Day 89 Pic of the Day (Sexitar)

So the ladies over at Willow Traders have been adding new avatars. Mine has always been the pic you see on my blog to the right. I thought I would give something new a shot. So this is my new avatar over there, which Rob calls my "sexitar." He thinks the off the shoulder is a bit sassy. I do too, which is why I picked it :-) LOLOLOLOL
You can create your own here: Mangatar Have FUN !!!!

Day 88 Pic of the Day (Spring????? Part 2)

Woke up to snow this morning. Yep you heard correctly....SNOW. Will post pic later.

Day 87 Pic of the Day (Spring????)

Umm, it has been 70-80 degrees the last couple of weeks and then today it is 45 degrees. Where is spring???? My grass is a little greener, but my tree still has no leaves. I don't believe in having heat on a couple days before April :-(

Day 86 Pic of the Day (Enjoy the Process)

Today is a rather cool day for me. Today is the day the doctor told me that I should be fine to start family planning. This is very exciting to me. After being married for almost 6 years, approaching 30 and finally deciding that maybe I could raise a good kid in this world, we are going to finally take the plunge. She suggested I wait a month to get my body back on its natural cycle and then told me to have fun. I asked about an ovulation calendar and she told me she didn't believe in using those at the start. She said having a baby was a magical process and that my hubby and I should focus on connecting with each other and enjoying the process :-) She told me to simply have fun and have fun often :-) Rob got a kick out of that. She said if I wasn't pregnant in 6-12 months, that I could begin to look into counting days and all the extra stuff, but not to worry about it now. So I won't worry and I will just enjoy the process and continue my daily prayers to God for a healthy, happy, and smart baby.

Day 85 Pic of the Day (Mail Goodies #2)

I have been drooling over these kits for months. But the price has been preventing me from taking the plunge. Like $41 a month for each kit. Well someone on Willow Traders (can you see how much I love this place) was selling both kits for about the price of one. So I couldn't resist any longer. These are packed kits, the colors are great and I love the embellishments. My Creative Scrapbook makes great kits. I couldn't wait to play with these items. They look better in person than the pics show them. Now I can't decide if I should get a subscription to them or to Scarlet Lime (the club I won three free kits from earlier). They are both nicely packed with cool embellishments. Decisions, decisions, decisions because I won't buy both. Right?????

Day 84 Pic of the Day (Mail Goodies #1)

Look at what I got in the mail today. Scrap goodies and lots of them. The first pic are items I bought at a sale from Memorable Seasons. I got all this stuff for like $20. Unheard of. But she has awesome sales. The second pic is a kit I won on Willow Traders from Scrapperie Kits. Lots of paper goodness in this box. I am in scrap heaven right now. It gets better tomorrow.

Day 83 Pic of the Day (Wall Quotes Again)

Well if you love it once, you should do it twice right???? I put this vinyl quote at the top of our staircase. It looks really nice when the sun hits the cold. And I must say this has been one of my fave quotes for many years now. Everyone that's been to the house comments on it :-)

Day 82 Pic of the Day (Choices)

These are our final two selections for a blacksplash choice. We decided to go with the shiny one on the left. It looks modern, reflects light and blends in well with the countertop and cabinets. If you can believe it, Rob said it looked too plain to him. It was a reversal of fortune this day because he also liked the more expensive one. The stone one on the right was very nice, but ti looked more italian villaish and that isn't the mood of our home. Plus it was $6 more expensive a square foot. I think we might put a couple of stone accent pieces in to make it stand out a bit more for Rob.

Day 81 Pic of the Day (Groceries)

Nothing fancy today. Went grocery shopping in between church services. In and out in under an hour. We were hustling. Love the look of a full refridegerator. Means we are blessed.

Day 80 Pic of the Day (FCCF)

Went to church today to do some community service. Once a month this year we have volunteered to do Communion. I really enjoy it and feel like I am doing something useful for the body of Christ. It is behind the scenes and no one really knows your name. But it really doesn't matter. It feels good to serve others. I have always loved volunteering in any capacity and it is something I hope to pass on to our kids.

Day 79 Pic of the Day (See an inch take a mile)

So after doing the whole demo and sink installation a couple weeks agao, Rob and I are feeling kinda handy dandy. So what do we do, we install a dimmer switch on our fan light combo in the livingroom. Did we need it? No. Is it purely asthethic? Yes. And guess what. I LOVE it. I call it mood lighting :-) Rob says whatever makes you happy and it does.Took us a bit to find the right one, but it was super quick to install. I think I have a knack for this home improvement stuff. Kitchen backsplash here we come.

Day 78 Pic of the Day (SpongeBob)

Okay I admit it....I watch SpongeBob Square Pants. Each and Everyday. I enjoy it. I don't know why, sometimes I am ashamed by it. But mostly I don't care. I listen to it while I am on the computer working. Lucky me it comes on five hours a day on various channels and yes I have not gone somewhere before because a new episode was coming on. We all have to a have a bit of fun and quirky in each of us. It drives Rob crazy, but I think it maintains a bit of my youth and fun side.

