{SavvySarah}

CKU Album Class - Continued

2006-06-11T11:03:00.000-07:00

January - Winter

This page was made using Making Memories product. It's a cute page. The ribbon on the upper left hand page is super duper thick, and not my style, because it covers so much of the picture - oh well. I'll live.

February - 10 Things I love

As you can tell it is not completely finished. It is page that is not my style, but I absolutely LOVE the way that it turned out. It is using the Daisy D's product. My ten things are: Todd, Matt, Ty, Steven, Katie, Nala, Pepper (my 2 cats), Jack (my dog), Flowers, and Diet Pepsi. I am planning on putting the titles of these 10 things on the left and right side of the pages and I need to make a photo college of these things.

March - My Journey to be like you

This page is about who you admire most. It too is created using Daisy D's product. it is so very cute. Totally my style, and I love it. I chose my dad as the person I want to most be like. He's kind and sweet and a perfect guy. The picture pics up for the journaling.

April - Spring Memories

This is a page that I created for CKU Minneapolis in which I attended last April. It is made with Making Memories products. It also is really cute and right up my alley. We dyed the twill, flowers and tags, but it is something that I wouldn't necessarily do again. I'm more into buying pink twill and pink and green flowers. Dying is a messing process and not sure I would do it again

CKU and the album class

2006-05-26T07:43:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: I didn't have a chance to journal while I was at CKU, so I am making up for it now. I'll try to do a journal entry for each day of the trip. :-)

May 17th
So after a big day of shopping, I felt like CKU was finally here. Jen and I had signed up to take the additional album class. You are instructed to bring specific photo's for each month - so that was a big part of prepping for the class.

Here is a basic description of the class:
We will be completing 24-page album and you will need to gather photos from the previous year. The information I have provided below will hopefully help you in selecting your photos. What I have listed are the photo sizes I used on my sample layouts. You can use these sizes or any combination that equals these sizes. There are no hard and fast rules, please feel free to customize the month or photos so the album will be the most meaningful for you. Of course you can always choose to add your photos later, once you get home.

The class was taught by Anita Olham, which I hadn't even heard of before. I'm not quite sure what company, etc. that she works for - but she was only an okay instructor. I'll explain more later.

Here's the key though, the album is really only 12 pages long, because on the right side of the page is the same for each month. It is a calendar page that can be used to keep track of special dates/times. This wasn't so much a bummer because I didn't keep up with the class anyway - but I still don't think that it is fair to say 24 pages, when in fact it is only 12, or 13 if you consider the photocopied calendar a page :-) Now I am not complaining and have zero regrets, but just wanted to point out what it really was.

So off we went. Before we could do any real scrapbooking we worked on all the prepwork for the alums. Prep work = painting, dying, pasting, the pieces of the album that needed some extra time to dry before we put them on the pages.

The pages were pretty cute - learned a couple of techniques, although most of them weren't my style, so I probably won't use the pages again. Did learn how to use Heidi Swapp's Masks. Kind of a pain the @ss, but I did purchase a small mask at one of the scrapbook stores, so I am planning on using it on something :-)

See next entry for album pictures.

CKU was awesome!

2006-05-24T09:31:00.000-07:00

I didn't have a chance to journal while I was at CKU, so I am making up for it now. I'll try to do a journal entry for each day of the trip. :-)

May 16th
The airplane ride was uneventful. I made it through security with no problems, Jenny on the other hand was stuck having her purse searched, because she had too many coins. I guess I would rather have them look, than not to look but whatever. We got into Salt Lake City (SLC) around noon. We picked up our car was and off to the first scrapbook store.

The first store that we went to was Scrapbook Stories
It was a small store, with some fun product. Didn't buy to much, except for the new Quickutz flowers and rubons. I didn't feel an ounce of guilt - I was here to shop!! Plus we made a cute little notebook for a make n take.

Our second store that we wanted to go to was the Rusty Pickle warehouse. Not only was this a b*tch to find, but we called for directions and they told us they were not going to be open until Wednesday.

While we were trying to get to Rusty Pickle, we were stopped by the lovely beehive police. I say this with the most respect - but the whole encounter was a bit weird. We were travelling down a side street and was waved over by what looked like a police officer. Of course we stopped - he informed me that I was speeding and I said that I was lost.

Okay it wasn't so much that I was pulled over, but it was the way that I was pulled over. A guy standing on the sidewalk with a radar gun was clocking people on a sidestreet. The whole thing seemed like something out of the twilight zone. Lucky for me the beehive police let me go with a warning! It made the experience much more interesting than actually getting a ticket.

The third store was the HUGE BILL store. We went to a store called Paper Creations.
This was a great store. Jen and I spent the most time here (and the most money). Found a lot of stuff here that we do not have back in MN - so I bought a ton!! We got a free layout to do (AWESOME PAPERS) not to mention a HUGE goodie bag! Alot of it was junk, but we sifted through and found some cute stuff.

We also happen to visit Roberts Crafts while we were in the area (the store was in the same strip mall as Paper Creations). This is equivalent to our Michaels or Joann's. Great store - managed to spend 80 bucks there.

After visiting that store I was starting to feel a little guilty. 70 at the first store 160 at the second store and 80 at the third. I had only been in Utah for about 4 hours and I had already dropped 300 or so bucks.

Anyway we moved on. The 4th store we went to was Pebbles In My Pocket. This was a cute little store with tons of Pebble products. Apparently I felt the need to buy one of everything, so I pretty much bought one of everything at Pebbles. Most everything I purchased I had NEVER seen in this area so I went nuts. I had a great time! What can I say? I love shopping!

About this time Jenny and I started to lose steam and decided that it was time to hit Provo. Only one more shop between here and Provo. However before making that stop we needed to find the correct highway. We were looking for I15 to Draper. We got on a "belt loop" first thinking that it connected to I15 - well somehow we ended up going in a circle and ending up about the same place that we started, so a driving we went. It seemed like we drove, and drove and drove. We turned around a about a million times. We thought we had seen the sign before, but neither of us could remember where we saw the sign - I think it was this time that we figured we were POOPED.

We eventually did find I15 and off to Draper we went to the final store in our shopping escapade for the day. All My Memories was a great store - tons of stuff - lot's of stuff I had never seen before. Of course I buy paper, stickers, etc, by the line so it didn't take long to have a full basket. Either way it was fun, fun, fun. We also got a goodie bag here. Anyway after we were done we were off to the hotel.

About 16 miles outside of Provo we came to a screaking hault. We are not talking stop and go traffic here. We are talking coming to a complete hault. It took us 2.5 hours to get from Draper to Provo.

Finally a little after midnight we pulled into the hotel. We carried our loot up to our rooms, spread it out and took a quick look. So very much fun.

