Routines and hand towels

I've always had this "thing" with hand towels.

Hand towels are for:
1. Drying hands
2. Drying dishes

Hand towels are not for:
1. Wiping up spills
2. Wiping your hands while they're dirty
3. Soiling in any way

N and I have always differed in our view of hand towels. We have held our ground on this issue for about ten years now and neither will give. Well, mark it down that today, I've used the hand towel for its unintended use. I hate that I'm staining my hand towel (although we received it as a wedding shower gift and it's quite old and tattered); however, desperate measures had to be taken. You see, I've got this ritual. Every morning, I take Bex outside, come in, feed him, grind the coffee beans, start the coffee maker, get my coffee mug from the cupboard, get a paper towel & fold it in half, grab a spoon, and get out the coffee mate. Then, I go upstairs and start my computer, and come back down to get a cup of coffee. EVERY morning I do this same routine. {May I interject here, that I've rarely been a creature of habit. I'm usually flitting about here and there, going where the wind blows me.} However, I catch myself doing this same thing and here's the catch- I like it! Getting back to the paper towel...why do you grab a paper towel? Well, a lot of times, when I remove the pot from its "hotspot", the coffee drips down onto the hotspot and I can't stand putting the pot back into the coffee mess, so I use the paper towel to wipe the coffee off and then put my spoon back on it to catch its drip, too. I think this probably came from my neat-freak dad! It's funny the things we pick up from our parents without knowing it. Okay, back to the hand towel. Today, while going through my ritual, I noticed I am completely out of paper towels, so I was forced to use the hand towel. {CRINGE} I know. I hate it. But I guess I hate the face of putting the pot down in the coffee mess more...Strange creature am I!

Have a blessed Thursday! I'm off to get paper towels!!

Navigation & Thank you for your support

We recently joined the Mountaineers, an outdoorsy group that you can read about on their website. They offer classes, taught mostly by volunteers, and so tonight we took a class on navigation. It was so fun to be reminded of how to use a compass, and even learn some new things. We had to take a quiz to get a certificate, and we both passed with flying colors! Yay! We're going on a snowshoe trip on Feb. 9th to practice all of these skills. I think it will be even more fun to implement what we've learned! N and I thought these skills would be very useful, seeing as how we love the forest and mountains. I think it will prove to be worth it in the long run.

I'll leave you with a card I did a while back...the matching top to those cute bottoms. The inside read: "Thank you for your support."

Put your big girl panties on

And just deal with it!

I know...crazy! This was a challenge over on Splitcoast's virtual stamp night, going along with the "Girls' Night" theme. Someone had posted this pattern and I thought I'd give it a try. I think they turned out pretty cute - I wouldn't mind owning a pair of those myself! I added glitter and a bow. This was for a special friend who puts up with my craziness and still loves me!

What? Snow?

Yep! We have more this morning, although we've had a little mixed with rain, so it's melted some. We were completely surprised to have about 2-3 inches Monday morning! We had snow all day yesterday. It was so beautiful. We went on two walks just to enjoy being out in it. Check out the pics by clicking on Bex's picture. Happy Tuesday!

Day of Work

Saturday was a day of work around the house. We started our morning with a soak in the hot tub. Since our firewood pile is quickly dwindling, Nathan chopped more wood, while I reorganized and stacked the wood pile. Then, we gathered more cut wood from the woods and added it to the pile to dry out for a while. We then went into the garage and cut down TONS of cardboard boxes that were still in there, taking up most of the room in the garage. Our garage is HUGE, so there were a lot and it looked so disorganized with them all thrown in there willy nilly. Afterward, it looked like a big garage again. :) It was chilly and rainy the whole day, but we felt like we had accomplished a lot. We still want to organize his tool bench; it's just about impossible to find anything on it in under 5 minutes! We've got some work to do, but hopefully we'll get it done soon. I stamped the better part of the afternoon and then we finished off the evening with a movie and snuggling...the best part of the day!

I wasn't feeling well on Sunday, so I stayed home and stamped all day! I just can't seem to get enough right now. :) I had fun making cards. I've got about 10 cards signed and addressed... if I can just get to the post office!

Hope your day is fabulous and productive!

