Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Hi Friends!  I am SO blown away by the blogging love and support I have received.  I was nervous posting my last post about what I went though to become a dentist and was surprised that I had so many AMAZING comments.  I am loving the blogging world more and more for the amazing people you can meet----you all mean so much to me!  I wish we could just all hang out and be crafty next door neighbors!  On that note I am SO excited that there were 31 wonderful, amazing comments for the giveaway and I want to add a second entry for both Carmella from Creative Carmella and Tabitha from Inspired by giving for both sending friends to the giveaway from their blog-THANK YOU!  

Anddddd the winner is: entry #10!  

 houtz said...

I've been enjoying your blog. Thanks for sharing your crafty ideas with the public. Happy graduation!

Houtz, I would love to get your prize in the mail-just shoot me an e-mail!!!!

I also want to say a warm HAPPY Mother's Day to all of the beautiful, amazing, crafty women out there that are wonderful moms! 

I also should report that I had an amazing graduation weekend which has now turned into a pack-like-crazy Sunday and tomorrow will be a organize and clean day followed by Tuesday the dreaded load-the-truck day......ahhhhhhhhhh the joys of moving a house of stuff to a different state!  

And here is my little photo montage of graduation day

{Quincy my oldest pup, and my lifetime dog has been with me for every graduation-we are talking high school, undergrad and now this....she has gone through every exam, every move, and every hard moment----so she totally deserved her graduation spotlight!}

{Hubs also deserves his graduation spot light, he was in my life during my admission exams, my applications, my moving to Michigan without him....I mean lets give this guy some credit, he married me right after my first year of school.....the worst year of my life!  What a guy}

{Ahh and then there is me.....I did some HARD work to get to graduation!  I am constantly humbled and always grateful for the opportunities I have had in my life!}

{The whole fam.  Isn't it impressive that I had this kind of crowd there to support me...most of my immediate family had to make a 9 and 1/2 hour drive to be there!!!!}

{I finally have that darn peice of paper I can hang in my office someday....but that moment was the most exciting because they called my Dr. Jaime.....I am not sure I will ever let anyone call me that again...I am not much for formalities, but it was a special moment!}

{Annnddd lets be honest I am not always  or maybe really never the super proper, classy, or serious graduate you might expect....oooh no, when my little sister is around me I turn into a little girl again}

You will be hearing more from this crafty girl after this big move, but for now THANK YOU all for being such AMAZING followers and friends.

***I LOVE responding to each comment via e-mail and I cannot wait to get caught up to do so, I am SORRY for being behind but I hope you all know how much your comments mean to me!!!  And you can expect to hear from me eventually.....not sure when this move will next allow me to be at my computer, the hubs is packing as we speak***

:o)

The man of my dreams was born today

I would like to take a moment to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the man who is my world, who makes my world complete, and who came into the world today.  I love you more than anything.  I cannot imagine the world without you in it. 

I am completely crazy about you.

You know exactly how to make me smile.

And laugh.

And have fun.

27 years ago today you came into the world, I am so extremely glad.

I love you with all of my heart. 

Books

Let me start by saying I love to read.  

I love love love to have a good book in my hands and snuggle up in my bed/couch/hammock by the lake or really anywhere a horizontal position is available!  

But I must say I go through funny trends I have noticed with reading, I get into an amazing book and when I am nearing the end sometimes I slow W-A-Y down because I dread beginning my search for the next-great-book or sometimes even the next O-K-A-Y book or the next brainless, guilty pleasure book or the next girly book....lets just say my taste in books is extremely varied!  So let me tell you where I am, where I have been, and then it is your job ohhh wonderful blog friends and family to help me find my next book!!!

Right now I am reading "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" thanks to my mother-in-law's suggestion.  I love it!  Sometimes I drag my feet when there seems to be a book that everyone is reading....but I always give books the first few chapters and this one didn't even take one to convince me it was going to be a good one!  It has been such a wonderful transition from the book I read right before it.

Now when I say that I read this one I have to confess that I actually listened to this book on tape and fell in LOVE not only was the story line amazing, but the narration was the best I have ever heard.  There were two narrators for the older and younger main character and the older gentleman did an amazing job in his narration (although this is only in my opinion....of course my opinion tends be swayed by my very soft spot for old men!)  But back to the book, I would so so so recommend reading/listening to this one before the movie comes out in a few weeks, I thought it was great!

