Tuesday, March 28, 2006

{21 Day Challenge}

I have signed up to do Rhonna's 21 Day Challenge!! i am hoping that in the 21 days i can get my life more organized! here are my first two days worth of journals...




Saturday, March 25, 2006

some layouts i have done lately

here are 5 layouts from the weekend crop a couple weeks ago...this is 5 of the 20 12x12s i did and the 21 6x6s...


"Bloom" -- Basic Grey Lucky line of papers & fibers, unknown black cardstock & Making Memories Mailbox letters...photos of some of the flowers we saw last summer in Ukraine
"Canada from the Air" -- Basic Grey Phresh & Phunky line of papers & stickers...photos that i took out of the airplane window on my way home from Ukraine
"Furry Hat" -- Basic Grey Skate Shoppe line of papers, Heidi Swapp jet chipboard letters...my friend Roz trying on a big furry hat at St. Andrew's square in Kiev, Ukraine...I handcut the big ole letters for "hat"
"STL Crew" -- Basic Grey Lucky line of papers & fibers, American Crafts metal letters, Heidi Grace rubons...photo of the 3 of us from St. Louis during orientation in Ukraine...I mounted the photo on tonguw depressors, cut it apart & sanded the edges
"WTF?" -- Basic Grey Dawson paper, Making Memories simply fabulous stamps and orange paint...this is just some random weird pictures from my trip to Ukraine -- there may end up being a second page to go with this as well...

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

tagged by mary jo!!

{yes, i am finally doing this!! so no beating with a piece of spaghetti}

Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. RA in college
2. nanny
3. ALECE teacher
4. editor of student publications in college

Four movies you would watch over and over: (to hard to pick only 4)
1. Harry Potter
2. Princess Diaries
3. Harry Potter
4. Princess Diaries

Four places you have lived:
1. St. Louis, Missouri
2. Blair, Nebraska (3 different dorms!)

Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. ER
2. Survivor
3. Life with Derek
4. 7th Heaven

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Maine
2. Spain
3. Ukraine
4. Colorado

Four websites I visit daily:
1. Cropper's Cottage
2. Various blogs
3. www.fox2ktvi.com
4. www.fbofw.com

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Pizza
2. ice cream (Ted Drewes)
3. chinese
4. mexican

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Maine
2. in bed
3. scrapbooking
4. Europe

Four friends who I have tagged that I think will respond
1. Lynne
2. Julia
3. Danielle
4. Marni

blazy lately

i have been blazy (blog lazy) lately...i have a tag from mary jo...i PROMISE to do it tonight or else i give you permission to hit me with a piece of spaghetti lol

this weekend i was super busy with just putzing about!!

friday after work i just relaxed and cleaned some (i am so boring!!)

saturday i went rollerblading with my friend renee on part of Grant's Trail...i slowed her down SO SO much!! i did about 1 1/2 miles one way...walked about a mile back (with no shoes on) and then bladed the last 1/2 mile or so...after that i went to costco...later i went to west county mall & did some shopping -- some new bras, some CDs & DVDs (suncoast & sam goody are closing), a radio for the Y, a pink pair of crocs and a few other various things...

sunday was sunday school (the story of samson & the story of ruth)...then there was a mother's group lunch & meeting -- we talked about nutrition for families...and after that meghan & i went to chesterfield mall! i used my archiver's gift card & bought a few other things -- some croc butter, a new pair of capris, etc...we rode the 2 story carosel! we enjoyed samples at william sonoma lol & each had a cookie & a pretzel...on our way home we stopped at old navy (Ts & sox) and barnes & noble...

life has been its regular busy working self since then...tonight will be my last night coming home right after work -- tomorrow is soup supper & church...thursday is dinner with friends...friday is a crop at julia's

toodles!!

Friday, March 17, 2006

a book you MUST read

i just finished reading the book "The Man Who Loved Clowns" by June Rae Wood.

i have heard about this book in some of my education classes, but i had never read it. today one of my 5th grader girls was finishing reading it -- she was crying and said it was the 5th time she'd cried during the book! she called her mom to let her know how much she had enjoyed the book. she also wanted to let her teacher know that she had finished (but it is a holiday friday and after school so her teacher was already on her way home). i asked her if i could borrow the book for the weekend (it is a school library book). she agreed.

i started reading the book at about 6:45...i took a couple breaks and i just finished it at about 11...i could NOT put it down!! i cried. i laughed out loud. i want to buy this book now.

it is a book written for children (4th or 5th grade level) but it is also a book that all should read. the story deals with so many topics -- downs syndrome, family, friends, poverty, faith, trust, honesty and death...it is a beautiful blend of so much that is right in the world and so much that everyone wonders about.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

top ten

inspired by julia!

some of my top ten things in life...

1) my family

2) my friends

3) meghan & her family

4) chocolate

5) Cardinal's baseball

6) CROC'S!!!

7) Harry Potter

8) shopping -- Target, For Keeps Sake, Cropper's Cottage, just about anywhere!!

9) walking for a cause --
The Diabetes Walk is coming up in May!!!!!

10) being a part of one of the best design teams in the world!!

