Odd week

No new picts to share today, but I'll have some soon of Rusty Pickle projects. It's a gloomy, rainy, dreary day here...yuck! I had an odd week last week. I felt pretty crappy for most of the week. I just couldn't seem to get over that stomach bug, but I'm really hoping I turned a corner. We also had the weirdest weather. One day it was over 50 and the next day we had a thunderstorm. Next thing I know it's sleeting and then we got a couple inches of snow. It was all gone the next day. Iowa weather is just strange!

I had some fun mail last week...got my April Paper Posies kit (yum) and my March CARDS goodie box. I LOVE to get packages in the mail because it feels like Christmas. I've even told Glen to go box up some of my stuff and put it out front for me just so I can open a package. He hasn't done it yet. HA! Guess I'll just have to keep buying stuff then. :)

Glen and I had a date night Friday. We haven't been out together in the longest time. We went to Carlos O'Kelley's for Mexican and then went to the cheap theatre to see Never Back Down. I'm a huge action movie fan and this movie had plenty of it plus some tasty eye candy. :) The bad guy in this movie plays the 'bad' vampire in Twilight so it was almost like getting a sneak preview of what he's going to be like. We came home and watched Casino Royale again. Love me some James Bond!

Saturday morning, I felt yucky so I slept in and then got ready to go to my parent's house. I just went home for the night. It was nice to spend time with my family. We went out for supper and then stopped by my grandma's really quick to say hi. I also went out with my sisters for a couple drinks and to dance as there was a band up town. I saw a couple high school friends, which was fun to catch up. Sunday, I spent some more time with my family and then went out to see my other grandma and grandpa. I was home by about 6:00. Glen and I watched Legends of the Fall last night. When that movie first came out, I was obsessed with it! I really fell in love with Brad Pitt in this movie and even wanted to name my first born son, Tristan. HA! :)

So today, I need to head to the gym and do some cleaning. It's amazing how my house can fall apart when I leave Glen home! :) I also have some scrap work to do.

Have a magnificent Monday! :)

So thankful

I don't have anything particularly provocative to share today so I decided it was time for a post of the things I'm thankful for since it's been a while that I have posted one. I think it's a good idea to do this every once in a while for a little perspective and to appreciate the little things in my life. I'm finally starting to feel better too (thank goodness!). Oh, and I just thought of one more thing...Idol was great last night! I LOVED David Cook! I'm sorry but the guy is just in a different LEAGUE! On to my list...

1) Spring weather - it's supposed to be in the 50s here all week!

2) New scrapbooking supplies - I have been trying to limit what I buy (have to watch the budget and all) but I couldn't resist a few goodies that have been released from CHA. The new Sassafras Lass is sooooo cute and I love the new 7gypsies collection.

3) Adoption miracles - I read a fabulous book last week that my aunt gave me called Treasury of Adoption Miracles. I bawled through the whole thing. Seriously. Each story just touched me in some way but there was one in particular that made me sob. There was a story about a couple who couldn't have children. The husband especially wanted a little girl that had blonde hair and dark eyes like his wife. They decided to adopt from Russia and got a call that they had a little boy waiting for them. They went over there and the orphanage told them there was a mistake. They didn't have a little boy, but a little girl. When they got to meet her, the man was startled. The little girl looked exactly like his wife - blonde hair and dark eyes. This story made me cry because Glen told me early on when we were dating that he could picture us having a little girl that had my blue eyes and blonde hair. This story gave me hope that it might still happen! :)

4) A clean kitchen - Of all the rooms in our house, the kitchen is the one that gets cluttered the easiest. There's nothing like walking through it and having it sparkling clean. I've been trying really hard to have discipline in cleaning up the kitchen.

5) Exercise - I've been trying extra hard to keep up in this arena of my life by running and hitting the gym. I have so much more energy and stay healthier when I exercise. The benefits are worth being sore or feeling like I'm going to pass out. :)

6) Being able to live vicariously through others - It has been a thrill for me this week to see pictures and video of the filiming of Twilight. I've been reduced to a squealing, giggling mess of a fan girl. *drool*

7) Iced caramel machiacto from Starbucks - Now that it's warming up, I'm going to treat myself to one of these. Lots of calories, but once in a great while won't hurt anything.

