Camping

We went camping over the weekend. Down to Money Creek Haven in Houston, MN. It was very relaxing and enjoying. And believe it or not I did not take a single picture. Imagine that. Me a scrapbooker, did not take a single picture, lol. I guess that shows that I truly relaxed and enjoyed myself.

Since Jason had to work on Friday night, we didn't get down there until Saturday morning. We got our tent set up. We bought a new tent this year for camping. It was on clearance for $59. It's a three room tent, sleeps 8, and is big enough so you can stand up straight inside the tent. And yes, I realize that there are only two of us, but it was nice having a tent large enough to put everything in when it rained. Oh, it did rain on Saturday afternoon for a couple hours. Saturday was perfect, in the upper 70's, overcast, not too hot, not too cold. Perfect.

Jason and I did go swimming in the "pool." I don't know what to call it other than a pool, but it's not really a pool, lol. It's basically a man made lake, made for swimming. It's connected to a pond and creek, but has a sandy bottom, and they put chemicles and stuff in it. It's hard to describe, LOL. But we really had fun. And the best news is that I barely got sunburned!!! I got a titch pink, but not bad at all.

Jason and I came to the conculsion that we both want to go camping more. We will see if that truly happens now, LOL. I'm hoping it will. :)

I thought I should post pictures of my purse after Laurie's comment, LOL. And since I posted that list, the checkbook has been added to my purse and the check has been cashed, LOL. Otherwise everything is the same.
This first pic, is my purse closed. (Like my loverly pink chair from IKEA? *Never* thought I would have a pink chair, LOL.)

This next pic, is of my purse with my book in it. Since I don't bring another bag to work, I carry my book around in my purse, LOL. Also comes in handy while I wait in the car while Jason goes to the post office, lol.

This nex picture of my purse without the book in it:

And I realized, not everyone would know what a Mini Leatherman is. So here it is, next to the case all folded up:

And here it is with all of the attachments open. Must be a country girl thing to carry one of these around, LOL.

I will admit, that it has come in handy at work. You would think that our equipment specialists would have tools to work with, when things come up. I can't tell you how many times they have borrowed my Mini Leatherman, LOL. You should have seen their faces when they asked me if I knew where any pliers where, and I said, I know something that might work in my purse. Between their faces and the other secretarys, I about fell off my chair laughing, ROFL.

Now seriously, since I have these pics, I think I need to do a Scrapbook Page about the contents of my purse. I think that would be fun. Very *me* right now as well.

Contents of my purse

On Scrappy Chic I posted a challenege to post the contents of your purse. Here's whats in mine:

Keycard for work
Mary Kay Neutral Lip Liner
Mary Kay Cranberry Lipgloss
Ticket stub from Click
Gum
First Harry Potter Book
Check for Tupperware that I need to cash (doing a clearance type sale at work with another gal that used to sell Tupperware)
Coupon & Card from Divine Memories (Scrapbook store)
Grand Casino Buffet hours & prices
Winter Candy Apple Lotion from Bath & Body Works
Mary Kay Beauty Blotters
Smidget contaier with Ibprofen
Calculator
Full size pair of scissors
Post It Flags (in pink of course, LOL)
Mini Pink Tape Measure
Mini Leatherman Tool
Tide to Go Pen
Nail Clippers
Nail File
Mary Kay Mocha Freeze Lipstick (So *that* is where that went!!)
Keys, home, car, and office
4 pens
1 pencil
2 calling cards
Receipt from Old Navy
Bus Pass
Wallet with discount cards, and credit/debit cards.
$1.10 in change

Lost Clothes

Every now and then, I take off an article of clothing and misplace it. I've been trying to be better at hanging my clothes up and putting them away, but that doesn't always happen. (I'm sure Ma remembers what my room looked like when I still lived at home, LOL.) If I don't hang up my work pants or tops right away, they get set on the back of the couch. The thing I am good at though, is all of the dirties go right into the hamper to be washed. At least 9 times out of 10, LOL.

