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”

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Cool Car Commercial

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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