So since finishing work on Friday, it has been quite busy!! Shopping for teaching supplies for Mexico, figuring out what to pack, trying to make everything fit in 2 suitcases, cleaning 3 messy, messy bedrooms, doing 6+ hrs of online training, trying to figure out what to do about my camera (I carried it all over Jerusalem, Jordan & Turkey, dropped in tons, and it was fine- I accidently drop it 2 ft. onto the kitchen floor & the zoom button breaks & the light on front won't turn off! But if I send it away to get fixed, then I won't have anything for Mexico!) and just getting everything organized before I leave! And, doing all these fun things!

Making pinata's to mail!!

Enjoying new summer shoes for cheap (the joys of working at a shoe store! Although everyone thinks they are ugly except me!)

First BBQ of the season and it poured! Typical Edmonton weather!

Jules got me going away presents!!

Best waterbottle ever, she made me peacock earring & ordered the locket on Etsy (I LOVE it!!), and of course mini hair products & lotions for travelling! Thanks Jules!!

And who doesn't love a homemade purse organizer that costs about 2$ to make?? So cute & so easy! You just need a potholder (1$ from Wal-mart), ribbon, flowers, a button, plastic bags & a sewing machine!

I am always losing bobby pins, gum, elastics, lib balms, pens, ect in my purse, so this is perfect!

 I had been wanting  a Huffy bike ever since I left Hawaii, but I had never seen them in Edmonton before, so I was going to try to get one from the States somehow. But then I saw this one, and had to get it! I love it! It almost makes me wish I was staying home this summer, but not quite! I'll get to ride it lot's in the fall!!

Well I leave for Mexico in about 3 weeks, and I am already getting antsy about what I am going to do after I get home! Since I've graduated high school, I have always had at least the next semester planned out! Do I go to school abroad? Volunteer in an orphanage? Do ILP somewhere else? Or do I work in the Fall & get my childcare level 1, and then teach a few Music & Me classes in the winter? And fulfill my craving for trips by going to Philly to visit my sister & her kids right when I get home from Mexico k (or maybe on my way home?) and then go to general conference in October, maybe O'ahu during Spring Break in the Winter, and then a trip for 2 months to Southeast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam- it is SO cheap to travel in these places!) during the summer?? AH! I hate not having a solid plan! But I guess I'll just have to go by the quote that I need to remind myself of quite often!

"COME WHAT MAY & LOVE IT!"

I love Groupons!

So Amos had a coupon to Big City Cupcakes, which is in the City Center mall downtown, and we figured we didn't have very much time left to go get it, since she leaves in less than 3 weeks, and it is kinda far away! So we went tonight! The groupon was for 4 cupcakes & a milkshake.

For the milkshake, you could choose any 5 scoops of ice cream & they mized them all together!! We got chocolate & coconut, yum!! It reminded me of hawaii!

and since we were there at closing, the owner was working, and he gave us 4 extra cupcakes for free! He was so nice!

Then after we walked around the mall a bit! I hadn't really ever been here before, but I actually loved it! Being downtown, it's filled with so many interesting people!

But just to be safe, we did leave before it got too dark out!! But the cupcakes were delish, I highly Big City Cupcakes for the next time you want to kill a crave! (although, I still like homemade ones much better!)

Spring is Here!!

I just can't keep back a smile when I see the snow has melted, the sun is shining, and there is no chill in the air (I really am meant to live in a warm place!) It means walks without heavy boots & coats, and my excuse for not excercising because I don't have a gym pass no longer works because the ice has melted so I can run outside! I LOVE SPRING!!

It also means springy crafts!!! Once again, the ugly scraps from the basement were used, but I love the idea! Maybe I will make it to Fabricland this week to get some cuter material!!

Rag Rug

So I saw a braided rag rug on Pinterest, and decided it would be fun to make! I didn't think it would be that hard, & the blog the picture came from didn't give very clear instructions, but I figured it would be easy, so I just cut out extremely long strips of fabric (once again, using random fabric from the basement, hence the bright teal color!)

But I didn't take into account that my extremely long strips would get tangled into a mess! So I tied the end of it to the banister, and went from there. I'm sure there must be an easier way to do this, but I couldn't figure it out! So I popped in the Secret Garden beause it was taking me soooo long!

And this is what I have so far! Braiding takes sooo much longer than I thought! I've figured out it's easier to cut shorter strips & sew them onto the ends of the last one, and so on! Then, when I get it as big as I want I'll have to hand sew it all together! So much for a quick, easy project!! Does anyone know an easier way to make these?

While I was doing this, Amy made a delicious artichoke!!!

delish!

I wish I could figure out how to rotate this picture, I'm sure it's super easy, but I just don't know how, so this is the way it's going to stay! On Friday, we went to the Drowsy Chaperone at the theatre at Fort Edmonton Park, (which is so adorable!) and really funny and the music was great!

Then last night we all had coupons for by one blizzard, get one free, that expired that night, so we hit up DQ!

I got Hawaiian, and at first I thought it was disgusting (it has banana, which tasted a little funny in ice cream, coconut & pineapple), but after a few bites it grew on me & I loved it!!