Now, back to losing clothes. About 3 weeks ago we went up to IKEA and I work a black v-neck shirt. That was the first time I wore that shirt. Now I can't find it. Two weeks ago I wore my new black slip to work, and now I can't find it. Last week, I wore a white tanktop under a shirt to work and can't find that now. I have no freaking clue where these three articles of clothing are. I have tore my clothes a part, looked up stairs, in the hamper, in the washer and dryer and simply can't find them. Also looked behind, in, and under the couches, went through all of the boxes of clothes that I'm getting rid of again, to see if they got put in there. I can't find them!!!

So tell me, if you were a shirt, slip, or tank top where would you be hiding?

4th of July

I hope that everyone had a great Fourth of July!! Jason and I went out to his parents for a while. It was fun for the most part. :) Each year they have a cookout/party and invite the entire family over. This year there wasn't many people at all there. Mainly us kids and the grandkids, and then some of Jason's Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins.

As some of you may know, Jason and I are still having a hard time trying to have a baby. (And yes, this relates to the Fourth, in some way, your just getting the Nelson version of the story, LOL. :P) Jason and I have been trying for quite a while to have a baby, but I thought that things might turn around since I've been losing weight. (35 pounds now, WHOO HOO!) I thought that might be enough to give my body the jumpstart that it needs. I don't even want to think about how long we have been trying.

Anyway, so Kara (Joe's girlfriend/fiance (Joe is Jason's youngest brother)) once again comes up and starts being nosy. (Sidenote here: Joe & Kara have 4 kids together and Kara has another one, but Joe is not the father to that one, and he lives with Kara's parents. And they are not yet married, we just found out that they were engaged again. It's been an on again and off again thing since I've been in the picture.) Asking so are you and Jason trying? When do you think you will have kids? And a zillion other questions. I laugh and say, "Eventurally." But she kept pushing and asking more questions.

I *hate* being put on the spot like that. It's none of her freaking business what we are doing. If Jason and I were able to have kids, we would have already had one by now!! It made me so mad and sad. I just wanted to cry. And Jason and I shared that we were having trouble getting pregnant before, so it's not like she didn't know. It hurts me so much. There is nothing more than I want to do than give Jason the baby that he wants. I almost feel like a faliure that I'm not able to do that.

Since the 4th I've been sad again. I hate feeling that way. I can't seem to shake it, this time either. Usually I can just push it to the side and move on, but I'm having a hard time, this time. I've been going to bed early, and can't seem to get movitated to do anything. I feel like I'm on the verge of falling off my diet and everything. I told Jason that and he said, no your aren't. You can do this. That helped. Knowing that he is there supporting me.

Before I make this post even more depressing, I'm going to go.

Secrets

This was Amy's challenge from SC. I really debated about posting these, and may end up taking them down again. But with everyone else sharing theirs, I thought I would post some of mine. There are some that I will never share here. But all of you that have bosted I admire you. You gave me the courage to post some of mine.

• I attempted suicide my senior year in highschool. I think the only reason why I got out of the mental health clinic was because I knew what they wanted to hear. I wasn't honest with the psychologist I seen after that either.
• It tore me up when I was admitted to the ER after taking dad's pills, and they accusing me of taking illegal drugs. I have *never* took drugs in my life. I wonder if mom and dad believed me that I never took drugs.
• I fantasize about other people.
• I'm very good at pretending I'm happy and all is well when it's not.
• I wonder if I have any half brothers and sisters. Then I remember what my bio-dad did to mom and want nothing to do with him.
• I have more friends online than in real life and I'm ok with that.
• I'm embarrassed about the house I live in.
• Sometimes I wonder why in the world Jason married me. He could have done so much better than me.
• I hate crowds and family gatherings. It's fine if there are very few people there, but I feel out of place and uncomfortable at other events.
• I still can't remember the names of some of Jason's relatives.
  
  
  

Thank you

THANK YOU all SO MUCH for your nice comments. They mean a lot to me. :) But I must confess, that shirt is still too tight to wear outside of the house. I am sucking my gut in, LOL. :)

Laurie--I *feel* younger too, LOL. I never thought I would say that, LOL. But I truly do!

Amy--Thank you!!!

Ma--Yes, it is hard to lose and easy to gain, but it is *so* worth it. I can actually walk up three flights of stairs at work and be hardly winded. Before I would be huffing and puffing when I got up the stairs.

