February Cara Box

It's that time again... Another wonderful Cara Box exchange with wonderful women! If you are new to the whole Cara Box thing check it out here.

This month's theme was "date night in a box", which is right up my alley. We had to get to know the women we were matched up with and put together a package that would give them a night of fun and relaxation, whether that be a night with their significant other, their girlfriends, or themselves.

My givee this time was Meri Kate from The Ramblings of a Florida Belle. She is a sweet, fun loving young woman with big dreams... I can't wait to follow her blog ad see where her adventures take her.

My giver this month was Andrea from The United States of Andra.From emails back and forth and from reading her blog, she is a person who understands how to set and accomplish goals. She has a cool husband, an adorable little son, and she just ran the Disney Princess half marathon!
Somehow she found the time in her crazy schedule to send me this wonderful package...

As I stated before, this box had a date night theme. Andrea was so thoughtful and gave me several options for me and the hubster.




The fist bag I opened was "Movie Night"






Andrea included some of her favorite movie snacks (I love me some sour patches) and her favorite movies. Also some popcorn and super cute popcorn bags. Can't wait to have this date night!

The next bag was a "Spa Night"...






It included everything needed for a relaxing night at home. Which is much needed after working a 9 hour day with kiddos.

The last bag was an "alternate" treat... On my blog, Andrea discovered my LOVE of cereal (see my post here) and sent these really cute bowls and some single serving cereals. Admittedly, Grant had not had a single one as I have hoarded them all to myself :)

Did I forget to mention the delicious Lindor truffles she included? Oh yeah, that's because I opened them immediately and started snacking:



Thank you so much, Andrea! I hope you were spoiled too! Can't wait to see why next month holds in store.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Owl Stand in Holy Places- New Beginnings 2013

This last Wednesday, we had New Beginnings in our ward for the young women. For thise who are not members of my church, New Beginnings is a special night where we honor the 11 year old girls who will be entering the youth program in 2013 as well as the girls we already have in our group. We were inspired by this post at Hang a Ribbon on the Moon and decided to go with a Valentine's/owl theme: "Whooo Will Stand in Holy Places?".

For the decorating, we went all out with pink/red/white. There were heart garlands, tissue paper cutouts for the tables, Hershey Kisses, and milk glass vases (my favorite!). Two of the leaders had beautiful vases with pussy willow branches to keep with the woodsy owl theme.

One of the biggest projects was a streamer banner to cover the chalkboard in the Relief Society Room. Grant helped me BIG time putting it together at home. 10 rolls of streamers later, we had a beautiful backdrop that doubled as a photo booth backdrop after the program. Here is the before pic in my living room :

 

and hung up on the chalkboard.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a close up of the programs I printed up...
The favor bags were just brown lunch bags put through the printer...

with different colors of pink tissue paper for a little bit of ombre :)

We made some cute owl masks, and the girls (and leaders) loved hammin' it up in front of the camera!

I even sneaked in there too. :)

Overall, it was a wonderful night with wonderful people. So happy we could make these girls feel special.

 I. Love. My. Calling.








my iPhone

Valentines Countdown: Day 13 and 14

Happy Valentines Day from Gramanda!




I'm sad to say that our countdown has ended, but happy to report that we had a fantastic time! It's hard to imagine loving Grant any more than I already do after being best friends for 15 years, but I've somehow managed to squeeze a little more love in this heart of mine.
Here is a recap of our last two days:
Day 13: for my math nerd hubby, a chocolate calculator from Target was the perfect gift.




It's an actual calculator with a foil wrapper and chocolate scent. I found the great printable from Pinterest here. I snuck it in his lunch box before he hit the road.




Now he can think of me whenever he uses it at work :)




Day 14: The End! We both had a few surprises up our sleeve... Mine was decorating the chalkboards in the seminary room the night before...








He was Mr. Sneaky McSneakerson as well. Here was a note in my message box at work from a phone message he had left for me.




When I got home, he had flowers stuck in the wreath on the door and dinner/fondue ingredients ready for a fun night in. After dinner we watched the Paperman Disney short (perfect v-day movie for my paper airplane loving hubs).




I finally got to use my vintage yellow fondue pot!












Way too much for just the two of us, but amazingly yummy.








Even Chester joined the party for a little bit.




I'm so happy we started this new tradition... Hope you enjoyed it too!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Valentine's Countdown: Days 9-12

Our countdown is still going strong...

Day 9: I made a photo booth in the living room! I love the fun we have just doing simple, silly things.










Day 10: Grant decorated our teeny mantle with the photo booth props and our "You're My Favorite" frame.



It's definitley staying up for the rest of the week.

Day 11: Homemade heart cinnamon rolls <3.



Day 12: Came home to this note...



and this house.



Best surprise ever when you have just had a day where soemone threw up in your office and you were bitten twice. Gotta love wokring with kids. Thank you, Granty!

Only a few more days...I will be sad when it ends!

Valentine's Countdown: Days 5-8

Day 5: Grant has been waiting fro some packages to come all week and has been anxiously checking the mail each afternoon. What better place to surprise him with a paper airplane love note?






He really is just plane awesome.

Day 6: My sweet scripture chase note from my seminary teaching husband.




Day 7: Never underestimate the power of a simple note left on your husband's car while he is working.



You can find this awesome printable on my Pinterest board.

Day 8: My nerdy husband loves any excuse to make a 3D model.









This one even spun and had a beating heart :)

Happy Valentining!

Valentine's Day Countdown: Days 1-4

What is February like in female-land? It's a fairy tale! We women spend lots of time  and energy pinteresting crafty diy's, sweet treats, and gift ideas. We dream of sweet notes, grand dinners accompanied with dancing, jewelry, romance, and butterfly-filled stomachs.

Get real, right?

Valentine's Day has always been that holiday where I think a lot about myself. I will admit that while I DO spend a lot of time making something creative for my sweetheart, I am ALSO thinking of all the gifts/surprises that I would like and scretly hoping that Grant can read my mind and that I wont be the only one at work that does not receive flowers on her desk.

This year that all changed.

I present to you... Gramanda's Valentine's Day countdown. Beginning Feb. 1st, the hubs and I alternated days to serve and surprise each other. Nothing expensive. Nothing big. Just little acts of kindness to show our appreciation and take some of the pressure off.

Best. Tradition. Ever.
Here is our 2013 Countdown... hope it inspires you to serve the one you love :)

Day 1: So Glad I'm "Tied" To You Surprise



I left this note and made Grant follow the yarn to find a letter explaining our date that
night..Thai Food!



Chester loved this day.

Day 2: My favorite pizza delivered to the door :)




Day 3: I'm "nuts" about my hubby... I made lots of PB treats for my favorite peanut butter loving boy.




Day 4: A Heart Attack.



I turned on the lights in the bedroom...much to my surprise the fan truned on and I got a shower of paper hearts. I was reminded of my hubby's love all week as the hearts ended up EVERYWHERE! :)

Stay tuned for more...