Is all the turkey gone yet?

I had a great Thanksgiving and I hope you did too. No pictures (I know, I'm bad) but I did enjoy the holiday with Nana and Uncle Bob and his girlfriend Kelly and her kids along with my friend John. Kelly did all the cooking and it was Delish! Still got some leftovers today too! I always have a lot to be thankful for but some things that come to mind this year is that I have a JOB! This small town has gotten hit a lot. I'm really lucky to be here taking care of Nana in a home that I have always known. I'm glad Nana is back home and feeling like her old self again too. Every day I'm thankful for sobriety and God and His love and forgiving grace. Without those things I have nothing. Also the friends that AA and scrapping have brought me. I mean, who knew that I would meet so many great friends on the Internet. Or from scrapping! Well, really, it all comes down to the life I lead today and the person I am in this moment and the journey I've taken. Life is pretty sweet right now and for that I am eternally grateful.

So I saw this list on a site about the things you have done in your life and thought I would share. The things in bold are the things I have done. Some of them I would never do! LOL A few I hope to never do or have happen again. And some of them I need to get busy on :)

Things I’ve done
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Hope you all aren't to tuckered out from shopping! It's cold cold cold here and I plan on staying inside today and organizing my scrap stuff so I can scrap tonight. Enjoy your weekend!

I'm pooped!

I'm so freaking tired today. My busy weekend of scrapping and Twilight watching and reading has plum worn me out! And no nappy for DAYS!!! I did have a FANTASTIC weekend though. I scapped a LOT and did 4 layouts. I went and saw Twilight again on Saturday night with Lori(my first Twilight partner) and Christy (who finished the book the night before) and Aja who is now dying to get her hands on the books. You know all those things I was complaining about after the first time I saw Twilight? Well, IGNORE them, because it was even BETTER the second time around!!! I mean, I am seriously in love with this film. I don't usually watch movies twice, let alone in the same weekend and pay full price twice! Now I have watched some movies over and over again but VERY rarely, and usually just because it is on and there is nothing else to watch. KWIM? I could seriously watch it like every day this week, and probably next! lol

True Blood ended last night. They are already filming next season which will be shown next summer! Can't wait. Need to feed my vampire infatuation. I want to get my hands on these books as well!!! I did finish reading The Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder last night and am looking forward to starting the next in this series tonight, Magic Study.

The new Ad This challenge will be up today. Here is my layout I did. The twist was to use labels this week so I used some Scenic Route labels. I've been dying to use this JB paper and wasn't sure how I was going to pull it off without covering up the corner or the bird and it worked out nicely I think. I'm really loving being a part of this blog and have loved the inspiration it has given me. You REALLY should go check it out and participate.



Ok, that's all for today. I'm off to go do some hair and then come home for a nice long nap!
Ta-Ta!

Post Twilight Depression

Ok, I'm crazy. I know this.
But this happened after the books too.
I'm depressed.
Sad really.
After I see Edward I miss him.
I miss them all really.
But ESPECIALLY Edward!
Now why in the hell can't I have my own hot vampire to while away the hours with???
Yes, I probably need to get a life, huh?

Yeah, still depressed.

In need of a nappy!

So I'm tired today. Even though I slept in until noon. Of course I was up until 4! But I'm sure you could care less about THAT!

So the movie: LOVED it! I do have some critique's (of course!) but overall I thought they did a great job. They rearranged some events and left out some things that I think are important to the following movies, if those happen, but they did allude to trouble to come. Alice was EXACTLY like I thought she would be! The scenery was gorgeous. I REALLY want to visit that part of the country now but I have for a long time so that is nothing new. Rosalie and Emmett also acted just like I thought they did in the book. OMG! The way they made his skin shine in sunlight was AMAZING!!! Even better than my own imagination conjured. And they baseball game was great too. LOVED LOVED LOVED the prom. So magical.

