52 Reasons Why I Love You

Hey everyone! I'm just sitting in my waste-of-time-and-$1300-for-5-weeks-class. So why not share with you a gift I had made for Richard for his birthday in November. I had seen this done before, its simply a deck of cards with 52 (the number of cards) reasons why you love whoever you're giving the gift to.

What I did was I took tissue paper from Victoria's Secret, and cut it out so I could glue it to the cards, alternating between 3 colors/designs. I then printed out my reasons, cut them out and pasted them to construction paper. The construction paper then got glued to the card. Then the whole thing was laminated (for a special touch), hole-punched and tied together. So here's a few pictures of the finished product:

Just a few examples. Hope you enjoyed it, and maybe you'll make this for someone you love! (:

CM

Revlon - Black With Envy

So there's been talk about Revlon's recent color, Black With Envy, being a dupe of Chanel's Black Pearl. From comparisons that I've seen (mostly from VampyVarnish), they are similar but there are differences. However, due to the price tag difference of at least $15, I stuck with Revlon's version.

The formula was decent. One of Revlon's better formulas, especially since their new Summer Romantics collection is a streaky, chalky mess (of the colors I've tried so far). So, let's take a look:

Its a pretty blackened charcoal gray with fine silver shimmer throughout.

Here's a better shot of the shimmer.

Sorry for the wrinkly fingers. I've stopped putting lotion on right before I paint my nails, because I stopped using Chip Skip. Its been making my nails peel slightly, and they haven't been the same since.

And just for fun, I added some Nfu Oh #60 (Flakies) on the ring finger. And for once, my camera actually captured the flakies somewhat well.

Look at that rainbow in the bottle. Beautiful.

Enlarge the picture!

That's all for now!

CM

Irrational Fears

A few weeks ago I was reading one of my favorite bloggers, and she did a post on irrational fears. It was a fun post, just to poke fun at those fears that you have that make no sense whatsoever, yet you still have them. I thought I would share some of mine, and if you would like leave a comment with some of yours!

• Putting on shoes that haven't been worn in a while - I'm always afraid that spiders or some kind of disgusting bug will have crawled up into my shoes and will attack me when I put them on. I usually shake my shoes violently until I'm 100% positive that there is nothing in them.
• Looking into the rear view mirror at night time - More specifically, when it is really late and I'm the only car on the road. I'm just afraid that I'll look up and see some scary and creepy face or something in the mirror. Too many horror movies.
• Sleeping with the closet door open - I don't really know why I have this fear. When I'm living at home I have to close my doors and block them with my music stand. If I didn't do it, I couldn't sleep. Its not as bad since I've moved out, but there's something about my room at home that freaks me every once in a while.
• Putting my hands close to drains - Any type. Bathroom sinks, kitchen sinks, toilets, shower drains, pool drains. Any type of drain  you can think of. I guess I'm always afraid that I'll get sucked in, or my fingers will get caught or a big bug will come up from them. I've just never liked it.
• The dark - I used to have to jump into bed once I turned the light off so that my feet would touch the ground as little as possible. Then I realized I should just get a bedside lamp. It has helped a lot. But really, anything to do with the dark scares me.
• Walking over grates in the ground - I'm always afraid that it'll give once I step on it, and I'll fall into this creepy hole with sewage, weird monsters, rats, etc. Ugh.
• Uncovered Windows at Night - I'm always afraid someone is looking in, just planning to break in and get me and my family. I know, ridiculous. Its why all the doors have to be locked all of the time, and why I walk really fast past the back door at night (there are no blinds or curtains on it).
• Sneezing while Driving - I'm afraid that I'll sneeze really hard while I'm going fast and lose control of my car. Scary.

Well, these are just a few of my irrational fears. I know, some are quite ridiculous. But its fun to see who has similar fears. Enjoy!

CM

A New Chapter (Braces Free!)

As all of you are my friends on Facebook, this is no surprise to anyone to announce that Richard and I are engaged. We are very excited to share the news and to begin our lives together. I just want to answer some questions that we've been getting:

• A lot of you have been asking when the wedding will be. We're waiting until he graduates college, so it will be at least two years (which is plenty of time to save up some money!). 
• A lot of you have asked for ring pictures. We are using my mom's engagement ring diamond, and we are just waiting to get it put into a setting, so it'll be soon! 
• How he proposed: it was very casual on the beach. The "real" proposal will come when the ring is all set and ready, so that remains a surprise to me. He won't tell me (and most of you know that I hate surprises). 