I must say that I have different standards for books that I listen to and books that I read....if books on tape are mildly entertaining they are listened to in their entierty, where as books I give a few chapter chance and then move on....

Now before you jump to conclusions, I am not a super sophisticated book concur all of the time.  There are definitely nights and weeks and months that I get sucked into a good brainless read...or reads when I got into the Charline Harris series trying to make a transition from the Stephanie Meyer Twilight series.

Anyways onto my admitting that I love I not only love books on tape but I love playaways that my little one room library has a TON of....wo downloading, no work just plug in your earbuds and listen....walk/run/drive (is that really safe?)/vacuum I mean trust me for those of you who love multitasking like I do playaways are just great! 

And then there is the kindle...the best gift I ever got and didn't know I needed or wanted.  Reading in the sun while lounging in Mexico I realized that there was no glare!!!  AMAZING!!!!  I enjoyed the kindle more than I could have ever guessed.

Another book that I listened to on a playaway....A good dog, is by far my favorite dog book EVER.  I loved all of the -isms and have adopted some of them as my own---Quinny is my lifetime dog and my free thinker.

Ahhh so now you know where I have been with my reading----now I need some advice!!!

What should I read next?!?!  Pleaseeee I really really want to finish the book I am reading right now!!!!  

:o)

Nick and Becks Colorado Wedding Photo Montage!

3.26.2011

Keystone, Colorado

"Everything begins somewhere, welcome to our somewhere"

{Beck's quote for the wedding}

To say the location was breath taking is an understatement!  

***On this drive I texted my dad and he texted me back....I love this text so very much I must share it right now:

Me:  Hi dad!! I just got to Colorado for Beckis wedding and I (was) thinking about our trip, thank you for brining us here I have such good memories!  Love you, Jaime (butttt with a lot more spelling errors because I was distracted by the view)

Dad:  Hi Jaime, It was one of the best trips of my life!  We'll probably never have another room like that again.  It was special to me to have that adventure with my two beautiful daughters.  Memories forever!  Block out my swimtrunks though.  Have fun out there.  You deserve it!  Love you wildly!!!! Dad

(*note my dad, who I have never even texted before had NO texting errors!)  (Also note many references made in the text only my sister who reads this blog will understand but awhhh how I cherished this text!)

Anyways back to the wedding and the trip!

Starting with spa day.... ahhhhh---enough said!

new sweet friends

and my best-est friend becks

all had a blast!  ***a note for my husband Cal who is so so so wishing I might catch baby fever, I really really adored my new friend Stella, but don't get your hopes up toooo high-----yet! 

There were so so so many special moments during the trip and the wedding, I felt beyond blessed to be part of everything, these families made me feel like I belonged and was part of the family even though I only wish that I did!

Ohhh how I love this couple, they are fun and wonderful and I just can't get enough of them!

I think this is a good opportunity to share the speech that I wrote for Becks as her maid of honor....  I don't know what I actually said because I am not much of a public speaker, but here is what I was meaning to say.  I mean every word, they are both such special people to me!

From cowboy hats to dental masks

From pre-clinic to real clinic 

I had the honor of meeting my closest friend and this beautiful bride Becki

Now some people are friends from the moment they meet, some people have been friends since they were young, Becki and I are neither of these, but I think we are something more important, we are what I consider the most important kind of friend, a forever friend and a lifetime friend.  

And just like friendships I think that there are numerous kinds of love but the kind of love that the two of you share is without a doubt the strongest type of love, it is the forever and until the end kind of love.  

I mean it is a love that has been strong enough to withstand 3 seasons or horriable Micigan football, remodeling a home together, dental school and even an indoor golfing range, and that is just in the past four years!

I am so proud honor to be here to day, the day that you start your forever, to celebrate the strongest kind of love, the love that you both share.  

Lets toast Becki and Nick and their new beginning in this beautiful place. 

May your life together be full of beautiful moments and a love that grows stronger each day.

Did I mention that they have an amazing family, I mean really, I don't know any other family where mother-in-laws are best friends!!!  Ohhh I hope they know how amazing that is!

