Messes and old times

How can I go from a clean scrapbook room to a messy one so quickly?? I need the cleaning fairy to visit my house! I haven't felt like cleaning and that is SOOO not like me. I did find out that my thyroid function is low so possibly that is why I feel so darn BLAH. I am having it rechecked next month and if it is still low I will be placed on thyroid medication. I really hope it isn't low as I don't want to take medication for the rest of my life.

I was cleaning out the guest closet last week sometime and came across some old school photos and thought I would share them here. The santa one is my friend Cherry and I before a football game. Alot of people always thought we were sisters because we looked so much alike. I didn't see it, but now I do. Even Cameron said something when he saw some pictures of us together.

This homecoming dress was something else. Oh, I can't believe I wore something like that. Michael and his friend Tim sort of picked it out. It must have been half-way decent as Cherry borrowed it the next year I think for her prom.

Breads

On Friday I decided I wanted to try my hand at bread making. I wanted to make some wheat bread so I set out to do it around 10:00. I made two YUMMY loaves! I was thinking I could make Friday's bread making days. It sure made the house smell good.

Here is the YUMMY recipe!
Whole Wheat Bread
2 pkgs active dry yeast
1/4 c. warm water
2 c. warm water
1/4 c. honey
2 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. oil
5 1/2 - 6 c. whole wheat flour, divided
1 Tbsp. butter, melted

Dissolve yeast in 1/4 c. warm water. In another bowl, combine 2 c. warm water, honey, salt and oil. Stir in 2 cups whole wheat flour; mixing well. Stir in yeast mixture. Add more flour 1/2 c. at a time, to make dough fairly stiff. Sprinkle a little flour on a board; knead dough 10 minutes. Shape dough into a ball, put into a greased bowl and grease top of dough. Let rise 45 minutes or until double in bulk. Punch down, divide in half and knead a little; let rest 10 minutes. Shape dough into 2 loaves and place in two 8x4 greased loaf pans. Split top; drizzle with melted butter. Let rise until double in bulk, about 30 minutes. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes.

For tonights dinner I was planning on making roast chicken, green beans (from neighbors garden) and homemade rolls. Well, we ended up having roast turkey breast (much yummier), green beans, mashed potatoes and homemade rolls. These rolls were DELISH! They will be a keeper at our house!

Feather Rolls
1 pkg active dry yeast
1/4 c. warm water
4 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 Tbsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1 egg
3/4 c. warm milk
2 c. all-purpose flour (or more)

Dissolve yeast in water; let stand 5 minutes. Blend together butter, sugar, salt, egg and milk; add to yeast mixture. Beat until smooth; add flour and beat until well blended. (I added more flour as it was way to sticky) Cover and set in a warm place for one hour or until double in bulk. Punch down dough and divide into 12 portions; roll each into a ball. Place in greased muffin tins, cover and let rise for 30 minutes. Bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Today I spent some time trying to understand story problems...why do they scare me so? I have been afraid of them for as long as I remember. I picked up a book at the library called Word Problems Demystified. I'm trying to work my way through it and taking the little quizzes along the way. There are TONS of story problems in my math book and gosh darn it, I want to master them!

Well, I'm heading downstairs to watch RV with Michael. Have a great week everyone!

I survived!

I had my second day of class this morning. I started last night. I thought it was going to be terrible, but I am NOT the only one that doesn't understand. Actually, I shouldn't say I don't understand. I have all my homework done for the entire week already too! I should probably read the sections to understand how I came up with my answers, but I checked my answers and most all of them are correct. At least all the ones I can check.

I was very afrraid that I was not going to understand my teacher because his name is Ping Yu. For the most part I can understand what he is saying. I think I will do okay in his class. There are many people that aren't understanding what we are talking about and I feel great that for the most part I understand everything. I'm sure it is just going to get harder though.