Lovely as a Tree

I finally used my Lovely as a Tree set the other night. While on my way to Monroe for grocery shopping one day last week, I saw a real beauty of a sunset. It was absolutely gorgeous. I was inspired by that to use my new set. It's very very simple but I love the way it turned out. I intended to watercolor this, but it looked so pretty with just using the chalk, I didn't want to mess it up! I stamped the trees in Stazon black, then chalked over it, using daubers to rub everything in and meld it together. I then punched the moon out of regular paper, added some gray chalk for a little detail, then covered it with crystal effects and popped it off. This will be for a friend, Jeff, who's birthday is Sunday. :)

I'm looking forward to doing lots more with it! Hope your weekend is going great!

Scrap bin cards

Wow, that was a quick night! I had a headache all day yesterday, so when I laid down for bed, the pounding got worse. It actually felt better to sit up in the chair. So, I went to the living room and sat in my chair while perusing (for the 3rd time) the new catty I got from Wendy on Wednesday. I really like it a lot better than the Fall/Winter one. I still couldn't go to sleep; I couldn't even get sleepy. I think my head was just full of ideas, working 90 mph, and I didn't want to lose any of them! It finally dawned on me to check SCS for today's Limited Supply Challenge. I really LOVE today's challenge: Leftovers. We were to use any scraps...paper, ribbon, extra stickers/embellishments, etc. I have an entire expandable file full of scrap paper and tons (literally) of scrap ribbon & other stuff just lying around. I had a ball creating stuff. Here are some of the things I made:

Morgan's 3rd Birthday card...better late than never! :) The candles are all cut out and raised up on dimensionals.

A birthday card for the future...I never seem to have enough of these! The flowers are all up on pretty high dimensionals and look so much cuter IRL.

And finally, my favorite card that I made is for my friend Bobbi's new baby, Alexis. This card has a lot of dimension to it with the little cloud on the right raised up very high and 3 stars below raised up a little bit. The little crystals on the bows are light pink and look so dainty. The clouds are outlined with liquid appliqué, so they look very soft and fluffy. I wish a picture could do it justice, but it just can't! I'll save this for the baby shower, which I'm sure will be soon.Have a fantastic Friday and wonderful weekend!

Busy as a Bee

Not only have I been stamping, but I've been cleaning a lot lately, trying to keep the house picked up. It feels good for me to do it and I know it's nice for N to come home to a nice house. I'll be working harder at this, as it does NOT come naturally for me! LOL Here's a little of what I've been doing..."Stamp Studio" to "What is this space for?"

BEFORE:


AFTER:Wendy sent me the gorgeous metal cross on the wall. You can't tell it's a cross, but it's a photo holder and it was perfect for holding cards for inspiration. Most of these are cards that I've made to send out. Some are already spoken for and just need some writing and postage, and others are for the future when I need them. It's nice to have them made up ahead of time. :) Here's a close-up of the cross.

Sad news

I found out late last night that Joe & Karla lost their baby. I'm so sad for them. Please keep them in your prayers.

Love is in the Air

Can you feel it? I'm having so much fun making valentines. This one took me quite a while, but I love the finished outcome. I almost want to keep it, but alas, I have plans for it! I made this card for sketch challenge 160. The "LOVE" was a piece of chipboard that I painted, sponged, and then stamped over. I used a white gel pen to color in the flower petals and used a red Sharpie to add a dot to the flower middles. I added antique copper mini square brads, Scrap Essentials' antique mold alphabet "U", and a Sheerly Yours green ribbon to finish it off.

Leslie's Bday

I gave this pocket card to my friend, Leslie. Her birthday was yesterday. I stuffed some girlie wine charms I had made into the pocket. The cupcake has some liquid appliqué on it, so it's puffy like fluffy icing.
Happy hump day!

I'm living up to my name tonight...

...the elusive "Night Owl Stamper" on Splitcoast Stampers, the best stamping website EVAH! It's 3:30 am and I'm still up, so I thought I'd share a card I made for today's color challenge (on SCS). Color Challenge 150: Real Red, Bordering Blue, Bashful Blue

I just had to use my new Clearly Wordsworth baby set that I got on Saturday! I LOVE them!

Happy Tuesday! {If you call and I don't answer, I'm probably napping!}

Surprise Lake Snowshoe

Nathan and Bexar went snowshoeing to Surprise Lake, up by Steven's Pass, on Saturday so I could have a girls' day. The roads were pretty slick and it snowed the entire time on them. Bexar had so much fun romping around in the snow, and even digging his head into the snow, sniffing around. Apparently he would stuff his entire head into the snow, pull it out and sneeze, and go back for another dive. Nathan said it was hilarious! They didn't actually make it to Surprise, due to several reasons, but we would all like to go back soon and check it out again. We love taking Bex on excursions where he can run off a lot of energy. When we get home, he's so exhausted and that's when he's the snuggliest! This day was no exception! He's already bouncing around again, ready to go!

