Mini Golf & Ducks

I told you that spring is my favorite. Remember my spring bucket list? I just love being outside. So I was pretty excited when Joe and I finally got to go mini golfing. We're pretty competitive sometimes. I may have lost but I did have more hole-in-ones than Joe. We had way too much fun. I don't understand how we are allowed out in public because we always have way too much fun.

Holes-in-One Poses

Losing golf balls to castles, karate, wild swings, and posing.

We also got to feed ducks. I was very intent on feeding ducks. Geese freak me out. They stink and they are pushy and rude. Ducks are all, "Oh that's cool. Thanks for the food" where geese are all, "OMG FOOD! GIMME!" Joe and I fed ducks some oats and rice because I read online that that is better for the ducks than bread or crackers. And once the food was gone, we ran around like ducks. So there is that. Like I said, too much fun.

Quack quack!!!

Picnic

Oh Michigan spring. You've made my spring bucket list impossible. Joe and I tried to picnic. When we had the first taste of real spring weather, we decided we would try a picnic. It was a failure. It was cold and rainy and windy.  But we made BLT wraps with pesto mayo so it was not all terrible. We ate wraps and fruit salad in the car. The wraps were so dang yum, it just confirmed my belief tortillas kick bread's ass at being bread. And eating in the car at the park is still a picnic right? We'll try again soon.

Joe's wrap was so big, he really couldn't eat it. But it was fun to watch him try.

Car picnics! Don't hate me for this picture, Joe.

Friday Faves

Oh what a wonderful week it has been. I wish I had a time machine and could go back and sprinkle this awesomeness all throughout those hard weeks I endured this semester. I just keep reminding myself the rough ride is over. Now I just have to go hard at everything that means something to me. This whole new attitude journey I began still hasn't come close to reaching the end but I try hard and it's fabulous weeks like these that help me.

1. Kate's Graduation Dinner

GVSU had graduation on Saturday and one of my very best friends walked and had dinner at Rockwell's Republic to celebrate. We drank amazing wine, took a million pictures, and had an all around fabulous evening. I had the salad of all salads. If you ever go there, get the pecan brie salad. It will change your life. The whole evening was so Kate: dresses, drinks, live music floating in from the bar, and the first amazing day after a week of flooding. I will miss her as she goes on to do grown up things but I am so completely proud of her and so honored I got to celebrate with her.

2. Time at Home

I spent Sunday and Monday at home with my family. Liam and I got play time, I went shopping with Jessica, and I grilled out with Padre. It was completely relaxing and totally what I needed after the hell semester. We even took Liam to see his great grandpa and he enjoyed running from the front door to the back door. He is a sweetie pie even if he did yell no at me over and over while kicking me to protest putting on his shoes. The toddler years don't last forever but I think that face makes up for the tantrum.

3. Fun Day with Joe

I spent Tuesday having a blast with my best friend. We played mini golf and despite my two hole-in-ones, I lost but a great time was still had and that will definitely happen again soon. We also fed some ducks and acted like ducks in the park. Sometimes, I don't understand why people let us out in public together. We topped off the day with some grilled shrimp and Iron Man. Exactly like summer should be.

4. Fro Yo with Shelby

Shelby and I explored Rosa Parks Circle in down town Grand Rapids and got frozen yogurt. I absolutely love Shelby because she is so different from everyone you've ever met. She likes what she likes and she is honest and she is funny. And Sweet Yo's is so good. I had mango fro yo with pecans, coconut, blackberries, and raspberries. Yum!

5. New Job!

I started at Family Video this week! I am so excited! It's a great place to work and I am looking forward to this new part of my life.

Doctor Who Season 7 Part 2 Premier

WARNING: May contain spoilers.

Doctor Who once again made my bucket list because the premier was on the Saturday before Easter and I've been looking forward to it since Christmas. The first episode of second half of season 7 is "The Bells of Saint John".  We have the return of Jenna-Louise Coleman's terribly confusing character of Clara Oswin Oswald and Matt Smith continues as the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor. And spoiler! We also get a glimpse of "the Great Intelligence", played by Richard E. Grant. Can't wait to see how he comes back throughout this season.

We don't get a lot of details about Clara/Oswin except the connection from Clara to the name of Oswin and the little details of how Clara comes to be a nanny in the 21st century. I'm afraid the last 7 episodes of the season may not give us a lot either.  Moffat can be pretty sadistic like that. But I'm hopeful this season will help us learn more of Clara's story and resolve how she has died twice! Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised if she is Rory's daughter or something from the number of times she has died and come back to life.

Also! Neil Gaiman has been bribed back into writing another episode, which will be the 12 episode of the season! It's titled "Nightmare in Silver" and Moffat requested that Gaimen make cybermen scary again! Considering Gaiman wrote one of my top 3 favorite episodes of all time, I can't wait to see it!

"When you say 'mobile phone', why do you point to that blue box?"

"Because it's a surprisingly accurate description!"

Spring Cleaning

Another post from my Spring Bucket List. As much fun as all the food and activities are, I put spring cleaning on my list for some motivation to get stuff done. I didn't actually clean my whole room. I limited my cleaning to the reorganization of my closet. With all the crafting I've been doing, the shelf in my closet became unruly. I'd been storing stuff I meant to up-cycle on my floor and I had already begun to clean out my wardrobe so it was getting a little out of hand. Here are the before pictures.

View from the door: All that stuff on the right is on the floor because I had literally no other place for it. The big blue bin is full of sorority shirts.