Kandi--I got that outfit from www.torrid.com The shirt was only $7.99 on clearance! The skirt I think was 10 something. Not bad at all! And I love Black Eyed Peas "My Humps" as well!

I will get up and move to any upbeat music. I *love* listening to music in the mornings while I have the house to myself and and dance around sing without anyone seeing me. I crank the radio and let it go. LOVE it. I honestly don't think I could live without music.

Updates

Since I like lists, I'm going to post this in list form :)

• Got a call today that the part for the stove is in. YAY! They originially said that the part wouldn't be in until July 18. Now just to arrange for installation. I called after my dentist appointment to do that and they were closed.
• My dentist appointment today went great! No cavaties and very little tarter and plaque buildup. They were very impressed for being about 2 years since I last went in. Jason is frustrated because he had cavaties and I didn't, LOL.
• I'm now down 33.5 pounds. YAY!!! Another half a pound and I'm halfway to my goal of 200. :)
• Love my music. Just downloaded a bunch of songs from Itunes. Finally used the gift card that I got for my birthday back in January.
• I love my Wishblade.
• Posting from the couch is lovely.
• I'm so happy that Scrapy Chic is being renewed for another year. A great group of ladies there. :)
• Jason just started another message board. And xbox360 board. He seems so happy now that he has a "home" of his own again to play around with. :)
• I've been straightening my hair and putting eyeshadow and lipstick on for work. It makes me feel good about myself. I feel sexy and more confident with my straight hair rather than my curly hair. Isn't that odd?
• Jason's brother Justin got engaged to his girlfriend Tiffany!! So excited for the two of them. They seem to be a really good fit for eachother. And they are Jason and I for wedding advice. I had so much fun planning the wedding, I want to do it again. Jason, will you marry me again so we can have a huge party with all of our families and friends?
• Jason and I went swimsuit shopping for me over the weekend. I *hate* swimsuit shopping. I headed to the dressing room with a size 22 and 20 suits, two different styles. Both were too pic. So then I went and tried on an 18. Still too big, but I liked the style. So I grabbed it in a 16 and it fit perfect. Can you believe that? Me? In a Size 16 swimsuit?? Surprised me, very much. Was glowing the rest of hte day, LOL. Too bad my normal clothes aren't that size yet, LOL.
• I got my order of clothes from torrid. Got some really cut stuff. This outfit is one of them.

I also got a pair of shoes that I *love* I haven't gotten a decent pic of them yet, but I will.

Ok, it's confession time. The song "Honk Tonk Badonk a donk" gets me up to dance everytime it comes on. :)

Now I want to know what song either gets you up to dance around the house or you are embarassed to admit that you like.

20 Questions Challenge

1. What is your middle name? Sarah

2. Did you have an imaginary friend growing up? What was his/her name? Not that I can remember.

3. What is one thing you did that you never told your parents about? LOL, I'm still to young to share them. :P

4. What is your favorite bible verse and why? I would have to say Proverbs 31 because I want to be the best wife for Jason.

5. If you could trade places with one of your friends for a day, who would it be? Why? Honestly, I don't think I would want to. I'm content with my life, and don't want to change anything.

6. Where would you shop if there was not a Walmart? I don't shop at WM. We shop mainly shop at Target and Hy-Vee (local grocery store.)

7. How many times do you go to the grocery store in a week? Typically once a week. Very rarely do we go there more thance once a week.

8. If money was no object, what type of home would you live in, and where? I would want a house with 4+ bedrooms, at least 2 bathroms, out in the middle of nowhere, and it would have a wrap around porch and a swing in the front yard.

9. What is your favorite quick breakfast? Oatmeal. Typical breakfast is one egg scrambled with green peppers, mushrooms, tomoatos, and cheese. Served with whole wheat toast and fruit. :)

10. How many books have you read this year? You mean I'm supposed to count, LOL. I read all the time. Too many to count. I *love* to read.

11. Do you share every aspect of your life with your nearest and dearest friend, or do you keep some in reserve? I keep most of my life in reserve. Share bits and pieces with certain friends.

