Long Week!

I hope you've had a good week. For me, it's been a long week! I started my weight training again to help build strength in my legs and, gosh does that just wipe me out! We are supposed to start our really long runs tomorrow out at a trail they made from an old railroad track. We went there every weekend last summer since it's so convenient not to mention a very pretty place to run as well! There are all sorts of animals out there (not just the men on bikes either!) I've seen deer, rabbits, different birds etc.. It's a great place to take your mind off of things as well! I have a lot on my mind these days! Closing down my show at work is not as easy as just walking away one day! I've got mountains of stuff I am hoping to accomplish so I don't leave her in a lurch wondering what's going on! They interviewed my potential replacements this past week as well. That meant for a bag of mixed emotions for sure! I was happy to say goodbye to stress but not happy to be saying good bye to my friends, my babies, my life at the school. I took a picture of something creative I did at work while waiting for programs to process so I can do what I have to do for report cards. Take a look! LOL!



Can you see it?! I was bored and had to do something with my idle hands! LOL! Aaaah what insanity will make you do sometimes! LOL! (I hope my boss doesn't read this because I'm sure he'll say "could you be filing"!)

So the other day I was at the grocery store ( my least favorite place around) and I searched high and low for everything on my list (which was conveniently left in the car!) and proceeded to the check out. Do you ever get into the longest line just so you can read the interesting articles in the magazines that are just not worth buying - sort of "rent" them while you wait type scenario?! LOL! Anyways, that would be me standing there checking out the pictures of how Angelina Jolie is the only woman I know of who could be pregnant with twins and still look gorgeous! If that were me they'd have hit me with a stun gun and put me on exhibit at the zoo! "Hey Mom look at the new hippo"! LOL! Anyway, while standing there I was noticing on the "help yourself" line that no matter what you put up there to scan that, if you hesitated, the computer would state, very loudly mind you, "please move your_____" to the belt". HHmmm can you imagine how funny it would be if you put certain items up there "Please put your pigs feet on the belt"? Huh? Say what?! The secret would be out of the bag for someone when it would say "please put your pickles, ice cream and pregnancy test on the belt"! Oooh what a way to tell the neighborhood! LOL! Note to self: don't go to self serve aisle when purchasing female hygiene items! LOL! How fast would the men around you scatter when they hear "Please put your chocolate, tampons, Midol and hammer on the belt"! Oooh that could make for one bad night! LOL! Anyway, have a great weekend! Mine will be fun (not!) while we dig through boxes in the garage!

Until next time....

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

I hope all have a fabulous Memorial Day weekend! I thought I'd share pictures of the military guys in my life! The picture below is of me (I'm a 13 year vet of the Air Force too just chose not to wear my uniform), my 4 brothers and my Dad. The 2 brothers in white hats are retired Navy, the guy in blue is a recruiter in NC and the one in the sailor uniform is actually stationed in Iraq right now! I also included a picture of my Dad when he was younger and in the Coast Guard! The next picture is of my DH (or hunka hunka burnin love!) and of course, my son who is in the Navy and stationed in Guam! I have pictures of my maternal Grandfather who was a doctor in the Army Air Core and was stationed in India! Military seems to run in our blood I guess! LOL!










Enjoy!

Another Productive Night!!

Could it be that my DH is coming home tomorrow and I'm on a roll to finally accomplish my goals for the week in 2 nights?! Nah, that couldn't be it! LOL! It probably is a good part of it though!

I'm finally getting some pages done now that have been waiting patiently in the pile! At a local scrapbook store I got paper that had the name of Breanna's High School printed on it! How cool is that as a start for her High School years scrapbook?! The pictures came out pretty cute! I had taken several of her after the first day of school and we had fun just playing! I got them printed off at a Kodak machine at 4 to a sheet at 2"x3" and they fit perfectly across the bottom. I don't know if you can see it but I also stamped "rebels" in between with SU Versamark and the Jumbo Outline letters. I thought the colors were a little "not so girly" so I added flowers to make it more "girly" for her! I'm pretty pleased!

Now to find the paper I cut to start her science fair pages.......



Leave me a note and tell me what you think of this one - is it girly enough for a girl?!!

Enjoy my creations.....

Card Making Kick Tonight!

I don't know about you but sometimes I get in a slump of being too tired or too stressed to sit down and make new creations! Well tonight was not one of those nights! YEAH! Though I have had plenty of them lately I knew I needed some cards tomorrow so I sat down and my creativity kicked in! I'm pretty pleased with how my cards turned out! Take a look and see what you think!

One of our band teachers at school has decided to join the Army band Core. I'm proud of him for making a tough decision with the world situation being what it is! I made him this card to let him know I wish him good luck! The paper is all SU, the stamps are from Paper Trey! Love that set!



I actually made two of this one - exactly the same! One is for our school nurse. She is the strongest woman I know. She has SO much on her plate of life yet she comes to work and can still smile as she takes care of the smallest little "boo boo's"! The second one is for a kindergarten aide who very recently had major surgery and, thank goodness, is on the road to recovery! While I can't talk to her as much as I'd like, I thought I'd make her a card to let her know I was thinking of her! The solid color paper and ink are all SU, the printed paper is from one of those scrapbook bundles and the ribbon is from my winnings on a blog candy!



I made this card for another kindergarten aide who recently became a U.S. citizen! She's such a happy person and is always smiling! That gave me the perfect idea for a card to congratulate her! Not your typical congratulations card but it's "her"! The paper and ink are SU and the stamp is an old Heidi Swapp stamp I've had for a while!



Okay, now I'm off to bed! I actually have a day off tomorrow but am going in anyway. The kindergarten is putting on a Memorial Day celebration and my "little friend" is playing the part of Yankee Doodle! She's the cutest and giggliest Yankee Doodle ever!

