Spam

Up til now I have not had any problems with spam hitting my comments. For some reason I've had a few in the past 24 hours so I just enabled word verification. Sorry for the extra step when leaving a comment.

Enjoy your Sunday! :o)

Some People Suck

I've had enough of sucky/mean people this week.

First, one of my kids at school was bullied this week and apparently it's been going on for awhile. This poor kid thought he had a group of friends, but in the end they made a club titled "I Hate (insert kid's name) Club" and said a lot of mean things to him. The poor kid was crushed when his supposed friends did this to him.

Second, I hurt when I read this post by NieNie yesterday. I couldn't believe that someone to have the nerve to say what that lady said. Seriously. How could you do that? What a b*tch.

Third, my mom told me tonight that some of my cousins (all from one family) have decided they aren't going to see my grandma anymore. Yeah, my grandma who has Alzheimer's and who longs to meet with my grandpa in heaven. She has a hard time remembering some things, tells us the same things over and over, and is confused frequently. But, she still knows who we are. Their reasoning is that she had favorite grandkids and that they weren't included in the favorites. I agree that my grandma had favorites but it isn't hard to see that her favorites are the ones who made an effort to see her throughout the years. I'm so hurt that adults would make a conscious decision not to visit their ailing grandma. I wish they thought about how much it would hurt and disappoint my grandpa if he were alive to hear their decision. Maybe that wouldn't mean much to them either.

Sorry for the downer post to end the week. Just a few things that I had to get off my chest. Have a good weekend.

This Is It

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David and I went to Michael Jackson's This Is It this past Saturday. Oh my gosh, it was amazing!! Even if you didn't like him, I think most people would appreciate all the work he put into the rehearsals. The mini-movies that were put together to play in the background during the concerts were also awesome. I definitely recommend seeing this movie.

Me and Michael go way back.... "Beat It" is listed as my favorite song during my second year in my baby book. :o)

PS - I changed my music player to a Michael Jackson tribute so if you're in the mood for a little Black or White or Man in the Mirror you're in luck ;o)

Snowflakes

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Here's a fun site to check out if you're bored or are avoiding laundry/dishes/cleaning, etc. On this site you can create your own little snowflakes, then watch them fall. It's kind of fun too because people can comment on your snowflakes. It's highly addicting though! :o)

I found the link in my BHG 100 Days of Holidays email.

WWYD?

I've been seeing all kinds of great furniture transformations around blogland lately. Just a little paint can do so much. I've ohhed and ahhed over this record player, this hutch, and pretty much everything in this post.

So anyway, I'm thinking about painting our TV stand. I got it a little over a year ago for $5 at a rummage sale. I really want to add some color in here since all our walls are white and there's nothing I can do about that. Here is what it looks like now

It kinda, sorta matches the other woods we have in the living room.

So questions I have are:

Would it look stupid if we had one painted piece?

How exactly do I go about painting it? (I'd have to do it inside because it's too cold to paint outside now. So... no spray painting.)

What kind of paint do I use that would go over the shiny finish and stick? (Again, painting inside so I don't want to do a lot of sanding or use a stripper.)

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I'm a little nervous to paint it. Normally I wouldn't be, especially since it was only $5. But, with Christmas coming up I don't have a lot of extra funds so if I screw it up, we'd be stuck with an ugly TV stand.

What would you do?

Random Dozen

So I saw this on Frizzy's blog and decided I'd play along too :o)


1. Candy corn: Your thoughts?
I used to love candy corn. Now about 4 or 5 pieces and I'm done for the season.

2. Briefly, what was the first conversation you ever had with your spouse? (or best friend, if you're not married.) (Or someone significant, like your librarian.)
Uhhh....you really don't want to know what some of the first words out of my husband's mouth were. Other than that...I think it was pretty normal stuff such as where are you from, etc.


3. Could you ever become a vegetarian?
For short periods of time maybe but never permanently. There is a reason why God created cows - because they taste good.

4. Have you ever dressed up your pet in a costume?
No but I did paint my brother's dog's toenails for his (my brother's) birthday one year. Boy dogs like to feel pretty too.

5. Name something about childhood that you miss (like Clark Bars, Teaberry Gum, Malibu Barbie, cracking fake eggs on people's heads with your fist and "It's the Great Pumpkin" airing only once a year).
Spending time at my grandparent's house, especially the big family Christmas get together there.