12. How do you like your coffee? Chocolate Frappuccino count? I don't really like coffee, but *love* the smell of it. Yes, I know I'm wierd. Been told that many times before ;)

13. Do you drink your cold drinks with ice/ or no ice? More often than not with ice.

14. Tanning oil, Sunscreen, or long sleeve shirt and hat? Sunscreen and shade for me!

15. Your favorite : Drizzle,Light rain, strong thunderstorms, or hurricanes? Light rain. Nothing like curling up with a book, reading and listening to the rain fall outside. Very comforting.

16. What do you do to "wind" down in the evenings? Either read or watch TV. Depending on my mood.

17. What is your "life song" that would describe your life right now? I have no idea. ETA: I know, I know. "You Drive me Crazy" by Britney Spears, since I tend to drive Jason crazy lots, LOL. I can't think of a better one at hte moment.

18. If your life was a novel what would be the title? She said what?? (Referring to all the sayings and words I screw up, LOL.)

19. Would you rather be a public speaker, or an usher? Neither, LOL. I would rather sit in the back of the room and not be noticed.

20. Do you go to a hair stylist and if so how much do you spend? I don't have a hair stylist. I just go to the beauty school and get my hair cut. So far so good, and if I remember right about $10 after tip. Can't go wrong there!

Loverly.

Yup, this is just want I want to deal with on a Saturday.


Yup, that is the stove that was installed on April 25. I thought it was less than a month ago, but I guess not.

Already placed a call to Home Depot. They said that they will have someone give me a call back. Great. Just want I wanted to do today.

Oh, and don't mind the hideous carpet in the background. I so can't wait until that is gone!!

Thought I would update again. Man, I'm on a roll this week, lol.

Last night I managed to play a bit of oblivion again on the 360. Lots of fun. Since Jason is working early tonight, I think I just might have to play it again tonight, lol. I think the game is like a never ending one, lol. There is the main quest and then tons of side missions. I'm barely into it. Jason has played much more than me, and has completed the main quest and is working on the side missions. I need to catch up with him, lol

Or instead of playing oblivion tonight, if I can get my pictures printed before Jason goes to work, I just might scrapbook! I need to run to burn the pics to a CD and then run to Hy-Vee to get copies made. Might be pushing it...but I do want to try. I think I just might have to save up for a good photo printer. I have a good color one, but the pictures just don't turn out that good. Disappointing.

Guess what I realized this moring. I'm down *another* pants size! YAY! I'm embarrassed to admit, that I was wearing a 26 pant. Then I went down to a 24, and earlier this week they were falling down, so I decided to try on a size 22. THEY FIT!!! I was so happy! Now I need to go back to Catherine's and get a pair of size 20's so when I drop another size, I can wear them. That way I at least have some clothes to wear to work, lol. I still need to go through my closet and pull out the other clothes that are too big. What a great feeling! I'm not sure what I should do with the too big clothes. I don't know if I should box them up and store them, or get rid of them? I certainly hope that I don't need them again, but then if Jason and I are going to have a baby, I might be able to wear some of them as maternity clothes? I think that I should box them up and keep them for the time being because of that. I don't know though.

My goal is to be able to get back into a pair of jeans that I wore in highschool. I believe they are a size 16 and are my Polo Ralph Lauren jeans. I remember feeling so great when I wore them, so when they didn't fit anymore, I kept them. Still have them. Lol. I so can't wait to wear them again!!

Father's Day is this weekend. Since we celebrated un-mother's day, we are going to celebrate un-father's day, lol. I think we will be going out to lunch on Saturday and see a movie. We seen the new x-men movie a couple weeks ago and that was really good. I wonder what we will see this time. Jason is really big into movies. For the most part, I could take them or leave them, but I do want to see Cars. I think that looks so cute! We will most likely wait and get it from Netflix rather than going to see it in the theatre. I know that Jason wanted to see Nacho Libre and Click, but I don't think that those are out yet. This summer, Pirates of the Caribbean 3 comes out and I can't to see that. We are definitely seeing that in the theatre!! Nothing like Capt'n Jack Sparrow, lol. Even though Johnny Depp is old, he is still good looking, lol.

