Yay! It's over!

Here's a fun little shabby card using the White Chocolate Bunnies line from Rusty Pickle. Love me some pink and brown!

We got through our home study just fine! I'm so glad it's over. We absolutely crashed last night! We almost went out to eat but then decided to grab some Quiznos and a movie. We vegged in front of the TV and watched Jumper (and then went to bed early). We should know of our approval in a week or so. The next step is to be working on our scrapbook and video profile and applying for grants. So we still have a ton of work to do but at least this part is fun.

Well, I need to start getting ready for work. I took yesterday off so I'm going in today. I'm looking forward to some scrap time, a date night and a birthday party for my 5-year-old cousin this weekend.

Before I forget, make sure you head over to the Upsy Daisy Designs blog to throw your name in for some Sweet Slumber goodies in honor of Amber's new baby boy!

Have a great one! :)

Home Study TODAY!

Just a quick post this morning...our home study is today at 3:30. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers today! I'm off to do some last minute cleaning! I'll be back with more tomorrow!

Paper Crafts Gallery Idol!

I had a couple friends over Friday night and got some projects done! I decided to throw my hat in the ring for Paper Crafts Gallery Idol and since I can't post my cards here, I'll link you to them.

PC Gallery Idol Hey Girlfriend! card

PC Gallery Idol Friends Forever card

You could enter as many cards as you wanted to in the first round with the theme friendship. The top 20 will be announced a week from today. There's a ton of talent in the gallery but I decided to give it a shot. You never know, right? :)

And I wanted to share a new card made with Rusty Pickle's Pop Star line. I actually got out the watercolor pencils on this one!

I'm off to clean (which is all I do these days!)

Summer Reading!

Good Sunday morning to you! Another quick post from me today....what's up with that? :) Yesterday, we got the garage cleaned up and I did some work inside. Today, we're working on the basement and then my mom is coming this afternoon to help on the rest of the house. We're getting there slowly but surely. I'll be glad when Thursday is over with!

I added a new set of links to my sidebar last night while I was unwinding. Ever since I was a little girl, I would spend the summers reading a ton of books. My sisters would literally have to drag me outside to play because I was engrossed in American Girl and The Babysitters Club. In college, I didn't read as much because I was reading enough as it was for school. Since I had an English minor, I did get to read some really good books especially in my American women's lit class. So starting with The Host in May, I've been reading a lot again. I soak up books like a sponge. The links I've added are all books that I've already read. You should see my list of books that I want to read! :) And for some reason, I've been really drawn to young adult books lately. The ones I've read are extremely fun and witty reads. Of course all of my summer reading is passing the time until my most anticipated book of the summer comes out on August 2nd - Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. I have been waiting literally a YEAR for this book! I'm already planning on going to a midnight release party at either Border's or Barnes & Noble and then staying up ALL night to read it. Anyway, if you're looking for something to read check out my list!

And, here's a masculine birthday card using Rusty Pickle's Under the Stars line. The colors in this one are fabulous!

Fun Coffee Day!

It's a gorgeous Saturday morning and I'm about to head out and clean my garage. :( I'm finishing up fun coffee Saturday - Glen and I always get a cup of what we call "fun" coffee on Saturday mornings (like a latte).

Just wanted to share a couple new Rusty Pickle projects using the Chocolate Bunnies line. I love that it's the perfect colors for baby boy projects. I have had three good friends have boys in the last month so I was busy making boy stuff!

Enjoy your day!

Lots going on!

Life has been super busy for me lately. Glen and I are working on preparing our house for our adoption home study on the 26th. It's pretty overwhelming! Once that's over, we will be working on our scrapbook and video to show to potential birth mothers.

I had a biopsy of my small intestine last Friday to confirm whether or not I have Celiac Disease. I should know the results by the end of the week. I was pretty much out of commission Friday and Saturday.

Had a scary thing happen in my family last week - my 13-year-old cousin was one of the Boy Scouts at the camp in western Iowa. It was awful waiting to hear the news from my aunt that he was okay. I talked for over an hour with my cousin (his sister) the next day. We're the same age so we're pretty close. It was a very traumatic experience for him - the boys had to run toward the tornado to reach their storm shelter. Tyler was okay besides a scratch on his leg. The Boy Scouts were extremely brave and administered first aid to those who were hurt - doing exactly what they were supposed to. I'm so thankful he's okay!

We had a busy day yesterday doing an all-day video shoot for work. I crashed when I got from it - I was so exhausted!

Here's a couple cards using the Cupcake line from Upsy Daisy Designs and a ribbon kit from Savvy 'n Sassy. I've been itching to be creative so hopefully I'll be able to do some crafting soon.

Well, I best be doing something with my life today. I'll try to post again soon. We would appreciate your prayers for our upcoming home study!

Disney!

