Still No Heat . . .

After spending $707 yesterday for a new fan for the furnace in Sun City, we still do not have any heat. Put a call into the heating repair place last night and they are supposed to call us back first thing this morning. Thank goodness the temperatures outside have been above average and we can 'suffer' through the house getting down into the mid-60s at night.

On a lighter and albeit warmer note . . . Mark and I are just about done cleaning out the garage. You would not believe all the trips we took to the dump! Each time the PT Cruiser has been stuffed to the ceiling with bags and bags of stuff and other goodies. There is a spot at the dump where you can place items that you want to give away instead of throw away and so far everything we have given away has been taken. How neat is that?! Our own personal way of keeping the Earth a tad bit 'greener' . . .

Heading into Savannah tonight to have New Year's Eve dinner at Paula Deen's The Lady and Sons. Really looking forward to this . . . . I've heard it is amazing food!

Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve everyone . . . .

Okay, So It Has Been Over 2 Months . . .

since I blogged last. Sorry about that. Things have been really weird around Limaland and I have not been in the mood to do much at all. Hopefully my attitude/outlook will improve with the coming year.

Thought I would get back in the habit of doing a Ten on Tuesday feature again, so here goes this week's list. And the topic is . . . 10 Best Moments of 2008

1. Voting for and actually having my candidate elected President
2. The look on Mark's face when he showed up at his 60th surprise birthday party
3. Having Aiden sign that he wanted Mark to turn on the CD player and play music so he could 'dance'
4. Even though the circumstances where sad, driving with Kate to South Carolina/Florida to retrieve some of June's belongings
5. Actually witnessing the oil seep out of the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii
6. Meeting Bob and Sheri
7. Watching Aiden grow before our very eyes and turn from a baby into a toddler
8. Having Fred mix Sex on the Beaches while in Hawaii
9. Shaking hands with Lori as we formed our new partnership
10. Having June fly in for Mark's birthday and not realizing that within a month she would no longer be with us

So there you have it. Have a great day everyone . . .

Summer 2007 Album . . .

Last summer one of my biggest goals was to complete my Summer 2007 album before we left for Hawaii. Well lo and behold, I made my goal with about 5 days to spare! If you want to take a peak, you can see it in its entirety here. I must honestly admit, I love this album. In fact it actually is two albums because I ended up doing 56 8x8 layouts. Also thought I would share some of my favorite layouts that I have never posted on the blog before . . . .

Playing euchre while in the Outer Banks. Used a lot of older SEI papers for this layout which was inspired by a layout in the first KI idea book.

Used some of the new SEI Dill Blossom papers. When my cousin Carole came to visit the end of June, she brought all of these older family prints that were so much fun to look at.

Layout about the motel we stayed at while in San Clemente with Cathe and Jude. I really thought the old KI Fire line went well the Spanish inspired architecture.

Another layout inspired by the first KI idea book. The layout is about my trip to MIS with Mark and our 100+ mph drive around the track. Hated the first lap and got into the 'groove' the second lap.

Layout inspired by a Becky Fleck page map from her latest idea book that I bought this past summer. Funny how you start out thinking a layout is going to look one way and it ends up looking totally different when its finished.

Used Love, Elsie Jack + Abby papers for this layout which was inspired by a sketch found on the Lifetime Moments website.

Fun layout about our night of mixing daiquiris and sitting around the condo laughing all evening.

Both of these layouts were done using old Chatterbox papers. Still love those older room collections. First layout is based on a Valerie Salmon sketch and the second layout is based on a Becky Fleck mini-map.

Layout about my dislike of any and all things fish related!

Layout using some of the SEI Chick-a-Doo papers I got in an LM monthly kit in April. Kind of a scary picture of Cathe but really needed to do a layout about the amazing breakfasts we had will staying at the Kingsleigh Inn.

This has to be one of my absolute favorite layouts in the entire album. Got the idea from the Little Red Scrapbook website and the papers came from one of their monthly kits.

Layout about losing our car at the Columbus airport upon our return from Maine last summer.

Layout was 'lifted' from a layout I found on Two Peas. Love all the different Thickers, chipboard, and stickers I used for the 30s. Well that's it for tonight. Have a good evening everyone!

Right Now It Is . . . .

81 degrees out! Come on folks . . . this is October 13 . . . Maybe 61 degrees but not 81! Went to the Lost Land Corn Maze down in Sidney yesterday. The sky was blue, there was a light breeze in the air, and it was 86 degrees out. Way, way too hot!! And to top it all off, I forgot my camera so I had to resort to taking pictures with my iPhone. How funny is that?

Ended up not scrapping again over the weekend . . . the creative juices simply stopped flowing. This means I will have to share my favorite layout from this summer . . .

Isn't it the cutest picture ever? Leslie and Aiden went with Judy and I down to Westerville for Josh's final performance at band camp the first week in August. Before the show started I was just taking pictures of Aiden as he walked around and I fell in love with this one. He was waving at everyone and everything he saw . . . too too cute! Used two of my favorite products again, Scenic Route's Liberty papers and American Crafts Thickers.

Not a whole lot else going on here. Think I'll head to bed early tonight and DVR Dancing with the Stars and Samantha Who? Monday's are kind of draining . . . . Have a great day everyone!

Will Wonders Never Cease . . . .

I actually scrapped yester-day! Did this layout for the Tarragon Scrap-pers October 1st challenge to use a 3-D embellishment, and I am really happy with the final result. Inspired by this Valerie Salmon sketch which worked perfectly to document the approximate miles we flew this past summer on our vacation to Hawaii. Used mostly American Crafts products from the Travel collection on the layout. But then as quickly as that creative juice flowed, it ceased to flow any more . . . bummer. Hope to scrap some more today . . . we'll see . . .

