So this weekend we celebrated one month in Texas! It's hard to believe it's been one month. We are getting adjusted. Here's an update about us after one month.

• Zoe started school last week. She is going to public school, but she wears uniforms, which is awesome! After a little uncertainty on her part, they are turning out to be a non-issue. I can't get over how adorable she looks in them! 

Source

We have officially been in Texas one week and I wanted to document my thoughts and feelings thus far.

• I knew it would be different from living in Idaho, but the concentration of people and buildings is something I'm struggling to get used to. Driving into Fort Worth, my anxiety was super high, there were just so many people, I'm not quite used to it yet.
• It is not nearly as hot as I thought it would be. According to the locals, it has been unseasonably cool, ranging in the 80's this first week. I was assured I would be suffering soon.
• The amount of restaurants within 5 miles of here is bound to make me gain 20 lbs. Several of my old favorites like Taco Bueno and Schlotzky's are nearby, and there are a few new ones on our list to try. Also, there is a restaurant where there whole menu is chicken fingers, that's it. I'm thinking these chicken fingers must be magic to sustain an entire restaurant chain.
• I'm so grateful for Google Maps on my iPhone. I use it to get anywhere. I'm hoping someday soon, I'll be able to find Target without it, for now though, it is my best friend. 
• U-turns are the norm here. There are lots of unprotected left hand turns and making u-turns is part of driving around here.
• There is a serious biscuit aisle here. Like serious. Like this isn't even the whole thing. 
  
• People are so friendly. I've missed southern hospitality.  
• I miss Idaho. I didn't think I would miss it so much, but I do. I miss my friends, Zoe's friends, and my routine. I even miss getting to bring Ryan his lunch during the day. But once school starts in a few weeks, I think things will really start to feel normal again.
• So far I haven't picked up an accent. This I'm guessing will not be the case in a few more weeks.

I came up with the project just a few weeks before we were planning to move. Not a great time to start a time intensive project, however, most of it was completed while sitting at the splash park while Zoe played, or on the long drive to California for a wedding reception.

Materials:

• Funnel Cake Digital Stamp from Studio Calico (The template I used was a limited time digital stamp, and is no longer for sale. However, you could use a digital map template and free hand the letters, or watch for the actual digital stamp to be returned, sometimes Studio Calico will put old stamps back on sale for short periods of time.)
• Needle
• 6 colors of embroidery floss.
• 6" embroidery hoop
• flour sack towel
• 12x18 canvas 
• graphite pencil/water soluble pen
• staple or glue gun.

Tracing took about an hour. I did not trace all the fun accents for this project because I wanted to be able to clearly read the states and I was worried about the small spaces. I was right in this assumption and I'm glad I didn't add them, even though they are awesome!

I started stitching with Kansas. I started in the middle so that I could make sure I had a good color spread. Six colors was enough to make sure there were never two colors touching, but it did take some planning. If you are worried, I would add in one or two more colors.

Day 1: Idaho to Utah

Our first day of driving was from Rexburg, ID to my parent's house in Utah. We spent the night and got to say our final goodbyes

Day 2: Utah to Arches National Park

Even though I've been to Utah, probably hundreds of times, I've never explored many of it's natural beauties. We decided to stop at Arches National Park, and we weren't disappointed. The red rocks were amazing and we were so glad we decided to stop.

                       
                       
                                               
We arrived in the late afternoon and took the short hike to the Delicate Arch viewpoint. We were all wearing flip flops, not the footwear I would recommend for hiking, even a short hike like this one, so it took a little longer than usual, but the view was great and we were glad for the few minutes out of the car.

Day 3: Arches to Four Corners to Grand Canyon

Thanks to my dad, we realized on our drive we were just an hour out of the way from visiting Four Corners monument. Four Corners is the place where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah intersect. It's in the middle of nowhere, but it was fun to visit.



Day 4: Arizona to Texas

This was our longest day of driving. Over 12 hours. The only good part of this day was that we finally got word about Ryan's top secret security clearance and he was granted the clearance!


