So What I'm still a Rock star.....just kidding.. link up much?

Well my Wednesday would not be complete without watching or talking about the Geico commercial at LEAST once today....sooooo:

Guess. What. Day . It .Is!?!?!   Hummmmpppppp Daaaaaaeeey!

Moving on, I decided that today I would do a link up because well I had a long day and I am struggling with what to come up with...so what better way to do a post than a "so what" link up with Life after I Dew.


So what if......

• I had m&m's in my popcorn tonight
• I was completely engrossed in a teenage girl show....yeah I totally watched Pretty Little Liars last night...and all I can say is Mind.....Blown
• I haven't had my hair cut in months and its a tad dry
• I will be 27 a week from tomorrow and I am planning my own birthday party.....I love myself what?! Doesn't errrybody throw themselves a party?....or at least buy yourself a gift?....yeah I do that too!
• I haven't made dinner once this week- livin on leftovers people!

             *****Side note...I thawed out what I thought was Enchilada meat mix...turns out it was chilli....put it on a salad....pretty gosh darn tastey! (my chilli is veryyyyyy thick)

• I have to drive the big man truck for a few months until I can get a car....know anyone looking for a fixer up car? send em my way! ;)
• and finally I am absolutely LOVING this link up! Try it....say so what to a few things this week....its AMAZEBALLS!

And remember be as happy as a camel on Hump DAEEEEYYY and life will treat you well!

Bridesmaid boxes- tutorial

Well since my bridesmaids all know who they are and have all received their boxes....I thought now would be a good time to do a tutorial on them! :)

It was a longer process than I had thought it would be, but the end results were so much better than I had envisioned!

Thanks to the help of my future MIL, I was able to finish it in 2 days! :)

So first off I went to Joann Fabric and bought 7 fun little boxes, and let me tell you I was in that store for an hour trying to find all the fun things I wanted to add :).

I picked out the paint bought some brushes and a few other things and I finally had enough to get started on the boxes.

I had already ordered the trinkets to put in the boxes and they had all arrived. ( I may or may not have ordered an extra of each for myself.)

I found this idea of doing boxes on Pinterest. I absolutely fell in love with the idea.  I am all about unique ideas and this hit home for me!

So the boxes took 3days to finish.

Here are the materials needed:

1 box per bridesmaid/jr bridesmaid
Ribbon of choice
2 paint colors ( I used two of my colors for the wedding)
paint brushes
hot glue
little mini bottles with corks
initial of each bridesmaid/jr. bridesmaid
Cricket with Vinyl
glitter
card stock (2 different colors- same colors as paint for me)
Glue stick
calligraphy pens
Trinkets to add in to box
tissue paper

Night one was spent painting the boxes in preparation for the next night!

Night two was a longer process than I had anticipated.

We made the letters with the cricket and the vinyl stuck perfectly to the wooden boxes.

On the outside of the box I had "Would you be my" and then on the inside of the lid I had "bridesmaid, jr. bridesmaid, or Maid of Honor".

We made bows for the lids and hot glued them on

Used Christmas ornament thread and glued it to the back so the letter could hang.

Added glitter to the mini cork bottles and used the same thread as the letters to hang them from the bows.

Once the boxes were finished, I added tissue paper to the bottom and added the trinkets:

Each girl got:
      *gray nail polish
      *a glittered heart shape compact mirror
      *a "knot" ring
      *and a mini bottle of wine

In each box I added a full list of each girls information (phone number, address and email)

I also included a poem detailing each item as well as a letter to each one handwritten:

The knot ring is my fave and I hope to have a special photo taken day of the wedding!

This was such a fun thing to do for the bridesmaids and I can't wait for them to see what's in store for the day of the wedding!! :)

I am so thankful to have such wonderful women in my life who support me and my future hubs!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and I can't wait to bring you more after the wedding is over :)

New job +car accident = MIA Cowboybootsandanapron, but have no fear I'm backkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!

Well I feel like I have been a victim from one of the 800 missing shows.

