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... :(

Bye until next week!

I probably won't update my blog from the road as we're heading out to Florida in the morning. I hope we have a good time because the last few days have been awful! I threw my back out Sunday morning and have been almost flat on my back. Sitting hurts the worst. I'll be going to the chiropractor again in the morning. I've also been having trouble with symptoms related to Celiac Disease. We looked into canceling the trip but we wouldn't get a refund so we're going no matter what. I'm ready for a break and hoping that sitting on a plane will go okay.

See you when we get back! :)

Paper Posies, Part 2

Here are the rest of my projects using Paper Posies May kit. This was such a fun kit to work with! I'm excited to work with the June kit this weekend - it's full of Pink Paislee and K & Company.

Whew...it's been a busy week on TV! I was soooo happy David Cook won American Idol!!!! I really thought David A. would win it because of the way seasons have gone in the past. This time I think America really got it right. David C. was so much more polished and professional and completely original. So thrilled for him! I was crying when he was singing his last song. I was also happy that Kristi Y. won Dancing with the Stars. She was sooo good the whole season. I watched some of So You Think You Can Dance last night. Love that show! We went to see their tour in Minneapolis last year and it was fabulous. This is a show I look forward to every summer. The other show I'm planning on watching is The Bachelorette. I think the last show I'll need to watch is Lost but we'll be gone so it will have to be when we get back.

I've been super busy at work. In fact, I'm heading there shortly. I have to do two weeks of radio programs for when we're in Florida (which is why I'm working extra). Isn't it crazy how hard we work to go on vacation? And I'm not just talking about work, but at home too. I always like to have the laundry done up and the entire house clean so I can come home to a clean house.

This weekend will be very crazy for us as well. Tonight I'm going to crop til I drop by myself and hopefully be very productive. Saturday (and this is very newsworthy for me) we have the first part of our adoption home study at 10 a.m. It's at the adoption agency so nothing at our house yet. It's only supposed to take an hour so it shouldn't be too bad. We're excited to get things moving. Saturday afternoon and evening we have a wedding in Ottumwa so that will take most of the days since it's a 2 hour drive there. Sunday I'm working in the church nursery and then my youngest sister is coming to stay overnight and help me clean for the home study. She's broke so I'm hiring her to help me. I'm also hoping she'll go swimsuit shopping with me. I also have take meals to 2 different families on Sunday that just had babies so I'll be busy cooking.

Well, I better get my day started. I'll probably blog one or two more times before we leave next Thursday. Enjoy your holiday weekend! :)

Paper Posies - Part 1

Here's the first half of my projects using the May Paper Posies kit. Our 3rd celebration is still going on if you want to stop by the message board for a bunch of fun challenges! I'll post the other half of my projects later this week.

I had a wonderful weekend. We went to see Prince Caspian Friday night - it was fabulous! I've had the opening date for this movie on my calendar for literally months. It was a lot more violent than the first one but the special effects were better too. I'm already looking forward to the next one but it doesn't come out until 2010. I should probably re-read the second book as I think I did that after the movie came out. We also went out to dinner at Applebee's before the movie. It was nice to have a date night! Saturday was a busy day that ended in getting dressed up for an outdoor wedding for a couple from church. It was a beautiful night for a wedding and then the reception was held in our new church addition. I had an absolute ball at the reception! I love to dance so I was on the dance floor most of the night shaking my groove thing! A couple of the guys in our small group like to dance too so I was dancing with them and their daughters. Glen doesn't like to dance but I did get him out there a couple times. Sunday was a pretty low-key day.

Over the weekend, I spent quite a bit of time out on our deck lounging in the sun and reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer (author of the Twilight books I'm obsessed with). I finally finished it, but I definitely want to re-read it. I was bawling by the end. Stephenie is such a beautiful storyteller. She has this amazing way of making you fall in love with her characters. I definitely recommend this book - it debuted as #1 on the NY Times Best Seller List!

I have a busy week ahead! We have small group at our house tonight and another wedding on Saturday night. I'll be working some extra hours this week. I need to fit in a shopping trip and do some cleaning, work on scrap projects, and there's a bunch of my shows ending this week. Sounds like a tough life, huh? :) Well, I'm off to get busy...much to do today!

Update

No new photos from me today but I'll share some work soon. I've been busy trying to take care of me the past few weeks. I finally got results back from my blood test and the doctor is suspecting Celiac Disease. For those who don't know what this is, it's an autoimmune disease that causes damage to your small intestine when you eat gluten. I will be having a biopsy of my small intestine to confirm this is what I have. CD can come on at any time in life and you can have it but not be showing symptoms. I've been having quite a bit of anxiety when I eat anything because I don't know if it will make me sick or not. It's also been difficult to make plans because I don't know how I will feel on any given day. I also managed to get strep throat last week but am feeling so much better now.

