Shocked

There was a post on one of the message boards I go to how someone was shocked about some of the comments she read about The Duggar Family having their 17th child.

Personally, I'm not that surprised. Here at work, people have made snide, and rude comments about that too. And many other things. You would be shocked at what you hear in the breakrooms at lunch. I've taken to wearing my ipod so I can tune most people out and read.

I was talking to Leslie last Friday after the missionaries came over and we were talking about work, and how at work, our co-workers are great, but they don't get us.

I have honestly stopped talking about myself, and the things I do at work, because I don't want to hear their comments. When people used to ask what I did on the weekend, I would tell them scrapbooking, sewed an apron, or whatever I did.

Now I just say I stayed close to home, it was a relaxing, nice weekend or some variation of that. I got tired of hearing, "How do you find time to scrapbooking?" "You sewed an apron? Why do you need an apron?" "You should be out drinking and partying with your friends, your young." No, that isn't me. At. All.

Here at work people talk about shopping, and hiding their purchases from their husbands, so they don't know. They are shocked that I don't do that. I actually ASK my husband just about every single time I want to spend money. It feels right to me. Someone asked me recently when I get to see Jason, since he works overnights, and I said, that we see each other in the mornings, I have breakfast on the table for him when he comes home, and then he sleeps during the day and then we do supper together. They were shocked about that, and said "Why don't you have him cook for himself? He's old enough. I ENJOY taking care of my husband. That is one of the little things that I can do for him is feed him when he comes home.

They were also shocked that we eat all of our meals together and at the table. I think that is very important. We didn't use to, and now that we do, I love it. I wouldn't change that for anything. Speaking of food, my co-workers are shocked that I bake my own bread, how do I find time for that? And that I bring lunch every single day. How do I find to do that? Very rarely do I go out and buy lunch, when I do it's a treat for me.

I guess, I do what I feel is important to do for me and my family. It's ironic that the people who say that they have no time to do anything talk about all of the different TV shows are shocked that I don't watch them. I would much rather be scrapbooking, baking bread, baking goodies, reading, and spending time with my husband than watching TV.

Sheila posted on her blog that she feels she would love to live in the 50's. You know, I really think that is what people need. Go back to the simple life. Don't be so focused on me, me, me. ENJOY your family. ENJOY your time. Make the most of your time. Be devoted to your husband, making life easier for him. I feel that is what I'm here to do. I have SO MUCH to improve there, but I'm working on it. Slowly and surely.

Thinking again

I've been thinking again about starting up an Etsy store. Except this time, I think I'm actually going to do it, lol.

I did some searching today and a lot of the scrapbook-ey type things that are on there are completely different than my style. So I'm thinking that I need to make up some things. I have a TON of stuff that I have bought to alter and create and think I'm going to do that now. When I was selling my altered paint cans here at work I made up a ton of them, and sold quite a few. I do have some left that I haven't sold. I think I'm going to pull them out and see if I can't add something to them to give them a little punch. Who knows if they will sell or not, but hey it's worth a try since they are just sitting upstairs, lol. I also altered a couple picture frames too.

Then comes the hard part of pricing stuff. I want my prices to be reasonable and not scare people away, but also I don't want to undervalue myself.

I already created an Etsy account too. So that part is done. Next part, taking pictures, and listing items. I think this is going to a be a fun adventure. :)

Projects!

Here are some projects that I have been working on. :)

The first is a 3-ring binder that I altered to put print and put my blog in. From now on I'm going to print it out at the end of each month and put it in. :) The color is funky in the second pic, but you get the idea. :)

I bought some dividers to put in there, they were plain white, and flimsy, so I used them as a template and made my own. Much studier!!

The last thing that I'm going to post is an altered recipe card holder. It was one of those flimsy plastic 3x5 recipe card holders. All I did was add a different pattern of paper on each side to dress it up some. Of course I also had to toss some bling on there, lol. Inside I'm putting some of my favorite bible verses, quotes, compliments, pick-me-ups so to speak on colored recipe cards.