So my dislikes are pretty small: I'm disappointed in Edwards portrayal. I thought they didn't show enough of his softer fun side. Of them really falling in love and not just obsessed with each other. Not sure if it is the actor or the editing. I also didn't like how Jasper looked like he was freaking out ALL the time. The look on his face was just too stiff and robot like. I also thought at times that Edwards makeup look awful as did Carlisle's and Jasper's.

So that is it. Other than that I really did like it and will probably be seeing it again on Sunday! lol

So I'd love to hear what you thought about the movie so leave me a comment!!!

Guess What I'm Doing At Midnight???

If you guessed going to see Twilight they your RIGHT!
A little excited! Can you tell?
My friend Lori scored some tickets for us. I'm thrilled as my Friday plans totally fell thru so it works out great! I was reading the review that Seth (the web guy I think) on Stephanie's blog posted. He said it is not as good as the book (but really, how could it be? KWIM?) but that it is definitely good. I've always been pretty happy with the translations of the Harry Potter books so I'm sure I won't be disappointed. Also, I know they are already talking about making the rest of the books into movies. YIPEEEEEEE!!!!! And the soundtrack became the highest grossing soundtrack ever before the movie was actually released.



Here's my Week 8 entry for Survivor at Tallyscrappers. This week we were to scrap either vertically or horizontally down the middle, use a scalloped edge, cs for our background, photos should be body parts, and have fake or real stitching on our journaling. I added some stitches to the corner of my photo since I used them for my journaling, but I had already took the picture.



So if your going to see the movie, leave me a comment and let me know what you thought!
Ciao!

Sex Tips circa 1894.

I just found this and HAD to share! How HYSTERICAL is this:

Imagine a time when sex was seen as "at best revolting and at worst rather painful." According to The Sun (and well, anyone who's ever taken rudimentary history lessons), the Victorians, not exactly known for their raunchy bedroom antics, perceived a woman's um, "wifely duties" as something to abhor. Sex Tips for Husbands and Wives was penned by Ruth Smythers, a vicar's wife, in 1894. Some amazing gems:

* The wise bride will permit a maximum of two brief sexual experiences weekly — and as time goes by she should make every effort to reduce this frequency.

* A selfish and sensual husband can easily take advantage of his wife. One cardinal rule of marriage should never be forgotten: Give little, give seldom and above all give grudgingly. Otherwise what could have been a proper marriage could become an orgy of sexual lust.

* A wise wife will make it her goal never to allow her husband to see her unclothed body, and never allow him to display his unclothed body to her.

* Once in bed, the wife should turn off all the lights and make no sound to guide her husband in her direction, lest he take this as a sign of encouragement.

* When he finds her, she should lie as still as possible. Bodily motion could be interpreted as sexual excitement by the optimistic husband. Sex, when it cannot be prevented, should be practised only in total darkness.

* Clever wives are ever on the alert for new and better methods of denying and discouraging the amorous overtures of the husband. Arguments, nagging, scolding and bickering prove very effective if used in the late evening about an hour before the husband would normally commence his seduction.

* By their tenth anniversary many wives have managed to complete their child-bearing and have achieved the ultimate goal of terminating all sexual contacts with the husband.

* by Erin Flaherty, Shine staff

Glad I didn't live back then! See the rest of the article here.

It's Monday!

So I'm not usually a big fan of Mondays. I don't have to go back to work or anything but as the first day of the week, well it usually gets a bad rap, including from me. But lately I have had a little something to look forward to and that would be the posting of the new Ad This challenge (and we get our challenge for the following week). This week my friend Arlene is our Guest Designer so go on over and check out Arlene's layout and the ad. There is some great inspiration over there.

This is the layout I did with a pic of me on Lombard Street in San Francisco. I used a great pic that Kary took at the top and then a post card of the street from the bottom. This street is totally crazy!!! What I found even more crazy was the way people had to park and where their garages were. If you look at the picture of the street on the lower right and see that old white car. See it? That is the garage in front of it and that is where they park their cars. Straight in like that. San Francisco is somewhere I hope I never have to actually drive while there. I do however, hope to be there for my birthday in January.

