Sweater Totes!

So, I started making these really great sweater tote bags!
I've posted a few in my Etsy Shop, if you want to check them out! They are 100% wool and great to use as a purse or a craft tote (especially for you knitters!).(Sold!)
I'm offering FREE Shipping in my Etsy Shop through Dec. 19! Check it out!

Remember that Flashback Friday where I said that I have an ugly sweater that was my grandpop's? Guess I know what I'll do with it now!

If you have an old sweater that you would like for me to stitch up for you... feel free to contact me! (100% wool works best)

Flashback Friday #4

So... I was totally planning on sharing a really embarrassing picture of myself from my teenage years... but I didn't find it... so I will save that one for next time! I think I know where it is but don't have time to dig it out right now.

Here is a picture of me and my dad taking a ride on the lawn mower when I was about 4!This was definitely the 80's! Notice the car in the background (and the old school mower)!

Well, I have a busy day. It's "light up night" in my hometown... so we are going to go out and decorate my parents truck (from my dad's business) for the parade.......... My nephew spent the night here and we have to get ready to go. Not to mention I have to go find my cat. She just threw up a couple of minutes ago (from eating tinsel off of the tree)... I almost barfed myself... so I want to go check on her and make sure she didn't ralph elsewhere in the house! I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Oh... real quick... remember back HERE when I decided to start to try to lose some weight again? Well... I weighed myself (on the same scale as before) and I've lost 5LBS in a month! WOOT! Technically I know that its not safe to lose much more than a pound a week or so... but you have to take into consideration time of day, what I'd already had to eat or drink, etc. before I weighed myself... So it obviously isn't 100% accurate. But still! YEEEEEE!! 15 more to go (I hope!).

Get Your Own Font... For FREE!

Yesterday I was just nosing around in the blog world... and happened upon this blog that will turn your own handwriting into a font that you can download to your computer... FOR FREE! They also have other fonts that you can download. I haven't tried this myself, I am waiting to show it to Cory to see if he would know how to download, etc (I don't want to mess up the computer!)... but I am kind of interested in getting my own font made! Looks like it might be a little challenging... but if you're interested... check it out! It looks cool! I will let you know if I end up doing it!
Check it out HERE!

I also wanted to blog about this great give away at Busy Bee Lifestyle! They are offering the chance to win a free Personalized Stamp from Invitation Jane! (I LOVE snail mail... so I'm a stationery, pen, sticker, stamp FREAK!) Go on over there and check it out! They also have a lot of great discounts and deals that you might be interested in!

Christmas Shopping!!

Have you completed your Christmas Shopping yet? Maybe you haven't even started! I have gotten a few things... and I'm working on some projects... but I think I have a pretty good start.

I just wanted to share with you this awesome piece of pottery that my mom made... She threw it on a potter's wheel and then hand built the face. It is so funky and unique! Of course my photography skills leave much to be desired... but you get the idea!

Oh... did I mention it's for sale?
Grab it before it's gone! It would make a great gift!!
**SOLD**

A Milestone in Our Lives...

Today marks 6 months since I married my best friend!

(Tonight, we are going out for dinner to celebrate! Yea!)

HAPPY 6 MONTH ANNIVERSARY CORY!

I LOVE YOU!

**Update**
I just got flowers from my sweetie!
What a nice surprise (other than the dog jumping on the delivery lady! oops!)!!!

