Don't Look Now, There's a Big Ol' Bat

Well, my friends, I know it's still early. I'm typing this up just after 9:00 pm. I am all kinds of tired. So, I'm going to keep this very, very short and sweet. One of my dogs woke me up this morning at 3:30. Yep that's right 3:30 in the a.m. Barking. At what I have absolutely no idea. And I could not go back to sleep for like an hour. Honestly, it just threw my whole day off a little. I got tons of stuff pretty early on in the day. Including a much needed supply run to Target. For, you know, things like facial cleaner and toilet scrub brushes. I bet you never thought you'd hear those two terms in one sentence before! But now, my pillow is calling my name. I hope you don't mind, but I am going to turn in early this evening.

This is a card that I got at a swap at the beginning of Sept. And, I'm so sorry, I cannot remember who's card it is to give them credit. So, if it's yours - please accept my apologies and know that I loved the card and that is why I'm sharing it!  It's using the stamp set - From the Crypt.

Well, I hope you all had a wonderful Wednesday - with more energy than mine.  And look forward to a terrific Thursday!

Fangs for the Memories

Today was a girlfriend's day!  Woohoo for wonderful girlfriends!  I met up with some wonderful friends - Diana, Rhonda and Marlene - today for a brunch/lunch deal.  Some of us had breakfast, some of us had lunch and one of us just had tea (Rhonda!!!).  We went to Paradise Bakery.  I love that place.  Their sandwiches are so yummy - but huge!  Luckily, Diana and I enjoy the same sandwich there - Chicken Walnut - so we split the sandwich, each got our own chips and 3 cookies.  Well, I mean it was buy one get one free so how could you say no?  And the meal comes with a cookie.  Besides, when you are eating with your girlfriends calories do not count, didn't you know?

So they had a business meeting planned, and I crashed it.  Well, okay not really.  But it makes me feel all rebellious to say so, so I'm just gonna keep on saying it.  'Cause really I was invited.  And, we ended up visiting for like 2 hours.  It felt like 15 minutes.  Don't you just love those kind of friends?

After the "meeting", Diana and I set off to do some shopping.  She's getting ready to make a trip back east where it's quite a bit cooler than here so she wanted to get some fun new clothes to take along.  We had a great time (don't we always darling?)

As a little surprise - and I sure hope they liked it - I gave them a fun little gift.  Nothing big just something that I saw and wanted to share with my "Twilight" friends.  These three gals are a part of the group that I go and see the Twilight movies with on opening day.  Too fun!

While I was at Target with my family the other day, we were looking at the dollar items.  They always have such interesting things there.  And they have added in some Halloween goodies.  Not sure if I've mentioned it or not, but I really, really, really (okay you get the idea) love Halloween.  Well, I saw these totally cute little Vampire erasers and a cute skull and crossbones mini notebook and I just knew that I had to get them to share with my friends.

All in all it was a great day.  Thanks for stopping in . . . see you tomorrow night!

Music Monday begins

It's Music Monday.  Time to share some of my musical tastes.  Not sure if any of you checked out last weeks recommendation - The Pursuit of Happiness by Nuno.  Great song.  And if you missed out on it, I'm sorry.

I've been listening to the new Linkin Park CD - A Thousand Suns - for a week now.  And have fallen completely in love with a couple of the songs on it.  It is a good buy for those that like them.  To me it is a cross between their older angrier stuff and the mellow tunes of the last CD - Minutes to Midnight.  That one took a bit of getting used to - although I do absolutely adore Leave Out All The Rest on Minutes to Midnight.  There are quite a few change- ups, one song will be very aggressive with a heavy drum beat and then the next one is full of piano and a softer singing voice.

As always, I love the combination of the two different styles of singing in their two lead singers.  The best example of that is their song In The End from Hybrid Theory.  Great mixture of rapping and singing.  So, back to A Thousand Suns, it seems that there is more of that mixture than we saw on the last CD and it still works.

I recommend getting this CD, but suggest the clean version if possible, for one song in particular (and that happens to be my favorite one right off the bat).

I guess if I had to sum up how I feel about this CD it would be this.  It is a great mixture of the old Linkin Park with the polish of maturity and a budget to record with.  Their sound on this one is very full bodied.

Prescott Stamping

On Saturday, I was able to go up north for some stamping fun.  My family and I, plus one of my son's friends, piled in the car early and headed up north for the day.  I was going to stamp and the boys were going to have fun.  Ryan likes going up north to this stamping friends house because they have the cutest dogs. 

