Sewing Projects

I am not the best sewer. I know how to and I can do the basics, but reading patterns is not my forte. So I decided to tackle this head on and try and see if I could figure it out or if I need to take a sewing class. I decided to take on two projects this week. The first was an apron and the second was a skirt. I went to walmart and bought some cheap $1.50 a yard fabric for both projects. I figured if neither of these worked out, I would only be out a few dollars.

I started with the apron, because I knew it would be straightforward and very easy. I cut out the fabric and got started on the sewing. It wasn't long into it that I bagged the directions and did things my own way.

The apron turned out really well! If I make another one like that, I will make it just a little longer, but I definetly liked my way better than the instructions. After tackleing the apron, I got started on the skirt. Again I cut it out and got started on sewing, and again it wasn't too far into it that I used the instructions more as guidelines than as an actual how to.

I think the skirt turned out really well too! I had some problems with the zipper, but apparently most people do! I would definetly make this pattern again. Jordan helped me with the hem(since it is hard to hem something on yourself) and I need to go fix it a little, but all in all it worked out great! I talked to one of the ladies in my ward and she said she would help me out with my next sewing project, which will be a lot of help when it comes to zippers and hems! All in all, I think I am like my sisters when it comes to patterns. They are great guidelines, but they don't have to be followed to the T. You can do things your own way sometimes and it is ok. Thanks again to my mom for answering the phone every time I called to answer all my questions!

Independence Day (Sort of)

In Columbus, the big Independence Day celebration happened on July 3rd this year. I don't know if it is like that every year, or just this year. Red, White and Boom is a whole day event, with a parade, tons of vendors, other activities and of course, FIREWORKS! Jordan and I decided to spend a good part of the evening downtown for it. Unfortunately, our camera batteries were very low on power, so we couldn't document it with too many pictures, but we did have a great time!

We started off the day at the parade. This is us just before the parade started.

Mario Lopez was in the parade, which was really weird. He was too busy texting ro twittering to wave most of the time, but here is one shot where he is actually paying attention to what is going on.

After the parade, Jordan, Clara and I walked around downtown and tried out the food at some of the vendors. Clara was very into people watching. At about 9 o'clock, we headed back out of the crowd so we could watch the fireworks from a place that was less congested with people, and so we could easily walk home afterwards. We found some grass to lay out our blanket on and sat and waited for the fireworks to start. As always in the Sorensen tradition, I brought along some rice crispy treats to enjoy with the fireworks! Clara loved the rice crispy treats (of course!) and was a little scared of the fireworks at first, but warmed up to them very quickly!

She wouldn't even take her eyes off of them for a picture! The fireworks were amazing, and we all had a great time! We walked home afterwards ( we live about a mile from downtown). Clara fell asleep the last five minutes of the walk and slept VERY well that night!

One funny thing that happened while we walking around was we found a knife on the ground. It looked like a kitchen knife that someone may have lost with their picnic stuff, but we didn't want to leave it there, so we picked it up and took it to the first police officer we saw. They were bicycle cops, and int he middle of a huge crowd, so they told us to find a trash can because they couldn't do anything with it right then. So we took it with us and kept walking. As we got out of the crowd, we saw another set of police officers, so I took the knife back out and started walking towards the officers with it. One of the officers saw me, and got a startled look on his face and started getting the other officers attention and said to him "Hey, that girl walking towards us has a knife, man, she has a knife!" I explained to them what happened and they took it from me and said they would take care of it. I just thought it was funny how startled the officer was!

My submission for FailBlog

I shot this great picture the other day. Think it would work for the Fail Blog?

Clara is One! Oh What Fun!

Clara's 1st birthday was yesterday, and oh what a day it was! Since we just got back on Wednesday (really Thursday, since it was so late!) we didn't do a party. We just had some family over for the fun and had dinner, presents and cake. I think the pictures and videos can do all the talking!

While I was finishing making dinner, Jordan took Clara outside for a little photo shoot. Here are a couple shots from it:
After the pictures, we had dinner. Fajitas! Yummy!
This mess is just a preview of Clara and her cake.
After dinner, we cleaned up and Harry decided to give Clara a birthday kiss (with a little coaxing!)
Then Clara got to open her presents!

My parents have a ton of Little People toys at their house and Clara LOVED playing with them, so we got her the farm for her birthday.
This is how Harry felt about Clara getting presents. In 3 weeks, Clara will get to feel the same way for Harry's birthday!
While trying to get all the Little People out of their packaging, the box was more fun for Clara and Harry.What if you could actually buy little people like that?
Once the presents were done, we moved onto the cake. I made a double layer cake, then cut out the middle for Clara's cake and frosted them both so there was her little cake and a doughnut cake for the rest of us.

Clara wasn't quite sure what was going on, but she was excited!
And then it was time to dig in! The video is a little long, but really funny. If you don't want to watch it all, please skip to the end, it is worth it! But really, the whole thing is great!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

At one point, Clara started picking up the plate and licking it.
Then she wanted to share it.

Disneyland Fun

So I am home now, but Clara and I did get to go to Disneyland one day with a bunch of my family. It was super fun, but so crowded-the park was sold out! Here are the two pictures we took.
The park was so crowded, it was hard to take pictures.

While at Disneyland, one of my very best friends, Kelsey, who lives in the LA area, came to visit with me! That alone made the trip worth while! Thanks for coming to see me Kels! Clara loves her honorary aunt!