We ordered Pizza and off to sleepy land we went - a little after 1am.

We were both signed up for the album class the next day... I'll post about that next.

Wow

2006-05-09T20:42:00.000-07:00

Can you believe that it has almost been a month since I've blogged? Life has been so busy that it suprised me how something as easy as blogging could get forgotten.

I've completed my first sb page all about Jack. Isn't he cute?

I also bought a new digital camera tonight. I so was in need of one. My beloved Olympus C720 hasn't been it's self lately. It started to act finicky almost a year ago and it has taken that long for me to realize that it is time for a new camera, so I took the plunge. I purchased the Olympus SP 500. The sole reason that I purchased it was because it was similar to my other camera. As you can tell I loved it.

I've been practicing taking pictures. Mostly Jack and cats.

I can't believe that I leave for CKU Provo in one week. Exactly one week from now I will have shopped the evening about and will probably be getting ready for bed and prepared for my album class the next day. I'm so psyched! It is going to be so much fun.

Still need a new things for the trip, but hopefully everything will go smoothly!

Create a beautiful...

2006-04-12T06:33:00.000-07:00

This is a phrase that my life coach uses when she e-mails me. She always ends the e-mail/phone call with Create a beautiful... day, afternoon, evening, weekend. It is empowering to read/hear statements like this.

I'm may even make a mantra out of it. (Mantra's by the way are next weeks topic... I've always thought of them hokey, but we'll see.) I think my mantra is going to be Create a beautiful LIFE. I think that this covers a huge part of my life. I have the power to create whatever I want both in a artists way {scrapbooking} or in life.

I am a life artist, I can create the whatever kind of life that I want. When I'm feeling bad about something, I have the power to change it. I have the power to be the human that I want to be, and create a beautiful life!

So my challenge to you!! Create a beautiful day!

Surly Today.

2006-03-31T06:55:00.000-08:00

I am so surly right now. I have no idea why. Everything is annoying me, and I’ve been feeling this way for a few days. My co-worker is the one who is annoying me now. She has been on vacation for the last week, and I’ve been doing one of her projects. Here’s the catch. She hasn’t taken the project back yet. I keep doing the boring, stupid tasks, like making sure her focus group materials get sent to the right people.

She sits in her cube all day and takes personal call after personal call. Heaven forbid she does any work. Seriously, I’ve had it. I am going to crank up my radio and completely tune her out.

That will make me happy!

Quote of the Day

2006-03-24T09:14:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I saw this GREAT quote on the back of someone's truck this morning.

"Silly Boys... Trucks are for Girls"

Not sure why I liked this quote so much. I am in no way shape or form a truck kind of gal. In fact I think I am the poster child for a gal who shouldn't drive a truck. Anyway, I liked it so much that I laughed out loud and smiled. So if you are the gal in the big black truck -- Thanks, your window sticker made me laugh :-)

Onto other things. I've been shopping, shopping, shopping. Here's a run down of purchases I've made in the 2 weeks.

Six new books from Amazon including the Post Secret book. One book that I've wanted for a really long time.
All the new Heidi Swapp stuff from Joann.com
All the new CBX paper, including the cardstock. *Note: I found some patterns at Michael's yesterday that I hadn't seen before.
All the new Bookworm Stuff (from Artsy Tartsy), KI Memories.
Put in a 217.00 order from Scrappin Deals -- and wishing that I could afford even more (although it's not all for me. I had two other ladies stuff on this order)
A new spring skirt from Elisabeth
A new purse/handbag from Delia's at the MOA.
Clothes for the kiddies -- you should see this cute Beagle shirt! I can't wait to see Ty in it.

I can't seem to stop shopping. I think that I have an addiction and need help. Will someone please stop me? Plus I had so much fun shopping with my SIL, that I really want to go again, for a whole day.

Anyone else have this problem?

Life Coach

2006-03-10T13:58:00.000-08:00

So I blogged a while ago about seeing a lifecoach. Here are the answers to the questions they asked. Just thought I would share :-)

ANNUAL CAREER REFLECTIONS
What have been my major accomplishments this year?
My major accomplishment for this year was to find a new job. I looked unsuccessfully for almost 4 months. I applied to approx. 50 jobs. Of those 50 I got three interviews, and 2 jobs. I was miserable at my old job, and was near desperation to leave.

What have I done to acknowledge or celebrate my successes this year?
I did nothing to celebrate my job success this year; however I did celebrate my life achievement by purchasing my first home.

What was my biggest work related disappointment or regret?
My biggest regret was not finding a job that I love. I found a practical job. One that paid well, worked with my family and friends. However it does not offer me the challenges that I would like.

How have I managed the situation and my response?
I think I took it all in stride. I took the position that not everything in my life I had to LOVE. I don’t hate my job, I guess it just didn’t turn out the way I thought it would.

What skill or skills did I most improve this year?
I think I took it all in stride. I took the position that not everything in my life I had to LOVE. I don’t hate my job, I guess it just didn’t turn out the way I thought it would.

Who are my new and valued colleagues, customers, clients, professional associates and/or mentors?
This is an addition to my work like that I wasn’t expecting. I love the people I work with. Most people that I now work with have turned into family. I truly care about them and if/when I decide that I am ready to move on the people are going to be the ones that I miss most.

What was the most challenging aspect of my work this year and what have I learned from this experience?
I have learned or rather am learning to work for two managers who couldn’t be more different. They are different is almost every aspect. One is outgoing and exuberant. Her personality is addicting. The other is reserved, wise, and level headed. Each has their plus and minuses, but overall it has been an interesting journey.

To what extent have I been successful in creating or maintaining a balanced life for myself this year?
I think that my life has been more balanced in 2005/2006 than it has been in the previous few years. I try hard to work hard, but not to much. I used to say “how could she leave at 6, we have so much work to do” when people would leave work and I would have so much left to do. I would always stay and work late into the evening and get it done. After a while I become extremely bitter. Upon further thought I examined these other people’s lives and realized they could have it all. They could have a great career, and a great personal life. I used to judge the people who left on time or worked flexible schedules. I used to think they didn’t work as hard or as much. In reality they were happier, and often more productive individuals. Now I am one of those people.

How have I managed work stresses this year and how effective have I been in this area?
I think that I have handled the stress pretty well. There is one facet of my life that I don’t handle stress well and that is on the home front. I am hoping to work on that in the coming months/years.

What professional organizations and activities have contributed to my work life? I am currently not involved with any professional organizations. However I continue to teach scrapbook classes.
Which ones have not? N/A

Which 2004 goals did I set aside and what were the reasons for that decision? I did not make any goals.

What seminars, workshops, courses, etc., have made a significant impact on my work? N/A

How has technology changed my work this year?
This is one aspect of my life that has changed. Moving from the programmer to a project manager was tough on me. I miss the über technology that was used to working in. I think I’ve adapted pretty well.