Mmm... don't know what's up with these pictures but here's a couple from Disney. Okay, so after laying on the beach for 3 days, we decided to trek up to Orlando. We stayed at the Buena Vista Palace which was a beautiful hotel, and I don't think I've slept in a more comfortable bed. The hotel was right near Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island. Let's just say there was a big convention going on that made it possible for me to be the only woman in our hotel. It was comical to say the least! *wink* We went to Magic Kingdom the first day and it was just that, magical. This was my very first trip to Disney and I felt 5 years old all over again. I'm seriously the biggest crier and as soon as I saw Cinderella's castle, I started crying. I have never wanted a little girl more than when I kept seeing these adorable little girls all dressed up in their princess dresses. We went on several rides and saw a few shows. We stayed for the parade and the fireworks which I absolutely bawled through as they were completely choreographed to music about wishes and dreams. For someone that's only thought about her wishes and dreams for the past 5 years, it was an emotional moment for me.

The second day we visited Animal Kingdom and went on the African Safari and saw the Bug's Life 3-D show...both of which were amazing! Other than that we just walked around. It was extremely hot while we were there. We finished the day by visiting Epcot which I just loved! It was very fun going from country to country. We had a margarita in Mexico and a beer in Germany! :) Donald Duck also told me to call him in Mexico! HA! We finally got our pictures taken with all the characters in Epcot. Glen kissed Minnie Mouse on the nose and I'll never let him forget the difference between Pluto and Goofy. Yep, he messed that one up! Easiest thing to keep them apart? Umm...how about checking Pluto's dog tag? :)

After Epcot, we got spiffed up and walked through Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island before we absolutely crashed for the night. The next morning we drove to Clermont to see Glen's aunt and uncle and then headed for home. We drove almost all the way to Nashville before we stopped for the night. And then drove from Nashville to good ole' Iowa the next day. Now, the funny thing is we had PERFECT weather the entire trip UNTIL we crossed the Iowa state line. As we rolled into Bloomfield, the tornado sirens went off so we had to take shelter in a gas station for 20 minutes. The electricity was off and everything! I was shaking so badly as I've never not been home when I needed to take shelter. But, all was fine and we continued home! We missed all the crazy weather in Iowa while we were gone and luckily did not have water in our basement or anything.

Well, I best be getting busy! I'll be back with some projects soon! :)

An ER visit, 2800 miles and a tornado later...

we're back from Florida! :) My life is usually not without drama and the past week and a half has definitely not been an exception. Thursday the 29th (the day we were supposed to fly out) I ended up in the ER for dehydration due to complications from my Celiac Disease. I got an IV with fluids and some meds for nausea and I felt so much better. When I've been really sick before, it seems like I just need a boost of fluids and then I'm fine. Rather than completely lose out on all our money, we decided to drive to Florida instead because our hotel at St Pete Beach was not until Sunday. So armed with Icy Hot patches for my back and some meds for nausea and cramping, we were off! We drove 12 hours to Nashville, TN on Friday and then 12 more hours to Lake City, FL on Saturday. Driving down there was pretty awful, I must admit! Georgia was such a long state to go through. We went through Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and then Flordia to get there. It was neat to go through some states we had never been through and the drive between Nashville and Chattanooga is beautiful! The morning we woke up in Nashville I was pretty sick again but we decided to keep on trucking down south.

A 28 hour drive later...we finally made it to St. Pete Beach Sunday afternoon around 2:00 only to find the resort did not have our reservation. Glen and I were nearly hysterical laughing because we felt like we had been through hell to get there. It took about a half hour to get things figured out before we could check in. We brought our things to our room and immediately got ready to hit the beach. I can't even begin to describe to you how beautiful the beach was. The water was a perfect blue color and the sand the purest white. It was warm but not humid and with an awesome breeze. Basically once we got to the beach, our days went a little like this...wake up when we want to, put our swimsuits on and grab a beach tote, get a private cabana, slather on the sunscreen, lay there, maybe get up for a dip in the ocean, lay there. I kept looking around thinking "This is the life!" I read and read every day we were there and got through 3 books - P.S., I Love You, This Lullaby and The Other Boleyn Girl - all of which I strongly recommend. Eventually, we would get some lunch and clean up for the day. Then take a nap, eat some dinner and walk along the beach at sunset. By the second day, I was kind of feeling like maybe I was too bored with nothing to do. We almost took off for Disney the third day but then decided that maybe we could handle doing nothing a couple more days. Seriously, we are go-getters on vacation so for us to stop and not doing anything was almost an anamoly. We did go for a drive to St. Petersburg and spent some time on the Pier and we also drove up the coast to Clearwater Beach. Our resort was really nice so I feel like we chose it well.

I'll post more tomorrow about the rest of our adventure to Orlando and back home. Here's a sneak peek of my top 3 highlights - 1) Being the only woman staying in our hotel...hmmm. 2) Getting hit on by Donald Duck. 3) Taking shelter as soon as we got in Iowa.

I'm still trying to catch up on laundry, unpacking and the 300 e-mails in my inbox. If you e-mailed me, I promise to get back to you soon! Back to real life... :(