Crafty weekend!

Working at the hospital has been great, because of the patients mostly. I have met so many awesome people that I have met this summer and I really feel like I have known them forever. There are tons of patients who we can all just joke around with while they're still getting the workout complete; there are patients who grow their own fruits and vegetables and bring in TONS for the staff to have (one day, a patient brought in 9 trash bags with 24 ears of corn each. Can you just imagine Mom's face when I told her what was in that bag...haha!); and there are patients who I have learned a little something from.

One of the ladies is a fabulous jeweler and I swear, every day she comes in with the most unique necklace, and she has made each one herself. The one she wore at the beginning of the week really caught my eye and I had to ask her about it. Turns out that it was wire that had been carefully crocheted, beads added on in a certain order and then finished off with a hook! She told me to look on Youtube and there would be several videos that were really easy to follow. Well, I looked for a video, and sure enough, easy to follow (although, I'm not gonna lie, I got frustrated in the beginning, ha!).

First, here's the final product:

I think the most difficult part of the whole process was picking out which beads I wanted to use. Luckily, I was with Mom so she helped me picking them out: The first step was to lay out the beads in the order that I would want them. Since there are three strands, it was helpful to lay them out this way to get an idea of what it would look like. After following the crocheting instructions and making sure I had the correct number of stitches for each strand, I finished each end off with a hook, and here's what I got!: You could also braid the strands together, but I like the way they each just hang. Then this morning before church, I decided I needed a matching bracelet, so I allowed myself time after getting ready to whip one up real quick:
And finally, this afternoon I needed to make matching earrings. I started out making one of each of the following types, and I couldn't decide which one Iliked more, and everyone in the house had split opinions too, so, hey, why not make both pairs?

crabs, catches, and carrot cake

I really have no excuses as to why it has been over A MONTH since I have blogged. I could go on to say how busy I am with interning and by the time I get home I'm absolutely drained and barely have enough time to check my email, blogs and Facebook (I don't even want to think about how behind I am with Farmville, Frontierville, etc. haha). But in all honesty, who ISN'T busy these days?!? Sure, most of us are on "summer vacation," but I suppose as we're growing up, there's not much "vacation" in the name anymore!

However, this weekend was almost too fun, that I just have to blog about it!

Friday was Matt's 20th birthday! And I just couldn't wait to see him/talk to him so I could just yell "SCORRRRRRRRRRE!!!!!!" I was so excited when I turned 20 because I would've lived for a score, and now Matt has joined the club! haha.

After we both got off work Friday afternoon, we drove down to the river...Mom, Dad and Abby were already there. I surprised Matt with a banana pudding milkshake from Chick-fil-A, his favorite, and even though it's not on the menu, well, let's just say I have connections! When we got down to the river, it was raining and storming, and just not a good evening to be outside.

Saturday morning, we woke up to a great day! Got the jetski and boat put in and were ready for a fun-filled day ahead! Around lunch time, Matt's parents & brother came down to join us. Matt wanted crabs for his birthday, so we had ordered a bushel and spent many hours outside steaming & picking! It was a great experience, as none of us had steamed them before. Mid-afternoon, Matt, his dad and brother, and Abby, Dad and I went out on the boat to go tubing. SO. MUCH. FUN. Except....I'm definitely paying for it today! I woke up so sore, not sure if I would even be able to get up! I also attempted water skiing for the first time in years, and I lasted ohhh about 30 seconds. As soon as I got up, I knew my back was shot. But well worth it!

In the evening, the eight of us went out fishing and stayed out for a few hours. Besides all of the great catches, I think we just all enjoyed hanging out together and laughing! It was so much fun. I'll have to wait til later on to tell about Matt's biggest catch of the night!

Finally, as odd as it was, eating dinner at 10, 10:30 last night wasn't half bad. I don't know about everyone else, but I was looking forward to dinner, haha. Maybe because I had Matt's surprise birthday cake for afterwards! It took all that I had to not tell him that I made him a carrot cake for his birthday....his favorite! Which, by the way, I just found out LAST weekend that carrot cake was his favorite. How did I NOT know this or hear it once in the last four years?!

I hope to share some pictures later this week, HOPEFULLY. I really want to make myself find time to blog more...I admit, I miss it!