Finally.

So, I finally have a free couple of seconds to post something.
Needless to say, moving sucks.

But: We did get all moved in.

• Here is the summary of the last week:
• Nothing got broken beyond repair (or, nothing that I have found yet, anyway).
• I started unpacking, got about halfway through, and then found my Christmas decorations.
• So, I have 3.5 rooms unpacked, but my tree is up, my living room and dining room and door are all decorated, Christmas cards are addressed, and the dog is in a Christmas sweater. Obviously, I have my priorities all sorted out correctly.
• I also found time to craft and wrap presents while watching the Big Bang Theory. No surprise there. 
• The Mr. is really enjoying his new job, although he has already had 3 days of travel.
• I am applying for a really neat job at the university, so wish me luck!
• I have already had like 10 house guests, and I love it. My mom even came up and stayed the weekend to help me unpack and things (which is really the only reason those 3.5 rooms are done).
• I will take pictures of everything once I finish the rest of the house.
• Did I mention how much I love my house?
• I also made my first sale on Etsy! Score!
• Here are the pictures that I did manage to snap (but usually late at night when I am my most productive, so forgive them. I will take better ones later).

 

 I LOVE finally having a mantle to decorate!

 

The yarn names on the stockings, the embellishment on the fireplace, and the wall art below have been the products of my crafting addiction.

I went with all my blue and silver ornaments this year. With Aggie wrapping paper, of course.

 

My grandmother gave me her tree and vintage ornaments from the 40's, 50's, and 60's a couple years ago. 

Bullette is ready for Christmas. Are you?

I will post more after I finish being busy and productive. If you can ever avoid it, I really recommend NOT moving near the holidays. It doesn't make anything easier!

Excuse the Boring, Part Three.

Yeah, you know the intro. Part One and Part Two in case you don't.

Why Arli Was Boring

Chapter 3: The House

(Or The Reason I Don't Hate Moving)

     So, I'm not going to lie, I really wasn't feeling the whole moving thing. I mean, yay for the job and the school and the salary and all that. But it was farther away. And while I love my university to the point that it may no longer be healthy, I don't so much love college towns. I generally don't so much love college kids. They are loud and messy and bad drivers. I know I say this like I'm all grown-up with all of my 22 years, and yes, my husband is in fact going BACK to college, but to be fair, I didn't love college kids when I was IN college for pretty much the same reasons. Also, there isn't always a lot to do in college towns. I mean, it's pretty much a small town that happens to have 50,000 people in it (90,000 on football weekends). It's fun for about 2 years, and then it gets old.

      Now, in addition to all these things, there is also the rental market. Rental properties is college towns, or at least this one, anyway, are... interesting. It's not like anywhere else in the world where the market is competitive and designed for long-term residents with families. Oh no. You get the absolute bare minimum for the most amount they can possibly charge you. And everyone is okay with this because you're probably only there for a year. So you either get a furnished apartment, a duplex with all same size, tiny bedrooms, or a house that hasn't built updated since the 70's (complete with carpet, wallpaper, and avocado colored appliances). Not that I'm in any way against the 70's, but the $600 electric bill for an old house wasn't sitting well with me. 

     So, for about a month, I spent every weekend away looking at rentals, hoping something would turn up that I didn't hate. We found some stuff that was okay, but nothing great. Nothing really even good, really. Either the bedrooms were closets, our furniture wouldn't fit, no washing machines, weird kitchen with no panty, only one bathroom, etc etc etc. (You really can't go back to one bathroom after you've had two. Trust me). So, in short, I was not a happy camper.

      Enter my awesome realtor and mother in law to the rescue. Together, the four of us figured out that we could actually afford to buy a house. Which is both super exciting and terrifying at the same time. My mother-in-law backed us on the loan, so that we got a fantastic 3.75% interest rate, and my relator found us some really awesome houses that we could afford with no problem. Of course, at this point, we had to start over, and we were running out of time. We needed 30 days to close and had to be in town by December first so that hubby can start the new job. We also had absolutely no idea what we were doing. At all. Thankfully, my realtor is amazing and super helpful. And we found an awesome house. 

