Got alot done today. Too bad it wasn't anything that needed to get done.

Well, that's not entirely true. I helped throw a baby shower for a lady I visit teach this morning. Then I went to Goodwill for their 50% off Saturday Sale. It was my first real junk-treasuring experience and I immediately fell in love with boxes. Well, that's not true either. I've always had a thing for boxes I just never have any thing to put in them. So maybe, sometime in the future, when I'm better at these "rescue missions" I'll attempt to redo those boxes and give them as gifts. For now, I started with a mini-easel, a small basket and a white board. I spray painted them all black. I hung the white board but I need to get a small piece of sheet metal to double as a place to put my magnetic dry erase markers and a place to hide some marks that didn't completely come off. I planted our herb garden too. It's just a window box with rosemary, dill, basil and parsley. I did the dishes too and I'm about to fold some laundry before going off to Women's Conference. I guess that counts as something that needs to get done. Really I should have been cleaning the bathroom or my desk or my dining room table... Necessary projects are being pushed aside for the moment - I've been on a roll lately! Oh, yeah. I made my own Modge Podge decoupage paste. I've never decoupaged before so we shall see. Also, I've been looking over some Photoshop techniques that seem really cool. I'm sure you'll see those here at some point. Okay. Must clean up for conference...

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3-month Food Storage

Here's what our food storage looked like when I posted about it in May of 2008.
Here's what it looks like now, almost a year and a half later. Never fear. It's not all contained here. We have water under our bed and behind the closet door. We have #10 cans under the bed and along the wall (all in our bedroom). And we still have bags laying around that still have cans in them. Oh, and we have cans under a table in our bedroom too. AND THIS ISN'T EVEN FINISHED. No! Not even with the food part. And then there's still paper products and personal hygiene... Ugh!
Anyway. Here's the curtain I made to hide as much stuff as possible. I don't have a sewing machine so I used that Heat N Bond stuff.
And with the extra fabric and cork circles, I made some coasters. We needed some. Or maybe my dad could make some... (hint, hint) They could even be lined with cork. I got mine at Michaels.

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Thank You Baby Shower Favors

It may be a little early to post this since the shower isn't until Saturday but I don't think any of those people read my blog and I was just so proud of myself. Not so much of the candy pacifiers but more the actual thank you tag. So simple, but I love it with the little swirls and the elegant script...

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Valentina - 1 year collage

Well she's like a year and a half by now but whatever. Here is the collage I did of pictures of Valentina when we went to Argentina (in May) for her 1-year old birthday. She is so stinkin' cute!!!

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Eating Disorder

Does anyone else suffer from a severe eating disorder commonly know as I've-eaten-too-many-itus? I suffered a severe attack last night and am currently feeling the guilt. It was something I shouldn't have been eating anyway. We don't keep it in the house but I was at the grocery store and I've been getting frustrated lately. So, in my cart it went. As if I were giving up. Is is proven that marriage makes you gain weight? I mean, for the most part I eat healthy and I got to the fitness center 3 times a week. I shouldn't be gaining weight. I was an entire pant size smaller before I got married. What gives?! And now it seems to be distributing itself in ways it never has before and I don't like. If this is another Stout curse then I denounce my heritage and I claim that of say Madonna or Katie Holmes. Is this normal? I'm getting sick of this. Guess I'm starting a food journal again...

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I've been bitten by a craft bug

I want to paint, design, decoupage, bake, decorate, anything and I have no creative outlet for this (let alone space, time and money). Anyone got some simple suggestions or wanna invite me over to craft with them? I'm an excellent helper. In the meantime, here's a baby shower invite I did for a lady I visit teach.
I'm experimenting with digitizing elements (like the ribbon) since I have no ability to draw. Any suggestions? Some people have some cool embellishments and I have no idea how they got them. Maybe there's some amazing website somewhere I don't know about...

I'll make a really good assistant, I promise.

