Local Rusty Pickle Classes!

Good morning! If you're local, I just wanted to let you know about some upcoming Rusty Pickle classes I that will be teaching at Memory Bound in Ankeny on Saturday, January 26th.

Pictures of the 3 classes are posted on their website (www.memorybound.com) - it's going to be a Rusty Pickle Saturday!

Treasures of my Heart is my first class of the day from 9:00-10:30. We'll be creating a 2-page layout jam-packed full of techniques!

Designing with Details I is my next class from 11:00-1:00. This class will create 5 cards using a variety of details to give your cards an extra handmade touch - all of the techniques taught can be incorporated into scrapbook pages.

What I Love About You is a mini album class that uses Rusty Pickle's new Chocolate Kisses line and the chipboard scalloped album. Again plenty of technqiues and the album can be used for a spouse, significant other, friend, family member or maybe you just want to show how much you love chocolate!

It will be a fun day so be sure to get signed up! I'm super excited to share my love of Rusty Pickle with you. I'll have two more classes on March 1st - Designing with Details II (lots of sewing in this one) and a Spring banner that uses the Chocolate Bunnies line!

More to come soon...

Holy Molasses!

First of all, here's a couple projects I made with the December Paper Posies kit that I forgot to share and for some reason they didn't get added to the PP gallery. The layout picture is from Christmas 2005. We take a picture of the two of us each year and I make a layout and add it to my Christmas album.

Now the reason my post is titled "Holy Molasses!" is because I stepped on the scale this morning and as of early this fall, I have lost about 20 pounds! You should have heard the scream I let through the house! I am 1 pound away from the weight I was on my wedding day! I have literally been working my butt off at the gym 3 times a week and eating way less along with better food choices. I used to be able to sit down and eat lots of sweets but now after just one cookie, etc., I start to feel sick. Yay! When the weather starts to warm up, I'm going to start running/walking outside again and add in a couple more workouts a week. You have no idea how good I feel! I feel victorious because the weight I put on was because of our infertility treatments. It's really been part of the healing process for me to lose this weight. As I'm getting older, I'm really starting to feel health conscious. Obesity and all the trouble that comes with it - high blood pressure, heart problems, etc. runs in my family. I want to be the picture of health so I can avoid all those problems. Anyway, just had to get my excitement off my chest (and my stomach, thighs, butt, etc.)! HA! :)

Have a great Saturday!!! :)

Discipline

As I have in the past two years, I chose the word "discipline" to be my word to work on for 2008. The year before that was "joy" and the year before that was "hope."

Here's the dictionary's definition:
dis·ci·pline
1. training to act in accordance with rules; drill: military discipline.
2. activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; training: A daily stint at the typewriter is excellent discipline for a writer.
3. a set or system of rules and regulations.
4. to train by instruction and exercise; drill.
5. to bring to a state of order and obedience by training and control.

Areas of my life I would like to discipline and how I want to do it:

1) Spirtually - daily prayer and devotional time; keep a prayer and/or gratitude journal
2) Physically - work out at the gym 3x a week; start running in the spring and run the 5k at the 4th of July; make better food choices (i.e. not as much fried food and junk food)
3) Mentally - don't spend as much time in front of the TV; go to the library and read more often
4) Relationally - make regular "dates" with my friends and family to connect better with them; return e-mails and phone calls in a timely manner; spend more quality time with my hubby
5) Creatively - allow creative time to scrapbook, papercraft and other crafts
6) My house (this is a biggy) - Purge and organize each room of the house including closets/drawers, etc.; buy organizational products as necessary; stay on top of bills, laundry, dishes, piles of clutter, etc.
7) Adoption process - remember the resulting reward is SOOO worth the tedious process

Well, that's a start anyway. Here's to a more disciplined 2008!

Christmas 2007

Here's a photo of Glen and I at Christmas this year at my Grandpa and Grandma Hansen's. Don't we look like festive Christmas elves in our green? I'm actually really excited to scrap some Christmas photos this year. They all turned out great! :)

After the past two weeks off work, I returned to get some exciting news. I'm not going to share just yet because it's not official until later this week, I think. At first I wasn't sure what to think but now I'm really pumped about it. Don't you just hate secrets???!!!