A real entry is coming soon. :)

Weekend!

I meant to update my blog last night and this morning, but just didn't get around to it.

Friday night with the missionaries went REALLY well. When the missionaries come over, they always have a third person with them, a member from the church. On Friday is was Leslie, a gal that I used to do room reservations for at work. We hit it off really well, we seem to have so much in common!

The missionaries went over the 10 Commandments, and Leslie shared other versus, and personal experiences, something that some of the other people that have came over really haven't. It was great. I also got the "Gospel Principles" book. That book is one that we use on Sunday in the class. Nice to have the book. :) The missionaries are going to see if they have a Doctrine & Covenants book, so I can read those. Oh, they also talked about proclamations, which reminds me I need to look up and read the two that they mentioned.

The nearest LDS bookstore is in Oakdale, which is a ways away, but it seems like Jason and I have been going up to the Cities often, so it shouldn't be a big deal to stop over there.

The missionaries and Leslie will be coming back over next Friday at 7 p.m. Actually, I don't know what missionaries will be coming over yet, because on Tuesday is their transfer call and either one of both of them could be moving on. I'm looking forward to them coming back over. :)

Today Jason and I ran around and did errands. I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up a pattern, fabric and everything I need to make a tote bag. I realized that I'm not well versed enough in sewing to figure out what I'm doing, LOL. Ma, I need your sewing expertise help!!! I packed everything away, and I'm hoping that when we come up north next your willing to help me figure it out. This is one, that I don't even want to attempt to try to do over the phone, LOL. I might sit down again and try to figure it out, see if I re-read it if it will help, but I don't think it will, lol.

In other news, Harry Potter 7, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" arrived on my doorstep today at 5 p.m. when the mail arrived. I was stalking the mail man waiting for it, and the mail usually comes between 2-3 p.m. I was antsy, LOL. I'm only 3 chapters into it, not far at all. I hope to finish it this week.

I also need to post pictures again. I have some pictures from the Twins game that I want to share and I finished my faith, note card keeper thing. Need to take pics of a few things to post too. Maybe sometime this week. I hate uploading to photobucket lately, it seems like it takes forever these days. Really need to look into switching our internet from Charter.

Anyway, I better head to bed soon, so I can get up early for church tomorrow. I'm looking forward to going. :)

Time Away

Jason and I went up to the cities again July 12-14.

On July 12, I went to my first Twins game!!! It was so much fun!! We sat right behind the Twins bullpen so I got to see Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and a bunch of other people up close while they were warming up. Plus I found out that we sat right behind Joe Mauer's family! How cool is that!! We were in Section 134, Row 2, Seats 3 & 4 so we had really good seats. :) We had so much fun that we are looking to go to another game, possibly in September, depending on what seats we can get.

Other than going to the Twins game we went to IKEA, and the Mall of America. Then on Saturday we met up with Justin & Tiffany and did lunch with them in honor of Jason & Justin's birthdays. It was fun.

Then on Sunday we went to see "Transformers." I didn't think that I would get into it, but it was surprisingly good. I really enjoyed it. I can see why Jason grew up loving the Transformers.

I did go to church again on Sunday, it was nice. I'm looking forward to going back this coming Sunday. The missionaries are coming over on Friday night to meet with me again. That means I gotta bake brownies tomorrow night. I'm starting to run out of things to bake. Anyone have any good recipes?

Other than the usual, not too much going on. I've been spending a bit of time in my scrapping area again. I'm working on altering something, I will post the results when I'm done.

Disappointed

I am very disappointed in book stores. Jason and I went up to the cities over the last couple of days for his birthday (had a great time, will post more on that later) and I am so disappointed in Borders and Barnes & Noble.

I've been looking for some LDS books. Really, anything, I just want to read more and learn more. I've specifically been looking for a study guide for the Book of Mormon. I have found a couple online, but I really wanted to flip through the books and see what they have. I wasn't expecting a huge selection of books at either place, but was greatly disappointed.

