Lovely Day

( this section was written on Saturday...posted now)

Ahhhh. I'm tired. But a nice kind of tired that comes from spending time with people I love all day.  Hayden's oldest sister and family are down from North Carolina, so this weekend is my "spend time with Hayden's family" weekend. Good times. =) I will try to post some pictures eventually, but all the pictures are on other people's cameras, so I'll have to have them email them to me or something.

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I'm making 80 invitations for my friend Katie's graduation. You wanna know what I just realized? Not even a thought to my own invitations...I can be such a dunce. =) But I wasn't really planning on making my own anyway. I'll have to come up with something fantabulous. I really want it to include a picture of me somehow (even though I hate pictures of me), so we'll just have to wait and see...

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Have you noticed that I'm kind of into posting a bunch of completely random stuff at once? Maybe that's the way my brain is...Hope you guys don't mind. It might just be a tangent I'm on for right now, and then I'll go back to my truly inspiring one subject posts. =)

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Okay, I just have to share this idea that's been brewing in my head since Friday.

I know that's not the best quality picture, but as you may know, my camera pretty much stinks. Bear with me here.

This is actually a candle holder that Hayden's mom made me for Christmas. I think it's the coolest thing. =) She knows I love coffee and candles, so she just got a jar, filled it with coffee beans, put a candle holder on top with a yummy smelling caramel-scented candle in  it. She even tied a hemp-type bracelet around it with a charm that says "Love". =) It's super cute, and a really good idea. Coffee beans in a jar look cool.

Anyway, I was thinking about it. And thinking about what I want to do for my wedding. Not that I'm getting married anytime soon...but every girl plans her wedding far in advance, right? And I can never make up my mind. It was going to be brown and gold-ish colors (think sunflowers), but I think now I'm going for pink daisies and coffee beans. What do you think? I told Hayden, and he told me he really doesn't care:

Me: I'm thinking brown dresses for the bride's maids with pink sashes.

Him: Okay. That sounds fine. What color are you going to wear?

Me: Um...I was thinking probably white?

Him: Why did you tell me? It was supposed to be a surprise! 

Yeah, he's silly. =) He likes to tease me. He already knew I was going to wear white. I should have told him that I decided on fluorescent yellow. =)

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If any of you are fellow MckMama followers, you may notice the lack of a Not Me Monday post. I'm definitely not too lazy to write a good one. So happy Monday, minus the Not Me's! =)

Random Rants & Other Stuff

Today my brain is too scrambled to write a brilliant post about one subject. So you get the ramblings & rants. Bear with me here, okay? =)

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This is what I'm wearing today:

I think it's pretty cute. But it's a mostly white shirt. I've been paranoid all day that I'm going to spill something on it. And I don't want to have to change when I picked out this outfit specifically. Guess what I had for lunch? Pizza. Fortunately I did not spill any. (I've spilt tomato sauce on myself twice in the past week and a half) Neither did I drip any dark chocolate ice cream on myself. Whew. But the day's not over yet. We'll see how it goes.

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(Conversation between a class-mate and I this morning in History of the Bible.)

Me: Paul, let the girls get their pizza first.

Him: *gives me a weird look* The scary thing is that you know my name...

Me: You wear a name tag. We've been in class together for 6 weeks. I'm extremely good at remembering names. 

Him: Oh.

Me: I bet you don't know my name.

Him: Um, no...but you're not wearing a name tag. *I point it out, right there in the middle of my shirt* Oh. Jaquelyn?

Me: Yep. 

Him: But I probably won't remember it. 

Guys make me laugh. =) Maybe next week I'll ask and see if he remembers. =)

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I was on Mrs. D. Lightful's blog! She liked those skirts I made. =) I'm in this post. This was very exciting for me. Very exciting. =)

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Yes, I am planning on having a giveaway sometime very soon. Anyone interested? Leave me a comment! =)

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Gotta run and pick up the fam...Toodleloo! =)

Good Coffee, Good Friend, Good Times

Best friends are great, aren't they? The only problem is that mine lives 3 hours away from me...

But I got to see her yesterday!

(Yes, I know the picture of Starbucks is bigger than the pic of my best friend...I couldn't figure it out any other way.)

She was in the area, so I got to see her for like 45 minutes! Yay! We went to Starbucks (always a great place to be!) and sat and talked until she had to leave to go back home. I hadn't seen her since back in December for my birthday party. I can't wait until she comes down here for college next semester. =) Then we can actually hang out together more then once every few months. 