Yeah, I got a thing for Vampires!

Only 4 days until the Twilight premiere! WOO HOOO!!!!!!!!!


Edward Cullens Dating Tips


I wonder if Edward has any tips for finding my own gorgeous vampire?

New AdThis Challenge and a bit of Survivor

So we had a great turnout for our first week at Ad This. This weeks ad was posted on Monday and below you will find my interpretation of the ad. Our twist this week was to add fabric to our layout so I stitched some along with some ribbons. If your looking for some inspiration then go on over and check out the other girls layouts and start creating. You could be this weeks winner and our next Guest Designer!





So over at Tallyscrappers I've been participating in Survivor each week. So far we have had 7 weeks and it has been tons of fun. And some of these challenges have been REALLY challenging, but in the end I've found a way to meet the requirements. It's fun to see others interpretation of the requirements also. Here is the first 7 weeks in reverse order.

This past week was all about creating a vintage look. We had to follow this tutorial by Tim Holtz. We also had to use a poem, either written by ourselves or someone else and frame our picture in some way. I love this poem by EE Cummings and knew I had to use for my grandparents. I got nothing on Mr. Holtz either! LOL



Week 6's challenge was to scrap our family and to cut flowers from pp to use on the layout in some way. As soon as I heard the challenge I knew I would use this Pink Paisley pp that I had been hording for a while now. Had to scrap about my scrappy family too!


Week 5 we were challenged to use leaves, pictures matted on white and look like a photostrip that tells a story, and journaling in our own handwriting incorporating numbers.


Week 4 was inspired by a album cover. We could pick our own album and since I love me some Gwen Stafani I couldn't wait to do this layout! The title of "Queen B.O.B." came from a joke over at Allyscraps and some rowdiness in Sacramento at Kary's house! Fun TIMES!


Week 3 we were challenged to do a double page layout. We also had a sketch to go by and were required to use a calender page, wings, the date on the bottom right, multiple photos, and layer the title of "Everyday Life". I actually took the pics last fall but had never scrapped them.


Week 2 challenge was to use raw chipboard, the word Journey somewhere on the lo; Multiple fonts in our title.


This was our first challenge. We had to do it like Sassafrass Lass so I decided to use some SL paper. We were challenged to use a paper pieced tree; 3 photos; and owl, deer, hedgehog or mushroom; at least one stitched edge and we had to use "Life is Beautiful" for our title.

Scalloped Scissors Held Hostage

So my friend Kary text me today to tell me to check my email. This is what I saw when I opened the email:



She is holding my precious PRICELESS giant scallop scissors for RANSOM! Worse yet is that she refuses to tell me what the ransom is! I am desprately praying for their safe return. They are near and dear to my heart and my scrappy mojo! Please join me on Sunday for a prayer vigil for the safe return of the scrappy scissors.

Yes We DID!

America has nominated their first African-American President of the United States. I voted for him because I thought he was the right person to vote for. The right vote for change. He won not because he is black, but because the American people wanted change. I believe Americans spoke in volumes last night with one of the highest number of votes ever cast in a presidential election and the most young people voting. The youth of America certainly Rocked the VOTE! I felt the magnitude of this moment in time, this moment in history. I cried for the fact that his grandmother didn't live just a little bit longer to actually see her grandson make history, although I believe in my heart she saw it from above. I can not begin to imagine the pride that blacks feel this day. It truly shows that you can be whatever you want to be despite race. I've never seen so many people gathered together to celebrate a President. I felt so much pride. Proud to be an American. Pride in my candidate winning. Hope in the future. It's an exciting time for our country, but there is long hard work ahead.

An Important Day In History!

