Happy Birthday, Pretty Girl!

My Princess is TEN today! I can't believe it's been 10 years since she was this cute little puppy.
Now she's a gorgeous dog, although she'll always be my puppy. Happy Birthday, Malley!

Love,

Mommy

Random Musings

This post will not flow whatsoever. Just a warning.

1) Looking at a beauty catalog that suggests several stocking stuffers. One is roll-on. I knew Santa could tell if we were naughty or nice - but he can tell when we need a shower too?!?

2) I'm apparantly not meant to wear cool shoes. I have the cutest pair of brown Converse (a hundred years ago when I was in high school, I wore a hot-pink pair of high tops on my first day of 9th grade!), and they are not comfortable. Am I uncool because I can't really wear cool shoes or am I uncool because I'm not willing to suffer for coolness?

3) I'm also not cool because it's Friday night and I've been in my jammies since 7pm. But that's ok, I love my jammies!

4) How do two dogs shed so much?!? Isn't it Winter and they're supposed to keep their coats? Yes, I know it's Florida, but it's "cold" here now. I swear we could create another whole dog!

5) Speaking of dogs, why do they make such a mess with their food? Why can't they keep it IN the bowl, and leave the bowl upright?

6) Why does Rob shut the shower curtain when I still need to take a shower, and leave it open if I've showered before him?

7) How on earth did it get to be December 12?!? Yes, I know the whole story about how the earth moves and blah blah blah, but really, how did it get to be December 12? I don't have the first decoration up for Christmas!

8) I joined Facebook. Everyone keeps sending me these "requests". Where does everyone find these little applications? And how is everyone having time to play with them?

9) I don't go to bookstores too often, preferring to order online. I went to Books-A-Million the other day and was completely overwhelmed! It's HUGE and hard to find anything! I'll stick with online lol. Waiting for an Amazon order to come. The item that was out of stock has already shipped and the other stuff hasn't lol. As long as it makes it by Christmas I don't care when it comes.

10) How is Ticketmaster allowed to get away with charging so many "convenience" charges for their own convenience? Our $38.75 Bill Engvall tickets ended up costing $55.15 each!!! We got first row in the Mezzanine at least. But still! MONOPOLY!

11) Why doesn't the iPod Touch sync with Windows Calendar? I have the student/teacher version of Office 2007, which doesn't come with Outlook. So I can't sync my iPod calendar with my computer. That's my only gripe about my new toy though - LOVE IT! My friend Jill asked if I was going to wrap it up and open on Christmas. As if! (Name that movie!) I'm in the process of wasting all my time adding album artwork to my music. It's so cool that all the online record stores put the artwork and even let you click to enlarge!

To finish off this post, I want to say that I am totally loving my new job, I spend a lot more time smiling, and I am so happy to have a husband I adore (who is helping me decorate tomorrow whether he likes it or not lol).

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Jenn

Black Friday Shopping

Rather than go to sleep and get up early, me, Jill, Nancy, and Steph didn't go to bed! We headed to the Scrapbook Shoppe for their Black Friday 50% off sale at midnight after stuffing ourselves on Thanksgiving! The sale went on from midnight through 9am, but it seems most people went at midnight. We got there when it started, and didn't get out 'til almost 3am the line was so long! We all got good deals, and Jill scored big time - the last Scor-Pal for $20 with the sale!

We went to breakfast at Denny's after (which was quite crowded considering it was the middle of the night), and didn't get home 'til about 4:30. I spent some time looking at the ads again debating whether to go out or not, and decided against it. Crashed finally at 6am after hitting a couple online sales :)

Here are a couple pics to prove I was there!

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving/great weekend!

Jenn

Happy Anniversary, Honey!

Today Rob and I celebrate 11 years of marriage. Can't believe it's been that long!

We had a wonderful day together, starting with cards and a quick snack at home. Then off to a chili cook-off at the local Harley Davidson store. They had a precision riding team that was awesome to watch, and several of the chilis were good. We won a raffle prize, $25 to a local pizza place.

I have never seen so many motorcycles in one place!

