Happy Easter!

We've had a very enjoyable Easter day. Our day began with a call early this morning that one of the students in our Sunday School class was being baptized this morning. We rushed around so we could be at church early to be there for the baptism. Great worship service and sermon from Pastor Tim and then a lovely lunch at Red Lobster with our dear friends the Heckels. Afterwards, the guys and the kids humored me and Tammy with a few pictures at a nearby park. Managed to get a few good ones inspite of the chilly weather and Jeff's impatience. Its Masters Sunday,you know. Now we're home just hanging out and it's so nice. Hope your Easter day has been a blessed one, too!

Photos were taken by Tammy. Look out all you photogs! I think she has a great eye and my family is so at ease with her. Glad for the chance to finally give this a whirl and so grateful to have these-thanks, Tam!

In the ZONE

The past few weeks I have been so creatively inspired. I've mentioned one of my fav shops here in town-Red Lead and it kind of started with our latest visit there. They always do such cool things. I started out making a couple of their vintage-y paper mache eggs. Love them. Such impact for such little effort.

One of the best little treats I've purchased in quite some time was the little box of Spring goodies from Rebecca Sower (they came in an adorable pink take out box!). So inspired by her, Teresa McFayden and Pam Garrison-love those gals! I've been using all kinds of little goodies to make tags and these little wall hangings inspired by Rebecca Sower. Not sure what you call them really, but I love them! They could be addictive. I especially love the idea of using the curtain ring clip to hang them-so sweet! Totally got this idea from Rebecca. Guess I need to get back to scrapbooking at some point, but these little projects are so satisfying.

Today, I received my first Paper Bella kit from Teresa McFayden. I know I won't be able to wait long before putting it together. Need to put the finishing touches on another special project I just completed and then I can share it with all of you. So much fun-I can't wait for you to see it!

How Green Was My Valley

One of my mom's favorite movies is, How Green Was My Valley. I believe it starred Roddy McDowell and Maureen O'Hara. I vaguely remember seeing it one time-very much a tearjerker. The movie may have even been adapted from a novel. The title came to mind and then all these little factoids about the movie as I look out my window today. It is SO green here right now and I love it! I love the spring when the tree bark is dark and wet and the color of the new leaves really pops. And I'll never forget being in Kentucky during the Springtime and how lush the grass was and how it moved in the wind. It looked almost like velvet it was so dense and dark green. Since green is my favorite color it's no suprise I'm enjoying all the green! It's been very warm here up until this evening when it's supposed to turn very cool again and possibly freeze overnight. Fortunately, my daffodils have already come and gone, but I might have to cover the new growth of my coral bells. Note to self! The photo BTW, was taken over the weekend-today is stormy and gloomy, but no less green.

Enjoying a little quiet while I do laundry (sans dryer-that's another LONG story for another time!) and peruse the internet. Loving some of these blogs lately. This ONE and this ONE and oh, this ONE, too. So much inspiraton among these gals it just wears me out!

Fresh out of anything else to say today, but hope to be able to share a project I've been working on soon. It is SO cute!

Update: mentioned the movie to my mom and she retold the whole story over the phone and practically started crying-me, too! Of course, she said the movie was so good, but the book is even better.

I've Always Wanted To...

I'm a big Ellen DeGeneres fan and at the first of the year she talked about creating a Life List. Of course, her list consisted of things she wanted to accomplish in her lifetime. Daydreaming today, I was thinking about things I've always wanted to do, but for one reason or another haven't or most probably won't ever do. But they're fun to think about. Here's a peek at a few...

drive a volkswagon convertible
travel to exotic places-Australia and New Zealand, Paris, California (well, it's exotic to this mid-western girl!)
live near the ocean
be independent and not care what other people think
ride in a horse drawn carriage in the snow
be skinny

What have you always wanted to do? Hope everyone out in bloggyland will participate and leave a comment and share. :)

TGIF

Really, thank goodness! The past month has been stressful at our house. Yesterday, I finally could let out a big sigh and felt like the stress had been lifted. Not sure why. I'm a total control freak so it's not like I gave up anything. Maybe I was just so tired of it that I couldn't hold on to it anymore. Anyway, did what I could at work today, checked in with my Jenny Craig consultant (lost another 1.8 pounds, BTW) and came home to kick back and catch up on my TIVO. Noone else here for a good hour and a half after I got home. Ellen and broadway on The View and a good cry and I'm better. I think it's "the change", but I cry about everything. Marky Mark was on Ellen and I cried. The cast of Les Mis on the View and I cry. The opening of the children's garden at the Botanical Garden and I cry. Geesh! Now, my BFF, Tammy will tell you I'm just a crier-an emotional gal. But lately it is ridiculous. Our preacher claims to cry at mall openings-that's me! No kidding!

Anyway, had something really cool happen in my world today. But suprise! I didn't cry. But I was so excited I was shaking when I called Tammy and my hubby to tell them. I got an email from Heidi Swapp today! Yep, me. I'm a little star struck and was so excited. Evidentally, she's been periodically sending students emails about their posts to the gallery. So, see, not that big a deal really, but cool nonetheless.

Not really sure where this is going actually so I guess I'll sign off. Brady is hankering for a pretzel and an icee from Target. Seems like a good excuse to make a run there so I'm off. Enjoy the weekend. Jeff has to work most of the weekend, but Brady and I are looking forward to a quiet, relaxing weekend. Might even do some cleaning around here. Oh, and some artful pursuits as well. Whatever you're doing-enjoy!

