This Was Fun

Thanks to Georgia for posting this on her blog! This was fun.

You Are a Minimal Christmas Tree

You're not a total Scrooge, but you feel no need to go overboard at Christmas. Less is more, and your Christmas reflects refined quality.

What Christmas Tree Are You?

Day 11: Oh Christmas Tree

We went to cut down our tree last Sunday so Day 11's topic was fitting. The photo on the left is my hubby cutting down the tree. I left I photo mat on the right page for a photo of the lighted tree. The kids and I decorated it yesterday. There are 2 hidden tags: one about real vs. fake trees and the other about our tradition of new ornaments every year.

My grandma started giving me and my sister a new Hallmark ornament every year when I was 5 or so. Now the kids get one every year. I also worked on an album this past weekend about my fave ornaments from a class I am taking online at Big Picture Scrapbooking. I've nearly finished the framework (I ran out of Heidi Swapp chipboard stars) and then I need to take the photos and do the journaling. Once I have some of the pages completed, I'll post them here.

Day Ten:Wrapping

Loved this one! Quick and easy and a lot of fun! I don't really enjoy wrapping presents. Just seems like folding laundry to me. I've wrapped a total of 2 presents so far this year. I love to order gifts online and have them giftwrapped so that I don't have to do it.

Day Nine: Family Traditions

This page has tags for different types of family traditions so that I can add more tags as I think of more traditions. One is about gifts. The journaling reads...

We open most of our presents on Christmas Eve after dinner. The kids are in total agony by the time the adults finish our meals. We pass one gift at a time to everyone and then open the gift. The only gifts opened on Christmas Day are Santa Claus.

This was a great journal topic. I really had fun with it!

Day Seven: Shopping

This page has a pocket for tags with gift lists on them. The gifts need to stay a secret you know! :)

Day Six: Good vs. Not so Good Memories

Day Five: Countdown to Christmas

Day 5 is all about counting the days to Christmas. This was so much fun to make but I spent hours on this layout. I don't usually spend this much time. It was absolutely worth it. I started the layout as just squares with numbers and then my husband made a comment that seemed to be a challenge to me. Of course, it really was just a passing comment about opening doors and I took it from there and ran with it. Each square is a different paper except the solid is the reverse side of some of the patterned papers.

Each page has two doors that open to reveal a photo of my family.

This page has a pocket for a tag about the advent calendar we had when I was growing up and the one we have now. I made 2 tags so that one side could have the journaling and the other side could have a photo of the advent calendar.

When I was young, the Advent calendar was the start of the Christmas season! It was such a huge part of our holiday!

Day Four: Perfect Christmas

This post was all about the perfect Christmas. Shimelle challenged us to draw a picture in our journals but for some reason this layout popped into my mind immediately. I did freehand the tree and then cut it out of Basic Grey paper. The black stickers are 7 Gypsies, another fave of mine.

Day Three: Christmas Cards

I haven't been very good about getting Christmas Cards out the last several years but this year I did manage to get some photo cards made at Costco. Now, if only I would get the stamps I ordered online last week from the post office, then I could actually mail them. The layout has a pocket under the green ribbon for me to stick one of the cards inside of it.

Day Two: Weather

It's all about the weather on this entry! I remember now that the reindeer rub on is from Fancypants as are the snowflake rub ons from this page. Love these rub ons! The glitter Joy is a rub on from Making Memories. More Basic Grey paper. A Heidi Swapp gem is in the center of the snowflake in the bottom right corner. I cut out two snowflakes from the Basic Grey Snowed In paper and then I layered the two with pop up glue dots. Lots of fun! The letters in the title are Making Memories shimmer stickers.

Day One Manifesto

This is the manifesto page. It states my commitment to taking the time to journal each day. Love it. The scalloped paper is Karen Russell for Creative Imaginations. I cannot remember off hand who makes the reindeer rub-on but I love it! The letter stickers are from the Basic Grey Fruitcake line.

