Romantic Quote Cards

The Blogging A to Z challenge has been a tough one for me to keep up with! I have so many great posts but the weather is so awesome I've been forgetting to finish prepping and posting them! Make sure you check out my original intro post for all the other posts I've done so far, I will be trying to catch up as I have some really lovely things for y'all...but for now, lets get to the letter "Q".

In February I came up with these adorable quote cards. I gave a few to Hubby the week of Valentine's and the rest I am saving up to stick in various places in his suitcase when he will be gone for nearly two weeks in June. 

These quote cards are simple, quick to make, and can be customized for anyone or any holiday!

Mine are based on lurve because I intend to give them to my beloved, but you could easily make some for lunch boxes, or with inspirational quotes for a RAK, or even some to put in your kid(s) backpack for them to find throughout the day (I did this once and my kiddo has it hanging on her wall, melt my heart.)

So, this is what I used to make mine:

• Pencil
• Two types of card stock in coordinating colours
• Stencil from HEMA
• If you are really lucky and have one, you could use a Cricut to cut nice tags, I wish I could have brought mine when we moved to Europe, I used it all the time and have thought of numerous times when I wish I had it. If anyone from Cricut Europe out there wants to send me one, I'm game haha
• Paste or Glue dots
• Gel pen, I used metallic
• Your favorite quotes

1. Trace the stencil onto your paper, make as many as you would like ot cut out.
2. Cut those.
3. Measure and cut squares to mount on to the decorative tag you just cut out. I didn't measure mine exactly, but just made markings and after cutting that one, drew lines to mark out where to cut. (See photo, hard to explain)
4. Mount the square tag on the decorative tag using paste or glue dots.
5. Write your favorite quotes on each of the cards!

The quotes I used on them were as simple as I love you or I love you always to Every love story is beautiful, but ours is my favorite. I just googled and came up with some good ones. My favorite ones though are the song lyrics I used from our first dance song, KC & Jojo's All My Life.

My hubby really enjoys finding things like this in his lunch or backpack. Sometimes on a business trip I will stash one in his pants pocket, jacket pocket, or shirt pocket so each day he finds something different, which is what I am going to do when he leaves to the U.S. for two and a half weeks next month. Can be a nice little pick me up when you are in and out of stressful meetings. 

What is your favorite quote?

Do you do any thing special for you significant other when they travel?

Index Card a Day Challenge

In my July goal setting post I mentioned that I wanted to continue with the ICAD challenge I was doing. This is the Index Card a Day Challenge. 

I found it one day while browsing through Instagram and decided it was just what I needed to get my creative juices flowing again!

Boy was I right! I really look forward to this everyday. I've really gotten in to getting up, having my warm lemon water, reading my copy of "f**k it therapy" and then setting to work on my index card.

A common question they say is why index cards? Well, they are cheap and you don't give a crap if you screw one up. ....and trust me I have a few uglies in there! hahaha No, seriously, just wait & see...I have a "galaxy" that looks more like a colorful chocolate chip cookie!

Anyway, I wanted to share a bit of my art with you guys, so....here goes....

(...and don't make fun of me, they definitely aren't perfect lol) 

My cover card:

The prompt was yellow so I colored the card yellow with a marker, threw on two different yellow washi tapes & a cute hello in yellow I cut out from some scrapbook paper.

This one is my name, thought it appropriate I should be waving over it ;)

The prompt was Prism...so I covered the card in washi tape & did a triangle with the all seeing eye to make it more prism-ish lol

Now...what you have all been waiting for...the cookie galaxy! haha It is pretty terrible...I need to work on this...so yes, there will be more galaxy attempts.

I loved drawing the puzzle one, I think this is one of my faves...

These next two were done in honor of our 15th wedding anniversary:

Next up, since we were going to Paris and this was a total dream come true for me: 

I love this one..I based the idea off of an art project I did in high school:

Next was inspired by a watercolor bookmark I saw on Pinterest. However, I don't have watercolors right now so I used a fine liner to draw the design on and then colored it in lightly with colored pencil:

I think this is my 2nd favorite one.