I'm on day two or three of an awful headache. I have no clue why I have one, and it's starting to drive me up the wall. I've taken both tylenol and ibprofen, and even alternated them (usually that fixes everything, LOL) but nothing is working. The Tylenol and ibprofen, barely touch it, it just takes the edge away. I am very thankful it does that though. Does anyone have any sure fire cures for headaches? I sure could use them!!

Blog Challenge: Summer memories

Thank you Sheila for the challenge, this was lots of fun!

What is your most treasured Summer memory from growing up?
My most treasured memories would probably be going down to the campground about 2 miles down the road and hanging out at the pool and with all of the cute boy campers. Oh my. We had so much fun. Kelsey, lived at the campground (her parents owned it) and we had so much fun. We would be swimming, playing mini golf, playing on the play ground, playing pool, feeding the jukebox in the game room quarters, and just having fun. Most of the time was spent in the pool. Our favorite time was when the Johnson's, who were seasonal campers came up. It was an extended family and the boys were Doug (we re-named him Bubba. Have no clue where we got that name!) and David. We had numerous noodle fights in the pool with them, and Kelsey had such a crush on Doug's little brother (I can't remember his name!) and I had a crush on David, but flirted with Bubba all the time too. All around good time. That lasted what, I think 2 or 3 summers until they sold the campground? Great teenage fun!!

What do you do or have you done to try to rekindle that?
Nothing, I'm married now, can't exactly go around chasing cute guys, LOL. But it was fun while it lasted, LOL.

What is your favorite Summer activity now that you are grown up?
I love going up north and going camping at Lake 12. Nothing beats having a bunch of families around, tents & campers pitched, fishing and swimming off the end of the dock, camp fires at night, and good food. Of course, you can't forget the fireworks that we shoot off the as well. There's nothing like sleeping in a tent, and using an outhouse, LOL. I'm disappointed that Jason and I won't be able to do that this summer over the 4th of July weekend. But we are going camping with Jason's family down at Money Creek and that will be fun. It's different though because it's at a campground and not as private, but still fun! I enjoy camping and cooking over an open fire. Jason remember the first time we went camping, and you couldn't start the fire, I had to, LOL. It's a good thing, one of us was a true camper, LOL. Watching Toby & Randy build fires that had flames going 10+ feet in the air really helped. And no, I'm not kidding, we had to cut some of the tree branches down so they wouldn't catch fire, LOL. The coals were perfect in the morning for cooking over though. :) Lots and lots of fun camping at Lake 12 was.

Early Mornings, Clothes, & Scrapbooking

Lately, I have been getting up early in the morning, before my alarm even goes off. It used to really irk me when i would wake up before my alarm went off, now I enjoy it. Nothing like getting up, having a cup of tea, while you check your mail and the sites that you frequent. So calm and enjoyable. Seems like those few extra minutes really relax me.

Of course, Jason has been benefiting from that as well, since I usually have breakfast all cooked and ready when he walks in the door. I love being able to do that him. I feel like such a good wife, and I love it. :)

Also, thank you all for encouraging me about my look, and reassuring me I'm not too old to be doing this, lol, and playing around. :) I've been debating about dying my hair for some time. I don't know how long it would last if I got it professionally done, but I'm seriously thinking about it. Ma do you remember when my hair was bright red? I should see if I can't find pictures from then and post them. I'm going to look tonight, that is, if I can remember, lol.

Over the weekend Jason and I stopped at Mall of America and I ran into Torrid quick. Bought a couple of things, prices were a bit high, but picked up a couple of things. I just went to their website, and noticed that they are having a sale of 50% off of clearance prices. WOW! Found a shirt that made me chuckle. It says, "I'm a sucker for guys in eyeliner" The one I'm getting says, "my body is a temple, and yes, you may worship here" Cracked me up. Who knows if I will wear it out, but it's fun, and for $7.99, I think it's worth it! While I was at the site, I managed to pick out more things, $132 more, to be exact. Order is placed, can't wait until I get my stuff! It's going to be fun!

After looking through the Goth pics of me and the girls, I think I'm going to do a SB page on them. Do you think they will publish that, LOL. Maybe under, "Your not so typical scrapbookers." LOL.