Title page

Here's the title page. Most of the patterned paper on the page is from Basic Grey's Fruitcake but there are a few pieces of Basic Grey's Blitzen line as well. The name stamp is from Jenni Bowlin. The "Noel" and "Merry Christmas" chipboard stickers are from Making Memories. The chipboard star is from Heidi Swapp. I painted it red. Love using stamps and paint on my pages.

Christmas Journal

I am participating in Shimelle's Christmas Journal class which you can join here or view everyone's work here. I joined a little late so I spent time catching up this past weekend. Here's the cover. I didn't like the first try so I redid it yesterday. This is much better than the original attempt.

Ali's Week 2 Newsletter Challenge

I subscribed to Ali Edward's weekly newsletter and I'm lovin' it! I really enjoy the way Ali expresses herself in her layouts. This week her challenge was to create a layout using what your family did last month as the content. I don't ever do layouts that contain only words and no photos so this was really fun to do. I used items from one of my Jenni Bowlin kits and added some basic grey letter stickers ( for the names). Patterned paper is Scenic Route from Jenni's kit; pink stencil stickers are Heidi Swapp from Jenni's kit; the white flower came in one of Jenni's kits; and the white pen is a uni-ball Signo gel pen from Stampin' Up.

Missing my kids

My kids are gone for 3 weeks to stay with Grandma and Grandpa. Every summer they stay with them. My kids really love it but boy do I ever miss them. The first day or two is nice and quiet but then after that it's just too quiet. They are both in swim lessons. My daughter is a little fishy. She will swim until she just can't swim anymore. I don't mean playing but actually swimming. Only 2 1/2 more weeks until they come home. Miss you my babies!

Last weekend, hubby and I went to our friends' lake cabin on Lake Coeur d'Alene. We had a really great time. The cabin is gorgeous and the views were absolutely amazing. The weather was perfect "lake" weather. We spent quite a bit of time just hanging out on the covered deck enjoying the views and staying out of the direct sun. We did sun on the dock for a bit. Fun time!

HOT!!!!

Oh boy is it ever hot here! It's going to be 97 degrees which is one degree below our record for June 27th. Our average for this time of year is 77 degrees. The fed-ex driver just stopped to deliver a package and stood in front of the AC while I signed for the package. There isn't AC in her truck... can you believe that?!?!

There's a new county pool near our house that I've not been to so I thought I'd take the kids there this afternoon after work. This pool puts the city pools to shame!!! There's a review of it here. It has diving boards, a cool slide, and buckets that dump water like a fountain. I have a feeling we'll be spending a good amount of time there this year.

Arbor Crest Winery

I had a fabulous evening yesterday. I attended an event at Arbor Crest Winery. The winery is on a hill overlooking the Spokane River and the views are absolutely gorgeous! The gardens are really beautiful. The winery is on 84 acres and it's a great place for a stroll or a picnic.

The house in the photo was built in 1924 and was open last night for viewing. It has incredible views and some really fabulous antiques. The kitchen has an electric refrigerator that is one of the earliest refrigerators. If you click on the history link on the website you can find out more about the history of the property. The original owner was somewhat of an original thinker. Very interesting.

I'm not a wine drinker (I guess one day when I grow up I'll come to like it) but I do know that Arbor Crest has won several winemaking awards. Wine Spectator recognized them as one of the Top 50 wineries in the world for their production of affordable premium varietal wines. I picked up a bottle of their Cab Franc for my husband.

Catered for You provided the food. Our menu included:

Summer Grilled Chicken w/ fresh fruit salsa
Jasmine Coconut Rice
Salad w/ raspberry Vinaigrette
Seasonal Grilled Vegetables
Rustic Bread & Butter
Lime Custard Tart
Ice Tea

The food was absolutely delicious! It was such a great time. If you are in the area and haven't been to Arbor Crest, you really must!

My Summer Reading List

Today's 2Peas Challenge is to blog about what's on your summer reading list. I LOVE to read. I read about 4 books per week. It's my biggest way to decompress after work. I just finished reading Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. That is an excellent book. I think I enjoyed it even more than the DaVinci Code. I'll probably read another one of his books this summer. Maybe both! Right now I'm reading The Devil Wears Prada. Very funny book.

