Pet Peeves

When people put the toilet paper on the roller so it rolls under instead of over.

The sound of popping gum. Not just like the one big bubble that pops, but the people that make multiple air pockets in their gum and then pop them all in succession. 

Watching hearing someone clip their toenails/fingernails. Not joking, totally makes me gag for some reason.

When men leave the toilet seat up. This just leaves me with an unnecessary amount of toilet touching.

When I go to a restaurant and my drink is empty during the eating portion. Sure, you can make your way over here when I'm just sipping and talking, but when I'm DYING OF THIRST (slightly dramatic) you can't fill up my drink for 15 minutes? Sheesh.

When I an't change the channel on our TV because Garland is recording 13 football games at once.

Work peeve: People who are late for appointments/don't show up for appointments when you called to confirm two hours earlier.

When Garland piles his dirty laundry on the closet floor (they call it a LAUNDRY basket for a reason, honey, and it's because it holds LAUNDRY).

When people come over and put their giant, dripping Slim's/Sonic/Chic-Fil-A cup on my table (that part's not a peeve) and then leave for the night and I have to dump out/throw away the soggy cup.


I know that some of these are pretty strange, but I can't be the only one with weird pet peeves. Anyone else have something that just really drives them crazy?

A Fall Wreath

Okay, I am addicted to making fun wreaths for my front door. It all started with this easy (but time consuming) flower book wreath that you can see here. I have recently been obsessed with yarn wreaths like the ones below: (Down and Out Chic)

So I found some colors of yarn that I liked and here is what I came up with:

I meant to take pictures of the step by step, but I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do at first so I didn't have all my supplies ready at the beginning.
Step 1: Take yarn (in my case cream with sparkles in it) and wrap it around the entire wreath (can be Styrofoam, raffia, etc.) leaving NO SPACE in between. (My wreath is about a foot around in circumference, but you can do a smaller one to save time if needed.)
--If you do leave spaces, you can go back and rewrap just those areas. I did that in about 15 places.
Step 2:  I traced a diamond shape cutout from cardboard onto felt paper (I chose a brown felt with an embossed pattern).
Step 3: Glue diamonds in an argyle pattern on wreath.
Step 4: Take yarn and wrap it around wreath so it makes a criss-cross pattern across the argyle (it was easiest to cross each diamond in one direction and then once they were all crossed go back the other direction to make the criss-cross).
Step 5: I went to Joann's and purchased wooden numbers and an assortment of small fall decor. I tied the decor pieces together with a ribbon and then tied them to the wreath. Then I painted the letters to match the decor pieces and used craft glue to attach them to the wreath.
Step 6: Hang and enjoy!!


The entire project probably took about 2 hours (wrapping the wreath was about 1:15 of that, a smaller wreath would take much less time). Plus it was pretty much idiot proof because any mistakes you made with the yarn you just cover with more yarn!

A Quick Rant

It is almost 2012, right? 


1) How can anyone still be smoking when you know how bad it is for you? (I understand that it's addictive, but there are also tons of ways to stop if you actually want to do it).
        1A) Who smokes outside of a pregnancy center? Isn't that pretty much a standard no? Smoking+pregnant women=possible fetal deformity, this is not new information.
        1B) When people smoke outside my door and then come inside to sit in the waiting room it makes me grumpy. I'm not telling you that you can't smoke, I'm just saying that I don't want to be involved in it, ESPECIALLY the smelling part. I didn't even smoke the cigarette, so WHY WOULD I WANT TO SMELL LIKE I DID? (Luckily I have my favorite Mulled Apple Cider candle on hand to help combat the smell a little)


2) Why would you ever sit in a medical office while waiting to be seen and have a burping contest? Disgusting. Do you really think you're the only person who's here or just the only one that matters?


3) STOP YELLING. You are inside. You are about to see a doctor. You are not having an emergency you are just being annoying.


Sigh. I (lovingly) serve some really oblivious people.

30 Day Encouragement Challenge

I recently read a post about a 30-Day Challenge for wives to encourage their husbands. It didn't really sound like there was much to it so I hadn't thought much about it. However, once I dug in a little deeper I realized that a) this is something I would like to do more and b) this is definitely something I can improve on. I am a words of affirmation kind of girl, so encouraging people through words is something I like. Since Garland doesn't really excel at words of affirmation (he tries, he really does, it just never crosses his mind that he should say sweet things), I think this could also help him to grow in this love language just by seeing how I do it.


So here's how it works: For 30 days:
-You can't say anything negative about your husband...to your husband... or to anyone else about your husband.
-Say something that you admire or appreciate about your husband...to your husband...and to someone else, about your husband.


I hate to admit this but my first thought was, "Do I have 30 days worth of original compliments to give Garland?" Sad maybe, but true. However, if you go to this link (Revive Our Hearts), you can find a PDF document which gives you scripture and ideas for encouragement for each day. There were things I had thought of (thanking him for being a handy man, leading our marriage, etc.) and things I hadn't thought of (thanking him for being wise fiscally, turning from the temptation of lust, his specific spiritual strengths). 


Garland and I are also a very sarcastic and silly couple. We love to tease each other, it's one of the main ways we flirt with each other (hehe). However, I can totally see how sometimes to the outside world this could be taken as us not building each other up, so for 30 days I'm going to try and not make fun of my sweet husband at all! This may be very (VERY) difficult as he provides some great material (just sayin).


Last but not least, I love that they include in the challenge that you may fail a day or two! It makes my heart happy that grace is prevalent even in something like this. So if I slip up, it's okay! I can start again the next day and hope to do better.