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

weekend retreat!

my local scrapping home (for keeps sake -- see side bar for link) hosted a weekend crop this past weekend. since i am on the design team, i worked at set up and clean up and during the event and created a class kit, etc...so i went for free, but still got to enjoy every part of the fun!! woohoo for me!!

it started friday evening -- they had a camp theme! we got fun name tags & a goodie bag (papers, an album, snackies, adhesive & a few other fun things) when we checked in. then i started working on a baby album for my friend carolyn at church...i finished the final 21 pages on friday night!! it is a small 6x6 album that she can add the photos to, so not too much work :)...we also had an OPRAH moment!! everyone was going to get this really cool bag from around the block scrapbooking. the store manager & owners acted like ONE person was going to win by having a number under their chair -- people were turning chairs over, crawling all over the floor, etc -- then the design team came in carrying bags for EVERYONE!!

saturday was classes by design team members (the kits are SOOOOOO COOL!!) and
elsie flannigan :) she is a total sweetie!! she even signed a class kit for my pal mary jo who couldn't come this weekend!! i finished 20 12x12 pages from my trip -- as i get pictures taken, i will post them in my gallery at croppers cottage :) they also did attendance prizes that night! EVERY SINGLE PERSON in attendance won something!!!! i won a bag with a bazzill 6x6 pack of cardstock, some bazzill letters, and some other bazzill embellishments :) they also awarded FOUR grand prizes (we got a card to put in to have a chance to win one of the four) -- a scutto bag by ek, a karen foster seat case, a qk black squeeze and a bag full of ek goodies!

sunday was basically clean up and finish scrapping if you want, but we had to be out by noon, so not too much time to do a whole lot!

elsie was so cool! she posed with the design team members who were present & we became the scrapbook gangsters, or, as i said, "designers in da' hood"! lol (that is robin, kelly, elsie, elizabeth & me)


from maine

a few photos from my trip to maine around valentine's day...



kettle cove -- i remember playing at this bridge when i was little -- and i have not been to this place since i was about 7 years old!

another picture from kettle cove! i love this shot. i took it while standing on the bridge i love. it was cold and windy, but the water was still flowing in little trickles, with a nice layer of ice, too.


a picture of me from the webcam at Portland Head Light. i called my brother on my cell phone and he went to the website and did a screen capture for me!

Monday, March 13, 2006

a pirate's life for me!

My pirate name is:
Captain Bess Bonney
Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!
Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

catch up time

all it has been all week is work. nothing too exciting going on. i have been working on cleaning some today. this weekend is the scrapbook retreat, so i want to have some things done before i head out to it.

i have to: finish cleaning my room, work on cleaning the living room, sort laundry, pack for this weekend...i think that is all!!

for this weekend i am going to take my Ukraine trip pictures and such with me to scrap -- a lot is still packed from november when i went to a 12-hour crop, lol...i am hoping to get a bunch of pages done along with the classes & such for the weekend (elsie flannigan is coming)...i also need to finish up a baby album for a friend at church.

toodles!

Monday, March 06, 2006

tomorrow!!!

fun fun fun

so saturday (after 4 hours sleep at most) afternoon i drove home and took a short nap...when i went out to my car to get ready to babysit i had 4 missed calls & 2 messages -- BOTH kids were sick!! so no babysitting! i took that as a sign, lol, worked on cleaning out the back bedroom and went to bed!

sunday was an EARLY day -- i got meghan at 7:30! we had to get some milk for the breakfast...it was rainy & gloomy yesterday afternoon, so i basically did nothing of value. i did, however, go over to For Keeps Sake and finish up the kits i needed to do for the retreat this coming weekend -- it took me THREE HOURS to finish up 37 kits!!!!

now i am as back to normal as i can be for right now...work and such...but tonight i get to do nothing, so i am very very happy!!!!

toodles

Saturday, March 04, 2006

the google picture post

Instructions: Use the picture you like best from the first (no clicking around for 44 pages) page of the search results on Google Image. i got this from my friend mark's blog.

1. The city and state of the town where you grew up, using no quotation marks.
2. The town where you currently reside.
3. Your name, first and last, but again without using quotes.
4. Your grandmother's name.
5. Your favorite food.
6. Your favorite drink.
7. Your favorite smell.

Friday, March 03, 2006

bleck

today has not gone as planned, but i guess that is alright...

so far i have been to work & the Y & ran a couple errands...i still have to pack up for tonight's middle school youth rally...i also need to sort laundry and clean out my car a little...

i had to find my approval form for my time off next week for the scrapbook retreat -- my supervisor lost her copy & it was not written in the book...but i found my copy! it was approved on 12/20/05...i turned it in so long ago, i worried i wouldn't find it, but i did!!!

tomorrow i have to leave the retreat early -- i baby sit at 5 for a lady i work with -- 4 1/2 year old amelia and 10 month old christopher -- what is the going rate on pay!??!!?

sunday there is a breakfast at church and the little kids sing and sunday school...then i will come home (for just about the first time all weekend, lol) and relax some...

Thursday, March 02, 2006

busy busy busy

i have just been feeling blazy (blog lazy) lately because i have been SO busy these past few days!!

wednesday was ash wednesday. it was also my super long work day. i worked 6:30 to 6 with an hour break at lunch time. then i went to a soup supper at my church & then to a church service. no ashes placed on my head (i don't know of any Lutheran churches that do this) but a very nice service with communion to help get into the Lenten feel and spirit of things.

today (thursday) was work & such. i started my day with my first shift of work. then i went to the YMCA and did 30 minutes on the exercise bike. i went home & check my online places & took a shower. then i went over to For Keeps Sake to start putting together the kits of my page for the retreat next weekend. i finished 23 (of 60!!) and have a few of the things ready for the other 37 kits. ran home for a super quick lunch and then back to work. it was a trying afternoon. our one little boy was sure using his vocabulary today!! at home mom uses time outs and she says it is really starting to work, too bad we can't do time outs...

tomorrow is work & get ready for the weekend. and it is also the start of the middle school retreat that i guess i need to go to since i am the youthgroup leader. that goes until saturday...and then i babysit on saturday night, too...

toodles