my own little space in cyber space

i've moved....

2011-06-21T14:27:00.002-05:00

if anyone out there still has this blog showing up in their reader.....well, i've moved! i'm happy to report that i'm back to the blogging world but you can see all my creative endeavors here 14605!

GOOD THINGS.....

2009-07-08T09:35:00.003-05:00

....b/c i need it.

*walking around my office barefoot.

*seriously, seriously, seriously thinking that we are going to milwaukee for christmas (the cat is now outta the bag).

*greta showing me how to sew up some dresses and shirts for bella and making for of them.

*making cute lil fabric circle thingies that may make an appearance in my etsy shop.

*having my old friend amy and her hubby over for dinner in a couple of weeks.

*two good friends that listen to my belly aching.

*feeling creative and inspired despite my recent mood.

*knowing that last night after consuming three big ol glasses of wine i ate three cheeseburgers, fries, and an apple pie from mickey d's and not giving a shit! (yeah, you read that right, three cheeseburgers)

*the recent mini's i've made (stay tuned for pics)

*feeling hopeful.

*being all consumed in this book.

*wanting to redo my bedroom

what good things do you guys have to share?

THE "B" THAT BIT MY ASS!

2009-06-19T09:48:00.003-05:00

****NOTE: IF YOU ARE OFFENDED BY NAUGHTY LANGUAGE, THEN JUST GO AHEAD AND CLICK THAT RED "X" UP THERE IN THE RIGHT HAND CORNER NOW.

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

****'nother note: this is an email that i sent to my three favorite girls yesterday.

Girls I got to tell y’all a funny story. Okay, so I’m cruising around on the net yesterday on one of my favorite blogs that I’ve recently rediscovered and I see a pic of these initial pillows. I decide it’s a brilliant idea and I’m going to go home and make one for my bella*boo. So I use this great vintage pink houndstooth (greta, the fabric that I used to wrap your “g” canvas board).

So anyway, I draw this big ol “B” on the back of wrapping paper for a template which is a big fuckin’ mistake b/c the thing keeps wanting to curl. So while I’m tracing it on the fabric (with a regular pencil mind you b/c I don’t have a disappearing fabric pencil) I’m in a twister game pose keeping my foot on one end to keep it from curling while my elbow is on the other, tracing with a pencil that is barely working. So I get both sides traced and cut, and proceed to sew around the edges and the cut out middle parts of the “B”.

I almost seal the whole thing shut before I realize what I’m doing and leave about four inches at the bottom open for stuffing and think that I’m a sewing genius b/c I didn’t fuck it up.

Well that is until I go to turn it right side out.

What the fuck?

Why isn’t it coming out right. Why isn’t it in the perfect “B” shape that I worked so hard to obtain. Its just like a deformed dolls arm.

What did I do.

BOING!!!!

I sewed those damn center parts of the “B” and now it won’t be a “B”.

I get to thinking if I should use my seam ripper and rip those damn stitches out or if I should just put it aside and make bella a handicapped doll.

At this point it’s already been about an hour or so. I have another project that I wanted to complete as well and bella is going thru every lil thing in my scrap room asking if she can have this and that. not to mention, she’s asking me when I’m going to be done so she can lay on it.

I decide to throw it aside and cut out another pattern.

Insert hurt back and twister position again and the wondering if this is worth it. oh it better be fucking worth it.

So with all the wisdom I’ve learned about the 1st “B” I figure I’m a wise woman now and will have this one licked.

I’m good.

Oh shit, I’ve run outta thread.

Find a new spool.

Okay I’m good again.

Oh shit, the bobbin ran outta thread.

Let me rethread it.

Oh wait. How do you do that again.

Okay I think I’m good.

Nope.

I put the thread in the bobbin thing wrong and now it’s wanting to wind underneath it.

Try again.

Same thing as above.

Try again.

Again, same thing as above.

No bella you can’t have that. stop asking me for stuff.

Bella why are you crying?

I’m not yelling at you.

Try again.

Same thing again.

Oh finally!

I got it figured it out now.

I’ve now been working on this for three episodes of the office (20+ mins each) and 3 episodes of hunter (about 45 mins each).

Okay, I’m good now. I get to sewing. Just the edges this time.

Now I turn it right side out. Perfect.

Now I decide that I made the middle openings too big. She can’t use this as a pillow. Her head will sink in the middle. Why didn’t I just use another fabric to make the middle things (what the fuck are those called?)

Screw it. it can just sit on her bed.

But the “B” is also skinner than I planned.

Again, screw it. I want this thing done.

Bella again is asking me if I’m done yet. Ya know with that tone that implies what the fuck is your problem. You can’t figure out how to sew a simple letter. Geeez!

So now I’m stuffing it. thinking that this is taking too long and I want the damn thing done.

I’ve got those damn middle things sewn up however I prolly did it wrong b/c I did it right side out so you can see the unfinished edges. Who cares?

So I’m stuffing away.

And stuffing.

Damn this “B” is bigger than I thought.

Oh shit, some of the edges around the middle things aren’t closed all the way.

Now I’m cramming this half stuffed “B” threw my sewing machine desperately trying to get it sealed shut.

Why did I take on this fuckin’ project in the first place. Why didn't i just sew a damn "I"? her name is Isabella after all.

Finally it’s all stuffed.

Now I tackle sewing shut the bottom.

See above about cramming it thru the sewing machine b/c I think there is no way in hell I’m going to do it by hand.

It’s done.

The pink “B” is done.

Bella happily decided it was time for bed and carried her “B” with her. I believe I was declared the best mommy ever and she fell asleep in minutes claiming it was so comfy. She also has been carrying it around with her for two days straight.

so i guess it was worth it.

(note: her head can fit thru the bottom opening...bwahahhahahahaa!)

Tonight I’m making mikey an “M”.

HIYA! :)

2009-06-17T08:36:00.005-05:00

okay, okay uncle sam!
i will :)

that's right. i quit smoking again for the 493,908,283 time. this time i hope it sticks. i acutally think i'm in the right frame of mind now. especially since i found out i had some dental problems so i guess that made it easier to drop. so keep y'alls fingers crossed for me.

i feel as if i should do a lil catching up post, however, since it has been almost six months (thanks kristy for pointing that out...bwahahahahaha!) since i last posted, that would make for an awfully long post and who the hell wants to read all that.

i will tell ya as of late, it's been all about my house. i sit at work and surf around for inspiration and dream of all the things i am going to add to my walls, shelves, etc. it's important to me that my home is very cozy and i feel like handmade and vintage are just the thing to do that.

one of my favorite walls in my house is in the foyer. however, no one really enters thru my front door but i can still see it from my dining room and living room so it still gets love.

it's hard to see all the lil details, but connie....i got that fab*boo mississippi dish towel, that i love oh so much, framed and hung up. it's one of my favorite pieces.

i did get a close up of the banner and wall plaque.

i have one more lil piece that's not in the picture and i want to make one more lil thing and then that wall is complete.

i've also recently found a good bit of decorating blogs which are great!

do any of you have any places i should check out.
sarah can i come over so we can thrift? lol....i know i'll find something up there.

hugs :)

2009-06-16T09:51:00.003-05:00

oh lil blog.
how i miss you so.
do you miss me?
i'm sure you're angry at me for neglecting you.
but life has been busy. that's a good thing right? i'm filling my minutes with
crafting
gardening
baking
cooking
piano playing
cross stitching
and now i'm wanting to sew
along with all the chores.

so you can forgive me right?
how bout i pinky swear that i'll start to come back?
pretty please?
with a cherry?

oh you do?
thank you.

PROOF THAT I STILL HAVE A CREATIVE BONE IN MY BODY!!

2009-01-07T10:58:00.014-06:00

despite the fact that i have been busy and blah blah, i have gotten some creating done.

a mini that i made using one of those kids lil chipboard books. you know the ones for like a one or a two year old. that's right, run around and swipe your kiddos' books and make you a mini with it...lol.

cover of the binder for the ashley wren class that i'm taking that i mentioned below.

free bird lo

charlie and lucy

my space

okay, so earlier i had to go so i was unable to finish this post. here we go.

so for christmas the ever fab*boo got me the itouch for christmas and i have been listening to it to my heart's content. well one of my favorite times to listen to it is when it's sitting on its new dock (another christmas present) and i'm in the craft room listening to the likes of jan a.p. kaczmarek, rachmaninoff, pablo casals, and zbigniew preisner while i paint.

now i'm not painting masterpieces by any means, but there is still nothing more relaxing than listening to the above with a paintbrush in my hand.

so here is what i have been painting the past couple of weeks.

this was a painting that i did for ms. greta for christmas. i did the drawing of the octopus last year for the design of my valentine's day cards that some of you got. this was done on some paint boards that you can get at hobby lobby, michael's, etc. that i absolutely love working on.

and this is a lil mini me that i did on some water color paper with acrylic paints. i worried about the paints buckling the paper, but it turned out fine. yes, i know that she doesn't have hands or feet, but maybe that's my signature ya know....lol.

but i think she looks JUST like me...bwahahahhahaa!!!

i have some more that i will share tomorrow.

what have y'all been up to creative wise???

THE YEAR OF ELIZABETH!!!

2009-01-01T15:20:00.003-06:00

happy 2009 everyone!!
anyone?

(don't know if i have any readers left out there or not....lol.
needless to say, the last few months of 2008 have been purely exhausting for me. i've had so much going on, there hasn't even been time to blog.)

i am sooooo glad that 2008 is over.
like seriously glad.

about three or so weeks ago, while sitting on the back porch with michael, i declared 2009 the year of elizabeth.

i have so many hopes and dreams for this year. despite the fact that i hate, and i mean hate odd numbers. however, on the way home from an errand today, i heard that odd number years were supposed to be lucky. so lets just hope that is true.

this is the year that i work on me.
the year that i focus on me.
the year that i do what i want to do.
the year to be truly happy.
the year that i try new things and become the woman that i want to be.
shit, can i even say i'm a woman yet?
i still feel like a child at times.
next month i turn 31.
when did that happen?
now its time to act and feel like it.
not to be in my head so much.
analyzing and dwelling on the past or problems that i shouldn't even waste my time on.

make every day count and be the absolute best that i can make it.

i decided to sign up for ashley wren's 2009 class over at sis and am excited to start.

i took her "evidence" class (see below) and it was amazing. i still have some prompts to finish but it was eye opening for me and occasionally i like to flip thru it and read what i wrote just a month and a half ago.

oh, i'm getting off track.

i do hope that everyone has a happy beginning of 2009 and that they have goals and dreams that they hope to accomplish this year and actually accomplish them. i wish that for you and i wish that for me as well.

i hope that 2009 is absolutely the best year ever. it has to be right? and i'm the only one that can make it that way. and that is how i plan on starting my new year.

the year of elizabeth!

edited to add: while surfing blogs today, i checked out jennifer pebbles' blog and found a link for here to get my personal number for the year. here's what it had to say

Personal Year 3. . . .Social expansion & creative successes
This is a number 3 personal year. This is a social, happy year, and it generally tends to exude bright and cheerful vibrations. This is a year when you will want to check up on old friends and broaden your social circle to include some new ones. Romance and love affairs may bloom. You are inclined to live life to its fullest now, even if you have to pay the consequences later on. You are likely to be more sociable and the bridle of responsibility will seem to be loosened a bit. You are inclined to scatter your energies and undertake too many things at the same time. You can safely take some time off to enjoy yourself, but resist the temptation to completely give in to having a good time; keep your goals in mind. A 3 personal year is a good time to expand personal creative talents, particularly those related to the arts and verbal skills. Recognition in this regard is likely this year.

While this can be a happy year as far as personal expression and activities are concerned, it may be a disastrous year on the business scene. A generally frivolous attitude in that environment can cause rash decisions and impractical, unfinished schemes. This is not likely to be a very good year for your finances, and it is fortunate that the next year is designed to compensate these effects.

i love how it mentions that its a good time to expand personal creative talents. there are some classes that i plan on taking after the first of that year that i will get into more detail at a later time.

so what's your number?

MY CREATIVITY HAS BEEN FOUND!!!

2008-11-04T10:01:00.002-06:00

ya know, part of the reason that i haven't blogged in forever, apart from the busy*ness, is the lack of mojo.
creative mojo that is.

i don't know what happened. it up and disappeared on me.

but with a very soft and gentle push and discovering that it wasn't too let to get on a class by the fab*boo ashley wren i believe it is back and in full force.

i came home from work early yesterday and due to an earlier conversation with a person who means the world to me, i finally grabbed my vintange nikkormat, some black and white film, and hoped for the best. the only thing is i have to wait two weeks to get it back :(

after shooting with that, i decided to shoot some of the same things that i shot with the nikkormat with my luv, the rebel.

didn't like how a lot of the pics turned out. this is what happens when you feel like you've lost your connection with your camera :( i did get these though.

what has got to be the most happiest kids on earth right????

ahh...that's better!!!

once some stuff got done around the house, it was time to work on that class.
it felt so good to do something creative ya know.
like my body and mind felt alive.
this is why i shouldn't let myself get caught up in the every day and must remember to make time for creativity. my soul needs it.

so this class is all about creating a journal.

here's my cover.

copper paint over a composition book. due to the thickness of the paint, last minute i decided to stick my hand on it and love the way the compo book peeks thru.

and the first prompt!

8 happies!

i love how this is the first page in the book. a list of things that make me happy at this moment.

so tonight the plan is to go home and do the next one. i'm super excited. i've got ideas swimming around in my head and can't wait till next week when i stay the night at g's house on monday and scrap till our heart's content.

ps...don't forget to vote!

<3 elizabeth <3

IS IT THE END OF OCTOBER ALREADY? WHEN THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN?!?!?

2008-10-29T19:33:00.001-05:00

so had no intention of taking a two month break from the blog.
seriously!

life has just been a crazy mess of soccer games, homework, boyscout events, more work dumped on me at work (which would explain why i don't get to leave many comments on blogs), a new ritual of baths in my jaccuzi tub ;) halloween parties, camping trips, the list goes on and on.

i've barely scrapped in forever (hopefully that will change this weekend) and my house never got decorated for halloween :(

i do have some exciting news though.

i've been asked to participate in the newest upcoming challenge blog FORWARD PROGRESS. the idea is just pure brilliance!!! scrap your future. i mean seriously, how often are we scrapping our past or not even wanting to scrap something b/c it happend so long ago that the pics are old, or whatever. i am constantly thinking about my future and why not scrap it?!?! i'm on a team with a great group of gals and can't wait to get to know them better and hopefully if i have any readers left....lol...you'll stop by and partake in some of the challenges. i'll let y'all know when the first one is up.

i hope that all is well with y'all and i do hope to be back sooner than later.

hope everyone has a happy, happy, happy halloween!!!

<3 elizabeth <3

THE GREAT. THE BAD. THE UGLY

2008-08-20T08:36:00.000-05:00

THE GREAT

*michael and i spent a glorious saturday night
here for our anniversary. the room was nice and of course i love this casino/hotel. we ate dinner at the outback, had frozen custard at bops, saw a swing vote (1 1/2 thumbs down), gambled a lil bit, and then had room service the next a.m. where i had the best coffee and blueberry danish! (a mini will be coming to a blog near you soon :)

*the kiddos are signed up for soccer and mikey only has practice once a week and a game on saturday and bella has her practice before her game on saturday.

*we finally have an awesome back to school routine which comes complete with having an hour to myself in the morning after the kiddos catch the bus....bliss!!!

*michael and i decided that in january we are going to start trying for another bambino :)

*i'm about to start taking quilt classes.

*i'm going to crop at the lss friday night...whooo*haaaa!!!

*stacks and stacks of library books are sitting around my house just waiting to be devored.

*bella will be signed up for daisies soon :)

*tried a new recipe last night...tomato basil tart...which was so devine i can't stop thinking about it.

*speaking of cooking, i've been cooking up a storm: homemade bread, cherry jam, chicken broth, cookies, homemade pizza (this too will be coming to a post near you soon :)

THE BAD

*we've been so busy i can hardly stand myself.

*i haven't scrapped in weeks (that will soon change though since i am devoting the whole weekend to this).

*i'm having trouble coming up with baby names. yes, i'm a major PLANNER. if i could pee on the stick and it turn pink or blue that would make me happy. i have to have the name planned out way in advance and well, there are some rules. ya see, the four of us all have one vowel and two "m"s for initials. and we for the most part have italian names. so trying to find italian names that meet this criteria is hard. however, i think we may end up dropping the whole italian thing and just finding the vowel and two m's. and of course i only have a girl's name picked...grr! any suggestions?

THE BAD

*my bella*boo has to have surgery on her eye on september 2nd. :( she will have that papaloma removed and i've been assured that it won't come back. she doesn't know yet. we won't tell her till the day before. we have to drive to mobile, alabama to have it done. i worry that she will be like me as a child and haved to be strapped down when they give her the anesthia. oh i can't even think about it.

*and again, i've just been busy busy busy. both at work and home. there are def. not enough hours in the day.

how have y'all been?

AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION HEART WALK

2008-08-14T08:09:00.000-05:00

this year, i'm participating in the american heart association heart walk and i'm quite excited about it. its 4 miles long and will be my first ever walk for a cause :)

i kinda feel funny asking this on my blog, but its for a good cause right? so if anyone is interested in making a donation for me, you can go to my home page on the gulfcoast heart walk site and do so!!!

i have a goal of $100 and i would love to be able to go over :)

thanks in advance and i'd love to know if anyone else is doing the walk :)

hugs,
e

<3 HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MY LOVE <3

2008-08-13T09:50:00.001-05:00

wow baby!
can you believe its already been 9 years???

i love you more than anything in the world and i can't wait to share many, many more years with you.

can't wait for this weekend ;)

MY BABY STARTED KINDERGARTEN TODAY!!!

2008-08-07T19:38:00.000-05:00

*sniff*
*sniff*

my bella boo had her first day of kindergarten today. michael and i brought her to school where we got to hang out in her classroom, have breakfast with her, give her a ton o' hugs and kisses, watch a presentation given by the other kindergarten teachers and then back to her classroom to ask any questions.

this was the second year that they did it this way and bella won't go back until monday. if you don't think for one second that i was pissed as shit when i found out about this, well, you're wrong.

but anyway.

dontchya just wanna eat her up in that jumper???

with book bag and lunch bag that she left at school {shakes head}

MIKEY'S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

2008-08-06T13:01:00.000-05:00

bug started 3rd grade today!

i can't believe it.

not only did summer fly by, i have a child old enough to be in third grade!
what the?????

here he is all dressed up and ready to go. notice the goofy look on his face. he's def. getting to the age where seeing if he can mess up a good pic is numero uno priority!

MORE SCRAPPINESS!!!!

2008-08-05T12:56:00.000-05:00

i have been on a scrapping rampage lately (well at least compared to other months...lol) and here are a few more los i've done.

lo for the dares

a lo for anthologies, my lss

has anyone else had mucho scrappy mojo?

QUEEN OF CRAP!!!