The best thing there (besides the Humane Society adoptable doggies who I wanted to take home) was this pup:

Since I don't ride a bike, I haven't had the occasion to visit other Harley stores so I don't know how they compare. But I think our local one is pretty cool!

After that, we went to the aquarium and walked around for a couple hours. I managed to have a dead camera battery, so spent WAY TOO MUCH on a disposable camera. Wow, I haven't used one of those in YEARS lol. So I don't really have any pics to share of fish yet. Here's one of the gators - they are so funny how they just float with their heads above water and their bodies under.

And here's an owl.

After the aquarium, we went to Bennigan's (one of the few remaining; it is independently owned) for an early dinner, then went to the Manatee Viewing Center. We didn't see any faces, but it was amazing how many manatees were in the water! You could see a bit of their backs above the surface. No pics at all, because they are on my disposable film camera! Rob bought me a stuffed manatee, so I'm happy lol.

Now we're home and someone is not feeling well because he ate too much chili then a whole meal at Bennigan's and somehow bumped his head on the car. Oh, did the "he" part give away who that someone is lol? ;)

I had a wonderful day with the guy I love - here's to 11 more (plus plus plus) years!

Jenn

Facebook

I finally took the leap and joined Facebook. I know, I'm a wee bit behind the rest of the world. This is not a good thing - between Facebook and my new favorite online hang-out, Paper Artists Online, I am getting NOTHING done. I have hundreds of e-mails and blog posts to read! I have house stuff to do!

If you want to be my friend on Facebook, click on the cute envelope in the right column over there and e-mail me.

Good thing I love my friends :)
Jenn

Snippets Sneak Peak

Coming next month is a fun book by Lain Ehmann called Snippets: Mostly True Tales From the Lighter Side of Scrapbooking. Below is an except that many of us can identify with - I know I'm guilty of spending hours drooling over other artists' spaces! (comment with your own stories!)
Jenn

A ROOM OF ONE'S OWN

I’ve got a shameful secret. It involves spending long hours cruising the Web, looking at enticing photos that cause my heart to race and my breath to quicken.
Fortunately, this habit doesn’t require a valid credit card number or a parental warning on the computer screen. All the same, it’s a bit embarrassing. But, we’re friends, right? So here it is: I’m addicted to other people’s scrap rooms.

The level of my dedication is nothing short of scary. I can spend hours breathlessly clicking through link after link, drooling while I bookmark sites and save particularly provocative photos to my hard drive. Forget about Internet romances; I’m having an emotional affair with a Pottery Barn desk-and-bookshelf combo I saw online last week.

The idea that some scrapbookers have perfectly organized workspaces—complete with matching furniture and coordinated storage containers—is as far from my reality as my waistline is from Nicole Richie’s. It’s astonishing to me that people have scrap rooms large enough to host a dozen friends and their Cropper Hoppers, with room left over for a few full-spectrum floor lamps.

Okay, so I’m jealous. I live in Northern California, land of the silicon computer chip and the million-dollar “starter” home. Real estate is at a premium, and the price tag on my ideal scrapping space would have as many zeroes as a college tuition bill. And while I’d gladly trade my kids’ future for a room of my own, my husband has me on a tight leash.

As a result, my scrap room is more of a “scrap broom,” as in “broom closet.” Exactly how diminutive is my room? Let me put it this way—the previous occupant of our home used this space for handbag storage. And the only way I could host a friend for a crop night would be to suspend us both from the ceiling in hammocks, Gilligan-and-the-Skipper style. Not only would that be a tad bit uncomfortable, it would also make it really hard to set an eyelet without cracking someone’s coconut.

I’m not complaining, though. I know some women who are forced to house all of their scrapping paraphernalia inside a single armoire. Now, an armoire may sound fancy,
but it’s really just a French word meaning: “place to shove all your junk to keep it out of sight.” The idea of having to pull everything out and put it back again each time I want to scrap is enough to keep me using magnetic photo albums for the rest of my natural-born life.

Maybe someday I’ll have that dream room, the one with the cute white furniture and 12 x 12 file drawers. In the meantime, I’ll stick to my voyeuristic tendencies, envying other women’s floor space and wondering how they keep their desktops so clean. Seriously, how can you scrap without generating the least bit of clutter? You know, I bet they stash away those itty-bitty paper slivers, hole-punch chads, and unsorted products just long enough to take a nice picture—kind of like how I suck in my stomach and lift my head for the camera, and then let my chin rejoin my neck after the flash.

