Just Call Me Martha

I may have to change my name to Martha Stewart. Just you wait, one day I will have a TV show, I'm getting THAT good.
Well not really, but I'm on my way. I want to update everyone on my not-so-impressive but good effort accomplishments in the DIY world, even ones that I've forgotten to post about!

But first, just a quick update on our lives: School, work, gym. That's about it.
 Andy is busy with IBC this semester.  It stands for Integrated Business Core. He's put into a group, and that group is put into a "company" and then they have to start and run a legit business on campus all semester.  It's a 12 credit class!! But, after he's done he's ready for graduation! Wahoo!

OH YES! And we are in the midst of an amazing Harry Potter Marathon on BLURAY!
We only have one more movie, but then we've decided to start over with director commentary. Yep, we are nuts.
This is our usual Harry Potter-watching tradition:

He loves us so much

Speaking of Jack, we have started putting more trust in him. When we leave he is no longer in his kennel! Well, we do have to lock him in the front room, and take precautionary measures by cleaning out everything he might find tasty. But, it's a work in progress.

He also has a new friend that just moved in, her name (that's right, Jack has a girlfriend) is Bell. Her and Jack look almost exactly alike which can get confusing when they play. I'll have to snap a picture! 

Now for my beginner attempts at being awesomely creative and resourceful:

A long long time ago, we went to our friends' Kyleur and Hannah for dinner. Hannah and I were roommates and then got married like a month apart (along with 2 of our other roommates). I decided to bring something fun for desert so I found this awesome idea to make chocolate cake in a waffle maker...and....

SUCCESS!!

It was a fun way to eat some chocolate cake! And it was even better to smother them in ice cream, fruit, and chocolate!! YUMM! I highly recommend it!

Next, is my iPhone. I got one for Christmas and knew going into it that a case would NOT be cheap, not to mention I'm really indecisive (which you already know if you know me at all). But THEN....I found this amazing blog that used the smartest idea ever.  She bought a cheap clear case and then used scrapbook paper to make inserts..GENIUS!!! So, that's what I did...

It took a little time and patience, but I'm in love with it. Now, I can change around my "case" as much as I want and it costs like $1.00! However, my finger did suffer quite the slice from the X-acto knife. Cute phones require sacrifices. 

The last thing is probably the biggest thing I've done yet! Our apartment is so wonderful and homey, but my new goal is to spice it up a bit with some color (thank you, pinterest). So, that's exactly what I did, starting with the kitchen table.

 Before...

 ... middle...

....after!

Andy was very reluctant, and I still think he's getting used to it (we have pretty different tastes when it comes to decorating), but I'm in love. I can't wait to start my next project!

Until next time!

We are still Alive

I would just like to start off by saying The Lynes family is STILL ALIVE!
I can't even remember the last time I posted, but I'm sure it was eons ago! With finals and Christmas break, life has been pretty hectic for us, so I'll try to catch you up to speed.

We survived finals, and might I say that it was SO NICE not having to worry about clean checks and moving out simultaneously.  I love being married! We left for Iowa as soon as we could escape, and boy did it take forever to get there! 18 hours in one day is ROUGH.  I think Jack and I were about to lose our minds by the time we got to Andy's parents' house.
Christmas was good to us, this year!
I got a new phone (the iPhone thank you very much) from my parents, a new hair dryer WITH a diffuser attachment (that has already gone missing) and a hot glue gun from Andy (I asked for one...CRAFTS!), and some clothes from the Iowa parents, which were MUCH needed (my shopping income has disappeared since getting married, but the sacrifice is worth it).
Andy got a home tool set from me, the entire Harry Potter trilogy on Bluray from my parents, and some wonderful clothes from his.
As far as joint gifts (which come once you get married...woohoo!), we got a Bluray player, a popcorn popper (Andy is a popcorn-eating monster), Mario Kart, and a new Scrabble game. We scored big time!

We had to come back to Idaho the day after Christmas (not fun) so that we could do AFY Winter.  It's a 3 day youth camp that Andy is the director of.  The youth stay at Badger Creek, which is the school's wilderness retreat at the foot of the Grand Teton Mountains (a.k.a. BEAUTIFUL).  We got the lucky task of being the chefs. Yikes. Needless to say, we got little sleep, but it was a very rewarding experience! And we got to go snowboarding for free. How can you pass that up?
Jack was going to stay at a kennel service, but apparently a dog has to have a special vaccine to stay there, which we did not know about until it was too late! So naturally, he got to come.  I think our dog was born to be in the snow.  HE LOVES THE SNOW!! He was jumping around in it like a mad man, which is saying something considering it was up to his shoulders.

After coming home, we have been recuperating until the semester starts on Wednesday. Last night we stayed home to start our Harry Potter marathon, and fell asleep in the living room before we could even see the new year chime in.  Are we getting old or something??

Life is wonderful.  I'm so excited to see what the year 2012 has to offer for our little family of 3.

CRAFT TIME!
My latest DIY projects have been fun! I made some homemade dog treats for Jack, and he LOVED them! The only problem was they got moldy pretty fast.  So, I'm thinking next time I'll make fewer and keep them refrigerated.
I also tried to make these S'more Cookies. They were okay, but they do NOT look like the picture.  At least mine didn't!

The next big project I have is to liven up our living room. It's cute, but very brown and green.  Our kitchen table is very round and simple.  The chairs are white, so I want to paint it.....TEAL!! I think it would really pop! I'm also planning on making some bright wall art for our very bare wall.  I'm thinking maybe something like this or this. Either way, it will hopefully look good! I'll keep you posted!