My sister is going home today (boo), but we watched Live Free or Die Hard last night. It was really good and one I would have liked to have seen in the theatre because of all the action. Bruce Willis may be nearly twice my age but whew, I have a married woman's crush on him! :)

Well, off to get ready for work! Have a fantastic Tuesday!

Ready for a fresh start!

There's just something about the new year that gets me all giddy. I have this insane desire right now to organize everything in my life. I've let so many things go to pot the past few months that I'm ready to get back to my old self and get on top of things. This is probably going to be a long post so stick with me!!!

First off, Christmas...I managed to get presents bought at the last second and still have a couple gifts to finish up for Glen's side of the family so that I can mail them off. But, while I was out Christmas shopping I managed to pick up a couple things for myself that I like to call the steals of the century!!!! One of the things I wanted for Christmas was a knee length black wool dress coat. I figured I would just use my Christmas money and it would probably cost me around $150. I was out shopping a couple days before Christmas and "just happened" to go past my favorite store to shop at for myself - New York & Co. The ENTIRE store was 50% off. I went in and found THE coat I was looking for. Now, I'm known around my family as the coupon queen so of course I had a coupon on me for $20 off a $60 purchase. My $130 coat was mine for -- get this....$45.00!!!! I called Glen, my mom and my sisters just to tell them about it. I LIVE FOR a good bargain. Now, I'm still on a shopping high so I decide to run into The Limited. I NEVER buy clothes at The Limited, but I saw they had several things on sale so I went in. I have been hoping to buy some new dress pants for work so I took a stroll around and looked through their clearance section. I found a pair of brownish/black wool dress pants that I wanted to try on. They fit awesome so I ended up getting a pair of $90 wool dress pants for $30!!!! And, I found a cute black skirt in there a month back but it was $70. No way in heck was I going to pay $70 for a skirt. When I went in this time, the skirt was on sale for $30 so I bought it! It was one of those shopping trips that will go down in history for me! :)

Anyway, we spent a couple nights at my parents for Christmas. We had a fantastic time with them. Glen and I got a lot of movies on our list - Ratatouille, Spider Man 3, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Footloose and Flashdance. My sister got me some really cool necklaces and earrings. Mom and dad gave us money and I got a movie gift certificate from my grandma. The one fun gift opening of Christmas morning was Glen - it's well known in my family how much Glen loves imported beer so my sister Jen went to World Market and got him a "Beers of the World" gift pack. He flipped out! He thought it was the coolest gift ever! It was so funny! He's been slowly savouring his gift one bottle at a time! :)

When we got home from mom and dad's, we got ready for our conference at Lake of the Ozarks. The resort we stayed at was beautiful! It was huge and had 5 restaurants on the premises - even a Burger King! :) The first night we treated ourselves to a yummy steak dinner - it had been ages since we had gone on a date so we deserved it! The conference itself was fantastic - all about being an impact player for God. The speakers touched on discipline and service - more on this in a minute. We went to a great seminar on procrastination - definitely something I needed to hear. We had a great time growing closer with our church family. We ate meals together in the evenings and one night stayed up until 1 a.m. playing Apples to Apples. When the conference ended, we drove an extra 4 hours to Glen's parents in Arkansas. We spent New Year's Eve with them playing cards and Apples to Apples. We also celebrated a late Christmas. The one very cool gift we received from Glen's mom and dad was a piano - Glen's childhood piano to be exact. His parents sold it to a local family in Iowa before they moved to Arkansas and asked that if they ever wanted to sell it that they call them first. We're going to pick it up on January 16th! :)

We traveled back to Iowa on Wednesday just in time for the Iowa caucuses. Our man, Mike Huckabee, placed 1st in Iowa! We were so thankful that he did so well here and it was really fun to be part of such an important political process!