P.S. My apologies for breaking the "never post without a photo" rule of blogging. Sorry. No photo for rambling thoughts. :)

AYTR Update

Thought I would give a little update on my year long class with Heidi Swapp over at Big Picture Scrapbooking called A Year To Remember (AYTR). This class is centered around a calendar album which is, in and of itself very cool, but for those of you who are less familiar with BPS, here's a little breakdown of the class schedule which will give you an idea of what we've been doing. Class "meets" each week online on Thursday's with a downloadable lecture from Heidi. She breaks the month up by making the first week about a Life Challenge, week two is the Art Challenge, week three is usually something more indepth or seasonal (this month was about St Pat's Day) and week four is usually the bonus week and she covers a technique or another type of challenge. She really encourages us to make the class our own. To go at our own pace and do as much or as little as we like. After all, this is about learning to live with intention-creating a year to remember.

For the most part, I have been able to complete the challenges and assignments, but the last month I have been slipping a little further behind each week. I've been determined to get caught up and I've finally completed my March layout. Our challenge for March was to count our blessings and then send thank you cards to folks to show our appreciation for what they add to our lives (this is one I didn't get done). Our art challenge was to take a word which summed up how we thought about our blessings and use it as our title. I chose "lucky girl"-lucky in love, lucky mom, lucky to have you (my siblings), lucky pals (me and my BFF) and SO LUCKY (me, Jeff and Brady at Disney last year).

Every month I say "this is my favorite art challenge!" This month we used so many cool techniques I had not done before. Great little tips here and there including making our own ghost embellishment with acrylic paint and transperancy. And I loved all the fun ideas for St Pat's Day-some I was able to do, some I'll use next year. I am really loving this class. I'm hoping to do a little more catching up and share my February layout later this weekend (also a favorite!). I just need to add a couple finishing touches to it. All of the layouts have had so many layers to them and have challenged me. My challenge to myself for April is to try not to just copy Heidi's example. I always end up changing things slightly anyway (see how I worked in a little orange?), but I'm hoping to really break out of the box this next month. Seriously, I really am-hoping at least. My scrapsister, Tammy knows I am a BIG scraplifter. :)

Okay, well, just wanted to share what I've been doing in my class. My MIL asked Jeff this week if I was enjoying my class (they gave it to me for Christmas). I have to say most definitely!

Welcome Spring!

It's finally officially here-yeah! I've been longing for it to arrive and it's finally here. In typical Spring fashion, it's gotten warmer, overcast and raining this afternoon. Quiet, big bloppy drops of cold rain soaking our yard and coaxing the green right out of the ground. Love it. And we could use some Spring at our house. We're still struggling to adjust to the time change and just as March madness gets geared up, Jeff's business does too, so we are all tired and cranky. Brady's Spring break follows Easter this year so we are all looking forward to a couple of days to catch our breath as we move into Spring. So naturally my thoughts are on the colors of Spring and renewal and all things cheery and yummy. At least that's where I'm trying to keep them. Things have been a little stressful.

The photos are of some Spring-like things I've picked up lately. The first one is my find on my trip with Tammy to Kirkwood. Found this at a great little shop called, The White Rabbit. It's some sort of gardening bin and was the perfect blue green and great for storing paints. Or displaying the stuff I bought at Red Lead and hope to use to make vintage-y eggs. Love Red Lead and always come away so inspired I'm practically hyperventilating when I walk out. I hope to tackle the egg project this weekend. And lastly, another little splurge (honey, stop reading now) from Rebbeca Sower. Just chock full of all things Spring-love it!

So here's to April showers, May flowers and June bustin' out all over!

Happy Birthday To You!

Today is my sweet friend Tammy's birthday. Got to spend the day celebrating with her on Friday. Read all about it on her blog. We both had a great time. Today is also my mother in law's birthay. She is off to Colorado to see her daughter, Jana, but hope to see her soon and celebrate all the February and March birthday's on the Mullican side.

So, birthday girls-Happy Birthday! Enjoy your day!

Isn't She Lovely?

At last, I have a printer! I think she is oh so wonderful! It's actually a very early birthday present. Just couldn't stomach paying for color copies and photo processing and all the running around and waiting that goes with it. Will now have to purchase paper and ink, but this will be much more economical in the long run. And being able to print at will is AWESOME! Looking forward to printing matte finish photos for all my minis and special projects.

Okay, off to bed. I bargained with Jeff that I'd do two three mile walks in exchange for purchasing the printer. I have one more to do tomorrow.

Edited: Couple of folks have asked what brand printer I purchased. It is an HP Photosmart C5180 All-in-One.

Happy St Paddy's Day!

Enjoy the day in all it' Irish-ness.
We have Upward awards ceremony and lunch and then Brady is spending the afternoon hanging out with his cousin Matt here at our house. I'm sure you're not suprised that Jeff will be watching basketball later today and I am going to attempt to clean up around here a little and scrapbook and stuff. I've got so many ideas of stuff I want to make swirling in my head I can hardly wait!

Have a great weekend!

Edited: Can you believe just a few days from the official start of Spring and we have snow today? Just west of us it managed to stick to the ground. Can't wait for Spring to be here for good!

Rocker Chick

Don't ya just love a rocker chick?
You know, like Heart, Pat Benatar, Gwen Stefani, Avril Lavigne. Lately, my favorite thing to do when I'm driving in the car all by myself is to listen to what I call rocker chick music. Just blaring it as I drive down the road singing along. I'm sure it's quite a show for the other drivers passing me! Very liberating and a great stress release though. Right now I'm into Barlow Girl-they kind of have an Evanescence sound, but with a much more positive lyric content. Love Kelly Clarkson and Lisa Loeb, too (although not sure they would technically be classified as rocker chicks). I think what I like about these gals is that they exhibit strength and feminity at the same time. That through their music they are able to say how they feel, think, believe. And that each of them has enjoyed success-many times in a man's world. Not bad attributes really...
Creative
Strong
Confident
Emotionally Present
Vocal
Successful

Maybe I need to tap into my inner rocker chick-hmmmm.