2008-08-04T12:53:00.000-05:00

yay!

this week i am queen of crap over at scrap your crap.

this week's challenge is beads. i have a ton of beads since i like to dabble in jewelry making every now and again but needed to figure out what i wanted to do with them.

so this is what i came up with

make sure you guys swing over there and let me know what ya did so i can check it out :)

BREAKING DAWN

2008-08-03T12:49:00.000-05:00

okay, so here i am at around 1:30 saturday morning after running around getting this book.

after i picked michael up from the airport, the four of us went to eat, and then headed to barnes and noble. its about 11:30. it is pretty packed and everyone is wearing wrist bands....oh no!

so instead of waiting around there, i bought the chocolate bars and headed to walmart where i stood in line with about 8 other people and had the book in my hand by 12:01.

too bad i'm disappointed with it.
i'm not finished yet...have about 200 pages yet but i'm ready to be done with it. its not what i expected but i won't get into anymore b/c i don't wanna give out any spoilers :(

2008-08-01T12:16:00.000-05:00

b/c i can't stop painting or creating today.

on canvas board
size 12x16

THANK YOU & A MINI

2008-08-01T10:40:00.000-05:00

thank you all for the sympathies regarding michael's grandpa. i'll be sure to let him know your kind words.

you
all
are
the
best!

okay, now for a mini.

i've had this idea in my head for about a week now and thought it was brilliant if i do say so myself...lol.

i wanted to do a mini on my name and do a descriptive word for each letter of my name that fits me to a tee!

and this is what i came up with :)

e: emotional.....i am extremely emotional which i both love and hate
l: loving........oh how i love to love and be loved
i: imagination...my imagination is both my sanity and insanity
z: zealous.......i am over zealous of most everything
a: artistic......without art i would be nothing
b: baking........baking: my therapy
e: eager.........always ready to push my own limits
t: thinker.......always in my head analyzing everything
h: homemaker.....taking care of my family and home is what i live for

this was so much fun and seriously, you should do the same. it was a lil hard for me to find a word for "z" but still...it picked a good one.

{DEEP SIGH}

2008-07-31T14:15:00.000-05:00

that's all i can really say...i'm exhausted. so much has been going on lately. between back to school shopping, sleeping over friends, dentist appointments, running errands, and blah blah, we received some bad news last thursday.

michael's grandfather passed away last week and he left on friday to head to milwaukee. he won't be back till this friday so i took off this week to be at home with the kiddos.

we are going to miss his grandfather deeply but knowing that he lead a full life filled with love makes us feel a little bit better. i'm glad that michael has had this time to spend with his grandma and his sister. i know that is making them all feel better and i just wish that we could have went with him.

*********************************************************

on to some happy things.

being off does mean though that i do have time to get some stuff done. the house is clean (for the most part ;), i've been baking up a storm and i'm about ready to throw some dough into the bread machine and make
some of these mini vanilla wafers, some homemade chicken soup for dinner, and some cherry preserves!

i've also scrapped a very little. but you'll have to stay tuned for those los ;)

i'm super excited about this

i pick up michael tomorrow at the airport between 10-11 pm and i've already told him that we are stopping at barnes and nobel on the way home. i got an email from them yesterday that said they were having a release party (hello partying with the teens ;) and i'm hoping that i can get my hands on the book by midnight ;)

who else out there is on pins and needles.

and lets not get me started on the movie.
{deep sigh}

oh did anyone watch project runway last night?
did y'all not die when they were trying to get tim to say "holla" right???
bwahahahahahahaa!

shit i love that show.
and is anyone else ready for ms. leathaah to be cut? good grief.

oh and last but certainly not least, some fab*boo people have tagged me with this

i've been tagged by: noel, karen, and sian. some of my most favorite people ever.

here are the rules....

1. The winner can take the logo
2. Place a link to the person that sent you the award
3. Give the Award to at least 7 other Scrapbooking-Blogs, which by its currency,the issues of choice and for their designs are especially noteworthy
4. Put a link to these sites on your Blog.
5. Write a comment on their Blogs that they’ve won an Award.

i don't know who all has received this and who hasn't, but i'm tagging anyway....

sarah
who is so stinkin' cute and someone i wish i could meet b/c i know we would just jive.

josie
b/c she is just the sweetest thing ever and we share a love of marshmallow dip, books, kitchen aid mixers.

aimee
she is an awesome scrapper who has an amazing eye for design and photography.

anna
damn i love this chick. who else can ask a friend "is it just me or are you ready for edward and bella to fuck?" and she doesn't email you back with a "you're a freak. don't talk to me ever again" but toally agrees with ya!

joss
to the sweetest chick ever! to an amazing photographer who totally blows me away. a chick who can quilt with the best of em and makes me so completely crazy jealous of her skills.

andrea
a rockin' scrapper who can put the bestest swap package together ever! to this day she remains my favorite swappy partner and awesome bloggin' buddy. even though we don't chat as much, i think of her daily :)

miss leopard print
not only do i think this girl can scrap with the best of em, she's hilarious as all get out and stamped me some mr. t images. umm hello....awesome!

okay, off to start baking and possibly snugglin' up to "eclipse" again so i'm all ready for friday :)

THANK*YOU!!

2008-07-24T12:39:00.000-05:00

thanks everyone for the well wishes for my bella*boo! i'm just ready for the 12th to get her so i can find out what comes next. boy do i hate to wait :) i'll keep ya updated.

oh

i wanted to share some other scrappiness that i have been working on lately. i don't know why, but i scrap in some major spurts. i'll scrap like crazy and then you won't see anything from me for weeks. totally annoying.

anyway

this is another mini (told ya i was hooked) that i did on sunday and believe it or not, it got me on the catwalk which is so cool.

i take a ton of pictures of nature related items. have no idea why since birds scare the shit outta me and its always so hot outside, but when something catches my eye, i've gotta snap it. so this is an album devoted to a few of my faves :)

(excuse some of the wonky pics, but i scanned em and well transparency doesn't scan well :(

then this next lo i did for the design experiment. you were to do a lo on comfort and believe it or not, this is what comforts me. i know noel will totally agree with me on this ;) oh and a lot of the goodies i used on this page came from the picnic basket kit over at noel mignon.

can you believe how much i've been scrappin'?
oh and i've been cross stitchin' up a storm as well. i'll have to post pics of those too. nothing like the kiddos being in bed, jb on the tube, and doing a lil xstitching :)

{deep sigh}

heaven!

MY POOR BELLA*BOO

2008-07-23T13:48:00.000-05:00

bella has always had sinus problems and lately her eye has been really gunked up and i blew it off as that. we had a slight change in our weather last week and everyone has been complaining of sinus problems. well monday when i got home for work, i noticed this pink skin hanging on her eyeball {insert gag and freak out on my part} after having the pediatrician paged, i explained to him what was going on and he advised that she needed to come in yesterday morning. so after running from one doctor to another doctor and then being referred to now a third doctor that only comes into town once a month, i found out that bella has a papalloma on her eye. and it has to be surgically removed.
{sniff sniff}

i won't know more until we see the lid specialist (umm hello...doctors specialize on the eye lid only???) on the 12th of next month.

poor lil thing. the only good thing about it is, that it doesn't hurt or bother her at all which is a saving grace for me.

has this happened to anyone else's kiddos???

my poor bella boo!

DESPITE....

2008-07-20T16:11:00.000-05:00

...my mood today, i'm feeling quite creative.
and thanks to that creativity, i've been able to catch up on some challenges :)

category stories

syc

challenge over at studio calico

for the new challenge blog the story matters

and a lo just cause

now off to work on my next mini :)

MORE MINIS!

2008-07-18T13:13:00.000-05:00

i am officially hooked on minis and spend most of my day daydreaming of all the different minis i wanna make.

so b/c of this, i have made two more in the past week!

the first one is for the current noel mignon challenge. can you believe that i really have never scrapped christmas???

oh the horror!

but as i've mentioned before, i'm more of an "everyday scrapper" and find it hard to scrap events. but not anymore!!!!

(ps...i scanned these so due to the raised embellies on the pages, the color is a lil off)

this mini was made with a bazzill acordian mini that i got when aimee got rid a ton of her stuff :)

almost everything used in this mini came from the fab*boo kits from noel mingon

the next mini was actually inspired when i went downstairs to have lunch with michael and he had this nifty lil card that he got in the mail from the national forensic academy. i had already taken the pictures in the beginning of the year and knew when i saw this that i had to have it. since michael was just going to throw it away, it was mine. i'll have to remember to tell michael never to throw away his mail again ;) on the cover the stickers and mikey's picture are covering up the details for the event that was on the card...lol.

i did this one last night.

i'm not pleased with every page b/c i think they are lacking in some goodies, but damn, the scrappy industry only makes so many crime scene related goodies...lol.

but mikey LOVES it so that is all that matters :)

YEAH, I KNOW....

2008-07-14T15:38:00.001-05:00

...i suck!
BIG TIME!

i've been reminded by a few that i haven't blogged in like...well forever. i apologize. a lot going on (again...aren't i always saying that???) and to think that school starts in three weeks...eeek! i'm so looking forward to it though.

anyway, this post is really to kind of just let ya know that i am a live and to post some pics of something that has been keeping me busy.

the ever fab*boo jennifer, the owner of our fabulous lss gave me a bunch of elsie's forrest line to create something that she can teach a class on. as soon as i saw this line months ago, i knew i wanted to do something with the pictures from our boyscout camping trip at the beginning of the year.

so i decided to make a mini.

and these are the insert pages that go in the lil pocket you see above

i'm so thrilled about this mini and now i can officiall say that i'm hooked on minis and spend the day daydreaming about different ones i wanna do...lol.

i also created this lo for her

and her's some more los i've been working on

so see, i've been busy but i hate when i get this far behind but oh well. i'm not making any more promises to update every day b/c every time i do, well shit, i don't.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVE!

2008-06-11T11:00:00.000-05:00

happy birthday to the man who has given me more than i could ever dream of.
the man who loves me when i'm being a bitch.
the man who understands my moods.
the man who believes in my dreams more then i do.
the man who is such an excellent daddy.
the man who owns my heart.

i love you baby!
more than candy!
831
831
831

MAY RECAP!!

2008-06-10T15:07:00.000-05:00

may kinda flew by and left me in the dust. cannot believe how fast the year has gone.

so many things wonderful things happened in may but i was just too busy to post em.

bella graduated from preschool

i can't believe my baby is going to kindergarten. totally crazy. she graduated preschool at the beginning of the month and i was so proud of her. this past year she has learned so much including how to sign which has made me so happy.

for the ceremony, she had to give a lil speech with a friend of hers about holland. they were so stinkin' cute. they signed some words, sang some songs, and threw their caps in the air when it was all done.

my lil dutch girl

they also did a lil slideshow video of pictures that were taken throughout the year and towards the end of the year, they had the parents take a pic with their child and then the child said what they were grateful for from their parent.

bella said "thank you for making tomato soup and grilled cheese for me". eeek! too cute for words

bella turns 5

bella's 5th birthday fell on mother's day this year. she also happened to be born on mother's day. the day she was born, i had told myself that whenever her bday fell on mother's day for the rest of her life, i would take her to tea and do something special with her. just her and i! well since one of the tea places closed down and i knew that the other one would be packed, i made our own lil tea party.

but wait!

i'm getting ahead of myself.

early that morning, bella and i were served breakfast in bed by michael and mikey. my camera battery was dead or i would have pictures. we had michael's famous pancakes and bacon. it was delish. bella especially loved the breakfast in bed.

then it came time for our special tea around lunch time. since bella's room is a lil on the dainty-vintage side, we had it in there and listened to classical music (which i enjoyed more than her...lol)

the spread

yummy "tea"

then my mom came over and we gave bella some presents and had cake :)

it was a nice day and it was especially special since it was our first mother's day/birthday since she was born. i thought about that special day all day long.

that next monday, being the awesome mom that i am, i took cupcakes to bella*boo's class and they all signed "happy birthday" to her as they sang it.

mother's day present

as i was walking to put my breakfast in bed dishes into the sink, i saw this lil beauty sitting in the kitchen.

my new bike that i love oh so very much. since i have received it, mikey and i have been on many bike rides. now i just need to find a lil basket for it. preferably vintage :)

goodbye second grade

its hard to believe that i can say that i have a child that is getting ready to go into the third grade. i remember third grade and i loved it ooooh so much.

we were invited to attend mikey's award ceremony and i was pleased (and surprised!) to find out that mikey had made a & b honor roll all year long!!!

we also discovered that mikey had grown 3 inches this past year!
that is just crazy!
i can't believe it.

this was such a cool project that his teacher did. which made me realize that i should have thought of this last year when we moved into the house. but this year on the anniversary of the move in i am going to do markings on both the kids on the inside of the pantry door and do it every year till we are showing their children :)

boy scouts memorial day activity

have i ever mentioned how much i love that mikey is in boyscouts?
well if i haven't lemme just gone now and say that i love that he is in boyscouts!
the people there are so good and so kind hearted.

they decided this year that they were going to go to the va and place flags on the graves. there are over 17,000 at our va and believe it or not, with the people that were out there (not just boyscouts) it was done in like 15 minutes.

i was honored and touched that we got to be a part of this.
it was amazing.
to see all those flags blowing in the wind.
to explain to the boys what it meant to do this.
then the boys started going around and shaking the hands of the fine men and women of the military and telling them thank you. oh boy, i'm teary eyed just thiking about that.

bella's bday party

the last saturday of the month was bella's bday party. i was super ready to get it over with considering i had no idea how many people were going to show up b/c people don't know how to rsvp anymore (hmph!).

it ended up being small which ended up being very nice.

bella had a my little pony party so i tried to do a lil of the party favors that way.

regular ol bubbles. punched out circles from computer sticker sheets and then put a my little pony sticker on that.

lil goodie bag

so that was may!
aside from all the day to day stuff!

i'll be back soon with the things i have been creating for the month! believe it or not, i've kept up with it.
yay!

A CREATIVE JUNE!!!

2008-06-03T20:37:00.000-05:00

yesterday while i was checking out bloglines, i came across this post by beth johnson.

ummm hello!

brilliant idea.

especially since i haven't created anything since national scrapbooking day (um, have i shared those lo's yet?) so i told her i was game and so far i've created something every day (gimme a break, i know its only the 3rd, but hey, that's at least three things done right?)

so here's what i got done so far:

june 1st

i bought this lil cork board at the thrift store for less than $0.75
painted it blue with some paint i already had on hand and added four lil white hooks to it!

june 2nd

lo for current noel mignon challenge. the challenge is to do a summer lo and what says summer like swimmin'.

lo for current scrap your crap challenge. you had to use a mix of stickers and who doesn't have a ton of stickers laying around!

new scrap jacked challenge! this is my new fave. love this pic of michael. i took it at work using a polaroid and if you can't figure it out, that's his badge in his mouth. i also did a photo transfer of this photo that i'll share later (talk about an addicting craft!)

june 3rd

a lil canvas i made. the size is 5x7. i used vintage fabric and buttons. and of course some american thickers. its the perfect lil thing to sit on/near my scrap desk! and of course there's that yellow!

a lo of my two fave boys!

so wow!

i can't believe how much i have gotten done in three days. and i know the main reason that i have gotten stuff done. i spent 8 hours (yes 8 hours!) cleaning, rearranging furniture, throwing stuff away, and throwing stuff into boxes for my two winners (so if you gals were wondering, i'm still throwing stuff in them and then waiting on you gals to get settled into your new homes :)

its now cleaned up and out and more airy feeling. its just a great space. now i still have a dining room table filled with crap that i gotta move around, but i think i needed the crafty break.

so thanks beth for the inspo :)

ELIZABETH MEANS....

2008-06-02T10:11:00.000-05:00

totally stole this off of greta's blog.

What Elizabeth Means

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.

You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.

At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow.

You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily.

Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.

You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.

You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.

You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

You are incredibly wise and perceptive. You have a lot of life experience.

You are a natural peacemaker, and you are especially good at helping others get along.

But keeping the peace in your own life is not easy. You see things very differently, and it's hard to get you to budge.

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection.

You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive.

You have the classic "Type A" personality.

You are full of energy. You are spirited and boisterous.

You are bold and daring. You are willing to do some pretty outrageous things.

Your high energy sometimes gets you in trouble. You can have a pretty bad temper at times.

You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life.

You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home.

You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble.

You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out.

Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia.

Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

i agree with:

But keeping the peace in your own life is not easy. You see things very differently, and it's hard to get you to budge.

You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.

You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.

You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. (i wouldn't say i'm the best at everything but i sure as hell try...lol)

You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble.

THE GARDEN!

2008-05-22T08:32:00.001-05:00

oops!
sorry the pics are too big. i'll fix that later.

over the weekend michael and i (well mostly michael...he did all the grunt work) doubled the size of my garden. i planted about 30 tomato plants (roma/beefsteak) and about 21 different pepper plants.

now i don't know what i am going to do with all the stuff when it comes in...lol...but i'll be so tickled green when it does.

lemon tree

egg plant

green peppers

cucumbers (you see the lil guy on there???)

blackberries

i plucked that big guy too after i took the pic. i also got one more off the bush and then got a few wild ones. definately didn't get as many as aimee did though!

my basil.

can you believe i haven't eaten any of this yet??? its too purty...lol. actually i am going to use it this weekend in some bruschetta that i'll be bringing to a party.

cucumbers

every time i look at them i think "i can't believe i grew them from a seed and they are actually growing". i also think "i can't believe i haven't killed anything yet"...lol

the garden

disregard the dying marigolds. my mom got them for me to put around the garden to keep the critters at bay. well after planting all those plants sunday i didn't feel like digging up anything else. i'll work on it this weekend.

BEST BALL GAME EVER!!!!

2008-05-21T10:39:00.000-05:00

monday night mikey had his last ball game. we were playing the undefeated team and i was a lil nervous about it (yes, i'm one of those moms). we have only lost once and it was to this team.

can i just say that we won!!!

our team did an outstanding job. i did so much cheering that i didn't think that i would have a voice yesterday a.m. each and every player did an amazing job but i have to say that my bug made me jump up from a sitting position and keep jumping up and down.

i don't know if i mentioned it already or not, but i promised at the beginning of the season that i would give hime $10 for every homer and every pop fly he caught(he plays right field). i've already shelled out $30 for the homeruns but haven't paid for a catch.

until now!!!

i was so excited.
the team was excited.
heck, mikey was shocked and didn't even realize that he caught it.

it was the best feeling a parent could have and i wish i could jar that moment up.

so needless to say, as soon as we got home he wanted to know where his moola was. he is def. my lil alex p. keaton and he's already saving for a car so anytime he is owed money, he wants it.

and here is my lil ball player.

now we have to play a championship game against the same team on friday night. i think i am going to need a drink before hand :)

SAVING US SOME MOOLA-*PART 1: COUPONS AND FREE SAMPLES

2008-05-19T15:39:00.000-05:00

**after typing four pages in word on just coupons and freebies, I think I am going to break this down in parts. I don’t want to overwhelm or bore any of you with an endless amount of words.

