A DIY to satisfy any aspiring percussionist

This is a DIY blog. Now, you may be asking, "Casey, what are you going to make with bottle caps, a hammer and a beer bottle?" Well..it was all Duane's idea, I promise.

Duane got this great idea to make a bottle cap shaker instrument from a german percussionist, Roland Peil. He started with 200 bottle caps which he purchased off ebay. He used the old beer bottle to serve as a platform to nail a hole in each bottle cap. Talk about tedious, but he was very determined :)

I couldn't help at this point (but I did offer), because there was only one old beer bottle in the recycling. But, I did catch somebody napping, even with all the hammering going on downstairs.

Then I was able to help with the stringing process. He used fishing line cut into about yard-length strands and threaded the bottle caps on (about seven per line) with knots in between each cap.

When I was done threading a line, he took over, attaching the line to a rope and then using the left-over line to attach more bottle caps to the opposite side. Below you can see the final product! The whole project took about 3 hours of work (including the trip to walmart for the fishing line) and it cost about 15 dollars to make ($13 for the bottle caps and $2 for the fishing line, the rope he already had)

Lucky him, he's so happy with his new instrument.

My life has gone to the dog

Oh Sophie darling..You have taken over my life. And Duane's. (I'm not sure Duane is quite as happy about it.)

You make yourself look so cute and innocent. I wouldn't hurt a fly momma. (Yes, I often say out loud what I think Sophie is trying to say to me)
How could anyone say no to that face? Trust me, its hard when she's this cute, but it gets a lot easier when she is peeing on the floor or chewing up you clothes or your hand.
What are we going to do with you? Sophie you have officially taken over my room too. I might go crazy living in such a small space with a rapidly growing furry creature. At least (crossing my fingers) you're starting to learn how to entertain yourself.
But I guess you are part of the family now.

Its a Very-Merry Christmas Indeed!

So I definitely got some pretty awesome Christmas gifts. I feel so spoiled right now with all of this generousity. I got three really big, really awesome gifts. The first you already know about. A ring! The second is a Nikon D60 DLSR camera. I am in looove! But I'm even more in love with the totally unexpected gift....A PUPPY! OMG, there will be a whole blog dedicated to the beautiful little Sophie. But by far what was the best treat was getting to see my sister and brother-in-law. It was an unexpected trip for an unexpected death in Jordan's family and although we weren't excited about the reason they had to come, we were all very glad that they were able to be here!

We had an early Christmas on Saturday morning before their flight complete with breakfast casserole, coffee cake, and of course, fluff. It was so great to see them!

The next day there was even more Christmas at Aunt Dottie's house. There were so many adorable little children and Santa came to visit. Literally.

Complete with Sleigh-bells

Canidates for Mrs. Clause?

And plenty of excited children...

Engagement!!

This is a super quick post, cause I have an exam in 40 minutes...BUT I wanted to post up that Duane and I got engaged!!! It happened saturday night and there are definitely more details to come (when I don't know cause this week is packed with stuff). Anyways, I really love what Hollie wrote about it and she has some pictures up already so go check out her blog, and I really will try to get back to blogging soon. Love Ya'll

Future Mrs. Duane <3

Needing a little blog love!

Okay, so I know I'm not the best blogger ever and I'm behind on my November blogging. However, I need a little encouragement in the form of some comment love from time to time. Even if you hate my blog..it's ok..you can lie to me :)

Anyways, that was my rant. So lets have an update :)

My Mommy got married on October 17th and she was a beautiful bride. It was cold, especially for us bridesmaids in our strapless, t length dresses, but she didn't seem to mind one bit. It was wonderful in many ways, one of those being able to spend time with both of my sisters, Hollie (and Jordan) and Jennifer (and Tim), and my niece and nephew Mary and Mitch, and my cousin Jesse. I really wish for more of all of these wonderful people in my life. If you are into seeing pictures of these things, check out hollie's blog cause she had her camera and has been awesome about posting things up in a more timely manner. I also got to spend time with My Nana and Papa (my mom's parents). The whole shin-dig went down at the Partridge Inn and it was very classy.

The next weekend was the tournament for frisbee, but I've already posted about that so I will skip it this time.

On another topic completely, Statesboro weather definitely has a case of Attention Deficit Disorder. One day its in the upper 80s and the next day its down in the 40s and 50s. I'm just ready for it to go one way or the other. I feel completely unprepared for the outdoors without my daily weather channel check. In fact, I don't think we actually have seasons. We have about 7 months of sweltering heat, maybe a month (two at best) of wonderful, perfect 70 degree weather, and then its cold, staying in the 30s and 40s for the remaining 3 or 4 months.

Well, I feel like this was a pointless blog, just like the rest. Its so hard for me to find something that I feel strongly about that will actually be relevant to my many many readers. I don't have my niche yet. I'm still searching...

Circle Circle Dot Dot

So, the frisbee tournament at Georgia Southern was absolutely awesome. Although we might not have come out with the best record at the end of the weekend, it was so much fun and I felt awesome because I tried really hard and had some awesome moments. We all did. I can't wait for future tournaments when we know each others capabilities and tendencies better. I totally love this team. Unlike some of the other teams, everyone is pretty chill and there isn't a lot of bad language. Its a really fun, uplifting environment and I just wish I had more time to spend with them.

Stovie, Kim, and Mandy

Maddy

These are just a few of the shots taken throughout the weekend. The rest can be seen on Facebook.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Just wanted to touch base with everyone and let ya'll know I'm still here, just super swamped with school and such. Hopefully either Friday or next week I'll grab a free minute to blog.

Frisbee Tournament this weekend!! If you are close to Statesboro, GA, come on down to watch some awesome club frisbee with teams from all over the south east.