Here is my crazy ass mandala...I am going to keep working on these too:

Not completely horrendous, but not great either...any tips for drawing mandalas?

I am really jonesing for a beach, can ya tell???

In high school I created the swirly sun & perfected my wave drawing, I just incorporated that over here. My "sign" when I would sign all my notes to my friends would be the swirly sun with the waves over it. Oh yes, I was incredibly artistic haha Any of my high school friends reading that remember that?!

The prompt was circus tent...I've actually only been to the circus once in my life that I remember so this is what I came up with. I hate it. lol

I was feeling just a little "weird" the day I cam up with this one. It was cloudy and crappy out and I couldn't focus on anything to save my life so ya know, I drew a rainbow....and labeled it just in case you couldn't tell what it was lol (ok, so maybe the wine was involved in the labeling)

Last but not least...a little chevron blue daba de daba die...your welcome :) ('cause you know you will have that song stuck in your head now)

All-in-all this has been a fantastic challenge to participate in and has been just the kick in the tush I needed to get my creative juices flowing again! I love that I can just sort of doodle whatever comes to mind or if I need some inspiration there are tons and tons of prompts to sift through over at Daisy Yellow! 

What do you do when you are stuck in a creative rut?

Travel the World in Books Challenge

This is like a "choose your own adventure" challenge. You remember those books...and if you are reading this and don't...I don't care how old or how young you are go check one out those were pretty fab. I'd read them all, all the way through then again & again until I'd read nearly every combination of possible stories in the book. Amazing entertainment.

So, basically we get to set our own goals for this challenge and decide how we want to complete it.

Length of time: 1 Year

Which Countries I Will Visit: Yet to be determined. I am going for 2-3 books per month so I am hoping to hit a number of countries; ideally, I would like to make sure I read at least one book from each and every continent. 

How I Will Track Where I've Traveled:

I put a bit of thought into this because obviously I want to keep track of this, I decided the best way would be Pinterest! That way I can link to the book & write a review, plus with the new-ish handy dandy map feature Pinterest has I can mark on the map where the book is located! Pretty awesome! So, come follow my board so you can keep up with where I've been! 

Book List:

I'm choosing from fiction and non-fiction. These are the books I will start out with, if any of you have any suggestions please leave them in the comments. 

A Long Way Gone

I've had this on my list to read for years...I can't wait to dive in!

The Gargoyle 

This is supposed to take place in Iceland...interesting.

Sarah's Key

I've been wanting to read this one for a really long time. I can't wait to dive in to it!

The House on Paradise Street

A friend of mine just finished this....she said it was an interesting take reading it as an expat...so I am very excited about this.

Tulip Fever

This is one set in older Amsterdam...living here I can't wait to read a bit of historical fiction, it is my favorite genre!

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat

A friend suggested I read this...I can't tell the exact setting, but I think the insight into the human brain at least will be great!

Please, please, please leave me suggestions for books with interesting settings. I am looking for good books in the Middle East, Asia, as well as Antartica, South America, and Mexico. 

This is proving to be a great challenge, I can't wait to get started!

What I Ate Wednesday: European Edition +my week in workouts of course!

Woohoo! Finally back to What I Ate Wednesday! These last few weeks were so hectic I haven't been able to even think about blogging! But, I am finally back in full force! So, over the last week & a half here is a selection of what I've been eating...be warned there are a ton of pictures.

Discovered these cookies on our flight from London to Amsterdam...then found them at the grocery store. My word are they addictive. I have to tell myself I can just have one with my afternoon coffee that is all no more. Except today, when I sort of gave in after dinner and wanted a second lol They are chocolate chip (white dark & milk) then lined on the bottom with chocolate!

Found this granola to go in my yoghurt. It is super, super tasty! Has 8 grams a protein per serving and the dates are what give it a sweet taste.

Brioche. I'd never had this before. Simply amazing. Light, sweet bread...mmmm

Found fresh squeezed juices at our supermarket! They are amazing. This one in particular. Think I may do a juice cleanse with them!

