12-13-14

Today is the last day we will see a consecutive date like this for a long time (I say that since I don't remember what the date is of the next one! LOL!!)

We started the day with sleepover hangovers cured with donuts for the kids.  Donuts cure most things.

                 

The rest of our day was spent running around to a variety of places.  Should've done something important, but hey donuts were involved so it was celebrated well. LOL!

Light It Up!

First fire of the Fall season.

Makes me think of chestnuts, reading books, hot drinks, and fuzzy socks.

National Coffee Day

In honor of National Coffee Day

I plan on having another 3 or 4 cups!  I'm no quitter!

Spray Paint And A Vision

While sometimes waiting for my mojo to hit me, I look around my scrap room and find things that need attention.  I realized I had too many white owls in my collection and talked Joe into going to Home Depot together to find colors I'd like to spray paint them.  Well actually HE could paint them for me....I screwed up some frames a few years ago and he won't let me live it down.  He's the official spray painter in the house.  I narrowed it down to these colors, since the mint green I had envisioned, they didn't have (or make--not sure).  

Joe took the owls to work and in a few days brought them home.  They came out great!  I had told him to make two of them the blue color, not caring which owl got which color, and now I'm sorta wishing I had told him to double up on the aqua!  I'm happy either way really.  So much better than boring white, which I still have some but they have rhinestone eyes so I left them white.

This is how they look all lined up on the cabinets in my scrap room.  So pretty!  Just don't mind the messy counter top that needs my attention next!!

Don't Be Shy, Take A Selfie!

A friend on Instagram posted this awhile back, and I couldn't resist taking a screenshot of it. 

It spoke to me. 

As someone always behind the camera taking all the pictures, I'm hardly IN pictures. I want to look back and see myself enjoy life.  Enter-- the "Selfie"!

So you want to take a picture of yourself? GO AHEAD!! Just no duck lips-okay??

Getting Back In The Groove

Around here, school started. Olaf will be keeping me company a lot for drop offs and pick ups.  I may or may not talk to him while waiting for the girls to get out of school.

Getting back to walking with the puppies more. Trying to keep up with the 10,000 steps a day I was doing daily in Disney, but not succeeding at it as easily now. 

Trying to catch up on the vacation laundry. Thought I was doing pretty good but maybe not the putting it away part....

Happy to be drinking good coffee again from home.  (Not a fan of the Disney variety of coffee.) Cute mugs make it even better!

Looking forward to routines and schedules but not the homework that the girls bring home.  Waiting for that day when they realize complaining about it will not get it done.

Missing Summer already.  Not looking forward to coats, and cold weather.  Going to squeeze the most out of my flip flops while I can.

Things I Am Loving August 2014

A quick post to share what I'm loving lately, or always. ;)

My husband

My girls 

These puppies

These flip flops

This camera 

This place

This song

I choose you

Around The House

Things around our house aren't typically the norm. We are a Disney family and we tend to decorate with Disney. I'm not saying everything is Disney themed by there are touches of it around the house, in some rooms more than others.

On our recent June trip, we picked up some art work and I had some ideas of where to hang it all. Today Joe and I picked out frames and hung them up. I know it's weird but it makes me so happy to get them hung up so we can admire them, and remind us of our trip. 

We added the two frames on the right this trip, loving the tropical feel and how it ties in with the painting on the left. The bottom print reminds us of Riley and Emma even though it's Stitch and Pluto. 

I've long admired these prints on our visits to Disney, and brought them home this time for our kitchen. I love everything about them!

This Tony's sign was a must. We have a long history with this restaurant in the Magic Kingdom. I've always loved the movie Lady and the Tramp that it's themed after, and Joe used the idea to propose to me there. We eat there a few times on each trip. Love it. 

It's the little things that make me happy.

Things About Me Currently August 2014

Things about me lately...

1. Trying to form a schedule of sorts around here for myself. Been slacking on paperwork and things and need to stay on track. That includes balancing the checkbook, cleaning, and laundry...always laundry.

