Tuesday 10

A few things from my shopping wish list.

From Anthro:








From ModCloth:





I could never wear the yellow dress, not my color, but isn't it adorable?

Sigh.

Happy Tuesday!

Study Break

So I've been studying off and on most of the day. My study break this evening has consisted of lots of mindless internet surfing. In my blog hopping, I came across this page and decided to play along. Here's the results of my color personality test:

You are 61 % extrovert and 39 % introvert.

Independently of any order of importance :

You are strong-willed and active, your actions are determined by your own will, by the goals you settled for yourself, and by your need to act and to move forward.

You are also a leader, you know how to organize the groups of persons and give them your energy.

Finally you are able to listen to others, you show a good emotional intelligence, you know how to bring your support to others.

Your understanding of your environment : At first, at 38%, you are focused on the facts and on the reality, and your decisions are determined by your perception of facts. Then, at a ratio of 31%, you are centered on your thoughts and your actions are determined by your knowledge and your experience. Finally, at 30%, you are attached to moral values and feelings, and you have an emotional relation with the environment.

How you assert yourself : In your relations with others, your actions are determined by your will and your personal goals at a ratio of 57%. In 42% of the cases you take into account your own sensibility and your partner’s. Also, the dialogue and exchange of views with others influence your own ideas and points of view at 61%. Your knowledge, your personal learning and your preset convictions interfere in your decision-making at 38%. Finally, the bonds that you created with your family and friends represent 64% of your core emotions. Your creativity, your openness and your need to open up to renewal in your life have also an impact of 35%.

The qualities that characterize your personality at this time :

Your energy.		you are strong-willed and active, your actions are determined by your own will, by the goals you settled to yourself, and by your need to act and move ahead.
at 21 %

Your leadership.		you are a manager and a leader, and you know how to organize groups of people and how to give them your energy.
at 20 %

Your dynamism.		you are dynamic and active, you are determined in your actions, you know how to communicate your ideals and your energy, and thus, you know how to boost people.
at 20 %

Your management skills.		you are a manager and a structured person, you know how to take into account the needs of each person while leading them to the fixed goals.
at 18 %

Your contact abilities.		you are open and good communicator, you know how to attract people and engage them.
at 18 %

Finally, you are attuned to others and you show a good emotional intelligence, which allow you to give support to people, you are thoughtful and deep, you think before getting into action and you know how to communicate your knowledge.

Food for thought....

Sundays

Sundays for me are usually about the balancing act of getting things done around the house, while still having a slow moving, relaxing kind of day. Some days I'm better at finding this balance than others. Today has been a good mix of the to do list and the fun list. I actually woke up late this morning (well, late for me anyway) and spent the next hour in bed finishing this book. A good book, but sad. Once I got out of bed, I made myself a berry smoothie and spent a bit of me time on the computer. I did the last 3 loads of laundry, meal planned and made a grocery list (though I've yet to make it to the grocery store), before doing some fun stuff in the kitchen. I made peach/blueberry crumble for dessert tonight, chopped up a delicious watermelon and made some more gluten free muesli. I was tempted to bake some banana bread, but didn't really want the oven on for an hour, given the triple digit temps outside.

I decided I really should clean the house or at least check off a few of the cleaning to do's. Got the kitchen cleaned, floors mopped and bathrooms done. Vacuuming and dusting will have to wait till tomorrow. I finished my cleaning spree with a nice long shower in my sparkly clean bathroom. I really do love afternoon showers with the sunlight streaming through the solar tube in my cute green bathroom. Pretty close to perfect, if only someone else had scrubbed it clean for me.

The rest of my afternoon has been spent puttering around the house. Some scrapping done, new recipes printed, ribbon stash organized, photos uploaded, pages put into albums....now I'm all set to veg out a bit before making dinner. A pretty typical, work and play Sunday. Here's a few pictures from the day:






And couple scrappy pages. This first page sat on my table for at least a week before getting finished. Finished it sometime last week, but hadn't photographed it yet. The second one was started yesterday and finished this afternoon. Though the photo collage was printed last week with a free 8x10 collage coupon from Walgreen's.



I'm off to decide what book from my pile I should read next.

Happy Sunday!

Fabulous Fourth

I've posted this picture before. It's still one of my very favorites. Happy 4th Anniversary to me and my love. Four years have gone by rather quickly. It's almost hard to believe we've been together for over 9 years. Here's to many, many more.

One of Shawn's favorite childhood songs, which seems fitting for a Happy Anniversary post:

Tuesday 10

Today's list:

1. getting stuff done, slowly but surely.
2. took another exam today, got 60/60 on the multiple choice, waiting for my essay grade.
3. thinking about the homemade maple vanilla ice cream in my freezer that I made yesterday. thinking I might need some soon.
4. had big plans for getting stuff done tonight, but I've been lacking motivation in the evenings and tend to do nothing but computer, tv and books after 7pm lately.
5. drinking another GT, not sure why I'm on such a kick all of a sudden.
6. should be reading about English language learners right now, but I don't wanna.
7. one of my clients received a grant today from ACT Today to continue music therapy sessions with me. pretty awesome.
8. looking forward to spending most of the day with Shawn tomorrow for our anniversary.
9. thinking about starting a new knitting project, but probably should finish a few in progress items first.
10. contemplating the AC DT call. not sure, since I've applied before and haven't been scrapping too much lately. it would be an awesome gig though.