Retail Therapy

Had myself a little retail therapy over the last several days. Some actual old fashioned get out and walk through the store kind of shopping. One of my favorite little shops-Oma's. What a treat to go there. And after it being closed for the Winter it is always SO good to get there and see what is new. Found these 30 plus year old alphabet blocks (jar is Pottery Barn) and think I'll go back for the rest of them soon. And Michaels-there's always Michaels. Went to a different one rather than "mine" and wound up with some fun things. Yummy ribbons-I was into green that night w/ St Patty's day around the corner. And needing to get some Spring going I bought cherry blossom stems and a fun little sign.

And then there was PageMakers and Archivers on Saturday with Tammy. Don't really need an excuse, but P'makers was having an anniversary sale. My favorite purchase is the McGill index tab punch. Also, love the chipboard album, Daisy D's paper and Making Memories goodies I'm going to use to make a mini of our Easter photos this year. Rarely am I ahead of the game, but I've already purchased our outfits and this paper is perfect to go with the photos I hope to take! So many creative ideas swimming in my head right now. Need to finish up a couple of projects and move on to these new ones.

Spent alot of the weekend decompressing from a stressful week and our kitchen table shows the results. A real disaster, but it feels so good to be creative. Hope to have some completed projects to share by the end of the week.

freestylin'

okay. be gentle. this is my first real attempt at the whole freestylin' thing. i absolutely love the idea behind this type of scrapbooking. i've been wanting to try this since i first saw emily falconbridge's layout in the autumn leaves book, freestyle. my friends who do creative memories have now passed out. :)

per emily's instructions, i soaked my 8x10 photo in water, sanded, bleached and painted. then stamped, added a few stickers and some bling and journaled. i kind of like the way it turned out and it was very cathartic. i've been trying to do the whole jenny craig thing again and actually haven't been doing too bad. but i have lots of issues and this was a theraputic way to get this off my chest. i'm actually really enjoying getting to know my counselor, but if i ever do get the weight off i'd like to train weightloss center counselors on the top 20 things NOT to say to fat folks. some people have no sense!

BTW, arrow stickers are bookworks from ek success, mini flower jewels are heidi (of course!) and the stamps are serendipity by technique tuesday.

journaling reads:
Imagine, she said. As though I had never once thought of what my life would be like without the weight. Little did she know I constantly imagined what it would be like to shop at Ann Taylor, wear a swimsuit and go to the pool, be confident again, have my husband be proud of me. Have I imagined what my life would be like? Why, yes, I have.

March Madness

To most, March Madness is the culmination of college basketball season including the Sweet 16 and the Final Four. At our house it's nearly as important as Christmas and definitely more important than Fourth of July. Well, at least to Jeff. He is a major college basketball fan and I would venture to say, probably the biggest Fighting Illini fan out there. I'm told he's actually much better than he was in his more youthful days when absolutely nothing stood in his way of watching or listening to the games. I jokingly say, "hope no one ever dies during basketball season" because Jeff wouldn't be able to attend the funeral until after the game! So it's getting a little crazy around our house. Or at least harder to get Jeff's attention now that it's almost time for "the dance". Okay, okay, all you basketball fans. Sorry. But I realized today there is another kind of March Madness happening.

My friend Tammy and I laughed this morning after I had gotten off the phone with Jeff and was frustrated about something else we'd have to put off until after we find out if Illinois is going to be playing in the tournaments. I announced to her as I answered the other line, "It's March Madness!". She said, "yeah, it's march and it's maddening". I agreed. What was going on?!? We turned the page to a new month and seems like everything has gone crazy! Then we both rattled off a list of crazy things going on for both of us. And laughed knowing that this too shall pass-we hope!

Anyway, it has been crazy lately. Fighting to keep up and all the while wanting to hide from it all. I think it's Spring Fever coming on. Saw my first big, fat robin today. Ah! the harbinger of Spring! The warmer days are coaxing my daffodils further and further out of the soil and I am wanting to clean out and purge. But that will have to wait a bit longer until things calm down around here. March madness continues for us as Brady's basketball season with Upward winds down, things are heating up for me at work with lots of change there, Brady's big 3rd grade muscial is tommorrow night and of course, Illini basketball's season coming to a close. Just a few of the top things going on at the Mullican household. I am very much looking forward to Easter and a season of overall renewal. Until then, I'll just put one foot in front of the other and keep moving with the madness. Otherwise, I might get run over!

Musings on a Sunday Afternoon

all three of us went to Target after church today. i don't think we have ever done that together-a first!
could not tolerate the mall today so ordered Brady's Easter outfit online.
enjoying the sunshine streaming through the windows as jeff and I putter around this afternoon. he watching basketball and me scrappin' a little.
teresa collins is on HSN tomorrow afternoon. got TIVO set to tape it.
finally listened to my BPS class from this week. all about slowing down and deliberately living each moment. this month's art challenge is very cool, but not up to it today. love the colors she used-cocoa brown, raspberry, khaki, pink and burgundy. very feminine.
so many things i should be doing today. needed a nap, but kept fighting it off all day.
love my boys. this photo is so sweet of them. picture of the layout doesn't do it justice really. this is jenni bowlin inspired-love her. just got the Look Book so thought i'd go back to her layouts. when i was challenging myself to do three or four a month w/ the kits i felt like it really got my creative juices flowing. used her basic layout and the title, but had to switch up a couple of elements. still need to add the MM mini letter/number stickers along the journalling tab w/ the date, but oh well, here it is.
still can't get my photos of the day to load up. not sure what's going on. i've had several i wanted to share so i added one or two of them to this post. i'm SO technology challenged.