Love is Not a Fight

I just have to say it. I love this song. I first heard it on the movie Fireproof (when I watched it in theaters), but then I kind of forgot about it. 

Then I went to a wedding, and they played it! So I finally looked it up. Hope you enjoy it! =)

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

This week, I did not go to Bath & Body Works and get 2 more shower gels when I already have 2 and a half at home.

Of course, if you would have seen me at B&BW, you wouldn't have seen me with a coupon and a giftcard...

I also did not go over to Hayden's house last night and spend most of the time playing Super Smash Brothers on the Wii. And I did not laugh a lot at his little brother until the said little brother said I had a weird laugh. Nope.

I did not have to make tea this morning even though I am the only one in my family who hates tea. I did not get mad at my mom for making me make tea. I did not have to do an extra chore as a punishment. I am way mature. So it wasn't me.

And this is not a really pathetic Not Me post. But I'm not out of time, so I'm not ending this now...=)

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things...

Is it just me, or is that line always reminiscent of that song from the Sound of Music? Girls in white dresses and blue satin sashes, snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes... Seriously, every time I hear anything about "favorite things" I think of that song. 90% of the time I probably start singing it in my head. 80% I sing it out loud. 

So this post is all about a few of my favorite things. And I'm talking about material things, not all the things I love like family and friends and such. Ready? =)

I was first introduced to Satrbucks when I was 12. My dad wanted to take Jessica and I on a daddy/daughter date, so on a sunny Saturday morning, we headed of to Starbucks. Jessica and I split a White Chocolate Mocha and a banana muffin. I've been hooked ever since. Regular coffee just isn't the same. =) My current favorites are all about the caramel. Cold? Caramel Frappucino. Hot? Caramel Macchiato. Yum!

I think most of you probably know that I love Vera Bradley. =) I really, really do. Mod Floral Pink is my favorite pattern, although I've been eyeing the new Purple Punch, too. I've really been liking my new purse. Vera Bradley is definitely a favorite.

This one should probably be at the top of the list. I majorly heart Steinway pianos. I wish I owned one. Hayden said he would buy me one someday, but I'm not necessarily holding him to that...They are really expensive.  But I do love them. My piano teacher has one, and I live playing it on Tuesdays. I don't know if I'll ever have one, but at least I can play hers! =)

Even though I'm not necessarily a huge fan of Victoria's Secret, I do really like their Ultra Moisturizing Hand and Body Cream. I got a bottle of it (in Love Spell) from a friend for playing piano for her wedding, and it's great stuff. It smells sooo good, and it really is ultra moisturizing. Unfortunately, I've almost used all of it. =( I'll have to get some more eventually.

Herbal Essences Totally Twisted mousse. Seriously, it's the only thing that works for my hair.

On a slightly different note...I used to use glue sticks when I made cards. They aren't the best adhesive for making nice cards. When I taught my Creative Cards class at my homeschool co-op last semester, I bought double stick tape thinking it would be easier for them then trying to use the glue sticks. I am sooo glad I did! Now I don't use anything else...

Yep, I love muffins. Not that that's a huge surprise...if you read my post about these delicious Mixed Berry Muffins. =) Muffins definitely make it on my favorite things list. =)

Well, that about wraps it up for this edition of my favorite things. I'm sure there's sooo much more, so I might have to do these kinds of posts more in the future. Like when my brain can process the things I like. =)

Where's Wenda?

If you want to find out about searching for Wenda, visit this post. =)

When I first read about the Wenda search, I was like "Well, it sounds fun, but I probably won't join in. Where would I find her?"

Now I think I'm addicted! =) Coincidentally, if you are looking for Wenda, too, she's been around this blog somewhere. I'm not gonna say where, though; you have to figure that out yourself! =)

*Up for grabs is a $50 Victoria's Secret giftcard and (as seen on Oprah’s Favorite Things list), the Clarisonic Skin Care System (http://www.clarisonic.com/shop/skin-care-system-white.php), valued at $200. 

Latest Project: Skirts

I don't know if everyone knows about this, but I now wear skirts pretty much exclusively. I wrote a little bit about it here. Anyway, since I have to wear skirts, I have to have enough skirts to wear, right? We went to Joanne's last Monday (president's day sale!) to pick out some fabric...