What work was most satisfying and most fun for me this year?
Hmm... This is a tough one. I think starting a job that I get paid what I’m worth is pretty darn satisfying.

Inspiration

2006-03-01T19:28:00.000-08:00

It's not very often that I feel inspired, but I had the moment today. My friend Bonnie who I've known for about a year in a half has lost her job. I contacted her about a possible job opportunity, and we started e-mailing.

She too has a blog, and I've become addicted to it. I check it at least 3 times a day. Usually when I get to work, around lunch time and quick read before I go home. Her scrapbook style is a mix of Ali Edwards, Heidi Swapp, and Donna Downy all wrapped into a creative burst of energy. She is passionate about her craft (or ART as I would call it) and she has inspired me to actually come home and scrapbook.

Although I love to scrapbook I don't spend nearly enough time in my office doing what I love. I've found that I often have creative blocks and am overwhelmed by all the "stuff" that it takes me hours and hours to do anything.

Believe it or not I sat down and completed a scrapbook page. I whole ONE. I know that it isn't like the 3 or 4 (sometimes more) that Bonnie creates in a day, but it's an accomplishment to me. See the page below. This an addition to the "Fall" book that I am currently working on. There will be a page next to it of Ty laughing, hence the title.

I'm feeling old...

2006-03-01T14:00:00.000-08:00

I was on my way to work this morning and I have recently (last 8 months) changed morning radio shows that I listen to. I now listen to a "Classic Rock" morning show where they play old Tom Petty, U2, and Steppenwolf. Today however I felt really old when they played Collective Soul's Shine on this station. I remember when this song came out. It was one of my favorites in 1994. Since when did a 12 year old song turn into Classic Rock? Anyway, I jammed out to it and then had a momentary flashback of me making fun of my mother for "Rockin' Out". I quickly stopped and proceeded to work in silence. It was eery, but necessary.

Jack Jack

2006-02-28T06:54:00.000-08:00

So Todd has finally convinced me that we need a dog. I'm not so sure that I agree, so about two weeks ago we went to a C.A.R.E.S. shelter in Wyoming MN, and picked up Jack.

Jack is a beagle. He is two years old and is and cute as can be. He's fully crate trained, and has a sweet temperment. He has his downsides though. We originally bought a cloth crate. He chewed through and escaped within 2 days. We have now bought a sturdy metal crate with two locks on the door. He gets lonely at night. Since Jack's room is in the basement he gets a little lonely at night, but he is slowly adjusting. He also is pretty stubborn. I think he knows when we call him, but I don't think he cares, but it's okay, we love him anyway. Below are some pictures of my sugar pie.

We also had our first "episode" with Jack last Friday. I had the day off from work and decided that Jack needed a walk, so we go for a walk. Actually we went for more than a walk. We took about an hour walk. After we got home, I needed to run to the mailbox, all the sudden I feel this huge tug, I look down and I see that Jack has escaped. He starts running down the street. I'm fearful. I don't want anything bad to happen to my little Jack, I start screaming... "Come", "Come" Of course Jack doesn't listen, so he continues to run. I continue to run. I eventually catch up with him... after I've run throughout the whole neighborhood like a crazy women. That will teach me to not to double check his leash. YIKES.

Anyway, life with the doggie is good. Last night he "met" Pepper for the first time. I use the word met loosely. He's chased her a couple of times previously to this. The thing is, Jack is pretty good with cats. He doesn't bark and start acting funny. He is just interested. He likes to sniff them. So tonight Pepper wants to get out of her safehaven i.e. the bedroom, so I let her out. She hides in Todd's office, we go upstairs and bring Jack. They have the stare down. She's scared and has fluffed her fur up, but Jack just sits down and watches her. I pick her up and introduce them. She doesn't like it so she runs away. I can't blame her, but I hope that with time they will be able to live in the same house and be merry. Who knows though.. only time will tell.

Life Coach...

2006-02-09T19:52:00.000-08:00

Well it's official. I am seeing a lifecoach. This is a coach that helps you develop into a better person. Read the explaination of what a life coach is below. Check out http://www.sayyess.com for more information

Business coaches help business owners and executives clarify their business direction, realize what they can't see, create time and space in their lives for the things they believe are most important and take effective action.

Business coaching offers a confidential environment focused on each client's objectives and success. It is a guided process designed to unlock the client's potential and maximize his or her performance. We work with each client to clearly identify developmental and business objectives. Coach and client explore and untangle the tapestry of behavior - including thinking, language and practices. We co-create an individualized developmental plan of action to achieve the stated objectives and become strategic partners in the process."

I had my first appointment today with the Life coach. I talked to them what I wanted to get out of it. With me... I want to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. I want a job that is fullfilling. Currrently and in the last few years I have felt that I am working for a buck and that's it. Although money is good my soul is screaming for something more. Which brings me to my Life Coach. I was recommended by my boss at work {Jeri I love ya} that I should check out a life coach, so I did.

During my first appointment we did the normal "what do you want to get out of it" conversation. It went well. I was given some documents for some things to work on... I figured I would share my life coach journey with everyone on my blog and then YOU can comment on what you think. How easily I digress. The first document I need to fill out is... Annual Career Reflections. Since journalling is part of being coached I figured I would use this blog as a starting point. First question:

What have been you major accomplishments this year? (I'm going to use 2005, NOT 2006)

Finding a new job. (April)
Buying Todd a better Car (August)
Buying a house (December)

Oh.. wait maybe they are asking about work accomplishments. Unfortunetly I only have ONE accomplishment. I found a new job. I was miserable at Questar, so I ran and found something else. That is my accomplishment for the year. I know that it seems like a small one, but it was a big one. I'm finally getting paid what I am worth and I am loving it!

Okay.. that's it for tonight.. I'll answer another question tomorrow!

Happy?

2006-02-07T20:15:00.000-08:00

Every had one of those days that you wonder if it was a good day or not? That is how I am feeling today. The day started out rocky, but I think has ended up pretty okay.

Work has been so hectic. Today I had a report due which about killed me, literally! Work has been so busy lately that I have left this last report until the last minute. I found myself in a predicament. The report is due tomorrow, the boss is ragging on me for it and it wasn't done.

It doesn't happen, but when it does, I feel really bad. So, my co-workers helped me out... as they usually do, but this was more than help, they really dug in and helped! This was unbelievable. I owe them so much!

That's what made the day good. With my co-workers help I was able to accomplish a task that would have been impossible! That's what made the day good.

Okay.. I'm pooped. I did finish a couple of valentines cards. One is for Niki, and the other is for Todd. I'm going to work on a whole bunch more this week. Because if you know me at all, you know I love Valentine's day!

See below for card for Niki

Overstressed?