Slacker

Okay, so I was feelin' like such a slacker with the whole photo-a-day thing, but seriously, I've been trying for two days to change my photo! Geesh! What is up w/ blogger?!? So you have to give me credit for trying, right? Maybe by the time I am able to upload new images I'll have a stockpile of photos. Well, maybe not. Not a whole lot of interesting subjects for me to photograph around here. Keep trying to think of interesting ways to look at things.

Crazy busy week trying to get ready to go out of town for work. I don't usually have to do that. In fact, I'm so spoiled working out of my boss's house that I didn't even have clothes for this trip. I usually just wear jeans, a t-shirt and my crocs to work. I've gotten a couple of outfits (after two trips to LB amounting to about 4 hours!). Now I need to find shoes, but may need to make due with what I have. We'll see-only one more day I can shop! Well, I'm off to watch Idol and then earlier to bed. Lots more energy now that I'm in a routine of exercising 5 days a week, but I'm sleeping so sound I'm having a hard time getting up of a morning. ciao!

Weekend Highlights

I love Monday mornings when I have a chance to get caught up with my girlfriends about what each of us did over the weekend. So here's a little recap of our weekend...
Friday night I spent searching for a Wii. Yeah, we're not up on things and didn't realize we should have been looking for one a month ago if we wanted to give Brady one for his birthday which was Saturday.

We had Upward Saturday morning and as luck would have it, Brady acutally got the ball this week and dribbled from center court to shoot for a basket and I wasn't even there to see it! I was getting ready for our little party for him. Had the fam over to celebrate Brady's birthday. Nice time, sometimes chaotic, but so fun listening to all the laughter as everyone settled back to watch Open Season. Perfect movie since my dad and brother are avid hunters. Brady's best buddy Andrew joined us and I thought it was so cool he made Brady a birthday card. It was a good time and the Wii is yet to come. So proud of Brady for taking it so well.

That brings us to today. We had 14 kids in our Sunday School class this morning. Good class, important lesson, but a little more rowdy than we like it, but hey, there were 14! Afterwards, we headed to Willikers for our annual family brunch. I can't beleive we've been meeting there around the first of March for 20 years now. WOW! Shout out to my Aunt Wanda for organizing this every year. So good to see everyone. We've all drifted apart over the years, but so thankful that we still get together for the annual brunch. Loved seeing everyone! Planning to spend the rest of the day puttering around and maybe doing a little shopping. But tonight I have big plans to settle in to watch my girl Ellen host the Oscars.

Hope whatever has filled your weekend has been relaxing and enjoyable. If you live local-don't blow away. March is definitely comin' in like a lion!

GRATEFUL

I'm working on trying to get out of the crotchity funk I've been in the last couple of weeks. It's really been trying to take over this week, but I keep pushing it back. My BPS class this week was very timely. All about living with an attitude of gratitude and how it's impossible to be crabby when you are counting your blessings. So, here goes-
the girl who does my hair-she makes me feel so beautiful
tulips at the grocery store
vanilla scented candles
lemons and limes-they remind me of summer
our house-to me it is beautiful and home
old friends
my college education at Saint Louis Christian College-the friends I made,
places I was able to travel to, that I learned how to develop people skills, for the opportunity to use my talents
family and tradition
my children and their individuality
my beautiful husband-he is my everything.
Just a few. I think I feel better already.
Oh, and Oma's Barn-I love this place. A real treasure. They reopen March 1st and I can't wait! The photo was taken there late last summer by moi-can you believe it? Trust me-I was just lucky!

Hello, Moto

Yep! That's my beautiful new hot pink Razor phone! Very cool, huh?! I really feel like I am conquering technology. First the Ipod, then Itunes and the Ipod docking station and now a camera phone! WOW! I'm pretty impressed with myself. Seriously, I needed a new phone. The kid at Cingular said my phone was so old he wasn't sure he had the right cord to transfer my info. That's how badly I needed a phone. And let me tell ya, the kid rocked! He got me in and out of the store in less than 12 minutes. Totally, totally cool. Made my day.

Oh, and in other news. My girlfriends and I have decided to do a photo a day challenge on our blogs. You can link to their blogs to the left (Tammy and Cathy). If you check out their blogs you'll notice their photos will probably be way better than mine. I decided to do this with them though so I could try to improve my photography skills. We'll see how that goes. My photo for today is how I felt this morning. I'm blaming it on the silent passage, aka premenopause. Yeah, fun times! I pulled out of the driveway this morning with Bonjovi's Have A Nice Day blaring. Well, obviously it doesn't take much to make me happy-just a new phone. I'm off to figure out how to use all the fun features on it. So beware-I may be calling or text messaging or emailing from her! I think she needs a name, don't you? Any suggestions?

Happy Monday!

Some things that made me smile today-
Hugh Grant on Ellen-love him, love her. So funny together!
The smell of my sweetie's cologne as I got into his car.
Jenny Craig Oreo Cheesecake-so delish!
Curling up with the newest Country Living magazine-chock full of yumminess.
Brady-he's getting so tall. What a cutie!
The thermometer-got up to nearly 60 today. Bring on SPRING!
The smell of hyacinth at the grocery store.
Looks like it's going to be a good week. Hope you have a great week, too. Keep smiling!