Fabric can be pretty expensive. I hate when I find something I love, and then I look at the price tag...I can't justify spending $15 a yard. So I found the butterfly material for about $7 a yard, and the circle/flowered material was on sale for about $3! I was soo happy about that one!

On Tuesday I whipped out some of my sewing machine magic, and ended up with this:

I think they turned out pretty cute! =) Two more skirts to add to my collection. Even if I would rather wear jeans, cute skirts like these aren't so bad. =)

Day in the Life

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Ugh. It's Friday. Listen to that crash as I try to turn off my alarm...at 6:30. AM. I am soooo not a morning person. So I set my alarm for 6:45 and snuggle back under the covers...

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

No! Just 10 more minutes...

I finally drag myself out of bed. Groggily get a shower. Shiver as I get dressed. Attempt to style my soaking hair (which I thought I dried very well). Nothing works well for me when it's 7:20 in the morning.

Co-op mornings mean we leave the house at 7:30. Or at least attempt to. When the younger girls are leaving for a friend's house right after co-op and my mom's freaking out about their packing skills, 7:30 morphs into 7:45. Which I am not happy about. My class starts at 8:15, and I've got things to get done.

Waltz into co-op at 8:05. 10 minutes, people. Finally pull everything together, though leaving a mess in my wake. Today: ziggurats made out of sugar cubes and cuneiform worksheets. *deep breath* Okay. I'm done. Hard part of the day? Over. Done. Kaput. 

So I head off to help in my mom's class and end up having to cut 144 pieces of yarn. 6 inches a piece. When my mom thanks me, I reply with "I don't mind. But you owe me cinnamon rolls and a bag of pretzel sticks."

Next: my favorite class (and coincidentally, the only class I'm taking this semester), History of the Bible. I LOVE my teacher. She's seriously the best. Looked through a reprint of the 1611 Bible, complete with the Apocrypha. Masada fell in 73 AD, but the Jews are considered wiped out in 70 AD.

Eat some yummy pizza. Pick up the little sis. She has trouble staying at co-op all day, so after 3rd period, we're out of there! =) 

We get home. The dog scratched me twice, she was so excited to see us! Set the munchkin up with her lunch (more pizza) and her movie request, Peter Pan, which I'm sure she's seen sooooo many times...but that's what she wanted. =)

Go back to pick up the rest of the fam from co-op. Good bye, Jennifer & Sarah! Hope they have a good time at their sleepover. (Actually it's more that I'm glad they're gone...)

Moving on to this evening...

I make some tater-tot casserole. Totally one of my favorite meals. =) Mom and Dad leave for a Youth Leader's Weekend. Our friend K comes over and we eat the aforementioned casserole. Unfortunately K didn't know she was spending the night, so we head over to her house so she can grab her stuff.

We get home and make some brownies. Katheryn has decided she hates tater-tot casserole, and refuses the one bite I require. I will never understand that child. Ever. So, no brownies for her. That cause a slight problem with Jessica and I--She is such a pushover when it comes to Katheryn. It makes me sooo mad. But finally everything calms down and Katheryn goes to sleep.

We decide to watch Fireproof (love it!). Then we play a few rounds of Mario Kart, which is not my favorite game, but for the sake of a friend I played.  And did very poorly. Oh well. Now we are watching 7 Brides for 7 Brothers. And I'm staring at the computer screen. My eyes are starting to hurt.

To tell the truth, I've become slightly addicted to the search for Wenda. I don't even really know why. Of course, there are prizes involved, but Victoria's Secret is not necessarily a place I frequent...I feel awkward going in there. If I had a giftcard I might attempt it though. I don't know. I'm secretly hoping that Wenda will show up on my blog sometime...=)

So, now you know a little bit more about my life (maybe). I was going to add in a bunch of fun details (like how many pretzels I've eaten in the past 8 hours), but this post is getting long...and like I said, my eyes are starting to hurt. And for some reason my shoulder is sore, but it's not like I did anything strenuous today. At all. It would be nice if I could stop being so lazy...Oh well.

Welcome to my life. =)

Patience is a Virtue?

I've been told that when I was little, I used to say "Patience is a wirt-you".

I can not even tell you how much I despise that little nugget of truth.

I am not a patient person. I'm a lot of things, but patient it not one of them.