Thanks a Latte

Happy Monday! I finally used my Amuse set this past week and made some more thank you cards. They're always nice to have on hand. I loved this purple and green dp, so these cards just came together.

The sun is bright, the frost is burning off, and it's a balmy 22 degrees this morning! It's absolutely gorgeous - not a cloud (or raindrop) in the sky! Hope your day is fantastic!

Showers of blessings

I went to a baby shower yesterday and wanted to make a small card, so I put this together. I used crystal effects over the hearts so they appeared more like rain and added some to the umbrella. Simple and cute. Jennie had her little girl "Cilia" at the end of December, and she is so cute. I had such a fun time at the shower and enjoyed a girl's day yesterday. After the shower, I went shopping with my friend Ann to a little group of shops in Bothell with tons of cute cute stuff. Of course, there was a stamp store there, which admittedly was my main interest in going, but as we visited the shops, I was reminded of my love for country decor. So fun! I finished up the evening with dinner at a lovely little Italian restaurant in Queen Ann (the City) with my friends Leslie & Shannon. It was a wonderful day that even involved a little stamping in between all of the running around. Enjoy!

Stampmania

I've stamped a lot in the past couple of days, but I'll spread the posts out so I'll some on different days. :)

I think this is one of my all-time favorites: it's simple but classy and I LOVE the bold color combo.

I'm off to a baby shower and then home for some stamping therapy. :) Happy Stamping!

Praise & prayer

I'm excited to announce that I'm going to be an aunt again! Joe & Karla are having another one. Praise God who gives the wonderful gift of children!

On a second note, Karla went to the hospital yesterday with extreme pain. The doctors do not know what is going on, so please join us in prayer for her and the sweet new baby.

I praise God for He alone is in control of all things, although I may not understand His ways because they're much different than mine. He is pure and I am stained with sin. This is why I praise Him - because He first loved me.

Thank you from the heart

It's taken me a while, but I'm finally getting some thank you cards out to N's family for hosting us over Christmas. They were all so sweet to open their homes to us and we had a wonderful time. The cards were super quick and simple, but I like them. :) Have a wonderful weekend!

Mojo returns...at least somewhat

I finally stamped! I cleaned up my craft area (a bit) today and got in the mood to stamp. I tried to sit down and stamp some thank you cards the other day, but there was no mojo and they were very plain. Today I was inspired by the SCS ways to use it challenge using embossing powder. It's been a while since I picked up the ep, so I used some new items that I got from Archiver's at the Mall of America over Christmas. I picked up this cute little bag of 30 pieces of chip board for $1.99! SCORE! This crown is just too cute...Enjoy!

Blog subtitle clarification

I wanted to explain my reasoning for my old subtitle "my stupid little life." Recently, our pastor began going through Ecclesiastes. Since most of the things that I blog about are mundane day-to-day happenings, it all seems meaningless in the scheme of things. But, because it gave off such a negative connotation, I decided to change it. I want to live my life for God's glory, even in the mundane things, so I think this is a good change. Sorry if this was confusing for you - I just didn't want it to sound like I was having a pity party (although that does happen occasionally)! Hee hee.

I'd like to encourage those who read my blog to look for the wonderful gifts of God in the everyday, seemingly mundane things.

More snow!

I was so surprised when I looked out the window yesterday afternoon to see the rain turn into snow! We got about 2 inches, which looked like God was tucking us in with a soft, beautiful, pure white blanket. Just gorgeous! Sadly enough, the sun is melting it away, although I will not complain to see the sun!

Heather Lake Snowshoe

A few pictures of the snowshoe trip to Heather Lake from this past weekend with the Mars Hill Outdoors Group are uploaded. Our friends, Ann & Josh went and I'm not sure how much fun they had. It rained on us the whole way up, the trail was difficult to navigate in places with snowshoes (stepping over trees, through rocky creeks, etc.), and their snowshoes were terrible (they had no grip) so they were sliding and falling. I felt so badly for them. On top of all of that, it was their first snowshoeing adventure. I hope they try again sometime because my first time was a wonderful experience - much better than theirs! I realized how much of a difference having good gear actually makes, too, and I was thankful to have some good snowshoes. However, when I got home, my gloves went straight into the trash. They were soaked through for most of the trip and need I say NASTY! I really enjoyed the trip, although I was soaked to the bone. All in all, I missed N but had a surprisingly fun time.