This is what I found at Borders:

I found a total of 4 books. The last four books on the shelf.
"Joseph Smith Rough Stone Rolling"
"Leaving the Saints" (sounded anti-lds to me)
"No Man Knows My History"

There were SHELVES of Catholic, Buddhism, Muslim, and just about any other religion you can think of. There were even two shelves of atheist books. But a total of 4 books (3 different titles) is all they carry that is LDS? I thought that that section might continue elsewhere, nope. I even asked, that was it.

Once we got back into Roch, I decided to go and look at Barnes & Noble. They didn't have as large of a religion section as borders and it was arranged by author. Jason and I skimmed all the titles and didn't find one book.

I went to our local Christian Book Store website a few days ago and all of the books there sounded anti-LDS. I'm just getting so frustrated. I know you can order books online, but I want to read the backs of them, flip through them, see if I think they will "fit" me. It's hard to do that online, when I'm having trouble even finding a description.

I'm going to have to ask the missionaries tomorrow, when I'm at Church to see if there is a local book store. I googled all I could, and couldn't find anything. So I'm thinking no, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Reflections on New Year Resolutions

At the end of December, I posted http://amberschmitt.blogspot.com/2006/12/looking-forward-to-2007.html that entry. New Years Resolutions. Just for fun, here they are again, but with updates on how I'm doing on them.

Declutter
This I'm doing pretty good on. I've gotten rid of a bunch of scrapbooking stuff, and other non-necessary stuff from the house. Less is more. I love that. The house feels so much more open, I love how it feels.

Work towards being completely debt free.
We are making huge progress on this, and we are still working on this. It will be a while before we are completely there, but we are making huge strides. I'm proud of us. :)

Keep the money that we put in savings in there.
We are doing good here too. We opened up an ING Direct account and put a very nice chunk of change in there. We also have a nice chunk of change in our regular savings account.

Start a retirement plan.
This I haven't done yet. A good reminder to do so.

Aim towards working part time.
This might be a reality here soon. I keep getting good vibes from my manager, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up. If it's in God's plan for me, it will happen. :)

Be more thankful for what I have rather than looking at what I don't have. (Essentially be more positive)
This is hard to justify, maybe I should ask Jason his opinion on this one, lol. I think that I am doing better on this. I really do believe that I am more thankful for what we have, and I'm not looking so much as what we don't have. I think part of it does go back to the decluttering, and not wanting more stuff, it seems like the less stuff the more freeing it feels...simple is better.

Be more creative and scrapbook more.
This one I'm not doing so good at, lol. I haven't really scrapbooked that much yet this year, but when I do seem to, I sit down and do multiple pages, so that's a good thing. Being more creative, does writing in my blog count? lol, I have written in my blog more times already this year than last year total. :)

Continue my weight loss journey
I'm working on this. I have my moments. I need to get back to this full force and do better. I know I can get down where I want to be. I just need to resist temptation.

Make more from scratch. Or should I say attempt to make foods from scratch? LOL. Bread is number one on my list. :)
This I'm doing great at! I'm now making all of our bread, and also our hamburger and hot dog buns from scratch. I've also tried out new recipes, which are healthy ones, so I'm working at this. I do enjoy trying out new recipes and cooking, I just need to do it more often.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now last year I also chose 4 thinks that I wanted to learn how to do in my home that I haven't done yet.

1. Declutter, simplify, organize. At work people tell me that I am so organized. And there I am. At home, I am to a certain extent, but I know I can do much better. This year I am going to do that. :)
Simplifying and decluttering is going great. With decluttering and simplifying things, it seems like the organizing piece comes easier since there is less "stuff." Of course, this is something that I can always continue to improve on. :)

2. Cook from scratch. Now, Jason and I have been doing this, and I have certain foods that I can make from scratch, and since starting my weight loss journey we have done this more, but I need to learn how to cook healthy meals. I think my first task will be to make bread and rolls. There have been some wonderful recipes posted on Scrappy Chic, so I'm going to try those. I am going to make good use out of that bread machine that Jason and I got for a wedding gift. :)
Like I was saying above, I'm now making all of our bread, buns, and hot dog and hamburger buns. Delish! I'm also working on trying new healthy recipes. I love trying new recipes, and Jason has been doing great in trying new foods that are healthy for him. :)