If it's Monday, I wish it were Tuesday. If it's September I wish it were October. If this weekend's not exciting enough, I wish it were next weekend. If it's Easter, it should be Christmas.

I wish I had the patience to practice piano more. I wish I were patient with my hair instead of always wishing it would cooperate. I wish I was more patient about getting married. 

I think for me, patience and contentment go hand in hand. And unfortunately, those hands aren't going together at the moment. 

I'm reminded of a story I've heard numerous times. It's about a little boy named Peter. You probably know the one. He's given the ball with the golden thread. He can pull the thread and move time ahead. He's impatient. He pulls and pulls and pulls his whole life away. And wishes he would have lived through all the times he missed.

I don't have a ball with a golden thread to pull. But all the same, I find myself pulling that thread in a different way. I wish away what I should be content with right now. I don't want to be like Peter and come to the end of my life realizing that I didn't enjoy my life. That I was always waiting for the next big thing.

I can guess that this will be a struggle for me for a looong time. 

Mixed Berry Muffins

Don't those look yummy? Jessica & I made some on Monday for the family, and we enjoyed them so much that we ended up making a batch for our Bible study last night! 

(a conversation between a friend & I at Bible study last night)

Her: "Wow, these look really good! Did you make them?"

Me: *smiles & nods* "Yep, Jessica and I did."

Her: You made them? From scratch?"

Me: "Yeah..."

Her: How did you do that? Wasn't it hard?"

Me: "Uh, no..."

I think that because I bake a lot, I forget that others don't...but really, muffins are easy to make. =)

Favorite 5

This is simply a post of 5 of my favorite posts. =) Maybe you've just stumbled upon my little corner of blog-land; these are 5 posts you should read to learn a little more about me. =)

My Creative Habit of Card Making

Last of Many

House Beautiful?

So Not My Thing

I Love Katheryn

That's really just a tiny slice of my life. Hope you enjoyed it! =)

The Full Story...or Most of it.

In this post, I told you all how I got a new purse. I am still super excited about it. =) But I thought I'd write a little bit more of a detailed post about it, because it makes me laugh.

Every once in a while, Hayden will tell me that he has something for me. It's usually just a random thing, like chocolate or something like that. I love it. =) A significant part of my love language is giving, so he makes me feel really loved. Sometimes though, he tells me on Thursday that he has something to give me on Sunday, with no hint as to what it is. I am an extremely inquisitive person, so that makes me wonder and wonder at what it could be. That part of it is not fun. =)

This time, he didn't tell me he had something for me until Saturday night. So I didn't have to wait long. Fortunately.

On Sunday morning, we walk out to his car. He pops the trunk, and hands me a chocolate bar. And not just any chocolate bar, either.

Isn't that the prettiest chocolate bar? =) And it is sooo yummy (I ate a little piece last night).

Anyway, I get excited about chocolate. I really do. So when Hayden then proceeded to hand me a box, I was somewhat confused...

"What's this?"

"Oh, it's just that makeup you won."

"Really? It already came?"

I then flip the box over, and just as I do, I catch a glimpse of some Mod Floral Pink.

(I think he likes tricking me like that because he loves seeing my reaction when he gives me things.)

I not only got a really great bar of chocolate, but a really cute purse which (if you didn't already gather this) I really love. And of course, a really sweet guy who loves me. =)

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Well, I just have to say that the first thing I did not do is use that pre-fabricated sentence you see above to introduce MckMama and Not Me Monday. I always make up some witty opening remark.

And most of my Not Me's do not revolve around this weekend. The reasoning is certainly not because I can't remember anything that happened earlier this week. Nope. Not Me.

I am not letting my 4 year old sister watch 7 Brides for 7 Brothers. And she does not love it. And I'm certainly not singing along to all the songs.

I was not absolutely thrilled when 4 of the kids in my history class at co-op brought me valentines on Friday. There's no way I'm that pathetic. =)

I did not spend yesterday afternoon baking 2 cherry pies for our youth group's annual dessert cafe. They did not turn out splendidly. =) And one of the men from the church did not eat 3 pieces there and take 4 home with him. He also did not dub me "The Best Pie-Maker in the World". =D

We did not raise over $500 for our church's deacon fund last night! (Actually, we did. Yay!)

