I have been wanting to take a valentine treat into work.  I have  been searching blogs for just the right treat.  I think I finally found what I want to make.  I wanted to share as this would make a great visiting teaching treat, or neighbor treat.  The site even has an adorable way to present it, though I won't be doing that for work.  None of the men there would appreciate the pretty packaging.  They just want the food.



http://mydigitalcreations.blogspot.com/2011/01/valentine-party-kit-paint-can-wrapper.html

I have been putting in some EXTREMELY long hours.  I was quickly approaching the point of burn out.  My boss approached me and demanded I take a day off as to not hit my breaking point.  Marty and I took full advantage.

We left Friday right after seminary and drove to OKC.  It is a great place in life to be able to leave your kids for an overnight stay :)  (they can offer that same service to our local friends if you would like an overnight escape)  As you can expect, I took no pictures, but our itinerary looked something like this:

1 - drive to Tulsa and walk around the mall.
2 - eat a fantastic chicken salad sandwich with clam chowder at the cheesecake factory
3 - take a slice of AWESOME cheesecake to go
4 - nap from Tulsa to OKC - oh how I love an afternoon nap
5 - check into the hotel for some additional rest and relaxation
6 - head to a few stores to do some shopping, bought an IPOD system that mounts to the wall in our bathroom, 2 pair of kickin' shoes (Amanda you would totally love the purple alligator stilettos), a few trinkets at the dollar store.
7 - ate dinner at Macaroni grill.  Oh how I wish there was a M.Grill in NWA.
8 - call it an early night and head to the hotel
9 - sleep in until 10:30 - I can't believe that.  I never sleep that late.  My natural body clock goes off at 4:30.  I fought through the wake-up call and fell back to sleep.
10 - Attend the temple to witness our dear friends sealed as a family - The spirit testified to me multiple times that day the truth and importance of eternal families.  It was amazing to be in the celestial room and know EVERYONE in that room.  That is Heaven!
11 - Uneventful drive home with hubby. 

WHAT A FANTASTIC WEEKEND!  I am now renewed and ready for another busy workweek.  Thank you Jeff for pushing me to take a day off.  Thank you Addyson, Jessica & Rylee for being responsible enough to leave at home.  Thank you Marty for escaping with me.  I am a blessed woman!

Rylee and Addyson each bought a nook with their Christmas money.  They wanted to get covers at the time, but just didn't have the money.  After a few more babysitting jobs, they had the money.  We searched high and low for a cover to add a little protection to them (and personality).  We discovered they are quite expensive and just couldn't find one that was exactly like what they wanted.  As we looked, I found a spot that sold the pattern to make your own cover.  They wanted $10 just for the pattern.  That got me thinking, could I look at a cover and figure out how to make one myself?  I decided to take on the challenge.  I don't know that anyone else could use this as a tutorial as I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures of each step, but I did take pictures of all the materials and the final product.  Rylee is thrilled with hers.  Now I just need to make Addyson's.

We bought 4 fat quarters (you could use scraps if you had them, but we didn't), black buttons, black elastic.  We also used some iron on adhesive that I already had and an old cardboard box.  I spent a total of $7 and have enough materials to make 4 covers.  Rylee's cover took me about 2 hours.  I hope to be faster with Addyson's.  Totally free project if you have materials laying around your house.

 Rylee chose black and white polka dots.  Addyson chose zebra strips and a bright green (trust me it's green) solid fabric.


 I cut out the cardboard to match the shape of the nook.  I used the corner of the cardboard for one fold and added a crease a little further out for the other crease.
 I used the iron on adhesive to adhere the fabric to the cardboard.
 I used my Cricut to cut out an 'R' out of Addyson's green fabric scraps to go on the front of Rylee's cover.  This really helped personalize it for her.  To keep the cover closed I added a button and elastic loop.
 Rylee wanted a pocket to put treasures in so I used a scrap of the outside fabric to add that in.  We told her she could keep a highlighter in there.  She thought that was a great idea until she realized that you don't need a highlighter for your nook :)