It's a red, red world

Six months

2012-01-23T19:54:00.014-07:00

Aiden is already 6 months old! Can you believe it? I can't. It's gone by so fast and he is getting so big. I'm in love with his photos for this month. You can totally see his little personality in these photos. I had a hard time choosing which ones to include in this post. So many good ones. He is just too darn cute, but maybe I'm biased :)

At 6 months, he:

is huge. We'll find out Thursday his official stats, but everyone's guessing 20 pounds.
has started eating solid foods. We started with bananas on New Year's day (about a week before his 6 month birthday). He's also had sweet potatoes and butternut squash. Tomorrow we try avocado.
is taking fewer ounces from a bottle while Mommy is at work, but still nurses every few hours when I'm home.
is drinking water from a cup. I got him a couple sippy cups, but he'd rather just drink from my glass.

is pretty into standing up and wants desperately to pull up on things...he's not quite there, but pretty close.
sits up like a big boy.
is working on crawling, but hasn't quite coordinated his arms and legs.
has 2 teeth and is working on a third
is still sleeping in our room and/or in bed with me and wakes up once or twice during the night.

likes to play rough and be tickled.
still thinks peek a boo is pretty great.
is loving more active toys and is into banging on things.
still loves his blankets and stuffed animals.

had his first real illness, a cold that lasted for almost two weeks :(
loves splashing in the bathtub
likes hanging outside
is still such a cuddler
is quite the entertainer and kind of a ham, as evidenced by the next few pictures

is the best thing ever.

Project Life

2012-01-22T20:58:00.019-07:00

I really like the idea of project life. I love the everyday life aspect of it. I love seeing random photos, notes and bits of life all together. It's fun to look back and remember the ordinary. I love that you can make it what you want. I love that tons of people are doing it and nobody's project looks the same. It's a great, real scrapbooking project.

Last year I was all excited for project life. Mid-January, I bought a kit with some amazon gift cards and jumped right in. The first month or so went great. But the rest of the year, well, I was not terribly successful. It may have something to do with the fact that I was a pregnant first year teacher finishing her teaching certificate courses and working on her master's degree for the first half of the year and a new mommy for the second half. My album went along great for the first couple months. I fell behind somewhere in March or April. My 2011 album has unfinished spreads completed through the month of June. I have a giant stack of memorablia and notes I kept to put in the album and have all my pictures filed by month on my computer. I would like to finish the album, at least partially. I've adjusted my view on 2011's album and will be happy with how ever it ends up, finished or not.

Here's a couple pages from my 2011 album. Cover page:

A finished spread from February:

Where things start to fall apart (you'll notice this is a multi week spread):

Fast forward to December and the all the buzz on the project for 2012. Given my unsuccessful attempt at Project Life in 2011, I was hesitant to commit to the project for 2012. I still love the idea of the project. The project seems to have gained in popularity and blogland is full of people participating this year. I knew I'd be sorry I didn't at least attempt it again, especially as I watched others share their albums. I've changed my expectations this year. Project Life 2012 will be a no rules, no stress project. If I get weekly spreads done, great. If I lump 2 weeks together, great. If I only manage a monthly recap, perfect. I will let the project unfold how it will and be happy with the results. This year, I'm using my stash and mixing up the page protectors. Making it more my style and less what I thought it should be. Some weeks may just be photos and ephemera. Some weeks maybe full of journaling. Some weeks may be embellished. Some may be plain and simple.

This weekend I finished up my cover page and my first two weeks. I'm excited about the project again. I'm happy about how things are unfolding. I hope I can keep up the momentum, but if not, I'm not going to stress about it. This time around however, the iphone is my friend. Most of my pictures these first couple weeks are instagram pictures and I've downloaded a couple apps to help me keep track of journaling and memories in case I do get behind.

Here's what 2012 looks like so far. Cover page:

Week 1:

I added an insert with a couple new year's cards we received:

Week 2:

2011 Recap

2011-12-30T22:12:00.019-07:00

Truth be told, I started this post on December 30th. It's now January 16th and a bit late for a 2011 recap. I hate to let all the work on this post go to waste, so here goes...2011 remembered:

January

Pretty much consisted of school work, lesson planning, crafting and baking.
Shawn celebrated his 33rd birthday.

February

Chinese New Year festival
Found out we were having a boy :)
Maternity clothes shopping and baby room planning.

March

New windows in the house
Registering for baby stuff
Contemplating baby names
Grad school projects

April

Decided on the name Aiden Matthew
My baby shower
Hanging with Jessie and Nicole
Citrus and berry obsession

May

School baby shower
End of school year
Maternity Photo Shoot

June

Shawn and I spent our 5th wedding anniversary in Sedona.
Our niece Camryn was born (on our anniversary).
Finished my classes and got my regular teaching certificate.

July

Aiden made his debut and changed our world completely.
Baby, baby, baby 24-7 and loving it.

August

Aiden's first vacation to Greer, AZ.
Jessie and Eloise visit and meet Aiden
I completed my M. Ed.

September

More baby, baby, baby and lots of little outings to visit people, shop and lunch

October

I celebrated my 34th birthday.
I went back to work after maternity leave.
Pumpkin patch and Aiden's first Halloween.

November

Aiden's first airplane trip to spend thanksgiving in Chicago with Shawn's family.

December

Aiden visits Santa Claus
Aiden's first Christmas

2011 was a big year around here. Here's hoping 2012 brings us more great things.

5 Months

2011-12-29T12:05:00.009-07:00

Aiden will be 6 months in 11 days...about time I posted a 5 month update. December has been kind of a crazy month, so we just got around to taking photos. It may also have had something to do with Mommy's delay in knitting a hat she wanted to use in December photos. I didn't finish it until after Christmas, but it was definitely worth waiting for in my opinion. Super cute, right?

At five months Aiden:

-is wearing mostly 6 months clothes, though he still fits in a few 3-6 month things
-not sure exactly what he weighs, but he is getting bigger by the minute
-is eating about 10 oz and a little cereal while Mommy is at work and every 3-4 hours when she is home
-is quite interested in any food or drink you might have near him
-is still sleeping only 4 hours or so at a time (he likes to eat) and often ends up in bed with Mommy

-is sucking his thumb
-is chomping on everything and drooling like a mad man
-I'm pretty sure we are working on a tooth

-is rolling and scooting all over the floor
-is wanting to stand up often
-is sitting up by himself, sort of. He can do it on the couch or in your lap pretty well, but only for a few seconds on the floor
-loves being upside down

-likes rough and active play
-is very ticklish, especially under his chin
-thinks peek a boo and silly noises are the best thing ever
-shakes his head side to side like he's saying "no" and thinks its pretty funny

-still loves Sophie the giraffe and his assorted blanket animals
-thinks spinning toys and music toys are pretty great
-often freezes and listens intently when he hears music (that's my boy)
-enjoys being outside
-loves his bath and being naked
-still has his tongue out all the time
-is about the cutest thing you ever did see

Christmas

2011-12-28T21:33:00.016-07:00

Aiden's first Christmas seems to have come and gone with a blur. We had a good holiday, enjoying plenty of time with family. Christmas eve was spent at my parents having our traditional Christmas gumbo (thanks to my time in New Orleans) and Christmas crackers (thanks to a holiday spent in England). Sadly, I have no pictures of everyone in their Christmas crowns. I do however, have a picture of Mr. Aiden in his cute Christmas sweater vest.

Look at those rosy little cheeks. Love! Aiden also enjoyed hanging out with his great grandparents. I am so thankful for this great picture I happened to catch in the midst of several less than stellar shots.

Christmas morning Aiden and I headed back to my parents for Christmas breakfast and gift opening. Here's a view of my parents tree full of presents.

Before opening presents, my sister tied Aiden with a bow. He was certainly my favorite Christmas present this year!

I think Aiden most enjoyed the wrapping paper and ribbons, especially the sparkly ones.

We were all quite spoiled this Christmas, with lots of fabulous gifts all around. Aiden had the largest box amidst the bunch, getting a fun play center to use when he visits his grandparents.

Here's a peek at one of my gifts, a Lisa Leonard necklace with Aiden's name, a jar of hearts and a pearl.

The festivities continued and later Christmas day, we all headed to my aunt and uncle's house for a large gathering with family. It was a lovely evening of family and food. It was fun to show Aiden off, especially since many of my family members had not met him yet. He was particularly interested in my cousin's little boy, who is only 3 days younger than Aiden. The two of them make quite the Christmas pair.

We had a nice holiday, though I can't believe it is already over. All the anticipation up to Christmas and the actual event seems to fly by so quickly.

Hoping your holidays were as merry as ours!

Weekending

2011-12-11T09:37:00.003-07:00

This weekend was a true December weekend, full of holiday parties, decorating and holiday shopping.

Aiden and I went to work parties both Friday and Saturday nights. He's such a good baby, it's so easy to take him with me every where I go.

I spent the rest of the weekend decorating, cleaning and doing laundry. I did manage to squeeze in a little baking too.

This weekend I finally ordered my Christmas cards from Shutterfly and used a 5 free card code to order a few customized thank you cards. I think this is a pretty fun way to send thank you's, don't you?

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Four Months

2011-12-05T07:23:00.011-07:00

Aiden turns five months later this week, so I figured it was about time I posted his four month update. Time is definitely moving fast. I can't believe he will be five months in just a few days.

At four months, Aiden:

-weighed 15.1 pounds and was 25 inches long at his 4 month visit.
-eats every three to four hours, including 2 five ounce bottles (sometimes a third) while mom is at work.

-started being supplemented with rice cereal and a couple ounces of formula, because mommy can't pump enough for this hungry boy.
-sleeps about 4-5 hours at a time at night.
-takes 2-3 short naps (or sometimes a long one) most days.

-loves to play.

-enjoys peek a boo, tickles, being upside down and any other rough or silly play activities.

-loves Sophie the giraffe and his keys.

-is working hard during tummy time trying to army crawl and sometimes rolling over.

-grabs everything in sight, especially food and drinks.

-loves to be outside.

-has started fake coughing and fake burping...such a boy already!
-still blows bubbles and raspberries all the time.
-loves to imitate mouth and tongue movements.
-is probably teething, as he's chomping on everything and drooling like crazy.
-gets cuter and cuter by the day!

Our First Halloween

2011-11-03T20:43:00.013-07:00

This past weekend we headed to the pumpkin patch with the Benaim family. We were joined by Grandma Ellen, Auntie Thereze, Uncle Thierry and cousin Camryn for an afternoon of pumpkin fun. Unfortunately, it was a bit hot on Saturday, so we spent a lot of time in whatever shade we could find and the pumpkin hat came out only for pictures. It was a good day even though it didn't quite feel like fall.

We actually managed a family picture:

and a few pictures with Aiden and I together (don't have many of these):

This picture of the grandma and her grand babies cracks me up. They all have the same facial expression:

We picked a couple of good pumpkins:

Aiden was so over the pictures:

Halloween was another warm day and Aiden was not too thrilled with his costume. He really only wore it for some picture taking in the morning and to answer the door for a few trick or treaters in the evening. He was a pretty cute cow, even if he was a grumpy one.

My Pumpkin at 3 Months

2011-10-27T13:32:00.011-07:00

Because Mommy went back to work 2 weeks ago (boo), we were a little late taking Aiden's 3 month pictures, so he's actually 3 1/2 months in these pictures. You might not think it matters, but my mom and sister see him once or twice a week and every time they see him they think he's grown and changed in just a few days. It really is amazing just how much he's changed in just a few short months.

At 3 months Aiden is:

Getting bigger every day. I don't know his weight and length because he hasn't been measured since his 2 month check, but I'm guessing he's around 13-14 pounds.
Starting to outgrow his 3 month clothes. He's started wearing 3-6 month sizes and I'm guessing 6 month sizes aren't far off.
Is getting stronger and stronger.
Holds his head up pretty well and lifts it high when he's on his tummy.

Is trying really hard to crawl. He was doing this inchworm thing before, but now he's starting to use his hands.
Rolled over from front to back one time a couple nights ago. He's been rolling to his side since the day he was born and likes to hang out there, but doesn't seem too interested in going all the way over from back to front.
Scoots himself with his legs while he's on his back.
Arches his back when he doesn't want to be sit down somewhere.
Mysteriously ends up facing a different direction in the pack and play when he gets up in the middle of the night.

