Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Girl's Winery Trip!

We had a BLAST! Me, Beth, Anita, Katie and Michelle went to Michigan for 2 and a half days. We went to various wineries and wine tasting rooms, bought a bunch of wine, went peach picking, boating with a friend, and LAUGHED nearly the entire time!


The above picture is us on the tractor pull that brings us out to the peach, necterine and plum orchards.

Me and Anita :)


This was the first place we tasted at. We got to try 5 different wines. I ended up with 9 bottles by the end of the trip, Beth had 12, Katie and Michelle had around 9 and Anita had 4. We got some GREAT tasting wine!!
It was AMAZING to me how much fruit was on each branch! Ken and I are taking the kids apple picking this fall!! They will love it!


Oh, poor Anita! She will NEVER live this down. We went under a very low bridge, and in all fairness, we ALL hit the deck. . .Anita, however, got stuck!

Do not protect yourself by a fence, but rather, with your friends. --Czech Proverb

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

I've got alot planned for September!

Here's a picture from the Naperville trip a few weeks ago. My brother dan is holding his son, Nicolas, all the way on the left. Jennifer and her daughter Jessica are above Tom and Eric, respectively, and Abby is next to Eric. Me and Ken are all the way to the right.

No art right now, but trust me---it's coming! I have half a dozen cards I need to make and send out, and I'll be sure to show all of you what I put together! I also have some pictures to post up from this past weekend; the girls' winery trip! It was a BLAST! And guess what---I made GOOD choices in food. That along with the walking helped combat some of the bad choices that were made and I still lost one pound over the weekend!!! How great is that?!


Ok, I need to get the kids in bed and finish up some laundry before I fall into bed. I just wanted to let you all know that I plan on posting up art work EVERY DAY starting in September!! I'll get pics up tomorrow from the wine trip.


"No longer give your strength to that wich you wish to be free from." --Jewel, Life Uncommon

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Look! An update!!

Hi everyone! Where the heck have I been, huh? Well, today the kids are officially in school so I PROMISE I'll be on here nearly EVERYDAY!!!

Let's start out with some art! How cute is this bella?! I'm sending this card to my mother in law---we love shopping together and it's been tooooo long since we've had a 'session' of our 'therapy'!

Last weekend we went up to Naperville and spent saturday with Dan and his family! Here are a few shots from the Riverwalk. It was a BEAUTIFUL day and we had a great time!


Here is Abby and Eric rolling down a huge hill!! This picture was taken at max zoom (is that a technical phrase?). The hill was HUGE!


Dan and Nicolas xoxoxo

More art coming later. Tomorrow I'm leaving on a girls' trip with 4 of my friends to Michigan!! I'll post pics. Have a great weekend!

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Choppin' wood

Here's a picture of the wood pile in our back yard. It keeps growing and growing! Not only do we use the wood for fires at night outside, but Ken's stockpiling for fall and winter.




Here's Ken in action, splittin' wood!


This fall (geez, only 6 weeks away or so!) Ken is going to restain the back porch. We're gonna take off all the screens, Ken's gonna spray the stain on, and we'll replace the screens in the spring. We love our deck!


New family room arrangement



We are LOVING our family room this way!! I think maybe for Christmas we'll move the single leather chair and put the tree there, next to the fire place. The upstairs might look a little bare, but I think it'd be SOOO nice to have the tree by the fire place!! What do you think?

Adjusted scrap space



I've got a 'new' desk! Ken and I switched the family room around, and it worked out best to put the bigger desk (minus it's hutch) in my scrap area, and the smaller one to the right of my desk. Now Ken and I can both see the dvd player on my desk and watch Law and Order, Family Guy, CSI or an assortment of movies together while we hang out at our desks!

Workin' for a livin'. . .

Here are some shots of pages I did for Kristen's Disney album





Saturday, August 9, 2008

Ch-ch-ch-changes

If you know me, you know I LOVE change. There isn't a room in my house that looks the same for more than 8-12 months at a time. We've been in our 'new' home now for a year, and the family room has finally undergone a much needed switch!! Ken and I moved the furniture to a MUCH better configuration, and I'm so excited about it! Tomorrow I'll spend a few hours rearranging the wall decor, then I'll take pictures and show all of you!!! WAIT till you see how FABULOUS it looks!! As for now, I'm spent. It's 8pm saturday night and Ken is splitting wood out back for a fire tonight. I just don't have the energy to takle the wall decor tonight, as much as I'd like to. In the morning we're going to church. After that, I'll get right to work and post the pictures up asap!!! I also have pictures in my camera of some work I've done in the scrap albums, like I promised to show.

I've been watching fat and carbs along with walking every day, per my doctor's orders. My cholesterol is far too high (as is my weight, duh). But now that my health is the issue, and it's not just a 'vanity' thing, I'm REALLY doing what I should be. . .and I feel great~!

Close to my Heart and Stampin Up both released their new catalog/idea books!! I'm SO excited to get a few new images, tools, colors and ideas!! The kids start school in 2 short weeks, and there will be a routine in place. I will be MUCH more loyal to this blog, my art, and I can't wait to see how much my levels (and weight) come down! Come along with me on this crazy, wild ride. . .

"Life is a journey, not a destination. Enjoy the ride." ---I dont know.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Health news. . .

Ok. I went to the dr. today. The results from my holter monitor are fine, really. There's an early heartbeat every now and then, but nothing that is bad. Dr. said if it got to the point where it was driving me nuts, she could give me a beta blocker, but at this point it's not necessary. Plus, I have a problem with being very tired all the time, and she said that there's a period of about 3 weeks on a beta blocker that you struggle with fatigue. As for my being tired problem, the Dr. is sending me to a sleep study. Oh, and my cholesterol is HIGH. I need to start a low fat way of life and I need to walk walk walk every day.

On a good note, I'm down 5 pounds!

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Mamma Mia!!

I went to see Mamma Mia with 9 friends this weekend and THAT MOVIE ROCKS!!! 5 stars, 4 thumbs up, standing ovation, 110%---BEST movie I've seen in a LONG time!!! I definitly plan on getting the soundtrack, and I'm sure I'll be at the theatre to see it AGAIN sometime this month!! Go with your girlfriends! You'll laugh! You'll cry!! OMG it was FANTASTIC!!!!

Things that make me smile

Things that make me smile