Life Lately

Wow.  I am a terrible blogger.  But most of you probably know that already, and that's why I only have three followers :)  Plus I like reading blogs better than writing my own.

As for a summer recap, we spent most of our time just hanging out in Michigan.  We did get to catch a Tigers game.  They played the Yankees, and even though they lost it was still a fun game.

I kept up with my running, and was up to 10 miles before we came back east.  We also read a lot!  It was nice having so much time to ourselves, and we were able to relax and just hang out together.


We have been back in NH for a week and a half, and are slowly getting back into the swing of things.  Mark and I had faculty meetings (that I officially get to go to this year!), and today our 9th grade leaders arrived on campus.  It's really weird seeing a group of kids again, as this is our first year that we "returned" somewhere.  The boys look so much older, and they are so much taller too.

Our apartment update is still a work in progress.  After a recent trip to IKEA, we finally got rid of the futon!  We are now the proud owners of a matching couch and chair, but they are currently without slipcovers (boo IKEA for being sold out!), so those are currently being shipped to us.  Pictures will be coming soon.  I promise!  We also have curtains on three of our seven windows, but IKEA was sold out of curtains too, so I have to make a trip back there to get some more.  Speaking of curtains, I did learn how to sew this summer, and I even hemmed the three curtains I have, and made one of my own for our front door!  So that was pretty exciting.

In other news, we became cat owners.  Shocker.  It's still really weird for me to say that I actually own a cat.  Her name is Scout, and she is 11 years old.  One of the teachers here at school has had her since January, he got her from a friend who could no longer keep her, but he got a Boxer puppy and they didn't get along very well, so we took her.  She is super cute, really cuddly, and she loves attention.

Loving all the attention.

Sitting on her pillow.

Upside down sleeping.

Silly cat.

I signed up for my first half marathon today.  It's called the CHaD Half, and a group of women from school are all running it together.  I'm pretty nervous, and really need to start some hard core training.

I also am excited to get back into crochet.  I know a few people who are expecting babies, and I have some really great ideas of cute hats to make.  If you would like to place an order, just let me know.  I'm still considering starting an Etsy store, but it makes me nervous.

Mark is planning a trip with some of our students for 10 days of Spring Break.  We would bring them to Rome, and I'm super excited at the possibility of going back to Europe.  I will keep you updated on this!

We start school next week Tuesday, but all the kids are arriving this weekend.  It will definitely be nice to get into a routine again.  I will try to post more regularly, and I also want to redesign my blog header.  I've been experimenting a bit more with technology (and I get a nice MacBook Pro to use for school!), so it would be nice to figure out how to make my blog more interesting.

Have a great week!  Thanks for reading!

The Pinterest Challenge: Quotes on Canvas

Today I am joining my first linky party!

Quotes on canvas are all over Pinterest, and I thought I would whip one up for my friend who is getting married at the end of the month.

This was my inspiration:

(source)

My friend and her husband will be dancing to (Everything I Do) I Do It For You by Bryan Adams for their first dance together, so I decided to use the title of that song for my "quote."

And here is how I did it:

First, gather your materials.  I used a canvas, 6 pieces of scrapbook paper, mod podge, 3" stick on letters, and craft paint.

Mod podge the scrapbook paper onto the canvas.  Use lots of mod podge, I didn't use enough so the paper didn't lay totally flat on the canvas.  I also use mod podge both on the canvas/under the paper, and on top of the paper.  Once everything is dry, put your stickers on the canvas.

Paint over the entire canvas and wait for it to dry.  In this picture you can see where the paper didn't lay flat on the right hand side.

After the paint is dry, pull off the stickers.

Overall it was pretty easy.  The hardest part was getting the letters in a straight line.  I would definitely recommend measuring where you want things and drawing lines with pencils so you have somewhere to work off of.

I'm linking up with Kate, Sherry, Katie and Michelle!

I cannot believe Mark and I are already celebrating our one year anniversary.  This past year went by so fast, but at the same time it feels like we have already been married forever (in a good way)!

Looking back at this past year of our lives, we definitely had some ups and downs, and I feel like we grew closer because of everything that happened.

We had an amazing wedding day, went on a nice honeymoon to Washington D.C., and then had about a month until we moved to New Hampshire.  Once there we had to get used to living at a boarding school, making new friends, Mark starting a new job, me being unemployed, and adopting a dog.  As the year moved along Mark spent some time in the hospital, I started tutoring and working at school, we had to put our dog down because he bit some people and was acting really aggressive, we thought Mark was going to have surgery, we drove back and forth from NH to MI 4 times, and we drove to Mayo in preparation for Mark's surgery.  As most of you know, Mark didn't end up having surgery and we are currently waiting to see if an increase dose of his medication and some iron will get things back to normal for him.