2. Been struggling to catch up on my Project Life album so I'm not 2 months behind all the time.  Which reminds me that I need to share some pages soon....

3. Currently over doing Project Life since it's taken over all my scrappy time and I miss scrapbooking in 12x12 format. Which doesn't help item #2. 

4. Realizing I have a lot of scrappy supplies and need to use them more. Or do a big sale/purge.

5. Been on a "purge everything" mood since coming back from vacation. Papers, toys, clothes, nothing's safe. 

6.  Not looking forward to the summer ending and school starting back.  The homework struggles are my least favorite.

7. Find myself wishing we lived in Florida. This is a constant wish.  

8. Amazed that we now have 4 adorable puppies! Never thought we'd have one!

9. Feel judged by people too often.  Not a fan of people forcing their opinions on me either.

10.  Still battling the bulge, but I'm seeing changes and it's a great motivator to keep going.

11. Trying to be a better blogger. Realizing I miss writing about the "everyday" stuff and that it doesn't have to be all about scrapbooking. I want to share all of life.

12. Struggling to get to bed earlier so I'm not wiped out by the afternoon, needing a nap.  Being a night owl for so long makes this hard.

So there's some random bits that are floating around in my mind lately. Ready to make some changes, and get things done!

The Great Purge of 2014

Since getting back from vacation, I've been trying to catch up on things around the house. The theme is mainly "PURGING". I've been going through things all year long but I've been in high gear lately.

First off, papers. Old receipts from 2010? Tossed. Credit card statements going back to 2004? Shredded. It's ridiculous!! I've made a dent but still have a way to go. 

It's freeing to just toss something. Crazy as it sounds, it makes me happy seeing the garbage can fill up. 

Purge purge PURGE!! 

I'm hoping to get it more under control so I won't have to dedicate so much time to it. Eventually take just one day a week to work on it. Baby steps. 

Might mix things up today and go through my closet too. I'm finding some clothes to be too loose on me (YAY) and refuse to hang onto them. The battle of the bulge has been going in the right direction and I'm a happy girl. 

The outcome of this might get my scrappy mojo moving again. I think the pressure of so much to do around here has the creative side blocked off. I have barely stepped foot in my scrap room this week. 

So the Great Purge of 2014 must continue! 

Mondays Are Mean!

Especially the day after vacation!!

Mondays don't usually bother me too much but today was tough.  I had to go to work a lot longer than my normal day and it's standing all day long. I'm feeling it.  Doesn't help that afterwards I went food shopping since the cupboards were BARE!  Well mostly just the fridge, but whatever. 

It was also hard leaving the puppies after picking them up late last night and not getting enough quality time with them.  I've missed those sweet, little faces!! 

All day at work, I thought about Disney, and the puppies. My kids too. Can't forget them!! LOL! They've reached the age, where they just don't want to pose for pictures anymore. I don't have many pics with them from our trip. It breaks my heart, and I tried all sorts of Mothers guilt to get them in the shot but it didn't always work. 

Since coming home, I've made the puppies a fresh batch of treats, and started tackling the mountain of laundry.  I'm hoping to relax a little in my scrap room tonight, even if all I do is print pics.  I need to catch up on ProjectLife so bad and I'm feel the pressure.  Yes the pressure is just from the craziness inside my head but after the last Disney trip taking so long to get through, I'm afraid how long this trip will take me to do! 

Eight Things 2014

I recently came across an old blog post of mine and decided to do an updated version.