       The house was at the top of our price range, but as it turns out, for every $1000 dollars you go up in price, your monthly payment changes less than $5. And when making a GIGANTIC purchase like a house, you might as well get what you want, since you're stuck with it for awhile. And, generally, you get what you pay for. The resale value in the area that we bought in is a lot better than some of the others that we looked at. The construction of the house is also noticeably better.  Also, we got to keep all of the appliances. When you buy a house, it usually doesn't come with a refrigerator or washer or dryer. Which can add up pretty fast, considering you're probably spending most of your money on a down payment and closing costs.It also helps that they're awesome appliances :)

 

      So, that's the floor plan. We liked that it had a split floor plan, for possible future children purposes. There's about 1575 square feet, and it was one of the larger places that we looked it. It's also built in 2004 and energy rated, so it should be super efficient. Also, can we talk about the size of the master bathroom for a second? I mean, seriously. I could live in there. It's amazing. The bathtub has a freaking SEAT. Also, I have about 400 closets. AND a vented attic. I don't know what to do with so much storage. Well, I do. I buy more stuff. :) I will have a post later explaining (as best I can) the home buying process. But mostly, right now I'm just really excited. We close next week, so my fingers are crossed that everything goes smoothly. We're going to be poor for a minute, but it's totally worth it. And, of course, here are some pictures of all the awesomeness. It was staged with furniture, but it'll give you an idea of kinda where everything is going to go. I can't wait to DECORATE!!!

     

 

Oh Dear.

So, for the first time since I started in February, something happened.

I called in sick to work. 

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm no stranger to the whole sick thing. I actually get made fun of a lot by the Mr. who likes to say that I have no immune system. I spent a fair portion of my school years at home sick (although, some of that was really because I didn't feel like going to school. Don't judge). 

But this is the first time in a long time that I have been legitimately, stay home from work, don't change out of my pajamas sick. 

I don't actually know what I have, either. I guess a cold? I usually get a cold every year, but... differently? I don't know. Maybe it's the flu. I've never had the flu before. Or gotten a flu shot. I've have strep throat 11 times, but never the flu. Go figure.

Anyway, so because I've been out of commission all weekend, I've had to figure out things to do that didn't involve speaking (I have no voice) or staying awake for long periods of time (I'm on Nyquil). So, I exhausted my Netflix supply of TV shows I wanted to watch, and made a very unfortunate discovery. 

Yeah. I've been saying I wasn't going to get sucked into that. I didn't get it. I really didn't. So... you just click on crap you like? 

I can be the bigger person here. I can admit it... I was wrong.

This pretty much sums it all up: 

 So, until I can function again (which doesn't appear to be in the near future), this is how I will occupy myself. My facebook-stalking skills are sure to suffer. 

You can follow me if you want, though. I'm _arli. Do it.

 

Excuse the Boring, Part Two

So, back to the whole "I've been so boring" thing. Not sure what I'm talking about? You can read the first part of my schpeel here.

Anyway. So, hey Arli, why are you so boring?

Why Arli Was Boring

Chapter Two: The Job

     I don't have a corny intro to this part. My bad (it's late and I just got off work, don't hate. And that also totally rhymed). I digress. So, both me and the hubs graduated from college last year (from the best college in the WORLD). The original plan was for me to work while the Mr. worked on his graduate degree. So we were all excited when I got my degree in December. Until the state cut 6 billion dollars from the education budget a couple days later. And the teaching market went to you-know-where. So, the whole I-teach-to-put-you-through-school thing wasn't looking so good. While I explored other possible employment options, my wonderful husband got offered a surprise job super early in the semester. We could have stayed in our college town, budgeted like crazy, and stuck with the original plan. Or, we could take the super awesome job in a really neat part of town, move back home really close to our families, and live comfortably for awhile without having to worry too much about money. One of those choices, obviously, sounded a lot more fun than the other. Especially after two semesters of being super poor married-while-still-in-college students.

