Weekend stuff

This weekend we celebrated my nephew Kaden's 6th birthday. We all went to Rockin' R Ranch for dinner and the show.
Me and my honey
The entertainment was pretty good. It's nice to hear music that is almost forgotten. These guys were very talented.
Kaden got to go up on stage and so did his grandparents (on Eric's side) because it was their anniversary. Kaden is on the far right and Lavern and Raymond are on the far left. The inside pictures are dark...sorry!
When you go there you, before dinner you can pan for gold, go on a hayride, watch the medicine show, shop in the cute little stores, target shoot, etc. Then you eat a real cowboy dinner that's pretty good. After dinner they have the show, then you go outside for a old west gunfight. It's kind of expensive at $25 per person, but I tried thinking of it as dinner and a movie, so that the price didn't hurt so bad. Sweet Telah purse tagged me and I'm suppose to show you my purse. So here you have it...my cute pink purse and the inside too. Contents are my pink wallet, a pink comb, my pink cell phone, 3 pens, sun glasses, a cute little notebook Amy made me, a pink making memories zipper bag that I keep lipstick, chap stick, lip gloss and eye drops in. I also have Excedrin tension headache, ibuprofen, and for some reason I still have penicillin in there from my tooth ache. Apparently I didn't take the whole prescription...oops! Do people ever really finish the whole bottle? So are any of you willing to show me your purse? :o)
Look at these beautiful candles! I got these in the mail this weekend from Cindi. I was the very lucky winner on her blog. How generous is this prize?! I got strawberry shortcake, apple pie ala mode, snicker doodle, americana and icing. They all smell wonderful and I love them! Thank you so much Sweet Cindi!

National Scrapbook Day is this Saturday May 5th, so of course I HAVE to scrap! Isn't it a law or something?! I plan on having my sisters over and I think one other girl. We are going to scrapbook ALL day. I'm so excited! I'm thinking that this week I will print some pictures and get somewhat of an idea of how many layouts I want to work on so that I'm more productive on Saturday. I'll make some yummy treats and get a BIG pepsi to keep me going. So do any of you have scrapping plans this weekend? Share your plans with me. I want to hear all about it.

Tagged

I've been tagged by Amy and Vida. Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to blog about their seven things and post the rules as well . At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog. I have done a couple of these in the past so I'm really running out of things to tell you since my life is an open book...or maybe I just can't think of new things. I'll probably think of great things tomorrow, but for now here's what I came up with.

1. Chad had this dog tag made for me when I went to see him just before he left for Afghanistan. It's really hard to see it in the picture, but he looks very handsome. He had it inscribed on the back. It says "Mom, Forever grateful for your guidance and protection. I love you! Your loving son. Chad" This little dog tag is very special to me. I've worn it every single day and I will continue to wear until he returns home.

2.I collect salt and pepper shakers, barns, birdhouses, roosters, bears, and all things rustic country cute.

3. I read all magazines back to front. Not sure why, but I do.

4. Three things that get on my nerves to the point of making my heart race with anxiety is loud gum chewing-popping...the sound just grosses me out. 2 is snoring (even though I snore myself) When I was young I would put a pile of stuff next to my bed so I could throw shoes at my sisters when they would snore. That way I didn't have to get out of bed...mean girl, huh?! The 3rd is music that is so loud you can feel it. You know...that BOOM BOOM from the car next to you with the idiot teenage driver who clearly must have lost his hearing.

5. I LOVE to plan and throw parties. Big ones, small ones...it doesn't matter. I love the whole process, from planning the menu, buying the groceries, making food, invitations, setting up, decorating, party favors, games, visiting with friends and family, EVERYTHING...okay, not everything. I don't care much for the clean up, but the rest is great!

6. I really enjoy my alone time. I need it. Even when I was little I would create little forts and hideouts so that I would have a place to go and just be alone with my thoughts. Don't get me wrong, I am very social and love to be with people, but I think it's good for me to have my ME time too.

7. When I was little my bishop nicknamed me Jose' Manaise. Not like mayonnaise...it sounds more like "man eyes". Don't know why, but my dad still calls me that some times..as well as Jo-Jo. My grandma gave each of us girls nicknames. My sisters got cute little names like Precious, Teeny Tiny, Jewels, Grandma's Sweetheart. I got Cricket... you read that right. CRICKET! Yep...I'm a bug! What's up with that?!:o)

Now I need to tag 7 people. I'm a bit behind on my blog reading so I don't know whose already been tagged, so I will choose Elisha, Nikki, Valerie, Melissa, Briana, Wendy, & Tiara. I have a HUGE list of blogs I read and I really hate leaving people out, so anyone else that would like to do it, I would LOVE to hear your answers. If you decide to do it, tell me that you are in the comments so I can go to your blog and read your answers. It's fun getting to know you all better.

