Resolution Time

One thing I've learned from Sparkpeople is when it comes to setting goals, don't just set the 'lofty' goals...but create small, doable steps to acheive your goal. Like I want to lose weight...instead set the goal of 20 min exercise 5 days a week, and increase water drinking. So...that is how I am approaching 2012.

Every year I have the goal of reading my Bible. A couple of times I've tried a daily reading plan...but it doesn't work for me. So, this year, I am going to set the goal of reading one book per month. I think I'll start with Ephesians. As in 2009 I had the opportunity to visit Ephesus during my cruise.

Last year I did very well with my Goodreads goal of reading 44 books. I started with 24 (2 per month) increased it by 20 when I had my surgery recovery time. I will end with 48...so, for 2012..I'm thinking a goal of 30 books. AND to limit my buying to one book per month for the Bound Together Group on Goodreads.

A while ago I had counted my book collection and it was close to 1500 books! Well, I haven't stopped buying since then...In December alone I bought myself 6 books and rec'd 2 for Christmas. yeah, this could be a bit of an issue.

(you're not a hoarder as long as you can store it right?)(but my books are starting to pile up)


Learn to REALLY Use my camera. I'm still pretty much at point and shoot mode. BUT 2 Peas has some really good tutorials. AND this year I will avail myself of them.

AND of course there are the scrapping goals. I haven't fully made them yet. Need to do an 'inventory' of which of my 2011 goals were done to get to 2012.

one thing I know, I need to get my Cinch out of the box and use it!! I bought it at the Expo in August...and it is still in the box!!


One goal I did make was to finish my dd's best friend's wedding scrapbook to give to her family as a Christmas gift...whew!!!






Another goal I've had is to 'pump up' my scrappin' style. As you can see, I tend to be very simple...pic, mat, pp, cs, embellie...done. I have the Elsie Recipe Cards...I should make using them to inspire a lo a 2012 goal, too. hmmmmmm

I'm home!!!

back from an 8 day trip to Tejas! Got to visit dd and her hubby in Fort Worth AND we drove down to Houston to visit my mom, sister, nieces, nephew, ex bro in laws...overall a terrific time. I LOVE Texas! What do they say? You can take the girl out of Texas but you can't take Texas out of the girl. I may have lived in CA for more than half my life...but Texas has my heart.

But too tired to post pics...oh, yeah, gotta download the ones from the trip.

BUT the kids did bring Missy to visit (my dgd)...she is soooooooo ADORABLE. Whenever she wanted me to direct my attention to her, she would ask "Grandma, do you hear me?"

Yup, the only thing Texas needs to be perfect is for my li'l Missy-boo to move there.

Good news, Shelby (our dog) has not had puppies and does not look like she is going to. First call tomorrow is the vet to get her fixed. phew!! that was a close one. My excuse for not knowing she was in heat in October, is we usually have our dogs fixed early...or they come fixed...she is our first female rescue who showed up..I just did not know the signs till it was too late. ANYways, I really would not know what to do with puppies. So, relief is the first emotion.

AND no more panic attacks or similar incidences. Even when a young mother with a toddler and an infant sat next to me on the plane. It wasn't so bad, but I did not get to do the reading I wanted to do. BUT I did get to hold the baby when she needed her hands free (like when the toddler spilled his water) and you know me, I won't complain about that!! THEN on the flight home, I was next to another couple with an infant....I'm just a baby magnet! It was fine, they outnumbered her and kept her pretty much entertained..and I kept my headphones on. I was on Virgin, and I love that li'l tv on the back of the seat. Watched a couple of episodes of Dexter (a definate guilty pleasure)(almost makes me wanna subscribe to HBO)

Well, my body is 2 hours ahead...time to 'kick it' on a couch with my cat. He does not 'hang' with my hubby, so he was really lonely the past 8 days. My poor baby. He did give me a bit of a scolding when I first walked in...some pretty loud Meows.

I'm a mess...

but I did finish and deliver the wedding scrapbook, I'll post pics later, after my trip to Texas for the holidays.

yesterday, I think I had a 'panic attack' or something. It was while I was on my bike, I noticed that my heartbeat was way fast...I mean way too fast even for a workout. It was scary, I did not know if it was a heart attack or what.

It's almost funny, the thoughts that went through my head at that moment...
first, "Okay, God, so this is it"..."Where do I want to go? Can't lay on the bed, cuz if Michael finds me there he'll never sleep there again"..."Okay, I'll sit on the couch so I can be next to Percy (my cat)"..."Oh, I hope I don't fall and hit my head".

Then came the fear..."Wow, I'm not ready" ..."What should I do?"..."should I call someone?".

gee, I did look up 'racing heart'...'caffeine intolerance' (I did have a pepsi in the afternoon) and 'panic attack'. If it was a panic attack, it will be my 3rd one since Oct. I do have a dr. appt in Jan...I'll discuss it with her then.