Poor Sick N

N has been home 2 days now from work with a cold and terrible hack. He has also been in unbelievable pain due to an overagressive massage therapist! His neck is very stiff and gives him constant pain. Plainly put, he's a mess. I feel sorry for him but I didn't get my dad's wonderful nursing skills. I'm trying to show him some love and attention, but I guess I need to learn how to really baby him! LOL I've got other friends who have husbands the same way when they're sick, so I think it's a man thing. :) He's even so sick that he's not going snowshoeing tomorrow with me! Now that's SICK!

Hope your weekend is better than N's. :)

Christmas in Minnesota pics

Pictures from our Winter Wonderland in Minnesota can be found here in 3 different albums here:

MN Bells - Sledding and hanging out at the house when we first arrived

Christmas 2007 - Includes pictures of the big Christmas celebration at Juj's & Tom's, boot hockey and games that afternoon, our visit to Barry's & Nancy's, and dinner with some of the family at Za's (Italian restaurant)

Karla's Family - Includes pics of Karla's family on Christmas day and ice skating and sledding another day with her sisters and their kids

Just a warning: There are a TON of pictures! Enjoy!

A Thousand Tomorrows and Just Beyond the Clouds

Both of these books are by one of my favorite authors, Karen Kingsbury. A Thousand Tomorrows is a love story of a bull rider (Cody Gunner) and a barrel racer (Ali). Ali helps Cody to forgive family that has wronged him and Cody helps Ali to live a life worth meaning. A great story with great meaning, but be prepared to grab the tissue box. Just Beyond the Clouds is the sequel to A Thousand Tomorrows and continues on with Cody's brother's life and living with down syndrome. Another excellent read and very touching. Just keep the tissue box next to you for this one too.

I love Karen's books because I think she addresses real issues that people face everyday. She makes me think of what I might do in that situation and sometimes even relates to something I'm facing. These two books in particular helped me to think on bitterness, forgiveness, and the struggles that physically handicapped people face. So if you have a moment, these are pretty quick reads and you won't regret reading them!

Brisket Basics

N's parents brought us Salt Lick BBQ sauce for Christmas and N wanted brisket. I bought a 3.5 lb hunk from Costco the other day and finally decided to have it for dinner last night. I've never cooked brisket before, but I thought it would be like any other meat...just season it, stick it in the oven, and keep an eye on it. Because I didn't get home until later last night and I was starving, I threw the hunk of brisket on a cookie sheet, slapped some seasoning on it, and threw it in the oven on 425. After I had it in there for about 40 minutes, N called and said he was on his way home and as always, wanted to know what was for dinner. I told him we would be having brisket, mashed potatoes, and baked beans, if the brisket was done in time. This led to quick interrogation (and rightly so on his part) of how long it had been in the oven, preparation, etc. He quickly informed me that was NOT the way to cook brisket, I turned the oven off, and we had leftover bread pudding (which was more like a quiche with spinach, shitakes, and gruyere). So, I finished it up today as best I could - I put it on a bed of onions, with water in the pan, fat-side up. It's quite tough and dry, as you can imagine, but I'm now prepared for next time! We'll use this for sandwiches or something, and it will be just like eating Washington BBQ!

Grumpy Old Me

I've been a real grump today, even with the snow. It's mostly melted now, but it was beautiful gently falling out of the sky. I've got tons of stuff to catch up with this week...and did I mention I'm grumpy today, despite the yummy hot wings we popped in the oven and ate with celery & blue cheese and some spicy sauce? We also tried a new game. I've laughed, smiled, cried, and grumped all day. My, my, my...it's fun to be grumpy old me.

Happy 2008

We had a nice trip to MN for Christmas, and we're glad to be back home with Bex. (I'll post pics when I get a chance to download all of them.) It was so nice to sleep in our own bed last night, snuggling with Bexar. :) Yesterday, after picking Bexar up, we took him to the park, then came home and washed the dirty boy so we could relax and snuggle with him all day. It was so fun just enjoying being home, all together again.

It's time for me to get the new year started off with a bang...lots of cleaning, laundry, & cooking to do, and resolutions to make (or carry over from 2007)! Guess I better get off the computer and get started. Happy new year. I hope yours is a wonderful one.