P.S. The photo is from the new Country Living magazine. On Pam Garrison's suggestion, I've been hunting this issue down because of the special mini-mag at the back all about finding your bliss-your creative passion. Great inspiration and eye candy in this one. Check it out!

Gotta Love Thursday's

Ya gotta love Thursday's-
means tomorrow is Friday and that's a half day for me
and that means weekend's around the corner;
Heidi Swapp AYTR class is up on Big Picture Scrapbooking;
all my fav shows are on-Greys, Men in Trees.
Just a few things to look forward to every week. Gotta love Thursday!

It's alot easier to get around town with the snow that fell earlier in the week, but boy is it cold. I canNOT wait until Spring. Honestly, need a blast of sunshine and warm weather. Maybe I have that thing when you are deprived of sunlight for too long. Anyway, I have enjoyed being huddled together several times this year due to the weather. They always make for memorable days.

Tuesday when we were home I was supposed to use it as a catch-up day, but instead spent most of it making heart-shaped red velvet cupcakes for Jeff for Valentine's day. Kind of makes a mess, but the glimmer in his eye as I pulled them out of the oven was priceless. Bribed him to let me take a couple photos and love the way this collage from Picassa turned out. Just wanted to share and brag on my sweet husband. Got the most gorgeous flowers yesterday. He always sends me red tulips for V's day and tries to send arrangement from my favorite florist. She always does something really special for us.


Well, off to Tae Kwon Do and other errands and finish getting ready for Brady's party at school tomorrow. Fun, fun, fun! Have a great Thursday!

Happy Valentine's Day

Hugs and Kisses-XO

SNOW DAY = CATCH UP DAY

If you haven't already heard, a big Winter storm is passing through our area today. No school for most everyone and Jeff and I are both lucky to get a snow day as well. I attempted to go to work since it is less than ten miles, but kept getting stuck on any little hills and started sliding through stoplights. I decided it was best to turn around and go back home. So this will be an unexpected day to get caught up around here. As Jeff says, the house is "out of control". Which in Jeff speak means it's worse than normal. I'm determined to clean and scrapbook today.

Received my February Jenni Bowlin kit yesterday so I'm planning to play with that and the Cocoa Daisy one I received the other day. Also need to finish my BPS layout. Kind of lost my steam when I couldn't duplicate hers completely. Hope to get reinvigorated today. So I'm going to put on the music, light the candles and get busy. Man! is it snowing! WOW!

Vote For Missouri's New License Plate

If you are a resident of the Show Me state you can go to the Department of Revenue's website by clicking here and vote for Missouri's new license plate. One of the choices includes a bluebird so I'm sure you can guess which one I chose! Cathy and I spied a pair of bluebirds this morning at work. She was able to snap a photo, but it didn't turn out real clear. Still it was fun to see them. A neighbor in the subdivision has a bluebird box and a small habitat for them and they visit every once in awhile lighting on the cherry tree outside the window where I sit. Love it! Can't wait for springtime.

Miscellanea

Been kind of a busy weekend. Didn't intend it to be, but it's turing out that way. Friday evening I drove over to the 'ol alma mater for the annual Alumni Banquet. I don't usually get over there, but a college friend of mine has been home on furlough from Ethiopia throughout the year and will be returning soon so I met up with her there. Nice, relaxing evening. Worse part was getting dressed up. Not many occassions to do that lately so it was kind of stressful. In the end I was glad I went. Fun to be recognized again, too. Miss those days of everyone knowing who I am because of my singing. Ah, those were the days!

Then today, Brady had a ballgame and then we ran to Target. To the new one and I'm not used to it yet and forgot half of what I went for. So tomorrow will include a quick trip to our regular Target. Had lunch w/ my college friend Shelly at the Mall and then walked around for a bit. Hadn't been to the mall since Christmas so there was lots to look at. Love seeing all the new Spring stuff out and was able to refrain from purchasing any new clothes. Holding out for awhile hoping I'll be able to get some of the cute things I saw in smaller sizes (I hope, I hope, I hope!). Looks like navy is all the rage this coming season. Lots of peachy pink and cocoa brown,too. Love the Journeys store for girls called Shi and was bad and had to try out the new gelato place called Melt (what a cool name). Had a small java chip smoothie made w/ skim milk-YUM! Love everything about this new litte place-even the brightly colored tiny acrylic spoons and their super chic 4x4 menu!

This evening we're chilling out watching movies-Flicka and Facing the Giants and loading new music on to my ITunes-U218Singles, Barlow Girl and Daughtry. I'll need to put them on my Ipod tomorrow so I can listen to them on my new dock while I clean tomorrow afternoon and evening. Hoping to still fit in some scrap time after church and running a few more errands to finish valentines and my BPS layout. So psyched about it, but frustrated that some of the product isn't available yet-such a bummer! You know how I hate to think outside the box and "make it work". Got a suprise in the mail today, too. The February Cocoa Daisy kit-another happy accident. So I'm hoping to get that out and play some. Totally different stuff for me, but loving that it is so graphic and of course the aqua blue-let's call it turquoise or even better, robin's egg! :)

Well, off to stuff goody bags for Sunday school and watch movies with my sweetie. Sshhh-don't tell him Tim McGraw stars in Flicka- a little bonus! :) Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Happy Accident

What a bizarre day yesterday was! Thanks to my sweet sister-in-law, Jana, I am now the proud owner of an IPOD docking station. It all started when she sent Brady a gift card from Target.com last year for his birthday. Ever since then, if she's not careful when she places an order it defaults to Brady and his address for shipping. Yesterday I arrive home to find three packages on my front porch. Two of which I was expecting, the third a large heavy box was a mystery. Finally found the label announcing Brady as it's rightful owner and opened the box to discover it appeared to be from Aunt Jana-we assumed an early birthday gift. Thought what a good idea since he received a Disney MP3 player for Christmas, but cautioned Brady that it might not work on his player which upon inspection confirmed it did not. No worries, I told him, Mommy will just pay you for it and get you the one for your player. True to form he was fine with that. Found out an hour or so later after talking to Jana that Target.com had mistakenly sent the box to us. But lucky me, she said Happy Birthday, Brady! and glad it was at least something I had wanted. If she only knew how I had been yearning to have one of my own! Sitting on the kitchen island in all it's electronic glory-I love it! Hope it will inspire me to get my scrapbook room cleaned up and organized so I can close the french doors and scrap the weekend away.