I bought a really great book from Borders yesterday. Making Family Journals by Linda Blinn. It includes instructions on making different kids of book structures and different kinds of projects about your family and to do with your family. It's very artsy. There are several techniques and projects that I'd like to try when I can find some time. There is a kitchen journal that includes recipes, photos, labels and also guest comments and/or drawings. I love this idea because the kitchen has always seemed like such an integral part of the home. I love to cook for people and the kitchen is such a great gathering place. Great book! Check it out if you get the chance.

My little scrapper

Isn't she adorable? She loves to scrapbook with me. She has her own ciderella 8x8 album. She chooses all the papers and embellishments and creates the pages all by herself. (I do have to help her cut the paper to keep it straight.) We love scrappin' together! This weekend, we are going to use Rhonna Farrer's new hearts and stars stamps. I love the way these look!

Happy Mail Day!

Yesterday was a happy mail day! I got a package of goodies from my 2Peas BGF, Monica. This adorable little notebook was included. Just love it! Green is my fave color. She also sent me an assortment of embellishments including a zipper. I have never used a zipper on a scrapbook page so I'm looking forward to trying it. If anyone has suggestions I'm certainly open to it.

I also got my Stampin'Up order yesterday. I ordered the stipple celebrations stamp set so that I could make cards. And two 8 1/2 x 11 albums. I'm going to make some cards this weekend and hopefully do some scrapping.

It's Officially Summer!

Summer is now here! The kids had their last day of school last Friday. That means I now have a 1st grader and an 8th grader. How scary is that? I'm really feeling old.

My son broke is collarbone in 2 places last week. He's being such a trooper about it. He hasn't been taking any pain medication at all. The worst thing about it for him is that he has to stay off anything with wheels for 2 months. And summer just started! That means no dirt bike, no bicycle, no rollerblading, no scooter, no skateboard. That's been pretty rough on him. He loves playing outdoors and there's not a lot to do with one arm in a sling. I'm just so happy that he's okay and wasn't hurt more seriously.

Spent quite a bit of time scrapbook this weekend. Worked on a mini album of the first day of school. Started a circle journal for a new group. Found the painting I want to scrap about in Brandy's circle journal. I'll post photos when I get a chance.

Hope everyone has a great week!

THANK YOU SARAH!

As you can see, I now have a photo banner. Isn't it gorgeous? Sarah made it for me! Isn't she fabulous! Thanks so much Sarah. You're the best!

My Omaha Journal

I finished my Omaha trip journal this weekend. I used Ali's scrapbook on the road as inspiration. It was fun to add postcards and brochures to tell the story along with the journaling and photos. This is the cover with a big 7gypsies sticker on it.

This is a map of the area that I stayed in that I cut out of a brochure...

This is the one and only postcard I purchase for myself. Our hotel was across from the Old Market which is a really cool restored area that was vital during the late 1880s to the commerce of Omaha.

On this page I just jotted down things I wanted to remember from the trip. Most of it won't mean anything to anyone other than myself and the girls I was with on the trip.

Motorcycles

The kids got motorcycles this weekend! My son had a PW80 that he's been riding for about 4 years or so and has outgrown. He got a new Yamaha 125LE from Spokane Yamaha. The staff there is awesome! The owner stayed an hour and a half after closing so that we could pick up the bike. My son's absolutely thrilled to have a new bike even though he doesn't look like it in this photo.

My daughter's bike is from Roundy's. They had already closed but they let us in so we could buy her bike. Now, that's great customer service. All weekend, my daughter pestered my hubby to let her ride her new bike. She rode in the yard quite a bit and even survived a tumble. Monday morning hubby took her out to 7Mile to ride and she had a blast. She's so thrilled to be able to ride with the guys. She may be a princess but she sure can hold her own on a bike!

Happy Friday

I've joined another Circle Journal Group on 2Peas called Give Peas a Chance. Seems like a great bunch of gals. I've finished my book which is "Favorite Books. I used a 7Gypsies journal and Tim Holtz distressables patterned paper from Ranger and one piece of EK Success Bookworks paper. I decided not to decorate the cover until I get the journal back as to limit the damage to the cover.

This first photo is of the inside cover with the sign in tags. I used library cards that I found at Apropo.