Did I also mention Nick and Becki are SOO cute together?!  Can't you just tell how in love they are and how happy a time this was for them!?!

Couldn't skip taking a picture of the crafty and homemade wedding day touch with the Colorado background!

Aahhhh and how many times do you really really like hanging out with the other bridesmaids?!?  (or bridesmaid in this case?)  Christy and I were also quite excited to show off our dresses with pockets! 

And finally to end this beautiful day the bride and groom danced like it was going out of style!  BEST memories ever!

***It should be noted that I do not have photos from the wedding itself or from most of the day because I was busy enjoying EVERY SINGLE MOMENT.  But be assured, the bride was beautiful, she took her grooms breath away, everyone had a great time and I think I even made a few people cry with my speech, overall I would say the wedding was a great success and as I have said over and over again I feel so so so blessed to have been part of it!!! 

I would like to end the post with the lyrics to the song that was played about a million times throughout the weekend and the song that will forever remind me of this beautiful wedding:

Marry Me lyrics

By TrainSongwriters: Monahan, Pat;

Forever can never be long enough for me
Feel like I've had long enough with you
Forget the world now, we won't let them see
But there's one thing left to do

Now that the weight has lifted
Love has surely shifted my way

Marry me today and every day
Marry me if I ever get the nerve to say hello in this cafe
Say you will, say you will

Together can never be close enough for me
Feel like I am close enough to you
You wear white and I'll wear out the words I love you
And you're beautiful

Now that the wait is over
And love and has finally shown her my way

Marry me today and every day
Marry me if I ever get the nerve to say hello in this cafe
Say you will, say you will

Promise me you'll always be happy by my side
I promise to sing to you when all the music dies

And marry me today and everyday
Marry me if I ever get the nerve to say hello in this cafe
Say you will, say you will marry me

Love never fails

{http://diosmudanzas.tumblr.com}

I am beyond blessed to be going to stand up next to my closest friend while she marries the love of her life this weekend.

All of this speech preparation and packing for Colorado is making me miss the love of my life more than the usual-long-distance-relationship-amount....  I am so blessed to have met and married my best friend and now husband, even if we have been married for close to 3 years now, my heart still flutters when I think that I really really really get to spend the rest of my life with him.  We are getting closer to being geographically closer but I don't think our hearts have ever been closer than now.  I miss him constantly and love him more than ever for helping me deal with all my final struggles and unexpected stresses that are going along with getting to graduation.  He is truly my rock and my heart is always where he is.  

Real true love is so amazing and I am so excited to be celebrating a new beginning for Nick and Becki and I look forward to Cal and I having a new beginning in just a few short weeks.

On that note, love may hinder and hit rough patches, but right now I am going to say that I agree, love never fails.

Things to Come

I am excited to share a little list of things that I am SO excited about---things to come!

But first I must say, I had SO so SO much fun crafting with my sister while she stayed with me for her 4 week rotation....she inspired me, kept me sane when I thought my brain might explode due to the stress of my fourth year dental boards, and she just overall took care of me---what an amazing thing!  My sister has always been the one who has inspired me to blog, this may have been why my blogging blossomed with her around....I am always a doubter, I never imagine my ideas are worth sharing...  But WOW each of the positive comments I received during my past few weeks of posting have managed to make my day and inspire me to come up with even more new ideas.  Thank YOU for stopping by my blog, for looking at my humble ideas and for being a potential blogging friend---I have been so so sooooo inspired by other bloggers!

So now, back to my main point, I have SO many amazing things coming up in my life, in my crafts and SO much to look forward to

• Beck's getting married next weekend in Colorado-I am her maid of honor, and I am having so much fun helping her in the only way I know how-by crafting-last night we dipped and drizzled pretzels (I wish I had a picture they turned out so pretty), we painted pine cones white and glittered them, made tags to tie on to them so they will act as name card holders for dinner, we made bridesmaid jewelry---they match perfectly and they are sentimental---just my thing!  

http://elemeno.us/images/pretzels.jpg

http://.bp.blogspot.com

We picked the two blue with the center silver ball to be a bit meaningful since there are only three girls in the wedding including the bride.

I am not great at making jewelry, but it is kind of fun to have something that the bride knows she really likes, and it is cheap and easy!