The planning and all of that won't take place for quite a while. We'll both be ridiculously busy, plus we have plenty of time to start in on that. All we know is that it will be on the beach (come on, not a surprise, right?). And I'll do a post of a before and after for the ring, that'll be a fun post.

On to the next topic: braces.

Obviously, I got braces last April, and just got them off yesterday. A lot of you don't know why I got braces though, as my teeth were fairly straight. On the left side of my mouth I had a baby tooth, up until about 2 years ago during the summer. I went to have my wisdom teeth removed on one side, and had the baby tooth pulled as well. The problem was that my permanent tooth was growing way behind my baby tooth and was pushing into my front teeth at an angle. We've known about this since I was around 16 or something like that, but I was extremely stubborn and did not want to get braces. I fought it for the longest time, but finally gave in. 

Once I had the tooth pulled there remained a gaping hole in the side of my smile, as the tooth wasn't coming down and in line correctly. A lot of you know that I was very uncomfortable with everything that involved my mouth: talking, eating, smiling. I would often cover up my left side with my hand when I did anything so nobody would see. I was embarrassed. I always thought people would think less of me when they met me and saw a hillbilly gap in my mouth. That's why I finally gave in to braces. And my orthodontist was great. In just over a year he brought that tooth in line, and straightened out the ones that needed straightening. 

I never took before and after photos. I know that I should have, but like I said, I was embarrassed with my smile. But I've dug through photos and here's what I came up with.

Here you can see the baby tooth - its the tiny one that leaves a visible gap and goes up.

Here's another angle of it, on the right side.

Now the tooth is removed - on the right, the black hole in my mouth.

Tooth is still removed, black gaping hole.

Not a great photo, but its the first few months that I had my braces. The tooth is on the right, if you enlarge the photo you can sort of see the spiral wire they had in my mouth to pull the tooth over.

After a couple of months with my braces.

About a month before they were taken off.

And the finished product. The side that didn't need much help.

And the side that did need help.

I know that I complained constantly, but I am so happy with the final product. And my self-esteem has raised so much, its amazing. So if you ever need to get braces, or get something done with your teeth, my advice to you is to do it. The final result is amazing, and you'll feel great.

Its amazing how genuinely happy I am right now. I don't think I've ever been this happy in my life (but there's been times that were close). I have an amazing fiancé (who brought me milk duds yesterday to celebrate me being able to eat caramel-y, chewy candy!), an amazing smile and a lot to look forward to in my life.

I hope that you all got a sort of happy high off of my excitement and just overall happy mood. I know a lot of people complain about people "bragging" about being engaged, but I think we deserve a post. I constantly listen to people who gloat about their engagements and wedding plans, or people who rub it in other's faces that they have someone. And I have been a victim of this a lot. I'm a listener, and I help people with their problems, or I help people with wedding decisions, and I'm happy to do that. And I'm not the sort of person to rub it in your face that I'm happy. But we all deserve our day, and this post was it. Yes, you'll hear more of it, but not in a snobbish way. So if this offended you in anyway, that was not the intention of this post (and I only say this because I know people like this).

I hope everyone has a great week!

CM

Grilled Banana Splits

They were pretty good. Unfortunately, I don't really like that charred flavor, which is what came across in the chocolate. And the banana didn't get nearly as soft as I thought it would. And we substituted a lot to make it somewhat healthier. Excuse the awful photos, all I had on me was my cell phone.

First, you split the banana and spread melted butter along the top and insides.

Put desired chocolate toppings (and sugar, if needed) on, then grill for 6-8 minutes.

Finish off with ice cream, whipped cream, whatever you choose. This one is Richard's, his was prettier. Chocolate, vanilla pudding, whipped cream and sprinkles. I added a pinch of brown sugar to mine.

Overall, it was pretty good. Not my favorite dessert, but not my most hated. I have a fun post coming up. Irrational Fears. One of my favorite bloggers did that post today, because one of her favorites did. Its always fun to look at what freaks us out for no good reason. I'm on the road to San Diego to see one of my best friends graduate college. (:

CM

Things My Roommate Does

Here's just a fun post. I have documented a few things that my roommate, Nicole, does. Enjoy.

She finishes her tea without putting it in a cup. She saves a dish.

She peels her sunburn. And mine.

She puts her wallet in my purse.

She deposits my checks and takes my money.

She pours beer back into the bottle to save it.

She steals my polish, lays in my doorway and talks crazy talk all the time.

She dyes my hair with new foam dye that looks disgusting.