Blows bubbles all the time.
He also really likes to play with his tongue and hang it out of his mouth. It's pretty funny.
Has started clasping his hands together in front of him.
Wants to be held facing forward, so he doesn't miss any action.
Coos a lot and tries to imitate us.
Has the cutest little laugh.
Loves to be played with, the sillier the better.
Looks like a cabbage patch doll with his bald head (he's not really bald, but it's all blond peach fuzz on top and long dark hairs in the back, so he also looks like an old man).

Had been hanging out in the bumbo and vibrating seat.
Is interested in toys and is doing a good job at grabbing and holding them.
Puts everything in his mouth and chomps.
Is a blanket boy. He loves to hold blankets and towels and burp rags, but really loves his monkey blanket.
Is being bottle fed while mom is at work and nursed when I'm home and is still eating about every 3 hours.
Has gone from sleeping nice 6 hour stretches back to getting up every 3-4 hours (just as mommy went back to work). Hoping this is temporary and due to a growth spurt or changes in his routine.
Has had to get used to hanging out with daddy (and Dindy and Auntie Kellie) all day while mom is at work.
Is always happy to see me when I get home.
Looks more and more like mommy, but has his daddy's facial expressions.
Has a little dimple on one cheek.
Is the cutest little pumpkin you ever did see!

Precious Time

2011-10-09T17:06:00.007-07:00

Tomorrow begins my last week of maternity leave. I can't believe how quickly time has gone by. I am not ready to go back to work. I have to go back and it will be ok, but I will be sad to leave my short time as a stay at home mom behind. I will miss my little guy so much. So very much.

As I reflect on my short time left at home, I think

My house is a mess.
My to do list is long.
I haven't finished his room.
I made little progress on my recent plan to switch Shawn's work space mess with my craft room.
His blanket is not done.
The two boxes full of projects for my classroom barely got touched.
I haven't scrapped a single baby picture, though I've taken a million of them.

but, none of that matters. I know the time I spent holding and cuddling and playing were well worth it. I'll never get those tiny baby days back and I'm glad I enjoyed them. I'm so thankful I've had 3 months of full time Aiden.

We have 7 more days together before I go back to work and though my week is filling up fast, you can bet I'll be every free minute cuddling and playing and soaking it all up.

Two Months

2011-09-21T09:54:00.010-07:00

Mr. Aiden is changing so much from week to week. It's so amazing to me how much he's grown from the little six pound peanut I brought home about 10 weeks ago. He's getting so big and so strong. I love seeing what each day brings, but am a little bit sad about how quickly time passes.

At two months Aiden is:

10 pounds 11 ounces
22.75 inches long
eating every 3-4 hours (except last night when he unfortunately reverted back to every 2)
sleeping 3.5-4 hours at a time (except last night) and has had a couple 5 hour stretches (which Mommy loved)

holding his head up pretty well
locking his legs and "standing"
smiling like crazy

laughing occasionally
cooing and "talking" to us
playing with his tongue
loves when we imitate his sounds and tries to imitate us

wearing 0-3 and 3 month clothes
cloth diapered all the time now
has discovered his feet
sucks his fingers, fist and thumb when he can find it (this seems to be replacing the pacifier)
has tons of hair on the bottom of his head, but little on the top and back

is so stinking cute I can't stand it!

Better Late Than Never

2011-09-07T12:24:00.013-07:00

So I've been meaning to do baby posts, but blogging seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle of new mommyhood. Right now I'm sitting on the couch holding a sleeping baby and figure now is as good a time as any to get in some one handed blogging. I know I could put him down and be more productive, but since I'll be heading back to work eventually, I'm taking advantage of all the snuggle time I can.

My plan for Aiden's first year is to do a monthly blog post with photos to document his growth. Since we'll be doing two month photos this week, I'm a bit late with his one month post. Better late than never right...

At one month Aiden:

-was 8 pounds 1 ounce and 21.5 inches long at his one month check up
-was eating every two hours
-would much prefer to sleep in someone's arms than by himself
-needed to be swaddled with arms out
-held my fingers while nursing
-grew crazy long blonde eye lashes
-liked to be sung too
-was quite a snuggler
-was wearing newborn sized clothes
-made the funniest faces, especially with his eyebrows:

(taken at 6 weeks)

He already looks so different than these pictures. He's filling out and getting longer. It's so crazy how much he changes from week to week. Hopefully I can post his two month photos and update soon, before he changes too much.

And Now We Are Three

2011-07-25T16:52:00.006-07:00

It's been a little over two weeks since Mr. Aiden made his debut. The past two weeks have been a bit of a blur, an amazing, tiring, wonderful, stressful blur. I am slowly getting used to life as a new Mommy. Getting used to not getting a whole lot done other than baby cuddles, constant feeding and diaper changes and grabbing a few minutes of sleep here and there. It's getting easier. I am slowly learning his cues and signals, learning not to jump up at every sound he makes, learning to do things one handed and learning how to function on a lot less sleep. I wouldn't want it any other way.

Around Here

2011-07-05T19:26:00.011-07:00

Have you missed me?
Here's what's been going on around here the past couple of weeks.
Shawn and I celebrated our 5th anniversary with a couple of days in Sedona:

While we were away, our niece made her arrival a little bit early. Welcome to the world Miss Camryn!

Dog sitting this cute girl:

Making some progress on the baby's room:

Doing lots of baby laundry and putting things away:

Doing a little scrapping:

Getting a new computer (after mine was out for repairs for weeks) and finally being able to upload and edit photos from the past few months. Here's a little glimpse at the baby shower photos I finally got edited today:

And last but not least, waiting patiently (or not so patiently) for Baby Benaim to arrive.

The First 10 of the Summer

2011-06-21T20:56:00.005-07:00

Martha Stewart

1. The crib is finally up. Though the casters don't fit, so I need to call the manufacturer and hopefully get new ones. Without them, the crib is a little bit short.

2. Got my new teaching certificate yesterday...I'm official and no longer an "intern" teacher.

3. Had an OB appointment today. All is good with baby Benaim. Just a few more weeks to go.

4. Feeling huge, even though everyone says I'm small for almost 37 weeks.

5. Enjoyed some lemon pancakes for breakfast today with Michelle. Yum!

6. Looking forward to our 5th anniversary on Thursday.

7. Got new pj's, new curtains (to replace the ones the dry cleaner ruined) and a polka dot nursing bra at Target today.

8. Purchased this print from John Golden's etsy store for the baby's room today. Hooray for coupon codes!

9. Spending a lot of time pinning recipes on my pinterest food board, yet we ordered pizza tonight because I didn't feel like cooking. Well, really because I didn't feel like grocery shopping and pickings are slim around here unless you want cereal, popsicles or cheese.

10. Not thrilled about the heat wave around here. Supposed to be 111 or something ridiculous tomorrow. While I'm loving many things about summer, the heat is definitely not one of them. Late pregnancy and heat are not a good pair, unless my giant belly is floating in a pool.

Happy first day of summer!

Musical Interlude

2011-06-14T06:30:00.001-07:00

These Days

2011-06-11T18:46:00.007-07:00

She cooks when she's motivated. She tried a couple new recipes this week from her growing collection on pinterest. Early this week she made this:

Spinach Artichoke Pasta

and tonight she tried this:

Gnocchi with Pesto, Green Beans and Ricotta

Both were easy and quite tasty.

She writes a million and five thank you notes for all the wonderful baby goods she's received.

She learns about Core Knowledge (3 day training last week) and DIBELS (I voluntarily signed up for this training happening on Wednesday, I'm crazy I know).

She waits impatiently for her husband to take care of a few things so she can work on the baby's room.

She worries about getting her to do list done before the little one arrives.

She wastes a lot of time playing Words With Friends and surfing blogs and pinterest.

She works on finishing her last class for her teaching certificate and her portfolio for grad school.

She scraps and takes bad photos of her layouts:

She is grateful to have more time on her hands so she can rest and relax a bit.

Rest and Relaxation

2011-05-31T07:31:00.005-07:00

This weekend was the first time in a very long time that I tried my best to do very little. For the past year I have been going none stop, it's a little bit tough for me to relax. I still have a lengthy to do list and plenty that needs to be done before the baby comes, but decided this weekend, my first official weekend on summer break, should be all about relaxing. I did manage to get the laundry done (mostly), go to the grocery store and finish 2 assignments for my last post bacc class (have a midterm to take this week, so they had to be done), but other than that I tried my best to relax and have fun. Here's few highlights of mission relaxation:

Much of my weekend was spent on the couch or propped up on pillows in bed.
I spent lots of time on the ipad, a lot of it spent googling blogs I wanted to catch up on since I am still without my laptop and my trusty bookmarks.
pinterest
Finished 2 books that have been sitting in my pile partially read for weeks...this one and this one. Kind of a giant contrast in style and information, but both worth reading. Next up, I read and/or finish one of the fiction books in my pile.
Attempted to tackle my magazine pile and read 2 issues of Martha Stewart Living, an issue of Whole Living, one Ready Made and an American Baby. I also managed to purge a couple old issues I had in a pile because I had a few pages ear marked for tearing out. I still have tons of Elle Decors to get too, as well as a the newest issues of Living, Ready Made and Whole Living. I'm a sucker for magazines.....
Knit and unknit several rows on the stripey baby blanket. I should not knit when I'm sleepy and ready for bed.
Was asleep around 9pm both Friday and Saturday night. Exhausted much?
Cuddled the dog we were dog sitting for the weekend.
Went to see this movie with Shawn on Sunday. Funny, but not as crazy and hilarious as the first one:

Ate tons of fruit. We came home from the store with cantaloupe, raspberries, peaches, red cherries and white cherries. LOVE summer fruit.
Watched a few shows in my giant backlog on Tivo...Army Wives, Criminal Minds, Bones, Glee....still have more Glee, Top Chef, Grey's and Brothers and Sisters to watch.
Went to the mall yesterday to get Shawn some new clothes. Managed to purchase about 5 maternity tank tops from Forever 21 (gotta love the prices for clothes I'll only wear another couple months) and got some undies (as mine are starting to be uncomfortable) and checked out lovely nursing bras at Motherhood Maternity.
Ordered the rocking chair and a few necessities off my amazon list that I had not received as gifts.
Speaking of gifts, went through my school shower gifts and tried to make nice little piles....baby's room is still just a bunch of gift piles....

80% of the above items were done in pj's or lounging clothes from the couch or my bed. Felt good. I'm trying to take it easy the rest of this week, though my week is starting to fill up with to do's and activities, including scrapping with Miss Ally, IKEA with Shawn and a movie with my mom. In fact, I'd better get off the computer and get myself out the door to my OB appointment and go take my midterm (getting it over with)....

Hope your weekend was as relaxing as mine.

Happy Tuesday!

It's Tuesday

2011-05-24T19:28:00.003-07:00

and I'm actually writing a Tuesday 10.....

1. The screen on my laptop died this weekend. Which means, my commuter boots up fine, but all I see is a black screen. Fab. The good news: the manufacturer has agreed to repair. The bad news: the computer must be shipped to them for repairs and will take a couple weeks. The really bad news: this means all my files, which I need for grad school assignments are inaccessible right now. Ugh!

2. School is out in 1.5 days, which means I have only a few days left of work.....and because I'll be on maternity leave when school starts, after Friday, I won't work again until October!

3. It's hot. Pregnant Erin really does not like the heat. So looking forward to my last couple weeks in JULY. I think I'll need lots of ice cream.

4. Looking forward to my school baby shower tomorrow.

5. Still haven't purchased thank you gifts for my classroom aides yet....i've not got much time, but I keep wavering about what to do for them.

6. I'm currently sitting in the dark. Shawn's got a bad migraine and I'm too tired to go into another room.

7. Looking forward to working on the baby's room soon. I keep having dreams that he comes home and his room is still just piles of stuff.

8. I'm kind of disappointed I haven't had any real cravings. There are definitely foods I prefer these days, but nothing I've had to have.

9. I am in need of a pajama day. One where I not only stay in my pajamas, I do nothing productive at all. I'm thinking Saturday might be a good day for this. Can't work on school any way with my current computer situation.