Happy Tuesday!

Happy Summer!

1. ~Ice Cream Cone with Many Colored Scoops, 2. 最後の夏日, 3. Strawberries (La Trinidad, Benguet), 4. 最後の夏日, 5. Maldives chosen as the ‘Indian Ocean’s Leading Destination’, 6. beach chair towels bright colors to fit right over your chair, 7. fruity popsicles, 8. Surf Patrol, 9. Surfboard fence

Saturday Reality

Blogland has been full of "reality" posts lately. Lots of talk about how the world of crafty bloggers is full of "perfect lives". Everyone shares their pretty pictures, gorgeous home decor, amazing crafts and fabulous lives, but much of the daily reality doesn't get posted. I, on the other hand, run a pretty boring blog. I have nothing amazing or earth shattering to share when it comes to crafting, just stuff I love to make. No perfect house, no perfect children, no incredible ideas...what you get around here is my everyday nonsense and lots of lists. I'm a little self indulgent with the lists, but hey it's my blog. So today, I thought I share a little LIST of my reality for today:

• the garbage and recycle need to go out.
• some of last weeks clean laundry is still folded neatly on top of my washer, it never got put away.
• our Tivo has gone rogue and is not recording several shows it's supposed to, like for example the last 2 episodes of Army Wives, and instead records multiple episodes of shows we don't care too much about. Does anyone need 10 episodes of Gangland? Ugh.
• I'm starving this morning, but nothing sounds good to eat.
• I am taking the Miller's Analogy Test for grad school on Monday and haven't studied for it at all. Not sure how to really study for it anyway...
• my applications with school districts aren't getting processed because I'm not yet certified, even though these districts supposedly participate in the intern teacher program. There are several autism classrooms open, for which I'd love to have the opportunity to interview. Doubting there are tons of certified applicants that have my experience lining up for these positions. Double Ugh.
• I only have 2 sessions today, due to changes in summer schedule and cancellations, yet I still woke up super early.
• I'm lacking in motivation, especially when it comes to projects I should finish.
  
• I have indulged in too much dairy this week and my stomach is not happy about it.
• it's super triple digit HOT around here and the a/c has been running non stop all morning. Can't wait to see this month's electric bill...
  
• my sister is traipsing around Italy and I'm green with envy.
• there is a cricket in my house. It's driving me crazy.
• there is a cord that runs through my living room and connects to one of the bazillion electronic contraptions owned by my husband. It too drives me crazy.
  
• the house is a disaster and I should get off the computer and get to vacuuming....

Happy reality!

Weekending

Weekends for me are Saturdays after work through Monday nights. So a Monday night is the perfect night for a weekend update, right? This weekend was full of adventures. Saturday afternoon, this sassy girl


came over to do her laundry and hang out a bit. While her laundry was going, we decided we needed a sweet treat. We headed to a new cupcake place not far from my house and discovered it was right next to the humongous Forever 21. Convenient, right? Cupcakes and cheap clothes all in the same place. Fun! Kellie wanted to go in to look for a necklace, so 30 minutes later we both left with a bag full of goodies. Thanks to the store credit my mom Mom generously donated to me, I was able to update my summer staples, t-shirts ($4.50 a piece, thank you) and sandals. We topped off the evening with some more laundry, pizza and wine (plus digestive enzymes so I could enjoy the evening). Oh and cupcakes:


Delicious!

Sunday was our early Father's Day celebration, since Kellie will be in Italy (me=jealous) next weekend. We were supposed to be doing a family dinner, but decided at the last minute to head up north to follow my Uncle Dave through the AZ leg of his Race Across America. We spent a lot of time either chasing or waiting for him and his crew (in the walmart parking lot with our cooler full of beer. Classy, right?). It was a pretty fun adventure and so amazing to see these guys, who'd been riding since California. Here are a few pictures:





We are all so proud of Dave and hope they continue to have an awesome ride across the country. Go Dave Go!

Spent today working on school stuff, dealing with a variety of frustrations (today was not my favorite day) and taking Shawn for a procedure for his back pain. Fun stuff. I also managed to do the meal planning and grocery shopping. Normally I'm a fan of meal planning, but come summertime and triple digits and I lose my love for cooking. The meals for this week aren't that exciting, but I did manage to make a fabulous throw together salad this evening with quinoa, corn, avocado, chickpeas, pumpkin seeds and cumin lime dressing. Yum! The rest of the exciting meals this week go like this:

• burritos and guac
• something with eggs (probably egg sandwiches) and fruit
• pasta with veggies and homemade pesto
• Shawn's dinner night (which means takeout)
• tostadas

What's for dinner at your house this week?

