Graduations

It has been a busy week at the Riley house. Andy and I are both graduating this year, he from college with a Bachelor of Science in Economics, and I from law school. His commencement festivities were this week, so we've been hosting family, sitting through ceremonies, and partying! I'll try to post pictures of the happy graduate soon, but here's a little snapshot of the card I made for his graduation:

I got the idea from Pinterest. Andy is a huge science nerd, and studied aerospace engineering for many years before deciding to pursue economics. He was so geeked out about the elements of the periodic table that he didn't notice they spelled out CONGRATS.

What I've been up to

To be honest, most of what I've been up to these days is dotting i's, crossing t's, and running around like crazy! Still, I've found a little time to make some fun things. I was soooo lucky that law school was less crazy this semester, so I was able to fly home to throw a baby shower for my dear friend. I was also able to find time over the last couple months to make some really special gifts.

This is a Taggie Blanket. Little ones like the feel of the little satin tags, it's got fun textures for them to play with and snuggle on. I made one for my friend's shower, and another for a friend at school who is expecting a girl. I love the little owl ribbon and the print on the brown courdoroy!

This is a quilt I made for my friend. Owls are so trendy right now, and we ended up doing an owl theme for the shower. I'd like to say I made it with love as my only motivation, but when she opened it, and everyone gasped, that was pretty awesome, too. It's still a bit wrinkled in this picture, but with all the hubub, I didn't get a chance to get a good photo after I washed and pressed it.

To go with the owl theme, we had guests at the shower share "Words of Wisdom" with the Mommy-to-be. The notes people wrote were so sweet!

Here's just a little shot of the decor my mom and I made for the shower. It was so darling! There are little owls on most of the flags, which were tied along 16 feet of bannister!

Flower Belts

So, I posted my quick photo yesterday of the flower belt I made for my friend, and then, thought "Hey, I'll post it quick on Pinterest." And then it went viral. That is, considering that in the picture you can't even tell it's a belt, and then 25 people I've never met commented on it or posted about it, I would say it took on a life of its own. So, I thought I'd show you the other two belts I made for me!

Here's the one that is very similar to the one I posted about before:

And here's the fun yellow one with the daisies:

I made two of the yellow ones so I can have a gift handy for a friend's birthday in a couple weeks. I might wear the yellow one to a baby shower with that blue and white dress this coming weekend.

Here is the link for the tutorial I used to make the belts: http://www.according-to-kelly.com/2011/09/diy-flower-belt-from-your-homebased-mom/

A springy belt, and stellar knockoff

So, I have a love affair with the clothes at LOFT (formerly Ann Taylor Loft-not sure when that changed.) Anyway, I occasionally find a bargain or two, but mostly, I ogle. I was at the mall earlier this week, and couldn't help popping in to look at the pretty stuff. And I saw this darling belt: (sorry the belt itself is so small in the pic)

So, I was in love. I adore the combination of the pale pink, bright coral and taupe. I felt pretty confident, though, that I could create such a specimen for less than $39.99. I'm not saying that's outrageous to spend on a belt, but I wasn't about to spend that when I could make 6 for that price. That's when I remembered that I had seen a tutorial online last spring to make this flower belt:

I never got around to it then. Story of my life.

I dug up my notes on it and set out to the craft store. One thing that was challenging was finding the right contrast of peachy pink, with punchy coral, and the taupe to balance it out. While I was at it (I have lots of friends with birthdays coming up) I picked up stuff to make a yellow belt with daisies on it, too! Pics of that one to come soon.

So here's what I ended up with. I apologize that the only pic is of the flower part on the table. I was hurrying to finish it before I took it as a gift to a birthday party last night!

The belt part looks exactly like the one above (with the ribbon and D-ring closure). My friend was really excited about it! I bought extra supplies, so I'll probably have to whip one up for myself. Oh, did I mention that the whole project took about 20 minutes? Yep, and the divided cost was less than $7 per belt. I'm quite pleased!

I don't have time to blog in 3 places

I was asked to share about Christian activities at the law school, to go on a blog for prospective students, and since I'm way too busy to write unique posts for that, this blog and the school's Faith Blog, I've copied and pasted it here for you :) But I promise a unique fun post just for you soon. I've been busy doing mostly fun things, so I have lots of good stuff to write about!
All my love,
Kelli

The original post is available here. If you go the original post, there's a pretty cute picture of me (because that would evidently entice potential students to want to come here).

I have had a wonderful experience here at St. Thomas, especially with opportunities to deepen my faith and stay connected with God’s calling. I’m delighted to share with you!
I’m a 3rd year (3L) here at St. Thomas, so I’m almost done with law school, which seems crazy! I was excited coming here after learning about the daily Reflection Period, from 12:00-12:30, where time is set aside for worship, prayer, meditation, even yoga. There are no student group meetings and no professors or staff hold office hours; it is a time set completely aside. Daily Mass is offered in the chapel, and there are also several other opportunities to use that time for centering yourself.
When I first started at St. Thomas, I attended a gathering called Weekly Manna during orientation week, and have stuck with it ever since. The group gathers each Wednesday during the law school’s designated Reflection Period. I always compare it to an adult forum or adult Sunday school. We have lunch, then usually open with a reading, feature a speaker reflection (often a member of the faculty), and close with communal prayer. It’s a great chance to connect with other Christians and get free lunch!
As a 1L, I wanted to have more frequent opportunities for Christian worship, so I worked with a few other students and faculty to set aside a room for quiet prayer and reflection each day, as well as start a weekly Bible study, and a weekly Christian worship. Earlier this year, two 1L students wanted to start a prayer group. I helped them get organized, and they now meet every Thursday morning from 8:15-8:45 for breakfast and communal prayer for our community and the world. It has been wonderful to have the administration and faculty be so supportive of students who want to start new activities for spiritual nourishment.
The Bible study has since grown, and Christian Legal Society is working on launching a daily Discipleship group that would gather every day during the Reflection Period for scripture, prayer and fellowship. So, coming soon, there will be not just a quiet space, but actual activities each weekday during the Reflection Period for Christian faith enrichment.
And there’s even more: Prof. Susan Stabile leads several series throughout each semester called “Retreats in Daily Living” that gather weekly, and provide prayer material for each day of the week during the 4-8 week sessions. There are also several Mid-Day Reflections. While she comes from a Catholic perspective, I find it easy as a Protestant to connect with the material. It’s another great community to plug into. She and other faculty also lead Vocation Retreats at the beginning of every semester that help students to focus on God’s calling in their vocation as law students and future lawyers. I have benefited greatly from both the Vocation Retreats (I’ve attended 4) and the Retreats in Daily Living. Her blog contains most of the info on these, http://susanjoan.wordpress.com/, including podcasts of recent sessions.
As I said, St. Thomas has been more than a wonderful place to attend law school; it’s been a nurturing environment for my faith and focus on God’s calling for me.

