What I Did Today

Hi, I'm Caitlin and I am a Craftaholic.

Seriously, all those craft blogs out there are so addicting. Ryan laughs at me but he told me last night that he's so excited for the day I get to be a stay-at-home-mom because he knows that I will just love it, and I will! As much as I've been lonely without him, I finally have time for the things I love. The sad part is - until this week, I'd forgotten I love it so much! My fabulous mother taught me all sorts of skills when I was 8-14ish but then high school hit, then college and that was the end of that. But watch out world, I'm back!

After looking through all the blogs and looking around my apartment, I decided it needed some personal touches. So I made and put these up in the kitchen:

I bought the frames at the dollar store and spray painted white. Then I put blue cardstock with a lace overlay and glued either a flower or a fruit to each. They're just so happy looking, I love them!

As I was studying "Preach My Gospel" I came across this quote and knew I wanted it in our home. I painted the canvas (Thanks, Joanna!) and then just wrote it on with permanent marker. Not super complicated or skillful, but it's just stinkin' cute, isn't it?

Lastly, we need pillows. Everyone needs pillows! I made the yellow slipcover today and bought the four pillows on the right from Ross (cheaper than buying pillow forms). I think I'm going to leave the red, maybe the orange and maybe even the floral tan (if you can see it in the middle). The other two are going to be BRIGHT and FUN.
Maybe one of these:

I'm just in heaven.

Oh, and I have another job interview next week.

Oh, and I really need someone to make a baby blanket for. I found some irresistible patterns. Any volunteers?

Week One: DONE

Well, almost done. And thank heavens. Though sadly, with Ryan in school, weekends won't even be for fun anymore. I totally feel for all of those in professional school or their spouses, it's rough! Here was Ryan's schedule for the week:

• 6:00/6:30 a.m. Wake up
• 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Class
• 5:30-6:30/7:00ish Dinner (and our only time together)
• 7:00ish-11:00ish Read
• 11:00ish/Midnightish Bed
  

We did manage to fit in an hour at the gym together, an episode of Wipe Out, an episode of Chuck and an outdoor movie in the Duke Gardens. And me? I've done all sorts of housewife things. I feel old! This week I:

• Sewed another skirt
• Bought fabric and supplies for another skirt and a dress
• Had a job interview
  
• Worked out A LOT
• Got sick because I worked out so much
• Planned the meals for the week
• Went grocery shopping
• Baked cookies
• Watched tutorials for Adobe InDesign so I can start making our wedding album
  
• And laid out by the pool.

We are both completely out of our element here! I'm going to go pretty crazy soon if I don't find a job and Ryan is going to collapse if he doesn't get more sleep. That poor boy has trouble staying awake through 3 hours of church - let alone 8 hours of class. But, he has yet to resort to his back up plan (5-hour energy). He did drink his old friend Red Bull last night but sadly, it has no effect on him anymore. And to top it all off, we woke up to this:


On a lighter note, I've officially begun searching the internet. Minus facebook, email, and chatting online, I've never been one to just play around on the internet for hours. But with all my spare time, I've found myself wasting away hours just looking at beautiful things from places such as these:

http://vol25.typepad.com/vol25/
http://ohsobeautifulpaper.com/
http://loveactually-blog.blogspot.com/
http://divine-domesticity.blogspot.com/
http://smittenkitchen.com/
http://www.desiretoinspire.net/
http://greenweddingshoes.com/

Also, I want a puppy. And sometimes a baby. But we'll wait on both. :)

A warm welcome

Real life has started. Well for one of us, at least. Ryan had orientation last week and is loving it. He is such a social butterfly and with 70 new classmates to meet, he's in heaven. I guess reality set in a bit for me, too. But I can endure it while still in my pajamas. :) I started the job hunt last week and to be honest, it's going better than I thought. Nothing is posted online so I'm having to "cold call" companies to see if they're hiring. I called about 20 companies and after leaving voicemail after voicemail, I've now sent in four resumes to places that seem like they might actually have a position open. Crossing my fingers and saying a few prayers!