While I was lurking on 2peas today, I found a link for music videos. Thought I would share with you guys. http://music.peekvid.com/p1/

I also seen an awesome pair of "altered" jeans. I so need to do that with one of mine. They used the HS foam stamps and turned out adorable! I still really want to try this, but need to buy fabric paint first. Wonder if any is on sale at HL this week. I know I have a coupon for them....hmmm...might have to run out there after work! I'm still waiting for their single sheet paper to go on sale for 6/$1 or 8/$1 again. I need to get some more of the sheets that I used up. Never mind that I have thousands of other papers, I want those, LOL. I'm awful. I gotta stop buying stuff. But you know I won't, LOL. I will admit it, I'm a paper whore, LOL. On that note, I will be leaving you, LOL.

I figure it's probably time to update my blog again. As you can see from the pictures on Ma's blog, the girls and I had fun over the weekend. :) I enjoy going up north and seeing everyone. The weekend always flies by though. We always have lots of giggles and laughs, usually about something that I have said, lol.

On the way home from up north, we stopped at IKEA and the Mall of America. We initially went to IKEA just to get another light for the living room. Which was about $8. We ended up spending almost $60 in there! I picked up more little spice jars for my scrapping area, some really cute little tin containers (on clue what I'm going to use them for, but they were adorable!), a bathroom mat, a light, a couple cushions for the kitchen chairs, a mirror, and finally a {PINK} rolling chair for me!! For my scrapping area of course. LOL. Also while we were up there, I found the {perfect} rug for my new scrapping room. It has all sorts of bright fun stripes on it. It is absolutely adorable! We didn't buy that though, maybe next time ;).

At the Mall we only went to three stores, and believe it or not Archiver's wasn't one of them, LOL. I decided to stay away from there since I haven't unpacked what I bought there last time. Now I know a few of you out there scrapbook....how in the world do I get back in the groove and find my mojo for scrapping??? It's been forever since I've scrapbooked.....but that doesn't keep me from buying supplies. I need to get back to using my supplies. Any tips? Any at all? Would love them! :)

Thanks...

Thanks for the comments on my last post. Greatly appreciate the comments. Sue, you mean I can't be a happy goth? lol. I am going to play around some more and see what I think. I'm looking for a red lipstick that I can wear with the look. I think that will look better than the black, although I do like the black. Am I too old to be doing this?

Here is another picture from when we took those.

So it's been forever since I blogged. Not much new, the same old, same old. I still haven't scrapped. Don't know why I'm not the in the mood for it. But I have been playing video games, lol. Jason had me try Oblivion for the xbox360. It was fun, but hard. Jason offered to help me pass a couple things and he had problems too! Since we can customize the characters, we figured that I should just start over and try a new character. I started over at least 4 times. Yesterday Jason discovered that the difficulty level on mine was in the middle and his was on easy! He's just trying to make me look bad. ;)

I got a laptop last week. Love it! Especially since as of Saturday, we have wireless internet hooked up, whoo hooo! Now I just need to figure out how to secure it so other's don't use it. But in the mean time, it's up and awesome, lol. I have just been using my scrappin' table for the a desk though, and moving it and sitting on the couch and stuff. I also got a really cute {pink} laptop bag. Of course I had that before I even had my laptop, lol.


Jason and I went to the mall yesterday to look around. We went into Hot Topic and was seeing what all they had. I found a {pink} glitter Master Chief from Halo2. Now, most of you probably have no clue what in the world i'm talking about, but Halo2 is a video game that I was into last year (still enjoy playing it, but don't play it often anymore, i'm awaiting Halo3 coming out in 2007) and in Halo2 you customize your character (mine was Master Chief, the main character in the same) and I made him pink. So what I bought yesterday was like an action figure, but glittery pink, and also included was an alien action figure so Master Chief could shoot him.

I was also looking at some make up and such, and found a black eye/lip crayon. I thought it might be fun to do my makeup "gothic" type. So when we got home, I took off my normal makeup and started to play around with it. For my first time doing this, i thought it turned out pretty good. I set up a white backdrop and had Jason take some pictures of me. It was a lot of fun. The weird part is I felt prettier when I was dressed up like that than I normally do. *shrug* doesn't make sense to me....but anyway, don't be freaked out by the picture, lol. I think I would like to try to do my makeup like that again, it was a lot of fun!