Honestly, you never really get a good look at the rest of the house in these photos, do you? All you ever see is the “scrap room.” For all we know, they have all seven of their children piled into one bedroom, clothes bulging from the closets, the older kids sleeping under the beds, while the little ones doze in the dresser drawers.

Actually, that’s not a bad idea. My three kids don’t need all that space—after all, the only thing they do in their rooms is sleep. And now that I think about it, why
do we need a living room and a family room? If we just consolidated a little, I’d have more scrapping room than I’d know what to do with. My husband won’t mind if I use his half of the closet, either. If he needs someplace to put his clothes, I can always get him an armoire.

© CK Media 2008. excerpted from “Snippets: Mostly true tales from the lighter side of scrapbooking”

If you read my blog through a reader...

be sure to visit the actual site and view the video of the doggie on the top right - you'll get a chuckle out of it!

Cool Car Commercial

Watch this


Then watch this to see how it was made - very cool!

EXHAUSTING Weekend!

Remember this post about me going "night-night" after spending the day with my niece and nephew? That was nothing!

I, being the brave soul I am, agreed to take Lexi, who is 8 years old, for a weekend (10/24-10/26). A WHOLE WEEKEND. My exhaustion started on Friday when my sister brought the kids down, and we shopped and then had dinner at Sonny's. Eating with Brayden is an experience. At least he's not picky like his Aunt Jenn, just doesn't want to sit still. After dinner Lexi and I headed back to my house because she was anxious to see the dogs (nope, she didn't care to see Aunt Jenn or Uncle Rob, she was here for the dogs).

Saturday was a lot of fun, Rob and I took Lexi to the Hunsader Farms annual Pumpkin Festival. We did the corn maze, ate roasted corn, played in the butterfly tent, looked at crafts, and let Lexi run around and burn some energy. And then gave her cotton candy. And then had lunch - which includes dessert - at Friendly's. And I'm still wondering why I sleep so good when I'm with her?!?

Most of our time at my house was spent doing crafts. Lexi had a ball creating things out of my supplies. She even made Uncle Rob a birthday card (for a couple weeks later). Sunday I took Lexi for breakfast, where she ate all of hers and part of mine, then I took her to the park to run around. We finally headed up to meet Tracy for dinner. Lexi loved riding around in my car, she just laid back and relaxed!

I went home and pretty much crashed after that lol! And even started my new job the next day!!

Here are some pics of the weekend:

Jenn (who thinks she might finally be recovered three weeks later)

Have you ever seen anything so cute?!?

My nephew, Brayden's baptism was a couple weeks ago. He was so cute in his tux with tails!!

Here's a pic of me and Brayden's sister, Lexi, that I love, from the same day:

I love these kids, and always sleep soooooo well after I see them lol. Wonder why?

Jenn

Wacky Tacky Day

Those who have known me for awhile know that every year my darling husband lives for Wacky Tacky Day at the school he teaches at. It's part of Homecoming Week. The idea of course is to be as tacky as you possibly can. Rob spends a long time the night before picking out the perfect outfit and accessories.

Here's this year's getup:

And just in case you can't see his socks in the first pic, here's a closeup:
He actually ended up in his blue Crocs (sandals) instead.

I love my husband lol.
Jenn

100th Post!

Wow, this is my 100th post! Just over a year ago I didn't even really "get" blogs lol. And now I've got 100 posts on mine! Thanks to everyone who comes to visit me :)

Jenn

I'm a Working Girl!

You know that "part-time" job I blogged about? Well, before I could even start it, they offered me full time instead! I really miss being home all day, and this morning thing sucks lol, but so far I'm loving my new job. I get to wear jeans, they don't expect me before 9, and everyone is super-nice and relaxed. A much better atmosphere than I was in before. Plus it's a different industry than I was in before, so I'm learning new things.