Day 77 Pic of the Day (Kit Raffle)

I am super lucky this month. I won another kit on Willow Traders. I told Rob that I should play the lotto this month due to my lucky streak.

Day 76 Pic of the Day (Picture Wall)

Yes, I bought it and Rob put it up. I love the way it looks on the wall. It really fills the room up and will be great when I put our personal pictures inside of it. This room won't need much of anything else once the frames are up and filled. I do get trendy points right ???? :-)

Day 75 Pic of the Day (Book Club Layout)

Used some of the items I won from the Scarlet Lime kit club. I love blue, gray and orange together.

Day 74 Pic of the Day (It matches?)

This is like our fourth attempt to match the backsplash with the cabinets and countertops. This one looked perfect in the store. Brought it home and not so much. Kinda like too much of a good thing. Sure looks gorgeous in this picture though. Due to the success of our previous home improvement projects, Rob and I have decided to do the backsplash ourselves if we can finally decide on one.

Day 73 Pic of the Day (Weekend Warriors Pt.2)

After the men installed the countertops (they look gorgeous by the way) Rob and I had to install all the sink components. We picked out this cute faucet from Lowe's I believe and had to buy PVC pipes, elbow joints, plumbers putty, screws and water connectors. Sounds important doesn't it. It took us a couple hours, a few trips to Home Depot, we had some scrapped knuckles (under the sink is a small work space), but no leaks and a brand new working faucet with a sprayer. Not sure why I don't have any pics of Rob under the sink. He was there helping. I am so proud of us :-)

Day 72 Pic of the Day (Weekend Warriors Pt.1)

This is perhaps the proudest day in our homeownership experience. Rob and I took out our old countertops, sink, and island to make way for the granite countertops we ordered. It took us a couple of hours, we swore a bit, put a small gash in the wall, read the internet, watched informational videos, and finally completed the job with no tears and no blood drawn. All in all, I say it was a very successful experience. We aren't the handiest people in the world. Rob's motto is that he works with his brains, so he doesn't have to use his hands. Well today my baby used both. I was also in the thick of it and discovered that I have good common sense and a knack for home improvement projects. Tomorrow we install the sink, drains, garbage disposal and new faucets.

Day 71 Pic of the Day (Picture Day)

This is what it looks like when you get behind on printing your pic of the days for your album. This concept does take a bit of organization. I LOVE the idea of having snapshots of my life, but it takes some training to remember to take a pic each day and it take stime to upload them to the computer, type an entry for them, and then fix them in Adobe before printing them out. I am glad I have made the 3 month mark.

Day 70 Pic of the Day "Crusing"

It's official. We got our cruise tickets in the mail, our informational booklet, and all the information about the shore excursions. We are going to visit a real volcano (Rob's dream), swim with the dolphins (my dream), lay out on the beach, and tour the Barcadi Rum factory (our dream). It should be a ton of fun. May isn't coming quick enough.

Day 69 Pic of the Day "Free Goodies"

Look at some of the fabulous goodies I won from Scarlet Lime Kit club. I am in LOVE you all. The colors are fabulous and the embellies work well with the detailed papers.

Day 68 Pic of the Day "Waffle Layout"

I had another layout I was going to put here, but I didn't feel like scanning it, so I am going to post a layout I did recently. Love my hubby :-) Sorry for the scanner line down the right side. It was working kinda wonky. Click layout to read journaling.

Day 67 Pic of the Day "Oh Baby"

I LOVE this layout I made to celebrate us deciding to start a family. The colors are soooo vibrant. You scrapbook to remember these moments.

Day 66 Pic of the Day (Wine Trip)

This is our first trip of the season, but it won't be our last. The weather was unexpected gorgeousness. 78 degrees and windy. Gotta love that in March in the midwest. We visited 3 wineries with Latonia and Sean and his business assoiciates. All new wineries to us. Good wine, good snacks, good weather, good conversation. We had dinner at his clients house and it was very tasty. We also visited a winery set in a cave. weird location, very dim, and cold, but some of the best wine we had on the trip. They have this one wine they serve in a shot glass made of all chocolate. It was awesome.

Day 65 Pic of the Day (Fortune Cookies)

Unfotunately, I didn't realize how blurry these were when I took them at P.F Chang. Anyhoo, the quotes were nice and fit where we are right now in life. Too bad I don't remember them :-) Love this place for Asian food. It is healthier than normal Asian restaurants and they have tasty dishes. Remember though that healthier doesn't mean healthy. They do have some steamed dishes.

