Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas!
Happy Hanukkah!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, which ever you celebrate (or if you do both like us), and i wish you all a Happy New Year!

One of my resolutions will be to blog more and to share more of my creative creations.

Be safe.

I can't believe how longs it's been...

and i am sorry.

I have been working on a photo project by Ali Edwards, i think it's called something like 31 days. Needless to say i had to carry my camera everywhere for one month and take photos of my everyday life. Interesting, yes. A pain in the ass, defiantly! But it is done so now i can upload and share some photos from the last month.

First of all my new obsession...Seattle's Best Gingerbread Latte. The little Gingerdude is so num yummy!

I've been busy making gifts also. It feels so good to be creative again.

Last year i made Barn Stars for some friends and family members but i didn't make one for my Mom so i thought i would give her one this year for her birthday.

Last year i bought a bunch of stars at Micheal's and i love using Basic Grey paper.

These ornaments are made from acrylic stamping blocks. I love these. So easy and quick to make. This idea was taken from work (Archiver's).

This is my new Great Niece Kaylee. She is one month old. Isn't she precious!

We decorated Gingerbread Houses with Monet and Caitlin this past Sunday.

Monet working hard of her creation.

Caitlin wants to help...

Our finished houses.

I gave Joel and early Christmas present. I couldn't help it, i wanted this so bad, for myself.

Go Bears!

I guess that's all for now. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I'll try to check back in soon.

Not much to say...

Hi there!

I wish i had something to share, but i don't! Not much going on, getting ready for the Holidays, working a lot, hanging out!

I did add a new link called Cake Wrecks (on the side under 'favorites'). I tell you, you must check this out if you want a good laugh! It is cake decorating disasters by professionals and it is too hilarious!!

She updates it everyday and puts exceptionally great cakes on Sunday!

It's a hoot, i swear!

Take care!

It's official...i'm 40!

Yesterday was the big day!
And, it was a great day!

First of all, I don't 'feel' 40 (sometimes I physically feel it), but mentally I defiantly don't!

I had a great day with my Mother.
We went shopping (i love shopping) although I was very well behaved.
We went to Archiver's and she bought me the Bind-it-all V2! (For my non-scrapbooking friends, the Bind-it-all is a machine that punches holes and sets spiral binding to make mini-albums and crafts). I have wanted one since the original machine came out last year! Yeah for me!

We went to lunch and hung out...so fun!

Joel got me a Cricut Jukebox (for my cricut die cutting machine, again, very cool)! And an awesome exclusive Quickutz Die from Beach Scrapbooks (its a boarder die of underwater animals).
Quite the scrappy birthday!

For dinner Joel took me to Maggiano's Little Italy! YUM!

The delight of the evening was reconnecting with an old girlfriend that i haven't seen in over a year. My dear friend Karen who i have know for over 15 years. It was so wonderful to see her and I hope we will be able to stay connected.

Today we will continue the celebration of my Birthday Weekend by getting out and doing stuff!
Joel is taking me to some of my favorite shops and we are just hanging out...a great weekend indeed!

I hope you all have a great weekend too!

Congratulations President Elect Barack Obama!

May we see the change we need and have the patience to let it occure.
May we trust in our government to make the right choices not only for the future of our wonderful country but for the world.
I am thankful for the freedoms i have and especially the right to vote, i am happy to live in this time.
I am excited to see what will happen in the next 4 years.
God Bless America.

Joel says...GO VOTE

It's your right as an American! (He's going to kill me for this)! :)

I am off sick today (seriously, i am so sick i am going to the doctor today, after we go vote)!

Have a great day!

One step closer...

Okay, perhaps i am being a bit morbid, but when i wake up tomorrow i will be 14 days shy of my 40th birthday.

How am i handling it...okay (depending on how the wind blows). I have good days mostly, but sometime i just want to cry because of all i haven't accomplished.

I know, i must focus on all the wonderful experiences i have had and the amazing things i have done and seen.

I took this photo on Hilton Head in June.

I thought it was appropriate for two reasons...

