Hi. My name is Rachel, and I am a really bad blogger

I have been so bad at blogging lately! Holy moly! There has been a lot going on around here {Mostly my creative juices} so be prepared for a landslide of photos!

Any way... Pedro's parents Marcos and Tereza came to visit us a few weekends ago. It was so much fun to have them here. We visited the Mall of America, the sculpture gardens, Stone Arch Bridge, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Cafe Latte {twice}, and just spent some time chatting and hanging out.

The Lego exhibit at the Mall of America

sculpture gardens

Minneapolis Institute of Arts {I just think this picture is super cute}

Going to the Chapel :)

Stone Arch Bridge

Moss graffiti, a little creepy message, but cool 

I have had the opportunity to make cupcakes for a couple of parties and I had a lot of fun doing it! Here is what they look like and the Pinterest inspiration for them.

Pineapple flowers for a Luau party

Baby Blue cupcakes for my friend Stacy's baby shower

I could have been better with measuring the two batters for zebra stripes, but they still look cool.

Here are links to my inspiration:

Pineapple flowers
Zebra stripes

Over the last couple of months I have been adding some great Good Will finds to our walls and reorganizing our already existing wall  decor.

in the office

I love my gallery wall

I am known in our neighborhood to be a little crazy because I have been out and about collecting leaves, pine cones, and branches for free decorations. My jar full of pine cones and the wreath below only cost me $4 for paint. The rest of the items were free because they were from nature, already in my possession, or donated by friends.

These little decorative pumpkins {Pedro says apples, but wither way works for fall} are just balls covered with burlap and lace with a pine cone piece glued on with some painted leaves.

I am so lucky to have a friend who is a florist. She gather some branches and braided them together to make this wreath form. It saved me $9! I think it turned out pretty well. Just gather pine cones, paint them gold and pearl, gather fake leaves and flowers and paint them too, get lace and then glue them all onto your painted wreath.

 I have also been getting into the Halloween spirit! All of this decor cost less than $10. Pretty good for what feels like so much!

the bat mobile was inspiration from Pinterest, and thus explains my stick gathering. Don't you just love that purple sparkly skull?! The only things I spent money on for this display are the skull for $2.50 at Target, the little pumpkin also from Target for $1, and the webbing {which I used everywhere else in the house as well} for $1

These leaves are all dead now, but they looked so pretty fresh. They don't look so bad dead either.

I just melted a scarlet crayon over this pumpkin. I got a box of like 30 spiders for $2

fresh mini pumpkins $1 each. I love them against the black beans.

That floating shelf was a Good Will find. Perfect condition and came with another one for $2 each! I got those about a month ago, and I love having my menu and candle up there.

I had fun making use of my menu for Halloween!

bat silhouettes in the lamps. 

This past weekend Pedro and I went to a soccer game with a couple of friends. It was a lot of fun and just reminded me that winter is just around the corner. {it was an outdoor stadium and it was cold!}

The team is the Minnesota Stars. They won 2 to 0

The fans were crazy!

Pedro and our two friends got sprayed with beer with the first goal. luckily I was getting fish and chips :)

Pedro has really been enjoying school and I have been enjoying some of the content of his classes. It is nice to learn more about healthcare through a management point of view. It is also fun to discuss the issues with Pedro and how a manager would react and how a person on staff {nurse} would react. Pedro has been doing very well on his papers and tests and I could not be more proud of all of his accomplishments so far. I feel blessed to have such a smart and easy going husband.

I have been enjoying all of my free time to spend with the ladies here in our complex. They are all so amazing and I have made so many great friends! I have also been applying for jobs and currently have 3 public health nurse positions I am under consideration for. I will have a second interview as a family health/public health nurse. I think I will do well and that this is a potential job offer. It is very closely related to what I did in Utah so I would catch on easily. Wish me luck and prayers are always welcomed.

I am really looking forward to tomorrow night and the rest of the week because Pedro's sister Elisabeth will be coming to stay with us while her boyfriend Jake's band is in town. I am so excited to see her and hang out for the weekend! Bring on the fun!