2006-01-31T19:09:00.000-08:00

I have been feeling really stressed lately, but I am beginning to wonder if I am truly overstressed or if I just make myself that way. I get stressed out about everything. I stress about home, I stress about work, I stress about relationships, I stress about my car, my health, my husband, my cats. It's almost all consuming. For example: I completely get stressed out each Sunday because I go back to work on Monday. I always have plenty to do, and I like my job, but I worry about it. I think I am an over-worrier. I need to work on just letting things roll off my back.

Like today.... our executive assistant was fired from work. I am not that close to her, but I automatically think, is my job next? I try really hard at work, but I wonder what people really think about me there. Am I a good worker? Do I do quality work? What do they say about me behind my back? I shouldn't even care about these things. I should worry about keeping my head down and working on my projects.

Anyway, all this worrying has gotten me an appointment with a life coach. I go next Thursday. They work on working with me to make me a better individual. You usually meet with a coach for 1 hour a week for 6 months. It costs 2400 bucks. I am not paying to be coached. I am just going to an introductory meeting.. that's free. After I found out the cost, I actually started crying thinking.. oh my gosh.. I could never afford this. Anyway, I'm scared to go, but I think that it will be good for me. I'll update the blog after I go. We'll see.

Well I've officially made 2 cards using my mom's sewing machine. See pictures below.

Friday Afternoon...

2006-01-27T12:31:00.000-08:00

I think these are the hardest times for me to work. This week was especially hard with the demands of work, family, friends. I crammed so much into this week and I'm both mentally and physically exhausted.

Monday - I was sick, and it was icky, icky!
Tuesday - I worked at the store, and then I went home and worked on work stuff.
Wednesday - I taught a class that I was very ill prepared for. The class went well, but it was a lot of work.
Thursday - I went out with a couple of girls from Questar.
Tonight (Friday) - I'm going to grocery store, and to the new Lowes for stuff for the house.
Saturday - Hanging out with Jen -- we always have a great time together. *Note to self, pick up snacks for tomorrow.
Sunday - Katlyn's Baptism, and then I'm off on another busy week.

I don't think that next week is as busy as this week, but it's all good.

Jeri (Boss Lady at Work) has hooked me up with a life coach. Maybe she can help me decide what I want to do when I grow up. It's been pretty apparant lately that I have no idea what I want to do when I grow up. No one ever says when they are little.... I want to be a project manager. I want to do research... BORING!! Okay, so it's not that boring, but you know no one says that. I'm going to e-mail her and see what she has to say. Maybe she will tell me that I would be a great business owner... hmmmm.. hostile takeover of the scrapbook world! Hmm..

Let's see. I haven't followed my new year's resolution, because I'm not actually blogging more. *Note to self. Blog more.

I have a huge order (over 100 pics) to pick up from Sam's club tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing how the pictures turned out.

I need a new digital camera. Mine is acting crazy.. Hmm.. next stop: Olympus.com

Have a great weekend!

First Scrapbook page of the year...

2006-01-03T20:44:00.000-08:00

I've completed the first scrapbook page of the year, and guess what? It's for the store. Who cares. It's creative at it's best. Pictures are posted below.

[Okay.. I went through all this work to stitch my pages together, but I don't think the photo portion of the blogger software is working. I'll see if I can upload them tomorrow. I'm off to bed.. It's almost 11:30.]

It's 7:00 am, let's try again....

So I've been working on my office. I've actually made some major headway tonight. It still doesn't feel like "the perfect" work space, but it's getting there. I would have finished tonight, except for the fact that I got sucked into downloading a ton of old school music from http://www.limewire.com I needed download from some CDs that I've ruined over the years. Yes, I actually have the CDs, however, I am not always a good girl when it comes to having license for everything that I download.

Work wasn't too bad today, I thought it was going to be much, much worse. I worked a full day and was busy. Friday we are getting our programmable thermastat installed. I'm pretty geeked up for it. And I get to leave work early to boot! YAY. I'm sure I'll pay for it when I'm hard up for getting some personal time off, but what is one going to do when their last appointment is at 2:30 in the afternoon. It's going to cost me 150. 00 that I could be spending on new office stuff, but I guess first things first.

Tomorrow's blog: Cartridge World.

It's a new year...

2006-01-01T16:46:00.000-08:00

Well it's official. It's 2006. Last night we rung the new year in by having Jenny, Joe and the kids over to celebrate the new year. We ended up having a great time and the girls beat the boys at trivial pursuit. It's great to spend time with family....

It's been a busy month. We've moved!! (Finally) We are getting settled in. There are a number of things that still need to done on the house, and we are no where close to being unpacked, but it's been a couple of great weeks. Below are pictures of the final product. The furniture, and entertainment stand, is great and I love our family room.

Christmas in our new home was wonderful. It still seems like it still isn't real. We've cleaned out the old apartment, and 100% living in the new house and that is great as well.

Okay onto new year things... Everyone has to have resolutions, right? So here are mine, in no particular order..

1. Scrapbook more. I would like to spend a minimum of three hours each week producing something in my office. To help me I'm going to put up a calendar and try to keep track.

2. Be consistant. I know it sounds like a wierd resolution, but I want to be consistant in everything I do. I want to be consistant at work, at home, as a wife, a friend, and an aunt. I don't want to let bad moods, or crabbiness take over my life. How easy I give into bad thoughts and laziness. My plan is to change that.

3. Be healthy. Of course this includes losing weight, but its more than that. I want to be physically and mentally healthy. I am going to exercise more, watch less TV, and be good to my body.

4. Blog More. I've been really lax in the last couple of months. I want to blog at least once per week. It shouldn't be too hard :-)

That's it. My goals for 2006!

My life..

2005-11-06T17:07:00.000-08:00

Life has been pretty good. Woke up early this morning and locked myself in my disastorious office (It's horrifically dirty and disorganized) and worked on a report for SMS. I hate working on the weekend, but this time it wasn't to bad. I'll do a final go-over at the office tomorrow and then maybe I can call it finished!

Work is starting to pick up, and I don't mind it. The work is going well. I'm getting a little nervous that I will start letting things slack when it gets closer to the moving date. It's only 30 some odd days until we move. I'm getting excited, but getting nervous!

Todd and I have had a relaxing weekend. On Friday we spent the evening together, Saturday we packed a large portion of the kitchen, and then went over to the Weierke's for dinner.

It will be one of the last weekends that Todd and I will have a relaxing weekend. Next weekend, I have scrapbooking with the girls, a pre-thanksgiving dinner with the family.

The weekend after is packing weekend. I need to get my office the most of the bedroom packed.

The next weekend is Thanksgiving, and shopping with the gals.

The weekend after Thanksgiving is the last weekend before we close!!

It's getting closer and closer. I'm getting excited!