Before I go, I have to mention that American Idol this week was wonderful...until the end. Am I the only one who thinks that was VERY mean to do to Jordin Sparks? She is so great and I believe she could win. I think they did it to her for the biggest shock value. Ticked me off though....Okay, done venting. Those of you that don't give a flying leap about AI, just ignore this whole last paragraph. :o)

bad bad blogger

Whose suppose to update this thing anyways?...oh! that's right...ME! Where have I been? I really don't have much to blog about right now. Just been busy working on Mount Washmore. Got 5 BIG loads done yesterday and cleaned the kitchen twice. Working on my closet. This house gets out of control pretty darn quick! I did cover my big letter "J" by sewing together Chatterbox scraps from the Lake Powell layout. I was going to junk it up with some other stuff, but for now just beautiful paper. Not sure why the pictures are blurry...sorry about that. It looks much better in person. I hung it just above my computer...I like it there. I did open and install the QK silhouette, but haven't had the time nor been brave enough to play with it. Hopefully soon!
I made banana cream supreme and what they call better than sex cake. It really needs a new name, because I'm not fond of that one. I wouldn't say it's better, but it is REALLY good! Just bake a boxed devils food cake as directed, poke holes with the end of a wooden spoon while it is still warm, pour a can of sweetened condensed milk and a jar of caramel ice cream topping over the top. Refrigerate overnight. Next day spread cool whip over the top and chop up 6 heath candy bars to sprinkle on the top. I did 1/2 the cake with chopped up butterfingers because Mark doesn't like heath bars. So easy and seriously sinfully good.

Have you ever typed your name followed by the words "needs" in the google search? This is totally silly, but remember that I have nothing to blog about.

This is what I discovered Jolene needs....

...to be saved...I don't think so...I'm good.

...a boyfriend...yikes! I think Mark would disagree.

...a hat like yours...I don't really wear too many hats, but I'm sure yours is lovely.

...to chill...okay, I can chill for a little bit.

...to gain weight...LOL! I don't think so, but I did eat cake for breakfast...not conducive to losing weight.

...to turn down the screechiness...am I screechy, really?

...a wardrobe overhaul...I AGREE!

...money...well duh..If I had money I'd have the wardrobe overhaul!!!

...to eat properly...you mean cake for breakfast is a bad thing?

...to be grand champion...well I am competitive, but that sounds like a dog competition.

...exactly 40 pounds of potatoes...Love me some taters...lots and lots of taters!

...to learn to hold my liquor...PLEASE! I've never even had a drink. I think one would knock me out.

...a daughter...that ship has sailed. I will settle for daughter in laws and hopefully grand daughters.

....to re-organize that...I'll get right on that. Love to organize!

...a new hair do...oh yes, please!

...her girlfriends emotional, moral and physical support....I SO DO!

....to get every square inch of her butt kicked...actually it said the A word. Can't we all just get along? Violence scares the heck out of me and I really don't want a butt kickin'.

...to be done already....it really did say that. I'm outta here! :o)

Vendor fair fun

I had so much fun shopping the vendor fair even though I was by myself and I was there for a short time...only because I ran out of money very quickly. Mark was generous and gave me all his money from cash jobs. I didn't even look at half of the booths. I've been so many years in a row, that I pretty much know what I'm looking for before I get there. As you all know I have a weakness for flowers so I had to get the bazzill bling blossoms. I also got the Autumn Leaves build a flower acrylic stamp set, an acrylic block, Technique Tuesday chipboard circles and circle frames, basic grey file set to file chipboard and stuff, way pretty charms from imaginisce, very cute ribbon, a ginormous letter "J" to alter, and a t-shirt that says "You better be nice or I will crop you out of my scrapbooks". I did get ONE more thing, but you'll have to wait a minute to see it.After I was done I met Mark for lunch at Grandma's Kitchen in downtown Mesa. Really yummy! I love her dishes...totally reminds me of grandma's dishes. Ya'll know Mark doesn't cooperate for pictures. It's way too fun for him to be a goofball instead. Perhaps he doesn't know that I'm posting his goofiness here...hmmmm.Yep...he's still being a dork. :o) You know how to get an instant face lift and look like you dropped 15 pounds? Hold the camera a little higher. Whala! Fat girl...skinny girl..no double chin... just like that! :o)

I bet you're curious what that last thing I got was, huh?!

look below

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

............

.......

...

.

