ipod touch case

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Bryan’s 60gb classic ipod broke a while back and after some saving up and some christmas money, he decided to purchase a 64gb ipod touch. we found out that classic ipods have moving parts in them and that those parts can wear down-thus the ipod breaking. the ipod touch doesn’t have moving parts, so our idea was that this ipod could potentially last a long long time.

i hope i never say “ipod” that many times again. sorry.

the only thing that can be a bit fragile is the screen. so, in light of the fact that bryan will be carrying this new toy around with him everywhere he goes, i thought i’d whip up a case for him to carry it in.

i just used some scrap fabric and batting i had and measured it against the ipod. each piece was about 5″x14″

i got this iron-on set for Christmas and bryan found the awesome chemistry-set-cooking-up-music thing you see above. it’s not as vibrant as i hoped, but still has a cool effect!

2011 Tools [Menu Planner]

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I recently “splurged” on myself with a one year subscription to real simple magazine. [ok, so it wasn’t really a splurge considering I ordered it on Amazon.com for $10 which I paid for with free giftcards from swagbucks.]

anyway…

I received the issue for january a while back and it contained the above page in it. When I saw it, I thought, this is my kind-of menu planner. [you can download the pdf here]

no more forgetting that one ingredient.

no more prancing around the different sections of the grocery store because my list is all jumbled.

no more running out of room on my piece of scratch paper that my list is on.

and on top of that, it’s cute!

2011 Tools [Bible Read Thru Plan]

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Although I didn’t complete this last year, I LOVED this Bible Read-thru plan and will be doing it again this year. Thanks, Paige!

Some things I love about it are:

  • Each month only has 25 reading days, so if you miss a day, you automatically have “catch-up days.” Amazing.
  • You’re in the gospels ALL year. Talk about getting to know Jesus a little better.
  • For some reason it’s that type of reading plan that really make me want to read ahead, which is a good thing!

Enjoy!

PS: Comment if you want me to email the PDF to you!

twentyeleven goals

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some essentially immeasurable goals
be more hilarious.
[by writing intentionally humorous blogs mostly]

be more adventurous.
[by traveling spontaneously at least once this year]

be more creative.
[by having ‘craft time’ once a week]

be more ambitious.
[by starting the rough sketch of my novel idea]

be more shrewd.
[by having products and a business plan for an etsy shop by the end of the year]

some more measurable goals
complete one craft-project a week

blog 3 times a week [156 blogs in 2011]

send birthday cards to everyone in my [immediate] family

have a party of people over once a month

complete a bible read-thru plan [still haven’t accomplished this one in my lifetime]

read 20+ books

make dessert twice a month

make adorable christmas stockings

learn photoshop

drink more water [as opposed to the barely none that i drink now]

[to be continued]

proud to be a homeowner

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I woke up this morning and all I wanted to do was shovel. Shovel my deck, shovel my sidewalk, and shovel my driveway.

For the sake of context, I’ll tell you that I grew up with four brothers. Four brothers that did most if not all of the shoveling growing up. I was required to shovel maybe once every couple years, and when I was required to shovel, I hated it.

So why the sudden change of heart? I don’t know. Call it homeownership, I guess. But it sure was satisfying to be responsible for my own home.

It will probably get old by tomorrow.

ima winker

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in the past few week i’ve realized something about myself.

i’m a winker.

it’s awkward, i know. i don’t even know when i started to do it…it just kind-of…happened. i can’t explain myself. i have no excuse for my actions. if you judge me, i’ll completely understand.

one day, i was making jokes and laughing like a normal person and the next, i was winking. i was working at hyvee and joked about the weather and iowa and i winked. just like that. like i’d been doing it my whole life. when did i become so cliche and charming? when?!

where do i go for support, or rehab or whatever? is it intentional or an uncontrollable eye twitch? is it a learned trait or does it run in my family?

i don’t know, guys, i just don’t know. so many questions, so many fears.

at least i’m not ugly.
*wink*

retroactive birthday blog

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23 things I love about my husband


23 He’s a ginger. [i really want redheaded children] 22 He’s exactly my height, which means we are very hug compatible. 21 He’s very cuddly. He loves being near me, and snuggling me and keeping me warm in the winter. 20 He’s really very silly. He loves being awkward, crazy, and even just a little bit weird. 19 He’s incredibly easy-going. He’s never in a hurry [which drives me nuts sometimes] and he’s always calming me down and giving me perspective. 18 He has a definite cool factor. He is very likable and respectable among the majority of people. 17 He plays the bass guitar like a pro. 16 He can learn pretty much any instrument he desires. 15 He’s really smart, and an even harder worker. I have never had any doubts that he’ll provide for me and our family. 14 When he sets his mind to something, there is no changing it. 13 He’s madly in love me, and sometimes I don’t understand why or how I’m so lucky. 12 He is the most attractive man I’ve ever met, in complete honesty. I’ve never been so attracted to mere physical features. 11 He has incredible taste in music. 10 He always knows what kind-of music I’ll like or what movies I’ll like. 9 He challenges me to depend on God. 8 He loves people, particularly people that are hard to love. [he’d love to hang out with the homeless all day] 7 He has a heart for worship. 6 He’s famous. 5 He is always seeking to go deeper in his relationship with God and to gain more knowledge and wisdom from God’s word. 4 He thinks I’m hilarious and laughs at me all the time. 3 He pursues me and loves me and serves me as Christ pursues, loves and serves the church. 2 He gets excited when we talk about our future children, he’ll be an awesome and super fun dad. 1 He has an incredible God story and he loves God more than me.

alsbury family vacation

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In the middle of October, we were super blessed with a trip to North Carolina to see and enjoy the Senior Alsburys and the Panickers (aka, Bryan’s side of the family). We had SOOOO much fun hanging out in the beautiful Carolina Mountains. These mountains are covered with deciduous (that’s a fancy word that means the leaves change colors in the fall, foo’) trees and we were there at the peak of the fall season. Needless to say, it was breath-taking, especially for this girl who LOVES trees!

Here are some pictures from our trip:

In O’Hare Airport, I experienced a “first”-seeing a dinosaur skeleton! It was of course, fake, but still, I had never seen a life-size dinosaur skeleton so it was exciting. See my excitement?

The next day, I had another first experience, riding in a train!!!! We didn’t actually go anywhere, besides up the mountain and back, but it was awesome! TWO FIRSTS IN ONE TRIP!

The awesome view from the train.

Jobin & Jenni
LisaGrace & Bryan

Bryan loves all animals.

The whole Alsbury Clan!
L to R: LisaGrace, Jenni, Jobin, Bryan, Joyce, Tom

Let not forget about the train museum…yes, TRAIN MUSEUM!!!!
This sign is awesome.
Jenni & Jobin terrorizing the town.

And we also went to a mansion. The Biltmore House:

The rest of our vacation included playing the Farming Game (Jobin won, again), driving around in the mountains which consequently included me puking my guts out several times in front of Bryan’s family, went to a Cherokee Indian Reservation Museum (which was awesome), and had some family pictures taken!

It was so much fun, can’t wait until next year!