Love you, Nicole! This post was just for you. I'm going to miss you when I leave. <3

This post will probably grow with more things that my roommate does.

CM

Some new recipes

Tonight, Richard and I decided to try completely new recipes for dinner. There were some pros, some cons, and some delicious food! I've written out the recipes the way that we did them at the bottom (keep in mind cooking times vary if you're not 7,000 feet in the air). If you want to make the sweet potatoes a little healthier (there's not much you can do), then I would use splenda brown sugar, or something along those lines.

• Cumin-Rub Grilled Chicken
• Mashed Sweet Potatoes with bananas and oranges

First up, the chicken. A mixture of cumin, salt and pepper, and then placed on Richard's inside grill. It took about half an hour to fully cook, but it was really moist.

After the cumin rub.

Grilling.

He added Honey BBQ sauce to his (on the right), but I'm not a fan of BBQ sauces/flavors. We both really liked ours though.

The potatoes. Delicious. The original recipe called for chicken stock, salt and pepper. We decided to substitute a few things in for these, it just seemed like the flavors would clash too much. So here's what it was: Sweet potatoes, brown sugar, 1 banana, 1 orange (juice and zest), milk, butter and sour cream. They turned out a little bit too sweet, but some more sour cream helped cancel that out. It was trial and error with the measurements. They complimented the cumin chicken really well though, it was a nice contrast of sweet and savory. 

Boiling

Bananas and butter

Mixing/mashing the final product.

The final product. Looks like baby food, but its so good.

Be sure that you mix the sweet potatoes really well. Richard's tasted a lot like banana and mine tasted a lot like oranges. (We used a large banana and a large orange, you can probably use smaller ones for less prominence of those flavors). 

We enjoyed dinner. I think I did a little bit more, but that's ok. It was fun trying out some new recipes. I found some new favorites. And these sweet potatoes would be great for a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. I hope you decide to try these out! Here's the recipes. (If you want the originals, they're on foodnetwork.com).

Recipes:

Cumin-Rub Chicken

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts (Less or more, based on how many you're feeding)
• 1 tsp cumin powder

Cooking:

• Rinse chicken
• For 2 chicken breasts, use 1 tsp of cumin powder and rub on both sides.
• Cook on a grill until done. Add BBQ sauce, if wanted.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 3 Sweet potatoes
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1/4 cup of sour cream
• 1 sliced banana
• 1 orange, juiced and zested
• Nutmeg

Cooking:

• Peel potatoes and boil until tender. (About 30 minutes in Flagstaff).
• Strain potatoes.
• Add 1/4 stick of butter and 1 sliced banana to the pot, and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add the juice of 1 orange (saving the zest), and cook for 1 minute.
• Add the potatoes, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 1/4 cup of milk and 1/4 cup of sour cream, and mash.
• Remember, this made them really sweet. You can cut down the brown sugar, add more sour cream, etc.
• Once mashed, add as much orange zest and nutmeg until your taste buds are satisfied.
• Mix well.

CM

Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking is something that I love doing, but don't have the time or supplies for at the moment. I have only done 2 scrapbooks in my entire life, 1 was for a previous relationship and 1 was for family. I figured I would share my work that I did on my family scrapbook album. It took several months (I was working on it during school and while being really sick freshman year of college).

*Caution: Very picture heavy!!! Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

The cover.

Pg. 1 

Bryan, me, DJ roller blading and eating (upper left), Family photo (upper center), Family photo 2 (Upper Right), DJ, me, Bryan in matching clothes (center), Me, DJ, Bryan (Bottom Center), DJ, me, Byran (Bottom right).

Pg. 2 Disneyland. 

Dad, me (Bottom Left), me (Top Right), DJ and Bryan (Bottom Right).

Pg. 3 Love and Tradition. 

Bryan, DJ, Dad, me (Top Right), Sara, me (Bottom Left), me, Dad (Bottom Right). My family always got new pajamas on Christmas Eve, its a long running tradition in my family. And when I was little I used to do my dad's hair with clips and barrettes. 

Pg. 4 Journey. 

Me (Left Center), Me, Lauren, Shelby (Bottom Left), me, my mom (Center...in the red shirts).

My cousins and I went to Lake Erie one day and got horribly sunburnt...you'll see that picture later. The picture of my mom and I was taken when we were at Washington, D.C. for the WWII Memorial Opening with BVHS my freshman year of high school.

Pg. 5 Grandpa. 

Me, Grandpa (Left side), Bryan, Shelby, Grandpa, DJ, me, Grandma, Lauren (Top Right).

Pg. 6.