8) Great movies - I'm a movie fanatic! I love just about any type of movie - action, comedy, romance, you name it! About the only type that I don't like is horror, but I do like a good scare every now and then. I've been especially thankful to discover RedBox - movie rentals are only $1 a night. You can't beat that! I've been renting movies like they're going out of style. A couple recent favorites were We Own the Night and August Rush.

9) A kiss on the cheek - Glen leaves before I do in the morning. If I'm still in bed sleeping, he'll give me a quick kiss on the cheek before he goes out the door. It's such a little thing but it makes me feel very loved. Awwww! :)

10) Good friends - I have a couple of friend "dates" in the next few days. Coffee Thursday night and lunch on Friday. My friends are extremely important to me so I make time for "dates" like this alot and would do it more often if I got the chance.

Enjoy your Wednesday! :)

Happy Easter!

Here's another card using Upsy Daisy Designs products. My Easter plans didn't happen. I woke up yesterday with a stomach bug so I spent the day on the couch. I thought I was feeling better last night but this morning I seem to have relapsed. I think part of my problem is that I am dehydrated. Sorry for the short post but I'll update again when I'm feeling better! :)

A Sunshine Day!

Yay! It's the first day of spring and it's gorgeous out! I went for a walking workout last night. I call it that because I'm huffing and puffing by the time I'm done and it's not because I'm out of shape. I walk really fast and up hills, etc. Now that the weather is warming up, I'm going to start incorporating 2-3 walking workouts a week besides my gym time.

Idol was on last night and I have to say I'm totally disappointed that Amanda went home. I would have loved to see her on the tour. Kristy Lee has to go! I'm looking forward to Lost tonight and the new show that's on, Mis-Guided. I watched the preview the other night and it was hilarious. I LOVE the actress that stars in it! I can't think of her name but she's been in tons of comedies.

As promised here are a couple Upsy Daisy Designs cards using the Ice Cream Shoppe line. I have another card to post but I'll wait until tomorrow with that one. I just got all the new lines in the mail and I can't wait to start playing with them.

Yesterday might have been the day of bad luck for me but today I've had butter fingers. I was half asleep this morning trying to get Glen out the door. I was putting his lunch together and reached in the refrigerator to get out a big bowl of strawberries. I discovered too late that the lid wasn't on tight and dumped the entire bowl on my kitchen floor. Those were darn good strawberries too and I had a sticky mess to clean up. I also managed to dump half of my Bare Minerals make-up on my bathroom vanity while I was getting ready this morning. I tend to be a clumsy person but good grief! I'm hoping for a smoother rest of the day.

Finally, I'm saving all the goods for another post but I have absolutely been drooling this week over pictures that have been surfacing from the filiming of the Twilight movie. Holy cow! I've been squealing and giggling ALL WEEK! Someone is supposed to be posting amazing photos by this weekend so I'll direct you there when they're up. Let me just say as a teaser that if you're a fan and were ever in doubt of Robert Pattinson as Edward these photos will change your mind 100%. Robert literally oozes the perfection that is Edward and that's just from the photos...I haven't even heard a word come out of his mouth. I've also seen photos of the filming with both Edward and Bella and there is so much chemistry there it's just not funny. If I was Kristen Stewart, I think I might develop a little off-screen romance with Robert. I'm sorry if my Twilight talk is too much but you're going to hear me talk about it until at least December when the movie comes out. You might as well read the books so you can keep up with me! :)

Enjoy your Thursday! :)

Miss Grumpy Pants!