This is the title page...

My two page layout is below.

The paper with the "b" is folded into thirds and lists my favorite books inide of it. The quote on the bottom of the page reads "There is no such thing as too many books. Author unknown." Great quote! This journal was a lot of fun to put together. I love the Tim Holtz paper and I distressed everything with brown stamping ink. I'm so anxious to get the first journal in the mail. And I can't wait to get my journal back.

Scrapping with Stacy

Tuesday I attended Stacy Julians's classes Get the Picture and Think Big at Apropos. Stacy is absolutely the best. She has so much energy and she really believes in what she does. Her enthusiasm is so contagious! Despite her notarity, she is just so down to earth and nice. Thanks for a great time Stacy!

Her message really resonates within me. It's so reassuring to know that we don't have to scrap every single photo we've ever taken. And that there isn't a right way to scrap. Her message is to get the meaningful things in life scrapped not just the events but rather people's personalities, the food we eat, the places we go everyday, our family traditions and so much more. We don't need to scrap just to fill the album. If you want to find out more about her awesome philosophy check it out here.

She challenged us to complete a 6x6 by the end of 2 weeks so I'd like to try to rise to that challenge. I'm thinking about my topic and it I get the album done, I'll post it here later.

My daughters class quilt

My mom and I won my daughter's class quilt in her school auction a few months ago and I just love it so I thought I'd share a photo. My daughter's hand is one of the green ones! Didn't they do a great job! This really makes me smile. I also have the class quilt from two years ago.

Omaha

I spent a few days in Omaha last week at a conference. I was there with a few girls I know and also met some really great people. We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Old Market which was absolutely fabulous. The staff was terrific, especially my new friend Carrie. The food was delicious! I had a lot of fun.

Old Market is really cool. The area was vital to commercial development in Omaha during the late 1880s. They have renovated it to include restaurants, shops, pubs and hotel accommodations. The architecture is really amazing and the streets are still brick. A lot has been done to keep the feel of a bygone era. There are old fashioned lamp posts and even horse drawn carriages.

The first night we ate dinner at Omaha Prime. Absolutely delicious! I had an 8 oz. filet mignon that was perfectly cooked along with Asparagus and rolls. The restaurant serves prime grade beef and it was excellent. Certainly worth the price but definitely a splurge.

On our last day there, the rain prevented us from enjoying the farmer's market (we weren't prepared with coats or umbrellas). We did have lunch at the Upstream Brewery which is housed in an old fire station. I had the smoked Gouda soup, as recommended by Carrie, along with a Caesar salad and their special beer bread. It was very yummy!

I would have enjoyed a bit more time exploring Omaha but we had a great time! And by the end of our conference we were ready to head back home.

Happy Monday!

I had a really relaxing Mom's Day and my kids spoiled me. They gave me cards and "helped" Day make breakfast. Very yummy. My daughter made a poster of me at school. It has a portrait of me on the front and the back had some facts about me. My faves were: My mom weighs 38 lbs. And Mom is 47 years old. Obviously, I weigh more than 38 lbs and well, I'll be 36 y.o. in September. Close right ;) After breakfast they took my truck down to the car wash and detailed it. They did a great job! It's all sparkley and clean. They also bought me new floor mats...even for the back seat and a collapsible container for the floor in the front so my purse doesn't slide around the cab of the truck. Now they can't eat in the truck anymore though. It's too pretty to mess up! I had a truly great day! Thanks my babys!

Easter Board Book

I made this fun little Easter Board Book a few weeks ago. I used a kid's book from a dollar store and sanded the pages a bit to help the adhesive stick to it. I read that tip a long time ago and I can't recall where. I used Sassafras Lass' Tickled Pink collection. I love this paper! It's so cute!

I'm really lovin' the mini albums! I've been focusing on that lately and haven't done very many 12x12 layouts but as Ali Edwards says "it is okay." I'm just going with what's fun right now. I also am putting a little album of photos together from when I met Ali at Apropos. I have some finishing touches to do but I've been so busy that I haven't really had time lately. I've also got two circle journals right now. Somehow the mailing schedule is a little out of whack. So this weekend I need to work on those. They look like great albums!

