Delinquent

I am a total delinquent. I have not posted those pictures that I promised Wednesday. I will post those, but I have a new project to show!

I love all the snowman and snow decorations that I am seeing on all the creative blogs so I have made a few things for our house. This is one of the latest - four frames that spell out "snow".

I think I like the "N" paper and snow flakes the best.

I used glitter letters and paper scraps that I found in my stash. I love winter stickers so I had plenty from which to choose. I think it turned out pretty cute. :) I am already working on "LOVE" to replace the "snow" in February.

On a totally different subject, my creative writing friend has introduced me to a few new books that I really want to get, hopefully for my birthday! :) They are List Your Self, Awe-Manac, and my new find: The Write Brain. Have you seen these books? They are so fun. I could spend days reading and writing and being inspired by them. I absconded with the books and I've used a few of the prompts with my high school students to some degree of success. 1st period didn't like them so much, but how many people really feel up to creative writing at 7:30 in the morning? I love to write and I still find 7:30 to be a little much for the creative process to actually work.

I don't know

Monday was fun times with the infertility doctor. He was very nice and made me feel comfortable and valued. "Valued" may seem like an odd word but after hearing "I don't know" and "maybe another can help" so many times, it was nice to speak with a doctor that wanted to help. He has a plan and even if it's not a fun plan, I like that he knows what he is doing. I start a bunch (8) of tests next week and all of them sound icky. HSG, saline sonogram, 3 day test, MRI, etc. I don't really know what all of that entails, but I get to find out next week. Anyone survived one of these tests and want to tell me about it?

On to happier topics: scrapbooking and projects. Yay! I worked on the houses and church more this weekend. I thought one house was going to be white with green shutters and a green polka-dot roof. As I painted, however, I changed my mind. I will keep the green shutters but I have decided to use polka-dot paper to cover the house and then I think I'll do a glitter roof. (You know I have to use glitter somewhere.) Then for the pink house, I was working with glitter and it wasn't turning out like I wanted. So I opened up my Stickles and used the pink Stickles to outline the windows and door. Ta-Da! Perfect. I love me some Stickles! I'll post the pictures this evening.
I did finish the church. I covered the base, eaves, and roof with snow stuff which I then liberally coated with white glitter. It turned out really cute, I think. My DH even liked it. I promise to post those pictures as soon as I get home from teaching. Speaking of...

Projects to Help Me Procrastinate! Yay!

I'm obsessed with winter decorating right now; I think mainly because I don't want a big hole left in my home decor by taking down the Christmas tree, Santa Clauses, etc., etc. So I pulled out all my snowmen, moose, snow globes, etc. The problem is, in my new house, my old decorations aren't enough. They filled my tiny apartment just fine, but this house? Not so much. I decided to make decorations after looking at several websites for inspiration. I started with one house, then added another, then a church. Here's how they look so far:

I cut border out with my Cricut last night and I will add that to both houses for the "tile" work as the roof. Then I am going to cover the house with glitter and Ink Essential Glossy Accents. I'll take some pictures as I work this afternoon to show you. I did try embossing the border to see if it would give it enough shimmer, but it didn't. I like A LOT of glitter. I want it thick and shiny. I still relatively new to the embossing process so I might try again with a different embossing powder. Any ideas of a powder that will give a nice thick glossy look?

I'm not sure what I want to do as the next step for the church. I think I want to keep the tin roof, but I may put white or clear glitter all over the body of the church. Yes, I am addicted to glitter. You should have seen my wedding!

As I worked on my houses and church, I gave CJ (my chocolate lab) a bone to keep him occupied. He is still a puppy so he occasionally finds himself in the middle of mischief without even trying. The bone worked and kept him happy. I knew he enjoyed it when he came to find me with "scraps" on his cute little nose. He is sooo stinking cute!

Yummy Goodness and Not So Greatness

Have you tried the Fiber One yogurt yet? Oh my word - it is sooo good. I normally don't enjoy vanilla yogurt, but even the vanilla flavor is good. I eat at least one a day, 2-3 on a really hungry day. Love them!

I would post a picture of my dear personal favorite, Fiber One Vanilla yogurt, but, alas, my camera battery is dead. :( I'll take a picture as soon as it is revived and post it so you know what to look for in the grocery story. Or, even better: click here to check out the Fiber One Yogurt website with a coupon!