Real cream. Before we left Canada I was sometimes using whipping cream in my coffee...that stuff doesn't even come close to this. I mean seriously. It is so thick I hardly need but a drop in my coffee. Amazing, amazing stuff. 

These are so fun. When we'd left a "selling" point to the teenager was a typical dutch breakfast was bread with some sort of spread (butter, peanut butter, etc) and sprinkles. I had my bread with the shavings & she has had the rainbow sprinkles so far & we really really like it. It is a nice treat. Something fun to start the morning off.

Our first dinneri n our new apartment. Roasted chicken from the market, corn, leftover lasagna, and fruit salad.

This is the other juice I got. It is pear, mango, mint. I was sort of afraid of it, but I am currently craving it & am going to have it with some egg for breakfast!

Sweet bread, gouda, and grapes. Need I say more?!

Breakfast our second day here: eggs, salad, bread. No I didn't eat all of that bread. All the salad yes, all the egg yes, but only half of that deliciously crusty baguette!

This was heaven in a bowl. I am still trying to get my digestive tract to recover from it, but it was well worth it. This is a giant bowl of the cheesiest best lasagna from a local Italian place. I could only eat a third, then the three of us split it during our first dinner in our new apartment. I decided the next time I can have this is my birthday lol

Also, this last week I put together an insane burpee & squat challenge.

It went really well. Was super sore, especially Monday after doing all the workouts on Sunday. 

Monday I did this apartment friendly workout:

I was sweating a ton during this. I didn't think I'd be too sore though. Boy was I wrong! I was working incredibly hard during this routine and today my arms & booty are definitely feeling it!

Tuesday: 20 minute yoga for digestion. I told you I am still recovering from that lasagna lol 

Today: I will do Blogilates Ultimate Hot Body Workout along with a nice long walk around our neighborhood

I'm working on scheduling my workouts for the rest of this week and next week. Trying to mix it up and work my body in different ways.

Guest Post Swap

I am once again signed up for another swap...the best part about this one: it's FREE!!! Yup, you heard me 100% free to participate in, so it's a win-win for everyone. No buying, no packing, no shipping....just writing!



I am really looking forward to this one, as someone who is really just now getting into blogging I can't wait to share my writing on someone else's blog and also be able to share someone else's knowledge with my readers.

Basically this swap is going to be to create an article for your partner's blog that is your own unique writing but will also be valuable to their readers. I love things that help me to think outside the box so I can't wait to see who I get to swap articles with and come up with something amazing for their blog!

My Life Story in 292 words

So, today's challenge topic is: Your life story in 300 words or less. 

This was hard for me! I have a lot I want to say about my life!!! But, this is about the gist of my life in a nutshell. It wound up being 292 words in total. I can't wait to read everyone else's!!!

Mi Familia

I was born and raised in 1980 in Jacksonville, FL to two amazing parents and a great brother who was 8 years older than me. When I was 4 my parents had a home built and we moved in there, which is where I met my best friend of 28 years. I went through life like any other child, we played outside until the street lights came on, sometimes later as we would get the flashlights out and play flashlight tag. I grew up and changed into a teenager. I met my first real boyfriend in 9^th grade and went to prom, and then in 10^th grade I went to a rival high schools prom where I actually met a guy that would be my future husband.  My next year of high school, my 11^th grad year, I worked my butt off and graduated early after doing some dual enrollment at the local college. That is where I met (again) that guy from 10^th grade prom. We moved quickly and were married within 6 months of dating. That December we welcomed a beautiful baby girl into our family and he joined the military which took us on a crazy journey around the country. We lived in Lompoc, CA, Denver, Co, Satellite Beach, FL, and Orlando, FL. After we both graduated from University we moved to Topeka, KS where I began teaching and found a career field I love. After the hubs finished law school we moved back “home” to FL but it wasn't really where our hearts were so hubby changed career fields and we've since moved to Austin, TX, Santa Monica, CA, and now Vancouver, BC. I am currently a keeper of my home and starting a blog and Etsy Business.