Well that's me.. over and out!

Furniture.. and the house

2005-10-29T17:39:00.000-07:00

We received the papers... The papers for the house came yesterday in the mail. It looks like everything is good. I just owe them how I want my name to be on the loan, and my dad has to write a letter that states that all the money in our joint account is mine. Okay.. to explain. My dad is a banker, he used to work at USBank. He opened up a checking account for me when I was 15, it just happens that I still use the same account. I like to keep his name on it, because I have some perks.. I can withdrawel an unlimited amount of money at once at the ATM, up to 10k. I should never need more than this. :-) So our house is below!

We also put money down on our furniture. The official color is Merlot. I never thought Todd would ever allow me to buy red furniture, but it looks awesome. We purchased a couch, love seat, cocktail table, 2 end tables, and 2 lamps, and an area rug. It's going to look great with our "Cup of Cocoa" wall colors and our beige carpet. Not to mention the art that we already have will look great with the new furniture. I finally believe that things are headed in the right direction. This house is only 40 days from being ours. A little over a month, how quickly time flys. I would love to hear what you have to say about the furniture (especially family and friends!! -- Leave a comment, I haven't had any real ones yet!)

Scrapping...

2005-10-24T18:43:00.000-07:00

I have no scrapbook mojo. My creativity is null. I have nothing else. I will never scrapbook again. Okay, I'm exaggerating just a bit. I am sure that I scrapbook mojo will eventually come back. I need a new project to jump start my creativity.

I may have no creativity, but here are some pictures I took. The first two are pictures from my adventures in antiquing, and the other ones out of my back door in the evening.

These are my wonderful antiques

Fall in my backyard!

It's been two weeks...

2005-10-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

It's been two weeks since I last posted on hear (Okay.. not exactly two weeks, but close too..) I've been a busy girl.

Work got pretty busy this week. I've off and running on a new project, when I first got the project I thought it was going to be a dud, boy was I wrong. It has turned out to be interesting. I'm supposed to be working on the report right now, but decided to take a break and update the blog.

Last Sunday I went antiquing with my crazy SIL, Jenny. I was really actually excited about this. I love to look at old unique things, so I thought antiquing would be right up my alley. As it turns out it was! I had a great time, and can't wait to go again. I didn't buy much, but what I did buy I'm excited to use.

I bought:
1 -- glass water pitcher. It reminded me a bit like the water pitcher that my Grandma had. Except hers was green, smoother, but the shape was the same. I can't wait to use this in the new house. It is round and bumpy, and I like it. LOTS! I'll post a picture later.

1 -- cruet. I wasn't even sure what this was until I looked up the word in the dictionary. A cruet is: "A small glass bottle for holding a condiment, such as vinegar or oil." It probably will never see any vinegar or oil, but I am thinking about using it to hold dishsoap by the sink, or putting it in my office with a small, short one stemmed flower. Anyway, it's pretty, dainty and I like it, so there!

1-- crystal bowl. Completely impractical, but I didn't care. I bought it anyway. It has a crystal design and will be perfect for my earrings, bracelet, or any other doo-dad that I wish to put in the dish.

Those are my purchases while Antiquing. I loved it.

Oh.. last weekend I also scrapbooked with the girls. Since this blog was originally for posting about scrapbooking, I've decided to actually post some of my pages for the store. I was asked to do calendar samples for the store. I did 12 -- 6x6 pages, one for each month. The pages will hold 1 3.75x3.75 picture on each page. These will most likely be pasted to the actual calendar :-) Enjoy!

P.S. I can't figure out how to scan in color.. so here are a few of my faves, (they are in b&w though)

My day off...

2005-10-07T06:22:00.000-07:00

A week a go my day off started as a day that I could just lounge around. I had a few projects in the office I wanted to complete, not to mention just clean up a little. I'm living in a pig-sty right now. The house is in shamples, and I wanted to work on getting a few things packed. Nothing too much, just a day to myself.

How things change in 5 days. Because of my job and the nature of data collection, I happen to have a few surveys going into the field right now. So -- someone must monitor the survey as it goes live to make sure that everything is sounding kosher!

So... on my day off I have a 8:30 monitoring session to make sure my survey is doing fine. This is just a tip of the iceberg. I have allergies. They are wierd ones. I am allergic to extreme temperature changes. I break out in hives. They itch. They are impossible to live with. I take Allegra. A prescription drug that helps tremendously. I had no refills left, so I call the pharmacy to request more, my prescription has been denied. I need to have a doctors appointment to get a refill of my prescription, so now I have to pay a copay at both the doctor's office, plus the pharmacy. Even more fun, so I will have to rush after my monitoring session to hop in the shower and get ready for the doctor.

Sounds fun, doesn't it?

The Flood..

2005-10-06T08:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I received a phone call from my parents saying they weren't going to make it down to see our new house. Mom says "The basement flooded yesterday." I immediatly asked for details and my mother proceeded to tell me that with the heavy rains, water had started to leak into the basement through one wall and eventually through two walls, and they had been up all night cleaning up the water and moving furniture.

The first thing I think of is... Why didn't they call me? I am their daughter. I live relatively close, and I can come and help. Of all the times that I have called my mother crying or upset, she has always been there, ALWAYS! Once in college I had this very irrational dream that my birth mother (I'm adopted) was going to come and make me go back to Korea with her and have me live there and farm for the rest of my life. I called my mom, (I think it was shortly after 1am) and she comforted me best she could. She has always been there for me.

Now don't get me wrong, both Todd and I live busy lives. We have good jobs and on occasion work overtime. We are active, in that we always have all these things we want to do, but we would NEVER, EVER choose work over our parents... whether it was Kathy or Nancy we would be there in a jiff! It's who we are, it's our parents that we have to thank for becoming the adults that we are... I just hope in the future they call me, day or night, if they need anything. Todd and I will always be there.

Now... onto another thing.. when I arrived at the house last night my dad looked so old. I realize that he hadn't slept in over 24 hours and his back hurt and his body was aching from transfering all the water out of the shop vac buckets into the sink. I imagine the work was grueling.

I realized last night that my parents won't live forever. I have a feeling my mother will long outlive my father just because of the years dad dealt with CANCER, ILLNESS and a general week immune system. I can't begin to imagine what my life would be like if it wasn't for them. My parents are usually the first person I tell anything too, especially if it's a big deal in my/our life. They were the first person I told when Todd and I got engaged, when I found my first job, when I found my second job, when I bought a new car. I tell them everything. I tell them my goals and aspirations. I can't imagine life without them. On that note; I need to spend more time with them. This last time it was almost 3 months since I saw them last. We live a short distance from them. We need to visit more. I need to appreciate them more.

