so thankful...

with Thanksgiving coming up, i thought i would share some of the people and things i'm thankful for... God has blessed me in so many ways, and i can't be thankful enough! so here goes a completely UN-COMPREHENSIVE list in no particular order:

• music! i really really love listening to music. i think it can change a mood right away. currently i'm totally digging Christmas music (and have been for at least a month), but the current favorite i just bought on iTunes is "Pennies from Heaven." hehe, so fun!
• my family--love them so much. my parents are awesome and supportive, and my brothers are super sweet and they never fail to make me smile. Peter and Joey still live close to me, and getting to see them brightens my day. AND! everyone will be together for this Christmas. Cecelia is coming from D.C., Lincoln will be jetting in from PA, and my grandma and my aunt are coming from NY. who knows when the next time me and my siblings will all be together like that again. it hasn't even happened yet, but i'm already thankful it's going to! :D
• Christmas! i love celebrating the birth of Jesus, and i love everything that it entails. i'm a fan of traditions, but i'm so totally excited to decorate in my own place in just my style. since i have a pink living room and bedroom, i'm thinking of going with a sweet and girly tree and decorations (aka pink and green!)--of course i'll be making some handmade decorations, and i'll have to share them with you :D
  

this one i found HERE was sooo pretty!

friends. this includes so many people. the ones that care about how i'm feeling and how it's been going, the ones who pray for me, the ones i get to meet up with and we don't skip a beat even though it's been ages since we got together, my sister, my daily best friend, my co-teacher, my crafty buddies... they help me in so many ways. i only hope that i'm half as reliable or steadfast as they are. i just seem SO lucky. actually, BLESSED.

sandwich grills. addicted and about ready to give them as Christmas gifts to everyone i know. they make grilled perfection every single time no matter what the contents! *LE SIGH*

scrapbook retreats--i counted up the actual 'completed pages' and even though not all of them are 12x12, i still had a record productive weekend: i completed 82 pages!!!! w00t w00t! :D

bursts of ingenuity when teaching or planning for school--it helps so much! i love doing something that makes students think!

coupons and sales. these make me so happy. good deals MUST be endorphin boosters, would you agree?

diet coke. helplessly addicted.

laughing--i am so thankful for laughter.

water polo with all its challenges and physical demands. i think what others say is 'insane' actually keeps me 'sane.' oh, the irony.

and YOU, my precious blog readers... you are a constant source of encouragement that i feed off of. i am blown away by your support. i love reading your comments!

oh, and you thought i wasn't going to share a card? hehe--nope, i've got one here:

i used tons of Sassafras papers that made me think 'vintage' so i de-hoarded a length of vintage lace trim and then inked up the edges, and finally i added a fun swirl stamp i picked up from Impress a year ago. i also added a few BG felt stickers--they're perfectly wonderful texture-wise on this acetate card. oh, and i used an EK border punch for the inside edges. fun stuff in sort of fall colors--what do you think?

so, what are you thankful for? i'd love to hear what has blessed you lately :D thanks for stopping by!

nearing the end of NaNoWriMo

i am so close it's not even funny.

i am working on my National Novel Writing Month novel, which has yet to have a title, and i'm really close to reaching to 50,000 word goal... just a few more thousand words. i have been neglecting the blog here lately, and while i was going to update sometime this weekend with a new card or tag, i was suddenly unable to because of Internet issues at home.

so i'm writing this from the library, and thus writing it without any pictures to show you. yes, it's bad. i really didn't realize how awful it was to not be able to check your email until it i went by the living room computer about eight times in one hour, thinking every time, "oh, i'll check my email... oh wait... just kidding." it was embarrassing.

it's just bad. but i'll stop complaining and get back to writing. i'm really glad you stop by every once in a while and ask me how it's going--makes me accountable, which is good. thanks for that.

thought i'd leave you with a fun picture... it's of my Thanksgiving dinner on thursday. it was yummy.

and yes, i did put the broccoli "tree" in my mashed potatoes and then made a "lake" with the gravy. it never hurts to do fun things, right? i love playing with my food :D

hope you enjoy the last part of your holiday weekend (if you did have a holiday weekend), and i'll be back as soon as possible :D

Christmas Favorites!

Joey and I got to go exploring in the snow last night... we took Cookie on a walk too. Brothers are hilarious.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper… one year I wrapped everything in butcher paper, covered it with a wide strip of colored paper, glued a snowflake on the colored paper, then covered the strip with some tissue paper and topped with a bow… simple, but elegant. Plus, I have lots of fun with matching up stacks of presents for my siblings in coordinating colors.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial… Mom is allergic to real trees (gets bronchitis). But hey, our artificial is always ready to go when we are, and it’s held up through a lot of wear and tear.

3. When do you put up the tree? Generally after Thanksgiving… this year I decorated for about 3 other places before I even got the decorations out for our house… they’re still sitting around our living room!

