Thursday, April 15, 2010

Long time...

So it has been a while since I have been on here doing much of anything. 
I had a tooth pulled and I got this wonderful thing called dry socket and it was TERRIBLE. 
So i have been pretty much just relaxing. 


Also i just started classes and I have 4 classes and papers for every class every week. *sigh*
But I am loving my new major. 


This Saturday I am singing at the American Cancer Society Relay for Life and I am so honored to be a part of that. It is something very close to my heart, considering I lost my grandmother to cancer 3 1/2 years ago. I will be singing 5 songs. Sheesh. 


So I have been spending time perfecting the songs and learning the words and all that fun stuff. 


I am sure I can post some videos on here after. :)


Hope to be back to everything soon. 
<3

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Candle mishaps....

So I have been getting really heavy in this candle making business... 
Learning as I go along... 
The first thing I really learned was well... here is a picture to show the mishap...

First of all it sort of shrank at the bottom... 
Then the color got funky... 
I found out it is NOT good to use a liquid candle dye AND liquid scent... 
The oils in it caused it to get a funky color. 

So I decided I was going to take the candle out since it had shrank and start over... 
Well my boyfriend helped pull it out and it shattered and he sliced his thumb open... 
Oops. 

So the new candle I used the same liquid scent but I used Crayola crayons for the coloring... 





I think it turned out much better. 
Still waiting to see the finished product when it is dried. 
It always changed when it dries... 

But I have really learned that candle making is not as easy as I thought it would be... 

And me being a perfectionist makes it even more frustrating... 

But we shall see how it all turns out :)


Monday, March 29, 2010

New Mosaics

So I have been really into making the mosaic candles... Here are a few that are finished..

Here it is lit up...


This one I used a new grouting for that was more water based... I don't really like the look of it as much as I do the other grout... and it was VERY hard to clean up... 



Here is one before i did the grouting... 


Grouting is finished... I like this grout a lot better. It is more of a sand based.... 



And all lit up... 

I just love these... 

Now I need to start working on some more regular candles. :)

This is too fun. 

Friday, March 26, 2010

New Candles

So I have been working on a couple of projects... One of them is of course candles.
Today I worked on a few so i will put the pictures up...

Here are 2 mosaic candles i have done (yet to be grouted)
I thought about doing white grouting but then I didn't want to mess up the white pieces in the tiles...


Here they are finished...





I think they turned out really good. Love it. 
Up for sale... :)



Rainbow colored candles I made for a friend...



Here they are finished... 
I didnt let them set long enough before moving them so it caused some of the colors to run together and i tried moving wax from one candle to the other which I will never do again :)
Learning along the way. 


Oh well... For a newbie I think I am doing pretty well... 

Already have 3 orders :)

Great Christmas presents.... 


Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Feeling Spring today...


I just had to take a picture of these...
Maybe it is the creative mood I have been in lately...

Here is another candle I made today. 
Of course I had to make a candle for my team... 


Go Canes!

Well looks like this will be something I will need to continue doing... 
I bought a huge brick of wax and already have an "order" for a rainbow candle. 
That will be fun :)

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Candle Making

So today i got started on making my candles. 
I had a lot of left over wax around the house and decided it was time to stop buying candles and put some old ones to use. 

So I dug all the candles out and separated them to have the same colors in the jars. 
This was my original intent. 

So I started burning the first candle. Well I didn't have as much wax as I thought I did so I let it harden a little. While it was hardening I was melting the other colors to add on top... 
I had to make my own double boiler so I just used a larger can and filled it with water and put a smaller pot so that it was sitting half in the water and half out. I boiled the water so it got mostly steam to melt. 

I then put the wax in the bottoms of the holders using a tacky wax. It worked well but one of them came out so I had to make sure I pushed them in pretty hard. 
I forgot to find sticks to tie the wicks on so I had to use pens :) Just to make sure the wax stood up straight. 

I made about 6 candles and did 2 different colors in all of them. 
Some of them are in fogged glasses so you can't really tell the colors... 

 This is purple wax on bottom, light blue on top. 


 Same color different lighting


 This one is light blue on bottom and green on top. 
                                                    You really can't see in this picture, foggy glass. 


Here you can see it better in a clear glass. 


 This is the blue and green dried. 


 Same picture as above, just looks darker. 


