DIY Sled Ornament

Before I was born my grandmother made all her "grandkids" a sled ornament out of popsicle sticks. My mom gave it to me a while back and it has been displayed on my tree every year since. This year I wanted to create the same thing to include as part of our Christmas gifts to our parents. I went online to see if I could purchase pre-made sled ornaments and while I was scouring, the hubby plucked it off the tree and stated "Diane this is popsicle sticks. You can make this!" Well duh! Why didn't I think of that?!? I blame pregnancy brain! So that's what I did! And I am here to share with you how I did it! It's super easy, just in case I didn't mention that yet!

What You'll Need:
(7) Plain Popsicle Sticks (you can get them at any craft store)
Xacto knife
Paint and brushes
Super Glue
Modge Podge

Directions:

1. Before I painted the sticks, I made my cuts. I suggest using a brand new blade on your Xacto knife. Our was dull and VERY hard to work with! Please be careful with your blade, its very sharp!! First I took four popsicle sticks and drew an arch on them and cut out the arch. Here are the sizes you will need:

Leave the 2 middle arched sticks as is; just cut with a arch
The 2 outside arch sticks will be 3.25"W to the longest point with a 45 degree angle
(1) 3"W with 45 degree angles on each end
(1) 1.5W for back
(2) Full size popsicle sticks

2. Paint your popsicle sticks in your desired color. I chose red....obviously.  I wanted it to look like the other one as closely as possible. I painted two coats on all sides and let dry overnight.

3. Arrange your four arched pieces appropriately. Take your super glue and glue onto the entire length of the short piece and place onto the back of your piece. Press and hold for 30 seconds or until the glue has cured. Repeat with the other short piece.

4. Put superglue on the top of your two middle pieces on the opposite side as the short pieces and then place your angled piece on the top. Flip over and press for 30 seconds until glue has cured.

5. Take a small portion of glue on the very edges of the small back pieces and place one of your full length sticks perpendicular and centered evenly. The stick should be flush (or as flush as possible) with the edge of the piece. Repeat with other full length stick.

6. I didn't take photo's of the next steps, but you can see in the finished photo above what it looks like. Next I took my paint pen and wrote "Baby Kimball 2013" on the top. That took two light coats to make it nice and even.

7. Once everything is completely dry I put one coat of modge podge as a sealer. I used the glitter kind on accident. I would recommend just the clear matte or gloss. The hubs didn't care for the glitter, but I think it work for the application.

8. You can add a hangar if you like. We just rest our on a branch so no hangar is needed for us!

See! You too can make your own sled ornament out of popsicle sticks!

Vivid Memories

I had a moment today. I was out of the office, going from jobsite to jobsite, sitting in traffic just listening to the radio. A song came along. Not just any song, one that was filled with happy memories that have since turned sad. Memories of friendship and laughter that have long since died. This happens to me a lot. It's not always sad memories, but songs stick out to me and certain ones leave a lasting impression on my soul. When I listen to them I am instantly returned to that time and re-live each moment with vivid clarity. Some of them tend to come out in the form of tears, whether happy tears or sad. This is when I realized that I do a lot of thinking on the road. My commute to work is a minimum of 45 minutes each direction. That's a long time to sit and reflect. Reflect on the day, the month, the year. Any memory that may flood into my brain at any given time. That's when I realized that my little silver friend has seen me through many times. She has seen all the tears, some of the fights, heard every story. She hears my prayers that I send to God, or to up to heaven to my dad. I have many moments during these times. I sing, I dance, I laugh, I cry, but mostly I use the time to reflect. I think about everything that has happened in my life and I dream about the future to come. I can't explain why songs seem to have this affect on me. They truly make me very contemplative.

I had a talk with the hubby the other day. We have seriously been considering uprooting our lives and moving out of state for a change of pace. It's something that has been on our minds a lot the past couple of years, but in the last six months or so have seriously considered. If he would have asked me two years ago, I would have said absolutely not....now the answer is yes, but give me a yearish. I guess the idea of leaving everything I know, and all my family is scary. Then I think to myself, if I ever need them all I would have to do is put on a song and be taken back with them. My emotions tend to ebb and flow like the ocean. I am re-missed to believe that I am back in an ebb state. Feeling a little insecure, and lonely. Lives are changing all around me and I so desperately wish that my dream will come true soon. To give my husband all that he dreams of having. When I am feeling this way, all I have to do is put on a song and have him hold me in his arms. Gently rocking back and forth, moving to the sound of the music. Feeling his strong embrace around me, and it makes me feel better. Knowing that I am not alone, that someone truly understands me and loves me.