But I still would rather be home all day lol ;)
Jenn

Breast Cancer 3-Day - Please Donate

My dear friend Steph is walking (well, sorta - she's being pushed in a wheelchair b/c she's in a cast after having ankle surgery) in the breast cancer 3-day walk this weekend in Tampa. Two of her team-mates are short of their goals. Please help by donating what you can. Even just a few dollars will make a difference.

Rob
Tiffanie (who is going to cut off 10 inches of her hair in addition to walking)

You can also purchase any of the pink products from Stacey's Pampered Chef site - she's donating 20% through tomorrow, Halloween, toward Rob's total. I ordered the cute pink square bowls :)

Thanks for helping, and GOOD LUCK Steph and the Eager Beavers! My thoughts will be with you all weekend!
Hugs,
Jenn

Aunt Jenn Go Night Night

Oh my goodness, am I tired! I had a wonderful day today. Drove up to my parents' house with the top down, picked up Mom, and headed to Ocala for lunch and a trip to Hobby Lobby and Griffin's. Then back in time for my two favorite people to come over and wear me out. Lexi and I spent an hour or so looking at Cute Overload on the computer, and Brayden spent most of the evening hanging on me. I would hold his hands tight and let him wiggle all over - he had a ball! I will be so bruised tomorrow though. Those little toes hurt! We had two of my favorite things for dinner, homemade mac & cheese and Cheeseburger Pie. Yum! And Mom sent me home with leftovers!

Going Night Night (the only words Brayden says so far lol),

Jenn

New job!

As many of you know, I quit my job at the end of July. I have been really loving staying at home being the happy housewife (which is really odd for my non-domestic self lol). But I need to work so I can continue to play. I got a part-time job (only 5-8 hours a week for now) at a small company, and am excited to start working. Everyone there seems really nice, and it's close to my house. Wish me luck!
Jenn

Beer Fest!

We went to the Creative Loafing Brew U beer fest last night in St. Pete. We got a hotel a block away for free using Hilton Honors points. The bed was comfy, and we got free breakfast. The beer fest was fun. We paid for the VIP tickets which got us in at 6; it was nice because the crowds weren't as bad and we got some extra perks. The pic below is of the crowd after 8 when the non-VIP people came in. We got to try some new beers, chatted with Joey & Wayne from Cigar City Brewing for awhile and got free stuff from them (can't wait to try their brews!), I won a CD from 93.3 somehow since I took about 5 minutes to name three artists they play (this was after being there a couple hours), chatted with several other really nice people, and we got to snack on some yummy food. We left a bit after 9 and both were asleep by 10 - we're so old!

Self-portrait - Rob is such a goofball!

We drove home this morning with the convertible top down - what a GORGEOUS day it is! My friend Jill watched the puppies - she said they were GOOD when she came over. She wasn't really sure what happened to them since they usually spazz and jump all over their Auntie Jill! They were back in full-force when we got home though - they were happy to see mommy and daddy!
Jenn

St. Pete

Rob and I spent the afternoon Saturday walking around the Pier and Baywalk in St. Pete. It was a nice day, not too hot.


That tree is HUGE! The water was so pretty with the sun reflecting off it.

We would have had more time to explore if SOMEONE hadn't needed to watch football. He didn't get to finish the game (at least USF did win!) but I guess he needed his fix lol.

We had dinner at Johnny Rockets - their chili cheese fries are yummy!
Jenn

I love my blog design...

don't you think that little bird is just the cutest? She makes me smile every time I see her. I have to give kudos to the template designer, Gisele Jaquenod. She has several more templates to choose from - let me know if you use one of hers so I can check it out!

And I just found out she has the PERFECT mug for me - wish it was a tumbler instead lol. Of course I just ordered it! Ok, it's technically for hot tea lovers - but I use tea bags for sweet tea too!

Jenn

Happy Mail!!

I got happy mail today! I won a copy of Paper Crafts Magazine's latest special issue, "Cards, Gifts, & More - Paper Crafting 3 Ways" from Kelly's blog on World Card Making Day. I got it today, along with an unexpected Technique Tuesday stamp set she added the the envie. I love the flourished bugs, they are so pretty. Thanks Kelly!
Jenn

Latest Website Addiction

Rob sent me a link to one of the stories on this site and I spent the ENTIRE WEEKEND reading ALL OF THEM. It amazes me that some people have made it this far in society lol! The site is all about the crazy things that people who work with the public experience.

