Well, so much.....

for random babbling eh? I can't believe that it's been so long since I posted! I've changed up the look of the blog again - what do you think?

My daughter and I entered our guinea pig Toby into a Furbaby contest over at Eclectique Butterfly's Facebook Fan Page a few weeks ago, and this week we found out that we won!! You can see his super cute pic here over at Julie's blog. She makes the cutest bags out of the "booty's" of recycled jeans - LOVE them!

Otherwise not too much has been happening - working every day, trying to keep up with the house, finishing up the finicky finishing details of the living room and contemplating what the next project MIGHT be.....I know I said I was finished with renovating, but this summer, the tiles starting falling off the walls in the main bathroom, so this next summer might be filled with yet another renovation. Sigh.

I'm trying to find a few moments everyday to be creative - I've been making more cards than layouts as they take a little less time. When I have made a LO they've mostly been for other people, and so I haven't got too much to share right now. Hopefully over the next month that will change, as in three weeks, we start Christmas vacation!! =D Recently, my SIL asked me to come share card making with her women's group. I have never really "taught" anyone in that way before, but it was fun. It helped that it was a small group, & that the ladies were really friendly. We had a great time, and maybe we'll do it again sometime.

We finally got our first taste of winter this week with some snow and colder temperatures. We have had it fairly easy so far, but I hear rumors of a miserable winter ahead. The word "Yuck" sums up how I feel about winter. As I type this, my two youngest kiddos are outside shovelling up a storm. THEY love the snow. More power to them, I say.

We recently attended our fourth (yep, 4th) wedding of the year. While I enjoyed every one, I was glad for the getaways with my hubby, and I am very happy for each couple, I am sick of weddings now and are glad that they are done.

So that about sums up the last month or so here in our household. Have a great day & stay warm!!

Remembering that.....

It is the VETERAN, not the preacher

Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the VETERAN, not the reporter,

Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the VETERAN, not the poet,

Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer,

Who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer,

Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the VETERAN, not the politician,

Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the VETERAN, who salutes the flag,

It is the VETERAN, who serves under the flag.

I wanted.....

to link this post and this video today.

They will make you think. I encourage you to re-post & spread the word.

Have a beautiful day.

Celebrating

thirty - five today. How is it possible that yet another year has gone by? I don't feel 35, heck, I don't think I even LOOK 35!!! Wasn't high school just yesterday??

At any rate, I'm ok with it. Really.

ETA - I read THIS beautiful post today. I want to encourage you to take a few minutes to read it too.

Have a beautiful day!

Still Alive.....

So, while I know I should be blogging, quite honestly, I don't even know where to start!

The days fly by so quickly & this September I'm having trouble "getting it together". Does anyone else out there feel like they're at a standstill while life just passes them by? I'm seriously thinking that I might, underneath it all, be slightly depressed. I KNOW I'm sleep deprived, so that's not helping & I KNOW I'm feeling stressed. I think that these last few weeks of rainy days are also not helping.

In the midst of it all, I've managed a little creativity, but way less than usual. I've been asked to help a group of fellow scrappers from my church put together a memory album for a widow in our congregation, so that's mostly where my efforts have been lately. I wish I could let you see them, but I just can't share those pages with you all. Here's a few pages that I've created more for myself :

For Color Combo #159

For the September Paper Poppy Sketch & Challenge

Have a happy day!

When it rains.....

it pours!

The reno is moving along - this week we put in carpet and are slowly refurnishing the room as time and energy permits. Next week the trim is going up & then the room will officially be done!!!!!!!!!!! Thank goodness it's almost over!

I have made sure that the one piece that is in the living room is my desk - and a new (to me) one at that! I found it in my Dad's barn and have painted the top to match the darkest colour in my dining room wallpaper. Here's the before and after (well, after one coat anyways, but you get the idea).

Since we're not totally finished yet, I'll save the after pic of the living room for later.