That's me today. I'm trying to have a better attitude because I know life could be much worse, but I've had a bad day thus far. I woke up late and with a headache and I have a sick husband. Anyone who's married should know a sick husband = a big baby. :)

Okay, so I'm running late to work but I'm in a pretty good mood so I start singing along to the radio not really paying attention. Too late, I see a cop and at the same time look at my speedometer. Crap! The cop points at me and turns on his lights. Double crap! I pull over and with shaky hands get in the glove box to get my insurance card and registration. He tells me I was going 47 in a 35. He takes my stuff and goes back to his car. At this point, I'm trying really hard not to cry. I've never had a speeding ticket before. I had a warning once when I was in college but that's it. He gives me my ticket and it's $90! As soon as the cop leaves, the tears start to fall. How traumatic! I called Glen and he's like why didn't you start crying as soon as the cop came to your door - it might have worked! I just laughed. I was more mad at myself than anything - I felt so stupid. I think it was a wake up call more than anything that I need to slow down - it was humbling moment that's for sure.

On a brighter note, I got two cards picked up for the August issue of Cards and I sold some scrap stuff on Craigslist. Too bad all that money is going to my ticket! :(

I'll post some picts tomorrow of my March Upsy Daisy Designs projects. Here's to a better day!

Grrr...

No offense to anyone in the insurance industry, but why is it you always get the run around when you call about something? For the past month, I've been trying to get an Affidavit of Health Insurance coverage for the adoption agency but have had no luck. I hope I'm finally getting somewhere. I can be nice to a point and then when I'm not getting anywhere...look out! :)

Here's my newsletter projects with the March Paper Posies kit. I had a lot of fun with the Love Elsie camera paper. I'm really looking forward to working with the April kit - it's Pink Paislee!

I've had a busy last couple of days and an even busier day today so I'm off! More soon...

Have a terrific Tuesday! :)

March Paper Posies

One of the most fun design opportunities I have is working with Paper Posies kits each month. It's one of the things I get to do - just for me. I love the mix of products Anna puts together. This month had products from Making Memories, Love Elsie and Daisy D's. As soon as the monthly newsletter comes out, I'll be sure to share my other projects with you.

I had a bit of a fun mail day yesterday. I placed an order with Tattered Angels and it came! I am totally in love with Glimmer Mist so I restocked on Coffee Shop and ordered a few new colors. I also got my hands on their new Glimmer Chips and they are fabulous! Very high quality and Victorian-looking. I can't wait to make some projects.

I'm finally starting to feel a lot better. I'm still not 100% but I'm thankful I wasn't REALLY sick in the first place. I have to go into work to finish my radio programs today and then I'm off until next Wednesday. I don't normally work on Friday's and Monday's, but I needed to use a vacation day by the end of the month and Tuesday's are my easiest day. I'll pretty much spend Friday and Saturday scrapbooking between loads of laundry and some light cleaning. My goal is to finish our adoption paperwork for the home study this weekend. I've been gradually working on my essay questions and Glen is finally home enough to work on his. I'm also planning on attacking our office (soon-to-be nursery). It's a disaster! As soon as the paperwork is completed, I need to turn my attention to thoroughly cleaning our house for the home study. This means doing things like cleaning the basement - yuck! Cleaning the office has a dual purpose though - I need to sort receipts so we can do our taxes. Let's just say I'm hoping for a very productive next few days.

Happy Thursday! :)

So Simple!

Just wanted to share a scan of the March/April issue of Simple Scrapbooks magazine with you this morning. That's my Summer Market layout on the bottom of the page with a really nice write-up about Des Moines and my hometown, Exira. I was super thrilled to get a page picked up for this mag especially since I don't really consider myself a simple scrapper. (By the way, you can click on the photo to see a larger image.)

Got a busy day ahead with work and cleaning when I get home. I have some projects I need to work on in my scrap room and then Idol is on tonight. Can't wait to see what the top 12 has in store for us!

Have a great Tuesday! :)

Seriously sick.

Well, I wasn't able to shake the sore throat ick that I picked up last week and it's now migrated to my sinuses and my chest. I sound fabulous. If I can keep from coughing, I should have a nice husky radio voice for my programs this week. *wink*

Had a great time with my sisters this weekend. They wanted to run some errands so we went to the mall for a bit. Despite not exercising for the past week and half, I've managed to drop a jean size which totally made my day. I also got the cutest white slip-on shoes which I won't be wearing until the snow melts and it dries up. I always manage to spend way too much $$$ when the girls come to visit.