8 Things I'm Listening To:

1. P!nk

2. Lourde

3. Sara Barellis 

4. Christina Perri

5. Bruno Mars

6. Train

7. Maroon 5

8. Adele

8 Things I'm Watching

1. NCIS

2. Criminal Minds

3. Scandal

4. Grey's Anatomy

5. Glee

6. Suits 

7. Sons Of Anarchy

8. Big Bang Theory

Bonus: Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson 

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To

1. Disney World (always!)

2. Last day of school

3. Warm sunny days

4. Wearing flip flops again. 

5. Not packing school lunch

6. Marissa getting her braces off (I'm sure she does too)

7. Playing outside with the puppies

8. Driving with the windows open

8 Things I Did Yesterday

1. Laundry (always) 

2. Worked

3. Spent more time than I should on Pinterest. 

4. Saw my niece in her school play

5. Picked up pizza

6. Let my daughter have a sleepover with her friend 

7. Cleaned up a leaking coffee cup (not fun)

8. Cooked pasta per requested as a late night "snack"

8 Things I Wish I Could Do

1. Move to Florida 

2. Lose more weight (working on it)

3. Stick to a schedule with things. 

4. Make a quilt out of all the old T shirts we have.

5. Learn my MacBook Pro better 

6. Learn Photoshop

7. Convince Joe to sell his business (so #1 would be possible)

8. Visit DisneyLand in CA

8 Things I Collect

1. The letter "S". I have a collection in my scraproom. 

2. Washi Tape 

3. Purses/Tote bags (always looking for the perfect one)

4. Disney Coffee Mugs

5. iPhone cases

6. Disney Trading Pins

7. Lady and the Tramp collectibles 

8. Owls

8 Places I'd Like To Go 

(for the 1st time or again) 

1. Italy (again)

2. Hawaii (again)

3. Australia

4. Arizona

5. California

6. Antigua 

7. Aruba

8. Las Vegas (again)

8 Must Have Items In My Purse

1. Wallet

2. Blistex

3. Tissues

4. Mirror

5. Any giftcards given to me (so I can randomly shop!) 

6. Checkbook

7. Gum

8. Pens 

Hello February!

We aren't sports obsessed around here, but we do love watching the Super Bowl.  Gianna is rooting for the Seahawks even though Joe, Marissa and I are all hoping for the Bronco's to win.  Gianna thought it would be funny to have Riley wear her Giants jersey with some modification.

Riley was not amused.

In honor of the Super Bowl, I decided to break out the crock pot and make my first chili.  I found an easy recipe on Pinterest and for my first time, it came out pretty good!  There are some things I'd do a little different, but I'll just keep trying out recipes until I find "the one".

Needless to say, there was plenty of it and I'll be enjoying it all weekend.  

Saturday Snow

We got more snow, and since we have nothing planned, it's a perfect day to finish packing up the Christmas decorations and get them into the crawl space.

 

Time to get the basement back to normal and more efficient. As always there's more to clear out. Might have to enlist the girls to help me with their things. There are loads of un-used toys that need to be packed or given away. I know with Marissa especially, that she hates to part with things and sometimes that's ok. We'll pack those things up and put them in storage. Other things however must go. Some to the trash and some to Goodwill. 

As of last night, I finished our Disney trip in Project Life!  I pushed through it & cant wait to catch up with the rest of the year.  Now to get some decent light & take pics of those pages to share....

Monday Happenings

Mondays for me are pretty routine.  Food shopping is usually on the agenda.  That's one of my least favorite chores.  I have it down to about an hour and I know that's not long but I just don't like it.

After rushing to put all the food away, I made it to my annual eye Dr appt.  This is another thing I'm not crazy about but only because I don't like getting my eyes dilated.  It gives me a major headache that lasts all day.  Not fun.  However, I do like my Dr.  He explains things to you in plain English, and is just a nice guy.  Luckily, he said he has a new machine that will do the same thing for the dilating part without the drops that give me a headache!  I had to pay extra for it but I consider it completely worth it!!  Add to that, he had me try new contact lenses that were even more comfortable than my last lenses AND for filling out a survey, he gave me a Starbucks giftcard.  NICE!

When I hang out in my scraproom, the puppies have the option of laying on a bed or the couch (tough life, I know!).  Lately they've been wandering a little. I had thought Riley was sleeping in my bathroom, but couldn't find her.  Knowing the doors were closed and she was just hiding, I kept calling her name.  In the end, Piper lead me to her.  She was napping in the closet, under Joe's shirts!  

