Meet the Ditders...

Just a fun little survey to get to know us better! :)

Meet Jenn- the younger ditder...

Age? 29
Occupation? Interior Designer
Married? no
Kids? no
Pets? no
Nicknames? Jenn, Jennie, Bak
Favorite Color? bright pink
Favorite Food? Crab Legs
Favorite Ice Cream? Blue Moon
Favorite TV Show? currently? Revenge...all time? Gilmore Girls
Favorite Movie? the thing is, I'm not a huge fan of movies, but maybe Dirty Dancing...
Favorite Store? Banana Republic
Favorite Place to Visit? The Beach!

Beautiful Lake Michigan at Sunset

Favorite Season? definitely summer
First Car? 1991 Oldsmobile Cutlas Calais
First Job? Soft Serve Specialist at Dairy Queen
First Plane Ride? summer after I graduated from high school, I flew from North Carolina where I was working to Michigan for my cousin's wedding
First Concert? hmmm...possibly AVB (Acapella Vocal Band - a Christian Acapella band best known for their songs "What's your Tag Say?" and "You Can't Go to Church")
First Movie at the Theater? Three Men and a Baby
First wedding you were in? 5 years old, Flower girl for Uncle Tom and Aunt Carol
What are 2 things you hate? Jacked up trucks, and when people refer to their significant other as "my old man" or "my old lady"
What chore do you save for last? mopping the floor
If you could have a do over, what would it be? possibly a different college, definitely a different minor (Art History has proved to be completely useless)
How do you spend your leisure time? reading, watching tv, spending time with friends, baking, on pinterest

Christmas baking with our Mom

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? I'm currently dreaming about going to Greece
What is your dream job? Event Planner/Fundraiser for a Non-profit
What is your dream car? Mercedes SUV in black
Do you collect anything? I usually get shot glasses when I travel, they're small and not completely useless
What’s one thing you can’t live without? sweets...I'm hopelessly addicted...
Who do you admire? I have a cousin, Cary, who is incredibly kind-hearted, thoughtful and generous - She always puts others first.
What would you do with a million dollars? get out of debt, buy a house, buy a new car and invest the rest!
Where do you want to retire? Somewhere on the coast that is warm
You have a 10 minute speech to give at a high school, what is it about? probably something to do with sexual purity, and why its okay to wait...
If you were independently wealthy, how would you spend your time? volunteering, mentoring middle school/early high school girls
What are you reading currently? 3 things I have going right now...The Concrete Blonde by Michael Collins - my 2nd book in a row by him...Grace - More than we deserve, Greater than we can imagine by Max Lucado...and I'm reading through the Bible this year with my church.



Meet Christine - the older ditder

Age? 41
Occupation? Day Care Provider, Shipping Clerk/Production Assistant for hubby's business
Married? Yes, for 18 years
Kids? A son, Dominic, Age 9
Pets? Two Dobermans, Duke & Duchess age 5; One Yorkie, Fergie age 3; One Bearded Dragon Lizard, Dexter age 4; One African Clawed (aquatic) Frog, PJF (Phineas J. Froggie) age >1.... Technically only Fergie is mine, but I am the main caregiver to all.
Nicknames? Chris, Chrissy
Favorite Color? pale pink
Favorite Food? Crab Legs, Mashed Potatoes
Favorite Ice Cream? Mackinac Island Fudge
Favorite TV Show? I generally don't watch TV... but I do enjoy Big Bang Theory when hubby has it on.
Favorite Movie? Steel Magnolias, Facing the Giants. Anything with John Wayne or Submarine related.
Favorite Store? Hobby Lobby
Favorite Place to Visit? The Mountains
Favorite Season? Summer
First Car? A Mercury Monarch, I don't remember the year... Late 70's
First Job? Ironically, Day Care Provider.
First Plane Ride? Age 23, my honeymoon... from Ft. Wayne, IN to San Juan, Puerto Rico for a 7 day Caribbean Cruise.
First Concert? Petra, DeGarmo & Key and Geoff Moore. I went with a group of friends from High School, I believe I was a Sophomore, I think the concert was at Hope College.
First Movie at the Theater? The first one I remember is Star Wars.
First wedding you were in? 7 years old, Flower girl for my Mom's second wedding.
What are 2 things you hate? Hate is a strong word for me... I will not eat unsweetened peanut butter, (I do enjoy an occasional Reese's Cup or some homemade buckeyes - but would never eat a PB&J by choice.) I think the other thing would have to be Dr. Pepper... turns my stomach. It also happens to be hubby's favorite... I really hate it when I pick up his and take a drink thinking its my Coke.
What chore do you save for last? Cleaning my bedroom... I always do the common areas first.
If you could have a do over, what would it be? I wouldn't change a thing... every choice (good and bad) has brought me to where I am now.
How do you spend your leisure time? baking, reading, snuggling with my husband and son, chatting with friends on facebook.
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? A European Grand Tour, especially, Ireland, Italy, France and Germany.
What is your dream job? Working with children or the elderly
What is your dream car? A Lexus of some sort.
Do you collect anything? Copper Cookie Cutters

What’s one thing you can’t live without? My family.
Who do you admire? My friend Lisa, she is currently battling Cancer for the 5th time and is rarely ever discouraged... she is usually keeping us all in stitches with her antics.
What would you do with a million dollars? give large sums to my current church and my former churches in Kalamazoo and Las Vegas. Pay off a few bills and buy a piece of land and build our dream house.
Where do you want to retire? Somewhere remote and quiet.
You have a 10 minute speech to give at a high school, what is it about? Being yourself and not bending to peer pressure.
If you were independently wealthy, how would you spend your time? Volunteering, baking and making memories with my family.
What are you reading currently? Speaking of Jesus - The art of not Evangelism by Carl Medearis, (this is about not trying to explain doctrine, theology, and all the other stuff and just telling people about Jesus) and I'm also working on two Bible reading plans in YouVersion; reading the Old Testament in two years and reading the New Testament in one year.

Welcome to our New Blog!

Welcome to Do-It-Yourself Ditders.  We are Christine and Jenn, two creative, crafty sisters who love decorating, cooking, baking, crafting and gardening – just to name a few things.  We plan to write to you about our adventures with these, as well as canning/preserving, event planning, fashion, outdoors-y things like camping, and whatever else comes in mind – all with the idea of doing these things yourself and on a budget! 

A little about us…first of all, our name.  What the heck is a “ditder”?  Well, when our brother was first learning to talk, he couldn't say “sister” so he always called Christine “ditder”.  When we were much older (Jenn in her late teens/early 20’s, Christine in her early 30’s) this story was retold and for some reason it stuck!  So it became very common for us to refer to each other as ditder. J

We live in Southwest Michigan, Christine on the Lake Michigan Shore, Jenn in Kalamazoo.  Our mom, JoAnne, is the source for all of our crafty, creative genes – we may even get her to do a guest post at some point.  And as we mentioned, we have a brother, Chad (middle child), who is the most laid back, easy going person you’ve ever met…probably learned behavior from growing up with two less laid-back sisters.  For both of us, faith and family are our priorities, and we make as much time for fun as we can! 

Check out our About Us page to read our bios and get to know us a little better individually. 

We’re excited to start this journey, and even more excited to have you join us!  So follow us and post your thoughts and comments – we can’t wait to hear from you!