But all night it was, "am I breathing too hard", "is my heart beating too fast?", "is that numbness in my arm?"...you know, not sleeping, but thinking/worrying, so, of course I woke up with TMJ..thinking about it, I had TMJ Sunday night also.

BUT I leave for Texas soon, to spend the holidays with my dd and my Texas family...looking so forward to it...it will be a good time to relax.

gotta go, got a tummy ache...ya'll have a Merry Christmas!!

traveling, traveling...

Been traveling this past week. Went to Verdi for one of dh's company's annual meeting and Christmas Party. So, we got to stay at the Grand Sierra. I'm not 100% crazy about our room. It was nice, spacious (we got a 'tower' room) BUT it sure is dark.
ANYWAYS, traveling means not eating as well. BIG dinner at Charlie Palmer's on Weds night (had pheasant..it was good) and at the party...and fast food while traveling home. It was the fast food, KFC, that was not agreeable to me. When you don't eat fried food anymore...you feel it when you 'indulge'.

Of course when you come home, there is sooooooo much to do. I don't have a laptop, so when traveling I don't do much on the internet. Only when dh's is available to me. Which it wasn't this time, as he was in the meeting all day with it. Which on one hand is kinda nice..till you see your inbox. And I have 2 email accounts.

BUT I am getting dd's laptop for Christmas. Her dh got a ZOOM (I think that's what its called), she gets his old laptop and I get hers.

I'm up at 4am...started laundry, and the dishwasher. I've noticed a trend of waking up earlier and earlier. That is a part of getting older (er, more seasoned) isn't it? One of the dogs was 'woofing' and that woke me up.

I decided against the card I made...it just wasn't 'right'. I liked the pic, but not the background...so, I'll use storebought (I tend to buy a couple of boxes during the day after Christmas sales, so I have some). AND with the purchase of a few more gift cards...I'm done!! yahoo!!

Today, the main goal is to finish the scrapbook gift...and take a nap.

This year, I'm in charge of veggies and desert for the Christmas dinner. hmmmmmmmm

I got a nice bonus for Christmas. I've already spent half of it...I got myself the Nikon S6100 bundle at Best Buy. My old point and shoot was acting up. Now, I've got to teach myself this one...it is all touch screen. But I'm excited.

Our pastor asked us to bring our Christmas wish list to church on Sunday. I've started it...but sometimes it feels so 'trite' to write out your wish list. But maybe that is part of the exercise.

I'm thinking about Cathy Z's weight loss/scrapbook class on BPS. Maybe it will help motivate me to break this plateau. I'm also thinking Couch 2 5k. From what I am seeing, running is the best way to lose weight...and keep it off. But I guess that falls into the New Year's resolution category.

pictures, please

I've had a hard time blogging, cuz I'm having a hard time with the transfer of pics from camera to computer. BUT I'll get a bonus, so is a new Coolpix in my future?

I am going to do the Journal Your Christmas with Shimelle again...but...have not started. Yesterday I worked a bit on a Christmas card, I'm not 100% into it...gotta figure out how to 'tweak'. I only hand make a few cards, not all of them.



the t-shirt says, "What Santa doesn't bring me, Grandma will", ummmm how true.

BUT today, dh and I plan to make limoncello. Our tree is FULL of late lemons. BUT the thought of sitting around and 'zesting'...ugh. But you don't know till you try...right???

okay, hopefully after transferring pics...I'll post some of my tree for this year. I really like them!! But I like my tree every year. Decorating them is something I do enjoy. I limited myself to 2 this year...

learned something...

last night, ds and ddil went to his Christmas Party, so, I got a "girl's day and night" with dgd, Adriana. After church we went to Strings for lunch, a li'l Christmas shopping and visited a friend and her kids...very fun day. A nap did not work out, but she took a 'quiet time' on the couch while I did the treadmill.


Since I was spending the night, her mom gave us permission to sleep together in the guest room. And this is what I learned...

A person who sleeps with Adriana DOES NOT SLEEP!

Oh my, not just tossing and turning and throwing off covers...but flipping so her feet were in my face, sitting up and talking a couple of times...and at one point she even stole the pillow pet right from under my head!! (me: 'Hey, that's my pillow pet!"...her: "No, its mine"...me: "no, here is yours"...her: "okay" as she rolled over to go back to sleep) aye yi yi.

The good thing about sleeping with her...when she is in repose, she really does look like an angel. It is hard to not stay awake just to watch her sweet li'l face.

So, you know, after my Jenny Craig appt this morning, I promptly took a nap!!

very sad day

Today we said goodbye to our little Cassandra. For almost 20 years she has been a faithful friend to my dd and a joy to me. When we got her at the Pack N Save grocery store, she fit in the palm of my dd's hand. She was sooo playful and as she ran around she made her little motor noises, earning her the nickname "Cassandra the Squirrel". A couple of years later, Marshall (ds's cat) joined our family and they became best of friends. So many good memories of this little girl.