4. When do you take the tree down? Middle of January? One time I think we left ours up until after Valentine’s Day, but that’s only happened once.

5. Do you like eggnog? LOVE it! I’m so used to Mom saying, “Mix half eggnog and half milk… it’s too rich” that I almost DO think it’s too rich without the adjustment. But I LOVE the eggnog Italian sodas.

6.Favorite gift received as a child? I really loved the DVD set of movies of “Pride and Prejudice,” but there have been a TON of great gifts.

7. Hardest person to buy for? It used to be Peter, but he’s loosened up a lot lately. He even put “sexy jeans” on his Christmas list.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Cecelia! I find something that I would like and I get it for her (and sometimes for myself). Last year we actually got each other the SAME EXACT gift, just different colors! Oh sisters.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Does a crèche count? We don’t have a light-up one in our front yard… but we do have several around the house.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail (if we actually get on the ball). This year we may not be sending a Christmas letter. *tear*

11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I honestly can’t remember. (Probably a good thing)

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? A Muppet Christmas Carol, or I really like the claymation movie with Rudolph, I think it’s called “Blue Christmas”? It’s the one where there’s the two brothers who sing songs like “I’m Mr. Icicle, I’m Mr. Snow…” anyone remember?

13. When do you start shopping? Whenever I see a good gift (didn’t used to be that way). I have been getting gifts since July or August?

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? White Elephant Christmas gifts, yes.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Oh gosh. How about we narrow this down to Christmas breakfast? (It’s the major meal for our family.) Us kids take charge and we make hashed browns, eggs, biscuits, we have DANISH KRINGLE (present from our Uncle in Wisconsin—he gets it mailed every year… I LOVE the pecan kringle :-) so yummy!), OJ, fruit, BACON

16. Lights on the tree? Multi—we have a lovely hodge-podge of ornaments, so the multi colored fits right in.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Too many to count! I love every song on Josh Groban’s “Noel” CD, I love up-tempo Christmas songs, also an instrumental CD called “Angels We Have Heard on High,” and so many more!

18.Travel at Christmas or stay home? I’ve done both, and I have to say that although Barcelona is beautiful, there IS no place like home.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dasher, Dancer, Donder, Blitzen, Comet, Cupid… Rudolph? Apparently not.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Here’s how it goes—Christmas morning—kids wake up early, make breakfast. Wake up parents, open stockings. Eat breakfast, open presents. Call extended family. Eat more. Watch just opened movies :-)

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Not having enough time to go to all the parties I want to go to, or see all the people I want to see… basically not having Christmas last long enough. I LOVE Christmas!

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? All kinds… but I have to say that I love red… and I did my school Christmas trees in red, and it looks fabulous. We have a hodge-podge tree at home.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Anything, but I like ham or clam chowder.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Books (a whole bunch), colorful necklaces, audio Bible, anything crafty, swimsuit/ goggles/ cap/ scale, gift cards, music, movies, food… whatever—I love it all! J

party hearty!

so Joey and i just finished making our party invitations for the Christmas party we're having. it was a design that took several sessions to perfect, but we think the end result is pretty amazing. i cut all the unique and beautiful snowflakes on the front, made all the chickies, and typed the information portion. Joey did a lot of glueing.

i've been shopping for the past couple of days and have gotten some REALLY good deals, and i'm really excited about Christmas this year... i think i've gotten some good gifts.

speaking of gifts, i'm going to a party tonight where the birthday girl did NOT want any gifts. so i sat down last night after the invitation frenzy and made a card.

anyway, i took pictures of some of my scrapbook layouts, so i'll post those soon. otherwise, Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!

i love chickies

so yeah... as you can probably tell, i've been converted and am now posting pictures of my projects. at least this one.

i made these goodie bags for my swim team girls "end of the year banquet" where i handed out awards and said nice things about everyone.

i wasn't really looking forward to doing the speeches and handing out awards (mostly because it's awkward seeing parents who never came to meets, and the girls aren't used to seeing me every day like they had been during swim season), but what made it bearable was the fact that i was coping with all the anxiety by making something fun.

first i filled bags with candy (all candy and bags were from the Dollar Tree... great place!). then i printed out some little tags that said...

I had a SUPER "TWEET" time

coaching you this season. Go

BHS Braves Swimming 2008!

Love Coach

i punched a hole through the tag, tied ribbon through the hole, and tied the ribbon to the bags. then i had made these chickie tags from DeNami Design stamps (circle dot frame and chickie stamps) and layered them on colorful paper and attached them to the other end of the ribbon. i made sure to cover the attached ribbon by adding a backing of paper behind the chickies.

anyway... that's about all i've done. well, i did make some cards earlier, but i was playing around, nothing serious.

i've been working on some Christmas party invitations, and i'll post the pictures once they're completed.

in the mean time, have a great Thanksgiving holiday and God bless!