Look what I made!!!

My crafty bone is starting to make an appearance as of lately. I find myself scrapbooking more and sewing more. It may be because I have the energy to do so now! Let's see how long it lasts... (SCARY enough - I'm about in my 3rd trimester!)

I recently bought the fabric to make the nursery bedding and there are owls on it - it's so cute. I'll post a picture once it is all done (which HOPEFULLY won't be more than 2 weeks or so). So I started looking online for some cute owl decorations or ideas to put up in the room and I saw some really cute appliqued items... so I decided to make a bag. Isn't it cute??!!


I even lined and put pockets on the inside.

I think this is such a cute summer bag!! Yeay.

The Host

Over Christmas break, I fell in love with Twilight Series. For those who don't know, these are books and they are SO good!! I'm not the most avid of readers, but these books got me hooked!

A few months ago, the author of The Twilight Series came out with a new book, with a new story line. I was more than apprehensive about it. The author said that the book is "Science fiction for those who don't like science fiction." Well, I am no science fiction reader.... at all. I decided against rushing out to get it - I liked Twilight so much, I didn't want to ruin it. I had no plans on reading it. Well, I few weeks ago, Morgan and I were in Barnes and Noble in search of some good summer reads. I saw the book. Morgan convinced me to get it - THANK GOODNESS!!


I was SO good! I really recommend the book! Stephenie Meyer is really talented and I am so glad that I read it! There is such a nice story line to it. I don't want to give away any details to the book - but you should read it. It's worth the time (and a few tears).

Now, I can't wait until August - that's when the 4th book of the Twilight Series comes out - yeay! Until then, I have a hefty stack of books to keep me preoccupied.

Baby Name Dilemma...

It's hard naming a baby!! Morgan and I have two names that we like.... Patrick and Andrew. BUT we are having a hard time deciding which one to use!! It seems that when we find a good middle name that goes with one of those names, we get initials that the little guy would be made fun of for having....

Two examples...
Patrick Morgan Stinson (P.M.S.)
Andrew Scott Stinson (A.S.S.)

How bad is that?? Good thing we have a few more months before we have to make an official decision!

Baby's gone green...

So, within the past 6-8 months I've really started to be more mindful of being "green." I've done a few things that make me feel like I am doing something small to help out the environment. I've started using reusable bags at the grocery store - and pretty much most other stores I go to.(they hold a TON of food - and make it easier to take in groceries - a plus!) I've turned down our water heater, taken slightly shorter showers. (slightly... I'm not going to the 3-5 minutes they recommend!) I'm recycling anything and everything that I can... and I try to run errands only once a week, to cut my driving down.

Well, when I was in Old Navy this week, I mosied over to the baby section (how could I not?) and I saw this outfit...

How cute is that?!?! Plus, it was on a clearance rack... so it was sold. I think the baby, since he'll be all natural, will look so cute in it. There was another romper I saw that I almost got, sadly it was still a little $$, that said "Runs on Natural Gas" haha... I thought it would be cute, but some might not have thought so....

Oh, I can't wait to have this little guy in my arms! It's going to be great.

AND... he's officially part of Red Sox Nation. Since he's being born in October, and the Red Sox WILL be playing in the post season, I thought that it was only right to get the little guy a Red Sox Onesie... which is coming with little Boston Booties and a bib... yeay.

What do you do...

What does a pregnant person do when it's about 100 degrees.... with 80% or higher humidity outdoors??

You put a puzzle together. I know, I'm probably the most boring 20-something year old on the planet - but look what I (with some help from Morgan) did?!

This sounds funny, but I'm trying to get all the time consuming things I like to do out of my system right now. This table is currently covered in scrapbooking material and I have a stack of books that I will be reading before the baby comes.

I keep looking at new moms and I see how tired they are! (if I get much more fatigued than what I am now - heaven help me! I'm so tired!!) I want to make sure that I "take advantage" of this period that I have before the baby comes. So, here's to a summer of reading.... scrapbooking.... going to the beach (which I can only imagine would take an act of congress to take a baby to the beach for 4 hours).... and lastly, SLEEPING!!!