The past few years, she has been the 'cuddler' of the cats. Anyone who came into our home, she saw as a lap to make herself home in...esp if the visitor was wearing white. She is the one who put up with dgd, and let the baby pet her. Whereas the other 2 cats were not quite as friendly.

Cassandra Marky-Mokie (what can I say, a 6 year old did name her) will be missed. We love you little girl.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

for us it will be a mellow day. We are going to the bil's and they are doing it all. BUT we will do another on Sunday with my son and his family. He works today.


of course Thanksgiving has this calorie watcher thinking about calories and weight loss. Moderation is the plan...and lots of veggies. Small bite of desert...now, lets see if I can actually do it. I also need to exercise this morning.


also hoping to put up the Christmas tree today.

as far as the weight loss. Well, since my last post with pics, I have regained @10lbs. I hover around the 175 lbs mark. back and forth. I know what I am doing, I am not being faithful to the food plan...keep having li'l cheats and indulgences.

siiiiiigh. So back to square one. Time to look back and set goals and come up with a plan. NO GIVING UP!!!

Focus on food - log those calories. I find that logging my planned food in the morning works better for me than during the day or in the evening. I just don't spend much time on the computer during those times. AND knowing what my planned meals have, hopefully puts me in the mindset of not thinking 'oh this will be okay'...instead I'll know that that extra 100 calories or so puts me over.

Increase exercise - I've actually done pretty well with doing the 30 minute workouts on my recumbent bike. Nice to do when the tv is on...but need to do a little more. Don't know if I can do 20 min Wii cardio and the bike..but I guess I can try.

for 2012, I want to do the Couch to 5 k...think I'm gonna buy myself a stopwatch and quit making excuses.

I read a great book called "Who Switched off My Brain" about controlling toxic thoughts, so I may try keeping a journal as suggested. Maybe that way I can tackle the roadblocks in my thinking process.

I am happy about the 40 lbs lost ...but it has taken me 2 years to do it. I started November 2009...and these super long plateaus...well, they s*ck. But I know it is me. Not my genetics...not giving any excuses...it is me. I'm just too stubborn a cuss to do what I know I should do. Why sabotage myself like that? The only difference with this time around is I am not giving up.

Other times I would just quit and say this is not worth it....and regain and gain some more. I once did a modified Atkins...got down from 190 or so to 179...but after 6 weeks, had a taste of a warm dinner roll and I was DONE!!! No more counting carbs. Not only regained what I had lost...but got up to 215.

I've done it all in trying to lose weight even had a personal trainer come to my home...but the roadblocks were in me. And I guess that is the work I really need to do now. You know, I watch Biggest Loser and kinda think its so hokey how the trainers try to 'break down' the contestants...but now, I see that it is needed. I understood what Ana was trying to do for Becky and saw myself in how Becky resisted. (Becky is the older lady, right?) AND she irritated the heck out of me...so, I'm not gonna be like that anymore. My daughter always called me rebellious in this area...so, I gotta break that wall...and get healthier from the inside out.

whew, how's that for retrospection?? ha!!!!

do you sit or stand?

Why I stand while scrapping, uh huh, not necessarily by choice.





All my scrapping time has been spent on a wedding album for dd's bff. Whew!!
My room has been in this general state of disarray for a couple of weeks now.




I've finished the ceremony and am now working on the family and party pics. I'm working off of my own pics and those posted on fb...not the professional pics.

Do you make scrapbook resolutions...you know those projects you'd like to start/ finish during the year. I do, but I cannot seem to find it right now...siiiigh.

I think this year I will do a Journal Your Christmas. It will be my 4th year, but I do find that each year is different. to make it easier, I think I'm gonna use a Me and My Big Ideas 8x8 kit I picked up a couple of years ago at Michael's after Christmas sale. Keep it simple, so I can concentrate on the pics and journaling.

Okay, off to stand in my scrap room...hope to work at least a couple of hours this morn. May go 'shopping' this afternoon...not fun shopping...the essential type.

A day off, well from work at least

A day off! yay yay!! Wish I was heading to a showing of Breaking Dawn, but ddil and I are looking at going Monday. Hopefully, at least the kiddos will be in school and the crowds not so bad...we'll see.

This morn, I need to work on letters for a display ddil is doing at the church's minstry day...and work on the scrapbook for Jenn's wedding.

I might start a li'l online Christmas shopping. I have not done much to start Christmas and it feels w e i r d. I'm usually one of those who starts in Sept. Of course, with kids grown, it is all very much simplified. But the day after Thanksgiving, I'll pull out the decorations. I do a different color scheme every year...I'm leaning toward a blue this year. Oh, maybe a lime green. or blue and lime green....oooooooh! that could be cool.