On Friday I took Ryan to the airport for our first day apart since being married! Don't worry, no tears were shed. He took off to go to Idaho Falls for his best friend, Tyson Thomas's wedding. On Friday night I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself. But I kept busy on Saturday by sewing a new skirt! It still takes much longer than I expect, but I'll get better with practice. I also went running both days and am kicking my butt into gear while I'm unemployed. We have some ridiculously hardcore workout videos that I'm going to start this week - I hurt just thinking about it! By Sunday I was definitely ready for Ryan to come home. We used to do cute things for each other all the time when we dated but that somehow disappeared after marriage. So I prepared a cute little indoor picnic for us to enjoy once I brought him back from the airport. I even had the TV set up so we could be in a field watching deer, sitting by the ocean, or in a rain forest. :)Ryan's "real" first day of school!

Welcome to the South!

On Tuesday Ryan and I headed to the Outer Banks of NC which is a 200-mile strip of islands along the coast and full of long beaches, tons of American history, and tourist attractions. Little did we know, the journey there would be an adventure all its own! First, we pulled over for boiled peanuts - apparently a Southern tradition. The peanuts we purchased were still warm, then you suck some of the salty water out so it doesn't drip when you crack it open. When you bite into the nut itself, it's soft! A little odd, but a fun, new experience!

Then, right next to Mackey's Ferry Peanuts was Mackey's Firearms.
Something for everyone, I guess.

Next on our journey - another Southern tradition - a Piggly Wiggly!


Being from NE, I thought I was used to seeing farm equipment on the road.
However, neither of us had ever seen anything like this!


Oh, and these billboards were all along our drive. Where did you get your crabs?


Finally, we made it to Roanoke Island - England's first settlement in America. However, there's not much there because after trying to settle it twice, the colony disappeared and remains a mystery today.


We had lunch at Big Al's Diner where they had the largest (and I guess only) Coca-Cola collection I'd ever seen! However impressive it was, we were disappointed in their tip calculating skills...


Our next stop was all 268 steps up the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse - the tallest in the Nation.
With a heat index of 103, they even had a little refreshment for man's best friend.


Then, off we went to the Wright Brothers Memorial.


While it was still daylight we set up camp just on the other side of these dunes.



And finally ended the day at the East Coast's largest sand dunes.


After a night of crazy winds and a freak storm (it was NOT supposed to rain) the adventure began again when we saw this in our mirrors. Now, family of mine, this is a van just like the Beast (for everyone else, that's a 15 passenger). However, it had a wicked paint job, a lift, and rims like nobody's business!!


I think they stopped by Digger's Dungeon - home of one of America's most famous monster trucks!!!
Seriously, you find some of the oddest things driving through North Carolina!


Our last stop on our crazy journey was Virginia Beach. It is very different than the other beaches we've been to. Virginia Beach is more of a resort town and was PACKED. So maybe it doesn't look packed in this picture, but it was closer to the water and for as far as we could see. However, we still had a really good time!


And it provided us with one last surprise - a shark! While I was napping, the lifeguard was called into the water for a rescue. BUT, it was not as exciting as it sounds, the shark was dead - so straight into the trash it went!


When we got home, our wedding pictures had arrived! What a wonderful way to celebrate our now two months of marriage. Everyone here is somehow very surprised at just how recently we've been married. Maybe we already act like an old married couple, sad days... It's really gonna stink when Ryan starts school on Tuesday and the honeymoon is finally over!

New Additions

This has been another week in the apartment - no grand adventures to report, here! But we did have some exciting additions to the apartment and our lives:

1. I had my first painting experiences as we rid ourselves of the wallpaper in the kitchen.
2. Our legit North Carolina drivers licenses came in the mail to replace our 20-day paper copies. I'm now officially a North Carolinan and a Sweeney!
3. We put up Ryan's Brazilian hammock on our back porch and it ROCKS. No pictures yet, but take my word for it - it's the best addition to our apartment so far!

4. Years ago I bought yards and yards of jersey fabric because it was on sale. This week I found the idea for this skirt here and was so excited to make it because it doesn't require a pattern! I made a skirt before the wedding and it took me two hours just to cut it out. YUCK. I had the freedom on this one to cut it however I pleased and it didn't matter if it wasn't perfect. I LOVE IT! (Minus the fact that when we went to dinner tonight, the guy next to me splashed some of his red pasta sauce on it, I hope it washes out!)

Plastic Bag Organizer

After only two straight seams, threading the elastic, re-threading my bobbin and hand stitching on the handle, I have a simple but effective plastic bag organizer. Thank you, Martha Stewart!