WINNER!!!

Congratulations Jen! You win! My birthday is 09/11!
Send me a peamail with your address and I'll get the book in the mail for you!

RAK Contest

I'm really excited to be taking scrapbooking classes from Stacy Julian at Apropos on May 23rd. I think I may have some homework that I haven't even thought about doing. I suppose I should work on that. I've met Stacy before and I must say that she is absolutely fabulous. I'm taking her Think Big and Get the Picure classes. The classes are based on her book the big picture. It should be a lot of fun!

And I just happen to have a spare copy of her book. So I thought I would have a RAK contest with the winner getting a copy of her book. Let's see, the winner will be the first person to guess my birthday which happens to coincide with a national holiday or historic event. Please post your guess along with your name and email address in the comments. Thanks for playing and good luck!

Wednesday's 2 Peas Challenge...

On Tuesday!

BonnieRose's Challenge: Pick one. and Elaborate if you so wish!
chocolate or vanilla? chocolate candy but vanilla ice cream
sandals or barefoot? i'm a sandal addict but barefoot on the beach
basic grey or scenic route? basic grey
primas or HS flowers? Both!!!
computer journaling or handwritten? handwritten
Madonna or Gwen Stefani? Early Madonna only
Leno or Conan? Neither!!!!!
Koolaid or Crystal Lite? Koolaid
American Idol or Amazing Race Uh, not so much!!!!
catlover or doglover? Both- We have two dogs and a cat.

Thank's BonnieRose!

Todays 2Peas Challenge

Challenge: I type a word.. you type the first thing that comes to your mind... this should be fun... ready? here we go...

1. Harry.... Potter
2. Black.... Berry
3. Delicious...Chocolate
4. Funny... Face
5. Green... Bean
6. Ribbons... I love ribbon
7. Internet... Addicted
8. BBQ... Brisket
9. People... Watcher
10. Quirky... Habits

No Work!

I've taken today and tomorrow off so I can spend the last few days of spring break with DH and my kids. I'm trying not to call in to see if work is getting done at the shop. There's a job that we really need to finish today so I hope it happens. I'll have to call later this afternoon just to check in.

We're going the the Ramada Inn at the Airport today to stay the night just for fun. There's a new indoor waterside there that the kids really like so we thought we'd go there and just swim a bunch. Maybe watch a movie tonight before bed. The food is pretty good at the hotel so we'll probably just eat there.

I bought the new Freestyle book by Autumn Leaves yesterday. Very cool book but not really my style so I think I may try a few layouts in that style for fun. I haven't done any scrapbooking in a couple of weeks. I really need to get working on the circle journal. I'm having a difficult time getting inspired so I guess I'll have to work on that this weekend.

Happy Thursday!

$100,000

BonnieRose's Challenge: You find/win/are given/inherit $100,000. Make a list and itemize exactly what you would do with the money.

Oh boy! That would be awesome! Let see...
1. Use $50,000 to buy another property.
2. Use $5,000 to buy bamboo floors for the main level in my house.
3. Use $8,000 for a vacation with my family... maybe mexico.
4. Put $8,000 in our IRAs.
5. Buy the credenza I want from ballard designs. $1,000.
6. Buy a used boat ~ $15,000.
7. Put the rest ~ $8,000 in savings.

Hopes and Dreams

Tuesday's Challenge from BonnieRose: Use your blog to write about YOUR HOPES AND WISHES for YOU. No one else. Not your kids. Not your better half. Not friends and family. But your hopes and wishes for YOU and you alone. What are they? Do you have any? What are YOUR hopes and wishes? YOUR dreams? Elaborate as you wish. Remember, this one is all about YOU. You matter. How you feel counts. What your deepest dreams, passions are. Write them down. Get specific. Imagine.

Wow, what a thought provoking challenge. I would love to have a lake house to hang out at with my family. There are so many lakes around here. I've always wanted to live on the water and never have. I'd love to drink my morning mocha on the deck with my hubby while the sun is coming out.

