Making a Big Move - A Tip About Clearing Clutter

I can't believe that it has been 3 months since my last update, especially since I decided that I was going to make an effort to keep it updated!

I DO have some big news for the RstephensArt blog. I will be making a big move across the ocean for a bit. There will be quite a bit of travel involved so this blog might actually get interesting ;)

I have been selling most of our belongings, packing away things we want to keep, and throwing out the garbage. I have purchased some things that I think will come in handy, such as: Colored pencils, paper, and more colored pencils!

I am excited for this adventure as well as a little nervous. I have never been out of the country and definitely not with little children and another on the way. Did I mention that I am pregnant for the fourth time? This is going to be our 3rd boy! We lost a baby earlier this year (2015) but will be happy to welcome our third boy to the family early in 2016. 

What does this mean for the blog? Probably some interesting posts about different areas, people, customs, etc. Some new and I hope lovely area specific artwork. And unfortunately, fewer posts from time to time because of travel and well, life. 

I have one or two tips about moving though. First, do not be afraid to get rid of things! Just look at it and say "I can get a new one" or "I can get something better". This has helped immensely because, in reality, I really can get a new one or one that is better of whatever crap is sitting around my house. Most of my belongings are cheap junk that I don't use very much. Second, get rid of it if you don't use it every month. If you have things sitting around that get used only once or twice a year, chances are you don't really need it to take up space in your storage unit. Of course there are big ticket items that need extra consideration but if it's an easy to replace item then you can do away with it while you are traveling. Especially if it will cost you more to store it than the actual item costs.

Now it's time to get some more packing and listing (for sale) items from around the house. Have a good Sunday!

May Giveaway

April and the first part of May were incredibly busy and quite a bit crazy! A new acquaintance hosted a wrap party that was a huge success! (I was able to sign some new customers in addition to making $300 that evening) My in-laws also visited and that got interesting, they visited for 3.5 weeks! We had a great time going to the beach, the zoo, shopping, doing some in-home construction, and spending plenty of time indoors because it rained nearly every day they were here.

Now that that is over, May is a HUGE growth period for my stay-at-home job. I have signed customers, met tons of great people, and am still helping others to reach for their dreams and goals to have financial freedom, to get healthy, to reduce stretch marks, wrinkles, etc. As a thank you to all my customers and those wonderful people I have had the pleasure to meet I am doing a giveaway!! To have a chance to win one of these items all you have to do is contact me and I'll let you know what to do for there! No purchase necessary, no commitment! I hope to hear from you soon!

You can also contact me on Facebook!

(Sorry, no distributors for It Works can win!)

30 Day Squat Challenge Results

Thirty days seems like a long time but while doing the 30 day squat challenge, I realized that it really isn't a very long time. I got a little off track with it when I went on a small vacation but I stuck with it and got back to where I was supposed to be with the day and proper number of squats. It was not easy for a beginner, but it is doable.

 

My beginning measurements were as follows:

 Thigh - left @ top - 23.5in 

Calf - left @ thickest - 15in

Weight: 152lbs

 And my ending measurements:

thigh - 23in

calf - 14.5in

 Weight: 150lbs

 

I was not expecting a total transformation but I am pleased with what I ended up with. Seeing as it is only 7.5 months since I had my second child and I am 19lbs away from my goal weight, I have to start somewhere! I am happy that I accomplished this challenge and I am looking forward to finishing more challenges and getting into better shape. I am obviously a good deal away from being where I want to be! But, I have just started an arm challenge, I am in the middle of an ab challenge, and I am also starting a butt challenge. I may not be able to see a huge difference in my body as of yet but there are changes! I want to keep this up and track my progress so that I continue with this fitness journey. I see my pictures and I think, "Okay, there is a little change. I want MORE change". This is motivating for me! I can't wait to look smokin' hot in a swimsuit again.

What helped me during this challenge is protein shakes and my vitamins/supplements (Greens, Thermofit New you, It's Vital, and Omega 3). My recovery was fantastic - I only had two days out of 30 that I was sore! And I felt like I had plenty of energy as well. The rough part is actually pushing through to get to that 250 squats, my legs still got tight and shaky trying to do that many in a row.

Note: I am not being paid by any companies or persons. This is not intended as medical advice. This is a personal project that I am sharing the results of.

Pure Romance Product Review

My sister and I hosted an online Pure Romance party for one of my sisters friends a few weeks ago. I had never heard of this brand before, but I am pretty open to trying new things and helping others out!