3. Work towards being debt free. Jason and I started on this, and did great, but now we need to continue to do it and stick with it. That means limiting eating out (more expensive now since we don't do fast food) and meal planning.
We are doing pretty good on this. We have built up two different savings accounts and are planning on keeping money in there and adding more money to them. We haven't really limited the eating out there, which we do need to do. We still don't do fast food or pop, which is WONDERFUL!!! I was on the meal planning kick for a while, but kinda fell off the wagon. I need to get back on the wagon, because it was easy knowing what we were making for supper and we ate out less then. So need to get back to it.

Now I'm going to to a fourth one as well :P

4. Be a more Godly woman. Let's just say that I have never really followed the His word, and have realized that I need Him in my life. I want to be a wife that Jason will be proud of, increase my homemaking skills and I know that I can't do it on my own, I need Him in my life and to follow His word. Doing so will only make me a better person. :)
I'm going to be completely honest here and say that I forgot that this was one of my New Year's Resolutions. Who knew the amazing journey that He would be leading me on. I can't tell you how much just meeting with the missionaries, reading and studying the Book of Mormon and the Bible have helped me. It truly is life changing. I knew that it would impact me, but it has impacted me so much, I can't believe how much happier I am now. In addition to reading the Bible and the Book of Mormon, I'm working my way through the book "Created to be His Help Meet" by Debi Pearl. Basically on how to be a Godly wife to Jason.

I can't believe that I ran across these today and I couldn't give up the chance to give a mid-year update, although yes, I do realize mid-year was in June and it's now July, but hey, it works for me, lol. :) So now I challenge you to give an update on your New Year's Resolutions.

Ramblings

It's been a bit since I've posted an actual entry, one that wasn't all pictures, lol. :)

I have been slacking off again in areas of importance. Specifically reading. Well, I've been reading my normal books, but just not the Book of Mormon or the Bible. The two books that I should be reading. I've read a couple verses here and there, but that's it. I think that is part of the reason I have felt a bit out of sorts. I know that I need to read them to stay on the path...and I'm going to pick them up again and do some studying. I'm still undecided about going to Church tomorrow. If I wake up early enough, I'm going to go. I haven't been sleeping that well at all; I've been having very weird, strange, almost haunting dreams. Hate them. I hope they go away.

On a positive not, I realized today that I have been praying tons. Just various times throughout the day....that is not normal for me. It seems almost natural for me, whereas it seemed wierd at first. I think that is one thing that helps keep me grounded, calm. Can't quiet explain it. I need to remember the feeling that it brings me, when things get tough and I'm headstrong, stubborn and refuse to ask for help. He is always there for me. Doesn't matter how large, small, trivial, or giving thanks, He is there no matter what.

Now onto other things. I have actually scrapbooked the last couple of nights. On Thursday night I fiinished 3 layouts, and yesterday I put together a board book kit that I had. That was a Christmas one, lol, yup doing Christmas stuff in July. :) Tonight I sat down to play with stuff, but wasn't really in the mood, so I ended up not doing anything. I finished reading my book and decided to update my blog.

I went shopping today at Hobby Lobby, I actually went there for adhesive, and left with paper instead. How does that work? One of my all time favorite lines of paper was in a pack, and it was half off....all paper packs were half off...and they had the Bazzill Bling paper and the shape paper, and I needed more Black & White Cardstock. But I'm set now, as if I wasn't set with paper before. Paper is one of my weaknesses, lol.