Then just for some grins and giggles... 
This is how my son dressed himself this morning... all on his own... He sure has good taste, must get it from his mama :)

 Cheesing away....


 Making a goofy face. 


And this is how he dressed himself this afternoon, again all on his own... 



He likes to take pictures by the stairs so he can put his arm out ;-)

(Oooh look at that messy basket... it is a show basket and my son threw that bag in...  So sweet of him )

Well I am done for tonight. 
Going to get some more stuff to make my own candles and some more mosaic candles. 
:)


Saturday, March 20, 2010

New Moon Release

This has been interesting trying to change my background and all of that jazz... 


So yesterday I had my wisdom tooth removed. So I have been a little incapacitated... 
Well The New Moon DVD came out at midnight and a friend of mine went and picked me up a copy of it from Walmart. Well we then found out it had none of the extra's such as deleted scenes. 
So we found one at Target since they ALL offer different versions of the movies, so I ordered it on there. 
Come to find out my boyfriend had been planning on going to Walmart and buying it for me... but since I had someone else do it, it saved him the trouble :)
I am just amazed every day at how very blessed I am. 
I have an amazing boyfriend who treats me like a queen. 
He lets me do all my silly crafts even if I give up and leave a huge mess. 
He doesn't complain when I sing loudly in his ear in the car like a goof. Or when I sing in the shower. 
Not that it is bad but I like to goof off and be loud and goofy. And he loves it. 
Perfect. 

Thursday, March 18, 2010

From A-Z about me.

A. AGE: 22... Still young but since having a baby it is crazy to me...

B. BED SIZE: California King! Love it, couldn't live without it.

C. CHORE YOU HATE: Dishes...

D. DOG'S NAME: No puppies... I do have a son whose name is Tristan... He is 3 years old and the light of my life.

E. ESSENTIAL "START THE DAY!" ITEM: Shower or if I did the night before, wash my face...

F. FAVORITE COLOR: Soft Pink and brown. (polka dots are the fave:))

G. GOLD OR SILVER: Silver or white gold...  Although make up I would prefer gold :)

H. HEIGHT: 5'5".

I. INSTRUMENTS YOU PLAY: no instruments, just my voice. I would love to learn guitar and piano so I could write my own songs.

J. JOB TITLE: Stay at home mother, student.

K. KIDS: Just my 3 year old son.

L. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: Apartment with my son and boyfriend.

M. MOM'S NAME: Linda (biological), Brenda (adoptive)

N. NICKNAME: Niki or mommy...

O. OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAY: When I had my son. . .

P. PET PEEVE:  People who start unnecessary drama. I am a grown woman and I do not want to deal with childish drama. Girls who should be acting like women acting like spoiled brats...

Q. QUOTE FROM A MOVIE: Ooooh right off the top of my head would have to be "You had me at hello"...

 It is just truly how I feel about my boyfriend... we have been together for a year and it just feels wonderful every single day...

R. RIGHTY OR LEFTY?: Righty

S. SIBLINGS: One half sister, adoptive sister and brohter"

T. TIME YOU WAKE UP: When my son walks in my room and asks for gummies or juice.

U. UNDERWEAR: Well I am about to go to sleep and have PJ's on.... so none. Sorry... TMI

V. VEGGIE YOU DISLIKE: Spinach... not a big fan.

W. There was no w on here... and I can;t think of something to add in here...

X. XRAYS YOU'VE HAD: Knee. stomach. ankle, elbow... I used to get hurt a lot... as a kid. Hee hee.

Y. YUMMY FOOD YOU MAKE: Chicken Broccoli braid. Amazing. And I can make a mean pot roast. Hee hee

Z. ZOO ANIMALS YOU LIKE: I feel terrible for the animals in the zoo... But I love White Tigers.

We recently went to a zoo and found out that all of the animals there were animals that had been hurt in the wild and they were rescued.  So that was good to know they weren't just captured for attention... But it is a little sad, we use these poor wounded, some once wounded, animals for entertainment and profit. 


I do love aquariums and sorry I just love them. Seeing the sharks and the different kinds of animals... Seals, otters even stingray. 


Ok it is really time for bed now... 

Mosaic candles-Updated!


Here they are finished. 

Here is how they look lit up :)

I thought I would have a preference to the orange one but I really like the blue one...