Katelyn Jensen, is a super nice woman who REALLY knows her stuff when it comes to the Pure Romance products! I asked her opinion on different products and what they were like, comparisons between a few things, and got her suggestions as to what would be best for me based on the info I provided her about my likes and dislikes.

The items that I purchased was the Skin Therapy and Coochy!

My box arrived simple, and plain, no big letters shouting out what I had purchased. So they are a discreet company for those who don't want the world to know what they bought.

Both items smells really good! 

Coochy has a mellow kind of smell, it isn't super to knock you out. It has a smooth silky texture has a pink bubble gum color. It is a shave cream that you apply on wet skin and then let it soak in for a few minutes before shaving (without adding any other shaving cream). It goes on smooth and by the time you are ready to shave your skin feels softer and the hairs feel softer as well (which is why it also doubles as a conditioner). I liked that it made my shave a lot smoother and I did not have to use very much even when used on both legs. I would use this everywhere, armpits and all!

Skin Therapy also has a somewhat light smell, not strong. But not made to smell like roses either (just saying). It is an aftershave mist. It came out in a nice even spray so I didn't have to worry about praying too much, and I am certain it will last quite a while. I definitely experienced fewer bumps, irritation, and ingrown hairs using these two items together! I tend to get a lot of irritation on my legs when I shave more than once a week, so this was really nice to have when I went on a beach vacation for a few days and shaved just about every other day if not every day.

I enjoyed getting to know Katelyn and having her help me select these items!! Here is a little info about this awesome lady:

"I am a full time mom of 3, I love what I do. Pure Romance is not only a company that will help spice up your life and relationship but it provides amazing opportunities to better your life financially and give you opportunities to meet people from all walks of life. I started my own company to become my own boss, work my own hours, have lots of fun and pay my own bills, so far it is the best job I have ever had! Joining my team/family is an opportunity that you will never regret!" 

You can see more items Pure Romance by visiting her page: https://www.pureromance.com/katelynjensen

Note: I I did not receive any commissions or payment of any sort for this post.

90Day It works! challenge and 30Day Squat Challenge

Basically, it's just what the title is!

After some difficult circumstances in my personal life I decided to do some fitness challenges to get things moving in that part of my life. Being a mother of two children under the age of two can do some tough stuff to your body. I have about 20lbs stuck to me that I want gone. I am not as strong as I used to be. I have loose skin. I sag where I never did before. It is the usual occurrences of a mother that I am experiencing! I don't want to be content with it though and only have things digress as time goes by. If you don't do the work you will only fall apart more, right?

So I decided to work on myself for at least the next three months. That is my big goal and short term view. Three months, not so hard, it can be done! It's better than trying to plan out an entire year!!

First item I chose was a squat challenge! And I am sure that many of you have seen this challenge with various pictures of nude bums, buff chicks, etc. I like this particular picture because honestly I know I won't get a huge bum without weights and I know that realistically I will have a nicer bum after doing this challenge but not the most amazing one in the world either. So I like the picture. The numbers on this however, holy cow. 250 at the end of the month!? This is crazy. I did day 1 yesterday so today I am supposed to do 55 squats today and I am a little sore already but not dying yet! I have been trying to keep a good track of progress, we'll see how this goes. I DID take some pictures, how am I going to know if I have a nicer butt at the end of this if I don't document!? :)

My 90 day challenge is with the It works! products. I am taking Greens in powder form twice a day, normally mixed in with orange juice. I am also taking Thermofit to increase calorie burning and metabolic rate. The New You is to help with quicker workout recovery and in building lean muscle mass. I am also doing the Body Wrap once a week which is great, I absolutely LOVE the wraps! They are to help tone, tighten, and firm my belly (which is where I am placing the wraps each week for this challenge).

It's kind of a lot of work, but that is really how a new routine is! I am already having a good time and I feel like I'll be having great results by the time I get to day 15. I took my "before" pictures, measurements, and weight. I even took a picture of my feet on the scale so I wouldn't lose just the number. And I will be transcribing my day to day notes and whatnot. A side goal has been to workout more - so I have done Pilates almost every day this week (Denise Austin on YouTube with BeFIT) and I love it. I usually get a handful of really good back cracks out of a workout. Another goal has been to drink more water and so far this week I am drinking about 3/4 of a gallon, so I am super happy about that. I just need to be sure that I keep it up and continue to drink plenty of water so I can utilize and process all the pills I am taking and recover well from these workouts. 