After that I went to the LSS, TJ's. My scrapbook store, lol, if only I owned it, LOL. That would be so much fun. Anyway, besides the point there. Jeff, one of the owners is working and I ask if they will be carrying a specific product, and he doesn't know, but calls his wife Jackie. I hear him say something like, "No, I haven't, but I will when she checks out." After he gets off the phone, he comes over to me, and asks if I read the newsletter, and of course I have, lol, and asks if I've given any thought to about joining the design team. I thought about it very briefly when I seen the newsletter, but pushed it aside. I tell Jeff, that I hadn't really thought about it, but I'm not that good with layouts, so I don't think I will. He says that it's not all layouts, and handed me an application and said to think about it. I skimmed it and say "10 layouts" wow...I don't know. He said that is for people they don't know, and to think about it.

So now I'm seriously thinking about applying for the team. I figure it's two projects a month, to be assigned at the meetings, those are monthly meetings, and it seems like it will be really organized. I'm really thinking that I'm going to call the store and talk to Jackie and ask her a bunch of questions, specifically if I can do altered stuff, lol. My LO's are not anywhere near the quality to be displayed in a store. Especially the ones I've done lately, lol.

Fourth of July Pics!

Here are some pics from the Fourth of July!

These pictures of corn are out by Jason's parents house.

This is Kya, Joe's youngest.

Another one of Kya.

This is a flag hanging from the barn at Jason's parents house.

And finally, Jason and Cassidy. Moments like this show me how good of a dad Jason would be....he truly loves kids. :)

Answers

Ok, here are the answers to the questions.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Five years......let's see, hopefully a mom, would love to be living in the country somewhere. Realistically, we would more than likely still be in this house, but the bathroom and kitchen would be updated and so would the outside of the house. I would be working part time. I see myself much happier than I am now, and actively attending church and being content with my life.

In Ten?
Ten years, wow. By then I would hopefully be a mom, as long as it's in God's plan for me. I hope to be living in the country somewhere by then. Either outside of Roch, up north by my family, or even out of state somewhere. As long as it's the country I wouldn't care. By this time I would be either a stay at home wife or mom. Jason and I would be close to completely debt free (house is the only think I'm thinking that we would be paying on still). I would be active in church/community doing volunteer work, enjoying my time.

What do you like best about your current job (or previous jobs).
Let's see...what do I like best about my current job. I love creating PowerPoint presentations, signs, fliers, documents, spreadsheets, doing anything creative like that.

What milestones are you waiting for? (I look forward to each day but usually because there is something coming up that excites me, but at the moment, I'm in a lul and each day seems the same...)
Right now, I'm looking forward to taking off next Thursday and Friday and staying with Jason in a hotel up in the cities. Last time we stayed up there, we really reconnected and had a blast. I hope that we do the same there.

what kind of cookies are your favorite?
I love my homemade chocolate chip cookies, but I also love Molasses cookies and Snickerdoodles. Wait, does dough count? I much prefer cookie dough to actual cookies, LOL. :)

I have been struggling with my rubons lately. Is it the brand that makes the difference or do you have any tips to get them to come off any easier? I have a tool just for rubons, and have even used those silly sticks. Maybe it is just me! LOL
I LOVE rubons!!! They are my favorite scrapbook accessory and I have a TON of them. I really like the Doodlebug and Basic Grey rubons. I have found that if they are older, then they do tend to crack or chip and are harder to use. Also I CAN NOT get the Heidi Swapp rubons to work AT ALL. I find that the brand name ones work better, what brand are you using? Personally, I have bought a tool and find that the popsicle sticks work better for me. Let me know if I can be of any more help. I want you to love rubons as much as I do!!!

How hard is one of those tools to do eyelets and grommets to use on paper? Looks cool ~ just scared to try! LOL
It really is easy! I LOVE the cropodile, but it can only go in paper so far. For doing eyelets anywhere on the page, I like the Silent Setter by ProvoCraft. It's easy to use and best of all quiet and requires no pounding. If your scared to try it, practice setting some eyelets on a scrap piece of paper. Eyelets are cheap. :)

What song did you post the video to?
The song was "Stand" by Rascal Flatts. I think that is my theme song right now. :)

That was fun. :) If anyone has any more questions, especially about crafting/scrapbooking ask away. I would love to answer them. I love talking about scrapbooking, LOL. :)