I really didn't spend about an hour and a half making 8 donation bags for the cafe to match the napkins. They did not turn out really well, and I did not bring them home to use for some other project, when I think of something. =)

I did not stay up until 2 this morning finishing a book just so I could add it to my reading list. I am not a competitive reader, trying to see just how many books I can read this year. Not me.

This is not the 4th week of wearing only skirts instead of pants. I'm not keeping track of this fact either. Ugh.

And I'm not still super excited about my new Vera Bradley. I would never get that excited over a purse. Not even a little bit.

What have you not done this week?

Happy Monday! =)

Vera for Me!

I love Vera Bradley. Of course, I love a lot of things. But I do love Vera Bradley. =)

This is the purse I've had for about a year:

It's just a simple tote, and I really do like it a lot. My only problem is that it's so big, it becomes a bottomless pit. I just throw everything in there, and it starts getting heavier and heavier and heavier. Until I finally decide I've got to clean it out.

And guess what Hayden surprised me with this morning? Yep, that's right. I am the proud owner of a Little Betsy in Mod Floral Pink. *sigh*  I like it. A lot. I love all the pockets, and it's a lot smaller so I can't just throw everything and the kitchen sink in there. I also like the way it hangs on my shoulder. You know, how some purses the strap is too long, and some too short and all that good stuff? 

So yeah, that pretty much made my day. =) Actually longer than a day. =)

Today I am...

Today I am baking Cherry Pies. Yum! I love cherry pie. I've made it myself like 3 times before, but I've never tasted my own pies! I haven't had any complaints, though, so I guess that's a good sign! =)

Happy Glitter Day?

I have a little sister. Actually, I have 4 little sisters. But the one I'm referring to is only 4. The youngest out of all of us. We love her dearly, but I'll admit, she can be a little spoiled. 

Maybe a lot spoiled.

But she's still as sweet as can be. Her name is Katheryn.

This morning when I got up, I found silver glitter all over the floor of our "craft room". This glitter was actually spilt last night, but apparently no one saw fit to clean it up. That happens quite often in our house. Anyway, I go to get the broom, and my mom stops me. "Don't clean it up, Katheryn wants it like that."

What?

Apparently, Katheryn wanted to decorate for Valentine's Day. With a jar of silver glitter. And my mom let her. 

So know, silver glitter is spread all over our house. Everywhere. This is what part of the floor looks like:

See all that sparkly fun?

I love Katheryn, but I get the feeling we will be cleaning up this glitter for a very, very long time.

L-O-V-E

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is the card Hayden gave me for Valentine's Day:

I love it! It's so sweet. And if you know Hayden at all, he is certainly a little weird. But I love him anyway. =) I also love how he signs it "Fondly". He did that so my dad wouldn't get upset about him giving me a card. (My dad's tends to discourage the fact that we're a "couple", and last Valentine's day, he decreed that it was not a holiday for unmarried people) =)

Hope you all have a very happy Valentine's day...and go read Mandy's post about Valentine's day! =)

Latest Project: Inventiveness

Last night I had a spurt of inspiration and I decided to be inventive. I really like to make cards that are just a single panel cards like these. I think they're adorable, but I wanted to try something that would give a little more room to write. Here's what I came up with!

This is what it would look like single panel...

And then, surprise! It opens up to reveal a lot more room for writing. =)

I loved the patterned vellum and the silver brads. They're sweet and pretty.

All in all, I think they turned out rather well. =)

Pride & Prejudice

Right now I'm reading Pride & Prejudice. I attempted to read it when I was 12, and it held no interest for me. Now, however, I'm thoroughly enjoying it. This passage made me laugh, I'm not totally sure why. But I had to read it out loud to my sister and then to my mom...=)

"If I were as rich as Mr. Darcy," cried a young Lucas, who came with his sisters, "I should not care how proud I was. I would keep a pack of foxhounds, and drink a bottle of wine every day."

"Then you would drink a great deal more than you ought," said Mrs. Bennet; "and if I were to see you at it, I should take away your bottle directly."

The boy protested that she should not; she continued to declare that she would, and the argument ended only with the visit.

  

That just really tickled my funny bone. =)

The Home Book

I won something! I seem to never win anything. Ever. But I did! The Nester was giving away this great book, and I entered, not expecting much. But I won! Yeah, I'm totally excited, if you couldn't tell. =)

I got it last week, and I still haven't finished perusing all of it. It's huge! And I love it. Jessica and I want to redo our room over the next year (right now it's just a mish-mash of different stuff), so this book will definitely be helpful!