You can hardly see her!

She must've been sleeping soundly, since she just laid there and after a little love from me, she went back to sleep.  Too funny!

I spotted this fox at the jug handle by my house today.  I've never seen one that close up!  It was feasting on the dead deer that must've been hit by a car (GROSS).  I can't wait to show Gianna since she is all about "What does the fox say?"

That's my Monday.  I gets wild and crazy around here! LOL!

Random Happenings

We're having a super cold snow day today.  The kids are happy they get to stay home.  I'm happy not to have to go out in this weather.

Gianna lost a tooth, making it the first of the year.

I got started packing up the Christmas decorations.  Usually I leave it up until the middle of the month but something got me motivated to start.  

Gianna likes how toasty warm the Christmas stockings are.  She's my little goofball, always looking for a laugh.

My sweet Riley seems to have hurt her eye.  She won't open it and I'm freaking out.  Taking her to the vet tomorrow.

Piper just wants to be loved.  Always.

Lots of randomness from these last few days but that's life around here.

Happy Moments

This morning on my way to work, I was treated to a coffee at my normal drive thru. This made my day! 

Thinking about making a simple mini album of some sort to keep the happy moments of the year in. Sort of like the jars where you write something good down on slips of paper....I know it's just one day but it's the start of the year, and I'm hoping it's a great one!!

Thankful 2013

With Thanksgiving so close, I've been thinking about what I'm thankful for. Some serious. Some simple. Thankful for it all.

My family. Joe and the girls are my everything. Everything I do, I do for them. Sound like a Bryan Adams song? It was our wedding song. Still true to this day. Love them. 

My puppies. They make me so happy. I can be having a rotten day and they make it better with their love and kisses....and playing. They make me laugh so much at their craziness! Sure house training isn't fun but neither was potty training the girls. They melt me. 

Grateful for coffee and the reminder not to take things too seriously. 

I'm thankful for our health. It's been a crazy year (for Joe) health-wise. You take the simple things for granted. Seeing him have surgery twice this year has been stressful. Luckily, he's doing so much better for it all. 

I'm thankful for magical places. Where else can you act like a kid with no worries?

I am thankful for simple things like weight loss apps that have helped me stay on track with my goals. It's been slow moving but it's moving in the right direction. 

So that's the short list.  I'm sure there's a lot more that I'm Thankful for besides this, but I was going for the not obvious things.

Wishing everyone a wonderful, and peaceful Thanksgiving!

Project Life 2013 Week Thirty-Three

Week 33 was a busy week, not in an exciting way by far. Just cleaning and purging and getting ready sort of busy things.

This week I tackled a room in the basement that we couldn't walk through anymore. Lots of "just put it downstairs" sort of stuff. Know what eventually happens to that stuff? The light bulb comes on and it gets donated to Goodwill. I admit to not parting with some things out of sentimentality but others should have gotten dumped long ago! 

I also finished working on my 2011 project life album that I decided to do on a whim. It made me backed up on this years album before vacation but I'm glad it got done. Lots of finishing up projects happened this week....and cleaning. Can't escape that! 

It's been crazy busy around here lately. I've been working more hours by Joe's office since he broke his right hand and needs help (it's his dominant hand). He also left yesterday for a convention in ORLANDO! I told him he needs to visit Disney and bring back souvenirs! LOL! I wasn't happy about his going with a broken hand but it was important for him to go. Can't wait for the year when we get to go too! School gets in the way of all the fun! 

Hoping to clear out more of the basement so we can pull out the Christmas decorations already. I had Marissa look in the crawl space for the Thanksgiving stuff and she couldn't find it. I accepted it and I'm ready to move forward with Christmas. It takes me so long to decorate and this year I believe it won't be any easier with the puppies so I want a head start. I just won't get much help from Joe with his hand broken. Oh well. Bring it on!