It was a big weekend at my church! Internationally know Christian author and speaker Josh McDowell spoke on Sunday. We had an amazing turnout in our new building addition. And, I'm finally excited to say that I have my hubby back. He's been putting in insane hours at the church every night and weekend for the past 6 weeks working on the technical stuff - audio/visual, etc. all in preparation of this past weekend.

My sister, Jen, and I went with a high school friend of mine to see Nicole C. Mullen at another church last night. Nicole was fabulous! Her concert was full of energy but had these amazing and humbling moments. I cried several times!

This weekend I did some work on the March Paper Posies kit which I'll share soon. I also have projects from Upsy Daisy Designs to share. The project above is one I made for Rusty Pickle using my favorite French Market line and a wooden plaque I had in my stash from Hobby Lobby. I've had some good scrappy news lately - some projects picked up by Paper Crafts and Home & Heart.

Have a great night! :)

Seriously.

If it snows one more time, I think I might pack up my stuff and head south. I am so sick of winter! I've been sick the past few days. I finally got the sore throat ick that other people have had so I've been taking it easy and resting up. But today, I have some scrapping to do. Both of my sisters are coming for visits this weekend.

Here's a simple card I made using Upsy Daisy Designs London Blush line.

Have a fabulous weekend! :)

A tease

Today it got up to 63 degrees. I went to church without a coat and by later this afternoon, the temp dropped to 35. I'm so sick of cold, yucky weather! Bring on spring!

Here's a project I recently made with Rusty Pickle's Island Summer line and scalloped acrylic album. This one was really fun!

I've had a busy yet relaxing weekend. My hubby took me out on a date Friday night. We went to see The Other Boelyn Girl which was fabulous. Saturday I taught at Memory Bound in the morning and then took a nap when I got home. I worked on some Upsy Daisy Designs projects that night. I've got a busy day tomorrow as we're hosting small group at our house. I've got cleaning and laundry to do and I need to head to the gym.

Have a great week! :)

News from Upsy Daisy Designs!

I've got lots to share from Upsy Daisy Designs! Amanda released 4 new lines for CHA. My favorite of them is Cupcake (I have one of the papers pictured here). To see all the lines, just click: Cupcake, Vroom, Flutter, Tweet

Amanda is also looking for two new design team members. Click here for details.

Finally, visit the new Upsy Daisy Designs Blog for contest information and design team projects. I'll be posting something new on the blog this Friday.

I had an insanely busy weekend. My grandpa and grandma celebrated their 50th anniversary with a huge party. It was fun but a ton of work. I went to the state tournament yesterday with my family. We went out for breakfast first and then went downtown. I saw tons of people I went to high school with. It was an exciting day but the team ended up losing.

By the way, if you're local and free this Saturday I'm teaching again at Memory Bound. I'm teaching two classes this time around.

I haven't been feeling the best the past couple days. I've been having headaches, an ear ache, the chills and stomach issues. I felt really bad today so I came home early from work to rest. Glen has been sick for about the past month so I'm hoping I won't get what he's had. I can't believe how bad both versions of the flu are going around.

Have a great night!

a couple cards

*** card removed for publication***
Here's a couple cards I created in the last couple of days using Rusty Pickle's French Market and School Daze lines. I think of all the Rusty Pickle products French Market has to be my absolute favorite. I love the rich colors and it matches my kitchen perfectly. I started working on a project using this line last night so when I get it wrapped up, I'll post it.

Watched American Idol last night. Some of those guys can really sing-loved the rockers, Michael Johns and David Archuleta for sure, the dreadlock guy was really awesome. Can't wait to see the girls tonight.

It's like -7 here this morning. I'm wearing a light blue button up shirt today and trying to think it's springtime. When it hits 40, I 'll think it's a heatwave. :)

Well, off to write and record my radio programs.