Money Creek 2007

I had so much fun camping at Money Creek. Nothing like sitting around the camp fire, swimming, and simply enjoying the outdoors. We had perfect weather too! It was in the lower 80's during the day and at night dipped down in the 50's. Perfect sleeping and cuddling weather. I seriously got the best sleep I have had in MONTHS. I already want to go back and camp. :)

Here are some pictures, actually, more than likely a lot of pics, lol. :)

Jason and I were the first ones there. This is what the campground looked like. It was so nice and peaceful setting up when no one was around. Once all of Jason's family got there, you couldn't even see down to the end, or 3 sites over. There were at least 2 tents/campers on each site.

NOTE: You can click on any of the pics here to make them bigger. :)















Jason sweeping out the tent. :)














This is what happens when Jason puts it together. ;) Notice how crooked it is. ;)


























This is what it looks like when I say to attach it to the picnic table, since it's flat underneath. Ma, this came in so helpful!!! We loved it and I have a feeling that we might see a couple more hooked up next year there. :)

























Marie, my mother-in-law. "I can get cell phone service up here!"


























Jason and I thought this was hilarous. It's on the tag of the chairs that we use.















Cooking Jiffy Pop over the fire.

Finished results of Jiffy Pop.

Janell, my sister-in-law cooking real popcorn over the fire.

Marie holding the finished results. That popcorn was SO yummy and good.

Setting up Smores stuff on my lap for Jason. Yes, that is 2 peices of chocolate on there. There was a hilarous story there, me being all goofy again. Since I know that everyone will keep bringing it up, I may as well share it.


I didn't know how many pieces of chocolate to put on Jason's Smore, so I asked him. He said two pieces of chocolate. At that point, I had broken off a row (3-single pieces of choclate) and had it sitting on the graham cracker. Since he said 2, I broke off another row of chocolate and set it on there. Jason started laughing, and everyone joined in, saying no, "2 pieces of chocolate not 6." Of course, you had to be there for it to be funny, but it was hysterical. I couldn't stop laughing.

Jason starting marshmallows on fire. :)

Campfire.

Jason being silly. I love it!!

Joe, my brother-in-law.

Me, coming out of the bathroom. Yup, hair tossed up, no make up on. I loved being "all natural" all weekend. Didn't look the best, but LOVED it.

Joe and one of his kids Bryanna.

I LOVE this picture!!! This is Logan, who is my second-counsin-in-law, I believe. He is just adorable!!

Beach Stuff.

This is Cassidy, Janell's little girl.

Jason's family has been going to Money Creek for decades. They used to dress up all the time and have a parade. This year they decided to do the parade again, only a few people dressed up.

Jerry, my father-in-law. Roger, Jason's Uncle. Pat, Jason's Aunt. Ben, Pat's son, Jason's cousin.

Matthew, he is Haley, Bryanna, Jacob, (& Kya who didn't go camping with us) half brother.

Campfire.

Bree-Bree sitting by the campfire, almost falling asleep.

Bree-Bree again.

Cassidy, showing off what she won. Someone did the dice game and fishing game for the kids and brought prizes.

Jacob, another of Joe's kids, sitting around the campfire.

Cassidy fell asleep sitting on Janell's lap.

Me again. I only had a couple pics of me taken. I was behind the camera the whole weekend.

The guys getting set up to play Texas Hold 'em. This was a 16 person tournament. After some of the people got kicked out, we started up another tournament at another table. The buy in was $10 each. Jason and Justin taught Tiffany and I to play earlier that afternoon and we decided to play. Jason ended up winning 1st for $60 and I got 2nd place for $20. I couldn't believe I stayed in as long as I did. It was a ton of fun and I want to play again, lol. :)

A picture of our little area.

Bree-Bree coloring.

Cassidy

Bree sitting on my lap.

Haley, one of Joe's kids.

Haley and Cassidy

Justin & Tiffany, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law.

Tiffany & Jason

Justin. We celebrated his 30th birthday.

Jason opening a present for his birthday, which is coming up next week.

And finally, Jason and I packing up.