Flashback Friday #3

As the holidays approach, I am reminded of years gone by. Thanksgiving was always something I looked forward to... the LONG (2 hr) drive to Grammie and Grandpop's cabin to visit with my mom's side of the family. Us kids would run around and play... drive the adults (mainly my grandpop) bonkers until it was time to sit and eat. The wood stove was always a million degrees, which made us zonk out not long after the meal... Man, I remember always feeling so suffocated in that heat!!! As we got a bit older... we would play cards and games a lot, sometimes even with the women... and my grandpop also aquired a slot machine at one point... it was a nickel slot machine, old fashioned and oh-so-cool! We were limited on the amount of time we could play on it (and had to follow his "house rules"-LOL!). Back then I just couldn't understand what the big deal was... but now I realize that we were pretty young (and there were cousins younger than myself as well)... and we probably would've beaten the thing to a pulp had we been given free reign. Needless to say... it was a TREAT to play that slot machine! I'm not sure what ever happened to it. Wish I would've gotten it after my grandpop passed away... that would've been neat! Come to think of it (kind of off the subject)... I don't really know what I DO have of his. I know I have an old, ugly sweater that was his... but I don't think I got that as a keep-sake... I think it was passed down to my dad who NEVER wears sweaters, and the sentimental fool that I am, couldn't bear to see it go to Goodwill. Other than that... I have an old fashioned picture of Grammie and Grandpop--that really WASN'T old fashioned... it was just one of those novelty pics you get at the Boardwalk or wherever. I have an old spoon and recipe card that was his mother's... which I would like to put in a shadow box one of these days before it gets ruined! Hmmm... I really don't think I have anything of his other than that... which all of a sudden makes me teary-eyed. We were never close... at all. He always seemed to be kind of stern and harsh... the kind of guy who you couldn't eat potato chips around for fear of crunching too loudly... or heaven-forbid you would scrape your fork against your teeth as you were eating something and pulling the fork out of your mouth! But when I look back, as I'm now an adult... I really don't see those things as all that ridiculous--maybe because they've rubbed off on me and become my pet peeves as well! :) I regret not having been able to know him better. He died from cancer when I was almost 19... my mom had her hand over his heart when it stopped beating. I often wonder what he would think of all of us now.... grown up... married... some with kids... some gone off to college... some never finishing college! The political arena these days would probably horrify him--but I find myself wondering what he would say about it all? Wondering if he would be more affectionate toward his great grand-babies than he was toward any of us grand-kids? I wonder if he would be proud of us... each in our own ways? The last day I ever saw him... he was in a home (before they brought him to his own home to live his final days). I was such an idiot teenager. Sure, you think you're all that, grown up at 18... but looking back--I see what a kid I was... and what an opportunity I missed... just even to tell him that I loved him. I know we shouldn't live with regrets... but that's a hard one to just let go....
So for today's Flashback Friday... I am sharing with you a picture of my grandpop and me. Unfortunately, it's one of the only ones we have together... but I guess that just makes it all the more special!As you gather with friends and family this Thanksgiving and Christmas season... please don't forget to tell them that you love them. You don't know when you will have the chance to again in this life... I only pray that someday I will have the chance to make it right in Heaven.

For more Flashback Friday--visit Tia's Blog!

Mom's 50th... Take 1... and 2!

The past couple of months have been full of planning for my mom's 50th. We had not one.. but TWO parties for her... and boy was it hard not to want to spill the beans about the second. It was a surprise party! We ended up pulling it all off and scaring the crap out of her! So I thought I'd share some pictures!

Here is my niece helping make a Pinata for the surprise party. She did a great job! I made the actual Pinata cast with the newspaper, balloons, etc... and then she came over to my house once it was dry and helped me put the tissue paper on it.

Here is some family at the First party... just hanging out.
And here are me and my nephews lighting the candles on the cake!

And here is my mom opening a present! (Of course she was surrounded by the kids... they can't resist "present time"! I don't blame them!) (She loves the Johnny Carson show)

I didn't get any pictures of her blowing out the candles since I was the one who delivered the cake to the table!

Of course, since we had THIS party... Mom didn't have any inkling that we would do a party the next weekend as well!! It was a lot of planning and such... but it turned out GREAT!

Here are some pics of the decorations I made... we also decorated with hay bales and we all wore plaid shirts and jeans (my mom's trademark outfit).

It's hard to tell... but that is bandanna wrapping paper that I used for the letters! And those are chickens and eggs too!
This was our version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey--except we made it "Willy" (one of my mom's horses). The kids played this... as you can see all of the tails were pinned pretty much ALL over the horse!

Here is my nephew taking a swing at the Pinata! It was a hard one to break... but after the kids took many turns, they got it down! (He knocked the head off first, as you can see it dangling there!)

This was the cake we had made with a picture of her horse Coby...

And last, but certainly not least... my mom's priceless expression as she walked into the party!
GOTCHA!
We love you mom! Hope you enjoyed your 50th!!!

Flashback Friday #2

I can't believe I haven't posted anything since Saturday. I meant to... I guess I just got busy. My mom's birthday was on Monday... so I was back in my hometown for that (and a meeting). I went for a bike ride with my cousin earlier in the week. We went 15.5 Miles! It was the first time I had been on a bike since I was probably 12! It was a lot of fun... however, we totally didn't realize that we should ride on the Rails to Trails... and we rode on the side of the road. Which is legal, if you use the correct hand signals and obey the road laws... but MAN... there were some crazy hills and once we found that we could ride the Rails to Trails... it was a lot nicer! And it was nice to be around the scenery and not worrying that a car (or 8 HUGE DUMP TRUCKS IN A ROW) may whiz by just a bit too close for comfort! It felt good to be out riding... unfortunately, the snow will soon fly and the bikes will have to be put away. We are hoping to get a couple of more rides in though before the weather gets unbearable.
Hmmm... also... Cory had Veteran's Day off. That was nice. We lounged around and did a little bit of running (errands... not literally running). It made me feel like yesterday was Monday instead of Thursday! I got a bug in my butt to clean out the guest room a little better... so that was my main project yesterday. I still have some things packed in boxes. Our house is small with little storage... and I really don't have many shelves to put things (especially DVDs or CDs)... so the guest room has kind of become a "catch all". I finally made the effort to get it under control though.... and although it isn't exactly how I want it AT ALL... it is OK for now. Things are put away. Clean sheets on the bed. I organized, threw things away, straightened up and vacuumed. That was nice. Today... I am going to clean the bathroom!