Other than the flooding, everything is the same. Tomorrow, Todd and I are going to run down to the new house and take a look, see if the carpet has been put in, see if the place has been painted. I have work off tomorrow and am looking for spending a portion of the day packing. I want to finish up the living room junk, and at least clean up and start moving stuff out of the closet in the office. I need to do wash. I have clothes all over the bedroom. It's going to be a quite but good weekend! I am very much looking forward to it!!

Feeling Ill

2005-10-03T11:23:00.000-07:00

Life has been so crazy that I've been running myself ragged and now I'm feeling sick. I woke up this morning with a sore throat, and a runny/stuffy nose. I've got a cold.

I should have known this was going to happen. I have been running like crazy. Last week I had something going every day AFTER work, and this weekend was the same.

This weekend:
I helped my sister-in-law paint three rooms, living, entry and hallway. I love the brown and red stripe she did in the living room. It looks awesome. I helped my mother-in-law remove shingles (okay not actually remove them from the house.. but gather and toss all the shingles into a garbage bin), I went to a wedding, and I finished up the second coat on my sister-in-law's house. I'm exhausted! I think I will be leaving work early and heading home to take a nap!!

Friends Gallery

2005-09-27T21:37:00.000-07:00

Hey all!! I am always talking about my friends, but you have no idea who I'm talking about. So.. I've created a friend gallery.. check it out.. I'll add more friends later, but this is a start! Enjoy!

Life Isn't So Bad!

2005-09-27T13:45:00.000-07:00

It's a quarter to four on a Tuesday afternoon and I've just realized that my life is great! I have a great husband who loves me, a great job [that pays good too!! Who knew one could actually get paid what your are worth?], I just purchased a house and I have great friends.

This afternoon I went to lunch with a good friend of mine, Sheila. She used to be my boss at my old dysfunctional job. I told her about the house and she was so excited for me. This is what a true friend is.. she supports me. She's there in the good times {now!} and is there for me in the bad times {when I was miserable at Questar and went home crying every night}

I don't see this dear friend of mine often enough. There is approximatly a 25 year difference between our ages, but we mesh. She is what I want to be. She is a role model, a friend, full of wisdom and what I work towards in my life. Not to mention she is charming, witty, sarcastic, understanding and kind. All traits I wish I had more of.

Anyway, life is good at the current moment. I'm almost floating on a cloud.

I know I haven't uploaded any pictures of late, but I just haven't had much time. Oh well.. I'll try to post next time!

The paper's are signed...

2005-09-23T22:13:00.000-07:00

Todd and I went over to the builders and we discussed move in dates and the final details of the house. We've changed the actual location that we are moving. Their happened to be a house with MOST of what we wanted in it that is already built, so we took an already built home.

We are both so excited. The emotions around it are amazing. Tomorrow I get to tell my mom and dad about it. I know they will be really happy.

We are set to move in around the middle of December. Now comes the daunting task of packing and moving. It will be unbelievable. We have so much junk! I hope we purge before we move it. I can't wait.

I'm pooped, so I am going to quick post the first pic of our new house!

Definitly Home Sweet HOME!

2005-09-22T13:49:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update. I got approved for the house. I just got a call now. I'm sooooooooo excited. I immediatly called Todd and told him. He's excited as well. Our monthly payment will be around 1300, so that wasn't too bad. Now just to pay off the debt. We are thinking about moving in December or January. We are probably going to be building from scratch. We even have a small basement. Unfinished for now, but will be finished soon. Now I just hope we can save, save, save. What a relief I feel. It's unbelievable. And to boot.. they said that my credit was good and my income was awesome!

I'm off to the scrapbook store. I can't wait to tell my friends and family. My parents are going to flip.

All this house talk though has made me uber unproductive at work. I need to get back in the saddle tomorrow and finish up all everything that I haven't done for the last 48 hours, because I've been obsessed with finding financing for a house!

I can't wait! Next on the list is to think about the dreaded move. It will be in the middle of WINTER! YIKES!

Home Sweet ??

2005-09-21T09:45:00.000-07:00

Well I’m a little shocked even to say it. Todd and I are looking to purchase a home. I had a good friend of mine at work (Svetlana) who dragged me to look at a possible a new development of town homes. I went with and loved what I saw. It is a beautiful townhome, built by Ryland Homes. I was so enamored with everything, the location, the layout, the price – that I couldn’t leave without thinking about it.

When I got back to the office I realized how much I loved this place that I had to try to get pre-approved. This is where the nerves started to rattle. I don’t have good credit. I was a bad college kid and racked up a ton of debt. It’s taken me forever to get it to be half way decent. When I say half-way decent I say.. my credit score is 710, not awful, but not very good either…

Anyway, I brought Todd to see the location and we both instantly fell in love. We want this place. We filled out the paper work to get pre-approved and submitted it last night. Now the waiting begins. I couldn’t sleep last night; I tossed and turned a lot. It’s all I’ve been thinking about all day.

I really want this house. I don’t want my bad credit woes to get in the way… Please call, please call, please call. I’ve a nervous wreck and want this house to badly I can taste it. I’m sounding irrational, and a bit like a crazy women, but I know what I want and I’m willing to work towards it.

I will update the blog as soon as I hear back.

Resume's and cover letters.

2005-09-19T20:18:00.000-07:00

Tonight I helped a good friend of mine work on her resume and cover letter. It was hard work. It's hard to sell yourself and still be completely honest about what you do and any possible shortcomings a person has. It was difficult, however we prevailed churned out a wonderful resume and a few possible cover letters. I know how difficult the process of finding a job is...

It's amazing all the emotions that go through finding a job. It's only been 6 months since I was in the same position that she was in. I had been at the same job for almost 7 years. It was my home. I felt very comfortable there. I knew everyone, and everyone knew me. But with comfort came baggage. One little mistake made a few years back, there was no escaping it. With time comes baggage. it's inevitable that with a certain amount of time at any job you get comfortable and allow yourself to be vulnerable. I did and I hated myself for doing it.

When I started my new job I got to have a clean slate and so far it's proven to be a great decision. Soo..

If anyone knows of a great Senior Programmer position opening up somewhere, I know of a talented lady who fits the bill.

There is no picture of the day today. I forgot my camera in the car. *Note to self. Remember to bring camera up from car.. no wait.. Remember to take great pic of day and then bring camera up from car.

Busy, busy, busy

2005-09-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in about a week, and I know that, but life happened. It just got too busy. This week has been a lot of work, but it's all gone by so fast... I swear as I'm getting older and older time goes by faster and faster. Just an update on my life.

Work: So much to do, and so little time. I keep trying to duck out of work a few minutes early that the work finally caught up with me. I'm going to have to buckle down next week and finish up all my outstanding projects.