I spent the weekend cleaning, doing laundry and trying to get things back to normal, or better than normal! :) My sister is here for a short visit so last night we went to see P.S., I love you -- fantastic movie! Please do yourself a favor and go see it. It was so good that I want to see it again! I cried throughout the whole thing.

So, now that I'm back and ready to roll...I thought I would share a list of what I'm looking forward to in 2008. I'm not going to share resolutions because they're so hard to keep, but these are more like goals for myself this year.

1) Adopting a baby! (I'm really hoping and praying this happens for us this year!)

2) Working out and eating better (I have a goal to run the 5k race at my hometown's 4th of July celebration - most people train for marathons - I train to run a 5k!)

3) Being a better servant to my friends, family, church and husband

4) Being more disciplined - reading the Bible and praying more; organization counts here too!

5) Enjoy the creative process - I haven't found much joy from creating lately and that's making me sad

There! I feel like that's a great list for this year! I'm ready to make it happen. Have a fantastic Monday - it's the first one of 2008! :)

Happy 2008!

I know I've been a bad blogger the past two weeks but life has just been CRAZY!!!! Here's a couple Rusty Pickle project using the Snowflakes & Mittens line and an acrylic circle and another project with the Petit Cherub line.

We had a fabulous Christmas with my family and then left two days after Christmas for the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri for a church conference called Faithwalkers. We then drove down to Arkansas and spent New Year's with my in-laws. We got back late Wednesday night. I've spent the past couple days unpacking and cleaning, etc. I just wanted to post something quickly and I'll give some more details about the past couple weeks soon. It's good to be back and I'm so glad the holiday season is over!!!! :)

Winner!

Tracy...you win! Expect something in the mail soon from Rusty Pickle! More to come from me soon! :)

Rusty Pickle RAK!

I'll give an update soon but for now leave me a comment and I'll draw a name at random for a Rusty Pickle RAK. Here's what you have to do - Since I'm feeling like Mr. Grinch this year, tell me what you still have left to do to get ready for Christmas! I'll draw a name tomorrow (Friday) at noon my time. Now....GO!

Top 25 Movies

I think I saw this on Donna Downey's blog today, but here's a list of my top 25 favorite movies of all time (in random order)...

1) Pride & Prejudice
2) Lord of the Rings (all of them)
3) Star Wars (all of them)
4) Harry Potter (all of them)
5) Chronicles of Narnia
6) Bourne Identity (all of them)
7) Ocean's 12
8) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
9) The Holiday
10) You've Got Mail
11) The Wizard of Oz
12) Elf
13) Spider Man (all of them)
14) Fried Green Tomatoes
15) The Notebook
16) Father of the Bride
17) Walk the Line
18) Legends of the Fall
19) Chicago
20) Pirates of the Caribbean (all of them)
21) Something's Gotta Give
22) Titanic
23) Finding Neverland
24) Gladiator
25) Forrest Gump

As you can see, I like a good mix of comedy, action, romance and epic movies! Something just for fun today... :)

Winter wonderland!

Iowa has been getting hit with its fair share of winter weather over the past week! It looks like we're in for another round tonight and tomorrow - this time with ice and snow! We drove out to my parents Saturday in freezing rain...it was not fun! We almost turned around and went home.

We went to a friend's wedding Saturday night. It was beautiful with lots of candles and gorgeous Christmas colors. I spent all day Sunday with my family (basically stranded in the house). I brought some scrapping with and worked on the December Paper Posies kit. I'll have some picts to share soon. I didn't get back into town until today because I had an eye dr. appointment and stopped to visit with my grandma.

On another note, I'm extremely thankful that my sister-in-law's family is safe and sound. Many of you might have heard about the shootings at New Life Community Church in Colorado Springs. It's my sister-in-law's church and her family left the parking lot just 5 minutes before the shootings began. We're feeling very fortunate that they are okay but are sad for the tragedies that have hit way too close to home in the past week.

