Number 2

...#2 snow day for me this week that is. Monday was a snow day & today is miraculously a snow day! The first snow days of the school year & it couldn't have come at a better time either as I have some *special guests* this week. Beautiful snow outside, toasty warm inside, scrapping, playing, reading magazines, making cookies, surrounded by some of my favorite people - what more could a girl want?!

Happy snow day to us!!

Kiss Ball & 52 Card Scrap-Up

Yes, I said kiss ball. How cool is this? I was shopping last night at Target with Amanda & we found this lovely Valentine decoration. I knew it must be mine. I love it (which is ironic since it's a Valentine's decoration, no?). So here she is in all of her glory....

The kiss ball

Moving on...this week's 52 Card Scrap-Up challenge was hosted by yours truely. I chose 'January Bliss' - what makes you happy in January. Here's my card.

Front:

Back:

It's currently snowing a little bit - which is a big deal for Salem. A snow day won't do me any good tomorrow though - it's teacher in-service day...we have to go come rain/shine/or snow.

'g night!

The New Do...

Here it is. While this isn't the greatest pic - it gives you an idea of the front & back of my hair. Maybe tomorrow I'll get another photo of the new hair. It's SHORT!! But, I needed 10 inches in order to donate, & I'm happy to say I had 10 inches, 2 millimeters. : ) My paperwork is filled out & the ponytail will be sent to Locks of Love on Tuesday. Yeah!

Back view:

And here is a photo of my new earrings. I tried taking a pic with my camera, but wasn't able to do it justice. Ignore the price - that isn't what we paid... :)

So Good...

So far this weekend has been wonderful. I'm always a fan of 3 day weekends, but this one has been extra special. Too many good details to get into right now - so how about a list of the top experiences so far & I'll be back later with pictures.

1. Spending Friday night/Saturday morning with Nicole & having a wonderful girlie time together
2. A clean house - laundry, bathrooms, even the baseboards were cleaned yesterday!
3. 3 Peas Pasta for lunch from Wild Pear - thank you my sweet husband
4. Naps (yes, plural)
5. Spending time with my sister & my nieces...love them all dearly
6. CUT!!! Laura cut my hair last night for Locks of Love....sending it off this week - pictures of the new short do coming later
7. Princess cut diamond earrings - SOOOOO excited about this - more on this later
8. Sleeping in
9. Brunch with Amy
10. Still have tomorrow to enjoy too - looking forward to some more girl time with my MAT friends & a manicure.
11. Chatting with my girls on the phone
12. A letter in the mail stating that I've paid 1 of my student loans IN FULL!!! (2 to go)
13. Crop-a-dile - in lime green!

So good...

Here We Go Again...

It's late. I should be in bed. But no. I have to show you my newest LO's. What has gotten into me? Oh & My Andrea...Tim has agreed to let me take over the dining room space...watch out - here we come!!!

My LO of me & Amanda

Close up view:

Nellie & Mia on Christmas Day:

Close-up view & journaling:

Okay, seriously. I need to go to bed. Must have sleep. Will be crabby tomorrow to innocent children if I don't. Good night....

52 Card Scrap-Up & Paper '08

Tonight Amanda & I had a scrapbooking evening. We made Chinese chicken salad for dinner - it was delish & then got to our scrappin'. I'm happy to say that in that time I completed two 12x12 LO's, my Paper '08 challenge for this week, my 52 card scrap-up for this week, & I even made a birthday card for a friend. Whew!

Here is my Paper '08 page. The challenge: 'What's Next?'

52 card scrap-up. The challenge this week was from Erin: 'New Year, New You'. (Front)

Back:

A Few More...

Here are the last my latest 12x12 LO's. My friend Amanda is coming over tomorrow for some scrappy goodness - so I will have more to share with you in the next few days (I hope!). These pictures aren't the greatest, but it gives you an idea...

Me, Erin, & Nicole at the beach 2 summers ago (ignore the flash in the middle of the photo - it's not really there). :)

Tim & I at Christmas with our crowns.

That's it for me! Have you visited Andrea's Etsy shop yet? Go there now - after you leave a comment here... :)

More Scraps...

Here are a few more pages from my Christmas journal. If you want to see the whole thing, come visit me (& no Kelly, you don't have to pet the cats - it's just recommended). :)

Nellie & Mia at the Candlelight service

Journaling

My cute nephew, a few weekends ago when they came to visit.

Nellie & Mia this summer at St. Cupcake watching the cupcakes being made...

And you may have noticed an adorable addition to my sidebar? Knitty Bitties...it's My Andrea's Etsy store. She's filling it with all kinds of goodness - you must check it out. She's currently naming her aprons girl names - & they are adorable. And if you go now you can get in on her Valentine's Day specials. For only 4 easy payments of $39.95 - and if you call now we'll throw in a new car!! Oh wait, that's another announcement.

