Fun Happenings Lately

There are quite a few things going on lately that I need to update regularly. I guess I can just lump them all into one large post every few weeks, since apparently I can never get my act together enough to post weekly or on any regular schedule. Life has been pretty great lately- I feel like I'm learning new things (crafty things!), and trying new recipes again, and keeping up on my NYRs. (For the first year ever!) I realy think 2013 will be the greatest year yet.

New Year's Resolutions
This is just a small update- but I have water! Meaning, I did complete my February goal of obtaining emergency water storage. I don't have a ton yet, but we at least have one case of water bottles for emergencies. I still need about 7.8 cases more for our family to cover the 2 week goal of water storage, but I'm not sure our apartment would ever have room for that much water! We'll stick to just a few more cases and that will make me happy. :)

For March, I just need to get an emergency money supply and start putting together 72-hour kits. I'm actually super excited- we had 72-hour kits growing up (all I remember was tuna and jolly ranchers. Gosh mom, you think I'd ever eat tuna without mayonnaise and relish! Seriously....) and I've received pre-made kits from various church activities. But I'm excited to actually come up with a list of things I want to include, then go shopping for those things (mainly different granola bars and such :D), and really know what's in my pack!

Fun Treats
March will certainly be the month of fun treats- we have both of our birthdays in the next few weeks, and I'm sure there will be Easter treats as well! But we had friends over yesterday and I wanted to try a new dessert- so I made these triple-chocolate oreo 7-layer bars. Basically all the kinds of chocolate you can think of in one gooey bar! It was super good, and although I think I prefer the regular 7-layer bars with the more.....expanded....flavors (graham crackers and coconut, I love them!), these were great to have with ice cream and friends. I used this recipe from Once Upon a Chocolate, and I have a feeling I'll be using more of her recipes in the future. :)

Pinterest Goal
I don't have a lot to show for my pinterest goals that I'm working on as part of the link-up party, but I promise I've been doing them! First, I learned how to do a fishtail braid. It was way easier than I expected, and certainly adds a fun new hairstyle for my boring rotation. Also, I know that I can tweak it in the future to do different things like a bun, full braided head, etc.

But what I can show you is the Martinelli bottle project. I didn't have twine, and it's my goal not to spend extra money for these pinterest projects. So I used old brown yarn that I had (which matches my house perfectly!) and I love how it looks. I was totally expecting to just have to glue it at the bottom, wind up the yarn all the way, and glue once more at the top. Not! As long as the bottle was straight, I could do that. But on the curvy part, I had to glue every few centimeters to make the yarn stay straight. I like the look of a messier bottle with the yarn overlapping randomly, so I might try that next. I had hopes to do all my Martinelli bottles (4 full size and one mini bottle), but I just got this one done before I was worn out. Maybe I can do one a week or something! But for now, I love this bottle on our table. :)