Scrapbooking: It's been good. I created a great page for the store. Maybe I'm getting my creativity back. It seems like it's been forever since I've been *totally* happy with a scrapbook page. Let me know what you think...

Caption: This is a picture of my nephew Matthew. We were on a little leave gazing expedition and got this pic of him. Isn't he cute?

Working out and Weight Loss: This isn't going so well. I've eaten like a pig for the last few days. I am going to try to work out more, and when I work out I need to really work out. None of this walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes and not breaking a sweat. I did lose 2.2 pounds this week, but unfortuneatly I've gained them back already. I'm not to disappointed, because I just started and I'm taking the approach that "slow and steady wins the race." I can screw up, but I can't stop trying.

This weekend was my sister in law's garage sale. Spent most of Saturday there, as boring as it is to "work" a garage sale I had a good time with my family. It was so nice to see Missy (my other sister in law) and her new baby, Katlyn. I just wish Steven was there. I don't see him very much and would like to spend more time with him.

Today's picture of day wasn't actually taken by me. My SIL took it of her oldest, Matt. It's a great couple of pics :-) Enjoy.

5 Random things...

2005-09-13T18:20:00.000-07:00

I had read a Cathy Zielske's blog a few weeks ago about writing down 5 random things about yourself. I am going to use tonight to talk about my 5 random items. Here are my September random items.

1. I don't recycle. I know I should. I know it's good for the environment, but living in an apartment complex that doesn't recycle, well makes recyling a pain in my @ss.

2. I love to get tucked in. Each night my husband tucks me in. He stands at the end of the bed and wait for me to crawl in, and then he takes the end of the blankets and swings them up in the air and covers me up. As childish as this is, I still cherish this ritual that he does for me every night.

3. I hate to cook. I have no idea why, I just hate doing it, so I make my husband do most of it, okay... I must be honest. I do not cook at all. Todd does all the time.

4. I still sleep in on the weekends. I don't just sleep until 8 or 9, occasionally albeit not often, I will sleep in, until noon. I love doing it, but I often feel guilty about "wasting" my day.

5. I love wierd movies. The secretary is one of them.

So, here is my 6th random item. I'm ashamed of my hobby, okay, ashamed is not the correct word. I don't want to be made fun of because I'm a obsessive compulsive scrapbooker. I won this window sticker while CKU and am to ashamed to put it up, so.... it's stuck to the window in my office. That's my picture of the day...

Also, here is my August's 5 random things.

1. I love a clean office. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does I don't like messing it up.. I just sit there and enjoy!

2. I'm a completely sentimental. I cry at movies, books, TV, and sometimes I even cry during Nanny 911.

3. I watch nanny 911. I don't have any children, but I love that show. I have no idea why.. Probably because I'm almost ready to admit that I could become a MOMMY. YIKES.. the though scares me.

4. I'm a meanie. I can be such a meanie sometimes. Yesterday Toddie and I got into a big argument over something so stupid. I was such a meanie to him. I feel bad about it now. I called him mean names. I was such a baby.

5. I love air conditioning. I hate being hot. I'd rather be cold than warm in an instant. I even sometimes have the air on when it's barely 70 degrees out. I love to snuggle up in a blanket and watch a movie.

MAO Scrapfest...

2005-09-11T08:37:00.000-07:00

As most of you know I live in MN, the home of the great Mall of America. Each year in September Archiver's hosts a huge "Scrapfest", which is a bunch of vendors (No LSS's) like Sizzix (Ellison), Quickutz, Chatterbox, Little Davis, Deja Views, Die Cuts with a View, Mrs. Grossman's, Creative Immaginations, Scott Brand Adhesive, Hero Arts, Making Memories..., etc. etc. All of these vendors set up booths throughout the bottom level of the mall, and offer make and takes (for a price -- I'll gripe later!) and how their newest product. The catch is.. you can NOT buy anything from the actual ventors. The only place that you can purchase product is at Archivers.

Although this is convenient (You don't have to lug around packages all day), it also bugs the snot out of me. If you want one item, you have to march half-way around a .5 mile floor. (When I say the Mall of America, I'm taking 2 miles of walkable terrain!)

So.. I view a few of the vendors. Not interested in Make n' Takes, plus I haven't purchased a pin to do the make and takes, so I'm not eligible.

I make it over to Archivers. I'm not a huge archivers fan, but they have some good product that I would like to purchase, like the MM Vintage Hip 12x12 paper line (I did find the line of embellishments all by myself). I ask the associate, Do you have the new Making Memories Vintage Hip 12x12 paper line, she cocks her head and replies, "Yes, we have some, it' s over here." I follow her over to the paper racks, and she shows me the vintage papers. She says.. "they are all mixed in, I don't know which ones are Making Memories." Well I take one look and realize, this is the vintage paper section.. which has no Vintage Hip MM paper. It's then I realized that she had no idea what I was asking for. She didn't probe for more information on what I was looking for, or offer suggestions. All I could do is walk away... I was flabbergasted. Had I been able to purchase items from the vendors I would have gotten what I wanted, or told they were all out.

Now don't get me wrong. I don't expect the all store associates to know what ALL the paper, embellishments, and everything is.. however, she looked at me like I was the crazy one. I expect scrapbook stores to employ scrapbookers. Archiver's just doesn't do it.. and that's why I don't like shopping there!

Okay, enough about the papers and on to the make n takes. So each vendor has a booth, with a small project that you make, but in order to participate you need to purchase a pin. I have no idea how much the pin is, but I don't like the idea of ANYONE paying for a make n take. In the past, weren't these FREE projects a way to make the customer's want to buy the product? Why do I have to pay twice? Once to "see" the new product and once to actual purchase it?

I would love to hear what others have to say about it!!

Oh.. Here's the Picture of Day..

Something happy and something sad...

2005-09-08T21:16:00.000-07:00

I have something sad I need to share with you. I'm overweight, so much in fact that some would say I'm fat. I'm way fast the chubby, and plump. I'm to the point of being obese. This is a very sensitive subject to me, but figure "talking" will actually make me feel better, so I'm off spouting at the mouth.

At the current moment, I'm not very happy with myself. I'm tired all the time, crabby all the time, and am a bit unfocused at work. I attribute it all to a couple of things. First... I'm soooo out of shape. I am winded after going up a couple of flights of stairs. Secondly, I have no portion control. I can eat, and eat, and eat. It's like the little sensor in my brain refuses to come on and say... NO MORE EATING, YOU ARE FULL. I am obsessed with food. I love it. I'm not to the point that I am dreaming about it, although I have a feeling I will.

So.. here's what I am going to do about it. I am going to WATCH what I eat, and start exercising. I'm going to start it now! Not tomorrow, not next Monday, but now. We'll see how long it takes, but who knows.. it might be something that I like.. ya right.. but "No pain, no gain" and "What doesn't kill's us makes us stronger", okay -- enough of the cliche's.