      So, we moved back to Houston. Hi Houston! (which, incidentally, is definitely not that green) We (mostly me) LOVE living in Houston. We got an AMAZING apartment (although, to be fair, we didn't have much to compare to. Student housing in a college town is sad and scary). Being close to family is really, really important to me. So being 45 minutes away from any given family member was awesome. I got a job here that, while temporary, lets me work with super awesome people that I love to little tiny pieces. The heat and humidity and 4000 pound air are not my favorite, but that's okay. The Mr. loves Houston too, and liked his job, but it wasn't doing exactly what he wanted to be doing. You know?

      Don't you love it when you think you have everything all planned out and God has another plan entirely? I find that this happens to me a lot, lately. I feel like he just rolls his eyes at me and laughs  when I plan things.

      So, mid-October, Phillip (the hubs) gets a call from one of his former professors. A position with the university has opened up. The job is a full-time, state-funded job will full benefits that pays for your graduate degree. And with a little negotiation, the salary is almost exactly what he earns at his present job (before you factor in the tuition and fees and all the other stuff it pays for).  So, obviously, it's an opportunity that we kind of have to take. Down side: the chances of me getting a job in this town are slim to none. There are about 10 times more teachers looking to 80% less jobs. But, I don't mind putting my career on hold for awhile. It's not like its exactly going anywhere right now anyway. And who knows? Maybe I'll figure out something that is exactly what I wanted to do all along. You never know.

  

(It's the closet thing we have to a skyline. Yeah, it's not a big town.)

      So, December first, we will be moving back to Aggieland. Yes, December first. Which, in case you don't have a calendar handy, is in about two weeks. Crap, I just looked at my calendar. Exactly two weeks. Have I packed a single box? No. Did I unpack everything I own when we moved 6ish months ago because I thought we would be here a long time? Yes. Sigh.

     When we started looking for places to live up there, seeing all the rentals made me a little sick. Well... a lot sick. It broke my heart a lot knowing that I would have to leave my apartment. The apartment that I love as much as a person can ever love a building. With the crown molding and garden tubs and resort-style pool. The rentals in Aggieland are desgined for college students, which means they are small and old and lame. But, I guess that's a story for another time. (Hint hint: chapter three).

Shop Update!

So despite all the general chaos that is my life right now, I have filled up my etsy shop with new, nifty things! You should definitely go check it out.

Excuse the Boringness, part 1.

Hey Arli, why have you been so boring lately?
Well, thank you for asking.
There are several reasons, actually. Three reasons, to be exact.
They are pretty lengthy stories, so they will have to go in installments. Like Harry Potter or Twilight. But I promise I won't turn the last one into an annoying two-parter. Its a long story, but I promise it's exciting-ish. I'm done being boring for awhile.

Why Arli Was Boring

Chapter One: The Car

     

     The year was 2007. I was a senior in high school. And I was buying a car. (That's the end of the cheesyness, promise). As you may or may not know, things got a little tight for my family when I was in high school. It's a long story, but it involved my dad getting real sick. I bought most of my own things to try to help out. I paid for my own cell phone, clothes, etc. So, I bought my own car when I was 17. I worked several jobs (receptionist, babysitter, nanny, car-hop) to save up for it. Which, I will tell you, makes you appreciate your car a WHOLE lot more. I was never in an accident and I never got a ticket (well, one accident, but it didn't count. Long story. Apparently, I have a lot of those). Being 17 and on a budget, the new, nice cars that all my friends had were pretty much out of the question. I was on a pretty strict budget ($5,000) and didn't exactly qualify for a loan. So, after shopping around and parental approval, I ended up rocking this around the streets of south Texas:

     A 1999 Honda Accord. Oldest and newest? Not so much. But it was a GREAT car. This car had fewer problems than most of my friend's much newer cars. Seriously, if you can get this car, I would highly highly highly recommend it. FANTASTIC CAR. I digress. Anyway, so, this car was great. It never had any problems. Granted, it had no CD player. Or remote to unlock it. Or working power locks. But, I drove it for 5 years and put almost 70,000 miles on that baby. We went to and from Colorado twice, New Orleans 3 or 4 times, and more trips home from college than I care to count.