Great stuff, isn't it? =)

Thanks so much to The Nester! This is a great addition to my library! =)

My Unorganized Mess

Just look at that mess. That, dear friends, is my workspace. Other than my ironing board. I just recently moved my desk to this location, and I've kidnapped 3 of our 4 TV tables to allow me some extra room. Yesterday this area was clean. And then I started making more cards.

When I make cards, I find that I spread out. All over the place. I'm constantly losing my pencils because I use one, set it down, and then can't find it. So I get another. Repeat process. 

That is how my workspace comes to look like this.

Have I mentioned I'm not the most organized person in the world?

I Heart Old Navy

Okay, I just have to say it. I really love Old Navy. When a pair of my jeans split after wearing them for only 3 months, they replaced them, no problem. I love their clothes, and while I don't always have money to spend there, I love to shop there.

I got a giftcard to Old Navy for Christmas, which was really exciting for me. =) I bought some shirts there near the end of December, and put the giftcard in my purse to save for a rainy day...or so I thought.

Yesterday I decided to organize my purse and find my giftcard. My purse is a Vera Bradley tote bag, and it tends to get very messy and disorganized. I just throw everything in there, so every once in a while, I have to go through and clean it out. So I began the process of cleaning out all my junk.

And no giftcard. At all.

So I began searching frantically. Still no giftcard.

My Old Navy giftcard pretty much disappeared. With like $40 on it.

Of course, I couldn't just forget about it. Money is money, and like I said, I love Old Navy.

I did something that was a very big step for me. I called Old Navy and talked to a person. I am a really shy person by nature, and I hate calling people. But I didn't want to just ignore my lost giftcard. The lady I talked to was really nice, and they're sending me a replacement giftcard. I overcame my phone-phobia, so I get my giftcard back! 

Like I've said, I love Old Navy. =)

Not Me Monday

Another Monday. Another therapy session...Oh, did I just say that?! Nope. Not me. If you enjoy Not Me Monday's, hop on over and visit MckMama's blog, she's a ton of fun! Visit this post if you want to get it on the Not Me Monday fun with the rest of us! Now, on with the therapy...I mean, on with the fun! =)

Last Tuesday, I did not get upset because my car wouldn't start. I wasn't frustrated when it turned out there was nothing wrong with it. I'm not a little leery of driving it just in case that happens again. And I was not terribly sad to miss my piano lesson, one of the few times I get out of the house during the week. Yeah.

I did not wake up on Saturday morning and decide to not take a shower. And went out in public anyway. Nope.

Also on Saturday, I did not have a lot of fun with 5 of my friends spitting off of a suspension bridge. I mean, why on earth would I spit anyway? Even if you thought you saw me, it was not me.

I did not spend a better part of an hour on Saturday evening spray painting something when I didn't even like the color.

When Katheryn woke up at 2:30 on Sunday morning throwing up, I did not tell myself that she's not my kid and went back to sleep. I have loads of mothering instinct. I would never leave the mess to my poor mother.

I am not praying that I don't get whatever Katheryn had until after tomorrow morning. I missed piano last week, and I do not want to miss it again!

I'm also not seriously considering having a giveaway. Anyone interested? Leave a comment telling me so!

And I'm not ending this post so I can go write an email I should have written 3 weeks ago. Not me.

My (Not So) Handy Work

Yesterday morning, our youth group went hiking at a local park. Yesterday afternoon, we traveled home. Yesterday evening, I was bored. 

Yes, I tend to get bored very easily.

So, if you would have driven by my house sometime between 5 and 7, you would have seen this:

What is that, you may ask? 

Well, last year at our annual youth yard sale, my sister found some decorative music notes that I, of course, snatched up. The only problem?

Think shiny gold.

Not that there's really anything wrong with gold, it's just not me. So, the said music notes have been sitting in my closet for about a year. I finally dug them out last week, and decided that the gold simply had to go. I found some spray paint in the garage (industrial-ish gray), and, since I was bored, I decided to paint them.

Not that this particular color is my favorite, but I decided it was better than gold. And I was bored. So I laid out a garbage bag and got to work. I wanted to work out my handyman muscles. =)

The only problem with the garbage bag was that when I had to flip them to spray the other side, my fingers ended up looking like this:

So, I had to use those handyman muscles to rig up something else! =)

If your drove by my house again a while later, you would see something like this in my driveway:

All it took was a couple of chairs, some thread (that I should have been using to sew a button on my dad's pants), and some mad skills to hold a wet music note while trying to tie it between the 2 chairs.