Okay so I’m finally getting around to typing this post. sorry it took so long, but goodness, things have been hectic on my end (yes, I know you guys are getting just as tired of hearing this as I am saying it).
I’ve been mentally writing this post in my head for a bit now b/c I wanna make sure that I write it in a way that is easy to understand and that will show you guys how fun it actually is to save your family money. I know that most people think that the time that I put into these tasks is a waste and not fun at all, but to be quite honest, I enjoy it immensely!
Most of information that I have, I borrowed from other cool chicks out there that are gracious enough to share their tips, links, and shopping trips with the world.

First I am going to give credit where it is due and highlight a few blogs and sites that have saved me a ton of money!

freebies 4 mom
Heather is the coolest chick I know and she takes a lot of time to share with the rest us all the freebies, internet coupons, and other cool deals that are out there. I don’t go a day without checking her site. she also offers give aways on her blog which I think is awesome!

money saving mom
Crystal is an amazing blogger that also runs the site biblical womanhood. actually I think I first came across her biblical womanhood site before finding money saving mom and felt like I hit the jack pot. Crystal is a young mom just like myself (‘cept I think she is a little bit younger {sniff}) and she takes a lot of time out of her schedule to help us out.

Everything you need to know and get started about couponing you can see on her blog. not only does she show the latest and greatest of internet coupons and free samples, but she will also break down for you all the deals you can get at chain stores such as cvs, riteaid, Walgreens, food lion, publix, kroger etc!!! actually I’m extremely jealous of all the great stores in her area that offer such amazing deals that make it possible for her to stretch her buck. I only have a couple and well that just sucks!!!!

the mother load
Amy is another woman after my own heart. She enjoys things like saving her family money, cooking on a budget, and entertaining her family at hardly any cost. She has posts like “freebie Fridays” where every Friday she posts all the free stuff that is out there on the net. Her blog is another daily click for me. I’ve printed out some amazing (and simple) recipes from her site and I highly recommend checking her out!

Those are my top three that I check on a daily basis. And usually while I’m on those blogs, I’ll hop over to another one and another one and another one (aka blog hop) either via comments or links that these girls will post on there blog.

Actually, you really don’t need to read anymore of what I have to say, you can actually just go to the above blogs and find out everything that you need to know….lol.

But for those that are still sticking around, I’m going to tell ya a few things that I do to help make our dollar stretch via couponing and free samples!

coupons
Okay, I know some of you are groaning right about now. but I’m here to tell you that most of the money that I save comes from clipping coupons. I actually don’t mind clipping the coupons. It’s a great task you can do while watching tv or while you’re at work {wink}. Actually, I’ve been known to cut them on my lunch break while eating downstairs with the hubby (money saving tip to come in a later section).
I usually purchase at least 3 Sunday papers each week that is if I know there are going to be really good coupons in the paper. I may even purchase one more. The papers are only $1 each and there are coupons and rebates (see *part 2) that well exceed that cost! Not to mention a lot of the ads for chain stores (i.e. cvs, Walgreens, etc) have coupons in them which adds to my savings.
You can get coupons from places other than the Sunday paper. this will probably come as a shock to some of you as it did me until I realized how many sites out there offer printable coupons. Now I do need to let you know that you need to check with your local store’s coupon policy to see if they take internet coupons. Some stores have issues with them possibly being copies, etc. so they may not take them.

Aside from finding links for printable coupons from the above blogs, you can also find printables at the below sites:

smart source
betty crocker
red plum
box tops for education
Pillsbury
pp gazette
coupons.com

These are just a few that I hit on a regular basis.

Now I know that some of you are thinking that is a lot and that its going to be a waste of ink, but I disagree. I can print a lot of coupons using one cartridge. Some of the coupons that you will print will be for free product, some will be for such a large amount off that you’ll end up getting the item for pennies. Not to mention that once you have emptied out a printer cartridge, you just bring it to office depot and they will give you a print out for $3 off your next purchase. You can bring in as many empties as you want and you are able to stack three of them on one purchase (meaning $9 off!!!)

Also be on the lookout for coupons that are attached to the product you buy. They can be found on the inside of a pizza box, on the outside of the bottle, inside a pack of shredded cheese, or they just might need to be peeled off the packaging.

Now you’re probably wondering what you are going to do with all these coupons after you have them all together and cut out while you watched a few episodes of murder she wrote.

1. Staple multiples: since I buy more than one paper and some of the above websites let you print more than one of the coupons that they are offering, it is very helpful to staple the coupons together. That way if you are at a store that offers b1g1f (buy 1 get 1 free) or you need more than one of that product and you have all your coupons together, it will save you a ton of time.

2. You are going to need something to put them in. awhile back I made this coupon box to store all my coupons in. I made sections based on my families needs. This box is sturdy and large enough to hold all the coupons that I have cut. I recommend getting something that works for you.

When it finally comes time to hit the grocery store, I usually start by making my grocery list. I base my grocery list off of my menu (see *part 3*). I then go off of this grocery list to find the coupons that I need. I take the coupons that I plan on using and keep them clipped to my list. I don’t leave them in my coupon box b/c I usually have so many that would be more confusing and would take more time. I also bring the coupons that I think I may wanna buy a product on (i.e. Johnson and Johnson has a ton of coupons out there on the net for $1/product. I usually gather these coupons and buy the Johnson and Johnson buddy soap at walmart for $0.97. I don’t necessarily need the soap at that time so it may not be on my list, but I know that I need to scoop these up before the coupons expires and stockpile them so when the kiddos use up what we have, we already have some in the house. most of the time these items make it on the list b/c I tend to get distracted at the store looking for one thing or another and then I may forget.)

I also bring with me a calculator and my little scrappy tote that I once got at a weekend crop. The tote is perfect b/c it has one big opening in the middle that is the perfect size for my coupon box and has lil pockets all around the outside that fits my calculator, cell phone, and coupons. I devote one pocket for the coupons that I want to use and one for the coupons that I didn’t use. Once an item goes into my cart, that coupon goes in another pocket.

That’s pretty much the extent of that. I enjoy grocery shopping a lot so this isn’t really a chore for me. I like to see how much I can save each trip and how much stuff I can actually get for nothing. Its like a game. And we all know how much I love games!!!

Whew!

Bored yet???

free samples
As some of you may not know, there are a ton of free samples out there for the taking. Companies are smart. If they know that if they give ya a free sample of one of their products and you like it, more than likely you are going to go to the store and buy a full size of that product.

A lot of name brand companies are willing to do that. for just a few seconds of your time, you fill out your information and voila in four to six weeks a sample of that product will arrive in your mailbox. Some of the samples come with coupons, some don’t, but I feel its just a bonus if I get one.

You can get anything from toothpaste to granola bars for free.
Cat food to shampoo.

Now I have to say that I do not sign up for anything unless I know the company!
Some of the sites you can go to (again aside from the above blogs) are:

start sampling
walmart
On the menu go to “in stores now”, “free samples”, and then it will list the ones that they are currently offering. They offer about 6 different samples I think a week. They change a lot which is a good thing. I get most of my samples here.

I love getting the samples in the mail and I have enough shampoo samples laying around that when I run out I have some or when I travel I have the smaller bottles/packages to throw in the suitcase.
Samples are awesome!

I have found some new products to try this way and some products that I had thought about buying but after receiving the sample, decided that it wasn’t for us.
Well I am going to end *part 1* here! hopefully some of you are still here and you’ve learned something new or learned of a new site to go to to help your family save some cash!

Just so ya know, I hate money.

Well I love it when I have it but I hate it when I don’t. So any lil thing that I can do to help my family keep some in the savings account keeps me from getting ulcers and keeps me sane.

If any of you have any tips for me in regards to couponing and free samples, please share! I’m always wanting to hear of new things.

WINNERS!!!!!

2008-05-19T09:13:00.000-05:00

thanks to all of you that entered my lil rak in hopes to help me clean out my room :)

i decided to pick two winners!!!!!!

and the winners are:

Melissa said...
Great idea for cleaning out! I'm game! tehehehe
May 16, 2008 4:16 PM

and.....

Lorena said...
its time for that spring cleaning to take place!!! :) You go girl!!!
May 16, 2008 5:27 PM

BIG HUGE CONGRATS GIRLS!!!

email me your addy at emma81399(at)aol(dot)com and i'll get your goodies out in the mail :)

thanks again for all of those that stopped by and tried to help a hoarder out :)

tomorrow i should have the post up for those that are interested in my moola saving tips. i know there are a few that have been patiently waiting for this post :)

WELL Y'ALL HAVE SEEN THE VIDEO!!!

2008-05-14T16:10:00.000-05:00

so its rak time folks!!!!

y'all saw the video in the last post and as you can see i have entirely too.much.stuff.

so i'm willing to share.

leave a comment in this post by sunday and i will draw a winner next monday and i will send you a box of goodies.

it could be scrap goodies.
fabric.
jewelry schtuff.
paper goods.
vintage goodies.

who knows!

but its going to be good.

i'm hoping to give the room a more cleaned look and have more wall space so i want one of those shelves gone!!

so please, leave a comment and help a hoarder out :)

good luck :)

note: post on mother's day, bella's graduation from preschool, and my money saving post among other things is still in the works.

MY ROOM OF CRAP!!!

2008-05-07T18:26:00.000-05:00

while the ever fab simone was down here she video taped my scrappy space to show it off to the world.

so if you guys are curious as to where all my magic {wink} happens, here ya go!

Elizabeth's Room of sCRAP! from spazzgirl on Vimeo.

after watching this i realized that i do have a ton o'crap!!!!

ps....i'm still going to do a moola saving post and show ya all the lo's i've done the past two weeks.

pps...my lil bella*boo graduates from preschool tomorrow {sniff sniff}

ppps...if anyone wants to buy any of that ribbon that i am holding in the beginning of the video, lemme know. as you can see i have a ton of it.

if you don't see anything but a big ol white space, just click on "elizabeth's room of scrap" and the video will pop up :)

SUNDAY SAVINGS!!!!

2008-04-27T19:21:00.000-05:00

so today we got up and had a couple of errands to run. we needed to stop at walmart and i knew that i had some awesome coupons to use up and get some great deals!

and indeed i did!!!

wanna guess how much i got all this for???? (exclude the pepcid ac)

c'mon guess!

still guessing??

i got it all for......$4.09

here's how its broken down:

2 boxes of malt-o-meal cereal on sale 2/$2 i used 2/$1 coupons so they were FREE

2 boxes of honey bunches of oats with chocolate on sale for $1.98 i used 2/$2 off coupons so they were FREE

2 boxes of kashi cereal were 2/$5 i used 2/$2 coupons so they were $0.50 a box

3 cans of sizzlin' style baked beans were $1.25 each, i used 3/$1 off coupons so they were $0.25 a can

1 box of scotch brite toilet scrubber kit was originally $4.29 and i had a coupon that made it FREE

2 packages of tea were $1.50 each. the package came with a $0.55 off coupon therefore they were $0.95 each.

2 packages of huggies clean team wipes were $1.72 each. i had a coupon for $3.00 off two making them $0.22 each.

great deals huh????

cereal is a big thing in our house and i have a freezer full of it. i usually get it for next to nothing so i stock up on it when i can.

i had included the pepcid in the picture b/c i had a coupon and will get a rebate on it but it rang up the wrong price so i'm going to have to give them a call or go in next time with my receipt.

most of the coupons that i had used were from the net which is a great source of freebies and coupons.

if anyone is interested on where to go or how i work my magic {wink}, lemme know and i'll do a whole post on it.

if any of you have had any great deals lately i'd love to hear it.

WOW!

2008-04-23T21:02:00.000-05:00

three posts in a week!
this has got to be a new record {giggle}

since the mojo is flowing, here is the lo i did for the recent noel mignon challenge which is to incoporate fabric on a lo. as most of my faithful and long time readers know, i'm a fabric hoarder.

big time!

so you'd think i woulda used a buncha different pieces right?
wrong!

but i love the way it turned out. i also mostly used goodies from noel's new treehouse kit which is uhhhh*mazing!

also got a fun email from my buddy karen and i thought instead of emailing it to a buttload of people i would post it here and if you wanna do it, do it. if you don't, don't.

but lemme know if you do b/c i'm nosey like that :)

LIFE QUESTIONS
Hit forward and place an X by all the things you've done and remove the 'X' from the ones you have not. Answer the 30 questions at the end and send it to your friends (including me). This is for your entire life!

Gone on a blind date
Skipped school X
Watched someone die
Been to Mexico X
Been to Canada
Been to Florida X
Been on a plane X
Been lost X
Been on the opposite side of the country X
Gone to Washington , DC
Taken a far drive with the one you love X
Swam in the ocean X
Cried yourself to sleep X
Played cops and robber X
Recently colored with crayons X
Sang Karaoke
Paid for a meal with coins only X
Own a GPS X
Done something you told yourself you wouldn't XXXXXXXXXX
Made prank phone calls (before caller ID) *no but we used to have the payphone numbers to the mall and would call hoping boys would answer and then lie about all our info.
Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose X
Caught a snowflake on your tongue X
Danced in the rain X
Written a letter to Santa Claus X
Been kissed under the mistletoe
Watched the sunrise with someone you care about
Been on vacation with your bf/gf X
Blown bubbles X
Gone ice-skating X
Been skinny dipping outdoors
Gone to the movies X

1. Any nickname? liz, lizzard, lucy, biz, isabelle, olivia, dear, sunshine, and my ultime fave: mommy/mama
2. Mother's Name – julie
3. Favorite drink? this always changes with me....right now i'd love some dr. pepper
4. Tattoo? yes
5. Body Piercings? nothing but ears
6. How much do you love your job? a lot! but if i could stay at home...
7. Birthplace? cincinnati, ohio
8. Favorite vacation spot? to visit each state in our beautiful country
9. Ever been to Africa ? no
10. Ever eaten cookies for dinner? maybe not cookies, but junk food...yes
11. Ever been on TV? yes....the uncle al show when i was five
12. Ever steal any traffic sign? no but my mom has. does that count?
13. Ever been in a car accident? yes. i was the one hit
14. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 4
15. Favorite salad dressing? balsalmic vinegar (the good stuff and w/o oil) or ranch
16. Favorite pie? pumpkin. wait apple. oh wait, cherry. hmm....
17. Favorite number? 8
18. Favorite movie? love "you've got mail" (i think b/c i wanna work in that bookstore)
19. Favorite holiday? halloween
20. Favorite dessert? mmm...could be any number of things. but i usually like a good piece of cake with hot fudge and icecream. or see number #16
21. Favorite food? pizza!
22. Favorite day of the week? friday
23. Favorite brand of body wash? right now i'm using that exotic shit from caress. it was a good deal.
25. Favorite smell? vanilla, lavender, a good smelling man ;)
26. What do you do to relax? read, craft, or scrap
27. How do you see yourself in 10 years? 100% happy
29. Furthest place you will send this message? hmmm...not sure?

FINALLY SOME SCRAPPINESS!!!!

2008-04-22T21:31:00.000-05:00

i'm sure that some of you was beginning to think that all my creative bones have been broken, but i assure you that is not the case!

quite frankly i spend most of my days at work dreaming of creating!
but as you saw from my last post, that unfortunately has taken a back seat to some other much needed tasks!

but two weeks ago, i played hookie and met greta at the lss and gave myself a goal to complete four lo's.

and i did!!!!

a lo devoted to my most favoritest shoes in the world!

awww...dwight! now if only they would make a jim bobblehead :)

this one was done for the scrap your crap felt challenge. yeah, i'm a lil behind.

my heart rockin' lil girl!!!! used some of the paper from one of the rockin' kits that noel mignon sells!!

and b/c i sit at work all day and dream of creating, i came home and did this lo in between making my famous peanut butter and white chocolate chip cookies.

sorry mom! that one of me receiving the ribbon is an original (eek!)

this lo was done for the current scrap your crap challenge.

whooo*haaa....i got one done on time :)

okay, well i'm off to see if i can pump another one out. my wheels have been spinning over noel's newest challenge.

WEEKEND RECAP!!!

2008-04-20T20:28:00.000-05:00

friday

**after i dropped the kiddos off at daycare, i was able to come home and have the house to myself for 2 hours of pure bliss before i had to pre*register bella for kindergarten (sniff sniff).

i wish i could start every day like that.

**once i got to work i worked (ha!!)

**had lunch with friends and on the way backed stopped at the lss to pick up some new bampop.

**shared gummy lifesavers with two of my fave people at work (drew/kerry)

**came home and fixed dinner (yummy homemade french bread pizza)

**michael went in to work for some overtime

**made homemade apple/cinnamon muffins for breakfast the next day

**cleaned out my coupon box

**clipped a buttload more coupons (while watching sex in the city)

**thought about my grocery list and menu for the upcoming week

**fell asleep to murder she wrote (as usual)

saturday

**got up early, made my grocery list, had coffee and above muffin and headed to the grocery store (i have mentioned how much i love this right?!? no sarcasm, i'm serious)

**saved almost $50 with coupons and got some items for FREE....whoo*haaa!!!

**b/c of this savings i bought myself "juno" and the kiddos "alvin and the chipmunks"

**used nothing but the reusable bags that walmart sells for my groceries. that felt so awesome!!! i should now have enough to where i don't have to bring home another plastic bag for the rest of my life!!! they were also handing out free ones for earth day. oh and flower cards for the kiddos to plant.

**came home, unloaded everything and off the boys went for hair cuts.

**had to leave to go pick michael up his truck broke down. boy that was an ordeal and required us to go down the street from where his car was (20 minutes from home) to get the right tools. finally it started.

**raced home to head to the ball fields for mikey's baseball practice. they had an extra practice b/c they are still undefeated and they are going to play the toughest team tomorrow night.

**came home, made dinner, and watched it while watching alvin and the chipmunks.

**michael went off for more overtime and the kiddos and i fell asleep watching movies that bella and i had rented earlier in the day.

sunday

**got up early and started some chores (grrrrr!)

**mikey and i loaded up our own recycling bins and brought down to the local recycling center. that felt awesome!!!!! we had fun pitching the cans in the holes and throwing the newspapers where they belong. now i have fresh empty cans ready to be filled.

**took the kiddos to go get their pic taken at a local volunteer department from when we donated some moola to them a few months back for a new station. i can't wait to get the pic back next week. i don't have any picks like that of them together.

**spent both lunch and dinner here. we've been spending many meals here before it gets too hot.

**laundry

**aside from my tomatoes, got the garden ready:

i'm growing: tomatoes, cukes, zucchini, egg plant, carrots, lettuce, red/green peppers. figure i got all the main componants to a salad :)

**added more stuff to my compost bin. got this bad boy at sams a few weekends ago and i'm tickled "green" about it. i just hope that i'm doing everything right and that i get some good compost in the new month or so.

**discovered more blackberries growing on the tree that we got last year that i thought for sure would be dead.

**these are wild berries of some sort. i don't know if they are black or raspberry but i hope they do produce some fruit for us to nosh on.

