Look at This Cute Thing I Made

*WARNING:  THIS IS NOT A CRAFT BLOG.  I AM NOT A CRAFTY PERSON. I WISH I WAS A CRAFTY PERSON, BUT I'M JUST NOT.

So even though I'm not super good at being crafty, I had the urge, oh, maybe 3 months ago, to make something.  And I just finished the project.  Woo hoo for procrastination!

I wanted to make a door wreath to replace the one I had with Easter eggs (Because, as the missionaries so generously pointed out a few nights ago when they were here for dinner, that holiday is way over).  So I decided I would make a ton of fabric flowers and stick them to a wreath.  Not too hard, huh? I was a little proud of myself for the idea, actually. I didn't even get it off the internet! (Pinterest frightens me)

I bought the Styrofoam wreath from Joann's for like $4 and wrapped it with green ribbon.

I made the flowers out of material that I bought from the "leftovers" bin at Joann's.  I think they basically wrap up the last piece of a bolt of fabric that's not big enough to sell and call it a Fat Quarter.  Each piece of material only cost about $1.50 and made a ton of flowers.  I made flowers with 6 petals.  Each petal is a circle folded in sixths, with the direction of the folds facing different ways away from the center to give it more umph.  The petals are all glued to a circle of white felt (the whole sheet of felt cost me I think $0.14, and I only used half). 

I think when most people get all crafty and then talk about it they say things like "And then, simply attach Part A to Part B, cut a small hole through Circle C, tie an adjustable hitch knot around Stem D, and, voila! Your adorable product is ready!" 

That is not how I make things.  Mostly when I make things I burn myself with the hot glue gun and ask Greg "Is this cute?  I THINK this might be cute?? Do these colors even match?!?" 

And Greg says "uh.....................yeesss." And then he reminds me that he's a man, and therefore crippled in "cute," and I should be able to know cute for myself when I see it.  Sigh.  Of course, he's right. (Although, in my defense, Greg has an abnormally good eye for "cute." For a boy, anyway.) 

The flowers were made from 4 different materials, a light green with broad stripes and bird patterns, red with white writing ("Flight," "Wing") a pink with a small stripe, and a white with a light pattern of brown flowers. I started getting a little bit more creative with a packet of buttons, the centers of the flowers, and the leftover ribbon. 

It took me FOREVER to make this many flowers! I think I ended up making 30+. I grouped them really close together on the wreath when I started attaching them:

Excuse my shaky photography work:

And now it's done and hanging on my door (for the last week we will live in this apartment, anyway)!  It's surprisingly sturdy.  I think it will last a long time, and become one of those decorations that is still lying around my house in 30 years.  Hoping the hot glue holds up that long!

Here's Greg trying to escape the picture:

 Hurray for cheap crafty projects!

Items of Business

I am feeling far too lazy to organize my thoughts into a coherent essay/post thing.  So here is a list:

1. Greg is finishing up his time at JnJ. We've still got about two weeks left before the drive home.  I am really looking forward to the trip we'll take across the country and eventually getting home closer to family, but I will miss our ward, the friends we've made, and the ocean.  I will definitely miss the ocean.  If you had two weeks left to live on the seaside, how would you spend it?

2. I have officially applied to ASU's graduate program.  There's a lot I could say here.  Maybe one day I'll post about how we arrived at this decision. Maybe one day I'll post about how I feel about the possibility of being a Sun Devil (that's the mascot, right?) Anyway, I feel really good about it, and I'm excited about the program. Now we just wait to see if I'm accepted.

I just googled ASU to find a picture to put up here.  Everything says "Fear the Fork." You say Fear the Fork, I say Love the Spoon.  Especially if there's ice cream on the end of it.

3. My sister Kami started a blog.  I have no idea who might read my blog, but if you know her, and even if you don't really, you should take a look.  Her Ellie is quite adorable.

4. Not sure how to say this, but if you've been paying attention, you'll know that this is our last month to work with Brown Fertility.  I am not sure exactly what we'll do if this cycle doesn't work, especially since success rates do drop after around 4 failed IUIs.

Greg and I fast quite regularly about this, and I know it's a lot to ask, but any effort made in that direction would be so greatly appreciated.  Any prayers, as well.  I would not try to tell anybody what to ask for, but as for us, we ask that if it's according to God's will, we can be parents to a healthy baby soon.  We also ask for the strength to bear whatever He has in mind for us, and to bear it gracefully, because we know that His plan is actually the best thing for us, regardless of what we might want.  Greg and I feel very positive that things will work out.  I know that people might be sick of me talking about it, and to be honest it keeps getting harder, so that might be the last I say about that for awhile.

5. Go Spurs.

The Ole Ball Game

So Greg really likes baseball.  He played all the time growing up, and on his high school team.  (Go Grizzlies!)

Of course, this means that whenever we are in a new area (although we've been here for almost six months), we go see the minor league team at least once.  I love these kinds of baseball games--sure, by the seventh inning I'm usually somewhat bored, but there's something about baseball I've always liked.  I like being outside, I like the smell of leather gloves, I like the mowed grass and the red dirt.  Plus, baseball is just a good, solid, American sport.

So Saturday night, after spending some time at the beach, we drove downtown to go to a Jacksonville Suns game.  While we were standing in line to buy the cheap bleacher/berm seats, a guy came up to us and gave us free tickets.  Right behind home plate! This sort of thing never happens to us, but it must have been our lucky night!  It was a pretty exciting game...we were leading 6-0 in the seventh inning but the Montgomery Biscuits came back and beat us! (We decided to give the "Biscuits" a break.  After all, they're only AA minors.  All the good names were taken.)