I have a Bunco get together tonight. Not sure if enough gals are going, but if not, we will hang out...eat the goodies and watch Bridesmaids instead. Still sounds good. I'm looking at bringing something sweet, as there are a lot of 'savories' already signed up for. Pulled out my Prairie Girl cookbook...I'm sure I'll find something good.

So, off to start my busy day off...!!!

this weekend.

yesterday, there was a Celebration of Life for Michele's grandson. It was very well done, moving, sad, ...that young man touched so many lives. He will be missed.

I found out that Michele will be moving closer to me. That is one major regret, that I live so far away that he did not know me and I did not know him. I knew of him, but we never really connected. I get to see Michele and family about once a year, but that is not enough. During high school she and I were connected at the hip, and her family was my family. I am Aunt Karen to her son, but did not have the opportunity to truly get to know his son...and it was my loss. Not his, he had a great life filled with love and joy. Sounds like he was a great kid, full of spunk and character.

So, when the kids asked me to babysit my dgd in the evening, you KNOW I said YES! Time is the only thing we can never get back. And I do want to spend as much time with the people that are important to me. So being able to hang out with the Missy-boo is top of the list. Daddy gave her chocolate after her nap, so she was a bit hyper...I got videos to prove it. But she was so much fun. Such a li'l stinker.

The other evening, when I took her out for a movie and pancakes as we were pulling into IHOP, out of the blue she asked me, "How is your sister?". "She's fine". Then "How is my sister?". "Well, she hasnt been born yet...do you want a sister?"...she thought about it...."Hmmmmmmm, No!". Okay, random, but okay!!

don't know how to title this.

I got my pics...since the Coolpix wasn't talking to the computer, but the D3000 was...I just put the card in the D3000. yay! and duh.

But I also had devastating news Sunday Afternoon. I don't feel it is right for me to post about it, but if you think about it please pray for my friend Michele and her family. I won't see them till this Sunday, please pray that I am able to be of comfort to them.

I've never known how to help people thru tragic times. You want to say the right words, but there are no words. I just feel her pain. I got to talk to her yesterday, and she was being so strong...so brave, I'm the one who started choking up ..and cried after we hung up.

Frustrating Saturday,

ughh! I cannot get the pics on my Coolpix to transfer to the computer. So, not a good way to start the day.

I then spent the rest of the day with Cassandra (my elderly cat)...I think she has had a relapse. She did not eat much yesterday...so I gave her half a valium this morning. Hope she eats today.

I'm not seeing any throw up or diarreha...oh, I want to do the right thing for her.


I did get the chance to clean my scraproom in the morning. Is it a reasonable goal to do a wedding scrapbook before Christmas? Guess I need to just dive in and try.

Since I was in the backroom with her, I did get to watch some of the shows I dvr'd while on my trip. Once Upon a Time and Biggest Loser and ANTM...oh! so happy with ANTM, my least fave...Bianca and Alexandria were taken off. I was on the fence about Kayla...she has become so 'one note' this season. My fave is Laura and Alison...so, we'll see how they do.

okay, one more attempt at the coolpix...wish me luck!

Aloha!

Dh and I just returned from an 8 day trip to Maui...absolutely wonderful, except for the mega sunburn across my chest. At least it happened our last full day there.

I'm having some trouble downloading from my Coolpix, but here are some pics from the D3000.

from our balcony at the Hanua Kai resort on Kaanapoli



Trying to capture the sunrise our first morning during a walk on the beach



Sunset on in Lahaina, while waiting for the Feast of Lele luau...



Miguel, our extremely charming waiter at the Luau...




Honomanu Bay during the Road to Hana, our last stop, as we needed to make a Zipline appt.



Zipline pics are on the coolpix...but here is Ho'okipa State Park, where a parasailing competition was being held on our way back. Unfortunately the winds were not high enough for the competition...This is also a famous surfing spot.




I loved this jeep...it had a bumpersticker that said "Do Not Feed the Hippies"

emotional week

I've had my pics from the last crop ready to post, but the week has been a rollercoaster of emotions.

Started out great, got to see the dgd Monday and Tues. Tues, they were here for most of the day, as their carpets were being cleaned. BUT Tues I noticed our 18year old cat was throwing up and 'squirting' from her bottom, and not touching her food. Just like the cat we lost 2 years ago. Oh no. So, I took WEds off thinking I was going to have to put her down.

But, when I woke up Weds, she looked so 'lively' in her eyes...I took her to the vet, and since dh won't pay for full tests and such...it looked bad. BUT I could not do it, not while she had so much life...and she was climbing all over me at the vets. So, we decided to treat the immediate symptoms.

Long story short, she is responding to the medications. No more vomiting, she is eating, and still diarreha but no longer squirting uncontrollably. She was even playing with her toy last night. Is this a long term fix? I don't know. But it is so good to see her back to her 'old self'.