Lisa, Me and Lynn

I had such a wonderful time stamping.  We did something called a shoebox swap.  Basically everyone attending creates a project and then they bring along enough materials, cut and ready to go, for everyone else attending to make their projects.  These are so fun.  It's always great to see what everyone else comes up with.

First, I will show you my card.  You may recognize it.  It's from my Christmas Card Class.  I did have to change up the accessories a little bit by using a gold Glimmer Brad and the Pearl Jewels.

Lisa was so sweet, she actually made two cards for us all to make.

And here is card #2 from Lisa.

And the last project is from Lynn.  I do love shoes so this one was very fun to make.

After we got done stamping and on the way home, we decided to stop at Cracker Barrel for dinner.  I love that place and we really don't eat there that often.  Not one too terribly close by I guess.  Of course while you are there you have to look around in their fun store.  All kinds of fun things to look at.  I couldn't resist these glasses.

Are they me?

Doug and I decided to split a meal and to go for the country fried steak.  He was nice enough to let me pick two of my favorites - Lima beans and okra.  It was so yummy!

And who can go to Cracker Barrel without buying something in their store?  Wonder what it could be.  Did I get those beautiful glasses?

Nope, I got some candy.  This is one of my mom's favorite treats.  She usually gets it while we are at Cracker Barrel, so I just had to have one for her.  Originally there were four, but one of them got eaten before the picture could be taken.

All in all a fun day.  Thanks to Lisa and Lynn for such a wonderful time.  I look forward to stamping with you again soon!

Favorite Find - Eyeliner

Having grown up in a family of all boys.  And now living in a house of all boys - even our two dogs are boys.  I've never thought of myself as a girlie girl in any way shape for form.  I've always strongly believed that girls are just as tough as boys - and some of us are even tougher.  And I've always been very proud of that.

As I have gotten older, I have also realized that tough can also be pretty and look good and enjoy all the fun things that girls get to do and enjoy.  Now, don't get me wrong, I am so not calling myself pretty and looking good.  I just mean that I have to come a realization that I enjoy wearing makeup and jewelry and heeled shoes.  I still don't wear skirts, but definitely could see one making it's way into my closet without me breaking out into a cold sweat.  Just kidding. 

I have found it very interesting in talking with several of my girlfriends, how many out there only wear black eyeliner.  I find that kind of funny.  Because one of my very favoritist things in the world is bright colored eyeliner.  For those of us out there that lived through the 80's, how many of you remember the bold colored mascara?  I had mascara in bright green and bright blue.  And I loved them both.  I always put them on my lower lashes because I could never find eyeliner that wasn't down to my jawline before the day was over.  So the mascara was perfect for adding some fun color and not having to worry about it smudging. 

Well, I have a Favorite Find for you!  Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils.

I tried this eyeliner about a year ago and have been hooked ever since.  For several reasons.  Let me give you the low down:

1.  It goes on so smooth.  It has the words Glide-On in it's title for a reason.  They really do glide on.  Smooth as butter!

2.  They do not smudge.  Let me repeat myself - they do not smudge.  That is unless you are going for the smoky look and intentionally smudge them.  I mean man, these stay put all day long.  Now, let me clarify something here, I do put on some eyeshadow primer type stuff.  You know the liquid that you can smooth on all over your lid (and I put a dab under my eyes too) to keep your shadow from creasing.  So that could be part of it, but I am telling you, the combination of the two and I have eyeliner that stays where it should all day long!

3.  The most wonderful selection of colors.  Now don't you worry.  Those ladies that are black only - and I'm not exactly sure why you would want to be - black has it's place, but it's so fun to wear green or blue or gray or brown.  I love to change it up everyday.

I got this totally fun sample pack yesterday.  It comes with 10 fun travel size colors and one full size black.  Love them!  I already tried one of them today.  It's called Stash and is kind of a brown/green color.  Oh baby did I love it!  Too fun!

So for those of you that are a little worried about trying something new, I absolutely say GO FOR IT!  You never know what you might really like until you give it a try!

I'm off to bed tonight.  I have a busy day tomorrow.  I'm going for a two hour drive to stamp with some really fun ladies.  It's been a couple years since we've stamped together and I am so very excited to see them and have some fun.  Don't worry, I will be sharing lots of pictures when I get home. 

