rushley & crew

she's got blue steel nailed! She really is guilty of stealing Daddy's heart 😍

I mentioned this last year , but guys, I love  Valentine's Day. I think it's fun to celebrate love, even if everyone else is celebrating love that day, too. This year was super fun because I actually started planning it like 5 months ago, and Russ had no idea until about a week before that anything at all was going on, and even then, all I said was, "I'm planning a Valentine's something for Friday, February 13. Plan accordingly." (aka, don't plan anything else that night.) So on Thursday night I was running around like a crazy person trying to get everything ready for Friday, and with the help of my mom, I did it. When Russ got to work on Friday, this is what he saw on his desk: His response when he got there? "You sneaky lil lady :)" Haha I loved it :) So each hour he opened a present containing a clue about what we were going to be doing to celebrate Valentine's Day, but I didn't want the clues to be too easy, so mostly they we...

One reason I love holidays is because it gives me an excuse to decorate and craft! I truly think that decorating (in general and for holidays) is one thing that turns a house into a home. And even though Valentine's Day was a little bit ago, my Valentine's Day decorations will definitely be up until the end of the month because I like them so much! Here's what I've got . . . Sorry in advance for the less-than-perfect pictures :) L-O-V-E letters and a heart chain ( tutorial ) Framed printable, though I'm not sure where it's from. R's cousin gifted this to us for our wedding, complete with like 15 different printables for each holiday and season. We love it! :) Wreath! Which I'm so happy to have back since R & I returned after three days to find it MISSING! The kids that live near our apartment are real terrors and they stole it. Luckily, my neighbor found it and returned it to me :) This wreath was inspired by this one...

R & I have never been too showy about Valentine's Day, anniversaries, or birthdays. R gets stressed out thinking about getting me gifts because he's afraid I won't like them (though unjustifiably so, since I've liked every present he's ever gotten me!). I don't get stressed out about gifts, but I never know if I should get him something more practical or more romantic, and he doesn't give me any clues as to what he prefers. But even though we don't make a big deal of it, I don't have any problems with Valentine's Day. If you want to give your lover roses on the same day as everyone else, that's fine. If you want to give your lover roses on a random day of the year, that's fine, too. Valentine's Day is just all about love, so I have no qualms with it. I think it's silly to hate on a day all about love. Celebrate big, or don't, it's up to you, but don't hate! It's more fun to love, anyways :) So more than a w...

Sugar cookies have always been more of a Christmas cookie at my house, but this year I made some for Valentine's Day because sugar cookies are pretty dang delicious so why not enjoy them more than once per year? I've had many sugar cookies in my life, but this is the only recipe I absolutely love. It's perfect! Enjoy :) Ingredients: 1/4 c. Shortening 1/4 c. Butter 1 c. Sugar 1 Egg 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract 2 2/3 c. Flour 1 tsp. Baking Powder 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda 1/2 tsp. Salt 1/4 tsp. Nutmeg 1/2 c. Sour Cream Directions: Cream together shortening, butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Add sifted dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg) alternately with the sour cream. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roll dough out to be 1/4 inch think. Cut into shapes and place on a greased cookie sheet with at least an inch between shapes (so they don't stick together). Bake for 5-8 minutes. Makes about 35 cookies (with about a 3-inch diameter if the ...

I love this quote because I whole-heartedly agree with it.  In honor of Valentine's Day, I decided to share some of the weird and quirky things unique to my own relationship with R.  We randomly lick each other. Nothing romantic or sexual about it, it's more like what you do with your brother when you're both kids. Like, obnoxious almost! If we're cuddling or close, one of us will just randomly lick a cheek or a nose or, if we're being especially obnoxious, maybe an ear. But those ones are always annoying so we don't do that one much anymore. Today he licked my arm . . . too bad for him I had just worked out, so it was a little salty! Haha :) We sing out things that we're doing--in bad tunes and nonsensical melodies. Like "And now I'm going to microwave the oatmeal!" But in song. Normal words, abnormal expression :) Whenever one (or both) of us is looking for something and then finds it, we both claim to have found it. For instance, i...

Wow! I've gotten nearly twice as many hits on my last post as I've gotten on even my most popular posts so far. Guess everyone gets excited about babies! Well don't you worry. The blog world, and the whole world really, will definitely know it when I am, in fact, pregnant :) Which, hopefully, isn't too far in the future.  But for today, a tutorial! With Valentine's Day coming up, I wanted to have a few more Vday decorations to my name, so a couple weeks ago, I got together with my sister-in-law, Amy, and we made some Vday letters! Here's what you need: Cardboard letters (I got mine from JoAnn, Michael's has some, too. But no matter where you get them, definitely print as many 40 or 50% off coupons as you can find online to buy your supplies because all craft stores match competitor coupons.) Different valentine-y or love-related decorative paper. I used eight different kinds and I used about 12x4 inches of each. I had 4 pink/red desi...