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Louisiana: French Quarter

I finally got to take Diego to Louisiana - to where I grew up. We didn't have a ton of time to spend in New Orleans but we tried to do some fun stuff. This is us by the Mississippi River. We went to a historical cemetery, a voodoo museum, the French Market. We ate a muffuletta, pralines and beignets. I miss beignets.
At Café du Monde eating beignets covered with powdered sugar.
Jackson Square.
Andrew Jackson statue inside of Jackson Square.
Posing with one of the entertainers.
More street performers. These guys were actually on So You Think You Can Dance.
Experimenting with motion and shutter drag.
Us on Bourbon St. with our daiquiris (virgin, of course). It's kinda weird - those tiny little balls of ice. How do they do that?
Diego saw this off a side street. Good eye, babe!
The early crowd and lights on Bourbon St. We didn't last too long that night. Turns out that weekend was Southern Decadence - a celebration of all things homosexual...
We ate beignets again even though I had nowhere to put them in my stomach. Mmmm. Beignets!
Oh, and these are the next morning getting snowballs. Some people call them snow cones or shaved ice but really, they're called snowballs. We tried to get a picture together. That didn't work, so you get us both individually. Such yummy good food. I ate too much. Have you guys ever had Zapps potato chips? You just don't know what you are missin'!

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Louisiana: Voodoo

This is Marie Laveau - the queen of voodoo. One of the things Diego was interested in seeing was some voodoooooo. So we went to see Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo. Now, if you are interested in voodoo you can look that up yourself but here are some fun pictures for you.
An old, dusty voodoo doll - complete with button facial features and bell earrings.
A spooky, scary, in-the-shadows voodoo doll.
Crazy, curly moss hair. It cracks me up!
Many a cigarette offering have been left here. I guess this guy likes Mardi Gras too.
Buck teeth! Do you find these as funny as I do? Is that bad karma, for me to say that?

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Louisiana: St. Louis Cemetary No. 1

So it seems like this trip home was more of a ghosts and goblins version of New Orleans as opposed to "Laissez les bon temps roulez!" The graves in New Orleans are above ground. Being that the city is below sea-level they had a hard time keeping the coffins from floating up to the surface. There are lots of beautiful things in the cemeteries but this one is really old and therefore really creepy. For instance. This is supposed to be a child serenely praying. However, upon closer inspection, she's really quite eerie.
This is "supposed" to be Marie Laveau's grave. The guy at the museum said she'd been moved to one of the "oven" vaults on the side years ago.
I thought all those triple XXX marking were some sort of evil working there but I asked the museum guy and he said they were wishes. You are allowed 3 wishes but that only the ones circled ones were wishes that had been granted (you'll notice that none of them are circled). He continued to comment that people don't wish for things that are appropriate. Kinda like praying, don't ya think?
Anyway. Back to the creepiness. Nothing say "not quite right" like a headless mother with her 2 headless children.
Or this disarmed statue... (ha, ha. did ya get the joke?!)
Looks like I was buried in the cemetery too.
Maybe this is where Marie Laveau is buried.
Okay. Now for some religion. Or, maybe just some pictures that are nice to look at...

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Black Bean Cooking

So you know that I've been on this food storage kick... Well, I found this book called "I Can't Believe It's Food Storage" from everydayfoodstorage.NET and she teaches you how to use your food storage. Among other things, you can you BEANS as a substitute for butter and oil in baked goods! I mean, I've heard of using applesauce but that changes the consistency too much. So I decided to try it. This is so cool! I make these Oatmeal Raisin Cookies with a cup of black beans instead of butter and they were fabulous. And then I went over to my friend Laurie's house and we made a devil's food cake with 1/2 cup of black beans instead of oil. Perfect! And so yummy. I guess in true food storage fashion I should have actually cooked the beans but I'm not there yet. Canned beans will have to do.

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I musta missed this stuff somewhere...

GRANDMA TURNS 91!
I guess getting her 90th birthday would have been more amazing but we missed it last year cause we were in Argentina...
And...
KARLITA COMES TO VISIT!
She was in town for business and what a fun surprised to find her hiding in my kitchen. She asked for my address and said she had to send me something. I guess it was her! YEAH!

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Can Rotator Awesomeness!

I've been searching for some way to organize/rotate our food storage. I know there are expensive metal shelving units available but I don't have that kind of money. Do you? I've walked around a few thrift-type stores and everything I would have to buy required so much "gutting" for which I do not have the tools that I thought I should just make my own. It can't be that hard. Wood, sandpaper, paint and screws, right? Then I came across this amazing idea. It's based off another YouTube post where a lady transformed a dresser but this one I like better and I think I *might* be able to pull it off. I say *might* because I live in a one-bedroom apartment and a screw gun is the extent of my power tools. Oh, and I have never built anything before. Anyone out there wanna help with this? Anyone know how to draw up plans? Anyone have power tools I can borrow?

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