I was cleaning house and I found so many half full candles that the wick had burned out in... So I decided instead of throwing it away I would Recycle my candles. 
So I cut them out of the glasses they were in and have them waiting to be melted down. 

While at Michael's Craft Store getting the wicks for the candles I got the bright idea to do 
mosaic candle holders... So I bought the supplies to make mosaic votive candles. 

So I got some wick and wax to hold it in the candle holder. 

glue and mosaic pieces and the grouting

I had to hammer the mosaic pieces myself... 

Then I started gluing the pieces onto the candle holder. 
This is what I have so far. 


Next I will have to do the grouting, polishing and finishing. 

So I have finished the grouting. 
This is what it looks like right now. 


Next I have to let it dry about 15 minutes and then wipe the grout off of the tiles. 




So here it is once I wiped the grout off. I am excited to see what it will look like when dry! 
I probably wiped a little too much grout off but I still think it looks amazing... 

I will have one more picture to share once it is finished with a candle in it :)

I am going to do a second candle with the bluish and aqua colors. 
(I think I may like the look of the orange one better... )
I am really excited and think this is something I will continue doing....

I am just planning on melting the wax from my old candles in a pan on the stove. Then poring the way into the candles. I think I am also going to mix the colors... maybe stack the colors. 
I think it will be a lot of fun. Can't wait to see how it all turns out. 
I will post more pictures as I go. 

If these turn out good I may even do more of the gold and garnet color... 
and of course I will have to make a Miami mosaic candle for the house!!! Go Canes! 

This could be a good idea... Maybe make game day mosaic candles... 
Hmmm.... *rubs chin*


Ta-Da!

To sleep I go. Dentist appt to get a wisdom tooth pulled... While I might add my boyfriend will be jumping out of a plane... Grrr... But I am very nervous so it is time to go to sleep now. 

By the way, 
If anyone has any good ideas for candles... I am looking to use the existing candles I have so if you have any good ideas on how to spruce up old candles, let me know. 
Thanks,
Good night. 


Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Classes are out for 2 weeks.

So I FINALLY finished my classes for this quarter so now I have a nice 2 week break. Phew. I was going crazy with these classes. It was really starting to wear me down. But now I have changed my major so I will be a lot happier. . . I was doing Accounting financial management but I knew if I went through with this I would never go with my real dream. Psychology. 


Right now the school I am at does not have a Psychology so for my Associate's degree I am going to be doing Criminal Justice specialization in Psychology. Then for my Bachelor's I will go for straight psychology specialization in child's psychology. 


So anyways now that I will have a few weeks of time on my hands I have decided to start doing more in the house.  Laundry and all that jazz. Also we have so many candles in the house that are done but still have lots of wax left so I am going to go and buy some wicks and make my own candles. Maybe I will try to make them all different colors... not sure if that will work though:) 
So that will be my little home project for this week. 


I will need some ideas for something new next week. 

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today was such a fabulous day! My honey woke up early and took Tristan and they went and bought me stuff to make me breakfast and he bought me a balloon and a gold chain.

They let me sleep in and I woke up to "Mommy!" and my son's smiling face and my honey next to him! My son said "Mommy it's your birfday!"... So cute!

 He made me a fabulous breakfast! Strawberry pancakes and Bacon. 
He cleaned the house from top to bottom, literally. That was my favorite gift by far :)

So today I have gotten the opportunity to relax and do absolutely nothing! He has treated me like a princess!

This has been me today! 
I am his princess and he is my prince! 
<3 <3

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Weekend Get-A-Way

My Birthday Month... :)
So I have always been a spontaneous person, but since having a baby I have not been able to indulge in that... Well my chance came last Wednesday. 
My best friend lives in Kentucky and said she was going skiing and wanted us to come. Original plan was Paoli peaks in KY in a hotel that she was paying for. Then it changed to Gatlinburg TN (shorter drive too!) in a cabin in the mountains! So needless to say, I talked my honey into it :)
So we left Friday night and arrived to a beautiful cabin in the mountains. 


Spent some time in the hot tub, (the water was a little hot at first) 


The next day we hit the slopes. Mind you I have NEVER seen snow for real. 
This is Marci, Shay(her hubby), Jacob (my honey) and me. 