Enjoy my creations.........

Candy is Dandy........

but "Blog Candy" is better! LOL! It's sugar free, calorie free, fat free..... LOL!! This announcement fits right in with my "lifestyle change" and my marathon training (which my lovely cold set back a few days!)!
Go visit
http://lildebstampscrap.blogspot.com/

She is giving away some awesome goodies! While you're at it visit her EBay store she has some cute stuff in there too!

Good luck!

I've Been Busy....

Yep, I've been busy! My friend Chantal had a birthday recently and I made her a card to celebrate it! I had seen some really pretty, but expensive, flowers at Michael's that were light colored and looked like they had been stamped! When I saw them I thought "hey I can do that"! LOL! I just took one of the flowers from the SU Pretties kit, my SU Baroque Motifs swirly stamp and some SU Ruby Red ink (to match the cardstock) - stamped it and voila I had a flower just like the expensive ones at Michael's!! In case you're wondering I used the SU designer paper "Ginger Blossoms"!



I also decided to make her one of my "mother's bracelets". I used all sterling silver beads and Swarovski crystals in her son's birthstone color. The heart shape letter beads spell out *M*O*M*. She was really excited to get it, especially since it came from her son!



Her table is so neat and uncluttered isn't it?! It's always that way! No matter how hard I try my house just doesn't look as neat as hers!

Well, enjoy my creations!

Until next time...........

Out With The Old.....

And in with the new! It's that time of year for me to get my new running shoes! My other shoes are a little worn out - poor baby's! I can still wear them casually (good thing at the price I paid too!) but for training it's time for a new pair! I decided to go with some Adidas brand this time for a couple of reasons.

One - the pair I got sent proceeds to support breast cancer research (I'm a big advocate seeing as I was so close myself - long story!)

Two - they're pink! (Did you read that Vanessa?!!)

Three - when you run long distance and it's warm weather face it - your feet sweat! They stink! This pair is ventilated not only on the top with mesh material but the bottom has ventilation holes as well! Down side to the bottom holes? Don't run in puddles or wear them when it's raining! Ask me how I figured this one out! LOL! I still like them though! I also like the larger toe spread since I have wide feet! Okay, maybe that was TMI but it's one thing I have to look for! LOL! So now my Mizuno's are resting comfortably in the closet and the new Adidas are on the steps always ready to go!

Here's my Mizunos now 392.60 miles, two fun runs and one half marathon later!



My new girls, laced up and ready to go (okay they've already gone.... almost 10 miles but that's only because of my nice snotty cold I picked up in Ohio!- Adidas (gotta come up with a catchy title for these now! LOL!)



In honor of my purple babies I'll have to work on some purple projects when my friends come over today!

My Special Friend - Prayer Request

It's not easy to work in an elementary school without getting attached to a few hundred of them! LOL! Then along comes a special few who drop by every day to give hugs, wave and knock at the windows or tackle you for a hug as you walk across the cafeteria! Something so wonderful about 25 kids with arms open wide begging for hugs! LOL! Anyway, you do meet a really special one once in a while too! For me, this was my little friend "Adria"! A gorgeous little girl with a giggle that defines "infectious"! She is just the sweetest little girl for more then just her cute smile, this little girls attitude towards everything makes all your "troubles" seem so much smaller! Adria is a survivor of stomach cancer who, has had it return for a second round. To look at her skipping down the hallway just waving and smiling to everyone you'd never know the paths her shoes have gone in the past! Okay, you can tell she's really special to me! If she can handle that, what can't "I" handle? Well, with Mom's permission, I have a picture of her to put up and a special request! If you're so inclined could you please pray for Adria, and her family? I know this is taking a lot out of everyone so they sure can use the extra prayers! Thanks in advance!

Here we are - she's the cute one on the left!

Long Time No Blogging - lots to blog about too!

Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I blogged! I have had so much going on it's not funny! This is a busy time of year at school so that's got a lot of my time but there's more! We found out, 100% for sure, that we're moving! Those details are keeping me going too! We're going to be stationed at Wright Patterson AFB in Ohio. They are sending my DH back to get his master's degree! It's a huge compliment to him as they only selected 6 people Air Force wide! I'm so proud of him I could bust! So that's the big news, let me back up and fill you in all the other little details! The last week of April we had company for 3 days, going out to eat and other activities that didn't allow for computer time! Then we had our family reunion in Charlottesville Va and had some family members come back and spend the next week with us too! This was my sister-in-law who is a great photographer and works free lance for a magazine like BHG in China. She left to go home Saturday afternoon but I took off for Dayton Ohio early Saturday morning and just got home late last night! I went house hunting up there! What fun! I did squeeze in a little time for Michael's since I had a 50% off coupon that I couldn't let go to waste - right?! I got lucky and found some great houses so now the hard part! I have to pick one! Then the harder part - choosing the details! Too many options that would all be awesome but you can only have so many bathroom faucets and countertops and cabinets! LOL! I've also started my hard training for the Marathon coming up in September! Well, we're in "phase 1 -no sugar"! That's not an easy task for a person with a big sugar tooth! LOL! I just have to work on my endurance but the souvenier I brought myself home was a nice snotty nose cold! Energy? What energy! LOL! I feel it all being sucked right out of my body! LOL! I saw today in the school job opportunities that my job was posted too! Lots of phone calls coming in about it! I hope they can start soon! I have "stuff" I need to do! LOL! Gotta get ready for the purge/garage sale coming up fast! I'm sort of chatty today but I guess that's because I'm so over due for a post! Enjoy my family reunion picture I'm sharing!

Hale Et Al Family reunion! There was more then just the "Hale's" there! That's the valley of the Blue Ridge Mountains behind us while we were at Monticello.