Emerald Isle Beach

We toke another trip to the beach today!! I am really loving being able to go so easily! This time we went to Emerald Isle - it was so nice!! We were able to park at a friend's place and used their access to the beach - it was not crowded at all - compared to Atlantic Beach. I was also surprised to see how many nice sea shells there where at this beach! I had fun looking for some neat ones. I toke a nice walk down to a pier and back. The weather was great - a nice breeze and not too hot. Morgan enjoyed being in the water - and skiddish Emily mostly stayed on the beach and read "The Host" by Stephanie Meyer. (I highly recommend it so far) For some reason I love the beach, but I don't like the ocean too much - as long as I don't go any deeper than my waist I'm fine, but after that I get a little paranoid. Oh well!! We also saw some sort of water animal - not sure if it was a whale, dolphin or shark... but it looked pretty big and all the people in the water high tailed it to the sand! My guess was that it was some sort of whale - I didn't see a dorsal fin on it... Anyways, we had a wonderful time - we'll definitely go to that beach again. It was nice that it was under two hours away!! I think that we got away sunburn free - I hardly look like I was in the sun - I guess I'll take that over being a lobster.

Here are a few pics of our venture to the coast...

Nice calm waves...

Us chillin under the umbrella...

My love and I...

Another one of us...

The neat shells I collected!! I have NEVER seen the swirly kind at the beach before! Plus - that big shell in the upper right... it's about the size of my hand - it's huge.

Girls Camp

Tonight most of the Young Women Leaders got to go down to girls camp and visit our girls! It was nice to see the girls - We were happy that they were having fun! But I have to say.... these girls have it easy!! When I went to girls camp we were in tents... under trees with ticks.... no A/C... These girls are in air conditioned cabins.... air conditioned mess hall.... big swimming pool with diving boards and slides!! Oh well!

Here's a picture of all of my Young Women plus a few leaders and a child. Oh yeah, and my fat preggo self.... I'm curious why the "glow" that I feel I have does not portray itself in photos... oh well!!

Crunchy Asian Pasta Salad... YUM!!

How tasty does this sound?? I can't wait to make it!!


1 box Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad classic pasta salad mix
1 package (3 oz) Oriental-flavor ramen noodle soup mix
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3 cups coleslaw mix
1 cup snow pea pods, strings removed, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch pieces (I thought you could use soy beans instead... easier to find!)
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1 can (15 oz) mandarin orange segments, drained

1. Empty pasta mix into 3-quart saucepan 2/3 full of boiling water. Gently boil uncovered 12 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Drain pasta; rinse with cold water. Shake to drain well.
3. In large bowl, stir together seasoning mixes from pasta mix and soup mix, sugar, oil, vinegar, water and soy sauce. Add pasta, coleslaw mix, pea pods, almonds and oranges; toss to combine.
4. Just before serving, coarsely crush dry noodles from soup mix; stir into pasta mixture. Serve immediately, or refrigerate.

Pre-K Grads

Well, I've finished my first year of teaching! I have really enjoyed being able to be a Pre-K teacher this year. I had a great class with sweet and adorable students. It's a little (OK, more than a little...) sad to think that I may not see some of these kids again! I really enjoy working for a private school, but when all the kids will go to public school next year, I won't see them. It would be nice to kind of keep tabs on them through elementary school, like public school teachers can, but oh well.

We had a little graduation ceremony. The kids and parents LOVED it! The kids performed some songs that they had learned throughout the year, so that was fun.

Here are some pictures of the kiddos.

Well, summer is here! Yeay. No more lesson plans for about 3 months. Thankfully, since I'm at a private facility, I'll still be able to work (although I think that I'm going to work less). I think that I would get pretty bored this summer if I wasn't working at all.

Speaking of "summer" the East Carolina is going through a MAJOR heat wave. When I wake up at 6am, it's already 75 degrees. The highs have been in the mid-90's with heat indexes up to 105. (Thanks to high humidity) I'm just hoping that I don't start swelling earlier than I have too- it's too early to be this hot! What a summer to be pregnant during...