Missing Forks and Other Thoughts as I Clean my Kitchen

I've lost a lot of things throughout my 23 years and 10ish month life, but nothing as peculiar as the missing forks in our house. We received 12 when we got married and in November I noticed I had only been putting a couple away. Now, two months later we have come to the conclusion we just have two forks, two! So we have to wash them between each meal or use a spoon for eating your burrito or something like that, which is do-able, but WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FORKS?! 

As I'm scrubbing the cooked on cheese dip from my crock pot I start to face a real moral struggle about the usage of it lately. On one hand, soaking it for forever to get all those cooked on foods washed away is annoying, yet the thought of using liners bothers me after once reading some post about all of the chemicals and energy and huge carbon footprint it took to break down a plastic spoon and how basically you were a piece of crap for using them instead of just taking the time to wash your spoons. We don't use plastic spoons, but we might plastic forks if we don't find the others soon. 

And I'm truly curious to see what is worse in terms of "being green" and all of that: the amount of water I waste when washing a crock pot or going through all of the liners? Probably the liners. 

And seriously, those forks were part of a set, and they were the expensive knork brand, so how am I just supposed to find 10 knork forks to buy by themselves? And I say again, WHERE DID THEY GO? 

There is something that gives me the heebie-jeebies about washing a cheese grater. I know what it is, it's the very real possibility that I may grate up my fingers. And I did, in case you were wondering.

I have to be careful with my fingers. There is a long history of finger losses in both Josh and I's families, so I should probably be more careful when washing my cheese grater. 

I just washed a cheese grater and a cheesy crock pot. We eat a lot of cheese. If you were wondering how my New Years weight loss goal is going, there is your answer. 

If you happen to see my forks, tell them we miss them and won't scold them too harshly when they return home. 

In His hug, 

Molly 

The Dark Day my MacBook Pro Died

I bought ol' Maccy my senior year of high school with my scholarship money I got from the art show. It was probably the nicest laptop I will ever own. I splurged because I was going to need it for the supposed graphic design career I was going to have. It has been a good laptop, faithful throughout my college career. 

At the end, it's screen was severely cracked (I'm guessing the result of a dog pounce), it turned off immediately when unplugged from the charge cord, and the mouse hadn't worked for several years. 

I don't know what the future holds for me. I'm pretty attached to Mac products now, but am unsure if I want to spend that much on a laptop again. 

What saddens me most of all is the loss of the memories it held. Every photo from the last 6 years was on there as well as all of those college papers. I will probably never use them again but you never know. And darn it I just updated my address book on there. I'm holding out hope that the dudes at Apple can work some magic with my hard drive- I would probably be willing to pay some big bucks for that. 

Maccy, you will be greatly missed. I knew you were in failing health for a long time now, but I was in denial, and for that I'm sorry I didn't get you the help you needed sooner. 

Friends, I don't want you to face the same sad fate as myself. Please. Back up your files with a hard drive. I am thankful for the dependency of the Internet, in that I have downloaded so many photos on one website or another, so for that, I am thankful. 

In lieu of flowers, I will be accepting any photos of me you may have acquired within the last 6 years, thank you for your emotional, and technical support in this difficult time. Thank you.

In His hug, 

Molly

Flashing Back on Friday This Christmas

Something has happened within the last couple of years and I quite like it- children are around in the holidays again! I now get how it's so much more fun to watch kids open their presents on Christmas. Though Christmas is still awesome sans kids, the magic is back, and all of these memories flooding back as well. 

Christmas 1992 at our house (disclaimer: yes I did take a picture of a picture with my phone for all of these) and Christmas at my Grandpa Kenny's Grandma Bonnie's House.

Next year (1993 Christmas) with matching dresses! 

1997- I'm smack dab in the middle at my very first Christmas program.

We do have parents! They're just behind the camera lots. 

Not sure what is going on in this picture, but it is at my Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Kenny's. Possibly a snowball fight and one kid down in the middle. 

And the ever popular "Two From Galilee" costumes that we participated in several times for community theater. I remember thinking I looked so epretty and etherial in my angel garb. Bahahaha!! 