I know I am not alone in these feelings. Also that songs can trigger many memories. I guess that's why it's the most powerful form of art that we can use to express ourselves. Please take a listen to the playlist below to hear a handful of the songs that have triggered a memory over the last week or so. Some have been so powerful that I was silent for several minutes after the song ended. It just had me wondering, where do you all do your thinking?

Memories can be very powerful, especially on a day like today. I would like to take the time today to remember all those who lost their lives on this day twelve years ago, and thank all the hero's that have come since to help protect our freedom. Without each other we would have nothing. All I can say is a heartfelt Thank You. Always remember!

via

Mixtapes and Memories - Tuesday Topics

via

Music is my life's soul brought out into the world. I love music so much and most of the time it relates to my life in one way or another. I have said in the past that my brain is 70% song lyrics and the rest is filed away neatly in the other 30%. So when this weeks Tuesday Topics came about I really had to think about which five songs bring back the most memories.

#1. Chantal Kreviazuk - Feels Like Home
The first time I heard this D and I went out on a date to see How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. We fell in love with song and it has been "our" song ever since....it was our first dance song at our wedding and every month or so we play it loud and slow dance to it!



2 Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
It is my quintessential jr. high/high school song. I don't remember when I bought it, but it was the very first cd that I bought with my own money. Double album of rock greatness "Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness." I can listen to this song over and over and will not get old. The beat and the lyrics are just all around perfect!



#3 Billy Rae Cyrus - Achy Breaky Heart
Please don't judge me for this song. My mom had this tape (yes tape) and we played this song over and OVER every time we were in the car singing the lyrics loud and proud for all the other drivers to hear. We didn't care and did it with many other songs. This one is the funniest one though. I still sing loud and proud in the car for ALL to hear!



#4 Grease Soundtrack - Summer Nights
This is D's and my go to karaoke song. He knows every word to this song!!!! Probably because it's his mom's favorite movie. It's always fun for us to sing this as the example pictured below!

#5 Legally Blonde Soundtrack - Hoku "It's a Perfect Day"
If you remember back in April when I wrote this post about my best friend from high school. I talked about him falling asleep on his dvd remote and having to listen to the Legally Blonde intro song over and over for hours! This is that song! Good song, but not over and over!


There you have it. Five songs that bring back some really great memories for me. I hope you all love music as much as I do and these songs can make memories for you too!

Parties, Guitars and Wings - Weekend Recap

I want to start off this post by saying a prayer for all those that were affected by the Boston Marathon bombing yesterday. It was very scary to say the least because I actually knew someone who was running in it. She is safe and sound and we thank the Lord for that. My thoughts go out to the families of people who's lives were lost, and to those who were injured by the events. Please lets all say a prayer for all the victims of the shocking events and let's also thank the members of the police, fire, and emergency units for all their hard work rushing to the aid of all the people affected!

So this weekend was an eventful one. Saturday was my great aunt's 75th birthday hosted by her children at my Papa's home in Simi. 50+ people attended the party with a taco cart, cupcakes and a little accordion/guitar serenade from her grandchildren. The hubby had to work so I went alone, but got to spend time with all my family. We ate, drank and acted like the large Italian family that we are! Since spring is finally starting to show itself here in SoCal, I took a photo of this blossoming tree that just smelled amazing. This was of course before the clouds and cold weather rolled in later that afternoon and hung around for the rest of the weekend.

Of course I had to spend time with the baby at the party. Emily is my cousin's 6 month old baby girl, who apparently has stranger anxiety with everyone else, but she just loved me! Yay! I held that child for hours and she eventually just fell asleep in my arms. *Tear Tear* While she was sleeping my aunt came up to me and said that holding her is giving me good baby pheromones, and when her daughter held her nephew that's when she got preggo with her first daughter. Well by all means, if that's all it takes then I will hold every baby on the planet and share that secret with the world! Haha....I know that this is just silly talk, but honestly every little bit helps. Especially since she was so cute, I would have held her until my arms fell off.

Sunday was a little more mournful. It was the 2 year anniversary of my fathers passing. I woke and spent the early morning looking at photos and shedding a few tears. I posted some memory photos to Instagram and Facebook. Then I bombed the hubby out of bed so that we could go get breakfast and run a couple of errands.

We went to several stores looking for cushions for our patio table set, but ended up coming home with this beautiful succulent. Since it's in the cacti family I am hopeful that I can attempt to cure my brown thumb. Honestly, I just forget that the plants are even there! They don't stick their leaves in my face with big eyes saying "Water ME!"