Day 64 Pic of the Day (Cruising)

We are doing it. We are taking our dream vacation to the Southern Caribbean. We hoped others would join us, but no one was able to. We will have a boat load of fun for everyone else. We will be visiting St. Lucia, Barbados, Antigua, St. Thomas, St. Kitts and another locale. This is our last hoorah as married w/ no children, so we wanted it to be extra special. We leave in May and I can't wait. We also managed to get the cruise with an Oceanview room for the lowest price we have ever seen it for. And we are also spending one day in San Juan once the cruise is done. SUPER COOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 63 Pic of the Day (Some love for Mom)

I did this layout of mom b/c I had the pics and have wanted to do something with it for a while. It was also a challenge on WT to do a layout using 3 scap items 3 different times. I have brads, stickers, and pp. The pic was taken last mother's day. You can click it to increase the pic to read the journaling. Now that Rob and I are really moving forward with the baby thing, I have become a bit reflective on my mom. She is cool :-) And I am not just saying that b/c she reads my blog. LOL

Day 62 Pic of the Day (Message Board)

I have an addictive personality, which is one reason I have never done any illegal substances. My new addiction is hanging out on the message boards and blogs again, since I have become addicted to scrapping again as well. I really enjoy Willow Traders for the ladies and their love of kits and embellishments. I spend a couple hours on scrap boards and blogs each day. Sometimes the little pads on my scrolling hand hurt and then I have to force myself to do something else. Kinda crazy I know.

Day 61 Pic of the Day (Decorating)

I think I have found a good arrangement over the fireplace. Now if I could only figure out the other rooms in the house :-)

Day 60 Pic of a the Day (Communion)

Every month I volunteer one weekend to set up the communion for all 3 church services. I really enjoy doing it and I feel good when I see the tray being served during service. We all have to pitch in to do the work that uplifts the kingdom of God whether it is behind the scene or in front of it. The lady doing it now is looking to hand it over to someone else, and I may begin to pray on whether or not I want to oversee this committee of one and hopefully weekly volunteers.

Day 59 Pic of the Day (Creative Spirit)

I am enjoying the creative process again. I did this for a challenge on Willow Traders. You had to do a whole layout using nothing but rub ons. These notes are ones Rob left for me around the house one day. He is sweetie pie most days :-) You should be able to enlargeto read the journaling. Normally I scan these, but my scanner sounds like it is dying, so a pic will have to do.

Day 58 Pic of the Day (New Do)

Okay, not exactly a new do, but if you saw the pic on the 36th, you will understand how liebrating having staright hair is. This is my fave relaxer after years of testing products. My hair is super tamed, shiny, and stays that way for a longer period of time.

Day 57 Pic of the Day (You Should Be in Picture Frames)

Just about the coolest product in Michael's recently. I love picture walls, but was confused on how to create a good arrangement. Well this takes all the guess work out of it. Downside they are not cheap, but they are 40% off this week, so I splurged on it. Now to find pics I love to put in them and to hang them up. Some of these are huge like 16 by something.

Day 56 Pic of the Day (Name Game)

Rob and I always do everything with our own personal twist. Never the simple route and always quirky. So I am not pregnant yet, but we both realize finding a name we both agree with will be tricky. So what do we do but create a name board. I used to put my dinner menues on here, but now we write down names we like and erase ones we can't stand. We have about 6 in the acceptable pile, so we feel the process is going well :-) Claire and Cameron were the first to make the list. Maybe it's a sign we will have twins or something.

Daily Quote

Positive Thoughts :-)

Totally LOVED the thought of these and the positive mind frame they put me in. I got them from the Donna Downey Creative E-mail. She got them from a little book at Starbuck's.

MOVE FORWARD - "Yesterday is a cancelled check. The past is not your potential. There are far better things ahead than any you leave behind. the next 5 years are a blank canvas - clean and bright. Decide that you will throw all the paint on it you can."

KEEP YOUR WORD - "Say what you mean, and mean what you say. Look the world straight in the eye. Live and work with honesty, openness and integrity; keep your promises, and everything else is a piece of cake."

LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO BE CRANKY - " Attitude is a choice. We create our own world by the way we choose to see it. For the next five years your mind can focus on fear, worry, problems, negativity or despair. or it can focus on confidence, opportunity, solutions, optimism and success. You decide."

Day 55 Pic of the Day (Longhorn)

Nothing really to say, but they have AMAZING steaks and Rob loves their Baked Sweet Potatoes. I get the New York Strip everytime. I also love the new decor they have up. Less lodgy and more sophisticated.

Day 53 Pic of the Day (Crosswords)

I LOVE crossword puzzles. I watch the gameshow on TV, play the online version and complete the ones that come in the paper. I am not the best, but I have improved a lot. I like that you have to figure out clues, use your brains and have a bit of luck. They are a great way to pass time and when I am stressed a good destresser. I read that a young boy does teh New York times one in about 20 minutes. It takes me that long to get just 5 words done :-) And sometimes that is all I know. LOL