Did you vote today? I did! I take my right to vote as a great honor. It wasn't that long ago that women weren't allowed to vote in the United States and in some countries people aren't allowed to vote at all. I don't care WHO you voted for, just that you voted!
No matter who wins tonight, it will be a very important moment in history. We will either have our first black President or our first female Vice President. How is that for breaking the glass ceiling? It's really quite exciting. My grandmother is almost 95 years old (next February) and in her life she has seen many, many things. I asked her if she ever thought she would live to see the day that an African-American or a female would be part of a winning Presidential team? Well, of course she said NO! She said there had been lots of things she thought she would never see: talking movies, television, a man on the moon. Those things happened years and years ago too. She doesn't really understand computers or cell phones or mp3 players. It just reminds me that the future is full of infinite possibilities.

More Exciting NEWS!!!! :)

What exciting news you say? Well,I got asked to be a part of a new challenge blog called Ad This! YIPPEEEEE! I'm so excited. We will have weekly challenges based on advertisements with an added twist. This was our first ad and the twist is to add some bling to your layout.





I'm super excited to be a part of this new design team. Check out their blogs:
Elisa Kammerdiener
Katie Haddox
Nina Pateña
Kary Lewis

There is a great prize filled with new Basic Grey pp's and the winner of the week also gets to be a Guest Designer on Ad This the following week so what are you waiting for? Go do your layout!

YIPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, good news! First, today is my 3 year Sobriety Birthday. Yep! I've been Alcohol/Drug/Cigarette free for 3 years today!

Second, I got my first Guest Design Team position! Allyscraps hosted a month long challenge for Allyscraps Next Top Scrapper. It was fun times! We had weekly challenges and then weekly mini challenges and played lots of games and meet new people and chatted a LOT! Two ladies, Mary and Tracy tied for first in the points section and then 4 of us got asked to be Guest Designers for the months of December and January. Here are the layouts I did with a description of the challenges below.

Kary started the challenges off with a bling challenge. She asked us to use at least 2 types of bling and some paint. I painted my chipboard and then added some doodlebug glitter. I used some Glitz Frosting around my picture, MM glitter letter stickers, Glittered Thickers, Stickles on my skully's bow and the glittered pink chipboard hearts. The pic is my friend Lori and I. Her birthday is 2 days before mine.


Queeen B.O.B. ~ This layout started out as a joke because of a joke on the AS message board. We (Kary, Callie, Nicci, Ann and I) had a lot of fun making fun of Queen BOB and what it could stand for. We weren't near as cleaver as some of our mb sisters were, that is for sure! LOL We decided it meant "Bitch Off Booze" for me and "Bitch ON Booze" for Nicci. My blingy things are the glittered chipboard hearts and stars and Stickles on my letters.



These 2 layouts were for Deb's sketch challenge. We got extra points for turning the the sketch in a new direction and also for using different fonts in our title.

Holidays are about Family: My sister, cousins and me Christmas 1991 I believe.



Christmas Memories: Some pics from Christmas 1966, just a few weeks before I was born! My mom doesn't even look pregnant in that picture to me.




Trish challenge was ALL about color! She showed us a list of fashionable fall colors and we need to use those colors, or shades of those colors, plus black and white. We got extra points for using a 4th color and also adding ribbon, bling and a journaling spot.

All hail the SSK! Scrappy Serial Killers. Like there could be such a thing! LOL



That's me on my first Christmas!




Morag's challenge was to use accesories in a new way. You got extra points for using something hand-made and using something in fashion. For my first lo I used a cluster of embellies with my home-made item being the Yo-Yo Flowers I made from fabric. I customized my chipboard and houndstooth is always popular for fall fashions. In the second lo I used purple as my fashion item. They say it is a hot color for fall! I customized my chipboard again and I also used some purple silk Yo-You flowers that I made. It really says 'Family History' but I thought the r part was a fallen dot on the i and I moved it! lol

Scrapn' Angels: Callie, me and Kary doing our Charlie's Angels pose with our scrappy tools at the end of the crop at Scrapbook Expo. Fun times!



Family History: That is my Great grandfather (Papa Faye), my grandmother (Nana) and her mother, my great grandmother (Maude) Sitting in their Sunday best.