Anyway--back to the Flashback Friday!!! Since I went on a bike ride Tuesday with my cousin... I thought I'd share a couple of pictures. One, from when we were little (of course, I have many more... but this is the one that I have on my computer). And then one from Tuesday... on our ride.
Here we are on my first birthday... That's me there... with the party hat on.. having a BLAST! And that there is Meghan, held by our grandma. I think perhaps Meghan is sad that it is not HER birthday... notice the semi-scowl on her face. LOL! (Actually, she was probably just pooping!)
And this... is a picture of us on Tuesday. Now... of course I have MANY other pictures of us growing up... and they are much more hilarious than this one... but since we actually have a picture from Tuesday... I thought I'd share it. Cory thinks we should be embarrassed. He said we look "special"... but really, we were just having a lot of fun... and sometimes having fun means acting like a goober! And of course, we wore helmets and bright clothes! Better safe than sorry!! And if you can't have fun.. what can ya have!? HAHA!!

Check out more on Flashback Fridays... HERE!

I gotta go clean my bathroom! Happy Friday!!

The Big Five-Oh... on Monday.

Monday is my mom's 50th. Since Monday is not a convenient day for a birthday party... we are having one tonight. Just a small family get-together at my sister's. My aunt and cousin drove up for the weekend, so that'll be fun. The menu... Lasagna, Salad, Bread... and CAKE! Guess who got to make the CAKE!? ME! ME! ME! By no means am I a cake artist. You won't see me on the next Food Network Cake Challenge... or on Cake Boss... or whatever that show is. However, I do think it's fun to have a special cake on your special day. Here are a couple that I have made... one for my brother in law and one for my nephew. Like I said before.. I am not a cake artist! However, that's not the point. Soooo... it being my mom's 50th and all, I thought I'd try my hand at something else. (Let me just say that all of the cakes I make are free-hand... I don't even look at a picture... so that should count for something right??)
My mother is a unique person, to say the least. She gives, gives, GIVES to everyone else and rarely does for herself... unless it comes to her horses... HAHA! Of course, I guess that means she gives to her horses and not really herself... although it all comes around in the end because the horses make her happy! Anyway... she is also VERY creative (note the Halloween Costumes in my previous post) and doesn't hesitate to paint faces, signs, decorate, design, etc. etc. etc. for anything that comes up! She is also an awesome cook (Mmmm... Potato Salad)... and has a hilarious sense of humor (Although I didn't think so when I was a kid and she'd start singing in public or perhaps even more embarrassing... when she would say "Walk this way!!" and start walking in a deep, exagerated lunge through the aisles of the grocery store.... oh the humiliation!!!). Anyway... even though it's not quite her birthday... I'd like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the best Mom in the world!!! I hope you like your cake!! I made it just for you!

Flashback Friday #1

I happened upon THIS blog through another friend... and thought it would be fun to join into her Flashback Friday Meme. So today... I would like to share with you a picture from my very first Halloween!!
That's my sister on the left... The Chicken... and I am on my great grandpa's lap... The Egg. (My cousin is on the right). My mom was the AWESOMEST at making costumes and having us do creative things when we were younger. I always thought that this Chicken/Egg Costume was a cool idea. If I remember correctly (from other pictures)... she even had my sis pull me in a little red wagon that had a nest of hay in it! Of course, at the time I had no idea......... thank goodness, since my sister was only 2 and I can imagine she didn't quite grasp the concept of GENTLE when it came to babies (otherwise known as ME!) :) Haha! This picture is special to me because it is one of the only ones that I have with my great grandpa. He passed away a number of years ago and I miss having the opportunity to have appreciated him as I became an adult. My great grandma is still kickin though! A whopping 93! Or is it 94? Either way... she is still hanging in there... although I believe she is ready to go anytime the Good Lord wants to take her!
Check out the other Flashback Fridays on Tia's blog... and check back here next week to see what I'll come up with next... or heck... come join in the fun and post your own!!

A Break In!!!!