Aren't I impressive? =)

I'll have to use those skills some other time though, because I really don't like the gray very much. I need to get some black spray paint. 

It may have been a waste of my time to do all that work when I don't even like the color, but it was worth it. I mean, hey, I got to spend some time outside in beautiful weather, figured out the best way to spray paint so that when I do get black spray paint, I'll be prepared...

And, of course, something fun to add to my blog. =)

New on the Shop

I've just added a few new things to my Etsy shop, The Art of Paper. 

I'm working on adding even more new things over the next few days, but if you want to see more of this, take a peek at my shop here.

By the way, even if you don't want to buy anthing, go look around...It makes me feel better when I look at my analytics report. =)

Wishing I Could Finish What I Start...

So, I had this great idea for a post, but it involves 7 pictures. My camera, as I've said, makes me want to tear my hair out and throw my camera against a wall. I think I may have all the ones I need, and hopefully they won't be too blurry...that is yet to be seen. I'm also woefully behind on my emails, and I often spend far more time perusing other's blogs than updating my own. Ugh. 

All that being said, I am hoping to post something fabulous for you all (if anyone's reading this) very soon. Hoping being the key word. We'll see. =)

Randomly: Brush, Read, Spit, Repeat

Did anyone else watch Fireproof? I haven't seen it since it came out on DVD, but I watched it in theaters with Hayden and Jessica. And I loved it. But since this is a random post, I'm sharing something completely random with you. 

There's a scene in the movie when Caleb is reading The Love Dare book while he's brushing his teeth. Me, being the brutally honest person that I am, lean over to Hayden and whisper,

"I totally do that all the time."

You should have seen the look on his face. =)

So, yet another random thing you now know about me. I read while I brush my teeth.

I really have no idea how I started doing that. Maybe because it seems pointless to stand there staring at myself brushing my teeth. Maybe because I have an insatiable appetite for good literature. I don't know. I guess it is a really weird habit though.

Fortunately, I don't think Hayden was too weirded out by it. I hope. =)

Trying On

Well, I'm trying out a new background right now...I just discovered Aqua Poppy Designs, and while I can't afford a custom design, I'm loving her free backgrounds. I think I just love cute things in general. So, what do you think?

Not Me Monday

Another Monday. How come Monday's seem to come so much quicker now that I'm participating in MckMama's fun blog carnival? And why does it always seem to make me tear out my hair trying to write a great Not Me post? I'm not that pathetic. Anyway, head on over to MckMama's blog and join the fun! (After reading my post, of course)

One thing I certainly did not do this week is stay up until like 1:30 every night. You know those resolutions I made? I'm totally keeping all of them. I'm not deserting them. No way.

I'm also not really happy that the Steeler's won last night. Even though they're not my team of choice (Go Colts!). And it wasn't an exciting game either, not that I watched it. =)

I'm not at all frustrated with my camera. It takes fabulous pictures...ahem. I'm not about ready to throw it across the room because I've taken 20 pictures of the same card and none of them have turned out. It's not preventing me from finishing a post I really wanted to get done last week. I have a super camera.

I'm also not about ready to scream because I want to wear jeans. I'm not freezing in 60 degree weather, either. I'm being submissive, right? Skirts and all. Ugh.

And I'm not sad right now (at least I wish I weren't). Because I didn't just find out that Cynthia's sweet Aiden James is in Heaven. But please, keep her in your prayers! I'm sure she really needs it right now. =(

Happy Monday, everyone...

I Need to Get Organized!

I love to be organized. It's so much fun to be able to walk through your house and know where everything is. No frantic searching, running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, crying your eyes out because you can't find your favorite pen...yeah. Unfortunately, I am not the most organized person. I can be, but my nature is to procrastinate and not put things where they belong. Hence the reason why my room usually looks like I was throwing around nitroglycerin and lived to tell about it. 

Anyway...

The point of this post (yes, there is a point) is that Cynthia at Confessions of a Yummy Mummy is having a giveaway! The theme? Organization!! Of course. And it's really super cool. And I really, really want to win. Which is why I'm blogging about it to get 6 extra entries. Go check it out here!