**another discovery....is this wheat???? this is in an area where we had a birdfeeder that fell to the ground, so all that seed was planted. i also discovered some sunflowers in this mix and hope that i can dig those up and plant more toward the back of our property.

**michael and mikey planted our lime and lemon trees. if anything produces fruit, i hope its these two bad boys.

**we celebrated fritz's 1st bday!!! it was last sunday and i missed it, so we celebrated this sunday.

**cooked chicken for another dinner this week.

**made spaghetti sauce to jar and freeze for meals in the future.

**grilled out and ate dinner outside....yum*may!!!

**ate some cookies that i made earlier for dessert.

**played a game of candy land with the kiddos

**read em two books

**now i'm bloggin'

see what my weekends are like???

this has been pretty much every weekend for the past two months or more. and this doesn't include the two-four loads of dishes, the 6+ loads of laundry, hitting the net for freebies and coupons, updating my netflix queue, blah blah.

but my weekends have to be like this b/c my weeks look like this....

week of 21-27 april 08

**monday: baseball game

**tuesday: back to the ball field for baseball pictures to be taken

**wednesday: bday party

**thursday: another ball game

**friday: michael works over time

**saturday: bday party in mobile at the mobile bear's

**sunday: chores and get pic that was taken this sunday

whew!!

hope y'all enjoyed your weekend and got a lot done too (b/c if i'm busy as shit, so the hell should everyone else ;)

COMPLETELY ADDICTED!!!!

2008-04-18T10:14:00.000-05:00

i have been listening to these two non-stop since monday morning. well actually i should say sunday night when michael and i saw the movie and i immediately downloaded the soundtrack.

anyway, they are the only ones i have listened to in the car, at work, you name it. i'm listening to them right now. actually i'm prolly singing a lil too loud. hope no one walks by :)

i hear they are going on tour and i can only hope that they come close.

aside from that i've been addicted to.....

*the making of my garden

*going to mikey's baseball games and paying him $10 for every homerun he hits (i'm going broke :)

*noel's treehouse kit

*face book. why the hell did it take me so long to join this??? let me know if you're on there and i'll add you as a friend :)

*the idea of scrapping a lot this weekend. and i mean A LOT!!!

*getting ready to go grocery shopping (i LOVE grocery shopping)

hope y'all have a great weekend and let me know if you like my new friends :)

I AM SOOOOO COMPLETELY HONORED!!!

2008-03-31T10:26:00.000-05:00

the ever fab*boo maryann has featured good morning sunshine on indiependence.

how awesome is that???

thank you so much maryann :)

2008-03-27T12:48:00.000-05:00

for those of you out there that still remember me, know that i did not fall off the face of the earth just have been busier then ever!!

i'm so behind on posts and what has been going on in my life that its just plain ridiculous. i do plan on getting some pics uploaded from my bday (um yeah....a month and a half later) and some other things that have been going on.

but to fill you in a little bit....

*i haven't scrapped in almost 2 months (aarghah! the horror!)
which completely sucks b/c i haven't had a change to participate in the scrap your crap challenge, the past few noel challenges, and all the other ones out there :( i really need to get back into this b/c i can tell when i haven't done it. any of you other scrappers like that?

*baseball season has started

*birthday parties are in full swing and there are quite a few on our calendar

*i'm still researching this whole gardening thing

*work is crazy busy and i can't even believe that i'm able to blog right now

*bella will be graduating from preschool in a lil over a month :(

*st. patrick's day parade resulted in goodies and a major sunburn (boy did it hurt!)

*easter was fun but came entirely too fast

*spending time with the kiddos and the hubby which is always a blast

*READING, READING, READING, READING...i can't quite put the books down
and for those of you don't know about good reads you should really check it out. lemme know if you join and i'll add ya as a friend.

*got the most awesome box of stuff from noel mignon including the new kit-apple blossom which is just gorgeous.

so those are just a few of the things that have been keeping me busy.

and for those of you that think that i don't wanna read what has been going on with you please know that is not the case. i really can't get on the net much at work anymore and by the time i get home i'm so busy i really don't have a chance to hop at home.

but know that i love each and every one of y'all especially if you are still around to read this :)

SAY IT AIN'T SO.....

2008-02-26T07:02:00.000-06:00

i'm officially the big three*oh!
eeek!

i keep telling myself that its really not official until 5:10 tonight....lol.

i'll be back tomorrow to show all the wonderful goodies that i have received in the mail this past week and a recap of this past weekend.

off to look in the mirror to see if any new wrinkles have developed {wink}

THANK YOU

2008-02-26T07:00:00.000-06:00

thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the comments sending your thoughts and love. you have no idea how much that meant to me. i'm feeling better now but still worry about some others.

((((big hugs))))
to each and every one of you!
*mwah*

2008-02-19T18:34:00.000-06:00

i uh, i've been away longer than i had intended, but sometimes life throws something at you completely and totally unexpected. something so gut wrenching, you wonder if you will ever be the same again. something that makes you realize that the people you work with are family. and that even though they can piss you off, you will need to lean on them one day. b/c they are the ones that understand the most the pain you are going thru. i'm the lucky one though b/c michael is also a coworker and understands the pain. and i only hope that in these past five days i have been there for all of them as well.

it makes you realize that maybe God and church could do ya some good b/c you are also going to need to lean on Him a little bit more than you ever thought.

NOW THAT'S MUSIC TO MY EARS!!!

2008-02-13T09:44:00.000-06:00

in the past few days i've been hooked on this chick: sarah slean. not only is she drop dead gorgeous, her voice.....major swoonage :)

actually the first time i heard her was on dawson's creek (for those of you that don't know, i'm completely hooked on dawson's creek. but only the season's when pacey and joey were together. oh that damn pacey! {deep sigh}. but anyway for any other fans out there, its on season three, the episode where they have the anti prom and pacey asks joey to dance. just thinking about it makes me all weepy.

anywho!

back to sarah, right now i'm listening to her and i have a lil itsy bitsy bar of battery left on my ipod and i've been listening to this song back to back all day!! better get the ipod rejuiced :)

I'D LOVE TO BE ABLE TO EMAIL YA BACK!!!

2008-02-12T14:57:00.000-06:00

this isn't much of a post but when i saw this on jenn's blog i knew i had to post it here.

here is a tip for all you blogger users out there that show up as noreply-comment@blogger.com in my mailbox when you leave a comment.

c'mon girls and guys click here. i wanna email ya back when ya leave a comment.

more scrappiness and other schtuff later :)

back to entering overtime into my db!!!

WHICH STATE IS SURROUNDED BY CIRCLES AND IS HIGH IN THE MIDDLE???

2008-02-07T20:37:00.000-06:00

OHIO!!!

i have a love for all things state related. don't know where it came from. think it started when i learned the state capitols and pride myself on knowing most them still (however, i'm becoming a lil rusty so i think a study session is in order. you think i'm kidding. i'm not :)

anyway, so when i saw that there was a state atc swap going on over at sis i had to jump on the bandwagon. i chose the state ohio since i was born there and mississippi was already taken (thank goodness i did, i would have never got mississippi stamped on these cards :) now being the procrastinator that i am, i signed up for this swap in december. they are due march first. i didn't start them till this past tuesday. so i'm quite proud of myself (pat on the back) for getting 50 of these bad boys done.

oh i love em!

i actually need to do four more of four other states that didn't get picked and actually they will be about the same way exact the shape of the state will be different.

i think that i am going to do one like this for every stand and frame em in one of those big poster frames and hang it up on the wall.

i'm telling ya i dig things "state"y.

just so ya know, i've spent the past 15 minutes or so trying to scroll thru my archives to find the pillows that i found on the web that i desperately wanted, but to no avail can i find it.

but here's a link to show you what i'm drooling over. i wanted to get a pillow for every state i've lived in (5) and for every state that michael has lived in (2)...well if you hit the link, you do the math! i think not.

but i did find this nifty lil place that sells state map cross stitch patterns. thought about going that route.

and then i told michael that i wanted this lil number for my bday.

see, i love the states!

does anyone have any good state ideas or websites? seriously, i'd love to be able to incorporate this crazy*state*love i have more in my house. especially since i think i've passed it on to mikey.

but there ain't nothing wrong with that right?

HAPPY MARDI GRAS

2008-02-05T18:51:00.000-06:00

(note: i'm pissed....explorer locked up on me and ate the original post so lemme see if i can remember what i was saying...here goes nothing..grr!)

for those of you that didn't know it, today is/was mardi gras. this means that all schools are closed (actually closed this mon-wed which is ridiculous) and the city is closed (aside from the hunky men in blue) for the biloxi parade.

so this means while michael was at work, the kiddos and i were at home.

i got up a lil late this morning (730 is pretty late for sleeping in....for me anyway), grabbed a cuppa coffee and hit bloglines. i wasn't really in a scrappy mood today and i could tell when i was checking more of the crafty blogs today!

so a crafty day it was going to be.

the first project i did was one i spotted on one of my most favorite crafy blogs hello my name is heather. not only is she a fabric designer but her photos are *amazing* and she does the best projects. so when i spotted this project i knew i had to try it.

so whatchya think?
isn't it just the cutest???

she has the instructions listed in a pdf file on her sidebar if you're interested in making one yourself :)

now a piece of advice....if it is really humid outside and you have the windows open like i did, don't use a glue stick. its just now going to work. hell i don't even know if its dry yet and i did this project this a.m. also i used my giga scalloped punch since it was the same size as the circles and didn't wanna cut the circles out. oh and i didn't have a dow rod so i just covered a pencil in scrappy paper and as you can see used a cardboard "bag" that i got in a pack of 20 from the dollar tree.

i'm really lovin' how this turned out and think that one for every holiday is a must!!

if you make one shoot me a comment and lmk. i'd love to see it.

so after this project was finished, i had the bug.

now in an effort to be more organized for oh*eight, i decided that i needed a bloggin' buddies address book. a place for all my favorite people's addresses and birthdays.

inside this beauty there is a colored index card for some of you that has your address, blog address, phone number (if i have it), and your email addy. on the back of the card is your bday. i feel so organized and on top of the game its disgusting.

its hard to tell but there is a plastic cover on it and i cut it from the scenic route chipboard circles packaging. i'm hoping that it helps protect it just a lil. oh and the back and front cover are cut from a 12x12 piece of cardboard that comes with scrapbooking paper.

it def. pays to be a hoarder :)

once this was done, i knew that there were some cards that i wanted to make that i saw earlier this week.

another one of my favorite bloggers is jessica from how about orange. she is a graphic designer who is very generious with her designs and well just about the most clever person on the planet. when i saw her post for these cards i knew i'd be making them.

these are the ones that belted out today.

close up

what a great way to use up all those buttons you have laying around!!! mine are all vintage buttons and they are ready to be stuffed in envies to go out in the mail already :)

while i was working on one of my projects, bella was sitting in the craft room with me when she spotted a bag of buttons that i had sitting on one of my shelves. i received this beautiful bounty of buttons from michelle when we did a swap that me and her never thought would take place. and if you can believe it, i actually never really went thru them (i know, shame the hell on me).

so bella wanted to go thru them. okay, i don't mind. she also wanted to have some. okay now i mind a lil. but as she was going thru them, she showed them to me and asked me which ones she could have (actually she really told me which ones she wanted...lol). there was such an awesome bounty of buttons in that bag that it kinda broke my heart to let her have some. but i overcame that and some she got to keep and now bella has her own lil plastic box (which i put her name on with stickers) of buttons that she has been playing with all evening.

but the point is, there was one button in there that took my breath away. the instant i saw it, i knew it had to become a ring. so a ring it became.

this isn't a really good picture, but the button is black with a weaved wicker in the middle. ummm...is that not amazing???? i'm afraid its going to be my new fave. i'm a sucker for turning big huge ass vintage buttons in to rings. i'll have to post the ones i got in a later post.

so that's it for my crafiness today. quite frankly i can't believe its already after 7. where did the day okay.

but before i leave, i need to give a big ol thank you and hugs to my deal love maryann for the wonderful goodies that she sent me the other day in the mail.

and i also need to give a big ol thank you to one of my oldest bloggin' buddies jennifer for the goodies that she sent me as well. unfortunately i don't have a pic b/c the box is still at work ;)

aren't bloggin' buddies the best?
that's why i needed to make a book strictly devoted to them.

oh speaking of books....'member on the last post how i mentioned that i spent the weekend cleaning the kiddos' rooms and closets? well aside from keeping all the change that i found from cleaning their rooms, i also found me some scrappy products.

all you scrappers out there know that chipboard mini albums are simply the must have product for altering into scrapbooks rights?

well i'm going to alter these....

lil chipboard books that the kiddos don't read anymore.
in the future they will be mini scrapbooks.

so i thought i would pass the idea on to ya'll. start searching your kids' rooms, the thrift stores or garage sales for these lil books. betcha you'll get em a helluva lot cheaper then buying the ones specifically for scrappin'.

hope ya'll had a happy mardi gras :)

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!!!

2008-02-03T18:55:00.000-06:00

oh, i've been quite busy lately.

so i'll just break it down for ya.

working
ehhh...not really busy with that...next!

cooking

the other morning i put a roast in the crockpot so it would be ready for dinner.
when i plopped it in the pot, it looked like this.

ahhh....what a love*rly roast

i found this recipe for sour cream banana muffins that were so stinkin' good i've had em about every day since i made em. i got the idea to look for this type o'recipe when i made some muffins from a martha white mix. they were strawberry and on the back of the pkg. she had a recipe for adding sour cream, almond extract, and some almonds on top. i didn't have almonds but i added walnuts and they were so gooood. so b/c i had some bananas waiting to be eaten, i found this. def. a keeper.

i've had this recipe for caramel french toast since jody posted it last year on sis. i've made it twice and each time delish! if you love a good french toast recipe, girls this is it. and what is great about it is you can make it the n....

...okay i'm back, had to see tom petty during the half time show. damn i love him and his band.

okay, where was i?
oh yeah, you can make it the night before and just pop it in the oven the next a.m.

i also stumbled across a phenom blog called nook and pantry. she has the most phenom recipes and the most beautiful pics. i made her nutella brownies (minus the hazelnuts...didn't have any) and her french onion soup.

the brownies were ahhhhh*mazing! i will never make another brownie recipe again. they are exactly how i like them, chewy and fudgy. not cake like at all. sooo good. i'm gonna have to eat my gazillionith one for the day when i'm done posting this.

the french onion soup was as equally delish (okay who am i kidding...nothing compares to chocolate and nutella) but it was very good. i didn't realize till after i ate it that i forgot to add the balsalmic vinegar. oh well! it was still good.

scrappin'

this is where i have been the busiest and i couldn't be more thrilled!
on to the lo's!

oh shoot!
i forgot to mention that greta, simone and myself have decided to give each other challenges each week to help us use up some of our crap. we all don't want or need to buy anything and this i a lil boost to help us use what we have.
(secret to be announced shortly :)

the first week was greta's challenge. she choose ribbons! so i dug in my jar of scrap ribbons and came up with this.

the next week was my challenge and it was to use up stickers. we had to use 10 stickers and they couldn't be letters or numbers. i'm quite thrilled with the way this turned it out b/c it was a lot harder than it sounds. the stickers are centers of the flowers.

simone's challenge was to use a holiday line without using a holiday pic. this was a great challenge b/c without it i would have never picked this paper and embellies to go with these pics and now i just think they are perfect for each other.

then this past week it was greta's turn to pick again and she chose rubons. you had to use rubons in the title and one embellie rubon. well this title was a pain in my ass b/c it took forever and i was so afraid of spelling something wrong. but i love the way it turned out and i have been wanting to use paul mccartney's line forever on a lo.

then i just had to participate in the first overlooked challenge.

then there was noel mignon challenge

and the challenges over at scrap diner which made me produce these.

whew!!

and if you didn't think that was enough, the past couple of days i've done these.

and this for the newest scrap jack

and did my vday cards

man i've been a busy lil scrappy bee eh?

home/organization

lets see, i have cleaned and organized my closet (we're talking a 10x10 foot room folks. for just me. lil ol me and all my clothes and shoes....ahhh..heaven)

straightened up my craft room

cleaned the bella's room and her closet.

also made her try every article of clothing on that she owns to get rid of everything that doesn't fit.

did the same thing for mikey.

i'm hoping that this makes our a.m's a lot easier.

kitchen is cleaned.

master bedroom clean.

tired yet?
b/c i know i am.

oh and i also found the book that the library just informed michael last week was over a year old and that we owed $54 dollars for this friggin' book!!! yes, b/c they marked it lost, they felt it was worth that much moola. well thank goodness i found that book b/c now i don't have to pay it. except i'm not exactly sure how much the late fines are. and what really pisses me off is mom found this online for $3.xx.

hmph!!

mommy*hood

i volunteered this past friday to assist in mikey's winterfest. i worked the bingo booth with a coupla other parents (sorry no pics!). i called out every bingo game. i'm surprised that i didn't wake up the next morning with no voice. i'm also surprised that i did it without stuttering b/c i am a completely shy person and do not like speaking in front of groups of people (even if i know them all). but i did just fine. actually i've noticed lately that this doesn't bother me as much as it used to. hmmm....maybe i'm growing outta it :)

on another mommy front, all you other mommies out there, what do you do to keep your sanity to make your kids realize that you are not their maid. you are not their personal chef, and you do not jump when they need something. here lately i've been feeling very taken advantage of by my kids. now not in a bad sense really, well i guess sorta. but like as soon as i sit down for dinner they are wanting something else and expecting me to get up at that very second to get it. they have no respect for their things and its starting to drive me crazy.

any advice??

family accountant

doing my best to not spend money. haven't smoked a cigarette in over a week. feel good about that. not only for myself but for my wallet. money is a big stress here lately and if there is one stress that i do not need in my life it is that one. money can leave a knot the size of a basketball in my stomach and i can't deal with that.

actually we've been both doing really good about this. we transferred two credit cards (the only ones we have) to another card with a lower interest rate which feels really good. we are thinking of trading in my car for something for a lower payment and would cost less in gas. i am all for this, but the idea of being hassled by a car salesman turns my stomach.

grocery shopping has been better. calculator in hand i made the last trip and did pretty well. i need to hit winn dixie tomorrow b/c they have a lot of b1g1f items that would really be beneficial to my budget.

if anyone out there has any other advice, lemme know. i'm all ears.

oh and i've sold two pendants on good morning sunshine which makes me happy as punch!

internet time

if you feel like i have neglected your blog, don't feel bad. i've neglected everyones :( i just can't get on the net as much at work anymore and well if you have read up until now, you can see i've been busy at home lately.

but i was tagged by the fab*boo kimberly who is my newest bloggin' buddy and just the sweetest thing ever!!!

its to list your favoritest links.

here's mine.

martha
martha is my homepage at work. nothing is better then sitting in that dreary ass office and hopin' on the net to be inspired to bake, craft, garden, and find all the good things. i love you martha. ex con or not!

flickr
there is so much inspiration here i can't even stand it. whether i'm looking at scrappy stuff. awesome photos. sa*weet craft spaces. vintage goodies that i'd give my right arm for or whatever, this is the place to be.

bloglines
i could not live without you.
i heart you.

sis
seriously, so much inspo.

grocery game
where i find the best freebies/samples on the net. love this place.

well i guess that's it.
if you've made it this far....*mwah*

SOOOOO STOKED!