Sept was a blur...hopefully Oct will be good, also

Sept was a blur...dd was down for her bff's wedding. Dd was Matron of Honor, so that meant she was running around with the bride and I did not get to see her. The bride also had a Maid of Honor, Dd says that Bff has always said she wanted both girls next to her...and it worked out really well.




this past weekend was an all day crop put on by a friend...it was a fundraiser for JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) It was from 8am Sat to 1am Sun...and I was there the whole time. She had it at the church I go to, and I was the church 'liason' so to speak. We don't normally allow our facilities to be used for nonchurch events, so there needs to be a church member 'in charge' of the facilities.

Anyways, it was great. The friend did a great job, she got great raffle prizes from around the community and scrapbook companies. There was also a silent raffle. Because there were about a dozen women there, many won multiple raffle prizes. I won 4...and that seemed to be the average...I got a 'foot detox' from a local salon; set of Bazzill shaped cardstock (which I'll split with my sis ); Fancy Pants 'Beach Bum' paper set (perfect as I'm going to Hawaii soon) and a $20 gift certificate for a local CM rep. And from the silent auction, I won a scentsy wall plug with 2 bars of fragrance...and a full sized basketball hoop (got that for my dil).

(okay, I have pics but my mouse is having issues...aye yi yi)

I got a LOT of pages done, finished Pompeii and Santorini (Greece) from my cruise 2 years ago. BUT at crops, I tend to get them down on paper, embellish very little, so I need to go thru and finish any journaling and embellishing.

I'll post pics, as soon as I solve the mouse issues. ha!

scrap spaces...

On 2 peas is a thread about scrap spaces, including pics. I don't think I have any pics of my set up...but in this pic from last August's Expo you can kinda see it. I'm the empty space in the left bottom of the pic.

Last weekend's crop I took this



Its an AutoExec collapsable file tote made for cars. I used it to pack my tools and put it on a chair next to me to keep everything at hand. I love that it is collapsable for storing at home, that you can configure it with the velcro'd walls and that it has a cover for transporting it. It kept my gypsy, punches, stamps, cropadile, a couple of magazines...and my travel journal and Rick Steve's all within reach. It isn't tall enough to transport paper, but I kept the 'kit' I was working on in it.

I've got another crop coming up on Oct 1st...yay! I do love to crop. I don't bring a lot of embellishments, I figure if I get the base page done, I can embellish at home.

Maybe I'll think to take a better pic of my space set up. ha! I do have a li'l crop buddy, a plastic karate smurf. He fell in my bag once...and he's been going to crops with me ever since.

wanted to post pics of my sis's scrapspace

to the 'untrained eye' it may look insane, but once you know my sister's organization, its a scrappers paradise.


This is 'my side' when I visit...love the middle island with the goodies. She is one who takes her scraps and premakes tags and such, she keeps them on a lazy susan in the middle and I was using them!! An idea I'd like to start doing.




this is her corner, I like how she has the corkboard so she can see all the embellies for the album she is working on. She had her Costa Rica trip out, so she had all her beachy summery embellies out. Under the desk are all her Iris containers filled with embellies organized by theme.

I don't organize by theme, but I do like her system. I tend to organize by type.




This is the 'tool' corner. Including her cricut create.

My sis does not go to crops, she has everything she wants at her fingertips. I LOVE going to her place...I usually just bring pics/ papers/ adhesives and I am set.

I do try to not use too many of her consumable embellies...unless she gives them to me....but I know how I'd feel is someone using my room used up my fave Primas or something, you know. She has been teasing me, that she is going to start charging me a scraproom 'use fee'.

Next June we are planning to go to the GASC Arlington, then to her place to crop.

Hope it works out!

just back from Houston..

Spent 5 days in Houston visiting family. I was esp hanging out with my mom, who is 79 this year...and so at her house there was no internet access for me. My sis usually leaves me a laptop and her code for the wireless...but, this year the laptop had issues. I never got it to work. So, also took the week off from internet. Not Bad. I remember a friend had a no internet Sunday policy. Stepping away from the computer can be a good thing.

So, as you can guess, I scrapped and read. My sis has an outstanding scraproom. I took pics, so I'll post more later.

I finished Nothing Daunted. Good idea to take it to the airport. It's not a bad book, just a li'l hard to trudge through the history. But when she told about the gals and their adventures, it was quite interesting.

then I read, Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Killer. Oh! I really enjoyed it. Now, it also was filled with historical facts, but the way the author wove it into the story, made it interesting. I actually thought the book was going to be tooo'campy'. but found it fun and interesting. I even started to 'buy' the theory, but reminded myself 'photoshop' everytime there was a pic.


then I read, The Winter Sea. I could not put it down. literally, the first day I read 260 pages out of @560. I had to tell myself to put it down so I'd have something to read at the airport. It was sooooo good. Another with history, but so ingrained in the story it was interesting.

gotta go, the dh is pacing, we gotta go to work.
have a great humpday!!!

a quarter of a century...

my 'baby' is a 25 today!

