My Year in Pictures.

I’m sure there are like hundreds of blogs with a similar title as mine.  Are they as funny and clever as mine though?  Probably more so 😛  But you’re reading mine and not theirs, so I win! Muahahahahaha!

Anywho, here’s my 2011 in pictures.  Enjoy!

New Years Day (after 12am!) January 1, 2011. PS this was an ugly sweater party!

Bourbon Street, NOLA. February, 2011.

Cemetary Tour in NOLA. February 2011.

Drinking from a boot in San Fran! February, 2011.

Muir Woods (?!) Redwood Forest in San Fran. February, 2011.

Full House house with Bai. February, 2011.

Horribly unflattering, but St. Patrick's Day none the less! March 17th, 2011.

April, 2011. The Brain Tumour Spring Sprint. Team Griffiths!

The Royal Wedding at Shoppers! April, 2011.

May, 2011. Kyle's 30th! Whistling Walrus. (with Kirk, Dan, and Drew!)

June, 2011. The Heart and Stroke Big Bike! Yay team I Like Big Bikes! (Yes I realize the bike is empty. I didn't get one with the team this year :()

The girls! (Plus 3 fetuses! (or is it Feti? :P)) Baby Showers galore! June, 2011.

'Lil Henry was born! (1st of the '11 baby boom!) July, 2011.

Collingwood, Ontario. Amy's Bachelorette. July, 2011.

Midyear baseball tournament dance. Team Totally Awesome! July, 2011.

My brother Brendan married Tara! 🙂 August, 2011. (pic courtesy of Jayme Van Geest!)

My friend Amy married her now husband, Bob. August, 2011.

I got to blog for the Western Fair! September, 2011.

My favourite little man Cole was born. September, 2011.

October, 2011. Turkey Cake Pops.

'Lil Abigail was born. October, 2011.

We saw the Rural Alberta Advantage in concert. November, 2011.

We sent out a Christmas card, and sadly said good bye to Foster. December, 2011.

I got my first LTO assignment! December, 2011.

Matt discovered what it feels like to use a Snuggie. December, 2011.

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! 🙂

ERIN

‘Twas a Year of Firsts….

So, I started this blog just over a year ago, and my goal was to blog about making things, or doing things I’ve never done before.  I think I’ve been somewhat successful non?

Let’s look back and see shall we?

• I created this blog. (Sweet!)
• All our wedding stuff was DIY’ed and boy am I glad that is over!  (Though secretly I loved it!) 😛
• I played on a dodgeball team! (AND am going to play again!!)
• Tried Sushi for the first time. (Sooooooooooo good!)
• Traveled to New Orleans and San Francisco.
• Tried a Chip Buddy.  (If you’ve never had it, look it up.  It’s quite tasty, and yet so simple!)
• Completed my first AQ for teaching.
• Created a heck of a lot of Monday Meals! (All were recipes I’ve never tried before!)
• Held an ugly sweater party! (Which I’ve ALWAYS wanted to do!) (Which got real hot real quick)
• Walked in a 10 mile “race“.  (Race is in quotations simply because it’s clear myself, Kathy, and Eileen were not racing.)
• Created my first hair piece for someone! (And I don’t even have pictures…)
• Ate a bug.  Gross.  Does not taste like nothing.  Tastes like gross.
• Drank beer out of a glass boot.
• Got married.  (Definitely something I’ve never done before! :P)
• Took a Bollywood class (then taught the dance to about a hundred kids!)
• Took a Belly dance class.
• Chose the colours for, and painted a whole room by myself.  Nope, never done this before.  Might not be 100% finished yet, but still painted none the less!
• Went to an NKOTB concert! Woot woot! (not to mention BSB too!)

Ummmmm….I feel like I’ve done more, or made more.  It’s actually quite hard to sum up your accomplishments/actions from a whole year.