6. Have you ever won a trophy? If not, what do you deserve a trophy for?
Never a trophy, a few ribbons here and there.

7. When do you think is the appropriate time to begin playing Christmas music each year? Appropriate time? The day after Thanksgiving. The time I usually start listening - early November.

8. What's your favorite board game?
David and I usually play Scrabble or Trivial Pursuit.


9. How do you feel about surprises (receiving, not giving)?
If I know a surprise is coming I hate it. Otherwise....some surprises are good and some are bad so it really depends on the surprise I guess.


10. Is it easy for you to say, "I'm sorry?"
No, I really need to get better at it.

11. What is your favorite candle scent?
Depends on the season. Right now I like spices & pumpkin scents. For Christmas I like pine scented, peppermint, or cinnamon. During winter I like a light peppermint or something fresh smelling like that. For spring & summer I like to get out the fruity or beachy scents.


12. October is traditionally "open house" time in public schools. If you had a literal open house in your home (like a reception) what light snacks would you serve visitors and what would you show them (as in art projects, graded papers) that would uniquely represent you?
Well....since it'd be October I'd serve mini caramel apples, pumpkin bread, apple butter scones, warmed cranberry brie with crackers, and turkey & cheese crescent roll ups.

I have no idea what I would show them....I'd probably end up canceling because I wouldn't be able to think of anything.

Fabric and Purses and Pillows, Oh My!

If you're currently looking for a new purse, diaper bag, or even fabric you should check out 1154 Lill Studio. Even if you're not, it's a fun site to play around on.

They offer a design room where you can pick out your favorite item and customize it with your fabric choices.

This would be a fun idea for a Christmas gift too if you're willing to pay that much for a purse, etc. I'm not willing to pay that much. My current purse was $42 and I had a hard time paying that much for it! I like to have a little cash left to put in my new purse :o) It was still fun to play around with though!

It's Hobo Days!

Yesterday was SDSU's homecoming, also known as Hobo Day. It was definitely more fun as a college student but I still like to go to the parade and football game.

I thought this year's parade was on the boring side. The parade used to feature more homemade "floats" that were obviously not going for a prize but for the "let's see how much crap we can throw together and still drive it down the road" look. The students on the floats used to be a lot funnier too. Ever since moving to D-1 it seems that they've cracked down and the parade has been a little less interesting (but probably more family friendly) each year.

Anyway, a few highlights from the parade:

The Pride. They used to chant funny things and be a lot more entertaining, much more serious now but still very good.

Our nephew in the middle school band.

This guy was pretty entertaining.

And I thought this guy was pretty funny...

I didn't take my camera to the game because I didn't want to hang on to it the whole game, so no pictures. SDSU played Northern Iowa and came away with the win, 24-14.

A Little Christmas

The couple light snowfalls we had a week ago got me in the mood for the Christmas season. Since it's a little early for Christmas decorations to go up I thought I'd make something Christmasy.

I had a couple Dollar Tree plaques on hand so I thought I'd work with those.

Last Christmas I watched It's a Wonderful Life for the first time. Can you believe I'd never seen it before?!? Well it became an instant favorite, plus the title is a great saying. Anyway, this is what I came up with:

It's cuter in person and the glitter is a lot sparklier but I thought I'd show ya anyway. Probably would have been cuter if I'd hung it on a white wall before taking a picture. I'm impatient though and the glue wasn't dry yet on the wood thingy so it had to lay on the table as I took the picture. :o)

It still needs a little something (besides ribbon to hang it with) but I figure I have time to play around with it.

Honestly....

So yesterday I was reading through new posts in my Google Reader. One of my favorite bloggers, Jennifer @ Sanctuary Art, had a new post up about how she'd been awarded the Honest Scrap award. She wrote some things about herself then at the end passed to award on to 7 other bloggers. And guess what? I was one of them! I had to click on my blog name just to be sure it was me!