We had a break in on Sunday... no, not at our house... but our Chicken Coop!! Cory had left earlier in the morning to travel to Buffalo, NY for a Bills Game (they lost!)... and I was vegging, waiting until I had the motivation to get ready for church. I heard the neighbor's dog barking non-stop... but didn't think anything of it really. She does that sometimes. But a little later there was a pounding on our door... and when I finally made it to the kitchen, I saw that my neighbor was up at the chicken coop. I went out and he said that all of our chickens were in his yard and he had to lure them back over with bread! Something had busted right through the wire of the coop. It's odd though because whatever it was didn't hurt any of the chickens. It did, however, steal an apple that Cory had put in there the night before... because about 8 feet away from the coop laid an apple that was all marked up by teeth (I would assume). We can't figure out what animal would be strong enough to cut through the wire, but only care to take an apple and not touch the chickens? Maybe the neighbor's dog spooked whatever it was enough that they dropped the apple and took off? I am thinking a skunk. But would a skunk be able to get through the wire? Surely it wasn't a raccoon or coyote... they'd go after the chickens, wouldn't you think? So baffling! Here is a picture of the coop (from the inside). Our neighbor propped the bricks up in the hole with tarp straps so that the chickens couldn't get back out. But you can see where the wire was ripped open. I rounded up the girls into the coop--which was a TREAT... let me tell you. I think whatever it was literally scared the CRAP out of the chickens... lets just say my shoes didn't enjoy the experience. Cory's parents came over to help patch it up. I probably could have done it myself, but I would have been unsure if I was doing it right... and I just felt better to know that his dad was able to look at it and see what he thought. The girls stayed inside all of that day... and boy were they happy to get out the next! Silly hens!

Anyway! I have been working on my Christmas cards. I thought I'd show you a sneak peek. I looked at Michael's for some certain cards and items that I was hoping to use... with no luck. Not to mention, I didn't have a ton of money. So I am making due with using some Christmas wrapping paper and some odds and ends that I had in my craft stuff! They aren't what I was hoping for... but they are still OK. I will try to do better for next year! I also know that it's weird... I used pewter ink on silver paper... but I actually think it looks kind of cool in real life... and it was the only color I had! I would like to have done a two-color block print... but I'm just starting and I will save that for another day when I have more time to plan my approach!

This past weekend, my niece came to my house for a sleepover. We played games and watched Little Women and read books. She helped me out with some projects I've been working on. It was nice to have "girl time"... and we even blow-dried her curly hair and took a straight-iron to it... I couldn't believe how long it was!

And lastly, I would like to share this LINK to a cookie recipe on the Weight Watchers site. Last year, I did WW's and lost 17 lbs in 3 months. (That was with barely exercising--I loathe exercising!!!). I've done pretty well at keeping it off... until recently. I've just kind of had some ups and downs emotionally and my comfort is in food. It's so easy to let it get out of control and I have gained about 5 - 7 lbs back. I am not so thrilled about that... so I am starting WW's again. Except not "officially". I don't have the money to pay WW's... so I am just using info that I remember from before to try to get back on track. Also, Cory is a math whiz... so he helps me translate the nutrition labels into the correct amount of Points and we've determined how many I should have per day, etc. This coming weekend is a birthday dinner for my mom's 50th... so I'm saving up my extra points for that... since I know we'll be having lasagna and salad, bread, etc. But I am determined to be smart about it... and so far, so good. I was making cookies for Cory yesterday (for his lunches)... even though he insists that I don't have to (he knows it's a struggle for me to not want to eat the dough or sample the finished product and he wants to be supportive). But I like to make him things... it makes me happy. So I honest to goodness... made his cookies without even licking the spoon!!! But it definitely got me thinking that I could go for sweets. (I am a sugar addict!!!). So I looked up recipes on the WW's site and found the recipe for mini chocolate chip cookies. I made them... and granted, they aren't like grandma used to make! But they sure take the edge off when you need something sweet! 2 cookies = 1 point... and I thought GOOD GRIEF! When you measure the cookies onto the cookie sheet, you use a rounded HALF teaspoon! Talk about TINY! But in reality, they aren't THAT small... and 2 small cookies is just about the same size as 1 cookie would normally be... so you get the illusion of eating more for less points. You can see how small they are sitting on my cooling rack.. 14 cookies would normally take up the whole rack! I actually had 19 cookies on the cookie sheet in the oven (while I was taking this pic)... so they didn't even take that long to bake! If you are trying to watch what you eat, but still need a little something sweet... I recommend these cookies. :)

I am off to work on some more Christmas Cards and get ready to eat some lunch! My cousin is coming to visit me this evening! I am excited to have some company!!