do not open until Christmas.

This is my last time here until after Christmas. I will be leaving tomorrow morning to go to Michigan. Upon returning I plan on setting up my computer desk (finally) It won't have the internet at first, but will allow me to scan, upload, and if I get Photoshop for Christmas, edit my photos, oh and if I get ink for my printer, print. I will be a fully functional computer/scrapbooking nerd once again!!! YES!

I hope everyone has a Merry Merry Christmas, take time to slow down, appreciate friends, family, traditions, and LOTS of good food, I know I will :)

student loans and christmas parties.

LOANS: One thing I love, and one thing I hate...can you guess which is which? Haha. I won't go on too much but student loans are at the top of my sh*t list right now. I am trying to get it all figured out and plan and budget and right now it seems impossible. But, I REFUSE to give up. I will not let these loans take over my life and I will remind myself that they allowed for my education and invaluable life experiences. Ahhhhhh...that felt good.

PARTIES: One a lighter note, the first of the few Christmas parties I have to go to this year is tomorrow...and it just so happens that it is at my house :) I am super excited and have LOTS of yummy food to cook. I will be sure to take pictures and try to upload them sometime soon. The menu consists of a brie wreath with cranberry chutney, bruschetta, stuffed mushrooms, a veggie tray, ham roll-ups, and chicken/mozzerella meatballs w/ pesto...and that's just what I am making :) Denise is bringing falafel, Suzy is making cookies, and Christie is bringing Jello Shots and maybe some chicken/ bacon wraps. Ahh, the food is my favorite part about parties. Should be a blast. Then I have Christmas with my cousin and family next Friday, with Tom and Robin on Saturday, and Christmas Eve on Mon. I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!!!!

An inspirational quote I found today "Remember life isn’t about finding yourself - life is about creating yourself…” on Tim Holtz's website.

blog feelers

Work has been slow and I have been putting my blog feelers out there. Here is some fun/inspirational stuff that I came up with. (Please excuse the weirdness of the picture placement, I haven't figured this out yet)

Love this quote (found on a past post of Keri Smith's Blog) this is relevant to my current urge to REorganize my scrapstuff, yet again:

My problem with classifications is that they don't last; hardly have I finished putting things into an order before that order is obsolete. Like everyone else, I presume, I am sometimes seized by a mania for arranging things. The sheer number of the things needing to be arranged and the near-impossibility of distributing them according to any truly satisfactory criteria means that I never finally manage it, that the arrangements I end up with are temporary and vague, and hardly any more effective that the original anarchy....In short, I muddle along."-- George Perec

Just a rambling that I also found on her blog, I firmly believe this.

This is the layout for the current challenge on Two Peas...
love the idea of collaging and using LOTS of product. Want to try this technique.

Found this site through Ali's blog, fun to play around with.

good intentions :)

Well, I had good intentions of once again becoming a member of the blogging community, however certain circumstances are trying to stand in my way. As of this past weekend the internet at my house is not working or as the cable company puts it "limited or no connectivity" This could be from one of two things, the first is that the cable company just doesn't have their poop in a group and their network is down (which with these guys is totally probable). The second would be the fact that our balance is over due and they have chosen to freeze our internet access and let us keep the cable TV (this is also very probable, unfortunately, but it is the Holiday season.) Either way, this means that I will not be able to upload photos and such with ease. I have full access here at work (thank God!!!) and will do what I can from here until I can get up and running at home again. Cable is just too stinkin' expensive, and I am thinking of trying to go TV free. I don't know if Dave and I would make it, but think of all the reading and crafting I could get done :):):)

tgif.

I feel like this week lasted FOREVER. But, it's Friday and the day is moving along nicely. I am looking forward to a weekend of staying in and completing the rest of my holiday projects since it is going to be cold and nasty here. I am also planning on uploading new pictures and making my blog banner.

I can't believe the first week of December is already gone! I have a week until the Christmas party at our house and less than two before I get to go home for a week...I cannot wait!!! SO many fun things planned. I am hoping to be able to sign on while I am there to give little updates, however the computer at my parents is way way too slow to try and upload pictures so that will have to wait until I get back home.

On another note I have been thinking about the new year and what I want to get out of it. I want to set some goals for myself and really follow through with them. I think one of the things I am going to do is to enter the Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame contest...if not that at least try to participate in more contest/submission calls. I miss it and need to figure out a system that is going to work for me. I am also thinking of taking one week night and dedicating it to crafting. I think this will relieve some of the pressure I feel to enjoy my hobby.

Alright, I will check back in this weekend with a banner and pictures for all to see :)

reconnecting.

Five months later. I am trying to reconnect with the world. The world of blogging, sharing stories, and scrapbooking. I am also giving the blog a facelift. I have updated the colors and will be adding a new banner sometime this week. The season is a busy one, and maybe not the best to add something else to my list of things I want to do, but it is also the season for sharing and that inspires me. My outlook on things is also changing, slowly but sure and that inspires me too. Lastly, it is inspiring to see other people sharing their lives through words and pictures in such different ways. So, to those who are interested..."I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack" :)