I have been such a couch potato today. I watched movie after movie today. I watched Pride & Prejudice while doing homework, then I caught up on some shows that I had TIVO'd. It actually felt good to just sit and do nothing. Michael is busy working on his computer so I haven't felt guilty at all. I am going to end the night by reading and watching even more movies. Doesn't that just sound divine? Ok, probably not, but I need it.

Well, off to figure out what to feed everyone before I plop myself down on the couch once again.

Clean grout, sore shoulders/neck, official card

Well, I finally took a shower around 1:30 today. I woke up and decided today was the day to clean the tile and grout in the house. I ran to Lowe's after dropping Cameron off at school and bought the supplies. $50 later and I was set! I came home and mowed the front lawn first. Then I went inside and starting moving the stuff out of the dining room so I could work. I started the kitchen scrubbing at 9:20 and was finished with the sealing at 3:15! I decided that I would work on the other rooms some other day. I mean, I have 3 bathrooms, the front entrance, the garage door entrance and the laundry room! Talk about a pain!

I went to pick up Cameron at 3:15 and then we were off to my school! I start on Friday and needed to get my Student ID and find out where I am supposed to show up Friday night. Here is my Oh So Lovely card:I actually am pretty pleased with how the picture turned out. Why can't driver's licenses ever look good? Cameron was pretty cute at the school. While we were waiting in line (which was not long at all) he kept asking who the principal was and if I was good did I get to have a principal visit?! Then we walked to find my building. He kept mentioning how big my school was. When we first arrived I stopped to let someone cross in front of my car. The guy waved and Cameron asked if that was one of my friends. I told him I didn't have any friends at school yet. So, I am all official now!

When we got home I put another layer of sealer on the kitchen/dining area. Then Michael called to tell me that he would be home a little late so I decided to do yet another room in the house. My knees are so bruised! It hurts to kneel on them. I now have a bathmat rolled up. I finished my bathroom and now I am almost done with Cameron's. I will be done for the night and might work on the other areas on Friday or Saturday.

I hope everyone is having a great week so far!

I had a DATE!!

Michael and I FINALLY went out last night. We have not been out on our own for MONTHS! I decided on Thursday to call a sitter and do something. We finalized our plans yesterday morning and off we were last night. It was so nice to just get out and be alone.

We went to Rodizio Grill in Trolley Square for dinner. The meat was DELISH! It was pretty pricey for the amount that I ate, but it was worth just being there with Michael. After dinner we had some time to kill before heading to our next place so we just walked around the stores. Our next location was Wiseguys Comedy club. We had such a good time there. What cheap entertainment too. It only cost us $10 to get in! Cheaper than a movie and much more funny!! I think we will go there more often.

After that we just came home. We were home by 10. It was tons of fun and I can't wait to do it again!

Today we aren't doing much of anything. I really need to pull some weeds that are taking over the back flower gardens. I did some of it the other day, but my yardwaste container got too full. The yard also needs mowing, but I think I will wait until Thursday to tackle that.

I know, I am slacking!

I haven't updated in a few days...I know you are looking only to find the same old boring stuff! I have NOTHING to say!

I have just been keeping busy around the house and running errands. Today I went to the school and got the rest of my book stuff, my parking pass and then it hit me...I'm starting school in 1.5 weeks! WHY did I decide to do this?!?!

Cameron brought home his first fundraiser of the year. I really hope it makes enough that they won't have to do many more. He is selling those Entertainment books. If anyone needs one just let me know. You can order one for your area. I'm actually excited about it because I have always wanted to buy one, but never knew anyone selling them. Now I do!

Cameron has his last soccer game of the season Wednesday night. We've decided to take a break for fall and winter from soccer and do swimming. Then we might possibly do some ice skating. I have NO idea why he wants to do it, but I should at least let him try. Heck, the kid can't even roller skate!

I wish I had a picture to share with you, but the only picture that is new on my camera is one of me that Cameron took this morning. Yeah, not pretty!

I leave you with a good night and hopefully some new updates soon.

Tuesday Ramblings

I am loving Cameron being in 1st grade! I still have almost 2 hours by myself until he gets home!