We skii'd, we laughed, we fell and then Marci hurt herself but it was so much fun! I only get to see her about once a year so it was so wonderful to go and spend some quality time with her. 
We went home had some drinks, grilled some steaks and played alot of pool. Along with Shay peeing out the window... Look out below!!
The next day we went to a place called Wonderworks. 
There was a lot of neat stuff there. There was this tunnel you walk through and the walls are spinning around and it made me very sick :(  

Before that we had gone to a little theme park along the way and there was this ride that I have always waned to go on but I have a very LARGE fear of heights... So I tried beating it... 


Yes that would be me and Jacob... a "few" hundred feet in the air... upside down!

It was so much fun, scary as hell though I will not lie. 

Ha ha posing for the camera... liked the clothes, not sure about the face I am making :)

But I think it was THEE best trip I have had in quite a while. 
Soo many pancake houses there though. Which was good when we wanted breakfast at noon, since McDonalds does not serve breakfast after 10 (Which I think is so dumb by the way). 
But we had such a good time. 

Me and my Bestie!!
Yes, me goin down the slopes :) Weeee


Then for my Birthday present I wanted to go to the zoo with my family. Me, Jacob and my baby boy. 


We saw monkeys, and tigers, and bears. 
My son had a close encounter with a giraffe


He thought it was so funny though watching the monkeys pick their boogers, then eating them....ew!!! 


It has been such a wonderful week. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful life right now! 
Tomorrow I am going to an old friends for dinner at her mom's house. She lives in North Carolina so it will be really nice to see her. 

Well that is all for now. Just a little update. 
Time to go ni-night :)





Friday, February 12, 2010

"Not Alone"- Linkin Park

I just LOVE Linkin Park... I just think some of their songs are so beautiful... they just cut right to the point... This is a new song they did for the "Donate for Haiti CD" Which you can go on the site and download it for yourself too...  This is just one of the many uplifting songs on the CD... Sometimes we all need a little something to lift us up and make us feel a little bit better after a hard day... and for me Linkin Park is easy to listen to... well most of their new stuff... I just really enjoy it.


"Not Alone"- Linkin Park

I break down, fear is sinking in The cold comes, racing through my skin
Searching for a way to get to you
Through the storm you...

Go, giving up your home Go, leaving all you've known
You are not alone

With arms up stretched into the sky With eyes like echos in the night
Hiding from the hell that you've been through Silent one, you...

Go, giving up your home  Go, leaving all you've known
You go, giving up your home  Go, leaving all you've known
You are not alone You go, giving up your home
Go, leaving all you've known

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Days of Change

So lately I have had the thought of cutting my hair off... Something like chin length. I have had it before and I think I want it again. But I am not sure if I have the guts to cut off 2-3 years of hair growth... My hair does not grow like a weed.
I am just the type that always has to have a change. NO matter the cost :)
Not sure how Jacob will feel about it. He likes it longer, I am tired of ripping my hair out when I brush it... Thank you to the girl who highlighted/melted my hair off. 
No matter what I do, I cant get it back to normal so why not just cut it. 
On a lighter note, I will be traveling to KY after this quarter is up... in another 5 weeks... *sigh*
Never goes by fast enough. 
But it will be fun. Not sure yet if Jacob is going.... Probably not, which will suck. :(
But a nice vacation is in order for me. 
And this month is my first Valentines day with my sweetheart. And it is also my birthday month :-)
So this shall be a fun month. 
A lot of things to look forward to. 
Ok time to work on school... 

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

A mother's worst fear...

So there are some things that every mother fears. There are 3 words that can bring anger at the moment and tears later that night...  It usually happens to all mothers... At least someday. 
And my day just so happened to be today. 
The 3 words I dread, I hate you. 
Yes, my three year old son, told me he hates me. 
It was nap time, and had been an early morning, and we were heading upstairs to go ni-night. 
Well he decides he wants cheese, I said later. And the tears started flowing. So I said son no, go potty it is time to take a nap. And he says "Mommy I'm mad I hate you" Waaaahhhhh....
SoI say what did you say, because I am thinking to myself, there is no way this kid just said this to me. And he says I dunno. Finally get him to tell the truth... So I yelled, got mad, layed him down in bed and then walked in the bathroom where I saw the soap. 
So I walked back into his room and made him taste it and told him the next time he ever, ever says that to me or ever talks back to me, 
He will eat soap. 
So now needless to say, he has a little fear of soap. 
Hopefully this doesn't become one of those weird fears that grown up's have that they remember from their past and he just cant understand why he is so afraid of soap because then I might feel bad. 
So yah, that was my fun day. 
Where do kids learn these things??
I know I dont ever say that. I have never said it to him or to anyone else around him. And he just pops out with it all of a sudden. He kept saying from his friend but the kid has been out of daycare for months now... 
Oh boy. 