I am soooo proud of her. She has grown up to be one terrific young woman. and let me tell ya, that wasn't always the 'prognosis'. She came out of the womb, ready to 'rule the world'. Let me tell you, she was one strong willed child. I had 2 books at my bedstand, The Strong Willed Child and Dare to Discipline. I would tell myself, "God has a reason for making her this way, its a good thing, its a good thing...." AND Lucky for me, it is. So all you parents of strong willed children, my ds and ddil included, I'll just say...they are not easy to raise, you can't parent with the 'lay down the law' style...you have to learn to come alongside them and help them to channel that will to the positive...but it is SOOOOOOOO worth it!!

one last post...

after tomorrow night, I'll be living at my kid's house with my granddaughter...4 nights and 3 days of wonderfulness. But I'm thinking I'm not going to have a lot of time to be on the computer, or read, or scrap...and I'm gonna be one 'pooped' out grammy.

Here she is doing twirls and modeling the latest tu-tu skirt grammy bought her. teehee...and her parents agreed, she will start dance school in Sept! yay!!!



so, I think I'll finish the tour of my house. taadaa, the master bedroom and bath. IF I were to build another home...I would not put this area right next to the great room. That being said, me love my bedroom. The walls are a color called Wet Concrete, a real grayed down purple...my dd really does not like this color but ...what can I say, I love it. The bedding and curtains are in brown tones.



I read somewhere to not have pics of family in your bedroom, can affect the 'mojo' so to speak, so I have the art I picked up in Italy up. Since I looooooooved Italy, and would looooooove to go back. My dream is to eventually put one of the fake fireplaces in there, to make it extra romantique.




The master bath continues the Wet Concrete color with the tub highlighted in the next shade lighter, Victorian Mauve...the tiles are gray and a luminescent purple. They were a special order...one side like grape, the other with an inner sheen. AND I also found some celtic tiles on Ebay. Oh! I did not take any pics of the bathroom that day..

but here is another one of the master bedroom...with Percy in his favorite spot

finally unpacked!

here's a pic of the materials from that Faber-Castell class...of course, I went online and bought more of the gelatos (really cool chapstick like pens that have a metallic color you can blend).


and here is one from the jewelry class...


of course, I bought supplies to make more...let's just say all the women in my family are getting a necklace this year. Already made my mom's, with some sunflower paper and just a touch of fine glitter.

And I have been scrapbooking and cardmaking also. Lots of events in August, birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and baby showers.

YOu know what I've discovered? I simply don't have many stamps and supplies to make anniversary cards. Ya'll have any ideas? I've been looking around a bit, I esp like Stampin Up stamps (still like the wood)...but just did not see much.

Oh! and at the Expo I bought a Cinch 2. I've been seeing these online for $105...but got it for $75.00 and they also had 5 wires for $5. And guess what, yes, it is still in the box! Maybe I'd better make it a goal to play with it a bit today. Today is pretty free.

Until this evening, GOTTA watch the Glee Project finale. I like all of them but Alex. I'm still upset when Alex was being such a bully to Matteas and having that 'diva' attitude. I simply hate bullies. Okay, I hate bullying. I know bullies are people too and often act out because of their own pain...and I should have sympathy for them as people. BUT it is tough...cuz I just hate what they do. Growing up half Japanese in the late 60's and 70's in Houston, yeah, I had first hand experience with bullies. I like to think that the experiences made me stronger and more sympathetic to those who are 'different'...but sometimes, even at age 50, I still feel some pain and sadness. Oh well, gotta use the emotions as a reminder to pray for those people. I still remember their names...Tracy, Richard, Jeff, Humberto, Scotty....isn't that funny, I can tell you the names of my childhood bullies. I remember their last names too, but won't post them.

Expo!

how fun, is there anything better than an Expo Weekend. This is my once a year treat. 3 days of cropping, 2 days of shopping (one hour VIP) and staying at the Hyatt.

This is Alexa, she joined us for 2 of the 3 days...she was sooooooooo good!



I took a couple of classes. I'm at the point where I am looking for technique classes as opposed to page classes. My 2 classes this year was a jewelry making class and one sponsored by Faber-Castell that was filled with techniques for blending colors and using other mediums. AND I actually won a door prize! A gold and a silver PITT artist pen. whoot whoot!!!

Got a lot done. Roomed with and sat next to Nancy...who is the group's Gypsy 'guru'...so, she gave me lots of tips. That Gypsy is terrific!!

So, I'm still not fully unpacked. Been working, and did get a lot done yesterday, but just this last bag for today.



Today, I need to make some cards! It is ds and ddil's anniversary today, my sis's birthday on the 25th and dd's birthday on the 28th. DD turns 25 this year. I am exactly twice as old as her! ha!!

leaving for the Expo! and my scraproom...

I leave for the Expo this afternoon! I'm all packed, I've been all packed since the weekend, but always have that feeling I'm forgetting something...siiiiiigh. Looking so forward to going. yay!!