So, since my creativity can now be released, I've made another page. I have had LOTS of time to think about the pages I'm going to do over the summer and this is just one.



Literally, we heard those dreaded words over and over again on the way to camping this year. Since it was a perfect fit for the theme of the page, I used the July Paper Poppy Main kit and Liz Qualmans August Paper Poppy Sketch for this one.

Off to keep on going with the living room, have a great day!

I couldn't wait.....

anymore. The living room isn't completley together yet, but i just HAD to make something. So, this is my first LO since June.

These are all my Grandparents. They have all passed away now, but I regret, among other things, that they never met any of my children before they went. I also made it for Colour Combo #157 and Pencil Lines Sketch #200.

Now, I've got to get back to getting the house together! Have a good one!

IT'S DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The living room is FINALLY finished!!!!!!!! The last coat of paint went on this afternoon, so the rest of the weekend will be spent cleaning up the room, hanging lights and putting the living room together. SO excited to sit in there again - it's been 8 -- yep that's right -- EIGHT weeks since we've been able to use that room properly.

Pictures to come soon - have a great night!

FINALLY.....

bought myself one of these :


I have been coveting it for about three years now; and I get to bring it home on Wednesday. Happy, happy, joy, joy!! Happy Birthday to me!!

But, it comes with sad news as well. My LSS is closing its doors at the end of the month. But out of every good thing at the store, I'm going to miss the staff most of all. April, the owner, has become a friend and she also gave me my first "DT" shot by asking me to design some layouts for her when she first opened her store. But, I'll be looking forward to continuing to be a part of her Crop for Cancer events that she's still planning on hosting.

We're getting the drywall mudded!!! Can't wait for this part to be over though, it's messy! After mudding, it's paint and then I can put my room back together again.

This week we're heading over to Toronto for a couple of days. My hubby has a work conference, so the kids and I are going along. We have plans to go to the Science Centre and Centreville - can't wait for those!!

Just a few weeks of summer vacation left & then it's back to work. Fingers crossed for a better year!!

Have a great night!

Talking to my hubby again.....

and he's working on speeding up the reno. Hopefully we'll have the house back before September and I can get the cleaning up at least started before we go back to school. At the very least, I NEED my scrappy space set up; I'm chomping at the bit to get creating again!! =D

I got my bus route today & thankfully, it's changed enough that the students that caused me so much stress last year are no longer on! Yippee!! Now, we'll see how the new kids work out, but hopefully, it'll be a better year.

Spending tomorrow getting ready for a weekend of camping - just the 5 of us! Looking forward to some family time away from everyone and everything.

Have a great weekend!!

Disappointed and Annoyed.....

as it looks like this renovation will be not finished until the end of September. I had hoped for this to be done before the school year started but we are waiting, waiting, waiting for stuff on the exterior of the house to be done before the interior environmental assessment can be done. We are also away for the next two weekends in a row, so that doesn't help.

I'm not expressing it very well, but right now I'm not really talking to my husband. THAT's how annoyed I am. I don't think he really understands how frustrating it really is to live in chaos 24/7, how depressing it is to be unable to be creative and how helpless I feel because there's NOTHING I can do about it. Sigh. On to losing my mind now.....

Try to have a good day.

Managing.....

a little creativity in the midst of all the chaos. But, I will say it's not been easy with no real table surface to work on. A cardboard box doesn't really cut it, you know?? At any rate, this month the challenge over at Paper Poppy was to use circles and 2 items from any PP Kit on your layout. But, since I have limited space and resources, I decided to make a card instead. Maybe it won't count for the contest, but that doesn't really matter. I was just glad to do SOMETHING crafty, and since I just received my new kit yesterday, here's my card :

I used the July kit for most of it, plus a rub on from the June kit and pearls from the May kit.

Also in this picture are two of the books that I've read this summer. They are both, however, the last books in a large series, so if you've never read any of them, you might have to start at the beginning. I will warn you ahead of time that the Naamah series is NOT tame. By any stretch of the imagination. But I still enjoyed the series very much.