On to the Not-So-Greatness...I took my paperwork to the infertility doctor yesterday. I have endometriosis and adenomyosis and one other thing that I forget..andometriosis, I think. It's all just a little too much for me right now. My gyno referred me to the infertility doctor after I started having severe knife like pain in my abdomen about a month ago. I saw three different doctors and none of them had a clue as to the cause, so she sent me to the big guy. My appt is Monday. I don't even know what I exactly want this doctor to do except make the pain go away or at least not be quite so bad and quite so prevalent. More on that later...

Mess, Mess Everywhere!

Do you receive the Glade Company emails, or maybe it is the Simple Life emails? Either way, they are stalking me. They know me. They know my issues, and they exploit them. Take the latest email. A newsletter full of article about how to de-clutter and organize your house. REALLY? REALLY? I'm sitting in my home office now and I can't see the floor (well, kind of) because I have bags of things to file, things to shred, things to look through, things I might want to teach, and things to scrapbook.

Why aren't the scrapbook items in my scrapbook room? I honestly don't know. I really am an organized person. Most of the time. Notice in the top right hand corner of the picture? That's a birthday present to me that I can't open yet. I need to move that somewhere safe.

See the rack in the upper left hand corner? I should actually store things there rather than in random sacks, bags, and crates. I understand that; yet, it just hasn't happened. The wrack seems rather permanent and I'm not sure how much of this mess is taking up permanent residence in my house.

So, back to the organization newsletter. According to these people, I can look at the room and make a list of things to throw out, box up, give away, keep, etc. I like that I can make a list. I'm a list kind of girl. But, just look at things and know what is trash, what is donation, what is a keeper? I don't work that way. Perhaps that is part of the issue...but, anyway, I'm trying to organize my office. Obviously since I'm writing this, the organizing isn't going so well. As I type, this is what my desk looks like; I'm so ashamed.

I understand I need professional help. If you have suggestions for treatment, let me know. :)

That's a WHOLE LOT of pictures!

As I read other blogs, I have been inspired to be part of the 365 picture project/movement/thing. That means that I'll be taking at least 1 picture a day of stuff going on in my life. I've already taken several that I will post later today. My DH is going to love this. He already thinks I'm a little crazy with the picture taking. When I started taking pictures of the turkey carcass after Thanksgiving, he just shook his head.

Happy Place...deep breath...Happy Place

One of my happy places is snuggling on the couch with my dogs. We have a 3 year old blond lab (MM)and a 9 month old chocolate lab (CJ). We adopted the chocolate from DFW Lab Rescue. This is one of the best programs for adoption that I have experienced. CJ (the chocolate lab) has been a blessing to us as much as we have been a blessing to him. He lost an eye before we adopted him and had many different ailments: worms, mange, etc as well as being malnourished. He's alllll better now! He has the sweetest little personality and is such a lover. Here he is:

He's beautiful. He doesn't jump like a normal lab (or dog), he jumps like a bucking bronco - back feet, then front feet, back feet, then front feet. It's adorable and I can't help but laugh every time he does it.

There are several other beautiful, sweet, loving labs that still need homes. If you are at all interested in adopting a lab, please click here to check out the DFW Lab Rescue website. I get updates on the labs that still need homes and it breaks my heart. I wish I could adopt several more of them, but CJ (the chocolate) and MM (the blond lab) might not like having to share attention time.

No high heels!

I had yet another check up with the doctor in charge of "fixing" my ankle. In early October, as I was walking out of the building in my four inch heels and dress, I stumbled on a crack in the side walk (I promise, there was a crack), twisted my ankle and fell. The bystanders say my ankle fell off the side of my shoe but my foot stayed on the shoe - yuck. I have been visiting the doctor at least once a month since then. I was supposed to go to physical therapy, but who has time for that? Um, not me. Anyway, the doctor says my ankle is much better. I only have to wear the truly attractive brace when I'm working out or when I'll be walking a lot. He encouraged me to continue to go to physical therapy. I didn't want to tell him that I only actually went once. His last comment to me, however, was, "Remember, no heels." SERIOUSLY?!!

Day One!

Here it is. My first day of blogging! My New Year's Resolution is to actually act on my creativity and be brave enough to share it with people. This is one of my first steps. Deep breaths. My other big step is to apply to be a member of the design team for Creative Scrappers at http://www.creative-scrappers.com/. I will share a few of my creations with you, too.

My first wreath - I made it for a wedding shower in the Spring.

My next wreath was for the 4th of July. I found this idea at Two Peas in a Bucket and I think it turned out just adorable.

This banner (not a wreath!) was also for the wedding shower I threw last Spring. I will post close ups of the individual pennants tomorrow.