I'd also like to have a home on acreage so that I could have a nice large garden, enough room to roam for my kids, maybe some farm animals... a few hens and a sheep or two, maybe. With a big kitchen for cooking and entertaining.

I hope my business will continue to grow and become more successful. My husband and I both work hard to make that happen.

A Fabulous Weekend

I'm having a fantastic weekend! Yesterday morning, my daughter and I went to get manicures. She absolutely loves it! She gets this glowing smile on her face like it's the best thing ever. It's so fun to see her so happy and for the $3 they charge for her "manicure" it is definitely worth it!

For lunch, we went to Target so we could get one of their ICEES that she loves. One bit of advice is don't get the soup! I didn't think soup could be screwed up but apparently, I was wrong. It was awful. My daughter loved her mac n cheese though. After eating, we shopped a bit. We bought her a few tops and a sundress and I got some necessities. I browsed the scrapbooking aisle but frankly, nothing good. I so envy some of my fellow PEAS who have Targets with great things from Heidi Swapp and MM!

Next, we went to Pier 1, which is one of my favorite stores. I found a really cool glass hurricane set to put on my new Target TV armoire and a couple of throw pillows. The hurricanes look great! I'll post a photo later.

We met up with my hubby and son at home and we all went to see Ice Age 2. The kids were both excited to see it. It's a cute movie... great for families. It was so nice to spend the day relaxing with my family. Today's all about laundry.

I want this!

My scrapping area is coming together quite nicely but I could use another storage piece that I could use for scrapping supplies and for filing bills and such. I have found the piece I want! I really want it. This fine credenza is what I want. Isn't it a beaut!

I found this store on Jeanettes blog. I enjoy reading her blog. She has a lot of really cool finds on it.

Fun Fact Friday

Today is Fun Fact Friday over on 2Peas. Thanks Michelle for the blog challenge!

So, hmmmm....

1. I like butter on my tuna fish sandwiches.
2. One of my favorite things to do at home is sit right in front of the fireplace.
3. I cry during sappy movie scenes.
4. I have pink crocs! Love 'em!
5. I love reading other peoples blogs.

Chocolate!!

Today's 2Peas Challenge is:

What is your fave chocolate bar? Do you have more than one? How long have you loved it? Who gave you your first one?

I LOVE Godiva Chocolate! It is my absolute favorite and nothing else compares! My absolute favorite is the milk chocolate vanilla caramel. The caramel just melts in your mouth. Oooh, that sounds delish! I've loved it ever since I first tried it, which has to be years now. I think my first one I bought for myself at one of the malls. This is my special treat when I go to River Park Square.

My favorite inexpensive chocolate is probably an almond joy. I've loved them since I was a kid. But if I have my choice, it's Godiva all the way!

Busy!

Holy cow, have I ever been busy! We are sooo busy at work, which is great news because it means we are growing. Gotta love that! Lots of personal things going on too. And I've been fighting a cold for the past week.

I'm really bummed about the Zags basketball game yesterday. They lost to UCLA. It was a horrible thing to watch! They were up by 17 points at the half and just let it all go in the 2 period. So sad. Hopefully next year will be better.

My Fave Snack Foods

2Peas Challenge: List 5-10 of your most FAVE SNACK FOODS ( You know,the ones that make you say: " I JUST GOTTA HAVE EM!" and share any stories/why you love them so much!)

1. Tortilla chips with guacamole
2. Soft pretzels
3. Almond Joy
4. Popcorn
5. Homemade chocolate chip cookies
6. Cheese and crackers
7. Flour tortilla with butter
8. Chips and salsa
9. Godiva chocolate
10. Chex mix

Today's 2Peas Challenge

Thanks BonnieRose for the 2Peas Blog Challenge. Today's topic is: What was the last thing you won??? Please describe what you won, and the circumstances/situation around your win.

The last thing I won was an award from the networking group to which I belong. My chapter awarded me the New Player of the Year Award for 2005. This award is given to a member who has been with the group for less than 2 years and has "demonstrated outstanding service to the Chapter". It was a huge honor to be nominated for the award and even more amazing to have won! This group has absolutely amazing members and some of them have become my closest friends.

Look who I met!