Cleaning Bug.

It seems like I get the cleaning bug at work more than at home. I wonder if it is because my office is a much smaller space. I dusted all my shelves, filed and tossed a bunch of stuff and even vacuumed my office. As well as everyone else in the office. Now if only I could do this at home. The house isn't that bad, except for all the crap from the linen closet (not a closet, it was a free standing shelving thing) that I doesn't fit in the new chest o' drawers that we are using for a linen closet.

We went to IKEA and bought this to use: http://www.ikea.com/PIAimages/56333_XXXXXXXX_S6.jpg
Yes, I know that it's truly a dresser, but where we have it, and the height it doesn't remind me of a dresser. I even bought the cool drawer organizers to go in one drawer. http://www.ikea.com/PIAimages/22492_PE107367_S3.jpg Love them. Organizes my make up and such perfectly! With the new storage unit, it really opens up the space more. I think that is what I'm trying to do in the house. Open space. Declutter. Simplify.

We even downsized our kitchen table and chairs. Bought a solid pine table and chairs for two. It works perfect for us! And really opens up the kitchen. :) Can't go wrong with that. Jason found a TV stand to go in the living room to replace the two that we have. Once again, simplifying! LOVE IT!! I couldn't find a picture of the table and chairs and TV stand.

Gotta love IKEA. We have been really happy with all that we have bought from there. You do have to put it together, but Jason enjoys doing that. We were really going to buy a new living room set from them, but they aren't comfortable. I really like the styles that they have, but it's gotta be comfortable. Last thing I want is an uncomfortable couch or chair.

Jason asked me the other day what I wanted to do on Sunday for un-mother's day. I know I picked a keeper if we celebrate un-mother's day. :) So I have to decide what we are going to do, I truly have no idea. Give me some ideas here....for once I'm clueless!

Lists

Since I don't want to get a swift kick in the behind, I figured I should probably update this thing! I think I'm going to do a list format this time. I love my lists!

• Weightloss--As of Sunday I was at 251. That is down 17 pounds from when I started. On the way up north this last weekend, while in the car I made a meal plan for the week. I wasn't sure how they would be calorie wise, but for the most part, my days worth came out ot 1000-1200 calories. That is perfect, it gives me a little wiggle room. On Monday though, after I ate all my meals, I was only around 750 calories. ACK! And the kicker was I wasn't even hungry! But I had some snacks that evening to get me up to 1100. Still under 1200, but I'm not going to worry about that for a day. I also noticed now that I have to think before I put things in my mouth, I don't snack as much. For the most part, I leave all of the snacky food/candy alone at work, and at home, I eat supper and am good. Usually I would snack and graze while making supper and even after. Now I don't. Amazing.
• Scrapbook--I am almost done with my It's About Me scrapbook! All of the pagese are done, I just have to do the journaling. There is a lot of journaling to do in the book...but I've started to hand write it out.
• Wishblade savings--or should I say lack there of? I got my hands on a list of retiring stamps from Stampin' Up! Of course there is a bunch on there that I truly want and a bunch that I sorta want. A gal at Willlow Traders had a bunch of the sets for sale at 50% off. And they were not wood mounted. She used EZ mount on them, so you use the clear acrlic blocks. Less storage space that way! And cheaper shipping! So I bought a bunch of sets off of her $124.50. Not bad, since they were half off!! Even got sets that weren't retiring, ROFL. So a bunch of my wishblade money went there. I was weak. Must get back on the wagon.
• Mother's Day--Mother's day is on Sunday! Last weekend when we were up north, we gave Ma her Mother's Day present. For part of it, I made a little coffee filter book. Turned out adorable, if I can say so myself. And I told Ma not to cry when she opened it, but she did! Then had Julie crying and me too.... And of course, before I gave it to her, I forgot to take pictures of it! So if you want to see it, just beg Ma for some pictures. ;)
• Content---you know sometimes, when you feel life is overwheleming, well lately I feel content. I don't really know why. I'm just all around happy, my goofy normal self. The house has remained fairly cleaned up, I'm scrapbooking. Jason is his normal, goofy, happy self. Life is good. I just feel like, I'm finally doign something right, and am content with home and work and things are good. Love that feeling. I hope that it sticks around for a long time!