Last One Tonight...

...I promise. I think this is post #4 for me tonight & that's about 4 more than I usually do on a Monday night! I'm just so excited to share all of my fun scrapping. Here are just a few pics to show you what I've been up to. Tomorrow I'm hoping to add an album to my side bar with all of my scrappiness from late.

Yesterday afternoon Nicole came over & we had 'the perfect afternoon'. We took naps (yep, we did!), went to Starbucks, scrapped, had Cheeseburgers for dinner (just for you Erin), & then played Mario 3 on the Wii. It was SO, SO great. All in all yesterday I finished catching up on Paper '08 with Week #2, did six 12x12 LO (for those of you who know me, you know I don't do 12x12...but for Christmas my mom got me a 12x12 American Crafts scrapbook & I need to put things in it...once I got started yesterday I couldn't stop!!), & then I decided to create & finish my Christmas journal. Whew! After that...I went to bed.

Sneek peek at the Christmas journal:

My first 12x12 LO. Here is me & my sis from last summer at my dad's graduation from college.
(It's sitting on the American Crafts album - the pink & neutral brown backgrounds are not part of the LO):

Me & My Andrea at 4th of July. This is my current favorite photo of the two of us:

Okay, seriously...I'm done for tonight. Stay tuned for more photos from this weekend's escapades & hopefully some exciting Etsy store announcements tomorrow!!

Saturday Night Dinner...

This weekend we went to Ben & Amanda's house for our first 'dinner'. Yes, we've been to dinner at their house many a times...but this evening was different. We each chose a recipe to cook that we hadn't cooked before from Fine Cooking magazine. Amanda made the main dish & we were in charge of the side dish & dessert. She made this delicious chicken & Tim made fabulous curry green beans. Both were very fancy & it turned out to be a wonderful evening full of food, friends, fun, & games. What more could a girl ask for?

Amanda's chicken dish...isn't it pretty?

Tim's fancy beans

Amanda with her chicken :)

Hanging out...

Paper 08 Adventure

Here are some more photos of my Paper 08 book.

Cover (again):

Inside cover:

Back:

Week 2: My Souvenir for life:

52 Scrap Up & Other Things...

This past week's prompt was left open for 52 card Scrap-up. I chose to do a top 10 list of what I hope happens in the new year. You may be surprised by some of the agenda items on my list & of course some of them are completely out of my control...so we shall see what happens.

Front:

Back:

This weekend I was bitten by the scrappy-bug. I received this in the mail on Friday night & I'm proud to say it's almost all used up!
I think I've put it to good use. Erin & My Andrea have been participating in this challenge & I decided I couldn't be left behind, so I created my book & caught up this weekend. What use to be a lovely cereal box is now my scrapbook cover. The challenge is posted here & will be updated weekly. We are coming up on week 3 & I'm ready. I will share the rest of the pages from this book in another post. For some reason I can only put up 4 pictures per post. Picasa...

Paper 08 Adventure book cover:

Week 1: Balance:

For the love...

...of my kids. Not MY kids, but you know - the kids at school. Today a class come in & a little boy who caused more than his fair share of trouble last year, reached into his pocket & pulled out a note for me. A few minutes later he asked if I had read the note yet - I told him I'd read it after class. This is what it said:

Apparently he likes me now. :) The class after that came in & another little one brought me a hand full of orange paper snowflakes that he had made. So cute. So we put them up on the front board for all to see.

I love my job.

Our Weekend

Thursday night, I was making a list of songs for school & Deacon HAD to come up. So I let him jump into my lap while I sat at the computer with my paper & pen. I put the pen down & seconds later it was in his mouth. Then...he pushed it over to the paper. I think he was just playing with it - but I thought it was too funny that he pushed it onto the paper. I decided to get my camera then & had him pose for this shot. :) Deacon, my office assistant.

Later on Thursday night, my brother & sister-in-law & my cute nephew arrived from Seattle. They stayed for the weekend & we had a wonderful time. Eli is getting so big - he can talk now & he does the funniest things. He cracked us up all weekend.

We crammed a lot of play time, relaxation, & productivity into 3 short days - I don't really have the energy to expound upon tonight - but here are some pictures from their time here with us...I hope that will work for now. :)

Auntie Jessie & Eli

My cute nephew

Happy Birthday Kim!!! I hope you had a fantastic day!!

Here is Kim (isn't she cute?!) & our soon to be ?!!? I think it's a new nephew...only time will tell. I got to feel the baby kick on Sunday afternoon - it was awesome.