Tuesday Tuesday

Today's 10:

1. Enjoying the extra time my summer schedule brings me, even though it means a tight budget around here for now.

2. Feeling much better about school obligations. While I'm still taking 3 post bacc. classes, starting grad classes in July and have a couple more test to take, I've got a better handle on things right now. The super light summer schedule helps too.

3. I've been knitting like crazy again in the evenings. Because its 100+ around here, its all about the cotton yarn. I'm a little dishcloth obsessed. Loving this one and thinking of tons of new color combos I can make it in:


4. Need to find some affordable stainless steel or PBA free plastic popsicle molds thanks to this post on Design Sponge. Since summer has arrived in full force, I think this is a necessary summer item.

5. Looking forward to some crafty time this afternoon with Miss Stephanie. Hoping to make quick and easy mini albums. Better pack up some stuff soon.

6. Spending freeze means I've been using my craft stash, which actually feels good. Here's a couple pages I made this weekend. My Project 12 for April:


Based on the last week's Sunday Sketch at Studio Calico (say that 5 times fast):


7. Looking for minimal cooking involved summer recipes. Got any to share? Really, I think I'm content to eat fruit and ice cream for the rest of the summer. Sounds like a healthy diet right?

8. Made some tasty gluten free muesli on Sunday. My mom has gone gluten free (or close to it) and she's been experimenting with gluten free baking. I've decided to play along a bit. Not going gluten free, but reducing my gluten intake. I might attempt some gluten free banana bread later this week, if I can bear to turn the oven on.

9. Shipped this little custom banner off yesterday. I'm glad I have some of this fabric left over. How cute is that birdie pattern?


10. If I want to enjoy my afternoon crafting, I'd better get off the computer and get to work. My goal for today is to finish at least one online lesson, preferably two. Back to work.

Happy Tuesday!

A Worthy Cause

My uncle Dave, who is fighting lung cancer, is participating in Race Across America, riding his bike across country to raise money for cancer. He's an amazing guy and has faced an aggresive cancer like no one I've ever encountered. Though he's only got one lung, he's refused to give up his love for running, biking, swimming and all things active. He even spent the winter skiing while toting his oxygen along with him.

Here's the email that explains the event:

Dear Friends & Colleagues:

For the second time in just over a year, Dave Keough has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Despite having only one truly functioning lung and the recurrence of cancer in the "good" lung (for which he is currently undergoing chemo), Dave is participating in the Race Across America – a 3000+ mile bicycle relay race – to raise awareness and contributions for The Wellness Community, a cancer support center. Throughout his “journey” Dave has been beyond inspirational. His strength, optimism and complete lack of self-pity continue to amaze.

To support Dave’s efforts, we have set up a Facebook page. Dave will be posting photo’s and status updates to this page throughout the race which should be very entertaining. It also includes a link to The Wellness Community where you may make a donation. Any amount (say a penny-a-mile or $30) will honor Dave. If you already have a Facebook page, just use the link below to connect to the page. If you don’t have a Facebook account, I encourage you to set one up. It is very easy and you can always cancel it after the Race. You can always just go to the Wellness Center website https://app.etapestry.com/hosted/WellnessCommunityofCentralAZ/OnlineDonation.html .

Here's a link to his facebook and the charity he has chosen, The Wellness Center. Any support you can offer would be greatly appreciated, even if its just in the form of cheering him and wishing him well during this journey.If you want to make a monetary donation you can use the link in the email or find a link on the facebook page.

Wednesday Wonderfuls

Since I missed my Tuesday 10, I thought I'd bring you a Wednesday list of wonderful things from today instead.

1. only 1 kiddo to see today
2. midterm exam finished
3. lunch at Paradise Bakery with Kellie
4. trip to Cold Stone with Shawn to use our 20% off coupon. Now that we're in triple digits around here, all I want is ice cream, popsicles, slushies and light meals. Good thing the coupon is good till 6/3o, we might need it again :)
5. grad school app submitted
6. a little bit of crafty time--banner cutting and finally got my March Project 12 page finished. Not my favorite, but it's done and no longer on my to do list.


7. new recipe for dinner. I rummaged through my recipe files to find a couple new ones to try this week and came up with this pasta recipe that I think is from cooking light. It was pretty tasty.

Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Pasta

3 large red bell peppers (I used 2)
3 t olive oil
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 c broth
2 T lemon juice
2 t sugar (I used 1 and you could probably go without)
3/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/4 t crushed red pepper
1/4 c basil
4 c cooked bow tie pasta (I used brown rice rotini)
1/c c goat cheese, crumbled

Cut peppers in half and remove seeds. Flatten on baking sheet and broil for 8 minutes or until blackened. Place in zip top bag for 20 minutes. Remove skin and place in blender.

Heat 2 t oil over medium heat and add garlic. Saute for 1 minute, remove from heat and let sit for five minutes. Add garlic mixture, 1 t oil, broth and next 5 ingredients to blender and process until smooth. Combine red pepper mixture with basil and pasta. Sprinkle with goat cheese.

Quite tasty and easy.

Happy Wednesday!