2008-01-31T12:17:00.000-06:00

this chick and this chick are flying in next month for my bday!!!!

i'm so super excited i can't even stand it.

and if that wasn't enough this chickie might be coming in too!!!

whooooo*haaaaa!!!

anyone else wanna fly in?
seriously.
let me know, you have a free place to stay!

OH....

2008-01-22T12:47:00.000-06:00

i've been away too long.
i swore i wasn't going to be gone long again, but look at me.
things have been crazy around here, especially at work so that has kinda been draining and kept me from living my normal life....lol. but i've taken the past weekend to relax and get refocused.
scrapping has helped.
ALOT!!!!

so here is a result of the most recent therapy session :)

the recent scrap mojo

ACCCCCCK!!! THIS LO JUST MADE catwalk and picked by ms. big sis herself :)

for the recent jack

an older jack

GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE!!!

2008-01-07T06:57:00.000-06:00

good morning sunshine has been updated with some new goodies.

have a happy monday!!!

WELL....

2008-01-02T15:27:00.000-06:00

....how is everyone's oh*eight so far?

today i have had an excellent day. house to myself. i haven't heard it this quiet in god knows how long. i'm loving it. the whole not speaking thing is pretty awesome too!

i've spent the day....

catching up on blogs.

scrappin' a lo.

making more stuff for etsy and snapping some shots of em (update will be shortly :)

baking some key lime cupcakes which i cannot wait to try!!

my version! i swear, the green "frosting" i could eat by the spoonful...sooo good!!

i'm pretty much just having a great day.
but i thought i would take a sec and do a lil new year's eve recap since yesterday's post was mostly my hopes for oh*eight!

we are really not into new year's eve. i could care less if we go to a party and i care less if i even make it to midnight. its just not really a holiday that i put too much thought into.

well the past coupla years, we have gotten together with greta and her clan and this year wasn't really any different.

michael grilled out, we shot some fireworks, and exchanged presents.

i couldn't wait to give greta her presents (in another post...i plan on posting all the christmas gifts that i made this year....well at least the ones i snapped photos of...lol) and was equally excited to see what she got me.

we had decided that we would do a "handmade christmas". neither one of us needs anything and i always enjoy giving and receiving hand crafted lovlies.

boy did i rack up.

first, greta kinda cheated and bought me a gc to noel mignon and some of the marah johnson card scrappy goodies that i have been oogling for quite some time. but i'm not complaining that she cheated in the least :)

and now on to the handmade schtuff...

prima ornament

hambly owl necklace

handmade card and heidi swapp mask

an album for me to put lo's of all of our self portraits

and...

an awesome "friend" album for me to put pics of the two of us in.

see i told ya i racked up :)

so all and all it was a nice and quite new year's. greta's clan left around 1030-1100-ish. michael started a fire and we put the kiddos in bed (only to discover that mikey was in bed watching fireworks out his window and reading one of the captain underpants books that simone and max sent him. and i am here to tell ya, seeing that swelled my heart like you wouldn't believe. i even jumped in bed with mikey a coupla times to watch the fireworks with him. he was convinced two of our neighbors were having a competition to determine whose fireworks were the prettiest :)

once the clock struck midnight, michael gave me a kiss that made my knees buckle, we watched a lil murder she wrote (of course!) and then hit the hay.

a nice relaxing evening to start the new year off right :)

oh man!
i better get...i wanna few relaxing minutes reading or watching something on tv before everyone gets home :)

darn it!
one more thing.

i like to make lists. i usually don't make them enough but when i do i find that they keep me organized and nothing is more satisfying then crossing something off. whether it be a grocery list, to*do list, or lists to help me prepare for an event.

so i decided that this year, instead of throwing them away, i would snap a photo of them (first?), add em here, and be able to see what all i got done this year. anyone is welcome to join me if ya want, just lemme know so i can be all nosy like and read your lists too!!!

without further ado, here's my first list for oh*eight

HAPPY OH*EIGHT!!!

2008-01-01T10:26:00.000-06:00

pic taken by your's truly on new year's eve night.

i hope everyone had a fabulous and safe new year's eve night and that you're spending the first day of oh*eight feeling relaxed, being a lil lazy, and just enjoying the day!!!

that's on my agenda anyway :)

ya know, oh*seven was a rough year for me...well us. ya know with all the house brew*ha*ha and living at mom's (not living with mom per se, but living in someone else's house and not having my own). so i have been looking forward to oh*eight for well...quite some time.

i'm very excited about this year and i have many hopes for it. its an even numbered year...i tend to like those more. i turn 30 next month (eeeek!), and well, i just have a lot of things that i would like to accomplish this year. i'm not going to say resolutions, b/c who the hell keeps those??

so i am going to call them.....da*da*da*dum.....

my "oh*eight hopes"

and here they are:

*to be more positive. quit being a "glass half empty" kinda gal

*learn more about my camera and take a ton of pics.

*start a family game night and stick to it.

*have a garden this year and produce a bounty of beautiful veggies. have the kiddos be a major part in this with me.

*get rid of my black thumbs....i guess maybe this one should come before the one above ;)

*journal and journal and journal and journal.

*feel relaxed 85% of my time

*climb a rock wall (i need to find one first...i wish we lived in an area to hike, but we don't).

*quit smoking for good!!!!! seriously, this is the one i wanna accomplish the most!

*cook more homemade meals. make the time to do this. i love to cook and i usually do, but i'm usually not prepared and then come home from work and think "what's for dinner?".

*create a menu and stick to it...making my life more calm!

*be and stay organized. if i would just realize the stress this would reduce in my life.

*be more frugal. realize the difference between "wants" and "needs" (even though i really do "need" elsie's jack + abbey line...i really do!)

*use up the goodies in my scrap room. why have it if i don't use it?

*write letters and thank you cards and get them in the mail.

*keep up with birthdays and get stuff out in the mail in a timely manner.

*get my ass off the couch!

*do more crafty*schtuff with the kiddos.

*keep my etsy shop updated with goodies (and hopefully sell something or two :)

*learn more about photoshop

*answer emails immediately

*make more real life friends

*vamp up my sewing skills (or lack there of actually)

*scrap more!!!!

*read, read, read. and start to read some classics.

*keep a cleaning schedule and stick to it so i'm not bombarded with a buncha chores at once.

*i HAVE to go to work everyday so i might as well find something about it i truly enjoy and quit bitching about how i can't be a stay at home mom. start crafting there if neccessary...lol.

*go bowling more often

*take a photography class

*quit being soooo competitive

*start exercising more and watch the junk i eat. i am not going to call it dieting.

*quit putting everything off until "later". i'm such a procrastinator and this has to stop! my life is by no means easier b/c of this. as a matter of fact, something usually comes up "later" and then i'm running around bitching at everyone b/c of my own lateness!!!

well i guess that's a large enough list now to start my oh*eight off with.

what's your "hopes for oh*eight"???

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!

WHEW...WHAT A FABYOULESS CHRISTMAS!!!

2007-12-28T11:41:00.000-06:00

hope ya'll had a fab*boo christmas b/c i know we sure did!

it all started christmas eve (which also happened to be the longest day in history). michael decided that he was going to chop some wood so we could have our first fire.

mom came over after work being pizza (of course!) and some cookies that she picked up at michael's that you can color. they were so cute and the food coloring markers had scents that i didn't think went that way with the cookies...lol

michael working hard on his :)

we decided that since it was still the longest day ever after cookies and pizza, that we would let the kiddos open up a present from my brother buddy (since i knew what they were) and thought that help pass the time. i have to admit i was wrong...lol

transformers the movie. i have to say this was actually good but toooooo long! they coulda cut it by about 45 minutes.

ratatouie

after movies it was time to get the kiddos snuggled in bed with thoughts of sugar plums of course!!!

now i have to admit, that when its time for me to go to sleep on christmas eve, i have a very hard time. not only do i worry about the kiddos getting up before i have a chance to, but i'm also very excited to see what santa has left for me. so starting about 4 a.m. i was up almost every half an hour. at 6:30 i decided enough was enough, i need to go get my butt on the couch with some coffee. i popped in the christmas story and relaxed. about 7-ish, i heard the first stirring of a lil one. it was mikey. i sent him back to his room and told him that i would get him in a minute after i woke up his daddy.

after everyone was up, it was time to see what santa brought everyone :)

mikey's stack!

bella's stack

here they come!!!!

now the kiddos racked up this year. santa must of only saw them when they were being good lil boys and girls {wink}. but some of the bigger things were.....

basketball and hoop. this was one of things that mikey asked for this year. i've already taught him how to play "horse" and where he needs to aim to get the baskets. he's actually pretty good. he must get that from his mommy :) i did play in junior high after all {wink}

a mp3 player for bug

hannah montana cd for bella*boo

and bella's very own cd player.

and lemme go on and tell ya, this was the bestest present that she received. bella is very much into music and has been singing and dancing since christmas morning.

want proof?

santa even thought that fritzy was a good boy this year and he got him a couple of goodies too!

once the kiddos opened up all of their presents, it was time for me (and michael ;) to open up ours.

boy was i a very good girl this year.

*******WARNING*********

I HAVE BEEN BLESSED TO HAVE A BEAUTIFUL HEAD OF BED HEAD EVERY MORNING. I MUST SLEEP LIKE A MAD WOMAN FOR ME TO WAKE UP AND LOOK LIKE THIS. I DECIDED TO SKIP THIS SHOWER AND DOING UP MY DOO TO PRESENT THE WORLD WITH PICS LIKE THIS. SO IF YOU ARE NOT IN THE MOOD FOR SOME HORROR PHOTOS ON THIS FINE DAY, YOU SHOULD JUST SKIP DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST RIGHT.NOW!!!

a food processor to replace the one that michael broke a few years ago!

the five year journal that i had been eyeballing for quite some time. simone look at how small it is!!!

match game the dvd game...this was sooo much fun. but mom kicked my ass on this!

a book on my luva! now i don't have to get into it with michael anymore :)

this book has some gorgeous pictures in it

and this lil number i cannot wait to get lost in. i have been wanting this book for months and months now. its supposed to be a book that any idiot can read and understand. i just hope that's right :)

murder she wrote from mikey

more murder she wrote from bella

and the one thing that i wanted more than anything this year. and i mean anything. i told michael if this wasn't under the tree, then christmas was going to be ruined for me.

THE DWIGHT SCHRUTE BOBBLE HEAD!!!

yes, my friends. dwight can now reside in my office!!

the kiddos were also generous this year and did some christmas shopping with nonna and picked us up a couple of things.

from mikey a lil bistro plaque to put in the kitchen

michael got a county jail

bella got me a beautiful candle

and michael a smarties dispenser. no, not a pez dispenser, a smarties dispenser. and for those of you that didn't know, he's addicted to smarties.

michael also got some goodies that he liked this year too! here are a few.

s'more tools since he lost his during katrina

a gc to harbor freight to buy more tools

and an irish book since he thinks he's irish.

whew! ya'll made it thru that hair.

after we cleaned up and got prettied up, we waited for mom to get off work and come over. then we exchanged even more presents.

i was especially excited for her to open up hers b/c me and my brother buddy went in together and got her a new camera. the digi camera my mom had was shit. you had to stand there in your pose for about 20 seconds waiting for the damn thing to take.

as you can see she was quite excited.

my lil artists framed up some of their work for their nonna

mikey also got the coolest csi kit

now on to me (of course!).

my mom got me the coolest presents this year.

some paula deen specialty salt. i cannot wait to use this.

whew!
better hair!

some lifetime dvds....this is the best! we watched one of them that night. they are sooo good! now if only i can get every movie on dvd. sorry michael. damn! i can....greta got me...errmm...oneil tivo for christmas so i might have to get her to start recording!

a vintage camera to add to my collection

a video camera from the 60's that i have been fondling for months and months at a local antique shop. damn i love this thing!!! sorry about the hoots exposure.

and the bestest thing ever! a zodiac jello mold to add to my collection. this was my mom's first ever ebay purchase. isn't it just the fabulousest thing ever????

after the gifts were done, we sat down to a dinner of homemade spaghetti sauce, ravioli, italian salad, and homemade garlic bread.

delish!!!!

after dinner mikey was finally able to shoot some hoops. as you can see in the pic, all those pieces of paper on my car are the instructions for putting that damn thing together. the box was missing them and michael had to pull them up from the website...whew! poor thing was out there for a coupla hours getting that thing together.

but i think it was all worth it!

well that's it folks!

that's the manna's christmas of 07.

hope ya'll had a wonderful time spending it with family and friends and that santa brought you everything that you asked for :)

DAY ELEVEN AND DAY TWELVE

2007-12-13T10:16:00.001-06:00

i had planned on posting this last night, but we are having some problems with our home computer so i had to wait until today.

which is a good thing i did b/c i got some more pics to share for today.

i was so happy this a.m. when i woke up and saw this:

ahhh...the sun rising! whatta sight. for the past week or so, every morning is just a thick fog. i was glad to see this.

then after dropping the kiddos off and heading back home i saw this:

full rainbow!!! and whats funny and i didn't get a shot of it, but from the road i was driving on, it looked like the rainbow was in pink cotton candy b/c the sky was so pink. but once i got home and it was over the house like that, the sky was more blue/grey.

it was gorgeous.
i coulda stayed out there with a cuppa coffee and watched it till it went away.

okay.

now onto some craftiness.
i've been busy in the craft room playing one of santa's elves making all sorts of christmas goodies that i cannot wait to post after the holidays.

but i can show you these couple of things.

christmas ornaments for mikey's school teachers.

and....

these are going out to some special people in my life.

oh and before i forget, here are the newest entries to my december album. i really think i'm going to finish this one folks.

12/11

dontchya just love that vintage-y exercise looking paper behind the hambly. the lover*ly amber sent it to me. its perfect for this lo!!

12/12

lol...its funny how the 11th's is about exercising and dieting and the 12th's is about drinking a coffee drink...lol. but non*fat milk and no whipped cream folks...lol.

i used the bag that the biscotti came in for the "paper" and the lil cardboard thing around the cup.

well i guess that's it.
tonight will be spent making cookies for mikey's christmas party. luckily i made the dough last night and the recipe i used makes a ton and i mean a ton of cookies so there will be dough left over to make cookies for mikey's boyscout christmas party saturday. oh and making the cards to go with the teacher ornaments and i know exactly what i am going to do, just need to do them.

so how is everyone else's christmas preparing and gift making going??

TODAY I GOT A LOT TO SAY!!! (BEWARE....TOTAL RANDOMNESS AHEAD)

2007-12-09T16:45:00.000-06:00

first, lemme say ((((BIG HUGS)))) to those that stopped by to give me advice or to cheer me up on my last post. i needed that and i thank you *very* much!!!

secondly, in case you were worried, i feel *SO* much better!!! i think that i have found the source to my moods and i'm hoping to take care of it tomorrow. not to mention that the sinus problem(?)/cold(?) has seemed to have left the building aside from leaving me with a very chesty sounding cough and severe drainage (eeewwww...tmi i know :) so that helps also.

thirdly, since the "illness" and moodiness have seemed to escape for a couple a days, i have gotten a lot done.

saturday i needed to get the heck outta this house. even though i feel like i have needed some peace and quiet, having it while you are sick and not really speaking to anyone for two days is a lil too much for me. so we decided to go run some errands and catch a bite to eat.

first we hit the coinstar machine in winn dixie. since last year around christmas time, i have been putting all of my change (and stealing some of michael's ;) into a jar to use this year. i wanted to see how much i could save in a whole year. i have never used a coinstar machine but knew that there was a fee but if you decided to get a gift certificate to an online store, that fee was waved. i thought that they would have amazon, but they didn't. so anyway, we all stood there as a i dropped all that change in with all of our guesses made before hand. michael thought that i had about $15 (there were a lot of pennies) and i thought i had around $20-$25. after it was all dumped, it showed a total of $70.79!!!!! can you believe that!!!! i got the gc for the disney store and once i got home i got a few more presents that i needed to get for some of the kiddos in my life :)

we spent the rest of the day hitting the dollar store to pick up some coloring books for santa wears a badge, going to various stores picking up a few christmas presents (mostly for fritzy...well i think all for fritzy), we hit home depot for some poinsettas (i had a coupon from homedepot.com which put the check out woman in a tizzy and ended up pissing me off. but they took the coupon (from both michael and i) and we left happy), walmart for some misc. bullshit, and then home.

once we got home we had pizza, s'mores, and hot chocolate while watching of my favorite christmas movies "home alone" and the my very, very, very favorite movie "the christmas story".

after the kiddies went to bed, i spent the rest of the night on the couch knitting a christmas present and watching law and order.

are you exhausted yet?
bored?
well hang tight i still have sunday to cover :)

when we woke up this a.m., michael made us pancakes and bacon for breakfast.
yum*may!!!!!

after that we knew that we couldn't hold out any longer, we needed to get the christmas tree up. so we spent the good part of the morning working on the tree. of course we had to get it done before the packer game....lol.

bella putting up her first ornament

silly mikey putting up his :)

and michael putting up his

and there's the final product!!! i'd love to do one of those themed trees or one of those fancy schmancy trees. or maybe even a vintage tree. but that tree right there has so many family memories and ornaments on it, i wouldn't even dare dream of replacing them. i have however, thought about getting a few mini trees to do theme up. i just don't know where i would put them.

and while michael watched the packers kick the raiders' ass, i worked on my december album. around november 30th or the 31st, i stumbled on this post from ms. ali edwards and thought it was such a brilliant idea. but why the heck hadn't i seen this post before, i have two nights to get 31 pages done....lol. well i belted out about 6 that night including the cover and back. for the cover and back i used decided to use small 45s (albums) and covered them with paper. i love though how ali used mostly transparencies.

brilliant!!!

i'll have to remember that for next year.

any*way (in my best elaine benice voice) since i have been feeling so icky, i wasn't able to work on them until today. but i am happy to report that i am all caught up until tomorrow and if i get 31 pages done and get this project completed, i will be one happy chickie!!!

cover

12/1

12/2

12/3

12/4

12/5

12/6

12/7

12/8

12/9

whew!!!

so whatchya think?

even though at first i was disappointed that there wasn't enough time to get all the pages done in advance, i'm actually kinda glad that i will be doing them on a daily basis. b/c i never know if i am going to have just journaling or a pic or both!!!!

is anyone else out there participating in this???

and so ya know, most of everything that i used so far (and what i plan for the future pages) are from the most fabulous winter kit ever. the noel mignon winter kit and the add on kit. i swear, i immediately thought of this kit when i saw ali's post. its absolutely perfect for it!!

well that is pretty much my weekend.
i've also spent a lot of time the past week or so thinking of 2008 and what i want it to be for me. i don't know if i am doing this b/c i am approaching 30 (and entirely too fast thank you very much) or if i am just beginning to "grow up". i really don't know. but i have this mental list going on of what i want to accomplish, what i hope to be able to do, how i hope to grow.

i'm gonna get this list on paper. i just have to. actually i plan on scrapping my list on a 12x12 lo and framing it and hanging it up in my craft room. maybe even putting a smaller version of it in my office. to remind me of what i want.

oh shit!

this post is so friggin' random and now i'm getting all thought*sy and such.
{deep sigh}
there isn't even a way to label this post.