Enjoy your Christmas with your families! 

Merry Christmas! 

-Molly

These are a Few of my Favorite Things: Christmas Ornaments

Because, who doesn't like Christmas ornaments? As I shared in this post last year, we don't do the whole themed tree thing. We like a variation in ornaments, although, when I'm buying new ones, I do try to go for ones that kind of go, ya know, colorful and glitzy pretty much. We were blessed to get to go to many places this year- Alaska and Italy were perfection- thus we got to pick up some more ornaments for our kitschy tree. 

This Leonardo was picked up at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy this year! I almost didn't get him (little pricy), but I didn't find many other Italy specific ornaments on our trip and I'm so glad Josh talked me into going ahead and getting them!

We got this ornament last year to commemorate purchasing our first home! I can't believe we have been here for over a year! I STILL can't believe I'm actually responsible for adult things! Do you ever get used to it? 

This ornament was purchased at Disney World last summer. It has a little switch on the bottom to turn on it's color changing LED light. It reminds me of the Light show on Cinderella's castle that I LOVED (and might have cried during).

Michelangelo was also picked up at the Uffizi.

This sweet little eskimo was brought home from Alaska. She had a little bear friend that traveled on our tree in his little canoe. Unfortunately, penny dog took him as one of her victims in her ornament massacre. We also lost a snowman and a santa. It was tragic. Otherwise she surprisingly leaves the tree alone, I figured it would have been toppled over by now! 

Speaking of, we will have almost had her a year. I still can't wrap my head around how small she was when we got her. She's not huge by any means, but compared to the runt she was... it's crazy! 

Happy Monday, all! 

In His hug, 

Molly

When You're in a Long Line for Security at The Airport

Our flight leaves in an hour and we are still in line for security with no end in sight. NBD. But I'm pretty heartbroken to be leaving anyways. They offered us 800 euros each to stay one more night because, what do ya know, they overbooked the flight. Josh said no though, heh. So in lieu of boredom, here are some pictures from my phone! 

Everything is pretty, even the spice displays. 

Love, love, love Burano. 

A little Aqua Alta in San Marco's Square in Venice. 

Gnocchi- my new favorite Pasta! 

You just HAVE to ride a Gondola in Venice. 

Ponte Vecchio view from the Piazzele Michaelangelo in Florence. 

Looking up in the Duomo. 

NEED. 

Because food is awesome.

Touring ancient Roman Ruins. In the U.S. Just one of these pillars from like 100-300 A.D. would probably be carefully displayed in a glass case so no one could touch it. Here they just have so much history they don't even know what to do with it so it is in this pile out in the elements behind this "scary" fence. 

This church was built in the place in which Paul was executed and now his remains are here as well. 

And now I will finish as I "only" have three more lines until I reach the security checkpoint. Many more pictures to come from my other camera, but this will do for now. Ciao! 

In His hug, 

Molly

I'd Like You to Meet, Pete & Frankie

This seems to be the age of self-promotion. Everyone wants to be independent and make money in their own time and in their own way. And be wildly successful at it. I am one of those people. And I guess so is my sister.

I started my Etsy shop 7 years ago, when Etsy itself was only 1 year old. I'm basically a pioneer! Just kidding. I started out selling refinished furniture and other various crafts. It was basically my job in high school and I had so much fun with it. Through college I kind of dropped the ball, but now with more spare time on my hands, and the realization of how much I miss creativity (hence this post), I wanted to start it up again. I approached my sister, Sarah Kamolz, about joining me in this venture of rebranding ourselves and our products. Thus, Pete & Frankie's was born.

When we were kids, somehow the nicknames Pete and Frankie came about and we thought this seemed to be more of an original store name than, say, Castor Sisters or ya know, something with sisters in it...

So let me introduce you to my sister, if for some reason you don't already know her. She is the older sibling and talented photographer who took these photos of us. She was my idol growing up who grew very tired of me copying her interests in art and in other areas. I suppose now she is okay with that. I don't see it, but we get mistaken as twins often, especially when she had longer hair and I was in a straightening phase. She is pioneering through life a couple of years ahead of me and I am constantly asking her for advice. Now I am excited to share this new experience her and to see where it takes us!