Day 5: Texas to Fort Worth

We woke up really early, mostly out of anxiety about getting to our place, but we made it before noon.

It was a long trip but we definitely made some great memories. I'm glad we decided to make a trip out of it, I think it made most of the days more enjoyable, having something to look forward to.

We are now in Fort Worth and getting moved in before Ryan and I start work next week. It is definitely different than Idaho, and we are working on getting adjusted from small town living to city life. This is a big change for our family, not only in location but also routine. This is the first time in our marriage Ryan will not be in school and we are excited to take advantage of more family time together.

Just over a week ago, Ryan graduated college. It was a fantastic event, we were able to have my parents and grandparents attend, as well as Ryan's brother and his brand new wife.

Across from my desk, this is the view. 

I am one of the lucky ones. I have had the blessing on conceiving and giving birth to a wonderful child.
While in the worldly sense, having Zoe made me a mother, in the spiritual sense,

Ryan is in his last semester. You read that right THE-VERY-LAST-ONE! (Unless he decides to pursue a graduate degree, however I don't think either of us is ready for that) After 7 years of school, part-time and full-time, he will be done. I'm also in school, taking a full course load. Which is way more difficult than last semester, although the course hours are the same.

Ryan and I are both working. He's had some great opportunities to work with some professors on campus and is enjoying that work. I'm still at Melaleuca, although I've reduced my hours, I still somehow end up picking up shifts, so I end up working about as many hours as I was before.

Zoe is almost done with kindergarten. She went on her first field trip and wrote her first book report. She is still growing however the exponential rate seems to have slowed. Only two teeth lost so far. She is loving the warmer weather and can't wait for summer. She has a new found fascination with dandelions and I think we might just have enough in the field behind our house to make a crown soon.

Well folks, that's our update. Not anything super, but our lovely little life. I look forward to the fall when we will be all settled into our new home in Texas and I will have time to put towards the hobbies that fulfill me.

XOXO,
Holly & CO.

As if Zoe didn't already look like she was getting older, here is the proof. She looks WAY older than almost 6 to me. I catch glimpses of how she might look in another six or ten years, and it both makes me smile and want to cry.

She's lost two teeth already (although the new ones have quickly grown in, so she didn't have much of a chance to be toothless) and she's reading like a champ. This age definitely has it's perks.
I finally got a chance to do some scrapbooking. With school and work, my scrapbooking has taken a back seat, but when I do have a few minutes to create, I'm loving that I have these fun milestones to document.


We are getting excited for the summer.
Yesterday it was almost 70°, and we spent hours outside at the park. However, it's supposed to snow tomorrow so our mini heat wave was short lived. Still....we have stocked up on shorts and bathing suits, just waiting to break them out when the time is right.

Finals are coming up soon, and life seems to be bursting at the seams with things on the to-do list, but we are trying to hold it all together for the last 18 weeks of student life!

XOXO,
Holly &Co.

As a gift for my sister, I started the foundations of a baby book for her. Right now it only includes these three pages, but I will passing over the album and supplies for her to complete the rest of it. 

Title Page

It's a little crazy to think that my little sister in now a mother, but becoming a mother is such a special thing. My favorite part about the page is the Cosmo Cricket sticker that says,

My little sister is now a mama! We went down to Utah a couple weeks ago, for Lily's baby blessing. Zoe was in heaven with her tiny little cousin. She spent a lot of time just sitting next to her. Lily was a good sport and even gave us a couple smiles while we were there.

1 Emily McDowell Card - This is the card Ryan is getting for Valentine's day. I bought another card of Emily's too. I love the honest sentiments and her hard lettering and illustration.

2. Godiva strawberry milk chocolate truffles  - These truffles are amazing! I bought them to save for Valentine's Day, they didn't make it more than a few hours in our house.

3. Julep Betty - I got this as a treat for meeting a health goal, and it's such a beautiful glitter nail polish.

4. Lindsay Letters - I have dreams about owning lots of Lindsay Letters canvases, and hopefully one day I will. I having been eyeing this one for a while now. So sweet for Valentine's day, or anytime of the year.