I KNOW! Oh my gosh! The Quickutz Silhouette! I have such guilt and I'm scared to open the box. I haven't spent money on an anything fun in a long time because I'm on a shopping diet. Now that I got this out of my system, the diet is back on. This little baby can do so such fun things. I'm excited to learn how to use it...once I'm brave enough to open it. I did get an awesome deal on it and we are considering this my belated birthday present since I was out of town for my birthday and didn't get anything then. If any of you have this little beauty and have some helpful hints to share I would really appreciate it.

A few of the things in the first picture I got at Scrapbooks Etc. While I was there I ran into Tena Sprenger. We talked and caught up on each others lives for a little while. It was so nice to see her. I just love her! She was there to pull some paper aside for one of her classes before all the crazy convention shoppers bought it up.

Q&A

* The font I used for the journaling on the last layout is CK journaling.

* The pictures on the sides I did using a program called Micrografx windows draw. I clicked insert object, then clicked picture file. Once it's on the page I can click and drag to whatever size I want. I just eyeball it and put them close together if I want it to look like a strip. Those were about 2"X3". All the pictures from these layouts were printed on one page. I can put a bunch of different size pictures on one page if I use this program as apposed to my regular program where I have to do all of the same size and they have to be "normal" sizes. Did that make any sense?

* Cole is doing better. My heart still aches. It's both the physical stuff and the emotional. This is a small town with big town traffic, but not a lot of stuff here. I'm really enjoying trying to make this house feel homey. Right now the windows are open and it is beautiful outside...until the wind direction changes, then I smell the dairy cows and the smelly stuff that comes out of cows. I think Mark likes that smell. We are pretty close to the train tracks and I really do love to hear the trains. It's not too loud. You can hear them if the windows are open. Emotionally, I miss my friends and my house. I feel like I'm a Mesa girl trapped in Maricopa looking through the glass but can't get in. Just a kind of lonely feeling. I'm really trying to adjust and fit in here. It's just going to take some time. I'm the kind of girl who needs to feel needed...know what I mean?

Lake Powell layout

Sorry I haven't updated...one word...cramps...enough said!

Mark is out riding with his biker dude friends tonight. He's been working so hard lately, he really loves his riding time when he can get it. While he's gone the good mom that I am threw easy peasy pot pies in the oven and decided to make another 2 page layout for Chad's album. (I only do 2 page layouts) I love the colors of this one....so pretty! I caved and used my favorite Chatterbox paper again....but in my defense those pictures were crying out for some chatterbox. It's simple because Chad cares more about pictures than the frilly stuff so I just ran a quick zigzag stitch along the edges, used colored photo turns, brads, paper corners, stapled on ribbon and used the Emily QK font for Lake Powell.

Tomorrow (Friday) is the CK scrapbook convention in Mesa, so I'm heading to town to soak up all the beauty in the vendor fair. I've been so busy with the move I haven't even stepped foot in a scrapbook store for a few months. I'm starting to go through some serious withdrawals. I use to go to Scrapbooks Etc a couple times a week. I was lucky enough to live just down the street from it. Oh how I miss that store and all the sweet ladies who work there. I will be stopping by there as well. Seeing all the pretty new things will get my creative juices flowing. I can hardly wait! I'm thinking I will take my little camera. Full review on my next blog post.

Leah's and Briana's recent blog posts named MY blog as one of their top 5 favorite blogs. Words cannot express what an honor that is to me. I'm still amazed that people read it let alone consider it a favorite....very humbling and touching. I'm suppose to pick my top 5 blogs, but not tonight...very soon. It's HARD!

labels, the longest 45 minutes, Q&A

First lets talk about labels...The longest 45 minutes can wait.

These are my wood mount stamp baskets as you know. I finally got around to making labels for the baskets this morning. In amongst the unpacking and cleaning you have to throw some fun things in there to keep your sanity. When I use to keep my stamps on the big bookcase I didn't get to use them much because they were all mixed together and crammed in the shelves It was a pain in the rear to use, so I didn't. Now that they have been sorted and have labels I will be able to find what I need and Mark will be happy to see me using them again. All I did was type and print the contents on my computer, punched them out with a 1 1/4 inch circle punch, then punched 1 1/2 inch circles out of black cardstock, adhered them together, punched a small hole, tied it to each basket using the black and white polka dot ribbon. Cute and Done!