I'm not ready to share my "before" pictures just yet, I am excited to have some awesome results to put them next to so I can show off how well I do. 

Please email me or comment with any questions!

Note: I am not a fitness trainer or medical professional. These are all things I am doing on my own under supervision of my doctor. I am not telling others what they should be doing.

A New Year! 2015 (Yep, it's Already February!)

Who can honestly say that they have kept up with their new years "resolutions"? 

Me? Not really, but I am determined to not give up entirely! My goals for this year were to reach my goal weight of 130lbs (Yes, I will share those details since I am not super obsessed with people not knowing the weight of a woman). I also want to finish a few quilts that have been halfway done for about a year. Besides that I want to just enjoy life! I think we all get a little obsessed over what we do each day and we forget to enjoy things. 

Now, I do have work goals that I hold separately from my personal goals for the year. I don't want to feel like a failure if I don't happen to reach them is all. I want to help others! I want to help them to find whatever it is they are looking for to reach a certain weight, clear skin, calm life, to make money, whatever it may be if I can!

What is coming up for this years blog posts are reviews, how-to's, maybe some videos, and of course lots of pictures on various topics. I have just purchased a couple items from a new friend that sells Pure Romance items, and I am super excited. I'll be posting a review here, there are items that I have never heard about or not seen made a certain way before and I want to share that with you! I am especially excited to use their shave cream that is intended to reduce irritation and ingrown hairs.

It Works! Wrap Test

So a few months ago I started a new job that I could do from home (and just about everywhere else). I loved the products and I figured if I could share it with others that loved it just as much or more than me that would really great!

But there were a few products that I was a little skeptical about!

Can you blame me? Put a wrap that has a gel on it on your body (anywhere) and in as little as 45min you would have tighter, toner, and smoother skin?? Well, I tried it. I did the 4 wraps for a full treatment and I was amazed! I am am 4 months postpartum from my second child and my body is used and abused lol. But in just under 2 weeks my belly is smaller! My shirts look better on me, my jeans fit a little nicer, it is fantastic! I am starting to work-out more at home with a pull-up bar, treadmill, and bike riding but I know that when I lose more weight I am going to wrap again and firm up all that loose skin!!

I love this job because it is helping me to reach my goals, and I have the chance to help others as well. These wraps feel good when using them and they continue to work afterwards. I did the wraps about 2 months ago and my results have stayed. I want to continue this process of wrapping, eating healthy, and exercising regularly so that I can be one of those hot mamas and not a frumpy mom!

#SayNoToTheFrump

Cupcake CoverTops by Lily Rubio

 I recently hosted a party for a new friend of mine Lily Rubio to showcase her cute and fabulous covertops that will make any LDS girl drool and have plenty of other women in the world wanting a collection for those outfits they wish covered a little more skin.

Here are some of those pretty ladies who could make it that evening - minus me (who took the picture) and my pant-less toddler who joined us that evening.

I thought I would share these with you since I have not come across anything like this with such great quality before  and they really are just great.

I love mine! Especially being pregnant I feel like I already have quite enough sitting on my belly and these are fantastic because they end right under the bust! So many shirts and dresses are low cut or just leave me feeling a little too revealed and these are great to give me coverage without bulk.

Lily had this great idea floating around for a while before acting on it and once she decided to make it happen things got moving with time. Now there is more than just the half-cami, there are cap sleeved and 3/4 sleeved covers in a small range of convenient colors.

They are available for purchase from her personally if you happen to live in the South Florida area, otherwise you may purchase them through her website cupcakecovertops.com

You can also follow Lily on Facebook for updates, watch some cute videos of Lily's on Youtube, or follow her on Instagram.

All images in this post are taken from the Instagram of Lily Rubio as well as the cupcakecovertops website.

Blog Revamp

As I am sure anyone who has been here before over the years you may have noticed that the image of this blog has changed drastically. In order to better serve my readers I have changed to a more bright and appealing layout and have also added social media share buttons to the bottom of each post! I used this page to do so if anyone else is wondering how to do it. I am not the most teach savvy person around so it took me a few tries and about 1hr to get this right. Who knew I would have so much trouble!? 

So I hope that you like the new and improved blog! 