I had such a great weekend! On Friday, Apropos had it's 5th Anniversary Party! And look who was there. Ali Edwards! She did a great Make & Take that you can see here. It was so much fun! Apropos did a terrific job! Ali is fabulous. She signed everyone's books and took lots of photos.

Saturday, I took two of her classes: Perspectives and Favorite Photos of 2005. Great classes! She is an excellent teacher! And look who was taking Perspectives...

Yep, that's Stacy Julian! She was so generous. She signed my Big Picture Scrapbooking book and agreed to a photo.

I met a great group of people at the classes that I hope to see again in another class. It was just such a fun time!

My Circle Journal

I'm in a circle journal over on 2Peas. It's my first circle journal and I am so excited to be participating. I've finished my journal and am ready to ship it off. This is the cover.

Good Mail Day!

Yesterday was a really good mail day! Look what I got... Heidi Swapp florals from Ruban Rouge. This was my first time ordering from them and my order was process quickly. Seems like great customer service!

I also got Full Circle by Lil Davis. Awesome book! Ali Edwards is one of the contributors to this book so I am hoping to get her autograph. BTW, Jenni Bowlin is also a contributor. This book is about the circle journal group of 17 designers. Beautiful circle journals. Very cool. Extremely inspiring.

SURPRISE!

Look what DH bought me! Yummy Halletts Chocolates! Truffles... just for me! And for no particular reason. Isn't he the best!

Just Jerrys

Last night was awesome! Just Jerrys has delicious food! I had the special which was spinach filled manicotti with meatballs. Yummy! My husband had the dijon crusted pork loin. For appetizers we tried the baked brie which was mouth-watering and the potstickers. They had a great wine list.

We had a great time with our friends. They are such a nice couple! I wish I had more friends like them. We're planning to take them to Thai sometime soon.

OH MY GOSH

I just found out that Stacy Julian will be at Apropo this weekend with Ali Edwards! And she'll be taking one of the classes! OMG! I can't believe it. I am sooooo excited that I can hardly stand it.

10 Things Guaranteed to Make Me Happy

Thursday's 2Peas Challenge is 10 Things that are guaranteed to put you in a good mood.

1. A Twigs Strawberry lemondrop!

2. A hug from my kids.

3. My son turning in all of his homework .

4. My garden in the summer.

5. Hugs from my husband.

6. Scrapbooking.

7. Getting good stuff in the mail.

8. Watching my son play baseball.

9. Reading with my daughter.

10. A 16 oz. nonfat mocha with whip cream.

Let's eat!

I seem to be thinking about food a lot today... and it's not even lunch yet. A month or so ago, DH and I went to Blue Fish with another couple. Really yummy food there! They have sushis and satays along with more sustantial dishes. We ordered a lot of sushi and satays and they were excellent. The Habenero Cilantro Lime Scallops Satay was to die for! Here's a review. If you're in the area check it out!

Tonight, we are going out with a different couple to try Just Jerrys on the South Hill. The owners of Just Jerrys are the same as the infamous Cannon Street Grill which closed last year. Really looking forward to trying it. The dijon crusted pork loin sounds delish! This a review for them. I'll let you know if I love it or not!

The best pizza place in town hands down is David's Pizza! It think it has won best pizza in Spokane for 9 years in a row. Mark Starr, the owner is a huge supporter of the community. And the Da Vinci pizza is absolutely fabulous! Check them out!

Today's 2Peas Challenge

Thanks BonnieRose for the Blog Challenge! These are crazy and fun questions.

1. Would you rather wake up and find you can ONLY tell the absolute truth OR only lies? Explain your answer if you wanna.

I tend to be a very direct and honest person sometimes to my downfall. But I could not lie. I absolutely do not like lying.

2. Would you go out to dinner with a convicted serial killer OR American Idol judge Simon Cowell? Elaborate if you wanna.

Hmmm, hard decision. Simon Cowell is a horrible man. Why must he criticize everyone so brutally? Can't he be a bit more polite? I guess I'd have to say the convicted serial killer. Not that serial killers aren't horrible. I dunno. That's a hard one.