I finally went back to the gym today. I hadn't been in 2 months! I was going 5 days a week for a good 12 weeks and then I stopped because things kept coming up. However, I have made a vow to myself to go back so I did. My arms will be hurting me tomorrow!

Now that Cameron is in school longer I will have more time to do what I want to do on my days off. I plan on going to the gym right after I drop him off, come home to clean house and then READ. I am embarrassed to show this, but these are my bookshelves that are overflowing. There are few on my shelves that I have actually read. My bedside table has 2 scrapping books and 2 books that I am reading...Well, I am actually only reading one at the moment. I need another bookshelf since I have books in front of books here. I have this sick obsessionI have a large list of books that I wanted to read this year and so far I have strayed from it quite a bit.
Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh READ
Bakers Tower by Jennifer Haigh
Widow of the South by Robert Hicks
The Virgin's Lover by Phillipa Gregory
No Place Like Home by Mary Higgins Clark
The Known World by Edward P. Jones
The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty
The Davinci Code by Dan Brown READ
Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult
Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik READ
The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory
The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant READ
Jewel by Bret Lott READ
Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan
Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross
Charlie All Night by Jennifer Crusie READ
Hour Game by David Baldacci
Beach Music by Pat Conroy
The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber
Child of Darkness by V.C. Andrews READ
Digital Fortress by Dan Brown READ
Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks
'Til Death Do Us Part by Kate White
A Body to Die For by Kate White READ
The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell READ
1st to Die by James Patterson
2nd Chance by James Patterson
3rd Degree by James Patterson
Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich READ
April Shadows by V.C. Andrews
To the Nines by Janet Evanovich READ
The Broker by John Grisham
Red Lily by Nora Roberts READ
Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich READ
Eleven On Top by Janet Evanovich READ
Big Bad Wolf by James Patterson
Mary Mary by James Patterson
Marley & Me by John Grogan READ
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
The Ha-Ha by Dave King
The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult
Don’t look Down by Jennifer Crusie
Cell by Stephen King READ
Dirty Blonde by Lisa Scottoline
The Debutante Divorcee by Plum Skyes
Heart’s Desire by Laura Pedersen
Revenge of the Kudzu Debutantes by Cathy Holton
Carolina Isle by Jude Deveraux
The Brambles by Eliza Minot
The Widower by Liesel Litzenburger
Happiness Sold Separately by Lolly Winston
The Slow Moon by Elizabeth Cox

This is the list I have actually read this year:
January
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich
Red Lily by Nora Roberts
February
To The Nines by Janet Evanovich
The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
Child of Darkness by VC Andrews
Marley & Me by John Grogan
Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich
Julie and Julia: 365 days, 524 recipes by Julie Powell
The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason
Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich
March
Jack and Jill by James Patterson
Jewel by Bret Lott
Cat and Mouse by James Patterson
A Body to Die For by Kate White
Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh
April
Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik
May
The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
Full House by Janet Evanovich
June
Full Tilt by Janet Evanovich
Cell by Stephen King
Charlie All Night by Jennifer Crusie
July
Digital Fortress by Dan Brown
Swapping Lives by Jane Green
12 Sharp by Janet Evanovich

There are always new books that I want to read so I will add it to my list of books I plan on reading this year.

Cards Galore!

For Christmas this past year my parents bought me the QVC card making kit item #F10915 if you are interested. I finally took everything out of the box yesterday and made a bunch of cards. I have almost completed the kit. I took pictures of the different cards. They are a bit blurry as I didn't use my flash and I had to breathe when I snapped them. They aren't terrible though.

They were fun to make and really got my juices flowing again. I made this card using a kit from One Page At a Time.
On another note, I just purchased my math textbook from eBay. I can't wait to get it. I really want to look through it to see just what I have gotten myself into. I did stop at a school bookstore yesterday to make sure I get the correct book and to see what it was like. At first glance it looks like what I was studying for to take my placement exam. I'm sure there will be things in there that I am not sure of and will need some help. I am nervous and excited at the same time to start school. My first day is August 25th!