Have a wonderful Wednesday! :)

I let out an actual squeal this morning!

I'm giddy with excitement! Today during my morning visit to the Twilight Lexicon, I came upon THESE pictures!!! If you haven't gathered it by now, I am pathetically obsessed with the Twilight series - reading and re-reading the books and reading and re-reading tons of fan fiction - all in the name of waiting until August 2nd for the release of the 4th book, Breaking Dawn, and the release of the Twilight movie (as of right now in mid-December). Never in my life have I been so drawn into a series of books. If you haven't yet read these books, please do yourself a favor and READ them! So, if you're wondering what the pictures are above, they are photos of the newly cast Cullen family in all their vampire glory! Let me just say, MAJOR hotness on the part of the male Cullens and if you've come to know the characters on the intimate level that I have you would understand why I'm so excited. Photo #2 has them all looking very predatory - makes me wish I was the piece of meat they were stalking! LOL! :)

Anyway, enough teenaged-girl gushing from me today! :) Major news on the hometown front. My Exira girls' high school basketball team has made it to the state tournament! Very exciting for my little town of 1,000 people. I have the day off Monday so I'm definitely going to the game. I feel as though this win has been building since my days in high school - not that I was on the team, of course - but I was cheering them on with my fellow cheerleaders!

I've been working on some projects for Rusty Pickle the past couple days so I'll be posting them soon....one project I was especially pleased with! I just thought the Cullens deserved the glory today. HA! :)

Have a terrific Tuesday! :)

YUMM-O!

Just when I think the Pickle can't get any better, they go and release these! Yes, folks, those are rub-ons in all their glory! (Someone on 2peas posted this photo to their flickr account so I swiped it for my blog.) Can't wait to get my hands all over these!

Did you have a good Valentine's day? My sweetie got me a gift certificate for a pedicure which was a nice surprise since he doesn't normally do things like that. I watched Lost (and called my sister in between commercials about 4 times) and did some computer work. I have an uneventful weekend ahead which is fine with me. My Saturday plans got postponed so now I'm free to clean and catch up on some scrappin'!

Happy Friday! :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Well, I seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth after my last post. We have been super busy! First things first, here's the last two sneak peeks of Rusty Pickle's new lines for CHA. The first one is called White Chocolate Bunnies and it's a new take on the Chocolate Bunnies line. The other line is called Pop Star and it's a fun black and white doodling line designed by the fabulous Rusty Pickle Chef, Rachelle Minett. Each paper is named for the characters in High School Musical...how fun is that?

We worked on our video project that's helping pay for our adoption and had video shoots all day Friday, part of Sunday and Tuesday. We're only halfway done shooting it too! Videos are hard work especially when you're trying to do them the right way.

I've slowly been working my way through my scrap room cleaning and organizing. I'm trying to get rid of a lot of stuff I just don't use.

Last night, I took a Zumba class with a friend of mine from work. It's a Latin inspired cardio dance class. It was sooooo fun...I didn't even realize I was working out although I was sure sweating enough to be burning a lot of calories!

I'm totally pumped about American Idol...the top 24 are amazing this year so it should be a good season! And my favorite show Lost is on tonight...yay! Thank goodness the writer's strike has ended because I have been missing Grey's! I guess it's a good thing I haven't been holed up in front of the TV with the strike but I do try to multi-task while I'm watching my shows!

Well, have a great Valentine's Day with your sweetie! We're not going out tonight because the restaurants will be too busy so we're celebrating next week! :)

Under the Stars

Here's another Rusty Pickle sneak peek for our new line called Under the Stars. I love the possibilities with this one - camping, fishing, traveling, hiking, anything outdoor related, Father's Day, etc. Love the colors in this one!

I finally made it to work this morning. We got 8 inches of snow and they weren't recommending travel when I woke up so I did some things around the house. The roads were still crappy when I drove in. Better get busy...I have much to do as today through Saturday are insanely busy! :)

Stay warm!

Praise the Lord!