Okay.. not onto something happy. I got my Prima flowers today. I ended up ordering a huge case, so I would get all the colors. Aren't they beautiful. So.. I sign off leaving a picture of my new purchase, all lined up in a cute little row.

My 3rd Wedding Anniversary....

2005-09-07T19:03:00.000-07:00

Well it's official. I've been married 3 years. Today, Todd and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary by going to the park where we were married.. of course I'm always toting my camera along. We took some cute pictures and then I was off to the flower gardens to take some pictures of daisy's.

Well here it is.. my picture of the day.

Isn't this picture stunning. The color, light seem almost perfect. Just looking at it makes me smile. :-) Check out my gallery for some other fun pictures.

I haven't been feeling well, so I am going to make this a short one. I think I'm going to check e-mail and hit the bed early. I'm uber sleepy.

A little bit about me....

2005-09-06T18:47:00.000-07:00

Well I've been blogging for a little over a week. I think I'm going to like it. It's a cathartic way to be silly and express some feelings. I don't think that anyone is actually reading my blog, but tonight's entry is going to be all about me. See how that works? I can go on and on about myself and no one is going to think that I'm self-centered. HA!

I'm 28 years old. I am currently a project manager at a small market research company. I have been there almost 6 months. Basically, I do product research! Sometimes it's super duper interesting (especially when you get to see new products! <--I actually helped do market research on this gem!) and sometimes it's not as interesting. It's a great job and I work with some great folks... Jeff if you are reading this, post only nice comments!

Before that I was working as a programmer/technical project manager at a dysfunctional company. I was there for about 6 and half years. It went fast and needless to say I was scared to leave, but I did and it's all turned out for the best!

Now.. my true calling in life. I am a scrapbooker, paper crafter, card maker, pretty much I will do anything that has anything to do with paper. I love paper! All kinds of paper. I'm a anal annie when it comes to paper. I like it sorted, often first by brand and then by color.. I know trouble, trouble. I love to walk into scrapbook stores and just take it in... I will wonder for hours and just touch and look at everything. How quickly I digress. Back to scrapbooking... So surprise.. here's my picture of the day.. a small collection of my paper.

I started scrapbooking the summer of 2001, I met a girl at work who was interested and off we went. We quickly bought hundreds of dollars worth of stuff and started scrapbooking. I worked a couple of years at Scrapbooks Too, but as most of you know.. that well.. didn't work out. I still have some hard feelings, but it's about the sport, (not sure if you can call a hobby that you sit on your butt on a sport, but who cares, right?), so I continue to scrapbook and buy supplies from there. I now work at Artsy Tartsy! I love the store and love Julia (the owner). I like to tell myself that I work there to get a little spare change, but really it's the discount, and a chance to see all the new product. Here's a picture of a page I did about my best friend and I working at the same store.

Anyway.. that's my life.. in a nutshell. I'll elaborate more on my life later. Have a great night.

*Tomorrow is Todd and my 3rd wedding anniversary.

Find of the day... and frustration!

2005-09-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

Today was an intresting day. It started out with the typically wife getting up long before husband and trying to catch a few minutes of uninterupted scrap time. As usual, it was a success!

I decided to end my two day hermit mode (Not wanting to leave the house) and go do a little shopping. I had seen a lunchpail album and thought it was a cute idea. I wanted to modify the idea and make a address book. I thought it would be a fun little project for the queen of fun little projects!

Off to Michaels I went. No lunchpails. I did however pick up 6 spools of argyle type ribbon and the inserts to a lunchpail album once found.

Then lovely husband and I went to a thrift store. I'm not a huge thrift store shopper, but thought it would something interesting if nothing else. I found a little tin with fruit on the outside and it would easily fit index cards for my address book. (See below for great find!!) Not only was it the perfect size, but it was 50% off. I couldn't ask for a better deal! Okay, so I know it's ugly, but that's okay, I'll fix it up with paper and modge podge.

So, I sat down to print out my lovely index cards. I created the mail merge document and was on my way. It literally look five minutes to create the mail merge, I was ready to do a test print. It's a no go. I can't get the printer to print on the index cards.

I quickly get frustrated and call husband to help. He fiddle faddles and can't figure it out. We can't get it to work on "my" printer. Damn it! So, I think.. maybe I can use husband's printer. Husband bought it to print on CD's/DVD's. And then wife explodes.. husband's printer is out of ink. Once condition of husband buying printer (because we already had two other printers) is husband will ALWAYS have ink in the printer. This is the second time this has happened. Wife gets mad, takes self portrait and posts on blog as picture of the day. This is exactly how I feel. (It's funny too, because it's a self portrait!)

Lazy Days...

2005-09-03T19:06:00.000-07:00

Today has been such a lazy day and I love it. I've been so burnt out from Raspberry Ridge last weekend, that this week has been crazy busy.

I had so much fun last weekend though. I haven't giggled and been silly in such a great time that it felt awesome. Sometimes I feel like I totally get stuck in the adult world that I actually start acting like one. Who wants to be like an adult?

I'm hoping for a relaxed tonight. I want to try to submit a couple of scrapbook pages to scrapsubmit.com and see if anything comes of it. I've never submitted before, so I figured I should give it a try. I am going to submit my FRIENDS page, and maybe a couple of others. I'll let you know the results as they come in.

Picture of the Day... Here's today's picture. It is a picture of my daisy plant on the deck. I love it for a couple of reasons. One, the picture turned out near perfect, and two, I love daisy's. I've created a archive of my daily photo's under the Links section. Browse as you wish.

Picture of the day

2005-09-02T10:56:00.000-07:00

This is my life. I'm 5'4 and am surrounded by tall people. While living in cube land this is my life. I know people by their eyes up. It's sick and I realize this. Take a look and let me know if your life is anything like this.

My New Niece!

2005-09-01T08:39:00.000-07:00

I saw my niece for the second time yesterday, and she is so adorable. It totally makes me want to have one. Not having any children has been okay with Todd and I until recently. Watching my newphews & now my niece (I'm an auntie x's 4!!), totally makes the "mommy part" of me come out.

Anyway, here is the first of many pictures of Katlyn. Isn't she cute?

Oh, and starting today.. I'm going to try to complete a picture a day for 30 days. This challenge is inspired by Cathy Zielske of simple scrapbook fame. She was the whole inspiration for me starting this picture a day challenge.

Tonight I'm off to the Great Minnesota Get Together, the State Fair, so I'm sure I'll be reporting back tomorrow with feelings of indigestion!

I've Joined the Masses!

2005-08-31T08:50:00.000-07:00

So, I love to read the blog's, so now I am starting my own. I normally use LiveJournal, but have decided to go a little more public. Welcome to the portal into my crazy head!