:)

again, thanks for those that left me kind words and here's hoping that this week is a helluva lot better than last.

*smooches*

BLECH!

2007-12-07T09:15:00.000-06:00

that's how i feel.
both physically and mentally.
i'm friggin' sick again with a head cold(?) and it sucks.
i also feel like something in my life has changed.
i can't explain it (well maybe i can but i choose not to here) but i know i don't like it.

maybe i'll feel better mentally once the cold part goes away.
maybe i'll feel better once i get out and do some xmas shopping and get into the holiday spirit (i haven't gotten there yet).

actually i think i'll feel better once 2008 arrives....lol.

sorry for the debbie downer of a post :(

THOUGHT I'D SHARE

2007-12-04T08:25:00.000-06:00

i got this in an email just a minute ago and thought that i would take a minute to share with ya'll.

i couldn't agree more with every word and its funny that i got this email when i have been talking so much with some other people at work lately about how it is with kids these days. and the "presents" that they want and actually get. a 10 year old with a cell phone?

c'mon!!

my 8 year old is already asking for one and boy does he have another thing coming if he actually thinks that he is going to get one any time soon. and the damn xbox shit. we don't have xbox, playstation, nintendo whatever, hell we don't even have a regular ol "vintage" nintendo (i would however agree to get one of those for my own pleasure ;). mikey has a game boy and a computer. and a friggin' bike to go outside and ride. he has books he can go read and paper he can go draw on.

i don't know, i'm about over all the techno shit they keep shoving down my kids throat on ads and in tv.

and i don't even have cable...lmao!!

so whatch you think?

Those Born
1930-1979

READ TO THE BOTTOM
FOR QUOTE OF THE MONTH
BY JAY LENO.
IF YOU DON'T READ ANYTHING
ELSE---VERY WELL STATED

TO ALL THE
KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked
and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing,
tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets
and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets,
not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with
no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm
day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden
hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends,
from one bottle and NO ONE actually died
from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter
and drank Kool-aid made with sugar,
but we weren't overweight because,
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE
PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day,
as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day.
And we were OK.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps
and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes.
After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all,
no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's,
no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones,
no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms........
WE HAD FRIENDS
and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth
and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt,
and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,
made up games with sticks and tennis balls and,
although we were told it would happen,
we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and
knocked on the door or rang the bell,
or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team.
Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.
Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out
if we broke the law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some
of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and
inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion
of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility,
and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

If YOU are one of them. CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have
had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers
and the government regulated so much of our lives
for our own good.

While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they
will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run
through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

The quote of the month
Is
By Jay Leno:
"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control,
mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country
from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist
attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take
God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"

For those that prefer to think that God is not watching
over us...go ahead and delete this.
For the rest of us...pass this on

OH BOY!

2007-12-03T10:05:00.000-06:00

hope ya'll had a fabulous weekend.
i didn't get near as much done as i would have liked and i'm spending the morning at work nursing a mild hangover....yuck!

last night i went with my mom to a lil work party so when you're talking open bar, it doesn't matter if its sunday night or not, bring on the crown and cokes!!!

and damn those bartenders sure do know how to make a stiff drink...woooo*eeee!

IT'S A GOOD THING....

2007-11-29T09:50:00.000-06:00

*my exceptionally fabulously good mood today (hence the list)

*wearing my comfy jeans at work

*being told I look like a rock star today. Now this came from my kare*bear who doesn’t have a lick of sense, but I’m accepting the compliment anyway. I think it’s the glasses.

*my yummy cuppa coffee I’m currently drinking and the brownie I’m about ready to break out

*a co-worker who calls me “sunshine”

*getting along really, really well with a co-worker I’m up and down with

*not feeling sleepy

*the brown and yellow bangles I’m wearing today

*feeling inspired

*the Chinese food leftovers I made the other night that are waiting for me to gobble them up for lunch

*the homemade turkey pot pie I made last night (first time I’ve attempted that). delish!!!

*the homemade caramel corn I made for a treat that is like crack!

*even though I’m stressing over all the holiday gifts and Christmas cards to make, I can’t wait to get knee deep in making them

*tomorrow’s Friday

*we’re finally getting a target!!!

*the uber closeness that I have been feeling with bella lately

*excellent bloggin’ buddies

*cooler weather

*a well stocked fridge and two freezers (yes, I’m a freak like that)

*excellent blogs

What’s making you happy today?

JUST DON'T BURN YOUR FINGERS :)

2007-11-16T20:07:00.000-06:00

this was the tutorial i did for noels tips and techniques blog. if you've never checked out that blog before, seriously you must. there are some excellent ideas over there :)

Like many scrapbookers, I enjoy creating all sorts of crafts. Which means that I have a ton of supplies lying around that I try to incorporate on my lo's.

About a year ago while garage sale-in' with my mom, I bought more glue sticks in more colors than any one person needs....lol. So I decided to come up with a way that I could scrap with them.

That is when I decided to make my own lil embellies with them.

To get started you need just a couple of supplies.

1. A glue gun

2. Glue sticks in any color you want. You can find colored glue sticks at any craft store.

3. An acrylic stamp block

After you have decided what you want to "draw", let your glue stick warm up a lil bit in your glue gun and then go to town.

Once you've gotten as many as you can fit on your acrylic block, just wait a second for them to cool off. Usually by the time you are done with the last one, your first one should be cool.

After they are all cooled, gently peel them off the acrylic block.

Create as many embellies as you want.

Once they are all done, adhere them to your lo's or cards using any type of glue (I used fine line glue and of course it worked like a charm...I love this stuff!!!)

product used: Sassafras Lass Owl Pals Collection Kit,American Crafts "Giggles" Thickers in Brown from the Noel Mignon Debut Kit ,fine line glue, and misc. ric rac.

VOILA!!

A lo using your very own handmade embellies!!!!

Some ideas using this technique would be to:

*Add glitter, seed beads, etc. to it before it dried

*Print a word or a dingbat out, place image underneath acrylic block, and then "trace" it with the glue

Hope ya'll have fun with this technique and remember: DON'T BURN THOSE FINGERS!!!

THANK YOU*AND SOME SCRAPPAGE!!!

2007-11-12T18:54:00.000-06:00

thank you all *so* very much for the well wishes and the suggestions to feel better.

simone, i loaded up on vitamin water and it helped. i'm anxious to try the energy water tomorrow a.m. :)

big hug to ya'll.

now on to the scrappin'. since i was off today, the plan was to scrap. when i started to feel like shit on friday i thought my plans were going to be ruined.

but i was wrong.
really, really wrong.

these are the lo's i got done this weekend.

enjoy :)

journaling: "i about died laughing the day you walked out in the living room in this gettup. *howdy pardner*"

its hard to tell, but the word "ring" is covered in silver micro beads
journaling: "on our 5th wedding anniversary in 2004, michael surprised me with a new, gorgeous wedding ring. the ring is even more special because the middle diamond was in his mom's band. god i love that man."

journaling: "oh, my lil bella*boo!! you are quite the performer. whether you are signing & dancing or watching your face in the mirrow while you cry, you are always "on". i just hope that you thank me in your speech when you win your first academy award"

journaling: "bella is notorious for walking around with a plumber's crack. we are constantly behind her to pull up her britches. hopefully we won't be hikin' em up forever."

journaling: "look at you! always wantin' to ham it up for the camera. i {heart} these shots anyway."

for this is me journal

for this is me journal

for this is me journal

journaling: "whenever i try to get a decent self portrait shot of me and michael, the first 2 or 3 pics end up like this. grrrr!"

and these last two lo's i did using the scenic route salem line that i got from noel mignon. i absolutely love this kit and the plan is to do all my 2007 halloween pics with it :)

journaling: "the kiddos & i were quite surprised when we opened mikey's pumpkin to discover a coupla lil sprouts growing"

journaling: " when you said you wanted to be elvis for halloween i was floored! how do you know who elvis is?? you were really into it too! you decided that you would say hap*pay, hap*pay halloween in your best elvis voice"

whew!!!

AAAAAAA*CHOOOO!!!!

2007-11-09T08:16:00.000-06:00

yep.
i'm sick.
well i've got a bad cold. you know the kind. you're all stuffed up and can't breathe. you keep coughing. and you walk around in some kinda daze. your head feels like it weighs 100 lbs. you're nose won't stop running. you sneeze like a mad woman. you just wanna crawl under the covers and sleep it away-cold.

i've kinda been expecting it and it certainly explains a lot.
the past few nights i have been utterly exhausted.
last night i was in bed at 630 and didn't wake up until 1-something and didn't even realize that i had fallen asleep.

of course i'm at work today but hopefully drowning myself in hot tea and honey, tomato soup for lunch, and some crackers will make me feel better.

anyone out there have an super*dooper remedies aside from medication????

hope ya'll have a happy friday and send me get well soon vibes b/c tomorrow we're supposed to go to the scottish games.

hugs!

I KNOW, I KNOW...

2007-11-06T13:32:00.000-06:00

...i said this post today was supposed to be about how thankful i am about all the goodies that i have received in the mail lately and to make all ya'll uber jealous, but there's been a lil change of plans.

today has been a really shitty day for me, so you'll have to forgive me if i don't feel like posting all those pictures and links.

i know those that have sent me something probably feel like i'm a really ungrateful bitch, but i do plan on posting them tomorrow. plus, there is still one more pic that i need to get that is really gonna turn you guys green :)

on a side note, i will show you something that is making me very happy with anticipation.

the upcoming winter noel mignon kit. this one is going to be a fab*boo one for sure and just looking at these pictures gets me in the mood for christmas.

it should be released on the 15th of this month.

oh and i also got my lo done for the adverb challenge.

hope ya'll are having a much better day than i am.

GOODBYE RELAXING WEEKEND!!!

2007-11-05T09:21:00.000-06:00

{deep sigh}

i had quite the relaxing weekend of doing nothing.
absolutely nothing and it was nice.

i did get up early and do my grocery shopping on saturday morning (love to grocery shop) and did some cooking but other than that, it was perfect.

yesterday mom came bearing donuts, a vcr, and some lifetime movies on tape and we vegged out on the couch watching that.

michael and i caught up on the second season of weeds and i absolutely cannot wait until the 3rd season is released.

the cooking i did was absolutely delish.

saturday night i made easy cordon bleu with baked potatoes and broccoli and then banana cream pie for dessert. i got the recipe for the chicken from the kraft food and family magazine they send ya.

here's the recipe:

2 cups STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken in the Canister
4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)
4 slices OSCAR MAYER Thin Sliced Smoked Ham
1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 Tbsp. GREY POUPON Dijon Mustard
1 cup KRAFT Shredded Swiss Cheese

PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Prepare stuffing mix as directed on package; set aside.
PLACE chicken in 13x9-inch baking dish; cover with ham. Mix soup and mustard; spoon over chicken. Top with prepared stuffing.
BAKE 25 min. or until chicken is cooked through (170°F). Sprinkle with cheese. Bake an additional 5 min. or until cheese is melted.

super easy.
super delish!

then yesterday i cooked a pot of sauce all day so we could have manicotti with french bread. again, got the recipe from kraft and it was very, very, very good. but i have to say that my sauce made it the best ;)

baked manicotti

2 cups spaghetti sauce, divided
1 egg, lightly beaten
1-3/4 cups POLLY-O Original Ricotta Cheese
1-1/2 cups KRAFT Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 cup KRAFT 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/4 cup pesto
12 manicotti shells, cooked, rinsed in cold water

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Spread 3/4 cup of the spaghetti sauce on bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish. Mix egg, cheeses and pesto until well blended. Spoon cheese mixture into large resealable plastic bag. Using scissors, cut off small hole from one of the bottom corners of bag.
FILL manicotti shells, one at a time, squeezing cheese mixture into both sides of each shell. Place manicotti over sauce in baking dish; pour remaining 1-1/4 cups spaghetti sauce over manicotti. Cover with foil.
BAKE 40 min. or until heated through.

and there's the recipe for that!

then this a.m. i followed tradition and after i dropped the kids off at school i came home really quick and sat outside with a cuppa coffee and noticed what i thought was a wood pecker. it was high up in a tree and couldn't really tell. i was going to get my camera and thought that the bird would be gone by the time that i got it. after it stayed there for awhile i ran inside to get it.

i don't know what the hell kinda birds they were but they were gorgeous.

and i have to give myself a big ol pat on the back b/c i used manual and i usually steer clear from manual b/c i feel like i don't have time to capture the shot by the time i fool around with it.

but these pics came out fabulous (imo ;)

i'm thinking in the near future that these pictures are going to become a craft project so be on the look out for that.

and it always cracks me up about how interested in am in taking shots of birds b/c anyone who knows me knows that i am terrified of birds. i'm afraid they are going to get me like tippie ;)

well i guess that's it.
hope ya'll had a fab*boo weekend and be on the lookout tomorrow for a post devoted to all the lovelies i have received lately.

CANDY HANGOVER ANYONE????

2007-11-01T09:06:00.000-05:00

well another year of trick or treating is now behind us and i must say i'm kinda happy about it.

shocked?!?!

don't get me wrong, i love, love, love halloween (despite the fact that my decorations this year consisted of a candlabra and bent bone candles b/c i left them in my car too long....lol) things have been majorly crazy and i have been non stop every weekend since....well...i don't know how long.

so i welcome today, the first of november with open arms b/c it feels fresh and i feel free.

okay, enough of that babble, onto to the pics right.

well remember i mentioned that mikey was going to be elvis. how the hell he knows who elvis is is beyond me, but he has been excited about this since he discovered what he wanted to be.

"thank ya. thank ya very much"

"happ-ay. happ-ay halloween".

these of course were things he said he was going to say during trick or treating, but i guess he chickened out. have to say the boy takes after me :)

my beautiful lil butterfly.

even though i didn't realize until the night before halloween that we had thrown out her butterfly wings that she did have and also realized that neither one of my kids had shoes for their costumes, that was all quickly put to rest after a trip to walmart yesterday at lunch.

the kiddo's with melana and mason getting some loot from maw-maw.

me and the hubbers while walking the street.

mikey already has his candy in his secret stash which is located some where in his room...lol. i'm totally okay with this b/c i don't agree with taking all the candy and putting it in one bowl for everyone to take from. c'mon i know how it feels. mikey worked hard for his candy. its his. i guess i feel this way b/c that's how i was...hell that's how i still am....lol.

on a side note, i must share a recent obsession.
and an obsession it is. quite frankly i can't believe that i am taking time away from it to blog.

this beautiful book is currently being devoured by your's truly at ground breaking speed. there's actually a funny story about this.

two weekends ago while we were at barnes and noble, i noticed this book in a stack. i was completely drawn (and i mean drawn) to the cover. look at how beautiful it is. so anyway, it was over in the entrance to the kid section and i thought nothing of it. i read the flap and read the preface and thought, this looks good. turned it over to read the back and noticed that teen people said it was a "hot list" pick.

wtf!?!?!?!?

a book this beautiful for teenagers. it can't be. i can't get it. i turned it over and over in my hands and even talked to michael about it and then put it down. i did however return to it again and fondle it even more and put it down.

we left barnes and noble without the book in my hand.

then a few days ago i stumbled on this happy lil place and noticed she had mentioned the book too! so i thought well if someone my age thinks its great then maybe i had a bad opinion about it.

so while i was picking up shoes and butterfly wings at walmart i picked it up.

ummm...can you say pure addiction?

if you guys are still reading at this point, which i would be surprised if you did b/c you prolly think i have completely lost it by now, this book is really, really, really good! its not teen-bopper-y at all. you'd never guess that they were teenagers by the way they speak.

but yeah, i can't put it down.
as a matter of fact, i'm ending this post just to pick it up again.

hope everyone had a happay, happay halloween {said in my best elvis voice}

HOPE YA'LL HAVE A GOOD ONE!!!

2007-10-31T09:13:00.000-05:00

l to r: mikey's, mine, and bella's (a la picasso)

HALLOWEEN PARTY 2007

2007-10-29T15:19:00.000-05:00

why is it that you have good intentions to take a ton of pictures at a party and then you get a couple....errr....6 coronas in your hands and you forget?!?!?!?

this of course is michael and i dressed up like columbo and j.b. fletcher. ya'll know how much i adore ms. fletcher!!!

i think our costumes were quite sucessful if i do say so myself!!!!

we had oodles of fun and were in great company. i wish i had more pics to show, but again, the beer came into play.

the food was yummy too! we had chili, sliced "bones", boogers on a stick (well i didn't eat any of those ;), kitty litter cake, cheese n crackers, and fingers dipped in a yummy sauce.

hopefully greta got pics of the yumminess :)

so another sucessful party is behind us and i'm already thinking of next year. i think we are going to be the flinstones and greta and her hubby are going to be the rubbles.

WHAT'S STAZ ON?!?!?!?

2007-10-15T11:18:00.000-05:00

whats staz on?

whats stickles?

I think the title of this post pretty much sums up the croppin’ weekend…lol.

Greta and I were a lil surprised I think about how many girls scrapped differently then the two of us. I mean we expected some, but not 45+.

When we got there, we found out where we were sitting which was a vendor location so it was just the two of us and quite frankly, I think that if she wasn’t sellin’ her stampin up stuff, no one woulda talked to us. We walked the room hoping to meet some new people, but they weren’t bitin’.

Greta needed some staz on and when the owner of the lss asked if anyone had any in the color that g was needing, you heard a hushed “what’s staz on?” echo about the room. after picking my mouth up off the floor, g and I had a great laugh over it.

Speaking of laughing, there were a few times that we laughed so hard that we were crying.
“whip it good!!!”

I think by day two we were a lil delirious and I kept scanning the room waiting patiently for something to crack my ass up. And indeed I found it on a coupla occasions.

We had a blast and I got a lot done. the only thing that majorly sucked was we met evie a lil too late. We shoulda known better. Friday evening she walked by our table and asked g if she was using some jenni bowlin paper. jenni bowlin? Did she just say jenni bowlin? Holy shit, she knows who she is. wait, maybe she didn’t. me and g were so floored that we didn’t even holler for her to come back. quite frankly, I think we both heard wrong. It wasn’t until Saturday night that we found out that she is one of us!!! She trolls around sis and is a strong member of a cherry on top. Holy cannoli! So we hung out with her the rest of the night and had a good time. Evie if you’re reading love {waves hand wildly}.
She also happens to live between g and I and I hope that we get together soon to scrap with her ass.

We also chummed up with the girl that is opening up the new lss and we are all quite excited about it.