For now this online shop is more of a hobby, but if it turns into something more, how exciting would that be! I don't think either of us have very specific things we want to market, unlike many of the stores featured on Etsy. For me I would like to work to find a crafty/creative area I like to hone more specifically, but for now, it may just be a smorgasbord of various items and art.

Maybe it seems a little crazy to think you can make a career out of crafting, but somehow, real people do it every day! To be honest, I hate promoting myself. I feel very silly and almost like I'm full of myself to think people might actually be interested in my life or something I make, but shoot. If you aren't interested you don't have to read, right? Maybe it will stay just a hobby, but you never know, and how can you know if you don't try? I feel like my parents always taught us that we can do anything we want to in life, and I want to instill that in my own children one day- to not be afraid to go after those things. So here is us doing that. 

And with that, why don't you check out our store! We both are interested in doing any free-lance work as well, if you are interested.  If you feel us worth it, we would so appreciate your promoting us as well, whether it be on social media or by word-of-mouth. 

Like our store on Facebook: 

https://www.facebook.com/Peteandfrankies

Shop and Favorite our store on Etsy: 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/PeteandFrankie

In His hug, 

Molly 

Junklahoma

In my family we grew up going to garage sales every Saturday morning. We carefully dug through thrift store bins and tip toed through antique stores as to not knock over any of the cramped shelving with carefully placed items piled on top of each other. So you could say we like "junk" and apparently, so does Oklahoma! I came across this event on Facebook that happened to be on my off weekend and quickly spread the news that we must attend!

My sister, her daughter, and Grandma Marilyn were able to go with me and we gal-palled up to the city in an empty vehicle the night before. The event was a lot of fun and very well put together. (And how have we been missing this event for the last 25 years?!)

Surprisingly, I didn't come home with as much junk as I was expecting, but many homemade items from various vendors. I love the originality and authenticity that goes with buying homemade so I thought I would share the treasures I purchased. 

My sister and I both purchased matching Oklahoma pillows from the main store that hosts this event, The Old Store located at 100 Monroe Ave. in Piedmont. It is open in regular business hours and has lots of great items from awesome junk to antiques and redone furniture as well as various homemade crafts. 

I'm always keeping my eyes out for neat frames at a good price. I bought this one

to frame this artwork I bought from Joss & Main that I thought would appear bigger than it did. I wanted an oversized frame to take up more space on the wall, the frame ended up being a little too small for what I had in mind but I'm sure I will find use for it. 

Lately I have been loving studs! So when I found this booth with 2 for $5 I was all over it! Studs are great to add some style with my boring scrubs without hanging down in the way. And hello, there is a unicorn pair!

These kitschy barrets were at the same booth. I don't really wear barrets but I mean, obviously I had to have them?! This sweet shop owner also has a lot more precious items for sale, you can sneak a peak of them here- https://www.etsy.com/shop/SewingWithSqueak?ref=shop_sugg

I also got this sunburn at Junklahoma. Can you guess where my purse strap was? 

This lacy top I scored in The Old Store for $8 and the Kimono was another handmade item by the Junk Trunk Divas. You can check them out on www.facebook.com/stylereflectionsbylynnemarie 

And last but not least, my favorite purchase was this nifty Bluetooth speaker! It was by far the priciest item I bought, but I love it! I'm always telling Josh how I wish we could put speakers throughout our whole house to play music through. Obviously, I need a few more to make my dream come true, but this is a good step. 

You can find these speakers at www.hstechdesigns.com 

So I thought about writing a shpeal about the importance of buying handmade/ repurposed, but I'm not feeling political so here it is: Buy handmade items! It's good for the economy, and, and... and the WORLD! so there you go.

In other news, I'm trying to decide on a song to sing at church tomorrow, anyone have any ideas? Have a happy Sunday tomorrow, all!

In His hug,
Molly