     This past spring, the A/C finally died. In Houston, this happens a lot. Because it is hot as hell (not a figure of speech, please take me literally) and 1000% humidity all the time. The air weighs 100 pounds. Needless to say, driving with out air is not so much fun. Especially not in August. Oh. My. Lanta. We would have fixed it, but the new A/C system was worth more than a 12 year old car with 198,000 miles on it. So, we waited. 

     Then, driving home from work one night in September, I did this:

     Remember that time I was all, "Hey, I never got into an accident"? Well, so... yeah. Needless to say, I went out with a bang. I T-boned a lady after being blinded by a car who had it's brights on. Not okay (insert soapbox speech about how blue halogen headlights should not be legal, write your senators, etc). I was pulling out of a parking lot going about 15 mph, and she was going down a through street going about 65. Shown above is the aftermath. Well, the parts of the car that weren't scattered all over the road. Her car was dented little, but relatively unscathed. Perks of driving a ginormous SUV, I suppose. Thankfully, everyone was okay. I tore a muscle or something in my shoulder, and the other lady had a very mild concussion, but considering neither of us were wearing seat belts (I'm terrible, I know, lecture me later), it's a small miracle how okay we were. My car was totaled. Completely. But, no air bags deployed, and nothing came into the driver's cab of the car. No glass broke. Such a reliable, safe car. I hate so much that I lost it, but I am so thankful that it saved me. And so comes to close the life of Arli's first, beloved car. 

      And now we begin the car shopping. My parents generously offered to let me use one of their cars so we didn't have to make a hasty decision (I love living 40 minutes away from them). Which we needed, because I hadn't done this before. So, I'm not a new car person. I like the old and the reliable. Also, it's cheaper. Thankfully, I did have some money saved in a rainy day fund, so we had a sizable down payment. However, when you have very little credit (I don't do credit cards), buying a used car is more than a little difficult. We had a pretty terrible experience for a few weeks. Salesmen trying to scam us into crazy high interest rates, pressuring us into newer and more expensive cars instead, or into leasing. Finally, when I was about to give up, I found THE ONE.

      This is my new baby. An Infiniti g20. It is gorgeous. I am in love. It is the 2000 model, so it is 11 years old, but it doesn't show it. It was owned by a little old man who only drove it to church and Kroger, who happens to be my new BFF. It's in perfect condition, and only has 58,000 miles on it. Which, in case you don't know, is amazing for an older car. It's also the only Infiniti I will ever be able to afford, considering new ones start at $38,000. Geez. This car is an incredible upgrade for me. I have power locks WITH a remote, a sunroof, power seats, leather interior, BOSE sound system, and a CD player. I also am still rocking the cassette player, which I will never use, but makes me super happy. Gotta keep in touch with your roots. And, since we found such an awesome deal, we were able to put almost half the asking price down, which keeps our monthly payments super low. It also has an awesome kick to it, if I ever wanted to go fast. Which I don't. Especially not at intersections, which I am still afraid of. And, needless to say, I'm glad I didn't spend the money to fix the A/C in the Accord after all.

And this concludes Chapter One. Stay tuned for Chapter Two: The Oppourtunity. Coming to stores near you. (Is it bad that I have enough free time to name these? Nah...)

(Disclaimer: My camera is acting funny, so those photos are stock photos and not pictures of the actual cars. Same cars and colors are represented though. Except for the wreck picture, which was taken the day after on my phone. That one is for reals.)

Etsy? What?

So, as you may have noticed, there have been changes to the blog here. I added an etsy bar to the bottom of the page down there. Because:

I AM NOW ON ETSY.
What?
YES.

After much thought and stressing and crafting, I now have my very own shop: Magnolia Park.
Here's the story: I love making hair flowers, and wear them to work every day. Seriously. It got to the point where I had one for every outfit I own (which is a lot, I have a problem) and then some. Which is more than any human could possibly ever wear. And after making 245904857, I have gotten rather good at it. I started with basic internet tutorials, and eventually came up with my own designs (which are super rad, by the way). SO: I am selling them. So I don't wind up drowning in a pile of pretty fabric flowers and wind up on one of those hoarding shows.