Now onto the longest 45 minutes story. Last night was our old wards family night out at the park. I thought it would be fun to go see my old friends and Cole wanted to go see his too, so I made a HUGE batch of potato salad and 72 mini cupcakes and we went...the food was devoured and we had a wonderful time. He played ball the whole time and I ate and caught up on all the happenings since I moved out. It was great...until it was time to go. Cole had a emotional breakdown that lasted the entire 45 minute drive home. It was HORRIBLE! He went back and forth from anger to crying...wanting to go back to his old school, wanting to run away from home, trying to memorize streets so he could walk back, hating us for making him move and wrecking his perfect world. During this very long painful car ride my emotions varied much like his did. I was angry at his temper tantrum and I felt sad because I knew his heart was broken just as mine is. After about 40 minutes of this my emotions are shot and I'm bawling, he finally calms down as we pull into Maricopa. I came home and fell into bed feeling completely defeated and emotionally exhausted. Now I'm thinking that it's not such a good idea for him to see his old friends if this is the result. Today I'm still feeling that funk and I'm not liking it. I just need to pick myself up, get busy cleaning my kitchen, then go get pizza's to drop off at school for a class party at lunch time.

Q&A

I've had some people ask me questions. Here's the ones I can remember. If I forget to answer any of yours please ask me again.

*Paint color of my scrapbook room...it's called "song of summer" and it's Ace hardware's brand.

*The "important" sign is one that I made back when I was doing wood crafts to sell in boutiques. I haven't cut or painted wood in a few years, but I did enjoy it when I did even though it was A LOT of hard work.

*The "return with honor" I made at the scrapbook store when they had vinyl girls there one afternoon.

*Michele my vinyl girlfriend DID have a vinyl business going, but her kids wanted their mom back, so now she only does it for church things on occasion. I will let you know if she ever gets it up and running again. I know there are other vinyl companies out there like Wall Words and Writing on the Wall. You can buy quotes that they have or custom order a quote of your choice.

*I do NOT sing! Coleen is a little trouble maker. She brought it up because I was talking about forgiveness on my last post and a long time ago I was told that I couldn't sing and since then I really haven't. Yes, I have forgiven that person, but it doesn't change the fact that I can't sing. Well I can sing...it just doesn't sound good. So if you were thinking I had some hidden musical talent, you were mistaken. I'm talented in many others ways. I can't have it all. American Idol is on tonight if you're in the mood to hear some people who CAN sing. :o)

Words.........

Tonight's blog post is inspired by Beth over at Homedaisy/Cottage Bethy. If you haven't visited her, you MUST! Her home is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Every pictures gives me peace and melts my heart. She has a decorating gift and amazing taste, plus she is a true sweetheart to boot....anyways, she posted words on her blog and asked to see words in our homes so I went around taking pictures. I know I missed lots of things, but these are the bulk of the words on display throughout my home. To me words have so much power. They can bring you comfort, bring you happiness, make you think, and sometime words make you sad or angry. That's why it's so important to choose your words carefully, whether in spoken or written form, because once it's out there you can never take them back. I always try to be kind with my words, because I know I've hurt people with my words before and I've been hurt so many times by unkind words to me. Even though I've forgiven others and myself for those things, I still remember them. However, I don't dwell on them. You can't have peace in your heart and bad things in there at the same time. It just doesn't work. My advise tonight is to let go of the grudges against people who have wronged you. Life is too short to let mean people have that much power over you. I know it's not an easy thing to do, but if you forgive, you will feel the burden lifted off of you and I promise you will feel inner happiness...which in turn lets your outer happiness and beauty shine through....honest!

Now take a little tour around the words found in the George home.


oh so true!

Love this!

the overlay says "we may not have it all together but together we have it all"

For my honey



silly, but I love his little face



something we should all remember when leaving the house




Perfect one to end with.

I do plan to order some vinyl wall word from my friend Michele with some quotes that are special to me....and Michele...if you are reading this, my mom packed your tool, but I found it. I'm so sorry and promise to get it to you very SOON!
Thanks you so much everyone for sharing bits YOU with ME.

layout and garage mess

I finally got to do a little scrapbooking tonight. I haven't been able to for a long time because of the move. I need to get pages done so Chad can add them to his album. These are the pictures from when Chad proposed to Sandy on Christmas Eve. It bugs me that they are dark and shadowed and that there's wrapping paper all over the floor, but I can't do anything about that. I'm just glad we captured the moment. These 8X8 pages are pretty fun to do. Mindy wanted garage pictures, so here they are! Nice, huh?! Now you see why I don't have lots of time to scrapbook. There is still alot to unpack. This is the 2 car side. Mark keeps his motorcycles and work racks in the 3rd car part. Even when we get all the boxes unpacked I still won't be able to park the suburban in here. It fits IF the front bumper touches the wall and the hitch is off the back, but even then I'm not possitive that the door would shut. New houses just don't make garages deep enough for big vehicles.