Reefs, Crafting, and Other Random Things

I've seen a lot of Pinterest projects where people take a mason jar and paint the inside, or outside, with various colors of paint. I had the idea of painting a jar for myself to put by my fish tanks. Something vase-like so I could put a few flowers in the room to give it a tropical feel. I picked out a bottle that I thought would go well with my room - a bottle of Kraken. I have two saltwater tanks with various trinkets, posters, and other artwork to fit the ocean theme. I also picked out some fake daisies from Michael's in a couple of different colors. Lastly, I grabbed a bottle of acrylic paint. I started by cutting the daisies to size. The plastic stems were hollow so I had to cap the ends with some hot glue. I poured the paint into the bottle and swirled it around to coat the entire inside. Unfortunately, because of the narrow neck of the bottle, it took forever to dry!! It also started streaking inside and clumping. I almost gave up on the project

Starting in the Fall, and all throughout winter, I get really into making soup. My favorite one to make is Cheddar Bacon Soup, but tonight I am trying (for the first time) Cream of Potato Soup. The best part is that I have found a "base" recipe to use for all my soups - All I have to do is swap out any veggies and meats to change it up! Cream of Whatever Soup (makes enough for 6 large bowls) Ingredients: 1/2 stick butter, unsalted 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped 4 cups (approx) any veggies 4 cups vegetable/chicken broth 1 pint heavy cream (or ½ and ½, or whole milk)  Spices (I usually use parsley, oregano, basil, garlic powder) Salt and Pepper 1/2 cup flour (for extra thickening) Directions: 1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until soft (about 10 minutes). 2. Add 3 cups broth and veggies to large pot. Stir occasionally until veggies are cooked. Add onion. 3. Add cream, slowly, while stirring. Seaso

I always thought it would be pretty cool to have a saltwater tank, but considered it too difficult, figuring it would take a lot of hard work and patience to have a happy salty environment. Well, about two and a half years ago I found a great deal ($100!) for a 29 gallon BioCube - an all-in-one system that came with tank, lights, pumps, sand, rocks, a couple snails/hermit crabs, a few corals and an urchin. It had been neglected for a while, was low on water, and the sand was extremely dirty. I was so nervous those first few months! When I got my first fish (two clownfish I named Lenny and Squiggy) I was so concerned about their happiness and well being, I gazed at the tank for hours making sure they looked ok and like they enjoyed their new home. I made sure to clean the tank every week, and siphoned the sand diligently to help get it (and keep it) clean. As it turns out, it's not terribly hard to take care of saltwater tanks. One a week I change out 20-50% o

I read a statistic recently, that over   40% of couples get engaged   in the months of Dec, Jan, and Feb. There are even a few articles floating around on places like The Knot and Wedding Wire that back this up. Tis' the season for wedding planning! It makes me really glad that my FIANCE (awwww) proposed when he did! Within two weeks we had the venue, officiant, photographer, and DJ booked! It really helped that I had sneaked a peek at a few venues before hand. Shh! We looked at three venues a week after our engagement and it worked out that all three had open appointments within a few hours of each other - we knocked them out in one afternoon. I had a two page list of questions for the venues, but at the first meeting I really only went through about a third of the questions. Some questions are need to know and a "wrong" answer could make or break the decision to have the wedding at a particular venue - How many people can you accommodate? What is the price

There are many people who think 2016 was an awful, horrible year. With the seemingly high number of celebrity deaths, and the great number of people disappointed in the election, many are looking forward to 2016 being over. However, I think 2016 was a great year! In March, I bought my very first, brand new car. In April, I moved in with my boyfriend. Though my boyfriend had a rough summer working late nights and weekends, we managed to go to two amazing concerts and plenty of summer fests, making it one of the most fun summers I've ever had. December was probably the best month of all - I got a new job in a different department at work and my boyfriend proposed! It was a great ending to 2016, I'm incredibly excited for 2017 and all the new adventures I'm sure are in store!