So, I will be doing some hopeless self promotion, but you love me anyway.
Check out the shop, I have some nifty things. And if you don't need any at the moment, tell someone who does!
I am also going to be making some to send to people free of charge if they promise to wear it and advertise for me all the time. Well... most of the time. Sleeping in flowers is inadvisable. Also showering. Interested?

ANYWAY: go check it out. I'm proud of it :)

Anniversary Week

.... Is on hold.

I wanted to do a bunch of posts about our anniversary. I had it all planned out. But, it is getting postponed for a couple of reasons, not all bad...

1. NEW PICTURES. My awesome hubby found and edited our wedding video as a surprise for me for our anniversary. Which is fantastic in and of itself. BUT: this also means that, because of the way the video was shot, each frame of video is also a picture. Meaning I have about 19847198 new wedding pictures. NEW WEDDING PICTURES. I can't put into words how excited I am about this. I love pictures. A lot. And all of those little moments I thought we missed, we now have. And NEW PICTURES! Did I mention new pictures? So, I am postponing until I can get all the pictures off and edit them and junk.

2. We decided to splurge a bit on this anniversary. Since it's the first one and all. So, we took an awesome trip for the weekend, and were going to exchange gifts when we got back. This is also about when Hubby's alternator in his car decided to die. Not the end of the world or anything, but definitely terrible timing. So,we had to push back getting our gifts for each other a little bit. Just another paycheck or two (we don't do credit cards and debt and junk). So I feel weird doing an anniversary wrap-up post when we haven't so much wrapped it up yet. You know?

So, in the mean time, should tell you all about my new crafts, new apartment, or new recipes? Up to you :)

I am blogging again. For serious.

So, I let my blog die. Which is sad, because this whole thing has kinda grown on me.
I have a lot of really good excuses, though. Such as my computer died. And then my hubby's computer died. (HP laptops blow). And we were computerless for awhile, because I couldn't settle on what I wanted and I'm picky and cheap (not a good combination when computer shopping, apparently).
I also moved, which is always fun and time-consuming.

Luckily, we got a pretty sweet new desktop. It has a touchscreen and no tower, because I loathe towers and their ugliness. Much like electrical wires. And for my birthday, my parents and in-laws gifted me an adorable pink netbook (which I am of course now using, because it is pink and plaid. Ah-dor-able.) Oh yes, I also had a birthday. 22. I feel old. I digress.

So, I am resurrecting my blog. (Does that make it a zombie? The Zombie Blog? Hm.)
On the plus side, I have taken about 21083418527 pictures of food and crafts, so I'm pretty sure I have enough blog posts to get me though... forever.

SO. I will start updating this thing frequently. I might even get on some kind of weekly schedule to make me do it (although... probably not. That would be organized and structured, and really, this is me, and we're not fooling anyone. But maybe. It's a nice thought). I have fun ideas about house tours and wedding recaps and recipe sharing marathons and all kinds of fun stuff.

So, I guess the moral of me rambling on at 2:30 in the morning (work has me on a weird sleep schedule, don't judge me) is that: I'M BACK!

You have been warned. :D

Seriously Awesome.

Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm a terrible blogger. Life has not been fun lately, I'll be better.

In the mean time: Best. Thing. Ever.

http://ohhappyday.com/2011/06/goes-to-paris/

Organization?!

So, I'm not so hot at the whole organization thing. I'm slightly too right brained. I do try though. And, to be fair, I know where everything is. Just my system makes no sense to anyone else in their right mind. I'm okay with this.
Nonetheless: I had no place for mail. Which meant I lost things. Which meant I annoyed the hubs. Change had to be made. And because the mail sorters I like are expensive and I am poor, I decided to make one.
And I had to buy NOTHING. You heard that right. This project was FAH-REE!
(Note: It's only free if you are me and hoard things that go on sale at Hobby Lobby because you get a discount. It might cost you like... $3. Still a good deal though.)

How to make a Mail Sorter
(To make your husband less mad at you)

You will need all this stuff:
Scrapbook paper, Modpodge, glue gun, shoe box, scissors. Optional: Fabric.