3. Would you gargle with mint listerine mouthwash before every meal OR lick a lime before every bite?

Mint listerine would make everything taste like mouthwash. It leaves a horrible taste in your mouth so I'm going to say lick a lime. I really love limes.

All About Me album

I ordered the Creating Keepsakes/Heidi Swapp All About Me album from QVC and received it last week. It is awesome! This a before photo of the goodies that come in the kit. I am mostly done with it. I think I just need a few more photos and a page or two of journaling. The prompts are really great... things I'd never consider journaling about. One of the pages is the tags from clothing that you love. That was fun. I like the Things that Make Me Mad, Sad, Happy, Afraid pages.

RAK

I got a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) in the mail last week from BonnieRose! Thanks BonnieRose! I love getting cards in the mail and I just love PRIMA flowers. She made both the tag and the card - very nice. The card has a really funny quote on it, "My husband needs glasses. He still doesn't see things my way." LOL

A Winner!

My daughter, who's in kindergarten, won a 3rd place ribbon for an art contest at school. Here's the winning drawing...

Isn't she a grand artist! I am sooo proud of her!

My son had his last day of baseball camp last weekend and he won the short hop contest. Way to go! He's playing pony baseball this year. He's always played little league but we haven't been very happy so he's trying something new this year! I love watching him play. It's a blast! The game's don't start for quite a while but they have already started practicing. He loves playing.

Hubby was golfing this weekend out of town. I got quite a bit of scrapping done. And some reading. Two of my favorite things! I made a mini album for my kids of my aunts and uncles on my mom's side and their offspring. My kids don't get to see them that often so I thought it would be fun to do. They don't have any first cousins yet so my cousins kids are the closest they thing they have to that.

I finally sent the scrapbook I made for my grandmother commemorating her 85th birthday that was in August. I know, I know, I took FOREVER!!!! I waiting to hear if she likes it. It was really fun to be able to put that together for her.

Tonight I am going to watch the ZAGS basketball game! GOOOO ZAGGGGS!

What type of scrapbooking paper are you?

Which Scrapbooking Paper Collection Are You?

You are CHATTERBOX paper!You enjoy being a social butterfly and tend sometimes to think of scrapbooking more as a social event! When at a crop you might find yourself talking more than scrapping! But that's okay, when you do do a page it is bright and sunny just like your personality!
Take this quiz!








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What I love about my City

BonnieRose posted this challenge: "10 Things You Love About Your City/Where You LiveSince it's Valentines Day, I wanted to post a challenge for everyone today about where they are currently living. Look at the positive. What are the things that you really LOVE about the city/town/place you live in? List your 10 things. Be as specific as you want to be.

Here's my list:
1. There are a lot of family events.
2. People are very friendly.
3. Martini bars like Twigs, Bistango and Bluefish.
4. The sun shines a lot.
5. It snows in the winter - we have 4 distinct seasons.
6. Gonzaga Men's Basketball... need I say more!!!!
7. Lots of lakes for boating!
8. My LSS Picture Pages
9. The small town feel in a big town (according to 2005 populations estimates, 2nd biggest in WA)
10. All of these reasons.

Thanks for a great challenge BonnieRose!

Tuesday's 2Peas Blog Challenge

The 2Peas Challenge today is "Let's have fun to do an imaginary body make-over. What would you like to change?" Sounds like fun so I thought I would join in.

1. I'd love straight hair as opposed to the frizziness going on now.
2. I'd love to have a flat stomach.
3. I'd also love to be about 10 pounds lighter.
4. I'd also love to have my "real" nose back - the one I had before my car accident.

Things I'm happy with now include:

1. My naturally red hair.
2. My height.
3. My brown eyes.

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

I took this fun candy heart quiz and here are my results:

Your Candy Heart Says "Get Real"

You're a bit of a cynic when it comes to love. You don't lose your head, and hardly anyone penetrates your heart. Your ideal Valentine's Day date: is all about the person you're seeing (with no mentions of v-day!) Your flirting style: honest and even slightly sarcastic What turns you off: romantic expectations and "greeting card" holidays Why you're hot: you don't just play hard to get - you are hard to get

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?