Not a whole lot else going on here. Mark and I worked in the garage for an hour Saturday. Hate to admit it but we still have boxes that need to be emptied from our move 2 years ago. Got all of his dad's slides up over the garage too. You know I hate to rush into anything; have to remember . . . slow and easy wins the race.

Yesterday was the "Shawnee Showcase" band competition at the high school. Went and watched about four bands perform including our own Shawnee 'Band of One'. My nephew, Josh, now marches in the band, so it is fun getting back into the swing of things with band competitions and the like. Once again this year, the band will be heading to state competition the end of the month. Hopefully they will be able to keep their string of winning performances going with a Superior rating come October 26th. Took my camera to the first competition back the first part of September. Got lots of great shots of Josh and made this layout for my 2008 family album. The theme for this year's show is based around patriotic photos, so Scenic Route's Liberty papers definitely fit the bill. Once again, this layout is a total scraplift of the fantastic Miranda over at Lifetime Moments. You can see her original layout here.

Looks like another beautiful day here today in Limaland. Yesterday it got up into the 80s and there is more of the same forecast for today. Hard to believe that it is the middle of October and it is still 80 and sunny out.

Well folks, I'm out of here . . . Have a beautiful Sunday!

6 Months, 8 Days, . . . .

Long time no see . . . . I really do enjoy blogging . . . . Can't really say why I haven't blogged in eons . . . . Since we last met, life has been hectic, calm, fun, sad, and filled with many beginnings and endings. Over the next couple of weeks I'll fill you all in on all the happenings, the good, the bad, and the ugly . . . .

Been kind of in a scrapping slump of late. I always seem to go in spurts when I scrap and buy like crazy and then usually the scrapping part falls off but the buying part continues. However of late, the scrapping and the buying part both have slumped. I'm still receiving two monthly kits each month, Lifetime Moments and Scarlet Lime, and those have actually been enough to wet my purchasing desires each month. Also have all the new October Afternoon (Good Cheer, Night Light, and Weathervane) on preorder at LM which hopefully will be here shortly. October Afternoon is one of my new favorite products lines and I am definitely looking forward to the preorder arrival.

Well folks, I if I want to scrapping slump to lift, I had best get a move on. I'll leave you all with a layout from last April . . . Aiden eating his birthday cake. Isn't he the cutest thing ever and looking at this layout makes me smile. Hope it does the same for you . . . .

Have a great Saturday everyone! It looks like it will be a beautiful day here!

Just Some Food for Thought . . .

Found this on-line this morning . . . Something I think about every now and then.

Cartoon by Dave Walker.

Streak to the Finish . . .

This NASCAR season Mark and I have started a weekly NASCAR competition. Each race week we have to choose a driver who is going to finish in the top 10 for that week. If your driver does finish in the top 10, then you earn the points that that driver won for that week. Finally, if you choose a driver and he ends up in the top 10, you can't use that driver again as long as you are on a "streak". (Clear as mud, right?) Anyway, right now I am winning! Yesterday I picked a top 10 driver for the second week in a row. So far this year I have had already had one 3-week streak and I am currently watching Mark "eat my dust" with a score of 853 points to 175 points. I played this game last summer on NASCAR.com and by mid-season I was doing quite well. There was even one week when I was on an 8-week streak and stood about 35th in the nation! Not too bad if I do say so myself.

My sister Cathe sent me this link for a cute video/song sung by the Statler Brothers. Enjoy your Monday!

Dreary Day . . .

here in Lima today. Overcast and 45 degrees but what else is new . . . Kate called this morning and admonished me for not keeping this blog up to date . . . and I was doing so well.

Since we last met . . .

• we had our biggest snow storm of the year on March 7 and 8
• Mark and I, along with my brother Dick, went to Bristol for Dale Jarrett's last points race March 14 and 15
  
• watched Aiden for a day when Leslie ran into some sitter problems
  
• spent a day scrapbook shopping with Lori March 21
  
• scrapped a grand total of TWO pages

• Aiden came to visit me at school last week along with both Leslie and Kate
  
• IEP season is in full force
  
• ate out too much


• still working on losing the pounds I put on in February
  
• only 84 days until we leave for Hawaii
• Spring Break has come and gone

So there you have it . . . my life in "bullets"

Seating here watching Race Day on the Speed channel. Still haven't gotten dressed this morning. Have a roast in the crock pot and need to finish up my last two IEPs. Also trying to come up with some inspiration to scrap some. Worked most of yesterday on a mini book that I ended up throwing out . . . I used way too much ink and it ended up getting all over everything. UGH!

Have a great Sunday!

The Creative Juices . . .

sure aren't flowing this weekend. I spent the better part of yesterday afternoon simply staring a the layout I was trying to do with February's 12 on 12 photos. Zip, zero, nada was happening! Tried to take a different approach this morning and still nothing . . . UGH!! Maybe someone is trying to tell me something since I really need to be working on my 2nd trimester grades which are due next Wednesday . . . .

Well yesterday brought to the end a unique era in my life . . . . I ported my Alltel phone number over to AT&T. Loving my iPhone and now I have my old phone number back.

So, since I am in a creative slump of sorts, thought I would share this layout with you all that I did last week-end. Got the idea from the March issue of Creating Keepsake and a layout by Elizabeth Kartchner. Love the large circle and I even pulled out the ole sewing machine to stitch around the outside of the circle.

Well, I should get going on with those grades . . . Have a great day everyone!