10. I'm thinking an early bed time tonight sounds good. I'm pretty non functional right now...thinking bed and an episode of Weeds sounds like a plan.

Happy Tuesday!

PS The situation with my computer means I likely won't be posting pictures any time soon. I know I promised baby shower photos.

Today

2011-05-22T08:42:00.004-07:00

Around Here

2011-05-19T20:22:00.009-07:00

I am looking very pregnant.
I still need to edit and post baby shower pictures.
I'm hoping we got some good shots at out maternity shoot last weekend.
I am enjoying this orchid that Shawn got me (despite the bad picture):

I am counting down the days until school is out (4.5 days left with students).
I still have a super long to do list.
I am enjoying lots of fruit and veggies and cheese and ice cream.
I have actually done some scrapbooking, thanks to SC's NSD challenges and my need for a little stress relief:

I am exhausted by the time I get home from work and spend most of my evenings lounging, when I should be doing other things.
I finally ordered our stroller and car seat.
I am looking forward to my work baby shower next week.
I am eager to get to work on the baby's room soon.
I am waking up super early these days....good thing I'm falling asleep pretty early too.

Nighty Night!

By the Numbers

2011-05-07T07:44:00.003-07:00

It's been over 50 days since I last blogged.
I have completed 5 classes in the past 2 weeks.
I have 1 class left for my teaching certificate.
I have 2 assignments and 2 big projects left to complete my M.Ed.
I am 30 weeks pregnant.
I have about 10 weeks to get a lot of projects done, including the baby's room.
I have 13 1/2 more days of teaching.
I have 4 Individualized Education Plans (IEP) to conduct before the last day of school.
I will be observed 1 more time for my teaching certificate program.
There are currently 8 vases of flowers scattered around my house thanks to the remains of my baby shower flowers, teacher appreciation gifts and my romantic husband.
Last night Shawn and I celebrated the 10 year anniversary of our first date.
In about 10 weeks we become a family of 3.
About 30 people gathered to shower me and the baby with love last weekend. It was a perfect baby shower.
I got to spend a few days last weekend with 2 of my favorite girls. It was not enough time.
I will conduct 2 music therapy sessions today.
There are about a dozen challenges for National Scrapbook Day I'd love to complete this weekend.
Instead I have 1 assignment to do and 1 IEP to write this weekend.
There are currently 531 emails in my inbox. Blech.
I have about 8 books in my current to read pile. Most are pregnancy, childbirth or parenting related.
I'm guessing I will do at least 6 loads of laundry this afternoon/evening.
I have 6 chipped fingernails...time to say goodbye to the baby shower manicure. The toes are still looking good.
I promise to post more than 1 time in May.

Happy Saturday!
Happy NSD!

The ABC's of Web Surfing

2011-03-16T20:22:00.004-07:00

Because Em asked for it, here's a silly A-Z list of my most visited websites. These are the sites that pop up in my firefox browser when I type the letter.
A-Amazon
B-Blogger
C-Connect Me...school email system home computer access
D-DLTK. Alphabet activities for my classroom.
E-my tumbler, which I haven't really used since I started using pinterest.
F-Facebook
G-gmail
H-hotmail
I-my blog. you're here already.
J-JBS Inspiration blog
K-Knitty Bitties blog
L-our mortgage company
M-my Plymouth, grad school log in page
N-Nutwood, Scarlet's blog from her 30 Days of Gratitude last November. Clearly I don't go to many N sites.
O-Old Navy. Maternity clothes shopping.
P-Pinterest. My new time suck.
Q-Quince & Co. Yarn I'd love to own.
R-Ruche. I'm surprised Ravelry comes up second. I think I visit that way more often than Ruche.
S-Studio Calico
T-Twitter. Which is odd since I usually use TweetDeck. Two Peas comes up second.
U-USAA. Our banking and insurance
V-Victoria's Secret. I think this is left from Christmas shopping.
W-Weather.com
X-odd. nothing with X actually comes up. First its a link to Amazon's Best of 2010 list and next is a link to this Martha Stewart embellished sweater tutorial.
Y-You tube. Specifically, this video of an autism classroom. Again, this is odd, since I've viewed plenty of things on You Tube since I watched this video back in October or so.
Z-Zulily

There you have it. The ins and outs of my internet preferences. Because I know you really wanted to know this. Maybe it gives you some insight into me. Maybe you want to play along too. Just for fun.

The 10

2011-03-15T20:00:00.004-07:00

It's been awhile since I posted a Tuesday 10. Here's 10 things from my day today:

1. No teaching today. Thinking Maps Follow Up training instead.

2. Mexican food for lunch. Got an hour and 10 minutes for lunch today, so I went out with a few other teachers from the training. Sure beats my usual yogurt and fruit at my desk working lunches.

3. Thankfully got my progress reports done yesterday after school so I didn't need to use my hour lunch for meeting today's deadline.

4. Had a little time to kill after the training and before my after school music therapy client, so I did a little baby shopping. Had a shower gift to buy for a fellow teacher. She's having a girl. I may have looked at the boy stuff too. I may have purchased some cute little Calvin Klein denim overalls. They were $10 and too cute to pass up.

5. My4 year old client had a serious case of the giggles. I think he was high from all the sugar he'd has as a result of spring break intensive potty training day 2. Getting him to focus on anything productive was a little ridiculous.

6. Since I was under the weather and didn't grocery shop this weekend, I got take out from Paradise Bakery on the way home. Veggies sandwiches and citrus seem to be my favorites these days. That an ice cream.

7. Speaking of ice cream, I may have just eaten a small bowl of mint chocolate chip.

8. My belly totally itches.

9. New simplyArTistiC prompt went up today. Right now we are doing magazine inspiration. Here's mine:

and since I forgot to post it, here's mine from the last prompt:

You should come play along.

10. Headed to bed very soon. My eyelids have been very heavy all day. Something to do with coughing half the night and waking up with leg cramps early in the morning (seems to be a routine thing lately. don't like it).

Happy Tuesday!

Confessions of a Very Tired Pregnant Lady

2011-03-14T19:57:00.011-07:00

I intended to take lots of photos of myself to document my pregnancy. Hasn't happened. I've only taken a few. The above picture was taken two weeks ago. I was 20 weeks and desperately needed a hair cut.
I am eating a lot of ice cream. I think I'm making up for the reflux induced limited dairy diet I have had for the past couple of years.
Registering for baby stuff totally overwhelms me. Too many decisions.
I waste a lot of time looking at baby stuff. Mostly decor stuff. And clothes. And knitting patterns.
My house has been completely neglected. It's a mess. Total and complete disaster. Though this may have more to do with the window/sliding glass door installation and the pack rat/mess making husband than with my lack of energy or motivation.
I'm worried about getting everything done before the baby comes.
I spend a lot of time in bed with my laptop...though I'm usually doing school work.
I don't get much of anything done after 7:00 pm, except maybe knitting and reading and important online baby research.
I think the changes to my body are totally bizarre.
I find myself rubbing my belly, just because its there.
I may be in over my head with commitments. Not a whole lot I can do about it though, other than take a deep breath and make it work.
I'm looking forward to June. I know I'll be super uncomfortable pregnant, but it may be the only time I can focus totally on me and preparing for the baby.

The Maternity Dilemma

2011-02-27T11:02:00.003-07:00

I've been struggling with maternity clothes. Most of my regular bottoms no longer fit me, although I just purchased a bella band, so we'll see if I can eek out a couple more wears in my bigger sized pants. I'm still ok with most of my tops, especially since my sister thought ahead and bought me several empire waist tops for Christmas. I've got a few dresses and skirts that will still work, once the weather warms up (looks like 70's this week, so we should be good). The issue is deciding how much to purchase. Like most women, I want to look stylish and cute while I'm pregnant. I do not want to wear the same few outfits over and over again. Yet, I also do not want to spend, nor do I have the funds to spend a ton of money on maternity clothes.

So far I have purchased from Old Navy and Gap: denim trouser pants that I love and a pair of denim leggings that are still a bit big and really look more black than denim, but they work. I have 2 spring/summer dresses (still too big), denim capris, a couple t-shirts and long tanks that are a must. I sent back a pair of dress pants and a pair of capris that were enormous on me, even in a maternity size 2.

I mostly need spring and summer wear. I'm guessing I'll mostly want dresses and skirts for work, especially once its hot, and a couple pairs of capris or bermuda shorts. My mom has offered to make me some dresses (she sews must better and faster than I), which will be perfect.

I will need cute outifts for maternity pics too, of course. So, here's a few items on my wish list. Many of them seem pricey for something you wear just a few months, but I may cave and order a few things.

Love the maternity dresses at Shabby Apple. There site won't let me save or copy picture images, but I love this one, this one and this one.

Boden has adorable maternity dresses and tops, but they are way pricey. I love this ruffled dress.

I've also just discovered this site for cute maternity clothes, that apparently ships internationally for free. I'm debating about ordering a few items, like this dress:

this dress:

and this bathing suit (since I will be super preggo in June/July when its a million degrees here):

I've yet to visit any local maternity stores and I'm guessing I might find maternity at a consignment store or two...that's just time I don't have right now. Much easier to online shop. Any other ideas for good maternity options from you mommies out there?

Dreaming

2011-02-26T08:56:00.006-07:00

So I should be studying, but instead all I want to do is surf baby stuff and nursery galleries.I already had a couple color schemes in mind for the baby's room, depending on boy or girl. Now that we know we are have a sweet little boy, my wheels have really started turning. I've pretty much decided on white furniture, gray walls (I may keep the color that's already in the room, which is a slate blue/gray color) and fun, cheery accent colors. I'm thinking turquoise, yellow and red...but we'll see where my dreaming takes me.

This week I order some yummy blue sky alpacas organic cotton yarn (on sale) for yet another baby blanket I plan on knitting. The one I'm working on now is a sweet lacy pattern in a nice apple green. It's about 1/3 of the way done. But, once I saw this blanket, I knew I had to add this to my "to knit" list:

Here are the colors I'll be making this blanket in:

The green may or may not be included...I debated about orange too, but decided I'd hit my budget with 5 yarns.

Here are a few other things inspiring my nursery ideas:

Lots of prints. Like this one:

and this one:

and this one (though not as bright of colors as I'd like):

This mobile:

This cute guy and other fun stuff found here (thanks Em):

This bookshelf:

This arrangement:

and a growing file on my pinterest here.

The baby madness has really only begun around here. Apparently its contagious too, as the grandmas and aunties are probably worse than I am. Have I researched strollers and high chairs and carseats and important functional stuff...um no. But this is so much more fun!

Because....

2011-02-21T11:27:00.006-07:00

I have finished my power point, 7 post bacc assignments, lesson plans and prep and lots of household to do's. Now I get to play. For a few minutes anyway until I go vacuum and mop. And go to a 2pm meeting. And run to UPS. Here's what I am doing with my few minutes of free time:

Life by the Numbers

2011-02-18T20:00:00.005-07:00

Today I am 19 weeks pregnant.
Which means if my due date is correct and I deliver full term, I have 21 more weeks to go.
In 4 days, we should know if life is going to be full of pink and sparkles or blue and cars.
I have 9 assignments I should get done this weekend.
This weekend is a 3 day weekend.
I saw 7 of these in the sky on my way to work this morning:

I have eaten at least 7 tangerines or oranges this week.
I have only cooked 1 time this week (unless you count making quesadillas, in which case, I have "cooked" twice).
I crossed 4 things off my to do list today.
Shawn has made me 3 ice cream cones this week.
I currently have 10 games of Words with Friends in progress.
Today it was in the upper 60's, tomorrow it will be in the 50's, this past weekend it was in the upper 70's.
I wore 2 pairs of new pants this week (both maternity).
I had 141 emails in my inbox this evening.

Tuesday 10

2011-02-15T19:41:00.004-07:00

1. Leggings are my friend.
2. Post valentine's classroom apparently equals crazy classroom. Tantrums, hitting, screaming, crying, time outs...fun stuff.
3. Picked up Mexican for dinner after my meeting this evening and it took so long for my order, I may have eaten half my food on the drive home....pregnant and hungry is not a happy combo.
4. Am not getting things done in the evenings this week and instead am crawling in bed and watching Pillars of the Earth on netflix.
5. Happy birthday to my mom (and thanks for the cupcakes)!
6. Rearranged my classroom this morning and I'm liking the new set up. Thankful there weren't too many meltdowns about the changes.
7. Wishing I had the energy to work on my project life. I'm a couple weeks behind with my album, but loving this method of documenting my year.
8. Looking forward to the upcoming 3 day weekend, even though i'll spend most of it doing homework.
9. Was told I looked pregnant today, even though I have on an empire waist, a line dress. Apparently I'm "totally showing" now.
10. Thinking an early bed time is in order tonight, despite the extra long to do list looming over my head.

happy Tuesday!