Have a wonderful Saturday everyone!

Another part of me

Something else that I really love is photography.  I've loved it ever since I can remember.  I love looking at old pictures.  I love the way the camera feels in my hand.  And they sound of the shutter - at least on the old school cameras.  I love the idea of forever capturing a moment in time.  I hope  you don't mind, but I wanted to share a few of my favorite photos.

Bench

Cowboy

Bamboo 2

I have often been accused of having a very different personality when I am photographing.  And I think to some extent that is very true.  Once I get that camera in my hands and am looking through the lens, I just get all excited about what I see and cannot wait to capture the world around me.  I hope you will enjoy these images.  I will share more another day.

I have finally finished reading Return of the Jedi.  I have not returned it yet because I want to copy down some quotes.  I loved reading all three books. They were very enjoyable.  And so I started another book yesterday and have already read 200 pages.  Diana loaned this one to me and I cannot put it down.  Thanks for sharing with me Di!  It's the second in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series.  So, I'm off to get in a little more reading before I absolutely cannot keep my eyes open.

I Believe...What goes Around...

That what goes around comes around.  Truly.  I have a motto that I try to live my life by - leave any given person or situation better than how you found them.  Whether it be through laughter or an ear to listen.  Whatever the case may be, there is always an opportunity for you to give more than you receive.  There is always an opportunity for you to enrich or lift someone up.  And sometimes it's as easy as projecting some positive energy.  And sometimes it's a lot harder than that.

So, what did you think of my song recommendation from yesterday?  Did you like the song?  Is this something that you would like to see more of - songs that inspire me?  I hope so, because I like sharing.

Today's pictures come from my stamp class on Saturday.  I had a really great time sharing my afternoon with some really fun ladies.  It's great to watch each participant grow in their craft.

The group from the class



Vicki and Brittany



Brittany working on her Santa

My mom water coloring her snow

Brittany made the yummiest cupcakes for the class - Lemon Raspberry.  They were so good.  Thanks for sharing your baking talent with us!!!

Pursuit of Happiness

There are many things that get me really excited about getting creative.  I love to look at things.  I mean really, really look at things.  One of my brothers has accused me of seeing the world as if through a camera lens.  And he's right.  I do, do that.  When I am driving around I look at things as if I were taking a photo of it, mentally trying to remember where I am so that maybe someday I can come back and capture it properly.

I also love to listen.  There is very little in this world that can move me as much as music does.  We have had a wonderful love affair for as long as I can remember.  Some of my earliest memories are of listening to my brothers records and 8 track tapes.  Being around 5 years old, riding in the back of my brother's Chevy Nova and singing all the words to Moody Blues or The Who.  Music has always moved me. 

I've added a little something that I hope you will enjoy.  Today is Music Monday.  In the top right side of the blog, there is now a link to a YouTube video.  Really, I just want you to check out the song.  This particular song gives me goosebumps.  And, it will only be on the site until I decide to share another song.

The song for today is Pursuit of Happiness by Nuno.  He's from a band that was pretty popular in the early 90's called Extreme.  (They did a little song that some of you may remember called More Than Words.)  Anyway, check out the song.  I think the best one to listen to is the top choice there, with a picture of four guys.  So, let me know what you think.

Last Friday I was able to go stamp at my friend Marlene's home for a class. We made four really fun cards.  Well, I don't have those cards ready to post yet.  Instead, I'm going to share another of Marlene's cards with you.  First of all, here's a close-up of the card.  I love this paper, from the Holiday Mini Catalog - it already has the glitter on it!  How great is that?

Marlene & I stop for a picture moment during class.

Her full card.  Too cute.

Stamp Set:  A Cute Christmas (Winter Mini Catalog)

Ink:  Basic Black

Paper:  Garden Green, Real Red, Whisper White, Candy Cane Christmas DSP

I still have a little photo work to do before going to bed, and my eyes are getting a little droopy.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Monday and will see you tomorrow!

An Unplugged Weekend

And getting reconnected.  Sorry I didn't get a chance to post anything over the weekend, but honestly, I hardly had my computer on at all during the past three days.  It was great to spend time doing other things that do not require a computer, a keyboard, the Internet . . . but I did miss posting.

