Amsterdam Houses

I carved these stamps a few weeks ago after being really inspired from our trip to Amsterdam.

Amsterdam Stationary

Sewn Envelopes

I think these are my favorite stamps so far!

My 2009 Wish List!

For some reason, I feel Fall coming. I know it seems like a million light years away with the heat we’ve had lately…but it’s coming. And with Fall comes my favorite time of the year! Not only do I love the cooler temps, the beautiful leaves but I finally get presents!! Now I know that may sound a little selfish, me wanting presents. But you see, everything comes at once for me. I have my birthday on Nov. 10th, anniversary on Nov. 18th and then it’s time for Christmas. So whenever I want something that I consider not budget friendly, I have to wait a long time to get it! I told Normer I was already prepping my wish list and he just laughed at me. And then said, “Are you going to post it on the blog?” And I said, “Why not?”

So here it is!

1) Stamps- I already have the Landscape set of these gorgeous stamps from Yellow Owl Workshop. They are my absolute favorite stamps and I can’t wait to get the other sets!

CityscapeSeascape

Bird in a Cage- You know my love for birds! How could I not have this??

2) DVD’s- I think it’s time I own the complete set of DVD’s for:

Lost

and How I Met Your Mother

3) Running Watch- I really want a fun running watch, but I haven’t found one I like yet. I want something that will tell me my heart rate, keep my time and it would be pretty cool if it told me my mileage as well!

4) A new Catan Game- Normer and I have pretty much worn out our original Catan game so it would be nice to have a different edition!

Catan Seafarers

Catan Cities and Knights

Hurry up and get here Fall!!!!

Sandals

I really need some brown sandals. I have been looking all summer for a pair. I saw some I liked back in the Spring but I didn’t buy because it was too early…then they were all gone and it was too late.

I almost think it’s not even worth looking anymore. But tonight I decided to look online and just see if anything turned up. Um, nothing. And you know why nothing turned up? Because there are way, way too many ugly sandals taking up space.

Seriously. Please tell me that you wouldn’t wear this.

THIS is a sandal? I was on the DSW website in the FLAT SANDAL SECTION. I guess I know why they left the peep toe, because if I wore this out in the GA heat I would need all the air I could get up to my poor sweaty ankle. Ugh…moving on.

This is what I found next;

Umm…I’m sorry, I forgot to bring my sword and shield to work with me today but I did remember my shoes! Seriously?

And the next two would be in the same category….
??

Seriously? I know I am not Ms. Fashionista, but I just can’t imagine any normal person wearing these “sandals”…..

Owl Themed Baby Shower

A few weeks ago, our small group hosted a baby shower for our small group leader, Lindsay. She is a having a baby boy in September and we decided to go with an owl theme! I found some adorable invitations on Etsy and based the whole shower on them.

I made an owl stamp (based on the invitation) that we used to decorate tree branches.

The guests were able to write a wish to the new mom and baby!

Gorgeous flowers!!

Yummy cupcakes!

Nametags…

Here’s the shirt I made for the new addition to the Speicher Family!

Boston in a Day!

This past Saturday, Normer and I flew to Boston for the day. We arrived around 10am and hopped on the T. We got off at the start of the Freedom Trail. The Freedom Trail is a 2.5 mile walk through most of Boston’s most historic sites. You just follow the red bricks throughout the city. We didn’t buy the $6 guidebook for the trail so we pretty much had no idea what we were looking at throughout the day…but we still enjoyed it! We also forgot the camera, so iPhone pics will have to do!! We think this is the graveyard where Paul Revere was buried…but we weren’t totally sure.

Normer and Ben Franklin.

Me in Boston!

We ate lunch at the Quincy Market. There were a ton of restaurants to choose from!

Paul Revere on his horse with the Old North Church Steeple behind him.

The view of Boston from the Charleston Navy Yard.

We had just enough time to stop by Harvard before we caught the last flight out.

We almost got to spend an extra day in Boston because the flight was full, but thankfully we got on and made it home by 9pm that night!

Amsterdam Day 2

For our second day in Amsterdam, we decided to rent bicycles and ride out into the country. Amsterdam is a not a very large city. You can easily ride your bike for about 20 minutes and be out in the country. The weather decided to be very uncooperative this day and it rained pretty much the entire time we were on bikes. Ugh. We also got very, very lost trying to follow a bike tour. We didn’t have very specific directions and man- we probably biked an hour and a half out of our way. But we did eventually find the right path and got to see a few very old windmills.

I am soaking, soaking wet in this picture. I knew that it was going to rain on us and I didn’t know what to do with my hair for the day. Ya know, I have to have good looking hair for our pictures. So I decided to go with pigtails. They are my hairstyle of choice when I go skiing, go to amusement parks or if I know I’m going to get rained on.