After arriving home, we got to work hanging up my father's guitars that we brought back from Florida with us. Of course as with any other project, we needed assistance from our neighbor because the screws that came with the hangers were too short to hit the studs and just pulled out of the wall. No bueno! So our handy dandy neighbor brought over some long screws and his kick ass drill and we hung those bad boys in no time! Thanks R!

 

After that we listened to my dad's CD watched some Netflix and got ready for Wings and fries. We tried out a new sweet wing recipe that was BOMB DOT COM! They fell off the bone! I will put that recipe up for you all later this week! Thanks to cousin B! We toasted his life with a cocktail and watched Ted. Since my dad was from MA I thought it appropriate! 

So that was our highly eventful weekend. I am linking up with Sami's Shenanigans!

Day Eighteen/Twenty - Giving/Memories and some hot chocolate and a bird house!

Ok, ok.....I know I missed day 19......but let me explain. It was Reindeer and the only reindeer I have in my vicinity I used on day two. So I didn't want to reuse the same photo, so I opted out.

Day eighteen is giving. The best part of this holiday is giving to family, friends, and people in need. Whether it be a skill, an ear to listen, a shoulder, your time, or a monetary gift. Remember that the idea of the holiday is to be there for your family and friends always, but especially this time of year. My photo is a picture of all our gifts wrapped, included in those are monetary gifts and ones that are handmade by me! I am excited to see the receivers expression when they open our gifts Christmas morning!

Day twenty is memories. The top photo is of us, with my mom in our flannel pj's on Christmas Eve 2010. We were being silly and D was getting used to his new flash (that's why its kinda bright!) The bottom photo is D's sibling with their significant others on Christmas Eve 2009 (his sister has since married her beau!) It's really hard to get full family shots every year, but I wanted to include memories of past Christmas'.

Yesterday, for our office 12 Days of Christmas we got super cute coffee mugs with some hot cocoa attached. With the weather being abnormally chilly for SoCal...it was a perfect gift!

We also painted holiday bird houses! The office and the daughter of one of the managers sat down and painted, glittered and ate cookies together. It's kinda fun to see each others creations at the end! Mine was shaped like an ornament, and while I was painting I thought it looked Charlie Brown esq' but perhaps the birds will enjoy it. Tomorrow I will bring it home and tie it up on our balcony and see if our feathered friends enjoy it!

25 Days of Xmas

So I don't know whats been wrong the past couple of years, but my love for the holidays has been downplayed a lot. So in an effort to kick up my holiday spirit I have decided to do try and watch as many Christmas inspired movies as I can, bake cookies, and decorate, create, and wrap pretty presents for my loved ones. We already decorated our apartment and have watched both Home Alone movies. (tradition in our household to watch those the weekend after Thanksgiving) I have started some projects for presents, and have almost finished my list. Now to find pretty paper and wrap it all. So since I am almost done shopping I guess all there is left to do is enjoy the season. So that's what I'll do.

Photography challenges have been sort of a fad in my opinion, but I saw this Christmas inspired list on Pinterest and I figured I would give it a shot. Come back daily in the month of December for a little photo of my Christmas photography inspiration. I will also share some favorite holiday memories and give you a glimpse at my tree and some of my favorite ornaments. You know, those ones that make it onto the tree every year! And holiday tidbits along the way.

Follow me on Instagram: dianekimball07

Through the Years

For the last week or so you have been reading about my favorite memories through the past 10 years of D's and my relationship. Vacations, wedding, honeymoon. Lots of memories that we have shared. As a surprise I created a slideshow for D with over 400 photos and clips from our wedding for us to relive the last 10 years in photo form. However since it takes a lot of time to put together a slideshow, D walked in on me int he middle of processing and I showed it to him a little early. It's ok though because I needed the help loading it into YouTube so that all you wonderful peeps could view it too. Its a little long and might not be for everyone as it's mostly photos of D and I, with a smattering of family and friends. It makes me cry tears of joy to watch and I smile at how much we have changed! Enjoy!

I included some of my favorite things about D within the slideshow, but here's the list so you don't have to watch the whole thing, I think you should, but I know that most wont!