The cubes on the back wall were over flowing, particularly with purses and hoodies. As you can see, they also were home to all the beauty products that didn't fit on my shelf in the bathroom.

#shortpeopleproblems. I had just been tossing things up there because it had been so hard to get things off the shelf and put them back up in an orderly manner.

I began by clearing the shelf off and pulling everything out that was on the floor. Which gave me a tiny panic attack because it just made a big pile of stuff in my room that would all have to find a home before I could go to bed. Just look at the mess!

What you can't see is the pile that also took over my closet and how I was stuck in the closet while I attempted to reorganize.

I set my priority at the beginning: Crafting. I wanted all my crafting supplies organized in such a way that it would be easy to find what I was looking for. All those pretty patterned boxes and only one small box was dedicated to crafting. I knew I could consolidate my other boxes to make room for more crafty things. I ended up making all 6 pretty patterned boxes craft stuff along with a clear plastic tote for current projects so I wouldn't get down all 6 for one project.

All the sorority clothes and bag made it into the blue tote. The plastic bag just has plastic bags in it to use as garbage bags. The cubes got reorganized and the beauty supplies were consolidated down to just one shoe box and my box of samples.

All the stuff I use regularly got pulled to the front and everything else creates a secondary row at the back of the shelf. The big box of papers got sorted into two shoe boxes that have been labeled to make it easier.

The best part of this whole project? I can find what I need now and the whole thing cost me absolutely nothing. I didn't have to spend any money buying new organizational tools. I just rethought some stuff I already had and created a priority for the space. Perfect!

Ribs

The second thing I got crossed off my spring bucket list: RIBS!!! I think Joe was equally as excited about this as I was. We used this recipe. It was absolutely delicious! We did not bake them as the recipe calls for and chose to throw them on the grill for 45 minutes because Joe and I love the grill! And good food was had by all!

Waiting for the ribs to boil.

BBQ Sauce

Waiting to go on the grill.

Getting ready to chow down.

Om nom nom

Easter Eggs

Here's the first from the spring bucket list. One thing I didn't remember about dying Easter eggs is how long it takes. I also did not know that you should buy egg dye from the dollar store. It didn't make for great colors. But it was a blast! And the best part? We made deviled eggs. :) It was a good time.

Lemon Pie Bars

Joe loves lemon anything. I think I could make lemon flavored grass candy and Joe would at least try it.  I first made this for Joe when he moved into the house he lives in now. He had his parents over for dinner and I made these for desserts. They are so light and tasty. They are the perfect spring treat and they are perfect for my spring bucket list. Their crust is like pie crust but thicker, more like shortbread. Joe and I have always talked about adding blueberries so maybe we will do that this summer and try it again. They are super simple, the prep time is next nothing, and Joe has all of the ingredients all of the time. They are just perfect.

Homemade Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs

What makes the novelty Reese's so yummy? I think it's the ratio of peanut butter to chocolate. Except at a dollar a pop, they are less than satisfying. So I tried making some myself. The results were super yummy. Not exactly the same but none the less, super tasty. I thought they were pretty rich but Joe thought they were just right. I think next time I might add some more peanut butter and thin my chocolate out a little more but otherwise they were are an extremely tasty treat. If you want a thinner chocolate, go for a double boiler and some wax from the baking aisle instead of shortening or a little more shortening. That might give it a little thinner coat of chocolate. They taste like a big buckeye if you've ever had one of those. Plus they are super cute for Easter. :)

Spring Bucket List

I'm ready for the snow to be gone. Snow is silly. Spring is so pretty. Flowers and fresh grass. Sun dresses and cardigans. Being outside again. I'm ready for the winter to be over. So once again, I present a bucket list for the change of seasons. Joe and I are ready to be back outside again so everything except cleaning may end up in some way outside. If you can't tell, I love spring. I just love that winter is over. I miss my dresses and short sleeve tops and seeing the sun. So I'm ready for this to happen ASAP.

Friday Faves

Well, this has by far been the most difficult week since the beginning of Fondue You Love Me? but I'm determined to find five amazing things that happened this week.

1. AST Scavenger Hunt

Our beautiful chaplains hosted a scavenger hunt for us on Wednesday night. We ran around like crazy people but it is completely fine because team Damsels in Success won! We were the only team to not only accomplish all 18 tasks and arrive back first but also the only team to follow the directions for each picture. Along with our scavenger hunt, we created happiness jars and got personalized Valentines. It was really what I needed this week.

2. South West Egg Rolls and Homemade Salsa

Once again, Joe and I proved our culinary genius with some homemade salsa and south west egg rolls. The salsa is the perfect consistancy and has the right mix of spicy and sweet and sour flavors. The egg rolls are filled with beans and corn and spinach and have tons of flavor. They were so yummy dipped in sour cream or the salsa. They both will happen again soon. The salsa made the perfect snack and the egg rolls reheated nicely in a toaster oven. Yum!

3. Joe

Joe is the very best friend in the whole world. I would not have made it through this week without him. He is the absolute best and I will never be able to do enough to repay him for everything he has done for me! I just love him so much.

4. Retail Therapy

Joe and I went shopping over the weekend and I got two cute new dresses as well as a new blazer for Suit Up night and a new top. I'm in desperate need for clothes that don't have letters so be prepared for plenty of retail therapy pictures in the coming weeks.

5. Easter!

I am getting so excited for all the Easter things I have planned. Liam's Easter present is here and it is just so dang precious. I can't wait to send it to him and post about it! I won't ruin the surprise this time, I swear! I can't wait for what I have planned for spring break and all the blog things I am going to work on!