Happy 10

2011-02-08T20:29:00.004-07:00

Because I've been stressed and need a happy list....

1. K-3 field day today, meant I only taught 3 kids (with 2 other adults in the room) for most of the day. I sent the rest of them out to play
2. half day + field day makes for a pretty easy teaching day
3. professional development training this afternoon got done early
4. my late afternoon client canceled, this combined with an early end to my training got me home about 3 hours earlier than a normal Tuesday
5. being home earlier meant I could get some grad school work done
6. and make chocolate chip cookies
7. my new jeans leggings (not a fan of the "jeggings" term) are way more comfortable these days than my skinny jeans, which are getting hard to button
8. the weather was beautiful today
9. am very happy I decided to order Project Life (with some amazon gift cards). I'm keeping it low stress, but love how its coming along so far
10. grilled cheese with tomatoes for dinner tonight. yum!

What was your happy today?

Weekend Recap

2011-01-31T19:55:00.017-07:00

Here's some bits of my weekend.

Friday we had a half day because of parent teacher conference week. I had a ton of stuff I should be doing, but decided to have a little fun. Soon after I got home, I finished this page (I actually started it at 7:40 in the morning before leaving for work). It's based on last week's Sunday sketch at SC:

Then I got to work on some valentine garlands. I'd punched a whole ton of scallops and hearts a couple weeks ago with this project in mind:

I may have made 5 of them and still have plenty more to play with

After a bit of paper fun, Shawn and I headed to an evening movie since I was home early. We saw The Rite. Interesting, but not as good as I thought it would be. We headed home after the movie since Shawn's stomach was bothering him and I spent the rest of the night in bed with the laptop and some tv. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep early.

Saturday I should have been working on my grad school paper (that was due today) and cleaning the house, but instead, I spend way too much time looking at CHA related posts online and doing other nonsense. I had a music therapy client around lunch time and wasted a good hour at Super Target after seeing her. Came home and had some more Valentine fun:

Did some laundry and scrapped a page for a challenge at SC. I lifted the fabulous Tina:

And took a bunch of self portrait, mirror shots for another SC challenge that I've yet to get around to. While I was at it, I decided to take a belly shot, since it's been requested by some. This is the best I could do. Don't mind my grumpy looking face, I seriously took about 87 pictures before I got one that was even remotely acceptable. Not the best picture, but you get the idea...a little bump has begun to poke out:

Sunday was spent working on my stupid paper. ALL DAY, 8:30-5, with the exception of switching laundry and making cupcakes for dinner at my parents, was spent writing. It didn't get finished either, which made me grumpy this morning when I woke up and realized a still had a lot of work to do by the end of today. Luckily, I rushed out of work as soon as the kids left and managed to get the paper finished and submitted by 6pm tonight. Phew. I'm usually not a procrastinator and had no idea this paper would take me so long. I usually write pretty quickly. I'll be sure and get back to my plan ahead ways before my next paper. I'm not a fan of unnecessary stress.

Had dinner at my parents last night because this one's hubs was in town on business. It was pretty fun, but I stayed up way too late. That along with the tossing and turning caused by the stress of unfinished work and I'm pretty much ready for bed any minute now. Before I go, here's another page I did last weekend that I never got around to photographing or posting.

Finally

2011-01-29T08:26:00.006-07:00

So, there's something I've been meaning to post here, but haven't yet. Funny thing is most of my loyal blog readers, you know all 5 of you, already know (as do SC readers), so the post wasn't high on my priority list. Yet, some of my friends are dying of anticipation and want to know when I'm going to share on the blog, so here goes. Maybe you'd like to take a guess (those of you who don't already know)....

here's a few clues:

I'm hungry all the time
my pants are getting snug
I'm currently working on this
I go to the doctor once a month
I'm tired
I'm reading this
I have several cute little grainy black and white pictures

Obvious enough? Yes, I'm pregnant! Currently 16 weeks and due July 14. Crazy excited. Spending a lot of time dreaming and planning and surfing baby sites....its really getting in the way of my productivity. I can't wait to be a mommy!

Weekending

2011-01-23T20:28:00.012-07:00

Another weekend mixing to do's with want to do's. A little bit of fun stuff and a lot of things that needed to get done. I even remembered to take some pictures this weekend. Nothing exciting, just everyday stuff. Here's a glimpse at my weekend:

I spent my Friday night relaxing, watching tv and wreath making:

Saturday morning I was up and moving bright and early. After some time wasted on the computer, I started a load of laundry. While in the laundry room, I happened to get inspired by the pile of Christmas cards on my scrap desk. I am not one to save cards, but I do like to do something to document the cards we receive each year. So, I scrapped a quick page with squares punched from several of the cards:

After finishing the page, I headed out to run a bunch of errands and do a therapy session. My stops included two dry cleaners (drop off clothes at the organic dry cleaners and pick up bedroom curtains from the less expensive dry cleaner), Starbucks, Home Goods, Verde Maison, Micheal's and Home Depot. I didn't find what I was looking for at Home Goods, but I did manage to find some new towels, another thing on my list:

My Micheal's stop included the purchasing of a second wreath. I'm kind of addicted now:

My Saturday afternoon and much of my Sunday was spent doing this:

and this:

Lots of laundry. Lots of schoolwork. Not fun, but needed to happen. I did manage to squeeze in some baking and soup making today. This muffin recipe, this bread recipe and some corn chowder for dinner.

Tonight I've finished up the wreath, uploaded pictures, blogged and now I'm off to crawl in bed. Hope your weekend was happy!

Currently

2011-01-22T18:37:00.007-07:00

Taking a study break from

Reading 8 million articles on autism and structured teaching for my grad school lit review that is due at the end of the month.

Eating cilantro hummus, baby carrots and pita chips.

Wearing pink plaid pajama bottoms, a pink t-shirt and my red striped socks (from my outfit earlier today). And yes, I am in my pj's at 6:30 on a Saturday night.

Listening to this fab song:

Wanting to get back to crafting and make my second yarn and felt wreath of the weekend.

Waiting for the washer to finish so I can put in the next load.

Wishing I could find that house cleaning fairy.

Contemplating ditching the studying for the rest of the night and crafting or baking or both.

Enjoying a quiet, uneventful evening.

Happy Saturday!

Wednesday Wonderfuls

2011-01-19T19:24:00.003-07:00

1. Weather in the mid 70's
2. Strawberry milkshake
3. Figuring out I can blog from my iPad using the HTML setting (for some reason, i cant type in the regular compose section)
4. Climbing in bed with my iPad, knitting and The Wire by 7:30pm and pretending I don't have things I should be doing
5. Wearing a very comfy tunic top and leggings for the second day in a row.

Friday Facts

2011-01-14T19:59:00.007-07:00

1. Blogging hasn't been high on my priority list as of late. It is what it is.
2. I'm probably not posting part 2 of the 2010 recap. It's Jan 14. I'm over it already.
3. I'm currently waiting patiently for Shawn's belated pistachio/chocolate birthday cake to cool. It smells amazing. Yum.
4. I am very happy to have a 3 day weekend (if you don't count the 1 hour therapy session I am doing tomorrow).
5. There's a lot I need to do this weekend, but I'd much rather knit/scrap/read (and not the research I should read for grad school)/lounge.
6. Today I overheard a first grade boy tell a 1st grade girl, "If you want another girlfriend, you just need to tell the other girl that she's your girlfriend." She didn't look convinced of this process.
7. My house is a mess.
8. Today was music therapy day at school. I love that I have a Friday morning sub and get to spend my Friday mornings doing 3 music therapy groups.
9. I'm looking forward to The Wire and knitting for the rest of the evening.
10. I may be slightly obsessed with Words With Friends. I currently have at least 6 games going.

And because I haven't posted any crafty goodness in awhile. Here are a few pages I finished during winter break:

Farewell 2010-Part 1

2010-12-31T17:06:00.026-07:00

I usually do a best of recap at the end of the year...best photos, best memories, best scrapbook pages. I'm just not feeling it this year. Maybe since scrapping and photos took a bit of a back seat to other events of the year. So, instead I've decided to do a little 2010 recap....photos, words, memories, crafty goods....an anything goes recap, month by month.

January

My word for the year. Actually did a lot of this for the first few months of the year. Not so much as the year progressed....

Jack and Andrea's wedding:

Reading, creating, soup making
State budget cuts include a 50% cut to music therapy

February

Lots of knitting:

Pretty flowers:

Begin Post Baccalaureate program in Special Education
Research grad school options
More scrapping:

March

Rain and rainbows:

Cupcakes, real and knitted:

Obsession with felt:

Bridal shower invites
School work
Shopping for bridesmaids dress pattern and fabric
Making stuff:

April

1st grade practicum
Easter brunch:

Yarn, yarn, yarn:

Visit from Ellen
Week in the Life:

Private pay music therapy:

Trip to OR
Tulip Fields:

Bridal Shower fun:

Adorable bride to be:

May

Mother's Day brunch:

Job applications
Letters of recommendations
State education exams
Grad school application
Schnepf Farms Peach Festival:

Simple pleasures:

June

Summer cooking and eating:

Exams
Assignments
Applications
4th Anniversary
Uncle Dave's Race Across America:

Now that this is my longest post ever, I've decided to take a break. Stay tuned for the recap of the second half of 2010 coming soon....

Around Here

2010-12-28T17:51:00.006-07:00

First, the Christmas recap with no photos. Can you believe I took absolutely NO photos of Christmas. None. Sad. Christmas Eve we celebrated my grandmother's 80th birthday with a big lunch. I brought my camera along, took it out to snap some pictures and oops, no card. Seems I left the card in my card reader. Nice. The party was great, everyone had fun, the vases we made for centerpieces using old pictures of my grandmother were a big hit. I'd share a picture, but....actually, here's one of the collages we used on the vases:

Fun right? After the party, I headed home to make Chocolate Souffle Cupcakes with Mint Cream for Christmas Eve dessert. These were awfully tasty and even gluten free for my mom. We headed to my parents for Christmas Eve dinner complete with Christmas crackers, crowns and present opening. Oh and I brought the camera again, with the card, but this time with a dying battery and no camera bag with spares or a charger. Ugh. Not my finest move.

We spent Christmas morning being lazy. Shawn and I exchanged stockings, opened a few more presents and spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon hanging out. I made Moroccan Quinoa to take to my aunt and uncles for Christmas dinner with my giant family. It was a good time with lots of food, family and fun. I didn't even bother taking my camera, figuring some sort of camera faux pas would occur. Hopefully one of my camera toting uncles will share some pictures with me.

Sunday was officially pajama day. Traditionally, I try not to go anywhere or plan anything for the day after Christmas. I love spending the day in my pj's being lazy. This year, pajama day included internet surfing, scrapping (until I ran out of adhesive) knitting (and some unknitting...I seem to be doing this a lot lately), several episodes of Dexter (while eating chocolate drizzled popcorn) and staying up way too late reading Hunger Games. Perfect lazy day if you ask me.

The past couple days have been a mix of to do's and want to's. I have several assignments and two exams due by Jan 2nd, so there are things I must do. I'd much prefer fun things however. I've been doing my best to balance the two. So far this last week of 2010, I have:

studied for and taken an exam (got 100% too)
worked on a final project
created a study guide for exam 2, which I will take on Thursday
done all the laundry, including sheets and towels
organized and purged 3 giant piles of random stuff I've been meaning to take care of
purged the giant pile of magazines and catalogs
made and consumed Ina Garten's Macaroni and Cheese
downloaded and read 9 chapters of Catching Fire
went to a doctor's appointment
ate lunch at the Duck and Decanter with my sister
hit Last Chance, where I found a pair of Paige jeans for $30 that though I didn't try on, fit me perfectly
picked up some more adhesive

Not bad for mixing the to do's with the want to's. The rest of the week will be much of the same. More studying, homework and cleaning balanced with more crafting, reading (for fun) and lunch and dinner dates. Happy Winter Break!