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Not a good daycare... A mothers worst nightmare!


So i used to take my son to a daycare called Kids Zone. I took him out of this daycare because he used to come home with scratches and bite marks on him. The final straw was the day I picked him up and he had a chipped tooth! Talk about an angry mommy... So I saw this in the paper, the second employee in Jail for issues with the daycare... Makes me definitely not regret taking my son out of that daycare!

Here is the article from the paper today...


Another Kids Zone ex-worker facing charges

Barbara Kyle signed another name on day care center's fire inspection reports, police say

Published: Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 6:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 12:13 a.m.
Another former employee of the troubled Kids Zone USA day care center has been arrested. Authorities say she signed another woman's name on several fire inspection reports, and once even hid from the fire inspector in a dark closet.
Barbara Kyle, 39, who now lives in Atlanta, turned herself in at the Marion County Jail at 9:30 a.m. Friday, according to an Ocala police arrest affidavit.
Kyle is charged with criminal use of personal identification information, a third-degree felony. Since there was no financial gain, authorities couldn't charge her with identity theft.
The charge is just the latest in a series of problems at Kids Zone USA.
The state Department of Children and Families found an allegation of drug use inside the facility unfounded, but it did discover that employees did not undergo proper background screenings.
In December, the Early Learning Coalition of Marion County dropped Kids Zone USA from the state's voluntary prekindergarten program, alleging fraudulent paperwork.
Meanwhile, the longtime owner of the facility, Christina Perera, has been arrested four times in the past year.
Perera is scheduled to stand trial next week in connection with her most serious charge: organized fraud of more than $20,000. Prosecutors say she used another woman's personal information to secure an $81,000 loan for Kids Zone USA security equipment.
Perera, 45, was also arrested on a felony grand theft charge and two separate misdemeanor drug paraphernalia charges in just the past six weeks.
As for this most recent case against Barbara Kyle: Ocala police Investigator Steve Thibodeau said Friday that the arrest comes nearly a year after she signed fire inspections as Patricia Mann and Tricia Mann.
On April 16, 2009, fire inspector Dennis Lawson of Ocala Fire Rescue and Ocala building inspector Ron Rowe visited Kids Zone USA, 1606 N.E. 22nd Ave.
"He made contact with a person who identified herself as Assistant Director Trish (Patricia) Mann," Thibodeau's arrest affidavit states.
Lawson reportedly observed children going in and out of several modular buildings that were not supposed to be used as classrooms.
The person identified as Mann reportedly told Lawson that only the bathrooms in the buildings were being used, although it appeared the buildings were set up as classrooms.
Lawson cited the day care with numerous violations, including inadequate emergency lighting, fire alarms and exit lights. The day care failed the inspection.
Lawson returned eight days later to find the day care still had violations. In both cases, the name Patricia or Tricia Mann was signed on the reports.
Over the summer, Lawson kept returning to the day care center to find that there were still violations.
On Aug. 5, he arrived at the day care and asked for Mann. A tipster had told Lawson that the woman he knew as Patricia Mann actually was Barbara Kyle.
Employees said Mann no longer worked there. Lawson said he attempted to go into one building, but it was locked.
"Lawson later gained entry to the room and found the subject he knew as Patricia Mann, who was in a dark closet," Thibodeau wrote.
That led Lawson to track down the real Patricia Mann, who lives in Mount Dora and used to work at Kids Zone USA. Lawson talked to Patricia Mann, who was not the woman he talked to during the inspections.
Mann said she did not give Kids Zone USA permission to use her name and was not even working at the day care center during the time of the inspections.
During a photo lineup, Lawson picked Kyle out of the six photos as the person who signed the inspections as Patricia Mann.
"Kyle admitted to signing Patricia Mann's name to the documents but blamed her actions on the day care's owner, Christina Perera," Thibodeau wrote in the arrest affidavit.
(Kids Zone USA is not affiliated with Kid Zone Family Child Care Home, located a few blocks away on Northeast 19th Street.)