I'm doing all 3 days of cropping, 2 classes..and well, a li'l shopping! ha!!

So, we are on my favorite part of the home tour. The room that makes all non-scrappers go pale. Even scrappers, like my friend Michele, tend to get a li'l dizzy. My scrapspace. ha!!



I chose violet walls because I read somewhere that it was the color of creativity. topped it with pale blue ceilings and ikea cabinets and that wonderful ribbon curtain I found on Ebay. I LOVE this room. It was the one room that dh had absolutely NO SAY...so I made it completely my own. teehee



The above side of the room was originally designed to be my mom's sewing center. I was only supposed to have half the room. And 6 years ago, that would have worked, as I did not have much 'stuff'. BUT the first time my mom moved out, I took over her half. and never looked back...ha!!



To the right of my scraproom is the in-law suite. Designed for my mom. She came to live with us when the house was built. She would do 6 months with us, 6 months with my sis. Then a couple of years ago, she moved out permanently...to an undisclosed location. (she is in hiding from another sis) ANYways, family drama aside, all I can say is that she no longer lives with either one of us.



So, once she moved out permanently, this area became my she-cave. I do my exercise in there and, what can I say, scrap stuff started to spill over. Oh my, is that old bakers rack filled with cricut??? teehee.


I LOVE the paint color in there, it is from Ace Hardware called Drenched in Dew, the ceilings are a pale yellow...and the black furniture was my sister's ...my mom brought it with her when she moved out here. We got the bamboo flooring at an auction. gorgeous.

Oh No! is that china cabinet filled with more scrapstuff!!!


teehee

here is the bedroom portion of the suite. My mom is Japanese, so this room was decorated with that in mind. The curtains are from Ebay...the walls & ceilings are painted SW Restrained Gold.



this accent wall was done in a treatment called Oriental Silk...an orange color with a glaze on top. LOVE it...the furniture was my moms. My sis calls it 'early bordello' teehee.



last room in this wing, besides the pantry, is the suite's bathroom. I was going for a 'country' look with the sink and wainscotting on the walls. The color is Champagne Ice, a pale peach. I read somewhere that it was complementary for the complexion and I figured a woman in her 70's could use it!! ha!! This room also features a wall of my collection of Anne Geddes prints.



okay, we are done with this wing of the house. All that's left is the master bed/bath.

Sorry if the pics are a li'l dark. I just took my camera around the house one morning and did not do any 'staging'...just shot what was there.

more of my house tour...

Last night, I got to babysit Missy-boo for a couple of hours. Mom and Dad went to an Open House at a local preschool. They are considering having her go for 8 hours a week. Pooh. I truly believe all babysitting should be done by grandma. Except grandma works 3 days a week. The kids are in the process of starting a business and the 8 hours would be a good time to put some quality time into it.

BUT, this afternoon, they are having a conference call...so, G'ma and Missy are going out to run errands and to go out to dinner. (not good for my diet) but good for me!!
She has discovered the word, MINE!!! teehee. She proclaimed my doggy-bag was hers. It has cartoon drawings of puppies...and a multicolor zipper...I use it to take my non-refrigerated foods to work.

On Thursday, they got to babysit me. I ride to and from work with DH, he was running late to an appt, so he dropped me off at their house. (I did not want to sit around and wait. Of course, I LOVED it. teehee. They can babysit me ANYtime. ha!!

So, continuing my house tour....from the Princess Room you make a right turn and you are in the laundry room. In the original plans, this would be a wall shared with the garage. But we took those drawings, added a door...and created a laundry room, instead of a laundry corner in the garage. We added another door at the other end of the room. It has the potential of being a pass thru between 'wings'.

The color is a big compromise with dh. I wanted a passion pink or tropical blue, but those colors 'scared' him...so I went with the spring green and (gasp) a white ceiling (only 2 rooms have them)...the cabinets are Ikea. The floors are cork, which I just LOVE. This is also the cat room, with boxes and food, so the floors are perfect and durable for that type of abuse.




on top of the cabinets are my blue glass and beanie puppies collections.

As you leave the laundry room, you enter the most used 'wing' of the house. You can also enter this section from the breakfast nook. This was originally a 3 car garage, but we drew into it an office, pantry, scraproom and in law suite.




The office is the most used room in the house. Esp for dh. Originally it was going to be his 'man cave', but my computer takes up half the room. We talked about moving me out, but then we would never see each other. The desks were built by his friend who used to own an exhibit company. In the corner you can see a log used as the leg. They are way cool. DH chose the paint color, a color called Thyme...I chose the khaki ceilings and the window treatment. Dogs playing poker...cuz the room was getting too serious.


(the chair by the door is Winston's...no human had better try to sit there...ask ds!)




We are getting close to the scraproom...but saving the best for last! ha!!

not much time...

for scrappin, but I have packed pics, pp's and embellies for the 3 day crop at the Santa Clara Expo! happy dance!!