The 10 Returns

2010-12-07T17:48:00.003-07:00

I haven't posted a Tuesday 10 in a long time. So, here goes:

1. My halls are partially decked for Christmas. We have a tree with lights but no ornaments, we have wreaths and stockings hung and a portion of my ever growing tree collection is out. The rest of the stuff still sits in boxes. Apparently, decorating is a slow process this year.

2. I'm am all lesson planned and ready to go for the 8 days left of school this year.

3. I was in desperate need of new shoes this fall/winter. So, new boots arrived yesterday (I paid $30 for them, less a $10 gift card), new flats today (I needed to up the amount of my target online order to qualify for free shipping and these were a perfect find) and another pair of boots are on their way (another good deal with a 30% off coupon). My feet are now much happier.

4. Love this story from the news tonight. Don't love how many students do not get music at school.

5. Am making progress with my Christmas shopping, Just a few more things to take care of.

6. I've had my Christmas cards for a week now. Better get busy addressing them one of these days. I ordered them from here. I'll share later. They turned out pretty cute.

7. I am so tired, I keep getting distracted and mesmerized by the tree lights as I type this post. I'm tempted to turn everything off and spend the evening staring at the tree.

8. Am getting this for Christmas. Though I've been told it might not arrive until the end of the month.

9. I've become kind of lazy about dinner lately. Last night we had take out, tonight it's left overs and tomorrow will likely be take and bake pizza. I did buy ingredients for sesame noodles and potato broccoli soup at the store on my way home today. We'll see....

10. Am looking forward to possibly seeing the Nutcracker this weekend with my mom, grandma and sister.

Happy Tuesday!

Musical Interlude

2010-12-06T20:16:00.000-07:00

This is awesome.

My PVC Instrument, DRS Talent Show @ Yahoo! Video

Today

2010-12-04T19:15:00.003-07:00

Today I....

ate a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast...it's been bagels not cereal and berries for breakfast lately. I think I'm on a carb kick.
did two music therapy sessions
picked up tamales that Heather and Angie made...dinner tomorrow. yum!
bought books and toys for my classroom at Borders
witnessed two grown woman acting like children, fighting over cutting the line at Paradise Bakery. Both of them ended up cutting in front of me (quite hypocritical of the one who made a big scene about the other one cutting), but being nice and respectful paid off and even though I ordered last, my food was ready first. Karma.
finally got my oil changed....it was long overdue
got rid of the box jungle (too many online purchases around here)
watered my poor neglected plants
unloaded and loaded the dishwasher
wrote my first paper for my new grad school class
did 3 loads of laundry
felt queasy off and on all day
ate a burrito with black beans, rice and avocado for dinner
am spending the rest of the night in bed with my ipad and yarn and maybe some Dexter

New cards went up at simply ArTistiC this week. Here's mine:

Happy Weekend!

A Semi-Productive Sunday

2010-11-28T19:18:00.004-07:00

One of these days I will post pictures again, but until than my friends, you must suffer through yet another words only post. I haven't taken many pictures lately. In fact, I made a point of dragging my camera to Thanksgiving at my parents, but didn't even take it out of my bag. Here's hoping I can take some December pictures. I'm not officially doing a December daily this year, but I'd love to be able to put together a little holiday mini album during my winter break. This will probably require pictures. Hmmm. Maybe I should play with my new instax? Haven't done much of that since I got it for my birthday either.

Back to the Sunday post.....

Like my usual Sundays, today was a mix of getting things done and enjoying a little me time before the work week begins again. Today I managed to be a little productive and still spend plenty of time on the couch with my laptop. Here's what I did and did not get done:

lesson planning and printing of materials-done
cutting and coloring of said materials-not done
evaluation paperwork-done
8 loads of laundry-done
putting away of said laundry-not done (though it is all folded neatly on top of the washer)
sheets washed and bed made-done
floors swept and mopped-done
floors vacuumed-not done (I detest vacuuming)
house dusted-done
piles tackled-1 pile done
simply ArTistiC card-done
card photographed, edited and emailed-not done
post-Bacc lessons-not done
spinach manicotti made for dinner-done
dinner dishes-done

I also actually scrapped today! Crazy, I know. I haven't scrapped a page in a long time and today I actually threw a page together in like 20 minutes. It needs a little finishing touch in the way of hand stitching before I can photo and post, but I'm pretty happy with my first scrapping attempt in quite some time. I was inspired while doing the laundry (scrap room and laundry share a space...I get a little distracted). I used a bunch of old stash stuff too. Go me.

Though I didn't check everything off my list, I am officially done with the to do's for today. I plan on climbing in bed early with some knitting or a magazine.

Happy Sunday!

Grateful-Post Thanksgiving Addition

2010-11-26T10:38:00.004-07:00

So I kind of fell off the blogging wagon this month. Truthfully, I've thought about blogging a few times over the past week or two and it just really wasn't on the top of my list. Since I'm home today, enjoying some time in my pj's, I figured I could do one more nice grateful post to round out the month. So here goes, my post Thanksgiving grateful list:

a nice, quiet dinner with my family yesterday
pumpkin cheesecake and chocolate pecan pie
cranberries for breakfast
a day off and some quality pj time
online deals and crowd free shopping
final paper for my grad school class completed yesterday morning
2nd grad school class checked off my list
hot chocolate with marshmallows
4 games of words with friends
a warm and cozy bed
no commitments for today
a pile of yarn and several in progress projects that could use a little love
cold weather, which makes it feel more like the holidays
a stack of unread magazines
quiet

Hope you are enjoying your Thanksgiving weekend!

Gratitude Back in Action

2010-11-15T19:26:00.002-07:00

I warned you that this little adventure might not be a daily event around here. I've been pretty busy and this week isn't looking good. So, while I had a few minutes I thought I'd post a quick glimpse at my gratitude for the past few days. Here goes, I am grateful for:

-two midterms completed and completed well...A's on both
-conversations with family and friends
-happy news
-early bedtimes
-cozy cool weather bedding
-my fuzzy red slippers
-pumpkin milkshakes

Happy Monday!

Grateful Day 10

2010-11-10T18:32:00.004-07:00

Today I am grateful for online courses and the flexibility they provide. I'll admit that changing jobs, being a first year teacher, finishing my post bacc teaching cert program and simultaneously working on grad school is a bit crazy. Just a bit, right? I'm definitely feeling the pressure right now. I'm behind on a few things, but with the flexibility the online courses provides, its ok. Thankfully, I'm usually pretty diligent about getting things done, so when I get behind, its not too far behind. I'm glad I don't have set class days. I'm glad I can work at 8pm, or 6am, or all day Sunday. Without this flexibility, I'm sure I'd be floundering big time.That being said, tomorrow's holiday will be spent writing and turning in a grad school paper that should have been submitted already, studying for two midterms that must be completed by Saturday and beginning research on a paper that is do in two weeks. So much for a day off.....

Grateful Days 8 and 9

2010-11-09T18:40:00.006-07:00

Yesterday was a long day filled with teaching and after school meetings and by the time I remembered I should blog, I was too exhausted to get up and go to the computer. If I could blog from my ipad (not sure why it doesn't work) it could have happened as I lay in bed (I'm afraid to admit what time I crawled in bed). So, my grateful for yesterday is technology, more specifically the aforementioned ipad. Love it. Seriously. Love that I can stick it in my purse for use on the go. LOVE that I can lay in bed and surf, check message boards, twitter and facebook, read, play games (Words With Friends and Sudoku usually), watch movies, etc. Love that it has a cute little red case. Love that I can store and view photos. Love that I can store and read pdf files for my classes. Love that I can use certain apps for a quick guitar tuning, checking guitar chords, learning a new song. Love that I can catch up on all the NPR I miss now that I'm not driving around all day. Love it.

Today, I am grateful for the cooler weather. Hello fall, I've been missing you. We've had some weird, way too hot weather around here this fall, but this week is exactly what I've been waiting for. High's around 70 with chilly mornings and nights. I wore long sleeves all day today and was perfectly comfortable. It was 57 degrees on my way to school this morning and I was cold. Perfect. That's how it should be in November. It's about time Phoenix. My classroom was freezing this morning, which is a welcome change since its almost always super hot. I'm guessing my classroom is going to be cold all winter. I'll have to wear sweaters and maybe even coats. Bummer ;) I might even need to make my self another pair of fingerless mittens. In red. Or maybe black. Or both. Double bummer ;) Now, I don't want to hear from all you cold weather dwellers about my "cold" temperatures. To be fair, my Chicago born husband puts a sweatshirt on if it dips below 80 and doesn't appreciate my love of cooler (not cold) weather. I don't think I would do so well living somewhere where winter was long and hard, but boy do I love when the weather cools off around here. Fall temps (and our winter temps) are my very favorite. Chilly enough to need sleeves and maybe a few knitted goodies, but not so cold that you're miserable. We're not quite to the knitted goodies and fun sweaters and coats stage around here yet, but things are looking up in the weather department and for that, I am grateful.

Grateful Day 6 and 7

2010-11-07T06:44:00.003-07:00

Today's Grateful is a musical one. Love this song and its message. It's the perfect happy song for adults and kids alike. Love it when I stumble across videos and songs while I'm surfing.

Yesterday's grateful:

Checking things off my to do list.
The worlds best "garden" mojito and darn good food at The Parlor.
Hanging with Michelle for the first time in way too long.
Goodies brought home for me from Shawn's visit to the state fair.

Happy Sunday!

Grateful Day 5

2010-11-06T08:48:00.004-07:00

Better late than never....

Yesterday, I was grateful for this comment, given to me by someone observing my room: "There are some people who work with these kids and its their job and there are other people that it's their passion. I can tell its your passion and you love your kids." I am grateful that even when its a bit chaotic and I'm restraining a kiddo from attacking the bushes or chasing one back to the playground, an outside observer can tell that I really do love my job and my kiddos.

Grateful Day 4

2010-11-04T19:17:00.003-07:00

Today I am grateful for left overs/fend for yourself night. I do really love to cook, but there are sometimes I just don't feel like cooking or don't have the time. Thankfully, there were lots of options in the fridge tonight from meals I made earlier this week. Our choices were sesame noodles with broccoli, mushroom and truffle oil pizza and green chile. I opted for the green chile (the veggie version), mostly because it needs to be eaten, but also so I could take the pizza for lunch tomorrow. Shawn, the foodie that he is, chose to make himself some Ramen.

Happy Friday Eve!

Grateful Day 3

2010-11-03T19:41:00.004-07:00

Today I am grateful for chocolate. Yes, chocolate. I'm not a huge candy eater, but there's something about Halloween candy that does me in. It doesn't help that we had hardly any trick or treaters this year and there are tons of leftovers lying around. Besides, today was the kind of day where I needed something to help me stay sane and wine is probably not ok at school :) So, hooray for little Halloween chocolates, especially when they come in the form of peanut butter M&Ms!

Gratitude Day 2

2010-11-02T19:19:00.002-07:00

I'd love to pair each day with a photo, but it's just not gonna happen. In fact, I've taken a grand total of 10 photos in the past 3 months and those were all project photos. Sad. On to the gratitude....

Today was a bit of a rough day. Not sure what was in the air, but things were challenging in my classroom. More challenging than normal. So, today I am grateful for the gift of patience. I have been told many, many times that I am a very patient person. In fact, I once had a client's mom write on an evaluation "Erin has the patience of a saint." I'm definitely not always patient, but I do seem to have more of it than some people. It's a blessing. Especially, when your day starts with more than one student coming in screaming.

30 Days of Gratitude

2010-11-01T19:36:00.008-07:00

Though it is very likely I won't be able to complete all 30 days of this challenge, I'm going to give it a try. My November is ridiculously busy. Yet, there's something about this challenge that speaks to me. So here goes, my gratitude for day 1:

Today I am grateful for my ability to hold it together under pressure. The last few months have been a huge challenge and November is shaping up to be a rather crazy month. I like challenges, but some days I wonder if I'll make it. If you know me at all, you know its not that unusual for me to put A LOT on my plate. Thankfully, some how, I usually make it work, even if it means I have to neglect a few things for awhile....or really NEED that glass of wine :)

Happy November!