Owl always love you

I made this owl card after seeing someone's post on Pinterest, which is the American woman's new obsession.

I think it came out so cute! I got it all finished, but something was just missing, so then I added the little pink feet and voila! It wasn't quite as easy as it would have been if I could have used a cricuit, like the original pattern, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. One of my friend's is a Big Sister, and we're making Valentines again this year with her Little Sister and these will be perfect!

I was perusing the books at Target, and something caught my eye. Ok, you've busted me, I'm obsessed with owls. They are so cute, and they are everywhere! I saw a whole book of cake pops, with owl cake pops on the cover. I quickly paged through it and thought "I can do that!" I think I'll need more practice, and I can definitely see the advantage of dipping the pops on sticks instead of my method, which had some "special" results. I was also too lazy to go out and buy the right stuff to decorate them, so they could be a lot cuter. I'm going to make these again this weekend and play around with them more.

For those of you not on the cake pop/cake truffles bandwagon already, here's what I did:

Cake mix & ingredients to make it according to directions

1 can frosting

Chocolate chips

Almond bark

Bake a boxed cake mix according to directions. Doesn't matter what pan since you're going to crumble it up later. I did dark chocolate cake. Let it cool about 30 minutes (don't wait too long, or the next part won't work well). Cut it into hunks, then carefully crumble each hunk into a large mixing bowl. I say carefully because my cake was still really toasty, so don't burn yourself. I crumbled it as fine as I could by hand, then I used a metal spatula to short of chop it up more. You want it to be pretty small crumbs so you don't get lumpy truffles. While the cake crumbs are still warm, stir in one can of frosting (16 oz.), flavor of your choice. I did chocolate because I had it on hand. Since the cake is warm, the frosting sort of melts into it pretty easily, but keep stirring until you get a relatively smooth mixture, about the consistency of raw cookie dough. I used a cookie scoop to make even portions and then rolled each portion into a ball, about walnut size. I flattened the bottom a bit when I put them on the cookie sheet so they wouldn't roll all over. You might need two cookie sheets to fit them all, getting about 40-45 balls. Once they are all rolled, pop them in the freezer at least 30 minutes. I did about an hour, then set them out for a couple minutes before I dipped them. Melt about 6 oz. chocolate almond bark (could do regular white or the candy melts) over low heat. In fact, do it as low as possible to keep it melty and smooth, turning off the heat once it gets melty enough. Some of mine came out goofy because the chocolate was too hot (or not hot enough.) Carefully dip the bottom of each chocolate chip in the melted chocolate to use as a "glue" to stick it the cake ball. There's probably an easier way to do this-maybe use a spoon to dab it on? You need two for each owl, placing them for ears on top. Since the cake balls are really cold, the chocolate sets pretty fast. By the time I got all these done, the first ones were all set. Using a fork to rest the ball on, ears up, use a spoon to drizzle the melted chocolate over the whole ball, tapping gently to get excess off. Slide the covered cake ball onto a wax-paper lined cookie sheet. While the chocolate is still warm, decorate. I would recommend M & Ms for the eyes. I had lots of almonds around, so I used sliced almonds for the wings and slivered almonds for the beaks. I had spinkles in Christmas colors, so I did white and green eyes. Like I said, room for improvement. I'll have to post pictures once I improve :)

Winter Fun

I can't count how many blog posts I've started with "I'm still alive!" This is the worst I think it's been since coming to law school, and I have no excuse because I haven't been all that busy, considering. Oh well, I'm back. And I have pictures!

Andy and I went to an art display of Ice Shanties on frozen Medicine Lake. People here fish year round, and in the winter, at least they have the common sense to take a little hut with them to keep warm in out on the frozen lake. Some artists banded together to create artsy ice shanties and invite people out to visit them. They were really neat! However, out on the frozen lake, there's nothing to break the wind, so it felt like about 5 or 10 degrees, even though on land, it was closer to 25 degrees.

The one of me with the green moustache and goatee is from one of the interactive art projects. There was a daily newspaper, all done with hand-set metal type on a letter press; a dance hall, complete with disco balls and DJ; and a vacation get away, with headphones playing beach sounds! There were lots of other neat things, but those were my favorites. The photo of Andy wearing the walrus hat was part of the ice bicycle area (not sure what the hats had to do with it other than to be silly, but still fun). You can see a pair riding the tandem walleye bicycle above.

All in all, we're hanging in here, with both Andy and I in our LAST semester of school! It's been pretty bearable since the weather has been very mild for winter, and we actually have some free time again.