Over the weekend, I made a decision. I'm not going to put my Christmas tree up this year! I can't believe I'm saying it but I'm not going to do it. We're traveling around Christmas so we would only get to enjoy it for 2 weeks. I don't see the point in going to all that work right now. I'd rather spend the time working on Christmas cards and holiday baking. I am going to get my nativity set out and our stockings. I also have three miniature rustic trees that I might set up but only because they are simple to do. I'm actually a little sad about not putting the tree up but I'd rather not be overly stressed out right now. Yay for simplification! :)

Have a great rest of your day! :)

The bracelet

How totally pathetic is it that I want this bracelet? For those of you who have read the Twilight series, you might be familiar with the bracelet Jacob gives Bella in Eclipse. Edward adds his own "little" charm later on in the book. I came across the bracelet on one of my many visits to the Twilight Lexicon site. I would probably never wear it, but I think the bracelet is sooo cool! Yep, I'm still obsessed. I want to re-read the books again for the millionith time, but I've now resolved to reading fan fiction to pass the time until book 4 comes out in about 9 months. I even have a list of favorite authors I would be willing to share if you want some reading enjoyment.

Last night, I tried out my Napoleon Dynamite moves when I came across the song he dances to at the end of the movie (HA...not really). It's called Canned Heat by Jamiroquai if you want to download it from iTunes. It's really a good dancing song, which lately I've been itching to do. Luckily, we're going to a wedding Saturday night so I'm all ready to shake my groove thing! :) And, I'm totally hoping to fit in a shopping trip before the weekend because I really want to get some new wedding appropriate attire - I'm thinking some sort of black cocktail dress.

Anyway, just some very random thoughts today. I'm hoping to get some scrapping/cleaning done tonight. I've got a very busy next few days! I have a love/hate relationship with the month of December! :)

Some cards

Here are a couple cards I made with the November Paper Posies kit. Love me some Daisy D's and 7gypsies! I'm finally getting back into the groove with my scrapping which is a good thing because I have some deadlines to meet.

I had a rather uneventful weekend. We had an ice storm come through on Saturday and Sunday so we mostly stayed put all weekend. I did end up going to Archiver's on Friday night. It was so nice to get out. Right now I'm just feeling the stress of the holiday season. Can you believe we still don't have our Christmas tree up? Usually, I'm super excited and it's up right after Thanksgiving but I'm just not feeling it this year. We have company on Monday night so it's going to go up this weekend.

Well, I better get moving! Have a great Tuesday! :)

I'm baaa-aack!

Here's a layout I did with the November Paper Posies kit! One of the last times I was home I went through old Halloween photos. I realized then that mom didn't take pictures of us every year so I think that all the photos on this layout are the only ones I have. Luckily, I have pictures of the first year I dressed up and the last year I dressed up (I was 16!).

This week has been good for me! I've let a lot of things slip through the cracks the past month or so (I really believe it was daylight savings time that did me in) and now I'm getting back on track. I've been keeping up with my house and even doing some scrapping! I was pleasantly surprised to get a publication request e-mail from Paper Trends especially because I didn't submit anything to them for this call. They want a card I submitted a while ago...yay! :)

Well, I better get moving! I just finished my morning cup of coffee so it's time to start my day! Have a great Thursday! :)

The windy city

I'll be sharing some more work over the next couple of days. This was a layout I created using the October Paper Posies kit that I never got around to sharing on my blog.

What a weekend! Wednesday it was snowing here in Des Moines. It was beautiful and the first snow we've had. Luckily, we were able to make it to my mom and dad's okay. We had Thanksgiving at grandma and grandpa's Thursday afternoon/night and then hung out and watched movies - Transformer's and Hairspray that night. I got my hair done on Friday and it's now a little closer to my original color - not quite as much blonde. I like it to be a little darker in the winter time. We came home Friday night and went to Target and did a little Christmas shopping and a little Glen and Jill shopping. We bought a whole bunch of movies for super cheap (around $4). I've been dying to get The Holiday and that's one of the movies I bought. Saturday I went to Marshalltown for my cousin's 10th birthday party and mom and I shopped a little bit at the mall. I've been wanting some dangly earrings so I bought a few pairs. Sunday we had church and then I did some cleaning, some relaxing and some scrapping!