 Bryan, Dad, DJ (Top Left), Bryan, me, Dad, DJ (Bottom Left), DJ, Dad (Right)

Pg. 7 Brothers.

 All family photos of me and my brothers, DJ and Bryan.

Pg. 8. 

Bryan, me (Top left), DJ, me, Bryan (Top Right), Bryan, me (Center), me, Bryan, DJ (Bottom Left), me, DJ, Bryan (Bottom Right).

My brothers and I had a fun childhood. In the bottom right you can see Bryan with his blue hair. And the center picture...we would have super soaker fights all of the time, but I rarely got to use the one I'm holding, due to the size!

Pg. 9 Brothers Pt. 2. 

Again, all pictures of me and my brothers.

The Top Left was our school uniforms for St. John's. The bottom right is them and the cart they would apparently push me in, although I don't recall this at all.

Pg. 10 August Girls. 

me, Lauren, Shelby (Top Right), Sara, me (Bottom left), Lauren, me, Shelby (Bottom Right).

My cousins and I are all born in August, therefore we're the August girls. A lot of the time our birthdays were put together into one big party before everyone moved. Lauren is August 1, I'm august 2, Shelby is August 6 and Sara is August 31.

Pg. 11 Traditions. 

Me, Shelby, Lauren (Left Center), me, Shelby, Lauren (Bottom Left), Shelby, me, Lauren (Top Right), me, Shelby, Lauren (Bottom Right). 

My cousins and I were always put into matching outfits by our parents and it quickly became a cherished tradition. When we got together this past November for the first time in years, we bought matching outfits and had a photo-shoot. These are only a few of our several outfits.

Pg. 12 Fun Times. 

Me, Shelby, Lauren (Top Left), me, Lauren, Shelby (Center), me, Grandma, Sara (Top Right), Lauren, me (Bottom Right).

Pg. 13 Remember. 

Lauren, Shelby, me (Top Left), Lauren, me (center), Lauren, Shelby, me (Bottom Center), Lauren, me (Top Right), Shelby, me, Lauren (Bottom Right).

Remember that sunburn I mentioned earlier? Top Left. Bam. It was painful. This just shows more of our matching outfits. Lauren and I would play in that basket all of the time, and now it houses Bob's (my dog) 2 toys that he refuses to play with.

Pg. 14. Random pictures of me.

Trying on my dad's shoes, playing with the Chinese marbles set that my Grandparents had, always a padres fan, the beach and the swing in our backyard.

Pg. 15.

 Bryan, me, Lauren, Shelby, Jessie (Top Left), me (Bottom Left), Shelby, me, Bryan, Lauren, DJ (Bottom Right).

Birthday parties, Halloween.

Pg. 16. All me.

Tinkerbell (with some embarrassing makeup), M&M, and two pictures of me and my first pet, Feisty. 

Pg. 17 Priceless Memories. 

Bryan, Grandpa, Dad, me, Mom, DJ (Top Left), me, Bryan, DJ (Bottom Left), Lauren, Sara, me, Shelby, Julie, Bryan, DJ, Jamie, Jennifer (Bottom Right).

That sign we're holding says R.I.P. Slipper. Slipper was our turtle that got eaten by a cat pretty much, so we had a funeral for him. We were laughing the whole time, but my mom told us to "Look sad" for the picture. And the staircase in my backyard, all of the cousins together.

Pg. 18 High School Graduation

Senior photo, Graduation photos, Graduation invitation.

Pg. 19 Music is Life

Top picture is BVHS a few years before me, two pictures are my drum major auditions, then Bryan hugging me while I cried after them. The next picture is me leading the band, and then the professional picture. 

Pg. 20 Mt. Carmel

Entire band photo, my professional photo, and a photo of my Mom when she was in middle school. As most of you know, I changed schools my senior year from BVHS to MCHS for reasons that I won't go into. It was the best decision of my life. I made so many amazing friends there, and had an amazing opportunity and experience with the music program.

Well, there you have it. I think I decided to do a family scrapbook to try to hold in the memories from when my family was all together, with all of my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. And when my parents were still together. We all live apart now: Ohio, Colorado, Montana, California, Florida and Arizona. I think this was a desperate project that I did when I did not understand why my parents had split up, or when I did not understand why everyone moved away. I'd like to think that as I've grown these past four years I have a better grasp on understanding everything. And I still love looking at all of the memories of my childhood with my family.

I think I'll start to work on a college one, seeing how these days are quickly coming to an end. I just need to find the time and money to do so. 

CM