Not too much going on around here. Today is Administrative Professional's day, which is what I do, so all of the people I support came into my co-workers (also administrative assistant) office, sang, and brought food in honor of us. Of course the food that they brought was Chocolate Cake Bars, Cherry Cheesecake, and Special K bars. They refused to each anything until we went through the line....so I had the smallest chocolate cake bar and special K bar I could find. I already inputted it into Spark People, and supper will be hard to get through without going over in calories, but it should work fine. And even if I do go over a bit, it won't kill me.

I weighed in again on Sunday night and I'm down a total of 11 pounds. That makes me very happy! The only bad thing is that my new pants and clothes that I just bought are getting too big. I went shopping way before I was planning on losing weight.....that makes me sad, since I love some of these clothes. I was reading a post on the message board over at Spark People about how 1 can of pop takes 12 gallons of water to get completely out of your system. I thought that was interesting. I need to see if I can find that post again and see if they ever posted the information to support that. I haven't had pop in a long time, it's been well over a month, I can't remember when we stopped drinking and buying it, but it was quite a while ago. And you know, I don't miss it. It's also nice that when we go out to eat, we don't have that extra $4+ added on the bill. So it makes it cheaper as well, if we just drink water. That's nice. Love saving me some money, lol.

Let's see, what else is new....I'm teaching a coffee filter book class at the LSS tomorrow night. I hope it goes ok. That reminds me, I gotta call Jen and see how many are signed up.

This weekend is going to be busy. Saturday we are having a new stove and refrigerator delivered. Yup, we broke down and bought one of each. Flat top stove and side by side fridge & freezer with water dispenser. Our current fridge is about 18 cubic feet and the new one is 25 or 26 cubic feet, can't remember what one! I'm looking forward to all the extra room in there since I've been buying lots of fresh veggies lately. The thing about the water dispenser on the fridge is that our current fridge doesn't have one, so we will have to figure out how to hook it up. We bought the kit and it doesn't look too complicated, but Jason wants to call a plumber in, cuz he thinks he has to do something down stairs in the basement to get the water to run up. I told Jason that Ma could come down and get it all set for us. You should have seen the look he gave me, LOL. It was priceless. I still vote for Ma to come down, cheaper that way, ya know.

This weekend Jason and I are going to go up to Mall of America on Sunday. All we are planning to hit is the Lego Store, Archiver's and IKEA. Speaking of IKEA, I gotta figure out what else I need from there, for my scrapping area. I use the little jars and such to store my ribbon and such in. There was also a really cool cutting board there that I wanted. And since I'm eating healthier, I think I'm going to get it. Sorta as a reward for me. I'm sure I will find all sorts of other treasures out there.

I've been trying to curb my scrapping spend some, and saving some money. Jason and I each get an "allowance" of $50-$100 to spend on whatever we want. I'm saving mine in hopes to get a Wishblade. So far I have $275 saved for it. It's a $450 machine without shipping. So I'm a little more than half way there. Gotta keep saving so I can get that. That means I have to stay out of Hobby Lobby this week since a ton of Scrapping stuff is 50% off. But I need to get some needles so I can sew some stuff on a LO. And fix the button on Jason's shirt. Wonder if I can get them at Target...will have to see!

Time Flies

I was thinking that it's almost the end of April, 2006. I graduated from high school 5 years ago. That is hard to believe. I still have lots of fun, vivid memories from back then. And lots of pictures. I should post a couple from way back then. We had a blast in high school. It seemed like there were constantly sleepovers at our house, in the green house of course! We stayed up all night, laughing, playing truth or dare and talking about boys. Then there were the dances. Oh my, those were so much fun! And running to Duluth or North Branch for shopping. I still can't believe that it's been that long since high school, it seems like yesterday. I wonder if there will be a 5 year reunion. It would be fun to see everyone again and see what they are doing. Tonight, I'm going to dig through my pictures and pull a couple out to scan in. Maybe even start Scrapping my high school years. That will be a lot of fun. Ma, expect a lot of phone calls to help date the pictures, LOL.