My sisters spent a couple nights at my house over the weekend. They're both poor college students so I hired them to help me deep clean my house in preparation for our home study that will be coming up soon. I got a lot done but still have a lot left to do. I honored my mom for mother's day last weekend so Sunday was pretty low-key for me. Mother's Day is actually a very painful day for me so I didn't go to church. There was a baby dedication at church which is really the main reason I didn't want to be there.

Well, I guess that's about it for now. We're getting super excited for our Florida trip in two weeks. I had to rearrange our travel plans a little bit and now we're staying in Orlando the first three nights and going to Disney World. Then we'll drive back to St. Petersburg and stay on the beach. I'm looking forward to lots of sun and relaxation. I have a bit of shopping to do before we go. I want to get a new swimsuit and I still need some shorts. :)

Have a great day! :)

Hmmm...

I haven't been feeling the best the past couple days. I had the worst migraine I've ever had yesterday and ended up with a migraine hangover today. NOT FUN! Here's my projects with the April Paper Posies kit...had a lot of fun working with this kit! I'll have projects from the May kit soon in time for the 3rd anniversary celebration.

I had to do a little shopping this weekend because the majority of my spring/summer clothes don't fit. I've dropped 3 sizes since last year. It makes me feel great but my wallet has taken a bit of a hit. My silly hubby said I should just put on more weight...he seriously wasn't thinking when he said that! :) I'm still trying to find some shorts that are decent especially in time for our trip.

Well, that's about it from me today! I have some deadlines to finish up before the end of the month, which is yes today.

And Shay, if you check my blog again I put a reply to your comment in my last post. Thanks! :)

YES!

I'm posting today with FABULOUS NEWS! I'm sending the last of our adoption paperwork to the agency today!!!! Now it's time for us to focus in on getting our house ready for our home study. It's a good time to be spring cleaning anyway.

Lately I've been trying to hold off with sharing every single bit of Twilight information on my blog, but this video I have to share with you. Click HERE to see a video released through MTV that is a promo put together by Summit Entertainment, the production company behind the movie. It's about 4 minutes of Twilight HEAVEN! Seriously. I might as well camp out in the theater when this movie comes out because I'm going to have to see it again and again. Every theater that is showing the movie might want to be equipped with oxygen masks and drool rags.

I had THE best mail day yesterday! I got my issues of March/April Paper Trends and a great goodie box. The May Paper Posies kit came in the mail as well. We're celebrating our 3rd anniversary and this kit is full of Prima! Be sure to stop by the message board for lots of challenges and fun prizes during the month of May. And finally, I just got my hands on ALL of the new Rusty Pickle! Can I just say the rub-ons are to die for and perfect for cardmakers like myself! The paper lines are also DELICIOUS! I can't wait for some play time.

So, I bet you're wondering what this photo is about, right? Well, come May 29th that will be me on the beach at The Alden Resort in St. Petersburg, FL!!!! Glen and I are taking a little babymoon and spending a week in Florida. We'll be at this resort for 4 nights and then we're heading to Orlando and going to Disney World. We're sooo looking forward to this trip and feel incredibly blessed that this opportunity came about. We need to get away. In July we're also celebrating our 5 year anniversary and we always said we wanted to take a big trip so this is what we're doing!

Anyway, enjoy your Tuesday! I'm pumped about American Idol tonight!

Tweet

Here's a new card using Upsy Daisy Designs new line, Tweet. I love the colors in this one - blue, brown and a lime green.

I've been feeling "okay" over the weekend. Friday was a bad day, and morning seems to be the worst for me.

This weekend I attended the Just Give Me Jesus event at Wells Fargo Arena. Anne Graham Lotz spoke at the event and it was totally FREE! My sister and a couple of her friends from college and my aunt all came and stayed at my house. Anne's message was very simple and straightforward. After her talk, she invited the audience to join her around the platform to accept Jesus into their lives. I, of course, was crying as literally hundreds of women gathered around her to pray. It was seriously one of the most moving moments of my life to see all those women become my sisters in Christ! When I was going through a particularly rough patch in my life, I read a book by Anne called "Why?" As in, why do bad things happen - natural disasters, diseases, relationship issues, etc. It was a powerful book that really spoke to me so I'm glad that I was able to hear Anne speak in person.