It's HOT again

I am so tired of this heat! I would really like to go out and pull weeds, but I can't handle the temperatures. I did go out to pick some veggies, but that was about all I could handle. I sure hope the weather cools down soon so I can go outside. I feel like I've stepped into an oven when I open the door.

Michael has finally put together his helicopter and took it out for it's first little flight yesterday. He made some training gear (the x thing with the whiffle golf balls on it) so it has less chance of flipping over and hitting the blades. I took some pictures of him and it today.



You can't really see much on the tiny house picture, but I haven't had a picture of my house recently so that is why I took the photo.

Here are some cute shots of my little man! He had to wear pink to school on Friday and I wanted to take his picture because he was looking too adorable. He loves to pose for the camera! What a ham!


It looks like I will be getting my weather wish soon! I just checked the local news channel to see this..

I'm off on Tuesday so hopefully it will stay as forcasted. I just hope the storm stays away until I am finished! I hope everyone had a good weekend. We didn't do much of anything. We sort of just hung out at home and watched some movies. We have one left to watch tonight and then I can send them back to Netflix and get some new ones. Have a great week! I hope to update again soon!

1st day of 1st grade!

Look how cute Cameron is with his sun scrunched face! He was so excited to go to school this morning. When he woke up he said, "Mom, do you know what day it is?" I replied with, "Yeah, it's Wednesday." He said, "No mom, it's my first day of 1st grade! Aren't you happy that I am going to be gone all day?" I had to say, "Well, today doesn't matter to me since I have to work, but on Friday I am going to party all day!" Too cute!

We met his teacher yesterday. She seems very nice. I plan on helping a lot this year. I had to stop helping last year when Michael had his accident.
Many of you have asked how I am liking the cricut. I really like it! It is so quick and easy! I bought another cartridge on Monday. What fun! I plan on buying another one next week when I get paid. This thing is addicting. I really hope they some day make it connect to the computer. There is a USB port on the back of it so there is always hope. I do plan on doing some more layouts on Friday after I get my new tires put on in the morning...heck, I will have all day to party! You all really should come over for a scrapping night sometime and you can play with my little beige bug too. How does that sound?

I SCRAPPED!!!

I haven't done a single layout (except for the QKU ones) in over a year! I decided to start a school album for Cameron using 8x8 pages. I will do his first day of Kindergarten along with the last day pictures too. I am thinking I will put a sports page in if he is doing sports at any time during the years too.The color of his class picture doesn't really match, but I don't care! I scanned the 8x10 in and printed it...this is the color it came out...it should be a bit darker. I used my cricut for the flowers and teacher name.

Here's another I just finished. This used the Cricut George and the retired Stampin' Up! set "Have a Ball"

It's DONE!

My clean room!

It feels so good that it is finally clean! How long can I keep it this way? I guess if I was as anal about this room as the rest of my house it would be clean forever. I wonder why I let this room get so out of hand!

Before I was even done cleaning it yesterday I ran to Roberts to buy more stuff. What's up with that?! I bought more Chatterbox papers and a black 8x8 album to do a school album for Cameron.

Today I ran to Michaels and Joanns to buy even more! I really wanted a Cricut and Michaels had a 40% coupon that didn't exclude the machine so I went and bought the last one that they had. I ran across the street to get another cartridge from Joanns using their 40% off coupon too! What a great morning! Shannon, I thought about stopping by but I figured you would be working. If anyone has an extra Joann's coupon that you aren't going to use I would love to have it! ;)
Now I have to start scrapping again and I think I can with a clean room and a new toy! What fun! Cameron just walked in my room and asked why everything is so clean. I guess he got used to this room being the sty too.

One word......

OVERWHELMED

This is how I am feeling right now. I decided to clean my scrapbook room today...UGH! Why oh why did I decide to do it now? Because I really would like to work on something again and with the room in such disarray it is hard to get motivated to do much of anything!