Another old windmill. Once we got back to the city, we returned our bikes and decided to do some more walking tours. Here, I am sitting in the middle of Dam Square with the Royal Palace behind me; just doing a little reading to prepare for our walking tour. Here is the other side of Dam Square. This is where the city of Amsterdam got its start in 1250. Fishermen built up the banks of the Amstel River with a dam and called the village Amstel-damme. We did a walking tour through Jordaan, Anne Frank’s  neighborhood. It was my favorite part of Amsterdam- the architecture was unbelievable. We were able to see this red house which is labeled the skinniest house in all of Amsterdam. The house is really not this tiny, just an entry way to a larger house behind it. Real Estate is very expensive along this canal and the owners were taxed by the amount of street frontage. So that accounts for the small front!I still can’t go over the amount of bicycles we saw or how many bridges there were.

The view in Jordaan. I’ve heard of a two person tandem bike- but a four person? This is the Westerkerk Tower. Rembrandt is buried underneath this church. The church also has a bell that rings every 15 minutes- it’s the same bell that Anne Frank would hear while she was stuck inside her house.

I love the canals!

Here is the Anne Frank house. We didn’t go in. The line was way too long for us! You can however see some of the paddle boats that we rented!

We saw a lot of house boats along the canals. Many of the were decked out with beautiful flowers.

I love this blue house. It looks like it is one of those fake houses on a movie set from this angle.

It’s not! There is the other side!

I guess when there are millions of bikes in a city, it becomes necessary to do something to make yours stick out- just so you can find it again. I really wanted to take this pink bike for a spin!After our walk we had a great dinner at a Brazilian restaurant and then called it a night! We barely woke up in time for our flight and started our long journey home.

Amsterdam Day 1

We arrived in Amsterdam last Wednesday and after a short nap in our hotel, we headed out to explore. I was able to pick up Rick Steeves’ Guide to Amsterdam before we left and I’m so glad I did. He really has the best walking tours! The first walking tour took us through the Central area of Amsterdam. This picture below is taken in the courtyard of Begihnhof. These houses have sheltered women since 1346. These women removed themselves from the world at large to dedicate their lives to God.

Our walking tour also pointed out some very interesting shops in Amsterdam. They are called Smart Shops. I’m not sure why they are called this, who knows? These stores sell drugs….and no we aren’t talking advil here.

Here’s a peek inside the display window. According to the card, the mushrooms on the left give you a medium strong visual trip. One of the mushrooms even advertised that you would get a trip to space. Um, no thank you!

This wasn’t part of the walking tour but Normer and I were quite mesmerized by it. I guess they have things like this here in the states but wow, you can put in a coin and get out a warm burger! Wow!

After our walking tour we found a place that rents paddle boats. There are many beautiful canals all through Amsterdam and we figured this would be a great way to view the city. And after about 4 hours of walking, it sure felt good to sit down!

Normer accused me of not pulling my weight in the paddle boat. It’s not true, Normer, not true.

So beautiful- we went under so many bridges!

After our hour long boat ride, we decided to head up to the Red Light District and do a walking tour there. This is not the area that you want to be out in at night. Unless you want to see a lot of prostitutes. We went during the early afternoon  and checked out this area nicknamed “Little Venice”.

The interesting thing about Amsterdam is that it is built on reclaimed land from the sea. The Dutch built dikes and built up their beaches to keep the water back. Then the dammed up a river and created all of these canals that you see today in Amsterdam. Since all of the buildings are built on a sandbar pretty much, they have wooden pilings underneath them that go down hundreds of feet. Some of the buildings are not starting to lean because the wooden pilings have shifted. If you look closely you can see that this brick building with the shutters is leaning over towards the street. Pretty crazy!

More Amsterdam coming up next!

100 Things about Stacee

It’s my 100th Blog! So here are 100 things about me to celebrate!

1) I have been to 5 continents. All I have left is Australia and Antarctica. I’m hoping to visit Australia this year. Antarctica probably never.

2) I eat a bagel with strawberry cream cheese for breakfast every day.

3) If I don’t eat almost every 2-4 hours I get really bad stomach pains and become very grumpy.

4) I sleep with a small heart shaped pillow between my knees. I hate sleeping without it.

5) I don’t wear deodorant. My armpits never sweat. I can run a 10k and my whole body will be covered in sweat except my armpits. Weird, huh?

6) I love being organized but most of the time I’m messy. I tend to not put things away and then I’ll spend all day picking things up. My roommates in college told me that my room was bipolar. One day it would look like a tornado had come through and the next day it was totally spotless.

7) I am deathly allergic to shellfish and pinenuts.