Speaking of scrapping, today was week 6 of my BPS class and I can't wait to attempt this week's art challenge. All about feelin' the love and collaging so more on that later this weekend-hopefully. Off to browse ITunes and get me a little Gwen Stefani and Chris Daughtry!

Inspiration

Been reading alot lately about staying creatively inspired. A main source of inspiration for me are the blogs of celebrity scrapbookers. One such blog I frequent is that of Emily Falconbridge. She is a very artistic scrapbooker and since the start of the year has been doing a little art journal challenge each week on her blog. This week's challenge was about symbols that inspire. Although I didn't participate, it got me thinking about which symbols inspire me. Of course there's the cross-Celtic crosses in particular and birds. You might have heard I have a thing for birds-especially blue birds! Anyway, lately I really have this thing for wings. Just love them. Last week during her BPS lecture, Heidi Swapp mentioned a stamp she had used and I immediately spied it on her layout and had to have it. Perfect timing as I was thinking about symbols-it arrived yesterday. :) Anywhoo-got to playing with my new stamp set and came up with a few cards. So inspired by just these two little stamps! Love the idea of wings and find them so inspiring. I love that they remind us to reach for new heights, attempt the impossible, fulfill your potential, letting go-being free. But to me they also symbolize peace, comfort and remembrance. They're romantic and can be elegant or playful. And right now they are very trendy!

The chair in the photo is another recent inspiration. Love the color-no surprise there, but also love where I found it. Little shop nearby called Robin's Nest. The shop and it's owner really inspire me every time I go there. I've bought lots of white furniture, old books and stuff there. I even painted a room in my house the same color as the main room of the store and the colors in my scrapbook room and finished basement were totally inspired by Robin's Nest! I like to visit Robin's when I'm getting ready to clean-it inspires me to go home and clear out clutter and enjoy all my things in a new light.

My other big inspiration source are magazines-I have an infatuation with them. Always have. My mom says I get it from my Grandma Swan. She always had a stack by her reading chairs and I loved to sit for hours at her house in the afternoon sun looking through them. When I was a young girl Grandma used to call them my wishbooks. Fav's now are Home Companion, Martha Stewart Living and Country Home. I also love to look through the Pottery Barn catalog.

One of the tenets alot of artistic people hold is to surround yourself by things that inspire you. Sounds rather simple, doesn't it? But just like everything it's a habit. I've been tring to get my scrap studio together since we had our basement finished around this time last year. Very slowly getting things hung up and put in their place. Right now it's mainly just piles of supplies, but slowly and surely I'm getting it together. Finally hung up an inspiration board and began tacking bits and pieces on it. Like I said, slowly.

Gone on and on for far too long, but just wanted to share. Running out to Tae Kwon Do cause it's Tuesday (see earlier post)! Ciao for now and remember to surround yourself with lovely things and be inspired!

YUM-O!

Major enabler alert: Elsie Flannigan has unveiled her first ever line of products at CHA and they are totally yummy! Wasn't sure what it would be like and honestly, wasn't anticipating being nearly this excited about it. So fun and very KI, but totally Elsie. Young, hip, funky and fresh. Can't wait for it to hit store shelves. Don't say I didn't warn ya!

You're Gonna LOVE IT!

If you have not seen Dream Girls yet you need to get to your local theatre and see it! WOW! I have not wanted to stand up and cheer during a movie before, but I did this one. Jennifer Hudson totally blew me away. Now I know what everyone has been raving about. Look for her to get the Oscar. She is amazing!
UPDATE: She won the SAG! WooHoo!

The one thing better than spending the afternoon with the Dream Girls is discovering my new favorite Target. My friend Diane got me to venture outside my comfort zone today and I'm so glad I did! Lots of fun things there since they're coming out with all the Spring stuff already. And...they even have a Starbucks! I will definitely be traveling that way again.

Well, in for the night. Going to have an uber healthy meal and do a little scrap play tonight while I watch the SAG awards. This time of year the award shows get me. Love the glam!

Oh, and I'm in countdown mode for Tuesday. Harry's new cd comes out-can't wait!

Greetings From Radiator Springs

Even tho' we're back to frigid winter weather it's been all warm and fuzzy at our house today. Cousin Matt spent the night with Brady last night so we had a hectic, but good morning getting them up and around for their Upward basketball game this morning. Matt even scored six points for the team. Then it was off to Warrenton to see their new house. Very fun to see their log cabin and hear all about the plans for sprucing it up as they settled in, but sad that they won't be right across town from us. So sweet to see Brady give his cousins big hugs when we got ready to go. At least through basketball season we'll see them every weekend. After we got home it was time for mom and Brady to have a little nap. We curled up and watched Cars. I hadn't seen it yet so it was a treat to snuggle up with Brady and watch it. Loved this movie-great story, great characters and voices and an awesome soundtrack. Love Pixar and Disney. As usual, I teared up at the end with Brad Paisley singing, "Find Yourself". Just loved it! BTW, we suspect there's a new Toy Story on it's way. Have you seen the new versions of Buzz and Woody in the stores? This is both my boys' favorite Disney movie. Has always bonded them a little more since they were equally enamored with Buzz and Woody at about the same age (one from the first movie and the other from the second ten years later!).