Well, I better get moving. I have tons to do around the house today and errands to run. By the way, I have a new headshot of myself for my blog. I needed some pictures of myself for other things so I decided to update my blog and avatar pictures as well. Glen and I had a little photo shoot! :)

Have a great Monday! :)

Flutter

Here's a card using the new Flutter line from Upsy Daisy Designs. When I first got married, I was totally obsessed with butterflies so I'm excited to see how popular they are becoming in scrapbooking supplies. The chipboard butterfly I used is from Scenic Route. I used Ranger crackle paint on it and then spritzed it with vintage pink Glimmer Mist before I inked it with Ranger walnut ink. I also used some vintage lace and a vintage button that I got at an antique store.

All of my test results from last week came back okay so now I'm going on to see a specialist since I'm still not feeling up to par. My appointment is next Thursday.

Glen and I had a fun night out last night. We were Mystery Guests for The Cheesecake Factory! We basically get our meal paid for and fill out an online survey afterwards. It's a cheap date night and who doesn't love that place?

All for now! I'm off to work.

:)

Vroom!

The new Vroom line is available from Upsy Daisy Designs. This line is soooo cute for little boys and has some fun colors in it for other projects. Loved working with it!

I had a fairly good weekend! I got caught up on some projects and got our taxes done! Yippee! Such a good feeling to get all that done. I made sure to rest up as well and actually got my appetite back. I had a bit of a set back today, however, as I slept really poorly last night. I had to get up to take Glen to work this morning and ended up going back to bed for a while because I felt so yucky. It was absolutely gorgeous in Iowa today so I went for a long walk and just enjoyed the sunshine. I know it did me good! Not much new from me otherwise - I'm just hanging out watching Dancing with the Stars right now.

Enjoy your night! :)

What a week!

Well, my week was shot to heck pretty quick after my last blog post. I was SICKER than a dog and barely left my bed or the couch. I finally went to the doctor on Wednesday and had some tests done. My blood pressure was super low - only 94/48 - which might have explained why I was dizzy and so lethargic. We originally thought it was my thyroid but that came back okay. I'm waiting on some test results but the good news is I'm starting to feel better. I also went to acupuncture yesterday and I know that made a difference. I can tell whatever it is I'm going through is definitely hormonally-related. I just want to feel like myself again! I started on some herbs too so hopefully that will help. I can tell they gave me a burst of energy. So since my week went to heck - I'm extremely behind on everything! I got caught up on some DT assignments and have about three days to get our taxes done now. Yikes!

I'll post some more work soon - I have projects with the April Paper Posies kit and Upsy Daisy Designs projects using the new lines as well. Here are a couple projects for Rusty Pickle using Chocolate Kisses (on the card) and Island Summer (on my layout). Good news - had some cards picked up by Paper Crafts for their Card Creations 6 issue. I was in this issue last year and it's definitely one of my favorite special issues they've done. Can't wait to see this one in print!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! :)

Lovin' it!

The weather, that is! Holy cow! Saturday was the most glorious day of 2008, by far! It was nearly 70 degrees here. I was outside a lot and had the windows open in my 4 seasons porch all day. The breeze blowing through was delicious!

I had a somewhat busy weekend. I took off Thursday after work to head to my sister's apartment in Maryville, MO. I spent a couple night with her there and then came back Saturday morning. We had a good time together. Sunday was a crazy day! I worked in the church nursery (had some screamers this time around - grr), then had a baby shower and finally, young adult fellowship. Glen and I made some headway on adoption paperwork and we're almost done!

Today I have a lot of my agenda - gym, cleaning, laundry, scrapping and I'll hopefully get to our taxes - yep I'm such a procrastinator. We also have small group tonight.

Here's to a productive Monday! :)

Oh, and here's another Rusty Pickle card using the Grandma Pickelicious line.

April Fool's!

I'm sorry but I think April Fool's Day is about the lamest holiday ever! Maybe it's because everyone I know tries to trick me in a very lame way. Take for example, my husband...this morning he tries to get me out of bed by saying it's a winter wonderland outside. Then he comes back and says it's 9:00 (I have to be at work by then). I mean, seriously...did he really think I would fall for it? :)

Well, I didn't make it to the gym yesterday. I was Gloomy Gloomerson all day but managed to get a lot done around the house and errands run. I felt better about myself because I was so productive. Watched Dancing with the Stars and the Bachelor last night. British accents just make me melt! :)

Here's a new card for you using Rusty Pickle's Grandpa Pickelicious line. I used a tracing wheel on this one for some faux stitching.

I'm trying to wake up this morning. I was up until 1 a.m. reading Chicken Soup for the Adopted Soul and bawling through the stories.

*smooches* :)