Oh yes one more for sure…

• I entered and won a blogging contest!  For real!  I am now one of five “real serious bloggers” for this year’s Western Fair!

If you’ve never been, then what are you waiting for?!?

It’s super big, full of super fun rides, super awesome fair food to eat, super neat booths to see,  it’s just super period.  And I get to blog about it!

Needless to say I’m really excited- when I started this blog it was really just to share the fun and crazy things I get up to, or talk about getting up to.  But the more I do it, the more I realize I quite enjoy writing and really enjoy reading people’s reactions to them.  I love seeing that I have an email to tell me that someone has commented -It kind of makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!

Wow that got kinda emosh.

Anywho, I’m super excited about the contest win, and VERY flattered to be chosen!

Here’s to another year of silly projects, new experiences, and hopefully entertained readers! 🙂

PS

For your viewing pleasure, here are some pics from the last year that you might enjoy!

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AAaaaaaaand, she’s back!

Heeeelllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllooooooooooo!?!??!

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllllllo out there!

Do I still have any readers?  If so, you’re probably wondering where the  heck I’ve been for the last like 3 or 4 months!

Well I guess I’ve really been nowhere really.  I haven’t really felt the urge to blog.  It’s sad I know, but sometimes life happens.  I also haven’t really been keeping up with the list of blogs I follow either, which is also very sad.  Summer is usually the time to catch up on things, and to get those to do lists done, but I feel that this year I didn’t really do any of that.  Booo summer of 2011.  Maybe the fall will help me turn over a new leaf, and get down to business.  I certainly hope so!

I have kept myself busy though,  it’s not like I’ve been sitting around watching Peach Tree TV all day…. well at least not every day.  AND I did complete my first AQ (that’s teacher speak fyi, and it means additional qualifications), so I have officially obtained my ESL part 1.  So there!

AND I have pretty much perfected cake pops.  Yeppers, I’ve jumped on the cake pop train, and am just cruising down the track to perfection.  Woot woot!

Hmmmm, what else, what else….

OH- my brother got married which is super exciting, and it was also a diy wedding.   I took a couple pictures with my cellio, and will post them as soon as I get a computer that works with, and not against my phone.  Why can I not upload pictures to my computer like I so often did in the past?  Well my friends, because of robbers.  That’s right robbers.  In July, we had our house broken into while we were both at work, and a bunch of our stuff was taken.  Scary, yes.  Maddening, yes.  Also quite emotional.  I had a lot of trouble sleeping the first night, just thinking about how strangers had been walking around in our house, with our pets, touching our stuff.  Not ok.  Not cool.  Get your own damn stuff.  That (among other things) is what I would like to say to them…

On a good note though, we’re FINALLY getting our insurance settlement this week, so yay stuff back!  We were lucky they didn’t get a ton of stuff, but it was enough to leave us cursing them for sure.  Anywho, this is why there are no original pics on here today- our camera and computer were taken along with all our pics! 😦

Lesson learned though- back everything up!  EVERYTHING.  An external hard drive will also be purchased this week.  Fo sho.

Whew.   So let’s recap shall we?

1.  Erin is now a master at cake pops.

2.  Erin now has her ESL part 1.

3.  Erin does not like robbers.

4.  Back up everything on your computer.  For reals.

Alright, some what shortish post.  Will slowly make my transition back to the ole blog as soon as I possibly can.

(I checked my stats and apparently some of you actually check my blog daily.  That kind of made my heart feel fuzzy.  So thanks Bai and Sandra.  haha, and whoever else is checking!)

Wedding Wednesday- DIY Picture Frame Seating “Chart”

All of these photos are courtesy of Jayme Van Geest.

Hey y’all!

So, I realized that there were still a bunch of DIY projects that I didn’t blog about from the wedding!  Yay!  Soooooooo, this week I will be blogging about our guest seating “chart”.  Chart is in quotations because we didn’t really have a chart.  I knew I wanted something a little different (shocking!), so I really started going crazy googling ideas. 