I guess that it's for today! Enjoy your Monday! :) I'm off to drink some coffee and then hit the gym!

Overwhelmed with emotion - adoption update!

Yesterday was our adoptive parenting class. The class was incredibly overwhelming. We've got our work cut out for us in the next few months. I almost cried during the class about 5 times. I have never been more convicted that we are supposed to adopt than after yesterday. After the class was over, I just sobbed.

Okay, I know I've mentioned this before but I have to create a scrapbook that going to be part of our family profile. A coincidence, right? Considering how much scrapbooking is a part of my life? We found out yesterday that not only do we have to do a scrapbook but a video and a designed family profile sheet. MY HUSBAND IS A GRAPHIC DESIGNER AND CREATES VIDEOS FOR A LIVING!!!! I also have a background in video production and writing. The scrapbook, video and family profile sheet are ways the adoption agency presents families to pregnant clients. At the moment that we learned this, I knew in my heart that God gave us these specific talents for the very reason that we were supposed to adopt. Isn't that just amazing? I'm just soooo overwhelmed about all of this. I didn't break down until we left the class but one of the things they told us was that the music choice makes the video. The first thing Glen said to me after the class was that he was going to write and perform the song for our video. I started bawling! Glen doesn't sing or anything like that but he writes the most beautiful music on the piano. He's going to write a song for OUR BABY! How cool is that?

Anyway, I'm feeling a lot better today and definitely more rested since I went to bed around 11 last night. On a different note, what was up with the Bachelor? I couldn't believe what happened last night...definitely didn't see that one coming!

Have a great Tuesday! :)

Neglect

First of all, I've been promising some new work for a LONG time so here's a new project! I used the November Paper Posies kit to create this paper mache box that I've had sitting in my stash for a long time. I am totally in LOVE with Glimmer Mist and used it on the box with a paper doily as a stencil. I used various papers from Daisy D's and some lace from Making Memories. I love the rich, vintage colors and how it all turned out.

Today, I am just exhausted. I'm finally starting to feel a cold coming on. I've been fighting it off for about two months and I think I wore my body out enough that it can finally take hold. The last month is starting to take a toll on me. I've had so much going on that other areas of my life have been neglected far too long. I haven't scrapped in weeks and I'm really starting to miss it. There have been a bunch of publication calls that normally I wouldn't want to miss, but I haven't done any work to submit. My house is a mess and things that I would usually stay on top of are slipping through the cracks. I'm in need of a break!!! And, after today...it's going to happen!!! We have our adoptive parenting class this afternoon and then I don't have anything else planned for a while. I'm even letting myself miss Bible study tonight. We're headed out of town on Wednesday night for Thanksgiving and won't be back until Friday afternoon. Usually I'm really excited for the holidays but I can't wait for Christmas to be over this year. The Christmas decorating, baking, cards, shopping, etc. seem to be too much for me right now. Maybe I'll feel more like my old self after a couple days of rest and relaxation at mom and dad's....I sure hope so!

Have a great Monday! :)

NEW Lucky collection from Rusty Pickle!

Just when I thought Rusty Pickle couldn't come up with anything better, they're just releasing a brand new collection called Lucky. I absolutely LOVE the colors...I've never seen anything quite like this for St. Patrick's Day and the Irish! I'm excited to get my hands on it because I'm already envisioning the cards I'll be able to make with this!!!