Seriously I did NOT forget about all of my faithful readers.  I have been slightly MIA....ok SUPER MIA....I hope y'all weren't too sad ;)

In fact I am pretty sure your lives went on as per usual...while mine has seemed to take a 180.

I have a LOT of filling in to do....lets start with what completely took me off course.

I finished up at my old job and then had some time off before I started at my new job.

I know what you are thinking...."luckkkkkky"....well yes and NO....I being the good friend I am went to help my bff with her classroom (she's the cutest teacher EVAA)...ps...I LOVE doing crafty things so I helped with these two little fancies ( the popcorn bucket and the grass are the only things I actually made...the other stuff I staged! :))

I was there ALL day...and had a blast..but it was around 11pm when I left...lol...who cares though I didn't have to get up early....well when I was a block from my house...I got rear ended...not so cool.

I am not going to go into details..but I am ok...I just have severe whiplash.

Honestly not even that big of a deal minus the pain and inconvenience.....insert sarcasm.

I realize there are people way worse off than I am but it completely de-railed me...:(

I am completely to blame for this...I was instructed no running...(tear)...I was permitted to do light walking (based on pain)....well guess what I have NOT done shit!

I had fallen back into old habits...and when I say old..I MEAN habits I haven't done in like 3 years.

I may not be the weight I want but I also haven't gained more than my heaviest ever....not saying a lot but for the last year I have done well with being mindful of what I am putting into my mouth.

However 2 weeks ago I gave all of that up and ate whatever the hell I wanted. I had desserts ( very out of character), processed cheese dip, pizza multiple times in a week, fast food....I could feel myself on a downward spiral of no return.

However I caught myself and when I got on the scale I wanted to throat punch MYSELF!

Why did I let my emotions control me? Why couldn't I eat well without the working out?

Had I lost all faith in myself?....Was I really that dependent on working out to keep myself on track? (In case you are wondering the answer to that is NO!)

I had however let myself fall into the self pity trap.

My back hurt, my neck was sore...so why not eat comfort aka SHIT foods.  I mean really what could it hurt.....well it hurt myself....mainly my pride.

I am angry with myself more than anything. I was the one who let go of the control.

Well I have regained a morsel of control. I started my new job 2 weeks ago and I am loving it.

Its completely different than what I am used to but my nights are open as are my weekends which I LOVE!

I have centered back to the basics.

Counting Calories.

Reading Labels.

and Being Mindful of foods and why I am eating.

I want so badly to be the vision in my dress on the day of my wedding that I see in my head now.

Will I make it in time? Who knows but I am damn sure going to try.

Here are a few things I did to make my life a little easier for making good choices:



The fridge is probably my favorite....I bought organizing containers and now my fridge is very inviting to healthy choices!

This is helping me make good choices because I remember how it feels to feel pretty and not worry about how I look to others in something..I felt the best I have felt in a long time on this day!

This may not be an obvious choice for healthy options but I canned these myself so I know exactly what is in the salsa and how the banana peppers are canned and I can't wait to use them on salads and sandwiches!

As for this little blog, I have truly missed writing.  I let it go for awhile A. because I couldn't sit in a chair for a week and a half, and B. because my life was so jumbled with the new job and losing control that I needed a breather.

I am still working on a schedule to make myself more regular at this but if it means writing 4 posts on a Sunday to post during the week than I will make it work!  I do know that my exercise....whenever I get released (hopefully soon) will be my top priority.

I have been pretty bummed that I have had to miss out on races I had planned.  I am still going to try and make my 12 races done.  I know its possible if I am released in the next few weeks but I don't know how realistic that is.

I hope this didn't come out as too "negative Nancy and more just a fill in on where I have been!  I promise that I will be posting recipes soon!

Recipes to come:

Canned Salsa
Canned Stewed Tomatoes
Tortilla roll ups (skinny)
Stuffed Banana Peppers( hopefully)

I promise it won't be another 5000 weeks before I write again! Is anyone else as excited as I am for Fall? Soups, football, hoodies and bonfires? Its like that time of year was made just for me! :)