This is what I started with at 2:30 and I sit here typing at 3:30 with it looking about the same if not worse! I started to cull some magazines and ended up going through them tearing out ideas. I finally decided to put the pile aside and start putting some stuff away. Well, not much has been done yet! I still can't see the tabletop, but I am starting to get things off the floor now.

I need my good friend Shannon to come over! You see, Shannon helped me organize my room when Michael bought my shelves for me last year. She was such a help....I just keep thinking that if Shannon were here it would be done by now. Well, back to the grind. Hopefully I can update soon with a much cleaner room. If only I hadn't received such a large amount of product from my QKU convention (not that I am complaining or anything the stuff was/is awesome!)

Yardwork

Well, two hours later I finished mowing and edging the front and back. I felt so proud. I even turned on the sprinklers. I plan on getting outside first thing in the morning to do some weeding and then later in the evening to do some more. I do have to clean house tomorrow. I think I am the culprit when it comes to clutter. I came home from the weekend and now the house is a sty! Oy vey!

IT'S HOT!!

My backyard is looking awful...it's been too hot to go out and take care of it. I did mow the front yard last week sometime, but I about died doing it. I thought I was going to pass out from heat stroke. Here is what the weather forecast is right now...

That is much too hot for me. Cameron has the right idea though...yum, popsicles!
I decided to snap a picture of Cameron doing his favorite thing. He loves to hang out in my room and play Xbox. We have a 360 downstairs, but he plays his Xbox in my room more than anything. I think he gets bored with it pretty fast as he will only play for about 10 minutes at a time before he shuts it off to do something else. Isn't he cute?!

As I sit here typing I am looking out my window and see that there is a breeze blowing. Perhaps I should get outside and do some mowing. I've got my shorts on and my hair up so I should just head on out.

Oh, but before I forget here is a picture from the scrappin' convention that I attended this past weekend. I took this picture from Heidi's blog as I didn't take any pictures myself. Heidi isn't in this picture, but if you go to her blog you can see her cute face!

The past weekend was so fun meeting all these wonderful women. I met a few last year when I stopped in during their lunch break and stayed for 2 projects. The projects this year were FANTASTIC! I can't wait to do this again next year...hint, hint Heather. I'd wink my eye at you, but I don't know how.

Ok, now I am heading outside to tackle the backyard. Oh how I wish Michael was able to do some of the work without being in so much pain. Speaking of, I haven't updated on Michael in quite a while. He is progressing well, but is still in constant pain. He walks around a lot better and is able to get up the stairs pretty well too. He doesn't complain too much anymore, but I can sometimes tell when he hurts. There are days when he overdoes it and pays for it the following day or two. He has a new hobby. He bought a RC Helicopter and is almost finished putting it together. I will post on that later.

A fast update

I will post more later about the AWESOME weekend that I had at a private, local scrapbook convention. It was so much fun and I have lots of fun things to show when I am finished with them.

During the convention I was told that I don't update my blog very often by two very fun and nice people...Celeste & Kim. Here they are...

So, I am updating my blog. I vow to try to do a better job of updating. There was also talk about clean houses vs. not so clean houses. My house is generally pretty clean. I did mention that my scraproom is not one of these places and I would post a picture when I got home. I also decided to post some pictures of what the main floor of my house looked like when I got home from a weekend away at the convention. My boys kept it pretty clean. I was impressed.


So there you have my pretty clean, but cluttered abode. Oh, and I did throw away the 4th of July mum that was on the front room table...there are no pictures.

I'm a COLLEGE girl (again)!

I decided a couple of weeks ago that I wanted to go back to school. I just had this sudden urge when I woke up and got online to apply to the Salt Lake Community College. I don't know if I want to be a dental hygienist or a dentist. The hygiene program has a wait of 2011 right now. I am going to get my prerequisites done and then apply to that program. I'm thinking I might get the classes for dental school taken care of too just in case. I have to take a bunch of math and science classes for dental school so that is the only thing that is scaring me. I do have to take a few for hygiene, but they aren't anything I can't handle.