I ended up at a Flea Market in search of window panes for Sandra’s wedding,  so I took that time to search around for stuff that I could use.  No such luck (though Sandra found her panes!).  That’s when Sandra gave me the idea for frames.  I was already using frames for menus (I had originally wanted chalk boards, but those were too expensive), so why not continue that frame theme for the seating chart?  Great idea.  I ran with it, and made it my own.

Here’s what I did- I got tons of  different colour, and different sized picture frames.  Some I had to purchase, some I took from our house.  (We have a large mismatched picture wall in our living room!)  I tried to stay in the purpley, greeny,  and neutral families.  If you take some time you can find cheap frames everywhere!  Bouclair, Ikea, the dollar store, Homesense….EVERYWHERE!

Anywho, so I have all these frames.

Next, I started typing out the list of guest tables.  I started using all one font, and all one colour, but that was too boring for me.  Soooooooooo I changed everything up!  I changed the font- every frame had a different font, and changed up the font colour- most frames had a different font colour too. 

If I do say so myself, they looked wicked. 

All sorts of frames and fonts.

 

And they weren’t just lined up all neat, and prim and proper.  Why would they be?!  Since they were all different sizes, some were standing up, some were laying down.  Some were in front, some were in back.  I was really impressed with how they turned out.  Sooooo easy, and pretty cheap.  You really just need some good quality paper, and frames.  Oh, a printer might be helpful! 🙂

Voila!  An awesomely unique seating “chart”.

Click here to see more of Jayme’s photos.

Wedding Sunday!

Hey everyone!

So as I mentioned in my last post, I was going through the pics on the camera, and came across a) pics that I don’t remember I took, and b) pics that Matt took of his project for the wedding.  YES!  Matt had a diy project that started out pretty slow, and had us thinking we were definitely going to buy our centrepieces!

Alright, I’ll refresh your memory….. our centrepieces were wheatgrass, with flowers stuck in them.  No we didn’t grow the flowers that seemed to be growing out of them, but Matt, and my mom (and Doug!) grew the wheat grass- 20 centrepieces each!  That may not seem like a lot, but it involved 20 pretty big tray things that they sat on, lots of soil, lots of wheatgrass seed, and lots of patience.

Here’s some of the pics Matt took!

the supplies

pretty proud of his project

3 of the 20 trays

the 20 centrepieces

So that was the start of the centrepieces.

How did they look while growing for over a month in our garage?  Pretty funny.  I mean it’s grass.  It started out all sparse, and we were really really scared we would have to fork out more money.  Matt did an awesome job, watering and looking in on them everyday.  It was cute.

Ohhhh, you meant show you the pictures of them during the month…..

We kind of forgot to take pictures of them. :S

We do however have a couple pics of how they looked during the wedding….quite awesome if I do say so myself!

AND might I add, that my mom (and Doug!)’s looked way better than ours…. I mean Matt did an awesome job, but my mom’s were clearly the winner!  Hers were the ones on most of the tables, and in places where pics might be taken! 😛

there's another good view!

thinking of doing your own wheatgrass centrepieces?  here’s a couple things we (Matt and my mom (and Doug!)) learned:

• squirrels like wheatgrass seeds
• squirrels like to mess stuff up for the fun of it
• squirrels are the devil
• it is very VERY hard to transport these centrepieces- my mom managed to get tons of banana boxes from No Frills, which made it much easier, but you still need a really REALLY large car/truck to get these suckers wherever you want them!

All we did afterwards was buy the flowers to stick in the wheatgrass to make it look like they were growing out of the grass.

Oh- tip for that…get light flowers that are pretty hardy… like online it said to use gerbera daisies, but I will tell you this- they didn’t work.  The actual flower was too heavy, which made the grass and flower droop.  The ones I thought looked and worked the best were carnations!  CARNATIONS!  They’re not just for cheesy bouquets and prom corsages people….they’re cute. I’m trying to bring carnations back a la Carrie Bradshaw.  (I love them!  I also used them as one of our bridesmaid bouquets, and the girls were arguing over who got it!)