Okay, I know I promised I was going to get some work posted but I have just been way too busy to do anything else. I have some projects that need photos taken of them so I really do hope to get up something new this weekend. To be honest, I haven't felt much like scrapping. I've either been too busy, haven't felt well or been too tired! I do have some projects I need to do before the end of the month so you should be seeing some new work soon. Speaking of busy,

I am in need of some quality time with my hubby. He's been putting in tons of hours at the church working on the new lighting and sound systems for the new building. We've both had really off hours too. He's up at the crack of dawn and I'm still sleeping. I've been a night owl and up until midnight or so every night while he goes to bed early. It will be nice to start acting like we're married again SOON!!! :)

Last Friday, I was able to speak at my church's annual coffee house night. I woke up Friday feeling TERRIBLE! I think most of it was exhaustion. I had been keeping late hours working on it and it just kind of caught up with me. I felt really sick and then I started to get nervous. It all spiraled out of control. Finally, the only thing that worked was to listen to workship music. I was a bum most of the day getting ready for the night and praying over what I was about to do. Then, when I was getting ready to go I dropped my blow dryer in the toilet! It wasn't plugged in or anything but I still needed to blow dry my hair. The worst part was I just did the same thing about 2 months ago. My mom arrived soon after I did it so she was able to run to Wal-Mart to buy me a new one. (My new blow dryer is no longer above the toilet...I think I finally learned my lesson!) We had around 250 women attend the coffee house night. We were all crammed in there and it was soooo hot! I was glad I was wearing black because I was pouring sweat! :) I think I was most nervous that I was going to cry uncontrollably, but God gave me the greatest sense of peace while I was speaking. There were several times that my voice was really full of emotion and I was teary-eyed (especially at the end), but I didn't break down. It really was a fantastic experience and healing for me to share what I had been through. I keep laughing now thinking back at how people were gasping as I was explaining the process. I was like, "Yeah...I really went through this...I'm not kidding!" :) One of the things I kept thinking about was how my birth mother might have been sitting in the audience. It gives me chills to think about it!

Anyway, I have a busy weekend ahead. I might be cropping at Archiver's Friday night, but if I don't, I'm hoping Glen and I can go on a date. Saturday, I have a work event and I'm hoping to do some Christmas decorating. Sunday, I'm helping throw a baby shower for one of my best friends. We also have young adult fellowship Sunday night. I'm sooooo ready for Thanksgiving and a break from the busyness of life!

Have a great Wednesday! :)

Rambling...

No work to share yet, but I PROMISE I'll get something up by Friday. How's that? :)

Last night, my women's Bible study group met and talked about the fear of intimacy and the fear to be ourselves. I wanted to share a couple thoughts about our discussion with you today...

I have quite a few friends that I share intimate details about my life with - friends that I grew up with, friends from college and friends from church. I would say that I'm usually pretty transparent with my life (probably too much sometimes). With these people, I'm not afraid to say what I'm really feeling. Within this group, I might have some people that I might not share exactly what I'm feeling, but they know my opinion about everything from clothes to politics. We're still really tight. Then, I have people in my life that I'm generally acquainted with - we might talk about the weather and what's been going on - but nothing too deep.

God desires a relationship with us that's on the deep, intimate, emotional side of things. You might say, "God knows everything already so why do I need to tell him?" I've thought that way too, but He really wants us to talk to Him. When we verbalize what we're really thinking and feeling, we become vulnerable to Him. Our vulnerability allows us to experience growth in our faith and a change in our hearts. Last night, I was convicted to talk to the Lord more. I also felt God calling me to deepen some of those relationships that seem superficial right now. How can I find intimacy in my relationships with other people? It's so easy to get caught up being comfortable with the people I spend a lot of time around, but God wants us to find new people to encourage and build up as well.

On another note, sometimes fear can hold us back from using the talents and gifts we've been given. We read verses from Exodus last night that really spoke to me. Have you ever been in a situation where you've had all the skills to do something, but you weren't willing to do it? Or vice versa, you were willing to try, but had no experience whatsoever? I really believe that God has given me the passion to be a mother. Because I haven't had the opportunity yet, it has made me feel like somewhat of a failure. As hard as it may be for me, I feel like God has called me to help out my friends with children. He wants me to serve them by giving them a break. I didn't have a willing heart at first, but now I do. I feel that I have gift in this area, but because I couldn't use it in the way I wanted to, I wanted nothing to do with it. Hmmm....something to think about, right? I'm thankful God has given me a change of heart.