8 ) I almost died in Beijing, China in 2002. I discovered I was allergic to pinenuts when I ate a BUNCH of them in the airport. It really is a miracle that I am alive today- all my doctors said I should have died.

9) I have a very good sense of direction. If I’m not sure how to get somewhere but know what direction it is, I will just figure it out on my own without the help of a map.

10) I love looking at maps. I could look at them all day.

11) I am very forgetful.

12) I am a total clutz. I am always running in to things or stubbing my toes.

13) When I was in elementary school, I ran into a telephone pole and knocked myself out. See what I mean about being a total clutz?

14) I love coffee but I try not to drink it because it hurts my stomach.

15) I have been on probation before. It’s a really long story and it was a mistake that the city of Atlanta made. Basically, I was in a wreck and didn’t pay the complete fine because the city wrote the wrong amount on my ticket. I got a phone call 6 months later saying I missed my probation check-in and was about to get arrested. Haha. That’s when I found out that I owed the city $6 and they were going to arrest me over it. Nice, huh? I worked everything out with my probation officer and just paid the $6 I still owed. No arrests were made. And I still have a clean record.

16) I was born in Savannah, Ga and lived there until I was 6.

17) I grew up in the middle of no where- McRae, Ga.

18) I worked in a roller skating rink when I was in high school. I was a DJ and skate guard. I got to blow my whistle at you if you were skating too fast.

19) I will not watch scary movies. Don’t like them at all!!

20) I keep the clothes in my closet organized by color.

21) I hate the taste of white milk. I’ll drink chocolate milk or put milk in my tea but don’t like it plain.

22) I eat my cereal dry- no milk in it! Mainly because of #21 but also because I think soggy cereal is gross.

23) I am horrible at Math. I can’t add anything and definitely can’t multiply. I always use a calculator for any math problem.

24) My high school piano teacher would set a pair of nail clippers on the piano if my nails were ever too long. I couldn’t even grow them out for the prom!!

25) Because of #24, I still keep my finger nails cut short to this day!

26) I have never been able to keep a plant alive in my house. I always forget to water them. I’ve even killed a cactus!!

27) I’ve read the Twilight series twice. And I would totally read it for a third time!

28) I used to read books 10 hours a day as a kid. I’ve recently picked that habit back up again.

29) I have very, very, very dry skin. It’s completely annoying. I am constantly putting on lotion and it’s never enough.

30) Because of #29, I’m always putting on lip gloss. There’s nothing worse then chapped lips!

31) I put Vaseline on my face every night before I go to sleep. Helps a bunch with #29!

32) I shave my legs every day. Yep, even in the winter!

33) I’m a middle child.

34) My brother is 3 years older than me.

35) My sister is 7 years younger than me.

36) I suck at playing sports.

37) In middle school, I signed up for the tennis team. I have NO idea why I did this. My partner and I lost every single game. It was mortifying.

38) I can’t do a cartwheel.

39) I tried out to be a cheerleader in 6th grade. I didn’t make the squad because I couldn’t do a cartwheel. Sad, huh?

40) I have played the trombone since 5th grade. Band was the only organization that didn’t reject me.

41) I can play 5 chords on the guitar. And I can play them really good too.

42) Do you remember playing the recorder when you were in elementary school? (Maybe you played the song flute?) I can play a mean recorder. You’ve never heard Hot Cross Buns sound so good until you’ve heard me.

43) The first cassette tape I owned was Michael W. Smith’s Go West Young Man. Oh yeah.

44) I was born at 10:41pm on November 1oth.

45) My birthday is my favorite day of the year.

46) I get very upset when people don’t remember my birthday.

47) I like to celebrate a birthday week. You get whatever you want the whole week before your birthday. If only the husband would play along…

48) I got really mad at my mom when she made me do chores on my birthday when I was a kid. I told her that you weren’t supposed to do anything but eat cake. She told me that she did chores on her birthday every year and I better get in there and clean those dishes! I will never make my kids do chores on their birthday. EVER.

49) I hated high school. I never felt like I fit in.

50) I hate dancing to fast songs in public.

51) I love swinging dancing though.

52) My first car was a Red Pontiac Sunfire. I was pulled over way too many times because I had a red car. Oh, and because I was probably speeding.

53) I hate asparagus. I’ll eat it if I’m desperate but I hate it. And yes, I’ve been starving enough to eat it.

54) I carry benedryll every where I go.

55) My email inbox has to say zero. I can leave no email unread.

56) I know all the words to the Little Mermaid soundtrack. “Look at this stuff, isn’t it neat?…”

57) My favorite color is pink. Brown is a close second…

58) As a kid, my favorite color was purple. I used to wake up in the middle of the night and change into my purple pajamas if I wasn’t already wearing them.