1. His support in all my dreams
2. Always willing to dance with me, anywhere anytime!
3. His deep love for his friends
4. His sense of adventure
5. He's not afraid to get his hands dirty
6. His love of nature and anything outdoorsy
7. He's always willing to try new things
8. His sentimental nature
9. He can be silly when necessary and serious when the time calls for it
10. He always thinks I am beautiful, even with no make-up and sweats on
11. He is willing to do things together, including house work and laundry
12. He loves my family like his own
13. His beautiful baby blue eyes
14. His strange liking for trains, which I just recently found out
15. His love for our fur baby Shelby. She is his baby
16. His inner child and great love for Disneyland
17. He likes to work with his hands
18. He is willing to dress up and act a fool on Halloween.
19. His constant squinty eyes in photos!
20. He will sing Karaoke, all be it not very well. But he does it!
21. He gives the best kisses and warmest hugs
22. He loves to travel
23. His love for all children, but especially our goddaughter
24. His love of photography....those 400 photos were from 10K+ over the last 10 years
25. We share a language and we are silly together and make each other laugh
26. His love of being active; swimming, golf, water sports, the gym
27. He supports my oddities and strangeness!
28. His love for his own family
29. He makes me try new things, even when they scare me! (California Screamin')
30. Reminds me that it's ok to laugh at yourself
31. His love of cars
32. His love and support through the most difficult times
33. His handsome face
34. His wonderful laugh
35. He loves me for who I am, and that's the best thing a girl can ask for!

Mom's are a girls best friend

I believe this is so. Anything can happen in your life and as a girl most of the time you can turn to her and she will be there with open arms of comfort, support, laughter, tears, and just awesomeness. Well I have this. My mom is my best friend. I love her so much and am glad that I was blessed to have her in my life. On this day, we celebrate her birthday. Last night the hubbs and I planned to make the hour drive into Rosamond to surprise her for dinner. My dad didn't tell her where he was taking her and when she walked into the restaurant and saw us, her face said it all. I am glad that we were able to surprise her and have a wonderful meal to celebrate her!

One of my favorite memories of my mom of all time is when we lived in Lancaster. We had all been outside washing the cars and she took the hose and lightly squirted my dad with a little water. Little did she know what an all out water war this was going to cause. My dad picked up the bucket filled with the dirty car water and dumped it on top of her. She then chased him around with the hose until he ran into the house, thinking that she would stop because he was inside. Nope, she took that hose and full blast hit him with a stream of water, inside the house. No harm no foul because it was just water, but it was the funniest thing I can remember. That's who she is. Silly, but can be serious when the time calls for it. She is the best of both worlds! I loved her being there for me and helping me plan the wedding. Our time spent while crafting and I am looking forward to the bond that we will have when we begin our family.

I hope that her day is filled with wonderful wishes of happiness and an outpouring of love and memories! Happy Birthday to my wonderful momma! Can't wait to see you again soon! <3

I Will Remember You

Today is a difficult day. My father would have been 53 today. A little over 5 months has past and even though each day gets a little easier, I still find myself wishing that things were different. I know that I cannot change what has happened. You never realize how short life is until you come close to losing it. I lost myself for a while. Not knowing where I was or who I wanted to be. Now I know.  I have realized that I have yet to live my life. There are so many things that I want to do and I am making the point to try and do them. They aren't large things like climbing Mount Everest or things like that, but more looking past myself and seeing what is really out there.

I attempt to be less hurt, meaning when somebody does something it doesn't directly mean that they are doing it to me and I shouldn't get so easily offended. Letting things roll off my back and going with the flow. Choosing who to spend my time with. With the death I fear that the hubbs and I lost a little bit. It's needing to get that time back and return to that good place. It's gotten easier, as everybody knows marriage takes work and we both need to work and put in the effort. We both have goals and I am pushing for mine and helping to push him with his. We plan to make plans now. To experience life in all the ways that we can and to do it together. Whether its taking a trip to somewhere new, like Catalina, or doing a new sport like kneeboarding. We want to at least try something new at least once a month. So the bucket list will expand for 2012 to include all the missing things from this year and to attempt to experience life.

Today though will be a restful day. I will listen to his cd Bar Stools and Call Brand Booze and surround myself with positive people who understand me and all that I am. It will be a  peaceful time for my thoughts and to remember all the memories that I have and all the things that he taught me. 

"I will remember you
Will you remember me?
Don't let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories

I'm so tired but I can't sleep
Standin' on the edge of something much too deep
It's funny how we feel so much but we cannot say a word
Though we are screaming inside oh we can't be heard

I will remember you
Will you remember me?
Don't let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories

I'm so afraid to love you, but more afraid to loose
Clinging to a past that doesn't let me choose
But once there was a darkness, deep and endless night
You gave me everything you had, oh you gave me light

That I will remember you
Will you remember me?
Don't let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories"

 

I love you Daddy!