so much to say

I keep meaning to blog, but there just isn't time. And when there is time, I can't stay awake to do it!

Sunday, October 28, was our 7th anniversary. We celebrated by going to the beach for part of the weekend. We stayed at a beautiful beach house and just lazed around and ate pastries - it was divine and just what we needed! I have a picture of us on the beach but my camera is at my KM classroom right now. :-P I'll upload it later.

Life just seems to keep getting busier. I really need to lighten my load. Some changes are in the works, but I will post about those later after proper notifications have been made and decisions have been finalized. I could use a few prayers, too!

Here's some really big, important, exciting news: We are going to have yet ANOTHER niece or nephew! Yep, folks, my brother's wife is pregnant. Braden is going to be a big brother! I am just ecstatic! This will make #5 for us! We have Emma, Braden, Will, Angela is pregnant with #4, and Kari is pregnant with #5! Yay for Uncle Brian and Aunt Sis!

Kindermusik keeps getting better. The kids are really opening up and getting used to me, and to each other, and to class. At one point yesterday I had like 3 or 4 kids on my lap at the same time. I LOVED it! Lately, I hate for class to end! :-) I am so fortunate to be able to do this. I love it so much!

The coolest thing happened yesterday. Last week, I had been complaining and joking with one of my piano students' moms about how Florida is made of mildew and mold. She was saying they had just pressure washed their house, and I was saying how bad my sidewalk was looking again. (In case you don't know how crazy the mold and mildew can get, check out this post from last year when we pressure washed our porch and sidewalk for the first time!) Anyway, she said that they had a pressure washer and we could borrow it and she would bring it next week.

So yesterday, this student shows up and her dad and grandpa were with her and they brought TWO pressure washers with them and they pressure washed my porch, sidewalk, and driveway while I taught the lesson!!!! I mean seriously...people just don't do that kind of thing anymore! We're all too busy for random acts of kindness! I was just so thrilled, and so grateful, and so shocked, and so amazed! They are the nicest people ever! (Of course, I gave them several free lessons!) LOL Anyway, my faith in humanity was restored yesterday.

(And it was lost again today because I had to go to Walmart and you know how I feel about the way people act in Walmart!) Ugh!

All right. I have to go and do something useful. Hope everyone had a great Halloween! I promise to post pictures soon. :-)

quickutz club

Yesterday I joined the Quickutz club at Violette's, an awesome scrapbook store in Lakeland. They meet once a month and make a project or 2 and club members get either a special deal on QK products (yesterday it was buy one, get one free on all dies - even Revolution dies!) or some months we get a free die! Love it. So yesterday was my first club meeting ever. The store is about 70 minutes from my house, but about 20 minutes from church, and some of their meetings will be on Sunday afternoons. I had a rehearsal in Winter Haven last night anyway, so I rushed to Lakeland after my Kindermusik class. Here's what we made:How cute is that??!! It's a picture frame - 12x12. I totally love it. And of course, I ordered the die that made the leaves - it's one die that cuts 3 leaves. Adorable. Everyone at that store is so friendly and nice, and I'm so excited to be a part of this club!

funniest line

...from a book I'm currently reading, "Miss Julia Strikes Back:"

"Let me tell you. If you ever think you'll be throwin' up in public, I'd recommend against havin' a mustache. The combination is not a pretty sight."

a weekend of learning

Well, our weekend of Tim Holtz classes was awesome! I had a great time with Christy, scrapping, learning, and shopping. Here's the book we made in our class, Nostalgic Memoirs:

We actually learned how to sew a book binding! It was VERY cool! I'm pretty happy with the way mine turned out. The covers are canvas, and we learned how to use ink and blend it to make a unique look, and then we covered it with beeswax to seal the ink. Very fun! And then we junked it up with some cool ribbon and hardware.

And in the Mystery Class, we learned how to make this little mini-book out of a 6x6 paper pad, with no paper left over - no waste! Awesome!


How adorable is that! Yes, that swirl on the front is a piece of Grungeboard. It's SO cool! We also used some neat acrylic chips and fun hardware. I spent way too much time distressing and inking my pages, but it was so much fun! The right side of each page was a pocket page. I also won a door prize in this class - a 6x6 pad of Basic Grey Figgy Pudding with fibers and some hardware - LOVE IT! :-D

And - what's a weekend of scrapping without a little SHOPPING??!! Ruban Rouge is a great store and I picked up some goodies while I was there. I also stopped at another store in Lakeland on my way home - Violette's - I had no idea that was such a great store! All in all, here's my stash from the weekend:


Got some Prima sprites, AC Fall felt shapes, Fancy Pants biggest board, a few chipboard books (Maya Road - train, and Basic Grey - bracket), Heidi Swapp silhouette flowers, big blossoms (not shown) and ghost clocks, Prima paintables, assorted paper from Scenic Route, Creative Imaginations, KI, Basic Grey, and K&Co., some Bazzill scalloped cardstock, Tim Holtz GRUNGEBOARD (of course!), 7 gypsies photo corners, Tim Holtz Tonic paper piercer (retractable and so nice!), a Quickutz magnetic book (to store my cookie cutter dies), a mini score-it board, some Cosmo Cricket chipboard lacing cards, and some K&Co. wedding stickers (for cards). Yummy!!!! :-)

Who wants to come over and scrap?

night sweats

I really don't have any business blogging right now! I'm going to Tampa tomorrow for the weekend and I haven't even started packing. I'm so excited - I'm going to Ruban Rouge - a very popular scrapbook store - to take some classes taught by none other than Tim Holtz!! We are going to be able to use (and buy!) some of his brand new products that will not be released until December. I'm BEYOND excited!

I'm meeting up with my friend Christy, whom I met at Lifetime Moments. Yes, that's a message board! We're going to just enjoy a girls' weekend and crop the days away! I will post pictures when I get back.

In other news, this whole week I've been experiencing night sweats. WARNING: if you are a guy who thinks girls should just "glisten" or "perspire," stop reading now! (I don't want to ruin the mystique for anyone!) I have woken up in the wee hours every night this week sweating up a storm. Last night I was so hot, I got up and turned the air down, and when I got back in bed, my pillow was soaked and so was the spot where I had been laying before. Gross! With that and the hot flashes I've been having for some time now, I'm wondering what in the world is going on with my body! (Could I be perimenopausal at age 34? Maybe...)

vote for brian!

Brian and his friends got together and made a horror movie. It's about 6 minutes long and it's for a contest. You can go here to vote.

Just know that there is a bit of blood and gore, so don't watch it if you can't handle that kind of stuff. You can vote without watching it, just go down below the video and click on 5 skulls for the 3 categories.

Today is the last day to vote! Thanks, everyone!