Some other improvements I plan on making are:

Updating a little more frequently

sharing more artwork with specific themes

Etsy seller spotlights

My own photography

In relation to my own photography, I started this blog right out of high school pretty much. I did not fully comprehend the importance of citing my sources for photos and other things. After growing up a bit and learning more about the business world I have learned that it is VERY important to cite my sources and to get away from borrowing peoples photos for my artwork as well. 

I love working from a photo since I can work on it for months at a time if need be, but I know I need to start doing work that is completely my own. So I am going to take a big step and begin doing this consistently. 

Part of doing this is to do artwork with themes so I can do work that only I have taken photos of. I plan on drawing more cars - starting with a '99 Cobra Mustang. I also plan on drawing more fruits and vegetables - still life's! 

Wish me luck, and thank you for being a part of this blogs and my own personal growth over the years. And welcome to any newcomers, I am always improving.

Kiwi Drawing - Process

It has been nearly a year since I have done a drawing and probably about that long or longer since I have done an art blog update. It has been interesting and fun getting used to being a mom and fitting in the things that I like to do in my small amount of free time. I do go on walks and visit parks a bit more now but that quiet time I need for art is a little few and far between those moments. 

So I have had this drawing about 75% of the way finished for more than 6 months! I also have about 2 others that are the same way. I just didn't feel like drawing for a little while as well. Anyways, I decided to take pictures during the process as well. 

 I usually do a light sketch to work with. And I almost always use a photo to work from since I tend to take FOREVER to finish a drawing. It can be nearly impossible to do a still life for me.

 I also skip around with where I am working on it at the time.

 Half of the drawing is sometimes much more close to being finished than the other and sometimes the whole thing is moving along nicely in a cohesive project.

 And then comes the final product that I still sometimes do a touch up on white space that you can see in this one has some smudges.

I get photos to work from primarily from Deviantart stock, and HERE is the exact stock I used for this one.

I also post my work to my Facebook fan page.

And lastly I do sell my artwork on an Etsy page that I have for a few years now.

Beard Beanies

 It's been months now and I just realized that I completely forgot to do this post! I have not even made an update in this blog for months and it's about time that I get back into this. About four months ago my husband and I had our first baby and for kicks and giggles we decided to get some fun shots. In order to do this we needed a beard for me and my son so that the whole family could match!

WithLoveByCole makes all sorts of cute beanies to sell on her Etsy shop. I could not resist ordering these! I am a little particular about some things and I felt that our beards must match my husband so I asked if she could find yarn in that color. She did just that. They turned out fantastic and gave us some hilarious pictures. Our little guy looks like a cute little smurf here. We will have many more great pictures in the future with these I am sure.

New Year

So it has come to the year 2013! And without all that drama from the movie 2012. Thank goodness for that huh?

When I was younger I thought that new years resolutions were a good idea and I always tried to put together a list of 10 things to accomplish or do better during the year. Then I realized that I do not work that way, and I figure more other people don't either. So, what I do is keep in mind each month of the year what it is that I can accomplish for that month or something that I really need to buckle down and work hard on.

So for January I already have a couple of small things that I need to accomplish and two of those things are drawings that I have been working on for over a month now but have not completed!!

So lame, I know. 

So, today I am sitting in front of the computer with those two drawings sitting right in front of me, mocking me for being such a slacker. If I really took the time to work on them I could finish them both today! Will I? Probably not, there are too many cool things to find on Pinterest and StumbleUpon.

I also don't want to make any long term resolutions because in just a few short months I am going to be a mother! I am super excited but I am not going to fool myself into thinking that things will be the same afterwards, so I am not going to make any concrete plans this year. Smart huh? Maybe. But I hope I can find things to do to keep me from getting bored at home - that seems to be the big issue right now since I am trying my hand at not being employed (ha).

Todays Etsy Share:

I added these to my recent Treasury Spring is Coming because quite frankly they are great looking and I wish I had some! The item can be viewed here. There are so many great things on Etsy it just amazes me sometimes, and it sure has grown over the past few years.

Pumpkins Drawing

I have finally gotten around to finishing another drawing. It took me a while since there was a lot going on with events, people visiting, I got sick, yada yada yada.
Anyways, I am happy to have finished this one because it is a seasonal drawing! I don't know why it took me so long to figure out that doing seasonal drawings was a good thing but I did and I have started to put together some work to do.

Like most drawings I find the picture I want first, then I do a light sketch of it . . . Followed by the first layers of color on whatever item(s) I will color first.

 Then I will add some shading into the darker areas.

 Because I am a little crazy I will jump around on some of my work. Some of the pumpkins are closer to being done while others need more work. But I started to work on the white pumpkins in this one bellow.