But tomorrow, Saturday, hope to do the last 2 days of the colour/color class.
Finish a lo I've had on my desk...and do a li'l journaling for my weight loss book.

Then will need to finish packing for that Expo.

Had my Jenny Craig appt...their scales show a small loss...mine showed a slight gain. So, guess its a wash. I am having so much trouble eating according to plan. I just want to eat what I want to eat. I'm not binging, just not staying true to the plan. BUT doing the cardio has not been a problem. I so enjoy my Wii.

My consultant recommended I log everything...to hopefully keep me more accountable.

So, what to do at the Expo? I can bring non microwave breakfasts and lunch...but a li'l more difficult with dinner. Drink lots of water, bring Jenny snacks...and watch my portions when we do go out. Take an hour to hit the treadmills? Walk the floor a lot...teehee

Did get this done for the blue lo at color/colour..not cray about how I embellished...but its a start.



also played around a bit with ATC's...had the paper left over from a kit that had these vintagy/chalky ads. I think I used pretty much every bit of that pp.



and last but not least, part of a cricut page swap at Splitcoast...so made a couple of these for a kid's birthday theme...gonna do a couple of pages with Hello Kitty, and I'll be done, and able to mail. Made myself an extra of the Elmo for Adriana's recent birthday as she loves him.


At the crop I plan to work on another splitcoast swap, some ATC's to swap...and I took dd's trip to New York (gosh, was it in 1999?), my trip to Florence/Sorrento (from a cruise a couple of years ago) and pics to finish Adriana's book of 2010.

did I mention its 3 days..I'm sharing a room with a friend at the Hyatt...taking a couple of classes. AND we've got a table reserved (actually 2 tables) for our group. yay!!

I LOVE that little girl!

got to spend a couple of hours with dgd yesterday. Her parents wanted to do a conference call...so, we walked to a Mexican restarant for lunch. Then we hopped over to the McD's for $1 ice cream sundae (I did not have any). She is soooo silly and smart and STUBBORN! Of course, to g'ma...that is adorable!! After McD's we walked to the Savemart and bought everyone treats. I let her sit in the cart, cuz she's a 'big girl' and as I was putting stuff into the cart, we would say whose treat it was. Mommy got hawaiin rolls, Daddy got a bag of cookies, Grammy got a gallon of milk...then we went down the ice cream aisle. As soon as I put my Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches in...she proclaimed "Ad-jianas!"..instead of the 'r' sound she makes more of a j sound. Um, okay grammy will share. I then put 2 boxes of Klondike ice cream sandwiches, (one for Papa and one for her family) and she still proclaimed the Skinny Cows were hers. So much fun!!

We did not walk home, I called the kids to come get us....I was exhausted!!! When I came home, I put the tv on and immediately fell asleep on the couch.

Oh! wanted to post more pics of my home...kinda started it a while ago. This is what we call the guest wing of the house. With 2 grown kids, we have unused bedrooms. And except for the bathroom, this is pretty much the least used area of the house.



We call this room the Texas Room. LOVE that quilt. It's just an inexpensive quilt from JC Penneys. I had that quilt on J's room when we were selling the old house. My dd, C told me, "I hope you aren't using that quilt in the new house". I told her, 'don't worry it won't go on the bed"...teehee. Nowdays, the room is used when we have young men staying over. Or Kids. I LOVED putting dd's now husband in that room when they came to stay, as he is an Okie. ha!!

There are 3 colors in that room, 1 brick red wall, 2 brown walls and a khaki ceiling. The floors are gunstock, just a li'l different than the wood floor in the hall (like I said, if it has a door, I'm going for it) I wanted to do a paperbag treatment on the long wall...kinda make it look like leather OR shingles on the long wall and put tin siding on the ceiling...to try to create an outdoor porch feel. But, a li'l too much work, and I'm happy with this.


Next to it is the guest bath...I picked the sink first (a decolav from Lowes) and the rest, came after. Found the blue glass tile on Ebay. This is the 'spa' room









The paint is Lowe's Morning Fog...both walls and ceiling...but different sheens, so the painter called it 2 colors. humph.



I love these perfume prints...also found online, I think All Posters. The frames are ikea.

Next is the Princess Room. Originally it was going to be an all white room. Then I fell in love with that Caribbean Teal color. At first, whew!, it looked way too strong. BUT once the chrome bed, white linens, dark dresser went in...it came together. And I used cherry for the floors. It was my mom who dubbed it 'the princess room'.



Now it is our main guest room, as it also has the nicest queen sized mattress. It is also the room dh and I use when we sleep separate from each other. (only when one of us is sick, we have a rule, no sleeping separately in anger.

And as you can see, dgd is kinda starting to take over...good thing Tinkerbell's colors go with my color scheme pretty well. teehee.




We'll start with the next room at another date.