So that is pretty much it.
Oh wait!
I did get 14 lo’s done…..whooo*haaaaa!!!!

my work station.

other part of my work station

DON'T BE JEALOUS!!!

2007-10-12T08:26:00.000-05:00

greta and i are off to a weekend long crop!!!

here's hoping i get a lot of lo's done to share on monday :)

hope ya'll have a fab*boo weekend.

and i have to give myself a pat on the back for bloggin' every day this week.
{pat pat}

ITS BEGINNING.....

2007-10-11T13:14:00.000-05:00

...to look and feel like fall around here and i have to say that i'm as pleased as punch about it.

SOME SCRAPPAGE!!!

2007-10-10T09:57:00.000-05:00

believe it or not amongst everything else going on, i've been trying to squeeze in some scrap time. lucky for me, this weekend i am going to an all weekend crop and hope to catch up on my this is me journal and some lo's.

this lo was done for noel's new challenge. this was such a great challenge for me b/c i have a hard time scrappin' events...lol.

my lil bella boo....for this lo, i used the paper, ribbon slider, lil circle stickers, and scenic route chipboard circles all from noel's first kit. umm...hello? if you haven't bought it yet, why not?!?! and i'm not just saying that b/c i'm her guest dt, i'm saying that b/c the kit rocks. wait till ya'll see her winter and valentine kit....swooonage!!!

this lo is one of my new faves! the lil man and woman at the bottom there are cut out of a muffin mix box..lol. i made the muffins in the a.m. and recycled the box after lunch.
***edit: after posting this, i noticed you can see my shadow on this lo...oops!

oh, and i'm hoping to add some funny*ness to some of my posts.

outta my kiddos' mouth!!!

the first edition is brought to you by miss bella boo!!!!

today while dropping the kids off at daycare, the owner comes and tells me the following.

while another girl's daddy was coming in to pick his daughter up, bella says "kirsten, you're daddy's hot!!!!"

a few weeks ago, michael goes and picks up bella and is told that during class time they were going around saying what their mommy's do. bella pipes up and says "i've got a hot mama!" she got that from the foreigner song.

bwahahahahahaaaa!

YOU'D THINK AFTER 3 MONTHS....

2007-10-09T10:48:00.000-05:00

....i woulda already shown ya'll pics of the house.

i know shame on me, but here are some for ya. the pic quality isn't the greatest, but you get the idea :)

right side of the kitchen with my lil coupon/freebie nook. that is now a lot cleaner than it is in the pic.

island and other side of the kitchen. i love, love, love this kitchen.

island, aka baking station. all baking things are in this thing. love it!

dining room. i still haven't found a window treatment for this window. during the day i actually like how open it is. at night i don't...lol.

my copper jello mold collection

dining room

this is actually a cd cabinet that i got for supa cheap and it houses extra glasses, candle holders, and that type of thing. my fab-boo zodiac bar set is sitting on top. framed is a vintage italian pharmacy bottle label and a vintage postcard of an italian girl.

the beginning of the "family" wall. i have allsorts of frames, i just need to put pics in em to get em all up.

the gold "m" that resides on the other side of the dining room window.

living room shot

another living room shot

mantel with vintage camera collection

'nother shot of mantel

this is one of my favorite things in the whole house. its all of our finger prints. i figured since michael is knee deep in fingerprints all day, what a great way to incoporate his life in the house (considering he says that the house is nothing but what i want in it...that's right buddy). so one day we all drove to the pd, michael fingerprinted us, he played around in photoshop to sharpen it all up and voila!!!

vintage posters with got at the tip-top atomic shop in milwaukee four years ago....love these things. they are for an italian festival.

and this is the lil entry way that leads to the guest/play room and the master bedroom.

well i guess that's it for now. as soon as i get a chance i'll show more :)

A WEEKEND IN REVIEW

2007-10-08T13:01:00.000-05:00

*spent two hours friday night, while watching murder she wrote and the kids were sleeping and michael was working, going through expired coupons, filing them, making a grocery list, and finding the coupons for the goodies on my list. this was quite a thrill and it felt so good to get rid of that walmart bag full of expires (yes, i said a walmart bag).

*friday afternoon me and the kiddos picked some blacked-eyed susans from the yard (one of my faves).

*mopped

*stopped by big lots to pick up a few packs of the american crafts slick writers that they have for $2...whoo*hoo!

*did my grocery shopping thank goodness b/c it was beginning to look like ol mother hubbard's kitchen at my house and my cat was about to starve to death...lol

*of course used coupons on deals and pretty much saved about $60

*worked on my halloween swap package. i don't wanna give it up :)

*did two three lo's that i'm super excited about how they turned out (stay tuned).

*cleaned

*watched a ton of episodes of the office on netflix. thank you so friggin' much simone for letting me know i could watch them there. i have been hooked in front of the computer most of the weekend catching up. i'm not a coupla episodes into season 3.

*baked three loaves of banana bread

*talked to simone for almost two hours ;)

*made homemade spaghetti sauce

*also made pork bracciole which was delish

*started to reorganize and rearrange the craft room. i swear one of these days ya'll will see pics of it.

*and the saddest thing of all.......

...mikey went on his first sleepover at a friend's house {pouts out lip}. my lil bug is growing up. he was so excited to get outta the house that he didn't even come in and tell me goodbye when he left (believe you me, big michael paid the price for that for not telling mikey to come in and tell me goodbye). i pick mikey up after i get off of work and i hope he had a blast.

not sure if i left anything out, but that was pretty much my weekend.

OKAY, SERIOUSLY, HOW BEHIND AM I???

2007-09-24T18:26:00.000-05:00

oh how i hate getting behind b/c all ya'll nosey folks out there don't get to peek into my life as much or as often :)

first lemme says *big thank you* to everyone who dropped in and let me know that you were still reading! seriously, i was beginning to think that i had bored ya'll to tears and no one was checking! so thanks for giving me that bloggin' boost!

secondly, i'm sorry that it took so long to say that but things have been busy around here, but more on that throughout the week.

lemme back up though to not this past weekend but the weekend before that! greta came over and stayed for the whole weekend while we scrapped. now needless to say, i didn't get as many lo's done as i wanted to, but i love what i've done. i just so happened to get the fab-boo kit from noel mignon on friday and thank goodness i did. i literally raced home and tore the box open so i can check out its fab-boo-ness in person. you haven't ordered this kit yet, shame on you, b/c it really is awesome.

here are the lo's that i did with it so far (notice the so far :)

this card i made for an owl swap that i am in. ain't it a hoot! sorry, i couldn't resist ;)

and she sent me even more goodies from the ki alpine line which i love too!

i am *so* hoping that i will find some time this week to creat even more magic with this stuff. {deep sigh} the colors are absolutely perfect for fall.

okay, so after i got some creating done, me and g got to meet aimee. okay can i just say how much i adore this chick and her house (go ikea ;) she fit in with us so awesome-ly you woulda never thought that we just met. seriously. i dig this chick and can't wait till we hook up again.

a horrific pic of me and the ever fab aimee :)

greta and aimee

and 3some shot

okay, i promise this week that i will be back with more. i had aunts and an uncle come in for mom's 50th and can't wait to tell those stories and share the pics. hope everyone is having an awesome end of september...bring on october :)

2007-09-14T09:49:00.000-05:00

hello?
hello?
hello?
hello?
hello?

is anyone out there?
does anyone read me anymore?
are there any lurkers out there?
have i become boring??
where is everyone???

SO MUCH CATCHING UP TO DO!!!

2007-09-13T06:58:00.000-05:00

indeed i do, i have a *ton* of catching up to do, but considering that is 7 am and i should be getting ready to leave for work, i figured i drop in and post a couple more pics of noel's new kit.

it is sa-weet!!!!

i should have it in my hot lil hands, hopefully saturday, i know greta is wanting to fondle it a lil before i get to working on it (she's coming over saturday and staying the night for an all night crop).

here's a couple of new pics that noel sent me.

this is another shot of the main kit....swoon!

and this is a sneek of the add on...again major swoon!!

go here if you missed out on the first lil sneak peek :)

can't wait to get it and once i get it in my hot lil hands, i'll post a pic. now if you feel as if it is a matter of life and death to get your hands on this kit (and i think it is...lmao) then make sure you get over there once she releases it b/c she only has a limited number and if you've ever missed on a kit in the past, then i'm sure you're like me and you have kicked yourself in the ass for it.

here's hoping that tonight or tomorrow i can get on and do a lil catchin' up b/c there is a lot of it to do :)

*smooches*

BOO!!!!

2007-09-04T18:47:00.000-05:00

okay, so who doesn't love halloween right?
well one day, while at work, my gal pal simone and i were emailing each other back and forth about our love for all things halloween (esp. martha's halloween goodies at michael). it was at that point that a bolt of lightning struck me and i said, "hey why don't we have a halloween swap??"

well being that halloween is a favorite holiday for simone also, she jumped on the train.

so make sure you go and check out the witches' caldron where you can sign up for a spook-tacular swap, find some great tips are makin' your house the spookiest on the block, some bone*chilling crafts, and some major gross out recipes!!!

all the details on the swap can be found here.

believe you me, this is one swap you won't wanna be caught dead missing :)

HAPPY 8TH BUG!!!

2007-08-31T11:52:00.000-05:00

mikey's 3rd bday party

{sniff sniff}
today my lil man is 8 years old (well not quite yet, at 1:21 pm to be exact). i can't believe how much he has grown. i mean when you start to hear that hannah montanta is "hot", you're baby is not a baby anymore.

i surprised him and took him for donuts this morning after we dropped off bella at daycare.

over donuts and apple juice/coffee, i asked him if he felt eight and he said yes. i asked him if he felt older and he said yes.

in a bit i'm off to bring cupcakes to his class and surprise him again by letting him do an early check out.

{sniff sniff}

my baby ain't a baby no more.

happy birthday bug, i love you more than candy :)
and quit growin' up will ya.

this a.m. for bday donuts

TWO YEARS AGO TODAY.....

2007-08-29T12:56:00.000-05:00

....everyone's lives on the mississippi gulf coast were turned upside down.

i still drive down hwy 90 and see slabs where restaurants, hotels, and homes used to be.

i still see fema trailer parks.

i still sometimes wonder "what used to be there?"

for those that haven't been reading long, you can go here, here, and here to read a little about what we went thru.

YIPPPEEEEEE!!!

2007-08-28T19:59:00.000-05:00

i have an awesome annoucement to make.

the ever fabulous noel from noel mignon asked lil ol me if i would be a guest designer for her store!!!!!

i am beside myself and completely flattered that she asked me.

if you've never been to noel mignon or to her challenge site, noel mignon challenges then you MUST check it out.

and noel has some exciting news coming up too!

she's offering the first ever fab-boo kit and lemme go on and tell ya, i've seen some of the products that she is putting in there and lemme go on tell ya, they rawk my socks off. i'm so excited to get my hands on it, i can't even stand myself.

so be sure to check back here for more information, more sneek peeks of the kit, and more information on when the kit is going on sale. you don't wanna miss this girls!

and if i didn't have your interest peaked already, then this should do it.

WHEW!!!

2007-08-26T20:31:00.000-05:00

okay, first lemme say, thanks for all the hair love. i am soooo in love with this cut, i really can't even stop looking at myself in the mirror. especially when there is a clip in it. supa cute!!!

okay, well considering that there isn't anything too too exciting, i'm going to just post a buncha mish mush.

first this weekend!

friday
*finally finished up the bday invites for the kids bday that is in exactly one week. yeah, i know.
*did the following journal page for this is me journal. oh wait!!! i haven't started from the beginning have i? i signed up for this fab-boo challenge and am just excited over the whole thing. and it helps that two mississippi girls are running' the show ;) i can't believe that i have kept up with it and its uber fun. if you wanna join, there is still time. as a matter of fact, there is no time limit b/c the journal is about YOU!!!

my cover

first page-you had to scrap your honest opinions (these were just a few for that day)

this is the one i worked on friday night.

challenges are posted every monday and thursday. get on it girls.

*then i turned on some murder she wrote and hit the hay!

saturday

*got up early and went to cvs to get some deals. here's my bounty:
**4 big bags of starbursts (for the kids' pinata and myself ;)
**5 twelve packs of pepsi products
**the new martha stewart every day food
**2 packs of reeses peanut butter cups (had to buy these to make my total a certain amount)
**3 packs of these cute lil animal clip things for scrapping
**1 tube of arm and hammer toothpaste

total: $0.88

that's right folks 88 cents!!!
plus i got a dollar easy buck for my next visit.
seriously, cvs is fab.

*then i went to the grocery store to stock up on some things. haven't been in so long since i'm pretty stocked up anyway. you'd think i had gotten some things for the party next week but i didn't. glad i didnt' b/c when i got home, i discovered i had more than enough hotdogs. so all i really need to get is some chips and buns. but anyway, at super walmart i saved $50 in coupons!!!! and thats a lot considering that walmart doesn't double coupons or take internet coupons (rat bastards!!!) the checkout lady was uber impressed. so was i if i do say so myself.

*while i was gone, mike was supposed to take mikey and bella to the boyscout store to get mikey's handbook and some of his uniform. oh didn't i mention that we signed mikey up for boyscouts? oops!!! anyway, when i got home, they were still there and michael was like "i thought you wouldn't be home till five something". mind you it wasn't even noon. that was his way of saying "i know i shoulda already left, but i figured you'd be gone longer so i haven't yet". so we decided that we would go out to eat, take separate cars that way when we were done, he'd take the kids with him, and i'd go run some errands by myself.

gotta love that man!
he'll take two kiddos with him shopping any day (which he ended up regretting since apparently bella stood in line, fartin' herself away, and then announcing it to the people in line behind them....lmao...i found this story funny. michael, however did not!).

so anyway, we go to applebees and we sit in the smoking section b/c of the fact that it was less crowded. there was really only one guy smoking so i figured it would be no biggie. we ordered and noticed that at the table with the guy smoking, they were eating the biggest dessert ever! boy it looked good.

while we were eating, the man got up and paid, which i thought was odd considering that the waitress usually takes your moola. well as he walked by, he stopped by our table and said the following:

"i just wanted to say how well behaved your children are. its nice to sit down and not listen to them yelling, throwing food, and other shit {note: yes, he said shit}.
so b/c they are so well behaved, i bought them dessert".

my mouth was to the floor and my eyes are watering even as i type this. i can't believe some random stranger bought our kids dessert. it made me feel so proud of the kids and made me feel that maybe i am doing something right with the kids. b/c i know EXACTLY what this man is talking about b/c i can't stand that kind of behavior myself.

now the kiddos already knew what they wanted, but we had to explain to them that whatever the waitress brought out, they were not to complain and there were going to eat it.

this is what the waitress brought out

two brownies, two scoops of icecream, and b/c it was four the kids, mounds and mounds of whipped cream. oh and it came with four spoons.

i seriously think that was the best dessert i have ever eaten!!!

*after that, the kids and michael went their way and i went to old navy. ya see, since i am a stress eater, i've gained a few pounds. well maybe more than a few, but who's counting. okay, who am i kidding, i'm counting. anyway, i'm very upset about it and when it comes time to get dressed in the a.m., it usually includes a mini breakdown b/c a lot of my things don't fit. so i figured i'd go to old navy and see if i could find a couple of things.

boy did i hit the motherload. not only did pretty much everything i buy look good (and look good with this new do), but i got some great deals. i'll spare ya the details on that unless you're really curious. okay, what the hell.
**pair of jeans
**2 pairs of pants
**pair of goucho style pants (i think these were 97 cents)
**skirt (1.97)
**shirt (2.97)
**tank top (free b/c of jeans purchase)
**3 dresses
**tank top
**long sleeved shirt
**2 pairs of shoes

total: $140.xx

i didn't think that was bad at all.

*once i got home, i took a nap. i think i could get used to taking afternoon naps.
*watched wild hogs and zodiac. both very good.

sunday

*CLEANED, CLEANED, CLEANED
*YELLED, YELLED, YELLED
*CRIED IN THE LOCKED BATHROOM
*CLEANED, CLEANED, CLEANED
*YELLED
*TOOK A NAP
*COOKED A YUMMY ROAST WITH VEGGIES, ROLLS, AND NOODLES WITH APPLE CRISP FOR DESSERT
*CLEANED, CLEANED
*YELLED
*PAID BILLS INCLUDING MY FIRST MORTGAGE PAYMENT
*THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO THROW UP B/C OF THE ABOVE
*POSTED ON BLOG!

so that was my weekend. this week is going to be just as busy and i dread it. i'm ready for relaxation.

hope ya'll had a fab weekend and hop that this week is fab too!!

*mwah

oh, and i almost forgot. i was tagged by the lover-ly mary ann. this is a good one!

Here are the rules: 1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts. 2. Players, must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of their middle name. If you don't have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. 3. At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.

my middle name is marie.

here we go:

m: MOVING! we moved a lot when i was little. i've lived in 5 states, 9 or 10 cities, attended 12 {i think} different schools. i don't know if i can even count all the different houses. even though i don't want my kids to move around a lot b/c i think its cool that people here have known people since they were in kindergarten, i think i've learned a lot from all those moves. even if i still have "new kid" syndrome ;)

a: ART! i've loved art since i was little. i'll never forget a picasso art project we did in fifth or sixth grade where we did an abstract using cardboard. it was simply fabulous and i wish i still had it. all thru highschool i took art classes. a lil disappointed in myself though b/c i think i coulda went further with it. i held back a lot for fear of what others would think. in my senior year of highschool, i took 5 art classes. that was where i sold my first "piece".

r: READING! i love to read. i have always loved to read. due to moving so much (see letter "m"), i would spend, hours upon hours in my room reading. i think this drove my mom nuts too...lol. but i would get up in the a.m. open a book, read it until i finished it, start another one and not go to sleep till the wee hours of the morning. damn i miss that!

i: INTUITIVE! i am very, very intuitive. i think it has something to do with me being a pisces, but i could be wrong. i can usually predict things before they happen, and know a lot of times what someone is going to say before they say it. its weird. sometimes i let on that i know, sometimes i don't. usually it only hits me at certain times. its weird but i love it.

e: ENTERTAIN! i love to entertain and don't do it often enough. i love to plan the party, have everything be themed, cook all the food, and blah blah. the only thing i don't like is the socializing part...lol. even though they are people that i have invited, it can still make me nervous. if its a small group, i'm usually okay, but a larger group i have a problem with. damndest thing!

okay, now that ya'll think i'm more of a nut than you did before, i get to tag a few of ya'll.

i'll tag.....

simone
greta and bitch, you're middle name is not mitchell!!!!
colleen

if anyone else wants to do it, leave me a comment and let me know you did.
b/c i'm nosey like that!

THE BECKHAM!