First, I spent Friday at home with a sick child.  And, ooops!, we did play a computer game for about an hour in the afternoon.  After that, we watched cartoons and rested.  In the evening, I had the opportunity to visit with some friends at a stamping class that I attended.  It was great fun to reconnect and to meet new friend - and to stamp at the same time.

Then on Saturday was my Christmas Card class, and it was almost a full house!  Love it!  I had a great time sharing and visiting with those that attended.  And this time I did remember to take some pictures of the class. 

Sunday was family day.  We spent the afternoon just hanging out, catching up on some favorite TV shows and even watched the movie Prince of Persia, which I enjoyed very much. 

And now, here I sit winding down the weekend and knowing that tomorrow it is back to business as usual.  That's okay.  You have to have the work days and the busy times to help you realize just how nice it is to just veg out on the couch every once in awhile.

Now, I owe you some pictures.  And don't worry they are coming.  Pictures from this weekend and to show you the beautiful cards that I got to make at Marlene's house on Friday night.  But first, there is still one more card that you have not gotten to see yet that we made in my Christmas Card class yesterday.  So, here it goes...

I love this totally cute little Santa.  Isn't he just adorable?  This is my very first stamp set using the clear blocks.  LOVE THEM!  They are easy to put together and easy to use.  I can see a very bright future for me and clear stamps.  OH, and did you notice the Glimmer Brad?  I may have mentioned this before, but I just love them!  Gorgeous!

Stamp Set:  Holiday Hoopla, Curly Cute
Ink:  Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip
Paper:  Jolly Holiday Designer Paper, Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Regals brads, Glimmer brads, Rhinestone Jewels

And finally, here are all the cards that we made in class on Saturday.  Aren't they fun?

Well, I can hardly keep my eyes open.  I'm even going to hit the sack before getting any reading in today.  Just too tired.  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  See you tomorrow!

Favorite Find - Rhinestones & Pearls

What more could a girl ask for?  Take a look at these . . .

Now admit it, those look like tons of fun don't they?  I'm here to tell you they are!  What a great way to ad an accent to anything.  They are so beautiful, I want to wear them!  I know they might be a little hard to see in the above picture so how about some close-ups?  Well, here ya' go . . .

I finished making the last project for my Saturday stamp class.  Fun stuff.  I'm really enjoying the new stamps, new ribbons, new colors and the new embellishments.  They are too fun!  Can't wait to see what everyone thinks of them at the class. 

Now, tomorrow I get to finish prepping for it.  Lots of cardstock to cut.  I love to cut cardstock.  I find it very therapeutic and relaxing.  Maybe I can skip the meditation portion of yoga tomorrow.  No way - that's the best part of yoga, getting to meditate at the end.  Very, very relaxing.

And it's getting late for me.  One more early morning before the weekend.  I want to get some reading time in before I turn out the light.  I'm really enjoying my book, Return of the Jedi - even better than the movie.  But aren't they always?

So, it's off to sleep, well reading and then sleep . . .

Let's Keep This Short & Sweet

I'm gonna start off with a bang:

And then I'm gonna finish pretty quickly.  It is definitely Wednesday.  Halfway through the week - and I am feeling it.  Lots to do to get ready for my class on Saturday, along with all the other stuff life is bringing my way.  Been a pretty steady week and I am tired and ready for some sleep.  So, instead of rambling on and on, I will show you another card that is a possible choice for my class on Saturday.  I really like this card.  I have fallen completely in love with these new Glimmer Brads from the Holiday Mini.  If you haven't gotten them yet - you must!  They are beautiful!  Since I already gave you a sneak peek, here's the rest of the card.  Enjoy!

And I hope you are having a great week.  See you tomorrow!

I Believe That Drama...

Is so self-destructive.  And I don't mean going to the movies and watching a drama genre show.  I mean the Drama that some people just cannot seem to help but create in their lives.  What is that all about?

So, today started out just as any other normal day in our house.  We all got up at pretty much the normal time.  We ate breakfast, we brushed teeth, we verified that everything was in the backpack and ready to go.  And then, we remembered that it was picture day.  Oops.  The shirt that Ryan wanted to wear really could use a little ironing.  Guess I should have done that yesterday.  Well, needless to say, that started a small domino effect with the end result being that Ryan was about 10 minutes late for school.

Really not a big deal.  He's never late.  I think in seven years of attending school, I have only had to sign him in late one other time.  He hardly ever misses. 