Cut your shoebox (I started with the lid, you don't have to) like so:

Measure it to the size of an envelope.
Draw a line where the edge was:

Glue:

And there you go.

Repeat with the shoebox.
Podge paper all over that sucker. I did alternating strips of black and white paper. Don't measure, just wrap the excess underneath the box. I added a cute paper flower to the lid. Tutorial here.

Sorry, I didn't take good pictures of this part. I was in the zone. Using another shoebox or some other form of cardboard (in my case, a pizza box), measure and cut dividers that fit inside the box. I decided to cover the inside of my box in contrasting jersey fabric I had leftover from some hair flowers. Yes, you can podge fabric. Just like you do paper. Why did I use fabric? Because it was there and I didn't have enough blue paper. And I liked the blue.

I added a blue strip of paper across the top of my box to finish of the edge (the edges weren't pretty). I also added the word "Mail" to the outside. I did that by cutting strips of paper and curling them just like you would ribbon, forming letters with a few pieces, and gluing them in place. Tedious? Yes. Super cool and totally worth it? Indeed.

I wasn't smart, and my lid didn't fit on my box when I was done. But I actually liked them stacked way better, so it worked out. Let your box dry, and there you go! Beautiful!
I added a little ceramic bird I had laying around. Because I like birds.

If you have a free Saturday afternoon, I would definitely tell you to make one. I love projects you can finish in less than a couple hours! Instant gratification.
What do you think??

Sweet Home...

We found an apartment!
I'm not going to put my address on the internet, because that seems like not a great idea.
However, it has:
2 bedrooms
2 walk in closets
2 bathrooms with soaker tubs
granite
built-ins
crown molding
9 foot ceilings
a GARAGE!
And it looks like this:
I will be posting soon about a home made mail sorter and about 308245 recipies.
In the mean time, enjoy this video of my dog adorably chasing a cricket.

MOVING!

So, it is official:
Phillip will start a management position with a company he interned with last summer on June 1st.
He was originally planning to get his master's, but the job is really too cool to turn down. He can always do his masters online, anyway.

Which means:
We are moving! Which is exciting, because we can afford a way better apartment (hardwood floors, granite counter tops, garden tubs, crown molding, I AM SO ECXITED!). Also because I get to decorate a whole new apartment! And I love me some decorating. It is also lame, because I hate moving. A lot. I'm pretty sure its my least favorite thing in the world (I have heavy furniture). Especially in the summer, because I also hate getting all sweaty and gross.

I'm pretty sure I'm investing in movers. $200 not to sweat and haul gigantoid things up possible multiple flights of stairs? Prettty sure its worth it.

More posts to come, but an update was needed.

Also, check this out.

Anytime Wreath!

I've been seeing these adorable yarn-wrapped wreaths everywhere, and an empty spot in my entryway, so I decided I needed one. But I didn't want one I would have to take down with changing seasons (because, let's face it, it took me until Valentine's Day to take down my Christmas tree). So, I designed my own.

So, I gathered up my supplies: (assemble army of: wreath, yarn, glue gun, velcro, decorations, command hook)

Now, usually, you do these with foam wreath forms. For some reason, I couldn't find any. Or, at least any that weren't too small or like $8 (for JUST FOAM!!!). So I got a straw one, and didn't bother to take the plastic off, and it worked just fine. And it was only $2 at the Hob Lobby.

And I started wrapping it with yarn.

And wrapped, and wrapped, and wrapped, and wrapped...
(I advise watching a good TV show marathon while you do this, it takes a while...)

Hot glue it in place when it's all covered, and I was done! Kinda.

I made a few fabric flowers, and drew a bird and an "S" on a pretty scrapbook paper and 'podged it onto a recycled pizza box for decorations. Then, I slapped velcro strips onto the wreath and the back of the decorations, and started designing.

I glued a ribbon to the top for a hanger, and VIOLA!
I'm kinda in love with it. And I can change it whenever seasons change or I get bored. Like so:
AND, the whole shabang was less than $8. Saweeet!

What do you think?