With everything that happened this year, I cannot wait to see what the next year has in store for us.

I'll leave you with some of my favorite wedding pictures!  Thanks again to our family and friends for celebrating with us that day and continuing to be there for us over the past year!

Summer Beginnings

Can you believe it's already the last week in June?  Crazy.  This summer has definitely been relaxing so far, and definitely needed.  It's the first summer that Mark and I haven't had to work, and it has really been nice :)  

Taking a look back at my summer "to do" list, I'm slacking a little bit...

• Exercise!  
• I have been running at least 3 times per week!  I've gotten to the point that I can run 4 miles!
• Learn to sew more!
• Read!
• Sadly, I've only finished 3 books so far.  That's pretty terrible.  I need to get on that. 
• Go to a Tigers game.
• Road Trip!  
• Check into online programs to start my Masters degree.
• Open an Etsy shop! 

So yeah, I've only made progress in two areas.  Bummer.  Two more months to go to work on the rest.

Our one year anniversary is coming up in 13 days!  That's insane.  I can't believe we've been married for a year.  Anniversary gifts are hard.  We're thinking about going the traditional one year paper route.

I would love to get this game:

(source)

And its got some paper in it, right?  Any other ideas of cute gift ideas?

Singing in the Rain

I absolutely love thunderstorms!  I swear we haven't had a thunderstorm out here since the tropical storm came through in August.  Tonight's storm was pretty good, but definitely too short.

We have been pretty busy finishing up the school year and getting ready to head back to Michigan.  We leave in 7 days!  So much stuff to pack!

I've been thinking about some summer goals I have, and decided that if I write them down somewhere, maybe I'll actually accomplish them :)

• Exercise!  I want to start running and riding my bike regularly.  I'm hoping to be able to run at least a 5K before the end of summer, and I would like to ride my bike as much as last year.
• Learn to sew more!  Curtains for our apartment are definitely on the list.
• Read!  I've finished 38 books so far, so I'm hoping to add quite a few more this summer :)
• Go to a Tigers game.
• Road Trip!  We are thinking of going to Texas to check it out.
• Check into online programs to start my Masters degree.
• Open an Etsy shop!  I'm thinking of calling it Beckwith Boutique...

Speaking of my Etsy shop, here are a few of my most recent projects:

 Mini minion hats

 Puppy dog newborn "outfit"

 Owl newborn hat (probably the best hat I have made yet)

Striped "elf" hat

It's Opening Day!

Go Tigers!

Crafting!

**Edit:  I found the pattern for the black hat with the flower!  It's posted below.**

Just a warning that this post will be picture heavy!

Last month was March Break (that's right, almost a whole month of no school!)  And I was busy reading and crocheting.

Up first is a vintage football helmet Packers style.  It was inspired by this pattern.  I made one in newborn size and one for a 6th month old.  To make the logo I cut it out of some felt and then hand sewed it on to both sides of the hat.

These owl slippers were tricky to make.  They were inspired by these slippers I found via Pinterest, but I didn't want to pay for the pattern, so I made one up by combining a bunch of patterns I found online (this is the pattern I started with, but I modified it quite a bit).  I started writing a tutorial, but then I got lazy about finishing it, so maybe someday I'll feel inspired to make another pair and share with you.

This is a brain wave beanie hat I made for my brother.  You can download the pattern for free here.  It was actually really easy to make.

This hat was so hard to make!  I had to take it out so many times I thought I would never finish.  My biggest problem with it was that you crochet in clusters instead of just single stitches, and counting the clusters was throwing me off.  I can't find the pattern I used, but I'll keep looking and post it as soon as I find it.  I found the pattern!  Here it is!

Here is a close up of the flower.

And finally the cutest hat I have made so far!  It's inspired by the minions from Despicable Me and I think he turned out quite good!

I've also been reading like crazy and finished 13 books last month!  I'm always looking for recommendations of good books, so let me know if you have any.

I also decided to give sewing a try while we were back in Michigan for March break.

My first project was a pair of pajama pants.  I probably should have started with something simpler, the fabric I used (Jersey Knit) was tricky to sew because the edges kept rolling up.  Thanks to my mom for helping me figure out how to make them!

                                       

Then I made two pillow cases.  This project was from a "Learn to Sew" kit, so all I had to do was cut out the two pieces of fabric and sew them together.  Much easier than making pants once I figured out how to thread the machine properly!