Musical Interlude

2010-10-28T16:52:00.000-07:00

Love, love, love this cover of Death Cab by Ingrid Michaelson and Matt Kearney. One of my fave death cab songs with two amazing voices. Sigh.

Pumpkin Chronicles

2010-10-24T17:27:00.004-07:00

So If you know me at all, you know I LOVE anything pumpkin. Pumpkins are one of the many reasons I LOVE October and fall. Sadly, this year, my October has been a little less pumpkin filled than normal.

No glitter pumpkins, they're still packed in a box with the rest of the Halloween decor.
No pumpkin candles.
No live pumpkins at my doorstep.
No pumpkin spice lattes (caffeine and I no longer get along)
No visits to the pumpkin patch
No pumpkin treats.....ok I did get pumpkin birthday cake earlier this month, but there's not been nearly enough pumpkin foods around here since.

Thankfully this weekend I did slightly remedy this situation. I still have no Halloween decor out (though there are cute little kindergarten pumpkin projects hanging in my classroom), but I do now have pumpkin treats. Friday night I hung out with my sister and Toni and we made Pumpkin Whoopie Pies. Yum. Since there was still half a can of pumpkin left and I woke up raring to go way too early this morning, I decided to bake a pumpkin pie. Double Yum. Now all I need is some pumpkin pasta or pumpkin risotto and my pumpkin treat fantasies would be pretty complete. Maybe. I believe that there's never enough pumpkin, but my October is feeling much better now.

Happy Sunday!

Predictable Much?

2010-10-21T19:12:00.005-07:00

So once again, I've not blogged in days. I've thought about it, does that count? Believe me, the fact I've even thought about it, given my craziness lately is pretty impressive. So, here goes, a predictable blog post from me.

That's right, Thursday Thankful time.

1. Professional development training today that allowed me to have an hour for lunch (time enough to go home) and get home by 3:15.

2. Email from the speech therapist saying all went well in my classroom this morning without me. She did say it wasn't the same as having calm and steady Erin in charge though, which is nice to hear.

3. Cool weather. It actually feels kind of like fall.

4. Broccoli potato soup for dinner and a caramel apple for dessert.

5. Extra time at home = extra assignment finished and extra things crossed off my to do list.

Maybe, if you're lucky, I'll get a post in before next week's addition of Thursday Thankfuls.

Happy Thursday!

Thursday Thankfuls

2010-10-14T18:27:00.002-07:00

unknown image credit

1. SLP and OT in my class all morning. hooray for extra hands!
2. Cupcake sauvignon blanc
3. honeycrisp apples...my fave
4. home before 5pm!
5. project runway
6. self mandated work/homework free night
7. SC sneaks...loving Mendocino, hmm wonder why?
8. Friday eve
9. strawberry ice cream
10. anthro gift card (thanks Ellen!)

Happy Thursday!

The 10 on 10/10/10

2010-10-10T10:38:00.006-07:00

So I had intended to take a picture to document my happenings at 10:10 on 10/10/10....cause I'm silly like that...but it was about 10:24 before I actually remembered this idea. Oh well, it would have been an uninteresting picture. At 10:10, you would have found me in my pj's (which are not exactly camera appropriate) in bed with my ipad reading this book for my grad school class. Exciting stuff. I'm not about to wait until 10:10 pm to take a picture either, you will likely find me doing much of the same thing anyway. So instead my friends, you get another one of my famous lists. I know, aren't you lucky? Not another list you say, but this is a special list...I give you

The 10 on 10/10/10 (posted at 10 something am):

1. Slept in today (8:55) and stayed in bed until almost 10:30, though I was technically doing school work it was still nice and cozy.

2. I am eating leftover pumpkin cake for breakfast. I know, bad kid, but YUM!

3. I will spend much of today doing laundry, cleaning, lesson planning and working on my classes. Yet another exciting Sunday at my house. Shawn and I do have an exciting outing to Super Target planned this afternoon however.

4. Hoping to get my Halloween/Fall decor out and settled one of these days.I miss my glitter pumpkins. I'd love to clean my courtyard and get some fall flowers too. Maybe this week, in between teaching, prepping, meetings and Dr. appointments...

5. Am in desperate need of an Anthro trip to indulge with my birthday coupon. If nothing else I need to go visit the coats and pretend I live somewhere cold enough to justify buying yet another coat....I fully admit I have a coat obsession, but really, just look at these beauties:

6. What I would really like to do today instead of the items mentioned in number 3 is scrap (I was invited to play with a few friends and had to say no), bake pumpkin goodies, play halloween decor and knit. Doesn't that sound like a much better day than what I have planned? I'm vowing right now to spend at least part of my winter break doing crafty things and baking. You can hold me to it.

7. Speaking of crafty things and holidays, have you seen Ali's preview to this year's December daily? LOVE. I have done the December daily twice, but decided not to last year. I'm pretty sure given my hectic schedule its not happening this year, but I sure do get inspired by Ali's posts each year. Love the simple framework and the transparency idea. Maybe I'll do a quick and easy digital version? Who am I kidding, I still haven't finished my week in the life from months ago and am months behind on Project 12.....

8. Still thinking of last nights delicious dinner at St. Francis. I've been meaning to go to St. Francis for awhile, as my mom and sister rave about it. A late birthday dinner with just the two of us seemed like the perfect opportunity. It was pretty crowded when we got there, kind of a hipster, trendy sort of place. We waited for about 40 minutes in the bar for a table, enjoying a glass of wine and the cool weather. By the time we were seated at a little outside table, the crowds had died down, which was nice. I enjoyed the roasted salmon, served on red quinoa with tomatoes and avocado (delish) and Shawn had the fig, arugula and blue cheese flatbread and 1.5 servings of cornbread on the side (both were quite tasty). In fact, I'm hoping I can convince Shawn to share his leftover flatbread with me today. Sadly they were out of the chocolate cake with caramel sauce and peanut butter gelato for dessert. We opted for a vanilla cream cake with caramel and vanilla gelato, which was tasty, but definitely not chocolate and peanut butter.

9. Am hoping Shawn follows through with his offer to make today cleaning day. I'd love to have a few boxes, piles and projects removed. Clutter definitely doesn't help my stress levels.

10. Thinking of pumpkin recipes and crossing my fingers that soup weather is not too far off. Things have definitely cooled off around here, but its not quite soup weather. Looking at the forecast for the week, it looks like 90's are returning, which I'm not too thrilled about. At least the mornings and evenings are cooling off nicely and we can pretend its fall for part of the day. Wishing I could make another Halloween visit to OR this year to enjoy the wonders of fall. Maybe next year.

Ok, I've officially spend way too much time on this version of the 10. Now to check 10 things off my to do list for today....

Happy 10/10/10!

Today

2010-10-08T20:15:00.003-07:00

Today I....

wanted to pull my hair out, more than once...
especially since it wasn't pretty thanks to the untimely death of my curling iron

was thankful I'm a patient person

was extra thankful for my para professionals

read/sang about 8 books to my class

am covered in bruises and cuts

enjoyed an adult beverage...
and some leftover birthday cake

am ready for bed before 9pm

crossed a couple things off my to do list...
missed a few I should have taken care of

am experiencing some reflux thanks to birthday indulgences

am itching to get back to knitting

got paid

am wearing a cute t-shirt

still have pretty fingernails painted this color

am remembering to share my latest card for Simply ArTistiC:

thank goodness its Friday

Thursday Thankfuls

2010-09-30T17:50:00.004-07:00

So I missed my Tuesday 10. How about a Thursday Thankfuls instead? It was kind of a crazy day, so I think this list might be a good idea. Today I am thankful for:

1. Chocolate covered pretzels. Yum.
2. A classroom budget to spend!
3. I only have a fat lip, bruised gum and sore tooth and not a missing tooth, torn lip or worse after running into a playground bar while rounding up a kiddo on the playground this morning.
4. Easy meals on hand in the fridge. I don't have energy to make the spinach and mushroom quiche I had planned for tonight.
5. Good friends who leave me messages and check in on me on FB.
6. A husband with a clean shaven face. I love a good clean cheek to rub.
7. Little boy giggles.
8. Tomorrow is October, my favorite month.
9. Mindless games on the ipad.
10. Several things checked off my to do list.

And because I haven't posted a picture in awhile, here's a random household vignette.

Is This Thing On?

2010-09-24T17:44:00.008-07:00

Is anybody still out there?

Do I still have any readers?

Have you missed me?

Life has been pretty crazy since I last blogged. August and September have pretty much been a whirlwind. On August 4th I was offered a position as a junior high self contained teacher and was mentally gearing myself up to teach older kids. However, on August 6th I interviewed over the phone (while at the salon for Miss N's bridal prep) and was offered an elementary school autism position at the school I was hoping to be hired by. I got lucky. I officially started working at Desert Springs Elementary school August 19th, four days into the new school year. On that day, I learned that I would not be teaching 3rd-5th grade kiddos with autism, but would for a variety of reasons, be switching with the K-1 autism teacher. The first few days were a crazy mix of observing, transitioning, moving rooms, unpacking, getting acclimated, etc. The class was officially mine August 24th and I haven't sat down much since. :)

I have spent the last 5 weeks or so tracking down materials, working on a functional system for my kids and my classroom, figuring out school policies and obligations, prepping and planning. In addition to my new job, I am still finishing up my teaching cert, working on my Master in Education degree and seeing 3 therapy kids. Life is crazy. Most days, I get to school early to get things done in my room, spend 6 hours managing a VERY active group of 5 and 6 year old children with autism, eat lunch in my classroom while prepping activities or answering emails, stay for another hour or more after school and head home for a quick dinner and an evening of lesson planning, material prepping and lots and lots of my own school work. My current grad school class, Philosophy and Ethics in Education, just might be the death of me.

I haven't done much else. No scrapping, no paper fun (except for my monthly Simply ArTistiC card), no knitting, no long conversations with friends, little reading, magazines, tv, internet surfing, etc. My personal email often reads 200+ new messages. I have no clue what's going on in the world, save the little bits I catch on NPR to and from work. My house is a disaster. Thankfully, things are lightening up a bit. I have managed to have a couple quick chats with a few friends, have a lunch date with my sister, watch the first season of The Tudors with Shawn, shop and buy a new dishwasher and play some Words With Friends on the ipad. This past weekend, I completed two classes and took the midterm for a third. There is progress being made and my mile long to do list has had a few dents put in it. Bottom line though, its going to be a busy year. Exhausted might become my status quo. Blogging may or may not happen. I'd like to get back into a routine of at least posting my Tuesday 10 and weekend updates (though it might get old to hear about how I cut, colored, glued and did lots of school work all weekend long). I'd like to start watching some fall tv, preferably before 10 pm, since I tend to fall asleep during my shows at that time...

Thanks to those who have checked in on me via blog comments or emails. I appreciate it. I am still here. I'm doing fine, just a little overwhelmed. As exhausted and overwhelmed as I am, I am loving my new job. It's been a positive switch and I feel like I'm where I need to be. I miss music therapy a little, but use a lot of it in my classroom. I've already seen a change for the better with my kids and am getting lots of positive feedback from other teachers. Things are good, just busy. Here's hoping I can at least provide weekly updates. Now, I'm off to enjoy a must needed glass of wine.

Happy Weekend.

It's Been Awhile

2010-08-15T11:35:00.011-07:00

Dear Blogland,

It's been awhile since I posted. I've been rather busy. Since I last posted, I have:

had 3 job interviews
been offered 2 teaching jobs
flew to Oregon
went to the coast
played bridesmaid for Miss Nicole
watched two lovely people get married
played with little Miss E and her mama
flew home
ran a million and five errands
spilled water on my cell phone
thanked Shawn for fixing said cell phone
made a million phone calls
said good bye to lots of kids

...and about a million other things that I will gradually update. Don't want to share too much about the new job, as I'm not officially hired yet due to some technical difficulties. Stay tuned. In the mean time, here are some pictures from the foggy Oregon coast for you to enjoy.

He kind of smiles:

Family photo:

Family high jinx:

Sisters:

My cute parents:

Besties:

Depoe Bay:

Happy Sunday!