WARNING - may be addictive!

http://notalwaysright.com/

Jenn

Card Share from Stamp Club Class

I'm not overly thrilled with these, but this is what we did in Stamp Club at my lss Violette's tonight. I like how the corn turned out - you can't really see, but I used two shades of green watercolor pencils. The pumpkin in the second card (recipe card rather than a greeting card that opens) was watercolored, and I am not very good as getting the different shades all in one object! Oh well. Maybe I'll try to make the pumpkin bars and see how they taste (hopefully better than the pumpkin looks lol)!


TFL,
Jenn

Project Share

This page was one of my monthly QK Club classes at my lss, Violette's. We did the basic layout in class, and the chipboard rectangle is supposed to have a clip on it, but I decided to leave it off so I could put the glass on the frame. I used the large mat as-is, and added the mats for the other two pics. It's going to be hung on the wall in my living room. Glad navy blue is a neutral - we wear a lot of it :)
Jenn

Friends Word Book

Here is a Friends Word Book class project I did with my friend Suzanne at the Scrapbook Expo in Orlando eariler this year. We've been going to the expo for five years together, and make a girls' weekend out of it. For the past few years it has fallen near one of our birthdays, so it became a birthday celebration as well.

It only seemed fitting since I took the class at the Expo with my Expo Buddy that I make the book about our friendship.

Here's the entire book from the front. All materials SEI.
Another front view. I didn't do anything with the back of the F or the front of the R yet (going to have our names). Here's the back of the R. Pic is of us (Suzanne on the left, me on the right) at Sea World.
Front of I. Charlotte, me and Suzanne at M&Ms World in Orlando.
Back of I. Me and Suzanne at a crop YEARS ago, when I was much skinnier! Front of E. Suzanne, Vicki, and I by Disney's All-Star Cafe.
Back of E. Me and Suzanne at Whim-So-Doodle during the 2007 Scrapbook Treasure Hunt. Front of N. Me and Suzanne at Sea World for their Halloween event.
Back of N. Me, Jill, and Suzanne at the Expo a couple years ago. Tag pulls out and has journaling on the back.
Front of D. Pic is of me and Suzanne at the Zoo's Winter Wonderland event a couple years ago. Back of D. Suzanne and I showing off our new Club Scrap tote bags at the 2007 Rolling Retreat.

Front of S. Suzanne and I at Margaritaville to celebrate her birthday last year. Smaller pic is a couple years ago outside the Lego store at Disney Downtown.

Thanks for looking!
Jenn

Dog Food Hog

This is so funny! I can't believe the dog is letting the kitten push him away :)

Scrapbook Treasure Hunt 2008 Mini Book

The Scrapbook Treasure Hunt 2008 Mini Book was easy to do, since I used mostly the make-and-takes from each store.

We got a 6x6 SEI Preservation album in our totebags, and I covered it with the custom paper we got and the QK pirate ship diecut. I will add ribbon to the spine later, and need to ModPodge the cover for protection.

I used the make-and-take from The Happy Scrapper for the title page, adding stickers for the Hunt title and the date.

Journaling. Pirate ship is a transparancy.

Pics from a couple of the stores' displays.
Receipts and business cards were tucked into pockets on the Ruban Rouge make-and-take layout.

The next few pages are make-and-takes, featuring pics of me and either Jill or Becky posing in the stores' photo ops.

Several of the stores' displays on the make-and-take (altered lol) from Scrapbooking With Love.

A 2x2 pic of each stores' sign, in the order we hit them. Thanks to Teri for the caption idea: "Pillaged and Plundered and Took Me Loot Home". It's perfect!

The next several pages feature the tags we got from each store. I used a lot of Rusty Pickle's Pirate Princess line in this book.




Flyer about the hunt. It was on a totally non-matching bright red and didn't copy too well, but you get the idea.

Success! Pic of me with my completed Passport at Violette's. Diecut is Cuttlebug Kids. Like the pink bandana?Anyone want to join me next year?
Jenn