1. It is All Hallows Eve

2. Every day is one step closer...

I'm an Elizabeth?

p align="center">

Take the Quiz here!

I really thought i might be more of an Elinore Dashwood, but that might be because of my huge secret crush on Hugh Grant!

Happy Halloween!

Hey ya all! I just wanted to wish you a Happy Halloween!

(I know it's a day early but i am home sick today and i have to work tomorrow)!

Amanda & Eric's wedding

Here are some photo's from our friends Eric & Amanda's wedding that took place about 3 weeks ago. I shot the wedding and was pretty happy with the results.
It was such a beautiful wedding and a neat reception. Everything was so 'fall-ish'.

This is my favorite photo, it's of Amanda's flowers on the train of her dress.

Another shot of the dress.

A lasso used in the ceremony.

The flower girls basket.

In the limo after the ceremony.


The pretty bride and her flowers.

Gazebo outside of the reception.The beautiful table setting at the reception.

Treats off the 'candy bar'.

The 'candy bar' (not a great photo, but i just love this idea).


It was such a fun day and night. I wish them a lifetime of happiness.

I'm back.

Not that I've been anywhere, just not here.
Things have been hectic. We're so busy at work getting ready for the holidays and Joel's been trying to find a job. Just hectic.

Hi Jenn and Wendy...thanks for Friday night, I had a great time and i truly appreciate your friendships.

Here are some more photo's from the cruise. I can't believe we've been back for over a month now...what i wouldn't give to be back there again!

Here is the Flying Dutchman from the third Pirate's of the Caribbean movie. So cool!


Here is the Dutchman with the Cruise ship in the background.

Photo from snorkeling. The snorkeling on the adult beach was amazing, i saw tons of fish, sea urchins (see below), langastinos (warm water lobsters), a barracuda (seriously, a barracuda), and a sting ray. It was amazing.

The view of Castaway Cay from our cabin.

Previously mentioned sea urchin!

I also photographed my friends Amanda & Eric's wedding earlier this month, i will try to post more of those in a little bit!

Have a great Sunday.

Real quick...

It has been a real crazy week! We got back from vacation, had friday off, i went to Scrap Pink at Hannah's in Antioch on Saturday (so much fun!), and then Sunday we were in Rockford for the day, Joel went golfing and i went to my nieces baby shower.

Work has been insane too! Busy, yeah! But also busy catching up on everything that i fell behind on while i was gone.

This next week is going to be nuts too! Today we are off to a wedding (i will also be photographing it) and then tomorrow i have to work (my 1st of 6 days this week) and do inventory.



We had such an amazing time on the cruise. Here are just two quick photo's.



I promise to share more soon.

Have a great weekend!


The door from inside the ship looking out. We still haven't left port yet so you see that in the background.

Gotta love the mouse!!

Bye.

We're back...

Hi,
We are back from the cruise, and it was fantastic!
We did so many wonderful things, met neat people and got lots of cool stuff!
I haven't uploaded my photo's into the computer yet, and i probably won't for a few days.
Tomorrow i am going to ScrapPink at Hannah's in Antioch and then i have a baby shower in Rockford on Sunday for my niece.
I will be back next week with photo's and details.
Take care.

Really, really BAD news...

I had plan to come here tonight to post some photos of our great finds at the Renegade Craft fair on Sunday.

Problem #1: Photo's won't upload.

Problem#2: I am having a hard time caring.

My husband lost his job yesterday.

For those who don't know his work was based on the housing industry and we all know how that's going. So needless to say they fired him and 7 other people.

We've been here before. I am not looking forward to this trial in our lives, if it's not one thing it's another. The only thing i hope is that we can pull together and become closer (and that he finds another job really, really soon).

We leave on Saturday for our Disney cruise and i can't wait. When we get back...reality check.

Rain, rain go away.

Seriously, go away.

It is Sunday afternoon and Joel and i are sitting here watching the Bear's game...they are winning, but it is only the 1st quarter.