Around Here

2010-08-01T19:13:00.016-07:00

Entertaining Miss Addie (my parents dog):

yes, that a rock in her mouth and she'd love for you to throw it for her ALL day long.

Enjoying the cooler overcast weather and the dog with 2 walks around the neighborhood today.
Pasta salad made for dinner (with yesterday's scones and Pepto for Shawn in the background):

Last minute shopping for the upcoming wedding
Finishing up guest book for said wedding:

Drinking wine
Hoping for this messy Shawn project to be finished soon:

Purchasing this to house above project
Lots of laundry:

Not cleaning
Wondering if I'll be teaching or doing therapy in the next couple weeks
Tons of school work
ipad fun
Occasional bouts of knitting:

Loving the launch of Simply ArTistiC today. My friend Angie has started this fun new challenge site for ATC's and I'm thrilled to be a part of it. The theme right now is Alice in Wonderland. Here's my card for prompt #1:

Wishing you a Happy August!

Thursday Thankfuls

2010-07-22T20:14:00.001-07:00

A few things to be thankful for today:

1. RAIN!!!
2. Shawn's dinner night.
3. True Blood season 2 on DVD with Shawn
4. a semi lazy morning
5. a strawberry popsicle

Happy Thursday!

Not My Favorite Tuesday

2010-07-13T20:22:00.002-07:00

Today's was not my favorite day...scheduling issues, tire problems, difficult clients, a million and ten degree heat (whatever, its HOT)....ugh. So, to counteract the yucky day, today's 10 shall be a list of good things happening around here.

1. Guest designing at The Girls Loft. Margie contacted me awhile back about doing some work for her and I was more than thrilled. I really loved the July kit and the oh so fabulous Girls Paperie On Holiday line. So fun to play with. Go check out my stuff here.

2. Breyer's mint chocolate chip ice cream for dessert.

3. My new love, technology love that is.

4. A new artsy project in the works, debuting August 1st. I've joined a fabulous group of super talented ladies for a little something fun and challenging. Stay tuned for more details. Can't wait to share!

5. I have a super soft and yummy yellow purse from Italy courtesy of my wonderful sister. It makes me happy.

6. I also have an adorable new orange and pink apron that showed up in the mail recently courtesy of my amazing mother in law. I shall photo and share later (along with the purse). Shawn makes fun of me because I have like 5 aprons, but I LOVE them and he has like 87 (I'm in an exaggerating mood) computers so whatever.

7. One final exam and on final project left to finish and I am officially done with the first half of my post bacc program. I'll still be working on a grad school class and quickly signing up for new classes, so I'm not getting much of a break, but am happy to be making good progress.

8. 3 weeks till I get to go to OR for the most fabulous red and brown wedding ever. Can't wait. Better get a move on with the dress and the guest book.....

9. Shawn went grocery shopping today. One less thing for me to worry about. Thank goodness.

10. I have pretty new toes painted this color. I've so needed a pedicure and took a much needed study break to go get one with Steph yesterday. That and some sushi was just what I needed.

I'm off to crawl into bed soon and say good bye to today.
Night.

Musical Interlude

2010-07-10T19:25:00.002-07:00

Go check out Levi's Pioneer Sessions on You Tube. Musicians like Jason Mraz, Colbie Caillat and The Shins, recording songs that inspired them. Pretty fun. Here's one of my favorites, She & Him singing Fools Rush In. Love Zooey Deschanel.

7 on 7/7/10

2010-07-07T08:58:00.002-07:00

7 Things I will do today:

1. conduct only 1 music therapy session
2. take a final exam
3. have lunch with my sister
4. work on classes
5. do some scrapping for a guest designer assignment
6. make lemon and olive chicken (for Shawn) and Moroccan quinoa for dinner
7. make hair, dentist and doctor appointments

What are your 7 things today?

The Green 10

2010-07-06T07:50:00.012-07:00

Because I recently read this book and have green living on the mind, today's Tuesday 10 is about being green. If you know me at all, you know I'm pretty fanatical about chemical free stuff and I'm pretty conscious of living green. Here are some of my favorite green life style choices.

1. stainless steel water bottles and filtered tap water-plastic water bottles are made of petroleum (not a renewable resource) and they leach chemicals. not good.

2. all natural cleaning products-better for the environment (this stuff goes down the drain and into the ground), better for your household air quality, better for your skin (which has to touch the stuff). I use method of seventh generation products. I also use a lot of vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda.

3. all natural, paraben free, sodium lauryl sulfate free bath and beauty products-I could really go on and on about the issues with the chemicals in your common bath and beauty products. I'm sure some of you are already saying, please don't get her started...so rather than drone on and on about the scary things you are putting on your body (which don't get filtered through your liver if they're coming in through the skin), I will allow you to do your own reading and research. Here are a few links:
The Good Human
Environmental Working Group
Breast Cancer Fund

4. reusable bags-I keep four in my car and two in my purse and I actually use them. All the time.

5. glass food storage containers-again, I'm not a fan of plastic. I have very little of it in my kitchen.

6. eat, buy local-I've been trying more and more to buy from local business and to support local agriculture. I've had a hard time finding a CSA here that works for me, but I'd love to be a part of one. There are plenty of farmers markets I can choose around here. Unfortunately, none that are too close by (being green means not driving all over town for stuff you know) or operate on days I'm able to attend. My favorite restaurants are local restaurants that use organic products and local goods and produce. I'd much rather eat at one of these restaurants than a big chain restaurant.

7. buy organic-organic is more expensive and not always easy to find. I don't buy everything organic and I don't always buy organic, but when I have a choice and I can afford to do so, I choose organic. When I don't buy organic, I use a natural fruit and vegetable cleaner to wash my produce. After reading the above book, I'm going to make more effort to buy organic cotton, silk and wool. I was shocked to discover that cotton is one of the worlds most heavily pesticide covered products. I pretty much live in cotton, from clothes to sheets to towels, its what I buy most. Gross. When I need new sheets and towels, I am certainly going to buy organic.

8. be a veggie-ok, here's where most of you say, whatever Erin. I know. It takes a lot of energy, space, synthetic hormones, byproducts, transportation costs, etc. to make our world's meat and chicken. Cows and feed lots produce tons of methane gas. It's easy for me. I DO NOT like the taste of meat or poultry. If its not so easy for you, try to eat less meat. Eat a vegetarian meal once and awhile and if you are buying meat, buy grass fed beef, free range chickens, sustainable fish and hormone free dairy.

9. reduce, reuse, recycle-you know the song...I'm big on recycling. We usually fill our recycle bin every week and the garbage bin every couple. Anything that can be recycled, I do it. I'm also a big fan of reusing things when you can. Rinse out jars, reuse plastic zip bags, use back sides of paper, etc. I know I'm a scrapbooker and therefore consume more paper than I should, so I make a conscious effort to use less of it elsewhere. I'm also a big fan of buying recycled products. In fact today I restocked our TP and paper towels, both with 100% recycled products. I'm also trying to be much better at thinking about purchases before I make them and not buy things that I don't need or love. We all make little silly purchases here and there and many times its just wasteful. Make more conscious decisions.

10. buy sustainable products-like bamboo floors, which I will have someday, when we can afford and have the time to pull out this chemical ridden, disgusting carpet. If you have the choice between two products, opt for the one that's made of natural, sustainable products versus the manufactured, plastic crap, I mean product.

Happy Green Tuesday!

2010-07-04T09:34:00.001-07:00

More Alex

2010-07-03T08:28:00.000-07:00

For Your Viewing Pleasure

2010-07-03T08:25:00.002-07:00

My favorite So You Think You Can Dance contestant. Amazing!

Tuesday 10

2010-06-29T19:02:00.002-07:00

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

2010-06-28T20:54:00.004-07:00

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

2010-06-27T16:56:00.012-07:00

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

2010-06-23T08:24:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-22T19:47:00.002-07:00

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!

2010-06-21T11:21:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-19T09:45:00.004-07:00

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

2010-06-14T19:46:00.013-07:00

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

2010-06-08T08:38:00.006-07:00

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

2010-06-03T19:07:00.007-07:00

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

2010-06-02T19:08:00.008-07:00

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!

A Return to Balance

2010-05-31T18:07:00.006-07:00

My One Little Word for 2009 was Balance. This weekend I needed to resurrect this word. It's been too much work and not enough play around here. I've been so focused on school and new job opportunities that I've totally put aside the rest of my world, things like crafting and reading and having fun. So this weekend, while I still got some to dos done, I allowed myself a little me time. It was a nicely balanced work and play weekend.

The weekend unfolded like this....

Friday night-I usually don't consider Friday part of my weekend since I work on Saturdays and I rarely go out on a Friday night, but how could I pass up a girls night out invite? Cocktails and Sex in the City 2 and home by 11. Perfect.

Saturday-Super early wake up and morning cancellations meant I could get some studying done and work on a job application. I saw 4 kiddos and headed home for a night of left overs, job applications and knitting. I finished this project, a lovely lace headband:

It still needs to be blocked and some buttons sewn on, but I'm thinking its pretty darn cute. I was watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire while knitting, but started fading pretty early. I crawled in bed around 9pm and was sound asleep by 9:30. Wild and crazy Saturday night around here!

Sunday morning I woke up early once again and ended up staying in bed for a couple hours finishing this book. The rest of Sunday was spent entertaining the dogs (we were dog sitting), studying and doing laundry until Shawn and I headed over to our friends house to use the pool. We took a little swim and enjoyed the sun and ordered some Greek take out to pick up on the way home. We had a lazy night of take out, more Harry Potter (I fell asleep halfway through the night before) and more knitting for me. Here's what I was working on last night:

Before bed I started this book, which will also be on the agenda tonight. I've missed reading for fun.

I spent today doing some studying, finishing the laundry, ordering photos and making this for dessert:

Mmmm, Peach Crisp. I think tonight involves more knitting and reading and maybe a little studying.

I didn't clean the house. I didn't cross everything off my to do list. I didn't finish my grad school application, but I do feel much more relaxed and balanced. Mission accomplished.

Here's a little crafty I made on Friday morning when I had a last minute cancellation. Seems I can work fast when I haven't crafted in awhile.

Hope your weekend was good too.

It's Tuesday

2010-05-25T18:27:00.004-07:00

So that means its time for another Tuesday 10. Not too much going on around here beyond work and studying, but here goes...

1. Peaches, peaches and more peaches. Went to Schnepf Farms with my mom for the peach festival on Sunday. I picked 9 pounds of organic peaches and brought home a delicious peach pie. Yum! It was well worth the extra studying I had to do once I got home.

2. So far this week I have taken one midterm, one final exam, finished my tutoring, submitted my tutoring report and completed a final project. That means I am crossing one class off my to do list. Phew.

3. The rest of the week includes lots of phonics work, virtual practicum and studying for the state special ed exam.

4. I must also work on job applications, though I'm still waiting on letters of recommendation from clients. Kind of stressing about this actually. If it were up to me, my apps would have been submitted a week ago.

5. Must also finish grad school app and FAFSA. Oh and schedule my Miller's Analogy Test. Fun stuff.

6. One of these days I might actually craft again. My knitting bag sits at my feet most evenings just taunting me and I have a felt project that really wants my attention.

7. Good thing I've been commissioned to make a baby shower banner, for which I have ordered this fabric and this fabric. I have a deadline for this project, so I HAVE to craft. hee.

8. Peach pie. Hmm, did I mention that already?

9. I did actually order some photos for my unfinished week in the life project late last night. Hoping I'll have some time to play with them when they get here.

10. I had a little helper to water my plants yesterday. Miss Amelia stopped by with her Mama. She came in looking for "tur" and then headed right to the back door to see the fish. I didn't get a hug until they left. I see how I rate.

I'd best go study for a bit before Glee.

Happy Tuesday.

A Case of the Crazies

2010-05-16T10:14:00.003-07:00

Dear Blogland,

I have developed a severe case of the crazies. Symptoms include no time for anything but studying. This case of the crazies is caused by 2 midterms, 1 final exam, 1 final project and a state special ed exam all due by June 5th. Due to this sudden affliction, my blog may be a little neglected for the next few weeks. Some day, I shall return to my usual craft loving, inspiration linking, photo posting, more sane self. Until then, you'll have to tide yourself over with my occasional quick post, tweet or FB rambling.