 For pumpkins it is an interesting process. All the dark's are done first, then I add white to areas that are "brighter". I leave the stems for last as well as the final shading. After it looks just about done I add in Indigo blue in a lot of the darker areas so that they have a deeper look and also to give those lighter areas a nice pop.

In the final product I usually put a small RS in the bottom right corner - at least I have started to do that these days. I kind of forgot to take a couple pictures while I was working on this but I will try to go better next time.

I am fairly pleased with the outcome. I got the original photo from a stock image on Deviantart - redwolf518stock.

Jack-O-Lantern

Since it is Halloween tomorrow I decided that I should carve a pumpkin to put on my front porch. It has been about 8+ years since I have actually carved a pumpkin. I wanted to do something new and cool - to kind of make up for the slow and lame night I will have tomorrow night; I don't think that I will be going anywhere.

I started off by buying the pumpkin - Target has them for $3.99. I figured they were probably getting a little old but I would do it anyways since they are cheap. And of course there was the ride home to worry about. Pumpkins are prone to rolling around in a moving vehicle, Safety First!

 And then I had it on my kitchen counter for about a week before I even touched it. I had an idea in my head but the follow through was much harder to get to. Plus, I figured that it would be difficult to carve a pumpkin with a kitchen knife.

So! I cut the top off and found some grayish gooey gunk on the inside. Gross. It smelled as bad at it looked. But, I cleaned it out and drew my outline with a colored pencil. It worked pretty well actually.

 After getting the gunk out of it I set to the task of carving my image. It was not all that easy but it worked and here is the final project!

Next year I will be sure to get a pumpkin earlier.

More to come: A Fall drawing of pumpkins :)

Autumn Art

I realized today that I do not have a lot of Autumn art. In fact, I have only one piece!

That is going to change, I have been looking up images to give me some inspiration and I have been pinning anything that looks like a good idea.

The one piece I have is a pile of Gourds.

The original is slightly cut down to fit a frame I bought. It is hanging in my dinning room. It adds a nice bit of color and kind of makes me hungry - but not for gourds thank goodness.

Since I have the original and it is not going anywhere, I do sell prints on Etsy.
A little background about this piece is that I was taking a college art class and the assignment was to draw some gourds. I found a picture, loved it, and drew it. It was one of the first times that I had drawn a type of food or edible subject.

Anyways, it is one of my favorites and now I want to draw more items that for the Autumn Season!

Another Great Aldi Trip!

So I went to Aldi again today for a smallish trip. I took pictures of what I bought and scanned my receipt this time so you can really see what there is available there.

I was needing a lot of breakfast items and so I got lots of those, and then for the most part I bought things to supplement what I already have at home.

(Click for larger view)
Some of the items are incredibly cheap, I am very pleased with this store. I have already gotten my friend to love it and I am convincing my parents to start shopping there as well.

After saving money on all this food I feel like I need a better organization system in my pantry for all of it. I am getting some inspiration from Delightful Order blog. There are SO many amazing ideas for organizing things, and they are so simple I wonder what's wrong with me that I can't come up with these things on my own. I am in desperate need to organize all my art things since I have so much stuff and I am going to be doing more art soon (Which I will be posting here with step-by-step process of drawing).

That's all the rant I have in me for now about Aldi and organization.

Lot's of Yard Work

It has been one of my projects to make the front yard less ugly since I started living in my house. So far I think I have done a decent job, there is a ton of things that I have done to the yard.
First, here is a picture of the front yard around the time that i moved in.

Already I had trimmed the bushes, pulled weeds, and actually removed 5 bushes that were behind that low wall.
There were still some things that I pretty much hated though. The small palm to the right is hideous and prickly and full of bugs, and there is too much open space in that area as well.

The changes I have made was to remove the ugly palm, add a couple of bushes into the empty space, trim the other bushes so they could fill in nicely, add mulch, and I am in the process of adding bougainvillea behind the low wall and also thinking about other things to add there. The bushes have turned a nice green since I trimmed them (they were dying and ugly before). I cut them down so much I thought that might obliterate them completely but they have grown pretty well again.

I have always wanted a pretty yard and now I am working on it. Adding plants and mulch is coming out to cost about $85. 

