued in the same color?

Now this is a herringbone pattern (also from google images). Notice how at the top and bottom of every "v" there is a color change. If you look at it from far away, it looks like there are lines going down the pattern as well. Herringbone is also beautiful, though perhaps not as trendy right now.
Big difference huh? You probably think I'm crazy. Perhaps you can't see it? It's not like the Emperor's New Clothes.

Anyway, rant over. I've done my part to educate. And since we're talking about it, I might as well show you houndstooth as well, though that is harder to mistake (also from google images).

There you go. Go forth and use your knowledge wisely. Especially on Pinterest. :)

Sincerely,

Mark Taylor (just kidding, would Mark write this?) It's me, Brooke.