Otherwise, the reno is moving along. In fact, as I'm typing this, my hubby, his Dad and his brother are all hanging drywall in the living room. We're that much closer to getting our 400 sq feet back. THANK GOODNESS. I'm going just a little bit mad here.

Have a good one!

Getting Ready.....

for another fun filled camping trip. My sister and I and our families meet every year at a Provincial Park that is about halfway between our homes and we camp. This year we're going here. It's always fun and this year my youngest brother, his wife and their little guy are coming too! The more the merrier I say.

The reno has once again stalled because I'm not an electrician. So, it's not going to be done in four weeks like I planned. But it better be done before school starts again because I. AM. NOT. GOING. TO. DO. THIS. ALL. SUMMER. LONG!!! Do you sense the frustration at all? It will all be better in the end is becoming my mantra. But I gotta say 5 people living in 400 square feet less than normal is starting to wear a little thin. I realized that I have not posted any kind of picture in awhile, so here's some of my faves from this reno we've got goin' on :

My DS giving a hand tossing out the ceiling.

The living room walls filling up the bin.

Cleaning up the mess. Normally, I look better than this.

My living room last week. This explains the lovely look above.

The reason for my angst, as this is how we're living right now.

Have a good one.

Back on track.....

again! We called in the re-inforcements and the reno has moved along. So, in the last 2 days my father in law and I have finished taking the boards off the walls, strapped the studs out for 2 more inches of depth & therefore 2 more inches of insulation, moved some plumbing out of the way, put in the header and removed the south interior wall, and started insulating. It's nice to have it starting up again. Plus, I used a compound mitre saw for the first time!! And, it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be! It's all coming together and I can't wait to see it FINALLY finished. The lack of living space is starting to wear thin, as it's been super hot this week and we've spent most of our time inside the house. I'll keep you updated on our progress.

Have a great day!

We've hit.....

a snag in the demo department. My Dad, who has been helping us out with this renovation, is sick. Nothing too serious, but enough to completely stop work, as I'm not physically strong enough to make any more progress on the walls. There are some BIG boards that need to come down and I know my limitations!! I also know nothing about working with plumbing, so we're at a standstill until he's better, or hubby calls in reinforcements.

Sigh. So much for my 4 week timeline.

Have a good day.

A quick update.....

on the mess in the living room. Thankfully, the worst of it is almost over in that the lath and plaster is almost all off the walls. The dropped ceiling is down and the walls are opened up. I can see in my head how it will look when it's done and I'm excited about it!

Today I'm celebrating the 11th anniversary of the day I gave birth to my oldest daughter. I have a surprise girly day planned for just the two of us. Can't wait to get started!

Have a great day!

So glad that.....

this school year is over now. I wish that the kids on my bus had of behaved better to really make it a good last run, but alas, not so much. Maybe next year will be better.

Otherwise, I did some demo - ing today - the rest of the trim, most of the panelling and the dropped ceiling are all down now. And, now that school is out, I will be able to spend more time getting it done! I plan on a 4 week transformation. Hmmm, maybe I should take bets on whether or not that works.....

Have a good night!

I'm Baaaaack.....

after a week away. And, I only cheated a little bit in that I decided that I would keep up with emails while I was "gone", but only so that I wouldn't have to go through 150 of them upon "returning".

As an update, we are not very far along in the demo because neither my husband nor I remembered to call to get a bin to dump the garbage in during said demo, so we have to wait until tomorrow for that. However, we've totally cleared out the room now, and we've taken out the wall unit in the living room. As a plus, hidden under my stairs there is some VERY vintage wallpaper that just happens to match the colours of the rest of the downstairs of my house! I think I'll be saving some pieces of each pattern and framing them - they really are very pretty!

There's only 2 more days of school to go and then I'm done for the summer!! I can't wait to sleep in and enjoy my coffee in my pj's on Wednesday morning.