First of all, our formal adoption application was APPROVED! At this point we have a ton of paperwork yet to do including 10 pages of essay questions that Glen and I BOTH have to fill out. We need to have physicals and go to the police station to be fingerprinted. I'm overwhelmed with everything we have to do but so thankful we made it past this step!

In other news, the first picture you see here is a sneak peek of Rusty Pickle's new line called Gametime. Yep, it's that time again! CHA is this weekend in Anaheim and I'll have sneak peeks for you all week long!!! The muted browns of this line are great for other projects other than sports-related. If you want to keep up, be sure to visit Rusty Pickle's blog (www.rustypickle.typepad.com) this week.

I've also included a photo of a card I made using the Island Summer line from Rusty Pickle. Love the fun colors of this line! I'll tell you what...I wish I was the hula girl on this card right about now. We are getting hammered with snow and have more on the way. I'm so ready for spring!

Have a great night! :)

A fabulous weekend!

Love me some Rusty Pickle Petit Cherub! If you haven't seen this line, it's fabulous! Why? It's for baby boy, baby girl and gender neutral - you're completely covered if you purchase this line!

I had a very productive weekend which isn't over yet for me since I don't work on Mondays, but I had plenty of time for fun too! My sister spent the weekend with me and she was a big help. We caught a matinee on Friday AND Saturday. Friday was 27 Dresses - absolutely adorable movie! I definitely want to own this one since I'm a sucker for romantic comedies! Saturday was The Bucket List - good movie but kind of depressing. I did some not-so-fun cleaning in my kitchen. Organized and cleaned out some cupboards, cleaned out the fridge, that kind of thing. I also spent a lot of time in my scrap room. I decided to completely purge and clean my room. I have kits and paper, etc. that have been sitting around and I know I'm never going to use them. My room is getting a complete overhaul! I'm going to sell lots of scrap stuff on Craig's list (hopefully) and put it all toward adoption expenses. I've got some pretty good stuff I'm selling for way cheaper than what it retails for so if you might be interested in checking out what I have, let me know! Sunday, I reluctantly watched the Super Bowl (actually I just stayed in the same room as my hubby and sister and surfed the Internet!) I wasn't feeling very well yesterday afternoon and evening so I just hung out and rested and went to bed early. Oh yeah, Jen and I also rented a couple movies (can you say movie marathon weekend?) - Waitress (which was phenomenal) and In the Land of Women (this was pretty good...it had Meg Ryan (who I love), Adam Brody (a total cutie) and Kristen Stewart (who is playing Bella in the upcoming movie, Twilight that I can't wait for). All in all, a great weekend and I actually got some things done.

Have a great Monday! :)

Yikes! I'm up late!

I haven't shared a layout in a while so here's a new one from me using Rusty Pickle's Snowflakes & Mittens line. I also used some fabulous Rusty Pickle chipboard and beautiful vintage German glass glitter that I picked up at the Rose Mille in Stillwater, MN last fall. We take a photo together each Christmas so I always make up a layout and add it to our Christmas album. I think I'm all caught up now! I'll be sharing some more Rusty Pickle soon as well as the February Paper Posies kit.

This week has been pretty busy. I moved offices at work today. I've gone out to the movies, had Bible study, watched American Idol and then planted myself in front of the TV tonight to watch Lost. I also finished our formal adoption application on Monday, which was very exciting. We both have physicals scheduled and are awaiting to hear of our approval. If you want to pray for us, here's a few specifics you can be praying about: 1) approval of our formal application; 2) for financial provision (we're starting to pay as we go step by step); 3) for preparation of our house for our home study (I need to do some deep cleaning); 4) for wisdom and time to work on our video and scrapbook (I need to make 4 duplicates of our scrapbook that will be shown to prospective birthmothers). Thanks for all your positive thoughts and prayers! I'm planning on spending the weekend cleaning and organizing my scrap room so I can get started on that part of the process. You might also pray that I have a productive weekend! :) My sister is coming to spend the weekend with me and help out. Of course, we're going to have some fun too...we're probably going to catch a movie!

Have a great weekend! :)