Ok, that’s it for now….

I did get a teaser pic from the photographer today.  I’ll share with you all-

photo by Jayme Van Geest * http://www.jvgphotography.com

Can’t wait for the rest!  I’ll post them as soon as I get them!!!!!!!

erin.

PS if you like our pics, check out our photographer!  Super awesome!

sandra and derek’s diy wedding! :)

alright, here is the long awaited wedding i’ve been talking about for like 2 months….. i was too busy getting pictures taken, and doing bridesmaid duties to take photos of the fabulous little details that sandra did, so i waited until lots of pics were posted on facebook….and then i stole them.

hey- what else is facebook good for? 😀

Candy buffet!

mmmm!

table assignments were written on window panes!

which kind of looked like this when set up!

signs like these lined the way to the ceremony

🙂

sandra also printed her own programs which were really pretty, AND did little bags up for the candy buffet which were stamped with a matching flower from her invites!  super cute!  those my friends, i do not have pictures of, but if you’re lucky i will look for them this weekend, and try to scan and post next week!

let me tell you people; speaking from experience, if you are doing it yourself for wedding projects,  michaels and the dollar store will become your new favourite stores.  sandra’s candy buffet pots were from the dollar store…for reals.  and most of the rest of them were from michaels.  i actually looked forward to getting emailed 40% off coupons from michaels every thursday… if you are getting married sign up- they will help you!   i went there so much i’m actually kind of going through michaels’ withdrawl!  i need a new project- perhaps that’s why i’ve started doing home renos!

but that my friends will be another blog entry!

that’s it for now yo.

see y’all on the flip side.  Monday meals for real on Monday.  promise!

blogging=epic fail. wedding=awesome.

we're married!

so, i’m back from an unannounced blogging hiatus.

booya!

the wedding has happened, and it was fabulous!  for real!  i couldn’t have asked for a better night!  except for when the dj lost his source of music, or when the vase shattered during the ceremony, or when you couldn’t hear any of the speeches because of the size of the room…. haha.  even with all of those cons, the pros far outweighed them, and a good time was had by all! 😀  (or so i’ve been told!) (PS all of those “cons” actually helped to make the night better/funnier/more memorable!)

that being said, i am planning on returning to the blogging scene…i’ve got lots of wedding projects that were done, and documented, as well as sandra’s wedding still to be blogged about!  i’ve also got to make a monday meals comeback, which, as i’ve discussed in the past might be changed to “weekly meals”, as i seem to be working every monday for the next 4 weeks.

regardless, it’s back to the blogging grind….as the saying goes, there’s no rest for the wicked.

muah hahahahaahaha.

later gator 😉

thurlow out.

haha just kidding, it’s still flattery for now!

wedding wednesday #4

ah martha stewart.  how have i not tried making one of your wedding ideas yet?  well my friends, the wait is over.  i erin flattery have attempted a martha stewart diy project.

i have wanted to try tissue paper pom poms since i first started creeping wedding blogs.  they’re just so cute!  i’m not sure how you couldn’t like them!  i didn’t really prepare for the craft.  let’s be honest, when am i ever really prepared for stuff?  i have been to michaels 2x this week, and it’s only wednesday!  the only thing i really did make sure i had was tissue paper.  if any of you are trying this at home, make sure you have wire, or whatever it is that is supposed to hold the pom pom together.  i ended up wrapping an elastic band around the middle, and it didn’t work so well.

ok, on with the craft.

first, you take 8 sheets of tissue paper, and you stack them on top of each other.  done.

step 2 and 3

next, you start folding the tissue paper into about an inch sections accordion style.  if you think about it, you’ll get it.

