Vintage

I love watching Martha Stewart and sometimes she shows a craft that I just have to try! Back in December she had a girl on that showed how to make flowers out of zippers. I thought it was such a great idea! I went to my local fabric stores and couldn't find any of the zippers that she used. She used zippers with metal teeth and the fabric of the zippers were in cool colors. The zippers at the stores had plastic teeth that matched the fabric so there wasn't much of a contrast, which I think makes them so unique. They do have black and white zippers at the store with metal teeth, but I wanted fun colors. I searched high and low online and I did find a couple places where I could order them, unfortunately they were super expensive! I was talking to Travis' mom about my problem to see if she knew where I could find what I wanted. She just so happened to have seen exactly what I was looking for in her mom's things! She put them in the mail right away. She sent me her mother's stash and it was more than I could have asked for. There were beautiful, vintage zippers in a pretty purple, a light and dark green and white. Each zipper makes two flowers so I was wondering what I could do with the extra. I thought it was a good idea to make the ones I wanted and then use the extras to make flowers for Travis' sisters/in law. I also bought some pink and purple plastic ones for all the nieces in both our families.


I like to bobby pin mine in my hair. You can attach a brooch pin and wear it as a brooch, or pin it to a bag, there are numerous things you can do with them.

All of the girls with our flowers.

Here are the nieces on my side of the family with the flowers. I attached a hairband to theirs.

Diaper Bag Dilemma

I've been eyeing diaper bags for years now and I need to find one I love. I'm not going to lie, I want a trendy diaper bag. I want something that actually looks like a purse. The problem is they are hundreds of dollars and I have a husband that just won't allow me to spend that much money on something frivolous. I admit, whether you believe me or not, I probably couldn't spend hundreds of dollars on a diaper bag either. I love purses and I have a box full of them! I also bought most of them at Ross where they are cheap.

I did buy a diaper bag at Gap and I'm just not sure if I should keep it. I don't want something black because I feel like I can't wear it with something brown. And I don't want a brown bag because I feel like I can't wear it with something black. Even though Stacy & Clinton say they are both neutrals and you can wear any neutral together. I just can't seem to do it! Why do I care so much?!?! It's like a disease! So I need something that can go with black and brown outfits. I also need something that works for winter and summer, and something that I will like years down the road...am I looking for something that doesn't exist?

This is the one I got.
Bella Tunno Diaper Bag from Gap $70 marked down to $34.
I like the short shoulder strap, but when I put it on I feel like it looks huge!
The dark circles are navy blue so I feel comfortable wearing it with black and brown.

Mai Bossi Diaper Bag from Gap, $200.
I really like this bag except for the price.
It's a little on the dressy side and it's black, but I love the short strap option.

Storksak Emily Rococo Diaper Bag $198.
I think it's too summery and it's brown.

I'm just not sure if I should keep the one I got. If you have any suggestions or experience that you'd like to share, I'd love to hear it. Or if you've seen the perfect bag for me, please let me know!

It's Official

(Sorry for the mildly inappropriate picture)

We are going to be the proud parents of a baby BOY!!! We are both really excited and are looking forward to meeting our little tyke in person. I'm glad that the guessing game is over and I can move on and start preparing for a boy. This being my first pregnancy I have nothing to compare it to, but I think he is VERY active! He is constantly kicking me these days. However, for our ultrasound he was keeping very still so we could get a good look at him. He did have a few seconds of weakness though, and went crazy. It's interesting to see what he's up to in there. Also, when the Dr. was looking to make sure he had both arms and hands he started to repeatedly open and close his fist like he was waving at us. So precious!

Harrison Family Vacation

We just got back from another fun Harrison Family vacation! We have been going to Virginia Beach the last 4 years and we took a chance and rented a different house this year. Our chance paid off and we LOVED it! We already have it booked for next year!

Mark, Travis' Dad, has wanted a family flag, I think for the last 20 years. He finally got his wish. Last year the flag was started and this year it is done. We are going to hang it up whenever we all get together. Thanks to Karen and Wendy for all their hard work.

This is the only close-up I have and it's not very good. I'll have to take another one next year when our branch gets a leaf with our first baby! The flags along the top are for the countries that the Harrison's have lived in. The flags along the sides and bottom are for missions and states that all the Harrisons have or are living in.

We arrived Saturday and spent most of the day in traffic and shopping at the local Wal-Mart to get food for the week. Wal-Mart was a madhouse. We spent at least 30 minutes just waiting in line to check out.

Sunday we went to church and then our traditional after church picture. We also take a crazy picture and this was the best one out of the bunch! It doesn't take much to entertain us.

Michelle, my sister-in-law, is due in February!

The week was full of awesome thunderstorms that Travis and I have grown to miss. They didn't really hinder our festivities so we didn't mind them and we all enjoyed sitting outside watching the lightning.

This is my favorite shot that I took. The lightning was seriously crazy!

One of the things I look forward to when we get together is the food. We all think that our food is just as good or better than eating out and it's a lot cheaper for a group our size. Matt and Wendy made a Flank Steak Spinach Salad. Michelle & Nate made Thai Chicken w/Sesame Noodles and cheesecake. Laura, Andrew & Katy made Pasta with Meatballs and a Soda Cracker Pie for dessert that was to die for! Karen made an Asian Sesame Salmon.

Travis & I made shish kabobs w/Cheddar and Garlic biscuits (just like Red Lobsters) and for dessert we delegated Mark to make his famous Pina Coladas. Everyone's food was great!

Our activities this year kept us pretty active. We played pool volleyball.The team I was on won and this was our winning pose.

We, of course, spent our time in the ocean. There was boogie boarding and body surfing.

We played an intense game of kickball. I ate it a few times in the sand. My legs just don't move like they used to.

The activity Travis and I planned was a water balloon toss.Matt & Wendy and Laura & Andrew dominated every round!

Karen had the idea of getting beach towels for everyone and putting everyone's name on them. Growing up the kids were assigned a color to keep their things apart so she used those colors for the towels for each family. Travis' color is blue.

Our annual pool picture.

We do make an exception with eating out on Friday. We always go out for Pizza to end the fabulous beach week. This year we tried a new place and we really enjoyed it!

I'm already counting down the days until next year!