I had been worried about taking my math placement test to register for my math class. So, I had been brushing up on my algebra with help from books at the library. All my studying paid off...I took my test yesterday and placed into the math class I wanted. The class I placed into is the only math class I have to take to be able to take the Chemistry class I will also need. So today I registered for my Intermediate Algebra class! I will have class on Friday nights and Saturday mornings. Not really how I want to spend my weekends, but it was the only times that really worked out for the family. I will start school on August 25th! I'm really quite excited! I had fun studying for the test...I think I really do like math despite what I felt about it in high school and college before.

Before I can apply to the Hygiene program I have to take the following classes:
English 1010:Intro to Writing
Soc 1010: Intro to Sociology
Comm 1010: Intro to Communications
Hlth 1020: Foundations of Nutrition
Math 1010: Intermediate Algebra
Psy 1010: General Psychology (I'm hoping I get credit for taking this at the UW before)
Biol 2060: Microbiology
Biol 2320: Human Anatomy
Biol 2420: Human Physiology
Chem 1110: Elementary Chemistry

All of those classes are going to take me awhile because I will only be able to take 1-2 classes per quarter with my work schedule and other obligations. I plan on taking classes year-round and some of them can be taken online which I may do to make things easier for me. I've been told that the nutrition class is an easy one to take online. There is no way I could take the science classes online. I need too much help.

Well, I have rambled on long enough.

A Beary Happy Birthday!

On Wednesday Cameron informed me that it was the birthday of his very special bear Beary. On the way to daycare I heard him talking to himself (he does this often, his reason is he doesn't have a brother to talk to), he was saying that he needs a box and a bow. I asked him what he needs those things for and he said it was Beary's birthday. He told me that Beary wanted a a Karate outfit. I told him I would try to stop by Build-a-Bear at lunch to look for one. Well, I found one and I also found the cute little birthday accessories to go with it.

When I picked Cameron up that evening he saw the bag in my car and pulled out the outfit and said, "How did you know that is what Beary wanted?!" I told him he told me and then he said, "Oh yeah." Well, he then said when we get home we have to be very quiet so we could surprise Beary. We found a box in the garage..couldn't find a bow, but that was okay. We got the items all ready for Beary and Cameron went upstairs to get Beary and his friends. His friends were wearing their Halloween costumes because it was a costume birthday party. Here are some more pictures of the birthday party!

TV Shows

Here's a question for you all....(from Yvonne)

What are 10 shows that you watch and 10 shows that you have never watched?
Watch:
1. ER
2. CSI: Las Vegas
3. CSI: Miami
4. CSI: New York
5. Gilmore Girls
6. NCIS
7. Desperate Housewives
8. Grey's Anatomy
9. Rachel Ray 30 Minute Meals
10.Prison Break

Never watch:
1. Amazing Race
2. West Wing
3. Bones
4. House
5. Dancing with the Stars
6. Boston Legal
7. Big Brother
8. Ghost Whisperer
9. The Office
10. The Apprentice

I've been tagged by Shannon

Thanks Shannon! What fun!
In my fridge:
1. Sunny Delight
2. Salad
3. Tupperware
4. Yogurt
5. Celery

In my closet:
1. Belts
2. Soccer ball signed by the Seattle Sounders from years ago
3. Parafin wax thing for your hands and feet
4. Many duffel bags
5. Shoes

In my handbag:
1. Wallet
2. lipsticks
3. pen
4. tweezers (you never know when you need to pluck an eyebrow)
5. roll of stamps

In my car:
1. cds
2. magazines (for when I am bored while I wait for Cameron after school)
3. safety glasses (an extra pair for work)
4. soccer ball (for Saturday games and practices)
5. headphones (for using at the gym)

On my TIVO/DVR/etc.
1. Sixteen Candles (I LOVE this movie!!)
2. A few CSI episodes from the week

I am tagging Lillian.