We are supposed to be downtown at the Renegade Art Fair. We keep watching the weather channel to see when the rain might stop. Hopefully in about 2-3 hours we will be rain free.

Until then, rain, rain go away!

Sushi Station! Sushi Station! Sushi Station!

Soooooo, tonight Joel and i went to one of our most favorite restaurants Sushi Station. We had just finished eating when our friend Oki (spelling) who works there comes over and asks us if we want to be in a commercial.

We agree (what were we thinking). We are escorted to the back room and a blue screen where we had to dance and say "Sushi Station, Sushi Station, Sushi Station." Then they took some shots of Joel serving me sushi and me picking it up with chop sticks.

It was fun but i am not sure i want to see myself on TV.

They are going to email us the commercial when it's done. If i find it presentable i will post it on here. Probably in October.

Glitter much...

Saturday at work i decided to glitter up a pumpkin. I bought one of those foam pumpkins at Michael's and then used the Martha Stewart Glitter set and glue that we sell at Archiver's.

I masked off the stripes with scotch tape (that was all we had) and then i glittered and glued my heart out. I love Martha's glue, it is so fine and really great quality for little cost. Her glue i had never used until this project, but now i am sold on it.

I then punched these spiders out with Martha's spider punch, i used KI glitter paper. The black wire is actually Bind-it-All wire. The spiders are glued to it and then i just pushed the wire into the top of the pumpkin. There is also a bunch of ribbon that is held in place by a couple straight pins.

Full shot of pumpkin

Monet's Frame

I was able to get another photo to upload. Here is the birthday frame i made for Monet, i also made on for Caitlin but in yellow. The number at the bottom is removable and can be replaced with each new birthday.




That is all. I will try and upload another photo later.

Finally, the blog boycott is over...

So, I've been boycotting my own blog, strange, i know. When i started this thing i had such visions of grandeur. Unfortunately, those things cannot occur because of the job i have. Non-compete, I can't be on any design teams for scrap booking or the like. Big bummer.

Then came the issues with the photo uploading. I am so frustrated with resizing all my photos and then still not having them upload on here.

Needless to say, the boycott is over and i apologize to my two readers for the delay! :)

Things have been pretty crazy around here. We've been getting ready for the holidays at the store (Halloween and Christmas). We have two weeks to the day left until we leave on our cruise. I am hoping that we won't be dealing with any hurricanes or tropical storms.

*Internetus Interuptus* (Just as i went to upload some photos i was kicked off the Internet).


Let's try this again...


SIDE NOTE: I started updating this blog at 6pm last night, it is now 11am on Sunday. Every time i try to upload a photo i get kicked off the Internet...can anyone help me.

I was able to get two photos to upload.

I made these books for the girls with Teresa Collins covers and the Bind-it-all machine which i am totally obsessed with.

I will try to get the inside photos and the matching frames i made to upload later.







Have a great Sunday. We are off to Caitlin's (our Goddaughters) 2ND birthday party and then i have to go to a meeting at work tonight. It's gonna be a long day.

Tell me about it...

Saw this is a parking lot...

...ain't it true!

I will be back soon to share.

Some CHA reminising...

Hello all! First, i am so thrilled that so many new people have come over to check out my little blog. Thanks to you all! I truly appreciate you stopping by and your comments.

So, i was very lucky to get to go to CHA (Craft & Hobby Associate-big event showcasing all the new products coming out). (For my non-scrapbooking friends, or Jenn).

We, Ann and I, didn't get to stay long at the show, but we crammed in as much as we could. These are just a few of my most favorite things...

My wallet hurts.

Me and the Cricut!

Tim Holtz Masks

Pink Bind-it-all Machine-I told Joel this is what i want for my birthday! I am so addicted to Mini-Albums, i promise to share some of my work really soon!

Prima was the HOT booth! They had so much neat stuff it was hard to take it all in! These were really cool. I don't remember what the material was but i thought they would look so cool in my books! :)

More Prima, I LOVE Halloween!

I will post more later when my Internet quits cutting me off!