59) I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid. I really wanted to go to space camp.

60) When I take a pan or dish out of the cabinet, I always rinse it off before I use it.

61) I wipe off my library books with disinfectant before I read them.

62) I really, really, really want to be pregnant right now.

63) I want to have 4 kids.

64) The first time I flew on an airplane was after my Freshman year in college. I went to San Diego for the summer.

65) I think I’ve been on an airplane 200, 000 times since then.

66) I’m allergic to cats, horses, dogs and roaches.

67) I had a cat named Minx growing up. He was the best cat in the world. He lived outside and I would spend all my time outside with him. I would have to scrub my arms after petting him because I would start to break out in welps.

68) Minx had a sister named Missy. I loved her dearly too. She went a little crazy and my parents told me she ran away. I would lay in my bed and wish for her to come back. I found out years later that they took her to the vet and had to put her asleep.

69) I wanted to be an opera singer in college. Teaching was just my back-up plan. It turned out to be a pretty good back-up plan.

70) When I was in elementary school, my teacher was really upset because I was holding my pencil wrong. My mom had to buy these special pencil covers to “teach” me to use the correct fingers. I did eventually learn to write the correct way but I still like to do it the wrong way too. I’m a rebel like that.

71) I eat way too much food. All of the time.

72) I get sunburned very easy but then I tan.

73) I have a 3 inch scar on my back from getting too many sunburns. I had a mole removed and they had to take a lot of skin out as a precaution.

74) I am all about efficiency. If something isn’t efficient then I won’t do it. I hate wasting time on silly things.

75) I hated writing papers in college. It was the bane of my existence.

76) I was an RA for 3 years at Berry College.

77) My favorite children’s books are the Little Miss and Mr Series. Ya know, Little Miss Sunshine; Mr Lazy. My future kids will get those read to them quite often!

78) I’m an elementary teacher and I’m a crazy one. I like to talk in funny accents to my classes. They eat it up. They especially enjoy my British accent.

79) My favorite drink is Sweet Tea from Chick-Fil-A. I could drink it all day long.

80) I make really yummy Sweet Tea.

81) I have been proposed to twice because my sweet tea is so good. They asked me to make sweet tea for them for the rest of their lives. I had to reject their proposal. Mainly, because one of them was dating my best friend.

82) I am a very loyal friend. Once you are in the inner circle- you’re there forever. Seriously.

83) My first memory is of me riding in the back of a car and my mom trying to get me to take some nasty medicine. Yick.

84) I’m a news junkie. I have to know what is going on in the world.

85) I enjoy reading manuals. If I’m bored in the car while Normer is driving, I usually just pull the manual out and read that.

86) I get addicted to TV shows very easily. Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, Ugly Betty, 30 Rock, The Office. I want to watch True Blood and Mad Men but I need to get them on DVD. I’m excited about the new show called Glee that comes out this Fall.

87) I do my make up in the car while I’m sitting at red lights. I always pay attention to the light so I make sure I don’t miss it turning green. No need to honk buddy.

88) I have bad road rage. Sitting in Atlanta traffic for hours will do that to you. I mainly just talk smack about other drivers. My favorite thing to say is “G FREAKING O!!! GO!!!” I have no idea where that came from.

89) I love sweets. It’s hard to say no to sugar.

90) When I graduated college, I couldn’t find a teaching job in Georgia so I moved to Maryland for a year. I lived in the Gaithersburg/Germantown area and taught over by College Park.

91) I loved living so close to DC and took a lot of time to visit all of the National Monuments there.

92) I met Normer in November 2005 and was married to him by November 2006. We dated for 9 months and were engaged for 3 months.

93) We got married at the Margaret Mitchell House in Midtown.

94) We went to St. Lucia on our honeymoon.

95) I am starting up a girls running club and I’m super excited about it. We’re training to run a 10k in 45 minutes.

96) I am a food snob. There are certain places that I just can’t eat.

97) During college, I was so broke that I paid for all my meals with change. The cashiers always hated me.

98) I met Normer at a Fusion 20 gathering through North Point Community Church.

99) I really want to start my own business and actually make money. I have lots of ideas but no winners yet.

100) It took me almost 4 months to think of a 100 things to write about myself. Seriously.

Whew..glad that is over. Here’s to many more blogs to come!

I made a shirt!!

I finally finished sewing a button up shirt! I took a sewing class this month and we just had our last class this week. I’m quite proud of it!

Embroidery

These images really inspire me to start learning how to embroider! I have a million other things to work on right now but it is so tempting to try it out. Just look at how adorable these are!!!!

 

Embroidery by Jessie Senese Photo by Danielle Thompson

 Embroidery and Photo by Mollie Johanson- Wild Olive

If only there were more hours in my day!!!