• In addition to Becki getting married next weekend---this weekend is her batchlorette party and lets just say I am having fun making things for that as well!!!

We have a little black and white theme going on!  I will show the rest of the decorations if anyone is interested, after the party!

• I passed my written and patient boards (still waiting on the restults of one last part so not completely out of the woods yet), but I think it is safe to say I am graduating----wooohooo, moving home to be with my love (my husband) and moving into a new house----which means look out decorating here I come!!!  And as a gift for passing boards and saving the 1,000.00 it costs to re-take them my husband simply insisted that I buy myself a celebration gift----another part of my blog post-things to come-----because look out I got my dream machine and that means LOTS of crafting to come!

Ahhhh I feel a little heart flutter just looking at this amazing cutter!

And the funny thing is that I didn't realize until it arrived that it might not have worked with my mac---woo that was a close call! 

I also treated myself to some cute fabrics from fabric.com----I have SOOO SOOO many projects I am getting ready to start!

And finally for my fun crafty project to come---as in as SOON as I have a free second--I am going to up-cycle these beautiful (hahah-but so not my style) clearance plaques I found at home good for $3.00 each---I am SUPER excited!  So stay tuned, there are great things to come.

Mexico

After about 5 long weeks of studying, 3 longgg days of tests, and 3 even longer weeks of being away from Caleb we are SO blessed to be able to spend an entire week together in Mexico.  Playa Del Carmen  here we come!  Warm weather, no studying and my husband 24/7 sounds like a dream to me!  Cal and I have not been able to spend very much one on one time together so this is going to be AMAZING and REFRESHING and perhaps a bit depressing when its over....but I am going to enjoy every single little moment we have together and focus on graduation in about 75 days from now, not that I am counting!  

To celebrate my last spring break and my trip, here are some vintage Cal and Jaime pictures from many moons ago (in Mexico)....you know the funny thing is I am still just as crazy about that guy as I was in these pictures from our younger years....  I am beyond blessed.

Have a wonderful week and I will be excited to get crafty when I get home (I have 3 projects waiting for my return and about 200 more on a list to do as soon as humanly possible!)

I need a little reminder

I am feeling like I need a little reminder today, to keep my head up, to focus on my goals, to work hard and to KNOW it is going to be worth all this final work that is going into graduating!  Lets just say in my final five days of studying for my 3 day computerized board exams----I have become a bit stressed/crazy/sleep deprived/stressed/sick of studying/stressed---did I say that?!  I feel like this Sunday before my exam week I am going to need to play eye of the tiger and eat spaghetti (that's what you do if you are running a marathon right?!) and instead of cool stretches I will just flex and rotate my wrist for a few hours so I am ready for all of my mouse clicking the 3 days are going to require....but really, if you could just pray that in these next few days my brain doesn't explode, that I don't freak out on any of my crazy stressed classmates, my crazy dog Quinny, or my amazingly sweet but-far-away husband that would be GREAT!

And for my final reminder and inspiration for the night:

A party for Tessa!

This post is only a couple weekends overdue, but this is proof that I HAVE in fact been spending MOST of my extra time studying as of late....SUCESS!!  But really who can study on a Saturday night?  even if it is only one week from my exam...  apparently NOT this girl!

A couple of weekends ago I got to host a engagement party for one of my best friends---Tessa (or T Root as I like to call her).  I do not think I could have a better friend to celebrate, I LOVED every moment of preparation and celebration for Tessa.  It was so fun to have all of her Michigan friends out to my little lake house and it was fun to see how much they care about Tessa!

Here are the few pictures I managed to take during the party...I am guilty of capturing no part of the feast that we had, or the toasts that were said...buttt don't fear I captures a few obstructed friend shots AND some AMAZING moments of wine influenced Just Dance!

(Those of you who are astute may have noticed that you don't see remotes in the girls hands...you might be wondering if that is because we at the little lake house have upgraded our video game situation to be hands free....ahhh hahaha but nooo we are not that cool, it is just that after a glass of wine you may not want to wait your turn to dance so you just go ahead and dance without a remote.)

Until next time (which may very well be after my exam) I will be dreaming of wonderful girls nights and memories with friends.