Thanks for your patience,

Slightly stressed out blogger

Music Superhero

2010-05-13T21:19:00.001-07:00

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

To Much To Do

2010-05-08T08:55:00.001-07:00

Tulips Galore

2010-05-03T21:01:00.013-07:00

I took tons and tons of photos at the tulip fields. Here are more of my favorites:

The Case of the Missing Blogger

2010-04-30T21:07:00.013-07:00

I've been MIA lately, here's a quick look at what I've been up to:

I had a wonderful trip to Oregon. Tulip fields, girl time, wine, Wild Pear, bridal shower fun, craftiness, Tidal Raves, rainy coast, baby love, Busick Court....pretty much anything a girl could ask for. Stay tuned for more OR photos and some more week in the life documenting.

Happy Weekend!

Photo Minimalist

2010-04-21T20:00:00.013-07:00

Apparently today was not a good day for photos. I only took 41, which is way more than I normally take, but not nearly enough for this project. I even had the perfect opportunity for good photos of my mother, Ellen and Kellie at lunch, but did I take them? Maybe I was too cold, it was awfully chilly with the wind today. It's a shock to the system to go from 91 degrees yesterday to 68 degrees today. Maybe its because my sister complains and calls me the paparazzi and my husband shakes his finger at me whenever I come stick a camera in his direction....whatever, I will do better tomorrow...or so I hope.

Here's a peek at Wednesday:

7:15 wake up
morning routine
talked with mom
session 1--he was a little off today
session 2--yes, he has a drum on his head. Silly, silly today.
session 3
meet mom, Ellen and Kellie for lunch at Arcadia Farms
it took so long for our food to come, I had to eat my salad in 3 minutes and take my tart to go. Bummer.
session 4
post office to mail a package
home to pack for OR
talk to Kellie
talk to Jessie
not hungry for dinner
eat PB and graham crackers
computer time

on tap for tonight: hand out with Shawn and Ellen, watch criminal minds, bed early?

Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday

2010-04-20T21:18:00.015-07:00

I'll start with an update for later Monday night, after I posted:

face mask (I took pictures)
read chapter in Tools for Teaching
watched Army Wives
Shawn tried to convince me to watch Castle, but I fell asleep

Less photos today than yesterday. Here's a peek:

Today's events:

up at 7:15
morning routine
cereal and berries
practicum...early today...worked on CVC words and played a word game...silly kiddos
home again
computer time
snack of crispy brown rice bars and graham crackers and PB
water the plants
made pasta salad for dinner
dishes
assignment 1 for reading class
lunch of leftover quiche
made bridal shower mini album
watch virtual practicum and finish assignment for classroom management
meet Karen at Pop shop to pick up book
on empty, get gas
session 1
sessions 2 and 3 at same house
head home
dinner and TV with Shawn and Ellen
NCIS/computer time
Glee
blog

still to come: Parenthood, read and sleep.

Happy Tuesday.

Week in the Life 2010

2010-04-19T20:48:00.017-07:00

I've decided to play along with Ali E's Week in the Life yet again. I did this in 2008 and love to look back at this album. This is not exactly a typical week for me, as I'll be going out of town and not doing my usual routine. But figured I'd be more likely to get this done if I had others playing along with me. The best thing I did last time I did this album was to document each day on my blog. I didn't actually get around to finishing the album until months later, so it was really helpful to have my blog to look back on.

So here's Monday in a nutshell:

Today I:

got up around 7am
got ready to go, ate breakfast and checked in online (the usual morning routine)
I ate cereal with blueberries and soy milk for breakfast
headed to my practicum...was 5 minutes late due to construction traffic
tutored 2 kiddos, assessed their reading abilities
headed to Target to pick up a few supplies
decided to figure out what reading/phonics materials I already had
which led to impromptu reorganization and purging of work materials
filled 2 bags with recycle and one with trash
ate yogurt, blueberries and granola for lunch
reorganized work stuff in my car
redid work folders and cards
organized and prepped materials for tutoring
read lesson 1 for ed psych
ate mint chocolate chip ice cream :)
talked to mom, asked her about me learning to read...I can't remember at all
started dinner...a modified version of this recipe
talked to Kellie while getting dinner in the oven
which is why I forgot to add the feta
added the feta and cooked a bit longer
dinner
more computer time
printed stuff for tutoring and several knitting patterns
upload photos and blog

Happy Monday!

I Do Still Scrap

2010-04-16T09:03:00.009-07:00

Turns out I do still scrap, I'm just not great about sharing. I've been squeezing my scrapping in when I can, usually in ten to fifteen minute bursts of creativity. This page actually sat on my table for probably a week, while I added things here in there in five minute increments. I used my leftovers from the Strawberry Fields kit from scrap for a cure.

Finally got around to scrapping my Project 12 page for February...now if I could get one done for March...Used an old Studio Calico kit, center stage, to create this fab color combo. I'm totally into gray these days.

This page was my challenge page for last weekends crop at SFAC. I used the current mini kit, Mixed Mediums to scrap this adorable photo of my cousins little boy.

The bulk of the kit I used to make this fun banner. Having a hard time figuring out where to hang it though. Sadly, I do not have a mantle so I have to improvise. This banner is really heavy because of the chandelier bobbles, so in my usual hanging spots it wouldn't stay put.

I just happened to have these green cupcake liners in my scrap space. They were bought at the dollar store and they stick to baked goods, so they got relegated to crafting. I think they added the perfect touch to this banner. I will be posting a tutorial on how to make this banner next week at SFAC.

This is the only page I managed to complete during the crop last weekend. It was a spring sketch challenge. Here's mine:

Happy Friday!

Things I Learned in First Grade

2010-04-13T14:35:00.006-07:00

Well, its Tuesday again, which means I should blog....I promise one of these days you'll get more than Tuesday 10 posts around here.....

Today's 10 is brought to you by my time spent in a first grade classroom this month:

1. "Alien's rock". Didn't you know?
2. Be careful. If you fall down on the playground or in P.E. and you get a teeny tiny little scratch on your knee, it might just cause you to limp for the rest of the day.
3. Be sure to finish your morning work and math worksheet, so you can spend your snack time discussing the important things in life, like who's seen what movie and why it scared you when you were a little kid (like 5 years old) but now that you are older you think its "so funny."
4. If you are wearing a watch or a bracelet or a necklace, you have got yourself a built in plaything, guaranteed to keep you occupied (and off task) for the rest of the day.
5. "Raise your hand if ______" is a really fun game that you must play at least three times a day.
6. You might want to wear a helmet, knee pads, goggles and other such gear, as injuries occur all day long. You just never know what might jump out at you and cause you to run to the teacher for some attention.
7. Please be sure to ask everyone if they "notice anything different about you" so that you can point out your new haircut, shoes, watch, sticker, etc. as much as possible.
8. Math songs and looking for ladybugs are fun.
9. While walking in line, be sure to stop and dilly dally as much as possible, this means you get to run to keep up.
10. Be sure to ask "if you can use markers" any chance you get, you just never know when the teacher might say yes.

Happy Tuesday.

Is It Tuesday Already?

2010-04-06T19:40:00.007-07:00

I can't believe it's already April 6th. Spring is just flying by. April is a really busy month for me too, so I'm guessing it will be May before I even realize it. I was going to do today's 10 as 10 things I'm coveting, but I'm too tired to go upload all those photos and links, so instead you get 10 things from today.

1. I've spent the last two mornings in a first grade classroom observing. It's pretty entertaining to be surrounded by first graders all morning. First grade is fun, but pretty tiring...although it could be the getting up at 6:30 that has me tired.

2. What I do matters. A boy that I used to work with (for 5 or 6 years) is in second grade at the school where I'm doing my practicum. Before yesterday I hadn't seen him in almost three years. I almost cried when he hugged me and talked about the "pizza song" yesterday. Today he spent a good portion of his recess time hugging me and climbing in my lap. So sweet. Love it.

3. I am patiently waiting for test scores to see if I get credit by exam for one course. I was told it was being graded today or tomorrow. I felt good about the test, but you never know how essays will be graded.

4. Got these beauties in the mail today, thanks to my super fabulous mother in law:

Perfect for photos here in a couple of weeks. Aren't they adorable?

5. Finished a page for my challenge for the Spring Fling crop at Scrap for a Cure this weekend. We will be having plenty of games and challenges April 9th to 11th if you want to come play with us.

6. Speaking of SFAC, the April kits go live on Friday as well. I got the mini kit this month. Its the perfect project kit. Here's a little sneaky of what I've made with it:

7. In the mood to shop. Too bad my wallet doesn't share the same mood. I do have a few gift cards I've been hoarding. Maybe now's the time to use them. Too bad I don't have one to this site. There's some cute, anthro looking, but affordable things I'd love to buy.

8. I may have decided what to spend my PB gift cards on while surfing tonight. I've been hoarding PB cards for several years, hoping to use them towards buying this or this. Sadly, my money has other priorities. I've decided I should probably just use the darn cards for something less expensive. This might be a winner:

It would be perfect in my craft room. Although I do really love this coffee table too, but its a bit more than what I have in gift cards.

9. I have a new favorite snack, dark chocolate covered almonds. They're delicious. I'm thinking I shouldn't buy anymore. It's too dangerous.

10. It's 8pm and I'm ready to go to bed. This getting up and spending 3 hours in a classroom, coming home to do some homework and than going to work is a little tiring. Its only going to get worse this month I'm afraid. I'm so looking forward to OR escapades soon.

Happy Tuesday!

Words to Love

2010-04-02T21:34:00.000-07:00

Sunday Happenings

2010-03-28T19:26:00.003-07:00

Today I:

slept in, well if you count 8:30 sleeping in
made whole wheat buttermilk pancakes with apples and maple syrup for breakfast
did about 8 loads of laundry
cleaned the bathroom
mopped the floors
vacuumed
worked on a layout, but didn't finish it
studied for an exam (in between bouts of cleaning)I'm taking later this week. I am hoping to test out of a class. Wish me luck.
transferred music files from old ipod to computer to new ipod (hand me down i pod touch from Shawn). Such a tedious project. I spent way too much time on this today.
coveted rainboots at target.com. I want them for pictures at the tulips in April. Not sure if I should spend the money though.
made spinach and black bean enchiladas for dinner. Yum!

Tonight I will:

continue to study
roll more yarn balls
put clean sheets on the bed
mindlessly surf the web while watching tv
create my to do list for the week

The washer is beeping...time for one final load of laundry...

Happy Sunday!

Thursday Thankfuls

2010-03-25T10:28:00.002-07:00

Today I am thankful for:

getting lots of school work done yesterday. Not too thankful for the stomach bug that kept me home, but I managed to make good use of the extra down time.
a non yucky tummy. yesterday was not fun.
a late start today, allowing me to get a few more things done.
teaching myself how to crochet...ok so I can only chain right now, but I'll teach my self single crochet soon. Granny squares and flowers here I come!
a good start to spring (minus the sickies)
photo collages. I'm hosting this week's Monday challenge at Scrap for a Cure. The challenge is to use a photo collage on your page. Here's mine:

Happy Thursday!

It's Tuesday Again

2010-03-23T09:34:00.004-07:00

Today's Tuesday 10 comes from my tumblr account, eye candy.

1. I need an instax camera (and a 7 Gypsies photo carousel thingy ) so I can make one of these cute things like Elizabeth Kartchner.

2. I've been thinking I need a spring wreath. How lovely is this flower wonder from The Girls Paperie.

3. Or this butterfly lovely (who's source I can't find)

4. Not usually a fan of white walls, but lately I've been thinking a white room with tons of color accents would be so fun. This mantle from Freckled Nest is perfect.

5. Been looking at a lot of quilt stuff lately. Not sure if I'm crazy enough to attempt one (I need another hobby and project like a hole in the head). This one from here is adorable.

6. I think I need to paint a wall this color. Love the dark wall, pops of white and light wood mix too. Image from The Beautiful Soup.

7. This beautiful box from oh, hello friend. So wishing I'd made it to her swap before it filled up.

8. Alice goodies from laboomeria.

9. This most fabulous corner belonging to my new friend Debee (whom I finally met last weekend). I need this chair.

10. This cute craft room from here

Happy Tuesday!

Video Love

2010-03-18T13:36:00.003-07:00

Zooey Deschanel is too adorable. Love this video.