then, when it’s all folded, you can cut the ends into shapes.  ie- i just rounded my edges a la martha stewart’s example.  but i think you could probably cut some neat edges into it which would look pretty great.

next, oh, ok you have to make sure the centre of your tissue paper is already wrapped or secured with wire, ribbon or whatever you’re using.  ok.  now you start pulling each layer up and apart from the middle.  now be careful people!  we are working with friggen tissue paper!  did i rip some pieces off you ask?  yes.  yes i did.  well they didn’t so much rip off, as rip strips into the pom pom, but you know what i mean.

last, attach fishing line, or whatever to hang the pom pom wherever your heart desires!  i did not infact have anything to hang it with, so i just kind of  held it up with my hand.  none the less, i was quite pleased with myself!  i ended up getting lazy, and just used the whole pack of tissue paper (12 sheets) instead of using the 8 like they suggest.  this seems like it wouldn’t make a difference right?  wrong.  i think it would be easier to pull apart with 8.  i think i might also try a small pom pom.  they’re just so pretty!

ta da!

if anyone has a birthday, or special occasion coming up you can bet your bottom dollar there’s going to be a pom pom attached! 🙂

wedding diy project?  not sure yet.  cute?  definitely.

last week i mentioned my friend’s wedding full of diy projects!  i haven’t forgotten about it- they will be posted next wednesday!

wedding wednesday #3

45 days and couting until the big day!

while we’re waiting for it to arrive, i’ve got lots to do.  for starters, i’m in a wedding this weekend, which i am so excited for!  my friend sandra also did lots of diy touches, so i’ll be sure to add pics from her day on here next week.

we’ve also got meetings galore with our vendors to finalize all the little details.  on top of those things, i’ve got all the little diy projects i’ve imagined in my head, but haven’t started. sigh.

i can tell you that we do have 97% of the materials we need to do our centre pieces, which is pretty exciting!  the only thing i am not 100% that we have is soil.  we have the containers, the wheat seed, and that’s it.  and Alisa did start a test plot, so we kind of know what to expect- which is great! 🙂

so that’s exciting!  and that WAS mission #1 if i’m not mistaken, so mission #1 is well on it’s way.  on monday when we’re back in the l.dot we’ll plant a couple to make sure all goes without a hitch.

well folks, it’s 11:03 pm, my head is pounding, and my eyes are straining.  so sadly, this wedding wednesday has come to a close.  hopefully i’ll have a couple big posts next week for y’all.

have a great weekend, and we’ll chat soon!  (well, i’ll chat, and you’ll listen (hopefully!) haha).

good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow!

wedding wednesday #3

ok, here is my finished product for the banner i was making…. i couldn’t show you before because it was for a bachelorette party for one of my bridesmaids sandra- but here it is!  i was quite please if i do say so myself.

the lighting isn't great, but you get the idea!

on to my next project!

so, i was going to blog this week about my table chart, BUT after going to ikea with kathy on sunday (ps never go to ikea on sundays!), kathy found some super neat picture frames that we’re going to use to display our menus.  i’m pretty torn right now about posting a picture of them though- i love blogging about everything, but then people won’t be surprised on october 9th!!!

so, i’m going to take a little poll, for any of you that are reading….

would you rather see all the wedding details on here, or wait until the actual wedding and see it all together?!  that being said, you’re probably wondering what i would blog about if i wasn’t going to show what i’m working on?  i think i would be able to do it without giving everything away… unless you want me to give up all my ideas?! 😛

let me know peeps!

ok, so back to the picture frames.  i love them!  so what i need to do now is decide what colour paper to display the menus on, and how i’m going to get the menus on the paper.  should i get it printed, or write it on myself?  i do have pretty awesome writing if i do say so myself!  haha  i was pretty set on using different patterns and coloured paper for each frame, with the menus printed in black, but i saw a picture of menus done up yesterday, and i think i might just change my mind.  what is the new idea?  i think that’s my little secret.  for now.