Now, this could have been a major meltdown.  I mean really it could have.   And had it been a few years back, it probably would have been.  I've never been a morning person.  So, my emotions - and temper - are a little quicker in the morning.  And really who on earth does that benefit?  Absolutely no one. 

So,  few years ago, I decided to take better charge of myself.  For you see, you cannot change the things that happen around you, you can only change how you react to them.

I had a Child Development teacher in college talk about emotions.  And this has stuck with me for all of these years.  He explained to his totally packed 300+ students classroom that emotions are pure.  They are genuine.  They are not wrong or right.  They are just what they are.  What makes them wrong or right is how you react to them. 

Hmm, let that one sink in for a moment.

Emotions are not wrong or right.  Wow.  It is so very true. 

Back to this morning.  It could have been handled with some yelling and getting all worked up and frustrated with the fact that we were running late.  But what would that have accomplished, except to get us all off to a terrible start.  Instead we just did the best we could with what we had to work with.  And we both started our day off on the right foot.

And so I say - Drama - Who needs it?  Not me, that's for sure.

Now, I can't leave you with all that and not share a card now can I?  This is a Christmas card that I made while trying to get the creativity flowing for my upcoming class.  It is still in the running and may be made in the class.  I'm just not completely sure yet.  I received the order I was waiting for and will work on two project ideas.  Then will decide which of the final two cards will be included in the class.  Let me know what you think.

Stamp Set:  Loads of Love
Ink:  Chocolate Chip
Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Real Red, Crumb Cake
Accessories:  Pearls, Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon, Colored Pencils

A Way to Some Sweet Dreams

I was given a gift card for my birthday, way back in January.  I kept meaning to get to the store and buy some goodies and just never quite made it.  And finally about a week ago, we were at the mall - going to the Lego Store.  We love that place.  Making things out of Lego's in our house is an ongoing project.  They never seem to get cleaned up and put away.  But that's okay, it's using imaginations in the most wonderful ways!

Well, across the hall from the Lego Store was Bath & Body Works.  I love that store even more.  They have some of the yummiest scents around.  One of my favorites, and I'm ashamed to say, I've been out of forever and desperately in need of.  I mean how can you possibly go to sleep without their Pillow Mist? 

Really it has been a pretty long time since we've had any in the house.  Just became one of those things that we ran out of and didn't rush right out to replace.

That's not gonna happen anytime soon.  Man oh man!  I have been sleeping so much better ever since picking up another bottle.  I keep it right on my nightstand.  Next to my alarm clock.  And every night before getting in my bed to read, I spritz a little on the pillow and the top portion of the sheets.  Love it!  My personal favorite flavor is Lavender Vanilla.  Very subtle.

I am pretty tired tonight and probably wouldn't need it to fall asleep, but I'm not going to give that a try!  Sweet Dreams everyone!

You Might Have to Excuse Me

I have a headache.  It's been here pretty much all day and is in full swing right now.  So, if I am not making much sense, that's because my brains are having a hard time conversing with each other.  There is just too much arguing going on in there.  I am sitting here with a vanilla coke in hopes that that will take the headache down a notch or two.

Other than the headache, it was a good weekend.  I know that most of you probably spent yesterday 9-11 in some form of remember the day from 2001.  And it does come to mind here in our house.  I remember very distinctly what I was doing and the events of those days.  But, in our house September 11 is a day of celebration.  It's our anniversary.  We celebrated 17 years together. 

And so that day is full of two types of memories.  The ones of getting ready for a wedding - that include ironing one of my brothers shirts, while in my wedding dress and burning my arm in the process.  I can't be trusted with an iron on a normal day, who on earth thought I could it on that day?  Oh yeah, that was me.  I volunteered to iron his shirt.

And memories of my mother calling me early in the morning.  Earlier than most would dare call me - for I was very far from a morning person at that time.  And asking me if I had the TV on.  Which I thought was a very strange question.  Of course it was on, it had Blue's Clues on.  She insisted that I turned on the news because something had happened to the Pentagon.  You see growing up in the Washington DC area, it was the Pentagon that really struck home to us in the first hours of that day.

So we spend the day remembering the good times and celebrating that which we do have to celebrate.

I hope that everyone had a good weekend out there and celebrated in your own way as well.

And on a great note,  on Friday I received some fun stamping goodies.  This means I can finish up creating the last two projects for the upcoming Christmas Class.  There are only three spots left.  Hurry and sign up if you are interested in coming!