So now you get to learn 10 -honest- things about me...
1. When I get in a cleaning mood, I want to do it by myself and I don't want to talk as I'm cleaning. Kinda just get in a zone I guess.
2. I'm becoming more of a germaphobe as I get older. Some things that gross me out are swimming pools, hot tubs, hotels, and grocery carts. Yuck!
3. I was SO excited when I walked into Walmart yesterday and saw the Christmas stuff out! I even started a Christmas craft yesterday. Counting the days till Black Friday!!
4. I suffer from SAD and have had an early onset this year due to our craptastic weather this fall.
5. I really, really, really wish we could paint our walls. We rent an apartment and are not allowed to paint. I might dislike this place a *little* less if we had some color on the walls.
6. I ate HORRIBLY this past week and am sure my weight went up over the week. I was too scared to get on the scale Friday morning to see though. Back on the weight loss wagon tomorrow though! :o)
7. My sense of style is much better than what I portray on a day-to-day basis...budget and body image have a lot to do with that.
8. I wish that we lived in a warmer part of the US only because spray paint season is much too short up here (South Dakota)!
9. I hope to visit New York City some day during the Christmas season. I would love to go for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.
10. I'm going to be 30 on my next birthday. I'm ready to put my 20s behind me!

So there are 10 probably not so interesting things about me. Now I get to pass the award on to 7 other bloggers.....

Boyd's Crazy Mama

This Southern Girl's Nest

Operation Shrink Charlie's Big Butt

Farming on Faith

Escape Into My Thoughts

Finding Normal

Unmatched Socks

Outside my window

First snow of the season....

13 days earlier than our first snow fall last year.

The Face of Love

...looks like this after he's been in a muddy pumpkin patch for an hour searching for (and carrying) the perfect pumpkins.

After all the pumpkins were picked, carried to the car (a good half mile walk each carry), scraped of big chunks of mud, and loaded in the back, I asked him if it was worth it or if he wished we had just gone to Walmart to buy pumpkins there. He said, "If it was worth it to you, that's all that matters." :o)


Here is my fall display

**Yes, I got in on the experience too...I just wasn't as muddy because I'm not strong enough to carry the big pumpkins :o)

September Favorites

Can you believe that September will be over in only a few hours? It's going to be Christmas before we know it - 86 days for those of you who are counting :o).


A few of my favorites from this month:


*The weather. We didn't have a hot summer by any means but I'm always ready for the cooler temps. We've had some pretty cool temps the last couple weeks and I LOVE it!


*These little mousse cups. 60 little calories and really good.


*The leaves changing colors on the trees.

*Ghost Whisperer and The Vampire Diaries. The only two shows I watch during the week where I sit and only watch the show. Normally I'm on the computer, reading, or doing numerous other things while the TV is on.

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*Pumpkins and mums coming out in the stores.

*Wearing sweaters & sweatshirts.

Weekend Recap

I started out my weekend by watching a little of this on QVC Friday night....
and making some of these for a baby shower....

On Saturday we went to Sioux Falls to do some shopping. All we bought was 4 pieces of scrapbook paper. Pretty exciting huh? We ate at the Olive Garden for lunch...so good! We spent part of the day at my sister-in-law's place. We had an awesome supper there and some really good cake too!

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On Sunday I started working on a craft project (sorry about the sideways pic)....

and we did some fall cleaning. Five bags worth of stuff to donate to Goodwill!

We had planned to pick pumpkins in the afternoon but it was just too windy. We stayed home instead and watched The Soloist. I made some really good chicken & dumplings soup for supper. You can find the recipe here, it's a lower calorie version.

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I've kind of been avoiding posting about this but I'm finally at a point where I'm proud of my progress so......

My friend Nicolle and I became weight loss buddies a month ago. We've been emailing each other back and forth to share tips, recipes, and encouragement. It's really helped having someone to talk to! I've lost 11.2 pounds since we started 4 weeks ago, and have lost exactly 20 pounds since July. I might lose a little faster if I didn't eat at places like Olive Garden, but I've been taking every Saturday (or Sunday, or both) off. It's helped me from feeling deprived and keeps me going. :o)

Some fall and muffins

Well I hadn't planned to be away from my blog so long. Things have been really quiet around here lately so I haven't really had anything to share. Sometimes quiet is nice though.

I went to our local Garden this past weekend. There were lots of signs of summer around yet...

But there were lots of signs of fall too....

There were lots of crunchy leaves to step on too as I walked around.



And in honor of fall starting tomorrow and our awesome, cool weather today I decided to try the super easy pumpkin muffin recipe I found.

The ingredients:

Dump everything together and mix (that's 1 cup water). Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes

The result:

It's a low calorie recipe I found here (nutritional info listed too). Mmm...they are so good! Some reviews said something about tasting just like pumpkin pie. I wouldn't go that far, but they are definitely tasty :o)