Have a great night!

Leaving my internet life.....

for my real one. This is just a temporary break, which will be starting this Monday. We are now getting really close to starting the demo of the living room. Our lives are about to be turned upside down for about 4 weeks. But, in the end, our living room will be much warmer and a little prettier, too.

I, however, think that my internet break will only last about 1 week or so. That'll be about all that I could stand! =D I'll leave you with a page that I made for Colour Combo #145 over at Color Combos Galore & the June sketch challenge over at Paper Poppy. A few posts ago, I mentioned that my hubby thinks of me whenever he hears Just Breathe by Pearl Jam. So, I made a LO that celebrated that! I used a photo from our 12.5 anniversary shoot, which was taken by the fabulous Stacy.


Have a great week!!!

My {real} Reality.....

Recently, Stephanie blogged about this on her blog. At the end of her post, she challenged us to do the same. So I am, and in turn, I am challenging you to try it as well. I really believe it will be freeing to admit that everything might not be perfect in your life. I have done something like this before via a challenge on Facebook, so I think I'll just repost that note, with some additions here :


25 Random Things About Me

1. I am terrified of the dark so there's always a light on somewhere at night.
2. I sleep with earplugs because I'm a really light sleeper, and any little noise will wake me up. This does not help with item #19.
3. I love cooking, but hate cleaning up.
4. I love to wear heels, but only do so once a week.
5. I quit smoking almost 11 years ago & I am very glad that I did. I have three children who need me more than I need to smoke. That was my good reason and remains so today. I never want to start that bad habit again.
6. I hate it when people chew with their mouths open. This includes gum. That's rude and gross to watch and/or listen to.
7. I hate it when people sniff their snot instead of using a Kleenex. That's rude and gross to listen to.
8. I am slightly obsessed with scrapbooking. I think about it a lot, but less now that I'm on a bit of a hiatus. I hope one day to be on another design team or published in a magazine. Or, maybe someday both will happen. That would be nice.
9. Sometimes I still miss high school, even though it was a weird and confusing time of my life.
10. Sometimes I wish I was single and childless. This sounds extremely selfish, but this is how I feel somedays.
11. I went to college to be a computer programmer, but I could care less about it now.
12. I hate that I have to work to provide the kind of education I want for my children. I wish that our government supported every school, regardless of which worldview they teach from.
13. I love to sing, but in church, the van and at home only.
14. I want to visit Scotland someday. Currently my sister and I have plans to visit when I turn 40. That's 5 years from now - I'm really looking forward to this!
15. Until very recently, I had 10 warts on my hands and 5 on my feet. The ones on my hands are gone now, but not the feet ones. They don't bother me much.
16. I really wanted to have another baby, and am secretly (although not anymore I guess) very angry that my husband said no. This is getting easier to deal with as time goes on.
17. I cannot stand to have doors open. I am always closing my closet and cupboard doors. I will get out of bed to close a door or drawer in my room. This also does not help with item #19.
18. I wear my jeans at least 3 times each before throwing them in the laundry. I think this habit is leftover from when I was growing up.
19. It takes me anywhere from 20 - 45 minutes to fall asleep. I hardly ever sleep well. I average about 6 hours of sleep a night and therefore I am tired all the time.
20. I love fresh flowers in my kitchen, but I only buy them when they are on sale.
21. I have 2 huge mugs of coffee every morning, but not when I'm traveling. I have the world's smallest bladder.
22. I brush my teeth EVERY time I leave the house. If I don't or forget, I feel dirty for the rest of the day. I think this is leftover from when I was smoking.
23. Most days I am bored out of my skull.
24. I love history. In particular, I love antiques (even more particularly, chairs)and always wonder what the story is behind the furniture.
25. Someday, I'd love to be a professional decorator. It's a bit of a pipe dream, but a dream nonetheless.

Does any of this list surprise you? It surprised me a bit too! But it's real and that's me. Hope you have a great day!