Anyway, just a nice day to relax and enjoy. Gotta get motivated now to work on the Sunday School lesson and head out to the grocery store. Maybe some scrappin' later on. The photo is from our Disney trip. This was at MGM Studios in the Magic of Disney Animation. Brady and I took an animation class. Was such a great moment because Brady is usually totally not interested in drawing and he actually did great with his drawing of Mickey. Anyway, this is a reminder that I need to get crack-a-lackin' on those Disney photos some day! Have a great weekend!

Here's The Mail-It Makes Me Wanna Wail!

To most of you this will be totally insignificant, but I have been waiting for the first shipment of materials for my BPS class since December! And today it arrived! I am so excited! Some of these things are literally, hot off the press-how cool is that?!? All the items are of course from Heidi Swapp and include the calendar album, her new stickers including new cardstock stickers, some Valetine bling which is super fun, her brand spankin' new idea book and some other little goodies she threw in just because. Love, love, love it! This is going to be a blast getting similiar packages throughout the year as part of the class A Year To Remember. There was even an iron-on for the front of the album-can you see it in the photo? It ROCKS! And black satin ribbon to tie closed through the grommets on the bottom of the book.

Gotta love getting happy mail! But I guess I'll have to calm down. She's asked us not to get into any of it until our class on Thursday when she tells us how we're going to be using it the rest of the month and beyond. Have plenty to keep me occupied though. Heading out to Target and Tae Kwon Do 'cause it's Tuesday and we must do all things beginning with a "T" on Tuesday-just kidding! And then later having coffee with a college friend who is home on furlough. So, busy night-have a good one!

Oh, and for all you Fighting Illini fans out there-you know who you are. Tonight's big game is against arch rival Indiana. So you know what'll be happening at our house while I'm gone. Long live the Chief-go Illini!

What Are You Waiting For?

That's what I've been asking myself the last week or two as I tried to set my goal as part of the class I'm taking with Heidi Swapp over at BPS (Big Picture Scrapbooking). And since I can't come up with any reasonable excuses why I should not try to reach the particular goal that's been on my mind, well, I guess I'll get on with it. The photos should be some clue as to what goal I've chosen. And if you're part of my daily life, well, you already know so I'll spare everyone else the details.

Goals are good-trying to reach them even better. But it's not easy, is it? To reach your goals. To stay the course. To keep on keepin' on. To hang. To persevere. But it's the end, the finish line, the results that should be our focus. Eye on the prize, you know? *cue Rocky theme here!

As part of our class we were asked to come up with five reasons for wanting to reach our goal. One of my reasons was to set an example for my kids. So they'd understand that anything worth doing won't be easy, but well worth it! And rewards don't hurt either. Bless his heart, my sweet husband has offered me everything in the world if I'd stay the course and reach my goal. This time it's either a trip to New Zealand to see my best friend from college or a photo shoot for our family with Tara Whitney. Well, like I said, eye on the prize.

In the meantime, what are you waiting for? What would you like to accomplish in the next year? No time like the present they say! Best 'o luck to ya!

BTW, my hubby is responsible for the photos in this layout. I think he did an AWESOME job, don't you?

Idol is Back!

I can't believe how much I have missed it! Oh, my gosh! I think my favorite was that they made the rocker sing ABBA. And he still sang it growling-and Barry Manillow, too. What a riot! Lots of reasons I love the Idol-Simon, Ryan's sarcasm masked as empathy, the good and the very, very bad. So glad it's back!

Now I have ABBA in my head-love them, too. Fond memories of 8 Track in the stereo playing while my sister and I wash dishes singing our lungs out. Time to get out the Ipod-yes, ABBA's Greatest Hits on there. Love it!

ICE,ICE, Baby!

Well, we got it again. They say so far, not nearly as bad as the ice storm we got in November, but more is coming. At least we were more prepared this time. Hit the grocery store with everyone else last night to stock up for a few days.

And we're more fortunate than most in our area. Our power was only out for five or six hours and came back on. Only victim was my husband's t.v.-not a good thing, but not a tragedy. My sister bless her heart is out of power for the third time in the last six months. Fortunately for her, she is forever a girl scout and highly resourceful. She was making toast on the stove when I talked to her earlier. :)

I've decided I'm going to scrapbook and putter all weekend and enjoy the lovely stack of magazines passed on to me by my friend Cathy. Last night when the power went out I had paint on my fingertip getting ready to edge. Turned the tech stuff off (incuding hubby's t.v.), got a flashlight and kept on scrapbooking. How's that for resourceful? Well, maybe just obsessed!

Have a great weekend whatever you do and where ever you are. My pal in New Zealand I'm sure is enjoying a balmy summer's day. Nice.

What I Love About Sundays

long afternoon naps,
teaching my son's sunday school class,
pizza for supper,
favorite movies on back to back,
jeff having the day off
Just a few. What a nice day just relaxing and keeping each other company-love that!

Getting closer to nailing down my goal for the heidi class and outlining a timeline. Need to get focused as we head into the week. Managed to scrapbook a little with Tammy last night. very little, but actually love the first one I did. Probably looks too much like others I've done, but love the pop of color, the photo and the Autumn Leaves stamps I'm slowly becoming addicted to. So far, I've restrained myself from snatching them all up! Especially love the 7gypsies self-inking stamps. Don't actually own one myself yet, but thanks to Tammy was able to use one on my layouts this weekend-so fun!