Thrifting

I used to LOVE going out thrift shopping for just about anything, and then life came along and I got busy with school, love, work, and so on. So I naturally did what was easiest and shopped at Wal-Mart, Target, JCPenny, and other stores. I like to think that I am pretty good at being thrifty by sticking to sale items or sales racks but recently I decided I would give some extra thought into cutting down on spending. I did some research and found a few places that I would check out and also some old places I would start to visit more often.

Since it has been about a year to a year-and-a-half since I have updated my wardrobe a bit (plus I ruined quite a few items this summer) I needed a place to go for clothes that was cheap but still had a few nice things. What I found was Goodwill, Salvation Army, and Plato's Closet. Goodwill is pretty awesome but I find that it's harder to find things in my size that aren't ripped or stained. Salvation Army has a ton of neat things and lot of vintage items! And Plato's Closet is Da Bomb!

At Plato's Closet their inventory comes in part from people who sell them their clothing that is new and gently used. Brand names abound there and everything seems to be in really good condition. I got so many things and all of the items are barely used and a couple even had the original tag on it; such as my $80 Guess jeans that I purchased for $15. I was VERY pleased with the selection and I cannot wait to go back (although I will wait until I my wardrobe gets depleted again).

Plato's Closet

Besides needing so save on clothing I also decided that I wanted to save more money on groceries. There is a place called Aldi that a coworker told me about before and I never got around to looking into it, but, it turns out that it is a really good place to save on groceries. I went in to check it out and came out with a ton of things for only $47. There are some items that the savings are not astronomical compared to general item prices but for others there is definitely a benefit to buying from Aldi. 

(Image is from somewhere online)
Some notable items were the canned veggies or soups that were as low as 59 or 69 cents each. There is not a huge selection of items, but I think it is safe to say that the bulk of your shopping can be done at Aldi and you can purchase the rest of your items anywhere else you usually buy from.
Some significant things to know about Aldi is:
1. You need 25cents to use the shopping carts (A lock mechanism is on them - you get your quarter back)
2. You must bring your own bags from home (Plastic bags can be purchased for use at Aldi)
3. You bag your own items (Sounds rough but this makes the check out line go SUPER fast)

All in all I am pleased with the store and will definitely be going there again and again to save on groceries.

 

Insanity Workout

Work has been keeping me busy these past few weeks, I haven't even had much time to do some drawing. I did decide to start working out though and unfortunately for me my husband chose to Insanity Workouts of Sean T.

I am on day 2 of 60 and I don't really feel like doing it today lol. I am one of those people to HAS to see results fast to really appreciate a workout. Maybe I will post some pictures up later on. . . I don't think anyone wants to see me so maybe not. Kidding, but I am curious to see if this workout actually does anything good for me, supposedly it will give you endurance and get you into really great shape.

I have seen so many commercials on other workout videos that it seems like Sean T is everywhere, and for a while I think he was indeed everywhere. In the meantime before I start todays 30 minute exercise I think I will get some pork stew made and play around on the computer. I have tons of pork in my freezer still from that hunt and I am constantly trying to find new interesting recipes to make with it.

I won't bore you all with anymore of that exercise junk. Crazy news is that I might not stay in Florida for too much longer; the husband is looking for a better job and if he gets something then we will be out of here. I can't wait! It will open many opportunities for art that I do not have here in Florida, lots of different scenery that is. Anyways, that's all I've got for today.

Cooking Club - White Trash

Every month there is a small local group of women that get together to eat some grub. These dinners are for cooking club . . . a theme is chosen as well as a location. One month I agreed to do the meeting at my house and I chose the theme based on a topic of discussion the previous night. White trash.
It took me a little while to figure out what to make since I didn't really know any white trash dishes except maybe mac n' cheese with hot dogs in it. But, I came up with kebobs.

For the kebobs I chose to use cheap hot dogs, fish sticks, pineapple, and tater tots. They actually turned out pretty good since I grilled them! There was an assortment of other foods such as hostess cakes, potato salad, hot dogs, beans, and my personal favorite for the night - homemade twinkies!

A good friend of mine made these from scratch and they were AMAZING! I do not even really like twinkies but they were really really good. Everyone was so surprised to see them and they all liked them as well.
For the evening I pulled all my lawn chairs in doors after wiping them off a tad, and I used a mismatch set of plastic forks, paper plates, and cheap napkins. It was a fun night with new experiences.
I can't wait to go again next month, I will have to look for some strange and new recipes to try out.

In the meantime I am hard at work finishing up school, working part-time, and drawing like a mad woman. There will be plenty of posts to come with art.