Just chillin' at the ballpark. 

Greg trying to get noticed on the Flex Cam.  

There was a Little League team sitting in front of us.  I've never seen so much money spent on concessions before.  Anyway, they tried to get noticed for the Flex Cam too. 

Greg's panoramic shot of the park.  

I love baseball games with Greg. Let's be honest--I love anything with Greg.  My Greg is awesome.  Yesterday Greg was leading the Gospel Principles Sunday School class, and we had some time after the teacher finished his lesson.  Greg had the chance to bear his testimony about the importance of families, the incredible lessons that marriage and existence within family units can teach us, and the strength of his relationship with his own father. Father's Day was a really hard time for us last year, but I'm happy for the opportunity to move forward with Greg.  He is the best baseball player out there, and my best friend. 

Vacation Photo Dump

Well, we had absolutely a fabulous time in Orlando last weekend with Greg's family!  Here are some of my favorite things real quick:

Best Rides: Can't pick one...Rock N Roller Coaster and Hollywood Tower of Terror at Disney, the Kraken and Manta at SeaWorld.  Actually, the Manta was the best probably.  You hang sort of upside down, riding the whole thing like you are flying.  So scary!

Favorite Shows: The car stunt show and Fantasmic at Disney.  Also Indiana Jones Stunt show was pretty awesome.  Also the whale show at SeaWorld.

Best Experiences: Having the two big roller coasters finally open up at SeaWorld after everyone else had gone home due to rainstorms, and riding 5 times in 45 minutes.  Also snorkeling with the stingrays at Discovery Cove and talking to a dolphin trainer at SeaWorld for half an hour. And petting a dolphin as it swam by! Also Greg's hair after Rock N Roller Coaster (see below).  And also saying NEENER NEENER in my head whenever I saw a sign that said "Expectant Mothers should not ride."  I RODE EVERYTHING.  I ENJOYED EVERY SECOND.  THOROUGHLY.  TAKE THAT, FERTILITY FAIRIES.

Now I will let the pictures speak for themselves.  Some I got off facebook from Jenna and her awesome camera.  Thanks Jenna! :)

Downtown Disney on Wednesday Night:

 All these statues were made out of Legos:

Discovery Cove, Thursday:

 We snorkeled with stingrays and tropical fish next to a shark tank!  It was scary but so so fun!

 Us in our smashing wet suits:

 It was really rainy that day but it didn't matter since we were in the water so much.

 They were BIG stingrays:

Friday, Disney's Hollywood Studios!
Inside the Toy Story Ride line...in Andy's Room.

 Our creepy Tower of Terror picture. You can see us if you tilt your screen just right.

On the ride! 

On Main Street.

 In Star Tours...this ride is different every time you ride.

 Car Stunt Show.

Pizza Planet!

Rock N Roller Coaster 

Greg's hair after the ride.  I'm thinking this should be a permanent look. 

 FantasMic

Saturday at SeaWorld:
Dolphin Show

 Some guy Greg thought was Steve Sarkisian.  Yes, we're creepers in this family when it comes to sports.

 Rained all day and we were wet!

 Me with Baby Beluga.

 Can you guess what this is just by looking?

 ^ The fattest walrus you've ever seen.

Disney is Coming.

This is where I will be very, very soon: 

So we've been MIA the last little while because, one, Greg was taking the CFA (it's OVER, Allora!)  After a 9 hour day at the testing site on Saturday, he is done!  We find out his score within the next two months.

Also, my cousin Tania from Provo, Utah, came and visited us last week.  If I do not have easy access to Greg's phone, I am pretty terrible at taking pictures. As in, Greg and I have almost zero documentation of our first two years of marriage. But although I don't have photographic evidence, I can tell you that Tania and I went to the beach a few times, went shopping at the Town Center, took a trip to St. Augustine, and just generally had a good time.  So fun to have family come here!

Which brings me to our next adventure... Orlando with the Zollingers!  Greg's dad has a conference there (he is the Internship Director at BYU-I), and Greg's mom and three sisters are coming too!  Also Greg's brother Morgan and his family are flying down from D.C., so we will be quite the crew.  (I wish Kellen's and Matt's families could come too! We will miss them!) Of COURSE we are headed to Disney.  OF COURSE.  I can't believe we've lived in Florida for five months and this is our first time.

The tentative plan is to go to Discovery Cove this Thursday, Hollywood Studios on Friday, and Sea World on Saturday (I could be wrong.  It's been quite the process picking Which Park on Which Day).

I think I am the most excited about Discovery Cove.  It is a lesser known park where you can swim with the dolphins. Like this:

Or maybe more like this guy:

Unfortunately, it costs extra to swim with dolphins, so we actually won't get to do that (yeah, misleading, I know...I just wanted to post dolphin pictures on the blog).  But we will get to snorkel with fishes, stingrays, and otters.  If you ask Greg, he'll tell you I have a completely irrational fear of wild fish or fish not behind glass.  I don't know why. Looking forward to conquering that this weekend, my friends.

But my question is, has anyone been to the parks in Orlando before?  What are your favorite rides/attractions?  Any insider information we should be aware of before we shell out the majority of our last paycheck in order to spend three days in commercialized paradise wearing entirely not enough sunscreen?  Let me know!

WE ARE SO EXCITED.