Have a good week everyone. Ours will be filled with dentist and hair appointments and getting back into the school vibe. Off to watch Cheaper By the Dozen with Jeff and Brady. Take care!

TGIF

Technically, this was a short week. But in reality it has seemed very long. Not quite back to our regular schedules and routines yet after the holiday. Hopefully, next week will be more normal for us. Snuggling in tonight taking down what little Christmas stuff I had out this year. And trying to build on some of the cleaning I started prior to the holiday. Of course, I'm the only one who knows I've cleaned out all but a couple drawers and cabinets in my kitchen including the pantry. But at least it makes me feel better that I have. I'm attempting to go through the bedrooms next which is the real challenge. Wish me luck!

Thought I'd just check in and make sure I didn't come across ungrateful or too negative about my Big Picture Scrapbooking class with Heidi Swapp. I am so excited to get rolling with it and feel so lucky to be able to participate. Very lucky, indeed. I just wasn't expecting to be challenged in such a big way right out of the gate! Still doing alot of thinking about the goal I need to be setting. Hope to have a decision by Monday and start hammering out an action plan. I'll keep you all posted.

For now, I guess I'll curl up and make a list of stuff to be done tomorrow. Need to make the most of Saturday morning. And pray for me, the Illini play tomorrow and their conference play hasn't started out too swell. Those of you who know my husband will understand how to pray.

Have a great weekend!

Ready...Set A Goal!

Okay, so I got up about 6:30 this morning to attend my first class with Heidi. (For you nonscrapbookers out there-that's Heidi Swapp, the super creative designer who is single handedly changing the way we scrapbook!) You may recall from a previous post, Jeff and his parents gave me this class as my Christmas present. Anyway, my mind has been racing ever since I listened to the first lecture. So she says in keeping with what most folks are thinkin' about in January with the start of a new year and all, she wants us to pick a goal. Not a resolution, but a goal. And she acutally wants us to commit to reaching it! Yep, pick an accountability partner, set a date, the whole shootin' match! After which she proceeds to tell us about her dad who taught her about setting and reaching goals all her life. She told us that in his 60's he finally reached one of his own life goals-riding in the Tour de France. And her goal? Well, little Miss Thing is going to run in a marathon. How do you follow that?

Since it is January and the first of the year, I had already been thinking of things I wanted to try to accomplish this year-to be more ambitious about home improvement, learn to knit, declutter our house and keep it that way, read the Bible through this year, and of course, the one that appears on my list year after year-lose weight and get healthhy. But to narrow down to one specific goal for the purpose of this class, well, I'm just not sure. Truth be told, I'll probably attempt all of these, but would like to document one worthwhile goal for the class.

In some ways, it's a no brainer since I am lots and lots of pounds overweight and that has been an issue for a number of years. But, like many, I have been unsuccessful in my many attempts in the past and I guess I'm assuming I'd fail once more. So I'm a little hesitant to make that my goal. Since the class is filled with and led by an overachiever-I don't want to fail to reach said goal! On the other hand, since this is such an issue for me then it certainly makes it a worthwhile one to achieve. And one which would affect many areas of my life-not just my physical well being.

At one point during her talk, Heidi said how much she likes the song from Gwen Stefani's first solo cd, "What Are You Waiting For". Kind of how I'm feeling about this goal thing. Not sure what I am waiting for-there are so many things I am missing out on by not achieving my goals in life. NOTE TO SELF: Buy Gwen Stefani cd and use this as title for first class layout.

Check in later this week to see which goal I've deemed worthy of documenting. Cause guess what? She gave us a week to come up with the goal, pick someone to tell and take photos of us starting to reach the goal! Better get busy. What am I waiting for?!?

Top 5 Reasons I Love Ali Edwards

5. She updates her blog often!

4. She is understated, yet cool.

3. She is an inspiring mom.

2. She is a supportive wife.

and the number 1 reason I love Ali Edwards.....

She comes up with killer projects that totally inspire me! Check this out-aliedwards.typepad.com Just love her! Can't wait to receive my Cocoa Daisy Kit. Had to shake things up a little bit and take a break from Jenni for a couple months.

Also, just one more day until my Year To Remember class begins. A little unsure about it, but hoping it will live up to the hype. Guess I'll let you know in a day or so. Thinking I might get up really early for the first post. Heard it will be available by 3 am EST-that's 4 am for us. Might be kind of fun. We'll see.

Tuff Chix Rock!

One of my resolutions for the new year is to be more adventurous when it comes to home improvement. I have always depended upon my dad, brother or sister or when we could afford it, a professional. I'll probably still hire some things out when our budget allows, but I hate waiting to get things done until I can afford it or until I can persuade my dad or another family member to help me. So, encouraged by my friend Cathy, who I maintain can do anything, I have already managed to accomplish one DIY chore that had been waiting for nearly a year.

For Christmas, Cathy and hubby (my boss) presented me with a new drill and other tools desinged by and for women. Cathy even decked out a tool tote with girly embellishments! Included with my gift was a great book called, "The Tuff Chix Guide to Easy Home Improvement" by Paige Hemmis, carpenter from ABC's Extreme Home Makeover and a copy of "The Little Engine That Could".


Here is the result of my first little chore. A seemingly easy task for some, but quite an accomplishment for me. With this first little victory I'm hoping I can now begin to start checking off lots of things on my home improvement list. I just have to keep telling myself, "I think I can, I think I can!"