Last night, I was up until 2 a.m. I had some coffee when I got home from work and I was just wired! I did it on purpose but I was thinking I would be in bed by at least midnight. I can't believe everything I was able to get done. I'm only hoping my productivity will carry into tonight becuase I have tons more to do!!!!

Have a great Wednesday! :)



Anyway, enought

Time for a real post!

I don't have any new work to share yet, but I promise I'll get something up in the next couple of days.

My friends, Libby and Nate, removed life support from Baby Eve on Tuesday but amazingly she was a little fighter and breathed on her own until the Lord took her home Wednesday night around 11:00. I've been busy doing what I can for them the past week or so. I brought their mail in and have coordinated food so that they will have a meal coming in every night for the next few weeks. I was super surprised when Libby gave me a call Saturday morning and asked me to help her with a little project. The hospital gave them the most amazing 3D cast of Eve's foot and hand and she wanted to decorate it before the memorial service. I didn't really know what to expect so I gathered up a bunch of supplies and went over there Saturday late afternoon. I'll just say that being able to help her with this project was one of the most humbling and honoring things I've ever done. It turned out just perfect - feminine, simple and dainty. She loved it! It was one of those times that I was grateful God has given me a passion for scrapbooking. He used me to minister to my friend in a way that no one else probably could. The next few weeks and months will be difficult for them, but I'm glad that I can be available to help them through it.

My sister was here this weekend and we had a good time. Jen used to live with us for about a year and I really do miss having her here. She was a great compliment to our little family and her and Glen get along great. We got on each other's nerves a few times but we really had a lot of fun when she lived here. Anytime she comes back to visit, I tell her I want her to move back in! We actually did some shopping on Saturday afternoon before I went over to Nate and Libby's. She needed a few things so we headed to the mall. Now, it's important to realize that my sister hates shopping. Usually, I would much rather shop with my other sister, but this shopping trip was actually fun. I tried a few things on too, but most of the time...it didn't look quite as good on me as it did the mannequin which we had a good laugh over. I helped her pick out some new clothes and she came away with about $300 worth of stuff. We had to do some bra shopping for both of us which is never fun but we both ended up with purchases so that was good.

Sunday I did some grocery shopping, laundry and cleaning. My scrap room is a mess so I made a huge dent in there but I'm still not finished. I can see the floor now which makes a huge difference! :) I also stayed up late last night working on something for this coming weekend. I have been asked to speak at my church's annual fall women's coffeehouse night on Friday. I'm really excited about sharing our infertility story and how God is going to use that story to touch other people. With everything that's been going on the two weeks I haven't been able to work on it like I would like but time is starting to run out. I feel a lot better after I worked on it last night.

Well, I better get moving. I can't believe how much stuff I need to do today...:(

I've been tagged...

by my fellow Rusty Pickle Chef, Casey...

1. When I'm trying to fall asleep at night, I move my foot. I have no idea why I do it, but I always have. I can't remember not doing it. It just makes me fall asleep.

2. Pickles actually make me gag! I can eat them on a hamburger but otherwise, I'm completely grossed out by the smell of them.

3. I love to fish! My dad taught me how when I was a little girl. I'll put the worm on the hook and take the fish off and everything. It's probably the one "boy-ish" thing I'll do.

4. When I was in high school and college, I wanted to be the next Katie Couric.

5. I collect Willow Tree angels. Seriously, my house is full of them. I used to think they were ugly (since they didn't have faces and all), but they started to grow on me and now I love them!

6. When I was in 5th grade, my nickname was "Miss Environmental." Why? I was allergic to almost everything in the environment - grass, trees, pollen, etc. (Kids can be so cruel!) Kind of ironic that I went on to work for my state's environmental protection agency right out of college, huh? :)

7. I was a Tupperware lady for a while. My mom sold it in the late 80's and we used it all the time. I loved the stuff so now my cupboards are full of it!

I tag.. Jen, Steph, Tracey, Mou, Allie, Jenny

THE RULES:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

Look for a "real" post from me tomorrow! :)