2007-08-22T20:08:00.000-05:00

got a new 'do which i absolutely love. i can't wait to play with it in the a.m. hard to tell in these pics b/c sometimes me and the mirror don't have a good relationship when it comes to photoshoots!

the front

the side

the style is called the beckham apparently and its about an inch long in the back (if that) and of course as you can see the sides come down in chunky layers in the front.

love it!

the hair is been driving me crazy since i was due for a cut about three weeks ago.
i can't wait to get some wax and clips in it. i've been wanting a pixie for about a month now, but didn't think i would look in that. i'm going to play with this for six weeks and see if i want the sides to be any shorter.

so whatchya think?

WOW!!!

2007-08-20T10:34:00.000-05:00

big news!
check this out!
i am soooo friggin' honored and so friggin' excited about this i can hardly stand it.

big love to all the eves :)

HAPPY 8TH BABY!!!

2007-08-13T10:02:00.000-05:00

happy eight years to the man that i love more than 8 years ago today.
here's to another 80 more.

and hey, baby, we're celebrating it in our true fashion. ya know, the way our marriage has been for the past 8 years. its what makes us "the manna's".

you're sick in bed with what i had but with a temperature.
my car broke down this a.m. which means $CHA-CHING$
the hot water heater still does not work.
and what else....

i love you baby.
i love you more than candy.

I'VE BEEN SICK NOW HE'S SICK....

2007-08-12T14:26:00.000-05:00

oh my lord.
since thursday either my ass or my face has been in the toilet.
friday, i thought i was going to die. hell dying may have felt better.
seriously.
i'm just now beginning to feel a lil like a human.
here's hoping i'm better by tomorrow b/c i MUST go to work.
but now michael is sick.
gross!
i better break out the lysol b/c i can't bear to have another weekend ruined.
i've got family coming in in three weeks and the kiddos' bday party to plan for.
oy vay!
i better go lay down now.

SOME HOUSE PICS....FINALLY!!!

2007-08-07T08:06:00.000-05:00

i know this post is going to make some of you *very* happy....especially my inlaws ;)

my house is still in a state of complete disarray and i don't wanna post pictures of a mess. so this post is going to be devoted to the two rooms that are the most complete.....the KIDS ROOMS!!!

i am so thrilled with their rooms, i'm a lil jealous. each room i think represent each child and they enjoy hanging out in there. they hardly have any toys in there aside from books and we made the decision that in this house, they were not going to have tellies in their rooms. we have a play room that houses toys and a tellie so i wanted to make sure their rooms were theirs. a place they could go to read or just be by themselves. b/c i can certainly understand just wanting to be alone. i've always been like that and i think it is very important to have your own space. i guess that comes from having two little pesky brothers and wanting my own space.

i swore i wasn't going to do themes in the kiddos' rooms b/c they outgrow them so much but when we were at rooms to go and saw the pirate furniture i knew i had to get i for mikey. when he grows outta the phase, then he can have a nautical room.

beware of the horrible pictures...we have *amazing* sunlight that comes thru the windows that makes for horrible shots :)

oh and their rooms aren't 100% complete, bella needs a bookshelf, mikey needs a fab/old table and a lil chair for his reading nook!

the entry wall to mikey's room

his end table

end table goodies. thrills me to no end that he has a word search book on his nightstand :) box holding goodies i got thrifting and the lantern at a garage sale. wooden cigar box is currently holding mikey's new rock collection.

this fabulous piece MICHAEL spotted while we were thrifting a couple of weeks ago. yes, i have the most *amazing* hubby who lets me drag him into thrift stores, antique shops, and garage sales. he acts like he doesn't like it, but i think he secretly does. damn i love that man.

mikey's bed which is simply the best and this pic is complete shit and doesn't do it justice.

the footer of his bed. when he grows up, we can switch the map part around for a solid wood piece.

closet doors. do you see that skull up there. an amazing (yet slightly expensive) find at an antique store believe it or not. on his closet door hangs the lil saint medallion my grandparents sent him when he was born.

mikey loves this piece and it couldn't be more perfect

shelf i thieved from mom's garage (well i didn't steal it, me and her thought it was perfect so she said i could have it). pirate ship is a bank mom got for him on one of our most hilarious garage sale-in' trips and lantern is from thrift store. sconces outside of closet doors also got thrifting and plan on burning some candles and sticking them in there for an old pirate ship effect.

mikey's favorite piece, the lockers. now i got these at an antique store before i bought the pirate stuff. so when i saw the pirate stuff these def. popped in my mind b/c i thought they wouldn't match. well when me and michael find a minute, we are going to spray paint them a darker brown and sand em a lil to give them a worn look. mikey said that davy jones (on pirates of the carribean) had lockers or something, so i guess it will match....lol. i also am going to make old looking labels or numbers to put on the lockers. these lockers serve as his dresser and a place to put all his treasures.

goodies on the top of his lockers. pirate ship tin came from a garage sale, pirate hat we got him at disney two summers ago, globe was given to mom who gave it to him, and lil jar i scooped up thrifting.

for those that remember, mikey's room originally had a plane light in it. this was pre pirate stuff. so michael took that light down and i found this perfect ceiling fan at lowe's. when you turn the light out, it puts this amazing wavy image on the walls that look like water.

well that was mikey's room....on to miss bella boo.

when i had bella, her nursery was very shabby chic. i loved the look. didn't want something too fancy, but def. wanted it girly and it def. had to have vintage pieces in it.

so i knew that i wanted her room at this house to be the same.

oh bella boo's dresser. i spotted this beauty in a booth at an antique store the day i bought her bed. i was kinda talked outta it b/c the condition of it wasn't great. the drawers need something in them to make them move just a lil smoother. it was on sale though from $145 to $95. well, i'll keep looking i thought. well i kept looking and didn't find anything. when i went to go back and get it wasn't in that booth anymore. upon walking around some more, i noticed it in another booth. repainted and these drawer pulls on it and of course more expensive....$125. i was crushed. first it was more moola and it was repainted. the first time i saw it it was still white, but shabby. so after looking a few more weeks, i thought fark it, i'm getting it. so we all stopped in the antique store and there it was. ON SALE FOR $75. SOLD!!!!!! i guess it pays to wait. i don't know if i am going to replace the drawer pulls or not. they are start to warm me over.

the windows (bad picture) with the carasol (sp?) horse my mom made for bella.

bella's fab bed!

bedding came from target

her light which i absolutely love and got from lowes

her end table which i got at the same antique store that i keep mentioning. i love that place. when me and michael bought that table and brought it to the front, he kept looking at it. ya see, there is a country blue paint that is barely peeking thru at some points that the paint is chipped. i knew what he was thinking. he wanted to repaint it. i told him hell no. the gals that worked there were on my side of course ;) oh and the box underneath houses her bobbsey twins books which i cannot wait to get on a shelf.

so that's it my dears. the first two rooms that are almost complete. they both need a few more pieces and then they will be done. i'm proud of the kids for keeping their rooms very clean.

hopefully i'll have more to share soon. i'm hoping to go garage sale-in' this weekend to pick up some pieces that i need. aimee if you're reading and ya wanna go, gimme a call :)

A GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE UPDATE!!!

2007-08-05T19:55:00.000-05:00

good morning sunshine has finally been updated with a few goodies!!!

and be on the look out for more to come. since i am busting at the seams in my new craft room, you'll find vintage buttons, yards of fabric and ribbon, papers, and all sorts of other lover-lies being added soon :)

I {HEART} YOU JENN!!!!

2007-07-24T21:02:00.000-05:00

as i mentioned before, i received the most lover-ly of packages from the infamous jenn over at the felt mouse.

jenn and i have been bloggin' buddies for quite some time and heck, i don't even remember how. i think i stumbled on her blog way back way and fell in love with this girl's style and generousity. this chick is amazing. her crafting skills are off the charts and when i grow up, i wanna be just.like.her!!!

if you've never checked her blog, you have no idea what you are missing.

seriously! jenn, you're the best!

here are the amazing goodies that i received from her:
{note: sorry for the bad lighting....i couldn't get it right darn it. but i do love the softness to it despite the pics' lack in showing the wonderful and bright colors}

this is everything. all beautifully packaged and put together.
major swoonage here!

she knows i love, love, love cheeries and made me this lil pouch. girl, i still carry around the other one you made me months ago :)

this magazine i have been coveting for MONTHS!!! i could never find it at hobby lobby or michaels and well i was too darn cheap to order it online. jenn happened to be the lucky recipient of two and a lil birdie let her know how much i wanted this magazine (okay yes, i was a lil lame-o here and told her how much i wanted this magazine...lol)

aren't these cutie-patootie mini clipboards just the best? i cannot wait to play with these!!!

love these lil stick pins and believe it or not, they are in the most awesome combo of teal/red. damn i love that color combo!!!

these i cannot wait to play with. they are lil metal tabs that fold over and on the front side have an epoxy sticker. supa-ka-yute!

the sweetest ribbon i have ever seen. do you see the popsicles on there?

and the present to end all presents.....

can you believe this???? i literally yelped when i saw this. seriously. the air was out on the second floor that week (sweet mary i was dying. it was over 90 degrees on my floor at work) and i had one of my doors open and i just know people heard me down the hall.

i couldn't believe what wonderful goodie had plopped out into my hand. i put it on immediately. i love this thing so damn much, i can't even stand it. and if you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know how nutso i am for zodiac goodies. esp. pisces goodies.

so with that my friends, i introduce to one of the most amazing gal-pals a gal could have. i just hate that jenn lives on the other side of the country. really i do. b/c if the two of us were neighbors, i would learn her mad sewing skills, and i would teach her a lil about scrapping.

maybe one day jenn :)

big hugs and love to you!!!!

OH SNAP!!

2007-07-20T15:34:00.000-05:00

{yes, this is said in my house on a regular basis. this is what happens when your kiddos are addicted to raven and zach & cody}.

anyway, i forgot to mention some good news!

i did this lo for the unpubbed challenge a few weeks ago and they picked me!!! {yes, i know, the good luck shit is getting pretty disgusting...lol}.

so this a.m., i am now officially a famer and you can read all about how famous i am here.

no.
please.
i don't have time for autographs {giggle}.

and if that lil comment didn't make ya wanna slap my face, check out the goodies they are sending me here.

now you can slap me :)

CHECKIN' IN!

2007-07-20T15:24:00.000-05:00

Don’t anyone throw anything at me b/c I know you girls are expecting some fabulous shots of the house, and well, quite frankly, I’m not even halfway done unpacking, not a thing is hung on any walls {‘cept the craft room ;} and there are boxes everywhere. I’m a lil intimidated to hang anything up on the wall and I don’t really know where or what.
{whew!}
Thinking about it exhausts me. So here’s hoping that within the next week or so, things will shape up and I’ll be able to post some pics. Now here I’ve done all this whining about all the stuff that I haven’t done so lemme show you what I have been doing.
I’ve been scrapping and it feel *so* good!

Here’s my lo for olw challenge. I love how this turned out. I’m not being vain, but since I found out what the word was this go around, I have been wracking my brain trying to think of what I wanted to do. So I kinda went a different route with the word and finally all that wrackin’ was worth it 

Here’s my lo for the most recent all about eve challenge. The challenge was to scrap your age. This was an extremely fun lo to do and it didn’t help that my photographer is amazing!!! Who’s the genius behind the camera you ask? Well its mikey!!! For a lot of my recent photos, I’ve had mikey take them. He’s great. He doesn’t judge when I wanna be silly and I feel like I can be completely relaxed when he’s behind the camera. I’m trying to teach him some of the features, well the few that I know, about my luvah the rebel (don’t worry, I don’t refer to the camera as my luvah when I’m teachin’ {wink}). If he could just get the zoom thing down, but I think he’s so terrified that he is going to do something to the camera, he doesn’t even try it.

Oh and if you girls haven’t hopped over to all about even ya’ll must. They have the most awesome challenges and their focus for the site is to scrap yourself. I know a lot of scrappers have a hard time doing that. well, minus one. I seem to be only scrapping myself lately. Horrible I know, but I’m loving it.

this is a lo i did for noel's current challenge which is to use the no. 3. you can do it however you want. as you can see i put some of my game pieces to use!

Now on to some lo’s that I did before we moved.

this is my first scrap jack. its also the first time i ever really cut a pic out like this and used it. love it.

this is actually a lo i did for a challenge at scissor sisters.
and i won!

i won a gc to your scrapbook stash. i just ordered my goodies yesterday so as soon as i get those, i'll post em.

This is a lo I did for two challenges. I did it for my girl noel for her new and inspiring challenge site and I did it for all about eve.

And guess what?!?!?

I won both challenges!
Whoo*haaaaaa

Here’s is the amazing amount of goodies that I received from noel. I tell ya, this chick is sooo generous, it’s a wonder that she has any product to sell? Oh now your wondering “what do you mean that she has product to sell?” well my dears, hop on over here and check out her awesome store. She has amazing sales (and duh! Look above, I love a bargin) and carries some awesome product. And from what I hear, she is getting ready to have some *awesome* schtuff that is being released at cha as we speak (damn I can’t believe I had to miss it this year).

simone! you better be taking a ton of pics.

Oh and this lo also won me lotd (layout of the day) and lotw (layout of the week) at treasures to scrap. so at the end of the month you gals are going to have to give me a vote :)

So I guess that is a lil of what has been going on. Again, I feel bad to disappoint, but I don’t wanna post pics until everything {okay, almost everything} is in its place.

On to this weekend. I have major plans for this weekend actually. Nothing too exciting, I’ll be at home all weekend while Michael gets some ot, but I do plan on getting some goodies made and up on good morning sunshine. this of course is going to include: paper packs, buckets of sunshine, vintage goodies, handmade goodies, etc. so be on the look out for that update.

Also, since I’m not in Chicago hanging out with the sistahs, I am going to participate in some of the challenges that they have going on over there. if you are a scrapper and have nothing else going on this weekend, check em out. Just go to the message boards and choose the forum “scrap chat” and get to searching. There are going to be some awesome challenges and it looks like some awesome prizes. And you gals know how much I love to win!
So I’ll be on and off the net this weekend if you wanna drop me an email or a pm. Here’s hoping ya’ll have a grrrrrreat weekend!

oh and jenn if you are reading dear, a whole post will be devoted to the lovelies that you sent me.

{major swoonage} girls.

this girl, i love so stinkin' much i can hardly stand it :)

WHO BOUGHT ALL THIS CRAP?!?!?!?!

2007-07-14T11:20:00.000-05:00

isn't that what everyone thinks when they have to unpack mountains upon mountains of boxes and totes?

well i'm finally hooked back up to the net. i was having some serious withdrawals which is really kinda sad....lol. i felt so detatached from the world...lol.

i'll be back later tonight with pictures and to let ya'll know what has been going on for the past week.

thank you all for the well wishes on the new house and for listening to all my bitching the past year and going thru this with me. ya'll mean soooooo much to me!!!

big hugs and smooches!!!

oh and now that i'm finally in the house, i'm hoping in the next couple of weeks i can start the sign ups for vintage vixen part 2.

ALMOST DONE!!!!

2007-07-10T09:56:00.000-05:00

whew....what an exhausting weekend folks but so well worth it.
i have almost all my crap into the new house and i walk from room to room in complete awe that we're finally in it. michael and i love that house sooooo much. the kiddos and even fritz are in love with it.

i wish i had pictures and schtuff to show ya'll but i won't have internet access at home until friday (believe you me, i'm having major withdrawals. i can only get on so much at work).

so know that i'm not ignorning or negleting ya'll.

i'm leaving work here in about an hour or two and then it took the rest of the week off to get unpacked. the craft/scrappy room is just calling my name. i'm saving that room for thursday and friday.

ya'll have no idea how friggin' happy i am.

and to make me even happier, a few of my scrappy lo's have won various contests across the web and i got my hambly goodie in the mail that you guys are just going to have to get green with envy over.

friday evening i'll play catch up.

big hugs!

oh if anyone is needing my new addy, lmk :)

RED, WHITE, & BLUE RAK WINNERS!!!

2007-07-06T20:18:00.000-05:00

first lemme say, we signed on the house today!!!!

{throws confetti}

whoo-hooo!

we're poor for the rest of our lives....lmao.

no seriously, we couldn't be more thrilled about and i still can't believe after all this time, its finally over. me and michael will be loading up a uhaul and getting stuff moved in tomorrow.

things of course are going to be hectic on my end, so i'll try one day at work to email the bloggin' buddies that are interested my new addy.

and now for the moment ya'll have been waiting for.

the winners to the rak!!

i decided to let mikey pull a name and bella pull one.

so we have two winners!!!

mikey pulled...

and bella pulled...

whoooo*hooooo!
congrats girlies.

now i hope you won't mind, but due to schtuff being boxed up, i hope you don't mind if it takes me a week or so to get your goodies in the mail.

anna girl, i need your addy.

well i guess i better go, i have more packing. hope ya'll have a fab weekend!

HOLY FRIGGIN' CANNOLI!!!!

2007-07-05T14:00:00.000-05:00

okay, originally my post today was going to have a bunch los that have been keeping me busy showcased to share for all the folks who don't make it to the message boards that i frequent.

but i have something better than that today.

first, i get a phone call that we are closing on the house tomorrow at 4pm {release that big deep breath dad ;} whooo-fuckin'-hooo...that means i can move in this weekend....holy shit, i'm excited.

then i go to sis and get a message from a fellow sista congratulating me on getting favorite lo at
unpubbed. holy shit again!!!!! take a look at what i get. this that not just friggin' awesome????

oh and then i almost forgot this, i got lotd (layout of the day) at treasures to scrap.

i don't know if i will be able to work the rest of the day. i'm so excited i can't even stand it.
i can't stand it i tell ya.

holy crap!

anyway, make sure you guys go to this post and leave a comment. i'll draw a winner out of a hat and hopefully make someone else's week awesome too!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE!!!

2007-07-04T09:44:00.000-05:00

hope ya'll have a fabulous 4th of july!!!

and in honor of the country's birthday, post a comment telling me your favorite 4th tradition and i will give one lucky commentor a rak filled with red, white, and blue goodies. i'll pick a winner friday evening!!

:)

OH HOW I {HEART} HAMBLY!!!

2007-07-03T10:03:00.000-05:00

you know, things have been hectic on my end lately (hell, what am i talking about, they have been hectic for almost a year now) so i haven't been able to keep up with the blogs as much. of course this is also b/c big brother is watching and i have to be careful.

but thankfully, the other elizabeth in the circle journal that the ever wonderful andrea started send a thank you email to me.

for what you ask?

b/c sista here won 6x6 hambly goodies!!!!

can you friggin' believe it???????

i'm so excited i'm shaking. thank god elizabeth let me know b/c they drew the winners almost a month ago.

WHOOOOO HOOOOO!!!

this has completely made my day.
my week.
my month.
hell, even my year.

{love you hambly}
mwah!

SHE'S A MANIAC, MANIAC, THATS FOR SURE!!

2007-06-29T15:33:00.000-05:00

my new favorite outfit...skirt, shoes, and bangle thrifted :)

a thrifty maniac that is.
i have been hitting the stores like crazy looking for goodies for the house. and since one of our stores is closing, they are selling stuff for uber cheap.

so here are a few of the goodies that i have gotten lately that i am completely in love with :)