5. Socks - My mom started the tradition long ago of giving us cute socks for Valentine's Day and now I do the same for Zoe. These cute socks will be a big hit with Zoe.

What are your valentine favorites? Anything you are hoping for?

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

I actually used a bunch of items from my stash for this page, and I feel like I'm starting to get better at incorporating things that are in boxes, not just what is on my desk.

I loved using pink in a fall colors page. I typically wouldn't do that, but the pink from the October Afternoon leaf paper was just too pretty not to include. I've been looking at colors schemes a lot lately, not just for scrapbooking but for home coordinating.

This has been a new favorite palette of mine. I'm thinking of doing Zoe's future bathroom in this color scheme.

Photo Credit

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

I really haven't scrapbooked much the last six months.
Not sure why. 
I did a lot of creating and other things, but scrapbooking just kind of fell down the to do list. I use to crank out about a page every day or every other day.

So for the first time in a long time, I'm behind.
I've started pulling out pictures from last fall to work on and the creative flow is starting to come back and it's been really nice. It was also probably because I placed a large order at Paper Issues for some items I've been eyeing for months. 

(If' you've never ordered from Cassie at Paper Issues, I would highly recommend it! She always has coupon codes floating around and her shipping is lightening fast!)

For Zoe's first day of Kindergarten, I was with Ryan in the hospital having his back surgery. My mom was with Zoe for her first day. Before I left, I gave her a 30 second lesson on how to use my SLR camera. I was happy that she was able to be with Zoe and capture these for me.

I took this picture back in November, on Thanksgiving day. It doesn't completely show how tall she is or how grown up she acts. As my sisters and friends continue to have babies, I think how fast the time goes. I'm afraid I'll blink and she'll be in middle school.

Right now she has wiggly teeth and she likes laying in bed listening to music - Really. The baby years are definitely over. But this age is bringing some pretty fun things. She is reading and we are enjoying lots of time at the library because of it. She loves to do crafts and art projects, even photography. I love that I'm getting to share my passions with her.

This page was made with a mish-mash of items from a Studio Calico last call sale and the American Crafts warehouse sale. I'm really trying to use up my stash this year, since we are moving (again) and I don't want to haul everything I've got. I'm discovering some favorite items that had gotten lost in the shuffle, and I'm excited to put them on real pages.

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

While looking for new items for our apartment and future home in Texas, I saw a pillow on Pinterest and thought it was so cute, but then I saw the price tag....$198.00! Yikes. As I looked closer, I noticed the fabrics were linen and my quest to make my own {less expensive} version began.

I settled on some linen from Robert Kaufman, I used the colors Natural (background) and Linen (hearts). I ordered 1/2 yard each, and my total was around $8.00. I used an 18" pillow form, I already had, but you can buy pillow forms at most crafts stores for around $5-$10.


Cuts:
Natural Fabric
2 - 18.25" x 18.25" pieces

Linen Fabric
1- 4" x WOF piece
1- 3" x WOF piece
2- 2" x WOF piece


From the Linen strips, hand cut hearts of different sizes. They don't have to be perfect as the edges will get washed.

Sew hearts onto one 18.25" square Natural piece. I looked at the original pillow and then just started stitching. Start in the middle and work your way out, alternating and even overlapping some hearts. Continue to sew hearts until you have about an inch border around the edges that is not covered.


Place both Natural fabric squares RST and sew three edges. Wash and dry cover.

Insert pillow and use a ladder stitch to close the cover and finish the pillow. {great tutorial here}
























Totally worth the savings of about $190! What about you? Are you getting the spring cleaning/redecorating bug yet?

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

This page was so fun to make, adding the pops of color to each frame, and cutting apart the tiny phrases. Rather then add embellishments to the page, which would cover the cut frames, I added them to the photo.

It's that time of year again, when lots of new scrapbooking products are coming out, but instead of looking at buying new items, I'm going to be working on the stash I already have. With moving in a few months, I need to lighten up the amount of stuff we need to move, so be looking for some giveaways, coming soon.

XOXO,
Holly & Co.