When You Get Married, Things Change

I've always liked baking, but I haven't always like cooking. I haven't always wanted to sew everything I could. I haven't always wanted to make my home decor, rather than buying it. Something just changed when I got married. Here's some of the recent projects.

These were so yummy! I got the recipe from Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade magazine. I got a subscription for Christmas and am so happy with it. I baked the cookies too long, so they were a little too crispy, but they still tasted good.

These were my first experiment with cake balls. They're supposed to be owls. They weren't as magically adorable as I hoped they would be, but they're still cute. My next batch will be out of this world!

Well...this was a big mistake. I didn't mean for this to be a pre-natal elephant. Turns out that the direction of the head is very important. I did fix my error, I just don't have a picture of it yet. For now, you all can just see the elephant in his earliest stage of life (before we cut the umbilical cord). (This pattern came from Indygo Junction).


These are my favorite project. They turned out so well! I haven't spray painted them yet, but when I do, they will look like wrought-iron. I got this idea from Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom blog. You should check it out.

This was a Valentine's decoration, but I like on my piano as a permanent decoration. I can't remember where I got the idea. Google it.

I got this pattern from Heather Bailey. She has the most adorable stuff on her site. Her fabrics are to die for. If you don't start drooling, there's something wrong with you.

Whose Idea was That?

Would it have been so bad to give them necks? The whole floating thing is not a practical marketing tactic.

I Love Gary

This post is more for me than for anyone else to read. So if you don't want to read something sappy, then don't. But if you do, read away.

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband. He is so sweet to me. I love all of his quirks and details. I love how when he's offering sympathy instead of saying "Poor Natalie," he says "You're so poor." I love how he never leaves the house without a kiss and an "i love you." I love how he shuffles his feet when he bowls. I love how he always shows me cute pictures of baby animals on National Geographic. I love how we both like watching weird shows on Animal Planet. I love how much he loves popcorn. I love how willing he is to help when someone needs it. I love when he wears his climbing gear and helmet...oh baby! I love when he is always so appreciative when I make dinner. I love how supportive he is of my goals. I love how much he loves his family. I love that he married me 9 months, 8 days, 4 hours and 51 minutes ago. I love that we're still in love.

I confess...

I am addicted to blog surfing. I spend hours looking at craft blogs in awe over the amazing transformations and creations these women can make. They inspire me. While the products of these inspirations are generally small and a littly silly, I enjoy them. Here's the newest:



Sorry for the crappy picture. I took it by the light of my headlight just seconds before I gave it away. I just wanted to document it.

Here's what I want to make next:

Isn't that the cutest thing you've ever seen? I think I want to make some for my friend Emma who is in the MTC.

While I'm blogging, I want to brag. I made chocolate chip cookies last night for our Relief Society dinner tonight. Usually I eat a quarter of the dough while making it. I'm a snitcher. But last night I did not take one bite of the dough! Not one! I did eat 3 of the cookies after they were baked, but I earned one of them by doing 50 jumping jacks and 20 crunches before I did (and I made the cookies smaller than usual). I know I can hardly call 3 cookies part of a diet, but I really am trying to eat healthier. So I have a plan: I really need new jeans. By really I mean I patched a gaping hole in them last week. So to motivate myself to cut back, I told myself I can't buy new jeans until I slim down a few pounds. Gary is in on this too. My current jeans are really bad and getting worse. I really don't like wearing crappy jeans. So, as you can guess, my plan is working. :)