Have a wonderful day!

It's been a long, long time...

I can't believe how long it's been since I've been on here. I have been frustrated by my inability to get photo's to upload and life has gotten in the way.

Spencer is doing good. He has had a full recovery and is going to live, however i am about ready to kill him. Ever since his illness he's had an attitude. I am sure he will get over it.

Things have been crazy, i just got done working 9 days in a row so i am enjoying my weekend off.

Last weekend i got to go to CHA, for those of you not involved in the scrapbooking world, that is the Craft & Hobby Association. They put on two shows a year to introduce new products to retailers. I was able to get my hands on a pass to go with my friend Ann. (Even though i manage a scrapbook store i am unable to go). I hear it's expensive. I am thankful that i got to go since this was the last year it was going to be in Chicago. I will share photo's of my favorites later.

It's been a month since we got back from Hilton Head Island and just 55 more days till we leave on the cruise. I can't wait.

I thought i would share some more photo's from HHI.


Monet Boogie Boarding...she did so good and loved it!


Some Adirondack Chairs outside of our lodge.

These are from an amazing store that occurred the 2ND night we were there. I have never successfully photographed lightening until this. I am thrilled with the results!

Have a great weekend...we are off to see The Dark Night today, i can't wait. I love Batman and Christian Bale.

Updates

Hi there!

Well, the good news is Spencer is going to make it. We are thankful. It was a little scary, even our Vet admitted that she wasn't sure if he was going to make it. Of course he's back to being a little beast, i was giving him his pills yesterday and the bastard bit me!

We are so excited because a new Sushi restaurant opening in our area (kind of close to our area). It's considered being in Elgin, but it's close to my mall, a Sushi Station opened. It is so yummy and affordable. Joel and i went last night and tried 12 different rolls. YUM! I LOVE SUSHI!
www.sushistation.us

Today is Monet's birthday so i am heading over there for her party, she is 6 now, i just can't believe it. Then i work tonight.

I will try and post some more photos of Hilton Head soon.
Have a great day!

It's just been crazy...

Hi. It's been kind of crazy around here with getting back from vaca, getting back to work and our dog Spencer is very ill.

We picked him up from the vet (also our boarders) last Monday, during his stay he developed Kennel Cough. Unfortunately he also has Cushings Disease which affects his immune system so what could have been a small case of KC has turned into a very serious case of pneumonia.

He is at the vet right now getting intravenous fluids because he won't eat or drink. The vet had also put him on a diuretic because he has an enlarged heart. She was hoping the diuretics would get the fluid out from around his heart thus dealing with the enlargement.

We are going to try three days of treatment and hope for the best, if that doesn't work we may have to make some decisions.

I hate this. I am so worried.

I will keep you all posted.

4th of July

Happy 4th of July.

Have a safe and wonderful day!

(I took this at Hilton Head at our resort).

Smirky Me...there is a story behind this photo.

So, i am a little bored tonight so i thought i would share a quick Hilton Head story.

We flew into Charlotte, North Carolina and picked up our rental car. The lady was very nice at the counter, she upgraded our car and added me as a driver for free. Unfortunately she also got us to sign up for the insurance (neither of us rent cars very often). We know better but we did it anyways. On the road i pull out the contract and realize that we will be paying $160 for said insurance. I freak! That's $160 less i can spend on souvenirs (i love me some souvenirs)!

So i call the rental car agency and tell them that we don't want the insurance, they tell me that i need to go back to the rental place and they can take it off. Okay, were now 1 hour away from where we picked up the car and there is no way i am turning the car around. Unfortunately there are no Dollar rental places in Hilton Head or anywhere close by. Needless to say we are out the money...lesson learned! This is where Smirky Me comes in...although it should be totally pissed off me.

Not 20 minutes later i gigantic piece of metal road debris comes flying at the car. Luckily it hit the bumper and went under the car and not through the windshield. It hit hard!

This is the damage that it did to the bumper on our rental car...

Now i am Happy Vicky because we have insurance...

That is all.